Energy Efficient Cryogenics on Earth and in Space

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Fesmire, James E.

2012-01-01

The Cryogenics Test Laboratory, NASA Kennedy Space Center, works to provide practical solutions to low-temperature problems while focusing on long-term technology targets for energy-efficient cryogenics on Earth and in space.

Families OverComing under Stress (FOCUS) for Early Childhood: Building Resilience for Young Children in High Stress Families

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Mogil, Catherine; Paley, Blair; Doud, Tricia; Havens, Linda; Moore-Tyson, Jessica; Beardslee, William R.; Lester, Patricia

2010-01-01

Parental distress and trauma affects the entire family, including the youngest children. Families OverComing Under Stress (FOCUS) is a targeted prevention program for high-risk families that aims to enhance family cohesion, support the parent-child relationship, and build emotional regulation, communication, and problem-solving skills across the…

Scallywags--An Evaluation of a Service Targeting Conduct Disorders at School and at Home

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Broadhead, M. A.; Hockaday, A.; Zahra, M.; Francis, P. J.; Crichton, C.

2009-01-01

Conduct disorder (CD) is one of the most common childhood psychiatric disorders. Some research has focused on reducing conduct difficulties through parent training programmes. However, there has been limited research focusing on early intervention services that deal with emotional and/or conduct problems in a community setting. The aim of this…

Youth At-Risk: Targeting Teen-Agers for Pregnancy Prevention.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Biemesderfer, Susan C.; Bustos, Patrick D.

1989-01-01

This state legislative report examines teenage pregnancy and parenting from the perspective of youth at-risk with a particular focus on comprehensive approaches to teenagers at-risk for pregnancy and parenting. The report is divided into two major sections: background on the youth at-risk problem with a special focus on teenage pregnancy and a…

Adaptive ISAR Imaging of Maneuvering Targets Based on a Modified Fourier Transform.

PubMed

Wang, Binbin; Xu, Shiyou; Wu, Wenzhen; Hu, Pengjiang; Chen, Zengping

2018-04-27

Focusing on the inverse synthetic aperture radar (ISAR) imaging of maneuvering targets, this paper presents a new imaging method which works well when the target's maneuvering is not too severe. After translational motion compensation, we describe the equivalent rotation of maneuvering targets by two variables-the relative chirp rate of the linear frequency modulated (LFM) signal and the Doppler focus shift. The first variable indicates the target's motion status, and the second one represents the possible residual error of the translational motion compensation. With them, a modified Fourier transform matrix is constructed and then used for cross-range compression. Consequently, the imaging of maneuvering is converted into a two-dimensional parameter optimization problem in which a stable and clear ISAR image is guaranteed. A gradient descent optimization scheme is employed to obtain the accurate relative chirp rate and Doppler focus shift. Moreover, we designed an efficient and robust initialization process for the gradient descent method, thus, the well-focused ISAR images of maneuvering targets can be achieved adaptively. Human intervention is not needed, and it is quite convenient for practical ISAR imaging systems. Compared to precedent imaging methods, the new method achieves better imaging quality under reasonable computational cost. Simulation results are provided to validate the effectiveness and advantages of the proposed method.

Wave energy focusing to subsurface poroelastic formations to promote oil mobilization

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Karve, Pranav M.; Kallivokas, Loukas F.

2015-07-01

We discuss an inverse source formulation aimed at focusing wave energy produced by ground surface sources to target subsurface poroelastic formations. The intent of the focusing is to facilitate or enhance the mobility of oil entrapped within the target formation. The underlying forward wave propagation problem is cast in two spatial dimensions for a heterogeneous poroelastic target embedded within a heterogeneous elastic semi-infinite host. The semi-infiniteness of the elastic host is simulated by augmenting the (finite) computational domain with a buffer of perfectly matched layers. The inverse source algorithm is based on a systematic framework of partial-differential-equation-constrained optimization. It is demonstrated, via numerical experiments, that the algorithm is capable of converging to the spatial and temporal characteristics of surface loads that maximize energy delivery to the target formation. Consequently, the methodology is well-suited for designing field implementations that could meet a desired oil mobility threshold. Even though the methodology, and the results presented herein are in two dimensions, extensions to three dimensions are straightforward.

Effectiveness of an Attachment-Focused Manualized Intervention for Parents of Teens at Risk for Aggressive Behaviour: The Connect Program

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Moretti, Marlene M.; Obsuth, Ingrid

2009-01-01

Aggressive, violent and antisocial behaviour in children and adolescents is a growing concern across the globe. Targeting parent-teen relationships is critical in reducing problem behaviour. "Connect" is a manualized ten-week program for parents or alternative caregivers of at-risk teens that focuses on the building blocks of secure attachment:…

The effects of confrontation and avoidance coping in response to workplace incivility.

PubMed

Hershcovis, M Sandy; Cameron, Ann-Frances; Gervais, Loie; Bozeman, Jennifer

2018-04-01

Workplace incivility has significant adverse consequences for targets. However, we know remarkably little about how targets of incivility cope and even less about which coping strategies are effective. Drawing on the coping process of the transactional model of stress, we examine confrontation as a form of problem-focused coping and avoidance as a form of emotion-focused coping in response to incivility. We examine the effects of these coping strategies on reoccurrence of incivility, incivility enacted by targets, psychological forgiveness, and emotional exhaustion. Focusing on the target's perspective of a series of uncivil interactions between a target and perpetrator, we conducted a 3-wave study of employees from various occupations. Employing the critical incident technique, participants reported on an incident of workplace incivility, and then answered a series of questions over 3 waves of data collection regarding their interactions with this perpetrator. Our findings suggest that confrontation and avoidance are ineffective in preventing reoccurrence of incivility. Avoidance can additionally lead to increased emotional exhaustion, target-enacted incivility, and lower psychological forgiveness. However, confrontation coping has promise with regards to eliciting positive outcomes such as psychological forgiveness that are beneficial to interpersonal workplace relationships. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2018 APA, all rights reserved).

Space Ultrareliable Modular Computer (SUMC) instruction simulator

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Curran, R. T.

1972-01-01

The design principles, description, functional operation, and recommended expansion and enhancements are presented for the Space Ultrareliable Modular Computer interpretive simulator. Included as appendices are the user's manual, program module descriptions, target instruction descriptions, simulator source program listing, and a sample program printout. In discussing the design and operation of the simulator, the key problems involving host computer independence and target computer architectural scope are brought into focus.

Cooperative remote sensing and actuation using networked unmanned vehicles

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Chao, Haiyang

This dissertation focuses on how to design and employ networked unmanned vehicles for remote sensing and distributed control purposes in the current information-rich world. The target scenarios are environmental or agricultural applications such as river/reservoir surveillance, wind profiling measurement, and monitoring/control of chemical leaks, etc. AggieAir, a small and low-cost unmanned aircraft system, is designed based on the remote sensing requirements from environmental monitoring missions. The state estimation problem and the advanced lateral flight controller design problem are further attacked focusing on the small unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) platform. Then the UAV-based remote sensing problem is focused with further flight test results. Given the measurements from unmanned vehicles, the actuation algorithms are needed for missions like the diffusion control. A consensus-based central Voronoi tessellation (CVT) algorithm is proposed for better control of the diffusion process. Finally, the dissertation conclusion and some new research suggestions are presented.

A simple solution to the problem of effective utilisation of the target material for pulsed laser deposition of thin films

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

Kuzanyan, A S; Kuzanyan, A A; Petrosyan, V A

The factors determining the efficiency of the target material utilisation for pulsed laser deposition of films are considered. The target volume is calculated, which is evaporated in the ablation process by the focused laser radiation having a rectangular form. The new device is suggested and developed for obtaining thin films by the method of laser deposition, which is specific in the employment of a simple optical system mounted outside a deposition chamber that comprises two lenses and the diaphragm and focuses the laser beam onto a target in the form of a sector-like spot. Thin films of CuO and YBaCuOmore » were deposited with this device. Several deposition cycles revealed that the target material is consumed uniformly from the entire surface of the target. A maximal spread of the target thickness was not greater than ±2% both prior to deposition and after it. The device designed provides a high coefficient of the target material utilisation efficiency. (laser deposition of thin films)« less

Systematic Review of Universal Resilience-Focused Interventions Targeting Child and Adolescent Mental Health in the School Setting.

PubMed

Dray, Julia; Bowman, Jenny; Campbell, Elizabeth; Freund, Megan; Wolfenden, Luke; Hodder, Rebecca K; McElwaine, Kathleen; Tremain, Danika; Bartlem, Kate; Bailey, Jacqueline; Small, Tameka; Palazzi, Kerrin; Oldmeadow, Christopher; Wiggers, John

2017-10-01

To examine the effect of universal, school-based, resilience-focused interventions on mental health problems in children and adolescents. Eligible studies were randomized controlled trials (RCTs) of universal, school-based interventions that included strategies to strengthen a minimum of 3 internal resilience protective factors, and included an outcome measure of mental health problems in children and adolescents aged 5 to 18 years. Six databases were searched from 1995 to 2015. Results were pooled in meta-analyses by mental health outcome (anxiety symptoms, depressive symptoms, hyperactivity, conduct problems, internalizing problems, externalizing problems, and general psychological distress), for all trials (5-18 years). Subgroup analyses were conducted by age (child: 5-10 years; adolescent: 11-18 years), length of follow-up (short: post-≤12 months; long: >12 months), and gender (narrative). A total of 57 included trials were identified from 5,984 records, with 49 contributing to meta-analyses. For all trials, resilience-focused interventions were effective relative to a control in reducing 4 of 7 outcomes: depressive symptoms, internalizing problems, externalizing problems, and general psychological distress. For child trials (meta-analyses for 6 outcomes), interventions were effective for anxiety symptoms and general psychological distress. For adolescent trials (meta-analyses for 5 outcomes), interventions were effective for internalizing problems. For short-term follow-up, interventions were effective for 2 of 7 outcomes: depressive symptoms and anxiety symptoms. For long-term follow-up (meta-analyses for 5 outcomes), interventions were effective for internalizing problems. The findings may suggest most promise for using universal resilience-focused interventions at least for short-term reductions in depressive and anxiety symptoms for children and adolescents, particularly if a cognitive-behavioral therapy-based approach is used. The limited number of trials providing data amenable for meta-analysis for some outcomes and subgroups, the variability of interventions, study quality, and bias mean that it is not possible to draw more specific conclusions. Identifying what intervention qualities (such as number and type of protective factor) achieve the greatest positive effect per mental health problem outcome remains an important area for future research. Systematic Review of Universal Resilience Interventions Targeting Child and Adolescent Mental Health in the School Setting; http://dx.doi.org/10.1186/s13643-015-0172-6; PROSPERO CRD42015025908. Copyright © 2017 American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Compressed Sensing in On-Grid MIMO Radar.

PubMed

Minner, Michael F

2015-01-01

The accurate detection of targets is a significant problem in multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) radar. Recent advances of Compressive Sensing offer a means of efficiently accomplishing this task. The sparsity constraints needed to apply the techniques of Compressive Sensing to problems in radar systems have led to discretizations of the target scene in various domains, such as azimuth, time delay, and Doppler. Building upon recent work, we investigate the feasibility of on-grid Compressive Sensing-based MIMO radar via a threefold azimuth-delay-Doppler discretization for target detection and parameter estimation. We utilize a colocated random sensor array and transmit distinct linear chirps to a small scene with few, slowly moving targets. Relying upon standard far-field and narrowband assumptions, we analyze the efficacy of various recovery algorithms in determining the parameters of the scene through numerical simulations, with particular focus on the ℓ 1-squared Nonnegative Regularization method.

Designing divertor targets for uniform power load

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Dekeyser, W.; Reiter, D.; Baelmans, M.

2015-08-01

Divertor design for next step fusion reactors heavily relies on 2D edge plasma modeling with codes as e.g. B2-EIRENE. While these codes are typically used in a design-by-analysis approach, in previous work we have shown that divertor design can alternatively be posed as a mathematical optimization problem, and solved very efficiently using adjoint methods adapted from computational aerodynamics. This approach has been applied successfully to divertor target shape design for more uniform power load. In this paper, the concept is further extended to include all contributions to the target power load, with particular focus on radiation. In a simplified test problem, we show the potential benefits of fully including the radiation load in the design cycle as compared to only assessing this load in a post-processing step.

Centralized Multi-Sensor Square Root Cubature Joint Probabilistic Data Association

PubMed Central

Liu, Jun; Li, Gang; Qi, Lin; Li, Yaowen; He, You

2017-01-01

This paper focuses on the tracking problem of multiple targets with multiple sensors in a nonlinear cluttered environment. To avoid Jacobian matrix computation and scaling parameter adjustment, improve numerical stability, and acquire more accurate estimated results for centralized nonlinear tracking, a novel centralized multi-sensor square root cubature joint probabilistic data association algorithm (CMSCJPDA) is proposed. Firstly, the multi-sensor tracking problem is decomposed into several single-sensor multi-target tracking problems, which are sequentially processed during the estimation. Then, in each sensor, the assignment of its measurements to target tracks is accomplished on the basis of joint probabilistic data association (JPDA), and a weighted probability fusion method with square root version of a cubature Kalman filter (SRCKF) is utilized to estimate the targets’ state. With the measurements in all sensors processed CMSCJPDA is derived and the global estimated state is achieved. Experimental results show that CMSCJPDA is superior to the state-of-the-art algorithms in the aspects of tracking accuracy, numerical stability, and computational cost, which provides a new idea to solve multi-sensor tracking problems. PMID:29113085

Pathways and therapeutic targets in melanoma

PubMed Central

Shtivelman, Emma; Davies, Michael A.; Hwu, Patrick; Yang, James; Lotem, Michal; Oren, Moshe; Flaherty, Keith T.; Fisher, David E.

2014-01-01

This review aims to summarize the current knowledge of molecular pathways and their clinical relevance in melanoma. Metastatic melanoma was a grim diagnosis, but in recent years tremendous advances have been made in treatments. Chemotherapy provided little benefit in these patients, but development of targeted and new immune approaches made radical changes in prognosis. This would not have happened without remarkable advances in understanding the biology of disease and tremendous progress in the genomic (and other “omics”) scale analyses of tumors. The big problems facing the field are no longer focused exclusively on the development of new treatment modalities, though this is a very busy area of clinical research. The focus shifted now to understanding and overcoming resistance to targeted therapies, and understanding the underlying causes of the heterogeneous responses to immune therapy. PMID:24743024

Robotic Automation of In Vivo Two-Photon Targeted Whole-Cell Patch-Clamp Electrophysiology.

PubMed

Annecchino, Luca A; Morris, Alexander R; Copeland, Caroline S; Agabi, Oshiorenoya E; Chadderton, Paul; Schultz, Simon R

2017-08-30

Whole-cell patch-clamp electrophysiological recording is a powerful technique for studying cellular function. While in vivo patch-clamp recording has recently benefited from automation, it is normally performed "blind," meaning that throughput for sampling some genetically or morphologically defined cell types is unacceptably low. One solution to this problem is to use two-photon microscopy to target fluorescently labeled neurons. Combining this with robotic automation is difficult, however, as micropipette penetration induces tissue deformation, moving target cells from their initial location. Here we describe a platform for automated two-photon targeted patch-clamp recording, which solves this problem by making use of a closed loop visual servo algorithm. Our system keeps the target cell in focus while iteratively adjusting the pipette approach trajectory to compensate for tissue motion. We demonstrate platform validation with patch-clamp recordings from a variety of cells in the mouse neocortex and cerebellum. Copyright © 2017 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

An Improved Aerial Target Localization Method with a Single Vector Sensor

PubMed Central

Zhao, Anbang; Bi, Xuejie; Hui, Juan; Zeng, Caigao; Ma, Lin

2017-01-01

This paper focuses on the problems encountered in the actual data processing with the use of the existing aerial target localization methods, analyzes the causes of the problems, and proposes an improved algorithm. Through the processing of the sea experiment data, it is found that the existing algorithms have higher requirements for the accuracy of the angle estimation. The improved algorithm reduces the requirements of the angle estimation accuracy and obtains the robust estimation results. The closest distance matching estimation algorithm and the horizontal distance estimation compensation algorithm are proposed. The smoothing effect of the data after being post-processed by using the forward and backward two-direction double-filtering method has been improved, thus the initial stage data can be filtered, so that the filtering results retain more useful information. In this paper, the aerial target height measurement methods are studied, the estimation results of the aerial target are given, so as to realize the three-dimensional localization of the aerial target and increase the understanding of the underwater platform to the aerial target, so that the underwater platform has better mobility and concealment. PMID:29135956

UCSF Small Molecule Discovery Center: innovation, collaboration and chemical biology in the Bay Area.

PubMed

Arkin, Michelle R; Ang, Kenny K H; Chen, Steven; Davies, Julia; Merron, Connie; Tang, Yinyan; Wilson, Christopher G M; Renslo, Adam R

2014-05-01

The Small Molecule Discovery Center (SMDC) at the University of California, San Francisco, works collaboratively with the scientific community to solve challenging problems in chemical biology and drug discovery. The SMDC includes a high throughput screening facility, medicinal chemistry, and research labs focused on fundamental problems in biochemistry and targeted drug delivery. Here, we outline our HTS program and provide examples of chemical tools developed through SMDC collaborations. We have an active research program in developing quantitative cell-based screens for primary cells and whole organisms; here, we describe whole-organism screens to find drugs against parasites that cause neglected tropical diseases. We are also very interested in target-based approaches for so-called "undruggable", protein classes and fragment-based lead discovery. This expertise has led to several pharmaceutical collaborations; additionally, the SMDC works with start-up companies to enable their early-stage research. The SMDC, located in the biotech-focused Mission Bay neighborhood in San Francisco, is a hub for innovative small-molecule discovery research at UCSF.

Fast super-resolution estimation of DOA and DOD in bistatic MIMO Radar with off-grid targets

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhang, Dong; Zhang, Yongshun; Zheng, Guimei; Feng, Cunqian; Tang, Jun

2018-05-01

In this paper, we focus on the problem of joint DOA and DOD estimation in Bistatic MIMO Radar using sparse reconstruction method. In traditional ways, we usually convert the 2D parameter estimation problem into 1D parameter estimation problem by Kronecker product which will enlarge the scale of the parameter estimation problem and bring more computational burden. Furthermore, it requires that the targets must fall on the predefined grids. In this paper, a 2D-off-grid model is built which can solve the grid mismatch problem of 2D parameters estimation. Then in order to solve the joint 2D sparse reconstruction problem directly and efficiently, three kinds of fast joint sparse matrix reconstruction methods are proposed which are Joint-2D-OMP algorithm, Joint-2D-SL0 algorithm and Joint-2D-SOONE algorithm. Simulation results demonstrate that our methods not only can improve the 2D parameter estimation accuracy but also reduce the computational complexity compared with the traditional Kronecker Compressed Sensing method.

Real-time adaptive methods for treatment of mobile organs by MRI-controlled high-intensity focused ultrasound.

PubMed

de Senneville, Baudouin Denis; Mougenot, Charles; Moonen, Chrit T W

2007-02-01

Focused ultrasound (US) is a unique and noninvasive technique for local deposition of thermal energy deep inside the body. MRI guidance offers the additional benefits of excellent target visualization and continuous temperature mapping. However, treating a moving target poses severe problems because 1) motion-related thermometry artifacts must be corrected, 2) the US focal point must be relocated according to the target displacement. In this paper a complete MRI-compatible, high-intensity focused US (HIFU) system is described together with adaptive methods that allow continuous MR thermometry and therapeutic US with real-time tracking of a moving target, online motion correction of the thermometry maps, and regional temperature control based on the proportional, integral, and derivative method. The hardware is based on a 256-element phased-array transducer with rapid electronic displacement of the focal point. The exact location of the target during US firing is anticipated using automatic analysis of periodic motions. The methods were tested with moving phantoms undergoing either rigid body or elastic periodical motions. The results show accurate tracking of the focal point. Focal and regional temperature control is demonstrated with a performance similar to that obtained with stationary phantoms. Copyright (c) 2007 Wiley-Liss, Inc.

Peptide vaccines and peptidomimetics targeting HER and VEGF proteins may offer a potentially new paradigm in cancer immunotherapy

PubMed Central

Kaumaya, Pravin TP; Foy, Kevin Chu

2013-01-01

The ErbB family (HER-1, HER-2, HER-3 and HER-4) of receptor tyrosine kinases has been the focus of cancer immunotherapeutic strategies while antiangiogenic therapies have focused on VEGF and its receptors VEGFR-1 and VEGFR-2. Agents targeting receptor tyrosine kinases in oncology include therapeutic antibodies to receptor tyrosine kinase ligands or the receptors themselves, and small-molecule inhibitors. Many of the US FDA-approved therapies targeting HER-2 and VEGF exhibit unacceptable toxicities, and show problems of efficacy, development of resistance and unacceptable safety profiles that continue to hamper their clinical progress. The combination of dif ferent peptide vaccines and peptidomimetics targeting specific molecular pathways that are dysregulated in tumors may potentiate anticancer immune responses, bypass immune tolerance and circumvent resistance mechanisms. The focus of this review is to discuss efforts in our laboratory spanning two decades of rationally developing peptide vaccines and therapeutics for breast cancer. This review highlights the prospective benefit of a new, untapped category of therapies biologically targeted to EGF receptor (HER-1), HER-2 and VEGF with potential peptide ‘blockbusters‘ that could lay the foundation of a new paradigm in cancer immunotherapy by creating clinical breakthroughs for safe and efficacious cancer cures. PMID:22894670

Group training in interpersonal problem-solving skills for workplace adaptation of adolescents and adults with Asperger syndrome: a preliminary study.

PubMed

Bonete, Saray; Calero, María Dolores; Fernández-Parra, Antonio

2015-05-01

Adults with Asperger syndrome show persistent difficulties in social situations which psychosocial treatments may address. Despite the multiple studies focusing on social skills interventions, only some have focused specifically on problem-solving skills and have not targeted workplace adaptation training in the adult population. This study describes preliminary data from a group format manual-based intervention, the Interpersonal Problem-Solving for Workplace Adaptation Programme, aimed at improving the cognitive and metacognitive process of social problem-solving skills focusing on typical social situations in the workplace based on mediation as the main strategy. A total of 50 adults with Asperger syndrome received the programme and were compared with a control group of typical development. The feasibility and effectiveness of the treatment were explored. Participants were assessed at pre-treatment and post-treatment on a task of social problem-solving skills and two secondary measures of socialisation and work profile using self- and caregiver-report. Using a variety of methods, the results showed that scores were significantly higher at post-treatment in the social problem-solving task and socialisation skills based on reports by parents. Differences in comparison to the control group had decreased after treatment. The treatment was acceptable to families and subject adherence was high. The Interpersonal Problem-Solving for Workplace Adaptation Programme appears to be a feasible training programme. © The Author(s) 2014.

A Systematic Review of Sensory Processing Interventions for Children with Autism Spectrum Disorders

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Case-Smith, Jane; Weaver, Lindy L.; Fristad, Mary A.

2015-01-01

Children with autism spectrum disorders often exhibit co-occurring sensory processing problems and receive interventions that target self-regulation. In current practice, sensory interventions apply different theoretic constructs, focus on different goals, use a variety of sensory modalities, and involve markedly disparate procedures. Previous…

Moving Toward Trustworthy Systems: R&D Essentials

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

Sheldon, Frederick T; Vishik, Claire

2010-01-01

Under the game-change metaphor, strate- gies developed to address hard problems will potentially lead to breakthroughs in many different interrelated cybersecuri- ty areas. For software assurance, a game change should focus on improving resil- iency and hardening new technologies that implement moving-target defenses aInd tailored trustworthy spaces.

Teacher, Lecturer or Labourer? Performance Management Issues in Education

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Mather, Kim; Seifert, Roger

2011-01-01

Education management has increasingly been dominated by the norms and requirements of general management ideologies that focus on performance controls and target achievements. Under this regime, solving the labour problem--relatively low productivity--has taken precedence over all other forms of management. In pursuit of this objective senior…

The research and application of visual saliency and adaptive support vector machine in target tracking field.

PubMed

Chen, Yuantao; Xu, Weihong; Kuang, Fangjun; Gao, Shangbing

2013-01-01

The efficient target tracking algorithm researches have become current research focus of intelligent robots. The main problems of target tracking process in mobile robot face environmental uncertainty. They are very difficult to estimate the target states, illumination change, target shape changes, complex backgrounds, and other factors and all affect the occlusion in tracking robustness. To further improve the target tracking's accuracy and reliability, we present a novel target tracking algorithm to use visual saliency and adaptive support vector machine (ASVM). Furthermore, the paper's algorithm has been based on the mixture saliency of image features. These features include color, brightness, and sport feature. The execution process used visual saliency features and those common characteristics have been expressed as the target's saliency. Numerous experiments demonstrate the effectiveness and timeliness of the proposed target tracking algorithm in video sequences where the target objects undergo large changes in pose, scale, and illumination.

A personalized and control systems engineering conceptual approach to target childhood anxiety in the contexts of cultural diversity.

PubMed

Pina, Armando A; Holly, Lindsay E; Zerr, Argero A; Rivera, Daniel E

2014-01-01

In the child and adolescent anxiety area, some progress has been made to develop evidence-based prevention protocols, but less is known about how to best target these problems in children and families of color. In general, data show differential program effects with some minority children benefiting significantly less. Our preliminary data, however, show promise and suggest cultural parameters to consider in the tailoring process beyond language and cultural symbols. It appears that a more focused approach to culture might help activate intervention components and its intended effects by focusing, for example, on the various facets of familismo when working with some Mexican parents. However, testing the effects and nuances of cultural adaption vis-à-vis a focused personalized approach is methodologically challenging. For this reason, we identify control systems engineering design methods and provide example scenarios relevant to our data and recent intervention work.

Targeted School Violence and the Web of Causes: Risk Factors and the Problems of Specificity. Commentary on: "Bullying, Romantic Rejection, and Conflicts with Teachers: The Crucial Role of Social Dynamics in the Development of School Shootings--A Systematic Review"

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Böckler, Nils; Roth, Viktoria; Stetten, Lina; Zick, Andreas

2014-01-01

The authors begin their commentary by saying that looking at the phenotypical characteristics of a school shooting, which focus on the perpetrators' experiences in school contexts seems to be overdue. In spite of methodological problems, the studies involved in the review seem to paint a clear picture with regard to social ostracism and harassment…

Robust Targeting for the Smartphone Video Guidance Sensor

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Carter, Christopher

2017-01-01

The Smartphone Video Guidance Sensor (SVGS) is a miniature, self-contained autonomous rendezvous and docking sensor developed using a commercial off the shelf Android-based smartphone. It aims to provide a miniaturized solution for rendezvous and docking, enabling small satellites to conduct proximity operations and formation flying while minimizing interference with a primary payload. Previously, the sensor was limited by a slow (2 Hz) refresh rate and its use of retro-reflectors, both of which contributed to a limited operating environment. To advance the technology readiness level, a modified approach was developed, combining a multi-colored LED target with a focused target-detection algorithm. Alone, the use of an LED system was determined to be much more reliable, though slower, than the retro-reflector system. The focused target-detection system was developed in response to this problem to mitigate the speed reduction of using color. However, it also improved the reliability. In combination these two methods have been demonstrated to dramatically increase sensor speed and allow the sensor to select the target even with significant noise interfering with the sensor, providing millimeter level accuracy at a range of two meters with a 1U target.

Robust Targeting for the Smartphone Video Guidance Sensor

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Carter, C.

2017-01-01

The Smartphone Video Guidance Sensor (SVGS) is a miniature, self-contained autonomous rendezvous and docking sensor developed using a commercial off the shelf Android-based smartphone. It aims to provide a miniaturized solution for rendezvous and docking, enabling small satellites to conduct proximity operations and formation flying while minimizing interference with a primary payload. Previously, the sensor was limited by a slow (2 Hz) refresh rate and its use of retro-reflectors, both of which contributed to a limited operating environment. To advance the technology readiness level, a modified approach was developed, combining a multi-colored LED target with a focused target-detection algorithm. Alone, the use of an LED system was determined to be much more reliable, though slower, than the retro-reflector system. The focused target-detection system was developed in response to this problem to mitigate the speed reduction of using color. However it also improved the reliability. In combination these two methods have been demonstrated to dramatically increase sensor speed and allow the sensor to select the target even with significant noise interfering with the sensor, providing millimeter level precision at a range of two meters with a 1U target.

Mental Health and Coping Patterns in Jewish Gay Men in Israel: The Role of Dual Identity Conflict, Religious Identity, and Partnership Status.

PubMed

Zeidner, Moshe; Zevulun, Attara

2018-01-01

This study examined the effects of dual-identity conflict, religious identity (religious/spiritual vs. sexual), and partnership status on the coping strategies and mental health of gay Jewish men in modern Israeli society. Participants were 73 religious and 71 secular gay men recruited via e-mail, social networking sites, and online resources targeting sexual minority men. Participants were assessed via measures of identity conflict, mental health, and coping strategies. Jewish gay men who reported more severe identity conflict also reported using less problem-focused and avoidance coping and more emotion-focused coping strategies and reported poorer mental health than their less identity-conflicted counterparts. Furthermore, gay men who self-identified as religious reported poorer mental health as well as less problem-focused coping and more emotion-focused coping compared to secular men. Religious gay men in romantic relationships reported lower intensities of dual-identity conflict and better mental health compared to their nonpartnered counterparts.

Cross-wind profiling based on the scattered wave scintillation in a telescope focus.

PubMed

Banakh, V A; Marakasov, D A; Vorontsov, M A

2007-11-20

The problem of wind profile reconstruction from scintillation of an optical wave scattered off a rough surface in a telescope focus plane is considered. Both the expression for the spatiotemporal correlation function and the algorithm of cross-wind velocity and direction profiles reconstruction based on the spatiotemporal spectrum of intensity of an optical wave scattered by a diffuse target in a turbulent atmosphere are presented. Computer simulations performed under conditions of weak optical turbulence show wind profiles reconstruction by the developed algorithm.

The Translatability of Metaphor: Study and Investigation

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Alghbban, Mohammed

2011-01-01

The appropriate handling of the metaphorical meaning during translation, along with maximizing its level of equivalence in the target language, is going to be my central focus through the course of this dissertation. Unlike many contributions that attempt to reconcile the problem of translating metaphor, this study has come to approach the subject…

Obesity Rates in Special Populations of Children and Potential Interventions

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Holcomb, Matthew J.; Pufpaff, Lisa A.; McIntosh, David E.

2009-01-01

Childhood obesity has become a problem of epidemic proportions in the United States, but much of the research has focused on prevention and intervention programs, which target the general population of school children. Overlooked in the literature are children with special needs (including autism, genetic disorders, Down syndrome, and Prader-Willi…

Predicting Problem Behaviors with Multiple Expectancies: Expanding Expectancy-Value Theory

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Borders, Ashley; Earleywine, Mitchell; Huey, Stanley J.

2004-01-01

Expectancy-value theory emphasizes the importance of outcome expectancies for behavioral decisions, but most tests of the theory focus on a single behavior and a single expectancy. However, the matching law suggests that individuals consider expected outcomes for both the target behavior and alternative behaviors when making decisions. In this…

Opening "The Door": An Evaluation of the Efficacy of a Problem-Based Learning Game

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Warren, Scott J.; Dondlinger, Mary Jo; McLeod, Julie; Bigenho, Chris

2012-01-01

As higher education institutions seek to improve undergraduate education, initiatives are underway to target instructional methods, re-examine curricula, and apply innovative technologies to better engage students with content. This article discusses the findings of an exploratory study focused on a course redesign that game elements, PBL methods,…

Drinking to Cope With Depressive Symptoms and Ruminative Thinking: A Multiple Mediation Model Among College Students.

PubMed

Bravo, Adrian J; Pearson, Matthew R; Henson, James M

2017-01-02

Understanding the potential psychosocial mechanisms that explain (i.e., mediate) the associations between depressive symptoms and alcohol-related problems can improve interventions targeting college students. The current research examined four distinct facets of rumination (e.g., problem-focused thoughts, counterfactual thinking, repetitive thoughts, and anticipatory thoughts) and drinking to cope motives as potential explanatory mechanisms by which depressive symptoms are associated with increased alcohol-related problems. Participants were undergraduate students from a large, southeastern university in the United States that consumed at least one drink per typical week in the previous month (n = 403). The majority of participants were female (n = 291; 72.2%), identified as being either White, non-Hispanic (n = 210; 52.1%), or African American (n = 110; 27.3%), and reported a mean age of 21.92 (SD = 5.75) years. Structural equation modeling was conducted examining the concurrent associations between depressive symptoms, rumination facets, drinking to cope motives, and alcohol-related problems (i.e., cross-sectional). There was one significant double-mediated association that suggested that increased depressive symptoms is associated with increased problem-focused thoughts, which is associated with higher drinking to cope motives and alcohol-related problems. Conclusions/Importance: Our results suggests that problem-focused thoughts at least partially explains the associations between depression and maladaptive coping (i.e., drinking to cope), which in turn is related to problematic drinking among college students. Limitations and future directions are discussed.

Targeted drug delivery for cancer therapy: the other side of antibodies

PubMed Central

2012-01-01

Therapeutic monoclonal antibody (TMA) based therapies for cancer have advanced significantly over the past two decades both in their molecular sophistication and clinical efficacy. Initial development efforts focused mainly on humanizing the antibody protein to overcome problems of immunogenicity and on expanding of the target antigen repertoire. In parallel to naked TMAs, antibody-drug conjugates (ADCs) have been developed for targeted delivery of potent anti-cancer drugs with the aim of bypassing the morbidity common to conventional chemotherapy. This paper first presents a review of TMAs and ADCs approved for clinical use by the FDA and those in development, focusing on hematological malignancies. Despite advances in these areas, both TMAs and ADCs still carry limitations and we highlight the more important ones including cancer cell specificity, conjugation chemistry, tumor penetration, product heterogeneity and manufacturing issues. In view of the recognized importance of targeted drug delivery strategies for cancer therapy, we discuss the advantages of alternative drug carriers and where these should be applied, focusing on peptide-drug conjugates (PDCs), particularly those discovered through combinatorial peptide libraries. By defining the advantages and disadvantages of naked TMAs, ADCs and PDCs it should be possible to develop a more rational approach to the application of targeted drug delivery strategies in different situations and ultimately, to a broader basket of more effective therapies for cancer patients. PMID:23140144

Efforts Aimed To Reduce Attrition in Antimalarial Drug Discovery: A Systematic Evaluation of the Current Antimalarial Targets Portfolio.

PubMed

Chaparro, María Jesús; Calderón, Félix; Castañeda, Pablo; Fernández-Alvaro, Elena; Gabarró, Raquel; Gamo, Francisco Javier; Gómez-Lorenzo, María G; Martín, Julio; Fernández, Esther

2018-04-13

Malaria remains a major global health problem. In 2015 alone, more than 200 million cases of malaria were reported, and more than 400,000 deaths occurred. Since 2010, emerging resistance to current front-line ACTs (artemisinin combination therapies) has been detected in endemic countries. Therefore, there is an urgency for new therapies based on novel modes of action, able to relieve symptoms as fast as the artemisinins and/or block malaria transmission. During the past few years, the antimalarial community has focused their efforts on phenotypic screening as a pragmatic approach to identify new hits. Optimization efforts on several chemical series have been successful, and clinical candidates have been identified. In addition, recent advances in genetics and proteomics have led to the target deconvolution of phenotypic clinical candidates. New mechanisms of action will also be critical to overcome resistance and reduce attrition. Therefore, a complementary strategy focused on identifying well-validated targets to start hit identification programs is essential to reinforce the clinical pipeline. Leveraging published data, we have assessed the status quo of the current antimalarial target portfolio with a focus on the blood stage clinical disease. From an extensive list of reported Plasmodium targets, we have defined triage criteria. These criteria consider genetic, pharmacological, and chemical validation, as well as tractability/doability, and safety implications. These criteria have provided a quantitative score that has led us to prioritize those targets with the highest probability to deliver successful and differentiated new drugs.

How calorie-focused thinking about obesity and related diseases may mislead and harm public health. An alternative.

PubMed

Lucan, Sean C; DiNicolantonio, James J

2015-03-01

Prevailing thinking about obesity and related diseases holds that quantifying calories should be a principal concern and target for intervention. Part of this thinking is that consumed calories - regardless of their sources - are equivalent; i.e. 'a calorie is a calorie'. The present commentary discusses various problems with the idea that 'a calorie is a calorie' and with a primarily quantitative focus on food calories. Instead, the authors argue for a greater qualitative focus on the sources of calories consumed (i.e. a greater focus on types of foods) and on the metabolic changes that result from consuming foods of different types. In particular, the authors consider how calorie-focused thinking is inherently biased against high-fat foods, many of which may be protective against obesity and related diseases, and supportive of starchy and sugary replacements, which are likely detrimental. Shifting the focus to qualitative food distinctions, a central argument of the paper is that obesity and related diseases are problems due largely to food-induced physiology (e.g. neurohormonal pathways) not addressable through arithmetic dieting (i.e. calorie counting). The paper considers potential harms of public health initiatives framed around calorie balance sheets - targeting 'calories in' and/or 'calories out' - that reinforce messages of overeating and inactivity as underlying causes, rather than intermediate effects, of obesity. Finally, the paper concludes that public health should work primarily to support the consumption of whole foods that help protect against obesity-promoting energy imbalance and metabolic dysfunction and not continue to promote calorie-directed messages that may create and blame victims and possibly exacerbate epidemics of obesity and related diseases.

'You just change the channel if you don't like what you're going to hear': gamblers' attitudes towards, and interactions with, social marketing campaigns.

PubMed

Thomas, Samantha L; Lewis, Sophie; Westberg, Kate

2015-02-01

To investigate how gamblers interact with, and respond to, downstream social marketing campaigns that focus on the risks and harms of problem gambling and/or encourage help seeking. Qualitative study of 100 gamblers with a range of gambling behaviours (from non-problem to problem gambling). We used a Social Constructivist approach. Our constant comparative method of data interpretation focused on how participants' experiences and interactions with gambling influenced their opinions towards, and interactions with social marketing campaigns. Three key themes emerged from the narratives. (i) Participants felt that campaigns were heavily skewed towards encouraging individuals to take personal responsibility for their gambling behaviours or were targeted towards those with severe gambling problems. (ii) Participants described the difficulty for campaigns to achieve 'cut through' because of the overwhelming volume of positive messages about the benefits of gambling that were given by the gambling industry. (iii) Some participants described that dominant discourses about personal responsibility prevented them from seeking help and reinforced perceptions of stigma. Social marketing campaigns have an important role to play in the prevention of gambling risk behaviours and the promotion of help seeking. Social marketers should explore how to more effectively target campaigns to different audience segments, understand the role of environmental factors in undermining the uptake of social marketing strategies and anticipate the potential unforeseen consequences of social marketing strategies. © 2012 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

A metabolic network approach for the identification and prioritization of antimicrobial drug targets

PubMed Central

Chavali, Arvind K.; D’Auria, Kevin M.; Hewlett, Erik L.; Pearson, Richard D.; Papin, Jason A.

2012-01-01

For many infectious diseases, novel treatment options are needed to address problems with cost, toxicity and resistance to current drugs. Systems biology tools can be used to gain valuable insight into pathogenic processes and aid in expediting drug discovery. In the past decade, constraint-based modeling of genome-scale metabolic networks has become widely used. Focusing on pathogen metabolic networks, we review in silico strategies to identify effective drug targets, and we highlight recent successes as well as limitations associated with such computational analyses. We further discuss how accounting for the host environment and even targeting the host may offer new therapeutic options. These systems-level approaches are beginning to provide novel avenues for drug targeting against infectious agents. PMID:22300758

Workplace victimization: aggression from the target's perspective.

PubMed

Aquino, Karl; Thau, Stefan

2009-01-01

This article reviews research on workplace victimization, which we define as acts of aggression perpetrated by one or more members of an organization that cause psychological, emotional, or physical harm to their intended target. We compare several types of victimizing behaviors that have been introduced into the organizational psychology literature to illustrate differences and similarities among them. We then review studies looking at who is likely to become a victim of aggression. Predictors include personality, demographic, behavioral, structural, and organizational variables. We also review research on coping strategies for victimization, which include problem-focused and emotion-focused strategies. We conclude with a summary of challenges for victimization research. These include addressing the proliferation of constructs and terms into the literature, attempting to clarify inconclusive findings, and using theory to guide the selection of study variables.

Drug-targeting methodologies with applications: A review

PubMed Central

Kleinstreuer, Clement; Feng, Yu; Childress, Emily

2014-01-01

Targeted drug delivery to solid tumors is a very active research area, focusing mainly on improved drug formulation and associated best delivery methods/devices. Drug-targeting has the potential to greatly improve drug-delivery efficacy, reduce side effects, and lower the treatment costs. However, the vast majority of drug-targeting studies assume that the drug-particles are already at the target site or at least in its direct vicinity. In this review, drug-delivery methodologies, drug types and drug-delivery devices are discussed with examples in two major application areas: (1) inhaled drug-aerosol delivery into human lung-airways; and (2) intravascular drug-delivery for solid tumor targeting. The major problem addressed is how to deliver efficiently the drug-particles from the entry/infusion point to the target site. So far, most experimental results are based on animal studies. Concerning pulmonary drug delivery, the focus is on the pros and cons of three inhaler types, i.e., pressurized metered dose inhaler, dry powder inhaler and nebulizer, in addition to drug-aerosol formulations. Computational fluid-particle dynamics techniques and the underlying methodology for a smart inhaler system are discussed as well. Concerning intravascular drug-delivery for solid tumor targeting, passive and active targeting are reviewed as well as direct drug-targeting, using optimal delivery of radioactive microspheres to liver tumors as an example. The review concludes with suggestions for future work, considereing both pulmonary drug targeting and direct drug delivery to solid tumors in the vascular system. PMID:25516850

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

Yanagawa, T.; Sakagami, H.; Nagatomo, H.

In inertial confinement fusion, the implosion process is important in forming a high-density plasma core. In the case of a fast ignition scheme using a cone-guided target, the fuel target is imploded with a cone inserted. This scheme is advantageous for efficiently heating the imploded fuel core; however, asymmetric implosion is essentially inevitable. Moreover, the effect of cone position and opening angle on implosion also becomes critical. Focusing on these problems, the effect of the asymmetric implosion, the initial position, and the opening angle on the compression rate of the fuel is investigated using a three-dimensional pure hydrodynamic code.

Assessment of Behavioral and Emotional Strengths in Black Children: Development of the Behavioral Assessment for Children of African Heritage

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Lambert, Michael Canute; Rowan, George T.; Kim, Soyoun; Rowan, Scott A.; An Shin, Jeong; Kirsch, Elizabeth A.; Williams, Olivia

2005-01-01

Absence of culturally relevant measures of Black children's strengths inhibits psychometrically sound strength-based assessment, research, and appropriate use of strengths as scaffolds or targets for clinical intervention. Moreover, the sparse research literature on Black children is primarily deficit focused. Beginning to address these problems,…

No Quick Fixes: Problems in the Development of A-Level Students' Writing (and Learning)

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Brady, Monica

2013-01-01

Over the past 15 years, there has been a range of standards-driven educational interventions in England: focused particularly on students' writing, they have been targeted at particular students, short-term and based on the assumption that identifiable, quantifiable inputs would produce pre-identified, measurable outputs. This article explores one…

Use of 35-mm color aerial photography to acquire mallard sex ratio data

USGS Publications Warehouse

Ferguson, Edgar L.; Jorde, Dennis G.; Sease, John L.

1981-01-01

A conventional 35-mm camera equipped with an f2.8 135-mm lens and ASA 64 color film was used to acquire sex ratio data on mallards (Anas platyrhynchos) wintering in the Platte River Valley of south-central Nebraska. Prelight focusing for a distance of 30.5 metres and setting of shutter speed at 1/2000 of a second eliminated focusing and reduced image motion problems and resulted in high-resolution, large-scale aerial photography of small targets. This technique has broad application to the problem of determining sex ratios of various species of waterfowl concentrated on wintering and staging areas. The aerial photographic method was cheaper than the ground ocular method when costs were compared on a per-100 bird basis.

The role of sleep problems and circadian clock genes in attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder and mood disorders during childhood and adolescence: an update.

PubMed

Dueck, Alexander; Berger, Christoph; Wunsch, Katharina; Thome, Johannes; Cohrs, Stefan; Reis, Olaf; Haessler, Frank

2017-02-01

A more recent branch of research describes the importance of sleep problems in the development and treatment of mental disorders in children and adolescents, such as attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and mood disorders (MD). Research about clock genes has continued since 2012 with a focus on metabolic processes within all parts of the mammalian body, but particularly within different cerebral regions. Research has focused on complex regulatory circuits involving clock genes themselves and their influence on circadian rhythms of diverse body functions. Current publications on basic research in human and animal models indicate directions for the treatment of mental disorders targeting circadian rhythms and mechanisms. The most significant lines of research are described in this paper.

Data fusion approach to threat assessment for radar resources management

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Komorniczak, Wojciech; Pietrasinski, Jerzy; Solaiman, Basel

2002-03-01

The paper deals with the problem of the multifunction radar resources management. The problem consists of target/tasks ranking and tasks scheduling. The paper is focused on the target ranking, with the data fusion approach. The data from the radar (object's velocity, range, altitude, direction etc.), IFF system (Identification Friend or Foe) and ESM system (Electronic Support Measures - information concerning threat's electro - magnetic activities) is used to decide of the importance assignment for each detected target. The main problem consists of the multiplicity of various types of the input information. The information from the radar is of the probabilistic or ambiguous imperfection type and the IFF information is of evidential type. To take the advantage of these information sources the advanced data fusion system is necessary. The system should deal with the following situations: fusion of the evidential and fuzzy information, fusion of the evidential information and a'priori information. The paper describes the system which fuses the fuzzy and the evidential information without previous change to the same type of information. It is also described the proposal of using of the dynamic fuzzy qualifiers. The paper shows the results of the preliminary system's tests.

RICIS research

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Mckay, Charles W.; Feagin, Terry; Bishop, Peter C.; Hallum, Cecil R.; Freedman, Glenn B.

1987-01-01

The principle focus of one of the RICIS (Research Institute for Computing and Information Systems) components is computer systems and software engineering in-the-large of the lifecycle of large, complex, distributed systems which: (1) evolve incrementally over a long time; (2) contain non-stop components; and (3) must simultaneously satisfy a prioritized balance of mission and safety critical requirements at run time. This focus is extremely important because of the contribution of the scaling direction problem to the current software crisis. The Computer Systems and Software Engineering (CSSE) component addresses the lifestyle issues of three environments: host, integration, and target.

Antifungal Resistance, Metabolic Routes as Drug Targets, and New Antifungal Agents: An Overview about Endemic Dimorphic Fungi

PubMed Central

Parente-Rocha, Juliana Alves; Bailão, Alexandre Melo; Amaral, André Correa; Paccez, Juliano Domiraci; Borges, Clayton Luiz

2017-01-01

Diseases caused by fungi can occur in healthy people, but immunocompromised patients are the major risk group for invasive fungal infections. Cases of fungal resistance and the difficulty of treatment make fungal infections a public health problem. This review explores mechanisms used by fungi to promote fungal resistance, such as the mutation or overexpression of drug targets, efflux and degradation systems, and pleiotropic drug responses. Alternative novel drug targets have been investigated; these include metabolic routes used by fungi during infection, such as trehalose and amino acid metabolism and mitochondrial proteins. An overview of new antifungal agents, including nanostructured antifungals, as well as of repositioning approaches is discussed. Studies focusing on the development of vaccines against antifungal diseases have increased in recent years, as these strategies can be applied in combination with antifungal therapy to prevent posttreatment sequelae. Studies focused on the development of a pan-fungal vaccine and antifungal drugs can improve the treatment of immunocompromised patients and reduce treatment costs. PMID:28694566

Trajectory Optimization for Missions to Small Bodies with a Focus on Scientific Merit.

PubMed

Englander, Jacob A; Vavrina, Matthew A; Lim, Lucy F; McFadden, Lucy A; Rhoden, Alyssa R; Noll, Keith S

2017-01-01

Trajectory design for missions to small bodies is tightly coupled both with the selection of targets for a mission and with the choice of spacecraft power, propulsion, and other hardware. Traditional methods of trajectory optimization have focused on finding the optimal trajectory for an a priori selection of destinations and spacecraft parameters. Recent research has expanded the field of trajectory optimization to multidisciplinary systems optimization that includes spacecraft parameters. The logical next step is to extend the optimization process to include target selection based not only on engineering figures of merit but also scientific value. This paper presents a new technique to solve the multidisciplinary mission optimization problem for small-bodies missions, including classical trajectory design, the choice of spacecraft power and propulsion systems, and also the scientific value of the targets. This technique, when combined with modern parallel computers, enables a holistic view of the small body mission design process that previously required iteration among several different design processes.

Ultrasound field measurement using a binary lens

PubMed Central

Clement, G.T.; Nomura, H.; Kamakura, T.

2014-01-01

Field characterization methods using a scattering target in the absence of a point-like receiver have been well described in which scattering is recorded by a relatively large receiver located outside the field of measurement. Unfortunately, such methods are prone to artifacts due to averaging across the receiver surface. To avoid this problem while simultaneously increasing the gain of a received signal, the present study introduces a binary plate lens designed to focus spherically-spreading waves onto a planar region having a nearly-uniform phase proportional to that of the target location. The lens is similar to a zone plate, but modified to produce a biconvex-like behavior, such that it focuses both planar and spherically spreading waves. A measurement device suitable for characterizing narrowband ultrasound signals in air is designed around this lens by coupling it to a target and planar receiver. A prototype device is constructed and used to characterize the field of a highly-focused 400 kHz air transducer along 2 radial lines. Comparison of the measurements with numeric predictions formed from nonlinear acoustic simulation showed good relative pressure correlation, with mean differences of 10% and 12% over center 3dB FWHM drop and 12% and 17% over 6dB. PMID:25643084

Internalizing Antecedents and Consequences of Binge-Eating Behaviors in a Community-Based, Urban Sample of African American Females

PubMed Central

Musci, Rashelle J.; Hart, Shelley R.; Ialongo, Nicholas

2015-01-01

The etiology of problem-eating behaviors is often overlooked in research as it typically shares many symptoms with other more common psychiatric illnesses. Binge-eating problems are at the forefront of the popular media because of the connection to obesity; therefore, increased knowledge of binge eating problems, particularly the internalizing antecedents and consequences will have implications in a multitude of domains, including prevention programs aimed at physical and mental health. The current study examines the antecedents of binge-eating behaviors by exploring how the growth of internalizing symptoms influences the proximal outcome of a binge-eating inventory in a longitudinal sample of African American girls. Additional consequences of binge-eating problems are also explored. This study focuses on binge-eating problems in order to present valuable information for prevention scientists who wish to develop target individuals at high risk for internalizing problems such as suicide. PMID:23873475

High-resolution three-dimensional imaging radar

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Cooper, Ken B. (Inventor); Chattopadhyay, Goutam (Inventor); Siegel, Peter H. (Inventor); Dengler, Robert J. (Inventor); Schlecht, Erich T. (Inventor); Mehdi, Imran (Inventor); Skalare, Anders J. (Inventor)

2010-01-01

A three-dimensional imaging radar operating at high frequency e.g., 670 GHz, is disclosed. The active target illumination inherent in radar solves the problem of low signal power and narrow-band detection by using submillimeter heterodyne mixer receivers. A submillimeter imaging radar may use low phase-noise synthesizers and a fast chirper to generate a frequency-modulated continuous-wave (FMCW) waveform. Three-dimensional images are generated through range information derived for each pixel scanned over a target. A peak finding algorithm may be used in processing for each pixel to differentiate material layers of the target. Improved focusing is achieved through a compensation signal sampled from a point source calibration target and applied to received signals from active targets prior to FFT-based range compression to extract and display high-resolution target images. Such an imaging radar has particular application in detecting concealed weapons or contraband.

Understanding the Behavioral Determinants of Mental Health Service Use by Urban, Under-Resourced Black Youth: Adolescent and Caregiver Perspectives

PubMed Central

Chambers, Kerri; Pohle, Cara; Beall, Peggy; Lucksted, Alicia

2012-01-01

Black adolescents with mental health problems are less likely than non-Black adolescents with mental health problems to receive treatment, primarily for non-financial reasons including negative perceptions of services and providers, and self-stigma associated with experiencing mental health problems. To better understand these obstacles, 16 adolescents and 11 caregivers, recruited from two K-8th grade elementary-middle schools, participated in four focus groups guided by the unified theory of behavior to explore mental health help-seeking behaviors and perceptions of mental health services. In the focus groups, caregivers acknowledged more positive attitudes about seeking mental health services than adolescents, but both expected the experience of actually doing so to be negative. Adolescents and caregivers also acknowledged social norms that inhibit their mental health help-seeking. Therefore, we conclude that interventions targeting expectancies and social norms might increase the connection of urban, under-resourced Black adolescents and their families to mental health services, and be particularly important given the long-term consequences of untreated mental health problems for this group. PMID:23355768

Understanding the Behavioral Determinants of Mental Health Service Use by Urban, Under-Resourced Black Youth: Adolescent and Caregiver Perspectives.

PubMed

Lindsey, Michael A; Chambers, Kerri; Pohle, Cara; Beall, Peggy; Lucksted, Alicia

2013-01-01

Black adolescents with mental health problems are less likely than non-Black adolescents with mental health problems to receive treatment, primarily for non-financial reasons including negative perceptions of services and providers, and self-stigma associated with experiencing mental health problems. To better understand these obstacles, 16 adolescents and 11 caregivers, recruited from two K-8th grade elementary-middle schools, participated in four focus groups guided by the unified theory of behavior to explore mental health help-seeking behaviors and perceptions of mental health services. In the focus groups, caregivers acknowledged more positive attitudes about seeking mental health services than adolescents, but both expected the experience of actually doing so to be negative. Adolescents and caregivers also acknowledged social norms that inhibit their mental health help-seeking. Therefore, we conclude that interventions targeting expectancies and social norms might increase the connection of urban, under-resourced Black adolescents and their families to mental health services, and be particularly important given the long-term consequences of untreated mental health problems for this group.

Psychosocial interventions for disruptive behaviour problems in children in low- and middle-income countries: a systematic review and meta-analysis.

PubMed

Burkey, Matthew D; Hosein, Megan; Morton, Isabella; Purgato, Marianna; Adi, Ahmad; Kurzrok, Mark; Kohrt, Brandon A; Tol, Wietse A

2018-04-06

Most of the evidence for psychosocial interventions for disruptive behaviour problems comes from Western, high-income countries. The transferability of this evidence to culturally diverse, low-resource settings with few mental health specialists is unknown. We conducted a systematic review with random-effects meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials examining the effects of psychosocial interventions on reducing behaviour problems among children (under 18) living in low- and middle-income countries (LMIC). Twenty-six randomized controlled trials (representing 28 psychosocial interventions), evaluating 4,441 subjects, met selection criteria. Fifteen (54%) prevention interventions targeted general or at-risk populations, whereas 13 (46%) treatment interventions targeted children selected for elevated behaviour problems. Most interventions were delivered in group settings (96%) and half (50%) were administered by non-specialist providers. The overall effect (standardized mean difference, SMD) of prevention studies was -0.25 (95% confidence interval (CI): -0.41 to -0.09; I 2 : 78%) and of treatment studies was -0.56 (95% CI: -0.51 to -0.24; I 2 : 74%). Subgroup analyses demonstrated effectiveness for child-focused (SMD: -0.35; 95% CI: -0.57 to -0.14) and behavioural parenting interventions (SMD: -0.43; 95% CI: -0.66 to -0.20), and that interventions were effective across age ranges. Our meta-analysis supports the use of psychosocial interventions as a feasible and effective way to reduce disruptive behaviour problems among children in LMIC. Our study provides strong evidence for child-focused and behavioural parenting interventions, interventions across age ranges and interventions delivered in groups. Additional research is needed on training and supervision of non-specialists and on implementation of effective interventions in LMIC settings. © 2018 Association for Child and Adolescent Mental Health.

Nanomedicine strategies for targeting skin inflammation.

PubMed

Abdel-Mottaleb, Mona Ma; Try, Celine; Pellequer, Yann; Lamprecht, Alf

2014-08-01

Topical treatment of skin diseases is an attractive strategy as it receives high acceptance from patients, resulting in higher compliance and therapeutic outcomes. Recently, the use of variable nanocarriers for dermal application has been widely explored, as they offer several advantages compared with conventional topical preparations, including higher skin penetration, controlled and targeted drug delivery and the achievement of higher therapeutic effects. This article will focus on skin inflammation or dermatitis as it is one of the most common skin problems, describing the different types and causes of dermatitis, as well as the typical treatment regimens. The potential use of nanocarriers for targeting skin inflammation and the achievement of higher therapeutic effects using nanotechnology will be explored.

Deep Learning Based Binaural Speech Separation in Reverberant Environments.

PubMed

Zhang, Xueliang; Wang, DeLiang

2017-05-01

Speech signal is usually degraded by room reverberation and additive noises in real environments. This paper focuses on separating target speech signal in reverberant conditions from binaural inputs. Binaural separation is formulated as a supervised learning problem, and we employ deep learning to map from both spatial and spectral features to a training target. With binaural inputs, we first apply a fixed beamformer and then extract several spectral features. A new spatial feature is proposed and extracted to complement the spectral features. The training target is the recently suggested ideal ratio mask. Systematic evaluations and comparisons show that the proposed system achieves very good separation performance and substantially outperforms related algorithms under challenging multi-source and reverberant environments.

Children's understanding of the addition/subtraction complement principle.

PubMed

Torbeyns, Joke; Peters, Greet; De Smedt, Bert; Ghesquière, Pol; Verschaffel, Lieven

2016-09-01

In the last decades, children's understanding of mathematical principles has become an important research topic. Different from the commutativity and inversion principles, only few studies have focused on children's understanding of the addition/subtraction complement principle (if a - b = c, then c + b = a), mainly relying on verbal techniques. This contribution aimed at deepening our understanding of children's knowledge of the addition/subtraction complement principle, combining verbal and non-verbal techniques. Participants were 67 third and fourth graders (9- to 10-year-olds). Children solved two tasks in which verbal reports as well as accuracy and speed data were collected. These two tasks differed only in the order of the problems and the instructions. In the looking-back task, children were told that sometimes the preceding problem might help to answer the next problem. In the baseline task, no helpful preceding items were offered. The looking-back task included 10 trigger-target problem pairs on the complement relation. Children verbally reported looking back on about 40% of all target problems in the looking-back task; the target problems were also solved faster and more accurately than in the baseline task. These results suggest that children used their understanding of the complement principle. The verbal and non-verbal data were highly correlated. This study complements previous work on children's understanding of mathematical principles by highlighting interindividual differences in 9- to 10-year-olds' understanding of the complement principle and indicating the potential of combining verbal and non-verbal techniques to investigate (the acquisition of) this understanding. © 2016 The British Psychological Society.

Cancer-linked targets modulated by curcumin

PubMed Central

Hasima, Noor; Aggarwal, Bharat B

2012-01-01

In spite of major advances in oncology, the World Health Organization predicts that cancer incidence will double within the next two decades. Although it is well understood that cancer is a hyperproliferative disorder mediated through dysregulation of multiple cell signaling pathways, most cancer drug development remains focused on modulation of specific targets, mostly one at a time, with agents referred to as “targeted therapies,” “smart drugs,” or “magic bullets.” How many cancer targets there are is not known, and how many targets must be attacked to control cancer growth is not well understood. Although more than 90% of cancer-linked deaths are due to metastasis of the tumor to vital organs, most drug targeting is focused on killing the primary tumor. Besides lacking specificity, the targeted drugs induce toxicity and side effects that sometimes are greater problems than the disease itself. Furthermore, the cost of some of these drugs is so high that most people cannot afford them. The present report describes the potential anticancer properties of curcumin, a component of the Indian spice turmeric (Curcuma longa), known for its safety and low cost. Curcumin can selectively modulate multiple cell signaling pathways linked to inflammation and to survival, growth, invasion, angiogenesis, and metastasis of cancer cells. More clinical trials of curcumin are needed to prove its usefulness in the cancer setting. PMID:23301199

Problem-solving skills in high school biology: The effectiveness of the IMMEX problem-solving assessment software

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Palacio-Cayetano, Joycelin

"Problem-solving through reflective thinking should be both the method and valuable outcome of science instruction in America's schools" proclaimed John Dewey (Gabel, 1995). If the development of problem-solving is a primary goal of science education, more problem-solving opportunities must be an integral part of K-16 education. To examine the effective use of technology in developing and assessing problem-solving skills, a problem-solving authoring, learning, and assessment software, the UCLA IMMEX Program-Interactive Multimedia Exercises-was investigated. This study was a twenty-week quasi-experimental study that was implemented as a control-group time series design among 120 tenth grade students. Both the experimental group (n = 60) and the control group (n = 60) participated in a problem-based learning curriculum; however, the experimental group received regular intensive experiences with IMMEX problem-solving and the control group did not. Problem-solving pretest and posttest were administered to all students. The instruments used were a 35-item Processes of Biological Inquiry Test and an IMMEX problem-solving assessment test, True Roots. Students who participated in the IMMEX Program achieved significant (p <.05) gains in problem-solving skills on both problem-solving assessment instruments. This study provided evidence that IMMEX software is highly efficient in evaluating salient elements of problem-solving. Outputs of students' problem-solving strategies revealed that unsuccessful problem solvers primarily used the following four strategies: (1) no data search strategy, students simply guessed; (2) limited data search strategy leading to insufficient data and premature closing; (3) irrelevant data search strategy, students focus in areas bearing no substantive data; and (4) extensive data search strategy with inadequate integration and analysis. On the contrary, successful problem solvers used the following strategies; (1) focused search strategy coupled with the ability to fill in knowledge gaps by accessing the appropriate resources; (2) targeted search strategy coupled with high level of analytical and integration skills; and (3) focused search strategy coupled with superior discrimination, analytical, and integration skills. The strategies of students who were successful and unsuccessful solving IMMEX problems were consistent with those of expert and novice problem solvers identified in the literature on problem-solving.

Initiatives (Part 1): Keystone; Cycle Time Puzzle, A Full-Scale Challenge; Foot to Foot, Face to Face; Change Management; Multi-Element Team Challenge.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Schoel, Jim; Butler, Steve; Murray, Mark; Gass, Mike; Carrick, Moe

2001-01-01

Presents five group problem-solving initiatives for use in adventure and experiential settings, focusing on conflict resolution, corporate workplace issues, or adjustment to change. Includes target group, group size, time and space needs, activity level, overview, goals, props, instructions, and suggestions for framing and debriefing the…

A Randomized Controlled Trial of Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy for Generalized Anxiety Disorder with Integrated Techniques from Emotion-Focused and Interpersonal Therapies

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Newman, Michelle G.; Castonguay, Louis G.; Borkovec, Thomas D.; Fisher, Aaron J.; Boswell, James F.; Szkodny, Lauren E.; Nordberg, Samuel S.

2011-01-01

Objective: Recent models suggest that generalized anxiety disorder (GAD) symptoms may be maintained by emotional processing avoidance and interpersonal problems. Method: This is the first randomized controlled trial to test directly whether cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) could be augmented with the addition of a module targeting interpersonal…

Prediction-based Dynamic Energy Management in Wireless Sensor Networks

PubMed Central

Wang, Xue; Ma, Jun-Jie; Wang, Sheng; Bi, Dao-Wei

2007-01-01

Energy consumption is a critical constraint in wireless sensor networks. Focusing on the energy efficiency problem of wireless sensor networks, this paper proposes a method of prediction-based dynamic energy management. A particle filter was introduced to predict a target state, which was adopted to awaken wireless sensor nodes so that their sleep time was prolonged. With the distributed computing capability of nodes, an optimization approach of distributed genetic algorithm and simulated annealing was proposed to minimize the energy consumption of measurement. Considering the application of target tracking, we implemented target position prediction, node sleep scheduling and optimal sensing node selection. Moreover, a routing scheme of forwarding nodes was presented to achieve extra energy conservation. Experimental results of target tracking verified that energy-efficiency is enhanced by prediction-based dynamic energy management.

Distinct emotion regulation skills explain psychopathology and problems in social relationships following childhood emotional abuse and neglect.

PubMed

Berzenski, Sara R

2018-03-22

Efforts to differentiate between the developmental sequelae of childhood emotional abuse and childhood emotional neglect are critical to both research and practice efforts. As an oft-identified mechanism of the effects of child maltreatment on later adjustment, emotion dysregulation represents a key potential pathway. The present study explored a higher order factor model of specific emotion regulation skills, and the extent to which these skill sets would indicate distinct developmental pathways from unique emotional maltreatment experiences to multidomain adjustment. A sample of 500 ethnoracially diverse college students reported on their experiences. A two-factor model of emotion regulation skills based on subscales of the Difficulties in Emotion Regulation Scale was revealed. Significant indirect effects of childhood emotional abuse on psychopathology and problems in social relationships were found through response-focused difficulties in emotion regulation, whereas a significant indirect effect of childhood emotional neglect on problems in social relationships was found through antecedent-focused difficulties in emotion regulation. These results are consistent with theoretical models and empirical evidence suggesting differential effects of childhood emotional abuse and emotional neglect, and provide an important indication for developing targeted interventions focusing on specific higher order emotion dysregulation skill clusters.

Parenting of Men with Co-Occurring Intimate Partner Violence and Substance Abuse

PubMed Central

Stover, Carla Smith; Easton, Caroline; McMahon, Thomas J.

2013-01-01

Objective No studies to date have compared parenting behaviors of men with co-occurring intimate partner violence (IPV) and substance abuse (SA) with community controls. This study was designed to document mediators of differences in parenting behavior of fathers and the emotional-behavioral problems of their children for men with co-occurring SA and IPV. Method The self-reported parenting (negative, positive and co-parenting behaviors) and the child emotional-behavioral problems of 43 fathers with children aged 2 to 6 years with a recent history of SA + IPV were compared to a sample of 43 community control fathers with the same socio-economic and cultural backgrounds. Fathers completed measures on their parenting behavior with a target child, co-parenting behavior with the child’s mother, emotion regulation, romantic attachment, psychiatric symptoms, and the behavior of the target child. Results Men with co-occurring SA + IPV had significantly less positive co-parenting and more negative parenting behaviors than community control fathers. Negative parenting and co-parenting were mediated by the fathers’ avoidant attachment problems. SA + IPV fathers also reported more emotional and behavioral problems in their children. These poor child outcome differences between groups were mediated by the negative parenting behaviors of the fathers. Conclusions These results suggest areas of potential focus in interventions with fathers who have co-occurring SA + IPV issues. Focus on attachment difficulties with his co-parent, which may include affect regulation, coping with emotions, and communication skills training related to co-parenting, may yield significant changes in parenting behaviors and ultimately child functioning. PMID:23422845

Strategies for addressing adherence problems in patients with serious and persistent mental illness: recommendations from the expert consensus guidelines.

PubMed

Velligan, Dawn I; Weiden, Peter J; Sajatovic, Martha; Scott, Jan; Carpenter, Daniel; Ross, Ruth; Docherty, John P

2010-09-01

Poor adherence to medication can have devastating consequences for patients with serious mental illness. The literature review and recommendations in this article are reprinted from The Expert Consensus Guideline Series: Adherence Problems in Patients with Serious and Persistent Mental Illness, published in 2009. The expert consensus survey (39 questions, 521 options) on adherence problems in schizophrenia and bipolar disorder was completed by 41 experts in 2008. This article first reviews the literature on interventions aimed at improving adherence. It then presents the experts' recommendations for targeting factors that can contribute to nonadherence and relates them to the literature. The following psychosocial/programmatic and pharmacologic interventions were rated first line for specific problems that can lead to nonadherence: ongoing symptom/ side-effect monitoring for persistent symptoms or side effects; services targeting logistic problems; medication monitoring/environmental supports (e.g., Cognitive Adaptation Training, assertive community treatment) for lack of routines or cognitive deficits; and adjusting the dose or switching to a different oral antipsychotic for persistent side effects (also high second-line for persistent symptoms). Among pharmacologic interventions, the experts gave high second-line ratings to switching to a long-acting antipsychotic when lack of insight, substance use, persistent symptoms, logistic problems, lack of routines, or lack of family/ social support interfere with adherence and to simplifying the treatment regimen when logistic problems, lack of routines, cognitive deficits, or lack of family/social support interfere with adherence. Psychosocial/programmatic interventions that received high second-line ratings in a number of situations included medication monitoring/environmental supports, patient psychoeducation, more frequent and/or longer visits if possible, cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT), family-focused therapy, and services targeting logistic problems. It is important to identify specific factors that may be contributing to a patient's adherence problems in order to customize interventions and to consider using a multifaceted approach since multiple problems may be involved.

