Implementing chronic disease self-management in community settings: lessons from Australian demonstration projects.

PubMed

Francis, Caitlin F; Feyer, Anne-Marie; Smith, Ben J

2007-11-01

The evaluation of the Sharing Health Care Initiative addressed the translation of different models of chronic disease self-management into health and community service contexts in Australia. Across seven projects, four intervention models were adopted: (1) the Stanford Chronic Disease Self Management course; (2) generic disease management planning, training and support; (3) tailored disease management planning, training and support, and; (4) telephone coaching. Targeted recruitment through support groups and patient lists was most successful for reaching high-needs clients. Projects with well developed organisational structures and health system networks demonstrated more effective implementation. Engagement of GPs in recruitment and client support was limited. Future self-management programs will require flexible delivery methods in the primary health care setting, involving practice nurses or the equivalent. After 12 months there was little evidence of potential sustainability, although structures such as consumer resource centres and client support clubs were established in some locations. Only one project was able to use Medicare chronic disease-related items to integrate self-management support into routine general practice. Participants in all projects showed improvements in self-management practices, but those receiving Model 3, flexible and tailored support, and Model 4, telephone coaching, reported the greatest benefits.

A characterization of linearly repetitive cut and project sets

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Haynes, Alan; Koivusalo, Henna; Walton, James

2018-02-01

For the development of a mathematical theory which can be used to rigorously investigate physical properties of quasicrystals, it is necessary to understand regularity of patterns in special classes of aperiodic point sets in Euclidean space. In one dimension, prototypical mathematical models for quasicrystals are provided by Sturmian sequences and by point sets generated by substitution rules. Regularity properties of such sets are well understood, thanks mostly to well known results by Morse and Hedlund, and physicists have used this understanding to study one dimensional random Schrödinger operators and lattice gas models. A key fact which plays an important role in these problems is the existence of a subadditive ergodic theorem, which is guaranteed when the corresponding point set is linearly repetitive. In this paper we extend the one-dimensional model to cut and project sets, which generalize Sturmian sequences in higher dimensions, and which are frequently used in mathematical and physical literature as models for higher dimensional quasicrystals. By using a combination of algebraic, geometric, and dynamical techniques, together with input from higher dimensional Diophantine approximation, we give a complete characterization of all linearly repetitive cut and project sets with cubical windows. We also prove that these are precisely the collection of such sets which satisfy subadditive ergodic theorems. The results are explicit enough to allow us to apply them to known classical models, and to construct linearly repetitive cut and project sets in all pairs of dimensions and codimensions in which they exist. Research supported by EPSRC grants EP/L001462, EP/J00149X, EP/M023540. HK also gratefully acknowledges the support of the Osk. Huttunen foundation.

Examining perceptual and conceptual set biases in multiple-target visual search.

PubMed

Biggs, Adam T; Adamo, Stephen H; Dowd, Emma Wu; Mitroff, Stephen R

2015-04-01

Visual search is a common practice conducted countless times every day, and one important aspect of visual search is that multiple targets can appear in a single search array. For example, an X-ray image of airport luggage could contain both a water bottle and a gun. Searchers are more likely to miss additional targets after locating a first target in multiple-target searches, which presents a potential problem: If airport security officers were to find a water bottle, would they then be more likely to miss a gun? One hypothetical cause of multiple-target search errors is that searchers become biased to detect additional targets that are similar to a found target, and therefore become less likely to find additional targets that are dissimilar to the first target. This particular hypothesis has received theoretical, but little empirical, support. In the present study, we tested the bounds of this idea by utilizing "big data" obtained from the mobile application Airport Scanner. Multiple-target search errors were substantially reduced when the two targets were identical, suggesting that the first-found target did indeed create biases during subsequent search. Further analyses delineated the nature of the biases, revealing both a perceptual set bias (i.e., a bias to find additional targets with features similar to those of the first-found target) and a conceptual set bias (i.e., a bias to find additional targets with a conceptual relationship to the first-found target). These biases are discussed in terms of the implications for visual-search theories and applications for professional visual searchers.

Social projection increases for positive targets: ascertaining the effect and exploring its antecedents.

PubMed

Machunsky, Maya; Toma, Claudia; Yzerbyt, Vincent; Corneille, Olivier

2014-10-01

Social projection denotes the attribution of characteristics of the self to others and, therefore, increases perceived self-other similarity. The present research tests the assumption that positive but not negative targets elicit social projection. Earlier research has attributed an effect of target valence to mere consistency principles of judgment and has, thus, questioned projection processes to be the origin of self-other similarity. Building on more recent evidence, we suggest that target valence influences self-other similarity above and beyond a consistent response behavior. The results of three experiments in which target valence was manipulated through evaluative conditioning and by smiling versus neutral facial expression support our hypothesis. We discuss how cognitive versus motivated processes can account for these findings and suggest a new conceptualization of social projection whereby projection is a means to regulate social distance. © 2014 by the Society for Personality and Social Psychology, Inc.

ROBIN: a platform for evaluating automatic target recognition algorithms: I. Overview of the project and presentation of the SAGEM DS competition

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Duclos, D.; Lonnoy, J.; Guillerm, Q.; Jurie, F.; Herbin, S.; D'Angelo, E.

2008-04-01

The last five years have seen a renewal of Automatic Target Recognition applications, mainly because of the latest advances in machine learning techniques. In this context, large collections of image datasets are essential for training algorithms as well as for their evaluation. Indeed, the recent proliferation of recognition algorithms, generally applied to slightly different problems, make their comparisons through clean evaluation campaigns necessary. The ROBIN project tries to fulfil these two needs by putting unclassified datasets, ground truths, competitions and metrics for the evaluation of ATR algorithms at the disposition of the scientific community. The scope of this project includes single and multi-class generic target detection and generic target recognition, in military and security contexts. From our knowledge, it is the first time that a database of this importance (several hundred thousands of visible and infrared hand annotated images) has been publicly released. Funded by the French Ministry of Defence (DGA) and by the French Ministry of Research, ROBIN is one of the ten Techno-vision projects. Techno-vision is a large and ambitious government initiative for building evaluation means for computer vision technologies, for various application contexts. ROBIN's consortium includes major companies and research centres involved in Computer Vision R&D in the field of defence: Bertin Technologies, CNES, ECA, DGA, EADS, INRIA, ONERA, MBDA, SAGEM, THALES. This paper, which first gives an overview of the whole project, is focused on one of ROBIN's key competitions, the SAGEM Defence Security database. This dataset contains more than eight hundred ground and aerial infrared images of six different vehicles in cluttered scenes including distracters. Two different sets of data are available for each target. The first set includes different views of each vehicle at close range in a "simple" background, and can be used to train algorithms. The second set

The Active Target Time Projection Chamber at NSCL

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bazin, D.; Bradt, J.; Ayyad, Y.; Mittig, W.; Ahn, T.; Beceiro-Novo, S.; Carpenter, L.; Cortesi, M.; Fritsch, A.; Kolata, J. J.; Lynch, W.; Watwood, N.

2017-11-01

Reactions in inverse kinematics close to the Coulomb barrier offer unique opportunities to study exotic nuclei, but they are plagued by the difficulty to efficiently and precisely measure the characteristics of the emerging particles. The Active Target Time Projection Chamber (AT-TPC) offers an elegant solution to this dilemma. In this device, the detector gas of the time projection chamber is at the same time the target in which nuclear reactions take place. The use of this new paradigm offers several advantages over conventional inert target methods, the most significant being the ability to increase the luminosity of experiments without loss of resolution. The AT-TPC and some results obtained on resonant α scattering to explore the clustering properties of neutron-rich nuclei are presented, as well as fusion cross section results using a 10Be radioactive beam. In addition, the first re-accelerated radioactive beam experiment using the fully commissioned ReA3 linac was conducted recently at the NSCL with the AT-TPC, where proton resonant scattering of a 4.6 MeV/u 46Ar beam was used to measure the neutron single-particle strength in 47Ar.

Comparison of taxon-specific versus general locus sets for targeted sequence capture in plant phylogenomics.

PubMed

Chau, John H; Rahfeldt, Wolfgang A; Olmstead, Richard G

2018-03-01

Targeted sequence capture can be used to efficiently gather sequence data for large numbers of loci, such as single-copy nuclear loci. Most published studies in plants have used taxon-specific locus sets developed individually for a clade using multiple genomic and transcriptomic resources. General locus sets can also be developed from loci that have been identified as single-copy and have orthologs in large clades of plants. We identify and compare a taxon-specific locus set and three general locus sets (conserved ortholog set [COSII], shared single-copy nuclear [APVO SSC] genes, and pentatricopeptide repeat [PPR] genes) for targeted sequence capture in Buddleja (Scrophulariaceae) and outgroups. We evaluate their performance in terms of assembly success, sequence variability, and resolution and support of inferred phylogenetic trees. The taxon-specific locus set had the most target loci. Assembly success was high for all locus sets in Buddleja samples. For outgroups, general locus sets had greater assembly success. Taxon-specific and PPR loci had the highest average variability. The taxon-specific data set produced the best-supported tree, but all data sets showed improved resolution over previous non-sequence capture data sets. General locus sets can be a useful source of sequence capture targets, especially if multiple genomic resources are not available for a taxon.

Does the projected pathway to global warming targets matter?

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bärring, Lars; Strandberg, Gustav

2018-02-01

Since the ‘Paris agreement’ in 2015 there has been much focus on what a +1.5 °C or +2 °C warmer world would look like. Since the focus lies on policy relevant global warming targets, or specific warming levels (SWLs), rather than a specific point in time, projections are pooled together to form SWL ensembles based on the target temperature rather than emission scenario. This study uses an ensemble of CMIP5 global model projections to analyse how well SWL ensembles represent the stabilized climate of global warming targets. The results show that the SWL ensembles exhibit significant trends that reflect the transient nature of the RCP scenarios. These trends have clear effect on the timing and clustering of monthly cold and hot extremes, even though the effect on the temperature of the extreme months is less visible. In many regions there is a link between choice of RCP scenario used in the SWL ensemble and climate change signal in the highest monthly temperatures. In other regions there is no such clear-cut link. From this we conclude that comprehensive analyses of what prospects the different global warming targets bring about will require stabilization scenarios. Awaiting such targeted scenarios we suggest that prudent use of SWL scenarios, taking their characteristics and limitations into account, may serve as reasonable proxies in many situations.

Effect of Patient Set-up and Respiration motion on Defining Biological Targets for Image-Guided Targeted Radiotherapy

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

McCall, Keisha C.

Identification and monitoring of sub-tumor targets will be a critical step for optimal design and evaluation of cancer therapies in general and biologically targeted radiotherapy (dose-painting) in particular. Quantitative PET imaging may be an important tool for these applications. Currently radiotherapy planning accounts for tumor motion by applying geometric margins. These margins create a motion envelope to encompass the most probable positions of the tumor, while also maintaining the appropriate tumor control and normal tissue complication probabilities. This motion envelope is effective for uniform dose prescriptions where the therapeutic dose is conformed to the external margins of the tumor. However, much research is needed to establish the equivalent margins for non-uniform fields, where multiple biological targets are present and each target is prescribed its own dose level. Additionally, the size of the biological targets and close proximity make it impractical to apply planning margins on the sub-tumor level. Also, the extent of high dose regions must be limited to avoid excessive dose to the surrounding tissue. As such, this research project is an investigation of the uncertainty within quantitative PET images of moving and displaced dose-painting targets, and an investigation of the residual errors that remain after motion management. This included characterization of the changes in PET voxel-values as objects are moved relative to the discrete sampling interval of PET imaging systems (SPECIFIC AIM 1). Additionally, the repeatability of PET distributions and the delineating dose-painting targets were measured (SPECIFIC AIM 2). The effect of imaging uncertainty on the dose distributions designed using these images (SPECIFIC AIM 3) has also been investigated. This project also included analysis of methods to minimize motion during PET imaging and reduce the dosimetric impact of motion/position-induced imaging uncertainty (SPECIFIC AIM 4).

Commissioning of the Active-Target Time Projection Chamber

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bradt, J.; Bazin, D.; Abu-Nimeh, F.; Ahn, T.; Ayyad, Y.; Beceiro Novo, S.; Carpenter, L.; Cortesi, M.; Kuchera, M. P.; Lynch, W. G.; Mittig, W.; Rost, S.; Watwood, N.; Yurkon, J.

2017-12-01

The Active-Target Time Projection Chamber (AT-TPC) was recently built and commissioned at the National Superconducting Cyclotron Laboratory at Michigan State University. This gas-filled detector uses an active-target design where the gas acts as both the tracking medium and the reaction target. Operating inside a 2T solenoidal magnetic field, the AT-TPC records charged particle tracks that can be reconstructed to very good energy and angular resolutions. The near- 4 π solid angle coverage and thick target of the detector are well-suited to experiments with low secondary beam intensities. In this paper, the design and instrumentation of theAT-TPC are described along with the methods used to analyze the data it produces. A simulation of the detector's performance and some results from its commissioning with a radioactive 46Ar beam are also presented.

Project Delivery System Mode Decision Based on Uncertain AHP and Fuzzy Sets

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kaishan, Liu; Huimin, Li

2017-12-01

The project delivery system mode determines the contract pricing type, project management mode and the risk allocation among all participants. Different project delivery system modes have different characteristics and applicable scope. For the owners, the selection of the delivery mode is the key point to decide whether the project can achieve the expected benefits, it relates to the success or failure of project construction. Under the precondition of comprehensively considering the influence factors of the delivery mode, the model of project delivery system mode decision was set up on the basis of uncertain AHP and fuzzy sets, which can well consider the uncertainty and fuzziness when conducting the index evaluation and weight confirmation, so as to rapidly and effectively identify the most suitable delivery mode according to project characteristics. The effectiveness of the model has been verified via the actual case analysis in order to provide reference for the construction project delivery system mode.

3D reconstruction of laser projective point with projection invariant generated from five points on 2D target.

PubMed

Xu, Guan; Yuan, Jing; Li, Xiaotao; Su, Jian

2017-08-01

Vision measurement on the basis of structured light plays a significant role in the optical inspection research. The 2D target fixed with a line laser projector is designed to realize the transformations among the world coordinate system, the camera coordinate system and the image coordinate system. The laser projective point and five non-collinear points that are randomly selected from the target are adopted to construct a projection invariant. The closed form solutions of the 3D laser points are solved by the homogeneous linear equations generated from the projection invariants. The optimization function is created by the parameterized re-projection errors of the laser points and the target points in the image coordinate system. Furthermore, the nonlinear optimization solutions of the world coordinates of the projection points, the camera parameters and the lens distortion coefficients are contributed by minimizing the optimization function. The accuracy of the 3D reconstruction is evaluated by comparing the displacements of the reconstructed laser points with the actual displacements. The effects of the image quantity, the lens distortion and the noises are investigated in the experiments, which demonstrate that the reconstruction approach is effective to contribute the accurate test in the measurement system.

Of Caucasians, Asians, and Giraffes: The Influence of Categorization and Target Valence on Social Projection.

PubMed

Machunsky, Maya; Walther, Eva

2015-09-01

Past research has indicated that social projection is moderated by categorization, with more projection onto ingroups than onto outgroups. However, a few studies have reported elevated levels of projection even onto outgroups. In line with recent evidence, we hypothesized that positive target valence is the key feature of conditions that elicit projection onto outgroups. The present research extends previous findings by testing whether the effect of valence occurs independent of categorization, with increased levels of projection onto positive ingroup and non-ingroup targets alike. We designed two experiments in which target valence was manipulated by means of evaluative conditioning. Category membership was varied by using faces of Caucasians, Asians, and giraffes. The results supported our valence hypothesis. Counter-intuitively, we also found higher levels of projection onto giraffes than onto humans. These findings suggest that current cognition-based models of projection are not sufficient to account for the whole range of projection phenomena. © 2015 by the Society for Personality and Social Psychology, Inc.

Projective limits of state spaces IV. Fractal label sets

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lanéry, Suzanne; Thiemann, Thomas

2018-01-01

Instead of formulating the state space of a quantum field theory over one big Hilbert space, it has been proposed by Kijowski (1977) to represent quantum states as projective families of density matrices over a collection of smaller, simpler Hilbert spaces (see Lanéry (2016) [1] for a concise introduction to this formalism). One can thus bypass the need to select a vacuum state for the theory, and still be provided with an explicit and constructive description of the quantum state space, at least as long as the label set indexing the projective structure is countable. Because uncountable label sets are much less practical in this context, we develop in the present article a general procedure to trim an originally uncountable label set down to countable cardinality. In particular, we investigate how to perform this tightening of the label set in a way that preserves both the physical content of the algebra of observables and its symmetries. This work is notably motivated by applications to the holonomy-flux algebra underlying Loop Quantum Gravity. Building on earlier work by Okołów (2013), a projective state space was introduced for this algebra in Lanéry and Thiemann (2016). However, the non-trivial structure of the holonomy-flux algebra prevents the construction of satisfactory semi-classical states (Lanéry and Thiemann, 2017). Implementing the general procedure just mentioned in the case of a one-dimensional version of this algebra, we show how a discrete subalgebra can be extracted without destroying universality nor diffeomorphism invariance. On this subalgebra, quantum states can then be constructed which are more regular than was possible on the original algebra. In particular, this allows the design of semi-classical states whose semi-classicality is enforced step by step, starting from collective, macroscopic degrees of freedom and going down progressively toward smaller and smaller scales.

Low-enriched uranium high-density target project. Compendium report

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

Vandegrift, George; Brown, M. Alex; Jerden, James L.

2016-09-01

At present, most 99Mo is produced in research, test, or isotope production reactors by irradiation of highly enriched uranium targets. To achieve the denser form of uranium needed for switching from high to low enriched uranium (LEU), targets in the form of a metal foil (~125-150 µm thick) are being developed. The LEU High Density Target Project successfully demonstrated several iterations of an LEU-fission-based Mo-99 technology that has the potential to provide the world’s supply of Mo-99, should major producers choose to utilize the technology. Over 50 annular high density targets have been successfully tested, and the assembly and disassemblymore » of targets have been improved and optimized. Two target front-end processes (acidic and electrochemical) have been scaled up and demonstrated to allow for the high-density target technology to mate up to the existing producer technology for target processing. In the event that a new target processing line is started, the chemical processing of the targets is greatly simplified. Extensive modeling and safety analysis has been conducted, and the target has been qualified to be inserted into the High Flux Isotope Reactor, which is considered above and beyond the requirements for the typical use of this target due to high fluence and irradiation duration.« less

Setting Climate Mitigation Targets in the Face of Uncertainty

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Raupach, M. R.

2012-12-01

Uncertainty in climate science is well known, and at least some of it may be irreducible. However, the presence of uncertainty increases the urgency of action rather than reducing it. For the purpose of setting climate targets, earth system models can be construed as giant transfer functions mapping anthropogenic forcings to climate responses. Recent work [Allen et al. 2009, Nature 458, and related papers] has shown that the broad structure of this mapping is captured by a near-linear relationship T = αQ between cumulative CO2 emissions (Q) and global warming (T), both measured from the start of the industrial era. The slope α is about 1.8 K/EgC (67% probability range 1.2 to 2.7), or 1.8 degrees per trillion tonnes of carbon, both for the recent past and also for future projections. Near-linearity occurs because of compensating interactions between CO2 emissions trajectories, emissions of non-CO2 gases, and nonlinear carbon-climate dynamics. The implication is that a all-time quota of about 1100 PgC of carbon can be emitted before T =2 K warming is exceeded, with median (50%) probability. Half of this quota (550 PgC) has been emitted already through the industrial era (since 1750). Accounting for the need to turn around the present growth in emissions, the eventual decline in emissions to meet a target T =2 K has to be at more than 5% per year if mitigation starts immediately [Raupach et al. 2011, Tellus B 63]. With delay, the required rate of decline rapidly rises further. A 50% chance of meeting a target T =2 K is inadequate, because of paleoclimatic evidence for destabilising climate feedbacks in response to small changes in forcing. This evidence calls for either or both of two responses: a tougher target such as T = 1 K, or a higher chance of meeting the target. It is shown here that (1) the cumulative probability distribution of T at given Q is approximately log-normal; and (2) consequently, the cumulative emission Q needed to stay below a warming T with

Projection-Target-Defined Effects of Orexin and Dynorphin on VTA Dopamine Neurons.

PubMed

Baimel, Corey; Lau, Benjamin K; Qiao, Min; Borgland, Stephanie L

2017-02-07

Circuit-specific signaling of ventral tegmental area (VTA) dopamine neurons drives different aspects of motivated behavior, but the neuromodulatory control of these circuits is unclear. We tested the actions of co-expressed lateral hypothalamic peptides, orexin A (oxA) and dynorphin (dyn), on projection-target-defined dopamine neurons in mice. We determined that VTA dopamine neurons that project to the nucleus accumbens lateral shell (lAcbSh), medial shell (mAcbSh), and basolateral amygdala (BLA) are largely non-overlapping cell populations with different electrophysiological properties. Moreover, the neuromodulatory effects of oxA and dyn on these three projections differed. OxA selectively increased firing in lAcbSh- and mAcbSh-projecting dopamine neurons. Dyn decreased firing in the majority of mAcbSh- and BLA-projecting dopamine neurons but reduced firing only in a small fraction of those that project to the lAcbSh. In conclusion, the oxA-dyn input to the VTA may drive reward-seeking behavior by tuning dopaminergic output in a projection-target-dependent manner. Copyright © 2017 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

The advanced linked extended reconnaissance and targeting technology demonstration project

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Cruickshank, James; de Villers, Yves; Maheux, Jean; Edwards, Mark; Gains, David; Rea, Terry; Banbury, Simon; Gauthier, Michelle

2007-06-01

The Advanced Linked Extended Reconnaissance & Targeting (ALERT) Technology Demonstration (TD) project is addressing key operational needs of the future Canadian Army's Surveillance and Reconnaissance forces by fusing multi-sensor and tactical data, developing automated processes, and integrating beyond line-of-sight sensing. We discuss concepts for displaying and fusing multi-sensor and tactical data within an Enhanced Operator Control Station (EOCS). The sensor data can originate from the Coyote's own visible-band and IR cameras, laser rangefinder, and ground-surveillance radar, as well as beyond line-of-sight systems such as a mini-UAV and unattended ground sensors. The authors address technical issues associated with the use of fully digital IR and day video cameras and discuss video-rate image processing developed to assist the operator to recognize poorly visible targets. Automatic target detection and recognition algorithms processing both IR and visible-band images have been investigated to draw the operator's attention to possible targets. The machine generated information display requirements are presented with the human factors engineering aspects of the user interface in this complex environment, with a view to establishing user trust in the automation. The paper concludes with a summary of achievements to date and steps to project completion.

Implementing rapid HIV testing in outreach and community settings: results from an advancing HIV prevention demonstration project conducted in seven U.S. cities.

PubMed

Bowles, Kristina E; Clark, Hollie A; Tai, Eric; Sullivan, Patrick S; Song, Binwei; Tsang, Jenny; Dietz, Craig A; Mir, Julita; Mares-DelGrasso, Azul; Calhoun, Cindy; Aguirre, Daisy; Emerson, Cicily; Heffelfinger, James D

2008-01-01

The goals of this project were to assess the feasibility of conducting rapid human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) testing in outreach and community settings to increase knowledge of HIV serostatus among groups disproportionately affected by HIV and to identify effective nonclinical venues for recruiting people in the targeted populations. Community-based organizations (CBOs) in seven U.S. cities conducted rapid HIV testing in outreach and community settings, including public parks, homeless shelters, and bars. People with reactive preliminary positive test results received confirmatory testing, and people confirmed to be HIV-positive were referred to health-care and prevention services. A total of 23,900 people received rapid HIV testing. Of the 267 people (1.1%) with newly diagnosed HIV infection, 75% received their confirmatory test results and 64% were referred to care. Seventy-six percent were from racial/ethnic minority groups, and 58% identified themselves as men who have sex with men, 72% of whom reported having multiple sex partners in the past year. Venues with the highest proportion of new HIV diagnoses were bathhouses, social service organizations, and needle-exchange programs. The acceptance rate for testing was 60% among sites collecting this information. Findings from this demonstration project indicate that offering rapid HIV testing in outreach and community settings is a feasible approach for reaching members of minority groups and people at high risk for HIV infection. The project identified venues that would be important to target and offered lessons that could be used by other CBOs to design and implement similar programs in the future.

Language Teachers' Target Language Project: Language for Specific Purposes of Language Teaching

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Korenev, Alexey; Westbrook, Carolyn; Merry, Yvonne; Ershova, Tatiana

2016-01-01

The Language Teachers' Target Language project (LTTL) aims to describe language teachers' target language use domain (Bachman & Palmer 2010) and to develop a language test for future teachers of English. The team comprises four researchers from Moscow State University (MSU) and Southampton Solent University.

Extracting sets of chemical substructures and protein domains governing drug-target interactions.

PubMed

Yamanishi, Yoshihiro; Pauwels, Edouard; Saigo, Hiroto; Stoven, Véronique

2011-05-23

The identification of rules governing molecular recognition between drug chemical substructures and protein functional sites is a challenging issue at many stages of the drug development process. In this paper we develop a novel method to extract sets of drug chemical substructures and protein domains that govern drug-target interactions on a genome-wide scale. This is made possible using sparse canonical correspondence analysis (SCCA) for analyzing drug substructure profiles and protein domain profiles simultaneously. The method does not depend on the availability of protein 3D structures. From a data set of known drug-target interactions including enzymes, ion channels, G protein-coupled receptors, and nuclear receptors, we extract a set of chemical substructures shared by drugs able to bind to a set of protein domains. These two sets of extracted chemical substructures and protein domains form components that can be further exploited in a drug discovery process. This approach successfully clusters protein domains that may be evolutionary unrelated but that bind a common set of chemical substructures. As shown in several examples, it can also be very helpful for predicting new protein-ligand interactions and addressing the problem of ligand specificity. The proposed method constitutes a contribution to the recent field of chemogenomics that aims to connect the chemical space with the biological space.

Attentional bias to threat in the general population is contingent on target competition, not on attentional control settings.

PubMed

Wirth, Benedikt Emanuel; Wentura, Dirk

2018-04-01

Dot-probe studies usually find an attentional bias towards threatening stimuli only in anxious participants. Here, we investigated under what conditions such a bias occurs in unselected samples. According to contingent-capture theory, an irrelevant cue only captures attention if it matches an attentional control setting. Therefore, we first tested the hypothesis that an attentional control setting tuned to threat must be activated in (non-anxious) individuals. In Experiment 1, we used a dot-probe task with a manipulation of attentional control settings ('threat' - set vs. control set). Surprisingly, we found an (anxiety-independent) attentional bias to angry faces that was not moderated by attentional control settings. Since we presented two stimuli (i.e., a target and a distractor) on the target screen in Experiment 1 (a necessity to realise the test of contingent capture), but most dot-probe studies only employ a single target, we conducted Experiment 2 to test the hypothesis that attentional bias in the general population is contingent on target competition. Participants performed a dot-probe task, involving presentation of a stand-alone target or a target competing with a distractor. We found an (anxiety-independent) attentional bias towards angry faces in the latter but not the former condition. This suggests that attentional bias towards angry faces in unselected samples is not contingent on attentional control settings but on target competition.

Real Time Intelligent Target Detection and Analysis with Machine Vision

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Howard, Ayanna; Padgett, Curtis; Brown, Kenneth

2000-01-01

We present an algorithm for detecting a specified set of targets for an Automatic Target Recognition (ATR) application. ATR involves processing images for detecting, classifying, and tracking targets embedded in a background scene. We address the problem of discriminating between targets and nontarget objects in a scene by evaluating 40x40 image blocks belonging to an image. Each image block is first projected onto a set of templates specifically designed to separate images of targets embedded in a typical background scene from those background images without targets. These filters are found using directed principal component analysis which maximally separates the two groups. The projected images are then clustered into one of n classes based on a minimum distance to a set of n cluster prototypes. These cluster prototypes have previously been identified using a modified clustering algorithm based on prior sensed data. Each projected image pattern is then fed into the associated cluster's trained neural network for classification. A detailed description of our algorithm will be given in this paper. We outline our methodology for designing the templates, describe our modified clustering algorithm, and provide details on the neural network classifiers. Evaluation of the overall algorithm demonstrates that our detection rates approach 96% with a false positive rate of less than 0.03%.

Reflections on a Coaching Pilot Project in Healthcare Settings

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Gurbutt, D. J.; Gurbutt, R.

2016-01-01

This paper draws on personal reflection of coaching experiences and learning as a coach to consider the relevance of these approaches in a management context with a group of four healthcare staff who participated in a pilot coaching project. It explores their understanding of coaching techniques applied in management settings via their reflections…

Setting population targets for mammals using body mass as a predictor of population persistence.

PubMed

Hilbers, Jelle P; Santini, Luca; Visconti, Piero; Schipper, Aafke M; Pinto, Cecilia; Rondinini, Carlo; Huijbregts, Mark A J

2017-04-01

Conservation planning and biodiversity assessments need quantitative targets to optimize planning options and assess the adequacy of current species protection. However, targets aiming at persistence require population-specific data, which limit their use in favor of fixed and nonspecific targets, likely leading to unequal distribution of conservation efforts among species. We devised a method to derive equitable population targets; that is, quantitative targets of population size that ensure equal probabilities of persistence across a set of species and that can be easily inferred from species-specific traits. In our method, we used models of population dynamics across a range of life-history traits related to species' body mass to estimate minimum viable population targets. We applied our method to a range of body masses of mammals, from 2 g to 3825 kg. The minimum viable population targets decreased asymptotically with increasing body mass and were on the same order of magnitude as minimum viable population estimates from species- and context-specific studies. Our approach provides a compromise between pragmatic, nonspecific population targets and detailed context-specific estimates of population viability for which only limited data are available. It enables a first estimation of species-specific population targets based on a readily available trait and thus allows setting equitable targets for population persistence in large-scale and multispecies conservation assessments and planning. © 2016 The Authors. Conservation Biology published by Wiley Periodicals, Inc. on behalf of Society for Conservation Biology.

A comparison between computer-controlled and set work rate exercise based on target heart rate

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Pratt, Wanda M.; Siconolfi, Steven F.; Webster, Laurie; Hayes, Judith C.; Mazzocca, Augustus D.; Harris, Bernard A., Jr.

1991-01-01

Two methods are compared for observing the heart rate (HR), metabolic equivalents, and time in target HR zone (defined as the target HR + or - 5 bpm) during 20 min of exercise at a prescribed intensity of the maximum working capacity. In one method, called set-work rate exercise, the information from a graded exercise test is used to select a target HR and to calculate a corresponding constant work rate that should induce the desired HR. In the other method, the work rate is controlled by a computer algorithm to achieve and maintain a prescribed target HR. It is shown that computer-controlled exercise is an effective alternative to the traditional set work rate exercise, particularly when tight control of cardiovascular responses is necessary.

A Parallel Finite Set Statistical Simulator for Multi-Target Detection and Tracking

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hussein, I.; MacMillan, R.

2014-09-01

Finite Set Statistics (FISST) is a powerful Bayesian inference tool for the joint detection, classification and tracking of multi-target environments. FISST is capable of handling phenomena such as clutter, misdetections, and target birth and decay. Implicit within the approach are solutions to the data association and target label-tracking problems. Finally, FISST provides generalized information measures that can be used for sensor allocation across different types of tasks such as: searching for new targets, and classification and tracking of known targets. These FISST capabilities have been demonstrated on several small-scale illustrative examples. However, for implementation in a large-scale system as in the Space Situational Awareness problem, these capabilities require a lot of computational power. In this paper, we implement FISST in a parallel environment for the joint detection and tracking of multi-target systems. In this implementation, false alarms and misdetections will be modeled. Target birth and decay will not be modeled in the present paper. We will demonstrate the success of the method for as many targets as we possibly can in a desktop parallel environment. Performance measures will include: number of targets in the simulation, certainty of detected target tracks, computational time as a function of clutter returns and number of targets, among other factors.

DecoyFinder: an easy-to-use python GUI application for building target-specific decoy sets.

PubMed

Cereto-Massagué, Adrià; Guasch, Laura; Valls, Cristina; Mulero, Miquel; Pujadas, Gerard; Garcia-Vallvé, Santiago

2012-06-15

Decoys are molecules that are presumed to be inactive against a target (i.e. will not likely bind to the target) and are used to validate the performance of molecular docking or a virtual screening workflow. The Directory of Useful Decoys database (http://dud.docking.org/) provides a free directory of decoys for use in virtual screening, though it only contains a limited set of decoys for 40 targets.To overcome this limitation, we have developed an application called DecoyFinder that selects, for a given collection of active ligands of a target, a set of decoys from a database of compounds. Decoys are selected if they are similar to active ligands according to five physical descriptors (molecular weight, number of rotational bonds, total hydrogen bond donors, total hydrogen bond acceptors and the octanol-water partition coefficient) without being chemically similar to any of the active ligands used as an input (according to the Tanimoto coefficient between MACCS fingerprints). To the best of our knowledge, DecoyFinder is the first application designed to build target-specific decoy sets. A complete description of the software is included on the application home page. A validation of DecoyFinder on 10 DUD targets is provided as Supplementary Table S1. DecoyFinder is freely available at http://URVnutrigenomica-CTNS.github.com/DecoyFinder.

Lessons learned from setting up the NOWESP research data base: Experiences in an interdisciplinary research project

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Radach, Günther; Gekeler, Jens

1996-09-01

Research carried out within the framework of the MAST project NOWESP (North-West European Shelf Programme) was based on a multi-parameter data set of existing marine data, relevant for estimating trends, variability and fluxes on the Northwest European Shelf. The data sets were provided by the partners of the project. Additional data sets were obtained from several other institutions. During the project, the data were organized in the NOWESP Research Data Base (NRDB), for which a special data base scheme was defined that was capable of storing different types of marine data. Data products, like time series and interpolated fields, were provided to the partners for analysis (Radach et al. [1997]). After three years of project time, the feasibility of such an approach is discussed. Ways of optimizing data access and evaluation are proposed. A project-oriented Research Data Base is a useful tool because of its flexibility and proximity to the research being carried out. However, several requirements must be met to derive optimum benefits from this type of service unit. Since this task usually is carried out by a limited number of staff, an early start of project data management is recommended. To enable future projects to succeed in an analogous compilation of relevant data for their use, as performed in NOWESP, the task of organizing the data sets for any short-term project should be shared between a research data base group and a national or international data centre whose experience and software could be used. It must be ensured that only quality controlled data sets from the individual data-produ cing projects are delivered to the national data centres. It is recommended that data quality control should be performed by the originators and/or data centres before delivering any data sets to the research data base. Delivery of the (full) data sets should be checked and their quality should be approved by authorized data centres.

Multiwaveguide implantable probe for light delivery to sets of distributed brain targets.

PubMed

Zorzos, Anthony N; Boyden, Edward S; Fonstad, Clifton G

2010-12-15

Optical fibers are commonly inserted into living tissues such as the brain in order to deliver light to deep targets for neuroscientific and neuroengineering applications such as optogenetics, in which light is used to activate or silence neurons expressing specific photosensitive proteins. However, an optical fiber is limited to delivering light to a single target within the three-dimensional structure of the brain. We here demonstrate a multiwaveguide probe capable of independently delivering light to multiple targets along the probe axis, thus enabling versatile optical control of sets of distributed brain targets. The 1.45-cm-long probe is microfabricated in the form of a 360-μm-wide array of 12 parallel silicon oxynitride (SiON) multimode waveguides clad with SiO(2) and coated with aluminum; probes of custom dimensions are easily created as well. The waveguide array accepts light from a set of sources at the input end and guides the light down each waveguide to an aluminum corner mirror that efficiently deflects light away from the probe axis. Light losses at each stage are small (input coupling loss, 0.4 ± 0.3 dB; bend loss, negligible; propagation loss, 3.1 ± 1 dB/cm using the outscattering method and 3.2 ± 0.4 dB/cm using the cutback method; corner mirror loss, 1.5 ± 0.4 dB); a waveguide coupled, for example, to a 5 mW source will deliver over 1.5 mW to a target at a depth of 1 cm.

NASA Ocean Altimeter Pathfinder Project. Report 2; Data Set Validation

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Koblinsky, C. J.; Ray, Richard D.; Beckley, Brian D.; Bremmer, Anita; Tsaoussi, Lucia S.; Wang, Yan-Ming

1999-01-01

The NOAA/NASA Pathfinder program was created by the Earth Observing System (EOS) Program Office to determine how existing satellite-based data sets can be processed and used to study global change. The data sets are designed to be long time-series data processed with stable calibration and community consensus algorithms to better assist the research community. The Ocean Altimeter Pathfinder Project involves the reprocessing of all altimeter observations with a consistent set of improved algorithms, based on the results from TOPEX/POSEIDON (T/P), into easy-to-use data sets for the oceanographic community for climate research. Details are currently presented in two technical reports: Report# 1: Data Processing Handbook Report #2: Data Set Validation This report describes the validation of the data sets against a global network of high quality tide gauge measurements and provides an estimate of the error budget. The first report describes the processing schemes used to produce the geodetic consistent data set comprised of SEASAT, GEOSAT, ERS-1, TOPEX/ POSEIDON, and ERS-2 satellite observations.

Supporting UK adaptation: building services for the next set of UK climate projections

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Fung, Fai; Lowe, Jason

2016-04-01

As part of the Climate Change Act 2008, the UK Government sets out a national adaptation programme to address the risks and opportunities identified in a national climate change risk assessment (CCRA) every five years. The last risk assessment in 2012 was based on the probabilistic projections for the UK published in 2009 (UKCP09). The second risk assessment will also use information from UKCP09 alongside other evidence on climate projections. However, developments in the science of climate projeciton, and evolving user needs (based partly on what has been learnt about the diverse user requirements of the UK adaptation community from the seven years of delivering and managing UKCP09 products, market research and the peer-reviewed literature) suggest now is an appropriate time to update the projections and how they are delivered. A new set of UK climate projections are now being produced to upgrade UKCP09 to reflect the latest developments in climate science, the first phase of which will be delivered in 2018 to support the third CCRA. A major component of the work is the building of a tailored service to support users of the new projections during their development and to involve users in key decisions so that the projections are of most use. We will set out the plan for the new climate projections that seek to address the evolving user need. We will also present a framework which aims to (i) facilitate the dialogue between users, boundary organisations and producers, reflecting their different decision-making roles (ii) produce scientifically robust, user-relevant climate information (iii) provide the building blocks for developing further climate services to support adaptation activities in the UK.

Structural analysis of a set of proteins resulting from a bacterial genomics project.

PubMed

Badger, J; Sauder, J M; Adams, J M; Antonysamy, S; Bain, K; Bergseid, M G; Buchanan, S G; Buchanan, M D; Batiyenko, Y; Christopher, J A; Emtage, S; Eroshkina, A; Feil, I; Furlong, E B; Gajiwala, K S; Gao, X; He, D; Hendle, J; Huber, A; Hoda, K; Kearins, P; Kissinger, C; Laubert, B; Lewis, H A; Lin, J; Loomis, K; Lorimer, D; Louie, G; Maletic, M; Marsh, C D; Miller, I; Molinari, J; Muller-Dieckmann, H J; Newman, J M; Noland, B W; Pagarigan, B; Park, F; Peat, T S; Post, K W; Radojicic, S; Ramos, A; Romero, R; Rutter, M E; Sanderson, W E; Schwinn, K D; Tresser, J; Winhoven, J; Wright, T A; Wu, L; Xu, J; Harris, T J R

2005-09-01

The targets of the Structural GenomiX (SGX) bacterial genomics project were proteins conserved in multiple prokaryotic organisms with no obvious sequence homolog in the Protein Data Bank of known structures. The outcome of this work was 80 structures, covering 60 unique sequences and 49 different genes. Experimental phase determination from proteins incorporating Se-Met was carried out for 45 structures with most of the remainder solved by molecular replacement using members of the experimentally phased set as search models. An automated tool was developed to deposit these structures in the Protein Data Bank, along with the associated X-ray diffraction data (including refined experimental phases) and experimentally confirmed sequences. BLAST comparisons of the SGX structures with structures that had appeared in the Protein Data Bank over the intervening 3.5 years since the SGX target list had been compiled identified homologs for 49 of the 60 unique sequences represented by the SGX structures. This result indicates that, for bacterial structures that are relatively easy to express, purify, and crystallize, the structural coverage of gene space is proceeding rapidly. More distant sequence-structure relationships between the SGX and PDB structures were investigated using PDB-BLAST and Combinatorial Extension (CE). Only one structure, SufD, has a truly unique topology compared to all folds in the PDB. Copyright 2005 Wiley-Liss, Inc.

Targeting Learning Needs in an Australian Aid Project in Thailand.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kinder, Rex; Karawanan, Chaisak

1996-01-01

The Thailand Land Titling Project includes a training and development component aimed at long-term sustainability. A training target matrix was developed to identify the knowledge, skills, experience, and performance standards required and needs for training at various levels. Six broad and flexible career paths allow for logical succession,…

When "Becoming a 50% School" is Success Enough: A Principal-Agent Analysis of Subject Leaders' Target Setting

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Davies, Peter; Coates, Gwen; Hammersley-Fletcher, Linda; Mangan, Jean

2005-01-01

Using the perspective of principal-agent theory, we suggest that the target setting process imposed by the government has shifted teachers' focus away from their personal educational priorities. Our evidence suggests that schools with a higher proportion of students with high academic achievement differ in their practice of target setting from…

Setting up Targeted Research Interviews: A Primer for Students and New Interviewers

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Noy, Darren

2009-01-01

This article analyzes key strategic considerations for setting up targeted research interviews, including human subjects and Institutional Review Board requirements, approaching respondents, the medium of contact, using technology, cultural conceptions of time and commitment, using networks, wading through bureaucracies, and watching for warning…

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.

NASA-SETI microwave observing project: Targeted Search Element (TSE)

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Webster, L. D.

1991-01-01

The Targeted Search Element (TSE) performs one of two complimentary search strategies of the NASA-SETI Microwave Observing Project (MOP): the targeted search. The principle objective of the targeted search strategy is to scan the microwave window between the frequencies of one and three gigahertz for narrowband microwave emissions eminating from the direction of 773 specifically targeted stars. The scanning process is accomplished at a minimum resolution of one or two Hertz at very high sensitivity. Detectable signals will be of a continuous wave or pulsed form and may also drift in frequency. The TSE will possess extensive radio frequency interference (RFI) mitigation and verification capability as the majority of signals detected by the TSE will be of local origin. Any signal passing through RFI classification and classifiable as an extraterrestrial intelligence (ETI) candidate will be further validated at non-MOP observatories using established protocol. The targeted search will be conducted using the capability provided by the TSE. The TSE provides six Targeted Search Systems (TSS) which independently or cooperatively perform automated collection, analysis, storage, and archive of signal data. Data is collected in 10 megahertz chunks and signal processing is performed at a rate of 160 megabits per second. Signal data is obtained utilizing the largest radio telescopes available for the Targeted Search such as those at Arecibo and Nancay or at the dedicated NASA-SETI facility. This latter facility will allow continuous collection of data. The TSE also provides for TSS utilization planning, logistics, remote operation, and for off-line data analysis and permanent archive of both the Targeted Search and Sky Survey data.

An innovative approach to targeting pain in older people in the acute care setting.

PubMed

Phelan, Caroline

2010-06-01

This paper reports the findings of an exploratory pilot study which used mixed methods to determine (a) the feasibility of the study design for a larger multi site project and (b) whether a pain education promotion approach, termed 'Targeting Pain', using a multidisciplinary educational campaign and promotional media such as staff badges and ward signage, improves the detection and management of pain in older people in an acute care setting. Pre and post evaluation surveys and interviews were used to evaluate the approach. Findings showed an increase in pain assessment and documentation of pain by nursing staff, as well as an increase in the prescription of oral analgesics. However, the study indicated that the uptake regarding pain management from the education campaign was different between professional groups. Although there was a positive response by patients and staff to the use of staff badges, the ward signage failed to attract attention. The mixed methods approach used highlighted several areas that need to be improved for the next phase of the study.

Common IED exploitation target set ontology

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Russomanno, David J.; Qualls, Joseph; Wowczuk, Zenovy; Franken, Paul; Robinson, William

2010-04-01

The Common IED Exploitation Target Set (CIEDETS) ontology provides a comprehensive semantic data model for capturing knowledge about sensors, platforms, missions, environments, and other aspects of systems under test. The ontology also includes representative IEDs; modeled as explosives, camouflage, concealment objects, and other background objects, which comprise an overall threat scene. The ontology is represented using the Web Ontology Language and the SPARQL Protocol and RDF Query Language, which ensures portability of the acquired knowledge base across applications. The resulting knowledge base is a component of the CIEDETS application, which is intended to support the end user sensor test and evaluation community. CIEDETS associates a system under test to a subset of cataloged threats based on the probability that the system will detect the threat. The associations between systems under test, threats, and the detection probabilities are established based on a hybrid reasoning strategy, which applies a combination of heuristics and simplified modeling techniques. Besides supporting the CIEDETS application, which is focused on efficient and consistent system testing, the ontology can be leveraged in a myriad of other applications, including serving as a knowledge source for mission planning tools.

The mechanism of T-cell mediated cytotoxicity. VI. T-cell projections and their role in target cell killing.

PubMed Central

Sanderson, C J; Glauert, A M

1979-01-01

Electron micrographs of material fixed during the first 10 min of a T-cell cytotoxic system showed T-cell projections and T-cell burrowing into target cells. These observations were made possible by using a system with a very high rate of killing. The projections vary in shape and size, and can push deeply into the target cell, distorting organelles in their path, including the nucleus. The projections contain fine fibrillar material, to the exclusion of organelles. They push the target cell membrane in front of them to form pockets approximating to the shape of the projection. Areas of close contact occur between the projections and the target cell membrane, particularly at the leading edges. The likelihood that these projections develop as a result of contact with specific antigen, and are involved in the cytotoxic mechanism is discussed. Images Figure 1 Figure 2 Figure 3 Figure 4 Figure 5 Figure 6 Figure 7 Figure 8 Figure 9 Figure 10 Figure 11 Figure 12 Figure 13 Figure 14 Figure 15 Figure 16 PMID:311336

Safe Handling of Oral Antineoplastic Medications: Focus on Targeted Therapeutics in the Home Setting

PubMed Central

Cass, Yaakov; Connor, Thomas H.; Tabachnik, Alexander

2017-01-01

Introduction With the growing number of oral targeted therapies being approved for use in cancer therapy, the potential for long-term administration of these drugs to cancer patients is expanding. The use of these drugs in the home setting has the potential to expose family members and caregivers to them either through direct contact with the drugs or indirectly by exposure to the parent compounds and/or their active metabolites in contaminated patient's waste. Methods A systematic literature review was performed and the known adverse health effect of 32 oral targeted therapeutics is summarized. In particular, the carcinogenicity, genotoxicity, and embryo-foetal toxicity, along with the route of excretion were evaluated. Results Carcinogenicity testing has not been performed on most of the oral targeted therapeutics and the genotoxicity data are mixed. However, the majority of these drugs exhibit adverse reproductive effects, some of which are severe. Currently available data does not permit the possibility of a health hazard from inappropriate handling of drugs and contaminated patients waste to be ignored, especially in a long-term home setting. Further research is needed to understand these issues. Conclusions With the expanding use of targeted therapies in the home setting, family members and caregivers, especially those of reproductive risk age, are, potentially at risk. Overall basic education and related precautions should be taken to protect family members and caregivers from indirect or direct exposure from these drugs. Further investigations and discussion on this subject is warranted. PMID:27009803

TargetLink, a new method for identifying the endogenous target set of a specific microRNA in intact living cells.

PubMed

Xu, Yan; Chen, Yan; Li, Daliang; Liu, Qing; Xuan, Zhenyu; Li, Wen-Hong

2017-02-01

MicroRNAs are small non-coding RNAs acting as posttranscriptional repressors of gene expression. Identifying mRNA targets of a given miRNA remains an outstanding challenge in the field. We have developed a new experimental approach, TargetLink, that applied locked nucleic acid (LNA) as the affinity probe to enrich target genes of a specific microRNA in intact cells. TargetLink also consists a rigorous and systematic data analysis pipeline to identify target genes by comparing LNA-enriched sequences between experimental and control samples. Using miR-21 as a test microRNA, we identified 12 target genes of miR-21 in a human colorectal cancer cell by this approach. The majority of the identified targets interacted with miR-21 via imperfect seed pairing. Target validation confirmed that miR-21 repressed the expression of the identified targets. The cellular abundance of the identified miR-21 target transcripts varied over a wide range, with some targets expressed at a rather low level, confirming that both abundant and rare transcripts are susceptible to regulation by microRNAs, and that TargetLink is an efficient approach for identifying the target set of a specific microRNA in intact cells. C20orf111, one of the novel targets identified by TargetLink, was found to reside in the nuclear speckle and to be reliably repressed by miR-21 through the interaction at its coding sequence.

Geological Setting of Diamond Drilling for the Archean Biosphere Drilling Project, Pilbara Craton, Western Australia

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hickman, A.

2004-12-01

The Archean Biosphere Drilling Project (ABDP) is a collaborative international research project conducting systematic (bio)geochemical investigations to improve our understanding of the biosphere of the early Earth. The Pilbara Craton of Western Australia, which includes exceptionally well preserved 3.52 to 2.70 Ga sedimentary sequences, was selected for an innovative sampling program commencing in 2003. To avoid near-surface alteration and contamination effects, sampling was by diamond drilling to depths of between 150 and 300 m, and was located at sites where the target lithologies were least deformed and had lowest metamorphic grade (below 300°C). The first of five successful drilling sites (Jasper Deposit) targeted red, white and black chert in the 3.46 Ga Marble Bar Chert Member. This chert marks the top of a thick mafic-felsic volcanic cycle, the third of four such cycles formed by mantle plumes between 3.52 and 3.43 Ga. The geological setting was a volcanic plateau founded on 3.72 to 3.60 Ga sialic crust (isotopic evidence). The second hole (Salgash) was sited on the basal section of the fourth cycle, and sampled sulfidic (Cu-Zn-Fe), carbon-rich shale and sandstone units separated by flows of peridotite. The third hole (Eastern Creek) was sited on the margin of a moderately deep-water rift basin, the 2.95 to 2.91 Ga Mosquito Creek Basin. This is dominated by turbidites, but the sandstones and carbon-rich shales intersected at the drilling site were deposited in shallower water. The fourth and fifth holes, located 300 km apart, sampled 2.77 to 2.76 Ga continental formations of the Fortescue Group; both holes included black shales.

Neurochemical differences between target-specific populations of rat dorsal raphe projection neurons.

PubMed

Prouty, Eric W; Chandler, Daniel J; Waterhouse, Barry D

2017-11-15

Serotonin (5-HT)-containing neurons in the dorsal raphe (DR) nucleus project throughout the forebrain and are implicated in many physiological processes and neuropsychiatric disorders. Diversity among these neurons has been characterized in terms of their neurochemistry and anatomical organization, but a clear sense of whether these attributes align with specific brain functions or terminal fields is lacking. DR 5-HT neurons can co-express additional neuroactive substances, increasing the potential for individualized regulation of target circuits. The goal of this study was to link DR neurons to a specific functional role by characterizing cells according to both their neurotransmitter expression and efferent connectivity; specifically, cells projecting to the medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC), a region implicated in cognition, emotion, and responses to stress. Following retrograde tracer injection, brainstem sections from Sprague-Dawley rats were immunohistochemically stained for markers of serotonin, glutamate, GABA, and nitric oxide (NO). 98% of the mPFC-projecting serotonergic neurons co-expressed the marker for glutamate, while the markers for NO and GABA were observed in 60% and less than 1% of those neurons, respectively. To identify potential target-specific differences in co-transmitter expression, we also characterized DR neurons projecting to a visual sensory structure, the lateral geniculate nucleus (LGN). The proportion of serotonergic neurons co-expressing NO was greater amongst cells targeting the mPFC vs LGN (60% vs 22%). The established role of 5-HT in affective disorders and the emerging role of NO in stress signaling suggest that the impact of 5-HT/NO co-localization in DR neurons that regulate mPFC circuit function may be clinically relevant. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Setting Whole-Building Absolute Energy Use Targets for the K-12 School, Retail, and Healthcare Sectors: Preprint

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

Leach, M.; Bonnema, E.; Pless, S.

2012-08-01

This paper helps owners' efficiency representatives to inform executive management, contract development, and project management staff as to how specifying and applying whole-building absolute energy use targets for new construction or renovation projects can improve the operational energy performance of commercial buildings.

The TARGET project in Tuscany: the first disease management model of a regional project for the prevention of hip re-fractures in the elderly.

PubMed

Piscitelli, Prisco; Brandi, Maria Luisa; Nuti, Ranuccio; Rizzuti, Carla; Giorni, Loredano; Giovannini, Valtere; Metozzi, Alessia; Merlotti, Daniela

2010-09-01

The official inquiry on osteoporosis in Italy, promoted by the Italian Senate in 2002 concluded that proper preventive strategies should be adopted at regional level in order to prevent osteoporotic fractures. Tuscany is the first Italian region who has promoted an official program (the TARGET project) aimed to reduce osteoporotic fractures by ensuring adequate treatment to all people aged ≥65 years old who experience a hip fragility fracture. this paper provides information concerning the implementation of TARGET project in Tuscany, assuming that it may represent an useful model for similar experiences to be promoted in other Italian Regions and across Europe. we have examined the model proposed for the regional program, and we have particularly analyzed the in-hospital and post-hospitalization path of hip fractured patients aged >65 years old in Tuscany after the adoption of TARGET project by Tuscany healthcare system and during its ongoing start-up phase. orthopaedic surgeons have been gradually involved in the project and are increasingly fulfilling all the clinical prescriptions and recommendations provided in the project protocol. Different forms of cooperation between orthopaedic surgeons and other clinical specialists have been adopted at each hospital for the treatment of hip fractured elderly patients. GPs involvement needs to be fostered both at regional and local level. The effort of Tuscany region to cope with hip fractures suffered from elderly people must be acknowledged as an interesting way of addressing this critical health problem. Specific preventive strategies modelled on the Tuscany TARGET project should be implemented in other Italian regions.

