ARL Support of NRL Rocket Experiments to Investigate Ionospheric Phenomena

DTIC Science & Technology

2010-08-31

reallocate the funds to support NRL’s ongoing efforts to develop an ionospheric tomography network in South America to support the C/NOFS satellite...of NRL Rocket Experiments to Investigate Ionospheric Phenomena 5a. CONTRACT NUMBER N00173-09-1-G036 5b. GRANT NUMBER N00173-09-1-G036 5c...1-G036 ARL Support of NRL Rocket Experiments to Investigate Ionospheric Phenomena BY DR. TREVOR W. GARNER APPLIED RESEARCH LABORATORIES THE

Building Blocks: The Next Steps for Supporting Alaska's Young Children and Their Families.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Alaska State Dept. of Education and Early Development, Juneau.

As part of the ongoing efforts in the state of Alaska to improve the health and well-being of the state's young children, the Alaska Departments of Education and Early Development and Health and Social Services are collaborating to develop a plan to address the critical outcomes and strategies that will support and improve the lives of Alaska's…

Mass balance and swath displacement evaluations from agricultural application field trials

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

Spray drift is on an ongoing concern for any agricultural application and continues to be the focus for new developments and research efforts dealing with drift reduction technologies, best management application practices and the development of new decision support systems for applicators. Typical...

News about Newborn Screening

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Exceptional Parent, 2007

2007-01-01

For years "Exceptional Parent" ("EP") has been offering educational information and support to those challenged with disabilities and takes an equally pro-active role in disseminating vital information that could potentially prevent disabilities. This is evidenced by its past and ongoing efforts in being a proponent and champion for comprehensive…

Development of a decision support tool to better manage Alabama's rural public transit vehicles

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

2000-01-01

In an ongoing effort to improve mobility and quality of life for Alabama's citizens, researchers at the University of Alabama in Huntsville are working to improve the state's ability to manage its rural transit fleet. This fleet management consists o...

Smoothing the Path to Learning Success: A Student Perspective

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Doucette, Colleen

2005-01-01

The education system invests time and resources in collaborative processes designed to improve its ability to support students as successful learners. Traditionally, it seeks the advice of educators, researchers, ministries and boards of education, parents, and the public at large in an ongoing effort to increase its effectiveness. Less…

Prediction of Composition and Emission Characteristics of Articles in Support of Exposure Assessment

EPA Science Inventory

The risk to humans from chemicals in consumer products is dependent on both hazard and exposure. The prediction and quantification of near-field (i.e., indoor) chemical exposure from household articles such as furniture and building materials is an ongoing effort. As opposed to (...

The California Basic Skills Initiative

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Illowsky, Barbara

2008-01-01

This article describes the evolution and implementation of the California Basic Skills Initiative (CA BSI), a statewide effort to address ongoing basic skills and ESL needs of community college students and of all campus faculty, administrators, and staff who support these students. CA BSI strategies include assisting every college in assessing…

Photographic Data Extraction Feasibility and Pilot Study in Support of Roadside Safety and Roadway Departure Research

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

2014-05-01

This work represents the first phase of an ongoing low-cost in-house effort to perform data analysis, optimize internal data gathering in an informed fashion, make data requests to organizations, and obtain needed information. The work also calls on ...

Teacher Leadership--Connecting Learning to Practice

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Coughlan, Margaret

2015-01-01

The Common Core State Standards (CCSS, 2010) as the latest initiative in the ongoing effort of educational reform in the United States reinforces the need to build the capacity of teachers as leaders and change agents. As such, graduate teacher leadership programs function to support and develop teacher leadership praxis. Although studies of…

Restorative Justice: Pedagogy, Praxis, and Discipline

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Morrison, Brenda E.; Vaandering, Dorothy

2012-01-01

In the ongoing effort of designing school contexts in support of proactive discipline, a range of practices and theoretical frameworks have been advanced, from behaviorist approaches to social and emotional learning. This article describes the theory and practice of restorative justice with the aim of defining this distinctive paradigm, in…

Targeting oncogenic vulnerabilities in triple negative breast cancer: biological bases and ongoing clinical studies

PubMed Central

Ocana, Alberto; Pandiella, Atanasio

2017-01-01

Triple negative breast cancer (TNBC) is still an incurable disease despite the great scientific effort performed during the last years. The huge heterogeneity of this disease has motivated the evaluation of a great number of therapies against different molecular alterations. In this article, we review the biological bases of this entity and how the known molecular evidence supports the current preclinical and clinical development of new therapies. Special attention will be given to ongoing clinical studies and potential options for future drug combinations. PMID:28108739

Development and Testing of Carbon-Carbon Nozzle Extensions for Upper Stage Liquid Rocket Engines

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Valentine, Peter G.; Gradl, Paul R.; Greene, Sandra E.

2017-01-01

Carbon-carbon (C-C) composite nozzle extensions are of interest for use on a variety of launch vehicle upper stage engines and in-space propulsion systems. The C-C nozzle extension technology and test capabilities being developed are intended to support National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) and Department of Defense (DOD) requirements, as well as those of the broader Commercial Space industry. For NASA, C-C nozzle extension technology development primarily supports the NASA Space Launch System (SLS) and NASA's Commercial Space partners. Marshall Space Flight Center (MSFC) efforts are aimed at both (a) further developing the technology and databases needed to enable the use of composite nozzle extensions on cryogenic upper stage engines, and (b) developing and demonstrating low-cost capabilities for testing and qualifying composite nozzle extensions. Recent, on-going, and potential future work supporting NASA, DOD, and Commercial Space needs will be discussed. Information to be presented will include (a) recent and on-going mechanical, thermal, and hot-fire testing, as well as (b) potential future efforts to further develop and qualify domestic C-C nozzle extension solutions for the various upper stage engines under development.

Power Subsystem for Extravehicular Activities for Exploration Missions

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Manzo, Michelle

2005-01-01

The NASA Glenn Research Center has the responsibility to develop the next generation space suit power subsystem to support the Vision for Space Exploration. Various technology challenges exist in achieving extended duration missions as envisioned for future lunar and Mars mission scenarios. This paper presents an overview of ongoing development efforts undertaken at the Glenn Research Center in support of power subsystem development for future extravehicular activity systems.

Experimental and Analytical Studies for a Computational Materials Program

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Knauss, W. G.

1999-01-01

The studies supported by Grant NAG1-1780 were directed at providing physical data on polymer behavior that would form the basis for computationally modeling these types of materials. Because of ongoing work in polymer characterization this grant supported part of a larger picture in this regard. Efforts went into two combined areas of their time dependent mechanical response characteristics: Creep properties on the one hand, subject to different volumetric changes (nonlinearly viscoelastic behavior) and time or frequency dependence of dilatational material behavior. The details of these endeavors are outlined sufficiently in the two appended publications, so that no further description of the effort is necessary.

Remote Operations and Ground Control Centers

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Bryant, Barry S.; Lankford, Kimberly; Pitts, R. Lee

2004-01-01

The Payload Operations Integration Center (POIC) at the Marshall Space Flight Center supports the International Space Station (ISS) through remote interfaces around the world. The POIC was originally designed as a gateway to space for remote facilities; ranging from an individual user to a full-scale multiuser environment. This achievement was accomplished while meeting program requirements and accommodating the injection of modern technology on an ongoing basis to ensure cost effective operations. This paper will discuss the open POIC architecture developed to support similar and dissimilar remote operations centers. It will include technologies, protocols, and compromises which on a day to day basis support ongoing operations. Additional areas covered include centralized management of shared resources and methods utilized to provide highly available and restricted resources to remote users. Finally, the effort of coordinating the actions of participants will be discussed.

Modular Software for Spacecraft Navigation Using the Global Positioning System (GPS)

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Truong, S. H.; Hartman, K. R.; Weidow, D. A.; Berry, D. L.; Oza, D. H.; Long, A. C.; Joyce, E.; Steger, W. L.

1996-01-01

The Goddard Space Flight Center Flight Dynamics and Mission Operations Divisions have jointly investigated the feasibility of engineering modular Global Positioning SYSTEM (GPS) navigation software to support both real time flight and ground postprocessing configurations. The goals of this effort are to define standard GPS data interfaces and to engineer standard, reusable navigation software components that can be used to build a broad range of GPS navigation support applications. The paper discusses the GPS modular software (GMOD) system and operations concepts, major requirements, candidate software architecture, feasibility assessment and recommended software interface standards. In additon, ongoing efforts to broaden the scope of the initial study and to develop modular software to support autonomous navigation using GPS are addressed,

Trilinos I/O Support (Trios)

DOE PAGES

Oldfield, Ron A.; Sjaardema, Gregory D.; Lofstead II, Gerald F.; ...

2012-01-01

Trilinos I/O Support (Trios) is a new capability area in Trilinos that serves two important roles: (1) it provides and supports I/O libraries used by in-production scientific codes; (2) it provides a research vehicle for the evaluation and distribution of new techniques to improve I/O on advanced platforms. This paper provides a brief overview of the production-grade I/O libraries in Trios as well as some of the ongoing research efforts that contribute to the experimental libraries in Trios.

DART Support for Hurricane Matthew

NASA Image and Video Library

2016-10-13

Members of the Disaster Assessment and Recovery Team (DART) repair a section of roof atop the Operations Support Building II at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The effort is part of the spaceport’s ongoing recovery from Hurricane Matthew, which passed to the east of Kennedy on Oct. 6 and 7, 2016. The center received some isolated roof damage, damaged support buildings, a few downed power lines, and limited water intrusion. Beach erosion also occurred, although the storm surge was less than expected.

DART Support for Hurricane Matthew

NASA Image and Video Library

2016-10-13

Members of the Disaster Assessment and Recovery Team (DART) work on repairs to the Operations Support Building II at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The effort is part of the spaceport’s ongoing recovery from Hurricane Matthew, which passed to the east of Kennedy on Oct. 6 and 7, 2016. The center received some isolated roof damage, damaged support buildings, a few downed power lines, and limited water intrusion. Beach erosion also occurred, although the storm surge was less than expected.

Avionics Architectures for Exploration: Wireless Technologies and Human Spaceflight

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Goforth, Montgomery B.; Ratliff, James E.; Barton, Richard J.; Wagner, Raymond S.; Lansdowne, Chatwin

2014-01-01

The authors describe ongoing efforts by the Avionics Architectures for Exploration (AAE) project chartered by NASA's Advanced Exploration Systems (AES) Program to evaluate new avionics architectures and technologies, provide objective comparisons of them, and mature selected technologies for flight and for use by other AES projects. The AAE project team includes members from most NASA centers and from industry. This paper provides an overview of recent AAE efforts, with particular emphasis on the wireless technologies being evaluated under AES to support human spaceflight.

Review and Synopsis of Natural and Human Controls on Fluvial Channel Processes in the Arid West

DTIC Science & Technology

2007-09-01

Parallel to ongoing efforts to revise the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers wetland delineation manual for support of Section 404 under the Clean Water ...Act, the Corps has initiated an effort to develop an Ordinary High Water (OHW) delineation manual. The Arid West region is dominated by watersheds with...features. With a better understanding of the stream dynamics associated with regulated ordinary events, the Corps is now developing OHW functional models

Biological Effects–Based Tools for Monitoring Impacted Surface Waters in the Great Lakes: A Multiagency Program in Support of the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative

EPA Science Inventory

There is increasing demand for the implementation of effects-based monitoring and surveillance (EBMS) approaches in the Great Lakes Basin to complement traditional chemical monitoring. Herein, we describe an ongoing multiagency effort to develop and implement EBMS tools, particul...

Overview of NASA Cryocooler Programs

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Boyle, R. F.; Ross, R. G., Jr.; Krebs, Carolyn A. (Technical Monitor)

2001-01-01

Mechanical cryocoolers represent a significant enabling technology for NASA's Earth and Space Science Enterprises, as well as augmenting existing capabilities in space exploration. An over-view is presented of on-going efforts at the Goddard Space Flight Center and the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in support of current flight projects, near-term flight instruments, and long-term technology development.

78 FR 27479 - Notice of Request for Approval To Continue To Collect New Information: Confidential Close Call...

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2013-05-10

... project. This data collection effort is in support of a five-year research study aiming at improving rail... ongoing research study is conducted by the Office of Human Factors in the Federal Railroad Administration... DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION Research and Innovative Technology Administration [Docket Number RITA...

Creative Tension: Turn The Challenges of Learning Together Into Opportunities

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Dobbs, Christina L.; Ippolito, Jacy; Charner-Laird, Megin

2016-01-01

Effective and authentic communities of practice in schools have the potential to support teachers in improving their instructional practices around perennial challenges, such as improving the literacy skills of all students. But before they can achieve such goals, communities of practice take time to build, effort to sustain, and ongoing support…

Academic Program Review--Concerns and Justification.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Heldman, D. R.

Academic program review should not be considered a new phenomenon in higher education; reviews of various types have been conducted on a continuing basis. The renewed importance of an organized effort has been stimulated by the inability of funding sources to maintain levels of support required to insure quality in all on-going programs. Current…

78 FR 46362 - Information Collection Sent to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for Approval; National...

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2013-07-31

..., nongovernmental organizations; and academic institutions to advance the development of The National Map and other national geospatial databases. This effort will support our need to supplement ongoing data collection.... Description of Respondents: State, local, and tribal governments; private and non-profit firms; and academic...

Virtual Environments and the Ongoing Work of Becoming a Singapore Teacher

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Zuiker, Steven J.; Ang, Doreen

2011-01-01

The study explores the intersection between cyberinfrastructure and models of teacher education and professional development in Singapore. A case study explores how a pre-service and an in-service workshop in a virtual environment support efforts to understand and enlist constructivist pedagogies for classroom learning and to foster continuous…

Literacy Teacher Preparation: Ten Truths Teacher Educators Need to Know

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Davis Lenski, Susan, Ed.; Grisham, Dana L., Ed.; Wold, Linda S., Ed.

2005-01-01

The quality of teacher preparation is frequently under public scrutiny. In this collection, experts in literacy teacher preparation offer ten truths--based on evidence, not ideology-- that support the ongoing positive efforts of teacher educators. In this book, the reader will find: A review of the existing knowledge base; Evidence of the improved…

DART Support for Hurricane Matthew

NASA Image and Video Library

2016-10-13

Members of the Disaster Assessment and Recovery Team (DART) work on flooring repairs to the Beach House at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The effort is part of the spaceport’s ongoing recovery from Hurricane Matthew, which passed to the east of Kennedy on Oct. 6 and 7, 2016. The center received some isolated roof damage, damaged support buildings, a few downed power lines, and limited water intrusion. Beach erosion also occurred, although the storm surge was less than expected.

Standards for the Global Information Infrastructure (GII): A Review of Recent Developments, Ongoing Efforts, Future Directions and Issues.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Needleman, Mark H.

1996-01-01

Reviews developments related to standards in electronic and networked information. Discusses traditional library and Internet communities, and notes the importance of having a supporting infrastructure in place. Topics include: Z39.50; Z39.56 Serial Item/Contribution Identifier (SICI); Interlibrary Loan (ILL) Protocol; character set standards;…

77 FR 27448 - Amended Notice of Intent To Revise the Scope of an Environmental Impact Statement for the...

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2012-05-10

... availability of the infrastructure needed to support the transfer, handling, examination, and packaging of... nuclear fuel is transferred into dry storage containers and placed into temporary storage at NRF, prior to... Container System for Management of Naval Spent Nuclear Fuel (DOE/EIS-0251). Ongoing efforts to sustain the...

Anti-Drug Abuse Strategy Report. State of New York. 1990 Update.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

New York Governor's Office, Albany. Statewide Anti-Drug Abuse Council.

This annual report from the Statewide Anti-Drug Abuse Council of New York proposes strategies for the coming year. Ongoing support for the state and local law enforcement efforts is reaffirmed as a vital component of the strategy. The council promotes a strengthening of their commitment and focus on severely impacted populations, integration of…

Investigating Alternatives to the Fish Early Life-Stage Test: A Strategy for Discovering and Annotating Adverse Outcome Pathways for Early Fish Development

EPA Science Inventory

The fish early life-stage (FELS) test (OECD Test Guideline 210) is the primary test used internationally to estimate chronic fish toxicity in support of ecological risk assessments and chemical management programs. As part of an on-going effort to develop efficient and cost-effec...

The PLAID graphics analysis impact on the space program

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Nguyen, Jennifer P.; Wheaton, Aneice L.; Maida, James C.

1994-01-01

An ongoing project design often requires visual verification at various stages. These requirements are critically important because the subsequent phases of that project might depend on the complete verification of a particular stage. Currently, there are several software packages at JSC that provide such simulation capabilities. We present the simulation capabilities of the PLAID modeling system used in the Flight Crew Support Division for human factors analyses. We summarize some ongoing studies in kinematics, lighting, EVA activities, and discuss various applications in the mission planning of the current Space Shuttle flights and the assembly sequence of the Space Station Freedom with emphasis on the redesign effort.

Supporting Excellence: A Framework for Developing, Implementing, and Sustaining a High-Quality District Curriculum. First Edition

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Council of the Great City Schools, 2017

2017-01-01

In the ongoing effort to improve instructional standards in our nation's urban public schools, the Council of the Great City Schools has released resources to help districts determine the quality and alignment of instructional materials at each grade level; to ensure that materials for English language learners are rigorous and aligned to district…

A resolution concerning the ongoing conflict in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and the need for international efforts supporting long-term peace, stability, and observance of human rights.

THOMAS, 113th Congress

Sen. Coons, Christopher A. [D-DE

2013-05-16

Senate - 06/26/2013 Resolution agreed to in Senate with an amendment and with a preamble by Unanimous Consent. (All Actions) Tracker: This bill has the status Agreed to in SenateHere are the steps for Status of Legislation:

Science and Technology for a Safer Nation

DTIC Science & Technology

2008-03-01

facilities. “Harvesting Innovation” gathers detailed information about efforts supporting Laboratory-Directed Research and Development ( LDRD ...programs and shares this with DHS directors, division heads and program managers. Energy Department labs allocate some $400 million per year in LDRD ...correlate LDRD projects with DHS S&T strategic goals and ongoing programs as well as planned projects in all six S&T divisions. This minimizes

2009 National Survey of First-Year Seminars: Ongoing Efforts to Support Students in Transition. Research Reports on College Transitions No. 2

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Padgett, Ryan D.; Keup, Jennifer R.

2011-01-01

Findings from the ninth triennial administration of the National Survey of First-Year Seminars, describing the nature and extent of first-year seminars on American college campuses. Drawn from a broad sample of colleges and universities from every institutional type, control, and size, the survey addresses topics including seminar characteristics…

Promoting recovery in an evolving policy context: What do we know and what do we need to know about recovery support services?

PubMed Central

Laudet, Alexandre B.; Humphreys, Keith

2013-01-01

As both a concept and a movement, “recovery” is increasingly guiding substance use disorder (SUD) services and policy. One sign of this change is the emergence of recovery support services that attempt to help addicted individuals using a comprehensive continuing care model. This paper reviews the policy environment surrounding recovery support services, the needs to which they should respond, and the status of current recovery support models. We conclude that recovery support services (RSS) should be further assessed for effectiveness and cost-effectiveness, that greater efforts must be made to develop the RSS delivery workforce, and that RSS should capitalize on ongoing efforts to create a comprehensive, integrated and patient-centered health care system. As the SUD treatment system undergoes its most important transformation in at least 40 years, recovery research and the lived experience of recovery from addiction should be central to reform. PMID:23506781

How Are They Doing? Listening as Fathers of Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder Compare Themselves to Fathers of Children Who Are Typically Developing

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Cheuk, Samantha; Lashewicz, Bonnie

2016-01-01

The growing prevalence of autism spectrum disorder is accompanied by ongoing efforts to understand and support parents in the face of challenges related to their child's autism spectrum disorder. Although fathers are increasingly hands-on in raising children, research focus on parenting children with autism spectrum disorder continues to be skewed…

Hardware Evolution of Closed-Loop Controller Designs

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Gwaltney, David; Ferguson, Ian

2002-01-01

Poster presentation will outline on-going efforts at NASA, MSFC to employ various Evolvable Hardware experimental platforms in the evolution of digital and analog circuitry for application to automatic control. Included will be information concerning the application of commercially available hardware and software along with the use of the JPL developed FPTA2 integrated circuit and supporting JPL developed software. Results to date will be presented.

Working toward resilience: a retrospective report of actions taken in support of a New York school crisis team following 9/11.

PubMed

Johnson, Kendall; Luna, Joanne M Tortorici

2011-01-01

A retrospective report details external support rendered to a Lower Manhattan school crisis team following the 9/11/01 terrorist attack on the World Trade Center This analysis occasions an opportunity for consideration of working assumptions, the formative use of data to plan support actions, and the subsequent emergence of a collaborative approach to post-disaster team support in school settings. The nature of assessment and nature of subsequent service delivery illustrates a community resilience-based approach to school crisis management. Recommendations for such work are based upon mixed qualitative and quantitative data gathered from on-scene team members as part of the ongoing support effort.

Regenerative Life Support Evaluation

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Kleiner, G. N.; Thompson, C. D.

1977-01-01

This paper describes the development plan and design concept of the Regenerative Life Support Evaluation (RLSE) planned for flight testing in the European Space Agency Spacelab. The development plan encompasses the ongoing advanced life support subsystem and a systems integration effort to evolve concurrently subsystem concepts that perform their function and can be integrated with other subsystems in a flight demonstration of a regenerative life support system. The design concept for RLSE comprises water-electrolysis O2 generation, electrochemically depolarized CO2 removal, and Sabatier CO2 reduction for atmosphere regeneration, urine vapor-compression distillation, and wash-water hyperfiltration for waste-water recovery. The flight demonstration by RLSE is an important step in qualifying the regenerative concepts for life support in space stations.

Unsteady Full Annulus Simulations of a Transonic Axial Compressor Stage

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Herrick, Gregory P.; Hathaway, Michael D.; Chen, Jen-Ping

2009-01-01

Two recent research endeavors in turbomachinery at NASA Glenn Research Center have focused on compression system stall inception and compression system aerothermodynamic performance. Physical experiment and computational research are ongoing in support of these research objectives. TURBO, an unsteady, three-dimensional, Navier-Stokes computational fluid dynamics code commissioned and developed by NASA, has been utilized, enhanced, and validated in support of these endeavors. In the research which follows, TURBO is shown to accurately capture compression system flow range-from choke to stall inception-and also to accurately calculate fundamental aerothermodynamic performance parameters. Rigorous full-annulus calculations are performed to validate TURBO s ability to simulate the unstable, unsteady, chaotic stall inception process; as part of these efforts, full-annulus calculations are also performed at a condition approaching choke to further document TURBO s capabilities to compute aerothermodynamic performance data and support a NASA code assessment effort.

The Dynamic Multiprocess Framework: Evidence from Prospective Memory with Contextual Variability

PubMed Central

Scullin, Michael K.; McDaniel, Mark A.; Shelton, Jill Talley

2013-01-01

The ability to remember to execute delayed intentions is referred to as prospective memory. Previous theoretical and empirical work has focused on isolating whether a particular prospective memory task is supported either by effortful monitoring processes or by cue-driven spontaneous processes. In the present work, we advance the Dynamic Multiprocess Framework, which contends that both monitoring and spontaneous retrieval may be utilized dynamically to support prospective remembering. To capture the dynamic interplay between monitoring and spontaneous retrieval we had participants perform many ongoing tasks and told them that their prospective memory cue may occur in any context. Following either a 20-min or a 12-hr retention interval, the prospective memory cues were presented infrequently across three separate ongoing tasks. The monitoring patterns (measured as ongoing task cost relative to a between-subjects control condition) were consistent and robust across the three contexts. There was no evidence for monitoring prior to the initial prospective memory cue; however, individuals who successfully spontaneously retrieved the prospective memory intention, thereby realizing that prospective memory cues could be expected within that context, subsequently monitored. These data support the Dynamic Multiprocess Framework, which contends that individuals will engage monitoring when prospective memory cues are expected, disengage monitoring when cues are not expected, and that when monitoring is disengaged, a probabilistic spontaneous retrieval mechanism can support prospective remembering. PMID:23916951

MIT research in telerobotics

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Sheridan, T. B.

1987-01-01

Ongoing MIT research in telerobotics (vehicles capable of some autonomous sensing and manipulating, having some remote supervisory control by people) and teleoperation (vehicles for sensing and manipulating which are fully controlled remotely by people) is discussed. The current efforts mix human and artificial intelligence/control. The idea of adjustable impedance at either end of pure master-slave teleoperation, and simultaneous coordinated control of teleoperator/telerobotic systems which have more than six degrees of freedom (e.g., a combined vehicle and arm, each with five or six DOF) are discussed. A new cable-controlled parallel link arm which offers many advantages over conventional arms for space is briefly described. Predictor displays to compensate for time delay in teleoperator loops, the use of state estimation to help human control decisions in space, and ongoing research in supervisory command language are covered. Finally, efforts to build a human flyable real-time dynamic computer-graphic telerobot simulator are described. These projects represent most, but not all, of the telerobotics research in our laboratory, supported by JPL, NASA Ames and NOAA.

MIMIC II: a massive temporal ICU patient database to support research in intelligent patient monitoring

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Saeed, M.; Lieu, C.; Raber, G.; Mark, R. G.

2002-01-01

Development and evaluation of Intensive Care Unit (ICU) decision-support systems would be greatly facilitated by the availability of a large-scale ICU patient database. Following our previous efforts with the MIMIC (Multi-parameter Intelligent Monitoring for Intensive Care) Database, we have leveraged advances in networking and storage technologies to develop a far more massive temporal database, MIMIC II. MIMIC II is an ongoing effort: data is continuously and prospectively archived from all ICU patients in our hospital. MIMIC II now consists of over 800 ICU patient records including over 120 gigabytes of data and is growing. A customized archiving system was used to store continuously up to four waveforms and 30 different parameters from ICU patient monitors. An integrated user-friendly relational database was developed for browsing of patients' clinical information (lab results, fluid balance, medications, nurses' progress notes). Based upon its unprecedented size and scope, MIMIC II will prove to be an important resource for intelligent patient monitoring research, and will support efforts in medical data mining and knowledge-discovery.

Progress in European CELSS activities

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Skoog, A. I.

1987-01-01

The European Controlled Ecological Life Support System (CELSS) activities started in the late 1970's with system analysis and feasibility studies of Biological Life Support Systems (BLSS). The initiation for CELSS came from the industry side in Europe, but since then planning and hardware feasibility analyses have been initiated also from customer/agency side. Despite this, it is still too early to state that a CELSS program as a concerted effort has been agreed upon in Europe. However, the general CELSS objectives were accepted as planning and possible development goals for the European effort for manned space activities, and as experimental planning topics in the life sciences community for the next decades. It is expected that ecological life support systems can be tested and implemented on a space station towards the end of this century or early in the next. For the European activities a possible scenario can be projected based on ongoing life support system development activities and the present life sciences goals.

Ocean Thermal Energy Conversion (OTEC) program. FY 1977 program summary

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

None

1978-01-01

An overview is given of the ongoing research, development, and demonstration efforts. Each of the DOE's Ocean Thermal Energy Conversion projects funded during fiscal year 1977 (October 1, 1976 through September 30, 1977) is described and each project's status as of December 31, 1977 is reflected. These projects are grouped as follows: program support, definition planning, engineering development, engineering test and evaluation, and advanced research and technology. (MHR)

Power, Professional Naiveté and Environmental Icebergs: Navigating the Bioethics Ecosystem.

PubMed

Valadares, Kevin J

2016-01-01

Doing bioethics in the public arena of healthcare, government, business or academia takes courage and stamina. The effort involved must be greater than just supporting clients through disciplined arguments and an ongoing process of clarification. Beyond the argument, for ethicists to be of value, they must understand the importance of navigating power structures within the bioethics ecosystem and to recognize their own professional naiveté.

Department of Defense Chemical and Biological Defense Program. Annual Report to Congress

DTIC Science & Technology

2008-05-01

defense system acquisition costs through collaboration in the areas of development, production , and support, and to enhance interoperability with...security area leverages S&T efforts of the other product areas. Where unmet requirements are identified and where S&T is required to meet cost ...Defense Program Inventory Requirements The industrial base, which has scaled down since the end of the Cold War, has stabilized. Ongoing military

Gamma Ray Astronomy

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Wu, S. T.

2000-01-01

The project has progressed successfully during this period of performance. The highlights of the Gamma Ray Astronomy teams efforts are: (1) Support daily BATSE data operations, including receipt, archival and dissemination of data, quick-look science analysis, rapid gamma-ray burst and transient monitoring and response efforts, instrument state-of-health monitoring, and instrument commanding and configuration; (2) On-going scientific analysis, including production and maintenance of gamma-ray burst, pulsed source and occultation source catalogs, gamma-ray burst spectroscopy, studies of the properties of pulsars and black holes, and long-term monitoring of hard x-ray sources; (3) Maintenance and continuous improvement of BATSE instrument response and calibration data bases; (4) Investigation of the use of solid state detectors for eventual application and instrument to perform all sky monitoring of X-Ray and Gamma sources with high sensitivity; and (5) Support of BATSE outreach activities, including seminars, colloquia and World Wide Web pages. The highlights of this efforts can be summarized in the publications and presentation list.

Early Flight Fission Test Facilities (EFF-TF) To Support Near-Term Space Fission Systems

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

van Dyke, Melissa

2004-02-01

Through hardware based design and testing, the EFF-TF investigates fission power and propulsion component, subsystems, and integrated system design and performance. Through demonstration of systems concepts (designed by Sandia and Los Alamos National Laboratories) in relevant environments, previous non-nuclear tests in the EFF-TF have proven to be a highly effective method (from both cost and performance standpoint) to identify and resolve integration issues. Ongoing research at the EFF-TF is geared towards facilitating research, development, system integration, and system utilization via cooperative efforts with DOE labs, industry, universities, and other NASA centers. This paper describes the current efforts for 2003.

Mach Cutoff Analysis and Results from NASA's Farfield Investigation of No-Boom Thresholds

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Cliatt, Larry J., II; Hill, Michael A.; Haering, Edward A, Jr.

2016-01-01

In support of the ongoing effort by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) to bring supersonic commercial travel to the public, the NASA Armstrong Flight Research Center and the NASA Langley Research Center,in partnership with other industry organizations and academia, conducted a flight research experiment to analyze acoustic propagation in the Mach cutoff shadow zone. The effort was conducted in fall of 2012 and named the Farfield Investigation of No-boom Thresholds (FaINT). The test helped to build a data set that will go toward further understanding of the unique acoustic propagation characteristics below Mach cutoff altitude.

Interdisciplinary action supporting sexual assault prevention efforts in rural elementary schools.

PubMed

Hayward, K S; Pehrsson, D E

2000-01-01

The purpose of this study was to evaluate if knowledge is gained by rural, elementary school-aged children of sexual assault prevention concepts following implementation of an interdisciplinary prevention program. Rural children (N = 294 pretest and N = 301 posttest) were tested before and after delivery of a theater program developed for teaching sexual assault prevention concepts. The program was delivered to children enrolled in the 3rd and 4th grades of 3 rural elementary schools. Analysis of variance results indicate an increase in knowledge gained in all age groups. Significant difference in knowledge gained occurred in concept areas related to touch by authority figures, secrets, uncomfortable touch by individuals known to them, strangers, and boys' risk of abuse. Results support the need for ongoing interdisciplinary efforts to teach children sexual assault prevention concepts.

Organic synthesis in a changing world.

PubMed

Ley, Steven V; Baxendale, Ian R

2002-01-01

This article is based on a lecture presented to the Chemical Society of Japan at Wasada University on March 27, 2002, by Professor Steven V. Ley. The lecture, "Organic Synthesis in a Changing World," was a comprehensive account of the ongoing research efforts of professor Ley's group in the development and application of solid-supported reagents and scavengers for use in organic synthesis. Copyright 2002 The Japan Chemical Journal Forum and Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

OGC Dashboard

EPA Pesticide Factsheets

The Office of General Counsel (OGC) has an ongoing business process engineering and business process automation initiative which has helped the office reduce administrative labor costs while increasing employee effectiveness. Supporting this effort is a system of automated routines accessible through a portal' interface called OGC Dashboard. The dashboard helps OGC track work progress, legal case load, written work products such as legal briefs and advice, and scheduling processes such as employee leave plans (via calendar) and travel compensatory time off.

Decision Support in a Changing and Contentious World--Successfully Supporting the Development of a 50-year Comprehensive Coastal Master Plan in Louisiana

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Groves, D.

2014-12-01

After the devastating 2005 hurricane season, Louisiana embarked on an ambitious and daunting effort to develop and implement a comprehensive Coastal Master Plan. The Master Plan sought to achieve two key goals simultaneously: reduce hurricane flood risk and halt the net conversion of its coastal landscape to open ocean. Numerous prior efforts to achieve these goals had been tried without significant success. In 2012, however, the Louisiana Coastal Protection and Restoration Authority (CPRA) produced a 50-year, $50 billion Master Plan. It had broad support from a diverse and often adversarial set of stakeholders, and it was unanimously passed by the Louisiana legislature. In contrast to other efforts, CPRA took an approach to planning called by the U.S. National Research Council as "deliberation with analysis". Specifically, CPRA used data, models, and decision support tools not to define an optimal or best strategy, but instead to support stakeholder dialogue and deliberations over alterative coastal management strategies. RAND researchers, with the support of CPRA and other collaborators, developed the planning tool at the center of this process. The CPRA planning tool synthesized large amounts of information about how the coast might evolve over time with and without different combinations of hundreds of different projects and programs. The tool helped CPRA propose alternative strategies that could achieve the State's goals while also highlighting to stakeholders the key tradeoffs among them. Importantly, this process helped bring diverse communities together to support a single vision and specific set of projects and programs to meet many of Louisiana's coastal water resources challenges. This presentation will describe the planning approach and decision support tools developed to support the Master Plan's participatory stakeholder process. The presentation will also highlight several important key takeaway messages that have broad applicability to other water resources planning efforts. Lastly, it will describe several on-going efforts in other parts of the U.S. that are employing this same approach.

Human Data Supporting Glyburide in Ischemic Stroke

PubMed Central

Sheth, Kevin N.; Simard, J. Marc; Elm, Jordan; Kronenberg, Golo; Kunte, Hagen; Kimberly, W. Taylor

2016-01-01

The SUR1-TRPM4 channel is a critical determinant of edema and hemorrhagic transformation after focal ischemia. Blockade of this channel by the small molecule glyburide results in improved survival and neurological outcome in multiple preclinical models of ischemic stroke. A robust, compelling body of evidence suggests that an intravenous (IV) formulation of glyburide, RP-1127, can prevent swelling and improve outcome in patients with stroke. Retrospective studies of diabetic stroke patients show improved outcomes in patients who are continued on sulfonylureas after stroke onset. Early phase II study of MRI and plasma biomarkers support the conclusion that RP-1127 may decrease swelling and hemorrhagic transformation. Finally, the ongoing phase II RP-1127 development program has demonstrated continued safety as well as feasibility of enrollment and tolerability of the intervention. Continued efforts to complete the ongoing phase IIb study and definitive efficacy studies are urgently needed to bring a candidate pharmacotherapy to a population of severe stroke patients that currently have no alternative. PMID:26463916

Human Data Supporting Glyburide in Ischemic Stroke.

PubMed

Sheth, Kevin N; Simard, J Marc; Elm, Jordan; Kronenberg, Golo; Kunte, Hagen; Kimberly, W Taylor

2016-01-01

The SUR1-TRPM4 channel is a critical determinant of edema and hemorrhagic transformation after focal ischemia. Blockade of this channel by the small molecule glyburide results in improved survival and neurological outcome in multiple preclinical models of ischemic stroke. A robust, compelling body of evidence suggests that an intravenous formulation of glyburide, RP-1127, can prevent swelling and improve outcome in patients with stroke. Retrospective studies of diabetic stroke patients show improved outcomes in patients who are continued on sulfonylureas after stroke onset. An early phase II study using magnetic resonance imaging and plasma biomarkers supports the conclusion that RP-1127 may decrease swelling and hemorrhagic transformation. Finally, the ongoing phase II RP-1127 development program has demonstrated continued safety as well as feasibility of enrollment and tolerability of the intervention. Continued efforts to complete the ongoing phase II study and definitive efficacy studies are needed to bring a candidate pharmacotherapy to a population of severe stroke patients that currently have no alternative.

Total Quality Management in Space Shuttle Main Engine manufacturing

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Ding, J.

1992-01-01

The Total Quality Management (TQM) philosophy developed in the Marshall Space Flight Center (MSFC) is briefly reviewed and the ongoing TQM implementation effort which is being pursued through the continuous improvement (CI) process is discussed. TQM is based on organizational excellence which integrates the new supportive culture with the technical tools necessary to identify, assess, and correct manufacturing processes. Particular attention is given to the prime contractor's change to the organizational excellence management philosophy in SSME manufacturing facilities.

Proceedings of the Workshop on Government Oil Spill Modeling

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Bishop, J. M. (Compiler)

1980-01-01

Oil spill model users and modelers were brought together for the purpose of fostering joint communication and increasing understanding of mutual problems. The workshop concentrated on defining user needs, presentations on ongoing modeling programs, and discussions of supporting research for these modeling efforts. Specific user recommendations include the development of an oil spill model user library which identifies and describes available models. The development of models for the long-term fate and effect of spilled oil was examined.

Computing Cluster for Large Scale Turbulence Simulations and Applications in Computational Aeroacoustics

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lele, Sanjiva K.

2002-08-01

Funds were received in April 2001 under the Department of Defense DURIP program for construction of a 48 processor high performance computing cluster. This report details the hardware which was purchased and how it has been used to enable and enhance research activities directly supported by, and of interest to, the Air Force Office of Scientific Research and the Department of Defense. The report is divided into two major sections. The first section after this summary describes the computer cluster, its setup, and some cluster performance benchmark results. The second section explains ongoing research efforts which have benefited from the cluster hardware, and presents highlights of those efforts since installation of the cluster.

NASA Human Spaceflight Architecture Team: Lunar Surface Exploration Strategies

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Mueller, Rob P.

2012-01-01

NASA s agency wide Human Spaceflight Architecture Team (HAT) has been developing Design Reference Missions (DRMs) to support the ongoing effort to characterize NASA s future human exploration strategy. The DRM design effort includes specific articulations of transportation and surface elements, technologies and operations required to enable future human exploration of various destinations including the moon, Near Earth Asteroids (NEAs) and Mars as well as interim cis-lunar targets. In prior architecture studies, transportation concerns have dominated the analysis. As a result, an effort was made to study the human utilization strategy at each specific destination and the resultant impacts on the overall architecture design. In particular, this paper considers various lunar surface strategies as representative scenarios that could occur in a human lunar return, and demonstrates their alignment with the internationally developed Global Exploration Roadmap (GER).

Systems approach to monitoring and evaluation guides scale up of the Standard Days Method of family planning in Rwanda.

PubMed

Igras, Susan; Sinai, Irit; Mukabatsinda, Marie; Ngabo, Fidele; Jennings, Victoria; Lundgren, Rebecka

2014-05-01

There is no guarantee that a successful pilot program introducing a reproductive health innovation can also be expanded successfully to the national or regional level, because the scaling-up process is complex and multilayered. This article describes how a successful pilot program to integrate the Standard Days Method (SDM) of family planning into existing Ministry of Health services was scaled up nationally in Rwanda. Much of the success of the scale-up effort was due to systematic use of monitoring and evaluation (M&E) data from several sources to make midcourse corrections. Four lessons learned illustrate this crucially important approach. First, ongoing M&E data showed that provider training protocols and client materials that worked in the pilot phase did not work at scale; therefore, we simplified these materials to support integration into the national program. Second, triangulation of ongoing monitoring data with national health facility and population-based surveys revealed serious problems in supply chain mechanisms that affected SDM (and the accompanying CycleBeads client tool) availability and use; new procedures for ordering supplies and monitoring stockouts were instituted at the facility level. Third, supervision reports and special studies revealed that providers were imposing unnecessary medical barriers to SDM use; refresher training and revised supervision protocols improved provider practices. Finally, informal environmental scans, stakeholder interviews, and key events timelines identified shifting political and health policy environments that influenced scale-up outcomes; ongoing advocacy efforts are addressing these issues. The SDM scale-up experience in Rwanda confirms the importance of monitoring and evaluating programmatic efforts continuously, using a variety of data sources, to improve program outcomes.

Systems approach to monitoring and evaluation guides scale up of the Standard Days Method of family planning in Rwanda

PubMed Central

Igras, Susan; Sinai, Irit; Mukabatsinda, Marie; Ngabo, Fidele; Jennings, Victoria; Lundgren, Rebecka

2014-01-01

There is no guarantee that a successful pilot program introducing a reproductive health innovation can also be expanded successfully to the national or regional level, because the scaling-up process is complex and multilayered. This article describes how a successful pilot program to integrate the Standard Days Method (SDM) of family planning into existing Ministry of Health services was scaled up nationally in Rwanda. Much of the success of the scale-up effort was due to systematic use of monitoring and evaluation (M&E) data from several sources to make midcourse corrections. Four lessons learned illustrate this crucially important approach. First, ongoing M&E data showed that provider training protocols and client materials that worked in the pilot phase did not work at scale; therefore, we simplified these materials to support integration into the national program. Second, triangulation of ongoing monitoring data with national health facility and population-based surveys revealed serious problems in supply chain mechanisms that affected SDM (and the accompanying CycleBeads client tool) availability and use; new procedures for ordering supplies and monitoring stockouts were instituted at the facility level. Third, supervision reports and special studies revealed that providers were imposing unnecessary medical barriers to SDM use; refresher training and revised supervision protocols improved provider practices. Finally, informal environmental scans, stakeholder interviews, and key events timelines identified shifting political and health policy environments that influenced scale-up outcomes; ongoing advocacy efforts are addressing these issues. The SDM scale-up experience in Rwanda confirms the importance of monitoring and evaluating programmatic efforts continuously, using a variety of data sources, to improve program outcomes. PMID:25276581

Assistive Technology for an Inclusive Society for People with Intellectual Disability.

PubMed

Owuor, John; Larkan, Fiona

2017-01-01

People with intellectual disability (ID), are some of the most stigmatized and marginalized social groups. Ongoing global initiatives such as the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (UNCPD) and Strategic Development Goals (SDGs) aim to accelerate their inclusion into the society. In many high-income countries, deinstitutionalization of care for people with ID forms part of the broader social inclusion agenda for people with ID into the society. Access to appropriate assistive technology (AT) can mediate the ongoing normalization/inclusion efforts for people with ID. AT can enable users with ID to access societal processes such as education, employment, socialization or independent living. Effective use of AT can also enhance the formation and/or maintenance of interpersonal relationships by people with ID, thus promote their social support.

The road to pharmacist prescribing in Alberta Health Services.

PubMed

Gray, Margaret; Mysak, Tania

2016-09-15

The implementation of policy within a health organization to support a new legislative and regulatory framework of pharmacist prescribing in the Canadian province of Alberta is described. The evolution of pharmacists' practice activities to encompass medication management through independent prescribing authority has occurred in many jurisdictions around the world. In 2007, Alberta pharmacists were granted the most progressive scope of practice in all of North America. Pursuant to a series of legislative and regulatory initiatives enacted since 2000, the provincial health authority, Alberta Health Services (AHS), has worked to (1) establish a policy framework that supports pharmacist prescribing, (2) provide opportunities for pharmacist prescribing in both inpatient and ambulatory care practice environments, and (3) provide motivation and resources for AHS pharmacists to acquire "additional prescribing authorization" (APA) that enables them to independently prescribe and manage patients' ongoing drug therapy. Pharmacists with APA currently are permitted to prescribe all medications requiring a prescription, with the exception of opiates and other controlled substances; efforts to expand pharmacist prescribing to include those medications are ongoing. Currently, nearly half of all AHS pharmacists have APA. The health authority plans to make APA a standard expectation for all clinical pharmacists working in collaborative practice settings. Opportunities provided to Alberta pharmacists by legislation have been embraced by the provincial health authority. The AHS leadership remains committed to ensuring that its pharmacists practice to the full extent of their scope of practice and actively encourages and supports them in their efforts to provide optimal patient care. Copyright © 2016 by the American Society of Health-System Pharmacists, Inc. All rights reserved.

Approaching patient engagement in research: what do patients with cardiovascular disease think?

PubMed

Finney Rutten, Lila J; Morris, Megan A; Schrader, Lisa M; Manemann, Sheila M; Pathak, Jyotishman; Dimler, Robert; Roger, Veronique L

2015-01-01

Movement toward patient-centered health care must be supported by an evidence base informed by greater patient engagement in research. Efforts to better understand patients' interest in and perspectives on involvement in the research process are fundamental to supporting movement of research programs toward greater patient engagement. We describe preliminary efforts to engage members of a community group of patients living with heart disease to better understand their interest and perspectives on involvement in research. A semi-structured focus group guide was developed to probe willingness to participate in the following three phases of research: preparation, execution, and translation. The focus group discussion, and our summary of key messages gleaned from said discussion, was organized around the phases of research that patients may be involved in, with the goal of delineating degrees of interest expressed for engagement in each phase. Consistent with what is known from the literature, a clear preference for engagement during the preparation and translation phase of the research process emerged. This preliminary conversation will guide our ongoing research efforts toward greater inclusion of patients throughout the research process.

On the Relationship Between Effort Toward an Ongoing Task and Cue Detection in Event-Based Prospective Memory

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Marsh, Richard L.; Hicks, Jason L.; Cook, Gabriel I.

2005-01-01

In recent theories of event-based prospective memory, researchers have debated what degree of resources are necessary to identify a cue as related to a previously established intention. In order to simulate natural variations in attention, the authors manipulated effort toward an ongoing cognitive task in which intention-related cues were embedded…

Changing office practice and health care systems to facilitate diabetes self-management.

PubMed

Funnell, Martha M; Anderson, Robert M

2003-04-01

Diabetes is a self-managed disease for which patients provide 99% of their own care. For patients to succeed as diabetes self-managers, they need office practices and health care systems that can prepare and support them in their diabetes self-management efforts over the long term. In order to provide effective diabetes education and ongoing support, office practices and health care systems will have to fundamentally redefine the roles of health professionals and patients with diabetes, and redesign practices and systems to allow for effective long-term self-management education and support. Although it is difficult for both people and systems to change, change is essential if we are going to provide self-management support for the majority of patients suffering from this serious chronic disease.

Software for visualization, analysis, and manipulation of laser scan images

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Burnsides, Dennis B.

1997-03-01

The recent introduction of laser surface scanning to scientific applications presents a challenge to computer scientists and engineers. Full utilization of this two- dimensional (2-D) and three-dimensional (3-D) data requires advances in techniques and methods for data processing and visualization. This paper explores the development of software to support the visualization, analysis and manipulation of laser scan images. Specific examples presented are from on-going efforts at the Air Force Computerized Anthropometric Research and Design (CARD) Laboratory.

COEFUV: A Computer Implementation of a Generalized Unmanned Vehicle Cost Model.

DTIC Science & Technology

1978-10-01

78 T N OMBER . C A FEUCNTER CLASSIF lED DAS-TRRNL mh~hhhh~hhE DAS-TR-78-4 DAS-TR-78-4 coI COEFUV: A COMPUTER IMPLEMENTATION OF A IM GENERALIZED ...34 and the time to generate them are important. Many DAS participants supported this effort. The authors wish to acknow- ledge Richard H. Anderson for...conflict and the on-going COMBAT ANGEL program at Davis-Monthan Air Force Base, there is not a generally accepted costing methodology for unmanned vehicles

The Air Force’s Individual Mobilization Augmentee Program: Is the Current Organizational Structure Viable?

DTIC Science & Technology

2012-10-01

support ongoing efforts by Lt Gen Charles Stenner to transform the Reserve into the operational, cost-effective, enhanced force that he envisions.35...Charles E. Stenner , Total Force Policy 21: A 21st Century Framework for Military Force Mix Decisions, Air Force Reserve White Paper (Washington, DC...20. Stenner , Total Force Policy 21, 3–5. 21. Readiness Management Group, RMG Individual Reserve Guide, 8–9. 22. Ibid.; and Stenner , Total Force

Planning applications in image analysis

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Boddy, Mark; White, Jim; Goldman, Robert; Short, Nick, Jr.

1994-01-01

We describe two interim results from an ongoing effort to automate the acquisition, analysis, archiving, and distribution of satellite earth science data. Both results are applications of Artificial Intelligence planning research to the automatic generation of processing steps for image analysis tasks. First, we have constructed a linear conditional planner (CPed), used to generate conditional processing plans. Second, we have extended an existing hierarchical planning system to make use of durations, resources, and deadlines, thus supporting the automatic generation of processing steps in time and resource-constrained environments.

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

Westerly, D.

Experimental research in medical physics has expanded the limits of our knowledge and provided novel imaging and therapy technologies for patients around the world. However, experimental efforts are challenging due to constraints in funding, space, time and other forms of institutional support. In this joint ESTRO-AAPM symposium, four exciting experimental projects from four different countries are highlighted. Each project is focused on a different aspect of radiation therapy. From the USA, we will hear about a new linear accelerator concept for more compact and efficient therapy devices. From Canada, we will learn about novel linear accelerator target design and themore » implications for imaging and therapy. From France, we will discover a mature translational effort to incorporate theranostic nanoparticles in MR-guided radiation therapy. From Germany, we will find out about a novel in-treatment imaging modality for particle therapy. These examples of high impact, experimental medical physics research are representative of the diversity of such efforts that are on-going around the globe. J. Robar, Research is supported through collaboration with Varian Medical Systems and Brainlab AGD. Westerly, This work is supported by the Department of Radiation Oncology at the University of Colorado School of Medicine. COI: NONEK. Parodi, Part of the presented work is supported by the DFG (German Research Foundation) Cluster of Excellence MAP (Munich-Centre for Advanced Photonics) and has been carried out in collaboration with IBA.« less

MO-FG-BRC-04: Ionacoustic Imaging for Particle Range Verification

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

Parodi, K.

2016-06-15

Experimental research in medical physics has expanded the limits of our knowledge and provided novel imaging and therapy technologies for patients around the world. However, experimental efforts are challenging due to constraints in funding, space, time and other forms of institutional support. In this joint ESTRO-AAPM symposium, four exciting experimental projects from four different countries are highlighted. Each project is focused on a different aspect of radiation therapy. From the USA, we will hear about a new linear accelerator concept for more compact and efficient therapy devices. From Canada, we will learn about novel linear accelerator target design and themore » implications for imaging and therapy. From France, we will discover a mature translational effort to incorporate theranostic nanoparticles in MR-guided radiation therapy. From Germany, we will find out about a novel in-treatment imaging modality for particle therapy. These examples of high impact, experimental medical physics research are representative of the diversity of such efforts that are on-going around the globe. J. Robar, Research is supported through collaboration with Varian Medical Systems and Brainlab AGD. Westerly, This work is supported by the Department of Radiation Oncology at the University of Colorado School of Medicine. COI: NONEK. Parodi, Part of the presented work is supported by the DFG (German Research Foundation) Cluster of Excellence MAP (Munich-Centre for Advanced Photonics) and has been carried out in collaboration with IBA.« less

Thermodynamic analysis and subscale modeling of space-based orbit transfer vehicle cryogenic propellant resupply

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Defelice, David M.; Aydelott, John C.

1987-01-01

The resupply of the cryogenic propellants is an enabling technology for spacebased orbit transfer vehicles. As part of the NASA Lewis ongoing efforts in microgravity fluid management, thermodynamic analysis and subscale modeling techniques were developed to support an on-orbit test bed for cryogenic fluid management technologies. Analytical results have shown that subscale experimental modeling of liquid resupply can be used to validate analytical models when the appropriate target temperature is selected to relate the model to its prototype system. Further analyses were used to develop a thermodynamic model of the tank chilldown process which is required prior to the no-vent fill operation. These efforts were incorporated into two FORTRAN programs which were used to present preliminary analyticl results.

Executable Architecture Research at Old Dominion University

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Tolk, Andreas; Shuman, Edwin A.; Garcia, Johnny J.

