Propulsion and navigation within the advancing monolayer sheet

PubMed Central

Kim, Jae Hun; Serra-Picamal, Xavier; Tambe, Dhananjay T.; Zhou, Enhua H.; Park, Chan Young; Sadati, Monirosadat; Park, Jin-Ah; Krishnan, Ramaswamy; Gweon, Bomi; Millet, Emil; Butler, James P.; Trepat, Xavier; Fredberg, Jeffrey J.

2013-01-01

As a wound heals, or a body plan forms, or a tumor invades, observed cellular motions within the advancing cell swarm are thought to stem from yet to be observed physical stresses that act in some direct and causal mechanical fashion. Here we show that such a relationship between motion and stress is far from direct. Using monolayer stress microscopy, we probed migration velocities, cellular tractions and intercellular stresses in an epithelial cell sheet advancing towards an island on which cells cannot adhere. We found that cells located near the island exert tractions that pull systematically towards this island regardless of whether the cells approach the island, migrate tangentially along its edge or, paradoxically, recede from it. This unanticipated cell-patterning motif, which we call kenotaxis, represents the robust and systematic mechanical drive of the cellular collective to fill unfilled space. PMID:23793160

Improved water resource management for a highly complex environment using three-dimensional groundwater modelling

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Moeck, Christian; Affolter, Annette; Radny, Dirk; Dressmann, Horst; Auckenthaler, Adrian; Huggenberger, Peter; Schirmer, Mario

2018-02-01

A three-dimensional groundwater model was used to improve water resource management for a study area in north-west Switzerland, where drinking-water production is close to former landfills and industrial areas. To avoid drinking-water contamination, artificial groundwater recharge with surface water is used to create a hydraulic barrier between the contaminated sites and drinking-water extraction wells. The model was used for simulating existing and proposed water management strategies as a tool to ensure the utmost security for drinking water. A systematic evaluation of the flow direction between existing observation points using a developed three-point estimation method for a large number of scenarios was carried out. It is demonstrated that systematically applying the developed methodology helps to identify vulnerable locations which are sensitive to changing boundary conditions such as those arising from changes to artificial groundwater recharge rates. At these locations, additional investigations and protection are required. The presented integrated approach, using the groundwater flow direction between observation points, can be easily transferred to a variety of hydrological settings to systematically evaluate groundwater modelling scenarios.

Impact of the galactic acceleration on the terrestrial reference frame and the scale factor in VLBI

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Krásná, Hana; Titov, Oleg

2017-04-01

The relative motion of the solar system barycentre around the galactic centre can also be described as an acceleration of the solar system directed towards the centre of the Galaxy. So far, this effect has been omitted in the a priori modelling of the Very Long Baseline Interferometry (VLBI) observable. Therefore, it results in a systematic dipole proper motion (Secular Aberration Drift, SAD) of extragalactic radio sources building the celestial reference frame with a theoretical maximum magnitude of 5-7 microarcsec/year. In this work, we present our estimation of the SAD vector obtained within a global adjustment of the VLBI measurements (1979.0 - 2016.5) using the software VieVS. We focus on the influence of the observed radio sources with the maximum SAD effect on the terrestrial reference frame. We show that the scale factor from the VLBI measurements estimated for each source individually discloses a clear systematic aligned with the direction to the Galactic centre-anticentre. Therefore, the radio sources located near Galactic anticentre may cause a strong systematic effect, especially, in early VLBI years. For instance, radio source 0552+398 causes a difference up to 1 mm in the estimated baseline length. Furthermore, we discuss the scale factor estimated for each radio source after removal of the SAD systematic.

Systematic Fuel Cavity Asymmetries in Directly Driven Inertial Confinement Fusion Implosions

DOE PAGES

Shah, Rahul C.; Haines, Brian Michael; Wysocki, Frederick Joseph; ...

2017-03-30

Here, we present narrow-band self-emission x-ray images from a titanium tracer layer placed at the fuel-shell interface in 60-laser-beam implosion experiments at the OMEGA facility. The images are acquired during deceleration with inferred convergences of ~9-14. Novel here is that a systematically observed asymmetry of the emission is linked, using full sphere 3D implosion modeling, to performance-limiting low mode asymmetry of the drive.

Transparent metal model study of the use of a cellular growth front to form aligned monotectic composite materials

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Kaukler, William F.

1988-01-01

The purpose of this work was to resolve a scientific controversy in the understanding of how second phase particles become aligned during unidirectional growth of a monotectic alloy. A second aspect was to make the first systematic observations of the solidification behavior of a monotectic alloy during cellular growth in-situ. This research provides the first systematic transparent model study of cellular solidification. An interface stability diagram was developed for the planar to cellular transition of the succinonitrile glycerol (SNG) system. A method was developed utilizing Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy which allows quantitative compositional analysis of directionally solidified SNG along the growth axis. To determine the influence of cellular growth front on alignment for directionally solidified monotectic alloys, the planar and cellular growth morphology was observed in-situ for SNG between 8 and 17 percent glycerol and for a range of over two orders of magnitude G/R.

A software tool to analyze clinical workflows from direct observations.

PubMed

Schweitzer, Marco; Lasierra, Nelia; Hoerbst, Alexander

2015-01-01

Observational data of clinical processes need to be managed in a convenient way, so that process information is reliable, valid and viable for further analysis. However, existing tools for allocating observations fail in systematic data collection of specific workflow recordings. We present a software tool which was developed to facilitate the analysis of clinical process observations. The tool was successfully used in the project OntoHealth, to build, store and analyze observations of diabetes routine consultations.

Three-dimensional intrafractional internal target motions in accelerated partial breast irradiation using three-dimensional conformal external beam radiotherapy.

PubMed

Hirata, Kimiko; Yoshimura, Michio; Mukumoto, Nobutaka; Nakamura, Mitsuhiro; Inoue, Minoru; Sasaki, Makoto; Fujimoto, Takahiro; Yano, Shinsuke; Nakata, Manabu; Mizowaki, Takashi; Hiraoka, Masahiro

2017-07-01

We evaluated three-dimensional intrafractional target motion, divided into respiratory-induced motion and baseline drift, in accelerated partial breast irradiation (APBI). Paired fluoroscopic images were acquired simultaneously using orthogonal kV X-ray imaging systems at pre- and post-treatment for 23 patients who underwent APBI with external beam radiotherapy. The internal target motion was calculated from the surgical clips placed around the tumour cavity. The peak-to-peak respiratory-induced motions ranged from 0.6 to 1.5mm in all directions. A systematic baseline drift of 1.5mm towards the posterior direction and a random baseline drift of 0.3mm in the lateral-medial and cranial-caudal directions were observed. The baseline for an outer tumour cavity drifted towards the lateral and posterior directions, and that for an upper tumour cavity drifted towards the cranial direction. Moderate correlations were observed between the posterior baseline drift and the patients' physical characteristics. The posterior margin for intrafractional uncertainties was larger than 5mm in patients with greater fat thickness due to the baseline drift. The magnitude of the intrafractional motion was not uniform according to the direction, patients' physical characteristics, or tumour cavity location due to the baseline drift. Therefore, the intrafractional systematic movement should be properly managed. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Direct comparative effectiveness and safety between non-vitamin K antagonist oral anticoagulants for stroke prevention in nonvalvular atrial fibrillation: a systematic review and meta-analysis of observational studies.

PubMed

Li, Guowei; Lip, Gregory Y H; Holbrook, Anne; Chang, Yaping; Larsen, Torben B; Sun, Xin; Tang, Jie; Mbuagbaw, Lawrence; Witt, Daniel M; Crowther, Mark; Thabane, Lehana; Levine, Mitchell A H

2018-06-08

The non-vitamin K antagonist oral anticoagulants (NOACs) have been increasingly prescribed in clinical practice for stroke prevention in patients with nonvalvular atrial fibrillation (AF). Direct comparisons between NOACs in trials are lacking, leaving an important clinical decision-making gap. We aimed to perform a systematic review and meta-analysis to summarize the evidence of observational studies for direct comparative effectiveness and safety amongst NOACs in patients with AF. Conference proceedings and electronic databases including MEDLINE, CINAHL, EMBASE and PUBMED were systematically searched. We included observational studies directly comparing individual NOACs in patients with nonvalvular AF who were aged ≥ 18 years for stroke prevention. Primary outcome included effectiveness outcome (stroke or systemic embolism) and safety outcome (major bleeding). Data were extracted in duplicated by two reviewers independently. A random-effects meta-analysis was conducted to synthesize the data from included observational studies. We used the Grading of Recommendations Assessment, Development and Evaluation (GRADE) to rate the overall quality of evidence for each outcome. Fifteen studies were included for qualitative synthesis, twelve studies for meta-analyses. It was found that rivaroxaban and dabigatran were similar with regard to risk of stroke or systemic embolism (Hazard ratio [HR] = 1.00, 95% CI 0.91-1.10; evidence quality: low), but rivaroxaban was associated with higher risk of major bleeding (HR = 1.39, 95% CI 1.28-1.50; evidence quality: moderate). Compared with apixaban, a significantly higher risk of major bleeding was observed with rivaroxaban (HR = 1.71, 95% CI 1.51-1.94; evidence quality: low). Apixaban was associated with lower risk of major bleeding, in comparison with dabigatran (HR = 0.80, 95% CI 0.68-0.95; evidence quality: low). No differences in risk of stroke or systemic embolism was observed between rivaroxaban versus apixaban, and apixaban versus dabigatran. In this study, apixaban was found to have the most favorable safety profile amongst the three NOACs. No significant difference was observed in risk of stroke or systemic embolism between the NOACs. Such findings may provide some decision-making support for physicians regarding their choices amongst NOACs in patients with AF.Registration PROSPERO (identifier: CRD42016052908).

On the representability problem and the physical meaning of coarse-grained models

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wagner, Jacob W.; Dama, James F.; Durumeric, Aleksander E. P.; Voth, Gregory A.

2016-07-01

In coarse-grained (CG) models where certain fine-grained (FG, i.e., atomistic resolution) observables are not directly represented, one can nonetheless identify indirect the CG observables that capture the FG observable's dependence on CG coordinates. Often, in these cases it appears that a CG observable can be defined by analogy to an all-atom or FG observable, but the similarity is misleading and significantly undermines the interpretation of both bottom-up and top-down CG models. Such problems emerge especially clearly in the framework of the systematic bottom-up CG modeling, where a direct and transparent correspondence between FG and CG variables establishes precise conditions for consistency between CG observables and underlying FG models. Here we present and investigate these representability challenges and illustrate them via the bottom-up conceptual framework for several simple analytically tractable polymer models. The examples provide special focus on the observables of configurational internal energy, entropy, and pressure, which have been at the root of controversy in the CG literature, as well as discuss observables that would seem to be entirely missing in the CG representation but can nonetheless be correlated with CG behavior. Though we investigate these problems in the framework of systematic coarse-graining, the lessons apply to top-down CG modeling also, with crucial implications for simulation at constant pressure and surface tension and for the interpretations of structural and thermodynamic correlations for comparison to experiment.

Using Systematic Classroom Observation to Explore Student Engagement as a Function of Teachers' Developmentally Appropriate Instructional Practices (DAIP) in Ethnically Diverse Pre-Kindergarten through Second-Grade Classrooms

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Alford, Beverly L.; Rollins, Kayla B.; Padrón, Yolanda N.; Waxman, Hersh C.

2016-01-01

Researchers observed pre-kindergarten through second-grade public school classrooms, specifically noting child-centered and teacher-directed pedagogical approaches, by simultaneously examining: (a) student behavior and activities, (b) teacher instructional orientation and rationale, and (c) overall classroom environment. Dissimilar to previous…

The plumbotectonic model for Pb isotopic systematics among major terrestrial reservoirs - A case for bi-directional transport

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zartman, Robert E.; Haines, Sara M.

1988-06-01

Version IV of plumbotectonics expands and refines the original model of DOE and ZARTMAN (1979) and ZARTMAN and DOE (1981) for explaining Pb (Sr, and Nd) isotopic systematics among major terrestrial reservoirs. A case for bi-directional transport among reservoirs is based on the observed isotopic compositions for different tectonic settings, and finds a rationale in the kinetics of plate tectonics. Chemical fractionation and radioactive decay create isotopic differences during periods of isolation of one reservoir from another, whereas dynamic processes allowing mixing between reservoirs tend to reduce these differences. Observed isotopic characteristics reflect a balance between these opposing tendencies and provide constraints on the extent and timing of fractionation and mixing processes. Plumbotectonics does not require interaction with a lower mantle or core reservoir over most of the Earth's lifetime, and, in fact, achieves a material balance consistent with no such exchange of material. Important evidence of the amount and timing of crustal recycling, and of the residence times of mantle heterogeneities lies in the coupled 207Pb /204Pb- 206 Pb 204Pb systematics. We believe that examination of the published data base fully supports our contention of significant bi-directional transport of material among terrestrial reservoirs. Plumbotectonics allows us to explore many aspects of reservoir interaction, and to identify parameters that provide meaningful constraints on mantle-crust differentiation. We put forth a compromise fit to many of the model variables in version IV, which can serve as a reference for future work.

Sci-Thur PM – Brachytherapy 02: Positional accuracy in Pd-103 permanent breast seed implant (PBSI) brachytherapy at the Tom Baker Cancer Centre (TBCC)

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

Frederick, Amy; Watt, Elizabeth; Peacock, Michael

Purpose: This retrospective study aims to quantify the positional accuracy of seed delivery in permanent breast seed implant (PBSI) brachytherapy at the Tom Baker Cancer Centre (TBCC). Methods: Treatment planning and post-implant CT scans for 5 patients were rigidly registered using the MIM Symphony™ software (MIM Software, Cleveland, OH) and used to evaluate differences between planned and implanted seed positions. Total and directional seed displacements were calculated for each patient in a clinically relevant ‘needle coordinate system’, defined relative to the angle of fiducial needle insertion. Results: The overall average total seed displacement was 10±8 mm. Systematic seed displacements weremore » observed in individual patients and the magnitude and direction of these offsets varied among patients. One patient showed a significant directional seed displacement in the shallow-deep direction compared with the other four patients. With the exception of this one patient outlier, no significant systematic directional displacements in the needle coordinate system were observed for this cohort; the average directional displacements were −1±5 mm, 2±3 mm, and −2±4 mm in the shallow-deep, up-down, and right-left directions respectively. Conclusion: With the exception of one patient outlier, the magnitude of seed displacements were relatively consistent among patients. The results indicate that the shallow-deep direction possesses the largest uncertainty for the seed delivery method used at the TBCC. The relatively large uncertainty in seed placement in this direction is expected, as this is the direction of needle insertion. Further work will involve evaluating deflections of delivered needle tracks from their planned positions.« less

Cellular Contraction and Polarization Drive Collective Cellular Motion.

PubMed

Notbohm, Jacob; Banerjee, Shiladitya; Utuje, Kazage J C; Gweon, Bomi; Jang, Hwanseok; Park, Yongdoo; Shin, Jennifer; Butler, James P; Fredberg, Jeffrey J; Marchetti, M Cristina

2016-06-21

Coordinated motions of close-packed multicellular systems typically generate cooperative packs, swirls, and clusters. These cooperative motions are driven by active cellular forces, but the physical nature of these forces and how they generate collective cellular motion remain poorly understood. Here, we study forces and motions in a confined epithelial monolayer and make two experimental observations: 1) the direction of local cellular motion deviates systematically from the direction of the local traction exerted by each cell upon its substrate; and 2) oscillating waves of cellular motion arise spontaneously. Based on these observations, we propose a theory that connects forces and motions using two internal state variables, one of which generates an effective cellular polarization, and the other, through contractile forces, an effective cellular inertia. In agreement with theoretical predictions, drugs that inhibit contractility reduce both the cellular effective elastic modulus and the frequency of oscillations. Together, theory and experiment provide evidence suggesting that collective cellular motion is driven by at least two internal variables that serve to sustain waves and to polarize local cellular traction in a direction that deviates systematically from local cellular velocity. Copyright © 2016 Biophysical Society. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

What is the impact of professional learning on physical activity interventions among preschool children? A systematic review.

PubMed

Peden, M E; Okely, A D; Eady, M J; Jones, R A

2018-05-31

The purpose of this systematic review was to investigate professional learning models (length, mode, content) offered as part of objectively measured physical childcare-based interventions. A systematic review of eight electronic databases was conducted to June 2017. Only English, peer-reviewed studies that evaluated childcare-based physical activity interventions, incorporated professional learning and reported objectively measured physical activity were included. Study designs included randomized controlled trails, cluster randomized trials, experimental or pilot studies. The search identified 11 studies. Ten studies objectively measured physical activity using accelerometers; five studies used both accelerometer and direct observation tools and one study measured physical activity using direct observation only. Seven of these studies reported statistically significant intervention effects. Only six studies described all components of professional learning, but only two studies reported specific professional learning outcomes and physical activity outcomes. No patterns were identified between the length, mode and content of professional learning and children's physical activity outcomes in childcare settings. Educators play a critical role in modifying children's levels of physical activity in childcare settings. The findings of this review suggest that professional learning offered as part of a physical activity intervention that potentially impacts on children's physical activity outcomes remains under-reported. © 2018 World Obesity Federation.

Current Methodological Problems and Future Directions for Theory Development in the Psychology of Sport and Motor Behavior.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Bird, Anne Marie; Ross, Diane

1984-01-01

A brief history of research in sport psychology based on Lander's (1982) analysis is presented. A systematic approach to theory building is offered. Previous methodological inadequacies are identified using examples of observational learning and anxiety. (Author/DF)

The Transcultural Study Guide. Second Edition.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Darrow, Kenneth, Ed.; Palmquist, Bradley, Ed.

This guide contains practical questions designed to facilitate inquiry into any country or culture. A small group called Volunteers in Asia, which provides volunteer work and study opportunities in Asia, wrote the guide because they believe that direct observation and participation, when complemented by systematic inquiry, can lead to a clearer…

Acceptability of Functional Behavioral Assessment Procedures to Special Educators and School Psychologists

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

O'Neill, Robert E.; Bundock, Kaitlin; Kladis, Kristin; Hawken, Leanne S.

2015-01-01

This survey study assessed the acceptability of a variety of functional behavioral assessment (FBA) procedures (i.e., functional assessment interviews, rating scales/questionnaires, systematic direct observations, functional analysis manipulations) to a national sample of 123 special educators and a state sample of 140 school psychologists.…

What magnitude are observed non-target impacts from weed biocontrol?

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

A systematic review focused by plant on non-target impacts from agents deliberately introduced for the biological control of weeds found significant non-target impacts to be rare. The magnitude of direct impact of 43 biocontrol agents on 140 non-target plants was retrospectively categorized using a ...

Toward Solving the Problem of Problem Solving: An Analysis Framework

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Roesler, Rebecca A.

2016-01-01

Teaching is replete with problem solving. Problem solving as a skill, however, is seldom addressed directly within music teacher education curricula, and research in music education has not examined problem solving systematically. A framework detailing problem-solving component skills would provide a needed foundation. I observed problem solving…

On the representability problem and the physical meaning of coarse-grained models

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

Wagner, Jacob W.; Dama, James F.; Durumeric, Aleksander E. P.

2016-07-28

In coarse-grained (CG) models where certain fine-grained (FG, i.e., atomistic resolution) observables are not directly represented, one can nonetheless identify indirect the CG observables that capture the FG observable’s dependence on CG coordinates. Often, in these cases it appears that a CG observable can be defined by analogy to an all-atom or FG observable, but the similarity is misleading and significantly undermines the interpretation of both bottom-up and top-down CG models. Such problems emerge especially clearly in the framework of the systematic bottom-up CG modeling, where a direct and transparent correspondence between FG and CG variables establishes precise conditions formore » consistency between CG observables and underlying FG models. Here we present and investigate these representability challenges and illustrate them via the bottom-up conceptual framework for several simple analytically tractable polymer models. The examples provide special focus on the observables of configurational internal energy, entropy, and pressure, which have been at the root of controversy in the CG literature, as well as discuss observables that would seem to be entirely missing in the CG representation but can nonetheless be correlated with CG behavior. Though we investigate these problems in the framework of systematic coarse-graining, the lessons apply to top-down CG modeling also, with crucial implications for simulation at constant pressure and surface tension and for the interpretations of structural and thermodynamic correlations for comparison to experiment.« less

Conflicting results between randomized trials and observational studies on the impact of proton pump inhibitors on cardiovascular events when coadministered with dual antiplatelet therapy: systematic review.

PubMed

Melloni, Chiara; Washam, Jeffrey B; Jones, W Schuyler; Halim, Sharif A; Hasselblad, Victor; Mayer, Stephanie B; Heidenfelder, Brooke L; Dolor, Rowena J

2015-01-01

Discordant results have been reported on the effects of concomitant use of proton pump inhibitors (PPIs) and dual antiplatelet therapy (DAPT) for cardiovascular outcomes. We conducted a systematic review comparing the effectiveness and safety of concomitant use of PPIs and DAPT in the postdischarge treatment of unstable angina/non-ST-segment-elevation myocardial infarction patients. We searched for clinical studies in MEDLINE, EMBASE, and the Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews, from 1995 to 2012. Reviewers screened and extracted data, assessed applicability and quality, and graded the strength of evidence. We performed meta-analyses of direct comparisons when outcomes and follow-up periods were comparable. Thirty-five studies were eligible. Five (4 randomized controlled trials and 1 observational) assessed the effect of omeprazole when added to DAPT; the other 30 (observational) assessed the effect of PPIs as a class when compared with no PPIs. Random-effects meta-analyses of the studies assessing PPIs as a class consistently reported higher event rates in patients receiving PPIs for various clinical outcomes at 1 year (composite ischemic end points, all-cause mortality, nonfatal MI, stroke, revascularization, and stent thrombosis). However, the results from randomized controlled trials evaluating omeprazole compared with placebo showed no difference in ischemic outcomes, despite a reduction in upper gastrointestinal bleeding with omeprazole. Large, well-conducted observational studies of PPIs and randomized controlled trials of omeprazole seem to provide conflicting results for the effect of PPIs on cardiovascular outcomes when coadministered with DAPT. Prospective trials that directly compare pharmacodynamic parameters and clinical events among specific PPI agents in patients with unstable angina/non-ST-segment-elevation myocardial infarction treated with DAPT are warranted. © 2015 American Heart Association, Inc.

Scattered Light Polarimetry of Exoplanets

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wiktorowicz, S.

2014-12-01

The last decade has witnessed an explosion in atmospheric characterization of spatially unresolved exoplanets using transmission spectra of transiting planets, but understanding has been hampered by degeneracies resolvable through blue optical observations. Here, scattered light is more important than the Wien tail of re-radiated thermal emission. Therefore, the next frontier in exoplanet characterization lies in the direct detection of scattered light. The polarization state of starlight scattered by a planetary atmosphere distinguishes it from the direct light from the host star, and the inherently differential nature of polarimetry reduces systematic effects to the point where ground-based detections are possible. Furthermore, polarimetry is uniquely sensitive to the size distribution, shape, and chemical composition of atmospheric cloud particles as well as to the scattering optical depth. I will review the current state of exoplanet polarimetry, which is dominated not by photon noise but by non-Gaussian systematic effects. Ground-based detection of order ten exoplanet photons relative to the host star's million requires dense orbital phase coverage and therefore long observing programs. However, variability inherent in the host star, interstellar medium, Earth's atmosphere, the telescope, and the instrument at all timescales must be measured and subtracted in order to definitively uncover scattered light from the exoplanet. While polarimetry is in principle sensitive to exoplanets regardless of orbital inclination, repeated observations of transiting exoplanet systems during secondary eclipse events are required to measure the polarimetric variability of the system that cannot be due to the planet. The emergence of scattered light polarimetry as a robust tool for the study of exoplanet atmospheres, and eventually surfaces, therefore requires diligent attention to the role of systematic effects.

Parity violation constraints using cosmic microwave background polarization spectra from 2006 and 2007 observations by the QUaD polarimeter.

PubMed

Wu, E Y S; Ade, P; Bock, J; Bowden, M; Brown, M L; Cahill, G; Castro, P G; Church, S; Culverhouse, T; Friedman, R B; Ganga, K; Gear, W K; Gupta, S; Hinderks, J; Kovac, J; Lange, A E; Leitch, E; Melhuish, S J; Memari, Y; Murphy, J A; Orlando, A; Piccirillo, L; Pryke, C; Rajguru, N; Rusholme, B; Schwarz, R; O'Sullivan, C; Taylor, A N; Thompson, K L; Turner, A H; Zemcov, M

2009-04-24

We constrain parity-violating interactions to the surface of last scattering using spectra from the QUaD experiment's second and third seasons of observations by searching for a possible systematic rotation of the polarization directions of cosmic microwave background photons. We measure the rotation angle due to such a possible "cosmological birefringence" to be 0.55 degrees +/-0.82 degrees (random) +/-0.5 degrees (systematic) using QUaD's 100 and 150 GHz temperature-curl and gradient-curl spectra over the spectra over the multipole range 200

Biases and systematics in the observational derivation of galaxy properties: comparing different techniques on synthetic observations of simulated galaxies

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Guidi, Giovanni; Scannapieco, Cecilia; Walcher, C. Jakob

2015-12-01

We study the sources of biases and systematics in the derivation of galaxy properties from observational studies, focusing on stellar masses, star formation rates, gas and stellar metallicities, stellar ages, magnitudes and colours. We use hydrodynamical cosmological simulations of galaxy formation, for which the real quantities are known, and apply observational techniques to derive the observables. We also analyse biases that are relevant for a proper comparison between simulations and observations. For our study, we post-process the simulation outputs to calculate the galaxies' spectral energy distributions (SEDs) using stellar population synthesis models and also generate the fully consistent far-UV-submillimetre wavelength SEDs with the radiative transfer code SUNRISE. We compared the direct results of simulations with the observationally derived quantities obtained in various ways, and found that systematic differences in all studied galaxy properties appear, which are caused by: (1) purely observational biases, (2) the use of mass-weighted and luminosity-weighted quantities, with preferential sampling of more massive and luminous regions, (3) the different ways of constructing the template of models when a fit to the spectra is performed, and (4) variations due to different calibrations, most notably for gas metallicities and star formation rates. Our results show that large differences can appear depending on the technique used to derive galaxy properties. Understanding these differences is of primary importance both for simulators, to allow a better judgement of similarities and differences with observations, and for observers, to allow a proper interpretation of the data.

COR V2: teaching observational research with multimedia courseware.

PubMed

Blasko, Dawn G; Kazmerski, Victoria A; Torgerson, Carla N

2004-05-01

Courseware for Observational Research (COR Version 2) is an interactive multimedia program designed to teach the foundation of the scientific method: systematic observation. COR uses digital video with interactive coding to teach basic concepts, such as creating precise operational definitions; using frequency, interval, and duration coding; developing sampling strategies; and analyzing and interpreting data. Through lessons, a case study, and laboratory exercises, it gradually scaffolds students from teacher-directed learning into self-directed learning. The newest addition to COR is a case study in which students work collaboratively, using their own observations to make recommendations about a child's disruptive behavior in an after-school program. Evaluations of the lessons showed that classes using COR received better grades on their field observations than did those using methods that are more traditional. Students' confidence and knowledge increased as they moved through each section of the program.

Inconsistency between direct and indirect comparisons of competing interventions: meta-epidemiological study.

PubMed

Song, Fujian; Xiong, Tengbin; Parekh-Bhurke, Sheetal; Loke, Yoon K; Sutton, Alex J; Eastwood, Alison J; Holland, Richard; Chen, Yen-Fu; Glenny, Anne-Marie; Deeks, Jonathan J; Altman, Doug G

2011-08-16

To investigate the agreement between direct and indirect comparisons of competing healthcare interventions. Meta-epidemiological study based on sample of meta-analyses of randomised controlled trials. Data sources Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews and PubMed. Inclusion criteria Systematic reviews that provided sufficient data for both direct comparison and independent indirect comparisons of two interventions on the basis of a common comparator and in which the odds ratio could be used as the outcome statistic. Inconsistency measured by the difference in the log odds ratio between the direct and indirect methods. The study included 112 independent trial networks (including 1552 trials with 478,775 patients in total) that allowed both direct and indirect comparison of two interventions. Indirect comparison had already been explicitly done in only 13 of the 85 Cochrane reviews included. The inconsistency between the direct and indirect comparison was statistically significant in 16 cases (14%, 95% confidence interval 9% to 22%). The statistically significant inconsistency was associated with fewer trials, subjectively assessed outcomes, and statistically significant effects of treatment in either direct or indirect comparisons. Owing to considerable inconsistency, many (14/39) of the statistically significant effects by direct comparison became non-significant when the direct and indirect estimates were combined. Significant inconsistency between direct and indirect comparisons may be more prevalent than previously observed. Direct and indirect estimates should be combined in mixed treatment comparisons only after adequate assessment of the consistency of the evidence.

Inconsistency between direct and indirect comparisons of competing interventions: meta-epidemiological study

PubMed Central

Xiong, Tengbin; Parekh-Bhurke, Sheetal; Loke, Yoon K; Sutton, Alex J; Eastwood, Alison J; Holland, Richard; Chen, Yen-Fu; Glenny, Anne-Marie; Deeks, Jonathan J; Altman, Doug G

2011-01-01

Objective To investigate the agreement between direct and indirect comparisons of competing healthcare interventions. Design Meta-epidemiological study based on sample of meta-analyses of randomised controlled trials. Data sources Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews and PubMed. Inclusion criteria Systematic reviews that provided sufficient data for both direct comparison and independent indirect comparisons of two interventions on the basis of a common comparator and in which the odds ratio could be used as the outcome statistic. Main outcome measure Inconsistency measured by the difference in the log odds ratio between the direct and indirect methods. Results The study included 112 independent trial networks (including 1552 trials with 478 775 patients in total) that allowed both direct and indirect comparison of two interventions. Indirect comparison had already been explicitly done in only 13 of the 85 Cochrane reviews included. The inconsistency between the direct and indirect comparison was statistically significant in 16 cases (14%, 95% confidence interval 9% to 22%). The statistically significant inconsistency was associated with fewer trials, subjectively assessed outcomes, and statistically significant effects of treatment in either direct or indirect comparisons. Owing to considerable inconsistency, many (14/39) of the statistically significant effects by direct comparison became non-significant when the direct and indirect estimates were combined. Conclusions Significant inconsistency between direct and indirect comparisons may be more prevalent than previously observed. Direct and indirect estimates should be combined in mixed treatment comparisons only after adequate assessment of the consistency of the evidence. PMID:21846695

Detailed study of upper mantle anisotropy in the upper mantle of eastern North America

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Chen, X.; Levin, V. L.; Li, Y.

2016-12-01

We collected observations of core-refracted shear waves on a 1300 km long array crossing the eastern part of the North American continent from James Bay to the Fundy Basin. We combine data from the Earthscope Transportable Array, Canadian and US permanent observatories, and the recently completed Earthscope FlexArray QMIII.Past studies found ample evidence for directional dependence (anisotropy) of seismic wave speed in the upper mantle of this region. However, to date the lateral spacing of seismic observatories made direct comparisons between anisotropic structure and tectonic divisions evident on the surface challenging. With instruments spacing 50 km, and less near major tectonic boundaries such as the Grenville Front and the Appalachian Front, we can discriminate between gradual changes in anisotropic properties due to asthenospheric flow variations, and abrupt and localized changes likely to arise from juxtaposition of distinct lithospheric blocks.To insure lateral consistency of measurements we selected core-refracted shear waves that were observed over the entire length of our array. Also, since directional dependence of splitting parameters is a well recognized signature of vertical changes in anisotropic properties we examine observations from different directions, and look for systematic changes.Most locations show evidence for some degree of splitting in observed shear waves. Delays between fast and slow components estimated using rotation-correlation method range from 0.3 to 1.5 s. At most sites delay values vary considerably between individual phases measured. Fast polarizations are predominantly NE-SW, which agrees with numerous past studies of the region. Systematic directional dependence of fast polarization is seen at all sites we studied. Furthermore, the values of fast polarization appear to be similar along the entire array for individual events but vary from event to event. Both of these observations are consistent with the previously proposed notion of layered anisotropy in the upper mantle of the North American continent. We find localized changes in splitting parameters at the Grenville Front. The Appalachian Front, or the internal divisions of the Appalachian Orogen do not have obvious changes in splitting parameters associated with them.

The Barberplaid Illusion

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Beutter, B. R.; Mulligan, J. B.; Stone, L. S.; Statler, Irving C. (Technical Monitor)

1994-01-01

Mulligan showed that the perceived direction of a moving grating can be biased by the shape of the Gaussian window in which it is viewed. We sought to determine if a 2-D pattern with an unambiguous velocity would also show such biases. Observers viewed a drifting plaid (sum of two orthogonal 2.5 c/d sinusoidal gratings of 12% contrast, each with a TF of 4 Hz.) whose contrast was modulated spatially by a stationary, asymmetric 2-D Gaussian window (i.e. unequal standard deviations in the principal directions). The direction of plaid motion with respect to the orientation of the window's major axis (Delta Theta) was varied while all other motion parameters were held fixed. Observers reported the perceived plaid direction of motion by adjusting the orientation of a pointer. All five observers showed systematic biases in perceived plaid direction that depended on Delta Theta and the aspect ratio of the Gaussian window (lambda). For circular Gaussian windows Lambda = 1), plaid direction was veridically perceived. However, biases of up to 10 deg. were found for lambda = 2 and Delta Theta = 30 deg. These data present a challenge to models of motion perception which do not explicitly consider the integration of information across the visual field.

Development of a Kalman Filter in the Gauss-Helmert Model for Reliability Analysis in Orientation Determination with Smartphone Sensors

PubMed Central

Ettlinger, Andreas; Neuner, Hans; Burgess, Thomas

2018-01-01

The topic of indoor positioning and indoor navigation by using observations from smartphone sensors is very challenging as the determined trajectories can be subject to significant deviations compared to the route travelled in reality. Especially the calculation of the direction of movement is the critical part of pedestrian positioning approaches such as Pedestrian Dead Reckoning (“PDR”). Due to distinct systematic effects in filtered trajectories, it can be assumed that there are systematic deviations present in the observations from smartphone sensors. This article has two aims: one is to enable the estimation of partial redundancies for each observation as well as for observation groups. Partial redundancies are a measure for the reliability indicating how well systematic deviations can be detected in single observations used in PDR. The second aim is to analyze the behavior of partial redundancy by modifying the stochastic and functional model of the Kalman filter. The equations relating the observations to the orientation are condition equations, which do not exhibit the typical structure of the Gauss-Markov model (“GMM”), wherein the observations are linear and can be formulated as functions of the states. To calculate and analyze the partial redundancy of the observations from smartphone-sensors used in PDR, the system equation and the measurement equation of a Kalman filter as well as the redundancy matrix need to be derived in the Gauss-Helmert model (“GHM”). These derivations are introduced in this article and lead to a novel Kalman filter structure based on condition equations, enabling reliability assessment of each observation. PMID:29385076

Development of a Kalman Filter in the Gauss-Helmert Model for Reliability Analysis in Orientation Determination with Smartphone Sensors.

PubMed

Ettlinger, Andreas; Neuner, Hans; Burgess, Thomas

2018-01-31

The topic of indoor positioning and indoor navigation by using observations from smartphone sensors is very challenging as the determined trajectories can be subject to significant deviations compared to the route travelled in reality. Especially the calculation of the direction of movement is the critical part of pedestrian positioning approaches such as Pedestrian Dead Reckoning ("PDR"). Due to distinct systematic effects in filtered trajectories, it can be assumed that there are systematic deviations present in the observations from smartphone sensors. This article has two aims: one is to enable the estimation of partial redundancies for each observation as well as for observation groups. Partial redundancies are a measure for the reliability indicating how well systematic deviations can be detected in single observations used in PDR. The second aim is to analyze the behavior of partial redundancy by modifying the stochastic and functional model of the Kalman filter. The equations relating the observations to the orientation are condition equations, which do not exhibit the typical structure of the Gauss-Markov model ("GMM"), wherein the observations are linear and can be formulated as functions of the states. To calculate and analyze the partial redundancy of the observations from smartphone-sensors used in PDR, the system equation and the measurement equation of a Kalman filter as well as the redundancy matrix need to be derived in the Gauss-Helmert model ("GHM"). These derivations are introduced in this article and lead to a novel Kalman filter structure based on condition equations, enabling reliability assessment of each observation.

The direct and indirect costs associated with endometriosis: a systematic literature review.

PubMed

Soliman, Ahmed M; Yang, Hongbo; Du, Ella Xiaoyan; Kelley, Caroline; Winkel, Craig

2016-04-01

What is the economic burden of endometriosis? The identified studies indicate that there is a significant economic burden associated with endometriosis, as observed by both direct and indirect costs. Two previous systematic literature reviews suggested that there were considerable direct costs associated with endometriosis and there was a general lack of measurement of indirect costs. We performed a systematic literature review. MEDLINE and EMBASE databases from 2000 to 2013 were searched. The literature search was limited to human studies of patients with endometriosis. Papers in languages other than English were excluded. Studies reporting direct or indirect costs among patients with endometriosis were considered for inclusion. Direct costs included inpatient, outpatient, surgery, drug and other healthcare service cost. Indirect costs were related to absenteeism and presenteeism (lost productivity at work). After evaluating the 1396 articles in the search results, 12 primary studies that reported direct or indirect costs associated with endometriosis were identified and included in the data extraction. Three of the studies were conducted in the USA, one study each was conducted in Austria, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, Finland, Germany and Italy, and two studies included data from 10 countries. Significant variability was observed in the reviewed studies in methodology, including data source, cost components considered and study perspective. Estimates of total direct costs ranged from $1109 per patient per year in Canada to $12 118 per patient per year in the USA. Indirect costs of endometriosis ranged from $3314 per patient per year in Austria to $15 737 per patient per year in the USA. The studies identified in the systematic literature review varied greatly by study methodology as well as by country owing to different healthcare systems and costs of healthcare services, which contributed to large variations in the direct and indirect cost estimates. A majority of the studies we found were published after the periods covered in the prior systematic literature reviews, which provided substantial contributions to an understanding of the economic burden of endometriosis, especially in the area of indirect costs. The long-term burden of endometriosis following diagnosis is still under-studied, which is a concern given the chronic nature of the disease and the substantial recurrence of endometriosis symptoms. This study was funded by AbbVie, which also develops the oral GnRH antagonist elagolix (in collaboration with Neurocrine Biosciences) for the management of endometriosis and uterine fibroids. A.M.S. is an employee of AbbVie and currently owns AbbVie stocks. H.Y., E.X.D. and C.K. are employees of Analysis Group, Inc., which has received consultancy fees from AbbVie. C.W. is a Clinical Professor at the Department Obstetrics and Gynecology at Georgetown University in Washington, DC, USA and has served in a consulting role to AbbVie for this project. © The Author 2016. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the European Society of Human Reproduction and Embryology. All rights reserved. For Permissions, please email: journals.permissions@oup.com.

The combined geodetic network adjusted on the reference ellipsoid - a comparison of three functional models for GNSS observations

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kadaj, Roman

2016-12-01

The adjustment problem of the so-called combined (hybrid, integrated) network created with GNSS vectors and terrestrial observations has been the subject of many theoretical and applied works. The network adjustment in various mathematical spaces was considered: in the Cartesian geocentric system on a reference ellipsoid and on a mapping plane. For practical reasons, it often takes a geodetic coordinate system associated with the reference ellipsoid. In this case, the Cartesian GNSS vectors are converted, for example, into geodesic parameters (azimuth and length) on the ellipsoid, but the simple form of converted pseudo-observations are the direct differences of the geodetic coordinates. Unfortunately, such an approach may be essentially distorted by a systematic error resulting from the position error of the GNSS vector, before its projection on the ellipsoid surface. In this paper, an analysis of the impact of this error on the determined measures of geometric ellipsoid elements, including the differences of geodetic coordinates or geodesic parameters is presented. Assuming that the adjustment of a combined network on the ellipsoid shows that the optimal functional approach in relation to the satellite observation, is to create the observational equations directly for the original GNSS Cartesian vector components, writing them directly as a function of the geodetic coordinates (in numerical applications, we use the linearized forms of observational equations with explicitly specified coefficients). While retaining the original character of the Cartesian vector, one avoids any systematic errors that may occur in the conversion of the original GNSS vectors to ellipsoid elements, for example the vector of the geodesic parameters. The problem is theoretically developed and numerically tested. An example of the adjustment of a subnet loaded from the database of reference stations of the ASG-EUPOS system was considered for the preferred functional model of the GNSS observations.

The Effectiveness of Daily Behavior Report Cards for Children With ADHD: A Meta-Analysis.

PubMed

Iznardo, Michelle; Rogers, Maria A; Volpe, Robert J; Labelle, Patrick R; Robaey, Philippe

2017-11-01

This meta-analysis examined group-design studies investigating the effectiveness of Daily Behavior Report Cards (DBRC) as a school-based intervention to manage the classroom behavior of students with ADHD. A search of three article databases (PsycINFO, ERIC and Medline) identified seven group design evaluations of DBRC interventions. This meta-analysis included a total of 272 participants, with an average age of 7.9 years old. Three of the studies compared a control group to a treatment group with randomized group assignment, one study compared a control group to three treatment groups, two studies compared pre-and post-treatment scores in the same group, and one study compared pre-and post-treatment results of two intervention groups without random assignment. Dependent measures for these studies were teacher ratings (n = 5) and systematic direct observation of student academic and social behaviour (n = 2). Standardized mean differences ( Hedge's g) were calculated to obtain a pooled effect size using fixed effects. DBRCs were associated with reductions teacher-rated ADHD symptoms, with a Hedge's g of 0.36 (95% CI: 0.12-0.60, z=2.93, p ≤ .005) with low heterogeneity (Q-value: 2.40, I 2 = 0.00). This result excluded two studies that used observational coding instead of standardized tests to evaluate the effects of the intervention. A moderator analysis indicated that the effect size for systematic direct observation was large ( Hedge's G = 1.05[95% CI: 0.66-1.44, z=5.25, p ≤ .00]), with very high heterogeneity (Q-value: 46.34, I 2 : 93.53). A second moderator analysis found differences in the effects of DBRCs for comorbid externalizing symptoms with an overall effect size of 0.34 (95%CI: -0.04-0.72, z=1.76 p =0.08) with high heterogeneity (Q-value: 3.98, I 2 : 74.85). DBRCs effectively reduce the frequency and severity of ADHD symptoms in classroom settings. Additionally, they have a significant effect on co-occuring externalizing behaviors. It appears that systematic direct observation may be a more sensitive measure of treatment effects compared to teacher ratings of ADHD symptoms.

Phonon Lifetime Observation in Epitaxial ScN Film with Inelastic X-Ray Scattering Spectroscopy.

PubMed

Uchiyama, H; Oshima, Y; Patterson, R; Iwamoto, S; Shiomi, J; Shimamura, K

2018-06-08

Phonon-phonon scattering dominates the thermal properties in nonmetallic materials, and it directly influences device performance in applications. The understanding of the scattering has been progressing using computational approaches, and the direct and systematic observation of phonon modes that include momentum dependences is desirable. We report experimental data on the phonon dispersion curves and lifetimes in an epitaxially grown ScN film using inelastic x-ray scattering measurements. The momentum dependence of the optical phonon lifetimes is estimated from the spectral width, and the highest-energy phonon mode around the zone center is found to possess a short lifetime of 0.21 ps. A comparison with first-principles calculations shows that our observed phonon lifetimes are quantitatively explained by three-body phonon-phonon interactions.

Phonon Lifetime Observation in Epitaxial ScN Film with Inelastic X-Ray Scattering Spectroscopy

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Uchiyama, H.; Oshima, Y.; Patterson, R.; Iwamoto, S.; Shiomi, J.; Shimamura, K.

2018-06-01

Phonon-phonon scattering dominates the thermal properties in nonmetallic materials, and it directly influences device performance in applications. The understanding of the scattering has been progressing using computational approaches, and the direct and systematic observation of phonon modes that include momentum dependences is desirable. We report experimental data on the phonon dispersion curves and lifetimes in an epitaxially grown ScN film using inelastic x-ray scattering measurements. The momentum dependence of the optical phonon lifetimes is estimated from the spectral width, and the highest-energy phonon mode around the zone center is found to possess a short lifetime of 0.21 ps. A comparison with first-principles calculations shows that our observed phonon lifetimes are quantitatively explained by three-body phonon-phonon interactions.

A direct observation method for auditing large urban centers using stratified sampling, mobile GIS technology and virtual environments.

PubMed

Lafontaine, Sean J V; Sawada, M; Kristjansson, Elizabeth

2017-02-16

With the expansion and growth of research on neighbourhood characteristics, there is an increased need for direct observational field audits. Herein, we introduce a novel direct observational audit method and systematic social observation instrument (SSOI) for efficiently assessing neighbourhood aesthetics over large urban areas. Our audit method uses spatial random sampling stratified by residential zoning and incorporates both mobile geographic information systems technology and virtual environments. The reliability of our method was tested in two ways: first, in 15 Ottawa neighbourhoods, we compared results at audited locations over two subsequent years, and second; we audited every residential block (167 blocks) in one neighbourhood and compared the distribution of SSOI aesthetics index scores with results from the randomly audited locations. Finally, we present interrater reliability and consistency results on all observed items. The observed neighbourhood average aesthetics index score estimated from four or five stratified random audit locations is sufficient to characterize the average neighbourhood aesthetics. The SSOI was internally consistent and demonstrated good to excellent interrater reliability. At the neighbourhood level, aesthetics is positively related to SES and physical activity and negatively correlated with BMI. The proposed approach to direct neighbourhood auditing performs sufficiently and has the advantage of financial and temporal efficiency when auditing a large city.

Behavioral Interventions to Improve Asthma Outcomes for Adolescents: A Systematic Review.

PubMed

Mosnaim, Giselle S; Pappalardo, Andrea A; Resnick, Scott E; Codispoti, Christopher D; Bandi, Sindhura; Nackers, Lisa; Malik, Rabia N; Vijayaraghavan, Vimala; Lynch, Elizabeth B; Powell, Lynda H

2016-01-01

Factors at multiple ecological levels, including the child, family, home, medical care, and community, impact adolescent asthma outcomes. This systematic review characterizes behavioral interventions at the child, family, home, medical system, and community level to improve asthma management among adolescents. A systematic search of PubMed, SCOPUS, OVID, PsycINFO, CINAHL, and reference review databases was conducted from January 1, 2000, through August 10, 2014. Articles were included if the title or abstract included asthma AND intervention AND (education OR self-management OR behavioral OR technology OR trigger reduction), and the mean and/or median age of participants was between 11 and 16 years. We compared populations, intervention characteristics, study designs, outcomes, settings, and intervention levels across studies to evaluate behavioral interventions to improve asthma management for adolescents. Of 1230 articles identified and reviewed, 24 articles (21 unique studies) met inclusion criteria. Promising approaches to improving adherence to daily controller medications include objective monitoring of inhaled corticosteroid adherence with allergist and/or immunologist feedback on medication-taking behavior and school nurse directly observed therapy. Efficacy at increasing asthma self-management skills was demonstrated using group interactive learning in the school setting. This systematic review is not a meta-analysis, thus limiting its quantitative assessment of studies. Publication bias may also limit our findings. Novel strategies to objectively increase controller medication adherence for adolescents include allergist and/or immunologist feedback and school nurse directly observed therapy. Schools, the most common setting across studies in this review, provide the opportunity for group interactive learning to improve asthma knowledge and self-management skills. Copyright © 2015 American Academy of Allergy, Asthma & Immunology. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

BICEP2 III: Instrumental systematics

DOE PAGES

Ade, P. A. R.

2015-11-23

In a companion paper, we have reported a >5σ detection of degree scale B-mode polarization at 150 GHz by the Bicep2 experiment. Here we provide a detailed study of potential instrumental systematic contamination to that measurement. We focus extensively on spurious polarization that can potentially arise from beam imperfections. We present a heuristic classification of beam imperfections according to their symmetries and uniformities, and discuss how resulting contamination adds or cancels in maps that combine observations made at multiple orientations of the telescope about its boresight axis. We introduce a technique, which we call "deprojection," for filtering the leading ordermore » beam-induced contamination from time-ordered data, and show that it reduces power in Bicep2's actual and null-test BB spectra consistent with predictions using high signal-to-noise beam shape measurements. We detail the simulation pipeline that we use to directly simulate instrumental systematics and the calibration data used as input to that pipeline. Finally, we present the constraints on BB contamination from individual sources of potential systematics. We find that systematics contribute BB power that is a factor of ~10× below Bicep2's three-year statistical uncertainty, and negligible compared to the observed BB signal. Lastly, the contribution to the best-fit tensor/scalar ratio is at a level equivalent to r = (3–6) × 10 –3.« less

BICEP2 III: Instrumental systematics

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

Ade, P. A. R.

In a companion paper, we have reported a >5σ detection of degree scale B-mode polarization at 150 GHz by the Bicep2 experiment. Here we provide a detailed study of potential instrumental systematic contamination to that measurement. We focus extensively on spurious polarization that can potentially arise from beam imperfections. We present a heuristic classification of beam imperfections according to their symmetries and uniformities, and discuss how resulting contamination adds or cancels in maps that combine observations made at multiple orientations of the telescope about its boresight axis. We introduce a technique, which we call "deprojection," for filtering the leading ordermore » beam-induced contamination from time-ordered data, and show that it reduces power in Bicep2's actual and null-test BB spectra consistent with predictions using high signal-to-noise beam shape measurements. We detail the simulation pipeline that we use to directly simulate instrumental systematics and the calibration data used as input to that pipeline. Finally, we present the constraints on BB contamination from individual sources of potential systematics. We find that systematics contribute BB power that is a factor of ~10× below Bicep2's three-year statistical uncertainty, and negligible compared to the observed BB signal. Lastly, the contribution to the best-fit tensor/scalar ratio is at a level equivalent to r = (3–6) × 10 –3.« less

Arctic Sea ice thickness loss determined using subsurface, aircraft, and satellite observations

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lindsay, R. W.; Schweiger, A. J. B.

2014-12-01

Sea ice thickness is a fundamental climate state variable. However, observations of ice thickness have been sparse in time and space making the construction of observation-based time series difficult. Moreover, different groups use a variety of methods and processing procedures to measure ice thickness and each observational source likely has different and poorly characterized measurement and sampling biases. Observational sources include upward looking sonars mounted on submarines or moorings, electromagnetic sensors on helicopters or aircraft, and lidar or radar altimeters on airplanes or satellites. Are these data sources now adequate so that we can construct time series of the mean sea ice thickness with meaningful information about thickness changes? How do the different measurement systems compare in the mean? Are there systematic differences? Very few of the observations provide overlapping measurements of ice of a variety of thickness classes or types for direct comparisons. Error characteristics may vary considerably depending on the presence or thickness of the ridged ice. Here we use a curve-fitting approach to evaluate the systematic differences between eight different observation systems in the Arctic Basin, including ICESat and IceBridge measurements. The approach determines the large-scale spatial and temporal variability of the ice thickness as well as the mean differences between the observation systems using over 3000 estimates of the ice thickness. The thickness estimates are measured over spatial scales of approximately 50 km or time scales of 1 month and the primary time period analyzed is 2000-2013 when the modern mix of observations is available. Good agreement is found between five of the systems, within 0.15 m, while systematic differences of up to 0.5 m are found for three others compare to the five. The annual mean ice thickness for the central Arctic Basin based on observations only has decreased from 3.45 m in 1975 to 1.11 m in 2013, a 68% reduction and there is no indication it may be leveling off as seen in an earlier study of submarine ice drafts by Rothrock et al. (2008). This is nearly double the 36% decline report by them. These results provide additional direct observational confirmation of sea ice losses found in model reanalyses.

SSM/I Rainfall Volume Correlated with Deepening Rate in Extratropical Cyclones

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Petty, Grant W.; Miller, Douglas K.

1994-01-01

With the emergence of reasonably robust, physically based rain rate algorithms designed for the Special Sensor Microwave/Imager (SSM/I), a unique opportunity exists to directly observe a physical component which can contribute to or be a signature of cyclone deepening (latent heat release). The emphasis of the research in this paper is to seek systematic differences in rain rate observed by the SSM/I, using the algorithm of Petty in cases of explosive and nonexplosive cyclone deepening.

The trend in inquiry-based learning (IBL) research from many perspectives: A systematic review

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Anuar, Nor Syuhada Binti Saiful; Sani, Siti Shamsiah Binti; Ahmad, Che Nidzam Binti Che; Damanhuri, Muhd Ibrahim Bin Muhammad; Borhan, Mohamad Termizi Bin

2017-05-01

Inquiry-based learning (IBL) is one of the teaching approaches that has been suggested by the Kementerian Pelajaran Malaysia (KPM). Although IBL has been in existence for many years, the effect of this approach in terms of teacher's verbal interaction during teaching has not been considered to any great extent. For this reason, a systematic review was conducted to observe the pattern of the existing IBL research. This systematic review of quantitative and qualitative studies published between 2006 and 2016 was undertaken by using the following databases: Taylor & Francis Online (2012-2015), Wiley Online Library (2012-2015), ScienceDirect, SpringerLink, SAGE Journals, and EBSCOHOST. Research articles from trustworthy websites were also used. The main keywords used were teacher verbal interaction, inquiry-based learning (IBL), secondary school science and classroom interaction. Eleven studies were included in this review but only two out of the eleven selected papers discussed teacher verbal interaction. Hence, more research needs to be conducted in order to observe the effect of IBL towards teacher's verbal interaction during learning sessions.

Rotation and direction judgment from visual images head-slaved in two and three degrees-of-freedom.

PubMed

Adelstein, B D; Ellis, S R

2000-03-01

The contribution to spatial awareness of adding a roll degree-of-freedom (DOF) to telepresence camera platform yaw and pitch was examined in an experiment where subjects judged direction and rotation of stationary target markers in a remote scene. Subjects viewed the scene via head-slaved camera images in a head-mounted display. Elimination of the roll DOF affected rotation judgment, but only at extreme yaw and pitch combinations, and did not affect azimuth and elevation judgement. Systematic azimuth overshoot occurred regardless of roll condition. Observed rotation misjudgments are explained by kinematic models for eye-head direction of gaze.

Improving the quality of palliative care for ambulatory patients with lung cancer

PubMed Central

von Plessen, Christian; Aslaksen, Aslak

2005-01-01

Problem Most patients with advanced lung cancer currently receive much of their health care, including chemotherapy, as outpatients. Patients have to deal with the complex and time consuming logistics of ambulatory cancer care. At the same time, members of staff often waste considerable time and energy in organisational aspects of care that could be better used in direct interaction with patients. Design Quality improvement study using direct observation and run and flow charts, and focus group meetings with patients and families regarding perceptions of the clinic and with staff regarding satisfaction with working conditions. Setting Thoracic oncology outpatient clinic at a Norwegian university hospital where patients receive chemotherapy and complementary palliative care. Key measures for improvement Waiting time and time wasted during consultations; calmer working situation at the clinic; satisfaction among patients. Strategies for change Rescheduled patients' appointments, automated retrieval of blood test results, systematic reporting in patients' files, design of an information leaflet, and refurnishing of the waiting area at the clinic. Effects of change Interventions resulted in increased satisfaction for patients and staff, reduced waiting time, and reduced variability of waiting time. Lessons learnt Direct observation, focus groups, questionnaires on patients' satisfaction, and measurement of process time were useful in systematically improving care in this outpatient clinic. The description of this experience can serve as an example for the improvement of a microsystem, particularly in other settings with similar problems. PMID:15933354

The librarian's roles in the systematic review process: a case study*

PubMed Central

Harris, Martha R.

2005-01-01

Question/Setting: Although the systematic review has become a research standard, little information addresses the actions of the librarian on a systematic review team. Method: This article is an observational case study that chronicles a librarian's required involvement, skills, and responsibilities in each stage of a real-life systematic review. Main Results: Examining the review process reveals that the librarian's multiple roles as an expert searcher, organizer, and analyzer form an integral part of the Cochrane Collaboration's criteria for conducting systematic reviews. Moreover, the responsibilities of the expert searcher directly reflect the key skills and knowledge depicted in the “Definition of Expert Searching” section of the Medical Library Association's policy statement, “Role of Expert Searching in Health Sciences Libraries.” Conclusion: Although the librarian's multiple roles are important in all forms of medical research, they are crucial in a systematic review. As an expert searcher, the librarian must interact with the investigators to develop the terms required for a comprehensive search strategy in multiple appropriate sources. As an organizer and analyzer, the librarian must effectively manage the articles and document the search, retrieval, and archival processes. PMID:15685279

Systematic Calibration for a Backpacked Spherical Photogrammetry Imaging System

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Rau, J. Y.; Su, B. W.; Hsiao, K. W.; Jhan, J. P.

2016-06-01

A spherical camera can observe the environment for almost 720 degrees' field of view in one shoot, which is useful for augmented reality, environment documentation, or mobile mapping applications. This paper aims to develop a spherical photogrammetry imaging system for the purpose of 3D measurement through a backpacked mobile mapping system (MMS). The used equipment contains a Ladybug-5 spherical camera, a tactical grade positioning and orientation system (POS), i.e. SPAN-CPT, and an odometer, etc. This research aims to directly apply photogrammetric space intersection technique for 3D mapping from a spherical image stereo-pair. For this purpose, several systematic calibration procedures are required, including lens distortion calibration, relative orientation calibration, boresight calibration for direct georeferencing, and spherical image calibration. The lens distortion is serious on the ladybug-5 camera's original 6 images. Meanwhile, for spherical image mosaicking from these original 6 images, we propose the use of their relative orientation and correct their lens distortion at the same time. However, the constructed spherical image still contains systematic error, which will reduce the 3D measurement accuracy. Later for direct georeferencing purpose, we need to establish a ground control field for boresight/lever-arm calibration. Then, we can apply the calibrated parameters to obtain the exterior orientation parameters (EOPs) of all spherical images. In the end, the 3D positioning accuracy after space intersection will be evaluated, including EOPs obtained by structure from motion method.

Association between the perceived environment and physical activity among adults in Latin America: a systematic review

PubMed Central

2013-01-01

Background Activity friendly environments have been identified as promising strategies to increase physical activity levels in the population. Associations between perceived environmental attributes and physical activity in Latin America may vary from those observed in high income countries. The objective of this systematic review is to identify which perceived environmental attributes are associated with physical activity in Latin America. Methods Systematic literature search of articles published in English, Portuguese, and Spanish in four databases was conducted (PubMed, Virtual Health Library, EBSCO, and Web of Science). Associations with environmental attributes were analyzed separately for physical activity domains. Fifteen articles were included in the analysis. Results All studies had cross-sectional designs. The majority of associations were statistically non-significant, and only four associations were found in the unexpected direction. Leisure-time and transport-related physical activity were the domains most frequently included in the studies and had higher number of associations in the expected direction. Leisure-time physical activity showed a convincing association in the expected direction with safety during the day. Transport-related physical activity had a convincing association with presence of street lighting. Conclusions This study shows that perceived environmental attributes and their relationship with physical activity appears to be domain, and context specific. In addition, findings from this study show inconsistencies with the information gathered from high-income countries. PMID:24171897

Daily Behavior Report Cards: An Investigation of the Consistency of On-Task Data across Raters and Methods

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Chafouleas, Sandra M.; Riley-Tillman, T. Chris; Sassu, Kari A.; LaFrance, Mary J.; Patwa, Shamim S.

2007-01-01

In this study, the consistency of on-task data collected across raters using either a Daily Behavior Report Card (DBRC) or systematic direct observation was examined to begin to understand the decision reliability of using DBRCs to monitor student behavior. Results suggested very similar conclusions might be drawn when visually examining data…

Cluster Observations of Non-Time Continuous Magnetosonic Waves

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Walker, Simon N.; Demekhov, Andrei G.; Boardsen, Scott A.; Ganushkina, Natalia Y.; Sibeck, David G.; Balikhin, Michael A.

2016-01-01

Equatorial magnetosonic waves are normally observed as temporally continuous sets of emissions lasting from minutes to hours. Recent observations, however, have shown that this is not always the case. Using Cluster data, this study identifies two distinct forms of these non temporally continuous use missions. The first, referred to as rising tone emissions, are characterized by the systematic onset of wave activity at increasing proton gyroharmonic frequencies. Sets of harmonic emissions (emission elements)are observed to occur periodically in the region +/- 10 off the geomagnetic equator. The sweep rate of these emissions maximizes at the geomagnetic equator. In addition, the ellipticity and propagation direction also change systematically as Cluster crosses the geomagnetic equator. It is shown that the observed frequency sweep rate is unlikely to result from the sideband instability related to nonlinear trapping of suprathermal protons in the wave field. The second form of emissions is characterized by the simultaneous onset of activity across a range of harmonic frequencies. These waves are observed at irregular intervals. Their occurrence correlates with changes in the spacecraft potential, a measurement that is used as a proxy for electron density. Thus, these waves appear to be trapped within regions of localized enhancement of the electron density.

Systematic study of GeSn heterostructure-based light-emitting diodes towards mid-infrared applications

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhou, Yiyin; Dou, Wei; Du, Wei; Pham, Thach; Ghetmiri, Seyed Amir; Al-Kabi, Sattar; Mosleh, Aboozar; Alher, Murtadha; Margetis, Joe; Tolle, John; Sun, Greg; Soref, Richard; Li, Baohua; Mortazavi, Mansour; Naseem, Hameed; Yu, Shui-Qing

2016-07-01

Temperature-dependent characteristics of GeSn light-emitting diodes with Sn composition up to 9.2% have been systematically studied. Such diodes were based on Ge/GeSn/Ge double heterostructures (DHS) that were grown directly on a Si substrate via a chemical vapor deposition system. Both photoluminescence and electroluminescence spectra have been characterized at temperatures from 300 to 77 K. Based on our theoretical calculation, all GeSn alloys in this study are indirect bandgap materials. However, due to the small energy separation between direct and indirect bandgap, and the fact that radiative recombination rate greater than non-radiative, the emissions are mainly from the direct Γ-valley to valence band transitions. The electroluminescence emissions under current injection levels from 102 to 357 A/cm2 were investigated at 300 K. The monotonic increase of the integrated electroluminescence intensity was observed for each sample. Moreover, the electronic band structures of the DHS were discussed. Despite the indirect GeSn bandgap owing to the compressive strain, type-I band alignment was achieved with the barrier heights ranging from 11 to 47 meV.

Systematic review of the economic aspects of nonadherence to antipsychotic medication in patients with schizophrenia.

PubMed

Dilla, Tatiana; Ciudad, Antonio; Alvarez, María

2013-01-01

There is strong evidence supporting the link between nonadherence to antipsychotic medication and relapse of schizophrenia. However, less obvious are the economic consequences of nonadherence. The systematic review reported here evaluated the economic aspects of nonadherence to antipsychotic medication. A systematic review of scientific papers in the PubMed MEDLINE, Embase, PsychINFO, BIOSIS, and Evidence-Based Medicine Reviews databases was undertaken. Studies that measured adherence to antipsychotic medication and that provided comparative information on health care costs were included. Eight studies met the inclusion criteria. All were observational. Despite the differences between the studies in terms of design, adherence measures, and cost components analyzed, the results of this systematic review indicate that nonadherence to antipsychotic medication is associated with increased hospitalization rates and resource utilization, resulting in increased direct health care costs. Nonadherence to antipsychotic medication results in poor health and economic outcomes; therefore, the authors suggest endorsing interventions aimed at improving adherence because they can improve patient health without substantially increasing costs.

Working time use and division of labour among nurses and health-care workers in hospitals - a systematic review.

PubMed

Lavander, Päivi; Meriläinen, Merja; Turkki, Leena

2016-11-01

This systematic review aimed to synthesise the existing evidence of working time use and the division of labour among nurses and health-care workers in hospital wards. The environment of nursing work is changing. Health systems are becoming more complex and costly, and highly skilled health-care professionals are transferring to new, more demanding tasks. Changes require a division of labour that is based on the efficient use of working time. Sixteen studies were identified for the final analysis through a systematic search. The use of working time was examined mainly through six categories: direct care, indirect care, documentation, unit-related work, personal time and non-nursing duties. The division of labour was examined from the perspective of different occupational groups. Despite nurses' different educational backgrounds, certain similarities could be observed. All working groups seem to spend less than half of their working time in direct patient care. Nurse managers could influence the increasing nursing workload by supporting the right division of labour and focusing the nurses' working time use so that it benefits the patient. © 2016 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Bundle Block Adjustment of Airborne Three-Line Array Imagery Based on Rotation Angles

PubMed Central

Zhang, Yongjun; Zheng, Maoteng; Huang, Xu; Xiong, Jinxin

2014-01-01

In the midst of the rapid developments in electronic instruments and remote sensing technologies, airborne three-line array sensors and their applications are being widely promoted and plentiful research related to data processing and high precision geo-referencing technologies is under way. The exterior orientation parameters (EOPs), which are measured by the integrated positioning and orientation system (POS) of airborne three-line sensors, however, have inevitable systematic errors, so the level of precision of direct geo-referencing is not sufficiently accurate for surveying and mapping applications. Consequently, a few ground control points are necessary to refine the exterior orientation parameters, and this paper will discuss bundle block adjustment models based on the systematic error compensation and the orientation image, considering the principle of an image sensor and the characteristics of the integrated POS. Unlike the models available in the literature, which mainly use a quaternion to represent the rotation matrix of exterior orientation, three rotation angles are directly used in order to effectively model and eliminate the systematic errors of the POS observations. Very good experimental results have been achieved with several real datasets that verify the correctness and effectiveness of the proposed adjustment models. PMID:24811075

Bundle block adjustment of airborne three-line array imagery based on rotation angles.

PubMed

Zhang, Yongjun; Zheng, Maoteng; Huang, Xu; Xiong, Jinxin

2014-05-07

In the midst of the rapid developments in electronic instruments and remote sensing technologies, airborne three-line array sensors and their applications are being widely promoted and plentiful research related to data processing and high precision geo-referencing technologies is under way. The exterior orientation parameters (EOPs), which are measured by the integrated positioning and orientation system (POS) of airborne three-line sensors, however, have inevitable systematic errors, so the level of precision of direct geo-referencing is not sufficiently accurate for surveying and mapping applications. Consequently, a few ground control points are necessary to refine the exterior orientation parameters, and this paper will discuss bundle block adjustment models based on the systematic error compensation and the orientation image, considering the principle of an image sensor and the characteristics of the integrated POS. Unlike the models available in the literature, which mainly use a quaternion to represent the rotation matrix of exterior orientation, three rotation angles are directly used in order to effectively model and eliminate the systematic errors of the POS observations. Very good experimental results have been achieved with several real datasets that verify the correctness and effectiveness of the proposed adjustment models.

Direct observation of the topological spin configurations mediated by the substitution of rare-earth element Y in MnNiGa alloy.

PubMed

Zuo, S L; Zhang, Y; Peng, L C; Zhao, X; Li, R; Li, H; Xiong, J F; He, M; Zhao, T Y; Sun, J R; Hu, F X; Shen, B G

2018-02-01

The evolution of topological magnetic domains microscopically correlates the dynamic behavior of memory units in spintronic application. Nanometric bubbles with variation of spin configurations have been directly observed in a centrosymmetric hexagonal magnet (Mn 0.5 Ni 0.5 ) 65 (Ga 1-y Y y ) 35 (y = 0.01) using Lorentz transmission electron microscopy. Magnetic bubbles instead of biskyrmions are generated due to the enhancement of quality factor Q caused by the substitution of rare-earth element Y. Furthermore, the bubble density and diversified spin configurations are systematically manipulated via combining the electric current with perpendicular magnetic fields. The magnetic bubble lattice at zero field is achieved after the optimized manipulation.

As a Matter of Force—Systematic Biases in Idealized Turbulence Simulations

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Grete, Philipp; O’Shea, Brian W.; Beckwith, Kris

2018-05-01

Many astrophysical systems encompass very large dynamical ranges in space and time, which are not accessible by direct numerical simulations. Thus, idealized subvolumes are often used to study small-scale effects including the dynamics of turbulence. These turbulent boxes require an artificial driving in order to mimic energy injection from large-scale processes. In this Letter, we show and quantify how the autocorrelation time of the driving and its normalization systematically change the properties of an isothermal compressible magnetohydrodynamic flow in the sub- and supersonic regime and affect astrophysical observations such as Faraday rotation. For example, we find that δ-in-time forcing with a constant energy injection leads to a steeper slope in kinetic energy spectrum and less-efficient small-scale dynamo action. In general, we show that shorter autocorrelation times require more power in the acceleration field, which results in more power in compressive modes that weaken the anticorrelation between density and magnetic field strength. Thus, derived observables, such as the line-of-sight (LOS) magnetic field from rotation measures, are systematically biased by the driving mechanism. We argue that δ-in-time forcing is unrealistic and numerically unresolved, and conclude that special care needs to be taken in interpreting observational results based on the use of idealized simulations.

Lever conditioned stimulus-directed autoshaping induced by saccharin-ethanol unconditioned stimulus solution: effects of ethanol concentration and trial spacing.

PubMed

Tomie, Arthur; Festa, Eugene D; Sparta, Dennis R; Pohorecky, Larissa A

2003-05-01

Two experiments were designed to evaluate whether brief access to a saccharin-ethanol solution would function as an effective unconditioned stimulus (US) in Pavlovian-autoshaping procedures. In these experiments, the insertion of a lever conditioned stimulus (CS) was followed by the brief presentation of a sipper tube containing saccharin-ethanol US solution. Experience with this Pavlovian-autoshaping procedure engendered lever CS-directed autoshaping conditioned responses (CRs) in all rats. In Experiment 1, the concentration of ethanol [0%, 2%, 4%, 6%, or 8% (vol./vol.)] in 0.1% saccharin was systematically increased within subjects across autoshaping sessions to evaluate the relation between a rat's drinking and lever pressing. In Experiment 2, the mean intertrial interval (ITI) duration (60, 90, 120 s) was systematically increased within subjects across autoshaping sessions to evaluate the effect of ITI duration on drinking and lever pressing. A pseudoconditioning control group received lever CS randomly with respect to the saccharin-ethanol US solution. In Experiment 1, lever-press autoshaping CRs developed in all rats, and the tendency of a rat to drink an ethanol concentration was predictive of the performance of lever-press autoshaping CRs. In Experiment 2, longer ITIs induced more lever CS-directed responding, and CS-US paired procedures yielded more lever CS-directed responding than that observed in CS-US random procedures. Saccharin-ethanol is an effective US in Pavlovian-autoshaping procedures, inducing more CS-directed responding than in pseudoconditioning controls receiving CS-US random procedures. More lever CS-directed responding was observed when there was more drinking of the saccharin-ethanol US solution (Experiment 1); when the CS and US were paired, rather than random (Experiment 2); and with longer mean ITI durations (Experiment 2). This pattern of results is consistent with the hypothesis that lever CS-directed responding reflects performance of Pavlovian-autoshaping CRs.

MODIS Aerosol Optical Depth Bias Adjustment Using Machine Learning Algorithms

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Albayrak, Arif; Wei, Jennifer; Petrenko, Maksym; Lary, David; Leptoukh, Gregory

2011-01-01

To monitor the earth atmosphere and its surface changes, satellite based instruments collect continuous data. While some of the data is directly used, some others such as aerosol properties are indirectly retrieved from the observation data. While retrieved variables (RV) form very powerful products, they don't come without obstacles. Different satellite viewing geometries, calibration issues, dynamically changing atmospheric and earth surface conditions, together with complex interactions between observed entities and their environment affect them greatly. This results in random and systematic errors in the final products.

Do radioactive half-lives vary with the Earth-to-Sun distance?

PubMed

Hardy, J C; Goodwin, J R; Iacob, V E

2012-09-01

Recently, Jenkins, Fischbach and collaborators have claimed evidence that radionuclide half-lives vary systematically over a ±0.1% range as a function of the oscillating distance between the Earth and the Sun, based on multi-year activity measurements. We have avoided the time-dependent instabilities to which such measurements are susceptible by directly measuring the half-life of (198)Au (t(1/2)=2.695 d) on seven occasions spread out in time to cover the complete range of Earth-Sun distances. We observe no systematic oscillations in half-life and can set an upper limit on their amplitude of ±0.02%. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

The Gnomon Experiment

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Krisciunas, Kevin

2007-12-01

A gnomon, or vertical pointed stick, can be used to determine the north-south direction at a site, as well as one's latitude. If one has accurate time and knows one's time zone, it is also possible to determine one's longitude. From observations on the first day of winter and the first day of summer one can determine the obliquity of the ecliptic. Since we can obtain accurate geographical coordinates from Google Earth or a GPS device, analysis of set of shadow length measurements can be used by students to learn about astronomical coordinate systems, time systems, systematic errors, and random errors. Systematic latitude errors of student datasets are typically 30 nautical miles (0.5 degree) or more, but with care one can achieve systematic and random errors less than 8 nautical miles. One of the advantages of this experiment is that it can be carried out during the day. Also, it is possible to determine if a student has made up his data.

Diagnostics of models and observations in the contexts of exoplanets, brown dwarfs, and very low-mass stars.

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kopytova, Taisiya

2016-01-01

When studying isolated brown dwarfs and directly imaged exoplanets with insignificant orbital motion,we have to rely on theoretical models to determine basic parameters such as mass, age, effective temperature, and surface gravity.While stellar and atmospheric models are rapidly evolving, we need a powerful tool to test and calibrate them.In my thesis, I focussed on comparing interior and atmospheric models with observational data, in the effort of taking into account various systematic effects that can significantly influence the data analysis.As a first step, about 460 candidate member os the Hyades were screened for companions using diffraction limited imaging observation (both our own data and archival data). As a result I could establish the single star sequence for the Hyades comprising about 250 stars (Kopytova et al. 2015, accepted to A&A). Open clusters contain many coeval objects of the same chemical composition and age, and spanning a range of masses. We compare the obtained sequence with a set of theoretical isochrones identifying systematic offsets and revealing probable issues in the models.However, there are many cases when it is impossible to test models before comparing them with observations.As a second step, we apply atmospheric models for constraining parameters of WISE 0855-07, the coolest known Y dwarf(Kopytova et al. 2014, ApJ 797, 3). We demonstrate the limits of constraining effective temperature and the presence/absence of water clouds.As a third step, we introduce a novel method to take into account the above-mentioned systematics. We construct a "systematics vector" that allows us to reveal problematic wavelength ranges when fitting atmospheric models to observed near-infrared spectraof brown dwarfs and exoplanets (Kopytova et al., in prep.). This approach plays a crucial role when retrieving abundances for these objects, in particularly, a C/O ratio. The latter parameter is an important key to formation scenarios of brown dwarf and exoplanets. We show the way to constrain a C/O ratio while eliminating systematics effects, which significantly improves the reliability of a final result and our conclusions about formation history of certain exoplanets and brown dwarfs.

Vitamin D and multiple health outcomes: umbrella review of systematic reviews and meta-analyses of observational studies and randomised trials

PubMed Central

Tzoulaki, Ioanna; Zgaga, Lina; Ioannidis, John P A

2014-01-01

Objective To evaluate the breadth, validity, and presence of biases of the associations of vitamin D with diverse outcomes. Design Umbrella review of the evidence across systematic reviews and meta-analyses of observational studies of plasma 25-hydroxyvitamin D or 1,25-dihydroxyvitamin D concentrations and randomised controlled trials of vitamin D supplementation. Data sources Medline, Embase, and screening of citations and references. Eligibility criteria Three types of studies were eligible for the umbrella review: systematic reviews and meta-analyses that examined observational associations between circulating vitamin D concentrations and any clinical outcome; and meta-analyses of randomised controlled trials assessing supplementation with vitamin D or active compounds (both established and newer compounds of vitamin D). Results 107 systematic literature reviews and 74 meta-analyses of observational studies of plasma vitamin D concentrations and 87 meta-analyses of randomised controlled trials of vitamin D supplementation were identified. The relation between vitamin D and 137 outcomes has been explored, covering a wide range of skeletal, malignant, cardiovascular, autoimmune, infectious, metabolic, and other diseases. Ten outcomes were examined by both meta-analyses of observational studies and meta-analyses of randomised controlled trials, but the direction of the effect and level of statistical significance was concordant only for birth weight (maternal vitamin D status or supplementation). On the basis of the available evidence, an association between vitamin D concentrations and birth weight, dental caries in children, maternal vitamin D concentrations at term, and parathyroid hormone concentrations in patients with chronic kidney disease requiring dialysis is probable, but further studies and better designed trials are needed to draw firmer conclusions. In contrast to previous reports, evidence does not support the argument that vitamin D only supplementation increases bone mineral density or reduces the risk of fractures or falls in older people. Conclusions Despite a few hundred systematic reviews and meta-analyses, highly convincing evidence of a clear role of vitamin D does not exist for any outcome, but associations with a selection of outcomes are probable. PMID:24690624

Teachers' roles in supporting children's literacy development through play.

PubMed

Saracho, Olivia N

2002-04-01

This study focused on the roles five kindergarten teachers assumed to promote literacy. Data were collected through systematic videotaped observations during the children's play periods. Saracho's analysis of the transcriptions in identifying the roles of the teachers suggested teachers' roles in the children's literacy-play include director of instructions (instructing students to follow directions and learn concepts), transition director (directing students to make smooth transitions), supporter of learning (acknowledging and praising students' work to promote learning), storyteller (reading or telling a story and encouraging children to respond), and instructional guide (providing instructional guidance for learning).

Hey bHLH transcription factors.

PubMed

Weber, David; Wiese, Cornelia; Gessler, Manfred

2014-01-01

Hey bHLH transcription factors are direct targets of canonical Notch signaling. The three mammalian Hey proteins are closely related to Hes proteins and they primarily repress target genes by either directly binding to core promoters or by inhibiting other transcriptional activators. Individual candidate gene approaches and systematic screens identified a number of Hey target genes, which often encode other transcription factors involved in various developmental processes. Here, we review data on interaction partners and target genes and conclude with a model for Hey target gene regulation. Furthermore, we discuss how expression of Hey proteins affects processes like cell fate decisions and differentiation, e.g., in cardiovascular, skeletal, and neural development or oncogenesis and how this relates to the observed developmental defects and phenotypes observed in various knockout mice. © 2014 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Improving Photometric Calibration of Meteor Video Camera Systems

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Ehlert, Steven; Kingery, Aaron; Suggs, Robert

2016-01-01

We present the results of new calibration tests performed by the NASA Meteoroid Environment Oce (MEO) designed to help quantify and minimize systematic uncertainties in meteor photometry from video camera observations. These systematic uncertainties can be categorized by two main sources: an imperfect understanding of the linearity correction for the MEO's Watec 902H2 Ultimate video cameras and uncertainties in meteor magnitudes arising from transformations between the Watec camera's Sony EX-View HAD bandpass and the bandpasses used to determine reference star magnitudes. To address the rst point, we have measured the linearity response of the MEO's standard meteor video cameras using two independent laboratory tests on eight cameras. Our empirically determined linearity correction is critical for performing accurate photometry at low camera intensity levels. With regards to the second point, we have calculated synthetic magnitudes in the EX bandpass for reference stars. These synthetic magnitudes enable direct calculations of the meteor's photometric ux within the camera band-pass without requiring any assumptions of its spectral energy distribution. Systematic uncertainties in the synthetic magnitudes of individual reference stars are estimated at 0:20 mag, and are limited by the available spectral information in the reference catalogs. These two improvements allow for zero-points accurate to 0:05 ?? 0:10 mag in both ltered and un ltered camera observations with no evidence for lingering systematics.

Systematic control of optical features in aluminosilicate glass waveguides using direct femtosecond laser writing

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Babu, B. Hari; Niu, Mengsi; Yang, Xiaoyu; Wang, Yanbo; Feng, Lin; Qin, Wei; Hao, Xiao-Tao

2017-10-01

Low loss optical waveguides inside aluminosilicate glasses have been successfully fabricated using direct femtosecond laser writing. To establish the influence of pulse energy and host variations on the optical waveguides have been tentatively explored and systematically studied with the help of different spectroscopic techniques. Isochronal annealing treatment effectively reduces the insertion losses to 1.01 ± 0.28 dB at 632.8 nm. A red shift of the Raman band has been observed with increasing Al2O3 content due to the bond angle variations. The point defects such as non-bridging oxygen hole centers have been corroborated by the photoluminescence studies and significant red-shift has also been documented with increasing Al2O3 content. In addition, there is no NBOHC defects perceived after isochronal annealing treatment inside the glass waveguides. Our results envisage that the present glass waveguides should be promising and potential for applications in passive waveguides and integrated photonic devices.

Direct measurements of bed stress under swash in the field

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Conley, Daniel C.; Griffin, John G.

2004-03-01

Utilizing flush mounted hot film anemometry, the bed stress under swash was measured directly in a field experiment conducted on Barret Beach, Fire Island, New York. The theory, development, and calibration of the instrument package are discussed, and results from the field experiment are presented. Examples of bed stress time series throughout a swash cycle are presented, and an ensemble averaged swash bed stress cycle is calculated. Strong asymmetry is observed between the uprush and backwash phases of the swash flow. The maximum bed shear stress exerted by the uprush is approximately double that of the backwash, while the duration of the backwash is 135% greater than that of the uprush. Friction coefficients in the swash zone are observed to be similar in magnitude to those from steady flow, with the mean observed friction coefficient equal to 0.0037. Swash friction coefficients derived from the current measurements exhibit a Reynolds number dependence similar to that observed for other flows. A systematic difference between coefficients for uprush and backwash is suggested.

The Grand Challenges of WCRP and the Climate Observing System of the Future

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Brasseur, G. P.

2017-12-01

The successful implementation the Paris agreement on climate change (COP21) calls for a well-designed global monitoring system of essential climate variables, climate processes and Earth system budgets. The Grand Challenges implemented by the World Climate Research Programme (WCRP) provide an opportunity to investigate issues of high societal relevance, directly related to sea level rise, droughts, floods, extreme heat events, food security, and fresh water availability. These challenges would directly benefit from a well-designed suite of systematic climate observations. Quantification of the evolution of the global energy, water and carbon budgets as well as the development and the production of near-term and regional climate predictions require that a comprehensive, focused, multi-platform observing system (satellites, ground-based and in situ observations) be established in an international context. This system must be accompanied by the development of climate services that should translate and disseminate scientific outcomes as actionable information for users and stakeholders.

A service evaluation of on-line image-guided radiotherapy to lower extremity sarcoma: Investigating the workload implications of a 3 mm action level for image assessment and correction prior to delivery.