Restoration for the future: Setting endpoints and targets and selecting indicators of progress and success

Treesearch

Daniel C. Dey; Callie Jo Schweitzer; John M. Kabrick

2014-01-01

Setting endpoints and targets in forest restoration is a complicated task that is best accomplished in cooperative partnerships that account for the ecology of the system, production of desired ecosystem goods and services, economics and well-being of society, and future environments. Clearly written and quantitative endpoints and intermediary targets need to be...

Design study of 10 kW direct fission target for RISP project

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Tshoo, K.; Jang, D. Y.; Woo, H. J.; Kang, B. H.; Kim, G. D.; Hwang, W.; Kim, Y. K.

2014-03-01

We are developing Isotope Separation On-Line (ISOL) target system, which consists of 1.3 mm-thick uranium-carbide multi-disks and cylindrical tantalum heater, to be installed in new facility for Rare Isotope Science Project in Korea. The intense neutron-rich nuclei are produced via the fission process using the uranium carbide targets with a 70 MeV proton beam. The fission rate was estimated to be ˜1.5 × 1013/sec for 10 kW proton beam. The target system has been designed to be operated at a temperature of ˜2000 °C so as to improve the release effciency.

Heightened Conflict in Cue-Target Translation Increases Backward Inhibition in Set Switching

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Grange, James A.; Houghton, George

2010-01-01

Backward inhibition (BI) is a performance cost that occurs when an individual returns to a task after 1 (vs. more than 1) intervening trial, and it may reflect the inhibition of task-set components during switching. In 3 experiments, we support the theory that inhibition can target cue-based preparatory stages of a task. Participants performed a…

The Progress of Research Project for Magnetized Target Fusion in China

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Yang, Xian-Jun

2015-11-01

The fusion of magnetized plasma called Magnetized Target Fusion (MTF) is a hot research area recently. It may significantly reduce the cost and size. Great progress has been achieved in past decades around the world. Five years ago, China initiated the MTF project and has gotten some progress as follows: 1. Verifying the feasibility of ignition of MTF by means of first principle and MHD simulation; 2. Generating the magnetic field over 1400 Tesla, which can be suppress the heat conduction from charged particles, deposit the energy of alpha particle to promote the ignition process, and produce the stable magnetized plasma for the target of ignition; 3. The imploding facility of FP-1 can put several Mega Joule energy to the solid liner of about ten gram in the range of microsecond risen time, while the simulating tool has been developed for design and analysis of the process; 4. The target of FRC can be generated by ``YG 1 facility'' while some simulating tools have be developed. Next five years, the above theoretical work and the experiments of MTF may be integrated to step up as the National project, which may make my term play an important lead role and be supposed to achieve farther progress in China. Supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China under Grant No 11175028.

The SET1 Complex Selects Actively Transcribed Target Genes via Multivalent Interaction with CpG Island Chromatin.

PubMed

Brown, David A; Di Cerbo, Vincenzo; Feldmann, Angelika; Ahn, Jaewoo; Ito, Shinsuke; Blackledge, Neil P; Nakayama, Manabu; McClellan, Michael; Dimitrova, Emilia; Turberfield, Anne H; Long, Hannah K; King, Hamish W; Kriaucionis, Skirmantas; Schermelleh, Lothar; Kutateladze, Tatiana G; Koseki, Haruhiko; Klose, Robert J

2017-09-05

Chromatin modifications and the promoter-associated epigenome are important for the regulation of gene expression. However, the mechanisms by which chromatin-modifying complexes are targeted to the appropriate gene promoters in vertebrates and how they influence gene expression have remained poorly defined. Here, using a combination of live-cell imaging and functional genomics, we discover that the vertebrate SET1 complex is targeted to actively transcribed gene promoters through CFP1, which engages in a form of multivalent chromatin reading that involves recognition of non-methylated DNA and histone H3 lysine 4 trimethylation (H3K4me3). CFP1 defines SET1 complex occupancy on chromatin, and its multivalent interactions are required for the SET1 complex to place H3K4me3. In the absence of CFP1, gene expression is perturbed, suggesting that normal targeting and function of the SET1 complex are central to creating an appropriately functioning vertebrate promoter-associated epigenome. Copyright © 2017 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Overview of the data analysis and new micro-pattern gas detector development for the Active Target Time Projection Chamber (AT-TPC) project.

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ayyad, Yassid; Mittig, Wolfgang; Bazin, Daniel; Cortesi, Marco

2017-07-01

The Active Target Time Projection Chamber (AT-TPC) project at the NSCL (National Superconducting Cyclotron Laboratory, Michigan State University) is a novel active target detector tailored for low-energy nuclear reactions in inverse kinematics with radioactive ion beams. The AT-TPC allows for a full three dimensional reconstruction of the reaction and provides high luminosity without degradation of resolution by the thickness of the target. Since all the particles (and also the reaction vertex) are tracked inside the detector, the AT-TPC has full 4π efficiency. The AT-TPC can operate under a magnetic field (2 T) that improves the identification of the particles and the energy resolution through the measurement of the magnetic rigidity. Another important characteristic of the AT-TPC is the high-gain operation achieved by the hybrid thick Gas Electron Multipliers (THGEM)-Micromegas pad plane, that allow operation also in pure elemental gas. These two features make the AT-TPC a unique high resolution spectrometer with full acceptance for nuclear physics reactions. This work presents an overview of the project, focused on the data analysis and the development of new micro-pattern gas detectors.

Artful Dodgers: An Arts Education Research Project in Early Education Settings

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hayes, Nóirín; Maguire, Jackie; Corcoran, Lucie; O'Sullivan, Carmel

2017-01-01

Artful Dodgers is an arts education project developed by two artists and delivered in two early years settings located in two areas of urban disadvantage. It is a music and visual arts programme designed and implemented with early years teachers of children aged 3-5 years. It explored whether the provision of high-quality arts experiences could…

Enhancement and creation of secondary channel habitat: Review of project performance across a range of project types and settings

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Epstein, J.; Lind, P.

2017-12-01

Secondary channels provide critical off-channel habitat for key life stages of aquatic species. In many systems, interruption of natural processes via anthropogenic influences have reduced the quantity of secondary channel habitat and have impaired the processes that help form and maintain them. Creation and enhancement of secondary channels is therefore a key component of stream rehabilitation, particularly in the Pacific Northwest where the focus has been on enhancement of habitat for ESA-listed salmonids. Secondary channel enhancement varies widely in scope, scale, and approach depending on species requirements, hydrology/hydraulics, geomorphologic setting, sediment dynamics, and human constraints. This presentation will review case studies from numerous secondary channel projects constructed over the last 20 years by different entities and in different settings. Lessons learned will be discussed that help to understand project performance and inform future project design. A variety of secondary channel project types will be reviewed, including mainstem flow splits, year-round flow through, seasonally activated, backwater alcove, natural groundwater-fed, and engineered groundwater-fed (i.e. groundwater collection galleries). Projects will be discussed that span a range of project construction intensities, such as full excavation of side channels, select excavation to increase flow, or utilizing mainstem structures to activate channels. Different configurations for connecting to the main channel, and their relative performance, will also be presented. A variety of connection types will be discussed including stabilized channel entrance, free-formed entrance, using bar apex jams to split flows, using `bleeder' jams to limit secondary channel flow, and obstructing the main channel to divert flows into secondary channels. The performance and longevity of projects will be discussed, particularly with respect to the response to sediment mobilizing events. Lessons

Target validation: linking target and chemical properties to desired product profile.

PubMed

Wyatt, Paul G; Gilbert, Ian H; Read, Kevin D; Fairlamb, Alan H

2011-01-01

The discovery of drugs is a lengthy, high-risk and expensive business taking at least 12 years and is estimated to cost upwards of US$800 million for each drug to be successfully approved for clinical use. Much of this cost is driven by the late phase clinical trials and therefore the ability to terminate early those projects destined to fail is paramount to prevent unwanted costs and wasted effort. Although neglected diseases drug discovery is driven more by unmet medical need rather than financial considerations, the need to minimise wasted money and resources is even more vital in this under-funded area. To ensure any drug discovery project is addressing the requirements of the patients and health care providers and delivering a benefit over existing therapies, the ideal attributes of a novel drug needs to be pre-defined by a set of criteria called a target product profile. Using a target product profile the drug discovery process, clinical study design, and compound characteristics can be defined all the way back through to the suitability or druggability of the intended biochemical target. Assessment and prioritisation of the most promising targets for entry into screening programmes is crucial for maximising chances of success.

Setting research priorities in tobacco control: a stakeholder engagement project

PubMed Central

Lindson, Nicola; Richards‐Doran, Dan; Heath, Laura

2017-01-01

Abstract Background and Aims The Cochrane Tobacco Addiction Group (TAG) conducts systematic reviews of the evidence for tobacco cessation and prevention interventions. In 2016 TAG conducted a priority‐setting, stakeholder engagement project to identify where further research is needed in the areas of tobacco control and smoking cessation. Design The project comprised two surveys and a workshop. A range of stakeholders participated, including members of the public (smokers and ex‐smokers), clinicians, researchers, research funders, health‐care commissioners and public health organizations. The first survey phase identified unanswered research questions in the field of tobacco control. The second phase asked participants to rank these, with overall rankings calculated by combining scores across participants. The workshop allowed attendees to discuss prioritization of topics and questions in more depth. Workshop discussions were transcribed and analysed thematically, and a final voting activity at the close of the workshop allowed participants to choose topics to prioritize and to de‐prioritize. Findings A total of 304 stakeholders (researchers, health professionals, smokers and ex‐smokers, guideline developers, research funders and policymakers, representing 28 countries) identified 183 unanswered research questions. These were categorized into 15 research categories. A total of 175 participants prioritized categories and questions in the second survey phase, with ‘electronic cigarettes’; ‘addressing inequalities’; and ‘mental health and other substance abuse’ prioritized as the top three categories. Forty‐three stakeholders attended the workshop and discussed reasons for and against category prioritization. Prioritized research categories largely mirrored those in the survey stage, although ‘treatment delivery’ also emerged as a key category. Five cross‐cutting themes emerged: efficacy; relative efficacy; cost effectiveness; addressing

Setting research priorities in tobacco control: a stakeholder engagement project.

PubMed

Lindson, Nicola; Richards-Doran, Dan; Heath, Laura; Hartmann-Boyce, Jamie

2017-12-01

The Cochrane Tobacco Addiction Group (TAG) conducts systematic reviews of the evidence for tobacco cessation and prevention interventions. In 2016 TAG conducted a priority-setting, stakeholder engagement project to identify where further research is needed in the areas of tobacco control and smoking cessation. The project comprised two surveys and a workshop. A range of stakeholders participated, including members of the public (smokers and ex-smokers), clinicians, researchers, research funders, health-care commissioners and public health organizations. The first survey phase identified unanswered research questions in the field of tobacco control. The second phase asked participants to rank these, with overall rankings calculated by combining scores across participants. The workshop allowed attendees to discuss prioritization of topics and questions in more depth. Workshop discussions were transcribed and analysed thematically, and a final voting activity at the close of the workshop allowed participants to choose topics to prioritize and to de-prioritize. A total of 304 stakeholders (researchers, health professionals, smokers and ex-smokers, guideline developers, research funders and policymakers, representing 28 countries) identified 183 unanswered research questions. These were categorized into 15 research categories. A total of 175 participants prioritized categories and questions in the second survey phase, with 'electronic cigarettes'; 'addressing inequalities'; and 'mental health and other substance abuse' prioritized as the top three categories. Forty-three stakeholders attended the workshop and discussed reasons for and against category prioritization. Prioritized research categories largely mirrored those in the survey stage, although 'treatment delivery' also emerged as a key category. Five cross-cutting themes emerged: efficacy; relative efficacy; cost effectiveness; addressing inequalities; and different types of evidence. There are many unanswered

Sustainability in Health care by Allocating Resources Effectively (SHARE) 6: investigating methods to identify, prioritise, implement and evaluate disinvestment projects in a local healthcare setting.

PubMed

Harris, Claire; Allen, Kelly; Brooke, Vanessa; Dyer, Tim; Waller, Cara; King, Richard; Ramsey, Wayne; Mortimer, Duncan

2017-05-25

This is the sixth in a series of papers reporting Sustainability in Health care by Allocating Resources Effectively (SHARE) in a local healthcare setting. The SHARE program was established to investigate a systematic, integrated, evidence-based approach to disinvestment within a large Australian health service. This paper describes the methods employed in undertaking pilot disinvestment projects. It draws a number of lessons regarding the strengths and weaknesses of these methods; particularly regarding the crucial first step of identifying targets for disinvestment. Literature reviews, survey, interviews, consultation and workshops were used to capture and process the relevant information. A theoretical framework was adapted for evaluation and explication of disinvestment projects, including a taxonomy for the determinants of effectiveness, process of change and outcome measures. Implementation, evaluation and costing plans were developed. Four literature reviews were completed, surveys were received from 15 external experts, 65 interviews were conducted, 18 senior decision-makers attended a data gathering workshop, 22 experts and local informants were consulted, and four decision-making workshops were undertaken. Mechanisms to identify disinvestment targets and criteria for prioritisation and decision-making were investigated. A catalogue containing 184 evidence-based opportunities for disinvestment and an algorithm to identify disinvestment projects were developed. An Expression of Interest process identified two potential disinvestment projects. Seventeen additional projects were proposed through a non-systematic nomination process. Four of the 19 proposals were selected as pilot projects but only one reached the implementation stage. Factors with potential influence on the outcomes of disinvestment projects are discussed and barriers and enablers in the pilot projects are summarised. This study provides an in-depth insight into the experience of disinvestment

Recording A Sunrise: A Citizen Science Project to Enhance Sunrise/set Prediction Times

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wilson, Teresa; Chizek Frouard, Malynda; Bartlett, Jennifer L.

2017-01-01

Smartphones, with their ever increasing capabilities, are becoming quite instrumental for data acquisition in a number of fields. Understanding refraction and how it affects what we see on the horizon is no exception. Current algorithms that predict sunrise and sunset times have an error of one to four minutes at mid-latitudes (0° - 55° N/S) due to limitations in the atmospheric models they incorporate. At higher latitudes, slight changes in refraction can cause significant discrepancies, even including difficulties determining when the Sun appears to rise or set. A thorough investigation of the problem requires a substantial data set of observed rise/set times and corresponding meteorological data from around the world, which is currently lacking. We have developed a mobile application so that this data can be taken using smartphones as part of a citizen science project. The app allows the viewer to submit a video of sunrise/set and attaches geographic location along with meteorological data taken from a local weather station. The project will help increase scientific awareness in the public by allowing members of the community to participate in the data-taking process, and give them a greater awareness of the scientific significance of phenomenon they witness every day. The data from the observations will lead to more complete rise/set models that will provide more accurate times to the benefit of astronomers, navigators, and outdoorsmen. The app will be available on the Google Play Store.

Grouping Handicapped and Non-Handicapped Children in Mainstream Settings. The Functional Mainstreaming for Success (FMS) Project. Project Review Papers. Final Report--Part 3.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Striefel, Sebastian; And Others

The review papers are a product of the 3-year project, "Functional Mainstreaming for Success," designed to develop a model for instructional mainstreaming of 162 handicapped children (3-6 years old) in community settings. The major feature of the project was development of a full reverse mainstreamed preschool program, which included…

Targeting legume loci: A comparison of three methods for target enrichment bait design in Leguminosae phylogenomics.

PubMed

Vatanparast, Mohammad; Powell, Adrian; Doyle, Jeff J; Egan, Ashley N

2018-03-01

The development of pipelines for locus discovery has spurred the use of target enrichment for plant phylogenomics. However, few studies have compared pipelines from locus discovery and bait design, through validation, to tree inference. We compared three methods within Leguminosae (Fabaceae) and present a workflow for future efforts. Using 30 transcriptomes, we compared Hyb-Seq, MarkerMiner, and the Yang and Smith (Y&S) pipelines for locus discovery, validated 7501 baits targeting 507 loci across 25 genera via Illumina sequencing, and inferred gene and species trees via concatenation- and coalescent-based methods. Hyb-Seq discovered loci with the longest mean length. MarkerMiner discovered the most conserved loci with the least flagged as paralogous. Y&S offered the most parsimony-informative sites and putative orthologs. Target recovery averaged 93% across taxa. We optimized our targeted locus set based on a workflow designed to minimize paralog/ortholog conflation and thus present 423 loci for legume phylogenomics. Methods differed across criteria important for phylogenetic marker development. We recommend Hyb-Seq as a method that may be useful for most phylogenomic projects. Our targeted locus set is a resource for future, community-driven efforts to reconstruct the legume tree of life.

Development of vestibular afferent projections into the hindbrain and their central targets

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Maklad, Adel; Fritzsch, Bernd

2003-01-01

In contrast to most other sensory systems, hardly anything is known about the neuroanatomical development of central projections of primary vestibular neurons and how their second order target neurons develop. Recent data suggest that afferent projections may develop not unlike other sensory systems, forming first the overall projection by molecular means followed by an as yet unspecified phase of activity mediated refinement. The latter aspect has not been tested critically and most molecules that guide the initial projection are unknown.The molecular and topological origin of the vestibular and cochlear nucleus neurons is also only partially understood. Auditory and vestibular nuclei form from several rhombomeres and a given rhombomere can contribute to two or more auditory or vestibular nuclei. Rhombomere compartments develop as functional subdivisions from a single column that extends from the hindbrain to the spinal cord. Suggestions are provided for the molecular origin of these columns but data on specific mutants testing these proposals are not yet available. Overall, the functional significance of both overlapping and segregated projections are not yet fully experimentally explored in mammals. Such lack of details of the adult organization compromises future developmental analysis.

SET-bullying: presentation of a collaborative project and discussion of its internal and external validity.

PubMed

Chalamandaris, Alexandros-Georgios; Wilmet-Dramaix, Michèle; Eslea, Mike; Ertesvåg, Sigrun Karin; Piette, Danielle

2016-04-12

Since the early 1980s, several school based anti-bullying interventions (SBABI) have been implemented and evaluated in different countries. Some meta-analyses have also drawn conclusions on the effectiveness of SBABIs. However, the relationship between time and effectiveness of SBABIs has not been fully studied. For this aim, a collaborative project, SET-Bullying, is established by researchers from Greece, Belgium, Norway and United Kingdom. Its primary objective is to further understand and statistically model the relationship between the time and the sustainability of the effectiveness of SBABI. The secondary objective of SET-Bullying is to assess the possibility of predicting the medium-term or long-term effectiveness using as key information the prior measurement and the short-term effectiveness of the intervention. Researchers and owners of potentially eligible databases were asked to participate in this effort. Two studies have contributed data for the purpose of SET-Bullying. This paper summarizes the main characteristics of the participating studies and provides a high level overview of the collaborative project. It also discusses on the extent to which both study and project characteristics may pose threats to the expected internal and external validity of the potential outcomes of the project. Despite these threats, this work represents the first effort to understand the impact of time on the observed effectiveness of SBABIs and assess its predictability, which would allow for better planning, implementation and evaluation of SBABIs.

Direct methylation of FXR by Set7/9, a lysine methyltransferase, regulates the expression of FXR target genes

PubMed Central

Balasubramaniyan, Natarajan; Ananthanarayanan, Meena

2012-01-01

The farnesoid X receptor (FXR) is a ligand (bile acid)-dependent nuclear receptor that regulates target genes involved in every aspect of bile acid homeostasis. Upon binding of ligand, FXR recruits an array of coactivators and associated proteins, some of which have intrinsic enzymatic activity that modify histones or even components of the transcriptional complex. In this study, we show chromatin occupancy by the Set7/9 methyltransferase at the FXR response element (FXRE) and direct methylation of FXR in vivo and in vitro at lysine 206. siRNA depletion of Set7/9 in the Huh-7 liver cell line decreased endogenous mRNAs of the FXR target genes, the short heterodimer partner (SHP) and bile salt export pump (BSEP). Mutation of the methylation site at K206 of FXR to an arginine prevented methylation by Set7/9. A pan-methyllysine antibody recognized the wild-type FXR but not the K206R mutant form. An electromobility shift assay showed that methylation by Set7/9 enhanced binding of FXR/retinoic X receptor-α to the FXRE. Interaction between hinge domain of FXR (containing K206) and Set7/9 was confirmed by coimmunoprecipitation, GST pull down, and mammalian two-hybrid experiments. Set7/9 overexpression in Huh-7 cells significantly enhanced transactivation of the SHP and BSEP promoters in a ligand-dependent fashion by wild-type FXR but not the K206R mutant FXR. A Set7/9 mutant deficient in methyltransferase activity was also not effective in increasing transactivation of the BSEP promoter. These studies demonstrate that posttranslational methylation of FXR by Set7/9 contributes to the transcriptional activation of FXR-target genes. PMID:22345554

TP Atlas: integration and dissemination of advances in Targeted Proteins Research Program (TPRP)-structural biology project phase II in Japan.

PubMed

Iwayanagi, Takao; Miyamoto, Sei; Konno, Takeshi; Mizutani, Hisashi; Hirai, Tomohiro; Shigemoto, Yasumasa; Gojobori, Takashi; Sugawara, Hideaki

2012-09-01

The Targeted Proteins Research Program (TPRP) promoted by the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (MEXT) of Japan is the phase II of structural biology project (2007-2011) following the Protein 3000 Project (2002-2006) in Japan. While the phase I Protein 3000 Project put partial emphasis on the construction and maintenance of pipelines for structural analyses, the TPRP is dedicated to revealing the structures and functions of the targeted proteins that have great importance in both basic research and industrial applications. To pursue this objective, 35 Targeted Proteins (TP) Projects selected in the three areas of fundamental biology, medicine and pharmacology, and food and environment are tightly collaborated with 10 Advanced Technology (AT) Projects in the four fields of protein production, structural analyses, chemical library and screening, and information platform. Here, the outlines and achievements of the 35 TP Projects are summarized in the system named TP Atlas. Progress in the diversified areas is described in the modules of Graphical Summary, General Summary, Tabular Summary, and Structure Gallery of the TP Atlas in the standard and unified format. Advances in TP Projects owing to novel technologies stemmed from AT Projects and collaborative research among TP Projects are illustrated as a hallmark of the Program. The TP Atlas can be accessed at http://net.genes.nig.ac.jp/tpatlas/index_e.html .

Grants4Targets - an innovative approach to translate ideas from basic research into novel drugs.

PubMed

Lessl, Monika; Schoepe, Stefanie; Sommer, Anette; Schneider, Martin; Asadullah, Khusru

2011-04-01

Collaborations between industry and academia are steadily gaining importance. To combine expertises Bayer Healthcare has set up a novel open innovation approach called Grants4Targets. Ideas on novel drug targets can easily be submitted to http://www.grants4targets.com. After a review process, grants are provided to perform focused experiments to further validate the proposed targets. In addition to financial support specific know-how on target validation and drug discovery is provided. Experienced scientists are nominated as project partners and, depending on the project, tools or specific models are provided. Around 280 applications have been received and 41 projects granted. According to our experience, this type of bridging fund combined with joint efforts provides a valuable tool to foster drug discovery collaborations. Copyright © 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Age-standardisation when target setting and auditing performance of Down syndrome screening programmes.

PubMed

Cuckle, Howard; Aitken, David; Goodburn, Sandra; Senior, Brian; Spencer, Kevin; Standing, Sue

2004-11-01

To describe and illustrate a method of setting Down syndrome screening targets and auditing performance that allows for differences in the maternal age distribution. A reference population was determined from a Gaussian model of maternal age. Target detection and false-positive rates were determined by standard statistical modelling techniques, except that the reference population rather than an observed population was used. Second-trimester marker parameters were obtained for Down syndrome from a large meta-analysis, and for unaffected pregnancies from the combined results of more than 600,000 screens in five centres. Audited detection and false-positive rates were the weighted average of the rates in five broad age groups corrected for viability bias. Weights were based on the age distributions in the reference population. Maternal age was found to approximate reasonably well to a Gaussian distribution with mean 27 years and standard deviation 5.5 years. Depending on marker combination, the target detection rates were 59 to 64% and false-positive rate 4.2 to 5.4% for a 1 in 250 term cut-off; 65 to 68% and 6.1 to 7.3% for 1 in 270 at mid-trimester. Among the five centres, the audited detection rate ranged from 7% below target to 10% above target, with audited false-positive rates better than the target by 0.3 to 1.5%. Age-standardisation should help to improve screening quality by allowing for intrinsic differences between programmes, so that valid comparisons can be made. Copyright 2004 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

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.

Chemical projectile-target interaction during hypervelocity cratering experiments (MEMIN project).

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ebert, M.; Hecht, L.; Deutsch, A.; Kenkmann, T.

2012-04-01

The detection and identification of meteoritic components in impact-derived rocks are of great value for confirming an impact origin and reconstructing the type of extraterrestrial material that repeatedly stroke the Earth during geologic evolution [1]. However, little is known about processes that control the projectile distribution into the various impactites that originate during the cratering and excavation process, and inter-element fractionation between siderophile elements during impact cratering. In the context of the MEMIN project, cratering experiments have been performed using spheres of Cr-V-Co-Mo-W-rich steel and of the iron meteorite Campo del Cielo (IAB) as projectiles accelerated to about 5 km/s, and blocks of Seeberger sandstone as target. The experiments were carried out at the two-stage acceleration facilities of the Fraunhofer Ernst-Mach-Institute (Freiburg). Our results are based on geochemical analyses of highly shocked ejecta material. The ejecta show various shock features including multiple sets of planar deformations features (PDF) in quartz, diaplectic quartz, and partial melting of the sandstone. Melting is concentrated in the phyllosilicate-bearing sandstone matrix but involves quartz, too. Droplets of molten projectile have entered the low-viscosity sandstone melt but not quartz glass. Silica-rich sandstone melts are enriched in the elements that are used to trace the projectile, like Fe, Ni, Cr, Co, and V (but no or little W and Mo). Inter-element ratios of these "projectile" tracer elements within the contaminated sandstone melt may be strongly modified from the original ratios in the projectiles. This fractionation most likely result from variation in the lithophile or siderophile character and/or from differences in reactivity of these tracer elements with oxygen [2] during interaction of metal melt with silicate melt. The shocked quartz with PDF is also enriched in Fe and Ni (experiment with a meteorite iron projectile) and in Fe

Development of a set of process and structure indicators for palliative care: the Europall project

PubMed Central

2012-01-01

Background By measuring the quality of the organisation of palliative care with process and structure quality indicators (QIs), patients, caregivers and policy makers are able to monitor to what extent recommendations are met, like those of the council of the WHO on palliative care and guidelines. This will support the implementation of public programmes, and will enable comparisons between organisations or countries. Methods As no European set of indicators for the organisation of palliative care existed, such a set of QIs was developed. An update of a previous systematic review was made and extended with more databases and grey literature. In two project meetings with practitioners and experts in palliative care the development process of a QI set was finalised and the QIs were categorized in a framework, covering the recommendations of the Council of Europe. Results The searches resulted in 151 structure and process indicators, which were discussed in steering group meetings. Of those QIs, 110 were eligible for the final framework. Conclusions We developed the first set of QIs for the organisation of palliative care. This article is the first step in a multi step project to identify, validate and pilot QIs. PMID:23122255

Controlled cooling of an electronic system based on projected conditions

DOEpatents

David, Milnes P.; Iyengar, Madhusudan K.; Schmidt, Roger R.

2016-05-17

Energy efficient control of a cooling system cooling an electronic system is provided based, in part, on projected conditions. The control includes automatically determining an adjusted control setting(s) for an adjustable cooling component(s) of the cooling system. The automatically determining is based, at least in part, on projected power consumed by the electronic system at a future time and projected temperature at the future time of a heat sink to which heat extracted is rejected. The automatically determining operates to reduce power consumption of the cooling system and/or the electronic system while ensuring that at least one targeted temperature associated with the cooling system or the electronic system is within a desired range. The automatically determining may be based, at least in part, on an experimentally obtained model(s) relating the targeted temperature and power consumption of the adjustable cooling component(s) of the cooling system.

Controlled cooling of an electronic system based on projected conditions

DOEpatents

David, Milnes P.; Iyengar, Madhusudan K.; Schmidt, Roger R.

2015-08-18

Energy efficient control of a cooling system cooling an electronic system is provided based, in part, on projected conditions. The control includes automatically determining an adjusted control setting(s) for an adjustable cooling component(s) of the cooling system. The automatically determining is based, at least in part, on projected power consumed by the electronic system at a future time and projected temperature at the future time of a heat sink to which heat extracted is rejected. The automatically determining operates to reduce power consumption of the cooling system and/or the electronic system while ensuring that at least one targeted temperature associated with the cooling system or the electronic system is within a desired range. The automatically determining may be based, at least in part, on an experimentally obtained model(s) relating the targeted temperature and power consumption of the adjustable cooling component(s) of the cooling system.

The MEarth Project: Finding the Best Targets for Atmospheric Characterization with JWST

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Berta-Thompson, Z.

2014-04-01

If we want to directly observe the radius, orbit, mass, and atmosphere of a small, cool, habitable exoplanet, our best opportunity is to find such a planet transiting a small, cool, nearby M dwarf star. The MEarth Project is an ongoing all-sky survey for Earth-like planets transiting the closest, smallest M dwarfs in the Galaxy. MEarth aims to find good targets for atmospheric characterization with JWST and the next generation of enormous ground-based telescopes. This poster provides a status update on the MEarth Project, including the progress we've made over the past five years with 8 telescopes in the Northern hemisphere and promising early results from our new installation of 8 more telescopes in the Southern hemisphere.

Chapter 6 - Developing the LANDFIRE Vegetation and Biophysical Settings Map Unit Classifications for the LANDFIRE Prototype Project

Treesearch

Jennifer L. Long; Melanie Miller; James P. Menakis; Robert E. Keane

2006-01-01

The Landscape Fire and Resource Management Planning Tools Prototype Project, or LANDFIRE Prototype Project, required a system for classifying vegetation composition, biophysical settings, and vegetation structure to facilitate the mapping of vegetation and wildland fuel characteristics and the simulation of vegetation dynamics using landscape modeling. We developed...

Artificial neural networks for acoustic target recognition

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Robertson, James A.; Mossing, John C.; Weber, Bruce A.

1995-04-01

Acoustic sensors can be used to detect, track and identify non-line-of-sight targets passively. Attempts to alter acoustic emissions often result in an undesirable performance degradation. This research project investigates the use of neural networks for differentiating between features extracted from the acoustic signatures of sources. Acoustic data were filtered and digitized using a commercially available analog-digital convertor. The digital data was transformed to the frequency domain for additional processing using the FFT. Narrowband peak detection algorithms were incorporated to select peaks above a user defined SNR. These peaks were then used to generate a set of robust features which relate specifically to target components in varying background conditions. The features were then used as input into a backpropagation neural network. A K-means unsupervised clustering algorithm was used to determine the natural clustering of the observations. Comparisons between a feature set consisting of the normalized amplitudes of the first 250 frequency bins of the power spectrum and a set of 11 harmonically related features were made. Initial results indicate that even though some different target types had a tendency to group in the same clusters, the neural network was able to differentiate the targets. Successful identification of acoustic sources under varying operational conditions with high confidence levels was achieved.

Inclusion of populations at risk of advanced melanoma in an opportunistic targeted screening project involving general practitioners

PubMed Central

Rat, Cédric; Quereux, Gaelle; Grimault, Charlotte; Fernandez, Jérémy; Poiraud, Mickael; Gaultier, Aurélie; Chaslerie, Anicet; Pivette, Jacques; Khammari, Amir; Dreno, Brigitte; Nguyen, Jean-Michel

2016-01-01

Objective The study objective was to measure the rates of inclusion of populations at risk of advanced melanoma in a pilot targeted screening project involving general practitioners. Design This cross-sectional database study compared the inclusion rates of patients who signed inclusion in a targeted screening project with those of patients who did not, during a period in which both groups of patients consulted investigators. Setting Data were extracted from the national healthcare insurance records in western France from 11 April to 30 October 2011. Patients Patients, older than 18, considered for the data extraction had consulted one of the 78 participating GPs during the study period, and were affiliated with the national healthcare insurance. Main outcome measures Inclusion in the screening was the main outcome measure. Patients at risk of advanced melanoma were characterized by male gender, age over 50, low income, rural residence, farmer, and presence of chronic disease. Results A total of 57,279 patients consulted GPs during the inclusion period and 2711 (4.73%) were included in the targeted screening. Populations at risk of advanced melanoma were less included: men (OR = 0.67; 95%CI [0.61–0.73]; p < 0.001), older than 50 (OR = 0.67; 95%CI [0.60–0.74]; p < 0.001), low income (OR = 0.65; 95%CI [0.55–0.77]; p < 0.001), farmer (OR = 0.23; 95%CI [0.17–0.30]; p < 0.001) and presence of a chronic disease (OR = 0.87; 95%CI [0.77–0.98]; p < 0.028). Conclusion This study demonstrated inequalities in the inclusion of patients in a melanoma screening. Patients at risk of advanced cancer were screened less often. Further studies should focus on GPs ability to identify and screen these patients. Key Points Advanced melanoma is more frequently diagnosed in men, older patients and socioeconomically disadvantaged populations, which leads to survival inequalities.• Despite the involvement of general practitioners, the

A Framework for Effective Assessment of Model-based Projections of Biodiversity to Inform the Next Generation of Global Conservation Targets

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Myers, B.; Beard, T. D.; Weiskopf, S. R.; Jackson, S. T.; Tittensor, D.; Harfoot, M.; Senay, G. B.; Casey, K.; Lenton, T. M.; Leidner, A. K.; Ruane, A. C.; Ferrier, S.; Serbin, S.; Matsuda, H.; Shiklomanov, A. N.; Rosa, I.

2017-12-01

Biodiversity and ecosystems services underpin political targets for the conservation of biodiversity; however, previous incarnations of these biodiversity-related targets have not relied on integrated model based projections of possible outcomes based on climate and land use change. Although a few global biodiversity models are available, most biodiversity models lie along a continuum of geography and components of biodiversity. Model-based projections of the future of global biodiversity are critical to support policymakers in the development of informed global conservation targets, but the scientific community lacks a clear strategy for integrating diverse data streams in developing, and evaluating the performance of, such biodiversity models. Therefore, in this paper, we propose a framework for ongoing testing and refinement of model-based projections of biodiversity trends and change, by linking a broad variety of biodiversity models with data streams generated by advances in remote sensing, coupled with new and emerging in-situ observation technologies to inform development of essential biodiversity variables, future global biodiversity targets, and indicators. Our two main objectives are to (1) develop a framework for model testing and refining projections of a broad range of biodiversity models, focusing on global models, through the integration of diverse data streams and (2) identify the realistic outputs that can be developed and determine coupled approaches using remote sensing and new and emerging in-situ observations (e.g., metagenomics) to better inform the next generation of global biodiversity targets.

Contributions of different bias-correction methods and reference meteorological forcing data sets to uncertainty in projected temperature and precipitation extremes

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Iizumi, Toshichika; Takikawa, Hiroki; Hirabayashi, Yukiko; Hanasaki, Naota; Nishimori, Motoki

2017-08-01

The use of different bias-correction methods and global retrospective meteorological forcing data sets as the reference climatology in the bias correction of general circulation model (GCM) daily data is a known source of uncertainty in projected climate extremes and their impacts. Despite their importance, limited attention has been given to these uncertainty sources. We compare 27 projected temperature and precipitation indices over 22 regions of the world (including the global land area) in the near (2021-2060) and distant future (2061-2100), calculated using four Representative Concentration Pathways (RCPs), five GCMs, two bias-correction methods, and three reference forcing data sets. To widen the variety of forcing data sets, we developed a new forcing data set, S14FD, and incorporated it into this study. The results show that S14FD is more accurate than other forcing data sets in representing the observed temperature and precipitation extremes in recent decades (1961-2000 and 1979-2008). The use of different bias-correction methods and forcing data sets contributes more to the total uncertainty in the projected precipitation index values in both the near and distant future than the use of different GCMs and RCPs. However, GCM appears to be the most dominant uncertainty source for projected temperature index values in the near future, and RCP is the most dominant source in the distant future. Our findings encourage climate risk assessments, especially those related to precipitation extremes, to employ multiple bias-correction methods and forcing data sets in addition to using different GCMs and RCPs.

Early Childhood Settings in 15 Countries: What Are Their Structural Characteristics? The IEA Preprimary Project, Phase 2.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Olmsted, Patricia P., Ed.; Montie, Jeanne, Ed.

This is the second of four monographs reporting the findings of Phase 2 of the International Association for the Evaluation of Educational Achievement (IEA) Preprimary Project, which presents data on the physical characteristics of children's early childhood settings. Early childhood settings were documented in the following 15 countries: (1)…

Developing adaptive interventions for adolescent substance use treatment settings: protocol of an observational, mixed-methods project.

PubMed

Grant, Sean; Agniel, Denis; Almirall, Daniel; Burkhart, Q; Hunter, Sarah B; McCaffrey, Daniel F; Pedersen, Eric R; Ramchand, Rajeev; Griffin, Beth Ann

2017-12-19

Over 1.6 million adolescents in the United States meet criteria for substance use disorders (SUDs). While there are promising treatments for SUDs, adolescents respond to these treatments differentially in part based on the setting in which treatments are delivered. One way to address such individualized response to treatment is through the development of adaptive interventions (AIs): sequences of decision rules for altering treatment based on an individual's needs. This protocol describes a project with the overarching goal of beginning the development of AIs that provide recommendations for altering the setting of an adolescent's substance use treatment. This project has three discrete aims: (1) explore the views of various stakeholders (parents, providers, policymakers, and researchers) on deciding the setting of substance use treatment for an adolescent based on individualized need, (2) generate hypotheses concerning candidate AIs, and (3) compare the relative effectiveness among candidate AIs and non-adaptive interventions commonly used in everyday practice. This project uses a mixed-methods approach. First, we will conduct an iterative stakeholder engagement process, using RAND's ExpertLens online system, to assess the importance of considering specific individual needs and clinical outcomes when deciding the setting for an adolescent's substance use treatment. Second, we will use results from the stakeholder engagement process to analyze an observational longitudinal data set of 15,656 adolescents in substance use treatment, supported by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, using the Global Appraisal of Individual Needs questionnaire. We will utilize methods based on Q-learning regression to generate hypotheses about candidate AIs. Third, we will use robust statistical methods that aim to appropriately handle casemix adjustment on a large number of covariates (marginal structural modeling and inverse probability of treatment weights

Direct regulation of E-cadherin by targeted histone methylation of TALE-SET fusion protein in cancer cells.

PubMed

Cho, Hyun-Soo; Kang, Jeong Gu; Lee, Jae-Hye; Lee, Jeong-Ju; Jeon, Seong Kook; Ko, Jeong-Heon; Kim, Dae-Soo; Park, Kun-Hyang; Kim, Yong-Sam; Kim, Nam-Soon

2015-09-15

TALE-nuclease chimeras (TALENs) can bind to and cleave specific genomic loci and, are used to engineer gene knockouts and additions. Recently, instead of using the FokI domain, epigenetically active domains, such as TET1 and LSD1, have been combined with TAL effector domains to regulate targeted gene expression via DNA and histone demethylation. However, studies of histone methylation in the TALE system have not been performed. Therefore, in this study, we established a novel targeted regulation system with a TAL effector domain and a histone methylation domain. To construct a TALE-methylation fusion protein, we combined a TAL effector domain containing an E-Box region to act as a Snail binding site and the SET domain of EHMT 2 to allow for histone methylation. The constructed TALE-SET module (TSET) repressed the expression of E-cadherin via by increasing H3K9 dimethylation. Moreover, the cells that overexpressed TSET showed increased cell migration and invasion. This is the first phenotype-based study of targeted histone methylation by the TALE module, and this new system can be applied in new cancer therapies to reduce side effects.

Restoration of clipped seismic waveforms using projection onto convex sets method

PubMed Central

Zhang, Jinhai; Hao, Jinlai; Zhao, Xu; Wang, Shuqin; Zhao, Lianfeng; Wang, Weimin; Yao, Zhenxing

2016-01-01

The seismic waveforms would be clipped when the amplitude exceeds the upper-limit dynamic range of seismometer. Clipped waveforms are typically assumed not useful and seldom used in waveform-based research. Here, we assume the clipped components of the waveform share the same frequency content with the un-clipped components. We leverage this similarity to convert clipped waveforms to true waveforms by iteratively reconstructing the frequency spectrum using the projection onto convex sets method. Using artificially clipped data we find that statistically the restoration error is ~1% and ~5% when clipped at 70% and 40% peak amplitude, respectively. We verify our method using real data recorded at co-located seismometers that have different gain controls, one set to record large amplitudes on scale and the other set to record low amplitudes on scale. Using our restoration method we recover 87 out of 93 clipped broadband records from the 2013 Mw6.6 Lushan earthquake. Estimating that we recover 20 clipped waveforms for each M5.0+ earthquake, so for the ~1,500 M5.0+ events that occur each year we could restore ~30,000 clipped waveforms each year, which would greatly enhance useable waveform data archives. These restored waveform data would also improve the azimuthal station coverage and spatial footprint. PMID:27966618

Evaluating a Moving Target: Lessons Learned from Using Practical Participatory Evaluation (P-PE) in Hospital Settings

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Wharton, Tracy; Alexander, Neil

2013-01-01

This article describes lessons learned about implementing evaluations in hospital settings. In order to overcome the methodological dilemmas inherent in this environment, we used a practical participatory evaluation (P-PE) strategy to engage as many stakeholders as possible in the process of evaluating a clinical demonstration project.…

Demonstrator Detection System for the Active Target and Time Projection Chamber (ACTAR TPC) project

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Roger, T.; Pancin, J.; Grinyer, G. F.; Mauss, B.; Laffoley, A. T.; Rosier, P.; Alvarez-Pol, H.; Babo, M.; Blank, B.; Caamaño, M.; Ceruti, S.; Daemen, J.; Damoy, S.; Duclos, B.; Fernández-Domínguez, B.; Flavigny, F.; Giovinazzo, J.; Goigoux, T.; Henares, J. L.; Konczykowski, P.; Marchi, T.; Lebertre, G.; Lecesne, N.; Legeard, L.; Maugeais, C.; Minier, G.; Osmond, B.; Pedroza, J. L.; Pibernat, J.; Poleshchuk, O.; Pollacco, E. C.; Raabe, R.; Raine, B.; Renzi, F.; Saillant, F.; Sénécal, P.; Sizun, P.; Suzuki, D.; Swartz, J. A.; Wouters, C.; Wittwer, G.; Yang, J. C.

2018-07-01

The design, realization and operation of a prototype or "demonstrator" version of an active target and time projection chamber (ACTAR TPC) for experiments in nuclear physics is presented in detail. The heart of the detection system features a MICROMEGAS gas amplifier coupled to a high-density pixelated pad plane with square pad sizes of 2 × 2 mm2. The detector has been thoroughly tested with several different gas mixtures over a wide range of pressures and using a variety of sources of ionizing radiation including laser light, an α-particle source and heavy-ion beams of 24Mg and 58Ni accelerated to energies of 4.0 MeV/u. Results from these tests and characterization of the detector response over a wide range of operating conditions will be described. These developments have served as the basis for the design of a larger detection system that is presently under construction.

An off-line method to characterize the fission product release from uranium carbide-target prototypes developed for SPIRAL2 project

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hy, B.; Barré-Boscher, N.; Özgümüs, A.; Roussière, B.; Tusseau-Nenez, S.; Lau, C.; Cheikh Mhamed, M.; Raynaud, M.; Said, A.; Kolos, K.; Cottereau, E.; Essabaa, S.; Tougait, O.; Pasturel, M.

2012-10-01

In the context of radioactive ion beams, fission targets, often based on uranium compounds, have been used for more than 50 years at isotope separator on line facilities. The development of several projects of second generation facilities aiming at intensities two or three orders of magnitude higher than today puts an emphasis on the properties of the uranium fission targets. A study, driven by Institut de Physique Nucléaire d'Orsay (IPNO), has been started within the SPIRAL2 project to try and fully understand the behavior of these targets. In this paper, we have focused on five uranium carbide based targets. We present an off-line method to characterize their fission product release and the results are examined in conjunction with physical characteristics of each material such as the microstructure, the porosity and the chemical composition.

Defining Sustainability Metric Targets in an Institutional Setting

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Rauch, Jason N.; Newman, Julie

2009-01-01

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to expand on the development of university and college sustainability metrics by implementing an adaptable metric target strategy. Design/methodology/approach: A combined qualitative and quantitative methodology is derived that both defines what a sustainable metric target might be and describes the path a…

Enhancing the Reach of Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy Targeting Posttraumatic Stress in Acute Care Medical Settings.

PubMed

Darnell, Doyanne; O'Connor, Stephen; Wagner, Amy; Russo, Joan; Wang, Jin; Ingraham, Leah; Sandgren, Kirsten; Zatzick, Douglas

2017-03-01

Injured patients presenting to acute care medical settings have high rates of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and comorbidities, such as depression and substance use disorders. Integrating behavioral interventions that target symptoms of PTSD and comorbidities into the acute care setting can overcome common barriers to obtaining mental health care. This study examined the feasibility and acceptability of embedding elements of cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) in the delivery of routine postinjury care management. The investigation also explored the potential effectiveness of completion of CBT element homework that targeted PTSD symptom reduction. This study was a secondary analysis of data from a U.S. clinical trial of the effectiveness of a stepped collaborative care intervention versus usual care for injured inpatients. The investigation examined patients' willingness at baseline (prerandomization) to engage in CBT and pre- and postrandomization mental health service utilization among 115 patients enrolled in the clinical trial. Among intervention patients (N=56), the investigation examined acceptability of the intervention and used multiple linear regression to examine the association between homework completion as reported by the care manager and six-month PTSD symptom reduction as assessed by the PTSD Checklist-Civilian DSM-IV Version. Patients in the intervention condition reported obtaining significantly more psychotherapy or counseling than patients in the control group during the six-month follow-up, as well as a high degree of intervention acceptability. Completion of CBT element homework assignments was associated with improvement in PTSD symptoms. Integrating behavioral interventions into routine acute care service delivery may improve the reach of evidence-based mental health care targeting PTSD.

A quality improvement project using statistical process control methods for type 2 diabetes control in a resource-limited setting.

PubMed

Flood, David; Douglas, Kate; Goldberg, Vera; Martinez, Boris; Garcia, Pablo; Arbour, MaryCatherine; Rohloff, Peter

2017-08-01

Quality improvement (QI) is a key strategy for improving diabetes care in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs). This study reports on a diabetes QI project in rural Guatemala whose primary aim was to improve glycemic control of a panel of adult diabetes patients. Formative research suggested multiple areas for programmatic improvement in ambulatory diabetes care. This project utilized the Model for Improvement and Agile Global Health, our organization's complementary healthcare implementation framework. A bundle of improvement activities were implemented at the home, clinic and institutional level. Control charts of mean hemoglobin A1C (HbA1C) and proportion of patients meeting target HbA1C showed improvement as special cause variation was identified 3 months after the intervention began. Control charts for secondary process measures offered insights into the value of different components of the intervention. Intensity of home-based diabetes education emerged as an important driver of panel glycemic control. Diabetes QI work is feasible in resource-limited settings in LMICs and can improve glycemic control. Statistical process control charts are a promising methodology for use with panels or registries of diabetes patients. © The Author 2017. Published by Oxford University Press in association with the International Society for Quality in Health Care. All rights reserved. For permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oup.com

About miRNAs, miRNA seeds, target genes and target pathways.

PubMed

Kehl, Tim; Backes, Christina; Kern, Fabian; Fehlmann, Tobias; Ludwig, Nicole; Meese, Eckart; Lenhof, Hans-Peter; Keller, Andreas

2017-12-05

miRNAs are typically repressing gene expression by binding to the 3' UTR, leading to degradation of the mRNA. This process is dominated by the eight-base seed region of the miRNA. Further, miRNAs are known not only to target genes but also to target significant parts of pathways. A logical line of thoughts is: miRNAs with similar (seed) sequence target similar sets of genes and thus similar sets of pathways. By calculating similarity scores for all 3.25 million pairs of 2,550 human miRNAs, we found that this pattern frequently holds, while we also observed exceptions. Respective results were obtained for both, predicted target genes as well as experimentally validated targets. We note that miRNAs target gene set similarity follows a bimodal distribution, pointing at a set of 282 miRNAs that seems to target genes with very high specificity. Further, we discuss miRNAs with different (seed) sequences that nonetheless regulate similar gene sets or pathways. Most intriguingly, we found miRNA pairs that regulate different gene sets but similar pathways such as miR-6886-5p and miR-3529-5p. These are jointly targeting different parts of the MAPK signaling cascade. The main goal of this study is to provide a general overview on the results, to highlight a selection of relevant results on miRNAs, miRNA seeds, target genes and target pathways and to raise awareness for artifacts in respective comparisons. The full set of information that allows to infer detailed results on each miRNA has been included in miRPathDB, the miRNA target pathway database (https://mpd.bioinf.uni-sb.de).

Studies in Bilingual Evaluation, Work Unit I: Bilingual Prediction Project. Final Report.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

de Porcel, Antonio; And Others

The final report of the Bilingual Prediction Project presents a review of the project from its inception in 1975 through completion in 1979. The main goal was to predict a student's academic ability in English. A prediction index was constructed in two stages. The first stage was a description of the target population and their school setting, as…

Ballistic Experiments with Titanium and Aluminum Targets

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

Gogolewski, R.; Morgan, B.R.

1999-11-23

During the course of the project we conducted two sets of fundamental experiments in penetration mechanics in the LLNL Terminal Ballistics Laboratory of the Physics Directorate. The first set of full-scale experiments was conducted with a 14.5mm air propelled launcher. The object of the experiments was to determine the ballistic limit speed of 6Al-4V-alloy titanium, low fineness ratio projectiles centrally impacting 2024-T3 alloy aluminum flat plates and the failure modes of the projectiles and the targets. The second set of one-third scale experiments was conducted with a 14.5mm powder launcher. The object of these experiments was to determine the ballisticmore » limit speed of 6Al-4V alloy titanium high fineness ratio projectiles centrally impacting 6Al-4V alloy titanium flat plates and the failure modes of the projectiles and the target. We employed radiography to observe a projectile just before and after interaction with a target plate. Early on, we employed a non-damaging ''soft-catch'' technique to capture projectiles after they perforated targets. Once we realized that a projectile was not damaged during interaction with a target, we used a 4-inch thick 6061-T6-alloy aluminum witness block with a 6.0-inch x 6.0-inch cross-section to measure projectile residual penetration. We have recorded and tabulated below projectile impact speed, projectile residual (post-impact) speed, projectile failure mode, target failure mode, and pertinent comments for the experiments. The ballistic techniques employed for the experiments are similar to those employed in an earlier study.« less

Interactive target tracking for persistent wide-area surveillance

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ersoy, Ilker; Palaniappan, Kannappan; Seetharaman, Guna S.; Rao, Raghuveer M.

2012-06-01

Persistent aerial surveillance is an emerging technology that can provide continuous, wide-area coverage from an aircraft-based multiple-camera system. Tracking targets in these data sets is challenging for vision algorithms due to large data (several terabytes), very low frame rate, changing viewpoint, strong parallax and other imperfections due to registration and projection. Providing an interactive system for automated target tracking also has additional challenges that require online algorithms that are seamlessly integrated with interactive visualization tools to assist the user. We developed an algorithm that overcomes these challenges and demonstrated it on data obtained from a wide-area imaging platform.

All Set! Evidence of Simultaneous Attentional Control Settings for Multiple Target Colors

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Irons, Jessica L.; Folk, Charles L.; Remington, Roger W.

2012-01-01

Although models of visual search have often assumed that attention can only be set for a single feature or property at a time, recent studies have suggested that it may be possible to maintain more than one attentional control setting. The aim of the present study was to investigate whether spatial attention could be guided by multiple attentional…

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

European innovation partnership on active and healthy ageing: triggers of setting the headline target of 2 additional healthy life years at birth at EU average by 2020.

PubMed

Lagiewka, Karolina

2012-10-22

The objective of this paper is to provide analytical research that supported the European Commission in setting the global target of additional two healthy life years (HLY) at birth by 2020 in the EU on average, within the European Innovation Partnership on Active and Healthy Ageing (the EIP on AHA). It produces a straightforward analysis of HLY projections that helped the European Commission set a firm, politically sound, target. In order to reach that goal, policy makers need to commit to redefining health priorities and goals and developing and implementing relevant strategies and programmes. The study computes a simple simulation of the HLY at birth based on three demographic scenarios: compression of morbidity, expansion of morbidity and an intermediary scenario, the dynamic equilibrium, given the expected 2.1 year gain in male and 1.6 in female life expectancy (LE) by 2020. Data on HLY and projections of life expectancy were obtained from Eurostat and 2008 was taken as a baseline. For consistency and given data gaps, EU27 average values of HLY were calculated. In the EU27 as a whole, the difference between LE and HLY in 2008 was nearly 15 years for men and 20 years for women. The developments of healthy life expectancies across the EU Member States (MSs) are even more diverse that makes it difficult to model any robust EU level trends.Under compression of morbidity, life expectancy and HLY would increase by 2020 on average by 2.1 and 2.0 years for men and by 1.6 and 1.4 years for women respectively. The expected years with disability would remain unchanged while the HLY/LE ratio would improve leading to a 0.5% gain for both genders. Under expansion of morbidity, life expectancy would increase by 2.1 years for men and 1.4 years for women by 2020, while HLY would remain unchanged and the expected years with disability would increase by 2.1 years and 1.6 years in women. This would imply the deterioration of the HLY/LE ratio for both men and women generating a 2

European innovation partnership on active and healthy ageing: triggers of setting the headline target of 2 additional healthy life years at birth at EU average by 2020

PubMed Central

2012-01-01

Background The objective of this paper is to provide analytical research that supported the European Commission in setting the global target of additional two healthy life years (HLY) at birth by 2020 in the EU on average, within the European Innovation Partnership on Active and Healthy Ageing (the EIP on AHA). It produces a straightforward analysis of HLY projections that helped the European Commission set a firm, politically sound, target. In order to reach that goal, policy makers need to commit to redefining health priorities and goals and developing and implementing relevant strategies and programmes. Methods The study computes a simple simulation of the HLY at birth based on three demographic scenarios: compression of morbidity, expansion of morbidity and an intermediary scenario, the dynamic equilibrium, given the expected 2.1 year gain in male and 1.6 in female life expectancy (LE) by 2020. Data on HLY and projections of life expectancy were obtained from Eurostat and 2008 was taken as a baseline. For consistency and given data gaps, EU27 average values of HLY were calculated. Results In the EU27 as a whole, the difference between LE and HLY in 2008 was nearly 15 years for men and 20 years for women. The developments of healthy life expectancies across the EU Member States (MSs) are even more diverse that makes it difficult to model any robust EU level trends. Under compression of morbidity, life expectancy and HLY would increase by 2020 on average by 2.1 and 2.0 years for men and by 1.6 and 1.4 years for women respectively. The expected years with disability would remain unchanged while the HLY/LE ratio would improve leading to a 0.5% gain for both genders. Under expansion of morbidity, life expectancy would increase by 2.1 years for men and 1.4 years for women by 2020, while HLY would remain unchanged and the expected years with disability would increase by 2.1 years and 1.6 years in women. This would imply the deterioration of the HLY/LE ratio for both

Implementation of targeted medication adherence interventions within a community chain pharmacy practice: The Pennsylvania Project.