2011-01-01

Executable Architectures allow the evaluation of system architectures not only regarding their static, but also their dynamic behavior. However, the systems engineering community do not agree on a common formal specification of executable architectures. To close this gap and identify necessary elements of an executable architecture, a modeling language, and a modeling formalism is topic of ongoing PhD research. In addition, systems are generally defined and applied in an operational context to provide capabilities and enable missions. To maximize the benefits of executable architectures, a second PhD effort introduces the idea of creating an executable context in addition to the executable architecture. The results move the validation of architectures from the current information domain into the knowledge domain and improve the reliability of such validation efforts. The paper presents research and results of both doctoral research efforts and puts them into a common context of state-of-the-art of systems engineering methods supporting more agility.

A Data-Driven Framework for Incorporating New Tools for ...

EPA Pesticide Factsheets

This talk was given during the “Exposure-Based Toxicity Testing” session at the annual meeting of the International Society for Exposure Science. It provided an update on the state of the science and tools that may be employed in risk-based prioritization efforts. It outlined knowledge gained from the data provided using these high-throughput tools to assess chemical bioactivity and to predict chemical exposures and also identified future needs. It provided an opportunity to showcase ongoing research efforts within the National Exposure Research Laboratory and the National Center for Computational Toxicology within the Office of Research and Development to an international audience. The National Exposure Research Laboratory (NERL) Computational Exposure Division (CED) develops and evaluates data, decision-support tools, and models to be applied to media-specific or receptor-specific problem areas. CED uses modeling-based approaches to characterize exposures, evaluate fate and transport, and support environmental diagnostics/forensics with input from multiple data sources. It also develops media- and receptor-specific models, process models, and decision support tools for use both within and outside of EPA.

The Need For Ongoing Surveys About Physician Practice Costs.

PubMed

Berk, Marc L

2016-09-01

Physicians continue to be the subject of many survey efforts asking them about a wide range of issues including training, retirement plans, satisfaction with practice, practice organization, and practice costs. The resources dedicated to the collection of different types of data have changed over time. Collection efforts have both expanded and contracted. Here I discuss this phenomenon for several types of physician surveys, with particular focus on the reduction in ongoing survey efforts about physician practice costs. The diminution of efforts to collect information about these costs represents an important challenge since the lack of timely, high-quality data could impair the correct calculation of reimbursement rates. Project HOPE—The People-to-People Health Foundation, Inc.

Ernest Orlando Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory Institutional Plan FY 2000-2004

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

Chartock, Mike; Hansen, Todd

1999-08-01

The FY 2000-2004 Institutional Plan provides an overview of the Ernest Orlando Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab, the Laboratory) mission, strategic plan, initiatives, and the resources required to fulfill its role in support of national needs in fundamental science and technology, energy resources, and environmental quality. To advance the Department of Energy's ongoing efforts to define the Integrated Laboratory System, the Berkeley Lab Institutional Plan reflects the strategic elements of our planning efforts. The Institutional Plan is a management report that supports the Department of Energy's mission and programs and is an element of the Department of Energy's strategicmore » management planning activities, developed through an annual planning process. The Plan supports the Government Performance and Results Act of 1993 and complements the performance-based contract between the Department of Energy and the Regents of the University of California. It identifies technical and administrative directions in the context of the national energy policy and research needs and the Department of Energy's program planning initiatives. Preparation of the plan is coordinated by the Office of Planning and Communications from information contributed by Berkeley Lab's scientific and support divisions.« less

Evaluation of a medication order writing standards policy in a regional health authority.

PubMed

Raymond, Colette B; Sproll, Barbara; Coates, Jan; Woloschuk, Donna M M

2013-09-01

The Winnipeg Regional Health Authority (WRHA) implemented a medication order writing standards (MOWS) policy (including banned abbreviations) to improve patient safety. Widespread educational campaigns and direct prescriber feedback were implemented. We audited orders within the WRHA from 2005 to 2009 and surveyed all WRHA staff in 2011 about the policy and suggestions for improving education and compliance. Overall, orders containing banned abbreviations, acronyms or symbols numbered 2261/8565 (26.4%) preimplementation. After WRHA-wide didactic education, the proportion declined to 1358/5461 (24.9%) (p = 0.043) and then, with targeted prescriber feedback, to 1186/6198 (19.1%) (p < 0.0001). A survey of 723 employees showed frequent violations of the MOWS, despite widespread knowledge of the policy. Respondents supported ongoing efforts to enforce the policy within the WRHA. Nonprescribers were significantly more likely than prescribers to agree with statements regarding enhancing compliance by defining prescriber/transcriber responsibilities and placing sanctions on noncompliant prescribers. Education, raising general awareness and targeted feedback to prescribers alone are insufficient to ensure compliance with MOWS policies. WRHA staff supported ongoing communication, improved tools such as compliant preprinted orders and reporting and feedback about medication incidents. A surprising number of respondents supported placing sanctions on noncompliant prescribers. Serial audits and targeted interventions such as direct prescriber feedback improve prescription quality in inpatient hospital settings. Education plus direct prescriber feedback had a greater impact than education alone on improving compliance with a MOWS policy. Future efforts at the WRHA to improve compliance will require an expanded focus on incentives, resources and development of action plans that involve all affected staff, not just prescribers. Plans include continued advertising, MOWS summaries in all charts, all-staff education, reminders and exploration of sustainable interventions for targeted feedback for prescribers.

RELAP-7 Theory Manual

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

Berry, Ray Alden; Zou, Ling; Zhao, Haihua

This document summarizes the physical models and mathematical formulations used in the RELAP-7 code. In summary, the MOOSE based RELAP-7 code development is an ongoing effort. The MOOSE framework enables rapid development of the RELAP-7 code. The developmental efforts and results demonstrate that the RELAP-7 project is on a path to success. This theory manual documents the main features implemented into the RELAP-7 code. Because the code is an ongoing development effort, this RELAP-7 Theory Manual will evolve with periodic updates to keep it current with the state of the development, implementation, and model additions/revisions.

Developing schools' capacities to respond to community crisis: the Tennessee initiative.

PubMed

Love, Rene A; Cobb, Nicole

2012-08-01

The development and implementation of a statewide initiative addressing mental health issues within schools postcrisis. The potential for a community crisis occurs every day. After a crisis, schools are practical, logical, and effective places to help students recover from a tragedy. If crisis-related trauma is not addressed adequately, it can impact academic outcomes such as reading achievement, grade point average, and overall academic performance. For these reasons, it is imperative that school administrators support students in the aftermath of a crisis. This ongoing project continues in an effort to support students, faculty, and staff after a traumatic event within the Tennessee public school system. © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

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

Nalu is a Sierra ToolKit (STK) based application module, and it has provided a set of "lessons learned" for the STK transition effort through its early adoption of STK. It makes use of the open-sourced Trilinos/ Tpetra library. Through the investment of LORD and ASCR projects, the Nalu code module has been extended beyond prototype status. Physics capability includes low Mach, variable density turbulent flow. The ongoing objective for Nalu is to facilitate partnerships with external organizations in order to extend code capability and knowledge; however, it is not intended to support routine CFD analysis. The targeted usage of thismore » module is for non-NW applications that support work-for-others in the multiphysics energy sector.« less

Overview of Fluid Dynamics Activities at the Marshall Space Flight Center

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Garcia, Roberto; Griffin, Lisa W.; Wang, Ten-See

1999-01-01

Since its inception 40 years ago, Marshall Space Flight Center (MSFC) has had the need to maintain and advance state-of-the-art flow analysis and cold-flow testing capability to support its roles and missions. This overview discusses the recent organizational changes that have occurred at MSFC with emphasis on the resulting three groups that form the core of fluid dynamics expertise at MSFC: the Fluid Physics and Dynamics Group, the Applied Fluid Dynamics Analysis Group, and the Experimental Fluid Dynamics Group. Recently completed activities discussed include the analysis and flow testing in support of the Fastrac engine design, the X-33 vehicle design, and the X34 propulsion system design. Ongoing activities include support of the RLV vehicle design, Liquid Fly Back Booster aerodynamic configuration definition, and RLV focused technologies development. Other ongoing activities discussed are efforts sponsored by the Center Director's Discretionary Fund (CDDF) to develop an advanced incompressible flow code and to develop optimization techniques. Recently initiated programs and their anticipated required fluid dynamics support are discussed. Based on recent experiences and on the anticipated program needs, required analytical and experimental technique improvements are presented. Due to anticipated budgetary constraints, there is a strong need to leverage activities and to pursue teaming arrangements in order to advance the state-of-the-art and to adequately support concept development. Throughout this overview there is discussion of the lessons learned and of the capabilities demonstrated and established in support of the hardware development programs.

Predictors of Depressive Symptoms Among Israeli Jews and Arabs During the Al Aqsa Intifada: A Population-Based Cohort Study

PubMed Central

Tracy, Melissa; Hobfoll, Stevan E.; Canetti–Nisim, Daphna; Galea, Sandro

2009-01-01

PURPOSE We sought to assess the predictors of depressive symptoms in a population–based cohort exposed to ongoing and widespread terrorism. METHODS Interviews of a representative sample of adults living in Israel, including both Jews and Arabs, were conducted between August and September 2004, with follow-up interviews taking place between February and April 2005. Censoring weights were estimated to account for differential loss to follow-up. Zero-inflated negative binomial models with bootstrapped confidence intervals were fit to assess predictors of severity of depressive symptoms, assessed using items from the Patient Health Questionnaire. RESULTS A total of 1613 Israeli residents participated in the baseline interview (80.8% Jewish, 49.4% male, mean age 43 years); 840 residents also participated in the follow-up interview. In multivariable models, Israeli Arab ethnicity, lower household income, lower social support, experiencing economic loss from terrorism, experiencing higher levels of psychosocial resource loss, and meeting criteria for post-traumatic stress disorder were significantly associated with increased severity of depressive symptoms. CONCLUSIONS Material deprivation is the primary modifiable risk factor for depressive symptoms in the context of ongoing terrorism. Efforts to minimize ongoing material and economic stressors may mitigate the mental health consequences of ongoing terrorism. PMID:18261923

Nuclear Cryogenic Propulsion Stage (NCPS) Fuel Element Testing in the Nuclear Thermal Rocket Element Environmental Simulator (NTREES)

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Emrich, William J., Jr.

2017-01-01

To support the on-going nuclear thermal propulsion effort, a state-of-the-art non nuclear experimental test setup has been constructed to evaluate the performance characteristics of candidate fuel element materials and geometries in representative environments. The facility to perform this testing is referred to as the Nuclear Thermal Rocket Element Environment Simulator (NTREES). Last year NTREES was successfully used to satisfy a testing milestone for the Nuclear Cryogenic Propulsion Stage (NCPS) project and met or exceeded all required objectives.

Amend the title so as to read: `Condemning Joseph Kony and the Lord's Resistance Army for committing crimes against humanity and mass atrocities, and supporting ongoing efforts by the United States Government and governments and regional organizations in central Africa to remove Joseph Kony and Lord's Resistance Army commanders from the battlefield.'.

THOMAS, 112th Congress

Sen. Coons, Christopher A. [D-DE

2012-03-21

Senate - 08/02/2012 Resolution agreed to in Senate with an amendment and an amendment to the Title and an amended preamble by Unanimous Consent. (All Actions) Tracker: This bill has the status Agreed to in SenateHere are the steps for Status of Legislation:

Development of a quiet supersonic wind tunnel with a cryogenic adaptive nozzle

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Wolf, Stephen D.

1991-01-01

The main objectives of this work is to demonstrate the potential of a cryogenic adaptive nozzle to generate quiet (low disturbance) supersonic flow. A drive system was researched for the Fluid Mechanics Laboratory (FML) Laminar Flow Supersonic Wind Tunnel (LFSWT) using a pilot tunnel. A supportive effort for ongoing Proof of Concept (PoC) research leading to the design of critical components of the LFSWT was maintained. The state-of-the-art in quiet supersonic wind tunnel design was investigated. A supersonic research capability was developed within the FML.

Cyberinfrastructure for Aircraft Mission Support

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Freudinger, Lawrence C.

2010-01-01

Forth last several years NASA's Airborne Science Program has been developing and using infrastructure and applications that enable researchers to interact with each other and with airborne instruments via network communications. Use of these tools has increased near realtime situational awareness during field operations, resulting it productivity improvements, improved decision making, and the collection of better data. Advances in pre-mission planning and post-mission access have also emerged. Integrating these capabilities with other tools to evolve coherent service-oriented enterprise architecture for aircraft flight and test operations is the subject of ongoing efforts.

Merging the Machines of Modern Science

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

Wolf, Laura; Collins, Jim

Two recent projects have harnessed supercomputing resources at the US Department of Energy’s Argonne National Laboratory in a novel way to support major fusion science and particle collider experiments. Using leadership computing resources, one team ran fine-grid analysis of real-time data to make near-real-time adjustments to an ongoing experiment, while a second team is working to integrate Argonne’s supercomputers into the Large Hadron Collider/ATLAS workflow. Together these efforts represent a new paradigm of the high-performance computing center as a partner in experimental science.

A summary of the lateral cutoff analysis and results from NASA's Farfield Investigation of No-boom Thresholds

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Cliatt, Larry J.; Hill, Michael A.; Haering, Edward A.; Arnac, Sarah R.

2015-10-01

In support of the ongoing effort by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) to bring supersonic commercial travel to the public, NASA, in partnership with other industry organizations, conducted a flight research experiment to analyze acoustic propagation at the lateral edge of the sonic boom carpet. The name of the effort was the Farfield Investigation of No-boom Thresholds (FaINT). The research from FaINT determined an appropriate metric for sonic boom waveforms in the transition and shadow zones called Perceived Sound Exposure Level, established a value of 65 dB as a limit for the acoustic lateral extent of a sonic boom's noise region, analyzed change in sonic boom levels near lateral cutoff, and compared between real sonic boom measurements and numerical predictions.

A Summary of the Lateral Cutoff Analysis and Results from Nasa's Farfield Investigation of No-Boom Thresholds

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Cliatt, Larry J., II; Hill, Michael A.; Haering, Edward A., Jr.; Arnac, Sarah R.

2015-01-01

In support of the ongoing effort by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) to bring supersonic commercial travel to the public, NASA, in partnership with other industry organizations, conducted a flight research experiment to analyze acoustic propagation at the lateral edge of the sonic boom carpet. The name of the effort was the Farfield Investigation of No-boom Thresholds (FaINT). The research from FaINT determined an appropriate metric for sonic boom waveforms in the transition and shadow zones called Perceived Sound Exposure Level, established a value of 65 dB as a limit for the acoustic lateral extent of a sonic boom's noise region, analyzed change in sonic boom levels near lateral cutoff, and compared between real sonic boom measurements and numerical predictions.

Studying Students' Science Literacy: Non-Scientific Beliefs and Science Literacy Measures

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Impey, C.; Buxner, S.

2015-11-01

We have been conducting a study of university students' science literacy for the past 24 years. Based on the work of the National Science Board's ongoing national survey of the US public, we have administered the same survey to undergraduate science students at the University of Arizona almost every year since 1989. Results have shown relatively little change in students' overall science literacy, descriptions of science, and knowledge of basic science topics for almost a quarter of a century despite an increase in education interventions, the rise of the internet, and increased access to knowledge. Several trends do exist in students' science literacy and descriptions of science. Students who exhibit beliefs in non-scientific phenomenon (e.g., lucky numbers, creationism) consistently have lower science literacy scores and less correct descriptions of scientific phenomenon. Although not surprising, our results support ongoing efforts to help students generate evidence based thinking.

Acute liver injury associated with a newer formulation of the herbal weight loss supplement Hydroxycut.

PubMed

Araujo, James L; Worman, Howard J

2015-05-06

Despite the widespread use of herbal and dietary supplements (HDS), serious cases of hepatotoxicity have been reported. The popular herbal weight loss supplement, Hydroxycut, has previously been implicated in acute liver injury. Since its introduction, Hydroxycut has undergone successive transformations in its formulation; yet, cases of liver injury have remained an ongoing problem. We report a case of a 41-year-old Hispanic man who developed acute hepatocellular liver injury with associated nausea, vomiting, jaundice, fatigue and asterixis attributed to the use of a newer formulation of Hydroxycut, SX-7 Clean Sensory. The patient required hospitalisation and improved with supportive therapy. Despite successive transformations in its formulation, potential liver injury appears to remain an ongoing problem with Hydroxycut. Our case illustrates the importance of obtaining a thorough medication history, including HDS, regardless of new or reformulated product marketing efforts. 2015 BMJ Publishing Group Ltd.

Acute liver injury associated with a newer formulation of the herbal weight loss supplement Hydroxycut

PubMed Central

Worman, Howard J

2015-01-01

Despite the widespread use of herbal and dietary supplements (HDS), serious cases of hepatotoxicity have been reported. The popular herbal weight loss supplement, Hydroxycut, has previously been implicated in acute liver injury. Since its introduction, Hydroxycut has undergone successive transformations in its formulation; yet, cases of liver injury have remained an ongoing problem. We report a case of a 41-year-old Hispanic man who developed acute hepatocellular liver injury with associated nausea, vomiting, jaundice, fatigue and asterixis attributed to the use of a newer formulation of Hydroxycut, SX-7 Clean Sensory. The patient required hospitalisation and improved with supportive therapy. Despite successive transformations in its formulation, potential liver injury appears to remain an ongoing problem with Hydroxycut. Our case illustrates the importance of obtaining a thorough medication history, including HDS, regardless of new or reformulated product marketing efforts. PMID:25948859

MO-FG-BRC-00: Joint AAPM-ESTRO Symposium: Advances in Experimental Medical Physics

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

NONE

Experimental research in medical physics has expanded the limits of our knowledge and provided novel imaging and therapy technologies for patients around the world. However, experimental efforts are challenging due to constraints in funding, space, time and other forms of institutional support. In this joint ESTRO-AAPM symposium, four exciting experimental projects from four different countries are highlighted. Each project is focused on a different aspect of radiation therapy. From the USA, we will hear about a new linear accelerator concept for more compact and efficient therapy devices. From Canada, we will learn about novel linear accelerator target design and themore » implications for imaging and therapy. From France, we will discover a mature translational effort to incorporate theranostic nanoparticles in MR-guided radiation therapy. From Germany, we will find out about a novel in-treatment imaging modality for particle therapy. These examples of high impact, experimental medical physics research are representative of the diversity of such efforts that are on-going around the globe. J. Robar, Research is supported through collaboration with Varian Medical Systems and Brainlab AGD. Westerly, This work is supported by the Department of Radiation Oncology at the University of Colorado School of Medicine. COI: NONEK. Parodi, Part of the presented work is supported by the DFG (German Research Foundation) Cluster of Excellence MAP (Munich-Centre for Advanced Photonics) and has been carried out in collaboration with IBA.« less

MO-FG-BRC-02: Low-Z Switching Linear Accelerator Targets: New Options for Image Guidance and Dose Enhancement in Radiotherapy

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

Robar, J.

2016-06-15

Experimental research in medical physics has expanded the limits of our knowledge and provided novel imaging and therapy technologies for patients around the world. However, experimental efforts are challenging due to constraints in funding, space, time and other forms of institutional support. In this joint ESTRO-AAPM symposium, four exciting experimental projects from four different countries are highlighted. Each project is focused on a different aspect of radiation therapy. From the USA, we will hear about a new linear accelerator concept for more compact and efficient therapy devices. From Canada, we will learn about novel linear accelerator target design and themore » implications for imaging and therapy. From France, we will discover a mature translational effort to incorporate theranostic nanoparticles in MR-guided radiation therapy. From Germany, we will find out about a novel in-treatment imaging modality for particle therapy. These examples of high impact, experimental medical physics research are representative of the diversity of such efforts that are on-going around the globe. J. Robar, Research is supported through collaboration with Varian Medical Systems and Brainlab AGD. Westerly, This work is supported by the Department of Radiation Oncology at the University of Colorado School of Medicine. COI: NONEK. Parodi, Part of the presented work is supported by the DFG (German Research Foundation) Cluster of Excellence MAP (Munich-Centre for Advanced Photonics) and has been carried out in collaboration with IBA.« less

MO-FG-BRC-01: MR-Guided Radiation Therapy with Gadolinium Nanoparticles: From Chalkboard to First Clinical Trials

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

Sancey, L.

2016-06-15

Experimental research in medical physics has expanded the limits of our knowledge and provided novel imaging and therapy technologies for patients around the world. However, experimental efforts are challenging due to constraints in funding, space, time and other forms of institutional support. In this joint ESTRO-AAPM symposium, four exciting experimental projects from four different countries are highlighted. Each project is focused on a different aspect of radiation therapy. From the USA, we will hear about a new linear accelerator concept for more compact and efficient therapy devices. From Canada, we will learn about novel linear accelerator target design and themore » implications for imaging and therapy. From France, we will discover a mature translational effort to incorporate theranostic nanoparticles in MR-guided radiation therapy. From Germany, we will find out about a novel in-treatment imaging modality for particle therapy. These examples of high impact, experimental medical physics research are representative of the diversity of such efforts that are on-going around the globe. J. Robar, Research is supported through collaboration with Varian Medical Systems and Brainlab AGD. Westerly, This work is supported by the Department of Radiation Oncology at the University of Colorado School of Medicine. COI: NONEK. Parodi, Part of the presented work is supported by the DFG (German Research Foundation) Cluster of Excellence MAP (Munich-Centre for Advanced Photonics) and has been carried out in collaboration with IBA.« less

77 FR 70123 - Retrospective Review Under Executive Order 13579

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2012-11-23

... ongoing review of its regulations related to the recent events at the Fukushima Dai-ichi Nuclear Power Plant in Japan; and (5) the NRC's previous and ongoing efforts to update its regulations in a systematic...

Wastewater treatment with submerged fixed bed biofilm reactor systems--design rules, operating experiences and ongoing developments.

PubMed

Schlegel, S; Koeser, H

2007-01-01

Wastewater treatment systems using bio-films that grow attached to a support media are an alternative to the widely used suspended growth activated sludge process. Different fixed growth biofilm reactors are commercially used for the treatment of municipal as well as industrial wastewater. In this paper a fairly new fixed growth biofilm system, the submerged fixed bed biofilm reactor (SFBBR), is discussed. SFBBRs are based on aerated submerged fixed open structured plastic media for the support of the biofilm. They are generally operated without sludge recirculation in order to avoid clogging of the support media and problems with the control of the biofilm. Reactor and process design considerations for these reactors are reviewed. Measures to ensure the development and maintenance of an active biofilm are examined. SFBBRs have been applied successfully to small wastewater treatment plants where complete nitrification but no high degree of denitrification is necessary. For the pre-treatment of industrial wastewater the use of SFBBRs is advantageous, especially in cases of wastewater with high organic loading or high content of compounds with low biodegradability. Performance data from exemplary commercial plants are given. Ongoing research and development efforts aim at achieving a high simultaneous total nitrogen (TN) removal of aerated SFBBRs and at improving the efficiency of TN removal in anoxic SFBBRs.

Brain awareness week and beyond: encouraging the next generation.

PubMed

McNerney, Colleen D; Chang, Eun-Joo; Spitzer, Nicholas C

2009-01-01

The field of neuroscience is generating increased public appetite for information about exciting brain research and discoveries. As stewards of the discipline, together with FUN and others, the Society for Neuroscience (SfN) embraces public outreach and education as essential to its mission of promoting understanding of the brain and nervous system. The Society looks to its members, particularly the younger generation of neuroscientists, to inspire, inform and engage citizens of all ages, and most importantly our youth, in this important endeavor. Here we review SfN programs and resources that support public outreach efforts to inform, educate and tell the story of neuroscience. We describe the important role the Brain Awareness campaign has played in achieving this goal and highlight opportunities for FUN members and students to contribute to this growing effort. We discuss specific programs that provide additional opportunities for neuroscientists to get involved with K-12 teachers and students in ways that inspire youth to pursue further studies and possible careers in science. We draw attention to SfN resources that support outreach to broader audiences. Through ongoing partnerships such as that between SfN and FUN, the neuroscience community is well positioned to pursue novel approaches and resources, including harnessing the power of the Internet. These efforts will increase science literacy among our citizens and garner more robust support for scientific research.

"It Takes a Network": Building National Capacity for Climate Change Interpretation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Spitzer, W.

2014-12-01

Since 2007, the New England Aquarium has led a national effort to increase the capacity of informal science venues to effectively communicate about climate change. We are now leading the NSF-funded National Network for Ocean and Climate Change Interpretation (NNOCCI), partnering with the Association of Zoos and Aquariums, FrameWorks Institute, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, Monterey Bay Aquarium, and National Aquarium, with evaluation conducted by the New Knowledge Organization, Pennsylvania State University, and Ohio State University. More than 1,500 informal science venues (science centers, museums, aquariums, zoos, nature centers, national parks) are visited annually by 61% of the U.S. population. These visitors expect reliable information about environmental issues and solutions. NNOCCI enables teams of informal science interpreters across the country to serve as "communication strategists" - beyond merely conveying information they can influence public perceptions, given their high level of commitment, knowledge, public trust, social networks, and visitor contact. Beyond providing in-depth training, we have found that our "alumni network" is assuming an increasingly important role in achieving our goals: 1. Ongoing learning - Training must be ongoing given continuous advances in climate and social science research. 2. Implementation support - Social support is critical as interpreters move from learning to practice, given complex and potentially contentious subject matter. 3. Leadership development - We rely on a national cadre of interpretive leaders to conduct workshops, facilitate study circle trainings, and support alumni. 4. Coalition building - A peer network helps to build and maintain connections with colleagues, and supports further dissemination through the informal science community. We are experimenting with a variety of online and face to face strategies to support the growing alumni network. Our goals are to achieve a systemic national impact, embed our work within multiple ongoing regional and national climate change education networks, and leave an enduring legacy.

Reference Computational Meshing Strategy for Computational Fluid Dynamics Simulation of Departure from Nucleate BoilingReference Computational Meshing Strategy for Computational Fluid Dynamics Simulation of Departure from Nucleate Boiling

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

Pointer, William David

The objective of this effort is to establish a strategy and process for generation of suitable computational mesh for computational fluid dynamics simulations of departure from nucleate boiling in a 5 by 5 fuel rod assembly held in place by PWR mixing vane spacer grids. This mesh generation process will support ongoing efforts to develop, demonstrate and validate advanced multi-phase computational fluid dynamics methods that enable more robust identification of dryout conditions and DNB occurrence.Building upon prior efforts and experience, multiple computational meshes were developed using the native mesh generation capabilities of the commercial CFD code STAR-CCM+. These meshes weremore » used to simulate two test cases from the Westinghouse 5 by 5 rod bundle facility. The sensitivity of predicted quantities of interest to the mesh resolution was then established using two evaluation methods, the Grid Convergence Index method and the Least Squares method. This evaluation suggests that the Least Squares method can reliably establish the uncertainty associated with local parameters such as vector velocity components at a point in the domain or surface averaged quantities such as outlet velocity magnitude. However, neither method is suitable for characterization of uncertainty in global extrema such as peak fuel surface temperature, primarily because such parameters are not necessarily associated with a fixed point in space. This shortcoming is significant because the current generation algorithm for identification of DNB event conditions relies on identification of such global extrema. Ongoing efforts to identify DNB based on local surface conditions will address this challenge« less

Measurement of the ^235mU Production Cross Section Using a Critical Assembly*

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Macri, Robert; Authier, Nicolas; Becker, John; Belier, Gilbert; Bond, Evelyn; Bredeweg, Todd; Glover, S.; Meot, Vincent; Rundberg, Robert; Vieira, David; Wilhelmy, Jerry

2006-10-01

Measurements of the creation and destruction cross sections for actinide nuclei constitute an important experimental effort in support of Stockpile Stewardship. In this talk I will give a progress report on the effort to measure the production cross section of the ^235mU isomer integrated over a fission neutron spectrum. This ongoing experiment is fielded at CEA in Valduc, France, taking advantage of the CALIBAN critical assembly. This effort is performed in collaboration with LANL, LLNL, Bruyeres le Chatel, and Valduc staff. This experiment utilizes a technique to measure internal conversion electrons from the ^235mU isomer with the French BIII detector (Bruyeres le Chatel), and involves a substantial chemistry effort (LANL) to prepare targets for irradiation and counting, as well as to remove fission fragments after irradiation. Experimental techniques will be discussed and preliminary data presented. *Work performed under the auspices of the U.S. Department of Energy by Los Alamos National Laboratory (W-7405-ENG-36) and Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (W-7405-ENG-48), and CEA-DAM under CEA-DAM NNSA-DOE agreement.

Disaster averted: Community resilience in the face of a catastrophic flood.

PubMed

O'Neill, H Katherine; McLean, Andrew J; Kalis, Renetta; Shultz, James M

2016-01-01

In the spring of 2009, the Fargo, North Dakota, metropolitan area had 5 days to lay millions of sandbags to avoid devastation from record flooding of the Red River of the North. The community was able to successfully mitigate the flooding and escape potentially catastrophic economic, physical, and mental health consequences. We hypothesized that Fargo flood protection efforts reflected the community resilience factors proposed by Norris, Stevens, Pfefferbaum, et al. (2008): citizen involvement in mitigation efforts, effective organizational linkages, ongoing psychosocial support, and strong civic leadership in the face of rapidly changing circumstances. This community case report utilizes an extensive review of available sources, including news reports, government documents, research articles, and personal communication. Results demonstrate that Fargo's response to the threat of catastrophic flooding was consistent with Norris et al.'s (2008) factors of community resilience. Furthermore, success in 2009 carried over into future flood prevention and response efforts, as well as a structured approach to building psychological resilience. This case study contributes to the literature on community resilience by describing a community's successful efforts to avert a potentially catastrophic disaster.

Disaster averted: Community resilience in the face of a catastrophic flood

PubMed Central

O'Neill, H. Katherine; McLean, Andrew J.; Kalis, Renetta; Shultz, James M.

2016-01-01

ABSTRACT In the spring of 2009, the Fargo, North Dakota, metropolitan area had 5 days to lay millions of sandbags to avoid devastation from record flooding of the Red River of the North. The community was able to successfully mitigate the flooding and escape potentially catastrophic economic, physical, and mental health consequences. We hypothesized that Fargo flood protection efforts reflected the community resilience factors proposed by Norris, Stevens, Pfefferbaum, et al. (2008): citizen involvement in mitigation efforts, effective organizational linkages, ongoing psychosocial support, and strong civic leadership in the face of rapidly changing circumstances. This community case report utilizes an extensive review of available sources, including news reports, government documents, research articles, and personal communication. Results demonstrate that Fargo's response to the threat of catastrophic flooding was consistent with Norris et al.'s (2008) factors of community resilience. Furthermore, success in 2009 carried over into future flood prevention and response efforts, as well as a structured approach to building psychological resilience. This case study contributes to the literature on community resilience by describing a community's successful efforts to avert a potentially catastrophic disaster. PMID:28229016

Transforming youth mental health services and supports in Ireland.

PubMed

Illback, Robert J; Bates, Tony

2011-02-01

Young people in the Republic of Ireland do not have access to appropriate mental health services and supports, necessitating transformational change in delivery systems. Describe ongoing development and change efforts facilitated by Headstrong--The National Centre for Youth Mental Health. Discusses findings from a national needs assessment, core strategies within the change initiative, progress in system-building, and preliminary descriptive and outcome data. Five demonstration sites comprised of four counties and a city neighbourhood are operational and preliminary data are promising with respect to implementation and outcomes. Effective change initiatives require vision and leadership, competence- and capacity-building, participative planning and engagement, adequate and thoughtfully deployed resources, and a comprehensive change management approach. © 2011 Blackwell Publishing Asia Pty Ltd.

Digital teaching tools and global learning communities.

PubMed

Williams, Mary; Lockhart, Patti; Martin, Cathie

2015-01-01

In 2009, we started a project to support the teaching and learning of university-level plant sciences, called Teaching Tools in Plant Biology. Articles in this series are published by the plant science journal, The Plant Cell (published by the American Society of Plant Biologists). Five years on, we investigated how the published materials are being used through an analysis of the Google Analytics pageviews distribution and through a user survey. Our results suggest that this project has had a broad, global impact in supporting higher education, and also that the materials are used differently by individuals in terms of their role (instructor, independent learner, student) and geographical location. We also report on our ongoing efforts to develop a global learning community that encourages discussion and resource sharing.

Computational Exposure Science: An Emerging Discipline to ...

EPA Pesticide Factsheets

Background: Computational exposure science represents a frontier of environmental science that is emerging and quickly evolving.Objectives: In this commentary, we define this burgeoning discipline, describe a framework for implementation, and review some key ongoing research elements that are advancing the science with respect to exposure to chemicals in consumer products.Discussion: The fundamental elements of computational exposure science include the development of reliable, computationally efficient predictive exposure models; the identification, acquisition, and application of data to support and evaluate these models; and generation of improved methods for extrapolating across chemicals. We describe our efforts in each of these areas and provide examples that demonstrate both progress and potential.Conclusions: Computational exposure science, linked with comparable efforts in toxicology, is ushering in a new era of risk assessment that greatly expands our ability to evaluate chemical safety and sustainability and to protect public health. The National Exposure Research Laboratory’s (NERL’s) Human Exposure and Atmospheric Sciences Division (HEASD) conducts research in support of EPA’s mission to protect human health and the environment. HEASD’s research program supports Goal 1 (Clean Air) and Goal 4 (Healthy People) of EPA’s strategic plan. More specifically, our division conducts research to characterize the movement of pollutants from the source

Cryogenic Fluid Storage Technology Development: Recent and Planned Efforts at NASA

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Moran, Matthew E.

2009-01-01

Recent technology development work conducted at NASA in the area of Cryogenic Fluid Management (CFM) storage is highlighted, including summary results, key impacts, and ongoing efforts. Thermodynamic vent system (TVS) ground test results are shown for hydrogen, methane, and oxygen. Joule-Thomson (J-T) device tests related to clogging in hydrogen are summarized, along with the absence of clogging in oxygen and methane tests. Confirmation of analytical relations and bonding techniques for broad area cooling (BAC) concepts based on tube-to-tank tests are presented. Results of two-phase lumped-parameter computational fluid dynamic (CFD) models are highlighted, including validation of the model with hydrogen self pressurization test data. These models were used to simulate Altair representative methane and oxygen tanks subjected to 210 days of lunar surface storage. Engineering analysis tools being developed to support system level trades and vehicle propulsion system designs are also cited. Finally, prioritized technology development risks identified for Constellation cryogenic propulsion systems are presented, and future efforts to address those risks are discussed.

Encouraging a Culture of Outreach in Astronomy Clubs

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Manning, J.; Berendsen, M.; Schultz, G.; Gurton, S.; Santascoy, J.; White, V.; Frank, K.; Jones, E.; Yocco, V.; John, M. S.; Castori, P.

2014-07-01

Astronomy clubs constitute a “marching army” of knowledgeable, experienced astronomy enthusiasts deployed in a national network: an important resource for engaging the public through educational outreach events and activities. The Astronomical Society of the Pacific (ASP) in partnership with the Institute for Learning Innovation (ILI) and Inverness Research, Inc., has been engaged in a multi-year NSF-supported project focusing on this network and its potential to advance astronomy education and outreach. The project has explored the culture of astronomy clubs, identified impediments to building cultures of outreach within clubs, and developed and introduced new mechanisms to overcome these impediments and enhance clubs' abilities to encourage and sustain cultures that value and promote outreach efforts. This paper shares initial research, development and evaluation findings of the project, and describes ongoing supplemental efforts that continue to advance project objectives.

Lightfoot Visits Michoud on This Week @NASA – February 18, 2017

NASA Image and Video Library

2017-02-18

NASA’s Acting Administrator Robert Lightfoot visited the agency’s Michoud Assembly Facility in New Orleans Feb. 13 to view damage from the Feb. 7 tornado strike, and to speak with employees about ongoing recovery efforts at the facility. The work at Michoud is critical to supporting the production, testing and final integration of the core stage of NASA’s Space Launch System deep space rocket, the largest rocket stage ever built. Also, Flight Control Technology Evaluated, Ochoa, Foale to be Inducted into Hall of Fame, NASA Employees Honored, and Exceptional Public Achievement Award!

Biofuels and Bioproducts from Wet and Gaseous Waste Streams: Challenges and Opportunities

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

None, None

This report draws together activities related to wet and gaseous waste feedstocks into a single document. It enables an amplified focus on feedstocks in the relevant technology and potential markets category. Also, this report helps to inform and support ongoing wet and gaseous resource recovery activities in the Bioenergy Technologies Office (BETO) and in the broader federal space. Historically, the office has identified wet and gaseous waste feedstocks as potentially advantageous, but has not pursued them with a sustained focus. This document seeks to position these waste streams appropriately alongside more traditional feedstocks in BETO efforts.

Research and development of optical measurement techniques for aerospace propulsion research: A NASA Lewis Research Center perspective

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Lesco, Daniel J.

1991-01-01

The applied research effort required to develop new nonintrusive measurement techniques capable of obtaining the data required by aerospace propulsion researchers and of operating in the harsh environments encountered in research and test facilities is discussed and illustrated through several ongoing projects at NASA's Lewis Research Center. Factors including length of development time, funding levels, and collaborative support from fluid-thermal researchers are cited. Progress in developing new instrumentation via a multi-path approach, including NASA research, grant, and government-sponsored research through mechanisms like the Small Business Innovative Research program, is also described.

The Interpretation of Crustal Dynamics Data in Terms of Plate Interactions and Active Tectonics of the Anatolian Plate and Surrounding Regions in the Middle East

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Toksoz, M. Nafi; Reilinger, Robert E.

1990-01-01

During the past 6 months, efforts were concentrated on the following areas: (1) Continued development of realistic, finite element modeling of plate interactions and associated deformation in the Eastern Mediterranean; (2) Neotectonic field investigations of seismic faulting along the active fault systems in Turkey with emphasis on identifying seismic gaps along the North Anatolian fault; and (3) Establishment of a GPS regional monitoring network in the zone of ongoing continental collision in eastern Turkey (supported in part by NSF).

Learning from Failures: Archiving and Designing with Failure and Risk

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

VanWie, Michael; Bohm, Matt; Barrientos, Francesca; Turner, Irem; Stone, Robert

2005-01-01

Identifying and mitigating risks during conceptual design remains an ongoing challenge. This work presents the results of collaborative efforts between The University of Missouri-Rolla and NASA Ames Research Center to examine how an early stage mission design team at NASA addresses risk, and, how a computational support tool can assist these designers in their tasks. Results of our observations are given in addition to a brief example of our implementation of a repository based computational tool that allows users to browse and search through archived failure and risk data as related to either physical artifacts or functionality.

A Study of Reflected Sonic Booms Using Airborne Measurements

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Kantor, Samuel R.; Cliatt, Larry J.

2017-01-01

In support of ongoing efforts to bring commercial supersonic flight to the public, the Sonic Booms in Atmospheric Turbulence (SonicBAT) flight test conducted at NASA Armstrong Flight Research Center. During this test, airborne sonic boom measurements were made using an instrumented TG-14 motor glider, called the Airborne Acoustic Measurement Platform (AAMP).During the flight program, the AAMP was consistently able to measure the sonic boom wave that was reflected off of the ground, in addition to the incident wave, resulting in the creation of a completely unique data set of airborne sonic boom reflection measurements.

Treatment options after sorafenib failure in patients with hepatocellular carcinoma

PubMed Central

Dika, Imane El

2017-01-01

Second line therapy after failure of sorafenib continues to be under study. Prognosis of hepatocellular carcinoma is measured in months, with median overall survival reaching 10.7 months with sorafenib. Because of the modest net benefit sorafenib has contributed, and rising incidence of hepatocellular carcinoma in the world, continued efforts are ongoing to look for efficient upfront, second line, or combination therapies. Herein we review the most relevant to date published literature on treatment options beyond sorafenib, reported studies, ongoing investigational efforts, and possibilities for future studies in advanced hepatocellular carcinoma. PMID:29151326

GrayQb TM Single-Faced Version 2 (SF2) Hanford Plutonium Reclamation Facility (PRF) deployment report

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

Plummer, J. R.; Immel, D. M.; Serrato, M. G.

2015-11-18

The Savannah River National Laboratory (SRNL) in partnership with CH2M Plateau Remediation Company (CHPRC) deployed the GrayQb TM SF2 radiation imaging device at the Hanford Plutonium Reclamation Facility (PRF) to assist in the radiological characterization of the canyon. The deployment goal was to locate radiological contamination hot spots in the PRF canyon, where pencil tanks were removed and decontamination/debris removal operations are on-going, to support the CHPRC facility decontamination and decommissioning (D&D) effort. The PRF canyon D&D effort supports completion of the CHPRC Plutonium Finishing Plant Decommissioning Project. The GrayQb TM SF2 (Single Faced Version 2) is a non-destructive examinationmore » device developed by SRNL to generate radiation contour maps showing source locations and relative radiological levels present in the area under examination. The Hanford PRF GrayQbTM Deployment was sponsored by CH2M Plateau Remediation Company (CHPRC) through the DOE Richland Operations Office, Inter-Entity Work Order (IEWO), DOE-RL IEWO- M0SR900210.« less

Proliferation: Threat and Response

DTIC Science & Technology

1997-11-01

primary agent, the Defense Technology capabilities also contribute to ongoing efforts to Security Administration ( DTSA ). These efforts are focus and...Special Weapons Agency Organization DTSA Defense Technology Security BW Biological Weapons Administration BWC Biological and Toxin Weapons EPCI Enhanced

The effect of aborting ongoing movements on end point position estimation.

PubMed

Itaguchi, Yoshihiro; Fukuzawa, Kazuyoshi

2013-11-01

The present study investigated the impact of motor commands to abort ongoing movement on position estimation. Participants carried out visually guided reaching movements on a horizontal plane with their eyes open. By setting a mirror above their arm, however, they could not see the arm, only the start and target points. They estimated the position of their fingertip based solely on proprioception after their reaching movement was stopped before reaching the target. The participants stopped reaching as soon as they heard an auditory cue or were mechanically prevented from moving any further by an obstacle in their path. These reaching movements were carried out at two different speeds (fast or slow). It was assumed that additional motor commands to abort ongoing movement were required and that their magnitude was high, low, and zero, in the auditory-fast condition, the auditory-slow condition, and both the obstacle conditions, respectively. There were two main results. (1) When the participants voluntarily stopped a fast movement in response to the auditory cue (the auditory-fast condition), they showed more underestimates than in the other three conditions. This underestimate effect was positively related to movement velocity. (2) An inverted-U-shaped bias pattern as a function of movement distance was observed consistently, except in the auditory-fast condition. These findings indicate that voluntarily stopping fast ongoing movement created a negative bias in the position estimate, supporting the idea that additional motor commands or efforts to abort planned movement are involved with the position estimation system. In addition, spatially probabilistic inference and signal-dependent noise may explain the underestimate effect of aborting ongoing movement.

Digital technologies in support of flood resilience: A case study from Nepal

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Liu, Wei; McCallum, Ian; See, Linda; Dugar, Sumit; Laso-Bayas, Juan-Carlos

2016-04-01

This paper presents ongoing efforts to support flood resilience in the Karnali basin in Nepal through the provision of different forms of digital technology. Flood Risk Geo-Wiki is an online visualization and crowdsourcing tool, which has been adapted to display flood risk maps at the global scale as well as information of relevance to planners and the community at the local level. Community-based flood risk maps, which have traditionally been drawn on paper, are being digitized and integrated with OpenStreetMap to provide better access to this collective knowledge base. Mobile phones, using the GeoODK (Geographical Open Data Kit) questionnaire builder, are being deployed to collect georeferenced information on flood risks and vulnerability, which can be used to validate flood models and design action plans and strategies for coping with future flood events. These types of digital technologies are simple to implement yet together can help support flood prone communities.

Environmental control medical support team

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Crump, William J.; Kilgore, Melvin V., Jr.

1988-01-01

The activities conducted in support of the Environmental Control and Life Support Team during December 7, 1987 through September 30, 1988 are summarized. The majority of the ongoing support has focused on the ECLSS area. Through a series of initial meetings with the ECLSS team and technical literature review, an initial list of critical topics was developed. Subtasks were then identified or additional related tasks received as action items from the ECLSS group meetings. Although most of the efforts focused on providing MSFC personnel with information regarding specific questions and problems related to ECLSS issues, other efforts regarding identifying an ECLSS Medical Support Team and constructing data bases of technical information were also initiated and completed. The specific tasks are as follows: (1) Provide support to the mechanical design and integration of test systems as related to microbiological concerns; (2) Assist with design of Human Subjects Test Protocols; (3) Interpretation and recommendations pertaining to air/water quality requirements; (4) Assist in determining the design specifications required as related to the Technical Demonstration Program; (5) Develop a data base of all microorganisms recovered from previous subsystem testing; (6) Estimates of health risk of individual microbes to test subjects; (7) Assist with setting limits for safety of test subjects; (8) Health monitoring of test subjects; (9) Assist in the preparation of test plans; (10) Assist in the development of a QA/QC program to assure the validity, accuracy and precision of the analyses; and (11) Assist in developing test plans required for future man in the loop testing.

Integration of cloud-based storage in BES III computing environment

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wang, L.; Hernandez, F.; Deng, Z.

2014-06-01

We present an on-going work that aims to evaluate the suitability of cloud-based storage as a supplement to the Lustre file system for storing experimental data for the BES III physics experiment and as a backend for storing files belonging to individual members of the collaboration. In particular, we discuss our findings regarding the support of cloud-based storage in the software stack of the experiment. We report on our development work that improves the support of CERN' s ROOT data analysis framework and allows efficient remote access to data through several cloud storage protocols. We also present our efforts providing the experiment with efficient command line tools for navigating and interacting with cloud storage-based data repositories both from interactive sessions and grid jobs.

Establishment of Center for Diagnostic Nanosystems

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

Maher, John

Funding from this project was used to develop several “mini-cores” that contained shared equipment that could be used by researchers at Marshall University. Equipment purchased during this project included: a fluorescencent microplate reader, FTIR system, UV-Vis spectrophotometer, and DNA/RNA analyzer. Other deliverables included the funding of several graduate and undergraduate students, postdoctoral fellows and two research assistant professors. Projects supported by this funding included studies performed at the whole animal, organ, cellular and nano level. Several different types of researchers were supported including undergraduates, graduates, postdoctoral fellows and research assistant professors. The main outcomes of this work was the developmentmore » of new types of nanoparticles that could be used for the treatment of pulmonary arterial hypertension and sepsis. Additional efforts to develop these projects are ongoing.« less

The US federal framework for research on endocrine disrupters and an analysis of research programs supported during fiscal year 1996

USGS Publications Warehouse

Reiter, L.W.; DeRosa, C.; Kavlock, R.J.; Lucier, G.; Mac, M.J.; Melillo, J.; Melnick, R.L.; Sinks, T.; Walton, B.T.

1998-01-01

The potential health and ecological effects of endocrine disrupting chemicals has become a high visibility environmental issue. The 1990s have witnessed a growing concern, both on the part of the scientific community and the public, that environmental chemicals may be causing widespread effects in humans and in a variety of fish and wildlife species. This growing concern led the Committee on the Environment and Natural Resources (CENR) of the National Science and Technology Council to identify the endocrine disrupter issue as a major research initiative in early 1995 and subsequently establish an ad hoc Working Group on Endocrine Disrupters. The objectives of the working group are to 1) develop a planning framework for federal research related to human and ecological health effects of endocrine disrupting chemicals; 2) conduct an inventory of ongoing federal research programs; and 3) identify research gaps and develop a coordinated interagency plan to address priority research needs. This communication summarizes the activities of the federal government in defining a common framework for planning an endocrine disrupter research program and in assessing the status of the current effort. After developing the research framework and compiling an inventory of active research projects supported by the federal government in fiscal year 1996, the CENR working group evaluated the current federal effort by comparing the ongoing activities with the research needs identified in the framework. The analysis showed that the federal government supports considerable research on human health effects, ecological effects, and exposure assessment, with a predominance of activity occurring under human health effects. The analysis also indicates that studies on reproductive development and carcinogenesis are more prevalent than studies on neurotoxicity and immunotoxicity, that mammals (mostly laboratory animals) are the main species under study, and that chlorinated dibenzodioxins and polychlorinated biphenyls are the most commonly studied chemical classes. Comparison of the inventory with the research needs should allow identification of underrepresented research areas in need of attention.

NASA Johnson Space Center Usability Testing and Analysis Facility (UTAF) Overview

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Whitmore, M.

2004-01-01

The Usability Testing and Analysis Facility (UTAF) is part of the Space Human Factors Laboratory at the NASA Johnson Space Center in Houston, Texas. The facility provides support to the Office of Biological and Physical Research, the Space Shuttle Program, the International Space Station Program, and other NASA organizations. In addition, there are ongoing collaborative research efforts with external businesses and universities. The UTAF provides human factors analysis, evaluation, and usability testing of crew interfaces for space applications. This includes computer displays and controls, workstation systems, and work environments. The UTAF has a unique mix of capabilities, with a staff experienced in both cognitive human factors and ergonomics. The current areas of focus are: human factors applications in emergency medical care and informatics; control and display technologies for electronic procedures and instructions; voice recognition in noisy environments; crew restraint design for unique microgravity workstations; and refinement of human factors processes. This presentation will provide an overview of ongoing activities, and will address how the projects will evolve to meet new space initiatives.

NASA Johnson Space Center Usability Testing and Analysis Facility (WAF) Overview

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Whitmore, M.

2004-01-01

The Usability Testing and Analysis Facility (UTAF) is part of the Space Human Factors Laboratory at the NASA Johnson Space Center in Houston, Texas. The facility provides support to the Office of Biological and Physical Research, the Space Shuttle Program, the International Space Station Program, and other NASA organizations. In addition, there are ongoing collaborative research efforts with external businesses and universities. The UTAF provides human factors analysis, evaluation, and usability testing of crew interfaces for space applications. This includes computer displays and controls, workstation systems, and work environments. The UTAF has a unique mix of capabilities, with a staff experienced in both cognitive human factors and ergonomics. The current areas of focus are: human factors applications in emergency medical care and informatics; control and display technologies for electronic procedures and instructions; voice recognition in noisy environments; crew restraint design for unique microgravity workstations; and refinement of human factors processes. This presentation will provide an overview of ongoing activities, and will address how the projects will evolve to meet new space initiatives.

Development efforts to improve curved-channel microchannel plates

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Corbett, M. B.; Feller, W. B.; Laprade, B. N.; Cochran, R.; Bybee, R.; Danks, A.; Joseph, C.

1993-01-01

Curved-channel microchannel plate (C-plate) improvements resulting from an ongoing NASA STIS microchannel plate (MCP) development program are described. Performance limitations of previous C-plates led to a development program in support of the STIS MAMA UV photon counter, a second generation instrument on the Hubble Space Telescope. C-plate gain, quantum detection efficiency, dark noise, and imaging distortion, which are influenced by channel curvature non-uniformities, have all been improved through use of a new centrifuge fabrication technique. This technique will be described, along with efforts to improve older, more conventional shearing methods. Process optimization methods used to attain targeted C-plate performance goals will be briefly characterized. Newly developed diagnostic measurement techniques to study image distortion, gain uniformity, input bias angle, channel curvature, and ion feedback, will be described. Performance characteristics and initial test results of the improved C-plates will be reported. Future work and applications will also be discussed.

An overview of NASA intermittent combustion engine research

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Willis, E. A.; Wintucky, W. T.

1984-01-01

This paper overviews the current program, whose objective is to establish the generic technology base for advanced aircraft I.C. engines of the early 1990's and beyond. The major emphasis of this paper is on development of the past two years. Past studies and ongoing confirmatory experimental efforts are reviewed, which show unexpectedly high potential when modern aerospace technologies are applied to inherently compact and balanced I.C. engine configurations. Currently, the program is focussed on two engine concepts, the stratified-charge, multi-fuel rotary and the lightweight two-stroke diesel. A review is given of contracted and planned high performance one-rotor and one-cylinder test engine work addressing several levels of technology. Also reviewed are basic supporting efforts, e.g., the development and experimental validation of computerized airflow and combustion process models, being performed in-house at Lewis Research Center and by university grants. Previously announced in STAR as N84-24583

Downhole well log and core montages from the Mount Elbert Gas Hydrate Stratigraphic Test Well, Alaska North Slope

USGS Publications Warehouse

Collett, T.S.; Lewis, R.E.; Winters, W.J.; Lee, M.W.; Rose, K.K.; Boswell, R.M.