A randomized wait-list controlled analysis of the implementation integrity of team-initiated problem solving processes.

PubMed

Newton, J Stephen; Horner, Robert H; Algozzine, Bob; Todd, Anne W; Algozzine, Kate

2012-08-01

Members of Positive Behavior Interventions and Supports (PBIS) teams from 34 elementary schools participated in a Team-Initiated Problem Solving (TIPS) Workshop and follow-up technical assistance. Within the context of a randomized wait-list controlled trial, team members who were the first recipients of the TIPS intervention demonstrated greater implementation integrity in using the problem-solving processes during their team meetings than did members of PBIS Teams in the Wait-List Control group. The success of TIPS at improving implementation integrity of the problem-solving processes is encouraging and suggests the value of conducting additional research focused on determining whether there is a functional relation between use of these problem-solving processes and actual resolution of targeted student academic and social problems. Copyright © 2012 Society for the Study of School Psychology. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Predicting problem behaviors with multiple expectancies: expanding expectancy-value theory.

PubMed

Borders, Ashley; Earleywine, Mitchell; Huey, Stanley J

2004-01-01

Expectancy-value theory emphasizes the importance of outcome expectancies for behavioral decisions, but most tests of the theory focus on a single behavior and a single expectancy. However, the matching law suggests that individuals consider expected outcomes for both the target behavior and alternative behaviors when making decisions. In this study, we expanded expectancy-value theory to evaluate the contributions of two competing expectancies to adolescent behavior problems. One hundred twenty-one high school students completed measures of behavior problems, expectancies for both acting out and academic effort, and perceived academic competence. Students' self-reported behavior problems covaried mostly with perceived competence and academic expectancies and only nominally with problem behavior expectancies. We suggest that behavior problems may result from students perceiving a lack of valued or feasible alternative behaviors, such as studying. We discuss implications for interventions and suggest that future research continue to investigate the contribution of alternative expectancies to behavioral decisions.

The inclusion of Science Technology Society topics in junior high school earth science textbooks

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Fadhli, Fathi Ali

2000-10-01

The Science Technology Society (STS) approach is a major science education reform through which a scientifically literate citizen could be produced. The teaching of science through STS approach is centered on science and technology related issues and problems. The purpose of this study was to analyze five earth science textbooks published in the 1990's for their inclusion of twelve sciences and technology related issues and problems and for their inclusion of activities focused on STS. The selected earth science textbooks were; Scott Foresman, Heath, Holt, Merrill and Prentice-Hall. The targeted twelve issues and problems were identified by Bybee (1987), as the most important global science and technology related issues and problems. The numbers of full text pages devoted to each topic were determined by classifying each segment to one of the targeted topics. In addition, the numbers of STS activities were also determined by using criteria developed for this study. ANOVA statistical analyses and t-tests showed that the analyzed earth science textbooks treated the studied STS issues and problems and treated the STS activities differently. It was found that six of the studied issues and problems were constantly receiving more attention in all the analyzed earth science textbooks than the rest of the topics. These topics were; Air Quality and Atmosphere, Energy Shortages, Water Resources, Land Use, Hazardous Substances, and Mineral Resources. The overall results revealed that only an average of 8.82% of the text pages in all the analyzed earth science textbooks were devoted to STS topics and 5.49% of the activities in all the analyzed earth science textbooks were focused on STS topics. However, none of the activities focused on STS topics were presented in STS approach as defined by NSTA. The percentage of STS topics inclusion and the percentage of activities focused on STS topics were considered to be very low. Accordingly, the objectives and goals of STS approach will not be achieved through using the analyzed earth science textbooks. The low percentages of STS activities and topics indicated also that the STS approach would not be fairly presented in science classrooms as long as science teachers depend on science textbooks 90% of their teaching time. Moreover, the results of this study revealed also that the inclusion of STS approach in science textbooks is still considered to be very low despite the support provided to the STS approach by science teachers, educators, organizations, and education departments and also despite of the publishing of Project Syntheses (1977) since twenty eight years ago.

[Geriatric assessment. Development, status quo and perspectives].

PubMed

Lüttje, D; Varwig, D; Teigel, B; Gilhaus, B

2011-08-01

Multimorbidity is typical for geriatric patients. Problems not identified in time may lead to increased hospitalisation or prolonged hospital stay. Problems of multimorbidity are not covered by most guidelines or clinical pathways. The geriatric assessment supports standard clinical and technical assessment. Geriatric identification screening is basic for general practitioners and in emergency rooms to filter those patients bearing a special risk. Geriatric basic assessment covers most of the problems relevant for people in old age, revealing even problems that had so far been hidden. It permits to structure a comprehensive and holistic therapeutic approach and to evaluate the targets of treatment relevant for independent living and well-being. This results in reduction of morbidity and mortality. Assessment tools focusing on pain, nutrition and frailty should be added to the standardized geriatric basic assessment in Germany.

Design of a bioactive small molecule that targets r(AUUCU) repeats in spinocerebellar ataxia 10.

PubMed

Yang, Wang-Yong; Gao, Rui; Southern, Mark; Sarkar, Partha S; Disney, Matthew D

2016-06-01

RNA is an important target for chemical probes of function and lead therapeutics; however, it is difficult to target with small molecules. One approach to tackle this problem is to identify compounds that target RNA structures and utilize them to multivalently target RNA. Here we show that small molecules can be identified to selectively bind RNA base pairs by probing a library of RNA-focused small molecules. A small molecule that selectively binds AU base pairs informed design of a dimeric compound (2AU-2) that targets the pathogenic RNA, expanded r(AUUCU) repeats, that causes spinocerebellar ataxia type 10 (SCA10) in patient-derived cells. Indeed, 2AU-2 (50 nM) ameliorates various aspects of SCA10 pathology including improvement of mitochondrial dysfunction, reduced activation of caspase 3, and reduction of nuclear foci. These studies provide a first-in-class chemical probe to study SCA10 RNA toxicity and potentially define broadly applicable compounds targeting RNA AU base pairs in cells.

Statistical use of argonaute expression and RISC assembly in microRNA target identification.

PubMed

Stanhope, Stephen A; Sengupta, Srikumar; den Boon, Johan; Ahlquist, Paul; Newton, Michael A

2009-09-01

MicroRNAs (miRNAs) posttranscriptionally regulate targeted messenger RNAs (mRNAs) by inducing cleavage or otherwise repressing their translation. We address the problem of detecting m/miRNA targeting relationships in homo sapiens from microarray data by developing statistical models that are motivated by the biological mechanisms used by miRNAs. The focus of our modeling is the construction, activity, and mediation of RNA-induced silencing complexes (RISCs) competent for targeted mRNA cleavage. We demonstrate that regression models accommodating RISC abundance and controlling for other mediating factors fit the expression profiles of known target pairs substantially better than models based on m/miRNA expressions alone, and lead to verifications of computational target pair predictions that are more sensitive than those based on marginal expression levels. Because our models are fully independent of exogenous results from sequence-based computational methods, they are appropriate for use as either a primary or secondary source of information regarding m/miRNA target pair relationships, especially in conjunction with high-throughput expression studies.

Overcoming the Research-to-Practice Gap: A Randomized Trial with Two Brief Homework and Organization Interventions for Students with ADHD as Implemented by School Mental Health Providers

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Langberg, Joshua M.; Dvorsky, Melissa R.; Molitor, Stephen J.; Bourchtein, Elizaveta; Eddy, Laura D.; Smith, Zoe R.; Oddo, Lauren E.; Eadeh, Hana-May

2017-01-01

Objective: To evaluate the effectiveness of 2 brief school-based interventions targeting the homework problems of adolescents with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD)--the Homework, Organization, and Planning Skills (HOPS) intervention and the Completing Homework by Improving Efficiency and Focus (CHIEF) intervention, as implemented by…

An Investigation of after School Supports: An After-School Program and Its Impact on African American Males Aged 5-13

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Brock, Leonard M.

2009-01-01

Evidence indicates that after-school programs are beneficial to children in the elementary school years, especially when they target more than just problem behaviors, but also focus on a wide range of positive developmental outcomes such as critical thinking, self-awareness and self-confidence (Catalano et al., 2002). The most effective programs…

Deployment Design of Wireless Sensor Network for Simple Multi-Point Surveillance of a Moving Target

PubMed Central

Tsukamoto, Kazuya; Ueda, Hirofumi; Tamura, Hitomi; Kawahara, Kenji; Oie, Yuji

2009-01-01

In this paper, we focus on the problem of tracking a moving target in a wireless sensor network (WSN), in which the capability of each sensor is relatively limited, to construct large-scale WSNs at a reasonable cost. We first propose two simple multi-point surveillance schemes for a moving target in a WSN and demonstrate that one of the schemes can achieve high tracking probability with low power consumption. In addition, we examine the relationship between tracking probability and sensor density through simulations, and then derive an approximate expression representing the relationship. As the results, we present guidelines for sensor density, tracking probability, and the number of monitoring sensors that satisfy a variety of application demands. PMID:22412326

Single molecule sequencing-guided scaffolding and correction of draft assemblies.

PubMed

Zhu, Shenglong; Chen, Danny Z; Emrich, Scott J

2017-12-06

Although single molecule sequencing is still improving, the lengths of the generated sequences are inevitably an advantage in genome assembly. Prior work that utilizes long reads to conduct genome assembly has mostly focused on correcting sequencing errors and improving contiguity of de novo assemblies. We propose a disassembling-reassembling approach for both correcting structural errors in the draft assembly and scaffolding a target assembly based on error-corrected single molecule sequences. To achieve this goal, we formulate a maximum alternating path cover problem. We prove that this problem is NP-hard, and solve it by a 2-approximation algorithm. Our experimental results show that our approach can improve the structural correctness of target assemblies in the cost of some contiguity, even with smaller amounts of long reads. In addition, our reassembling process can also serve as a competitive scaffolder relative to well-established assembly benchmarks.

Associating optical measurements and estimating orbits of geocentric objects with a Genetic Algorithm: performance limitations.

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zittersteijn, Michiel; Schildknecht, Thomas; Vananti, Alessandro; Dolado Perez, Juan Carlos; Martinot, Vincent

2016-07-01

Currently several thousands of objects are being tracked in the MEO and GEO regions through optical means. With the advent of improved sensors and a heightened interest in the problem of space debris, it is expected that the number of tracked objects will grow by an order of magnitude in the near future. This research aims to provide a method that can treat the correlation and orbit determination problems simultaneously, and is able to efficiently process large data sets with minimal manual intervention. This problem is also known as the Multiple Target Tracking (MTT) problem. The complexity of the MTT problem is defined by its dimension S. Current research tends to focus on the S = 2 MTT problem. The reason for this is that for S = 2 the problem has a P-complexity. However, with S = 2 the decision to associate a set of observations is based on the minimum amount of information, in ambiguous situations (e.g. satellite clusters) this will lead to incorrect associations. The S > 2 MTT problem is an NP-hard combinatorial optimization problem. In previous work an Elitist Genetic Algorithm (EGA) was proposed as a method to approximately solve this problem. It was shown that the EGA is able to find a good approximate solution with a polynomial time complexity. The EGA relies on solving the Lambert problem in order to perform the necessary orbit determinations. This means that the algorithm is restricted to orbits that are described by Keplerian motion. The work presented in this paper focuses on the impact that this restriction has on the algorithm performance.

DOA Estimation for Underwater Wideband Weak Targets Based on Coherent Signal Subspace and Compressed Sensing.

PubMed

Li, Jun; Lin, Qiu-Hua; Kang, Chun-Yu; Wang, Kai; Yang, Xiu-Ting

2018-03-18

Direction of arrival (DOA) estimation is the basis for underwater target localization and tracking using towed line array sonar devices. A method of DOA estimation for underwater wideband weak targets based on coherent signal subspace (CSS) processing and compressed sensing (CS) theory is proposed. Under the CSS processing framework, wideband frequency focusing is accompanied by a two-sided correlation transformation, allowing the DOA of underwater wideband targets to be estimated based on the spatial sparsity of the targets and the compressed sensing reconstruction algorithm. Through analysis and processing of simulation data and marine trial data, it is shown that this method can accomplish the DOA estimation of underwater wideband weak targets. Results also show that this method can considerably improve the spatial spectrum of weak target signals, enhancing the ability to detect them. It can solve the problems of low directional resolution and unreliable weak-target detection in traditional beamforming technology. Compared with the conventional minimum variance distortionless response beamformers (MVDR), this method has many advantages, such as higher directional resolution, wider detection range, fewer required snapshots and more accurate detection for weak targets.

Tomographic Imaging of a Forested Area By Airborne Multi-Baseline P-Band SAR.

PubMed

Frey, Othmar; Morsdorf, Felix; Meier, Erich

2008-09-24

In recent years, various attempts have been undertaken to obtain information about the structure of forested areas from multi-baseline synthetic aperture radar data. Tomographic processing of such data has been demonstrated for airborne L-band data but the quality of the focused tomographic images is limited by several factors. In particular, the common Fourierbased focusing methods are susceptible to irregular and sparse sampling, two problems, that are unavoidable in case of multi-pass, multi-baseline SAR data acquired by an airborne system. In this paper, a tomographic focusing method based on the time-domain back-projection algorithm is proposed, which maintains the geometric relationship between the original sensor positions and the imaged target and is therefore able to cope with irregular sampling without introducing any approximations with respect to the geometry. The tomographic focusing quality is assessed by analysing the impulse response of simulated point targets and an in-scene corner reflector. And, in particular, several tomographic slices of a volume representing a forested area are given. The respective P-band tomographic data set consisting of eleven flight tracks has been acquired by the airborne E-SAR sensor of the German Aerospace Center (DLR).

Interactive object recognition assistance: an approach to recognition starting from target objects

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Geisler, Juergen; Littfass, Michael

1999-07-01

Recognition of target objects in remotely sensed imagery required detailed knowledge about the target object domain as well as about mapping properties of the sensing system. The art of object recognition is to combine both worlds appropriately and to provide models of target appearance with respect to sensor characteristics. Common approaches to support interactive object recognition are either driven from the sensor point of view and address the problem of displaying images in a manner adequate to the sensing system. Or they focus on target objects and provide exhaustive encyclopedic information about this domain. Our paper discusses an approach to assist interactive object recognition based on knowledge about target objects and taking into account the significance of object features with respect to characteristics of the sensed imagery, e.g. spatial and spectral resolution. An `interactive recognition assistant' takes the image analyst through the interpretation process by indicating step-by-step the respectively most significant features of objects in an actual set of candidates. The significance of object features is expressed by pregenerated trees of significance, and by the dynamic computation of decision relevance for every feature at each step of the recognition process. In the context of this approach we discuss the question of modeling and storing the multisensorial/multispectral appearances of target objects and object classes as well as the problem of an adequate dynamic human-machine-interface that takes into account various mental models of human image interpretation.

A Review of Services and Interventions for Runaway and Homeless Youth: Moving Forward.

PubMed

Slesnick, Natasha; Dashora, Pushpanjali; Letcher, Amber; Erdem, Gizem; Serovich, Julianne

2009-07-01

Research focused on the impact of community-based services and treatment interventions designed to intervene in the lives of runaway and homeless youth has increased in the last two decades in the U.S. and internationally. In light of the tremendous need for identifying effective strategies to end homelessness and its associated problems among youth, this paper summarizes and critiques the findings of the extant literature including U.S., international, and qualitative studies. Thirty-two papers met criteria for inclusion in the review. Among the conclusions are that comprehensive interventions which target the varied and interconnected needs of these youth and families may be worthy of more study than studies that isolate the intervention focus on one problem. Also, more research incorporating design strategies that increase the reliability and validity of study findings is needed. Other preliminary conclusions and future directions are offered.

A cortical-spinal prosthesis for targeted limb movement in paralyzed primate avatars

PubMed Central

Shanechi, Maryam M.; Hu, Rollin C.; Williams, Ziv M.

2014-01-01

Motor paralysis is among the most disabling aspects of injury to the central nervous system. Here we develop and test a target-based cortical-spinal neural prosthesis that employs neural activity recorded from pre-motor neurons to control limb movements in functionally paralyzed primate avatars. Given the complexity by which muscle contractions are naturally controlled, we approach the problem of eliciting goal-directed limb movement in paralyzed animals by focusing on the intended targets of movement rather than their intermediate trajectories. We then match this information in real-time with spinal cord and muscle stimulation parameters that produce free planar limb movements to those intended target locations. We demonstrate that both the decoded activities of pre-motor populations and their adaptive responses can be used, after brief training, to effectively direct an avatar’s limb to distinct targets variably displayed on a screen. These findings advance the future possibility of reconstituting targeted limb movement in paralyzed subjects. PMID:24549394

On Connected Target k-Coverage in Heterogeneous Wireless Sensor Networks.

PubMed

Yu, Jiguo; Chen, Ying; Ma, Liran; Huang, Baogui; Cheng, Xiuzhen

2016-01-15

Coverage and connectivity are two important performance evaluation indices for wireless sensor networks (WSNs). In this paper, we focus on the connected target k-coverage (CTC k) problem in heterogeneous wireless sensor networks (HWSNs). A centralized connected target k-coverage algorithm (CCTC k) and a distributed connected target k-coverage algorithm (DCTC k) are proposed so as to generate connected cover sets for energy-efficient connectivity and coverage maintenance. To be specific, our proposed algorithms aim at achieving minimum connected target k-coverage, where each target in the monitored region is covered by at least k active sensor nodes. In addition, these two algorithms strive to minimize the total number of active sensor nodes and guarantee that each sensor node is connected to a sink, such that the sensed data can be forwarded to the sink. Our theoretical analysis and simulation results show that our proposed algorithms outperform a state-of-art connected k-coverage protocol for HWSNs.

Using social marketing to create communities for our children and adolescents that do not model and encourage drinking.

PubMed

Jones, Sandra C

2014-11-01

Our children and adolescents are growing up in environments that support, and even, encourage (excessive) drinking. Thus, if we are to address the problem of underage drinking our focus needs to move beyond eliciting behavior change among children and adolescents to changing underlying community attitudes, social norms, and the environment itself. This review sought to examine the evidence base surrounding 'community-based' interventions designed to address underage drinking; to determine the extent to which 'community' interventions have thus far targeted the broader community and gone beyond behavior-focused strategies and endeavored to change social and physical environments. The review found surprisingly few interventions that sought to comprehensively address social norms at a community level. We need to move (research and interventions) beyond narrowly-focused efforts targeting teens and their parents; it is only when we address alcohol consumption at a population level that we will be able to provide an environment for children and adolescents which does not model (excessive) drinking as a normative social behavior. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Adding tsetse control to medical activities contributes to decreasing transmission of sleeping sickness in the Mandoul focus (Chad).

PubMed

Mahamat, Mahamat Hissene; Peka, Mallaye; Rayaisse, Jean-Baptiste; Rock, Kat S; Toko, Mahamat Abdelrahim; Darnas, Justin; Brahim, Guihini Mollo; Alkatib, Ali Bachar; Yoni, Wilfrid; Tirados, Inaki; Courtin, Fabrice; Brand, Samuel P C; Nersy, Cyrus; Alfaroukh, Idriss Oumar; Torr, Steve J; Lehane, Mike J; Solano, Philippe

2017-07-01

Gambian sleeping sickness or HAT (human African trypanosomiasis) is a neglected tropical disease caused by Trypanosoma brucei gambiense transmitted by riverine species of tsetse. A global programme aims to eliminate the disease as a public health problem by 2020 and stop transmission by 2030. In the South of Chad, the Mandoul area is a persistent focus of Gambian sleeping sickness where around 100 HAT cases were still diagnosed and treated annually until 2013. Pre-2014, control of HAT relied solely on case detection and treatment, which lead to a gradual decrease in the number of cases of HAT due to annual screening of the population. Because of the persistence of transmission and detection of new cases, we assessed whether the addition of vector control to case detection and treatment could further reduce transmission and consequently, reduce annual incidence of HAT in Mandoul. In particular, we investigated the impact of deploying 'tiny targets' which attract and kill tsetse. Before tsetse control commenced, a census of the human population was conducted and their settlements mapped. A pre-intervention survey of tsetse distribution and abundance was implemented in November 2013 and 2600 targets were deployed in the riverine habitats of tsetse in early 2014, 2015 and 2016. Impact on tsetse and on the incidence of sleeping sickness was assessed through nine tsetse monitoring surveys and four medical surveys of the human population in 2014 and 2015. Mathematical modelling was used to assess the relative impact of tsetse control on incidence compared to active and passive screening. The census indicated that a population of 38674 inhabitants lived in the vicinity of the Mandoul focus. Within this focus in November 2013, the vector is Glossina fuscipes fuscipes and the mean catch of tsetse from traps was 0.7 flies/trap/day (range, 0-26). The catch of tsetse from 44 sentinel biconical traps declined after target deployment with only five tsetse being caught in nine surveys giving a mean catch of 0.005 tsetse/trap/day. Modelling indicates that 70.4% (95% CI: 51-95%) of the reduction in reported cases between 2013 and 2015 can be attributed to vector control with the rest due to medical intervention. Similarly tiny targets are estimated to have reduced new infections dramatically with 62.8% (95% CI: 59-66%) of the reduction due to tsetse control, and 8.5% (95% 8-9%) to enhanced passive detection. Model predictions anticipate that elimination as a public health problem could be achieved by 2018 in this focus if vector control and screening continue at the present level and, furthermore, there may have been virtually no transmission since 2015. This work shows that tiny targets reduced the numbers of tsetse in this focus in Chad, which may have interrupted transmission and the combination of tsetse control to medical detection and treatment has played a major role in reducing in HAT incidence in 2014 and 2015.

Object tracking using plenoptic image sequences

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kim, Jae Woo; Bae, Seong-Joon; Park, Seongjin; Kim, Do Hyung

2017-05-01

Object tracking is a very important problem in computer vision research. Among the difficulties of object tracking, partial occlusion problem is one of the most serious and challenging problems. To address the problem, we proposed novel approaches to object tracking on plenoptic image sequences. Our approaches take advantage of the refocusing capability that plenoptic images provide. Our approaches input the sequences of focal stacks constructed from plenoptic image sequences. The proposed image selection algorithms select the sequence of optimal images that can maximize the tracking accuracy from the sequence of focal stacks. Focus measure approach and confidence measure approach were proposed for image selection and both of the approaches were validated by the experiments using thirteen plenoptic image sequences that include heavily occluded target objects. The experimental results showed that the proposed approaches were satisfactory comparing to the conventional 2D object tracking algorithms.

Sources of Asthenopia in Navy Flight Simulators

DTIC Science & Technology

1988-04-25

strain with problems of focusing (e.g., Donders, 1864), and hence with ametropia , e.g., myopia (near sightedness), hyperopia (far sightedness) and...characteristics of the target and its background 2. Ocular and oculomotor factors. a) uncorrected ametropia : hyperopia, myopia, astigma- tism, anisometropia b...pupil in ametropia . American Journal of Ophthalmology, 40, 4e1-485. Donders, F.C. (1864). On the anomalies of accommodation and refraction of the eye

Fast Boundary Element Method for acoustics with the Sparse Cardinal Sine Decomposition

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Alouges, François; Aussal, Matthieu; Parolin, Emile

2017-07-01

This paper presents the newly proposed method Sparse Cardinal Sine Decomposition that allows fast convolution on unstructured grids. We focus on its use when coupled with finite element techniques to solve acoustic problems with the (compressed) Boundary Element Method. In addition, we also compare the computational performances of two equivalent Matlab® and Python implementations of the method. We show validation test cases in order to assess the precision of the approach. Eventually, the performance of the method is illustrated by the computation of the acoustic target strength of a realistic submarine from the Benchmark Target Strength Simulation international workshop.

Evaluation and control of miRNA-like off-target repression for RNA interference.

PubMed

Seok, Heeyoung; Lee, Haejeong; Jang, Eun-Sook; Chi, Sung Wook

2018-03-01

RNA interference (RNAi) has been widely adopted to repress specific gene expression and is easily achieved by designing small interfering RNAs (siRNAs) with perfect sequence complementarity to the intended target mRNAs. Although siRNAs direct Argonaute (Ago), a core component of the RNA-induced silencing complex (RISC), to recognize and silence target mRNAs, they also inevitably function as microRNAs (miRNAs) and suppress hundreds of off-targets. Such miRNA-like off-target repression is potentially detrimental, resulting in unwanted toxicity and phenotypes. Despite early recognition of the severity of miRNA-like off-target repression, this effect has often been overlooked because of difficulties in recognizing and avoiding off-targets. However, recent advances in genome-wide methods and knowledge of Ago-miRNA target interactions have set the stage for properly evaluating and controlling miRNA-like off-target repression. Here, we describe the intrinsic problems of miRNA-like off-target effects caused by canonical and noncanonical interactions. We particularly focus on various genome-wide approaches and chemical modifications for the evaluation and prevention of off-target repression to facilitate the use of RNAi with secured specificity.

A Review of Technology-Based Youth and Family-Focused Interventions

PubMed Central

Prinz, Ronald J.

2017-01-01

In the past 10 years, mental and behavioral health has seen a proliferation of technology-based interventions in the form of online and other computer-delivered programs. This paper focuses on technology-based treatment and preventive interventions aimed at benefitting children and adolescents via either involving the parents and families, or only the youth. The review considered only technology-based interventions that had at least one published study with a randomized controlled trial design. Questions being addressed included: (1) What are the technology-based interventions in the mental/behavioral health area that have been systematically evaluated in published studies? (2) What are the common and unique characteristics of these interventions and their application with respect to sample characteristics, target problems, and technology characteristics (platforms, structures, elements, and communication formats)? and (3) Which intervention approaches and strategies have accrued the greatest evidence? The review identified 30 technology-based psychosocial interventions for children and families, 19 of which were parent or family-focused (32 studies) and 11 of which were youth-focused (in 13 studies). For the parent/family-focused interventions, greatest promise was found in those that addressed either youth behavioral problems or depressive/anxious symptoms, as well as more general bolstering of parenting efficacy. The youth-focused interventions showed some promise in reducing depressive/ anxious symptoms. Advantages and disadvantages of the technology-based approaches were considered, and areas for future research and development were discussed. PMID:27787701

A Review of Technology-Based Youth and Family-Focused Interventions.

PubMed

MacDonell, Kathleen Watson; Prinz, Ronald J

2017-06-01

In the past 10 years, mental and behavioral health has seen a proliferation of technology-based interventions in the form of online and other computer-delivered programs. This paper focuses on technology-based treatment and preventive interventions aimed at benefitting children and adolescents via either involving the parents and families, or only the youth. The review considered only technology-based interventions that had at least one published study with a randomized controlled trial design. Questions being addressed included: (1) What are the technology-based interventions in the mental/behavioral health area that have been systematically evaluated in published studies? (2) What are the common and unique characteristics of these interventions and their application with respect to sample characteristics, target problems, and technology characteristics (platforms, structures, elements, and communication formats)? and (3) Which intervention approaches and strategies have accrued the greatest evidence? The review identified 30 technology-based psychosocial interventions for children and families, 19 of which were parent or family-focused (32 studies) and 11 of which were youth-focused (in 13 studies). For the parent/family-focused interventions, greatest promise was found in those that addressed either youth behavioral problems or depressive/anxious symptoms, as well as more general bolstering of parenting efficacy. The youth-focused interventions showed some promise in reducing depressive/anxious symptoms. Advantages and disadvantages of the technology-based approaches were considered, and areas for future research and development were discussed.

Brain correlates of the orientation of auditory spatial attention onto speaker location in a "cocktail-party" situation.

PubMed

Lewald, Jörg; Hanenberg, Christina; Getzmann, Stephan

2016-10-01

Successful speech perception in complex auditory scenes with multiple competing speakers requires spatial segregation of auditory streams into perceptually distinct and coherent auditory objects and focusing of attention toward the speaker of interest. Here, we focused on the neural basis of this remarkable capacity of the human auditory system and investigated the spatiotemporal sequence of neural activity within the cortical network engaged in solving the "cocktail-party" problem. Twenty-eight subjects localized a target word in the presence of three competing sound sources. The analysis of the ERPs revealed an anterior contralateral subcomponent of the N2 (N2ac), computed as the difference waveform for targets to the left minus targets to the right. The N2ac peaked at about 500 ms after stimulus onset, and its amplitude was correlated with better localization performance. Cortical source localization for the contrast of left versus right targets at the time of the N2ac revealed a maximum in the region around left superior frontal sulcus and frontal eye field, both of which are known to be involved in processing of auditory spatial information. In addition, a posterior-contralateral late positive subcomponent (LPCpc) occurred at a latency of about 700 ms. Both these subcomponents are potential correlates of allocation of spatial attention to the target under cocktail-party conditions. © 2016 Society for Psychophysiological Research.

Toward a magic or imaginary bullet? Ligands for drug targeting to cancer cells: principles, hopes, and challenges

PubMed Central

Toporkiewicz, Monika; Meissner, Justyna; Matusewicz, Lucyna; Czogalla, Aleksander; Sikorski, Aleksander F

2015-01-01

There are many problems directly correlated with the systemic administration of drugs and how they reach their target site. Targeting promises to be a hopeful strategy as an improved means of drug delivery, with reduced toxicity and minimal adverse side effects. Targeting exploits the high affinity of cell-surface-targeted ligands, either directly or as carriers for a drug, for specific retention and uptake by the targeted diseased cells. One of the most important parameters which should be taken into consideration in the selection of an appropriate ligand for targeting is the binding affinity (KD). In this review we focus on the importance of binding affinities of monoclonal antibodies, antibody derivatives, peptides, aptamers, DARPins, and small targeting molecules in the process of selection of the most suitable ligand for targeting of nanoparticles. In order to provide a critical comparison between these various options, we have also assessed each technology format across a range of parameters such as molecular size, immunogenicity, costs of production, clinical profiles, and examples of the level of selectivity and toxicity of each. Wherever possible, we have also assessed how incorporating such a targeted approach compares with, or is superior to, original treatments. PMID:25733832

Glycosylated Triterpenoids as Endosomal Escape Enhancers in Targeted Tumor Therapies

PubMed Central

Fuchs, Hendrik; Niesler, Nicole; Trautner, Alexandra; Sama, Simko; Jerz, Gerold; Panjideh, Hossein; Weng, Alexander

2017-01-01

Protein-based targeted toxins play an increasingly important role in targeted tumor therapies. In spite of their high intrinsic toxicity, their efficacy in animal models is low. A major reason for this is the limited entry of the toxin into the cytosol of the target cell, which is required to mediate the fatal effect. Target receptor bound and internalized toxins are mostly either recycled back to the cell surface or lysosomally degraded. This might explain why no antibody-targeted protein toxin has been approved for tumor therapeutic applications by the authorities to date although more than 500 targeted toxins have been developed within the last decades. To overcome the problem of insufficient endosomal escape, a number of strategies that make use of diverse chemicals, cell-penetrating or fusogenic peptides, and light-induced techniques were designed to weaken the membrane integrity of endosomes. This review focuses on glycosylated triterpenoids as endosomal escape enhancers and throws light on their structure, the mechanism of action, and on their efficacy in cell culture and animal models. Obstacles, challenges, opportunities, and future prospects are discussed. PMID:28536357

Statistical Use of Argonaute Expression and RISC Assembly in microRNA Target Identification

PubMed Central

Stanhope, Stephen A.; Sengupta, Srikumar; den Boon, Johan; Ahlquist, Paul; Newton, Michael A.

2009-01-01

MicroRNAs (miRNAs) posttranscriptionally regulate targeted messenger RNAs (mRNAs) by inducing cleavage or otherwise repressing their translation. We address the problem of detecting m/miRNA targeting relationships in homo sapiens from microarray data by developing statistical models that are motivated by the biological mechanisms used by miRNAs. The focus of our modeling is the construction, activity, and mediation of RNA-induced silencing complexes (RISCs) competent for targeted mRNA cleavage. We demonstrate that regression models accommodating RISC abundance and controlling for other mediating factors fit the expression profiles of known target pairs substantially better than models based on m/miRNA expressions alone, and lead to verifications of computational target pair predictions that are more sensitive than those based on marginal expression levels. Because our models are fully independent of exogenous results from sequence-based computational methods, they are appropriate for use as either a primary or secondary source of information regarding m/miRNA target pair relationships, especially in conjunction with high-throughput expression studies. PMID:19779550

Advances in Molecular Imaging of Locally Delivered Targeted Therapeutics for Central Nervous System Tumors

PubMed Central

Tosi, Umberto; Marnell, Christopher S.; Chang, Raymond; Cho, William C.; Ting, Richard; Maachani, Uday B.; Souweidane, Mark M.

2017-01-01

Thanks to the recent advances in the development of chemotherapeutics, the morbidity and mortality of many cancers has decreased significantly. However, compared to oncology in general, the field of neuro-oncology has lagged behind. While new molecularly targeted chemotherapeutics have emerged, the impermeability of the blood–brain barrier (BBB) renders systemic delivery of these clinical agents suboptimal. To circumvent the BBB, novel routes of administration are being applied in the clinic, ranging from intra-arterial infusion and direct infusion into the target tissue (convection enhanced delivery (CED)) to the use of focused ultrasound to temporarily disrupt the BBB. However, the current system depends on a “wait-and-see” approach, whereby drug delivery is deemed successful only when a specific clinical outcome is observed. The shortcomings of this approach are evident, as a failed delivery that needs immediate refinement cannot be observed and corrected. In response to this problem, new theranostic agents, compounds with both imaging and therapeutic potential, are being developed, paving the way for improved and monitored delivery to central nervous system (CNS) malignancies. In this review, we focus on the advances and the challenges to improve early cancer detection, selection of targeted therapy, and evaluation of therapeutic efficacy, brought forth by the development of these new agents. PMID:28208698

Advances in Molecular Imaging of Locally Delivered Targeted Therapeutics for Central Nervous System Tumors.

PubMed

Tosi, Umberto; Marnell, Christopher S; Chang, Raymond; Cho, William C; Ting, Richard; Maachani, Uday B; Souweidane, Mark M

2017-02-08

Thanks to the recent advances in the development of chemotherapeutics, the morbidity and mortality of many cancers has decreased significantly. However, compared to oncology in general, the field of neuro-oncology has lagged behind. While new molecularly targeted chemotherapeutics have emerged, the impermeability of the blood-brain barrier (BBB) renders systemic delivery of these clinical agents suboptimal. To circumvent the BBB, novel routes of administration are being applied in the clinic, ranging from intra-arterial infusion and direct infusion into the target tissue (convection enhanced delivery (CED)) to the use of focused ultrasound to temporarily disrupt the BBB. However, the current system depends on a "wait-and-see" approach, whereby drug delivery is deemed successful only when a specific clinical outcome is observed. The shortcomings of this approach are evident, as a failed delivery that needs immediate refinement cannot be observed and corrected. In response to this problem, new theranostic agents, compounds with both imaging and therapeutic potential, are being developed, paving the way for improved and monitored delivery to central nervous system (CNS) malignancies. In this review, we focus on the advances and the challenges to improve early cancer detection, selection of targeted therapy, and evaluation of therapeutic efficacy, brought forth by the development of these new agents.

Energy efficient sensor scheduling with a mobile sink node for the target tracking application.

PubMed

Maheswararajah, Suhinthan; Halgamuge, Saman; Premaratne, Malin

2009-01-01

Measurement losses adversely affect the performance of target tracking. The sensor network's life span depends on how efficiently the sensor nodes consume energy. In this paper, we focus on minimizing the total energy consumed by the sensor nodes whilst avoiding measurement losses. Since transmitting data over a long distance consumes a significant amount of energy, a mobile sink node collects the measurements and transmits them to the base station. We assume that the default transmission range of the activated sensor node is limited and it can be increased to maximum range only if the mobile sink node is out-side the default transmission range. Moreover, the active sensor node can be changed after a certain time period. The problem is to select an optimal sensor sequence which minimizes the total energy consumed by the sensor nodes. In this paper, we consider two different problems depend on the mobile sink node's path. First, we assume that the mobile sink node's position is known for the entire time horizon and use the dynamic programming technique to solve the problem. Second, the position of the sink node is varied over time according to a known Markov chain, and the problem is solved by stochastic dynamic programming. We also present sub-optimal methods to solve our problem. A numerical example is presented in order to discuss the proposed methods' performance.

Energy Efficient Sensor Scheduling with a Mobile Sink Node for the Target Tracking Application

PubMed Central

Maheswararajah, Suhinthan; Halgamuge, Saman; Premaratne, Malin

2009-01-01

Measurement losses adversely affect the performance of target tracking. The sensor network's life span depends on how efficiently the sensor nodes consume energy. In this paper, we focus on minimizing the total energy consumed by the sensor nodes whilst avoiding measurement losses. Since transmitting data over a long distance consumes a significant amount of energy, a mobile sink node collects the measurements and transmits them to the base station. We assume that the default transmission range of the activated sensor node is limited and it can be increased to maximum range only if the mobile sink node is out-side the default transmission range. Moreover, the active sensor node can be changed after a certain time period. The problem is to select an optimal sensor sequence which minimizes the total energy consumed by the sensor nodes. In this paper, we consider two different problems depend on the mobile sink node's path. First, we assume that the mobile sink node's position is known for the entire time horizon and use the dynamic programming technique to solve the problem. Second, the position of the sink node is varied over time according to a known Markov chain, and the problem is solved by stochastic dynamic programming. We also present sub-optimal methods to solve our problem. A numerical example is presented in order to discuss the proposed methods' performance PMID:22399934

Development of solid tunable optics for ultra-miniature imaging systems

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Yongchao, Zou

This thesis focuses on the optimal design, fabrication and testing of solid tunable optics and exploring their applications in miniature imaging systems. It starts with the numerical modelling of such lenses, followed by the optimum design method and alignment tolerance analysis. A miniature solid tunable lens driven by a piezo actuator is then developed. To solve the problem of limited maximum optical power and tuning range in conventional lens designs, a novel multi-element solid tunable lens is proposed and developed. Inspired by the Alvarez principle, a novel miniature solid tunable dual-focus lens, which is designed using freeform surfaces and driven by one micro-electro-mechanical-systems (MEMS) rotary actuator, is demonstrated. To explore the applications of these miniature solid tunable lenses, a miniature adjustable-focus endoscope and one compact adjustable-focus camera module are developed. The adjustable-focus capability of these two miniature imaging systems is fully proved by electrically focusing targets placed at different positions.

Pose estimation of industrial objects towards robot operation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Niu, Jie; Zhou, Fuqiang; Tan, Haishu; Cao, Yu

2017-10-01

With the advantages of wide range, non-contact and high flexibility, the visual estimation technology of target pose has been widely applied in modern industry, robot guidance and other engineering practices. However, due to the influence of complicated industrial environment, outside interference factors, lack of object characteristics, restrictions of camera and other limitations, the visual estimation technology of target pose is still faced with many challenges. Focusing on the above problems, a pose estimation method of the industrial objects is developed based on 3D models of targets. By matching the extracted shape characteristics of objects with the priori 3D model database of targets, the method realizes the recognition of target. Thus a pose estimation of objects can be determined based on the monocular vision measuring model. The experimental results show that this method can be implemented to estimate the position of rigid objects based on poor images information, and provides guiding basis for the operation of the industrial robot.

Reducing Behavior Problems Among Students with Autism Spectrum Disorder: Coaching Teachers in a Mixed-Reality Setting.

PubMed

Pas, Elise T; Johnson, Stacy R; Larson, Kristine E; Brandenburg, Linda; Church, Robin; Bradshaw, Catherine P

2016-12-01

Most approaches aiming to reduce behavior problems among youth with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) focus on individual students; however, school personnel also need professional development to better support students. This study targeted teachers' skill development to promote positive outcomes for students with ASD. The sample included 19 teachers in two non-public special education settings serving students with moderate to severe ASD. Participating teachers received professional development and coaching in classroom management, with guided practice in a mixed-reality simulator. Repeated-measures ANOVAs examining externally-conducted classroom observations revealed statistically significant improvements in teacher management and student behavior over time. Findings suggest that coaching and guided practice in a mixed-reality simulator is perceived as acceptable and may reduce behavior problems among students with ASD.

Current applications and future potential for bioinorganic chemistry in the development of anticancer drugs

PubMed Central

van Rijt, Sabine H.; Sadler, Peter J.

2010-01-01

This review illustrates notable recent progress in the field of medicinal bioinorganic chemistry with many new approaches to the design of innovative metal-based anticancer drugs emerging. Current research addressing the problems associated with platinum drugs has focused on other metal-based therapeutics that have different modes of action, and on prodrug and targeting strategies in an effort to diminish the side-effects of cisplatin chemotherapy. PMID:19782150

Space Acquisitions: DOD Faces Challenges in Fully Realizing Benefits of Satellite Acquisition Improvements

DTIC Science & Technology

2012-03-21

Test Program ( STP ) was targeted for termination in the fiscal year 2013 budget. STP was created in 1965 to serve as an integrator to provide launch...been lagging behind schedule and it had taken positive actions to instill better practices and more focused leadership for space. Progress has...instance, the second Global Positioning System (GPS) IIF satellite experienced technical problems that could shorten its operational lifetime. The

Sex differences in first-admission psychiatric inpatients with and without a comorbid substance use disorder.

PubMed

Gramaglia, Carla; Bert, Fabrizio; Lombardi, Ada; Feggi, Alessandro; Porro, Marica; Siliquini, Roberta; Gualano, Maria Rosaria; Torre, Eugenio; Zeppegno, Patrizia

2014-01-01

We assessed sex differences in a sample of first-admission psychiatric inpatients with and without comorbid substance use disorder (SUD) to identify possible risk factors and targets for sex-tailored treatment interventions. A retrospective study of first admissions to the University Psychiatry Ward, "Maggiore della Carità" Hospital, Novara, Italy, between 2003 and 2012 was accomplished. The clinical charts of patients with (N = 362) and without comorbid SUD (N = 1111) were reviewed. Differences in employment, educational, and marital statuses were found between male and female psychiatric patients with and without comorbid SUD. Having a degree was a protective factor for males, whereas it was a risk factor for females. Being divorced and having family problems were both risk factors for comorbidity in females. Regarding the diagnosis, results overlapped in males and females, and both affective and other disorders were risk factors for a comorbid SUD. A significant difference between male and female psychiatric patients with a comorbid SUD was the males' overall poorer psychosocial functioning. Marital status and family problems were risk factors for comorbid SUD in females. Both males and females showed various pathways of access to and choices of substances and, eventually, experienced different impacts on their lives. Hospitalization might help to set up a targeted intervention for patients with comorbidity, while accounting for sex differences. With respect to males, a treatment approach focused on the substance alone might help improve their functioning; females might have a greater benefit from a treatment approach focused on distress, family problems, and relational issues.

DOA Estimation for Underwater Wideband Weak Targets Based on Coherent Signal Subspace and Compressed Sensing

PubMed Central

2018-01-01

Direction of arrival (DOA) estimation is the basis for underwater target localization and tracking using towed line array sonar devices. A method of DOA estimation for underwater wideband weak targets based on coherent signal subspace (CSS) processing and compressed sensing (CS) theory is proposed. Under the CSS processing framework, wideband frequency focusing is accompanied by a two-sided correlation transformation, allowing the DOA of underwater wideband targets to be estimated based on the spatial sparsity of the targets and the compressed sensing reconstruction algorithm. Through analysis and processing of simulation data and marine trial data, it is shown that this method can accomplish the DOA estimation of underwater wideband weak targets. Results also show that this method can considerably improve the spatial spectrum of weak target signals, enhancing the ability to detect them. It can solve the problems of low directional resolution and unreliable weak-target detection in traditional beamforming technology. Compared with the conventional minimum variance distortionless response beamformers (MVDR), this method has many advantages, such as higher directional resolution, wider detection range, fewer required snapshots and more accurate detection for weak targets. PMID:29562642

Dual-beam laser autofocusing system based on liquid lens

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhang, Fumin; Yao, Yannan; Qu, Xinghua; Zhang, Tong; Pei, Bing

2017-02-01

A dual-beam laser autofocusing system is designed in this paper. The autofocusing system is based on a liquid lens with less moving parts and fast response time, which makes the system simple, reliable, compact and fast. A novel scheme ;Time-sharing focus, fast conversion; is innovatively proposed. The scheme effectively solves the problem that the guiding laser and the working laser cannot focus at the same target point because of the existence of chromatic aberration. This scheme not only makes both guiding laser and working laser achieve optimal focusing in guiding stage and working stage respectively, but also greatly reduces the system complexity and simplifies the focusing process as well as makes autofocusing time of the working laser reduce to about 10 ms. In the distance range of 1 m to 30 m, the autofocusing spot size is kept under 4.3 mm at 30 m and just 0.18 mm at 1 m. The spot size is much less influenced by the target distance compared with the collimated laser with a micro divergence angle for its self-adaptivity. The dual-beam laser autofocusing system based on liquid lens is fully automatic, compact and efficient. It is fully meet the need of dynamicity and adaptivity and it will play an important role in a number of long-range control applications.

Oscillating fluid lens in coherent retinal projection displays for extending depth of focus

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

von Waldkirch, extending depth of focus M.; Lukowicz, P.; Troster, G.

2005-09-01

See-through head-mounted displays, which allow to overlay virtual information over the user's real view, suffer normally from a limited depth of focus (DOF). To overcome this problem we discuss in this paper the use of a fast oscillating, variable-focus lens in a retinal projection display. The evaluation is based on a schematic eye model and on the partial coherence simulation tool SPLAT which allows us to calculate the projected retinal images of a text target. Objective image quality criteria demonstrate that the use of an oscillating lens is promising provided that partially coherent illumination light is used. In this case, psychometric measurements reveal that the depth of focus for reading text can be extended by a factor of up to 2.2. For fully coherent and incoherent illumination, however, the retinal images suffer from structural and contrast degradation effects, respectively.

The theoretical model of the school-based prevention programme Unplugged.

PubMed

Vadrucci, Serena; Vigna-Taglianti, Federica D; van der Kreeft, Peer; Vassara, Maro; Scatigna, Maria; Faggiano, Fabrizio; Burkhart, Gregor

2016-12-01

Unplugged is a school-based prevention programme designed and tested in the EU-Dap trial. The programme consists of 12 units delivered by class teachers to adolescents 12-14 years old. It is a strongly interactive programme including a training of personal and social skills with a specific focus on normative beliefs. The aim of this work is to define the theoretical model of the program, the contribution of the theories to the units, and the targeted mediators. The programme integrates several theories: Social Learning, Social Norms, Health Belief, theory of Reasoned Action-Attitude, and Problem Behaviour theory. Every theory contributes to the development of the units' contents, with specific weights. Knowledge, risk perception, attitudes towards drugs, normative beliefs, critical and creative thinking, relationship skills, communication skills, assertiveness, refusal skills, ability to manage emotions and to cope with stress, empathy, problem solving and decision making skills are the targeted mediators of the program. © The Author(s) 2015.

Support groups for children and adolescents bereaved by suicide: Lots of interventions, little evidence.

PubMed

Journot-Reverbel, Katia; Raynaud, Jean-Philippe; Bui, Eric; Revet, Alexis

2017-04-01

Though many different interventions are proposed for suicide-bereaved children and adolescents, few data exist concerning their efficiency. This literature review focused on psychosocial interventions specifically targeting children and adolescents bereaved by suicide to try to provide some validate therapeutic guidelines propositions for clinicians. We only found two articles specifically targeting children or adolescents: both of them seemed to show some efficacy in reducing some psychosocial variables (anxiety, depression…) in suicide-bereaved children but results were limited by methodological problems. This review failed to provide evidence-based guidelines propositions for suicide-bereaved children and underline the crucial need for research in this field. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

Informing pedagogy through the brain-targeted teaching model.

PubMed

Hardiman, Mariale

2012-01-01

Improving teaching to foster creative thinking and problem-solving for students of all ages will require two essential changes in current educational practice. First, to allow more time for deeper engagement with material, it is critical to reduce the vast number of topics often required in many courses. Second, and perhaps more challenging, is the alignment of pedagogy with recent research on cognition and learning. With a growing focus on the use of research to inform teaching practices, educators need a pedagogical framework that helps them interpret and apply research findings. This article describes the Brain-Targeted Teaching Model, a scheme that relates six distinct aspects of instruction to research from the neuro- and cognitive sciences.

The Corporate Coauthor

PubMed Central

Fugh-Berman, Adriane

2005-01-01

Drug marketing techniques include the sponsorship of articles signed by academic physicians or researchers and submitted to peer-reviewed medical journals. Some of these articles are authored or coauthored by ghostwriters who work for pharmaceutical companies or medical education companies hired by pharmaceutical companies. Conflicts of interest may be difficult to detect in the subset of articles and presentations sponsored by pharmaceutical companies that never mention the targeted drug, but focus on stimulating the perceived need for the targeted drug or highlighting problems with competing drugs. The current voluntary standards for declaring conflicts of interest to readers of medical journals and audiences at medical conferences are inadequate. A public database that contains conflicts of interest of physicians and researchers would be useful. PMID:15987332

Family functioning mediates adaptation in caregivers of individuals with Rett syndrome.

PubMed

Lamb, Amanda E; Biesecker, Barbara B; Umstead, Kendall L; Muratori, Michelle; Biesecker, Leslie G; Erby, Lori H

2016-11-01

The objective of this study was to investigate factors related to family functioning and adaptation in caregivers of individuals with Rett syndrome (RS). A cross-sectional quantitative survey explored the relationships between demographics, parental self-efficacy, coping methods, family functioning and adaptation. A forward-backward, step-wise model selection procedure was used to evaluate variables associated with both family functioning and adaptation. Analyses also explored family functioning as a mediator of the relationship between other variables and adaptation. Bivariate analyses (N=400) revealed that greater parental self-efficacy, a greater proportion of problem-focused coping, and a lesser proportion of emotion-focused coping were associated with more effective family functioning. In addition, these key variables were significantly associated with greater adaptation, as was family functioning, while controlling for confounders. Finally, regression analyses suggest family functioning as a mediator of the relationships between three variables (parental self-efficacy, problem-focused coping, and emotion-focused coping) with adaptation. This study demonstrates the potentially predictive roles of expectations and coping methods and the mediator role of family functioning in adaptation among caregivers of individuals with RS, a chronic developmental disorder. A potential target for intervention is strengthening of caregiver competence in the parenting role to enhance caregiver adaptation. Published by Elsevier Ireland Ltd.

Quo vadis radiotherapy? Technological advances and the rising problems in cancer management.

PubMed

Allen, Barry J; Bezak, Eva; Marcu, Loredana G

2013-01-01

Despite the latest technological advances in radiotherapy, cancer control is still challenging for several tumour sites. The survival rates for the most deadly cancers, such as ovarian and pancreatic, have not changed over the last decades. The solution to the problem lies in the change of focus: from local treatment to systemic therapy. The aim of this paper is to present the current status as well as the gaps in radiotherapy and, at the same time, to look into potential solutions to improve cancer control and survival. The currently available advanced radiotherapy treatment techniques have been analysed and their cost-effectiveness discussed. The problem of systemic disease management was specifically targeted. Clinical studies show limited benefit in cancer control from hadron therapy. However, targeted therapies together with molecular imaging could improve treatment outcome for several tumour sites while controlling the systemic disease. The advances in photon therapy continue to be competitive with the much more expensive hadron therapy. To justify the cost effectiveness of proton/heavy ion therapy, there is a need for phase III randomised clinical trials. Furthermore, the success of systemic disease management lies in the fusion between radiation oncology technology and microbiology.

X-ray beam method for displacement measurement in hostile environments

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Jordan, Eric H.; Pease, D. M.; Canistraro, H.; Brew, Dale

1989-01-01

A new method of extensometry using an X-ray beam was devised, and the results of current testing reveal it to be highly feasible. This technique has been shown to provide a non-contacting system that is immune to problems associated with density variations in gaseous environments, that plague currently available optical methods. This advantage is a result of the non-refracting penetrating nature of X-rays. The method is based on X-ray-induced X-ray fluorescence of targets, which subsequently serve as fudicial markers. Some target materials have melting points over 1600 degrees C which will facilitate measurement at extremely high temperatures. A highly focused intense X-ray beam, which is produced using a Johansen 'bent crystal', is then scanned across the target, which responds by fluorescing X-rays when stimulated by the incident beam. This secondary radiation is monitored using a detector. By carefully measuring beam orientation, change in target edge position can be determined. Many variations on this basic theme are now possible such as two targets demarcating a gage length, or a beam shadowing method using opaque targets.

Innovative environmental education contributes to improved management practices in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States.

PubMed

Bradley, M Patricia; Hanson, Royce; Walbeck, Eric S

2004-06-01

The Mid-Atlantic Integrated Assessment (MAIA) and its partner, University of Maryland, Baltimore County (UMBC) have developed a graduate-level course focused on successful application of science by decision-makers to address a particular problem. Students conduct a literature review, interview the decision-makers and scientists, and synthesize and document the management problem, the science that was applied to that problem, and other issues that might constrain or drive the solution (e.g., legalities, social pressures, expense, politics, personalities, etc.). Students also quantify the results, evaluate who the intended audience is and how they most appropriately target them, and determine if there are other management problems that could be addressed with the science. The final products are short publications geared towards other decision-makers who might have a similar problem and might be seeking successful innovative solutions. MAIA is distributing these short publications to decision-makers throughout the Mid-Atlantic Region. The publications have been very positively received by state and local governments and watershed groups.

Neural responses to fearful eyes in children with conduct problems and varying levels of callous-unemotional traits.

PubMed

Sebastian, C L; McCrory, E J; Dadds, M R; Cecil, C A M; Lockwood, P L; Hyde, Z H; De Brito, S A; Viding, E

2014-01-01

Children with conduct problems (CP) are a heterogeneous group. Those with high levels of callous-unemotional traits (CP/HCU) appear emotionally under-reactive at behavioural and neural levels whereas those with low levels of CU traits (CP/LCU) appear emotionally over-reactive, compared with typically developing (TD) controls. Investigating the degree to which these patterns of emotional reactivity are malleable may have important translational implications. Instructing participants with CP/HCU to focus on the eyes of fearful faces (i.e. the most salient feature) can ameliorate their fear-recognition deficits, but it is unknown whether this is mediated by amygdala response. It is also unknown whether focusing on fearful eyes is associated with increased amygdala reactivity in CP/LCU. Functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) was used to measure neural responses to fearful and calm faces in children with CP/HCU, CP/LCU and TD controls (n = 17 per group). On half of trials participants looked for a blue dot anywhere within target faces; on the other half, participants were directed to focus on the eye region. Reaction time (RT) data showed that CP/LCU were selectively slowed in the fear/eyes condition. For the same condition, CP/LCU also showed increased amygdala and subgenual anterior cingulate cortex (sgACC)/orbitofrontal cortex (OFC) responses compared with TD controls. RT and amygdala response to fear/eyes were correlated in CP/LCU only. No effects of focusing on the eye region were observed in CP/HCU. These data extend the evidence base suggesting that CU traits index meaningful heterogeneity in conduct problems. Focusing on regulating reactive emotional responses may be a fruitful strategy for children with CP/LCU.

Control of treatment size in cavitation-enhanced high-intensity focused ultrasound using radio-frequency echo signals

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Tomiyasu, Kentaro; Takagi, Ryo; Iwasaki, Ryosuke; Yoshizawa, Shin; Umemura, Shin-ichiro

2017-07-01

In high-intensity focused ultrasound (HIFU) treatment, controlling the ultrasound dose at each focal target spot is important because it is a problem that the length of the coagulated region in front of the focal point deviates owing to the differences in absorption in each focal target spot and attenuation in the intervening tissues. In this study, the detected changes in the power spectra of HIFU echoes were used by controlling the HIFU duration in the “trigger HIFU” sequence with the aim to increase coagulation size through the enhancement of the ultrasonic heating by the cavitation induced by the preceding extremely high intensity short “trigger” pulse. The result shows that this method can be used to detect boiling bubbles and the following generated cavitation bubbles at their early stage. By automatically stopping HIFU exposure immediately after detecting the bubbles, overheating was prevented and the deviation of the length of the coagulated region was reduced.

Label-Free Aptasensors for the Detection of Mycotoxins

PubMed Central

Rhouati, Amina; Catanante, Gaelle; Nunes, Gilvanda; Hayat, Akhtar; Marty, Jean-Louis

2016-01-01

Various methodologies have been reported in the literature for the qualitative and quantitative monitoring of mycotoxins in food and feed samples. Based on their enhanced specificity, selectivity and versatility, bio-affinity assays have inspired many researchers to develop sensors by exploring bio-recognition phenomena. However, a significant problem in the fabrication of these devices is that most of the biomolecules do not generate an easily measurable signal upon binding to the target analytes, and signal-generating labels are required to perform the measurements. In this context, aptamers have been emerged as a potential and attractive bio-recognition element to design label-free aptasensors for various target analytes. Contrary to other bioreceptor-based approaches, the aptamer-based assays rely on antigen binding-induced conformational changes or oligomerization states rather than binding-assisted changes in adsorbed mass or charge. This review will focus on current designs in label-free conformational switchable design strategies, with a particular focus on applications in the detection of mycotoxins. PMID:27999353

Low-intensity focused ultrasound (LIFU)-induced acoustic droplet vaporization in phase-transition perfluoropentane nanodroplets modified by folate for ultrasound molecular imaging.

PubMed

Liu, Jianxin; Shang, Tingting; Wang, Fengjuan; Cao, Yang; Hao, Lan; Ren, JianLi; Ran, Haitao; Wang, Zhigang; Li, Pan; Du, Zhiyu

2017-01-01

The commonly used ultrasound (US) molecular probes, such as targeted microbubbles and perfluorocarbon emulsions, present a number of inherent problems including the conflict between US visualization and particle penetration. This study describes the successful fabrication of phase changeable folate-targeted perfluoropentane nanodroplets (termed FA-NDs), a novel US molecular probe for tumor molecular imaging with US. Notably, these FA-NDs can be triggered by low-intensity focused US (LIFU) sonication, providing excellent US enhancement in B-mode and contrast-enhanced US mode in vitro. After intravenous administration into nude mice bearing SKOV3 ovarian carcinomas, 1,1'-dioctadecyl-3,3,3',3' -tetramethylindotricarbocya-nine iodide-labeled FA-NDs were found to accumulate in the tumor region. FA-NDs injection followed by LIFU sonication exhibited remarkable US contrast enhancement in the tumor region. In conclusion, combining our elaborately developed FA-NDs with LIFU sonication provides a potential protocol for US molecular imaging in folate receptor-overexpressing tumors.

Low-intensity focused ultrasound (LIFU)-induced acoustic droplet vaporization in phase-transition perfluoropentane nanodroplets modified by folate for ultrasound molecular imaging

PubMed Central

Liu, Jianxin; Shang, Tingting; Wang, Fengjuan; Cao, Yang; Hao, Lan; Ren, JianLi; Ran, Haitao; Wang, Zhigang; Li, Pan; Du, Zhiyu

2017-01-01

The commonly used ultrasound (US) molecular probes, such as targeted microbubbles and perfluorocarbon emulsions, present a number of inherent problems including the conflict between US visualization and particle penetration. This study describes the successful fabrication of phase changeable folate-targeted perfluoropentane nanodroplets (termed FA-NDs), a novel US molecular probe for tumor molecular imaging with US. Notably, these FA-NDs can be triggered by low-intensity focused US (LIFU) sonication, providing excellent US enhancement in B-mode and contrast-enhanced US mode in vitro. After intravenous administration into nude mice bearing SKOV3 ovarian carcinomas, 1,1′-dioctadecyl-3,3,3′,3′ -tetramethylindotricarbocya-nine iodide-labeled FA-NDs were found to accumulate in the tumor region. FA-NDs injection followed by LIFU sonication exhibited remarkable US contrast enhancement in the tumor region. In conclusion, combining our elaborately developed FA-NDs with LIFU sonication provides a potential protocol for US molecular imaging in folate receptor-overexpressing tumors. PMID:28184161

Regulatory Focus Affects Physician Risk Tolerance

PubMed Central

Veazie, Peter J.; McIntosh, Scott; Chapman, Benjamin P.; Dolan, James G.

2014-01-01

Risk tolerance is a source of variation in physician decision-making. This variation, if independent of clinical concerns, can result in mistaken utilization of health services. To address such problems, it will be helpful to identify nonclinical factors of risk tolerance, particularly those amendable to intervention – regulatory focus theory suggests such a factor. This study tested whether regulatory focus affects risk tolerance among primary care physicians. Twenty-seven primary care physicians were assigned to promotion-focused or prevention-focused manipulations and compared on the Risk Taking Attitudes in Medical Decision Making scale using a randomization test. Results provide evidence that physicians assigned to the promotion-focus manipulation adopted an attitude of greater risk tolerance than the physicians assigned to the prevention-focused manipulation (P=0.01). The Cohen’s d statistic was conventionally large at 0.92. Results imply that situational regulatory focus in primary care physicians affects risk tolerance and may thereby be a nonclinical source of practice variation. Results also provide marginal evidence that chronic regulatory focus is associated with risk tolerance (P=0.05), but the mechanism remains unclear. Research and intervention targeting physician risk tolerance may benefit by considering situational regulatory focus as an explanatory factor. PMID:25431799

Framing Ethnic Variations in Alcohol Outcomes from Biological Pathways to Neighborhood Context

PubMed Central

Chartier, Karen G.; Scott, Denise M.; Wall, Tamara L.; Covault, Jonathan; Karriker-Jaffe, Katherine J.; Mills, Britain A.; Luczak, Susan E.; Caetano, Raul; Arroyo, Judith A.

2013-01-01

Health disparities research seeks to eliminate disproportionate negative health outcomes experienced in some racial/ethnic minority groups. This brief review presents findings on factors associated with drinking and alcohol-related problems in racial/ethnic groups. Those discussed are: 1) biological pathways to alcohol problems, 2) gene by stress interactions, 3) neighborhood disadvantage, stress, and access to alcohol, and 4) drinking cultures and contexts. These factors and their interrelationships are complex, requiring a multi-level perspective. The use of interdisciplinary teams and an epigenetic focus are suggested to move the research forward. The application of multi-level research to policy, prevention, and intervention programs may help prioritize combinations of the most promising intervention targets. PMID:24483624

'Responsible drinking' programs and the alcohol industry in Brazil: killing two birds with one stone?

PubMed

Pantani, Daniela; Sparks, Robert; Sanchez, Zila M; Pinsky, Ilana

2012-10-01

Over the last decade, the Brazilian alcohol industry - which for years has ignored alcohol problems - inaugurated responsible drinking programs (RDPs). This paper reports findings from an exploratory study that investigated the RDP-related activities of six leading alcohol companies in Brazil (three national, three transnational) focusing on program goals and components, target populations and evaluation methods. Interviews were conducted from October 2007 to February 2008 with nine key-informants, and 71 corporate documents were collected along with additional web information about the programs. Content analysis of interviews and institutional documents was used to identify the companies' RDP activities. Three types of RDPs were found that focused respectively on institutional action, drinking and driving, and underage drinking. All three transnational firms were involved in RDPs, whereas national firms demonstrated limited involvement. The majority of RDPs were implemented using television. No targeted research appears to have been undertaken by the companies to assess the efficacy of the strategies in terms of changes in drinking behavior. The evidence for both national and transnational firms means that is difficult to confirm that the responsible drinking programs produced so far in Brazil have been undertaken to systematically reduce alcohol problems, or mainly as part of a public relations strategy to reduce criticism and potentially forestall government regulations (Babor, 2006, 2009; Jernigan, 2009). Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Schizophrenia, narrative, and neurocognition: The utility of life-stories in understanding social problem-solving skills.

PubMed

Moe, Aubrey M; Breitborde, Nicholas J K; Bourassa, Kyle J; Gallagher, Colin J; Shakeel, Mohammed K; Docherty, Nancy M

2018-06-01

Schizophrenia researchers have focused on phenomenological aspects of the disorder to better understand its underlying nature. In particular, development of personal narratives-that is, the complexity with which people form, organize, and articulate their "life stories"-has recently been investigated in individuals with schizophrenia. However, less is known about how aspects of narrative relate to indicators of neurocognitive and social functioning. The objective of the present study was to investigate the association of linguistic complexity of life-story narratives to measures of cognitive and social problem-solving abilities among people with schizophrenia. Thirty-two individuals with a diagnosis of schizophrenia completed a research battery consisting of clinical interviews, a life-story narrative, neurocognitive testing, and a measure assessing multiple aspects of social problem solving. Narrative interviews were assessed for linguistic complexity using computerized technology. The results indicate differential relationships of linguistic complexity and neurocognition to domains of social problem-solving skills. More specifically, although neurocognition predicted how well one could both describe and enact a solution to a social problem, linguistic complexity alone was associated with accurately recognizing that a social problem had occurred. In addition, linguistic complexity appears to be a cognitive factor that is discernible from other broader measures of neurocognition. Linguistic complexity may be more relevant in understanding earlier steps of the social problem-solving process than more traditional, broad measures of cognition, and thus is relevant in conceptualizing treatment targets. These findings also support the relevance of developing narrative-focused psychotherapies. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2018 APA, all rights reserved).

Variation in psychosocial influences according to the dimensions and content of children's unusual experiences: potential routes for the development of targeted interventions.

PubMed

Ruffell, Tamatha; Azis, Matilda; Hassanali, Nedah; Ames, Catherine; Browning, Sophie; Bracegirdle, Karen; Corrigall, Richard; Laurens, Kristin R; Hirsch, Colette; Kuipers, Elizabeth; Maddox, Lucy; Jolley, Suzanne

2016-03-01

The psychosocial processes implicated in the development and maintenance of psychosis differ according to both the dimensional attributes (conviction, frequency, associated distress, adverse life impact) and the content or type (e.g. grandiosity, hallucinations, paranoia) of the psychotic symptoms experienced. This has informed the development of 'targeted' cognitive behavioural therapy for psychosis (CBTp): interventions focusing on specific psychological processes in the context of particular symptom presentations. In adults, larger effect sizes for change in primary outcomes are typically reported in trials of targeted interventions, compared to those for trials of generic CBTp approaches with multiple therapeutic foci. We set out to test the theoretical basis for developing targeted CBTp interventions for young people with distressing psychotic-like, or unusual, experiences (UEs). We investigated variations in the psychosocial processes previously associated with self-reported UE severity (reasoning, negative life events, emotional problems) according to UE dimensional attributes and content/type (using an established five-factor model) in a clinically referred sample of 72 young people aged 8-14 years. Regression analyses revealed associations of conviction and grandiosity with reasoning; of frequency, and hallucinations and paranoia, with negative life events; and of distress/adverse life impact, and paranoia and hallucinations, with emotional problems. We conclude that psychological targets for intervention differ according to particular characteristics of childhood UEs in much the same way as for psychotic symptoms in adults. The development of targeted interventions is therefore indicated, and tailoring therapy according to presentation should further improve clinical outcomes for these young people.

The Multi-TW Scale Future for Photovoltaics

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

Wilson, Gregory M

This chapter is focused on photovoltaics (PV) and argues that this rapidly developing technology is emerging as one of the most important tools policy makers have for meeting COP21 carbon emissions reduction targets. Focusing on the contributions and advancements that PV is likely to make to the global energy system over the next 10-15 years, it gives a basic overview of mainstream PV conversion technologies, summarizes roughly 40 years of research and industrial history then closes with a brief discussion of how PV and energy storage are likely to impact the world's energy landscape going forward. The chapter closely couplesmore » an increasingly urgent carbon emissions and climate change problem with dramatic PV advancements over the last 10 years in terms of both performance and cost. Ultimately PV is presented as an extremely useful tool for helping to reduce global carbon emissions with little to no increase in electricity costs, in a timeframe that is meaningful to the global carbon emissions problem.« less

The multi-TW scale future for photovoltaics

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wilson, Gregory

2018-01-01

This chapter is focused on photovoltaics (PV) and argues that this rapidly developing technology is emerging as one of the most important tools policy makers have for meeting COP21 carbon emissions reduction targets. Focusing on the contributions and advancements that PV is likely to make to the global energy system over the next 10-15 years, it gives a basic overview of mainstream PV conversion technologies, summarizes roughly 40 years of research and industrial history then closes with a brief discussion of how PV and energy storage are likely to impact the world's energy landscape going forward. The chapter closely couples an increasingly urgent carbon emissions and climate change problem with dramatic PV advancements over the last 10 years in terms of both performance and cost. Ultimately PV is presented as an extremely useful tool for helping to reduce global carbon emissions with little to no increase in electricity costs, in a timeframe that is meaningful to the global carbon emissions problem.