PubMed

Bacci, Jennifer L; McGrath, Stephanie Harriman; Pringle, Janice L; Maguire, Michelle A; McGivney, Melissa Somma

2014-01-01

To identify facilitators and barriers to implementing targeted medication adherence interventions in community chain pharmacies, and describe adaptations of the targeted intervention and organizational structure within each individual pharmacy practice. Qualitative study. Central and western Pennsylvania from February to April 2012. Rite Aid pharmacists staffed at the 118 Pennsylvania Project intervention sites. Qualitative analysis of pharmacists' perceptions of facilitators and barriers experienced, targeted intervention and organizational structure adaptations implemented, and training and preparation prior to implementation. A total of 15 key informant interviews were conducted from February to April 2012. Ten pharmacists from "early adopter" practices and five pharmacists from "traditionalist" practices were interviewed. Five themes emerged regarding the implementation of targeted interventions, including all pharmacists' need to understand the relationship of patient care programs to their corporation's vision; providing individualized, continual support and mentoring to pharmacists; anticipating barriers before implementation of patient care programs; encouraging active patient engagement; and establishing best practices regarding implementation of patient care services. This qualitative analysis revealed that there are a series of key steps that can be taken before the execution of targeted interventions that may promote successful implementation of medication therapy management in community chain pharmacies.

Rectification of elemental image set and extraction of lens lattice by projective image transformation in integral imaging.

PubMed

Hong, Keehoon; Hong, Jisoo; Jung, Jae-Hyun; Park, Jae-Hyeung; Lee, Byoungho

2010-05-24

We propose a new method for rectifying a geometrical distortion in the elemental image set and extracting an accurate lens lattice lines by projective image transformation. The information of distortion in the acquired elemental image set is found by Hough transform algorithm. With this initial information of distortions, the acquired elemental image set is rectified automatically without the prior knowledge on the characteristics of pickup system by stratified image transformation procedure. Computer-generated elemental image sets with distortion on purpose are used for verifying the proposed rectification method. Experimentally-captured elemental image sets are optically reconstructed before and after the rectification by the proposed method. The experimental results support the validity of the proposed method with high accuracy of image rectification and lattice extraction.

Deviation rectification for dynamic measurement of rail wear based on coordinate sets projection

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wang, Chao; Ma, Ziji; Li, Yanfu; Zeng, Jiuzhen; Jin, Tan; Liu, Hongli

2017-10-01

Dynamic measurement of rail wear using a laser imaging system suffers from random vibrations in the laser-based imaging sensor which cause distorted rail profiles. In this paper, a simple and effective method for rectifying profile deviation is presented to address this issue. There are two main steps: profile recognition and distortion calibration. According to the constant camera and projector parameters, efficient recognition of measured profiles is achieved by analyzing the geometric difference between normal profiles and distorted ones. For a distorted profile, by constructing coordinate sets projecting from it to the standard one on triple projecting primitives, including the rail head inner line, rail waist curve and rail jaw, iterative extrinsic camera parameter self-compensation is implemented. The distortion is calibrated by projecting the distorted profile onto the x-y plane of a measuring coordinate frame, which is parallel to the rail cross section, to eliminate the influence of random vibrations in the laser-based imaging sensor. As well as evaluating the implementation with comprehensive experiments, we also compare our method with other published works. The results exhibit the effectiveness and superiority of our method for the dynamic measurement of rail wear.

Estimating the Public Health Impact of Setting Targets at the European Level for the Reduction of Zoonotic Salmonella in Certain Poultry Populations

PubMed Central

Messens, Winy; Vivas-Alegre, Luis; Bashir, Saghir; Amore, Giusi; Romero-Barrios, Pablo; Hugas, Marta

2013-01-01

In the European Union (EU), targets are being set for the reduction of certain zoonotic Salmonella serovars in different animal populations, including poultry populations, within the framework of Regulation (EC) No. 2160/2003 on the control of zoonoses. For a three-year transitional period, the EU targets were to cover only Salmonella Enteritidis and S. Typhimurium (and in addition S. Hadar, S. Infantis and S. Virchow for breeding flocks of Gallus gallus). Before the end of that transitional period, the revision of the EU targets was to be considered, including the potentially addition of other serovars with public health significance to the permanent EU targets. This review article aims at providing an overview of the assessments carried out by the Scientific Panel on Biological Hazards of the European Food Safety Authority in the field of setting targets for Salmonella in poultry populations (breeding flocks of Gallus gallus, laying flocks of Gallus gallus, broiler flocks of Gallus gallus and flocks of breeding and fattening turkeys) and their impact in subsequent changes in EU legislation. PMID:24157508

Targeted antiviral prophylaxis with oseltamivir in a summer camp setting.

PubMed

Kimberlin, David W; Escude, Janell; Gantner, Janel; Ott, Jeanne; Dronet, Melissa; Stewart, Timothy A; Jester, Penelope; Redden, David T; Chapman, Whitney; Hammond, Rob

2010-04-01

To describe the effectiveness of containment of novel influenza A(H1N1) infection at a summer camp. Targeted use of oseltamivir phosphate by individuals in close contact with influenza-confirmed cases. Boys' camp in Alabama in July 2009. A total of 171 campers, 48 camp counselors, and 27 camp staff. Campers with confirmed influenza received oseltamivir and were immediately isolated and sent home. All boys and counselors in the infected child's adjoining cabins received prophylactic oseltamivir for 10 days, including 8 campers at higher risk for influenza infection (eg, those with asthma, seizure disorder, or diabetes). Alcohol-based hand sanitizer was provided at each of the daily activities, in the boys' cabins, and in the dining hall, and counselors were educated by the medical staff on the spread of influenza and its prevention through good hand hygiene. All cabins, bathrooms, and community sports equipment were sprayed or wiped down with disinfectant each day. Main Outcome Measure Virologic confirmation of influenza. Three of the 171 campers tested positive for influenza A during the course of the 2-week fourth session, for an attack rate of 1.8%. The probability of observing 3 or fewer infected campers if the attack rate was 12% is less than 1 in 10,000,000 (P < .0000001). An exact 95% confidence interval based on 3 events among 171 individuals estimates the attack rate to be between 0.3% and 5.0%. While 31% to 57% of campers, counselors, or staff experienced nausea with the treatment, this did not result in discontinuation of therapy. No campers tested positive for influenza A after returning home at the end of the camp session. In conjunction with comprehensive hand sanitization and surface decontamination, a targeted approach to antiviral prophylaxis contained the spread of influenza in a summer camp setting.

Setting quality and safety priorities in a target-rich environment: an academic medical center's challenge.

PubMed

Mort, Elizabeth A; Demehin, Akinluwa A; Marple, Keith B; McCullough, Kathryn Y; Meyer, Gregg S

2013-08-01

Hospitals are continually challenged to provide safer and higher-quality patient care despite resource constraints. With an ever-increasing range of quality and safety targets at the national, state, and local levels, prioritization is crucial in effective institutional quality goal setting and resource allocation.Organizational goal-setting theory is a performance improvement methodology with strong results across many industries. The authors describe a structured goal-setting process they have established at Massachusetts General Hospital for setting annual institutional quality and safety goals. Begun in 2008, this process has been conducted on an annual basis. Quality and safety data are gathered from many sources, both internal and external to the hospital. These data are collated and classified, and multiple approaches are used to identify the most pressing quality issues facing the institution. The conclusions are subject to stringent internal review, and then the top quality goals of the institution are chosen. Specific tactical initiatives and executive owners are assigned to each goal, and metrics are selected to track performance. A reporting tool based on these tactics and metrics is used to deliver progress updates to senior hospital leadership.The hospital has experienced excellent results and strong organizational buy-in using this effective, low-cost, and replicable goal-setting process. It has led to improvements in structural, process, and outcomes aspects of quality.

Projection of controlled repeatable real-time moving targets to test and evaluate motion imagery quality

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Scopatz, Stephen D.; Mendez, Michael; Trent, Randall

2015-05-01

The projection of controlled moving targets is key to the quantitative testing of video capture and post processing for Motion Imagery. This presentation will discuss several implementations of target projectors with moving targets or apparent moving targets creating motion to be captured by the camera under test. The targets presented are broadband (UV-VIS-IR) and move in a predictable, repeatable and programmable way; several short videos will be included in the presentation. Among the technical approaches will be targets that move independently in the camera's field of view, as well targets that change size and shape. The development of a rotating IR and VIS 4 bar target projector with programmable rotational velocity and acceleration control for testing hyperspectral cameras is discussed. A related issue for motion imagery is evaluated by simulating a blinding flash which is an impulse of broadband photons in fewer than 2 milliseconds to assess the camera's reaction to a large, fast change in signal. A traditional approach of gimbal mounting the camera in combination with the moving target projector is discussed as an alternative to high priced flight simulators. Based on the use of the moving target projector several standard tests are proposed to provide a corresponding test to MTF (resolution), SNR and minimum detectable signal at velocity. Several unique metrics are suggested for Motion Imagery including Maximum Velocity Resolved (the measure of the greatest velocity that is accurately tracked by the camera system) and Missing Object Tolerance (measurement of tracking ability when target is obscured in the images). These metrics are applicable to UV-VIS-IR wavelengths and can be used to assist in camera and algorithm development as well as comparing various systems by presenting the exact scenes to the cameras in a repeatable way.

An Iterative Procedure for Obtaining I-Projections onto the Intersection of Convex Sets.

DTIC Science & Technology

1984-06-01

Dykstra Department of Statistics and Actuarial Science The University of Iowa Iowa City, Iowa 52242 Technical Report #106 June 1984D I e ELECTE lSEP...t Theorem ~ ~ 2.. Asm i where the 4 are closed, convex sets of PD’s and R d 0 is a nonnegative vector such that there exists a T E 4 where I(TIR) < M...PERFOMING ORGANIZATION NAME AND ADDRESS 1. PROGIRA ILEMNT. PROJECT. TAK Department of Statistics and Actuarial Science AEAS a WORK UNIT Numaa The

Archaeological predictive model set.

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

2015-03-01

This report is the documentation for Task 7 of the Statewide Archaeological Predictive Model Set. The goal of this project is to : develop a set of statewide predictive models to assist the planning of transportation projects. PennDOT is developing t...

Highly targeted cholera vaccination campaigns in urban setting are feasible: The experience in Kalemie, Democratic Republic of Congo

PubMed Central

Massing, Louis Albert; Aboubakar, Soumah; Page, Anne-Laure; Cohuet, Sandra; Ngandwe, Adalbert; Mukomena Sompwe, Eric; Ramazani, Romain; Allheimen, Marcela; Levaillant, Philippe; Lechevalier, Pauline; Kashimi, Marie; de la Motte, Axelle; Calmejane, Arielle; Bouhenia, Malika; Dabire, Ernest; Bompangue, Didier; Kebela, Benoit; Porten, Klaudia

2018-01-01

Introduction Oral cholera vaccines are primarily recommended by the World Health Organization for cholera control in endemic countries. However, the number of cholera vaccines currently produced is very limited and examples of OCV use in endemic countries, and especially in urban settings, are scarce. A vaccination campaign was organized by Médecins Sans Frontières and the Ministry of Health in a highly endemic area in the Democratic Republic of Congo. This study aims to describe the vaccine coverage achieved with this highly targeted vaccination campaign and the acceptability among the vaccinated communities. Methods and findings We performed a cross-sectional survey using random spatial sampling. The study population included individuals one year old and above, eligible for vaccination, and residing in the areas targeted for vaccination in the city of Kalemie. Data sources were household interviews with verification by vaccination card. In total 2,488 people were included in the survey. Overall, 81.9% (95%CI: 77.9–85.3) of the target population received at least one dose of vaccine. The vaccine coverage with two doses was 67.2% (95%CI: 61.9–72.0) among the target population. The vaccine coverage was higher during the first round (74.0, 95%CI: 69.3–78.3) than during the second round of vaccination (69.1%, 95%CI: 63.9–74.0). Vaccination coverage was lower in male adults. The main reason for non-vaccination was to be absent during the campaign. No severe adverse events were notified during the interviews. Conclusions Cholera vaccination campaigns using highly targeted strategies are feasible in urban settings. High vaccination coverage can be obtained using door to door vaccination. However, alternative strategies should be considered to reach non-vaccinated populations like male adults and also in order to improve the efficiency of the interventions. PMID:29734337

Can Australia eliminate TB? Modelling immigration strategies for reaching MDG targets in a low-transmission setting.

PubMed

Denholm, Justin T; McBryde, Emma S

2014-02-01

The 2050 Millennium Development Goals (MDG) for tuberculosis (TB) aim for elimination of TB as a public health issue. We used a mathematical modelling approach to evaluate the feasibility of this target in a low-prevalence setting with immigration-related strategies directed at latent tuberculosis. We used a stochastic individual-based model to simulate tuberculosis disease among immigrants to Victoria, Australia; a representative low-transmission setting. A variety of screening and treatment approaches aimed at preventing reactivation of latent infection were applied to evaluate overall tuberculosis incidence reduction and rates of multidrug resistant disease. Without additional intervention, tuberculosis incidence was predicted to reach 34.5 cases/million by 2050. Strategies involving the introduction of an available screening/treatment combination reduced TB incidence to between 16.9-23.8 cases/million, and required screening of 136-427 new arrivals for each case of TB prevented. Limiting screening to higher incidence regions of origin was less effective but more efficient. Public health strategies targeting latent tuberculosis infection in immigrants may substantially reduce tuberculosis incidence in a low prevalence region. However, immigration-focused strategies cannot achieve the 2050 MDG and alternative or complementary approaches are required. © 2014 The Authors. ANZJPH © 2014 Public Health Association of Australia.

Synaptic Targets of Medial Septal Projections in the Hippocampus and Extrahippocampal Cortices of the Mouse

PubMed Central

Joshi, Abhilasha; Viney, Tim J.; Kis, Viktor

2015-01-01

Temporal coordination of neuronal assemblies among cortical areas is essential for behavioral performance. GABAergic projections from the medial septum and diagonal band complex exclusively innervate GABAergic interneurons in the rat hippocampus, contributing to the coordination of neuronal activity, including the generation of theta oscillations. Much less is known about the synaptic target neurons outside the hippocampus. To reveal the contribution of synaptic circuits involving the medial septum of mice, we have identified postsynaptic cortical neurons in wild-type and parvalbumin-Cre knock-in mice. Anterograde axonal tracing from the septum revealed extensive innervation of the hippocampus as well as the subiculum, presubiculum, parasubiculum, the medial and lateral entorhinal cortices, and the retrosplenial cortex. In all examined cortical regions, many septal GABAergic boutons were in close apposition to somata or dendrites immunopositive for interneuron cell-type molecular markers, such as parvalbumin, calbindin, calretinin, N-terminal EF-hand calcium-binding protein 1, cholecystokinin, reelin, or a combination of these molecules. Electron microscopic observations revealed septal boutons forming axosomatic or axodendritic type II synapses. In the CA1 region of hippocampus, septal GABAergic projections exclusively targeted interneurons. In the retrosplenial cortex, 93% of identified postsynaptic targets belonged to interneurons and the rest to pyramidal cells. These results suggest that the GABAergic innervation from the medial septum and diagonal band complex contributes to temporal coordination of neuronal activity via several types of cortical GABAergic interneurons in both hippocampal and extrahippocampal cortices. Oscillatory septal neuronal firing at delta, theta, and gamma frequencies may phase interneuron activity. SIGNIFICANCE STATEMENT Diverse types of GABAergic interneurons coordinate the firing of cortical principal cells required for memory

Cooperative fuzzy games approach to setting target levels of ECs in quality function deployment.

PubMed

Yang, Zhihui; Chen, Yizeng; Yin, Yunqiang

2014-01-01

Quality function deployment (QFD) can provide a means of translating customer requirements (CRs) into engineering characteristics (ECs) for each stage of product development and production. The main objective of QFD-based product planning is to determine the target levels of ECs for a new product or service. QFD is a breakthrough tool which can effectively reduce the gap between CRs and a new product/service. Even though there are conflicts among some ECs, the objective of developing new product is to maximize the overall customer satisfaction. Therefore, there may be room for cooperation among ECs. A cooperative game framework combined with fuzzy set theory is developed to determine the target levels of the ECs in QFD. The key to develop the model is the formulation of the bargaining function. In the proposed methodology, the players are viewed as the membership functions of ECs to formulate the bargaining function. The solution for the proposed model is Pareto-optimal. An illustrated example is cited to demonstrate the application and performance of the proposed approach.

Cooperative Fuzzy Games Approach to Setting Target Levels of ECs in Quality Function Deployment

PubMed Central

Yang, Zhihui; Chen, Yizeng; Yin, Yunqiang

2014-01-01

Quality function deployment (QFD) can provide a means of translating customer requirements (CRs) into engineering characteristics (ECs) for each stage of product development and production. The main objective of QFD-based product planning is to determine the target levels of ECs for a new product or service. QFD is a breakthrough tool which can effectively reduce the gap between CRs and a new product/service. Even though there are conflicts among some ECs, the objective of developing new product is to maximize the overall customer satisfaction. Therefore, there may be room for cooperation among ECs. A cooperative game framework combined with fuzzy set theory is developed to determine the target levels of the ECs in QFD. The key to develop the model is the formulation of the bargaining function. In the proposed methodology, the players are viewed as the membership functions of ECs to formulate the bargaining function. The solution for the proposed model is Pareto-optimal. An illustrated example is cited to demonstrate the application and performance of the proposed approach. PMID:25097884

Investigation of Two Models to Set and Evaluate Quality Targets for HbA1c: Biological Variation and Sigma-metrics

PubMed Central

Weykamp, Cas; John, Garry; Gillery, Philippe; English, Emma; Ji, Linong; Lenters-Westra, Erna; Little, Randie R.; Roglic, Gojka; Sacks, David B.; Takei, Izumi

2016-01-01

Background A major objective of the IFCC Task Force on implementation of HbA1c standardization is to develop a model to define quality targets for HbA1c. Methods Two generic models, the Biological Variation and Sigma-metrics model, are investigated. Variables in the models were selected for HbA1c and data of EQA/PT programs were used to evaluate the suitability of the models to set and evaluate quality targets within and between laboratories. Results In the biological variation model 48% of individual laboratories and none of the 26 instrument groups met the minimum performance criterion. In the Sigma-metrics model, with a total allowable error (TAE) set at 5 mmol/mol (0.46% NGSP) 77% of the individual laboratories and 12 of 26 instrument groups met the 2 sigma criterion. Conclusion The Biological Variation and Sigma-metrics model were demonstrated to be suitable for setting and evaluating quality targets within and between laboratories. The Sigma-metrics model is more flexible as both the TAE and the risk of failure can be adjusted to requirements related to e.g. use for diagnosis/monitoring or requirements of (inter)national authorities. With the aim of reaching international consensus on advice regarding quality targets for HbA1c, the Task Force suggests the Sigma-metrics model as the model of choice with default values of 5 mmol/mol (0.46%) for TAE, and risk levels of 2 and 4 sigma for routine laboratories and laboratories performing clinical trials, respectively. These goals should serve as a starting point for discussion with international stakeholders in the field of diabetes. PMID:25737535

Projection of heat waves over China for eight different global warming targets using 12 CMIP5 models

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Guo, Xiaojun; Huang, Jianbin; Luo, Yong; Zhao, Zongci; Xu, Ying

2017-05-01

Simulation and projection of the characteristics of heat waves over China were investigated using 12 CMIP5 global climate models and the CN05.1 observational gridded dataset. Four heat wave indices (heat wave frequency, longest heat wave duration, heat wave days, and high temperature days) were adopted in the analysis. Evaluations of the 12 CMIP5 models and their ensemble indicated that the multi-model ensemble could capture the spatiotemporal characteristics of heat wave variation over China. The inter-decadal variations of heat waves during 1961-2005 can be well simulated by multi-model ensemble. Based on model projections, the features of heat waves over China for eight different global warming targets (1.5, 2.0, 2.5, 3.0, 3.5, 4.0, 4.5, and 5.0 °C) were explored. The results showed that the frequency and intensity of heat waves would increase more dramatically as the global mean temperature rise attained higher warming targets. Under the RCP8.5 scenario, the four China-averaged heat wave indices would increase from about 1.0 times/year, 2.5, 5.4, and 13.8 days/year to about 3.2 times/year, 14.0, 32.0, and 31.9 days/year for 1.5 and 5.0 °C warming targets, respectively. Those regions that suffer severe heat waves in the base climate would experience the heat waves with greater frequency and severity following global temperature rise. It is also noteworthy that the areas in which a greater number of severe heat waves occur displayed considerable expansion. Moreover, the model uncertainties exhibit a gradual enhancement with projected time extending from 2006 to 2099.

Optimization of auxiliary basis sets for the LEDO expansion and a projection technique for LEDO-DFT.

PubMed

Götz, Andreas W; Kollmar, Christian; Hess, Bernd A

2005-09-01

We present a systematic procedure for the optimization of the expansion basis for the limited expansion of diatomic overlap density functional theory (LEDO-DFT) and report on optimized auxiliary orbitals for the Ahlrichs split valence plus polarization basis set (SVP) for the elements H, Li--F, and Na--Cl. A new method to deal with near-linear dependences in the LEDO expansion basis is introduced, which greatly reduces the computational effort of LEDO-DFT calculations. Numerical results for a test set of small molecules demonstrate the accuracy of electronic energies, structural parameters, dipole moments, and harmonic frequencies. For larger molecular systems the numerical errors introduced by the LEDO approximation can lead to an uncontrollable behavior of the self-consistent field (SCF) process. A projection technique suggested by Löwdin is presented in the framework of LEDO-DFT, which guarantees for SCF convergence. Numerical results on some critical test molecules suggest the general applicability of the auxiliary orbitals presented in combination with this projection technique. Timing results indicate that LEDO-DFT is competitive with conventional density fitting methods. (c) 2005 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Projected Real-World Effectiveness of Using Aggressive Low-Density Lipoprotein Cholesterol Targets Among Elderly Statin Users Following Acute Coronary Syndromes in Canada.

PubMed

Alter, David A; Tu, Jack V; Koh, Maria; Jackevicius, Cynthia A; Austin, Peter C; Rezai, Mohammad R; Bhatia, R Sacha; Johnston, Sharon; Udell, Jacob A; Ko, Dennis T

2018-05-12

The extent to which outcome benefits may be achieved through the implementation of aggressive low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol targets in real world settings remains unknown, especially among elderly statin users following acute coronary syndromes. A population-based cohort study consisting of 19 544 post-acute coronary syndrome statin-users aged ≥66 years between January 1, 2017 and March 31, 2014 was used to project the number of adverse outcome events (acute myocardial infarction or death from any cause) that could be prevented if all post-acute coronary syndrome elderly statin users were treated to 1 of 2 LDL cholesterol target levels (≤50 and ≤70 mg/dL). The number of preventable adverse outcomes was estimated by using model-based expected event probabilities as derived from Cox Proportional hazards models. In total, 61.6% and 25.5% of the elderly patients met LDL cholesterol targets of ≤70 and ≤50 mg/dL, respectively, based on current management. No more than 2.3 adverse events per 1000 elderly statin users (95% confidence interval: -0.7 to 5.4, P =0.62) could be prevented over 8.1 years if all patients were to be treated from current LDL cholesterol levels to either of the 2 LDL cholesterol targets of 70 or 50 mg/dL. The number of acute myocardial infarctions or death that could be prevented through the implementation of LDL cholesterol targets with statins is negligible among an elderly post-acute coronary syndrome population. Such findings may have implications for the applicability of newer agents, such as proprotein convertase subtilisin/kexin type-9- inhibitors. © 2018 The Authors. Published on behalf of the American Heart Association, Inc., by Wiley.

Crisis intervention related to the use of psychoactive substances in recreational settings--evaluating the Kosmicare Project at Boom Festival.

PubMed

Carvalho, Maria Carmo; de Sousa, Mariana Pinto; Frango, Paula; Dias, Pedro; Carvalho, Joana; Rodrigues, Marta; Rodrigues, Tania

2014-01-01

Kosmicare project implements crisis intervention in situations related to the use of psychoactive substances at Boom Festival (Portugal). We present evaluation research that aims to contribute to the transformation of the project into an evidence-based intervention model. It relies on harm reduction and risk minimization principles, crisis intervention models, and Grof's psychedelic psychotherapy approach for crisis intervention in situations related to unsupervised use of psychedelics. Intervention was expected to produce knowledge about the relation between substance use and mental health impact in reducing potential risk related to the use of psychoactive substances and mental illness, as well as an impact upon target population's views of themselves, their relationship to substance use, and to life events in general. Research includes data on process and outcome indicators through a mixed methods approach, collected next to a sample of n=176 participants. Sample size varied considerably, however, among different research measures. 52% of Kosmicare visitors reported LSD use. Over 40% also presented multiple drug use. Pre-post mental state evaluation showed statistically significant difference (p<.05) confirming crisis resolution. Crisis episodes that presented no resolution were more often related with mental health outburst episodes, with psychoactive substance use or not. Visitors showed high satisfaction with intervention (n=58) and according to follow-up (n=18) this perception was stable over time. Crisis intervention was experienced as very significant. We discuss limitations and implications of evaluating natural setting based interventions, and the relation between psychoactive substance use and psychopathology. Other data on visitor's profile and vulnerability to crisis showed inconclusive.

Fabrication of aerogel capsule, bromine-doped capsule, and modified gold cone in modified target for the Fast Ignition Realization Experiment (FIREX) Project

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Nagai, Keiji; Yang, H.; Norimatsu, T.; Azechi, H.; Belkada, F.; Fujimoto, Y.; Fujimura, T.; Fujioka, K.; Fujioka, S.; Homma, H.; Ito, F.; Iwamoto, A.; Jitsuno, T.; Kaneyasu, Y.; Nakai, M.; Nemoto, N.; Saika, H.; Shimoyama, T.; Suzuki, Y.; Yamanaka, K.; Mima, K.

2009-09-01

The development of target fabrication for the Fast Ignition Realization EXperiment (FIREX) Project is described in this paper. For the first stage of the FIREX Project (FIREX-I), the previously designed target has been modified by using a bromine-doped ablator and coating the inner gold cone with a low-density material. A high-quality bromine-doped capsule without vacuoles was fabricated from bromine-doped deuterated polystyrene. The gold surface was coated with a low-density material by electrochemical plating. For the cryogenic fuel target, a brand new type of aerogel material, phloroglucinol/formaldehyde (PF), was investigated and encapsulated to meet the specifications of 500 µm diameter and 20 µm thickness, with 30 nm nanopores. Polystyrene-based low-density materials were investigated and the relationship between the crosslinker content and the nanopore structure was observed.

North American landscape characterization project: The production of a continental scale three‐decade Landsat data set

USGS Publications Warehouse

Sohl, Terry L.; Dwyer, John L.

1998-01-01

The North American Landscape Characterization (NALC) project is a component of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) Landsat Pathfinder program. Pathfinder projects are focused on the investigation of global change utilizing current remote sensing technologies. The NALC project is a cooperative effort between the U. S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), and NASA to make Landsat data available to the widest possible user community for scientific research and general public interest. The NALC project is principally funded by the EPA Office of Research and Development and the USGS's Earth Resources Observation Systems (EROS) Data Center (EDC).The objectives of the NALC project are to produce standardized remote sensing data sets, develop standardized analysis methods, and derive standardized land cover change products for a large portion of the North American continent (the conterminous United States and Mexico) (Lunetta and Sturdevant, 1993). The standard product is the NALC “triplicate”;, consisting of co‐registered Landsat multispectral scanner data for the years 1973, 1986, and 1991 (plus or minus one year), plus co‐registered 3 arcsecond digital terrain elevation data. Processing began with the 1986 scene, which was precision corrected (with full terrain correction) to a 60 meter Universal Transverse Mercator base. Automated cross‐correlation procedures were used to co‐register the 1970's and 1990's data to the 1980's base, and independent verifications of registration quality were performed on all triplicate components. The pertinent metadata were compiled in a relational database, which includes WRS2 path/rows, scene ID's, image dates, solar azimuth and elevation, verification RMSE's, and the number of verification control points. NALC triplicate data sets are being used for a number of applications, including the analysis of urbanization patterns, dynamics of climatic fluctuations

A risk-informed decision framework for setting environmental windows for dredging projects.

PubMed

Suedel, Burton C; Kim, Jongbum; Clarke, Douglas G; Linkov, Igor

2008-09-15

Sediment dredging is necessary to sustain navigation infrastructure in ports and harbor areas. In the United States alone between 250 and 300 million cubic yards of sediment are dredged annually. Dredging activities may cause stress on aquatic biota by locally increasing turbidity and suspended sediment concentrations, physically disturbing habitat by elevated sedimentation rates, interfering in migratory behaviors, and hydraulically entraining bottom dwelling organisms. Environmental windows are a management practice used to alleviate such stresses on resident and transient biota by placing temporal restrictions on the conduct of dredging operations. Adherence to environmental windows can significantly inflate costs for project sponsors and local stakeholders. Since their inception following passage of NEPA in 1969 the process for setting environmental windows has not followed structured procedures and represents an example of the difficulty inherent in achieving a balance between biological resource protection and cost-effective construction and maintenance of navigation infrastructure. Recent developments in the fields of risk assessment for non-chemical stressors as well as experience in implementing structured risk-informed decision-making tools for sediment and natural resource management are summarized in this paper in relation to setting environmental windows. Combining risk assessment and multi-criteria decision analysis allows development of a framework for an objective process consistent with recommendations by the National Academy of Sciences for setting environmental windows. A hypothetical application of the framework for protection of Pacific herring (Clupea pallasii) in San Francisco Bay is discussed.

The healthy workplace project: Reduced viral exposure in an office setting.

PubMed

Reynolds, Kelly A; Beamer, Paloma I; Plotkin, Kevin R; Sifuentes, Laura Y; Koenig, David W; Gerba, Charles P

2016-05-03

Viral illnesses such as gastroenteritis and the common cold create a substantial burden in the workplace due to reduced productivity, increased absenteeism, and increased health care costs. Behaviors in the workplace contribute to the spread of human viruses via direct contact between hands, contaminated surfaces, and the mouth, eyes, and/or nose. This study assessed whether implementation of the Healthy Workplace Project (HWP) (providing hand sanitizers, disinfecting wipes, facial tissues, and use instructions) would reduce viral loads in an office setting of approximately 80 employees after seeding fomites and the hands of volunteer participants with an MS-2 phage tracer. The HWP significantly reduced viable phage detected on participants' hands, communal fomites, and personal fomites (p ≤ .010) in office environments and presents a cost-effective method for reducing the health and economic burden associated with viral illnesses in the workplace.

UTILIZING SHELLFISH RESPONSES TO SET TARGET WATER QUALITY CONDITIONS FOR THE RESTORATION OF OYSTER REEFS IN THE CALOOSAHATCHEE ESTUARY, FLORIDA.

EPA Science Inventory

Volety, Aswani K., S.G. Tolley and James T. Winstead. 2002. Utilizing Shellfish Responses to Set Target Water Quality Conditions for the Restoration of Oyster Reefs in the Caloosahatchee Estuary, Florida. Presented at the International Workshop on Restoration of Benthic Invertebr...

Developing risk-based priorities for reducing air pollution in urban settings in Ukraine.

PubMed

Brody, Michael; Caldwell, Jane; Golub, Alexander

2007-02-01

Ukraine, when part of the former Soviet Union, was responsible for about 25% of its overall industrial production. This aging industrial infrastructure continues to emit enormous volumes of air and water pollution and wastes. The National Report on the State of Environment in Ukraine 1999 (Ukraine Ministry of Environmental Protection [MEP], 2000) shows significant air pollution. There are numerous emissions that have been associated with developmental effects, chronic long-term health effects, and cancer. Ukraine also has been identified as a major source of transboundary air pollution for the eastern Mediterranean region. Ukraine's Environment Ministry is not currently able to strategically target high-priority emissions and lacks the resources to address all these problems. For these reasons, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency set up a partnership with Ukraine's Ministry of Environmental Protection to strengthen its capacity to set environmental priorities through the use of comparative environmental risk assessment and economic analysis--the Capacity Building Project. The project is also addressing improvements in the efficiency and effectiveness of the use of its National Environmental Protection Fund. The project consists of a series of workshops with Ukrainian MEP officials in comparative risk assessment of air pollutant emissions in several heavily industrialized oblasts; cost-benefit and cost-effectiveness analysis; and environmental finance. Pilot risk assessment analyses have been completed. At the end of the Capacity Building Project it is expected that the use of the National Environmental Protection fund and the regional level oblast environmental protection funds will begin to target and identify the highest health and environmental risk emissions.

Project management of life-science research projects: project characteristics, challenges and training needs.

PubMed

Beukers, Margot W

2011-02-01

Thirty-four project managers of life-science research projects were interviewed to investigate the characteristics of their projects, the challenges they faced and their training requirements. A set of ten discriminating parameters were identified based on four project categories: contract research, development, discovery and call-based projects--projects set up to address research questions defined in a call for proposals. The major challenges these project managers are faced with relate to project members, leadership without authority and a lack of commitment from the respective organization. Two-thirds of the project managers indicated that they would be interested in receiving additional training, mostly on people-oriented, soft skills. The training programs that are currently on offer, however, do not meet their needs. Copyright © 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Histone Deacetylase Rpd3 Regulates Olfactory Projection Neuron Dendrite Targeting via the Transcription Factor Prospero

PubMed Central

Tea, Joy S.; Chihara, Takahiro; Luo, Liqun

2010-01-01

Compared to the mechanisms of axon guidance, relatively little is known about the transcriptional control of dendrite guidance. The Drosophila olfactory system with its stereotyped organization provides an excellent model to study the transcriptional control of dendrite wiring specificity. Each projection neuron (PN) targets its dendrites to a specific glomerulus in the antennal lobe and its axon stereotypically to higher brain centers. Using a forward genetic screen, we identified a mutation in Rpd3 that disrupts PN targeting specificity. Rpd3 encodes a class I histone deacetylase (HDAC) homologous to mammalian HDAC1 and HDAC2. Rpd3−/− PN dendrites that normally target to a dorsolateral glomerulus mistarget to medial glomeruli in the antennal lobe, and axons exhibit a severe overbranching phenotype. These phenotypes can be rescued by postmitotic expression of Rpd3 but not HDAC3, the only other class I HDAC in Drosophila. Furthermore, disruption of the atypical homeodomain transcription factor Prospero (Pros) yields similar phenotypes, which can be rescued by Pros expression in postmitotic neurons. Strikingly, overexpression of Pros can suppress Rpd3−/− phenotypes. Our study suggests a specific function for the general chromatin remodeling factor Rpd3 in regulating dendrite targeting in neurons, largely through the postmitotic action of the Pros transcription factor. PMID:20660276

National responses to global health targets: exploring policy transfer in the context of the UNAIDS '90-90-90' treatment targets in Ghana and Uganda.

PubMed

McRobie, Ellen; Matovu, Fred; Nanyiti, Aisha; Nonvignon, Justice; Abankwah, Daniel Nana Yaw; Case, Kelsey K; Hallett, Timothy B; Hanefeld, Johanna; Conteh, Lesong

2018-01-01

Global health organizations frequently set disease-specific targets with the goal of eliciting adoption at the national-level; consideration of the influence of target setting on national policies, programme and health budgets is of benefit to those setting targets and those intended to respond. In 2014, the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS set 'ambitious' treatment targets for country adoption: 90% of HIV-positive persons should know their status; 90% of those on treatment; 90% of those achieving viral suppression. Using case studies from Ghana and Uganda, we explore how the target and its associated policy content have been adopted at the national level. That is whether adoption is in rhetoric only or supported by programme, policy or budgetary changes. We review 23 (14 from Ghana, 9 from Uganda) national policy, operational and strategic documents for the HIV response and assess commitments to '90-90-90'. In-person semi-structured interviews were conducted with purposively sampled key informants (17 in Ghana, 20 in Uganda) involved in programme-planning and resource allocation within HIV to gain insight into factors facilitating adoption of 90-90-90. Interviews were transcribed and analysed thematically, inductively and deductively, guided by pre-existing policy theories, including Dolowitz and Marsh's policy transfer framework to describe features of the transfer and the Global Health Advocacy and Policy Project framework to explain observations. Regardless of notable resource constraints, transfer of the 90-90-90 targets was evident beyond rhetoric with substantial shifts in policy and programme activities. In both countries, there was evidence of attempts to minimize resource constraints by seeking programme efficiencies, prioritization of programme activities and devising domestic financing mechanisms; however, significant resource gaps persist. An effective health network, comprised of global and local actors, mediated the adoption and adaptation

Map projections for global and continental data sets and an analysis of pixel distortion caused by reprojection

USGS Publications Warehouse

Steinwand, Daniel R.; Hutchinson, John A.; Snyder, J.P.

1995-01-01

In global change studies the effects of map projection properties on data quality are apparent, and the choice of projection is significant. To aid compilers of global and continental data sets, six equal-area projections were chosen: the interrupted Goode Homolosine, the interrupted Mollweide, the Wagner IV, and the Wagner VII for global maps; the Lambert Azimuthal Equal-Area for hemisphere maps; and the Oblated Equal-Area and the Lambert Azimuthal Equal-Area for continental maps. Distortions in small-scale maps caused by reprojection, and the additional distortions incurred when reprojecting raster images, were quantified and graphically depicted. For raster images, the errors caused by the usual resampling methods (pixel brightness level interpolation) were responsible for much of the additional error where the local resolution and scale change were the greatest.

Setting targets for human resources for eye health in sub-Saharan Africa: what evidence should be used?

PubMed

Courtright, Paul; Mathenge, Wanjiku; Kello, Amir Bedri; Cook, Colin; Kalua, Khumbo; Lewallen, Susan

2016-03-16

With a global target set at reducing vision loss by 25% by the year 2019, sub-Saharan Africa with an estimated 4.8 million blind persons will require human resources for eye health (HReH) that need to be available, appropriately skilled, supported, and productive. Targets for HReH are useful for planning, monitoring, and resource mobilization, but they need to be updated and informed by evidence of effectiveness and efficiency. Supporting evidence should take into consideration (1) ever-changing disease-specific issues including the epidemiology, the complexity of diagnosis and treatment, and the technology needed for diagnosis and treatment of each condition; (2) the changing demands for vision-related services of an increasingly urbanized population; and (3) interconnected health system issues that affect productivity and quality. The existing targets for HReH and some of the existing strategies such as task shifting of cataract surgery and trichiasis surgery, as well as the scope of eye care interventions for primary eye care workers, will need to be re-evaluated and re-defined against such evidence or supported by new evidence.

In vitro screening of environmental chemicals for targeted testing prioritization: the ToxCast project.

PubMed

Judson, Richard S; Houck, Keith A; Kavlock, Robert J; Knudsen, Thomas B; Martin, Matthew T; Mortensen, Holly M; Reif, David M; Rotroff, Daniel M; Shah, Imran; Richard, Ann M; Dix, David J

2010-04-01

Chemical toxicity testing is being transformed by advances in biology and computer modeling, concerns over animal use, and the thousands of environmental chemicals lacking toxicity data. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's ToxCast program aims to address these concerns by screening and prioritizing chemicals for potential human toxicity using in vitro assays and in silico approaches. This project aims to evaluate the use of in vitro assays for understanding the types of molecular and pathway perturbations caused by environmental chemicals and to build initial prioritization models of in vivo toxicity. We tested 309 mostly pesticide active chemicals in 467 assays across nine technologies, including high-throughput cell-free assays and cell-based assays, in multiple human primary cells and cell lines plus rat primary hepatocytes. Both individual and composite scores for effects on genes and pathways were analyzed. Chemicals displayed a broad spectrum of activity at the molecular and pathway levels. We saw many expected interactions, including endocrine and xenobiotic metabolism enzyme activity. Chemicals ranged in promiscuity across pathways, from no activity to affecting dozens of pathways. We found a statistically significant inverse association between the number of pathways perturbed by a chemical at low in vitro concentrations and the lowest in vivo dose at which a chemical causes toxicity. We also found associations between a small set of in vitro assays and rodent liver lesion formation. This approach promises to provide meaningful data on the thousands of untested environmental chemicals and to guide targeted testing of environmental contaminants.

An evidence-based approach to the prevention and initial management of skin tears within the aged community setting: a best practice implementation project.

PubMed

Beechey, Rebekah; Priest, Laura; Peters, Micah; Moloney, Clint

2015-06-12

Maintaining skin integrity in a community setting is an ongoing issue, as research suggests that the prevalence of skin tears within the community is greater than that in an institutional setting. While skin tear prevention and management principles in these settings are similar to those in an acute care setting, consideration of the environmental and psychological factors of the client is pivotal to prevention in a community setting. Evidence suggests that home environment assessment, education for clients and care givers, and being proactive in improving activities of daily living in a community setting can significantly reduce the risk of sustaining skin tears. The aim of this implementation project was to assess and review current skin tear prevention and management practices within the community setting, and from this, to implement an evidence-based approach in the education of clients and staff on the prevention of skin tears. As well. the project aims to implement evidence-based principles to guide clinical practice in relation to the initial management of skin tears, and to determine strategies to overcome barriers and non-compliance. The project utilized the Joanna Brigg's Institute Practical Application of Clinical Evidence System audit tool for promoting changes in the community health setting. The implementation of this particular project is based in a region within Anglicare Southern Queensland. A small team was established and a baseline audit carried out. From this, multiple strategies were implemented to address non-compliance which included education resources for clients and caregivers, staff education sessions, and creating skin integrity kits to enable staff members to tend to skin tears, and from this a follow-up audit undertaken. Baseline audit results were slightly varied, from good to low compliance. From this, the need for staff and client education was highlighted. There were many improvements in the audit criteria following client and

[Experience of knowledge translation in the ITSAL (immigration, work and health) research project with representatives of the target population].

PubMed

Ronda, Elena; López-Jacob, M José; Paredes-Carbonell, Joan J; López, Pilar; Boix, Pere; García, Ana M

2014-01-01

This article describes the experience of knowledge translation between researchers of the ITSAL (immigration, work and health) project and representatives of organizations working with immigrants to discuss the results obtained in the project and future research lines. A meeting was held, attended by three researchers and 18 representatives from 11 institutions. Following a presentation of the methodology and results of the project, the participants discussed the results presented and research areas of interest, thus confirming matches between the two sides and obtaining proposals of interest for the ITSAL project. We understand the process described as an approach to social validation of some of the main results of this project. This experience has allowed us to open a channel of communication with the target population of the study, in line with the necessary two-way interaction between researchers and users. Copyright © 2013 SESPAS. Published by Elsevier Espana. All rights reserved.

Harvard Observing Project (HOP): Undergraduate and graduate observing opportunities

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bieryla, Allyson; Newton, Elisabeth R.

2014-06-01

The Harvard Observing Project (HOP) engages undergraduate students in observational astronomy and gives graduate students extra teaching experience beyond their required teaching fellowships. This project offers students opportunities to see if they are interested in astronomy, introduces them to scientific research, and provides an opportunity for them to interact with graduate students in an informal setting. Observations are made using the 16” Clay Telescope atop the Science Center at Harvard University in Cambridge, MA. We have observed as part of the Pro-Am White dwarf Monitoring (PAWM) and Target Asteroids! projects, and most recently we have been monitoring SN2014J in the Messier 82 galaxy (see poster by M. McIntosh).

Nonlinear projection methods for visualizing Barcode data and application on two data sets.

PubMed

Olteanu, Madalina; Nicolas, Violaine; Schaeffer, Brigitte; Denys, Christiane; Missoup, Alain-Didier; Kennis, Jan; Larédo, Catherine

2013-11-01

Developing tools for visualizing DNA sequences is an important issue in the Barcoding context. Visualizing Barcode data can be put in a purely statistical context, unsupervised learning. Clustering methods combined with projection methods have two closely linked objectives, visualizing and finding structure in the data. Multidimensional scaling (MDS) and Self-organizing maps (SOM) are unsupervised statistical tools for data visualization. Both algorithms map data onto a lower dimensional manifold: MDS looks for a projection that best preserves pairwise distances while SOM preserves the topology of the data. Both algorithms were initially developed for Euclidean data and the conditions necessary to their good implementation were not satisfied for Barcode data. We developed a workflow consisting in four steps: collapse data into distinct sequences; compute a dissimilarity matrix; run a modified version of SOM for dissimilarity matrices to structure the data and reduce dimensionality; project the results using MDS. This methodology was applied to Astraptes fulgerator and Hylomyscus, an African rodent with debated taxonomy. We obtained very good results for both data sets. The results were robust against unbalanced species. All the species in Astraptes were well displayed in very distinct groups in the various visualizations, except for LOHAMP and FABOV that were mixed up. For Hylomyscus, our findings were consistent with known species, confirmed the existence of four unnamed taxa and suggested the existence of potentially new species. © 2013 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Target dependence of orientation and direction selectivity of corticocortical projection neurons in the mouse V1

PubMed Central

Matsui, Teppei; Ohki, Kenichi

2013-01-01

Higher order visual areas that receive input from the primary visual cortex (V1) are specialized for the processing of distinct features of visual information. However, it is still incompletely understood how this functional specialization is acquired. Here we used in vivo two photon calcium imaging in the mouse visual cortex to investigate whether this functional distinction exists at as early as the level of projections from V1 to two higher order visual areas, AL and LM. Specifically, we examined whether sharpness of orientation and direction selectivity and optimal spatial and temporal frequency of projection neurons from V1 to higher order visual areas match with that of target areas. We found that the V1 input to higher order visual areas were indeed functionally distinct: AL preferentially received inputs from V1 that were more orientation and direction selective and tuned for lower spatial frequency compared to projection of V1 to LM, consistent with functional differences between AL and LM. The present findings suggest that selective projections from V1 to higher order visual areas initiates parallel processing of sensory information in the visual cortical network. PMID:24068987

Lessons learned from a pilot project of an automatic vehicle location system in an urban winter maintenance operations setting.

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

2002-01-01

This report documents the lessons learned during the evolution of the Virginia Department of Transportation's pilot project to use an automatic vehicle location (AVL) system during winter maintenance operations in an urban setting. AVL is a technolog...

The Development of a Taxonomy of Desired Personal Qualities for IT Project Team Members and Its Use in an Educational Setting

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Jewels, Tony; Ford, Marilyn

2006-01-01

Although much literature exists on desired qualities of team leaders of IT projects and even desired components of the team, there is a paucity of literature on the desired personal qualities of individuals working within team settings. This research set out to empirically investigate the personal qualities which students believe would be…

A study of System Interface Sets (SIS) for the host, target and integration environments of the Space Station Program (SSP)

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Mckay, Charles; Auty, David; Rogers, Kathy

1987-01-01

System interface sets (SIS) for large, complex, non-stop, distributed systems are examined. The SIS of the Space Station Program (SSP) was selected as the focus of this study because an appropriate virtual interface specification of the SIS is believed to have the most potential to free the project from four life cycle tyrannies which are rooted in a dependance on either a proprietary or particular instance of: operating systems, data management systems, communications systems, and instruction set architectures. The static perspective of the common Ada programming support environment interface set (CAIS) and the portable common execution environment (PCEE) activities are discussed. Also, the dynamic perspective of the PCEE is addressed.

Spatial distribution of intermingling pools of projection neurons with distinct targets: A 3D analysis of the commissural ganglia in Cancer borealis.

PubMed

Follmann, Rosangela; Goldsmith, Christopher John; Stein, Wolfgang

2017-06-01

Projection neurons play a key role in carrying long-distance information between spatially distant areas of the nervous system and in controlling motor circuits. Little is known about how projection neurons with distinct anatomical targets are organized, and few studies have addressed their spatial organization at the level of individual cells. In the paired commissural ganglia (CoGs) of the stomatogastric nervous system of the crab Cancer borealis, projection neurons convey sensory, motor, and modulatory information to several distinct anatomical regions. While the functions of descending projection neurons (dPNs) which control downstream motor circuits in the stomatogastric ganglion are well characterized, their anatomical distribution as well as that of neurons projecting to the labrum, brain, and thoracic ganglion have received less attention. Using cell membrane staining, we investigated the spatial distribution of CoG projection neurons in relation to all CoG neurons. Retrograde tracing revealed that somata associated with different axonal projection pathways were not completely spatially segregated, but had distinct preferences within the ganglion. Identified dPNs had diameters larger than 70% of CoG somata and were restricted to the most medial and anterior 25% of the ganglion. They were contained within a cluster of motor neurons projecting through the same nerve to innervate the labrum, indicating that soma position was independent of function and target area. Rather, our findings suggest that CoG neurons projecting to a variety of locations follow a generalized rule: for all nerve pathway origins, the soma cluster centroids in closest proximity are those whose axons project down that pathway. © 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Human target acquisition performance

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Teaney, Brian P.; Du Bosq, Todd W.; Reynolds, Joseph P.; Thompson, Roger; Aghera, Sameer; Moyer, Steven K.; Flug, Eric; Espinola, Richard; Hixson, Jonathan

2012-06-01

The battlefield has shifted from armored vehicles to armed insurgents. Target acquisition (identification, recognition, and detection) range performance involving humans as targets is vital for modern warfare. The acquisition and neutralization of armed insurgents while at the same time minimizing fratricide and civilian casualties is a mounting concern. U.S. Army RDECOM CERDEC NVESD has conducted many experiments involving human targets for infrared and reflective band sensors. The target sets include human activities, hand-held objects, uniforms & armament, and other tactically relevant targets. This paper will define a set of standard task difficulty values for identification and recognition associated with human target acquisition performance.

Recognition and management of depression in skilled-nursing and long-term care settings: evolving targets for quality improvement.

PubMed

Boyle, Vicki L; Roychoudhury, Canopy; Beniak, Renee; Cohn, Lisa; Bayer, Albert; Katz, Ira

2004-01-01

Depression is a common disorder associated with suffering, morbidity, and mortality in nursing home residents. It is treatable, and improving the quality of treatment can have a major impact. MPRO, Michigan's Quality Improvement Organization, initiated a quality-improvement project in 14 nursing facilities to improve the accuracy of assessments, targeting, and monitoring of care. Electronic Minimum Data Set (MDS) data and medical-record abstraction results were combined to form the analytic dataset. Findings from the baseline phase demonstrated that, according to medical and administrative records, 26% of newly admitted nursing home residents had symptoms of depression that were apparent at admission, and an additional 12% were recognized early in their stay. Eighty-one percent of residents with depression were receiving treatment on admission to the facility, and 79% of those with depression recognized by Day 14 were treated by then. These data demonstrate progress toward improving the initiation of treatment for depression in nursing homes; however, there are still opportunities for improving the quality of care and, especially, the quality of assessments. The authors recommend the addition of the Geriatric Depression Scale to the federally mandated MDS for cognitively intact patients. There could also be mechanisms to ensure that providers and facilities follow recommended practice guidelines. Initiating treatment with antidepressant medications should be followed with monitoring of residents to identify those who still have depressive symptoms and to modify or intensify their treatment.

A mid-term analysis of progress toward international biodiversity targets.

PubMed

Tittensor, Derek P; Walpole, Matt; Hill, Samantha L L; Boyce, Daniel G; Britten, Gregory L; Burgess, Neil D; Butchart, Stuart H M; Leadley, Paul W; Regan, Eugenie C; Alkemade, Rob; Baumung, Roswitha; Bellard, Céline; Bouwman, Lex; Bowles-Newark, Nadine J; Chenery, Anna M; Cheung, William W L; Christensen, Villy; Cooper, H David; Crowther, Annabel R; Dixon, Matthew J R; Galli, Alessandro; Gaveau, Valérie; Gregory, Richard D; Gutierrez, Nicolas L; Hirsch, Tim L; Höft, Robert; Januchowski-Hartley, Stephanie R; Karmann, Marion; Krug, Cornelia B; Leverington, Fiona J; Loh, Jonathan; Lojenga, Rik Kutsch; Malsch, Kelly; Marques, Alexandra; Morgan, David H W; Mumby, Peter J; Newbold, Tim; Noonan-Mooney, Kieran; Pagad, Shyama N; Parks, Bradley C; Pereira, Henrique M; Robertson, Tim; Rondinini, Carlo; Santini, Luca; Scharlemann, Jörn P W; Schindler, Stefan; Sumaila, U Rashid; Teh, Louise S L; van Kolck, Jennifer; Visconti, Piero; Ye, Yimin

2014-10-10

In 2010, the international community, under the auspices of the Convention on Biological Diversity, agreed on 20 biodiversity-related "Aichi Targets" to be achieved within a decade. We provide a comprehensive mid-term assessment of progress toward these global targets using 55 indicator data sets. We projected indicator trends to 2020 using an adaptive statistical framework that incorporated the specific properties of individual time series. On current trajectories, results suggest that despite accelerating policy and management responses to the biodiversity crisis, the impacts of these efforts are unlikely to be reflected in improved trends in the state of biodiversity by 2020. We highlight areas of societal endeavor requiring additional efforts to achieve the Aichi Targets, and provide a baseline against which to assess future progress. Copyright © 2014, American Association for the Advancement of Science.