2011-01-01

The BPXA-DOE-USGS Mount Elbert Gas Hydrate Stratigraphic Test Well was an integral part of an ongoing project to determine the future energy resource potential of gas hydrates on the Alaska North Slope. As part of this effort, the Mount Elbert well included an advanced downhole geophysical logging program. Because gas hydrate is unstable at ground surface pressure and temperature conditions, a major emphasis was placed on the downhole-logging program to determine the occurrence of gas hydrates and the in-situ physical properties of the sediments. In support of this effort, well-log and core data montages have been compiled which include downhole log and core-data obtained from the gas-hydrate-bearing sedimentary section in the Mount Elbert well. Also shown are numerous reservoir parameters, including gas-hydrate saturation and sediment porosity log traces calculated from available downhole well log and core data. ?? 2010.

An overview of NASA intermittent combustion engine research

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Willis, E. A.; Wintucky, W. T.

1984-01-01

This paper overviews the current program, whose objective is to establish the generic technology base for advanced aircraft I.C. engines of the early 1990's and beyond. The major emphasis of this paper is on development of the past two years. Past studies and ongoing confirmatory experimental efforts are reviewed, which show unexpectly high potential when modern aerospace technologies are applied to inherently compact and balanced I.C. engine configurations. Currently, the program is focussed on two engine concepts the stratified-charge, multi-fuel rotary, and the lightweight two-stroke diesel. A review is given of contracted and planned high performance one-rotor and one-cylinder test engine work addressing several levels of technology. Also reviewed are basic supporting efforts, e.g., the development and experimental validation of computerized airflow and combustion process models, being performed in-house at Lewis Research Center and by university grants.

Implementing the global health security agenda: lessons from global health and security programs.

PubMed

Paranjape, Suman M; Franz, David R

2015-01-01

The Global Health Security Agenda (GHSA) describes a vision for a world that is safe and secure from infectious disease threats; it underscores the importance of developing the international capacity to prevent, detect, and respond to pandemic agents. In February 2014, the United States committed to support the GHSA by expanding and intensifying ongoing efforts across the US government. Implementing these goals will require interagency coordination and harmonization of diverse health security elements. Lessons learned from the Global Health Initiative (GHI), the President's Emergency Program for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR), and the Cooperative Threat Reduction (CTR) program underscore that centralized political, technical, and fiscal authority will be key to developing robust, sustainable, and integrated global health security efforts across the US government. In this article, we review the strengths and challenges of GHI, PEPFAR, and CTR and develop recommendations for implementing a unified US global health security program.

Surgical education to improve the quality of patient care: the role of practice-based learning and improvement.

PubMed

Sachdeva, Ajit K

2007-11-01

Health care is going through immense change, and concerns regarding the quality of patient care and patient safety continue to be expressed in many national forums. A variety of stakeholders are demanding greater accountability from the health care profession. Education is key to supporting surgeons' efforts to provide high-quality patient care during these challenging times. Educational programs for surgeons should be founded on principles of continuous professional development (CPD) and practice-based learning and improvement (PBLI). CPD focuses on the specific needs of individual surgeons and involves lifelong learning throughout a surgeon's career. It needs to form the basis of PBLI efforts. PBLI involves a cycle of four steps--identifying areas for improvement, engaging in learning, applying new knowledge and skills to practice, and checking for improvement. Ongoing involvement in PBLI activities to address specific learning needs should positively impact a surgeon's practice and improve outcomes of surgical care.

Near-Source Modeling Updates: Building Downwash & Near-Road

EPA Science Inventory

The presentation describes recent research efforts in near-source model development focusing on building downwash and near-road barriers. The building downwash section summarizes a recent wind tunnel study, ongoing computational fluid dynamics simulations and efforts to improve ...

IDENTIFICATION OF CFC AND HCFC SUBSTITUTES FOR BLOWING POLYURETHANE FOAM INSULATION PRODUCTS

EPA Science Inventory

The report gives results of a cooperative effort to identiry chlorofluorocarbons and hydrochlorofluorocarbon substitutes for blowing polyurethane foam insulation products. The substantial ongoing effort is identifying third-generation blowing agets for polyurethane foams to repla...

Diagnosis of Ebola Virus Disease: Past, Present, and Future

PubMed Central

Brooks, Tim J. G.

2016-01-01

SUMMARY Laboratory diagnosis of Ebola virus disease plays a critical role in outbreak response efforts; however, establishing safe and expeditious testing strategies for this high-biosafety-level pathogen in resource-poor environments remains extremely challenging. Since the discovery of Ebola virus in 1976 via traditional viral culture techniques and electron microscopy, diagnostic methodologies have trended toward faster, more accurate molecular assays. Importantly, technological advances have been paired with increasing efforts to support decentralized diagnostic testing capacity that can be deployed at or near the point of patient care. The unprecedented scope of the 2014-2015 West Africa Ebola epidemic spurred tremendous innovation in this arena, and a variety of new diagnostic platforms that have the potential both to immediately improve ongoing surveillance efforts in West Africa and to transform future outbreak responses have reached the field. In this review, we describe the evolution of Ebola virus disease diagnostic testing and efforts to deploy field diagnostic laboratories in prior outbreaks. We then explore the diagnostic challenges pervading the 2014-2015 epidemic and provide a comprehensive examination of novel diagnostic tests that are likely to address some of these challenges moving forward. PMID:27413095

The Legacy of NASA Astrophysics E/PO: Scientist Engagement and Higher Education

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Manning, Jim; Smith, Denise A.; Meinke, Bonnie; Lawton, Brandon; Schulz, Gregory; Bartolone, Lindsay; Bianchi, Luciana; NASA SMD Astrophysics E/PO Community

2016-01-01

For the past six years, NASA's Science Mission Directorate has coordinated the work of its mission- and program-embedded education and public outreach (E/PO) efforts through four forums representing its four science divisions. The Astrophysics forum, as the others, has built on the long-standing mission E/PO 1% allocation and embedded scientist/educator partnerships to encourage and coordinate collaborative efforts to make the most efficient and effective use of NASA resources, personnel, data and discoveries in leveraged ways, in support of the nation's science education. Two of the priorities established early in the forum's period of activity were to enhance scientist engagement in E/PO and to coordinate the community in providing useful higher education resources based on determined needs. This presentation will highlight some of the achievements for these two priorities over the past six years, how the products and efforts are being preserved, and how they can continue to be accessed as NASA SMD transitions to a new Education and Communication landscape. The work constitutes an ongoing legacy--a firm foundation on which the new structure of NASA SMD Education efforts will go forward.

Orion Entry Flight Control Stability and Performance

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Strahan, Alan L.; Loe, Greg R.; Seiler, Pete

2007-01-01

The Orion Spacecraft will be required to perform entry and landing functions for both Low Earth Orbit (LEO) and Lunar return missions, utilizing only the Command Module (CM) with its unique systems and GN&C design. This paper presents the current CM Flight Control System (FCS) design to support entry and landing, with a focus on analyses that have supported its development to date. The CM FCS will have to provide for spacecraft stability and control while following guidance or manual commands during exo-atmospheric flight, after Service Module separation, translational powered flight required of the CM, atmospheric flight supporting both direct entry and skip trajectories down to drogue chute deploy, and during roll attitude reorientation just prior to touchdown. Various studies and analyses have been performed or are on-going supporting an overall FCS design with reasonably sized Reaction Control System (RCS) jets, that minimizes fuel usage, that provides appropriate command following but with reasonable stability and control margin. Results from these efforts to date are included, with particular attention on design issues that have emerged, such as the struggle to accommodate sub-sonic pitch and yaw control without using excessively large jets that could have a detrimental impact on vehicle weight. Apollo, with a similar shape, struggled with this issue as well. Outstanding CM FCS related design and analysis issues, planned for future effort, are also briefly be discussed.

Organization and Management of the International Space Station (ISS) Multilateral Medical Operations

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Duncan, J. M.; Bogomolov, V. V.; Castrucci, F.; Koike, Y.; Comtois, J. M.; Sargsyan, A. E.

2007-01-01

The goal of this work is to review the principles, design, and function of the ISS multilateral medical authority and the medical support system of the ISS Program. Multilateral boards and panels provide operational framework, direct, and supervise the ISS joint medical operational activities. The Integrated Medical Group (IMG) provides front-line medical support of the crews. Results of ongoing activities are reviewed weekly by physician managers. A broader status review is conducted monthly to project the state of crew health and medical support for the following month. All boards, panels, and groups function effectively and without interruptions. Consensus prevails as the primary nature of decisions made by all ISS medical groups, including the ISS medical certification board. The sustained efforts of all partners have resulted in favorable medical outcomes of the initial fourteen long-duration expeditions. The medical support system appears to be mature and ready for further expansion of the roles of all Partners, and for the anticipated increase in the size of ISS crews.

Repositioning Science Reform Efforts: Four Practical Recommendations from the Field

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Ness, Daniel; Farenga, Stephen J.; Shah, Vishal; Garofalo, Salvatore G.

2016-01-01

Appeals to reform science education by policy makers are not new phenomena. To be sure, while science reform efforts have been ongoing occurrences for nearly six decades, perpetual educational reform efforts as a whole have been evolving and gaining momentum in number for more than a century. The general motivation for continual reform appears to…

Using computer decision support systems in NHS emergency and urgent care: ethnographic study using normalisation process theory

PubMed Central

2013-01-01

Background Information and communication technologies (ICTs) are often proposed as ‘technological fixes’ for problems facing healthcare. They promise to deliver services more quickly and cheaply. Yet research on the implementation of ICTs reveals a litany of delays, compromises and failures. Case studies have established that these technologies are difficult to embed in everyday healthcare. Methods We undertook an ethnographic comparative analysis of a single computer decision support system in three different settings to understand the implementation and everyday use of this technology which is designed to deal with calls to emergency and urgent care services. We examined the deployment of this technology in an established 999 ambulance call-handling service, a new single point of access for urgent care and an established general practice out-of-hours service. We used Normalization Process Theory as a framework to enable systematic cross-case analysis. Results Our data comprise nearly 500 hours of observation, interviews with 64 call-handlers, and stakeholders and documents about the technology and settings. The technology has been implemented and is used distinctively in each setting reflecting important differences between work and contexts. Using Normalisation Process Theory we show how the work (collective action) of implementing the system and maintaining its routine use was enabled by a range of actors who established coherence for the technology, secured buy-in (cognitive participation) and engaged in on-going appraisal and adjustment (reflexive monitoring). Conclusions Huge effort was expended and continues to be required to implement and keep this technology in use. This innovation must be understood both as a computer technology and as a set of practices related to that technology, kept in place by a network of actors in particular contexts. While technologies can be ‘made to work’ in different settings, successful implementation has been achieved, and will only be maintained, through the efforts of those involved in the specific settings and if the wider context continues to support the coherence, cognitive participation, and reflective monitoring processes that surround this collective action. Implementation is more than simply putting technologies in place – it requires new resources and considerable effort, perhaps on an on-going basis. PMID:23522021

40 CFR Appendix W to Part 51 - Guideline on Air Quality Models

Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

2013-07-01

... in the Guideline. The third activity is the extensive on-going research efforts by EPA and others in... addition, findings from ongoing research programs, new model development, or results from model evaluations... shown that the model is not biased toward underestimates; and v. A protocol on methods and procedures to...

40 CFR Appendix W to Part 51 - Guideline on Air Quality Models

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-07-01

... in the Guideline. The third activity is the extensive on-going research efforts by EPA and others in... addition, findings from ongoing research programs, new model development, or results from model evaluations... shown that the model is not biased toward underestimates; and v. A protocol on methods and procedures to...

40 CFR Appendix W to Part 51 - Guideline on Air Quality Models

Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

2014-07-01

... in the Guideline. The third activity is the extensive on-going research efforts by EPA and others in... addition, findings from ongoing research programs, new model development, or results from model evaluations... shown that the model is not biased toward underestimates; and v. A protocol on methods and procedures to...

Development and Preparation of Lead-Containing Paint Films and Diagnostic Test Materials

EPA Science Inventory

Lead in paint continues to be a threat to children’s health in cities across the United States, which means there is an ongoing need for testing and analysis of paint. This ongoing analytical effort and especially development of new methods continue to drive the need for diagnost...

Tri-Lab Co-Design Milestone: In-Depth Performance Portability Analysis of Improved Integrated Codes on Advanced Architecture.

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

Hoekstra, Robert J.; Hammond, Simon David; Richards, David

2017-09-01

This milestone is a tri-lab deliverable supporting ongoing Co-Design efforts impacting applications in the Integrated Codes (IC) program element Advanced Technology Development and Mitigation (ATDM) program element. In FY14, the trilabs looked at porting proxy application to technologies of interest for ATS procurements. In FY15, a milestone was completed evaluating proxy applications in multiple programming models and in FY16, a milestone was completed focusing on the migration of lessons learned back into production code development. This year, the co-design milestone focuses on extracting the knowledge gained and/or code revisions back into production applications.

Perspective on the Ongoing Replacement of Artificial and Animal-Based Dyes with Alternative Natural Pigments in Foods and Beverages.

PubMed

Schweiggert, Ralf M

2018-03-28

This perspective highlights current trends, advances, and challenges related to the replacement of artificial dyes and the insect-based carmine with alternative natural pigments. Briefly reviewing the history of food coloration, key publications and public events leading to diverse concerns about artificial dyes and carmine will be summarized. An overview about promising alternatives in the market and those under development is provided, including a separate section on coloring foodstuffs. The perspective aims at supporting readers to keep abreast with the enormous efforts undertaken by the food and beverage industry to replace certain food dyes.

A state policy framework for integrating health and social services.

PubMed

McGinnis, Tricia; Crawford, Maia; Somers, Stephen A

2014-07-01

Recognizing that health is determined by a variety of interrelated factors, states are looking to connect health care, public health, and social services to help achieve improved population health, better care, and reduced cost of care. This issue brief describes three essential components for integrating health, including physical and behavioral health services and public health, and social services: (1) a coordinating mechanism, (2) quality measurement and data-sharing tools, and (3) aligned financing and payment. It also presents a five-step policy framework to help states move beyond isolated pilot efforts and establish the infrastructure necessary to support ongoing integration of health and social services, particularly for Medicaid beneficiaries.

Dissemination and Implementation of Evidence-Based Practices: Training and Consultation as Implementation Strategies

PubMed Central

Edmunds, Julie M.; Beidas, Rinad S.; Kendall, Philip C.

2013-01-01

To provide effective treatment for individuals with mental health needs, there is a movement to deploy evidence-based practices (EBPs) developed in research settings into community settings. Training clinicians in EBPs is often used as the primary implementation strategy in these efforts, despite evidence suggesting that training alone does not change therapist behavior. A promising implementation strategy that can be combined with training is consultation, or ongoing support. This paper reviews the literature on consultation following initial training. A model of consultation is presented as well as preliminary findings regarding effective consultation techniques. Future directions are offered. PMID:24072959

Towards a Community-Based Dementia Care Strategy: A Perspective from Quebec.

PubMed

Godard-Sebillotte, Claire; Vedel, Isabelle; Bergman, Howard

Morton-Chang et al. highlighted in their article the key strategic pillars of a community-based dementia care strategy: put "people first," support informal caregiving and enable "ground up" innovation and change. In our commentary, we draw upon our experience as authors of the Quebec Alzheimer Plan and evaluators of its implementation by the Quebec Ministry of Health and Social Services (MSSS). To us, a sustainable dementia care strategy entails a patient-centred approach, grounded in primary care, caring for persons with dementia at every stage of the disease. Implementation of such a strategy requires an ongoing effort to allow innovation adoption by clinicians and organizations.

Ultraviolet Studies of Jupiter's Hydrocarbons and Aerosols from Galileo

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Gladstone, G. Randall

2001-01-01

This is the final report for this project. The purpose of this project was to support PI Wayne Pryor's effort to reduce and analyze Galileo UVS (Ultraviolet Spectrometer) data under the JSDAP program. The spectral observations made by the Galileo UVS were to be analyzed to determine mixing ratios for important hydrocarbon species (and aerosols) in Jupiter's stratosphere as a function of location on Jupiter. Much of this work is still ongoing. To date, we have concentrated on analyzing the variability of the auroral emissions rather than the absorption signatures of hydrocarbons, although we have done some work in this area with related HST-STIS data.

Evolving prehospital, emergency department, and "inpatient" management models for geriatric emergencies.

PubMed

Carpenter, Christopher R; Platts-Mills, Timothy F

2013-02-01

Alternative management methods are essential to ensure high-quality and efficient emergency care for the growing number of geriatric adults worldwide. Protocols to support early condition-specific treatment of older adults with acute severe illness and injury are needed. Improved emergency department care for older adults will require providers to address the influence of other factors on the patient's health. This article describes recent and ongoing efforts to enhance the quality of emergency care for older adults using alternative management approaches spanning the spectrum from prehospital care, through the emergency department, and into evolving inpatient or outpatient processes of care. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

The Legacy of NASA Astrophysics E/PO: Conducting Professional Development, Developing Key Themes & Resources, and Broadening E/PO Audiences

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lawton, Brandon L.; Smith, Denise A.; Meinke, Bonnie K.; Bartolone, Lindsay; Manning, Jim; Schultz, Gregory R.; NASA Astrophysics E/PO Community

2016-01-01

For the past six years, NASA's Science Mission Directorate (SMD) has coordinated the work of its mission- and program-embedded education and public outreach (E/PO) efforts through four forums representing its four science divisions. The Astrophysics Forum, as the others, has built on SMD's long-standing principle of partnering scientists and educators and embedding E/PO in its missions to encourage and coordinate collaborative efforts to make the most efficient and effective use of NASA resources, personnel, data and discoveries in leveraged ways, in support of the nation's science education. Three priorities established early in the Forum's period of activity were to collaboratively enhance professional development for formal and informal educators, develop key themes & resources centered on astrophysics topics, and broaden the reach of astrophysics E/PO to traditionally underserved audiences in STEM subjects. This presentation will highlight some of the achievements of the Astrophysics E/PO community and Forum in these priority areas. This work constitutes an ongoing legacy--a firm foundation on which the new structure of NASA SMD education efforts will go forward.

Changing the system by changing the workforce: employing consumers to increase access, cultural diversity, and engagement.

PubMed

Wenz-Gross, Melodie; Irsfeld, Toni DuBrino; Twomey, Tammy; Perez, Ana; Thompson, Judith; Wally, Martha; Colleton, Barbara; Kroell, Christine; McKeown, Steven K; Metz, Peter

2012-06-01

Services to families have traditionally been delivered in a medical model. This presents challenges including workforce shortages, lack of cultural diversity, lack of training in strength-based work, and difficulty in successfully engaging and retaining families in the therapy process. The system of care (SOC) effort has worked to establish formal roles for caregivers in SOC to improve services. This paper provides an example of one community's efforts to change the SOC by expanding the roles available to caregivers in creating systems change. It describes the model developed by Communities of Care (CoC), a SOC in Central Massachusetts, and its evolution over a 10 year period. First person accounts by system partners, caregivers hired into professional roles as well as a family receiving services, demonstrate how hiring caregivers at all levels can change systems and change lives, not only for those being served but for the caregiver/professionals doing the work. It also demonstrates, however, that change at the system level is incremental, takes time, and can be fleeting unless an ongoing effort is made to support and sustain those changes.

Automated support for experience-based software management

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Valett, Jon D.

1992-01-01

To effectively manage a software development project, the software manager must have access to key information concerning a project's status. This information includes not only data relating to the project of interest, but also, the experience of past development efforts within the environment. This paper describes the concepts and functionality of a software management tool designed to provide this information. This tool, called the Software Management Environment (SME), enables the software manager to compare an ongoing development effort with previous efforts and with models of the 'typical' project within the environment, to predict future project status, to analyze a project's strengths and weaknesses, and to assess the project's quality. In order to provide these functions the tool utilizes a vast corporate memory that includes a data base of software metrics, a set of models and relationships that describe the software development environment, and a set of rules that capture other knowledge and experience of software managers within the environment. Integrating these major concepts into one software management tool, the SME is a model of the type of management tool needed for all software development organizations.

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

Rutqvist, Jonny; Blanco Martin, Laura; Mukhopadhyay, Sumit

The modeling efforts in support of the field test planning conducted at LBNL leverage on recent developments of tools for modeling coupled thermal-hydrological-mechanical-chemical (THMC) processes in salt and their effect on brine migration at high temperatures. This work includes development related to, and implementation of, essential capabilities, as well as testing the model against relevant information and published experimental data related to the fate and transport of water. These are modeling capabilities that will be suitable for assisting in the design of field experiment, especially related to multiphase flow processes coupled with mechanical deformations, at high temperature. In this report,more » we first examine previous generic repository modeling results, focusing on the first 20 years to investigate the expected evolution of the different processes that could be monitored in a full-scale heater experiment, and then present new results from ongoing modeling of the Thermal Simulation for Drift Emplacement (TSDE) experiment, a heater experiment on the in-drift emplacement concept at the Asse Mine, Germany, and provide an update on the ongoing model developments for modeling brine migration. LBNL also supported field test planning activities via contributions to and technical review of framework documents and test plans, as well as participation in workshops associated with field test planning.« less

NASA GSFC Science Communication Working Group: Addressing Barriers to Scientist and Engineer Participation in Education and Public Outreach Activities

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bleacher, L.; Hsu, B. C.; Campbell, B. A.; Hess, M.

2011-12-01

The Science Communication Working Group (SCWG) at NASA Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC) has been in existence since late 2007. The SCWG is comprised of education and public outreach (E/PO) professionals, public affairs specialists, scientists, and engineers. The goals of the SCWG are to identify barriers to scientist and engineer engagement in E/PO activities and to enable those scientists and engineers who wish to contribute to E/PO to be able to do so. SCWG members have held meetings with scientists and engineers across GSFC to determine barriers to their involvement in E/PO. During these meetings, SCWG members presented examples of successful, ongoing E/PO projects, encouraged active research scientists and engineers to talk about their own E/PO efforts and what worked for them, discussed the E/PO working environment, discussed opportunities for getting involved in E/PO (particularly in high-impact efforts that do not take much time), handed out booklets on effective E/PO, and asked scientists and engineers what they need to engage in E/PO. The identified barriers were consistent among scientists in GSFC's four science divisions (Earth science, planetary science, heliophysics, and astrophysics). Common barriers included 1) lack of time, 2) lack of funding support, 3) lack of value placed on doing E/PO by supervisors, 4) lack of training on doing appropriate/effective E/PO for different audiences, 5) lack of awareness and information about opportunities, 6) lack of understanding of what E/PO really is, and 7) level of effort required to do E/PO. Engineers reported similar issues, but the issues of time and funding support were more pronounced due to their highly structured work day and environment. Since the barriers were identified, the SCWG has taken a number of steps to address and rectify them. Steps have included holding various events to introduce scientists and engineers to E/PO staff and opportunities including an E/PO Open House, brown bag seminars on various E/PO topics, and an E/PO proposal writing workshop. SCWG members have also worked to incorporate information about E/PO, including what it is, points of contact, and opportunities for participation, into ongoing training sessions at GSFC, such as New Employee Orientation, Road to Mission Success, and Project Scientist Training. In addition, SCWG members have met with GSFC's upper management to voice barriers and concerns raised by scientists and engineers. We will expand on the barriers, efforts to address them, and the results of those efforts.

Procedures and Concepts of EPA's Ongoing Sensor Evaluation Efforts

EPA Science Inventory

The purpose of this research effort was to develop an understanding of what technology might prove valuable in conducting the next generation of air monitoring. Upon their discovery, such technologies were obtained in collaboration with inventors and commercial and research orga...

Development of the Precision Link Biobank at Boston Children's Hospital: Challenges and Opportunities.

PubMed

Bourgeois, Florence T; Avillach, Paul; Kong, Sek Won; Heinz, Michelle M; Tran, Tram A; Chakrabarty, Ramkrishna; Bickel, Jonathan; Sliz, Piotr; Borglund, Erin M; Kornetsky, Susan; Mandl, Kenneth D

2017-12-15

Increasingly, biobanks are being developed to support organized collections of biological specimens and associated clinical information on broadly consented, diverse patient populations. We describe the implementation of a pediatric biobank, comprised of a fully-informed patient cohort linking specimens to phenotypic data derived from electronic health records (EHR). The Biobank was launched after multiple stakeholders' input and implemented initially in a pilot phase before hospital-wide expansion in 2016. In-person informed consent is obtained from all participants enrolling in the Biobank and provides permission to: (1) access EHR data for research; (2) collect and use residual specimens produced as by-products of routine care; and (3) share de-identified data and specimens outside of the institution. Participants are recruited throughout the hospital, across diverse clinical settings. We have enrolled 4900 patients to date, and 41% of these have an associated blood sample for DNA processing. Current efforts are focused on aligning the Biobank with other ongoing research efforts at our institution and extending our electronic consenting system to support remote enrollment. A number of pediatric-specific challenges and opportunities is reviewed, including the need to re-consent patients when they reach 18 years of age, the ability to enroll family members accompanying patients and alignment with disease-specific research efforts at our institution and other pediatric centers to increase cohort sizes, particularly for rare diseases.

Development of the Precision Link Biobank at Boston Children’s Hospital: Challenges and Opportunities

PubMed Central

Avillach, Paul; Kong, Sek Won; Heinz, Michelle M.; Tran, Tram A.; Chakrabarty, Ramkrishna; Bickel, Jonathan; Sliz, Piotr; Borglund, Erin M.; Kornetsky, Susan; Mandl, Kenneth D.

2017-01-01

Increasingly, biobanks are being developed to support organized collections of biological specimens and associated clinical information on broadly consented, diverse patient populations. We describe the implementation of a pediatric biobank, comprised of a fully-informed patient cohort linking specimens to phenotypic data derived from electronic health records (EHR). The Biobank was launched after multiple stakeholders’ input and implemented initially in a pilot phase before hospital-wide expansion in 2016. In-person informed consent is obtained from all participants enrolling in the Biobank and provides permission to: (1) access EHR data for research; (2) collect and use residual specimens produced as by-products of routine care; and (3) share de-identified data and specimens outside of the institution. Participants are recruited throughout the hospital, across diverse clinical settings. We have enrolled 4900 patients to date, and 41% of these have an associated blood sample for DNA processing. Current efforts are focused on aligning the Biobank with other ongoing research efforts at our institution and extending our electronic consenting system to support remote enrollment. A number of pediatric-specific challenges and opportunities is reviewed, including the need to re-consent patients when they reach 18 years of age, the ability to enroll family members accompanying patients and alignment with disease-specific research efforts at our institution and other pediatric centers to increase cohort sizes, particularly for rare diseases. PMID:29244735

Understanding Drought and Regional Conservation Efforts on Urban Ecohydrology in Southern California

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hogue, T. S.

2015-12-01

Cities in the western U.S. are under increasing pressure to reduce the demand of imported water through increasing conservation efforts, altering non-native landscapes, and enhancing local water supplies. The State of California adopted emergency regulations implementing a mandatory 25% statewide reduction in potable urban water use and agricultural restrictions have also been enacted. The complexities in urban water flows and lack of granular data make understanding the impact of conservation and demand change on regional ecohydrology difficult. This presentation highlights ongoing work to better understand the coupling between humans, water and ecosystems in semi-arid urban cities, using metropolitan southern California as a case study. We evaluate historical and contemporary ecohydrologic behavior and human impacts through intensive data collection, remote sensing and high resolution modeling. The change in outdoor irrigation rates due to recent conservation measures (2008-2010) has resulted in overall decreased greenness and reduced dry season streamflow; however significant variability in conservation response is observed. Groundwater recharge, artificially supported by landscape irrigation, is also being impacted. In general, anthropogenic water fluxes (irrigation, pipe leakage, spreading grounds) are not parameterized in hydrologic and land surface models applied over urban areas. Inclusion of landscape irrigation significantly improves neighborhood scale simulations of evaporative fluxes and land surface temperatures and results in shifts in the energy partitioning. The cooling effects of irrigation on daily air temperatures has the largest influence over low intensity residential areas, with an average 2°C decrease observed in coupled model simulations (WRF-Noah-UCM). Ultimately, we strive to improve predictions of human-water interactions in semi-arid cities to better understand the effectiveness and impacts of ongoing drought and conservation efforts and guide demand strategies under future climate variability.

A conceptual model for analysing informal learning in online social networks for health professionals.

PubMed

Li, Xin; Gray, Kathleen; Chang, Shanton; Elliott, Kristine; Barnett, Stephen

2014-01-01

Online social networking (OSN) provides a new way for health professionals to communicate, collaborate and share ideas with each other for informal learning on a massive scale. It has important implications for ongoing efforts to support Continuing Professional Development (CPD) in the health professions. However, the challenge of analysing the data generated in OSNs makes it difficult to understand whether and how they are useful for CPD. This paper presents a conceptual model for using mixed methods to study data from OSNs to examine the efficacy of OSN in supporting informal learning of health professionals. It is expected that using this model with the dataset generated in OSNs for informal learning will produce new and important insights into how well this innovation in CPD is serving professionals and the healthcare system.

Providing the Larger Climate Context During Extreme Weather - Lessons from Local Television News

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Woods, M.; Cullen, H. M.

2015-12-01

Local television weathercasters, in their role as Station Scientists, are often called upon to educate viewers about the science and impacts of climate change. Climate Central supports these efforts through its Climate Matters program. Launched in 2010 with support from the National Science Foundation, the program has grown into a network that includes more than 245 weathercasters from across the country and provides localized information on climate and ready-to-use, broadcast quality graphics and analyses in both English and Spanish. This presentation will focus on discussing best practices for integrating climate science into the local weather forecast as well as advances in the science of extreme event attribution. The Chief Meteorologist at News10 (Sacramento, CA) will discuss local news coverage of the ongoing California drought, extreme weather and climate literacy.

Acquisition of Cleanroom Research Equipment to Support Ongoing DoD Programs at ASU

DTIC Science & Technology

2017-12-12

Report: Acquisition of cleanroom research equipment to support ongoing DoD programs at ASU The views, opinions and/or findings contained in this report...documentation. 9. SPONSORING/MONITORING AGENCY NAME(S) AND ADDRESS (ES) U.S. Army Research Office P.O. Box 12211 Research Triangle Park, NC 27709...Agreement Number: W911NF-16-1-0354 Organization: Arizona State University Title: Acquisition of cleanroom research equipment to support ongoing DoD

Design and implementation of an air monitoring program in support of a brownfields redevelopment program

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

Maisel, B.E.; Hunt, G.T.; Devaney, R.J. Jr.

EPA`s Brownfields Economic Redevelopment Initiative has sparked renewal of industrial and commercial parcels otherwise idled or under-utilized because of real or perceived environmental contamination. In certain cases, restoring such parcels to productive economic use requires a redevelopment effort protective of human health and welfare through minimizing offsite migration of environmental contaminants during cleanup, demolition and remediation activities. To support these objectives, an air monitoring program is often required as an integral element of a comprehensive brownfields redevelopment effort. This paper presents a strategic framework for design and execution of an ambient air monitoring program in support of a brownfields remediationmore » effort ongoing in Lawrence, MA. Based on site characterization, the program included sample collection and laboratory analysis of ambient air samples for polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), polychlorinated dibenzodioxins and polychlorinated dibenzofurans (PCDDs/PCDFs), total suspended particulate (TSP), inhalable particulate (PM10), and lead. The program included four monitoring phases, identified as background, wintertime, demolition/remediation and post-demolition. Air sampling occurred over a 16 month period during 1996--97, during which time nine sampling locations were utilized to produce approximately 1,500 ambient air samples. Following strict data review and validation procedures, ambient air data interpretation focused on the following: evaluation of upwind/downwind sample pairs, comparison of ambient levels to existing regulatory standards, relation of ambient levels to data reported in the open literature, and, determination of normal seasonal variations in existing background burden, comparison of ambient levels measured during site activity to background levels.« less

Ongoing Fixed Wing Research within the NASA Langley Aeroelasticity Branch

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Bartels, Robert; Chwalowski, Pawel; Funk, Christie; Heeg, Jennifer; Hur, Jiyoung; Sanetrik, Mark; Scott, Robert; Silva, Walter; Stanford, Bret; Wiseman, Carol

2015-01-01

The NASA Langley Aeroelasticity Branch is involved in a number of research programs related to fixed wing aeroelasticity and aeroservoelasticity. These ongoing efforts are summarized here, and include aeroelastic tailoring of subsonic transport wing structures, experimental and numerical assessment of truss-braced wing flutter and limit cycle oscillations, and numerical modeling of high speed civil transport configurations. Efforts devoted to verification, validation, and uncertainty quantification of aeroelastic physics in a workshop setting are also discussed. The feasibility of certain future civil transport configurations will depend on the ability to understand and control complex aeroelastic phenomena, a goal that the Aeroelasticity Branch is well-positioned to contribute through these programs.

A systematic approach to very important person preparedness for a trauma center.

PubMed

Bulson, Julie; Mattice, Connie; Bulson, Timothy

2012-01-01

Hospitals across the United States are more involved in disaster/rapid response planning than ever. This collaboration is often driven by continuing federal and state preparedness and all-hazards planning efforts that provide cooperative agreement and/or grant support. These efforts currently include programs administered by the US assistant secretary for preparedness and response, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the US Department of Defense, and the US Department of Homeland Security. Beyond legislated support or mandates, key emergency management regulations governing hospital-specific disaster planning and response activities are required of hospitals by The Joint Commission, the largest national hospital accrediting body. Despite this ongoing, heightened awareness and inclusion of health care in local and regional emergency response planning, there is 1 partnership to yet strengthen: the relationship between community trauma centers and US Secret Service staff responsible for White House travel and health care contingency plans. One Michigan hospital system designed a program that has made preevent communications and preparedness for rapid very important person response with the Secret Service as important as other local all-hazards planning; the evolution of this partnership is the focus of this article.

Advancing Value Assessment in the United States: A Multistakeholder Perspective.

PubMed

Sorenson, Corinna; Lavezzari, Gabriela; Daniel, Gregory; Burkholder, Randy; Boutin, Marc; Pezalla, Edmund; Sanders, Gillian; McClellan, Mark

2017-02-01

Rising costs without perceived proportional improvements in quality and outcomes have motivated fundamental shifts in health care delivery and payment to achieve better value. Aligned with these efforts, several value assessment frameworks have been introduced recently to help providers, patients, and payers better understand the potential value of drugs and other interventions and make informed decisions about their use. Given their early stage of development, it is imperative to evaluate these efforts on an ongoing basis to identify how best to support and improve them moving forward. This article provides a multistakeholder perspective on the key limitations and opportunities posed by the current value assessment frameworks and areas of and actions for improvement. In particular, we outline 10 fundamental guiding principles and associated strategies that should be considered in subsequent iterations of the existing frameworks or by emerging initiatives in the future. Although value assessment frameworks may not be able to meet all the needs and preferences of stakeholders, we contend that there are common elements and potential next steps that can be supported to advance value assessment in the United States. Copyright © 2017 International Society for Pharmacoeconomics and Outcomes Research (ISPOR). Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Nuclear thermal propulsion engine system design analysis code development

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Pelaccio, Dennis G.; Scheil, Christine M.; Petrosky, Lyman J.; Ivanenok, Joseph F.

1992-01-01

A Nuclear Thermal Propulsion (NTP) Engine System Design Analyis Code has recently been developed to characterize key NTP engine system design features. Such a versatile, standalone NTP system performance and engine design code is required to support ongoing and future engine system and vehicle design efforts associated with proposed Space Exploration Initiative (SEI) missions of interest. Key areas of interest in the engine system modeling effort were the reactor, shielding, and inclusion of an engine multi-redundant propellant pump feed system design option. A solid-core nuclear thermal reactor and internal shielding code model was developed to estimate the reactor's thermal-hydraulic and physical parameters based on a prescribed thermal output which was integrated into a state-of-the-art engine system design model. The reactor code module has the capability to model graphite, composite, or carbide fuels. Key output from the model consists of reactor parameters such as thermal power, pressure drop, thermal profile, and heat generation in cooled structures (reflector, shield, and core supports), as well as the engine system parameters such as weight, dimensions, pressures, temperatures, mass flows, and performance. The model's overall analysis methodology and its key assumptions and capabilities are summarized in this paper.

Obesity prevention in children and adolescents.

PubMed

Swinburn, Boyd

2009-01-01

Childhood and adolescent obesity has been increasing in most middle- and high-income countries, and, as with adult obesity, this has been driven by increasingly obesogenic environments, especially the food environment. This constitutes a "market failure," signaling the need for government interventions with policies, programs, and social marketing. Population prevention strategies are critical, and children and adolescents should be the priority populations. Food marketing to children is a central policy issue for governments to address, and comprehensive regulations are needed to provide substantive protection for children. Community-based intervention programs show some real promise in reducing childhood obesity, but the 2 big challenges ahead are to ensure that there is substantial ongoing funding so that the community capacity to promote healthy weights can be scaled up to a national level and to ensure that policies are in place to support these efforts. The social and cultural shifts that support healthy eating and physical activity occur differentially, and special efforts are needed to reduce the socioeconomic gradients associated with childhood obesity. A positive public health approach encompassing environmental, regulatory, sociocultural, and educational strategies offer the best chance of reducing obesity without increasing disordered eating patterns.

Global baby-friendly hospital initiative monitoring data: update and discussion.

PubMed

Labbok, Miriam H

2012-08-01

The World Health Organization (WHO)/UNICEF Baby-Friendly Hospital Initiative (BFHI) was developed to support the implementation of the Ten Steps for Successful Breastfeeding. The purpose of this study is to assess trends in the numbers facilities ever-designated "baby-friendly," to consider uptake of the new WHO/UNICEF BFHI materials, and to consider implications for future breastfeeding support. The national contacts from the 2006-2007 UNICEF BFHI update were recontacted, as were WHO and UNICEF officers worldwide, to ascertain the number of hospitals ever-designated "baby-friendly," presence of a government breastfeeding oversight committee, use of the new BFHI materials and, if yes, use of the new maternity or human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) materials. Seventy countries reporting in 2010-2011 and the updates from an additional 61 reporting in 2006-2007 (n=131, or 66% of the 198 countries) confirm that there are at least 21,328 ever-designated facilities. This is 27.5% of maternities worldwide: 8.5% of those in industrialized countries and 31% in less developed settings. In 2010, government committees were reported by 18 countries, and 34 reported using the new BFHI materials: 14 reported using the maternity care and 11 reported using the HIV materials. Rates of increase in the number of ever-certified "baby-friendly" hospitals vary by region and show some chronological correlation with trends in breastfeeding rates. Although it is not possible to attribute this increase to the BFHI alone, there is ongoing interest in Ten Steps implementation and in BFHI. The continued growth may reflect the dedication of ministries of health and national BFHI groups, as well as increasing recognition that the Ten Steps are effective quality improvement practices that increase breastfeeding and synergize with community interventions and other program efforts. With renewed interest in maternal/neonatal health, revitalization of support for Ten Steps and their effective institutionalization in maternity practices should be considered. Future updates are planned to assess ongoing progress and impact, and ongoing updates from national committees are welcome.

Building National Capacity for Climate Change Interpretation: The Role of Leaders, Partnerships, and Networks

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Spitzer, W.

2015-12-01

Since 2007, the New England Aquarium has led a national effort to increase the capacity of informal science venues to effectively communicate about climate change. We are now leading the NSF-funded National Network for Ocean and Climate Change Interpretation (NNOCCI), partnering with the Association of Zoos and Aquariums, FrameWorks Institute, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, Monterey Bay Aquarium, and National Aquarium, with evaluation conducted by the New Knowledge Organization, Pennsylvania State University, and Ohio State University. NNOCCI enables teams of informal science interpreters across the country to serve as "communication strategists" - beyond merely conveying information they can influence public perceptions, given their high level of commitment, knowledge, public trust, social networks, and visitor contact. We provide in-depth training as well as an alumni network for ongoing learning, implementation support, leadership development, and coalition building. Our goals are to achieve a systemic national impact, embed our work within multiple ongoing regional and national climate change education networks, and leave an enduring legacy. Our project represents a cross-disciplinary partnership among climate scientists, social and cognitive scientists, and informal education practitioners. We have built a growing national network of more than 250 alumni, including approximately 15-20 peer leaders who co-lead both in-depth training programs and introductory workshops. We have found that this alumni network has been assuming increasing importance in providing for ongoing learning, support for implementation, leadership development, and coalition building. As we look toward the future, we are exploring potential partnerships with other existing networks, both to sustain our impact and to expand our reach. This presentation will address what we have learned in terms of network impacts, best practices, factors for success, and future directions.

NASA and The Semantic Web

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Ashish, Naveen

2005-01-01

We provide an overview of several ongoing NASA endeavors based on concepts, systems, and technology from the Semantic Web arena. Indeed NASA has been one of the early adopters of Semantic Web Technology and we describe ongoing and completed R&D efforts for several applications ranging from collaborative systems to airspace information management to enterprise search to scientific information gathering and discovery systems at NASA.

Primary care physicians’ perspectives on the prescription opioid epidemic*

PubMed Central

Kennedy-Hendricks, Alene; Busch, Susan H.; McGinty, Emma E.; Bachhuber, Marcus A.; Niederdeppe, Jeff; Gollust, Sarah E.; Webster, Daniel W.; Fiellin, David A.; Barry, Colleen L.

2016-01-01

Background Prescription opioid use disorder and overdose have risen substantially in the U.S. Primary care physicians are critical to many ongoing and proposed efforts to address the prescription opioid epidemic. Yet, little is known about their attitudes and beliefs surrounding this issue. This study aimed to determine primary care physicians’ perceptions of the seriousness of the problem, its causes, groups responsible for addressing it, attitudes toward individuals with prescription opioid use disorder, beliefs about the effectiveness of addiction treatments, and support for various policies. Methods We conducted a national web-based survey in 2014 among 1,010 primary care physicians. We gauged responses to attitude and belief items on 7-point Likert scales. We examined the proportion agreeing with each statement, and whether responses differed among physicians prescribing higher and lower volumes of opioids. Results Respondents largely attributed the causes of prescription opioid use disorder to individual-oriented factors and certain physician-oriented factors, and believed that individuals with prescription opioid use disorder and physicians were primarily responsible for addressing the problem. Negative attitudes toward people with prescription opioid use disorder were prevalent, but a majority believed that treatment could be effective. There was majority support for all measured policies, with the highest levels of support for policies to monitor prescribing among patients potentially at risk for an opioid use disorder and to improve physician education and training. Conclusions Given strong endorsement of recommended policies, physician support could be leveraged to advance efforts to curb prescription opioid use disorder and overdose. PMID:27261154

A Role for Health Communication in the Continuum of HIV Care, Treatment, and Prevention

PubMed Central

Tomori, Cecilia; Risher, Kathryn; Limaye, Rupali J.; Lith, Lynn Van; Gibbs, Susannah; Smelyanskaya, Marina; Celentano, David D.

2015-01-01

Health communication has played a pivotal role in HIV prevention efforts since the beginning of the epidemic. The recent paradigm of combination prevention, which integrates behavioral, biomedical, and structural interventions, offers new opportunities for employing health communication approaches across the entire continuum of care. We describe key areas where health communication can significantly enhance HIV treatment, care, and prevention, presenting evidence from interventions that include health communication components. These interventions rely primarily on interpersonal communication, especially individual and group counseling, both within and beyond clinical settings to enhance the uptake of and continued engagement in care. Many successful interventions mobilize a network of trained community supporters or accompagnateurs, who provide education, counseling, psychosocial support, treatment supervision and other pragmatic assistance across the care continuum. Community treatment supporters reduce the burden on overworked medical providers, engage a wider segment of the community, and offer a more sustainable model for supporting people living with HIV. Additionally, mobile technologies are increasingly seen as promising avenues for ongoing cost-effective communication throughout the treatment cascade. A broader range of communication approaches, traditionally employed in HIV prevention efforts, that address community and sociopolitical levels through mass media, school- or workplace-based education, and entertainment modalities may be useful to interventions seeking to address the full care continuum. Future interventions would benefit from development of a framework that maps appropriate communication theories and approaches onto each step of the care continuum in order to evaluate the efficacy of communication components on treatment outcomes. PMID:25007201

Factors in Sustaining Professional Learning Community

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kilbane, James F., Jr.

2009-01-01

School change efforts to develop schools as learning communities result in schools that are constantly learning and thus changing. This collective case study of four schools involved in a 4-year reform effort begins to examine the ongoing sustainability of a learning community. The study draws insights about the sustainability of learning…

Human Rights and the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria

PubMed Central

Jürgens, Ralf; Lim, Hyeyoung; Timberlake, Susan; Smith, Matthew

2017-01-01

Abstract The Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria was created to greatly expand access to basic services to address the three diseases in its name. From its beginnings, its governance embodied some human rights principles: civil society is represented on its board, and the country coordination mechanisms that oversee funding requests to the Global Fund include representatives of people affected by the diseases. The Global Fund’s core strategies recognize that the health services it supports would not be effective or cost-effective without efforts to reduce human rights-related barriers to access and utilization of health services, particularly those faced by socially marginalized and criminalized persons. Basic human rights elements were written into Global Fund grant agreements, and various technical support measures encouraged the inclusion in funding requests of programs to reduce human rights-related barriers. A five-year initiative to provide intensive technical and financial support for the scaling up of programs to reduce these barriers in 20 countries is ongoing. PMID:29302175

Electro-optical seasonal weather and gender data collection

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

McCoppin, Ryan; Koester, Nathan; Rude, Howard N.; Rizki, Mateen; Tamburino, Louis; Freeman, Andrew; Mendoza-Schrock, Olga

2013-05-01

This paper describes the process used to collect the Seasonal Weather And Gender (SWAG) dataset; an electro-optical dataset of human subjects that can be used to develop advanced gender classification algorithms. Several novel features characterize this ongoing effort (1) the human subjects self-label their gender by performing a specific action during the data collection and (2) the data collection will span months and even years resulting in a dataset containing realistic levels and types of clothing corresponding to the various seasons and weather conditions. It is envisioned that this type of data will support the development and evaluation of more robust gender classification systems that are capable of accurate gender recognition under extended operating conditions.

Introduction to the special section on communication and wartime deployment.

PubMed

Maguire, Katheryn C; Wilson, Steven R

2013-01-01

Over the past decade, the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan have taken a heavy toll on the physical, psychological, and relational health of military service members and their families. The articles included in this special section of Health Communication add to the robust, interdisciplinary body of research on the health consequences of wartime deployment by examining how communication enables the recovery process of service members and their families. Because communication processes can signal health problems, construct and promote family resiliency, and shape the content and delivery of health interventions, our discipline's theory and research can help inform ongoing efforts to support military families as the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan wind down.

Observation of multipactor suppression in a dielectric-loaded accelerating structure using an applied axial magnetic field

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

Jing, C.; Konecny, R.; Antipov, S.

2013-11-18

Efforts by a number of institutions to develop a Dielectric-Loaded Accelerating (DLA) structure capable of supporting high gradient acceleration when driven by an external radio frequency source have been ongoing over the past decade. Single surface resonant multipactor has been previously identified as one of the major limitations on the practical application of DLA structures in electron accelerators. In this paper, we report the results of an experiment that demonstrated suppression of multipactor growth in an X-band DLA structure through the use of an applied axial magnetic field. This represents an advance toward the practical use of DLA structures inmore » many accelerator applications.« less

The Best and the Brightest in Geosciences: Broadening Representation in the Field

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Myles, L.

2017-12-01

Geoscience research in government agencies and universities across the US is anchored by data collection from field and lab experiments. In these settings, the composition and the culture of the environment can be less welcoming for individuals from groups that are traditionally underrepresented in the geosciences. Ongoing efforts to address diversity and inclusion in the field and lab include top-down approaches that provide support and training for established geoscience leaders and bottom-up approaches that offer research internships and fellowships for students. To achieve success, effective strategies for broadening representation in the field must be developed and shared across the geosciences community to advance scientific innovation and create opportunities for success.

Observational Search for Negative Matter in Intergalactic Voids

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Forward, Robert L.

1999-01-01

Negative matter is a hypothetical form of matter with negative rest mass, inertial mass, and gravitational mass. It is not antimatter. If negative matter could be collected in macroscopic amounts, its negative inertial property could be used to make an continuously operating propulsion system which requires neither energy nor reaction mass, yet still violates no laws of physics. Negative matter has never been observed, but its existence is not forbidden by the laws of physics. We propose that NASA support an extension to an ongoing astrophysical observational effort by da Costa, et al. (1996) which could possibly determine whether or not negative matter exists in the well-documented but little-understood intergalactic voids.

Therapeutic Inertia and Treatment Intensification.

PubMed

Josiah Willock, Robina; Miller, Joseph B; Mohyi, Michelle; Abuzaanona, Ahmed; Muminovic, Meri; Levy, Phillip D

2018-01-29

This review aims to emphasize how therapeutic inertia, the failure of clinicians to intensify treatment when blood pressure rises or remains above therapeutic goals, contributes to suboptimal blood pressure control in hypertensive populations. Studies reveal that the therapeutic inertia is quite common and contributes to suboptimal blood pressure control. Quality improvement programs and standardized approaches to support antihypertensive treatment intensification are ways to combat therapeutic inertia. Furthermore, programs that utilize non-physician medical professionals such as pharmacists and nurses demonstrate promise in mitigating the effects of this important problem. Therapeutic inertia impedes antihypertensive management and requires a broad effort to reduce its effects. There is an ongoing need for renewed focus and research in this area to improve hypertension control.

From Ions to Wires to the Grid: The Transformational Science of LANL Research in High-Tc Superconducting Tapes and Electric Power Applications

ScienceCinema

Marken, Ken

2018-01-09

The Department of Energy (DOE) Office of Electricity Delivery and Energy Reliability (OE) has been tasked to lead national efforts to modernize the electric grid, enhance security and reliability of the energy infrastructure, and facilitate recovery from disruptions to energy supplies. LANL has pioneered the development of coated conductors – high-temperature superconducting (HTS) tapes – which permit dramatically greater current densities than conventional copper cable, and enable new technologies to secure the national electric grid. Sustained world-class research from concept, demonstration, transfer, and ongoing industrial support has moved this idea from the laboratory to the commercial marketplace.

Release 0.0: clinical information technology in the real world.

PubMed

Kleinke, J D

1998-01-01

The industrialization of medical care delivery, compelled by fifteen years of reimbursement reform, has given rise to a commercial health information technology (HIT) industry. Well financed by Wall Street, the HIT industry offers a variety of ready-made solutions designed to transform a health care organization's raw data resources into useful clinical information. Many of the resulting clinical decision-support products are encumbered by numerous insurmountable intellectual and technical problems and, as a consequence, meet with cultural resistance from physicians. The long-awaited but costly implementation of electronic medical records (EMRs) will make these pioneering but flawed efforts obsolete, if EMR development successfully exploits recent technological breakthroughs and the ongoing consolidation of health care organizations.

Hardware Progress Made in the Early Flight Fission Test Facilities (EFF-TF) To Support Near-Term Space Fission Systems

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Van Dyke, Melissa; Martin, James

2005-02-01

The NASA Marshall Space Flight Center's Early Flight Fission Test Facility (EFF-TF), provides a facility to experimentally evaluate nuclear reactor related thermal hydraulic issues through the use of non-nuclear testing. This facility provides a cost effective method to evaluate concepts/designs and support mitigation of developmental risk. Electrical resistance thermal simulators can be used to closely mimic the heat deposition of the fission process, providing axial and radial profiles. A number of experimental and design programs were underway in 2004 which include the following. Initial evaluation of the Department of Energy Los Alamos National Laboratory 19 module stainless steel/sodium heat pipe reactor with integral gas heat exchanger was operated at up to 17.5 kW of input power at core temperatures of 1000 K. A stainless steel sodium heat pipe module was placed through repeated freeze/thaw cyclic testing accumulating over 200 restarts to a temperature of 1000 K. Additionally, the design of a 37- pin stainless steel pumped sodium/potassium (NaK) loop was finalized and components procured. Ongoing testing at the EFF-TF is geared towards facilitating both research and development necessary to support future decisions regarding potential use of space nuclear systems for space exploration. All efforts are coordinated with DOE laboratories, industry, universities, and other NASA centers. This paper describes some of the 2004 efforts.