Coping strategies for HIV-related stigma in Liuzhou, China.

PubMed

Zhang, Ying-Xia; Ying-Xia, Zhang; Golin, Carol E; Bu, Jin; Jin, Bu; Emrick, Catherine Boland; Nan, Zhang; Li, Ming-Qiang; Ming-Qiang, Li

2014-02-01

This study explores the feelings, experiences, and coping strategies of people living with HIV (PLHIV) in Liuzhou, China. In a southwestern Chinese city with high HIV prevalence, we conducted semi-structured in-depth interviews with 47 PLHIV selected to represent individuals who had acquired HIV via different acquisition routes. Many participants felt severely stigmatized; they commonly reported having very low self-esteem and feelings of despair. Based on style of coping and whether it occurred at the interpersonal or intrapersonal level, four types of coping that participants used to deal with HIV-associated stigma were identified: (1) Compassion (Passive/Avoidant-Interpersonal); (2) Hiding HIV status (Passive/Avoidant-Intrapersonal); (3) Social support (Active/Problem-focused-Interpersonal; and (4) Self-care (Active/Problem-focused-Intrapersonal). Educational and stigma-reduction interventions targeting potential social support networks for PLHIV (e.g., family, close friends, and peers) could strengthen active interpersonal PLHIV coping strategies. Interventions teaching self-care to PLHIV would encourage active intrapersonal coping, both of which may enhance PLHIV quality of life in Liuzhou, China.

Designing Interdisciplinary Assessments in Sciences for College Students: An example on osmosis

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Shen, Ji; Liu, Ou Lydia; Sung, Shannon

2014-07-01

College science education needs to foster students' habit of mind beyond disciplinary constraints. However, little research has been devoted to assessing students' interdisciplinary understanding. To address this problem, we formed a team of experts from different disciplines to develop interdisciplinary assessments that target introductory college-level science. We started our project by focusing on osmosis, a topic that involves knowledge from multiple science disciplines. We developed an instrument focusing on this topic and administered it to 3 classes of college students. A Rasch partial credit analysis showed that the items demonstrated satisfactory psychometric properties. The findings also revealed the differences between student's disciplinary and interdisciplinary understanding. The educational implications of the study were discussed.

Game theory-based visual tracking approach focusing on color and texture features.

PubMed

Jin, Zefenfen; Hou, Zhiqiang; Yu, Wangsheng; Chen, Chuanhua; Wang, Xin

2017-07-20

It is difficult for a single-feature tracking algorithm to achieve strong robustness under a complex environment. To solve this problem, we proposed a multifeature fusion tracking algorithm that is based on game theory. By focusing on color and texture features as two gamers, this algorithm accomplishes tracking by using a mean shift iterative formula to search for the Nash equilibrium of the game. The contribution of different features is always keeping the state of optical balance, so that the algorithm can fully take advantage of feature fusion. According to the experiment results, this algorithm proves to possess good performance, especially under the condition of scene variation, target occlusion, and similar interference.

Dynamic Behavior of Sand: Annual Report FY 11

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

Antoun, T; Herbold, E; Johnson, S

2012-03-15

Currently, design of earth-penetrating munitions relies heavily on empirical relationships to estimate behavior, making it difficult to design novel munitions or address novel target situations without expensive and time-consuming full-scale testing with relevant system and target characteristics. Enhancing design through numerical studies and modeling could help reduce the extent and duration of full-scale testing if the models have enough fidelity to capture all of the relevant parameters. This can be separated into three distinct problems: that of the penetrator structural and component response, that of the target response, and that of the coupling between the two. This project focuses onmore » enhancing understanding of the target response, specifically granular geomaterials, where the temporal and spatial multi-scale nature of the material controls its response. As part of the overarching goal of developing computational capabilities to predict the performance of conventional earth-penetrating weapons, this project focuses specifically on developing new models and numerical capabilities for modeling sand response in ALE3D. There is general recognition that granular materials behave in a manner that defies conventional continuum approaches which rely on response locality and which degrade in the presence of strong response nonlinearities, localization, and phase gradients. There are many numerical tools available to address parts of the problem. However, to enhance modeling capability, this project is pursuing a bottom-up approach of building constitutive models from higher fidelity, smaller spatial scale simulations (rather than from macro-scale observations of physical behavior as is traditionally employed) that are being augmented to address the unique challenges of mesoscale modeling of dynamically loaded granular materials. Through understanding response and sensitivity at the grain-scale, it is expected that better reduced order representations of response can be formulated at the continuum scale as illustrated in Figure 1 and Figure 2. The final result of this project is to implement such reduced order models in the ALE3D material library for general use.« less

Self-organizing team formation for target observation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bowyer, Richard S.; Bogner, Robert E.

2001-08-01

Target observation is a problem where the application of multiple sensors can improve the probability of detection and observation of the target. Team formation is one method by which seemingly unsophisticated heterogeneous sensors may be organized to achieve a coordinated observation system. The sensors, which we shall refer to as agents, are situated in an area of interest with the goal of observing a moving target. We apply a team approach to this problem, which combines the strengths of individual agents into a cohesive entity - the team. In autonomous systems, the mechanisms that underlie the formation of a team are of interest. Teams may be formed by various mechanisms, which include an externally imposed grouping of agents, or an internally, self-organized (SO) grouping of agents. Internally motivated mechanisms are particularly challenging, but offer the benefit of being unsupervised, an important quality for groups of autonomous cooperating machines. This is the focus of our research. By studying natural systems such as colonies of ants, we obtain insight into these mechanisms of self organization. We propose that the team is an expression of a distributed agent-self, and that a particular realization of the agent-self exists, whilst the environmental conditions are conducive to that existence. We describe an algorithms for agent team formation that is inspired by the self-organizing behavior of ants, and describe simulation results for team formation amongst a lattice of networked sensors.

Sensory-motor problems in Autism

PubMed Central

Whyatt, Caroline; Craig, Cathy

2013-01-01

Despite being largely characterized as a social and cognitive disorder, strong evidence indicates the presence of significant sensory-motor problems in Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD). This paper outlines our progression from initial, broad assessment using the Movement Assessment Battery for Children (M-ABC2) to subsequent targeted kinematic assessment. In particular, pronounced ASD impairment seen in the broad categories of manual dexterity and ball skills was found to be routed in specific difficulties on isolated tasks, which were translated into focused experimental assessment. Kinematic results from both subsequent studies highlight impaired use of perception-action coupling to guide, adapt and tailor movement to task demands, resulting in inflexible and rigid motor profiles. In particular difficulties with the use of temporal adaption are shown, with “hyperdexterity” witnessed in ballistic movement profiles, often at the cost of spatial accuracy and task performance. By linearly progressing from the use of a standardized assessment tool to targeted kinematic assessment, clear and defined links are drawn between measureable difficulties and underlying sensory-motor assessment. Results are specifically viewed in-light of perception-action coupling and its role in early infant development suggesting that rather than being “secondary” level impairment, sensory-motor problems may be fundamental in the progression of ASD. This logical and systematic process thus allows a further understanding into the potential root of observable motor problems in ASD; a vital step if underlying motor problems are to be considered a fundamental aspect of autism and allow a route of non-invasive preliminary diagnosis. PMID:23882194

The economic dimensions of malnutrition in young children.

PubMed

Reutlinger, S; Selowsky, M

1979-06-01

1 billion people - 1/3 of them children under the age of 10 - live on diets that are deficient in essential calories. Focus in this discussion is on the magnitude of the problem. The economic implications of specific intervention programs designed to solve the problem are reviewed. Caloric intake is closely associated with per capita income, and malnutrition characterizes the poorest segments of the population. Since the lowest-income groups have larger families, the incidence of malnutrition among children is certain to be higher than the incidence among adults. 3 factors will determine whether, on the basis of current trends, caloric malnutrition can be expected to be eliminated among the poorest segments of the population of the development countries: 1) the future income growth of the malnourished groups; 2) their propensity to use additional income to increase their caloric consumption; and 3) the future changes in the relative price of the main staples, basically cereals. The problem of malnutrition cannot be resolved quickly enough without explicit measures to raise the level of caloric consumption. Governments can initiate a wide range of programs and policies in an effort to augment the caloric consumption of children in the target population - transfer of cash to target households, target group oriented food programs, and food stamps for certain groups. In order for a food program to have more of an effect on consumption than would an equivalent transfer of income, 2 conditions need to be met: 1) the food must be made available at lower prices and in larger quantities than that previously consumed; and 2) reselling of the food must be precluded. In sum, the only effective solution for dealing with the problem of malnutrition among children of developing countries is either a more equitable distribution of income or supplying the food to the target population at a price far below its normally supply price.

Age-related physical and psychological vulnerability as pathways to problem gambling in older adults.

PubMed

Parke, Adrian; Griffiths, Mark; Pattinson, Julie; Keatley, David

2018-03-01

Background To inform clinical treatment and preventative efforts, there is an important need to understand the pathways to late-life gambling disorder. Aims This study assesses the association between age-related physical health, social networks, and problem gambling in adults aged over 65 years and assesses the mediating role of affective disorders in this association. Methods The sample comprised 595 older adults (mean age: 74.4 years, range: 65-94 years; 77.1% female) who were interviewed using a structured questionnaire to assess physical frailty, geriatric pain, loneliness, geriatric depression, geriatric anxiety, and problem gambling. Results Pathway analysis demonstrated associations between these variables and gambling problems, providing a good fit for the data, but that critically these relationships were mediated by both anxiety and depression symptoms. Conclusions This study indicates that late-life problem gambling may develop as vulnerable individuals gamble to escape anxiety and depression consequent to deteriorating physical well-being and social support. When individuals develop late-life problem gambling, it is recommended that the treatment primarily focuses upon targeting and replacing avoidant coping approaches.

Multimodality Tumor Delineation and Predictive Modelling via Fuzzy-Fusion Deformable Models and Biological Potential Functions

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wasserman, Richard Marc

The radiation therapy treatment planning (RTTP) process may be subdivided into three planning stages: gross tumor delineation, clinical target delineation, and modality dependent target definition. The research presented will focus on the first two planning tasks. A gross tumor target delineation methodology is proposed which focuses on the integration of MRI, CT, and PET imaging data towards the generation of a mathematically optimal tumor boundary. The solution to this problem is formulated within a framework integrating concepts from the fields of deformable modelling, region growing, fuzzy logic, and data fusion. The resulting fuzzy fusion algorithm can integrate both edge and region information from multiple medical modalities to delineate optimal regions of pathological tissue content. The subclinical boundaries of an infiltrating neoplasm cannot be determined explicitly via traditional imaging methods and are often defined to extend a fixed distance from the gross tumor boundary. In order to improve the clinical target definition process an estimation technique is proposed via which tumor growth may be modelled and subclinical growth predicted. An in vivo, macroscopic primary brain tumor growth model is presented, which may be fit to each patient undergoing treatment, allowing for the prediction of future growth and consequently the ability to estimate subclinical local invasion. Additionally, the patient specific in vivo tumor model will be of significant utility in multiple diagnostic clinical applications.

High-order graph matching based feature selection for Alzheimer's disease identification.

PubMed

Liu, Feng; Suk, Heung-Il; Wee, Chong-Yaw; Chen, Huafu; Shen, Dinggang

2013-01-01

One of the main limitations of l1-norm feature selection is that it focuses on estimating the target vector for each sample individually without considering relations with other samples. However, it's believed that the geometrical relation among target vectors in the training set may provide useful information, and it would be natural to expect that the predicted vectors have similar geometric relations as the target vectors. To overcome these limitations, we formulate this as a graph-matching feature selection problem between a predicted graph and a target graph. In the predicted graph a node is represented by predicted vector that may describe regional gray matter volume or cortical thickness features, and in the target graph a node is represented by target vector that include class label and clinical scores. In particular, we devise new regularization terms in sparse representation to impose high-order graph matching between the target vectors and the predicted ones. Finally, the selected regional gray matter volume and cortical thickness features are fused in kernel space for classification. Using the ADNI dataset, we evaluate the effectiveness of the proposed method and obtain the accuracies of 92.17% and 81.57% in AD and MCI classification, respectively.

Deregulated MicroRNAs in Biliary Tract Cancer: Functional Targets and Potential Biomarkers

PubMed Central

Beyreis, Marlena; Wagner, Andrej; Pichler, Martin; Neureiter, Daniel

2016-01-01

Biliary tract cancer (BTC) is still a fatal disease with very poor prognosis. The lack of reliable biomarkers for early diagnosis and of effective therapeutic targets is a major demanding problem in diagnosis and management of BTC. Due to the clinically silent and asymptomatic characteristics of the tumor, most patients are diagnosed at an already advanced stage allowing only for a palliative therapeutic approach. MicroRNAs are small noncoding RNAs well known to regulate various cellular functions and pathologic events including the formation and progression of cancer. Over the last years, several studies have shed light on the role of microRNAs in BTC, making them potentially attractive therapeutic targets and candidates as biomarkers. In this review, we will focus on the role of oncogenic and tumor suppressor microRNAs and their direct targets in BTC. Furthermore, we summarize and discuss data that evaluate the diagnostic power of deregulated microRNAs as possible future biomarkers for BTC. PMID:27957497

AIDS education for a low literate audience in Zambia.

PubMed

Msimuko, A K

1988-04-01

A workshop funded by the USA Program for Appropriate Technology in Health (PATH) was an effort by Zambia toward prevention and control of AIDS. The lack of educational materials about AIDS for a low-literate audience was the major problem addressed by the workshop. Other problems include the lack of collaborative effort in the development of materials on AIDS, and the lack of skills needed in the development of such materials in Zambia. 1 of the objectives of the workshop was to launch the Planned Parenthood Association of Zambia's (PPAZ) materials development project. The scope of this project includes the production of educational materials on AIDS for low-literate audiences and a counseling handbook for family planning workers. Print materials should be simply written, using words, idioms, and graphics that are familiar to the target audience. Other workshop objectives included the establishment of collaborative relationships between organizations involved in existing AIDS educational activities in Zambia, and the development of practical skills needed to produce print materials. Education was identified as the most important strategy for the prevention and control of AIDS, and PPAZ should be the executing agency of the print materials project. Audience research, using focus group techniques, focus group discussions, behavioral messages, and pretesting of messages, should be the most effective means of reaching targeted audiences. PPAZ is contracted by PATH to begin development of educational materials, and 2 committees have formed to implement the project and to establish interagency collaboration. Audience research was begun between January and March of 1988, focusing on people's beliefs, practices, and ideas about AIDS. The final phase of the project will be the printing, distribution, and use of the AIDS materials and the training of family planning field workers in the proper use of these materials.

Brain-inspired cheminformatics of drug-target brain interactome, synthesis, and assay of TVP1022 derivatives.

PubMed

Romero-Durán, Francisco J; Alonso, Nerea; Yañez, Matilde; Caamaño, Olga; García-Mera, Xerardo; González-Díaz, Humberto

2016-04-01

The use of Cheminformatics tools is gaining importance in the field of translational research from Medicinal Chemistry to Neuropharmacology. In particular, we need it for the analysis of chemical information on large datasets of bioactive compounds. These compounds form large multi-target complex networks (drug-target interactome network) resulting in a very challenging data analysis problem. Artificial Neural Network (ANN) algorithms may help us predict the interactions of drugs and targets in CNS interactome. In this work, we trained different ANN models able to predict a large number of drug-target interactions. These models predict a dataset of thousands of interactions of central nervous system (CNS) drugs characterized by > 30 different experimental measures in >400 different experimental protocols for >150 molecular and cellular targets present in 11 different organisms (including human). The model was able to classify cases of non-interacting vs. interacting drug-target pairs with satisfactory performance. A second aim focus on two main directions: the synthesis and assay of new derivatives of TVP1022 (S-analogues of rasagiline) and the comparison with other rasagiline derivatives recently reported. Finally, we used the best of our models to predict drug-target interactions for the best new synthesized compound against a large number of CNS protein targets. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Optimizing and Validating a Brief Assessment for Identifying Children of Service Members at Risk for Psychological Health Problems Following Parent Deployment

DTIC Science & Technology

2017-09-01

these groups . In the 2014/2015 year, efforts focused on securing a commitment from the United States Marine Corps to host the study. In Winter 2014...we can reach an adjusted sample size target in the 2017/2018 project year by expanding our recruitment to incorporate deploying infantry groups ...Vocabulary Test Revised. Circle Pines, MN: American Guidance Service. George, C. & Solomon , J. (2008). The caregving system: A behavioral systems approach

[Media for 21st century--towards human communication media].

PubMed

Harashima, H

2000-05-01

Today, with the approach of the 21st century, attention is focused on multi-media communications combining computer, visual and audio technologies. This article discusses the communication media target and the technological problems constituting the nucleus of multi-media. The communication media is becoming an environment from which no one can escape. Since the media has such a great power, what is needed now is not to predict the future technologies, but to estimate the future world and take to responsibility for future environments.

Estimation of reach in peripersonal and extrapersonal space: a developmental view.

PubMed

Gabbard, Carl; Cordova, Alberto; Ammar, Diala

2007-01-01

This study explored the developmental nature of action processing via estimation of reach in peripersonal and extrapersonal space. Children 5 to 11 years of age and adults were tested for estimates of reach to targets presented randomly at seven midline locations. Target distances were scaled to the individual based on absolute maximum reach. While there was no difference between age groups for total error, a significant distinction emerged in reference to space. With children, significantly more error was exhibited in extrapersonal space; no difference was found with adults. The groups did not differ in peripersonal space; however, adults were substantially more accurate with extrapersonal targets. Furthermore, children displayed a greater tendency to overestimate. In essence, these data reveal a body-scaling problem in children in estimating reach in extrapersonal space. Future work should focus on possible developmental differences in use of visual information and state of confidence.

Effect of different external attention of focus instruction on learning of golf putting skill.

PubMed

Shafizadeh, Mohsen; McMorris, Terry; Sproule, John

2011-10-01

The effect of different sources of external attentional focus on learning a motor skill was assessed in the present study. 30 students (12 men, 18 women) participated voluntarily and were divided, according to type of external focus, into target, club swing, and target-club swing groups. The task was a golf putting skill. The target focus group attended to the target (hole), the club swing focus group attended to the execution of the club's swing, and the target-club swing focus group attended to both. All participants performed 50 trials of the putting skill in the acquisition phase and 10 trials in the 24-hr. delayed retention phase. The dependent variable was the error in the putting skill measured as the distance from the hole to the ball after each strike. Results showed the target-club swing focus group had better scores in the acquisition and retention phases than the other groups. It was concluded that external focus instruction helped the learners to integrate target cue with action cue and is more effective in skill learning than other external-focus instructions. These results support the claims of ecological psychology theorists concerning the effects of external focus of attention.

Goals and everyday problem solving: examining the link between age-related goals and problem-solving strategy use.

PubMed

Hoppmann, Christiane A; Coats, Abby Heckman; Blanchard-Fields, Fredda

2008-07-01

Qualitative interviews on family and financial problems from 332 adolescents, young, middle-aged, and older adults, demonstrated that developmentally relevant goals predicted problem-solving strategy use over and above problem domain. Four focal goals concerned autonomy, generativity, maintaining good relationships with others, and changing another person. We examined both self- and other-focused problem-solving strategies. Autonomy goals were associated with self-focused instrumental problem solving and generative goals were related to other-focused instrumental problem solving in family and financial problems. Goals of changing another person were related to other-focused instrumental problem solving in the family domain only. The match between goals and strategies, an indicator of problem-solving adaptiveness, showed that young individuals displayed the greatest match between autonomy goals and self-focused problem solving, whereas older adults showed a greater match between generative goals and other-focused problem solving. Findings speak to the importance of considering goals in investigations of age-related differences in everyday problem solving.

Behavioral and Social Correlates of Methamphetamine Use in a Population-based Sample of Early and Later Adolescents

PubMed Central

Embry, Dennis; Hankins, Martin; Biglan, Anthony; Boles, Shawn

2009-01-01

This paper reports relationships between methamphetamine use and behaviors and social influences using data from a population-based survey of 8th- and 11th-grade students in Oregon for the 2001–2003 school years. We analyze methamphetamine use within a general problem behavior framework to identify malleable correlates of behavior for future prevention interventions. We specifically test two models of methamphetamine use employing logistic regression analysis: one comprised of behaviors and traits of the individual students and another focusing on peer and parental influences. This study finds adolescent methamphetamine use related to several problem behaviors. However, the specific problems vary by grade and are moderated by gender. Findings indicate the need for tailored interventions targeting gender/grade-specific behaviors or problems such as antisocial activities, risky sex, and depression, as well as social influences such as peers engaging in antisocial behaviors or using drugs and parents favoring drug use or poorly monitoring or setting limits for their children. PMID:19138821

Brief exposure to a self-paced computer-based reading programme and how it impacts reading ability and behaviour problems.

PubMed

Hughes, J Antony; Phillips, Gordon; Reed, Phil

2013-01-01

Basic literacy skills underlie much future adult functioning, and are targeted in children through a variety of means. Children with reading problems were exposed either to a self-paced computer programme that focused on improving phonetic ability, or underwent a classroom-based reading intervention. Exposure was limited to 3 40-min sessions a week, for six weeks. The children were assessed in terms of their reading, spelling, and mathematics abilities, as well as for their externalising and internalising behaviour problems, before the programme commenced, and immediately after the programme terminated. Relative to the control group, the computer-programme improved reading by about seven months in boys (but not in girls), but had no impact on either spelling or mathematics. Children on the programme also demonstrated fewer externalising and internalising behaviour problems than the control group. The results suggest that brief exposure to a self-paced phonetic computer-teaching programme had some benefits for the sample.

PAKDD Data Mining Competition 2009: New Ways of Using Known Methods

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Linhart, Chaim; Harari, Guy; Abramovich, Sharon; Buchris, Altina

The PAKDD 2009 competition focuses on the problem of credit risk assessment. As required, we had to confront the problem of the robustness of the credit-scoring model against performance degradation caused by gradual market changes along a few years of business operation. We utilized the following standard models: logistic regression, KNN, SVM, GBM and decision tree. The novelty of our approach is two-fold: the integration of existing models, namely feeding the results of KNN as an input variable to the logistic regression, and re-coding categorical variables as numerical values that represent each category's statistical impact on the target label. The best solution we obtained reached 3rd place in the competition, with an AUC score of 0.655.

Framing ethnic variations in alcohol outcomes from biological pathways to neighborhood context.

PubMed

Chartier, Karen G; Scott, Denise M; Wall, Tamara L; Covault, Jonathan; Karriker-Jaffe, Katherine J; Mills, Britain A; Luczak, Susan E; Caetano, Raul; Arroyo, Judith A

2014-03-01

Health disparities research seeks to eliminate disproportionate negative health outcomes experienced in some racial/ethnic minority groups. This brief review presents findings on factors associated with drinking and alcohol-related problems in racial/ethnic groups. Those discussed are as follows: (i) biological pathways to alcohol problems, (ii) gene × stress interactions, (iii) neighborhood disadvantage, stress, and access to alcohol, and (iv) drinking cultures and contexts. These factors and their interrelationships are complex, requiring a multilevel perspective. The use of interdisciplinary teams and an epigenetic focus are suggested to move the research forward. The application of multilevel research to policy, prevention, and intervention programs may help prioritize combinations of the most promising intervention targets. Copyright © 2014 by the Research Society on Alcoholism.

Lean on Wii: physical rehabilitation with virtual reality Wii peripherals.

PubMed

Anderson, Fraser; Annett, Michelle; Bischof, Walter F

2010-01-01

In recent years, a growing number of occupational therapists have integrated video game technologies, such as the Nintendo Wii, into rehabilitation programs. 'Wiihabilitation', or the use of the Wii in rehabilitation, has been successful in increasing patients' motivation and encouraging full body movement. The non-rehabilitative focus of Wii applications, however, presents a number of problems: games are too difficult for patients, they mainly target upper-body gross motor functions, and they lack support for task customization, grading, and quantitative measurements. To overcome these problems, we have designed a low-cost, virtual-reality based system. Our system, Virtual Wiihab, records performance and behavioral measurements, allows for activity customization, and uses auditory, visual, and haptic elements to provide extrinsic feedback and motivation to patients.

Risk-based targeting: A new approach in environmental protection

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

Fox, C.A.

1995-12-31

Risk-based targeting has recently emerged as an effective tool to help prioritize efforts to identify and manage geographic areas, chemicals, facilities, and agricultural activities that cause the most environmental degradation. This paper focuses on how the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has recently used risk-based targeting to identify and screen Federal, industrial, commercial and municipal facilities which contribute to probable human health (fish consumption advisories and contaminated fish tissue) and aquatic life (contaminated sediments) impacts. Preliminary results identified several hundred potential contributors of problem chemicals to probable impacts within the same river reach in 1991--93. Analysis by industry sector showed thatmore » the majority of the facilities identified were publicly owned treatment works (POTWs), in addition to industry organic and inorganic chemical manufacturers, petroleum refineries, and electric services, coatings, engravings, and allied services, among others. Both compliant and non-compliant potentially contributing facilities were identified to some extent in all EPA regions. Additional results identifying possible linkages of other pollutant sources to probable impacts, as well as estimation of potential exposure of these contaminants to minority and/or poverty populations are also presented. Out of these analyses, a number of short and long-term strategies are being developed that EPA may use to reduce loadings of problem contaminants to impacted waterbodies.« less

Gender and Workplace Bullying: Men's Experiences of Surviving Bullying at Work.

PubMed

O'Donnell, Sue M; MacIntosh, Judith A

2016-02-01

Although men are targets of workplace bullying, there is limited research focused on their experiences. To address this gap, we used a qualitative grounded theory approach and interviewed a community sample of 20 Atlantic Canadian men to explore and explain their experiences of, and responses to, bullying. The main problem identified by men was a lack of workplace support to address and resolve the bullying, a challenge named abandonment. Men addressed this problem by surviving, a process that involved efforts to manage persistent bullying and the associated consequences. Men experienced physical, emotional, and social health consequences and, contrary to prevailing assumptions related to men's help-seeking behaviors, men want support and many sought help to address the problem and its consequences. Responses to abandonment and the associated consequences varied according to a number of factors including gender and highlight the need for research aimed at understanding the gendered nature of bullying. © The Author(s) 2015.

NDE research efforts at the FAA Center for Aviation Systems Reliability

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Thompson, Donald O.; Brasche, Lisa J. H.

1992-01-01

The Federal Aviation Administration-Center for Aviation Systems Reliability (FAA-CASR), a part of the Institute for Physical Research and Technology at Iowa State University, began operation in the Fall of 1990 with funding from the FAA. The mission of the FAA-CASR is to develop quantitative nondestructive evaluation (NDE) methods for aircraft structures and materials including prototype instrumentation, software, techniques, and procedures and to develop and maintain comprehensive education and training programs in aviation specific inspection procedures and practices. To accomplish this mission, FAA-CASR brings together resources from universities, government, and industry to develop a comprehensive approach to problems specific to the aviation industry. The problem areas are targeted by the FAA, aviation manufacturers, the airline industry and other members of the aviation business community. This consortium approach ensures that the focus of the efforts is on relevant problems and also facilitates effective transfer of the results to industry.

Transformational and derivational strategies in analogical problem solving.

PubMed

Schelhorn, Sven-Eric; Griego, Jacqueline; Schmid, Ute

2007-03-01

Analogical problem solving is mostly described as transfer of a source solution to a target problem based on the structural correspondences (mapping) between source and target. Derivational analogy (Carbonell, Machine learning: an artificial intelligence approach Los Altos. Morgan Kaufmann, 1986) proposes an alternative view: a target problem is solved by replaying a remembered problem-solving episode. Thus, the experience with the source problem is used to guide the search for the target solution by applying the same solution technique rather than by transferring the complete solution. We report an empirical study using the path finding problems presented in Novick and Hmelo (J Exp Psychol Learn Mem Cogn 20:1296-1321, 1994) as material. We show that both transformational and derivational analogy are problem-solving strategies realized by human problem solvers. Which strategy is evoked in a given problem-solving context depends on the constraints guiding object-to-object mapping between source and target problem. Specifically, if constraints facilitating mapping are available, subjects are more likely to employ a transformational strategy, otherwise they are more likely to use a derivational strategy.

Identification of control targets in Boolean molecular network models via computational algebra.

PubMed

Murrugarra, David; Veliz-Cuba, Alan; Aguilar, Boris; Laubenbacher, Reinhard

2016-09-23

Many problems in biomedicine and other areas of the life sciences can be characterized as control problems, with the goal of finding strategies to change a disease or otherwise undesirable state of a biological system into another, more desirable, state through an intervention, such as a drug or other therapeutic treatment. The identification of such strategies is typically based on a mathematical model of the process to be altered through targeted control inputs. This paper focuses on processes at the molecular level that determine the state of an individual cell, involving signaling or gene regulation. The mathematical model type considered is that of Boolean networks. The potential control targets can be represented by a set of nodes and edges that can be manipulated to produce a desired effect on the system. This paper presents a method for the identification of potential intervention targets in Boolean molecular network models using algebraic techniques. The approach exploits an algebraic representation of Boolean networks to encode the control candidates in the network wiring diagram as the solutions of a system of polynomials equations, and then uses computational algebra techniques to find such controllers. The control methods in this paper are validated through the identification of combinatorial interventions in the signaling pathways of previously reported control targets in two well studied systems, a p53-mdm2 network and a blood T cell lymphocyte granular leukemia survival signaling network. Supplementary data is available online and our code in Macaulay2 and Matlab are available via http://www.ms.uky.edu/~dmu228/ControlAlg . This paper presents a novel method for the identification of intervention targets in Boolean network models. The results in this paper show that the proposed methods are useful and efficient for moderately large networks.

A Max-Flow Based Algorithm for Connected Target Coverage with Probabilistic Sensors

PubMed Central

Shan, Anxing; Xu, Xianghua; Cheng, Zongmao; Wang, Wensheng

2017-01-01

Coverage is a fundamental issue in the research field of wireless sensor networks (WSNs). Connected target coverage discusses the sensor placement to guarantee the needs of both coverage and connectivity. Existing works largely leverage on the Boolean disk model, which is only a coarse approximation to the practical sensing model. In this paper, we focus on the connected target coverage issue based on the probabilistic sensing model, which can characterize the quality of coverage more accurately. In the probabilistic sensing model, sensors are only be able to detect a target with certain probability. We study the collaborative detection probability of target under multiple sensors. Armed with the analysis of collaborative detection probability, we further formulate the minimum ϵ-connected target coverage problem, aiming to minimize the number of sensors satisfying the requirements of both coverage and connectivity. We map it into a flow graph and present an approximation algorithm called the minimum vertices maximum flow algorithm (MVMFA) with provable time complex and approximation ratios. To evaluate our design, we analyze the performance of MVMFA theoretically and also conduct extensive simulation studies to demonstrate the effectiveness of our proposed algorithm. PMID:28587084

A Max-Flow Based Algorithm for Connected Target Coverage with Probabilistic Sensors.

PubMed

Shan, Anxing; Xu, Xianghua; Cheng, Zongmao; Wang, Wensheng

2017-05-25

Coverage is a fundamental issue in the research field of wireless sensor networks (WSNs). Connected target coverage discusses the sensor placement to guarantee the needs of both coverage and connectivity. Existing works largely leverage on the Boolean disk model, which is only a coarse approximation to the practical sensing model. In this paper, we focus on the connected target coverage issue based on the probabilistic sensing model, which can characterize the quality of coverage more accurately. In the probabilistic sensing model, sensors are only be able to detect a target with certain probability. We study the collaborative detection probability of target under multiple sensors. Armed with the analysis of collaborative detection probability, we further formulate the minimum ϵ -connected target coverage problem, aiming to minimize the number of sensors satisfying the requirements of both coverage and connectivity. We map it into a flow graph and present an approximation algorithm called the minimum vertices maximum flow algorithm (MVMFA) with provable time complex and approximation ratios. To evaluate our design, we analyze the performance of MVMFA theoretically and also conduct extensive simulation studies to demonstrate the effectiveness of our proposed algorithm.

Child welfare caseworkers as service brokers for youth in foster care: findings from project focus.

PubMed

Dorsey, Shannon; Kerns, Suzanne E U; Trupin, Eric W; Conover, Kate L; Berliner, Lucy

2012-02-01

Youth in the foster care system have substantially higher rates of mental health needs compared to the general population, yet they rarely receive targeted, evidence-based practices (EBPs). Increasingly emerging in the literature on mental health services is the importance of "brokers" or "gateway providers" of services. For youth in foster care, child welfare caseworkers often play this role. This study examines caseworker-level outcomes of Project Focus, a caseworker training and consultation model designed to improve emotional and behavioral outcomes for youth in foster care through increased linkages with EBPs. Project Focus was tested through a small, randomized trial involving four child welfare offices. Caseworkers in the Project Focus intervention group demonstrated an increased awareness of EBPs and a trend toward increased ability to identify appropriate EBP referrals for particular mental health problems but did not have significantly different rates of actual referral to EBPs. Dose of consultation was associated with general awareness of EBPs. Implications for practice and outcomes for youth are discussed.

Nonlocal heat transport and improved target design for x-ray heating studies at x-ray free electron lasers

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hoidn, Oliver; Seidler, Gerald T.

2018-01-01

The extremely high-power densities and short durations of single pulses of x-ray free electron lasers (XFELs) have opened new opportunities in atomic physics, where complex excitation-relaxation chains allow for high ionization states in atomic and molecular systems, and in dense plasma physics, where XFEL heating of solid-density targets can create unique dense states of matter having temperatures on the order of the Fermi energy. We focus here on the latter phenomena, with special emphasis on the problem of optimum target design to achieve high x-ray heating into the warm dense matter (WDM) state. We report fully three-dimensional simulations of the incident x-ray pulse and the resulting multielectron relaxation cascade to model the spatial energy density deposition in multicomponent targets, with particular focus on the effects of nonlocal heat transport due to the motion of high energy photoelectrons and Auger electrons. We find that nanoscale high-Z /low-Z multicomponent targets can give much improved energy density deposition in lower-Z materials, with enhancements reaching a factor of 100. This has three important benefits. First, it greatly enlarges the thermodynamic parameter space in XFEL x-ray heating studies of lower-Z materials. Second, it allows the use of higher probe photon energies, enabling higher-information content x-ray diffraction (XRD) measurements such as in two-color XFEL operations. Third, while this is merely one step toward optimization of x-ray heating target design, the demonstration of the importance of nonlocal heat transport establishes important common ground between XFEL-based x-ray heating studies and more traditional laser plasma methods.

Effect of controlled offset of focal position in cavitation-enhanced high-intensity focused ultrasound treatment

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Goto, Kota; Takagi, Ryo; Miyashita, Takuya; Jimbo, Hayato; Yoshizawa, Shin; Umemura, Shin-ichiro

2015-07-01

High-intensity focused ultrasound (HIFU) is a noninvasive treatment for tumors such as cancer. In this method, ultrasound is generated outside the body and focused to the target tissue. Therefore, physical and mental stresses on the patient are minimal. A drawback of the HIFU treatment is a long treatment time for a large tumor due to the small therapeutic volume by a single exposure. Enhancing the heating effect of ultrasound by cavitation bubbles may solve this problem. However, this is rather difficult because cavitation clouds tend to be formed backward from the focal point while ultrasonic intensity for heating is centered at the focal point. In this study, the focal points of the trigger pulses to generate cavitation were offset forward from those of the heating ultrasound to match the cavitation clouds with the heating patterns. Results suggest that the controlled offset of focal points makes the thermal coagulation more predictable.

Current considerations regarding food addiction.

PubMed

Schulte, Erica M; Joyner, Michelle A; Potenza, Marc N; Grilo, Carlos M; Gearhardt, Ashley N

2015-04-01

"Food addiction" is an emerging area, and behavioral and biological overlaps have been observed between eating and addictive disorders. Potential misconceptions about applying an addiction framework to problematic eating behavior may inhibit scientific progress. Critiques of "food addiction" that focus on descriptive differences between overeating and illicit drugs are similar to early criticisms of the addictiveness of tobacco. Although food is necessary for survival, the highly processed foods associated with addictive-like eating may provide little health benefit. Individual differences are important in determining who develops an addiction. If certain foods are addictive, the identification of possible risk factors for "food addiction" is an important next step. Not all treatments for addiction require abstinence. Addiction interventions that focus on moderation or controlled use may lead to novel approaches to treating eating-related problems. Finally, addiction-related policies that focus on environmental (instead of educational) targets may have a larger public health impact in reducing overeating.

Social Orientation: Problem Behavior and Motivations Toward Interpersonal Problem Solving Among High Risk Adolescents

PubMed Central

Kuperminc, Gabriel P.; Allen, Joseph P.

2006-01-01

A model of problematic adolescent behavior that expands current theories of social skill deficits in delinquent behavior to consider both social skills and orientation toward the use of adaptive skills was examined in an ethnically and socioeconomically diverse sample of 113 male and female adolescents. Adolescents were selected on the basis of moderate to serious risk for difficulties in social adaptation in order to focus on the population of youth most likely to be targeted by prevention efforts. Structural equation modeling was used to examine cross-sectional data using multiple informants (adolescents, peers, and parents) and multiple methods (performance test and self-report). Adolescent social orientation, as reflected in perceived problem solving effectiveness, identification with adult prosocial values, and self-efficacy expectations, exhibited a direct association to delinquent behavior and an indirect association to drug involvement mediated by demonstrated success in using problem solving skills. Results suggest that the utility of social skill theories of adolescent problem behaviors for informing preventive and remedial interventions can be enhanced by expanding them to consider adolescents’ orientation toward using the skills they may already possess. PMID:16929380

Using auditory pre-information to solve the cocktail-party problem: electrophysiological evidence for age-specific differences.

PubMed

Getzmann, Stephan; Lewald, Jörg; Falkenstein, Michael

2014-01-01

Speech understanding in complex and dynamic listening environments requires (a) auditory scene analysis, namely auditory object formation and segregation, and (b) allocation of the attentional focus to the talker of interest. There is evidence that pre-information is actively used to facilitate these two aspects of the so-called "cocktail-party" problem. Here, a simulated multi-talker scenario was combined with electroencephalography to study scene analysis and allocation of attention in young and middle-aged adults. Sequences of short words (combinations of brief company names and stock-price values) from four talkers at different locations were simultaneously presented, and the detection of target names and the discrimination between critical target values were assessed. Immediately prior to speech sequences, auditory pre-information was provided via cues that either prepared auditory scene analysis or attentional focusing, or non-specific pre-information was given. While performance was generally better in younger than older participants, both age groups benefited from auditory pre-information. The analysis of the cue-related event-related potentials revealed age-specific differences in the use of pre-cues: Younger adults showed a pronounced N2 component, suggesting early inhibition of concurrent speech stimuli; older adults exhibited a stronger late P3 component, suggesting increased resource allocation to process the pre-information. In sum, the results argue for an age-specific utilization of auditory pre-information to improve listening in complex dynamic auditory environments.

Using auditory pre-information to solve the cocktail-party problem: electrophysiological evidence for age-specific differences

PubMed Central

Getzmann, Stephan; Lewald, Jörg; Falkenstein, Michael

2014-01-01

Speech understanding in complex and dynamic listening environments requires (a) auditory scene analysis, namely auditory object formation and segregation, and (b) allocation of the attentional focus to the talker of interest. There is evidence that pre-information is actively used to facilitate these two aspects of the so-called “cocktail-party” problem. Here, a simulated multi-talker scenario was combined with electroencephalography to study scene analysis and allocation of attention in young and middle-aged adults. Sequences of short words (combinations of brief company names and stock-price values) from four talkers at different locations were simultaneously presented, and the detection of target names and the discrimination between critical target values were assessed. Immediately prior to speech sequences, auditory pre-information was provided via cues that either prepared auditory scene analysis or attentional focusing, or non-specific pre-information was given. While performance was generally better in younger than older participants, both age groups benefited from auditory pre-information. The analysis of the cue-related event-related potentials revealed age-specific differences in the use of pre-cues: Younger adults showed a pronounced N2 component, suggesting early inhibition of concurrent speech stimuli; older adults exhibited a stronger late P3 component, suggesting increased resource allocation to process the pre-information. In sum, the results argue for an age-specific utilization of auditory pre-information to improve listening in complex dynamic auditory environments. PMID:25540608

Posture and Locomotion Coupling: A Target for Rehabilitation Interventions in Persons with Parkinson's Disease

PubMed Central

Mille, Marie-Laure; Creath, Robert A.; Prettyman, Michelle G.; Johnson Hilliard, Marjorie; Martinez, Katherine M.; MacKinnon, Colum D.; Rogers, Mark W.

2012-01-01

Disorders of posture, balance, and gait are debilitating motor manifestations of advancing Parkinson's disease requiring rehabilitation intervention. These problems often reflect difficulties with coupling or sequencing posture and locomotion during complex whole body movements linked with falls. Considerable progress has been made with demonstrating the effectiveness of exercise interventions for individuals with Parkinson's disease. However, gaps remain in the evidence base for specific interventions and the optimal content of exercise interventions. Using a conceptual theoretical framework and experimental findings, this perspective and review advances the viewpoint that rehabilitation interventions focused on separate or isolated components of posture, balance, or gait may limit the effectiveness of current clinical practices. It is argued that treatment effectiveness may be improved by directly targeting posture and locomotion coupling problems as causal factors contributing to balance and gait dysfunction. This approach may help advance current clinical practice and improve outcomes in rehabilitation for persons with Parkinson's disease. “. . .postural activity should be regarded as a function in its own right and not merely as a component of movement. . .” James Purdon Martin PMID:22295253

Focusing on the Environment to Improve Youth Participation: Experiences and Perspectives of Occupational Therapists.

PubMed

Anaby, Dana; Law, Mary; Teplicky, Rachel; Turner, Laura

2015-10-23

The environment plays a key role in supporting children's participation and can serve as a focus of intervention. This study aimed to elicit the perceptions and experiences of occupational therapists who had applied the PREP approach--Pathways and Resources for Engagement and Participation. PREP is a novel 12-week intervention for youth with physical disabilities, aimed at improving participation in leisure community-based activities by modifying aspects of the environment. Using a qualitative post-intervention only design, 12 therapists took part in individual semi-structured interviews, in which the therapists reflected on their experience using PREP to enable participation. A thematic analysis was conducted. Four themes emerged from the data; two of which were informative in nature, describing elements of the PREP intervention that target multi-layered composition of the environment and use strategies that involve leveraging resources and problem solving. The two remaining themes were reflective in nature, illustrating a new take on the Occupational Therapy role and re-positioning the concept of participation in therapy practices. Results emphasize aspects of the environment that can serve as effective targets of intervention, guided by the PREP approach. Findings can broaden the scope and focus of occupational therapy practice by redefining views on participation and the environment.

A wavelet-based Bayesian framework for 3D object segmentation in microscopy

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Pan, Kangyu; Corrigan, David; Hillebrand, Jens; Ramaswami, Mani; Kokaram, Anil

2012-03-01

In confocal microscopy, target objects are labeled with fluorescent markers in the living specimen, and usually appear with irregular brightness in the observed images. Also, due to the existence of out-of-focus objects in the image, the segmentation of 3-D objects in the stack of image slices captured at different depth levels of the specimen is still heavily relied on manual analysis. In this paper, a novel Bayesian model is proposed for segmenting 3-D synaptic objects from given image stack. In order to solve the irregular brightness and out-offocus problems, the segmentation model employs a likelihood using the luminance-invariant 'wavelet features' of image objects in the dual-tree complex wavelet domain as well as a likelihood based on the vertical intensity profile of the image stack in 3-D. Furthermore, a smoothness 'frame' prior based on the a priori knowledge of the connections of the synapses is introduced to the model for enhancing the connectivity of the synapses. As a result, our model can successfully segment the in-focus target synaptic object from a 3D image stack with irregular brightness.

Talking Physics: Two Case Studies on Short Answers and Self-explanation in Learning Physics

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Badeau, Ryan C.

This thesis explores two case studies into the use of short answers and self-explanation to improve student learning in physics. The first set of experiments focuses on the role of short answer questions in the context of computer-based instruction. Through a series of six experiments, we compare and evaluate the performance of computer-assessed short answer questions versus multiple choice for training conceptual topics in physics, controlling for feedback between the two formats. In addition to finding overall similar improvements on subsequent student performance and retention, we identify unique differences in how students interact with the treatments in terms of time spent on feedback and performance on follow-up short answer assessment. In addition, we identify interactions between the level of interactivity of the training, question format, and student attitudinal ratings of each respective training. The second case study focuses on the use of worked examples in the context of multi-concept physics problems - which we call "synthesis problems." For this part of the thesis, four experiments were designed to evaluate the effectiveness of two instructional methods employing worked examples on student performance with synthesis problems; these instructional techniques, analogical comparison and self-explanation, have previously been studied primarily in the context of single-concept problems. As such, the work presented here represents a novel focus on extending these two techniques to this class of more complicated physics problem. Across the four experiments, both self-explanation and certain kinds of analogical comparison of worked examples significantly improved student performance on a target synthesis problem, with distinct improvements in recognition of the relevant concepts. More specifically, analogical comparison significantly improved student performance when the comparisons were invoked between worked synthesis examples. In contrast, similar comparisons between corresponding pairs of worked single-concept examples did not significantly improve performance. On a more complicated synthesis problem, self-explanation was significantly more effective than analogical comparison, potentially due to differences in how successfully students encoded the full structure of the worked examples. Finally, we find that the two techniques can be combined for additional benefit, with the trade-off of slightly more time-on-task.

A Random Variable Approach to Nuclear Targeting and Survivability

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

Undem, Halvor A.

We demonstrate a common mathematical formalism for analyzing problems in nuclear survivability and targeting. This formalism, beginning with a random variable approach, can be used to interpret past efforts in nuclear-effects analysis, including targeting analysis. It can also be used to analyze new problems brought about by the post Cold War Era, such as the potential effects of yield degradation in a permanently untested nuclear stockpile. In particular, we illustrate the formalism through four natural case studies or illustrative problems, linking these to actual past data, modeling, and simulation, and suggesting future uses. In the first problem, we illustrate themore » case of a deterministically modeled weapon used against a deterministically responding target. Classic "Cookie Cutter" damage functions result. In the second problem, we illustrate, with actual target test data, the case of a deterministically modeled weapon used against a statistically responding target. This case matches many of the results of current nuclear targeting modeling and simulation tools, including the result of distance damage functions as complementary cumulative lognormal functions in the range variable. In the third problem, we illustrate the case of a statistically behaving weapon used against a deterministically responding target. In particular, we show the dependence of target damage on weapon yield for an untested nuclear stockpile experiencing yield degradation. Finally, and using actual unclassified weapon test data, we illustrate in the fourth problem the case of a statistically behaving weapon used against a statistically responding target.« less

Nonholonomic camera-space manipulation using cameras mounted on a mobile base

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Goodwine, Bill; Seelinger, Michael J.; Skaar, Steven B.; Ma, Qun

1998-10-01

The body of work called `Camera Space Manipulation' is an effective and proven method of robotic control. Essentially, this technique identifies and refines the input-output relationship of the plant using estimation methods and drives the plant open-loop to its target state. 3D `success' of the desired motion, i.e., the end effector of the manipulator engages a target at a particular location with a particular orientation, is guaranteed when there is camera space success in two cameras which are adequately separated. Very accurate, sub-pixel positioning of a robotic end effector is possible using this method. To date, however, most efforts in this area have primarily considered holonomic systems. This work addresses the problem of nonholonomic camera space manipulation by considering the problem of a nonholonomic robot with two cameras and a holonomic manipulator on board the nonholonomic platform. While perhaps not as common in robotics, such a combination of holonomic and nonholonomic degrees of freedom are ubiquitous in industry: fork lifts and earth moving equipment are common examples of a nonholonomic system with an on-board holonomic actuator. The nonholonomic nature of the system makes the automation problem more difficult due to a variety of reasons; in particular, the target location is not fixed in the image planes, as it is for holonomic systems (since the cameras are attached to a moving platform), and there is a fundamental `path dependent' nature of nonholonomic kinematics. This work focuses on the sensor space or camera-space-based control laws necessary for effectively implementing an autonomous system of this type.

Nanoparticle-blood interactions: the implications on solid tumour targeting.

PubMed

Lazarovits, James; Chen, Yih Yang; Sykes, Edward A; Chan, Warren C W

2015-02-18

Nanoparticles are suitable platforms for cancer targeting and diagnostic applications. Typically, less than 10% of all systemically administered nanoparticles accumulate in the tumour. Here we explore the interactions of blood components with nanoparticles and describe how these interactions influence solid tumour targeting. In the blood, serum proteins adsorb onto nanoparticles to form a protein corona in a manner dependent on nanoparticle physicochemical properties. These serum proteins can block nanoparticle tumour targeting ligands from binding to tumour cell receptors. Additionally, serum proteins can also encourage nanoparticle uptake by macrophages, which decreases nanoparticle availability in the blood and limits tumour accumulation. The formation of this protein corona will also increase the nanoparticle hydrodynamic size or induce aggregation, which makes nanoparticles too large to enter into the tumour through pores of the leaky vessels, and prevents their deep penetration into tumours for cell targeting. Recent studies have focused on developing new chemical strategies to reduce or eliminate serum protein adsorption, and rescue the targeting potential of nanoparticles to tumour cells. An in-depth and complete understanding of nanoparticle-blood interactions is key to designing nanoparticles with optimal physicochemical properties with high tumour accumulation. The purpose of this review article is to describe how the protein corona alters the targeting of nanoparticles to solid tumours and explains current solutions to solve this problem.

[Feminists' approach to population problems: new paradigm or Utopia?].

PubMed

Kono, S

1997-05-01

The author first notes that, partly because of events occurring at the International Conference on Population and Development that took place in Cairo in 1994, a consensus has emerged that population programs based on a philosophy of empowering women and focusing on reproductive health are more likely to be effective than programs that focus on providing family planning services and achieving demographic targets. Some reservations about this consensus are then expressed. The author points out the difficulties inherent in widening the mandate of family planning programs in an era of diminished resources for international assistance, the past success of such programs in reducing fertility with limited resources, and the inherent contradictions in following a laissez-faire attitude toward reproduction in such regions as Sub-Saharan Africa, where economies and political systems are often in crisis, health services are minimal, and desired levels of fertility both way above current levels and far above the replacement level. While not challenging the value of the Cairo philosophy, the need to move from rhetoric to reality in the face of the world's current population problems is stressed.

Adding tsetse control to medical activities contributes to decreasing transmission of sleeping sickness in the Mandoul focus (Chad)

PubMed Central

Mahamat, Mahamat Hissene; Peka, Mallaye; Rayaisse, Jean-Baptiste; Rock, Kat S.; Toko, Mahamat Abdelrahim; Darnas, Justin; Brahim, Guihini Mollo; Yoni, Wilfrid; Tirados, Inaki; Courtin, Fabrice; Brand, Samuel P. C.; Nersy, Cyrus; Alfaroukh, Idriss Oumar; Torr, Steve J.; Lehane, Mike J.; Solano, Philippe

2017-01-01

Background Gambian sleeping sickness or HAT (human African trypanosomiasis) is a neglected tropical disease caused by Trypanosoma brucei gambiense transmitted by riverine species of tsetse. A global programme aims to eliminate the disease as a public health problem by 2020 and stop transmission by 2030. In the South of Chad, the Mandoul area is a persistent focus of Gambian sleeping sickness where around 100 HAT cases were still diagnosed and treated annually until 2013. Pre-2014, control of HAT relied solely on case detection and treatment, which lead to a gradual decrease in the number of cases of HAT due to annual screening of the population. Methods Because of the persistence of transmission and detection of new cases, we assessed whether the addition of vector control to case detection and treatment could further reduce transmission and consequently, reduce annual incidence of HAT in Mandoul. In particular, we investigated the impact of deploying ‘tiny targets’ which attract and kill tsetse. Before tsetse control commenced, a census of the human population was conducted and their settlements mapped. A pre-intervention survey of tsetse distribution and abundance was implemented in November 2013 and 2600 targets were deployed in the riverine habitats of tsetse in early 2014, 2015 and 2016. Impact on tsetse and on the incidence of sleeping sickness was assessed through nine tsetse monitoring surveys and four medical surveys of the human population in 2014 and 2015. Mathematical modelling was used to assess the relative impact of tsetse control on incidence compared to active and passive screening. Findings The census indicated that a population of 38674 inhabitants lived in the vicinity of the Mandoul focus. Within this focus in November 2013, the vector is Glossina fuscipes fuscipes and the mean catch of tsetse from traps was 0.7 flies/trap/day (range, 0–26). The catch of tsetse from 44 sentinel biconical traps declined after target deployment with only five tsetse being caught in nine surveys giving a mean catch of 0.005 tsetse/trap/day. Modelling indicates that 70.4% (95% CI: 51–95%) of the reduction in reported cases between 2013 and 2015 can be attributed to vector control with the rest due to medical intervention. Similarly tiny targets are estimated to have reduced new infections dramatically with 62.8% (95% CI: 59–66%) of the reduction due to tsetse control, and 8.5% (95% 8–9%) to enhanced passive detection. Model predictions anticipate that elimination as a public health problem could be achieved by 2018 in this focus if vector control and screening continue at the present level and, furthermore, there may have been virtually no transmission since 2015. Conclusion This work shows that tiny targets reduced the numbers of tsetse in this focus in Chad, which may have interrupted transmission and the combination of tsetse control to medical detection and treatment has played a major role in reducing in HAT incidence in 2014 and 2015. PMID:28750007

Older adults' health and late-life drinking patterns: a 20-year perspective.

PubMed

Moos, Rudolf H; Brennan, Penny L; Schutte, Kathleen K; Moos, Bernice S

2010-01-01

This study focused on the associations between older adults' health-related problems and their late-life alcohol consumption and drinking problems. A sample of 719 late-middle-aged community residents (55-65 years old at baseline) participated in a survey of health and alcohol consumption and this survey was followed 10 years and 20 years later. Health-related problems increased and alcohol consumption and drinking problems declined over the 20-year interval. Medical conditions, depressive symptoms, medication use, and acute health events were associated with a higher likelihood of abstinence; acute health events were also associated with less alcohol consumption. In contrast, reliance on alcohol to reduce pain was linked to more alcohol consumption. Moreover, an individual's overall health burden and reliance on alcohol to reduce pain were associated with more drinking problems. Reliance on alcohol to reduce pain potentiated the association between health burden, alcohol consumption and drinking problems. Older adults who have more health problems and rely on alcohol to manage pain are at elevated risk for drinking problems. Health care providers should target high-risk older adults, such as those who drink to reduce pain, for screening and brief interventions to help them identify new ways to cope with pain and curtail their drinking.

Two-phase framework for near-optimal multi-target Lambert rendezvous

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bang, Jun; Ahn, Jaemyung

2018-03-01

This paper proposes a two-phase framework to obtain a near-optimal solution of multi-target Lambert rendezvous problem. The objective of the problem is to determine the minimum-cost rendezvous sequence and trajectories to visit a given set of targets within a maximum mission duration. The first phase solves a series of single-target rendezvous problems for all departure-arrival object pairs to generate the elementary solutions, which provides candidate rendezvous trajectories. The second phase formulates a variant of traveling salesman problem (TSP) using the elementary solutions prepared in the first phase and determines the final rendezvous sequence and trajectories of the multi-target rendezvous problem. The validity of the proposed optimization framework is demonstrated through an asteroid exploration case study.

Pharmacogenetics and Pharmacotherapy of Military Personnel Suffering from Post-traumatic Stress Disorder

PubMed Central

Naß, Janine; Efferth, Thomas

2017-01-01

Background: Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is a severe problem among soldiers with combating experience difficult to treat. The pathogenesis is still not fully understood at the psychological level. Therefore, genetic research became a focus of interest. The identification of single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) may help to predict, which persons are at high risk to develop PTSD as a starting point to develop novel targeted drugs for treatment. Methods: We conducted a systematic review on SNPs in genes related to PTSD pathology and development of targeted pharmacological treatment options based on PubMed database searches. We focused on clinical trials with military personnel. Results: SNPs in 22 human genes have been linked to PTSD. These genes encode proteins acting as neurotransmitters and receptors, downstream signal transducers and metabolizing enzymes. Pharmacological inhibitors may serve as drug candidates for PTSD treatment, e.g. β2 adrenoreceptor antagonists, dopamine antagonists, partial dopamine D2 receptor agonists, dopamine β hydroxylase inhibitors, fatty acid amid hydrolase antagonists, glucocorticoid receptor agonists, tropomyosin receptor kinase B agonists, selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors, catechol-O-methyltransferase inhibitors, gamma-amino butyric acid receptor agonists, glutamate receptor inhibitors, monoaminoxidase B inhibitors, N-methyl-d-aspartate receptor antagonists. Conclusion: The combination of genetic and pharmacological research may lead to novel target-based drug developments with improved specificity and efficacy to treat PTSD. Specific SNPs may be identified as reliable biomarkers to assess individual disease risk. Focusing on soldiers suffering from PTSD will not only help to improve treatment options for this specific group, but for all PTSD patients and the general population. PMID:27834145

Finding ways to grow skills, knowledge, and voice in the next generation of interdisciplinary sustainability scientists

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Roy, S. G.; de Souza, S. P.; McGreavy, B.; Gardner, K.; Hart, D.; Druschke, C. G.

2017-12-01

The need to train early-career interdisciplinary, solutions-driven sustainability researchers has never been more apparent than today. To meet this challenge, educators at the Universities of Maine, New Hampshire, and Rhode Island have collaborated with their students to design and assess an interdisciplinary, multi-university course meant to develop the skills, content knowledge, and voice that are seen as critical for training the next generation of interdisciplinary sustainability researchers. We developed a rubric and conducted a mixed methods analysis of sustainability science learning outcomes identified as central to successful sustainability research. We used these targeted outcomes as a guide to design and implement several activities that build these skills and competencies and advance the identified outcomes. These course learning outcomes focus on three major sustainability science competencies: (1) systems thinking, which focuses on improving students' abilities to build a deep understanding of dynamic social-ecological systems; (2) problem definition, which focuses on the skills necessary to identify and communicate sustainability problems by combining systems knowledge with multiple stakeholder perspectives; and (3) decision making, which focuses on the abilities required to create and communicate adaptable decisions to mitigate sustainability problems. Students were frequently asked to help co-create class meetings based on their own educational experiences and objectives.Based on a quantitative assessment of survey results taken before and after the course, several students tended to initially overestimate their capacity for undertaking interdisciplinary sustainability research, possibly because of a previously narrow exposure to these concepts from the perspective of a single discipline. Qualitative results indicate that students gained substantial experience and confidence in communication, and especially in collaboration, stakeholder engagement, and conflict. Based on our empirical approach we recommend focusing on three key factors when training future interdisciplinary sustainability scientists: diverse and nested communication, building voice by co-creating the course, and early engagement with stakeholders.

[Antitumor effect research progress of shikonin and its derivatives].

PubMed

Zhu, Meng-Yuan; Wang, Ru-Bing; Zhou, Wen; Li, Shao-Shun

2012-05-01

Shikonin, the main active ingredient of Lithospermum, and its derivatives have been proved to have antitumor effects, and the anti-tumor mechanisms involve multiple targets. Based on recent literatures, this review focuses on the antitumor effects and its mechanisms. More emphases are given on the aspects of induction of apoptosis, induction of necrosis, acting on matrix metalloproteinase, acting on the protein tyrosine kinase and antiangiogenesis. The current status and problems of shikonin derivatives in antitumor effects are simply summarized and lookout for the development of antitumor drugs with shikonin as leading compounds.

Excellence through Special Education? Lessons from the Finnish School Reform

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kivirauma, Joel; Ruoho, Kari

2007-05-01

The present article focuses on connections between part-time special education and the good results of Finnish students in PISA studies. After a brief summary of the comprehensive school system and special education in Finland, PISA results are analysed. The analysis shows that the relative amount of special education targeted at language problems is highest in Finland among those countries from which comparative statistics are available. The writers argue that this preventive language-oriented part-time special education is an important factor behind the good PISA results.

Tabu Search enhances network robustness under targeted attacks

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sun, Shi-wen; Ma, Yi-lin; Li, Rui-qi; Wang, Li; Xia, Cheng-yi

2016-03-01

We focus on the optimization of network robustness with respect to intentional attacks on high-degree nodes. Given an existing network, this problem can be considered as a typical single-objective combinatorial optimization problem. Based on the heuristic Tabu Search optimization algorithm, a link-rewiring method is applied to reconstruct the network while keeping the degree of every node unchanged. Through numerical simulations, BA scale-free network and two real-world networks are investigated to verify the effectiveness of the proposed optimization method. Meanwhile, we analyze how the optimization affects other topological properties of the networks, including natural connectivity, clustering coefficient and degree-degree correlation. The current results can help to improve the robustness of existing complex real-world systems, as well as to provide some insights into the design of robust networks.

A case study illustrating the use of an attachment video-feedback intervention strategy.

PubMed

Tarabulsy, George M; Dubois-Comtois, Karine; Baudry, Claire; Moss, Ellen; Roberge, Annie; Savage, Laura-Emilie; Cyr, Chantal; St-Laurent, Diane; Bernier, Annie

2018-05-21

Children from high-risk environments are more likely to experience problems in development. Many difficulties are linked to early experiences in the context of the emerging attachment relationship. Over the past 20 years, our group has collaborated with government agencies to develop and implement an attachment-based video-feedback intervention strategy (AVI) that targets parental sensitivity and attachment. This case study presents the manner in which a young mother and her 6-month-old son experienced AVI. The study shows how the absence of maternal sensitivity and responsiveness to infant signals, difficulties in helping the child regulate affect, and problems in autonomy support are addressed via eight semi-structured mentoring visits. Discussion focuses on how AVI may be a helpful addition to primary prevention programs. © 2018 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Kansas Wind Energy Consortium

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

Gruenbacher, Don

2015-12-31

This project addresses both fundamental and applied research problems that will help with problems defined by the DOE “20% Wind by 2030 Report”. In particular, this work focuses on increasing the capacity of small or community wind generation capabilities that would be operated in a distributed generation approach. A consortium (KWEC – Kansas Wind Energy Consortium) of researchers from Kansas State University and Wichita State University aims to dramatically increase the penetration of wind energy via distributed wind power generation. We believe distributed generation through wind power will play a critical role in the ability to reach and extend themore » renewable energy production targets set by the Department of Energy. KWEC aims to find technical and economic solutions to enable widespread implementation of distributed renewable energy resources that would apply to wind.« less

Improved Spatial Registration and Target Tracking Method for Sensors on Multiple Missiles.

PubMed

Lu, Xiaodong; Xie, Yuting; Zhou, Jun

2018-05-27

Inspired by the problem that the current spatial registration methods are unsuitable for three-dimensional (3-D) sensor on high-dynamic platform, this paper focuses on the estimation for the registration errors of cooperative missiles and motion states of maneuvering target. There are two types of errors being discussed: sensor measurement biases and attitude biases. Firstly, an improved Kalman Filter on Earth-Centered Earth-Fixed (ECEF-KF) coordinate algorithm is proposed to estimate the deviations mentioned above, from which the outcomes are furtherly compensated to the error terms. Secondly, the Pseudo Linear Kalman Filter (PLKF) and the nonlinear scheme the Unscented Kalman Filter (UKF) with modified inputs are employed for target tracking. The convergence of filtering results are monitored by a position-judgement logic, and a low-pass first order filter is selectively introduced before compensation to inhibit the jitter of estimations. In the simulation, the ECEF-KF enhancement is proven to improve the accuracy and robustness of the space alignment, while the conditional-compensation-based PLKF method is demonstrated to be the optimal performance in target tracking.

Targeted violence against law enforcement officers.

PubMed

Schouten, Ronald; Brennan, Douglas V

2016-09-01

As highly visible representatives and guardians of society, law enforcement officers (LEOs) are very public figures. Injury or death in the line of duty, whether due to accidents or intentional acts of violence, is an occupational hazard for LEOs. Targeted assaults on police officers, referred to as ambushes in previous literature, are a particularly perplexing problem with significant implications for society at large. In the summer of 2016, the latest in a series of high-profile acts of violence aimed at police occurred, leading to increased examination of the acts themselves and their causes. This article examines recent trends in assaults on LEOs, focusing on predatory rather than reactive attacks, and applies a threat assessment model to a case of targeted violence against police. We use State of Washington v. Christopher Monfort (2015), a prosecution for arson, assault with intent to murder, and murder, as a case example, to examine how the threat assessment model, and the concepts of affective versus predatory violence help in understanding targeted violence against LEOs, assessing its risk, and managing it. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Discovery of Boolean metabolic networks: integer linear programming based approach.

PubMed

Qiu, Yushan; Jiang, Hao; Ching, Wai-Ki; Cheng, Xiaoqing

2018-04-11

Traditional drug discovery methods focused on the efficacy of drugs rather than their toxicity. However, toxicity and/or lack of efficacy are produced when unintended targets are affected in metabolic networks. Thus, identification of biological targets which can be manipulated to produce the desired effect with minimum side-effects has become an important and challenging topic. Efficient computational methods are required to identify the drug targets while incurring minimal side-effects. In this paper, we propose a graph-based computational damage model that summarizes the impact of enzymes on compounds in metabolic networks. An efficient method based on Integer Linear Programming formalism is then developed to identify the optimal enzyme-combination so as to minimize the side-effects. The identified target enzymes for known successful drugs are then verified by comparing the results with those in the existing literature. Side-effects reduction plays a crucial role in the study of drug development. A graph-based computational damage model is proposed and the theoretical analysis states the captured problem is NP-completeness. The proposed approaches can therefore contribute to the discovery of drug targets. Our developed software is available at " http://hkumath.hku.hk/~wkc/APBC2018-metabolic-network.zip ".

Sensation seekers as a healthcare marketing metasegment.

PubMed

Self, Donald R; Findley, Carolyn Sara

2010-01-01

This article discusses "sensation seekers" as a market segment for communication and prevention programs for various lifestyle and/or risk-related health problem areas such as alcohol abuse, drug abuse, suicide attempts, and sexually transmitted diseases. Although sensation seekers tend to be creative, artistic individuals, they are also prone to various negative health behaviors and many population-based prevention programs have over-looked these individuals as an important target. Various inputs to sensation-seeking causation are explored, including biological/chemical, psychological, and the impact of external characteristics. Using a combination for regulatory focus and risk homeostasis, propositions are provided for improving the effectiveness of the communications. Recommendations for prevention efforts focusing on reaching this subculture using television, along with other electronic media are proposed, including recommendations for message construction and presentation venues.

About an Optimal Visiting Problem

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

Bagagiolo, Fabio, E-mail: bagagiol@science.unitn.it; Benetton, Michela

In this paper we are concerned with the optimal control problem consisting in minimizing the time for reaching (visiting) a fixed number of target sets, in particular more than one target. Such a problem is of course reminiscent of the famous 'Traveling Salesman Problem' and brings all its computational difficulties. Our aim is to apply the dynamic programming technique in order to characterize the value function of the problem as the unique viscosity solution of a suitable Hamilton-Jacobi equation. We introduce some 'external' variables, one per target, which keep in memory whether the corresponding target is already visited or not,more » and we transform the visiting problem in a suitable Mayer problem. This fact allows us to overcome the lacking of the Dynamic Programming Principle for the originary problem. The external variables evolve with a hysteresis law and the Hamilton-Jacobi equation turns out to be discontinuous.« less

Improved genome-scale multi-target virtual screening via a novel collaborative filtering approach to cold-start problem

PubMed Central

Lim, Hansaim; Gray, Paul; Xie, Lei; Poleksic, Aleksandar

2016-01-01

Conventional one-drug-one-gene approach has been of limited success in modern drug discovery. Polypharmacology, which focuses on searching for multi-targeted drugs to perturb disease-causing networks instead of designing selective ligands to target individual proteins, has emerged as a new drug discovery paradigm. Although many methods for single-target virtual screening have been developed to improve the efficiency of drug discovery, few of these algorithms are designed for polypharmacology. Here, we present a novel theoretical framework and a corresponding algorithm for genome-scale multi-target virtual screening based on the one-class collaborative filtering technique. Our method overcomes the sparseness of the protein-chemical interaction data by means of interaction matrix weighting and dual regularization from both chemicals and proteins. While the statistical foundation behind our method is general enough to encompass genome-wide drug off-target prediction, the program is specifically tailored to find protein targets for new chemicals with little to no available interaction data. We extensively evaluate our method using a number of the most widely accepted gene-specific and cross-gene family benchmarks and demonstrate that our method outperforms other state-of-the-art algorithms for predicting the interaction of new chemicals with multiple proteins. Thus, the proposed algorithm may provide a powerful tool for multi-target drug design. PMID:27958331

Improved genome-scale multi-target virtual screening via a novel collaborative filtering approach to cold-start problem.

