Captions, Consistency, Creativity, and the Consensual Assessment Technique: New Evidence of Reliability

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kaufman, James C.; Lee, Joohyun; Baer, John; Lee, Soonmook

2007-01-01

The consensual assessment technique (CAT) is a measurement tool for creativity research in which appropriate experts evaluate creative products [Amabile, T. M. (1996). "Creativity in context: Update to the social psychology of creativity." Boulder, CO: Westview]. However, the CAT is hampered by the time-consuming nature of the products (asking…

Rapid Detection and Identification of Streptococcus Iniae Using a Monoclonal Antibody-Based Indirect Fluorescent Antibody Technique

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

Streptococcus iniae is among the major pathogens of a large number of fish species cultured in fresh and marine recirculating and net pen production systems . The traditional plate culture technique to detect and identify S. iniae is time consuming and may be problematic due to phenotypic variations...

Fault detection in rotor bearing systems using time frequency techniques

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Chandra, N. Harish; Sekhar, A. S.

2016-05-01

Faults such as misalignment, rotor cracks and rotor to stator rub can exist collectively in rotor bearing systems. It is an important task for rotor dynamic personnel to monitor and detect faults in rotating machinery. In this paper, the rotor startup vibrations are utilized to solve the fault identification problem using time frequency techniques. Numerical simulations are performed through finite element analysis of the rotor bearing system with individual and collective combinations of faults as mentioned above. Three signal processing tools namely Short Time Fourier Transform (STFT), Continuous Wavelet Transform (CWT) and Hilbert Huang Transform (HHT) are compared to evaluate their detection performance. The effect of addition of Signal to Noise ratio (SNR) on three time frequency techniques is presented. The comparative study is focused towards detecting the least possible level of the fault induced and the computational time consumed. The computation time consumed by HHT is very less when compared to CWT based diagnosis. However, for noisy data CWT is more preferred over HHT. To identify fault characteristics using wavelets a procedure to adjust resolution of the mother wavelet is presented in detail. Experiments are conducted to obtain the run-up data of a rotor bearing setup for diagnosis of shaft misalignment and rotor stator rubbing faults.

Leyla loop: a time-saving suture technique for robotic atrial closure

PubMed Central

Kılıç, Leyla; Şenay, Şahin; Ümit Güllü, A.; Alhan, Cem

2013-01-01

The longer durations of cardiopulmonary bypass and aortic cross-clamp times remain the disadvantages of robotic or minimally invasive cardiac surgery. For this reason, every small contribution to speeding up these procedures is of the utmost importance. Here, we present a practical, easy and time-saving suture technique for atrial closure. It consists of a hand-made loop at one end of the suture and saves the time otherwise consumed by knotting. It may also be used during conventional or minimally invasive cardiac surgery. PMID:23760357

Daily Behavior Report Cards as Evidence-Based Practice for Teachers

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Vannest, Kimberly J.; Burke, Mack D.; Sauber, Stephanie B.; Davis, John L.; Davis, Cole R.

2011-01-01

Easy-to-use progress-monitoring and intervention techniques are attractive because most teachers are crunched for time and teacher instructional time is often consumed with paperwork, especially for progress monitoring and discipline. Some studies indicate up to 50% of a special educator's time may be spent on paperwork. Methods that serve a dual…

Molecular Characterization of cyanobacterial blooms

EPA Science Inventory

Traditionally, the detection and identification of cyanobacteria implicated in harmful algal blooms has been conducted using microscopical techniques. Such conventional methods are time consuming and cumbersome, cannot discriminate between closely related taxa, and cannot discrim...

Simplified Non-cultured Non-trypsinised Epidermal Cell Graft Technique Followed by Psoralen and Ultraviolet A Light Therapy for Stable Vitiligo

PubMed Central

Kachhawa, Dilip; Rao, Pankaj; Kalla, Gyaneshwar

2017-01-01

Background and Aims: Stable vitiligo can be treated by various surgical procedures. Non-cultured melanocyte grafting techniques were developed to overcome the time-consuming process of culture while at the same time providing acceptable results. All the techniques using non-cultured melanocyte transfer involve trypsinisation as an integral step. Jodhpur technique used by the author is autologous, non-cultured, non-trypsinised, epidermal cell grafting. Settings and Design: The study was conducted on patients visiting the dermatology outpatient department of a tertiary health centre in Western Rajasthan. Materials and Methods: At the donor site, mupirocin ointment was applied and dermabrasion was done with the help of micromotor dermabrader till pinpoint bleeding was seen. The paste-like material obtained by this procedure containing melanocytes and keratinocytes admixed with the ointment base was harvested with spatula and was subsequently spread over the recipient area. Recipient site was prepared in the same manner by dermabrasion. After 10 days, dressing at both sites was removed taking utmost care at the recipient site as there was a theoretical risk of dislodging epidermal cells. Results: In a study of 437 vitiligo patches, more than 75% re-pigmentation (excellent improvement) was seen in 41% of the patches. Lesions on thigh (100%), face (75%) and trunk (50%) showed maximal excellent improvement, whereas patches on joints and acral areas did not show much improvement. Conclusions: This technique is a simplified, cost effective, less time-consuming alternative to other techniques which involve tryspsinisation of melanocytes and at the same time provides satisfactory uniform pigmentation. PMID:28852293

A rigorous assessment of tree height measurements obtained using airborne LIDAR and conventional field methods.

Treesearch

Hans-Erik Andersen; Stephen E. Reutebuch; Robert J. McGaughey

2006-01-01

Tree height is an important variable in forest inventory programs but is typically time-consuming and costly to measure in the field using conventional techniques. Airborne light detection and ranging (LIDAR) provides individual tree height measurements that are highly correlated with field-derived measurements, but the imprecision of conventional field techniques does...

Sustainable and consumer-friendly emerging technologies for application within the meat industry: An overview.

PubMed

Troy, Declan J; Ojha, Kumari Shikha; Kerry, Joseph P; Tiwari, Brijesh K

2016-10-01

New and emerging robust technologies can play an important role in ensuring a more resilient meat value chain and satisfying consumer demands and needs. This paper outlines various novel thermal and non-thermal technologies which have shown potential for meat processing applications. A number of process analytical techniques which have shown potential for rapid, real-time assessment of meat quality are also discussed. The commercial uptake and consumer acceptance of novel technologies in meat processing have been subjects of great interest over the past decade. Consumer focus group studies have shown that consumer expectations and liking for novel technologies, applicable to meat processing applications, vary significantly. This overview also highlights the necessity for meat processors to address consumer risk-benefit perceptions, knowledge and trust in order to be commercially successful in the application of novel technologies within the meat sector. Copyright © 2016. Published by Elsevier Ltd.

Formulation of consumables management models: Consumables analysis/crew simulator interface requirements

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Zamora, M. A.

1977-01-01

Consumables analysis/crew training simulator interface requirements were defined. Two aspects were investigated: consumables analysis support techniques to crew training simulator for advanced spacecraft programs, and the applicability of the above techniques to the crew training simulator for the space shuttle program in particular.