PubMed

Taylor, C; Parker, J; Stratford, J; Warren, M

2018-05-01

Although all systematic and random positional setup errors can be corrected for in entirety during on-line image-guided radiotherapy, the use of a specified action level, below which no correction occurs, is also an option. The following service evaluation aimed to investigate the use of this 3 mm action level for on-line image assessment and correction (online, systematic set-up error and weekly evaluation) for lower extremity sarcoma, and understand the impact on imaging frequency and patient positioning error within one cancer centre. All patients were immobilised using a thermoplastic shell attached to a plastic base and an individual moulded footrest. A retrospective analysis of 30 patients was performed. Patient setup and correctional data derived from cone beam CT analysis was retrieved. The timing, frequency and magnitude of corrections were evaluated. The population systematic and random error was derived. 20% of patients had no systematic corrections over the duration of treatment, and 47% had one. The maximum number of systematic corrections per course of radiotherapy was 4, which occurred for 2 patients. 34% of episodes occurred within the first 5 fractions. All patients had at least one observed translational error during their treatment greater than 0.3 cm, and 80% of patients had at least one observed translational error during their treatment greater than 0.5 cm. The population systematic error was 0.14 cm, 0.10 cm, 0.14 cm and random error was 0.27 cm, 0.22 cm, 0.23 cm in the lateral, caudocranial and anteroposterial directions. The required Planning Target Volume margin for the study population was 0.55 cm, 0.41 cm and 0.50 cm in the lateral, caudocranial and anteroposterial directions. The 3 mm action level for image assessment and correction prior to delivery reduced the imaging burden and focussed intervention on patients that exhibited greater positional variability. This strategy could be an efficient deployment of departmental resources if full daily correction of positional setup error is not possible. Copyright © 2017. Published by Elsevier Ltd.

On the nature of directed behavior to drug-associated light cues in rhesus monkeys (Macaca mulatta).

PubMed

Reilly, Mark P; Berndt, Sonja I; Woods, James H

2016-11-01

The present study investigated the role of drug-paired stimuli in controlling the behavior of rhesus monkeys. Systematic observations were made with nine monkeys who had a history of drug self-administration; they had been lever pressing to produce intravenous infusions of various drugs. These observations revealed that the stimulus light co-occurring with drug infusion produced robust and cue-directed behavior such as orienting, touching and biting. Experiment 1 showed that this light-directed behavior would occur in naïve monkeys exposed to a Pavlovian pairing procedure. Four monkeys were given response-independent injections of cocaine. In two monkeys, a red light preceded cocaine injections by 5 s, and a green light co-occurred with the 5-s cocaine injections. In the other two monkeys, the light presentations and cocaine injections occurred independently. Light-directed behavior occurred in all four monkeys within the first couple of trials and at high levels but decreased across sessions. The cocaine-paired stimulus maintained behavior longer and at higher levels than the uncorrelated stimuli. Furthermore, light-directed behavior was not maintained when cocaine was replaced with saline. Light-directed behavior did not occur in the absence of the lights. When these monkeys were subsequently trained to lever press for cocaine, light-directed behavior increased to levels higher than previously observed. Behavior directed towards drug-paired stimuli is robust, reliable and multiply determined; the mechanisms underlying this activity likely include Pavlovian conditioning, stimulus novelty, habituation and operant conditioning.

Geographical distribution of shear wave anisotropy within marine sediments in the northwestern Pacific

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Tonegawa, Takashi; Fukao, Yoshio; Fujie, Gou; Takemura, Shunsuke; Takahashi, Tsutomu; Kodaira, Shuichi

2015-12-01

In the northwestern Pacific, the elastic properties of marine sediments, including P-wave velocities ( Vp) and S wave velocities ( Vs), have recently been constrained by active seismic surveys. However, information on S anisotropy associated with the alignments of fractures and fabric remains elusive. To obtain such information, we used ambient noise records observed by ocean-bottom seismometers at 254 sites in the northwestern Pacific to calculate the auto-correlation functions for the S reflection retrieval from the top of the basement. For these S reflections, we measured differential travel times and polarized directions to reveal the potential geographical systematic distribution of S anisotropy. As a result, the observed differential times between fast and slow axes were at most 0.05 s. The fast polarization axes tend to align in the trench-parallel direction in the outer rise region. In particular, their directions changed systematically in accordance with the direction of the trench axis, which changes sharply across the junction of the Kuril and Japan trenches. We consider that a contributing factor for the obtained S anisotropy within marine sediments in the outer rise region is primarily aligned fractures due to the tensional stresses associated with the bending of the Pacific Plate. Moreover, numerical simulations conducted by using the three-dimensional (3D) finite difference method for isotropic and anisotropic media indicates that the successful extraction of S anisotropic information from the S reflection observed in this study is obtained from near-vertically propagating S waves due to extremely low Vs within marine sediments. In addition, we conducted an additional numerical simulation with a realistic velocity model to confirm whether S reflections below the basement can be extracted or not. The resultant auto-correlation function shows only S reflections from the top of the basement. It appears that such near-vertically propagating S waves obscure S reflections from interfaces below the basement.

Electromagnetic induction heating for single crystal graphene growth: morphology control by rapid heating and quenching

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wu, Chaoxing; Li, Fushan; Chen, Wei; Veeramalai, Chandrasekar Perumal; Ooi, Poh Choon; Guo, Tailiang

2015-03-01

The direct observation of single crystal graphene growth and its shape evolution is of fundamental importance to the understanding of graphene growth physicochemical mechanisms and the achievement of wafer-scale single crystalline graphene. Here we demonstrate the controlled formation of single crystal graphene with varying shapes, and directly observe the shape evolution of single crystal graphene by developing a localized-heating and rapid-quenching chemical vapor deposition (CVD) system based on electromagnetic induction heating. Importantly, rational control of circular, hexagonal, and dendritic single crystalline graphene domains can be readily obtained for the first time by changing the growth condition. Systematic studies suggest that the graphene nucleation only occurs during the initial stage, while the domain density is independent of the growth temperatures due to the surface-limiting effect. In addition, the direct observation of graphene domain shape evolution is employed for the identification of competing growth mechanisms including diffusion-limited, attachment-limited, and detachment-limited processes. Our study not only provides a novel method for morphology-controlled graphene synthesis, but also offers fundamental insights into the kinetics of single crystal graphene growth.

Comments on the crusade against the causal efficacy of human thought.

PubMed

Bandura, A

1995-09-01

Hawkins reiterates the familiar behavioristic doctrine that psychology should banish factors that cannot be directly observed. He seems to be unaware that the very operant theory he is espousing is heavily invested in internal determinants that do not lend themselves to direct observation. Because behavior is often unaffected by its immediate situational antecedents and consequences, operant analysts are turning increasingly to internalized determinants of behavior, such as the residues of past reinforcements. These internalized determinants are not directly observable or measurable. They are inferred organismic states. Hawkins invokes the standard behavioristic arguments that, like other cognitive events, beliefs of personal efficacy are epiphenomenal by-products of conditioned responses. The paradigms used to verify the causal contribution of efficacy beliefs to performance renders this claim empirically baseless. Efficacy beliefs are systematically raised to differential levels by means that involve no performances or by bogus feedback that is either unrelated to performance or is contrary to performance. In none of these paradigms are instated efficacy beliefs reflections of performance, but they are uniformly good predictors of subsequent performance. Epiphenomenal assertions are self-destruct arguments.

Chemistry-Transport Modeling of the Satellite Observed Distribution of Tropical Tropospheric Ozone

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Peters, Wouter; Krol, Maarten; Dentener, Frank; Thompson, Anne M.; Leloeveld, Jos; Bhartia, P. K. (Technical Monitor)

2002-01-01

We have compared the 14-year record of satellite derived tropical tropospheric ozone columns (TTOC) from the NIMBUS-7 Total Ozone Mapping Spectrometer (TOMS) to TTOC calculated by a chemistry-transport model (CTM). An objective measure of error, based on the zonal distribution of TTOC in the tropics, is applied to perform this comparison systematically. In addition, the sensitivity of the model to several key processes in the tropics is quantified to select directions for future improvements. The comparisons indicate a widespread, systematic (20%) discrepancy over the tropical Atlantic Ocean, which maximizes during austral Spring. Although independent evidence from ozonesondes shows that some of the disagreement is due to satellite over-estimate of TTOC, the Atlantic mismatch is largely due to a misrepresentation of seasonally recurring processes in the model. Only minor differences between the model and observations over the Pacific occur, mostly due to interannual variability not captured by the model. Although chemical processes determine the TTOC extent, dynamical processes dominate the TTOC distribution, as the use of actual meteorology pertaining to the year of observations always leads to a better agreement with TTOC observations than using a random year or a climatology. The modeled TTOC is remarkably insensitive to many model parameters due to efficient feedbacks in the ozone budget. Nevertheless, the simulations would profit from an improved biomass burning calendar, as well as from an increase in NOX abundances in free tropospheric biomass burning plumes. The model showed the largest response to lightning NOX emissions, but systematic improvements could not be found. The use of multi-year satellite derived tropospheric data to systematically test and improve a CTM is a promising new addition to existing methods of model validation, and is a first step to integrating tropospheric satellite observations into global ozone modeling studies. Conversely,the CTM may suggest improvements to evolving satellite retrievals for tropospheric ozone.

Eddy-correlation measurements of fluxes of CO 2 and H 2O above a spruce stand

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ibrom, A.; Schütz, C.; Tworek, T.; Morgenstern, K.; Oltchev, A.; Falk, M.; Constantin, J.; Gravenhorst, G.

1996-12-01

Atmospheric fluxes of CO 2 and H 2O above a mature spruce stand ( Picea abies (L.) Karst.) have been investigated using the eddy- correlation technique. A closed path sensor adapted to the special requirements of long-term studies has been developed and tested. Field measurements have been performed since April 1995. Estimates of fetch showed a very narrow source area dimension under instable stratification (≤ 200 m). Fetch requirements at night are not met in some directions. Energy balance closure was influenced systematically by the wind direction indicating a substantial attenuation of the vertical wind motion by the tower (up to 40 %). Even for optimal flow directions, energy balance closure was about 88%. Intercomparison of the used ultra sonic anemometer (USAT-3) with a GILL - anemometer showed systematically lower values of vertical wind speed fluctuations (13 %). Average CO 2-fluxes ranged between -13 at noon to 3 μ mol m-2, s-1 at night in summer. In November and December the stand released CO 2 on a daily basis. A preliminary estimate of the cumulative net carbon balance over the observed period of 9 months is 4-5 t, Cha-1.

Knowledge, Attitude, Practice, and Status of Infection Control among Iranian Dentists and Dental Students: A Systematic Review

PubMed Central

Moradi Khanghahi, Behnam; Jamali, Zahra; Pournaghi Azar, Fatemeh; Naghavi Behzad, Mohammad; Azami-Aghdash, Saber

2013-01-01

Background and aims Infection control is an important issue in dentistry, and the dentists are primarily responsible for observing the relevant procedures. Therefore, the present study evaluated knowledge, attitude, practice, and status of infection control among Iranian dentists through systematic review of published results. Materials and methods In this systematic review, the required data was collected searching for keywords including infection, infection control, behavior, performance, practice, attitude, knowledge, dent*, prevention, Iran* and their Persian equivalents in PubMed, Science Direct, Iranmedex, SID, Medlib, and Magiran databases with a time limit of 1985 to 2012. Out of 698 articles, 15 completely related articles were finally considered and the rest were excluded due to lake of relev-ance to the study goals. The required data were extracted and summarized in an Extraction Table and were analyzed ma-nually. Results Evaluating the results of studies indicated inappropriate knowledge, attitude, and practice regarding infection control among Iranian dentists and dental students. Using personal protection devices and observing measures required for infection control were not in accordance with global standards. Conclusion The knowledge, attitudes, and practice of infection control in Iranian dental settings were found to be inadequate. Therefore, dentists should be educated more on the subject and special programs should be in place to monitor the dental settings for observing infection control standards. PMID:23875081

A Physical Model-based Correction for Charge Traps in the Hubble Space Telescope ’s Wide Field Camera 3 Near-IR Detector and Its Applications to Transiting Exoplanets and Brown Dwarfs

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

Zhou, Yifan; Apai, Dániel; Schneider, Glenn

The Hubble Space Telescope Wide Field Camera 3 (WFC3) near-IR channel is extensively used in time-resolved observations, especially for transiting exoplanet spectroscopy as well as brown dwarf and directly imaged exoplanet rotational phase mapping. The ramp effect is the dominant source of systematics in the WFC3 for time-resolved observations, which limits its photometric precision. Current mitigation strategies are based on empirical fits and require additional orbits to help the telescope reach a thermal equilibrium . We show that the ramp-effect profiles can be explained and corrected with high fidelity using charge trapping theories. We also present a model for this processmore » that can be used to predict and to correct charge trap systematics. Our model is based on a very small number of parameters that are intrinsic to the detector. We find that these parameters are very stable between the different data sets, and we provide best-fit values. Our model is tested with more than 120 orbits (∼40 visits) of WFC3 observations and is proved to be able to provide near photon noise limited corrections for observations made with both staring and scanning modes of transiting exoplanets as well as for starting-mode observations of brown dwarfs. After our model correction, the light curve of the first orbit in each visit has the same photometric precision as subsequent orbits, so data from the first orbit no longer need to be discarded. Near-IR arrays with the same physical characteristics (e.g., JWST/NIRCam ) may also benefit from the extension of this model if similar systematic profiles are observed.« less

A Physical Model-based Correction for Charge Traps in the Hubble Space Telescope’s Wide Field Camera 3 Near-IR Detector and Its Applications to Transiting Exoplanets and Brown Dwarfs

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhou, Yifan; Apai, Dániel; Lew, Ben W. P.; Schneider, Glenn

2017-06-01

The Hubble Space Telescope Wide Field Camera 3 (WFC3) near-IR channel is extensively used in time-resolved observations, especially for transiting exoplanet spectroscopy as well as brown dwarf and directly imaged exoplanet rotational phase mapping. The ramp effect is the dominant source of systematics in the WFC3 for time-resolved observations, which limits its photometric precision. Current mitigation strategies are based on empirical fits and require additional orbits to help the telescope reach a thermal equilibrium. We show that the ramp-effect profiles can be explained and corrected with high fidelity using charge trapping theories. We also present a model for this process that can be used to predict and to correct charge trap systematics. Our model is based on a very small number of parameters that are intrinsic to the detector. We find that these parameters are very stable between the different data sets, and we provide best-fit values. Our model is tested with more than 120 orbits (∼40 visits) of WFC3 observations and is proved to be able to provide near photon noise limited corrections for observations made with both staring and scanning modes of transiting exoplanets as well as for starting-mode observations of brown dwarfs. After our model correction, the light curve of the first orbit in each visit has the same photometric precision as subsequent orbits, so data from the first orbit no longer need to be discarded. Near-IR arrays with the same physical characteristics (e.g., JWST/NIRCam) may also benefit from the extension of this model if similar systematic profiles are observed.

Transcranial direct-current stimulation (tDCS) for bipolar depression: A systematic review and meta-analysis.

PubMed

Dondé, Clément; Amad, Ali; Nieto, Isabel; Brunoni, André Russowsky; Neufeld, Nicholas H; Bellivier, Frank; Poulet, Emmanuel; Geoffroy, Pierre-Alexis

2017-08-01

Bipolar disorder (BD) is a severe and recurrent brain disorder that can manifest in manic or depressive episodes. Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation (tDCS) has been proposed as a novel therapeutic modality for patients experiencing bipolar depression, for which standard treatments are often inefficient. While several studies have been conducted in this patient group, there has been no systematic review or meta-analysis that specifically examines bipolar depression. We aimed to address this gap in the literature and evaluated the efficacy and tolerability of tDCS in patients fulfilling DSM-IV-TR criteria for BD I, II, or BD not otherwise specified (NOS). We systematically searched the literature from April 2002 to November 2016 to identify relevant publications for inclusion in our systematic review and meta-analysis. Effect sizes for depression rating-scale scores were expressed as the standardized mean difference (SMD) before and after tDCS. Thirteen of 382 identified studies met eligibility criteria for our systematic review. The meta-analysis included 46 patients from 7 studies with depression rating-scale scores pre- and post-tDCS. Parameters of tDCS procedures were heterogeneous. Depression scores decreased significantly with a medium effect size after acute-phase of treatment (SMD 0.71 [0.25-1.18], z=3.00, p=0.003) and at the furthest endpoint (SMD 1.27 [0.57-1.97], z=3.57, p=0.0004). Six cases of affective switching under tDCS treatment protocols were observed. Depressive symptoms respond to tDCS in patients with BD. Additional studies, and particularly randomized controlled trials, are needed to clarify the effectiveness of tDCS in bipolar depression, the frequency of tDCS-emergent hypomania/mania, and which tDCS modalities are most efficient. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Impact of lateral boundary conditions on regional analyses

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Chikhar, Kamel; Gauthier, Pierre

2017-04-01

Regional and global climate models are usually validated by comparison to derived observations or reanalyses. Using a model in data assimilation results in a direct comparison to observations to produce its own analyses that may reveal systematic errors. In this study, regional analyses over North America are produced based on the fifth-generation Canadian Regional Climate Model (CRCM5) combined with the variational data assimilation system of the Meteorological Service of Canada (MSC). CRCM5 is driven at its boundaries by global analyses from ERA-interim or produced with the global configuration of the CRCM5. Assimilation cycles for the months of January and July 2011 revealed systematic errors in winter through large values in the mean analysis increments. This bias is attributed to the coupling of the lateral boundary conditions of the regional model with the driving data particularly over the northern boundary where a rapidly changing large scale circulation created significant cross-boundary flows. Increasing the time frequency of the lateral driving and applying a large-scale spectral nudging improved significantly the circulation through the lateral boundaries which translated in a much better agreement with observations.

Large Uncertainty in Estimating pCO2 From Carbonate Equilibria in Lakes

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Golub, Malgorzata; Desai, Ankur R.; McKinley, Galen A.; Remucal, Christina K.; Stanley, Emily H.

2017-11-01

Most estimates of carbon dioxide (CO2) evasion from freshwaters rely on calculating partial pressure of aquatic CO2 (pCO2) from two out of three CO2-related parameters using carbonate equilibria. However, the pCO2 uncertainty has not been systematically evaluated across multiple lake types and equilibria. We quantified random errors in pH, dissolved inorganic carbon, alkalinity, and temperature from the North Temperate Lakes Long-Term Ecological Research site in four lake groups across a broad gradient of chemical composition. These errors were propagated onto pCO2 calculated from three carbonate equilibria, and for overlapping observations, compared against uncertainties in directly measured pCO2. The empirical random errors in CO2-related parameters were mostly below 2% of their median values. Resulting random pCO2 errors ranged from ±3.7% to ±31.5% of the median depending on alkalinity group and choice of input parameter pairs. Temperature uncertainty had a negligible effect on pCO2. When compared with direct pCO2 measurements, all parameter combinations produced biased pCO2 estimates with less than one third of total uncertainty explained by random pCO2 errors, indicating that systematic uncertainty dominates over random error. Multidecadal trend of pCO2 was difficult to reconstruct from uncertain historical observations of CO2-related parameters. Given poor precision and accuracy of pCO2 estimates derived from virtually any combination of two CO2-related parameters, we recommend direct pCO2 measurements where possible. To achieve consistently robust estimates of CO2 emissions from freshwater components of terrestrial carbon balances, future efforts should focus on improving accuracy and precision of CO2-related parameters (including direct pCO2) measurements and associated pCO2 calculations.

On the relation between pitch and level.

PubMed

Zheng, Yi; Brette, Romain

2017-05-01

Pitch is the perceptual dimension along which musical notes are ordered from low to high. It is often described as the perceptual correlate of the periodicity of the sound's waveform. Previous reports have shown that pitch can depend slightly on sound level. We wanted to verify that these observations reflect genuine changes in perceived pitch, and were not due to procedural factors or confusion between dimensions of pitch and level. We first conducted a systematic pitch matching task and confirmed that the pitch of low frequency pure tones, but not complex tones, decreases by an amount equivalent to a change in frequency of more than half a semitone when level increases. We then showed that the structure of pitch shifts is anti-symmetric and transitive, as expected for changes in pitch. We also observed shifts in the same direction (although smaller) in an interval matching task. Finally, we observed that musicians are more precise in pitch matching tasks than non-musicians but show the same average shifts with level. These combined experiments confirm that the pitch of low frequency pure tones depends weakly but systematically on level. These observations pose a challenge to current theories of pitch. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Structural anomalies in undoped Gallium Arsenide observed in high resolution diffraction imaging with monochromatic synchrotron radiation

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Steiner, B.; Kuriyama, M.; Dobbyn, R. C.; Laor, U.; Larson, D.; Brown, M.

1988-01-01

Novel, streak-like disruption features restricted to the plane of diffraction have recently been observed in images obtained by synchrotron radiation diffraction from undoped, semi-insulating gallium arsenide crystals. These features were identified as ensembles of very thin platelets or interfaces lying in (110) planes, and a structural model consisting of antiphase domain boundaries was proposed. We report here the other principal features observed in high resolution monochromatic synchrotron radiation diffraction images: (quasi) cellular structure; linear, very low-angle subgrain boundaries in (110) directions, and surface stripes in a (110) direction. In addition, we report systematic differences in the acceptance angle for images involving various diffraction vectors. When these observations are considered together, a unifying picture emerges. The presence of ensembles of thin (110) antiphase platelet regions or boundaries is generally consistent not only with the streak-like diffraction features but with the other features reported here as well. For the formation of such regions we propose two mechanisms, operating in parallel, that appear to be consistent with the various defect features observed by a variety of techniques.

Structural anomalies in undoped gallium arsenide observed in high-resolution diffraction imaging with monochromatic synchrotron radiation

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Steiner, B.; Kuriyama, M.; Dobbyn, R. C.; Laor, U.; Larson, D.

1989-01-01

Novel, streak-like disruption features restricted to the plane of diffraction have recently been observed in images obtained by synchrotron radiation diffraction from undoped, semi-insulating gallium arsenide crystals. These features were identified as ensembles of very thin platelets or interfaces lying in (110) planes, and a structural model consisting of antiphase domain boundaries was proposed. We report here the other principal features observed in high resolution monochromatic synchrotron radiation diffraction images: (quasi) cellular structure; linear, very low-angle subgrain boundaries in (110) directions, and surface stripes in a (110) direction. In addition, we report systematic differences in the acceptance angle for images involving various diffraction vectors. When these observations are considered together, a unifying picture emerges. The presence of ensembles of thin (110) antiphase platelet regions or boundaries is generally consistent not only with the streak-like diffraction features but with the other features reported here as well. For the formation of such regions we propose two mechanisms, operating in parallel, that appear to be consistent with the various defect features observed by a variety of techniques.

Improved water resource management using three dimensional groundwater modelling for a highly complex environmental

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Moeck, Christian; Affolter, Annette; Radny, Dirk; Auckenthaler, Adrian; Huggenberger, Peter; Schirmer, Mario

2017-04-01

Proper allocation and management of groundwater is an important and critical challenge under rising water demands of various environmental sectors but good groundwater quality is often limited because of urbanization and contamination of aquifers. Given the predictive capability of groundwater models, they are often the only viable means of providing input to water management decisions. However, modelling flow and transport processes can be difficult due to their unknown subsurface heterogeneity and typically unknown distribution of contaminants. As a result water resource management tasks are based on uncertain assumption on contaminants patterns and this uncertainty is typically not incorporated into the assessment of risks associated with different proposed management scenarios. A three-dimensional groundwater model was used to improve water resource management for a study area, where drinking water production is close to different former landfills and industrial areas. To avoid drinking water contamination, artificial groundwater recharge with surface water into the gravel aquifer is used to create a hydraulic barrier between contaminated sites and drinking water extraction wells. The model was used for simulating existing and proposed water management strategies as a tool to ensure the utmost security for drinking water. A systematic evaluation of the flow direction and magnitude between existing observation points using a newly developed three point estimation method for a large amount of scenarios was carried out. Due to the numerous observation points 32 triangles (three-points) were created which cover the entire area around the Hardwald. We demonstrated that systematically applying our developed methodology helps to identify important locations which are sensitive to changing boundary conditions and where additional protection is required without highly computational demanding transport modelling. The presented integrated approach using the flow direction between observation points can be easily transferred to a variety of hydrological settings to evaluate systematically groundwater modelling scenarios.

Submillimeter Atmospheric Transparency at Maunakea, at the South Pole, and at Chajnantor

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Radford, Simon J. E.; Peterson, Jeffery B.

2016-07-01

For a systematic assessment of submillimeter observing conditions at different sites, we constructed tipping radiometers to measure the broad band atmospheric transparency in the window around 350 μm wavelength. The tippers were deployed on Maunakea, Hawaii, at the South Pole, and in the vicinity of Cerro Chajnantor in northern Chile. Identical instruments permit direct comparison of these sites. Observing conditions at the South Pole and in the Chajnantor area are better than on Maunakea. Simultaneous measurements with two tippers demonstrate conditions at the summit of Cerro Chajnantor are significantly better than on the Chajnantor plateau.

Direct Observation of Ultralow Vertical Emittance using a Vertical Undulator

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

Wootton, Kent

2015-09-17

In recent work, the first quantitative measurements of electron beam vertical emittance using a vertical undulator were presented, with particular emphasis given to ultralow vertical emittances [K. P. Wootton, et al., Phys. Rev. ST Accel. Beams, 17, 112802 (2014)]. Using this apparatus, a geometric vertical emittance of 0.9 ± 0.3 pm rad has been observed. A critical analysis is given of measurement approaches that were attempted, with particular emphasis on systematic and statistical uncertainties. The method used is explained, compared to other techniques and the applicability of these results to other scenarios discussed.

Derivation of the Boltzmann Equation for Financial Brownian Motion: Direct Observation of the Collective Motion of High-Frequency Traders.

PubMed

Kanazawa, Kiyoshi; Sueshige, Takumi; Takayasu, Hideki; Takayasu, Misako

2018-03-30

A microscopic model is established for financial Brownian motion from the direct observation of the dynamics of high-frequency traders (HFTs) in a foreign exchange market. Furthermore, a theoretical framework parallel to molecular kinetic theory is developed for the systematic description of the financial market from microscopic dynamics of HFTs. We report first on a microscopic empirical law of traders' trend-following behavior by tracking the trajectories of all individuals, which quantifies the collective motion of HFTs but has not been captured in conventional order-book models. We next introduce the corresponding microscopic model of HFTs and present its theoretical solution paralleling molecular kinetic theory: Boltzmann-like and Langevin-like equations are derived from the microscopic dynamics via the Bogoliubov-Born-Green-Kirkwood-Yvon hierarchy. Our model is the first microscopic model that has been directly validated through data analysis of the microscopic dynamics, exhibiting quantitative agreements with mesoscopic and macroscopic empirical results.

Derivation of the Boltzmann Equation for Financial Brownian Motion: Direct Observation of the Collective Motion of High-Frequency Traders

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kanazawa, Kiyoshi; Sueshige, Takumi; Takayasu, Hideki; Takayasu, Misako

2018-03-01

A microscopic model is established for financial Brownian motion from the direct observation of the dynamics of high-frequency traders (HFTs) in a foreign exchange market. Furthermore, a theoretical framework parallel to molecular kinetic theory is developed for the systematic description of the financial market from microscopic dynamics of HFTs. We report first on a microscopic empirical law of traders' trend-following behavior by tracking the trajectories of all individuals, which quantifies the collective motion of HFTs but has not been captured in conventional order-book models. We next introduce the corresponding microscopic model of HFTs and present its theoretical solution paralleling molecular kinetic theory: Boltzmann-like and Langevin-like equations are derived from the microscopic dynamics via the Bogoliubov-Born-Green-Kirkwood-Yvon hierarchy. Our model is the first microscopic model that has been directly validated through data analysis of the microscopic dynamics, exhibiting quantitative agreements with mesoscopic and macroscopic empirical results.

An Observation-Driven Agent-Based Modeling and Analysis Framework for C. elegans Embryogenesis.

PubMed

Wang, Zi; Ramsey, Benjamin J; Wang, Dali; Wong, Kwai; Li, Husheng; Wang, Eric; Bao, Zhirong

2016-01-01

With cutting-edge live microscopy and image analysis, biologists can now systematically track individual cells in complex tissues and quantify cellular behavior over extended time windows. Computational approaches that utilize the systematic and quantitative data are needed to understand how cells interact in vivo to give rise to the different cell types and 3D morphology of tissues. An agent-based, minimum descriptive modeling and analysis framework is presented in this paper to study C. elegans embryogenesis. The framework is designed to incorporate the large amounts of experimental observations on cellular behavior and reserve data structures/interfaces that allow regulatory mechanisms to be added as more insights are gained. Observed cellular behaviors are organized into lineage identity, timing and direction of cell division, and path of cell movement. The framework also includes global parameters such as the eggshell and a clock. Division and movement behaviors are driven by statistical models of the observations. Data structures/interfaces are reserved for gene list, cell-cell interaction, cell fate and landscape, and other global parameters until the descriptive model is replaced by a regulatory mechanism. This approach provides a framework to handle the ongoing experiments of single-cell analysis of complex tissues where mechanistic insights lag data collection and need to be validated on complex observations.

The cyber threat landscape: Challenges and future research directions

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gil, Santiago; Kott, Alexander; Barabási, Albert-László

2014-07-01

While much attention has been paid to the vulnerability of computer networks to node and link failure, there is limited systematic understanding of the factors that determine the likelihood that a node (computer) is compromised. We therefore collect threat log data in a university network to study the patterns of threat activity for individual hosts. We relate this information to the properties of each host as observed through network-wide scans, establishing associations between the network services a host is running and the kinds of threats to which it is susceptible. We propose a methodology to associate services to threats inspired by the tools used in genetics to identify statistical associations between mutations and diseases. The proposed approach allows us to determine probabilities of infection directly from observation, offering an automated high-throughput strategy to develop comprehensive metrics for cyber-security.

Personality and Employment Transitions at Older Ages: Direct and Indirect Effects through Non-Monetary Job Characteristics

PubMed Central

Angrisani, Marco; Hurd, Michael D.; Meijer, Erik; Parker, Andrew M.; Rohwedder, Susann

2017-01-01

We study whether individuals with different personality traits systematically exhibit different retirement trajectories. We find weak direct associations between personality and employment transitions. On the other hand, personality does contribute indirectly to these transitions by moderating the effects of non-monetary job characteristics. Specifically, workers with different traits are observed to follow different retirement paths when faced with similar physical demands, computer skills requirements, job flexibility and age discrimination in the workplace. Contrary to other economic domains, conscientiousness does not have the strongest association with retirement; the other components of the Big Five personality traits show more salient patterns. PMID:28890652

Far infrared edge photoresponse and persistent edge transport in an inverted InAs/GaSb heterostructure

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

Dyer, G. C.; Olson, B. V.; Hawkins, S. D.

2016-01-04

Direct current (DC) transport and far infrared photoresponse were studied an InAs/GaSb double quantum well with an inverted band structure. The DC transport depends systematically upon the DC bias configuration and operating temperature. Surprisingly, it reveals robust edge conduction despite prevalent bulk transport in our device of macroscopic size. Under 180 GHz far infrared illumination at oblique incidence, we measured a strong photovoltaic response. We conclude that quantum spin Hall edge transport produces the observed transverse photovoltages. Overall, our experimental results support a hypothesis that the photoresponse arises from direct coupling of the incident radiation field to edge states.

Job demands and resting and napping opportunities for nurses during night shifts: impact on sleepiness and self-evaluated quality of healthcare.

PubMed

Barthe, Béatrice; Tirilly, Ghislaine; Gentil, Catherine; Toupin, Cathy

2016-01-01

The aim of this field study is to describe night shift resting and napping strategies and to examine their beneficial effects on sleepiness and quality of work. The study was carried out with 16 nurses working in an intensive care unit. Data collected during 20 night shifts were related to job demands (systematic observations), to the duration and timing of rests and naps taken by nurses (systematic observations, sleep diaries), to sleepiness (Karolinska Sleepiness Scale), and to quality of work scores (visual analog scale). The results showed that the number of rests and naps depended on the job demands. Resting and napping lowered the levels of sleepiness at the end of the shift. There was no direct relationship between sleepiness and the quality of work score. Discussions about the choice of indicators for the quality of work are necessary. Suggestions for implementing regulations for prescribed napping during night shifts are presented.

Effect of Gender on the Knowledge of Medicinal Plants: Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

PubMed Central

Torres-Avilez, Wendy; de Medeiros, Patrícia Muniz

2016-01-01

Knowledge of medicinal plants is not only one of the main components in the structure of knowledge in local medical systems but also one of the most studied resources. This study uses a systematic review and meta-analysis of a compilation of ethnobiological studies with a medicinal plant component and the variable of gender to evaluate whether there is a gender-based pattern in medicinal plant knowledge on different scales (national, continental, and global). In this study, three types of meta-analysis are conducted on different scales. We detect no significant differences on the global level; women and men have the same rich knowledge. On the national and continental levels, significant differences are observed in both directions (significant for men and for women), and a lack of significant differences in the knowledge of the genders is also observed. This finding demonstrates that there is no gender-based pattern for knowledge on different scales. PMID:27795730

Nanoscale Inhomogeneous Superconductivity in Fe(Te1-xSex) Probed by Nanostructure Transport.

PubMed

Yue, Chunlei; Hu, Jin; Liu, Xue; Sanchez, Ana M; Mao, Zhiqiang; Wei, Jiang

2016-01-26

Among iron-based superconductors, the layered iron chalcogenide Fe(Te1-xSex) is structurally the simplest and has attracted considerable attention. It has been speculated from bulk studies that nanoscale inhomogeneous superconductivity may inherently exist in this system. However, this has not been directly observed from nanoscale transport measurements. In this work, through simple micromechanical exfoliation and high-precision low-energy ion milling thinning, we prepared Fe(Te0.5Se0.5) nanoflakes with various thicknesses and systematically studied the correlation between the thickness and superconducting phase transition. Our result revealed a systematic thickness-dependent evolution of superconducting transition. When the thickness of the Fe(Te0.5Se0.5) flake is reduced to less than the characteristic inhomogeneity length (around 12 nm), both the superconducting current path and the metallicity of the normal state in Fe(Te0.5Se0.5) atomic sheets are suppressed. This observation provides the first transport evidence for the nanoscale inhomogeneous nature of superconductivity in Fe(Te1-xSex).

Observations of the anisotropy in the cosmic microwave background by the FIRS, SK93, and MSAM-I experiments

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Kowitt, Matt; Cheng, Ed; Silverberg, Bob; Ganga, Ken; Page, Lyman; Jarosik, Norm; Netterfield, Barth; Wilkinson, Dave; Meyer, Stephan; Inman, Casey;

Improving Photometric Calibration of Meteor Video Camera Systems.

PubMed

Ehlert, Steven; Kingery, Aaron; Suggs, Robert

2017-09-01

We present the results of new calibration tests performed by the NASA Meteoroid Environment Office (MEO) designed to help quantify and minimize systematic uncertainties in meteor photometry from video camera observations. These systematic uncertainties can be categorized by two main sources: an imperfect understanding of the linearity correction for the MEO's Watec 902H2 Ultimate video cameras and uncertainties in meteor magnitudes arising from transformations between the Watec camera's Sony EX-View HAD bandpass and the bandpasses used to determine reference star magnitudes. To address the first point, we have measured the linearity response of the MEO's standard meteor video cameras using two independent laboratory tests on eight cameras. Our empirically determined linearity correction is critical for performing accurate photometry at low camera intensity levels. With regards to the second point, we have calculated synthetic magnitudes in the EX bandpass for reference stars. These synthetic magnitudes enable direct calculations of the meteor's photometric flux within the camera band pass without requiring any assumptions of its spectral energy distribution. Systematic uncertainties in the synthetic magnitudes of individual reference stars are estimated at ∼ 0.20 mag, and are limited by the available spectral information in the reference catalogs. These two improvements allow for zero-points accurate to ∼ 0.05 - 0.10 mag in both filtered and unfiltered camera observations with no evidence for lingering systematics. These improvements are essential to accurately measuring photometric masses of individual meteors and source mass indexes.

Improving Photometric Calibration of Meteor Video Camera Systems

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Ehlert, Steven; Kingery, Aaron; Suggs, Robert

2017-01-01

We present the results of new calibration tests performed by the NASA Meteoroid Environment Office (MEO) designed to help quantify and minimize systematic uncertainties in meteor photometry from video camera observations. These systematic uncertainties can be categorized by two main sources: an imperfect understanding of the linearity correction for the MEO's Watec 902H2 Ultimate video cameras and uncertainties in meteor magnitudes arising from transformations between the Watec camera's Sony EX-View HAD bandpass and the bandpasses used to determine reference star magnitudes. To address the first point, we have measured the linearity response of the MEO's standard meteor video cameras using two independent laboratory tests on eight cameras. Our empirically determined linearity correction is critical for performing accurate photometry at low camera intensity levels. With regards to the second point, we have calculated synthetic magnitudes in the EX bandpass for reference stars. These synthetic magnitudes enable direct calculations of the meteor's photometric flux within the camera bandpass without requiring any assumptions of its spectral energy distribution. Systematic uncertainties in the synthetic magnitudes of individual reference stars are estimated at approx. 0.20 mag, and are limited by the available spectral information in the reference catalogs. These two improvements allow for zero-points accurate to 0.05 - 0.10 mag in both filtered and unfiltered camera observations with no evidence for lingering systematics. These improvements are essential to accurately measuring photometric masses of individual meteors and source mass indexes.

Outcomes in the offspring of mothers with pre-diabetes during pregnancy: a protocol for a systematic review.

PubMed

Swaleh, Rukia; Zeng, Ling; Mbuagbaw, Lawrence; Morrison, Katherine M

2015-05-10

Despite the increasing prevalence of pre-diabetes worldwide, there is insufficient literature on the impact of gestational pre-diabetes on offspring outcomes. The objective of this systematic review is to determine the risk of developing adverse outcomes for the offspring in women with pre-diabetes compared to women with normal glucose levels and women with gestational diabetes mellitus. A systematic search of the published literature will be conducted for experimental and observational studies that report outcomes in the offspring of mothers with pre-diabetes during pregnancy. Databases including EMBASE, PsycINFO, and PubMed will be searched from 1979 (the year when the terms impaired glucose tolerance and pre-diabetes were coined) to December 2014. Screening of identified articles and data extraction will be conducted in duplicate and independently. Methodological quality of the included studies will be assessed using the Newcastle-Ottawa scale. Discrepancies will be resolved by consensus or by consulting a third author. Meta-analyses will be performed, and findings will be reported according to the preferred reporting items for systematic reviews and meta-analyses (PRISMA) and the meta-analysis of observational studies in epidemiology (MOOSE) guidelines. Determining the effect of pre-diabetes on offspring outcome will be important for clinicians providing care to pregnant women and their offspring. This review will also identify any gaps in the current literature on this topic and provide direction for future research in this area of study. PROSPERO CRD42015015536.

The wide skirt of the bashful ballerina: Hemispheric asymmetry of the heliospheric magnetic field in the inner and outer heliosphere

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Mursula, K.; Virtanen, I.

2012-04-01

We reanalyze the observations of the heliospheric magnetic field (HMF) made by the Pioneer 10 and 11 and Voyager 1 and 2 heliospheric probes since 1972, and calculate the HMF sector occurrence ratios and tangential component strengths in the different regions of the heliosphere. Observations at the distant probes and at 1 AU show a very consistent picture of the HMF sector structure in the entire heliosphere, and even beyond the termination shock. Pioneer 11 and Voyager 1 show that the development of northern polar coronal holes was very systematic and active during all the four solar minima since mid-1970s. On the other hand, Voyager 2 observations show a less systematic and delayed development of southern coronal holes in 1980s, 1990s and 2000s. This delay in the evolution of southern coronal holes with respect to the rapid and systematic evolution of northern coronal holes leads to a larger extent of northern coronal holes and a southward shift of the heliospheric current sheet (the bashful ballerina phenomenon) for a few years in the late declining phase of each solar cycle. HMF observations of the probes also directly verify the HCS southward shift, supporting earlier observations at 1-2 AU by the Ulysses probe and Earth-orbiting satellites and extending them into the more distant heliosphere. Although the evidence for the connection between the temporal difference in the evolution of polar coronal holes and the bashful ballerina times is based only on three solar cycles, this may be a common pattern for solar coronal hole evolution since the southward shift of the HCS has occurred at least since solar cycle 16.

Discovery of Lorentz-violating type II Weyl fermions in LaAlGe

PubMed Central

Xu, Su-Yang; Alidoust, Nasser; Chang, Guoqing; Lu, Hong; Singh, Bahadur; Belopolski, Ilya; Sanchez, Daniel S.; Zhang, Xiao; Bian, Guang; Zheng, Hao; Husanu, Marious-Adrian; Bian, Yi; Huang, Shin-Ming; Hsu, Chuang-Han; Chang, Tay-Rong; Jeng, Horng-Tay; Bansil, Arun; Neupert, Titus; Strocov, Vladimir N.; Lin, Hsin; Jia, Shuang; Hasan, M. Zahid

2017-01-01

In quantum field theory, Weyl fermions are relativistic particles that travel at the speed of light and strictly obey the celebrated Lorentz symmetry. Their low-energy condensed matter analogs are Weyl semimetals, which are conductors whose electronic excitations mimic the Weyl fermion equation of motion. Although the traditional (type I) emergent Weyl fermions observed in TaAs still approximately respect Lorentz symmetry, recently, the so-called type II Weyl semimetal has been proposed, where the emergent Weyl quasiparticles break the Lorentz symmetry so strongly that they cannot be smoothly connected to Lorentz symmetric Weyl particles. Despite some evidence of nontrivial surface states, the direct observation of the type II bulk Weyl fermions remains elusive. We present the direct observation of the type II Weyl fermions in crystalline solid lanthanum aluminum germanide (LaAlGe) based on our photoemission data alone, without reliance on band structure calculations. Moreover, our systematic data agree with the theoretical calculations, providing further support on our experimental results. PMID:28630919

Interstellar Flow and Temperature Determination with IBEX: Robustness and Sensitivity to Systematic Effects

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Möbius, E.; Bzowski, M.; Frisch, P. C.; Fuselier, S. A.; Heirtzler, D.; Kubiak, M. A.; Kucharek, H.; Lee, M. A.; Leonard, T.; McComas, D. J.; Schwadron, N. A.; Sokół, J. M.; Swaczyna, P.; Wurz, P.

2015-10-01

The Interstellar Boundary Explorer (IBEX) samples the interstellar neutral (ISN) gas flow of several species every year from December through late March when the Earth moves into the incoming flow. The first quantitative analyses of these data resulted in a narrow tube in four-dimensional interstellar parameter space, which couples speed, flow latitude, flow longitude, and temperature, and center values with approximately 3° larger longitude and 3 km s-1 lower speed, but with temperatures similar to those obtained from observations by the Ulysses spacecraft. IBEX has now recorded six years of ISN flow observations, providing a large database over increasing solar activity and using varying viewing strategies. In this paper, we evaluate systematic effects that are important for the ISN flow vector and temperature determination. We find that all models in use return ISN parameters well within the observational uncertainties and that the derived ISN flow direction is resilient against uncertainties in the ionization rate. We establish observationally an effective IBEX-Lo pointing uncertainty of ±0.°18 in spin angle and confirm an uncertainty of ±0.°1 in longitude. We also show that the IBEX viewing strategy with different spin-axis orientations minimizes the impact of several systematic uncertainties, and thus improves the robustness of the measurement. The Helium Warm Breeze has likely contributed substantially to the somewhat different center values of the ISN flow vector. By separating the flow vector and temperature determination, we can mitigate these effects on the analysis, which returns an ISN flow vector very close to the Ulysses results, but with a substantially higher temperature. Due to coupling with the ISN flow speed along the ISN parameter tube, we provide the temperature {T}{VISN∞ }=8710+440/-680 K for {V}{ISN∞ }=26 {km} {{{s}}}-1 for comparison, where most of the uncertainty is systematic and likely due to the presence of the Warm Breeze.

Interventions to improve adherence to tuberculosis treatment: systematic review and meta-analysis.

PubMed

Müller, A M; Osório, C S; Silva, D R; Sbruzzi, G; de Tarso, P; Dalcin, Roth

2018-07-01

One of the most serious problems in tuberculosis (TB) control is non-adherence to treatment. Several strategies have been developed to improve adherence and increase the cure rate. To systematically review interventions to improve adherence to anti-tuberculosis treatment. We performed a systematic review and meta-analysis of 22 randomised clinical trials (RCTs) to ascertain whether providing directly observed treatment, short-course (DOTS), financial incentives, food incentives and/or patient education/counselling improved adherence to anti-tuberculosis treatment. The primary outcome was cure rate; secondary outcomes were default and mortality rates. Sources used were Medline (accessed via PubMed), Cochrane Central, LILACS (Literatura Latino Americana em Ciências da Saúde, Latin American and Caribbean Health Sciences Literature) and Embase from inception to October 2015. A significant increase in cure rates, by 18% with DOTS and by 16% with patient education and counselling, was observed. In addition, the default rate decreased by 49% with DOTS, by 26% with financial incentives and by 13% with patient education and counselling. There was no statistically significant reduction in mortality rates with these interventions. Use of DOTS and patient education/counselling significantly improved cure rates; DOTS, patient education/counselling and financial incentives led to a reduction in the default rate.

Sunyaev-Zel'dovich Effect and X-ray Scaling Relations from Weak-Lensing Mass Calibration of 32 SPT Selected Galaxy Clusters

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

Dietrich, J.P.; et al.

Uncertainty in the mass-observable scaling relations is currently the limiting factor for galaxy cluster based cosmology. Weak gravitational lensing can provide a direct mass calibration and reduce the mass uncertainty. We present new ground-based weak lensing observations of 19 South Pole Telescope (SPT) selected clusters and combine them with previously reported space-based observations of 13 galaxy clusters to constrain the cluster mass scaling relations with the Sunyaev-Zel'dovich effect (SZE), the cluster gas massmore » $$M_\\mathrm{gas}$$, and $$Y_\\mathrm{X}$$, the product of $$M_\\mathrm{gas}$$ and X-ray temperature. We extend a previously used framework for the analysis of scaling relations and cosmological constraints obtained from SPT-selected clusters to make use of weak lensing information. We introduce a new approach to estimate the effective average redshift distribution of background galaxies and quantify a number of systematic errors affecting the weak lensing modelling. These errors include a calibration of the bias incurred by fitting a Navarro-Frenk-White profile to the reduced shear using $N$-body simulations. We blind the analysis to avoid confirmation bias. We are able to limit the systematic uncertainties to 6.4% in cluster mass (68% confidence). Our constraints on the mass-X-ray observable scaling relations parameters are consistent with those obtained by earlier studies, and our constraints for the mass-SZE scaling relation are consistent with the the simulation-based prior used in the most recent SPT-SZ cosmology analysis. We can now replace the external mass calibration priors used in previous SPT-SZ cosmology studies with a direct, internal calibration obtained on the same clusters.« less

Relevance of hydro-climatic change projection and monitoring for assessment of water cycle changes in the Arctic.

PubMed

Bring, Arvid; Destouni, Georgia

2011-06-01

Rapid changes to the Arctic hydrological cycle challenge both our process understanding and our ability to find appropriate adaptation strategies. We have investigated the relevance and accuracy development of climate change projections for assessment of water cycle changes in major Arctic drainage basins. Results show relatively good agreement of climate model projections with observed temperature changes, but high model inaccuracy relative to available observation data for precipitation changes. Direct observations further show systematically larger (smaller) runoff than precipitation increases (decreases). This result is partly attributable to uncertainties and systematic bias in precipitation observations, but still indicates that some of the observed increase in Arctic river runoff is due to water storage changes, for example melting permafrost and/or groundwater storage changes, within the drainage basins. Such causes of runoff change affect sea level, in addition to ocean salinity, and inland water resources, ecosystems, and infrastructure. Process-based hydrological modeling and observations, which can resolve changes in evapotranspiration, and groundwater and permafrost storage at and below river basin scales, are needed in order to accurately interpret and translate climate-driven precipitation changes to changes in freshwater cycling and runoff. In contrast to this need, our results show that the density of Arctic runoff monitoring has become increasingly biased and less relevant by decreasing most and being lowest in river basins with the largest expected climatic changes.

Relationship of salivary and plasma cortisol levels in preterm infants: results of a prospective observational study and systematic review of the literature.

PubMed

Maas, Christoph; Ringwald, Christine; Weber, Karin; Engel, Corinna; Poets, Christian F; Binder, Gerhard; Bassler, Dirk

2014-01-01

(1) To investigate the relationship of salivary and plasma cortisol levels in preterm infants with a focus on the usability of salivary cortisol in diagnostic work-up of infants at risk of adrenal insufficiency. (2) To perform a systematic review addressing this question. Clinical study: We conducted a prospective observational single-center study in preterm infants. We analyzed plasma and saliva cortisol concentrations by enzyme immunoassay. Correlation analysis was used to determine the relation between salivary and plasma cortisol levels and the agreement of the measurement methods was analyzed according to Bland-Altman. Systematic review: A systematic literature search (PubMed and Embase) on the relationship of salivary and plasma cortisol levels in neonates was performed in November 2012. Clinical study: We enrolled 58 preterm infants (median (interquartile range) gestational age at birth was 31.4 (28.1-32.7) weeks, birth weight 1,340 (974-1,745) g, respectively). Correlation analyses revealed a relationship of plasma cortisol and salivary cortisol levels. Rank correlation coefficient was 0.6. Estimating plasma cortisol levels based on measured salivary cortisol levels showed poor agreement of the two methods for determining plasma cortisol levels (direct and via salivary cortisol). Sensitivity and specificity of salivary cortisol for the detection of adrenal insufficiency were 0.66 and 0.62, respectively. Systematic review: Six studies in preterm infants and term neonates depicting the correlation of salivary and plasma cortisol were identified with a range of saliva-plasma correlation coefficients from 0.44 to 0.83. Substitution of plasma cortisol by salivary cortisol determination cannot be recommended in preterm infants because of unsatisfactory agreement between methods.

Inter- and Intrafraction Target Motion in Highly Focused Single Vocal Cord Irradiation of T1a Larynx Cancer Patients

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

Kwa, Stefan L.S., E-mail: s.kwa@erasmusmc.nl; Al-Mamgani, Abrahim; Osman, Sarah O.S.

2015-09-01

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to verify clinical target volume–planning target volume (CTV-PTV) margins in single vocal cord irradiation (SVCI) of T1a larynx tumors and characterize inter- and intrafraction target motion. Methods and Materials: For 42 patients, a single vocal cord was irradiated using intensity modulated radiation therapy at a total dose of 58.1 Gy (16 fractions × 3.63 Gy). A daily cone beam computed tomography (CBCT) scan was performed to online correct the setup of the thyroid cartilage after patient positioning with in-room lasers (interfraction motion correction). To monitor intrafraction motion, CBCT scans were also acquired just after patient repositioning and aftermore » dose delivery. A mixed online-offline setup correction protocol (“O2 protocol”) was designed to compensate for both inter- and intrafraction motion. Results: Observed interfraction, systematic (Σ), and random (σ) setup errors in left-right (LR), craniocaudal (CC), and anteroposterior (AP) directions were 0.9, 2.0, and 1.1 mm and 1.0, 1.6, and 1.0 mm, respectively. After correction of these errors, the following intrafraction movements derived from the CBCT acquired after dose delivery were: Σ = 0.4, 1.3, and 0.7 mm, and σ = 0.8, 1.4, and 0.8 mm. More than half of the patients showed a systematic non-zero intrafraction shift in target position, (ie, the mean intrafraction displacement over the treatment fractions was statistically significantly different from zero; P<.05). With the applied CTV-PTV margins (for most patients 3, 5, and 3 mm in LR, CC, and AP directions, respectively), the minimum CTV dose, estimated from the target displacements observed in the last CBCT, was at least 94% of the prescribed dose for all patients and more than 98% for most patients (37 of 42). The proposed O2 protocol could effectively reduce the systematic intrafraction errors observed after dose delivery to almost zero (Σ = 0.1, 0.2, 0.2 mm). Conclusions: With adequate image guidance and CTV-PTV margins in LR, CC, and AP directions of 3, 5, and 3 mm, respectively, excellent target coverage in SVCI could be ensured.« less

The risks and benefits of patients temporarily discontinuing medications in the event of an intercurrent illness: a systematic review protocol.

PubMed

Morden, Andrew; Horwood, Jeremy; Whiting, Penny; Savovic, Jelena; Tomlinson, Laurie; Blakeman, Thomas; Tomson, Charles; Richards, Alison; Stone, Tracey; Caskey, Fergus

2015-10-24

Acute kidney injury (AKI) is common and often leads to significant morbidity and/or death. The development of AKI, or complications associated with it, may be due to use of certain medications in at-risk patients experiencing an intercurrent illness. Implicated drugs include diuretics, angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitors/angiotensin receptor blockers/direct renin inhibitors, non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs), metformin and sulfonylureas. Expert consensus opinion (and clinical guidelines) recommend considering discontinuation of diuretics, angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitors/angiotensin receptor blockers/direct renin inhibitors, NSAIDs, metformin and sulfonylureas in the event of an intercurrent illness to prevent AKI onset or reduce severity or complications. However, the evidence base for these recommendations is very limited. This systematic review aims to address the available evidence for the temporary discontinuation of diuretics, ACE inhibitors, angiotensin receptor blockers, direct renin inhibitors, non-steroidal anti-inflammatories and metformin and sulfonylureas for those at risk of AKI or with newly diagnosed AKI. Randomised controlled trials; non-randomised trials; cohort studies; case-control studies; interrupted time series studies; and before-and-after studies featuring adults aged 18 and over in any setting currently taking diuretics, angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitors/angiotensin receptor blockers/direct renin inhibitors, NSAIDs and metformin; experiencing an intercurrent illness; or undergoing a radiological/surgical procedure (planned or unplanned) will be searched for. Relevant trial registers and systematic review databases will be searched. Systematic reviews will be assessed for methodological quality using the ROBIS tool, trials will be assessed using the Cochrane risk of bias tool, and observational studies will be assessed using the ACROBAT-NRS tool. If sufficient studies assessing similar populations, study type, settings and outcomes are found, then a formal meta-analysis will be performed to estimate summary measures of effect. If not, a narrative synthesis will be adopted. This review will synthesise evidence for the efficacy of discontinuing diuretics, angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitors/angiotensin receptor blockers/direct renin inhibitors, NSAIDs, metformin or sulfonylureas to prevent or delay onset of AKI or associated complications. Results will provide guidance on efficacy and safety of this strategy and potentially help to develop an intervention to test the best mechanism of guiding medication discontinuation in at-risk populations. PROSPERO CRD42015023210.

Statistical process control and verifying positional accuracy of a cobra motion couch using step-wedge quality assurance tool.

PubMed

Binny, Diana; Lancaster, Craig M; Trapp, Jamie V; Crowe, Scott B

2017-09-01

This study utilizes process control techniques to identify action limits for TomoTherapy couch positioning quality assurance tests. A test was introduced to monitor accuracy of the applied couch offset detection in the TomoTherapy Hi-Art treatment system using the TQA "Step-Wedge Helical" module and MVCT detector. Individual X-charts, process capability (cp), probability (P), and acceptability (cpk) indices were used to monitor a 4-year couch IEC offset data to detect systematic and random errors in the couch positional accuracy for different action levels. Process capability tests were also performed on the retrospective data to define tolerances based on user-specified levels. A second study was carried out whereby physical couch offsets were applied using the TQA module and the MVCT detector was used to detect the observed variations. Random and systematic variations were observed for the SPC-based upper and lower control limits, and investigations were carried out to maintain the ongoing stability of the process for a 4-year and a three-monthly period. Local trend analysis showed mean variations up to ±0.5 mm in the three-monthly analysis period for all IEC offset measurements. Variations were also observed in the detected versus applied offsets using the MVCT detector in the second study largely in the vertical direction, and actions were taken to remediate this error. Based on the results, it was recommended that imaging shifts in each coordinate direction be only applied after assessing the machine for applied versus detected test results using the step helical module. User-specified tolerance levels of at least ±2 mm were recommended for a test frequency of once every 3 months to improve couch positional accuracy. SPC enables detection of systematic variations prior to reaching machine tolerance levels. Couch encoding system recalibrations reduced variations to user-specified levels and a monitoring period of 3 months using SPC facilitated in detecting systematic and random variations. SPC analysis for couch positional accuracy enabled greater control in the identification of errors, thereby increasing confidence levels in daily treatment setups. © 2017 Royal Brisbane and Women's Hospital, Metro North Hospital and Health Service. Journal of Applied Clinical Medical Physics published by Wiley Periodicals, Inc. on behalf of American Association of Physicists in Medicine.

Landfills as critical infrastructures: analysis of observational datasets after 12 years of non-invasive monitoring

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Scozzari, Andrea; Raco, Brunella; Battaglini, Raffaele

2016-04-01

This work presents the results of more than ten years of observations, performed on a regular basis, on a municipal solid waste disposal located in Italy. Observational data are generated by the combination of non-invasive techniques, involving the direct measurement of biogas release to the atmosphere and thermal infrared imaging. In fact, part of the generated biogas tends to escape from the landfill surface even when collecting systems are installed and properly working. Thus, methodologies for estimating the behaviour of a landfill system by means of direct and/or indirect measurement systems have been developed in the last decades. It is nowadays known that these infrastructures produce more than 20% of the total anthropogenic methane released to the atmosphere, justifying the need for a systematic and efficient monitoring of such infrastructures. During the last 12 years, observational data regarding a solid waste disposal site located in Tuscany (Italy) have been collected on a regular basis. The collected datasets consist in direct measurements of gas flux with the accumulation chamber method, combined with the detection of thermal anomalies by infrared radiometry. This work discusses the evolution of the estimated performance of the landfill system, its trends, the benefits and the critical aspects of such relatively long-term monitoring activity.

Treatment of systematic errors in land data assimilation systems

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Crow, W. T.; Yilmaz, M.

2012-12-01

Data assimilation systems are generally designed to minimize the influence of random error on the estimation of system states. Yet, experience with land data assimilation systems has also revealed the presence of large systematic differences between model-derived and remotely-sensed estimates of land surface states. Such differences are commonly resolved prior to data assimilation through implementation of a pre-processing rescaling step whereby observations are scaled (or non-linearly transformed) to somehow "match" comparable predictions made by an assimilation model. While the rationale for removing systematic differences in means (i.e., bias) between models and observations is well-established, relatively little theoretical guidance is currently available to determine the appropriate treatment of higher-order moments during rescaling. This talk presents a simple analytical argument to define an optimal linear-rescaling strategy for observations prior to their assimilation into a land surface model. While a technique based on triple collocation theory is shown to replicate this optimal strategy, commonly-applied rescaling techniques (e.g., so called "least-squares regression" and "variance matching" approaches) are shown to represent only sub-optimal approximations to it. Since the triple collocation approach is likely infeasible in many real-world circumstances, general advice for deciding between various feasible (yet sub-optimal) rescaling approaches will be presented with an emphasis of the implications of this work for the case of directly assimilating satellite radiances. While the bulk of the analysis will deal with linear rescaling techniques, its extension to nonlinear cases will also be discussed.

Spatial interpolation of solar global radiation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lussana, C.; Uboldi, F.; Antoniazzi, C.

2010-09-01

Solar global radiation is defined as the radiant flux incident onto an area element of the terrestrial surface. Its direct knowledge plays a crucial role in many applications, from agrometeorology to environmental meteorology. The ARPA Lombardia's meteorological network includes about one hundred of pyranometers, mostly distributed in the southern part of the Alps and in the centre of the Po Plain. A statistical interpolation method based on an implementation of the Optimal Interpolation is applied to the hourly average of the solar global radiation observations measured by the ARPA Lombardia's network. The background field is obtained using SMARTS (The Simple Model of the Atmospheric Radiative Transfer of Sunshine, Gueymard, 2001). The model is initialised by assuming clear sky conditions and it takes into account the solar position and orography related effects (shade and reflection). The interpolation of pyranometric observations introduces in the analysis fields information about cloud presence and influence. A particular effort is devoted to prevent observations affected by large errors of different kinds (representativity errors, systematic errors, gross errors) from entering the analysis procedure. The inclusion of direct cloud information from satellite observations is also planned.

Attention and Cognitive Styles.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Wright, John C.; Vlietstra, Alice G.

This study investigated two methods for establishing a systematic, selective, attending strategy in a memory task for children. One method was direct training of a specific strategy, employing instructions, fading, modeling, and prompts to direct the child's attention to the relevant features and to organize systematic looking behavior. The second…

Direct microscopic observation of forward osmosis membrane fouling.

PubMed

Wang, Yining; Wicaksana, Filicia; Tang, Chuyang Y; Fane, Anthony G

2010-09-15

This study describes the application of a noninvasive direct microscopic observation method for characterizing fouling of a forward osmosis (FO) membrane. The effect of the draw solution concentration, membrane orientation, and feed spacer on FO fouling was systematically investigated in a cross-flow setup using latex particles as model foulant in the feedwater. Higher draw solution (DS) concentrations (and thus increased flux levels) resulted in dramatic increase in the surface coverage by latex particles, suggesting that the critical flux concept might be applicable even for the osmotically driven FO process. Under identical draw solution concentrations, the active-layer-facing-the-feed-solution orientation (AL-FS) experienced significantly less fouling compared to the alternative orientation. This may be explained by the lower water flux in AL-FS, which is consistent with the critical flux concept. The use of a feed spacer not only dramatically enhanced the initial flux of the FO membrane, but also significantly improved the flux stability during FO fouling. Despite such beneficial effects of using the feed spacer, a significant amount of particle accumulation was found near the spacer filament, suggesting further opportunities for improved spacer design. To the best of the authors' knowledge, this is the first direct microscopic observation study on FO fouling.

Analysis of trends in experimental observables: Reconstruction of the implosion dynamics and implications for fusion yield extrapolation for direct-drive cryogenic targets on OMEGA

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bose, A.; Betti, R.; Mangino, D.; Woo, K. M.; Patel, D.; Christopherson, A. R.; Gopalaswamy, V.; Mannion, O. M.; Regan, S. P.; Goncharov, V. N.; Edgell, D. H.; Forrest, C. J.; Frenje, J. A.; Gatu Johnson, M.; Yu Glebov, V.; Igumenshchev, I. V.; Knauer, J. P.; Marshall, F. J.; Radha, P. B.; Shah, R.; Stoeckl, C.; Theobald, W.; Sangster, T. C.; Shvarts, D.; Campbell, E. M.

2018-06-01

This paper describes a technique for identifying trends in performance degradation for inertial confinement fusion implosion experiments. It is based on reconstruction of the implosion core with a combination of low- and mid-mode asymmetries. This technique was applied to an ensemble of hydro-equivalent deuterium-tritium implosions on OMEGA which achieved inferred hot-spot pressures ≈56 ± 7 Gbar [Regan et al., Phys. Rev. Lett. 117, 025001 (2016)]. All the experimental observables pertaining to the core could be reconstructed simultaneously with the same combination of low and mid-modes. This suggests that in addition to low modes, which can cause a degradation of the stagnation pressure, mid-modes are present which reduce the size of the neutron and x-ray producing volume. The systematic analysis shows that asymmetries can cause an overestimation of the total areal density in these implosions. It is also found that an improvement in implosion symmetry resulting from correction of either the systematic mid or low modes would result in an increase in the hot-spot pressure from 56 Gbar to ≈ 80 Gbar and could produce a burning plasma when the implosion core is extrapolated to an equivalent 1.9 MJ symmetric direct illumination [Bose et al., Phys. Rev. E 94, 011201(R) (2016)].

Analysis of trends in experimental observables: Reconstruction of the implosion dynamics and implications for fusion yield extrapolation for direct-drive cryogenic targets on OMEGA

DOE PAGES

Bose, A.; Betti, R.; Mangino, D.; ...

2018-05-29

This paper describes a technique for identifying trends in performance degradation for inertial con finement fusion implosion experiments. It is based on reconstruction of the implosion core with a combination of low- and mid-mode asymmetries. This technique was applied to an ensemble of hydro-equivalent deuterium-tritium implosions on OMEGA that achieved inferred hot-spot pressures ≈56 ± 7 Gbar [S. Regan et al., Phys. Rev. Lett. 117, 025001 (2016)]. All the experimental observables pertaining to the core could be reconstructed simultaneously with the same combination of low and mid modes. This suggests that in addition to low modes, that can cause amore » degradation of the stagnation pressure, mid modes are present that reduce the size of the neutron and x-ray producing volume. The systematic analysis shows that asymmetries can cause an overestimation of the total areal density in these implosions. Finally, it is also found that an improvement in implosion symmetry resulting from correction of either the systematic mid or low modes would result in an increase of the hot-spot pressure from 56 Gbar to ≈ 80 Gbar and could produce a burning plasma when the implosion core is extrapolated to an equivalent 1.9 MJ symmetric direct illumination [A. Bose et al., Phys. Rev. E 94, 011201(R) (2016)].« less

Analysis of trends in experimental observables: Reconstruction of the implosion dynamics and implications for fusion yield extrapolation for direct-drive cryogenic targets on OMEGA

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

Bose, A.; Betti, R.; Mangino, D.

This paper describes a technique for identifying trends in performance degradation for inertial con finement fusion implosion experiments. It is based on reconstruction of the implosion core with a combination of low- and mid-mode asymmetries. This technique was applied to an ensemble of hydro-equivalent deuterium-tritium implosions on OMEGA that achieved inferred hot-spot pressures ≈56 ± 7 Gbar [S. Regan et al., Phys. Rev. Lett. 117, 025001 (2016)]. All the experimental observables pertaining to the core could be reconstructed simultaneously with the same combination of low and mid modes. This suggests that in addition to low modes, that can cause amore » degradation of the stagnation pressure, mid modes are present that reduce the size of the neutron and x-ray producing volume. The systematic analysis shows that asymmetries can cause an overestimation of the total areal density in these implosions. Finally, it is also found that an improvement in implosion symmetry resulting from correction of either the systematic mid or low modes would result in an increase of the hot-spot pressure from 56 Gbar to ≈ 80 Gbar and could produce a burning plasma when the implosion core is extrapolated to an equivalent 1.9 MJ symmetric direct illumination [A. Bose et al., Phys. Rev. E 94, 011201(R) (2016)].« less

Characteristics of the BDS Carrier Phase Multipath and Its Mitigation Methods in Relative Positioning

PubMed Central

Dai, Wujiao; Shi, Qiang; Cai, Changsheng

2017-01-01

The carrier phase multipath effect is one of the most significant error sources in the precise positioning of BeiDou Navigation Satellite System (BDS). We analyzed the characteristics of BDS multipath, and found the multipath errors of geostationary earth orbit (GEO) satellite signals are systematic, whereas those of inclined geosynchronous orbit (IGSO) or medium earth orbit (MEO) satellites are both systematic and random. The modified multipath mitigation methods, including sidereal filtering algorithm and multipath hemispherical map (MHM) model, were used to improve BDS dynamic deformation monitoring. The results indicate that the sidereal filtering methods can reduce the root mean square (RMS) of positioning errors in the east, north and vertical coordinate directions by 15%, 37%, 25% and 18%, 51%, 27% in the coordinate and observation domains, respectively. By contrast, the MHM method can reduce the RMS by 22%, 52% and 27% on average. In addition, the BDS multipath errors in static baseline solutions are a few centimeters in multipath-rich environments, which is different from that of Global Positioning System (GPS) multipath. Therefore, we add a parameter representing the GEO multipath error in observation equation to the adjustment model to improve the precision of BDS static baseline solutions. And the results show that the modified model can achieve an average precision improvement of 82%, 54% and 68% in the east, north and up coordinate directions, respectively. PMID:28387744

Characteristics of the BDS Carrier Phase Multipath and Its Mitigation Methods in Relative Positioning.

PubMed

Dai, Wujiao; Shi, Qiang; Cai, Changsheng

2017-04-07

The carrier phase multipath effect is one of the most significant error sources in the precise positioning of BeiDou Navigation Satellite System (BDS). We analyzed the characteristics of BDS multipath, and found the multipath errors of geostationary earth orbit (GEO) satellite signals are systematic, whereas those of inclined geosynchronous orbit (IGSO) or medium earth orbit (MEO) satellites are both systematic and random. The modified multipath mitigation methods, including sidereal filtering algorithm and multipath hemispherical map (MHM) model, were used to improve BDS dynamic deformation monitoring. The results indicate that the sidereal filtering methods can reduce the root mean square (RMS) of positioning errors in the east, north and vertical coordinate directions by 15%, 37%, 25% and 18%, 51%, 27% in the coordinate and observation domains, respectively. By contrast, the MHM method can reduce the RMS by 22%, 52% and 27% on average. In addition, the BDS multipath errors in static baseline solutions are a few centimeters in multipath-rich environments, which is different from that of Global Positioning System (GPS) multipath. Therefore, we add a parameter representing the GEO multipath error in observation equation to the adjustment model to improve the precision of BDS static baseline solutions. And the results show that the modified model can achieve an average precision improvement of 82%, 54% and 68% in the east, north and up coordinate directions, respectively.

Asymmetric dark matter models in SO(10)

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

Nagata, Natsumi; Olive, Keith A.; Zheng, Jiaming, E-mail: natsumi@hep-th.phys.s.u-tokyo.ac.jp, E-mail: olive@physics.umn.edu, E-mail: zheng@physics.umn.edu

2017-02-01

We systematically study the possibilities for asymmetric dark matter in the context of non-supersymmetric SO(10) models of grand unification. Dark matter stability in SO(10) is guaranteed by a remnant Z{sub 2} symmetry which is preserved when the intermediate scale gauge subgroup of SO(10) is broken by a (\\bf 126) dimensional representation. The asymmetry in the dark matter states is directly generated through the out-of-equilibrium decay of particles around the intermediate scale, or transferred from the baryon/lepton asymmetry generated in the Standard Model sector by leptogenesis. We systematically classify possible asymmetric dark matter candidates in terms of their quantum numbers, andmore » derive the conditions for each case that the observed dark matter density is (mostly) explained by the asymmetry of dark matter particles.« less

Multivariate Analysis of Two-Dimensional 1H, 13C Methyl NMR Spectra of Monoclonal Antibody Therapeutics To Facilitate Assessment of Higher Order Structure.

PubMed

Arbogast, Luke W; Delaglio, Frank; Schiel, John E; Marino, John P

2017-11-07

Two-dimensional (2D) 1 H- 13 C methyl NMR provides a powerful tool to probe the higher order structure (HOS) of monoclonal antibodies (mAbs), since spectra can readily be acquired on intact mAbs at natural isotopic abundance, and small changes in chemical environment and structure give rise to observable changes in corresponding spectra, which can be interpreted at atomic resolution. This makes it possible to apply 2D NMR spectral fingerprinting approaches directly to drug products in order to systematically characterize structure and excipient effects. Systematic collections of NMR spectra are often analyzed in terms of the changes in specifically identified peak positions, as well as changes in peak height and line widths. A complementary approach is to apply principal component analysis (PCA) directly to the matrix of spectral data, correlating spectra according to similarities and differences in their overall shapes, rather than according to parameters of individually identified peaks. This is particularly well-suited for spectra of mAbs, where some of the individual peaks might not be well resolved. Here we demonstrate the performance of the PCA method for discriminating structural variation among systematic sets of 2D NMR fingerprint spectra using the NISTmAb and illustrate how spectral variability identified by PCA may be correlated to structure.

Demonstration of Nonlinearity Bias in the Measurement of the Apparent Diffusion Coefficient in Multicenter Trials

PubMed Central

Malyarenko, Dariya; Newitt, David; Wilmes, Lisa; Tudorica, Alina; Helmer, Karl G.; Arlinghaus, Lori R.; Jacobs, Michael A.; Jajamovich, Guido; Taouli, Bachir; Yankeelov, Thomas E.; Huang, Wei; Chenevert, Thomas L.

2015-01-01

Purpose Characterize system-specific bias across common magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) platforms for quantitative diffusion measurements in multicenter trials. Methods Diffusion weighted imaging (DWI) was performed on an ice-water phantom along the superior-inferior (SI) and right-left (RL) orientations spanning ±150 mm. The same scanning protocol was implemented on 14 MRI systems at seven imaging centers. The bias was estimated as a deviation of measured from known apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC) along individual DWI directions. The relative contributions of gradient nonlinearity, shim errors, imaging gradients and eddy currents were assessed independently. The observed bias errors were compared to numerical models. Results The measured systematic ADC errors scaled quadratically with offset from isocenter, and ranged between −55% (SI) and 25% (RL). Nonlinearity bias was dependent on system design and diffusion gradient direction. Consistent with numerical models, minor ADC errors (±5%) due to shim, imaging and eddy currents were mitigated by double echo DWI and image co-registration of individual gradient directions. Conclusion The analysis confirms gradient nonlinearity as a major source of spatial DW bias and variability in off-center ADC measurements across MRI platforms, with minor contributions from shim, imaging gradients and eddy currents. The developed protocol enables empiric description of systematic bias in multicenter quantitative DWI studies. PMID:25940607

Demonstration of nonlinearity bias in the measurement of the apparent diffusion coefficient in multicenter trials.

PubMed

Malyarenko, Dariya I; Newitt, David; J Wilmes, Lisa; Tudorica, Alina; Helmer, Karl G; Arlinghaus, Lori R; Jacobs, Michael A; Jajamovich, Guido; Taouli, Bachir; Yankeelov, Thomas E; Huang, Wei; Chenevert, Thomas L

2016-03-01

Characterize system-specific bias across common magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) platforms for quantitative diffusion measurements in multicenter trials. Diffusion weighted imaging (DWI) was performed on an ice-water phantom along the superior-inferior (SI) and right-left (RL) orientations spanning ± 150 mm. The same scanning protocol was implemented on 14 MRI systems at seven imaging centers. The bias was estimated as a deviation of measured from known apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC) along individual DWI directions. The relative contributions of gradient nonlinearity, shim errors, imaging gradients, and eddy currents were assessed independently. The observed bias errors were compared with numerical models. The measured systematic ADC errors scaled quadratically with offset from isocenter, and ranged between -55% (SI) and 25% (RL). Nonlinearity bias was dependent on system design and diffusion gradient direction. Consistent with numerical models, minor ADC errors (± 5%) due to shim, imaging and eddy currents were mitigated by double echo DWI and image coregistration of individual gradient directions. The analysis confirms gradient nonlinearity as a major source of spatial DW bias and variability in off-center ADC measurements across MRI platforms, with minor contributions from shim, imaging gradients and eddy currents. The developed protocol enables empiric description of systematic bias in multicenter quantitative DWI studies. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

[Nursing role in prevention of Ventilator Associated Pneumonia: Spanish project "Neumonìa Zero"].

PubMed

Pinto, Cristina; Reig Valero, Roberto; Iadeluca, Antonio; Lomuscio, Sonia; Caldarulo, Tiziana; Sponton, Anna

2015-01-01

The incidence of Ventilator Associated Pneumonia (VAP) varies between 8 and 28% on patients with invasive mechanical ventilation, and it is associated with high mortality rates. The international literature indicates that the VAP has some risk factors that cannot be changed and some other that are closely related to nursing care procedures. The aim of this study is to analyze compliance level to the protocol of nursing prevention of the VAP in the ICU of "General Hospital" in Castellon de la Plana (Spain) within the project "Neumonía Zero". The data were collected during the months of May and June 2012 through direct observation which lasted 33 days. 5 check lists based on international recommendations were used for the objective evaluation on the adoption of preventive treatments. 58 patients in invasive mechanical ventilation and 43 ICU nurses were enrolled. Compliance procedure showed no significant differences among each other with an average adhesion of 78% of the observations. The observations trend shows a tendency of improvement in accordance with the checklists of cuff pressure and of the inclination of the bed head. An incidence rate of VAP 13,37/1000 was observed. In conclusion, direct observation showed good compliance to the protocols used in the ward. The obtained data allows to re-direct educational choices and assume a systematic application of this methodology with an important contribution to nursing.

Participation in the Mars Data Analysis Program: Analysis of cloud forms in Viking and Mariner 9 images

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Gierasch, P.; Kahn, R. A.

1985-01-01

The first systematic account of the climate of Mars, based upon observations was produced. Cloud data were used to determine spatially and temporally varying near-surface wind direction, relative wind speed, static stability, and humidity conditions on a global scale. Existing models of meteorological processes were critically reexamined in light of the data, and more stringent constraints were set on global processes. Several discoveries were made, including the large extent and seasonal variability of the Mars equatorial Hadley cell, the failure of high latitude winds to reverse direction in early northern spring, the change in meridional wind component in southern midautum, and the almost constant cloud cover in the northern hemisphere, during spring and summer primarily by condensate clouds and in fall and winter by condensates and dust. The implications of these observations are discussed.

Pyroxene Homogenization and the Isotopic Systematics of Eucrites

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Nyquist, L. E.; Bogard, D. D.

1996-01-01

The original Mg-Fe zoning of eucritic pyroxenes has in nearly all cases been partly homogenized, an observation that has been combined with other petrographic and compositional criteria to establish a scale of thermal "metamorphism" for eucrites. To evaluate hypotheses explaining development of conditions on the HED parent body (Vesta?) leading to pyroxene homogenization against their chronological implications, it is necessary to know whether pyroxene metamorphism was recorded in the isotopic systems. However, identifying the effects of the thermal metamorphism with specific effects in the isotopic systems has been difficult, due in part to a lack of correlated isotopic and mineralogical studies of the same eucrites. Furthermore, isotopic studies often place high demands on analytical capabilities, resulting in slow growth of the isotopic database. Additionally, some isotopic systems would not respond in a direct and sensitive way to pyroxene homogenization. Nevertheless, sufficient data exist to generalize some observations, and to identify directions of potentially fruitful investigations.

Observation of conducting filament growth in nanoscale resistive memories

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Yang, Yuchao; Gao, Peng; Gaba, Siddharth; Chang, Ting; Pan, Xiaoqing; Lu, Wei

2012-03-01

Nanoscale resistive switching devices, sometimes termed memristors, have recently generated significant interest for memory, logic and neuromorphic applications. Resistive switching effects in dielectric-based devices are normally assumed to be caused by conducting filament formation across the electrodes, but the nature of the filaments and their growth dynamics remain controversial. Here we report direct transmission electron microscopy imaging, and structural and compositional analysis of the nanoscale conducting filaments. Through systematic ex-situ and in-situ transmission electron microscopy studies on devices under different programming conditions, we found that the filament growth can be dominated by cation transport in the dielectric film. Unexpectedly, two different growth modes were observed for the first time in materials with different microstructures. Regardless of the growth direction, the narrowest region of the filament was found to be near the dielectric/inert-electrode interface in these devices, suggesting that this region deserves particular attention for continued device optimization.

Aerosol Optical Depth as Observed by the Mars Science Laboratory REMS UV Photodiodes

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Smith, M. D.; Zorzano, M. P.; Lemmon, M. T.; Martín-Torres, J.; Mendaza de Cal, T.

2016-12-01

Systematic observations taken by the REMS UV photodiodes on a daily basis throughout the landed Mars Science Laboratory mission provide a highly useful tool for characterizing aerosols above Gale Crater. Radiative transfer modeling is used to model the more than two Mars Years of observations taken to date taking into account multiple scattering from aerosols and the extended field of view of the REMS UV photodiodes. The retrievals show in detail the annual cycle of aerosol optical depth, which is punctuated with numerous short timescale events of increased optical depth. Dust deposition onto the photodiodes is accounted for by comparison with aerosol optical depth derived from direct imaging of the Sun by Mastcam. The effect of dust on the photodiodes is noticeable, but does not dominate the signal. Cleaning of dust from the photodiodes was observed in the season around Ls=270°, but not during other seasons. Systematic deviations in the residuals from the retrieval fit are indicative of changes in aerosol effective particle size, with larger particles present during periods of increased optical depth. This seasonal dependence of aerosol particle size is expected as dust activity injects larger particles into the air, while larger aerosols settle out of the atmosphere more quickly leading to a smaller average particle size over time.

Aerosol optical depth as observed by the Mars Science Laboratory REMS UV photodiodes

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Smith, Michael D.; Zorzano, María-Paz; Lemmon, Mark; Martín-Torres, Javier; Mendaza de Cal, Teresa

2016-12-01

Systematic observations taken by the REMS UV photodiodes on a daily basis throughout the landed Mars Science Laboratory mission provide a highly useful tool for characterizing aerosols above Gale Crater. Radiative transfer modeling is used to model the approximately 1.75 Mars Years of observations taken to date taking into account multiple scattering from aerosols and the extended field of view of the REMS UV photodiodes. The retrievals show in detail the annual cycle of aerosol optical depth, which is punctuated with numerous short timescale events of increased optical depth. Dust deposition onto the photodiodes is accounted for by comparison with aerosol optical depth derived from direct imaging of the Sun by Mastcam. The effect of dust on the photodiodes is noticeable, but does not dominate the signal. Cleaning of dust from the photodiodes was observed in the season around Ls=270°, but not during other seasons. Systematic deviations in the residuals from the retrieval fit are indicative of changes in aerosol effective particle size, with larger particles present during periods of increased optical depth. This seasonal dependence of aerosol particle size is expected as dust activity injects larger particles into the air, while larger aerosols settle out of the atmosphere more quickly leading to a smaller average particle size over time.

Giving cosmic redshift drift a whirl

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kim, Alex G.; Linder, Eric V.; Edelstein, Jerry; Erskine, David

2015-03-01

Redshift drift provides a direct kinematic measurement of cosmic acceleration but it occurs with a characteristic time scale of a Hubble time. Thus redshift observations with a challenging precision of 10-9 require a 10 year time span to obtain a signal-to-noise of 1. We discuss theoretical and experimental approaches to address this challenge, potentially requiring less observer time and having greater immunity to common systematics. On the theoretical side we explore allowing the universe, rather than the observer, to provide long time spans; speculative methods include radial baryon acoustic oscillations, cosmic pulsars, and strongly lensed quasars. On the experimental side, we explore beating down the redshift precision using differential interferometric techniques, including externally dispersed interferometers and spatial heterodyne spectroscopy. Low-redshift emission line galaxies are identified as having high cosmology leverage and systematics control, with an 8 h exposure on a 10-m telescope (1000 h of exposure on a 40-m telescope) potentially capable of measuring the redshift of a galaxy to a precision of 10-8 (few ×10-10). Low-redshift redshift drift also has very strong complementarity with cosmic microwave background measurements, with the combination achieving a dark energy figure of merit of nearly 300 (1400) for 5% (1%) precision on drift.

Electrodynamics of the middle atmosphere: Superpressure balloon program

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Holzworth, Robert H.

1987-01-01

In this experiment a comprehensive set of electrical parameters were measured during eight long duration flights in the southern hemisphere stratosphere. These flight resulted in the largest data set ever collected from the stratosphere. The stratosphere has never been electrodynamically sampled in the systematic manner before. New discoveries include short term variability in the planetary scale electric current system, the unexpected observation of stratospheric conductivity variations over thunderstorms and the observation of direct stratospheric conductivity variations following a relatively small solar flare. Major statistical studies were conducted of the large scale current systems, the stratospheric conductivity and the neutral gravity waves (from pressure and temperature data) using the entire data set.

Membrane fouling of forward osmosis (FO) membrane for municipal wastewater treatment: A comparison between direct FO and OMBR.