PubMed

Lim, Hansaim; Gray, Paul; Xie, Lei; Poleksic, Aleksandar

2016-12-13

Conventional one-drug-one-gene approach has been of limited success in modern drug discovery. Polypharmacology, which focuses on searching for multi-targeted drugs to perturb disease-causing networks instead of designing selective ligands to target individual proteins, has emerged as a new drug discovery paradigm. Although many methods for single-target virtual screening have been developed to improve the efficiency of drug discovery, few of these algorithms are designed for polypharmacology. Here, we present a novel theoretical framework and a corresponding algorithm for genome-scale multi-target virtual screening based on the one-class collaborative filtering technique. Our method overcomes the sparseness of the protein-chemical interaction data by means of interaction matrix weighting and dual regularization from both chemicals and proteins. While the statistical foundation behind our method is general enough to encompass genome-wide drug off-target prediction, the program is specifically tailored to find protein targets for new chemicals with little to no available interaction data. We extensively evaluate our method using a number of the most widely accepted gene-specific and cross-gene family benchmarks and demonstrate that our method outperforms other state-of-the-art algorithms for predicting the interaction of new chemicals with multiple proteins. Thus, the proposed algorithm may provide a powerful tool for multi-target drug design.

Multidisciplinary and participatory workshops with stakeholders in a community of extreme poverty in the Peruvian Amazon: Development of priority concerns and potential health, nutrition and education interventions

PubMed Central

Casapia, Martin; Joseph, Serene A; Gyorkos, Theresa W

2007-01-01

Background Communities of extreme poverty suffer disproportionately from a wide range of adverse outcomes, but are often neglected or underserved by organized services and research attention. In order to target the first Millennium Development Goal of eradicating extreme poverty, thereby reducing health inequalities, participatory research in these communities is needed. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to determine the priority problems and respective potential cost-effective interventions in Belen, a community of extreme poverty in the Peruvian Amazon, using a multidisciplinary and participatory focus. Methods Two multidisciplinary and participatory workshops were conducted with important stakeholders from government, non-government and community organizations, national institutes and academic institutions. In Workshop 1, participants prioritized the main health and health-related problems in the community of Belen. Problem trees were developed to show perceived causes and effects for the top six problems. In Workshop 2, following presentations describing data from recently completed field research in school and household populations of Belen, participants listed potential interventions for the priority problems, including associated barriers, enabling factors, costs and benefits. Results The top ten priority problems in Belen were identified as: 1) infant malnutrition; 2) adolescent pregnancy; 3) diarrhoea; 4) anaemia; 5) parasites; 6) lack of basic sanitation; 7) low level of education; 8) sexually transmitted diseases; 9) domestic violence; and 10) delayed school entry. Causes and effects for the top six problems, proposed interventions, and factors relating to the implementation of interventions were multidisciplinary in nature and included health, nutrition, education, social and environmental issues. Conclusion The two workshops provided valuable insight into the main health and health-related problems facing the community of Belen. The participatory focus of the workshops ensured the active involvement of important stakeholders from Belen. Based on the results of the workshops, effective and essential interventions are now being planned which will contribute to reducing health inequalities in the community. PMID:17623093

Children's Exposure to Violence: The Underlying Effect of Posttraumatic Stress Symptoms on Behavior Problems.

PubMed

Yoon, Susan; Steigerwald, Stacey; Holmes, Megan R; Perzynski, Adam T

2016-02-01

In this study we investigated whether witnessing violence and violence victimization were associated with children's internalizing and externalizing behavior problems and examined the mediating role of posttraumatic stress (PTS) symptoms in these relationships. Secondary data analysis was conducted using 3 waves of data from the National Survey of Child and Adolescent Well-Being. Path analyses were conducted to test direct and indirect effects of violence exposure on behavior problems, using 2,064 children (ages 8-15 years) reported to Child Protective Services for maltreatment. Being a victim of violence in the home was directly associated with more internalizing (β = .06, p = .007) and externalizing behavior problems (β = .07, p = .002), whereas witnessing violence was not directly related to either internalizing (β = .04, p = .056) or externalizing behavior problems (β = .03, p = .130). PTS symptoms mediated the effects of witnessing violence and violence victimization on internalizing behavior problems (β = .02, p = .002). Our findings suggest that PTS symptoms may be a mechanism underlying the association between violence exposure and internalizing behavior problems (R(2) = .23), underscoring the potential importance of assessing PTS symptoms and providing targeted trauma-focused interventions for children exposed to violence at home. Copyright © 2016 International Society for Traumatic Stress Studies.

Frnakenstein: multiple target inverse RNA folding.

PubMed

Lyngsø, Rune B; Anderson, James W J; Sizikova, Elena; Badugu, Amarendra; Hyland, Tomas; Hein, Jotun

2012-10-09

RNA secondary structure prediction, or folding, is a classic problem in bioinformatics: given a sequence of nucleotides, the aim is to predict the base pairs formed in its three dimensional conformation. The inverse problem of designing a sequence folding into a particular target structure has only more recently received notable interest. With a growing appreciation and understanding of the functional and structural properties of RNA motifs, and a growing interest in utilising biomolecules in nano-scale designs, the interest in the inverse RNA folding problem is bound to increase. However, whereas the RNA folding problem from an algorithmic viewpoint has an elegant and efficient solution, the inverse RNA folding problem appears to be hard. In this paper we present a genetic algorithm approach to solve the inverse folding problem. The main aims of the development was to address the hitherto mostly ignored extension of solving the inverse folding problem, the multi-target inverse folding problem, while simultaneously designing a method with superior performance when measured on the quality of designed sequences. The genetic algorithm has been implemented as a Python program called Frnakenstein. It was benchmarked against four existing methods and several data sets totalling 769 real and predicted single structure targets, and on 292 two structure targets. It performed as well as or better at finding sequences which folded in silico into the target structure than all existing methods, without the heavy bias towards CG base pairs that was observed for all other top performing methods. On the two structure targets it also performed well, generating a perfect design for about 80% of the targets. Our method illustrates that successful designs for the inverse RNA folding problem does not necessarily have to rely on heavy biases in base pair and unpaired base distributions. The design problem seems to become more difficult on larger structures when the target structures are real structures, while no deterioration was observed for predicted structures. Design for two structure targets is considerably more difficult, but far from impossible, demonstrating the feasibility of automated design of artificial riboswitches. The Python implementation is available at http://www.stats.ox.ac.uk/research/genome/software/frnakenstein.

Frnakenstein: multiple target inverse RNA folding

PubMed Central

2012-01-01

Background RNA secondary structure prediction, or folding, is a classic problem in bioinformatics: given a sequence of nucleotides, the aim is to predict the base pairs formed in its three dimensional conformation. The inverse problem of designing a sequence folding into a particular target structure has only more recently received notable interest. With a growing appreciation and understanding of the functional and structural properties of RNA motifs, and a growing interest in utilising biomolecules in nano-scale designs, the interest in the inverse RNA folding problem is bound to increase. However, whereas the RNA folding problem from an algorithmic viewpoint has an elegant and efficient solution, the inverse RNA folding problem appears to be hard. Results In this paper we present a genetic algorithm approach to solve the inverse folding problem. The main aims of the development was to address the hitherto mostly ignored extension of solving the inverse folding problem, the multi-target inverse folding problem, while simultaneously designing a method with superior performance when measured on the quality of designed sequences. The genetic algorithm has been implemented as a Python program called Frnakenstein. It was benchmarked against four existing methods and several data sets totalling 769 real and predicted single structure targets, and on 292 two structure targets. It performed as well as or better at finding sequences which folded in silico into the target structure than all existing methods, without the heavy bias towards CG base pairs that was observed for all other top performing methods. On the two structure targets it also performed well, generating a perfect design for about 80% of the targets. Conclusions Our method illustrates that successful designs for the inverse RNA folding problem does not necessarily have to rely on heavy biases in base pair and unpaired base distributions. The design problem seems to become more difficult on larger structures when the target structures are real structures, while no deterioration was observed for predicted structures. Design for two structure targets is considerably more difficult, but far from impossible, demonstrating the feasibility of automated design of artificial riboswitches. The Python implementation is available at http://www.stats.ox.ac.uk/research/genome/software/frnakenstein. PMID:23043260

Infrared variation reduction by simultaneous background suppression and target contrast enhancement for deep convolutional neural network-based automatic target recognition

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kim, Sungho

2017-06-01

Automatic target recognition (ATR) is a traditionally challenging problem in military applications because of the wide range of infrared (IR) image variations and the limited number of training images. IR variations are caused by various three-dimensional target poses, noncooperative weather conditions (fog and rain), and difficult target acquisition environments. Recently, deep convolutional neural network-based approaches for RGB images (RGB-CNN) showed breakthrough performance in computer vision problems, such as object detection and classification. The direct use of RGB-CNN to the IR ATR problem fails to work because of the IR database problems (limited database size and IR image variations). An IR variation-reduced deep CNN (IVR-CNN) to cope with the problems is presented. The problem of limited IR database size is solved by a commercial thermal simulator (OKTAL-SE). The second problem of IR variations is mitigated by the proposed shifted ramp function-based intensity transformation. This can suppress the background and enhance the target contrast simultaneously. The experimental results on the synthesized IR images generated by the thermal simulator (OKTAL-SE) validated the feasibility of IVR-CNN for military ATR applications.

Stimuli-responsive Smart Liposomes in Cancer Targeting.

PubMed

Jain, Ankit; Jain, Sanjay K

2018-02-08

Liposomes are vesicular carriers which possess aqueous core entrapped within the lipid bilayer. These are carriers of choice because of biocompatible and biodegradable features in addition to flexibility of surface modifications at surface and lipid compositions of lipid bilayers. Liposomes have been reported well for cancer treatment using both passive and active targeting approaches however tumor microenvironment is still the biggest hurdle for safe and effective delivery of anticancer agents. To overcome this problem, stimuli-responsive smart liposomes have emerged as promising cargoes pioneered to anomalous tumor milieu in response to pH, temperature, and enzymes etc. as internal triggers, and magnetic field, ultrasound, and redox potential as external guides for enhancement of drug delivery to tumors. This review focuses on all such stimuli-responsive approaches using fabrication potentiality of liposomes in combination to various ligands, linkers, and PEGylation etc. Scientists engaged in cancer targeting approaches can get benefited greatly with this knowledgeable assemblage of advances in liposomal nanovectors. Copyright© Bentham Science Publishers; For any queries, please email at epub@benthamscience.org.

Acid-mediated Lipinski's second rule: application to drug design and targeting in cancer.

PubMed

Omran, Ziad; Rauch, Cyril

2014-05-01

With a predicted 382.4 per 100,000 people expected to suffer from some form of malignant neoplasm by 2015, and a current death toll of 1 out of 8 deaths worldwide, improving treatment and/or drug design is an essential focus of cancer research. Multi-drug resistance is the leading cause of chemotherapeutic failure, and delivery of anticancer drugs to the inside of cancerous cells is another major challenge. Fifteen years ago, in a completely different field in which improving drug delivery is the objective, the bioavailability of oral compounds, Christopher Lipinski formulated some rules that are still used by the pharmaceutical industry as rules of thumb to improve drug delivery to their target. Although Lipinski's rules were not formulated to improve delivery of antineoplastic drugs to the inside of cancer cells, it is interesting to note that the problems are similar. On the basis of the strong similarity between the fields, we discuss how they can be connected and how new drug targets can be defined in cancer.

Bus commuters' coping strategies and anxiety from terrorism: an example of the Israeli experience.

PubMed

Gidron, Y; Gal, R; Zahavi, S

1999-01-01

This study examined the use of three coping strategies: (1) emotion-focused coping (calming-distraction); (2) problem-focused coping (checking-behavior); and (3) denial (reduced perceived vulnerability), and their relationship to anxiety from terrorism among 50 Israeli bus commuters. Their mean age was 31 years (60% females). Commuting frequency was negatively correlated, and problem-focused coping was positively correlated with anxiety from terrorism. Ratios of problem-focused coping/denial and of problem-focused/emotion-focused coping were each positively correlated with anxiety from terrorism. Coping ratios accounted for 15% of the variance in anxiety from terrorism, after considering commuting frequency. Combining minimal problem-focused preventative acts with distraction and reduced perceived vulnerability may be beneficial.

Theory and practical application of out of sequence measurements with results for multi-static tracking

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Iny, David

2007-09-01

This paper addresses the out-of-sequence measurement (OOSM) problem associated with multiple platform tracking systems. The problem arises due to different transmission delays in communication of detection reports across platforms. Much of the literature focuses on the improvement to the state estimate by incorporating the OOSM. As the time lag increases, there is diminishing improvement to the state estimate. However, this paper shows that optimal processing of OOSMs may still be beneficial by improving data association as part of a multi-target tracker. This paper derives exact multi-lag algorithms with the property that the standard log likelihood track scoring is independent of the order in which the measurements are processed. The orthogonality principle is applied to generalize the method of Bar- Shalom in deriving the exact A1 algorithm for 1-lag estimation. Theory is also developed for optimal filtering of time averaged measurements and measurements correlated through periodic updates of a target aim-point. An alternative derivation of the multi-lag algorithms is also achieved using an efficient variant of the augmented state Kalman filter (AS-KF). This results in practical and reasonably efficient multi-lag algorithms. Results are compared to a well known ad hoc algorithm for incorporating OOSMs. Finally, the paper presents some simulated multi-target multi-static scenarios where there is a benefit to processing the data out of sequence in order to improve pruning efficiency.

Interval MULTIMOORA method with target values of attributes based on interval distance and preference degree: biomaterials selection

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hafezalkotob, Arian; Hafezalkotob, Ashkan

2017-06-01

A target-based MADM method covers beneficial and non-beneficial attributes besides target values for some attributes. Such techniques are considered as the comprehensive forms of MADM approaches. Target-based MADM methods can also be used in traditional decision-making problems in which beneficial and non-beneficial attributes only exist. In many practical selection problems, some attributes have given target values. The values of decision matrix and target-based attributes can be provided as intervals in some of such problems. Some target-based decision-making methods have recently been developed; however, a research gap exists in the area of MADM techniques with target-based attributes under uncertainty of information. We extend the MULTIMOORA method for solving practical material selection problems in which material properties and their target values are given as interval numbers. We employ various concepts of interval computations to reduce degeneration of uncertain data. In this regard, we use interval arithmetic and introduce innovative formula for interval distance of interval numbers to create interval target-based normalization technique. Furthermore, we use a pairwise preference matrix based on the concept of degree of preference of interval numbers to calculate the maximum, minimum, and ranking of these numbers. Two decision-making problems regarding biomaterials selection of hip and knee prostheses are discussed. Preference degree-based ranking lists for subordinate parts of the extended MULTIMOORA method are generated by calculating the relative degrees of preference for the arranged assessment values of the biomaterials. The resultant rankings for the problem are compared with the outcomes of other target-based models in the literature.

Does distraction facilitate problem-focused coping with job stress? A 1 year longitudinal study.

PubMed

Shimazu, Akihito; Schaufeli, Wilmar B

2007-10-01

This study examined the sole and combined effects of problem-focused coping and distraction on employee well-being (i.e., stress responses and job performance) using two-wave panel survey data with a 1-year time lag. Participants were 488 male employees, who worked for a construction machinery company in western Japan. Hierarchical multiple regression analyses were conducted to examine whether distraction moderates the relationship of problem-focused coping with well-being. More use of problem-focused coping was negatively related to subsequent stress responses among those high in distraction. The combination of high problem-focused coping and high distraction was positively related to subsequent job performance, although it was limited only to the high job stress situation. Results suggest that the combination of high problem-focused coping and high distraction may lead to lower stress responses and better performance (but only in high job stress situations for performance) than the combination of high problem-focused coping and low distraction, at least for male blue-collar workers.

A New Electron Source for Laboratory Simulation of the Space Environment

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Krause, Linda Habash; Everding, Daniel; Bonner, Mathew; Swan, Brian

2012-01-01

We have developed a new collimated electron source called the Photoelectron Beam Generator (PEBG) for laboratory and spaceflight applications. This technology is needed to replace traditional cathodes because of serious fundamental weaknesses with the present state of the art. Filament cathodes suffer from numerous practical problems, even if expertly designed, including the dependence of electron emission on filament temperature, short lifetimes (approx 100 hours), and relatively high power (approx 10s of W). Other types of cathodes have solved some of these problems, but they are plagued with other difficult problems, such as the Spindt cathode's extreme sensitivity to molecular oxygen. None to date have been able to meet the demand of long lifetime, robust packaging, and precision energy and flux control. This new cathode design avoids many common pitfalls of traditional cathodes. Specifically, there are no fragile parts, no sensitivity to oxygen, no intrinsic emission dependencies on device temperature, and no vacuum requirements for protecting the source from contamination or damage. Recent advances in high-brightness Light Emitting Diodes (LEDs) have provided the key enabling technology for this new electron source. The LEDs are used to photoeject electrons off a target material of a low work-function, and these photoelectrons are subsequently focused into a laminar beam using electrostatic lenses. The PEBG works by illuminating a target material and steering photoelectrons into a laminar beam using electrostatic lenses

New Weapons to Fight Old Enemies: Novel Strategies for the (Bio)control of Bacterial Biofilms in the Food Industry.

PubMed

Coughlan, Laura M; Cotter, Paul D; Hill, Colin; Alvarez-Ordóñez, Avelino

2016-01-01

Biofilms are microbial communities characterized by their adhesion to solid surfaces and the production of a matrix of exopolymeric substances, consisting of polysaccharides, proteins, DNA and lipids, which surround the microorganisms lending structural integrity and a unique biochemical profile to the biofilm. Biofilm formation enhances the ability of the producer/s to persist in a given environment. Pathogenic and spoilage bacterial species capable of forming biofilms are a significant problem for the healthcare and food industries, as their biofilm-forming ability protects them from common cleaning processes and allows them to remain in the environment post-sanitation. In the food industry, persistent bacteria colonize the inside of mixing tanks, vats and tubing, compromising food safety and quality. Strategies to overcome bacterial persistence through inhibition of biofilm formation or removal of mature biofilms are therefore necessary. Current biofilm control strategies employed in the food industry (cleaning and disinfection, material selection and surface preconditioning, plasma treatment, ultrasonication, etc.), although effective to a certain point, fall short of biofilm control. Efforts have been explored, mainly with a view to their application in pharmaceutical and healthcare settings, which focus on targeting molecular determinants regulating biofilm formation. Their application to the food industry would greatly aid efforts to eradicate undesirable bacteria from food processing environments and, ultimately, from food products. These approaches, in contrast to bactericidal approaches, exert less selective pressure which in turn would reduce the likelihood of resistance development. A particularly interesting strategy targets quorum sensing systems, which regulate gene expression in response to fluctuations in cell-population density governing essential cellular processes including biofilm formation. This review article discusses the problems associated with bacterial biofilms in the food industry and summarizes the recent strategies explored to inhibit biofilm formation, with special focus on those targeting quorum sensing.

New Weapons to Fight Old Enemies: Novel Strategies for the (Bio)control of Bacterial Biofilms in the Food Industry

PubMed Central

Coughlan, Laura M.; Cotter, Paul D.; Hill, Colin; Alvarez-Ordóñez, Avelino

2016-01-01

Biofilms are microbial communities characterized by their adhesion to solid surfaces and the production of a matrix of exopolymeric substances, consisting of polysaccharides, proteins, DNA and lipids, which surround the microorganisms lending structural integrity and a unique biochemical profile to the biofilm. Biofilm formation enhances the ability of the producer/s to persist in a given environment. Pathogenic and spoilage bacterial species capable of forming biofilms are a significant problem for the healthcare and food industries, as their biofilm-forming ability protects them from common cleaning processes and allows them to remain in the environment post-sanitation. In the food industry, persistent bacteria colonize the inside of mixing tanks, vats and tubing, compromising food safety and quality. Strategies to overcome bacterial persistence through inhibition of biofilm formation or removal of mature biofilms are therefore necessary. Current biofilm control strategies employed in the food industry (cleaning and disinfection, material selection and surface preconditioning, plasma treatment, ultrasonication, etc.), although effective to a certain point, fall short of biofilm control. Efforts have been explored, mainly with a view to their application in pharmaceutical and healthcare settings, which focus on targeting molecular determinants regulating biofilm formation. Their application to the food industry would greatly aid efforts to eradicate undesirable bacteria from food processing environments and, ultimately, from food products. These approaches, in contrast to bactericidal approaches, exert less selective pressure which in turn would reduce the likelihood of resistance development. A particularly interesting strategy targets quorum sensing systems, which regulate gene expression in response to fluctuations in cell-population density governing essential cellular processes including biofilm formation. This review article discusses the problems associated with bacterial biofilms in the food industry and summarizes the recent strategies explored to inhibit biofilm formation, with special focus on those targeting quorum sensing. PMID:27803696

Introduction to the College on Problems of Drug Dependence special issue: contemporary advances in opioid neuropharmacology.

PubMed

Walsh, Sharon L; Unterwald, Ellen M; Izenwasser, Sari

2010-05-01

Opioid receptors are critical therapeutic targets for medications development relevant to the treatment of drug dependence and pain. With recent advances in molecular neurobiology, it has become evident that the functional activity of opioid receptors, as ligand-regulated protein complexes, is modulated by multifarious intracellular and extracellular events, that there is genetic variation in coding for receptors, and that the activity of endogenous opioid systems may underlie actions common to other addictive disorders. This supplemental issue of Drug and Alcohol Dependence, arising from an invited symposium at the 71st Annual Meeting of the College on Problems of Drug Dependence, provides a series of contemporary reviews focused on recent advances in opioid neuropharmacology. Each speaker provides herein an invited comprehensive review of the state of knowledge on a specific topic in opioid neuropharmacology. Evans and colleagues describe the multi-faceted control of the opioid G-protein coupled receptor as a dynamic "sensor" complex and identify novel targets for drug development. von Zastrow focuses on opioid receptor-mediated events regulated by endocytosis and membrane trafficking through the endocytic pathway and differential responses to opioid agonists. Blendy and colleague provide a review of human association studies on the functional relevance of the mu opioid receptor variant, A118G, and presents data from the A112G knock-in model, an analogous mouse variant to A118G. Finally, Maldonado and colleagues provide a broader systems review from genetic, pharmacologic and behavioral studies implicating the endogenous opioid systems as a substrate for the mediation of substance use disorders spanning pharmacological classes.

Premorbid and illness-related social difficulties in eating disorders: an overview of the literature and treatment developments.

PubMed

Cardi, Valentina; Tchanturia, Kate; Treasure, Janet

2018-01-17

Social difficulties in eating disorders can manifest as predisposing traits and premorbid difficulties, and/or as consequences of the illness. Objective The aim of this paper is to briefly review the evidence for social problems in people with eating disorders and to consider the literature on treatments that target these features. Method A narrative review of the literature was conducted. Results People with eating disorders often manifest traits, such as shyness, increased tendency to submissiveness and social comparison, and problems with peer relationships before illness onset. Further social difficulties occur as the illness develops, including impaired social cognition and increased threat sensitivity. All relationships with family, peers and therapists are compromised by these effects. Thus, social difficulties are both risk and maintaining factors of eating disorders and are suitable targets for interventions. Several forms of generic treatments (e.g. interpersonal psychotherapy, cognitive analytic therapy, focal psychodynamic therapy) have an interpersonal focus and show some efficacy. Guided self-management based on the cognitive interpersonal model of the illness and directed to both individuals and support persons have been found to improve outcomes for all parties. Adjunctive treatments that focus on specific social difficulties, such as Cognitive Remediation and Emotion Skills Training and Cognitive Bias Modification have been shown to have promise. Conclusion More work is needed to establish whether these approaches can improve on the rather disappointing outcomes that are attained by currently used treatments for eating disorders. Copyright© Bentham Science Publishers; For any queries, please email at epub@benthamscience.org.

Familial risk and sibling mentalization: Links with preschoolers' internalizing problems.

PubMed

Rodrigues, Michelle; Binnoon-Erez, Noam; Prime, Heather; Perlman, Michal; Jenkins, Jennifer M

2017-09-01

The current study explored whether older sibling mentalization moderated the relationship between familial risk for internalizing symptoms and the development of future internalizing problems in the younger siblings, referred to as target children. Data were collected on 397 older siblings at Time 1 (T1) when target children were newborn and their older siblings were on average 2.61 years old (SD = .75). Target children were on average 1.60 years old at Time 2 (T2). Internalizing problems were assessed via mother and partner reports. Familial risk was operationalized as the average of all older siblings' level of internalizing problems. Older sibling mentalization, indexed by internal state talk and reasoning, was observed and coded during a sibling pretend-play interaction at T2. Results revealed a significant interaction between familial risk of internalizing problems and older siblings' mentalizing abilities, showing that familial risk was related to target children's internalizing problems in the absence of sibling mentalization. Familial risk was not associated with target children's internalizing problems when siblings demonstrated mentalizing abilities. Findings support the need to consider sibling mentalization as a protective factor for children's internalizing problems. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2017 APA, all rights reserved).

Evaluating the role of social marketing campaigns to prevent youth gambling problems: a qualitative study.

PubMed

Messerlian, Carmen; Derevensky, Jeffrey

2007-01-01

Gambling among adolescents is a growing public health concern. To date, social marketing as a strategy to address problem gambling among youth has not been widely used. A qualitative study through the use of focus groups was conducted to explore adolescents' exposure to existing prevention campaigns and their message content and communication strategy preferences for a youth gambling social marketing campaign. Participants prefer that youth gambling ads depict real-life stories, use an emotional appeal and portray the negative consequences associated with gambling problems. They further recommend illustrating the basic facts of gambling using simple messages that raise awareness without making a judgement. Participants caution against the "don't do it" approach, suggesting it does not reflect the current youth gambling culture. This study should serve as a starting point for the development of a gambling prevention social marketing campaign. Targeting variables and campaign strategies highlighted should be considered in the early stages of development and tested along the way.

Falls prevention in the elderly: translating evidence into practice.

PubMed

Luk, James K H; Chan, T Y; Chan, Daniel K Y

2015-04-01

Falls are a common problem in the elderly. A common error in their management is that injury from the fall is treated, without finding its cause. Thus a proactive approach is important to screen for the likelihood of fall in the elderly. Fall assessment usually includes a focused history and a targeted examination. Timed up-and-go test can be performed quickly and is able to predict the likelihood of fall. Evidence-based fall prevention interventions include multi-component group or home-based exercises, participation in Tai Chi, environmental modifications, medication review, management of foot and footwear problems, vitamin D supplementation, and management of cardiovascular problems. If possible, these are best implemented in the form of multifactorial intervention. Bone health enhancement for residential care home residents and appropriate community patients, and prescription of hip protectors for residential care home residents are also recommended. Multifactorial intervention may also be useful in a hospital and residential care home setting. Use of physical restraints is not recommended for fall prevention.

Occupational therapy for patients with problems in personal activities of daily living after stroke: systematic review of randomised trials

PubMed Central

Drummond, Avril; Leonardi-Bee, Jo; Gladman, J R F; Donkervoort, Mireille; Edmans, Judi; Gilbertson, Louise; Jongbloed, Lyn; Logan, Pip; Sackley, Catherine; Walker, Marion; Langhorne, Peter

2007-01-01

Objective To determine whether occupational therapy focused specifically on personal activities of daily living improves recovery for patients after stroke. Design Systematic review and meta-analysis. Data sources The Cochrane stroke group trials register, the Cochrane central register of controlled trials, Medline, Embase, CINAHL, PsycLIT, AMED, Wilson Social Sciences Abstracts, Science Citation Index, Social Science Citation, Arts and Humanities Citation Index, Dissertations Abstracts register, Occupational Therapy Research Index, scanning reference lists, personal communication with authors, and hand searching. Review methods Trials were included if they evaluated the effect of occupational therapy focused on practice of personal activities of daily living or where performance in such activities was the target of the occupational therapy intervention in a stroke population. Original data were sought from trialists. Two reviewers independently reviewed each trial for methodological quality. Disagreements were resolved by consensus. Results Nine randomised controlled trials including 1258 participants met the inclusion criteria. Occupational therapy delivered to patients after stroke and targeted towards personal activities of daily living increased performance scores (standardised mean difference 0.18, 95% confidence interval 0.04 to 0.32, P=0.01) and reduced the risk of poor outcome (death, deterioration or dependency in personal activities of daily living) (odds ratio 0.67, 95% confidence interval 0.51 to 0.87, P=0.003). For every 100 people who received occupational therapy focused on personal activities of daily living, 11 (95% confidence interval 7 to 30) would be spared a poor outcome. Conclusions Occupational therapy focused on improving personal activities of daily living after stroke can improve performance and reduce the risk of deterioration in these abilities. Focused occupational therapy should be available to everyone who has had a stroke. PMID:17901469

Promoting interdomain analogical transfer: When creating a problem helps to solve a problem.

PubMed

Minervino, Ricardo A; Olguín, Valeria; Trench, Máximo

2017-02-01

Research on analogical thinking has devised several ways of promoting an abstract encoding of base analogs, thus rendering them more retrievable during later encounters with similar situations lacking surface similarities. Recent studies have begun to explore ways of facilitating transfer at retrieval time, which could facilitate the retrieval of distant analogs learned within contexts that were not specially directed to emphasize their abstract structure. Such studies demonstrate that comparing a target problem to an analogous problem helps students retrieve base analogs that lack surface similarities. To devise more portable ways of enhancing analogical transfer, Experiment 1 replicated Kurtz and Loewenstein's (Memory & Cognition, 35, 334-341, 2007) target-comparison procedure with an additional condition in which participants compared the target to a nonanalogous problem before attempting to reach its solution. Although comparing two analogous targets outperformed the standard transfer condition in promoting analogical transfer, comparing nonanalogous problems did not yield a transfer advantage. Based on prior studies that showed that the activity of creating analogous problems during their initial encoding elicits a more abstract representation of base analogs, in Experiment 2 we assessed whether constructing a second analogous target problem at retrieval time helps participants retrieve superficially dissimilar base analogs. As predicted, target invention increased the retrieval of distant sources. In both experiments we found an association between the quality of the generated schemas and the probability of retrieving a distant base analog from memory.

Psychosocial Intervention for Age-Related Macular Degeneration: A Pilot Project

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Wahl, Hans-Werner; Kammerer, Annette; Holz, Frank; Miller, Daniel; Becker, Stefanie; Kaspar, Roman; Himmelsbach, Ines

2006-01-01

This study evaluated an emotion-focused and a problem-focused intervention designed for patients with age-related macular degeneration. It found a limited decrease in depression in the emotion-focused group and an increase in active problem orientation and in adaptation to vision loss in the problem-focused group.

Effects of a Responsiveness-Focused Intervention in Family Child Care Homes on Children’s Executive Function

PubMed Central

Merz, Emily C.; Landry, Susan H.; Johnson, Ursula Y.; Williams, Jeffrey M.; Jung, Kwanghee

2016-01-01

Caregiver responsiveness has been theorized and found to support children’s early executive function (EF) development. This study examined the effects of an intervention that targeted family child care provider responsiveness on children’s EF. Family child care providers were randomly assigned to one of two intervention groups or a control group. An intervention group that received a responsiveness-focused online professional development course and another intervention group that received this online course plus weekly mentoring were collapsed into one group because they did not differ on any of the outcome variables. Children (N = 141) ranged in age from 2.5 to 5 years (mean age = 3.58 years; 52% female). At pretest and posttest, children completed delay inhibition tasks (gift delay-wrap, gift delay-bow) and conflict EF tasks (bear/dragon, dimensional change card sort), and parents reported on the children’s level of attention problems. Although there were no main effects of the intervention on children’s EF, there were significant interactions between intervention status and child age for delay inhibition and attention problems. The youngest children improved in delay inhibition and attention problems if they were in the intervention rather than the control group, whereas older children did not. These results suggest that improving family child care provider responsive behaviors may facilitate the development of certain EF skills in young preschool-age children. PMID:26941476

Physiotherapy treatment of the diabetic shoulder: a longitudinal study following patients with diabetes and shoulder pain using a pre-post treatment design.

PubMed

Kyhlbäck, Maria; Schröder Winter, Helena; Thierfelder, Tomas; Söderlund, Anne

2014-01-01

The aim of this study was to describe and evaluate a physiotherapy program targeted to reduce pain intensity and improve the daily functioning of diabetics with shoulder problems. It was hypothesized that patients receiving specific physiotherapy treatment improved more frequently and rapidly than diabetic patients followed up without specific physiotherapeutic intervention. A pre-post treatment design was completed for a group of 10 subjects. The treatment protocol, also applied during the daily activities of the subjects, was aiming at reducing pain intensity and shoulder stiffness and improving impaired functioning in daily activities by muscle relaxation, light-load exercise and enhancing proper shoulder co-ordination. The group analysis showed significant decrease of pain intensity level as well as improved shoulder functioning and sustained level of subject self-efficacy beliefs throughout the study period. The results suggest that it is possible to relieve shoulder pain intensity and improve daily activities of patients with diabetes-related shoulder problems by employing a physiotherapy program focusing on muscle relaxation, light-load exercise and on the enhancement of proper shoulder co-ordination in daily activities. A physiotherapy program can be effective in reducing pain and improving shoulder function in diabetics with shoulder problems. The treatment should focus on muscle relaxation, light-load exercise and on the enhancement of proper shoulder co-ordination in daily activities.

Prevalence and Psychosocial Correlates of Party-Drug Use and Associated Problems among University Students in the Netherlands.

PubMed

Kunst, Laura E; Gebhardt, Winifred A

2018-04-18

Recent developments in drug use patterns call for an investigation of current party-drug use and associated problems among college students, who appear to be an important target population for harm reduction interventions. In addition to reporting on party-drug use prevalence, we investigated whether initial use and continuation of party-drug use among students was associated with demographic, personality and psychosocial factors. An online questionnaire was administered to 446 students from a Dutch university, inquiring about party-drug use, demographic characteristics, social norms and personality (big five, impulsiveness, aggression). Univariate and multivariate bootstrapped linear regression analyses were used. Of all students, 22.9% indicated having used party-drugs at least once, with a notable sex difference (39.2% of men vs. 16.2% of women). In contrast to the reported trends in Dutch nightlife, GHB was used rarely (lifetime 1.6%) and new psychoactive substances (NPS; 6.7%) appeared almost equally popular as amphetamines (7.6%) and cocaine (7%). Mild health/psychosocial problems (e.g., doing embarrassing things, feeling unwell) were common (65%), whereas serious problems (e.g., being hospitalized) were rare. Neuroticism, extraversion, conscientiousness and impulsiveness were associated with lifetime but not regular party-drug use. Of all predictors, lifetime and regular party-drug use were most strongly related to lenient injunctive and descriptive norms in friends, and a low motivation to comply with parents. Our findings indicate that harm reduction/preventive interventions might profit from focusing on social norms, and targeting students who are highly involved in a pro-party-drug environment while experiencing less parental influence.

Energy Efficiency Maximization for WSNs with Simultaneous Wireless Information and Power Transfer

PubMed Central

Yu, Hongyan; Zhang, Yongqiang; Yang, Yuanyuan; Ji, Luyue

2017-01-01

Recently, the simultaneous wireless information and power transfer (SWIPT) technique has been regarded as a promising approach to enhance performance of wireless sensor networks with limited energy supply. However, from a green communication perspective, energy efficiency optimization for SWIPT system design has not been investigated in Wireless Rechargeable Sensor Networks (WRSNs). In this paper, we consider the tradeoffs between energy efficiency and three factors including spectral efficiency, the transmit power and outage target rate for two different modes, i.e., power splitting (PS) and time switching modes (TS), at the receiver. Moreover, we formulate the energy efficiency maximization problem subject to the constraints of minimum Quality of Service (QoS), minimum harvested energy and maximum transmission power as non-convex optimization problem. In particular, we focus on optimizing power control and power allocation policy in PS and TS modes to maximize energy efficiency of data transmission. For PS and TS modes, we propose the corresponding algorithm to characterize a non-convex optimization problem that takes into account the circuit power consumption and the harvested energy. By exploiting nonlinear fractional programming and Lagrangian dual decomposition, we propose suboptimal iterative algorithms to obtain the solutions of non-convex optimization problems. Furthermore, we derive the outage probability and effective throughput from the scenarios that the transmitter does not or partially know the channel state information (CSI) of the receiver. Simulation results illustrate that the proposed optimal iterative algorithm can achieve optimal solutions within a small number of iterations and various tradeoffs between energy efficiency and spectral efficiency, transmit power and outage target rate, respectively. PMID:28820496

Energy Efficiency Maximization for WSNs with Simultaneous Wireless Information and Power Transfer.

PubMed

Yu, Hongyan; Zhang, Yongqiang; Guo, Songtao; Yang, Yuanyuan; Ji, Luyue

2017-08-18

Recently, the simultaneous wireless information and power transfer (SWIPT) technique has been regarded as a promising approach to enhance performance of wireless sensor networks with limited energy supply. However, from a green communication perspective, energy efficiency optimization for SWIPT system design has not been investigated in Wireless Rechargeable Sensor Networks (WRSNs). In this paper, we consider the tradeoffs between energy efficiency and three factors including spectral efficiency, the transmit power and outage target rate for two different modes, i.e., power splitting (PS) and time switching modes (TS), at the receiver. Moreover, we formulate the energy efficiency maximization problem subject to the constraints of minimum Quality of Service (QoS), minimum harvested energy and maximum transmission power as non-convex optimization problem. In particular, we focus on optimizing power control and power allocation policy in PS and TS modes to maximize energy efficiency of data transmission. For PS and TS modes, we propose the corresponding algorithm to characterize a non-convex optimization problem that takes into account the circuit power consumption and the harvested energy. By exploiting nonlinear fractional programming and Lagrangian dual decomposition, we propose suboptimal iterative algorithms to obtain the solutions of non-convex optimization problems. Furthermore, we derive the outage probability and effective throughput from the scenarios that the transmitter does not or partially know the channel state information (CSI) of the receiver. Simulation results illustrate that the proposed optimal iterative algorithm can achieve optimal solutions within a small number of iterations and various tradeoffs between energy efficiency and spectral efficiency, transmit power and outage target rate, respectively.

Symptoms of internalizing and externalizing problems: modeling recovery curves after the death of a parent.

PubMed

Schmiege, Sarah J; Khoo, Siek Toon; Sandler, Irwin N; Ayers, Tim S; Wolchik, Sharlene A

2006-12-01

The death of a parent is a major family disruption that can place children at risk for later depression and other mental health problems. Theoretically based randomized controlled trial for parentally bereaved children. Two-hundred and forty-four children and adolescents and their caregivers from 156 families were randomly assigned to the Family Bereavement Program (FBP) intervention condition (90 families; 135 children) or to a control condition (66 families; 109 children). Data collection occurred from 1996 to 1998. Children and caregivers in the intervention condition met separately for 12 two-hour weekly sessions. Skills targeted by the program for children included positive coping, stress appraisals, control beliefs, and self-esteem. The caregiver program targeted caregiver mental health, life stressors, and improved discipline in the home. Both child and caregiver programs focused on improved quality of the caregiver-child relationship. Child and caregiver reports of internalizing and externalizing symptoms. Longitudinal growth curve modeling was performed to model symptoms over time from the point of parental death. The rate of recovery for girls in the program condition was significantly different from that of girls in the control condition across all outcomes. Boys in both conditions showed reduced symptoms over time. The methodology offers a conceptually unique way of assessing recovery in terms of reduced mental health problems over time after an event and has contributed to further understanding of FBP intervention effects. The intervention program facilitated recovery among girls, who did not show reduction in behavior problems without the program, while boys demonstrated decreased symptoms even without intervention.

Preventive Effects on Birth Outcomes: Buffering Impact of Maternal Stress, Depression, and Anxiety.

PubMed

Feinberg, Mark E; Jones, Damon E; Roettger, Michael E; Hostetler, Michelle L; Sakuma, Kari-Lyn; Paul, Ian M; Ehrenthal, Deborah B

2016-01-01

Although maternal stress, anxiety, and depression have been linked to negative birth outcomes, few studies have investigated preventive interventions targeting maternal mental health as a means of reducing such problems. This randomized controlled study examines whether Family Foundations (FF)-a transition to parenthood program for couples focused on promoting coparenting quality, with previously documented impact on maternal stress, depression, and anxiety-can buffer the negative effects of maternal mental health problems. To assess the effects of FF, we used a randomized block design with a sample of 259 expectant mothers assigned to FF or a control condition and analyzed using propensity score models. We examine two-way interactions of condition (intervention vs. control) with maternal mental health problems (financial stress, depression, and anxiety) on birth outcomes (birth weight, days in hospital for mothers and infants). For birth weight, we assess whether intervention effects depend on length of gestation by including a third interaction term. FF buffered (p < 0.05) the negative impact of maternal mental health problems on birth weight and both mother and infant length of post-partum hospital stay. For birth weight, assignment to FF was associated with higher birth weight for infants born before term. These results demonstrate that a psycho-educational program for couples focused on enhancing mutual coparental support, with preventive effects on maternal mental health, can reduce incidence of birth problems among women at elevated risk. Such improvements in birth outcomes could translate into substantial reductions in public and personal healthcare costs. Future work should assess mediating mechanisms of intervention impact and cost-benefit ratio of the intervention. The Family Foundations follow-up intervention study is currently registered with www.clinicaltrials.gov . The study identifier is NCT01907412.

Models of breast cancer growth and investigations of adjuvant surgical oophorectomy.

PubMed

Love, Richard R; Niederhuber, John E

2004-09-01

Clinical observations of the natural history of breast cancer and its response to a variety of therapeutic interventions have contributed to changing concepts about the growth and metastatic spread of this disease. Increased attention has been given to tumor cell dormancy and the occurrence of greatly delayed metastatic disease development, which has been important to rethinking therapy. Although gene profiling of breast tumors recently has highlighted the importance of individual tumor characteristics in patients' prognosis, considerable data also support the concept of breast cancer as a problem of macro- and microenvironmental regulatory imbalance and dynamic chaos. Observations of unexpectedly large survival benefits from adjuvant surgical oophorectomy done in the luteal phase of the menstrual cycle in premenopausal women are consistent with an interpretation that extratumoral interactions in the host environment are important in prognosis. These observations also suggest that a treatment paradigm shift from an exclusive focus on cell kill and specific tumor cell molecular targets to one focused also on broad host regulatory control may be useful. Clinical trials and laboratory mechanistic investigations based on these data and observations can determine the potential impact of therapeutic interventions targeting host system macro and micro tumor cell environments.

Ecological Economics

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Common, Michael; Stagl, Sigrid

2005-10-01

Taking as its starting point the interdependence of the economy and the natural environment, this book provides a comprehensive introduction to the emerging field of ecological economics. The authors, who have written extensively on the economics of sustainability, build on insights from both mainstream economics and ecological sciences. Part I explores the interdependence of the modern economy and its environment, while Part II focuses mainly on the economy and on economics. Part III looks at how national governments set policy targets and the instruments used to pursue those targets. Part IV examines international trade and institutions, and two major global threats to sustainability - climate change and biodiversity loss. Assuming no prior knowledge of economics, this textbook is well suited for use on interdisciplinary environmental science and management courses. It has extensive student-friendly features including discussion questions and exercises, keyword highlighting, real-world illustrations, further reading and website addresses. A comprehensive introduction to a developing field which will interest students from science, economics and management backgrounds A global approach to the problems of sustainability and sustainable development, issues which are increasingly prominent in political debate and policy making Filled with student-friendly features including focus areas for each chapter, keyword highlighting, real-world illustrations, discussion questions and exercises, further reading and website addresses

Current Experimental Studies of Gene Therapy in Parkinson's Disease

PubMed Central

Lin, Jing-ya; Xie, Cheng-long; Zhang, Su-fang; Yuan, Weien; Liu, Zhen-Guo

2017-01-01

Parkinson's disease (PD) was characterized by late-onset, progressive dopamine neuron loss and movement disorders. The progresses of PD affected the neural function and integrity. To date, most researches had largely addressed the dopamine replacement therapies, but the appearance of L-dopa-induced dyskinesia hampered the use of the drug. And the mechanism of PD is so complicated that it's hard to solve the problem by just add drugs. Researchers began to focus on the genetic underpinnings of Parkinson's disease, searching for new method that may affect the neurodegeneration processes in it. In this paper, we reviewed current delivery methods used in gene therapies for PD, we also summarized the primary target of the gene therapy in the treatment of PD, such like neurotrophic factor (for regeneration), the synthesis of neurotransmitter (for prolong the duration of L-dopa), and the potential proteins that might be a target to modulate via gene therapy. Finally, we discussed RNA interference therapies used in Parkinson's disease, it might act as a new class of drug. We mainly focus on the efficiency and tooling features of different gene therapies in the treatment of PD. PMID:28515689

Glycosylation of dengue virus glycoproteins and their interactions with carbohydrate receptors: possible targets for antiviral therapy.

PubMed

Idris, Fakhriedzwan; Muharram, Siti Hanna; Diah, Suwarni

2016-07-01

Dengue virus, an RNA virus belonging to the genus Flavivirus, affects 50 million individuals annually, and approximately 500,000-1,000,000 of these infections lead to dengue hemorrhagic fever or dengue shock syndrome. With no licensed vaccine or specific antiviral treatments available to prevent dengue infection, dengue is considered a major public health problem in subtropical and tropical regions. The virus, like other enveloped viruses, uses the host's cellular enzymes to synthesize its structural (C, E, and prM/M) and nonstructural proteins (NS1-5) and, subsequently, to glycosylate these proteins to produce complete and functional glycoproteins. The structural glycoproteins, specifically the E protein, are known to interact with the host's carbohydrate receptors through the viral proteins' N-glycosylation sites and thus mediate the viral invasion of cells. This review focuses on the involvement of dengue glycoproteins in the course of infection and the virus' exploitation of the host's glycans, especially the interactions between host receptors and carbohydrate moieties. We also discuss the recent developments in antiviral therapies that target these processes and interactions, focusing specifically on the use of carbohydrate-binding agents derived from plants, commonly known as lectins, to inhibit the progression of infection.

Arylethynyl receptors for neutral molecules and anions: emerging applications in cellular imaging.

PubMed

Carroll, Calden N; Naleway, John J; Haley, Michael M; Johnson, Darren W

2010-10-01

This critical review will focus on the application of shape-persistent receptors for anions that derive their rigidity and optoelectronic properties from the inclusion of arylethynyl linkages. It will highlight a few of the design strategies involved in engineering selective and sensitive fluorescent probes and how arylacetylenes can offer a design pathway to some of the more desirable properties of a selective sensor. Additionally, knowledge gained in the study of these receptors in organic media often leads to improved receptor design and the production of chromogenic and fluorogenic probes capable of detecting specific substrates among the multitude of ions present in biological systems. In this ocean of potential targets exists a large number of geometrically distinct anions, which present their own problems to the design of receptors with complementary binding for each preferred coordination geometry. Our interest in targeting charged substrates, specifically how previous work on receptors for cations or neutral guests can be adapted to anions, will be addressed. Additionally, we will focus on the design and development of supramolecular arylethynyl systems, their shape-persistence and fluorogenic or chromogenic optoelectronic responses to complexation. We will also examine briefly how the "chemistry in the cuvet" translates into biological media (125 references).

Fluid Intelligence Predicts Novel Rule Implementation in a Distributed Frontoparietal Control Network.

PubMed

Tschentscher, Nadja; Mitchell, Daniel; Duncan, John

2017-05-03

Fluid intelligence has been associated with a distributed cognitive control or multiple-demand (MD) network, comprising regions of lateral frontal, insular, dorsomedial frontal, and parietal cortex. Human fluid intelligence is also intimately linked to task complexity, and the process of solving complex problems in a sequence of simpler, more focused parts. Here, a complex target detection task included multiple independent rules, applied one at a time in successive task epochs. Although only one rule was applied at a time, increasing task complexity (i.e., the number of rules) impaired performance in participants of lower fluid intelligence. Accompanying this loss of performance was reduced response to rule-critical events across the distributed MD network. The results link fluid intelligence and MD function to a process of attentional focus on the successive parts of complex behavior. SIGNIFICANCE STATEMENT Fluid intelligence is intimately linked to the ability to structure complex problems in a sequence of simpler, more focused parts. We examine the basis for this link in the functions of a distributed frontoparietal or multiple-demand (MD) network. With increased task complexity, participants of lower fluid intelligence showed reduced responses to task-critical events. Reduced responses in the MD system were accompanied by impaired behavioral performance. Low fluid intelligence is linked to poor foregrounding of task-critical information across a distributed MD system. Copyright © 2017 Tschentscher et al.

Planning and navigation as active inference.

PubMed

Kaplan, Raphael; Friston, Karl J

2018-03-23

This paper introduces an active inference formulation of planning and navigation. It illustrates how the exploitation-exploration dilemma is dissolved by acting to minimise uncertainty (i.e. expected surprise or free energy). We use simulations of a maze problem to illustrate how agents can solve quite complicated problems using context sensitive prior preferences to form subgoals. Our focus is on how epistemic behaviour-driven by novelty and the imperative to reduce uncertainty about the world-contextualises pragmatic or goal-directed behaviour. Using simulations, we illustrate the underlying process theory with synthetic behavioural and electrophysiological responses during exploration of a maze and subsequent navigation to a target location. An interesting phenomenon that emerged from the simulations was a putative distinction between 'place cells'-that fire when a subgoal is reached-and 'path cells'-that fire until a subgoal is reached.

Analogical Transfer by Spanish-English Bilinguals: Implications for Educational and Employment Settings

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Fukumine, Eri; Kennison, Shelia M.

2016-01-01

The present research investigated analogical transfer during problem solving by bilinguals. In a study with 50 Spanish-English bilinguals, participants solved a target problem whose solution was similar to that of a preceding source problem. The source problem was always presented in the 2nd language; the target problem was always presented in the…

An independent randomized clinical trial of multisystemic therapy with non-court-referred adolescents with serious conduct problems.

PubMed

Weiss, Bahr; Han, Susan; Harris, Vicki; Catron, Thomas; Ngo, Victoria K; Caron, Annalise; Gallop, Robert; Guth, Carol

2013-12-01

Adolescent conduct problems exact serious social as well as personal costs, and effective treatments are essential. One of the most widely disseminated and effective programs for the treatment of serious conduct problems in adolescents is Multisystemic Therapy (MST). However, most evaluations of MST have involved the developers of MST. The purpose of the present study was to conduct an independent evaluation of MST, with non-court-referred adolescents with conduct problems. Participants were 164 adolescents ages 11-18 years who were recruited from self-contained behavior intervention classrooms in public schools. Adolescents and their families were randomly assigned to receive MST or services as usual. Outcome measures assessed conduct problems, school functioning, and court records of criminal behavior. Participants were followed for 18 months after baseline using parent, adolescent, and teacher reports; arrest data were collected for 2.5 years postbaseline. Two of 4 primary outcome measures focused on externalizing problems showed significant treatment effects favoring MST. Several secondary and intervention targets pertaining to family functioning and parent psychopathology showed positive effects of MST, and no negative effects were identified. Results provide some further support for the effectiveness of MST, although smaller effect sizes than previous studies also suggest the complexity of successful dissemination, particularly to non-court-referred populations.

Knowledge focus via software agents

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Henager, Donald E.

2001-09-01

The essence of military Command and Control (C2) is making knowledge intensive decisions in a limited amount of time using uncertain, incorrect, or outdated information. It is essential to provide tools to decision-makers that provide: * Management of friendly forces by treating the "friendly resources as a system". * Rapid assessment of effects of military actions againt the "enemy as a system". * Assessment of how an enemy should, can, and could react to friendly military activities. Software agents in the form of mission agents, target agents, maintenance agents, and logistics agents can meet this information challenge. The role of each agent is to know all the details about its assigned mission, target, maintenance, or logistics entity. The Mission Agent would fight for mission resources based on the mission priority and analyze the effect that a proposed mission's results would have on the enemy. The Target Agent (TA) communicates with other targets to determine its role in the system of targets. A system of TAs would be able to inform a planner or analyst of the status of a system of targets, the effect of that status, adn the effect of attacks on that system. The system of TAs would also be able to analyze possible enemy reactions to attack by determining ways to minimize the effect of attack, such as rerouting traffic or using deception. The Maintenance Agent would scheudle maintenance events and notify the maintenance unit. The Logistics Agent would manage shipment and delivery of supplies to maintain appropriate levels of weapons, fuel and spare parts. The central idea underlying this case of software agents is knowledge focus. Software agents are createad automatically to focus their attention on individual real-world entities (e.g., missions, targets) and view the world from that entities perspective. The agent autonomously monitors the entity, identifies problems/opportunities, formulates solutions, and informs the decision-maker. The agent must be able to communicate to receive and disseminate information and provide the decision-maker with assistance via focused knowledge. THe agent must also be able to monitor the state of its own environment and make decisions necessary to carry out its delegated tasks. Agents bring three elements to the C2 domain that offer to improve decision-making. First, they provide higher-quality feedback and provide it more often. In doing so, the feedback loop becomes nearly continuous, reducing or eliminating delays in situation updates to decision-makers. Working with the most current information possible improves the control process, thus enabling effects based operations. Second, the agents accept delegation of actions and perform those actions following an established process. Agents' consistent actions reduce the variability of human input and stabilize the control process. Third, through the delegation of actions, agents ensure 100 percent consideration of plan details.

Problems in counting and paying for multidisciplinary outpatient clinics.

PubMed

Jackson, T; Sevil, P

1997-01-01

Policy-makers have always found it problematic to formulate fair and consistent counting rules for public hospital outpatient activities. In the context of output-based funding, such rules have consequences which can affect patient care. This paper reviews the rationale for organising multidisciplinary clinics and reports on a series of focus groups convened in four Melbourne teaching hospitals to consider funding policy for such clinics. It discusses issues of targeting outpatient services, along with implications for payment policy. It evaluates counting rules in terms of intended and unintended consequences in the context of Victoria's introduction of output-based funding for outpatient services.

Gesture Recognition for Educational Games: Magic Touch Math

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kye, Neo Wen; Mustapha, Aida; Azah Samsudin, Noor

2017-08-01

Children nowadays are having problem learning and understanding basic mathematical operations because they are not interested in studying or learning mathematics. This project proposes an educational game called Magic Touch Math that focuses on basic mathematical operations targeted to children between the age of three to five years old using gesture recognition to interact with the game. Magic Touch Math was developed in accordance to the Game Development Life Cycle (GDLC) methodology. The prototype developed has helped children to learn basic mathematical operations via intuitive gestures. It is hoped that the application is able to get the children motivated and interested in mathematics.

Advantages, Disadvantages, and Trend of Integrative Medicine in the Treatment of Heart Failure.

PubMed

Zhang, PeiYing

2015-06-01

Integrative medicine therapy using traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) combined with western medicine has shown some advantages in treating heart failure (HF), such as holistic concept; multi-target treatment; dialectical logic; personalized therapy; formulae compatibility; and reduction of side effects of western medicine. However, problems still exist in TCM treatment of HF, including non-uniformed categorization of TCM, lack of standardized syndrome differentiation and lack of an evidence base. The future of treatment of HF seems to be focused on reversing ventricular remodeling, improving cardiac rehabilitation, and accelerating experimental research and drug discovery in TCM.

Evaluate depth of field limits of fixed focus lens arrangements in thermal infrared

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Schuster, Norbert

2016-05-01

More and more modern thermal imaging systems use uncooled detectors. High volume applications work with detectors that have a reduced pixel count (typically between 200x150 and 640x480). This reduces the usefulness of modern image treatment procedures such as wave front coding. On the other hand, uncooled detectors demand lenses with fast fnumbers, near f/1.0, which reduces the expected Depth of Field (DoF). What are the limits on resolution if the target changes distance to the camera system? The desire to implement lens arrangements without a focusing mechanism demands a deeper quantification of the DoF problem. A new approach avoids the classic "accepted image blur circle" and quantifies the expected DoF by the Through Focus MTF of the lens. This function is defined for a certain spatial frequency that provides a straightforward relation to the pixel pitch of imaging device. A certain minimum MTF-level is necessary so that the complete thermal imaging system can realize its basic functions, such as recognition or detection of specified targets. Very often, this technical tradeoff is approved with a certain lens. But what is the impact of changing the lens for one with a different focal length? Narrow field lenses, which give more details of targets in longer distances, tighten the DoF problem. A first orientation is given by the hyperfocal distance. It depends in a square relation on the focal length and in a linear relation on the through focus MTF of the lens. The analysis of these relations shows the contradicting requirements between higher thermal and spatial resolution, faster f-number and desired DoF. Furthermore, the hyperfocal distance defines the DoF-borders. Their relation between is such as the first order imaging formulas. A calculation methodology will be presented to transfer DoF-results from an approved combination lens and camera to another lens in combination with the initial camera. Necessary input for this prediction is the accepted DoF of the initial combination and the through focus MTFs of both lenses. The accepted DoF of the initial combination defines an application and camera related MTF-level, which must be provided also by the new lens. Examples are provided. The formula of the Diffraction-Limited-Through-Focus-MTF (DLTF) quantifies the physical limit and works without any ray trace. This relation respects the pixel pitch, the waveband and the aperture based f-number, but is independent of detector size. The DLTF has a steeper slope than the ray traced Through-Focus-MTF; its maximum is the diffraction limit. The DLTF predicts the DoF-relations quite precisely. Differences to ray trace results are discussed. Last calculations with modern detectors show that a static chosen MTF-level doesn't reflect the reality for the DoFproblem. The MTF-level to respect depends on application, pixel pitch, IR-camera and image treatment. A value of 0.250 at the detector Nyquist frequency seems to be a reasonable starting point for uncooled FPAs with 17μm pixel pitch.

CASL L1 Milestone report : CASL.P4.01, sensitivity and uncertainty analysis for CIPS with VIPRE-W and BOA.

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

Sung, Yixing; Adams, Brian M.; Secker, Jeffrey R.

2011-12-01

The CASL Level 1 Milestone CASL.P4.01, successfully completed in December 2011, aimed to 'conduct, using methodologies integrated into VERA, a detailed sensitivity analysis and uncertainty quantification of a crud-relevant problem with baseline VERA capabilities (ANC/VIPRE-W/BOA).' The VUQ focus area led this effort, in partnership with AMA, and with support from VRI. DAKOTA was coupled to existing VIPRE-W thermal-hydraulics and BOA crud/boron deposit simulations representing a pressurized water reactor (PWR) that previously experienced crud-induced power shift (CIPS). This work supports understanding of CIPS by exploring the sensitivity and uncertainty in BOA outputs with respect to uncertain operating and model parameters. Thismore » report summarizes work coupling the software tools, characterizing uncertainties, and analyzing the results of iterative sensitivity and uncertainty studies. These studies focused on sensitivity and uncertainty of CIPS indicators calculated by the current version of the BOA code used in the industry. Challenges with this kind of analysis are identified to inform follow-on research goals and VERA development targeting crud-related challenge problems.« less

Integrating Qualitative and Quantitative Methods in Participatory Modeling to Elicit Behavioral Drivers in Environmental Dilemmas: the Case of Air Pollution in Talca, Chile.

PubMed

Meinherz, Franziska; Videira, Nuno

2018-04-10

The aim of this paper is to contribute to the exploration of environmental modeling methods based on the elicitation of stakeholders' mental models. This aim is motivated by the necessity to understand the dilemmas and behavioral rationales of individuals for supporting the management of environmental problems. The methodology developed for this paper integrates qualitative and quantitative methods by deploying focus groups for the elicitation of the behavioral rationales of the target population, and grounded theory to code the information gained in the focus groups and to guide the development of a dynamic simulation model. The approach is applied to a case of urban air pollution caused by residential heating with wood in central Chile. The results show how the households' behavior interrelates with the governmental management strategies and provide valuable and novel insights into potential challenges to the implementation of policies to manage the local air pollution problem. The experience further shows that the developed participatory modeling approach allows to overcome some of the issues currently encountered in the elicitation of individuals' behavioral rationales and in the quantification of qualitative information.

Evaluation of the Hanford 200 West Groundwater Treatment System: Fluidized Bed Bioreactor

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

Looney, Brian B.; Jackson, Dennis G.; Dickson, John O.

A fluidized bed reactor (FBR) in the 200W water treatment facility at Hanford is removing nitrate from groundwater as part of the overall pump-treat-reinject process. Control of the FBR bed solids has proven challenging, impacting equipment, increasing operations and maintenance (O&M), and limiting the throughput of the facility. In response to the operational challenges, the Department of Energy Richland Office (DOE-RL) commissioned a technical assistance team to facilitate a system engineering evaluation and provide focused support recommendations to the Hanford Team. The DOE Environmental Management (EM) technical assistance process is structured to identify and triage technologies and strategies that addressmore » the target problem(s). The process encourages brainstorming and dialog and allows rapid identification and prioritization of possible options. Recognizing that continuous operation of a large-scale FBR is complex, requiring careful attention to system monitoring data and changing conditions, the technical assistance process focused on explicit identification of the available control parameters (“knobs”), how these parameters interact and impact the FBR system, and how these can be adjusted under different scenarios to achieve operational goals. The technical assistance triage process was performed in collaboration with the Hanford team.« less

Treatment effectiveness of PMTO for children's behavior problems in Iceland: assessing parenting practices in a randomized controlled trial.

PubMed

Sigmarsdóttir, Margrét; Degarmo, David S; Forgatch, Marion S; Guðmundsdóttir, Edda Vikar

2013-12-01

Findings are presented from an Icelandic randomized control trial (RCT) evaluating parent management training - Oregon model (PMTO™), a parent training intervention designed to improve parenting practices and reduce child behavior problems. In a prior report from this effectiveness study that focused on child outcomes, children in the PMTO condition showed greater reductions in reported child adjustment problems relative to the comparison group. The present report focuses on observed parenting practices as the targeted outcome, with risk by treatment moderators also tested. It was hypothesized that mothers assigned to the PMTO condition would show greater gains in pre-post parenting practices relative to controls. The sample was recruited from five municipalities throughout Iceland and included 102 participating families of children with behavior problems. Cases were referred by community professionals and randomly assigned to either PMTO (n = 51) or community services usually offered (n = 51). Child age ranged from 5 to 12 years; 73% were boys. Contrary to expectations, findings showed no main effects for changes in maternal parenting. However, evaluation of risk by treatment moderators showed greater gains in parenting practices for mothers who increased in depressed mood within the PMTO group relative to their counterparts in the comparison group. This finding suggests that PMTO prevented the expected damaging effects of depression on maternal parenting. Failure to find hypothesized main effects may indicate that there were some unobserved factors regarding the measurement and a need to further adapt the global observational procedures to Icelandic culture. © 2013 The Scandinavian Psychological Associations.

Preventing mental health problems in children: the Families in Mind population-based cluster randomised controlled trial

PubMed Central

2012-01-01

Background Externalising and internalising problems affect one in seven school-aged children and are the single strongest predictor of mental health problems into early adolescence. As the burden of mental health problems persists globally, childhood prevention of mental health problems is paramount. Prevention can be offered to all children (universal) or to children at risk of developing mental health problems (targeted). The relative effectiveness and costs of a targeted only versus combined universal and targeted approach are unknown. This study aims to determine the effectiveness, costs and uptake of two approaches to early childhood prevention of mental health problems ie: a Combined universal-targeted approach, versus a Targeted only approach, in comparison to current primary care services (Usual care). Methods/design Three armed, population-level cluster randomised trial (2010–2014) within the universal, well child Maternal Child Health system, attended by more than 80% of families in Victoria, Australia at infant age eight months. Participants were families of eight month old children from nine participating local government areas. Randomised to one of three groups: Combined, Targeted or Usual care. The interventions comprises (a) the Combined universal and targeted program where all families are offered the universal Toddlers Without Tears group parenting program followed by the targeted Family Check-Up one-on-one program or (b) the Targeted Family Check-Up program. The Family Check-Up program is only offered to children at risk of behavioural problems. Participants will be analysed according to the trial arm to which they were randomised, using logistic and linear regression models to compare primary and secondary outcomes. An economic evaluation (cost consequences analysis) will compare incremental costs to all incremental outcomes from a societal perspective. Discussion This trial will inform public health policy by making recommendations about the effectiveness and cost-effectiveness of these early prevention programs. If effective prevention programs can be implemented at the population level, the growing burden of mental health problems could be curbed. Trial registration ISRCTN61137690 PMID:22682229

Backscattering of sound from targets in an Airy caustic formed by a curved reflecting surface

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Dzikowicz, Benjamin Robert

The focusing of a caustic associated with the reflection of a locally curved sea floor or surface affects the scattering of sound by underwater targets. The most elementary caustic formed when sound reflects off a naturally curved surface is an Airy caustic. The case of a spherical target is examined here. With a point source acting also as a receiver, a point target lying in a shadow region returns only one echo directly from the target. When the target is on the Airy caustic, there are two echoes: one path is directly to the target and the other focuses off the curved surface. Echoes may be focused in both directions, the doubly focused case being the largest and the latest echo. With the target in the lit region, these different paths produce multiple echoes. For a finite sized sphere near an Airy caustic, all these echoes are manifest, but they occur at shifted target positions. Echoes of tone bursts reflecting only once overlap and interfere with each other, as do those reflecting twice. Catastrophe theory is used to analyze the echo amplitudes arising from these overlaps. The echo pressure for single reflections is shown to have a dependence on target position described by an Airy function for both a point and a finite target. With double focusing, this dependence is the square of an Airy function for a point target. With a finite sized target, (as in the experiment) this becomes a hyperbolic umbilic catastrophe integral with symmetric arguments. The arguments of each of these functions are derived from only the relative echo times of a transient pulse. Transient echo times are calculated using a numerical ray finding technique. Experiment confirms the predicted merging of transient echoes in the time domain, as well as the Airy and hyperbolic umbilic diffraction integral amplitudes for a tone burst. This method allows targets to be observed at greater distances in the presence of a focusing surface.

Using the Solving Problems Together Psychoeducational Group Counseling Model as an Intervention for Negative Peer Pressure

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hall, Kimberly R.; Rushing, Jeri Lynn; Khurshid, Ayesha

2011-01-01

Problem-focused interventions are considered to be one of the most effective group counseling strategies with adolescents. This article describes a problem-focused group counseling model, Solving Problems Together (SPT), that focuses on working with students who struggle with negative peer pressure. Adapted from the teaching philosophy of…

The Holistic Targeting (HOT) Methodology as the Means to Improve Information Operations (IO) Target Development and Prioritization

DTIC Science & Technology

2008-09-01

software facilitate targeting problem understanding and the network analysis tool, Palantir , as an efficient and tailored semi-automated means to...the use of compendium software facilitate targeting problem understanding and the network analysis tool, Palantir , as an efficient and tailored semi...OBJECTIVES USING COMPENDIUM SOFTWARE .....63 E. HOT TARGET PRIORITIZATION AND DEVELOPMENT USING PALANTIR SOFTWARE .................................69 1

Value-Based Medicine and Integration of Tumor Biology.