The Modulation of Exogenous Spatial Cueing on Spatial Stroop Interference: Evidence of a Set for "Cue-Target Event Segregation"

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Funes, Maria Jesus; Lupianez, Juan; Milliken, Bruce

2008-01-01

Two experiments are reported that test whether the modulation of exogenous cuing effects by the presence of a distractor at the location opposite the target (altering the time course of cueing effects, Lupianez et al., 1999, 2001) is due to the fast reorienting of attention or to a set for preventing the integration of the cue and the target…

A Set of Computer Projects for an Electromagnetic Fields Class.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Gleeson, Ronald F.

1989-01-01

Presented are three computer projects: vector analysis, electric field intensities at various distances, and the Biot-Savart law. Programing suggestions and project results are provided. One month is suggested for each project. (MVL)

Surpassing the Target: How a Recruitment Campaign Transformed the Participant Accrual Trajectory in the Epilepsy Phenome/Genome Project

PubMed Central

Freyer Karn, Catharine; Fox, Kristen

2015-01-01

Abstract Participant recruitment challenges pervade the majority of publicly funded clinical trials. However, little is known about methods for enhancing participant accrual. The Epilepsy Phenome/Genome Project (EPGP), a multicenter study funded by the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS), aimed to enroll a total of 5,250 participants to better understand the genetic causes and phenotypic manifestations of epilepsy. However, similar to other trials, EPGP encountered recruitment challenges, and by the end of its first year, net enrollment was only 48% of the target for that time. To address this, EPGP established a National Participant Recruitment Campaign and began implementing and tracking the enrollment outcomes of a variety of proven and relatively novel recruitment methods. At the conclusion of the project, EPGP had successfully enrolled a total of 5,445 participants, thus surpassing its enrollment target. Data pertaining to EPGP's National Participant Recruitment Campaign was analyzed retrospectively, and the results are reported here, so that other multicenter trials may consider these methods in their recruitment planning and potentially avoid the costly repercussions of participant accrual issues. PMID:26176343

Surpassing the Target: How a Recruitment Campaign Transformed the Participant Accrual Trajectory in the Epilepsy Phenome/Genome Project.

PubMed

McGovern, Kathleen; Karn, Catharine Freyer; Fox, Kristen

2015-10-01

Participant recruitment challenges pervade the majority of publicly funded clinical trials. However, little is known about methods for enhancing participant accrual. The Epilepsy Phenome/Genome Project (EPGP), a multicenter study funded by the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS), aimed to enroll a total of 5,250 participants to better understand the genetic causes and phenotypic manifestations of epilepsy. However, similar to other trials, EPGP encountered recruitment challenges, and by the end of its first year, net enrollment was only 48% of the target for that time. To address this, EPGP established a National Participant Recruitment Campaign and began implementing and tracking the enrollment outcomes of a variety of proven and relatively novel recruitment methods. At the conclusion of the project, EPGP had successfully enrolled a total of 5,445 participants, thus surpassing its enrollment target. Data pertaining to EPGP's National Participant Recruitment Campaign was analyzed retrospectively, and the results are reported here, so that other multicenter trials may consider these methods in their recruitment planning and potentially avoid the costly repercussions of participant accrual issues. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Search for α-Cluster Structure in Exotic Nuclei with the Prototype Active-Target Time-Projection Chamber

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Fritsch, A.; Ayyad, Y.; Bazin, D.; Beceiro-Novo, S.; Bradt, J.; Carpenter, L.; Cortesi, M.; Mittig, W.; Suzuki, D.; Ahn, T.; Kolata, J. J.; Becchetti, F. D.; Howard, A. M.

2016-03-01

Some exotic nuclei appear to exhibit α-cluster structure. While various theoretical models currently describe such clustering, more experimental data are needed to constrain model predictions. The Prototype Active-Target Time-Projection Chamber (PAT-TPC) has low-energy thresholds for charged-particle decay and a high luminosity due to its thick gaseous active target volume, making it well-suited to search for low-energy α-cluster reactions. Radioactive-ion beams produced by the TwinSol facility at the University of Notre Dame were delivered to the PAT-TPC to study nuclei including 14C and 14O via α-resonant scattering. Differential cross sections and excitation functions were measured. Preliminary results from our recent experiments will be presented. This work is supported by the U.S. National Science Foundation.

Investigating the Experience of Outdoor and Adventurous Project Work in an Educational Setting Using a Self-Determination Framework

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Sproule, John; Martindale, Russell; Wang, John; Allison, Peter; Nash, Christine; Gray, Shirley

2013-01-01

The purpose of this study was to carry out a preliminary investigation to explore the use of outdoor and adventurous project work (PW) within an educational setting. Specifically, differences between the PW and normal academic school experiences were examined using a self-determination theory framework integrated with a goal orientation and…

Setting semantics: conceptual set can determine the physical properties that capture attention.

PubMed

Goodhew, Stephanie C; Kendall, William; Ferber, Susanne; Pratt, Jay

2014-08-01

The ability of a stimulus to capture visuospatial attention depends on the interplay between its bottom-up saliency and its relationship to an observer's top-down control set, such that stimuli capture attention if they match the predefined properties that distinguish a searched-for target from distractors (Folk, Remington, & Johnston, Journal of Experimental Psychology: Human Perception & Performance, 18, 1030-1044 1992). Despite decades of research on this phenomenon, however, the vast majority has focused exclusively on matches based on low-level physical properties. Yet if contingent capture is indeed a "top-down" influence on attention, then semantic content should be accessible and able to determine which physical features capture attention. Here we tested this prediction by examining whether a semantically defined target could create a control set for particular features. To do this, we had participants search to identify a target that was differentiated from distractors by its meaning (e.g., the word "red" among color words all written in black). Before the target array, a cue was presented, and it was varied whether the cue appeared in the physical color implied by the target word. Across three experiments, we found that cues that embodied the meaning of the word produced greater cuing than cues that did not. This suggests that top-down control sets activate content that is semantically associated with the target-defining property, and this content in turn has the ability to exogenously orient attention.

Internet TV set-top devices for web-based projects: smooth sailing or rough surfing?

PubMed Central

Johnson, K. B.; Ravert, R. D.; Everton, A.

1999-01-01

BACKGROUND: The explosion of projects utilizing the World Wide Web in the home environment offer a select group of patients a tremendous tool for information management and health-related support. However, many patients do not have ready access to the Internet in their homes. For these patients, Internet TV set-top devices may provide a low cost alternative to PC-based web browsers. METHODS: As a part of a larger descriptive study providing adolescents with access to an on-line support group, we investigated the feasibility of using an Internet TV set-top device for those patients in need of Internet access. RESULTS: Although the devices required some configuration before being installed in the home environment, they required a minimum of support and were well accepted by these patients. However, these patients used the Internet less frequently than their peers with home personal computers--most likely due to a lack of easy availability of the telephone or television at all times. CONCLUSION: Internet TV set-top devices represent a feasible alternative access to the World Wide Web for some patients. Any attempt to use these devices should, however, be coupled with education to all family members, and an attempt at providing a dedicated television and phone line. Images p537-a Figure 2 PMID:10566416

Internet TV set-top devices for web-based projects: smooth sailing or rough surfing?

PubMed

Johnson, K B; Ravert, R D; Everton, A

1999-01-01

The explosion of projects utilizing the World Wide Web in the home environment offer a select group of patients a tremendous tool for information management and health-related support. However, many patients do not have ready access to the Internet in their homes. For these patients, Internet TV set-top devices may provide a low cost alternative to PC-based web browsers. As a part of a larger descriptive study providing adolescents with access to an on-line support group, we investigated the feasibility of using an Internet TV set-top device for those patients in need of Internet access. Although the devices required some configuration before being installed in the home environment, they required a minimum of support and were well accepted by these patients. However, these patients used the Internet less frequently than their peers with home personal computers--most likely due to a lack of easy availability of the telephone or television at all times. Internet TV set-top devices represent a feasible alternative access to the World Wide Web for some patients. Any attempt to use these devices should, however, be coupled with education to all family members, and an attempt at providing a dedicated television and phone line.

Project Future Workplace Literacy Project. Final Performance Report.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Jefferson County Public Schools, Louisville, KY.

Project Future was a 3-year project begun in 1994 as a partnership between the Jefferson County Public Schools and Futura Plastics and Engineering, Inc., Louisville, Kentucky. The project targeted the workplace basic skills of plastic injection molding production workers. The skills classes improved the general education of the workers with…

JPEG2000-coded image error concealment exploiting convex sets projections.

PubMed

Atzori, Luigi; Ginesu, Giaime; Raccis, Alessio

2005-04-01

Transmission errors in JPEG2000 can be grouped into three main classes, depending on the affected area: LL, high frequencies at the lower decomposition levels, and high frequencies at the higher decomposition levels. The first type of errors are the most annoying but can be concealed exploiting the signal spatial correlation like in a number of techniques proposed in the past; the second are less annoying but more difficult to address; the latter are often imperceptible. In this paper, we address the problem of concealing the second class or errors when high bit-planes are damaged by proposing a new approach based on the theory of projections onto convex sets. Accordingly, the error effects are masked by iteratively applying two procedures: low-pass (LP) filtering in the spatial domain and restoration of the uncorrupted wavelet coefficients in the transform domain. It has been observed that a uniform LP filtering brought to some undesired side effects that negatively compensated the advantages. This problem has been overcome by applying an adaptive solution, which exploits an edge map to choose the optimal filter mask size. Simulation results demonstrated the efficiency of the proposed approach.

Success in the Urban Setting: Ohio's Urban Demonstration Projects.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Ohio State Dept. of Education, Columbus.

The Urban Demonstration Projects (UDP) combined rehabilitative, preventive, and developmental services in a coordinated school and community effort to test the impact of a maximal educational program for disadvantaged students in Ohio's urban schools. This report, which was prepared by staff members from the various projects throughout the State,…

Panorama: A Targeted Proteomics Knowledge Base

PubMed Central

2015-01-01

Panorama is a web application for storing, sharing, analyzing, and reusing targeted assays created and refined with Skyline,1 an increasingly popular Windows client software tool for targeted proteomics experiments. Panorama allows laboratories to store and organize curated results contained in Skyline documents with fine-grained permissions, which facilitates distributed collaboration and secure sharing of published and unpublished data via a web-browser interface. It is fully integrated with the Skyline workflow and supports publishing a document directly to a Panorama server from the Skyline user interface. Panorama captures the complete Skyline document information content in a relational database schema. Curated results published to Panorama can be aggregated and exported as chromatogram libraries. These libraries can be used in Skyline to pick optimal targets in new experiments and to validate peak identification of target peptides. Panorama is open-source and freely available. It is distributed as part of LabKey Server,2 an open source biomedical research data management system. Laboratories and organizations can set up Panorama locally by downloading and installing the software on their own servers. They can also request freely hosted projects on https://panoramaweb.org, a Panorama server maintained by the Department of Genome Sciences at the University of Washington. PMID:25102069

Varieties of centralized intake: the Portland Target Cities Project experience.

PubMed

Barron, Nancy; McFarland, Bentson H; McCamant, Lynn

2002-01-01

To assess the possible influence of centralized intake on client outcomes, initial, six- and twelve-month Addiction Severity Index composite scores (in the alcohol, drug, legal and psychiatric areas) for clients who experienced provider intake were compared with scores for those going through two different models of centralized intake. Centralized intake clients were more likely than provider intake clients to have legal problems, and those legal problems became fewer over time. Clients from in-jail intake, including pretreatment services and accompanied placement, showed a greater initial and lower subsequent prevalence of drug, psychiatric and legal problems than the clients of the freestanding centralized intake. For all clients, psychiatric composite scores were powerful predictors of problems in alcohol, drug medical and legal areas, and psychiatric symptoms decreased over time. Since baseline differences in demographics and service assignment existed among the three groups, it was difficult to identify whether the outcome differences were due to the nature of the participants, the nature of the intake intervention, or both. However, the Portland Target Cities Projects's emphasis on in-jail centralized intake was associated with enhanced client outcomes.

Search for α -Cluster Structure in Exotic Nuclei with the Prototype Active-Target Time-Projection Chamber

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Fritsch, A.; Ayyad, Y.; Bazin, D.; Beceiro-Novo, S.; Bradt, J.; Carpenter, L.; Cortesi, M.; Mittig, W.; Suzuki, D.; Ahn, T.; Kolata, J. J.; Howard, A. M.; Becchetti, F. D.; Wolff, M.

Some exotic nuclei appear to exhibit α -cluster structure, which may impact nucleosynthesis reaction rates. While various theoretical models currently describe such clustering, more experimental data are needed to constrain model predictions. The Prototype Active-Target Time-Projection Chamber (PAT-TPC) has low-energy thresholds for charged-particle decay and a high detection efficiency due to its thick gaseous active target volume, making it well-suited to search for low-energy α -cluster reactions. Radioactive-ion beams produced by the TwinSol facility at the University of Notre Dame were delivered to the PAT-TPC to study 14C via α -resonant scattering. Differential cross sections and excitation functions were measured and show evidence of three-body exit channels. Additional data were measured with an updated Micromegas detector more sensitive to three-body decay. Preliminary results are presented.

National responses to global health targets: exploring policy transfer in the context of the UNAIDS ‘90–90–90’ treatment targets in Ghana and Uganda

PubMed Central

McRobie, Ellen; Matovu, Fred; Nanyiti, Aisha; Nonvignon, Justice; Abankwah, Daniel Nana Yaw; Case, Kelsey K; Hallett, Timothy B; Hanefeld, Johanna; Conteh, Lesong

2018-01-01

Abstract Global health organizations frequently set disease-specific targets with the goal of eliciting adoption at the national-level; consideration of the influence of target setting on national policies, programme and health budgets is of benefit to those setting targets and those intended to respond. In 2014, the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS set ‘ambitious’ treatment targets for country adoption: 90% of HIV-positive persons should know their status; 90% of those on treatment; 90% of those achieving viral suppression. Using case studies from Ghana and Uganda, we explore how the target and its associated policy content have been adopted at the national level. That is whether adoption is in rhetoric only or supported by programme, policy or budgetary changes. We review 23 (14 from Ghana, 9 from Uganda) national policy, operational and strategic documents for the HIV response and assess commitments to ‘90–90–90’. In-person semi-structured interviews were conducted with purposively sampled key informants (17 in Ghana, 20 in Uganda) involved in programme-planning and resource allocation within HIV to gain insight into factors facilitating adoption of 90–90–90. Interviews were transcribed and analysed thematically, inductively and deductively, guided by pre-existing policy theories, including Dolowitz and Marsh’s policy transfer framework to describe features of the transfer and the Global Health Advocacy and Policy Project framework to explain observations. Regardless of notable resource constraints, transfer of the 90–90–90 targets was evident beyond rhetoric with substantial shifts in policy and programme activities. In both countries, there was evidence of attempts to minimize resource constraints by seeking programme efficiencies, prioritization of programme activities and devising domestic financing mechanisms; however, significant resource gaps persist. An effective health network, comprised of global and local actors

Advertising of OTC products in a Nigerian urban setting: content analysis for indications, targets, and advertising appeal.

PubMed

Yusuff, Kazeem B; Yusuf, Akeem

2009-01-01

To identify the indications for which treatments were promoted, the segments of population targeted, and the type and extent of advertising appeal used for over-the-counter (OTC) products in a Nigerian urban setting. Using a cross-sectional design, the content of advertisements for OTC products on radio, television, and billboards in a city in southwestern Nigeria were assessed during a 3-month period. Two coders independently assessed 1,492 advertisements for 49 brands of OTC products (interrater reliability [Cohen's kappa] = 0.83 [95% CI 0.80-0.90]). The most frequent indications for OTC products were aches and pain (42.9%), anemia/malnutrition (34.8%), and malaria (22.2%). Of advertisements, 92% were targeted at the primary end user. Use of appeal related to efficacy (100%), psychosocial enhancement (80%), and ease of use (40%) in visual, written, and audio messages was highest in ads on billboards. Efficacy appeal had the highest frequency across the three advertising media (100%); ease-of-use and safety appeal had the lowest frequency (40% and 7.4%, respectively). Nigerian movie stars were used as brand icons in advertisements of OTC products on radio (59.5%), television (52.9%), and billboards (49.6%). The majority of advertisements for OTC products in a Nigerian urban setting used advertising appeal related to efficacy and psychosocial enhancement. Promotional efforts by pharmaceutical manufacturers appear to focus on positive emotional appeal to influence drug purchase and use decisions.

Music, Language and Learning: Investigating the Impact of a Music Workshop Project in Four English Early Years Settings

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Pitts, Stephanie E.

2016-01-01

The Soundplay project ran in four early years settings in Sheffield, UK, in 2014-15, using a series of music workshops to attempt to increase the music and language attainment of children aged two to four years. The associated research investigated the impact of the programme, using a combination of observation, music and language tracker tools,…

Enrichment of target sequences for next-generation sequencing applications in research and diagnostics.

PubMed

Altmüller, Janine; Budde, Birgit S; Nürnberg, Peter

2014-02-01

Abstract Targeted re-sequencing such as gene panel sequencing (GPS) has become very popular in medical genetics, both for research projects and in diagnostic settings. The technical principles of the different enrichment methods have been reviewed several times before; however, new enrichment products are constantly entering the market, and researchers are often puzzled about the requirement to take decisions about long-term commitments, both for the enrichment product and the sequencing technology. This review summarizes important considerations for the experimental design and provides helpful recommendations in choosing the best sequencing strategy for various research projects and diagnostic applications.

DeLucca named project director in Guatemala.

PubMed

1984-01-01

Mike Delucca, a social marketing specialist since 1978, has been named director of a new contraceptive social marketing effort in Guatemala. The project is sponsored by Importadora de Productos Farmaceuticos (IPROFA), S.A., a group of private-sector community leaders who came together specifically to set up the project. IPROFA plan to being marketing 1 brand of oral contraceptive, condom, and foaming tablet in early 1985. Efforts will first be targeted at economically and socially disadvantaged fertile couples between the ages of 18-44 in large urban areas. By the end of 1985 marketing will begin in rural and small urban areas. DeLucca is on assignment IPROFA from Juarez and Associates, a marketing and research firm in Los Angeles. He was formerly with Development Associates of Arlington, Virginia, and served as project director for the social marketing project in El Salvador. He joined the Guatemala project in May 1984, overseeing prelaunch activities that included development of the marketing plan. After the product launch he will coordinate sales and follow-up marketing studies. The project is the result of a cooperative agreement between IPROFA and US Agency for International Development (USAID) signed in April 1982. full text

The RIB production target for the SPES project

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Monetti, Alberto; Andrighetto, Alberto; Petrovich, Carlo; Manzolaro, Mattia; Corradetti, Stefano; Scarpa, Daniele; Rossetto, Francesco; Martinez Dominguez, Fernando; Vasquez, Jesus; Rossignoli, Massimo; Calderolla, Michele; Silingardi, Roberto; Mozzi, Aldo; Borgna, Francesca; Vivian, Gianluca; Boratto, Enrico; Ballan, Michele; Prete, Gianfranco; Meneghetti, Giovanni

2015-10-01

Facilities making use of the Isotope Separator On-Line (ISOL) method for the production of Radioactive Ion Beams (RIB) attract interest because they can be used for nuclear structure and reaction studies, astrophysics research and interdisciplinary applications. The ISOL technique is based on the fast release of the nuclear reaction products from the chosen target material together with their ionization into short-lived nuclei beams. Within this context, the SPES (Selective Production of Exotic Species) facility is now under construction in Italy at INFN-LNL (Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare — Laboratori Nazionali di Legnaro). The SPES facility will produce RIBs mainly from n-rich isotopes obtained by a 40 MeV cyclotron proton beam (200 μA) directly impinging on a uranium carbide multi-foil fission target. The aim of this work is to describe and update, from a comprehensive point of view, the most important results obtained by the analysis of the on-line behavior of the SPES production target assembly. In particular an improved target configuration has been studied by comparing different codes and physics models: the thermal analyses and the isotope production are re-evaluated. Then some consequent radioprotection aspects, which are essential for the installation and operation of the facility, are presented.

National red listing beyond the 2010 target.

PubMed

Zamin, Tara J; Baillie, Jonathan E M; Miller, Rebecca M; Rodríguez, Jon Paul; Ardid, Ana; Collen, Ben

2010-08-01

Following creation of the 2010 Biodiversity Target under the Convention on Biological Diversity and adoption of the United Nations Millennium Development Goals, information on status and trends of biodiversity at the national level has become increasingly important to both science and policy. National red lists (NRLs) of threatened species may provide suitable data for reporting on progress toward these goals and for informing national conservation priority setting. This information will also become increasingly important for developing species- and ecosystem-based strategies for climate change adaptation. We conducted a thorough global review of NRLs in 109 countries and analyzed gaps in NRL coverage in terms of geography and taxonomy to determine priority regions and taxonomic groups for further investment. We then examined correlations between the NRL data set and gross domestic product (GDP) and vertebrate species richness. The largest geographic gap was in Oceania, followed by middle Africa, the Caribbean, and western Africa, whereas the largest taxonomic gaps were for invertebrates, fungi, and lichens. The comprehensiveness of NRL coverage within a given country was positively correlated with GDP and negatively correlated with total vertebrate richness and threatened vertebrate richness. This supports the assertion that regions with the greatest and most vulnerable biodiversity receive the least conservation attention and indicates that financial resources may be an integral limitation. To improve coverage of NRLs, we propose a combination of projects that target underrepresented taxa or regions and projects that provide the means for countries to create or update NRLs on their own. We recommend improvements in knowledge transfer within and across regions as a priority for future investment.

Global energy and water cycle experiment (GEWEX) continental-scale international project (GCIP); reference data sets CD-ROM

USGS Publications Warehouse

Rea, Alan; Cederstrand, Joel R.

1994-01-01

The data sets on this compact disc are a compilation of several geographic reference data sets of interest to the global-change research community. The data sets were chosen with input from the Global Energy and Water Cycle Experiment (GEWEX) Continental-Scale International Project (GCIP) Data Committee and the GCIP Hydrometeorology and Atmospheric Subpanels. The data sets include: locations and periods of record for stream gages, reservoir gages, and meteorological stations; a 500-meter-resolution digital elevation model; grid-node locations for the Eta numerical weather-prediction model; and digital map data sets of geology, land use, streams, large reservoirs, average annual runoff, average annual precipitation, average annual temperature, average annual heating and cooling degree days, hydrologic units, and state and county boundaries. Also included are digital index maps for LANDSAT scenes, and for the U.S. Geological Survey 1:250,000, 1:100,000, and 1:24,000-scale map series. Most of the data sets cover the conterminous United States; the digital elevation model also includes part of southern Canada. The stream and reservoir gage and meteorological station files cover all states having area within the Mississippi River Basin plus that part of the Mississippi River Basin lying within Canada. Several data-base retrievals were processed by state, therefore many sites outside the Mississippi River Basin are included.

Target prioritization and strategy selection for active case-finding of pulmonary tuberculosis: a tool to support country-level project planning.

PubMed

Nishikiori, Nobuyuki; Van Weezenbeek, Catharina

2013-02-02

Despite the progress made in the past decade, tuberculosis (TB) control still faces significant challenges. In many countries with declining TB incidence, the disease tends to concentrate in vulnerable populations that often have limited access to health care. In light of the limitations of the current case-finding approach and the global urgency to improve case detection, active case-finding (ACF) has been suggested as an important complementary strategy to accelerate tuberculosis control especially among high-risk populations. The present exercise aims to develop a model that can be used for county-level project planning. A simple deterministic model was developed to calculate the number of estimated TB cases diagnosed and the associated costs of diagnosis. The model was designed to compare cost-effectiveness parameters, such as the cost per case detected, for different diagnostic algorithms when they are applied to different risk populations. The model was transformed into a web-based tool that can support national TB programmes and civil society partners in designing ACF activities. According to the model output, tuberculosis active case-finding can be a costly endeavor, depending on the target population and the diagnostic strategy. The analysis suggests the following: (1) Active case-finding activities are cost-effective only if the tuberculosis prevalence among the target population is high. (2) Extensive diagnostic methods (e.g. X-ray screening for the entire group, use of sputum culture or molecular diagnostics) can be applied only to very high-risk groups such as TB contacts, prisoners or people living with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection. (3) Basic diagnostic approaches such as TB symptom screening are always applicable although the diagnostic yield is very limited. The cost-effectiveness parameter was sensitive to local diagnostic costs and the tuberculosis prevalence of target populations. The prioritization of appropriate target

TargetMiner: microRNA target prediction with systematic identification of tissue-specific negative examples.

PubMed

Bandyopadhyay, Sanghamitra; Mitra, Ramkrishna

2009-10-15

Prediction of microRNA (miRNA) target mRNAs using machine learning approaches is an important area of research. However, most of the methods suffer from either high false positive or false negative rates. One reason for this is the marked deficiency of negative examples or miRNA non-target pairs. Systematic identification of non-target mRNAs is still not addressed properly, and therefore, current machine learning approaches are compelled to rely on artificially generated negative examples for training. In this article, we have identified approximately 300 tissue-specific negative examples using a novel approach that involves expression profiling of both miRNAs and mRNAs, miRNA-mRNA structural interactions and seed-site conservation. The newly generated negative examples are validated with pSILAC dataset, which elucidate the fact that the identified non-targets are indeed non-targets.These high-throughput tissue-specific negative examples and a set of experimentally verified positive examples are then used to build a system called TargetMiner, a support vector machine (SVM)-based classifier. In addition to assessing the prediction accuracy on cross-validation experiments, TargetMiner has been validated with a completely independent experimental test dataset. Our method outperforms 10 existing target prediction algorithms and provides a good balance between sensitivity and specificity that is not reflected in the existing methods. We achieve a significantly higher sensitivity and specificity of 69% and 67.8% based on a pool of 90 feature set and 76.5% and 66.1% using a set of 30 selected feature set on the completely independent test dataset. In order to establish the effectiveness of the systematically generated negative examples, the SVM is trained using a different set of negative data generated using the method in Yousef et al. A significantly higher false positive rate (70.6%) is observed when tested on the independent set, while all other factors are kept the

Changing paradigm from one target one ligand towards multi target directed ligand design for key drug targets of Alzheimer disease: An important role of Insilco methods in multi target directed ligands design.

PubMed

Kumar, Akhil; Tiwari, Ashish; Sharma, Ashok

2018-03-15

Alzheimer disease (AD) is now considered as a multifactorial neurodegenerative disorder and rapidly increasing to an alarming situation and causing higher death rate. One target one ligand hypothesis is not able to provide complete solution of AD due to multifactorial nature of disease and one target one drug seems to fail to provide better treatment against AD. Moreover, current available treatments are limited and most of the upcoming treatments under clinical trials are based on modulating single target. So the current AD drug discovery research shifting towards new approach for better solution that simultaneously modulate more than one targets in the neurodegenerative cascade. This can be achieved by network pharmacology, multi-modal therapies, multifaceted, and/or the more recently proposed term "multi-targeted designed drugs. Drug discovery project is tedious, costly and long term project. Moreover, multi target AD drug discovery added extra challenges such as good binding affinity of ligands for multiple targets, optimal ADME/T properties, no/less off target side effect and crossing of the blood brain barrier. These hurdles may be addressed by insilico methods for efficient solution in less time and cost as computational methods successfully applied to single target drug discovery project. Here we are summarizing some of the most prominent and computationally explored single target against AD and further we discussed successful example of dual or multiple inhibitors for same targets. Moreover we focused on ligand and structure based computational approach to design MTDL against AD. However is not an easy task to balance dual activity in a single molecule but computational approach such as virtual screening docking, QSAR, simulation and free energy are useful in future MTDLs drug discovery alone or in combination with fragment based method. However, rational and logical implementations of computational drug designing methods are capable of assisting AD drug

Boundary conditions for the influence of unfamiliar non-target primes in unconscious evaluative priming: The moderating role of attentional task sets.

PubMed

Kiefer, Markus; Sim, Eun-Jim; Wentura, Dirk

2015-09-01

Evaluative priming by masked emotional stimuli that are not consciously perceived has been taken as evidence that affective stimulus evaluation can also occur unconsciously. However, as masked priming effects were small and frequently observed only for familiar primes that there also presented as visible targets in an evaluative decision task, priming was thought to reflect primarily response activation based on acquired S-R associations and not evaluative semantic stimulus analysis. The present study therefore assessed across three experiments boundary conditions for the emergence of masked evaluative priming effects with unfamiliar primes in an evaluative decision task and investigated the role of the frequency of target repetition on priming with pictorial and verbal stimuli. While familiar primes elicited robust priming effects in all conditions, priming effects by unfamiliar primes were reliably obtained for low repetition (pictures) or unrepeated targets (words), but not for targets repeated at a high frequency. This suggests that unfamiliar masked stimuli only elicit evaluative priming effects when the task set associated with the visible target involves evaluative semantic analysis and is not based on S-R triggered responding as for high repetition targets. The present results therefore converge with the growing body of evidence demonstrating attentional control influences on unconscious processing. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Road safety risk evaluation and target setting using data envelopment analysis and its extensions.

PubMed

Shen, Yongjun; Hermans, Elke; Brijs, Tom; Wets, Geert; Vanhoof, Koen

2012-09-01

Currently, comparison between countries in terms of their road safety performance is widely conducted in order to better understand one's own safety situation and to learn from those best-performing countries by indicating practical targets and formulating action programmes. In this respect, crash data such as the number of road fatalities and casualties are mostly investigated. However, the absolute numbers are not directly comparable between countries. Therefore, the concept of risk, which is defined as the ratio of road safety outcomes and some measure of exposure (e.g., the population size, the number of registered vehicles, or distance travelled), is often used in the context of benchmarking. Nevertheless, these risk indicators are not consistent in most cases. In other words, countries may have different evaluation results or ranking positions using different exposure information. In this study, data envelopment analysis (DEA) as a performance measurement technique is investigated to provide an overall perspective on a country's road safety situation, and further assess whether the road safety outcomes registered in a country correspond to the numbers that can be expected based on the level of exposure. In doing so, three model extensions are considered, which are the DEA based road safety model (DEA-RS), the cross-efficiency method, and the categorical DEA model. Using the measures of exposure to risk as the model's input and the number of road fatalities as output, an overall road safety efficiency score is computed for the 27 European Union (EU) countries based on the DEA-RS model, and the ranking of countries in accordance with their cross-efficiency scores is evaluated. Furthermore, after applying clustering analysis to group countries with inherent similarity in their practices, the categorical DEA-RS model is adopted to identify best-performing and underperforming countries in each cluster, as well as the reference sets or benchmarks for those

Lipid Management in a Japanese Community:Attainment Rate of Target Set by the Japan Atherosclerosis Society Guidelines for the Prevention of Atherosclerotic Cardiovascular Diseases 2012.

PubMed

Tada, Hayato; Kawashiri, Masa-Aki; Nohara, Atsushi; Inazu, Akihiro; Kobayashi, Junji; Yasuda, Kenji; Mabuchi, Hiroshi; Yamagishi, Masakazu; Hayashi, Kenshi

2017-03-01

The Japan Atherosclerosis Society (JAS) guidelines for the prevention of atherosclerotic diseases 2012 (JAS2012) proposed lipid management targets; however, less data is available regarding the attainment rates of each target in community-based settings. Therefore, we assessed the attainment rates of lipid management targets among subjects who underwent Japanese specific health checkups. A total of 85,716 subjects (male=29,282, 34.2%) aged 40-74 years who underwent specific health checkups from 2012 to 2014 in Kanazawa city, Japan, were included in this study. We evaluated the attainment rates of the lipid management targets according to the JAS2012 guideline and investigated the clinical characteristics of the subjects without achieving the targets. The target for LDL cholesterol (LDL-C) was the least attained in all risk categories, 89, 72, 50, and 34% for category I, II, III, and secondary prevention, respectively, in 2014. In addition, these rates inversely correlated with the grade of risk categories (p-value for trends ＜0.001). Attainment rate of the LDL-C target in the suspected chronic kidney disease (CKD) group was significantly lower than in the groups with diabetes, stroke, or absolute risk in category III (49.2, 60.3, 63.5, 54.4%, respectively, p-value ＜0.001 for each). Moreover, the attainment rate of the LDL-C target was significantly lower in subjects that did not receive lipid-lowering therapy than in those who received it in the secondary prevention (27.7 and 40.6%, respectively, p-value ＜0.001). Lipid management is inadequate in community-based settings, particularly, in subjects with CKD and secondary prevention.

Designing an Active Target Test Projection Chamber

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Koci, James; Tan Ahn Collaboration, Dr.; Nicolas Dixneuf Collaboration

2015-10-01

The development of instrumentation in nuclear physics is crucial for advancing our ability to measure the properties of exotic nuclei. One limitation of the use of exotic nuclei in experiment is their very low production intensities. Recently, detectors, called active-target dectectors, have been developed to address this issue. Active-target detectors use a gas medium to image charged-particle tracks that are emitted in nuclear reactions. Last semester, I designed a vacuum chamber to be used in developing Micro-Pattern Gas detectors that will upgrade the capabilities of an active-target detector called the Prototype AT-TPC. With the exterior of the chamber complete, I have now been using an electric field modeling program, Garfield, developed by CERN to design a field cage to be placed within the vacuum chamber. The field cage will be a box-like apparatus consisting of two parallel metal plates connected with a resistor chain and attached to wires wrapped between them. The cage will provide a uniform electric field within the chamber to drift electrons from nuclear reactions down to the detector in the bottom of the chamber. These signals are then amplified by a proportional counter, and the data is sent to a computer. For the long term, we would like to incorporate a Micro-Pattern Gas Detectors in the interior of the chamber and eventually use the AT-TPC to examine various nuclei. Dr. Ahn is my advising professor.

Internal combustion engine report: Spark ignited ICE GenSet optimization and novel concept development

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

Keller, J.; Blarigan, P. Van

1998-08-01

In this manuscript the authors report on two projects each of which the goal is to produce cost effective hydrogen utilization technologies. These projects are: (1) the development of an electrical generation system using a conventional four-stroke spark-ignited internal combustion engine generator combination (SI-GenSet) optimized for maximum efficiency and minimum emissions, and (2) the development of a novel internal combustion engine concept. The SI-GenSet will be optimized to run on either hydrogen or hydrogen-blends. The novel concept seeks to develop an engine that optimizes the Otto cycle in a free piston configuration while minimizing all emissions. To this end themore » authors are developing a rapid combustion homogeneous charge compression ignition (HCCI) engine using a linear alternator for both power take-off and engine control. Targeted applications include stationary electrical power generation, stationary shaft power generation, hybrid vehicles, and nearly any other application now being accomplished with internal combustion engines.« less

Fertility targets and policy options in Asia.

PubMed

Bulatao, R A

1984-11-01

The 3rd Asian and Pacific Population Conference in Colombo in 1982 recommended that countries review and modify existing demographic targets and goals for reducing birth and death rates in order to attain low levels as early as possible and to attain replacement level by the year 2000. The demographic goals of selected Asian countries (Bangladesh, Indonesia, Korea, Thailand, India, Pakistan, and the Philippines are assessed and compared to World Bank population projections. It also discusses the underlying rationale for setting fertility targets, and considers what government actions could make them more achievable. 6 stages for controlling population are distinguished: 1) collection and publication of reliable demographic data; 2) enunciation of an official policy to reduce population growth; 3) development of appropriate institutions to integrate demographic projections into economic plans; 4) promotion of family planning; 5) provision of incentives and disincentives, including elimination of all implicit and explicit subsidies for child bearing; and 6) restitution of birth quotas requiring permission for each child born. Principles to maintain and accelerate fertility declines to meet demographic targets include creating appropriate and equitable development policies, increasing the standard of family planning programs, confronting organizational problems, providing easier and more equal access to contraceptive methods, exploring innovative approaches to encourage smaller families and making a firm political commitment to population control. Rapid fertility decline will also require financial commitment. Willingness to spend the necessary amounts, and the capacity to spend them as well, will determine whether the countries of Asia enter the next century in control of their population.

Exploring the potential of a structural alphabet-based tool for mining multiple target conformations and target flexibility insight.

PubMed

Regad, Leslie; Chéron, Jean-Baptiste; Triki, Dhoha; Senac, Caroline; Flatters, Delphine; Camproux, Anne-Claude

2017-01-01

Protein flexibility is often implied in binding with different partners and is essential for protein function. The growing number of macromolecular structures in the Protein Data Bank entries and their redundancy has become a major source of structural knowledge of the protein universe. The analysis of structural variability through available redundant structures of a target, called multiple target conformations (MTC), obtained using experimental or modeling methods and under different biological conditions or different sources is one way to explore protein flexibility. This analysis is essential to improve the understanding of various mechanisms associated with protein target function and flexibility. In this study, we explored structural variability of three biological targets by analyzing different MTC sets associated with these targets. To facilitate the study of these MTC sets, we have developed an efficient tool, SA-conf, dedicated to capturing and linking the amino acid and local structure variability and analyzing the target structural variability space. The advantage of SA-conf is that it could be applied to divers sets composed of MTCs available in the PDB obtained using NMR and crystallography or homology models. This tool could also be applied to analyze MTC sets obtained by dynamics approaches. Our results showed that SA-conf tool is effective to quantify the structural variability of a MTC set and to localize the structural variable positions and regions of the target. By selecting adapted MTC subsets and comparing their variability detected by SA-conf, we highlighted different sources of target flexibility such as induced by binding partner, by mutation and intrinsic flexibility. Our results support the interest to mine available structures associated with a target using to offer valuable insight into target flexibility and interaction mechanisms. The SA-conf executable script, with a set of pre-compiled binaries are available at http://www.mti.univ-paris-diderot.fr/recherche/plateformes/logiciels.

Exploring the potential of a structural alphabet-based tool for mining multiple target conformations and target flexibility insight

PubMed Central

Chéron, Jean-Baptiste; Triki, Dhoha; Senac, Caroline; Flatters, Delphine; Camproux, Anne-Claude

2017-01-01

Protein flexibility is often implied in binding with different partners and is essential for protein function. The growing number of macromolecular structures in the Protein Data Bank entries and their redundancy has become a major source of structural knowledge of the protein universe. The analysis of structural variability through available redundant structures of a target, called multiple target conformations (MTC), obtained using experimental or modeling methods and under different biological conditions or different sources is one way to explore protein flexibility. This analysis is essential to improve the understanding of various mechanisms associated with protein target function and flexibility. In this study, we explored structural variability of three biological targets by analyzing different MTC sets associated with these targets. To facilitate the study of these MTC sets, we have developed an efficient tool, SA-conf, dedicated to capturing and linking the amino acid and local structure variability and analyzing the target structural variability space. The advantage of SA-conf is that it could be applied to divers sets composed of MTCs available in the PDB obtained using NMR and crystallography or homology models. This tool could also be applied to analyze MTC sets obtained by dynamics approaches. Our results showed that SA-conf tool is effective to quantify the structural variability of a MTC set and to localize the structural variable positions and regions of the target. By selecting adapted MTC subsets and comparing their variability detected by SA-conf, we highlighted different sources of target flexibility such as induced by binding partner, by mutation and intrinsic flexibility. Our results support the interest to mine available structures associated with a target using to offer valuable insight into target flexibility and interaction mechanisms. The SA-conf executable script, with a set of pre-compiled binaries are available at http

Risk analysis for renewable energy projects due to constraints arising

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Prostean, G.; Vasar, C.; Prostean, O.; Vartosu, A.

2016-02-01

Starting from the target of the European Union (EU) to use renewable energy in the area that aims a binding target of 20% renewable energy in final energy consumption by 2020, this article illustrates the identification of risks for implementation of wind energy projects in Romania, which could lead to complex technical implications, social and administrative. In specific projects analyzed in this paper were identified critical bottlenecks in the future wind power supply chain and reasonable time periods that may arise. Renewable energy technologies have to face a number of constraints that delayed scaling-up their production process, their transport process, the equipment reliability, etc. so implementing these types of projects requiring complex specialized team, the coordination of which also involve specific risks. The research team applied an analytical risk approach to identify major risks encountered within a wind farm project developed in Romania in isolated regions with different particularities, configured for different geographical areas (hill and mountain locations in Romania). Identification of major risks was based on the conceptual model set up for the entire project implementation process. Throughout this conceptual model there were identified specific constraints of such process. Integration risks were examined by an empirical study based on the method HAZOP (Hazard and Operability). The discussion describes the analysis of our results implementation context of renewable energy projects in Romania and creates a framework for assessing energy supply to any entity from renewable sources.

Chemical Structural Novelty: On-Targets and Off-Targets

PubMed Central

Yera, Emmanuel R.; Cleves, Ann. E.; Jain, Ajay N.

2011-01-01

Drug structures may be quantitatively compared based on 2D topological structural considerations and based on 3D characteristics directly related to binding. A framework for combining multiple similarity computations is presented along with its systematic application to 358 drugs with overlapping pharmacology. Given a new molecule along with a set of molecules sharing some biological effect, a single score based on comparison to the known set is produced, reflecting either 2D similarity, 3D similarity, or their combination. For prediction of primary targets, the benefit of 3D over 2D was relatively small, but for prediction of off-targets, the added benefit was large. In addition to assessing prediction, the relationship between chemical similarity and pharmacological novelty was studied. Drug pairs that shared high 3D similarity but low 2D similarity (i.e. a novel scaffold) were shown to be much more likely to exhibit pharmacologically relevant differences in terms of specific protein target modulation. PMID:21916467

Pre- and post-test evaluation of a project to facilitate research development in practice in a hospital setting.

PubMed

Clifford, C; Murray, S

2001-12-01

This paper describes a project designed to facilitate the use of research in nursing practice in one acute hospital. A university team worked in collaboration with staff from the hospital to develop and evaluate the impact of development work designed to enhance knowledge and use of research in practice. A research utilization questionnaire was administered as a pre-test (stage 1); a development phase was implemented (stage 2) and a post-test survey (stage 3) was administered to evaluate the impact of the development work. In stage 1, the total population of nursing and midwifery staff in the hospital (n=473) were targeted and 235 returned the questionnaire, giving a response rate of 50%. Data from the pre-test and focus group discussions with staff were used to plan stage 2 of the project. The development stage involved an educational strand in which open learning research materials were made available to staff, who were also offered tutorial support in their learning. A second strand supported the development of clinical research projects and funds were identified for clinical staff to apply for project development awards to enable them to develop skills in research and development activity under the supervision of a research fellow. Stage 3 involved a post-test survey of staff who had completed the questionnaire in stage 1 (n=81). There were no significant differences in findings between the pre-test and post-test. Qualitative data from those involved in the clinical projects in stage 2 indicated factors impacting on the feasibility of undertaking research in practice.

Estimation of error in maximal intensity projection-based internal target volume of lung tumors: a simulation and comparison study using dynamic magnetic resonance imaging.

PubMed

Cai, Jing; Read, Paul W; Baisden, Joseph M; Larner, James M; Benedict, Stanley H; Sheng, Ke

2007-11-01

To evaluate the error in four-dimensional computed tomography (4D-CT) maximal intensity projection (MIP)-based lung tumor internal target volume determination using a simulation method based on dynamic magnetic resonance imaging (dMRI). Eight healthy volunteers and six lung tumor patients underwent a 5-min MRI scan in the sagittal plane to acquire dynamic images of lung motion. A MATLAB program was written to generate re-sorted dMRI using 4D-CT acquisition methods (RedCAM) by segmenting and rebinning the MRI scans. The maximal intensity projection images were generated from RedCAM and dMRI, and the errors in the MIP-based internal target area (ITA) from RedCAM (epsilon), compared with those from dMRI, were determined and correlated with the subjects' respiratory variability (nu). Maximal intensity projection-based ITAs from RedCAM were comparatively smaller than those from dMRI in both phantom studies (epsilon = -21.64% +/- 8.23%) and lung tumor patient studies (epsilon = -20.31% +/- 11.36%). The errors in MIP-based ITA from RedCAM correlated linearly (epsilon = -5.13nu - 6.71, r(2) = 0.76) with the subjects' respiratory variability. Because of the low temporal resolution and retrospective re-sorting, 4D-CT might not accurately depict the excursion of a moving tumor. Using a 4D-CT MIP image to define the internal target volume might therefore cause underdosing and an increased risk of subsequent treatment failure. Patient-specific respiratory variability might also be a useful predictor of the 4D-CT-induced error in MIP-based internal target volume determination.

Meeting the challenges of developing LED-based projection displays

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Geißler, Enrico

2006-04-01

The main challenge in developing a LED-based projection system is to meet the brightness requirements of the market. Therefore a balanced combination of optical, electrical and thermal parameters must be reached to achieve these performance and cost targets. This paper describes the system design methodology for a digital micromirror display (DMD) based optical engine using LEDs as the light source, starting at the basic physical and geometrical parameters of the DMD and other optical elements through characterization of the LEDs to optimizing the system performance by determining optimal driving conditions. LEDs have a luminous flux density which is just at the threshold of acceptance in projection systems and thus only a fully optimized optical system with a matched set of LEDs can be used. This work resulted in two projection engines, one for a compact pocket projector and the other for a rear projection television, both of which are currently in commercialization.

Target School Research Project: Change and Learning Community Development

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Simmerman, Herbert R., Jr.

2009-01-01

This study investigated the use of organizational learning community principles to effectively manage organizational change. Target is a pseudonym for a small public school in Southern New Jersey that has provided educational services to students with special needs since 1969. In 2004 Target began providing services to a new population of students…

Targeted Expansion Project for Outreach and Treatment for Substance Abuse and HIV Risk Behaviors in Asian and Pacific Islander Communities

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Nemoto, Tooru; Iwamoto, Mariko; Kamitani, Emiko; Morris, Anne; Sakata, Maria

2011-01-01

Access to culturally competent HIV/AIDS and substance abuse treatment and prevention services is limited for Asian and Pacific Islanders (APIs). Based on the intake data for a community outreach project in the San Francisco Bay Area (N = 1,349), HIV risk behaviors were described among the targeted API risk groups. The self-reported HIV prevalence…

PeptideNavigator: An interactive tool for exploring large and complex data sets generated during peptide-based drug design projects.

PubMed

Diller, Kyle I; Bayden, Alexander S; Audie, Joseph; Diller, David J

2018-01-01

There is growing interest in peptide-based drug design and discovery. Due to their relatively large size, polymeric nature, and chemical complexity, the design of peptide-based drugs presents an interesting "big data" challenge. Here, we describe an interactive computational environment, PeptideNavigator, for naturally exploring the tremendous amount of information generated during a peptide drug design project. The purpose of PeptideNavigator is the presentation of large and complex experimental and computational data sets, particularly 3D data, so as to enable multidisciplinary scientists to make optimal decisions during a peptide drug discovery project. PeptideNavigator provides users with numerous viewing options, such as scatter plots, sequence views, and sequence frequency diagrams. These views allow for the collective visualization and exploration of many peptides and their properties, ultimately enabling the user to focus on a small number of peptides of interest. To drill down into the details of individual peptides, PeptideNavigator provides users with a Ramachandran plot viewer and a fully featured 3D visualization tool. Each view is linked, allowing the user to seamlessly navigate from collective views of large peptide data sets to the details of individual peptides with promising property profiles. Two case studies, based on MHC-1A activating peptides and MDM2 scaffold design, are presented to demonstrate the utility of PeptideNavigator in the context of disparate peptide-design projects. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Development of a new model to engage patients and clinicians in setting research priorities.

PubMed

Pollock, Alex; St George, Bridget; Fenton, Mark; Crowe, Sally; Firkins, Lester

2014-01-01

Equitable involvement of patients and clinicians in setting research and funding priorities is ethically desirable and can improve the quality, relevance and implementation of research. Survey methods used in previous priority setting projects to gather treatment uncertainties may not be sufficient to facilitate responses from patients and their lay carers for some health care topics. We aimed to develop a new model to engage patients and clinicians in setting research priorities relating to life after stroke, and to explore the use of this model within a James Lind Alliance (JLA) priority setting project. We developed a model to facilitate involvement through targeted engagement and assisted involvement (FREE TEA model). We implemented both standard surveys and the FREE TEA model to gather research priorities (treatment uncertainties) from people affected by stroke living in Scotland. We explored and configured the number of treatment uncertainties elicited from different groups by the two approaches. We gathered 516 treatment uncertainties from stroke survivors, carers and health professionals. We achieved approximately equal numbers of contributions; 281 (54%) from stroke survivors/carers; 235 (46%) from health professionals. For stroke survivors and carers, 98 (35%) treatment uncertainties were elicited from the standard survey and 183 (65%) at FREE TEA face-to-face visits. This contrasted with the health professionals for whom 198 (84%) were elicited from the standard survey and only 37 (16%) from FREE TEA visits. The FREE TEA model has implications for future priority setting projects and user-involvement relating to populations of people with complex health needs. Our results imply that reliance on standard surveys may result in poor and unrepresentative involvement of patients, thereby favouring the views of health professionals.

Nuclease Target Site Selection for Maximizing On-target Activity and Minimizing Off-target Effects in Genome Editing

PubMed Central

Lee, Ciaran M; Cradick, Thomas J; Fine, Eli J; Bao, Gang

2016-01-01

The rapid advancement in targeted genome editing using engineered nucleases such as ZFNs, TALENs, and CRISPR/Cas9 systems has resulted in a suite of powerful methods that allows researchers to target any genomic locus of interest. A complementary set of design tools has been developed to aid researchers with nuclease design, target site selection, and experimental validation. Here, we review the various tools available for target selection in designing engineered nucleases, and for quantifying nuclease activity and specificity, including web-based search tools and experimental methods. We also elucidate challenges in target selection, especially in predicting off-target effects, and discuss future directions in precision genome editing and its applications. PMID:26750397

Fast maximum intensity projections of large medical data sets by exploiting hierarchical memory architectures.

PubMed

Kiefer, Gundolf; Lehmann, Helko; Weese, Jürgen

2006-04-01

Maximum intensity projections (MIPs) are an important visualization technique for angiographic data sets. Efficient data inspection requires frame rates of at least five frames per second at preserved image quality. Despite the advances in computer technology, this task remains a challenge. On the one hand, the sizes of computed tomography and magnetic resonance images are increasing rapidly. On the other hand, rendering algorithms do not automatically benefit from the advances in processor technology, especially for large data sets. This is due to the faster evolving processing power and the slower evolving memory access speed, which is bridged by hierarchical cache memory architectures. In this paper, we investigate memory access optimization methods and use them for generating MIPs on general-purpose central processing units (CPUs) and graphics processing units (GPUs), respectively. These methods can work on any level of the memory hierarchy, and we show that properly combined methods can optimize memory access on multiple levels of the hierarchy at the same time. We present performance measurements to compare different algorithm variants and illustrate the influence of the respective techniques. On current hardware, the efficient handling of the memory hierarchy for CPUs improves the rendering performance by a factor of 3 to 4. On GPUs, we observed that the effect is even larger, especially for large data sets. The methods can easily be adjusted to different hardware specifics, although their impact can vary considerably. They can also be used for other rendering techniques than MIPs, and their use for more general image processing task could be investigated in the future.

Healthy city projects in developing countries: the first evaluation.

PubMed

Harpham, T; Burton, S; Blue, I

2001-06-01

The 'healthy city' concept has only recently been adopted in developing countries. From 1995 to 1999, the World Health Organization (WHO), Geneva, supported healthy city projects (HCPs) in Cox's Bazar (Bangladesh), Dar es Salaam (Tanzania), Fayoum (Egypt), Managua (Nicaragua) and Quetta (Pakistan). The authors evaluated four of these projects, representing the first major evaluation of HCPs in developing countries. Methods used were stakeholder analysis, workshops, document analysis and interviews with 102 managers/implementers and 103 intended beneficiaries. Municipal health plan development (one of the main components of the healthy city strategy) in these cities was limited, which is a similar finding to evaluations of HCPs in Europe. The main activities selected by the projects were awareness raising and environmental improvements, particularly solid waste disposal. Two of the cities effectively used the 'settings' approach of the healthy city concept, whereby places such as markets and schools are targeted. The evaluation found that stakeholder involvement varied in relation to: (i) the level of knowledge of the project; (ii) the project office location; (iii) the project management structure; and (iv) type of activities (ranging from low stakeholder involvement in capital-intensive infrastructure projects, to high in some settings-type activities). There was evidence to suggest that understanding of environment-health links was increased across stakeholders. There was limited political commitment to the healthy city projects, perhaps due to the fact that most of the municipalities had not requested the projects. Consequently, the projects had little influence on written/expressed municipal policies. Some of the projects mobilized considerable resources, and most projects achieved effective intersectoral collaboration. WHO support enabled the project coordinators to network at national and international levels, and the capacity of these individuals (although

26 CFR 1.430(d)-1 - Determination of target normal cost and funding target.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

2014-04-01

... 26 Internal Revenue 5 2014-04-01 2014-04-01 false Determination of target normal cost and funding target. 1.430(d)-1 Section 1.430(d)-1 Internal Revenue INTERNAL REVENUE SERVICE, DEPARTMENT OF THE... Determination of target normal cost and funding target. (a) In general—(1) Overview. This section sets forth...

26 CFR 1.430(d)-1 - Determination of target normal cost and funding target.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-04-01

... 26 Internal Revenue 5 2012-04-01 2011-04-01 true Determination of target normal cost and funding target. 1.430(d)-1 Section 1.430(d)-1 Internal Revenue INTERNAL REVENUE SERVICE, DEPARTMENT OF THE... Determination of target normal cost and funding target. (a) In general—(1) Overview. This section sets forth...

Novel particle tracking algorithm based on the Random Sample Consensus Model for the Active Target Time Projection Chamber (AT-TPC)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ayyad, Yassid; Mittig, Wolfgang; Bazin, Daniel; Beceiro-Novo, Saul; Cortesi, Marco

2018-02-01

The three-dimensional reconstruction of particle tracks in a time projection chamber is a challenging task that requires advanced classification and fitting algorithms. In this work, we have developed and implemented a novel algorithm based on the Random Sample Consensus Model (RANSAC). The RANSAC is used to classify tracks including pile-up, to remove uncorrelated noise hits, as well as to reconstruct the vertex of the reaction. The algorithm, developed within the Active Target Time Projection Chamber (AT-TPC) framework, was tested and validated by analyzing the 4He+4He reaction. Results, performance and quality of the proposed algorithm are presented and discussed in detail.