PubMed

Sun, Yan; Tian, Jiayu; Zhao, Zhiwei; Shi, Wenxin; Liu, Dongmei; Cui, Fuyi

2016-11-01

In this work, membrane fouling behavior in a direct forward osmosis (FO) and an osmotic membrane bioreactor (OMBR) for municipal wastewater treatment was systematically investigated and compared. During the long-term operation, much severer flux decline was observed for the direct FO than that for the OMBR. The cake layer was found to be much thicker, together with large amounts of microorganisms growing on the membrane surface in direct FO. Interestingly, no obvious attachment of microorganisms on the membrane surface was observed in the OMBR. The fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) and excitation emission matrices (EEM) analyses showed the polysaccharides and proteins were the dominant organic foulants in the fouling layer, and the quantity of the organic substances was also higher in direct FO than that in OMBR. Energy-dispersive X-ray (EDX) results indicated the main inorganic elements in the fouling layer were Ca, Mg, Fe and P, all of which exhibited higher relative percentages in direct FO than that in OMBR. The occurrence of higher contents of microorganisms, organic foulants and inorganic elements in the cake layer caused a higher filtration resistance for the FO membrane in the direct FO. Although more severe membrane fouling was identified in direct FO, the hydraulic and chemical cleaning was more effective on recovering the water permeability of the membrane in direct FO than that in OMBR. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Mobile direct observation of therapy (MDOT) - A rapid systematic review and pilot study in children with asthma

PubMed Central

Shields, Michael D.; ALQahtani, Fahad; Rivey, Michael P.

2018-01-01

We describe, for the first time, the use of a mobile device platform for remote direct observation of inhaler use and technique. The research programme commenced with a rapid systematic review of mobile device (or videophone) use for direct observation of therapy (MDOT). Ten studies (mainly pilots) were identified involving patients with tuberculosis, sickle cell disease and Alzheimer's disease. New studies are ongoing (ClinicalTrials.gov website) in TB, stroke, sickle cell disease, HIV and opioid dependence. Having identified no prior use of MDOT in inhaler monitoring, we implemented a feasibility study in 12 healthy volunteer children (2–12 years; 8 females and 4 males) over a period of 14 days, with twice daily video upload of their 'dummy' inhaler use. Two children uploaded 100% of the requested videos, with only one child having an inhaler upload rate of <75%. The quality of uploaded videos was generally good (only 1.7% of unacceptable quality for evaluation). The final aspect of the research was a pilot study using MDOT (6 weeks) in 22 children with difficult to treat asthma. Healthcare professionals evaluated inhaler technique using uploaded videos and provided telephone instruction on improving inhaler use. The main outcomes were assessed at week 12 post initiation of MDOT. By week 5, all children still engaging in MDOT (n = 18) were judged to have effective inhaler technique. Spirometry values did not vary to a significantly significant degree between baseline and 12 weeks (P>0.05), however, mean fraction of exhaled nitric oxide (FeNO) values normalised (mean 38.7 to 19.3ppm) and mean Asthma Control Test values improved (13.1 to mean 17.8). Feedback from participants was positive. Overall the findings open up a new paradigm in device independent (can be used for any type of inhaler device) monitoring, providing a platform for evaluating / improving inhaler use at home. PMID:29401500

Aerosol Optical Depth as Observed by the Mars Science Laboratory REMS UV Photodiodes

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Smith, M. D.; Zorzano, M.-P.; Lemmon, M.; Martin-Torres, J.; Mendaza de Cal, T.

2017-01-01

Systematic observations taken by the REMS UV photodiodes on a daily basis throughout the landed Mars Science Laboratory mission provide a highly useful tool for characterizing aerosols above Gale Crater. Radiative transfer modeling is used to model the approximately two Mars Years of observations taken to date taking into account multiple scattering from aerosols and the extended field of view of the REMS UV photodiodes. The retrievals show in detail the annual cycle of aerosol optical depth, which is punctuated with numerous short timescale events of increased optical depth. Dust deposition onto the photodiodes is accounted for by comparison with aerosol optical depth derived from direct imaging of the Sun by Mastcam. The effect of dust on the photodiodes is noticeable, but does not dominate the signal. Cleaning of dust from the photodiodes was observed in the season around Ls=270deg, but not during other seasons. Systematic deviations in the residuals from the retrieval fit are indicative of changes in aerosol effective particle size, with larger particles present during periods of increased optical depth. This seasonal dependence of aerosol particle size is expected as dust activity injects larger particles into the air, while larger aerosols settle out of the atmosphere more quickly leading to a smaller average particle size over time. A full description of these observations, the retrieval algorithm, and the results can be found in Smith et al. (2016).

Field-aligned Poynting flux observations in the high-latitude ionosphere

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gary, J. B.; Heelis, R. A.; Hanson, W. B.; Slavin, J. A.

1994-06-01

We have used data from Dynamics Explorer 2 to investigate the rate of conversion of electromagnetic energy into both thermal and bulk flow particle kinetic energy in the high-latitude ionosphere. The flux tube integrated conversion rate E.J can be determined from spacecraft measurements of the electric and magnetic field vectors by deriving the field-aligned Poynting flux, S∥=S.B0, where B0 is in the direction of the geomagnetic field. Determination of the Poynting flux from satellite observations is critically dependent upon the establishment of accurate values of the fields and is especially sensitive to errors in the baseline (unperturbed) geomagnetic field. We discuss our treatment of the data in some detail, particularly in regard to systematically correcting the measured magnetic field to account for attitude changes and model deficiencies. S∥ can be used to identify the relative strengths of the magnetosphere and thermospheric winds as energy drivers and we present observations demonstrating the dominance of each of these. Dominance of the magnetospheric driver is indicated by S∥ directed into the ionosphere. Electromagnetic energy is delivered to and dissipated within the region. Dominance of the neutral wind requires that the conductivity weighted neutral wind speed in the direction of the ion drift be larger than the ion drift, resulting in observations of an upward directed Poynting flux. Electromagnetic energy is generated within the ionospheric region in this case. We also present observations of a case where the neutral atmosphere motion may be reaching a state of sustained bulk flow velocity as evidenced by very small Poynting flux in the presence of large electric fields.

Global Night-Time Lights for Observing Human Activity

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Hipskind, Stephen R.; Elvidge, Chris; Gurney, K.; Imhoff, Mark; Bounoua, Lahouari; Sheffner, Edwin; Nemani, Ramakrishna R.; Pettit, Donald R.; Fischer, Marc

2011-01-01

We present a concept for a small satellite mission to make systematic, global observations of night-time lights with spatial resolution suitable for discerning the extent, type and density of human settlements. The observations will also allow better understanding of fine scale fossil fuel CO2 emission distribution. The NASA Earth Science Decadal Survey recommends more focus on direct observations of human influence on the Earth system. The most dramatic and compelling observations of human presence on the Earth are the night light observations taken by the Defence Meteorological System Program (DMSP) Operational Linescan System (OLS). Beyond delineating the footprint of human presence, night light data, when assembled and evaluated with complementary data sets, can determine the fine scale spatial distribution of global fossil fuel CO2 emissions. Understanding fossil fuel carbon emissions is critical to understanding the entire carbon cycle, and especially the carbon exchange between terrestrial and oceanic systems.

Bashful ballerina: The asymmetric Sun viewed from the heliosphere

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Mursula, K.

Long-term observations of the heliospheric magnetic field (HMF) at 1 AU have depicted interesting systematic hemispheric and longitudinal asymmetries that have far-reaching implications for the understanding of solar magnetism. It has recently been found that the HMF sector that is prevalent in the northern solar hemisphere dominates the observed HMF sector occurrence for a few years in the late declining to minimum phase of the solar cycle. This leads to a persistent southward shift or coning of the heliospheric current sheet (HCS) at these times, which has been described by the concept of the bashful ballerina. This result was later verified by direct measurements of the solar magnetic field which showed that the average field intensity was smaller and the corresponding area larger in the northern (heliographic) hemisphere than in the southern hemisphere during roughly 3 years in the late declining to minimum phase of the cycle. During these years when the HCS was shifted southwards, the solar quadrupole moment was found to be systematically non-zero and oppositely oriented with respect to the dipole moment. Long-term observations of the geomagnetic field can yield information on the HMF sector structure in the pre-satellite era, showing that the ballerina was bashful since 1930s. In addition to the hemispheric asymmetries, the Sun is systematically asymmetric in longitude. It has been shown that the global HMF has persistent active longitudes whose dominance depicts an oscillation with a period of about 3.2 years. Accordingly, the bashful ballerina takes three such steps per activity cycle, thus dancing in waltz tempo. Stellar observations show that this is a general pattern for sun-like cool stars. We describe these phenomena and discuss their implications.

Bias due to selective inclusion and reporting of outcomes and analyses in systematic reviews of randomised trials of healthcare interventions.

PubMed

Page, Matthew J; McKenzie, Joanne E; Kirkham, Jamie; Dwan, Kerry; Kramer, Sharon; Green, Sally; Forbes, Andrew

2014-10-01

Systematic reviews may be compromised by selective inclusion and reporting of outcomes and analyses. Selective inclusion occurs when there are multiple effect estimates in a trial report that could be included in a particular meta-analysis (e.g. from multiple measurement scales and time points) and the choice of effect estimate to include in the meta-analysis is based on the results (e.g. statistical significance, magnitude or direction of effect). Selective reporting occurs when the reporting of a subset of outcomes and analyses in the systematic review is based on the results (e.g. a protocol-defined outcome is omitted from the published systematic review). To summarise the characteristics and synthesise the results of empirical studies that have investigated the prevalence of selective inclusion or reporting in systematic reviews of randomised controlled trials (RCTs), investigated the factors (e.g. statistical significance or direction of effect) associated with the prevalence and quantified the bias. We searched the Cochrane Methodology Register (to July 2012), Ovid MEDLINE, Ovid EMBASE, Ovid PsycINFO and ISI Web of Science (each up to May 2013), and the US Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) Effective Healthcare Program's Scientific Resource Center (SRC) Methods Library (to June 2013). We also searched the abstract books of the 2011 and 2012 Cochrane Colloquia and the article alerts for methodological work in research synthesis published from 2009 to 2011 and compiled in Research Synthesis Methods. We included both published and unpublished empirical studies that investigated the prevalence and factors associated with selective inclusion or reporting, or both, in systematic reviews of RCTs of healthcare interventions. We included empirical studies assessing any type of selective inclusion or reporting, such as investigations of how frequently RCT outcome data is selectively included in systematic reviews based on the results, outcomes and analyses are discrepant between protocol and published review or non-significant outcomes are partially reported in the full text or summary within systematic reviews. Two review authors independently selected empirical studies for inclusion, extracted the data and performed a risk of bias assessment. A third review author resolved any disagreements about inclusion or exclusion of empirical studies, data extraction and risk of bias. We contacted authors of included studies for additional unpublished data. Primary outcomes included overall prevalence of selective inclusion or reporting, association between selective inclusion or reporting and the statistical significance of the effect estimate, and association between selective inclusion or reporting and the direction of the effect estimate. We combined prevalence estimates and risk ratios (RRs) using a random-effects meta-analysis model. Seven studies met the inclusion criteria. No studies had investigated selective inclusion of results in systematic reviews, or discrepancies in outcomes and analyses between systematic review registry entries and published systematic reviews. Based on a meta-analysis of four studies (including 485 Cochrane Reviews), 38% (95% confidence interval (CI) 23% to 54%) of systematic reviews added, omitted, upgraded or downgraded at least one outcome between the protocol and published systematic review. The association between statistical significance and discrepant outcome reporting between protocol and published systematic review was uncertain. The meta-analytic estimate suggested an increased risk of adding or upgrading (i.e. changing a secondary outcome to primary) when the outcome was statistically significant, although the 95% CI included no association and a decreased risk as plausible estimates (RR 1.43, 95% CI 0.71 to 2.85; two studies, n = 552 meta-analyses). Also, the meta-analytic estimate suggested an increased risk of downgrading (i.e. changing a primary outcome to secondary) when the outcome was statistically significant, although the 95% CI included no association and a decreased risk as plausible estimates (RR 1.26, 95% CI 0.60 to 2.62; two studies, n = 484 meta-analyses). None of the included studies had investigated whether the association between statistical significance and adding, upgrading or downgrading of outcomes was modified by the type of comparison, direction of effect or type of outcome; or whether there is an association between direction of the effect estimate and discrepant outcome reporting.Several secondary outcomes were reported in the included studies. Two studies found that reasons for discrepant outcome reporting were infrequently reported in published systematic reviews (6% in one study and 22% in the other). One study (including 62 Cochrane Reviews) found that 32% (95% CI 21% to 45%) of systematic reviews did not report all primary outcomes in the abstract. Another study (including 64 Cochrane and 118 non-Cochrane reviews) found that statistically significant primary outcomes were more likely to be completely reported in the systematic review abstract than non-significant primary outcomes (RR 2.66, 95% CI 1.81 to 3.90). None of the studies included systematic reviews published after 2009 when reporting standards for systematic reviews (Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) Statement, and Methodological Expectations of Cochrane Intervention Reviews (MECIR)) were disseminated, so the results might not be generalisable to more recent systematic reviews. Discrepant outcome reporting between the protocol and published systematic review is fairly common, although the association between statistical significance and discrepant outcome reporting is uncertain. Complete reporting of outcomes in systematic review abstracts is associated with statistical significance of the results for those outcomes. Systematic review outcomes and analysis plans should be specified prior to seeing the results of included studies to minimise post-hoc decisions that may be based on the observed results. Modifications that occur once the review has commenced, along with their justification, should be clearly reported. Effect estimates and CIs should be reported for all systematic review outcomes regardless of the results. The lack of research on selective inclusion of results in systematic reviews needs to be addressed and studies that avoid the methodological weaknesses of existing research are also needed.

Structural peculiarities of the Quadrantid meteor shower

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Isamutdinov, Sh. O.; Chebotarev, R. P.

1987-01-01

Systematic radio observations to investigate the Quadrantid meteor shower structure are regularly carried out. They have now been conducted annually in the period of its maximum activity, January 1 to 6, since 1966. The latest results of these investigations are presented, on the basis of 1981 to 1984 data obtained using new equipment with a limiting sensitivity of +7.7 sup m which make it possible to draw some conclusions on the Quadrantids shower structure both for transverse and lengthwise directions.

Tumor, Lymph Node, and Lymph Node-to-Tumor Displacements Over a Radiotherapy Series: Analysis of Interfraction and Intrafraction Variations Using Active Breathing Control (ABC) in Lung Cancer

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

Weiss, Elisabeth, E-mail: eweiss@mcvh-vcu.edu; Robertson, Scott P.; Mukhopadhyay, Nitai

2012-03-15

Purpose: To estimate errors in soft tissue-based image guidance due to relative changes between primary tumor (PT) and affected lymph node (LN) position and volume, and to compare the results with bony anatomy-based displacements of PTs and LNs during radiotherapy of lung cancer. Methods and Materials: Weekly repeated breath-hold computed tomography scans were acquired in 17 lung cancer patients undergoing radiotherapy. PTs and affected LNs were manually contoured on all scans after rigid registration. Interfraction and intrafraction displacements in the centers of mass of PTs and LNs relative to bone, as well as LNs relative to PTs (LN-PT), were calculated.more » Results: The mean volume after 5 weeks was 65% for PTs and 63% for LNs. Systematic and random interfraction displacements were 2.6 to 4.6 mm and 2.7 to 2.9 mm, respectively, for PTs; 2.4 to 3.8 mm and 1.4 to 2.7 mm, respectively, for LNs; and 2.3 to 3.9 mm and 1.9 to 2.8 mm, respectively, for LN-PT. Systematic and random intrafraction displacements were less than 1 mm except in the superoinferior direction. Interfraction LN-PT displacements greater than 3 mm were observed in 67% of fractions and require a safety margin of 12 mm in the lateral direction, 11 mm in the anteroposterior direction, and 9 mm in the superoinferior direction. LN-PT displacements displayed significant time trends (p < 0.0001) and depended on the presence of pathoanatomic conditions of the ipsilateral lung, such as atelectasis. Conclusion: Interfraction LN-PT displacements were mostly systematic and comparable to bony anatomy-based displacements of PTs or LNs alone. Time trends, large volume changes, and the influence of pathoanatomic conditions underline the importance of soft tissue-based image guidance and the potential of plan adaptation.« less

A new method for detecting velocity shifts and distortions between optical spectra

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

Evans, Tyler M.; Murphy, Michael T., E-mail: tevans@astro.swin.edu.au

2013-12-01

Recent quasar spectroscopy from the Very Large Telescope (VLT) and Keck suggests that fundamental constants may not actually be constant. To better confirm or refute this result, systematic errors between telescopes must be minimized. We present a new method to directly compare spectra of the same object and measure any velocity shifts between them. This method allows for the discovery of wavelength-dependent velocity shifts between spectra, i.e., velocity distortions, that could produce spurious detections of cosmological variations in fundamental constants. This 'direct comparison' method has several advantages over alternative techniques: it is model-independent (cf. line-fitting approaches), blind, in that spectralmore » features do not need to be identified beforehand, and it produces meaningful uncertainty estimates for the velocity shift measurements. In particular, we demonstrate that, when comparing echelle-resolution spectra with unresolved absorption features, the uncertainty estimates are reliable for signal-to-noise ratios ≳7 per pixel. We apply this method to spectra of quasar J2123–0050 observed with Keck and the VLT and find no significant distortions over long wavelength ranges (∼1050 Å) greater than ≈180 m s{sup –1}. We also find no evidence for systematic velocity distortions within echelle orders greater than 500 m s{sup –1}. Moreover, previous constraints on cosmological variations in the proton-electron mass ratio should not have been affected by velocity distortions in these spectra by more than 4.0 ± 4.2 parts per million. This technique may also find application in measuring stellar radial velocities in search of extra-solar planets and attempts to directly observe the expansion history of the universe using quasar absorption spectra.« less

Contribution of Field Strength Gradients to the Net Vertical Current of Active Regions

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Vemareddy, P.

2017-12-01

We examined the contribution of field strength gradients for the degree of net vertical current (NVC) neutralization in active regions (ARs). We used photospheric vector magnetic field observations of AR 11158 obtained by Helioseismic and Magnetic Imager on board SDO and Hinode. The vertical component of the electric current is decomposed into twist and shear terms. The NVC exhibits systematic evolution owing to the presence of the sheared polarity inversion line between rotating and shearing magnetic regions. We found that the sign of shear current distribution is opposite in dominant pixels (60%–65%) to that of twist current distribution, and its time profile bears no systematic trend. This result indicates that the gradient of magnetic field strength contributes to an opposite signed, though smaller in magnitude, current to that contributed by the magnetic field direction in the vertical component of the current. Consequently, the net value of the shear current is negative in both polarity regions, which when added to the net twist current reduces the direct current value in the north (B z > 0) polarity, resulting in a higher degree of NVC neutralization. We conjecture that the observed opposite signs of shear and twist currents are an indication, according to Parker, that the direct volume currents of flux tubes are canceled by their return currents, which are contributed by field strength gradients. Furthermore, with the increase of spatial resolution, we found higher values of twist, shear current distributions. However, the resolution effect is more useful in resolving the field strength gradients, and therefore suggests more contribution from shear current for the degree of NVC neutralization.

Effects of Direct-to-Consumer Advertising on Patient Prescription Requests and Physician Prescribing: A Systematic Review of Psychiatry-Relevant Studies

PubMed Central

Becker, Sara J.; Midoun, Miriam M.

2017-01-01

Objective To systematically analyze the effects of direct-to-consumer advertising (DTCA) on patient requests for medication and physician prescribing across psychiatry-relevant studies. Data Sources MEDLINE, PsychINFO, ISI Thompson's Web of Knowledge, and Google Scholar were searched from 1999 through 2014 using variations of the terms direct-to-consumer advertising and psychiatric. Reference lists and an online repository of DTCA manuscripts were also scrutinized. Study Selection English-language studies collecting data at the point of service, focusing on or including psychiatric medication, and assessing DTCA's effects on patient and/or physician behavior were included. Of 989 articles identified, 69 received full-text review. Four studies across five manuscripts met inclusion criteria. Data Extraction Data were extracted on participants, study design, methodological quality, and results. Methodological quality of individual studies was assessed using adapted criteria from the Effective Public Health Practice Project. Confidence in conclusions across studies was determined using principles from the well-established GRADE system. Findings Due to lack of replication across strong randomized controlled trials (RCTs), no conclusions merited high confidence. With moderate confidence, we concluded that DTCA requests: 1) are granted most of the time [1 RCT, 3 observational]; 2) prompt higher prescribing volume [1 RCT, 1 observational]; 3) promote greater adherence to minimally acceptable treatment guidelines for patients with depression [1 RCT], and 4) stimulate overprescribing among patients with an adjustment disorder [1 RCT]. Conclusions Findings suggest that DTCA requests are typically accommodated, promote higher prescribing volume, and have competing effects on treatment quality. More methodologically strong studies are needed to increase confidence in conclusions. PMID:27631149

Testing a dynamic-field account of interactions between spatial attention and spatial working memory.

PubMed

Johnson, Jeffrey S; Spencer, John P

2016-05-01

Studies examining the relationship between spatial attention and spatial working memory (SWM) have shown that discrimination responses are faster for targets appearing at locations that are being maintained in SWM, and that location memory is impaired when attention is withdrawn during the delay. These observations support the proposal that sustained attention is required for successful retention in SWM: If attention is withdrawn, memory representations are likely to fail, increasing errors. In the present study, this proposal was reexamined in light of a neural-process model of SWM. On the basis of the model's functioning, we propose an alternative explanation for the observed decline in SWM performance when a secondary task is performed during retention: SWM representations drift systematically toward the location of targets appearing during the delay. To test this explanation, participants completed a color discrimination task during the delay interval of a spatial-recall task. In the critical shifting-attention condition, the color stimulus could appear either toward or away from the midline reference axis, relative to the memorized location. We hypothesized that if shifting attention during the delay leads to the failure of SWM representations, there should be an increase in the variance of recall errors, but no change in directional errors, regardless of the direction of the shift. Conversely, if shifting attention induces drift of SWM representations-as predicted by the model-systematic changes in the patterns of spatial-recall errors should occur that would depend on the direction of the shift. The results were consistent with the latter possibility-recall errors were biased toward the locations of discrimination targets appearing during the delay.

Effects of Direct-To-Consumer Advertising on Patient Prescription Requests and Physician Prescribing: A Systematic Review of Psychiatry-Relevant Studies.

PubMed

Becker, Sara J; Midoun, Miriam M

2016-10-01

To systematically analyze the effects of direct-to-consumer advertising (DTCA) on patient requests for medication and physician prescribing across psychiatry-relevant studies. MEDLINE, PsycINFO, Thomson Reuters' ISI Web of Knowledge, and Google Scholar were searched (1999-2014) using variations of the terms direct-to-consumer advertising and psychiatric. Reference lists and an online repository of DTCA manuscripts were also scrutinized. English-language studies collecting data at the point of service, focusing on or including psychiatric medication, and assessing the effects of DTCA on patient and/or physician behavior were included. Of 989 articles identified, 69 received full-text review. Four studies across 5 manuscripts met inclusion criteria. Data were extracted on participants, study design, methodological quality, and results. Methodological quality of individual studies was assessed using adapted criteria from the Effective Public Health Practice Project. Confidence in conclusions across studies was determined using principles from the well-established GRADE system. Due to lack of replication across strong randomized controlled trials (RCTs), no conclusions merited high confidence. With moderate confidence, we concluded that DTCA requests (1) are granted most of the time (1 RCT, 3 observational), (2) prompt higher prescribing volume (1 RCT, 1 observational), (3) promote greater adherence to minimally acceptable treatment guidelines for patients with depression (1 RCT), and (4) stimulate overprescribing among patients with an adjustment disorder (1 RCT). Findings suggest that DTCA requests are typically accommodated, promote higher prescribing volume, and have competing effects on treatment quality. More methodologically strong studies are needed to increase confidence in conclusions. © Copyright 2016 Physicians Postgraduate Press, Inc.

Testing a Dynamic Field Account of Interactions between Spatial Attention and Spatial Working Memory

PubMed Central

Johnson, Jeffrey S.; Spencer, John P.

2016-01-01

Studies examining the relationship between spatial attention and spatial working memory (SWM) have shown that discrimination responses are faster for targets appearing at locations that are being maintained in SWM, and that location memory is impaired when attention is withdrawn during the delay. These observations support the proposal that sustained attention is required for successful retention in SWM: if attention is withdrawn, memory representations are likely to fail, increasing errors. In the present study, this proposal is reexamined in light of a neural process model of SWM. On the basis of the model's functioning, we propose an alternative explanation for the observed decline in SWM performance when a secondary task is performed during retention: SWM representations drift systematically toward the location of targets appearing during the delay. To test this explanation, participants completed a color-discrimination task during the delay interval of a spatial recall task. In the critical shifting attention condition, the color stimulus could appear either toward or away from the memorized location relative to a midline reference axis. We hypothesized that if shifting attention during the delay leads to the failure of SWM representations, there should be an increase in the variance of recall errors but no change in directional error, regardless of the direction of the shift. Conversely, if shifting attention induces drift of SWM representations—as predicted by the model—there should be systematic changes in the pattern of spatial recall errors depending on the direction of the shift. Results were consistent with the latter possibility—recall errors were biased toward the location of discrimination targets appearing during the delay. PMID:26810574

Systematic Variability of the He+ Pickup Ion Velocity Distribution Function Observed with SOHO/CELIAS/CTOF

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Taut, A.; Drews, C.; Berger, L.; Wimmer-Schweingruber, R. F.

2015-12-01

The 1D Velocity Distribution Function (VDF) of He+ pickup ions shows two distinct populations that reflect the sources of these ions. The highly suprathermal population is the result of the ionization and pickup of almost resting interstellar neutrals that are injected into the solar wind as a highly anisotropic torus distribution. The nearly thermalized population is centered around the solar wind bulk speed and is mainly attributed to inner-source pickup ions that originate in the inner heliosphere. It is generally believed that the initial torus distribution of interstellar pickup ions is rapidly isotropized by resonant wave-particle interactions, but recent observations by Drews et al. (2015) of a torus-like VDF strongly limit this isotropization. This in turn means that more observational data is needed to further characterize the kinetic behavior of pickup ions. In this study we use data from the Charge-Time-Of-Flight sensor on-board SOHO. As this sensor offers unrivaled counting statistics for He+ together with a sufficient mass-per-charge resolution it is well-suited for investigating the He+ VDF on comparatively short timescales. We combine this data with the high resolution magnetic field data from WIND via an extrapolation to the location of SOHO. With this combination of instruments we investigate the He+ VDF for time periods of different solar wind speeds, magnetic field directions, and wave power. We find a systematic trend of the short-term He+ VDF with these parameters. Especially by varying the considered magnetic field directions we observe a 1D projection of the anisotropic torus-like VDF. In addition, we investigate stream interaction regions and coronal mass ejections. In the latter we observe an excess of inner-source He+ that is accompanied by a significant increase of heavy pickup ion count rates. This may be linked to the as yet ill understood production mechanism of inner-source pickup ions.

Effects of school-based interventions on mental health stigmatization: a systematic review

PubMed Central

Schachter, Howard M; Girardi, Alberta; Ly, Mylan; Lacroix, Denise; Lumb, Andrew B; van Berkom, Judith; Gill, Ritu

2008-01-01

Stigmatizing, or discriminatory, perspectives and behaviour, which target individuals on the basis of their mental health, are observed in even the youngest school children. We conducted a systematic review of the published and unpublished, scientific literature concerning the benefits and harms of school-based interventions, which were directed at students 18 years of age or younger to prevent or eliminate such stigmatization. Forty relevant studies were identified, yet only a qualitative synthesis was deemed appropriate. Five limitations within the evidence base constituted barriers to drawing conclusive inferences about the effectiveness and harms of school-based interventions: poor reporting quality, a dearth of randomized controlled trial evidence, poor methods quality for all research designs, considerable clinical heterogeneity, and inconsistent or null results. Nevertheless, certain suggestive evidence derived both from within and beyond our evidence base has allowed us to recommend the development, implementation and evaluation of a curriculum, which fosters the development of empathy and, in turn, an orientation toward social inclusion and inclusiveness. These effects may be achieved largely by bringing especially but not exclusively the youngest children into direct, structured contact with an infant, and likely only the oldest children and youth into direct contact with individuals experiencing mental health difficulties. The possible value of using educational activities, materials and contents to enhance hypothesized benefits accruing to direct contact also requires investigation. Overall, the curriculum might serve as primary prevention for some students and as secondary prevention for others. PMID:18644150

Double-temperature ratchet model and current reversal of coupled Brownian motors

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Li, Chen-Pu; Chen, Hong-Bin; Zheng, Zhi-Gang

2017-12-01

On the basis of the transport features and experimental phenomena observed in studies of molecular motors, we propose a double-temperature ratchet model of coupled motors to reveal the dynamical mechanism of cooperative transport of motors with two heads, where the interactions and asynchrony between two motor heads are taken into account. We investigate the collective unidirectional transport of coupled system and find that the direction of motion can be reversed under certain conditions. Reverse motion can be achieved by modulating the coupling strength, coupling free length, and asymmetric coefficient of the periodic potential, which is understood in terms of the effective potential theory. The dependence of the directed current on various parameters is studied systematically. Directed transport of coupled Brownian motors can be manipulated and optimized by adjusting the pulsation period or the phase shift of the pulsation temperature.

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

Xu, Yuanfeng; Zhang, Hao; Shao, Hezhu

The extraordinary properties and the novel applications of black phosphorene induce the research interest in the monolayer group-IV monochalcogenides. Here using first-principles calculations, we systematically investigate the electronic, transport, and optical properties of monolayer α- and β-GeSe, revealing a direct band gap of 1.61 eV for monolayer α-GeSe and an indirect band gap of 2.47 eV for monolayer β-GeSe. For monolayer β-GeSe, the electronic/hole transport is anisotropic, with an extremely high electron mobility of 2.93×104cm2/Vs along the armchair direction, comparable to that of black phosphorene. However, for β-GeSe, robust band gaps nearly independent of the applied tensile strain along themore » armchair direction are observed. Both monolayer α- and β-GeSe exhibit anisotropic optical absorption in the visible spectrum.« less

Agent-based modeling of noncommunicable diseases: a systematic review.

PubMed

Nianogo, Roch A; Arah, Onyebuchi A

2015-03-01

We reviewed the use of agent-based modeling (ABM), a systems science method, in understanding noncommunicable diseases (NCDs) and their public health risk factors. We systematically reviewed studies in PubMed, ScienceDirect, and Web of Sciences published from January 2003 to July 2014. We retrieved 22 relevant articles; each had an observational or interventional design. Physical activity and diet were the most-studied outcomes. Often, single agent types were modeled, and the environment was usually irrelevant to the studied outcome. Predictive validation and sensitivity analyses were most used to validate models. Although increasingly used to study NCDs, ABM remains underutilized and, where used, is suboptimally reported in public health studies. Its use in studying NCDs will benefit from clarified best practices and improved rigor to establish its usefulness and facilitate replication, interpretation, and application.

Agent-Based Modeling of Noncommunicable Diseases: A Systematic Review

PubMed Central

Arah, Onyebuchi A.

2015-01-01

We reviewed the use of agent-based modeling (ABM), a systems science method, in understanding noncommunicable diseases (NCDs) and their public health risk factors. We systematically reviewed studies in PubMed, ScienceDirect, and Web of Sciences published from January 2003 to July 2014. We retrieved 22 relevant articles; each had an observational or interventional design. Physical activity and diet were the most-studied outcomes. Often, single agent types were modeled, and the environment was usually irrelevant to the studied outcome. Predictive validation and sensitivity analyses were most used to validate models. Although increasingly used to study NCDs, ABM remains underutilized and, where used, is suboptimally reported in public health studies. Its use in studying NCDs will benefit from clarified best practices and improved rigor to establish its usefulness and facilitate replication, interpretation, and application. PMID:25602871

Concerning the Video Drift Method to Measure Double Stars

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Nugent, Richard L.; Iverson, Ernest W.

2015-05-01

Classical methods to measure position angles and separations of double stars rely on just a few measurements either from visual observations or photographic means. Visual and photographic CCD observations are subject to errors from the following sources: misalignments from eyepiece/camera/barlow lens/micrometer/focal reducers, systematic errors from uncorrected optical distortions, aberrations from the telescope system, camera tilt, magnitude and color effects. Conventional video methods rely on calibration doubles and graphically calculating the east-west direction plus careful choice of select video frames stacked for measurement. Atmospheric motion is one of the larger sources of error in any exposure/measurement method which is on the order of 0.5-1.5. Ideally, if a data set from a short video can be used to derive position angle and separation, with each data set self-calibrating independent of any calibration doubles or star catalogues, this would provide measurements of high systematic accuracy. These aims are achieved by the video drift method first proposed by the authors in 2011. This self calibrating video method automatically analyzes 1,000's of measurements from a short video clip.

Enabling Self-Directed Computer Use for Individuals with Cerebral Palsy: A Systematic Review of Assistive Devices and Technologies

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Davies, T. Claire; Mudge, Suzie; Ameratunga, Shanthi; Stott, N. Susan

2010-01-01

Aim: The purpose of this study was to systematically review published evidence on the development, use, and effectiveness of devices and technologies that enable or enhance self-directed computer access by individuals with cerebral palsy (CP). Methods: Nine electronic databases were searched using keywords "computer", "software", "spastic",…

Consequences of Elder Abuse and Neglect: A Systematic Review of Observational Studies.

PubMed

Yunus, Raudah Mohd; Hairi, Noran Naqiah; Choo, Wan Yuen

2017-01-01

This article presents the results of a systematic review of the consequences of elder abuse and neglect (EAN). A systematic search was conducted in seven electronic databases and three sources of gray literature up to January 8, 2016, supplemented by scanning of citation lists in relevant articles and contact with field experts. All observational studies investigating elder abuse as a risk factor for adverse health outcomes, mortality, and health-care utilization were included. Of 517 articles initially captured, 19 articles met our inclusion criteria and were analyzed. Two reviewers independently performed abstract screening, full-texts appraisal, and quality assessment using the Newcastle-Ottawa Scale. Across 19 studies, methodological heterogeneity was a prominent feature; seven definitions of EAN and nine measurement tools for abuse were employed. Summary of results reveals a wide range of EAN outcomes, from premature mortality to increased health-care consumption and various forms of physical and psychological symptoms. Higher risks of mortality emerged as the most credible outcome, while the majority of morbidity outcomes originated from cross-sectional studies. Our findings suggest that there is an underrepresentation of older adults from non-Western populations and developing countries, and there is a need for more population-based prospective studies in middle- and low-income regions. Evidence gathered from this review is crucial in upgrading current practices, formulating policies, and shaping the future direction of research.

An improved standardization procedure to remove systematic low frequency variability biases in GCM simulations

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Mehrotra, Rajeshwar; Sharma, Ashish

2012-12-01

The quality of the absolute estimates of general circulation models (GCMs) calls into question the direct use of GCM outputs for climate change impact assessment studies, particularly at regional scales. Statistical correction of GCM output is often necessary when significant systematic biasesoccur between the modeled output and observations. A common procedure is to correct the GCM output by removing the systematic biases in low-order moments relative to observations or to reanalysis data at daily, monthly, or seasonal timescales. In this paper, we present an extension of a recently published nested bias correction (NBC) technique to correct for the low- as well as higher-order moments biases in the GCM-derived variables across selected multiple time-scales. The proposed recursive nested bias correction (RNBC) approach offers an improved basis for applying bias correction at multiple timescales over the original NBC procedure. The method ensures that the bias-corrected series exhibits improvements that are consistently spread over all of the timescales considered. Different variations of the approach starting from the standard NBC to the more complex recursive alternatives are tested to assess their impacts on a range of GCM-simulated atmospheric variables of interest in downscaling applications related to hydrology and water resources. Results of the study suggest that three to five iteration RNBCs are the most effective in removing distributional and persistence related biases across the timescales considered.

A systematic review of religious beliefs about major end-of-life issues in the five major world religions.

PubMed

Chakraborty, Rajshekhar; El-Jawahri, Areej R; Litzow, Mark R; Syrjala, Karen L; Parnes, Aric D; Hashmi, Shahrukh K

2017-10-01

The objective of this study was to examine the religious/spiritual beliefs of followers of the five major world religions about frequently encountered medical situations at the end of life (EoL). This was a systematic review of observational studies on the religious aspects of commonly encountered EoL situations. The databases used for retrieving studies were: Ovid MEDLINE In-Process & Other Non-Indexed Citations, Ovid MEDLINE, Ovid EMBASE, Ovid PsycINFO, Ovid Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials, Ovid Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews, and Scopus. Observational studies, including surveys from healthcare providers or the general population, and case studies were included for review. Articles written from a purely theoretical or philosophical perspective were excluded. Our search strategy generated 968 references, 40 of which were included for review, while 5 studies were added from reference lists. Whenever possible, we organized the results into five categories that would be clinically meaningful for palliative care practices at the EoL: advanced directives, euthanasia and physician-assisted suicide, physical requirements (artificial nutrition, hydration, and pain management), autopsy practices, and other EoL religious considerations. A wide degree of heterogeneity was observed within religions, depending on the country of origin, level of education, and degree of intrinsic religiosity. Our review describes the religious practices pertaining to major EoL issues and explains the variations in EoL decision making by clinicians and patients based on their religious teachings and beliefs. Prospective studies with validated tools for religiosity should be performed in the future to assess the impact of religion on EoL care.

Lidar observation of marine mixed layer

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Yamagishi, Susumu; Yamanouchi, Hiroshi; Tsuchiya, Masayuki

1992-01-01

Marine mixed layer is known to play an important role in the transportation of pollution exiting ship funnels. The application of a diffusion model is critically dependent upon a reliable estimate of a lid. However, the processes that form lids are not well understood, though considerable progress toward marine boundary layer has been achieved. This report describes observations of the marine mixed layer from the course Ise-wan to Nii-jima with the intention of gaining a better understanding of their structure by a shipboard lidar. These observations were made in the summer of 1991. One interesting feature of the observations was that the multiple layers of aerosols, which is rarely numerically modeled, was encountered. No attempt is yet made to present a systematic analysis of all the data collected. Instead we focus on observations that seem to be directly relevant to the structure of the mixed layer.

Hard X-ray emission from the solar corona

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Krucker, S.; Battaglia, M.; Cargill, P. J.; Fletcher, L.; Hudson, H. S.; MacKinnon, A. L.; Masuda, S.; Sui, L.; Tomczak, M.; Veronig, A. L.; Vlahos, L.; White, S. M.

2008-10-01

This review surveys hard X-ray emissions of non-thermal electrons in the solar corona. These electrons originate in flares and flare-related processes. Hard X-ray emission is the most direct diagnostic of electron presence in the corona, and such observations provide quantitative determinations of the total energy in the non-thermal electrons. The most intense flare emissions are generally observed from the chromosphere at footpoints of magnetic loops. Over the years, however, many observations of hard X-ray and even γ-ray emission directly from the corona have also been reported. These coronal sources are of particular interest as they occur closest to where the electron acceleration is thought to occur. Prior to the actual direct imaging observations, disk occultation was usually required to study coronal sources, resulting in limited physical information. Now RHESSI has given us a systematic view of coronal sources that combines high spatial and spectral resolution with broad energy coverage and high sensitivity. Despite the low density and hence low bremsstrahlung efficiency of the corona, we now detect coronal hard X-ray emissions from sources in all phases of solar flares. Because the physical conditions in such sources may differ substantially from those of the usual “footpoint” emission regions, we take the opportunity to revisit the physics of hard X-radiation and relevant theories of particle acceleration.

Dynamic Network-Based Relevance Score Reveals Essential Proteins and Functional Modules in Directed Differentiation

PubMed Central

Wu, Chia-Chou; Lin, Che

2015-01-01

The induction of stem cells toward a desired differentiation direction is required for the advancement of stem cell-based therapies. Despite successful demonstrations of the control of differentiation direction, the effective use of stem cell-based therapies suffers from a lack of systematic knowledge regarding the mechanisms underlying directed differentiation. Using dynamic modeling and the temporal microarray data of three differentiation stages, three dynamic protein-protein interaction networks were constructed. The interaction difference networks derived from the constructed networks systematically delineated the evolution of interaction variations and the underlying mechanisms. A proposed relevance score identified the essential components in the directed differentiation. Inspection of well-known proteins and functional modules in the directed differentiation showed the plausibility of the proposed relevance score, with the higher scores of several proteins and function modules indicating their essential roles in the directed differentiation. During the differentiation process, the proteins and functional modules with higher relevance scores also became more specific to the neuronal identity. Ultimately, the essential components revealed by the relevance scores may play a role in controlling the direction of differentiation. In addition, these components may serve as a starting point for understanding the systematic mechanisms of directed differentiation and for increasing the efficiency of stem cell-based therapies. PMID:25977693

Different Methods for Long-term Systematic Assessment of Challenging Behaviors in People with Severe Intellectual Disability

PubMed Central

Delgado, Candida; Gonzalez-Gordon, Rodrigo G.; Aragón, Estívaliz; Navarro, Jose I.

2017-01-01

The aim of this study was to compare the advantages and disadvantages of different behavioral assessment procedures with the purpose of design a long-term assessment procedure that brings together the benefits observed. The study involved four adults with severe and profound intellectual disabilities and severe behavioral problems. A behavioral assessment has been carried out with Scatter Plot, Antecedent-Behavior-Consequence record sheets and, finally, The Observer XT. We conducted a comprehensive assessment of challenging behavior of each participant, by reviewing bio-psychosocial records, interviewing family and direct caregiver staff, as well as direct observation. A large inter-subject behavior variability and instability of intra-subject behavior were found, raising questions about the election of the period to evaluate. The first evaluation level highlighted information about stability of behavior, the second level stand out the context in which it occurs and the third level detailed the different topographies of each behavioral category. The results suggest the desirability of a continuous assessment by combining these three levels for adjusting to the specific characteristics of behavior. We suggest the need of designing a single behavioral assessment procedure that includes the benefits observed in each of the instruments used. PMID:28154543

Different Methods for Long-term Systematic Assessment of Challenging Behaviors in People with Severe Intellectual Disability.

PubMed

Delgado, Candida; Gonzalez-Gordon, Rodrigo G; Aragón, Estívaliz; Navarro, Jose I

2017-01-01

The aim of this study was to compare the advantages and disadvantages of different behavioral assessment procedures with the purpose of design a long-term assessment procedure that brings together the benefits observed. The study involved four adults with severe and profound intellectual disabilities and severe behavioral problems. A behavioral assessment has been carried out with Scatter Plot, Antecedent-Behavior-Consequence record sheets and, finally, The Observer XT. We conducted a comprehensive assessment of challenging behavior of each participant, by reviewing bio-psychosocial records, interviewing family and direct caregiver staff, as well as direct observation. A large inter-subject behavior variability and instability of intra-subject behavior were found, raising questions about the election of the period to evaluate. The first evaluation level highlighted information about stability of behavior, the second level stand out the context in which it occurs and the third level detailed the different topographies of each behavioral category. The results suggest the desirability of a continuous assessment by combining these three levels for adjusting to the specific characteristics of behavior. We suggest the need of designing a single behavioral assessment procedure that includes the benefits observed in each of the instruments used.

Experimental evidence of thermal vibrational convection in a nonuniformly heated fluid in a reduced gravity environment.

PubMed

Mialdun, A; Ryzhkov, I I; Melnikov, D E; Shevtsova, V

2008-08-22

We report experimental evidence of convection caused by translational vibration of nonuniformly heated fluid in low gravity. The theory of vibrational convection in weightlessness is well developed but direct experimental proof has been missing. An innovative point of the experiment is the observation of a temperature field in the front and side views of the cubic cell. In addition, particle tracing is employed. The evolution of this field is studied systematically in a wide range of frequencies and amplitudes. The flow structures reported in previous numerical studies are confirmed. The transition from four-vortex flow to the pattern with three vortices is observed in the transient state.

Experiment Pamir-3. Coplanar emission of high energy gamma-quanta at interaction of hadrons with nuclei of air atoms at energies above 10 to the 7th power GeV

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Asatiani, T. L.; Genina, L. E.; Zatsepin, G. T.

1985-01-01

A systematic analysis of large gamma families, detected in X-ray emulsion chambers, cases of multicore halos have been observed, and among them five events in which the halo is divided into three of four separate cores with their alignment observed in the target diagram (coplanarity of axes of corresponding electron photon cascades). The halo alignment (tendency to the straight line) leads to the aximuthal asymmetry (thrust). The analysis of lateral and momentum distributions of particles in these families shows that they also have thrust that correlates with the direction of the halo core alignment.

The visual representations of motion and of gravity are functionally independent: Evidence of a differential effect of smooth pursuit eye movements.

PubMed

De Sá Teixeira, Nuno Alexandre

2016-09-01

The memory for the final position of a moving object which suddenly disappears has been found to be displaced forward, in the direction of motion, and downwards, in the direction of gravity. These phenomena were coined, respectively, Representational Momentum and Representational Gravity. Although both these and similar effects have been systematically linked with the functioning of internal representations of physical variables (e.g. momentum and gravity), serious doubts have been raised for a cognitively based interpretation, favouring instead a major role of oculomotor and perceptual factors which, more often than not, were left uncontrolled and even ignored. The present work aims to determine the degree to which Representational Momentum and Representational Gravity are epiphenomenal to smooth pursuit eye movements. Observers were required to indicate the offset locations of targets moving along systematically varied directions after a variable imposed retention interval. Each participant completed the task twice, varying the eye movements' instructions: gaze was either constrained or left free to track the targets. A Fourier decomposition analysis of the localization responses was used to disentangle both phenomena. The results show unambiguously that constraining eye movements significantly eliminates the harmonic components which index Representational Momentum, but have no effect on Representational Gravity or its time course. The found outcomes offer promising prospects for the study of the visual representation of gravity and its neurological substrates.

The difficulties of systematic reviews.

PubMed

Westgate, Martin J; Lindenmayer, David B

2017-10-01

The need for robust evidence to support conservation actions has driven the adoption of systematic approaches to research synthesis in ecology. However, applying systematic review to complex or open questions remains challenging, and this task is becoming more difficult as the quantity of scientific literature increases. We drew on the science of linguistics for guidance as to why the process of identifying and sorting information during systematic review remains so labor intensive, and to provide potential solutions. Several linguistic properties of peer-reviewed corpora-including nonrandom selection of review topics, small-world properties of semantic networks, and spatiotemporal variation in word meaning-greatly increase the effort needed to complete the systematic review process. Conversely, the resolution of these semantic complexities is a common motivation for narrative reviews, but this process is rarely enacted with the rigor applied during linguistic analysis. Therefore, linguistics provides a unifying framework for understanding some key challenges of systematic review and highlights 2 useful directions for future research. First, in cases where semantic complexity generates barriers to synthesis, ecologists should consider drawing on existing methods-such as natural language processing or the construction of research thesauri and ontologies-that provide tools for mapping and resolving that complexity. These tools could help individual researchers classify research material in a more robust manner and provide valuable guidance for future researchers on that topic. Second, a linguistic perspective highlights that scientific writing is a rich resource worthy of detailed study, an observation that can sometimes be lost during the search for data during systematic review or meta-analysis. For example, mapping semantic networks can reveal redundancy and complementarity among scientific concepts, leading to new insights and research questions. Consequently, wider adoption of linguistic approaches may facilitate improved rigor and richness in research synthesis. © 2017 Society for Conservation Biology.

Systematic Study of Student Understanding of the Relationships between the Directions of Force, Velocity, and Acceleration in One Dimension

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Rosenblatt, Rebecca; Heckler, Andrew F.

2011-01-01

We developed an instrument to systematically investigate student conceptual understanding of the relationships between the directions of net force, velocity, and acceleration in one dimension and report on data collected on the final version of the instrument from over 650 students. Unlike previous work, we simultaneously studied all six possible…

Quantifying ‘Causality’ in Complex Systems: Understanding Transfer Entropy

PubMed Central

Abdul Razak, Fatimah; Jensen, Henrik Jeldtoft

2014-01-01

‘Causal’ direction is of great importance when dealing with complex systems. Often big volumes of data in the form of time series are available and it is important to develop methods that can inform about possible causal connections between the different observables. Here we investigate the ability of the Transfer Entropy measure to identify causal relations embedded in emergent coherent correlations. We do this by firstly applying Transfer Entropy to an amended Ising model. In addition we use a simple Random Transition model to test the reliability of Transfer Entropy as a measure of ‘causal’ direction in the presence of stochastic fluctuations. In particular we systematically study the effect of the finite size of data sets. PMID:24955766

Systematic Treatment Selection (STS): A Review and Future Directions

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Nguyen, Tam T.; Bertoni, Matteo; Charvat, Mylea; Gheytanchi, Anahita; Beutler, Larry E.

2007-01-01

Systematic Treatment Selection (STS) is a form of technical eclectism that develops and plans treatments using empirically founded principles of psychotherapy. It is a model that provides systematic guidelines for the utilization of different psychotherapeutic strategies based on patient qualities and problem characteristics. Historically, it…

Effectiveness of cognitive rehabilitation following acquired brain injury: a meta-analytic re-examination of Cicerone et al.'s (2000, 2005) systematic reviews.

PubMed

Rohling, Martin L; Faust, Mark E; Beverly, Brenda; Demakis, George

2009-01-01

The present study provides a meta-analysis of cognitive rehabilitation literature (K = 115, N = 2,014) that was originally reviewed by K. D. Cicerone et al. (2000, 2005) for the purpose of providing evidence-based practice guidelines for persons with acquired brain injury. The analysis yielded a small treatment effect size (ES = .30, d(+) statistic) directly attributable to cognitive rehabilitation. A larger treatment effect (ES = .71) was found for single-group pretest to posttest outcomes; however, modest improvement was observed for nontreatment control groups as well (ES = .41). Correction for this effect, which was not attributable to cognitive treatments, resulted in the small, but significant, overall estimate. Treatment effects were moderated by cognitive domain treated, time postinjury, type of brain injury, and age. The meta-analysis revealed sufficient evidence for the effectiveness of attention training after traumatic brain injury and of language and visuospatial training for aphasia and neglect syndromes after stroke. Results provide important quantitative documentation of effective treatments, complementing recent systematic reviews. Findings also highlight gaps in the scientific evidence supporting cognitive rehabilitation, thereby indicating future research directions. (c) 2009 APA, all rights reserved.

Measuring domestic water use: a systematic review of methodologies that measure unmetered water use in low-income settings.

PubMed

Tamason, Charlotte C; Bessias, Sophia; Villada, Adriana; Tulsiani, Suhella M; Ensink, Jeroen H J; Gurley, Emily S; Mackie Jensen, Peter Kjaer

2016-11-01

To present a systematic review of methods for measuring domestic water use in settings where water meters cannot be used. We systematically searched EMBASE, PubMed, Water Intelligence Online, Water Engineering and Development Center, IEEExplore, Scielo, and Science Direct databases for articles that reported methodologies for measuring water use at the household level where water metering infrastructure was absent or incomplete. A narrative review explored similarities and differences between the included studies and provide recommendations for future research in water use. A total of 21 studies were included in the review. Methods ranged from single-day to 14-consecutive-day visits, and water use recall ranged from 12 h to 7 days. Data were collected using questionnaires, observations or both. Many studies only collected information on water that was carried into the household, and some failed to mention whether water was used outside the home. Water use in the selected studies was found to range from two to 113 l per capita per day. No standardised methods for measuring unmetered water use were found, which brings into question the validity and comparability of studies that have measured unmetered water use. In future studies, it will be essential to define all components that make up water use and determine how they will be measured. A pre-study that involves observations and direct measurements during water collection periods (these will have to be determined through questioning) should be used to determine optimal methods for obtaining water use information in a survey. Day-to-day and seasonal variation should be included. A study that investigates water use recall is warranted to further develop standardised methods to measure water use; in the meantime, water use recall should be limited to 24 h or fewer. © 2016 The Authors. Tropical Medicine & International Health Published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Methods to systematically review and meta-analyse observational studies: a systematic scoping review of recommendations.

PubMed

Mueller, Monika; D'Addario, Maddalena; Egger, Matthias; Cevallos, Myriam; Dekkers, Olaf; Mugglin, Catrina; Scott, Pippa

2018-05-21

Systematic reviews and meta-analyses of observational studies are frequently performed, but no widely accepted guidance is available at present. We performed a systematic scoping review of published methodological recommendations on how to systematically review and meta-analyse observational studies. We searched online databases and websites and contacted experts in the field to locate potentially eligible articles. We included articles that provided any type of recommendation on how to conduct systematic reviews and meta-analyses of observational studies. We extracted and summarised recommendations on pre-defined key items: protocol development, research question, search strategy, study eligibility, data extraction, dealing with different study designs, risk of bias assessment, publication bias, heterogeneity, statistical analysis. We summarised recommendations by key item, identifying areas of agreement and disagreement as well as areas where recommendations were missing or scarce. The searches identified 2461 articles of which 93 were eligible. Many recommendations for reviews and meta-analyses of observational studies were transferred from guidance developed for reviews and meta-analyses of RCTs. Although there was substantial agreement in some methodological areas there was also considerable disagreement on how evidence synthesis of observational studies should be conducted. Conflicting recommendations were seen on topics such as the inclusion of different study designs in systematic reviews and meta-analyses, the use of quality scales to assess the risk of bias, and the choice of model (e.g. fixed vs. random effects) for meta-analysis. There is a need for sound methodological guidance on how to conduct systematic reviews and meta-analyses of observational studies, which critically considers areas in which there are conflicting recommendations.

Estimation of geopotential differences over intercontinental locations using satellite and terrestrial measurements. Ph.D. Thesis

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Pavlis, Nikolaos K.

1991-01-01

An error analysis study was conducted in order to assess the current accuracies and the future anticipated improvements in the estimation of geopotential differences over intercontinental locations. An observation/estimation scheme was proposed and studied, whereby gravity disturbance measurements on the Earth's surface, in caps surrounding the estimation points, are combined with corresponding data in caps directly over these points at the altitude of a low orbiting satellite, for the estimation of the geopotential difference between the terrestrial stations. The mathematical modeling required to relate the primary observables to the parameters to be estimated, was studied for the terrestrial data and the data at altitude. Emphasis was placed on the examination of systematic effects and on the corresponding reductions that need to be applied to the measurements to avoid systematic errors. The error estimation for the geopotential differences was performed using both truncation theory and least squares collocation with ring averages, in case observations on the Earth's surface only are used. The error analysis indicated that with the currently available global geopotential model OSU89B and with gravity disturbance data in 2 deg caps surrounding the estimation points, the error of the geopotential difference arising from errors in the reference model and the cap data is about 23 kgal cm, for 30 deg station separation.

A systematic narrative review of consumer-directed care for older people: implications for model development.

PubMed

Ottmann, Goetz; Allen, Jacqui; Feldman, Peter

2013-11-01

Consumer-directed care is increasingly becoming a mainstream option in community-based aged care. However, a systematic review describing how the current evaluation research translates into practise has not been published to date. This review aimed to systematically establish an evidence base of user preferences for and satisfaction with services associated with consumer-directed care programmes for older people. Twelve databases were searched, including MedLine, BioMed Central, Cinahl, Expanded Academic ASAP, PsychInfo, ProQuest, Age Line, Science Direct, Social Citation Index, Sociological Abstracts, Web of Science and the Cochrane Library. Google Scholar and Google were also searched. Eligible studies were those reporting on choice, user preferences and service satisfaction outcomes regarding a programme or model of home-based care in the United States or United Kingdom. This systematic narrative review retrieved literature published from January 1992 to August 2011. A total of 277 references were identified. Of these 17 met the selection criteria and were reviewed. Findings indicate that older people report varying preferences for consumer-directed care with some demonstrating limited interest. Clients and carers reported good service satisfaction. However, research comparing user preferences across countries or investigating how ecological factors shape user preferences has received limited attention. Policy-makers and practitioners need to carefully consider the diverse contexts, needs and preferences of older adults in adopting consumer-directed care approaches in community aged care. The review calls for the development of consumer-directed care programmes offering a broad range of options that allow for personalisation and greater control over services without necessarily transferring the responsibility for administrative responsibilities to service users. Review findings suggest that consumer-directed care approaches have the potential to empower older people. © 2013 Blackwell Publishing Ltd.

Hypnosis Versus Systematic Desensitization in the Treatment of Test Anxiety

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Melnick, Joseph; Russell, Ronald W.

1976-01-01

This study compared the effectiveness of systematic desensitization and the directed experience hypnotic technique in reducing self-reported test anxiety and increasing the academic performance of test-anxious undergraduates (N=36). The results are discussed as evidence for systematic desensitization as the more effective treatment in reducing…

Standardized assessment of psychosocial factors and their influence on medically confirmed health outcomes in workers: a systematic review.

PubMed

Rosário, Susel; Fonseca, João A; Nienhaus, Albert; da Costa, José Torres

2016-01-01

Previous studies of psychosocial work factors have indicated their importance for workers' health. However, to what extent health problems can be attributed to the nature of the work environment or other psychosocial factors is not clear. No previous systematic review has used inclusion criteria based on specific medical evaluation of work-related health outcomes and the use of validated instruments for the assessment of the psychosocial (work) environment. The aim of this systematic review is to summarize the evidence assessing the relationship between the psychosocial work environment and workers' health based on studies that used standardized and validated instruments to assess the psychosocial work environment and that focused on medically confirmed health outcomes. A systematic review of the literature was carried out by searching the databases PubMed, B-ON, Science Direct, Psycarticles, Psychology and Behavioral Sciences Collection and the search engine (Google Scholar) using appropriate words for studies published from 2004 to 2014. This review follows the recommendations of the Statement for Reporting Systematic Reviews (PRISMA). Studies were included in the review if data on psychosocial validated assessment method(s) for the study population and specific medical evaluation of health-related work outcome(s) were presented. In total, the search strategy yielded 10,623 references, of which 10 studies (seven prospective cohort and three cross-sectional) met the inclusion criteria. Most studies (7/10) observed an adverse effect of poor psychosocial work factors on workers' health: 3 on sickness absence, 4 on cardiovascular diseases. The other 3 studies reported detrimental effects on sleep and on disease-associated biomarkers. A more consistent effect was observed in studies of higher methodological quality that used a prospective design jointly with the use of validated instruments for the assessment of the psychosocial (work) environment and clinical evaluation. More prospective studies are needed to assess the evidence of work-related psychosocial factors on workers´ health.

First-principles study on the electronic, optical, and transport properties of monolayer α- and β-GeSe

DOE PAGES

Xu, Yuanfeng; Zhang, Hao; Shao, Hezhu; ...

2017-12-15

The extraordinary properties and the novel applications of black phosphorene induce the research interest in the monolayer group-IV monochalcogenides. Here using first-principles calculations, we systematically investigate the electronic, transport, and optical properties of monolayer α- and β-GeSe, revealing a direct band gap of 1.61 eV for monolayer α-GeSe and an indirect band gap of 2.47 eV for monolayer β-GeSe. For monolayer β-GeSe, the electronic/hole transport is anisotropic, with an extremely high electron mobility of 2.93×104cm2/Vs along the armchair direction, comparable to that of black phosphorene. However, for β-GeSe, robust band gaps nearly independent of the applied tensile strain along themore » armchair direction are observed. Both monolayer α- and β-GeSe exhibit anisotropic optical absorption in the visible spectrum.« less

Inherent noise can facilitate coherence in collective swarm motion

PubMed Central

Yates, Christian A.; Erban, Radek; Escudero, Carlos; Couzin, Iain D.; Buhl, Jerome; Kevrekidis, Ioannis G.; Maini, Philip K.; Sumpter, David J. T.

2009-01-01

Among the most striking aspects of the movement of many animal groups are their sudden coherent changes in direction. Recent observations of locusts and starlings have shown that this directional switching is an intrinsic property of their motion. Similar direction switches are seen in self-propelled particle and other models of group motion. Comprehending the factors that determine such switches is key to understanding the movement of these groups. Here, we adopt a coarse-grained approach to the study of directional switching in a self-propelled particle model assuming an underlying one-dimensional Fokker–Planck equation for the mean velocity of the particles. We continue with this assumption in analyzing experimental data on locusts and use a similar systematic Fokker–Planck equation coefficient estimation approach to extract the relevant information for the assumed Fokker–Planck equation underlying that experimental data. In the experiment itself the motion of groups of 5 to 100 locust nymphs was investigated in a homogeneous laboratory environment, helping us to establish the intrinsic dynamics of locust marching bands. We determine the mean time between direction switches as a function of group density for the experimental data and the self-propelled particle model. This systematic approach allows us to identify key differences between the experimental data and the model, revealing that individual locusts appear to increase the randomness of their movements in response to a loss of alignment by the group. We give a quantitative description of how locusts use noise to maintain swarm alignment. We discuss further how properties of individual animal behavior, inferred by using the Fokker–Planck equation coefficient estimation approach, can be implemented in the self-propelled particle model to replicate qualitatively the group level dynamics seen in the experimental data. PMID:19336580

Systematically Asymmetric Heliospheric Magnetic Field: Evidence for a Quadrupole Mode and Non-Axisymmetry with Polarity Flip-Flops

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Mursula, K.; Hiltula, T.

2004-10-01

Recent studies of the heliospheric magnetic field (HMF) have detected interesting, systematic hemispherical and longitudinal asymmetries which have a profound significance for the understanding of solar magnetic fields. The in situ HMF measurements since the 1960s show that the heliospheric current sheet (HCS) is systematically shifted (coned) southward during solar minimum times, leading to the concept of a bashful ballerina. While temporary shifts can be considerably larger, the average HCS shift (coning) angle is a few degrees, less than the 7.2∘ tilt of the solar rotation axis. Recent solar observations during the last two solar cycles verify these results and show that the magnetic areas in the northern solar hemisphere are larger and their intensity weaker than in the south during long intervals in the late declining to minimum phase. The multipole expansion reveals a strong quadrupole term which is oppositely directed to the dipole term. These results imply that the Sun has a symmetric quadrupole S0 dynamo mode that oscillates in phase with the dominant dipole A0 mode. Moreover, the heliospheric magnetic field has a strong tendency to produce solar tilts that are roughly opposite in longitudinal phase. This implies is a systematic longitudinal asymmetry and leads to a “flip-flop” type behaviour in the dominant HMF sector whose period is about 3.2 years. This agrees very well with the similar flip-flop period found recently in sunspots, as well as with the observed ratio of three between the activity cycle period and the flip-flop period of sun-like stars. Accordingly, these results require that the solar dynamo includes three modes, A0, S0 and a non-axisymmetric mode. Obviously, these results have a great impact on solar modelling.

Statistical and systematic errors in the measurement of weak-lensing Minkowski functionals: Application to the Canada-France-Hawaii Lensing Survey

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

Shirasaki, Masato; Yoshida, Naoki, E-mail: masato.shirasaki@utap.phys.s.u-tokyo.ac.jp

2014-05-01

The measurement of cosmic shear using weak gravitational lensing is a challenging task that involves a number of complicated procedures. We study in detail the systematic errors in the measurement of weak-lensing Minkowski Functionals (MFs). Specifically, we focus on systematics associated with galaxy shape measurements, photometric redshift errors, and shear calibration correction. We first generate mock weak-lensing catalogs that directly incorporate the actual observational characteristics of the Canada-France-Hawaii Lensing Survey (CFHTLenS). We then perform a Fisher analysis using the large set of mock catalogs for various cosmological models. We find that the statistical error associated with the observational effects degradesmore » the cosmological parameter constraints by a factor of a few. The Subaru Hyper Suprime-Cam (HSC) survey with a sky coverage of ∼1400 deg{sup 2} will constrain the dark energy equation of the state parameter with an error of Δw {sub 0} ∼ 0.25 by the lensing MFs alone, but biases induced by the systematics can be comparable to the 1σ error. We conclude that the lensing MFs are powerful statistics beyond the two-point statistics only if well-calibrated measurement of both the redshifts and the shapes of source galaxies is performed. Finally, we analyze the CFHTLenS data to explore the ability of the MFs to break degeneracies between a few cosmological parameters. Using a combined analysis of the MFs and the shear correlation function, we derive the matter density Ω{sub m0}=0.256±{sub 0.046}{sup 0.054}.« less

Physician Activities During Time Out of the Examination Room

PubMed Central

Gilchrist, Valerie; McCord, Gary; Schrop, Susan Labuda; King, Bridget D.; McCormick, Kenelm F.; Oprandi, Allison M.; Selius, Brian A.; Cowher, Michael; Maheshwary, Rishi; Patel, Falguni; Shah, Ami; Tsai, Bonny; Zaharna, Mia

2005-01-01

PURPOSE Comprehensive medical care requires direct physician-patient contact, other office-based medical activities, and medical care outside of the office. This study was a systematic investigation of family physician office-based activities outside of the examination room. METHODS In the summer of 2000, 6 medical students directly observed and recorded the office-based activities of 27 northeastern Ohio community-based family physicians during 1 practice day. A checklist was used to record physician activity every 20 seconds outside of the examination room. Observation excluded medical care provided at other sites. Physicians were also asked to estimate how they spent their time on average and on the observed day. RESULTS The average office day was 8 hours 8 minutes. On average, 20.1 patients were seen and physicians spent 17.5 minutes per patient in direct contact time. Office-based time outside of the examination room averaged 3 hours 8 minutes or 39% of the office practice day; 61% of that time was spent in activities related to medical care. Charting (32.9 minutes per day) and dictating (23.4 minutes per day) were the most common medical activities. Physicians overestimated the time they spent in direct patient care and medical activities. None of the participating practices had electronic medical records. CONCLUSIONS If office-based, medically related activities were averaged over the number of patients seen in the office that day, the average office visit time per patient would increase by 7 minutes (40%). Care delivery extends beyond direct patient contact. Models of health care delivery need to recognize this component of care. PMID:16338912

Reynolds numbers influence the directionality of self-propelled microjet engines in the 10(-4) regime.

PubMed

Zhao, Guanjia; Nguyen, Nam-Trung; Pumera, Martin

2013-08-21

The motion directionality of self-propelled bubble-jet microengines is influenced by their velocities and/or viscosity of the media in which they move. The influence of the fuel concentration from 1 to 3 wt% of H2O2 in 0.5% steps and of the glycerol fraction from 0 to 64% in aqueous solution on the directionality of the microjets motions is examined systematically. We show that with decreasing Reynolds numbers of the system (that is, with increasing viscosity or decreasing velocity of the microjets), the directionality of the motion shifts from circular to linear motion. This translates to a shorter travel time towards a designated target for the microjets despite moving at a slower speed, since the movements are linear instead of circular. We show that such dependence of trajectories of microjets on Re is a general issue. This observation has a strong implication for the real-world applications of microjets.

Pore Formation and Mobility Investigation (PFMI): Concept, Hardware Development, and Initial Analysis of Experiments Conducted Aboard the International Space Station

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Grugel, Richard N.

2003-01-01

Porosity in the form of "bubbles and pipes" can occur during controlled directional solidification processing of metal alloys. This is a consequence that 1) precludes obtaining any meaningful scientific results and 2) is detrimental to desired material properties. Unfortunately, several Microgravity experiments have been compromised by porosity. The intent of the PFMl investigation is to conduct a systematic effort directed towards understanding porosity formation and mobility during controlled directional solidification (DS) in a microgravity environment. PFMl uses a pure transparent material, succinonitrile (SCN), as well as SCN "alloyed" with water, in conjunction with a translating temperature gradient stage so that direct observation and recording of pore generation and mobility can be made. PFMl is investigating the role of thermocapillary forces and temperature gradients in affecting bubble dynamics as well as other solidification processes in a microgravity environment. This presentation will cover the concept, hardware development, operations, and the initial results from experiments conducted aboard the International Space Station.

Pore Formation and Mobility Investigation (PFMI): Concept, Hardware Development and Initial Analysis of Experiments

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Grugel, Richard N.

2004-01-01

Porosity in the form of "bubbles and pipes" can occur during controlled directional solidification processing of metal alloys. This is a consequence that 1) precludes obtaining any meaningful scientific results and 2) is detrimental to desired material properties. Unfortunately, several Microgravity experiments have been compromised by porosity. The intent of the PFMI investigation is to conduct a systematic effort directed towards understanding porosity formation and mobility during controlled directional solidification (DS) in a microgravity environment. PFMI uses a pure transparent material, succinonitrile (SCN), as well as SCN "alloyed" with water, in conjunction with a translating temperature gradient stage so that direct observation and recording of pore generation and mobility can be made. PFMI is investigating the role of thermocapillary forces and temperature gradients in affecting bubble dynamics as well as other solidification processes in a microgravity Environment. This presentation will cover the concept, hardware development, operations, and the initial results from experiments conducted aboard the International Space Station. .

Economic burden of smoking: a systematic review of direct and indirect costs.

PubMed

Rezaei, Satar; Akbari Sari, Ali; Arab, Mohammad; Majdzadeh, Reza; Mohammad Poorasl, Asghar

2016-01-01

Smoking imposes considerably high economic costs both on the healthcare system as well as on a country as a whole. This study was aimed at systematically reviewing the currently published literature on the direct and indirect costs associated with smoking globally. A systematic review was performed on systematically searched articles from PubMed and Scopus databases published during the period 1990 to 2014. A combination of key terms such as "economic burden", "direct cost", "indirect cost", and smoking, tobacco or cigarette" and "productivity lost was used for the search. Original research article published in English with the age of study population greater than 35 years, at least three smoking-related diseases and reported direct or indirect cost of smoking were the inclusion criteria. Fourteen original articles were included in the review. The cost of outpatient care and premature deaths were found to be the most important cost driver of direct and indirect costs respectively. The study showed that smoking-related diseases were responsible for 1.5 - 6.8 % of the national health system expenditures and 0.22-0.88% of GDP of a country. Our review indicated that the costs of smoking are substantial, and smoking have a significant impact on the economy of a country. Policies such as increasing the taxation on a cigarette are required and should be implemented to reduce the economic burden of smoking.

[German translation of Suicidal Patient Observation Chart (SPOC) - an instrument for practice].

PubMed

Löhr, Michael; Schulz, Michael; Hemkendreis, Bruno; Björkdahl, Anna; Nienaber, André

2013-12-01

Nursing of suicidal in-patients is a complex and responsible task. A direct and immediate intensive caring and therapeutic supervision, also known as special observation is still recommended in guidelines (DGPPN, 2012) and maybe one of the most used interventions in the caring of suicidal patients in inpatient settings. It involves many kinds to develop the relationship between the observer and the patient. The original SPOC was developed in Sweden with the aim to increase the quality of a systematically documentation during the supervision of suicidal patients. It is an instrument to ensure systematic documentation of observational behavior or noticeable mood during acute suicidal crisis, for example feelings like "worried, anxious" or other possible influencing factors like "sudden mood variation". By this means the SPOC can ensure the process of systematic documentation of special observation and increase its quality, i. e. who documented what at what time. Furthermore SPOC can facilitate a better communication of the observation process to the multidisciplinary team and to the patient as well. The SPOC includes the 28 items and covers 24 separate observation periods. The aim of this paper is to constitute the translation process from the English to the German SPOC version. The translation process followed a five step model. In the first step the English version was translated from two German native speakers. In the second step, the first two translation results where discussed by the Expert group (authors) and a new version was developed. In the third step the first german version was translated back (two English native Speakers) into English. The fourth step was taken, to review the results by the expert groups (authors) and set up the so called "pre version". The last step includes the proof of content validity by 52 nurses. The proof was able to identify a few misunderstandings and helped to enhance the tool in its final version. With the translation, the German-speaking nursing practice in psychiatry has a tool that can be used by psychiatric nurses regarding their complex interventions to be undertaken in this special group of patients.

Systematic inquiry for design of health care information systems: an example of elicitation of the patient stakeholder perspective

PubMed Central

Eschler, Jordan; O’Leary, Katie; Kendall, Logan; Ralston, James D.; Pratt, Wanda

2017-01-01

The electronic health record (EHR) has evolved as a tool primarily dictated by the needs of health care clinicians and organizations, providing important functions supporting day to day work in health care. However, the EHR and supporting information systems contain the potential to incorporate patient workflows and tasks as well. Integrating patient needs into existing EHR and health management systems will require understanding of patients as direct stakeholders, necessitating observation and exploration of in situ EHR use by patients to envision new opportunities for future systems. In this paper, we describe the application of a theoretical framework (Vicente, 1999) to organize qualitative data during a multi-stage research study into patient engagement with EHRs. By using this method of systematic inquiry, we have more effectively elicited patient stakeholder needs and goals to inform the design of future health care information systems. PMID:29056874

Qualitative ergonomics/human factors research in health care: Current state and future directions.

PubMed

Valdez, Rupa Sheth; McGuire, Kerry Margaret; Rivera, A Joy

2017-07-01

The objective of this systematic review was to understand the current state of Ergonomics/Human Factors (E/HF) qualitative research in health care and to draw implications for future efforts. This systematic review identified 98 qualitative research papers published between January 2005 and August 2015 in the seven journals endorsed by the International Ergonomics Association with an impact factor over 1.0. The majority of the studies were conducted in hospitals and outpatient clinics, were focused on the work of formal health care professionals, and were classified as cognitive or organizational ergonomics. Interviews, focus groups, and observations were the most prevalent forms of data collection. Triangulation and data archiving were the dominant approaches to ensuring rigor. Few studies employed a formal approach to qualitative inquiry. Significant opportunities remain to enhance the use of qualitative research to advance systems thinking within health care. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Internal Consistency and Associated Characteristics of Informant Discrepancies in Clinic Referred Youths Age 11 to 17 Years

PubMed Central

De Los Reyes, Andres; Youngstrom, Eric A.; Pabón, Shairy C.; Youngstrom, Jennifer K.; Feeny, Norah C.; Findling, Robert L.

2011-01-01

In this study, we examined the internal consistency of informant discrepancies in reports of youth behavior and emotional problems and their unique relations with youth, caregiver, and family characteristics. In a heterogeneous multisite clinic sample of 420 youths (ages 11 to 17 years), high internal consistency estimates were observed across measures of informant discrepancies. Further, latent profile analyses identified systematic patterns of discrepancies, characterized by their magnitude and direction (i.e., which informant reported greater youth problems). Additionally, informant discrepancies systematically and uniquely related to informants' own perspectives of youth mood problems, and these relations remained significant after taking into account multiple informants' reports of informant characteristics widely known to relate to informant discrepancies. These findings call into the question the prevailing view of informant discrepancies as indicative of unreliability and/or bias on the part of informants' reports of youths' behavior. PMID:21229442

Sunyaev-Zel'dovich Effect Derived Distance to the High Redshift Clusters MS 0451.6-0305 and CL 0016+16

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Reese, E. D.; Mohr, J. J.; Carlstrom, J. E.; Grego, L.; Holder, G. P.; Holzapfel, W. L.; Hughes, J. P.; Patel, S. K.

2000-01-01

We determine the distances to the z approximately equal to 0.55 galaxy clusters MS 0451.6-0305 and CL 0016+16 from a maximum likelihood joint fit to interferometric Sunyaev-Zel'dovich effect (SZE) and X-ray observations. We model the intracluster medium (ICM) using a spherical isothermal beta-model. We quantify the statistical and systematic uncertainties inherent to these direct distance measurements, and we determine constraints on the Hubble parameter for three different cosmologies. For an OmegaM = 0.3, OmegaL = 0.7 cosmology, these distances imply a Hubble constant of 63(exp 12)(sub -9)(exp +21)(sub -21) km/s/Mpc, where the uncertainties correspond to statistical followed by systematic at 68% confidence. The best fit H(sub o) is 57 km/sec/Mpc for an open OmegaM = 0.3 universe and 52 km/s/Mpc for a flat Omega = 1 universe.

Sunyaev-Zeldovich Effect-Derived Distances to the High-Redshift Clusters

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Reese, Erik D.; Mohr, Joseph J.; Carlstrom, John E.; Joy, Marshall; Grego, Laura; Holder, Gilbert P.; Holzapfel, William L.; Hughes, John P.; Patel, Sandeep K.; Donahue, Megan

2000-01-01

We determine the distances to the z approximately equals 0.55 galaxy clusters MS 0451.6 - 0305 and Cl 0016 + 16 from a maximum-likelihood joint fit to interferometric Sunyaev-Zeldovich effect (SZE) and X-ray observations. We model the intracluster medium (ICM) using a spherical isothermal beta model. We quantify the statistical and systematic uncertainties inherent to these direct distance measurements, and we determine constraints on the Hubble parameter for three different cosmologies. For an Omega(sub M) = 0.3, Omega(sub lambda) = 0.7 cosmology, these distances imply a Hubble constant of 63(sup +12) (sub -9) (sup + 21) (sub -21) km/s Mp/c, where the uncertainties correspond to statistical followed by systematic at 68% confidence. The best-fit H(sub 0) is 57 km/s Mp/c for an open (Omega(sub M) = 0.3) universe and 52 km/s Mp/c for a flat (Omega(sub M) = 1) universe.

Patterns of Carbon Nanotubes by Flow-Directed Deposition on Substrates with Architectured Topographies.

PubMed

K Jawed, M; Hadjiconstantinou, N G; Parks, D M; Reis, P M

2018-03-14

We develop and perform continuum mechanics simulations of carbon nanotube (CNT) deployment directed by a combination of surface topography and rarefied gas flow. We employ the discrete elastic rods method to model the deposition of CNT as a slender elastic rod that evolves in time under two external forces, namely, van der Waals (vdW) and aerodynamic drag. Our results confirm that this self-assembly process is analogous to a previously studied macroscopic system, the "elastic sewing machine", where an elastic rod deployed onto a moving substrate forms nonlinear patterns. In the case of CNTs, the complex patterns observed on the substrate, such as coils and serpentines, result from an intricate interplay between van der Waals attraction, rarefied aerodynamics, and elastic bending. We systematically sweep through the multidimensional parameter space to quantify the pattern morphology as a function of the relevant material, flow, and geometric parameters. Our findings are in good agreement with available experimental data. Scaling analysis involving the relevant forces helps rationalize our observations.

Effect of the Diurnal Atmospheric Bulge on Satellite Accelerations

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Wyatt, Stanley P.

1961-01-01

Formulas are developed to express the secular acceleration of a satellite on passing through an atmosphere which bulges in the sunward direction and in which the scale height increases with height, these two properties of the high atmosphere having previously been established from satellite observations. Comparison of the new formulas with those for a spherically symmetric atmosphere of constant scale height indicates that deduced atmospheric densities may be systematically incorrect by up to 50 or 60 percent at heights of 500 to 600 km when the earlier and simpler equations are used.

Model interpretation of type III radio burst characteristics. I - Spatial aspects

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Reiner, M. J.; Stone, R. G.

1988-01-01

The ways that the finite size of the source region and directivity of the emitted radiation modify the observed characteristics of type III radio bursts as they propagate through the interplanetary medium are investigated. A simple model that simulates the radio source region is developed to provide insight into the spatial behavior of the parameters that characterize radio bursts. The model is used to demonstrate that observed radio azimuths are systematically displaced from the geometric centroid of the exciter electron beam in such a way as to cause trajectories of the radio bursts to track back to the observer at low frequencies, rather than to follow expected Archimedean spiral-like paths. The source region model is used to investigate the spatial behavior of the peak intensities of radio bursts, and it is found that the model can qualitatively account for both the frequency dependence and the east-west asymmetry of the observed peak flux densities.

Cost-Effectiveness Comparison of Imaging-Guided Prostate Biopsy Techniques: Systematic Transrectal Ultrasound, Direct In-Bore MRI, and Image Fusion.

PubMed

Venderink, Wulphert; Govers, Tim M; de Rooij, Maarten; Fütterer, Jurgen J; Sedelaar, J P Michiel

2017-05-01

Three commonly used prostate biopsy approaches are systematic transrectal ultrasound guided, direct in-bore MRI guided, and image fusion guided. The aim of this study was to calculate which strategy is most cost-effective. A decision tree and Markov model were developed to compare cost-effectiveness. Literature review and expert opinion were used as input. A strategy was deemed cost-effective if the costs of gaining one quality-adjusted life year (incremental cost-effectiveness ratio) did not exceed the willingness-to-pay threshold of €80,000 (≈$85,000 in January 2017). A base case analysis was performed to compare systematic transrectal ultrasound- and image fusion-guided biopsies. Because of a lack of appropriate literature regarding the accuracy of direct in-bore MRI-guided biopsy, a threshold analysis was performed. The incremental cost-effectiveness ratio for fusion-guided biopsy compared with systematic transrectal ultrasound-guided biopsy was €1386 ($1470) per quality-adjusted life year gained, which was below the willingness-to-pay threshold and thus assumed cost-effective. If MRI findings are normal in a patient with clinically significant prostate cancer, the sensitivity of direct in-bore MRI-guided biopsy has to be at least 88.8%. If that is the case, the incremental cost-effectiveness ratio is €80,000 per quality-adjusted life year gained and thus cost-effective. Fusion-guided biopsy seems to be cost-effective compared with systematic transrectal ultrasound-guided biopsy. Future research is needed to determine whether direct in-bore MRI-guided biopsy is the best pathway; in this study a threshold was calculated at which it would be cost-effective.

Screening for Intensive Intervention Needs in Secondary Schools: Directions for the Future

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Lane, Kathleen Lynne; Oakes, Wendy Peia; Lusk, Mandy E.; Cantwell, Emily Dawn; Schatschneider, Christopher

2016-01-01

In this article, we provided descriptive and methodological illustrations of how to conduct systematic behavior screenings at the middle and high school levels to detect students with intensive intervention needs using one systematic screening tool: the Student Risk Screening Scale. We discussed the importance of systematic screening and presented…

A systematic review of religious beliefs about major end-of-life issues in the five major world religions

PubMed Central

CHAKRABORTY, RAJSHEKHAR; EL-JAWAHRI, AREEJ R.; LITZOW, MARK R.; SYRJALA, KAREN L; PARNES, ARIC D.; HASHMI, SHAHRUKH K.

2018-01-01

Objective The objective of this study was to examine the religious/spiritual beliefs of followers of the five major world religions about frequently encountered medical situations at the end of life (EoL). Method This was a systematic review of observational studies on the religious aspects of commonly encountered EoL situations. The databases used for retrieving studies were: Ovid MEDLINE In-Process & Other Non-Indexed Citations, Ovid MEDLINE, Ovid EMBASE, Ovid PsycINFO, Ovid Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials, Ovid Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews, and Scopus. Observational studies, including surveys from healthcare providers or the general population, and case studies were included for review. Articles written from a purely theoretical or philosophical perspective were excluded. Results Our search strategy generated 968 references, 40 of which were included for review, while 5 studies were added from reference lists. Whenever possible, we organized the results into five categories that would be clinically meaningful for palliative care practices at the EoL: advanced directives, euthanasia and physician-assisted suicide, physical requirements (artificial nutrition, hydration, and pain management), autopsy practices, and other EoL religious considerations. A wide degree of heterogeneity was observed within religions, depending on the country of origin, level of education, and degree of intrinsic religiosity. Significance of results Our review describes the religious practices pertaining to major EoL issues and explains the variations in EoL decision making by clinicians and patients based on their religious teachings and beliefs. Prospective studies with validated tools for religiosity should be performed in the future to assess the impact of religion on EoL care. PMID:28901283

Mitigating direct detection bounds in non-minimal Higgs portal scalar dark matter models

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bhattacharya, Subhaditya; Ghosh, Purusottam; Maity, Tarak Nath; Ray, Tirtha Sankar

2017-10-01

The minimal Higgs portal dark matter model is increasingly in tension with recent results form direct detection experiments like LUX and XENON. In this paper we make a systematic study of simple extensions of the Z_2 stabilized singlet scalar Higgs portal scenario in terms of their prospects at direct detection experiments. We consider both enlarging the stabilizing symmetry to Z_3 and incorporating multipartite features in the dark sector. We demonstrate that in these non-minimal models the interplay of annihilation, co-annihilation and semi-annihilation processes considerably relax constraints from present and proposed direct detection experiments while simultaneously saturating observed dark matter relic density. We explore in particular the resonant semi-annihilation channel within the multipartite Z_3 framework which results in new unexplored regions of parameter space that would be difficult to constrain by direct detection experiments in the near future. The role of dark matter exchange processes within multi-component Z_3× Z_3^' } framework is illustrated. We make quantitative estimates to elucidate the role of various annihilation processes in the different allowed regions of parameter space within these models.