Screening Technique for Lead and Cadmium in Toys and Other Materials Using Atomic Absorption Spectroscopy

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Brouwer, Henry

2005-01-01

A simple procedure to quickly screen different consumer products for the presence of lead, cadmium, and other metals is described. This screening technique avoids expending a lot of preparation time on samples known to contain low levels of hazardous metals where only samples testing positive for the desired elements need to be analyzed…

Alternative Fuels Data Center: Techniques for Drivers to Conserve Fuel

Science.gov Websites

techniques to save fuel and money. The amount of fuel your vehicle consumes depends heavily on how you drive and money. Vehicles use the most energy when accelerating. Using cruise control on the highway can trips can save you time and money by avoiding unnecessary stopping and starting of your vehicle, which

I, S, T, and J Grading Techniques for Es, Ns, Fs, and Ps: Insights from the MBTI on Managing the Grading Process

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Fornaciari, Charles J.; Lund Dean, Kathy

2013-01-01

Most instructors at least occasionally experience grading student work as a frustrating, time-consuming task. The Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI) instrument can be a powerful self-awareness tool for management educators seeking to enhance their grading techniques. Evidence suggests that many management professors prefer Extraversion (E),…

A Technique for Evaluating Vendor Bids for Stock Replenishment of a Consumable Item.

DTIC Science & Technology

1985-06-01

RD-A159 957 A TECHNIQUE FOR EVALUATING VENDOR BIDS FOR STOCK 1/1 REPLENISHMENT OF A CONSUMABLE I TEM(U) NAVAL POSTGRADUATE SCHOOL MONTEREY CA J...REPORT II PER106 COVERED *A Technique for Evaluating Vendor Bids Juner’ 1985 i for Stock Replenishment of a Consumable tern 6. PERFORMING ORG. REPORT...Control Center (SPCC) Uniform Inventory Control Program (UICP) wholesale replenishment model for 1H cognizance symbol ( consumable ) material is an order

Performance analysis of static locking in replicated distributed database systems

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Kuang, Yinghong; Mukkamala, Ravi

1991-01-01

Data replication and transaction deadlocks can severely affect the performance of distributed database systems. Many current evaluation techniques ignore these aspects, because it is difficult to evaluate through analysis and time consuming to evaluate through simulation. A technique is used that combines simulation and analysis to closely illustrate the impact of deadlock and evaluate performance of replicated distributed database with both shared and exclusive locks.

COMPOUND-SPECIFIC STABLE ISOTOPE ANALYSIS TO DEMONSTRATE IN-SITU MTBE BIOTRANSFORMATION

EPA Science Inventory

Changes in the stable isotopic composition of organic contaminants (isotopic fractionation) are a useful indicator of biotransformation, and have been reported in literature for several volatile organic compounds. The technique offers an interesting alternative to time-consuming ...

Does Consumer Confidence Forecast Household Saving and Borrowing Behavior? Evidence for Poland.

PubMed

Kłopocka, Aneta Maria

2017-01-01

Consumer confidence plays an important role in households' decision-making processes. This study investigates the effects of consumer confidence on household saving and borrowing behavior that are unsatisfactorily considered in previous discussions. The questions of interest are first, whether indexes of consumer confidence have any predictive power on their own for future household saving and borrowing rates, and second, whether they contain information about future household saving and borrowing rates aside from the information contained in other available indicators. In addition to aggregate confidence indicators, their components are used to provide more precise information. Overall, the multiple linear regression analysis (OLS technique) of Polish time-series data gives positive answers to both questions. This finding supports the recommendation of combining the strengths of objective indicators (such as economic fundamentals) and subjective indicators (such as consumer confidence) to improve household financial behavior forecasts.

The Voice Transcription Technique: Use of Voice Recognition Software to Transcribe Digital Interview Data in Qualitative Research

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Matheson, Jennifer L.

2007-01-01

Transcribing interview data is a time-consuming task that most qualitative researchers dislike. Transcribing is even more difficult for people with physical limitations because traditional transcribing requires manual dexterity and the ability to sit at a computer for long stretches of time. Researchers have begun to explore using an automated…

Rapid characterisation of Klebsiella oxytoca isolates from contaminated liquid hand soap using mass spectrometry, FTIR and Raman spectroscopy.

PubMed

Dieckmann, Ralf; Hammerl, Jens Andre; Hahmann, Hartmut; Wicke, Amal; Kleta, Sylvia; Dabrowski, Piotr Wojciech; Nitsche, Andreas; Stämmler, Maren; Al Dahouk, Sascha; Lasch, Peter

2016-06-23

Microbiological monitoring of consumer products and the efficiency of early warning systems and outbreak investigations depend on the rapid identification and strain characterisation of pathogens posing risks to the health and safety of consumers. This study evaluates the potential of three rapid analytical techniques for identification and subtyping of bacterial isolates obtained from a liquid hand soap product, which has been recalled and reported through the EU RAPEX system due to its severe bacterial contamination. Ten isolates recovered from two bottles of the product were identified as Klebsiella oxytoca and subtyped using matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionisation time-of-flight mass spectrometry (MALDI TOF MS), near-infrared Fourier transform (NIR FT) Raman spectroscopy and Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy. Comparison of the classification results obtained by these phenotype-based techniques with outcomes of the DNA-based methods pulsed-field gel electrophoresis (PFGE), multi-locus sequence typing (MLST) and single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) analysis of whole-genome sequencing (WGS) data revealed a high level of concordance. In conclusion, a set of analytical techniques might be useful for rapid, reliable and cost-effective microbial typing to ensure safe consumer products and allow source tracking.

An Automatic Phase-Change Detection Technique for Colloidal Hard Sphere Suspensions

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

McDowell, Mark; Gray, Elizabeth; Rogers, Richard B.

2005-01-01

Colloidal suspensions of monodisperse spheres are used as physical models of thermodynamic phase transitions and as precursors to photonic band gap materials. However, current image analysis techniques are not able to distinguish between densely packed phases within conventional microscope images, which are mainly characterized by degrees of randomness or order with similar grayscale value properties. Current techniques for identifying the phase boundaries involve manually identifying the phase transitions, which is very tedious and time consuming. We have developed an intelligent machine vision technique that automatically identifies colloidal phase boundaries. The algorithm utilizes intelligent image processing techniques that accurately identify and track phase changes vertically or horizontally for a sequence of colloidal hard sphere suspension images. This technique is readily adaptable to any imaging application where regions of interest are distinguished from the background by differing patterns of motion over time.

Retrovirus purification: method that conserves envelope glycoprotein and maximizes infectivity.

PubMed Central

McGrath, M; Witte, O; Pincus, T; Weissman, I L

1978-01-01

A Sepharose 4B chromatographic method for purification of retroviruses is described which was less time consuming, increased purified virus yields, conserved viral glycoprotein, and increased recovery of biological infectivity in comparison with conventional sucrose gradient ultracentrifugation techniques. Images PMID:205680

Performance analysis of static locking in replicated distributed database systems

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Kuang, Yinghong; Mukkamala, Ravi

1991-01-01

Data replications and transaction deadlocks can severely affect the performance of distributed database systems. Many current evaluation techniques ignore these aspects, because it is difficult to evaluate through analysis and time consuming to evaluate through simulation. Here, a technique is discussed that combines simulation and analysis to closely illustrate the impact of deadlock and evaluate performance of replicated distributed databases with both shared and exclusive locks.

Ultrasound Guidance as a Rescue Technique for Peripheral Intravenous Cannulation

DTIC Science & Technology

2006-09-14

painful, time consuming, and may result in arterial puncture, nerve damage, and paresthes ias.5 Other routes such as central venous or venous cut down...peripherally inserted central lines-PICCS), femoral catheterizations during cardiopulmonary resuscitation, and peripheral IV catheters in difficult...techniques for gaining venous access. What to do when peripheral intravenous catheterization is not possible. J Crit 11/n. 1993;8:435-442. 2. Nee PA

Chapter 7. Cloning and analysis of natural product pathways.