Understanding drug targets: no such thing as bad news.

PubMed

Roberts, Ruth A

2018-05-24

How can small-to-medium pharma and biotech companies enhance the chances of running a successful drug project and maximise the return on a limited number of assets? Having a full appreciation of the safety risks associated with proposed drug targets is a crucial element in understanding the unwanted side-effects that might stop a project in its tracks. Having this information is necessary to complement knowledge about the probable efficacy of a future drug. However, the lack of data-rich insight into drug-target safety is one of the major causes of drug-project failure today. Conducting comprehensive target-safety reviews early in the drug discovery process enables project teams to make the right decisions about which drug targets to take forward. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Evaluating the Outcomes and Implementation of a TaMHS (Targeting Mental Health in Schools) Project in Four West Midlands (UK) Schools Using Activity Theory

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Cane, Fiona Eloise; Oland, Louise

2015-01-01

Government guidance in 2008 endorsed the "Targeting Mental Health in Schools" (TaMHS) agenda, which sets out to promote mental health in schools through the delivery of universal and targeted interventions. This paper initially defines mental health and outlines the TaMHS initiative. It then offers empirical findings from four focus…

Performance of a visuomotor walking task in an augmented reality training setting.

PubMed

Haarman, Juliet A M; Choi, Julia T; Buurke, Jaap H; Rietman, Johan S; Reenalda, Jasper

2017-12-01

Visual cues can be used to train walking patterns. Here, we studied the performance and learning capacities of healthy subjects executing a high-precision visuomotor walking task, in an augmented reality training set-up. A beamer was used to project visual stepping targets on the walking surface of an instrumented treadmill. Two speeds were used to manipulate task difficulty. All participants (n = 20) had to change their step length to hit visual stepping targets with a specific part of their foot, while walking on a treadmill over seven consecutive training blocks, each block composed of 100 stepping targets. Distance between stepping targets was varied between short, medium and long steps. Training blocks could either be composed of random stepping targets (no fixed sequence was present in the distance between the stepping targets) or sequenced stepping targets (repeating fixed sequence was present). Random training blocks were used to measure non-specific learning and sequenced training blocks were used to measure sequence-specific learning. Primary outcome measures were performance (% of correct hits), and learning effects (increase in performance over the training blocks: both sequence-specific and non-specific). Secondary outcome measures were the performance and stepping-error in relation to the step length (distance between stepping target). Subjects were able to score 76% and 54% at first try for lower speed (2.3 km/h) and higher speed (3.3 km/h) trials, respectively. Performance scores did not increase over the course of the trials, nor did the subjects show the ability to learn a sequenced walking task. Subjects were better able to hit targets while increasing their step length, compared to shortening it. In conclusion, augmented reality training by use of the current set-up was intuitive for the user. Suboptimal feedback presentation might have limited the learning effects of the subjects. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Data Sets from Major NCI Initiaves

Cancer.gov

The NCI Data Catalog includes links to data collections produced by major NCI initiatives and other widely used data sets, including animal models, human tumor cell lines, epidemiology data sets, genomics data sets from TCGA, TARGET, COSMIC, GSK, NCI60.

Spatial frequency dependence of target signature for infrared performance modeling

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Du Bosq, Todd; Olson, Jeffrey

2011-05-01

The standard model used to describe the performance of infrared imagers is the U.S. Army imaging system target acquisition model, based on the targeting task performance metric. The model is characterized by the resolution and sensitivity of the sensor as well as the contrast and task difficulty of the target set. The contrast of the target is defined as a spatial average contrast. The model treats the contrast of the target set as spatially white, or constant, over the bandlimit of the sensor. Previous experiments have shown that this assumption is valid under normal conditions and typical target sets. However, outside of these conditions, the treatment of target signature can become the limiting factor affecting model performance accuracy. This paper examines target signature more carefully. The spatial frequency dependence of the standard U.S. Army RDECOM CERDEC Night Vision 12 and 8 tracked vehicle target sets is described. The results of human perception experiments are modeled and evaluated using both frequency dependent and independent target signature definitions. Finally the function of task difficulty and its relationship to a target set is discussed.

Measurement of Isobaric Analogue Resonances of 47Ar with the Active-Target Time Projection Chamber

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bradt, Joshua William

While the nuclear shell model accurately describes the structure of nuclei near stability, the structure of unstable, neutron-rich nuclei is still an area of active research. One region of interest is the set of nuclei near N=28. The shell model suggests that these nuclei should be approximately spherical due to the shell gap predicted by their magic number of neutrons; however, experiments have shown that the nuclei in this region rapidly become deformed as protons are removed from the spherical 48Ca. This makes 46Ar a particularly interesting system as it lies in a transition region between 48Ca and lighter isotones that are known to be deformed. An experiment was performed at the National Superconducting Cyclotron Laboratory (NSCL) to measure resonant proton scattering on 46Ar. The resonances observed in this reaction correspond to unbound levels in the 47K intermediate state nucleus which are isobaric analogues of states in the 47Ar nucleus. By measuring the spectroscopic factors of these states in 47Ar, we gain information about the single-particle structure of this system, which is directly related to the size of the N=28 shell gap. Four resonances were observed: one corresponding to the ground state in 47Ar, one corresponding its first excited 1/2- state, and two corresponding to 1/2+ states in either 47Ar or the intermediate state nucleus. However, only a limited amount of information about these states could be recovered due to the low experimental statistics and limited angular resolution caused by pileup rejection and the inability to accurately reconstruct the beam particle track. In addition to the nuclear physics motivations, this experiment served as the radioactive beam commissioning for the Active-Target Time Projection Chamber (AT-TPC). The AT-TPC is a new gas-filled charged particle detector built at the NSCL to measure low-energy radioactive beams from the ReA3 facility. Since the gas inside the detector serves as both the tracking medium and

MIT Project Apophis: Surface Evaulation & Tomography (SET) Mission Study for the April 2029 Earth Encounter

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Binzel, R. P.; Earle, A. M.; Vanatta, M.; Miller, D. W.

2017-12-01

Nature is providing a once-per-thousand year opportunity to study the geophysical outcome induced on an unprecedentedly large (350 meter) asteroid making an extremely close passage by the Earth (inside the distance of geosynchronous satellites) on Friday April 13, 2029. The aircraft carrier-sized (estimated 20 million metric ton) asteroid is named Apophis. While many previous spacecraft missions have studied asteroids, none has ever had the opportunity to study "live" the outcome of planetary tidal forces on their shapes, spin states, surface geology, and internal structure. Beyond the science interest directly observing this planetary process, the Apophis encounter provides an invaluable opportunity to gain knowledge for any eventuality of a known asteroid found to be on a certain impact trajectory. MIT's Project Apophis [1] is our response to nature's generous opportunity by developing a detailed mission concept for sending a spacecraft to orbit Apophis with the objectives of surveying its surface and interior structure before, during, and after its 2029 near-Earth encounter. The Surface Evaluation & Tomography (SET) mission concept we present is designed toward accomplishing three key science objectives: (1) bulk physical characterization, (2) internal structure, and (3) long-term orbit tracking. For its first mission objective, SET will study Apophis' bulk properties, including: shape, size, mass, volume, bulk density, surface geology, and composition, rotation rate, and spin state. The second mission objective is to characterize Apophis' internal structure before and after the encounter to determine its strength and cohesion - including tidally induced changes. Finally, the third objective studies the process of thermal re-radiation and consequential Yarkovsky drift, whose results will improve orbit predictions for Apophis as well as other potentially hazardous asteroids. [1] https://eapsweb.mit.edu/mit-project-apophis

Energy Storage Project

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Mercer, Carolyn R.; Jankovsky, Amy L.; Reid, Concha M.; Miller, Thomas B.; Hoberecht, Mark A.

2011-01-01

NASA's Exploration Technology Development Program funded the Energy Storage Project to develop battery and fuel cell technology to meet the expected energy storage needs of the Constellation Program for human exploration. Technology needs were determined by architecture studies and risk assessments conducted by the Constellation Program, focused on a mission for a long-duration lunar outpost. Critical energy storage needs were identified as batteries for EVA suits, surface mobility systems, and a lander ascent stage; fuel cells for the lander and mobility systems; and a regenerative fuel cell for surface power. To address these needs, the Energy Storage Project developed advanced lithium-ion battery technology, targeting cell-level safety and very high specific energy and energy density. Key accomplishments include the development of silicon composite anodes, lithiated-mixed-metal-oxide cathodes, low-flammability electrolytes, and cell-incorporated safety devices that promise to substantially improve battery performance while providing a high level of safety. The project also developed "non-flow-through" proton-exchange-membrane fuel cell stacks. The primary advantage of this technology set is the reduction of ancillary parts in the balance-of-plant--fewer pumps, separators and related components should result in fewer failure modes and hence a higher probability of achieving very reliable operation, and reduced parasitic power losses enable smaller reactant tanks and therefore systems with lower mass and volume. Key accomplishments include the fabrication and testing of several robust, small-scale nonflow-through fuel cell stacks that have demonstrated proof-of-concept. This report summarizes the project s goals, objectives, technical accomplishments, and risk assessments. A bibliography spanning the life of the project is also included.

Project ACE Activity Sets. Book II: Grades 6 and 7.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Eden City Schools, NC.

The document contains eight activity sets suitable for grades 6 and 7. Topics focus on governmental, social, and educational systems in foreign countries. Each activity set contains background reading materials, resources, concepts, general objectives, and instructional objectives. Grade 6 sets are "Soviet Youth Organizations,""How…

Artist Place Settings

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Pellegrino, Linda

2009-01-01

Art history can be a little dry at times, but the author is always trying to incorporate new ways of teaching it. In this article, she describes a project in which students were to create a place setting out of clay that had to be unified through a famous artist's style. This place setting had to consist of at least five pieces (dinner plate, cup…

Sustainability of knowledge implementation in a low- and middle- income context: Experiences from a facilitation project in Vietnam targeting maternal and neonatal health

PubMed Central

Bergström, Anna; Hoa, Dinh Thi Phuong; Nga, Nguyen Thu; Eldh, Ann Catrine

2017-01-01

Background In a previous trial in Vietnam, a facilitation strategy to secure evidence-based practice in primary care resulted in reduced neonatal mortality over a period of three years. While little is known as to what ensures sustainability in the implementation of community-based strategies, the aim of this study was to investigate factors promoting or hindering implementation, and sustainability of knowledge implementation strategies, by means of the former Neonatal Knowledge Into Practice (NeoKIP) trial. Methods In 2014 we targeted all levels in the Vietnamese healthcare system: six individual interviews with representatives at national, provincial and district levels, and six focus group discussions with representatives at the commune level. The interviews were transcribed verbatim, translated to English, and analysed using inductive and deductive thematic analysis. Results To achieve successful implementation and sustained effect of community-based knowledge implementation strategies, engagement of leaders and key stakeholders at all levels of the healthcare system is vital–prior to, during and after a project. Implementation and sustainability require thorough needs assessment, tailoring of the intervention, and consideration of how to attain and manage funds. The NeoKIP trial was characterised by a high degree of engagement at the primary healthcare system level. Further, three years post trial, maternal and neonatal care was still high on the agenda for healthcare workers and leaders, even though primary aspects such as stakeholder engagement at all levels, and funding had been incomplete or lacking. Conclusions The current study illustrates factors to support successful implementation and sustain effects of community-based strategies in projects in low- and middle-income settings; some but not all factors were represented during the post-NeoKIP era. Most importantly, trials in this and similar contexts require deliberate management throughout and beyond

Estimation of Error in Maximal Intensity Projection-Based Internal Target Volume of Lung Tumors: A Simulation and Comparison Study Using Dynamic Magnetic Resonance Imaging

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

Cai Jing; Read, Paul W.; Baisden, Joseph M.

Purpose: To evaluate the error in four-dimensional computed tomography (4D-CT) maximal intensity projection (MIP)-based lung tumor internal target volume determination using a simulation method based on dynamic magnetic resonance imaging (dMRI). Methods and Materials: Eight healthy volunteers and six lung tumor patients underwent a 5-min MRI scan in the sagittal plane to acquire dynamic images of lung motion. A MATLAB program was written to generate re-sorted dMRI using 4D-CT acquisition methods (RedCAM) by segmenting and rebinning the MRI scans. The maximal intensity projection images were generated from RedCAM and dMRI, and the errors in the MIP-based internal target area (ITA)more » from RedCAM ({epsilon}), compared with those from dMRI, were determined and correlated with the subjects' respiratory variability ({nu}). Results: Maximal intensity projection-based ITAs from RedCAM were comparatively smaller than those from dMRI in both phantom studies ({epsilon} = -21.64% {+-} 8.23%) and lung tumor patient studies ({epsilon} = -20.31% {+-} 11.36%). The errors in MIP-based ITA from RedCAM correlated linearly ({epsilon} = -5.13{nu} - 6.71, r{sup 2} = 0.76) with the subjects' respiratory variability. Conclusions: Because of the low temporal resolution and retrospective re-sorting, 4D-CT might not accurately depict the excursion of a moving tumor. Using a 4D-CT MIP image to define the internal target volume might therefore cause underdosing and an increased risk of subsequent treatment failure. Patient-specific respiratory variability might also be a useful predictor of the 4D-CT-induced error in MIP-based internal target volume determination.« less

Improving Future Ecosystem Benefits through Earth Observations: the H2020 Project ECOPOTENTIAL

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Provenzale, Antonello; Beierkuhnlein, Carl; Ziv, Guy

2016-04-01

Terrestrial and marine ecosystems provide essential goods and services to human societies. In the last decades, however, anthropogenic pressures caused serious threats to ecosystem integrity, functions and processes, potentially leading to the loss of essential ecosystem services. ECOPOTENTIAL is a large European-funded H2020 project which focuses its activities on a targeted set of internationally recognised protected areas in Europe, European Territories and beyond, blending Earth Observations from remote sensing and field measurements, data analysis and modelling of current and future ecosystem conditions and services. The definition of future scenarios is based on climate and land-use change projections, addressing the issue of uncertainties and uncertainty propagation across the modelling chain. The ECOPOTENTIAL project addresses cross-scale geosphere-biosphere interactions and landscape-ecosystem dynamics at regional to continental scales, using geostatistical methods and the emerging approaches in Macrosystem Ecology and Earth Critical Zone studies, addressing long-term and large-scale environmental and ecological challenges. The project started its activities in 2015, by defining a set of storylines which allow to tackle some of the most crucial issues in the assessment of present conditions and the estimate of the future state of selected ecosystem services. In this contribution, we focus on some of the main storylines of the project and discuss the general approach, focusing on the interplay of data and models and on the estimate of projection uncertainties.

Genome-Wide Analysis of miRNA targets in Brachypodium and Biomass Energy Crops

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

Green, Pamela J.

2015-08-11

MicroRNAs (miRNAs) contribute to the control of numerous biological processes through the regulation of specific target mRNAs. Although the identities of these targets are essential to elucidate miRNA function, the targets are much more difficult to identify than the small RNAs themselves. Before this work, we pioneered the genome-wide identification of the targets of Arabidopsis miRNAs using an approach called PARE (German et al., Nature Biotech. 2008; Nature Protocols, 2009). Under this project, we applied PARE to Brachypodium distachyon (Brachypodium), a model plant in the Poaceae family, which includes the major food grain and bioenergy crops. Through in-depth global analysismore » and examination of specific examples, this research greatly expanded our knowledge of miRNAs and target RNAs of Brachypodium. New regulation in response to environmental stress or tissue type was found, and many new miRNAs were discovered. More than 260 targets of new and known miRNAs with PARE sequences at the precise sites of miRNA-guided cleavage were identified and characterized. Combining PARE data with the small RNA data also identified the miRNAs responsible for initiating approximately 500 phased loci, including one of the novel miRNAs. PARE analysis also revealed that differentially expressed miRNAs in the same family guide specific target RNA cleavage in a correspondingly tissue-preferential manner. The project included generation of small RNA and PARE resources for bioenergy crops, to facilitate ongoing discovery of conserved miRNA-target RNA regulation. By associating specific miRNA-target RNA pairs with known physiological functions, the research provides insights about gene regulation in different tissues and in response to environmental stress. This, and release of new PARE and small RNA data sets should contribute basic knowledge to enhance breeding and may suggest new strategies for improvement of biomass energy crops.« less

Project Communication in Functions, Process and Project-Oriented Industiral Companies

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Samáková, Jana; Koltnerová, Kristína; Rybanský, Rudolf

2012-12-01

The article is focused on the project communication management. Industrial enterprises, which use project management must constantly search the new ways for improving. One of the possibilities is the change of management from a functional oriented to the projectoriented or process-oriented. Process-oriented and project-oriented companies have better project communication management during the all project life cycle. Communication in the project is a very important factor. According to the arguments of several authors, one of the biggest problem is that threaten the success of the project is just the communication. In each project is an important pillar - and that is communication. Only on the base of communication can the project move forward and achieve the target.

The Heartfile Lodhran CVD prevention project--end of project evaluation.

PubMed

Nishtar, Sania; Badar, Asma; Kamal, Mohammad Umer; Iqbal, Azhar; Bajwa, Rashid; Shah, Tauqeer; Larik, Zahid; Karim, Fazle; Mehmood, Mahmood ul Hassan; Jehangir, Haroon; Azam, Syed Iqbal; Mirza, Yasir Abbas; Khan, Shahzad Ali; Qayyum, Aamra; Aqeel, Fauzia; Bakir, Abdul; Rahim, Ejaz

2007-01-01

Mainstream preventive interventions often fail to reach poor populations with a high risk of cardiovascular diseases (CVDs) in Pakistan. A community-based CVD primary prevention project aimed at developing approaches to reduce risk factors in such populations was established by Heartfile in collaboration with the National Rural Support Program in the district of Lodhran. The project implemented a range of activities integrated with existing social and health service mechanisms during a three year intervention period 2000/01-03/04. These were targeted in 4 key settings: community health education, mass media interventions, training of health professionals and health education through Lady Health Workers. The project received support from the Department for International Development, U.K. At the community level, a pre-test-post-test quasi-experimental design was used for examining project outcomes related to the community component of the intervention. Pre and post-intervention (training) evaluations were conducted involving all health care providers in randomly selected workshops in order to determine baseline levels of knowledge and the impact of training on knowledge level. In order to assess practices of physician and non-physician health care providers patient interviews, with control comparisons were conducted at each health care facility. Significant positive changes were observed in knowledge levels at a community level in the district of intervention compared with baseline knowledge levels particularly in relation to a heart healthy diet, beneficial level of physical activity, the causes of high blood pressure and heart attack and the effects of high blood pressure and active and passive smoking on health. Significant changes in behaviors at a practice level were not shown in the district of intervention. However the project played a critical role in spurring national action for the prevention and control of non-communicable diseases and introducing

Mining functionally relevant gene sets for analyzing physiologically novel clinical expression data.

PubMed

Turcan, Sevin; Vetter, Douglas E; Maron, Jill L; Wei, Xintao; Slonim, Donna K

2011-01-01

Gene set analyses have become a standard approach for increasing the sensitivity of transcriptomic studies. However, analytical methods incorporating gene sets require the availability of pre-defined gene sets relevant to the underlying physiology being studied. For novel physiological problems, relevant gene sets may be unavailable or existing gene set databases may bias the results towards only the best-studied of the relevant biological processes. We describe a successful attempt to mine novel functional gene sets for translational projects where the underlying physiology is not necessarily well characterized in existing annotation databases. We choose targeted training data from public expression data repositories and define new criteria for selecting biclusters to serve as candidate gene sets. Many of the discovered gene sets show little or no enrichment for informative Gene Ontology terms or other functional annotation. However, we observe that such gene sets show coherent differential expression in new clinical test data sets, even if derived from different species, tissues, and disease states. We demonstrate the efficacy of this method on a human metabolic data set, where we discover novel, uncharacterized gene sets that are diagnostic of diabetes, and on additional data sets related to neuronal processes and human development. Our results suggest that our approach may be an efficient way to generate a collection of gene sets relevant to the analysis of data for novel clinical applications where existing functional annotation is relatively incomplete.

"It's Just More in the Real World Really": How Can a Local Project Support Early Years Practitioners from Different Settings in Working and Learning Together?

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Cotton, Lizzie

2013-01-01

This article describes how early years practitioners working in different settings, with different experiences and qualifications, can work and learn together. It is a small-scale case study of an eight-month project, with a grass-roots approach, involving early years settings within the reach area of an inner-London Children's Centre. The data…

Semaphorin-1a prevents Drosophila olfactory projection neuron dendrites from mis-targeting into select antennal lobe regions.

PubMed

Shen, Hung-Chang; Chu, Sao-Yu; Hsu, Tsai-Chi; Wang, Chun-Han; Lin, I-Ya; Yu, Hung-Hsiang

2017-04-01

Elucidating how appropriate neurite patterns are generated in neurons of the olfactory system is crucial for comprehending the construction of the olfactory map. In the Drosophila olfactory system, projection neurons (PNs), primarily derived from four neural stem cells (called neuroblasts), populate their cell bodies surrounding to and distribute their dendrites in distinct but overlapping patterns within the primary olfactory center of the brain, the antennal lobe (AL). However, it remains unclear whether the same molecular mechanisms are employed to generate the appropriate dendritic patterns in discrete AL glomeruli among PNs produced from different neuroblasts. Here, by examining a previously explored transmembrane protein Semaphorin-1a (Sema-1a) which was proposed to globally control initial PN dendritic targeting along the dorsolateral-to-ventromedial axis of the AL, we discover a new role for Sema-1a in preventing dendrites of both uni-glomerular and poly-glomerular PNs from aberrant invasion into select AL regions and, intriguingly, this Sema-1a-deficient dendritic mis-targeting phenotype seems to associate with the origins of PNs from which they are derived. Further, ectopic expression of Sema-1a resulted in PN dendritic mis-projection from a select AL region into adjacent glomeruli, strengthening the idea that Sema-1a plays an essential role in preventing abnormal dendritic accumulation in select AL regions. Taken together, these results demonstrate that Sema-1a repulsion keeps dendrites of different types of PNs away from each other, enabling the same types of PN dendrites to be sorted into destined AL glomeruli and permitting for functional assembly of olfactory circuitry.

Multiple Wheel Throwing: And Chess Sets.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Sapiro, Maurice

1978-01-01

A chess set project is suggested to teach multiple throwing, the creation on a potter's wheel of several pieces of similar configuration. Processes and finished sets are illustrated with photographs. (SJL)

High-Throughput Mapping of Single-Neuron Projections by Sequencing of Barcoded RNA.

PubMed

Kebschull, Justus M; Garcia da Silva, Pedro; Reid, Ashlan P; Peikon, Ian D; Albeanu, Dinu F; Zador, Anthony M

2016-09-07

Neurons transmit information to distant brain regions via long-range axonal projections. In the mouse, area-to-area connections have only been systematically mapped using bulk labeling techniques, which obscure the diverse projections of intermingled single neurons. Here we describe MAPseq (Multiplexed Analysis of Projections by Sequencing), a technique that can map the projections of thousands or even millions of single neurons by labeling large sets of neurons with random RNA sequences ("barcodes"). Axons are filled with barcode mRNA, each putative projection area is dissected, and the barcode mRNA is extracted and sequenced. Applying MAPseq to the locus coeruleus (LC), we find that individual LC neurons have preferred cortical targets. By recasting neuroanatomy, which is traditionally viewed as a problem of microscopy, as a problem of sequencing, MAPseq harnesses advances in sequencing technology to permit high-throughput interrogation of brain circuits. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Freeform array projection

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Michaelis, D.; Schreiber, P.; Li, C.; Bräuer, A.; Gross, H.

2015-09-01

The concept of multichannel array projection is generalized in order to realize an ultraslim, highly efficient optical system for structured illumination with high lumen output, where additionally the Köhler illumination principle is utilized and source light homogenization occurs. The optical system consists of a multitude of neighboring optical channels. In each channel two optical freeforms generate a real or a virtual spatial light pattern and furthermore, the ray directions are modified to enable Köhler illumination of a subsequent projection lens. The internal light pattern may be additionally influenced by absorbing apertures or slides. The projection lens transfers the resulting light pattern to a target, where the total target distribution is produced by superposition of all individual channel output pattern. The optical system without absorbing apertures can be regarded as a generalization of a fly's eye condenser for structured illumination. In this case light pattern is exclusively generated by freeform light redistribution. The commonly occurring blurring effect for freeform beamshaping is reduced due to the creation of a virtual object light structure by means of the two freeform surfaces and its imaging towards the target. But, the remaining blurring inhibits very high spatial frequencies at the target. In order to create target features with very high spatial resolution the absorbing apertures can be utilized. In this case the freeform beamshaping can be used for an enhanced light transmission through the absorbing apertures. The freeform surfaces are designed by a generalized approach of Cartesian oval representation.

Radiological Aspects of Heavy Metal Liquid Targets for Accelerator-Driven Systems as Intense Neutron Sources

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gai, E. V.; Ignatyuk, A. V.; Lunev, V. P.; Shubin, Yu. N.

2001-11-01

General problems arising in development of intense neutron sources as a part of accelerator-driven systems and first experience accumulated in IPPE during last several years are briefly discussed. The calculation and analysis of nuclear-physical properties of the targets, such as the accumulation of spallation reaction products, activity and heat release for various versions of heavy liquid metal targets were performed in IPPE. The sensitivity of the results of calculations to the various sets of nuclear data was considered. The main radiology characteristics of the lead-bismuth target, which is now under construction in the frame of ISTC Project # 559, are briefly described. The production of short-lived nuclides was estimated, the total activity and volatile nuclide accumulation, residual heat release, the energies of various decay modes were analysed.

LWS/SET End-to-End Data System

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Giffin, Geoff; Sherman, Barry; Colon, Gilberto (Technical Monitor)

2002-01-01

This paper describes the concept for the End-to-End Data System that will support NASA's Living With a Star Space Environment Testbed missions. NASA has initiated the Living With a Star (LWS) Program to develop a better scientific understanding to address the aspects of the connected Sun-Earth system that affect life and society. A principal goal of the program is to bridge the gap.between science, engineering, and user application communities. The Space Environment Testbed (SET) Project is one element of LWS. The Project will enable future science, operational, and commercial objectives in space and atmospheric environments by improving engineering approaches to the accommodation and/or mitigation of the effects of solar variability on technological systems. The End-to-end data system allows investigators to access the SET control center, command their experiments, and receive data from their experiments back at their home facility, using the Internet. The logical functioning of major components of the end-to-end data system are described, including the GSFC Payload Operations Control Center (POCC), SET Payloads, the GSFC SET Simulation Lab, SET Experiment PI Facilities, and Host Systems. Host Spacecraft Operations Control Centers (SOCC) and the Host Spacecraft are essential links in the end-to-end data system, but are not directly under the control of the SET Project. Formal interfaces will be established between these entities and elements of the SET Project. The paper describes data flow through the system, from PI facilities connecting to the SET operations center via the Internet, communications to SET carriers and experiments via host systems, to telemetry returns to investigators from their flight experiments. It also outlines the techniques that will be used to meet mission requirements, while holding development and operational costs to a minimum. Additional information is included in the original extended abstract.

Prevention of falls in acute hospital settings: a multi-site audit and best practice implementation project.

PubMed

Stephenson, Matthew; Mcarthur, Alexa; Giles, Kristy; Lockwood, Craig; Aromataris, Edoardo; Pearson, Alan

2016-02-01

To assess falls prevention practices in Australian hospitals and implement interventions to promote best practice. A multi-site audit using eight evidence-based audit criteria. Following a baseline audit, barriers to compliance were identified and targeted. Two follow-up audit cycles assessed the sustainability of practice change. Nine acute care hospitals around Australia, including a mix of public and private. One medical ward and one surgical ward from each hospital were involved. A clinical leader from each hospital, trained in evidence implementation, conducted the audits and implementation strategies in their setting. Multi-component falls prevention interventions were utilized, designed to target specific barriers to compliance identified at each hospital. Common interventions involved staff and patient education. Percentage compliance with falls prevention audit criteria and change in compliance between baseline and follow-up audits. Fall rate data were also analysed. Mean overall compliance at baseline across all hospitals was 50.4% (range 30.8-76.6%). At the first follow-up, this had increased to 74.5% (range 59.4-87.4%), which was sustained at the second follow-up (74.1%, range 48.6-84.4%). There were no statistically significant differences between compliance rates in medical versus surgical wards or in private versus public hospitals. Despite sustained practice improvement, reported fall rates remained unchanged. The focus on staff education possibly led to improved reporting of falls, which may explain the apparent lack of effect on fall rates. Clinical audit and feedback is an effective strategy to promote quality improvement in falls prevention practices in acute hospital settings. © The Author 2015. Published by Oxford University Press in association with the International Society for Quality in Health Care; all rights reserved.

Feature-based RNN target recognition

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bakircioglu, Hakan; Gelenbe, Erol

1998-09-01

Detection and recognition of target signatures in sensory data obtained by synthetic aperture radar (SAR), forward- looking infrared, or laser radar, have received considerable attention in the literature. In this paper, we propose a feature based target classification methodology to detect and classify targets in cluttered SAR images, that makes use of selective signature data from sensory data, together with a neural network technique which uses a set of trained networks based on the Random Neural Network (RNN) model (Gelenbe 89, 90, 91, 93) which is trained to act as a matched filter. We propose and investigate radial features of target shapes that are invariant to rotation, translation, and scale, to characterize target and clutter signatures. These features are then used to train a set of learning RNNs which can be used to detect targets within clutter with high accuracy, and to classify the targets or man-made objects from natural clutter. Experimental data from SAR imagery is used to illustrate and validate the proposed method, and to calculate Receiver Operating Characteristics which illustrate the performance of the proposed algorithm.

Perturbation expansion theory corrected from basis set superposition error. I. Locally projected excited orbitals and single excitations.

PubMed

Nagata, Takeshi; Iwata, Suehiro

2004-02-22

The locally projected self-consistent field molecular orbital method for molecular interaction (LP SCF MI) is reformulated for multifragment systems. For the perturbation expansion, two types of the local excited orbitals are defined; one is fully local in the basis set on a fragment, and the other has to be partially delocalized to the basis sets on the other fragments. The perturbation expansion calculations only within single excitations (LP SE MP2) are tested for water dimer, hydrogen fluoride dimer, and colinear symmetric ArM+ Ar (M = Na and K). The calculated binding energies of LP SE MP2 are all close to the corresponding counterpoise corrected SCF binding energy. By adding the single excitations, the deficiency in LP SCF MI is thus removed. The results suggest that the exclusion of the charge-transfer effects in LP SCF MI might indeed be the cause of the underestimation for the binding energy. (c) 2004 American Institute of Physics.

Management of dexamethasone-induced hyperglycemia in patients undergoing chemotherapy in an outpatient setting: a best practice implementation project.

PubMed

Sinaga, Gery; de Koeijer, Elizabeth

2018-04-01

The objective of this project was to implement best practice in an outpatient clinical setting in order to increase both nursing staff and patients' knowledge and awareness on the importance of blood sugar management during chemotherapy and to show that through compliance with best practice, the incidence of dexamethasone-induced hyperglycemia during chemotherapy can be minimized. Steroid-induced hyperglycemia is a commonly neglected symptom in cancer treatment, contributing to poor patient prognosis and extended hospital stay. Evidence shows that controlled blood sugar during chemotherapy is associated with improved patient outcomes and better tolerance to cancer treatment. For the purpose of this paper steroid-induced hyperglycemia will be referred to as dexamethasone-induced hyperglycemia. This project utilized the Joanna Briggs Institute Practical Application of Clinical Evidence System (JBI-PACES) and Getting Research into Practice (GRiP) audit tools to promote compliance in the clinical setting. Thirty patients participated in the audit, which was executed by nursing staff in the Medical Oncology Outpatient Unit at the Cancer Ambulatory and Community Health Support Department at the Canberra Hospital. The baseline audit revealed large gaps between best practice and current practice. This underlined the need for more education for both nursing staff and patients. Other barriers such as the absence of assessment and documentation by the clinicians and the minimum number of potential referrals to the diabetes educator were addressed by encouraging patients to speak about their diabetes, and also in the development of a simplified referral process in order to have patients reviewed by the Diabetes Educator in a timely manner. There were significant improvements after more information sessions were held and more resources made available to both nursing staff and patients, but there were also minimal to zero compliance drop on parts of the follow-up audit. In an

Radial sets: interactive visual analysis of large overlapping sets.

PubMed

Alsallakh, Bilal; Aigner, Wolfgang; Miksch, Silvia; Hauser, Helwig

2013-12-01

In many applications, data tables contain multi-valued attributes that often store the memberships of the table entities to multiple sets such as which languages a person masters, which skills an applicant documents, or which features a product comes with. With a growing number of entities, the resulting element-set membership matrix becomes very rich of information about how these sets overlap. Many analysis tasks targeted at set-typed data are concerned with these overlaps as salient features of such data. This paper presents Radial Sets, a novel visual technique to analyze set memberships for a large number of elements. Our technique uses frequency-based representations to enable quickly finding and analyzing different kinds of overlaps between the sets, and relating these overlaps to other attributes of the table entities. Furthermore, it enables various interactions to select elements of interest, find out if they are over-represented in specific sets or overlaps, and if they exhibit a different distribution for a specific attribute compared to the rest of the elements. These interactions allow formulating highly-expressive visual queries on the elements in terms of their set memberships and attribute values. As we demonstrate via two usage scenarios, Radial Sets enable revealing and analyzing a multitude of overlapping patterns between large sets, beyond the limits of state-of-the-art techniques.

Project ACE Activity Sets. Book I: Grades 3, 4, and 5.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Eden City Schools, NC.

Eleven activity sets suitable for supplementing social studies units in grades 3, 4, and 5 are presented. Each set lists appropriate resources, concepts, general objectives and instructional objectives for each activity within the set. Grade 3 sets are "You Can Help Conserve Our Natural Resources,""Urban Decay and Urban…

Setting local rank constraints by orthogonal projections for image resolution analysis: application to the determination of a low dose pharmaceutical compound.

PubMed

Boiret, Mathieu; de Juan, Anna; Gorretta, Nathalie; Ginot, Yves-Michel; Roger, Jean-Michel

2015-09-10

Raman chemical imaging provides chemical and spatial information about pharmaceutical drug product. By using resolution methods on acquired spectra, the objective is to calculate pure spectra and distribution maps of image compounds. With multivariate curve resolution-alternating least squares, constraints are used to improve the performance of the resolution and to decrease the ambiguity linked to the final solution. Non negativity and spatial local rank constraints have been identified as the most powerful constraints to be used. In this work, an alternative method to set local rank constraints is proposed. The method is based on orthogonal projections pretreatment. For each drug product compound, raw Raman spectra are orthogonally projected to a basis including all the variability from the formulation compounds other than the product of interest. Presence or absence of the compound of interest is obtained by observing the correlations between the orthogonal projected spectra and a pure spectrum orthogonally projected to the same basis. By selecting an appropriate threshold, maps of presence/absence of compounds can be set up for all the product compounds. This method appears as a powerful approach to identify a low dose compound within a pharmaceutical drug product. The maps of presence/absence of compounds can be used as local rank constraints in resolution methods, such as multivariate curve resolution-alternating least squares process in order to improve the resolution of the system. The method proposed is particularly suited for pharmaceutical systems, where the identity of all compounds in the formulations is known and, therefore, the space of interferences can be well defined. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Nanocarriers in advanced drug targeting: setting novel paradigm in cancer therapeutics.

PubMed

Akhter, Md Habban; Rizwanullah, Md; Ahmad, Javed; Ahsan, Mohamed Jawed; Mujtaba, Md Ali; Amin, Saima

2018-08-01

Cancer has been growing nowadays consequently high number of death ascertained worldwide. The medical intervention involves chemotherapy, radiation therapy and surgical removal. This conventional technique lacking targeting potential and harm the normal cells. In drug treatment regimen, the combination therapy is preferred than single drug treatment module due to higher internalization of chemotherapeutics in the cancer cells both by enhance permeation retention effect and by direct cell apoptosis. The cancer therapeutics involves different methodologies of delivering active moiety to the target site. The active and passive transport mode of chemotherapeutic targeting utilizes advance nanocarriers. The nanotechnological strategic treatment applying advance nanocarrier greatly helps in mitigating the cancer prevalence. The nanocarrier-incorporating nanodrug directed for specific area appealed scientist across the globe and issues to be addressed in this regard. Therefore, various techniques and approaches invented to meet the objectives. With the advances in nanomedicine and drug delivery, this review briefly focused on various modes of nanodrug delivery including nanoparticles, liposomes, dendrimer, quantum dots, carbon nanotubes, metallic nanoparticles, nanolipid carrier (NLC), gold nanoshell, nanosize cantilevers and nanowire that looks promising and generates a novel horizon in cancer therapeutics.

Guidelines for CSM project development.

PubMed

1983-01-01

This document summarizes guidelines for contraceptive social marketing project development prepared by the International Contraceptive Social Marketing Project (ICSMP) as an aid to consultants and technical assistance contractors. The ICSMP has developed a checklist to guide planning in 4 major areas: 1) project organization and management structure, 2) target market, 3) product line, and 4) pricing strategy and project costs. A clear statement of project objectives is essential, and these objectives must be internally consistent so that strategies to accomplish them can be unified. The position of each governmental entity and sponsoring agency involved in the social marketing project must be clearly understood. Projects receiving US government funds must have a mechanism for financial and programmatic reporting and accountability. Thorough knowledge of commercial rules and regulations in a country is necessary for planning. To ascertain whether the necessary resources are available, it is necessary to examine the existing marketing infrastructure in terms of distribution, advertising, market research, and packagaing capabilities. The target market should be specified in quantifiable terms; in addition, a consumer profile that defines the overall demographics of the country, the family planning environment, and potential social marketing consumers should be developed. The couple years of protection projection can be translated into the percentage of the target market that the project expects to capture. It is necessary to price products early in project development in order to assess program costs. Revenue projections should be based on previous calculations of couple year of protection goals, product line, product price, and price structure. Each element of the advertsing budget should be justifiable in terms of project objectives. Finally, positions and anticpated salaries for staff should be specified through the 1st 3 years of project implementation.

Object Classification With Joint Projection and Low-Rank Dictionary Learning.

PubMed

Foroughi, Homa; Ray, Nilanjan; Hong Zhang

2018-02-01

For an object classification system, the most critical obstacles toward real-world applications are often caused by large intra-class variability, arising from different lightings, occlusion, and corruption, in limited sample sets. Most methods in the literature would fail when the training samples are heavily occluded, corrupted or have significant illumination or viewpoint variations. Besides, most of the existing methods and especially deep learning-based methods, need large training sets to achieve a satisfactory recognition performance. Although using the pre-trained network on a generic large-scale data set and fine-tune it to the small-sized target data set is a widely used technique, this would not help when the content of base and target data sets are very different. To address these issues simultaneously, we propose a joint projection and low-rank dictionary learning method using dual graph constraints. Specifically, a structured class-specific dictionary is learned in the low-dimensional space, and the discrimination is further improved by imposing a graph constraint on the coding coefficients, that maximizes the intra-class compactness and inter-class separability. We enforce structural incoherence and low-rank constraints on sub-dictionaries to reduce the redundancy among them, and also make them robust to variations and outliers. To preserve the intrinsic structure of data, we introduce a supervised neighborhood graph into the framework to make the proposed method robust to small-sized and high-dimensional data sets. Experimental results on several benchmark data sets verify the superior performance of our method for object classification of small-sized data sets, which include a considerable amount of different kinds of variation, and may have high-dimensional feature vectors.

Setting Clear Learning Targets to Guide Instruction for All Students

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Konrad, Moira; Keesey, Susan; Ressa, Virginia A.; Alexeeff, Maggie; Chan, Paula E.; Peters, Mary T.

2014-01-01

As more states adopt the Common Core State Standards, teachers face new challenges. Teachers must unpack these standards and develop explicit learning targets to make these rigorous standards accessible to their students. This task can be especially challenging for special educators who must balance standards-based education with individualized…

Polarized Solid State Target

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Dutz, Hartmut; Goertz, Stefan; Meyer, Werner

2017-01-01

The polarized solid state target is an indispensable experimental tool to study single and double polarization observables at low intensity particle beams like tagged photons. It was one of the major components of the Crystal-Barrel experiment at ELSA. Besides the operation of the 'CB frozen spin target' within the experimental program of the Crystal-Barrel collaboration both collaborative groups of the D1 project, the polarized target group of the Ruhr Universität Bochum and the Bonn polarized target group, have made significant developments in the field of polarized targets within the CRC16. The Bonn polarized target group has focused its work on the development of technically challenging polarized solid target systems towards the so called '4π continuous mode polarized target' to operate them in combination with 4π-particle detection systems. In parallel, the Bochum group has developed various highly polarized deuterated target materials and high precision NMR-systems, in the meantime used for polarization experiments at CERN, JLAB and MAMI, too.

Unified approach for two-target game analysis

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Shinar, J.; Davidovitz, A.

1988-01-01

A two-target differential game is defined from the outset by a qualitative (game-of-kind) formulation. The solution of such a game is the decomposition of the space of admissible initial conditions into zones of different outcomes: two winning zones, one for each player, the zone of nowinning (draw) and (if the intersection of the two target sets is not empty) a zone of eventual mutual winning (mutual kill). In this paper it is shown that the solution of any two-target game can be constructed, based on solving first two single-target pursuit-evasion games of kind (one for each target set) in a systematic way.

Semaphorin-1a prevents Drosophila olfactory projection neuron dendrites from mis-targeting into select antennal lobe regions

PubMed Central

Chu, Sao-Yu; Wang, Chun-Han; Lin, I-Ya

2017-01-01

Elucidating how appropriate neurite patterns are generated in neurons of the olfactory system is crucial for comprehending the construction of the olfactory map. In the Drosophila olfactory system, projection neurons (PNs), primarily derived from four neural stem cells (called neuroblasts), populate their cell bodies surrounding to and distribute their dendrites in distinct but overlapping patterns within the primary olfactory center of the brain, the antennal lobe (AL). However, it remains unclear whether the same molecular mechanisms are employed to generate the appropriate dendritic patterns in discrete AL glomeruli among PNs produced from different neuroblasts. Here, by examining a previously explored transmembrane protein Semaphorin-1a (Sema-1a) which was proposed to globally control initial PN dendritic targeting along the dorsolateral-to-ventromedial axis of the AL, we discover a new role for Sema-1a in preventing dendrites of both uni-glomerular and poly-glomerular PNs from aberrant invasion into select AL regions and, intriguingly, this Sema-1a-deficient dendritic mis-targeting phenotype seems to associate with the origins of PNs from which they are derived. Further, ectopic expression of Sema-1a resulted in PN dendritic mis-projection from a select AL region into adjacent glomeruli, strengthening the idea that Sema-1a plays an essential role in preventing abnormal dendritic accumulation in select AL regions. Taken together, these results demonstrate that Sema-1a repulsion keeps dendrites of different types of PNs away from each other, enabling the same types of PN dendrites to be sorted into destined AL glomeruli and permitting for functional assembly of olfactory circuitry. PMID:28448523

HLA imputation in an admixed population: An assessment of the 1000 Genomes data as a training set.

PubMed

Nunes, Kelly; Zheng, Xiuwen; Torres, Margareth; Moraes, Maria Elisa; Piovezan, Bruno Z; Pontes, Gerlandia N; Kimura, Lilian; Carnavalli, Juliana E P; Mingroni Netto, Regina C; Meyer, Diogo

2016-03-01

Methods to impute HLA alleles based on dense single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) data provide a valuable resource to association studies and evolutionary investigation of the MHC region. The availability of appropriate training sets is critical to the accuracy of HLA imputation, and the inclusion of samples with various ancestries is an important pre-requisite in studies of admixed populations. We assess the accuracy of HLA imputation using 1000 Genomes Project data as a training set, applying it to a highly admixed Brazilian population, the Quilombos from the state of São Paulo. To assess accuracy, we compared imputed and experimentally determined genotypes for 146 samples at 4 HLA classical loci. We found imputation accuracies of 82.9%, 81.8%, 94.8% and 86.6% for HLA-A, -B, -C and -DRB1 respectively (two-field resolution). Accuracies were improved when we included a subset of Quilombo individuals in the training set. We conclude that the 1000 Genomes data is a valuable resource for construction of training sets due to the diversity of ancestries and the potential for a large overlap of SNPs with the target population. We also show that tailoring training sets to features of the target population substantially enhances imputation accuracy. Copyright © 2016 American Society for Histocompatibility and Immunogenetics. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

A combined joint diagonalization-MUSIC algorithm for subsurface targets localization

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wang, Yinlin; Sigman, John B.; Barrowes, Benjamin E.; O'Neill, Kevin; Shubitidze, Fridon

2014-06-01

This paper presents a combined joint diagonalization (JD) and multiple signal classification (MUSIC) algorithm for estimating subsurface objects locations from electromagnetic induction (EMI) sensor data, without solving ill-posed inverse-scattering problems. JD is a numerical technique that finds the common eigenvectors that diagonalize a set of multistatic response (MSR) matrices measured by a time-domain EMI sensor. Eigenvalues from targets of interest (TOI) can be then distinguished automatically from noise-related eigenvalues. Filtering is also carried out in JD to improve the signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) of the data. The MUSIC algorithm utilizes the orthogonality between the signal and noise subspaces in the MSR matrix, which can be separated with information provided by JD. An array of theoreticallycalculated Green's functions are then projected onto the noise subspace, and the location of the target is estimated by the minimum of the projection owing to the orthogonality. This combined method is applied to data from the Time-Domain Electromagnetic Multisensor Towed Array Detection System (TEMTADS). Examples of TEMTADS test stand data and field data collected at Spencer Range, Tennessee are analyzed and presented. Results indicate that due to its noniterative mechanism, the method can be executed fast enough to provide real-time estimation of objects' locations in the field.

TargetCrys: protein crystallization prediction by fusing multi-view features with two-layered SVM.

PubMed

Hu, Jun; Han, Ke; Li, Yang; Yang, Jing-Yu; Shen, Hong-Bin; Yu, Dong-Jun

2016-11-01

The accurate prediction of whether a protein will crystallize plays a crucial role in improving the success rate of protein crystallization projects. A common critical problem in the development of machine-learning-based protein crystallization predictors is how to effectively utilize protein features extracted from different views. In this study, we aimed to improve the efficiency of fusing multi-view protein features by proposing a new two-layered SVM (2L-SVM) which switches the feature-level fusion problem to a decision-level fusion problem: the SVMs in the 1st layer of the 2L-SVM are trained on each of the multi-view feature sets; then, the outputs of the 1st layer SVMs, which are the "intermediate" decisions made based on the respective feature sets, are further ensembled by a 2nd layer SVM. Based on the proposed 2L-SVM, we implemented a sequence-based protein crystallization predictor called TargetCrys. Experimental results on several benchmark datasets demonstrated the efficacy of the proposed 2L-SVM for fusing multi-view features. We also compared TargetCrys with existing sequence-based protein crystallization predictors and demonstrated that the proposed TargetCrys outperformed most of the existing predictors and is competitive with the state-of-the-art predictors. The TargetCrys webserver and datasets used in this study are freely available for academic use at: http://csbio.njust.edu.cn/bioinf/TargetCrys .

Speed limits set lower than engineering recommendations : project summary report.

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

2016-08-01

The Montana Department of Transportation (MDT) generally ensures that posted speed limits are set in accordance with engineering recommendations, which means that speed limits are typically set such that they are about equal to the observed 85th-perc...

Phylogenetics of moth-like butterflies (Papilionoidea: Hedylidae) based on a new 13-locus target capture probe set.

PubMed

Kawahara, Akito Y; Breinholt, Jesse W; Espeland, Marianne; Storer, Caroline; Plotkin, David; Dexter, Kelly M; Toussaint, Emmanuel F A; St Laurent, Ryan A; Brehm, Gunnar; Vargas, Sergio; Forero, Dimitri; Pierce, Naomi E; Lohman, David J

2018-06-11

The Neotropical moth-like butterflies (Hedylidae) are perhaps the most unusual butterfly family. In addition to being species-poor, this family is predominantly nocturnal and has anti-bat ultrasound hearing organs. Evolutionary relationships among the 36 described species are largely unexplored. A new, target capture, anchored hybrid enrichment probe set ('BUTTERFLY2.0') was developed to infer relationships of hedylids and some of their butterfly relatives. The probe set includes 13 genes that have historically been used in butterfly phylogenetics. Our dataset comprised of up to 10,898 aligned base pairs from 22 hedylid species and 19 outgroups. Eleven of the thirteen loci were successfully captured from all samples, and the remaining loci were captured from ≥94% of samples. The inferred phylogeny was consistent with recent molecular studies by placing Hedylidae sister to Hesperiidae, and the tree had robust support for 80% of nodes. Our results are also consistent with morphological studies, with Macrosoma tipulata as the sister species to all remaining hedylids, followed by M. semiermis sister to the remaining species in the genus. We tested the hypothesis that nocturnality evolved once from diurnality in Hedylidae, and demonstrate that the ancestral condition was likely diurnal, with a shift to nocturnality early in the diversification of this family. The BUTTERFLY2.0 probe set includes standard butterfly phylogenetics markers, captures sequences from decades-old museum specimens, and is a cost-effective technique to infer phylogenetic relationships of the butterfly tree of life. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Harnessing the power of enhanced data for healthcare quality improvement: lessons from a Minnesota Hospital Association Pilot Project.

PubMed

Pine, Michael; Sonneborn, Mark; Schindler, Joe; Stanek, Michael; Maeda, Jared Lane; Hanlon, Carrie

2012-01-01

The imperative to achieve quality improvement and cost-containment goals is driving healthcare organizations to make better use of existing health information. One strategy, the construction of hybrid data sets combining clinical and administrative data, has strong potential to improve the cost-effectiveness of hospital quality reporting processes, improve the accuracy of quality measures and rankings, and strengthen data systems. Through a two-year contract with the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, the Minnesota Hospital Association launched a pilot project in 2007 to link hospital clinical information to administrative data. Despite some initial challenges, this project was successful. Results showed that the use of hybrid data allowed for more accurate comparisons of risk-adjusted mortality and risk-adjusted complications across Minnesota hospitals. These increases in accuracy represent an important step toward targeting quality improvement efforts in Minnesota and provide important lessons that are being leveraged through ongoing projects to construct additional enhanced data sets. We explore the implementation challenges experienced during the Minnesota Pilot Project and their implications for hospitals pursuing similar data-enhancement projects. We also highlight the key lessons learned from the pilot project's success.

Promoting interdisciplinary project-based learning to build the skill sets for research and development of medical devices in academia.

PubMed

Krishnan, Shankar

2013-01-01

The worldwide need for rapid expansion and diversification of medical devices and the corresponding requirements in industry pose arduous challenges for educators to train undergraduate biomedical engineering (BME) students. Preparing BME students for working in the research and development (R&D) in medical device industry is not easily accomplished by adopting traditional pedagogical methods. Even with the inclusion of the design and development elements in capstone projects, medical device industry may be still experience a gap in fulfilling their needs in R&D. This paper proposes a new model based on interdisciplinary project-based learning (IDPBL) to address the requirements of building the necessary skill sets in academia for carrying out R&D in medical device industry. The proposed model incorporates IDPBL modules distributed in a stepwise fashion through the four years of a typical BME program. The proposed model involves buy-in and collaboration from faculty as well as students. The implementation of the proposed design in an undergraduate BME program is still in process. However, a variant of the proposed IDPBL method has been attempted at a limited scale at the postgraduate level and has shown some success. Extrapolating the previous results, the adoption of the IDPBL to BME training seems to suggest promising outcomes. Despite numerous implementation challenges, with continued efforts, the proposed IDPBL will be valuable n academia for skill sets building for medical device R&D.

A method for detecting small targets based on cumulative weighted value of target properties

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Jin, Xing; Sun, Gang; Wang, Wei-hua; Liu, Fang; Chen, Zeng-ping

2015-03-01

Laser detection based on the "cat's eye effect" has become the hot research project for its initiative compared to the passivity of sound detection and infrared detection. And the target detection is one of the core technologies in this system. The paper puts forward a method for detecting small targets based on cumulative weighted value of target properties using given data. Firstly, we make a frame difference to the images, then make image processing based on Morphology Principles. Secondly, we segment images, and screen the targets; then find some interesting locations. Finally, comparing to a quantity of frames, we locate the target. We did an exam to 394 true frames, the experimental result shows that the mathod can detect small targets efficiently.

Setting development goals using stochastic dynamical system models

PubMed Central

Nicolis, Stamatios C.; Bali Swain, Ranjula; Sumpter, David J. T.

2017-01-01

The Millennium Development Goals (MDG) programme was an ambitious attempt to encourage a globalised solution to important but often-overlooked development problems. The programme led to wide-ranging development but it has also been criticised for unrealistic and arbitrary targets. In this paper, we show how country-specific development targets can be set using stochastic, dynamical system models built from historical data. In particular, we show that the MDG target of two-thirds reduction of child mortality from 1990 levels was infeasible for most countries, especially in sub-Saharan Africa. At the same time, the MDG targets were not ambitious enough for fast-developing countries such as Brazil and China. We suggest that model-based setting of country-specific targets is essential for the success of global development programmes such as the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG). This approach should provide clear, quantifiable targets for policymakers. PMID:28241057

Setting development goals using stochastic dynamical system models.

PubMed

Ranganathan, Shyam; Nicolis, Stamatios C; Bali Swain, Ranjula; Sumpter, David J T

2017-01-01

The Millennium Development Goals (MDG) programme was an ambitious attempt to encourage a globalised solution to important but often-overlooked development problems. The programme led to wide-ranging development but it has also been criticised for unrealistic and arbitrary targets. In this paper, we show how country-specific development targets can be set using stochastic, dynamical system models built from historical data. In particular, we show that the MDG target of two-thirds reduction of child mortality from 1990 levels was infeasible for most countries, especially in sub-Saharan Africa. At the same time, the MDG targets were not ambitious enough for fast-developing countries such as Brazil and China. We suggest that model-based setting of country-specific targets is essential for the success of global development programmes such as the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG). This approach should provide clear, quantifiable targets for policymakers.