Azimuthally Differential Pion Femtoscopy in Pb-Pb Collisions at √{sN N }=2.76 TeV

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Adamová, D.; Aggarwal, M. M.; Aglieri Rinella, G.; Agnello, M.; Agrawal, N.; Ahammed, Z.; Ahmad, S.; Ahn, S. U.; Aiola, S.; Akindinov, A.; Alam, S. N.; Albuquerque, D. S. D.; Aleksandrov, D.; Alessandro, B.; Alexandre, D.; Alfaro Molina, R.; Alici, A.; Alkin, A.; Alme, J.; Alt, T.; Altinpinar, S.; Altsybeev, I.; Alves Garcia Prado, C.; An, M.; Andrei, C.; Andrews, H. A.; Andronic, A.; Anguelov, V.; Anson, C.; Antičić, T.; Antinori, F.; Antonioli, P.; Anwar, R.; Aphecetche, L.; Appelshäuser, H.; Arcelli, S.; Arnaldi, R.; Arnold, O. W.; Arsene, I. C.; Arslandok, M.; Audurier, B.; Augustinus, A.; Averbeck, R.; Azmi, M. D.; Badalà, A.; Baek, Y. W.; Bagnasco, S.; Bailhache, R.; Bala, R.; Baldisseri, A.; Ball, M.; Baral, R. C.; Barbano, A. M.; Barbera, R.; Barile, F.; Barioglio, L.; Barnaföldi, G. G.; Barnby, L. S.; Barret, V.; Bartalini, P.; Barth, K.; Bartke, J.; Bartsch, E.; Basile, M.; Bastid, N.; Basu, S.; Bathen, B.; Batigne, G.; Batista Camejo, A.; Batyunya, B.; Batzing, P. C.; Bearden, I. G.; Beck, H.; Bedda, C.; Behera, N. K.; Belikov, I.; Bellini, F.; Bello Martinez, H.; Bellwied, R.; Beltran, L. G. E.; Belyaev, V.; Bencedi, G.; Beole, S.; Bercuci, A.; Berdnikov, Y.; Berenyi, D.; Bertens, R. A.; Berzano, D.; Betev, L.; Bhasin, A.; Bhat, I. R.; Bhati, A. K.; Bhattacharjee, B.; Bhom, J.; Bianchi, L.; Bianchi, N.; Bianchin, C.; Bielčík, J.; Bielčíková, J.; Bilandzic, A.; Biro, G.; Biswas, R.; Biswas, S.; Blair, J. T.; Blau, D.; Blume, C.; Boca, G.; Bock, F.; Bogdanov, A.; Boldizsár, L.; Bombara, M.; Bonomi, G.; Bonora, M.; Book, J.; Borel, H.; Borissov, A.; Borri, M.; Botta, E.; Bourjau, C.; Braun-Munzinger, P.; Bregant, M.; Broker, T. A.; Browning, T. A.; Broz, M.; Brucken, E. J.; Bruna, E.; Bruno, G. E.; Budnikov, D.; Buesching, H.; Bufalino, S.; Buhler, P.; Buitron, S. A. I.; Buncic, P.; Busch, O.; Buthelezi, Z.; Butt, J. B.; Buxton, J. T.; Cabala, J.; Caffarri, D.; Caines, H.; Caliva, A.; Calvo Villar, E.; Camerini, P.; Capon, A. A.; Carena, F.; Carena, W.; Carnesecchi, F.; Castillo Castellanos, J.; Castro, A. J.; Casula, E. A. R.; Ceballos Sanchez, C.; Cerello, P.; Chang, B.; Chapeland, S.; Chartier, M.; Charvet, J. L.; Chattopadhyay, S.; Chattopadhyay, S.; Chauvin, A.; Cherney, M.; Cheshkov, C.; Cheynis, B.; Chibante Barroso, V.; Chinellato, D. D.; Cho, S.; Chochula, P.; Choi, K.; Chojnacki, M.; Choudhury, S.; Christakoglou, P.; Christensen, C. H.; Christiansen, P.; Chujo, T.; Chung, S. U.; Cicalo, C.; Cifarelli, L.; Cindolo, F.; Cleymans, J.; Colamaria, F.; Colella, D.; Collu, A.; Colocci, M.; Conesa Balbastre, G.; Conesa Del Valle, Z.; Connors, M. E.; Contreras, J. G.; Cormier, T. M.; Corrales Morales, Y.; Cortés Maldonado, I.; Cortese, P.; Cosentino, M. R.; Costa, F.; Costanza, S.; Crkovská, J.; Crochet, P.; Cuautle, E.; Cunqueiro, L.; Dahms, T.; Dainese, A.; Danisch, M. C.; Danu, A.; Das, D.; Das, I.; Das, S.; Dash, A.; Dash, S.; de, S.; de Caro, A.; de Cataldo, G.; de Conti, C.; de Cuveland, J.; de Falco, A.; de Gruttola, D.; De Marco, N.; de Pasquale, S.; de Souza, R. D.; Degenhardt, H. F.; Deisting, A.; Deloff, A.; Deplano, C.; Dhankher, P.; di Bari, D.; di Mauro, A.; di Nezza, P.; di Ruzza, B.; Diaz Corchero, M. A.; Dietel, T.; Dillenseger, P.; Divià, R.; Djuvsland, Ø.; Dobrin, A.; Domenicis Gimenez, D.; Dönigus, B.; Dordic, O.; Drozhzhova, T.; Dubey, A. K.; Dubla, A.; Ducroux, L.; Duggal, A. K.; Dupieux, P.; Ehlers, R. J.; Elia, D.; Endress, E.; Engel, H.; Epple, E.; Erazmus, B.; Erhardt, F.; Espagnon, B.; Esumi, S.; Eulisse, G.; Eum, J.; Evans, D.; Evdokimov, S.; Fabbietti, L.; Fabris, D.; Faivre, J.; Fantoni, A.; Fasel, M.; Feldkamp, L.; Feliciello, A.; Feofilov, G.; Ferencei, J.; Fernández Téllez, A.; Ferreiro, E. G.; Ferretti, A.; Festanti, A.; Feuillard, V. J. G.; Figiel, J.; Figueredo, M. A. S.; Filchagin, S.; Finogeev, D.; Fionda, F. M.; Fiore, E. M.; Floris, M.; Foertsch, S.; Foka, P.; Fokin, S.; Fragiacomo, E.; Francescon, A.; Francisco, A.; Frankenfeld, U.; Fronze, G. G.; Fuchs, U.; Furget, C.; Furs, A.; Fusco Girard, M.; Gaardhøje, J. J.; Gagliardi, M.; Gago, A. M.; Gajdosova, K.; Gallio, M.; Galvan, C. D.; Gangadharan, D. R.; Ganoti, P.; Gao, C.; Garabatos, C.; Garcia-Solis, E.; Garg, K.; Garg, P.; Gargiulo, C.; Gasik, P.; Gauger, E. F.; Gay Ducati, M. B.; Germain, M.; Ghosh, P.; Ghosh, S. K.; Gianotti, P.; Giubellino, P.; Giubilato, P.; Gladysz-Dziadus, E.; Glässel, P.; Goméz Coral, D. M.; Gomez Ramirez, A.; Gonzalez, A. S.; Gonzalez, V.; González-Zamora, P.; Gorbunov, S.; Görlich, L.; Gotovac, S.; Grabski, V.; Graczykowski, L. K.; Graham, K. L.; Gramling, J. L.; Greiner, L.; Grelli, A.; Grigoras, C.; Grigoriev, V.; Grigoryan, A.; Grigoryan, S.; Grion, N.; Gronefeld, J. M.; Grosa, F.; Grosse-Oetringhaus, J. F.; Grosso, R.; Gruber, L.; Grull, F. R.; Guber, F.; Guernane, R.; Guerzoni, B.; Gulbrandsen, K.; Gunji, T.; Gupta, A.; Gupta, R.; Guzman, I. B.; Haake, R.; Hadjidakis, C.; Hamagaki, H.; Hamar, G.; Hamon, J. C.; Harris, J. W.; Harton, A.; Hatzifotiadou, D.; Hayashi, S.; Heckel, S. T.; Hellbär, E.; Helstrup, H.; Herghelegiu, A.; Herrera Corral, G.; Herrmann, F.; Hess, B. A.; Hetland, K. F.; Hillemanns, H.; Hippolyte, B.; Hladky, J.; Horak, D.; Hosokawa, R.; Hristov, P.; Hughes, C.; Humanic, T. J.; Hussain, N.; Hussain, T.; Hutter, D.; Hwang, D. S.; Ilkaev, R.; Inaba, M.; Ippolitov, M.; Irfan, M.; Isakov, V.; Islam, M. S.; Ivanov, M.; Ivanov, V.; Izucheev, V.; Jacak, B.; Jacazio, N.; Jacobs, P. M.; Jadhav, M. B.; Jadlovska, S.; Jadlovsky, J.; Jahnke, C.; Jakubowska, M. J.; Janik, M. A.; Jayarathna, P. H. S. Y.; Jena, C.; Jena, S.; Jercic, M.; Jimenez Bustamante, R. T.; Jones, P. G.; Jusko, A.; Kalinak, P.; Kalweit, A.; Kang, J. H.; Kaplin, V.; Kar, S.; Karasu Uysal, A.; Karavichev, O.; Karavicheva, T.; Karayan, L.; Karpechev, E.; Kebschull, U.; Keidel, R.; Keijdener, D. L. D.; Keil, M.; Ketzer, B.; Mohisin Khan, M.; Khan, P.; Khan, S. A.; Khanzadeev, A.; Kharlov, Y.; Khatun, A.; Khuntia, A.; Kielbowicz, M. M.; Kileng, B.; Kim, D. W.; Kim, D. J.; Kim, D.; Kim, H.; Kim, J. S.; Kim, J.; Kim, M.; Kim, M.; Kim, S.; Kim, T.; Kirsch, S.; Kisel, I.; Kiselev, S.; Kisiel, A.; Kiss, G.; Klay, J. L.; Klein, C.; Klein, J.; Klein-Bösing, C.; Klewin, S.; Kluge, A.; Knichel, M. L.; Knospe, A. G.; Kobdaj, C.; Kofarago, M.; Kollegger, T.; Kolojvari, A.; Kondratiev, V.; Kondratyeva, N.; Kondratyuk, E.; Konevskikh, A.; Kopcik, M.; Kour, M.; Kouzinopoulos, C.; Kovalenko, O.; Kovalenko, V.; Kowalski, M.; Koyithatta Meethaleveedu, G.; Králik, I.; Kravčáková, A.; Krivda, M.; Krizek, F.; Kryshen, E.; Krzewicki, M.; Kubera, A. M.; Kučera, V.; Kuhn, C.; Kuijer, P. G.; Kumar, A.; Kumar, J.; Kumar, L.; Kumar, S.; Kundu, S.; Kurashvili, P.; Kurepin, A.; Kurepin, A. B.; Kuryakin, A.; Kushpil, S.; Kweon, M. J.; Kwon, Y.; La Pointe, S. L.; La Rocca, P.; Lagana Fernandes, C.; Lakomov, I.; Langoy, R.; Lapidus, K.; Lara, C.; Lardeux, A.; Lattuca, A.; Laudi, E.; Lavicka, R.; Lazaridis, L.; Lea, R.; Leardini, L.; Lee, S.; Lehas, F.; Lehner, S.; Lehrbach, J.; Lemmon, R. C.; Lenti, V.; Leogrande, E.; León Monzón, I.; Lévai, P.; Li, S.; Li, X.; Lien, J.; Lietava, R.; Lindal, S.; Lindenstruth, V.; Lippmann, C.; Lisa, M. A.; Litichevskyi, V.; Ljunggren, H. M.; Llope, W. J.; Lodato, D. F.; Loggins, V. R.; Loenne, P. I.; Loginov, V.; Loizides, C.; Loncar, P.; Lopez, X.; López Torres, E.; Lowe, A.; Luettig, P.; Lunardon, M.; Luparello, G.; Lupi, M.; Lutz, T. H.; Maevskaya, A.; Mager, M.; Mahajan, S.; Mahmood, S. M.; Maire, A.; Majka, R. D.; Malaev, M.; Maldonado Cervantes, I.; Malinina, L.; Mal'Kevich, D.; Malzacher, P.; Mamonov, A.; Manko, V.; Manso, F.; Manzari, V.; Mao, Y.; Marchisone, M.; Mareš, J.; Margagliotti, G. V.; Margotti, A.; Margutti, J.; Marín, A.; Markert, C.; Marquard, M.; Martin, N. A.; Martinengo, P.; Martinez, J. A. L.; Martínez, M. I.; Martínez García, G.; Martinez Pedreira, M.; Mas, A.; Masciocchi, S.; Masera, M.; Masoni, A.; Mastroserio, A.; Mathis, A. M.; Matyja, A.; Mayer, C.; Mazer, J.; Mazzilli, M.; Mazzoni, M. A.; Meddi, F.; Melikyan, Y.; Menchaca-Rocha, A.; Meninno, E.; Mercado Pérez, J.; Meres, M.; Mhlanga, S.; Miake, Y.; Mieskolainen, M. M.; Mihaylov, D.; Mikhaylov, K.; Milano, L.; Milosevic, J.; Mischke, A.; Mishra, A. N.; Miśkowiec, D.; Mitra, J.; Mitu, C. M.; Mohammadi, N.; Mohanty, B.; Montes, E.; Moreira de Godoy, D. A.; Moreno, L. A. P.; Moretto, S.; Morreale, A.; Morsch, A.; Muccifora, V.; Mudnic, E.; Mühlheim, D.; Muhuri, S.; Mukherjee, M.; Mulligan, J. D.; Munhoz, M. G.; Münning, K.; Munzer, R. H.; Murakami, H.; Murray, S.; Musa, L.; Musinsky, J.; Myers, C. J.; Naik, B.; Nair, R.; Nandi, B. K.; Nania, R.; Nappi, E.; Naru, M. U.; Natal da Luz, H.; Nattrass, C.; Navarro, S. R.; Nayak, K.; Nayak, R.; Nayak, T. K.; Nazarenko, S.; Nedosekin, A.; Negrao de Oliveira, R. A.; Nellen, L.; Nesbo, S. V.; Ng, F.; Nicassio, M.; Niculescu, M.; Niedziela, J.; Nielsen, B. S.; Nikolaev, S.; Nikulin, S.; Nikulin, V.; Noferini, F.; Nomokonov, P.; Nooren, G.; Noris, J. C. C.; Norman, J.; Nyanin, A.; Nystrand, J.; Oeschler, H.; Oh, S.; Ohlson, A.; Okubo, T.; Olah, L.; Oleniacz, J.; Oliveira da Silva, A. C.; Oliver, M. H.; Onderwaater, J.; Oppedisano, C.; Orava, R.; Oravec, M.; Ortiz Velasquez, A.; Oskarsson, A.; Otwinowski, J.; Oyama, K.; Ozdemir, M.; Pachmayer, Y.; Pacik, V.; Pagano, D.; Pagano, P.; Paić, G.; Pal, S. K.; Palni, P.; Pan, J.; Pandey, A. K.; Panebianco, S.; Papikyan, V.; Pappalardo, G. S.; Pareek, P.; Park, J.; Park, W. J.; Parmar, S.; Passfeld, A.; Pathak, S. P.; Paticchio, V.; Patra, R. N.; Paul, B.; Pei, H.; Peitzmann, T.; Peng, X.; Pereira, L. G.; Pereira da Costa, H.; Peresunko, D.; Perez Lezama, E.; Peskov, V.; Pestov, Y.; Petráček, V.; Petrov, V.; Petrovici, M.; Petta, C.; Pezzi, R. P.; Piano, S.; Pikna, M.; Pillot, P.; Pimentel, L. O. D. L.; Pinazza, O.; Pinsky, L.; Piyarathna, D. B.; Płoskoń, M.; Planinic, M.; Pluta, J.; Pochybova, S.; Podesta-Lerma, P. L. M.; Poghosyan, M. G.; Polichtchouk, B.; Poljak, N.; Poonsawat, W.; Pop, A.; Poppenborg, H.; Porteboeuf-Houssais, S.; Porter, J.; Pospisil, J.; Pozdniakov, V.; Prasad, S. K.; Preghenella, R.; Prino, F.; Pruneau, C. A.; Pshenichnov, I.; Puccio, M.; Puddu, G.; Pujahari, P.; Punin, V.; Putschke, J.; Qvigstad, H.; Rachevski, A.; Raha, S.; Rajput, S.; Rak, J.; Rakotozafindrabe, A.; Ramello, L.; Rami, F.; Rana, D. B.; Raniwala, R.; Raniwala, S.; Räsänen, S. S.; Rascanu, B. T.; Rathee, D.; Ratza, V.; Ravasenga, I.; Read, K. F.; Redlich, K.; Rehman, A.; Reichelt, P.; Reidt, F.; Ren, X.; Renfordt, R.; Reolon, A. R.; Reshetin, A.; Reygers, K.; Riabov, V.; Ricci, R. A.; Richert, T.; Richter, M.; Riedler, P.; Riegler, W.; Riggi, F.; Ristea, C.; Rodríguez Cahuantzi, M.; Røed, K.; Rogochaya, E.; Rohr, D.; Röhrich, D.; Rokita, P. S.; Ronchetti, F.; Ronflette, L.; Rosnet, P.; Rossi, A.; Rotondi, A.; Roukoutakis, F.; Roy, A.; Roy, C.; Roy, P.; Rubio Montero, A. J.; Rui, R.; Russo, R.; Rustamov, A.; Ryabinkin, E.; Ryabov, Y.; Rybicki, A.; Saarinen, S.; Sadhu, S.; Sadovsky, S.; Šafařík, K.; Saha, S. K.; Sahlmuller, B.; Sahoo, B.; Sahoo, P.; Sahoo, R.; Sahoo, S.; Sahu, P. K.; Saini, J.; Sakai, S.; Saleh, M. A.; Salzwedel, J.; Sambyal, S.; Samsonov, V.; Sandoval, A.; Sarkar, D.; Sarkar, N.; Sarma, P.; Sas, M. H. P.; Scapparone, E.; Scarlassara, F.; Scharenberg, R. P.; Scheid, H. S.; Schiaua, C.; Schicker, R.; Schmidt, C.; Schmidt, H. R.; Schmidt, M. O.; Schmidt, M.; Schukraft, J.; Schutz, Y.; Schwarz, K.; Schweda, K.; Scioli, G.; Scomparin, E.; Scott, R.; Šefčík, M.; Seger, J. E.; Sekiguchi, Y.; Sekihata, D.; Selyuzhenkov, I.; Senosi, K.; Senyukov, S.; Serradilla, E.; Sett, P.; Sevcenco, A.; Shabanov, A.; Shabetai, A.; Shadura, O.; Shahoyan, R.; Shangaraev, A.; Sharma, A.; Sharma, A.; Sharma, M.; Sharma, M.; Sharma, N.; Sheikh, A. I.; Shigaki, K.; Shou, Q.; Shtejer, K.; Sibiriak, Y.; Siddhanta, S.; Sielewicz, K. M.; Siemiarczuk, T.; Silvermyr, D.; Silvestre, C.; Simatovic, G.; Simonetti, G.; Singaraju, R.; Singh, R.; Singhal, V.; Sinha, T.; Sitar, B.; Sitta, M.; Skaali, T. B.; Slupecki, M.; Smirnov, N.; Snellings, R. J. M.; Snellman, T. W.; Song, J.; Song, M.; Soramel, F.; Sorensen, S.; Sozzi, F.; Spiriti, E.; Sputowska, I.; Srivastava, B. K.; Stachel, J.; Stan, I.; Stankus, P.; Stenlund, E.; Stiller, J. H.; Stocco, D.; Strmen, P.; Suaide, A. A. P.; Sugitate, T.; Suire, C.; Suleymanov, M.; Suljic, M.; Sultanov, R.; Šumbera, M.; Sumowidagdo, S.; Suzuki, K.; Swain, S.; Szabo, A.; Szarka, I.; Szczepankiewicz, A.; Szymanski, M.; Tabassam, U.; Takahashi, J.; Tambave, G. J.; Tanaka, N.; Tarhini, M.; Tariq, M.; Tarzila, M. G.; Tauro, A.; Tejeda Muñoz, G.; Telesca, A.; Terasaki, K.; Terrevoli, C.; Teyssier, B.; Thakur, D.; Thakur, S.; Thomas, D.; Tieulent, R.; Tikhonov, A.; Timmins, A. R.; Toia, A.; Tripathy, S.; Trogolo, S.; Trombetta, G.; Trubnikov, V.; Trzaska, W. H.; Trzeciak, B. A.; Tsuji, T.; Tumkin, A.; Turrisi, R.; Tveter, T. S.; Ullaland, K.; Umaka, E. N.; Uras, A.; Usai, G. L.; Utrobicic, A.; Vala, M.; van der Maarel, J.; van Hoorne, J. W.; van Leeuwen, M.; Vanat, T.; Vande Vyvre, P.; Varga, D.; Vargas, A.; Vargyas, M.; Varma, R.; Vasileiou, M.; Vasiliev, A.; Vauthier, A.; Vázquez Doce, O.; Vechernin, V.; Veen, A. M.; Velure, A.; Vercellin, E.; Vergara Limón, S.; Vernet, R.; Vértesi, R.; Vickovic, L.; Vigolo, S.; Viinikainen, J.; Vilakazi, Z.; Villalobos Baillie, O.; Villatoro Tello, A.; Vinogradov, A.; Vinogradov, L.; Virgili, T.; Vislavicius, V.; Vodopyanov, A.; Völkl, M. A.; Voloshin, K.; Voloshin, S. A.; Volpe, G.; von Haller, B.; Vorobyev, I.; Voscek, D.; Vranic, D.; Vrláková, J.; Wagner, B.; Wagner, J.; Wang, H.; Wang, M.; Watanabe, D.; Watanabe, Y.; Weber, M.; Weber, S. G.; Weiser, D. F.; Wessels, J. P.; Westerhoff, U.; Whitehead, A. M.; Wiechula, J.; Wikne, J.; Wilk, G.; Wilkinson, J.; Willems, G. A.; Williams, M. C. S.; Windelband, B.; Witt, W. E.; Yalcin, S.; Yang, P.; Yano, S.; Yin, Z.; Yokoyama, H.; Yoo, I.-K.; Yoon, J. H.; Yurchenko, V.; Zaccolo, V.; Zaman, A.; Zampolli, C.; Zanoli, H. J. C.; Zaporozhets, S.; Zardoshti, N.; Zarochentsev, A.; Závada, P.; Zaviyalov, N.; Zbroszczyk, H.; Zhalov, M.; Zhang, H.; Zhang, X.; Zhang, Y.; Zhang, C.; Zhang, Z.; Zhao, C.; Zhigareva, N.; Zhou, D.; Zhou, Y.; Zhou, Z.; Zhu, H.; Zhu, J.; Zhu, X.; Zichichi, A.; Zimmermann, A.; Zimmermann, M. B.; Zimmermann, S.; Zinovjev, G.; Zmeskal, J.; Alice Collaboration

2017-06-01

We present the first azimuthally differential measurements of the pion source size relative to the second harmonic event plane in Pb-Pb collisions at a center-of-mass energy per nucleon-nucleon pair of √{sN N }=2.76 TeV . The measurements have been performed in the centrality range 0%-50% and for pion pair transverse momenta 0.2

Azimuthally Differential Pion Femtoscopy in Pb-Pb Collisions at sqrt[s_{NN}]=2.76  TeV.

PubMed

Adamová, D; Aggarwal, M M; Aglieri Rinella, G; Agnello, M; Agrawal, N; Ahammed, Z; Ahmad, S; Ahn, S U; Aiola, S; Akindinov, A; Alam, S N; Albuquerque, D S D; Aleksandrov, D; Alessandro, B; Alexandre, D; Alfaro Molina, R; Alici, A; Alkin, A; Alme, J; Alt, T; Altinpinar, S; Altsybeev, I; Alves Garcia Prado, C; An, M; Andrei, C; Andrews, H A; Andronic, A; Anguelov, V; Anson, C; Antičić, T; Antinori, F; Antonioli, P; Anwar, R; Aphecetche, L; Appelshäuser, H; Arcelli, S; Arnaldi, R; Arnold, O W; Arsene, I C; Arslandok, M; Audurier, B; Augustinus, A; Averbeck, R; Azmi, M D; Badalà, A; Baek, Y W; Bagnasco, S; Bailhache, R; Bala, R; Baldisseri, A; Ball, M; Baral, R C; Barbano, A M; Barbera, R; Barile, F; Barioglio, L; Barnaföldi, G G; Barnby, L S; Barret, V; Bartalini, P; Barth, K; Bartke, J; Bartsch, E; Basile, M; Bastid, N; Basu, S; Bathen, B; Batigne, G; Batista Camejo, A; Batyunya, B; Batzing, P C; Bearden, I G; Beck, H; Bedda, C; Behera, N K; Belikov, I; Bellini, F; Bello Martinez, H; Bellwied, R; Beltran, L G E; Belyaev, V; Bencedi, G; Beole, S; Bercuci, A; Berdnikov, Y; Berenyi, D; Bertens, R A; Berzano, D; Betev, L; Bhasin, A; Bhat, I R; Bhati, A K; Bhattacharjee, B; Bhom, J; Bianchi, L; Bianchi, N; Bianchin, C; Bielčík, J; Bielčíková, J; Bilandzic, A; Biro, G; Biswas, R; Biswas, S; Blair, J T; Blau, D; Blume, C; Boca, G; Bock, F; Bogdanov, A; Boldizsár, L; Bombara, M; Bonomi, G; Bonora, M; Book, J; Borel, H; Borissov, A; Borri, M; Botta, E; Bourjau, C; Braun-Munzinger, P; Bregant, M; Broker, T A; Browning, T A; Broz, M; Brucken, E J; Bruna, E; Bruno, G E; Budnikov, D; Buesching, H; Bufalino, S; Buhler, P; Buitron, S A I; Buncic, P; Busch, O; Buthelezi, Z; Butt, J B; Buxton, J T; Cabala, J; Caffarri, D; Caines, H; Caliva, A; Calvo Villar, E; Camerini, P; Capon, A A; Carena, F; Carena, W; Carnesecchi, F; Castillo Castellanos, J; Castro, A J; Casula, E A R; Ceballos Sanchez, C; Cerello, P; Chang, B; Chapeland, S; Chartier, M; Charvet, J L; Chattopadhyay, S; Chattopadhyay, S; Chauvin, A; Cherney, M; Cheshkov, C; Cheynis, B; Chibante Barroso, V; Chinellato, D D; Cho, S; Chochula, P; Choi, K; Chojnacki, M; Choudhury, S; Christakoglou, P; Christensen, C H; Christiansen, P; Chujo, T; Chung, S U; Cicalo, C; Cifarelli, L; Cindolo, F; Cleymans, J; Colamaria, F; Colella, D; Collu, A; Colocci, M; Conesa Balbastre, G; Conesa Del Valle, Z; Connors, M E; Contreras, J G; Cormier, T M; Corrales Morales, Y; Cortés Maldonado, I; Cortese, P; Cosentino, M R; Costa, F; Costanza, S; Crkovská, J; Crochet, P; Cuautle, E; Cunqueiro, L; Dahms, T; Dainese, A; Danisch, M C; Danu, A; Das, D; Das, I; Das, S; Dash, A; Dash, S; De, S; De Caro, A; de Cataldo, G; de Conti, C; de Cuveland, J; De Falco, A; De Gruttola, D; De Marco, N; De Pasquale, S; De Souza, R D; Degenhardt, H F; Deisting, A; Deloff, A; Deplano, C; Dhankher, P; Di Bari, D; Di Mauro, A; Di Nezza, P; Di Ruzza, B; Diaz Corchero, M A; Dietel, T; Dillenseger, P; Divià, R; Djuvsland, Ø; Dobrin, A; Domenicis Gimenez, D; Dönigus, B; Dordic, O; Drozhzhova, T; Dubey, A K; Dubla, A; Ducroux, L; Duggal, A K; Dupieux, P; Ehlers, R J; Elia, D; Endress, E; Engel, H; Epple, E; Erazmus, B; Erhardt, F; Espagnon, B; Esumi, S; Eulisse, G; Eum, J; Evans, D; Evdokimov, S; Fabbietti, L; Fabris, D; Faivre, J; Fantoni, A; Fasel, M; Feldkamp, L; Feliciello, A; Feofilov, G; Ferencei, J; Fernández Téllez, A; Ferreiro, E G; Ferretti, A; Festanti, A; Feuillard, V J G; Figiel, J; Figueredo, M A S; Filchagin, S; Finogeev, D; Fionda, F M; Fiore, E M; Floris, M; Foertsch, S; Foka, P; Fokin, S; Fragiacomo, E; Francescon, A; Francisco, A; Frankenfeld, U; Fronze, G G; Fuchs, U; Furget, C; Furs, A; Fusco Girard, M; Gaardhøje, J J; Gagliardi, M; Gago, A M; Gajdosova, K; Gallio, M; Galvan, C D; Gangadharan, D R; Ganoti, P; Gao, C; Garabatos, C; Garcia-Solis, E; Garg, K; Garg, P; Gargiulo, C; Gasik, P; Gauger, E F; Gay Ducati, M B; Germain, M; Ghosh, P; Ghosh, S K; Gianotti, P; Giubellino, P; Giubilato, P; Gladysz-Dziadus, E; Glässel, P; Goméz Coral, D M; Gomez Ramirez, A; Gonzalez, A S; Gonzalez, V; González-Zamora, P; Gorbunov, S; Görlich, L; Gotovac, S; Grabski, V; Graczykowski, L K; Graham, K L; Gramling, J L; Greiner, L; Grelli, A; Grigoras, C; Grigoriev, V; Grigoryan, A; Grigoryan, S; Grion, N; Gronefeld, J M; Grosa, F; Grosse-Oetringhaus, J F; Grosso, R; Gruber, L; Grull, F R; Guber, F; Guernane, R; Guerzoni, B; Gulbrandsen, K; Gunji, T; Gupta, A; Gupta, R; Guzman, I B; Haake, R; Hadjidakis, C; Hamagaki, H; Hamar, G; Hamon, J C; Harris, J W; Harton, A; Hatzifotiadou, D; Hayashi, S; Heckel, S T; Hellbär, E; Helstrup, H; Herghelegiu, A; Herrera Corral, G; Herrmann, F; Hess, B A; Hetland, K F; Hillemanns, H; Hippolyte, B; Hladky, J; Horak, D; Hosokawa, R; Hristov, P; Hughes, C; Humanic, T J; Hussain, N; Hussain, T; Hutter, D; Hwang, D S; Ilkaev, R; Inaba, M; Ippolitov, M; Irfan, M; Isakov, V; Islam, M S; Ivanov, M; Ivanov, V; Izucheev, V; Jacak, B; Jacazio, N; Jacobs, P M; Jadhav, M B; Jadlovska, S; Jadlovsky, J; Jahnke, C; Jakubowska, M J; Janik, M A; Jayarathna, P H S Y; Jena, C; Jena, S; Jercic, M; Jimenez Bustamante, R T; Jones, P G; Jusko, A; Kalinak, P; Kalweit, A; Kang, J H; Kaplin, V; Kar, S; Karasu Uysal, A; Karavichev, O; Karavicheva, T; Karayan, L; Karpechev, E; Kebschull, U; Keidel, R; Keijdener, D L D; Keil, M; Ketzer, B; Mohisin Khan, M; Khan, P; Khan, S A; Khanzadeev, A; Kharlov, Y; Khatun, A; Khuntia, A; Kielbowicz, M M; Kileng, B; Kim, D W; Kim, D J; Kim, D; Kim, H; Kim, J S; Kim, J; Kim, M; Kim, M; Kim, S; Kim, T; Kirsch, S; Kisel, I; Kiselev, S; Kisiel, A; Kiss, G; Klay, J L; Klein, C; Klein, J; Klein-Bösing, C; Klewin, S; Kluge, A; Knichel, M L; Knospe, A G; Kobdaj, C; Kofarago, M; Kollegger, T; Kolojvari, A; Kondratiev, V; Kondratyeva, N; Kondratyuk, E; Konevskikh, A; Kopcik, M; Kour, M; Kouzinopoulos, C; Kovalenko, O; Kovalenko, V; Kowalski, M; Koyithatta Meethaleveedu, G; Králik, I; Kravčáková, A; Krivda, M; Krizek, F; Kryshen, E; Krzewicki, M; Kubera, A M; Kučera, V; Kuhn, C; Kuijer, P G; Kumar, A; Kumar, J; Kumar, L; Kumar, S; Kundu, S; Kurashvili, P; Kurepin, A; Kurepin, A B; Kuryakin, A; Kushpil, S; Kweon, M J; Kwon, Y; La Pointe, S L; La Rocca, P; Lagana Fernandes, C; Lakomov, I; Langoy, R; Lapidus, K; Lara, C; Lardeux, A; Lattuca, A; Laudi, E; Lavicka, R; Lazaridis, L; Lea, R; Leardini, L; Lee, S; Lehas, F; Lehner, S; Lehrbach, J; Lemmon, R C; Lenti, V; Leogrande, E; León Monzón, I; Lévai, P; Li, S; Li, X; Lien, J; Lietava, R; Lindal, S; Lindenstruth, V; Lippmann, C; Lisa, M A; Litichevskyi, V; Ljunggren, H M; Llope, W J; Lodato, D F; Loggins, V R; Loenne, P I; Loginov, V; Loizides, C; Loncar, P; Lopez, X; López Torres, E; Lowe, A; Luettig, P; Lunardon, M; Luparello, G; Lupi, M; Lutz, T H; Maevskaya, A; Mager, M; Mahajan, S; Mahmood, S M; Maire, A; Majka, R D; Malaev, M; Maldonado Cervantes, I; Malinina, L; Mal'Kevich, D; Malzacher, P; Mamonov, A; Manko, V; Manso, F; Manzari, V; Mao, Y; Marchisone, M; Mareš, J; Margagliotti, G V; Margotti, A; Margutti, J; Marín, A; Markert, C; Marquard, M; Martin, N A; Martinengo, P; Martinez, J A L; Martínez, M I; Martínez García, G; Martinez Pedreira, M; Mas, A; Masciocchi, S; Masera, M; Masoni, A; Mastroserio, A; Mathis, A M; Matyja, A; Mayer, C; Mazer, J; Mazzilli, M; Mazzoni, M A; Meddi, F; Melikyan, Y; Menchaca-Rocha, A; Meninno, E; Mercado Pérez, J; Meres, M; Mhlanga, S; Miake, Y; Mieskolainen, M M; Mihaylov, D; Mikhaylov, K; Milano, L; Milosevic, J; Mischke, A; Mishra, A N; Miśkowiec, D; Mitra, J; Mitu, C M; Mohammadi, N; Mohanty, B; Montes, E; Moreira De Godoy, D A; Moreno, L A P; Moretto, S; Morreale, A; Morsch, A; Muccifora, V; Mudnic, E; Mühlheim, D; Muhuri, S; Mukherjee, M; Mulligan, J D; Munhoz, M G; Münning, K; Munzer, R H; Murakami, H; Murray, S; Musa, L; Musinsky, J; Myers, C J; Naik, B; Nair, R; Nandi, B K; Nania, R; Nappi, E; Naru, M U; Natal da Luz, H; Nattrass, C; Navarro, S R; Nayak, K; Nayak, R; Nayak, T K; Nazarenko, S; Nedosekin, A; Negrao De Oliveira, R A; Nellen, L; Nesbo, S V; Ng, F; Nicassio, M; Niculescu, M; Niedziela, J; Nielsen, B S; Nikolaev, S; Nikulin, S; Nikulin, V; Noferini, F; Nomokonov, P; Nooren, G; Noris, J C C; Norman, J; Nyanin, A; Nystrand, J; Oeschler, H; Oh, S; Ohlson, A; Okubo, T; Olah, L; Oleniacz, J; Oliveira Da Silva, A C; Oliver, M H; Onderwaater, J; Oppedisano, C; Orava, R; Oravec, M; Ortiz Velasquez, A; Oskarsson, A; Otwinowski, J; Oyama, K; Ozdemir, M; Pachmayer, Y; Pacik, V; Pagano, D; Pagano, P; Paić, G; Pal, S K; Palni, P; Pan, J; Pandey, A K; Panebianco, S; Papikyan, V; Pappalardo, G S; Pareek, P; Park, J; Park, W J; Parmar, S; Passfeld, A; Pathak, S P; Paticchio, V; Patra, R N; Paul, B; Pei, H; Peitzmann, T; Peng, X; Pereira, L G; Pereira Da Costa, H; Peresunko, D; Perez Lezama, E; Peskov, V; Pestov, Y; Petráček, V; Petrov, V; Petrovici, M; Petta, C; Pezzi, R P; Piano, S; Pikna, M; Pillot, P; Pimentel, L O D L; Pinazza, O; Pinsky, L; Piyarathna, D B; Płoskoń, M; Planinic, M; Pluta, J; Pochybova, S; Podesta-Lerma, P L M; Poghosyan, M G; Polichtchouk, B; Poljak, N; Poonsawat, W; Pop, A; Poppenborg, H; Porteboeuf-Houssais, S; Porter, J; Pospisil, J; Pozdniakov, V; Prasad, S K; Preghenella, R; Prino, F; Pruneau, C A; Pshenichnov, I; Puccio, M; Puddu, G; Pujahari, P; Punin, V; Putschke, J; Qvigstad, H; Rachevski, A; Raha, S; Rajput, S; Rak, J; Rakotozafindrabe, A; Ramello, L; Rami, F; Rana, D B; Raniwala, R; Raniwala, S; Räsänen, S S; Rascanu, B T; Rathee, D; Ratza, V; Ravasenga, I; Read, K F; Redlich, K; Rehman, A; Reichelt, P; Reidt, F; Ren, X; Renfordt, R; Reolon, A R; Reshetin, A; Reygers, K; Riabov, V; Ricci, R A; Richert, T; Richter, M; Riedler, P; Riegler, W; Riggi, F; Ristea, C; Rodríguez Cahuantzi, M; Røed, K; Rogochaya, E; Rohr, D; Röhrich, D; Rokita, P S; Ronchetti, F; Ronflette, L; Rosnet, P; Rossi, A; Rotondi, A; Roukoutakis, F; Roy, A; Roy, C; Roy, P; Rubio Montero, A J; Rui, R; Russo, R; Rustamov, A; Ryabinkin, E; Ryabov, Y; Rybicki, A; Saarinen, S; Sadhu, S; Sadovsky, S; Šafařík, K; Saha, S K; Sahlmuller, B; Sahoo, B; Sahoo, P; Sahoo, R; Sahoo, S; Sahu, P K; Saini, J; Sakai, S; Saleh, M A; Salzwedel, J; Sambyal, S; Samsonov, V; Sandoval, A; Sarkar, D; Sarkar, N; Sarma, P; Sas, M H P; Scapparone, E; Scarlassara, F; Scharenberg, R P; Scheid, H S; Schiaua, C; Schicker, R; Schmidt, C; Schmidt, H R; Schmidt, M O; Schmidt, M; Schukraft, J; Schutz, Y; Schwarz, K; Schweda, K; Scioli, G; Scomparin, E; Scott, R; Šefčík, M; Seger, J E; Sekiguchi, Y; Sekihata, D; Selyuzhenkov, I; Senosi, K; Senyukov, S; Serradilla, E; Sett, P; Sevcenco, A; Shabanov, A; Shabetai, A; Shadura, O; Shahoyan, R; Shangaraev, A; Sharma, A; Sharma, A; Sharma, M; Sharma, M; Sharma, N; Sheikh, A I; Shigaki, K; Shou, Q; Shtejer, K; Sibiriak, Y; Siddhanta, S; Sielewicz, K M; Siemiarczuk, T; Silvermyr, D; Silvestre, C; Simatovic, G; Simonetti, G; Singaraju, R; Singh, R; Singhal, V; Sinha, T; Sitar, B; Sitta, M; Skaali, T B; Slupecki, M; Smirnov, N; Snellings, R J M; Snellman, T W; Song, J; Song, M; Soramel, F; Sorensen, S; Sozzi, F; Spiriti, E; Sputowska, I; Srivastava, B K; Stachel, J; Stan, I; Stankus, P; Stenlund, E; Stiller, J H; Stocco, D; Strmen, P; Suaide, A A P; Sugitate, T; Suire, C; Suleymanov, M; Suljic, M; Sultanov, R; Šumbera, M; Sumowidagdo, S; Suzuki, K; Swain, S; Szabo, A; Szarka, I; Szczepankiewicz, A; Szymanski, M; Tabassam, U; Takahashi, J; Tambave, G J; Tanaka, N; Tarhini, M; Tariq, M; Tarzila, M G; Tauro, A; Tejeda Muñoz, G; Telesca, A; Terasaki, K; Terrevoli, C; Teyssier, B; Thakur, D; Thakur, S; Thomas, D; Tieulent, R; Tikhonov, A; Timmins, A R; Toia, A; Tripathy, S; Trogolo, S; Trombetta, G; Trubnikov, V; Trzaska, W H; Trzeciak, B A; Tsuji, T; Tumkin, A; Turrisi, R; Tveter, T S; Ullaland, K; Umaka, E N; Uras, A; Usai, G L; Utrobicic, A; Vala, M; Van Der Maarel, J; Van Hoorne, J W; van Leeuwen, M; Vanat, T; Vande Vyvre, P; Varga, D; Vargas, A; Vargyas, M; Varma, R; Vasileiou, M; Vasiliev, A; Vauthier, A; Vázquez Doce, O; Vechernin, V; Veen, A M; Velure, A; Vercellin, E; Vergara Limón, S; Vernet, R; Vértesi, R; Vickovic, L; Vigolo, S; Viinikainen, J; Vilakazi, Z; Villalobos Baillie, O; Villatoro Tello, A; Vinogradov, A; Vinogradov, L; Virgili, T; Vislavicius, V; Vodopyanov, A; Völkl, M A; Voloshin, K; Voloshin, S A; Volpe, G; von Haller, B; Vorobyev, I; Voscek, D; Vranic, D; Vrláková, J; Wagner, B; Wagner, J; Wang, H; Wang, M; Watanabe, D; Watanabe, Y; Weber, M; Weber, S G; Weiser, D F; Wessels, J P; Westerhoff, U; Whitehead, A M; Wiechula, J; Wikne, J; Wilk, G; Wilkinson, J; Willems, G A; Williams, M C S; Windelband, B; Witt, W E; Yalcin, S; Yang, P; Yano, S; Yin, Z; Yokoyama, H; Yoo, I-K; Yoon, J H; Yurchenko, V; Zaccolo, V; Zaman, A; Zampolli, C; Zanoli, H J C; Zaporozhets, S; Zardoshti, N; Zarochentsev, A; Závada, P; Zaviyalov, N; Zbroszczyk, H; Zhalov, M; Zhang, H; Zhang, X; Zhang, Y; Zhang, C; Zhang, Z; Zhao, C; Zhigareva, N; Zhou, D; Zhou, Y; Zhou, Z; Zhu, H; Zhu, J; Zhu, X; Zichichi, A; Zimmermann, A; Zimmermann, M B; Zimmermann, S; Zinovjev, G; Zmeskal, J

2017-06-02

We present the first azimuthally differential measurements of the pion source size relative to the second harmonic event plane in Pb-Pb collisions at a center-of-mass energy per nucleon-nucleon pair of sqrt[s_{NN}]=2.76  TeV. The measurements have been performed in the centrality range 0%-50% and for pion pair transverse momenta 0.2

Measurement of particle directions in low earth orbit with a Timepix

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gohl, St.; Bergmann, B.; Granja, C.; Owens, A.; Pichotka, M.; Polansky, S.; Pospisil, S.

2016-11-01

In Low Earth Orbit (LEO) in space electronic equipment aboard satellites and space crews are exposed to high ionizing radiation levels. To reduce radiation damage and the exposure of astronauts, to improve shielding and to assess dose levels, it is valuable to know the composition of the radiation fields and particle directions. The presented measurements are carried out with the Space Application of Timepix Radiation Monitor (SATRAM). There, a Timepix detector (300 μm thick silicon sensor, pixel pitch 55 μm, 256 × 256 pixels) is attached to the Proba-V, an earth observing satellite of the European Space Agency (ESA). The Timepix detector's capability was used to determine the directions of energetic charged particles and their corresponding stopping powers. Data are continuously taken at an altitude of 820 km on a sun-synchronous orbit. The particles pitch angles with respect to the sensor layer were measured and converted to an Earth Centred Earth Fixed (ECEF) coordinate system. Deviations from an isotropic field are extracted by normalization of the observed angular distributions by a Geant4 Monte Carlo simulation —taking the systematics of the reconstruction algorithm and the pixelation into account.

A systematic review of methodology: time series regression analysis for environmental factors and infectious diseases.

PubMed

Imai, Chisato; Hashizume, Masahiro

2015-03-01

Time series analysis is suitable for investigations of relatively direct and short-term effects of exposures on outcomes. In environmental epidemiology studies, this method has been one of the standard approaches to assess impacts of environmental factors on acute non-infectious diseases (e.g. cardiovascular deaths), with conventionally generalized linear or additive models (GLM and GAM). However, the same analysis practices are often observed with infectious diseases despite of the substantial differences from non-infectious diseases that may result in analytical challenges. Following the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses guidelines, systematic review was conducted to elucidate important issues in assessing the associations between environmental factors and infectious diseases using time series analysis with GLM and GAM. Published studies on the associations between weather factors and malaria, cholera, dengue, and influenza were targeted. Our review raised issues regarding the estimation of susceptible population and exposure lag times, the adequacy of seasonal adjustments, the presence of strong autocorrelations, and the lack of a smaller observation time unit of outcomes (i.e. daily data). These concerns may be attributable to features specific to infectious diseases, such as transmission among individuals and complicated causal mechanisms. The consequence of not taking adequate measures to address these issues is distortion of the appropriate risk quantifications of exposures factors. Future studies should pay careful attention to details and examine alternative models or methods that improve studies using time series regression analysis for environmental determinants of infectious diseases.

Experimental studies of deposition at a debris-flow flume

USGS Publications Warehouse

Major, Jon J.

1995-01-01

Geologists commonly infer the flow conditions and the physical properties of debris flows from the sedimentologic, stratigraphic, and morphologic characteristics of their deposits. However, such inferences commonly lack corroboration by direct observation because the capricious nature of debris flows makes systematic observation and measurement of natural events both difficult and dangerous. Furthermore, in contrast to the numerous experimental studies of water flow and related fluvial deposition, few real-time observations and measurements of sediment deposition by large-scale mass flow of debris under controlled conditions have been made. Recent experiments at the U.S. Geological Survey debris-flow flume in the H. J. Andrews Experimental Forest, Oregon (Iverson and others, 1992) are shedding new insight on sediment deposition by debris flows and on the veracity of methods commonly used to reconstruct flow character from deposit characteristics.

Clinical performance of direct versus indirect composite restorations in posterior teeth: A systematic review.

PubMed

Azeem, Rubeena Abdul; Sureshbabu, Nivedhitha Malli

2018-01-01

Composite resin, serves as esthetic alternative to amalgam and cast restorations. Posterior teeth can be restored using direct or indirect composite restorations. The selection between direct and indirect technique is a clinically challenging decision-making process. Most important influencing factor is the amount of remaining tooth substance. The aim of this systematic review was to compare the clinical performance of direct versus indirect composite restorations in posterior teeth. The databases searched included PubMed CENTRAL (until July 2015), Medline, and Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews. The bibliographies of clinical studies and reviews identified in the electronic search were analyzed to identify studies which were published outside the electronically searched journals. The primary outcome measure was evaluation of the survival of direct and indirect composite restorations in posterior teeth. This review included thirteen studies in which clinical performance of various types of direct and indirect composite restorations in posterior teeth were compared. Out of the thirteen studies which were included seven studies had a high risk of bias and five studies had a moderate risk of bias. One study having a low risk of bias, concluded that there was no significant difference between direct and indirect technique. However, the available evidence revealed inconclusive results. Further research should focus on randomized controlled trials with long term follow-up to give concrete evidence on the clinical performce of direct and indirect composite restorations.

Sideways Views of the Moon: Mapping Directional Thermal Emission with Diviner

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Greenhagen, B. T.; Bandfield, J.; Bowles, N. E.; Hayne, P. O.; Sefton-Nash, E.; Warren, T.; Paige, D. A.

2017-12-01

Systematic off-nadir observations can be used to characterize the emission phase function and radiative balance of the lunar surface. These are critical inputs for thermophysical models used to derive surface properties and study a wide range of dynamic surface properties, such as the stability of volatiles and development and evolution of regolith, on the Moon and other airless bodies. After over eight years in operation and well into its 3rd extended science mission, NASA's Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO) Diviner Lunar Radiometer (Diviner) continues to reveal the extreme nature of the Moon's thermal environments, thermophysical properties, and surface composition. Diviner data are also used to characterize thermal emission behavior that is fundamental to airless bodies with fine-particulate surfaces, including epiregolith thermal gradients and thermal-scale surface roughness. Diviner's extended operations have provided opportunities to observe the lunar surface with a wide range of viewing geometries. Together Diviner's self-articulation and LRO's non-sun-synchronous polar orbit offer a unique platform to observe the lunar surface and characterize the emission phase behavior and radiative balance. Recently, Diviner completed global off-nadir observations at 50° and 70° in the anti-sun (low phase) direction with 8 different local times each. This fall, we'll begin a third campaign to observe the Moon at 50° emission in the pro-sun (high phase) direction. Here we present this new global off-nadir dataset, highlight models and laboratory experiments used to interpret the data, and describe the role of these data in studying the Moon and other airless bodies.

Exotic chemical arrangements and magnetic moment evolution of NixPt1-x (0 ≤x≤ 1) nanoparticles

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Mokkath, Junais Habeeb

2018-06-01

We present a systematic study on the chemical ordering pattern and the magnetic properties of NixPt1-x (0 ⩽ x≤ 1) nanoparticles having a size of 1.5 nm by means of an approach which combines basin hopping structure sampling technique and spin-polarized density functional theory. We found exotic chemical ordering patterns for different Ni/Pt ratios. In addition, we observed a sharp phase transition from non-magnetic to ferromagnetic behaviour around x = 67%. We show that this is a direct consequence of a unique atomic arrangement on the surface in which Ni atoms club together causing the strong Ni-Ni magnetic interaction. The observed magnetic properties are correlated to the electronic density of states.

Pilot Study on the Effectiveness of Systematic Desensitization with Neurologically Impaired Children with Phobic Disorders

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Obler, Martin; Terwilliger, Robert F.

1970-01-01

A modified version of Wolpe's systematic desensitization therapy involving direct confrontation with the fear inducing stimulus was attempted with neurologically impaired children with phobic symptoms. (Author)

Composition Measurements via Depth of Airshower Maximum at the Telescope Array

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hanlon, W.; Belz, J.; Ikeda, D.; Lundquist, J. P.; Sokolsky, P.; Stroman, T.; Tsunesada, Y.

Telescope Array (TA) was designed to answer important questions about the UHECR flux with energies above 1017 eV such as spectrum, arrival direction, and mass composition. Because the UHECR flux is rapidly falling in this energy region, TA's large exposure makes it one of the few experiments in the world that can adequately explore these issues. Composition is particularly difficult to measure because mass can not be measured directly due to the low flux. TA's multiple methods of observing UHECR induced air showers will be explained, as well as how composition can be measured by these methods. Good agreement among the different measurement techniques is found leading to greater confidence in measuring UHECR mass composition and a way to test and understand TA systematic uncertainties.

The Fermi All-Sky Variability Analysis: A List of Flaring Gamma-Ray Sources and the Search for Transients in our Galaxy

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Ackermann, M.; Ajello, M.; Albert, A.; Allafort, A.; Antolini, E.; Baldini, L.; Ballet, J.; Barbiellini, G; Bastieri, D.; Bechtol, K.;

Parameter estimation method that directly compares gravitational wave observations to numerical relativity

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lange, J.; O'Shaughnessy, R.; Boyle, M.; Calderón Bustillo, J.; Campanelli, M.; Chu, T.; Clark, J. A.; Demos, N.; Fong, H.; Healy, J.; Hemberger, D. A.; Hinder, I.; Jani, K.; Khamesra, B.; Kidder, L. E.; Kumar, P.; Laguna, P.; Lousto, C. O.; Lovelace, G.; Ossokine, S.; Pfeiffer, H.; Scheel, M. A.; Shoemaker, D. M.; Szilagyi, B.; Teukolsky, S.; Zlochower, Y.

2017-11-01

We present and assess a Bayesian method to interpret gravitational wave signals from binary black holes. Our method directly compares gravitational wave data to numerical relativity (NR) simulations. In this study, we present a detailed investigation of the systematic and statistical parameter estimation errors of this method. This procedure bypasses approximations used in semianalytical models for compact binary coalescence. In this work, we use the full posterior parameter distribution for only generic nonprecessing binaries, drawing inferences away from the set of NR simulations used, via interpolation of a single scalar quantity (the marginalized log likelihood, ln L ) evaluated by comparing data to nonprecessing binary black hole simulations. We also compare the data to generic simulations, and discuss the effectiveness of this procedure for generic sources. We specifically assess the impact of higher order modes, repeating our interpretation with both l ≤2 as well as l ≤3 harmonic modes. Using the l ≤3 higher modes, we gain more information from the signal and can better constrain the parameters of the gravitational wave signal. We assess and quantify several sources of systematic error that our procedure could introduce, including simulation resolution and duration; most are negligible. We show through examples that our method can recover the parameters for equal mass, zero spin, GW150914-like, and unequal mass, precessing spin sources. Our study of this new parameter estimation method demonstrates that we can quantify and understand the systematic and statistical error. This method allows us to use higher order modes from numerical relativity simulations to better constrain the black hole binary parameters.

Sources of inaccuracy in the measurement of adult patients’ resting blood pressure in clinical settings: a systematic review

PubMed Central

Kallioinen, Noa; Hill, Andrew; Horswill, Mark S.; Ward, Helen E.; Watson, Marcus O.

2017-01-01

Background: To interpret blood pressure (BP) data appropriately, healthcare providers need to be knowledgeable of the factors that can potentially impact the accuracy of BP measurement and contribute to variability between measurements. Methods: A systematic review of studies quantifying BP measurement inaccuracy. Medline and CINAHL databases were searched for empirical articles and systematic reviews published up to June 2015. Empirical articles were included if they reported a study that was relevant to the measurement of adult patients’ resting BP at the upper arm in a clinical setting (e.g. ward or office); identified a specific source of inaccuracy; and quantified its effect. Reference lists and reviews were searched for additional articles. Results: A total of 328 empirical studies were included. They investigated 29 potential sources of inaccuracy, categorized as relating to the patient, device, procedure or observer. Significant directional effects were found for 27; however, for some, the effects were inconsistent in direction. Compared with true resting BP, significant effects of individual sources ranged from −23.6 to +33 mmHg SBP and −14 to +23 mmHg DBP. Conclusion: A single BP value outside the expected range should be interpreted with caution and not taken as a definitive indicator of clinical deterioration. Where a measurement is abnormally high or low, further measurements should be taken and averaged. Wherever possible, BP values should be recorded graphically within ranges. This may reduce the impact of sources of inaccuracy and reduce the scope for misinterpretations based on small, likely erroneous or misleading, changes. PMID:27977471

Temporal distribution of suicide mortality: A systematic review.

PubMed

Galvão, Pauliana Valéria Machado; Silva, Hugo Rafael Souza E; Silva, Cosme Marcelo Furtado Passos da

2018-03-01

suicide is a problem with world impact and the leading cause of premature deaths. The study of its distribution over time can bring a changed understanding of parameters attributed to, and the prevention of, suicide. to identify the temporal pattern of suicide by systematic review. Pubmed (Medline), LILACS, Virtual Health Library (VHL), Science Direct and Scopus (Elsevier), Web of Science (Thomson Reuters) and PsyNET (APA) were searched, using suicide-related descriptors and terms, for observational epidemiological studies of the temporal distribution of suicide. The review protocol was registered in PROSPERO (CRD42016038470). The lack of uniformity in reporting or standardisation of methodology in the studies selected, hindered comparison of populations with similar socioeconomic and cultural profiles, considerably limiting the scope of the results of this review. forty-five studies from 26 different countries were included in this review. Clear seasonal patterns were observed by day of the week, month, season and age-period-cohort effects. Few studies studied by trend, time of day or day of the month. the review findings provide further evidence of substantial temporal patterns influenced by geographic, climatic and social conditions. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

CI as a Tracer of Gas Mass in Star Forming Galaxies

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bourne, Nathan

2018-01-01

Research in galaxy evolution aims to understand the cosmic industry of converting gas into stars. While SFR and stellar mass evolution are well constrained by current data, our knowledge of gas in galaxies throughout cosmic time is comparatively lacking. Almost all high-redshift gas measurements to date rely on CO as a tracer, but this is subject to systematic uncertainties due to optically thick emission and poorly constrained dependences on gas density, distribution and metallicity. Recently, some attention has been given to dust continuum as an alternative gas tracer, which shows promise for large samples but still requires accurate calibration on a direct gas tracer at high redshift. The [CI] 492GHz emission line could overcome much of the systematic uncertainty, as it is optically thin and has similar excitation conditions to CO(1-0), but observational limitations have so far restricted CI measurements to very small samples. I will presen t some new data from ALMA, for the first time testing the CI/dust correlation in a representative sample of star-forming galaxies at z=1, and discuss how future observations could be designed to more widely exploit this independent gas tracer.

Investigating Systematic Errors of the Interstellar Flow Longitude Derived from the Pickup Ion Cutoff

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Taut, A.; Berger, L.; Drews, C.; Bower, J.; Keilbach, D.; Lee, M. A.; Moebius, E.; Wimmer-Schweingruber, R. F.

2017-12-01

Complementary to the direct neutral particle measurements performed by e.g. IBEX, the measurement of PickUp Ions (PUIs) constitutes a diagnostic tool to investigate the local interstellar medium. PUIs are former neutral particles that have been ionized in the inner heliosphere. Subsequently, they are picked up by the solar wind and its frozen-in magnetic field. Due to this process, a characteristic Velocity Distribution Function (VDF) with a sharp cutoff evolves, which carries information about the PUI's injection speed and thus the former neutral particle velocity. The symmetry of the injection speed about the interstellar flow vector is used to derive the interstellar flow longitude from PUI measurements. Using He PUI data obtained by the PLASTIC sensor on STEREO A, we investigate how this concept may be affected by systematic errors. The PUI VDF strongly depends on the orientation of the local interplanetary magnetic field. Recently injected PUIs with speeds just below the cutoff speed typically form a highly anisotropic torus distribution in velocity space, which leads to a longitudinal transport for certain magnetic field orientation. Therefore, we investigate how the selection of magnetic field configurations in the data affects the result for the interstellar flow longitude that we derive from the PUI cutoff. Indeed, we find that the results follow a systematic trend with the filtered magnetic field angles that can lead to a shift of the result up to 5°. In turn, this means that every value for the interstellar flow longitude derived from the PUI cutoff is affected by a systematic error depending on the utilized magnetic field orientations. Here, we present our observations, discuss possible reasons for the systematic trend we discovered, and indicate selections that may minimize the systematic errors.

Initializing a Mesoscale Boundary-Layer Model with Radiosonde Observations

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Berri, Guillermo J.; Bertossa, Germán

2018-01-01

A mesoscale boundary-layer model is used to simulate low-level regional wind fields over the La Plata River of South America, a region characterized by a strong daily cycle of land-river surface-temperature contrast and low-level circulations of sea-land breeze type. The initial and boundary conditions are defined from a limited number of local observations and the upper boundary condition is taken from the only radiosonde observations available in the region. The study considers 14 different upper boundary conditions defined from the radiosonde data at standard levels, significant levels, level of the inversion base and interpolated levels at fixed heights, all of them within the first 1500 m. The period of analysis is 1994-2008 during which eight daily observations from 13 weather stations of the region are used to validate the 24-h surface-wind forecast. The model errors are defined as the root-mean-square of relative error in wind-direction frequency distribution and mean wind speed per wind sector. Wind-direction errors are greater than wind-speed errors and show significant dispersion among the different upper boundary conditions, not present in wind speed, revealing a sensitivity to the initialization method. The wind-direction errors show a well-defined daily cycle, not evident in wind speed, with the minimum at noon and the maximum at dusk, but no systematic deterioration with time. The errors grow with the height of the upper boundary condition level, in particular wind direction, and double the errors obtained when the upper boundary condition is defined from the lower levels. The conclusion is that defining the model upper boundary condition from radiosonde data closer to the ground minimizes the low-level wind-field errors throughout the region.

Discerning bias in forensic psychological reports in insanity cases.

PubMed

Neal, Tess M S

2018-04-19

This project began as an attempt to develop systematic, measurable indicators of bias in written forensic mental health evaluations focused on the issue of insanity. Although forensic clinicians observed in this study did vary systematically in their report-writing behaviors on several of the indicators of interest, the data are most useful in demonstrating how and why bias is hard to ferret out. Naturalistic data were used in this project (i.e., 122 real forensic insanity reports), which in some ways is a strength. However, given the nature of bias and the problem of inferring whether a particular judgment is biased, naturalistic data also made arriving at conclusions about bias difficult. This paper describes the nature of bias - including why it is a special problem in insanity evaluations - and why it is hard to study and document. It details the efforts made in an attempt to find systematic indicators of potential bias, and how this effort was successful in part, but also how and why it failed. The lessons these efforts yield for future research are described. We close with a discussion of the limitations of this study and future directions for work in this area. Copyright © 2018 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

The impact and burden of chronic pain in the workplace: a qualitative systematic review.

PubMed

Patel, Ajay S; Farquharson, Rachel; Carroll, Dawn; Moore, Andrew; Phillips, Ceri J; Taylor, Rod S; Barden, Jodie

2012-09-01

Chronic pain (CP) poses a diverse and substantial burden for employees, employers, and society. The deleterious consequences of CP in the workplace are frequently underestimated. To estimate the burden of CP in the European workplace. A systematic review following PRISMA statement guidelines was conducted to identify studies reporting work-related outcomes for people with CP. EMBASE, MEDLINE, EconLit, and Cochrane Library databases were searched up to 18th August 2010. We identified 91 observational studies. Few were specifically designed to investigate the association between CP, productivity, and employment. The focus for this review was studies clearly reporting outcomes relating to the burden of CP on employment status (n = 37), sickness absence (absenteeism, n = 47), and loss of productivity because of reduced ability at work (presenteeism, n = 8). The body of evidence identified from the systematic review indicates that CP has a substantial negative impact on work-related outcomes, supporting the importance of interventions to reduce the burden of CP. Well-designed prospective studies specifically assessing the direct consequences of CP on employment are needed to confirm these findings. © 2012 Abacus International. Pain Practice © 2012 World Institute of Pain.

A systematic evaluation of expression of HERV-W elements; influence of genomic context, viral structure and orientation

PubMed Central

2011-01-01

Background One member of the W family of human endogenous retroviruses (HERV) appears to have been functionally adopted by the human host. Nevertheless, a highly diversified and regulated transcription from a range of HERV-W elements has been observed in human tissues and cells. Aberrant expression of members of this family has also been associated with human disease such as multiple sclerosis (MS) and schizophrenia. It is not known whether this broad expression of HERV-W elements represents transcriptional leakage or specific transcription initiated from the retroviral promoter in the long terminal repeat (LTR) region. Therefore, potential influences of genomic context, structure and orientation on the expression levels of individual HERV-W elements in normal human tissues were systematically investigated. Results Whereas intronic HERV-W elements with a pseudogene structure exhibited a strong anti-sense orientation bias, intronic elements with a proviral structure and solo LTRs did not. Although a highly variable expression across tissues and elements was observed, systematic effects of context, structure and orientation were also observed. Elements located in intronic regions appeared to be expressed at higher levels than elements located in intergenic regions. Intronic elements with proviral structures were expressed at higher levels than those elements bearing hallmarks of processed pseudogenes or solo LTRs. Relative to their corresponding genes, intronic elements integrated on the sense strand appeared to be transcribed at higher levels than those integrated on the anti-sense strand. Moreover, the expression of proviral elements appeared to be independent from that of their corresponding genes. Conclusions Intronic HERV-W provirus integrations on the sense strand appear to have elicited a weaker negative selection than pseudogene integrations of transcripts from such elements. Our current findings suggest that the previously observed diversified and tissue-specific expression of elements in the HERV-W family is the result of both directed transcription (involving both the LTR and internal sequence) and leaky transcription of HERV-W elements in normal human tissues. PMID:21226900

Does design matter? Systematic evaluation of the impact of analytical choices on effect estimates in observational studies

PubMed Central

Ryan, Patrick B.; Schuemie, Martijn

2013-01-01

Background: Clinical studies that use observational databases, such as administrative claims and electronic health records, to evaluate the effects of medical products have become commonplace. These studies begin by selecting a particular study design, such as a case control, cohort, or self-controlled design, and different authors can and do choose different designs for the same clinical question. Furthermore, published papers invariably report the study design but do not discuss the rationale for the specific choice. Studies of the same clinical question with different designs, however, can generate different results, sometimes with strikingly different implications. Even within a specific study design, authors make many different analytic choices and these too can profoundly impact results. In this paper, we systematically study heterogeneity due to the type of study design and due to analytic choices within study design. Methods and findings: We conducted our analysis in 10 observational healthcare databases but mostly present our results in the context of the GE Centricity EMR database, an electronic health record database containing data for 11.2 million lives. We considered the impact of three different study design choices on estimates of associations between bisphosphonates and four particular health outcomes for which there is no evidence of an association. We show that applying alternative study designs can yield discrepant results, in terms of direction and significance of association. We also highlight that while traditional univariate sensitivity analysis may not show substantial variation, systematic assessment of all analytical choices within a study design can yield inconsistent results ranging from statistically significant decreased risk to statistically significant increased risk. Our findings show that clinical studies using observational databases can be sensitive both to study design choices and to specific analytic choices within study design. Conclusion: More attention is needed to consider how design choices may be impacting results and, when possible, investigators should examine a wide array of possible choices to confirm that significant findings are consistently identified. PMID:25083251

Hemispheric asymmetry in coronal hole evolution: Cause of the bashful ballerina?

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Mursula, K.; Tlatov, A.; Virtanen, I.

2012-12-01

The magnetic hemisphere prevalent in the solar northern hemisphere has been shown to cover a larger area than in the south for about three years in the declining phase of several solar cycles. Correspondingly, the average field intensity is weaker in the northern hemisphere and the heliospheric current sheet (HCS) is shifted southward at these times. This phenomenon, now called the bashful ballerina, has been verified using several databases and methods, including the in situ observations of the heliospheric magnetic field (HMF) at 1 AU by the OMNI data base, at about 2 AU by the Ulysses probe, and at different radial distances by the Voyager 1 and 2 and Pioneer 10 and 11 probes. The Ulysses observations show that the mean southward shift of the HCS was about 2 degrees in the declining phase of both cycle 22 and cycle 23, although the polar strengths were very different between the two cycles. The HMF observations by the Voyager and Pioneer probes show a very consistent structure of HMF sectors and HCS location in the entire heliosphere, and even beyond the termination shock. Moreover, they suggest a systematic difference in the development of northern and southern polar coronal holes. While the northern coronal holes developed very systematically during all the four solar minima since mid-1970s, the evolution of southern coronal holes was less systematic and delayed with respect to the northern hemisphere. This delay in the evolution of southern coronal holes leads to a larger extent of northern coronal holes and a southward shift of the heliospheric current sheet (the bashful ballerina phenomenon) for a few years in the declining phase of the solar cycle. Here we study direct observations of solar coronal holes and verify this difference in the evolution of coronal holes between the two solar hemispheres, which explains the bashful ballerina phenomenon.

Systematic Studies of Cosmic-Ray Anisotropy and Energy Spectrum with IceCube and IceTop

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

McNally, Frank

Anisotropy in the cosmic-ray arrival direction distribution has been well documented over a large energy range, but its origin remains largely a mystery. In the TeV to PeV energy range, the galactic magnetic field thoroughly scatters cosmic rays, but anisotropy at the part-per-mille level and smaller persists, potentially carrying information about nearby cosmic-ray accelerators and the galactic magnetic field. The IceCube Neutrino Observatory was the first detector to observe anisotropy at these energies in the Southern sky. This work uses 318 billion cosmic-ray induced muon events, collected between May 2009 and May 2015 from both the in-ice component of IceCube as well as the surface component, IceTop. The observed global anisotropy features large regions of relative excess and deficit, with amplitudes on the order of 10-3. While a decomposition of the arrival direction distribution into spherical harmonics shows that most of the power is contained in the low-multipole (ℓ ≤ 4) moments, higher-multipole components are found to be statistically significant down to an angular scale of less than 10°, approaching the angular resolution of the detector. Above 100TeV, a change in the topology of the arrival direction distribution is observed, and the anisotropy is characterized by a wide relative deficit whose amplitude increases with primary energy up to at least 5PeV, the highest energies currently accessible to IceCube with sufficient event statistics. No time dependence of the large- and small-scale structures is observed in the six-year period covered by this analysis within statistical and systematic uncertainties. Analysis of the energy spectrum and composition in the PeV energy range as a function of sky position is performed with IceTop data over a five-year period using a likelihood-based reconstruction. Both the energy spectrum and the composition distribution are found to be consistent with a single source population over declination bands. This work represents an early attempt at understanding the anisotropy through the study of the spectrum and composition. The high-statistics data set reveals more details on the properties of the anisotropy, potentially able to shed light on the various physical processes responsible for the complex angular structure and energy evolution.

Observations of O VI Emission from the Diffuse Interstellar Medium

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Shelton, R. L.; Kruk, J. W.; Murphy, E. M.; Andersson, B. G.; Blair, W. P.; Dixon, W. V.; Edelstein, J.; Fullerton, A. W.; Gry, C.; Howk, J. C.;

Nonradial and radial period changes of the δ Scuti star 4 CVn. II. Systematic behavior over 40 years

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Breger, M.; Montgomery, M. H.; Lenz, P.; Pamyatnykh, A. A.

2017-03-01

Aims: Radial and nonradial pulsators on and near the main sequence show period and amplitude changes that are too large to be the product of stellar evolution. The multiperiodic δ Sct stars are well suited to study this, as the period changes of different modes excited in the same star can be compared. This requires a very large amount of photometric data covering years and decades as well as mode identifications. Methods: We have examined over 800 nights of high-precision photometry of the multiperiodic pulsator 4 CVn obtained from 1966 through 2012. Because most of the data were obtained in adjacent observing seasons, it is possible to derive very accurate period values for a number of the excited pulsation modes and to study their systematic changes from 1974 to 2012. Results: Most pulsation modes show systematic significant period and amplitude changes on a timescale of decades. For the well-studied modes, around 1986 a general reversal of the directions of both the positive and negative period changes occurred. Furthermore, the period changes between the different modes are strongly correlated, although they differ in size and sign. For the modes with known values of the spherical degree and azimuthal order, we find a correlation between the direction of the period changes and the identified azimuthal order, m. The associated amplitude changes generally have similar timescales of years or decades, but show little systematic or correlated behavior from mode to mode. Conclusions: A natural explanation for the opposite behavior of the prograde and retrograde modes is that their period changes are driven by a changing rotation profile. The changes in the rotation profile could in turn be driven by processes, perhaps the pulsations themselves, that redistribute angular momentum within the star. In general, different modes have different rotation kernels, so this will produce period shifts of varying magnitude for different modes.

Nonbleeding adenomas: Evidence of systematic false-negative fecal immunochemical test results and their implications for screening effectiveness-A modeling study.

PubMed

van der Meulen, Miriam P; Lansdorp-Vogelaar, Iris; van Heijningen, Else-Mariëtte B; Kuipers, Ernst J; van Ballegooijen, Marjolein

2016-06-01

If some adenomas do not bleed over several years, they will cause systematic false-negative fecal immunochemical test (FIT) results. The long-term effectiveness of FIT screening has been estimated without accounting for such systematic false-negativity. There are now data with which to evaluate this issue. The authors developed one microsimulation model (MISCAN [MIcrosimulation SCreening ANalysis]-Colon) without systematic false-negative FIT results and one model that allowed a percentage of adenomas to be systematically missed in successive FIT screening rounds. Both variants were adjusted to reproduce the first-round findings of the Dutch CORERO FIT screening trial. The authors then compared simulated detection rates in the second screening round with those observed, and adjusted the simulated percentage of systematically missed adenomas to those data. Finally, the authors calculated the impact of systematic false-negative FIT results on the effectiveness of repeated FIT screening. The model without systematic false-negativity simulated higher detection rates in the second screening round than observed. These observed rates could be reproduced when assuming that FIT systematically missed 26% of advanced and 73% of nonadvanced adenomas. To reduce the false-positive rate in the second round to the observed level, the authors also had to assume that 30% of false-positive findings were systematically false-positive. Systematic false-negative FIT testing limits the long-term reduction of biennial FIT screening in the incidence of colorectal cancer (35.6% vs 40.9%) and its mortality (55.2% vs 59.0%) in participants. The results of the current study provide convincing evidence based on the combination of real-life and modeling data that a percentage of adenomas are systematically missed by repeat FIT screening. This impairs the efficacy of FIT screening. Cancer 2016;122:1680-8. © 2016 American Cancer Society. © 2016 American Cancer Society.

Pitch body orientation influences the perception of self-motion direction induced by optic flow.

PubMed

Bourrelly, A; Vercher, J-L; Bringoux, L

2010-10-04

We studied the effect of static pitch body tilts on the perception of self-motion direction induced by a visual stimulus. Subjects were seated in front of a screen on which was projected a 3D cluster of moving dots visually simulating a forward motion of the observer with upward or downward directional biases (relative to a true earth horizontal direction). The subjects were tilted at various angles relative to gravity and were asked to estimate the direction of the perceived motion (nose-up, as during take-off or nose-down, as during landing). The data showed that body orientation proportionally affected the amount of error in the reported perceived direction (by 40% of body tilt magnitude in a range of +/-20 degrees) and these errors were systematically recorded in the direction of body tilt. As a consequence, a same visual stimulus was differently interpreted depending on body orientation. While the subjects were required to perform the task in a geocentric reference frame (i.e., relative to a gravity-related direction), they were obviously influenced by egocentric references. These results suggest that the perception of self-motion is not elaborated within an exclusive reference frame (either egocentric or geocentric) but rather results from the combined influence of both. (c) 2010 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

Directional variance adjustment: bias reduction in covariance matrices based on factor analysis with an application to portfolio optimization.

PubMed

Bartz, Daniel; Hatrick, Kerr; Hesse, Christian W; Müller, Klaus-Robert; Lemm, Steven

2013-01-01

Robust and reliable covariance estimates play a decisive role in financial and many other applications. An important class of estimators is based on factor models. Here, we show by extensive Monte Carlo simulations that covariance matrices derived from the statistical Factor Analysis model exhibit a systematic error, which is similar to the well-known systematic error of the spectrum of the sample covariance matrix. Moreover, we introduce the Directional Variance Adjustment (DVA) algorithm, which diminishes the systematic error. In a thorough empirical study for the US, European, and Hong Kong stock market we show that our proposed method leads to improved portfolio allocation.

Directional Variance Adjustment: Bias Reduction in Covariance Matrices Based on Factor Analysis with an Application to Portfolio Optimization

PubMed Central

Bartz, Daniel; Hatrick, Kerr; Hesse, Christian W.; Müller, Klaus-Robert; Lemm, Steven

2013-01-01

Robust and reliable covariance estimates play a decisive role in financial and many other applications. An important class of estimators is based on factor models. Here, we show by extensive Monte Carlo simulations that covariance matrices derived from the statistical Factor Analysis model exhibit a systematic error, which is similar to the well-known systematic error of the spectrum of the sample covariance matrix. Moreover, we introduce the Directional Variance Adjustment (DVA) algorithm, which diminishes the systematic error. In a thorough empirical study for the US, European, and Hong Kong stock market we show that our proposed method leads to improved portfolio allocation. PMID:23844016

How Adverse Outcome Pathways Can Aid the Development and Use of Computational Prediction Models for Regulatory Toxicology

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

Wittwehr, Clemens; Aladjov, Hristo; Ankley, Gerald

Efforts are underway to transform regulatory toxicology and chemical safety assessment from a largely empirical science based on direct observation of apical toxicity outcomes in whole organism toxicity tests to a predictive one in which outcomes and risk are inferred from accumulated mechanistic understanding. The adverse outcome pathway (AOP) framework has emerged as a systematic approach for organizing knowledge that supports such inference. We argue that this systematic organization of knowledge can inform and help direct the design and development of computational prediction models that can further enhance the utility of mechanistic and in silico data for chemical safety assessment.more » Examples of AOP-informed model development and its application to the assessment of chemicals for skin sensitization and multiple modes of endocrine disruption are provided. The role of problem formulation, not only as a critical phase of risk assessment, but also as guide for both AOP and complementary model development described. Finally, a proposal for actively engaging the modeling community in AOP-informed computational model development is made. The contents serve as a vision for how AOPs can be leveraged to facilitate development of computational prediction models needed to support the next generation of chemical safety assessment.« less

How adverse outcome pathways can aid the development and ...

EPA Pesticide Factsheets

Efforts are underway to transform regulatory toxicology and chemical safety assessment from a largely empirical science based on direct observation of apical toxicity outcomes in whole organism toxicity tests to a predictive one in which outcomes and risk are inferred from accumulated mechanistic understanding. The adverse outcome pathway (AOP) framework has emerged as a systematic approach for organizing knowledge that supports such inference. We argue that this systematic organization of knowledge can inform and help direct the design and development of computational prediction models that can further enhance the utility of mechanistic and in silico data for chemical safety assessment. Examples of AOP-informed model development and its application to the assessment of chemicals for skin sensitization and multiple modes of endocrine disruption are provided. The role of problem formulation, not only as a critical phase of risk assessment, but also as guide for both AOP and complementary model development described. Finally, a proposal for actively engaging the modeling community in AOP-informed computational model development is made. The contents serve as a vision for how AOPs can be leveraged to facilitate development of computational prediction models needed to support the next generation of chemical safety assessment. The present manuscript reports on expert opinion and case studies that came out of a European Commission, Joint Research Centre-sponsored work

New early instrumental series since the beginning of the 19th century in eastern Iberia (Valencia, Spain)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sanchez-Lorenzo, Arturo; Barriendos, Mariano; Guinaldo, Elena; Lopez-Bustins, Joan A.

2010-05-01

Early instrumental series are the main source for climate information in the 18th and the first part of the 19th century, which is when systematic meteorological observations started in most national meteorological services. The first continuous series in Spain starts in 1780 in Barcelona due to meteorological observations made by the medical doctor Francisco Salvá Campillo. Moreover, only two other series have been recovered at the present in Spain: Madrid and Cádiz/San Fernando. Until present, in Spain the major part of the meteorological observations detected in early instrumental periods were made by medical doctors, who started to pay attention to the environmental factors influencing population health under the Hippocrates oath, although also there are military institutions and academic university staff (e.g. physicists, mathematicians, etc.). Due to the high spatial and temporal climate variability in the Iberian Peninsula, it is important to recover and digitize more climatic series, and this is one of the main goals of the Salvá-Sinobas project (http://salva-sinobas.uvigo.es/) funded by the Spanish Ministry of Environment, and Rural and Marine Affairs for the 2009-2011 period. The first new series with systematic observations was detected in the city of Valencia, in the eastern façade of the Iberian Peninsula. The meteorological observations were daily published in the newspapers Diario de Valencia (1804-1834) and Diario Mercantil de Valencia (1837-1863) until official meteorological observations started in 1858 at the University of Valencia. Each day 3-daily observations (morning, midday, afternoon) were published with five climatic variables: temperature, air pressure, humidity, wind direction and the sky state. Only during the 1804-1808 period daily rainfall data is available. We checked the observer comments published in the newspapers to obtain metadata about the instruments and meteorological station information. Unfortunately, temperature data was recorded indoor and unknown hygrometer was used during the first decades until 1841. One curious detail of the Valencia early instrumental series is that the records were initiated by a local clockmaker, a new profession interested in meteorological observations in Spain during this period. A great effort has been made to detect original manuscripts, but the archive revision did not provide encouraging results. We started to digitalize daily air pressure records, to improve atmospheric circulation reconstruction in the Mediterranean region, and the sky observations (defined as cloud free, cloudy or overcast conditions), since we are interested into reconstruct cloud cover variability since early 19th century in Valencia. Finally, due to the lack of metadata about wind direction, we tried to assess the reliability of these measurements using the daily Western Mediterranean Oscillation index (WeMOi), a regional circulation pattern in the western Mediterranean basin. Wind direction records in Valencia were registered in 32 class intervals. The negative phase of the WeMOi is linked to those intervals associated to easterly humid flows.

Determination of the accuracy for targeted irradiations of cellular substructures at SNAKE

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Siebenwirth, C.; Greubel, C.; Drexler, S. E.; Girst, S.; Reindl, J.; Walsh, D. W. M.; Dollinger, G.; Friedl, A. A.; Schmid, T. E.; Drexler, G. A.

2015-04-01

In the last 10 years the ion microbeam SNAKE, installed at the Munich 14 MV tandem accelerator, has been successfully used for radiobiological experiments by utilizing pattern irradiation without targeting single cells. Now for targeted irradiation of cellular substructures a precise irradiation device was added to the live cell irradiation setup at SNAKE. It combines a sub-micrometer single ion irradiation facility with a high resolution optical fluorescence microscope. Most systematic errors can be reduced or avoided by using the same light path in the microscope for beam spot verification as well as for and target recognition. In addition online observation of the induced cellular responses is possible. The optical microscope and the beam delivering system are controlled by an in-house developed software which integrates the open-source image analysis software, CellProfiler, for semi-automatic target recognition. In this work the targeting accuracy was determined by irradiation of a cross pattern with 55 MeV carbon ions on nucleoli in U2OS and HeLa cells stably expressing a GFP-tagged repair protein MDC1. For target recognition, nuclei were stained with Draq5 and nucleoli were stained with Syto80 or Syto83. The damage response was determined by live-cell imaging of MDC1-GFP accumulation directly after irradiation. No systematic displacement and a random distribution of about 0.7 μm (SD) in x-direction and 0.8 μm (SD) in y-direction were observed. An independent analysis after immunofluorescence staining of the DNA damage marker yH2AX yielded similar results. With this performance a target with a size similar to that of nucleoli (i.e. a diameter of about 3 μm) is hit with a probability of more than 80%, which enables the investigation of the radiation response of cellular subcompartments after targeted ion irradiation in the future.