Application of a Theoretical Model Toward Understanding Continued Food Insecurity Post Hurricane Katrina.

PubMed

Clay, Lauren A; Papas, Mia A; Gill, Kimberly; Abramson, David M

2018-02-01

Disaster recovery efforts focus on restoring basic needs to survivors, such as food, water, and shelter. However, long after the immediate recovery phase is over, some individuals will continue to experience unmet needs. Ongoing food insecurity has been identified as a post-disaster problem. There is a paucity of information regarding the factors that might place an individual at risk for continued food insecurity post disaster. Using data from a sample (n=737) of households severely impacted by Hurricane Katrina, we estimated the associations between food insecurity and structural, physical and mental health, and psychosocial factors 5 years after Hurricane Katrina. Logistic regression models were fit and odds ratios (OR) and 95% CI estimated. Nearly one-quarter of respondents (23%) reported food insecurity 5 years post Katrina. Marital/partner status (OR: 0.7, CI: 0.42, 0.99), self-efficacy (OR: 0.56, CI: 0.37, 0.84), sense of community (OR: 0.7, CI: 0.44, 0.98), and social support (OR: 0.59, CI: 0.39, 0.89) lowered the odds of food insecurity and explained most of the effects of mental health distress on food insecurity. Social support, self-efficacy, and being partnered were protective against food insecurity. Recovery efforts should focus on fostering social-support networks and increased self-efficacy to improve food insecurity post disaster. (Disaster Med Public Health Preparedness. 2018;12:47-56).

Advancing organizational health literacy in health care organizations serving high-needs populations: a case study.

PubMed

Weaver, Nancy L; Wray, Ricardo J; Zellin, Stacie; Gautam, Kanak; Jupka, Keri

2012-01-01

Health care organizations, well positioned to address health literacy, are beginning to shift their systems and policies to support health literacy efforts. Organizations can identify barriers, emphasize and leverage their strengths, and initiate activities that promote health literacy-related practices. The current project employed an open-ended approach to conduct a needs assessment of rural federally qualified health center clinics. Using customized assessment tools, the collaborators were then able to determine priorities for changing organizational structures and policies in order to support continued health literacy efforts. Six domains of organizational health literacy were measured with three methods: environmental assessments, patient interviews, and key informant interviews with staff and providers. Subsequent strategic planning was conducted by collaborators from the academic and clinic teams and resulted in a focused, context-appropriate action plan. The needs assessment revealed several gaps in organizational health literacy practices, such as low awareness of health literacy within the organization and variation in perceived values of protocols, interstaff communication, and patient communication. Facilitators included high employee morale and patient satisfaction. The resulting targeted action plan considered the organization's culture as revealed in the interviews, informing a collaborative process well suited to improving organizational structures and systems to support health literacy best practices. The customized needs assessment contributed to an ongoing collaborative process to implement organizational changes that aided in addressing health literacy needs.

The digital revolution in phenotyping

PubMed Central

Oellrich, Anika; Collier, Nigel; Groza, Tudor; Rebholz-Schuhmann, Dietrich; Shah, Nigam; Bodenreider, Olivier; Boland, Mary Regina; Georgiev, Ivo; Liu, Hongfang; Livingston, Kevin; Luna, Augustin; Mallon, Ann-Marie; Manda, Prashanti; Robinson, Peter N.; Rustici, Gabriella; Simon, Michelle; Wang, Liqin; Winnenburg, Rainer; Dumontier, Michel

2016-01-01

Phenotypes have gained increased notoriety in the clinical and biological domain owing to their application in numerous areas such as the discovery of disease genes and drug targets, phylogenetics and pharmacogenomics. Phenotypes, defined as observable characteristics of organisms, can be seen as one of the bridges that lead to a translation of experimental findings into clinical applications and thereby support ‘bench to bedside’ efforts. However, to build this translational bridge, a common and universal understanding of phenotypes is required that goes beyond domain-specific definitions. To achieve this ambitious goal, a digital revolution is ongoing that enables the encoding of data in computer-readable formats and the data storage in specialized repositories, ready for integration, enabling translational research. While phenome research is an ongoing endeavor, the true potential hidden in the currently available data still needs to be unlocked, offering exciting opportunities for the forthcoming years. Here, we provide insights into the state-of-the-art in digital phenotyping, by means of representing, acquiring and analyzing phenotype data. In addition, we provide visions of this field for future research work that could enable better applications of phenotype data. PMID:26420780

Leprosy: ongoing medical and social struggle in Vietnam.

PubMed

Nguyen, Nhiem; Tat Nguyen, Thang; Hong Phan, Hai; Tam Tran, Tinh

2008-01-01

Until recently, leprosy had been prominent in 33 countries worldwide, and Vietnam was ranked among the top 14 endemic countries. The leprosy situation in Vietnam was reviewed as a sample of the worldwide ongoing medical and social struggle to assess the need for continued support for leprosy control activities and for social programs of integration of leprosy victims into the community. A search was conducted of official Vietnamese publications, World Health Organization documents, major electronic databases, and popular leprosy Web sites; as well, notes from visits to local leprosy clinics and interviews with health workers were checked. Important achievements were realized through national determination and international collaboration. In contrast with the impressive performance statistics at the national level, and despite strong government efforts for leprosy control, the results obtained at the province-city and district-commune levels still exhibit deficiencies in case detection, treatment, and socioeconomic integration of leprosy victims. The struggle to eliminate such a complex and destructive infectious disease as leprosy does not end with the cure. Deep-seated medical and social problems remain. These problems are best solved through community-based approaches.

Time to finger point or fix? An invitation to join ongoing efforts to promote ethical authorship and other good publication practices.

PubMed

Woolley, Karen L; Gertel, Art; Hamilton, Cindy W; Jacobs, Adam; Snyder, Gene P

2013-01-01

In this commentary, we present evidence that unethical authorship (eg, guest and ghost authoring) and other publication practices are not restricted to the pharmaceutical industry; they also occur in academia. Such practices are not an industry problem--they are a research problem. To enhance trust in industry-sponsored research, companies have made rapid and far-reaching changes to their publication guidelines, policies, and procedures. Professional medical writers have adopted, and continue to implement, these changes. Although evidence indicates that industry practices are improving, there is certainly more to do, both in industry and academia. We invite readers to join ongoing efforts to promote ethical publication practices.

Immigrating to the US: what Brazilian, Latin American and Haitian women have to say about changes to their lifestyle that may be associated with obesity.

PubMed

Tovar, Alison; Must, Aviva; Metayer, Nesly; Gute, David M; Pirie, Alex; Hyatt, Raymond R; Economos, Christina D

2013-04-01

Our goal was to explore the perceived determinants of obesity in Brazilian, Latin American and Haitian women. This is part of an ongoing community-based participatory intervention. Focus groups by immigrant group were conducted and themes extracted. Women expressed differences in beliefs, attitudes, and barriers regarding diet and physical activity in the US versus their home country. Participants thought food in the US is "less natural," there is less time for preparation, and there is more variety. The weather is a barrier to physical activity in the US and work is more physically demanding. Job-related efforts were not considered physical activity. They reported higher levels of stress, less control of their time and less social support in the US. Providing immigrants with appropriate support and education early in the acculturation process has the potential to help prevent obesity.

Draft Plan for Characterizing Commercial Data Products in Support of Earth Science Research

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Ryan, Robert E.; Terrie, Greg; Berglund, Judith

2006-01-01

This presentation introduces a draft plan for characterizing commercial data products for Earth science research. The general approach to the commercial product verification and validation includes focused selection of a readily available commercial remote sensing products that support Earth science research. Ongoing product verification and characterization will question whether the product meets specifications and will examine its fundamental properties, potential and limitations. Validation will encourage product evaluation for specific science research and applications. Specific commercial products included in the characterization plan include high-spatial-resolution multispectral (HSMS) imagery and LIDAR data products. Future efforts in this process will include briefing NASA headquarters and modifying plans based on feedback, increased engagement with the science community and refinement of details, coordination with commercial vendors and The Joint Agency Commercial Imagery Evaluation (JACIE) for HSMS satellite acquisitions, acquiring waveform LIDAR data and performing verification and validation.

REVEAL: Software Documentation and Platform Migration

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Wilson, Michael A.; Veibell, Victoir T.; Freudinger, Lawrence C.

2008-01-01

The Research Environment for Vehicle Embedded Analysis on Linux (REVEAL) is reconfigurable data acquisition software designed for network-distributed test and measurement applications. In development since 2001, it has been successfully demonstrated in support of a number of actual missions within NASA s Suborbital Science Program. Improvements to software configuration control were needed to properly support both an ongoing transition to operational status and continued evolution of REVEAL capabilities. For this reason the project described in this report targets REVEAL software source documentation and deployment of the software on a small set of hardware platforms different from what is currently used in the baseline system implementation. This report specifically describes the actions taken over a ten week period by two undergraduate student interns and serves as a final report for that internship. The topics discussed include: the documentation of REVEAL source code; the migration of REVEAL to other platforms; and an end-to-end field test that successfully validates the efforts.

Conducting interdisciplinary research to promote healthy and safe employment in health care: promises and pitfalls.

PubMed

Slatin, Craig; Galizzi, Monica; Melillo, Karen Devereaux; Mawn, Barbara

2004-01-01

Due to the complexity of human health, emphasis is increasingly being placed on the need for and conduct of multidisciplinary and/or interdisciplinary health research. Yet many academic and research organizations--and the discipline-specific associations and journals--may not yet be prepared to adopt changes necessary to optimally support interdisciplinary work. This article presents an ongoing interdisciplinary research project's efforts to investigate mechanisms and pathways that lead to occupational health disparities among healthcare workers. It describes the promises and pitfalls encountered during the research,and outlines effective strategies that emerged as a result. Lessons learned include: conflict resolution regarding theoretical and methodological differences; establishing a sense of intellectual ownership of the research, as well as guidelines for multiple authorship; and development and utilization of protocols, communication systems, and tools. This experience suggests a need for the establishment of supportive structures and processes to promote successful interdisciplinary research.

The development of a multi-target compiler-writing system for flight software development

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Feyock, S.; Donegan, M. K.

1977-01-01

A wide variety of systems designed to assist the user in the task of writing compilers has been developed. A survey of these systems reveals that none is entirely appropriate to the purposes of the MUST project, which involves the compilation of one or at most a small set of higher-order languages to a wide variety of target machines offering little or no software support. This requirement dictates that any compiler writing system employed must provide maximal support in the areas of semantics specification and code generation, the areas in which existing compiler writing systems as well as theoretical underpinnings are weakest. This paper describes an ongoing research and development effort to create a compiler writing system which will overcome these difficulties, thus providing a software system which makes possible the fast, trouble-free creation of reliable compilers for a wide variety of target computers.

Matrix control of pancreatic cancer: New insights into fibronectin signaling.

PubMed

Topalovski, Mary; Brekken, Rolf A

2016-10-10

Pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDA) is a highly metastatic disease that resists most current therapies. A defining characteristic of PDA is an intense fibrotic response that promotes tumor cell invasion and chemoresistance. Efforts to understand the complex relationship between the tumor and its extracellular network and to therapeutically perturb tumor-stroma interactions are ongoing. Fibronectin (FN), a provisional matrix protein abundant in PDA stroma but not normal tissues, supports metastatic spread and chemoresistance of this deadly disease. FN also supports angiogenesis, which is required for even hypovascular tumors such as PDA to develop and progress. Targeting components of the tumor stroma, such as FN, can effectively reduce tumor growth and spread while also enhancing delivery of chemotherapy. Here, we review the molecular mechanisms by which FN drives angiogenesis, metastasis and chemoresistance in PDA. In light of these new findings, we also discuss therapeutic strategies to inhibit FN signaling. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

Conducting interdisciplinary research to promote healthy and safe employment in health care: promises and pitfalls.

PubMed Central

Slatin, Craig; Galizzi, Monica; Melillo, Karen Devereaux; Mawn, Barbara

2004-01-01

Due to the complexity of human health, emphasis is increasingly being placed on the need for and conduct of multidisciplinary and/or interdisciplinary health research. Yet many academic and research organizations--and the discipline-specific associations and journals--may not yet be prepared to adopt changes necessary to optimally support interdisciplinary work. This article presents an ongoing interdisciplinary research project's efforts to investigate mechanisms and pathways that lead to occupational health disparities among healthcare workers. It describes the promises and pitfalls encountered during the research,and outlines effective strategies that emerged as a result. Lessons learned include: conflict resolution regarding theoretical and methodological differences; establishing a sense of intellectual ownership of the research, as well as guidelines for multiple authorship; and development and utilization of protocols, communication systems, and tools. This experience suggests a need for the establishment of supportive structures and processes to promote successful interdisciplinary research. PMID:15147650

Creating a Statewide Educational Data System for Accountability and Improvement: A Comprehensive Information and Assessment System for Making Evidence-Based Change at School, District, and Policy Levels

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Felner, Robert D.; Bolton, Natalie; Seitsinger, Anne M.; Brand, Stephen; Burns, Amy

2008-01-01

This article reports on one ongoing statewide effort to create a high-quality data reporting and utilization system (i.e., High-Performance Learning Community [HiPlaces] Assessment) to inform educational accountability and improvement efforts system. This effort has undergoing refinement for more than a decade. The article describes the features…

Achieving a Prioritized Research and Technology Development Portfolio for the Dust Management Project

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Hyatt, Mark J.; Abel, Phillip; Delaune, Paul; Fishman, Julianna; Kohli, Rajiv

2009-01-01

Mission architectures for human exploration of the lunar surface continue to advance as well as the definitions of capability needs, best practices and engineering design to mitigate the impact of lunar dust on exposed systems. The NASA DMP has been established as the agency focal point for dust characterization, technology, and simulant development. As described in this paper, the DMP has defined a process for selecting and justifying its R&T portfolio. The technology prioritization process, which is based on a ranking system according to weighted criteria, has been successfully applied to the current DMP dust mitigation technology portfolio. Several key findings emerged from this assessment. Within the dust removal and cleaning technologies group, there are critical technical challenges that must be overcome for these technologies to be implemented for lunar applications. For example, an in-situ source of CO2 on the moon is essential to the CO2 shower technology. Also, significant development effort is required to achieve technology readiness level TRL 6 for the electrostatic cleaning system for removal of particles smaller than 50 pm. The baseline materials related technologies require considerable development just to achieve TRL 6. It is also a nontrivial effort to integrate the materials in hardware for lunar application. At present, there are no terrestrial applications that are readily adaptable to lunar surface applications nor are there any obvious leading candidates. The unique requirements of dust sealing systems for lunar applications suggest an extensive development effort will be necessary to mature dust sealing systems to TRL 6 and beyond. As discussed here, several alternate materials and technologies have achieved high levels of maturity for terrestrial applications and warrant due diligence in ongoing assessment of the technology portfolio. The present assessment is the initial step in an ongoing effort to continually evaluate the DMP technology portfolio and external non-NASA relevant technology developments efforts to maintain an optimal investment profile. At the same time, there is an ongoing review of agency-wide dust-related R&T activities. The results of these ongoing assessments will be reported in future publications.

Work environment stressors, social support, anxiety, and depression among secondary school teachers.

PubMed

Mahan, Pamela L; Mahan, Michael P; Park, Na-Jin; Shelton, Christie; Brown, Kathleen C; Weaver, Michael T

2010-05-01

Work environment stress, a salient health and safety issue for secondary school teachers, school administrators, parents, and students, was examined in 168 teachers from two urban and five suburban high schools. The purpose of this study was to examine relationships between ongoing and episodic stressors and anxiety and depression, as well as the extent to which anxiety and depression may be predicted by stressors and coworker and supervisor support. The Ongoing Stressor Scale (OSS) and the Episodic Stressor Scale (ESS), the Coworker and Supervisor Contents of Communication Scales (COCS), the State Anxiety inventory (S-Anxiety), and the Center for Epidemiological Studies Depression Scale (CES-D) were used to measure the variables. Ongoing and episodic stressors were significantly and positively associated with anxiety and depression. Ongoing stressors and coworker support were significant in explaining anxiety and depression among secondary school teachers. Coworker support had an inverse relationship to anxiety and depression.

Encouraging A Culture Of Outreach In Astronomy Clubs: Findings From The Astronomical Society Of The Pacific, The Institute For Learning Innovation, And Inverness Research

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Manning, Jim; Jones, E.; St. John, M.; Berendsen, M.; Schultz, G. R.; Gurton, S.; Yocco, V.; Castori, P.; Santascoy, J.; White, V.; FRANK, K.

2013-01-01

Astronomy clubs constitute a “marching army” of knowledgeable and experienced astronomy enthusiasts deployed in a national network: an enormously valuable and important resource for engaging the public through educational outreach events and activities. The Astronomical Society of the Pacific (ASP) in partnership with the Institute for Learning Innovation (ILI) and Inverness Research, Inc., has been engaged in a multiyear NSF-supported project focusing on this network and its potential to advance common astronomy education and outreach objectives. The project has explored the culture of astronomy clubs, identified impediments to building cultures of outreach within clubs, and developed and introduced new mechanisms to overcome these impediments and enhance clubs’ abilities to encourage and sustain cultures that value and promote outreach efforts. The presenter will share initial research, development and evaluation findings of the project, and describe ongoing supplemental efforts that continue to advance project objectives.

Encouraging A Culture Of Outreach In Astronomy Clubs: Findings From The Astronomical Society Of The Pacific, The Institute For Learning Innovation, And Inverness Research

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Manning, Jim; Jones, E.; St. John, M.; Berendsen, M.; Schultz, G.; Gurton, S.; Yocco, V.; Castori, P.; Santascoy, J.; White, V.; Frank, K.

2012-05-01

Astronomy clubs constitute a “marching army” of knowledgeable and experienced astronomy enthusiasts deployed in a national network: an enormously valuable and important resource for engaging the public through educational outreach events and activities. The Astronomical Society of the Pacific (ASP) in partnership with the Institute for Learning Innovation (ILI) and Inverness Research, Inc., has been engaged in a multi-year NSF-supported project focusing on this network and its potential to advance common astronomy education and outreach objectives. The project has explored the culture of astronomy clubs, identified impediments to building cultures of outreach within clubs, and developed and introduced new mechanisms to overcome these impediments and enhance clubs’ abilities to encourage and sustain cultures that value and promote outreach efforts. The presenter will share initial research, development and evaluation findings of the project, and describe ongoing supplemental efforts that continue to advance project objectives.

Building a stakeholder network for the Indiana Climate Change Impacts Assessment

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Dukes, J. S.; Widhalm, M.

2017-12-01

The Indiana Climate Change Impacts Assessment (IN CCIA) is a stakeholder-informed, service-driven resource developed under the coordination of the Purdue Climate Change Research Center (PCCRC) and with involvement from a diverse mix of contributors throughout the state. The IN CCIA brings together the best available climate change research into a series of reports aimed at helping Hoosiers better understand climate change-related risks so they can prepare for challenges and capitalize on opportunities. The IN CCIA development process aims to 1) increase the dialogue about climate change across the state, 2) provide Indiana decision makers with accessible, credible climate impact information, and 3) build a network of experts and stakeholders to support ongoing assessment efforts and knowledge sharing. This presentation will report on our experience with developing and maintaining a diverse stakeholder network. We will describe our efforts to connect with stakeholders before, during, and after the development of assessment reports and share the top themes that emerged from our pre-assessment inquires and other interactions.

DART -- Data acquisition for the next generation of Fermilab fixed target experiments

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

Oleynik, G.; Anderson, J.; Appleton, L.

1994-02-01

DART is the name of the data acquisition effort for Fermilab experiments taking data in the '94--'95 time frame and beyond. Its charge is to provide a common system of hardware and software, which can be easily configured and extended to meet the wide range of data acquisition requirements of the experiments. Its strategy is to provide incrementally functional data acquisition systems to the experiments at frequent intervals to support the ongoing DA activities of the experiments. DART is a collaborative development effort between the experimenters and the Fermilab Computing Division. Experiments collaborating in DART cover a range of requirementsmore » from 400 Kbytes/sec event readout using a single DA processor, to 200 Mbytes/sec event readout involving 10 parallel readout streams, 10 VME event building planes and greater than 1,000 MIPs of event filter processing. The authors describe the requirements, architecture, and plans for the project and report on its current status.« less

Does making meaning make it better? Narrative meaning-making and well-being in at-risk African-American adolescent females

PubMed Central

Sales, Jessica M.; Merrill, Natalie A.; Fivush, Robyn

2012-01-01

It has been argued that, for certain people, attempts at making meaning about past life events, especially challenging events, might be detrimental to well-being. In this study we explored the association between narrative indicators of meaning-making and psychological well-being, while also considering the role of individual level factors such as life history, personality characteristics and locus of control, among an at-risk sample of low socioeconomic status inner-city African-American adolescent females with challenging lives. We found that having a more external locus of control and including more cognitive processing language in narratives about a highly negative past experience were associated with increased depressive symptoms. Our findings suggest that certain types of narrative meaning-making language may reflect ongoing and unsuccessful efforts after meaning, and, may be more similar to rumination than to resolution. Additionally, they support claims that for certain individuals from challenging backgrounds, efforts after meaning might not be psychologically healthy. PMID:22897108

The Ebola epidemic and public health response.

PubMed

Moll, R; Reece, S; Cosford, P; Kessel, A

2016-03-01

An unprecedented global effort has been required to tackle the Ebola outbreak in West Africa. In this paper, we describe the contribution of Public Health England (PHE) in West Africa and the UK. Public Health England The epidemic has been a humanitarian crisis for the three worst affected countries. PHE contributions have included expertise in outbreak control and microbiology services in West Africa, and UK preparedness for an imported case. National and international systems require change to enhance the response to the next international public health crisis. Legacy planning following the epidemic will be crucial, supporting the recovery of the health and public health systems in West Africa and ensuring that the knowledge gained during this outbreak is put to best use. Ongoing PHE-associated research includes efforts to understand the pathogenicity of Ebola virus disease, improve diagnostic capability, explore therapeutic options and develop new vaccines. © The Author 2016. Published by Oxford University Press. All rights reserved. For permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oup.com.

Integrating Phosphorus Movement with Soil and Water Loss in the Daily Erosion Project

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sklenar, Tim; Perez-Bidegain, Mario; Cruse, Richard; Gelder, Brian; Herzmann, Daryl

2016-04-01

The Daily Erosion Project (DEP) is an ongoing modelling effort which is now in its second generation. DEP provides comprehensive and dynamic estimates of sediment delivery, soil erosion, and hill slope runoff for agricultural land areas across the Midwestern United States every day for Hydrologic Unit Code 12 (HUC 12) size watersheds. Results are posted every morning on the Internet at dailyerosion.org. Currently DEP covers all of Iowa and portions of Kansas and Minnesota, but expansion of coverage is ongoing. The integration of highly resolute spatial and temporal climate data, soil properties, crop rotation and residue management data affords the opportunity to test the effects of using multiple conservation practices on the transport and fate of water borne nutrients, especially phosphorus, on the Midwestern United States agricultural landscapes. Understanding the interaction of different environmental and land management practices on phosphorus movement will allow data from the DEP to guide conservation efforts as expansion continues into surrounding Midwestern states. The presentation will provide an overview of the DEP technology, including how input data are derived and used to make daily erosion estimates on over 200,000 flowpaths in the modelling area, as well as a discussion of the ongoing phosphorus transport modelling efforts and plans for future expansion (both land area and model functionality).

High Temperature Irradiation-Resistant Thermocouple Performance Improvements

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

Joshua Daw; Joy Rempe; Darrell Knudson

2009-04-01

Traditional methods for measuring temperature in-pile degrade at temperatures above 1100 ºC. To address this instrumentation need, the Idaho National Laboratory (INL) developed and evaluated the performance of a high temperature irradiation-resistant thermocouple (HTIR-TC) that contains alloys of molybdenum and niobium. Data from high temperature (up to 1500 ºC) long duration (up to 4000 hours) tests and on-going irradiations at INL’s Advanced Test Reactor demonstrate the superiority of these sensors to commercially-available thermocouples. However, several options have been identified that could further enhance their reliability, reduce their production costs, and allow their use in a wider range of operating conditions.more » This paper presents results from on-going Idaho National Laboratory (INL)/University of Idaho (UI) efforts to investigate options to improve HTIR-TC ductility, reliability, and resolution by investigating specially-formulated alloys of molybdenum and niobium and alternate diameter thermoelements (wires). In addition, on-going efforts to evaluate alternate fabrication approaches, such as drawn and loose assembly techniques will be discussed. Efforts to reduce HTIR-TC fabrication costs, such as the use of less expensive extension cable will also be presented. Finally, customized HTIR-TC designs developed for specific customer needs will be summarized to emphasize the varied conditions under which these sensors may be used.« less

DEFLECTION OF A HETEROGENEOUS WIDE-BEAM UNDER UNIFORM PRESSURE LOAD

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

T. V. Holschuh; T. K. Howard; W. R. Marcum

2014-07-01

Oregon State University (OSU) and the Idaho National Laboratory (INL) are currently collaborating on a test program which entails hydro-mechanical testing of a generic plate type fuel element, or generic test plate assembly (GTPA), for the purpose of qualitatively demonstrating mechanical integrity of uranium-molybdenum monolithic plates as compared to that of uranium aluminum dispersion, and aluminum fuel plates onset by hydraulic forces. This test program supports ongoing work conducted for/by the Global Threat Reduction Initiative (GTRI) Fuels Development Program. This study’s focus supports the ongoing collaborative effort by detailing the derivation of an analytic solution for deflection of a heterogeneousmore » plate under a uniform, distributed load in order to predict the deflection of test plates in the GTPA. The resulting analytical solutions for three specific boundary condition sets are then presented against several test cases of a homogeneous plate. In all test cases considered, the results for both homogeneous and heterogeneous plates are numerically identical to one another, demonstrating correct derivation of the heterogeneous solution. Two additional problems are presents herein that provide a representative deflection profile for the plates under consideration within the GTPA. Furthermore, qualitative observations are made about the influence of a more-rigid internal fuel-meat region and its influence on the overall deflection profile of a plate. Present work is being directed to experimentally confirm the analytical solution’s results using select materials.« less

Current status and ongoing conservation efforts for the federally endangered species Pityopsis ruthii

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

Pityopsis ruthii is an endangered species endemic to the Hiwassee and Ocoee rivers in Tennessee. Due to limited information regarding biology and genetics of P. ruthii, our research over the past 6 years have focused on conservation and recovery efforts. Using applied and molecular techniques, a bas...

The Need for Large-Scale, Longitudinal Empirical Studies in Middle Level Education Research

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Mertens, Steven B.; Caskey, Micki M.; Flowers, Nancy

2016-01-01

This essay describes and discusses the ongoing need for large-scale, longitudinal, empirical research studies focused on middle grades education. After a statement of the problem and concerns, the essay describes and critiques several prior middle grades efforts and research studies. Recommendations for future research efforts to inform policy…

75 FR 82053 - Notification of a New Privacy Act System of Records, Effort to Outcomes-Case Management System...

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2010-12-29

... to facilitate on-going tracking and management of these services, leading to greater self-sufficiency... Congress. Comments Due Date: January 28, 2011. ADDRESSES: Interested persons are invited to submit comments... SYSTEM NAME: Efforts to Outcome Case Management Tracking System for DHAP-Ike. SYSTEM LOCATION: Baltimore...

Standing for Just and Right Decisions: The Long, Slow Path to School Safety.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

LeCompte, Margaret D.

2000-01-01

Describes one high school's 20-year struggle to create a safe school environment following race riots and sexual harassment of young women. Notes that these ongoing efforts set the pattern for the school's current efforts to provide equal protection for gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgendered, and queer/questioning students. (SM)

International Multidisciplinary Learning: An Account of a Collaborative Effort among Three Higher Education Institutions

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Poh, Paul S. H.; Soetanto, Robby; Austin, Stephen; Adamu, Zulkifar A.

2014-01-01

Requiring students to complete their course assignments in partnership and in collaboration with students from other institutions is not commonplace teaching pedagogy. Even less so when they transcend disciplines and international borders. This paper presents a brief account of an ongoing collaborative effort between Ryerson University, Coventry…

Comparison of practice based research network based quality improvement technical assistance and evaluation to other ongoing quality improvement efforts for changes in agency culture.

PubMed

Livingood, William C; Peden, Angela H; Shah, Gulzar H; Marshall, Nandi A; Gonzalez, Ketty M; Toal, Russell B; Alexander, Dayna S; Wright, Alesha R; Woodhouse, Lynn D

2015-07-31

Public health agencies in the USA are increasingly challenged to adopt Quality Improvement (QI) strategies to enhance performance. Many of the functional and structural barriers to effective use of QI can be found in the organizational culture of public health agencies. The purpose of this study was to assess the impact of public health practice based research network (PBRN) evaluation and technical assistance for QI interventions on the organizational culture of public health agencies in Georgia, USA. An online survey of key informants in Georgia's districts and county health departments was used to compare perceptions of characteristics of organizational QI culture between PBRN supported QI districts and non-PBRN supported districts before and after the QI interventions. The primary outcomes of concern were number and percentage of reported increases in characteristics of QI culture as measured by key informant responses to items assessing organizational QI practices from a validated instrument on QI Collaboratives. Survey results were analyzed using Multi-level Mixed Effects Logistic Model, which accounts for clustering/nesting. Increases in QI organizational culture were consistent for all 10- items on a QI organizational culture survey related to: leadership support, use of data, on-going QI, and team collaboration. Statistically significant odds ratios were calculated for differences in increased QI organizational culture between PBRN-QI supported districts compared to Non-PBRN supported districts for 5 of the 10 items, after adjusting for District clustering of county health departments. Agency culture, considered by many QI experts as the main goal of QI, is different than use of specific QI methods, such as Plan-Do-Study-Act (PDSA) cycles or root-cause analyses. The specific use of a QI method does not necessarily reflect culture change. Attempts to measure QI culture are newly emerging. This study documented significant improvements in characteristics of organizational culture and demonstrated the potential of PBRNs to support agency QI activities.

Ongoing removals of invasive lionfish in Honduras and their effect on native Caribbean prey fishes.

PubMed

Peiffer, Friederike; Bejarano, Sonia; Palavicini de Witte, Giacomo; Wild, Christian

2017-01-01

The invasion of Indo-Pacific lionfish is one of the most pressing concerns in the context of coral reef conservation throughout the Caribbean. Invasive lionfish threaten Caribbean fish communities by feeding on a wide range of native prey species, some of which have high ecological and economic value. In Roatan (Honduras) a local non-governmental organisation (i.e. Roatan Marine Park) trains residents and tourists in the use of spears to remove invasive lionfish. Here, we assess the effectiveness of local removal efforts in reducing lionfish populations. We ask whether reefs subject to relatively frequent removals support more diverse and abundant native fish assemblages compared to sites were no removals take place. Lionfish biomass, as well as density and diversity of native prey species were quantified on reefs subject to regular and no removal efforts. Reefs subject to regular lionfish removals (two to three removals month -1 ) with a mean catch per unit effort of 2.76 ± 1.72 lionfish fisher -1 h -1 had 95% lower lionfish biomass compared to non-removal sites. Sites subject to lionfish removals supported 30% higher densities of native prey-sized fishes compared to sites subject to no removal efforts. We found no evidence that species richness and diversity of native fish communities differ between removal and non-removal sites. We conclude that opportunistic voluntary removals are an effective management intervention to reduce lionfish populations locally and might alleviate negative impacts of lionfish predation. We recommend that local management and the diving industry cooperate to cost-effectively extend the spatial scale at which removal regimes are currently sustained.

Ongoing removals of invasive lionfish in Honduras and their effect on native Caribbean prey fishes

PubMed Central

Palavicini de Witte, Giacomo; Wild, Christian

2017-01-01

The invasion of Indo-Pacific lionfish is one of the most pressing concerns in the context of coral reef conservation throughout the Caribbean. Invasive lionfish threaten Caribbean fish communities by feeding on a wide range of native prey species, some of which have high ecological and economic value. In Roatan (Honduras) a local non-governmental organisation (i.e. Roatan Marine Park) trains residents and tourists in the use of spears to remove invasive lionfish. Here, we assess the effectiveness of local removal efforts in reducing lionfish populations. We ask whether reefs subject to relatively frequent removals support more diverse and abundant native fish assemblages compared to sites were no removals take place. Lionfish biomass, as well as density and diversity of native prey species were quantified on reefs subject to regular and no removal efforts. Reefs subject to regular lionfish removals (two to three removals month−1) with a mean catch per unit effort of 2.76 ± 1.72 lionfish fisher−1 h−1 had 95% lower lionfish biomass compared to non-removal sites. Sites subject to lionfish removals supported 30% higher densities of native prey-sized fishes compared to sites subject to no removal efforts. We found no evidence that species richness and diversity of native fish communities differ between removal and non-removal sites. We conclude that opportunistic voluntary removals are an effective management intervention to reduce lionfish populations locally and might alleviate negative impacts of lionfish predation. We recommend that local management and the diving industry cooperate to cost-effectively extend the spatial scale at which removal regimes are currently sustained. PMID:29062597

What's Happening on the West Coast? The National Ocean Policy, EBM and Ocean Governance on the West Coast of the U.S.

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hansen, J. R.

2016-02-01

A robust update on the latest ocean governance developments in the West Coast region of the U.S. will be provided, highlighting implementation of the National Ocean Policy and ongoing dialog among federal, state and tribal entities and coastal stakeholders at a range of scales. The link between ecosystem-based management (EBM) as a guiding principle and meaningful management outcomes will discussed, guided by the latest ocean policy priorities from local, state, tribal and regional scales in the West Coast. The West Coast Regional Planning Body has been recently initiated under the framework provided by the National Ocean Policy, bringing together a formal partnership of state and tribal governments with federal agencies in a way never before achieved in the region. The newly reformed West Coast Ocean Partnership builds upon efforts of the West Coast Governors Alliance on Ocean Health to continue to address priority ocean policy topics, while other regional efforts are identifying data, science and tools to support an EBM approach. All of these will be discussed in detail, providing both up-to-date reports on the latest West Coast activities, while illustrating lessons learned from past regional efforts and exactly how EBM has been effectively integrated. The West Coast of the U.S. is a unique region in terms of geographic scale, governance structure and history of innovative ocean management approaches. Using opportunities provided by recent state, tribal, regional and national policy initiatives, the West Coast has undertaken a range of activities to better coordinate ocean management while enhancing dialogs to support it. This presentation will provide a concise summary of current efforts, demonstrating how policy is being translated into significant action and highlighting opportunities to build on successful outcomes to date.

What's Happening on the West Coast? The National Ocean Policy, EBM and Ocean Governance on the West Coast of the U.S.

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hansen, J. R.

2016-12-01

A robust update on the latest ocean governance developments in the West Coast region of the U.S. will be provided, highlighting implementation of the National Ocean Policy and ongoing dialog among federal, state and tribal entities and coastal stakeholders at a range of scales. The link between ecosystem-based management (EBM) as a guiding principle and meaningful management outcomes will discussed, guided by the latest ocean policy priorities from local, state, tribal and regional scales in the West Coast. The West Coast Regional Planning Body has been recently initiated under the framework provided by the National Ocean Policy, bringing together a formal partnership of state and tribal governments with federal agencies in a way never before achieved in the region. The newly reformed West Coast Ocean Partnership builds upon efforts of the West Coast Governors Alliance on Ocean Health to continue to address priority ocean policy topics, while other regional efforts are identifying data, science and tools to support an EBM approach. All of these will be discussed in detail, providing both up-to-date reports on the latest West Coast activities, while illustrating lessons learned from past regional efforts and exactly how EBM has been effectively integrated. The West Coast of the U.S. is a unique region in terms of geographic scale, governance structure and history of innovative ocean management approaches. Using opportunities provided by recent state, tribal, regional and national policy initiatives, the West Coast has undertaken a range of activities to better coordinate ocean management while enhancing dialogs to support it. This presentation will provide a concise summary of current efforts, demonstrating how policy is being translated into significant action and highlighting opportunities to build on successful outcomes to date.

Supporting the Thesis Writing Process of International Research Students through an Ongoing Writing Group

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Li, Linda Y.; Vandermensbrugghe, Joelle

2011-01-01

Evidence from research suggests writing support is particularly needed for international research students who have to tackle the challenges of thesis writing in English as their second language in Western academic settings. This article reports the development of an ongoing writing group to support the thesis writing process of international…

Accelerating Clean Energy Commercialization. A Strategic Partnership Approach

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

Adams, Richard; Pless, Jacquelyn; Arent, Douglas J.

Technology development in the clean energy and broader clean tech space has proven to be challenging. Long-standing methods for advancing clean energy technologies from science to commercialization are best known for relatively slow, linear progression through research and development, demonstration, and deployment (RDD&D); and characterized by well-known valleys of death for financing. Investment returns expected by traditional venture capital investors have been difficult to achieve, particularly for hardware-centric innovations, and companies that are subject to project finance risks. Commercialization support from incubators and accelerators has helped address these challenges by offering more support services to start-ups; however, more effort ismore » needed to fulfill the desired clean energy future. The emergence of new strategic investors and partners in recent years has opened up innovative opportunities for clean tech entrepreneurs, and novel commercialization models are emerging that involve new alliances among clean energy companies, RDD&D, support systems, and strategic customers. For instance, Wells Fargo and Company (WFC) and the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) have launched a new technology incubator that supports faster commercialization through a focus on technology development. The incubator combines strategic financing, technology and technical assistance, strategic customer site validation, and ongoing financial support.« less

Diabetes self-management among Arab Americans: patient and provider perspectives.

PubMed

Fritz, Heather; DiZazzo-Miller, Rosanne; Bertran, Elizabeth A; Pociask, Fredrick D; Tarakji, Sandra; Arnetz, Judith; Lysack, Catherine L; Jaber, Linda A

2016-08-31

Arab Americans have a high burden of diabetes and poor outcomes compared to the general U.S. Diabetes self-management (DSM) requires a partnership between patients and providers that fosters mutual understanding and shared decision-making. Cultural factors influence this process; however, little is known regarding the cultural impact on DSM or if perceptions differ between patients and providers. Qualitative content analysis was used to analyze five focus groups-two groups with Arab American providers (n = 8) and three groups with adult Arab Americans with diabetes (n = 23). Focus groups examined patient and provider perspectives on the meaning of DSM and cultural barriers and facilitators among Arab American patients. Four distinct themes included limited resources for DSM education and support, stigma as a barrier to ongoing support, family support as an opportunity and challenge, and Arab American patient-provider relationships. Findings indicate several domains should be considered for clinical practice including a need to develop linguistically and culturally reliant educational materials and relevant supports for use in the Arab American population. Findings highlight differing views among providers and patients on the familial role in supporting DSM efforts and why some patients feel dissatisfied with clinical encounters.

Evaluation and Validation of Case 2 Algorithms in Chesapeake Bay

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Harding, Lawrence W., Jr.; Magnuson, Adrea

2004-01-01

The high temporal and spatial resolution of satellite ocean color observations will prove invaluable for monitoring the health of coastal ecosystems where physical and biological variability demands sampling scales beyond that possible by ship. However, ocean color remote sensing of Case 2 waters is a challenging undertaking due to the optical complexity of the water. The focus of this SIMBIOS support has been to provide in situ optical measurements form Chesapeake Bay (CB) and adjacent mid-Atlantic bight (MAB) waters for use in algorithm development and validation efforts to improve the satellite retrieval of chlorophyll (chl a) in Case 2 waters. CB provides a valuable site for validation of data from ocean color sensors for a number of reasons. First, the physical dimensions of the Bay (greater than 6,500 square kilometers) make retrievals from satellites with a spatial resolution of approximately 1 kilometer (i.e., SeaWiFS) or less (i.e., MODIS) reasonable for most of the ecosystem. Second, CB is highly influenced by freshwater flow from major rivers, making it a classic Case 2 water body with significant concentrations of chlorophyll, particulates and chromophoric dissolved organic matter (CDOM) that highly impact the shape of reflectance spectra. Finally, past and ongoing research efforts provided an expensive data set of optical observations that support the goal of this project.

CaTs Lab (CHAOS and Thermal Sciences Laboratory)

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Teate, Anthony A.

2002-01-01

The CHAOS and Thermal Sciences Laboratory (CaTs) at James Madison University evolved into a noteworthy effort to increase minority representation in the sciences and mathematics. Serving ten students and faculty directly, and nearly 50 students indirectly, CaTs, through recruitment efforts, workshops, mentoring programs, tutorial services and research and computational laboratories, fulfilled its intent to initiate an academically enriched research program aimed at strengthening the academic and self-actualization skills of undergraduate students with potential to pursue doctoral study in the sciences. The stated goal of the program was to increase by 5% the number of enrolled mathematics and science students into the program. Success far exceeded the program goals by producing 100% graduation rate of all supported recipients during its tenure, with 30% of the students subsequently in pursuit of graduate degrees. Student retention in the program exceeded 90% and faculty participation exceeded the three members involved in mentoring and tutoring, gaining multi-disciplinary support. Aggressive marketing of the program resulted in several paid summer internships and commitments from NASA and an ongoing relationship with CHROME, a nationally recognized organization which focuses on developing minority students in the sciences and mathematics. Success of the program was only limited by the limited fiscal resources at NASA which resulted in phasing out of the program.

Supporting Disaster Assessment and Response with the VIIRS Day-Night Band

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Schultz, Lori A.; Cole, Tony; Molthan, Andrew L.

2015-01-01

When meteorological or man-made disasters occur, first responders often focus on impacts to the affected population and other human activities. Often, these disasters result in significant impacts to local infrastructure and power, resulting in widespread power outages. For minor events, these power outages are often short-lived, but major disasters often include long-term outages that have a significant impact on wellness, safety, and recovery efforts within the affected areas. Staff at NASA's Short-term Prediction Research and Transition (SPoRT) Center have been investigating the use of the VIIRS day-night band for monitoring power outages that result from significant disasters, and developing techniques to identify damaged areas in near real-time following events. In addition to immediate assessment, the VIIRS DNB can be used to monitor and assess ongoing recovery efforts. In this presentation, we will highlight previous applications of the VIIRS DNB following Superstorm Sandy in 2012, and other applications of the VIIRS DNB to more recent disaster events, including detection of outages following the Moore, Oklahoma tornado of May 2013 and the Chilean earthquake of April 2014. Examples of current products will be shown, along with future work and other goals for supporting disaster assessment and response with VIIRS capabilities.

Towards the Third Wave of School Effectiveness and Improvement in Hong Kong: Internal, Interface and Future.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Cheng, Yin Cheong

This presentation reports on three waves of reform efforts for school effectiveness and improvement in Hong Kong, and analyzes related challenges and issues with the hope of drawing international implications for ongoing research and reform efforts in different parts of the world. These three waves represent paradigm shifts and different…

A variable-instar climate-driven individual beetle-based phenology model for the invasive Asian longhorned beetle (Coleoptera: Cerambycidae)

Treesearch

R. Talbot Trotter, III; Melody A. Keena

2016-01-01

Efforts to manage and eradicate invasive species can benefit from an improved understanding of the physiology, biology, and behavior of the target species, and ongoing efforts to eradicate the Asian longhorned beetle (Anoplophora glabripennis Motschulsky) highlight the roles this information may play. Here, we present a climate-driven phenology...

World Rabies Day - a decade of raising awareness.

PubMed

Balaram, Deepashree; Taylor, Louise H; Doyle, Kim A S; Davidson, Elizabeth; Nel, Louis H

2016-01-01

World Rabies Day was set up in 2007 to raise global awareness about rabies, to provide information on how to prevent the disease in at-risk communities and support advocacy for increased efforts in rabies control. It is held annually on September 28th, with events, media outreach and other initiatives carried out by individuals, professionals, organisations and governments from the local to the international level. The Global Alliance for Rabies Control coordinates World Rabies Day, amplifying the campaign's reach through the provision of a central event platform and resources to support events across the world, the promotion of messages through key rabies stakeholders, and the implementation of specific activities to highlight particular issues. Over the last decade, more than 1,700 registered events have been held across the world and shared with others in the global rabies community. Events in canine rabies endemic countries, particularly in Africa and Asia, have increased over time. Beyond the individual events, World Rabies Day has gained the support of governments and international agencies that recognise its value in supporting existing rabies control initiatives and advocating for improvements. As the rabies landscape has changed, World Rabies Day remains a general day of awareness but has also become an integral part of national, regional and global rabies elimination strategies. The global adoption of 2030 as the goal for the elimination of rabies as a public health threat has led to even greater opportunities for World Rabies Day to make a sustainable impact on rabies, by bringing the attention of policy makers and donors to the ongoing situation and elimination efforts in rabies-endemic countries.

USDA Gin Lab Updates

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

This presentation provides an update to ginning industry stakeholders on current research efforts ongoing at the three USDA ARS ginning laboratories in Lubbock, TX, Stoneville, MS, and Mesilla Park, NM....

TMDL Implementation: Lessons Learned

EPA Pesticide Factsheets

Virginia Tech Center for TMDL and Watershed Studies provided state TMDL implementation information and reviewed ongoing TMDL implementation efforts across the country to identify factors that contribute to successful implementation.

Achieving cost reductions in EOSDIS operations through technology evolution

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Newsome, Penny; Moe, Karen; Harberts, Robert

1996-01-01

The earth observing system (EOS) data information system (EOSDIS) mission includes the cost-effective management and distribution of large amounts of data to the earth science community. The effect of the introduction of new information system technologies on the evolution of EOSDIS is considered. One of the steps taken by NASA to enable the introduction of new information system technologies into the EOSDIS is the funding of technology development through prototyping. Recent and ongoing prototyping efforts and their potential impact on the performance and cost-effectiveness of the EOSDIS are discussed. The technology evolution process as it related to the effective operation of EOSDIS is described, and methods are identified for the support of the transfer of relevant technology to EOSDIS components.

The McKeown Thesis: A Historical Controversy and Its Enduring Influence

PubMed Central

Colgrove, James

2002-01-01

The historical analyses of Thomas McKeown attributed the modern rise in the world population from the 1700s to the present to broad economic and social changes rather than to targeted public health or medical interventions. His work generated considerable controversy in the 1970s and 1980s, and it continues to stimulate support, criticism, and commentary to the present day, in spite of his conclusions' having been largely discredited by subsequent research. The ongoing resonance of his work is due primarily to the importance of the question that underlay it: Are public health ends better served by targeted interventions or by broad-based efforts to redistribute the social, political, and economic resources that determine the health of populations? PMID:11988435

Rhodococcus equi (Prescottella equi) vaccines; the future of vaccine development.

PubMed

Giles, C; Vanniasinkam, T; Ndi, S; Barton, M D

2015-09-01

For decades researchers have been targeting prevention of Rhodococcus equi (Rhodococcus hoagui/Prescottella equi) by vaccination and the horse breeding industry has supported the ongoing efforts by researchers to develop a safe and cost effective vaccine to prevent disease in foals. Traditional vaccines including live, killed and attenuated (physical and chemical) vaccines have proved to be ineffective and more modern molecular-based vaccines including the DNA plasmid, genetically attenuated and subunit vaccines have provided inadequate protection of foals. Newer, bacterial vector vaccines have recently shown promise for R. equi in the mouse model. This article describes the findings of key research in R. equi vaccine development and looks at alternative methods that may potentially be utilised. © 2014 EVJ Ltd.

Drug checking: a potential solution to the opioid overdose epidemic?

PubMed

Bardwell, Geoff; Kerr, Thomas

2018-05-25

North America is experiencing an overdose epidemic driven in part by the proliferation of illicitly-manufactured fentanyl and related analogues. In response, communities are scaling up novel overdose prevention interventions. Included are drug checking technologies. Drug checking technologies aim to identify the contents of illicit drugs. These technologies vary considerably in terms of cost, accuracy, and usability, and while efforts are now underway to implement drug checking programs for people who inject drugs, there remains a lack of rigorous evaluation of their impacts. Given the ongoing overdose crisis and the urgent need for effective responses, research on drug checking should be prioritized. However, while such research should be supported, it should be completed before these technologies are widely implemented.

The McKeown thesis: a historical controversy and its enduring influence.

PubMed

Colgrove, James

2002-05-01

The historical analyses of Thomas McKeown attributed the modern rise in the world population from the 1700s to the present to broad economic and social changes rather than to targeted public health or medical interventions. His work generated considerable controversy in the 1970s and 1980s, and it continues to stimulate support, criticism, and commentary to the present day, in spite of his conclusions' having been largely discredited by subsequent research. The ongoing resonance of his work is due primarily to the importance of the question that underlay it: Are public health ends better served by targeted interventions or by broad-based efforts to redistribute the social, political, and economic resources that determine the health of populations?

Integrating Engineering Data Systems for NASA Spaceflight Projects

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Carvalho, Robert E.; Tollinger, Irene; Bell, David G.; Berrios, Daniel C.

2012-01-01

NASA has a large range of custom-built and commercial data systems to support spaceflight programs. Some of the systems are re-used by many programs and projects over time. Management and systems engineering processes require integration of data across many of these systems, a difficult problem given the widely diverse nature of system interfaces and data models. This paper describes an ongoing project to use a central data model with a web services architecture to support the integration and access of linked data across engineering functions for multiple NASA programs. The work involves the implementation of a web service-based middleware system called Data Aggregator to bring together data from a variety of systems to support space exploration. Data Aggregator includes a central data model registry for storing and managing links between the data in disparate systems. Initially developed for NASA's Constellation Program needs, Data Aggregator is currently being repurposed to support the International Space Station Program and new NASA projects with processes that involve significant aggregating and linking of data. This change in user needs led to development of a more streamlined data model registry for Data Aggregator in order to simplify adding new project application data as well as standardization of the Data Aggregator query syntax to facilitate cross-application querying by client applications. This paper documents the approach from a set of stand-alone engineering systems from which data are manually retrieved and integrated, to a web of engineering data systems from which the latest data are automatically retrieved and more quickly and accurately integrated. This paper includes the lessons learned through these efforts, including the design and development of a service-oriented architecture and the evolution of the data model registry approaches as the effort continues to evolve and adapt to support multiple NASA programs and priorities.

Efforts to improve international migration statistics: a historical perspective.

PubMed

Kraly, E P; Gnanasekaran, K S

1987-01-01

During the past decade, the international statistical community has made several efforts to develop standards for the definition, collection and publication of statistics on international migration. This article surveys the history of official initiatives to standardize international migration statistics by reviewing the recommendations of the International Statistical Institute, International Labor Organization, and the UN, and reports a recently proposed agenda for moving toward comparability among national statistical systems. Heightening awareness of the benefits of exchange and creating motivation to implement international standards requires a 3-pronged effort from the international statistical community. 1st, it is essential to continue discussion about the significance of improvement, specifically standardization, of international migration statistics. The move from theory to practice in this area requires ongoing focus by migration statisticians so that conformity to international standards itself becomes a criterion by which national statistical practices are examined and assessed. 2nd, the countries should be provided with technical documentation to support and facilitate the implementation of the recommended statistical systems. Documentation should be developed with an understanding that conformity to international standards for migration and travel statistics must be achieved within existing national statistical programs. 3rd, the call for statistical research in this area requires more efforts by the community of migration statisticians, beginning with the mobilization of bilateral and multilateral resources to undertake the preceding list of activities.

Connecting Humans and Water: The Case for Coordinated Data Collection

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Braden, J. B.; Brown, D. G.; Jolejole-Foreman, C.; Maidment, D. R.; Marquart-Pyatt, S. T.; Schneider, D. W.