PubMed

Gust, Bertolt

2009-01-01

The identification of gene clusters of natural products has lead to an enormous wealth of information about their biosynthesis and its regulation, and about self-resistance mechanisms. Well-established routine techniques are now available for the cloning and sequencing of gene clusters. The subsequent functional analysis of the complex biosynthetic machinery requires efficient genetic tools for manipulation. Until recently, techniques for the introduction of defined changes into Streptomyces chromosomes were very time-consuming. In particular, manipulation of large DNA fragments has been challenging due to the absence of suitable restriction sites for restriction- and ligation-based techniques. The homologous recombination approach called recombineering (referred to as Red/ET-mediated recombination in this chapter) has greatly facilitated targeted genetic modifications of complex biosynthetic pathways from actinomycetes by eliminating many of the time-consuming and labor-intensive steps. This chapter describes techniques for the cloning and identification of biosynthetic gene clusters, for the generation of gene replacements within such clusters, for the construction of integrative library clones and their expression in heterologous hosts, and for the assembly of entire biosynthetic gene clusters from the inserts of individual library clones. A systematic approach toward insertional mutation of a complete Streptomyces genome is shown by the use of an in vitro transposon mutagenesis procedure.

Enjoyment, Exploration and Education: Understanding the Consumption of Pornography among Young Men with Non-Exclusive Sexual Orientations.

PubMed

McCormack, Mark; Wignall, Liam

2017-10-01

This qualitative research examines the influence of pornography consumption on young men with non-exclusive sexual orientations. Drawing on 35 in-depth interviews with young men from an elite university in the north-eastern United States, we examine how pornography was experienced as a leisure activity to be consumed in free time. Rather than focusing on the potential harms of pornography, we use an inductive analytic approach to explore the broader range of experiences that participants had, since the time they first consumed pornography. We demonstrate that pornography had educational benefits for these young men, related to their sexual desires, emerging sexual identities and for developing new sexual techniques. This study is part of a growing body of research that seeks to develop a holistic understanding of pornography in society, addressing the absence of the lived experience of the consumer in most pornography research.

Enjoyment, Exploration and Education: Understanding the Consumption of Pornography among Young Men with Non-Exclusive Sexual Orientations

PubMed Central

McCormack, Mark; Wignall, Liam

2016-01-01

This qualitative research examines the influence of pornography consumption on young men with non-exclusive sexual orientations. Drawing on 35 in-depth interviews with young men from an elite university in the north-eastern United States, we examine how pornography was experienced as a leisure activity to be consumed in free time. Rather than focusing on the potential harms of pornography, we use an inductive analytic approach to explore the broader range of experiences that participants had, since the time they first consumed pornography. We demonstrate that pornography had educational benefits for these young men, related to their sexual desires, emerging sexual identities and for developing new sexual techniques. This study is part of a growing body of research that seeks to develop a holistic understanding of pornography in society, addressing the absence of the lived experience of the consumer in most pornography research. PMID:28989197

Comparison of marginal accuracy of castings fabricated by conventional casting technique and accelerated casting technique: an in vitro study.

PubMed

Reddy, S Srikanth; Revathi, Kakkirala; Reddy, S Kranthikumar

2013-01-01

Conventional casting technique is time consuming when compared to accelerated casting technique. In this study, marginal accuracy of castings fabricated using accelerated and conventional casting technique was compared. 20 wax patterns were fabricated and the marginal discrepancy between the die and patterns were measured using Optical stereomicroscope. Ten wax patterns were used for Conventional casting and the rest for Accelerated casting. A Nickel-Chromium alloy was used for the casting. The castings were measured for marginal discrepancies and compared. Castings fabricated using Conventional casting technique showed less vertical marginal discrepancy than the castings fabricated by Accelerated casting technique. The values were statistically highly significant. Conventional casting technique produced better marginal accuracy when compared to Accelerated casting. The vertical marginal discrepancy produced by the Accelerated casting technique was well within the maximum clinical tolerance limits. Accelerated casting technique can be used to save lab time to fabricate clinical crowns with acceptable vertical marginal discrepancy.

Development of a pungency measuring system for red-pepper powder

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

Capsaicinoids are the main components that determine the spiciness level of red-pepper powders. Current pungency measurement is mostly dependent on HPLC measurement technique, which is a sample-destructive, labor-intensive, time-consuming, and expensive method. In this research, a nondestructive on-...

Sharing Teaching Ideas.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Mathematics Teacher, 1985

1985-01-01

Discusses: (1) use of matrix techniques to write secret codes (includes ready-to-duplicate worksheets); (2) a method of multiplication and division of polynomials in one variable that is not tedius, time-consuming, or dependent on guesswork; and (3) adding and subtracting rational expressions and solving rational equations. (JN)

[Strategy Discussion for Pollution Control of Post-Consumer Home Medical Equipment].

PubMed

Zhang, Xu; Xu, Honglei; Huang, Yanhong; Peng, Xiaolong

2015-09-01

Compared with the recycle of post-consumer medical equipments in medical institutions, the treatment of post-consumer home medical equipments (HME) should be consummated in the field of academic research, policy and regulatory plus corresponding supporting industries. The HME industry situation and its classification, main components and properties are reviewed in this paper. The merits and demerits of various pollution control techniques in the recycle of post-consumer medical equipments are analysed. For instance, the source control techniques to improve the property of raw materials, the end treatment technique to recycle the HME and regenerate energy are also discussed. Further, the development prospect of pollution control technique in the recycle of HME and the challenges must face up to are also probed.

Fibre Optic Sensors for Selected Wastewater Characteristics

PubMed Central

Chong, Su Sin; Abdul Aziz, A. R.; Harun, Sulaiman W.

2013-01-01

Demand for online and real-time measurements techniques to meet environmental regulation and treatment compliance are increasing. However the conventional techniques, which involve scheduled sampling and chemical analysis can be expensive and time consuming. Therefore cheaper and faster alternatives to monitor wastewater characteristics are required as alternatives to conventional methods. This paper reviews existing conventional techniques and optical and fibre optic sensors to determine selected wastewater characteristics which are colour, Chemical Oxygen Demand (COD) and Biological Oxygen Demand (BOD). The review confirms that with appropriate configuration, calibration and fibre features the parameters can be determined with accuracy comparable to conventional method. With more research in this area, the potential for using FOS for online and real-time measurement of more wastewater parameters for various types of industrial effluent are promising. PMID:23881131

J-tube technique for double-j stent insertion during laparoscopic upper urinary tract surgical procedures.

PubMed

Kim, Hyung Suk; Lee, Byung Ki; Jung, Jin-Woo; Lee, Jung Keun; Byun, Seok-Soo; Lee, Sang Eun; Jeong, Chang Wook

2014-11-01

Double-J stent insertion has been generally performed during laparoscopic upper urinary tract (UUT) surgical procedures to prevent transient urinary tract obstruction and postoperative flank pain from ureteral edema and blood clots. Several restrictive conditions that make this procedure difficult and time consuming, however, include the coiled distal ends of the flexible Double-J stent and the limited bending angle of the laparoscopic instruments. To overcome these limitations, we devised a Double-J stent insertion method using the new J-tube technique. Between July 2011 and May 2013, Double-J stents were inserted using the J-tube technique in 33 patients who underwent a laparoscopic UUT surgical procedure by a single surgeon. The mean stent placement time was 4.8±2.7 minutes, and there were no intraoperative complications. In conclusion, the J-tube technique is a safe and time-saving method for Double-J stent insertion during laparoscopic surgical procedures.