Drought Persistence Errors in Global Climate Models

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Moon, H.; Gudmundsson, L.; Seneviratne, S. I.

2018-04-01

The persistence of drought events largely determines the severity of socioeconomic and ecological impacts, but the capability of current global climate models (GCMs) to simulate such events is subject to large uncertainties. In this study, the representation of drought persistence in GCMs is assessed by comparing state-of-the-art GCM model simulations to observation-based data sets. For doing so, we consider dry-to-dry transition probabilities at monthly and annual scales as estimates for drought persistence, where a dry status is defined as negative precipitation anomaly. Though there is a substantial spread in the drought persistence bias, most of the simulations show systematic underestimation of drought persistence at global scale. Subsequently, we analyzed to which degree (i) inaccurate observations, (ii) differences among models, (iii) internal climate variability, and (iv) uncertainty of the employed statistical methods contribute to the spread in drought persistence errors using an analysis of variance approach. The results show that at monthly scale, model uncertainty and observational uncertainty dominate, while the contribution from internal variability is small in most cases. At annual scale, the spread of the drought persistence error is dominated by the statistical estimation error of drought persistence, indicating that the partitioning of the error is impaired by the limited number of considered time steps. These findings reveal systematic errors in the representation of drought persistence in current GCMs and suggest directions for further model improvement.

Two-Component Structure of the Radio Source 0014+813 from VLBI Observations within the CONT14 Program

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Titov, O. A.; Lopez, Yu. R.

2018-03-01

We consider a method of reconstructing the structure delay of extended radio sources without constructing their radio images. The residuals derived after the adjustment of geodetic VLBI observations are used for this purpose. We show that the simplest model of a radio source consisting of two point components can be represented by four parameters (the angular separation of the components, the mutual orientation relative to the poleward direction, the flux-density ratio, and the spectral index difference) that are determined for each baseline of a multi-baseline VLBI network. The efficiency of this approach is demonstrated by estimating the coordinates of the radio source 0014+813 observed during the two-week CONT14 program organized by the International VLBI Service (IVS) in May 2014. Large systematic deviations have been detected in the residuals of the observations for the radio source 0014+813. The averaged characteristics of the radio structure of 0014+813 at a frequency of 8.4 GHz can be calculated from these deviations. Our modeling using four parameters has confirmed that the source consists of two components at an angular separation of 0.5 mas in the north-south direction. Using the structure delay when adjusting the CONT14 observations leads to a correction of the average declination estimate for the radio source 0014+813 by 0.070 mas.

Local systematic differences in 2MASS positions

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bustos Fierro, I. H.; Calderón, J. H.

2018-01-01

We have found that positions in the 2MASS All-sky Catalog of Point Sources show local systematic differences with characteristic length-scales of ˜ 5 to ˜ 8 arcminutes when compared with several catalogs. We have observed that when 2MASS positions are used in the computation of proper motions, the mentioned systematic differences cause systematic errors in the resulting proper motions. We have developed a method to locally rectify 2MASS with respect to UCAC4 in order to diminish the systematic differences between these catalogs. The rectified 2MASS catalog with the proposed method can be regarded as an extension of UCAC4 for astrometry with accuracy ˜ 90 mas in its positions, with negligible systematic errors. Also we show that the use of these rectified positions removes the observed systematic pattern in proper motions derived from original 2MASS positions.

Special Strategies Observation System-Revised: A Useful Tool for Educational Research and Evaluation

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Meehan, Merrill L.; Cowley, Kimberly S.; Finch, Nicole L.; Chadwick, Kristine L.; Ermolov, Lisa D.; Riffle, M. Joy S.

2004-01-01

A review of the critical literature provides a brief history of systematic observation of classroom behaviors, long valued as an important data collection method in educational research. Milestones in systematic observation of classrooms are traced back to 1914 and the development and use of the Special Strategies Observation System (SSOS) through…

A new technique for the measurement of surface shear stress vectors using liquid crystal coatings

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Reda, Daniel C.; Muratore, J. J., Jr.

1994-01-01

Research has recently shown that liquid crystal coating (LCC) color-change response to shear depends on both shear stress magnitude and direction. Additional research was thus conducted to extend the LCC method from a flow-visualization tool to a surface shear stress vector measurement technique. A shear-sensitive LCC was applied to a planar test surface and illuminated by white light from the normal direction. A fiber optic probe was used to capture light scattered by the LCC from a point on the centerline of a turbulent, tangential-jet flow. Both the relative shear stress magnitude and the relative in-plane view angle between the sensor and the centerline shear vector were systematically varied. A spectrophotometer was used to obtain scattered-light spectra which were used to quantify the LCC color (dominant wavelength) as a function of shear stress magnitude and direction. At any fixed shear stress magnitude, the minimum dominant wavelength was measured when the shear vector was aligned with and directed away from the observer; changes in the relative in-plane view angle to either side of this vector/observer aligned position resulted in symmetric Gaussian increases in measured dominant wavelength. Based on these results, a vector measurement methodology, involving multiple oblique-view observations of the test surface, was formulated. Under present test conditions, the measurement resolution of this technique was found to be +/- 1 deg for vector orientations and +/- 5% for vector magnitudes. An approach t o extend the present methodology to full-surface applications is proposed.

A comparison of form processing involved in the perception of biological and nonbiological movements

PubMed Central

Thurman, Steven M.; Lu, Hongjing

2016-01-01

Although there is evidence for specialization in the human brain for processing biological motion per se, few studies have directly examined the specialization of form processing in biological motion perception. The current study was designed to systematically compare form processing in perception of biological (human walkers) to nonbiological (rotating squares) stimuli. Dynamic form-based stimuli were constructed with conflicting form cues (position and orientation), such that the objects were perceived to be moving ambiguously in two directions at once. In Experiment 1, we used the classification image technique to examine how local form cues are integrated across space and time in a bottom-up manner. By comparing with a Bayesian observer model that embodies generic principles of form analysis (e.g., template matching) and integrates form information according to cue reliability, we found that human observers employ domain-general processes to recognize both human actions and nonbiological object movements. Experiments 2 and 3 found differential top-down effects of spatial context on perception of biological and nonbiological forms. When a background does not involve social information, observers are biased to perceive foreground object movements in the direction opposite to surrounding motion. However, when a background involves social cues, such as a crowd of similar objects, perception is biased toward the same direction as the crowd for biological walking stimuli, but not for rotating nonbiological stimuli. The model provided an accurate account of top-down modulations by adjusting the prior probabilities associated with the internal templates, demonstrating the power and flexibility of the Bayesian approach for visual form perception. PMID:26746875

Threshold and Jet Radius Joint Resummation for Single-Inclusive Jet Production

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

Liu, Xiaohui; Moch, Sven -Olaf; Ringer, Felix

Here, we present the first threshold and jet radius jointly resummed cross section for single-inclusive hadronic jet production. We work at next-to-leading logarithmic accuracy and our framework allows for a systematic extension beyond the currently achieved precision. Long-standing numerical issues are overcome by performing the resummation directly in momentum space within soft collinear effective theory. We present the first numerical results for the LHC and observe an improved description of the available data. Our results are of immediate relevance for LHC precision phenomenology including the extraction of parton distribution functions and the QCD strong coupling constant.

Memory: Organization and Control

PubMed Central

Eichenbaum, Howard

2017-01-01

A major goal of memory research is to understand how cognitive processes in memory are supported at the level of brain systems and network representations. Especially promising in this direction are new findings in humans and animals that converge in indicating a key role for the hippocampus in the systematic organization of memories. New findings also indicate that the prefrontal cortex may play an equally important role in the active control of memory organization during both encoding and retrieval. Observations about the dialog between the hippocampus and prefrontal cortex provide new insights into the operation of the larger brain system that serves memory. PMID:27687117

Direct observation of dijets in central Au+Au collisions at sqrt[sNN]=200 GeV.

PubMed

Adams, J; Aggarwal, M M; Ahammed, Z; Amonett, J; Anderson, B D; Anderson, M; Arkhipkin, D; Averichev, G S; Bai, Y; Balewski, J; Barannikova, O; Barnby, L S; Baudot, J; Bekele, S; Belaga, V V; Bellingeri-Laurikainen, A; Bellwied, R; Bezverkhny, B I; Bhardwaj, S; Bhasin, A; Bhati, A K; Bichsel, H; Bielcik, J; Bielcikova, J; Bland, L C; Blyth, C O; Blyth, S-L; Bonner, B E; Botje, M; Bouchet, J; Brandin, A V; Bravar, A; Bystersky, M; Cadman, R V; Cai, X Z; Caines, H; Calderón de la Barca Sánchez, M; Castillo, J; Catu, O; Cebra, D; Chajecki, Z; Chaloupka, P; Chattopadhyay, S; Chen, H F; Chen, J H; Chen, Y; Cheng, J; Cherney, M; Chikanian, A; Choi, H A; Christie, W; Coffin, J P; Cormier, T M; Cosentino, M R; Cramer, J G; Crawford, H J; Das, D; Das, S; Daugherity, M; de Moura, M M; Dedovich, T G; Dephillips, M; Derevschikov, A A; Didenko, L; Dietel, T; Djawotho, P; Dogra, S M; Dong, W J; Dong, X; Draper, J E; Du, F; Dunin, V B; Dunlop, J C; Dutta Mazumdar, M R; Eckardt, V; Edwards, W R; Efimov, L G; Emelianov, V; Engelage, J; Eppley, G; Erazmus, B; Estienne, M; Fachini, P; Fatemi, R; Fedorisin, J; Filimonov, K; Filip, P; Finch, E; Fine, V; Fisyak, Y; Fu, J; Gagliardi, C A; Gaillard, L; Gans, J; Ganti, M S; Ghazikhanian, V; Ghosh, P; Gonzalez, J E; Gorbunov, Y G; Gos, H; Grebenyuk, O; Grosnick, D; Guertin, S M; Guimaraes, K S F F; Guo, Y; Gupta, N; Gutierrez, T D; Haag, B; Hallman, T J; Hamed, A; Harris, J W; He, W; Heinz, M; Henry, T W; Hepplemann, S; Hippolyte, B; Hirsch, A; Hjort, E; Hoffmann, G W; Horner, M J; Huang, H Z; Huang, S L; Hughes, E W; Humanic, T J; Igo, G; Jacobs, P; Jacobs, W W; Jakl, P; Jia, F; Jiang, H; Jones, P G; Judd, E G; Kabana, S; Kang, K; Kapitan, J; Kaplan, M; Keane, D; Kechechyan, A; Khodyrev, V Yu; Kim, B C; Kiryluk, J; Kisiel, A; Kislov, E M; Klein, S R; Koetke, D D; Kollegger, T; Kopytine, M; Kotchenda, L; Kouchpil, V; Kowalik, K L; Kramer, M; Kravtsov, P; Kravtsov, V I; Krueger, K; Kuhn, C; Kulikov, A I; Kumar, A; Kuznetsov, A A; Lamont, M A C; Landgraf, J M; Lange, S; Lapointe, S; Laue, F; Lauret, J; Lebedev, A; Lednicky, R; Lee, C-H; Lehocka, S; Levine, M J; Li, C; Li, Q; Li, Y; Lin, G; Lindenbaum, S J; Lisa, M A; Liu, F; Liu, H; Liu, J; Liu, L; Liu, Z; Ljubicic, T; Llope, W J; Long, H; Longacre, R S; Lopez-Noriega, M; Love, W A; Lu, Y; Ludlam, T; Lynn, D; Ma, G L; Ma, J G; Ma, Y G; Magestro, D; Mahapatra, D P; Majka, R; Mangotra, L K; Manweiler, R; Margetis, S; Markert, C; Martin, L; Matis, H S; Matulenko, Yu A; McClain, C J; McShane, T S; Melnick, Yu; Meschanin, A; Miller, M L; Minaev, N G; Mioduszewski, S; Mironov, C; Mischke, A; Mishra, D K; Mitchell, J; Mohanty, B; Molnar, L; Moore, C F; Morozov, D A; Munhoz, M G; Nandi, B K; Nattrass, C; Nayak, T K; Nelson, J M; Netrakanti, P K; Nikitin, V A; Nogach, L V; Nurushev, S B; Odyniec, G; Ogawa, A; Okorokov, V; Oldenburg, M; Olson, D; Pachr, M; Pal, S K; Panebratsev, Y; Panitkin, S Y; Pavlinov, A I; Pawlak, T; Peitzmann, T; Perevoztchikov, V; Perkins, C; Peryt, W; Petrov, V A; Phatak, S C; Picha, R; Planinic, M; Pluta, J; Poljak, N; Porile, N; Porter, J; Poskanzer, A M; Potekhin, M; Potrebenikova, E; Potukuchi, B V K S; Prindle, D; Pruneau, C; Putschke, J; Rakness, G; Raniwala, R; Raniwala, S; Ray, R L; Razin, S V; Reinnarth, J; Relyea, D; Retiere, F; Ridiger, A; Ritter, H G; Roberts, J B; Rogachevskiy, O V; Romero, J L; Rose, A; Roy, C; Ruan, L; Russcher, M J; Sahoo, R; Sakrejda, I; Salur, S; Sandweiss, J; Sarsour, M; Sazhin, P S; Schambach, J; Scharenberg, R P; Schmitz, N; Schweda, K; Seger, J; Selyuzhenkov, I; Seyboth, P; Shabetai, A; Shahaliev, E; Shao, M; Sharma, M; Shen, W Q; Shimanskiy, S S; Sichtermann, E; Simon, F; Singaraju, R N; Smirnov, N; Snellings, R; Sood, G; Sorensen, P; Sowinski, J; Speltz, J; Spinka, H M; Srivastava, B; Stadnik, A; Stanislaus, T D S; Stock, R; Stolpovsky, A; Strikhanov, M; Stringfellow, B; Suaide, A A P; Sugarbaker, E; Sumbera, M; Sun, Z; Surrow, B; Swanger, M; Symons, T J M; Szanto de Toledo, A; Tai, A; Takahashi, J; Tang, A H; Tarnowsky, T; Thein, D; Thomas, J H; Timmins, A R; Timoshenko, S; Tokarev, M; Trentalange, S; Tribble, R E; Tsai, O D; Ulery, J; Ullrich, T; Underwood, D G; Van Buren, G; van der Kolk, N; van Leeuwen, M; Vander Molen, A M; Varma, R; Vasilevski, I M; Vasiliev, A N; Vernet, R; Vigdor, S E; Viyogi, Y P; Vokal, S; Voloshin, S A; Waggoner, W T; Wang, F; Wang, G; Wang, J S; Wang, X L; Wang, Y; Watson, J W; Webb, J C; Westfall, G D; Wetzler, A; Whitten, C; Wieman, H; Wissink, S W; Witt, R; Wood, J; Wu, J; Xu, N; Xu, Q H; Xu, Z; Yepes, P; Yoo, I-K; Yurevich, V I; Zhan, W; Zhang, H; Zhang, W M; Zhang, Y; Zhang, Z P; Zhao, Y; Zhong, C; Zoulkarneev, R; Zoulkarneeva, Y; Zubarev, A N; Zuo, J X

2006-10-20

The STAR Collaboration at the Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider reports measurements of azimuthal correlations of high transverse momentum (pT) charged hadrons in Au+Au collisions at higher pT than reported previously. As (pT) is increased, a narrow, back-to-back peak emerges above the decreasing background, providing a clear dijet signal for all collision centralities studied. Using these correlations, we perform a systematic study of dijet production and suppression in nuclear collisions, providing new constraints on the mechanisms underlying partonic energy loss in dense matter.

[Typology and systematization of residual mental disorders in alcohol dependence].

PubMed

Klimenko, T V; Agafonova, S S

2007-01-01

The study of 85 patients with alcohol dependence appointed to forensic psychiatric expertise in the Serbsky research center of social and forensic psychiatry revealed the manifestation of polymorphic psychiatric and behavioral disorders (ICD-10 diagnosis F10.7--residual and late-onset psychotic disorders) after stopping the intoxication, withdrawal and post-withdralwal disorders. Taking into account the multifactor etiology of psychiatric disorders which are observed after ending of the direct effect of alcohol, a possibility of including other ICD-10 items to extend their diagnostics and thus provide the more accurate clinical verification of these states, is discussed.

Threshold and Jet Radius Joint Resummation for Single-Inclusive Jet Production

DOE PAGES

Liu, Xiaohui; Moch, Sven -Olaf; Ringer, Felix

2017-11-20

Here, we present the first threshold and jet radius jointly resummed cross section for single-inclusive hadronic jet production. We work at next-to-leading logarithmic accuracy and our framework allows for a systematic extension beyond the currently achieved precision. Long-standing numerical issues are overcome by performing the resummation directly in momentum space within soft collinear effective theory. We present the first numerical results for the LHC and observe an improved description of the available data. Our results are of immediate relevance for LHC precision phenomenology including the extraction of parton distribution functions and the QCD strong coupling constant.

Statistical distribution of wind speeds and directions globally observed by NSCAT

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ebuchi, Naoto

1999-05-01

In order to validate wind vectors derived from the NASA scatterometer (NSCAT), statistical distributions of wind speeds and directions over the global oceans are investigated by comparing with European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts (ECMWF) wind data. Histograms of wind speeds and directions are calculated from the preliminary and reprocessed NSCAT data products for a period of 8 weeks. For wind speed of the preliminary data products, excessive low wind distribution is pointed out through comparison with ECMWF winds. A hump at the lower wind speed side of the peak in the wind speed histogram is discernible. The shape of the hump varies with incidence angle. Incompleteness of the prelaunch geophysical model function, SASS 2, tentatively used to retrieve wind vectors of the preliminary data products, is considered to cause the skew of the wind speed distribution. On the contrary, histograms of wind speeds of the reprocessed data products show consistent features over the whole range of incidence angles. Frequency distribution of wind directions relative to spacecraft flight direction is calculated to assess self-consistency of the wind directions. It is found that wind vectors of the preliminary data products exhibit systematic directional preference relative to antenna beams. This artificial directivity is also considered to be caused by imperfections in the geophysical model function. The directional distributions of the reprocessed wind vectors show less directivity and consistent features, except for very low wind cases.

A systematic analysis of directional site effects at stations of the Italian Seismic Network to test the role of local topography

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Pischiutta, Marta; Cianfarra, Paola; Salvini, Francesco; Cara, Fabrizio; Vannoli, Paola

2018-03-01

Directional site effects observed at seismological stations on pronounced relief are analyzed. We investigate the ground motion properties calculating horizontal-to-vertical spectral ratios and horizontal polarization of both ambient vibrations and earthquake records using broadband seismograms of the Italian Seismic Network. We find that a subset of 47 stations with pronounced relief, results in a significant (>2) directional amplification of the horizontal component, with a well defined, site-specific direction of motion. However, the horizontal spectral response of sites is not uniform, varying from an isolated (resonant) frequency peak to a broadband amplification, interesting frequency bands as large as 1-10 Hz in many cases. Using the 47 selected stations, we have tried to establish a relation between directional amplification and topography geometry in a 2D-vision, when applicable, through a morphological analysis of the Digital Elevation Model using Geographic Information Systems. The procedure computes the parameters that characterize the geometry of topographic irregularities (size and slope), in combination with a principal component analysis that automatically yields the orientation of the elongated ridges. In seeking a relation between directional amplification and the surface morphology, we have found that it is impossible to fit the variety of observations with a resonant topography model as well as to identify common features in the ground motion behavior for stations with similar topography typologies. We conclude that, rather than the shape of the topography, local structural complexities and details of the near-surface structure must play a predominant role in controlling ground motion properties at sites with pronounced relief.

A systematic analysis of directional site effects at stations of the Italian seismic network to test the role of local topography

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Pischiutta, Marta; Cianfarra, Paola; Salvini, Francesco; Cara, Fabrizio; Vannoli, Paola

2018-07-01

Directional site effects observed at seismological stations on pronounced relief are analysed. We investigate the ground motion properties calculating horizontal-to-vertical spectral ratios and horizontal polarization of both ambient vibrations and earthquake records using broad-band seismograms of the Italian seismic network. We find that a subset of 47 stations with pronounced relief results in a significant (>2) directional amplification of the horizontal component, with a well-defined, site-specific direction of motion. However, the horizontal spectral response of sites is not uniform, varying from an isolated (resonant) frequency peak to a broad-band amplification, interesting frequency bands as large as 1-10 Hz in many cases. Using 47 selected stations, we have tried to establish a relation between directional amplification and topography geometry in a 2-D vision, when applicable, through a morphological analysis of the digital elevation model using geographic information systems. The procedure computes the parameters that characterize the geometry of topographic irregularities (size and slope), in combination with a principal component analysis that automatically yields the orientation of the elongated ridges. In seeking a relation between directional amplification and the surface morphology, we have found that it is impossible to fit the variety of observations with a resonant topography model as well as to identify common features in the ground motion behaviour for stations with similar topography typologies. We conclude that, rather than the shape of the topography, local structural complexities and details of the near-surface structure must play a predominant role in controlling ground motion properties at sites with pronounced relief.

Lessons Learned from Crime Caught on Camera

PubMed Central

Bernasco, Wim

2018-01-01

Objectives: The widespread use of camera surveillance in public places offers criminologists the opportunity to systematically and unobtrusively observe crime, their main subject matter. The purpose of this essay is to inform the reader of current developments in research on crimes caught on camera. Methods: We address the importance of direct observation of behavior and review criminological studies that used observational methods, with and without cameras, including the ones published in this issue. We also discuss the uses of camera recordings in other social sciences and in biology. Results: We formulate six key insights that emerge from the literature and make recommendations for future research. Conclusions: Camera recordings of real-life crime are likely to become part of the criminological tool kit that will help us better understand the situational and interactional elements of crime. Like any source, it has limitations that are best addressed by triangulation with other sources. PMID:29472728

Visual space under free viewing conditions.

PubMed

Doumen, Michelle J A; Kappers, Astrid M L; Koenderink, Jan J

2005-10-01

Most research on visual space has been done under restricted viewing conditions and in reduced environments. In our experiments, observers performed an exocentric pointing task, a collinearity task, and a parallelity task in a entirely visible room. We varied the relative distances between the objects and the observer and the separation angle between the two objects. We were able to compare our data directly with data from experiments in an environment with less monocular depth information present. We expected that in a richer environment and under less restrictive viewing conditions, the settings would deviate less from the veridical settings. However, large systematic deviations from veridical settings were found for all three tasks. The structure of these deviations was task dependent, and the structure and the deviations themselves were comparable to those obtained under more restricted circumstances. Thus, the additional information was not used effectively by the observers.

Cosmic microwave background science at commercial airline altitudes

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Feeney, Stephen M.; Gudmundsson, Jon E.; Peiris, Hiranya V.; Verde, Licia; Errard, Josquin

2017-07-01

Obtaining high-sensitivity measurements of degree-scale cosmic microwave background (CMB) polarization is the most direct path to detecting primordial gravitational waves. Robustly recovering any primordial signal from the dominant foreground emission will require high-fidelity observations at multiple frequencies, with excellent control of systematics. We explore the potential for a new platform for CMB observations, the Airlander 10 hybrid air vehicle, to perform this task. We show that the Airlander 10 platform, operating at commercial airline altitudes, is well suited to mapping frequencies above 220 GHz, which are critical for cleaning CMB maps of dust emission. Optimizing the distribution of detectors across frequencies, we forecast the ability of Airlander 10 to clean foregrounds of varying complexity as a function of altitude, demonstrating its complementarity with both existing (Planck) and ongoing (C-BASS) foreground observations. This novel platform could play a key role in defining our ultimate view of the polarized microwave sky.

An overview of systematic reviews on the public health consequences of social isolation and loneliness.

PubMed

Leigh-Hunt, N; Bagguley, D; Bash, K; Turner, V; Turnbull, S; Valtorta, N; Caan, W

2017-11-01

Social isolation and loneliness have been associated with ill health and are common in the developed world. A clear understanding of their implications for morbidity and mortality is needed to gauge the extent of the associated public health challenge and the potential benefit of intervention. A systematic review of systematic reviews (systematic overview) was undertaken to determine the wider consequences of social isolation and loneliness, identify any differences between the two, determine differences from findings of non-systematic reviews and to clarify the direction of causality. Eight databases were searched from 1950 to 2016 for English language reviews covering social isolation and loneliness but not solely social support. Suitability for inclusion was determined by two or more reviewers, the methodological quality of included systematic reviews assessed using the a measurement tool to assess systematic reviews (AMSTAR) checklist and the quality of evidence within these reviews using the grading of recommendations, assessment, development and evaluations (GRADE) approach. Non-systematic reviews were sought for a comparison of findings but not included in the primary narrative synthesis. Forty systematic reviews of mainly observational studies were identified, largely from the developed world. Meta-analyses have identified a significant association between social isolation and loneliness with increased all-cause mortality and social isolation with cardiovascular disease. Narrative systematic reviews suggest associations with poorer mental health outcomes, with less strong evidence for behavioural and other physical health outcomes. No reviews were identified for wider socio-economic or developmental outcomes. This systematic overview highlights that there is consistent evidence linking social isolation and loneliness to worse cardiovascular and mental health outcomes. The role of social isolation and loneliness in other conditions and their socio-economic consequences is less clear. More research is needed on associations with cancer, health behaviours, and the impact across the life course and wider socio-economic consequences. Policy makers and health and local government commissioners should consider social isolation and loneliness as important upstream factors impacting on morbidity and mortality due to their effects on cardiovascular and mental health. Prevention strategies should therefore be developed across the public and voluntary sectors, using an asset-based approach. Copyright © 2017 The Royal Society for Public Health. All rights reserved.

Developing Preservice Literacy Teachers' Observation Skills: Two Stories, Two Technologies

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Baker, Elizabeth A.; Wedman, Judy M.

2007-01-01

Systematic observation is a foundational skill teachers use in order to document children's reading development and plan developmentally appropriate instruction. However, a variety of challenges make it difficult for teacher educators to help preservice teachers develop systematic observation skills. The purpose of this study is to tell two…

A comparison of two search methods for determining the scope of systematic reviews and health technology assessments.

PubMed

Forsetlund, Louise; Kirkehei, Ingvild; Harboe, Ingrid; Odgaard-Jensen, Jan

2012-01-01

This study aims to compare two different search methods for determining the scope of a requested systematic review or health technology assessment. The first method (called the Direct Search Method) included performing direct searches in the Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews (CDSR), Database of Abstracts of Reviews of Effects (DARE) and the Health Technology Assessments (HTA). Using the comparison method (called the NHS Search Engine) we performed searches by means of the search engine of the British National Health Service, NHS Evidence. We used an adapted cross-over design with a random allocation of fifty-five requests for systematic reviews. The main analyses were based on repeated measurements adjusted for the order in which the searches were conducted. The Direct Search Method generated on average fewer hits (48 percent [95 percent confidence interval {CI} 6 percent to 72 percent], had a higher precision (0.22 [95 percent CI, 0.13 to 0.30]) and more unique hits than when searching by means of the NHS Search Engine (50 percent [95 percent CI, 7 percent to 110 percent]). On the other hand, the Direct Search Method took longer (14.58 minutes [95 percent CI, 7.20 to 21.97]) and was perceived as somewhat less user-friendly than the NHS Search Engine (-0.60 [95 percent CI, -1.11 to -0.09]). Although the Direct Search Method had some drawbacks such as being more time-consuming and less user-friendly, it generated more unique hits than the NHS Search Engine, retrieved on average fewer references and fewer irrelevant results.

Interhemispheric currents in the ring current region as seen by the Cluster spacecraft

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Tenfjord, P.; Ostgaard, N.; Haaland, S.; Laundal, K.; Reistad, J. P.

2013-12-01

The existence of interhemispheric currents has been predicted by several authors, but their extent in the ring current has to our knowledge never been studied systematically by using in-situ measurements. These currents have been suggested to be associated with observed asymmetries of the aurora. We perform a statistical study of current density and direction during ring current crossings using the Cluster spacecraft. We analyse the extent of the interhemispheric field aligned currents for a wide range of solar wind conditions. Direct estimations of equatorial current direction and density are achieved through the curlometer technique. The curlometer technique is based on Ampere's law and requires magnetic field measurements from all four spacecrafts. The use of this method requires careful study of factors that limit the accuracy, such as tetrahedron shape and configuration. This significantly limits our dataset, but is a necessity for accurate current calculations. Our goal is to statistically investigate the occurrence of interhemispheric currents, and determine if there are parameters or magnetospheric states on which the current magnitude and directions depend upon.

A mixed-methods approach to systematic reviews.

PubMed

Pearson, Alan; White, Heath; Bath-Hextall, Fiona; Salmond, Susan; Apostolo, Joao; Kirkpatrick, Pamela

2015-09-01

There are an increasing number of published single-method systematic reviews that focus on different types of evidence related to a particular topic. As policy makers and practitioners seek clear directions for decision-making from systematic reviews, it is likely that it will be increasingly difficult for them to identify 'what to do' if they are required to find and understand a plethora of syntheses related to a particular topic.Mixed-methods systematic reviews are designed to address this issue and have the potential to produce systematic reviews of direct relevance to policy makers and practitioners.On the basis of the recommendations of the Joanna Briggs Institute International Mixed Methods Reviews Methodology Group in 2012, the Institute adopted a segregated approach to mixed-methods synthesis as described by Sandelowski et al., which consists of separate syntheses of each component method of the review. Joanna Briggs Institute's mixed-methods synthesis of the findings of the separate syntheses uses a Bayesian approach to translate the findings of the initial quantitative synthesis into qualitative themes and pooling these with the findings of the initial qualitative synthesis.

Promoting Early Child Development With Interventions in Health and Nutrition: A Systematic Review.

PubMed

Vaivada, Tyler; Gaffey, Michelle F; Bhutta, Zulfiqar A

2017-08-01

Although effective health and nutrition interventions for reducing child mortality and morbidity exist, direct evidence of effects on cognitive, motor, and psychosocial development is lacking. To review existing evidence for health and nutrition interventions affecting direct measures of (and pathways to) early child development. Reviews and recent overviews of interventions across the continuum of care and component studies. We selected systematic reviews detailing the effectiveness of health or nutrition interventions that have plausible links to child development and/or contain direct measures of cognitive, motor, and psychosocial development. A team of reviewers independently extracted data and assessed their quality. Sixty systematic reviews contained the outcomes of interest. Various interventions reduced morbidity and improved child growth, but few had direct measures of child development. Of particular benefit were food and micronutrient supplementation for mothers to reduce the risk of small for gestational age and iodine deficiency, strategies to reduce iron deficiency anemia in infancy, and early neonatal care (appropriate resuscitation, delayed cord clamping, and Kangaroo Mother Care). Neuroprotective interventions for imminent preterm birth showed the largest effect sizes (antenatal corticosteroids for developmental delay: risk ratio 0.49, 95% confidence interval 0.24 to 1.00; magnesium sulfate for gross motor dysfunction: risk ratio 0.61, 95% confidence interval 0.44 to 0.85). Given the focus on high-quality studies captured in leading systematic reviews, only effects reported within studies included in systematic reviews were captured. These findings should guide the prioritization and scale-up of interventions within critical periods of early infancy and childhood, and encourage research into their implementation at scale. Copyright © 2017 by the American Academy of Pediatrics.

THE FERMI ALL-SKY VARIABILITY ANALYSIS: A LIST OF FLARING GAMMA-RAY SOURCES AND THE SEARCH FOR TRANSIENTS IN OUR GALAXY

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

Ackermann, M.; Ajello, M.; Albert, A.

2013-07-01

In this paper, we present the Fermi All-sky Variability Analysis (FAVA), a tool to systematically study the variability of the gamma-ray sky measured by the Large Area Telescope on board the Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope. For each direction on the sky, FAVA compares the number of gamma-rays observed in a given time window to the number of gamma-rays expected for the average emission detected from that direction. This method is used in weekly time intervals to derive a list of 215 flaring gamma-ray sources. We proceed to discuss the 27 sources found at Galactic latitudes smaller than 10 Degree-Sign andmore » show that, despite their low latitudes, most of them are likely of extragalactic origin.« less

The FERMI All-Sky Variability Analysis: A List of Flaring Gamma-Ray Sources and the Search for Transients in Our Galaxy

DOE PAGES

Ackermann, M.; Ajello, M.; Albert, A.; ...

2013-06-17

In this paper, we present the Fermi All-sky Variability Analysis (FAVA), a tool to systematically study the variability of the gamma-ray sky measured by the Large Area Telescope on board the Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope. In addition, for each direction on the sky, FAVA compares the number of gamma-rays observed in a given time window to the number of gamma-rays expected for the average emission detected from that direction. This method is used in weekly time intervals to derive a list of 215 flaring gamma-ray sources. Finally, we proceed to discuss the 27 sources found at Galactic latitudes smaller thanmore » 10° and show that, despite their low latitudes, most of them are likely of extragalactic origin.« less

Microstructure Formations in the Two-Phase Region of the Binary Peritectic Organic System TRIS-NPG

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Mogeritsch, Johann; Ludwig, Andreas

2012-01-01

In order to prepare for an onboard experiment on the International Space Station (ISS), systematic directional solidification experiments with transparent hypoperitectic alloys were carried out at different solidification rates around the critical velocity for morphological stability of both solid phases. The investigations were done in the peritectic region of the binary transparent organic TRIS-NPG system where the formation of layered structures is expected to occur. The transparent appearance of the liquid and solid phase enables real time observations of the dynamic of pattern formation during solidification. The investigations show that frequently occurring nucleation events govern the peritectic solidification morphology which occurs at the limit of morphological stability. As a consequence, banded structures lead to coupled growth even if the lateral growth is much faster compared to the growth in pulling direction.

Data-driven coarse graining in action: Modeling and prediction of complex systems

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Krumscheid, S.; Pradas, M.; Pavliotis, G. A.; Kalliadasis, S.

2015-10-01

In many physical, technological, social, and economic applications, one is commonly faced with the task of estimating statistical properties, such as mean first passage times of a temporal continuous process, from empirical data (experimental observations). Typically, however, an accurate and reliable estimation of such properties directly from the data alone is not possible as the time series is often too short, or the particular phenomenon of interest is only rarely observed. We propose here a theoretical-computational framework which provides us with a systematic and rational estimation of statistical quantities of a given temporal process, such as waiting times between subsequent bursts of activity in intermittent signals. Our framework is illustrated with applications from real-world data sets, ranging from marine biology to paleoclimatic data.

Structural and critical current properties in Al-doped MgB 2

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zheng, D. N.; Xiang, J. Y.; Lang, P. L.; Li, J. Q.; Che, G. C.; Zhao, Z. W.; Wen, H. H.; Tian, H. Y.; Ni, Y. M.; Zhao, Z. X.

2004-08-01

A series of Al-doped Mg 1- xAl xB 2 samples have been fabricated and systematic study on structure and superconducting properties have been carried out for the samples. In addition to a structural transition observed by XRD, TEM micrographs showed the existence of a superstructure of double c-axis lattice constant along the direction perpendicular to the boron honeycomb sheet. In order to investigate the effect of Al doping on flux pinning and critical current properties in MgB 2, measurements on the superconducting transition temperature Tc, irreversible field Birr and critical current density Jc were performed too, for the samples with the doping levels lower than 0.15 in particular. These experimental observations were discussed in terms of Al doping induced changes in carrier concentration.

A Systematic Review of Methodology: Time Series Regression Analysis for Environmental Factors and Infectious Diseases

PubMed Central

Imai, Chisato; Hashizume, Masahiro

2015-01-01

Background: Time series analysis is suitable for investigations of relatively direct and short-term effects of exposures on outcomes. In environmental epidemiology studies, this method has been one of the standard approaches to assess impacts of environmental factors on acute non-infectious diseases (e.g. cardiovascular deaths), with conventionally generalized linear or additive models (GLM and GAM). However, the same analysis practices are often observed with infectious diseases despite of the substantial differences from non-infectious diseases that may result in analytical challenges. Methods: Following the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses guidelines, systematic review was conducted to elucidate important issues in assessing the associations between environmental factors and infectious diseases using time series analysis with GLM and GAM. Published studies on the associations between weather factors and malaria, cholera, dengue, and influenza were targeted. Findings: Our review raised issues regarding the estimation of susceptible population and exposure lag times, the adequacy of seasonal adjustments, the presence of strong autocorrelations, and the lack of a smaller observation time unit of outcomes (i.e. daily data). These concerns may be attributable to features specific to infectious diseases, such as transmission among individuals and complicated causal mechanisms. Conclusion: The consequence of not taking adequate measures to address these issues is distortion of the appropriate risk quantifications of exposures factors. Future studies should pay careful attention to details and examine alternative models or methods that improve studies using time series regression analysis for environmental determinants of infectious diseases. PMID:25859149

Directly comparing gravitational wave data to numerical relativity simulations: systematics

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lange, Jacob; O'Shaughnessy, Richard; Healy, James; Lousto, Carlos; Zlochower, Yosef; Shoemaker, Deirdre; Lovelace, Geoffrey; Pankow, Christopher; Brady, Patrick; Scheel, Mark; Pfeiffer, Harald; Ossokine, Serguei

2017-01-01

We compare synthetic data directly to complete numerical relativity simulations of binary black holes. In doing so, we circumvent ad-hoc approximations introduced in semi-analytical models previously used in gravitational wave parameter estimation and compare the data against the most accurate waveforms including higher modes. In this talk, we focus on the synthetic studies that test potential sources of systematic errors. We also run ``end-to-end'' studies of intrinsically different synthetic sources to show we can recover parameters for different systems.

Systematic error of diode thermometer.

PubMed

Iskrenovic, Predrag S

2009-08-01

Semiconductor diodes are often used for measuring temperatures. The forward voltage across a diode decreases, approximately linearly, with the increase in temperature. The applied method is mainly the simplest one. A constant direct current flows through the diode, and voltage is measured at diode terminals. The direct current that flows through the diode, putting it into operating mode, heats up the diode. The increase in temperature of the diode-sensor, i.e., the systematic error due to self-heating, depends on the intensity of current predominantly and also on other factors. The results of systematic error measurements due to heating up by the forward-bias current have been presented in this paper. The measurements were made at several diodes over a wide range of bias current intensity.

The dynamic effect of reading direction habit on spatial asymmetry of image perception.

PubMed

Afsari, Zaeinab; Ossandón, José P; König, Peter

2016-09-01

Exploration of images after stimulus onset is initially biased to the left. Here, we studied the causes of such an asymmetry and investigated effects of reading habits, text primes, and priming by systematically biased eye movements on this spatial bias in visual exploration. Bilinguals first read text primes with right-to-left (RTL) or left-to-right (LTR) reading directions and subsequently explored natural images. In Experiment 1, native RTL speakers showed a leftward free-viewing shift after reading LTR primes but a weaker rightward bias after reading RTL primes. This demonstrates that reading direction dynamically influences the spatial bias. However, native LTR speakers who learned an RTL language late in life showed a leftward bias after reading either LTR or RTL primes, which suggests the role of habit formation in the production of the spatial bias. In Experiment 2, LTR bilinguals showed a slightly enhanced leftward bias after reading LTR text primes in their second language. This might contribute to the differences of native RTL and LTR speakers observed in Experiment 1. In Experiment 3, LTR bilinguals read normal (LTR, habitual reading) and mirrored left-to-right (mLTR, nonhabitual reading) texts. We observed a strong leftward bias in both cases, indicating that the bias direction is influenced by habitual reading direction and is not secondary to the actual reading direction. This is confirmed in Experiment 4, in which LTR participants were asked to follow RTL and LTR moving dots in prior image presentation and showed no change in the normal spatial bias. In conclusion, the horizontal bias is a dynamic property and is modulated by habitual reading direction.

Causal assessment of dietary acid load and bone disease: a systematic review & meta-analysis applying Hill's epidemiologic criteria for causality

PubMed Central

2011-01-01

Background Modern diets have been suggested to increase systemic acid load and net acid excretion. In response, alkaline diets and products are marketed to avoid or counteract this acid, help the body regulate its pH to prevent and cure disease. The objective of this systematic review was to evaluate causal relationships between dietary acid load and osteoporosis using Hill's criteria. Methods Systematic review and meta-analysis. We systematically searched published literature for randomized intervention trials, prospective cohort studies, and meta-analyses of the acid-ash or acid-base diet hypothesis with bone-related outcomes, in which the diet acid load was altered, or an alkaline diet or alkaline salts were provided, to healthy human adults. Cellular mechanism studies were also systematically examined. Results Fifty-five of 238 studies met the inclusion criteria: 22 randomized interventions, 2 meta-analyses, and 11 prospective observational studies of bone health outcomes including: urine calcium excretion, calcium balance or retention, changes of bone mineral density, or fractures, among healthy adults in which acid and/or alkaline intakes were manipulated or observed through foods or supplements; and 19 in vitro cell studies which examined the hypothesized mechanism. Urine calcium excretion rates were consistent with osteoporosis development; however calcium balance studies did not demonstrate loss of whole body calcium with higher net acid excretion. Several weaknesses regarding the acid-ash hypothesis were uncovered: No intervention studies provided direct evidence of osteoporosis progression (fragility fractures, or bone strength as measured using biopsy). The supporting prospective cohort studies were not controlled regarding important osteoporosis risk factors including: weight loss during follow-up, family history of osteoporosis, baseline bone mineral density, and estrogen status. No study revealed a biologic mechanism functioning at physiological pH. Finally, randomized studies did not provide evidence for an adverse role of phosphate, milk, and grain foods in osteoporosis. Conclusions A causal association between dietary acid load and osteoporotic bone disease is not supported by evidence and there is no evidence that an alkaline diet is protective of bone health. PMID:21529374

Causal assessment of dietary acid load and bone disease: a systematic review & meta-analysis applying Hill's epidemiologic criteria for causality.

PubMed

Fenton, Tanis R; Tough, Suzanne C; Lyon, Andrew W; Eliasziw, Misha; Hanley, David A

2011-04-30

Modern diets have been suggested to increase systemic acid load and net acid excretion. In response, alkaline diets and products are marketed to avoid or counteract this acid, help the body regulate its pH to prevent and cure disease. The objective of this systematic review was to evaluate causal relationships between dietary acid load and osteoporosis using Hill's criteria. Systematic review and meta-analysis. We systematically searched published literature for randomized intervention trials, prospective cohort studies, and meta-analyses of the acid-ash or acid-base diet hypothesis with bone-related outcomes, in which the diet acid load was altered, or an alkaline diet or alkaline salts were provided, to healthy human adults. Cellular mechanism studies were also systematically examined. Fifty-five of 238 studies met the inclusion criteria: 22 randomized interventions, 2 meta-analyses, and 11 prospective observational studies of bone health outcomes including: urine calcium excretion, calcium balance or retention, changes of bone mineral density, or fractures, among healthy adults in which acid and/or alkaline intakes were manipulated or observed through foods or supplements; and 19 in vitro cell studies which examined the hypothesized mechanism. Urine calcium excretion rates were consistent with osteoporosis development; however calcium balance studies did not demonstrate loss of whole body calcium with higher net acid excretion. Several weaknesses regarding the acid-ash hypothesis were uncovered: No intervention studies provided direct evidence of osteoporosis progression (fragility fractures, or bone strength as measured using biopsy). The supporting prospective cohort studies were not controlled regarding important osteoporosis risk factors including: weight loss during follow-up, family history of osteoporosis, baseline bone mineral density, and estrogen status. No study revealed a biologic mechanism functioning at physiological pH. Finally, randomized studies did not provide evidence for an adverse role of phosphate, milk, and grain foods in osteoporosis. A causal association between dietary acid load and osteoporotic bone disease is not supported by evidence and there is no evidence that an alkaline diet is protective of bone health.

The direct cost of epilepsy in the United States: A systematic review of estimates.

PubMed

Begley, Charles E; Durgin, Tracy L

2015-09-01

To develop estimates of the direct cost of epilepsy in the United States for the general epilepsy population and sub-populations by systematically comparing similarities and differences in types of estimates and estimation methods from recently published studies. Papers published since 1995 were identified by systematic literature search. Information on types of estimates, study designs, data sources, types of epilepsy, and estimation methods was extracted from each study. Annual per person cost estimates from methodologically similar studies were identified, converted to 2013 U.S. dollars, and compared. From 4,104 publications discovered in the literature search, 21 were selected for review. Three were added that were published after the search. Eighteen were identified that reported estimates of average annual direct costs for the general epilepsy population in the United States. For general epilepsy populations (comprising all clinically defined subgroups), total direct healthcare costs per person ranged from $10,192 to $47,862 and epilepsy-specific costs ranged from $1,022 to $19,749. Four recent studies using claims data from large general populations yielded relatively similar epilepsy-specific annual cost estimates ranging from $8,412 to $11,354. Although more difficult to compare, studies examining direct cost differences for epilepsy sub-populations indicated a consistent pattern of markedly higher costs for those with uncontrolled or refractory epilepsy, and for those with comorbidities. This systematic review found that various approaches have been used to estimate the direct costs of epilepsy in the United States. However, recent studies using large claims databases and similar methods allow estimation of the direct cost burden of epilepsy for the general disease population, and show that it is greater for some patient subgroups. Additional research is needed to further understand the broader economic burden of epilepsy and how it varies across subpopulations. Wiley Periodicals, Inc. © 2015 International League Against Epilepsy.

Effects of health information technology on patient outcomes: a systematic review.

PubMed

Brenner, Samantha K; Kaushal, Rainu; Grinspan, Zachary; Joyce, Christine; Kim, Inho; Allard, Rhonda J; Delgado, Diana; Abramson, Erika L

2016-09-01

To systematically review studies assessing the effects of health information technology (health IT) on patient safety outcomes. The authors employed the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) statement methods. MEDLINE, Cumulative Index to Nursing Allied Health (CINAHL), EMBASE, and Cochrane Library databases, from 2001 to June 2012, were searched. Descriptive and comparative studies were included that involved use of health IT in a clinical setting and measured effects on patient safety outcomes. Data on setting, subjects, information technology implemented, and type of patient safety outcomes were all abstracted. The quality of the studies was evaluated by 2 independent reviewers (scored from 0 to 10). A total of 69 studies met inclusion criteria. Quality scores ranged from 1 to 9. There were 25 (36%) studies that found benefit of health IT on direct patient safety outcomes for the primary outcome measured, 43 (62%) studies that either had non-significant or mixed findings, and 1 (1%) study for which health IT had a detrimental effect. Neither the quality of the studies nor the rate of randomized control trials performed changed over time. Most studies that demonstrated a positive benefit of health IT on direct patient safety outcomes were inpatient, single-center, and either cohort or observational trials studying clinical decision support or computerized provider order entry. Many areas of health IT application remain understudied and the majority of studies have non-significant or mixed findings. Our study suggests that larger, higher quality studies need to be conducted, particularly in the long-term care and ambulatory care settings. © The Author 2015. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the American Medical Informatics Association. All rights reserved. For Permissions, please email: journals.permissions@oup.com.

Characterizing complexity in socio-technical systems: a case study of a SAMU Medical Regulation Center.

PubMed

Righi, Angela Weber; Wachs, Priscila; Saurin, Tarcísio Abreu

2012-01-01

Complexity theory has been adopted by a number of studies as a benchmark to investigate the performance of socio-technical systems, especially those that are characterized by relevant cognitive work. However, there is little guidance on how to assess, systematically, the extent to which a system is complex. The main objective of this study is to carry out a systematic analysis of a SAMU (Mobile Emergency Medical Service) Medical Regulation Center in Brazil, based on the core characteristics of complex systems presented by previous studies. The assessment was based on direct observations and nine interviews: three of them with regulator of emergencies medical doctor, three with radio operators and three with telephone attendants. The results indicated that, to a great extent, the core characteristics of complexity are magnified) due to basic shortcomings in the design of the work system. Thus, some recommendations are put forward with a view to reducing unnecessary complexity that hinders the performance of the socio-technical system.

Systematic screening of carbon-based anode materials for microbial fuel cells with Shewanella oneidensis MR-1.

PubMed

Kipf, Elena; Koch, Julia; Geiger, Bettina; Erben, Johannes; Richter, Katrin; Gescher, Johannes; Zengerle, Roland; Kerzenmacher, Sven

2013-10-01

We present a systematic screening of carbon-based anode materials for microbial fuel cells with Shewanella oneidensis MR-1. Under anoxic conditions nanoporous activated carbon cloth is a superior anode material in terms of current density normalized to the projected anode area and anode volume (24.0±0.3 μA cm(-2) and 482±7 μA cm(-3) at -0.2 vs. SCE, respectively). The good performance can be attributed to the high specific surface area of the material, which is available for mediated electron transfer through self-secreted flavins. Under aerated conditions no influence of the specific surface area is observed, which we attribute to a shift from primary indirect electron transfer by mediators to direct electron transfer via adherent cells. Furthermore, we show that an aerated initial growth phase enhances the current density under subsequent anoxic conditions fivefold when compared to a similar experiment that was conducted under permanently anoxic conditions. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

[Ancient dietetics - lifestyle and medicine].

PubMed

Steger, Florian

2004-01-01

The wide reaching meaning of eating and drinking is already recognized in antiquity. The declared aim of antique dietetics is the upbringing to a healthy lifestyle. Fundamental considerations of dietetic, theoretically organized ideas can be traced back to the Presocratics, who, for the first time in cultural history, let themselves be guided by direct observations from nature. Working from the meaning of dietetics as pure nutritional teaching, one can see in the Corpus Hippocraticum a significant, systematic attempt to put forth dietetics as a concept of lifestyle. Here a central aspect is that of equilibrium, as it is expressed in the rule of the four humours. Dietetics continually become a connecting link between Natural Philosophy and Anthropology and a lifestyle orientated to nature. Finally, Galen introduces a further systematization of the already existing and the increasingly modified. Nutrition and health are brought into association and the theoretical presupposed practically overturned. In late Antiquity dietetical outlooks continue to be discussed, which were transferred to the Middle Ages and still show practical relevance.

Making Health System Performance Measurement Useful to Policy Makers: Aligning Strategies, Measurement and Local Health System Accountability in Ontario

PubMed Central

Veillard, Jeremy; Huynh, Tai; Ardal, Sten; Kadandale, Sowmya; Klazinga, Niek S.; Brown, Adalsteinn D.

2010-01-01

This study examined the experience of the Ontario Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care in enhancing its stewardship and performance management role by developing a health system strategy map and a strategy-based scorecard through a process of policy reviews and expert consultations, and linking them to accountability agreements. An evaluation of the implementation and of the effects of the policy intervention has been carried out through direct policy observation over three years, document analysis, interviews with decision-makers and systematic discussion of findings with other authors and external reviewers. Cascading strategies at health and local health system levels were identified, and a core set of health system and local health system performance indicators was selected and incorporated into accountability agreements with the Local Health Integration Networks. despite the persistence of such challenges as measurement limitations and lack of systematic linkage to decision-making processes, these activities helped to strengthen substantially the ministry's performance management function. PMID:21286268

Association Between Antioxidant Intake/Status and Obesity: a Systematic Review of Observational Studies.

PubMed

Hosseini, Banafshe; Saedisomeolia, Ahmad; Allman-Farinelli, Margaret

2017-02-01

The global prevalence of obesity has doubled in recent decades. Compelling evidences indicated that obesity was associated with lower concentrations of specific antioxidants which may play a role in the development of obesity-related diseases such as cardiovascular disease. The present review aimed to synthesize the evidence from studies on the association between obesity and antioxidant micronutrients in a systematic manner. Data bases including MEDLINE, Science Direct, and Cochrane were searched from inception to October 2015. Thirty-one articles were reviewed using the MOOSE checklist. Lower concentrations of antioxidants have been reported in obese individuals among age groups worldwide. Circulatory levels of carotenoids, vitamins E and C, as well as zinc, magnesium, and selenium were inversely correlated with obesity and body fat mass. However, studies demonstrated inconsistencies in findings. Lower status of carotenoids, vitamins E and C, zinc, magnesium, and selenium appears to be associated with adiposity. Intervention studies may be needed to establish the causality of these associations.

Examining reference frame interaction in spatial memory using a distribution analysis.

PubMed

Street, Whitney N; Wang, Ranxiao Frances

2016-02-01

Previous research showed competition among reference frames in spatial attention and language. The present studies developed a new distribution analysis to examine reference frame interactions in spatial memory. Participants viewed virtual arrays of colored pegs and were instructed to remember them either from their own perspective or from the perspective aligned with the rectangular floor. Then they made judgments of relative directions from their respective encoding orientation. Those taking the floor-axis perspective showed systematic bias in the signed errors toward their egocentric perspective, while those taking their own perspective showed no systematic bias, both for random and symmetrical object arrays. The bias toward the egocentric perspective was observed when learning a real symmetric regular object array with strong environmental cues for the aligned axis. These results indicate automatic processing of the self reference while taking the floor-axis perspective but not vice versa, and suggest that research on spatial memory needs to consider the implications of competition effects in reference frame use.

Arctic sea ice thickness loss determined using subsurface, aircraft, and satellite observations

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lindsay, R.; Schweiger, A.

2014-08-01

Sea ice thickness is a fundamental climate state variable that provides an integrated measure of changes in the high-latitude energy balance. However, observations of ice thickness have been sparse in time and space making the construction of observation-based time series difficult. Moreover, different groups use a variety of methods and processing procedures to measure ice thickness and each observational source likely has different and poorly characterized measurement and sampling biases. Observational sources include upward looking sonars mounted on submarines or moorings, electromagnetic sensors on helicopters or aircraft, and lidar or radar altimeters on airplanes or satellites. Here we use a curve-fitting approach to evaluate the systematic differences between eight different observation systems in the Arctic Basin. The approach determines the large-scale spatial and temporal variability of the ice thickness as well as the mean differences between the observation systems using over 3000 estimates of the ice thickness. The thickness estimates are measured over spatial scales of approximately 50 km or time scales of 1 month and the primary time period analyzed is 2000-2013 when the modern mix of observations is available. Good agreement is found between five of the systems, within 0.15 m, while systematic differences of up to 0.5 m are found for three others compared to the five. The trend in annual mean ice thickness over the Arctic Basin is -0.58 ± 0.07 m decade-1 over the period 2000-2013, while the annual mean ice thickness for the central Arctic Basin alone (the SCICEX Box) has decreased from 3.45 m in 1975 to 1.11 m in 2013, a 68% reduction. This is nearly double the 36% decline reported by an earlier study. These results provide additional direct observational confirmation of substantial sea ice losses found in model analyses.

Differential effects of non-informative vision and visual interference on haptic spatial processing

PubMed Central

van Rheede, Joram J.; Postma, Albert; Kappers, Astrid M. L.

2008-01-01

The primary purpose of this study was to examine the effects of non-informative vision and visual interference upon haptic spatial processing, which supposedly derives from an interaction between an allocentric and egocentric reference frame. To this end, a haptic parallelity task served as baseline to determine the participant-dependent biasing influence of the egocentric reference frame. As expected, large systematic participant-dependent deviations from veridicality were observed. In the second experiment we probed the effect of non-informative vision on the egocentric bias. Moreover, orienting mechanisms (gazing directions) were studied with respect to the presentation of haptic information in a specific hemispace. Non-informative vision proved to have a beneficial effect on haptic spatial processing. No effect of gazing direction or hemispace was observed. In the third experiment we investigated the effect of simultaneously presented interfering visual information on the haptic bias. Interfering visual information parametrically influenced haptic performance. The interplay of reference frames that subserves haptic spatial processing was found to be related to both the effects of non-informative vision and visual interference. These results suggest that spatial representations are influenced by direct cross-modal interactions; inter-participant differences in the haptic modality resulted in differential effects of the visual modality. PMID:18553074

Asymmetries of solar oscillation line profiles

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Duvall, T. L., Jr.; Jefferies, S. M.; Harvey, J. W.; Osaki, Y.; Pomerantz, M. A.

1993-01-01

Asymmetries of the power spectral line profiles of solar global p-modes are detected in full-disk intensity observations of the Ca II K Fraunhofer line. The asymmetry is a strong function of temporal frequency being strongest at the lowest frequencies observed and vanishing near the peak of the power distribution. The variation with spherical harmonic degree is small. The asymmetry is interpreted in terms of a model in which the solar oscillation cavity is compared to a Fabry-Perot interferometer with the source slightly outside the cavity. A phase difference between an outward direct wave and a corresponding inward wave that passes through the cavity gives rise to the asymmetry. The asymmetry is different in velocity and intensity observations. Neglecting the asymmetry when modeling the power spectrum can lead to systematic errors in the measurement of mode frequencies of as much as 10 exp -4 of the mode frequency. The present observations and interpretation locate the source of the oscillations to be approximately 60 km beneath the photosphere, the shallowest position suggested to date.

Dual-mode E region plasma wave observations from Millstone Hill

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

del Pozo, C. F.; Foster, J. C.; St.-Maurice, J.-P.

1993-04-01

Observations and analysis of the unstable auroral E region during local afternoon to early morning hours, and modified two-stream waves as well as two kinds of waves associated with the turbulence created by such waves are identified. One of these types exhibits properties similar to those of type II waves reported in the literature, whereas the second type has a broader spectrum, is detected in all directions, and appears to be new. The onset of turbulence corresponds to an electric field threshold of the order of 20 m/Vm. The presence of an azimuthal asymmetry in both the threshold field and the observed phase velocities with systematically greater values is detected; they are attributed to the presence of a 50-m/s E-W neutral wind at E region heights. The maximum observed volume reflectivity for type I wave ranges exceeded 10 exp -11, and that of the secondaries was of the order of 20 dB smaller.

Systematic Observation of Early Adolescents in Educational Settings: The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Gregory, Anne; Mikami, Amori Yee

2015-01-01

The growing use of systematic, empirically tested observational frameworks in school-based research is crucial for increasing the replicability and generalizability of findings across settings. That said, observations are often mistakenly assumed to be the "gold standard" assessment, without more nuanced discussions about the best uses…

SYSTEMATIC CENTER-TO-LIMB VARIATION IN MEASURED HELIOSEISMIC TRAVEL TIMES AND ITS EFFECT ON INFERENCES OF SOLAR INTERIOR MERIDIONAL FLOWS

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

Zhao Junwei; Nagashima, Kaori; Bogart, R. S.

We report on a systematic center-to-limb variation in measured helioseismic travel times, which must be taken into account for an accurate determination of solar interior meridional flows. The systematic variation, found in time-distance helioseismology analysis using SDO/HMI and SDO/AIA observations, is different in both travel-time magnitude and variation trend for different observables. It is not clear what causes this systematic effect. Subtracting the longitude-dependent east-west travel times, obtained along the equatorial area, from the latitude-dependent north-south travel times, obtained along the central meridian area, gives remarkably similar results for different observables. We suggest this as an effective procedure for removingmore » the systematic center-to-limb variation. The subsurface meridional flows obtained from inversion of the corrected travel times are approximately 10 m s{sup -1} slower than those obtained without removing the systematic effect. The detected center-to-limb variation may have important implications in the derivation of meridional flows in the deep interior and needs to be better understood.« less

Systematic Center-To-Limb Variation in Measured Helioseismic Travel Times and Its Effect on Inferences of Solar Interior Meridional Flows

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Zhao, Junwei; Nagashima, Kaori; Bogart, R. S.; Kosovichev, Alexander; Duvall, T. L., Jr.

2012-01-01

We report on a systematic center-to-limb variation in measured helioseismic travel times, which must be taken into account for an accurate determination of solar interior meridional flows. The systematic variation, found in time-distance helioseismology analysis using SDO/HMI and SDO/AIA observations, is different in both travel-time magnitude and variation trend for different observables. It is not clear what causes this systematic effect. Subtracting the longitude-dependent east-west travel times, obtained along the equatorial area, from the latitude-dependent north-south travel times, obtained along the central meridian area, gives remarkably similar results for different observables. We suggest this as an effective procedure for removing the systematic center-to-limb variation. The subsurface meridional flows obtained from inversion of the corrected travel times are approximately 10 m s-1 slower than those obtained without removing the systematic effect. The detected center-to-limb variation may have important implications in the derivation of meridional flows in the deep interior and needs to be better understood.

49 CFR Appendix B to Part 222 - Alternative Safety Measures

Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

2014-10-01

... statistically valid baseline violation rate must be established through automated or systematic manual... enforcement, a program of public education and awareness directed at motor vehicle drivers, pedestrians and..., a statistically valid baseline violation rate must be established through automated or systematic...

49 CFR Appendix B to Part 222 - Alternative Safety Measures

Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

2013-10-01

... statistically valid baseline violation rate must be established through automated or systematic manual... enforcement, a program of public education and awareness directed at motor vehicle drivers, pedestrians and..., a statistically valid baseline violation rate must be established through automated or systematic...

Directionality of recent bird distribution shifts and climate change in Great Britain.

PubMed

Gillings, Simon; Balmer, Dawn E; Fuller, Robert J

2015-06-01

There is good evidence that species' distributions are shifting poleward in response to climate change and wide interest in the magnitude of such responses for scientific and conservation purposes. It has been suggested from the directions of climatic changes that species' distribution shifts may not be simply poleward, but this has been rarely tested with observed data. Here, we apply a novel approach to measuring range shifts on axes ranging through 360°, to recent data on the distributions of 122 species of British breeding birds during 1988-1991 and 2008-2011. Although previously documented poleward range shifts have continued, with an average 13.5 km shift northward, our analysis indicates this is an underestimate because it ignores common and larger shifts that occurred along axes oriented to the north-west and north-east. Trailing edges contracted from a broad range of southerly directions. Importantly, these results are derived from systematically collected data so confounding observer-effort biases can be discounted. Analyses of climate for the same period show that whilst temperature trends should drive species along a north-north-westerly trajectory, directional responses to precipitation will depend on both the time of year that is important for determining a species' distribution, and the location of the range margin. Directions of species' range centroid shift were not correlated with spatial trends in any single climate variable. We conclude that range shifts of British birds are multidirectional, individualistic and probably determined by species-specific interactions of multiple climate factors. Climate change is predicted to lead to changes in community composition through variation in the rates that species' ranges shift; our results suggest communities could change further owing to constituent species shifting along different trajectories. We recommend more studies consider directionality in climate and range dynamics to produce more appropriate measures of observed and expected responses to climate change. © 2014 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Napping, development and health from 0 to 5 years: a systematic review.

PubMed

Thorpe, Karen; Staton, Sally; Sawyer, Emily; Pattinson, Cassandra; Haden, Catherine; Smith, Simon

2015-07-01

Duration and quality of sleep affect child development and health. Encouragement of napping in preschool children has been suggested as a health-promoting strategy. The aim of this study is to assess evidence regarding the effects of napping on measures of child development and health. This study is a systematic review of published, original research articles of any design. Children aged 0-5 years. Electronic database search was performed following Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses guidelines and assessment of research quality was carried out following a Grading of Recommendations, Assessment, Development and Evaluations (GRADE) protocol. Twenty-six articles met inclusion criteria. These were of heterogeneous quality; all had observational designs (GRADE-low). Development and health outcomes included salivary cortisol, night sleep, cognition, behaviour, obesity and accidents. The findings regarding cognition, behaviour and health impacts were inconsistent, probably because of variation in age and habitual napping status of the samples. The most consistent finding was an association between napping and later onset, shorter duration and poorer quality of night sleep, with evidence strongest beyond the age of 2 years. Studies were not randomised. Most did not obtain data on the children's habitual napping status or the context of napping. Many were reliant on parent report rather than direct observation or physiological measurement of sleep behaviour. The evidence indicates that beyond the age of 2 years napping is associated with later night sleep onset and both reduced sleep quality and duration. The evidence regarding behaviour, health and cognition is less certain. There is a need for more systematic studies that use stronger designs. In preschool children presenting with sleep problems clinicians should investigate napping patterns. Published by the BMJ Publishing Group Limited. For permission to use (where not already granted under a licence) please go to http://group.bmj.com/group/rights-licensing/permissions.

The effects of asking a fertility intention question in primary care settings: a systematic review protocol.

PubMed

Henning, Paul A; Burgess, Carolyne K; Jones, Heidi E; Norman, Wendy V

2017-01-19

Planning for pregnancy has been associated with reduced unwanted pregnancies and improved pregnancy outcomes. Despite the benefits of planned pregnancy, there are no guideline recommendations on routine counseling regarding pregnancy intention in primary care settings. The objective of the systematic review is to determine the effectiveness of incorporating questions of pregnancy intention into primary care. A systematic search of the literature will be conducted for any studies comparing questions of pregnancy intention in primary care settings with no intervention or a control intervention. Types of studies will include randomized controlled trials, non-randomized trials, and observation studies. Participants will include patients of reproductive age presenting to primary health care settings. Interventions will include any assessment of fertility intention and follow-up care compared with a control group or no intervention. Outcomes will include quantitative data with rates for contraceptive uptake, and any pregnancy related outcome. Databases (Ovid MEDLINE; Pubmed; CINAHL; EMBASE; CDR/DARE databases; Web of Science; ISRCTN registry; Clinicaltrials.gov; Cochrane Library) will be searched from the year 2000 to current. Screening of identified articles and data extraction will be conducted in duplicate by two independent reviewers. Methodological quality will be assessed using the Jadad scale. Methodological quality of observational and non-randomized trials will be assessed using the Newcastle-Ottawa scale. Discrepancies will be resolved by consensus or by consulting a third author. Meta-analyses will be performed if appropriate. Determining the effect of including questions of pregnancy intention into primary care can provide evidence for the development of clinical practice guidelines and inform primary care providers if this simple and low-cost intervention should be routinely employed. This review will also identify any gaps in the current literature on this topic and provide direction for future research in this area of study. Systematic Review Registration: PROSPERO CRD42015019726.

Knowledge, attitudes and practices on adolescent vaccination among parents, teachers and adolescents in Africa: a systematic review protocol

PubMed Central

2014-01-01

Background Vaccines are the most successful and cost-effective public health interventions available to avert vaccine-preventable diseases and deaths. Despite progress in the field of adolescent health, many young people in Africa still get sick and die from vaccine-preventable diseases due to lack of vaccination. Parents, adolescents and teachers are key players with regard to implementation of adolescent vaccination policies. Therefore, understanding their knowledge, attitudes and practices towards adolescent vaccination may provide clues on what can be done to improve vaccine uptake among adolescents. The aim of this study is to conduct a qualitative and quantitative systematic review on knowledge, attitudes and practices on adolescent vaccination among parents, teachers and adolescents in Africa. Methods We will include both quantitative and qualitative primary studies. Eligible quantitative studies include both intervention and observational studies. Qualitative studies to be included are focus group discussions, direct observations, in-depth interviews and case ethnographic studies. We will search PubMed, Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials, Scopus, Web of Science, WHOLIS, Africa Wide and CINAHL for eligible studies with no time and language limits. We will also check reference lists of included studies for other eligible reports. Two authors will independently screen the search output, select studies and extract data, resolving discrepancies by consensus and discussion. We will analyse qualitative data using thematic analysis where applicable, and quantitative studies findings will be presented in a narrative synthesis form based on the outcomes. Discussion The findings from this systematic review will guide the identification of gaps on knowledge, attitudes and practices among the key role players on adolescent vaccination. We anticipate that our findings will guide the development of adolescent-focused vaccination policy in Africa, which is virtually non-existent at present. Systematic review registration This review is registered with PROSPERO, registration number CRD42014010395. PMID:25200458

Systematic Effects on Duration Measurements of Gamma-Ray Bursts

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Koshut, Thomas M.; Paciesas, William S.; Kouveliotou, Chryssa; vanParadijs, Jan; Pendleton, Geoffrey N.; Fishman, Gerald J.; Meegan, Charles A.

1996-01-01

The parameters T(sub 90) and T(sub 50) have recently been introduced as a measurement of the duration of gamma-ray bursts. We present here a description of the method of measuring T(sub 90) and T(sub 50) and its application to gamma-ray bursts observed with the Burst and Transient Source Experiment (BATSE) onboard the Compton Gamma-Ray Observatory (CGRO). We use simulated as well as observed time profiles to address some of the possible systematic effects affecting individual T(sub 90) (T(sub 50)) measurements. We show that these systematic effects do not mimic those effects that would result from time dilation if the burst sources are at distances of several Gpc. We discuss the impact of these systematic effects on the T(sub 90) (T(sub 50)) distributions for the gamma-ray bursts observed with BATSE. We distinguish between various types of T(sub 90) (T(sub 50)) distributions, and discuss the ways in which distributions observed with different experiments can vary, even though the measurements for commonly observed bursts may be the same. We then discuss the distributions observed with BATSE and compare them to those observed with other experiments.

Iodised salt and iodine supplements for prenatal and postnatal growth: a rapid scoping of existing systematic reviews.

PubMed

Farebrother, Jessica; Naude, Celeste E; Nicol, Liesl; Andersson, Maria; Zimmermann, Michael B

2015-09-02

Iodine deficiency can adversely affect child development including stunted growth. However, the effect of iodine supplementation or fortification on prenatal and postnatal growth in children (<18 years) is unclear. We identified the potential need for a systematic review to contribute to the evidence base in this area. To avoid duplication and inform the need for a new systematic review and its protocol, we undertook a rapid scoping review of existing systematic reviews investigating the effect of iodised salt and iodine supplements on growth and other iodine-related outcomes. We searched TRIP and Epistemokinos (latest search date 15 December 2014). All English language systematic reviews reporting on the effect of iodine supplementation or fortification in any form, dose or regimen on any iodine-related health outcomes (including but not limited to growth) were included. Eligible systematic reviews could include experimental or observational studies in pregnant or lactating women or children to age 18. We tabulated the extracted data to capture the scope of questions addressed, including: author, publication year, most recent search date, participants, pre-specified treatment/exposure and comparator, pre-specified outcomes, outcomes relevant to our question and number and type of studies included. Methodological quality of included reviews was assessed using AMSTAR. Nine hundred and seventy-six records were screened and 10 reviews included. Most studies were of moderate methodological quality. Outcomes included assessments of thyroid function, iodine deficiency disorders, mental development and growth. Populations studied included pregnant women, preterm infants and children into adulthood. Most reviews looked at direct iodine supplementation or fortification, though some reviews considered iodine status, including the relationship between iodine intake and iodine biomarkers. Although five reviews pre-specified inclusion of growth outcomes, none provided synthesised evidence on the effects of iodine supplementation or fortification on prenatal and postnatal somatic growth. Our rapid scoping review demonstrates a gap in the evidence base with no existing, up-to-date systematic reviews on the effects of all forms of iodine supplementation/fortification in all of the relevant population groups on relevant growth and growth-related outcomes. A new systematic review examining this question will assist in addressing this gap.

Systematic Satellite Observations of the Impact of Aerosols from Passive Volcanic Degassing on Local Cloud Properties

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Ebmeier, S. K.; Sayer, A. M.; Grainger, R. G.; Mather, T. A.; Carboni, E.

2014-01-01

The impact of volcanic emissions is a significant source of uncertainty in estimations of aerosol indirect radiative forcing, especially with respect to emissions from passive de-gassing and minor explosions. Understanding the impact of volcanic emissions on indirect radiative forcing is important assessing present day atmospheric properties and also to define the pre-industrial baseline to assess anthropogenic perturbations. We present observations of the time-averaged indirect aerosol effect within 200 km downwind of isolated island volcanoes in regions of low present-day aerosol burden using MODIS and AATSR data. Retrievals of aerosol and cloud properties at Kilauea (Hawaii), Yasur (Vanuatu) and Piton de la Fournaise (Reunion) are rotated about the volcanic vent according to wind direction, so that retrievals downwind of the volcano can be averaged to improve signal to noise ratio. The emissions from all three volcanoes, including those from passive degassing, strombolian activity and minor explosions lead to measurably increased aerosol optical depth downwind of the active vent. Average cloud droplet effective radius is lower downwind of the volcano in all cases, with the peak difference in effective radius ranging from 48 microns at the different volcanoes. A comparison of these observations with cloud properties at isolated islands with no significant source of aerosol suggests that these patterns are not purely orographic in origin. This approach sets out a first step for the systematic measurement of the effects of present day low altitude volcanic emissions on cloud properties, and our observations of unpolluted, isolated marine settings may capture processes similar to those in the preindustrial marine atmosphere.

Systematic Experimental Designs For Mixed-species Plantings

Treesearch

Jeffery C. Goelz

2001-01-01

Systematic experimental designs provide splendid demonstration areas for scientists and land managers to observe the effects of a gradient of species composition. Systematic designs are based on large plots where species composition varies gradually. Systematic designs save considerable space and require many fewer seedlings than conventional mixture designs. One basic...

Systematic review and network meta-analysis of the efficacy and safety of tumour necrosis factor inhibitor-methotrexate combination therapy versus triple therapy in rheumatoid arthritis.

PubMed

Fleischmann, Roy; Tongbram, Vanita; van Vollenhoven, Ronald; Tang, Derek H; Chung, James; Collier, David; Urs, Shilpa; Ndirangu, Kerigo; Wells, George; Pope, Janet

2017-01-01

Clinical trials have not consistently demonstrated differences between tumour necrosis factor inhibitor (TNFi) plus methotrexate and triple therapy (methotrexate plus hydroxychloroquine plus sulfasalazine) in rheumatoid arthritis (RA). The study objective was to estimate the efficacy, radiographic benefits, safety and patient-reported outcomes of TNFi-methotrexate versus triple therapy in patients with RA. A systematic review and network meta-analysis (NMA) of randomised controlled trials of TNFi-methotrexate or triple therapy as one of the treatment arms in patients with an inadequate response to or who were naive to methotrexate was conducted. American College of Rheumatology 70% response criteria (ACR70) at 6 months was the prespecified primary endpoint to evaluate depth of response. Data from direct and indirect comparisons between TNFi-methotrexate and triple therapy were pooled and quantitatively analysed using fixed-effects and random-effects Bayesian models. We analysed 33 studies in patients with inadequate response to methotrexate and 19 in patients naive to methotrexate. In inadequate responders, triple therapy was associated with lower odds of achieving ACR70 at 6 months compared with TNFi-methotrexate (OR 0.35, 95% credible interval (CrI) 0.19 to 0.64). Most secondary endpoints tended to favour TNFi-methotrexate in terms of OR direction; however, no clear increased likelihood of achieving these endpoints was observed for either therapy. The odds of infection were lower with triple therapy than with TNFi-methotrexate (OR 0.08, 95% CrI 0.00 to 0.57). There were no differences observed between the two regimens in patients naive to methotrexate. In this NMA, triple therapy was associated with 65% lower odds of achieving ACR70 at 6 months compared with TNFi-methotrexate in patients with inadequate response to methotrexate. Although secondary endpoints numerically favoured TNFi-methotrexate, no clear differences were observed. The odds of infection were greater with TNFi-methotrexate. No differences were observed for patients naive to methotrexate. These results may help inform care of patients who fail methotrexate first-line therapy.

Systematic review and network meta-analysis of the efficacy and safety of tumour necrosis factor inhibitor–methotrexate combination therapy versus triple therapy in rheumatoid arthritis

PubMed Central

Fleischmann, Roy; Tongbram, Vanita; van Vollenhoven, Ronald; Tang, Derek H; Chung, James; Collier, David; Urs, Shilpa; Ndirangu, Kerigo; Wells, George; Pope, Janet

2017-01-01

Objective Clinical trials have not consistently demonstrated differences between tumour necrosis factor inhibitor (TNFi) plus methotrexate and triple therapy (methotrexate plus hydroxychloroquine plus sulfasalazine) in rheumatoid arthritis (RA). The study objective was to estimate the efficacy, radiographic benefits, safety and patient-reported outcomes of TNFi–methotrexate versus triple therapy in patients with RA. Methods A systematic review and network meta-analysis (NMA) of randomised controlled trials of TNFi–methotrexate or triple therapy as one of the treatment arms in patients with an inadequate response to or who were naive to methotrexate was conducted. American College of Rheumatology 70% response criteria (ACR70) at 6 months was the prespecified primary endpoint to evaluate depth of response. Data from direct and indirect comparisons between TNFi–methotrexate and triple therapy were pooled and quantitatively analysed using fixed-effects and random-effects Bayesian models. Results We analysed 33 studies in patients with inadequate response to methotrexate and 19 in patients naive to methotrexate. In inadequate responders, triple therapy was associated with lower odds of achieving ACR70 at 6 months compared with TNFi–methotrexate (OR 0.35, 95% credible interval (CrI) 0.19 to 0.64). Most secondary endpoints tended to favour TNFi–methotrexate in terms of OR direction; however, no clear increased likelihood of achieving these endpoints was observed for either therapy. The odds of infection were lower with triple therapy than with TNFi−methotrexate (OR 0.08, 95% CrI 0.00 to 0.57). There were no differences observed between the two regimens in patients naive to methotrexate. Conclusions In this NMA, triple therapy was associated with 65% lower odds of achieving ACR70 at 6 months compared with TNFi–methotrexate in patients with inadequate response to methotrexate. Although secondary endpoints numerically favoured TNFi–methotrexate, no clear differences were observed. The odds of infection were greater with TNFi–methotrexate. No differences were observed for patients naive to methotrexate. These results may help inform care of patients who fail methotrexate first-line therapy. PMID:28123782

Work-related stress and Type 2 diabetes: systematic review and meta-analysis.

PubMed

Cosgrove, M P; Sargeant, L A; Caleyachetty, R; Griffin, S J

2012-04-01

Work-related psychosocial stress has been hypothesized to increase the individual risk of Type 2 diabetes; however, observational epidemiological studies investigating the association between work-related psychosocial stress and Type 2 diabetes have provided an inconsistent picture. To evaluate whether work-related psychosocial stress (defined by a work-related stress model or by long work hours) is associated with the risk of Type 2 diabetes. A systematic review of the literature was conducted until March 2010. Studies eligible for inclusion were published observational epidemiological studies of adult participants in community or occupational settings if they had a measure of work-related stress on a validated scale or a measure of work hours or overtime assessed prior to, or at the same time as, assessment of Type 2 diabetes status. Where possible, meta-analysis was conducted to obtain summary odds ratios of the association. We located nine studies (four prospective, one case-control and four cross-sectional). The meta-analyses did not show any statistically significant associations between any individual aspect of work-related psychosocial stress or job strain and risk of Type 2 diabetes. The specific hypothesis that a working environment characterized by high psychosocial stress is directly associated with increased risk of Type 2 diabetes could not be supported from the meta-analysis.

A Systematic Search for Solar Wind Charge Exchange Emission from the Earth's Exosphere with Suzaku

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ishi, D.; Ishikawa, K.; Ezoe, Y.; Ohashi, T.; Miyoshi, Y.; Terada, N.

2017-10-01

We report on a systematic search of all the Suzaku archival data covering from 2005 August to 2015 May for geocoronal Solar Wind Charge eXchange (SWCX). In the vicinity of Earth, solar wind ions strip an electron from Earth's exospheric neutrals, emitting X-ray photons (e.g., Snowden et al. 1997). The X-ray flux of this geocoronal SWCX can change depending on solar wind condition and line of sight direction. Although it is an immediate background for all the X-ray astronomy observations, the X-ray flux prediction and the dependence on the observational conditions are not clear. Using the X-ray Imaging Spectrometer onboard Suzaku which has one of the highest sensitivities to the geocoronal SWCX, we searched the data for time variation of soft X-ray background. We then checked the solar wind proton flux taken with the WIND satellite and compared it with X-ray light curve. We also analyzed X-ray spectra and fitted them with a charge exchange emission line model constructed by Bodewits et al. (2007). Among 3055 data sets, 90 data showed SWCX features. The event rate seems to correlate with solar activity, while the distribution of SWCX events plotted in the solar magnetic coordinate system was relatively uniform.

Carbohydrate malabsorption in acutely malnourished children and infants: a systematic review

PubMed Central

Kvissberg, Matilda A.; Dalvi, Prasad S.; Kerac, Marko; Voskuijl, Wieger; Berkley, James A.; Priebe, Marion G.

2016-01-01

Context: Severe acute malnutrition (SAM) accounts for approximately 1 million child deaths per year. High mortality is linked with comorbidities, such as diarrhea and pneumonia. Objective: The aim of this systematic review was to determine the extent to which carbohydrate malabsorption occurs in children with SAM. Data Sources: The PubMed and Embase databases were searched. Reference lists of selected articles were checked. Data Extraction: All observational and controlled intervention studies involving children with SAM in which direct or indirect measures of carbohydrate absorption were analyzed were eligible for inclusion. A total of 20 articles were selected for this review. Data Synthesis: Most studies reported carbohydrate malabsorption, particularly lactose malabsorption, and suggested an increase in diarrhea and reduced weight gain in children on a lactose-containing diet. As most studies reviewed were observational, there was no conclusive scientific evidence of a causal relationship between lactose malabsorption and a worse clinical outcome among malnourished children. Conclusion: The combined data indicate that carbohydrate malabsorption is prevalent in children with SAM. Additional well-designed intervention studies are needed to determine whether outcomes of SAM complicated by carbohydrate malabsorption could be improved by altering the carbohydrate/lactose content of therapeutic feeds and to elucidate the precise mechanisms involved. PMID:26578625

Comparative audit of clinical research in pediatric neurology.

PubMed

Al-Futaisi, Amna; Shevell, Michael

2004-11-01

Clinical research involves direct observation or data collection on human subjects. This study was conducted to evaluate the profile of pediatric neurology clinical research over a decade. Trends in pediatric neurology clinical research were documented through a systematic comparative review of articles published in selected journals. Eleven journals (five pediatric neurology, three general neurology, three general pediatrics) were systematically reviewed for articles involving a majority of human subjects less than 18 years of age for the years 1990 and 2000. Three hundred thirty-five clinical research articles in pediatric neurology were identified in the 11 journals for 1990 and 398 for 2000, a 19% increase. A statistically significant increase in analytic design (21.8% vs 39.5%; P = .01), statistical support (6% vs 16.6%; P < .0001), and multidisciplinary team (69.9% vs 87%; P = .003) was observed. In terms of specific study design, a significant decline in case reports (34.3% vs 10.3%; P < .0001) and an increase in case-control studies (11.3% vs 22.9%; P = .02) were evident over the 10-year interval. This comparative audit revealed that there has been a discernible change in the methodology profile of clinical research in child neurology over a decade. Trends apparently suggest a more rigorous approach to study design and investigation in this field.