2012-12-01

"Water problems" are fundamentally human problems -- aligning water quality and quantity with human aspirations. In the U.S., however, the few ongoing efforts to repeatedly observe humans in relation to water at large scale are disjointed both with each other and with observing systems for water quality and quantity. This presentation argues for the systematic, coordinated, and on-going collection of primary data on humans, spanning beliefs, perceptions, behaviors, and institutions, alongside the water environments in which they are embedded. Such an enterprise would advance not only water science and related policy and management decisions, but also generate basic insights into human cognition, decision making, and institutional development as they relate to the science of sustainability. In support of this argument, two types of original analyses are presented. First, two case studies using existing data sets illustrate methodological issues involved in integrating natural system data with social data at large scale: one concerns the influence of water quality conditions on personal efforts to conserve water and contribute financially to environmental protection; the other explores relationships between recreation behavior and water quality. Both case studies show how methodological differences between data programs seriously undercut the potential to draw inference about human responses to water quality while also illustrating the scientific potential that could be realized from linking human and scientific surveys of the water environment. Second, the results of a survey of water scientists concerning important scientific and policy questions around humans and water provide insight into data collection priorities for a coordinated program of observation.

From Systems Understanding to Personalized Medicine: Lessons and Recommendations Based on a Multidisciplinary and Translational Analysis of COPD.

PubMed

Roca, Josep; Cano, Isaac; Gomez-Cabrero, David; Tegnér, Jesper

2016-01-01

Systems medicine, using and adapting methods and approaches as developed within systems biology, promises to be essential in ongoing efforts of realizing and implementing personalized medicine in clinical practice and research. Here we review and critically assess these opportunities and challenges using our work on COPD as a case study. We find that there are significant unresolved biomedical challenges in how to unravel complex multifactorial components in disease initiation and progression producing different clinical phenotypes. Yet, while such a systems understanding of COPD is necessary, there are other auxiliary challenges that need to be addressed in concert with a systems analysis of COPD. These include information and communication technology (ICT)-related issues such as data harmonization, systematic handling of knowledge, computational modeling, and importantly their translation and support of clinical practice. For example, clinical decision-support systems need a seamless integration with new models and knowledge as systems analysis of COPD continues to develop. Our experience with clinical implementation of systems medicine targeting COPD highlights the need for a change of management including design of appropriate business models and adoption of ICT providing and supporting organizational interoperability among professional teams across healthcare tiers, working around the patient. In conclusion, in our hands the scope and efforts of systems medicine need to concurrently consider these aspects of clinical implementation, which inherently drives the selection of the most relevant and urgent issues and methods that need further development in a systems analysis of disease.

Applications of NASA GSFC's Land Information System (LIS) for water resources management in Korea and East-Asia

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kang, D. H.; Hwang, E.; Jung, H. C.; Kim, E. J.; Peters-Lidard, C. D.; Kumar, S.; Chae, H.; Baeck, S. H.

2017-12-01

NASA has contributed to resolve global water issues by utilizing their long-term legacy of remote sensing technologies supported by a state of art software engineering. In this context, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center has developed a land surface model framework to monitor and predict water hazards such as flood and drought with the Land Information System (hereafter LIS) applied to North America and beyond it to include a global coverage. However, it is still challenging to apply the LIS to East-Asia where a rice-paddy agriculture is prevalent compared to other parts of the world, but retains a high population density in this region. Thus, this paper introduces recent efforts from the Korea Water Resources Corporation (K-water) in S. Korea to establish the LIS in East-Asia including Korea, aiming at producing surface hydrology datasets in Asia. One of the ultimate goals of this project is to manage the water hazards in Korea and to provide the water resources dataset in East-Asia by adapting the LIS with their abundantly available hydrometeorological observations to support the LIS applications. Preliminary results from initiating efforts since the beginning of 2017 between NASA and K-water are addressed in the paper to review the possible outcomes after this ongoing project to benefit both entities. Acknowledgements This research was supported by a grant (17AWMP-B079625-04) from Water Management Research Program sponsored by Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport of Korean government.

Supporting Primary Care Practices in Building Capacity to Use Health Information Data

PubMed Central

Fernald, Douglas; Wearner, Robyn; Dickinson, W. Perry

2014-01-01

Introduction: Our objective was to describe essential support resources and strategies in order to advance the pace and scope of the use of health information technology (HIT) data. Background and Context: Primary data were collected between January 2011 and October 2012. The primary study population comprised 51 primary care practices enrolled in the Colorado Beacon Consortium in western Colorado. Methods: We used qualitative methods embedded in a mixed-method evaluation: monthly narrative reports from practices; interviews with providers and staff; and focused, group discussions with quality improvement (QI) advisors and staff from the Health Information Technology Regional Extension Center. Findings: Practices valued effective support strategies to assist with using HIT, including the following: translating rules and regulations into individual practice settings; facilitating peer-to-peer connections; providing processes and tools for practice improvement; maintaining accountability and momentum; and providing local electronic health record (EHR) technical expertise. Benefits of support included improved quality measures, operational improvements, increased provider and staff engagement, and deeper understanding of EHR data. Discussion: The findings affirm the utility of practice facilitation for HIT-focused aims with personalized attention and cross-fertilization among practices for improvements. Facilitation to sustain ongoing improvements and prepare for future HIT-intensive improvement activities was highly valued. In addition to the general practice facilitator, an EHR technical expert was critical to improving practice capacity to use electronic clinical data. Collaborative learning expands the pool of mentors and teachers, who can further translate their own lessons into practical advice for their peers, yielding the emergence of a stronger sense of community among the practices. Conclusions: Using HIT more effectively in primary care will require sustained, focused efforts by practices as regulations, incentives and HIT evolve. Ongoing support for community-based practice facilitators; collaborative learning; and local, personalized EHR advisors will help practices care for patients while more effectively deploying HIT to improve care. PMID:25848621

The Quality of Feeling.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Wilkinson, Andrew

1985-01-01

Describes the efforts of the Crediton Project, an ongoing research project in Devon, England, to develop an assessment scheme that accounts for cognitive, affective, moral, and stylistic development in children's writing. (DF)

The Fukushima nuclear disaster is ongoing.

PubMed

Marks, Andrew R

2016-07-01

The 5th anniversary of the Fukushima disaster and the 30th anniversary of the Chernobyl disaster, the two most catastrophic nuclear accidents in history, both occurred recently. Images of Chernobyl are replete with the international sign of radioactive contamination (a circle with three broad spokes radiating outward in a yellow sign). In contrast, ongoing decontamination efforts at Fukushima lack international warnings about radioactivity. Decontamination workers at Fukushima appear to be poorly protected against radiation. It is almost as if the effort is to make the Fukushima problem disappear. A more useful response would be to openly acknowledge the monumental problems inherent in managing a nuclear plant disaster. Lessons from Chernobyl are the best predictors of what the Fukushima region of Japan is coping with in terms of health and environmental problems following a nuclear catastrophe.

Focus on cumulative emissions, global carbon budgets and the implications for climate mitigation targets

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Damon Matthews, H.; Zickfeld, Kirsten; Knutti, Reto; Allen, Myles R.

2018-01-01

The Environmental Research Letters focus issue on ‘Cumulative Emissions, Global Carbon Budgets and the Implications for Climate Mitigation Targets’ was launched in 2015 to highlight the emerging science of the climate response to cumulative emissions, and how this can inform efforts to decrease emissions fast enough to avoid dangerous climate impacts. The 22 research articles published represent a fantastic snapshot of the state-or-the-art in this field, covering both the science and policy aspects of cumulative emissions and carbon budget research. In this Review and Synthesis, we summarize the findings published in this focus issue, outline some suggestions for ongoing research needs, and present our assessment of the implications of this research for ongoing efforts to meet the goals of the Paris climate agreement.

Future use of digital remote sensing data

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Spann, G. W.; Jones, N. L.

1978-01-01

Users of remote sensing data are increasingly turning to digital processing techniques for the extraction of land resource, environmental, and natural resource information. This paper presents the results of recent and ongoing research efforts sponsored, in part, by NASA/Marshall Space Flight Center on the current uses of and future needs for digital remote sensing data. An ongoing investigation involves a comprehensive survey of capabilities for digital Landsat data use in the Southeastern U.S. Another effort consists of an evaluation of future needs for digital remote sensing data by federal, state, and local governments and the private sector. These needs are projected into the 1980-1985 time frame. Furthermore, the accelerating use of digital remote sensing data is not limited to the U.S. or even to the developed countries of the world.

Informal Assessment as a Tool for Supporting Parent Partnerships

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Darragh, Johnna

2009-01-01

Many strategies contribute to forming co-constructed relationships. However, one of the most effective tools that supports co-construction is ongoing assessment, which provides a common base (knowledge of the child) on which families and professionals can build relationships. As a part of this ongoing assessment, informal strategies--including…

Usefulness of a Competency-Based Reflective Portfolio for Student Learning on a Masters Health Promotion Programme

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

McKenna, Verna; Connolly, Claire; Hodgins, Margaret

2011-01-01

Background: Efforts to identify core competencies within health promotion and health education have been on-going for a number of years. These efforts include work carried out by the International Union for Health Promotion and Education (IUHPE) in drawing up a draft list of 11 core competencies which were incorporated into the practice module on…

An ongoing six-year innovative osteoporosis disease management program: challenges and success in an IPA physician group environment.

PubMed

Woo, Ann; Hittell, Jodi; Beardsley, Carrie; Noh, Charles; Stoukides, Cheryl A; Kaul, Alan F

2004-01-01

The goal of this ongoing comprehensive osteoporosis disease management initiative is to provide the adult primary care physicians' (PCPs) offices with a program enabling them to systematically identify and manage their population for osteoporosis. For over six years, Hill Physicians Medical Group (Hill Physicians) has implemented multiple strategies to develop a best practice for identifying and treating members who were candidates for osteoporosis therapy. Numerous tools were used to support this disease management effort, including: evidence-based clinical practice guidelines, patient education sessions, the Simple Calculated Osteoporosis Risk Estimation (SCORE) questionnaire tool, member specific reports for PCPs, targeted member mailings, office-based Peripheral Instantaneous X-ray Imaging (PIXI) test and counseling, dual x-ray absorptiometry (DEXA) scan guidelines, and web-based Electronic Simple Calculated Osteoporosis Risk Estimation (eSCORE) questionnaire tools. Hill Physicians tabulated results for patients who completed 2649 SCORE tests, screened 978 patients with PIXI tests, and identified 338 osteopenic and 124 osteoporotic patients. The preliminary results of this unique six-year ongoing educational initiative are slow but promising. New physician offices express interest in participating and those offices that have participated in the program continue to screen for osteoporosis. Hill Physicians' message is consistent and is communicated to the physicians repeatedly in different ways in accordance with the principles of educational outreach. Physicians who have conducted the program have positive feedback from their patients and office staff and have begun to communicate their experience to their peers.

How older black women perceive the effects of stigma and social support on engagement in HIV care.

PubMed

McDoom, M Maya; Bokhour, Barbara; Sullivan, Meg; Drainoni, Mari-Lynn

2015-02-01

As black women over age 50 represent a growing share of women living with HIV, understanding what helps them persist and engage in ongoing HIV care will become increasingly important. Delineating the specific roles of social support and stigma on HIV care experiences among this population remains unclear. We qualitatively examined how experiences with stigma and social support either facilitated or inhibited engagement in HIV care, from the perspective of older black women. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 20 older black women currently receiving HIV care at primary care clinics in the Metropolitan Boston area. Women expressed that experiences with stigma and seeking support played an important role in evaluating the risks and benefits of engaging in care. Social support facilitated their ability to engage in care, while stigma interfered with their ability to engage in care throughout the course of their illness. Providers in particular, can facilitate engagement by understanding the changes in these women's lives as they struggle with stigma and disclosure while engaging in HIV care. The patient's experiences with social support and stigma and their perceptions about engagement are important considerations for medical teams to tailor efforts to engage older black women in regular HIV care.

IDAHO NATIONAL LABORATORY TRANSPORTATION TASK REPORT ON ACHIEVING MODERATOR EXCLUSION AND SUPPORTING STANDARDIZED TRANSPORTATION

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

D.K. Morton

2011-09-01

Following the defunding of the Yucca Mountain Project, it is reasonable to assume that commercial used fuel will remain in storage for the foreseeable future. This report proposes supplementing the ongoing research and development work related to potential degradation of used fuel, baskets, poisons, and storage canisters during an extended period of storage with a parallel path. This parallel path can assure criticality safety during transportation by implementing a concept that achieves moderator exclusion (no in-leakage of moderator into the used fuel cavity). Using updated risk assessment insights for additional technical justification and relying upon a component inside of themore » transportation cask that provides a watertight function, a strong argument can be made that moderator intrusion is not credible and should not be a required assumption for criticality evaluations during normal conditions of transportation. A demonstrating testing program supporting a detailed analytical effort as well as updated risk assessment insights can provide the basis for moderator exclusion during hypothetical accident conditions. This report also discusses how this engineered concept can support the goal of standardized transportation.« less

Human Rights and the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria: How Does a Large Funder of Basic Health Services Meet the Challenge of Rights-Based Programs?

PubMed

Jürgens, Ralf; Csete, Joanne; Lim, Hyeyoung; Timberlake, Susan; Smith, Matthew

2017-12-01

The Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria was created to greatly expand access to basic services to address the three diseases in its name. From its beginnings, its governance embodied some human rights principles: civil society is represented on its board, and the country coordination mechanisms that oversee funding requests to the Global Fund include representatives of people affected by the diseases. The Global Fund's core strategies recognize that the health services it supports would not be effective or cost-effective without efforts to reduce human rights-related barriers to access and utilization of health services, particularly those faced by socially marginalized and criminalized persons. Basic human rights elements were written into Global Fund grant agreements, and various technical support measures encouraged the inclusion in funding requests of programs to reduce human rights-related barriers. A five-year initiative to provide intensive technical and financial support for the scaling up of programs to reduce these barriers in 20 countries is ongoing.

Distributed collaborative environments for predictive battlespace awareness

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

McQuay, William K.

2003-09-01

The past decade has produced significant changes in the conduct of military operations: asymmetric warfare, the reliance on dynamic coalitions, stringent rules of engagement, increased concern about collateral damage, and the need for sustained air operations. Mission commanders need to assimilate a tremendous amount of information, make quick-response decisions, and quantify the effects of those decisions in the face of uncertainty. Situational assessment is crucial in understanding the battlespace. Decision support tools in a distributed collaborative environment offer the capability of decomposing complex multitask processes and distributing them over a dynamic set of execution assets that include modeling, simulations, and analysis tools. Decision support technologies can semi-automate activities, such as analysis and planning, that have a reasonably well-defined process and provide machine-level interfaces to refine the myriad of information that the commander must fused. Collaborative environments provide the framework and integrate models, simulations, and domain specific decision support tools for the sharing and exchanging of data, information, knowledge, and actions. This paper describes ongoing AFRL research efforts in applying distributed collaborative environments to predictive battlespace awareness.

A physiome interoperability roadmap for personalized drug development

PubMed Central

2016-01-01

The goal of developing therapies and dosage regimes for characterized subgroups of the general population can be facilitated by the use of simulation models able to incorporate information about inter-individual variability in drug disposition (pharmacokinetics), toxicity and response effect (pharmacodynamics). Such observed variability can have multiple causes at various scales, ranging from gross anatomical differences to differences in genome sequence. Relevant data for many of these aspects, particularly related to molecular assays (known as ‘-omics’), are available in online resources, but identification and assignment to appropriate model variables and parameters is a significant bottleneck in the model development process. Through its efforts to standardize annotation with consequent increase in data usability, the human physiome project has a vital role in improving productivity in model development and, thus, the development of personalized therapy regimes. Here, we review the current status of personalized medicine in clinical practice, outline some of the challenges that must be overcome in order to expand its applicability, and discuss the relevance of personalized medicine to the more widespread challenges being faced in drug discovery and development. We then review some of (i) the key data resources available for use in model development and (ii) the potential areas where advances made within the physiome modelling community could contribute to physiologically based pharmacokinetic and physiologically based pharmacokinetic/pharmacodynamic modelling in support of personalized drug development. We conclude by proposing a roadmap to further guide the physiome community in its on-going efforts to improve data usability, and integration with modelling efforts in the support of personalized medicine development. PMID:27051513

Conservation Action Planning: Lessons learned from the St. Marys River watershed biodiversity conservation planning process

USGS Publications Warehouse

Patterson, Tamatha A.; Grundel, Ralph

2014-01-01

Conservation Action Planning (CAP) is an adaptive management planning process refined by The Nature Conservancy (TNC) and embraced worldwide as the Open Standards for the Practice of Conservation. The CAP process facilitates open, multi-institutional collaboration on a common conservation agenda through organized actions and quantified results. While specifically designed for conservation efforts, the framework is adaptable and flexible to multiple scales and can be used for any collaborative planning effort. The CAP framework addresses inception; design and development of goals, measures, and strategies; and plan implementation and evaluation. The specific components of the CAP include defining the project scope and conservation targets; assessing the ecological viability; ascertaining threats and surrounding situation; identifying opportunities and designing strategies for action; and implementing actions and monitoring results. In 2007, TNC and a multidisciplinary graduate student team from the University of Michigan's School of Natural Resources and Environment initiated a CAP for the St. Marys River, the connecting channel between Lake Superior and Lake Huron, and its local watershed. The students not only gained experience in conservation planning, but also learned lessons that notably benefited the CAP process and were valuable for any successful collaborative effort—a dedicated core team improved product quality, accelerated the timeline, and provided necessary support for ongoing efforts; an academic approach in preparation for engagement in the planning process brought applicable scientific research to the forefront, enhanced workshop facilitation, and improved stakeholder participation; and early and continuous interactions with regional stakeholders improved cooperation and built a supportive network for collaboration.

NASA Johnson Space Center Usability Testing and Analysis facility (UTAF) Overview

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Whitmore, Mihriban; Holden, Kritina L.

2005-01-01

The Usability Testing and Analysis Facility (UTAF) is part of the Space Human Factors Laboratory at the NASA Johnson Space Center in Houston, Texas. The facility performs research for NASA's HumanSystems Integration Program, under the HumanSystems Research and Technology Division. Specifically, the UTAF provides human factors support for space vehicles, including the International Space Station, the Space Shuttle, and the forthcoming Crew Exploration Vehicle. In addition, there are ongoing collaborative research efforts with external corporations and universities. The UTAF provides human factors analysis, evaluation, and usability testing of crew interfaces for space applications. This includes computer displays and controls, workstation systems, and work environments. The UTAF has a unique mix of capabilities, with a staff experienced in both cognitive human factors and ergonomics. The current areas of focus are: human factors applications in emergency medical care and informatics; control and display technologies for electronic procedures and instructions; voice recognition in noisy environments; crew restraint design for unique microgravity workstations; and refinement of human factors processes and requirements. This presentation will provide an overview of ongoing activities, and will address how the UTAF projects will evolve to meet new space initiatives.

A strategic vision for telemedicine and medical informatics in space flight

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Williams, D. R.; Bashshur, R. L.; Pool, S. L.; Doarn, C. R.; Merrell, R. C.; Logan, J. S.

2000-01-01

This Workshop was designed to assist in the ongoing development and application of telemedicine and medical informatics to support extended space flight. Participants included specialists in telemedicine and medical/health informatics (terrestrial and space) medicine from NASA, federal agencies, academic centers, and research and development institutions located in the United States and several other countries. The participants in the working groups developed vision statements, requirements, approaches, and recommendations pertaining to developing and implementing a strategy pertaining to telemedicine and medical informatics. Although some of the conclusions and recommendations reflect ongoing work at NASA, others provided new insight and direction that may require a reprioritization of current NASA efforts in telemedicine and medical informatics. This, however, was the goal of the Workshop. NASA is seeking other perspectives and views from leading practitioners in the fields of telemedicine and medical informatics to invigorate an essential and high-priority component of the International Space Station and future extended exploration missions. Subsequent workshops will further define and refine the general findings and recommendations achieved here. NASA's ultimate aim is to build a sound telemedicine and medical informatics operational system to provide the best medical care available for astronauts going to Mars and beyond.

Improved Aerodynamic Analysis for Hybrid Wing Body Conceptual Design Optimization

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Gern, Frank H.

2012-01-01

This paper provides an overview of ongoing efforts to develop, evaluate, and validate different tools for improved aerodynamic modeling and systems analysis of Hybrid Wing Body (HWB) aircraft configurations. Results are being presented for the evaluation of different aerodynamic tools including panel methods, enhanced panel methods with viscous drag prediction, and computational fluid dynamics. Emphasis is placed on proper prediction of aerodynamic loads for structural sizing as well as viscous drag prediction to develop drag polars for HWB conceptual design optimization. Data from transonic wind tunnel tests at the Arnold Engineering Development Center s 16-Foot Transonic Tunnel was used as a reference data set in order to evaluate the accuracy of the aerodynamic tools. Triangularized surface data and Vehicle Sketch Pad (VSP) models of an X-48B 2% scale wind tunnel model were used to generate input and model files for the different analysis tools. In support of ongoing HWB scaling studies within the NASA Environmentally Responsible Aviation (ERA) program, an improved finite element based structural analysis and weight estimation tool for HWB center bodies is currently under development. Aerodynamic results from these analyses are used to provide additional aerodynamic validation data.

A strategic vision for telemedicine and medical informatics in space flight.

PubMed

Williams, D R; Bashshur, R L; Pool, S L; Doarn, C R; Merrell, R C; Logan, J S

2000-01-01

This Workshop was designed to assist in the ongoing development and application of telemedicine and medical informatics to support extended space flight. Participants included specialists in telemedicine and medical/health informatics (terrestrial and space) medicine from NASA, federal agencies, academic centers, and research and development institutions located in the United States and several other countries. The participants in the working groups developed vision statements, requirements, approaches, and recommendations pertaining to developing and implementing a strategy pertaining to telemedicine and medical informatics. Although some of the conclusions and recommendations reflect ongoing work at NASA, others provided new insight and direction that may require a reprioritization of current NASA efforts in telemedicine and medical informatics. This, however, was the goal of the Workshop. NASA is seeking other perspectives and views from leading practitioners in the fields of telemedicine and medical informatics to invigorate an essential and high-priority component of the International Space Station and future extended exploration missions. Subsequent workshops will further define and refine the general findings and recommendations achieved here. NASA's ultimate aim is to build a sound telemedicine and medical informatics operational system to provide the best medical care available for astronauts going to Mars and beyond.

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

Larson, Kyle B.; Tagestad, Jerry D.; Perkins, Casey J.

This study was conducted with the support of the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE’s) Wind and Water Power Technologies Office (WWPTO) as part of ongoing efforts to minimize key risks and reduce the cost and time associated with permitting and deploying ocean renewable energy. The focus of the study was to discuss a possible approach to exploring scenarios for ocean renewable energy development in Hawaii that attempts to optimize future development based on technical, economic, and policy criteria. The goal of the study was not to identify potentially suitable or feasible locations for development, but to discuss how such anmore » approach may be developed for a given offshore area. Hawaii was selected for this case study due to the complex nature of the energy climate there and DOE’s ongoing involvement to support marine spatial planning for the West Coast. Primary objectives of the study included 1) discussing the political and economic context for ocean renewable energy development in Hawaii, especially with respect to how inter-island transmission may affect the future of renewable energy development in Hawaii; 2) applying a Geographic Information System (GIS) approach that has been used to assess the technical suitability of offshore renewable energy technologies in Washington, Oregon, and California, to Hawaii’s offshore environment; and 3) formulate a mathematical model for exploring scenarios for ocean renewable energy development in Hawaii that seeks to optimize technical and economic suitability within the context of Hawaii’s existing energy policy and planning.« less

Africa's search for communication technologies for education: a reflection on problems and prospects.

PubMed

Ofori-ansa, K

1983-09-01

In postindependence Africa new and more efficient strategies were required to support educational expansion. Political independence was accompanied by an increased demand for education to meet the growing labor force needs of the emerging countries in Africa. It was considered that education, as a means for human resource development, was a viable capital investment necessary to support both social and economic development, yet in many African nations, the educational systems and the traditional teaching methods inherited from colonial rule were not adequate to satisfy the increased demand for trained personnel. In response to the need for educational reforms and expansion, governments of many African countries invested heavily in the development of their education systems. During the 1970s it is estimated that Africa spent between 15-20% of the national budget on education. That high level of expenditure was justified by the increased demand for education. The educational expansion efforts also increased shortages of qualified and competent teachers, shortages of adequate equipment, and physical facilities. New strategies and resources with required to solve these increasing problems. Many African countries began to experiment with the use of mass communication technologies to support their educational reform efforts. There was generally consensus that the mass media, particularly radio and television, had certain qualities that could be exploited either to replace or improve conventional methods of teaching. By the late 1960s at least 16 African countries were using educational broadcasting of 1 form or another. International aid agencies, govermental donor agencies, and private foundations in the industrially advanced countries provided the support base for many African countries in their efforts to use radio and television for educational improvement. Most of these efforts failed to make any significant impact on educational development in Africa. Educational analysts have generally concluded that post-independence educational reforms in Africa failed to achieve thier aims. Some recommendations are offered with the objective of contributing to the ongoing international effort to search for more effective approaches in using communication technologies to support educational development in Africa. Technical assistance programs supporting educational use of modern communication technologies should be perceived in the context of international cooperation, with a 2-way flow, rather than in the context of a donor recipient relationship. Greater emphasis should be placed on thorough country by country assessment of educational needs and problems in order to provide an adequate basis for designing project objectives and project contents to satisfy specific needs. Needs assessment should be tempered with pragmatism and flexibility in approach. Training and orientation for foreign and local exports and increased local participation are among the recommendations.

Near-Infrared Neuroimaging with NinPy

PubMed Central

Strangman, Gary E.; Zhang, Quan; Zeffiro, Thomas

2009-01-01

There has been substantial recent growth in the use of non-invasive optical brain imaging in studies of human brain function in health and disease. Near-infrared neuroimaging (NIN) is one of the most promising of these techniques and, although NIN hardware continues to evolve at a rapid pace, software tools supporting optical data acquisition, image processing, statistical modeling, and visualization remain less refined. Python, a modular and computationally efficient development language, can support functional neuroimaging studies of diverse design and implementation. In particular, Python's easily readable syntax and modular architecture allow swift prototyping followed by efficient transition to stable production systems. As an introduction to our ongoing efforts to develop Python software tools for structural and functional neuroimaging, we discuss: (i) the role of non-invasive diffuse optical imaging in measuring brain function, (ii) the key computational requirements to support NIN experiments, (iii) our collection of software tools to support NIN, called NinPy, and (iv) future extensions of these tools that will allow integration of optical with other structural and functional neuroimaging data sources. Source code for the software discussed here will be made available at www.nmr.mgh.harvard.edu/Neural_SystemsGroup/software.html. PMID:19543449

Hotel shows health system keys to service excellence.

PubMed

2003-08-01

Ritz-Carlton partnership part of broader program pursuing service excellence. Nearly 600 system leaders will participate in day-long seminars. GE, Harvard serve as strategic partners for ongoing educational efforts.

"Key to the future": British American tobacco and cigarette smuggling in China.

PubMed

Lee, Kelley; Collin, Jeff

2006-07-01

Cigarette smuggling is a major public health issue, stimulating increased tobacco consumption and undermining tobacco control measures. China is the ultimate prize among tobacco's emerging markets, and is also believed to have the world's largest cigarette smuggling problem. Previous work has demonstrated the complicity of British American Tobacco (BAT) in this illicit trade within Asia and the former Soviet Union. This paper analyses internal documents of BAT available on site from the Guildford Depository and online from the BAT Document Archive. Documents dating from the early 1900s to 2003 were searched and indexed on a specially designed project database to enable the construction of an historical narrative. Document analysis incorporated several validation techniques within a hermeneutic process. This paper describes the huge scale of this illicit trade in China, amounting to billions of (United States) dollars in sales, and the key supply routes by which it has been conducted. It examines BAT's efforts to optimise earnings by restructuring operations, and controlling the supply chain and pricing of smuggled cigarettes. Our research shows that smuggling has been strategically critical to BAT's ongoing efforts to penetrate the Chinese market, and to its overall goal to become the leading company within an increasingly global industry. These findings support the need for concerted efforts to strengthen global collaboration to combat cigarette smuggling.

77 FR 73586 - Further Inquiry Into Issues Related to Mobility Fund Phase II

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2012-12-11

... certain issues relating to the award of ongoing support for advanced mobile services. DATES: Comments are... availability of mobile broadband and high quality voice services in certain areas. Building on the comments... comprehensive record on certain issues related to the award of ongoing support for advanced mobile services. In...

Initial and Ongoing Teacher Preparation and Support: Current Problems and Possible Solutions

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Johnson, Harold A.

2013-01-01

The effective initial preparation and ongoing support of teachers of students who are deaf and hard of hearing has always been a difficult and controversial task. Changes in student demographic characteristics and educational settings, combined with the rapidly diminishing number and diversity of deaf education teacher preparation (DETP) programs,…

Evaluation of an ongoing psychoeducational inflammatory bowel disease support group in an adult outpatient setting.

PubMed

McMaster, Kristin; Aguinaldo, Laika; Parekh, Nimisha K

2012-01-01

Previous studies assessing efficacy of support groups for patients with inflammatory bowel disease showed mixed results in terms of attendance and overall effectiveness. In this study, researchers evaluated the use of an ongoing open psychoeducational support group for adult patients with inflammatory bowel disease in an outpatient tertiary setting. The sample consisted of 18 adults who have attended more than 2 meetings of the support group. Topics addressed in the support group include complementary medicine, diet and nutrition, the psychological impact of inflammatory bowel disease, medication and side effects, and insurance/disability. Participants were asked to complete the Client Satisfaction Questionnaire, Multidimensional Support Scale, 11 general demographic questions, and a brief open-ended qualitative questionnaire developed by the researchers. Results demonstrated that participants reported very high satisfaction with the support group and rated the adequacy of peer support from others with inflammatory bowel disease higher than support from family/friends and professionals. A majority of group members reported joining the group for mutual support and education; this expectation was met through the psychoeducational structure of the group. This study demonstrates the potential for success of an ongoing psychoeducational inflammatory bowel disease support group for adult patients and their caregivers.

Beyond the vent: New perspectives on hydrothermal plumes and pelagic biology

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Phillips, Brennan T.

2017-03-01

Submarine hydrothermal vent fields introduce buoyant plumes of chemically altered seawater to the deep-sea water column. Chemoautotrophic microbes exploit this energy source, facilitating seafloor-based primary production that evidence suggests may transfer to pelagic consumers. While most hydrothermal plumes have relatively small volumes, there are recent examples of large-scale plume events associated with periods of eruptive activity, which have had a pronounced effect on water-column biology. This correlation suggests that hydrothermal plumes may have influenced basin-scale ocean chemistry during periods of increased submarine volcanism during the Phanerozoic eon. This paper synthesizes a growing body of scientific evidence supporting the hypothesis that hydrothermal plumes are the energetic basis of unique deep-sea pelagic food webs. While many important questions remain concerning the biology of hydrothermal plumes, this discussion is not present in ongoing management efforts related to seafloor massive sulfide (SMS) mining. Increased research efforts, focused on high-resolution surveys of midwater biology relative to plume structures, are recommended to establish baseline conditions and monitor the impact of future mining-based disturbances to the pelagic biosphere.

MODELING AND ANALYSIS OF FISSION PRODUCT TRANSPORT IN THE AGR-3/4 EXPERIMENT

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

Humrickhouse, Paul W.; Collin, Blaise P.; Hawkes, Grant L.

In this work we describe the ongoing modeling and analysis efforts in support of the AGR-3/4 experiment. AGR-3/4 is intended to provide data to assess fission product retention and transport (e.g., diffusion coefficients) in fuel matrix and graphite materials. We describe a set of pre-test predictions that incorporate the results of detailed thermal and fission product release models into a coupled 1D radial diffusion model of the experiment, using diffusion coefficients reported in the literature for Ag, Cs, and Sr. We make some comparisons of the predicted Cs profiles to preliminary measured data for Cs and find these to bemore » reasonable, in most cases within an order of magnitude. Our ultimate objective is to refine the diffusion coefficients using AGR-3/4 data, so we identify an analytical method for doing so and demonstrate its efficacy via a series of numerical experiments using the model predictions. Finally, we discuss development of a post-irradiation examination plan informed by the modeling effort and simulate some of the heating tests that are tentatively planned.« less

Preventive home visits to older people in Denmark--why, how, by whom, and when?

PubMed

Vass, M; Avlund, K; Hendriksen, C; Philipson, L; Riis, P

2007-08-01

In Denmark, political decisions improved the implementation of 'preventative thinking' into every-day clinical work. The potential benefits of preventive efforts have been supported by legislative and administrative incentives, and an ongoing effort to remain focused on the benefits of these initiatives towards older people is politically formulated and underlined as part of the new structured municipality reform. Evidence of beneficial effects of health promotion and prevention of disease in old age is well documented. In-home visits with individualised assessments make it possible to reach older persons not normally seen in the health care system. In-home assessment is not just a health check, but also an opportunity to meet individual needs that may be of importance for older people to stay independent. Preventive home visits may be part of an overall culture and strategy to avoid or prevent functional decline. There is an urgent need of an interdisciplinary teamwork and management for such programmes, incorporating flexible cooperation between the primary and secondary health care sector. The value and importance of geriatric and gerontological education is evidence based.

From individual to global: Human rights and aphasia.

PubMed

Hersh, Deborah

2018-02-01

This commentary marks the 70th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights by examining Article 19 and its application to people with aphasia. This group of people still face lack of access, stigmatisation, exclusion, disadvantage and social withdrawal as well as poor public awareness of aphasia and inadequate prioritisation of support and resources. Nevertheless, a range of creative initiatives at individual, healthcare, local community, national and global levels have helped to connect and empower people with aphasia. Such initiatives include provision of accessible information in a range of media, inclusion of people with aphasia in decision-making and as research partners, awareness raising campaigns to counter attitudinal barriers, organisation of community aphasia groups, development of guidelines for best practice, national aphasia associations and international collaborations such as Aphasia United. While ongoing work and resourcing is needed to expand these efforts further, they have helped people with aphasia to be heard and to protect their sense of dignity which underlies human rights. A human rights approach can unite, politicise and refocus these efforts, and highlight the essential role of communication in fostering a better quality of life.

Localizing Climate Information for Municipal Planning in the Central U.S.

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Shulski, M.; Umphlett, N.; Abdel-Monem, T.; Tang, Z.; Uhlarik, F.

2017-12-01

The impacts of projected climate change are an ongoing concern for municipalities. Planning at the local level often involves investigations of multiple hazards on decadal timescales. Of particular interest to cities are implications of too much or too little water, snow storms, heat waves, and freeze/thaw cycles on infrastructure, health, energy demands and water quality and availability. A two-year project led by the University of Nebraska - Lincoln has brought together scientist and stakeholder for the purpose of informing municipal planning and climate adaptation for 12 cities in the lower Missouri River Basin states (IA, NE, KS, MO). City-specific climate reports have been developed with municipal input to aid local planning efforts. Surveys to assess municipal climate data usage were distributed to all cities with a population greater than 5,000 in the four-state region. In addition, planning efforts for 18 municipalities have been evaluated for nearly 20 cities in the region to investigate local hazard mitigation, emergency, and comprehensive plans. This presentation will outline key outcomes of the project and discuss decision support tools developed in co-production with city planners.

Multi-Dimensional Calibration of Impact Dynamic Models

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Horta, Lucas G.; Reaves, Mercedes C.; Annett, Martin S.; Jackson, Karen E.

2011-01-01

NASA Langley, under the Subsonic Rotary Wing Program, recently completed two helicopter tests in support of an in-house effort to study crashworthiness. As part of this effort, work is on-going to investigate model calibration approaches and calibration metrics for impact dynamics models. Model calibration of impact dynamics problems has traditionally assessed model adequacy by comparing time histories from analytical predictions to test at only a few critical locations. Although this approach provides for a direct measure of the model predictive capability, overall system behavior is only qualitatively assessed using full vehicle animations. In order to understand the spatial and temporal relationships of impact loads as they migrate throughout the structure, a more quantitative approach is needed. In this work impact shapes derived from simulated time history data are used to recommend sensor placement and to assess model adequacy using time based metrics and orthogonality multi-dimensional metrics. An approach for model calibration is presented that includes metric definitions, uncertainty bounds, parameter sensitivity, and numerical optimization to estimate parameters to reconcile test with analysis. The process is illustrated using simulated experiment data.

Computational Lipidomics and Lipid Bioinformatics: Filling In the Blanks.

PubMed

Pauling, Josch; Klipp, Edda

2016-12-22

Lipids are highly diverse metabolites of pronounced importance in health and disease. While metabolomics is a broad field under the omics umbrella that may also relate to lipids, lipidomics is an emerging field which specializes in the identification, quantification and functional interpretation of complex lipidomes. Today, it is possible to identify and distinguish lipids in a high-resolution, high-throughput manner and simultaneously with a lot of structural detail. However, doing so may produce thousands of mass spectra in a single experiment which has created a high demand for specialized computational support to analyze these spectral libraries. The computational biology and bioinformatics community has so far established methodology in genomics, transcriptomics and proteomics but there are many (combinatorial) challenges when it comes to structural diversity of lipids and their identification, quantification and interpretation. This review gives an overview and outlook on lipidomics research and illustrates ongoing computational and bioinformatics efforts. These efforts are important and necessary steps to advance the lipidomics field alongside analytic, biochemistry, biomedical and biology communities and to close the gap in available computational methodology between lipidomics and other omics sub-branches.

Crash Modification Factors Needs Assessment Workshop

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

2015-03-01

The Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) hosted a Crash Modification Factor (CMF) Stakeholder Meeting to provide a forum for CMF stakeholders to communicate ongoing efforts and identify opportunities for future collaboration. CMF stakeholders repres...

Immigrating to the US: What Brazilian, Latin American and Haitian Women Have to Say About Changes to Their Lifestyle That May be Associated with Obesity

PubMed Central

Tovar, Alison; Must, Aviva; Metayer, Nesly; Gute, David M.; Pirie, Alex; Hyatt, Raymond R.; Economos, Christina D.

2012-01-01

Our goal was to explore the perceived determinants of obesity in Brazilian, Latin American and Haitian women. This is part of an ongoing community-based participatory intervention. Focus groups by immigrant group were conducted and themes extracted. Women expressed differences in beliefs, attitudes, and barriers regarding diet and physical activity in the US versus their home country. Participants thought food in the US is “less natural,” there is less time for preparation, and there is more variety. The weather is a barrier to physical activity in the US and work is more physically demanding. Job-related efforts were not considered physical activity. They reported higher levels of stress, less control of their time and less social support in the US. Providing immigrants with appropriate support and education early in the acculturation process has the potential to help prevent obesity. PMID:22736266

Advanced Engineering Environment FY09/10 pilot project.

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

Lamph, Jane Ann; Kiba, Grant W.; Pomplun, Alan R.

2010-06-01

The Advanced Engineering Environment (AEE) project identifies emerging engineering environment tools and assesses their value to Sandia National Laboratories and our partners in the Nuclear Security Enterprise (NSE) by testing them in our design environment. This project accomplished several pilot activities, including: the preliminary definition of an engineering bill of materials (BOM) based product structure in the Windchill PDMLink 9.0 application; an evaluation of Mentor Graphics Data Management System (DMS) application for electrical computer-aided design (ECAD) library administration; and implementation and documentation of a Windchill 9.1 application upgrade. The project also supported the migration of legacy data from existing corporatemore » product lifecycle management systems into new classified and unclassified Windchill PDMLink 9.0 systems. The project included two infrastructure modernization efforts: the replacement of two aging AEE development servers for reliable platforms for ongoing AEE project work; and the replacement of four critical application and license servers that support design and engineering work at the Sandia National Laboratories/California site.« less

Solid Waste Management Requirements Definition for Advanced Life Support Missions: Results

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Alazraki, Michael P.; Hogan, John; Levri, Julie; Fisher, John; Drysdale, Alan

2002-01-01

Prior to determining what Solid Waste Management (SWM) technologies should be researched and developed by the Advanced Life Support (ALS) Project for future missions, there is a need to define SWM requirements. Because future waste streams will be highly mission-dependent, missions need to be defined prior to developing SWM requirements. The SWM Working Group has used the mission architecture outlined in the System Integration, Modeling and Analysis (SIMA) Element Reference Missions Document (RMD) as a starting point in the requirement development process. The missions examined include the International Space Station (ISS), a Mars Dual Lander mission, and a Mars Base. The SWM Element has also identified common SWM functionalities needed for future missions. These functionalities include: acceptance, transport, processing, storage, monitoring and control, and disposal. Requirements in each of these six areas are currently being developed for the selected missions. This paper reviews the results of this ongoing effort and identifies mission-dependent resource recovery requirements.

Person-Centeredness in Home- and Community-Based Services and Supports: Domains, Attributes, and Assisted Living Indicators.

PubMed

Zimmerman, Sheryl; Love, Karen; Cohen, Lauren W; Pinkowitz, Jackie; Nyrop, Kirsten A

2014-01-01

As a result of the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) interest in creating a unifying definition of "community living" for its Medicaid Home and Community Based Services and Support (HCBS) programs, it needed clarifying descriptors of person-centered (PC) practices in assisted living to distinguish them from institutional ones. Additionally, CMS's proposed language defining "community living" had the unintended potential to exclude many assisted living communities and disadvantage residents who receive Medicaid. This manuscript describes the consensus process through which clarifying language for "community living" and a framework for HCBS PC domains, attributes, and indicators specific to assisted living were developed. It examines the validity of those domains based on literature review, surveys, and stakeholder focus groups, and identifies nine domains and 43 indicators that provide a foundation for defining and measuring PC practice in assisted living. Ongoing efforts using community-based participatory research methods are further refining and testing PC indicators for assisted living to advance knowledge, operational policies, practices, and quality outcomes.

Neural Network Based Models for Fusion Applications

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Meneghini, Orso; Tema Biwole, Arsene; Luda, Teobaldo; Zywicki, Bailey; Rea, Cristina; Smith, Sterling; Snyder, Phil; Belli, Emily; Staebler, Gary; Canty, Jeff

2017-10-01

Whole device modeling, engineering design, experimental planning and control applications demand models that are simultaneously physically accurate and fast. This poster reports on the ongoing effort towards the development and validation of a series of models that leverage neural-­network (NN) multidimensional regression techniques to accelerate some of the most mission critical first principle models for the fusion community, such as: the EPED workflow for prediction of the H-Mode and Super H-Mode pedestal structure the TGLF and NEO models for the prediction of the turbulent and neoclassical particle, energy and momentum fluxes; and the NEO model for the drift-kinetic solution of the bootstrap current. We also applied NNs on DIII-D experimental data for disruption prediction and quantifying the effect of RMPs on the pedestal and ELMs. All of these projects were supported by the infrastructure provided by the OMFIT integrated modeling framework. Work supported by US DOE under DE-SC0012656, DE-FG02-95ER54309, DE-FC02-04ER54698.

High-Resolution Topomapping of Mars: Life After MER Site Selection

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Kirk, R. L.; Howington-Kraus, E.; Hare, T. M.; Soricone, R.; Ross, K.; Weller, L.; Rosiek, M.; Redding, B.; Galuszka, D.; Haldemann, A. F. C.

2004-01-01

In this abstract we describe our ongoing use of high-resolution images from the Mars Global Surveyor Mars Orbiter Camera Narrow-Angle subsystem (MGS MOC-NA) to derive quantitative topographic and slope data for the martian surface at 3 - 10-m resolution. Our efforts over the past several years focused on assessment of candidate landing sites for the Mars Exploration Rovers (MER) and culminated in the selection of sites in Gusev crater and Meridiani Planum as safe as well as scientifically compelling. As of this writing, MER-A (Spirit) has landed safely in Gusev and we are performing a limited amount of additional mapping near the landing point to support localization of the lander and rover operations planning. The primary focus of our work, however, has been extending our techniques to sample a variety of geologic terrains planetwide to support both a variety of geoscientific studies and planning and data analysis for missions such as Mars Express, Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter, and Phoenix.

Coast Guard Polar Icebreaker Modernization: Background and Issues for Congress

DTIC Science & Technology

2013-04-25

Accountability Office, Coast Guard[:]Efforts to Identify Arctic Requirements Are Ongoing, but More Communication about Agency Planning Efforts Would...control, and communications capabilities. The flexibility and mobility of polar icebreakers would assist the Coast Guard in closing future mission...Sea to prevent foreign fishing in U.S. waters and overfishing —Capability to conduct search and rescue in Beaufort Sea for cruise line and natural

Coast Guard Polar Icebreaker Modernization: Background and Issues for Congress

DTIC Science & Technology

2014-02-11

Efforts to Identify Arctic Requirements Are Ongoing, but More Communication about Agency Planning Efforts Would Be Beneficial, GAO-10- 870, September...icebreakers also have substantial command, control, and communications capabilities. The flexibility and mobility of polar icebreakers would assist...Fisheries enforcement in Bering Sea to prevent foreign fishing in U.S. waters and overfishing —Capability to conduct search and rescue in Beaufort Sea

Te Reo Maori as a Subject: The Impact of Language Ideology, Language Practice, and Language Management on Secondary School Students' Decision Making

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Jeurissen, Maree

2014-01-01

Te reo Maori, the Indigenous language of Aotearoa (New Zealand), remains 'endangered' despite concentrated ongoing efforts to reverse declining numbers of speakers. Most of these efforts have focused on te reo Maori immersion education settings as these were considered the most effective means to ensure the survival of the language (May &…

Transformation and Decolonisation of Mathematics Education for Sustainable Development: A Case Study of Its Learning Trend in Nigeria

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Salami, I. A.; Okeke, C. I. O.

2017-01-01

The quest to contextualise education in Africa has been on-going for a while and many countries have been making efforts towards it. During this time of educational review, conscious efforts should be made to identify problematic levels of some subjects that are dreadful to the learners to pave the way for curriculum re-design for context…

Discovery of Emerging Per-and Polyfluoroalkyl Substances

EPA Science Inventory

Legacy perfluorinated compounds exhibit significant environmental persistence and bioaccumulation potential, which has spawned an ongoing effort to introduce replacement compounds with reduced toxicological risk profiles. Many of these emerging chemical species lack validated qua...

University Transportation Center : administration manual.

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

2013-01-01

University Transportation Centers (UTCs) were established by the U.S. Department of : Transportation (USDOT) in 1987. UTCs are part of an on-going federal government effort to : improve transportation research, transportation education and to stre...

Superfund Program Review

EPA Pesticide Factsheets

This document presents outcomes of implementing a number of the actions described in the November 2013 Superfund Remedial Program Review (SPR) Action Plan . It also describes ongoing Action Plan efforts and projects future outcomes anticipated in FY 2015

Bio-engineering for land stabilization : final report.

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

2010-06-01

As part of the Ohio Department of Transportations (ODOTs) ongoing effort to solve engineering problems for the Ohio : transportation system through research, The Ohio State University has undertaken a study entitled Bioengineering for : Land...

FY 1998-2002 proposed airport improvement program

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

1997-05-01

For Fiscal Years 1998 through 2002, the Illinois Department of Transportation's : Airport Improvement Program includes ongoing efforts to resolve the aircraft : congestion problems in both the Chicago and St. Louis metropolitan areas. In : addition, ...

DOE Asset Revitalization: Sustainability and Waste Management Aspects - 12120

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

Robinson, Sharon M.

2012-07-01

In February 2011 Secretary of Energy Steven Chu established a Task Force on Asset Revitalization to facilitate a discussion among the Department of Energy (DOE), communities around DOE sites, non-profits, tribal governments, the private sector, and other stakeholders to identify reuse approaches as environmental cleanup efforts at DOE sites reach completion. The Task Force was charged with exploring opportunities to reuse DOE site assets for beneficial purposes and making recommendations to the Under Secretaries of Energy, Science, and Nuclear Security on the formation of an Asset Revitalization Initiative (ARI). The ARI is a Department-wide effort to advance the beneficial reusemore » of the DOE's unique and diverse mix of assets including land, facilities, infrastructure, equipment, technologies, natural resources, and a highly skilled workforce. The ARI will encourage collaboration between the public and private sectors in order to achieve energy and environmental goals as well as to stimulate and diversify regional economies. The recommendations of the ARI Task Force are summarized below, focusing on the sustainability and waste management aspects. DOE's ongoing completion of cleanup efforts and modernization efforts is creating opportunities to transition under-used or excess assets to future beneficial use. The FY 2011 DOE ARI Task Force determined that DOE's assets could be reused for beneficial purposes such as clean energy production, industrial manufacturing, recreational and conversation use, and other economic development initiatives. Asset revitalization has the potential to both help achieve DOE's energy and environmental goals and diversify regional economies where the sites are located, including providing the support needed to implement large-scale projects that achieve green sustainability goals. Asset revitalization efforts could be accelerated by effectively incorporating future use plans into environmental management and remediation efforts. (authors)« less

Estimating benefits of past, current, and future reductions in smoking rates using a comprehensive model with competing causes of death.

PubMed

van Meijgaard, Jeroen; Fielding, Jonathan E

2012-01-01

Despite years of declining smoking prevalence, tobacco use is still the leading preventable contributor to illness and death in the United States, and the effect of past tobacco-use control efforts has not fully translated into improvements in health outcomes. The objective of this study was to use a life course model with multiple competing causes of death to elucidate the ongoing benefits of tobacco-use control efforts on US death rates. We used a continuous-time life course simulation model for the US population. We modeled smoking initiation and cessation and 20 leading causes of death as competing risks over the life span, with the risk of death for each cause dependent on past and current smoking status. Risk parameters were estimated using data from the National Health Interview Survey that were linked to follow-up mortality data. Up to 14% (9% for men, 14% for women) of the total gain in life expectancy since 1960 was due to tobacco-use control efforts. Past efforts are expected to further increase life expectancy by 0.9 years for women and 1.3 years for men. Additional reduction in smoking prevalence may eventually yield an average 3.4-year increase in life expectancy in the United States. Coronary heart disease is expected to increase as a share of total deaths. A dynamic individual-level model with multiple causes of death supports assessment of the delayed benefits of improved tobacco-use control efforts. We show that past smoking reduction efforts will translate into further increases in life expectancy in the coming years. Smoking will remain a major contributor to preventable illness and death, worthy of continued interventions.

Evaluation and Analysis of F-16XL Wind Tunnel Data From Static and Dynamic Tests

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Kim, Sungwan; Murphy, Patrick C.; Klein, Vladislav

2004-01-01

A series of wind tunnel tests were conducted in the NASA Langley Research Center as part of an ongoing effort to develop and test mathematical models for aircraft rigid-body aerodynamics in nonlinear unsteady flight regimes. Analysis of measurement accuracy, especially for nonlinear dynamic systems that may exhibit complicated behaviors, is an essential component of this ongoing effort. In this report, tools for harmonic analysis of dynamic data and assessing measurement accuracy are presented. A linear aerodynamic model is assumed that is appropriate for conventional forced-oscillation experiments, although more general models can be used with these tools. Application of the tools to experimental data is demonstrated and results indicate the levels of uncertainty in output measurements that can arise from experimental setup, calibration procedures, mechanical limitations, and input errors.

Equality in Healthcare: The Formation and Ongoing Legacy of an LGBT Advisory Council.

PubMed

Rosa, William; Fullerton, Chelsea; Keller, Ronald

2015-12-01

This article provides a broad overview of the literature on lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender (LGBT) health disparities and workplace discrimination, as well as the context that led to the formation of an institutional LGBT Advisory Council. The Council was developed in order to demonstrate our ongoing commitment to LGBT inclusion and to improve the lived experiences for both LGBT patients and staff. A retrospective approach is utilized to explore the LGBT Advisory Council's journey to spearhead advocacy efforts at our institution. The Council's accomplishments include taking a leadership role in obtaining nationally recognized designations such as the Healthcare Equality Index and the Magnet Exemplar for Cultural Sensitivity, as well as adding sexual orientation, gender identity, and gender expression fields to our institution's electronic medical record system. Additionally, the Council guides and promotes ongoing house-wide cultural sensitivity staff training efforts. Most recently, the Council marched as a contingency in the world's largest Pride March for the first time in institutional history. It is our hope that our Council will become an inspiration and exemplar for similar groups to form at healthcare institutions and organizations across the nation. Allowing LGBT members of each individual healthcare community the agency to determine the direction of advocacy efforts is incredibly important; however, this must be coupled with an organizational commitment on behalf of leadership to follow through on these initiatives and to provide them with the resources they need in order to be successful.