Review of high-throughput techniques for detecting solid phase Transformation from material libraries produced by combinatorial methods

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Lee, Jonathan A.

2005-01-01

High-throughput measurement techniques are reviewed for solid phase transformation from materials produced by combinatorial methods, which are highly efficient concepts to fabricate large variety of material libraries with different compositional gradients on a single wafer. Combinatorial methods hold high potential for reducing the time and costs associated with the development of new materials, as compared to time-consuming and labor-intensive conventional methods that test large batches of material, one- composition at a time. These high-throughput techniques can be automated to rapidly capture and analyze data, using the entire material library on a single wafer, thereby accelerating the pace of materials discovery and knowledge generation for solid phase transformations. The review covers experimental techniques that are applicable to inorganic materials such as shape memory alloys, graded materials, metal hydrides, ferric materials, semiconductors and industrial alloys.

Automatic detection of health changes using statistical process control techniques on measured transfer times of elderly.

PubMed

Baldewijns, Greet; Luca, Stijn; Nagels, William; Vanrumste, Bart; Croonenborghs, Tom

2015-01-01

It has been shown that gait speed and transfer times are good measures of functional ability in elderly. However, data currently acquired by systems that measure either gait speed or transfer times in the homes of elderly people require manual reviewing by healthcare workers. This reviewing process is time-consuming. To alleviate this burden, this paper proposes the use of statistical process control methods to automatically detect both positive and negative changes in transfer times. Three SPC techniques: tabular CUSUM, standardized CUSUM and EWMA, known for their ability to detect small shifts in the data, are evaluated on simulated transfer times. This analysis shows that EWMA is the best-suited method with a detection accuracy of 82% and an average detection time of 9.64 days.

A new technique of laparoscopic cholangiography.

PubMed

Hagan, K D; Rosemurgy, A S; Albrink, M H; Carey, L C

1992-04-01

With the advent and rapid proliferation of laparoscopic cholecystectomy, numerous techniques and "tips" have been described. Intraoperative cholangiography during laparoscopic cholecystectomy can be tedious, frustrating, and time consuming. Described herein is a technique of intraoperative cholangiography during laparoscopic cholecystectomy which has proven to be easy, fast, and succinct. This method utilizes a rigid cholangiogram catheter which is placed into the peritoneal cavity through a small additional puncture site. This catheter is easily inserted into the cystic duct by extracorporeal manipulation. We suggest this method to surgeons who have shared our prior frustration with intraoperative cholangiography.

Critical evaluation of sample pretreatment techniques.

PubMed

Hyötyläinen, Tuulia

2009-06-01

Sample preparation before chromatographic separation is the most time-consuming and error-prone part of the analytical procedure. Therefore, selecting and optimizing an appropriate sample preparation scheme is a key factor in the final success of the analysis, and the judicious choice of an appropriate procedure greatly influences the reliability and accuracy of a given analysis. The main objective of this review is to critically evaluate the applicability, disadvantages, and advantages of various sample preparation techniques. Particular emphasis is placed on extraction techniques suitable for both liquid and solid samples.

Fluorescence polarization immunoassays for rapid, accurate, and sensitive determination of mycotoxins

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

Analytical methods for the determination of mycotoxins in foods are commonly based on chromatographic techniques (GC, HPLC or LC-MS). Although these methods permit a sensitive and accurate determination of the analyte, they require skilled personnel and are time-consuming, expensive, and unsuitable ...

Study to design and develop remote manipulator system

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Hill, J. W.; Sword, A. J.

1973-01-01

Human performance measurement techniques for remote manipulation tasks and remote sensing techniques for manipulators are described for common manipulation tasks, performance is monitored by means of an on-line computer capable of measuring the joint angles of both master and slave arms as a function of time. The computer programs allow measurements of the operator's strategy and physical quantities such as task time and power consumed. The results are printed out after a test run to compare different experimental conditions. For tracking tasks, we describe a method of displaying errors in three dimensions and measuring the end-effector position in three dimensions.

Determining Kinetic Parameters for Isothermal Crystallization of Glasses

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Ray, C. S.; Zhang, T.; Reis, S. T.; Brow, R. K.

2006-01-01

Non-isothermal crystallization techniques are frequently used to determine the kinetic parameters for crystallization in glasses. These techniques are experimentally simple and quick compared to the isothermal techniques. However, the analytical models used for non-isothermal data analysis, originally developed for describing isothermal transformation kinetics, are fundamentally flawed. The present paper describes a technique for determining the kinetic parameters for isothermal crystallization in glasses, which eliminates most of the common problems that generally make the studies of isothermal crystallization laborious and time consuming. In this technique, the volume fraction of glass that is crystallized as a function of time during an isothermal hold was determined using differential thermal analysis (DTA). The crystallization parameters for the lithium-disilicate (Li2O.2SiO2) model glass were first determined and compared to the same parameters determined by other techniques to establish the accuracy and usefulness of the present technique. This technique was then used to describe the crystallization kinetics of a complex Ca-Sr-Zn-silicate glass developed for sealing solid oxide fuel cells.

High-speed technique based on a parallel projection correlation procedure for digital image correlation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zaripov, D. I.; Renfu, Li

2018-05-01

The implementation of high-efficiency digital image correlation methods based on a zero-normalized cross-correlation (ZNCC) procedure for high-speed, time-resolved measurements using a high-resolution digital camera is associated with big data processing and is often time consuming. In order to speed-up ZNCC computation, a high-speed technique based on a parallel projection correlation procedure is proposed. The proposed technique involves the use of interrogation window projections instead of its two-dimensional field of luminous intensity. This simplification allows acceleration of ZNCC computation up to 28.8 times compared to ZNCC calculated directly, depending on the size of interrogation window and region of interest. The results of three synthetic test cases, such as a one-dimensional uniform flow, a linear shear flow and a turbulent boundary-layer flow, are discussed in terms of accuracy. In the latter case, the proposed technique is implemented together with an iterative window-deformation technique. On the basis of the results of the present work, the proposed technique is recommended to be used for initial velocity field calculation, with further correction using more accurate techniques.

Northeast Parallel Architectures Center (NPAC)

DTIC Science & Technology

1992-07-01

Computational Techniques: Mapping receptor units to processors , using NEWS communication to model interaction in the inhibitory field Goal of the Research...algorithms for classical problems to take advantage of multiple processors . Experiments in probability that have been too time consuming on serial...machine and achieved speedups of 4 to 5 times with 11 processors . It is believed that a slightly better speedup is achievable. In the case of stuck

FAST CARS: Engineering a laser spectroscopic technique for rapid identification of bacterial spores

PubMed Central

Scully, M. O.; Kattawar, G. W.; Lucht, R. P.; Opatrný, T.; Pilloff, H.; Rebane, A.; Sokolov, A. V.; Zubairy, M. S.