PubMed

Brooks, Gabriel A; Bosserman, Linda D; Mambetsariev, Isa; Salgia, Ravi

2017-01-01

Clinical oncology is in the midst of a genomic revolution, as molecular insights redefine our understanding of cancer biology. Greater awareness of the distinct aberrations that drive carcinogenesis is also contributing to a growing armamentarium of genomically targeted therapies. Although much work remains to better understand how to combine and sequence these therapies, improved outcomes for patients are becoming manifest. As we welcome this genomic revolution in cancer care, oncologists also must grapple with a number of practical problems. Costs of cancer care continue to grow, with targeted therapies responsible for an increasing proportion of spending. Rising costs are bringing the concept of value into sharper focus and challenging the oncology community with implementation of value-based cancer care. This article explores the ways that the genomic revolution is transforming cancer care, describes various frameworks for considering the value of genomically targeted therapies, and outlines key challenges for delivering on the promise of personalized cancer care. It highlights practical solutions for the implementation of value-based care, including investment in biomarker development and clinical trials to improve the efficacy of targeted therapy, the use of evidence-based clinical pathways, team-based care, computerized clinical decision support, and value-based payment approaches.

A SYSTEMATIC REVIEW OF INTERVENTIONS TARGETING PATERNAL MENTAL HEALTH IN THE PERINATAL PERIOD.

PubMed

Rominov, Holly; Pilkington, Pamela D; Giallo, Rebecca; Whelan, Thomas A

2016-05-01

Interventions targeting parents' mental health in the perinatal period are critical due to potential consequences of perinatal mental illness for the parent, the infant, and their family. To date, most programs have targeted mothers. This systematic review explores the current status and evidence for intervention programs aiming to prevent or treat paternal mental illness in the perinatal period. Electronic databases were systematically searched to identify peer-reviewed studies that described an intervention targeting fathers' mental health in the perinatal period. Mental health outcomes included depression, anxiety, and stress as well as more general measures of psychological functioning. Eleven studies were identified. Three of five psychosocial interventions and three massage-technique interventions reported significant effects. None of the couple-based interventions reported significant effects. A number of methodological limitations were identified, including inadequate reporting of study designs, and issues with the timing of interventions. The variability in outcomes measures across the studies made it difficult to evaluate the overall effectiveness of the interventions. Father-focused interventions aimed at preventing perinatal mood problems will be improved if future studies utilize more rigorous research strategies. © 2016 Michigan Association for Infant Mental Health.

More than meets the eye: the role of language in binding and maintaining feature conjunctions.

PubMed

Dessalegn, Banchiamlack; Landau, Barbara

2008-02-01

We investigated the effects of language on vision by focusing on a well-known problem: the binding and maintenance of color-location conjunctions. Four-year-olds performed a task in which they saw a target (e.g., a split square, red on the left and green on the right) followed by a brief delay and then were asked to find the target in an array including the target, its reflection (e.g., red on the right and green on the left), and a square with a different geometric split. Errors were overwhelmingly reflections. This finding shows that the children failed to maintain color-location conjunctions. Performance improved when targets were accompanied by sentences specifying color and direction (e.g., "the red is on the left"), but not when the conjunction was highlighted using a nonlinguistic cue (e.g., flashing, pointing, changes in size), nor when sentences specified a nondirectional relationship (e.g., "the red is touching the green"). The relation between children's matching performance and their long-term knowledge of directional terms suggests two distinct mechanisms by which language can temporarily bridge delays, providing more stable representations.

A signature correlation study of ground target VHF/UHF ISAR imagery

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gatesman, Andrew J.; Beaudoin, Christopher J.; Giles, Robert H.; Kersey, William T.; Waldman, Jerry; Carter, Steve; Nixon, William E.

2003-09-01

VV and HH-polarized radar signatures of several ground targets were acquired in the VHF/UHF band (171-342 MHz) by using 1/35th scale models and an indoor radar range operating from 6 to 12 GHz. Data were processed into medianized radar cross sections as well as focused, ISAR imagery. Measurement validation was confirmed by comparing the radar cross section of a test object with a method of moments radar cross section prediction code. The signatures of several vehicles from three vehicle classes (tanks, trunks, and TELs) were measured and a signature cross-correlation study was performed. The VHF/UHF band is currently being exploited for its foliage penetration ability, however, the coarse image resolution which results from the relatively long radar wavelengths suggests a more challenging target recognition problem. One of the study's goals was to determine the amount of unique signature content in VHF/UHF ISAR imagery of military ground vehicles. Open-field signatures are compared with each other as well as with simplified shapes of similar size. Signatures were also acquired on one vehicle in a variety of configurations to determine the impact of monitor target variations on the signature content at these frequencies.

An optical fiber guided ultrasonic excitation and sensing system for online monitoring of nuclear power plants

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Yang, J.; Lee, H.; Sohn, H.

2012-05-01

This study presents an embedded laser ultrasonic system for pipeline monitoring under high temperature environment. Recently, laser ultrasonics is becoming popular because of their advantageous characteristics such as (a) noncontact inspection, (b) immunity against electromagnetic interference (EMI), and (c) applicability under high temperature. However, the performance of conventional laser ultrasonic techniques for pipeline monitoring has been limited because many pipelines are covered by insulating materials and target surfaces are inaccessible. To overcome the problem, this study designs an embeddable optical fibers and fixing devices that deliver laser beams from laser sources to a target pipe using embedded optical fibers. For guided wave generation, an optical fiber is furnished with a beam collimator for irradiating a laser beam onto a target structure. The corresponding response is measured based on the principle of laser interferometry. Light from a monochromatic source is colliminated and delivered to a target surface by another optical with a focusing module, and reflected light is transmitted back to the interferometer through the same fiber. The feasibility of the proposed system for embedded ultrasonic measurement has been experimentally verified using a pipe specimen under high temperature.

Optimal Control of Hybrid Systems in Air Traffic Applications

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kamgarpour, Maryam

Growing concerns over the scalability of air traffic operations, air transportation fuel emissions and prices, as well as the advent of communication and sensing technologies motivate improvements to the air traffic management system. To address such improvements, in this thesis a hybrid dynamical model as an abstraction of the air traffic system is considered. Wind and hazardous weather impacts are included using a stochastic model. This thesis focuses on the design of algorithms for verification and control of hybrid and stochastic dynamical systems and the application of these algorithms to air traffic management problems. In the deterministic setting, a numerically efficient algorithm for optimal control of hybrid systems is proposed based on extensions of classical optimal control techniques. This algorithm is applied to optimize the trajectory of an Airbus 320 aircraft in the presence of wind and storms. In the stochastic setting, the verification problem of reaching a target set while avoiding obstacles (reach-avoid) is formulated as a two-player game to account for external agents' influence on system dynamics. The solution approach is applied to air traffic conflict prediction in the presence of stochastic wind. Due to the uncertainty in forecasts of the hazardous weather, and hence the unsafe regions of airspace for aircraft flight, the reach-avoid framework is extended to account for stochastic target and safe sets. This methodology is used to maximize the probability of the safety of aircraft paths through hazardous weather. Finally, the problem of modeling and optimization of arrival air traffic and runway configuration in dense airspace subject to stochastic weather data is addressed. This problem is formulated as a hybrid optimal control problem and is solved with a hierarchical approach that decouples safety and performance. As illustrated with this problem, the large scale of air traffic operations motivates future work on the efficient implementation of the proposed algorithms.

Increase in velocimeter depth of focus through astigmatism. Revision 1

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

Erskine, D.J.

1995-09-26

Frequently, velocimeter targets are illuminated by a laser beam passing through a hole in a mirror. This mirror is responsible for diverting returning light from a target lens to a velocity interferometer system for any reflector (VISAR). This mirror is often a significant distance from the target lens. Consequently, at certain target focus positions the returning light is strongly vignetted by the hole, causing a loss of signal. The authors find that they can prevent loss of signal and greatly increase the useful depth of focus by attaching a cylindrical lens to the target lens.

Drug targets for resistant malaria: Historic to future perspectives.

PubMed

Kumar, Sahil; Bhardwaj, T R; Prasad, D N; Singh, Rajesh K

2018-05-11

New antimalarial targets are the prime need for the discovery of potent drug candidates. In order to fulfill this objective, antimalarial drug researches are focusing on promising targets in order to develop new drug candidates. Basic metabolism and biochemical process in the malaria parasite, i.e. Plasmodium falciparum can play an indispensable role in the identification of these targets. But, the emergence of resistance to antimalarial drugs is an escalating comprehensive problem with the progress of antimalarial drug development. The development of resistance has highlighted the need for the search of novel antimalarial molecules. The pharmaceutical industries are committed to new drug development due to the global recognition of this life threatening resistance to the currently available antimalarial therapy. The recent developments in the understanding of parasite biology are exhilarating this resistance issue which is further being ignited by malaria genome project. With this background of information, this review was aimed to highlights and provides useful information on various present and promising treatment approaches for resistant malaria, new progresses, pursued by some innovative targets that have been explored till date. This review also discusses modern and futuristic multiple approaches to antimalarial drug discovery and development with pictorial presentations highlighting the various targets, that could be exploited for generating promising new drugs in the future for drug resistant malaria. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Masson SAS. All rights reserved.

Using social marketing principles to guide the development of a nutrition education initiative for preschool-aged children.

PubMed

Young, Laura; Anderson, Jennifer; Beckstrom, Leslie; Bellows, Laura; Johnson, Susan L

2004-01-01

Within the field of nutrition education, social marketing has become a promising framework to systematically approach problems related to nutrition behavior. In 1997, the Colorado Nutrition Network began developing a social marketing campaign to promote healthful food choices among low-income Coloradans. A multifaceted formative evaluation plan that included focus groups, campaign concept pretesting, and a food frequency questionnaire was used to segment and scrutinize the target audience. The resulting pilot program was a blend of educational and marketing strategies targeting preschoolers that was implemented in Head Start classrooms. The 12-week intervention contained a narrow, behavior-based "try new foods" message, multiple nutrition education activities, and repeated opportunities to taste 13 novel foods. Key strategies used and findings from the formative evaluation process are presented herein in an effort to provide insight for nutrition educators interested in developing similar interventions.

Progress and future opportunities in the development of vaccines against atherosclerosis.

PubMed

Govea-Alonso, Dania O; Beltrán-López, Josué; Salazar-González, Jorge A; Vargas-Morales, Juan; Rosales-Mendoza, Sergio

2017-04-01

Atherosclerosis represents a serious global health problem that demands new therapeutic and prophylactic interventions. Considering that atherosclerosis has autoimmune and inflammatory components, immunotherapy is a possible focus to treat this disease. Areas covered: Based on the analysis of the current biomedical literature, this review describes the status on the development of vaccines against atherosclerosis. Several targets have been identified including sequences of apolipoprotein B100 (ApoB100), cholesteryl ester transfer protein (CETP), heat shock proteins (HSP), extracellular matrix proteins, T cell receptor β chain variable region 31 (TRBV31), the major outer membrane protein (MOMP), and the outer membrane protein 5 (Pomp5) from Chlamydia pneumoniae. Humoral and cellular immunities to these targets have been associated with therapeutic effects in murine models and humans. The evaluation of some candidates in clinical trials is ongoing. Expert commentary: New research paths based on the use of next generation vaccine production platforms are envisioned.

Comparative study of radiation emission without and with target in a 2.2 kJ plasma focus device

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Khan, Muhammad Zubair; Ling, Yap Seong; San, Wong Chiow

2014-03-01

The radiation emission in a 2.2 kJ Mather-type dense plasma focus device is investigated using a five channel BPX65 PIN diode spectrometer. Estimated X-ray associated with the hollow anode without and with target in Argon gas medium is compared. At optimum conditions, the radiation emission from the system is found to be strongly influenced with target in hollow anode and the filling gas pressure. The maximum X-ray yield in 4π sr was obtained in case of hollow anode in argon gas medium with target "Lead" due to interaction of electron beam. Results indicated that an appropriate design of hollow anode with target could enhance the radiation emission by more intense interaction of expected electron beam with target. The outcomes are helpful in designing a plasma focus with enhanced X-ray radiation with improved shot to shot reproducibility in plasma focus device.

Direct-drive inertial confinement fusion: A review

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Craxton, R. S.; Anderson, K. S.; Boehly, T. R.; Goncharov, V. N.; Harding, D. R.; Knauer, J. P.; McCrory, R. L.; McKenty, P. W.; Meyerhofer, D. D.; Myatt, J. F.; Schmitt, A. J.; Sethian, J. D.; Short, R. W.; Skupsky, S.; Theobald, W.; Kruer, W. L.; Tanaka, K.; Betti, R.; Collins, T. J. B.; Delettrez, J. A.; Hu, S. X.; Marozas, J. A.; Maximov, A. V.; Michel, D. T.; Radha, P. B.; Regan, S. P.; Sangster, T. C.; Seka, W.; Solodov, A. A.; Soures, J. M.; Stoeckl, C.; Zuegel, J. D.

2015-11-01

The direct-drive, laser-based approach to inertial confinement fusion (ICF) is reviewed from its inception following the demonstration of the first laser to its implementation on the present generation of high-power lasers. The review focuses on the evolution of scientific understanding gained from target-physics experiments in many areas, identifying problems that were demonstrated and the solutions implemented. The review starts with the basic understanding of laser-plasma interactions that was obtained before the declassification of laser-induced compression in the early 1970s and continues with the compression experiments using infrared lasers in the late 1970s that produced thermonuclear neutrons. The problem of suprathermal electrons and the target preheat that they caused, associated with the infrared laser wavelength, led to lasers being built after 1980 to operate at shorter wavelengths, especially 0.35 μm—the third harmonic of the Nd:glass laser—and 0.248 μm (the KrF gas laser). The main physics areas relevant to direct drive are reviewed. The primary absorption mechanism at short wavelengths is classical inverse bremsstrahlung. Nonuniformities imprinted on the target by laser irradiation have been addressed by the development of a number of beam-smoothing techniques and imprint-mitigation strategies. The effects of hydrodynamic instabilities are mitigated by a combination of imprint reduction and target designs that minimize the instability growth rates. Several coronal plasma physics processes are reviewed. The two-plasmon-decay instability, stimulated Brillouin scattering (together with cross-beam energy transfer), and (possibly) stimulated Raman scattering are identified as potential concerns, placing constraints on the laser intensities used in target designs, while other processes (self-focusing and filamentation, the parametric decay instability, and magnetic fields), once considered important, are now of lesser concern for mainline direct-drive target concepts. Filamentation is largely suppressed by beam smoothing. Thermal transport modeling, important to the interpretation of experiments and to target design, has been found to be nonlocal in nature. Advances in shock timing and equation-of-state measurements relevant to direct-drive ICF are reported. Room-temperature implosions have provided an increased understanding of the importance of stability and uniformity. The evolution of cryogenic implosion capabilities, leading to an extensive series carried out on the 60-beam OMEGA laser [Boehly et al., Opt. Commun. 133, 495 (1997)], is reviewed together with major advances in cryogenic target formation. A polar-drive concept has been developed that will enable direct-drive-ignition experiments to be performed on the National Ignition Facility [Haynam et al., Appl. Opt. 46(16), 3276 (2007)]. The advantages offered by the alternative approaches of fast ignition and shock ignition and the issues associated with these concepts are described. The lessons learned from target-physics and implosion experiments are taken into account in ignition and high-gain target designs for laser wavelengths of 1/3 μm and 1/4 μm. Substantial advances in direct-drive inertial fusion reactor concepts are reviewed. Overall, the progress in scientific understanding over the past five decades has been enormous, to the point that inertial fusion energy using direct drive shows significant promise as a future environmentally attractive energy source.

Development and evaluation of targeted psychological skills training for oncology nurses in managing stressful patient and family encounters.

PubMed

Traeger, Lara; Park, Elyse R; Sporn, Nora; Repper-DeLisi, Jennifer; Convery, Mary Susan; Jacobo, Michelle; Pirl, William F

2013-07-01

To reduce workplace stress by developing a brief psychological skills training for nurses and to evaluate program feasibility, acceptability, and preliminary efficacy in decreasing burnout and stress. Intervention development and evaluation. Outpatient chemotherapy unit at a comprehensive cancer center. 26 infusion nurses and oncology social workers. Focus groups were conducted with nurses. Results informed the development and evaluation of training for nurses. Participants completed the Maslach Burnout Inventory and Perceived Stress Scale post-training. Burnout and stress. Focus groups indicated strong commitment among nurses to psychosocial care and supported the idea that relationships with patients and families were sources of reward and stress. Stressors included factors that interfered with psychosocial care such as difficult family dynamics, patient behaviors and end-of-life care issues. Psychological skills training was developed to address these stressors. Evaluations suggested that the program was feasible and acceptable to nurses. At two months, participants showed reductions in emotional exhaustion (p = 0.02) and stress (p = 0.04). Psychological skills training for managing difficult encounters showed feasibility, acceptability, and potential benefit in reducing emotional exhaustion and stress. Brief training that targets sources of clinical stress may be useful for nurses in outpatient chemotherapy units. Specific stressors in relationships with patients and families present challenges to nurses' therapeutic use of self. Targeted psychological skills training may help nurses problem-solve difficult encounters while taking care of themselves. System-level strategies are needed to support and promote training participation.

The burden of lung cancer in Latin-America and challenges in the access to genomic profiling, immunotherapy and targeted treatments.

PubMed

Raez, Luis E; Cardona, Andrés F; Santos, Edgardo S; Catoe, Heath; Rolfo, Christian; Lopes, Gilberto; Barrios, Carlos; Mas, Luis A; Vallejos, Carlos; Zatarain-Barrón, Zyanya Lucia; Caglevic, Christian; Arrieta, Oscar

2018-05-01

Lung cancer is a public health problem worldwide and Latin America (LATAM) cannot escape this reality. This malignant disease has not only a high prevalence in the region, but is also the main cause of cancer related deaths, and in other emerging countries, the incidence rates are still on the rise. Interestingly in most LATAM countries, lung cancer mortality has been decreasing in men but not in women, reflecting smoking patterns in countries such as Chile, Bolivia, and Brazil. Despite the fact that these issues are well known to government agencies, physicians and patients in the region, current efforts still fall behind those needed in order to face this problem of epidemic proportions. Tobacco control and smoking cessation are the most important interventions against lung cancer, but even with their optimal implementation (which is far from reality at this time) the number of cases in the foreseeable future would still be significant. Beyond tobacco control, advances in our understanding of the molecular component of lung cancer have resulted in new targeted therapies and immune check point inhibitors, which have improved clinical outcomes but at a considerably higher financial cost. LATAM has not widely and speedily adopted these strategies, including new technology and approved novel drugs, due to a number of facts, and therefore only a dismal proportion of LATAḾs patient population have benefited from these new advances. A keen focus on a heterogeneous education system for caregivers in lung cancer treatment would likely help standardize care and improve future potential gains from domestic research. In this review we discuss the challenges of treatment implementation, focusing on new technologies. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Where’s Waldo? How perceptual, cognitive, and emotional brain processes cooperate during learning to categorize and find desired objects in a cluttered scene

PubMed Central

Chang, Hung-Cheng; Grossberg, Stephen; Cao, Yongqiang

2014-01-01

The Where’s Waldo problem concerns how individuals can rapidly learn to search a scene to detect, attend, recognize, and look at a valued target object in it. This article develops the ARTSCAN Search neural model to clarify how brain mechanisms across the What and Where cortical streams are coordinated to solve the Where’s Waldo problem. The What stream learns positionally-invariant object representations, whereas the Where stream controls positionally-selective spatial and action representations. The model overcomes deficiencies of these computationally complementary properties through What and Where stream interactions. Where stream processes of spatial attention and predictive eye movement control modulate What stream processes whereby multiple view- and positionally-specific object categories are learned and associatively linked to view- and positionally-invariant object categories through bottom-up and attentive top-down interactions. Gain fields control the coordinate transformations that enable spatial attention and predictive eye movements to carry out this role. What stream cognitive-emotional learning processes enable the focusing of motivated attention upon the invariant object categories of desired objects. What stream cognitive names or motivational drives can prime a view- and positionally-invariant object category of a desired target object. A volitional signal can convert these primes into top-down activations that can, in turn, prime What stream view- and positionally-specific categories. When it also receives bottom-up activation from a target, such a positionally-specific category can cause an attentional shift in the Where stream to the positional representation of the target, and an eye movement can then be elicited to foveate it. These processes describe interactions among brain regions that include visual cortex, parietal cortex, inferotemporal cortex, prefrontal cortex (PFC), amygdala, basal ganglia (BG), and superior colliculus (SC). PMID:24987339

Modes of targets in water excited and identified using radiation pressure of modulated focused ultrasound

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Daniel, Timothy; Fortuner, Auberry; Abawi, Ahmad; Kirsteins, Ivars; Marston, Philip

2016-11-01

The modulated radiation pressure (MRP) of ultrasound has been widely used to selectively excite low frequency modes of fluid objects. We previously used MRP to excite less compliant metallic object in water including the low frequency modes of a circular metal plate in water. A larger focused ultrasonic transducer allows us to drive modes of larger more-realistic targets. In our experiments solid targets are suspended by strings or supported on sand and the modulated ultrasound is focused on the target's surface. Target sound emissions were recorded and a laser vibrometer was used to measure the surface velocity of the target to give the magnitude of the target response. The source transducer was driven with a doublesideband suppressed carrier voltage as in. By varying the modulation frequency and monitoring target response, resonant frequencies can be measured and compared to finite element models. We also demonstrate the radiation torque of a focused first-order acoustic vortex beam associated with power absorption in the Stokes layer adjacent to a sphere. Funded by ONR.

Novel Cyclotron-Based Radiometal Production

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

DeGrado, Timothy R.

2013-10-31

Accomplishments: (1) Construction of prototype solution target for radiometal production; (2) Testing of prototype target for production of following isotopes: a. Zr-89. Investigation of Zr-89 production from Y-89 nitrate solution. i. Defined problems of gas evolution and salt precipitation. ii. Solved problem of precipitation by addition of nitric acid. iii. Solved gas evolution problem with addition of backpressure regulator and constant degassing of target during irradiations. iv. Investigated effects of Y-89 nitrate concentration and beam current. v. Published abstracts at SNM and ISRS meetings; (3) Design of 2nd generation radiometal solution target. a. Included reflux chamber and smaller target volumemore » to conserve precious target materials. b. Included aluminum for prototype and tantalum for working model. c. Included greater varicosities for improved heat transfer; and, (4) Construction of 2nd generation radiometal solution target started.« less

Assessment of knowledge transfer in the context of biomechanics

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hutchison, Randolph E.

The dynamic act of knowledge transfer, or the connection of a student's prior knowledge to features of a new problem, could be considered one of the primary goals of education. Yet studies highlight more instances of failure than success. This dissertation focuses on how knowledge transfer takes place during individual problem solving, in classroom settings and during group work. Through the lens of dynamic transfer, or how students connect prior knowledge to problem features, this qualitative study focuses on a methodology to assess transfer in the context of biomechanics. The first phase of this work investigates how a pedagogical technique based on situated cognition theory affects students' ability to transfer knowledge gained in a biomechanics class to later experiences both in and out of the classroom. A post-class focus group examined events the students remembered from the class, what they learned from them, and how they connected them to later relevant experiences inside and outside the classroom. These results were triangulated with conceptual gains evaluated through concept inventories and pre- and post- content tests. Based on these results, the next two phases of the project take a more in-depth look at dynamic knowledge transfer during independent problem-solving and group project interactions, respectively. By categorizing prior knowledge (Source Tools), problem features (Target Tools) and the connections between them, results from the second phase of this study showed that within individual problem solving, source tools were almost exclusively derived from "propagated sources," i.e. those based on an authoritative source. This differs from findings in the third phase of the project, in which a mixture of "propagated" sources and "fabricated" sources, i.e. those based on student experiences, were identified within the group project work. This methodology is effective at assessing knowledge transfer in the context of biomechanics through evidence of the ability to identify differing patterns of how different students apply prior knowledge and make new connections between prior knowledge and current problem features in different learning situations. Implications for the use of this methodology include providing insight into not only students' prior knowledge, but also how they connect this prior knowledge to problem features (i.e. dynamic knowledge transfer). It also allows the identification of instances in which external input from other students or the instructor prompted knowledge transfer to take place. The use of this dynamic knowledge transfer lens allows the addressing of gaps in student understanding, and permits further investigations of techniques that increase instances of successful knowledge transfer.

Space-based infrared sensors of space target imaging effect analysis

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Dai, Huayu; Zhang, Yasheng; Zhou, Haijun; Zhao, Shuang

2018-02-01

Target identification problem is one of the core problem of ballistic missile defense system, infrared imaging simulation is an important means of target detection and recognition. This paper first established the space-based infrared sensors ballistic target imaging model of point source on the planet's atmosphere; then from two aspects of space-based sensors camera parameters and target characteristics simulated atmosphere ballistic target of infrared imaging effect, analyzed the camera line of sight jitter, camera system noise and different imaging effects of wave on the target.

Towards large scale multi-target tracking

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Vo, Ba-Ngu; Vo, Ba-Tuong; Reuter, Stephan; Lam, Quang; Dietmayer, Klaus

2014-06-01

Multi-target tracking is intrinsically an NP-hard problem and the complexity of multi-target tracking solutions usually do not scale gracefully with problem size. Multi-target tracking for on-line applications involving a large number of targets is extremely challenging. This article demonstrates the capability of the random finite set approach to provide large scale multi-target tracking algorithms. In particular it is shown that an approximate filter known as the labeled multi-Bernoulli filter can simultaneously track one thousand five hundred targets in clutter on a standard laptop computer.

Image-guided positioning and tracking.

PubMed

Ruan, Dan; Kupelian, Patrick; Low, Daniel A

2011-01-01

Radiation therapy aims at maximizing tumor control while minimizing normal tissue complication. The introduction of stereotactic treatment explores the volume effect and achieves dose escalation to tumor target with small margins. The use of ablative irradiation dose and sharp dose gradients requires accurate tumor definition and alignment between patient and treatment geometry. Patient geometry variation during treatment may significantly compromise the conformality of delivered dose and must be managed properly. Setup error and interfraction/intrafraction motion are incorporated in the target definition process by expanding the clinical target volume to planning target volume, whereas the alignment between patient and treatment geometry is obtained with an adaptive control process, by taking immediate actions in response to closely monitored patient geometry. This article focuses on the monitoring and adaptive response aspect of the problem. The term "image" in "image guidance" will be used in a most general sense, to be inclusive of some important point-based monitoring systems that can be considered as degenerate cases of imaging. Image-guided motion adaptive control, as a comprehensive system, involves a hierarchy of decisions, each of which balances simplicity versus flexibility and accuracy versus robustness. Patient specifics and machine specifics at the treatment facility also need to be incorporated into the decision-making process. Identifying operation bottlenecks from a system perspective and making informed compromises are crucial in the proper selection of image-guidance modality, the motion management mechanism, and the respective operation modes. Not intended as an exhaustive exposition, this article focuses on discussing the major issues and development principles for image-guided motion management systems. We hope these information and methodologies will facilitate conscientious practitioners to adopt image-guided motion management systems accounting for patient and institute specifics and to embrace advances in knowledge and new technologies subsequent to the publication of this article.

Recognizing visual focus of attention from head pose in natural meetings.

PubMed

Ba, Sileye O; Odobez, Jean-Marc

2009-02-01

We address the problem of recognizing the visual focus of attention (VFOA) of meeting participants based on their head pose. To this end, the head pose observations are modeled using a Gaussian mixture model (GMM) or a hidden Markov model (HMM) whose hidden states correspond to the VFOA. The novelties of this paper are threefold. First, contrary to previous studies on the topic, in our setup, the potential VFOA of a person is not restricted to other participants only. It includes environmental targets as well (a table and a projection screen), which increases the complexity of the task, with more VFOA targets spread in the pan as well as tilt gaze space. Second, we propose a geometric model to set the GMM or HMM parameters by exploiting results from cognitive science on saccadic eye motion, which allows the prediction of the head pose given a gaze target. Third, an unsupervised parameter adaptation step not using any labeled data is proposed, which accounts for the specific gazing behavior of each participant. Using a publicly available corpus of eight meetings featuring four persons, we analyze the above methods by evaluating, through objective performance measures, the recognition of the VFOA from head pose information obtained either using a magnetic sensor device or a vision-based tracking system. The results clearly show that in such complex but realistic situations, the VFOA recognition performance is highly dependent on how well the visual targets are separated for a given meeting participant. In addition, the results show that the use of a geometric model with unsupervised adaptation achieves better results than the use of training data to set the HMM parameters.

[Efficacy of mental health prevention and promotion strategies in higher education].

PubMed

Martineau, Marc; Beauchamp, Guy; Marcotte, Diane

Recent studies inform of increases in reported mental health problems in higher education students worldwide, with suicide and homicide being the most dramatic outcomes. Improving first-hand intervention and implementing mental health prevention and promotion strategies in colleges and universities are amongst the most commonly mentioned means of addressing these concerns. While institutions increasingly favor mental health promotion, most programs have not been properly evaluated and most strategies cannot be replicated. The article analyses results obtained from literature reviews and meta-analysis focusing on mental health prevention and promotion strategies targeting college and university students. Mindfulness, cognitive-behavioral and relaxation strategies, as well as social ability training, appeared to be the most effective if they were practiced under supervision. The implementation of supervised mental health prevention strategies within a setting-based systematic and multifactorial promotion frame could significantly decrease mental health problems in higher education students.

Occupational health and safety challenges in China--focusing on township-village enterprises.

PubMed

Wang, Xiaorong; Wu, Siying; Song, Qingkun; Tse, Lap-Ah; Yu, Ignatius T S; Wong, Tze-Wai; Griffiths, Sian

2011-01-01

China has experienced dramatic industrialization, urbanization, and economic growth over the last 3 decades. The rapid transformation and dramatic prosperity of industries in rural areas have, in turn, created tremendous challenges for occupational health and safety (OHS). This article was prepared to address occupational health and safety issues in township- and village-owned enterprises (TVEs) from several aspects, including working conditions and workplace hazards, major recognized OHS problems, implications of TVE industries to environmental health, and migrant workers. Among the major recognized OHS problems, pneumoconiosis, chemical poisoning, and workplace accidents, especially in small-scale coal mines, are highlighted. It is suggested that the national polices and regulations that specifically target TVEs are indispensable and a more powerful administrative structure should be established to ensure that the pertinent polices, regulations, and OHS standards can be enforced widely and effectively in practice. Copyright © 2011 Taylor & Francis Group, LLC

PROGRESS AND PROBLEMS IN THE APPLICATION OF FOCUSED ULTRASOUND FOR BLOOD-BRAIN BARRIER DISRUPTION

PubMed Central

Vykhodtseva, Natalia; McDannold, Nathan; Hynynen, Kullervo

2008-01-01

Advances in neuroscience have resulted in the development of new diagnostic and therapeutic agents for potential use in the central nervous system (CNS). However, the ability to deliver the majority of these agents to the brain is limited by the blood–brain barrier (BBB), a specialized structure of the blood vessel wall that hampers transport and diffusion from the blood to the brain. Many CNS disorders could be treated with drugs, enzymes, genes, or large-molecule biotechnological products such as recombinant proteins, if they could cross the BBB. This article reviews the problems of the BBB presence in treating the vast majority of CNS diseases and the efforts to circumvent the BBB through the design of new drugs and the development of more sophisticated delivery methods. Recent advances in the development of noninvasive, targeted drug delivery by MRI-guided ultrasound-induced BBB disruption are also summarized. PMID:18511095

Physics Instructional Resource Usage by High-, Medium-, and Low-Skilled MOOC Students

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Balint, Trevor A.; Teodorescu, Raluca; Colvin, Kimberly; Choi, Youn-Jeng; Pritchard, David

2017-04-01

In this paper we examine how different types of participants in a physics Massive Open Online Course (MOOC) tend to use the existing course resources. We use data from the 2013 offering of the Massive Open Online Course 8.MReVx designed by the RELATE (REsearch in Learning Assessing and Tutoring Effectively) Group at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and offered on the edX platform. We propose six measures of student performance in a course, and, based on these measures, we divide the student population into clusters and analyze the resource usage of the students from each cluster. This course contains a wide variety of physics problems targeting various levels of thinking. Our analysis focuses on 1080 participants (out of 16,787 enrolled in the course) who attempted more than 50% of available problems, as this is an indicator of students who participated actively in the entire course.

[Methodological problems in the scientific research on HIV /AIDS in Bolivia].

PubMed

Hita, Susana Ramírez

2013-05-01

This paper discusses the methodological problems in the scientific research on HIV/AIDS in Bolivia, both in the areas of epidemiology and social sciences. Studies associated with this research served as the basis for the implementation of health programs run by The Global Fund, The Pan-American Health Organization, International Cooperation, Non-Governmental Organizations and the Bolivian Ministry of Health and Sports. An analysis of the methodological contradictions and weaknesses was made by reviewing the bibliography of the studies and by conducting qualitative methodological research, that was focused on the quality of health care available to people living with HIV/AIDS in public hospitals and health centers, and looked at how programs targeted at this sector of the population are designed and delivered. In this manner, it was possible to observe the shortcomings of the methodological design in the epidemiological and social science studies which serve as the basis for the implementation of these health programs.

Fragile X syndrome: A review of clinical management

PubMed Central

Lozano, Reymundo; Azarang, Atoosa; Wilaisakditipakorn, Tanaporn; Hagerman, Randi J

2016-01-01

Summary The fragile X mental retardation 1 gene, which codes for the fragile X mental retardation 1 protein, usually has 5 to 40 CGG repeats in the 5′ untranslated promoter. The full mutation is the almost always the cause of fragile X syndrome (FXS). The prevalence of FXS is about 1 in 4,000 to 1 in 7,000 in the general population although the prevalence varies in different regions of the world. FXS is the most common inherited cause of intellectual disability and autism. The understanding of the neurobiology of FXS has led to many targeted treatments, but none have cured this disorder. The treatment of the medical problems and associated behaviors remain the most useful intervention for children with FXS. In this review, we focus on the non-pharmacological and pharmacological management of medical and behavioral problems associated with FXS as well as current recommendations for follow-up and surveillance. PMID:27672537

Expanding uses of building information modeling in life-cycle construction projects.

PubMed

Hannele, Kerosuo; Reijo, Miettinen; Tarja, Mäki; Sami, Paavola; Jenni, Korpela; Teija, Rantala

2012-01-01

BIM is targeted at providing information about the entire building and a complete set of design documents and data stored in an integrated database. In this paper, we study the use of BIM in two life-cycle construction projects in Kuopio, Finland during 2011. The analysis of uses of BIM and their main problems will constitute a foundation for an intervention. We will focus on the following questions: (1) How different partners use the composite BIM model? (2) What are the major contradictions or problems in the BIM use? The preliminary findings reported in this study show that BIM has been adopted quite generally to design use but the old ways of collaboration seem to prevail, especially between designers and between designers and building sites. BIM has provided new means and demands for collaboration but expansive uses of BIM for providing new interactive processes across professional fields have not much come true.

Spatial orientation of different frequencies within the echolocation beam of a Tursiops truncatus and Pseudorca crassidens.

PubMed

Ibsen, Stuart D; Nachtigall, Paul E; Krause-Nehring, Jacqueline; Kloepper, Laura; Breese, Marlee; Li, Songhai; Vlachos, Stephanie

2012-08-01

A two-dimensional array of 16 hydrophones was created to map the spatial distribution of different frequencies within the echolocation beam of a Tursiops truncatus and a Pseudorca crassidens. It was previously shown that both the Tursiops and Pseudorca only paid attention to frequencies between 29 and 42 kHz while echolocating. Both individuals tightly focused the 30 kHz frequency and the spatial location of the focus was consistently pointed toward the target. At 50 kHz the beam was less focused and less precisely pointed at the target. At 100 kHz the focus was often completely lost and was not pointed at the target. This indicates that these individuals actively focused the beam toward the target only in the frequency range they paid attention to. Frequencies outside this range were left unfocused and undirected. This focusing was probably achieved through sensorimotor control of the melon morphology and nasal air sacs. This indicates that both morphologically different species can control the spatial distribution of different frequency ranges within the echolocation beam to create consistent ensonation of desired targets.

Transcription Factors as Therapeutic Targets in Chronic Kidney Disease.

PubMed

Hishikawa, Akihito; Hayashi, Kaori; Itoh, Hiroshi

2018-05-09

The growing number of patients with chronic kidney disease (CKD) is recognized as an emerging problem worldwide. Recent studies have indicated that deregulation of transcription factors is associated with the onset or progression of kidney disease. Several clinical trials indicated that regression of CKD may be feasible via activation of the transcription factor nuclear factor erythroid-2 related factor 2 (Nrf2), which suggests that transcription factors may be potential drug targets for CKD. Agents stabilizing hypoxia-inducible factor (HIF), which may be beneficial for renal anemia and renal protection, are also now under clinical trial. Recently, we have reported that the transcription factor Kruppel-like factor 4 (KLF4) regulates the glomerular podocyte epigenome, and that the antiproteinuric effect of the renin⁻angiotensin system blockade may be partially mediated by KLF4. KLF4 is one of the Yamanaka factors that induces iPS cells and is reported to be involved in epigenetic remodeling. In this article, we summarize the transcription factors associated with CKD and particularly focus on the possibility of transcription factors being novel drug targets for CKD through epigenetic modulation.

Seeking instructional specificity: An example from analogical instruction

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kuo, Eric; Wieman, Carl E.

2015-12-01

Broad instructional methods like "interactive engagement" have been shown to be effective, but such general characterization provides little guidance on the details of how to structure instructional materials. In this study, we seek instructional specificity by comparing two ways of using an analogy to learn a target physical principle: (i) applying the analogy to the target physical domain on a case-by-case basis and (ii) using the analogy to create a general rule in the target physical domain. In the discussion sections of a large, introductory physics course (N =2 3 1 ), students who sought a general rule were better able to discover and apply a correct physics principle than students who analyzed the examples case by case. The difference persisted at a reduced level after subsequent direct instruction. We argue that students who performed case-by-case analyses were more likely to focus on idiosyncratic problem-specific features rather than the deep structural features. This study provides an example of investigations into how the specific structure of instructional materials can be consequential for what is learned.

Antidiabetic plant-derived nutraceuticals: a critical review.

PubMed

Naveen, Jayapal; Baskaran, Vallikannan

2018-06-01

Diabetes mellitus (DM) is one of the major health problems in the world, especially amongst the urban population. Chemically synthesized drugs used to decrease the ill effects of DM and its secondary complications cause adverse side effects, viz., weight gain, gastrointestinal disturbances, and heart failure. Currently, various other approaches, viz., diet control, physical exercise and use of antidiabetic plant-derived molecules/foods are advocated to manage DM, as they are economical with fewer or no side effects. This review mainly focuses on antidiabetic plants, chemically characterized plant molecules and plant-based foods in the treatment of DM. Very little science-based evidence is available on the mechanism of action of plant-derived food molecules on the DM targets. Critical DM targets include α-amylase, α-glucosidase, DPP-IV, aldose reductase, PPAR-γ, AMP kinase and GLUT4. In-depth studies carried out on a few of those targets with specific mechanisms of action are addressed in this review. This review may help future researchers in identifying a right plant molecule to treat DM or to develop food formulations for DM management.

Evaluation of a child sexual abuse prevention program.

PubMed

Chasan-Taber, L; Tabachnick, J

1999-10-01

A half-million children are believed to be sexually abused each year in the United States. In 1995, the American Medical Association declared sexual assault "a silent violent epidemic." The majority of efforts to stop child sexual abuse have focused on punishing abusers and treating victims and their families; prevention programs are uncommon and rely on educating children to report sexual abuse. This case study describes the evaluation of the first public health campaign designed to target adults for prevention. A baseline assessment of attitudes, awareness, knowledge, and policies was conducted in Vermont to identify facilitators and barriers to adult prevention of child sexual abuse. These included predisposing factors (50% of Vermont residents did not know the characteristics of an abuser), enabling factors (60% of Vermont residents did not know where to refer someone who may have sexual behavior problems), and reinforcing factors (when focus group participants knew an abuser, they were less likely to take action). This process guided the intervention, which included a broad-based media campaign targeting adults; a one-to-one communications strategy that provided information to agencies working with families at risk and a toll-free helpline for adults in an abuse situation; and a systems change strategy designed to educate decision-makers and leaders. Program evaluation measures included a random-digit dial survey, focus groups, a survey of Vermont decision-makers, and other data sets. The successes and limitations of these interventions, both as strategies in themselves and as data sources for evaluation, are discussed.

The deterioration of Canadian immigrants' oral health: analysis of the Longitudinal Survey of Immigrants to Canada.

PubMed

Calvasina, Paola; Muntaner, Carles; Quiñonez, Carlos

2015-10-01

To examine the effect of immigration on the self-reported oral health of immigrants to Canada over a 4-year period. The study used Statistics Canada's Longitudinal Survey of Immigrants to Canada (LSIC 2001-2005). The target population comprised 3976 non-refugee immigrants to Canada. The dependent variable was self-reported dental problems. The independent variables were as follows: age, sex, ethnicity, income, education, perceived discrimination, history of social assistance, social support, and official language proficiency. A generalized estimation equation approach was used to assess the association between dependent and independent variables. After 2 years, the proportion of immigrants reporting dental problems more than tripled (32.6%) and remained approximately the same at 4 years after immigrating (33.3%). Over time, immigrants were more likely to report dental problems (OR = 2.77; 95% CI 2.55-3.02). An increase in self-reported dental problems over time was associated with sex, history of social assistance, total household income, and self-perceived discrimination. An increased likelihood of reporting dental problems occurred over time. Immigrants should arguably constitute an important focus of public policy and programmes aimed at improving their oral health and access to dental care in Canada. © 2015 John Wiley & Sons A/S. Published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

A game theory approach to target tracking in sensor networks.

PubMed

Gu, Dongbing

2011-02-01

In this paper, we investigate a moving-target tracking problem with sensor networks. Each sensor node has a sensor to observe the target and a processor to estimate the target position. It also has wireless communication capability but with limited range and can only communicate with neighbors. The moving target is assumed to be an intelligent agent, which is "smart" enough to escape from the detection by maximizing the estimation error. This adversary behavior makes the target tracking problem more difficult. We formulate this target estimation problem as a zero-sum game in this paper and use a minimax filter to estimate the target position. The minimax filter is a robust filter that minimizes the estimation error by considering the worst case noise. Furthermore, we develop a distributed version of the minimax filter for multiple sensor nodes. The distributed computation is implemented via modeling the information received from neighbors as measurements in the minimax filter. The simulation results show that the target tracking algorithm proposed in this paper provides a satisfactory result.

Increase in velocimeter depth of focus through astigmatism

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

Erskine, D.J.

1996-05-01

Frequently, velocimeter targets are illuminated by a laser beam passing through a hole in a mirror. This mirror is responsible for diverting returning light from a target lens to a velocity interferometer system for any reflector (VISAR). This mirror is often a significant distance from the target lens. Consequently, at certain target focus positions the returning light is strongly vignetted by the hole, causing a loss of signal. We find that we can prevent loss of signal and greatly increase the useful depth of focus by attaching a cylindrical lens to the target lens. {copyright} {ital 1996 American Institute ofmore » Physics.}« less

The Effects of a Skill-Based Intervention for Victims of Bullying in Brazil.

PubMed

da Silva, Jorge Luiz; de Oliveira, Wanderlei Abadio; Braga, Iara Falleiros; Farias, Marilurdes Silva; da Silva Lizzi, Elisangela Aparecida; Gonçalves, Marlene Fagundes Carvalho; Pereira, Beatriz Oliveira; Silva, Marta Angélica Iossi

2016-10-26

This study's objective was to verify whether improved social and emotional skills would reduce victimization among Brazilian 6th grade student victims of bullying. The targets of this intervention were victimized students; a total of 78 victims participated. A cognitive-behavioral intervention based on social and emotional skills was held in eight weekly sessions. The sessions focused on civility, the ability to make friends, self-control, emotional expressiveness, empathy, assertiveness, and interpersonal problem-solving capacity. Data were analyzed through Poisson regression models with random effects. Pre- and post-analyses reveal that intervention and comparison groups presented significant reduced victimization by bullying. No significant improvement was found in regard to difficulties in practicing social skills. Victimization reduction cannot be attributed to the program. This study contributes to the incipient literature addressing anti-bullying interventions conducted in developing countries and highlights the need for approaches that do not exclusively focus on the students' individual aspects.

RTS2: a powerful robotic observatory manager

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kubánek, Petr; Jelínek, Martin; Vítek, Stanislav; de Ugarte Postigo, Antonio; Nekola, Martin; French, John

2006-06-01

RTS2, or Remote Telescope System, 2nd Version, is an integrated package for remote telescope control under the Linux operating system. It is designed to run in fully autonomous mode, picking targets from a database table, storing image meta data to the database, processing images and storing their WCS coordinates in the database and offering Virtual-Observatory enabled access to them. It is currently running on various telescope setups world-wide. For control of devices from various manufacturers we developed an abstract device layer, enabling control of all possible combinations of mounts, CCDs, photometers, roof and cupola controllers. We describe the evolution of RTS2 from Python-based RTS to C and later C++ based RTS2, focusing on the problems we faced during development. The internal structure of RTS2, focusing on object layering, which is used to uniformly control various devices and provides uniform reporting layer, is also discussed.

An asset-focused health needs assessment in a rural community in North India.

PubMed

Mathias, Kaaren R; Mathias, Joseph M P; Hill, Philip C

2015-03-01

Health needs assessment (HNA) targets health resources to needs yet is rarely used in low-resource contexts such as the Indian villages. The authors combined rapid participatory appraisal (RPA) and HNA tools into 4 steps: (a) define HNA parameters, objectives, and community; (b) describe community demographics, health status, felt needs, assets, and health services; (c) analysis; and (d) design interventions considering felt needs, assets, impact potential, and organizational resources. Community felt needs focused on lack of access to personal health services. Major morbidities included respiratory and diarrheal disease and maternal/child health problems. Formal anthropometry revealed high prevalence of underweight and stunting. Community assets included high land ownership, educated unmarried women, and operational government services. In low-resource developing country contexts with poor information systems, HNA is possible and useful. Including RPA and community participation to also assess assets resulted in programs responding to communities' needs using existing resources. © 2011 APJPH.

Optimization of Self-Directed Target Coverage in Wireless Multimedia Sensor Network

PubMed Central

Yang, Yang; Wang, Yufei; Pi, Dechang; Wang, Ruchuan

2014-01-01

Video and image sensors in wireless multimedia sensor networks (WMSNs) have directed view and limited sensing angle. So the methods to solve target coverage problem for traditional sensor networks, which use circle sensing model, are not suitable for WMSNs. Based on the FoV (field of view) sensing model and FoV disk model proposed, how expected multimedia sensor covers the target is defined by the deflection angle between target and the sensor's current orientation and the distance between target and the sensor. Then target coverage optimization algorithms based on expected coverage value are presented for single-sensor single-target, multisensor single-target, and single-sensor multitargets problems distinguishingly. Selecting the orientation that sensor rotated to cover every target falling in the FoV disk of that sensor for candidate orientations and using genetic algorithm to multisensor multitargets problem, which has NP-complete complexity, then result in the approximated minimum subset of sensors which covers all the targets in networks. Simulation results show the algorithm's performance and the effect of number of targets on the resulting subset. PMID:25136667

Socio-cognitive habilitation using the math interactive learning experience program for alcohol-affected children.

PubMed

Kable, Julie A; Coles, Claire D; Taddeo, Elles

2007-08-01

Fetal alcohol syndrome (FAS) has been recognized as a disabling condition with a significant impact on the neurobehavioral functioning of affected individuals, including cognition, behavior, and academic functioning, but little research has been performed on targeted interventions for these children. A socio-cognitive habilitative program focused on improving behavior and math functioning in children 3 to 10 years of age (n=61) was developed and evaluated. The intervention provided parental instruction on FAS, advocacy, and behavioral regulation via workshops and interactive math tutoring with children. All families received parental instruction and were then randomly assigned to either the math instruction or standard psychoeducational care groups. Satisfaction with workshops was very high, with over 90% agreeing that trainers were knowledgeable and materials easy to understand and helpful. Significant gains in knowledge were found for information provided in the instructional groups. At posttesting, caregivers reported fewer problem behaviors on the Achenbach Child Behavior Checklist, Internalizing Problem Behavior, Externalizing Problem Behavior, and Total Problem Behavior summary scales. After 5 months, both groups of children demonstrated gains in math knowledge but significantly higher gains were found in the group receiving direct math instruction. The math treatment group was also more likely to demonstrate a gain of over 1 standard deviation on any of the 4 math outcome measures used. These findings suggest that parents of children with fetal alcohol spectrum disorders (FAS(D)) benefit from instruction in understanding their child's alcohol-related neurological damage and strategies to provide positive behavioral supports and that targeted psychoeducational programs may be able to remediate some of the math deficits associated with prenatal alcohol exposure.

Do icon arrays help reduce denominator neglect?

PubMed

Garcia-Retamero, Rocio; Galesic, Mirta; Gigerenzer, Gerd

2010-01-01

Denominator neglect is the focus on the number of times a target event has happened (e.g., the number of treated and nontreated patients who die) without considering the overall number of opportunities for it to happen (e.g., the overall number of treated and nontreated patients). In 2 studies, we addressed the effect of denominator neglect in problems involving treatment risk reduction where samples of treated and non-treated patients and the relative risk reduction were of different sizes. We also tested whether using icon arrays helps people take these different sample sizes into account. We especially focused on older adults, who are often more disadvantaged when making decisions about their health. . Study 1 was conducted on a laboratory sample using a within-subjects design; study 2 was conducted on a nonstudent sample interviewed through the Web using a between-subjects design. Accuracy of understanding risk reduction. Participants often paid too much attention to numerators and insufficient attention to denominators when numerical information about treatment risk reduction was provided. Adding icon arrays to the numerical information, however, drew participants' attention to the denominators and helped them make more accurate assessments of treatment risk reduction. Icon arrays were equally helpful to younger and older adults. Building on previous research showing that problems with understanding numerical information often do not reside in the mind but in the representation of the problem, the results show that icon arrays are an effective method of eliminating denominator neglect.

Target Fishing for Chemical Compounds using Target-Ligand Activity data and Ranking based Methods

PubMed Central

Wale, Nikil; Karypis, George

2009-01-01

In recent years the development of computational techniques that identify all the likely targets for a given chemical compound, also termed as the problem of Target Fishing, has been an active area of research. Identification of likely targets of a chemical compound helps to understand problems such as toxicity, lack of efficacy in humans, and poor physical properties associated with that compound in the early stages of drug discovery. In this paper we present a set of techniques whose goal is to rank or prioritize targets in the context of a given chemical compound such that most targets that this compound may show activity against appear higher in the ranked list. These methods are based on our extensions to the SVM and Ranking Perceptron algorithms for this problem. Our extensive experimental study shows that the methods developed in this work outperform previous approaches by 2% to 60% under different evaluation criterions. PMID:19764745

A Qualitative Examination of Barriers for Urban and Rural Custodial Grandparents.

PubMed

Crowther, Martha R; Ford, Cassandra D; Peterson, Tina

2014-07-01

Focus groups were conducted with 33 community dwelling, urban and rural, custodial grandparents to explore their willingness to comply with a behavioral intervention targeting improving their well-being and financial management. Most participants were African American (91%), female (79%) and middle-aged. Major themes included: 1) inability to access social services; 2) legal assistance; 3) emotional well-being; 4) problems related to the parents of grandchildren; and 5) identification of structured activities for grandchildren. Findings suggest custodial grandparents underutilize services. Future research should address methods to enhance grandparents' utilization of resources facilitated via a peer navigator system along with policy level changes.

Why Pull the Arrow When You Cannot See the Target? Framing Professionalism Goals in Medical Education.

PubMed

Doukas, David J; Volpe, Rebecca L

2018-04-24

Professionalism is essential for a successful physician-patient relationship and widely acknowledged as an intrinsic and important component of medical education for learners at all levels, from medical school to residency to continuing medical education. The problem is defining the educational endpoints for learners and then determining how to assess these outcomes. This Invited Commentary focuses on what medical educators can and should do to refine the vision of professionalism in medical education. The authors propose a multi-step process in which learners, educators, and the public are engaged in articulating clearly and definitively the endpoints of professionalism education.

Prostate cancer community collaboration and partnership: education, awareness, recruitment, and outreach to southern African-American males.

PubMed

Hughes, Gail D; Sellers, Denethia B; Fraser, Lionel; Teague, Robert; Knight, Bern'Nadette

2007-01-01

Prostate cancer is a significant health problem for African-American men intensified by low participation in screenings, clinical trials, and prospective cohort studies. Ten focus groups were conducted with African-American males and their female partners/spouses. Perceptions and knowledge about prostate cancer, as well as willingness to participate in screening and research studies were measured. Participants had a basic level of knowledge about prostate cancer, and the importance of education was a unified theme. Dialogue with targeted African-American men and their partners/spouses may increase awareness and retention in medical research, while influencing health promotion, education and behavior.

Empirically Based Strategies for Preventing Juvenile Delinquency.

PubMed

Pardini, Dustin

2016-04-01

Juvenile crime is a serious public health problem that results in significant emotional and financial costs for victims and society. Using etiologic models as a guide, multiple interventions have been developed to target risk factors thought to perpetuate the emergence and persistence of delinquent behavior. Evidence suggests that the most effective interventions tend to have well-defined treatment protocols, focus on therapeutic approaches as opposed to external control techniques, and use multimodal cognitive-behavioral treatment strategies. Moving forward, there is a need to develop effective policies and procedures that promote the widespread adoption of evidence-based delinquency prevention practices across multiple settings. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Mechanisms of Immune Evasion in Leishmaniasis

PubMed Central

Gupta, Gaurav; Oghumu, Steve; Satoskar, Abhay R.

2013-01-01

Diseases caused by Leishmania present a worldwide problem, and current therapeutic approaches are unable to achieve a sterile cure. Leishmania is able to persist in host cells by evading or exploiting host immune mechanisms. A thorough understanding of these mechanisms could lead to better strategies for effective management of Leishmania infections. Current research has focused on parasite modification of host cell signaling pathways, entry into phagocytic cells, and modulation of cytokine and chemokine profiles that alter immune cell activation and trafficking to sites of infection. Immuno-therapeutic approaches that target these mechanisms of immune evasion by Leishmania offer promising areas for preclinical and clinical research. PMID:23415155

Emerging Methodologies in Pediatric Palliative Care Research: Six Case Studies

PubMed Central

Nelson, Katherine E.; Gerhardt, Cynthia A.; Rosenberg, Abby R.; Widger, Kimberley; Faerber, Jennifer A.; Feudtner, Chris

2018-01-01

Given the broad focus of pediatric palliative care (PPC) on the physical, emotional, and spiritual needs of children with potentially life-limiting illnesses and their families, PPC research requires creative methodological approaches. This manuscript, written by experienced PPC researchers, describes issues encountered in our own areas of research and the novel methods we have identified to target them. Specifically, we discuss potential approaches to: assessing symptoms among nonverbal children, evaluating medical interventions, identifying and treating problems related to polypharmacy, addressing missing data in longitudinal studies, evaluating longer-term efficacy of PPC interventions, and monitoring for inequities in PPC service delivery. PMID:29495384

A Qualitative Examination of Barriers for Urban and Rural Custodial Grandparents

PubMed Central

Ford, Cassandra D.; Peterson, Tina

2015-01-01

Focus groups were conducted with 33 community dwelling, urban and rural, custodial grandparents to explore their willingness to comply with a behavioral intervention targeting improving their well-being and financial management. Most participants were African American (91%), female (79%) and middle-aged. Major themes included: 1) inability to access social services; 2) legal assistance; 3) emotional well-being; 4) problems related to the parents of grandchildren; and 5) identification of structured activities for grandchildren. Findings suggest custodial grandparents underutilize services. Future research should address methods to enhance grandparents’ utilization of resources facilitated via a peer navigator system along with policy level changes. PMID:26401123

Evidence-Based Prevention for Adolescent Substance Use.

PubMed

Harrop, Erin; Catalano, Richard F

2016-07-01

Due to the significant consequences of adolescent substance use behaviors, researchers have increasingly focused on prevention approaches. The field of prevention science is based on the identification of predictors of problem behaviors, and the development and testing of prevention programs that seek to change these predictors. As the field of prevention science moves forward, there are many opportunities for growth, including the integration of prevention programs into service systems and primary care, an expansion of program adaptations to fit the needs of local populations, and a greater emphasis on the development of programs targeted at young adult populations. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

The prospects of construction and transport industry

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Yaskova, Natalia

2017-10-01

The article is focused on a problem of moving the construction industry into the growth and prosperity phase. The method of target orienting developed by the author is aimed at overcoming technological weakness of the construction industry and eliminating disproportions of the capital funds’ structure. Exhaustion of traditional sources of construction industry growth and real property market growth required the research on specific technologies of interphase transformations and their development. It will contribute to implementing the objective laws of the new wave of construction growth, which provides the development of immovable’s structure that is reasonable in terms of strategic priorities of the national economy.

Mechanisms of Prescription Drug Diversion Among Impaired Physicians

PubMed Central

Cummings, Simone Marie; Merlo, Lisa; Cottler, Linda B.

2014-01-01

The diversion of medications by physicians is a seldom discussed problem in the United States. A better understanding of the mechanisms of diversion could assist decision-makers as they seek to develop preventive. To identify these mechanisms, nine focus groups of physicians undergoing monitoring for substance abuse by a state-based physician health program (PHP) were conducted. The content analysis revealed that physicians divert medications by stealing from the office or hospital, by defrauding patients and insurers, by using medication samples, and by misusing valid prescriptions. The implementation of policy interventions targeting these mechanisms has the potential to mitigate the amount of physician diversion that occurs. PMID:21745042

Doing more harm than good: negative health effects of intimate-partner violence campaigns.

PubMed

West, Jean Jaymes

2013-01-01

This study investigates unintended negative effects of health communication campaigns surrounding intimate-partner violence. Major health organizations have identified this issue as an urgent health problem for women, but the effects of these campaigns have rarely been tested with the target audience most affected by the issue. Using qualitative methodology, 10 focus groups were conducted with female survivors of intimate-partner violence. It was found that this group viewed the campaigns as emotionally harmful, inaccurate, and misleading. The results of this research suggest these campaigns may do more harm than good for the audience most severely affected by this issue.

Ipsi- and Contralateral Motor Response Using Ultrasound-induced Neurostimulation in Deeply Anesthetized Mice

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kamimura, Hermes; Wang, Shutao; Chen, Hong; Wang, Qi; Aurup, Christian; Fan, Kathtleen; Carneiro, Antonio; Konofagou, Elisa

Ultrasound neurostimulation has been proven capable of eliciting motor responses. However, the studies in sedated rodents presented problems with target specificity due to the use of low ultrasound frequencies (<700 kHz). Here, we show that focused ultrasound (FUS) in mega-Hz range was able to evoke motor responses in mice under deep anesthesia. Contralateral movements of the hind limbs were observed when sonications were carried out at +2 mm of Lambda and ±2 mm lateral of midline in three mice. Moreover, stimulating other regions of the somatosensory and cerebellum induced trunk and ipsilateral limb movements in all six mice.

Effect of "Focus on Form" versus "Focus on Forms" Pragmatic Instruction on Development of Pragmatic Comprehension and Production

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Rafieyan, Vahid

2016-01-01

To develop target language pragmatic competence, language learners' attention must be directed toward not only linguistic but also pragmatic aspect of the target language expressions (Schmidt, 2001). Thus, some sorts of pragmatic awareness-raising instruction, using either explicit "Focus on Forms" or implicit "Focus on Form"…

Sequential estimation of intrinsic activity and synaptic input in single neurons by particle filtering with optimal importance density

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Closas, Pau; Guillamon, Antoni

2017-12-01

This paper deals with the problem of inferring the signals and parameters that cause neural activity to occur. The ultimate challenge being to unveil brain's connectivity, here we focus on a microscopic vision of the problem, where single neurons (potentially connected to a network of peers) are at the core of our study. The sole observation available are noisy, sampled voltage traces obtained from intracellular recordings. We design algorithms and inference methods using the tools provided by stochastic filtering that allow a probabilistic interpretation and treatment of the problem. Using particle filtering, we are able to reconstruct traces of voltages and estimate the time course of auxiliary variables. By extending the algorithm, through PMCMC methodology, we are able to estimate hidden physiological parameters as well, like intrinsic conductances or reversal potentials. Last, but not least, the method is applied to estimate synaptic conductances arriving at a target cell, thus reconstructing the synaptic excitatory/inhibitory input traces. Notably, the performance of these estimations achieve the theoretical lower bounds even in spiking regimes.

"Heroes' invisible wounds of war:" constructions of posttraumatic stress disorder in the text of US federal legislation.

PubMed

Purtle, Jonathan

2016-01-01

Public policies contribute to the social construction of mental health problems. In this study, I use social constructivist theories of policy design and the methodology of ethnographic content analysis to qualitatively explore how posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) has been constructed as a problem in US federal legislation. I analyzed the text of 166 bills introduced between 1989 and 2009 and found that PTSD has been constructed as a problem unique to combat exposures and military populations. These constructions were produced through combat-related language and imagery (e.g., wounds, war, heroism), narratives describing PTSD as a military-specific phenomenon, and reinforced by the absence of PTSD in trauma-focused legislation targeting civilians. These constructions do not reflect the epidemiology of PTSD-the vast majority of people who develop the disorder have not experienced combat and many non-combat traumas (e.g., sexual assault) carry higher PTSD risk-and might constrain public and political discourse about the disorder and reify sociocultural barriers to the access of mental health services. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Comparative study of radiation emission without and with target in a 2.2 kJ plasma focus device

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

Khan, Muhammad Zubair, E-mail: mzubairkhan-um76@yahoo.com; Ling, Yap Seong; San, Wong Chiow

The radiation emission in a 2.2 kJ Mather-type dense plasma focus device is investigated using a five channel BPX65 PIN diode spectrometer. Estimated X-ray associated with the hollow anode without and with target in Argon gas medium is compared. At optimum conditions, the radiation emission from the system is found to be strongly influenced with target in hollow anode and the filling gas pressure. The maximum X-ray yield in 4π sr was obtained in case of hollow anode in argon gas medium with target 'Lead' due to interaction of electron beam. Results indicated that an appropriate design of hollow anodemore » with target could enhance the radiation emission by more intense interaction of expected electron beam with target. The outcomes are helpful in designing a plasma focus with enhanced X-ray radiation with improved shot to shot reproducibility in plasma focus device.« less

New pediatric vision screener employing polarization-modulated, retinal-birefringence-scanning-based strabismus detection and bull's eye focus detection with an improved target system: opto-mechanical design and operation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Irsch, Kristina; Gramatikov, Boris I.; Wu, Yi-Kai; Guyton, David L.

2014-06-01

Amblyopia ("lazy eye") is a major public health problem, caused by misalignment of the eyes (strabismus) or defocus. If detected early in childhood, there is an excellent response to therapy, yet most children are detected too late to be treated effectively. Commercially available vision screening devices that test for amblyopia's primary causes can detect strabismus only indirectly and inaccurately via assessment of the positions of external light reflections from the cornea, but they cannot detect the anatomical feature of the eyes where fixation actually occurs (the fovea). Our laboratory has been developing technology to detect true foveal fixation, by exploiting the birefringence of the uniquely arranged Henle fibers delineating the fovea using retinal birefringence scanning (RBS), and we recently described a polarization-modulated approach to RBS that enables entirely direct and reliable detection of true foveal fixation, with greatly enhanced signal-to-noise ratio and essentially independent of corneal birefringence (a confounding variable with all polarization-sensitive ophthalmic technology). Here, we describe the design and operation of a new pediatric vision screener that employs polarization-modulated, RBS-based strabismus detection and bull's eye focus detection with an improved target system, and demonstrate the feasibility of this new approach.

New pediatric vision screener employing polarization-modulated, retinal-birefringence-scanning-based strabismus detection and bull's eye focus detection with an improved target system: opto-mechanical design and operation.

PubMed

Irsch, Kristina; Gramatikov, Boris I; Wu, Yi-Kai; Guyton, David L

2014-06-01

Amblyopia ("lazy eye") is a major public health problem, caused by misalignment of the eyes (strabismus) or defocus. If detected early in childhood, there is an excellent response to therapy, yet most children are detected too late to be treated effectively. Commercially available vision screening devices that test for amblyopia's primary causes can detect strabismus only indirectly and inaccurately via assessment of the positions of external light reflections from the cornea, but they cannot detect the anatomical feature of the eyes where fixation actually occurs (the fovea). Our laboratory has been developing technology to detect true foveal fixation, by exploiting the birefringence of the uniquely arranged Henle fibers delineating the fovea using retinal birefringence scanning (RBS), and we recently described a polarization-modulated approach to RBS that enables entirely direct and reliable detection of true foveal fixation, with greatly enhanced signal-to-noise ratio and essentially independent of corneal birefringence (a confounding variable with all polarization-sensitive ophthalmic technology). Here, we describe the design and operation of a new pediatric vision screener that employs polarization-modulated, RBS-based strabismus detection and bull's eye focus detection with an improved target system, and demonstrate the feasibility of this new approach.

Bridging the Gap Between Planning and Scheduling

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Smith, David E.; Frank, Jeremy; Jonsson, Ari K.; Norvig, Peter (Technical Monitor)

2000-01-01

Planning research in Artificial Intelligence (AI) has often focused on problems where there are cascading levels of action choice and complex interactions between actions. In contrast. Scheduling research has focused on much larger problems where there is little action choice, but the resulting ordering problem is hard. In this paper, we give an overview of M planning and scheduling techniques, focusing on their similarities, differences, and limitations. We also argue that many difficult practical problems lie somewhere between planning and scheduling, and that neither area has the right set of tools for solving these vexing problems.

D-Cluster Converter Foil for Laser-Accelerated Deuteron Beams: Towards Deuteron-Beam-Driven Fast Ignition

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

Miley, George H.

Fast Ignition (FI) uses Petawatt laser generated particle beam pulse to ignite a small volume called a pre-compressed Inertial Confinement Fusion (ICF) target, and is the favored method to achieve the high energy gain per target burn needed for an attractive ICF power plant. Ion beams such as protons, deuterons or heavier carbon ions are especially appealing for FI as they have relative straight trajectory, and easier to focus on the fuel capsule. But current experiments have encountered problems with the 'converter-foil' which is irradiated by the Petawatt laser to produce the ion beams. The problems include depletion of themore » available ions in the convertor foils, and poor energy efficiency (ion beam energy/ input laser energy). We proposed to develop a volumetrically-loaded ultra-high-density deuteron deuterium cluster material as the basis for converter-foil for deuteron beam generation. The deuterons will fuse with the ICF DT while they slow down, providing an extra 'bonus' energy gain in addition to heating the hot spot. Also, due to the volumetric loading, the foil will provide sufficient energetic deuteron beam flux for 'hot spot' ignition, while avoiding the depletion problem encountered by current proton-driven FI foils. After extensive comparative studies, in Phase I, high purity PdO/Pd/PdO foils were selected for the high packing fraction D-Cluster converter foils. An optimized loading process has been developed to increase the cluster packing fraction in this type of foil. As a result, the packing fraction has been increased from 0.1% to 10% - meeting the original Phase I goal and representing a significant progress towards the beam intensities needed for both FI and pulsed neutron applications. Fast Ignition provides a promising approach to achieve high energy gain target performance needed for commercial Inertial Confinement Fusion (ICF). This is now a realistic goal for near term in view of the anticipated ICF target burn at the National Ignition Facility (NIF) in CA within a year. This will usher in the technology development Phase of ICF after years of research aimed at achieving breakeven experiment. Methods to achieve the high energy gain needed for a competitive power plant will then be a key developmental issue, and our D-cluster target for Fast Ignition (FI) is expected to meet that need.« less

Efficient proton acceleration and focusing by an ultraintense laser interacting with a parabolic double concave target with an extended rear

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bake, Muhammad Ali; Xie, Bai-Song; Aimidula, Aimierding; Wang, Hong-Yu

2013-07-01

A new scheme for acceleration and focusing of protons via an improved parabolic double concave target irradiated by an ultraintense laser pulse is proposed. When an intense laser pulse illuminates a concave target, the hot electrons are concentrated on the focal region of the rear cavity and they form a strong space-charge-separation field, which accelerates the protons. For a simple concave target, the proton energy spectrum becomes very broad outside the rear cavity because of transverse divergence of the electromagnetic fields. However, particle-in-cell simulations show that, when the concave target has an extended rear, the hot electrons along the wall surface induce a transverse focusing sheath field, resulting in a clear enhancement of proton focusing, which makes the lower proton energy spread, while, leads to a little reduction of the proton bunch peak energy.