Evolving Prehospital, Emergency Department, and “Inpatient” Management Models for Geriatric Emergencies

PubMed Central

Carpenter, Christopher R.; Platts-Mills, Timothy F.

2013-01-01

Alternative management methods are essential to ensure high quality and efficient emergency care for the growing number of geriatric adults worldwide. Protocols for case-finding and rapid diagnosis to support early condition-specific treatment for older adults with acute severe illness and injury are needed. Improved emergency department care for older adults will require providers to look beyond the diagnosis to address the influence of other factors on the patient's health: isolation and depression; finances and transportation; and chronic medical conditions and polypharmacy. This review article describes recent and ongoing efforts to enhance the quality of emergency care for older adults using alternative management approaches spanning the spectrum from prehospital care, through the emergency department, and into evolving inpatient or outpatient processes of care. PMID:23177599

Survey of university programs in remote sensing funded under grants from the NASA University-Space Applications program

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Madigan, J. A.; Earhart, R. W.

1978-01-01

NASA's Office of Space and Terrestrial Applications (OSTA) is currently assessing approaches to transferring NASA technology to both the public and private sectors. As part of this assessment, NASA is evaluating the effectiveness of an ongoing program in remote sensing technology transfer conducted by 20 university contractors/grantees, each supported totally or partially by NASA funds. The University-Space Applications program has as its objective the demonstration of practical benefits from the use of remote sensing technology to a broad spectrum of new users, principally in state and local governments. To evaluate the University-Space Applications program, NASA has a near-term requirement for data on each university effort including total funding, funding sources, length of program, program description, and effectiveness measures.

Learning from Non-Linear Ecosystem Dynamics Is Vital for Achieving Land Degradation Neutrality

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

Sietz, Diana; Fleskens, Luuk; Stringer, Lindsay C.

Land Degradation Neutrality is one of the Sustainable Development Goal targets, requiring on-going degradation to be balanced by restoration and sustainable land management. However, restoration and efforts to prevent degradation have often failed to deliver expected benefits,despite enormous investments. Better acknowledging the close relationships between climate, land management and non-linear ecosystem dynamics can help restoration activities to meet their intended goals, while supporting climate change adaptation and mitigation. This paper is the first to link ecological theory of non-linear ecosystem dynamics to Land Degradation Neutrality offering essential insights into appropriate timings, climate-induced windows of opportunities and risks and the financialmore » viability of investments. These novel insights are pre-requisites for meaningful o and monitoring of progress towards Land Degradation Neutrality« less

Learning from Non-Linear Ecosystem Dynamics Is Vital for Achieving Land Degradation Neutrality

DOE PAGES

Sietz, Diana; Fleskens, Luuk; Stringer, Lindsay C.

2017-02-27

Land Degradation Neutrality is one of the Sustainable Development Goal targets, requiring on-going degradation to be balanced by restoration and sustainable land management. However, restoration and efforts to prevent degradation have often failed to deliver expected benefits,despite enormous investments. Better acknowledging the close relationships between climate, land management and non-linear ecosystem dynamics can help restoration activities to meet their intended goals, while supporting climate change adaptation and mitigation. This paper is the first to link ecological theory of non-linear ecosystem dynamics to Land Degradation Neutrality offering essential insights into appropriate timings, climate-induced windows of opportunities and risks and the financialmore » viability of investments. These novel insights are pre-requisites for meaningful o and monitoring of progress towards Land Degradation Neutrality« less

Global Response to HIV: Treatment as Prevention, or Treatment for Treatment?

PubMed Central

Sigaloff, Kim C. E.; Lange, Joep M. A.; Montaner, Julio

2014-01-01

The concept of “treatment as prevention” has emerged as a means to curb the global HIV epidemic. There is, however, still ongoing debate about the evidence on when to start antiretroviral therapy in resource-poor settings. Critics have brought forward multiple arguments against a “test and treat” approach, including the potential burden of such a strategy on weak health systems and a presumed lack of scientific support for individual patient benefit of early treatment initiation. In this article, we highlight the societal and individual advantages of treatment as prevention in resource-poor settings. We argue that the available evidence renders the discussion on when to start antiretroviral therapy unnecessary and that, instead, efforts should be aimed at offering treatment as soon as possible. PMID:24926037

Easier Said than Done: Intervention Sustainability in an Urban After-School Program

PubMed Central

Frazier, Stacy L.; Mehta, Tara; Atkins, Marc S.; Weisbach, Jessica

2011-01-01

Although sustainability is frequently described as a project goal in community-based programs, concentrated efforts to sustain interventions beyond the conclusion of research funding have only recently emerged as a focus of implementation research. The current paper describes a study of behavioral consultation to after-school program staff in low-SES, urban communities. Following consultation, staff use of four recommended tools and strategies was examined, emphasizing facilitators and barriers to sustainability. Results indicated high perceived utility and intention to use intervention components, but low sustainability at two follow-up time points within 1 year after the initial consultation concluded. Findings suggest that ongoing implementation support in community settings may be necessary to ensure the sustainability of interventions and meet the mental health needs of participating high-risk youth. PMID:21416160

The development of an autonomous rendezvous and docking simulation using rapid integration and prototyping technology

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Shackelford, John H.; Saugen, John D.; Wurst, Michael J.; Adler, James

1991-01-01

A generic planar 3 degree of freedom simulation was developed that supports hardware in the loop simulations, guidance and control analysis, and can directly generate flight software. This simulation was developed in a small amount of time utilizing rapid prototyping techniques. The approach taken to develop this simulation tool, the benefits seen using this approach to development, and on-going efforts to improve and extend this capability are described. The simulation is composed of 3 major elements: (1) Docker dynamics model, (2) Dockee dynamics model, and (3) Docker Control System. The docker and dockee models are based on simple planar orbital dynamics equations using a spherical earth gravity model. The docker control system is based on a phase plane approach to error correction.

When systems fail: improving care through technology can create risk.

PubMed

Bagalio, Sharon A

2007-01-01

Emerging medical technology is transforming the care of the modern-day patient. Hospital performance and patient safety is improving, lowering professional liability and medical malpractice costs. This advanced technology affects not only diagnosis and treatment but also hospital productivity and revenue. However, it also exposes hospitals and medical personnel to a number of unforeseeable risks. This article examines ongoing efforts to improve patient safety through the use of technology, automation and complex systems operations. It discusses the importance of skilled negotiation when vying for technology contracts and the value of maintaining a reliable data center to support it. Technology risk exposure is now a reality. A hospital needs to know how to protect itself from cyber liability, business interruption, and data loss and theft by ensuring that there is adequate coverage.

Latest experience in design of piezoelectric-driven fine-steering mirrors

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Marth, Harry; Donat, Michael; Pohlhammer, Charles F.

1992-01-01

The European Space Organization (ESO) requested Physik Instrumente (PI) to develop a system to compensate for atmospherically induced image jitter in astronomical telescopes. The product, designated S-380 by PI, is a sophisticated adaptive optic system using closed loop piezoelectric actuators and momentum compensation to significantly improve telescope resolution during long integrations by correcting for image jitter in real time. Optimizing the design of this system involved solving several interdependent problems, including: (1) selection of the motion system, (2) arrangement of the pivot points and actuators, (3) momentum compensation, and (4) selection of the sensor system. This paper presents the trade-offs leading to final design of the S-380 system, some supporting technical analysis and ongoing efforts at PI to provide fast tilting platforms for larger mirrors.

Missouri Soybean Association Biodiesel Demonstration Project: Final Report

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

Ludwig, Dale; Hamilton, Jill

The Missouri Soybean Association (MSA) and the National Biodiesel Board (NBB) partnered together to implement the MSA Biodiesel Demonstration project under a United States Department of Energy (DOE) grant. The goal of this project was to provide decision makers and fleet managers with information that could lead to the increased use of domestically produced renewable fuels and could reduce the harmful impacts of school bus diesel exhaust on children. This project was initiated in September 2004 and completed in April 2011. The project carried out a broad range of activities organized under four areas: 1. Petroleum and related industry educationmore » program for fuel suppliers; 2. Fleet evaluation program using B20 with a Missouri school district; 3. Outreach and awareness campaign for school district fleet managers; and 4. Support of ongoing B20 Fleet Evaluation Team (FET) data collection efforts with existing school districts. Technical support to the biodiesel industry was also provided through NBB’s Troubleshooting Hotline. The hotline program was established in 2008 to troubleshoot fuel quality issues and help facilitate smooth implementation of the RFS and is described in greater detail under Milestone A.1 - Promote Instruction and Guidance on Best Practices. As a result of this project’s efforts, MSA and NBB were able to successfully reach out to and support a broad spectrum of biodiesel users in Missouri and New England. The MSA Biodiesel Demonstration was funded through a FY2004 Renewable Energy Resources Congressional earmark. The initial focus of this project was to test and evaluate biodiesel blends coupled with diesel oxidation catalysts as an emissions reduction technology for school bus fleets in the United States. The project was designed to verify emissions reductions using Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) protocols, then document – with school bus fleet experience – the viability of utilizing B20 blends. The fleet experience was expected to support ongoing industry efforts to collect existing data and to increase awareness and knowledge among school district fleet managers. However, three years into the project, the original intent of the engine verification was no longer deemed by equipment manufacturers to be of sufficient economic interest to enter into a partnership. In response, MSA requested a project extension and re-scope to eliminate the aftermarket equipment verification and replace it with a petroleum education program. The revised project maintained four task areas with the following modifications. The first component was directed at increasing national compliance with newly initiated state level fuel blend mandates through a distributor education program. Component two was modified to eliminate the verification element and, instead, document operational data from biodiesel use in a district school bus fleet. Components three and four were unchanged and maintained their purpose of expanding upon the existing knowledge base of biodiesel use in school bus fleets.« less

Assessment of the U.S. Department of Defense Efforts to Develop an Effective Medical Logistics System within the Afghan National Security Forces

DTIC Science & Technology

2011-06-14

aggressively to strengthen measures aimed at ensuring a successful ANSF transition. Ongoing actions include: • Working with CURE International and the ANSF...sustainability include the following ongoing actions: • Working with CURE International and the MoD and MoI to complete, promulgate and implement Standards of Care...approximately June-August 2011. In addition, NTM-A/CSTC-A previously awarded an approximately $1.57M contract with the NGO CURE International to

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

Mizner, Jack Harry; Passell, Howard David; Keller, Elizabeth James Kistin

Sustainability is a critical national security issue for the U.S. and other nations. Sandia National Laboratories (SNL) is already a global leader in sustainability science and technology (SS&T) as documented in this report. This report documents the ongoing work conducted this year as part of the Sustainability Innovation Foundry (SIF). The efforts of the SIF support Sandia's national and international security missions related to sustainability and resilience revolving around energy use, water use, and materials, both on site at Sandia and externally. The SIF leverages existing Sandia research and development (R&D) in sustainability science and technology to support new solutionsmore » to complex problems. The SIF also builds on existing Sandia initiatives to support transformation of Sandia into a fully sustainable entity in terms of materials, energy, and water use. In the long term, the SIF will demonstrate the efficacy of sustainability technology developed at Sandia through prototyping and test bed approaches and will provide a common platform for support of solutions to the complex problems surrounding sustainability. Highlights from this year include the Sustainability Idea Challenge, improvements in facilities energy use, lectures and presentations from relevant experts in sustainability [Dr. Barry Hughes, University of Denver], and significant development of the Institutional Transformation (IX) modeling tools to support evaluation of proposed modifications to the SNL infrastructure to realize energy savings.« less

Family support, family stress, and suicidal ideation in a combat-exposed sample of Operation Enduring Freedom/Operation Iraqi Freedom veterans.

PubMed

Gradus, Jaimie L; Smith, Brian N; Vogt, Dawne

2015-01-01

Deployment-related risk factors for suicidal ideation among Operation Enduring Freedom (OEF) and Operation Iraqi Freedom (OIF) veterans have received a great deal of attention. Studies show that mental health symptoms mediate the association between most deployment stressors and suicidal ideation; however, family-related factors during deployment are largely unexplored. We examined posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and depression symptoms as mediators of the associations between deployment family support and stress and post-deployment suicidal ideation in combat-exposed OEF/OIF veterans. National cross-sectional mail survey. 1046 veterans responded to the survey. The sample for this study was 978 veterans who experienced combat. Regression-based path analyses were conducted. Family support and stress had direct associations with suicidal ideation. When PTSD and depression symptoms were examined as mediators of these associations, results revealed significant indirect paths through these symptoms. This study contributes to the literature on suicidal ideation risk factors among OEF/OIF veterans. Deployment family support and family stress are associated with suicidal ideation; however these associations occur primarily through mental health symptomatology, consistent with findings observed for other deployment factors. This research supports ongoing efforts to treat mental health symptomatology as a means of suicide prevention.

Internet Tomography in Support of Internet and Network Simulation and Emulation Modelling

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Moloisane, A.; Ganchev, I.; O'Droma, M.

Internet performance measurement data extracted through Internet Tomography techniques and metrics and how it may be used to enhance the capacity of network simulation and emulation modelling is addressed in this paper. The advantages of network simulation and emulation as a means to aid design and develop the component networks, which make up the Internet and are fundamental to its ongoing evolution, are highlighted. The Internet's rapid growth has spurred development of new protocols and algorithms to meet changing operational requirements such as security, multicast delivery, mobile networking, policy management, and quality of service (QoS) support. Both the development and evaluation of these operational tools requires the answering of many design and operational questions. Creating the technical support required by network engineers and managers in their efforts to seek answers to these questions is in itself a major challenge. Within the Internet the number and range of services supported continues to grow exponentially, from legacy and client/server applications to VoIP, multimedia streaming services and interactive multimedia services. Services have their own distinctive requirements and idiosyncrasies. They respond differently to bandwidth limitations, latency and jitter problems. They generate different types of “conversations” between end-user terminals, back-end resources and middle-tier servers. To add to the complexity, each new or enhanced service introduced onto the network contends for available bandwidth with every other service. In an effort to ensure networking products and resources being designed and developed handling diverse conditions encountered in real Internet environments, network simulation and emulation modelling is a valuable tool, and becoming a critical element, in networking product and application design and development. The better these laboratory tools reflect real-world environment and conditions the more helpful to designers they will be.

Comparisons of RELAP5-3D Analyses to Experimental Data from the Natural Convection Shutdown Heat Removal Test Facility

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

Bucknor, Matthew; Hu, Rui; Lisowski, Darius

2016-04-17

The Reactor Cavity Cooling System (RCCS) is an important passive safety system being incorporated into the overall safety strategy for high temperature advanced reactor concepts such as the High Temperature Gas- Cooled Reactors (HTGR). The Natural Convection Shutdown Heat Removal Test Facility (NSTF) at Argonne National Laboratory (Argonne) reflects a 1/2-scale model of the primary features of one conceptual air-cooled RCCS design. The project conducts ex-vessel, passive heat removal experiments in support of Department of Energy Office of Nuclear Energy’s Advanced Reactor Technology (ART) program, while also generating data for code validation purposes. While experiments are being conducted at themore » NSTF to evaluate the feasibility of the passive RCCS, parallel modeling and simulation efforts are ongoing to support the design, fabrication, and operation of these natural convection systems. Both system-level and high fidelity computational fluid dynamics (CFD) analyses were performed to gain a complete understanding of the complex flow and heat transfer phenomena in natural convection systems. This paper provides a summary of the RELAP5-3D NSTF model development efforts and provides comparisons between simulation results and experimental data from the NSTF. Overall, the simulation results compared favorably to the experimental data, however, further analyses need to be conducted to investigate any identified differences.« less

Life Support Catalyst Regeneration Using Ionic Liquids and In Situ Resources

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Abney, Morgan B.; Karr, Laurel J.; Paley, Mark S.; Donovan, David N.; Kramer, Teersa J.

2016-01-01

Oxygen recovery from metabolic carbon dioxide is an enabling capability for long-duration manned space flight. Complete recovery of oxygen (100%) involves the production of solid carbon. Catalytic approaches for this purpose, such as Bosch technology, have been limited in trade analyses due in part to the mass penalty for high catalyst resupply caused by carbon fouling of the iron or nickel catalyst. In an effort to mitigate this challenge, several technology approaches have been proposed. These approaches have included methods to prolong the life of the catalysts by increasing the total carbon mass loading per mass catalyst, methods for simplified catalyst introduction and removal to limit the resupply container mass, methods of using in situ resources, and methods to regenerate catalyst material. Research and development into these methods is ongoing, but only use of in situ resources and/or complete regeneration of catalyst material has the potential to entirely eliminate the need for resupply. The use of ionic liquids provides an opportunity to combine these methods in a technology approach designed to eliminate the need for resupply of oxygen recovery catalyst. Here we describe the results of an initial feasibility study using ionic liquids and in situ resources for life support catalyst regeneration, we discuss the key challenges with the approach, and we propose future efforts to advance the technology.

The CAWMSET Report: A Framework for Change

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Budil, Kimberly S.

2001-04-01

In October 1998 the Commission on the Advancement of Women and Minorities in Science, Engineering and Technology Development (CAWMSET) was established by Congress through legislation developed and sponsored by Congresswomen Constance A. Morella (R-MD). The CAWMSET became a focal point for a grass-roots organization of women at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) and Sandia National Laboratories (SNL), California in collaboration with the Society of Women Engineers seeking to improve the environment in our workplaces. With the encouragement of our Congresswoman, Ellen Tauscher (D-CA), we embarked on an effort to provide input to the Commission regarding the recruitment, advancement and retention of women in the technical workforce since the input they received was primarily focused on the educational pipeline. The release of the CAWMSET's final report this summer provided a framework to begin to work toward the overarching goal of an inclusive, supportive, and diverse scientific community and to help us devise strategies for our home organizations that will allow us to achieve this in the near future. The Commission's final recommendation was to create a follow-on organization to carry their work forward. Professional organizations like the American Physical Society can play a key role in helping to ensure that the CAWMSET report is acted upon, not filed and forgotten. I will discuss the findings of the CAWMSET as well as past and ongoing activities at LLNL and SNL in support of this effort.

Making an impact: an adventure into international pharmacy.

PubMed

Hitch, William; Ransom, Matthew

2009-01-01

To support a medical team, organized by Shoulder to Shoulder, with pharmacy services in an effort to expand ongoing health care to a rural community in Honduras. Pharmacy services in a temporary medical clinic in a schoolhouse in Colomarigua, a small mountain village in Honduras. Pharmacy services and medical care to address acute care needs of the people of Colomarigua, Honduras, during a week-long clinic. Interpreters assisted with patient counseling. Medication labels with pictures that connected doses to mealtimes increased patient understanding and the potential for medications to be dosed correctly. Fill lines were drawn on delivery devices for pediatric suspensions. An effort was made to avoid polypharmacy by communicating with physicians about the different prescriptions that were being prescribed in each household. Not applicable. Not applicable. We created a temporary clinic with a pharmacy and provided medical care to more than 600 children and adults in the surrounding regions. The medical team identified need for a feeding program, and local Shoulder to Shoulder teams began activities to support the community's development. Education programs were initiated to allow promising local children access to higher education. Challenges to providing optimal pharmaceutical care included language barriers, space and flow of the pharmacy, and a limited formulary. Benefits included gaining a whole new perspective on pharmacotherapy, health, and the importance of service to those in need whether abroad or at home.

Hardware Progress Made in the Early Flight Fission Test Facilities (EFF-TF) To Support Near-Term Space Fission Systems

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

VanDyke, Melissa; Martin, James

2005-01-01

The EFF-TF provides a facility to experimentally evaluate thermal hydraulic issues through the use of highly effective non-nuclear testing. These techniques provide a rapid, more cost effective method of evaluating designs and support development risk mitigation when concerns are associated with non-nuclear aspects of space nuclear systems. For many systems, electrical resistance thermal simulators can be used to closely mimic the heat deposition of the fission process, providing axial and radial profiles. A number of experimental and design programs were underway in 2004. Initial evaluation of the SAFE-100a (19 module stainless steel/sodium heat pipe reactor with integral gas neat exchanger) was performed with tests up to 17.5 kW of input power at core temperatures of 1000 K. A stainless steel sodium SAFE-100 heat pipe module was placed through repeated freeze/thaw cyclic testing accumulating over 200 restarts to a temperature of 1000 K. Additionally, the design of a 37-fuel pin stainless steel pumped sodium/potassium (NaK) loop was finalized and components procured. Ongoing testing at the EFF-TF is geared towards facilitating both research and development necessary to field a near term space nuclear system. Efforts are coordinated with DOE laboratories, industry, universities, and other NASA centers. This paper describes some of the 2004 efforts.

Role 1 Pediatric Trauma Care on the Israeli-Syrian Border-First Year of the Humanitarian Effort.

PubMed

Bitterman, Yuval; Benov, Avi; Glassberg, Elon; Satanovsky, Alexandra; Bader, Tarif; Sagi, Ram

2016-08-01

This article summarizes the experience with Role 1 care for 135 Syrian children who received medical care during the year 2013 as part of an ongoing humanitarian effort. The database included demographic information, point-of-injury assessment and outcome, and was analyzed using SPSS. Trauma casualties were the majority of the group (84 cases), and mostly male. Almost one-third of casualties arrived more than 6 hours after injury, and time of injury was unknown in another third. The most common mechanism of injury was shrapnel (51.2%), followed by gunshot wounds (22.6%). Gunshot wound victims were significantly older than shrapnel and artillery victims (p < 0.01, < 0.05, respectively). Only 14 cases (14.28%) underwent previous interventions in Syria. Most of the casualties (44 cases, 52.4%) underwent at least one procedure during Role 1 treatment with a high overall success rate (93.18%) that was not correlated to Advanced Life Support provider type (physician [MD], emergency medical technician-paramedic, or both). Mortality was low (3 cases). The study cohort exhibits several unique features, including a delay in arrival to medical care, paucity of prior care and information, and the specific mechanisms of injury. Our study suggests that Advanced Life Support providers do not differ significantly in Role 1 treatment choices and procedure success. Reprint & Copyright © 2016 Association of Military Surgeons of the U.S.

Herbivory Network: An international, collaborative effort to study herbivory in Arctic and alpine ecosystems

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Barrio, I. C.; Hik, D. S.; Jónsdóttir, I. S.; Bueno, C. G.; Mörsdorf, M. A.; Ravolainen, V. T.

2016-09-01

Plant-herbivore interactions are central to the functioning of tundra ecosystems, but their outcomes vary over space and time. Accurate forecasting of ecosystem responses to ongoing environmental changes requires a better understanding of the processes responsible for this heterogeneity. To effectively address this complexity at a global scale, coordinated research efforts, including multi-site comparisons within and across disciplines, are needed. The Herbivory Network was established as a forum for researchers from Arctic and alpine regions to collaboratively investigate the multifunctional role of herbivores in these changing ecosystems. One of the priorities is to integrate sites, methodologies, and metrics used in previous work, to develop a set of common protocols and design long-term geographically-balanced, coordinated experiments. The implementation of these collaborative research efforts will also improve our understanding of traditional human-managed systems that encompass significant portions of the sub-Arctic and alpine areas worldwide. A deeper understanding of the role of herbivory in these systems under ongoing environmental changes will guide appropriate adaptive strategies to preserve their natural values and related ecosystem services.

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

Montellano, B.O. de

This report describes later stages of a program to develop culturally relevant science and math programs for Hispanic students. Part of this effort was follow-up with 17 teachers who participated in early stages of the program. Response was not very good. Included with the report is a first draft effort for curriculum materials which could be used as is in such a teaching effort. Several of the participating teachers were invited to a writing workshop, where lesson plans were drafted, and critiqued and following rework are listed in this publication. Further work needs to be completed and is ongoing.

Human factors in waste management - potential and reality

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

Thompson, J.S.

There is enormous potential for human factors contributions in the realm of waste management. The reality, however, is very different from the potential. This is particularly true for low-level and low-level mixed-waste management. The hazards are less severe; therefore, health and safety requirements (including human factors) are not as rigorous as for high-level waste. High-level waste management presents its own unique challenges and opportunities. Waste management is strongly driven by regulatory compliance. When regulations are flexible and open to interpretation and the environment is driven so strongly by regulatory compliance, standard practice is to drop {open_quotes}nice to have{close_quotes} features, likemore » a human factors program, to save money for complying with other requirements. The challenge is to convince decision makers that human factors can help make operations efficient and cost-effective, as well as improving safety and complying with regulations. A human factors program should not be viewed as competing with compliance efforts; in fact, it should complement them and provide additional cost-effective means of achieving compliance with other regulations. Achieving this synergy of human factors with ongoing waste management operations requires educating program and facility managers and other technical specialists about human factors and demonstrating its value {open_quotes}through the back door{close_quotes} on existing efforts. This paper describes ongoing projects at Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL) in support of their waste management groups. It includes lessons learned from hazard and risk analyses, safety analysis reports, job and task analyses, operating procedure development, personnel qualification/certification program development, and facility- and job-specific training program and course development.« less

Interwoven support: an historical survey of US federal programs enabling immunization.

PubMed

Dalrymple, Dack W; Grabenstein, John D

2014-11-28

The US Government (USG) can date its involvement with immunization to military and civilian efforts in 1777 and 1813 to prevent smallpox. USG involvement began accelerating with federal licensing of vaccine and antibody manufacturers in 1903. In addition to ongoing regulation of manufacturing and product quality, military and civilian arms of the USG have led research efforts into new or improved vaccines. These efforts have included diseases endemic in the United States, as well as medical countermeasures targeted against biological weapons, influenza pandemics, and emerging infectious diseases. Especially since the 1950s, the USG has provided increasing levels of funding to purchase vaccines and conduct vaccination programs. These programs have focused largely on children, although vaccination programs for adults have been expanded somewhat in recent years. Multiple agencies of the USG have convened various panels of accomplished external experts who have generated widely regarded recommendations on vaccine safety and efficacy and optimal immunization practices. USG programs for safety assessment, injury compensation, liability protection, and disease surveillance have been developed to assess needs, evaluate safety questions, ensure vaccine supply, and foster confidence in vaccination efforts. Debates on the extent of government involvement date back to the 1890 s and continue today. Several pivotal expansions of government involvement followed disease outbreaks or manufacturing accidents. This historical survey describes each of the major US federal programs in these categories, including references to applicable law. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

METAL PARTITIONING IN COMBUSTION PROCESSES

EPA Science Inventory

This article summarizes ongoing research efforts at the National Risk Management Research Laboratory of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency examining [high temperature] metal behavior within combustion environments. The partitioning of non-volatile (Cr and Ni), semi-volatil...

Low-cost, distributed, sensor-based weigh-in-motion systems.

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

2009-12-01

Monitoring truck weights is essential for traffic operations, roadway design, traffic safety, and regulations. : Traditional roadside static truck weighing stations have many operational shortcomings, and so there have : been ongoing efforts to devel...

Maritime trade & transportation 2007

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

2005-01-10

This latest edition of Maritime Trade and Transportation follows two prior reports released in 1999 and 2002. These reports refl ect an ongoing effort by the Maritime Data Working Group to provide quality, timely, comprehensive, and relevant maritime...

Continued improvements at one C3RS site

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

2015-06-01

Human-factors-based solutions, along with process and technology innovations, can make significant contributions to improving safety in the railroad industry. As part of ongoing efforts to address human-factors, FRA implemented the Confidential Close...

PFCA Article Testing

EPA Science Inventory

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has established an ongoing effort to quantify possible changes in levels of perfluorinated chemicals (PFCs) in articles of commerce (AOCs). Temporal trends in the concentrations of selected PFCs, including perfluorooctanoic acid (PFO...

United States Army Medical Materiel Development Activity - 1989

DTIC Science & Technology

1990-01-31

physicians to treat diseases such as Korean Hemorrhagic Fever and Lassa Fever. * J-5 Human Monoclonal Antibody is secreted by cultured hybridomas that were...volunteer studies involving a collaborative effort between WRAIR and the Swiss Serum and Vaccine Institute (SSVI). s Lassa Fever Immune Plasma is an...immune globulin used to treat Lassa fever infections. The collection of human immune plasma in Africa is an ongoing contract effort. USANRIID performs

On solid ground. Revenue gains continue to outpace growth in expenses, allowing U.S. hospitals to enjoy record profit and margin.

PubMed

Evans, Melanie

2007-10-29

Hospitals enjoyed a surge in profits last year, reporting an aggregate profit margin of 6%. Executives at financially strong systems credit long-term efforts to improve performance for the results. Elizabeth Concordia, left, of the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center system, says its efforts stressed ongoing consolidation and integration to wipe out waste and errors.

NASA CEV Reference Entry GN&C System and Analysis

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Munday, S.; Madsen, C.; Broome, J.; Gay, R.; Tigges, M.; Strahan, A.

2007-01-01

As part of its overall objectives, the Orion spacecraft will be required to perform entry and Earth landing functions for Low Earth Orbit (LEO) and Lunar missions. Both of these entry scenarios will begin with separation of the Service Module (SM), making them unique from other Orion mission phases in that only the Command Module (CM) portion of the Crew Exploration Vehicle (CEV) will be involved, requiring a CM specific Guidance, Navigation and Control (GN&C) system. Also common to these mission scenarios will be the need for GN&C to safely return crew (or cargo) to earth within the dynamic thermal and structural constraints of entry and within acceptable accelerations on the crew, utilizing the limited aerodynamic performance of the CM capsule. The lunar return mission could additionally require an initial atmospheric entry designed to support a precision skip and second entry, all to maximize downrange performance and ensure landing in the United States. This paper describes the Entry GN&C reference design, developed by the NASA-led team, that supports these entry scenarios and that was used to validate the Orion System requirements. Description of the reference design will include an overview of the GN&C functions, avionics, and effectors and will relate these to the specific design drivers of the entry scenarios, as well as the desire for commonality in vehicle systems to support the different missions. The discussion will also include the requirement for an Emergency Entry capability beyond that of the nominal performance of the multi-string GNC system, intended to return the crew to the earth in a survivable but unguided manner. Finally, various analyses will be discussed, including those completed to support validation efforts of the current CEV requirements, along with those on-going and planned with the intention to further refine the requirements and to support design development work in conjunction with the prime contractor. Some of these ongoing analyses will include work to size effectors (jets) and fuel budgets, to refine skip entry concepts, to characterize navigation performance and uncertainties, to provide for SM disposal offshore and to identify requirements to support target site selection.

Near Real-Time Use of Optical Remote Sensing and Synthetic Aperture Radar for Response to Central U.S. Flooding in Late April-Early May 2017

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bell, J. R.; Schultz, L. A.; Jones, M.; Molthan, A.; Arko, S. A.; Hogenson, K.; Meyer, F. J.

2017-12-01

In late April and early May 2017, heavy rainfall across Missouri led to extensive flooding along the Missouri and Mississippi River basins in the Central United States. Determining the extent of flooding is critical for response organizations to properly deploy personnel and other assets involved in preparedness, mitigation, response, and recovery efforts. The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) relies on geospatial flood extent data, among other data, to estimate the impacts to population and infrastructure in order to prepare and engage response activities in support of the affected states and communities. To assist FEMA in mapping flood extent in a near real-time, the NASA Earth Science Disasters Program coordinates a multi-NASA center response to provide satellite imagery and products to FEMA during major flood events to supplement their analysis tools and capabilities. Scientists at the NASA Short-term Prediction Research and Transition (SPoRT) Center at Marshall Space Flight Center, who led this particular response, have been working with the Alaska Satellite Facility (ASF) at the University of Alaska Fairbanks to provide synthetic aperture radar (SAR) imagery and derived flood products to FEMA's geospatial response team in support of flooding events. Combined, these efforts helped to provide preliminary flood mapping to FEMA from a broad constellation of remote sensors. The presentation will describe the various products available throughout the response event, post-event collaborations examining these products in comparison to additional modeling and data collection by FEMA, training needs to improve product use, and more efficient methods for data delivery. Lessons learned will highlight opportunities for future work and improvement, and guide other ongoing efforts to develop collaborations that would also support other domestic emergency response activities, such as those led by the National Guard Bureau, which assists individual state Guard units.

Climate change and vector-borne diseases: what are the implications for public health research and policy?

PubMed Central

Campbell-Lendrum, Diarmid; Manga, Lucien; Bagayoko, Magaran; Sommerfeld, Johannes

2015-01-01

Vector-borne diseases continue to contribute significantly to the global burden of disease, and cause epidemics that disrupt health security and cause wider socioeconomic impacts around the world. All are sensitive in different ways to weather and climate conditions, so that the ongoing trends of increasing temperature and more variable weather threaten to undermine recent global progress against these diseases. Here, we review the current state of the global public health effort to address this challenge, and outline related initiatives by the World Health Organization (WHO) and its partners. Much of the debate to date has centred on attribution of past changes in disease rates to climate change, and the use of scenario-based models to project future changes in risk for specific diseases. While these can give useful indications, the unavoidable uncertainty in such analyses, and contingency on other socioeconomic and public health determinants in the past or future, limit their utility as decision-support tools. For operational health agencies, the most pressing need is the strengthening of current disease control efforts to bring down current disease rates and manage short-term climate risks, which will, in turn, increase resilience to long-term climate change. The WHO and partner agencies are working through a range of programmes to (i) ensure political support and financial investment in preventive and curative interventions to bring down current disease burdens; (ii) promote a comprehensive approach to climate risk management; (iii) support applied research, through definition of global and regional research agendas, and targeted research initiatives on priority diseases and population groups. PMID:25688013

Data policy and availability supporting global change research, development, and decision-making: An information perspective

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Carroll, Bonnie C.; Jack, Robert F.; Cotter, Gladys A.

1990-01-01

An explosion of information has created a crisis for today's information age. It has to be determined how to use the best available information sources, tools, and technology. To do this it is necessary to have leadership at the interagency level to promote a coherent information policy. It is also important to find ways to educate the users of information regarding the tools available to them. Advances in technology resulted in efforts to shift from Disciplinary and Mission-oriented Systems to Decision Support Systems and Personalized Information Systems. One such effort is being made by the Interagency Working Group on Data Management for Global Change (IAWGDMGC). Five federal agencies - the Department of Commerce (DOC), Department of Energy (DOE), National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), National Library of Medicine (NLM), and Department of Defense (DOD) - have an on-going cooperative information management group, CENDI (Commerce, Energy, NASA, NLM, and Defense Information), that is meeting the challenge of coordinating and integrating their information management systems. Although it is beginning to be technically feasible to have a system with text, bibliographic, and numeric data online for the user to manipulate at the user's own workstation, it will require national recognition that the resource investment in such a system is worthwhile, in order to promote its full development. It also requires close cooperation between the producers and users of the information - that is, the research and policy community, and the information community. National resources need to be mobilized in a coordinated manner to move people into the next generation of information support systems.

InTASC Model Core Teaching Standards and Learning Progressions for Teachers 1.0: A Resource for Ongoing Teacher Development

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Council of Chief State School Officers, 2013

2013-01-01

The Council of Chief State School Officers (CCSSO), through its Interstate Teacher Assessment and Support Consortium (InTASC), offers this set of combined resources that define and support ongoing teacher effectiveness to ensure students reach college and career ready standards. This document includes the "InTASC Model Core Teaching…

PDA Single-Use Systems Cross-Organizational Workshop-Meeting Summary, May 14, 2014-PDA Global Headquarters, Bethesda, MD.

PubMed

Repetto, Robert; Levy, Richard

2015-01-01

The application of single-use systems, or disposables, has increased dramatically in the past 10 years. Although some elements of the pharmaceutical and biotech manufacturing process were single-use and therefore disposable and not reused, the majority of the process equipment and fluid path was cleaned and reused by end users. Today, much more of the manufacturing process is composed of single-use systems, and there are some biotech plants that use single-use systems exclusively. Because of this increasing reliance on suppliers, there is an urgent need for more formal standards specifically for single-use system technology. The objective of this PDA-sponsored workshop held on May 14, 2014 was twofold: (1) to promote a harmonized approach to supporting single-use system activities within the industry and in so doing to minimize duplication of efforts, and (2) to communicate ongoing single-use system initiatives among the group. Representatives of ASME, ASTM, BPOG, BPSA, ELSIE, PDA, PQRI, and USP, as well as representatives of CBER and CDER of FDA, attended. Today, the majority of pharmaceutical and biotech drug manufacturing equipment is cleaned and reused. However, in the past 10 years, the use of disposable manufacturing systems has increased dramatically; there are even some biotech-derived drugs that are manufactured entirely using single-use technology. This movement toward disposables has placed increased reliance on disposable equipment suppliers, each of which manufactures its products independently to meet customer needs. This fact has led to non-uniformity in design for connectors and similar sub-processes, and has made the need for more formal industry standards. The objective of this PDA-sponsored workshop held on May 14, 2014 was twofold: (1) to promote a harmonized approach to supporting single-use system projects within the industry and in so doing to minimize duplication of efforts, and (2) to communicate ongoing single-use system initiatives among the group. Representatives of industry associations and standard-setting organizations, as well as representatives of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, attended. © PDA, Inc. 2015.

Maintaining the momentum of Open Search in Earth Science Data discovery

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Newman, D. J.; Lynnes, C.

2013-12-01

Federated Search for Earth Observation data has been a hallmark of EOSDIS (Earth Observing System Data and Information System) for two decades. Originally, the EOSDIS Version 0 system provided both data-collection-level and granule/file-level search in the mid 1990s with EOSDIS-specific socket protocols and message formats. Since that time, the advent of several standards has helped to simplify EOSDIS federated search, beginning with HTTP as the transfer protocol. Most recently, OpenSearch (www.opensearch.org) was employed for the EOS Clearinghouse (ECHO), based on a set of conventions that had been developed within the Earth Science Information Partners (ESIP) Federation. The ECHO OpenSearch API has evolved to encompass the ESIP RFC and the Open Geospatial Consortium (OGC) Open Search standard. Uptake of the ECHO Open Search API has been significant and has made ECHO accessible to client developers that found the previous ECHO SOAP API and current REST API too complex. Client adoption of the OpenSearch API appears to be largely driven by the simplicity of the OpenSearch convention. This simplicity is thus important to retain as the standard and convention evolve. For example, ECHO metrics indicate that the vast majority of ECHO users favor the following search criteria when using the REST API, - Spatial - bounding box, polygon, line and point - Temporal - start and end time - Keywords - free text Fewer than 10% of searches use additional constraints, particularly those requiring a controlled vocabulary, such as instrument, sensor, etc. This suggests that ongoing standardization efforts around OpenSearch usage for Earth Observation data may be more productive if oriented toward improving support for the Spatial, Temporal and Keyword search aspects. Areas still requiring improvement include support of - Concrete requirements for keyword constraints - Phrasal search for keyword constraints - Temporal constraint relations - Terminological symmetry between search URLs and response documents for both temporal and spatial terms - Best practices for both servers and clients. Over the past year we have seen several ongoing efforts to further standardize Open Search in the earth science domain such as, - Federation of Earth Science Information Partners (ESIP) - Open Geospatial Consortium (OGC) - Committee on Earth Observation Satellites (CEOS)

Cultivating a Network For Messaging About Climate Change Across an Urban System

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wertheim, J.

2014-12-01

Currently, some of the most promising efforts to address climate change are taking place at the scale of cities and municipalities. Large urban areas host an active population of organizations working to influence local environmental policies more rigorous than those at the state and national level. The composition of these groups is broadening as impacts of climate change are being recognized as relevant to more sectors within urban systems, from health centers to community leaders, leading more organizations to consider how they can raise awareness and gain support for their needs. The National Geographic Society, as part of the National Science Foundation (NSF)-funded Climate and Urban Systems Partnership (CUSP), has convened a pilot "community of practice" (CoP) consisting of organizations working at the local level in Washington, DC to communicate with audiences, from the general public to local government agencies, about ways that climate change is predicted to affect the city and what can be done about it. The purpose of the CoP was initially to help these groups coordinate their activities, share knowledge and resources, and to create a platform for ongoing collaborative learning. While the CoP is still evolving, it is clear that it has potential to provide even deeper and more meaningful support to these groups' efforts. Developing effective messaging about climate change across an urban system depends on the valuable insight these groups have into their audience's interests, beliefs, and knowledge, but it also requires a set of competencies that few members of the CoP hold. As conveners of the CoP, we have identified and prioritized those competencies and are developing a process for training CoP members to apply their expertise to implement empirically-based best practices in climate change messaging, public communication, and integration of data and visualizations. The process of training the group has the potential to both create a CoP that becomes a trusted resource for climate messaging activities in DC and an enduring network of professionals who identify participating in the group's ongoing work as essential to their own professional development

Establishing Evidence-Based Indications for Proton Therapy: An Overview of Current Clinical Trials

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

Mishra, Mark V., E-mail: mmishra@umm.edu; Aggarwal, Sameer; Bentzen, Soren M.

Purpose: To review and assess ongoing proton beam therapy (PBT) clinical trials and to identify major gaps. Methods and Materials: Active PBT clinical trials were identified from (clinicaltrials.gov) and the World Health Organization International Clinical Trials Platform Registry. Data on clinical trial disease site, age group, projected patient enrollment, expected start and end dates, study type, and funding source were extracted. Results: A total of 122 active PBT clinical trials were identified, with target enrollment of >42,000 patients worldwide. Ninety-six trials (79%), with a median planned sample size of 68, were classified as interventional studies. Observational studies accounted for 21% ofmore » trials but 71% (n=29,852) of planned patient enrollment. The most common PBT clinical trials focus on gastrointestinal tract tumors (21%, n=26), tumors of the central nervous system (15%, n=18), and prostate cancer (12%, n=15). Five active studies (lung, esophagus, head and neck, prostate, breast) will randomize patients between protons and photons, and 3 will randomize patients between protons and carbon ion therapy. Conclusions: The PBT clinical trial portfolio is expanding rapidly. Although the majority of ongoing studies are interventional, the majority of patients will be accrued to observational studies. Future efforts should focus on strategies to encourage optimal patient enrollment and retention, with an emphasis on randomized, controlled trials, which will require support from third-party payers. Results of ongoing PBT studies should be evaluated in terms of comparative effectiveness, as well as incremental effectiveness and value offered by PBT in comparison with conventional radiation modalities.« less

An ongoing process: a qualitative study of how the alcohol-dependent free themselves of addiction through progressive abstinence.

PubMed

Yeh, Mei-Yu; Che, Hui-Lian; Wu, Shu-Mei

2009-11-24

Most people being treated for alcoholism are unable to successfully quit drinking within their treatment programs. In few cases do we know the full picture of how abstinence is achieved in Taiwan. We tracked processes of abstinence in alcohol-dependency disorders, based on study evidence and results. This research explores the process of recovery from the viewpoint of the alcohol-dependent. Semi-structured interviews were conducted in two different settings, using purpose sampling, during 2003-2004. The data were analyzed using content analysis. Participants were 32 adults, purposefully selected from an Alcoholics Anonymous group and a psychiatric hospital in North Taiwan. We found that the abstinence process is an ongoing process, in which the alcohol-dependent free themselves of addiction progressively. This process never ends or resolves in complete recovery. We have identified three stages in the struggle against alcoholism: the Indulgence, Ambivalence and Attempt (IAA) cycle, in which the sufferer is trapped in a cycle of attempting to give up and failing; the Turning Point, in which a Personal Nadir is reached, and the Ongoing Process of abstinence, in which a constant effort is made to remain sober through willpower and with the help of support groups. We also discuss Influencing Factors that can derail abstinence attempts, pushing the sufferer back into the IAA cycle. This study provides important points of reference for alcohol and drug service workers and community healthcare professionals in Taiwan, casting light on the abstinence process and providing a basis for intervention or rehabilitation services.

The cost of sustaining a patient-centered medical home: experience from 2 states.

PubMed

Magill, Michael K; Ehrenberger, David; Scammon, Debra L; Day, Julie; Allen, Tatiana; Reall, Andreu J; Sides, Rhonda W; Kim, Jaewhan

2015-09-01

As medical practices transform to patient-centered medical homes (PCMHs), it is important to identify the ongoing costs of maintaining these "advanced primary care" functions. A key required input is personnel effort. This study's objective was to assess direct personnel costs to practices associated with the staffing necessary to deliver PCMH functions as outlined in the National Committee for Quality Assurance Standards. We developed a PCMH cost dimensions tool to assess costs associated with activities uniquely required to maintain PCMH functions. We interviewed practice managers, nurse supervisors, and medical directors in 20 varied primary care practices in 2 states, guided by the tool. Outcome measures included categories of staff used to perform various PCMH functions, time and personnel costs, and whether practices were delivering PCMH functions. Costs per full-time equivalent primary care clinician associated with PCMH functions varied across practices with an average of $7,691 per month in Utah practices and $9,658 in Colorado practices. PCMH incremental costs per encounter were $32.71 in Utah and $36.68 in Colorado. The average estimated cost per member per month for an assumed panel of 2,000 patients was $3.85 in Utah and $4.83 in Colorado. Identifying costs of maintaining PCMH functions will contribute to effective payment reform and to sustainability of transformation. Maintenance and ongoing support of PCMH functions require additional time and new skills, which may be provided by existing staff, additional staff, or both. Adequate compensation for ongoing and substantial incremental costs is critical for practices to sustain PCMH functions. © 2015 Annals of Family Medicine, Inc.

The Cost of Sustaining a Patient-Centered Medical Home: Experience From 2 States

PubMed Central

Magill, Michael K.; Ehrenberger, David; Scammon, Debra L.; Day, Julie; Allen, Tatiana; Reall, Andreu J.; Sides, Rhonda W.; Kim, Jaewhan

2015-01-01

PURPOSE As medical practices transform to patient-centered medical homes (PCMHs), it is important to identify the ongoing costs of maintaining these “advanced primary care” functions. A key required input is personnel effort. This study’s objective was to assess direct personnel costs to practices associated with the staffing necessary to deliver PCMH functions as outlined in the National Committee for Quality Assurance Standards. METHODS We developed a PCMH cost dimensions tool to assess costs associated with activities uniquely required to maintain PCMH functions. We interviewed practice managers, nurse supervisors, and medical directors in 20 varied primary care practices in 2 states, guided by the tool. Outcome measures included categories of staff used to perform various PCMH functions, time and personnel costs, and whether practices were delivering PCMH functions. RESULTS Costs per full-time equivalent primary care clinician associated with PCMH functions varied across practices with an average of $7,691 per month in Utah practices and $9,658 in Colorado practices. PCMH incremental costs per encounter were $32.71 in Utah and $36.68 in Colorado. The average estimated cost per member per month for an assumed panel of 2,000 patients was $3.85 in Utah and $4.83 in Colorado. CONCLUSIONS Identifying costs of maintaining PCMH functions will contribute to effective payment reform and to sustainability of transformation. Maintenance and ongoing support of PCMH functions require additional time and new skills, which may be provided by existing staff, additional staff, or both. Adequate compensation for ongoing and substantial incremental costs is critical for practices to sustain PCMH functions. PMID:26371263

An ongoing process: A qualitative study of how the alcohol-dependent free themselves of addiction through progressive abstinence

PubMed Central

2009-01-01

Background Most people being treated for alcoholism are unable to successfully quit drinking within their treatment programs. In few cases do we know the full picture of how abstinence is achieved in Taiwan. We tracked processes of abstinence in alcohol-dependency disorders, based on study evidence and results. This research explores the process of recovery from the viewpoint of the alcohol-dependent. Methods Semi-structured interviews were conducted in two different settings, using purpose sampling, during 2003-2004. The data were analyzed using content analysis. Participants were 32 adults, purposefully selected from an Alcoholics Anonymous group and a psychiatric hospital in North Taiwan. Results We found that the abstinence process is an ongoing process, in which the alcohol-dependent free themselves of addiction progressively. This process never ends or resolves in complete recovery. We have identified three stages in the struggle against alcoholism: the Indulgence, Ambivalence and Attempt (IAA) cycle, in which the sufferer is trapped in a cycle of attempting to give up and failing; the Turning Point, in which a Personal Nadir is reached, and the Ongoing Process of abstinence, in which a constant effort is made to remain sober through willpower and with the help of support groups. We also discuss Influencing Factors that can derail abstinence attempts, pushing the sufferer back into the IAA cycle. Conclusion This study provides important points of reference for alcohol and drug service workers and community healthcare professionals in Taiwan, casting light on the abstinence process and providing a basis for intervention or rehabilitation services. PMID:19930698

Nuclear Engine System Simulation (NESS). Volume 1: Program user's guide

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

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

1993-03-01

A Nuclear Thermal Propulsion (NTP) engine system design analysis tool is required to support current and future Space Exploration Initiative (SEI) propulsion and vehicle design studies. Currently available NTP engine design models are those developed during the NERVA program in the 1960's and early 1970's and are highly unique to that design or are modifications of current liquid propulsion system design models. To date, NTP engine-based liquid design models lack integrated design of key NTP engine design features in the areas of reactor, shielding, multi-propellant capability, and multi-redundant pump feed fuel systems. Additionally, since the SEI effort is in the initial development stage, a robust, verified NTP analysis design tool could be of great use to the community. This effort developed an NTP engine system design analysis program (tool), known as the Nuclear Engine System Simulation (NESS) program, to support ongoing and future engine system and stage design study efforts. In this effort, Science Applications International Corporation's (SAIC) NTP version of the Expanded Liquid Engine Simulation (ELES) program was modified extensively to include Westinghouse Electric Corporation's near-term solid-core reactor design model. The ELES program has extensive capability to conduct preliminary system design analysis of liquid rocket systems and vehicles. The program is modular in nature and is versatile in terms of modeling state-of-the-art component and system options as discussed. The Westinghouse reactor design model, which was integrated in the NESS program, is based on the near-term solid-core ENABLER NTP reactor design concept. This program is now capable of accurately modeling (characterizing) a complete near-term solid-core NTP engine system in great detail, for a number of design options, in an efficient manner. The following discussion summarizes the overall analysis methodology, key assumptions, and capabilities associated with the NESS presents an example problem, and compares the results to related NTP engine system designs. Initial installation instructions and program disks are in Volume 2 of the NESS Program User's Guide.

Nuclear Engine System Simulation (NESS). Volume 1: Program user's guide

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

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

1993-01-01

A Nuclear Thermal Propulsion (NTP) engine system design analysis tool is required to support current and future Space Exploration Initiative (SEI) propulsion and vehicle design studies. Currently available NTP engine design models are those developed during the NERVA program in the 1960's and early 1970's and are highly unique to that design or are modifications of current liquid propulsion system design models. To date, NTP engine-based liquid design models lack integrated design of key NTP engine design features in the areas of reactor, shielding, multi-propellant capability, and multi-redundant pump feed fuel systems. Additionally, since the SEI effort is in the initial development stage, a robust, verified NTP analysis design tool could be of great use to the community. This effort developed an NTP engine system design analysis program (tool), known as the Nuclear Engine System Simulation (NESS) program, to support ongoing and future engine system and stage design study efforts. In this effort, Science Applications International Corporation's (SAIC) NTP version of the Expanded Liquid Engine Simulation (ELES) program was modified extensively to include Westinghouse Electric Corporation's near-term solid-core reactor design model. The ELES program has extensive capability to conduct preliminary system design analysis of liquid rocket systems and vehicles. The program is modular in nature and is versatile in terms of modeling state-of-the-art component and system options as discussed. The Westinghouse reactor design model, which was integrated in the NESS program, is based on the near-term solid-core ENABLER NTP reactor design concept. This program is now capable of accurately modeling (characterizing) a complete near-term solid-core NTP engine system in great detail, for a number of design options, in an efficient manner. The following discussion summarizes the overall analysis methodology, key assumptions, and capabilities associated with the NESS presents an example problem, and compares the results to related NTP engine system designs. Initial installation instructions and program disks are in Volume 2 of the NESS Program User's Guide.