Nanoscale Roughness and Morphology Affect the IsoElectric Point of Titania Surfaces

PubMed Central

Borghi, Francesca; Vyas, Varun; Podestà, Alessandro; Milani, Paolo

2013-01-01

We report on the systematic investigation of the role of surface nanoscale roughness and morphology on the charging behaviour of nanostructured titania (TiO2) surfaces in aqueous solutions. IsoElectric Points (IEPs) of surfaces have been characterized by direct measurement of the electrostatic double layer interactions between titania surfaces and the micrometer-sized spherical silica probe of an atomic force microscope in NaCl aqueous electrolyte. The use of a colloidal probe provides well-defined interaction geometry and allows effectively probing the overall effect of nanoscale morphology. By using supersonic cluster beam deposition to fabricate nanostructured titania films, we achieved a quantitative control over the surface morphological parameters. We performed a systematical exploration of the electrical double layer properties in different interaction regimes characterized by different ratios of characteristic nanometric lengths of the system: the surface rms roughness Rq, the correlation length ξ and the Debye length λD. We observed a remarkable reduction by several pH units of IEP on rough nanostructured surfaces, with respect to flat crystalline rutile TiO2. In order to explain the observed behavior of IEP, we consider the roughness-induced self-overlap of the electrical double layers as a potential source of deviation from the trend expected for flat surfaces. PMID:23874708

Development of a quality assessment tool for systematic reviews of observational studies (QATSO) of HIV prevalence in men having sex with men and associated risk behaviours

PubMed Central

Wong, William CW; Cheung, Catherine SK; Hart, Graham J

2008-01-01

Background Systematic reviews based on the critical appraisal of observational and analytic studies on HIV prevalence and risk factors for HIV transmission among men having sex with men are very useful for health care decisions and planning. Such appraisal is particularly difficult, however, as the quality assessment tools available for use with observational and analytic studies are poorly established. Methods We reviewed the existing quality assessment tools for systematic reviews of observational studies and developed a concise quality assessment checklist to help standardise decisions regarding the quality of studies, with careful consideration of issues such as external and internal validity. Results A pilot version of the checklist was developed based on epidemiological principles, reviews of study designs, and existing checklists for the assessment of observational studies. The Quality Assessment Tool for Systematic Reviews of Observational Studies (QATSO) Score consists of five items: External validity (1 item), reporting (2 items), bias (1 item) and confounding factors (1 item). Expert opinions were sought and it was tested on manuscripts that fulfil the inclusion criteria of a systematic review. Like all assessment scales, QATSO may oversimplify and generalise information yet it is inclusive, simple and practical to use, and allows comparability between papers. Conclusion A specific tool that allows researchers to appraise and guide study quality of observational studies is developed and can be modified for similar studies in the future. PMID:19014686

Infliximab reduces hospitalizations and surgery interventions in patients with inflammatory bowel disease: a systematic review and meta-analysis.

PubMed

Costa, João; Magro, Fernando; Caldeira, Daniel; Alarcão, Joana; Sousa, Rita; Vaz-Carneiro, António

2013-09-01

We systematically reviewed infliximab benefit in reducing hospitalizations and/or major surgery rates in patients with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). A literature search to May 2012 was performed to identify all studies (experimental and observational) evaluating patients with IBD treated with infliximab and providing data on hospitalizations and/or major surgery rates. Three reviewers independently performed studies' selection, quality assessment, and data extraction. Analyses were carried according to study design (randomized clinical trials [RCTs] and observational studies) and IBD type (Crohn's disease [CD] and ulcerative colitis [UC]). Random-effects meta-analysis was used to derive pooled and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) estimates of odds ratios (OR). Heterogeneity was assessed with I test. Twenty-seven eligible studies were included (9 RCTs and 18 observational studies). Infliximab reduced hospitalization risk, both in pooled RCTs (OR, 0.51; 95% CI 0.40-0.65; I = 0%) and results of observational studies (OR, 0.29, 95% CI, 0.19-0.43; I = 87%), without differences between CD and UC. Infliximab reduced surgery risk in pooled RCTs results, both in CD (OR, 0.31; 95% CI, 0.15-0.64; I = 0%) and UC (OR, 0.57; 95% CI, 0.37-0.88; I = 0%). Pooled estimate from observational studies favored infliximab for patients with CD (OR, 0.32; 95% CI, 0.21-0.49; I = 77%), but not for patients with UC. The best evidence available points toward a reduction of the risk of hospitalization and major surgery requirement in patients with IBD treated with infliximab. This impact is clinically and economically relevant because hospitalization and surgery are considered to be markers of disease severity and significantly contribute to the total direct costs associated with IBD.

Psychometric Analysis of the Systematic Observation of Red Flags for Autism Spectrum Disorder in Toddlers

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Dow, Deanna; Guthrie, Whitney; Stronach, Sheri T.; Wetherby, Amy M.

2017-01-01

The purpose of this study was to examine the utility of the Systematic Observation of Red Flags as an observational level-two screening measure to detect risk for autism spectrum disorder in toddlers when used with a video-recorded administration of the Communication and Symbolic Behavior Scales. Psychometric properties of the Systematic…

Observation of Pupils and Teachers in Mainstream and Special Education Settings: Alternative Strategies.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Weinberg, Richard A., Ed.; Wood, Frank H., Ed.

Presented are 12 papers which focus on four systematized methods of classroom observation. Stressed is the importance of formal, systematic observation as a tool for viewing and recording pupil behaviors and insuring that the individual child's needs are met in both the mainstream and special education settings. R. Brandt offers an historical…

Pulsed Direct Current Electrospray: Enabling Systematic Analysis of Small Volume Sample by Boosting Sample Economy.

PubMed

Wei, Zhenwei; Xiong, Xingchuang; Guo, Chengan; Si, Xingyu; Zhao, Yaoyao; He, Muyi; Yang, Chengdui; Xu, Wei; Tang, Fei; Fang, Xiang; Zhang, Sichun; Zhang, Xinrong

2015-11-17

We had developed pulsed direct current electrospray ionization mass spectrometry (pulsed-dc-ESI-MS) for systematically profiling and determining components in small volume sample. Pulsed-dc-ESI utilized constant high voltage to induce the generation of single polarity pulsed electrospray remotely. This method had significantly boosted the sample economy, so as to obtain several minutes MS signal duration from merely picoliter volume sample. The elongated MS signal duration enable us to collect abundant MS(2) information on interested components in a small volume sample for systematical analysis. This method had been successfully applied for single cell metabolomics analysis. We had obtained 2-D profile of metabolites (including exact mass and MS(2) data) from single plant and mammalian cell, concerning 1034 components and 656 components for Allium cepa and HeLa cells, respectively. Further identification had found 162 compounds and 28 different modification groups of 141 saccharides in a single Allium cepa cell, indicating pulsed-dc-ESI a powerful tool for small volume sample systematical analysis.

Measuring Verbal Psychotherapeutic Techniques—A Systematic Review of Intervention Characteristics and Measures

PubMed Central

Gumz, Antje; Treese, Barbara; Marx, Christopher; Strauss, Bernhard; Wendt, Hanna

2015-01-01

Language is one of the most important “tools” of psychotherapists. The working mechanisms of verbal therapeutic techniques, however, are still marginally understood. In part, this is due to the lack of a generally acknowledged typology as well as a gold standard for the assessment of verbal techniques, which limits the possibility of conducting studies focusing this topic. The present study reviews measures used in clinical research which assess directly observable dimensions of verbal interventions in a reliable manner. All measures were evaluated with respect to their theoretical foundation, research goals, assessment modes, and various psychometric properties. A systematic search in databases (PubMed, PsycInfo, PsycArticles, PSYNDEX, Web of Science, Embase) followed by an additional “snowballing” search covering the years 1940–2013 yielded n = 179 publications eligible for review. Within these publications, 34 measures were identified showing great heterogeneity regarding the aspects under study. Only two measures reached the highest psychometric standards and can be recommended for clinical use without any reservation. Central problems include deficiencies in the systematization of techniques as well as their partly ambiguous and inconsistent definitions. To promote this field of research, it will be important to achieve a consensus concerning the terminology, conceptions and measures of verbal interventions. PMID:26617543

Strategies for reducing treatment default in drug-resistant tuberculosis: systematic review and meta-analysis.

PubMed

Toczek, A; Cox, H; du Cros, P; Cooke, G; Ford, N

2013-03-01

Scaling up treatment for multidrug-resistant tuberculosis is a global health priority. However, current treatment regimens are long and associated with side effects, and default rates are consequently high. This systematic review aimed to identify strategies for reducing treatment default. We conducted a systematic search up to May 2012 to identify studies describing interventions to support patients receiving treatment for multidrug-resistant tuberculosis (MDR-TB). The potential influence of study interventions were explored through subgroup analyses. A total of 75 studies provided outcomes for 18,294 patients across 31 countries. Default rates ranged from 0.5% to 56%, with a pooled proportion of 14.8% (95%CI 12.4-17.4). Strategies identified to be associated with lower default rates included the engagement of community health workers as directly observed treatment (DOT) providers, the provision of DOT throughout treatment, smaller cohort sizes and the provision of patient education. Current interventions to support adherence and retention are poorly described and based on weak evidence. This review was able to identify a number of promising, inexpensive interventions feasible for implementation and scale-up in MDR-TB programmes. The high default rates reported from many programmes underscore the pressing need to further refine and evaluate simple intervention packages to support patients.

The association between obesity and academic performance in youth: a systematic review.

PubMed

Santana, C C A; Hill, J O; Azevedo, L B; Gunnarsdottir, T; Prado, W L

2017-10-01

Previous studies have found that obesity could influence academic performance. The aim of this study was to systematically review the scientific evidence on the association between obesity and academic performance in school children. A systematic review of English articles was undertaken by using databases PubMed/Medline, ERIC, LILACS, SciELO and Web of Science. Cross-sectional and longitudinal studies examining the association between obesity and academic performance in children and adolescents, published between January 1990 and December 2016, were included. Risk of bias was assessed by using Strengthening the Reporting of Observational Studies in Epidemiology. Thirty-four studies (23 cross-sectional and 11 longitudinal) matched all inclusion criteria and were included. Seven studies were classified as low risk of bias, 23 as medium risk and four as high risk. After controlling for covariates such as socio-economic status, parental education and physical activity, the association between obesity and academic performance becomes uncertain for most of the studies (55.9%). Therefore, at present, there is insufficient evidence to support a direct link between obesity and poor academic performance in school age children. In order to clarify this issue, we need more longitudinal studies with adequate sample sizes and that control for potential confounders. © 2017 World Obesity Federation.

BeiDou Geostationary Satellite Code Bias Modeling Using Fengyun-3C Onboard Measurements.

PubMed

Jiang, Kecai; Li, Min; Zhao, Qile; Li, Wenwen; Guo, Xiang

2017-10-27

This study validated and investigated elevation- and frequency-dependent systematic biases observed in ground-based code measurements of the Chinese BeiDou navigation satellite system, using the onboard BeiDou code measurement data from the Chinese meteorological satellite Fengyun-3C. Particularly for geostationary earth orbit satellites, sky-view coverage can be achieved over the entire elevation and azimuth angle ranges with the available onboard tracking data, which is more favorable to modeling code biases. Apart from the BeiDou-satellite-induced biases, the onboard BeiDou code multipath effects also indicate pronounced near-field systematic biases that depend only on signal frequency and the line-of-sight directions. To correct these biases, we developed a proposed code correction model by estimating the BeiDou-satellite-induced biases as linear piece-wise functions in different satellite groups and the near-field systematic biases in a grid approach. To validate the code bias model, we carried out orbit determination using single-frequency BeiDou data with and without code bias corrections applied. Orbit precision statistics indicate that those code biases can seriously degrade single-frequency orbit determination. After the correction model was applied, the orbit position errors, 3D root mean square, were reduced from 150.6 to 56.3 cm.

BeiDou Geostationary Satellite Code Bias Modeling Using Fengyun-3C Onboard Measurements

PubMed Central

Jiang, Kecai; Li, Min; Zhao, Qile; Li, Wenwen; Guo, Xiang

2017-01-01

This study validated and investigated elevation- and frequency-dependent systematic biases observed in ground-based code measurements of the Chinese BeiDou navigation satellite system, using the onboard BeiDou code measurement data from the Chinese meteorological satellite Fengyun-3C. Particularly for geostationary earth orbit satellites, sky-view coverage can be achieved over the entire elevation and azimuth angle ranges with the available onboard tracking data, which is more favorable to modeling code biases. Apart from the BeiDou-satellite-induced biases, the onboard BeiDou code multipath effects also indicate pronounced near-field systematic biases that depend only on signal frequency and the line-of-sight directions. To correct these biases, we developed a proposed code correction model by estimating the BeiDou-satellite-induced biases as linear piece-wise functions in different satellite groups and the near-field systematic biases in a grid approach. To validate the code bias model, we carried out orbit determination using single-frequency BeiDou data with and without code bias corrections applied. Orbit precision statistics indicate that those code biases can seriously degrade single-frequency orbit determination. After the correction model was applied, the orbit position errors, 3D root mean square, were reduced from 150.6 to 56.3 cm. PMID:29076998

Triplet energy differences and the low lying structure of 62Ga

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Henry, T. W.; Bentley, M. A.; Clark, R. M.; Davies, P. J.; Bader, V. M.; Baugher, T.; Bazin, D.; Beausang, C. W.; Berryman, J. S.; Bruce, A. M.; Campbell, C. M.; Crawford, H. L.; Cromaz, M.; Fallon, P.; Gade, A.; Henderson, J.; Iwasaki, H.; Jenkins, D. G.; Lee, I. Y.; Lemasson, A.; Lenzi, S. M.; Macchiavelli, A. O.; Napoli, D. R.; Nichols, A. J.; Paschalis, S.; Petri, M.; Recchia, F.; Rissanen, J.; Simpson, E. C.; Stroberg, S. R.; Wadsworth, R.; Weisshaar, D.; Wiens, A.; Walz, C.

2015-08-01

Background: Triplet energy differences (TED) can be studied to yield information on isospin-non-conserving interactions in nuclei. Purpose: The systematic behavior of triplet energy differences (TED) of T =1 , Jπ=2+ states is examined. The A =62 isobar is identified as having a TED value that deviates significantly from an otherwise very consistent trend. This deviation can be attributed to the tentative assignments of the pertinent states in 62Ga and 62Ge . Methods: An in-beam γ -ray spectroscopy experiment was performed to identify excited states in 62Ga using Gamma-Ray Energy Tracking In-Beam Nuclear Array with the S800 spectrometer at NSCL using a two-nucleon knockout approach. Cross-section calculations for the knockout process and shell-model calculations have been performed to interpret the population and decay properties observed. Results: Using the systematics as a guide, a candidate for the transition from the T =1 , 2+ state is identified. However, previous work has identified similar states with different Jπ assignments. Cross-section calculations indicate that the relevant T =1 , 2+ state should be one of the states directly populated in this reaction. Conclusions: As spins and parities were not measurable, it is concluded that an unambiguous identification of the first T =1 , 2+ state is required to reconcile our understanding of TED systematics.

Resolving the Aerosol Piece of the Global Climate Picture

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kahn, R. A.

2017-12-01

Factors affecting our ability to calculate climate forcing and estimate model predictive skill include direct radiative effects of aerosols and their indirect effects on clouds. Several decades of Earth-observing satellite observations have produced a global aerosol column-amount (AOD) record, but an aerosol microphysical property record required for climate and many air quality applications is lacking. Surface-based photometers offer qualitative aerosol-type classification, and several space-based instruments map aerosol air-mass types under favorable conditions. However, aerosol hygroscopicity, mass extinction efficiency (MEE), and quantitative light absorption, must be obtained from in situ measurements. Completing the aerosol piece of the climate picture requires three elements: (1) continuing global AOD and qualitative type mapping from space-based, multi-angle imagers and aerosol vertical distribution from near-source stereo imaging and downwind lidar, (2) systematic, quantitative in situ observations of particle properties unobtainable from space, and (3) continuing transport modeling to connect observations to sources, and extrapolate limited sampling in space and time. At present, the biggest challenges to producing the needed aerosol data record are: filling gaps in particle property observations, maintaining global observing capabilities, and putting the pieces together. Obtaining the PDFs of key particle properties, adequately sampled, is now the leading observational deficiency. One simplifying factor is that, for a given aerosol source and season, aerosol amounts often vary, but particle properties tend to be repeatable. SAM-CAAM (Systematic Aircraft Measurements to Characterize Aerosol Air Masses), a modest aircraft payload deployed frequently could fill this gap, adding value to the entire satellite data record, improving aerosol property assumptions in retrieval algorithms, and providing MEEs to translate between remote-sensing optical constraints and aerosol mass book-kept in climate models [Kahn et al., BAMS 2017]. This will also improve connections between remote-sensing particle types and those defined in models. The third challenge, maintaining global observing capabilities, requires continued community effort and good budgetary fortune.

CCD astrometric observations of Amalthea and Thebe in the Gaia era

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Robert, V.; Saquet, E.; Colas, F.; Arlot, J.-E.

2017-05-01

In the framework of the 2014-2015 campaign of mutual events, we observed Jupiter's inner satellites Amalthea (JV) and Thebe (JXIV). We focused on estimating whether the positioning accuracy determined from direct astrometry could compete with that derived from photometric observations of eclipses, for dynamical purposes. We present the analysis of 35 observations of Amalthea and 19 observations of Thebe realized with the 1-m telescope at the Pic du Midi observatory during three nights in 2015, January and April. The images were reduced through an optimal process that includes image and spherical corrections using the Gaia-DR1 catalogue to provide the most accurate equatorial (RA, Dec.) positions. We compared the observed positions of both satellites with the theoretical positions from JPL JUP310 satellite ephemerides and from the IMCCE INPOP13c planetary ephemeris. The values of rms (O-C) in equatorial positions are ±112 mas for the Amalthea observations, or 330 km at Jupiter, and ±90 mas for the Thebe observations, or 270 km at Jupiter. Using the Gaia-DR1 catalogue allowed us to eliminate systematic errors due to the star references up to 120 mas, or 350 km at Jupiter, by comparison with the UCAC4 catalogue.

Systematic trends in photonic reagent induced reactions in a homologous chemical family.

PubMed

Tibbetts, Katharine Moore; Xing, Xi; Rabitz, Herschel

2013-08-29

The growing use of ultrafast laser pulses to induce chemical reactions prompts consideration of these pulses as "photonic reagents" in analogy to chemical reagents. This work explores the prospect that photonic reagents may affect systematic trends in dissociative ionization reactions of a homologous family of halomethanes, much as systematic outcomes are often observed for reactions between homologous families of chemical reagents and chemical substrates. The experiments in this work with photonic reagents of varying pulse energy and linear spectral chirp reveal systematic correlations between observable ion yields and the following set of natural variables describing the substrate molecules: the ionization energy of the parent molecule, the appearance energy of each fragment ion, and the relative strength of carbon-halogen bonds in molecules containing two different halogens. The results suggest that reactions induced by photonic reagents exhibit systematic behavior analogous to that observed in reactions driven by chemical reagents, which provides a basis to consider empirical "rules" for predicting the outcomes of photonic reagent induced reactions.

Mapping and simulating systematics due to spatially-varying observing conditions in DES science verification data

DOE PAGES

Leistedt, B.; Peiris, H. V.; Elsner, F.; ...

2016-10-17

Spatially-varying depth and characteristics of observing conditions, such as seeing, airmass, or sky background, are major sources of systematic uncertainties in modern galaxy survey analyses, in particular in deep multi-epoch surveys. We present a framework to extract and project these sources of systematics onto the sky, and apply it to the Dark Energy Survey (DES) to map the observing conditions of the Science Verification (SV) data. The resulting distributions and maps of sources of systematics are used in several analyses of DES SV to perform detailed null tests with the data, and also to incorporate systematics in survey simulations. Wemore » illustrate the complementarity of these two approaches by comparing the SV data with the BCC-UFig, a synthetic sky catalogue generated by forward-modelling of the DES SV images. We then analyse the BCC-UFig simulation to construct galaxy samples mimicking those used in SV galaxy clustering studies. We show that the spatially-varying survey depth imprinted in the observed galaxy densities and the redshift distributions of the SV data are successfully reproduced by the simulation and well-captured by the maps of observing conditions. The combined use of the maps, the SV data and the BCC-UFig simulation allows us to quantify the impact of spatial systematics on N(z), the redshift distributions inferred using photometric redshifts. We conclude that spatial systematics in the SV data are mainly due to seeing fluctuations and are under control in current clustering and weak lensing analyses. However, they will need to be carefully characterised in upcoming phases of DES in order to avoid biasing the inferred cosmological results. The framework presented is relevant to all multi-epoch surveys, and will be essential for exploiting future surveys such as the Large Synoptic Survey Telescope, which will require detailed null-tests and realistic end-to-end image simulations to correctly interpret the deep, high-cadence observations of the sky.« less

MAPPING AND SIMULATING SYSTEMATICS DUE TO SPATIALLY VARYING OBSERVING CONDITIONS IN DES SCIENCE VERIFICATION DATA

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

Leistedt, B.; Peiris, H. V.; Elsner, F.

Spatially varying depth and the characteristics of observing conditions, such as seeing, airmass, or sky background, are major sources of systematic uncertainties in modern galaxy survey analyses, particularly in deep multi-epoch surveys. We present a framework to extract and project these sources of systematics onto the sky, and apply it to the Dark Energy Survey (DES) to map the observing conditions of the Science Verification (SV) data. The resulting distributions and maps of sources of systematics are used in several analyses of DES-SV to perform detailed null tests with the data, and also to incorporate systematics in survey simulations. Wemore » illustrate the complementary nature of these two approaches by comparing the SV data with BCC-UFig, a synthetic sky catalog generated by forward-modeling of the DES-SV images. We analyze the BCC-UFig simulation to construct galaxy samples mimicking those used in SV galaxy clustering studies. We show that the spatially varying survey depth imprinted in the observed galaxy densities and the redshift distributions of the SV data are successfully reproduced by the simulation and are well-captured by the maps of observing conditions. The combined use of the maps, the SV data, and the BCC-UFig simulation allows us to quantify the impact of spatial systematics on N(z), the redshift distributions inferred using photometric redshifts. We conclude that spatial systematics in the SV data are mainly due to seeing fluctuations and are under control in current clustering and weak-lensing analyses. However, they will need to be carefully characterized in upcoming phases of DES in order to avoid biasing the inferred cosmological results. The framework presented here is relevant to all multi-epoch surveys and will be essential for exploiting future surveys such as the Large Synoptic Survey Telescope, which will require detailed null tests and realistic end-to-end image simulations to correctly interpret the deep, high-cadence observations of the sky« less

Mapping and simulating systematics due to spatially-varying observing conditions in DES science verification data

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

Leistedt, B.; Peiris, H. V.; Elsner, F.

Spatially-varying depth and characteristics of observing conditions, such as seeing, airmass, or sky background, are major sources of systematic uncertainties in modern galaxy survey analyses, in particular in deep multi-epoch surveys. We present a framework to extract and project these sources of systematics onto the sky, and apply it to the Dark Energy Survey (DES) to map the observing conditions of the Science Verification (SV) data. The resulting distributions and maps of sources of systematics are used in several analyses of DES SV to perform detailed null tests with the data, and also to incorporate systematics in survey simulations. Wemore » illustrate the complementarity of these two approaches by comparing the SV data with the BCC-UFig, a synthetic sky catalogue generated by forward-modelling of the DES SV images. We then analyse the BCC-UFig simulation to construct galaxy samples mimicking those used in SV galaxy clustering studies. We show that the spatially-varying survey depth imprinted in the observed galaxy densities and the redshift distributions of the SV data are successfully reproduced by the simulation and well-captured by the maps of observing conditions. The combined use of the maps, the SV data and the BCC-UFig simulation allows us to quantify the impact of spatial systematics on N(z), the redshift distributions inferred using photometric redshifts. We conclude that spatial systematics in the SV data are mainly due to seeing fluctuations and are under control in current clustering and weak lensing analyses. However, they will need to be carefully characterised in upcoming phases of DES in order to avoid biasing the inferred cosmological results. The framework presented is relevant to all multi-epoch surveys, and will be essential for exploiting future surveys such as the Large Synoptic Survey Telescope, which will require detailed null-tests and realistic end-to-end image simulations to correctly interpret the deep, high-cadence observations of the sky.« less

How the availability of free satellite data can improve the observation of critical infrastructures: a proposed application to landfills for municipal solid wastes

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Scozzari, Andrea; Masetti, Giulio; Raco, Brunella; Battaglini, Raffaele

2017-04-01

Landfills for Municipal Solid Wastes (MSW) produce about 20% of the total anthropogenic methane released to the atmosphere. As a consequence, these infrastructures require a systematic and efficient monitoring. Various techniques have been proposed until now for the estimation of biogas production and its release, by using more or less direct measurements, mostly characterised by a low or completely absent invasivity. During the last 13 years, observational data about a MSW disposal site located in Tuscany (Italy) have been collected on a regular basis, consisting in direct measurements of gas flux with the accumulation chamber method, combined with infrared radiometry performed in situ with portable radiometers. The availability of free Landsat imagery and the more recent availability of ASTER data (freely available since April 2016) open new monitoring possibilities, in addition to the in situ measurements described above. In particular, we present the preliminary results of a study about the usability of low resolution thermal infrared scenes to build timeseries describing the overall status of a waste disposal site. This work discusses the possibility to complement in situ measurements with satellite observations, taking benefit from the high revisit time with respect to the timings of in situ campaigns.

Tongue-driven sonar beam steering by a lingual-echolocating fruit bat

PubMed Central

Falk, Benjamin; Chiu, Chen; Krishnan, Anand; Arbour, Jessica H.; Moss, Cynthia F.

2017-01-01

Animals enhance sensory acquisition from a specific direction by movements of head, ears, or eyes. As active sensing animals, echolocating bats also aim their directional sonar beam to selectively “illuminate” a confined volume of space, facilitating efficient information processing by reducing echo interference and clutter. Such sonar beam control is generally achieved by head movements or shape changes of the sound-emitting mouth or nose. However, lingual-echolocating Egyptian fruit bats, Rousettus aegyptiacus, which produce sound by clicking their tongue, can dramatically change beam direction at very short temporal intervals without visible morphological changes. The mechanism supporting this capability has remained a mystery. Here, we measured signals from free-flying Egyptian fruit bats and discovered a systematic angular sweep of beam focus across increasing frequency. This unusual signal structure has not been observed in other animals and cannot be explained by the conventional and widely-used “piston model” that describes the emission pattern of other bat species. Through modeling, we show that the observed beam features can be captured by an array of tongue-driven sound sources located along the side of the mouth, and that the sonar beam direction can be steered parsimoniously by inducing changes to the pattern of phase differences through moving tongue location. The effects are broadly similar to those found in a phased array—an engineering design widely found in human-made sonar systems that enables beam direction changes without changes in the physical transducer assembly. Our study reveals an intriguing parallel between biology and human engineering in solving problems in fundamentally similar ways. PMID:29244805

Tongue-driven sonar beam steering by a lingual-echolocating fruit bat.

PubMed

Lee, Wu-Jung; Falk, Benjamin; Chiu, Chen; Krishnan, Anand; Arbour, Jessica H; Moss, Cynthia F

2017-12-01

Animals enhance sensory acquisition from a specific direction by movements of head, ears, or eyes. As active sensing animals, echolocating bats also aim their directional sonar beam to selectively "illuminate" a confined volume of space, facilitating efficient information processing by reducing echo interference and clutter. Such sonar beam control is generally achieved by head movements or shape changes of the sound-emitting mouth or nose. However, lingual-echolocating Egyptian fruit bats, Rousettus aegyptiacus, which produce sound by clicking their tongue, can dramatically change beam direction at very short temporal intervals without visible morphological changes. The mechanism supporting this capability has remained a mystery. Here, we measured signals from free-flying Egyptian fruit bats and discovered a systematic angular sweep of beam focus across increasing frequency. This unusual signal structure has not been observed in other animals and cannot be explained by the conventional and widely-used "piston model" that describes the emission pattern of other bat species. Through modeling, we show that the observed beam features can be captured by an array of tongue-driven sound sources located along the side of the mouth, and that the sonar beam direction can be steered parsimoniously by inducing changes to the pattern of phase differences through moving tongue location. The effects are broadly similar to those found in a phased array-an engineering design widely found in human-made sonar systems that enables beam direction changes without changes in the physical transducer assembly. Our study reveals an intriguing parallel between biology and human engineering in solving problems in fundamentally similar ways.

Multiple Biopsies and Detection of Cervical Cancer Precursors at Colposcopy

PubMed Central

Wentzensen, Nicolas; Walker, Joan L.; Gold, Michael A.; Smith, Katie M.; Zuna, Rosemary E.; Mathews, Cara; Dunn, S. Terence; Zhang, Roy; Moxley, Katherine; Bishop, Erin; Tenney, Meaghan; Nugent, Elizabeth; Graubard, Barry I.; Wacholder, Sholom; Schiffman, Mark

2015-01-01

Purpose Women with abnormal cervical cancer screening results are referred to colposcopy and biopsy for diagnosis of cervical cancer precursors (high-grade squamous intraepithelial lesions [HSILs]). Colposcopy with a single biopsy can miss identification of HSILs. No systematic study has quantified the improved detection of HSIL by taking multiple lesion-directed biopsies. Methods The Biopsy Study was an observational study of 690 women referred to colposcopy after abnormal cervical cancer screening results. Up to four directed biopsies were taken from distinct acetowhite lesions and ranked by colposcopic impression. A nondirected biopsy of a normal-appearing area was added if fewer than four directed biopsies were taken. HSIL identified by any biopsy was the reference standard of disease used to evaluate the incremental yield and sensitivity of multiple biopsies. Results In the overall population, sensitivities for detecting HSIL increased from 60.6% (95% CI, 54.8% to 66.6%) from a single biopsy to 85.6% (95% CI, 80.3% to 90.2%) after two biopsies and to 95.6% (95% CI, 91.3% to 99.2%) after three biopsies. A significant increase in sensitivity of multiple biopsies was observed in all subgroups. The highest increase in yield of HSIL was observed for women with a high-grade colposcopic impression, HSIL cytology, and human papillomavirus (HPV) type 16 positivity. Only 2% of all HSILs diagnosed in the participants were detected by biopsies of normal-appearing transformation zone. Conclusion Collection of additional lesion-directed biopsies during colposcopy increased detection of histologic HSIL, regardless of patient characteristics. Taking additional biopsies when multiple lesions are present should become the standard practice of colposcopic biopsy. PMID:25422481

Evaluation of directional normalization methods for Landsat TM/ETM+ over primary Amazonian lowland forests

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Van doninck, Jasper; Tuomisto, Hanna

2017-06-01

Biodiversity mapping in extensive tropical forest areas poses a major challenge for the interpretation of Landsat images, because floristically clearly distinct forest types may show little difference in reflectance. In such cases, the effects of the bidirectional reflection distribution function (BRDF) can be sufficiently strong to cause erroneous image interpretation and classification. Since the opening of the Landsat archive in 2008, several BRDF normalization methods for Landsat have been developed. The simplest of these consist of an empirical view angle normalization, whereas more complex approaches apply the semi-empirical Ross-Li BRDF model and the MODIS MCD43-series of products to normalize directional Landsat reflectance to standard view and solar angles. Here we quantify the effect of surface anisotropy on Landsat TM/ETM+ images over old-growth Amazonian forests, and evaluate five angular normalization approaches. Even for the narrow swath of the Landsat sensors, we observed directional effects in all spectral bands. Those normalization methods that are based on removing the surface reflectance gradient as observed in each image were adequate to normalize TM/ETM+ imagery to nadir viewing, but were less suitable for multitemporal analysis when the solar vector varied strongly among images. Approaches based on the MODIS BRDF model parameters successfully reduced directional effects in the visible bands, but removed only half of the systematic errors in the infrared bands. The best results were obtained when the semi-empirical BRDF model was calibrated using pairs of Landsat observation. This method produces a single set of BRDF parameters, which can then be used to operationally normalize Landsat TM/ETM+ imagery over Amazonian forests to nadir viewing and a standard solar configuration.

2 CFR 200.87 - Research and Development (R&D).

Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

2014-01-01

.... “Research” is defined as a systematic study directed toward fuller scientific knowledge or understanding of... research directed toward the production of useful materials, devices, systems, or methods, including design...

Airborne wind lidar observations over the North Atlantic in 2016 for the pre-launch validation of the satellite mission Aeolus

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lux, Oliver; Lemmerz, Christian; Weiler, Fabian; Marksteiner, Uwe; Witschas, Benjamin; Rahm, Stephan; Schäfler, Andreas; Reitebuch, Oliver

2018-06-01

In preparation of the satellite mission Aeolus carried out by the European Space Agency, airborne wind lidar observations have been performed in the frame of the North Atlantic Waveguide and Downstream Impact Experiment (NAWDEX), employing the prototype of the satellite instrument, the ALADIN Airborne Demonstrator (A2D). The direct-detection Doppler wind lidar system is composed of a frequency-stabilized Nd:YAG laser operating at 355 nm, a Cassegrain telescope and a dual-channel receiver. The latter incorporates a Fizeau interferometer and two sequential Fabry-Pérot interferometers to measure line-of-sight (LOS) wind speeds by analysing both Mie and Rayleigh backscatter signals. The benefit of the complementary design is demonstrated by airborne observations of strong wind shear related to the jet stream over the North Atlantic on 27 September and 4 October 2016, yielding high data coverage in diverse atmospheric conditions. The paper also highlights the relevance of accurate ground detection for the Rayleigh and Mie response calibration and wind retrieval. Using a detection scheme developed for the NAWDEX campaign, the obtained ground return signals are exploited for the correction of systematic wind errors. Validation of the instrument performance and retrieval algorithms was conducted by comparison with DLR's coherent wind lidar which was operated in parallel, showing a systematic error of the A2D LOS winds of less than 0.5 m s-1 and random errors from 1.5 (Mie) to 2.7 m s-1 (Rayleigh).

Measurements of {Gamma}(Z{sup O} {yields} b{bar b})/{Gamma}(Z{sup O} {yields} hadrons) using the SLD

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

Neal, H.A. Jr. II

1995-07-01

The quantity R{sub b} = {Gamma}(Z{sup o} {yields}b{bar b})/{Gamma}(Z{sup o} {yields} hadrons) is a sensitive measure of corrections to the Zbb vertex. The precision necessary to observe the top quark mass dependent corrections is close to being achieved. LEP is already observing a 1.8{sigma} deviation from the Standard Model prediction. Knowledge of the top quark mass combined with the observation of deviations from the Standard Model prediction would indicate new physics. Models which include charged Higgs or light SUSY particles yield predictions for R{sub b} appreciably different from the Standard Model. In this thesis two independent methods are used tomore » measure R{sub b}. One uses a general event tag which determines R{sub b} from the rate at which events are tagged as Z{sup o} {yields} b{bar b} in data and the estimated rates at which various flavors of events are tagged from the Monte Carlo. The second method reduces the reliance on the Monte Carlo by separately tagging each hemisphere as containing a b-decay. The rates of single hemisphere tagged events and both hemisphere tagged events are used to determine the tagging efficiency for b-quarks directly from the data thus eliminating the main sources of systematic error present in the event tag. Both measurements take advantage of the unique environment provided by the SLAC Linear Collider (SLC) and the SLAC Large Detector (SLD). From the event tag a result of R{sub b} = 0.230{plus_minus}0.004{sub statistical}{plus_minus}0.013{sub systematic} is obtained. The higher precision hemisphere tag result obtained is R{sub b} = 0.218{plus_minus}0.004{sub statistical}{plus_minus}0.004{sub systematic}{plus_minus}0.003{sub Rc}.« less

Systematic errors in Monsoon simulation: importance of the equatorial Indian Ocean processes

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Annamalai, H.; Taguchi, B.; McCreary, J. P., Jr.; Nagura, M.; Miyama, T.

2015-12-01

H. Annamalai1, B. Taguchi2, J.P. McCreary1, J. Hafner1, M. Nagura2, and T. Miyama2 International Pacific Research Center, University of Hawaii, USA Application Laboratory, JAMSTEC, Japan In climate models, simulating the monsoon precipitation climatology remains a grand challenge. Compared to CMIP3, the multi-model-mean (MMM) errors for Asian-Australian monsoon (AAM) precipitation climatology in CMIP5, relative to GPCP observations, have shown little improvement. One of the implications is that uncertainties in the future projections of time-mean changes to AAM rainfall may not have reduced from CMIP3 to CMIP5. Despite dedicated efforts by the modeling community, the progress in monsoon modeling is rather slow. This leads us to wonder: Has the scientific community reached a "plateau" in modeling mean monsoon precipitation? Our focus here is to better understanding of the coupled air-sea interactions, and moist processes that govern the precipitation characteristics over the tropical Indian Ocean where large-scale errors persist. A series idealized coupled model experiments are performed to test the hypothesis that errors in the coupled processes along the equatorial Indian Ocean during inter-monsoon seasons could potentially influence systematic errors during the monsoon season. Moist static energy budget diagnostics has been performed to identify the leading moist and radiative processes that account for the large-scale errors in the simulated precipitation. As a way forward, we propose three coordinated efforts, and they are: (i) idealized coupled model experiments; (ii) process-based diagnostics and (iii) direct observations to constrain model physics. We will argue that a systematic and coordinated approach in the identification of the various interactive processes that shape the precipitation basic state needs to be carried out, and high-quality observations over the data sparse monsoon region are needed to validate models and further improve model physics.

Impact of Electronic Medical Record Use on the Patient-Doctor Relationship and Communication: A Systematic Review.

PubMed

Alkureishi, Maria Alcocer; Lee, Wei Wei; Lyons, Maureen; Press, Valerie G; Imam, Sara; Nkansah-Amankra, Akua; Werner, Deb; Arora, Vineet M

2016-05-01

While Electronic Medical Record (EMR) use has increased dramatically, the EMR's impact on the patient-doctor relationship remains unclear. This systematic literature review sought to understand the impact of EMR use on patient-doctor relationships and communication. Parallel searches in Ovid MEDLINE, PubMed, Scopus, PsycINFO, Cochrane Library, reference review of prior systematic reviews, meeting abstract reviews, and expert reviews from August 2013 to March 2015 were conducted. Medical Subject Heading terms related to EMR use were combined with keyword terms identifying face-to-face patient-doctor communication. English language observational or interventional studies (1995-2015) were included. Studies examining physician attitudes only were excluded. Structured data extraction compared study population, design, data collection method, and outcomes. Fifty-three of 7445 studies reviewed met inclusion criteria. Included studies used behavioral analysis (28) to objectively measure communication behaviors using video or direct observation and pre-post or cross-sectional surveys to examine patient perceptions (25). Objective studies reported EMR communication behaviors that were both potentially negative (i.e., interrupted speech, low rates of screen sharing) and positive (i.e., facilitating questions). Studies examining overall patient perceptions of satisfaction, communication or the patient-doctor relationship (n = 22) reported no change with EMR use (16); a positive impact (5) or showed mixed results (1). Study quality was not assessable. Small sample sizes limited generalizability. Publication bias may limit findings. Despite objective evidence that EMR use may negatively impact patient-doctor communication, studies examining patient perceptions found no change in patient satisfaction or patient-doctor communication. Therefore, our findings should encourage providers to adopt the EMR as a communication tool. Future research is needed to better understand how to enhance patient-doctor- EMR communication. This research should correlate observed physician behavior to patient satisfaction, focus on physician communication skills training, and explore inpatient experiences.

Prevalence of Prenatal Alcohol Exposure in the State of Texas as Assessed by Phosphatidylethanol in Newborn Dried Blood Spot Specimens.

PubMed

Bakhireva, Ludmila N; Sharkis, Janet; Shrestha, Shikhar; Miranda-Sohrabji, Tristan J; Williams, Sonnie; Miranda, Rajesh C

2017-05-01

While 2 to 5% of school-aged children in the United States are estimated to be affected by fetal alcohol spectrum disorders (FASD), the prevalence of prenatal alcohol exposure (PAE) might be substantially underreported. Our objective was to systematically estimate the prevalence of PAE in Texas by measuring a direct ethanol metabolite, phosphatidylethanol (PEth), in 1,000 infant residual dried blood spots (irDBSs) in the Texas Newborn Screening Repository. All public health regions (PHRs) were represented proportional to their 2014 birth rate (~0.25% of total births). A cross-sectional study design (unit of observation: individual irDBS cards/infants) with additional ecologic subanalysis (unit of observation: aggregate measures for each Texas PHR) was utilized. The study used PEth-irDBS to estimate the prevalence of PAE within 1 month before delivery for the state of Texas and each Texas PHR. The ecologic subanalysis compared different geographical regions' aggregate prevalence of PAE with (i) retail liquor licenses, (ii) median household income by PHR, and (iii) prevalence of birth outcomes commonly associated with FASD. The sample included an equal number of males and females; 47.8% non-Hispanic White, 40.8% Hispanic, 6.6% African American, and 4.8% Asian infants. In the entire sample, 8.4% of irDBSs were positive for PEth (>20 ng/ml) indicative of PAE within approximately 1 month before delivery. Large regional differences were observed with mostly urban, high median-income regions demonstrating the highest prevalence. Results of this first systematic statewide PAE prevalence study demonstrate that PAE might be more prevalent than previously thought. Active case ascertainment efforts for FASD coupled with systematic objective assessment of PAE should expand to the national level to better estimate public health needs required to provide adequate services for children affected by PAE. Copyright © 2017 by the Research Society on Alcoholism.

RoboPol: the optical polarization of gamma-ray-loud and gamma-ray-quiet blazars

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Angelakis, E.; Hovatta, T.; Blinov, D.; Pavlidou, V.; Kiehlmann, S.; Myserlis, I.; Böttcher, M.; Mao, P.; Panopoulou, G. V.; Liodakis, I.; King, O. G.; Baloković, M.; Kus, A.; Kylafis, N.; Mahabal, A.; Marecki, A.; Paleologou, E.; Papadakis, I.; Papamastorakis, I.; Pazderski, E.; Pearson, T. J.; Prabhudesai, S.; Ramaprakash, A. N.; Readhead, A. C. S.; Reig, P.; Tassis, K.; Urry, M.; Zensus, J. A.

2016-12-01

We present average R-band optopolarimetric data, as well as variability parameters, from the first and second RoboPol observing season. We investigate whether gamma-ray-loud and gamma-ray-quiet blazars exhibit systematic differences in their optical polarization properties. We find that gamma-ray-loud blazars have a systematically higher polarization fraction (0.092) than gamma-ray-quiet blazars (0.031), with the hypothesis of the two samples being drawn from the same distribution of polarization fractions being rejected at the 3σ level. We have not found any evidence that this discrepancy is related to differences in the redshift distribution, rest-frame R-band luminosity density, or the source classification. The median polarization fraction versus synchrotron-peak-frequency plot shows an envelope implying that high-synchrotron-peaked sources have a smaller range of median polarization fractions concentrated around lower values. Our gamma-ray-quiet sources show similar median polarization fractions although they are all low-synchrotron-peaked. We also find that the randomness of the polarization angle depends on the synchrotron peak frequency. For high-synchrotron-peaked sources, it tends to concentrate around preferred directions while for low-synchrotron-peaked sources, it is more variable and less likely to have a preferred direction. We propose a scenario which mediates efficient particle acceleration in shocks and increases the helical B-field component immediately downstream of the shock.

Impact of Policy and Built Environment Changes on Obesity-related Outcomes: A Systematic Review of Naturally-Occurring Experiments

PubMed Central

Mayne, Stephanie L.; Auchincloss, Amy H.; Michael, Yvonne L.

2016-01-01

Policies and changes to the built environment are promising targets for obesity prevention efforts and can be evaluated as “natural”- or “quasi”-experiments. This systematic review examined the use of natural- or quasi-experiments to evaluate the efficacy of policy and built environment changes on obesity-related outcomes (body mass index, diet, or physical activity). PubMed (Medline) was searched for studies published 2005–2013; 1,175 abstracts and 115 articles were reviewed. Of the 37 studies included, 18 studies evaluated impacts on nutrition/diet, 17 on physical activity, and 3 on body mass index. Nutrition-related studies found greater effects due to bans/restrictions on unhealthy foods, mandates offering healthier foods, and altering purchase/payment rules on foods purchased using low-income food vouchers compared to other interventions (menu labeling, new supermarkets). Physical activity-related studies generally found stronger impacts when the intervention involved improvements to active transportation infrastructure, longer follow-up time, or measured process outcomes (e.g., cycling rather than total physical activity) compared to other studies. Only three studies directly assessed body mass index or weight, and only one (installing light-rail system) observed a significant effect. Studies varied widely in the strength of their design and studies with weaker designs were more likely to report associations in the positive direction. PMID:25753170

Systematic review and meta-analysis of factors that help or hinder treatment decision-making capacity in psychosis.

PubMed

Larkin, Amanda; Hutton, Paul

2017-10-01

Background The evidence on factors that may influence treatment decisional capacity ('capacity') in psychosis has yet to be comprehensively synthesised, which limits the development of effective strategies to improve or support it. Aims To determine the direction, magnitude and reliability of the relationship between capacity in psychosis and a range of clinical, demographic and treatment-related factors, thus providing a thorough synthesis of current knowledge. Method We conducted a systematic review, meta-analytical and narrative synthesis of factors that help or hinder treatment decision-making capacity in psychosis, assessing the direction, magnitude, significance and reliability of reported associations. Results We identified 23 relevant studies ( n = l823). Psychotic symptoms had small, moderate and strong associations with appreciation, understanding and reasoning respectively. Both verbal cognitive functioning and duration of education had small to moderate correlations with understanding and reasoning. Better capacity was also associated with better insight, better metacognitive ability, higher anxiety and lower perceived coercion. No linear relationship with depression was observed. Interventions linked to improved capacity over time were in-patient care, information simplification, shared decision-making and metacognitive training. Conclusions Although much is known about the role of symptoms and other clinical variables, effective and acceptable psychological interventions to support capacity in this group are lacking. © The Royal College of Psychiatrists 2017.

Hydrogen bonds in crystalline D-alanine: diffraction and spectroscopic evidence for differences between enantiomers

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

Belo, Ezequiel A.; Pereira, Jose E. M.; Freire, Paulo T. C.

Enantiomeric amino acids have specific physiological functions in complex biological systems. Systematic studies focusing on the solid-state properties of D-amino acids are, however, still limited. To shed light on this field, structural and spectroscopic studies of D-alanine using neutron powder diffraction, polarized Raman scattering and ab initio calculations of harmonic vibrational frequencies were carried out. Clear changes in the number of vibrational modes are observed as a function of temperature, which can be directly connected to variations of the N—D bond lengths. These results reveal dissimilarities in the structural properties of D-alanine compared with L-alanine.

Analytical tools and isolation of TOF events

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Wolf, H.

1974-01-01

Analytical tools are presented in two reports. The first is a probability analysis of the orbital distribution of events in relation to dust flux density observed in Pioneer 8 and 9 distributions. A distinction is drawn between asymmetries caused by random fluctuations and systematic variations, by calculating the probability of any particular asymmetry. The second article discusses particle trajectories for a repulsive force field. The force on a particle due to solar radiation pressure is directed along the particle's radius vector, from the sun, and is inversely proportional to its distance from the sun. Equations of motion which describe both solar radiation pressure and gravitational attraction are presented.

Hydrogen bonds in crystalline D-alanine: diffraction and spectroscopic evidence for differences between enantiomers

DOE PAGES

Belo, Ezequiel A.; Pereira, Jose E. M.; Freire, Paulo T. C.; ...

2018-01-01

Enantiomeric amino acids have specific physiological functions in complex biological systems. Systematic studies focusing on the solid-state properties of D-amino acids are, however, still limited. To shed light on this field, structural and spectroscopic studies of D-alanine using neutron powder diffraction, polarized Raman scattering and ab initio calculations of harmonic vibrational frequencies were carried out. Clear changes in the number of vibrational modes are observed as a function of temperature, which can be directly connected to variations of the N—D bond lengths. These results reveal dissimilarities in the structural properties of D-alanine compared with L-alanine.

Concentric transmon qubit featuring fast tunability and site-selective Z coupling

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Weides, Martin; Braumueller, Jochen; Sandberg, Martin; Vissers, Michael; Schneider, Andre; Schloer, Steffen; Gruenhaupt, Lukas; Rotzinger, Hannes; Marthaler, Michael; Lukashenko, Alexander; Dieter, Amadeus; Ustinov, Alexey; Pappas, David

We present a planar qubit design based on a superconducting circuit that we call concentric transmon. While employing a simple fabrication process using Al evaporation and lift-off lithography, we observe qubit lifetimes and coherence times in the order of 10 μs. We systematically characterize loss channels such as incoherent dielectric loss, Purcell decay and radiative losses. The implementation of a gradiometric SQUID loop allows for a fast tuning of the qubit transition frequency and therefore for full tomographic control of the quantum circuit. The presented qubit design features a passive direct Z coupling between neighboring qubits, being a pending quest in the field of quantum simulation.

Shape and shear guide sperm cells spiraling upstream

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kantsler, Vasily; Dunkel, Jorn; Goldstein, Raymond E.

2014-11-01

A major puzzle in biology is how mammalian sperm determine and maintain the correct swimming direction during the various phases of the sexual reproduction process. Currently debated mechanisms for sperm long range travel vary from peristaltic pumping to temperature sensing (thermotaxis) and direct response to fluid flow (rheotaxis), but little is known quantitatively about their relative importance. Here, we report the first quantitative experimental study of mammalian sperm rheotaxis. Using microfluidic devices, we investigate systematically the swimming behavior of human and bull sperm over a wide range of physiologically relevant shear rates and viscosities. Our measurements show that the interplay of fluid shear, steric surface-interactions and chirality of the flagellar beat leads to a stable upstream spiraling motion of sperm cells, thus providing a generic and robust rectification mechanism to support mammalian fertilization. To rationalize these findings, we identify a minimal mathematical model that is capable of describing quantitatively the experimental observations.

Towards a direct measurement of vacuum magnetic birefringence: PVLAS achievements

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Della Valle, F.; Di Domenico, G.; Gastaldi, U.; Milotti, E.; Pengo, R.; Ruoso, G.; Zavattini, G.

2010-11-01

Nonlinear effects in vacuum have been predicted but never observed yet directly. The PVLAS collaboration has long been working on an apparatus aimed at detecting such effects by measuring vacuum magnetic birefringence. Unfortunately the sensitivity has been affected by unaccounted noise and systematics since the beginning. A new small prototype ellipsometer has been designed and characterized at the Department of Physics of the University of Ferrara, Italy entirely mounted on a single seismically isolated optical bench. With a finesse F = 414,000 and a cavity length L = 0.5 m we have reached the sensitivity of ψ=2ṡ101/√{Hz} given the laser power at the output of the ellipsometer of P = 24 mW. This record result, very close to the predicted limit, demonstrates the feasibility of reaching such sensitivities, and opens the way to designing a dedicated apparatus for a first detection of vacuum magnetic birefringence.

Direct N2H4/H2O2 Fuel Cells Powered by Nanoporous Gold Leaves

PubMed Central

Yan, Xiuling; Meng, Fanhui; Xie, Yun; Liu, Jianguo; Ding, Yi

2012-01-01

Dealloyed nanoporous gold leaves (NPGLs) are found to exhibit high electrocatalytic properties toward both hydrazine (N2H4) oxidation and hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) reduction. This observation allows the implementation of a direct hydrazine-hydrogen peroxide fuel cell (DHHPFC) based on these novel porous membrane catalysts. The effects of fuel and oxidizer flow rate, concentration and cell temperature on the performance of DHHPFC are systematically investigated. With a loading of ~0.1 mg cm−2 Au on each side, an open circuit voltage (OCV) of 1.2 V is obtained at 80°C with a maximum power density 195 mW cm−2, which is 22 times higher than that of commercial Pt/C electrocatalyst at the same noble metal loading. NPGLs thus hold great potential as effective and stable electrocatalysts for DHHPFCs. PMID:23230507

Thermal strain-induced dielectric anisotropy in Ba0.7Sr0.3TiO3 thin films grown on silicon-based substrates

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhu, X. H.; Guigues, B.; Defaÿ, E.; Dubarry, C.; Aïd, M.

2009-07-01

Dielectric properties of Ba0.7Sr0.3TiO3 (BST) thin films, which were prepared on silicon-based substrates by ion beam sputtering and postdeposition annealing method, were systematically investigated in different electrode configurations of metal-insulator-metal and coplanar interdigital capacitors. It was found that a large dielectric anisotropy exists in the films with better in-plane dielectric properties (higher dielectric permittivity and tunability) than those along the out-of-plane direction. The observed anisotropic dielectric responses are explained qualitatively in terms of a thermal strain effect that is related to dissimilar film strains along the in-plane and out-of-plane directions. Another reason for the dielectric anisotropy is due to different influences of the interfacial low-dielectric layer between the BST film and the substrate (metal electrode).

Platelet-rich plasma and chronic wounds: remaining fibronectin may influence matrix remodeling and regeneration success.

PubMed

Moroz, Andrei; Deffune, Elenice

2013-11-01

Platelet-rich plasma has been largely used as a therapeutic option for the treatment of chronic wounds of different etiologies. The enhanced regeneration observed after the use of platelet-rich plasma has been systematically attributed to the growth factors that are present inside platelets' granules. We hypothesize that the remaining plasma and platelet-bound fibronectin may act as a further bioactive protein in platelet-rich plasma preparations. Recent reports were analyzed and presented as direct evidences of this hypotheses. Fibronectin may directly influence the extracellular matrix remodeling during wound repair. This effect is probably through matrix metalloproteinase expression, thus exerting an extra effect on chronic wound regeneration. Physicians should be well aware of the possible fibronectin-induced effects in their future endeavors with PRP in chronic wound treatment. Copyright © 2013 International Society for Cellular Therapy. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

High-pT Physics in the Heavy Ion Era

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Rak, Jan; Tannenbaum, Michael J.

2013-04-01

1. Introduction and overview; 2. Basic observables; 3. Some experimental techniques; 4. The search for structure; 5. Origins of high pT physics - the search for the W boson; 6. Discovery of hard scattering in p-p collisions; 7. Direct single lepton production and the discovery of charm; 8. J/ ψ, u and Drell-Yan pair production; 9. Two particle correlations; 10. Direct photon production; 11. The search for jets; 12. QCD in hard scattering; 13. Heavy ion physics in the high pT era; 14. RHIC and LHC; Appendix A. Probability and statistics; Appendix B. Methods of Monte Carlo calculations; Appendix C. TAB and the Glauber Monte Carlo calculation; Appendix D. Fits including systematic errors; Appendix E. The shape of the xE distribution triggered by a jet fragment, for example, π0; Appendix F. kT phenomenology and Gaussian smearing; References; Index.

From conditioning shampoo to nanomechanics and haptics of human hair.

PubMed

Wood, Claudia; Sugiharto, Albert Budiman; Max, Eva; Fery, Andreas

2011-01-01

Shampoo treatment and hair conditioning have a direct impact on our wellbeing via properties like combability and haptic perception of hair. Therefore, systematic investigations leading to quality improvement of hair care products are of major interest. The aim of our work is a better understanding of complex testing and the correlation with quantitative parameters. The motivation for the development of physical testing methods for hair feel relates to the fact that an ingredient supplier like BASF can only find new, so far not yet toxicologically approved chemistries for hair cosmetics, if an in-vitro method exists.In this work, the effects of different shampoo treatments with conditioning polymers are investigated. The employed physical test method, dry friction measurements and AFM observe friction phenomena on a macroscopic as well as on a nanoscale directly on hair. They are an approach to complement sensoric evaluation with an objective in-vitro method.

Laser printed nano-gratings: orientation and period peculiarities

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Stankevič, Valdemar; Račiukaitis, Gediminas; Bragheri, Francesca; Wang, Xuewen; Gamaly, Eugene G.; Osellame, Roberto; Juodkazis, Saulius

2017-01-01

Understanding of material behaviour at nanoscale under intense laser excitation is becoming critical for future application of nanotechnologies. Nanograting formation by linearly polarised ultra-short laser pulses has been studied systematically in fused silica for various pulse energies at 3D laser printing/writing conditions, typically used for the industrial fabrication of optical elements. The period of the nanogratings revealed a dependence on the orientation of the scanning direction. A tilt of the nanograting wave vector at a fixed laser polarisation was also observed. The mechanism responsible for this peculiar dependency of several features of the nanogratings on the writing direction is qualitatively explained by considering the heat transport flux in the presence of a linearly polarised electric field, rather than by temporal and spatial chirp of the laser beam. The confirmed vectorial nature of the light-matter interaction opens new control of material processing with nanoscale precision.

A genetic epidemiology approach to cyber-security.

PubMed

Gil, Santiago; Kott, Alexander; Barabási, Albert-László

2014-07-16

While much attention has been paid to the vulnerability of computer networks to node and link failure, there is limited systematic understanding of the factors that determine the likelihood that a node (computer) is compromised. We therefore collect threat log data in a university network to study the patterns of threat activity for individual hosts. We relate this information to the properties of each host as observed through network-wide scans, establishing associations between the network services a host is running and the kinds of threats to which it is susceptible. We propose a methodology to associate services to threats inspired by the tools used in genetics to identify statistical associations between mutations and diseases. The proposed approach allows us to determine probabilities of infection directly from observation, offering an automated high-throughput strategy to develop comprehensive metrics for cyber-security.

A genetic epidemiology approach to cyber-security

PubMed Central

Gil, Santiago; Kott, Alexander; Barabási, Albert-László

2014-01-01

While much attention has been paid to the vulnerability of computer networks to node and link failure, there is limited systematic understanding of the factors that determine the likelihood that a node (computer) is compromised. We therefore collect threat log data in a university network to study the patterns of threat activity for individual hosts. We relate this information to the properties of each host as observed through network-wide scans, establishing associations between the network services a host is running and the kinds of threats to which it is susceptible. We propose a methodology to associate services to threats inspired by the tools used in genetics to identify statistical associations between mutations and diseases. The proposed approach allows us to determine probabilities of infection directly from observation, offering an automated high-throughput strategy to develop comprehensive metrics for cyber-security. PMID:25028059

SDR (Systems Directed Reading): An Overview.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Baugo Community Schools, Elkhart, IN.

The objective of this project for kindergarten through fifth grade is to interest public and private educational institutions in the systematization of elementary school reading programs. Facets of Systems Directed Reading (SDR) include the use of a differentiated staffing pattern; experienced language arts unit leaders guiding and directing all…

Child-Parent Interventions for Childhood Anxiety Disorders: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Brendel, Kristen Esposito; Maynard, Brandy R.

2014-01-01

Objective: This study compared the effects of direct child-parent interventions to the effects of child-focused interventions on anxiety outcomes for children with anxiety disorders. Method: Systematic review methods and meta-analytic techniques were employed. Eight randomized controlled trials examining effects of family cognitive behavior…

A Systematic Review of Strategies for Implementing Empirically Supported Mental Health Interventions

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Powell, Byron J.; Proctor, Enola K.; Glass, Joseph E.

2014-01-01

Objective: This systematic review examines experimental studies that test the effectiveness of strategies intended to integrate empirically supported mental health interventions into routine care settings. Our goal was to characterize the state of the literature and to provide direction for future implementation studies. Method: A literature…

A Philosophical Approach to Claims about Vaccinations and Autism

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Talavera, Isidoro

2017-01-01

By highlighting the critical thinking that (1) analyzes and evaluates arguments for claims about vaccinations and autism, and (2) engages in a form of methodological skepticism that systematically and continuously asks Critical Questions, a philosophical approach is introduced to deal directly and systematically with students' (and publicly…

Is there a relationship between red or processed meat intake and obesity? A systematic review and meta-analysis of observational studies.

PubMed

Rouhani, M H; Salehi-Abargouei, A; Surkan, P J; Azadbakht, L

2014-09-01

A body of literature exists regarding the association of red and processed meats with obesity; however, the nature and extent of this relation has not been clearly established. The aim of this study is to conduct a systematic review and meta-analysis of the relationship between red and processed meat intake and obesity. We searched multiple electronic databases for observational studies on the relationship between red and processed meat intake and obesity published until July 2013. Odds ratios (ORs) and means for obesity-related indices and for variables that may contribute to heterogeneity were calculated. A systematic review and a meta-analysis were conducted with 21 and 18 studies, respectively (n = 1,135,661). The meta-analysis (n = 113,477) showed that consumption of higher quantities of red and processed meats was a risk factor for obesity (OR: 1.37; 95% CI: 1.14-1.64). Pooled mean body mass index (BMI) and waist circumference (WC) trends showed that in comparison to those in the lowest ntile, subjects in the highest ntile of red and processed meat consumption had higher BMI (mean difference: 1.37; 95% CI: 0.90-1.84 for red meat; mean difference: 1.32; 95% CI: 0.64-2.00 for processed meat) and WC (mean difference: 2.79; 95% CI: 1.86-3.70 for red meat; mean difference: 2.77; 95% CI: 1.87-2.66 for processed meat). The current analysis revealed that red and processed meat intake is directly associated with risk of obesity, and higher BMI and WC. However, the heterogeneity among studies is significant. These findings suggest a decrease in red and processed meat intake. © 2014 The Authors. obesity reviews © 2014 World Obesity.

Physical Activity, Biomarkers, and Disease Outcomes in Cancer Survivors: A Systematic Review

PubMed Central

Friedenreich, Christine M.; Courneya, Kerry S.; Siddiqi, Sameer M.; McTiernan, Anne; Alfano, Catherine M.

2012-01-01

Background Cancer survivors often seek information about how lifestyle factors, such as physical activity, may influence their prognosis. We systematically reviewed studies that examined relationships between physical activity and mortality (cancer-specific and all-cause) and/or cancer biomarkers. Methods We identified 45 articles published from January 1950 to August 2011 through MEDLINE database searches that were related to physical activity, cancer survival, and biomarkers potentially relevant to cancer survival. We used the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses Statement to guide this review. Study characteristics, mortality outcomes, and biomarker-relevant and subgroup results were abstracted for each article that met the inclusion criteria (ie, research articles that included participants with a cancer diagnosis, mortality outcomes, and an assessment of physical activity). Results There was consistent evidence from 27 observational studies that physical activity is associated with reduced all-cause, breast cancer–specific, and colon cancer–specific mortality. There is currently insufficient evidence regarding the association between physical activity and mortality for survivors of other cancers. Randomized controlled trials of exercise that included biomarker endpoints suggest that exercise may result in beneficial changes in the circulating level of insulin, insulin-related pathways, inflammation, and, possibly, immunity; however, the evidence is still preliminary. Conclusions Future research directions identified include the need for more observational studies on additional types of cancer with larger sample sizes; the need to examine whether the association between physical activity and mortality varies by tumor, clinical, or risk factor characteristics; and the need for research on the biological mechanisms involved in the association between physical activity and survival after a cancer diagnosis. Future randomized controlled trials of exercise with biomarker and cancer-specific disease endpoints, such as recurrence, new primary cancers, and cancer-specific mortality in cancer survivors, are warranted. PMID:22570317

The Longterm Centimeter-band Total Flux and Linear Polarization Properties of the Pearson-Readhead Survey Sources

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Aller, M. F.; Aller, H. D.; Hughes, P. A.

2001-12-01

Using centimeter-band total flux and linear polarization observations of the Pearson-Readhead sample sources systematically obtained with the UMRAO 26-m radio telescope during the past 16 years, we identify the range of variability properties and their temporal changes as functions of both optical and radio morphological classification. We find that our earlier statistical analysis, based on a time window of 6.4 years, did not delineate the full amplitude range of the total flux variability; further, several galaxies exhibit longterm, systematic changes or rather infrequent outbursts requiring long term observations for detection. Using radio classification as a delineator, we confirm, and find additional evidence, that significant changes in flux density can occur in steep spectrum and lobe-dominated objects as well as in compact, flat-spectrum objects. We find that statistically the time-averaged total flux density spectra steepen when longer time windows are included, which we attribute to a selection effect in the source sample. We have identified preferred orientations of the electric vector of the polarized emission (EVPA) in an unbiased manner in several sources, including several QSOs which have exhibited large variations in total flux while maintaining stable EVPAs, and compared these with orientations of the flow direction indicated by VLB morphology. We have looked for systematic, monotonic changes in EVPA which might be expected in the emission from a precessing jet, but none were identified. A Scargle periodogram analysis found no strong evidence for periodicity in any of the sample sources. We thank the NSF for grants AST-8815678, AST-9120224, AST-9421979, and AST-9900723 which provided partial support for this research. The operation of the 26-meter telescope is supported by the University of Michigan Department of Astronomy.

Can mental health interventions change social networks? A systematic review.

PubMed

Anderson, Kimberley; Laxhman, Neelam; Priebe, Stefan

2015-11-21

Social networks of patients with psychosis can provide social support, and improve health and social outcomes, including quality of life. However, patients with psychosis often live rather isolated with very limited social networks. Evidence for interventions targeting symptoms or social skills, are largely unsuccessful at improving social networks indirectly. As an alternative, interventions may directly focus on expanding networks. In this systematic review, we assessed what interventions have previously been tested for this and to what extent they have been effective. A systematic review was conducted of randomised controlled trials, testing psychosocial interventions designed to directly increase the social networks of patients with psychosis. Searches of five online databases (PsycINFO, CINAHL, Cochrane Database, MEDLINE, Embase), hand searching of grey literature, and both forward and backward snowballing of key papers were conducted and completed on 12 December 2014. Trial reports were included if they were written in English, the social network size was the primary outcome, participants were ≥ 18 years old and diagnosed with a psychotic disorder. Five studies (n = 631 patients) met the complete inclusion criteria. Studies were from different countries and published since 2008. Four trials had significant positive results, i.e. an observable increase in patients' social network size at the end of the intervention. The interventions included: guided peer support, a volunteer partner scheme, supported engagement in social activity, dog-assisted integrative psychological therapy and psychosocial skills training. Other important elements featured were the presence of a professional, and a focus on friendships and peers outside of services and the immediate family. Despite the small number and heterogeneity of included studies, the results suggest that interventions directly targeting social isolation can be effective and achieve a meaningful increase in patients' networks. Thus, although limited, the existing evidence is encouraging, and the range of interventions used in the reported trials leave various options for future research and further improvements. Future research is needed to test the findings in different settings, identify which components are particularly effective, and determine to what extent the increased networks, over time, impact on patients' symptoms and quality of life.

Systematic assignment of thermodynamic constraints in metabolic network models

PubMed Central

Kümmel, Anne; Panke, Sven; Heinemann, Matthias

2006-01-01

Background The availability of genome sequences for many organisms enabled the reconstruction of several genome-scale metabolic network models. Currently, significant efforts are put into the automated reconstruction of such models. For this, several computational tools have been developed that particularly assist in identifying and compiling the organism-specific lists of metabolic reactions. In contrast, the last step of the model reconstruction process, which is the definition of the thermodynamic constraints in terms of reaction directionalities, still needs to be done manually. No computational method exists that allows for an automated and systematic assignment of reaction directions in genome-scale models. Results We present an algorithm that – based on thermodynamics, network topology and heuristic rules – automatically assigns reaction directions in metabolic models such that the reaction network is thermodynamically feasible with respect to the production of energy equivalents. It first exploits all available experimentally derived Gibbs energies of formation to identify irreversible reactions. As these thermodynamic data are not available for all metabolites, in a next step, further reaction directions are assigned on the basis of network topology considerations and thermodynamics-based heuristic rules. Briefly, the algorithm identifies reaction subsets from the metabolic network that are able to convert low-energy co-substrates into their high-energy counterparts and thus net produce energy. Our algorithm aims at disabling such thermodynamically infeasible cyclic operation of reaction subnetworks by assigning reaction directions based on a set of thermodynamics-derived heuristic rules. We demonstrate our algorithm on a genome-scale metabolic model of E. coli. The introduced systematic direction assignment yielded 130 irreversible reactions (out of 920 total reactions), which corresponds to about 70% of all irreversible reactions that are required to disable thermodynamically infeasible energy production. Conclusion Although not being fully comprehensive, our algorithm for systematic reaction direction assignment could define a significant number of irreversible reactions automatically with low computational effort. We envision that the presented algorithm is a valuable part of a computational framework that assists the automated reconstruction of genome-scale metabolic models. PMID:17123434

Direct detection of a break in the teraelectronvolt cosmic-ray spectrum of electrons and positrons

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

DAMPE Collaboration; Ambrosi, G.; An, Q.; Asfandiyarov, R.; Azzarello, P.; Bernardini, P.; Bertucci, B.; Cai, M. S.; Chang, J.; Chen, D. Y.; Chen, H. F.; Chen, J. L.; Chen, W.; Cui, M. Y.; Cui, T. S.; D'Amone, A.; de Benedittis, A.; De Mitri, I.; di Santo, M.; Dong, J. N.; Dong, T. K.; Dong, Y. F.; Dong, Z. X.; Donvito, G.; Droz, D.; Duan, K. K.; Duan, J. L.; Duranti, M.; D'Urso, D.; Fan, R. R.; Fan, Y. Z.; Fang, F.; Feng, C. Q.; Feng, L.; Fusco, P.; Gallo, V.; Gan, F. J.; Gao, M.; Gao, S. S.; Gargano, F.; Garrappa, S.; Gong, K.; Gong, Y. Z.; Guo, D. Y.; Guo, J. H.; Hu, Y. M.; Huang, G. S.; Huang, Y. Y.; Ionica, M.; Jiang, D.; Jiang, W.; Jin, X.; Kong, J.; Lei, S. J.; Li, S.; Li, X.; Li, W. L.; Li, Y.; Liang, Y. F.; Liang, Y. M.; Liao, N. H.; Liu, H.; Liu, J.; Liu, S. B.; Liu, W. Q.; Liu, Y.; Loparco, F.; Ma, M.; Ma, P. X.; Ma, S. Y.; Ma, T.; Ma, X. Q.; Ma, X. Y.; Marsella, G.; Mazziotta, M. N.; Mo, D.; Niu, X. Y.; Peng, X. Y.; Peng, W. X.; Qiao, R.; Rao, J. N.; Salinas, M. M.; Shang, G. Z.; H. Shen, W.; Shen, Z. Q.; Shen, Z. T.; Song, J. X.; Su, H.; Su, M.; Sun, Z. Y.; Surdo, A.; Teng, X. J.; Tian, X. B.; Tykhonov, A.; Vagelli, V.; Vitillo, S.; Wang, C.; Wang, H.; Wang, H. Y.; Wang, J. Z.; Wang, L. G.; Wang, Q.; Wang, S.; Wang, X. H.; Wang, X. L.; Wang, Y. F.; Wang, Y. P.; Wang, Y. Z.; Wen, S. C.; Wang, Z. M.; Wei, D. M.; Wei, J. J.; Wei, Y. F.; Wu, D.; Wu, J.; Wu, L. B.; Wu, S. S.; Wu, X.; Xi, K.; Xia, Z. Q.; Xin, Y. L.; Xu, H. T.; Xu, Z. L.; Xu, Z. Z.; Xue, G. F.; Yang, H. B.; Yang, P.; Yang, Y. Q.; Yang, Z. L.; Yao, H. J.; Yu, Y. H.; Yuan, Q.; Yue, C.; Zang, J. J.; Zhang, C.; Zhang, D. L.; Zhang, F.; Zhang, J. B.; Zhang, J. Y.; Zhang, J. Z.; Zhang, L.; Zhang, P. F.; Zhang, S. X.; Zhang, W. Z.; Zhang, Y.; Zhang, Y. J.; Zhang, Y. Q.; Zhang, Y. L.; Zhang, Y. P.; Zhang, Z.; Zhang, Z. Y.; Zhao, H.; Zhao, H. Y.; Zhao, X. F.; Zhou, C. Y.; Zhou, Y.; Zhu, X.; Zhu, Y.; Zimmer, S.

2017-12-01

High-energy cosmic-ray electrons and positrons (CREs), which lose energy quickly during their propagation, provide a probe of Galactic high-energy processes and may enable the observation of phenomena such as dark-matter particle annihilation or decay. The CRE spectrum has been measured directly up to approximately 2 teraelectronvolts in previous balloon- or space-borne experiments, and indirectly up to approximately 5 teraelectronvolts using ground-based Cherenkov γ-ray telescope arrays. Evidence for a spectral break in the teraelectronvolt energy range has been provided by indirect measurements, although the results were qualified by sizeable systematic uncertainties. Here we report a direct measurement of CREs in the energy range 25 gigaelectronvolts to 4.6 teraelectronvolts by the Dark Matter Particle Explorer (DAMPE) with unprecedentedly high energy resolution and low background. The largest part of the spectrum can be well fitted by a ‘smoothly broken power-law’ model rather than a single power-law model. The direct detection of a spectral break at about 0.9 teraelectronvolts confirms the evidence found by previous indirect measurements, clarifies the behaviour of the CRE spectrum at energies above 1 teraelectronvolt and sheds light on the physical origin of the sub-teraelectronvolt CREs.

Fourier decomposition of spatial localization errors reveals an idiotropic dominance of an internal model of gravity.

PubMed

De Sá Teixeira, Nuno Alexandre

2014-12-01

Given its conspicuous nature, gravity has been acknowledged by several research lines as a prime factor in structuring the spatial perception of one's environment. One such line of enquiry has focused on errors in spatial localization aimed at the vanishing location of moving objects - it has been systematically reported that humans mislocalize spatial positions forward, in the direction of motion (representational momentum) and downward in the direction of gravity (representational gravity). Moreover, spatial localization errors were found to evolve dynamically with time in a pattern congruent with an anticipated trajectory (representational trajectory). The present study attempts to ascertain the degree to which vestibular information plays a role in these phenomena. Human observers performed a spatial localization task while tilted to varying degrees and referring to the vanishing locations of targets moving along several directions. A Fourier decomposition of the obtained spatial localization errors revealed that although spatial errors were increased "downward" mainly along the body's longitudinal axis (idiotropic dominance), the degree of misalignment between the latter and physical gravity modulated the time course of the localization responses. This pattern is surmised to reflect increased uncertainty about the internal model when faced with conflicting cues regarding the perceived "downward" direction.

Do geological field survey and remote sensing record the same fractures? The case of the corallian Loyalty Islands (SW Pacific)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Thovert, J.; Huaman, D.; Genthon, P.; Adler, P. M.

2010-12-01

The Loyalty Islands are a series of corallian islands uplifted on the elastic bulge of the Australian lithosphere before its subduction at the Vanuatu (formerly New Hebrides) Trench. They are located on the non seismic Loyalty Ridge, which is starting colliding the Vanuatu Trench. The interiors of the islands are covered with dense forests and devoid of outcrops. Lineaments seen on remote sensing data (aerial photos, SPOT 3 and 4, Envisat) are compared with fractures and joints measured on a geological survey near the coasts, where corallian limestones outcrop. Lineaments observed by remote sensing in the inner Islands correspond to one main N110 direction with a large variance of nearly 15° in rms, two minor directions nearly 45° apart (N150 and N60) and no systematic evolution with distance to coasts. The three lineament families are seen near coasts as centimetric to decimetric aperture cracks without evidence of any displacement. However, an extensive geological survey of the fractures near the coast of the islands reveals a clear N135 direction and possibly an EW direction in the Lifou Island, while in the Maré island fractures present a large variance with a single N70 direction. The directions N 135, N110 and N60 are also observed regionally on the seafloor and are presumably present in the basement of the islands. It is shown that lineaments longer than 2000 m are close to the N110 direction and that the mean orientation shifts progressively to reach the N125 direction for L<400 m. Therefore, it is likely that the progressive shift in orientation continues up to the N135 direction observed in the field at the 10-50 m scale. The origin of this apparent difference between field data and remote sensing lineaments is discussed, considering (i) the intense karstification of these islands, where dissolution occurs during infiltration of rainwater, but also due to corrosion mixing at the top and the bottom of the freshwater lens and at its tips near coast. This results in numerous collapse structures, mainly observed near coasts;(ii) the rheological contrast between the inner island, which consists in lagoon derived non cohesive limestone with a chalky texture and their rims, which consist in brittle corallian limestone; (iii) the amount of deformation of 0.02% deduced from previous elastic modeling of the lithosphere in this area.

Development of a quantitative tool to assess the content of physical therapy for infants.

PubMed

Blauw-Hospers, Cornill H; Dirks, Tineke; Hulshof, Lily J; Hadders-Algra, Mijna

2010-01-01

The study aim was to describe and quantify physical therapy interventions for infants at high risk for developmental disorders. An observation protocol was developed based on knowledge about infant physical therapy and analysis of directly observable physiotherapeutic (PT) actions. The protocol's psychometric quality was assessed. Videos of 42 infant physical therapy sessions at 4 or 6 months of corrected age were analyzed. The observation protocol classified PT actions into 8 mutually exclusive categories. Virtually all PT actions during treatment could be classified. Inter- and intrarater agreements were satisfactory (intraclass correlations, 0.68-1.00). Approximately 40% of treatment time was spent challenging the infant to produce motor behavior by themselves, whereas approximately 30% of time facilitation techniques were applied. Tradition-based sessions could be differentiated from function-oriented ones. It is possible to document PT actions during physical therapy treatment of infants at high risk for cerebral palsy in a systematic, standardized, and reliable way.

Learning About Causes From People: Observational Causal Learning in 24-Month-Old Infants

PubMed Central

Meltzoff, Andrew N.; Waismeyer, Anna; Gopnik, Alison

2013-01-01

How do infants and young children learn about the causal structure of the world around them? In 4 experiments we investigate whether young children initially give special weight to the outcomes of goal-directed interventions they see others perform and use this to distinguish correlations from genuine causal relations—observational causal learning. In a new 2-choice procedure, 2- to 4-year-old children saw 2 identical objects (potential causes). Activation of 1 but not the other triggered a spatially remote effect. Children systematically intervened on the causal object and predictively looked to the effect. Results fell to chance when the cause and effect were temporally reversed, so that the events were merely associated but not causally related. The youngest children (24- to 36-month-olds) were more likely to make causal inferences when covariations were the outcome of human interventions than when they were not. Observational causal learning may be a fundamental learning mechanism that enables infants to abstract the causal structure of the world. PMID:22369335

Heliospheric Magnetic Field: The Bashful Ballerina dancing in Waltz Tempo

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Mursula, K.

The recent developments in the long-term observations of the heliospheric magnetic field HMF observed at 1 AU have shown that the HMF sector coming from the northern solar hemisphere systematically dominates in the late declining to minimum phase of the solar cycle This leads to a persistent southward shift or coning of the heliospheric current sheet at these times that can be picturesquely described by the concept of the Bashful Ballerina This result has recently been verified by direct measurements of the solar magnetic field The average field intensity is smaller and the corresponding area is larger in the northern hemisphere Also ground-based observations of the HMF sector structure extend these results to 1920s Moreover it has been shown that the global HMF has persistent active longitudes whose dominance depicts an oscillation with a period of about 3 2 years Accordingly the Bashful Ballerina takes three such steps per activity cycle thus dancing in waltz tempo We discuss the implications of this behaviour

Subchondral drilling for articular cartilage repair: a systematic review of translational research.

PubMed

Gao, Liang; Goebel, Lars K H; Orth, Patrick; Cucchiarini, Magali; Madry, Henning

2018-05-03

Articular cartilage defects may initiate osteoarthritis. Subchondral drilling, a widely applied clinical technique to treat small cartilage defects, does not yield cartilage regeneration. Various translational studies aiming to improve the outcome of drilling have been performed, however, a robust systematic analysis of its translational evidence has been still lacking. Here, we performed a systematic review of the outcome of subchondral drilling for knee cartilage repair in translational animal models. A total of 12 relevant publications studying 198 animals were identified, detailed study characteristics were extracted, and methodological quality and risk of bias were analyzed. Subchondral drilling was superior to defects untreated or treated with abrasion arthroplasty for cartilage repair in multiple translational models. Considerable subchondral bone changes were observed, including subchondral bone cysts and intralesional osteophytes. Furthermore, extensive alterations of the subchondral bone microarchitecture appeared in a temporal pattern in small and large animal models, together with specific topographic aspects of repair. Moreover, variable technical aspects directly affected the outcomes of osteochondral repair. The data from this systematic review indicate that subchondral drilling yields improved short-term structural articular cartilage repair compared with spontaneous repair in multiple small and large animal models. These results have important implications for future investigations aimed at an enhanced translation into clinical settings for the treatment of cartilage defects, highlighting the importance of considering specific aspects of modifiable variables such as improvements in the design and reporting of preclinical studies, together with the need to better understand the underlying mechanisms of cartilage repair following subchondral drilling. © 2018. Published by The Company of Biologists Ltd.

Domestic violence against children detected and managed in the routine of dentistry - A systematic review.

PubMed

Rodrigues, José L S A; Lima, Anderson P B; Nagata, Juliana Y; Rigo, Lilian; Cericato, Graziela O; Franco, Ademir; Paranhos, Luiz R

2016-10-01

The domestic violence against children (DVAC) interferes in the psychological development leading to sequels that manifest and persist up to the adulthood. The physical evidences of domestic violence are more easily observed in the orofacial complex, becoming eventually detected by dentists. The present systematic literature review aimed to investigate the perception, knowledge and attitude of dentists towards the detection and management of DVAC cases. A systematic search was performed in 6 databases: PubMed, ScienceDirect, LILACS, SciELO, GoogleScholar, and OpenGrey. Cross-sectional articles assessing the perception, knowledge, and attitude of dentists facing potential cases of DVAC were selected. No restriction of language, time, and publication status was considered. The search resulted in 1.024 articles, of which 18 fit the eligibility criteria. The knowledge for detecting cases of DVAC obtained during the undergraduation course was classified by the dentists (in 39% of the articles) as "insufficient". When suspecting of cases involving domestic violence, most of the dentists (in 77.75% of the articles) considered reporting to the competent authorities. However, the dentists are not sure about who these authorities are (in 31.25% of the articles). More attention must be given to the Forensic education in Dentistry. Specifically, proper training is necessary to support the dentists on the detection and management of pediatric patients under domestic violence. Systematic Review Registration Number: PROSPERO CRD42015026747 (http://www.crd.york.ac.uk/PROSPERO). Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd and Faculty of Forensic and Legal Medicine. All rights reserved.

Tactical Defenses Against Systematic Variation in Wind Tunnel Testing

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

DeLoach, Richard

2002-01-01

This paper examines the role of unexplained systematic variation on the reproducibility of wind tunnel test results. Sample means and variances estimated in the presence of systematic variations are shown to be susceptible to bias errors that are generally non-reproducible functions of those variations. Unless certain precautions are taken to defend against the effects of systematic variation, it is shown that experimental results can be difficult to duplicate and of dubious value for predicting system response with the highest precision or accuracy that could otherwise be achieved. Results are reported from an experiment designed to estimate how frequently systematic variations are in play in a representative wind tunnel experiment. These results suggest that significant systematic variation occurs frequently enough to cast doubts on the common assumption that sample observations can be reliably assumed to be independent. The consequences of ignoring correlation among observations induced by systematic variation are considered in some detail. Experimental tactics are described that defend against systematic variation. The effectiveness of these tactics is illustrated through computational experiments and real wind tunnel experimental results. Some tutorial information describes how to analyze experimental results that have been obtained using such quality assurance tactics.