CONSIDER - Core Outcome Set in IAD Research: study protocol for establishing a core set of outcomes and measurements in incontinence-associated dermatitis research.

PubMed

Van den Bussche, Karen; De Meyer, Dorien; Van Damme, Nele; Kottner, Jan; Beeckman, Dimitri

2017-10-01

This study protocol describes the methodology for the development of a core set of outcomes and a core set of measurements for incontinence-associated dermatitis. Incontinence is a widespread disorder with an important impact on quality of life. One of the most common complications is incontinence-associated dermatitis, resulting from chemical and physical irritation of the skin barrier, triggering inflammation and skin damage. Managing incontinence-associated dermatitis is an important challenge for nurses. Several interventions have been assessed in clinical trials, but heterogeneity in study outcomes complicates the comparability and standardization. To overcome this challenge, the development of a core outcome set, a minimum set of outcomes and measurements to be assessed in clinical research, is needed. A project team, International Steering Committee and panelists will be involved to guide the development of the core outcome set. The framework of the Harmonizing Outcomes Measures for Eczema roadmap endorsed by Cochrane Skin Group Core Outcomes Set Initiative, is used to inform the project design. A systematic literature review, interviews to integrate the patients' perspective and a consensus study with healthcare researchers and providers using the Delphi procedure will be performed. The project was approved by the Ethics review Committee (April 2016). This is the first project that will identify a core outcome set of outcomes and measurements for incontinence-associated dermatitis research. A core outcome set will reduce possible reporting bias, allow results comparisons and statistical pooling across trials and strengthen evidence-based practice and decision-making. This project has been registered in the Core Outcome Measures in Effectiveness Trials (COMET) database and is part of the Cochrane Skin Group Core Outcomes Set Initiative (CSG-COUSIN). © 2016 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Undergraduate nursing students' perceptions of service-learning through a school-based community project.

PubMed

Bassi, Sherry

2011-01-01

Service-learning (SL) is an experiential teaching method that combines instruction with community service, with the aim of enriching students' academic learning, interpersonal skills and sense of responsibility while making meaningful contributions to the community. However, measuring outcomes of service-learning projects is difficult. This article reports on the perceptions of 18 third-year undergraduate nursing students who took part in a pilot service-learning project targeting tobacco use in a local elementary school. Faculty members evaluated the program's outcomes by engaging students in structured reflection on the program about its relevance to their future careers as practicing professionals, especially in community-based settings. The students' perceptions were elicited through three sets of reflective assignments following the project. Findings from the reflective assignments suggest that the pilot program was successful in enhancing the students' academic, social, and personal development while building a partnership between the school of nursing and key players in the community, including school-based nurses, teachers, administrators, families, and community leaders. The author suggests that service-learning projects can help nursing students accomplish key developmental tasks of the college years (such as building their competence, autonomy, and integrity), while helping impart the skills and values they will need as they graduate and seek professional nursing roles.

Bamgineer: Introduction of simulated allele-specific copy number variants into exome and targeted sequence data sets.

PubMed

Samadian, Soroush; Bruce, Jeff P; Pugh, Trevor J

2018-03-01

Somatic copy number variations (CNVs) play a crucial role in development of many human cancers. The broad availability of next-generation sequencing data has enabled the development of algorithms to computationally infer CNV profiles from a variety of data types including exome and targeted sequence data; currently the most prevalent types of cancer genomics data. However, systemic evaluation and comparison of these tools remains challenging due to a lack of ground truth reference sets. To address this need, we have developed Bamgineer, a tool written in Python to introduce user-defined haplotype-phased allele-specific copy number events into an existing Binary Alignment Mapping (BAM) file, with a focus on targeted and exome sequencing experiments. As input, this tool requires a read alignment file (BAM format), lists of non-overlapping genome coordinates for introduction of gains and losses (bed file), and an optional file defining known haplotypes (vcf format). To improve runtime performance, Bamgineer introduces the desired CNVs in parallel using queuing and parallel processing on a local machine or on a high-performance computing cluster. As proof-of-principle, we applied Bamgineer to a single high-coverage (mean: 220X) exome sequence file from a blood sample to simulate copy number profiles of 3 exemplar tumors from each of 10 tumor types at 5 tumor cellularity levels (20-100%, 150 BAM files in total). To demonstrate feasibility beyond exome data, we introduced read alignments to a targeted 5-gene cell-free DNA sequencing library to simulate EGFR amplifications at frequencies consistent with circulating tumor DNA (10, 1, 0.1 and 0.01%) while retaining the multimodal insert size distribution of the original data. We expect Bamgineer to be of use for development and systematic benchmarking of CNV calling algorithms by users using locally-generated data for a variety of applications. The source code is freely available at http://github.com/pughlab/bamgineer.

Why history matters for quantitative target setting: Long-term trends in socioeconomic and racial/ethnic inequities in US infant death rates (1960-2010).

PubMed

Krieger, Nancy; Singh, Nakul; Chen, Jarvis T; Coull, Brent A; Beckfield, Jason; Kiang, Mathew V; Waterman, Pamela D; Gruskin, Sofia

2015-08-01

Policy-oriented population health targets, such as the Millennium Development Goals and national targets to address health inequities, are typically based on trends of a decade or less. To test whether expanded timeframes might be more apt, we analyzed 50-year trends in US infant death rates (1960-2010) jointly by income and race/ethnicity. The largest annual per cent changes in the infant death rate (between -4 and -10 per cent), for all racial/ethnic groups, in the lowest income quintile occurred between the mid-1960s and early 1980s, and in the second lowest income quintile between the mid-1960s and 1973. Since the 1990s, these numbers have hovered, in all groups, between -1 and -3 per cent. Hence, to look back only 15 years (in 2014, to 1999) would ignore gains achieved prior to the onset of neoliberal policies after 1980. Target setting should be informed by a deeper and longer-term appraisal of what is possible to achieve.

Collisional disruptions of rotating targets

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ševeček, Pavel; Broz, Miroslav

2017-10-01

Collisions are key processes in the evolution of the Main Asteroid Belt and impact events - i.e. target fragmentation and gravitational reaccumulation - are commonly studied by numerical simulations, namely by SPH and N-body methods. In our work, we extend the previous studies by assuming rotating targets and we study the dependence of resulting size-distributions on the pre-impact rotation of the target. To obtain stable initial conditions, it is also necessary to include the self-gravity already in the fragmentation phase which was previously neglected.To tackle this problem, we developed an SPH code, accelerated by SSE/AVX instruction sets and parallelized. The code solves the standard set of hydrodynamic equations, using the Tillotson equation of state, von Mises criterion for plastic yielding and scalar Grady-Kipp model for fragmentation. We further modified the velocity gradient by a correction tensor (Schäfer et al. 2007) to ensure a first-order conservation of the total angular momentum. As the intact target is a spherical body, its gravity can be approximated by a potential of a homogeneous sphere, making it easy to set up initial conditions. This is however infeasible for later stages of the disruption; to this point, we included the Barnes-Hut algorithm to compute the gravitational accelerations, using a multipole expansion of distant particles up to hexadecapole order.We tested the code carefully, comparing the results to our previous computations obtained with the SPH5 code (Benz and Asphaug 1994). Finally, we ran a set of simulations and we discuss the difference between the synthetic families created by rotating and static targets.

Developing a framework for community-based sexual health interventions for youth in the rural setting: protocol for a participatory action research study

PubMed Central

Heslop, Carl William; Burns, Sharyn; Lobo, Roanna; McConigley, Ruth

2017-01-01

Introduction There is limited research examining community-based or multilevel interventions that address the sexual health of young people in the rural Australian context. This paper describes the Participatory Action Research (PAR) project that will develop and validate a framework that is effective for planning, implementing and evaluating multilevel community-based sexual health interventions for young people aged 16–24 years in the Australian rural setting. Methods and analysis To develop a framework for sexual health interventions with stakeholders, PAR will be used. Three PAR cycles will be conducted, using semistructured one-on-one interviews, focus groups, community mapping and photovoice to inform the development of a draft framework. Cycle 2 and Cycle 3 will use targeted Delphi studies to gather evaluation and feedback on the developed draft framework. All data collected will be reviewed and analysed in detail and coded as concepts become apparent at each stage of the process. Ethics and dissemination This protocol describes a supervised doctoral research project. This project seeks to contribute to the literature regarding PAR in the rural setting and the use of the Delphi technique within PAR projects. The developed framework as a result of the project will provide a foundation for further research testing the application of the framework in other settings and health areas. This research has received ethics approval from the Curtin University Human Research and Ethics Committee (HR96/2015). PMID:28559453

Visible Human Project

MedlinePlus

... used for teaching, modeling radiation absorption and therapy, equipment design, surgical simulation, and simulation of diagnostic procedures, ….” ... Project ® " by Michael J. Ackerman, Ph.D. Projects Based on the Visible Human Data Set Applications for ...

The Writing Series Project: a model for supporting social work clinicians in health settings to disseminate practice knowledge.

PubMed

Boddy, Jennifer; Daly, Michelle; Munch, Shari

2012-01-01

Social work clinicians across health care settings are uniquely positioned to disseminate valuable practice experience, thereby contributing to knowledge development within their field of practice and across disciplines. Unfortunately, practitioners tend to shy away from writing and research, and are often reluctant to publicly disseminate their expertise through peer-reviewed journals and conference presentations. To better support health social workers in scholarly endeavors, we developed and implemented The Writing Series Project in southeast Queensland, Australia. This article reports on the development, programmatic challenges and practitioner feedback that offer insight into the benefits and pitfalls that we encountered.

Introduction to Fuzzy Set Theory

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Kosko, Bart

1990-01-01

An introduction to fuzzy set theory is described. Topics covered include: neural networks and fuzzy systems; the dynamical systems approach to machine intelligence; intelligent behavior as adaptive model-free estimation; fuzziness versus probability; fuzzy sets; the entropy-subsethood theorem; adaptive fuzzy systems for backing up a truck-and-trailer; product-space clustering with differential competitive learning; and adaptive fuzzy system for target tracking.

Description of the EuroTARGET cohort: A European collaborative project on TArgeted therapy in renal cell cancer-GEnetic- and tumor-related biomarkers for response and toxicity.

PubMed

van der Zanden, Loes F M; Vermeulen, Sita H; Oskarsdottir, Arna; Maurits, Jake S F; Diekstra, Meta H M; Ambert, Valentin; Cambon-Thomsen, Anne; Castellano, Daniel; Fritsch, Achim; Garcia Donas, Jesus; Guarch Troyas, Rosa; Guchelaar, Henk-Jan; Hartmann, Arndt; Hulsbergen-van de Kaa, Christina; Jaehde, Ulrich; Junker, Kerstin; Martinez-Cardus, Anna; Masson, Gisli; Oosterwijk-Wakka, Jeannette; Radu, Marius T; Rafnar, Thorunn; Rodriguez-Antona, Cristina; Roessler, Max; Ruijtenbeek, Rob; Stefansson, Kari; Warren, Anne; Wessels, Lodewyk; Eisen, Tim; Kiemeney, Lambertus A L M; Oosterwijk, Egbert

2017-08-01

For patients with metastatic renal cell cancer (mRCC), treatment choice is mainly based on clinical parameters. With many treatments available and the limited response to treatment and associated toxicities, there is much interest in identifying better biomarkers for personalized treatment. EuroTARGET aims to identify and characterize host- and tumor-related biomarkers for prediction of response to tyrosine kinase inhibitor therapy in mRCC. Here, we describe the EuroTARGET mRCC patient cohort. EuroTARGET is a European collaborative project designed as an observational study for which patients with mRCC were recruited prospectively in 62 centers. In addition, 462 patients with mRCC from previous studies were included. Detailed clinical information (baseline and follow-up) from all patients was entered in web-based case record forms. Blood was collected for germline DNA and pharmacokinetic/pharmacodynamic analyses and, where available, fresh-frozen tumor material was collected to perform tumor DNA, RNA, kinome, and methylome analyses. In total, 1,210 patients with mRCC were included. Of these, 920 received a tyrosine kinase inhibitor as first-line targeted treatment (sunitinib [N = 713, 78%], sorafenib [N = 41, 4%], or pazopanib [N = 166, 18%]) and had at least 6 months of outcome assessment (median follow-up 15.3 months [interquartile range: 8.5-30.2 months]). Germline DNA samples were available from 824 of these patients, fresh-frozen tumor material from 142 patients, fresh-frozen normal kidney tissue from 95 patients, and tissue microarrays created from formalin-fixed paraffin-embedded tumor material from 247 patients. Of the 920 patients, germline DNA variant chip data were successfully generated for 811 patients (Illumina HumanOmniExpress BeadChip). For 80 patients, next-generation exome sequencing of germline and tumor DNA was performed, tumor RNA sequencing was performed for 124 patients, kinome activity measured and processed for 121 patients (PamChip), and

Infrastructure Joint Venture Projects in Malaysia: A Preliminary Study

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Romeli, Norsyakilah; Muhamad Halil, Faridah; Ismail, Faridah; Sufian Hasim, Muhammad

2018-03-01

As many developed country practise, the function of the infrastructure is to connect the each region of Malaysia holistically and infrastructure is an investment network projects such as transportation water and sewerage, power, communication and irrigations system. Hence, a billions allocations of government income reserved for the sake of the infrastructure development. Towards a successful infrastructure development, a joint venture approach has been promotes by 2016 in one of the government thrust in Construction Industry Transformation Plan which encourage the internationalisation among contractors. However, there is depletion in information on the actual practise of the infrastructure joint venture projects in Malaysia. Therefore, this study attempt to explore the real application of the joint venture in Malaysian infrastructure projects. Using the questionnaire survey, a set of survey question distributed to the targeted respondents. The survey contained three section which the sections are respondent details, organizations background and project capital in infrastructure joint venture project. The results recorded and analyse using SPSS software. The contractors stated that they have implemented the joint venture practice with mostly the client with the usual construction period of the infrastructure project are more than 5 years. Other than that, the study indicates that there are problems in the joint venture project in the perspective of the project capital and the railway infrastructure should be given a highlights in future study due to its high significant in term of cost and technical issues.

PERSEUS QC: preparing statistic data sets

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Belokopytov, Vladimir; Khaliulin, Alexey; Ingerov, Andrey; Zhuk, Elena; Gertman, Isaac; Zodiatis, George; Nikolaidis, Marios; Nikolaidis, Andreas; Stylianou, Stavros

2017-09-01

The Desktop Oceanographic Data Processing Module was developed for visual analysis of interdisciplinary cruise measurements. The program provides the possibility of data selection based on different criteria, map plotting, sea horizontal sections, and sea depth vertical profiles. The data selection in the area of interest can be specified according to a set of different physical and chemical parameters complimented by additional parameters, such as the cruise number, ship name, and time period. The visual analysis of a set of vertical profiles in the selected area allows to determine the quality of the data, their location and the time of the in-situ measurements and to exclude any questionable data from the statistical analysis. For each selected set of profiles, the average vertical profile, the minimal and maximal values of the parameter under examination and the root mean square (r.m.s.) are estimated. These estimates are compared with the parameter ranges, set for each sub-region by MEDAR/MEDATLAS-II and SeaDataNet2 projects. In the framework of the PERSEUS project, certain parameters which lacked a range were calculated from scratch, while some of the previously used ranges were re-defined using more comprehensive data sets based on SeaDataNet2, SESAME and PERSEUS projects. In some cases we have used additional sub- regions to redefine the ranges ore precisely. The recalculated ranges are used to improve the PERSEUS Data Quality Control.

Joint Test Project Report of Combat Air Support Target Acquisition Program. SEEKVAL. Project IA2. Direct Visual Imagery Experiments.

DTIC Science & Technology

1975-01-01

Mission Zero Briefing Information ... ....... 1-A-8 Mission Zero Preflight Taped Coiments . . . 1-A-lO Mission Zero Inflight Events and Commentary . l-A...acquisitions between MAR and the target and zero range for non-acquisitions. AA 1 ... , ; "~...,, X0 ..o", xix S w...target from 35,000 feet to zero feet at nadir. If the inter-target interval was less than 35,000 feet, the device started counting on the new target

The South African isotope facility project

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bark, R. A.; Barnard, A. H.; Conradie, J. L.; de Villiers, J. G.; van Schalkwyk, P. A.

2018-05-01

The South African Isotope Facility (SAIF) is a project in which iThemba LABS plans to build a radioactive-ion beam (RIB) facility. The project is divided into the Accelerator Centre of Exotic Isotopes (ACE Isotopes) and the Accelerator Centre for Exotic Beams (ACE Beams). For ACE Isotopes, a high-current, 70 MeV cyclotron will be acquired to take radionuclide production off the existing Separated Sector Cyclotron (SSC). A freed up SSC will then be available for an increased tempo of nuclear physics research and to serve as a driver accelerator for the ACE Beams project, in which protons will be used for the direct fission of Uranium, producing beams of fission fragments. The ACE Beams project has begun with "LeRIB" - a Low Energy RIB facility, now under construction. In a collaboration with INFN Legnaro, the target/ion-source "front-end" will be a copy of the front-end developed for the SPES project. A variety of targets may be inserted into the SPES front-end; a uranium-carbide target has been designed to produce up to 2 × 1013 fission/s using a 70 MeV proton beam of 150 µA intensity.

Setting analyst: A practical harvest planning technique

Treesearch

Olivier R.M. Halleux; W. Dale Greene

2001-01-01

Setting Analyst is an ArcView extension that facilitates practical harvest planning for ground-based systems. By modeling the travel patterns of ground-based machines, it compares different harvesting settings based on projected average skidding distance, logging costs, and site disturbance levels. Setting Analyst uses information commonly available to consulting...

Intergenerational Projects: Idea Book.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Clay, Rebecca; Ventura-Merkel, Cathy; Eades-Goudy, Dianne; Dubich, Teresa

This book profiles 74 intergenerational programs in the United States. The programs range from basic tutoring projects to a sophisticated corporate-based day care center. Project selection was based on replicatable programs involving mutually beneficial exchanges. Grouped by subjects, profiles include programs targeting both young and old. Most…

ISO Key Project: Exploring the Full Range of Quasar/AGN Properties

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Wilkes, Belinda J.

1997-01-01

The ISOPHOT team have developed new recommendations for observing faint sources with ISHPOHT which involve small rasters rather than chopping. This was finalized around Feb 1997 and following this we re-designed the observations for the remainder of our observing time. We had put our program on hold in September when it became clear that chopped observations had major problems. The revised program, which included re-observation at long wavelengths using rasters for a number of high-priority targets and re-specification of new observations of others, was released in April 1997. The latest prediction for the satellite lifetime has extended its life until April 1998. Our project has been allocated a 15% increase in our observing time as a result of this life extension. We are currently working on setting priorities in order to determine which targets to include in this additional time. This will help to offset some of the targets lost due to the significant decrease in detector sensitivity over pre-flight predictions.

Implementing Target Value Design.

PubMed

Alves, Thais da C L; Lichtig, Will; Rybkowski, Zofia K

2017-04-01

An alternative to the traditional way of designing projects is the process of target value design (TVD), which takes different departure points to start the design process. The TVD process starts with the client defining an allowable cost that needs to be met by the design and construction teams. An expected cost in the TVD process is defined through multiple interactions between multiple stakeholders who define wishes and others who define ways of achieving these wishes. Finally, a target cost is defined based on the expected profit the design and construction teams are expecting to make. TVD follows a series of continuous improvement efforts aimed at reaching the desired goals for the project and its associated target value cost. The process takes advantage of rapid cycles of suggestions, analyses, and implementation that starts with the definition of value for the client. In the traditional design process, the goal is to identify user preferences and find solutions that meet the needs of the client's expressed preferences. In the lean design process, the goal is to educate users about their values and advocate for a better facility over the long run; this way owners can help contractors and designers to identify better solutions. This article aims to inform the healthcare community about tools and techniques commonly used during the TVD process and how they can be used to educate and support project participants in developing better solutions to meet their needs now as well as in the future.

Evaluation of target efficiencies for solid-liquid separation steps in biofuels production.

PubMed

Kochergin, Vadim; Miller, Keith

2011-01-01

Development of liquid biofuels has entered a new phase of large scale pilot demonstration. A number of plants that are in operation or under construction face the task of addressing the engineering challenges of creating a viable plant design, scaling up and optimizing various unit operations. It is well-known that separation technologies account for 50-70% of both capital and operating cost. Additionally, reduction of environmental impact creates technological challenges that increase project cost without adding to the bottom line. Different technologies vary in terms of selection of unit operations; however, solid-liquid separations are likely to be a major contributor to the overall project cost. Despite the differences in pretreatment approaches, similar challenges arise for solid-liquid separation unit operations. A typical process for ethanol production from biomass includes several solid-liquid separation steps, depending on which particular stream is targeted for downstream processing. The nature of biomass-derived materials makes it either difficult or uneconomical to accomplish complete separation in a single step. Therefore, setting realistic efficiency targets for solid-liquid separations is an important task that influences overall process recovery and economics. Experimental data will be presented showing typical characteristics for pretreated cane bagasse at various stages of processing into cellulosic ethanol. Results of generic material balance calculations will be presented to illustrate the influence of separation target efficiencies on overall process recoveries and characteristics of waste streams.

Development of Water Target for Radioisotope Production

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Tripp, Nathan

2011-10-01

Ongoing studies of plant physiology at TUNL require a supply of nitrogen-13 for use as a radiotracer. Production of nitrogen-13 using a water target and a proton beam follows the nuclear reaction 16-O(p,a)13-N. Unfortunately the irradiation of trace amounts of oxygen-18 within a natural water target produces fluorine-18 by the reaction 18-O(p, n)18-F. The presence of this second radioisotope reduces the efficacy of nitrogen-13 as a radiotracer. Designing a natural water target for nitrogen-13 production at TUNL required the design of several new systems to address the problems inherent in nitrogen-13 production. A heat exchanger cools the target water after irradiation within the target cell. The resulting improved thermal regulation of the target water prevents the system from overheating and minimizes the effect of the cavitations occurring within the target. Alumina pellets within a scrubbing unit remove the fluorine-18 contamination from the irradiated water. The modular design of the water target apparatus makes the system highly adaptable, allowing for easy reuse and adaptation of the different components into future projects. The newly designed and constructed water target should meet the current and future needs of TUNL researchers in the production of nitrogen-13. This TUNL REU project was funded in part by a grant from the National Science Foundation (NSF) NSF-PHY-08-51813.

Radar Imaging for Moving Targets

DTIC Science & Technology

2009-06-01

MOVING TARGETS by Teo Beng Koon William June 2009 Thesis Advisor: Brett H. Borden Second Reader: Donald L. Walters THIS PAGE...Reports, 1215 Jefferson Davis Highway, Suite 1204, Arlington, VA 22202-4302, and to the Office of Management and Budget, Paperwork Reduction Project...TITLE AND SUBTITLE Radar Imaging for Moving Targets 6. AUTHOR(S) Teo Beng Koon William 5. FUNDING NUMBERS 7. PERFORMING ORGANIZATION NAME(S

Interventions that promote retention of experienced registered nurses in health care settings: a systematic review.

PubMed

Lartey, Sarah; Cummings, Greta; Profetto-McGrath, Joanne

2014-11-01

The aim of this review was to report the effectiveness of strategies for retaining experienced Registered Nurses. Nursing researchers have noted that the projected nursing shortage, if not rectified, is expected to affect healthcare cost, job satisfaction and quality patient care. Retaining experienced nurses would help to mitigate the shortage, facilitate the transfer of knowledge and provision of quality care to patients. A systematic review of studies on interventions that promote the retention of experienced Registered Nurses in health care settings. Twelve studies were included in the final analysis. Most studies reported improved retention as a result of the intervention. Team work and individually targeted strategies including mentoring, leadership interest and in-depth orientation increased job satisfaction and produced higher retention results. Few published studies have examined interventions that promote the retention of experienced Registered Nurses in healthcare. Retention was highest when multiple interventions were used. Further research is needed to inform nurse leaders of ways to retain nurses and to maintain quality care in health care settings. Programmes targeting the retention of experienced nurses need to be considered when implementing measures to decrease the nursing shortage and its effects on quality care. © 2013 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

The Citizenship Safety Project: a pilot study.

PubMed

Frederick, K; Barlow, J

2006-02-01

The Government White Paper Saving Lives: Our Healthier Nation (1999) provides a clear indication that accidents are a serious public health problem and have been targeted by the Department of Health as a key area for prevention over the next 10 years. School-based injury prevention programmes have been identified as one of the key settings for the implementation of the White Paper's heath promotion strategies. The Citizen Safety Project (CSP) is a peer-delivered injury prevention programme for Year 10 students (14-15 years) and Year 2 pupils (6-7 years). This paper summarizes the findings of a pilot study that assessed the feasibility of implementing the CSP in schools and of conducting a larger study. Working as part of their Personal Social Health Education lessons, 11 pairs (n = 22) of Year 10 students developed a project to take one accident prevention theme of their choice into a primary school to teach small groups of five or six Year 2 pupils (n = 55). A formative evaluation was conducted, based on interviews with Year 2 and Year 10 teachers (n = 2), and the diaries of Year 10 students. Knowledge of accident prevention and risk awareness was measured in Year 2 pupils using the Draw and Write technique, and impact on Year 10 students was measured using self-esteem and locus of control inventories. Using both statistical and thematic analysis the study concludes that the CSP is well accepted, improves knowledge in Year 2 pupils and boosts confidence in Year 10 students, while concurrently achieving key stage attainment targets. Implications of the study are discussed in terms of future research, as are recommendations with regard to modifications to the project.

Utilizing Maximal Independent Sets as Dominating Sets in Scale-Free Networks

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Derzsy, N.; Molnar, F., Jr.; Szymanski, B. K.; Korniss, G.

Dominating sets provide key solution to various critical problems in networked systems, such as detecting, monitoring, or controlling the behavior of nodes. Motivated by graph theory literature [Erdos, Israel J. Math. 4, 233 (1966)], we studied maximal independent sets (MIS) as dominating sets in scale-free networks. We investigated the scaling behavior of the size of MIS in artificial scale-free networks with respect to multiple topological properties (size, average degree, power-law exponent, assortativity), evaluated its resilience to network damage resulting from random failure or targeted attack [Molnar et al., Sci. Rep. 5, 8321 (2015)], and compared its efficiency to previously proposed dominating set selection strategies. We showed that, despite its small set size, MIS provides very high resilience against network damage. Using extensive numerical analysis on both synthetic and real-world (social, biological, technological) network samples, we demonstrate that our method effectively satisfies four essential requirements of dominating sets for their practical applicability on large-scale real-world systems: 1.) small set size, 2.) minimal network information required for their construction scheme, 3.) fast and easy computational implementation, and 4.) resiliency to network damage. Supported by DARPA, DTRA, and NSF.

Hybrid petacomputing meets cosmology: The Roadrunner Universe project

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Habib, Salman; Pope, Adrian; Lukić, Zarija; Daniel, David; Fasel, Patricia; Desai, Nehal; Heitmann, Katrin; Hsu, Chung-Hsing; Ankeny, Lee; Mark, Graham; Bhattacharya, Suman; Ahrens, James

2009-07-01

The target of the Roadrunner Universe project at Los Alamos National Laboratory is a set of very large cosmological N-body simulation runs on the hybrid supercomputer Roadrunner, the world's first petaflop platform. Roadrunner's architecture presents opportunities and difficulties characteristic of next-generation supercomputing. We describe a new code designed to optimize performance and scalability by explicitly matching the underlying algorithms to the machine architecture, and by using the physics of the problem as an essential aid in this process. While applications will differ in specific exploits, we believe that such a design process will become increasingly important in the future. The Roadrunner Universe project code, MC3 (Mesh-based Cosmology Code on the Cell), uses grid and direct particle methods to balance the capabilities of Roadrunner's conventional (Opteron) and accelerator (Cell BE) layers. Mirrored particle caches and spectral techniques are used to overcome communication bandwidth limitations and possible difficulties with complicated particle-grid interaction templates.

Target modelling for SAR image simulation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Willis, Chris J.

2014-10-01

This paper examines target models that might be used in simulations of Synthetic Aperture Radar imagery. We examine the basis for scattering phenomena in SAR, and briefly review the Swerling target model set, before considering extensions to this set discussed in the literature. Methods for simulating and extracting parameters for the extended Swerling models are presented. It is shown that in many cases the more elaborate extended Swerling models can be represented, to a high degree of fidelity, by simpler members of the model set. Further, it is shown that it is quite unlikely that these extended models would be selected when fitting models to typical data samples.

Discovery of Transcriptional Targets Regulated by Nuclear Receptors Using a Probabilistic Graphical Model

PubMed Central

Lee, Mikyung; Huang, Ruili; Tong, Weida

2016-01-01

Nuclear receptors (NRs) are ligand-activated transcriptional regulators that play vital roles in key biological processes such as growth, differentiation, metabolism, reproduction, and morphogenesis. Disruption of NRs can result in adverse health effects such as NR-mediated endocrine disruption. A comprehensive understanding of core transcriptional targets regulated by NRs helps to elucidate their key biological processes in both toxicological and therapeutic aspects. In this study, we applied a probabilistic graphical model to identify the transcriptional targets of NRs and the biological processes they govern. The Tox21 program profiled a collection of approximate 10 000 environmental chemicals and drugs against a panel of human NRs in a quantitative high-throughput screening format for their NR disruption potential. The Japanese Toxicogenomics Project, one of the most comprehensive efforts in the field of toxicogenomics, generated large-scale gene expression profiles on the effect of 131 compounds (in its first phase of study) at various doses, and different durations, and their combinations. We applied author-topic model to these 2 toxicological datasets, which consists of 11 NRs run in either agonist and/or antagonist mode (18 assays total) and 203 in vitro human gene expression profiles connected by 52 shared drugs. As a result, a set of clusters (topics), which consists of a set of NRs and their associated target genes were determined. Various transcriptional targets of the NRs were identified by assays run in either agonist or antagonist mode. Our results were validated by functional analysis and compared with TRANSFAC data. In summary, our approach resulted in effective identification of associated/affected NRs and their target genes, providing biologically meaningful hypothesis embedded in their relationships. PMID:26643261

Economic communication model set

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zvereva, Olga M.; Berg, Dmitry B.

2017-06-01

This paper details findings from the research work targeted at economic communications investigation with agent-based models usage. The agent-based model set was engineered to simulate economic communications. Money in the form of internal and external currencies was introduced into the models to support exchanges in communications. Every model, being based on the general concept, has its own peculiarities in algorithm and input data set since it was engineered to solve the specific problem. Several and different origin data sets were used in experiments: theoretic sets were estimated on the basis of static Leontief's equilibrium equation and the real set was constructed on the basis of statistical data. While simulation experiments, communication process was observed in dynamics, and system macroparameters were estimated. This research approved that combination of an agent-based and mathematical model can cause a synergetic effect.

Time Critical Targeting Concept of Operations (CONOPS) Interactions

DTIC Science & Technology

2011-05-01

range of topics in force development and employment. Carl has participated in projects examining the interdiction of armoured ground forces , long...Critical Targeting Concept of Operations (CONOPS) Interactions Executive Summary In 2003, RAND Project Air Force examined the...Attack. ____________________ ________________________________________________ Carl Rhodes Project Air Force , RAND Corporation Carl Rhodes is the

Why history matters for quantitative target setting: long-term trends in socioeconomic and racial/ethnic inequities in US infant death rates (1960–2010)

PubMed Central

Krieger, Nancy; Singh, Nakul; Chen, Jarvis T.; Coull, Brent A.; Beckfield, Jason; Kiang, Mathew V.; Waterman, Pamela D.; Gruskin, Sofia

2016-01-01

Policy-oriented population health targets, such as the Millennium Development Goals and national targets to address health inequities, typically are based on trends of a decade or less. To test whether expanded timeframes might be more apt, we analyzed 50-year trends in US infant death rates (1960–2010) jointly by income and race/ethnicity. The largest annual percent changes in the infant death rate (between −4% and −10%) occurred, for all racial/ethnic groups, in the lowest income quintile between the mid-1960s and early 1980s, and in the second lowest income quintile between the mid-1960s and 1973; since the 1990s, they have hovered, in all groups, between −1% and −3%. Hence, to look back only 15 years, in 2014, to 1999, would ignore gains achieved prior to the post-1980 onset of neoliberal policies. Target setting should be informed by a deeper and more long-term appraisal of what is possible to achieve. PMID:25971237

Projection-data based temporal maximum attenuation computed tomography: determination of internal target volume for lung cancer against intra-fraction motion

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Mori, Shinichiro; Kanematsu, Nobuyuki; Asakura, Hiroshi; Endo, Masahiro

2007-02-01

The concept of internal target volume (ITV) is highly significant in radiotherapy for the lung, an organ which is hampered by organ motion. To date, different methods to obtain the ITV have been published and are therefore available. To define ITV, we developed a new method by adapting a time filter to the four-dimensional CT scan technique (4DCT) which is projection-data processing (4D projection data maximum attenuation (4DPM)), and compared it with reconstructed image processing (4D image maximum intensity projection (4DIM)) using a phantom and clinical evaluations. 4DIM and 4DPM captured accurate maximum intensity volume (MIV), that is tumour encompassing volume, easily. Although 4DIM increased the CT number 1.8 times higher than 4DPM, 4DPM provided the original tumour CT number for MIV via a reconstruction algorithm. In the patient with lung fibrosis honeycomb, the MIV with 4DIM is 0.7 cm larger than that for cine imaging in the cranio-caudal direction. 4DPM therefore provided an accurate MIV independent of patient characteristics and reconstruction conditions. These findings indicate the usefulness of 4DPM in determining ITV in radiotherapy.

Aligning corporate greenhouse-gas emissions targets with climate goals

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Krabbe, Oskar; Linthorst, Giel; Blok, Kornelis; Crijns-Graus, Wina; van Vuuren, Detlef P.; Höhne, Niklas; Faria, Pedro; Aden, Nate; Pineda, Alberto Carrillo

2015-12-01

Corporate climate action is increasingly considered important in driving the transition towards a low-carbon economy. For this, it is critical to ensure translation of global goals to greenhouse-gas (GHG) emissions reduction targets at company level. At the moment, however, there is a lack of clear methods to derive consistent corporate target setting that keeps cumulative corporate GHG emissions within a specific carbon budget (for example, 550-1,300 GtCO2 between 2011 and 2050 for the 2 °C target). Here we propose a method for corporate emissions target setting that derives carbon intensity pathways for companies based on sectoral pathways from existing mitigation scenarios: the Sectoral Decarbonization Approach (SDA). These company targets take activity growth and initial performance into account. Next to target setting on company level, the SDA can be used by companies, policymakers, investors or other stakeholders as a benchmark for tracking corporate climate performance and actions, providing a mechanism for corporate accountability.

7 CFR 1486.103 - Are regional projects possible under the program?

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-01-01

... consideration provided such projects target qualifying emerging markets in the specified region. CCC may consider activities which target qualified emerging markets in a specific region, but are conducted in a... MARKETS PROGRAM General Information § 1486.103 Are regional projects possible under the program? Projects...

SEE HYDROPOWER Project, targeted to improve water resource management for a growing renewable energy production

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Peviani, Maximo; Alterach, Julio; Danelli, Andrea

2010-05-01

problem, and there is a strong need of a more accurate planning and management optimization of the resources. The partnership includes a well balance mixing of public administrations, agencies ruling hydropower development, water bodies conservation and scientific institutions having the most advanced technology applied to water management and hydropower generation. Furthermore, a permanent "consultant panel" integrated by target groups representatives from different European countries are involved in key decisions and meetings, that guaranty a concrete regional scale participation. The present work reports the overall strategy of the project and the description of the main informatic tools that are under development and implementation in five pilot regions, located in Italy, Austria, Romania, Slovenia and Greece. Keywords: WFD Directive, RES-e Directive, water multi-purpose uses, renewable energy, small hydropower production, environmental balance, minimum environmental flow, flood protection

Constrained target controllability of complex networks

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Guo, Wei-Feng; Zhang, Shao-Wu; Wei, Ze-Gang; Zeng, Tao; Liu, Fei; Zhang, Jingsong; Wu, Fang-Xiang; Chen, Luonan

2017-06-01

It is of great theoretical interest and practical significance to study how to control a system by applying perturbations to only a few driver nodes. Recently, a hot topic of modern network researches is how to determine driver nodes that allow the control of an entire network. However, in practice, to control a complex network, especially a biological network, one may know not only the set of nodes which need to be controlled (i.e. target nodes), but also the set of nodes to which only control signals can be applied (i.e. constrained control nodes). Compared to the general concept of controllability, we introduce the concept of constrained target controllability (CTC) of complex networks, which concerns the ability to drive any state of target nodes to their desirable state by applying control signals to the driver nodes from the set of constrained control nodes. To efficiently investigate the CTC of complex networks, we further design a novel graph-theoretic algorithm called CTCA to estimate the ability of a given network to control targets by choosing driver nodes from the set of constrained control nodes. We extensively evaluate the CTC of numerous real complex networks. The results indicate that biological networks with a higher average degree are easier to control than biological networks with a lower average degree, while electronic networks with a lower average degree are easier to control than web networks with a higher average degree. We also show that our CTCA can more efficiently produce driver nodes for target-controlling the networks than existing state-of-the-art methods. Moreover, we use our CTCA to analyze two expert-curated bio-molecular networks and compare to other state-of-the-art methods. The results illustrate that our CTCA can efficiently identify proven drug targets and new potentials, according to the constrained controllability of those biological networks.

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.

Open set recognition of aircraft in aerial imagery using synthetic template models

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bapst, Aleksander B.; Tran, Jonathan; Koch, Mark W.; Moya, Mary M.; Swahn, Robert

2017-05-01

Fast, accurate and robust automatic target recognition (ATR) in optical aerial imagery can provide game-changing advantages to military commanders and personnel. ATR algorithms must reject non-targets with a high degree of confidence in a world with an infinite number of possible input images. Furthermore, they must learn to recognize new targets without requiring massive data collections. Whereas most machine learning algorithms classify data in a closed set manner by mapping inputs to a fixed set of training classes, open set recognizers incorporate constraints that allow for inputs to be labelled as unknown. We have adapted two template-based open set recognizers to use computer generated synthetic images of military aircraft as training data, to provide a baseline for military-grade ATR: (1) a frequentist approach based on probabilistic fusion of extracted image features, and (2) an open set extension to the one-class support vector machine (SVM). These algorithms both use histograms of oriented gradients (HOG) as features as well as artificial augmentation of both real and synthetic image chips to take advantage of minimal training data. Our results show that open set recognizers trained with synthetic data and tested with real data can successfully discriminate real target inputs from non-targets. However, there is still a requirement for some knowledge of the real target in order to calibrate the relationship between synthetic template and target score distributions. We conclude by proposing algorithm modifications that may improve the ability of synthetic data to represent real data.

OmniSearch: a semantic search system based on the Ontology for MIcroRNA Target (OMIT) for microRNA-target gene interaction data.

PubMed

Huang, Jingshan; Gutierrez, Fernando; Strachan, Harrison J; Dou, Dejing; Huang, Weili; Smith, Barry; Blake, Judith A; Eilbeck, Karen; Natale, Darren A; Lin, Yu; Wu, Bin; Silva, Nisansa de; Wang, Xiaowei; Liu, Zixing; Borchert, Glen M; Tan, Ming; Ruttenberg, Alan

2016-01-01

As a special class of non-coding RNAs (ncRNAs), microRNAs (miRNAs) perform important roles in numerous biological and pathological processes. The realization of miRNA functions depends largely on how miRNAs regulate specific target genes. It is therefore critical to identify, analyze, and cross-reference miRNA-target interactions to better explore and delineate miRNA functions. Semantic technologies can help in this regard. We previously developed a miRNA domain-specific application ontology, Ontology for MIcroRNA Target (OMIT), whose goal was to serve as a foundation for semantic annotation, data integration, and semantic search in the miRNA field. In this paper we describe our continuing effort to develop the OMIT, and demonstrate its use within a semantic search system, OmniSearch, designed to facilitate knowledge capture of miRNA-target interaction data. Important changes in the current version OMIT are summarized as: (1) following a modularized ontology design (with 2559 terms imported from the NCRO ontology); (2) encoding all 1884 human miRNAs (vs. 300 in previous versions); and (3) setting up a GitHub project site along with an issue tracker for more effective community collaboration on the ontology development. The OMIT ontology is free and open to all users, accessible at: http://purl.obolibrary.org/obo/omit.owl. The OmniSearch system is also free and open to all users, accessible at: http://omnisearch.soc.southalabama.edu/index.php/Software.

Evaluation of the Washington State Target Zero teams project.

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

2015-01-01

As part of its Target Zero strategic highway safety plan that has the goal to reduce traffic fatalities in Washington to zero by the year 2030, the State of Washington established three detachments of Washington State Patrol (WSP) troopers to f...

Video-Out Projection and Lecture Hall Set-Up. Microcomputing Working Paper Series.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Gibson, Chris

This paper details the considerations involved in determining suitable video projection systems for displaying the Apple Macintosh's screen to large groups of people, both in classrooms with approximately 25 people, and in lecture halls with approximately 250. To project the Mac screen to groups in lecture halls, the Electrohome EDP-57 video…

Targeting, Air Force Doctrine Document 2-1.9

DTIC Science & Technology

2006-06-08

Target system analysis ( TSA ), as its name implies, approaches targets and target sets as systems to determine vulnerabilities and exploitable...weaknesses. Targeteers review how a functional target system works as a whole and analyze the interactions between components. TSA takes a system-of...effectiveness of target development. TSA begins in peacetime, before the commencement of conflict, and is accomplished with federated support and

The Technology Acceptance Model for Resource-Limited Settings (TAM-RLS): A Novel Framework for Mobile Health Interventions Targeted to Low-Literacy End-Users in Resource-Limited Settings.

PubMed

Campbell, Jeffrey I; Aturinda, Isaac; Mwesigwa, Evans; Burns, Bridget; Santorino, Data; Haberer, Jessica E; Bangsberg, David R; Holden, Richard J; Ware, Norma C; Siedner, Mark J

2017-11-01

Although mobile health (mHealth) technologies have shown promise in improving clinical care in resource-limited settings (RLS), they are infrequently brought to scale. One limitation to the success of many mHealth interventions is inattention to end-user acceptability, which is an important predictor of technology adoption. We conducted in-depth interviews with 43 people living with HIV in rural Uganda who had participated in a clinical trial of a short messaging system (SMS)-based intervention designed to prompt return to clinic after an abnormal laboratory test. Interviews focused on established features of technology acceptance models, including perceived ease of use and perceived usefulness, and included open-ended questions to gain insight into unexplored issues related to the intervention's acceptability. We used conventional (inductive) and direct content analysis to derive categories describing use behaviors and acceptability. Interviews guided development of a proposed conceptual framework, the technology acceptance model for resource-limited settings (TAM-RLS). This framework incorporates both classic technology acceptance model categories as well as novel factors affecting use in this setting. Participants described how SMS message language, phone characteristics, and experience with similar technologies contributed to the system's ease of use. Perceived usefulness was shaped by the perception that the system led to augmented HIV care services and improved access to social support from family and colleagues. Emergent themes specifically related to mHealth acceptance among PLWH in Uganda included (1) the importance of confidentiality, disclosure, and stigma, and (2) the barriers and facilitators downstream from the intervention that impacted achievement of the system's target outcome. The TAM-RLS is a proposed model of mHealth technology acceptance based upon end-user experiences in rural Uganda. Although the proposed model requires validation, the TAM

Guidance system for laser targets

DOEpatents

Porter, Gary D.; Bogdanoff, Anatoly

1978-01-01

A system for guiding charged laser targets to a predetermined focal spot of a laser along generally arbitrary, and especially horizontal, directions which comprises a series of electrostatic sensors which provide inputs to a computer for real time calculation of position, velocity, and direction of the target along an initial injection trajectory, and a set of electrostatic deflection means, energized according to a calculated output of said computer, to change the target trajectory to intercept the focal spot of the laser which is triggered so as to illuminate the target of the focal spot.

Nuclear weapons at 70: reflections on the context and legacy of the Manhattan Project

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Reed, B. Cameron

2015-08-01

August 2015 marks the 70th anniversary of the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. These bombs, the products of the United States Army’s Manhattan Project, helped to end World War II and had enormous long-term effects on global political strategies by setting the stage for the Cold War and nuclear proliferation. This article explores the context and legacy of the Manhattan Project. The state of the war in the summer of 1945 is described, as are how the target cities came to be chosen, deliberations surrounding whether the bombs should be used directly or demonstrated first, and the long-term effects of the Project on individual scientists, the relationship between scientists and society, the subsequent development of nuclear arsenals around the world, and the current status of these arsenals and how they might evolve in the future.

Setting cumulative emissions targets to reduce the risk of dangerous climate change.

PubMed

Zickfeld, Kirsten; Eby, Michael; Matthews, H Damon; Weaver, Andrew J

2009-09-22

Avoiding "dangerous anthropogenic interference with the climate system" requires stabilization of atmospheric greenhouse gas concentrations and substantial reductions in anthropogenic emissions. Here, we present an inverse approach to coupled climate-carbon cycle modeling, which allows us to estimate the probability that any given level of carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions will exceed specified long-term global mean temperature targets for "dangerous anthropogenic interference," taking into consideration uncertainties in climate sensitivity and the carbon cycle response to climate change. We show that to stabilize global mean temperature increase at 2 degrees C above preindustrial levels with a probability of at least 0.66, cumulative CO2 emissions from 2000 to 2500 must not exceed a median estimate of 590 petagrams of carbon (PgC) (range, 200 to 950 PgC). If the 2 degrees C temperature stabilization target is to be met with a probability of at least 0.9, median total allowable CO2 emissions are 170 PgC (range, -220 to 700 PgC). Furthermore, these estimates of cumulative CO2 emissions, compatible with a specified temperature stabilization target, are independent of the path taken to stabilization. Our analysis therefore supports an international policy framework aimed at avoiding dangerous anthropogenic interference formulated on the basis of total allowable greenhouse gas emissions.

Overview of Progress on the LANSCE Accelerator and Target Facilities Improvement Program

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Macek, R. J.; Brun, T.; Donahue, J. B.; Fitzgerald, D. H.

1997-05-01

Three projects to improve the performance of the accelerator and target facilities for the Los Alamos Neutron Science Center have been initiated since 1994. The LANSCE Reliability Improvement Project was separated into two phases. Phase I, completed in 1995, was targeted at near-term improvements to beam availability that could be completed in a year. Phase II, now underway, consists of two projects: 1) converting the beam injection into the Proton Storage Ring (PSR) from the present two-step process H^- to H^0 to H^+) to direct injection of H^- beam in one step (H^- to H^+), and 2) an upgrade of the spallation neutron production target which will reduce the target change-out time from about a year to about three weeks. The third project, the SPSS Enhancement Project, is aimed at increasing the PSR output beam current from the present 70 μA at 20 Hz to 200 μA at 30 Hz, plus implementing seven new neutron scattering instruments. Objectives, plans, results and progress to date will be summarized.

Contingent attentional capture occurs by activated target congruence.

PubMed

Ariga, Atsunori; Yokosawa, Kazuhiko

2008-05-01

Contingent attentional capture occurs when a stimulus property captures an observer's attention, usually related to the observer's top-down attentional set for target-defining properties. In this study, we examined whether contingent attentional capture occurs for a distractor that does not share the target-defining property at a physical level, but does share that property at an abstract level of representation. In a rapid serial visual presentation stream, we defined the target by color (e.g., a green-colored Japanese kanji character). Before the target onset, we presented a distractor that referred to the target-defining color (e.g., a white-colored character meaning "green"). We observed contingent attentional capture by the distractor, which was reflected by a deficit in identifying the subsequent target. This result suggests that because of the attentional set, stimuli were scanned on the basis of the target-defining property at an abstract semantic level of representation.

Underwater Photogrammetry, Coded Target and Plenoptic Technology: a Set of Tools for Monitoring Red Coral in Mediterranean Sea in the Framework of the "perfect" Project

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Drap, P.; Royer, J. P.; Nawaf, M. M.; Saccone, M.; Merad, D.; López-Sanz, À.; Ledoux, J. B.; Garrabou, J.

2017-02-01

PErfECT "Photogrammetry, gEnetic, Ecology for red coral ConservaTion" is a project leaded by the Laboratoire des Sciences de lInformation et des Systmes (LSIS - UMR 7296 CNRS) from the Aix-Marseille University (France) in collaboration with the Spanish National Agency for Scientific Research (CSIC, Spain). The main objective of the project is to develop innovative Tools for the conservation of the Mediterranean red coral, Corallium rubrum. PErfECT was funded by the Total Fundation. The adaptation of digital photogrammetric techniques for use in submarine is rapidly increasing in recent years. In fact, these techniques are particularly well suited for use in underwater environments. PErfECT developed different photogrammetry tools to enhance the red coral population surveys based in: (i) automatic orientation on coded quadrats, (ii) use of NPR (Non Photo realistic Rendering) techniques, (iii) the calculation of distances between colonies within local populations and finally (iv) the use of plenoptic approaches in underwater conditions.

Dot-Projection Photogrammetry and Videogrammetry of Gossamer Space Structures

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Pappa, Richard S.; Black, Jonathan T.; Blandino, Joseph R.; Jones, Thomas W.; Danehy, Paul M.; Dorrington, Adrian A.

2003-01-01

This paper documents the technique of using hundreds or thousands of projected dots of light as targets for photogrammetry and videogrammetry of gossamer space structures. Photogrammetry calculates the three-dimensional coordinates of each target on the structure, and videogrammetry tracks the coordinates versus time. Gossamer structures characteristically contain large areas of delicate, thin-film membranes. Examples include solar sails, large antennas, inflatable solar arrays, solar power concentrators and transmitters, sun shields, and planetary balloons and habitats. Using projected-dot targets avoids the unwanted mass, stiffness, and installation costs of traditional retroreflective adhesive targets. Four laboratory applications are covered that demonstrate the practical effectiveness of white-light dot projection for both static-shape and dynamic measurement of reflective and diffuse surfaces, respectively. Comparisons are made between dot-projection videogrammetry and traditional laser vibrometry for membrane vibration measurements. The paper closes by introducing a promising extension of existing techniques using a novel laser-induced fluorescence approach.

Stereo Electro-optical Tracking System (SETS)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Koenig, E. W.

1984-09-01

The SETS is a remote, non-contacting, high-accuracy tracking system for the measurement of deflection of models in the National Transonic Facility at Langley Research Center. The system consists of four electronically scanned image dissector trackers which locate the position of Light Emitting Diodes embedded in the wing or body of aircraft models. Target location data is recorded on magnetic tape for later 3-D processing. Up to 63 targets per model may be tracked at typical rates of 1280 targets per second and to precision of 0.02mm at the target under the cold (-193 C) environment of the NTF tunnel.

Map projections

USGS Publications Warehouse

,

1993-01-01

A map projection is used to portray all or part of the round Earth on a flat surface. This cannot be done without some distortion. Every projection has its own set of advantages and disadvantages. There is no "best" projection. The mapmaker must select the one best suited to the needs, reducing distortion of the most important features. Mapmakers and mathematicians have devised almost limitless ways to project the image of the globe onto paper. Scientists at the U. S. Geological Survey have designed projections for their specific needs—such as the Space Oblique Mercator, which allows mapping from satellites with little or no distortion. This document gives the key properties, characteristics, and preferred uses of many historically important projections and of those frequently used by mapmakers today.

LWS/SET Technology Experiment Carrier

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Sherman, Barry; Giffin, Geoff

2002-01-01

This paper examines the approach taken to building a low-cost, modular spacecraft bus that can be used to support a variety of technology experiments in different space environments. It describes the techniques used and design drivers considered to ensure experiment independence from as yet selected host spacecraft. It describes the technology experiment carriers that will support NASA's Living With a Star Space Environment Testbed space missions. NASA has initiated the Living With a Star (LWS) Program to develop a better scientific understanding to address the aspects of the connected Sun-Earth system that affect life and society. A principal goal of the program is to bridge the gap between science, engineering, and user application communities. The Space Environment Testbed (SET) Project is one element of LWS. The Project will enable future science, operational, and commercial objectives in space and atmospheric environments by improving engineering approaches to the accommodation and/or mitigation of the effects of solar variability on technological systems. The SET Project is highly budget constrained and must seek to take advantage of as yet undetermined partnering opportunities for access to space. SET will conduct technology validation experiments hosted on available flight opportunities. The SET Testbeds will be developed in a manner that minimizes the requirements for accommodation, and will be flown as flight opportunities become available. To access the widest range of flight opportunities, two key development requirements are to maintain flexibility with respect to accommodation constraints and to have the capability to respond quickly to flight opportunities. Experiments, already developed to the technology readiness level of needing flight validation in the variable Sun-Earth environment, will be selected on the basis of the need for the subject technology, readiness for flight, need for flight resources and particular orbit. Experiments will be

Region 6 Targeted Brownfields Assessment

EPA Pesticide Factsheets

A Target Brownfields Assessment (TBA) is a free service the EPA Region 6 Brownfields Team provides to communities to support their eligible brownfields projects. Region 6 consists of Arkansas, Louisiana, new Mexico, Oklahoma, and Texas.

Setting Evidence-Based Language Goals

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Goertler, Senta; Kraemer, Angelika; Schenker, Theresa

2016-01-01

The purpose of this project was to identify target language benchmarks for the German program at Michigan State University (MSU) based on national and international guidelines and previous research, to assess language skills across course levels and class sections in the entire German program, and to adjust the language benchmarks as needed based…

A Theory of Eye Movements during Target Acquisition

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Zelinsky, Gregory J.

2008-01-01

The gaze movements accompanying target localization were examined via human observers and a computational model (target acquisition model [TAM]). Search contexts ranged from fully realistic scenes to toys in a crib to Os and Qs, and manipulations included set size, target eccentricity, and target-distractor similarity. Observers and the model…

The Millennium Villages Project: a retrospective, observational, endline evaluation.