An Overview of the Launch Vehicle Blast Environments Development Efforts

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Richardson, Erin; Bangham, Mike; Blackwood, James; Skinner, Troy; Hays, Michael; Jackson, Austin; Richman, Ben

2014-01-01

NASA has been funding an ongoing development program to characterize the explosive environments produced during a catastrophic launch vehicle accident. These studies and small-scale tests are focused on the near field environments that threaten the crew. The results indicate that these environments are unlikely to result in immediate destruction of the crew modules. The effort began as an independent assessment by NASA safety organizations, followed by the Ares program and NASA Engineering and Safety Center and now as a Space Launch Systems (SLS) focused effort. The development effort is using the test and accident data available from public or NASA sources as well as focused scaled tests that are examining the fundamental aspects of uncontained explosions of Hydrogen and air and Hydrogen and Oxygen. The primary risk to the crew appears to be the high-energy fragments and these are being characterized for the SLS. The development efforts will characterize the thermal environment of the explosions as well to ensure that the risk is well understood and to document the overall energy balance of an explosion. The effort is multi-path in that analytical, computational and focused testing is being used to develop the knowledge to understand potential SLS explosions. This is an ongoing program with plans that expand the development from fundamental testing at small-scale levels to large-scale tests that can be used to validate models for commercial programs. The ultimate goal is to develop a knowledge base that can be used by vehicle designers to maximize crew survival in an explosion.

77 FR 66609 - Notice of FERC Staff Attendance

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2012-11-06

... El Paso Electric Company ER13-91-000 Black Hills Power, Inc., et al......... ER13-96-000 Black Hills... ongoing outreach efforts. The meeting may discuss matters at issue in the above captioned dockets. For...

78 FR 16497 - Notice of FERC Staff Attendance

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2013-03-15

... Electric Company ER13-91-000 Black Hills Power, Inc., et al ER13-96-000 Black Hills Colorado Electric... of the Commission's ongoing outreach efforts. The meeting may discuss matters at issue in the above...

77 FR 74844 - Notice of FERC Staff Attendance

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2012-12-18

............ Docket No. ER13-91-000. Black Hills Power, Inc., et al... Docket No. ER13-96-000. Black Hills Colorado... Commission's ongoing outreach efforts. The meeting may discuss matters at issue in the above captioned...

Climate change : observations on federal efforts to adapt to a changing climate

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

2009-03-25

Based on preliminary observations from GAOs ongoing adaptation work for the Select Committee on Energy Independence and Global Warming, certain federal, state, local, and international government authorities are beginning to consider and implement...

EPA Office of Research and Development Green Infrastructure Research

EPA Science Inventory

This presentation provides an overview introduction to the USEPA Office of Research and Development (ORD)'s ongoing green infrastructure (GI) research efforts for stormwater management. GI approaches that increase infiltration, evapotranspiration, and rainwater harvesting offer ...

Mouse Sperm Cryopreservation Using Cryoprotectant Containing l-Glutamine.

PubMed

Takeo, Toru; Nakagata, Naomi

2018-06-01

Efforts to advance sperm cryopreservation are ongoing and include modifications in the cryoprotective agents. The addition of l-glutamine maintains post-thaw motility and reduces plasma membrane damage to sperm. © 2018 Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory Press.

Community Update on Site Activities, July 19, 2013

EPA Pesticide Factsheets

In an effort to engage and inform community members interested in the New Bedford Harbor Superfund Site cleanup, EPA will be issuing periodic topic-based fact sheets that will provide background information and updates about ongoing activities.

Drugs and highway safety 1980

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

1980-05-01

This report presents findings of a study to describe (1) present knowledge about the relationship between drug use by drivers and highway safety, and (2) efforts to detect and prevent drug-impaired driving. Past, ongoing, and planned activities at fe...

Scientific Basis for Biotech Crops

EPA Science Inventory

Efforts to change the genetic makeup of plants have been ongoing since the beginning of agriculture, thousands of years ago. Early plant improvements relied on simply cross-breeding cultivars with desired traits. Advancements in mutation breeding through chemicals and radiation ...

DOT's Restructuring - Limited Progress in Streamlining Field Office Structure

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

1998-04-30

The report characterizes two ongoing efforts in the Department involving our : analysis of opportunities to collocate field offices on an intermodal basis, and : FHWA's examination of its regional office structure. Although many aspects of : our effo...

78 FR 2445 - Notice of Intent To Renew the Advisory Committee on Apprenticeship (ACA) Charter

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2013-01-11

... and partners for its ongoing operational effectiveness. Apart from the ACA, there is no single..., veterans, women, minorities and other under-utilized and disadvantaged populations; and (5) efforts to...

Placebo effect in clinical trial design for irritable bowel syndrome.

PubMed

Shah, Eric; Pimentel, Mark

2014-04-30

Ongoing efforts to improve clinical trial design in irritable bowel syndrome have been hindered by high placebo response rates and ineffective outcome measures. We assessed established strategies to minimize placebo effect as well as the various ap-proaches to placebo effect which can affect trial design. These include genetic markers such as catechol-O-methyltransferase, opioidergic and dopaminergic neurobiologic theory, pre-cebo effect centered on expectancy theory, and side effect unblinding grounded on conditioning theory. We reviewed endpoints used in the study of IBS over the past decade including adequate relief and subjective global relief, emphasizing their weaknesses in fully evaluating the IBS condition, specifically their motility effects based on functional net value and relative benefit-harm based on dropouts due to adverse events. The focus of this review is to highlight ongoing efforts to improve clinical trial design which can lead to better outcomes in a real-world setting.

Increasing Racial/Ethnic Diversity in Nursing to Reduce Health Disparities and Achieve Health Equity

PubMed Central

Malone, Beverly

2014-01-01

As nursing continues to advance health care in the 21st century, the current shift in demographics, coupled with the ongoing disparities in health care and health outcomes, will warrant our ongoing attention and action. As within all health professions, concerted efforts are needed to diversify the nation's health-care workforce. The nursing profession in particular will be challenged to recruit and retain a culturally diverse workforce that mirrors the nation's change in demographics. This increased need to enhance diversity in nursing is not new to the profession; however, the need to successfully address this issue has never been greater. This article discusses increasing the diversity in nursing and its importance in reducing health disparities. We highlight characteristics of successful recruitment and retention efforts targeting racial/ethnic minority nurses and conclude with recommendations to strengthen the development and evaluation of their contributions to eliminating health disparities. PMID:24385664

Mentoring, Women in Engineering and Related Sciences, and MentorNet

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Dockter, J.; Muller, C.

2003-12-01

Mentoring is a frequently employed strategy for retention of women in engineering and science. The power of mentoring is sometimes poorly understood, and mentoring is not always effectively practiced, however. At its strongest, mentoring is understood as a powerful learning process, which assures the intergenerational transfer of knowledge and "know-how" on an ongoing basis throughout one's life. Mentoring helps make explicit the tacit knowledge of a discipline and its professional culture, which is especially important for underrepresented groups. MentorNet (www.MentorNet.net), the E-Mentoring Network for Women in Engineering and Science, is a nonprofit organization focused on furthering women's progress in scientific and technical fields through the use of a dynamic, technology-supported mentoring program. Since 1998, nearly 10,000 undergraduate and graduate women studying engineering and related sciences at more than 100 colleges and universities across the U.S., and in several other nations, have been matched in structured, one-on-one, email-based mentoring relationships with male and female scientific and technical professionals working in industry and government. This poster will describe the MentorNet program, and provide findings of annual program evaluations related to outcomes for participants with particular focus on women in the planetary and earth sciences. We also address the development of the partnership of approximately 100 organizations currently involved in MentorNet and the value each gains from its affiliation. MentorNet is an ongoing effort which supports the interests of all organizations and individuals working to advance women in engineering and related sciences.

Coast Guard: Efforts to Identify Arctic Requirements Are Ongoing, but More Communication about Agency Planning Efforts Would Be Beneficial

DTIC Science & Technology

2010-09-01

involve Indian tribal governments, such as certain Arctic indigenous communities in Alaska , in decisions that affect them.14 Finally, since the Arctic...primarily as vehicles for distributing land and monetary benefits to Alaska Natives to provide a fair and just settlement of aboriginal land claims in... Alaska Native stakeholders, as well as private or nonprofit organizations representing Arctic interests. These observations are not

Waldenstrom Macroglobulinemia☆

PubMed Central

Leleu, Xavier; Roccaro, Aldo M.; Moreau, Anne-Sophie; Dupire, Sophie; Robu, Daniela; Gay, Julie; Hatjiharissi, Evdoxia; Burwik, Nicholas; Ghobrial, Irene M.

2011-01-01

In the past years, new developments have occurred both in the understanding of the biology of Waldenstrom Macroglobulinemia (WM) and in therapeutic options for WM. WM is a B-cell disorder characterized primarily by bone marrow infiltration with lymphoplasmacytic cells, along with demonstration of an IgM monoclonal gammopathy. Despite advances in therapy, WM remains incurable, with 5–6 years median overall survival of patients in symptomatic WM. Therapy is postponed for asymptomatic patients, and progressive anemia is the most common indication for initiation of treatment. The main therapeutic options include alkylating agents, nucleoside analogues, and rituximab. Studies involving combination chemotherapy are ongoing, and preliminary results are encouraging. No specific agent or regimen has been shown to be superior to another for treatment of WM. As such, novel therapeutic agents are needed for the treatment of WM. In ongoing efforts, we and others have sought to exploit advances made in the understanding of the biology of WM so as to better target therapeutics for this malignancy. These efforts have led to the development of several novel agents including the proteasome inhibitor bortezomib, and several Akt/mTor inhibitors, perifosine and Rad001, and immunomodulatory agents such as thalidomide and lenalidomide. Studies with monoclonal antibodies are ongoing and promising including the use of alemtuzumab, SGN-70, and the APRIL/BLYS blocking protein TACI-Ig atacicept. Other agents currently being tested in clinical trials include the PKC inhibitor enzastaurin, the natural product resveratrol, as well as the statin simvastatin. This report provides an update of the current preclinical studies and clinical efforts for the development of novel agents in the treatment of WM. PMID:18555588

Microchannel plate special nuclear materials sensor

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Feller, W. B.; White, P. L.; White, P. B.; Siegmund, O. H. W.; Martin, A. P.; Vallerga, J. V.

2011-10-01

Nova Scientific Inc., is developing for the Domestic Nuclear Detection Office (DNDO SBIR #HSHQDC-08-C-00190), a solid-state, high-efficiency neutron detection alternative to 3He gas tubes, using neutron-sensitive microchannel plates (MCPs) containing 10B and/or Gd. This work directly supports DNDO development of technologies designed to detect and interdict nuclear weapons or illicit nuclear materials. Neutron-sensitized MCPs have been shown theoretically and more recently experimentally, to be capable of thermal neutron detection efficiencies equivalent to 3He gas tubes. Although typical solid-state neutron detectors typically have an intrinsic gamma sensitivity orders of magnitude higher than that of 3He gas detectors, we dramatically reduce gamma sensitivity by combining a novel electronic coincidence rejection scheme, employing a separate but enveloping gamma scintillator. This has already resulted in a measured gamma rejection ratio equal to a small 3He tube, without in principle sacrificing neutron detection efficiency. Ongoing improvements to the MCP performance as well as the coincidence counting geometry will be described. Repeated testing and validation with a 252Cf source has been underway throughout the Phase II SBIR program, with ongoing comparisons to a small commercial 3He gas tube. Finally, further component improvements and efforts toward integration maturity are underway, with the goal of establishing functional prototypes for SNM field testing.

Compilation of new and previously published geochemical and modal data for Mesoproterozoic igneous rocks of the St. Francois Mountains, southeast Missouri

USGS Publications Warehouse

du Bray, Edward A.; Day, Warren C.; Meighan, Corey J.

2018-04-16

The purpose of this report is to present recently acquired as well as previously published geochemical and modal petrographic data for igneous rocks in the St. Francois Mountains, southeast Missouri, as part of an ongoing effort to understand the regional geology and ore deposits of the Mesoproterozoic basement rocks of southeast Missouri, USA. The report includes geochemical data that is (1) newly acquired by the U.S. Geological Survey and (2) compiled from numerous sources published during the last fifty-five years. These data are required for ongoing petrogenetic investigations of these rocks. Voluminous Mesoproterozoic igneous rocks in the St. Francois Mountains of southeast Missouri constitute the basement buried beneath Paleozoic sedimentary rock that is over 600 meters thick in places. The Mesoproterozoic rocks of southeast Missouri represent a significant component of approximately 1.4 billion-year-old (Ga) igneous rocks that crop out extensively in North America along the southeast margin of Laurentia and subsequent researchers suggested that iron oxide-copper deposits in the St. Francois Mountains are genetically associated with ca. 1.4 Ga magmatism in this region. The geochemical and modal data sets described herein were compiled to support investigations concerning the tectonic setting and petrologic processes responsible for the associated magmatism.

Tool Use Within NASA Software Quality Assurance

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Shigeta, Denise; Port, Dan; Nikora, Allen P.; Wilf, Joel

2013-01-01

As space mission software systems become larger and more complex, it is increasingly important for the software assurance effort to have the ability to effectively assess both the artifacts produced during software system development and the development process itself. Conceptually, assurance is a straightforward idea - it is the result of activities carried out by an organization independent of the software developers to better inform project management of potential technical and programmatic risks, and thus increase management's confidence in the decisions they ultimately make. In practice, effective assurance for large, complex systems often entails assessing large, complex software artifacts (e.g., requirements specifications, architectural descriptions) as well as substantial amounts of unstructured information (e.g., anomaly reports resulting from testing activities during development). In such an environment, assurance engineers can benefit greatly from appropriate tool support. In order to do so, an assurance organization will need accurate and timely information on the tool support available for various types of assurance activities. In this paper, we investigate the current use of tool support for assurance organizations within NASA, and describe on-going work at JPL for providing assurance organizations with the information about tools they need to use them effectively.

802.11 Wireless Infrastructure To Enhance Medical Response to Disasters

PubMed Central

Arisoylu, Mustafa; Mishra, Rajesh; Rao, Ramesh; Lenert, Leslie A.

2005-01-01

802.11 (WiFi) is a well established network communications protocol that has wide applicability in civil infrastructure. This paper describes research that explores the design of 802.11 networks enhanced to support data communications in disaster environments. The focus of these efforts is to create network infrastructure to support operations by Metropolitan Medical Response System (MMRS) units and Federally-sponsored regional teams that respond to mass casualty events caused by a terrorist attack with chemical, biological, nuclear or radiological weapons or by a hazardous materials spill. In this paper, we describe an advanced WiFi-based network architecture designed to meet the needs of MMRS operations. This architecture combines a Wireless Distribution Systems for peer-to-peer multihop connectivity between access points with flexible and shared access to multiple cellular backhauls for robust connectivity to the Internet. The architecture offers a high bandwidth data communications infrastructure that can penetrate into buildings and structures while also supporting commercial off-the-shelf end-user equipment such as PDAs. It is self-configuring and is self-healing in the event of a loss of a portion of the infrastructure. Testing of prototype units is ongoing. PMID:16778990

Scientific Teaching: Defining a Taxonomy of Observable Practices

PubMed Central

Couch, Brian A.; Brown, Tanya L.; Schelpat, Tyler J.; Graham, Mark J.; Knight, Jennifer K.

2015-01-01

Over the past several decades, numerous reports have been published advocating for changes to undergraduate science education. These national calls inspired the formation of the National Academies Summer Institutes on Undergraduate Education in Biology (SI), a group of regional workshops to help faculty members learn and implement interactive teaching methods. The SI curriculum promotes a pedagogical framework called Scientific Teaching (ST), which aims to bring the vitality of modern research into the classroom by engaging students in the scientific discovery process and using student data to inform the ongoing development of teaching methods. With the spread of ST, the need emerges to systematically define its components in order to establish a common description for education researchers and practitioners. We describe the development of a taxonomy detailing ST’s core elements and provide data from classroom observations and faculty surveys in support of its applicability within undergraduate science courses. The final taxonomy consists of 15 pedagogical goals and 37 supporting practices, specifying observable behaviors, artifacts, and features associated with ST. This taxonomy will support future educational efforts by providing a framework for researchers studying the processes and outcomes of ST-based course transformations as well as a concise guide for faculty members developing classes. PMID:25713097

Advances in HIV-1 Vaccine Development

PubMed Central

Gao, Yong

2018-01-01

An efficacious HIV-1 vaccine is regarded as the best way to halt the ongoing HIV-1 epidemic. However, despite significant efforts to develop a safe and effective vaccine, the modestly protective RV144 trial remains the only efficacy trial to provide some level of protection against HIV-1 acquisition. This review will outline the history of HIV vaccine development, novel technologies being applied to HIV vaccinology and immunogen design, as well as the studies that are ongoing to advance our understanding of vaccine-induced immune correlates of protection. PMID:29614779

Snow removal performance metrics : final report.

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

2017-05-01

This document is the final report for the Clear Roads project entitled Snow Removal Performance Metrics. The project team was led by researchers at Washington State University on behalf of Clear Roads, an ongoing pooled fund research effort focused o...

Determination of Perfluorinated Compounds in the Upper Mississippi River Basin

EPA Science Inventory

Despite ongoing efforts to develop robust analytical methods for the determination of perfluorinated compounds (PFCs) such as perfluorooctanesulfonate (PFOS) and perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) in surface water, comparatively little has been published on method performance, and the...

FTA National Transit GIS : data standards, guidelines and recommended practices

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

1996-01-01

The Federal Transit Administration (FTA) National Transit Geographic Information System (GIS) is a representative inventory of the public transit assets of the country. Creation of this national system is an ongoing and collaborative effort on the pa...

NREL Leads Effort to Get Traffic Moving in the Right Direction | News |

Science.gov Websites

fuels. This emerging approach to sustainable transportation augments ongoing work by NREL that is aimed at taking a systems approach to the broader network of travelers, services, and environments in order

Trophic Pathways of the Mid-North Atlantic

EPA Science Inventory

Because deep-sea fisheries are increasing as coastal fisheries decline, fisheries scientists need baseline data on deep-sea ecosystems prior to further development of deep-water fisheries. We present preliminary results and ongoing efforts to characterize the trophic structure a...

Distributed collaborative decision support environments for predictive awareness

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

McQuay, William K.; Stilman, Boris; Yakhnis, Vlad

2005-05-01

The past decade has produced significant changes in the conduct of military operations: asymmetric warfare, the reliance on dynamic coalitions, stringent rules of engagement, increased concern about collateral damage, and the need for sustained air operations. Mission commanders need to assimilate a tremendous amount of information, rapidly assess the enemy"s course of action (eCOA) or possible actions and promulgate their own course of action (COA) - a need for predictive awareness. Decision support tools in a distributed collaborative environment offer the capability of decomposing complex multitask processes and distributing them over a dynamic set of execution assets that include modeling, simulations, and analysis tools. Revolutionary new approaches to strategy generation and assessment such as Linguistic Geometry (LG) permit the rapid development of COA vs. enemy COA (eCOA). LG tools automatically generate and permit the operators to take advantage of winning strategies and tactics for mission planning and execution in near real-time. LG is predictive and employs deep "look-ahead" from the current state and provides a realistic, reactive model of adversary reasoning and behavior. Collaborative environments provide the framework and integrate models, simulations, and domain specific decision support tools for the sharing and exchanging of data, information, knowledge, and actions. This paper describes ongoing research efforts in applying distributed collaborative environments to decision support for predictive mission awareness.

AztecOO user guide.

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

Heroux, Michael Allen

2004-07-01

The Trilinos{trademark} Project is an effort to facilitate the design, development, integration and ongoing support of mathematical software libraries. AztecOO{trademark} is a package within Trilinos that enables the use of the Aztec solver library [19] with Epetra{trademark} [13] objects. AztecOO provides access to Aztec preconditioners and solvers by implementing the Aztec 'matrix-free' interface using Epetra. While Aztec is written in C and procedure-oriented, AztecOO is written in C++ and is object-oriented. In addition to providing access to Aztec capabilities, AztecOO also provides some signficant new functionality. In particular it provides an extensible status testing capability that allows expression of sophisticatedmore » stopping criteria as is needed in production use of iterative solvers. AztecOO also provides mechanisms for using Ifpack [2], ML [20] and AztecOO itself as preconditioners.« less

How Elsevier's Article of the Future supports researchers in the digital era

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Keall, B.

2012-04-01

The first phase of Elsevier's Article of the Future article format was released on SciVerse ScienceDirect in January 2012. While this new format for online scholarly articles brings a significantly improved online presentation, it also enables further enhancements in terms of domain-specific content and contextualization of research results. Of particular interest to the Earth Sciences research community are the seamless integration of an interactive map viewer that displays author-submitted KML files inside the article, and real-time links to leading research data portals like Pangaea and Earthchem. These enhancements allow for a richer form of communication between authors and readers, and present researchers with valuable additional information in the context of the article. In this presentaion I will review these ongoing efforts to enhance online articles in the digital era.

Producing gallium arsenide crystals in space

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Randolph, R. L.

1984-01-01

The production of high quality crystals in space is a promising near-term application of microgravity processing. Gallium arsenide is the selected material for initial commercial production because of its inherent superior electronic properties, wide range of market applications, and broad base of on-going device development effort. Plausible product prices can absorb the high cost of space transportation for the initial flights provided by the Space Transportation System. The next step for bulk crystal growth, beyond the STS, is planned to come later with the use of free flyers or a space station, where real benefits are foreseen. The use of these vehicles, together with refinement and increasing automation of space-based crystal growth factories, will bring down costs and will support growing demands for high quality GaAs and other specialty electronic and electro-optical crystals grown in space.

An Introduction to Intelligent Processing Programs Developed by the Air Force Manufacturing Technology Directorate

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Sampson, Paul G.; Sny, Linda C.

1992-01-01

The Air Force has numerous on-going manufacturing and integration development programs (machine tools, composites, metals, assembly, and electronics) which are instrumental in improving productivity in the aerospace industry, but more importantly, have identified strategies and technologies required for the integration of advanced processing equipment. An introduction to four current Air Force Manufacturing Technology Directorate (ManTech) manufacturing areas is provided. Research is being carried out in the following areas: (1) machining initiatives for aerospace subcontractors which provide for advanced technology and innovative manufacturing strategies to increase the capabilities of small shops; (2) innovative approaches to advance machine tool products and manufacturing processes; (3) innovative approaches to advance sensors for process control in machine tools; and (4) efforts currently underway to develop, with the support of industry, the Next Generation Workstation/Machine Controller (Low-End Controller Task).

Hypersonic Vehicle Propulsion System Control Model Development Roadmap and Activities

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Stueber, Thomas J.; Le, Dzu K.; Vrnak, Daniel R.

2009-01-01

The NASA Fundamental Aeronautics Program Hypersonic project is directed towards fundamental research for two classes of hypersonic vehicles: highly reliable reusable launch systems (HRRLS) and high-mass Mars entry systems (HMMES). The objective of the hypersonic guidance, navigation, and control (GN&C) discipline team is to develop advanced guidance and control algorithms to enable efficient and effective operation of these challenging vehicles. The ongoing work at the NASA Glenn Research Center supports the hypersonic GN&C effort in developing tools to aid the design of advanced control algorithms that specifically address the propulsion system of the HRRLSclass vehicles. These tools are being developed in conjunction with complementary research and development activities in hypersonic propulsion at Glenn and elsewhere. This report is focused on obtaining control-relevant dynamic models of an HRRLS-type hypersonic vehicle propulsion system.

Developing tools for digital radar image data evaluation

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Domik, G.; Leberl, F.; Raggam, J.

1986-01-01

The refinement of radar image analysis methods has led to a need for a systems approach to radar image processing software. Developments stimulated through satellite radar are combined with standard image processing techniques to create a user environment to manipulate and analyze airborne and satellite radar images. One aim is to create radar products for the user from the original data to enhance the ease of understanding the contents. The results are called secondary image products and derive from the original digital images. Another aim is to support interactive SAR image analysis. Software methods permit use of a digital height model to create ortho images, synthetic images, stereo-ortho images, radar maps or color combinations of different component products. Efforts are ongoing to integrate individual tools into a combined hardware/software environment for interactive radar image analysis.

2017 State of Wind Development in the United States by Region

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

Oteri, Frank A; Baranowski, Ruth E; Baring-Gould, Edward I

This document summarizes the status and drivers for U.S. wind energy development during 2017. Regional Resource Center (RRC) leaders provided a report of wind energy development in their regions, which was combined with findings from National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) researchers to provide an account of the state of the regions, as well as updates on developments in individual states. NREL researchers and state partners added updates for all states that are not directly supported by an RRC. Accounts for each region include updates on renewable portfolio standards, workforce development, manufacturing and economic development, and individual state updates for installedmore » wind capacity, ongoing policy developments, planned projects and their status, transmission progress reports, etc. This report also highlights the efforts of the RRCs to engage stakeholders in their individual regions.« less

“Shovel-ready” Sequences as a Stimulus for the Next Generation of Life Scientists

PubMed Central

Boyle, Michael D.

2010-01-01

Genomics and bioinformatics are dynamic fields well-suited for capturing the imagination of undergraduates in both research laboratories and classrooms. Currently, raw nucleotide sequence is being provided, as part of several genomics research initiatives, for undergraduate research and teaching. These initiatives could be easily extended and much more effective if the source of the sequenced material and the subsequent focus of the data analysis were aligned with the research interests of individual faculty at undergraduate institutions. By judicious use of surplus capacity in existing nucleotide sequencing cores, raw sequence data could be generated to support ongoing research efforts involving undergraduates. This would allow these students to participate actively in discovery research, with a goal of making novel contributions to their field through original research while nurturing the next generation of talented research scientists. PMID:23653696

"Shovel-ready" Sequences as a Stimulus for the Next Generation of Life Scientists.

PubMed

Boyle, Michael D

2010-01-01

Genomics and bioinformatics are dynamic fields well-suited for capturing the imagination of undergraduates in both research laboratories and classrooms. Currently, raw nucleotide sequence is being provided, as part of several genomics research initiatives, for undergraduate research and teaching. These initiatives could be easily extended and much more effective if the source of the sequenced material and the subsequent focus of the data analysis were aligned with the research interests of individual faculty at undergraduate institutions. By judicious use of surplus capacity in existing nucleotide sequencing cores, raw sequence data could be generated to support ongoing research efforts involving undergraduates. This would allow these students to participate actively in discovery research, with a goal of making novel contributions to their field through original research while nurturing the next generation of talented research scientists.

Applications of space observations to the management and utilization of coastal fishery resources

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Kemmerer, A. J.; Savastano, K. J.; Faller, K. H.

1977-01-01

Information needs of those concerned with the harvest and management of coastal fishery resources can be satisfied in part through applications of satellite remote sensing. Recently completed and ongoing investigations have demonstrated potentials for defining fish distribution patterns from multispectral data, monitoring fishing distribution and effort with synthetic aperture radar systems, forecasting recruitment of certain estuarine-dependent species, and tracking marine mammals. These investigations, which are reviewed in this paper, have relied on Landsat 1 and 2, Skylab-3, and Nimbus-6 supported sensors and sensors carried by aircraft and mounted on surface platforms to simulate applications from Seasat-A and other future spacecraft systems. None of the systems are operational as all were designed to identify and demonstrate applications and to aid in the specification of requirements for future spaceborne systems.

The Mars Science Laboratory (MSL) Entry, Descent And Landing Instrumentation (MEDLI): Hardware Performance and Data Reconstruction

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Little, Alan; Bose, Deepak; Karlgaard, Chris; Munk, Michelle; Kuhl, Chris; Schoenenberger, Mark; Antill, Chuck; Verhappen, Ron; Kutty, Prasad; White, Todd

2013-01-01

The Mars Science Laboratory (MSL) Entry, Descent and Landing Instrumentation (MEDLI) hardware was a first-of-its-kind sensor system that gathered temperature and pressure readings on the MSL heatshield during Mars entry on August 6, 2012. MEDLI began as challenging instrumentation problem, and has been a model of collaboration across multiple NASA organizations. After the culmination of almost 6 years of effort, the sensors performed extremely well, collecting data from before atmospheric interface through parachute deploy. This paper will summarize the history of the MEDLI project and hardware development, including key lessons learned that can apply to future instrumentation efforts. MEDLI returned an unprecedented amount of high-quality engineering data from a Mars entry vehicle. We will present the performance of the 3 sensor types: pressure, temperature, and isotherm tracking, as well as the performance of the custom-built sensor support electronics. A key component throughout the MEDLI project has been the ground testing and analysis effort required to understand the returned flight data. Although data analysis is ongoing through 2013, this paper will reveal some of the early findings on the aerothermodynamic environment that MSL encountered at Mars, the response of the heatshield material to that heating environment, and the aerodynamic performance of the entry vehicle. The MEDLI data results promise to challenge our engineering assumptions and revolutionize the way we account for margins in entry vehicle design.

A Translational Model of Research-Practice Integration

PubMed Central

Vivian, Dina; Hershenberg, Rachel; Teachman, Bethany A.; Drabick, Deborah A. G.; Goldfried, Marvin R.; Wolfe, Barry

2013-01-01

We propose a four-level, recursive Research-Practice Integration framework as a heuristic to (a) integrate and reflect on the articles in this Special Section as contributing to a bidirectional bridge between research and practice, and (b) consider additional opportunities to address the research–practice gap. Level 1 addresses Treatment Validation studies and includes an article by Lochman and colleagues concerning the programmatic adaptation, implementation, and dissemination of the empirically supported Coping Power treatment program for youth aggression. Level 2 translation, Training in Evidence-Based Practice, includes a paper by Hershenberg, Drabick, and Vivian, which focuses on the critical role that predoctoral training plays in bridging the research–practice gap. Level 3 addresses the Assessment of Clinical Utility and Feedback to Research aspects of translation. The articles by Lambert and Youn, Kraus, and Castonguay illustrate the use of commercial outcome packages that enable psychotherapists to integrate ongoing client assessment, thus enhancing the effectiveness of treatment implementation and providing data that can be fed back to researchers. Lastly, Level 4 translation, the Cross-Level Integrative Research and Communication, concerns research efforts that integrate data from clinical practice and all other levels of translation, as well as communication efforts among all stakeholders, such as researchers, psychotherapists, and clients. Using a two-chair technique as a framework for his discussion, Wolfe's article depicts the struggle inherent in research–practice integration efforts and proposes a rapprochement that highlights advancements in the field. PMID:22642522

“Key to the Future”: British American Tobacco and Cigarette Smuggling in China

PubMed Central

Lee, Kelley; Collin, Jeff

2006-01-01

Background Cigarette smuggling is a major public health issue, stimulating increased tobacco consumption and undermining tobacco control measures. China is the ultimate prize among tobacco's emerging markets, and is also believed to have the world's largest cigarette smuggling problem. Previous work has demonstrated the complicity of British American Tobacco (BAT) in this illicit trade within Asia and the former Soviet Union. Methods and Findings This paper analyses internal documents of BAT available on site from the Guildford Depository and online from the BAT Document Archive. Documents dating from the early 1900s to 2003 were searched and indexed on a specially designed project database to enable the construction of an historical narrative. Document analysis incorporated several validation techniques within a hermeneutic process. This paper describes the huge scale of this illicit trade in China, amounting to billions of (United States) dollars in sales, and the key supply routes by which it has been conducted. It examines BAT's efforts to optimise earnings by restructuring operations, and controlling the supply chain and pricing of smuggled cigarettes. Conclusions Our research shows that smuggling has been strategically critical to BAT's ongoing efforts to penetrate the Chinese market, and to its overall goal to become the leading company within an increasingly global industry. These findings support the need for concerted efforts to strengthen global collaboration to combat cigarette smuggling. PMID:16834455

Balancing collaboration and competition: the Kingsport, Tennessee experience.

PubMed

McLaughlin, C P

1995-11-01

In 1988, business, health care, and community leaders in Kingsport, Tennessee, initiated the Kingsport Area Health Improvement Project (KAHIP) to improve the health status of local citizens. The community has good conditions for collaboration: (1) a large employer that was a 1993 winner of the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award, (2) community structures for the implementation of collaborative efforts, (3) relative stability in community employment and income, (4) adequate medical resources, (5) outside support from foundations and national organization, and (6) the confidence and commitment of its leaders to make quality efforts work. Barriers to improvement have included 1) two large acute care hospitals competing for many of the same physicians and patients, 2) the uncertainties introduced by the restructuring of the community's largest employer, and 3) ongoing moves in the managed care arena by some key players, which have left a degree of anger and mistrust. Realizing that the approach taken in the late 1980s and early 1990s was no longer working in the new competitive environment, KAHIP reconstituted itself in 1994. Providers now have a greater leadership role in community improvement efforts. As a result, improvement efforts in Kingsport include the institution of interventions to reduce injuries to children/adolescents resulting from motor vehicular accidents, the establishment of a primary care health center for the uninsured/underserved, and development of a smoking-cessation program. The keys to continued leadership are 1) explicit faith in the continuous quality improvement approach, 2) commitment to communitywide change, 3) willingness to continue to engage in dialogue, 4) willingness to try new organizational alliances and structures to revitalize the effort, and 5) willingness to address those issues that individuals and institutions can agree to work on and set aside those they cannot agree on.

A neuroscience perspective on sexual risk behavior in adolescence and emerging adulthood

PubMed Central

VICTOR, ELIZABETH C.; HARIRI, AHMAD R.

2016-01-01

Late adolescence and emerging adulthood (specifically ages 15–24) represent a period of heightened sexual risk taking resulting in the greatest annual rates of sexually transmitted infections and unplanned pregnancies in the US population. Ongoing efforts to prevent such negative consequences are likely to benefit from a deepening of our understanding of biological mechanisms through which sexual risk taking emerges and biases decision making during this critical window. Here we present a neuroscience framework from which a mechanistic examination of sexual risk taking can be advanced. Specifically, we adapt the neurodevelopmental triadic model, which outlines how motivated behavior is governed by three systems: approach, avoidance, and regulation, to sexual decision making and subsequent risk behavior. We further propose a testable hypothesis of the triadic model, wherein relatively decreased threat-related amygdala reactivity and increased reward-related ventral striatum reactivity leads to sexual risk taking, which is particularly exaggerated during adolescence and young adulthood when there is an overexpression of dopaminergic neurons coupled with immature top-down prefrontal cortex regulation. We conclude by discussing how future research based on our adapted triadic model can inform ongoing efforts to improve intervention and prevention efforts. PMID:26611719

A review of HIV/AIDS system-level interventions

PubMed Central

Bauermeister, José A.; Tross, Susan; Ehrhardt, Anke A.

2010-01-01

The escalating HIV/AIDS epidemic worldwide demands that on-going prevention efforts be strengthened, disseminated, and scaled-up. System-level interventions refer to programs aiming to improve the functioning of an agency as well as the delivery of its services to the community. System-level interventions are a promising approach to HIV/AIDS prevention because they focus on (a) improving the agency’s ability to adopt evidence-based HIV prevention and care programs; (b) develop and establish policies and procedures that maximize the sustainability of on-going prevention and care efforts; and (c) improve decision-making processes such as incorporating the needs of communities into their tailored services. We reviewed studies focusing on system-level interventions by searching multiple electronic abstracting indices, including PsycInfo, PubMed, and ProQuest. Twenty-three studies out of 624 peer-reviewed studies (published from January 1985 to February 2007) met study criteria. Most of the studies focused on strengthening agency infrastructure, while other studies included collaborative partnerships and technical assistance programs. Our findings suggest that system-level interventions are promising in strengthening HIV/AIDS prevention and treatment efforts. Based on our findings, we propose recommendations for future work in developing and evaluating system-level interventions. PMID:18369722

Using Coaching to Provide Ongoing Support and Supervision to Out-of-School Time Staff. Part 3 in a Series on Implementing Evidence-Based Practices in Out-of-School Time Programs: The Role of Frontline Staff. Research-to-Results Brief. Publication #2009-06

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Burkhauser, Mary; Metz, Allison J. R.

2009-01-01

Although skills needed by out-of-school time practitioners can be introduced during training, many skills can only really be learned on the job with ongoing support and supervision provided by a "coach." Research from both the education and out-of-school time fields supports the value of staff coaching as a professional development tool, and staff…

Patient experience in a coordinated care model featuring diabetes self-management education integrated into the patient-centered medical home.

PubMed

Janiszewski, Debra; O'Brian, Catherine A; Lipman, Ruth D

2015-08-01

The purpose of this study is to gain insight about patient experience of diabetes self-management education in a patient-centered medical home. Six focus groups consisting of 37 people with diabetes, diverse in race and ethnicity, were conducted at 3 sites. Participants described their experience in the program and their challenges in diabetes self-management; they also suggested services to meet their diabetes care needs. The most common theme was ongoing concerns about care and support. There was much discussion about the value of the support provided by health navigators integrated in the diabetes health care team. Frequent concerns expressed by participants centered on personal challenges in engaging in healthy lifestyle behaviors. Ongoing programmatic support of self-management goals was widely valued. Individuals who received health care in a patient-centered medical home and could participate in diabetes self-management education with integrated support valued both activities. The qualitative results from this study suggest need for more formalized exploration of effective means to meet the ongoing support needs of people with diabetes. © 2015 The Author(s).

77 FR 66609 - Notice of FERC Staff Attendance; PacifiCorp, et al.

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2012-11-06

...-82-000 El Paso Electric Company ER13-91-000 Black Hills Power, Inc., et al......... ER13-96-000 Black... Commission's ongoing outreach efforts. The meeting may discuss matters at issue in the above captioned...

Guidelines for development of the Iowa statewide transportation improvement program (STIP). Revised.

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

2004-01-01

The Transportation Equity Act for the 21st Century (TEA-21) continues the Intermodal Surface Transportation Efficiency Act of 1991's requirement for an extensive, ongoing cooperative planning effort for programming federal funding. Iowa's STIP is dev...

Analysis and recommendation of separation requirements for rotorcraft operation at airports and heliports

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

1986-09-01

The analysis work presented in this report is part of an ongoing effort by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) to develop improved rotorcraft separation standards. The subject of this report, Analysis and Recommendation of Separation Requiremen...

77 FR 1060 - Proposed Information Collection; Comment Request; Survey of the Need for the Improvement of...

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2012-01-09

... ). SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: I. Abstract This is a request for a new information collection. The Sensor Science... ongoing effort, and in response to many inquiries and requests in recent years, NIST plans to survey...

Data: The Common Thread & Tie That Binds Exposure Science

EPA Science Inventory

While a number of ongoing efforts exist aimed at empirically measuring or modeling exposure data, problems persist regarding availability and access to this data. Innovations in managing proprietary data, establishing data quality, standardization of data sets, and sharing of exi...

MODEL HARMONIZATION POTENTIAL AND BENEFITS

EPA Science Inventory

The IPCS Harmonization Project, which is currently ongoing under the auspices of the WHO, in the context of chemical risk assessment or exposure modeling, does not imply global standardization. Instead, harmonization is thought of as an effort to strive for consistency among appr...

Highlights of Transient Plume Impingement Model Validation and Applications

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Woronowicz, Michael

2011-01-01

This paper describes highlights of an ongoing validation effort conducted to assess the viability of applying a set of analytic point source transient free molecule equations to model behavior ranging from molecular effusion to rocket plumes. The validation effort includes encouraging comparisons to both steady and transient studies involving experimental data and direct simulation Monte Carlo results. Finally, this model is applied to describe features of two exotic transient scenarios involving NASA Goddard Space Flight Center satellite programs.

Compendium of GAO’s Views on the Cost Saving Proposals of the Grace Commission. Volume 1. Summary of Findings.

DTIC Science & Technology

1985-02-19

effort to develop a govern- ment-wide integrated financial management structure. Such an effort must have a solid base of fundamental concepts to guide ...initiatives address many PPSSCC debt collection concerns The PPSSCC recommendations basically parallel our prior *- recommendations and ongoing OMB...PPSSCC recommended either selling the PMAs’ facilities or adjusting the PMAs’ user fees, ratemaking process, and pricina structure. In total, the PPSSCC

A Critical Examination of the DOD’s Business Management Modernization Program

DTIC Science & Technology

2005-05-01

Program (BMMP) is a key element of the DoD’s ongoing efforts to transform itself. This paper argues that the BMMP needs to be fundamentally reoriented...communication role it plays in the defense- transformation effort. Introduction The core assumption underlying the DoD’s Business Management... government activities. That this is a core assumption for the BMMP is borne out by the fact that the program’s primary objective is to produce

Infusing Software Engineering Technology into Practice at NASA

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Pressburger, Thomas; Feather, Martin S.; Hinchey, Michael; Markosia, Lawrence

2006-01-01

We present an ongoing effort of the NASA Software Engineering Initiative to encourage the use of advanced software engineering technology on NASA projects. Technology infusion is in general a difficult process yet this effort seems to have found a modest approach that is successful for some types of technologies. We outline the process and describe the experience of the technology infusions that occurred over a two year period. We also present some lessons from the experiences.

A Roadmap for caGrid, an Enterprise Grid Architecture for Biomedical Research

PubMed Central

Saltz, Joel; Hastings, Shannon; Langella, Stephen; Oster, Scott; Kurc, Tahsin; Payne, Philip; Ferreira, Renato; Plale, Beth; Goble, Carole; Ervin, David; Sharma, Ashish; Pan, Tony; Permar, Justin; Brezany, Peter; Siebenlist, Frank; Madduri, Ravi; Foster, Ian; Shanbhag, Krishnakant; Mead, Charlie; Hong, Neil Chue

2012-01-01

caGrid is a middleware system which combines the Grid computing, the service oriented architecture, and the model driven architecture paradigms to support development of interoperable data and analytical resources and federation of such resources in a Grid environment. The functionality provided by caGrid is an essential and integral component of the cancer Biomedical Informatics Grid (caBIG™) program. This program is established by the National Cancer Institute as a nationwide effort to develop enabling informatics technologies for collaborative, multi-institutional biomedical research with the overarching goal of accelerating translational cancer research. Although the main application domain for caGrid is cancer research, the infrastructure provides a generic framework that can be employed in other biomedical research and healthcare domains. The development of caGrid is an ongoing effort, adding new functionality and improvements based on feedback and use cases from the community. This paper provides an overview of potential future architecture and tooling directions and areas of improvement for caGrid and caGrid-like systems. This summary is based on discussions at a roadmap workshop held in February with participants from biomedical research, Grid computing, and high performance computing communities. PMID:18560123

A roadmap for caGrid, an enterprise Grid architecture for biomedical research.

PubMed

Saltz, Joel; Hastings, Shannon; Langella, Stephen; Oster, Scott; Kurc, Tahsin; Payne, Philip; Ferreira, Renato; Plale, Beth; Goble, Carole; Ervin, David; Sharma, Ashish; Pan, Tony; Permar, Justin; Brezany, Peter; Siebenlist, Frank; Madduri, Ravi; Foster, Ian; Shanbhag, Krishnakant; Mead, Charlie; Chue Hong, Neil

2008-01-01

caGrid is a middleware system which combines the Grid computing, the service oriented architecture, and the model driven architecture paradigms to support development of interoperable data and analytical resources and federation of such resources in a Grid environment. The functionality provided by caGrid is an essential and integral component of the cancer Biomedical Informatics Grid (caBIG) program. This program is established by the National Cancer Institute as a nationwide effort to develop enabling informatics technologies for collaborative, multi-institutional biomedical research with the overarching goal of accelerating translational cancer research. Although the main application domain for caGrid is cancer research, the infrastructure provides a generic framework that can be employed in other biomedical research and healthcare domains. The development of caGrid is an ongoing effort, adding new functionality and improvements based on feedback and use cases from the community. This paper provides an overview of potential future architecture and tooling directions and areas of improvement for caGrid and caGrid-like systems. This summary is based on discussions at a roadmap workshop held in February with participants from biomedical research, Grid computing, and high performance computing communities.

Research on polar bears in Alaska, 1983-1985

USGS Publications Warehouse

Amstrup, Steven C.

1986-01-01

Research on the ecology and status of polar bear populations in Alaska has continued since 1967. Research was a joint U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service/Alaska Department of Fish and Game effort until passage of the Marine Mammal Protection Act in 1972, and has been largely a Federal effort since then. In 1985, Alaskan polar beer research continues to be carried out by the Research Division of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (DOI). A recent reorganization removed authority for ecological research in Alaska from the Denver Wildlife Research Center, and vested it with the newly created Alaska Office of Fish and Wildlife Research. This new research office is the center for Federal fish and Wildlife related research throughout the state of Alaska and in its coastal waters.Although the responsibility for polar bear research lies with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, numerous other organizations and agencies deserve mention for their cooperation and support of the ongoing research. These include: the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (DOC), The U.S. Minerals Management Service (DOI), The Canadian Wildlife Service, The Northwest Territories Wildlife Service, the Yukon Wildlife Service, Dome Petroleum Ltd, Gulf Canada, and the Alaska Department of Fish and game.

NASA's Advanced Multimission Operations System: A Case Study in Formalizing Software Architecture Evolution

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Barnes, Jeffrey M.

2011-01-01

All software systems of significant size and longevity eventually undergo changes to their basic architectural structure. Such changes may be prompted by evolving requirements, changing technology, or other reasons. Whatever the cause, software architecture evolution is commonplace in real world software projects. Recently, software architecture researchers have begun to study this phenomenon in depth. However, this work has suffered from problems of validation; research in this area has tended to make heavy use of toy examples and hypothetical scenarios and has not been well supported by real world examples. To help address this problem, I describe an ongoing effort at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory to re-architect the Advanced Multimission Operations System (AMMOS), which is used to operate NASA's deep-space and astrophysics missions. Based on examination of project documents and interviews with project personnel, I describe the goals and approach of this evolution effort and then present models that capture some of the key architectural changes. Finally, I demonstrate how approaches and formal methods from my previous research in architecture evolution may be applied to this evolution, while using languages and tools already in place at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory.

Investigational drugs in early development for treating dengue infection.

PubMed

Beesetti, Hemalatha; Khanna, Navin; Swaminathan, Sathyamangalam

2016-09-01

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

Human Mars Mission Overview and Dust Storm Impacts on Site Selection

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Hoffman, S. J.

2017-01-01

NASA has begun a process to identify and discuss candidate locations where humans could land, live and work on the martian surface. This process is being carried out as a cooperative effort by NASA's Human Exploration and Operations Mission Directorate (HEOMD), responsible for future human mission preparations, and the Science Mission Directorate (SMD), responsible for the on-going Mars Exploration Program of robotic vehicles in orbit and on the surface of Mars. Both of these Directorates have a significant interest in this process, as these candidate locations will be used by NASA as part of a multi-year effort to determine where and how humans could explore Mars. In the near term this process includes: (a) identifying locations that would maximize the potential science return from future human exploration missions, (b) identifying locations with the potential for resources required to support humans, (c) developing concepts and engineering systems needed by future human crews to conduct operations within a candidate location, and (d) identifying key characteristics of the proposed candidate locations that cannot be evaluated using existing data sets, thus helping to define precursor measurements needed in advance of human missions.

Support of an Active Science Project by a Large Information System: Lessons for the EOS Era

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Angelici, Gary L.; Skiles, J. W.; Popovici, Lidia Z.

1993-01-01

The ability of large information systems to support the changing data requirements of active science projects is being tested in a NASA collaborative study. This paper briefly profiles both the active science project and the large information system involved in this effort and offers some observations about the effectiveness of the project support. This is followed by lessons that are important for those participating in large information systems that need to support active science projects or that make available the valuable data produced by these projects. We learned in this work that it is difficult for a large information system focused on long term data management to satisfy the requirements of an on-going science project. For example, in order to provide the best service, it is important for all information system staff to keep focused on the needs and constraints of the scientists in the development of appropriate services. If the lessons learned in this and other science support experiences are not applied by those involved with large information systems of the EOS (Earth Observing System) era, then the final data products produced by future science projects may not be robust or of high quality, thereby making the conduct of the project science less efficacious and reducing the value of these unique suites of data for future research.

An Assessment of Institutional Capacity for Integrated Landscape Management in Eastern Cameroon.

PubMed

Brown, H Carolyn Peach

2018-07-01

Landscape approaches have become prominent in efforts to address issues of conservation and development through bringing together different actors and sectors, to reconcile diverse land uses, and promote synergies. Some have suggested that integrated landscape management approaches are consistent with the goals of REDD+ and offer a strategy to address multiple goals of climate change mitigation, biodiversity conservation, maintenance of ecosystem services, and socio-economic development. Institutional or governance arrangements have been shown to be a critical component in influencing outcomes in landscapes. Using diverse methodologies, this study investigated the capacity of institutions to support the planning, implementation, and resource mobilization needed to integrate climate change mitigation, conservation, and livelihood goals in a forest mosaic landscape in East Cameroon. Results showed that diverse institutions are present in the landscape, including institutions of relevant government agencies, local government, local non-government, the private sector, and hybrid institutions of conservation, development and research institutions. However, the overall institutional capacity for integrated landscape planning and management in the study area is limited, although some institutions exhibit increased capacity in some areas over others. Multiple strategies can be employed to build the necessary human, financial, and leadership capacity, and facilitate the institutional planning and coordination that is foundational to multi-stakeholder landscape governance. Given the complexity of integrating climate change mitigation, conservation and livelihood goals in a landscape, building such institutional capacity is a long term endeavour that requires sustained effort and ongoing financial, technical and human resource support.

A Modular Repository-based Infrastructure for Simulation Model Storage and Execution Support in the Context of In Silico Oncology and In Silico Medicine.

PubMed

Christodoulou, Nikolaos A; Tousert, Nikolaos E; Georgiadi, Eleni Ch; Argyri, Katerina D; Misichroni, Fay D; Stamatakos, Georgios S

2016-01-01

The plethora of available disease prediction models and the ongoing process of their application into clinical practice - following their clinical validation - have created new needs regarding their efficient handling and exploitation. Consolidation of software implementations, descriptive information, and supportive tools in a single place, offering persistent storage as well as proper management of execution results, is a priority, especially with respect to the needs of large healthcare providers. At the same time, modelers should be able to access these storage facilities under special rights, in order to upgrade and maintain their work. In addition, the end users should be provided with all the necessary interfaces for model execution and effortless result retrieval. We therefore propose a software infrastructure, based on a tool, model and data repository that handles the storage of models and pertinent execution-related data, along with functionalities for execution management, communication with third-party applications, user-friendly interfaces to access and use the infrastructure with minimal effort and basic security features.

NIH support of Centers for AIDS Research and Department of Health Collaborative Public Health Research: advancing CDC's Enhanced Comprehensive HIV Prevention Planning project.

PubMed

Greenberg, Alan E; Purcell, David W; Gordon, Christopher M; Flores, Stephen; Grossman, Cynthia; Fisher, Holly H; Barasky, Rebecca J

2013-11-01

The contributions reported in this supplemental issue highlight the relevance of NIH-funded CEWG research to health department–supported HIV prevention and care activities in the 9 US cities with the highest numbers of AIDS cases. The project findings have the potential to enhance ongoing HIV treatment and care services and to advance the wider scientific agenda. The HIV testing to care continuum, while providing a framework to help track progress on national goals, also can reflect the heterogeneities of local epidemics. The collaborative research that is highlighted in this issue not only reflects a locally driven research agenda but also demonstrates research methods, data collection tools, and collaborative processes that could be encouraged across jurisdictions. Projects such as these, capitalizing on the integrated efforts of NIH, CDC, DOH, and academic institutions, have the potential to contribute to improvements in the HIV care continuum in these communities, bringing us closer to realizing the HIV prevention and treatment goals of the NHAS.

A Modular Repository-based Infrastructure for Simulation Model Storage and Execution Support in the Context of In Silico Oncology and In Silico Medicine

PubMed Central

Christodoulou, Nikolaos A.; Tousert, Nikolaos E.; Georgiadi, Eleni Ch.; Argyri, Katerina D.; Misichroni, Fay D.; Stamatakos, Georgios S.