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

Zhou, Yiyin; Dou, Wei; Pham, Thach

Temperature-dependent characteristics of GeSn light-emitting diodes with Sn composition up to 9.2% have been systematically studied. Such diodes were based on Ge/GeSn/Ge double heterostructures (DHS) that were grown directly on a Si substrate via a chemical vapor deposition system. Both photoluminescence and electroluminescence spectra have been characterized at temperatures from 300 to 77 K. Based on our theoretical calculation, all GeSn alloys in this study are indirect bandgap materials. However, due to the small energy separation between direct and indirect bandgap, and the fact that radiative recombination rate greater than non-radiative, the emissions are mainly from the direct Γ-valley to valencemore » band transitions. The electroluminescence emissions under current injection levels from 102 to 357 A/cm{sup 2} were investigated at 300 K. The monotonic increase of the integrated electroluminescence intensity was observed for each sample. Moreover, the electronic band structures of the DHS were discussed. Despite the indirect GeSn bandgap owing to the compressive strain, type-I band alignment was achieved with the barrier heights ranging from 11 to 47 meV.« less

Animal models of the serotonin syndrome: a systematic review.

PubMed

Haberzettl, Robert; Bert, Bettina; Fink, Heidrun; Fox, Meredith A

2013-11-01

The serotonin syndrome (SS) is a potentially life-threatening disorder in humans which is induced by ingestion of an overdose or by combination of two or more serotonin (5-HT)-enhancing drugs. In animals, acute administration of direct and indirect 5-HT agonists also leads to a set of behavioral and autonomic responses. In the current review, we provide an overview of the existing versions of the animal model of the SS. With a focus on studies in rats and mice, we analyze the frequency of behavioral and autonomic responses following administration of 5-HT-enhancing drugs and direct 5-HT agonists administered alone or in combination, and we briefly discuss the receptor mediation of these responses. Considering species differences, we identify a distinct set of behavioral and autonomic responses that are consistently observed following administration of direct and indirect 5-HT agonists. Finally, we discuss the importance of a standardized assessment of SS responses in rodents and the utility of animal models of the SS in translational studies, and provide suggestions for future research. Copyright © 2013 The Authors. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Upper Mantle Texture Patterns In Eastern North America From Seismic Anisotropy And Global Mantle Flow Calculations

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Levin, V. L.; Moucha, R.; Yuan, H.

2013-12-01

Global seismic models show gradual and systematic changes in upper mantle seismic properties beneath North America. Faster and thicker lithosphere of the interior thins eastward. Upper mantle rock fabric reflected in observations of seismic anisotropy also varies. Near the coast apparent fast directions of split shear waves are nearly east-west, with considerable scatter. Further inland they are more uniform and align SW-NE, close to the absolute plate motion direction of North America. Mantle convection simulations driven by density inferred from global joint seismic-geodynamic tomography models exhibit complex flow beneath the eastern edge of the North American continent due to the ongoing descent of the Farallon slab deep beneath it (figure 1). Flow predicted beneath the coast is nearly horizontal with a small, though dynamically important, vertical component, while west of the Appalachians it turns downward. Long records of teleseismic observations accumulated at permanent seismic stations HRV, PAL and SSPA (figure 2) are inverted for vertical distribution of anisotropic parameters. We find preference for more than one layer of anisotropy beneath all sites, with significantly different parameters that could reflect either lateral variations in the lithospheric thickness, variations in the asthenospheric flow field, or both. Since we find considerable consistency in directional patterns of P-to-S mode converted waves associated with the lower part of the lithosphere, variations of asthenospheric flow seem to be a more plausible explanation. We explore the links between predicted flow and inferences from seismic data with additional observations of anisotropy and calculations of flow-induced rock fabric.

Determination of the pion-nucleon coupling constant and scattering lengths

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ericson, T. E.; Loiseau, B.; Thomas, A. W.

2002-07-01

We critically evaluate the isovector Goldberger-Miyazawa-Oehme (GMO) sum rule for forward πN scattering using the recent precision measurements of π-p and π-d scattering lengths from pionic atoms. We deduce the charged-pion-nucleon coupling constant, with careful attention to systematic and statistical uncertainties. This determination gives, directly from data, g2c(GMO)/ 4π=14.11+/-0.05(statistical)+/-0.19(systematic) or f2c/4π=0.0783(11). This value is intermediate between that of indirect methods and the direct determination from backward np differential scattering cross sections. We also use the pionic atom data to deduce the coherent symmetric and antisymmetric sums of the pion-proton and pion-neutron scattering lengths with high precision, namely, (aπ-p+aπ-n)/2=[- 12+/-2(statistical)+/-8(systematic)]×10-4 m-1π and (aπ-p-aπ- n)/2=[895+/-3(statistical)+/-13 (systematic)]×10-4 m-1π. For the need of the present analysis, we improve the theoretical description of the pion-deuteron scattering length.

Workplace compliance with a no-smoking law: a randomized community intervention trial.

PubMed Central

Rigotti, N A; Bourne, D; Rosen, A; Locke, J A; Schelling, T C

1992-01-01

BACKGROUND. Compliance with state and local laws restricting smoking in public places and workplaces has not been systematically evaluated. METHODS. We assessed workplace compliance with a comprehensive no-smoking law adopted in Brookline, Mass, and tested whether mailing information to businesses increased awareness of and compliance with the law. We conducted a random sample telephone survey of 299 businesses (87% response rate). Self-reported compliance was validated by direct observations. RESULTS. One year after its adoption, the law was popular with businesses. The prevalence of smoking restrictions, smoking policies, and no-smoking signs was 80%, 59%, and 40%, respectively. One third of businesses banned smoking. Full compliance with the law was low, however, because few businesses posted a copy of their smoking policy as required. The mailing increased employers' awareness of the law. Employers sent the mailing also reported better compliance, but this was not confirmed by direct observations. CONCLUSIONS. The law was popular and contributed to a high prevalence of workplace smoking restrictions. Different interpretations of the law by policymakers and businesses seemed to explain why formal compliance was low. The mailing increased awareness of, but not compliance with, the law. PMID:1739153

Measurement of the local food environment: a comparison of existing data sources.

PubMed

Bader, Michael D M; Ailshire, Jennifer A; Morenoff, Jeffrey D; House, James S

2010-03-01

Studying the relation between the residential environment and health requires valid, reliable, and cost-effective methods to collect data on residential environments. This 2002 study compared the level of agreement between measures of the presence of neighborhood businesses drawn from 2 common sources of data used for research on the built environment and health: listings of businesses from commercial databases and direct observations of city blocks by raters. Kappa statistics were calculated for 6 types of businesses-drugstores, liquor stores, bars, convenience stores, restaurants, and grocers-located on 1,663 city blocks in Chicago, Illinois. Logistic regressions estimated whether disagreement between measurement methods was systematically correlated with the socioeconomic and demographic characteristics of neighborhoods. Levels of agreement between the 2 sources were relatively high, with significant (P < 0.001) kappa statistics for each business type ranging from 0.32 to 0.70. Most business types were more likely to be reported by direct observations than in the commercial database listings. Disagreement between the 2 sources was not significantly correlated with the socioeconomic and demographic characteristics of neighborhoods. Results suggest that researchers should have reasonable confidence using whichever method (or combination of methods) is most cost-effective and theoretically appropriate for their research design.

Measurements of branching fractions, polarizations, and direct CP-violation asymmetries in B+→ρ0K*+ and B+→f0(980)K*+ decays

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Del Amo Sanchez, P.; Lees, J. P.; Poireau, V.; Prencipe, E.; Tisserand, V.; Garra Tico, J.; Grauges, E.; Martinelli, M.; Milanes, D. A.; Palano, A.; Pappagallo, M.; Eigen, G.; Stugu, B.; Sun, L.; Brown, D. N.; Kerth, L. T.; Kolomensky, Yu. G.; Lynch, G.; Osipenkov, I. L.; Koch, H.; Schroeder, T.; Asgeirsson, D. J.; Hearty, C.; Mattison, T. S.; McKenna, J. A.; Khan, A.; Blinov, V. E.; Buzykaev, A. R.; Druzhinin, V. P.; Golubev, V. B.; Kravchenko, E. A.; Onuchin, A. P.; Serednyakov, S. I.; Skovpen, Yu. I.; Solodov, E. P.; Todyshev, K. Yu.; Yushkov, A. N.; Bondioli, M.; Curry, S.; Kirkby, D.; Lankford, A. J.; Mandelkern, M.; Martin, E. C.; Stoker, D. P.; Atmacan, H.; Gary, J. W.; Liu, F.; Long, O.; Vitug, G. M.; Campagnari, C.; Hong, T. M.; Kovalskyi, D.; Richman, J. D.; West, C.; Eisner, A. M.; Heusch, C. A.; Kroseberg, J.; Lockman, W. S.; Martinez, A. J.; Schalk, T.; Schumm, B. A.; Seiden, A.; Winstrom, L. O.; Cheng, C. H.; Doll, D. A.; Echenard, B.; Hitlin, D. G.; Ongmongkolkul, P.; Porter, F. C.; Rakitin, A. Y.; Andreassen, R.; Dubrovin, M. S.; Mancinelli, G.; Meadows, B. T.; Sokoloff, M. D.; Bloom, P. C.; Ford, W. T.; Gaz, A.; Nagel, M.; Nauenberg, U.; Smith, J. G.; Wagner, S. R.; Ayad, R.; Toki, W. H.; Jasper, H.; Karbach, T. M.; Petzold, A.; Spaan, B.; Kobel, M. J.; Schubert, K. R.; Schwierz, R.; Bernard, D.; Verderi, M.; Clark, P. J.; Playfer, S.; Watson, J. E.; Andreotti, M.; Bettoni, D.; Bozzi, C.; Calabrese, R.; Cecchi, A.; Cibinetto, G.; Fioravanti, E.; Franchini, P.; Garzia, I.; Luppi, E.; Munerato, M.; Negrini, M.; Petrella, A.; Piemontese, L.; Baldini-Ferroli, R.; Calcaterra, A.; de Sangro, R.; Finocchiaro, G.; Nicolaci, M.; Pacetti, S.; Patteri, P.; Peruzzi, I. M.; Piccolo, M.; Rama, M.; Zallo, A.; Contri, R.; Guido, E.; Lo Vetere, M.; Monge, M. R.; Passaggio, S.; Patrignani, C.; Robutti, E.; Tosi, S.; Bhuyan, B.; Prasad, V.; Lee, C. L.; Morii, M.; Edwards, A. J.; Adametz, A.; Marks, J.; Uwer, U.; Bernlochner, F. U.; Ebert, M.; Lacker, H. M.; Lueck, T.; Volk, A.; Dauncey, P. D.; Tibbetts, M.; Behera, P. K.; Mallik, U.; Chen, C.; Cochran, J.; Crawley, H. B.; Dong, L.; Meyer, W. T.; Prell, S.; Rosenberg, E. I.; Rubin, A. E.; Gritsan, A. V.; Guo, Z. J.; Arnaud, N.; Davier, M.; Derkach, D.; Firmino da Costa, J.; Grosdidier, G.; Le Diberder, F.; Lutz, A. M.; Malaescu, B.; Perez, A.; Roudeau, P.; Schune, M. H.; Serrano, J.; Sordini, V.; Stocchi, A.; Wang, L.; Wormser, G.; Lange, D. J.; Wright, D. M.; Bingham, I.; Chavez, C. A.; Coleman, J. P.; Fry, J. R.; Gabathuler, E.; Gamet, R.; Hutchcroft, D. E.; Payne, D. J.; Touramanis, C.; Bevan, A. J.; di Lodovico, F.; Sacco, R.; Sigamani, M.; Cowan, G.; Paramesvaran, S.; Wren, A. C.; Brown, D. N.; Davis, C. L.; Denig, A. G.; Fritsch, M.; Gradl, W.; Hafner, A.; Alwyn, K. E.; Bailey, D.; Barlow, R. J.; Jackson, G.; Lafferty, G. D.; Anderson, J.; Cenci, R.; Jawahery, A.; Roberts, D. A.; Simi, G.; Tuggle, J. M.; Dallapiccola, C.; Salvati, E.; Cowan, R.; Dujmic, D.; Sciolla, G.; Zhao, M.; Lindemann, D.; Patel, P. M.; Robertson, S. H.; Schram, M.; Biassoni, P.; Lazzaro, A.; Lombardo, V.; Palombo, F.; Stracka, S.; Cremaldi, L.; Godang, R.; Kroeger, R.; Sonnek, P.; Summers, D. J.; Nguyen, X.; Simard, M.; Taras, P.; de Nardo, G.; Monorchio, D.; Onorato, G.; Sciacca, C.; Raven, G.; Snoek, H. L.; Jessop, C. P.; Knoepfel, K. J.; Losecco, J. M.; Wang, W. F.; Corwin, L. A.; Honscheid, K.; Kass, R.; Morris, J. P.; Blount, N. L.; Brau, J.; Frey, R.; Igonkina, O.; Kolb, J. A.; Rahmat, R.; Sinev, N. B.; Strom, D.; Strube, J.; Torrence, E.; Castelli, G.; Feltresi, E.; Gagliardi, N.; Margoni, M.; Morandin, M.; Posocco, M.; Rotondo, M.; Simonetto, F.; Stroili, R.; Ben-Haim, E.; Bonneaud, G. R.; Briand, H.; Calderini, G.; Chauveau, J.; Hamon, O.; Leruste, Ph.; Marchiori, G.; Ocariz, J.; Prendki, J.; Sitt, S.; Biasini, M.; Manoni, E.; Rossi, A.; Angelini, C.; Batignani, G.; Bettarini, S.; Carpinelli, M.; Casarosa, G.; Cervelli, A.; Forti, F.; Giorgi, M. A.; Lusiani, A.; Neri, N.; Paoloni, E.; Rizzo, G.; Walsh, J. J.; Lopes Pegna, D.; Lu, C.; Olsen, J.; Smith, A. J. S.; Telnov, A. V.; Anulli, F.; Baracchini, E.; Cavoto, G.; Faccini, R.; Ferrarotto, F.; Ferroni, F.; Gaspero, M.; Li Gioi, L.; Mazzoni, M. A.; Piredda, G.; Renga, F.; Hartmann, T.; Leddig, T.; Schröder, H.; Waldi, R.; Adye, T.; Franek, B.; Olaiya, E. O.; Wilson, F. F.; Emery, S.; Hamel de Monchenault, G.; Vasseur, G.; Yèche, Ch.; Zito, M.; Allen, M. T.; Aston, D.; Bard, D. J.; Bartoldus, R.; Benitez, J. F.; Cartaro, C.; Convery, M. R.; Dorfan, J.; Dubois-Felsmann, G. P.; Dunwoodie, W.; Field, R. C.; Franco Sevilla, M.; Fulsom, B. G.; Gabareen, A. M.; Graham, M. T.; Grenier, P.; Hast, C.; Innes, W. R.; Kelsey, M. H.; Kim, H.; Kim, P.; Kocian, M. L.; Leith, D. W. G. S.; Li, S.; Lindquist, B.; Luitz, S.; Luth, V.; Lynch, H. L.; Macfarlane, D. B.; Marsiske, H.; Muller, D. R.; Neal, H.; Nelson, S.; O'Grady, C. P.; Ofte, I.; Perl, M.; Pulliam, T.; Ratcliff, B. N.; Roodman, A.; Salnikov, A. A.; Santoro, V.; Schindler, R. H.; Schwiening, J.; Snyder, A.; Su, D.; Sullivan, M. K.; Sun, S.; Suzuki, K.; Thompson, J. M.; Va'Vra, J.; Wagner, A. P.; Weaver, M.; Wisniewski, W. J.; Wittgen, M.; Wright, D. H.; Wulsin, H. W.; Yarritu, A. K.; Young, C. C.; Ziegler, V.; Chen, X. R.; Park, W.; Purohit, M. V.; White, R. M.; Wilson, J. R.; Randle-Conde, A.; Sekula, S. J.; Bellis, M.; Burchat, P. R.; Miyashita, T. S.; Ahmed, S.; Alam, M. S.; Ernst, J. A.; Pan, B.; Saeed, M. A.; Zain, S. B.; Guttman, N.; Soffer, A.; Lund, P.; Spanier, S. M.; Eckmann, R.; Ritchie, J. L.; Ruland, A. M.; Schilling, C. J.; Schwitters, R. F.; Wray, B. C.; Izen, J. M.; Lou, X. C.; Bianchi, F.; Gamba, D.; Pelliccioni, M.; Bomben, M.; Lanceri, L.; Vitale, L.; Lopez-March, N.; Martinez-Vidal, F.; Oyanguren, A.; Albert, J.; Banerjee, Sw.; Choi, H. H. F.; Hamano, K.; King, G. J.; Kowalewski, R.; Lewczuk, M. J.; Lindsay, C.; Nugent, I. M.; Roney, J. M.; Sobie, R. J.; Gershon, T. J.; Harrison, P. F.; Latham, T. E.; Puccio, E. M. T.; Band, H. R.; Dasu, S.; Flood, K. T.; Pan, Y.; Prepost, R.; Vuosalo, C. O.; Wu, S. L.

2011-03-01

We present measurements of the branching fractions, longitudinal polarization, and direct CP-violation asymmetries for the decays B+→ρ0K*+ and B+→f0(980)K*+ with a sample of (467±5)×106BB¯ pairs collected with the BABAR detector at the PEP-II asymmetric-energy e+e- collider at the SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory. We observe B+→ρ0K*+ with a significance of 5.3σ and measure the branching fraction B(B+→ρ0K*+)=(4.6±1.0±0.4)×10-6, the longitudinal polarization fL=0.78±0.12±0.03, and the CP-violation asymmetry ACP=0.31±0.13±0.03. We observe B+→f0(980)K*+ and measure the branching fraction B(B+→f0(980)K*+)×B(f0(980)→π+π-)=(4.2±0.6±0.3)×10-6 and the CP-violation asymmetry ACP=-0.15±0.12±0.03. The first uncertainty quoted is statistical and the second is systematic.

The universality of β-hairpin misfolding indicated by molecular dynamics simulations.

PubMed

Shao, Qiang; Wang, Jinan; Shi, Jiye; Zhu, Weiliang

2013-10-28

Previous molecular dynamics simulations showed that besides the experimentally measured folded structures, several β-structured polypeptides could also have misfolded "out-of-register" structures. Through the enhanced sampling molecular dynamics simulations on a series of polypeptides using either implicit or explicit solvent model, the present study systematically investigated the universality of β-hairpin misfolding and its determinants. It was observed that the misfolding could take place for almost all polypeptides under study, especially in the presence of weak side chain hydrophobicity. Moreover, the observed misfolded structures for various polypeptides share the following common features: (1) the turn length in misfolded structure is one-residue shorter than that in folded structure; (2) the hydrophobic side chains on the two strands are pointed to the opposite directions instead of packing in the same direction to form hydrophobic core cluster in the folded structure; and (3) the misfolded structure is one-residue-shifted asymmetric β-hairpin structure. The detailed analysis suggested that the misfolding of β-hairpin is the result of the competition between the formation of the alterable turn configurations and the inter-strand hydrophobic interactions. These predictions are desired to be tested by experiments.

The universality of β-hairpin misfolding indicated by molecular dynamics simulations

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Shao, Qiang; Wang, Jinan; Shi, Jiye; Zhu, Weiliang

2013-10-01

Previous molecular dynamics simulations showed that besides the experimentally measured folded structures, several β-structured polypeptides could also have misfolded "out-of-register" structures. Through the enhanced sampling molecular dynamics simulations on a series of polypeptides using either implicit or explicit solvent model, the present study systematically investigated the universality of β-hairpin misfolding and its determinants. It was observed that the misfolding could take place for almost all polypeptides under study, especially in the presence of weak side chain hydrophobicity. Moreover, the observed misfolded structures for various polypeptides share the following common features: (1) the turn length in misfolded structure is one-residue shorter than that in folded structure; (2) the hydrophobic side chains on the two strands are pointed to the opposite directions instead of packing in the same direction to form hydrophobic core cluster in the folded structure; and (3) the misfolded structure is one-residue-shifted asymmetric β-hairpin structure. The detailed analysis suggested that the misfolding of β-hairpin is the result of the competition between the formation of the alterable turn configurations and the inter-strand hydrophobic interactions. These predictions are desired to be tested by experiments.

Finite Atwood Number Effects on Deceleration-Phase Instability in Room-Temperature Direct-Drive Implosions

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Miller, S.; Knauer, J. P.; Radha, P. B.; Goncharov, V. N.

2017-10-01

Performance degradation in direct-drive inertial confinement fusion implosions can be caused by several effects, one of which is Rayleigh-Taylor (RT) instability growth during the deceleration phase. In room-temperature plastic target implosions, this deceleration-phase RT growth is enhanced by the density discontinuity and finite Atwood numbers at the fuel-pusher interface. For the first time, an experimental campaign at the Omega Laser Facility systematically varied the ratio of deuterium-to-tritium (D-to-T) within the DT gas fill to change the Atwood number. The goal of the experiment was to understand the effects of Atwood number variation on observables like apparent ion temperature, yield, and variations in areal density and bulk fluid motion, which lead to broadening of neutron spectra along different lines of sight. Simulations by the hydrodynamic codes LILAC and DRACO were used to study growth rates for different D-to-T ratios and identify observable quantities effected by Atwood number variation. Results from simulations and the experiment are presented. This material is based upon work supported by the Department of Energy National Nuclear Security Administration under Award Number DE-NA0001944.

Constraining the temperature history of the past millennium using early instrumental observations

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Brohan, P.; Allan, R.; Freeman, E.; Wheeler, D.; Wilkinson, C.; Williamson, F.

2012-05-01

The current assessment that twentieth-century global temperature change is unusual in the context of the last thousand years relies on estimates of temperature changes from natural proxies (tree-rings, ice-cores etc.) and climate model simulations. Confidence in such estimates is limited by difficulties in calibrating the proxies and systematic differences between proxy reconstructions and model simulations. As the difference between the estimates extends into the relatively recent period of the early nineteenth century it is possible to compare them with a reliable instrumental estimate of the temperature change over that period, provided that enough early thermometer observations, covering a wide enough expanse of the world, can be collected. One organisation which systematically made observations and collected the results was the English East-India Company (EEIC), and their archives have been preserved in the British Library. Inspection of those archives revealed 900 log-books of EEIC ships containing daily instrumental measurements of temperature and pressure, and subjective estimates of wind speed and direction, from voyages across the Atlantic and Indian Oceans between 1789 and 1834. Those records have been extracted and digitised, providing 273 000 new weather records offering an unprecedentedly detailed view of the weather and climate of the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries. The new thermometer observations demonstrate that the large-scale temperature response to the Tambora eruption and the 1809 eruption was modest (perhaps 0.5 °C). This provides a powerful out-of-sample validation for the proxy reconstructions - supporting their use for longer-term climate reconstructions. However, some of the climate model simulations in the CMIP5 ensemble show much larger volcanic effects than this - such simulations are unlikely to be accurate in this respect.

Constraining the temperature history of the past millennium using early instrumental observations

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Brohan, P.; Allan, R.; Freeman, E.; Wheeler, D.; Wilkinson, C.; Williamson, F.

2012-10-01

The current assessment that twentieth-century global temperature change is unusual in the context of the last thousand years relies on estimates of temperature changes from natural proxies (tree-rings, ice-cores, etc.) and climate model simulations. Confidence in such estimates is limited by difficulties in calibrating the proxies and systematic differences between proxy reconstructions and model simulations. As the difference between the estimates extends into the relatively recent period of the early nineteenth century it is possible to compare them with a reliable instrumental estimate of the temperature change over that period, provided that enough early thermometer observations, covering a wide enough expanse of the world, can be collected. One organisation which systematically made observations and collected the results was the English East India Company (EEIC), and their archives have been preserved in the British Library. Inspection of those archives revealed 900 log-books of EEIC ships containing daily instrumental measurements of temperature and pressure, and subjective estimates of wind speed and direction, from voyages across the Atlantic and Indian Oceans between 1789 and 1834. Those records have been extracted and digitised, providing 273 000 new weather records offering an unprecedentedly detailed view of the weather and climate of the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries. The new thermometer observations demonstrate that the large-scale temperature response to the Tambora eruption and the 1809 eruption was modest (perhaps 0.5 °C). This provides an out-of-sample validation for the proxy reconstructions - supporting their use for longer-term climate reconstructions. However, some of the climate model simulations in the CMIP5 ensemble show much larger volcanic effects than this - such simulations are unlikely to be accurate in this respect.

Bayesian Modeling of Perceived Surface Slant from Actively-Generated and Passively-Observed Optic Flow

PubMed Central

Caudek, Corrado; Fantoni, Carlo; Domini, Fulvio

2011-01-01

We measured perceived depth from the optic flow (a) when showing a stationary physical or virtual object to observers who moved their head at a normal or slower speed, and (b) when simulating the same optic flow on a computer and presenting it to stationary observers. Our results show that perceived surface slant is systematically distorted, for both the active and the passive viewing of physical or virtual surfaces. These distortions are modulated by head translation speed, with perceived slant increasing directly with the local velocity gradient of the optic flow. This empirical result allows us to determine the relative merits of two alternative approaches aimed at explaining perceived surface slant in active vision: an “inverse optics” model that takes head motion information into account, and a probabilistic model that ignores extra-retinal signals. We compare these two approaches within the framework of the Bayesian theory. The “inverse optics” Bayesian model produces veridical slant estimates if the optic flow and the head translation velocity are measured with no error; because of the influence of a “prior” for flatness, the slant estimates become systematically biased as the measurement errors increase. The Bayesian model, which ignores the observer's motion, always produces distorted estimates of surface slant. Interestingly, the predictions of this second model, not those of the first one, are consistent with our empirical findings. The present results suggest that (a) in active vision perceived surface slant may be the product of probabilistic processes which do not guarantee the correct solution, and (b) extra-retinal signals may be mainly used for a better measurement of retinal information. PMID:21533197

SCS-CN parameter determination using rainfall-runoff data in heterogeneous watersheds. The two-CN system approach

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Soulis, K. X.; Valiantzas, J. D.

2011-10-01

The Soil Conservation Service Curve Number (SCS-CN) approach is widely used as a simple method for predicting direct runoff volume for a given rainfall event. The CN values can be estimated by being selected from tables. However, it is more accurate to estimate the CN value from measured rainfall-runoff data (assumed available) in a watershed. Previous researchers indicated that the CN values calculated from measured rainfall-runoff data vary systematically with the rainfall depth. They suggested the determination of a single asymptotic CN value observed for very high rainfall depths to characterize the watersheds' runoff response. In this paper, the novel hypothesis that the observed correlation between the calculated CN value and the rainfall depth in a watershed reflects the effect of the inevitable presence of soil-cover complex spatial variability along watersheds is being tested. Based on this hypothesis, the simplified concept of a two-CN heterogeneous system is introduced to model the observed CN-rainfall variation by reducing the CN spatial variability into two classes. The behavior of the CN-rainfall function produced by the proposed two-CN system concept is approached theoretically, it is analyzed systematically, and it is found to be similar to the variation observed in natural watersheds. Synthetic data tests, natural watersheds examples, and detailed study of two natural experimental watersheds with known spatial heterogeneity characteristics were used to evaluate the method. The results indicate that the determination of CN values from rainfall runoff data using the proposed two-CN system approach provides reasonable accuracy and it over performs the previous original method based on the determination of a single asymptotic CN value. Although the suggested method increases the number of unknown parameters to three (instead of one), a clear physical reasoning for them is presented.

Protection against cholera from killed whole-cell oral cholera vaccines: a systematic review and meta-analysis.

PubMed

Bi, Qifang; Ferreras, Eva; Pezzoli, Lorenzo; Legros, Dominique; Ivers, Louise C; Date, Kashmira; Qadri, Firdausi; Digilio, Laura; Sack, David A; Ali, Mohammad; Lessler, Justin; Luquero, Francisco J; Azman, Andrew S

2017-10-01

Killed whole-cell oral cholera vaccines (kOCVs) are becoming a standard cholera control and prevention tool. However, vaccine efficacy and direct effectiveness estimates have varied, with differences in study design, location, follow-up duration, and vaccine composition posing challenges for public health decision making. We did a systematic review and meta-analysis to generate average estimates of kOCV efficacy and direct effectiveness from the available literature. For this systematic review and meta-analysis, we searched PubMed, Embase, Scopus, and the Cochrane Review Library on July 9, 2016, and ISI Web of Science on July 11, 2016, for randomised controlled trials and observational studies that reported estimates of direct protection against medically attended confirmed cholera conferred by kOCVs. We included studies published on any date in English, Spanish, French, or Chinese. We extracted from the published reports the primary efficacy and effectiveness estimates from each study and also estimates according to number of vaccine doses, duration, and age group. The main study outcome was average efficacy and direct effectiveness of two kOCV doses, which we estimated with random-effect models. This study is registered with PROSPERO, number CRD42016048232. Seven trials (with 695 patients with cholera) and six observational studies (217 patients with cholera) met the inclusion criteria, with an average two-dose efficacy of 58% (95% CI 42-69, I 2 =58%) and effectiveness of 76% (62-85, I 2 =0). Average two-dose efficacy in children younger than 5 years (30% [95% CI 15-42], I 2 =0%) was lower than in those 5 years or older (64% [58-70], I 2 =0%; p<0·0001). Two-dose efficacy estimates of kOCV were similar during the first 2 years after vaccination, with estimates of 56% (95% CI 42-66, I 2 =45%) in the first year and 59% (49-67, I 2 =0) in the second year. The efficacy reduced to 39% (13 to 57, I 2 =48%) in the third year, and 26% (-46 to 63, I 2 =74%) in the fourth year. Two kOCV doses provide protection against cholera for at least 3 years. One kOCV dose provides at least short-term protection, which has important implications for outbreak management. kOCVs are effective tools for cholera control. The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. Copyright This is an Open Access article published under the CC BY 3.0 IGO license which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. In any use of this article, there should be no suggestion that WHO endorses any specific organisation, products, or services. The use of the WHO logo is not permitted. This notice should be preserved along with the article's original URL.

Interventions for non-metastatic squamous cell carcinoma of the skin: systematic review and pooled analysis of observational studies.

PubMed

Lansbury, Louise; Bath-Hextall, Fiona; Perkins, William; Stanton, Wendy; Leonardi-Bee, Jo

2013-11-04

To assess the effects of treatments for non-metastatic invasive squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) of the skin using evidence from observational studies, given the paucity of evidence from randomised controlled trials. Systematic review of observational studies. Medline, Embase, to December 2012. Observational studies of interventions for primary, non-metastatic, invasive, SCC of the skin that reported recurrence during follow-up, quality of life, initial response to treatment, adverse events, cosmetic appearance, or death from disease. Studies were excluded if data for primary cutaneous SCC was not separable from other data. Data were extracted independently by two reviewers. Meta-analysis was performed where appropriate using a random effects model to estimate the pooled proportion of an event with 95% confidence intervals. 118 publications were included, covering seven treatment modalities. Pooled estimates of recurrence of SCCs were lowest after cryotherapy (0.8% (95% confidence interval 0.1% to 2%)) and curettage and electrodesiccation (1.7% (0.5% to 3.4%)), but most treated SCCs were small, low risk lesions. After Mohs micrographic surgery, the pooled estimate of local recurrence during variable follow-up periods from 10 studies was 3.0% (2.2% to 3.9%), which was non-significantly lower than the pooled average local recurrence of 5.4% (2.5% to 9.1%) after standard surgical excision (12 studies), and 6.4% (3.0% to 11.0%) after external radiotherapy (7 studies). After an apparently successful initial response of SCCs to photodynamic therapy, pooled average recurrence of 26.4% (12.3% to 43.7%; 8 studies) was significantly higher than other treatments. Evidence was limited for laser treatment (1 study) and for topical and systemic treatments (mostly single case reports or small non-comparative series with limited follow-up). Many observational studies have looked at different treatment modalities for SCC, but the evidence base for the effectiveness of these interventions is poor. Comparison of outcomes after different treatments should be interpreted cautiously owing to biases inherent in the types of study included, and lack of direct comparisons to enable the estimation of relative treatment effect. Further evidence is needed to develop a prognostic model and stratify individuals at high risk of developing SCC, to improve the evidence base for this common cancer and to optimise clinical management. International Prospective Register of Systematic Reviews (PROSPERO) registration number CRD42011001450.

Improving diagnostic accuracy of prostate carcinoma by systematic random map-biopsy.

PubMed

Szabó, J; Hegedûs, G; Bartók, K; Kerényi, T; Végh, A; Romics, I; Szende, B

2000-01-01

Systematic random rectal ultrasound directed map-biopsy of the prostate was performed in 77 RDE (rectal digital examination) positive and 25 RDE negative cases, if applicable. Hypoechoic areas were found in 30% of RDE positive and in 16% of RDE negative cases. The score for carcinoma in the hypoechoic areas was 6.5% in RDE positive and 0% in RDE negative cases, whereas systematic map biopsy detected 62% carcinomas in RDE positive, and 16% carcinomas in RDE negative patients. The probability of positive diagnosis of prostate carcinoma increased in parallel with the number of biopsy samples/case. The importance of systematic map biopsy is emphasized.

Learning Words from Labeling and Directive Speech

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Callanan, Maureen A.; Akhtar, Nameera; Sussman, Lisa

2014-01-01

Despite the common intuition that labeling may be the best way to teach a new word to a child, systematic testing is needed of the prediction that children learn words better from labeling utterances than from directive utterances. Two experiments compared toddlers' label learning in the context of hearing words used in directive versus labeling…

Uneven flows: On cosmic bulk flows, local observers, and gravity

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hellwing, Wojciech A.; Bilicki, Maciej; Libeskind, Noam I.

2018-05-01

Using N -body simulations we study the impact of various systematic effects on the low-order moments of the cosmic velocity field: the bulk flow (BF) and the cosmic Mach number (CMN). We consider two types of systematics: those related to survey properties and those induced by the observer's location in the Universe. In the former category we model sparse sampling, velocity errors, and survey incompleteness (radial and geometrical). In the latter, we consider local group (LG) analogue observers, placed in a specific location within the cosmic web, satisfying various observational criteria. We differentiate such LG observers from Copernican ones, who are at random locations. We report strong systematic effects on the measured BF and CMN induced by sparse sampling, velocity errors and radial incompleteness. For BF most of these effects exceed 10% for scales R ≲100 h-1 Mpc . For CMN some of these systematics can be catastrophically large (i.e., >50 %) also on bigger scales. Moreover, we find that the position of the observer in the cosmic web significantly affects the locally measured BF (CMN), with effects as large as ˜20 % (30 % ) at R ≲50 h-1 Mpc for a LG-like observer as compared to a random one. This effect is comparable to the sample variance at the same scales. Such location-dependent effects have not been considered previously in BF and CMN studies and here we report their magnitude and scale for the first time. To highlight the importance of these systematics, we additionally study a model of modified gravity with ˜15 % enhanced growth rate (compared to general relativity). We found that the systematic effects can mimic the modified gravity signal. The worst-case scenario is realized for a case of a LG-like observer, when the effects induced by local structures are degenerate with the enhanced growth rate fostered by modified gravity. Our results indicate that dedicated constrained simulations and realistic mock galaxy catalogs will be absolutely necessary to fully benefit from the statistical power of the forthcoming peculiar velocity data from surveys such as TAIPAN, WALLABY, COSMICFLOWS-4 and SKA.

Benefits and harms of direct to consumer advertising: a systematic review.

PubMed

Gilbody, S; Wilson, P; Watt, I

2005-08-01

Direct to consumer advertising is increasingly used by the pharmaceutical industry, but its benefits and harms have yet to be summarised in a comprehensive and rigorous manner. A systematic review was conducted of robust evaluations of the impact (positive and negative) of direct to consumer advertising. A broad range of databases and data sources (including Cinahl, Embase, HMIC, HSRProj, Medline, PsycInfo, and the internet) were searched from inception to 2004. From 2853 citations only four reports were found that met the strict inclusion criteria and provided usable results. Direct to consumer advertising is associated with increased prescription of advertised products and there is substantial impact on patients' request for specific drugs and physicians' confidence in prescribing. No additional benefits in terms of health outcomes were demonstrated. Direct to consumer advertising is banned in most countries, and the research evidence tends to support the negative impact that is feared by those who support a legislative ban. Further research is needed into the clinical and economic impact of direct to consumer advertising in healthcare systems.

Benefits and harms of direct to consumer advertising: a systematic review

PubMed Central

Gilbody, S; Wilson, P; Watt, I

2005-01-01

Background: Direct to consumer advertising is increasingly used by the pharmaceutical industry, but its benefits and harms have yet to be summarised in a comprehensive and rigorous manner. Methods: A systematic review was conducted of robust evaluations of the impact (positive and negative) of direct to consumer advertising. A broad range of databases and data sources (including Cinahl, Embase, HMIC, HSRProj, Medline, PsycInfo, and the internet) were searched from inception to 2004. Results: From 2853 citations only four reports were found that met the strict inclusion criteria and provided usable results. Direct to consumer advertising is associated with increased prescription of advertised products and there is substantial impact on patients' request for specific drugs and physicians' confidence in prescribing. No additional benefits in terms of health outcomes were demonstrated. Discussion: Direct to consumer advertising is banned in most countries, and the research evidence tends to support the negative impact that is feared by those who support a legislative ban. Further research is needed into the clinical and economic impact of direct to consumer advertising in healthcare systems. PMID:16076787

Strategies to Make Ramadan Fasting Safer in Type 2 Diabetics: A Systematic Review and Network Meta-analysis of Randomized Controlled Trials and Observational Studies.

PubMed

Lee, Shaun Wen Huey; Lee, Jun Yang; Tan, Christina San San; Wong, Chee Piau

2016-01-01

Ramadan is the holy month for Muslims whereby they fast from predawn to after sunset and is observed by all healthy Muslim adults as well as a large population of type 2 diabetic Muslims.To determine the comparative effectiveness of various strategies that have been used for type 2 diabetic Muslim who fast during Ramadan.A systematic review and network meta-analysis of randomized controlled studies (RCT) as well as observational studies for patients with type 2 diabetes who fasted during Ramadan was conducted. Eight databases were searched from January 1980 through October 2015 for relevant studies. Two reviewers independently screened and assessed study for eligibility, assessed the risk of bias, and extracted relevant data. A network meta-analysis for each outcome was fitted separately, combining direct and indirect evidence for each comparison.Twenty-nine studies, 16 RCTs and 13 observational studies each met the inclusion criteria. The most common strategy used was drug changes during the Ramadan period, which found that the use of DPP-4 (Dipeptidyl peptidase inhibitor -4) inhibitors were associated with a reduction in incidence of experiencing hypoglycemia during Ramadan in both RCTs (pooled relative risk: 0.56; 95% confidence interval: 0.44-0.72) as well as in observational studies (pooled relative risk: 0.27; 0.09-0.75). Ramadan-focused education was shown to be beneficial in reducing hypoglycemia in observational studies but not RCTs (0.25 versus 1.00). Network meta-analyses suggest that incretin mimetics can reduce the risk of hypoglycemia by nearly 1.5 times.The newer antidiabetic agents appear to lower the risk of hypoglycemia and improved glycemic control when compared with sulfonylureas. Ramadan-focused education shows to be a promising strategy but more rigorous examination from RCTs are required.

The new moon illusion and the role of perspective in the perception of straight and parallel lines.

PubMed

Rogers, Brian; Naumenko, Olga

2015-01-01

In the new moon illusion, the sun does not appear to be in a direction perpendicular to the boundary between the lit and dark sides of the moon, and aircraft jet trails appear to follow curved paths across the sky. In both cases, lines that are physically straight and parallel to the horizon appear to be curved. These observations prompted us to investigate the neglected question of how we are able to judge the straightness and parallelism of extended lines. To do this, we asked observers to judge the 2-D alignment of three artificial "stars" projected onto the dome of the Saint Petersburg Planetarium that varied in both their elevation and their separation in horizontal azimuth. The results showed that observers make substantial, systematic errors, biasing their judgments away from the veridical great-circle locations and toward equal-elevation settings. These findings further demonstrate that whenever information about the distance of extended lines or isolated points is insufficient, observers tend to assume equidistance, and as a consequence, their straightness judgments are biased toward the angular separation of straight and parallel lines.

Atmospheric effects in astroparticle physics experiments and the challenge of ever greater precision in measurements

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Louedec, Karim

2015-01-01

Astroparticle physics and cosmology allow us to scan the universe through multiple messengers. It is the combination of these probes that improves our understanding of the universe, both in its composition and its dynamics. Unlike other areas in science, research in astroparticle physics has a real originality in detection techniques, in infrastructure locations, and in the observed physical phenomenon that is not created directly by humans. It is these features that make the minimisation of statistical and systematic errors a perpetual challenge. In all these projects, the environment is turned into a detector medium or a target. The atmosphere is probably the environment component the most common in astroparticle physics and requires a continuous monitoring of its properties to minimise as much as possible the systematic uncertainties associated. This paper introduces the different atmospheric effects to take into account in astroparticle physics measurements and provides a non-exhaustive list of techniques and instruments to monitor the different elements composing the atmosphere. A discussion on the close link between astroparticle physics and Earth sciences ends this paper.

Systematics of Rydberg Series of Diatomic Molecules and Correlation Diagrams

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lee, Chun-Woo

2015-06-01

Rydberg states are studied for H2, Li2, HeH, LiH and BeH using the multi-reference configuration interaction (MRCI) method. The systematics and regularities of the physical properties such as potential energies curves (PECs), quantum defect curves, permanent dipole moment and transition dipole moment curves of the Rydberg series are studied. They are explained using united atom perturbation theory by Bingel and Byers-Brown, Fermi model, Stark theory, and Mulliken's theory. Interesting mirror relationships of the dipole moments are observed between l-mixed Rydberg series, indicating that the members of the l-mixed Rydberg series have dipole moments with opposite directions, which are related to the reversal of the polarity of a dipole moment at the avoided crossing points. The assignment of highly excited states is difficult because of the usual absence of the knowledge on the behaviors of potential energy curves at small internuclear separation whereby the correlation between the united atom limit and separated atoms limit cannot be given. All electron MRCI calculations of PECs are performed to obtain the correlation diagrams between Rydberg orbitals at the united-atom and separated atoms limits.

Influence of organizational factors on safety

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

Haber, S.B.; Metlay, D.S.; Crouch, D.A.

There is a need for a better understanding of exactly how organizational management factors at a nuclear power plant (NPP) affect plant safety performance, either directly or indirectly, and how these factors might be observed, measured, and evaluated. The purpose of this research project is to respond to that need by developing a general methodology for characterizing these organizational and management factors, systematically collecting information on their status and integrating that information into various types of evaluative activities. Research to date has included the development of the Nuclear Organization and Management Analysis Concept (NOMAC) of a NPP, the identification ofmore » key organizational and management factors, and the identification of the methods for systematically measuring and analyzing the influence of these factors on performance. Most recently, two field studies, one at a fossil fuel plant and the other at a NPP, were conducted using the developed methodology. Results are presented from both studies highlighting the acceptability, practicality, and usefulness of the methods used to assess the influence of various organizational and management factors including culture, communication, decision-making, standardization, and oversight. 6 refs., 3 figs., 1 tab.« less

Systematic Functional Analysis of Active-Site Residues in l-Threonine Dehydrogenase from Thermoplasma volcanium

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

Desjardins, Morgan; Mak, Wai Shun; O’Brien, Terrence E.

Enzymes have been through millions of years of evolution during which their active-site microenvironments are fine-tuned. Active-site residues are commonly conserved within protein families, indicating their importance for substrate recognition and catalysis. In this work, we systematically mutated active-site residues of l-threonine dehydrogenase from Thermoplasma volcanium and characterized the mutants against a panel of substrate analogs. Our results demonstrate that only a subset of these residues plays an essential role in substrate recognition and catalysis and that the native enzyme activity can be further enhanced roughly 4.6-fold by a single point mutation. Kinetic characterization of mutants on substrate analogs showsmore » that l-threonine dehydrogenase possesses promiscuous activities toward other chemically similar compounds not previously observed. Quantum chemical calculations on the hydride-donating ability of these substrates also reveal that this enzyme did not evolve to harness the intrinsic substrate reactivity for enzyme catalysis. Our analysis provides insights into connections between the details of enzyme active-site structure and specific function. Finally, these results are directly applicable to rational enzyme design and engineering.« less

What works in family planning interventions: A systematic review of the evidence

PubMed Central

Mwaikambo, Lisa; Speizer, Ilene S.; Schurmann, Anna; Morgan, Gwen; Fikree, Fariyal

2013-01-01

This study presents findings from a systematic review of evaluations of family planning interventions published between 1995 and 2008. Studies that used an experimental or quasi-experimental design or had another way to attribute program exposure to observed changes in fertility or family planning outcomes at the individual or population levels were included and ranked by strength of evidence. A total of 63 studies were found that met the inclusion criteria. The findings from this review are summarized in tabular format by the type of intervention (classified as supply-side or demand-side). About two-thirds of the studies found were on demand generation type-programs. Findings from all programs revealed significant improvements in knowledge, attitudes, discussion, and intentions. Program impacts on contraceptive use and use of family planning services were less consistently found and less than half of the studies that measured fertility or pregnancy-related outcomes found an impact. Based on the review findings, we identify promising programmatic approaches and propose directions for future evaluation research of family planning interventions. PMID:21834409

A Procedural Electroencephalogram Simulator for Evaluation of Anesthesia Monitors.

PubMed

Petersen, Christian Leth; Görges, Matthias; Massey, Roslyn; Dumont, Guy Albert; Ansermino, J Mark

2016-11-01

Recent research and advances in the automation of anesthesia are driving the need to better understand electroencephalogram (EEG)-based anesthesia end points and to test the performance of anesthesia monitors. This effort is currently limited by the need to collect raw EEG data directly from patients. A procedural method to synthesize EEG signals was implemented in a mobile software application. The application is capable of sending the simulated signal to an anesthesia depth of hypnosis monitor. Systematic sweeps of the simulator generate functional monitor response profiles reminiscent of how network analyzers are used to test electronic components. Three commercial anesthesia monitors (Entropy, NeuroSENSE, and BIS) were compared with this new technology, and significant response and feature variations between the monitor models were observed; this includes reproducible, nonmonotonic apparent multistate behavior and significant hysteresis at light levels of anesthesia. Anesthesia monitor response to a procedural simulator can reveal significant differences in internal signal processing algorithms. The ability to synthesize EEG signals at different anesthetic depths potentially provides a new method for systematically testing EEG-based monitors and automated anesthesia systems with all sensor hardware fully operational before human trials.

[Effect of food television advertising on the preference and food consumption: systematic review].

PubMed

Díaz Ramírez, G; Souto-Gallardo, M C; Bacardí Gascón, M; Jiménez-Cruz, A

2011-01-01

The aim of this study was to perform a systematic review of papers that assess the effect of television food advertisings (TFA) in the food preferences and consumption in different age groups. Randomized clinical trials published up to November 2010 were searched in Pubmed, Ebsco, Cochrane and Scielo. Studies were included if they assessed the effect of direct exposition to TFA over the food preferences, demand, and consumption. Ten studies fulfilled the inclusion criteria. In the three studies conducted on preschooler children an increase in selection and demand of advertized foods was reported. All the fives studies conducted on scholar children reported negative outcomes in those children exposed to unhealthy food. An increase on food consumption was observed in two of the three studies conducted on adults. The assess studies show that in pre-school and school children the effect of advertising on food consumption was consistent, while in adults there is a trend toward an strong association of exposure food advertising and preference, consumption and demand of the food advertised.

Systematic Functional Analysis of Active-Site Residues in l-Threonine Dehydrogenase from Thermoplasma volcanium

DOE PAGES

Desjardins, Morgan; Mak, Wai Shun; O’Brien, Terrence E.; ...

2017-07-07

Enzymes have been through millions of years of evolution during which their active-site microenvironments are fine-tuned. Active-site residues are commonly conserved within protein families, indicating their importance for substrate recognition and catalysis. In this work, we systematically mutated active-site residues of l-threonine dehydrogenase from Thermoplasma volcanium and characterized the mutants against a panel of substrate analogs. Our results demonstrate that only a subset of these residues plays an essential role in substrate recognition and catalysis and that the native enzyme activity can be further enhanced roughly 4.6-fold by a single point mutation. Kinetic characterization of mutants on substrate analogs showsmore » that l-threonine dehydrogenase possesses promiscuous activities toward other chemically similar compounds not previously observed. Quantum chemical calculations on the hydride-donating ability of these substrates also reveal that this enzyme did not evolve to harness the intrinsic substrate reactivity for enzyme catalysis. Our analysis provides insights into connections between the details of enzyme active-site structure and specific function. Finally, these results are directly applicable to rational enzyme design and engineering.« less

Oral Cancer around Dental Implants Appearing in Patients with\\without a History of Oral or Systemic Malignancy: a Systematic Review.

PubMed

Pinchasov, Ginnady; Haimov, Haim; Druseikaite, Monika; Pinchasov, Daniel; Astramskaite, Inesa; Sarikov, Rafael; Juodzbalys, Gintaras

2017-01-01

The purpose of this article is to systematically review the circumstance of oral cancer around osseointegrated dental implants. An electronic literature search was conducted through the MEDLINE (PubMed) and EMBASE databases. The search was restricted for articles published during the last 21 years from January 1996 to April 2017 and articles were limited to English language. A total of 35 articles were reviewed, and 19 of the most relevant articles that are suitable to the criteria were selected. Case reports were analysed when oral cancer was present in patients with dental implants. Finally, the present data included 28 patients. A direct link between dental implants and oral cancer was not found. It was observed that there were no significant differences in number of incidences of oral cancer between patients with history of malignancy and those without. More research should be made to document such cases. It was noticed that in many cases oral cancer around dental implant present itself as peri-implantitis, correct differential diagnosis is essential in such cases.

Vamos a Traducir los MRV (let's translate the VRM): linguistic and cultural inferences drawn from translating a verbal coding system from English into Spanish.

PubMed

Caro, I; Stiles, W B

1997-01-01

Translating a verbal coding system from one language to another can yield unexpected insights into the process of communication in different cultures. This paper describes the problems and understandings we encountered as we translated a verbal response modes (VRM) taxonomy from English into Spanish. Standard translations of text (e.g., psychotherapeutic dialogue) systematically change the form of certain expressions, so supposedly equivalent expressions had different VRM codings in the two languages. Prominent examples of English forms whose translation had different codes in Spanish included tags, question forms, and "let's" expressions. Insofar as participants use such forms to convey nuances of their relationship, standard translations of counseling or psychotherapy sessions or other conversations may systematically misrepresent the relationship between the participants. The differences revealed in translating the VRM system point to subtle but important differences in the degrees of verbal directiveness and inclusion in English versus Spanish, which converge with other observations of differences in individualism and collectivism between Anglo and Hispanic cultures.

How the cosmic web induces intrinsic alignments of galaxies

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Codis, S.; Dubois, Y.; Pichon, C.; Devriendt, J.; Slyz, A.

2016-10-01

Intrinsic alignments are believed to be a major source of systematics for future generation of weak gravitational lensing surveys like Euclid or LSST. Direct measurements of the alignment of the projected light distribution of galaxies in wide field imaging data seem to agree on a contamination at a level of a few per cent of the shear correlation functions, although the amplitude of the effect depends on the population of galaxies considered. Given this dependency, it is difficult to use dark matter-only simulations as the sole resource to predict and control intrinsic alignments. We report here estimates on the level of intrinsic alignment in the cosmological hydrodynamical simulation Horizon-AGN that could be a major source of systematic errors in weak gravitational lensing measurements. In particular, assuming that the spin of galaxies is a good proxy for their ellipticity, we show how those spins are spatially correlated and how they couple to the tidal field in which they are embedded. We will also present theoretical calculations that illustrate and qualitatively explain the observed signals.

EFFECTS OF A PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT PROGRAM ON BEHAVIORAL ENGAGEMENT OF STUDENTS IN MIDDLE AND HIGH SCHOOL

PubMed Central

GREGORY, ANNE; ALLEN, JOSEPH P.; MIKAMI, AMORI Y.; HAFEN, CHRISTOPHER A.; PIANTA, ROBERT C.

2017-01-01

Student behavioral engagement is a key condition supporting academic achievement, yet student disengagement in middle and high schools is all too common. The current study used a randomized controlled design to test the efficacy of the My Teaching Partner-Secondary program to increase behavioral engagement. The program offers teachers personalized coaching and systematic feedback on teachers’ interactions with students, based on systematic observation of videorecordings of teacher-student interactions in the classroom. The study found that intervention teachers had significantly higher increases, albeit to a modest degree, in student behavioral engagement in their classrooms after 1 year of involvement with the program compared to the teachers in the control group (explaining 4% of variance). In exploratory analyses, two dimensions of teachers’ interactions with students—their focus on analysis and problem solving during instruction and their use of diverse instructional learning formats—acted as mediators of increased student engagement. The findings offer implications for new directions in teacher professional development and for understanding the classroom as a setting for adolescent development. PMID:28232767

Reaching to virtual targets: The oblique effect reloaded in 3-D.

PubMed

Kaspiris-Rousellis, Christos; Siettos, Constantinos I; Evdokimidis, Ioannis; Smyrnis, Nikolaos

2017-02-20

Perceiving and reproducing direction of visual stimuli in 2-D space produces the visual oblique effect, which manifests as increased precision in the reproduction of cardinal compared to oblique directions. A second cognitive oblique effect emerges when stimulus information is degraded (such as when reproducing stimuli from memory) and manifests as a systematic distortion where reproduced directions close to the cardinal axes deviate toward the oblique, leading to space expansion at cardinal and contraction at oblique axes. We studied the oblique effect in 3-D using a virtual reality system to present a large number of stimuli, covering the surface of an imaginary half sphere, to which subjects had to reach. We used two conditions, one with no delay (no-memory condition) and one where a three-second delay intervened between stimulus presentation and movement initiation (memory condition). A visual oblique effect was observed for the reproduction of cardinal directions compared to oblique, which did not differ with memory condition. A cognitive oblique effect also emerged, which was significantly larger in the memory compared to the no-memory condition, leading to distortion of directional space with expansion near the cardinal axes and compression near the oblique axes on the hemispherical surface. This effect provides evidence that existing models of 2-D directional space categorization could be extended in the natural 3-D space. Copyright © 2016 IBRO. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Non-Steroidal Anti-inflammatory Drugs As Host-Directed Therapy for Tuberculosis: A Systematic Review

PubMed Central

Kroesen, Vera M.; Gröschel, Matthias I.; Martinson, Neil; Zumla, Alimuddin; Maeurer, Markus; van der Werf, Tjip S.; Vilaplana, Cristina

2017-01-01

Lengthy, antimicrobial therapy targeting the pathogen is the mainstay of conventional tuberculosis treatment, complicated by emerging drug resistances. Host-directed therapies, including non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs), in contrast, target host factors to mitigate disease severity. In the present Systematic Review, we investigate whether NSAIDs display any effects as therapy of TB and discuss possible mechanisms of action of NSAIDs as adjunctive therapy of TB. Ten studies, seven preclinical studies in mice and three clinical trials, were included and systematically reviewed. Our results point toward a beneficial effect of NSAIDs as adjunct to current TB therapy regimens, mediated by decreased lung pathology balancing host-immune reaction. The determination of the best timing for their administration in order to obtain the potential beneficial effects needs further investigation. Even if the preclinical evidence requires clinical evaluation, NSAIDs might represent a potential safe, simple, and cheap improvement in therapy of TB. PMID:28713389

A Comparison of Systematic Desensitization and Directed Masturbation in the Treatment of Primary Orgasmic Dysfunction in Females

PubMed Central

Andersen, Barbara L.

2009-01-01

Thirty subjects seeking treatment for primary inorgasmia accompanied by sexual anxiety or aversion were assigned to one of three groups: systematic desensitization (SD), directed masturbation (DM), or waiting list control (WL). Following treatment, subjects were retested, and the WL group then received directed masturbation treatment. A third testing constituted a follow-up for the SD and DM groups and a posttreatment testing for the WL. Both treatments were equally effective in improving subjects’ sexual self-acceptance and increasing sexual pleasure. Changes in anxiety were negligible; however, sexual arousal and orgasm for DM and WL subjects increased. The gains of the WL group not only replicated the findings of the DM group but also were of greater magnitude. PMID:6114968

Crop Damage by Primates: Quantifying the Key Parameters of Crop-Raiding Events

PubMed Central

Wallace, Graham E.; Hill, Catherine M.

2012-01-01

Human-wildlife conflict often arises from crop-raiding, and insights regarding which aspects of raiding events determine crop loss are essential when developing and evaluating deterrents. However, because accounts of crop-raiding behaviour are frequently indirect, these parameters are rarely quantified or explicitly linked to crop damage. Using systematic observations of the behaviour of non-human primates on farms in western Uganda, this research identifies number of individuals raiding and duration of raid as the primary parameters determining crop loss. Secondary factors include distance travelled onto farm, age composition of the raiding group, and whether raids are in series. Regression models accounted for greater proportions of variation in crop loss when increasingly crop and species specific. Parameter values varied across primate species, probably reflecting differences in raiding tactics or perceptions of risk, and thereby providing indices of how comfortable primates are on-farm. Median raiding-group sizes were markedly smaller than the typical sizes of social groups. The research suggests that key parameters of raiding events can be used to measure the behavioural impacts of deterrents to raiding. Furthermore, farmers will benefit most from methods that discourage raiding by multiple individuals, reduce the size of raiding groups, or decrease the amount of time primates are on-farm. This study demonstrates the importance of directly relating crop loss to the parameters of raiding events, using systematic observations of the behaviour of multiple primate species. PMID:23056378

Effectiveness of influenza vaccination for preventing influenza-related complications in people with asthma: a systematic review protocol

PubMed Central

Vasileiou, Eleftheria; Sheikh, Aziz; Butler, Chris; von Wissmann, Beatrix; McMenamin, Jim; Ritchie, Lewis; Tian, Lilly; Simpson, Colin

2016-01-01

Introduction Influenza vaccination is administered annually as a preventive measure against influenza infection and influenza-related complications in high-risk individuals, such as those with asthma. However, the effectiveness of influenza vaccination in people with asthma against influenza-related complications is still not well established. Methods and analysis We will search the following databases: MEDLINE (Ovid), EMBASE (Ovid), Cumulative Index to Nursing and Allied Health Literature (CINAHL), Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials (CENTRAL), Scopus, Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews (CDSR), Web of Science Core Collection, Science direct, WHO Library Information System (WHOLIS), Global Health Library and Chinese databases (CNKI, Wanfang and ChongQing VIP) from Jan 1970 to Jan 2016 for observational and experimental studies on effectiveness of influenza vaccine in people with asthma. The identification of studies will be complemented with the searching of the reference lists and citations, and contacting influenza vaccine manufacturers to identify unpublished or ongoing studies. Two reviewers will extract data and appraise the quality of each study independently. Separate meta-analyses will be undertaken for observational and experimental evidence using fixed-effect or random-effects models, as appropriate. Ethics and dissemination Formal ethical approval is not required, as primary data will not be collected. The review will be disseminated in peer-reviewed publications and conference presentations. PMID:27026658

Predicting Vaccination Intention and Benefit and Risk Perceptions: The Incorporation of Affect, Trust, and Television Influence in a Dual-Mode Model.

PubMed

Chen, Nien-Tsu Nancy

2015-07-01

Major health behavior change models tend to consider health decisions as primarily resulting from a systematic appraisal of relevant beliefs, such as the perceived benefits and risks of a pharmacological intervention. Drawing on research from the disciplines of risk management, communication, and psychology, this study proposed the inclusion of a heuristic route in established theory and tested the direction of influence between heuristic and systematic process variables. Affect and social trust were included as key heuristics in the proposed dual-mode framework of health decision making. Furthermore, exposure to health-related coverage on television was considered potentially influential over both heuristic and systematic process variables. To test this framework, data were collected from a national probability sample of 584 adults in the United States in 2012 regarding their decision to vaccinate against a hypothetical avian flu. The results provided some support for the bidirectional influence between heuristic and systematic processing. Affect toward flu vaccination and trust in the Food and Drug Administration were found to be powerful predictors of vaccination intention, enhancing intention both directly and indirectly via certain systematic process variables. The direction of influence between perceived susceptibility and severity, on the one hand, and affect, on the other, is less clear, suggesting the need for further research. Contrary to the opinion of media critics, exposure to televised health coverage was negatively associated with the perceived risks of vaccination. Results from this study carry theoretical and practical implications, and applying this model to the acceptance of different health interventions constitutes an area for future inquiries. © 2015 Society for Risk Analysis.

Direct observation of atomic-scale origins of local dissolution in Al-Cu-Mg alloys

PubMed Central

Zhang, B.; Wang, J.; Wu, B.; Oguzie, E. E.; Luo, K.; Ma, X. L.

2016-01-01

Atomistic chemical inhomogeneities are anticipated to induce dissimilarities in surface potentials, which control corrosion initiation of alloys at the atomic scale. Precise understanding of corrosion is therefore hampered by lack of definite information describing how atomistic heterogeneities regulate the process. Here, using high-angle annular dark-field (HAADF) scanning transmission electron microscope (STEM) and electron energy loss spectroscopy (EELS) techniques, we systematically analyzed the Al20Cu2Mn3 second phase of 2024Al and successfully observed that atomic-scale segregation of Cu at defect sites induced preferential dissolution of the adjacent zones. We define an “atomic-scale galvanic cell”, composed of zones rich in Cu and its surrounding matrix. Our findings provide vital information linking atomic-scale microstructure and pitting mechanism, particularly for Al-Cu-Mg alloys. The resolution achieved also enables understanding of dealloying mechanisms and further streamlines our comprehension of the concept of general corrosion. PMID:28000750

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

Zhang, Cheng-Long; Xu, Su-Yang; Belopolski, Ilya

Weyl semimetals provide the realization of Weyl fermions in solid-state physics. Among all the physical phenomena that are enabled by Weyl semimetals, the chiral anomaly is the most unusual one. Here, we report signatures of the chiral anomaly in the magneto-transport measurements on the first Weyl semimetal TaAs. We show negative magnetoresistance under parallel electric and magnetic fields, that is, unlike most metals whose resistivity increases under an external magnetic field, we observe that our high mobility TaAs samples become more conductive as a magnetic field is applied along the direction of the current for certain ranges of the fieldmore » strength. We present systematically detailed data and careful analyses, which allow us to exclude other possible origins of the observed negative magnetoresistance. Finally, our transport data, corroborated by photoemission measurements, first-principles calculations and theoretical analyses, collectively demonstrate signatures of the Weyl fermion chiral anomaly in the magneto-transport of TaAs.« less

Finite mass enhancement across bandwidth controlled Mott transition in NiS2-xSex

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Han, Garam; Kyung, W. S.; Kim, Y. K.; Cheng, C. M.; Tsuei, K. D.; Lee, K. D.; Hur, N.; Kim, H.-D.; Kim, C.

One of the most important and still debated issues in the strongly correlated electron systems is on the metal insulator transition (MIT) mechanism. In the bandwidth controlled Mott transition (BCMT) scenario, which Mott originally proposed, MIT occurs through a mass divergence in which the effective mass of the quasi-particle (QP) diverges approaching the MIT. The interpretation is supported by dynamic mean field theory (DMFT) model calculations. However, few direct observations have been made yet due to various experimental restrictions. In this talk, I present systematic angle resolved photoemission studies on the MIT in NiS2-xSex, which is a well-known BCMT material. We observed not only the bandwidth shrinkage but also the coherent quasi-particle peak (QP) which is not of the surface origin. In addition, we experimentally showed the mass of the QP remains finite approaching the MIT. This work was supported by IBS-R009-D1.

Toolbox of assessment tools of technical skills in otolaryngology-head and neck surgery: A systematic review.

PubMed

Labbé, Mathilde; Young, Meredith; Nguyen, Lily H P

2017-10-08

To support the development of programs of assessment of technical skills in the operating room (OR), we systematically reviewed the literature to identify assessment tools specific to otolaryngology-head and neck surgery (OTL-HNS) core procedures and summarized their characteristics. We systematically searched Embase, MEDLINE, PubMed, and Cochrane to identify and report on assessment tools that can be used to assess residents' technical surgical skills in the operating room for OTL-HNS core procedures. Of the 736 unique titles retrieved, 16 articles met inclusion criteria, covering 11 different procedures (in otology, rhinology, laryngology, head and neck, and general otolaryngology). The tools were composed of a task-specific checklist and/or global rating scale and were developed in the OR, on human cadavers, or in a simulation setting. Our study reports on published tools for assessing technical skills for OTL-HNS residents during core procedures conducted in the OR. These assessment tools could facilitate the provision of timely feedback to trainees including specific goals for improvement. However, the paucity of publications suggests little agreement on how to best perform work-based direct-observation assessment for core surgical procedures in OTL-HNS. The sparsity of tools specific to OTL-HNS may become a barrier to a fluid transition to competency-based medical education. Laryngoscope, 2017. © 2017 The American Laryngological, Rhinological and Otological Society, Inc.

Evaluation of a rule-based method for epidemiological document classification towards the automation of systematic reviews.

PubMed

Karystianis, George; Thayer, Kristina; Wolfe, Mary; Tsafnat, Guy

2017-06-01

Most data extraction efforts in epidemiology are focused on obtaining targeted information from clinical trials. In contrast, limited research has been conducted on the identification of information from observational studies, a major source for human evidence in many fields, including environmental health. The recognition of key epidemiological information (e.g., exposures) through text mining techniques can assist in the automation of systematic reviews and other evidence summaries. We designed and applied a knowledge-driven, rule-based approach to identify targeted information (study design, participant population, exposure, outcome, confounding factors, and the country where the study was conducted) from abstracts of epidemiological studies included in several systematic reviews of environmental health exposures. The rules were based on common syntactical patterns observed in text and are thus not specific to any systematic review. To validate the general applicability of our approach, we compared the data extracted using our approach versus hand curation for 35 epidemiological study abstracts manually selected for inclusion in two systematic reviews. The returned F-score, precision, and recall ranged from 70% to 98%, 81% to 100%, and 54% to 97%, respectively. The highest precision was observed for exposure, outcome and population (100%) while recall was best for exposure and study design with 97% and 89%, respectively. The lowest recall was observed for the population (54%), which also had the lowest F-score (70%). The generated performance of our text-mining approach demonstrated encouraging results for the identification of targeted information from observational epidemiological study abstracts related to environmental exposures. We have demonstrated that rules based on generic syntactic patterns in one corpus can be applied to other observational study design by simple interchanging the dictionaries aiming to identify certain characteristics (i.e., outcomes, exposures). At the document level, the recognised information can assist in the selection and categorization of studies included in a systematic review. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Multiple Flux Footprints, Flux Divergences and Boundary Layer Mixing Ratios: Studies of Ecosystem-Atmosphere CO2 Exchange Using the WLEF Tall Tower.

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Davis, K. J.; Bakwin, P. S.; Yi, C.; Cook, B. D.; Wang, W.; Denning, A. S.; Teclaw, R.; Isebrands, J. G.

2001-05-01

Long-term, tower-based measurements using the eddy-covariance method have revealed a wealth of detail about the temporal dynamics of netecosystem-atmosphere exchange (NEE) of CO2. The data also provide a measure of the annual net CO2 exchange. The area represented by these flux measurements, however, is limited, and doubts remain about possible systematic errors that may bias the annual net exchange measurements. Flux and mixing ratio measurements conducted at the WLEF tall tower as part of the Chequamegon Ecosystem-Atmosphere Study (ChEAS) allow for unique assessment of the uncertainties in NEE of CO2. The synergy between flux and mixing ratio observations shows the potential for comparing inverse and eddy-covariance methods of estimating NEE of CO2. Such comparisons may strengthen confidence in both results and begin to bridge the huge gap in spatial scales (at least 3 orders of magnitude) between continental or hemispheric scale inverse studies and kilometer-scale eddy covariance flux measurements. Data from WLEF and Willow Creek, another ChEAS tower, are used to estimate random and systematic errors in NEE of CO2. Random uncertainty in seasonal exchange rates and the annual integrated NEE, including both turbulent sampling errors and variability in enviromental conditions, is small. Systematic errors are identified by examining changes in flux as a function of atmospheric stability and wind direction, and by comparing the multiple level flux measurements on the WLEF tower. Nighttime drainage is modest but evident. Systematic horizontal advection occurs during the morning turbulence transition. The potential total systematic error appears to be larger than random uncertainty, but still modest. The total systematic error, however, is difficult to assess. It appears that the WLEF region ecosystems were a small net sink of CO2 in 1997. It is clear that the summer uptake rate at WLEF is much smaller than that at most deciduous forest sites, including the nearby Willow Creek site. The WLEF tower also allows us to study the potential for monitoring continental CO2 mixing ratios from tower sites. Despite concerns about the proximity to ecosystem sources and sinks, it is clear that boundary layer CO2 mixing ratios can be monitored using typical surface layer towers. Seasonal and annual land-ocean mixing ratio gradients are readily detectable, providing the motivation for a flux-tower based mixing ratio observation network that could greatly improve the accuracy of inversion-based estimates of NEE of CO2, and enable inversions to be applied on smaller temporal and spatial scales. Results from the WLEF tower illustrate the degree to which local flux measurements represent interannual, seasonal and synoptic CO2 mixing ratio trends. This coherence between fluxes and mixing ratios serves to "regionalize" the eddy-covariance based local NEE observations.

Comparisons of GLM and LMA Observations

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Thomas, R. J.; Krehbiel, P. R.; Rison, W.; Stanley, M. A.; Attanasio, A.

2017-12-01

Observations from 3-dimensional VHF lightning mapping arrays (LMAs) provide a valuable basis for evaluating the spatial accuracy and detection efficiencies of observations from the recently launched, optical-based Geosynchronous Lightning Mapper (GLM). In this presentation, we describe results of comparing the LMA and GLM observations. First, the observations are compared spatially and temporally at the individual event (pixel) level for sets of individual discharges. For LMA networks in Florida, Colorado, and Oklahoma, the GLM observations are well correlated time-wise with LMA observations but are systematically offset by one- to two pixels ( 10 to 15 or 20 km) in a southwesterly direction from the actual lightning activity. The graphical comparisons show a similar location uncertainty depending on the altitude at which the scattered light is emitted from the parent cloud, due to being observed at slant ranges. Detection efficiencies (DEs) can be accurately determined graphically for intervals where individual flashes in a storm are resolved time-wise, and DEs and false alarm rates can be automated using flash sorting algorithms for overall and/or larger storms. This can be done as a function of flash size and duration, and generally shows high detection rates for larger flashes. Preliminary results during the May 1 2017 ER-2 overflight of Colorado storms indicate decreased detection efficiency if the storm is obscured by an overlying cloud layer.

α-decay systematics for superheavy elements

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Duarte, S. B.; Teruya, N.

2012-01-01

In this Brief Report we extend the α-decay half-life calculation to the superheavy emitter region to verify whether these nuclei satisfy the recently observed systematics [D. N. Poenaru , Phys. Rev. CPRVCAN0556-281310.1103/PhysRevC.83.014601 83, 014601 (2011);C. Qi , Phys. Rev. CPRVCAN0556-281310.1103/PhysRevC.80.044326 80, 044326 (2009)]. To establish the systematics, we have used the α-cluster potential description, which was originally developed to study α decay in connection with nuclear energy level structure [B. Buck , Phys. Rev. CPRVCAN0556-281310.1103/PhysRevC.51.559 51, 559 (1995)]. The quantum-mechanical tunneling calculation has been employed to obtain the half-lives, showing that with this treatment the systematics are well reproduced in the region of heavy nuclei. Finally, the half-life calculation has been extended to the superheavy emitters to verify whether the systematics can still be observed.

SYSTEMATIC EFFECTS IN POLARIZING FOURIER TRANSFORM SPECTROMETERS FOR COSMIC MICROWAVE BACKGROUND OBSERVATIONS

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

Nagler, Peter C.; Tucker, Gregory S.; Fixsen, Dale J.

The detection of the primordial B-mode polarization signal of the cosmic microwave background (CMB) would provide evidence for inflation. Yet as has become increasingly clear, the detection of a such a faint signal requires an instrument with both wide frequency coverage to reject foregrounds and excellent control over instrumental systematic effects. Using a polarizing Fourier transform spectrometer (FTS) for CMB observations meets both of these requirements. In this work, we present an analysis of instrumental systematic effects in polarizing FTSs, using the Primordial Inflation Explorer (PIXIE) as a worked example. We analytically solve for the most important systematic effects inherentmore » to the FTS—emissive optical components, misaligned optical components, sampling and phase errors, and spin synchronous effects—and demonstrate that residual systematic error terms after corrections will all be at the sub-nK level, well below the predicted 100 nK B-mode signal.« less

Antisymmetric vortex interactions in the wake behind a step cylinder

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Tian, Cai; Jiang, Fengjian; Pettersen, Bjørnar; Andersson, Helge I.

2017-10-01

Flow around a step cylinder at the Reynolds number 150 was simulated by directly solving the full Navier-Stokes equations. The configuration was adopted from the work of Morton and Yarusevych ["Vortex shedding in the wake of a step cylinder," Phys. Fluids 22, 083602 (2010)], in which the wake dynamics were systematically described. A more detailed investigation of the vortex dislocation process has now been performed. Two kinds of new loop vortex structures were identified. Additionally, antisymmetric vortex interactions in two adjacent vortex dislocation processes were observed and explained. The results in this letter serve as a supplement for a more thorough understanding of the vortex dynamics in the step cylinder wake.

VLA observations of hydrogen in HCG 18

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

Williams, B.A.; Van gorkom, J.H.

1988-02-01

Images are presented of the neutral hydrogen (H I) in the direction of the compact group of galaxies HCG 18. This H I emission is identified with a single cloud, centered on the galaxies b, c, and d and smoothly distributed over a region twice the size of the compact group. The cloud appears to be in regular rotation with a period no longer than 8 x 10 to the 8th yr. The systematic velocity of the gas lies within 1 sigma of the mean velocity of the group; however, the cloud is not clearly associated with any particular galaxy,more » but surrounds all three, which may be one irregular galaxy. 17 references.« less

Wetting Hysteresis at the Molecular Scale

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Jin, Wei; Koplik, Joel; Banavar, Jayanth R.

1996-01-01

The motion of a fluid-fluid-solid contact line on a rough surface is well known to display hysteresis in the contact angle vs. velocity relationship. In order to understand the phenomenon at a fundamental microscopic level, we have conducted molecular dynamics computer simulations of a Wilhelmy plate experiment in which a solid surface is dipped into a liquid bath, and the force-velocity characteristics are measured. We directly observe a systematic variation of force and contact angle with velocity, which is single-valued for the case of an atomically smooth solid surface. In the microscopically rough case, however, we find (as intuitively expected) an open hysteresis loop. Further characterization of the interface dynamics is in progress.

Electric field control of magnetoresistance in InP nanowires with ferromagnetic contacts.

PubMed

Zwanenburg, F A; van der Mast, D W; Heersche, H B; Kouwenhoven, L P; Bakkers, E P A M

2009-07-01

We demonstrate electric field control of sign and magnitude of the magnetoresistance in InP nanowires with ferromagnetic contacts. The sign change in the magnetoresistance is directly correlated with a sign change in the transconductance. Additionally, the magnetoresistance is shown to persist at such a high bias that Coulomb blockade has been lifted. We also observe the magnetoresistance when one of the ferromagnets is replaced by a nonmagnetic metal. We conclude that it must be induced by a single ferromagnetic contact, and that spin transport can be ruled out as the origin. Our results emphasize the importance of a systematic investigation of spin-valve devices in order to discriminate between ambiguous interpretations.

Comparative analysis of quantitative methodologies for Vibrionaceae biofilms.

PubMed

Chavez-Dozal, Alba A; Nourabadi, Neda; Erken, Martina; McDougald, Diane; Nishiguchi, Michele K

2016-11-01

Multiple symbiotic and free-living Vibrio spp. grow as a form of microbial community known as a biofilm. In the laboratory, methods to quantify Vibrio biofilm mass include crystal violet staining, direct colony-forming unit (CFU) counting, dry biofilm cell mass measurement, and observation of development of wrinkled colonies. Another approach for bacterial biofilms also involves the use of tetrazolium (XTT) assays (used widely in studies of fungi) that are an appropriate measure of metabolic activity and vitality of cells within the biofilm matrix. This study systematically tested five techniques, among which the XTT assay and wrinkled colony measurement provided the most reproducible, accurate, and efficient methods for the quantitative estimation of Vibrionaceae biofilms.

Quasi-particle energies and optical excitations of hydrogenated and fluorinated germanene.

PubMed

Shu, Huabing; Li, Yunhai; Wang, Shudong; Wang, Jinlan

2015-02-14

Using density functional theory, the G0W0 method and Bethe-Salpeter equation calculations, we systematically explore the structural, electronic and optical properties of hydrogenated and fluorinated germanene. The hydrogenated/fluorinated germanene tends to form chair and zigzag-line configurations and its electronic and optical properties show close geometry dependence. The chair hydrogenated/fluorinated and zigzag-line fluorinated germanene are direct band-gap semiconductors, while the zigzag-line hydrogenated germanene owns an indirect band-gap. Moreover, the quasi-particle corrections are significant and strong excitonic effects with large exciton binding energies are observed. Moreover, the zigzag-line hydrogenated/fluorinated germanene shows highly anisotropic optical responses, which may be used as a good optical linear polarizer.

Boron Isotopic Composition Correlates with Ultra-Structure in a - Sea Coral Lophelia Pertusa: Implications for Biomineralization and - PH

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Blamart, D.; Rollion-Bard, C.; Meibom, A.; Cuif, J.; Juillet-Leclerc, A.; Dauphin, Y.; Douarin, M.

2007-12-01

The geochemistry (stable isotopes and trace elements) of biogenic carbonates has been widely used for more than fifty years to reconstruct past climatic variability. During this time, the studies were mainly based on bulk sampling limiting sometimes the interpretations of the geochemical data as paleoclimatic proxies. Recently, high spatial resolution sampling techniques, such as micro-mill and SIMS, have been employed in the study of C, O and B isotopic compositions and trace elements (Mg, Sr) in the skeletons of a variety of (deep-sea) coral species. These studies have documented dramatic 'vital effects' and uncovered a systematic relationship between skeletal ultra-structure and stable isotopic composition. The formation of skeleton corals follows a universal two-step growth process. At the tips of the skeletal structures, the mineralizing cell layer produces centers of calcification (COC) or, equivalently, Early Mineralization Zone (EMZ). These EMZ are subsequently overgrown by fibrous aragonite(FA) consisting of cyclically added layers. The EMZ are characterized by systematically lighter C and O isotopic compositions compared with the adjacent FA. A number of geochemical models have been proposed, in which this systematic stable isotopic difference between EMZ and FA is ascribed to a biologically induced variation in the pH of a proposed Extra-cytoplasmic Calcifying Fluid (ECF) reservoir. In these models, relatively high pH conditions during the formation of EMZ result in relatively light C and O isotopic compositions compared with FA, which form under generally lower pH conditions. A direct test of such models would be possible if the Boron isotopic composition, which is pH sensitive, of EMZ and FA could be measured. We performed ion microprobe d11B measurements for EMZ and FA in Lophelia pertusa, a deep-sea coral common in the North-East Atlantic Ocean. We observe a systematic difference in B isotopic composition between the EMZ and FA skeleton. In EMZ, the measured δ11B values are consistently low. Fibrous aragonite is characterized by systematically higher d11B values, but also display B isotopic heterogeneity associated with specific growth bands in the calyx wall. The magnitude of the observed B isotopic variations cannot be explained by changes in environmental conditions and are likely caused by biological processes involved in the biomineralization of new skeleton; i.e. 'vital' effects. The observed B isotopic variations are opposite to the predictions of geochemical models for vital effects. Our data indicate that pH variations are not responsible for the observed stable isotopic fractionations. Geochemical models therefore do not provide an adequate framework within which to understand coral skeletal formation. Without a better understanding of these processes, which require experiments, the use of B isotopic composition to reconstruct paleo-pH variations in the oceans must be considered problematic - at least as far as Lophelia pertusa is concerned.

Severe infection in patients with rheumatoid arthritis taking anakinra, rituximab, or abatacept: a systematic review of observational studies.

PubMed

Cabral, Vanderlea Poeys; Andrade, Carlos Augusto Ferreira de; Passos, Sonia Regina Lambert; Martins, Maria de Fátima Moreira; Hökerberg, Yara Hahr Marques

A question is raised about an increased risk of severe infection from the use of biological drugs in patients with rheumatoid arthritis. This systematic review of observational studies aimed at assessing the risk of severe infection associated with the use of anakinra, rituximab, and abatacept in patients with rheumatoid arthritis. The following databases were searched: PubMed, Science Direct, Scopus, Web of Knowledge, Scirus, Cochrane, Exerpta Medica Database, Scielo, and Lilacs up to July 2010. Severe infections were defined as those life-threatening ones in need of the use of parenteral antibiotics or of hospitalization. Longitudinal observational studies were selected without language restriction, involving adult patients diagnosed with rheumatoid arthritis and who used anakinra, rituximab, or abatacept. In four studies related to anakinra, 129 (5.1%) severe infections were related in 2896 patients, of which three died. With respect to rituximab, two studies reported 72 (5.9%) severe infections in 1224 patients, of which two died. Abatacept was evaluated in only one study in which 25 (2.4%) severe infections were reported in 1046 patients. The main site of infection for these three drugs was the respiratory tract. One possible explanation for the high frequency of severe infections associated with anakinra may be the longer follow-up time in the selected studies. The high frequency of severe infections associated with rituximab could be credited to the less strict inclusion criteria for the patients studied. Therefore, infection monitoring should be cautious in patients with rheumatoid arthritis in use of these three drugs. Copyright © 2016. Published by Elsevier Editora Ltda.

Incorporating GOES Satellite Photosynthetically Active Radiation (PAR) Retrievals to Improve Biogenic Emission Estimates in Texas

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhang, Rui; White, Andrew T.; Pour Biazar, Arastoo; McNider, Richard T.; Cohan, Daniel S.

2018-01-01

This study examines the influence of insolation and cloud retrieval products from the Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite (GOES) system on biogenic emission estimates and ozone simulations in Texas. Compared to surface pyranometer observations, satellite-retrieved insolation and photosynthetically active radiation (PAR) values tend to systematically correct the overestimation of downwelling shortwave radiation in the Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF) model. The correlation coefficient increases from 0.93 to 0.97, and the normalized mean error decreases from 36% to 21%. The isoprene and monoterpene emissions estimated by the Model of Emissions of Gases and Aerosols from Nature are on average 20% and 5% less, respectively, when PAR from the direct satellite retrieval is used rather than the control WRF run. The reduction in biogenic emission rates using satellite PAR reduced the predicted maximum daily 8 h ozone concentration by up to 5.3 ppbV over the Dallas-Fort Worth (DFW) region on some days. However, episode average ozone response is less sensitive, with a 0.6 ppbV decrease near DFW and 0.3 ppbV increase over East Texas. The systematic overestimation of isoprene concentrations in a WRF control case is partially corrected by using satellite PAR, which observes more clouds than are simulated by WRF. Further, assimilation of GOES-derived cloud fields in WRF improved CAMx model performance for ground-level ozone over Texas. Additionally, it was found that using satellite PAR improved the model's ability to replicate the spatial pattern of satellite-derived formaldehyde columns and aircraft-observed vertical profiles of isoprene.