PubMed

Mitchell, Shira; Gelman, Andrew; Ross, Rebecca; Chen, Joyce; Bari, Sehrish; Huynh, Uyen Kim; Harris, Matthew W; Sachs, Sonia Ehrlich; Stuart, Elizabeth A; Feller, Avi; Makela, Susanna; Zaslavsky, Alan M; McClellan, Lucy; Ohemeng-Dapaah, Seth; Namakula, Patricia; Palm, Cheryl A; Sachs, Jeffrey D

2018-05-01

The Millennium Villages Project (MVP) was a 10 year, multisector, rural development project, initiated in 2005, operating across ten sites in ten sub-Saharan African countries to achieve the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). In this study, we aimed to estimate the project's impact, target attainment, and on-site spending. In this endline evaluation of the MVP, we retrospectively selected comparison villages that best matched the project villages on possible confounding variables. Cross-sectional survey data on 40 outcomes of interest were collected from both the project and the comparison villages in 2015. Using these data, as well as on-site spending data collected during the project, we estimated project impacts as differences in outcomes between the project and comparison villages; target attainment as differences between project outcomes and prespecified targets; and on-site spending as expenditures reported by communities, donors, governments, and the project. Spending data were not collected in the comparison villages. Averaged across the ten project sites, we found that impact estimates for 30 of 40 outcomes were significant (95% uncertainty intervals [UIs] for these outcomes excluded zero) and favoured the project villages. In particular, substantial effects were seen in agriculture and health, in which some outcomes were roughly one SD better in the project villages than in the comparison villages. The project was estimated to have no significant impact on the consumption-based measures of poverty, but a significant favourable impact on an index of asset ownership. Impacts on nutrition and education outcomes were often inconclusive (95% UIs included zero). Averaging across outcomes within categories, the project had significant favourable impacts on agriculture, nutrition, education, child health, maternal health, HIV and malaria, and water and sanitation. A third of the targets were met in the project sites. Total on-site spending decreased from US$132

Machine Tool Technology. Automatic Screw Machine Troubleshooting & Set-Up Training Outlines [and] Basic Operator's Skills Set List.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Anoka-Hennepin Technical Coll., Minneapolis, MN.

This set of two training outlines and one basic skills set list are designed for a machine tool technology program developed during a project to retrain defense industry workers at risk of job loss or dislocation because of conversion of the defense industry. The first troubleshooting training outline lists the categories of problems that develop…

Nanocrystal Targeting In Vivo

DTIC Science & Technology

2002-08-01

Shearwater Polymers , Huntsville, AL) was thiolated with iminothiolane. Thiolated PEG was directly added to a solution of mercaptoacetic acid- coated qdots...Nanocrystal targeting in vivo Maria E. Åkerman*†‡, Warren C. W. Chan†‡, Pirjo Laakkonen*, Sangeeta N. Bhatia†, and Erkki Ruoslahti*§ *Cancer Research...set out to explore the feasibility of in vivo targeting by using semiconductor quantum dots (qdots). Qdots are small (᝺ nm) inorganic nanocrystals

Social settings and addiction relapse.

PubMed

Walton, M A; Reischl, T M; Ramanthan, C S

1995-01-01

Despite addiction theorists' acknowledgment of the impact of environmental factors on relapse, researchers have not adequately investigated these influences. Ninety-six substance users provided data regarding their perceived risk for relapse, exposure to substances, and involvement in reinforcing activities. These three setting attributes were assessed in their home, work, and community settings. Reuse was assessed 3 months later. When controlling for confounding variables, aspects of the home settings significantly distinguished abstainers from reusers; perceived risk for relapse was the strongest predictor of reuse. Exposure to substances and involvement in reinforcing activities were not robust reuse indicators. The work and community settings were not significant determinants of reuse. These findings offer some initial support for the utility of examining social settings to better understand addiction relapse and recovery. Identification of setting-based relapse determinants provides concrete targets for relapse prevention interventions.

Meigo governs dendrite targeting specificity by modulating Ephrin level and N-glycosylation

PubMed Central

Sekine, Sayaka U; Haraguchi, Shuka; Chao, Kinhong; Kato, Tomoko; Luo, Liqun; Miura, Masayuki; Chihara, Takahiro

2016-01-01

Neural circuit assembly requires precise dendrite and axon targeting. We identified an evolutionarily conserved endoplasmic reticulum (ER) protein, Meigo, from a mosaic genetic screen in Drosophila melanogaster. Meigo was cell-autonomously required in olfactory receptor neurons and projection neurons to target their axons and dendrites to the lateral antennal lobe and to refine projection neuron dendrites into individual glomeruli. Loss of Meigo induced an unfolded protein response and reduced the amount of neuronal cell surface proteins, including Ephrin. Ephrin overexpression specifically suppressed the projection neuron dendrite refinement defect present in meigo mutant flies, and ephrin knockdown caused a similar projection neuron dendrite refinement defect. Meigo positively regulated the level of Ephrin N-glycosylation, which was required for its optimal function in vivo. Thus, Meigo, an ER-resident protein, governs neuronal targeting specificity by regulating ER folding capacity and protein N-glycosylation. Furthermore, Ephrin appears to be an important substrate that mediates Meigo’s function in refinement of glomerular targeting. PMID:23624514

Setting cumulative emissions targets to reduce the risk of dangerous climate change

PubMed Central

Zickfeld, Kirsten; Eby, Michael; Matthews, H. Damon; Weaver, Andrew J.

2009-01-01

Avoiding “dangerous anthropogenic interference with the climate system” requires stabilization of atmospheric greenhouse gas concentrations and substantial reductions in anthropogenic emissions. Here, we present an inverse approach to coupled climate-carbon cycle modeling, which allows us to estimate the probability that any given level of carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions will exceed specified long-term global mean temperature targets for “dangerous anthropogenic interference,” taking into consideration uncertainties in climate sensitivity and the carbon cycle response to climate change. We show that to stabilize global mean temperature increase at 2 °C above preindustrial levels with a probability of at least 0.66, cumulative CO2 emissions from 2000 to 2500 must not exceed a median estimate of 590 petagrams of carbon (PgC) (range, 200 to 950 PgC). If the 2 °C temperature stabilization target is to be met with a probability of at least 0.9, median total allowable CO2 emissions are 170 PgC (range, −220 to 700 PgC). Furthermore, these estimates of cumulative CO2 emissions, compatible with a specified temperature stabilization target, are independent of the path taken to stabilization. Our analysis therefore supports an international policy framework aimed at avoiding dangerous anthropogenic interference formulated on the basis of total allowable greenhouse gas emissions. PMID:19706489

Health Project Management. A Manual of Procedures for Formulating and Implementing Health Projects.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Bainbridge, J.; Sapirie, S.

The manual presents 16 main steps for health project management, from project formulation through termination. The manual defines a health project as a temporary intensive effort to set up and put into operation a new or revised service that will result in the reduction of specific health or health-related problems. (Typical examples include the…

The Inter-Sectoral Impact Model Intercomparison Project (ISI–MIP): Project framework

PubMed Central

Warszawski, Lila; Frieler, Katja; Huber, Veronika; Piontek, Franziska; Serdeczny, Olivia; Schewe, Jacob

2014-01-01

The Inter-Sectoral Impact Model Intercomparison Project offers a framework to compare climate impact projections in different sectors and at different scales. Consistent climate and socio-economic input data provide the basis for a cross-sectoral integration of impact projections. The project is designed to enable quantitative synthesis of climate change impacts at different levels of global warming. This report briefly outlines the objectives and framework of the first, fast-tracked phase of Inter-Sectoral Impact Model Intercomparison Project, based on global impact models, and provides an overview of the participating models, input data, and scenario set-up. PMID:24344316

Categorically Defined Targets Trigger Spatiotemporal Visual Attention

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Wyble, Brad; Bowman, Howard; Potter, Mary C.

2009-01-01

Transient attention to a visually salient cue enhances processing of a subsequent target in the same spatial location between 50 to 150 ms after cue onset (K. Nakayama & M. Mackeben, 1989). Do stimuli from a categorically defined target set, such as letters or digits, also generate transient attention? Participants reported digit targets among…

Venezuela's Bolivarian Schools Project.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Diaz, Maria Magnolia Santamaria

2002-01-01

Discusses efforts by the Venezuelan government to improve the nation's school infrastructure through the Bolivarian Schools Project administered by the Ministry of Education, Culture and Sport. The project set educational principles which are guiding current school building efforts. (EV)

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

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Feyock, S.; Donegan, M. K.

1977-01-01

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

Temporal identity in axonal target layer recognition.

PubMed

Petrovic, Milan; Hummel, Thomas

2008-12-11

The segregation of axon and dendrite projections into distinct synaptic layers is a fundamental principle of nervous system organization and the structural basis for information processing in the brain. Layer-specific recognition molecules that allow projecting neurons to stabilize transient contacts and initiate synaptogenesis have been identified. However, most of the neuronal cell-surface molecules critical for layer organization are expressed broadly in the developing nervous system, raising the question of how these so-called permissive adhesion molecules support synaptic specificity. Here we show that the temporal expression dynamics of the zinc-finger protein sequoia is the major determinant of Drosophila photoreceptor connectivity into distinct synaptic layers. Neighbouring R8 and R7 photoreceptors show consecutive peaks of elevated sequoia expression, which correspond to their sequential target-layer innervation. Loss of sequoia in R7 leads to a projection switch into the R8 recipient layer, whereas a prolonged expression in R8 induces a redirection of their axons into the R7 layer. The sequoia-induced axon targeting is mediated through the ubiquitously expressed Cadherin-N cell adhesion molecule. Our data support a model in which recognition specificity during synaptic layer formation is generated through a temporally restricted axonal competence to respond to broadly expressed adhesion molecules. Because developing neurons innervating the same target area often project in a distinct, birth-order-dependent sequence, temporal identity seems to contain crucial information in generating not only cell type diversity during neuronal division but also connection diversity of projecting neurons.

A Framework for Categorizing Important Project Variables

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Parsons, Vickie S.

2003-01-01

While substantial research has led to theories concerning the variables that affect project success, no universal set of such variables has been acknowledged as the standard. The identification of a specific set of controllable variables is needed to minimize project failure. Much has been hypothesized about the need to match project controls and management processes to individual projects in order to increase the chance for success. However, an accepted taxonomy for facilitating this matching process does not exist. This paper surveyed existing literature on classification of project variables. After an analysis of those proposals, a simplified categorization is offered to encourage further research.

The syphilis elimination project: targeting the Hispanic community of Baltimore city.

PubMed

Endyke-Doran, Cara; Gonzalez, Rosa Maria; Trujillo, Marangellie; Solera, Angelo; Vigilance, Pierre N; Edwards, Lori A; Groves, Sara L

2007-01-01

The objective of the Syphilis Elimination Project was to decrease the incidence of syphilis in the Hispanic community of Baltimore City through a culturally appropriate health initiative. Both qualitative and quantitative methods were used in the study design. Surveillance data were used to collect testing information. Comparisons at the start and end of the project measured change in individual knowledge about syphilis. Cross-sectional data from interviews with business owners and qualitative comments from outreach workers evaluated perception of program effectiveness. The local health department collected surveillance data. A convenience sample of 63 Hispanic community members, 12 business owners/managers, and 8 outreach workers was utilized throughout the evaluation process. The project was a culturally appropriate approach to health promotion with street and business outreach. Post intervention there was a statistically significant increase in knowledge about syphilis within the Hispanic community and an increase in testing behaviors. The Syphilis Elimination Project was created in response to a marked increase in syphilis in Baltimore among the Hispanic population and a health disparity that existed within the city. It increased community members' knowledge of syphilis and positively influenced testing behaviors.

Allowable carbon emissions lowered by multiple climate targets.

PubMed

Steinacher, Marco; Joos, Fortunat; Stocker, Thomas F

2013-07-11

Climate targets are designed to inform policies that would limit the magnitude and impacts of climate change caused by anthropogenic emissions of greenhouse gases and other substances. The target that is currently recognized by most world governments places a limit of two degrees Celsius on the global mean warming since preindustrial times. This would require large sustained reductions in carbon dioxide emissions during the twenty-first century and beyond. Such a global temperature target, however, is not sufficient to control many other quantities, such as transient sea level rise, ocean acidification and net primary production on land. Here, using an Earth system model of intermediate complexity (EMIC) in an observation-informed Bayesian approach, we show that allowable carbon emissions are substantially reduced when multiple climate targets are set. We take into account uncertainties in physical and carbon cycle model parameters, radiative efficiencies, climate sensitivity and carbon cycle feedbacks along with a large set of observational constraints. Within this framework, we explore a broad range of economically feasible greenhouse gas scenarios from the integrated assessment community to determine the likelihood of meeting a combination of specific global and regional targets under various assumptions. For any given likelihood of meeting a set of such targets, the allowable cumulative emissions are greatly reduced from those inferred from the temperature target alone. Therefore, temperature targets alone are unable to comprehensively limit the risks from anthropogenic emissions.

On certain development aspects of an ipsas-based system-target approach to evaluation of net asset sustainability level projects in high-rise construction

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kazaryan, Ruben

2018-03-01

Problems of accounting and reporting of net assets and the procedure of their formation taking into account the specifics of the economic and legal status of property of a non-commercial autonomous institution are some of the most controversial in the accounting for entities of the public sector. The study focuses on justification of accounting rules for net assets of public sector entities. The methods used in the study are as follows: comparison, synthesis, analysis, logical approach, and system approach. The article examines legal aspects and specifics of recognition of assets of public sector entities in accordance with IPSAS standards (International Public Sector Accounting Standards are a set of accounting standards issued by IPSASB (Council for International Financial Reporting Standards for Public Sector Organizations) used by state-owned enterprises worldwide in preparation of financial statements as of the 31st of August, 2015. The most crucial factor in the modeling of key performance indicators of the system-target approach to estimation of the sustainability level of net assets on the basis of IPSAS is a multicriterial evaluation of the basic management strategy for quality system elements used in operational and strategic planning projects operations in high-rise construction. We offer an alternative evaluation of assets due to be returned to the right holder (the state controller) in the event of liquidation of a public sector entity.

CDTI target selection criteria

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Britt, C. L.; Davis, C. M.; Jackson, C. B.; Mcclellan, V. A.

1984-01-01

A Cockpit Display of Traffic Information (CDTI) is a cockpit instrument which provides information to the aircrew on the relative location of aircraft traffic in the vicinity of their aircraft (township). In addition, the CDTI may provide information to assist in navigation and in aircraft control. It is usually anticipated that the CDTI will be integrated with a horizontal situation indicator used for navigational purposes and/or with a weather radar display. In this study, several sets of aircraft traffic data are analyzed to determine statistics on the number of targets that will be displayed on a CDTI using various target selection criteria. Traffic data were obtained from an Atlanta Terminal Area Simulation and from radar tapes recorded at the Atlanta and Miami terminal areas. Results are given in the form of plots showing the average percentage of time (or probability) that an aircraft equipped with a CDTI would observe from 0 to 10 other aircraft on the display for range settings on the CDTI up to 30 n. mi. and using various target discrimination techniques.

Testing the robustness of Citizen Science projects: Evaluating the results of pilot project COMBER.

PubMed

Chatzigeorgiou, Giorgos; Faulwetter, Sarah; Dailianis, Thanos; Smith, Vincent Stuart; Koulouri, Panagiota; Dounas, Costas; Arvanitidis, Christos

2016-01-01

Citizen Science (CS) as a term implies a great deal of approaches and scopes involving many different fields of science. The number of the relevant projects globally has been increased significantly in the recent years. Large scale ecological questions can be answered only through extended observation networks and CS projects can support this effort. Although the need of such projects is apparent, an important part of scientific community cast doubt on the reliability of CS data sets. The pilot CS project COMBER has been created in order to provide evidence to answer the aforementioned question in the coastal marine biodiversity monitoring. The results of the current analysis show that a carefully designed CS project with clear hypotheses, wide participation and data sets validation, can be a valuable tool for the large scale and long term changes in marine biodiversity pattern change and therefore for relevant management and conservation issues.

The effects of stimulus-driven competition and task set on involuntary attention

PubMed Central

Han, Suk Won; Marois, René

2014-01-01

It is well established that involuntary attention—the exogenous capture of attention by salient but task-irrelevant stimuli—can strongly modulate target detection and discrimination performance. There is an ongoing debate, however, about how involuntary attention affects target performance. Some studies suggest that it results from enhanced perception of the target, whereas others indicate instead that it affects decisional stages of information processing. From a review of these studies, we hypothesized that the presence of distractors and task sets are key factors in determining the effect of involuntary attention on target perception. Consistent with this hypothesis, here we found that noninformative cues summoning involuntary attention affected perceptual identification of a target when distractors were present. This cuing effect could not be attributed to reduced target location uncertainty or decision bias. The only condition under which involuntary attention improved target perception in the absence of distractors occurred when observers did not adopt a task set to focus attention on the target location. We conclude that the perceptual effects of involuntary attention depend on distractor interference and the adoption of a task set to resolve such stimulus competition. PMID:24970921

Targeted Nanoparticles for Kidney Cancer Therapy

DTIC Science & Technology

2013-10-01

AD_________________ Award Number: W81XWH-10-1-0434 TITLE: Targeted Nanoparticles for Kidney Cancer Therapy PRINCIPAL...Targeted Nanoparticles for Kidney Cancer Therapy 5b. GRANT NUMBER W81XWH-10-1-0434 5c. PROGRAM ELEMENT NUMBER 6. AUTHOR(S) 5d. PROJECT...lines following treatment with D5 nanotubes. Tthermoablation will be studied initially. Human kidney cancer cells will be injected into the kidney

Bringing social standards into project evaluation under dynamic uncertainty.

PubMed

Knudsen, Odin K; Scandizzo, Pasquale L

2005-04-01

Society often sets social standards that define thresholds of damage to society or the environment above which compensation must be paid to the state or other parties. In this article, we analyze the interdependence between the use of social standards and investment evaluation under dynamic uncertainty where a negative externality above a threshold established by society requires an assessment and payment of damages. Under uncertainty, the party considering implementing a project or new technology must not only assess when the project is economically efficient to implement but when to abandon a project that could potentially exceed the social standard. Using real-option theory and simple models, we demonstrate how such a social standard can be integrated into cost-benefit analysis through the use of a development option and a liability option coupled with a damage function. Uncertainty, in fact, implies that both parties interpret the social standard as a target for safety rather than an inflexible barrier that cannot be overcome. The larger is the uncertainty, in fact, the greater will be the tolerance for damages in excess of the social standard from both parties.

Introduction to SIMRAND: Simulation of research and development project

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Miles, R. F., Jr.

1982-01-01

SIMRAND: SIMulation of Research ANd Development Projects is a methodology developed to aid the engineering and management decision process in the selection of the optimal set of systems or tasks to be funded on a research and development project. A project may have a set of systems or tasks under consideration for which the total cost exceeds the allocated budget. Other factors such as personnel and facilities may also enter as constraints. Thus the project's management must select, from among the complete set of systems or tasks under consideration, a partial set that satisfies all project constraints. The SIMRAND methodology uses analytical techniques and probability theory, decision analysis of management science, and computer simulation, in the selection of this optimal partial set. The SIMRAND methodology is truly a management tool. It initially specifies the information that must be generated by the engineers, thus providing information for the management direction of the engineers, and it ranks the alternatives according to the preferences of the decision makers.

Subcollicular projections to the auditory thalamus and collateral projections to the inferior colliculus.

PubMed

Schofield, Brett R; Mellott, Jeffrey G; Motts, Susan D

2014-01-01

Experiments in several species have identified direct projections to the medial geniculate nucleus (MG) from cells in subcollicular auditory nuclei. Moreover, many cochlear nucleus cells that project to the MG send collateral projections to the inferior colliculus (IC) (Schofield et al., 2014). We conducted three experiments to characterize projections to the MG from the superior olivary and the lateral lemniscal regions in guinea pigs. For experiment 1, we made large injections of retrograde tracer into the MG. Labeled cells were most numerous in the superior paraolivary nucleus, ventral nucleus of the trapezoid body, lateral superior olivary nucleus, ventral nucleus of the lateral lemniscus, ventrolateral tegmental nucleus, paralemniscal region and sagulum. Additional sources include other periolivary nuclei and the medial superior olivary nucleus. The projections are bilateral with an ipsilateral dominance (66%). For experiment 2, we injected tracer into individual MG subdivisions. The results show that the subcollicular projections terminate primarily in the medial MG, with the dorsal MG a secondary target. The variety of projecting nuclei suggest a range of functions, including monaural and binaural aspects of hearing. These direct projections could provide the thalamus with some of the earliest (i.e., fastest) information regarding acoustic stimuli. For experiment 3, we made large injections of different retrograde tracers into one MG and the homolateral IC to identify cells that project to both targets. Such cells were numerous and distributed across many of the nuclei listed above, mostly ipsilateral to the injections. The prominence of the collateral projections suggests that the same information is delivered to both the IC and the MG, or perhaps that a common signal is being delivered as a preparatory indicator or temporal reference point. The results are discussed from functional and evolutionary perspectives.

Subcollicular projections to the auditory thalamus and collateral projections to the inferior colliculus

PubMed Central

Schofield, Brett R.; Mellott, Jeffrey G.; Motts, Susan D.

2014-01-01

Experiments in several species have identified direct projections to the medial geniculate nucleus (MG) from cells in subcollicular auditory nuclei. Moreover, many cochlear nucleus cells that project to the MG send collateral projections to the inferior colliculus (IC) (Schofield et al., 2014). We conducted three experiments to characterize projections to the MG from the superior olivary and the lateral lemniscal regions in guinea pigs. For experiment 1, we made large injections of retrograde tracer into the MG. Labeled cells were most numerous in the superior paraolivary nucleus, ventral nucleus of the trapezoid body, lateral superior olivary nucleus, ventral nucleus of the lateral lemniscus, ventrolateral tegmental nucleus, paralemniscal region and sagulum. Additional sources include other periolivary nuclei and the medial superior olivary nucleus. The projections are bilateral with an ipsilateral dominance (66%). For experiment 2, we injected tracer into individual MG subdivisions. The results show that the subcollicular projections terminate primarily in the medial MG, with the dorsal MG a secondary target. The variety of projecting nuclei suggest a range of functions, including monaural and binaural aspects of hearing. These direct projections could provide the thalamus with some of the earliest (i.e., fastest) information regarding acoustic stimuli. For experiment 3, we made large injections of different retrograde tracers into one MG and the homolateral IC to identify cells that project to both targets. Such cells were numerous and distributed across many of the nuclei listed above, mostly ipsilateral to the injections. The prominence of the collateral projections suggests that the same information is delivered to both the IC and the MG, or perhaps that a common signal is being delivered as a preparatory indicator or temporal reference point. The results are discussed from functional and evolutionary perspectives. PMID:25100950

Incorporating Concept Mapping in Project-Based Learning: Lessons from Watershed Investigations

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Rye, James; Landenberger, Rick; Warner, Timothy A.

2013-06-01

The concept map tool set forth by Novak and colleagues is underutilized in education. A meta-analysis has encouraged teachers to make extensive use of concept mapping, and researchers have advocated computer-based concept mapping applications that exploit hyperlink technology. Through an NSF sponsored geosciences education grant, middle and secondary science teachers participated in professional development to apply computer-based concept mapping in project-based learning (PBL) units that investigated local watersheds. Participants attended a summer institute, engaged in a summer through spring online learning academy, and presented PBL units at a subsequent fall science teachers' convention. The majority of 17 teachers who attended the summer institute had previously used the concept mapping strategy with students and rated it highly. Of the 12 teachers who continued beyond summer, applications of concept mapping ranged from collaborative planning of PBL projects to building students' vocabulary to students producing maps related to the PBL driving question. Barriers to the adoption and use of concept mapping included technology access at the schools, lack of time for teachers to advance their technology skills, lack of student motivation to choose to learn, and student difficulty with linking terms. In addition to mitigating the aforementioned barriers, projects targeting teachers' use of technology tools may enhance adoption by recruiting teachers as partners from schools as well as a small number that already are proficient in the targeted technology and emphasizing the utility of the concept map as a planning tool.

Alternative Youth Employment Strategies Project: Final Report.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Sadd, Susan; And Others

The Alternative Youth Employment Strategies (AYES) Project began as one of the demonstration projects funded under the Youth Employment and Demonstration Project Act in 1980. The program, which features three training models, is targeted toward high-risk, disadvantaged youth, especially minority youths from urban areas who had prior involvement…

Strategies for targeting primate neural circuits with viral vectors

PubMed Central

El-Shamayleh, Yasmine; Ni, Amy M.

2016-01-01

Understanding how the brain works requires understanding how different types of neurons contribute to circuit function and organism behavior. Progress on this front has been accelerated by optogenetics and chemogenetics, which provide an unprecedented level of control over distinct neuronal types in small animals. In primates, however, targeting specific types of neurons with these tools remains challenging. In this review, we discuss existing and emerging strategies for directing genetic manipulations to targeted neurons in the adult primate central nervous system. We review the literature on viral vectors for gene delivery to neurons, focusing on adeno-associated viral vectors and lentiviral vectors, their tropism for different cell types, and prospects for new variants with improved efficacy and selectivity. We discuss two projection targeting approaches for probing neural circuits: anterograde projection targeting and retrograde transport of viral vectors. We conclude with an analysis of cell type-specific promoters and other nucleotide sequences that can be used in viral vectors to target neuronal types at the transcriptional level. PMID:27052579

Learning to Be Swedish: Governing Migrants in Labour-Market Projects

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Vesterberg, Viktor

2015-01-01

This article focuses on adult learning in labour-market projects targeting unemployed migrants in Sweden. Drawing on a Foucauldian analysis of governmentality, the results of the study problematize the ways that such projects produce individualizing discourses--targeting individuals, constructing them as responsible for their position as…

The development of the Project NetWork administrative records database for policy evaluation.

PubMed

Rupp, K; Driessen, D; Kornfeld, R; Wood, M

1999-01-01

This article describes the development of SSA's administrative records database for the Project NetWork return-to-work experiment targeting persons with disabilities. The article is part of a series of papers on the evaluation of the Project NetWork demonstration. In addition to 8,248 Project NetWork participants randomly assigned to receive case management services and a control group, the simulation identified 138,613 eligible nonparticipants in the demonstration areas. The output data files contain detailed monthly information on Supplemental Security Income (SSI) and Disability Insurance (DI) benefits, annual earnings, and a set of demographic and diagnostic variables. The data allow for the measurement of net outcomes and the analysis of factors affecting participation. The results suggest that it is feasible to simulate complex eligibility rules using administrative records, and create a clean and edited data file for a comprehensive and credible evaluation. The study shows that it is feasible to use administrative records data for selecting control or comparison groups in future demonstration evaluations.

Enhancing emotional-based target prediction

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gosnell, Michael; Woodley, Robert

2008-04-01

This work extends existing agent-based target movement prediction to include key ideas of behavioral inertia, steady states, and catastrophic change from existing psychological, sociological, and mathematical work. Existing target prediction work inherently assumes a single steady state for target behavior, and attempts to classify behavior based on a single emotional state set. The enhanced, emotional-based target prediction maintains up to three distinct steady states, or typical behaviors, based on a target's operating conditions and observed behaviors. Each steady state has an associated behavioral inertia, similar to the standard deviation of behaviors within that state. The enhanced prediction framework also allows steady state transitions through catastrophic change and individual steady states could be used in an offline analysis with additional modeling efforts to better predict anticipated target reactions.

Description of the dynamic infrared background/target simulator (DIBS)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lujan, Ignacio

1988-01-01

The purpose of the Dynamic Infrared Background/Target Simulator (DIBS) is to project dynamic infrared scenes to a test sensor; e.g., a missile seeker that is sensitive to infrared energy. The projected scene will include target(s) and background. This system was designed to present flicker-free infrared scenes in the 8 micron to 12 micron wavelength region. The major subassemblies of the DIBS are the laser write system (LWS), vanadium dioxide modulator assembly, scene data buffer (SDB), and the optical image translator (OIT). This paper describes the overall concept and design of the infrared scene projector followed by some details of the LWS and VO2 modulator. Also presented are brief descriptions of the SDB and OIT.

Clustered Multi-Task Learning for Automatic Radar Target Recognition

PubMed Central

Li, Cong; Bao, Weimin; Xu, Luping; Zhang, Hua

2017-01-01

Model training is a key technique for radar target recognition. Traditional model training algorithms in the framework of single task leaning ignore the relationships among multiple tasks, which degrades the recognition performance. In this paper, we propose a clustered multi-task learning, which can reveal and share the multi-task relationships for radar target recognition. To further make full use of these relationships, the latent multi-task relationships in the projection space are taken into consideration. Specifically, a constraint term in the projection space is proposed, the main idea of which is that multiple tasks within a close cluster should be close to each other in the projection space. In the proposed method, the cluster structures and multi-task relationships can be autonomously learned and utilized in both of the original and projected space. In view of the nonlinear characteristics of radar targets, the proposed method is extended to a non-linear kernel version and the corresponding non-linear multi-task solving method is proposed. Comprehensive experimental studies on simulated high-resolution range profile dataset and MSTAR SAR public database verify the superiority of the proposed method to some related algorithms. PMID:28953267

The effects of goal setting on rugby performance.

PubMed

Mellalieu, Stephen D; Hanton, Sheldon; O'Brien, Michael

2006-01-01

Goal-setting effects on selected performance behaviors of 5 collegiate rugby players were assessed over an entire competitive season using self-generated targets and goal-attainment scaling. Results suggest that goal setting was effective for enhancing task-specific on-field behavior in rugby union.

Teaching Students with Severe Disabilities in Inclusive Settings.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Demchak, MaryAnn

1997-01-01

This booklet is designed to provide strategies for teaching students with severe disabilities in inclusive settings. Chapters address initial student-specific steps in planning for effective inclusive education, including developing the Individualized Education Program (IEP), targeting IEP objectives in the general education setting, and planning…

Economic Development Projects and Jobs: Lessons from the Targeted Jobs Demonstration Program.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Van Horn, Carl; And Others

This guide, based on approaches for targeting jobs and business opportunities that were developed during the Targeted Jobs Demonstration Program (TJDP), contains strategies and techniques for ensuring that some of the benefits of economic development investments are directed to low-income individuals and small and minority businesses. Addressed in…

Does working memory load facilitate target detection?

PubMed

Fruchtman-Steinbok, Tom; Kessler, Yoav

2016-02-01

Previous studies demonstrated that increasing working memory (WM) load delays performance of a concurrent task, by distracting attention and thus interfering with encoding and maintenance processes. The present study used a version of the change detection task with a target detection requirement during the retention interval. In contrast to the above prediction, target detection was faster following a larger set-size, specifically when presented shortly after the memory array (up to 400 ms). The effect of set-size on target detection was also evident when no memory retention was required. The set-size effect was also found using different modalities. Moreover, it was only observed when the memory array was presented simultaneously, but not sequentially. These results were explained by increased phasic alertness exerted by the larger visual display. The present study offers new evidence of ongoing attentional processes in the commonly-used change detection paradigm. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Testing the robustness of Citizen Science projects: Evaluating the results of pilot project COMBER

PubMed Central

Faulwetter, Sarah; Dailianis, Thanos; Smith, Vincent Stuart; Koulouri, Panagiota; Dounas, Costas; Arvanitidis, Christos

2016-01-01

Abstract Background Citizen Science (CS) as a term implies a great deal of approaches and scopes involving many different fields of science. The number of the relevant projects globally has been increased significantly in the recent years. Large scale ecological questions can be answered only through extended observation networks and CS projects can support this effort. Although the need of such projects is apparent, an important part of scientific community cast doubt on the reliability of CS data sets. New information The pilot CS project COMBER has been created in order to provide evidence to answer the aforementioned question in the coastal marine biodiversity monitoring. The results of the current analysis show that a carefully designed CS project with clear hypotheses, wide participation and data sets validation, can be a valuable tool for the large scale and long term changes in marine biodiversity pattern change and therefore for relevant management and conservation issues. PMID:28174507

Testing of Haar-Like Feature in Region of Interest Detection for Automated Target Recognition (ATR) System

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Zhang, Yuhan; Lu, Dr. Thomas

2010-01-01

The objectives of this project were to develop a ROI (Region of Interest) detector using Haar-like feature similar to the face detection in Intel's OpenCV library, implement it in Matlab code, and test the performance of the new ROI detector against the existing ROI detector that uses Optimal Trade-off Maximum Average Correlation Height filter (OTMACH). The ROI detector included 3 parts: 1, Automated Haar-like feature selection in finding a small set of the most relevant Haar-like features for detecting ROIs that contained a target. 2, Having the small set of Haar-like features from the last step, a neural network needed to be trained to recognize ROIs with targets by taking the Haar-like features as inputs. 3, using the trained neural network from the last step, a filtering method needed to be developed to process the neural network responses into a small set of regions of interests. This needed to be coded in Matlab. All the 3 parts needed to be coded in Matlab. The parameters in the detector needed to be trained by machine learning and tested with specific datasets. Since OpenCV library and Haar-like feature were not available in Matlab, the Haar-like feature calculation needed to be implemented in Matlab. The codes for Adaptive Boosting and max/min filters in Matlab could to be found from the Internet but needed to be integrated to serve the purpose of this project. The performance of the new detector was tested by comparing the accuracy and the speed of the new detector against the existing OTMACH detector. The speed was referred as the average speed to find the regions of interests in an image. The accuracy was measured by the number of false positives (false alarms) at the same detection rate between the two detectors.

ROCker: accurate detection and quantification of target genes in short-read metagenomic data sets by modeling sliding-window bitscores

DOE PAGES

Orellana, Luis H.; Rodriguez-R, Luis M.; Konstantinidis, Konstantinos T.

2016-10-07

Functional annotation of metagenomic and metatranscriptomic data sets relies on similarity searches based on e-value thresholds resulting in an unknown number of false positive and negative matches. To overcome these limitations, we introduce ROCker, aimed at identifying position-specific, most-discriminant thresholds in sliding windows along the sequence of a target protein, accounting for non-discriminative domains shared by unrelated proteins. ROCker employs the receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve to minimize false discovery rate (FDR) and calculate the best thresholds based on how simulated shotgun metagenomic reads of known composition map onto well-curated reference protein sequences and thus, differs from HMM profiles andmore » related methods. We showcase ROCker using ammonia monooxygenase (amoA) and nitrous oxide reductase (nosZ) genes, mediating oxidation of ammonia and the reduction of the potent greenhouse gas, N 2O, to inert N 2, respectively. ROCker typically showed 60-fold lower FDR when compared to the common practice of using fixed e-values. Previously uncounted ‘atypical’ nosZ genes were found to be two times more abundant, on average, than their typical counterparts in most soil metagenomes and the abundance of bacterial amoA was quantified against the highly-related particulate methane monooxygenase (pmoA). Therefore, ROCker can reliably detect and quantify target genes in short-read metagenomes.« less

ROCker: accurate detection and quantification of target genes in short-read metagenomic data sets by modeling sliding-window bitscores

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

Orellana, Luis H.; Rodriguez-R, Luis M.; Konstantinidis, Konstantinos T.

Functional annotation of metagenomic and metatranscriptomic data sets relies on similarity searches based on e-value thresholds resulting in an unknown number of false positive and negative matches. To overcome these limitations, we introduce ROCker, aimed at identifying position-specific, most-discriminant thresholds in sliding windows along the sequence of a target protein, accounting for non-discriminative domains shared by unrelated proteins. ROCker employs the receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve to minimize false discovery rate (FDR) and calculate the best thresholds based on how simulated shotgun metagenomic reads of known composition map onto well-curated reference protein sequences and thus, differs from HMM profiles andmore » related methods. We showcase ROCker using ammonia monooxygenase (amoA) and nitrous oxide reductase (nosZ) genes, mediating oxidation of ammonia and the reduction of the potent greenhouse gas, N 2O, to inert N 2, respectively. ROCker typically showed 60-fold lower FDR when compared to the common practice of using fixed e-values. Previously uncounted ‘atypical’ nosZ genes were found to be two times more abundant, on average, than their typical counterparts in most soil metagenomes and the abundance of bacterial amoA was quantified against the highly-related particulate methane monooxygenase (pmoA). Therefore, ROCker can reliably detect and quantify target genes in short-read metagenomes.« less

ROCker: accurate detection and quantification of target genes in short-read metagenomic data sets by modeling sliding-window bitscores

PubMed Central

2017-01-01

Abstract Functional annotation of metagenomic and metatranscriptomic data sets relies on similarity searches based on e-value thresholds resulting in an unknown number of false positive and negative matches. To overcome these limitations, we introduce ROCker, aimed at identifying position-specific, most-discriminant thresholds in sliding windows along the sequence of a target protein, accounting for non-discriminative domains shared by unrelated proteins. ROCker employs the receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve to minimize false discovery rate (FDR) and calculate the best thresholds based on how simulated shotgun metagenomic reads of known composition map onto well-curated reference protein sequences and thus, differs from HMM profiles and related methods. We showcase ROCker using ammonia monooxygenase (amoA) and nitrous oxide reductase (nosZ) genes, mediating oxidation of ammonia and the reduction of the potent greenhouse gas, N2O, to inert N2, respectively. ROCker typically showed 60-fold lower FDR when compared to the common practice of using fixed e-values. Previously uncounted ‘atypical’ nosZ genes were found to be two times more abundant, on average, than their typical counterparts in most soil metagenomes and the abundance of bacterial amoA was quantified against the highly-related particulate methane monooxygenase (pmoA). Therefore, ROCker can reliably detect and quantify target genes in short-read metagenomes. PMID:28180325

Target detection using the background model from the topological anomaly detection algorithm

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Dorado Munoz, Leidy P.; Messinger, David W.; Ziemann, Amanda K.

2013-05-01

The Topological Anomaly Detection (TAD) algorithm has been used as an anomaly detector in hyperspectral and multispectral images. TAD is an algorithm based on graph theory that constructs a topological model of the background in a scene, and computes an anomalousness ranking for all of the pixels in the image with respect to the background in order to identify pixels with uncommon or strange spectral signatures. The pixels that are modeled as background are clustered into groups or connected components, which could be representative of spectral signatures of materials present in the background. Therefore, the idea of using the background components given by TAD in target detection is explored in this paper. In this way, these connected components are characterized in three different approaches, where the mean signature and endmembers for each component are calculated and used as background basis vectors in Orthogonal Subspace Projection (OSP) and Adaptive Subspace Detector (ASD). Likewise, the covariance matrix of those connected components is estimated and used in detectors: Constrained Energy Minimization (CEM) and Adaptive Coherence Estimator (ACE). The performance of these approaches and the different detectors is compared with a global approach, where the background characterization is derived directly from the image. Experiments and results using self-test data set provided as part of the RIT blind test target detection project are shown.

Set-specific capture can be reduced by preemptively occupying a limited-capacity focus of attention.

PubMed

Moore, Katherine Sledge; Weissman, Daniel H

2011-01-01

Recent work has shown that contingent attentional capture effects can be especially large when multiple attentional sets for color guide visual search (Moore & Weissman, 2010). In particular, this research suggests that detecting a target-colored (e.g., orange) distractor leads the corresponding attentional set (e.g., identify orange letters) to enter a limited-capacity focus of attention in working memory, where it remains briefly while the distractor is being attended. Consequently, the ability to identify a differently-colored (e.g., green) target 100-300 ms later is impaired because the appropriate set (e.g., identify green letters) cannot also enter the focus of attention. In two experiments, we investigated whether such set-specific capture can be reduced by preemptively occupying the focus of attention. As predicted, a target-colored central distractor presented 233 ms before a target-colored peripheral distractor eliminated set-specific capture arising from the peripheral distractor. Moreover, this effect was observed only when the central distractor's color (e.g., orange) (a) matched a different set than the upcoming peripheral distractor's color (e.g., green) and (b) matched the same set as the upcoming central target's color (e.g., orange). We conclude that the same working memory limitations that give rise to set-specific capture can be preemptively exploited to reduce it.

Data harmonization and federated analysis of population-based studies: the BioSHaRE project

PubMed Central

2013-01-01

Abstracts Background Individual-level data pooling of large population-based studies across research centres in international research projects faces many hurdles. The BioSHaRE (Biobank Standardisation and Harmonisation for Research Excellence in the European Union) project aims to address these issues by building a collaborative group of investigators and developing tools for data harmonization, database integration and federated data analyses. Methods Eight population-based studies in six European countries were recruited to participate in the BioSHaRE project. Through workshops, teleconferences and electronic communications, participating investigators identified a set of 96 variables targeted for harmonization to answer research questions of interest. Using each study’s questionnaires, standard operating procedures, and data dictionaries, harmonization potential was assessed. Whenever harmonization was deemed possible, processing algorithms were developed and implemented in an open-source software infrastructure to transform study-specific data into the target (i.e. harmonized) format. Harmonized datasets located on server in each research centres across Europe were interconnected through a federated database system to perform statistical analysis. Results Retrospective harmonization led to the generation of common format variables for 73% of matches considered (96 targeted variables across 8 studies). Authenticated investigators can now perform complex statistical analyses of harmonized datasets stored on distributed servers without actually sharing individual-level data using the DataSHIELD method. Conclusion New Internet-based networking technologies and database management systems are providing the means to support collaborative, multi-center research in an efficient and secure manner. The results from this pilot project show that, given a strong collaborative relationship between participating studies, it is possible to seamlessly co

A biochemical approach to identifying microRNA targets

PubMed Central

Karginov, Fedor V.; Conaco, Cecilia; Xuan, Zhenyu; Schmidt, Bryan H.; Parker, Joel S.; Mandel, Gail; Hannon, Gregory J.

2007-01-01

Identifying the downstream targets of microRNAs (miRNAs) is essential to understanding cellular regulatory networks. We devised a direct biochemical method for miRNA target discovery that combined RNA-induced silencing complex (RISC) purification with microarray analysis of bound mRNAs. Because targets of miR-124a have been analyzed, we chose it as our model. We honed our approach both by examining the determinants of stable binding between RISC and synthetic target RNAs in vitro and by determining the dependency of both repression and RISC coimmunoprecipitation on miR-124a seed sites in two of its well characterized targets in vivo. Examining the complete spectrum of miR-124 targets in 293 cells yielded both a set that were down-regulated at the mRNA level, as previously observed, and a set whose mRNA levels were unaffected by miR-124a. Reporter assays validated both classes, extending the spectrum of mRNA targets that can be experimentally linked to the miRNA pathway. PMID:18042700

Implementing local projects to reduce the stigma of mental illness.

PubMed

Warner, Richard

2008-01-01

This editorial describes strategies used and the lessons learned in implementing two local anti-stigma projects. The WPA Programme to Reduce Stigma and Discrimination Because of Schizophrenia established projects to fight stigma in 20 countries, using social-marketing techniques to enhance their effectiveness. First steps at each site were to establish an action committee and conduct a survey of perceived stigma. Based on survey results, the action committees selected a few homogeneous and accessible target groups, such as employers, and criminal justice personnel. Messages and media were selected, tested, and refined. Guidelines are provided for setting up a consumer (service-user) speakers' bureau and for establishing a media-watch organization, which can lobby news and entertainment media to exclude negative portrayals of people with mental illness. Improvements in knowledge about mental illness were effected in high school students and criminal justice personnel. Positive changes in attitude towards people with mental illness were achieved with high school students, but were more difficult to achieve with police officers. Local antistigma projects can be effective in reducing stigma and relatively inexpensive. The involvement of consumers is important in working with police officers. Project organizers should be on the lookout for useful changes that can become permanent.

Multisensor fusion for 3D target tracking using track-before-detect particle filter

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Moshtagh, Nima; Romberg, Paul M.; Chan, Moses W.

2015-05-01

This work presents a novel fusion mechanism for estimating the three-dimensional trajectory of a moving target using images collected by multiple imaging sensors. The proposed projective particle filter avoids the explicit target detection prior to fusion. In projective particle filter, particles that represent the posterior density (of target state in a high-dimensional space) are projected onto the lower-dimensional observation space. Measurements are generated directly in the observation space (image plane) and a marginal (sensor) likelihood is computed. The particles states and their weights are updated using the joint likelihood computed from all the sensors. The 3D state estimate of target (system track) is then generated from the states of the particles. This approach is similar to track-before-detect particle filters that are known to perform well in tracking dim and stealthy targets in image collections. Our approach extends the track-before-detect approach to 3D tracking using the projective particle filter. The performance of this measurement-level fusion method is compared with that of a track-level fusion algorithm using the projective particle filter. In the track-level fusion algorithm, the 2D sensor tracks are generated separately and transmitted to a fusion center, where they are treated as measurements to the state estimator. The 2D sensor tracks are then fused to reconstruct the system track. A realistic synthetic scenario with a boosting target was generated, and used to study the performance of the fusion mechanisms.

The Effects of Goal Setting on Rugby Performance

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Mellalieu, Stephen D.; Hanton, Sheldon; O'Brien, Michael

2006-01-01

Goal-setting effects on selected performance behaviors of 5 collegiate rugby players were assessed over an entire competitive season using self-generated targets and goal-attainment scaling. Results suggest that goal setting was effective for enhancing task-specific on-field behavior in rugby union. (Contains 1 figure.)

Are we producing PHAs? On the target selection for a proposed mitigation demo-mission within the NEO-Shield project

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Eggl, S.; Hestroffer, D.; Thuillot, W.

2013-09-01

The Chelyabinsk event on February 15th, 2013 has shown once again that even small near earth objects (NEOs) can become a real safety concern. Eventhough we believe to have the capabilities to avert larger potentially disastrous asteroid impacts, only the realization of mitigation demonstration missions can confirm this claim. The target selection process for such deflection demonstrations is a demanding task, as physical, dynamical and engineering aspects have to be considered in great detail. One of the top priorities of such a demonstration mission is, of course, that a harmless asteroid should not be turned into a potentially hazardous object (PHO). Given the potentially large uncertainties in the asteroid's physical parameters as well as the additional uncertainties introduced during the deflection attempt, an in depth analysis of the impact probabilities over the next century becomes necessary, in order to exclude an augmentation of potential risks. Assuming worst case scenarios regard- ing the orbital, physical and mitigation induced uncertainties, we provide a keyhole and impact risk analysis of a list of potential targets for the mitigation demomission proposed in the framework of the NEO-Shield project.

Setting up a model intercomparison project for the last deglaciation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ivanovic, R. F.; Gregoire, L. J.; Valdes, P. J.; Roche, D. M.; Kageyama, M.

2014-12-01

The last deglaciation (~ 21-9 ka) presents a series of opportunities to study the underlying mechanisms of abrupt climate changes and long-term trends in the Earth System. Most of the forcings are relatively well constrained and geological archives record responses over a range of timescales. Despite this, large uncertainties remain over the feedback loops that culminated in the collapse of the great Northern Hemisphere ice sheets, and a consensus has yet to be reached on the chains of events that led to rapid surface warming and cooling during this period.Climate models are powerful tools for quantitatively assessing these outstanding issues through their ability to temporally resolve cause and effect, as well as break down the contributions from different forcings. This is well demonstrated by pioneering work; for example by Liu et al. (2009), Roche et al. (2011), Gregoire et al. (2012) and Menviel et al. (2011). However, such work is not without challenges; model-geological data mismatches remain unsolved and it is difficult to compare results from different models with unique experiment designs. Therefore, we have established a multidisciplinary Paleoclimate Model Intercomparison Project working group to coordinate transient climate model simulations and geological archive compilations of the last deglaciation. Here, we present the plans and progress of the working group in its first phase of activity; the investigation of Heinrich Stadial 1 and the lead into the Bolling warming event. We describe the set-up of the core deglacial experiment, explain our approach for dealing with uncertain climate forcings and outline our solutions to challenges posed by this research. By defining a common experiment design, we have built a framework to include models of different speeds, complexities and resolution, maximising the reward of this varied approach. One of the next challenges is to compile transient proxy records and develop a methodology for dealing with

Impoverished Students with Academic Promise in Rural Settings: 10 Lessons from Project Aspire

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Burney, Virginia H.; Cross, Tracy L.

2006-01-01

Project Aspire was created to identify poor rural students with academic potential and to provide them with academic and counseling support in advanced placement courses and prerequisites. This article describes Project Aspire and its foundations; the relevant lessons learned from the literature on poverty, small schools, rural schools, and gifted…

Reachable Sets for Multiple Asteroid Sample Return Missions

DTIC Science & Technology

2005-12-01

reduce the number of feasible asteroid targets. Reachable sets are defined in a reduced classical orbital element space. The boundary of this...Reachable sets are defined in a reduced classical orbital element space. The boundary of this reduced space is obtained by extremizing a family of...aliasing problems. Other coordinate elements , such as equinoctial elements , can provide a set of singularity-free slowly changing variables, but

Discovering the 'Magic' of Target Marketing.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Grier, Linda J.; Ackenbom, Charles R.

1988-01-01

Describes target marketing of children's summer camps, emphasizing the benefits of collaborative advertising campaigns. Discusses the scope and economics of four model campaigns. Outlines the design, implementation, and evaluation of collaborative marketing projects. (SV)

An assessment of the positive partnership project in Thailand: key considerations for scaling-up microcredit loans for HIV-positive and negative pairs in other settings.

PubMed

Viravaidya, M; Wolf, R C; Guest, P

2008-01-01

Stigmatization and discrimination against people living with HIV/AIDS (PLHA), and their families, remains a barrier to participation in prevention and care programmes. This barrier takes on added significance as Thailand expands provision of free antiretroviral therapy (ART). This paper documents an innovative approach to improve quality of life for PLHA, while reducing levels of stigma and discrimination. The Population and Community Development Association (PDA) began implementing the Positive Partnership Project (PPP) in 2002. In this project, an HIV-negative person must team up with an HIV-positive person to become eligible for a loan for income-generating activities. The use of microcredit to explicitly reduce stigma and discrimination is a unique feature of the PPP. While the microcredit component of the project is an important dimension for improving the status of participating PLHA, the impacts of the project extend far beyond the PLHA who receive loans. Both directly and indirectly, it has contributed to improved quality of life and economic conditions for PLHA, while raising their visibility and acceptance in hundreds of communities throughout urban and rural Thailand. This paper identifies key features of the project and considerations for adapting its use in other settings.

Effects of hearing aid settings for electric-acoustic stimulation.

PubMed

Dillon, Margaret T; Buss, Emily; Pillsbury, Harold C; Adunka, Oliver F; Buchman, Craig A; Adunka, Marcia C

2014-02-01

Cochlear implant (CI) recipients with postoperative hearing preservation may utilize an ipsilateral bimodal listening condition known as electric-acoustic stimulation (EAS). Studies on EAS have reported significant improvements in speech perception abilities over CI-alone listening conditions. Adjustments to the hearing aid (HA) settings to match prescription targets routinely used in the programming of conventional amplification may provide additional gains in speech perception abilities. Investigate the difference in users' speech perception scores when listening with the recommended HA settings for EAS patients versus HA settings adjusted to match National Acoustic Laboratories' nonlinear fitting procedure version 1 (NAL-NL1) targets. Prospective analysis of the influence of HA settings. Nine EAS recipients with greater than 12 mo of listening experience with the DUET speech processor. Subjects were tested in the EAS listening condition with two different HA setting configurations. Speech perception materials included consonant-nucleus-consonant (CNC) words in quiet, AzBio sentences in 10-talker speech babble at a signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) of +10, and the Bamford-Kowal-Bench sentences in noise (BKB-SIN) test. The speech perception performance on each test measure was compared between the two HA configurations. Subjects experienced a significant improvement in speech perception abilities with the HA settings adjusted to match NAL-NL1 targets over the recommended HA settings. EAS subjects have been shown to experience improvements in speech perception abilities when listening to ipsilateral combined stimulation. This population's abilities may be underestimated with current HA settings. Tailoring the HA output to the patient's individual hearing loss offers improved outcomes on speech perception measures. American Academy of Audiology.

Kiso Multi-Fiber Spectroscope Project (C)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Yadoumaru, Yasushi; Itoh, Nobunari; Nakada, Yoshikazu; Tarusawa, Ken'ichi; Soyano, Takao; Mito, Hiroyuki

A Multi-FIBER Spectroscope at Kiso Observatory is under consideration as our next instrument. In this paper we report an overview of our instrument and a scientific target of our survey project. We are going to attach multi-fiber system at the prime focus of Kiso 105cm Schmidt telescope. This telescope has some advantages for our project. First, the efficiency in survey for the object, which number density is 0.1 to 10 degree2, is higher than other multi object system due to the wide field of view (6 degree x 6 degree). Second, an optics of telescope is well-matched to fiber numerical aperture (NA) at an input end of fiber. Moreover, taking a focal ratio degradation (FRD) and scrambling property into account, since the light from object dose not move at the entrance slit of spectroscope, we could get spectroscopic data stably with this system. We select a fiber with 100 micron meter core which is correspond to 6 arcsec on focal plane, that is matched with a typical seeing (about 3 arcsec) of Kiso Observatory and set 150 fibers to one field. For efficient observations, it is necessary to arrange fibers accurately within an accuracy of +/- 25 micron meter on the curved focal plane during a typical exposure time (1 hour). Therefore we examine a particular positioner specialized for curved surface. We also develop a spectroscope that is suited for a fast focal ratio and proceed with making its design. One of our main key projects with this system is a non-biased metallicity survey for solar neighbor stars. We are now establishing a new metallicity determination method that easily and reliably measures a metallicity from low-dispersion spectra. (see Itoh et al.). As we consider our main target as Galactic objects and low resolution (R is around 1000), we could observe a star with 17 mag at V-band (1 hour exposure).

Psychology in an Interdisciplinary Setting: A Large-Scale Project to Improve University Teaching

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Koch, Franziska D.; Vogt, Joachim

2015-01-01

At a German university of technology, a large-scale project was funded as a part of the "Quality Pact for Teaching", a programme launched by the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research to improve the quality of university teaching and study conditions. The project aims at intensifying interdisciplinary networking in teaching,…

Quality initiatives: planning, setting up, and carrying out radiology process improvement projects.