2002-01-01

Airborne contaminants, e.g., bacterial spores, are usually analyzed by time-consuming microscopic, chemical, and biological assays. Current research into real-time laser spectroscopic detectors of such contaminants is based on e.g., resonance fluorescence. The present approach derives from recent experiments in which atoms and molecules are prepared by one (or more) coherent laser(s) and probed by another set of lasers. However, generating and using maximally coherent oscillation in macromolecules having an enormous number of degrees of freedom is challenging. In particular, the short dephasing times and rapid internal conversion rates are major obstacles. However, adiabatic fast passage techniques and the ability to generate combs of phase-coherent femtosecond pulses provide tools for the generation and utilization of maximal quantum coherence in large molecules and biopolymers. We call this technique FAST CARS (femtosecond adaptive spectroscopic techniques for coherent anti-Stokes Raman spectroscopy), and the present article proposes and analyses ways in which it could be used to rapidly identify preselected molecules in real time. PMID:12177405

Behavioral Targeting—Consumer Tracking

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Srimani, P. K.; Srinivas, A.

2011-12-01

Behavioral targeting is an online marketing method that collects data on the browsing activities of consumers, in order to `target' more relevant online advertising. Behavioral targeting enables marketers to reach in-market consumers and increases the value of publisher inventory. At the heart of behavioral targeting is a learning-based investigation of consumer behaviors. It helps marketers understand consumers' purchase patterns over time, mapping out a customer's activities based not only on a single purchase but also on an annual or even lifetime basis. As marketers increasingly appreciate the importance of customer lifetime value, behavioral targeting can be a foundation for creating a continuous analytical study of consumer trends and patterns. But as behavioural-targeting systems become more sophisticated and invasive, it is vital that the companies behind them are open with users about what is going on, and give them control over their personal information. The aim of this paper is to explore the various tools and techniques of behavioral targeting and its benefits to online marketing. A multiple—case study approach was used for exploring the effectiveness and acceptance of online marketing in the area of the online marketing.

A low-rank matrix recovery approach for energy efficient EEG acquisition for a wireless body area network.

PubMed

Majumdar, Angshul; Gogna, Anupriya; Ward, Rabab

2014-08-25

We address the problem of acquiring and transmitting EEG signals in Wireless Body Area Networks (WBAN) in an energy efficient fashion. In WBANs, the energy is consumed by three operations: sensing (sampling), processing and transmission. Previous studies only addressed the problem of reducing the transmission energy. For the first time, in this work, we propose a technique to reduce sensing and processing energy as well: this is achieved by randomly under-sampling the EEG signal. We depart from previous Compressed Sensing based approaches and formulate signal recovery (from under-sampled measurements) as a matrix completion problem. A new algorithm to solve the matrix completion problem is derived here. We test our proposed method and find that the reconstruction accuracy of our method is significantly better than state-of-the-art techniques; and we achieve this while saving sensing, processing and transmission energy. Simple power analysis shows that our proposed methodology consumes considerably less power compared to previous CS based techniques.

Effective Faculty Feedback: The Road Less Traveled

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Stern, Lesa A.; Solomon, Amanda

2006-01-01

Grading papers may be one of the most stressful, most time consuming, and least rewarding activities in which professors engage. Although effective grading techniques for papers have been widely researched, especially within the "Writing" or "English" scholarly arenas, has this information been put into practice? The goals of this paper are…

Time to Treat Learners as Consumers.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Cohen, Stephen L.; Dove, David W.; Bachelder, Edward L.

2001-01-01

There are differences between how adults learn and how they want to learn. Adaptive conjoint analysis, a technique that deconstructs products and services into discrete elements, can provide insight on what, how, where, and when people want to learn and how likely they are to choose some programs over others. (JOW)

Comparison of mosaicking techniques for airborne images from consumer-grade cameras

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

Images captured from airborne imaging systems have the advantages of relatively low cost, high spatial resolution, and real/near-real-time availability. Multiple images taken from one or more flight lines could be used to generate a high-resolution mosaic image, which could be useful for diverse rem...

Label-Free Detection and Serotyping of Salmonellae by Surface Enhanced Raman Spectroscopy with Immunomagnetic Separation

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

Salmonella spp. are one of the leading causes of foodborne outbreaks in the United States and globally. Current detection and characterization techniques for Salmonella are time consuming and rapid methods could greatly benefit outbreak investigation, new case prevention and disease treatment. In th...

Development and evaluation of 16S rRNA gene targeting Enterococcus genus- and species-specific assays

EPA Science Inventory

Enterococci have been widely used as indicators of fecal pollution in recreational waters. Most studies enumerate enterococci using culture-based techniques that are time consuming and do not provide information on the identity of enterococci species within a given sample. Althou...

Automatic Summary Assessment for Intelligent Tutoring Systems

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

He, Yulan; Hui, Siu Cheung; Quan, Tho Thanh

2009-01-01

Summary writing is an important part of many English Language Examinations. As grading students' summary writings is a very time-consuming task, computer-assisted assessment will help teachers carry out the grading more effectively. Several techniques such as latent semantic analysis (LSA), n-gram co-occurrence and BLEU have been proposed to…

Computer Controlled Optical Surfacing With Orbital Tool Motion

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Jones, Robert A.

1985-11-01

Asymmetric aspheric optical surfaces are very difficult to fabricate using classical techniques and laps the same size as the workpiece. Opticians can produce such surfaces by hand grinding and polishing, using small laps with orbital tool motion. However, this is a time consuming process unsuitable for large optical elements.

Relationship between population estimates of cotton fleahoppers (Hemiptera: Miridae) obtained by terminal and whole plant examinations

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

The standard sampling technique used to quantify cotton fleahopper, Pseudatomoscelis seriatus (Reuter), abundance in cotton, Gossypium hirsutum L., involves direct counts of adults and nymphs on plants. This method, however, becomes increasingly laborious and time consuming as plants increase in si...

Development of hyperspectral imaging technique for salmonella enteritidis and typhimurium on agar plates

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

Salmonella is a common cause of foodborne disease resulting from the consumption of contaminated food products. Although a direct plating method is widely used for presumptive positive screening of pathogenic Salmonella colonies on agar plates, it is labor-intensive, time-consuming and also prone to...

Simultaneous detection and serotyping of Salmonellae by immunomagnetic separation and label-free surface enhanced Raman spectroscopy

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

Salmonella spp. are one of the leading causes of foodborne outbreaks in the United States and globally. Current detection and characterization techniques for Salmonellae are time consuming and costly, and rapid methods could greatly benefit outbreak investigation, new case prevention and disease tre...

A genetic algorithms approach for altering the membership functions in fuzzy logic controllers

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Shehadeh, Hana; Lea, Robert N.

1992-01-01

Through previous work, a fuzzy control system was developed to perform translational and rotational control of a space vehicle. This problem was then re-examined to determine the effectiveness of genetic algorithms on fine tuning the controller. This paper explains the problems associated with the design of this fuzzy controller and offers a technique for tuning fuzzy logic controllers. A fuzzy logic controller is a rule-based system that uses fuzzy linguistic variables to model human rule-of-thumb approaches to control actions within a given system. This 'fuzzy expert system' features rules that direct the decision process and membership functions that convert the linguistic variables into the precise numeric values used for system control. Defining the fuzzy membership functions is the most time consuming aspect of the controller design. One single change in the membership functions could significantly alter the performance of the controller. This membership function definition can be accomplished by using a trial and error technique to alter the membership functions creating a highly tuned controller. This approach can be time consuming and requires a great deal of knowledge from human experts. In order to shorten development time, an iterative procedure for altering the membership functions to create a tuned set that used a minimal amount of fuel for velocity vector approach and station-keep maneuvers was developed. Genetic algorithms, search techniques used for optimization, were utilized to solve this problem.

Chondrocytes provide a model for in-situ confocal microscopy and 3D reconstructions

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hirsch, Michelle S.; Svoboda, Kathy K. H.