2016-01-01

The plethora of available disease prediction models and the ongoing process of their application into clinical practice – following their clinical validation – have created new needs regarding their efficient handling and exploitation. Consolidation of software implementations, descriptive information, and supportive tools in a single place, offering persistent storage as well as proper management of execution results, is a priority, especially with respect to the needs of large healthcare providers. At the same time, modelers should be able to access these storage facilities under special rights, in order to upgrade and maintain their work. In addition, the end users should be provided with all the necessary interfaces for model execution and effortless result retrieval. We therefore propose a software infrastructure, based on a tool, model and data repository that handles the storage of models and pertinent execution-related data, along with functionalities for execution management, communication with third-party applications, user-friendly interfaces to access and use the infrastructure with minimal effort and basic security features. PMID:27812280

NASA/WVU Software Research Laboratory, 1995

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Sabolish, George J.; Callahan, John R.

1995-01-01

In our second year, the NASA/WVU Software Research Lab has made significant strides toward analysis and solution of major software problems related to V&V activities. We have established working relationships with many ongoing efforts within NASA and continue to provide valuable input into policy and decision-making processes. Through our publications, technical reports, lecture series, newsletters, and resources on the World-Wide-Web, we provide information to many NASA and external parties daily. This report is a summary and overview of some of our activities for the past year. This report is divided into 6 chapters: Introduction, People, Support Activities, Process, Metrics, and Testing. The Introduction chapter (this chapter) gives an overview of our project beginnings and targets. The People chapter focuses on new people who have joined the Lab this year. The Support chapter briefly lists activities like our WWW pages, Technical Report Series, Technical Lecture Series, and Research Quarterly newsletter. Finally, the remaining four chapters discuss the major research areas that we have made significant progress towards producing meaningful task reports. These chapters can be regarded as portions of drafts of our task reports.

Development of comprehensive remediation standards at San Francisco International Airport

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

Grosso, A.; Lawler, M.; Meek, S.

1995-12-31

An ongoing expansion at the San Francisco International Airport (Airport) will result in a 35 percent increase in both terminal square footage and passenger handling capability. Facility relocation and construction are set to begin in October, 1995. Appropriate cleanup of contaminated soil and groundwater must be completed prior to this activity. Remedial goals for this major industrial facility must be protective of both human health and the environment. A risk-based strategy for the development of recommended cleanup objectives has been developed with the support of state regulatory agencies. This strategy includes Remediation Management Zones (RMZs), distinct regions at the Airportmore » with different remedial goals based on the associated risk to water quality, human health, and the environment. The RMZs and the final cleanup objectives for the Airport will be finalized by mid-1995, and will be used to govern future cleanup efforts at the site. This presentation will describe the history of the project, the determination of human health and ecological buffer zones, and the integration of these two concepts to produce cleanup objectives fully supported by the state regulatory authority.« less

Effective behavioral modeling and prediction even when few exemplars are available

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Goan, Terrance; Kartha, Neelakantan; Kaneshiro, Ryan

2006-05-01

While great progress has been made in the lowest levels of data fusion, practical advances in behavior modeling and prediction remain elusive. The most critical limitation of existing approaches is their inability to support the required knowledge modeling and continuing refinement under realistic constraints (e.g., few historic exemplars, the lack of knowledge engineering support, and the need for rapid system deployment). This paper reports on our ongoing efforts to develop Propheteer, a system which will address these shortcomings through two primary techniques. First, with Propheteer we abandon the typical consensus-driven modeling approaches that involve infrequent group decision making sessions in favor of an approach that solicits asynchronous knowledge contributions (in the form of alternative future scenarios and indicators) without burdening the user with endless certainty or probability estimates. Second, we enable knowledge contributions by personnel beyond the typical core decision making group, thereby casting light on blind spots, mitigating human biases, and helping maintain the currency of the developed behavior models. We conclude with a discussion of the many lessons learned in the development of our prototype Propheteer system.

Climate change and vector-borne diseases: what are the implications for public health research and policy?

PubMed

Campbell-Lendrum, Diarmid; Manga, Lucien; Bagayoko, Magaran; Sommerfeld, Johannes

2015-04-05

Vector-borne diseases continue to contribute significantly to the global burden of disease, and cause epidemics that disrupt health security and cause wider socioeconomic impacts around the world. All are sensitive in different ways to weather and climate conditions, so that the ongoing trends of increasing temperature and more variable weather threaten to undermine recent global progress against these diseases. Here, we review the current state of the global public health effort to address this challenge, and outline related initiatives by the World Health Organization (WHO) and its partners. Much of the debate to date has centred on attribution of past changes in disease rates to climate change, and the use of scenario-based models to project future changes in risk for specific diseases. While these can give useful indications, the unavoidable uncertainty in such analyses, and contingency on other socioeconomic and public health determinants in the past or future, limit their utility as decision-support tools. For operational health agencies, the most pressing need is the strengthening of current disease control efforts to bring down current disease rates and manage short-term climate risks, which will, in turn, increase resilience to long-term climate change. The WHO and partner agencies are working through a range of programmes to (i) ensure political support and financial investment in preventive and curative interventions to bring down current disease burdens; (ii) promote a comprehensive approach to climate risk management; (iii) support applied research, through definition of global and regional research agendas, and targeted research initiatives on priority diseases and population groups. © 2015 The Author(s) Published by the Royal Society. All rights reserved.

Laboratory Evaluation of Concrete Ties and Fastenings for Transit Use

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

1979-03-01

This report was prepared as part of an ongoing research effort by the Urban Mass Transportation Administration (UMTA) to develop standard concrete ties for rapid transit use. The overall objective of this contract was to fabricate and evaluate, by la...

Trials advance low-salinity culture of Cobia, Pompano, and other species

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

An ongoing collaborative research effort between scientists of the USDA Agricultural Research Service and aquaculture researchers of the Harbor Branch Oceanographic Institute at Florida Atlantic University to develop technologies for rearing fish in low salinity recirculating aquaculture systems is ...

The silent customers: measuring customer satisfaction in nursing homes.

PubMed

Kleinsorge, I K; Koenig, H F

1991-12-01

Nursing home administrators concerned with customer satisfaction and quality of care need a tool to assess and monitor ongoing satisfaction of nursing home residents and family members. The authors report a preliminary effort to develop such a survey using focus groups.

THE OPEN SOURCING OF EPANET

EPA Science Inventory

A proposal was made at the 2009 EWRI Congress in Kansas City, MO to establish an Open Source Project (OSP) for the widely used EPANET pipe network analysis program. This would be an ongoing collaborative effort among a group of geographically dispersed advisors and developers, wo...

Midwest regional rail system : a transportation network for the 21 century : executive report

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

2000-02-01

The Midwest Regional Rail Initiative is an ongoing effort to develop an improved and expanded passenger rail system in the Midwest. Since 1996, the Midwest Regional Rail Initiative (MWRRI) advanced from a series of service concepts, including increas...

Workshops and Training | Eliminating Sanitary Sewer ...

EPA Pesticide Factsheets

2017-04-10

EPA New England is working with partners to develop outreach, workshops and tools to assist those working to prevent sewage overflows and improve the management of water/wastewater systems. We have ongoing efforts on CMOM (Capacity, Management, Operation and Maintenance), Asset Management and energy management.

Holes: a novel method for promoting vegetation restoration (Macao)

Treesearch

Shao-Lin Peng; Yi-Na Yu; Yu-Ping Hou; Long-Sheng Yu; Bao-Ming Chen

2009-01-01

Restoration Notes have been a distinguishing feature of Ecological Restoration for more than 25 years. This section is geared toward introducing innovative research, tools, technologies, programs, and ideas, as well as providing short-term research results and updates on ongoing efforts.

Reducing the Risk of Tick-Borne Diseases through Smart, Safe and Sustainable Pest Control

EPA Pesticide Factsheets

Each year PestWise programs form new partnerships to address ongoing and emerging issues. Reducing the risk from ticks and tick-borne disease is an issue of importance and EPA is contributing to a larger federal effort.

Braille Goes to High School.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Amato, Sheila

2003-01-01

This brief report describes the development and implementation of a unique, full-year, credit-bearing, technology course in literary Braille transcription offered at a Long Island (New York) high school. It describes the program's goals, development, implementation, students, ongoing activities, outreach efforts, and student attitudes. Suggestions…

Quantifying uncertainty in read-across assessment – an algorithmic approach - (SOT)

EPA Science Inventory

Read-across is a popular data gap filling technique within category and analogue approaches for regulatory purposes. Acceptance of read-across remains an ongoing challenge with several efforts underway for identifying and addressing uncertainties. Here we demonstrate an algorithm...

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

Not Available

This program summary describes each of the DOE's Biomass Energy System's projects funded or in existence during fiscal year 1979 and reflects their status as of September 30, 1979. The summary provides an overview of the ongoing research, development, and demonstration efforts of the preceding fiscal year as well. (DMC)

Safety | Argonne National Laboratory

Science.gov Websites

laboratory's ongoing effort to provide a safe and productive environment for employees, users, other site Skip to main content Argonne National Laboratory Toggle Navigation Toggle Search Energy Environment Careers Education Community Diversity Directory Energy Environment National Security User Facilities

HYDRODYNAMIC AND TRANSPORT MODELING STUDY IN A HIGHLY STRATIFIED ESTUARY

EPA Science Inventory

This paper presents the preliminary results of hydrodynamic and salinity predictions and the implications to an ongoing contaminated sediment transport and fate modeling effort in the Lower Duwamish Waterway (LDW), Seattle, Washington. The LDW is highly strati-fied when freshwate...

Validation and application of highway safety manual (part D) in Florida : [summary].

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

2014-02-01

Ongoing surveillance programs on roads and : highways in the U.S. have produced large amounts : of data on many aspects of transportation. : Crash statistics are among the most important : products of these efforts as they help engineers : pinpoint c...

Reggio Social Capital

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Stejzygier, Aneta

2009-01-01

The paper presents the social capital as the essential element of success of the Reggio Emilia preschools known for their unique approach to the early childhood education. The collaborative effort is introduced through examples of the currently ongoing "Reggio Narrates" project of Reggio preschools, the "Dialogue with the…

Hydrothermal monitoring in a quiescent volcanic arc: Cascade Range, northwestern United States

USGS Publications Warehouse

Ingebritsen, S.E.; Randolph-Flagg, N. G.; Gelwick, K.D.; Lundstrom, E.A.; Crankshaw, I.M.; Murveit, A.M.; Schmidt, M.E.; Bergfeld, D.; Spicer, K.R.; Tucker, D.S.; Mariner, R.H.; Evans, William C.

2014-01-01

Ongoing (1996–present) volcanic unrest near South Sister, Oregon, is accompanied by a striking set of hydrothermal anomalies, including elevated temperatures, elevated major ion concentrations, and 3He/4He ratios as large as 8.6 RA in slightly thermal springs. These observations prompted the US Geological Survey to begin a systematic hydrothermal-monitoring effort encompassing 25 sites and 10 of the highest-risk volcanoes in the Cascade volcanic arc, from Mount Baker near the Canadian border to Lassen Peak in northern California. A concerted effort was made to develop hourly, multiyear records of temperature and/or hydrothermal solute flux, suitable for retrospective comparison with other continuous geophysical monitoring data. Targets included summit fumarole groups and springs/streams that show clear evidence of magmatic influence in the form of high 3He/4He ratios and/or anomalous fluxes of magmatic CO2 or heat. As of 2009–2012, summit fumarole temperatures in the Cascade Range were generally near or below the local pure water boiling point; the maximum observed superheat was 3 during periods of hourly record. Hydrothermal responses to these small seismic stimuli were generally undetectable or ambiguous. Evaluation of multiyear to multidecadal trends indicates that whereas the hydrothermal system at Mount St. Helens is still fast-evolving in response to the 1980–present eruptive cycle, there is no clear evidence of ongoing long-term trends in hydrothermal activity at other Cascade Range volcanoes that have been active or restless during the past century (Baker, South Sister, and Lassen). Experience gained during the Cascade Range hydrothermal-monitoring experiment informs ongoing efforts to capture entire unrest cycles at more active but generally less accessible volcanoes such as those in the Aleutian arc.

The role of CT in professionalism: accreditation, certification and the welfare of our children.

PubMed

Frush, Donald P

2011-09-01

Defining, measuring and promoting professionalism in medicine, including radiology, has been increasingly emphasized by organizations such as ACGME, the ACR and ABR. It is clear that we as imaging experts have as an ultimate responsibility the welfare of our patients. This is the essence of professionalism, and major societies such as the ACR, ABR and RSNA are embracing professionalism through ongoing safety and training efforts. Some of those efforts in accreditation of equipment and certification of medical professionals will be discussed.

Progress Toward HIV Eradication: Case Reports, Current Efforts, and the Challenges Associated with Cure.

PubMed

Martin, Alyssa R; Siliciano, Robert F

2016-01-01

An estimated 35 million people worldwide are infected with HIV, yet a widely applicable cure strategy remains elusive. Recent case reports have suggested that curing HIV infection is possible, renewing excitement about research efforts. We describe those cases and discuss their relevance to the global HIV epidemic. We also review ongoing cure strategies that are transitioning from the lab to the clinic, and the assays and clinical assessments that can be used to evaluate cure interventions.

Student laboratory reports: an approach to improving feedback and quality

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ellingsen, Pål Gunnar; Støvneng, Jon Andreas

2018-05-01

We present an ongoing effort in improving the quality of laboratory reports written by first and second year physics students. The effort involves a new approach where students are given the opportunity to submit reports at intermediate deadlines, receive feedback, and then resubmit for the final deadline. In combination with a differential grading system, instead of pass/fail, the improved feedback results in higher quality reports. Improvement in the quality of the reports is visible through the grade statistics.

The early Earth Observing System reference handbook: Earth Science and Applications Division missions, 1990-1997

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

1990-01-01

Prior to the launch of the Earth Observing System (EOS) series, NASA will launch and operate a wide variety of new earth science satellites and instruments, as well as undertake several efforts collecting and using the data from existing and planned satellites from other agencies and nations. These initiatives will augment the knowledge base gained from ongoing Earth Science and Applications Division (ESAD) programs. This volume describes three sets of ESAD activities -- ongoing exploitation of operational satellite data, research missions with upcoming launches between now and the first launch of EOS, and candidate earth probes.

Development of Gene Therapy for Thalassemia

PubMed Central

Nienhuis, Arthur W.; Persons, Derek A.

2012-01-01

Retroviral vector–mediated gene transfer into hematopoietic stem cells provides a potentially curative therapy for severe β-thalassemia. Lentiviral vectors based on human immunodeficiency virus have been developed for this purpose and have been shown to be effective in curing thalassemia in mouse models. One participant in an ongoing clinical trial has achieved transfusion independence after gene transfer into bone marrow stem cells owing, in part, to a genetically modified, dominant clone. Ongoing efforts are focused on improving the efficiency of lentiviral vector–mediated gene transfer into stem cells so that the curative potential of gene transfer can be consistently achieved. PMID:23125203

Supporting Medical Home Transformation Through Evaluation of Patient Experience in a Large Culturally Diverse Primary Care Safety Net.

PubMed

Cook, Nicole; Hollar, T Lucas; Zunker, Christie; Peterson, Michael; Phillips, Teina; De Lucca, Michael

2016-01-01

The prevalence of chronic disease in the United States is rapidly increasing, with a disproportionate number of underserved, vulnerable patients sharing the burden. The Patient-Centered Medical Home (PCMH) is a care delivery model that has shown promise to improve primary care and address the burden of chronic illness. The purpose of this study was to (1) understand patient characteristics that might influence perceived patient experience in a large primary care safety net undergoing PCMH transformation; (2) identify community-level quality improvement opportunities to support ongoing transformation activities; and (3) establish a baseline of patient experience across the primary care safety net that could be used in repeated evaluations over the course of transformation. A cross-sectional study design was used to conduct this research. A total of 351 racially and ethnically diverse patients of 4 primary care safety net organizations in Broward County, Florida, were surveyed regarding their experience with access to care and coordination of care. Reported access to care and coordination of care. Patients with chronic disease who reported having visited the clinic 3 or more times in the past 12 months reported a better coordination of care experience than patients who had fewer than 3 visits in the past 12 months (odds ratio = 3.57; 95% confidence interval, 1.76-7.24). Patients without chronic disease who had been receiving care at the clinic for 2 or more years of care reported worse experience with access to care than patients with less than 2 years of care (odds ratio = 0.26; 95% confidence interval, 0.11-0.60.) Race, ethnicity, language, and education were not significant predictors of patient experience. Findings support ongoing efforts to improve patient engagement among all patients and to enhance resources to manage chronic disease, including community-based self-management programs, in primary care safety nets undergoing PCMH transformation.

Vehicle postmortem and data analysis of a passenger rail car collision test

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

2002-04-23

There is an ongoing research program in the United States to investigate and improve rail equipment crashworthiness. As part of this effort, a series of full-scale rail vehicle crash tests are being performed to investigate the crash response of exis...

Plant distributions along salinity and tidal gradients in Oregon tidal marshes

EPA Science Inventory

Accurately modeling climate change effects on tidal marshes in the Pacific Northwest requires understanding how plant assemblages and species are presently distributed along gradients of salinity and tidal inundation. We outline on-going field efforts by the EPA and USGS to dete...

Leaders in School Social Work: Lela B. Costin.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Anderson, Richard J.

1996-01-01

Profiles the accomplishments of a pioneer in school social work research and education. Tells how she balanced home life with professional life. Highlights her ongoing efforts to subsume school social work as a part of child welfare and the mental health of children. (RJM)

DESIGNING MONITORING AND ASSESSMENT STRATEGIES TO INCLUDE NEARSHORE ECOSYSTEMS OF THE GREAT LAKES

EPA Science Inventory

An expectation for monitoring and assessment of very large aquatic systems is that we can develop a strategy that recognizes and reports on ecologically-important subareas using spatially-stratified, probabilistic sampling designs. Ongoing efforts monitor the main-body, offshore ...

Who asks questions at astronomy meetings?

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Schmidt, Sarah J.; Davenport, James R. A.

2017-06-01

Over the last decade, significant attention has been drawn to the gender ratio of speakers at conferences, with ongoing efforts for meetings to better reflect the gender representation in the field. We find that women are significantly under-represented, however, among the astronomers asking questions after talks.

ESP IMPROVEMENTS AT POWER PLANTS

EPA Science Inventory

An on-going ORD and OIA collaborative project in the Newly Independent States (NIS) is designed to upgrade ESPs used in NIS power plants and has laid the foundation for implementing cost-effective ESP modernization efforts at power plants. Thus far, state-of-the-art ESP performan...

Application of ISO 9000 Standards to Education and Training.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Van den Berghe, Wouter

1998-01-01

ISO 9000 certification has the advantages of a measurable framework for quality efforts, continuous improvement, and better customer service. Drawbacks for education and training providers include volume of paperwork, ongoing cost, risk of a growing bureaucracy, and the difficulty of making changes quickly. (SK)

Meta-Evaluation

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Stufflebeam, Daniel L.

2011-01-01

Good evaluation requires that evaluation efforts themselves be evaluated. Many things can and often do go wrong in evaluation work. Accordingly, it is necessary to check evaluations for problems such as bias, technical error, administrative difficulties, and misuse. Such checks are needed both to improve ongoing evaluation activities and to assess…

HiRISE Characterization of Thermophysical Units at Acidalia Planitia, Mars

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Martinez-Alonso, S.; Mellon, M. T.; Rafkin, S. C. R.; Zurek, R. W.; McEwen, A. S.; Putzig, N. E.; Searls, M. L.; HiRISE Team

2008-03-01

As part of an ongoing effort to characterize with HiRISE data the global thermophysical units in Mars, we report results regarding a region of Acidalia Planitia, which includes the largest outcrop of thermophysical unit F (rocks, bedrock, duricrust) on the planet.

XENOBIOTIC INDUCED ORGAN-SPECIFIC GENE EXPRESSION AND MACRO/MICROARRAY DEVELOPMENT IN MEDAKA (ORYZIAS LATIPES)

EPA Science Inventory

As part of an ongoing effort to understand and address the short and long-term consequences of increasing levels of environmental contaminants, we used suppressive subtractive hydridization (SSH) to develop gene expression profiles from Japanese medaka (Oryzias latipes) exposed ...

76 FR 56128 - Retrospective Review of Existing Regulations

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2011-09-12

..., welfare, safety, and our environment while promoting economic growth, innovation, competitiveness, and job creation.'' In furtherance of its ongoing efforts to update regulations to reflect market developments and... Commission in considering the development of a plan for the retrospective review of its regulations. DATES...

76 FR 33065 - Adaptation of Regulations to Incorporate Swaps

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2011-06-07

... retention period for any communication medium (e.g., oral communications) should be shorter than the... Commission's] ongoing efforts to facilitate the use of electronic technology and media'') \\45\\ applies... on electronic storage media, provided, however, that for electronic records, the storage media must...

Syria: health in a country undergoing tragic transition.

PubMed

Ben Taleb, Ziyad; Bahelah, Raed; Fouad, Fouad M; Coutts, Adam; Wilcox, Meredith; Maziak, Wasim

2015-01-01

To document the ongoing destruction as a result of the tragic events in Syria, to understand the changing health care needs and priorities of Syrians. A directed examination of the scientific literature and reports about Syria before and during the Syrian conflict, in addition to analyzing literature devoted to the relief and rebuilding efforts in crisis situations. The ongoing war has had high direct war casualty, but even higher suffering due to the destruction of health system, displacement, and the breakdown of livelihood and social fabric. Millions of Syrians either became refugees or internally displaced, and about half of the population is in urgent need for help. Access to local and international aid organizations for war-affected populations is an urgent and top priority. Syrians continue to endure one of the biggest human tragedies in modern times. The extent of the crisis has affected all aspects of Syrians' life. Understanding the multi-faceted transition of the Syrian population and how it reflects on their health profile can guide relief and rebuilding efforts' scope and priorities.

Novel Concepts for HIV Vaccine Vector Design.

PubMed

Alayo, Quazim A; Provine, Nicholas M; Penaloza-MacMaster, Pablo

2017-01-01

The unprecedented challenges of developing effective vaccines against intracellular pathogens such as HIV, malaria, and tuberculosis have resulted in more rational approaches to vaccine development. Apart from the recent advances in the design and selection of improved epitopes and adjuvants, there are also ongoing efforts to optimize delivery platforms. Viral vectors are the best-characterized delivery tools because of their intrinsic adjuvant capability, unique cellular tropism, and ability to trigger robust adaptive immune responses. However, a known limitation of viral vectors is preexisting immunity, and ongoing efforts are aimed at developing novel vector platforms with lower seroprevalence. It is also becoming increasingly clear that different vectors, even those derived from phylogenetically similar viruses, can elicit substantially distinct immune responses, in terms of quantity, quality, and location, which can ultimately affect immune protection. This review provides a summary of the status of viral vector development for HIV vaccines, with a particular focus on novel viral vectors and the types of adaptive immune responses that they induce.

Genomics Education for the Public: Perspectives of Genomic Researchers and ELSI Advisors

PubMed Central

Jones, Sondra Smolek; Markey, Janell M.; Byerly, Katherine W.; Roberts, Megan C.

2014-01-01

Aims: For more than two decades genomic education of the public has been a significant challenge. As genomic information becomes integrated into daily life and routine clinical care, the need for public education is even more critical. We conducted a pilot study to learn how genomic researchers and ethical, legal, and social implications advisors who were affiliated with large-scale genomic variation studies have approached the issue of educating the public about genomics. Methods/Results: Semi-structured telephone interviews were conducted with researchers and advisors associated with the SNP/HAPMAP studies and the Cancer Genome Atlas Study. Respondents described approach(es) associated with educating the public about their study. Interviews were audio-recorded, transcribed, coded, and analyzed by team review. Although few respondents described formal educational efforts, most provided recommendations for what should/could be done, emphasizing the need for an overarching entity(s) to take responsibility to lead the effort to educate the public. Opposing views were described related to: who this should be; the overall goal of the educational effort; and the educational approach. Four thematic areas emerged: What is the rationale for educating the public about genomics?; Who is the audience?; Who should be responsible for this effort?; and What should the content be? Policy issues associated with these themes included the need to agree on philosophical framework(s) to guide the rationale, content, and target audiences for education programs; coordinate previous/ongoing educational efforts; and develop a centralized knowledge base. Suggestions for next steps are presented. Conclusion: A complex interplay of philosophical, professional, and cultural issues can create impediments to genomic education of the public. Many challenges, however, can be addressed by agreement on a guiding philosophical framework(s) and identification of a responsible entity(s) to provide leadership for developing/overseeing an appropriate infrastructure to support the coordination/integration/sharing and evaluation of educational efforts, benefiting consumers and professionals. PMID:24495163

Accounting for sampling patterns reverses the relative importance of trade and climate for the global sharing of exotic plants

USGS Publications Warehouse

Sofaer, Helen R.; Jarnevich, Catherine S.

2017-01-01

AimThe distributions of exotic species reflect patterns of human-mediated dispersal, species climatic tolerances and a suite of other biotic and abiotic factors. The relative importance of each of these factors will shape how the spread of exotic species is affected by ongoing economic globalization and climate change. However, patterns of trade may be correlated with variation in scientific sampling effort globally, potentially confounding studies that do not account for sampling patterns.LocationGlobal.Time periodMuseum records, generally from the 1800s up to 2015.Major taxa studiedPlant species exotic to the United States.MethodsWe used data from the Global Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF) to summarize the number of plant species with exotic occurrences in the United States that also occur in each other country world-wide. We assessed the relative importance of trade and climatic similarity for explaining variation in the number of shared species while evaluating several methods to account for variation in sampling effort among countries.ResultsAccounting for variation in sampling effort reversed the relative importance of trade and climate for explaining numbers of shared species. Trade was strongly correlated with numbers of shared U.S. exotic plants between the United States and other countries before, but not after, accounting for sampling variation among countries. Conversely, accounting for sampling effort strengthened the relationship between climatic similarity and species sharing. Using the number of records as a measure of sampling effort provided a straightforward approach for the analysis of occurrence data, whereas species richness estimators and rarefaction were less effective at removing sampling bias.Main conclusionsOur work provides support for broad-scale climatic limitation on the distributions of exotic species, illustrates the need to account for variation in sampling effort in large biodiversity databases, and highlights the difficulty in inferring causal links between the economic drivers of invasion and global patterns of exotic species occurrence.

Genomics education for the public: perspectives of genomic researchers and ELSI advisors.

PubMed

Dressler, Lynn G; Jones, Sondra Smolek; Markey, Janell M; Byerly, Katherine W; Roberts, Megan C

2014-03-01

For more than two decades genomic education of the public has been a significant challenge. As genomic information becomes integrated into daily life and routine clinical care, the need for public education is even more critical. We conducted a pilot study to learn how genomic researchers and ethical, legal, and social implications advisors who were affiliated with large-scale genomic variation studies have approached the issue of educating the public about genomics. Semi-structured telephone interviews were conducted with researchers and advisors associated with the SNP/HAPMAP studies and the Cancer Genome Atlas Study. Respondents described approach(es) associated with educating the public about their study. Interviews were audio-recorded, transcribed, coded, and analyzed by team review. Although few respondents described formal educational efforts, most provided recommendations for what should/could be done, emphasizing the need for an overarching entity(s) to take responsibility to lead the effort to educate the public. Opposing views were described related to: who this should be; the overall goal of the educational effort; and the educational approach. Four thematic areas emerged: What is the rationale for educating the public about genomics?; Who is the audience?; Who should be responsible for this effort?; and What should the content be? Policy issues associated with these themes included the need to agree on philosophical framework(s) to guide the rationale, content, and target audiences for education programs; coordinate previous/ongoing educational efforts; and develop a centralized knowledge base. Suggestions for next steps are presented. A complex interplay of philosophical, professional, and cultural issues can create impediments to genomic education of the public. Many challenges, however, can be addressed by agreement on a guiding philosophical framework(s) and identification of a responsible entity(s) to provide leadership for developing/overseeing an appropriate infrastructure to support the coordination/integration/sharing and evaluation of educational efforts, benefiting consumers and professionals.

Report on Partial Findings of an Ongoing Research: Social Networking Sites (SNS) as a Platform to Support Teaching and Learning in Secondary Schools

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Bt. Ubaidullah, Nor Hasbiah; Samsuddin, Khairulanuar; Bt. Fabil, Norsikin; Bt. Mahadi, Norhayati

2011-01-01

This paper reports the partial findings of a survey that was carried out in the analysis phase of an ongoing research for the development of a prototype of a Social Networking Site (SNS) to support teaching and learning in secondary schools. For the initial phase of the study, a quantitative research method was used based on a survey involving 383…

Inhibition of caspases prevents ototoxic and ongoing hair cell death

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Matsui, Jonathan I.; Ogilvie, Judith M.; Warchol, Mark E.

2002-01-01

Sensory hair cells die after acoustic trauma or ototoxic insults, but the signal transduction pathways that mediate hair cell death are not known. Here we identify several important signaling events that regulate the death of vestibular hair cells. Chick utricles were cultured in media supplemented with the ototoxic antibiotic neomycin and selected pharmacological agents that influence signaling molecules in cell death pathways. Hair cells that were treated with neomycin exhibited classically defined apoptotic morphologies such as condensed nuclei and fragmented DNA. Inhibition of protein synthesis (via treatment with cycloheximide) increased hair cell survival after treatment with neomycin, suggesting that hair cell death requires de novo protein synthesis. Finally, the inhibition of caspases promoted hair cell survival after neomycin treatment. Sensory hair cells in avian vestibular organs also undergo continual cell death and replacement throughout mature life. It is unclear whether the loss of hair cells stimulates the proliferation of supporting cells or whether the production of new cells triggers the death of hair cells. We examined the effects of caspase inhibition on spontaneous hair cell death in the chick utricle. Caspase inhibitors reduced the amount of ongoing hair cell death and ongoing supporting cell proliferation in a dose-dependent manner. In isolated sensory epithelia, however, caspase inhibitors did not affect supporting cell proliferation directly. Our data indicate that ongoing hair cell death stimulates supporting cell proliferation in the mature utricle.

The MOVE study: a study protocol for a randomised controlled trial assessing interventions to maximise attendance at physical activity facilities.

PubMed

Newton, Joshua D; Klein, Ruth; Bauman, Adrian; Newton, Fiona J; Mahal, Ajay; Gilbert, Kara; Piterman, Leon; Ewing, Michael T; Donovan, Robert J; Smith, Ben J

2015-04-18

Physical activity is associated with a host of health benefits, yet many individuals do not perform sufficient physical activity to realise these benefits. One approach to rectifying this situation is through modifying the built environment to make it more conducive to physical activity, such as by building walking tracks or recreational physical activity facilities. Often, however, modifications to the built environment are not connected to efforts aimed at encouraging their use. The purpose of the Monitoring and Observing the Value of Exercise (MOVE) study is to evaluate the effectiveness of two interventions designed to encourage the ongoing use of a new, multi-purpose, community-based physical activity facility. A two-year, randomised controlled trial with yearly survey points (baseline, 12 months follow-up, 24 months follow-up) will be conducted among 1,300 physically inactive adult participants aged 18-70 years. Participants will be randomly assigned to one of three groups: control, intervention 1 (attendance incentives), or intervention 2 (attendance incentives and tailored support following a model based on customer relationship management). Primary outcome measures will include facility usage, physical activity participation, mental and physical wellbeing, community connectedness, social capital, friendship, and social support. Secondary outcome measures will include stages of change for facility usage and social cognitive decision-making variables. This study will assess whether customer relationship management systems, a tool commonly used in commercial marketing settings, can encourage the ongoing use of a physical activity facility. Findings may also indicate the population segments among which the use of such systems are most effective, as well as their cost-effectiveness. Australian New Zealand Clinical Trials Registry: ACTRN12615000012572 (registered 9 January 2015).

Categorization of allergic disorders in the new World Health Organization International Classification of Diseases.

PubMed

Tanno, Luciana Kase; Calderon, Moises A; Goldberg, Bruce J; Akdis, Cezmi A; Papadopoulos, Nikolaos G; Demoly, Pascal

2014-01-01

Although efforts to improve the classification of hypersensitivity/allergic diseases have been made, they have not been considered a top-level category in the International Classification of Diseases (ICD)-10 and still are not in the ICD-11 beta phase linearization. ICD-10 is the most used classification system by the allergy community worldwide but it is not considered as appropriate for clinical practice. The Systematized Nomenclature of Medicine Clinical Terms (SNOMED CT) on the other hand contains a tightly integrated classification of hypersensitivity/allergic disorders based on the EAACI/WAO nomenclature and the World Health Organization (WHO) may plan to align ICD-11 with SNOMED CT so that they share a common ontological basis. With the aim of actively supporting the ongoing ICD-11 revision and the optimal practice of Allergology, we performed a careful comparison of ICD-10 and 11 beta phase linearization codes to identify gaps, areas of regression in allergy coding and possibly reach solutions, in collaboration with committees in charge of the ICD-11 revision. We have found a significant degree of misclassification of terms in the allergy-related hierarchies. This stems not only from unclear definitions of these conditions but also the use of common names that falsely imply allergy. The lack of understanding of the immune mechanisms underlying some of the conditions contributes to the difficulty in classification. More than providing data to support specific changes into the ongoing linearization, these results highlight the need for either a new chapter entitled Hypersensitivity/Allergic Disorders as in SNOMED CT or a high level structure in the Immunology chapter in order to make classification more appropriate and usable.

NASA's SMD Cross-Forum Resources for Supporting Scientist Engagement in Education and Public Outreach Activities

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Buxner, S.; Cobabe-Ammann, E. A.; Hsu, B. C.; Sharma, M.; Peticolas, L. M.; Schwerin, T. G.; Shipp, S. S.; Smith, D.

2012-12-01

Sharing the excitement of ongoing scientific discoveries is an important aspect of scientific activity for researchers. Directly engaging scientists in education and public outreach (E/PO) activities has the benefit of directly connecting the public to those who engage in scientific activities. A shortage of training in education methods, public speaking, and working with various public audiences increases barriers to engaging scientists in these types in E/PO activities. NASA's Science Mission Directorate (SMD) Education and Public forums (astrophysics, earth science, heliophysics, and planetary science) support scientists currently involved in E/PO and who are interested in becoming involved in E/PO through a variety of avenues. Over the past three years, the forums have developed a variety of resources to help engage scientists in education and public outreach. We will showcase the following resources developed through the SMD E/PO cross-forum efforts: Professional development resources for writing NASA SMD E/PO proposals (webinars and other online tools), ongoing professional development at scientific conferences to increase scientist engagement in E/PO activities, toolkits for scientists interested in best practices in E/PO (online guides for K-12 education and public outreach), toolkits to inform scientists of science education resources developed within each scientific thematic community, EarthSpace (a community web space where instructors can find and share about teaching space and earth sciences in the undergraduate classroom, including class materials news and funding opportunities, and the latest education research, http://www.lpi.usra.edu/earthspace/), thematic resources for teaching about SMD science topics, and an online database of scientists interested in connecting with education programs. Learn more about the Forum and find resources at http://smdepo.org/.

The Regional Integrated Sciences and Assessments (RISA) Program, Climate Services, and Meeting the National Climate Change Adaptation Challenge

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Overpeck, J. T.; Udall, B.; Miles, E.; Dow, K.; Anderson, C.; Cayan, D.; Dettinger, M.; Hartmann, H.; Jones, J.; Mote, P.; Ray, A.; Shafer, M.; White, D.

2008-12-01

The NOAA-led RISA Program has grown steadily to nine regions and a focus that includes both natural climate variability and human-driven climate change. The RISAs are, at their core, university-based and heavily invested in partnerships, particularly with stakeholders, NOAA, and other federal agencies. RISA research, assessment and partnerships have led to new operational climate services within NOAA and other agencies, and have become important foundations in the development of local, state and regional climate change adaptation initiatives. The RISA experience indicates that a national climate service is needed, and must include: (1) services prioritized based on stakeholder needs; (2) sustained, ongoing regional interactions with users, (3) a commitment to improve climate literacy; (4) support for assessment as an ongoing, iterative process; (5) full recognition that stakeholder decisions are seldom made using climate information alone; (6) strong interagency partnership; (7) national implementation and regional in focus; (8) capability spanning local, state, tribal, regional, national and international space scales, and weeks to millennia time scales; and (9) institutional design and scientific support flexible enough to assure the effort is nimble enough to respond to rapidly-changing stakeholder needs. The RISA experience also highlights the central role that universities must play in national climate change adaptation programs. Universities have a tradition of trusted regional stakeholder partnerships, as well as the interdisciplinary expertise - including social science, ecosystem science, law, and economics - required to meet stakeholder climate-related needs; project workforce can also shift rapidly in universities. Universities have a proven ability to build and sustain interagency partnerships. Universities excel in most forms of education and training. And universities often have proven entrepreneurship, technology transfer and private sector partnership capability.

Community, Collective or Movement? Evaluating Theoretical Perspectives on Network Building

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Spitzer, W.

2015-12-01

Since 2007, the New England Aquarium has led a national effort to increase the capacity of informal science venues to effectively communicate about climate change. We are now leading the NSF-funded National Network for Ocean and Climate Change Interpretation (NNOCCI), partnering with the Association of Zoos and Aquariums, FrameWorks Institute, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, Monterey Bay Aquarium, and National Aquarium, with evaluation conducted by the New Knowledge Organization, Pennsylvania State University, and Ohio State University. NNOCCI enables teams of informal science interpreters across the country to serve as "communication strategists" - beyond merely conveying information they can influence public perceptions, given their high level of commitment, knowledge, public trust, social networks, and visitor contact. We provide in-depth training as well as an alumni network for ongoing learning, implementation support, leadership development, and coalition building. Our goals are to achieve a systemic national impact, embed our work within multiple ongoing regional and national climate change education networks, and leave an enduring legacy. What is the most useful theoretical model for conceptualizing the work of the NNOCCI community? This presentation will examine the pros and cons of three perspectives -- community of practice, collective impact, and social movements. The community of practice approach emphasizes use of common tools, support for practice, social learning, and organic development of leadership. A collective impact model focuses on defining common outcomes, aligning activities toward a common goal, structured collaboration. A social movement emphasizes building group identity and creating a sense of group efficacy. This presentation will address how these models compare in terms of their utility in program planning and evaluation, their fit with the unique characteristics of the NNOCCI community, and their relevance to our program goals.

News & Announcements

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

2001-09-01

Helge H. Wehmeier, President and Chief Executive Office of Bayer Corporation, is the recipient of the 2001 Leadership in Education Award from the Keystone Center. Wehmeier was cited for his support in spearheading ongoing education and volunteer efforts such as Bayer's Making Science Make Sense program, which, in partnership with NSF, advances science literacy through hands-on, inquiry-based science learning.

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

Wilder, Todd; Moragne, Corliss L.

The City of Tallahassee's Innovative Energy Initiatives program sought, first, to evaluate customer response and acceptance to in-home Smart Meter-enabled technologies that allow customers intelligent control of their energy usage. Additionally, this project is in furtherance of the City of Tallahassee's ongoing efforts to expand and enhance the City's Smart Grid capacity and give consumers more tools with which to effectively manage their energy consumption. This enhancement would become possible by establishing an "operations or command center" environment that would be designed as a dual use facility for the City's employees - field and network staff - and systems responsiblemore » for a Smart Grid network. A command center would also support the City's Office of Electric Delivery and Energy Reliability's objective to overcome barriers to the deployment of new technologies that will ensure a truly modern and robust grid capable of meeting the demands of the 2151 century.« less

Lessons Learned from Comprehensive Energy and Water Evaluations at U.S. Army Campus Installations

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

Woodward, James C.; Dahowski, Robert T.

The U.S. Department of Energy’s Pacific Northwest National Laboratory has engaged in a multi-year collaboration with the U.S. Army to support comprehensive energy and water evaluations at large Army campus installations. Initiated to help the Army achieve compliance with facility evaluation requirements dictated by the Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007, this effort has resulted in the evaluation of 530 buildings at 14 installations across the U.S., and the identification of annual savings potential of over 212 billion Btu of energy and 29 million gallons of water. This paper highlights the nature of the evaluation process applied at thesemore » Army installations and discusses a number of key findings that can be considered for ongoing and future evaluations at Army and other federal agency facilities, particularly those buildings within campus settings.« less

Marketing a continuing education course for healthcare managers.

PubMed

Welnetz, K

1990-01-01

The purpose of this article was to elicit from the relevant literature the important considerations to make when planning to market continuing education (CE) within hospitals. References on marketing from both institutions of higher education and hospitals were reviewed. Based on this review, a strategic marketing plan was developed and initially implemented in the hospital. A 1-day course for healthcare managers, entitled "Successful Writing of Proposals and Reports," was offered twice and tested, using the steps outlined in the strategic marketing plan. The plan proved to be most beneficial in systematically guiding our first attempts at marketing CE to hospitals and other healthcare facilities. From this plan, efforts are currently being made to further develop curricula and determine other programs that might be marketable to these same target groups. In addition, closer links with nearby educational institutions or affiliated hospitals are being pursued to support and maintain our ongoing marketing endeavors.

Viking telecommunication effects of GEOS satellite interference based on testing at the Madrid deep space station

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Stuhr, F. V.; Kent, S. S.; Galvez, J. L.; Luaces, B. G.; Pasero, G. R.; Urech, J. M.

1976-01-01

In support of the ongoing NASA-European Space Agency (ESA) effort to understand and control possible interference between missions, testing was conducted at the Madrid Deep Space Station from July 1975 to February 1976 to characterize the effect on Viking 1975 telecommunication link performance of Geodetic Earth-Orbiting Satellite (GEOS) downlink signals. The prime use of the data was to develop a capability to predict GEOS interference effects for evaluation of Viking 1975 mission impacts and possible temporary GEOS shutdown. Also, the data would serve as a basis for assessment of the GEOS impact on missions other than Viking as well as for more general interference applications. Performances of the reference receiver, telemetry, and planetary ranging were measured in the presence of various types of GEOS-related interference, including an unmodulated GEOS carrier and simulation of the actual spectrum by an ESA-supplied GEOS suitcase model.

Design and Use of a Joint Order Vocabulary Knowledge Representation Tier in a Multi-tier CPOE Architecture

PubMed Central

Rucker, Donald W.; Steele, Andrew W.; Douglas, Ivor S.; Couderc, Carmela A.; Hardel, Gary G.

2006-01-01

Two major barriers to adoption of computerized physician order entry (CPOE) systems are the initial physician effort to learn the system and ongoing time costs to use the system. These barriers stem from the CPOE system’s need to reformulate physician orders into services that can be electronically communicated to ancillary clinical systems such as pharmacy, nursing, lab or radiology as well as to billing systems. Typical CPOE systems use significant custom user interface programming to match the terms used by physicians to order services as well as the aggregation of those orders into order sets with the underlying orderable services. We describe the design and implementation of a commercial CPOE system that has a formal separate intermediate mapping layer to match physician screen vocabulary and ordering behaviors to underlying services, both individually and in groups, supported by powerful search tools. PMID:17238425

Solar Thermal Propulsion Optical Figure Measuring and Rocket Engine Testing

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Bonometti, Joseph

1997-01-01

Solar thermal propulsion has been an important area of study for four years at the Propulsion Research Center. Significant resources have been devoted to the development of the UAH Solar Thermal Laboratory that provides unique, high temperature, test capabilities. The facility is fully operational and has successfully conducted a series of solar thruster shell experiments. Although presently dedicated to solar thermal propulsion, the facility has application to a variety of material processing, power generation, environmental clean-up, and other fundamental research studies. Additionally, the UAH Physics Department has joined the Center in support of an in-depth experimental investigation on Solar Thermal Upper Stage (STUS) concentrators. Laboratory space has been dedicated to the concentrator evaluation in the UAH Optics Building which includes a vertical light tunnel. Two, on-going, research efforts are being sponsored through NASA MSFC (Shooting Star Flight Experiment) and the McDonnell Douglas Corporation (Solar Thermal Upper Stage Technology Ground Demonstrator).

Electrical service reliability: the customer perspective

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

Samsa, M.E.; Hub, K.A.; Krohm, G.C.

1978-09-01

Electric-utility-system reliability criteria have traditionally been established as a matter of utility policy or through long-term engineering practice, generally with no supportive customer cost/benefit analysis as justification. This report presents results of an initial study of the customer perspective toward electric-utility-system reliability, based on critical review of over 20 previous and ongoing efforts to quantify the customer's value of reliable electric service. A possible structure of customer classifications is suggested as a reasonable level of disaggregation for further investigation of customer value, and these groups are characterized in terms of their electricity use patterns. The values that customers assign tomore » reliability are discussed in terms of internal and external cost components. A list of options for effecting changes in customer service reliability is set forth, and some of the many policy issues that could alter customer-service reliability are identified.« less

Strategies For Clinical Implementation: Precision Oncology At Three Distinct Institutions.

PubMed

Nadauld, Lincoln D; Ford, James M; Pritchard, Daryl; Brown, Thomas

2018-05-01

Despite rapid advances in molecular diagnostics and targeted therapeutics, the adoption of precision medicine into clinical oncology workflows has been slow. Questions about clinical utility, inconsistent reimbursement for molecular diagnostics, and limited access to targeted therapies are some of the major hurdles that have hampered clinical adoption. Despite these challenges, providers have invested in precision medicine programs in an ongoing search for innovative care models to deliver improved patient outcomes and achieve economic gains. We describe the precision oncology medicine programs implemented by an integrated delivery system, a community care center, and an academic medical center, to demonstrate the approaches and challenges associated with clinical implementation efforts designed to advance this treatment paradigm. Payer policies that include coverage for broad genomic testing panels would support the broader application of precision medicine, deepen research benefits, and bring targeted therapies to more patients with advanced cancer.

Chimaeric antigen receptor T-cell therapy for tumour immunotherapy

PubMed Central

Sha, Huan-huan; Wang, Dan-dan; Yan, Da-li; Hu, Yong; Yang, Su-jin; Liu, Si-wen

2017-01-01

Chimaeric antigen receptor (CAR) T-cell therapies, as one of the cancer immunotherapies, have heralded a new era of treating cancer. The accumulating data, especially about CAR-modified T cells against CD19 support that CAR T-cell therapy is a highly effective immune therapy for B-cell malignancies. Apart from CD19, there have been many trials of CAR T cells directed other tumour specific or associated antigens (TSAs/TAAs) in haematologic malignancies and solid tumours. This review will briefly summarize basic CAR structure, parts of reported TSAs/TAAs, results of the clinical trials of CAR T-cell therapies as well as two life-threatening side effects. Experiments in vivo or in vitro, ongoing clinical trials and the outlook for CAR T-cell therapies also be included. Our future efforts will focus on identification of more viable cancer targets and more strategies to make CAR T-cell therapy safer. PMID:28053197

Mach Probe Measurements in a Large-Scale Helicon Plasma

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hatch, M. W.; Kelly, R. F.; Fisher, D. M.; Gilmore, M.; Dwyer, R. H.

2017-10-01

A new six-tipped Mach probe, that utilizes a fused-quartz insulator, has been developed and initially tested in the HelCat dual-source plasma device at the University of New Mexico. The new design allows for relatively long duration measurements of parallel and perpendicular flows that suffer less from thermal changes in conductivity and surface build-up seen in previous alumina-insulated designs. Mach probe measurement will be presented in comparison with ongoing laser induced fluorescence (LIF) measurements, previous Mach probe measurements, ExB flow estimates derived from Langmuir probes, and fast-frame CCD camera images, in an effort to better understand previous anomalous ion flow in HelCat. Additionally, Mach probe-LIF comparisons will provide an experimentally obtained Mach probe calibration constant, K, to validate sheath-derived estimates for the weakly magnetized case. Supported by U.S. National Science Foundation Award 1500423.

Successful integration efforts in water quality from the integrated Ocean Observing System Regional Associations and the National Water Quality Monitoring Network

USGS Publications Warehouse

Ragsdale, R.; Vowinkel, E.; Porter, D.; Hamilton, P.; Morrison, R.; Kohut, J.; Connell, B.; Kelsey, H.; Trowbridge, P.

2011-01-01

The Integrated Ocean Observing System (IOOS??) Regional Associations and Interagency Partners hosted a water quality workshop in January 2010 to discuss issues of nutrient enrichment and dissolved oxygen depletion (hypoxia), harmful algal blooms (HABs), and beach water quality. In 2007, the National Water Quality Monitoring Council piloted demonstration projects as part of the National Water Quality Monitoring Network (Network) for U.S. Coastal Waters and their Tributaries in three IOOS Regional Associations, and these projects are ongoing. Examples of integrated science-based solutions to water quality issues of major concern from the IOOS regions and Network demonstration projects are explored in this article. These examples illustrate instances where management decisions have benefited from decision-support tools that make use of interoperable data. Gaps, challenges, and outcomes are identified, and a proposal is made for future work toward a multiregional water quality project for beach water quality.

Litigation and Community Advocacy to Ensure Health Access for Micronesian Migrants in Hawai'i.

PubMed

Hagiwara, Megan Kiyomi; Yamada, Seiji; Tanaka, Wayne; Ostrowski, Deja Marie

2015-05-01

The Federated States of Micronesia and the Republics of Palau and the Marshall Islands signed a series of treaties known as the Compacts of Free Association (COFA) with the United States (U.S.). While the islands became independent nations, certain rights and responsibilities were assigned to the U.S. However since the signing of the treaties, U.S. federal and Hawai'i state policies have reduced health care coverage for COFA migrants living in the U.S. and its territories. This commentary reports the ongoing efforts of the Micronesian community and its allies to rectify a legacy of unjust policies. We outline the need for sound policies that support appropriate health care to all members of society, and highlight the community's strength and ability to mobilize for political action. If health is a human right, providing adequate, equitable health care to all members of society is not up for debate.

An Autonomous Control System for an Intra-Vehicular Spacecraft Mobile Monitor Prototype

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Dorais, Gregory A.; Desiano, Salvatore D.; Gawdiak, Yuri; Nicewarner, Keith

2003-01-01

This paper presents an overview of an ongoing research and development effort at the NASA Ames Research Center to create an autonomous control system for an internal spacecraft autonomous mobile monitor. It primary functions are to provide crew support and perform intra- vehicular sensing activities by autonomously navigating onboard the International Space Station. We describe the mission roles and high-level functional requirements for an autonomous mobile monitor. The mobile monitor prototypes, of which two are operational and one is actively being designed, physical test facilities used to perform ground testing, including a 3D micro-gravity test facility, and simulators are briefly described. We provide an overview of the autonomy framework and describe each of its components, including those used for automated planning, goal-oriented task execution, diagnosis, and fault recovery. A sample mission test scenario is also described.

X-37 C-Sic CMC Control Surface Components Development [Status of the NASA/Boeing/USAF Orbital Vehicle and Related Efforts

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Valentine, Peter G; Rivers, H. Kevin; Chen, Victor L.

2004-01-01

Carbon/Silicon-Carbide (C-Sic) ceramic matrix composite (CMC) flaperon and ruddervator control surface components are being developed for the X-37 Orbital Vehicle (OV). The results of the prior NASA LaRC led work, aimed at developing C-Sic flaperon and ruddervator components for the X-37, will be reviewed. The status of several on-going and/or planned NASA, USAF, and Boeing programs that will support the development of control surface components for the X-37 OV will also be reviewed. The overall design and development philosophy being employed to assemble a team(s) to develop both: (a) C-Sic hot structure control surface components for the X-37 OV, and (b) carbon-carbon (C-C) hot structure components (a risk-reduction backup option for the OV), will be presented.

Cardiovascular point of care initiative: enhancements in clinical data management.

PubMed

Robertson, Jane

2003-01-01

The Department of Cardiovascular Surgery at East Alabama Medical Center (EAMC) initiated a program in 1996 to improve the quality and usefulness of clinical outcomes data. After years of using a commercial vendor product and enduring a tedious collection process, the department decided to develop its own tools to support quality improvement efforts. Using a hand-held personal data assistant (PDA), the team developed tools that allowed ongoing data collection at the point of care delivery. The tools and methods facilitated the collection of real time, accurate information that allowed EAMC to participate in multiple clinical quality initiatives. The ability to conduct rapid-cycle performance improvement studies propelled EAMC's Cardiovascular Surgery Program into the Top 100 as recognized by HCIA, now Solucient, for 3 consecutive years (1999-2001). This report will describe the evolution of the data collection process as well as the quality improvements that resulted.