PubMed

Tamm, Eric P; Szklaruk, Janio; Puthooran, Leejo; Stone, Danna; Stevens, Brian L; Modaro, Cathy

2012-01-01

In the coming decades, those who provide radiologic imaging services will be increasingly challenged by the economic, demographic, and political forces affecting healthcare to improve their efficiency, enhance the value of their services, and achieve greater customer satisfaction. It is essential that radiologists master and consistently apply basic process improvement skills that have allowed professionals in many other fields to thrive in a competitive environment. The authors provide a step-by-step overview of process improvement from the perspective of a radiologic imaging practice by describing their experience in conducting a process improvement project: to increase the daily volume of body magnetic resonance imaging examinations performed at their institution. The first step in any process improvement project is to identify and prioritize opportunities for improvement in the work process. Next, an effective project team must be formed that includes representatives of all participants in the process. An achievable aim must be formulated, appropriate measures selected, and baseline data collected to determine the effects of subsequent efforts to achieve the aim. Each aspect of the process in question is then analyzed by using appropriate tools (eg, flowcharts, fishbone diagrams, Pareto diagrams) to identify opportunities for beneficial change. Plans for change are then established and implemented with regular measurements and review followed by necessary adjustments in course. These so-called PDSA (planning, doing, studying, and acting) cycles are repeated until the aim is achieved or modified and the project closed.

Systemic impediments to the implementation of Project Based Learning in middle and high school settings

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bouilly, Delphine

This study examines the potential structural impediments to the reform movement of Project Based Learning (PBL) that are presented to teachers by the inherent nature of the school system, as well as the ways in which teachers address these systemic barriers when attempting to implement PBL in their classrooms. Much of the current research that is aimed at investigating the transition from traditional teacher-centered learning to student-centered PBL---whether PBL as problem based or project based learning---has focused on the transition issues at the level of individual teacher/student. Systemic barriers, on the other hand, are those features that are inherent to the structure of the system, and that pose---by their very nature---physical and/or political circumstances that are inconsistent with the student-centered and collaborative goals of PBL. It is not enough for teachers, parents, students, and administrators to be philosophically aligned with PBL, if the encompassing school system is structurally incompatible with the method. This study attempts to make the structural impediments to PBL explicit, to determine whether or not the existing school system is amenable to the successful implementation of PBL. Because the universal features of PBL coupled with the ubiquity of factory-model schools is likely to create recurring themes, it is plausible that this study may in fact be analytically generalizable to situations beyond those described by the populations and contexts in this set of purposive, multiple cases. One of the themes that emerged from this study was the role of rural poverty as an underlying cause of student apathy. More research may be needed to see whether science, as taught through PBL and in collaboration with practical arts courses, might be able to address some of the social, gendered, and educational needs of impoverished rural students and their families.

Region 6 Targeted Brownfields Assessment Brochure

EPA Pesticide Factsheets

A Target Brownfields Assessment (TBA) is a free service the EPA Region 6 Brownfields Team provides to communities to support their eligible brownfields projects. Region 6 consists of Arkansas, Louisiana, New Mexico, Oklahoma, and Texas.

Diverse Grains in Mars Sandstone Target Big Arm

NASA Image and Video Library

2015-07-01

This view of a sandstone target called "Big Arm" covers an area about 1.3 inches (33 millimeters) wide in detail that shows differing shapes and colors of sand grains in the stone. Three separate images taken by the Mars Hand Lens Imager (MAHLI) camera on NASA's Curiosity Mars rover, at different focus settings, were combined into this focus-merge view. The Big Arm target on lower Mount Sharp is at a location near "Marias Pass" where a mudstone bedrock is in contact with overlying sandstone bedrock. MAHLI recorded the component images on May 29, 2015, during the 999th Martian day, or sol, of Curiosity's work on Mars. The rounded shape of some grains visible here suggests they traveled long distances before becoming part of the sediment that later hardened into sandstone. Other grains are more angular and may have originated closer to the rock's current location. Lighter and darker grains may have different compositions. MAHLI was built by Malin Space Science Systems, San Diego. NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, manages the Mars Science Laboratory Project for the NASA Science Mission Directorate, Washington. http://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA19677

Manifold structure preservative for hyperspectral target detection

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Imani, Maryam

2018-05-01

A nonparametric method termed as manifold structure preservative (MSP) is proposed in this paper for hyperspectral target detection. MSP transforms the feature space of data to maximize the separation between target and background signals. Moreover, it minimizes the reconstruction error of targets and preserves the topological structure of data in the projected feature space. MSP does not need to consider any distribution for target and background data. So, it can achieve accurate results in real scenarios due to avoiding unreliable assumptions. The proposed MSP detector is compared to several popular detectors and the experiments on a synthetic data and two real hyperspectral images indicate the superior ability of it in target detection.

Exploring Polypharmacology Using a ROCS-Based Target Fishing Approach

DTIC Science & Technology

2012-01-01

target representatives. Target profiles were then generated for a given query molecule by computing maximal shape/ chemistry overlap between the query...molecule and the drug sets assigned to each protein target. The overlap was computed using the program ROCS (Rapid Overlay of Chemical Structures ). We...approaches in off-target prediction has been reviewed.9,10 Many structure -based target fishing (SBTF) approaches, such as INVDOCK11 and Target Fishing Dock

Thermal targets for satellite calibration

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Villa-Aleman, Eliel; Garrett, Alfred J.; Kurzeja, Robert J.; O'Steen, Byron L.; Pendergast, Malcolm M.

2001-03-01

The Savannah River Technology Center (SRTC) is currently calibrating the Multispectral Thermal Imager (MTI) satellite sponsored by the Department of Energy. The MTI imager is a research and development project with 15 wavebands in the visible, near-infrared, short-wave infrared, mid-wave infrared and long-wave infrared spectral regions. A plethora of targets with known temperatures such as power plant heated lakes, volcano lava vents, desert playas and aluminized Mylar tarps are being used in the validation of the five thermal bands of the MTI satellite. SRTC efforts in the production of cold targets with aluminized Mylar tarps will be described. Visible and thermal imagery and wavelength dependent radiance measurements of the calibration targets will be presented.

Selective neural pathway targeting reveals key roles of thalamostriatal projection in the control of visual discrimination.

PubMed

Kato, Shigeki; Kuramochi, Masahito; Kobayashi, Kenta; Fukabori, Ryoji; Okada, Kana; Uchigashima, Motokazu; Watanabe, Masahiko; Tsutsui, Yuji; Kobayashi, Kazuto

2011-11-23

The dorsal striatum receives converging excitatory inputs from diverse brain regions, including the cerebral cortex and the intralaminar/midline thalamic nuclei, and mediates learning processes contributing to instrumental motor actions. However, the roles of each striatal input pathway in these learning processes remain uncertain. We developed a novel strategy to target specific neural pathways and applied this strategy for studying behavioral roles of the pathway originating from the parafascicular nucleus (PF) and projecting to the dorsolateral striatum. A highly efficient retrograde gene transfer vector encoding the recombinant immunotoxin (IT) receptor was injected into the dorsolateral striatum in mice to express the receptor in neurons innervating the striatum. IT treatment into the PF of the vector-injected animals caused a selective elimination of neurons of the PF-derived thalamostriatal pathway. The elimination of this pathway impaired the response selection accuracy and delayed the motor response in the acquisition of a visual cue-dependent discrimination task. When the pathway elimination was induced after learning acquisition, it disturbed the response accuracy in the task performance with no apparent change in the response time. The elimination did not influence spontaneous locomotion, methamphetamine-induced hyperactivity, and motor skill learning that demand the function of the dorsal striatum. These results demonstrate that thalamostriatal projection derived from the PF plays essential roles in the acquisition and execution of discrimination learning in response to sensory stimulus. The temporal difference in the pathway requirement for visual discrimination suggests a stage-specific role of thalamostriatal pathway in the modulation of response time of learned motor actions.

Caveolin1 Identifies a Specific Subpopulation of Cerebral Cortex Callosal Projection Neurons (CPN) Including Dual Projecting Cortical Callosal/Frontal Projection Neurons (CPN/FPN)

PubMed Central

2018-01-01

Abstract The neocortex is composed of many distinct subtypes of neurons that must form precise subtype-specific connections to enable the cortex to perform complex functions. Callosal projection neurons (CPN) are the broad population of commissural neurons that connect the cerebral hemispheres via the corpus callosum (CC). Currently, how the remarkable diversity of CPN subtypes and connectivity is specified, and how they differentiate to form highly precise and specific circuits, are largely unknown. We identify in mouse that the lipid-bound scaffolding domain protein Caveolin 1 (CAV1) is specifically expressed by a unique subpopulation of Layer V CPN that maintain dual ipsilateral frontal projections to premotor cortex. CAV1 is expressed by over 80% of these dual projecting callosal/frontal projection neurons (CPN/FPN), with expression peaking early postnatally as axonal and dendritic targets are being reached and refined. CAV1 is localized to the soma and dendrites of CPN/FPN, a unique population of neurons that shares information both between hemispheres and with premotor cortex, suggesting function during postmitotic development and refinement of these neurons, rather than in their specification. Consistent with this, we find that Cav1 function is not necessary for the early specification of CPN/FPN, or for projecting to their dual axonal targets. CPN subtype-specific expression of Cav1 identifies and characterizes a first molecular component that distinguishes this functionally unique projection neuron population, a population that expands in primates, and is prototypical of additional dual and higher-order projection neuron subtypes. PMID:29379878

Identification of tissue-specific targeting peptide

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Jung, Eunkyoung; Lee, Nam Kyung; Kang, Sang-Kee; Choi, Seung-Hoon; Kim, Daejin; Park, Kisoo; Choi, Kihang; Choi, Yun-Jaie; Jung, Dong Hyun

2012-11-01

Using phage display technique, we identified tissue-targeting peptide sets that recognize specific tissues (bone-marrow dendritic cell, kidney, liver, lung, spleen and visceral adipose tissue). In order to rapidly evaluate tissue-specific targeting peptides, we performed machine learning studies for predicting the tissue-specific targeting activity of peptides on the basis of peptide sequence information using four machine learning models and isolated the groups of peptides capable of mediating selective targeting to specific tissues. As a representative liver-specific targeting sequence, the peptide "DKNLQLH" was selected by the sequence similarity analysis. This peptide has a high degree of homology with protein ligands which can interact with corresponding membrane counterparts. We anticipate that our models will be applicable to the prediction of tissue-specific targeting peptides which can recognize the endothelial markers of target tissues.

76 FR 56363 - Capital Project Management

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2011-09-13

...-0030] RIN 2132-AA92 Capital Project Management AGENCY: Federal Transit Administration (FTA), DOT... current FTA rule for project management oversight into a discrete set of managerial principles for sponsors of major capital projects; enable FTA to more clearly identify the necessary management capacity...

Targeting fibroblast growth factor receptors and immune checkpoint inhibitors for the treatment of advanced bladder cancer: New direction and New Hope.

PubMed

Morales-Barrera, Rafael; Suárez, Cristina; de Castro, Ana Martínez; Racca, Fabricio; Valverde, Claudia; Maldonado, Xavier; Bastaros, Juan Maria; Morote, Juan; Carles, Joan

2016-11-01

Bladder cancer is one of the leading causes of death in Europe and the United States. About 25% of patients with bladder cancer have advanced disease (muscle-invasive or metastatic disease) at presentation and are candidates for systemic chemotherapy. In the setting of metastatic disease, use of cisplatin-based regimens improves survival. However, despite initial high response rates, the responses are typically not durable leading to recurrence and death in the vast majority of these patients with median overall survival of 15months and a 5-year survival rate of ⩽10%. Furthermore, unfit patients for cisplatin have no standard of care for first line therapy in advance disease Most second-line chemotherapeutic agents tested have been disappointing. Newer targeted drugs and immunotherapies are being studied in the metastatic setting, their usefulness in the neoadjuvant and adjuvant settings is also an intriguing area of ongoing research. Thus, new treatment strategies are clearly needed. The comprehensive evaluation of multiple molecular pathways characterized by The Cancer Genome Atlas project has shed light on potential therapeutic targets for bladder urothelial carcinomas. We have focused especially on emerging therapies in locally advanced and metastatic urothelial carcinoma with an emphasis on immune checkpoints inhibitors and FGFR targeted therapies, which have shown great promise in early clinical studies. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Genomic standards consortium projects.

PubMed

Field, Dawn; Sterk, Peter; Kottmann, Renzo; De Smet, J Wim; Amaral-Zettler, Linda; Cochrane, Guy; Cole, James R; Davies, Neil; Dawyndt, Peter; Garrity, George M; Gilbert, Jack A; Glöckner, Frank Oliver; Hirschman, Lynette; Klenk, Hans-Peter; Knight, Rob; Kyrpides, Nikos; Meyer, Folker; Karsch-Mizrachi, Ilene; Morrison, Norman; Robbins, Robert; San Gil, Inigo; Sansone, Susanna; Schriml, Lynn; Tatusova, Tatiana; Ussery, Dave; Yilmaz, Pelin; White, Owen; Wooley, John; Caporaso, Gregory

2014-06-15

The Genomic Standards Consortium (GSC) is an open-membership community that was founded in 2005 to work towards the development, implementation and harmonization of standards in the field of genomics. Starting with the defined task of establishing a minimal set of descriptions the GSC has evolved into an active standards-setting body that currently has 18 ongoing projects, with additional projects regularly proposed from within and outside the GSC. Here we describe our recently enacted policy for proposing new activities that are intended to be taken on by the GSC, along with the template for proposing such new activities.

FOXP2 Targets Show Evidence of Positive Selection in European Populations

PubMed Central

Ayub, Qasim; Yngvadottir, Bryndis; Chen, Yuan; Xue, Yali; Hu, Min; Vernes, Sonja C.; Fisher, Simon E.; Tyler-Smith, Chris

2013-01-01

Forkhead box P2 (FOXP2) is a highly conserved transcription factor that has been implicated in human speech and language disorders and plays important roles in the plasticity of the developing brain. The pattern of nucleotide polymorphisms in FOXP2 in modern populations suggests that it has been the target of positive (Darwinian) selection during recent human evolution. In our study, we searched for evidence of selection that might have followed FOXP2 adaptations in modern humans. We examined whether or not putative FOXP2 targets identified by chromatin-immunoprecipitation genomic screening show evidence of positive selection. We developed an algorithm that, for any given gene list, systematically generates matched lists of control genes from the Ensembl database, collates summary statistics for three frequency-spectrum-based neutrality tests from the low-coverage resequencing data of the 1000 Genomes Project, and determines whether these statistics are significantly different between the given gene targets and the set of controls. Overall, there was strong evidence of selection of FOXP2 targets in Europeans, but not in the Han Chinese, Japanese, or Yoruba populations. Significant outliers included several genes linked to cellular movement, reproduction, development, and immune cell trafficking, and 13 of these constituted a significant network associated with cardiac arteriopathy. Strong signals of selection were observed for CNTNAP2 and RBFOX1, key neurally expressed genes that have been consistently identified as direct FOXP2 targets in multiple studies and that have themselves been associated with neurodevelopmental disorders involving language dysfunction. PMID:23602712

The Geoengineering Model Intercomparison Project Phase 6 (GeoMIP6): Simulation design and preliminary results

DOE PAGES

Kravitz, Benjamin S.; Robock, Alan; Tilmes, S.; ...

2015-10-27

We present a suite of new climate model experiment designs for the Geoengineering Model Intercomparison Project (GeoMIP). This set of experiments, named GeoMIP6 (to be consistent with the Coupled Model Intercomparison Project Phase 6), builds on the previous GeoMIP project simulations, and has been expanded to address several further important topics, including key uncertainties in extreme events, the use of geoengineering as part of a portfolio of responses to climate change, and the relatively new idea of cirrus cloud thinning to allow more long wave radiation to escape to space. We discuss experiment designs, as well as the rationale formore » those designs, showing preliminary results from individual models when available. We also introduce a new feature, called the GeoMIP Testbed, which provides a platform for simulations that will be performed with a few models and subsequently assessed to determine whether the proposed experiment designs will be adopted as core (Tier 1) GeoMIP experiments. In conclusion, this is meant to encourage various stakeholders to propose new targeted experiments that address their key open science questions, with the goal of making GeoMIP more relevant to a broader set of communities.« less

Use of Maximum Intensity Projections (MIPs) for target outlining in 4DCT radiotherapy planning.

PubMed

Muirhead, Rebecca; McNee, Stuart G; Featherstone, Carrie; Moore, Karen; Muscat, Sarah

2008-12-01

Four-dimensional computed tomography (4DCT) is currently being introduced to radiotherapy centers worldwide, for use in radical radiotherapy planning for non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). A significant drawback is the time required to delineate 10 individual CT scans for each patient. Every department will hence ask the question if the single Maximum Intensity Projection (MIP) scan can be used as an alternative. Although the problems regarding the use of the MIP in node-positive disease have been discussed in the literature, a comprehensive study assessing its use has not been published. We compared an internal target volume (ITV) created using the MIP to an ITV created from the composite volume of 10 clinical target volumes (CTVs) delineated on the 10 phases of the 4DCT. 4DCT data was collected from 14 patients with NSCLC. In each patient, the ITV was delineated on the MIP image (ITV_MIP) and a composite ITV created from the 10 CTVs delineated on each of the 10 scans in the dataset. The structures were compared by assessment of volumes of overlap and exclusion. There was a median of 19.0% (range, 5.5-35.4%) of the volume of ITV_10phase not enclosed by the ITV_MIP, demonstrating that the use of the MIP could result in under-treatment of disease. In contrast only a very small amount of the ITV_MIP was not enclosed by the ITV_10phase (median of 2.3%, range, 0.4-9.8%), indicating the ITV_10phase covers almost all of the tumor tissue as identified by MIP. Although there were only two Stage I patients, both demonstrated very similar ITV_10phase and ITV_MIP volumes. These findings suggest that Stage I NSCLC tumors could be outlined on the MIP alone. In Stage II and III tumors the ITV_10phase would be more reliable. To prevent under-treatment of disease, the MIP image can only be used for delineation in Stage I tumors.

Fabrication of light water reactor tritium targets

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

Pilger, J.P.

1991-11-01

The mission of the Fabrication Development Task of the Tritium Target Development Project is: to produce a documented technology basis, including specifications and procedures for target rod fabrication; to demonstrate that light water tritium targets can be manufactured at a rate consistent with tritium production requirements; and to develop quality control methods to evaluate target rod components and assemblies, and establish correlations between evaluated characteristics and target rod performance. Many of the target rod components: cladding tubes, end caps, plenum springs, etc., have similar counterparts in LWR fuel rods. High production rate manufacture and inspection of these components has beenmore » adequately demonstrated by nuclear fuel rod manufacturers. This summary describes the more non-conventional manufacturing processes and inspection techniques developed to fabricate target rod components whose manufacturability at required production rates had not been previously demonstrated.« less

Projected wetland densities under climate change: habitat loss but little geographic shift in conservation strategy.

PubMed

Sofaer, Helen R; Skagen, Susan K; Barsugli, Joseph J; Rashford, Benjamin S; Reese, Gordon C; Hoeting, Jennifer A; Wood, Andrew W; Noon, Barry R

2016-09-01

Climate change poses major challenges for conservation and management because it alters the area, quality, and spatial distribution of habitat for natural populations. To assess species' vulnerability to climate change and target ongoing conservation investments, researchers and managers often consider the effects of projected changes in climate and land use on future habitat availability and quality and the uncertainty associated with these projections. Here, we draw on tools from hydrology and climate science to project the impact of climate change on the density of wetlands in the Prairie Pothole Region of the USA, a critical area for breeding waterfowl and other wetland-dependent species. We evaluate the potential for a trade-off in the value of conservation investments under current and future climatic conditions and consider the joint effects of climate and land use. We use an integrated set of hydrological and climatological projections that provide physically based measures of water balance under historical and projected future climatic conditions. In addition, we use historical projections derived from ten general circulation models (GCMs) as a baseline from which to assess climate change impacts, rather than historical climate data. This method isolates the impact of greenhouse gas emissions and ensures that modeling errors are incorporated into the baseline rather than attributed to climate change. Our work shows that, on average, densities of wetlands (here defined as wetland basins holding water) are projected to decline across the U.S. Prairie Pothole Region, but that GCMs differ in both the magnitude and the direction of projected impacts. However, we found little evidence for a shift in the locations expected to provide the highest wetland densities under current vs. projected climatic conditions. This result was robust to the inclusion of projected changes in land use under climate change. We suggest that targeting conservation towards wetland

Projected wetland densities under climate change: Habitat loss but little geographic shift in conservation strategy

USGS Publications Warehouse

Sofaer, Helen R.; Skagen, Susan K.; Barsugli, Joseph J.; Rashford, Benjamin S.; Reese, Gordon C.; Hoeting, Jennifer A.; Wood, Andrew W.; Noon, Barry R.

2016-01-01

Climate change poses major challenges for conservation and management because it alters the area, quality, and spatial distribution of habitat for natural populations. To assess species’ vulnerability to climate change and target ongoing conservation investments, researchers and managers often consider the effects of projected changes in climate and land use on future habitat availability and quality and the uncertainty associated with these projections. Here, we draw on tools from hydrology and climate science to project the impact of climate change on the density of wetlands in the Prairie Pothole Region of the USA, a critical area for breeding waterfowl and other wetland-dependent species. We evaluate the potential for a trade-off in the value of conservation investments under current and future climatic conditions and consider the joint effects of climate and land use. We use an integrated set of hydrological and climatological projections that provide physically based measures of water balance under historical and projected future climatic conditions. In addition, we use historical projections derived from ten general circulation models (GCMs) as a baseline from which to assess climate change impacts, rather than historical climate data. This method isolates the impact of greenhouse gas emissions and ensures that modeling errors are incorporated into the baseline rather than attributed to climate change. Our work shows that, on average, densities of wetlands (here defined as wetland basins holding water) are projected to decline across the U.S. Prairie Pothole Region, but that GCMs differ in both the magnitude and the direction of projected impacts. However, we found little evidence for a shift in the locations expected to provide the highest wetland densities under current vs. projected climatic conditions. This result was robust to the inclusion of projected changes in land use under climate change. We suggest that targeting conservation towards wetland

Does precision decrease with set size?

PubMed Central

Mazyar, Helga; van den Berg, Ronald; Ma, Wei Ji

2012-01-01

The brain encodes visual information with limited precision. Contradictory evidence exists as to whether the precision with which an item is encoded depends on the number of stimuli in a display (set size). Some studies have found evidence that precision decreases with set size, but others have reported constant precision. These groups of studies differed in two ways. The studies that reported a decrease used displays with heterogeneous stimuli and tasks with a short-term memory component, while the ones that reported constancy used homogeneous stimuli and tasks that did not require short-term memory. To disentangle the effects of heterogeneity and short-memory involvement, we conducted two main experiments. In Experiment 1, stimuli were heterogeneous, and we compared a condition in which target identity was revealed before the stimulus display with one in which it was revealed afterward. In Experiment 2, target identity was fixed, and we compared heterogeneous and homogeneous distractor conditions. In both experiments, we compared an optimal-observer model in which precision is constant with set size with one in which it depends on set size. We found that precision decreases with set size when the distractors are heterogeneous, regardless of whether short-term memory is involved, but not when it is homogeneous. This suggests that heterogeneity, not short-term memory, is the critical factor. In addition, we found that precision exhibits variability across items and trials, which may partly be caused by attentional fluctuations. PMID:22685337

76 FR 67400 - Capital Project Management

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2011-11-01

...-0030] RIN 2132-AA92 Capital Project Management AGENCY: Federal Transit Administration (FTA), DOT... extending the comment period on its proposed rule for Capital Project Management to December 2, 2011, to...) proposing to transform the current FTA rule for project management oversight into a discrete set of...

Null lifts and projective dynamics

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

Cariglia, Marco, E-mail: marco@iceb.ufop.br

2015-11-15

We describe natural Hamiltonian systems using projective geometry. The null lift procedure endows the tangent bundle with a projective structure where the null Hamiltonian is identified with a projective conic and induces a Weyl geometry. Projective transformations generate a set of known and new dualities between Hamiltonian systems, as for example the phenomenon of coupling-constant metamorphosis. We conclude outlining how this construction can be extended to the quantum case for Eisenhart–Duval lifts.

FIRE I - Marine Stratocumulus Data Sets

Atmospheric Science Data Center

2017-12-21

FIRE I - Marine Stratocumulus Data Sets First ISCCP Regional Experiment (FIRE) I - Marine Stratocumulus was conducted off the southwestern coast of California. ... FIRE Project Guide FIRE I - Marine Stratocumulus Home Page (tar file) SCAR-B Block:  ...

Projection of participant recruitment to primary care research: a qualitative study.

PubMed

White, David; Hind, Daniel

2015-10-20

Recruitment to clinical trials remains a challenge, particularly in primary care settings. Initial projections of participant recruitment need to be as accurate as possible in order to avoid the financial, clinical and ethical costs of trial extensions or failures. However, estimation of recruitment rates is challenging and often poorly executed, if attempted at all. We used qualitative methods to explore the experiences and views of researchers on the planning of recruitment in this setting. Participants had registered accrual to a UK-based primary care research study between April 2009 and March 2012. We conducted nine interviews with chief investigators or study managers, using a semi-structured topic guide. Analysis was conducted using the framework approach. Three themes are presented: 1) the factors affecting recruitment rates, 2) the use of planning techniques, and 3) influences on poor estimation. 1) A large number of factors affecting recruitment rates were discussed, including those relating to the study protocol, the clinical setting and the research setting. Use of targeted mail-outs to invite apparently eligible individuals to participate was preferred in order to eliminate some of the uncertainty in the recruitment rate associated with opportunistic clinician referrals. 2) The importance of pilot work was stressed. We identified significant uncertainty as to how best to schedule trial timelines to maximise efficiency. 3) Several potential sources of bias involved in the estimation of recruitment rates were explored and framed as technological, psychological or political factors. We found a large number of factors that interviewees felt impact recruitment rates to primary care research and highlighted the complexity of realistic estimation. Suitable early planning of the recruitment process is essential, and there may be potential to improve the projection of trial timelines by reducing biases involved in the process. Further research is needed to

TARGET Publication Guidelines | Office of Cancer Genomics

Cancer.gov

Like other NCI large-scale genomics initiatives, TARGET is a community resource project and data are made available rapidly after validation for use by other researchers. To act in accord with the Fort Lauderdale principles and support the continued prompt public release of large-scale genomic data prior to publication, researchers who plan to prepare manuscripts containing descriptions of TARGET pediatric cancer data that would be of comparable scope to an initial TARGET disease-specific comprehensive, global analysis publication, and journal editors who receive such manuscripts, are

Project of Near-Real-Time Generation of ShakeMaps and a New Hazard Map in Austria

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Jia, Yan; Weginger, Stefan; Horn, Nikolaus; Hausmann, Helmut; Lenhardt, Wolfgang

2016-04-01

Target-orientated prevention and effective crisis management can reduce or avoid damage and save lives in case of a strong earthquake. To achieve this goal, a project for automatic generated ShakeMaps (maps of ground motion and shaking intensity) and updating the Austrian hazard map was started at ZAMG (Zentralanstalt für Meteorologie und Geodynamik) in 2015. The first goal of the project is set for a near-real-time generation of ShakeMaps following strong earthquakes in Austria to provide rapid, accurate and official information to support the governmental crisis management. Using newly developed methods and software by SHARE (Seismic Hazard Harmonization in Europe) and GEM (Global Earthquake Model), which allows a transnational analysis at European level, a new generation of Austrian hazard maps will be ultimately calculated. More information and a status of our project will be given by this presentation.

SU-F-J-198: A Cross-Platform Adaptation of An a Priori Scatter Correction Algorithm for Cone-Beam Projections to Enable Image- and Dose-Guided Proton Therapy

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

Andersen, A; Casares-Magaz, O; Elstroem, U

Purpose: Cone-beam CT (CBCT) imaging may enable image- and dose-guided proton therapy, but is challenged by image artefacts. The aim of this study was to demonstrate the general applicability of a previously developed a priori scatter correction algorithm to allow CBCT-based proton dose calculations. Methods: The a priori scatter correction algorithm used a plan CT (pCT) and raw cone-beam projections acquired with the Varian On-Board Imager. The projections were initially corrected for bow-tie filtering and beam hardening and subsequently reconstructed using the Feldkamp-Davis-Kress algorithm (rawCBCT). The rawCBCTs were intensity normalised before a rigid and deformable registration were applied on themore » pCTs to the rawCBCTs. The resulting images were forward projected onto the same angles as the raw CB projections. The two projections were subtracted from each other, Gaussian and median filtered, and then subtracted from the raw projections and finally reconstructed to the scatter-corrected CBCTs. For evaluation, water equivalent path length (WEPL) maps (from anterior to posterior) were calculated on different reconstructions of three data sets (CB projections and pCT) of three parts of an Alderson phantom. Finally, single beam spot scanning proton plans (0–360 deg gantry angle in steps of 5 deg; using PyTRiP) treating a 5 cm central spherical target in the pCT were re-calculated on scatter-corrected CBCTs with identical targets. Results: The scatter-corrected CBCTs resulted in sub-mm mean WEPL differences relative to the rigid registration of the pCT for all three data sets. These differences were considerably smaller than what was achieved with the regular Varian CBCT reconstruction algorithm (1–9 mm mean WEPL differences). Target coverage in the re-calculated plans was generally improved using the scatter-corrected CBCTs compared to the Varian CBCT reconstruction. Conclusion: We have demonstrated the general applicability of a priori CBCT scatter

IS-ENES project management - lessons learnt

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Parinet, Marie; Guglielmo, Francesca; Joussaume, Sylvie

2017-04-01

IS-ENES is the distributed e-infrastructure of models, model data and metadata of the European Network for Earth System Modelling (ENES). It has benefitted from two EC FP7 grants and aims towards further European and national funding to achieve sustainability. We highlight here several challenges related to project management that have risen in the course of these two project-phases spanning 8 years. Some challenges are related to the heterogeneity of the activities within IS-ENES, with different groups working on very diverse activities, not necessarily strictly interdependent. An immediate consequence is the need of implementing and setting up in early phases of the project efficient collection and circulation of information to preserve and reinforce the systemic view of the infrastructure as a whole and the pursuit of common goals, including coordinated provision of services. Toward and beyond such common goals, managing IS-ENES, covering both scientific and more strictly management-related aspects, implies a double-paced approach: besides setting up efficient project workflow, there is the need of setting up longer term objectives. This implies, within the project lifetime, to elaborate and implement a coherent organizational (consistent with scientific goals, funding schemes, research and technology landscape) strategy to pursue these goals beyond the project itself. Furthermore, a series of more generic project management challenges will also be listed and can be gathered around 3 main objectives: ease the internal processes in order to optimize the work, anticipate delays and budget issues, and motivate the project teams by ensuring an efficient internal and external communication.

Methodology of project management at implementation of projects of high-rise construction

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Papelniuk, Oksana

2018-03-01

High-rise construction is the perspective direction in urban development. An opportunity to arrange on rather small land plot a huge number of the living and commercial space makes high-rise construction very attractive for developers. However investment projects of high-rise buildings' construction are very expensive and complex that sets a task of effective management of such projects for the company builder. The best tool in this area today is the methodology of project management, which becomes a key factor of efficiency.

Virtual Project Rooms for Education in Engineering

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

van Vliet, Rudolf G.; Roeling, Monika M.; de Graaff, Rick; Pilot, Albert

2004-01-01

Virtual project rooms (VPRs) may support collaborative project-based learning groups by facilitating project management, documentation and communication. In this study a set of experiments was carried out at Eindhoven University of Technology using the MS Outlook/Exchange software as a groupware platform for design-oriented group projects. The…

Targeting Resources for Local Growth.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Casto, James E.

2001-01-01

Focusing state and federal dollars on targeted areas, the Kentucky Appalachian Community Development Initiative helps communities in eastern Kentucky fund their own strategies for economic growth. In Hindman, the project focuses on creating the Kentucky School of Crafts, to train master artisans; supporting the Kentucky Appalachian Artisan Center;…

The ALPACA Project

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Takita, Masato

2017-06-01

We have started up the ALPACA (Andes Large area PArticle detector for Cosmic ray physics and Astronomy) project. The ALPACA experiment is composed of an 83,000 m2 air shower array and a 5,400 m2 underground muon detector array to make wide field-of-view high-sensitivity observations of high-energy cosmic rays/cosmic gamma rays on the Cerro Estuqueria highland, 4,740 m above sea level around Mount Chacaltaya, Bolivia. We briefly report on the design concept of the new project and its physics targets.

Passive immunization targeting the N-terminal projection domain of tau decreases tau pathology and improves cognition in a transgenic mouse model of Alzheimer disease and tauopathies.

PubMed

Dai, Chun-ling; Chen, Xia; Kazim, Syed Faraz; Liu, Fei; Gong, Cheng-Xin; Grundke-Iqbal, Inge; Iqbal, Khalid

2015-04-01

Intraneuronal accumulation of abnormally hyperphosphorylated tau in the brain is a histopathological hallmark of Alzheimer's disease and a family of related neurodegenerative disorders collectively called tauopathies. At present there is no effective treatment available for these progressive neurodegenerative diseases which are clinically characterized by dementia in mid to old-age. Here we report the treatment of 14-17-months-old 3xTg-AD mice with tau antibodies 43D (tau 6-18) and 77E9 (tau 184-195) to the N-terminal projection domain of tau or mouse IgG as a control by intraperitoneal injection once a week for 4 weeks, and the effects of the passive immunization on reduction of hyperphosphorylated tau, Aβ accumulation and cognitive performance in these animals. We found that treatment with tau antibodies 43D and 77E9 reduced total tau level, decreased tau hyperphosphorylated at Ser199, Ser202/Thr205 (AT8), Thr205, Ser262/356 (12E8), and Ser396/404 (PHF-1) sites, and a trend to reduce Aβ pathology. Most importantly, targeting N-terminal tau especially by 43D (tau 6-18) improved reference memory in the Morris water maze task in 3xTg-AD mice. We did not observe any abnormality in general physical characteristics of the treated animals with either of the two antibodies during the course of this study. Taken together, our studies demonstrate for the first time (1) that passive immunization targeting normal tau can effectively clear the hyperphosphorylated protein and possibly reduce Aβ pathology from the brain and (2) that targeting N-terminal projection domain of tau containing amino acid 6-18 is especially beneficial. Thus, targeting selective epitopes of N-terminal domain of tau may present a novel effective therapeutic opportunity for Alzheimer disease and other tauopathies.

Recommended CENWAVE Settings for NUV COS ACQ/PEAKXD Procedure

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Indriolo, Nick; Plesha, Rachel; Penton, Steven V.

2017-05-01

Spectroscopic target acquisitions with COS begin with the ACQ/PEAKXD procedure, which centers the external target in the science aperture in the cross-dispersion direction. During this procedure the external target is observed through the Primary Science Aperture (PSA) or Bright Object Aperture (BOA) and the Pt-Ne hollow cathode lamp is flashed on to produce an emission line spectrum in the Wavelength Calibration Aperture(WCA). The separation between the centroids of the WCA and PSA (or BOA) spectra is measured and compared to the known separation between the WCA and the center of the PSA (or BOA). In this way, the slew required to move the target to the center of the PSA (BOA) in the cross-dispersion direction is determined. This procedure requires an accurate measurement of the center of the WCA spectrum in the cross-dispersion direction. Each CENWAVE setting has a different distribution of emission lines from the Pt-Ne lamp on the NUV detector. Due to effects such as lamp aging and optics select mechanism (OSM) drift, the flux in the WCA spectrum for a given CENWAVE can change with time, and it is possible that some settings do not provide enough flux to reliably measure the center of the WCA spectrum. In this ISR we use all available NUV WCA data from 2010 Jan 01 through 2016 Oct 07 to determine which CENWAVE settings are optimal for the ACQ/PEAKXD procedure. These optimal settings are recommended in the Cycle 25 COS Instrument Handbook.

Multiplex primer prediction software for divergent targets

PubMed Central

Gardner, Shea N.; Hiddessen, Amy L.; Williams, Peter L.; Hara, Christine; Wagner, Mark C.; Colston, Bill W.

2009-01-01

We describe a Multiplex Primer Prediction (MPP) algorithm to build multiplex compatible primer sets to amplify all members of large, diverse and unalignable sets of target sequences. The MPP algorithm is scalable to larger target sets than other available software, and it does not require a multiple sequence alignment. We applied it to questions in viral detection, and demonstrated that there are no universally conserved priming sequences among viruses and that it could require an unfeasibly large number of primers (∼3700 18-mers or ∼2000 10-mers) to generate amplicons from all sequenced viruses. We then designed primer sets separately for each viral family, and for several diverse species such as foot-and-mouth disease virus (FMDV), hemagglutinin (HA) and neuraminidase (NA) segments of influenza A virus, Norwalk virus, and HIV-1. We empirically demonstrated the application of the software with a multiplex set of 16 short (10 nt) primers designed to amplify the Poxviridae family to produce a specific amplicon from vaccinia virus. PMID:19759213

Project Senior. Innovations in Educational Programming for the Elderly. A Pilot Project: Thermopolis, Wyoming. [Final Report].

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Owsley, Jean

A pilot project, entitled Project Senior, was developed and implemented to provide innovative educational programing for older adults in the small rural setting of Thermopolis, Wyoming. Included among the major project activities were the following: a door-to-door survey of 759 persons over 55 years old to determine those courses most desired by…

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.

Time-frequency filtering and synthesis from convex projections

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

White, Langford B.

1990-11-01

This paper describes the application of the theory of projections onto convex sets to time-frequency filtering and synthesis problems. We show that the class of Wigner-Ville Distributions (WVD) of L2 signals form the boundary of a closed convex subset of L2(R2). This result is obtained by considering the convex set of states on the Heisenberg group of which the ambiguity functions form the extreme points. The form of the projection onto the set of WVDs is deduced. Various linear and non-linear filtering operations are incorporated by formulation as convex projections. An example algorithm for simultaneous time-frequency filtering and synthesis is suggested.

Community empowerment and involvement of female sex workers in targeted sexual and reproductive health interventions in Africa: a systematic review.

PubMed

Moore, Lizzie; Chersich, Matthew F; Steen, Richard; Reza-Paul, Sushena; Dhana, Ashar; Vuylsteke, Bea; Lafort, Yves; Scorgie, Fiona

2014-06-10

Female sex workers (FSWs) experience high levels of sexual and reproductive health (SRH) morbidity, violence and discrimination. Successful SRH interventions for FSWs in India and elsewhere have long prioritised community mobilisation and structural interventions, yet little is known about similar approaches in African settings. We systematically reviewed community empowerment processes within FSW SRH projects in Africa, and assessed them using a framework developed by Ashodaya, an Indian sex worker organisation. In November 2012 we searched Medline and Web of Science for studies of FSW health services in Africa, and consulted experts and websites of international organisations. Titles and abstracts were screened to identify studies describing relevant services, using a broad definition of empowerment. Data were extracted on service-delivery models and degree of FSW involvement, and analysed with reference to a four-stage framework developed by Ashodaya. This conceptualises community empowerment as progressing from (1) initial engagement with the sex worker community, to (2) community involvement in targeted activities, to (3) ownership, and finally, (4) sustainability of action beyond the community. Of 5413 articles screened, 129 were included, describing 42 projects. Targeted services in FSW 'hotspots' were generally isolated and limited in coverage and scope, mostly offering only free condoms and STI treatment. Many services were provided as part of research activities and offered via a clinic with associated community outreach. Empowerment processes were usually limited to peer-education (stage 2 of framework). Community mobilisation as an activity in its own right was rarely documented and while most projects successfully engaged communities, few progressed to involvement, community ownership or sustainability. Only a few interventions had evolved to facilitate collective action through formal democratic structures (stage 3). These reported improved sexual

Community empowerment and involvement of female sex workers in targeted sexual and reproductive health interventions in Africa: a systematic review

PubMed Central

2014-01-01

Background Female sex workers (FSWs) experience high levels of sexual and reproductive health (SRH) morbidity, violence and discrimination. Successful SRH interventions for FSWs in India and elsewhere have long prioritised community mobilisation and structural interventions, yet little is known about similar approaches in African settings. We systematically reviewed community empowerment processes within FSW SRH projects in Africa, and assessed them using a framework developed by Ashodaya, an Indian sex worker organisation. Methods In November 2012 we searched Medline and Web of Science for studies of FSW health services in Africa, and consulted experts and websites of international organisations. Titles and abstracts were screened to identify studies describing relevant services, using a broad definition of empowerment. Data were extracted on service-delivery models and degree of FSW involvement, and analysed with reference to a four-stage framework developed by Ashodaya. This conceptualises community empowerment as progressing from (1) initial engagement with the sex worker community, to (2) community involvement in targeted activities, to (3) ownership, and finally, (4) sustainability of action beyond the community. Results Of 5413 articles screened, 129 were included, describing 42 projects. Targeted services in FSW ‘hotspots’ were generally isolated and limited in coverage and scope, mostly offering only free condoms and STI treatment. Many services were provided as part of research activities and offered via a clinic with associated community outreach. Empowerment processes were usually limited to peer-education (stage 2 of framework). Community mobilisation as an activity in its own right was rarely documented and while most projects successfully engaged communities, few progressed to involvement, community ownership or sustainability. Only a few interventions had evolved to facilitate collective action through formal democratic structures (stage 3

Development of a group-specific 16S rRNA-targeted probe set for the identification of Marinobacter by fluorescence in situ hybridization

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

McKay, Luke J.; Gutierrez, Tony; Teske, Andreas P.

2016-07-01

Members of the Marinobacter genus play an important role in hydrocarbon degradation in the ocean - a topic of special significance in light of the recent Deepwater Horizon oil spill of 2010. The Marinobacter group has thus far lacked a genus level phylogenetic probe that would allow in situ identification of representative members. Here, we developed two new 16S rRNA-targeted oligonucleotide probes (Mrb-0625-a and Mrb-0625-b) to enumerate Marinobacter species by fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH). In silico analysis of this probe set demonstrated 80% coverage of the Marinobacter genus. A competitor probe was developed to block hybridization by Mrb-0625-a to six Halomonas species with which it shared a one base pair mismatch. The probe set was optimized using pure cultures, and then used in an enrichment experiment with a deep sea oil plume water sample collected from the Deepwater Horizon oil spill. Marinobacter cells rapidly increased as a significant fraction of total microbial abundance in all incubations of original contaminated seawater as well as those amended with n-hexadecane, suggesting this group may be among the first microbial responders to oil pollution in the marine environment. The new probe set will provide a reliable tool for quantifying Marinobacter in the marine environment, particularly at contaminated sites where these organisms can play an important role in the biodegradation of oil pollutants.

Comparative Analysis of Predicted Plastid-Targeted Proteomes of Sequenced Higher Plant Genomes

PubMed Central

Schaeffer, Scott; Harper, Artemus; Raja, Rajani; Jaiswal, Pankaj; Dhingra, Amit

2014-01-01

Plastids are actively involved in numerous plant processes critical to growth, development and adaptation. They play a primary role in photosynthesis, pigment and monoterpene synthesis, gravity sensing, starch and fatty acid synthesis, as well as oil, and protein storage. We applied two complementary methods to analyze the recently published apple genome (Malus × domestica) to identify putative plastid-targeted proteins, the first using TargetP and the second using a custom workflow utilizing a set of predictive programs. Apple shares roughly 40% of its 10,492 putative plastid-targeted proteins with that of the Arabidopsis (Arabidopsis thaliana) plastid-targeted proteome as identified by the Chloroplast 2010 project and ∼57% of its entire proteome with Arabidopsis. This suggests that the plastid-targeted proteomes between apple and Arabidopsis are different, and interestingly alludes to the presence of differential targeting of homologs between the two species. Co-expression analysis of 2,224 genes encoding putative plastid-targeted apple proteins suggests that they play a role in plant developmental and intermediary metabolism. Further, an inter-specific comparison of Arabidopsis, Prunus persica (Peach), Malus × domestica (Apple), Populus trichocarpa (Black cottonwood), Fragaria vesca (Woodland Strawberry), Solanum lycopersicum (Tomato) and Vitis vinifera (Grapevine) also identified a large number of novel species-specific plastid-targeted proteins. This analysis also revealed the presence of alternatively targeted homologs across species. Two separate analyses revealed that a small subset of proteins, one representing 289 protein clusters and the other 737 unique protein sequences, are conserved between seven plastid-targeted angiosperm proteomes. Majority of the novel proteins were annotated to play roles in stress response, transport, catabolic processes, and cellular component organization. Our results suggest that the current state of knowledge regarding

Process evaluation of Project WebHealth: a nondieting Web-based intervention for obesity prevention in college students.

PubMed

Dour, Colleen A; Horacek, Tanya M; Schembre, Susan M; Lohse, Barbara; Hoerr, Sharon; Kattelmann, Kendra; White, Adrienne A; Shoff, Suzanne; Phillips, Beatrice; Greene, Geoffrey

2013-01-01

To evaluate the motivational effect of the Project WebHealth study procedures and intervention components on weight-related health behavior changes in male and female college students. Process evaluation. Eight universities in the United States. Project WebHealth participants (n = 653; 29% men). Participants rated motivational effects of study procedures and intervention components. Participants were grouped into outcome-based health behavior categories based on achievement of desired targets for fruit and vegetable intake, physical activity, and/or body weight. Differences in motivation from each procedure and component were analyzed by gender- and outcome-based health behavior category. Women were generally more motivated than men. Compared to those who did not meet any target health behaviors, men with improved health outcomes (68%) were significantly more motivated by the skills to fuel the body lesson, goal setting, and research snippets. Their female counterparts (63%) were significantly more motivated by the lessons on body size and eating enjoyment, and by the suggested weekly activities. Specific study procedures and components of Project WebHealth motivated study participants to improve their weight-related health behaviors, and they differed by gender. Findings support the need for gender-tailored interventions in this population. Copyright © 2013 Society for Nutrition Education and Behavior. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

High Performance MG-System Alloys For Weight Saving Applications: First Year Results From The Green Metallurgy EU Project

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

D'Errico, Fabrizio; Plaza, Gerardo Garces; Hofer, Markus; Kim, Shae K.

The GREEN METALLURGY Project, a LIFE+ project co-financed by the EU Commission, has just concluded its first year. The Project seeks to set manufacturing processes at a pre-industrial scale for nanostructured-based high-performance Mg-Zn(Y) magnesium alloys. The Project's goal is the reduction of specific energy consumed and the overall carbon-footprint produced in the cradle-to-exit gate phases. Preliminary results addressed potentialities of the upstream manufacturing process pathway. Two Mg-Zn(Y) system alloys with rapid solidifying powders have been produced and directly extruded for 100% densification. Examination of the mechanical properties showed that such materials exhibit strength and elongation comparable to several high performing aluminum alloys; 390 MPa and 440 MPa for the average UTS for two different system alloys, and 10% and 15% elongations for two system alloys. These results, together with the low-environmental impact targeted, make these novel Mg alloys competitive as lightweight high-performance materials for automotive components.

Benchmarking of protein descriptor sets in proteochemometric modeling (part 2): modeling performance of 13 amino acid descriptor sets

PubMed Central

2013-01-01

Background While a large body of work exists on comparing and benchmarking descriptors of molecular structures, a similar comparison of protein descriptor sets is lacking. Hence, in the current work a total of 13 amino acid descriptor sets have been benchmarked with respect to their ability of establishing bioactivity models. The descriptor sets included in the study are Z-scales (3 variants), VHSE, T-scales, ST-scales, MS-WHIM, FASGAI, BLOSUM, a novel protein descriptor set (termed ProtFP (4 variants)), and in addition we created and benchmarked three pairs of descriptor combinations. Prediction performance was evaluated in seven structure-activity benchmarks which comprise Angiotensin Converting Enzyme (ACE) dipeptidic inhibitor data, and three proteochemometric data sets, namely (1) GPCR ligands modeled against a GPCR panel, (2) enzyme inhibitors (NNRTIs) with associated bioactivities against a set of HIV enzyme mutants, and (3) enzyme inhibitors (PIs) with associated bioactivities on a large set of HIV enzyme mutants. Results The amino acid descriptor sets compared here show similar performance (<0.1 log units RMSE difference and <0.1 difference in MCC), while errors for individual proteins were in some cases found to be larger than those resulting from descriptor set differences ( > 0.3 log units RMSE difference and >0.7 difference in MCC). Combining different descriptor sets generally leads to better modeling performance than utilizing individual sets. The best performers were Z-scales (3) combined with ProtFP (Feature), or Z-Scales (3) combined with an average Z-Scale value for each target, while ProtFP (PCA8), ST-Scales, and ProtFP (Feature) rank last. Conclusions While amino acid descriptor sets capture different aspects of amino acids their ability to be used for bioactivity modeling is still – on average – surprisingly similar. Still, combining sets describing complementary information consistently leads to small but consistent improvement in

Magnetic confinement system using charged ammonia targets

DOEpatents

Porter, Gary D.; Bogdanoff, Anatoly

1979-01-01

A system for guiding charged laser targets to a predetermined focal spot of a laser along generally arbitrary, and especially horizontal, directions which comprises a series of electrostatic sensors which provide inputs to a computer for real time calculation of position, velocity, and direction of the target along an initial injection trajectory, and a set of electrostatic deflection means, energized according to a calculated output of said computer, to change the target trajectory to intercept the focal spot of the laser which is triggered so as to illuminate the target of the focal spot.

Joint Target Detection and Tracking Filter for Chilbolton Advanced Meteorological Radar Data Processing

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Pak, A.; Correa, J.; Adams, M.; Clark, D.; Delande, E.; Houssineau, J.; Franco, J.; Frueh, C.

2016-09-01

Recently, the growing number of inactive Resident Space Objects (RSOs), or space debris, has provoked increased interest in the field of Space Situational Awareness (SSA) and various investigations of new methods for orbital object tracking. In comparison with conventional tracking scenarios, state estimation of an orbiting object entails additional challenges, such as orbit determination and orbital state and covariance propagation in the presence of highly nonlinear system dynamics. The sensors which are available for detecting and tracking space debris are prone to multiple clutter measurements. Added to this problem, is the fact that it is unknown whether or not a space debris type target is present within such sensor measurements. Under these circumstances, traditional single-target filtering solutions such as Kalman Filters fail to produce useful trajectory estimates. The recent Random Finite Set (RFS) based Finite Set Statistical (FISST) framework has yielded filters which are more appropriate for such situations. The RFS based Joint Target Detection and Tracking (JoTT) filter, also known as the Bernoulli filter, is a single target, multiple measurements filter capable of dealing with cluttered and time-varying backgrounds as well as modeling target appearance and disappearance in the scene. Therefore, this paper presents the application of the Gaussian mixture-based JoTT filter for processing measurements from Chilbolton Advanced Meteorological Radar (CAMRa) which contain both defunct and operational satellites. The CAMRa is a fully-steerable radar located in southern England, which was recently modified to be used as a tracking asset in the European Space Agency SSA program. The experiments conducted show promising results regarding the capability of such filters in processing cluttered radar data. The work carried out in this paper was funded by the USAF Grant No. FA9550-15-1-0069, Chilean Conicyt - Fondecyt grant number 1150930, EU Erasmus Mundus MSc

Design and content validation of a set of SMS to promote seeking of specialized mental health care within the Allillanchu Project.

PubMed

Toyama, M; Diez-Canseco, F; Busse, P; Del Mastro, I; Miranda, J J

2018-01-01

The aim of this study was to design and develop a set of, short message service (SMS) to promote specialized mental health care seeking within the framework of the Allillanchu Project. The design phase consisted of 39 interviews with potential recipients of the SMS, about use of cellphones, and perceptions and motivations towards seeking mental health care. After the data collection, the research team developed a set of seven SMS for validation. The content validation phase consisted of 24 interviews. The participants answered questions regarding their understanding of the SMS contents and rated its appeal. The seven SMS subjected to content validation were tailored to the recipient using their name. The reminder message included the working hours of the psychology service at the patient's health center. The motivational messages addressed perceived barriers and benefits when seeking mental health services. The average appeal score of the seven SMS was 9.0 (SD±0.4) of 10 points. Participants did not make significant suggestions to change the wording of the messages. Five SMS were chosen to be used. This approach is likely to be applicable to other similar low-resource settings, and the methodology used can be adapted to develop SMS for other chronic conditions.

Short-term and long-term attentional biases to frequently encountered target features.

PubMed

Sha, Li Z; Remington, Roger W; Jiang, Yuhong V

2017-07-01

It has long been known that frequently occurring targets are attended better than infrequent ones in visual search. But does this frequency-based attentional prioritization reflect momentary or durable changes in attention? Here we observed both short-term and long-term attentional biases for visual features as a function of different types of statistical associations between the targets, distractors, and features. Participants searched for a target, a line oriented horizontally or vertically among diagonal distractors, and reported its length. In one set of experiments we manipulated the target's color probability: Targets were more often in Color 1 than in Color 2. The distractors were in other colors. Participants found Color 1 targets more quickly than Color 2 targets, but this preference disappeared immediately when the target's color became random in the subsequent testing phase. In the other set of experiments, we manipulated the diagnostic values of the two colors: Color 1 was more often a target than a distractor; Color 2 was more often a distractor than a target. Participants found Color 1 targets more quickly than Color 2 targets. Importantly, and in contrast to the first set of experiments, the featural preference was sustained in the testing phase. These results suggest that short-term and long-term attentional biases are products of different statistical information. Finding a target momentarily activates its features, inducing short-term repetition priming. Long-term changes in attention, on the other hand, may rely on learning diagnostic features of the targets.

School Improvement Goal Setting: A Collaborative Model.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Snyder, Karolyn J.; And Others

1983-01-01

Describes the successful use of the Delphi Dialog Technique (a goal-setting process) at East High School, Anchorage, Alaska, where it was used to obtain consensus among staff members about school-growth targets. (JW)

Artifacts in Radar Imaging of Moving Targets

DTIC Science & Technology

2012-09-01

CA, USA, 2007. [11] B. Borden, Radar imaging of airborne targets: A primer for Applied mathematicians and Physicists . New York, NY: Taylor and... Project (0704–0188) Washington DC 20503. 1. AGENCY USE ONLY (Leave blank) 2. REPORT DATE 21 September 2012 3. REPORT TYPE AND DATES COVERED...CW Continuous Wave DAC Digital to Analog Convertor DFT Discrete Fourier Transform FBP Filtered Back Projection FFT Fast Fourier Transform GPS

Research on cross - Project software defect prediction based on transfer learning