1994-04-01

Hyaline cartilage is composed of chondrocytes that reside in lacunae surrounded by extracellular matrix molecules. Microscopic and histochemical features of cartilage have been studied with many techniques. Many of these techniques can be time consuming and may alter natural cartilage characteristics. In addition, the orientation and order of sectioned tissue must be maintained to create 3D reconstructions. We show that confocal laser scanning microscopy may replace traditional methods for studying cartilage.

Adaptable piezoelectric hemispherical composite strips using a scalable groove technique for a self-powered muscle monitoring system.

PubMed

Alluri, Nagamalleswara Rao; Vivekananthan, Venkateswaran; Chandrasekhar, Arunkumar; Kim, Sang-Jae

2018-01-18

Contrary to traditional planar flexible piezoelectric nanogenerators (PNGs), highly adaptable hemispherical shape-flexible piezoelectric composite strip (HS-FPCS) based PNGs are required to harness/measure non-linear surface motions. Therefore, a feasible, cost-effective and less-time consuming groove technique was developed to fabricate adaptable HS-FPCSs with multiple lengths. A single HS-CSPNG generates 130 V/0.8 μA and can also work as a self-powered muscle monitoring system (SP-MMS) to measure maximum human body part movements, i.e., spinal cord, throat, jaw, elbow, knee, foot stress, palm hand/finger force and inhale/exhale breath conditions at a time or at variable time intervals.

Perceptions of meal convenience: the case of at-home evening meals.

PubMed

Jaeger, Sara R; Meiselman, Herbert L

2004-06-01

Perceptions of a range of evening meal situations eaten in the home were explored in a female consumer population. The investigation was carried out using the repertory grid technique and using written scenarios as the research stimuli. The nine scenarios successfully manipulated perceived convenience, time and effort. A consumer-generated vocabulary pertaining to food-related convenience was derived and revealed that while elements of both time and effort contributed to perceived convenience, these two 'dimensions' were highly interdependent. The presence of terms related to planning, shopping, preparation, cooking and clean-up illustrated that all stages in the food provisioning process influenced perceived convenience. Some evidence was established of perceptual differences between individuals varying with respect to convenience orientation in meal preparation.

Managing time-substitutable electricity usage using dynamic controls

DOEpatents

Ghosh, Soumyadip; Hosking, Jonathan R.; Natarajan, Ramesh; Subramaniam, Shivaram; Zhang, Xiaoxuan

2017-02-07

A predictive-control approach allows an electricity provider to monitor and proactively manage peak and off-peak residential intra-day electricity usage in an emerging smart energy grid using time-dependent dynamic pricing incentives. The daily load is modeled as time-shifted, but cost-differentiated and substitutable, copies of the continuously-consumed electricity resource, and a consumer-choice prediction model is constructed to forecast the corresponding intra-day shares of total daily load according to this model. This is embedded within an optimization framework for managing the daily electricity usage. A series of transformations are employed, including the reformulation-linearization technique (RLT) to obtain a Mixed-Integer Programming (MIP) model representation of the resulting nonlinear optimization problem. In addition, various regulatory and pricing constraints are incorporated in conjunction with the specified profit and capacity utilization objectives.

Managing time-substitutable electricity usage using dynamic controls

DOEpatents

Ghosh, Soumyadip; Hosking, Jonathan R.; Natarajan, Ramesh; Subramaniam, Shivaram; Zhang, Xiaoxuan

2017-02-21

A predictive-control approach allows an electricity provider to monitor and proactively manage peak and off-peak residential intra-day electricity usage in an emerging smart energy grid using time-dependent dynamic pricing incentives. The daily load is modeled as time-shifted, but cost-differentiated and substitutable, copies of the continuously-consumed electricity resource, and a consumer-choice prediction model is constructed to forecast the corresponding intra-day shares of total daily load according to this model. This is embedded within an optimization framework for managing the daily electricity usage. A series of transformations are employed, including the reformulation-linearization technique (RLT) to obtain a Mixed-Integer Programming (MIP) model representation of the resulting nonlinear optimization problem. In addition, various regulatory and pricing constraints are incorporated in conjunction with the specified profit and capacity utilization objectives.

Time-Accurate Numerical Prediction of Free Flight Aerodynamics of a Finned Projectile

DTIC Science & Technology

2005-09-01

develop (with fewer dollars) more lethal and effective munitions. The munitions must stay abreast of the latest technology available to our...consuming. Computer simulations can and have provided an effective means of determining the unsteady aerodynamics and flight mechanics of guided projectile...Recently, the time-accurate technique was used to obtain improved results for Magnus moment and roll damping moment of a spinning projectile at transonic

[Application of isothermal amplification technology for pathogen detection in parasitic and other diseases].

PubMed

Ting, Li; Kun, Yang

2018-04-16

The in vitro nucleic acid amplification technique based on polymerase chain reaction (PCR) has been successfully applied to scientific researches. In recent years, the emergence of isothermal amplification technology is increasingly applied in the molecular diagnosis and disease detection because of its advantages of constant temperature, high efficiency, short time-consuming, and less reliance on equipment and instruments. The principle, characteristics and application of the partial isothermal amplification technique in the pathogen detection in parasitic and other diseases are reviewed in this paper, and the prospects of the wide development of the technique are also discussed.

Mid-maxillary distraction osteogenesis of cleft patients using a special custom-made tooth-borne device.

PubMed

Dias, D K; De Silva, H L; Senadeera, W M

2011-09-01

A relatively new approach to maxillary advancement by maxillary distraction using a combined surgical and modified orthodontic technique is described. This protocol and the technique have been used for the past 3 years (2006 to 2009) on more than 60 patients, aged between 14-29 years. Distraction of between 7 and 18 mm has been achieved, creating class 1 or mild class 2 arch relationships in cleft lip and cleft palate patients who had class 3 arch relationship compounded by significant maxillary retrusion. The technique is simple, inexpensive and less time consuming.

Polydiacetylene-Based Liposomes: An "Optical Tongue" for Bacteria Detection and Identification

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

West, Matthew R.; Hanks, Timothy W.; Watson, Rhett T.

2009-01-01

Food- and water-borne bacteria are a major health concern worldwide. Current detection methods are time-consuming and require sophisticated equipment that is not always readily available. However, new techniques based on nanotechnology are under development that will result in a new generation of sensors. In this experiment, liposomes are…

Automatically Scoring Short Essays for Content. CRESST Report 836

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kerr, Deirdre; Mousavi, Hamid; Iseli, Markus R.

2013-01-01

The Common Core assessments emphasize short essay constructed response items over multiple choice items because they are more precise measures of understanding. However, such items are too costly and time consuming to be used in national assessments unless a way is found to score them automatically. Current automatic essay scoring techniques are…

Determination of Sulfate by Conductometric Titration: An Undergraduate Laboratory Experiment

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Garcia, Jennifer; Schultz, Linda D.

2016-01-01

The classic technique for sulfate analysis in an undergraduate quantitative analysis lab involves precipitation as the barium salt with barium chloride, collection of the precipitate by gravity filtration using ashless filter paper, and removal of the filter paper by charring over a Bunsen burner. The entire process is time-consuming, hazardous,…

Surface Plasmon Resonance: An Introduction to a Surface Spectroscopy Technique

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Tang, Yijun; Zeng, Xiangqun; Liang, Jennifer

2010-01-01

Surface plasmon resonance (SPR) has become an important optical biosensing technology in the areas of biochemistry, biology, and medical sciences because of its real-time, label-free, and noninvasive nature. The high cost of commercial devices and consumables has prevented SPR from being introduced in the undergraduate laboratory. Here, we present…

Consumer and Commercial Products, Group IV: Control Techniques Guidelines in Lieu of Regulations

EPA Pesticide Factsheets

EPA has determined that control techniques guidelines (CTGs) will be substantially as effective as regulations in reducing volatile organic compound (VOC) emissions in ozone nonattainment areas for certain consumer and commercial product categories.