Distributed and grid computing projects with research focus in human health.

PubMed

Diomidous, Marianna; Zikos, Dimitrios

2012-01-01

Distributed systems and grid computing systems are used to connect several computers to obtain a higher level of performance, in order to solve a problem. During the last decade, projects use the World Wide Web to aggregate individuals' CPU power for research purposes. This paper presents the existing active large scale distributed and grid computing projects with research focus in human health. There have been found and presented 11 active projects with more than 2000 Processing Units (PUs) each. The research focus for most of them is molecular biology and, specifically on understanding or predicting protein structure through simulation, comparing proteins, genomic analysis for disease provoking genes and drug design. Though not in all cases explicitly stated, common target diseases include research to find cure against HIV, dengue, Duchene dystrophy, Parkinson's disease, various types of cancer and influenza. Other diseases include malaria, anthrax, Alzheimer's disease. The need for national initiatives and European Collaboration for larger scale projects is stressed, to raise the awareness of citizens to participate in order to create a culture of internet volunteering altruism.

Public perceptions of mental health professionals: stigma by association?

PubMed

Ebsworth, Sarah J; Foster, Juliet L H

2017-10-01

Existing research has identified the phenomenon of associative stigma, but has not robustly illustrated that any stigmatisation of mental health professionals (MHPs) stems from association with clients. To examine whether public perceptions of MHPs mirror ideas about service users. A mixed-methods approach incorporated statistical analysis of questionnaire results and thematic analysis of focus group transcripts. A convenience sample (N = 260) completed the questionnaire, rating "typical" target professionals (some treating specified mental health conditions) on semantic differential scales. Three focus groups (N = 15) triangulated questionnaire findings. Mirroring mental illness stereotypes, questionnaire participants rated counsellors and psychiatrists as more eccentric and unpredictable than GPs. Professionals specialising in treating substance abuse and schizophrenia were rated as less empathetic, agreeable, predictable and conventional than those treating depression, reflecting differing representations of these conditions. Specialists in depression and schizophrenia were rated as more withdrawn than those treating substance abuse. Focus group participants postulated that mental health problems may cause or result from mental health employment. MHPs seem stigmatised by association with clients. Future research should elucidate the origins of stigma to safeguard professionals' and clients' well-being.

Methodology for senior-proof guidelines: A practice example from the Netherlands.

PubMed

van Munster, Barbara C; Portielje, Johanna E A; Maier, Andrea B; Arends, Arend J; de Beer, Johannes J A

2018-02-01

Evidence-based guidelines constitute a foundation for medical decision making. It is often unclear whether recommendations in general guidelines also apply to older people. This study aimed to develop a methodology to increase the focus on older people in the development of guidelines. The methodology distinguishes 4 groups of older people: (1) relatively healthy older people; (2) older people with 1 additional specific (interfering) comorbid condition; (3) older people with multimorbidity; and (4) vulnerable older people. The level of focus on older people required may be determined by the prevalence of the disease or condition, level of suffering, social relevance, and the expectation that a guideline may improve the quality of care. A specialist in geriatric medicine may be involved in the guideline process via participation, provision of feedback on drafts, or involvement in the analysis of problem areas. Regarding the patient perspective, it is advised to involve organisations for older people or informal carers in the inventory of problem areas, and additionally to perform literature research of patient values on the subject. If the guideline focuses on older people, then the relative importance of the various outcome measures for this target group needs to be explicitly stated. Search strategies for all the 4 groups are suggested. For clinical studies that focus on the treatment of diseases that frequently occur in older people, a check should be made regarding whether these studies produce the required evidence. This can be achieved by verifying if there is sufficient representation of older people in the studies and determining if there is a separate reporting of results applying to this age group. © 2017 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Interaction of the high energy deuterons with the graphite target in the plasma focus devices based on Lee model

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

Akel, M., E-mail: pscientific2@aec.org.sy; Alsheikh Salo, S.; Ismael, Sh.

2014-07-15

Numerical experiments are systematically carried out using the Lee model code extended to compute the ion beams on various plasma focus devices operated with Deuterium gas. The deuteron beam properties of the plasma focus are studied for low and high energy plasma focus device. The energy spectral distribution for deuteron ions ejected from the pinch plasma is calculated and the ion numbers with energy around 1 MeV is then determined. The deuteron–graphite target interaction is studied for different conditions. The yield of the reaction {sup 12}C(d,n){sup 13}N and the induced radioactivity for one and multi shots plasma focus devices in themore » graphite solid target is investigated. Our results present the optimized high energy repetitive plasma focus devices as an alternative to accelerators for the production of {sup 13}N short lived radioisotopes. However, technical challenges await solutions on two fronts: (a) operation of plasma focus machines at high rep rates for a sufficient period of time (b) design of durable targets that can take the thermal load.« less

Resistance to Extinction and Relapse in Combined Stimulus Contexts

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Podlesnik, Christopher A.; Bai, John Y. H.; Elliffe, Douglas

2012-01-01

Reinforcing an alternative response in the same context as a target response reduces the rate of occurrence but increases the persistence of that target response. Applied researchers who use such techniques to decrease the rate of a target problem behavior risk inadvertently increasing the persistence of the same problem behavior. Behavioral…

Managing Stress and Maintaining Well-Being: Social Support, Problem-Focused Coping, and Avoidant Coping

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Chao, Ruth Chu-Lien

2011-01-01

This study tested a model that links stress, social support, problem-focused coping, and well-being. First, it looks at how high support significantly moderated the association between stress and well-being. Next, the students' problem-focused coping was seen as mediating this moderated association. Finally, a 3-way interaction of stress, social…

Preliminary Study on the Role of Alternative Educational Pathways in Promoting the Use of Problem-Focused Coping Strategies

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Shankland, Rebecca; Franca, Lionel Riou; Genolini, Christophe M.; Guelfi, Julien-Daniel; Ionescu, Serban

2009-01-01

Coping styles are generally considered to be environmentally driven. Up to now, research has mainly focused on family influences. However, some studies underline the effect of educational settings on the development of problem-focused coping strategies. Consistently with previous reports on the enhancement of autonomy and problem-solving in…

Evolutionary Multiobjective Design Targeting a Field Programmable Transistor Array

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Aguirre, Arturo Hernandez; Zebulum, Ricardo S.; Coello, Carlos Coello

2004-01-01

This paper introduces the ISPAES algorithm for circuit design targeting a Field Programmable Transistor Array (FPTA). The use of evolutionary algorithms is common in circuit design problems, where a single fitness function drives the evolution process. Frequently, the design problem is subject to several goals or operating constraints, thus, designing a suitable fitness function catching all requirements becomes an issue. Such a problem is amenable for multi-objective optimization, however, evolutionary algorithms lack an inherent mechanism for constraint handling. This paper introduces ISPAES, an evolutionary optimization algorithm enhanced with a constraint handling technique. Several design problems targeting a FPTA show the potential of our approach.

[Non-Antibiotic Strategies to Prevent the Recurrence of Uncomplicated Urinary Tract Infections in Women].

PubMed

Bauer, H W; Bessler, W G

2016-05-01

The aim of all medical treatment is "primum nihil nocere" ("First, do no harm").Restoring the integrity of intestinal microbiota and optimising the immune response in recurrent infections, especially in the urinary tract, are treatment alternatives which are closer to this target than the usual focus on antibiotic prevention of recurrence.In the future, antibiotics will continue to be recommended for the prevention of urinary tract infections on a case-by-case basis. However, the problems of an excessive use of antibiotics, e. g. resistance and long-term interference with intestinal microbiota, are forcing us to search for alternatives. The use of probiotics alone or in combination with immunotherapeutics, or the sole use of immunotherapeutics, are important treatment options, which are already routinely available in clinical practice. These therapies are focused on the pathomechanism of an infection and tackle the root cause of the problem. Phytotherapeutics or small molecules like mannose, which restricts the adherence of bacteria to the urothelium, are complementary approaches.The EAU guidelines recommend the following treatments for the long-term prevention of urinary tract infections:Oral and parenteral immunostimulants (StroVac(®)), local estrogen replacement and administration of Lactobacillus rhamnosus and Lactobacillus reuteri. © Georg Thieme Verlag KG Stuttgart · New York.

Targeted Killing of Streptococcus mutans by a Pheromone-Guided “Smart” Antimicrobial Peptide

PubMed Central

Eckert, Randal ; He, Jian; Yarbrough, Daniel K.; Qi, Fengxia; Anderson, Maxwell H.; Shi, Wenyuan

2006-01-01

Within the repertoire of antibiotics available to a prescribing clinician, the majority affect a broad range of microorganisms, including the normal flora. The ecological disruption resulting from antibiotic treatment frequently results in secondary infections or other negative clinical consequences. To address this problem, our laboratory has recently developed a new class of pathogen-selective molecules, called specifically (or selectively) targeted antimicrobial peptides (STAMPs), based on the fusion of a species-specific targeting peptide domain with a wide-spectrum antimicrobial peptide domain. In the current study, we focused on achieving targeted killing of Streptococcus mutans, a cavity-causing bacterium that resides in a multispecies microbial community (dental plaque). In particular, we explored the possibility of utilizing a pheromone produced by S. mutans, namely, the competence stimulating peptide (CSP), as a STAMP targeting domain to mediate S. mutans-specific delivery of an antimicrobial peptide domain. We discovered that STAMPs constructed with peptides derived from CSP were potent against S. mutans grown in liquid or biofilm states but did not affect other oral streptococci tested. Further studies showed that an 8-amino-acid region within the CSP sequence is sufficient for targeted delivery of the antimicrobial peptide domain to S. mutans. The STAMPs presented here are capable of eliminating S. mutans from multispecies biofilms without affecting closely related noncariogenic oral streptococci, indicating the potential of these molecules to be developed into “probiotic” antibiotics which could selectively eliminate pathogens while preserving the protective benefits of a healthy normal flora. PMID:17060534

Intra-plastid protein trafficking: how plant cells adapted prokaryotic mechanisms to the eukaryotic condition.

PubMed

Celedon, Jose M; Cline, Kenneth

2013-02-01

Protein trafficking and localization in plastids involve a complex interplay between ancient (prokaryotic) and novel (eukaryotic) translocases and targeting machineries. During evolution, ancient systems acquired new functions and novel translocation machineries were developed to facilitate the correct localization of nuclear encoded proteins targeted to the chloroplast. Because of its post-translational nature, targeting and integration of membrane proteins posed the biggest challenge to the organelle to avoid aggregation in the aqueous compartments. Soluble proteins faced a different kind of problem since some had to be transported across three membranes to reach their destination. Early studies suggested that chloroplasts addressed these issues by adapting ancient-prokaryotic machineries and integrating them with novel-eukaryotic systems, a process called 'conservative sorting'. In the last decade, detailed biochemical, genetic, and structural studies have unraveled the mechanisms of protein targeting and localization in chloroplasts, suggesting a highly integrated scheme where ancient and novel systems collaborate at different stages of the process. In this review we focus on the differences and similarities between chloroplast ancestral translocases and their prokaryotic relatives to highlight known modifications that adapted them to the eukaryotic situation. This article is part of a Special Issue entitled: Protein Import and Quality Control in Mitochondria and Plastids. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

A Robust Wireless Sensor Network Localization Algorithm in Mixed LOS/NLOS Scenario.

PubMed

Li, Bing; Cui, Wei; Wang, Bin

2015-09-16

Localization algorithms based on received signal strength indication (RSSI) are widely used in the field of target localization due to its advantages of convenient application and independent from hardware devices. Unfortunately, the RSSI values are susceptible to fluctuate under the influence of non-line-of-sight (NLOS) in indoor space. Existing algorithms often produce unreliable estimated distances, leading to low accuracy and low effectiveness in indoor target localization. Moreover, these approaches require extra prior knowledge about the propagation model. As such, we focus on the problem of localization in mixed LOS/NLOS scenario and propose a novel localization algorithm: Gaussian mixed model based non-metric Multidimensional (GMDS). In GMDS, the RSSI is estimated using a Gaussian mixed model (GMM). The dissimilarity matrix is built to generate relative coordinates of nodes by a multi-dimensional scaling (MDS) approach. Finally, based on the anchor nodes' actual coordinates and target's relative coordinates, the target's actual coordinates can be computed via coordinate transformation. Our algorithm could perform localization estimation well without being provided with prior knowledge. The experimental verification shows that GMDS effectively reduces NLOS error and is of higher accuracy in indoor mixed LOS/NLOS localization and still remains effective when we extend single NLOS to multiple NLOS.

Making medical research clinically friendly: a communication-based conceptual framework.

PubMed

McGrath, John; Lawrence, Valerie; Richardson, W Scott

2004-11-01

It often takes a long time before the results of medical research are actually used by health care practitioners in day-to-day clinical settings. This problem, referred to as "the evidence-to-practice gap", has significant implications for patient health care. Practitioners have difficulty keeping up with the latest information in part because it is reported in hundreds of journals that may not be easily accessed and understood. This essay conceptualizes the evidence-to-practice gap as a communication problem and suggests how academic research can be translated into messages that are easier for practitioners to access, comprehend and incorporate into their medical practice. A "translation framework" shows the importance of targeting messages to specific audiences and provides a communication-based conceptual approach for summarizing research for clinicians. Targeting the results of academic research to practitioners will decrease the time it takes for patients to benefit from the latest medical evidence. Translation guidelines can help health researchers write more effectively for both academic and practitioner audiences. Since the evidence-to-practice gap is a systemic problem that begins with how we train our health researchers, educators should consider addressing this topic in the health professions classroom. The framework presented here can serve as the basis for an instructional unit on interpreting and reporting research findings. Finally, information technology can play a much larger role in the communication process because of the enormous advantages of quick access and data organization that computers and the Internet provide. Practitioner-targeted research summaries could be made available on government or not-for-profit sponsored websites as well as by journals themselves. Funding opportunities exist for research that focuses on how technology can help improve health care, and so the time is right for health researchers to investigate ways of making their studies more accessible and quickly usable via web-based distribution. The potential of medical science should not be limited by an information delivery system that we have the knowledge, expertise and resources to improve.

YouTube as a source of quit smoking information for people living with mental illness.

PubMed

Sharma, Ratika; Lucas, Maya; Ford, Pauline; Meurk, Carla; Gartner, Coral E

2016-11-01

YouTube is the most popular video sharing website, and is increasingly used to broadcast health information including smoking cessation advice. This study examines the quality and quantity of YouTube quit smoking videos targeted at people living with mental illness (MI). We systematically searched YouTube using selected relevant search terms. The first 50 videos obtained for each search term were screened for relevance and further videos screened through snowball sampling. Forty unique, English language videos focussing on people with MI were included in the assessment and evaluated for general video characteristics, themes, format, targeted smoking cessation and harm reduction information. Most videos either discussed the problem of high smoking rates among people with MI (n=12) or smoking cessation programmes and policies at an institutional level (n=13). Only nine videos were aimed at providing quit smoking advice to this population. One video recommended higher doses of nicotine replacement therapy (NRT) for people with MI while six videos referred to possible changes in medication dosage on quitting smoking. Four videos suggested cutting down smoking for harm reduction. Very few YouTube videos specifically focus on the problem of high smoking rates among people with MI and even fewer provide targeted smoking cessation and harm reduction advice for this priority population. There is a need to develop comprehensive, evidence based, quit smoking video resources for smokers with a MI. Published by the BMJ Publishing Group Limited. For permission to use (where not already granted under a licence) please go to http://www.bmj.com/company/products-services/rights-and-licensing/.

Improving the particle beam characteristics resulting from laser ion acceleration at ultra high intensity through target manipulation - Numerical modeling

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Tatomirescu, Dragos; d'Humieres, Emmanuel; Vizman, Daniel

2017-12-01

The necessity to produce superior quality ion and electron beams has been a hot research field due to the advances in laser science in the past decade. This work focuses on the parametric study of different target density profiles in order to determine their effect on the spatial distribution of the accelerated particle beam, the particle maximum energy, and the electromagnetic field characteristics. For the scope of this study, the laser pulse parameters were kept constant, while varying the target parameters. The study continues the work published in [1] and focuses on further studying the effects of target curvature coupled with a cone laser focusing structure. The results show increased particle beam focusing and a significant enhancement in particle maximum energy.

Numerical investigation of multichannel laser beam phase locking in turbulent atmosphere

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

Volkov, V A; Volkov, M V; Garanin, S G

2015-12-31

The efficiency of coherent multichannel beam combining under focusing through a turbulent medium on a target in the cases of phase conjugation and target irradiation in the feedback loop is investigated numerically in various approximations. The conditions of efficient focusing of multichannel radiation on the target are found. It is shown that the coherent beam combining with target irradiation in the feedback loop, which does not require a reference beam and wavefront measurements, is as good as the phase conjugation approach in the efficiency of focusing. It is found that the main effect of focusing is provided by properly chosenmore » phase shifts in the channels, whereas taking into account local wavefront tip tilts weakly affects the result. (control of laser radiation parameters)« less

Anger in Middle School: The Solving Problems Together Model

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hall, Kimberly R.; Rushing, Jeri L.; Owens, Rachel B.

2009-01-01

Problem-focused interventions are considered to be one of the most effective group counseling strategies with adolescents. This article describes a problem-focused group counseling model, Solving Problems Together (SPT), with a small group of adolescent African American boys struggling with anger management. Adapted from the teaching philosophy of…

Enhanced target normal sheath acceleration based on the laser relativistic self-focusing

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zou, D. B.; Zhuo, H. B.; Yang, X. H.; Shao, F. Q.; Ma, Y. Y.; Yu, T. P.; Wu, H. C.; Yin, Y.; Ge, Z. Y.; Li, X. H.

2014-06-01

The enhanced target normal sheath acceleration of ions in laser target interaction via the laser relativistic self-focusing effect is investigated by theoretical analysis and particle-in-cell simulations. The temperature of the hot electrons in the underdense plasma is greatly increased due to the occurrence of resonant absorption, while the electron-betatron-oscillation frequency is close to its witnessed laser frequency [Pukhov et al., Phys. Plasma 6, 2847 (1999)]. While these hot electrons penetrate through the backside solid target, a stronger sheath electric field at the rear surface of the target is induced, which can accelerate the protons to a higher energy. It is also shown that the optimum length of the underdense plasma is approximately equal to the self-focusing distance.

The research of edge extraction and target recognition based on inherent feature of objects

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Xie, Yu-chan; Lin, Yu-chi; Huang, Yin-guo

2008-03-01

Current research on computer vision often needs specific techniques for particular problems. Little use has been made of high-level aspects of computer vision, such as three-dimensional (3D) object recognition, that are appropriate for large classes of problems and situations. In particular, high-level vision often focuses mainly on the extraction of symbolic descriptions, and pays little attention to the speed of processing. In order to extract and recognize target intelligently and rapidly, in this paper we developed a new 3D target recognition method based on inherent feature of objects in which cuboid was taken as model. On the basis of analysis cuboid nature contour and greyhound distributing characteristics, overall fuzzy evaluating technique was utilized to recognize and segment the target. Then Hough transform was used to extract and match model's main edges, we reconstruct aim edges by stereo technology in the end. There are three major contributions in this paper. Firstly, the corresponding relations between the parameters of cuboid model's straight edges lines in an image field and in the transform field were summed up. By those, the aimless computations and searches in Hough transform processing can be reduced greatly and the efficiency is improved. Secondly, as the priori knowledge about cuboids contour's geometry character known already, the intersections of the component extracted edges are taken, and assess the geometry of candidate edges matches based on the intersections, rather than the extracted edges. Therefore the outlines are enhanced and the noise is depressed. Finally, a 3-D target recognition method is proposed. Compared with other recognition methods, this new method has a quick response time and can be achieved with high-level computer vision. The method present here can be used widely in vision-guide techniques to strengthen its intelligence and generalization, which can also play an important role in object tracking, port AGV, robots fields. The results of simulation experiments and theory analyzing demonstrate that the proposed method could suppress noise effectively, extracted target edges robustly, and achieve the real time need. Theory analysis and experiment shows the method is reasonable and efficient.

An eHealth Intervention to Promote Physical Activity and Social Network of Single, Chronically Impaired Older Adults: Adaptation of an Existing Intervention Using Intervention Mapping

PubMed Central

Peels, Denise A; Berendsen, Brenda AJ; Bolman, Catherine AW; Lechner, Lilian

2017-01-01

Background Especially for single older adults with chronic diseases, physical inactivity and a poor social network are regarded as serious threats to their health and independence. The Active Plus intervention is an automated computer-tailored eHealth intervention that has been proven effective to promote physical activity (PA) in the general population of adults older than 50 years. Objective The aim of this study was to report on the methods and results of the systematic adaptation of Active Plus to the wishes and needs of the subgroup of single people older than 65 years who have one or more chronic diseases, as this specific target population may encounter specific challenges regarding PA and social network. Methods The Intervention Mapping (IM) protocol was used to systematically adapt the existing intervention to optimally suit this specific target population. A literature study was performed, and quantitative as well as qualitative data were derived from health care professionals (by questionnaires, n=10) and the target population (by focus group interviews, n=14), which were then systematically integrated into the adapted intervention. Results As the health problems and the targeted behavior are largely the same in the original and adapted intervention, the outcome of the needs assessment was that the performance objectives remained the same. As found in the literature study and in data derived from health professionals and focus groups, the relative importance and operationalization of the relevant psychosocial determinants related to these objectives are different from the original intervention, resulting in a refinement of the change objectives to optimally fit the specific target population. This refinement also resulted in changes in the practical applications, program components, intervention materials, and the evaluation and implementation strategy for the subgroup of single, chronically impaired older adults. Conclusions This study demonstrates that the adaptation of an existing intervention is an intensive process in which adopting the IM protocol is an invaluable tool. The study provides a broad insight in adapting interventions aimed at single older adults with a chronic disease. It is concluded that even when the new target population is a sizable segment of the original target population, the adapted intervention still needs considerable changes to optimally fit the needs and situational differences of the narrower target population. PMID:29170146

Remote explosive and chemical agent detection using broadly tunable mid-infrared external cavity quantum cascade lasers

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Rayner, Timothy; Weida, Miles; Pushkarsky, Michael; Day, Timothy

2007-04-01

Terrorists both with IEDs and suicide bombers are targeting civilian infrastructures such as transportation systems. Although explosive detection technologies exist and are used effectively in aviation, these technologies do not lend themselves well to protecting open architecture soft targets, as they are focused on a checkpoint form factor that limits throughput. However, remote detection of explosives and other chemicals would enable these kinds of targets to be protected without interrupting the flow of commerce. Tunable mid-IR laser technology offers the opportunity to detect explosives and other chemicals remotely and quickly. Most chemical compounds, including explosives, have their fundamental vibrational modes in the mid-infrared region (3 to 15μm). There are a variety of techniques that focus on examining interactions that have proven effective in the laboratory but could never work in the field due to complexity, size, reliability and cost. Daylight Solutions has solved these problems by integrating quantum cascade gain media into external tunable cavities. This has resulted in miniaturized, broadly tunable mid-IR laser sources. The laser sources have a capability to tune to +/- 5% of their center wavelength, which means they can sweep through an entire absorption spectrum to ensure very good detection and false alarm performance compared with fixed wavelength devices. These devices are also highly portable, operate at room temperature, and generate 10's to 100's of mW in optical power, in pulsed and continuous wave configurations. Daylight Solutions is in the process of developing a variety of standoff explosive and chemical weapon detection systems using this technology.

Direct-drive inertial confinement fusion: A review

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

Craxton, R. S.; Anderson, K. S.; Boehly, T. R.

The direct-drive, laser-based approach to inertial confinement fusion (ICF) is reviewed from its inception following the demonstration of the first laser to its implementation on the present generation of high-power lasers. The review focuses on the evolution of scientific understanding gained from target-physics experiments in many areas, identifying problems that were demonstrated and the solutions implemented. The review starts with the basic understanding of laser–plasma interactions that was obtained before the declassification of laser-induced compression in the early 1970s and continues with the compression experiments using infrared lasers in the late 1970s that produced thermonuclear neutrons. The problem of suprathermalmore » electrons and the target preheat that they caused, associated with the infrared laser wavelength, led to lasers being built after 1980 to operate at shorter wavelengths, especially 0.35 μm—the third harmonic of the Nd:glass laser—and 0.248 μm (the KrF gas laser). The main physics areas relevant to direct drive are reviewed. The primary absorption mechanism at short wavelengths is classical inverse bremsstrahlung. Nonuniformities imprinted on the target by laser irradiation have been addressed by the development of a number of beam-smoothing techniques and imprint-mitigation strategies. The effects of hydrodynamic instabilities are mitigated by a combination of imprint reduction and target designs that minimize the instability growth rates. Several coronal plasma physics processes are reviewed. The two-plasmon–decay instability, stimulated Brillouin scattering (together with cross-beam energy transfer), and (possibly) stimulated Raman scattering are identified as potential concerns, placing constraints on the laser intensities used in target designs, while other processes (self-focusing and filamentation, the parametric decay instability, and magnetic fields), once considered important, are now of lesser concern for mainline direct-drive target concepts. Filamentation is largely suppressed by beam smoothing. Thermal transport modeling, important to the interpretation of experiments and to target design, has been found to be nonlocal in nature. Advances in shock timing and equation-of-state measurements relevant to direct-drive ICF are reported. Room-temperature implosions have provided an increased understanding of the importance of stability and uniformity. The evolution of cryogenic implosion capabilities, leading to an extensive series carried out on the 60-beam OMEGA laser [Boehly et al., Opt. Commun. 133, 495 (1997)], is reviewed together with major advances in cryogenic target formation. A polar-drive concept has been developed that will enable direct-drive–ignition experiments to be performed on the National Ignition Facility [Haynam et al., Appl. Opt. 46(16), 3276 (2007)]. The advantages offered by the alternative approaches of fast ignition and shock ignition and the issues associated with these concepts are described. The lessons learned from target-physics and implosion experiments are taken into account in ignition and high-gain target designs for laser wavelengths of 1/3 μm and 1/4 μm. Substantial advances in direct-drive inertial fusion reactor concepts are reviewed. Overall, the progress in scientific understanding over the past five decades has been enormous, to the point that inertial fusion energy using direct drive shows significant promise as a future environmentally attractive energy source.« less

Direct-drive inertial confinement fusion: A review

DOE PAGES

Craxton, R. S.; Anderson, K. S.; Boehly, T. R.; ...

2015-11-25

In this study, the direct-drive, laser-based approach to inertial confinement fusion (ICF) is reviewed from its inception following the demonstration of the first laser to its implementation on the present generation of high-power lasers. The review focuses on the evolution of scientific understanding gained from target-physics experiments in many areas, identifying problems that were demonstrated and the solutions implemented. The review starts with the basic understanding of laser–plasma interactions that was obtained before the declassification of laser-induced compression in the early 1970s and continues with the compression experiments using infrared lasers in the late 1970s that produced thermonuclear neutrons. Themore » problem of suprathermal electrons and the target preheat that they caused, associated with the infrared laser wavelength, led to lasers being built after 1980 to operate at shorter wavelengths, especially 0.35 um—the third harmonic of the Nd:glass laser—and 0.248 um (the KrF gas laser). The main physics areas relevant to direct drive are reviewed. The primary absorption mechanism at short wavelengths is classical inverse bremsstrahlung. Nonuniformities imprinted on the target by laser irradiation have been addressed by the development of a number of beam-smoothing techniques and imprint-mitigation strategies. The effects of hydrodynamic instabilities are mitigated by a combination of imprint reduction and target designs that minimize the instability growth rates. Several coronal plasma physics processes are reviewed. The two-plasmon–decay instability, stimulated Brillouin scattering (together with cross-beam energy transfer), and (possibly) stimulated Raman scattering are identified as potential concerns, placing constraints on the laser intensities used in target designs, while other processes (self-focusing and filamentation, the parametric decay instability, and magnetic fields), once considered important, are now of lesser concern for mainline direct-drive target concepts. Filamentation is largely suppressed by beam smoothing. Thermal transport modeling, important to the interpretation of experiments and to target design, has been found to be non-local in nature. Advances in shock timing and equation-of-state measurements relevant to direct-drive ICF are reported. Room-temperature implosions have provided an increased understanding of the importance of stability and uniformity. The evolution of cryogenic implosion capabilities, leading to an extensive series carried out on the 60-beam OMEGA laser [T. R. Boehly et al., Opt. Commun. 133, 495 (1997)], is reviewed together with major advances in cryogenic target formation. A polar-drive concept has been developed that will enable direct-drive–ignition experiments to be performed on the National Ignition Facility [C. A. Haynam et al., Appl. Opt. 46 (16), 3276 (2007)]. The advantages offered by the alternative approaches of fast ignition and shock ignition and the issues associated with these concepts are described. The lessons learned from target-physics and implosion experiments are taken into account in ignition and high-gain target designs for laser wavelengths of 1/3 μm and 1/4 μm. Substantial advances in direct-drive inertial fusion reactor concepts are reviewed. Overall, the progress in scientific understanding over the past five decades has been enormous, to the point that inertial fusion energy using direct drive shows significant promise as a future environmentally attractive energy source.« less

Direct-drive inertial confinement fusion: A review

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

Craxton, R. S.; Anderson, K. S.; Boehly, T. R.

In this study, the direct-drive, laser-based approach to inertial confinement fusion (ICF) is reviewed from its inception following the demonstration of the first laser to its implementation on the present generation of high-power lasers. The review focuses on the evolution of scientific understanding gained from target-physics experiments in many areas, identifying problems that were demonstrated and the solutions implemented. The review starts with the basic understanding of laser–plasma interactions that was obtained before the declassification of laser-induced compression in the early 1970s and continues with the compression experiments using infrared lasers in the late 1970s that produced thermonuclear neutrons. Themore » problem of suprathermal electrons and the target preheat that they caused, associated with the infrared laser wavelength, led to lasers being built after 1980 to operate at shorter wavelengths, especially 0.35 um—the third harmonic of the Nd:glass laser—and 0.248 um (the KrF gas laser). The main physics areas relevant to direct drive are reviewed. The primary absorption mechanism at short wavelengths is classical inverse bremsstrahlung. Nonuniformities imprinted on the target by laser irradiation have been addressed by the development of a number of beam-smoothing techniques and imprint-mitigation strategies. The effects of hydrodynamic instabilities are mitigated by a combination of imprint reduction and target designs that minimize the instability growth rates. Several coronal plasma physics processes are reviewed. The two-plasmon–decay instability, stimulated Brillouin scattering (together with cross-beam energy transfer), and (possibly) stimulated Raman scattering are identified as potential concerns, placing constraints on the laser intensities used in target designs, while other processes (self-focusing and filamentation, the parametric decay instability, and magnetic fields), once considered important, are now of lesser concern for mainline direct-drive target concepts. Filamentation is largely suppressed by beam smoothing. Thermal transport modeling, important to the interpretation of experiments and to target design, has been found to be non-local in nature. Advances in shock timing and equation-of-state measurements relevant to direct-drive ICF are reported. Room-temperature implosions have provided an increased understanding of the importance of stability and uniformity. The evolution of cryogenic implosion capabilities, leading to an extensive series carried out on the 60-beam OMEGA laser [T. R. Boehly et al., Opt. Commun. 133, 495 (1997)], is reviewed together with major advances in cryogenic target formation. A polar-drive concept has been developed that will enable direct-drive–ignition experiments to be performed on the National Ignition Facility [C. A. Haynam et al., Appl. Opt. 46 (16), 3276 (2007)]. The advantages offered by the alternative approaches of fast ignition and shock ignition and the issues associated with these concepts are described. The lessons learned from target-physics and implosion experiments are taken into account in ignition and high-gain target designs for laser wavelengths of 1/3 μm and 1/4 μm. Substantial advances in direct-drive inertial fusion reactor concepts are reviewed. Overall, the progress in scientific understanding over the past five decades has been enormous, to the point that inertial fusion energy using direct drive shows significant promise as a future environmentally attractive energy source.« less

[Problems of reforming pension schemes of the Georgian population].

PubMed

Gorgiladze, L Sh; Gerzmava, O Kh

2014-12-01

Decent level of pension provision for older people is one of the indispensable condition of any democratic society. Over time, the objectives pursued by the public pension system, have undergone many changes, but remains a constant problem preventing poverty of older citizens, and later, ensuring adequate standards of living of this, increasing the proportion of citizens. Certainly, the question of the relationship of the working population of premiums and pensions becomes essential economic and political importance. In the countries with transitive economy, which include Georgia, the most vulnerable because limited possibilities of pensioners fit into the new economic development. Georgia has not yet happened formation sufficiently clear approach to the reform of the existing system of social protection, which is characterized by extremely high paternalistic role of the state and very poorly marked public institutions. The system mainly focuses on targeted, efficient solution of problems of the crisis, however, this approach does not provide a long-term effect, because is not aimed at preventing repetition of crises on social protection perspective of each individual and the population as a whole. It is need creating highly focused on society's expectations of a multidisciplinary task of social protection, which should provide a comprehensive multifaceted assistance in solving problems throughout his life. In this context, social protection should be seen as a protection against social risks of loss or limitation of economic independence and social well-being. Forms and methods of organization of social protection of the elderly should be differentiated, affordable, high-grade, fully oriented to the prevention and resolution of the positive ways to separate the individual complex emergencies. Requires special consideration problem with the level of pensions, the solution of which depends not only on the economy but also on the new concept of pensions, which should include the introduction of a funded pension.

Increasing student confidence in technical and professional skills through project based learning

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Robinson, Alice L.

This work focuses on developing undergraduate students' technical and professional skills through a project-based spiral curriculum in the Agricultural & Biological Engineering department at Purdue that can be implemented campus wide. Through this curriculum, Purdue engineers will be prepared for leadership roles in responding to the global technological, economic, and societal challenges of the 21st century by exposure to the relationships between engineering and its impacts on real world needs and challenges. Project-based learning uses projects as the focus of instruction and has shown increased understanding, motivation, and confidence through application of engineering principles to real-world problems. The strength of a spiral curriculum is that it continually revisits basic ideas and themes with increasing complexity and sophistication. The proposed spiral curriculum incorporates the target attributes of the Purdue Engineer of 2020 through project based courses during sophomore, junior, and senior year. These courses will build on concepts taught during first year engineering as well. The Engineer of 2020 (NAE and Purdue) target attributes include strong technical and professional skills to solve societal and technological burdens. A prototype course has been developed, taught, and evaluated during the previous two fall semesters in the sophomore level of the Biological and Food Process Engineering curriculum. The target students met 3 hours a week in a traditional lecture setting plus 2 hours a week in a project based lab setting. The control group met only 3 hours a week in a traditional lecture setting. Peer and self assessment results from student surveys show increased confidence in every area surveyed. Focus groups revealed student reactions to the course. Students enjoyed the course but felt it difficult to handle ambiguity with project work. Future work includes course revisions to the content, assessment, and pedagogy of the prototype class, development of the remaining project courses in the curriculum, and increasing graduate student instruction in the courses to gain teaching and leadership experience.

Lithium ion beam divergence on SABRE extraction ion diode experiments

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

Hanson, D.L.; Cuneo, M.E.; Johnson, D.J.

Intense lithium beams are of particular interest for light ion inertial confinement fusion applications because lithium ions can be accelerated at high voltage in a single charge state (Li{sup +}) with a high mass-to-charge ratio and appropriate range for efficient focusing and heating of a hohlraum ICF target. Scaling to ion power densities adequate to drive high gain pellet implosions (600 TW at 30 MeV) will require a large number of beams transported, temporally bunched, and focused onto a target, with the necessary target standoff to ensure survival of the driver modules. For efficient long distance transport and focusing tomore » a small pellet, lithium beam divergence must be reduced to about 12 mrad or less (depending on the transport scheme). To support the eventual development of a light ion driver module for ICF applications, the authors are currently working to improve the composition, uniformity, and divergence of lithium ion beams produced by both passive LiF and active laser-generated lithium ion sources on extraction applied-B ion diodes on the SABRE accelerator (1 TW, 5 MV, 250 kA). While lithium beam divergence accounting and control are an essential goal of these experiments, divergence measurements for lithium beams present some unique problems not encountered to the same degree in divergence measurements on proton sources. To avoid these difficulties, the authors have developed a large aperture ion imaging diagnostic for time-resolved lithium divergence measurements. The authors will report on the operation of this lithium beam divergence diagnostic and on results of time-resolved divergence measurements in progress for passive LiF ion sources and laser-produced active lithium sources operated in diode configurations designed to control divergence growth. Comparisons will also be made with time-integrated divergence results obtained with small entrance aperture ultracompact pinhole cameras.« less

High power linear pulsed beam annealer

DOEpatents

Strathman, Michael D.; Sadana, Devendra K.; True, Richard B.

1983-01-01

A high power pulsed electron beam is produced in a system comprised of an electron gun having a heated cathode, control grid, focus ring, and a curved drift tube. The drift tube is maintained at a high positive voltage with respect to the cathode to accelerate electrons passing through the focus ring and to thereby eliminate space charge. A coil surrounding the curved drift tube provides a magnetic field which maintains the electron beam focused about the axis of the tube and imparts motion on electrons in a spiral path for shallow penetration of the electrons into a target. The curvature of the tube is selected so there is no line of sight between the cathode and a target holder positioned within a second drift tube spaced coaxially from the curved tube. The second tube and the target holder are maintained at a reference voltage that decelerates the electrons. A second coil surrounding the second drift tube maintains the electron beam focused about the axis of the second drift tube and compresses the electron beam to the area of the target. The target holder can be adjusted to position the target where the cross section of the beam matches the area of the target.

The effects of fixed-time reinforcement schedules on functional response classes: a translational study.

PubMed

Heinicke, Megan R; Carr, James E; LeBlanc, Linda A

2012-01-01

Research on functional response classes has applied significance because less severe forms of problem behavior have been found to co-occur with more severe forms. In addition, the most severe forms of problem behavior are sometimes targeted for intervention without monitoring other less severe forms. In such cases, it is unknown whether and how untreated forms of problem behavior covary with the targeted behaviors. The present study employed a translational procedure (with button presses as the target behavior) to investigate response covariation under noncontingent reinforcement with typically developing preschoolers. The results indicated that noncontingent reinforcement was generally effective in decreasing all response class members when only one member was targeted.

Radiation force on absorbing targets and power measurements of a high intensity focused ultrasound (HIFU) source

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Qian, Zuwen; Zhu, Zhemin; Ye, Shigong; Jiang, Wenhua; Zhu, Houqing; Yu, Jinshen

2010-10-01

Based on the analytic expressions for the radiated field of a circular concave piston given by Hasegawa et al., an integral for calculation of the radiation force on a plane absorbing target in a spherically focused field is derived. A general relation between acoustic power P and normal radiation force F n is obtained under the condition of kr ≫ 1. Numerical computation is carried out by using the symbolic computation program for practically focused sources and absorbing circular targets. The results show that, for a given source, there is a range of target positions where the radiation force is independent of the target’s position under the assumption that the contribution of the acoustic field behind the target to the radiation force can be neglected. The experiments are carried out and confirm that there is a range of target positions where the measured radiation force is basically independent of the target’s position even at high acoustic power (up to 700 W). It is believed that when the radiation force method is used to measure the acoustic power radiated from a focused source, the size of the target must be selected in such a way that no observable sound can be found in the region behind the target.

Late-life and life history predictors of older adults' high-risk alcohol consumption and drinking problems.

PubMed

Moos, Rudolf H; Schutte, Kathleen K; Brennan, Penny L; Moos, Bernice S

2010-04-01

This prospective, longitudinal study focused on late-life and life history predictors of high-risk alcohol consumption and drinking problems during a 20-year interval as adults matured from age 55-65 to 75-85. A sample of older community residents (N=719) who had consumed alcohol in the past year or shortly before was surveyed at baseline and 10 and 20 years later. At each contact point, participants completed an inventory that assessed their alcohol consumption, drinking problems, and personal and life context factors. Participants also provided information about their life history of drinking and help-seeking. Older adults who, at baseline, had more friends who approved of drinking, relied on substances for tension reduction, and had more financial resources were more likely to engage in high-risk alcohol consumption and to incur drinking problems at 10- and 20-year follow-ups. With respect to life history factors, drinking problems by age 50 were associated with a higher likelihood of late-life high-risk alcohol consumption and drinking problems; having tried to cut down on drinking and participation in Alcoholics Anonymous were associated with a lower likelihood of high-risk consumption and problems. Specific late-life and life history factors can identify older adults likely to engage in excessive alcohol consumption 10 and 20 years later. Targeted screening that considers current alcohol consumption and life context, and history of drinking problems and help-seeking, could help identify older adults at higher risk for excessive or problematic drinking. Published by Elsevier Ireland Ltd.

Late-Life and Life History Predictors of Older Adults of High-Risk Alcohol Consumption and Drinking Problems

PubMed Central

Moos, Rudolf H.; Schutte, Kathleen K.; Brennan, Penny L.; Moos, Bernice S.

2009-01-01

Aims This prospective, longitudinal study focused on late-life and life history predictors of high-risk alcohol consumption and drinking problems during a 20-year interval as adults matured from age 55–65 to age 75–85. Design, Setting, Participants A sample of older community residents (N=719) who had consumed alcohol in the past year or shortly before was surveyed at baseline and 10 years and 20 years later. Measurements At each contact point, participants completed an inventory that assessed their alcohol consumption, drinking problems, and personal and life context factors. Participants also provided information about their life history of drinking and help-seeking. Results Older adults who, at baseline, had more friends who approved of drinking, relied on substances for tension reduction, and had more financial resources were more likely to engage in high-risk alcohol consumption and to incur drinking problems at 10-year and 20-year follow-ups. With respect to life history factors, drinking problems by age 50 were associated with a higher likelihood of late-life high-risk alcohol consumption and drinking problems; having tried to cut down on drinking and participation in Alcoholics Anonymous were associated with a lower likelihood of high-risk consumption and problems. Conclusion Specific late-life and life history factors can identify older adults likely to engage in excessive alcohol consumption 10 and 20 years later. Targeted screening that considers current alcohol consumption and life context, and history of drinking problems and help-seeking, could help identify older adults at higher risk for excessive or problematic drinking. PMID:19969428

Managing stress: the influence of gender, age and emotion regulation on coping among university students in Botswana

PubMed Central

Monteiro, Nicole M.; Balogun, Shyngle K.; Oratile, Kutlo N.

2014-01-01

This study focused on the influence of gender, age and emotion regulation on coping strategies among university students in Botswana. Sixty-four males and 64 females, ranging in age from 18 to 29 years completed the Difficulty in Emotion Regulation Scale and the Coping Strategy Inventory. Female students used wishful thinking and problem-focused disengagement more than male students; however, there were no other significant gender differences in coping strategies. Older students were more likely to use problem-solving, cognitive restructuring and express emotion coping strategies. In addition, problems in emotion regulation significantly predicted problem-and emotion-focused engagement, problem- and emotion-focused disengagement and coping strategies. There was a unique finding that non-acceptance of emotional responses, a type of emotion suppression, was positively correlated with problem solving, cognitive restructuring, expressing emotion, social support, problem avoidance and wishful thinking coping strategies. Cultural context and implications for student well-being and university support are discussed. PMID:24910491

Meanings of knowledge and identity in public health nursing in a time of transition: interpretations of public health nurses' narratives.

PubMed

Dahl, Berit Misund; Clancy, Anne

2015-12-01

A changing healthcare system affects the professional identity of nursing groups. Public health nursing has experienced challenges in balancing the paternalistic expert ideology and the empowerment participation ideology. A strong professional identity can legitimate nursing, and possibly influence the quality of nursing work. Narrations from practice can illuminate the nurses' theoretical and practical knowledge and help illustrate their collective professional identity. To illuminate the meaning of public health nursing knowledge and professional identity in a continuously changing public health nursing practice. A qualitative interview study with a purposeful sample of 23 Norwegian public health nurses was carried out. Data were analysed using phenomenological hermeneutics, a descriptive method inspired by Ricoeur's philosophy of interpretation. Three themes emerged (i) Being a generalist: emphasising the need for generalised knowledge and using clinical judgement, (ii) Being one who empowers: focusing on resources and coping strategies, (iii) Being occupied with individual problem solving: focusing on individuals with special needs, using standardised techniques and protocols, and lacking specialised knowledge. Interpretation of the nurses' stories illuminated their need for generalised evidence-based knowledge, but also the importance of using sound clinical judgement in a diverse complex practice, where service users need encouragement, support and expert advice. Time pressures can limit the nurses' involvement. Many had an individual problem-focus more than a primary prevention focus, in contrast to governmental regulations stating that Norwegian public health nurses should focus on health promotion and primary prevention. Public health nurses have a broad generalised knowledge of their special target group giving them a 'specialist generalist' role. Clarification of this role, in relation to jurisdictional borders, can create a strong identity at a time when healthcare policy promotes economic values, professional neutrality and increased collaboration. © 2015 Nordic College of Caring Science.

Inertial Confinement fusion targets

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Hendricks, C. D.

1982-01-01

Inertial confinement fusion (ICF) targets are made as simple flat discs, as hollow shells or as complicated multilayer structures. Many techniques were devised for producing the targets. Glass and metal shells are made by using drop and bubble techniques. Solid hydrogen shells are also produced by adapting old methods to the solution of modern problems. Some of these techniques, problems, and solutions are discussed. In addition, the applications of many of the techniques to fabrication of ICF targets is presented.

Associations between executive functioning, coping, and psychosocial functioning after acquired brain injury.

PubMed

Wolters Gregório, Gisela; Ponds, Rudolf W H M; Smeets, Sanne M J; Jonker, Frank; Pouwels, Climmy G J G; Verhey, Frans R; van Heugten, Caroline M

2015-09-01

To examine the relationships between executive functioning, coping, depressive symptoms, and quality of life in individuals with neuropsychiatric symptoms after acquired brain injury (ABI). Cross-sectional study. Individuals (n = 93) in the post-acute and chronic phase (>3 months) after ABI and their significant others (N = 58) were recruited from outpatient clinics of four mental health centres in the Netherlands. Outcome measures were the Trail Making Test, Stroop Colour Word Test, Frontal Systems Behavioural Scale, Utrecht Coping List, Patient Health Questionnaire, and Life Satisfaction Questionnaire. Data were analysed with multiple regression analyses. Self-reported executive dysfunction was associated with greater use of passive coping styles (β = .37, p < .01), and passive coping, in turn, was associated with lower quality of life (β = -.57, p < .001) and more depressive symptoms (β = .65, p < .001). Problem-focused coping was associated with higher quality of life among individuals who reported better executive functioning (β = -.94, p < .05). Performances on executive functioning tests were not associated with coping, depressive symptoms, or quality of life. For clinicians, these data indicate that individuals who report greater difficulties with executive functioning after ABI are inclined to use maladaptive passive coping styles, which should be targeted in treatment. In comparison, individuals who report greater difficulties with executive functioning should not be prompted to use problem-focused coping styles. These individuals may benefit from other coping styles, such as the use of seeking social support or acceptance of problems. Coping influences the association between executive functioning and quality of life. Individuals who report difficulties with executive functioning after ABI may be inclined to use passive coping styles, which are maladaptive. Problem-focused coping strategies may be more useful for individuals who have strong executive abilities. This study was a cross-sectional study; thus, a cause-and-effect relationship could not be established between executive functioning, coping, and psychosocial functioning. As this research was part of standard clinical care, non-traditional tests for executive functioning were not administered. © 2015 The British Psychological Society.

Hardcore drinking drivers and other contributors to the alcohol-impaired driving problem: need for a comprehensive approach.

PubMed

Williams, Allan F; McCartt, Anne T; Ferguson, Susan A

2007-03-01

Understanding the hardcore drinking driver concept in the context of the alcohol-impaired driving problem. Review of the relevant literature. As progress against alcohol-impaired driving slowed in the early 1990s, public and political attention turned to "hardcore" drinking drivers, and they have been a priority for the past 15 years. Though intuitive, the hardcore concept has been difficult to conceptualize. Its definition of hard-to-change chronic heavy drinking drivers focuses on a group that is not easily identifiable and ignores many who account for a large portion of alcohol-impaired driving crashes. These include drivers who drink heavily on occasion and drivers who drink at more moderate levels that elevate crash risk. Emphasis on the hardcore has focused attention on the small proportion of drinking drivers who have been detected and arrested, whereas the vast majority of drinking drivers go undetected. Some countermeasures aimed at the hardcore group have been effective in reducing recidivism, but attention and resources also need to be given to general deterrent initiatives (e.g., 0.08 g/dL, sobriety checkpoints, administrative license suspension). There has been no reduction in the overall alcohol-impaired driving problem since the mid-1990s. Reductions in the alcohol-impaired driving problem require that attention be focused on all relevant target groups. Some benefits could accrue by recognizing that countermeasures developed for hardcore drinking drivers, such as alcohol ignition interlocks and vehicle or plate impoundment, might also be effective with more numerous first-time offenders. However, such strategies are likely to be most effective against recidivism (specific deterrence). Greater gains could be achieved through general deterrent efforts (increasing the real and perceived risk of arrest and punishment to all drinking drivers), along with application of public health measures designed to reduce overall consumption. Additional ways need to be found to separate drinking and driving, either through cultural changes in drinking and/or driving behavior or, in the future, with the use of technology that can make vehicles inoperable by drivers with illegal blood alcohol concentrations.

Magnetic resonance-guided focused ultrasound surgery for treatment of painful osseous metastases

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hurwitz, Mark; Machtinger, Ronit; Fennessy, Fiona

2011-03-01

Magnetic resonance guided focused ultrasound surgery (MRgFUS) is an emerging technology that can non-invasively heat and ablate targeted tissue utilizing ultrasound energy. Use of MR imaging for treatment guidance provides several key advantages over more widely used ultrasound guidance for focused ultrasound ablation. MR allows for precise targeting, detailed beam path visualization, real time non-invasive temperature measurement, and treatment feedback to ensure therapeutic goals are achieved. In the realm of oncology, management of painful bone metastases is a common and daunting clinical problem. The Insightec ExAblate System has been shown in phase I/II trials for treatment of bone metastases to have an excellent safety profile and high rates of pain response. An international multi-center phase III trial for patients with painful bone metastases or multiple myeloma who are not candidates for radiation therapy is currently open. Patients are randomized 3:1 to MRgFUS or sham treatment with crossover to study treatment allowed for sham failures. The primary study endpoint is assessment of pain control over 3 months following treatment. In addition safety, quality of life, cost effectiveness analysis, and patient perceived clinical benefit are also being assessed. Details of the MRgFUS system, technical and clinical therapeutic parameters, use of real time non-invasive MR thermometry, and examples of patient treatments with use of MRgFUS to treat bone metastases will be discussed. New directions in use of MRgFUS including an update on development of a new mobile applicator and integration of MRgFUS in multimodality oncologic care will also be presented.

Miniature photometric stereo system for textile surface structure reconstruction

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gorpas, Dimitris; Kampouris, Christos; Malassiotis, Sotiris

2013-04-01

In this work a miniature photometric stereo system is presented, targeting the three-dimensional structural reconstruction of various fabric types. This is a supportive module to a robot system, attempting to solve the well known "laundry problem". The miniature device has been designed for mounting onto the robot gripper. It is composed of a low-cost off-the-shelf camera, operating in macro mode, and eight light emitting diodes. The synchronization between image acquisition and lighting direction is controlled by an Arduino Nano board and software triggering. The ambient light has been addressed by a cylindrical enclosure. The direction of illumination is recovered by locating the reflection or the brightest point on a mirror sphere, while a flatfielding process compensates for the non-uniform illumination. For the evaluation of this prototype, the classical photometric stereo methodology has been used. The preliminary results on a large number of textiles are very promising for the successful integration of the miniature module to the robot system. The required interaction with the robot is implemented through the estimation of the Brenner's focus measure. This metric successfully assesses the focus quality with reduced time requirements in comparison to other well accepted focus metrics. Besides the targeting application, the small size of the developed system makes it a very promising candidate for applications with space restrictions, like the quality control in industrial production lines or object recognition based on structural information and in applications where easiness in operation and light-weight are required, like those in the Biomedical field, and especially in dermatology.

Patient and Provider Perspectives on a Mind-Body Program for Grieving Older Adults.

PubMed

Bui, Eric; Chad-Friedman, Emma; Wieman, Sarah; Grasfield, Rachel H; Rolfe, Allison; Dong, Melissa; Park, Elyse R; Denninger, John W

2018-06-01

Spousal bereavement in older age is a major stressor associated with an increase in both mental and physical problems. The Stress Management and Resiliency Training: Relaxation Response Resiliency Program (SMART-3RP) is an 8-week multimodal mind-body program that targets stress and has been found efficacious in decreasing the mental and physical manifestations of stress in varied populations. This qualitative study sought to investigate the relevance, credibility, and feasibility of the SMART-3RP in the community. Focus groups were conducted among both older widowed adults and providers who support them in the community (eg, chaplains, hospice bereavement coordinators). Transcripts were coded independently by coders trained in qualitative research. Codebooks were created based on both general themes and detailed subthemes present in the transcripts. Findings from 4 focus groups revealed a general convergence between the needs of recently widowed older adults reported by widow(er)s and community providers alike and needs identified in the literature. Several components of the SMART-3RP target many of these needs (eg, social support, stress awareness, coping skills), making both community providers and widow(er)s report that the SMART-3RP is logical (89%) and would be helpful (100%) and successful in reducing symptoms (78%). Additionally, all widow(er)s reported a willingness to participate (100%). Feedback from the focus groups was used to adapt the SMART-3RP to improve its relevance to grief-related stress. Our findings suggest that the SMART-3RP may be helpful in decreasing somatic and psychological distress in older adults who have lost a spouse.

Analyzing Interpersonal Problem Solving in Terms of Solution Focused Approach and Humor Styles of University Student

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Koc, Hayri; Arslan, Coskun

2017-01-01

In this study university students interpersonal problem solving approaches were investigated in terms of solution focused approach and humor styles. The participants were 773 (542 female and 231 male, between 17-33 years old) university students. To determine the university students' problem solving approaches "Interpersonal Problem Solving…

A Novel Sensor Selection and Power Allocation Algorithm for Multiple-Target Tracking in an LPI Radar Network

PubMed Central

She, Ji; Wang, Fei; Zhou, Jianjiang

2016-01-01

Radar networks are proven to have numerous advantages over traditional monostatic and bistatic radar. With recent developments, radar networks have become an attractive platform due to their low probability of intercept (LPI) performance for target tracking. In this paper, a joint sensor selection and power allocation algorithm for multiple-target tracking in a radar network based on LPI is proposed. It is found that this algorithm can minimize the total transmitted power of a radar network on the basis of a predetermined mutual information (MI) threshold between the target impulse response and the reflected signal. The MI is required by the radar network system to estimate target parameters, and it can be calculated predictively with the estimation of target state. The optimization problem of sensor selection and power allocation, which contains two variables, is non-convex and it can be solved by separating power allocation problem from sensor selection problem. To be specific, the optimization problem of power allocation can be solved by using the bisection method for each sensor selection scheme. Also, the optimization problem of sensor selection can be solved by a lower complexity algorithm based on the allocated powers. According to the simulation results, it can be found that the proposed algorithm can effectively reduce the total transmitted power of a radar network, which can be conducive to improving LPI performance. PMID:28009819

The flexible focus: whether spatial attention is unitary or divided depends on observer goals.

PubMed

Jefferies, Lisa N; Enns, James T; Di Lollo, Vincent

2014-04-01

The distribution of visual attention has been the topic of much investigation, and various theories have posited that attention is allocated either as a single unitary focus or as multiple independent foci. In the present experiment, we demonstrate that attention can be flexibly deployed as either a unitary or a divided focus in the same experimental task, depending on the observer's goals. To assess the distribution of attention, we used a dual-stream Attentional Blink (AB) paradigm and 2 target pairs. One component of the AB, Lag-1 sparing, occurs only if the second target pair appears within the focus of attention. By varying whether the first-target-pair could be expected in a predictable location (always in-stream) or not (unpredictably in-stream or between-streams), observers were encouraged to deploy a divided or a unitary focus, respectively. When the second-target-pair appeared between the streams, Lag-1 sparing occurred for the Unpredictable group (consistent with a unitary focus) but not for the Predictable group (consistent with a divided focus). Thus, diametrically different outcomes occurred for physically identical displays, depending on the expectations of the observer about where spatial attention would be required.

Vocabulary Intervention for Children with Down Syndrome: Parent Training Using Focused Stimulation.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Girolametto, Luigi; Weitzman, Elaine; Clements-Baartman, Jill

1998-01-01

This study explored effects of training six mothers to use focused stimulation to teach specific target words to their toddlers with Down syndrome. Following treatment, trained mothers used the focused stimulation technique more often than mothers in the control group. Concomitantly, their children used target words more often, as reported by…

Bullying and victimisation are common in four-year-old children and are associated with somatic symptoms and conduct and peer problems.

PubMed

Ilola, Anna-Marja; Lempinen, Lotta; Huttunen, Jukka; Ristkari, Terja; Sourander, Andre

2016-05-01

There are few population-based studies on bullying behaviour among preschool children. The aims of the study were to investigate the prevalence of bullying behaviour among four-year-old children, as reported by their parents, the prevalence of types of bullying behaviour and the associations between bullying behaviour and psychosocial factors. This study was based on a population-based study sample of 931 children who attended their check-up at a child health clinic at four years of age. Parents completed the questionnaire about their child's bullying behaviour and risk factors during the check-up. Bullying behaviour, especially being both a bully and a victim, was a common phenomenon among four-year-old children. Being a bully or both a bully and victim were most strongly associated with conduct problems, while being a victim was associated with somatic symptoms and peer problems. Bullying behaviour was frequently found in preschool children and associated with a wide range of other problems, which indicate that routine checking of bullying behaviour should be included in child health clinic check-ups. Bullying prevention programmes are usually targeted at school-aged children, but this study highlights the importance of focusing already on preschool children. ©2016 Foundation Acta Paediatrica. Published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

A hybrid artificial neural network as a software sensor for optimal control of a wastewater treatment process.

PubMed

Choi, D J; Park, H

2001-11-01

For control and automation of biological treatment processes, lack of reliable on-line sensors to measure water quality parameters is one of the most important problems to overcome. Many parameters cannot be measured directly with on-line sensors. The accuracy of existing hardware sensors is also not sufficient and maintenance problems such as electrode fouling often cause trouble. This paper deals with the development of software sensor techniques that estimate the target water quality parameter from other parameters using the correlation between water quality parameters. We focus our attention on the preprocessing of noisy data and the selection of the best model feasible to the situation. Problems of existing approaches are also discussed. We propose a hybrid neural network as a software sensor inferring wastewater quality parameter. Multivariate regression, artificial neural networks (ANN), and a hybrid technique that combines principal component analysis as a preprocessing stage are applied to data from industrial wastewater processes. The hybrid ANN technique shows an enhancement of prediction capability and reduces the overfitting problem of neural networks. The result shows that the hybrid ANN technique can be used to extract information from noisy data and to describe the nonlinearity of complex wastewater treatment processes.

Validation of the MedUseQ: A Self-Administered Screener for Older Adults to Assess Medication Use Problems.

PubMed

Berman, Rebecca L; Iris, Madelyn; Conrad, Kendon J; Robinson, Carrie

2018-01-01

Older adults taking multiple prescription and nonprescription drugs are at risk for medication use problems, yet there are few brief, self-administered screening tools designed specifically for them. The study objective was to develop and validate a patient-centered screener for community-dwelling older adults. In phase 1, a convenience sample of 57 stakeholders (older adults, pharmacists, nurses, and physicians) participated in concept mapping, using Concept System® Global MAX TM , to identify items for a questionnaire. In phase 2, a 40-item questionnaire was tested with a convenience sample of 377 adults and a 24-item version was tested with 306 older adults, aged 55 and older, using Rasch methodology. In phase 3, stakeholder focus groups provided feedback on the format of questionnaire materials and recommended strategies for addressing problems. The concept map contained 72 statements organized into 6 conceptual clusters or domains. The 24-item screener was unidimensional. Cronbach's alpha was .87, person reliability was acceptable (.74), and item reliability was high (.96). The MedUseQ is a validated, patient-centered tool targeting older adults that can be used to assess a wide range of medication use problems in clinical and community settings and to identify areas for education, intervention, or further assessment.

Intervention for the bereaved: gender differences in the efficacy of two counselling programmes.

PubMed

Schut, H A; Stroebe, M S; van den Bout, J; de Keijser, J

1997-02-01

This article describes an investigation of emotion-focused versus problem-focused intervention for widowers (N = 23) and widowers (N = 23) who were suffering elevated levels of distress 11 months after their loss. They were randomly assigned to an intervention condition and improvement (on the General Health Questionnaire) was compared with non-intervention controls (N = 59). Two alternative hypotheses were considered: (1) men, since they focus less on their emotions, would benefit from problem-focused counselling, while women, focusing more on their emotions, would benefit from emotion-focused intervention; (2) each gender, having been comparatively unsuccessful in coping through these usual strategies, would benefit more from intervention directed towards the less familiar strategy. Results supported the second hypothesis: widowers benefited more from emotion-focused, widows from problem-focused interventions. Implications for supporting widows and widowers are discussed.

"Blurred lines?" Sexual aggression and barroom culture.

PubMed

Graham, Kathryn; Bernards, Sharon; Wayne Osgood, D; Abbey, Antonia; Parks, Michael; Flynn, Andrea; Dumas, Tara; Wells, Samantha

2014-05-01

Meeting potential sexual/romantic partners for mutual pleasure is one of the main reasons young adults go to bars. However, not all sexual contacts are positive and consensual, and aggression related to sexual advances is a common experience. Sometimes such aggression is related to misperceptions in making and receiving sexual advances while other times aggression reflects intentional harassment or other sexually aggressive acts. This study uses objective observational research to assess quantitatively gender of initiators and targets and the extent that sexual aggression involves intentional aggression by the initiator, the nature of responses by targets, and the role of third parties and intoxication. We analyzed 258 aggressive incidents involving sexual advances observed as part of a larger study on aggression in large capacity bars and clubs, using variables collected as part of the original research (gender, intoxication, intent) and variables coded from narrative descriptions (invasiveness, persistence, targets' responses, role of third parties). Hierarchical linear modeling analyses were used to account for nesting of incidents in evening and bars. Ninety percent of incidents involved male initiators and female targets, with almost all incidents involving intentional or probably intentional aggression. Targets mostly responded nonaggressively, usually using evasion. Staff rarely intervened; patron third parties intervened in 21% of incidents, usually to help the target but sometimes to encourage the initiator. initiators' level of invasiveness was related to intoxication of the targets, but not their own intoxication, suggesting intoxicated women were being targeted. Sexual aggression is a major problem in bars often reflecting intentional sexual invasiveness and unwanted persistence rather than misperceptions in sexual advances. Prevention needs to focus on addressing masculinity norms of male patrons and staff who support sexual aggression and better management of the highly sexualized and sexist environments of most bars. Copyright © 2014 by the Research Society on Alcoholism.

Curation of inhibitor-target data: process and impact on pathway analysis.

PubMed

Devidas, Sreenivas

2009-01-01

The past decade has seen a significant emergence in the availability and use of pathway analysis tools. The workflow that is supported by most of the pathway analysis tools is limited to either of the following: a. a network of genes based on the input data set, or b. the resultant network filtered down by a few criteria such as (but not limited to) i. disease association of the genes in the network; ii. targets known to be the target of one or more launched drugs; iii. targets known to be the target of one or more compounds in clinical trials; and iv. targets reasonably known to be potential candidate or clinical biomarkers. Almost all the tools in use today are biased towards the biological side and contain little, if any, information on the chemical inhibitors associated with the components of a given biological network. The limitation resides as follows: The fact that the number of inhibitors that have been published or patented is probably several fold (probably greater than 10-fold) more than the number of published protein-protein interactions. Curation of such data is both expensive and time consuming and could impact ROI significantly. The non-standardization associated with protein and gene names makes mapping reasonably non-straightforward. The number of patented and published inhibitors across target classes increases by over a million per year. Therefore, keeping the databases current becomes a monumental problem. Modifications required in the product architectures to accommodate chemistry-related content. GVK Bio has, over the past 7 years, curated the compound-target data that is necessary for the addition of such compound-centric workflows. This chapter focuses on identification, curation and utility of such data.

The Recovery Spectrum

PubMed Central

Tucker, Jalie A.; Simpson, Cathy A.

2011-01-01

Recent innovations in alcohol-focused interventions are aimed at closing the gap between population need and the currently uncommon use of alcohol treatment services. Guided by population data showing the heterogeneity of alcohol problems and the occurrence of natural remissions from problem drinking without treatment, alcohol services have begun to expand beyond clinical treatment to offer the untreated majority of individuals with alcohol-related problems accessible, less-intensive services that use the tools of public health practice. These services often are opportunistic, meaning they can be provided in primary-care or other unspecialized health care or community settings. They also can be delivered by nonspecialists, or can be used by people themselves to address problems with alcohol without entering the health care system. This developing spectrum of services includes screening and brief interventions, guided self-change programs, and telehealth options that often are targeted and tailored for high-risk groups (e.g., college drinkers). Other efforts aimed at reducing barriers to care and increasing motivation to seek help have utilized individual, organizational, and public health strategies. Together, these efforts have potential for helping the treatment field reach people who have realized that they have a drinking problem but have not yet experienced the severe negative consequences that may eventually drive them to seek treatment. Although the evidence supporting several innovations in alcohol services is preliminary, some approaches are well established, and collectively they form an emerging continuum of care for alcohol problems aimed at increasing service availability and improving overall impact on population health. PMID:23580021

Actively Coping with Violation: Exploring Upward Dissent Patterns in Functional, Dysfunctional, and Deserted Psychological Contract End States

PubMed Central

Schalk, René; De Ruiter, Melanie; Van Loon, Joost; Kuijpers, Evy; Van Regenmortel, Tine

2018-01-01

Recently, scholars have emphasized the importance of examining how employees cope with psychological contract violation and how the coping process contributes to psychological contract violation resolution and post-violation psychological contracts. Recent work points to the important role of problem-focused coping. Yet, to date, problem-focused coping strategies have not been conceptualized on a continuum from constructive to destructive strategies. Consequently, potential differences in the use of specific types of problem-focused coping strategies and the role these different strategies play in the violation resolution process has not been explored. In this study, we stress the importance of focusing on different types of problem-focused coping strategies. We explore how employee upward dissent strategies, conceptualized as different forms of problem-focused coping, contribute to violation resolution and post-violation psychological contracts. Two sources of data were used. In-depth interviews with supervisors of a Dutch car lease company provided 23 case descriptions of employee-supervisor interactions after a psychological contract violation. Moreover, a database with descriptions of Dutch court sentences provided eight case descriptions of employee-organization interactions following a perceived violation. Based on these data sources, we explored the pattern of upward dissent strategies employees used over time following a perceived violation. We distinguished between functional (thriving and reactivation), dysfunctional (impairment and dissolution) and deserted psychological contract end states and explored whether different dissent patterns over time differentially contributed to the dissent outcome (i.e., psychological contract end state). The results of our study showed that the use of problem-focused coping is not as straightforward as suggested by the post-violation model. While the post-violation model suggests that problem-focused coping will most likely contribute positively to violation resolution, we found that this also depends on the type of problem-focused coping strategy used. That is, more threatening forms of problem-focused coping (i.e., threatening resignation as a way to trigger one’s manager/organization to resolve the violation) mainly contributed to dysfunctional and deserted PC end states. Yet, in some instances the use of these types of active coping strategies also contributed to functional violation resolution. These findings have important implications for the literature on upward dissent strategies and psychological contract violation repair. PMID:29467692

Actively Coping with Violation: Exploring Upward Dissent Patterns in Functional, Dysfunctional, and Deserted Psychological Contract End States.