Stepping Stones Triple P-Positive Parenting Program for children with disability: a systematic review and meta-analysis.

PubMed

Tellegen, Cassandra L; Sanders, Matthew R

2013-05-01

This systematic review and meta-analysis evaluated the treatment effects of a behavioral family intervention, Stepping Stones Triple P (SSTP) for parents of children with disabilities. SSTP is a system of five intervention levels of increasing intensity and narrowing population reach. Twelve studies, including a total of 659 families, met eligibility criteria. Studies needed to have evaluated SSTP, be written in English or German, contribute original data, and have sufficient data for analyses. No restrictions were placed on study design. A series of meta-analyses were performed for seven different outcome categories. Analyses were conducted on the combination of all four levels of SSTP for which evidence exists (Levels 2-5), and were also conducted separately for each level of SSTP. Significant moderate effect sizes were found for all levels of SSTP for reducing child problems, the primary outcome of interest. On secondary outcomes, significant overall effect sizes were found for parenting styles, parenting satisfaction and efficacy, parental adjustment, parental relationship, and observed child behaviors. No significant treatment effects were found for observed parenting behaviors. Moderator analyses showed no significant differences in effect sizes across the levels of SSTP intervention, with the exception of child observations. Risk of bias within and across studies was assessed. Analyses suggested that publication bias and selective reporting bias were not likely to have heavily influenced the findings. The overall evidence base supported the effectiveness of SSTP as an intervention for improving child and parent outcomes in families of children with disabilities. Limitations and future research directions are discussed. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

A systematic review of observational studies on oxidative/nitrosative stress involvement in dengue pathogenesis

PubMed Central

Pinzón, Hernando Samuel; Alvis-Guzman, Nelson

2015-01-01

Objective: Our objective was to systematically review the published observational research related to the role of oxidative-nitrosative stress in pathogenesis of dengue. Methods: We searched electronic databases (PubMed, EMBASE, The COCHRANE library, ScienceDirect, Scopus, SciELO, LILACS via Virtual Health Library, Google Scholar) using the term: dengue, dengue virus, severe dengue, oxidative stress, nitrosative stress, antioxidants, oxidants, free radicals, oxidized lipid products, lipid peroxides, nitric oxide, and nitric oxide synthase. Articles were selected for review by title and abstract excluding letter, review, in vivo and in vitro studies, and duplicates studies. Selected articles were reviewed for study design, original purposes, sample size, main outcomes, methods, and oxidative-nitrosative stress markers values. Results: In total, 4,331 non-duplicates articles were identified from electronic databases searches, of which 16 were eligible for full text searching. Data from the observational studies originate from Asian countries (50%; 8/16), South American countries (31.2%; 5/16), and Central America and the Caribbean countries (18.8%; 3/16). Case-control study was the type of design most common in researches reviewed. The 1997 World Health Organization (WHO) dengue case classification criteria were used in all studies included in this review. Conclusions: Based on published data found in peer-reviewed literature, oxidative and nitrosative stress are demonstrated by changes in plasma levels of nitric oxide, antioxidants, lipid peroxidation and protein oxidation markers in patients with dengue infection. Additionally, elevated serum protein carbonyls and malondialdehyde levels appear to be associated with dengue disease severity. PMID:26600629

Two different regimes of anomalous walker circulation over the Indian and Pacific Oceans before and after the late 1970s

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kawamura, Ryuichi; Aruga, Hiromitsu; Matsuura, Tomonori; Iizuka, Satoshi

Using the National Centers for Environmental Prediction/National Center for Atmospheric Research reanalysis data aided by a coupled ocean-atmosphere model, we investigated two different regimes of anomalous Walker circulation system over the Pacific and Indian Oceans before and after a climate shift, which occurred in the late 1970s. During the period before the climate shift, an upper-level velocity potential anomaly systematically moves eastward from the tropical Indian Ocean to the warm pool region of the western Pacific during the growth phase of El Niño-Southern Oscillation (ENSO). In the meantime, the activities of South Asian and Australian summer monsoon systems are directly affected by the evolution of the anomalous Walker circulation. During the period after the climate shift, in contrast, an upperlevel velocity potential anomaly in the vicinity of the Philippine Sea and maritime continent is observed to expand westward into the northern Indian Ocean and South Asia during the decay phase of ENSO. This feature is identified with a major precursory signal of an anomalous South Asian summer monsoon in the preceding spring. The model captures a systematic eastward propagation similar to that observed prior to the late 1970s, but fails to reproduce the westward extension of the velocity potential anomaly observed to prevail after the late 1970s. The model results suggest that the cross-basin connection between the two oceans is a prerequisite for the turnabout of ENSO prior to the climate shift, in terms of the occurrence of westerly wind bursts.

Does Secondary School Size Make a Difference? A Systematic Review

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Newman, M.; Garrett, Z.; Elbourne, D.; Bradley, S.; Noden, P.; Taylor, J.; West, A.

2006-01-01

There is a vast body of literature on school size but comparatively few high quality empirical studies comparing outcomes in schools of different sizes. This systematic review synthesizes the results of the published research from 31 studies on the effects of secondary school size from OECD countries since 1990. Overall the directions and patterns…

The esa earth explorer land surface processes and interactions mission

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Labandibar, Jean-Yves; Jubineau, Franck; Silvestrin, Pierluigi; Del Bello, Umberto

2017-11-01

The European Space Agency (ESA) is defining candidate missions for Earth Observation. In the class of the Earth Explorer missions, dedicated to research and pre-operational demonstration, the Land Surface Processes and Interactions Mission (LSPIM) will acquire the accurate quantitative measurements needed to improve our understanding of the nature and evolution of biosphere-atmosphere interactions and to contribute significantly to a solution of the scaling problems for energy, water and carbon fluxes at the Earth's surface. The mission is intended to provide detailed observations of the surface of the Earth and to collect data related to ecosystem processes and radiation balance. It is also intended to address a range of issues important for environmental monitoring, renewable resources assessment and climate models. The mission involves a dedicated maneuvering satellite which provides multi-directional observations for systematic measurement of Land Surface BRDF (BiDirectional Reflectance Distribution Function) of selected sites on Earth. The satellite carries an optical payload : PRISM (Processes Research by an Imaging Space Mission), a multispectral imager providing reasonably high spatial resolution images (50 m over 50 km swath) in the whole optical spectral domain (from 450 nm to 2.35 μm with a resolution close to 10 nm, and two thermal bands from 8.1 to 9.1 μm). This paper presents the results of the Phase A study awarded by ESA, led by ALCATEL Space Industries and concerning the design of LSPIM.

High-altitude closed magnetic loops at Mars observed by MAVEN

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Xu, Shaosui; Mitchell, David; Luhmann, Janet; Ma, Yingjuan; Fang, Xiaohua; Harada, Yuki; Hara, Takuya; Brain, David; Webber, Tristan; Mazelle, Christian; DiBraccio, Gina A.

2017-10-01

With electron and magnetic field data obtained by the Mars Atmosphere and Volatile EvolutioN (MAVEN) spacecraft, we have identified closed magnetic field lines, with both footpoints embedded in the dayside ionosphere, extending up to 6200 km altitude (2.8 $R_m$) into the Martian tail. This topology is deduced from photoelectrons produced in the dayside ionosphere being observed in both parallel and anti-parallel directions along the magnetic field line. At perpendicular pitch angles, cases with either solar wind electrons or photoelectrons have been found, indicative of different formation mechanisms of these closed loops. These large closed loops are predicted by MHD simulations. The case with field-aligned photoelectrons mixed with perpendicular solar wind electrons is likely to be associated with reconnection, while the case with photoelectrons in all directions are probably due to closed field lines being pulled back down tail. We have developed an automated algorithm for distinguishing photoelectrons from solar wind electrons in pitch angle resolved energy spectra. This allows us to systematically analyze the MAVEN database and map the spatial distribution and occurrence rate of these closed magnetic loops, ranging from a few percent to a few tens percent outside of the optical shadow and less than one percent within the wake. These observations can be used to investigate the general magnetic topology in the tail, which is relevant to ion escape, reconnection, and flux ropes.

The Spin and Orientation of Dark Matter Halos Within Cosmic Filaments

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhang, Youcai; Yang, Xiaohu; Faltenbacher, Andreas; Springel, Volker; Lin, Weipeng; Wang, Huiyuan

2009-11-01

Clusters, filaments, sheets, and voids are the building blocks of the cosmic web. Forming dark matter halos respond to these different large-scale environments, and this in turn affects the properties of galaxies hosted by the halos. It is therefore important to understand the systematic correlations of halo properties with the morphology of the cosmic web, as this informs both about galaxy formation physics and possible systematics of weak lensing studies. In this study, we present and compare two distinct algorithms for finding cosmic filaments and sheets, a task which is far less well established than the identification of dark matter halos or voids. One method is based on the smoothed dark matter density field and the other uses the halo distributions directly. We apply both techniques to one high-resolution N-body simulation and reconstruct the filamentary/sheet like network of the dark matter density field. We focus on investigating the properties of the dark matter halos inside these structures, in particular, on the directions of their spins and the orientation of their shapes with respect to the directions of the filaments and sheets. We find that both the spin and the major axes of filament halos with masses lsim1013 h -1 M sun are preferentially aligned with the direction of the filaments. The spins and major axes of halos in sheets tend to lie parallel to the sheets. There is an opposite mass dependence of the alignment strength for the spin (negative) and major (positive) axes, i.e. with increasing halo mass the major axis tends to be more strongly aligned with the direction of the filament, whereas the alignment between halo spin and filament becomes weaker with increasing halo mass. The alignment strength as a function of the distance to the most massive node halo indicates that there is a transit large-scale environment impact: from the two-dimensional collapse phase of the filament to the three-dimensional collapse phase of the cluster/node halo at small separation. Overall, the two algorithms for filament/sheet identification investigated here agree well with each other. The method based on halos alone can be easily adapted for use with observational data sets.

Income and obesity: what is the direction of the relationship? A systematic review and meta-analysis

PubMed Central

Kim, Tae Jun; von dem Knesebeck, Olaf

2018-01-01

Objective It was repeatedly shown that lower income is associated with higher risks for subsequent obesity. However, the perspective of a potential reverse causality is often neglected, in which obesity is considered a cause for lower income, when obese people drift into lower-income jobs due to labour–market discrimination and public stigmatisation. This review was performed to explore the direction of the relation between income and obesity by specifically assessing the importance of social causation and reverse causality. Design Systematic review and meta-analysis. Methods A systematic literature search was conducted in January 2017. The databases Medline, PsycINFO, Sociological Abstracts, International Bibliography of Social Sciences and Sociological Index were screened to identify prospective cohort studies with quantitative data on the relation between income and obesity. Meta-analytic methods were applied using random-effect models, and the quality of studies assessed with the Newcastle-Ottawa Scale. Results In total, 21 studies were eligible for meta-analysis. All included studies originated from either the USA (n=16), the UK (n=3) or Canada (n=2). From these, 14 studies on causation and 7 studies on reverse causality were found. Meta-analyses revealed that lower income is associated with subsequent obesity (OR 1.27, 95% CI 1.10 to 1.47; risk ratio 1.52, 95% CI 1.08 to 2.13), though the statistical significance vanished once adjusted for publication bias. Studies on reverse causality indicated a more consistent relation between obesity and subsequent income, even after taking publication bias into account (standardised mean difference −0.15, 95% CI −0.30 to 0.01). Sensitivity analyses implied that the association is influenced by obesity measurement, gender, length of observation and study quality. Conclusions Findings suggest that there is more consistent evidence for reverse causality. Therefore, there is a need to examine reverse causality processes in more detail to understand the relation between income and obesity. PROSPERO registration number 42016041296. PMID:29306894

Acculturation and obesity among migrant populations in high income countries – a systematic review

PubMed Central

2013-01-01

Background There is evidence to suggest that immigrant populations from low or medium-income countries to high income countries show a significant change in obesogenic behaviors in the host society, and that these changes are associated with acculturation. However, the results of studies vary depending on how acculturation is measured. The objective of this study is to systematically review the evidence on the relationship between acculturation - as measured with a standardized acculturation scale - and overweight/obesity among adult migrants from low/middle countries to high income countries. Methods A systematic review of relevant studies was undertaken using six EBSCOhost databases and following the Centre for Reviews and Dissemination’s Guidance for Undertaking Reviews in Health Care. Results The initial search identified 1135 potentially relevant publications, of which only nine studies met the selection criteria. All of the studies were from the US with migrant populations from eight different countries. Six studies employed bi-directional acculturation scales and three used uni-directional scales. Six studies indicated positive general associations between higher acculturation and body mass index (BMI), and three studies reported that higher acculturation was associated with lower BMI, as mainly among women. Conclusion Despite the small number of studies, a number of potential explanatory hypotheses were developed for these emerging patterns. The ‘Healthy Migrant Effect’ may diminish with greater acculturation as the host culture potentially promotes more unhealthy weight gain than heritage cultures. This appears particularly so for men and a rapid form of nutrition transition represents a likely contributor. The inconsistent results observed for women may be due to the interplay of cultural influences on body image, food choices and physical activity. That is, the Western ideal of a slim female body and higher values placed on physical activity and fitness may counteract the obesogenic food environment for female migrants. PMID:23663279

Pregnancy outcome and ultraviolet radiation; A systematic review

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

Megaw, Lauren, E-mail: lauren.megaw@ed.ac.uk

Background: Season and vitamin D are indirect and direct correlates of ultraviolet (UV) radiation and are associated with pregnancy outcomes. Further to producing vitamin D, UV has positive effects on cardiovascular and immune health that may support a role for UV directly benefitting pregnancy. Objectives: To investigate the effects of UV exposure on pregnancy; specifically fetal growth, preterm birth and hypertensive complications. Methods: We conducted a systematic review of Medline, EMBASE, DoPHER, Global Health, ProQuest Public Health, AustHealth Informit, SCOPUS and Google Scholar to identify 537 citations, 8 of which are included in this review. This review was registered onmore » PROSPERO and a. narrative synthesis is presented following PRISMA guidance. Results: All studies were observational and assessed at high risk of bias. Higher first trimester UV was associated with and improved fetal growth and increased hypertension in pregnancy. Interpretation is limited by study design and quality. Meta-analysis was precluded by the variety of outcomes and methods. Discussion: The low number of studies and risk of bias limit the validity of any conclusions. Environmental health methodological issues are discussed with consideration given to design and analytical improvements to further address this reproductive environmental health question. Conclusions: The evidence for UV having benefits for pregnancy hypertension and fetal growth is limited by the methodological approaches utilized. Future epidemiological efforts should focus on improving the methods of modeling and linking widely available environmental data to reproductive health outcomes. - Highlights: • Biologically plausible pathways support an association between ultraviolet radiation (UV) and pregnancy outcomes. • This study is the first systematic review of prevailing literature on the relationship between UV and singleton pregnancy outcomes. • It focuses on both substantive findings and the methodologies that were used. • Only seven studies met the search criteria and these were methodologically heterogeneous demonstrating a paucity of evidence. • Given the plausibility of the UV pathway, more studies examining this hypothesis are needed.« less

SU-F-J-47: Inherent Uncertainty in the Positional Shifts Determined by a Volumetric Cone Beam Imaging System

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

Giri, U; Ganesh, T; Saini, V

2016-06-15

Purpose: To quantify inherent uncertainty associated with a volumetric imaging system in its determination of positional shifts. Methods: The study was performed on an Elekta Axesse™ linac’s XVI cone beam computed tomography (CBCT) system. A CT image data set of a Penta- Guide phantom was used as reference image by placing isocenter at the center of the phantom.The phantom was placed arbitrarily on the couch close to isocenter and CBCT images were obtained. The CBCT dataset was matched with the reference image using XVI software and the shifts were determined in 6-dimensions. Without moving the phantom, this process was repeatedmore » 20 times consecutively within 30 minutes on a single day. Mean shifts and their standard deviations in all 6-dimensions were determined for all the 20 instances of imaging. For any given day, the first set of shifts obtained was kept as reference and the deviations of the subsequent 19 sets from the reference set were scored. Mean differences and their standard deviations were determined. In this way, data were obtained for 30 consecutive working days. Results: Tabulating the mean deviations and their standard deviations observed on each day for the 30 measurement days, systematic and random errors in the determination of shifts by XVI software were calculated. The systematic errors were found to be 0.03, 0.04 and 0.03 mm while random errors were 0.05, 0.06 and 0.06 mm in lateral, craniocaudal and anterio-posterior directions respectively. For rotational shifts, the systematic errors were 0.02°, 0.03° and 0.03° and random errors were 0.06°, 0.05° and 0.05° in pitch, roll and yaw directions respectively. Conclusion: The inherent uncertainties in every image guidance system should be assessed and baseline values established at the time of its commissioning. These shall be periodically tested as part of the QA protocol.« less

Continuing education for general practice. 2. Systematic learning from experience.

PubMed Central

al-Shehri, A; Stanley, I; Thomas, P

1993-01-01

Prompted by evidence that the recently-adopted arrangements for ongoing education among established general practitioners are unsatisfactory, the first of a pair of papers examined the theoretical basis of continuing education for general practice and proposed a model of self-directed learning in which the experience of established practitioners is connected, through the media of reading, reflection and audit, with competence for the role. In this paper a practical, systematic approach to self-directed learning by general practitioners is described based on the model. The contribution which appropriate participation in continuing medical education can make to enhancing learning from experience is outlined. PMID:8373649

29 CFR 500.105 - DOT standards adopted by the Secretary.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-07-01

... Act directly concerned with the management, maintenance, operation, or driving of motor vehicles..., agents, drivers, representatives and employees directly concerned with the installation and maintenance...) Inspection and maintenance of motor vehicles (Source: 49 CFR 398.7). Every person shall systematically...

Systematic Review of the Literature on Pain in Patients with Polytrauma Including Traumatic Brain Injury

PubMed Central

Dobscha, Steven K.; Clark, Michael E.; Morasco, Benjamin J.; Freeman, Michele; Campbell, Rose; Helfand, Mark

2010-01-01

Objective To review the literature addressing the assessment and management of pain in patients with polytraumatic injuries including traumatic brain injury (TBI) and blast-related headache, and to identify patient, clinician and systems factors associated with pain-related outcomes. Design Systematic review. Methods We conducted searches in MEDLINE of literature published from 1950 through July 2008. Due to a limited number of studies using controls or comparators, we included observational and rigorous qualitative studies. We systematically rated the quality of systematic reviews, cohort, and case-control design studies. Results One systematic review, 93 observational studies, and one qualitative research study met inclusion criteria. The literature search yielded no published studies that assessed measures of pain intensity or pain-related functional interference among patients with cognitive deficits due to TBI, that compared patients with blast-related headache with patients with other types of headache, or that assessed treatments for blast-related headache pain. Studies on the association between TBI severity and pain reported mixed findings. There was limited evidence that the following factors are associated with pain among TBI patients: severity, location, and multiplicity of injuries; insomnia; fatigue; depression; and post-traumatic stress disorder. Conclusions Very little evidence is currently available to guide pain assessment and treatment approaches in patients with polytrauma. Further research employing systematic observational as well as controlled intervention designs is clearly indicated. PMID:19818031

The epistemological function of Hill's criteria.

PubMed

Bird, Alexander

2011-10-01

This article outlines an epistemological framework for understanding how Hill's criteria may aid us in establishing a causal hypothesis (A causes B) in an observational study. We consider Hill's criteria in turn with respect to their ability or otherwise to exclude alternative hypotheses (B causes A; there is a common cause of A and B; there is no causal connection between A and B). We may classify Hill's criteria according to which of the alternative hypotheses they are able to exclude, and also on the basis of whether they relate to (a) evidence from within observational study or (b) evidence independent of that study. It is noted that no criterion is able to exclude the common cause hypothesis in a systematic way. Observational studies are typically weaker than experimental studies, since the latter can systematically exclude competing hypotheses, whereas observational studies lack a systematic way of ruling out the common cause hypothesis. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Assessing the burden of medical impoverishment by cause: a systematic breakdown by disease in Ethiopia.

PubMed

Verguet, Stéphane; Memirie, Solomon Tessema; Norheim, Ole Frithjof

2016-10-21

Out-of-pocket (OOP) medical expenses often lead to catastrophic expenditure and impoverishment in low- and middle-income countries. Yet, there has been no systematic examination of which specific diseases and conditions (e.g., tuberculosis, cardiovascular disease) drive medical impoverishment, defined as OOP direct medical costs pushing households into poverty. We used a cost and epidemiological model to propose an assessment of the burden of medical impoverishment in Ethiopia, i.e., the number of households crossing a poverty line due to excessive OOP direct medical expenses. We utilized disease-specific mortality estimates from the Global Burden of Disease study, epidemiological and cost inputs from surveys, and secondary data from the literature to produce a count of poverty cases due to OOP direct medical costs per specific condition. In Ethiopia, in 2013, and among 20 leading causes of mortality, we estimated the burden of impoverishment due to OOP direct medical costs to be of about 350,000 poverty cases. The top three causes of medical impoverishment were diarrhea, lower respiratory infections, and road injury, accounting for 75 % of all poverty cases. We present a preliminary attempt for the estimation of the burden of medical impoverishment by cause for high mortality conditions. In Ethiopia, medical impoverishment was notably associated with illness occurrence and health services utilization. Although currently used estimates are sensitive to health services utilization, a systematic breakdown of impoverishment due to OOP direct medical costs by cause can provide important information for the promotion of financial risk protection and equity, and subsequent design of health policies toward universal health coverage, reduction of direct OOP payments, and poverty alleviation.

Medical Care Costs Associated with Rheumatoid Arthritis in the US: A Systematic Literature Review and Meta-analysis.

PubMed

Hresko, Andrew; Lin, Jay; Solomon, Daniel H

2018-01-05

Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is a morbid, mortal and costly condition without a cure. Treatments for RA have expanded over the last two decades and direct medical costs may differ by types of treatments. There has not been a systematic literature review since the introduction of new RA treatments, including biologic disease modifying anti-rheumatic drugs (bDMARDs). We conducted a systematic literature review with meta-analysis of direct medical costs associated with RA cared for in the US since the marketing of the first bDMARD. Standard search strategies and sources were used and data were extracted independently by two reviewers. The methods and quality of included studies were assessed. Total direct medical costs as well as RA-specific costs were calculated using random effects meta-analysis. Subgroups of interest included Medicare patients and those using bDMARDs. We found 541 potentially relevant studies and 12 papers met the selection criteria. The quality of studies varied: 1/3 were poor, 1/3 were fair, and 1/3 were good. Total direct medical costs were estimated at $12,509 (95% CI $7,451-21,001) for all RA patients using any treatment regimen and $36,053 (95% CI $32,138-40,445) for bDMARD users. RA-specific costs were $3,723 (95% CI $2,408-5,762) for all RA patients using any treatment regimen and $20,262 (95% CI $17,480-23,487) for bDMARD users. The total and disease-specific direct medical costs of patients with RA is substantial. Among bDMARD users, cost of RA care is over half of all direct medical costs. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.

Antenatal interventions to reduce preterm birth: an overview of Cochrane systematic reviews

PubMed Central

2014-01-01

Background Several factors are associated with an increased risk of preterm birth (PTB); therefore, various interventions might have the potential to influence it. Due to the large number of interventions that address PTB, the objective of this overview is to summarise evidence from Cochrane reviews regarding the effects and safety of these different interventions. Methods We conducted a systematic literature search in the Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews. Included reviews should be based on randomised controlled trials comparing antenatal non-pharmacological and pharmacological interventions that directly or indirectly address PTB with placebo/no treatment or routine care in pregnant women at less than 37 completed weeks of gestation without signs of threatened preterm labour. We considered PTB at less than 37 completed weeks of gestation as the primary outcome. Results We included 56 Cochrane systematic reviews. Three interventions increased PTB risk significantly. Twelve interventions led to a statistically significant lower incidence of PTBs. However, this reduction was mostly observed in defined at-risk subgroups of pregnant women. The remaining antenatal interventions failed to prove a significant effect on PTB < 37 weeks, but some of them at least showed a positive effect in secondary outcomes (e.g., reduction in early PTBs). As an unintended result of this review, we identified 28 additional Cochrane reviews which intended to report on PTB < 37 weeks, but were not able to find any RCTs reporting appropriate data. Conclusions The possible effects of a diverse range of interventions on PTB have been evaluated in Cochrane systematic reviews. Few interventions have been demonstrated to be effective and a small number have been found to be harmful. For around half of the interventions evaluated, the Cochrane review concluded that there was insufficient evidence to provide sound recommendations for clinical practice. No RCT evidence is available for a number of potentially relevant interventions. PMID:24758148

Antenatal interventions to reduce preterm birth: an overview of Cochrane Systematic Reviews.

PubMed

Piso, Brigitte; Zechmeister-Koss, Ingrid; Winkler, Roman

2014-04-23

Several factors are associated with an increased risk of preterm birth (PTB); therefore, various interventions might have the potential to influence it. Due to the large number of interventions that address PTB, the objective of this overview is to summarise evidence from Cochrane reviews regarding the effects and safety of these different interventions. We conducted a systematic literature search in the Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews. Included reviews should be based on randomised controlled trials comparing antenatal non-pharmacological and pharmacological interventions that directly or indirectly address PTB with placebo/no treatment or routine care in pregnant women at less than 37 completed weeks of gestation without signs of threatened preterm labour. We considered PTB at less than 37 completed weeks of gestation as the primary outcome. We included 56 Cochrane systematic reviews. Three interventions increased PTB risk significantly. Twelve interventions led to a statistically significant lower incidence of PTBs. However, this reduction was mostly observed in defined at-risk subgroups of pregnant women. The remaining antenatal interventions failed to prove a significant effect on PTB < 37 weeks, but some of them at least showed a positive effect in secondary outcomes (e.g., reduction in early PTBs). As an unintended result of this review, we identified 28 additional Cochrane reviews which intended to report on PTB < 37 weeks, but were not able to find any RCTs reporting appropriate data. The possible effects of a diverse range of interventions on PTB have been evaluated in Cochrane systematic reviews. Few interventions have been demonstrated to be effective and a small number have been found to be harmful. For around half of the interventions evaluated, the Cochrane review concluded that there was insufficient evidence to provide sound recommendations for clinical practice. No RCT evidence is available for a number of potentially relevant interventions.

A New Approach for Obtaining Cosmological Constraints from Type Ia Supernovae using Approximate Bayesian Computation

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

Jennings, Elise; Wolf, Rachel; Sako, Masao

2016-11-09

Cosmological parameter estimation techniques that robustly account for systematic measurement uncertainties will be crucial for the next generation of cosmological surveys. We present a new analysis method, superABC, for obtaining cosmological constraints from Type Ia supernova (SN Ia) light curves using Approximate Bayesian Computation (ABC) without any likelihood assumptions. The ABC method works by using a forward model simulation of the data where systematic uncertainties can be simulated and marginalized over. A key feature of the method presented here is the use of two distinct metrics, the `Tripp' and `Light Curve' metrics, which allow us to compare the simulated data to the observed data set. The Tripp metric takes as input the parameters of models fit to each light curve with the SALT-II method, whereas the Light Curve metric uses the measured fluxes directly without model fitting. We apply the superABC sampler to a simulated data set ofmore » $$\\sim$$1000 SNe corresponding to the first season of the Dark Energy Survey Supernova Program. Varying $$\\Omega_m, w_0, \\alpha$$ and $$\\beta$$ and a magnitude offset parameter, with no systematics we obtain $$\\Delta(w_0) = w_0^{\\rm true} - w_0^{\\rm best \\, fit} = -0.036\\pm0.109$$ (a $$\\sim11$$% 1$$\\sigma$$ uncertainty) using the Tripp metric and $$\\Delta(w_0) = -0.055\\pm0.068$$ (a $$\\sim7$$% 1$$\\sigma$$ uncertainty) using the Light Curve metric. Including 1% calibration uncertainties in four passbands, adding 4 more parameters, we obtain $$\\Delta(w_0) = -0.062\\pm0.132$$ (a $$\\sim14$$% 1$$\\sigma$$ uncertainty) using the Tripp metric. Overall we find a $17$% increase in the uncertainty on $$w_0$$ with systematics compared to without. We contrast this with a MCMC approach where systematic effects are approximately included. We find that the MCMC method slightly underestimates the impact of calibration uncertainties for this simulated data set.« less

The Facilitators, Obstacles and Needs of Individuals with Autism Spectrum Conditions Accessing Further and Higher Education: A Systematic Review

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Toor, Nicky; Hanley, Terry; Hebron, Judith

2016-01-01

Many young adults diagnosed with autism spectrum conditions (ASC) intend to go to college and/or university, yet research suggests that these individuals find aspects of college and university life challenging. To explore the views of individuals directly affected by these challenges, a systematic review of the existing qualitative literature in…

New Evidence for a Substellar Luminosity Problem: Dynamical Mass for the Brown Dwarf Binary Gl 417BC

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Dupuy, Trent J.; Liu, Michael C.; Ireland, Michael J.

2014-08-01

We present new evidence for a problem with cooling rates predicted by substellar evolutionary models that implies that model-derived masses in the literature for brown dwarfs and directly imaged planets may be too high. Based on our dynamical mass for Gl 417BC (L4.5+L6) and a gyrochronology system age from its young, solar-type host star, commonly used models predict luminosities 0.2-0.4 dex lower than we observe. This corroborates a similar luminosity-age discrepancy identified in our previous work on the L4+L4 binary HD 130948BC, which coincidentally has nearly identical component masses (≈50-55 M Jup) and age (≈800 Myr) as Gl 417BC. Such a luminosity offset would cause systematic errors of 15%-25% in model-derived masses at this age. After comparing different models, including cloudless models that should not be appropriate for mid-L dwarfs like Gl 417BC and HD 130948BC but actually match their luminosities better, we speculate the observed overluminosity could be caused by opacity holes (i.e., patchy clouds) in these objects. Moreover, from hybrid substellar evolutionary models that account for cloud disappearance, we infer the corresponding phase of overluminosity may extend from a few hundred million years up to a few gigayears and cause masses to be overestimated by up to 25%, even well after clouds disappear from view entirely. Thus, the range of ages and spectral types affected by this potential systematic shift in luminosity evolution would encompass most known directly imaged gas-giants and field brown dwarfs. Data presented herein were obtained at the W. M. Keck Observatory, which is operated as a scientific partnership among the California Institute of Technology, the University of California, and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration. The Observatory was made possible by the generous financial support of the W. M. Keck Foundation.

Near-Fault Strong Ground Motions during the 2016 Kumamoto, Japan, Earthquake

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Iwata, T.; Asano, K.

2016-12-01

The 2016 Kumamoto mainshock (Mw7.0) produced a surface ruptured fault of about 20km long with maximum 2m offset, and identified as a surface ruptured event. Two strong motion records were observed near the surface ruptured fault at Mashiki town hall and Nishihara village hall. We investigated characteristics of those strong ground motions. As the acceleration records consisted of the baseline errors caused by nonzero initial acceleration and tilting of the accelerograph, we carefully removed the baseline errors (c.f. Chiu, 2001, Boore and Bommer, 2005) so as to obtain velocity and displacements. The observed permanent displacements were about 1.2m in horizontal direction and about 0.7m sinking in vertical direction at Mashiki town hall, and about 1.7m and 1.8m, respectively, at Nishihara village hall. Those permanent displacements almost coincide to results by GNSS and InSAR analysis (e.g., GSI, 2016). It takes about only 3 s to reach the permanent displacement. Somerville (2003) pointed out that ground motions from earthquakes producing large surface ruptures appeared to have systematically weaker ground motions than ground motions from earthquakes whose rupture were confined to the subsurface using the Ground Motion Prediction Equation (GMPE) for response spectra (Abrahamson and Silva, 1997). We calculated the response spectra of those records, compared them to the GMPE with the same manner and found two records were systematically larger than the expected from the GMPE in the period range of 0.3 s to 5 s. We need to re-consider the working hypothesis that the near-fault ground motions are weaker and to separate the near-fault and site effects on ground motions. Strong motions in the longer period range would be mainly caused by the near-fault (near-field term) effect.We used the acceleration data of the Kumamoto seismic intensity information network, provided by JMA.

The Social Science Observation Record: A Guide for Pre-service and In-service Teachers Participating in Microteaching.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Casteel, J. Doyle; Stahl, Robert J.

Systematic and reliable feedback are critical elements of microteaching. One system whereby pre-service and in-service teachers may obtain systematic and reliable feedback during microteaching is called the Social Science Observation Record (SSOR). This monograph is intended to meet three purposes: (1) To explain the SSOR as a verbal system for…

Effects of a Prototypical Training Program on the Implementation of Systematic Observational Data Collection on IEP Objectives for the Core Deficits of Autism Spectrum Disorders

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Harkins, Jessica L.

2013-01-01

Legal mandates and best practice recommendations for the education of students with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) emphasize the importance of systematic, ongoing observational data collection in order to monitor progress and demonstrate accountability. The absence of such documentation in decision-making on instructional objectives indicates a…

Top 10 Research Questions Related to Assessing Physical Activity and Its Contexts Using Systematic Observation

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

McKenzie, Thomas L.; van der Mars, Hans

2015-01-01

Numerous methods are available to assess physical activity (PA) but systematic observation (SO) excels in being able to provide contextually rich data on the setting in which the activity occurs. As SO is particularly useful for determining how activity is influenced by the immediate physical and social environments, its use is becoming more…

Thirty Years of Improving the NCEP Global Forecast System

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

White, G. H.; Manikin, G.; Yang, F.

2014-12-01

Current eight day forecasts by the NCEP Global Forecast System are as accurate as five day forecasts 30 years ago. This revolution in weather forecasting reflects increases in computer power, improvements in the assimilation of observations, especially satellite data, improvements in model physics, improvements in observations and international cooperation and competition. One important component has been and is the diagnosis, evaluation and reduction of systematic errors. The effect of proposed improvements in the GFS on systematic errors is one component of the thorough testing of such improvements by the Global Climate and Weather Modeling Branch. Examples of reductions in systematic errors in zonal mean temperatures and winds and other fields will be presented. One challenge in evaluating systematic errors is uncertainty in what reality is. Model initial states can be regarded as the best overall depiction of the atmosphere, but can be misleading in areas of few observations or for fields not well observed such as humidity or precipitation over the oceans. Verification of model physics is particularly difficult. The Environmental Modeling Center emphasizes the evaluation of systematic biases against observations. Recently EMC has placed greater emphasis on synoptic evaluation and on precipitation, 2-meter temperatures and dew points and 10 meter winds. A weekly EMC map discussion reviews the performance of many models over the United States and has helped diagnose and alleviate significant systematic errors in the GFS, including a near surface summertime evening cold wet bias over the eastern US and a multi-week period when the GFS persistently developed bogus tropical storms off Central America. The GFS exhibits a wet bias for light rain and a dry bias for moderate to heavy rain over the continental United States. Significant changes to the GFS are scheduled to be implemented in the fall of 2014. These include higher resolution, improved physics and improvements to the assimilation. These changes significantly improve the tropospheric flow and reduce a tropical upper tropospheric warm bias. One important error remaining is the failure of the GFS to maintain deep convection over Indonesia and in the tropical west Pacific. This and other current systematic errors will be presented.

Interventions to improve delivery of isoniazid preventive therapy: an overview of systematic reviews

PubMed Central

2014-01-01

Background Uptake of isoniazid preventive therapy (IPT) to prevent tuberculosis has been poor, particularly in the highest risk populations. Interventions to improve IPT delivery could promote implementation. The large number of existing systematic reviews on treatment adherence has made drawing conclusions a challenge. To provide decision makers with the evidence they need, we performed an overview of systematic reviews to compare different organizational interventions to improve IPT delivery as measured by treatment completion among those at highest risk for the development of TB disease, namely child contacts or HIV-infected individuals. Methods We searched the Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews, the Database of Abstracts of Reviews of Effects (DARE), and MEDLINE up to August 15, 2012. Two authors used a standardized data extraction form and the AMSTAR instrument to independently assess each review. Results Six reviews met inclusion criteria. Interventions included changes in the setting/site of IPT delivery, use of quality monitoring mechanisms (e.g., directly observed therapy), IPT delivery integration into other healthcare services, and use of lay health workers. Most reviews reported a combination of outcomes related to IPT adherence and treatment completion rate but without a baseline or comparison rate. Generally, we found limited evidence to demonstrate that the studied interventions improved treatment completion. Conclusions While most of the interventions were not shown to improve IPT completion, integration of tuberculosis and HIV services yielded high treatment completion rates in some settings. The lack of data from high burden TB settings limits applicability. Further research to assess different IPT delivery interventions, including those that address barriers to care in at-risk populations, is urgently needed to identify the most effective practices for IPT delivery and TB control in high TB burden settings. PMID:24886159

A systematic review of economic evaluation in pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma.

PubMed

Gérard, Claire; Fagnoni, Philippe; Vienot, Angélique; Borg, Christophe; Limat, Samuel; Daval, Franck; Calais, François; Vardanega, Julie; Jary, Marine; Nerich, Virginie

2017-11-01

The economic evaluation (EE) of healthcare interventions has become a necessity. However, high quality needs to be ensured in order to achieve validated results and help making informed decisions. Thus, the objective of the present study was to systematically identify and review published pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma-related EEs and to assess their quality. Systematic literature research was conducted in PubMed and Cochrane to identify published EEs between 2000 and 2015. The quality of each selected EE was assessed by two independent reviewers, using the Drummond's checklist. Our systematic review was based on 32 EEs and showed a wide variety of methodological approaches, including different perspectives, time horizon, and cost effectiveness analyses. Nearly two-thirds of EEs are full EEs (n = 21), and about one-third of EEs had a Drummond score ≥7, synonymous with 'high quality'. Close to 50% of full EEs had a Drummond score ≥7, whereas all of partial EEs had a Drummond score <7 (n = 11). Over the past 15 years, a lot of interest has been evinced over the EE of pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) and its direct impact on therapeutic advances in PDAC. To provide a framework for health care decision-making, to facilitate transferability and to lend credibility to health EEs, their quality must be improved. For the last 4 years, a tendency towards a quality improvement of these studies has been observed, probably coupled with a context of rational decision-making in health care, a better and wider spread of recommendations and thus, medical practitioners' full endorsement. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Systematic Satellite Observations of the Impact of Aerosols from Passive Volcanic Degassing on Local Cloud Properties

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Ebmeier, S.K.; Sayer, Andrew M.; Grainger, R. G.; Mather, T. A.; Carboni, E.

2014-01-01

The impact of volcanic emissions, especially from passive degassing and minor explosions, is a source of uncertainty in estimations of aerosol indirect effects. Observations of the impact of volcanic aerosol on clouds contribute to our understanding of both present-day atmospheric properties and of the pre-industrial baseline necessary to assess aerosol radiative forcing. We present systematic measurements over several years at multiple active and inactive volcanic islands in regions of low present-day aerosol burden. The timeaveraged indirect aerosol effects within 200 kilometers downwind of island volcanoes are observed using Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS, 2002-2013) and Advanced Along-Track Scanning Radiometer (AATSR, 2002- 2008) data. Retrievals of aerosol and cloud properties at Kilauea (Hawaii), Yasur (Vanuatu) and Piton de la Fournaise (la Reunion) are rotated about the volcanic vent to be parallel to wind direction, so that upwind and downwind retrievals can be compared. The emissions from all three volcanoes - including those from passive degassing, Strombolian activity and minor explosions - lead to measurably increased aerosol optical depth downwind of the active vent. Average cloud droplet effective radius is lower downwind of the volcano in all cases, with the peak difference ranging from 2 - 8 micrometers at the different volcanoes in different seasons. Estimations of the difference in Top of Atmosphere upward Short Wave flux upwind and downwind of the active volcanoes from NASA's Clouds and the Earth's Radiant Energy System (CERES) suggest a downwind elevation of between 10 and 45 Watts per square meter at distances of 150 - 400 kilometers from the volcano, with much greater local (less than 80 kilometers) effects. Comparison of these observations with cloud properties at isolated islands without degassing or erupting volcanoes suggests that these patterns are not purely orographic in origin. Our observations of unpolluted, isolated marine settings may capture processes similar to those in the pre-industrial marine atmosphere.

On Estimation Strategies in an Inverse ELF Problem

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Mushtak, Vadim; Williams, Earle; Boldi, Robert; Nagy, Tamas

2010-05-01

Since 1965 when Balser and Wagner, the pioneer ELF experimentalists, noticed the reflection of the properties of global lightning activity in their measurements, one of the most important and challenging tasks in the ELF research is the monitoring of the world-wide lightning activity from observations in the Schumann resonance (SR) frequency range (5 to about 40 Hz). Known attempts in this direction have been undertaken using a simplified theory of ELF propagation in a spherically symmetrical Earth-ionosphere cavity. Yet numerical simulations with more realistic ELF techniques show that incorporating into the theory the cavity's major asymmetry, the day/night one, not only improves the accuracy of the monitoring procedure, but also enhances its efficiency. The reason is that the presence of asymmetries provides - via the positions of sources and observer relative not only to each other, but also to the day/night terminator, - additional "dimensions" to the task in comparison with the symmetrical case, which, in its turn, improves the convergence of the inversion procedure. The realization of the theoretically achievable efficiency of such an inversion with real SR data depends critically on the quality of measurements. After collecting and analyzing ELF data from SR stations in various regions of the globe, it was found that even under seemingly most favorable experimental conditions the SR characteristics directly estimated from ELF observations rarely have a quality acceptable for use in the inversion. A three-stage rectifying algorithm has been developed and tested in the inversion procedure. In the first stage, the data - in the form of time series, - instead of being directly Fourier-transformed for estimating the SR characteristics, are divided into shorter segments, and histograms of the segments' energy content (EC) are considered for revealing the possible presence of various interferences and the "non-systematic" (i.e. not incorporated into the source model) components. On the basis of statistical properties of the EC histograms, "credibility diagrams" - the SR characteristics vs. the segments' EC threshold - are being computed and analyzed, the characteristics' stability (respectively, instability) with the threshold being an indicator of low (respectively, high) presence of the interference/non-systematic constituent. If the diagrams are not stable enough, a more detailed analysis is being carried out in the third stage for revealing and eliminating as far as possible the instability's cause. The efficiency of the rectifying procedure is demonstrated via an improved convergence of the inversion procedure with real-world data from a global network of SR stations in Europe, North America, Asia, and Antarctica. The authors are grateful to all the SR investigators who have provided their observations for use in this study.

Direct determination of resonance energy transfer in photolyase: structural alignment for the functional state.

PubMed

Tan, Chuang; Guo, Lijun; Ai, Yuejie; Li, Jiang; Wang, Lijuan; Sancar, Aziz; Luo, Yi; Zhong, Dongping

2014-11-13

Photoantenna is essential to energy transduction in photoinduced biological machinery. A photoenzyme, photolyase, has a light-harvesting pigment of methenyltetrahydrofolate (MTHF) that transfers its excitation energy to the catalytic flavin cofactor FADH¯ to enhance DNA-repair efficiency. Here we report our systematic characterization and direct determination of the ultrafast dynamics of resonance energy transfer from excited MTHF to three flavin redox states in E. coli photolyase by capturing the intermediates formed through the energy transfer and thus excluding the electron-transfer quenching pathway. We observed 170 ps for excitation energy transferring to the fully reduced hydroquinone FADH¯, 20 ps to the fully oxidized FAD, and 18 ps to the neutral semiquinone FADH(•), and the corresponding orientation factors (κ(2)) were determined to be 2.84, 1.53 and 1.26, respectively, perfectly matching with our calculated theoretical values. Thus, under physiological conditions and over the course of evolution, photolyase has adopted the optimized orientation of its photopigment to efficiently convert solar energy for repair of damaged DNA.

Action generation and action perception in imitation: an instance of the ideomotor principle.

PubMed Central

Wohlschläger, Andreas; Gattis, Merideth; Bekkering, Harold

2003-01-01

We review a series of behavioural experiments on imitation in children and adults that test the predictions of a new theory of imitation. Most of the recent theories of imitation assume a direct visual-to-motor mapping between perceived and imitated movements. Based on our findings of systematic errors in imitation, the new theory of goal-directed imitation (GOADI) instead assumes that imitation is guided by cognitively specified goals. According to GOADI, the imitator does not imitate the observed movement as a whole, but rather decomposes it into its separate aspects. These aspects are hierarchically ordered, and the highest aspect becomes the imitator's main goal. Other aspects become sub-goals. In accordance with the ideomotor principle, the main goal activates the motor programme that is most strongly associated with the achievement of that goal. When executed, this motor programme sometimes matches, and sometimes does not, the model's movement. However, the main goal extracted from the model movement is almost always imitated correctly. PMID:12689376

Impaired Velocity Processing Reveals an Agnosia for Motion in Depth.

PubMed

Barendregt, Martijn; Dumoulin, Serge O; Rokers, Bas

2016-11-01

Many individuals with normal visual acuity are unable to discriminate the direction of 3-D motion in a portion of their visual field, a deficit previously referred to as a stereomotion scotoma. The origin of this visual deficit has remained unclear. We hypothesized that the impairment is due to a failure in the processing of one of the two binocular cues to motion in depth: changes in binocular disparity over time or interocular velocity differences. We isolated the contributions of these two cues and found that sensitivity to interocular velocity differences, but not changes in binocular disparity, varied systematically with observers' ability to judge motion direction. We therefore conclude that the inability to interpret motion in depth is due to a failure in the neural mechanisms that combine velocity signals from the two eyes. Given these results, we argue that the deficit should be considered a prevalent but previously unrecognized agnosia specific to the perception of visual motion. © The Author(s) 2016.

Vacancy–Vacancy Interaction Induced Oxygen Diffusivity Enhancement in Undoped Nonstoichiometric Ceria

DOE PAGES

Yuan, Fenglin; Zhang, Yanwen; Weber, William J.

2015-05-19

In this paper, molecular dynamics simulations and molecular static calculations have been used to systematically study oxygen vacancy transport in undoped nonstoichiometric ceria. A strong oxygen diffusivity enhancement appears in the vacancy concentration range of 2–4% over the temperature range from 1000 to 2000 K. An Arrhenius ion diffusion mechanism by vacancy hopping along the (100) direction is unambiguously identified, and an increasing trend of both the oxygen migration barrier and the prefactor with increasing vacancy concentration is observed. Within the framework of classical diffusion theory, a weak concentration dependence of the prefactor in oxygen vacancy migration is shown tomore » be crucial for explaining the unusual fast oxygen ion migration in the low concentration range and consequently the appearance of a maximum in oxygen diffusivity. Finally, a representative (100) direction interaction model is constructed to identify long-range vacancy–vacancy interaction as the structural origin of the positive correlation between oxygen migration barrier and vacancy concentration.« less

Nonoscillatory behavior in the magnetoresistance of Cu/Ni superlattice (abstract)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Abdul-Razzaq, W.

1994-05-01

It was reported that in many magnetic/nonmagnetic metallic multilayered systems, the interlayer-coupling oscillates between antiferromagnetic and ferromagnetic upon increasing the thickness of the nonmagnetic layer. This was evident by the oscillation of the magnetoresistance (MR) in these materials. Recently however, Harp, Parkin et al.1 found that the MR and coupling strength change monotonically with increasing Cu thickness in Co/Cu multilayers deposited by MBE, contradicting results on similar samples made by sputtering in which the MR was oscillatory. In this study, we show that in the Cu/Ni superlattice made by sputtering, the MR varies monotonically with increasing Cu thickness. This nonoscillatory behavior was observed at room temperature and at 77 K and, regardless of the direction of the magnetic field in relation to the direction of the current. The resistivity at zero magnetic field as a function of temperature also changes systematically with reducing the Cu layer thickness. The nature of the magnetic state in Cu/Ni superlattice is discussed in light of the transport property measurements.

Seizure control as a new metric in assessing efficacy of tumor treatment in low-grade glioma trials

PubMed Central

Chamberlain, Marc; Schiff, David; Reijneveld, Jaap C.; Armstrong, Terri S.; Ruda, Roberta; Wen, Patrick Y.; Weller, Michael; Koekkoek, Johan A. F.; Mittal, Sandeep; Arakawa, Yoshiki; Choucair, Ali; Gonzalez-Martinez, Jorge; MacDonald, David R.; Nishikawa, Ryo; Shah, Aashit; Vecht, Charles J.; Warren, Paula; van den Bent, Martin J.; DeAngelis, Lisa M.

2017-01-01

Patients with low-grade glioma frequently have brain tumor–related epilepsy, which is more common than in patients with high-grade glioma. Treatment for tumor-associated epilepsy usually comprises a combination of surgery, anti-epileptic drugs (AEDs), chemotherapy, and radiotherapy. Response to tumor-directed treatment is measured primarily by overall survival and progression-free survival. However, seizure frequency has been observed to respond to tumor-directed treatment with chemotherapy or radiotherapy. A review of the current literature regarding seizure assessment for low-grade glioma patients reveals a heterogeneous manner in which seizure response has been reported. There is a need for a systematic approach to seizure assessment and its influence on health-related quality-of-life outcomes in patients enrolled in low-grade glioma therapeutic trials. In view of the need to have an adjunctive metric of tumor response in these patients, a method of seizure assessment as a metric in brain tumor treatment trials is proposed. PMID:27651472

Analysis of difference between direct and geodetic mass balance measurements at South Cascade Glacier, Washington

USGS Publications Warehouse

Krimmel, R.M.

1999-01-01

Net mass balance has been measured since 1958 at South Cascade Glacier using the 'direct method,' e.g. area averages of snow gain and firn and ice loss at stakes. Analysis of cartographic vertical photography has allowed measurement of mass balance using the 'geodetic method' in 1970, 1975, 1977, 1979-80, and 1985-97. Water equivalent change as measured by these nearly independent methods should give similar results. During 1970-97, the direct method shows a cumulative balance of about -15 m, and the geodetic method shows a cumulative balance of about -22 m. The deviation between the two methods is fairly consistent, suggesting no gross errors in either, but rather a cumulative systematic error. It is suspected that the cumulative error is in the direct method because the geodetic method is based on a non-changing reference, the bedrock control, whereas the direct method is measured with reference to only the previous year's summer surface. Possible sources of mass loss that are missing from the direct method are basal melt, internal melt, and ablation on crevasse walls. Possible systematic measurement errors include under-estimation of the density of lost material, sinking stakes, or poorly represented areas.

Role of laser irradiation in direct pulp capping procedures: a systematic review and meta-analysis.

PubMed

Javed, Fawad; Kellesarian, Sergio Varela; Abduljabbar, Tariq; Gholamiazizi, Elham; Feng, Changyong; Aldosary, Khaled; Vohra, Fahim; Romanos, Georgios E

2017-02-01

A variety of materials are available to treat exposed dental pulp by direct pulp capping. The healing response of the pulp is crucial to form a dentin bridge and seal off the exposed pulp. Studies have used lasers to stimulate the exposed pulp to form tertiary dentin. The aim of the present systematic review and meta-analysis was to evaluate the evidence on the effects of laser irradiation as an adjunctive therapy to stimulate healing after pulp exposure. A systematic literature search was conducted up to April 2016. A structured search using the keywords "Direct pulp capping," "Lasers," "Calcium hydroxide pulp capping," and "Resin pulp capping" was performed. Initially, 34 potentially relevant articles were identified. After removal of duplicates and screening by title, abstract, and full text when necessary, nine studies were included. Studies were assessed for bias and data were synthetized using a random-effects meta-analysis model. Six studies were clinical, and three were preclinical animal trials; the follow-up period ranged from 2 weeks to 54 months. More than two thirds of the included studies showed that laser therapy used as an adjunct for direct pulp capping was more effective in maintaining pulp vitality than conventional therapy alone. Meta-analysis showed that the success rate in the laser treatment group was significantly higher than the control group (log odds ratio = 1.737; 95 % confidence interval, 1.304-2.171). Lasers treatment of exposed pulps can improve the outcome of direct pulp capping procedures; a number of confounding factors may have influenced the outcomes of the included studies.

WE-AB-209-08: Novel Beam-Specific Adaptive Margins for Reducing Organ-At-Risk Doses

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

Tsang, H; Kamerling, CP; Ziegenhein, P

2016-06-15

Purpose: Current practice of using 3D margins in radiotherapy with high-energy photon beams provides larger-than-required target coverage. According to the photon depth-dose curve, target displacements in beam direction result in minute changes in dose delivered. We exploit this behavior by generating margins on a per-beam basis which simultaneously account for the relative distance of the target and adjacent organs-at-risk (OARs). Methods: For each beam, we consider only geometrical uncertainties of the target location perpendicular to beam direction. By weighting voxels based on its proximity to an OAR, we generate adaptive margins that yield similar overall target coverage probability and reducedmore » OAR dose-burden, at the expense of increased target volume. Three IMRT plans, using 3D margins and 2D per-beam margins with and without adaptation, were generated for five prostate patients with a prescription dose Dpres of 78Gy in 2Gy fractions using identical optimisation constraints. Systematic uncertainties of 1.1, 1.1, 1.5mm in the LR, SI, and AP directions, respectively, and 0.9, 1.1, 1.0mm for the random uncertainties, were assumed. A verification tool was employed to simulate the effects of systematic and random errors using a population size of 50,000. The fraction of the population that satisfies or violates a given DVH constraint was used for comparison. Results: We observe similar target coverage across all plans, with at least 97.5% of the population meeting the D98%>95%Dpres constraint. When looking at the probability of the population receiving D5<70Gy for the rectum, we observed median absolute increases of 23.61% (range, 2.15%–27.85%) and 6.97% (range, 0.65%–17.76%) using per-beam margins with and without adaptation, respectively, relative to using 3D margins. Conclusion: We observed sufficient and similar target coverage using per-beam margins. By adapting each per-beam margin away from an OAR, we can further reduce OAR dose without significantly lowering target coverage probability by irradiating more less-important tissues. This work is supported by Cancer Research UK under Programme C33589/A19908. Research at ICR is also supported by Cancer Research UK under Programme C33589/A19727 and NHS funding to the NIHR Biomedical Research Centre at RMH and ICR.« less

Systematics of constant roll inflation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Anguelova, Lilia; Suranyi, Peter; Wijewardhana, L. C. R.

2018-02-01

We study constant roll inflation systematically. This is a regime, in which the slow roll approximation can be violated. It has long been thought that this approximation is necessary for agreement with observations. However, recently it was understood that there can be inflationary models with a constant, and not necessarily small, rate of roll that are both stable and compatible with the observational constraint ns ≈ 1. We investigate systematically the condition for such a constant-roll regime. In the process, we find a whole new class of inflationary models, in addition to the known solutions. We show that the new models are stable under scalar perturbations. Finally, we find a part of their parameter space, in which they produce a nearly scale-invariant scalar power spectrum, as needed for observational viability.

Probing photoresponse of aligned single-walled carbon nanotube doped ultrathin MoS2.

PubMed

Wang, Rui; Wang, Tianjiao; Hong, Tu; Xu, Ya-Qiong

2018-08-24

We report a facile method to produce ultrathin molybdenum disulfide (MoS 2 ) hybrids with polarized near-infrared (NIR) photoresponses, in which horizontally-aligned single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWNTs) are integrated with single- and few-layer MoS 2 through a two-step chemical vapor deposition process. The photocurrent generation mechanisms in SWNT-MoS 2 hybrids are systematically investigated through wavelength- and polarization-dependent scanning photocurrent measurements. When the incident photon energy is above the direct bandgap of MoS 2 , isotropic photocurrent signals are observed, which can be primarily attributed to the direct bandgap transition in MoS 2 . In contrast, if the incident photon energy in the NIR region is below the direct bandgap of MoS 2 , the maximum photocurrent response occurs when the incident light is polarized in the direction along the SWNTs, indicating that photocurrent signals mainly result from the anisotropic absorption of SWNTs. More importantly, these two-dimensional (2D) hybrid structures inherit the electrical transport properties from MoS 2 , displaying n-type characteristics at a zero gate voltage. These fundamental studies provide a new way to produce ultrathin MoS 2 hybrids with inherited electrical properties and polarized NIR photoresponses, opening doors for engineering various 2D hybrid materials for future broadband optoelectronic applications.

Directing the osteoblastic and chondrocytic differentiations of mesenchymal stem cells: matrix vs. induction media

PubMed Central

He, Jing; Guo, Jianglong; Jiang, Bo; Yao, Ruijuan; Wu, Yao

2017-01-01

Abstract While both induction culture media and matrix have been reported to regulate the stem cell fate, little is known about which factor plays a more decisive role in directing the MSC differentiation lineage as well as the underlying mechanisms. To this aim, we seeded MSCs on HA-collagen and HA-synthetic hydrogel matrixes, which had demonstrated highly different potentials toward osteoblastic and chondrocytic differentiation lineages, respectively, and cultured them with osteogenic, chondrogenic and normal culture media, respectively. A systematic comparison has been carried out on the effects of induction media and matrix on MSC adhesion, cytoskeleton organization, proliferation, and in particular differentiation into the osteoblastic and chondrocytic lineages. The results demonstrated that the matrix selection had a much more profound effect on directing the differentiation lineage than the induction media did. The strong modulation effect on the transcription activities might be the critical factor contributing to the above observations in our study, where canonical Wnt-β-Catenin signal pathway was directly involved in the matrix-driven osteoblastic differentiation. Such findings not only provide a critical insight on natural cellular events leading to the osteoblastic and chondrocytic differentiations, but also have important implications in biomaterial design for tissue engineering applications. PMID:29026640

Self-assembled growth and structural analysis of inclined GaN nanorods on nanoimprinted m-sapphire using catalyst-free metal-organic chemical vapor deposition

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

Lee, Kyuseung; Chae, Sooryong; Jang, Jongjin

2016-04-15

In this study, self-assembled inclined (1-10-3)-oriented GaN nanorods (NRs) were grown on nanoimprinted (10-10) m-sapphire substrates using catalyst-free metal-organic chemical vapor deposition. According to X-ray phi-scans, the inclined GaN NRs were tilted at an angle of ∼57.5° to the [10-10]{sub sapp} direction. Specifically, the GaN NRs grew in a single inclined direction to the [11-20]{sub sapp}. Uni-directionally inclined NRs were formed through the one-sided (10-11)-faceted growth of the interfacial a-GaN plane layer. It was confirmed that a thin layer of a-GaN was formed on r-facet nanogrooves of the m-sapphire substrate by nitridation. The interfacial a-GaN nucleation affected both the inclinedmore » angle and the growth direction of the inclined GaN NRs. Using X-ray diffraction and selective area electron diffraction, the epitaxial relationship between the inclined (1-10-3) GaN NRs and interfacial a-GaN layer on m-sapphire substrates was systematically investigated. Moreover, the inclined GaN NRs were observed to be mostly free of stacking fault-related defects using high-resolution transmission electron microscopy.« less

Displacement Threshold Energy and Recovery in an Al-Ti Nanolayered System with Intrinsic Point Defect Partitioning

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

Gerboth, Matthew D.; Setyawan, Wahyu; Henager, Charles H.

2014-01-07

A method is established and validated using molecular dynamics (MD) to determine the displacement threshold energies as Ed in nanolayered, multilayered systems of dissimilar metals. The method is applied to specifically oriented nanolayered films of Al-Ti where the crystal structure and interface orientations are varied in atomic models and Ed is calculated. Methods for defect detection are developed and discussed based on prior research in the literature and based on specific crystallographic directions available in the nanolayered systems. These are compared and contrasted to similar calculations in corresponding bulk materials, including fcc Al, fcc Ti, hcp Al, and hcp Ti.more » In all cases, the calculated Ed in the multilayers are intermediate to the corresponding bulk values but exhibit some important directionality. In the nanolayer, defect detection demonstrated systematic differences in the behavior of Ed in each layer. Importantly, collision cascade damage exhibits significant defect partitioning within the Al and Ti layers that is hypothesized to be an intrinsic property of dissimilar nanolayered systems. This type of partitioning could be partly responsible for observed asymmetric radiation damage responses in many multilayered systems. In addition, a pseudo-random direction was introduced to approximate the average Ed without performing numerous simulations with random directions.« less

Research on tuberculosis in tribal areas in India: A systematic review.

PubMed

Rao, V G; Muniyandi, M; Bhat, J; Yadav, R; Sharma, R

2018-01-01

Tuberculosis (TB) remains a major public health problem in resource-poor countries including India. Scientific knowledge is used to guide policy and practice. There is however, a limited, systematically collected data required for guiding the scale-up of interventions particularly amongst vulnerable populations including tribal groups in the country. In view of this, a systematic review of the TB research studies carried out in tribal areas of different parts of the country was undertaken. To undertake a systematic review of the TB research studies carried out in tribal areas of India between 1996 and 2016. A systematic review of English articles published between 1996 and 2016 on any aspect of TB was done through internet searches using Literature search EndNote programme. The words used for searching were tuberculosis, India, tribal, indigenous, disadvantaged, adivasi. The most common topics classified as annual risk of tuberculosis infection (ARTI), prevalence of TB, laboratory studies, clinical symptoms of TB, risk factors for TB, knowledge attitude practice, community Directly Observed Treatment (DOT) providers, performance of Revised National Tuberculosis Control Programme (RNTCP), and drug resistant TB. Classification was also done on the basis of the type of tribe studied and place of study conducted. A total of 47 studies identified through the search were included in the review. Of the 47 studies reviewed, 12 were on TB prevalence, 7 were laboratory studies, four on ARTI and 5 on performance of RNTCP in tribal areas. Among these, majority (23 studies) of the tribal studies did not mention the type of tribe. Ten studies were conducted among Saharia, a particularly vulnerable tribal group in the Indian state of Madhya Pradesh mainly by the National Institute for Research on Tribal Health, five were among the mixed tribes and very few on other tribes. The systematic review indicates that the research studies on TB among tribal population are very few. There is a need to invest and encourage researcher to work on the research plans for the control of TB in tribal areas. Copyright © 2017 Tuberculosis Association of India. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Dissemination Bias in Systematic Reviews of Animal Research: A Systematic Review

PubMed Central

Mueller, Katharina F.; Briel, Matthias; Strech, Daniel; Meerpohl, Joerg J.; Lang, Britta; Motschall, Edith; Gloy, Viktoria; Lamontagne, Francois; Bassler, Dirk

2014-01-01

Background Systematic reviews of preclinical studies, in vivo animal experiments in particular, can influence clinical research and thus even clinical care. Dissemination bias, selective dissemination of positive or significant results, is one of the major threats to validity in systematic reviews also in the realm of animal studies. We conducted a systematic review to determine the number of published systematic reviews of animal studies until present, to investigate their methodological features especially with respect to assessment of dissemination bias, and to investigate the citation of preclinical systematic reviews on clinical research. Methods Eligible studies for this systematic review constitute systematic reviews that summarize in vivo animal experiments whose results could be interpreted as applicable to clinical care. We systematically searched Ovid Medline, Embase, ToxNet, and ScienceDirect from 1st January 2009 to 9th January 2013 for eligible systematic reviews without language restrictions. Furthermore we included articles from two previous systematic reviews by Peters et al. and Korevaar et al. Results The literature search and screening process resulted in 512 included full text articles. We found an increasing number of published preclinical systematic reviews over time. The methodological quality of preclinical systematic reviews was low. The majority of preclinical systematic reviews did not assess methodological quality of the included studies (71%), nor did they assess heterogeneity (81%) or dissemination bias (87%). Statistics quantifying the importance of clinical research citing systematic reviews of animal studies showed that clinical studies referred to the preclinical research mainly to justify their study or a future study (76%). Discussion Preclinical systematic reviews may have an influence on clinical research but their methodological quality frequently remains low. Therefore, systematic reviews of animal research should be critically appraised before translating them to a clinical context. PMID:25541734

Measuring the High-Mass IMF in Low-Metallicity Dwarf Galaxies

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Weisz, Daniel

2017-08-01

We propose to measure the stellar initial mass function above >1-2 Msun in 46 nearby dwarf galaxies with archival HST observations. This novel approach leverages the redundant age information provided by the main sequence and blue core helium burning stars <500 years old to break the well-known degeneracy between the IMF and star formation history (SFH), enabling a direct measurement of the high-mass IMF in dwarf galaxies. We will be able to constrain the high-mass IMF slope to a precision better than 0.1 to 0.3 dex in each galaxy. Our sample spans a factor of 6 in metallicity ( 5-30% Zsun), 4 decades in star formation rate, and 3 decades in both stellar and gas mass, allowing us to explore the IMF over a wide range of extreme environments.Current observational evidence suggests that nearby dwarf galaxies are the most likely candidates to host significant and systematic variations in the high-mass IMF (e.g., Halpha/UV ratios). However, to date there have been no direct measurements of the high-mass IMF in environments with lower star formation rates and/or more metal poor than the Magellanic Clouds. Our program remedies this shortcoming allowing us to (1) make the first-ever measurement of the high-mass IMF in extremely metal-poor environments; (2) empirically quantify environmental the (lack of) variations in the high-mass IMF; (3) directly test the integrated galactic mass initial mass function (IGIMF), which predicts environmental sensitivity of the IMF in dwarf galaxies.

Prevalence and Risk Factors for Musculoskeletal Pain in Keyboard Musicians: A Systematic Review.

PubMed

Amaral Corrêa, Leticia; Dos Santos, Luciano Teixeira; Nogueira Paranhos, Edmur Nelson; Minetti Albertini, Alfredo Ignacio; do Carmo Silva Parreira, Patrícia; Nogueira, Leandro Alberto Calazans

2018-04-26

To identify the prevalence and risk factors for musculoskeletal pain in keyboard musicians. Systematic review METHODS: A systematic review was conducted according to the MOOSE recommendations and it was registered with the PROSPERO database under registration number CRD42016042913. We included observational studies through the electronic databases PubMed, Scopus, ScienceDirect, Web of Science, Répertoire International de Littérature Musicale (RILM), Retrospective Index to Music Periodicals (RIPM), Scielo, and Google Scholar, with combinations of the keywords pianists, keyboard players, musculoskeletal pain, muscular disease, tendinitis, tendinopathy, observational, case-control, prevalence, and risk factors. Data from population, information about pain, and risk factors were extracted from studies that fulfilled the eligibility criteria. The methodological quality of the studies was classified through the Newcastle-Ottawa Scale. The risk of bias and quality of evidence was assessed using the GRADE system. Twelve articles (case-controls) were included for the qualitative synthesis. The quality of the studies was classified as fair (n = 6) and good (n = 6). Prevalence was observed between 25.8% and 77.0% of musculoskeletal pain among keyboard musicians, with a higher prevalence in wrists and hands (13.8%-65.8%), neck (9.8%-64.2%), and shoulders (9.8%-59.8%). The only consistent risk factor found in the 4 studies was being female, with OR ranging from 1.05-1.90. Age greater than 18 years; weekly training more than 20 hours; training for more than 60 minutes without a rest break; not having a habit of practicing sports; and playing despite the pain were also described as risks factors for musculoskeletal pain. It was not possible to perform the meta-analysis due to the heterogeneity of the studies. Keyboard musicians presented a high prevalence of musculoskeletal pain, especially in the upper extremity regions of the body. Female, ageing, playing behaviors, and sedentary lifestyle showed an increased likelihood to report musculoskeletal pain. Level II. Copyright © 2018 American Academy of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Broadening Public Participation in Systematic Reviews: A Case Example Involving Young People in Two Configurative Reviews

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Oliver, Kathryn; Rees, Rebecca; Brady, Louca-Mai; Kavanagh, Josephine; Oliver, Sandy; Thomas, James

2015-01-01

Background: Arguments supporting the involvement of users in research have even more weight when involving the public in systematic reviews of research. We aimed to explore the potential for public involvement in systematic reviews of observational and qualitative studies. Methods: Two consultative workshops were carried out with a group of young…

Plans to Observe the 2017 Total Solar Eclipse from near the Path Edges

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Waring Dunham, David; Nugent, Richard; Guhl, Konrad; Bode, Hans-Joachim

2015-08-01

The August 21st, 2017 solar eclipse provides a good opportunity, to time the totality contacts, other Baily’s bead phenomena, and observe other dynamic edge phenomena, from locations near the edges of the path of totality. A good network of roads and generally favorable weather prospects means that more observers will likely be able to deploy more equipment than during most previous eclipses. The value of contact and Baily’s bead timings of total solar eclipses, for determining solar diameter and intensity variations, was described in an earlier presentation in Focus Meeting 13. This presentation will concentrate on how observations of different types that have been used during past eclipses can be made by different observers, to obtain better information about the accuracy of the different types of observations for determining the mean solar diameter, and the systematic differences between them. A problem has been that the few observers who have attempted recording Baily’s beads from path edge locations have wanted to use the latest technology, to try to record the observations better, rather than try to make the observations in the same ways that were used for many past eclipses. Several observers trying different techniques at the same location, and doing that at several locations at different places along the path, is needed. Past techniques that we would like to compare include direct visual observation (but keeping eye safety in mind); visual observation of telescopically projected images; direct filtered video telescopic observations; and recording the flash spectrum. There are several towns that straddle the path edges. The International Occultation Timing Association would like to mobilize people in those towns to observe the eclipse from many places, to say whether or not the eclipse happened, and if it did, time it. A suitable cell phone app could be designed to report observations, including the observer’s location, as was attempted for an occultation of Regulus by the asteroid Erigone in the northeastern USA in 2014, but which unfortunately was clouded out everywhere.

Failure rate of single-unit restorations on posterior vital teeth: A systematic review.

PubMed

Afrashtehfar, Kelvin I; Emami, Elham; Ahmadi, Motahareh; Eilayyan, Owis; Abi-Nader, Samer; Tamimi, Faleh

2017-03-01

No knowledge synthesis exists concerning when to use a direct restoration versus a complete-coverage indirect restoration in posterior vital teeth. The purpose of this systematic review was to identify the failure rate of conventional single-unit tooth-supported restorations in posterior permanent vital teeth as a function of remaining tooth structure. Four databases were searched electronically, and 8 selected journals were searched manually up to February 2015. Clinical studies of tooth-supported single-unit restorative treatments with a mean follow-up period of at least 3 years were selected. The outcome measured was the restorations' clinical or radiological failure. Following the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic reviews and Meta-Analyses guidelines, the Cochrane Collaboration procedures for randomized control trials, the Strengthening the Reporting of Observational Studies in Epidemiology criteria for observational studies, 2 reviewers independently applied eligibility criteria, extracted data, and assessed the quality of the evidence of the included studies using the American Association of Critical Care Nurses' system. The weighted-mean group 5-year failure rates of the restorations were reported according to the type of treatment and remaining tooth structure. A metaregression model was used to assess the correlation between the number of remaining tooth walls and the weighted-mean 5-year failure rates. Five randomized controlled trials and 9 observational studies were included and their quality ranged from low to moderate. These studies included a total of 358 crowns, 4804 composite resins, and 303582 amalgams. Data obtained from the randomized controlled trials showed that, regardless of the amount of remaining tooth structure, amalgams presented better outcomes than composite resins. Furthermore, in teeth with fewer than 2 remaining walls, high-quality observational studies demonstrated that crowns were better than amalgams. A clear inverse correlation was found between the amount of remaining tooth structure and restoration failure. Insufficient high-quality data are available to support one restorative treatment or material over another for the restoration of vital posterior teeth. However, the current evidence suggests that the failure rates of treatments may depend on the amount of remaining tooth structure and types of treatment. Copyright © 2016 Editorial Council for the Journal of Prosthetic Dentistry. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Meta-analyses of Adverse Effects Data Derived from Randomised Controlled Trials as Compared to Observational Studies: Methodological Overview

PubMed Central

Golder, Su; Loke, Yoon K.; Bland, Martin

2011-01-01

Background There is considerable debate as to the relative merits of using randomised controlled trial (RCT) data as opposed to observational data in systematic reviews of adverse effects. This meta-analysis of meta-analyses aimed to assess the level of agreement or disagreement in the estimates of harm derived from meta-analysis of RCTs as compared to meta-analysis of observational studies. Methods and Findings Searches were carried out in ten databases in addition to reference checking, contacting experts, citation searches, and hand-searching key journals, conference proceedings, and Web sites. Studies were included where a pooled relative measure of an adverse effect (odds ratio or risk ratio) from RCTs could be directly compared, using the ratio of odds ratios, with the pooled estimate for the same adverse effect arising from observational studies. Nineteen studies, yielding 58 meta-analyses, were identified for inclusion. The pooled ratio of odds ratios of RCTs compared to observational studies was estimated to be 1.03 (95% confidence interval 0.93–1.15). There was less discrepancy with larger studies. The symmetric funnel plot suggests that there is no consistent difference between risk estimates from meta-analysis of RCT data and those from meta-analysis of observational studies. In almost all instances, the estimates of harm from meta-analyses of the different study designs had 95% confidence intervals that overlapped (54/58, 93%). In terms of statistical significance, in nearly two-thirds (37/58, 64%), the results agreed (both studies showing a significant increase or significant decrease or both showing no significant difference). In only one meta-analysis about one adverse effect was there opposing statistical significance. Conclusions Empirical evidence from this overview indicates that there is no difference on average in the risk estimate of adverse effects of an intervention derived from meta-analyses of RCTs and meta-analyses of observational studies. This suggests that systematic reviews of adverse effects should not be restricted to specific study types. Please see later in the article for the Editors' Summary PMID:21559325

Effect of functional appliances on the airway dimensions in patients with skeletal class II malocclusion: A systematic review.

PubMed

Kannan, Annapurna; Sathyanarayana, Haritha Pottipalli; Padmanabhan, Sridevi

2017-01-01

The aim of the present systematic review was to assess the effect of functional appliances on the airway dimensions in patients with skeletal Class II malocclusion. Articles were identified through a literature survey carried out through the following databases: (1) PUBMED, (2) Google Scholar, (3) The Cochrane Library, (4) Embase, (5) Lilac, and (6) Web of Scholars. The systematic review analyzed 12 articles comprising removable functional appliances, 3 articles with fixed functional appliances, and 2 articles having both fixed and removable functional appliances. Qualitative assessment was done for all the 17 studies. The effect of functional appliances in the dimensions of three airway spaces - nasopharynx, oropharynx, and hypopharynx were analyzed. Significant increase in the dimensions of nasopharynx and oropharynx was observed with Activator. Significant increase in the nasopharynx and hypopharynx (male patients) was observed with Bionator. Insignificant increase in the oropharynx was observed with the same. Significant increase in the oropharynx and hypopharynx was observed with Twin Block. Insignificant increase in the nasopharynx was observed with the same. Significant increase was observed only in the hypopharynx for Frankel II. Decreased or insignificant change was observed with FMA, MPA IV, and Herbst appliances.

Effectiveness of Interventions to Improve Occupational Performance for People With Psychosocial, Behavioral, and Emotional Impairments After Brain Injury: A Systematic Review.

PubMed

Wheeler, Steven; Acord-Vira, Amanda; Davis, Diana

2016-01-01

This systematic review evaluates the effectiveness of interventions to improve occupational performance for people with psychosocial, behavioral, or emotional impairments after traumatic brain injury (TBI). Medline, PsycINFO, CINAHL, OTseeker, and the Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews were searched. Of the 1,512 articles initially identified, 35 met the inclusion criteria. Six types of interventions were identified: (1) education, (2) peer mentoring, (3) goal-directed therapy, (4) physical activity, (5) skills training, and (6) cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT). Strong evidence from well-conducted research supports the use of CBT in individual and group settings. Moderate evidence supports goal-directed interventions, aquatic exercise, and functional skills training. Limited evidence supports peer mentoring, aerobic exercise, educational interventions, and various skills training. An increasing body of evidence supports specific interventions to improve occupational performance and participation for people with psychosocial, behavioral, or emotional impairments after TBI. Copyright © 2016 by the American Occupational Therapy Association, Inc.

Personality as a predictor of unprotected sexual behavior among people living with HIV/AIDS: a systematic review.

PubMed

Shuper, Paul A; Joharchi, Narges; Rehm, Jürgen

2014-02-01

The present investigation involved a systematic literature review to (1) identify associations between personality constructs and unprotected sex among people living with HIV/AIDS (PLWH); (2) assess patterns of direct versus indirect personality-risky sex associations; and (3) explore possible differences in personality-risky sex associations among PLWH versus non-infected populations. Among the 26 studies yielded through the systematic search, sensation seeking and sexual compulsivity were the constructs most frequently examined, with fewer studies investigating traditional personality typologies. Personality constructs that were more conceptually proximal to the sexual act, such as sexual compulsivity and sex-related sub-components of sensation seeking, showed relatively direct associations with unprotected sex, whereas more conceptually distal constructs such as generalized impulsivity demonstrated only weak or indirect associations. Associations were also frequently mediated by other risk factors, including perceived responsibility and substance use. These findings have implications for the development of interventions to reduce high risk sexual behavior among PLWH.

Internet-Based Direct-to-Consumer Genetic Testing: A Systematic Review.

PubMed

Covolo, Loredana; Rubinelli, Sara; Ceretti, Elisabetta; Gelatti, Umberto

2015-12-14

Direct-to-consumer genetic tests (DTC-GT) are easily purchased through the Internet, independent of a physician referral or approval for testing, allowing the retrieval of genetic information outside the clinical context. There is a broad debate about the testing validity, their impact on individuals, and what people know and perceive about them. The aim of this review was to collect evidence on DTC-GT from a comprehensive perspective that unravels the complexity of the phenomenon. A systematic search was carried out through PubMed, Web of Knowledge, and Embase, in addition to Google Scholar according to the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) checklist with the key term "Direct-to-consumer genetic test." In the final sample, 118 articles were identified. Articles were summarized in five categories according to their focus on (1) knowledge of, attitude toward use of, and perception of DTC-GT (n=37), (2) the impact of genetic risk information on users (n=37), (3) the opinion of health professionals (n=20), (4) the content of websites selling DTC-GT (n=16), and (5) the scientific evidence and clinical utility of the tests (n=14). Most of the articles analyzed the attitude, knowledge, and perception of DTC-GT, highlighting an interest in using DTC-GT, along with the need for a health care professional to help interpret the results. The articles investigating the content analysis of the websites selling these tests are in agreement that the information provided by the companies about genetic testing is not completely comprehensive for the consumer. Given that risk information can modify consumers' health behavior, there are surprisingly few studies carried out on actual consumers and they do not confirm the overall concerns on the possible impact of DTC-GT. Data from studies that investigate the quality of the tests offered confirm that they are not informative, have little predictive power, and do not measure genetic risk appropriately. The impact of DTC-GT on consumers' health perceptions and behaviors is an emerging concern. However, negative effects on consumers or health benefits have yet to be observed. Nevertheless, since the online market of DTC-GT is expected to grow, it is important to remain aware of a possible impact.

Internet-Based Direct-to-Consumer Genetic Testing: A Systematic Review

PubMed Central

Rubinelli, Sara; Ceretti, Elisabetta; Gelatti, Umberto

2015-01-01

Background Direct-to-consumer genetic tests (DTC-GT) are easily purchased through the Internet, independent of a physician referral or approval for testing, allowing the retrieval of genetic information outside the clinical context. There is a broad debate about the testing validity, their impact on individuals, and what people know and perceive about them. Objective The aim of this review was to collect evidence on DTC-GT from a comprehensive perspective that unravels the complexity of the phenomenon. Methods A systematic search was carried out through PubMed, Web of Knowledge, and Embase, in addition to Google Scholar according to the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) checklist with the key term “Direct-to-consumer genetic test.” Results In the final sample, 118 articles were identified. Articles were summarized in five categories according to their focus on (1) knowledge of, attitude toward use of, and perception of DTC-GT (n=37), (2) the impact of genetic risk information on users (n=37), (3) the opinion of health professionals (n=20), (4) the content of websites selling DTC-GT (n=16), and (5) the scientific evidence and clinical utility of the tests (n=14). Most of the articles analyzed the attitude, knowledge, and perception of DTC-GT, highlighting an interest in using DTC-GT, along with the need for a health care professional to help interpret the results. The articles investigating the content analysis of the websites selling these tests are in agreement that the information provided by the companies about genetic testing is not completely comprehensive for the consumer. Given that risk information can modify consumers’ health behavior, there are surprisingly few studies carried out on actual consumers and they do not confirm the overall concerns on the possible impact of DTC-GT. Data from studies that investigate the quality of the tests offered confirm that they are not informative, have little predictive power, and do not measure genetic risk appropriately. Conclusions The impact of DTC-GT on consumers’ health perceptions and behaviors is an emerging concern. However, negative effects on consumers or health benefits have yet to be observed. Nevertheless, since the online market of DTC-GT is expected to grow, it is important to remain aware of a possible impact. PMID:26677835

Antithrombotic therapy in patients receiving saphenous vein coronary artery bypass grafts: a protocol for a systematic review and network meta-analysis

PubMed Central

Solo, Karla; Martin, Janet; Lavi, Shahar; Kabali, Conrad; John-Baptiste, Ava; Nevis, Immaculate F; Choudhury, Tawfiq; Mamas, Mamas A

2018-01-01

Introduction The current evidence for the prevention of saphenous vein graft failure (SVGF) after coronary artery bypass graft (CABG) surgery consists of direct head-to-head comparison of treatments (including placebo) in randomised-controlled trials (RCTs) and observational studies. However, summarising the evidence using traditional pairwise meta-analyses does not allow the inclusion of data from treatments that have not been compared head to head. Exclusion of such comparisons could impact the precision of pooled estimates in a meta-analysis. Hence, to address the challenge of whether aspirin alone or in addition to another antithrombotic agent is a more effective regimen to improve SVG patency, a network meta-analysis (NMA) is necessary. The objectives of this study are to synthesise the available evidence on antithrombotic agents (or their combination) and estimate the treatment effects among direct and indirect treatment comparisons on SVGF and major adverse cardiovascular events, and to generate a treatment ranking according to their efficacy and safety outcomes. Methods We will perform a systematic review of RCTs evaluating antithrombotic agents in patients undergoing CABG. A comprehensive English literature search will be conducted using electronic databases and grey literature resources to identify published and unpublished articles. Two individuals will independently and in duplicate screen potential studies, assess the eligibility of potential studies and extract data. Risk of bias and quality of evidence will also be evaluated independently and in duplicate. We will investigate the data to ensure its suitability for NMA, including adequacy of the outcome data and transitivity of treatment effects. We plan to estimate the pooled direct, indirect and the mixed effects for all antithrombotic agents using a NMA. Ethics and dissemination Due to the nature of the study, there are no ethical concerns nor informed consent required. We anticipate that this NMA will be the first to simultaneously assess the relative effects of multiple antithrombotic agents in patients undergoing CABG. The results of this NMA will inform clinicians, patients and guideline developers the best available evidence on comparative effects benefits of antithrombotic agents after CABG while considering the side effect profile to support future clinical decision-making. We will disseminate the results of our systematic review and NMA through a peer-reviewed journal. PROSPERO registration number CRD42017065678. PMID:29627809