GPUs benchmarking in subpixel image registration algorithm

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sanz-Sabater, Martin; Picazo-Bueno, Jose Angel; Micó, Vicente; Ferrerira, Carlos; Granero, Luis; Garcia, Javier

2015-05-01

Image registration techniques are used among different scientific fields, like medical imaging or optical metrology. The straightest way to calculate shifting between two images is using the cross correlation, taking the highest value of this correlation image. Shifting resolution is given in whole pixels which cannot be enough for certain applications. Better results can be achieved interpolating both images, as much as the desired resolution we want to get, and applying the same technique described before, but the memory needed by the system is significantly higher. To avoid memory consuming we are implementing a subpixel shifting method based on FFT. With the original images, subpixel shifting can be achieved multiplying its discrete Fourier transform by a linear phase with different slopes. This method is high time consuming method because checking a concrete shifting means new calculations. The algorithm, highly parallelizable, is very suitable for high performance computing systems. GPU (Graphics Processing Unit) accelerated computing became very popular more than ten years ago because they have hundreds of computational cores in a reasonable cheap card. In our case, we are going to register the shifting between two images, doing the first approach by FFT based correlation, and later doing the subpixel approach using the technique described before. We consider it as `brute force' method. So we will present a benchmark of the algorithm consisting on a first approach (pixel resolution) and then do subpixel resolution approaching, decreasing the shifting step in every loop achieving a high resolution in few steps. This program will be executed in three different computers. At the end, we will present the results of the computation, with different kind of CPUs and GPUs, checking the accuracy of the method, and the time consumed in each computer, discussing the advantages, disadvantages of the use of GPUs.

Low cost MATLAB-based pulse oximeter for deployment in research and development applications.

PubMed

Shokouhian, M; Morling, R C S; Kale, I

2013-01-01

Problems such as motion artifact and effects of ambient lights have forced developers to design different signal processing techniques and algorithms to increase the reliability and accuracy of the conventional pulse oximeter device. To evaluate the robustness of these techniques, they are applied either to recorded data or are implemented on chip to be applied to real-time data. Recorded data is the most common method of evaluating however it is not as reliable as real-time measurements. On the other hand, hardware implementation can be both expensive and time consuming. This paper presents a low cost MATLAB-based pulse oximeter that can be used for rapid evaluation of newly developed signal processing techniques and algorithms. Flexibility to apply different signal processing techniques, providing both processed and unprocessed data along with low implementation cost are the important features of this design which makes it ideal for research and development purposes, as well as commercial, hospital and healthcare application.

Shrink-induced superhydrophobic and antibacterial surfaces in consumer plastics.

PubMed

Freschauf, Lauren R; McLane, Jolie; Sharma, Himanshu; Khine, Michelle

2012-01-01

Structurally modified superhydrophobic surfaces have become particularly desirable as stable antibacterial surfaces. Because their self-cleaning and water resistant properties prohibit bacteria growth, structurally modified superhydrophobic surfaces obviate bacterial resistance common with chemical agents, and therefore a robust and stable means to prevent bacteria growth is possible. In this study, we present a rapid fabrication method for creating such superhydrophobic surfaces in consumer hard plastic materials with resulting antibacterial effects. To replace complex fabrication materials and techniques, the initial mold is made with commodity shrink-wrap film and is compatible with large plastic roll-to-roll manufacturing and scale-up techniques. This method involves a purely structural modification free of chemical additives leading to its inherent consistency over time and successive recasting from the same molds. Finally, antibacterial properties are demonstrated in polystyrene (PS), polycarbonate (PC), and polyethylene (PE) by demonstrating the prevention of gram-negative Escherichia coli (E. coli) bacteria growth on our structured plastic surfaces.

Is the linear modeling technique good enough for optimal form design? A comparison of quantitative analysis models.

PubMed

Lin, Yang-Cheng; Yeh, Chung-Hsing; Wang, Chen-Cheng; Wei, Chun-Chun

2012-01-01

How to design highly reputable and hot-selling products is an essential issue in product design. Whether consumers choose a product depends largely on their perception of the product image. A consumer-oriented design approach presented in this paper helps product designers incorporate consumers' perceptions of product forms in the design process. The consumer-oriented design approach uses quantification theory type I, grey prediction (the linear modeling technique), and neural networks (the nonlinear modeling technique) to determine the optimal form combination of product design for matching a given product image. An experimental study based on the concept of Kansei Engineering is conducted to collect numerical data for examining the relationship between consumers' perception of product image and product form elements of personal digital assistants (PDAs). The result of performance comparison shows that the QTTI model is good enough to help product designers determine the optimal form combination of product design. Although the PDA form design is used as a case study, the approach is applicable to other consumer products with various design elements and product images. The approach provides an effective mechanism for facilitating the consumer-oriented product design process.

Is the Linear Modeling Technique Good Enough for Optimal Form Design? A Comparison of Quantitative Analysis Models

PubMed Central

Lin, Yang-Cheng; Yeh, Chung-Hsing; Wang, Chen-Cheng; Wei, Chun-Chun

2012-01-01

How to design highly reputable and hot-selling products is an essential issue in product design. Whether consumers choose a product depends largely on their perception of the product image. A consumer-oriented design approach presented in this paper helps product designers incorporate consumers' perceptions of product forms in the design process. The consumer-oriented design approach uses quantification theory type I, grey prediction (the linear modeling technique), and neural networks (the nonlinear modeling technique) to determine the optimal form combination of product design for matching a given product image. An experimental study based on the concept of Kansei Engineering is conducted to collect numerical data for examining the relationship between consumers' perception of product image and product form elements of personal digital assistants (PDAs). The result of performance comparison shows that the QTTI model is good enough to help product designers determine the optimal form combination of product design. Although the PDA form design is used as a case study, the approach is applicable to other consumer products with various design elements and product images. The approach provides an effective mechanism for facilitating the consumer-oriented product design process. PMID:23258961

Pre-concentration technique for reduction in "Analytical instrument requirement and analysis"

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Pal, Sangita; Singha, Mousumi; Meena, Sher Singh

2018-04-01

Availability of analytical instruments for a methodical detection of known and unknown effluents imposes a serious hindrance in qualification and quantification. Several analytical instruments such as Elemental analyzer, ICP-MS, ICP-AES, EDXRF, ion chromatography, Electro-analytical instruments which are not only expensive but also time consuming, required maintenance, damaged essential parts replacement which are of serious concern. Move over for field study and instant detection installation of these instruments are not convenient to each and every place. Therefore, technique such as pre-concentration of metal ions especially for lean stream elaborated and justified. Chelation/sequestration is the key of immobilization technique which is simple, user friendly, most effective, least expensive, time efficient; easy to carry (10g - 20g vial) to experimental field/site has been demonstrated.

Quality evaluation of fish and other seafood by traditional and nondestructive instrumental methods: Advantages and limitations.