PubMed

Schalk, René; De Ruiter, Melanie; Van Loon, Joost; Kuijpers, Evy; Van Regenmortel, Tine

2018-01-01

Recently, scholars have emphasized the importance of examining how employees cope with psychological contract violation and how the coping process contributes to psychological contract violation resolution and post-violation psychological contracts. Recent work points to the important role of problem-focused coping. Yet, to date, problem-focused coping strategies have not been conceptualized on a continuum from constructive to destructive strategies. Consequently, potential differences in the use of specific types of problem-focused coping strategies and the role these different strategies play in the violation resolution process has not been explored. In this study, we stress the importance of focusing on different types of problem-focused coping strategies. We explore how employee upward dissent strategies, conceptualized as different forms of problem-focused coping, contribute to violation resolution and post-violation psychological contracts. Two sources of data were used. In-depth interviews with supervisors of a Dutch car lease company provided 23 case descriptions of employee-supervisor interactions after a psychological contract violation. Moreover, a database with descriptions of Dutch court sentences provided eight case descriptions of employee-organization interactions following a perceived violation. Based on these data sources, we explored the pattern of upward dissent strategies employees used over time following a perceived violation. We distinguished between functional (thriving and reactivation), dysfunctional (impairment and dissolution) and deserted psychological contract end states and explored whether different dissent patterns over time differentially contributed to the dissent outcome (i.e., psychological contract end state). The results of our study showed that the use of problem-focused coping is not as straightforward as suggested by the post-violation model. While the post-violation model suggests that problem-focused coping will most likely contribute positively to violation resolution, we found that this also depends on the type of problem-focused coping strategy used. That is, more threatening forms of problem-focused coping (i.e., threatening resignation as a way to trigger one's manager/organization to resolve the violation) mainly contributed to dysfunctional and deserted PC end states. Yet, in some instances the use of these types of active coping strategies also contributed to functional violation resolution. These findings have important implications for the literature on upward dissent strategies and psychological contract violation repair.

Design and feasibility of a memory intervention with focus on self-management for cognitive impairment in epilepsy.

PubMed

Caller, Tracie A; Secore, Karen L; Ferguson, Robert J; Roth, Robert M; Alexandre, Faith P; Henegan, Patricia L; Harrington, Jessica J; Jobst, Barbara C

2015-03-01

The aim of this study was to assess the feasibility of a self-management intervention targeting cognitive dysfunction to improve quality of life and reduce memory-related disability in adults with epilepsy. The intervention incorporates (1) education on cognitive function in epilepsy, (2) self-awareness training, (3) compensatory strategies, and (4) application of these strategies in day-to-day life using problem-solving therapy. In addition to the behavioral modification, formal working memory training was conducted by utilizing a commercially available program in a subgroup of patients. Our findings suggest that a self-management intervention targeting cognitive dysfunction was feasible for delivery to a rural population with epilepsy, with 13 of 16 enrolled participants completing the 8-session program. Qualitative data indicate high satisfaction and subjective improvement in cognitive functioning in day-to-day life. These findings provide support for further evaluation of the efficacy of this intervention through a randomized controlled trial. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Effects of a Workplace Intervention Targeting Psychosocial Risk Factors on Safety and Health Outcomes

PubMed Central

Hammer, Leslie B.; Truxillo, Donald M.; Bodner, Todd; Rineer, Jennifer; Pytlovany, Amy C.; Richman, Amy

2015-01-01

The goal of this study was to test the effectiveness of a workplace intervention targeting work-life stress and safety-related psychosocial risk factors on health and safety outcomes. Data were collected over time using a randomized control trial design with 264 construction workers employed in an urban municipal department. The intervention involved family- and safety-supportive supervisor behavior training (computer-based), followed by two weeks of behavior tracking and a four-hour, facilitated team effectiveness session including supervisors and employees. A significant positive intervention effect was found for an objective measure of blood pressure at the 12-month follow-up. However, no significant intervention results were found for self-reported general health, safety participation, or safety compliance. These findings suggest that an intervention focused on supervisor support training and a team effectiveness process for planning and problem solving should be further refined and utilized in order to improve employee health with additional research on the beneficial effects on worker safety. PMID:26557703

Subjective response as a consideration in the pharmacogenetics of alcoholism treatment.

PubMed

Roche, Daniel Jo; Ray, Lara A

2015-01-01

Currently available pharmacological treatments for alcoholism have modest efficacy and high individual variability in treatment outcomes, both of which have been partially attributed to genetic factors. One path to reducing the variability and improving the efficacy associated with these pharmacotherapies may be to identify overlapping genetic contributions to individual differences in both subjective responses to alcohol and alcoholism pharmacotherapy outcomes. As acute subjective response to alcohol is highly predictive of future alcohol related problems, identifying such shared genetic mechanisms may inform the development of personalized treatments that can effectively target converging pathophysiological mechanisms that convey risk for alcoholism. The focus of this review is to revisit the association between subjective response to alcohol and the etiology of alcoholism while also describing genetic contributions to this relationship, discuss potential pharmacogenetic approaches to target subjective response to alcohol in order to improve the treatment of alcoholism and examine conceptual and methodological issues associated with these topics, and outline future approaches to overcome these challenges.

What Is Green Growth Strategy for Government Link Company?

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Jamilah Asha'ari, Maryam; Daud, Salina; Hassan, Hasmaizan

2016-03-01

Disasters around the world are very extreme because of the global warming and climate change. Malaysia firms have to play their role in handling the challenging of environmental problems in order to sustain. The feature of the new strategy which is green growth strategy has been identified. The study focuses on the features of the green growth strategy which discuss on the keys to sustaining the strategy, marketing emphasis, production emphasis, product line, basis of competitive advantage and strategic target. Business had contributed to the industrialisation era positively or negatively and therefore there is a must for business people to use the best strategy in reducing the environmental risks. By 2020, Malaysia will achieve the target in becoming an advanced economy by applying the right strategy. The objective of this paper is to propose a feature for new strategy known as green growth strategy. Future study is to propose to conduct an empirical analysis to confirm the green growth strategy features.

Developmental windows of breast cancer risk provide opportunities for targeted chemoprevention

PubMed Central

Martinson, Holly A.; Lyons, Traci R.; Giles, Erin D.; Borges, Virginia F.; Schedin, Pepper

2014-01-01

The magnitude of the breast cancer problem implores researchers to aggressively investigate prevention strategies. However, several barriers currently reduce the feasibility of breast cancer prevention. These barriers include the inability to accurately predict future breast cancer diagnosis at the individual level, the need for improved understanding of when to implement interventions, uncertainty with respect to optimal duration of treatment, and negative side effects associated with currently approved chemoprevention therapies. None-the-less, the unique biology of the mammary gland, with its postnatal development and conditional terminal differentiation, may permit the resolution of many of these barriers. Specifically, lifecycle-specific windows of breast cancer risk have been identified that may be amenable to risk-reducing strategies. Here, we argue for prevention research focused on two of these lifecycle windows of risk: postpartum mammary gland involution and peri-menopause. We provide evidence that these windows are highly amenable to targeted, limited duration treatments. Such approaches could result in the prevention of postpartum and postmenopausal breast cancers, correspondingly. PMID:23664839

Query-oriented evidence extraction to support evidence-based medicine practice.

PubMed

Sarker, Abeed; Mollá, Diego; Paris, Cecile

2016-02-01

Evidence-based medicine practice requires medical practitioners to rely on the best available evidence, in addition to their expertise, when making clinical decisions. The medical domain boasts a large amount of published medical research data, indexed in various medical databases such as MEDLINE. As the size of this data grows, practitioners increasingly face the problem of information overload, and past research has established the time-associated obstacles faced by evidence-based medicine practitioners. In this paper, we focus on the problem of automatic text summarisation to help practitioners quickly find query-focused information from relevant documents. We utilise an annotated corpus that is specialised for the task of evidence-based summarisation of text. In contrast to past summarisation approaches, which mostly rely on surface level features to identify salient pieces of texts that form the summaries, our approach focuses on the use of corpus-based statistics, and domain-specific lexical knowledge for the identification of summary contents. We also apply a target-sentence-specific summarisation technique that reduces the problem of underfitting that persists in generic summarisation models. In automatic evaluations run over a large number of annotated summaries, our extractive summarisation technique statistically outperforms various baseline and benchmark summarisation models with a percentile rank of 96.8%. A manual evaluation shows that our extractive summarisation approach is capable of selecting content with high recall and precision, and may thus be used to generate bottom-line answers to practitioners' queries. Our research shows that the incorporation of specialised data and domain-specific knowledge can significantly improve text summarisation performance in the medical domain. Due to the vast amounts of medical text available, and the high growth of this form of data, we suspect that such summarisation techniques will address the time-related obstacles associated with evidence-based medicine. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Implications for alcohol minimum unit pricing advocacy: What can we learn for public health from UK newsprint coverage of key claim-makers in the policy debate?

PubMed Central

Hilton, Shona; Wood, Karen; Patterson, Chris; Katikireddi, Srinivasa Vittal

2014-01-01

On May 24th 2012, Scotland passed the Alcohol (Minimum Pricing) Bill. Minimum unit pricing (MUP) is an intervention that raises the price of the cheapest alcohol to reduce alcohol consumption and related harms. There is a growing literature on industry's influence in policymaking and media representations of policies, but relatively little about frames used by key claim-makers in the public MUP policy debate. This study elucidates the dynamic interplay between key claim-makers to identify lessons for policy advocacy in the media in the UK and internationally. Content analysis was conducted on 262 articles from seven UK and three Scottish national newspapers between 1st May 2011 and 31st May 2012, retrieved from electronic databases. Advocates' and critics' constructions of the alcohol problem and MUP were examined. Advocates depicted the problem as primarily driven by cheap alcohol and marketing, while critics' constructions focused on youth binge drinkers and dependent drinkers. Advocates justified support by citing the intervention's targeted design, but critics denounced the policy as illegal, likely to encourage illicit trade, unsupported by evidence and likely to be ineffective, while harming the responsible majority, low-income consumers and businesses. Critics' arguments were consistent over time, and single statements often encompassed multiple rationales. This study presents advocates with several important lessons for promoting policies in the media. Firstly, it may be useful to shift focus away from young binge drinkers and heavy drinkers, towards population-level over-consumption. Secondly, advocates might focus on presenting the policy as part of a wider package of alcohol policies. Thirdly, emphasis on the success of recent public health policies could help portray the UK and Scotland as world leaders in tackling culturally embedded health and social problems through policy; highlighting past successes when presenting future policies may be a valuable tactic both within the UK and internationally. PMID:24565153

Implications for alcohol minimum unit pricing advocacy: what can we learn for public health from UK newsprint coverage of key claim-makers in the policy debate?

PubMed

Hilton, Shona; Wood, Karen; Patterson, Chris; Katikireddi, Srinivasa Vittal

2014-02-01

On May 24th 2012, Scotland passed the Alcohol (Minimum Pricing) Bill. Minimum unit pricing (MUP) is an intervention that raises the price of the cheapest alcohol to reduce alcohol consumption and related harms. There is a growing literature on industry's influence in policymaking and media representations of policies, but relatively little about frames used by key claim-makers in the public MUP policy debate. This study elucidates the dynamic interplay between key claim-makers to identify lessons for policy advocacy in the media in the UK and internationally. Content analysis was conducted on 262 articles from seven UK and three Scottish national newspapers between 1st May 2011 and 31st May 2012, retrieved from electronic databases. Advocates' and critics' constructions of the alcohol problem and MUP were examined. Advocates depicted the problem as primarily driven by cheap alcohol and marketing, while critics' constructions focused on youth binge drinkers and dependent drinkers. Advocates justified support by citing the intervention's targeted design, but critics denounced the policy as illegal, likely to encourage illicit trade, unsupported by evidence and likely to be ineffective, while harming the responsible majority, low-income consumers and businesses. Critics' arguments were consistent over time, and single statements often encompassed multiple rationales. This study presents advocates with several important lessons for promoting policies in the media. Firstly, it may be useful to shift focus away from young binge drinkers and heavy drinkers, towards population-level over-consumption. Secondly, advocates might focus on presenting the policy as part of a wider package of alcohol policies. Thirdly, emphasis on the success of recent public health policies could help portray the UK and Scotland as world leaders in tackling culturally embedded health and social problems through policy; highlighting past successes when presenting future policies may be a valuable tactic both within the UK and internationally. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Protease-Mediated Maturation of HIV: Inhibitors of Protease and the Maturation Process.

PubMed

Adamson, Catherine S

2012-01-01

Protease-mediated maturation of HIV-1 virus particles is essential for virus infectivity. Maturation occurs concomitant with immature virus particle release and is mediated by the viral protease (PR), which sequentially cleaves the Gag and Gag-Pol polyproteins into mature protein domains. Maturation triggers a second assembly event that generates a condensed conical capsid core. The capsid core organizes the viral RNA genome and viral proteins to facilitate viral replication in the next round of infection. The fundamental role of proteolytic maturation in the generation of mature infectious particles has made it an attractive target for therapeutic intervention. Development of small molecules that target the PR active site has been highly successful and nine protease inhibitors (PIs) have been approved for clinical use. This paper provides an overview of their development and clinical use together with a discussion of problems associated with drug resistance. The second-half of the paper discusses a novel class of antiretroviral drug termed maturation inhibitors, which target cleavage sites in Gag not PR itself. The paper focuses on bevirimat (BVM) the first-in-class maturation inhibitor: its mechanism of action and the implications of naturally occurring polymorphisms that confer reduced susceptibility to BVM in phase II clinical trials.

An evaluation of talker localization based on direction of arrival estimation and statistical sound source identification

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Nishiura, Takanobu; Nakamura, Satoshi

2002-11-01

It is very important to capture distant-talking speech for a hands-free speech interface with high quality. A microphone array is an ideal candidate for this purpose. However, this approach requires localizing the target talker. Conventional talker localization algorithms in multiple sound source environments not only have difficulty localizing the multiple sound sources accurately, but also have difficulty localizing the target talker among known multiple sound source positions. To cope with these problems, we propose a new talker localization algorithm consisting of two algorithms. One is DOA (direction of arrival) estimation algorithm for multiple sound source localization based on CSP (cross-power spectrum phase) coefficient addition method. The other is statistical sound source identification algorithm based on GMM (Gaussian mixture model) for localizing the target talker position among localized multiple sound sources. In this paper, we particularly focus on the talker localization performance based on the combination of these two algorithms with a microphone array. We conducted evaluation experiments in real noisy reverberant environments. As a result, we confirmed that multiple sound signals can be identified accurately between ''speech'' or ''non-speech'' by the proposed algorithm. [Work supported by ATR, and MEXT of Japan.

In Silico Analysis of Epitope-Based Vaccine Candidates against Hepatitis B Virus Polymerase Protein

PubMed Central

Zheng, Juzeng; Lin, Xianfan; Wang, Xiuyan; Zheng, Liyu; Lan, Songsong; Jin, Sisi; Ou, Zhanfan; Wu, Jinming

2017-01-01

Hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection has persisted as a major public health problem due to the lack of an effective treatment for those chronically infected. Therapeutic vaccination holds promise, and targeting HBV polymerase is pivotal for viral eradication. In this research, a computational approach was employed to predict suitable HBV polymerase targeting multi-peptides for vaccine candidate selection. We then performed in-depth computational analysis to evaluate the predicted epitopes’ immunogenicity, conservation, population coverage, and toxicity. Lastly, molecular docking and MHC-peptide complex stabilization assay were utilized to determine the binding energy and affinity of epitopes to the HLA-A0201 molecule. Criteria-based analysis provided four predicted epitopes, RVTGGVFLV, VSIPWTHKV, YMDDVVLGA and HLYSHPIIL. Assay results indicated the lowest binding energy and high affinity to the HLA-A0201 molecule for epitopes VSIPWTHKV and YMDDVVLGA and epitopes RVTGGVFLV and VSIPWTHKV, respectively. Regions 307 to 320 and 377 to 387 were considered to have the highest probability to be involved in B cell epitopes. The T cell and B cell epitopes identified in this study are promising targets for an epitope-focused, peptide-based HBV vaccine, and provide insight into HBV-induced immune response. PMID:28509875

Cognitive conflict without explicit conflict monitoring in a dynamical agent.

PubMed

Ward, Robert; Ward, Ronnie

2006-11-01

We examine mechanisms for resolving cognitive conflict in an embodied, situated, and dynamic agent, developed through an evolutionary learning process. The agent was required to solve problems of response conflict in a dual-target "catching" task, focusing response on one of the targets while ignoring the other. Conflict in the agent was revealed at the behavioral level in terms of increased latencies to the second target. This behavioral interference was correlated to peak violations of the network's stable state equation. At the level of the agent's neural network, peak violations were also correlated to periods of disagreement in source inputs to the agent's motor effectors. Despite observing conflict at these numerous levels, we did not find any explicit conflict monitoring mechanisms within the agent. We instead found evidence of a distributed conflict management system, characterized by competitive sources within the network. In contrast to the conflict monitoring hypothesis [Botvinick, M. M., Braver, T. S., Barch, D. M., Carter, C. S., & Cohen, J. D. (2001). Conflict monitoring and cognitive control. Psychological Review, 108(3), 624-652], this agent demonstrates that resolution of cognitive conflict does not require explicit conflict monitoring. We consider the implications of our results for the conflict monitoring hypothesis.

Multi-targetable chalcone analogs to treat deadly Alzheimer's disease: Current view and upcoming advice.

PubMed

Zhang, Xu; Rakesh, K P; Bukhari, S N A; Balakrishna, Moku; Manukumar, H M; Qin, Hua-Li

2018-06-05

The complications of Alzheimer's disease AD were deadly dangerous cause of neurodegenerative disorders connected with the decline of the cognitive functions and loss of memory. The common form of dementia is accounted as the sixth leading cause of the death affecting any stage of people in a lifetime. Synthetic natural chalcone analogs were currently a hot research topic for the treatment of (AD) which has affected millions of peoples throughout the world. The present aim was set to understand the important problems of the AD and its treatment based on natural derivatives of novel chalcones. One interesting strategy currently of searching for the treatment of AD is to find inhibitors for acetylcholinesterase (AChE) and using metal chelators to target amyloid-β (Aβ) peptides, and then metal-Aβ complexes for the AD pathogenesis. The present compressed review focuses and highlights the design and synthesis of new approaches for the construction of important chalcones playing multiple beneficiary roles in the AD treatments. These hallmarks of concurred research represent the immediate needs of development of novel therapeutic drugs for effective treatment of ADs by understanding the specific pharmacology targets. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Contraceptive Vaccines Targeting Factors Involved in Establishment of Pregnancy

PubMed Central

Lemons, Angela R.; Naz, Rajesh K.

2011-01-01

Problem Current methods of contraception lack specificity and are accompanied with serious side effects. A more specific method of contraception is needed. Contraceptive vaccines can provide most, if not all, the desired characteristics of an ideal contraceptive. Approach This article reviews several factors involved in the establishment of pregnancy, focusing on those that are essential for successful implantation. Factors that are both essential and pregnancy-specific can provide potential targets for contraception. Conclusion Using database search, 76 factors (cytokines/chemokines/growth factors/others) were identified that are involved in various steps of the establishment of pregnancy. Among these factors, three, namely chorionic gonadotropin (CG), leukemia inhibitory factor (LIF), and preimplantation factor (PIF), are found to be unique and exciting molecules. Human CG is a well-known pregnancy-specific protein that has undergone phase I and phase II clinical trials, in women, as a contraceptive vaccine with encouraging results. LIF and PIF are pregnancy-specific and essential for successful implantation. These molecules are intriguing and may provide viable targets for immunocontraception. A multiepitope vaccine combining factors/antigens involved in various steps of the fertilization cascade and pregnancy establishment, may provide a highly immunogenic and efficacious modality for contraception in humans. PMID:21481058

Theory-Driven Intervention for Changing Personality: Expectancy Value Theory, Behavioral Activation, and Conscientiousness

PubMed Central

Magidson, Jessica F.; Roberts, Brent; Collado-Rodriguez, Anahi; Lejuez, C.W.

2013-01-01

Considerable evidence suggests that personality traits may be changeable, raising the possibility that personality traits most linked to health problems can be modified with intervention. A growing body of research suggests that problematic personality traits may be altered with behavioral intervention using a bottom-approach. That is, by targeting core behaviors that underlie personality traits with the goal of engendering new, healthier patterns of behavior that over time become automatized and manifest in changes in personality traits. Nevertheless, a bottom-up model for changing personality traits is somewhat diffuse and requires clearer integration of theory and relevant interventions to enable real clinical application. As such, this manuscript proposes a set of guiding principles for theory-driven modification of targeted personality traits using a bottom-up approach, focusing specifically on targeting the trait of conscientiousness using a relevant behavioral intervention, Behavioral Activation (BA), considered within the motivational framework of Expectancy Value Theory (EVT). We conclude with a real case example of the application of BA to alter behaviors counter to conscientiousness in a substance dependent patient, highlighting the EVT principles most relevant to the approach and the importance and viability of a theoretically-driven, bottom-up approach to changing personality traits. PMID:23106844

Newly Engineered Magnetic Erythrocytes for Sustained and Targeted Delivery of Anti-Cancer Therapeutic Compounds

PubMed Central

Taranta, Monia; Naldi, Ilaria

2011-01-01

Cytotoxic chemotherapy of cancer is limited by serious, sometimes life-threatening, side effects that arise from toxicities to sensitive normal cells because the therapies are not selective for malignant cells. So how can they be selectively improved? Alternative pharmaceutical formulations of anti-cancer agents have been investigated in order to improve conventional chemotherapy treatment. These formulations are associated with problems like severe toxic side effects on healthy organs, drug resistance and limited access of the drug to the tumor sites suggested the need to focus on site-specific controlled drug delivery systems. In response to these concerns, we have developed a new drug delivery system based on magnetic erythrocytes engineered with a viral spike fusion protein. This new erythrocyte-based drug delivery system has the potential for magnetic-controlled site-specific localization and highly efficient fusion capability with the targeted cells. Here we show that the erythro-magneto-HA virosomes drug delivery system is able to attach and fuse with the target cells and to efficiently release therapeutic compounds inside the cells. The efficacy of the anti-cancer drug employed is increased and the dose required is 10 time less than that needed with conventional therapy. PMID:21373641

Advances in drug delivery system for platinum agents based combination therapy.

PubMed

Kang, Xiang; Xiao, Hai-Hua; Song, Hai-Qin; Jing, Xia-Bin; Yan, Le-San; Qi, Ruo-Gu

2015-12-01

Platinum-based anticancer agents are widely used as first-line drugs in cancer chemotherapy for various solid tumors. However, great side effects and occurrence of resistance remain as the major drawbacks for almost all the platinum drugs developed. To conquer these problems, new strategies should be adopted for platinum drug based chemotherapy. Modern nanotechnology has been widely employed in the delivery of various therapeutics and diagnostic. It provides the possibility of targeted delivery of a certain anticancer drug to the tumor site, which could minimize toxicity and optimize the drug efficacy. Here, in this review, we focused on the recent progress in polymer based drug delivery systems for platinum-based combination therapy.

RADC SCAT automated sneak circuit analysis tool

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Depalma, Edward L.

The sneak circuit analysis tool (SCAT) provides a PC-based system for real-time identification (during the design phase) of sneak paths and design concerns. The tool utilizes an expert system shell to assist the analyst so that prior experience with sneak analysis is not necessary for performance. Both sneak circuits and design concerns are targeted by this tool, with both digital and analog circuits being examined. SCAT focuses the analysis at the assembly level, rather than the entire system, so that most sneak problems can be identified and corrected by the responsible design engineer in a timely manner. The SCAT program identifies the sneak circuits to the designer, who then decides what course of action is necessary.

Should industry care for children? Public health advocacy and law in Australia.

PubMed

Stanley, F; Daube, M

2009-03-01

This paper uses examples to illustrate the challenges to health and law professionals interested in public health interventions to reduce the negative impact of companies making money by selling products that put children and young people at risk. Examples included are folate to prevent neural tube defects, with issues around the food industry attempting to block mandatory fortification of flour with folate; fetal alcohol syndrome and hazardous drinking in young people, with a focus on the actions of the alcohol industry including vendors; smoking and the ways in which the tobacco industry still target children; and childhood obesity, with problems again from the food and drink industries including vendors.

From 3D to 2D: A Review of the Molecular Imprinting of Proteins

PubMed Central

Turner, Nicholas W.; Jeans, Christopher W.; Brain, Keith R.; Allender, Christopher J.; Hlady, Vladimir; Britt, David W.

2008-01-01

Molecular imprinting is a generic technology that allows for the introduction of sites of specific molecular affinity into otherwise homogeneous polymeric matrices. Commonly this technique has been shown to be effective when targeting small molecules of molecular weight <1500, while extending the technique to larger molecules such as proteins has proven difficult. A number of key inherent problems in protein imprinting have been identified, including permanent entrapment, poor mass transfer, denaturation, and heterogeneity in binding pocket affinity, which have been addressed using a variety of approaches. This review focuses on protein imprinting in its various forms, ranging from conventional bulk techniques to novel thin film and monolayer surface imprinting approaches. PMID:17137293

“I Don’t Have a Problem With It, But Other Guys Do”

PubMed Central

Ricks, Janelle M.; Geter, Angelica; Mcgladrey, Margaret; Crosby, Richard A.; Mena, Leandro A.; Ottmar, Jessica M.

2016-01-01

Condom negotiation among young Black men who have sex with men in the Southern United States was explored using the theory of reasoned action. Fifty-four (18- to 29-year-old) males participated in nine focus group interviews. Discussions elicited condom use and negotiation attitudes, beliefs and social norms. Positive personal attitudes (respect of self, personal health concerns) and high negotiation self-efficacy was emphasized. Conversely, social norms revealed non-prioritized condom use behavior. Divergence between individual and community indicates theoretical models targeting sexual communication must address external factors (social, economic, political context), which intersects with individual intentions, attitudes to influence HIV prevalence in this community. PMID:27239484

From 3D to 2D: a review of the molecular imprinting of proteins.

PubMed

Turner, Nicholas W; Jeans, Christopher W; Brain, Keith R; Allender, Christopher J; Hlady, Vladimir; Britt, David W

2006-01-01

Molecular imprinting is a generic technology that allows for the introduction of sites of specific molecular affinity into otherwise homogeneous polymeric matrices. Commonly this technique has been shown to be effective when targeting small molecules of molecular weight <1500, while extending the technique to larger molecules such as proteins has proven difficult. A number of key inherent problems in protein imprinting have been identified, including permanent entrapment, poor mass transfer, denaturation, and heterogeneity in binding pocket affinity, which have been addressed using a variety of approaches. This review focuses on protein imprinting in its various forms, ranging from conventional bulk techniques to novel thin film and monolayer surface imprinting approaches.

Small-target leak detection for a closed vessel via infrared image sequences

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhao, Ling; Yang, Hongjiu

2017-03-01

This paper focus on a leak diagnosis and localization method based on infrared image sequences. Some problems on high probability of false warning and negative affect for marginal information are solved by leak detection. An experimental model is established for leak diagnosis and localization on infrared image sequences. The differential background prediction is presented to eliminate the negative affect of marginal information on test vessel based on a kernel regression method. A pipeline filter based on layering voting is designed to reduce probability of leak point false warning. A synthesize leak diagnosis and localization algorithm is proposed based on infrared image sequences. The effectiveness and potential are shown for developed techniques through experimental results.

Decentralised control of continuous Petri nets

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wang, Liewei; Wang, Xu

2017-05-01

This paper focuses on decentralised control of systems modelled by continuous Petri nets, in which a target marking control problem is discussed. In some previous works, an efficient ON/OFF strategy-based minimum-time controller was developed. Nevertheless, the convergence is only proved for subclasses like Choice-Free nets. For a general net, the pre-conditions of applying the ON/OFF strategy are not given; therefore, the application scope of the method is unclear. In this work, we provide two sufficient conditions of applying the ON/OFF strategy-based controller to general nets. Furthermore, an extended algorithm for general nets is proposed, in which control laws are computed based on some limited information, without knowing the detailed structure of subsystems.

Going direct to the consumer: Examining treatment preferences for veterans with insomnia, PTSD, and depression.

PubMed

Gutner, Cassidy A; Pedersen, Eric R; Drummond, Sean P A

2018-05-01

Inclusion of consumer preferences to disseminate evidence-based psychosocial treatment (EBPT) is crucial to effectively bridge the science-to-practice quality chasm. We examined this treatment gap for insomnia, posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), depression, and comorbid symptoms in a sample of 622 young adult veterans through preference in symptom focus, treatment modality, and related gender differences among those screening positive for each problem. Data were collected from veteran drinkers recruited through targeted Facebook advertisements as part of a brief online alcohol intervention. Analyses demonstrated that veterans reported greater willingness to seek insomnia-focused treatment over PTSD- or depression-focused care. Notably, even when participants screened negative for insomnia, they preferred sleep-focused care to PTSD- or depression-focused care. Although one in five veterans with a positive screen would not consider care, veterans screening for both insomnia and PTSD who would consider care had a preference for in-person counseling, and those screening for both insomnia and depression had similar preferences for in-person and mobile app-based/computer self-help treatment. Marginal gender differences were found. Incorporating direct-to-consumer methods into research can help educate stakeholders about methods to expand EBPT access. Though traditional in-person counseling was often preferred, openness to app-based/computer interventions offers alternative methods to provide veterans with EBPTs. Published by Elsevier B.V.

Barriers and Facilitators for Health Behavior Change among Adults from Multi-Problem Households: A Qualitative Study

PubMed Central

Hogeling, Lette; Spruijt, Renate; Postma, Nathalie; de Vries, Hein

2017-01-01

Multi-problem households are households with problems on more than one of the following core problem areas: socio-economic problems, psycho-social problems, and problems related to child care. The aim of this study was to examine barriers and facilitators for health behavior change among adults from multi-problem households, as well as to identify ideas for a health promotion program. A qualitative study involving 25 semi-structured interviews was conducted among Dutch adults who received intensive family home care for multi-problem households. Results were discussed with eight social workers in a focus group interview. Data were analyzed using the Framework Method. The results revealed that the main reason for not engaging in sports were the costs. Physical activity was facilitated by physically active (transport to) work and by dog ownership. Respondents who received a food bank package reported this as a barrier for healthy eating. Those with medical conditions such as diabetes indicated that this motivated them to eat healthily. Smokers and former smokers reported that stress was a major barrier for quitting smoking but that medical conditions could motivate them to quit smoking. A reported reason for not using alcohol was having difficult past experiences such as violence and abuse by alcoholics. Mentioned intervention ideas were: something social, an outdoor sports event, cooking classes, a walking group, and children’s activities in nature. Free or cheap activities that include social interaction and reduce stress are in line with the identified barriers and facilitators. Besides these activities, it may be important to influence the target group’s environment by educating social workers and ensuring healthier food bank packages. PMID:29036936

Introduction: the plurality of modeling.

PubMed

Huneman, Philippe; Lemoine, Maël

2014-08-01

Philosophers of science have recently focused on the scientific activity of modeling phenomena, and explicated several of its properties, as well as the activities embedded into it. A first approach to modeling has been elaborated in terms of representing a target system: yet other epistemic functions, such as producing data or detecting phenomena, are at least as relevant. Additional useful distinctions have emerged, such as the one between phenomenological and mechanistic models. In biological sciences, besides mathematical models, models now come in three forms: in vivo, in vitro and in silico. Each has been investigated separately, and many specific problems they raised have been laid out. Another relevant distinction is disciplinary: do models differ in significant ways according to the discipline involved-medicine or biology, evolutionary biology or earth science? Focusing on either this threefold distinction or the disciplinary boundaries reveals that they might not be sufficient from a philosophical perspective. On the contrary, focusing on the interaction between these various kinds of models, some interesting forms of explanation come to the fore, as is exemplified by the papers included in this issue. On the other hand, a focus on the use of models, rather than on their content, shows that the distinction between biological and medical models is theoretically sound.

A clinical reasoning model focused on clients' behaviour change with reference to physiotherapists: its multiphase development and validation.

PubMed

Elvén, Maria; Hochwälder, Jacek; Dean, Elizabeth; Söderlund, Anne

2015-05-01

A biopsychosocial approach and behaviour change strategies have long been proposed to serve as a basis for addressing current multifaceted health problems. This emphasis has implications for clinical reasoning of health professionals. This study's aim was to develop and validate a conceptual model to guide physiotherapists' clinical reasoning focused on clients' behaviour change. Phase 1 consisted of the exploration of existing research and the research team's experiences and knowledge. Phases 2a and 2b consisted of validation and refinement of the model based on input from physiotherapy students in two focus groups (n = 5 per group) and from experts in behavioural medicine (n = 9). Phase 1 generated theoretical and evidence bases for the first version of a model. Phases 2a and 2b established the validity and value of the model. The final model described clinical reasoning focused on clients' behaviour change as a cognitive, reflective, collaborative and iterative process with multiple interrelated levels that included input from the client and physiotherapist, a functional behavioural analysis of the activity-related target behaviour and the selection of strategies for behaviour change. This unique model, theory- and evidence-informed, has been developed to help physiotherapists to apply clinical reasoning systematically in the process of behaviour change with their clients.

Culture and importance of backgrounds: a cross-cultural study of photograph taking.

PubMed

Zhang, Jie; Li, Chen; Smithson, Adam; Spann, Ethan; Ruan, Fang

2010-10-01

To compare the focus on targeted people while taking a photograph, samples of American and Chinese college students were randomly selected and asked to take casual pictures of people around them with digital cameras. About 200 photographs were rated for the focus on the intended target in the picture. American students were more likely to focus on the targeted individual, while the Chinese students were more likely to attend to the background and the environment of the targeted individual. The findings imply that for the Chinese college students, the environment can be equally important as the person. Possibly for Americans the environment is less important due to the more individualistic culture.

Socioeconomic Status and Financial Coping Strategies: The Mediating Role of Perceived Control

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Caplan, Leslie J.; Schooler, Carmi

2007-01-01

We examine the relations among socioeconomic status, control beliefs, and two coping styles (problem-focused vs. emotion-focused) in the context of financial stress. Findings indicate that low socioeconomic status (SES) is linked to greater use of emotion-focused financial coping and lesser use of problem-focused financial coping. The effects of…

Solution to the satisfiability problem using a complete Grover search with trapped ions

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Yang, Wan-Li; Wei, Hua; Zhou, Fei; Chang, Weng-Long; Feng, Mang

2009-07-01

The main idea in the original Grover search (1997 Phys. Rev. Lett. 79 325) is to single out a target state containing the solution to a search problem by amplifying the amplitude of the state, following the Oracle's job, i.e., a black box giving us information about the target state. We design quantum circuits to accomplish a complete Grover search involving both the Oracle's job and the amplification of the target state, which are employed to solve satisfiability (SAT) problems. We explore how to carry out the quantum circuits with currently available ion-trap quantum computing technology.

Target identification using Zernike moments and neural networks

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Azimi-Sadjadi, Mahmood R.; Jamshidi, Arta A.; Nevis, Andrew J.

2001-10-01

The development of an underwater target identification algorithm capable of identifying various types of underwater targets, such as mines, under different environmental conditions pose many technical problems. Some of the contributing factors are: targets have diverse sizes, shapes and reflectivity properties. Target emplacement environment is variable; targets may be proud or partially buried. Environmental properties vary significantly from one location to another. Bottom features such as sand, rocks, corals, and vegetation can conceal a target whether it is partially buried or proud. Competing clutter with responses that closely resemble those of the targets may lead to false positives. All the problems mentioned above contribute to overly difficult and challenging conditions that could lead to unreliable algorithm performance with existing methods. In this paper, we developed and tested a shape-dependent feature extraction scheme that provides features invariant to rotation, size scaling and translation; properties that are extremely useful for any target classification problem. The developed schemes were tested on an electro-optical imagery data set collected under different environmental conditions with variable background, range and target types. The electro-optic data set was collected using a Laser Line Scan (LLS) sensor by the Coastal Systems Station (CSS), located in Panama City, Florida. The performance of the developed scheme and its robustness to distortion, rotation, scaling and translation was also studied.

Targeting the human macrophage with combinations of drugs and inhibitors of Ca2+ and K+ transport to enhance the killing of intracellular multi-drug resistant Mycobacterium tuberculosis (MDR-TB)--a novel, patentable approach to limit the emergence of XDR-TB.

PubMed

Martins, Marta

2011-05-01

The emergence of resistance in tuberculosis has become a serious problem for the control of this disease. For that reason, new therapeutic strategies that can be implemented in the clinical setting are urgently needed. The design of new compounds active against mycobacteria must take into account that tuberculosis is mainly an intracellular infection of the alveolar macrophage and therefore must maintain activity within the host cells. An alternative therapeutic approach will be described in this review, focusing on the activation of the phagocytic cell and the subsequent killing of the internalized bacteria. This approach explores the combined use of antibiotics and phenothiazines, or Ca(2+) and K(+) flux inhibitors, in the infected macrophage. Targeting the infected macrophage and not the internalized bacteria could overcome the problem of bacterial multi-drug resistance. This will potentially eliminate the appearance of new multi-drug resistant tuberculosis (MDR-TB) cases and subsequently prevent the emergence of extensively-drug resistant tuberculosis (XDR-TB). Patents resulting from this novel and innovative approach could be extremely valuable if they can be implemented in the clinical setting. Other patents will also be discussed such as the treatment of TB using immunomodulator compounds (for example: betaglycans).

Solving the Credit Assignment Problem With the Prefrontal Cortex

PubMed Central

Stolyarova, Alexandra

2018-01-01

In naturalistic multi-cue and multi-step learning tasks, where outcomes of behavior are delayed in time, discovering which choices are responsible for rewards can present a challenge, known as the credit assignment problem. In this review, I summarize recent work that highlighted a critical role for the prefrontal cortex (PFC) in assigning credit where it is due in tasks where only a few of the multitude of cues or choices are relevant to the final outcome of behavior. Collectively, these investigations have provided compelling support for specialized roles of the orbitofrontal (OFC), anterior cingulate (ACC), and dorsolateral prefrontal (dlPFC) cortices in contingent learning. However, recent work has similarly revealed shared contributions and emphasized rich and heterogeneous response properties of neurons in these brain regions. Such functional overlap is not surprising given the complexity of reciprocal projections spanning the PFC. In the concluding section, I overview the evidence suggesting that the OFC, ACC and dlPFC communicate extensively, sharing the information about presented options, executed decisions and received rewards, which enables them to assign credit for outcomes to choices on which they are contingent. This account suggests that lesion or inactivation/inhibition experiments targeting a localized PFC subregion will be insufficient to gain a fine-grained understanding of credit assignment during learning and instead poses refined questions for future research, shifting the focus from focal manipulations to experimental techniques targeting cortico-cortical projections. PMID:29636659

Active ingredients in anti-stigma programmes in mental health.

PubMed

Pinfold, Vanessa; Thornicroft, Graham; Huxley, Peter; Farmer, Paul

2005-04-01

This paper draws upon a review of the relevant literature and the results of the recent Mental Health Awareness in Action (MHAA) programme in England to discuss the current evidence base on the active ingredients in effective anti-stigma interventions in mental health. The MHAA Programme delivered educational interventions to 109 police officers, 78 adults from different community groups whose working lives involved supporting people with mental health problems but who had received no mental health training and 472 schools students aged 14-15. Each adult target group received two intervention sessions lasting two hours. The two school lessons were 50 minutes each. Knowledge, attitudes and behavioural intent were assessed at baseline and follow-up. In addition focus groups were held with mental health service users to explore the impact of stigma on their lives and facilitators of educational workshops were interviewed to provide expert opinion on 'what works' to reduce psychiatric stigma. Personal contact was predictive of positive changes in knowledge and attitudes for the school students but not the police officers or community adult group. The key active ingredient identified by all intervention groups and workshop facilitators were the testimonies of service users. The statements of service users (consumers) about their experience of mental health problems and of their contact with a range of services had the greatest and most lasting impact on the target audiences in terms of reducing mental health stigma.

Good sex/bad sex: the individualised focus of US HIV prevention policy in sub-Saharan Africa, 1995-2005.

PubMed

Esacove, Anne W

2013-01-01

The expanding reliance on the health sciences to address social problems is well documented, as are the effects of the social construction of public (health) problems on 'target' populations, intervention design and broader social systems. Less attention has been given in the literature to the cultural meanings that configure public health efforts themselves. This study demonstrates how the cultural understandings of sex and sexuality that inform US human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) prevention policy in sub-Saharan Africa shape policy recommendations. Based on an analysis of 119 US policy documents, a relatively stable and highly gendered narrative of sexual risk was found across the Clinton and (G.W.) Bush administrations. This narrative locates HIV risk in (what is constructed to be) the inevitable clash between women's sexuality and men's sexuality, and delineates HIV risk by the form of relationship in which sex occurs. The two narratives diverge at this point, offering different definitions of 'bad' sex and 'good' sex. This divergence helps to explain the different prevention foci of the administrations - condoms during the Clinton era and abstinence-outside-of-marriage during the Bush administration. In both cases, the sexual risk narrative points to individual targeted prevention strategies, even as the policy identifies structural factors as driving global HIV epidemics. © 2012 The Author. Sociology of Health & Illness © 2012 Foundation for the Sociology of Health & Illness/Blackwell Publishing Ltd.

Embedding ecosystem services into the Marine Strategy Framework Directive: Illustrated by eutrophication in the North Sea

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

O'Higgins, T. G.; Gilbert, A. J.

2014-03-01

The introduction of the Marine Strategy Framework Directive (MSFD) with its focus on an Ecosystem Approach places an emphasis on the human dimensions of environmental problems. Human activities may be the source of marine degradation, but may also be adversely affected should degradation compromise the provision of ecosystem services. The MSFD marks a shift away from management aiming to restore past, undegraded states toward management for Good Environmental Status (GEnS) based on delivery of marine goods and services. An example relating ecosystem services to criteria for Good Environmental Status is presented for eutrophication, a long recognised problem in many parts of Europe's seas and specifically targeted by descriptors for GEnS. Taking the North Sea as a case study the relationships between the eutrophication criteria of the MSFD and final and intermediate marine ecosystem services are examined. Ecosystem services are valued, where possible in monetary terms, in order to illustrate how eutrophication affects human welfare (economic externalities) through its multiple effects on ecosystem services.

Disease-modifying treatments for early and advanced multiple sclerosis: a new treatment paradigm.

PubMed

Giovannoni, Gavin

2018-06-01

The treatment of multiple sclerosis is evolving rapidly with 11 classes of disease-modifying therapies (DMTs). This article provides an overview of a new classification system for DMTs and treatment paradigm for using these DMTs effectively and safely. A summary of research into the use of more active approaches to early and effective treatment of multiple sclerosis with defined treatment targets of no evident disease activity (NEDA). New insights are discussed that is allowing the field to begin to tackle more advanced multiple sclerosis, including people with multiple sclerosis using wheelchairs. However, the need to modify expectations of what can be achieved in more advanced multiple sclerosis are discussed; in particular, the focus on neuronal systems with reserve capacity, for example, upper limb, bulbar and visual function. The review describes a new more active way of managing multiple sclerosis and concludes with a call to action in solving the problem of slow adoption of innovations and the global problem of untreated, or undertreated, multiple sclerosis.

Decreasing Substance Use Risk Among African American Youth: Parent-based Mechanisms of Change

PubMed Central

Beach, Steven R. H.; Barton, Allen W.; Lei, Man Kit; Mandara, Jelani; Wells, Ashley C.; Kogan, Steven M.; Brody, Gene H.

2017-01-01

African American couples (N = 139; 67.7% married; with children between the ages of 9 and 14) were randomly assigned to (a) a culturally sensitive, couple- and parenting-focused program designed to prevent stress-spillover (n = 70) or (b) an information-only control condition in which couples received self-help materials (n = 69). Eight months after baseline, youth whose parents participated in the program, compared with control youth, reported increased parental monitoring, positive racial socialization, and positive self-concept, as well as decreased conduct problems and self-reported substance use. Changes in youth-reported parenting behavior partially mediated the effect of the intervention on conduct problems and fully mediated its impact on positive self-concept, but did not mediate effects on lifetime substance use initiation. Results suggest the potential for a culturally sensitive family-based intervention targeting adults’ couple and parenting processes to enhance multiple parenting behaviors as well as decrease youths’ substance use onset and vulnerability. PMID:27129477

A Qualitative Study of Mental Health Problems among Orphaned Children and Adolescents in Tanzania

PubMed Central

Dorsey, Shannon; Lucid, Leah; Murray, Laura; Bolton, Paul; Itemba, Dafrosa; Manongi, Rachel; Whetten, Kathryn

2015-01-01

Low- and middle-income countries (LMIC) have a high number of orphans, many of whom have unmet mental health needs. Effective mental health interventions are needed; however, it is necessary to understand how mental health symptoms and needs are perceived locally in order to tailor interventions and refine measurement of intervention effects. We used an existing rapid ethnographic assessment approach to identify mental health problems from the perspective of orphans and guardians to inform a subsequent randomized controlled trial of a Western-developed, evidence-based psychosocial intervention, Trauma-focused Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (TF-CBT). Local, Kiswahili-speaking interviewers conducted 73 free list interviews and 34 key informant interviews. Results identified both common cross-cultural experiences and symptoms as well as uniquely described symptoms (e.g., lacking peace, being discriminated against) not typically targeted by the intervention or included on standardized measures of intervention effects. We discuss implications for adapting mental health interventions in LMIC and assessing effectiveness. PMID:26488916

Enhancing sibling relationships to prevent adolescent problem behaviors: theory, design and feasibility of Siblings Are Special.

PubMed

Feinberg, Mark E; Sakuma, Kari-Lyn; Hostetler, Michelle; McHale, Susan M

2013-02-01

Siblings play a significant but neglected role in family socialization dynamics, and focusing on the sibling relationship is a non-stigmatizing point of entry into the family for prevention programming. Siblings are Special (SAS) was designed as a universal program that targets both sibling relationship and parenting mediating processes in middle childhood to prevent behavior problems in adolescence. We describe the theoretical framework underlying SAS, the SAS curriculum, and the feasibility of the program based on a study of 128 middle-childhood aged sibling dyads. Data on the quality of program implementation, program fidelity, siblings' engagement, and ratings of impact indicated the SAS program was acceptable to families and schools, that the curriculum could be implemented with high fidelity, that siblings and parents participated at high levels and were highly engaged, and that, from the perspective of group leaders, school administrators and parents, the program had a positive impact on the siblings. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Enhancing Sibling Relationships to Prevent Adolescent Problem Behaviors: Theory, Design and Feasibility of Siblings Are Special

PubMed Central

Feinberg, Mark E.; Sakuma, Kari-Lyn; Hostetler, Michelle; McHale, Susan M.

2012-01-01

Siblings play a significant but neglected role in family socialization dynamics, and focusing on the sibling relationship is a non-stigmatizing point of entry into the family for prevention programming. Siblings are Special (SAS) was designed as a universal program that targets both sibling relationship and parenting mediating processes in middle childhood to prevent behavior problems in adolescence. We describe the theoretical framework underlying SAS, the SAS curriculum, and the feasibility of the program based on a study of 128 middle-childhood aged sibling dyads. Data on the quality of program implementation, program fidelity, siblings’ engagement, and ratings of impact indicated the SAS program was acceptable to families and schools, that the curriculum could be implemented with high fidelity, that siblings and parents participated at high levels and were highly engaged, and that, from the perspective of group leaders, school administrators and parents, the program had a positive impact on the siblings. PMID:23000632

Inquiry and Problem Solving.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Thorson, Annette, Ed.

1999-01-01

This issue of ENC Focus focuses on the topic of inquiry and problem solving. Featured articles include: (1) "Inquiry in the Everyday World of Schools" (Ronald D. Anderson); (2) "In the Cascade Reservoir Restoration Project Students Tackle Real-World Problems" (Clint Kennedy with Advanced Biology Students from Cascade High…

Megajoule Dense Plasma Focus Solid Target Experiments

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Podpaly, Y. A.; Falabella, S.; Link, A.; Povilus, A.; Higginson, D. P.; Shaw, B. H.; Cooper, C. M.; Chapman, S.; Bennett, N.; Sipe, N.; Olson, R.; Schmidt, A. E.

2016-10-01

Dense plasma focus (DPF) devices are plasma sources that can produce significant neutron yields from beam into gas interactions. Yield increases, up to approximately a factor of five, have been observed previously on DPFs using solid targets, such as CD2 and D2O ice. In this work, we report on deuterium solid-target experiments at the Gemini DPF. A rotatable target holder and baffle arrangement were installed in the Gemini device which allowed four targets to be deployed sequentially without breaking vacuum. Solid targets of titanium deuteride were installed and systematically studied at a variety of fill pressures, bias voltages, and target positions. Target holder design, experimental results, and comparison to simulations will be presented. Prepared by LLNL under Contract DE-AC52-07NA27344.

Effects of vision on head-putter coordination in golf.

PubMed

Gonzalez, David Antonio; Kegel, Stefan; Ishikura, Tadao; Lee, Tim

2012-07-01

Low-skill golfers coordinate the movements of their head and putter with an allocentric, isodirectional coupling, which is opposite to the allocentric, antidirectional coordination pattern used by experts (Lee, Ishikura, Kegel, Gonzalez, & Passmore, 2008). The present study investigated the effects of four vision conditions (full vision, no vision, target focus, and ball focus) on head-putter coupling in low-skill golfers. Performance in the absence of vision resulted in a level of high isodirectional coupling that was similar to the full vision condition. However, when instructed to focus on the target during the putt, or focus on the ball through a restricted viewing angle, low-skill golfers significantly decoupled the head--putter coordination pattern. However, outcome measures demonstrated that target focus resulted in poorer performance compared with the other visual conditions, thereby providing overall support for use of a ball focus strategy to enhance coordination and outcome performance. Focus of attention and reduced visual tracking were hypothesized as potential reasons for the decoupling.

Vacuum aperture isolator for retroreflection from laser-irradiated target

DOEpatents

Benjamin, Robert F.; Mitchell, Kenneth B.

1980-01-01

The disclosure is directed to a vacuum aperture isolator for retroreflection of a laser-irradiated target. Within a vacuum chamber are disposed a beam focusing element, a disc having an aperture and a recollimating element. The edge of the focused beam impinges on the edge of the aperture to produce a plasma which refracts any retroreflected light from the laser's target.

Focused ultrasound: concept for automated transcutaneous control of hemorrhage in austere settings.

PubMed

Kucewicz, John C; Bailey, Michael R; Kaczkowski, Peter J; Carter, Stephen J

2009-04-01

High intensity focused ultrasound (HIFU) is being developed for a range of clinical applications. Of particular interest to NASA and the military is the use of HIFU for traumatic injuries because HIFU has the unique ability to transcutaneously stop bleeding. Automation of this technology would make possible its use in remote, austere settings by personnel not specialized in medical ultrasound. Here a system to automatically detect and target bleeding is tested and reported. The system uses Doppler ultrasound images from a clinical ultrasound scanner for bleeding detection and hardware for HIFU therapy. The system was tested using a moving string to simulate blood flow and targeting was visualized by Schlieren imaging to show the focusing of the HIFU acoustic waves. When instructed by the operator, a Doppler ultrasound image is acquired and processed to detect and localize the moving string, and the focus of the HIFU array is electronically adjusted to target the string. Precise and accurate targeting was verified in the Schlieren images. An automated system to detect and target simulated bleeding has been built and tested. The system could be combined with existing algorithms to detect, target, and treat clinical bleeding.

Doubly-focused echos from spheres unfold into a hyperbolic umbilic diffraction catastrophe

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Dzikowicz, Ben; Marston, Philip L.

2003-04-01

An underwater spherical target resides in an Airy field formed by reflection off a curved surface representing the sea floor or sea surface. In prior work [B. Dzikowicz and P. L. Marston, J. Acoust. Soc Am. 110, 2778 (2001)] direct returns of a tone burst from the surface reflection focused toward the target were shown to have a dependence on the target position described by an Airy function. The return echo can also be focused again by the surface onto the source and receive transducer. This gives the square of an Airy function for the case of a point target. With a finite sized target (as in the experiment) this goes over to a hyperbolic umbilic catastrophe with symmetric arguments. The arguments of the hyperbolic umbilic function are derived from only the relative return times of a transient pulse. Experiment confirms the predicted merging of transient echoes in the time domain, as well as the hyperbolic umbilic diffraction integral amplitudes for a tone burst. This method would allow for the observation of a target at a greater distance in the presence of a focusing surface. [Research supported by ONR.

Self-image and self-esteem in African-American preteen girls: implications for mental health.

PubMed

Doswell, W M; Millor, G K; Thompson, H; Braxter, B

1998-01-01

Current research suggests that pubertal development is occurring earlier in African-American preteen girls in response to familial contextual factors, which may make them vulnerable to low self-image and self-esteem dissatisfaction. This lowering in self-image and self-esteem may contribute to the early initiation of sexual behaviors, putting these girls at risk for pregnancy and sexually transmitted diseases. These potential risks place these girls in need of prepubertal health promotion, yet preadolescents are not frequently a focus of nursing care delivery except when summer camp and back-to-school physicals are performed. This article presents an in-depth overview of selected literature on self-esteem, discusses findings on self-image and self-esteem from a pilot study on pubertal influences on accelerated sexual behavior, and proposes health promotion strategies for pre- and peripubertal girls to promote positive mental health outcomes. More focused attention is needed on health promotion targeting the developmental transition health needs of prepubertal girls. Targeted health promotion activities may foster healthier pre- and peripubertal girls' perceptions of the meaning of their pubertal physical changes and stronger self-image and self-esteem. The goal of these health promotion activities should be to foster continuity of positive self-image and self-esteem among preteen girls, which is essential to prevent initiation of premature-for-age risk of problem behavior, such as early coitus.

Epigenetic mechanisms of dietary restriction induced aging in Drosophila.

PubMed

Lian, Ting; Gaur, Uma; Yang, Deying; Li, Diyan; Li, Ying; Yang, Mingyao

2015-12-01

Aging is a long-standing problem that people are always interested in. Thus, it is critical to understand the underlying molecular mechanisms in aging and explore the most efficient method to extend life expectancy. To achieve this goal, a wide range of systems including cells, rodent models, budding yeast, worms and flies have been employed for decades. In recent years, the effect of dietary restriction (DR) on lifespan is in the prime focus. Although we have confirmed that reduced insulin and/or insulin-like growth factor (IGF) and the target of rapamycin (TOR) signaling can increase Drosophila lifespan; the precise molecular mechanisms and nutritional response landscape of diet-mediated aging is ambiguous. Epigenetic events have been considered as the major contributors to lifespan extension with response to DR. The role of DNA methylation in aging is well acknowledged in mammals and rodents where it has been shown to impact aging by regulating the transcription, though the mechanism of regulation is not limited to only transcription. In Drosophila, the contribution of methylation during DR in aging is definitely less explored. In this review, we will update the advances in mechanisms of DR, with a particular focus on methylation as an upcoming target for aging studies and discuss Drosophila as a powerful model to understand mechanisms of aging with response to diet. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

[Negative and positive predictive relationships between coping strategies and the three dimensions of burnout among Hungarian medical students].

PubMed

Ádám, Szilvia; Nistor, Anikó; Nistor, Katalin; Hazag, Anikó

2014-08-10

Effective management and prevention of widespread burnout among medical students in Hungary require thorough understanding of its relations to coping strategies, which lacks sufficient data. To explore the prevalence of burnout and its relations to coping strategies among medical students. Cross-sectional study with 292 participants. Burnout was assessed by the Maslach Burnout Inventory-Student Survey. Coping strategies were evaluated by the Folkman-Lazarus Ways of Coping Questionnaire and questions about health-maintenance behaviours. Associations between burnout and coping strategies were explored with linear regression analyses. The prevalence of high-level burnout was 25-56%. Both problem-focused coping and support-seeking were protective factors of exhaustion and cynicism, however, they predicted reduced personal accomplishment. Emotion-focused coping predicted exhaustion and cynicism and correlated negatively with reduced personal accomplishment. Health-maintenance behaviours were protective factors for exhaustion and predicted reduced personal accomplishment. Deployment of coping strategies that target the most prevalent burnout dimension may improve effective management of burnout.

Daily Management System of the Henry Ford Production System: QTIPS to Focus Continuous Improvements at the Level of the Work.

PubMed

Zarbo, Richard J; Varney, Ruan C; Copeland, Jacqueline R; D'Angelo, Rita; Sharma, Gaurav

2015-07-01

To support our Lean culture of continuous improvement, we implemented a daily management system designed so critical metrics of operational success were the focus of local teams to drive improvements. We innovated a standardized visual daily management board composed of metric categories of Quality, Time, Inventory, Productivity, and Safety (QTIPS); frequency trending; root cause analysis; corrective/preventive actions; and resulting process improvements. In 1 year (June 2013 to July 2014), eight laboratory sections at Henry Ford Hospital employed 64 unique daily metrics. Most assessed long-term (>6 months), monitored process stability, while short-term metrics (1-6 months) were retired after successful targeted problem resolution. Daily monitoring resulted in 42 process improvements. Daily management is the key business accountability subsystem that enabled our culture of continuous improvement to function more efficiently at the managerial level in a visible manner by reviewing and acting based on data and root cause analysis. Copyright© by the American Society for Clinical Pathology.

One hundred years of discrimination research in the Journal of Applied Psychology: A sobering synopsis.

PubMed

Colella, Adrienne; Hebl, Mikki; King, Eden

2017-03-01

Employment discrimination-a legal, social, moral, and practical problem-has been a persistent focus of narrow scholarship in the Journal of Applied Psychology since its inception. Indeed, this article identifies the environmental characteristics, conceptual underpinnings, dominant methodologies, research questions and findings across 508 articles published on discrimination in the journal over the last 100 years. Emergent themes document signs of stability and change in 3 eras: an era wherein discrimination research was itself discriminatory (1917-1969), the heyday of discrimination research (1970-1989), and an era of unsteady progress (1990-2014). This synthesis suggests that, although increasingly sophisticated methodological approaches have been applied to this topic, the targets of focus and theories driving research have largely been static. Additionally, research published on discrimination in the Journal of Applied Psychology has often trailed too far behind the times. Specific recommendations for advancing the psychological study of employment discrimination in applied contexts are provided. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2017 APA, all rights reserved).

The role of sleep in cognitive processing: focusing on memory consolidation.

PubMed

Chambers, Alexis M

2017-05-01

Research indicates that sleep promotes various cognitive functions, such as decision-making, language, categorization, and memory. Of these, most work has focused on the influence of sleep on memory, with ample work showing that sleep enhances memory consolidation, a process that stores new memories in the brain over time. Recent psychological and neurophysiological research has vastly increased understanding of this process. Such work not only suggests that consolidation relies on plasticity-related mechanisms that reactivate and stabilize memory representations, but also that this process may be experimentally manipulated by methods that target which memory traces are reactivated during sleep. Furthermore, aside from memory storage capabilities, memory consolidation also appears to reorganize and integrate memories with preexisting knowledge, which may facilitate the discovery of underlying rules and associations that benefit other cognitive functioning, including problem solving and creativity. WIREs Cogn Sci 2017, 8:e1433. doi: 10.1002/wcs.1433 For further resources related to this article, please visit the WIREs website. © 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Adults with autism spectrum disorder as behavior technicians for young children with autism: Outcomes of a behavioral skills training program.

PubMed

Lerman, Dorothea C; Hawkins, Lynn; Hillman, Conrad; Shireman, Molly; Nissen, Melissa A

2015-01-01

Adults with autism spectrum disorder (ASD), who were interested in working as behavior technicians for young children with autism, participated in 2 experiments. Participants included 5 adults with Asperger syndrome or pervasive developmental disorder not otherwise specified, 19 to 23 years old, and 11 children with autism, 3 to 7 years old. In Experiment 1, training of the adults focused on the implementation of mand training via incidental teaching. Experiment 2 focused on teaching participants to use discrete-trial training (DTT) with children who exhibited problem behavior. Both experiments showed that behavioral skills training was effective for teaching the adult participants the behavioral procedures needed to teach children with autism. In addition, the children acquired skills as a result of training. Results of Experiment 2 further demonstrated that the DTT skills generalized across untrained targets and children. Social validity ratings suggested that some participants' teaching was indistinguishable from that of individuals without ASD. © Society for the Experimental Analysis of Behavior.

The Effects of a Skill-Based Intervention for Victims of Bullying in Brazil

PubMed Central

da Silva, Jorge Luiz; de Oliveira, Wanderlei Abadio; Braga, Iara Falleiros; Farias, Marilurdes Silva; da Silva Lizzi, Elisangela Aparecida; Gonçalves, Marlene Fagundes Carvalho; Pereira, Beatriz Oliveira; Silva, Marta Angélica Iossi

2016-01-01

This study’s objective was to verify whether improved social and emotional skills would reduce victimization among Brazilian 6th grade student victims of bullying. The targets of this intervention were victimized students; a total of 78 victims participated. A cognitive-behavioral intervention based on social and emotional skills was held in eight weekly sessions. The sessions focused on civility, the ability to make friends, self-control, emotional expressiveness, empathy, assertiveness, and interpersonal problem-solving capacity. Data were analyzed through Poisson regression models with random effects. Pre- and post-analyses reveal that intervention and comparison groups presented significant reduced victimization by bullying. No significant improvement was found in regard to difficulties in practicing social skills. Victimization reduction cannot be attributed to the program. This study contributes to the incipient literature addressing anti-bullying interventions conducted in developing countries and highlights the need for approaches that do not exclusively focus on the students’ individual aspects. PMID:27792206

Focusing giga-electronvolt heavy ions to micrometers at the Institute of Modern Physics.

PubMed

Sheng, Lina; Du, Guanghua; Guo, Jinlong; Wu, Ruqun; Song, Mingtao; Yuan, Youjin; Xiao, Guoqing

2013-05-01

To study the radiation effect of cosmic heavy ions of low fluxes in electronics and living samples, a focusing heavy ion microbeam facility, for ions with energies of several MeV/u up to 100 MeV/u, was constructed in the Institute of Modern Physics of the Chinese Academy of Sciences. This facility has a vertical design and an experiment platform for both in-vacuum analysis and in-air irradiation. Recently, microbeam of (12)C(6+) with energy of 80.55 MeV/u was successfully achieved at this interdisciplinary microbeam facility with a full beam spot size of 3 μm × 5 μm on target in air. Different from ions with energy of several MeV/u, the very high ion energy of hundred MeV/u level induces problems in beam micro-collimation, online beam spot diagnosis, radiation protection, etc. This paper presents the microbeam setup, difficulties in microbeam formation, and the preliminary experiments performed with the facility.

Using an incoherent target return to adaptively focus through atmospheric turbulence

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Nelson, W.; Palastro, J. P.; Wu, C.; Davis, C. C.

2016-03-01

A laser beam propagating to a remote target through atmospheric turbulence acquires intensity fluctuations. If the target is cooperative and provides a coherent return beam, the phase measured near the beam transmitter and adaptive optics can, in principle, correct these fluctuations. Generally, however, the target is uncooperative. In this case, we show that an incoherent return from the target can be used instead. Using the principle of reciprocity, we derive a novel relation between the field at the target and the reflected field at a detector. We simulate an adaptive optics system that utilizes this relation to focus a beam through atmospheric turbulence onto the incoherent surface.

An integrative system biology approach to unravel potential drug candidates for multiple age related disorders.

PubMed

Srivastava, Isha; Khurana, Pooja; Yadav, Mohini; Hasija, Yasha

2017-12-01

Aging, though an inevitable part of life, is becoming a worldwide social and economic problem. Healthy aging is usually marked by low probability of age related disorders. Good therapeutic approaches are still in need to cure age related disorders. Occurrence of more than one ARD in an individual, expresses the need of discovery of such target proteins, which can affect multiple ARDs. Advanced scientific and medical research technologies throughout last three decades have arrived to the point where lots of key molecular determinants affect human disorders can be examined thoroughly. In this study, we designed and executed an approach to prioritize drugs that may target multiple age related disorders. Our methodology, focused on the analysis of biological pathways and protein protein interaction networks that may contribute to the pharmacology of age related disorders, included various steps such as retrieval and analysis of data, protein-protein interaction network analysis, and statistical and comparative analysis of topological coefficients, pathway, and functional enrichment analysis, and identification of drug-target proteins. We assume that the identified molecular determinants may be prioritized for further screening as novel drug targets to cure multiple ARDs. Based on the analysis, an online tool named as 'ARDnet' has been developed to construct and demonstrate ARD interactions at the level of PPI, ARDs and ARDs protein interaction, ARDs pathway interaction and drug-target interaction. The tool is freely made available at http://genomeinformatics.dtu.ac.in/ARDNet/Index.html. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Starshade orbital maneuver study for WFIRST

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Soto, Gabriel; Sinha, Amlan; Savransky, Dmitry; Delacroix, Christian; Garrett, Daniel

2017-09-01

The Wide Field Infrared Survey Telescope (WFIRST) mission, scheduled for launch in the mid-2020s will perform exoplanet science via both direct imaging and a microlensing survey. An internal coronagraph is planned to perform starlight suppression for exoplanet imaging, but an external starshade could be used to achieve the required high contrasts with potentially higher throughput. This approach would require a separately-launched occulter spacecraft to be positioned at exact distances from the telescope along the line of sight to a target star system. We present a detailed study to quantify the Δv requirements and feasibility of deploying this additional spacecraft as a means of exoplanet imaging. The primary focus of this study is the fuel use of the occulter while repositioning between targets. Based on its design, the occulter is given an offset distance from the nominal WFIRST halo orbit. Target star systems and look vectors are generated using Exoplanet Open-Source Imaging Simulator (EXOSIMS); a boundary value problem is then solved between successive targets. On average, 50 observations are achievable with randomly selected targets given a 30-day transfer time. Individual trajectories can be optimized for transfer time as well as fuel usage to be used in mission scheduling. Minimizing transfer time reduces the total mission time by up to 4.5 times in some simulations before expending the entire fuel budget. Minimizing Δv can generate starshade missions that achieve over 100 unique observations within the designated mission lifetime of WFIRST.

Heavy liquid metals: Research programs at PSI

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

Takeda, Y.

1996-06-01

The author describes work at PSI on thermohydraulics, thermal shock, and material tests for mechnical properties. In the presentation, the focus is on two main programs. (1) SINQ LBE target: The phase II study program for SINQ is planned. A new LBE loop is being constructed. The study has the following three objectives: (a) Pump study - design work on an electromagnetic pump to be integrated into the target. (b) Heat pipe performance test - the use of heat pipes as an additional component of the target cooling system is being considered, and it may be a way to futhermore » decouple the liquid metal and water coolant loops. (c) Mixed convection experiment - in order to find an optimal configuration of the additional flow guide for window cooling, mixed convection around the window is to be studied. The experiment will be started using water and then with LBE. (2) ESS Mercury target: For ESS target study, the following experimental studies are planned, some of which are exampled by trial experiments. (a) Flow around the window: Flow mapping around the hemi-cylindrical window will be made for optimising the flow channels and structures, (b) Geometry optimisation for minimizing a recirculation zone behind the edge of the flow separator, (c) Flow induced vibration and buckling problem for a optimised structure of the flow separator and (d) Gas-liquid two-phase flow will be studied by starting to establish the new experimental method of measuring various kinds of two-phase flow characteristics.« less

Coping strategies and health symptoms among women and men in a downsizing organisation.

PubMed

Torkelson, Eva; Muhonen, Tuija

2003-06-01

This study examined how women and men cope with stress during a period of organizational change and how the coping strategies are related to health. Questionnaire responses were obtained from 98 female and male administrators of health care service working in a Swedish governmental County Council during a period of downsizing. In line with earlier studies, the results showed women to be more likely than men to endorse the emotion-focused strategies of Seeking Social Support and Focus on and Venting of Emotions. Contrary to earlier studies the men did not report using problem-focused strategies more frequently than the women. The results of a regression analysis indicated that the reported use of problem-focused strategies did not contribute significantly to the explained variance in health. Instead, the emotion-focused strategy Denial explained a significant proportion of variance in the health problems. No sex differences in reported health problems were found.

Assessment of risky sexual behavior and practice among Aksum University students, Shire Campus, Shire Town, Tigray, Ethiopia, 2017.

PubMed

Kebede, Awoke; Molla, Bogale; Gerensea, Hadgu

2018-01-31

Having sex at early age, having multiple sexual partners, having sex while under the influence of alcohol or drugs and unprotected sexual behaviors are the common characteristics of risky sexual behavior which increases risk of individuals to sexuality and reproductive health problems. Risky sexual behavior is the most common problem in adolescents and young adults which may expose individuals for permanent social, economical, psychological and physical problem. So that this study focus on assessment of risk sexual behavior using institution based cross-sectional study design on 287 randomly selected subjects among Aksum University students. Almost 60% students reported to have ever had sexual activity. Of which 86 (83.5%) and 112 (64.4%) reported having inconsistent condom use and multiple sexual partners respectively. Even though more than half of first sexual intercourse (61.5%) starts due to their desire but still peer pressure and alcohol have significant effect. Similarly the study indicated that a significant segment of students have risk sexual behaviors which increase individuals' risk of acquiring HIV/AIDS. Unless appropriate age and institutional targeted interventions exist, certain behaviors can place the university students at greater risk of HIV infection and sexually transmitted disease.

Complexity in language acquisition.

PubMed

Clark, Alexander; Lappin, Shalom

2013-01-01

Learning theory has frequently been applied to language acquisition, but discussion has largely focused on information theoretic problems-in particular on the absence of direct negative evidence. Such arguments typically neglect the probabilistic nature of cognition and learning in general. We argue first that these arguments, and analyses based on them, suffer from a major flaw: they systematically conflate the hypothesis class and the learnable concept class. As a result, they do not allow one to draw significant conclusions about the learner. Second, we claim that the real problem for language learning is the computational complexity of constructing a hypothesis from input data. Studying this problem allows for a more direct approach to the object of study--the language acquisition device-rather than the learnable class of languages, which is epiphenomenal and possibly hard to characterize. The learnability results informed by complexity studies are much more insightful. They strongly suggest that target grammars need to be objective, in the sense that the primitive elements of these grammars are based on objectively definable properties of the language itself. These considerations support the view that language acquisition proceeds primarily through data-driven learning of some form. Copyright © 2013 Cognitive Science Society, Inc.

Observed Parenting Behavior with Teens: Measurement Invariance and Predictive Validity Across Race

PubMed Central

Skinner, Martie L.; MacKenzie, Elizabeth P.; Haggerty, Kevin P.; Hill, Karl G.; Roberson, Kendra C.

2011-01-01

Previous reports supporting measurement equality between European American and African American families have often focused on self-reported risk factors or observed parent behavior with young children. This study examines equality of measurement of observer ratings of parenting behavior with adolescents during structured tasks; mean levels of observed parenting; and predictive validity of teen self-reports of antisocial behaviors and beliefs using a sample of 163 African American and 168 European American families. Multiple-group confirmatory factor analyses supported measurement invariance across ethnic groups for 4 measures of observed parenting behavior: prosocial rewards, psychological costs, antisocial rewards, and problem solving. Some mean-level differences were found: African American parents exhibited lower levels of prosocial rewards, higher levels of psychological costs, and lower problem solving when compared to European Americans. No significant mean difference was found in rewards for antisocial behavior. Multigroup structural equation models suggested comparable relationships across race (predictive validity) between parenting constructs and youth antisocial constructs (i.e., drug initiation, positive drug attitudes, antisocial attitudes, problem behaviors) in all but one of the tested relationships. This study adds to existing evidence that family-based interventions targeting parenting behaviors can be generalized to African American families. PMID:21787057

Can a Parenting Intervention to Prevent Early Conduct Problems Interrupt Girls' Risk for Intimate Partner Violence 10 Years Later?

PubMed

Ehrensaft, Miriam K; Westfall, Heather Knous; Niolon, Phyllis Holditch; Lopez, Thailyn; Kamboukos, Dimitra; Huang, Keng-Yen; Brotman, Laurie Miller

2018-05-01

This study tests whether a parenting intervention for families of preschoolers at risk for conduct problems can prevent later risk for intimate partner violence (IPV). Ninety-nine preschoolers at familial risk for conduct problems were randomly assigned to intervention or control conditions. Ten years later, 45 preschoolers and 43 of their siblings completed an assessment of their romantic relationships, including measures of physical and psychological IPV. The study focuses on the 54 females, including targets (n = 27) and siblings (n = 27) who participated in a 10-year follow-up (M age = 16.5, SD = 5.2, range = 10-28). Using an intent-to-treat (ITT) design, multivariate regressions suggest that females from families randomly assigned to intervention in early childhood scored lower than those in the control condition on perceptions of dating violence as normative, beliefs about IPV prevalence, exposure to IPV in their own peer group, and expected sanction behaviors for IPV perpetration and victimization. Findings suggest that early parenting intervention may reduce association of high-risk females with aggressive peers and partners in adolescence.

Comparison of Travel-Time and Amplitude Measurements for Deep-Focusing Time-Distance Helioseismology

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Pourabdian, Majid; Fournier, Damien; Gizon, Laurent

2018-04-01

The purpose of deep-focusing time-distance helioseismology is to construct seismic measurements that have a high sensitivity to the physical conditions at a desired target point in the solar interior. With this technique, pairs of points on the solar surface are chosen such that acoustic ray paths intersect at this target (focus) point. Considering acoustic waves in a homogeneous medium, we compare travel-time and amplitude measurements extracted from the deep-focusing cross-covariance functions. Using a single-scattering approximation, we find that the spatial sensitivity of deep-focusing travel times to sound-speed perturbations is zero at the target location and maximum in a surrounding shell. This is unlike the deep-focusing amplitude measurements, which have maximum sensitivity at the target point. We compare the signal-to-noise ratio for travel-time and amplitude measurements for different types of sound-speed perturbations, under the assumption that noise is solely due to the random excitation of the waves. We find that, for highly localized perturbations in sound speed, the signal-to-noise ratio is higher for amplitude measurements than for travel-time measurements. We conclude that amplitude measurements are a useful complement to travel-time measurements in time-distance helioseismology.

Goal specificity and knowledge acquisition in statistics problem solving: evidence for attentional focus.

PubMed

Trumpower, David L; Goldsmith, Timothy E; Guynn, Melissa J

2004-12-01

Solving training problems with nonspecific goals (NG; i.e., solving for all possible unknown values) often results in better transfer than solving training problems with standard goals (SG; i.e., solving for one particular unknown value). In this study, we evaluated an attentional focus explanation of the goal specificity effect. According to the attentional focus view, solving NG problems causes attention to be directed to local relations among successive problem states, whereas solving SG problems causes attention to be directed to relations between the various problem states and the goal state. Attention to the former is thought to enhance structural knowledge about the problem domain and thus promote transfer. Results supported this view because structurally different transfer problems were solved faster following NG training than following SG training. Moreover, structural knowledge representations revealed more links depicting local relations following NG training and more links to the training goal following SG training. As predicted, these effects were obtained only by domain novices.

Family Environment, Coping, and Mental Health in Adolescents Attending Therapeutic Day Schools

PubMed Central

Rodriguez, Erin M.; Donenberg, Geri R.; Emerson, Erin; Wilson, Helen W.; Brown, Larry K.; Houck, Christopher

2014-01-01

OBJECTIVE This study examined associations among family environment, coping, and emotional and conduct problems in adolescents attending therapeutic day schools due to mental health problems. METHODS Adolescents (N=417; 30.2% female) ages 13–20 (M=15.25) reported on their family environment (affective involvement and functioning), coping (emotion-focused support-seeking, cognitive restructuring, avoidant actions), and emotional and conduct problems. RESULTS Poorer family environment was associated with less emotion-focused support-seeking and cognitive restructuring, and more emotional and conduct problems. Emotional problems were negatively associated with cognitive restructuring, and conduct problems were negatively associated with all coping strategies. Cognitive restructuring accounted for the relationship between family environment and emotional problems. Cognitive restructuring and emotion-focused support-seeking each partially accounted for the relationship between family functioning and conduct problems, but not the relationship between family affective involvement and conduct problems. CONCLUSIONS Findings implicate the role of coping in the relationship between family environment and adolescent mental health. PMID:25151645

Quantitative methods and detection techniques in hyperspectral imaging involving medical and other applications

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Roy, Ankita

2007-12-01

This research using Hyperspectral imaging involves recognizing targets through spatial and spectral matching and spectral un-mixing of data ranging from remote sensing to medical imaging kernels for clinical studies based on Hyperspectral data-sets generated using the VFTHSI [Visible Fourier Transform Hyperspectral Imager], whose high resolution Si detector makes the analysis achievable. The research may be broadly classified into (I) A Physically Motivated Correlation Formalism (PMCF), which places both spatial and spectral data on an equivalent mathematical footing in the context of a specific Kernel and (II) An application in RF plasma specie detection during carbon nanotube growing process. (III) Hyperspectral analysis for assessing density and distribution of retinopathies like age related macular degeneration (ARMD) and error estimation enabling the early recognition of ARMD, which is treated as an ill-conditioned inverse imaging problem. The broad statistical scopes of this research are two fold-target recognition problems and spectral unmixing problems. All processes involve experimental and computational analysis of Hyperspectral data sets is presented, which is based on the principle of a Sagnac Interferometer, calibrated to obtain high SNR levels. PMCF computes spectral/spatial/cross moments and answers the question of how optimally the entire hypercube should be sampled and finds how many spatial-spectral pixels are required precisely for a particular target recognition. Spectral analysis of RF plasma radicals, typically Methane plasma and Argon plasma using VFTHSI has enabled better process monitoring during growth of vertically aligned multi-walled carbon nanotubes by instant registration of the chemical composition or density changes temporally, which is key since a significant correlation can be found between plasma state and structural properties. A vital focus of this dissertation is towards medical Hyperspectral imaging applied to retinopathies like age related macular degeneration targets taken with a Fundus imager, which is akin to the VFTHSI. Detection of the constituent components in the diseased hyper-pigmentation area is also computed. The target or reflectance matrix is treated as a highly ill-conditioned spectral un-mixing problem, to which methodologies like inverse techniques, principal component analysis (PCA) and receiver operating curves (ROC) for precise spectral recognition of infected area. The region containing ARMD was easily distinguishable from the spectral mesh plots over the entire band-pass area. Once the location was detected the PMCF coefficients were calculated by cross correlating a target of normal oxygenated retina with the deoxygenated one. The ROCs generated using PMCF shows 30% higher detection probability with improved accuracy than ROCs based on Spectral Angle Mapper (SAM). By spectral unmixing methods, the important endmembers/carotenoids of the MD pigment were found to be Xanthophyl and lutein, while beta-carotene which showed a negative correlation in the unconstrained inverse problem is a supplement given to ARMD patients to prevent the disease and does not occur in the eye. Literature also shows degeneration of meso-zeaxanthin. Ophthalmologists may assert the presence of ARMD and commence the diagnosis process if the Xanthophyl pigment have degenerated 89.9%, while the lutein has decayed almost 80%, as found deduced computationally. This piece of current research takes it to the next level of precise investigation in the continuing process of improved clinical findings by correlating the microanatomy of the diseased fovea and shows promise of an early detection of this disease.

Distributed multi-sensor particle filter for bearings-only tracking

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhang, Jungen; Ji, Hongbing

2012-02-01

In this article, the classical bearings-only tracking (BOT) problem for a single target is addressed, which belongs to the general class of non-linear filtering problems. Due to the fact that the radial distance observability of the target is poor, the algorithm-based sequential Monte-Carlo (particle filtering, PF) methods generally show instability and filter divergence. A new stable distributed multi-sensor PF method is proposed for BOT. The sensors process their measurements at their sites using a hierarchical PF approach, which transforms the BOT problem from Cartesian coordinate to the logarithmic polar coordinate and separates the observable components from the unobservable components of the target. In the fusion centre, the target state can be estimated by utilising the multi-sensor optimal information fusion rule. Furthermore, the computation of a theoretical Cramer-Rao lower bound is given for the multi-sensor BOT problem. Simulation results illustrate that the proposed tracking method can provide better performances than the traditional PF method.

Reduction of hypoglycaemic events with a behavioural intervention: a randomized clinical trial for paediatric patients with Type 1 diabetes mellitus.

PubMed

Gee, B T; Nansel, T R; Liu, A

2017-03-01

To determine if a low-intensity, clinic-integrated behavioural intervention reduced the incidence of hypoglycaemic events in children with Type 1 diabetes. A total of 390 families with children with Type 1 diabetes were enrolled in a 2-year, randomized clinical trial of a behavioural intervention. The intervention was designed to improve diabetes management practices by targeting the family's diabetes problem-solving skills. Hypoglycaemic events were categorized in two groups: those treated by oral ingestion and those treated by parenteral therapy. Events were self-reported by participants at each clinic visit, which occurred approximately every 3-4 months. Analyses included two-sample t-tests, the mean cumulative function test, and the Cox proportional hazards model for recurrent events to compare the incidence between groups. Across the entire 2-year study period, the incidence of hypoglycaemic events treated by oral ingestion of glucose-rich foods and events requiring parenteral therapy did not significantly differ between study conditions; however, during the second year of participant enrolment, the incidence of events treated by oral ingestion in the intervention group was 13.6 per 100 person-years compared with 27.3 per 100 patient-years in the control group (P = 0.02). The hazard ratio of these events during the second year was 0.49 (95% CI 0.27-0.90; P = 0.02). Our findings suggest the need for a long-term (> 1 year) focus on the implementation of interventions targeting diabetes management in young people. Behavioural interventions targeting problem-solving skills could be considered as practical, non-pharmacological strategies to reduce hypoglycaemia in adolescents with Type 1 diabetes. Published 2015. This article is a U.S. Government work and is in the public domain in the USA.

Adaptive bi-level programming for optimal gene knockouts for targeted overproduction under phenotypic constraints

PubMed Central

2013-01-01

Background Optimization procedures to identify gene knockouts for targeted biochemical overproduction have been widely in use in modern metabolic engineering. Flux balance analysis (FBA) framework has provided conceptual simplifications for genome-scale dynamic analysis at steady states. Based on FBA, many current optimization methods for targeted bio-productions have been developed under the maximum cell growth assumption. The optimization problem to derive gene knockout strategies recently has been formulated as a bi-level programming problem in OptKnock for maximum targeted bio-productions with maximum growth rates. However, it has been shown that knockout mutants in fact reach the steady states with the minimization of metabolic adjustment (MOMA) from the corresponding wild-type strains instead of having maximal growth rates after genetic or metabolic intervention. In this work, we propose a new bi-level computational framework--MOMAKnock--which can derive robust knockout strategies under the MOMA flux distribution approximation. Methods In this new bi-level optimization framework, we aim to maximize the production of targeted chemicals by identifying candidate knockout genes or reactions under phenotypic constraints approximated by the MOMA assumption. Hence, the targeted chemical production is the primary objective of MOMAKnock while the MOMA assumption is formulated as the inner problem of constraining the knockout metabolic flux to be as close as possible to the steady-state phenotypes of wide-type strains. As this new inner problem becomes a quadratic programming problem, a novel adaptive piecewise linearization algorithm is developed in this paper to obtain the exact optimal solution to this new bi-level integer quadratic programming problem for MOMAKnock. Results Our new MOMAKnock model and the adaptive piecewise linearization solution algorithm are tested with a small E. coli core metabolic network and a large-scale iAF1260 E. coli metabolic network. The derived knockout strategies are compared with those from OptKnock. Our preliminary experimental results show that MOMAKnock can provide improved targeted productions with more robust knockout strategies. PMID:23368729

Adaptive bi-level programming for optimal gene knockouts for targeted overproduction under phenotypic constraints.

PubMed

Ren, Shaogang; Zeng, Bo; Qian, Xiaoning

2013-01-01

Optimization procedures to identify gene knockouts for targeted biochemical overproduction have been widely in use in modern metabolic engineering. Flux balance analysis (FBA) framework has provided conceptual simplifications for genome-scale dynamic analysis at steady states. Based on FBA, many current optimization methods for targeted bio-productions have been developed under the maximum cell growth assumption. The optimization problem to derive gene knockout strategies recently has been formulated as a bi-level programming problem in OptKnock for maximum targeted bio-productions with maximum growth rates. However, it has been shown that knockout mutants in fact reach the steady states with the minimization of metabolic adjustment (MOMA) from the corresponding wild-type strains instead of having maximal growth rates after genetic or metabolic intervention. In this work, we propose a new bi-level computational framework--MOMAKnock--which can derive robust knockout strategies under the MOMA flux distribution approximation. In this new bi-level optimization framework, we aim to maximize the production of targeted chemicals by identifying candidate knockout genes or reactions under phenotypic constraints approximated by the MOMA assumption. Hence, the targeted chemical production is the primary objective of MOMAKnock while the MOMA assumption is formulated as the inner problem of constraining the knockout metabolic flux to be as close as possible to the steady-state phenotypes of wide-type strains. As this new inner problem becomes a quadratic programming problem, a novel adaptive piecewise linearization algorithm is developed in this paper to obtain the exact optimal solution to this new bi-level integer quadratic programming problem for MOMAKnock. Our new MOMAKnock model and the adaptive piecewise linearization solution algorithm are tested with a small E. coli core metabolic network and a large-scale iAF1260 E. coli metabolic network. The derived knockout strategies are compared with those from OptKnock. Our preliminary experimental results show that MOMAKnock can provide improved targeted productions with more robust knockout strategies.

Gold deposits in metamorphic belts: Overview of current understanding, outstanding problems, future research, and exploration significance

USGS Publications Warehouse

Groves, D.I.; Goldfarb, R.J.; Robert, F.; Hart, C.J.R.

2003-01-01

Metamorphic belts are complex regions where accretion or collision has added to, or thickened, continental crust. Gold-rich deposits can be formed at all stages of orogen evolution, so that evolving metamorphic belts contain diverse gold deposit types that may be juxtaposed or overprint each other. This partly explains the high level of controversy on the origin of some deposit types, particularly those formed or overprinted/remobilized during the major compressional orogeny that shaped the final geometry of the hosting metamorphic belts. These include gold-dominated orogenic and intrusion-related deposits, but also particularly controversial gold deposits with atypical metal associations. There are a number of outstanding problems for all types of gold deposits in metamorphc belts. These include the following: (1) definitive classifications, (2) unequivocal recognition of fluid and metal sources, (3) understanding of fluid migration and focusing at all scales, (4) resolution of the precise role of granitoid magmatism, (5) precise gold-depositional mechanisms, particularly those producing high gold grades, and (6) understanding of the release of CO2-rich fluids from subducting slabs and subcreted oceanic crust and granitoid magmas at different crustal levels. Research needs to be better coordinated and more integrated, such that detailed fluid-inclusion, trace-element, and isotopic studies of both gold deposits and potential source rocks, using cutting-edge technology, are embedded in a firm geological framework at terrane to deposit scales. Ultimately, four-dimensional models need to be developed, involving high-quality, three-dimensional geological data combined with integrated chemical and fluid-flow modeling, to understand the total history of the hydrothermal systems involved. Such research, particularly that which can predict superior targets visible in data sets available to exploration companies before discovery, has obvious spin-offs for global- to deposit-scale targeting of deposits with superior size and grade in the covered terranes that will be the exploration focus of the twenty-first century.

What should be done with antisocial personality disorder in the new edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-V)?

PubMed

Hesse, Morten

2010-10-27

Antisocial personality disorder, psychopathy, dissocial personality disorder and sociopathy are constructs that have generally been used to predict recidivism and dangerousness, alongside being used to exclude patients from treatment services. However, 'antisocial personality disorder' has recently begun to emerge as a treatment diagnosis, a development reflected within cognitive behaviour therapy and mentalisation-based psychotherapy. Many of the behaviour characteristics of antisocial personality disorder are, at the same time, being targeted by interventions at criminal justice settings. A significantly higher proportion of published articles focusing on antisocial personality concern treatment when compared to articles on psychopathy. Currently, the proposal for antisocial personality disorder for the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, fifth edition, suggests a major change in the criteria for this disorder. While the present definition focuses mainly on observable behaviours, the proposed revision stresses interpersonal and emotional aspects of the disorder drawing on the concept of psychopathy. The present commentary suggests that developments leading to improvement in the diagnosis of this type of disorder should, rather than focusing exclusively on elements such as dangerousness and risk assessment, point us to ways in which patients can be treated for their problems.

Key barriers to the use of modern contraceptives among women in Albania: a qualitative study.

PubMed

Kragelund Nielsen, Karoline; Nielsen, Siff Malue; Butler, Robb; Lazarus, Jeffrey V

2012-12-01

In spite of a number of communication campaigns since 1999 promoting modern contraceptives in Albania, their use remains low. In this paper we identify and analyse key barriers to the use of modern contraception among women in Albania. Semi-structured interviews with 11 stakeholders from organisations involved in promoting modern contraception, and four focus group discussions with 40 women from Tirana and a rural village in the periphery of Tirana, divided according to age and residence, were also conducted. Content analysis was used to analyse both the interviews and focus group discussions. Barriers identified included socio-cultural issues such as status of the relationship with partners and the importance of virginity, problems talking about sexual issues and contraception being taboo, health care issues--especially cost and availability--and individual issues such as unfavourable social attitudes towards contraceptives and a lack of knowledge about the use and benefits of modern contraception. To promote contraceptive use in the future, campaigns should address these barriers and expand from a focus on women of reproductive age only to target youth, men, health care providers, parents and schoolteachers as well. Copyright © 2012 Reproductive Health Matters. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Setting national health goals and targets in the context of a fiscal crisis: the politics of social choice in New Zealand.

PubMed

Beaglehole, R; Davis, P

1992-01-01

The setting of national health goals and targets in New Zealand has taken place in the context of fiscal crisis. The mandate for State intervention for social goals has also been under a sustained ideological challenge. These circumstances, together with other developments within the New Zealand health service, prepared the way for the development of the first set of health goals and targets. Six criteria were used to identify health problems for which goals and targets could be set. Ten areas were included, and specific, timed and quantified targets were set in each area for the year 2000 with shorter term targets for 1995. The Minister of Health gave priority to three areas: tobacco control, secondary prevention of cervical cancer, and reduction of road accident injury and death. An important aspect of the program is that the goals and targets are to be the focus of the annual contract between the Minister of Health (the primary funder of health care) and the Area Health Boards (the primary providers of health care). A matrix of policy options is presented for resource allocation and public health. The case study described represents one solution to the set of policy choices presented by fiscal and ideological challenge; the "new managerialism" has been allied with the "new public health." The authors argue that a combination of ideological renewal and fiscal probity has preserved a vigorous role for the State in health and health care. This matrix of policy options also underlines the necessity to consider health outcomes, as well as organizational goals, in the evaluation of the performance of health systems.

Joint association of sleep problems and psychosocial working conditions with registered long-term sickness absence. A Danish cohort study.

PubMed

Madsen, Ida Eh; Larsen, Ann D; Thorsen, Sannie V; Pejtersen, Jan H; Rugulies, Reiner; Sivertsen, Børge

2016-07-01

Sleep problems and adverse psychosocial working conditions are associated with increased risk of long-term sickness absence. Because sleep problems affect role functioning they may also exacerbate any effects of psychosocial working conditions and vice versa. We examined whether sleep problems and psychosocial working conditions interact in their associations with long-term sickness absence. We linked questionnaire data from participants to two surveys of random samples of the Danish working population (N=10 752) with registries on long-term sick leave during five years after questionnaire response. We defined sleep problems by self-reported symptoms and/or register data on hypnotics purchases of hypnotics. Psychosocial working conditions included quantitative and emotional demands, influence, supervisor recognition and social support, leadership quality, and social support from colleagues. Using time-to-event models, we calculated hazard ratios (HR) and differences and examined interaction as departure from multiplicativity and additivity. During 40 165 person-years of follow-up, we identified 2313 episodes of long-terms sickness absence. Sleep problems predicted risk of long-term sickness absence [HR 1.54, 95% confidence interval (95% CI) 1.38-1.73]. This association was statistically significantly stronger among participants with high quantitative demands and weaker among those with high supervisor recognition (P<0.0001). High quantitative demands exacerbated the association of sleep problems with risk of long-term sickness absence whereas high supervisor recognition buffered this association. To prevent long-term sickness absence among employees with sleep problems, workplace modifications focusing on quantitative demands and supervisor recognition may be considered. Workplace interventions for these factors may more effectively prevent sickness absence when targeted at this group. The efficacy and effectiveness of such interventions needs to be established in future studies.

Trauma Focused CBT for Children with Co-Occurring Trauma and Behavior Problems

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Cohen, Judith A.; Berliner, Lucy; Mannarino, Anthony

2010-01-01

Objective: Childhood trauma impacts multiple domains of functioning including behavior. Traumatized children commonly have behavioral problems that therapists must effectively evaluate and manage in the context of providing trauma-focused treatment. This manuscript describes practical strategies for managing behavior problems in the context of…

Student Modeling Based on Problem Solving Times

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Pelánek, Radek; Jarušek, Petr

2015-01-01

Student modeling in intelligent tutoring systems is mostly concerned with modeling correctness of students' answers. As interactive problem solving activities become increasingly common in educational systems, it is useful to focus also on timing information associated with problem solving. We argue that the focus on timing is natural for certain…

Male fertility and obesity: are ghrelin, leptin and glucagon-like peptide-1 pharmacologically relevant?

PubMed

Alves, Marco G; Jesus, Tito T; Sousa, Mário; Goldberg, Erwin; Silva, Branca M; Oliveira, Pedro F

2016-01-01

Obesity is rising to unprecedented numbers, affecting a growing number of children, adolescents and young adult men. These individuals face innumerous health problems, including subfertility or even infertility. Overweight and obese men present severe alterations in their body composition and hormonal profile, particularly in ghrelin, leptin and glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1) levels. It is well known that male reproductive health is under the control of the individual's nutritional status and also of a tight network of regulatory signals, particularly hormonal signaling. However, few studies have been focused on the effects of ghrelin, leptin and GLP-1 in male reproduction and how energy homeostasis and male reproductive function are linked. These hormones regulate body glucose homeostasis and several studies suggest that they can serve as targets for anti-obesity drugs. In recent years, our understanding of the mechanisms of action of these hormones has grown significantly. Curiously, their effect on male reproductive potential, that is highly dependent of the metabolic cooperation established between testicular cells, remains a matter of debate. Herein, we review general concepts of male fertility and obesity, with a special focus on the effects of ghrelin, leptin and GLP-1 on male reproductive health. We also discuss the possible pharmacological relevance of these hormones to counteract the fertility problems that overweight and obese men face.

Friends, alcohol, and a higher power: an analysis of adaptive and maladaptive coping strategies among gastroenterologists.

PubMed

Taft, Tiffany H; Keefer, Laurie; Keswani, Rajesh N

2011-09-01

No study to date has evaluated the relationship between coping style, burnout, and psychological functioning among gastroenterologists (GEs). This study aims to explore this relationship. Physician stress and burnout are widely studied and associated with notably poorer outcomes for both physicians and their patients. Coping is a multidimensional construct that individuals use to adapt to stressful situations. To mitigate stress, physicians may use problem-focused or emotion-focused coping strategies. Four hundred ten GE fellows and attending physicians provided information about their practice, coping styles, level of burnout, psychological distress, job-related self-efficacy, and demographic background. Participants recruited from the American Society of Gastrointestinal Endoscopy membership through email completed a series of online questionnaires. We found no significant relationships between workload and reported burnout. GEs with greater psychological distress were more likely to have an endoscopic complication in the past year. GEs that use problem-focused coping strategies were less likely to report an event in the past year, although we did not identify a significant predictive relationship between these variables. Significant differences in coping styles existed for sex and having a physician parent. Female GEs were more likely to use problem-focused coping strategies, and GEs with a physician parent were more likely to use emotion-focused strategies. Using problem-focused coping predicted decreased levels of burnout and psychological distress, and increased job-related self-efficacy. Emotion-focused coping showed opposite predictive results. Coping strategies accounted for 3% to 19% of the variance in these outcomes. GEs use both problem-focused and emotion-focused coping strategies. Sex and having a physician parent are likely predictors of coping and psychological well-being. Problem-focused coping is a potentially more adaptive coping strategy in gastroenterology practice and may explain lower levels of reported burnout, distress, and increased job-related self-efficacy.

Inertially confined fusion using heavy ion drivers

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

Herrmannsfeldt, W.B.; Bangerter, R.O.; Bock, R.

1991-10-01

The various technical issues of HIF will be briefly reviewed in this paper. It will be seen that there are numerous areas in common in all the approaches to HIF. In the recent International Symposium on Heavy Ion Inertial Fusion, the attendees met in specialized workshop sessions to consider the needs for research in each area. Each of the workshop groups considered the key questions of this report: (1) Is this an appropriate time for international collaboration in HIF (2) Which problems are most appropriate for such collaboration (3) Can the sharing of target design information be set aside untilmore » other driver and systems issues are better resolved, by which time it might be supposed that there could be a relaxation of classification of target issues (4) What form(s) of collaboration are most appropriate, e.g., bilateral or multilateral (5) Can international collaboration be sensibly attempted without significant increases in funding for HIF The authors of this report share the conviction that collaboration on a broad scale is mandatory for HIF to have the resources, both financial and personnel, to progress to a demonstration experiment. Ultimately it may be possible for a single driver with the energy, power, focusibility, and pulse shape to satisfy the needs of the international community for target physics research. Such a facility could service multiple experimental chambers with a variety of beam geometries and target concepts.« less

Inertially confined fusion using heavy ion drivers

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

Herrmannsfeldt, W.B.; Bangerter, R.O.; Bock, R.

1991-10-01

The various technical issues of HIF will be briefly reviewed in this paper. It will be seen that there are numerous areas in common in all the approaches to HIF. In the recent International Symposium on Heavy Ion Inertial Fusion, the attendees met in specialized workshop sessions to consider the needs for research in each area. Each of the workshop groups considered the key questions of this report: (1) Is this an appropriate time for international collaboration in HIF? (2) Which problems are most appropriate for such collaboration? (3) Can the sharing of target design information be set aside untilmore » other driver and systems issues are better resolved, by which time it might be supposed that there could be a relaxation of classification of target issues? (4) What form(s) of collaboration are most appropriate, e.g., bilateral or multilateral? (5) Can international collaboration be sensibly attempted without significant increases in funding for HIF? The authors of this report share the conviction that collaboration on a broad scale is mandatory for HIF to have the resources, both financial and personnel, to progress to a demonstration experiment. Ultimately it may be possible for a single driver with the energy, power, focusibility, and pulse shape to satisfy the needs of the international community for target physics research. Such a facility could service multiple experimental chambers with a variety of beam geometries and target concepts.« less

In Silico Repositioning-Chemogenomics Strategy Identifies New Drugs with Potential Activity against Multiple Life Stages of Schistosoma mansoni

PubMed Central

Neves, Bruno J.; Braga, Rodolpho C.; Bezerra, José C. B.; Cravo, Pedro V. L.; Andrade, Carolina H.

2015-01-01

Morbidity and mortality caused by schistosomiasis are serious public health problems in developing countries. Because praziquantel is the only drug in therapeutic use, the risk of drug resistance is a concern. In the search for new schistosomicidal drugs, we performed a target-based chemogenomics screen of a dataset of 2,114 proteins to identify drugs that are approved for clinical use in humans that may be active against multiple life stages of Schistosoma mansoni. Each of these proteins was treated as a potential drug target, and its amino acid sequence was used to interrogate three databases: Therapeutic Target Database (TTD), DrugBank and STITCH. Predicted drug-target interactions were refined using a combination of approaches, including pairwise alignment, conservation state of functional regions and chemical space analysis. To validate our strategy, several drugs previously shown to be active against Schistosoma species were correctly predicted, such as clonazepam, auranofin, nifedipine, and artesunate. We were also able to identify 115 drugs that have not yet been experimentally tested against schistosomes and that require further assessment. Some examples are aprindine, gentamicin, clotrimazole, tetrabenazine, griseofulvin, and cinnarizine. In conclusion, we have developed a systematic and focused computer-aided approach to propose approved drugs that may warrant testing and/or serve as lead compounds for the design of new drugs against schistosomes. PMID:25569258

An Improved Measurement Method for the Strength of Radiation of Reflective Beam in an Industrial Optical Sensor Based on Laser Displacement Meter.

PubMed

Bae, Youngchul

2016-05-23

An optical sensor such as a laser range finder (LRF) or laser displacement meter (LDM) uses reflected and returned laser beam from a target. The optical sensor has been mainly used to measure the distance between a launch position and the target. However, optical sensor based LRF and LDM have numerous and various errors such as statistical errors, drift errors, cyclic errors, alignment errors and slope errors. Among these errors, an alignment error that contains measurement error for the strength of radiation of returned laser beam from the target is the most serious error in industrial optical sensors. It is caused by the dependence of the measurement offset upon the strength of radiation of returned beam incident upon the focusing lens from the target. In this paper, in order to solve these problems, we propose a novel method for the measurement of the output of direct current (DC) voltage that is proportional to the strength of radiation of returned laser beam in the received avalanche photo diode (APD) circuit. We implemented a measuring circuit that is able to provide an exact measurement of reflected laser beam. By using the proposed method, we can measure the intensity or strength of radiation of laser beam in real time and with a high degree of precision.

An Improved Measurement Method for the Strength of Radiation of Reflective Beam in an Industrial Optical Sensor Based on Laser Displacement Meter

PubMed Central

Bae, Youngchul

2016-01-01

An optical sensor such as a laser range finder (LRF) or laser displacement meter (LDM) uses reflected and returned laser beam from a target. The optical sensor has been mainly used to measure the distance between a launch position and the target. However, optical sensor based LRF and LDM have numerous and various errors such as statistical errors, drift errors, cyclic errors, alignment errors and slope errors. Among these errors, an alignment error that contains measurement error for the strength of radiation of returned laser beam from the target is the most serious error in industrial optical sensors. It is caused by the dependence of the measurement offset upon the strength of radiation of returned beam incident upon the focusing lens from the target. In this paper, in order to solve these problems, we propose a novel method for the measurement of the output of direct current (DC) voltage that is proportional to the strength of radiation of returned laser beam in the received avalanche photo diode (APD) circuit. We implemented a measuring circuit that is able to provide an exact measurement of reflected laser beam. By using the proposed method, we can measure the intensity or strength of radiation of laser beam in real time and with a high degree of precision. PMID:27223291

Goal Directed Model Inversion: A Study of Dynamic Behavior

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Colombano, Silvano P.; Compton, Michael; Raghavan, Bharathi; Lum, Henry, Jr. (Technical Monitor)

1994-01-01

Goal Directed Model Inversion (GDMI) is an algorithm designed to generalize supervised learning to the case where target outputs are not available to the learning system. The output of the learning system becomes the input to some external device or transformation, and only the output of this device or transformation can be compared to a desired target. The fundamental driving mechanism of GDMI is to learn from success. Given that a wrong outcome is achieved, one notes that the action that produced that outcome 0 "would have been right if the outcome had been the desired one." The algorithm then proceeds as follows: (1) store the action that produced the wrong outcome as a "target" (2) redefine the wrong outcome as a desired goal (3) submit the new desired goal to the system (4) compare the new action with the target action and modify the system by using a suitable algorithm for credit assignment (Back propagation in our example) (5) resubmit the original goal. Prior publications by our group in this area focused on demonstrating empirical results based on the inverse kinematic problem for a simulated robotic arm. In this paper we apply the inversion process to much simpler analytic functions in order to elucidate the dynamic behavior of the system and to determine the sensitivity of the learning process to various parameters. This understanding will be necessary for the acceptance of GDMI as a practical tool.

A novel procedure for detecting and focusing moving objects with SAR based on the Wigner-Ville distribution

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Barbarossa, S.; Farina, A.

A novel scheme for detecting moving targets with synthetic aperture radar (SAR) is presented. The proposed approach is based on the use of the Wigner-Ville distribution (WVD) for simultaneously detecting moving targets and estimating their motion kinematic parameters. The estimation plays a key role for focusing the target and correctly locating it with respect to the stationary background. The method has a number of advantages: (i) the detection is efficiently performed on the samples in the time-frequency domain, provided the WVD, without resorting to the use of a bank of filters, each one matched to possible values of the unknown target motion parameters; (ii) the estimation of the target motion parameters can be done on the same time-frequency domain by locating the line where the maximum energy of the WVD is concentrated. A validation of the approach is given by both analytical and simulation means. In addition, the estimation of the target kinematic parameters and the corresponding image focusing are also demonstrated.

A Mixed Integer Linear Programming Approach to Electrical Stimulation Optimization Problems.

PubMed

Abouelseoud, Gehan; Abouelseoud, Yasmine; Shoukry, Amin; Ismail, Nour; Mekky, Jaidaa

2018-02-01

Electrical stimulation optimization is a challenging problem. Even when a single region is targeted for excitation, the problem remains a constrained multi-objective optimization problem. The constrained nature of the problem results from safety concerns while its multi-objectives originate from the requirement that non-targeted regions should remain unaffected. In this paper, we propose a mixed integer linear programming formulation that can successfully address the challenges facing this problem. Moreover, the proposed framework can conclusively check the feasibility of the stimulation goals. This helps researchers to avoid wasting time trying to achieve goals that are impossible under a chosen stimulation setup. The superiority of the proposed framework over alternative methods is demonstrated through simulation examples.

"They silently live in terror…" why sleep problems and night-time related quality-of-life are missed in children with a fetal alcohol spectrum disorder.

PubMed

Ipsiroglu, Osman S; McKellin, William H; Carey, Norma; Loock, Christine

2013-02-01

Children and adolescents with a Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder (FASD) are at high-risk for developing sleep problems (SPs) triggering daytime behavioral co-morbidities such as inattention, hyperactivity, and cognitive and emotional impairments. However, symptoms of sleep deprivation are solely associated with typical daytime diagnosis, such as attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and treated with psychotropic medications. To understand how and why SPs are missed, we conducted qualitative interviews (QIs) with six parents and seven health care professionals (HCPs), and performed comprehensive clinical sleep assessments (CCSAs) in 27 patients together with their caregivers referred to our clinic for unresolved SPs. We used narrative schema and therapeutic emplotment in conjunction with analyzes of medical records to appropriately diagnose SPs and develop treatment strategies. The research was conducted at British Columbia Children's Hospital in Vancouver (Canada) between 2008 and 2011. In the QIs, parents and HCPs exhibited awareness of the significance of SPs and the effects of an SP on the daytime behaviors of the child and the associated burdens on the parents. HCPs' systemic inattention to the sequelae of SPs and the affected family's wellbeing appears due to an insufficient understanding of the various factors that contribute to nighttime SPs and their daytime sequelae. In the CCSAs, we found that the diagnostic recognition of chronic SPs in children and adolescents was impaired by the exclusive focus on daytime presentations. Daytime behavioral and emotional problems were targets of pharmacological treatment rather than the underlying SP. Consequently, SPs were also targeted with medications, without investigating the underlying problem. Our study highlights deficits in the diagnostic recognition of chronic SPs among children with chronic neurodevelopmental disorders/disabilities and proposes a clinical practice strategy, based on therapeutic emplotment that incorporates patients and parents' contributions in recognizing SPs and related sequelae in designing appropriate treatment and care. Crown Copyright © 2012. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Reye's Syndrome

MedlinePlus

... of the research on RS focuses on answering fundamental questions about the disorder such as how problems ... of the research on RS focuses on answering fundamental questions about the disorder such as how problems ...

Breakingtheice: a protocol for a randomised controlled trial of an internet-based intervention addressing amphetamine-type stimulant use.

PubMed

Tait, Robert J; McKetin, Rebecca; Kay-Lambkin, Frances; Bennett, Kylie; Tam, Ada; Bennett, Anthony; Geddes, Jenny; Garrick, Adam; Christensen, Helen; Griffiths, Kathleen M

2012-06-25

The prevalence of amphetamine-type stimulant use is greater than that of opioids and cocaine combined. Currently, there are no approved pharmacotherapy treatments for amphetamine-type stimulant problems, but some face-to-face psychotherapies are of demonstrated effectiveness. However, most treatment services focus on alcohol or opioid disorders, have limited reach and may not appeal to users of amphetamine-type stimulants. Internet interventions have proven to be effective for some substance use problems but none has specifically targeted users of amphetamine-type stimulants. The study will use a randomized controlled trial design to evaluate the effect of an internet intervention for amphetamine-type stimulant problems compared with a waitlist control group. The primary outcome will be assessed as amphetamine-type stimulant use (baseline, 3 and 6 months). Other outcomes measures will include 'readiness to change', quality of life, psychological distress (K-10 score), days out of role, poly-drug use, help-seeking intention and help-seeking behavior. The intervention consists of three modules requiring an estimated total completion time of 90 minutes. The content of the modules was adapted from face-to-face clinical techniques based on cognitive behavior therapy and motivation enhancement. The target sample is 160 men and women aged 18 and over who have used amphetamine-type stimulants in the last 3 months. To our knowledge this will be the first randomized controlled trial of an internet intervention specifically developed for users of amphetamine-type stimulants. If successful, the intervention will offer greater reach than conventional therapies and may engage clients who do not generally seek treatment from existing service providers. Australian and New Zealand Clinical Trials Registry (http://www.anzctr.org.au/) ACTRN12611000947909.

Breakingtheice: A protocol for a randomised controlled trial of an internet-based intervention addressing amphetamine-type stimulant use

PubMed Central

2012-01-01

Background The prevalence of amphetamine-type stimulant use is greater than that of opioids and cocaine combined. Currently, there are no approved pharmacotherapy treatments for amphetamine-type stimulant problems, but some face-to-face psychotherapies are of demonstrated effectiveness. However, most treatment services focus on alcohol or opioid disorders, have limited reach and may not appeal to users of amphetamine-type stimulants. Internet interventions have proven to be effective for some substance use problems but none has specifically targeted users of amphetamine-type stimulants. Design/method The study will use a randomized controlled trial design to evaluate the effect of an internet intervention for amphetamine-type stimulant problems compared with a waitlist control group. The primary outcome will be assessed as amphetamine-type stimulant use (baseline, 3 and 6 months). Other outcomes measures will include ‘readiness to change’, quality of life, psychological distress (K-10 score), days out of role, poly-drug use, help-seeking intention and help-seeking behavior. The intervention consists of three modules requiring an estimated total completion time of 90 minutes. The content of the modules was adapted from face-to-face clinical techniques based on cognitive behavior therapy and motivation enhancement. The target sample is 160 men and women aged 18 and over who have used amphetamine-type stimulants in the last 3 months. Discussion To our knowledge this will be the first randomized controlled trial of an internet intervention specifically developed for users of amphetamine-type stimulants. If successful, the intervention will offer greater reach than conventional therapies and may engage clients who do not generally seek treatment from existing service providers. Trial registration Australian and New Zealand Clinical Trials Registry (www.anzctr.org.au/) ACTRN12611000947909 PMID:22731926

Boundaries on Range-Range Constrained Admissible Regions for Optical Space Surveillance

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gaebler, J. A.; Axelrad, P.; Schumacher, P. W., Jr.

We propose a new type of admissible-region analysis for track initiation in multi-satellite problems when apparent angles measured at known stations are the only observable. The goal is to create an efficient and parallelizable algorithm for computing initial candidate orbits for a large number of new targets. It takes at least three angles-only observations to establish an orbit by traditional means. Thus one is faced with a problem that requires N-choose-3 sets of calculations to test every possible combination of the N observations. An alternative approach is to reduce the number of combinations by making hypotheses of the range to a target along the observed line-of-sight. If realistic bounds on the range are imposed, consistent with a given partition of the space of orbital elements, a pair of range possibilities can be evaluated via Lambert’s method to find candidate orbits for that that partition, which then requires Nchoose- 2 times M-choose-2 combinations, where M is the average number of range hypotheses per observation. The contribution of this work is a set of constraints that establish bounds on the range-range hypothesis region for a given element-space partition, thereby minimizing M. Two effective constraints were identified, which together, constrain the hypothesis region in range-range space to nearly that of the true admissible region based on an orbital partition. The first constraint is based on the geometry of the vacant orbital focus. The second constraint is based on time-of-flight and Lagrange’s form of Kepler’s equation. A complete and efficient parallelization of the problem is possible on this approach because the element partitions can be arbitrary and can be handled independently of each other.

Evaluating long-term effectiveness of sleeping sickness control measures in Guinea.

PubMed

Pandey, Abhishek; Atkins, Katherine E; Bucheton, Bruno; Camara, Mamadou; Aksoy, Serap; Galvani, Alison P; Ndeffo-Mbah, Martial L

2015-10-22

Human African Trypanosomiasis threatens human health across Africa. The subspecies T.b. gambiense is responsible for the vast majority of reported HAT cases. Over the past decade, expanded control efforts accomplished a substantial reduction in HAT transmission, spurring the WHO to include Gambian HAT on its roadmap for 2020 elimination. To inform the implementation of this elimination goal, we evaluated the likelihood that current control interventions will achieve the 2020 target in Boffa prefecture in Guinea, which has one of the highest prevalences for HAT in the country, and where vector control measures have been implemented in combination with the traditional screen and treat strategy. We developed a three-species mathematical model of HAT and used a Bayesian melding approach to calibrate the model to epidemiological and entomological data from Boffa. From the calibrated model, we generated the probabilistic predictions regarding the likelihood that the current HAT control programs could achieve elimination by 2020 in Boffa. Our model projections indicate that if annual vector control is implemented in combination with annual or biennial active case detection and treatment, the probability of eliminating HAT as public health problem in Boffa by 2020 is over 90%. Annual implementation of vector control alone has a significant impact but a decreased chance of reaching the objective (77%). However, if the ongoing control efforts are interrupted, HAT will continue to remain a public health problem. In the presence of a non-human animal transmission reservoir, intervention strategies must be maintained at high coverage, even after 2020 elimination, to prevent HAT reemerging as a public health problem. Complementing active screening and treatment with vector control has the potential to achieve the elimination target before 2020 in the Boffa focus. However, surveillance must continue after elimination to prevent reemergence.

Issues in the Analysis of Focus Groups: Generalisability, Quantifiability, Treatment of Context and Quotations

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Vicsek, Lilla

2010-01-01

In this paper I discuss some concerns related to the analysis of focus groups: (a) the issue of generalisation; (b) the problems of using numbers and quantifying in the analysis; (c) how the concrete situation of the focus groups could be included in the analysis, and (d) what formats can be used when quoting from focus groups. Problems with…

Quiet is the new loud: pausing and focus in child and adult Dutch.

PubMed

Romøren, Anna Sara H; Chen, Aoju

2015-03-01

In a number of languages, prosody is used to highlight new information (or focus). In Dutch, focus is marked by accentuation, whereby focal constituents are accented and post-focal constituents are de-accented. Even if pausing is not traditionally seen as a cue to focus in Dutch, several previous studies have pointed to a possible relationship between pausing and information structure. Considering that Dutch-speaking 4 to 5 year olds are not yet completely proficient in using accentuation for focus and that children generally pause more than adults, we asked whether pausing might be an available parameter for children to manipulate for focus. Sentences with varying focus structure were elicited from 10 Dutch-speaking 4 to 5 year olds and 9 Dutch-speaking adults by means of a picture-matching game. Comparing pause durations before focal and non-focal targets showed pre-target pauses to be significantly longer when the targets were focal than when they were not. Notably, the use of pausing was more robust in the children than in the adults, suggesting that children exploit pausing to mark focus more generally than adults do, at a stage where their mastery of the canonical cues to focus is still developing.

Algorithms for Heterogeneous, Multiple Depot, Multiple Unmanned Vehicle Path Planning Problems

DOE PAGES

Sundar, Kaarthik; Rathinam, Sivakumar

2016-12-26

Unmanned vehicles, both aerial and ground, are being used in several monitoring applications to collect data from a set of targets. This article addresses a problem where a group of heterogeneous aerial or ground vehicles with different motion constraints located at distinct depots visit a set of targets. The vehicles also may be equipped with different sensors, and therefore, a target may not be visited by any vehicle. The objective is to find an optimal path for each vehicle starting and ending at its respective depot such that each target is visited at least once by some vehicle, the vehicle–targetmore » constraints are satisfied, and the sum of the length of the paths for all the vehicles is minimized. Two variants of this problem are formulated (one for ground vehicles and another for aerial vehicles) as mixed-integer linear programs and a branchand- cut algorithm is developed to compute an optimal solution to each of the variants. Computational results show that optimal solutions for problems involving 100 targets and 5 vehicles can be obtained within 300 seconds on average, further corroborating the effectiveness of the proposed approach.« less

A category-specific top-down attentional set can affect the neural responses outside the current focus of attention.

PubMed

Jiang, Yunpeng; Wu, Xia; Gao, Xiaorong

2017-10-17

A top-down set can guide attention to enhance the processing of task-relevant objects. Many studies have found that the top-down set can be tuned to a category level. However, it is unclear whether the category-specific top-down set involving a central search task can exist outside the current area of attentional focus. To directly probe the neural responses inside and outside the current focus of attention, we recorded continuous EEG to measure the contralateral ERP components for central targets and the steady-state visual evoked potential (SSVEP) oscillations associated with a flickering checkerboard placed on the visual periphery. The relationship of color categories between targets and non-targets was manipulated to investigate the effect of category-specific top-down set. Results showed that when the color categories of targets and non-targets in the central search arrays were the same, larger SSVEP oscillations were evoked by target color peripheral checkerboards relative to the non-target color ones outside the current attentional focus. However, when the color categories of targets and non-targets were different, the peripheral checkerboards in two different colors of the same category evoked similar SSVEP oscillations, indicating the effects of category-specific top-down set. These results firstly demonstrate that the category-specific top-down set can affect the neural responses of peripheral distractors. The results could support the idea of a global selection account and challenge the attentional window account in selective attention. Copyright © 2017. Published by Elsevier B.V.

Analysis of the optimal laminated target made up of discrete set of materials

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Aptukov, Valery N.; Belousov, Valentin L.

1991-01-01

A new class of problems was analyzed to estimate an optimal structure of laminated targets fabricated from the specified set of homogeneous materials. An approximate description of the perforation process is based on the model of radial hole extension. The problem is solved by using the needle-type variation technique. The desired optimization conditions and quantitative/qualitative estimations of optimal targets were obtained and are discussed using specific examples.

Optimization of Focused Ultrasound and Image Based Modeling in Image Guided Interventions

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Almekkawy, Mohamed Khaled Ibrahim

Image-guided high intensity focused ultrasound (HIFU) is becoming increasingly accepted as a form of noninvasive ablative therapy for the treatment of prostate cancer, uterine fibroids and other tissue abnormalities. In principle, HIFU beams can be focused within small volumes which results in forming precise lesions within the target volume (e.g. tumor, atherosclerotic plaque) while sparing the intervening tissue. With this precision, HIFU offers the promise of noninvasive tumor therapy. The goal of this thesis is to develop an image-guidance mode with an interactive image-based computational modeling of tissue response to HIFU. This model could be used in treatment planning and post-treatment retrospective evaluation of treatment outcome(s). Within the context of treatment planning, the challenge of using HIFU to target tumors in organs partially obscured by the rib cage are addressed. Ribs distort HIFU beams in a manner that reduces the focusing gain at the target (tumor) and could cause a treatment-limiting collateral damage. We present a refocusing algorithms to efficiently steer higher power towards the target while limiting power deposition on the ribs, improving the safety and efficacy of tumor ablation. Our approach is based on an approximation of a non-convex to a convex optimization known as the semidefinite relaxation (SDR) technique. An important advantage of the SDR method over previously proposed optimization methods is the explicit control of the sidelobes in the focal plane. A finite-difference time domain (FDTD) heterogeneous propagation model of a 1-MHz concave phased array was used to model the acoustic propagation and temperature simulations in different tissues including ribs. The numerical methods developed for the refocusing problem are also used for retrospective analysis of targeting of atherosclerotic plaques using HIFU. Cases were simulated where seven adjacent HIFU shots (5000 W/cm2, 2 sec exposure time) were focused at the plaque tissue within the posterior wall of external femoral artery. After segmentation of the ultrasound image obtained for the treatment region in-vivo, we integrated this anatomical information into our simulation to account for different parameters that may be caused by these multi-region anatomical complexities. An FDTD heterogeneous model was used for both acoustic field and temperature computations. The acoustic field simulation considered a concave (40-mm radius of curvature) 32-element array operating at 3.5 MHz. To account for the blood flow in the vicinity of the target (plaque), we have used a modified transient bioheat transfer equation (tBHTE) with a convective term. The results from the numerical simulation were in good agreement with the thermal lesions identified by histological examination of the treated tissues. Within the context of accounting for the blood flow in tBHTE, the estimation of the displacement of tissue and blood motion are addressed. A new multi-dimensional speckle tracking method (MDST) utilizing the Riesz transform with subsample accuracy in all dimensions is described. Field II simulation of flow data in a channel is generated to provide a validation of the accuracy of the method. In addition, the new MDST method is applied to imaging data from the carotid artery of a healthy human volunteers. The results obtained show that using Riesz transform produces more robust estimation of the true displacement compared to previously published results.

Supervised target detection in hyperspectral images using one-class Fukunaga-Koontz Transform

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Binol, Hamidullah; Bal, Abdullah

2016-05-01

A novel hyperspectral target detection technique based on Fukunaga-Koontz transform (FKT) is presented. FKT offers significant properties for feature selection and ordering. However, it can only be used to solve multi-pattern classification problems. Target detection may be considered as a two-class classification problem, i.e., target versus background clutter. Nevertheless, background clutter typically contains different types of materials. That's why; target detection techniques are different than classification methods by way of modeling clutter. To avoid the modeling of the background clutter, we have improved one-class FKT (OC-FKT) for target detection. The statistical properties of target training samples are used to define tunnel-like boundary of the target class. Non-target samples are then created synthetically as to be outside of the boundary. Thus, only limited target samples become adequate for training of FKT. The hyperspectral image experiments confirm that the proposed OC-FKT technique provides an effective means for target detection.

Motivational predictors of coping with academic examination.

PubMed

Doron, Julie; Stephan, Yannick; Maiano, Christophe; Le Scanff, Christine

2011-01-01

The present study focused on the motivational predictors of coping with academic examination through the test of the contribution of self-determination for academic studies and achievement goals. Coping strategies, academic motivation and achievement goals were assessed among 199 undergraduate students. Regression analysis revealed that problem-focused coping is positively predicted by identified regulation and negatively by amotivation, whereas emotion-focused coping is positively predicted by introjected regulation and amotivation. Mastery approach goals contributed positively to problem-focused coping. Identified regulation and mastery approach goals made a unique positive contribution to problem-focused coping, and amotivation was negatively related. Students' coping actions may vary according to both the reasons why they engage in academic studies and the goals they pursue in this setting.

Pharmacogenetics and Pharmacotherapy of Military Personnel Suffering from Post-traumatic Stress Disorder.

PubMed

Naß, Janine; Efferth, Thomas

2017-01-01

Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is a severe problem among soldiers with combating experience difficult to treat. The pathogenesis is still not fully understood at the psychological level. Therefore, genetic research became a focus of interest. The identification of single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) may help to predict, which persons are at high risk to develop PTSD as a starting point to develop novel targeted drugs for treatment. We conducted a systematic review on SNPs in genes related to PTSD pathology and development of targeted pharmacological treatment options based on PubMed database searches. We focused on clinical trials with military personnel. SNPs in 22 human genes have been linked to PTSD. These genes encode proteins acting as neurotransmitters and receptors, downstream signal transducers and metabolizing enzymes. Pharmacological inhibitors may serve as drug candidates for PTSD treatment, e.g. β2 adrenoreceptor antagonists, dopamine antagonists, partial dopamine D2 receptor agonists, dopamine β hydroxylase inhibitors, fatty acid amid hydrolase antagonists, glucocorticoid receptor agonists, tropomyosin receptor kinase B agonists, selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors, catechol-O-methyltransferase inhibitors, gamma-amino butyric acid receptor agonists, glutamate receptor inhibitors, monoaminoxidase B inhibitors, N-methyl-d-aspartate receptor antagonists. The combination of genetic and pharmacological research may lead to novel targetbased drug developments with improved specificity and efficacy to treat PTSD. Specific SNPs may be identified as reliable biomarkers to assess individual disease risk. Focusing on soldiers suffering from PTSD will not only help to improve treatment options for this specific group, but for all PTSD patients and the general population. Copyright© Bentham Science Publishers; For any queries, please email at epub@benthamscience.org.

An Examination of Special Focus Facility Nursing Homes

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Castle, Nicholas G.; Engberg, John

2010-01-01

Purpose: Nursing facilities that are determined to have a greater number of quality problems, more serious problems than average, and a demonstrated pattern of quality problems are included in the Special Focus Facility (SFF) initiative. The purpose of this research was to provide descriptive information on these SFFs and to examine the quality…

Evaluation of GCMs in the context of regional predictive climate impact studies.

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kokorev, Vasily; Anisimov, Oleg

2016-04-01

Significant improvements in the structure, complexity, and general performance of earth system models (ESMs) have been made in the recent decade. Despite these efforts, the range of uncertainty in predicting regional climate impacts remains large. The problem is two-fold. Firstly, there is an intrinsic conflict between the local and regional scales of climate impacts and adaptation strategies, on one hand, and larger scales, at which ESMs demonstrate better performance, on the other. Secondly, there is a growing understanding that majority of the impacts involve thresholds, and are thus driven by extreme climate events, whereas accent in climate projections is conventionally made on gradual changes in means. In this study we assess the uncertainty in projecting extreme climatic events within a region-specific and process-oriented context by examining the skills and ranking of ESMs. We developed a synthetic regionalization of Northern Eurasia that accounts for the spatial features of modern climatic changes and major environmental and socio-economical impacts. Elements of such fragmentation could be considered as natural focus regions that bridge the gap between the spatial scales adopted in climate-impacts studies and patterns of climate change simulated by ESMs. In each focus region we selected several target meteorological variables that govern the key regional impacts, and examined the ability of the models to replicate their seasonal and annual means and trends by testing them against observations. We performed a similar evaluation with regard to extremes and statistics of the target variables. And lastly, we used the results of these analyses to select sets of models that demonstrate the best performance at selected focus regions with regard to selected sets of target meteorological parameters. Ultimately, we ranked the models according to their skills, identified top-end models that "better than average" reproduce the behavior of climatic parameters, and eliminated the outliers. Since the criteria of selecting the "best" models are somewhat loose, we constructed several regional ensembles consisting of different number of high-ranked models and compared results from these optimized ensembles with observations and with the ensemble of all models. We tested our approach in specific regional application of the terrestrial Russian Arctic, considering permafrost and Artic biomes as key regional climate-dependent systems, and temperature and precipitation characteristics governing their state as target meteorological parameters. Results of this case study are deposited on the web portal www.permafrost.su/gcms

Practical Approaches to Resolving Behaviour Problems. Selected Papers from the National Conference on Practical Approaches to Resolving Behaviour Problems (2nd, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia, July 1990). Programs Implementation and System Initiatives.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Richardson, Susanna, Ed.; Izard, John, Ed.

This collection of papers focuses on practical approaches to resolving behavior problems in the Australian school system. The papers are divided into four general categories: perspectives on behavior problems, focusing on families, schools and system initiatives, and programs in special settings. The papers include: (1) "Beyond…

Couple-based treatment for sexual problems following breast cancer: A review and synthesis of the literature.

PubMed

Carroll, Allison J; Baron, Shirley R; Carroll, Richard A

2016-08-01

Although there are many physical and psychological impacts on women's sexuality following breast cancer diagnosis and treatment, sexual problems often remain unaddressed in these cancer survivors. Given the crucial role of the partner in sexual issues, couple-based sex therapy would appear to be a logical first-line treatment for this population, but there is scant research on the efficacy of couple-based treatments and/or sex therapy in breast cancer survivors. A review of the literature was conducted using the PMC, PsycINFO, EMBASE, and MEDLINE databases. Articles were included that presented the results of an experimental or quasi-experimental clinical trial evaluating a psychosexual intervention for couples, targeted women diagnosed with breast cancer and their partners, and included outcome measures of sexual function and sexuality. Studies were excluded if the primary intervention was not focused on sexual problems or if they were published in a language other than English. From 2231 records, five articles met criteria for inclusion in the present review. Couple-based sex therapy appears to be an effective and highly accepted treatment for addressing sexual problems in breast cancer patients. These interventions were associated with improvements in sexual physiology, sexual functioning, sexual self-image, and sexual relationships, as well as improved psychological well-being of both breast cancer patients and their partners. Based on this review, the authors address clinical implications, particularly incorporating psychological treatment for sexual problems in comprehensive cancer care, and provide recommendations for further study.

An eHealth Intervention to Promote Physical Activity and Social Network of Single, Chronically Impaired Older Adults: Adaptation of an Existing Intervention Using Intervention Mapping.

PubMed

Boekhout, Janet M; Peels, Denise A; Berendsen, Brenda Aj; Bolman, Catherine Aw; Lechner, Lilian

2017-11-23

Especially for single older adults with chronic diseases, physical inactivity and a poor social network are regarded as serious threats to their health and independence. The Active Plus intervention is an automated computer-tailored eHealth intervention that has been proven effective to promote physical activity (PA) in the general population of adults older than 50 years. The aim of this study was to report on the methods and results of the systematic adaptation of Active Plus to the wishes and needs of the subgroup of single people older than 65 years who have one or more chronic diseases, as this specific target population may encounter specific challenges regarding PA and social network. The Intervention Mapping (IM) protocol was used to systematically adapt the existing intervention to optimally suit this specific target population. A literature study was performed, and quantitative as well as qualitative data were derived from health care professionals (by questionnaires, n=10) and the target population (by focus group interviews, n=14), which were then systematically integrated into the adapted intervention. As the health problems and the targeted behavior are largely the same in the original and adapted intervention, the outcome of the needs assessment was that the performance objectives remained the same. As found in the literature study and in data derived from health professionals and focus groups, the relative importance and operationalization of the relevant psychosocial determinants related to these objectives are different from the original intervention, resulting in a refinement of the change objectives to optimally fit the specific target population. This refinement also resulted in changes in the practical applications, program components, intervention materials, and the evaluation and implementation strategy for the subgroup of single, chronically impaired older adults. This study demonstrates that the adaptation of an existing intervention is an intensive process in which adopting the IM protocol is an invaluable tool. The study provides a broad insight in adapting interventions aimed at single older adults with a chronic disease. It is concluded that even when the new target population is a sizable segment of the original target population, the adapted intervention still needs considerable changes to optimally fit the needs and situational differences of the narrower target population. ©Janet M Boekhout, Denise A Peels, Brenda AJ Berendsen, Catherine AW Bolman, Lilian Lechner. Originally published in JMIR Research Protocols (http://www.researchprotocols.org), 23.11.2017.

Photoacoustic microcantilevers

DOEpatents

Thundat, Thomas G [Knoxville, TN; Van Neste, Charles W [Kingston, TN; Brown, Gilbert M [Knoxville, TN; Senesac, Lawrence R [Knoxville, TN

2012-06-05

A system generates a photoacoustic spectrum in an open or closed environment with reduced noise. A source focuses a beam on a target substance disposed on a base. The base supports a cantilever that measures acoustic waves generated as light is absorbed by the target substance. By focusing a chopped/pulsed light beam on the target substance, a range of optical absorbance may be measured as the wavelength of light changes. An identifying spectrum of the target may detected by monitoring the vibration intensity variation of the cantilever as a function of illuminating wavelength or color.

Bullying perpetration and victimization as externalizing and internalizing pathways: A retrospective study linking parenting styles and self-esteem to depression, alcohol use, and alcohol-related problems

PubMed Central

Patock-Peckham, Julie A; Medina, Mia; Terrell, Nathan; Belton, Daniel; King, Kevin M

2016-01-01

Emerging research suggests significant positive associations between bullying and substance use behaviors. However, these studies typically focused either on the link between substance use and bullying perpetration or victimization, and few have conceptualized bullying perpetration and/or victimization as mediators. In this study, we simultaneously tested past bullying perpetration and victimization as mediational pathways from retrospective report of parenting styles and global self-esteem to current depressive symptoms, alcohol use and alcohol-related problems. Data were collected from a college sample of 419 drinkers. Mediation effects were conducted using a bias-corrected bootstrap technique in structural equation modeling. Two-path mediation analyses indicated that mother and father authoritativeness were protective against bully victimization and depression through higher self-esteem. Conversely, having a permissive or authoritarian mother was positively linked to bullying perpetration, which in turn was associated with increased alcohol use, and to a lesser degree, more alcohol-related problems. Mother authoritarianism was associated with alcohol-related problems through depressive symptoms. Three-path mediation analyses suggested a trend in which individuals with higher self-esteem were less likely to report alcohol-related problems through lower levels of bullying victimization and depression. Results suggested that bullying perpetration and victimization may respectively serve as externalizing and internalizing pathways through which parenting styles and self-esteem are linked to depression and alcohol-related outcomes. The present study identified multiple modifiable precursors of, and mediational pathways to, alcohol-related problems which could guide the development and implementation of prevention programs targeting problematic alcohol use. PMID:26757486

Development and testing of item response theory-based item banks and short forms for eye, skin and lung problems in sarcoidosis.

PubMed

Victorson, David E; Choi, Seung; Judson, Marc A; Cella, David

2014-05-01

Sarcoidosis is a multisystem disease that can negatively impact health-related quality of life (HRQL) across generic (e.g., physical, social and emotional wellbeing) and disease-specific (e.g., pulmonary, ocular, dermatologic) domains. Measurement of HRQL in sarcoidosis has largely relied on generic patient-reported outcome tools, with little disease-specific measures available. The purpose of this paper is to present the development and testing of disease-specific item banks and short forms of lung, skin and eye problems, which are a part of a new patient-reported outcome (PRO) instrument called the sarcoidosis assessment tool. After prioritizing and selecting the most important disease-specific domains, we wrote new items to reflect disease-specific problems by drawing from patient focus group and clinician expert survey data that were used to create our conceptual model of HRQL in sarcoidosis. Item pools underwent cognitive interviews by sarcoidosis patients (n = 13), and minor modifications were made. These items were administered in a multi-site study (n = 300) to obtain item calibrations and create calibrated short forms using item response theory (IRT) approaches. From the available item pools, we created four new item banks and short forms: (1) skin problems, (2) skin stigma, (3) lung problems, and (4) eye Problems. We also created and tested supplemental forms of the most common constitutional symptoms and negative effects of corticosteroids. Several new sarcoidosis-specific PROs were developed and tested using IRT approaches. These new measures can advance more precise and targeted HRQL assessment in sarcoidosis clinical trials and clinical practice.

Bullying Perpetration and Victimization as Externalizing and Internalizing Pathways: A Retrospective Study Linking Parenting Styles and Self-Esteem to Depression, Alcohol Use, and Alcohol-Related Problems.

PubMed

Luk, Jeremy W; Patock-Peckham, Julie A; Medina, Mia; Terrell, Nathan; Belton, Daniel; King, Kevin M

2016-01-02

Emerging research suggests significant positive associations between bullying and substance use behaviors. However, these studies typically focused either on the link between substance use and bullying perpetration or victimization, and few have conceptualized bullying perpetration and/or victimization as mediators. In this study, we simultaneously tested past bullying perpetration and victimization as mediational pathways from retrospective report of parenting styles and global self-esteem to current depressive symptoms, alcohol use, and alcohol-related problems. Data were collected from a college sample of 419 drinkers. Mediation effects were conducted using a bias-corrected bootstrap technique within a structural equation modeling framework. Two-path mediation analyses indicated that mother and father authoritativeness were protective against bully victimization and depression through higher self-esteem. Conversely, having a permissive or authoritarian mother was positively linked to bullying perpetration, which in turn, was associated with increased alcohol use, and to a lesser degree, more alcohol-related problems. Mother authoritarianism was associated with alcohol-related problems through depressive symptoms. Three-path mediation analyses suggested a trend in which individuals with higher self-esteem were less likely to report alcohol-related problems through lower levels of bullying victimization and depression. Results suggested that bullying perpetration and victimization may, respectively, serve as externalizing and internalizing pathways through which parenting styles and self-esteem are linked to depression and alcohol-related outcomes. The present study identified multiple modifiable precursors of, and mediational pathways to, alcohol-related problems which could guide the development and implementation of prevention programs targeting problematic alcohol use.

Solving Inverse Kinematics of Robot Manipulators by Means of Meta-Heuristic Optimisation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wichapong, Kritsada; Bureerat, Sujin; Pholdee, Nantiwat

2018-05-01

This paper presents the use of meta-heuristic algorithms (MHs) for solving inverse kinematics of robot manipulators based on using forward kinematic. Design variables are joint angular displacements used to move a robot end-effector to the target in the Cartesian space while the design problem is posed to minimize error between target points and the positions of the robot end-effector. The problem is said to be a dynamic problem as the target points always changed by a robot user. Several well established MHs are used to solve the problem and the results obtained from using different meta-heuristics are compared based on the end-effector error and searching speed of the algorithms. From the study, the best performer will be obtained for setting as the baseline for future development of MH-based inverse kinematic solving.