PubMed

Hassoun, Abdo; Karoui, Romdhane

2017-06-13

Although being one of the most vulnerable and perishable products, fish and other seafoods provide a wide range of health-promoting compounds. Recently, the growing interest of consumers in food quality and safety issues has contributed to the increasing demand for sensitive and rapid analytical technologies. Several traditional physicochemical, textural, sensory, and electrical methods have been used to evaluate freshness and authentication of fish and other seafood products. Despite the importance of these standard methods, they are expensive and time-consuming, and often susceptible to large sources of variation. Recently, spectroscopic methods and other emerging techniques have shown great potential due to speed of analysis, minimal sample preparation, high repeatability, low cost, and, most of all, the fact that these techniques are noninvasive and nondestructive and, therefore, could be applied to any online monitoring system. This review describes firstly and briefly the basic principles of multivariate data analysis, followed by the most commonly traditional methods used for the determination of the freshness and authenticity of fish and other seafood products. A special focus is put on the use of rapid and nondestructive techniques (spectroscopic techniques and instrumental sensors) to address several issues related to the quality of these products. Moreover, the advantages and limitations of each technique are reviewed and some perspectives are also given.

Monitoring scale scores over time via quality control charts, model-based approaches, and time series techniques.

PubMed

Lee, Yi-Hsuan; von Davier, Alina A

2013-07-01

Maintaining a stable score scale over time is critical for all standardized educational assessments. Traditional quality control tools and approaches for assessing scale drift either require special equating designs, or may be too time-consuming to be considered on a regular basis with an operational test that has a short time window between an administration and its score reporting. Thus, the traditional methods are not sufficient to catch unusual testing outcomes in a timely manner. This paper presents a new approach for score monitoring and assessment of scale drift. It involves quality control charts, model-based approaches, and time series techniques to accommodate the following needs of monitoring scale scores: continuous monitoring, adjustment of customary variations, identification of abrupt shifts, and assessment of autocorrelation. Performance of the methodologies is evaluated using manipulated data based on real responses from 71 administrations of a large-scale high-stakes language assessment.

Attacking the obesity epidemic: the potential health benefits of providing nutrition information in restaurants.

PubMed

Burton, Scot; Creyer, Elizabeth H; Kees, Jeremy; Huggins, Kyle

2006-09-01

Requiring restaurants to present nutrition information on menus is under consideration as a potential way to slow the increasing prevalence of obesity. Using a survey methodology, we examined how accurately consumers estimate the nutrient content of typical restaurant meals. Based on these results, we then conducted an experiment to address how the provision of nutrition information on menus influences purchase intentions and reported preferences. For both the survey and experiment, data were analyzed using analysis of variance techniques. Survey results showed that levels of calories, fat, and saturated fat in less-healthful restaurant items were significantly underestimated by consumers. Actual fat and saturated fat levels were twice consumers' estimates and calories approached 2 times more than what consumers expected. In the subsequent experiment, for items for which levels of calories, fat, and saturated fat substantially exceeded consumers' expectations, the provision of nutrition information had a significant influence on product attitude, purchase intention, and choice. Most consumers are unaware of the high levels of calories, fat, saturated fat, and sodium found in many menu items. Provision of nutrition information on restaurant menus could potentially have a positive impact on public health by reducing the consumption of less-healthful foods.

A technique for extracting blood samples from mice in fire toxicity tests

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Bucci, T. J.; Hilado, C. J.; Lopez, M. T.

1976-01-01

The extraction of adequate blood samples from moribund and dead mice has been a problem because of the small quantity of blood in each animal and the short time available between the animals' death and coagulation of the blood. These difficulties are particularly critical in fire toxicity tests because removal of the test animals while observing proper safety precautions for personnel is time-consuming. Techniques for extracting blood samples from mice were evaluated, and a technique was developed to obtain up to 0.8 ml of blood from a single mouse after death. The technique involves rapid exposure and cutting of the posterior vena cava and accumulation of blood in the peritoneal space. Blood samples of 0.5 ml or more from individual mice have been consistently obtained as much as 16 minutes after apparent death. Results of carboxyhemoglobin analyses of blood appeared reproducible and consistent with carbon monoxide concentrations in the exposure chamber.

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

PubMed

Maheswararajah, Suhinthan; Halgamuge, Saman; Premaratne, Malin

2009-01-01

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

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

PubMed Central

Maheswararajah, Suhinthan; Halgamuge, Saman; Premaratne, Malin

2009-01-01

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

UV / Visible / Near-Infrared Reflectance Models for the Rapid and Non-Destructive Prediction and Classification of Cotton Color and Physical Indices

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

High volume instrumentation (HVI), utilized in the cotton industry to determine the qualities and classifications of cotton fibers, is time consuming, and prone to day-to-day and location-to-location variations. UV / visible / NIR spectroscopy, a rapid and easy sampling technique, was investigated a...

Explorers, Detectives, Matchmakers, and Lion Tamers: Understanding Jigsaw Puzzlers' Techniques and Motivations

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Garcia, Angela Cora

2013-01-01

Why do people enjoy jigsaw puzzles, which--challenging and time-consuming as they are--might be considered more like work than play? The author investigates the motivations, preferences, and satisfactions of individuals working on jigsaw puzzles, and she explores how these elements of play relate to the procedures and strategies puzzlers use to…

A Graphical Simulation of Vapor-Liquid Equilibrium for Use as an Undergraduate Laboratory Experiment and to Demonstrate the Concept of Mathematical Modeling.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Whitman, David L.; Terry, Ronald E.

1985-01-01

Demonstrating petroleum engineering concepts in undergraduate laboratories often requires expensive and time-consuming experiments. To eliminate these problems, a graphical simulation technique was developed for junior-level laboratories which illustrate vapor-liquid equilibrium and the use of mathematical modeling. A description of this…

Strength Training: Program Organization and Proper Neck Development.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Riley, Dan

During the 1960s, weightlifters and bodybuilders were the primary source for strength training methods, and their techniques were used by coaches to train athletes. In weight-training, it is the responsibility of trainers and coaches to provide the athlete with a program that produces the best results, consumes the least amount of time, and best…

Cotton yield estimation using very high-resolution digital images acquired on a low-cost small unmanned aerial vehicle

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

Yield estimation is a critical task in crop management. A number of traditional methods are available for crop yield estimation but they are costly, time-consuming and difficult to expand to a relatively large field. Remote sensing provides techniques to develop quick coverage over a field at any sc...

Exploring the Efficacy of Behavioral Skills Training to Teach Basic Behavior Analytic Techniques to Oral Care Providers

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Graudins, Maija M.; Rehfeldt, Ruth Anne; DeMattei, Ronda; Baker, Jonathan C.; Scaglia, Fiorella

2012-01-01

Performing oral care procedures with children with autism who exhibit noncompliance can be challenging for oral care professionals. Previous research has elucidated a number of effective behavior analytic procedures for increasing compliance, but some procedures are likely to be too time consuming and expensive for community-based oral care…

The art of spacecraft design: A multidisciplinary challenge

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Abdi, F.; Ide, H.; Levine, M.; Austel, L.

1989-01-01

Actual design turn-around time has become shorter due to the use of optimization techniques which have been introduced into the design process. It seems that what, how and when to use these optimization techniques may be the key factor for future aircraft engineering operations. Another important aspect of this technique is that complex physical phenomena can be modeled by a simple mathematical equation. The new powerful multilevel methodology reduces time-consuming analysis significantly while maintaining the coupling effects. This simultaneous analysis method stems from the implicit function theorem and system sensitivity derivatives of input variables. Use of the Taylor's series expansion and finite differencing technique for sensitivity derivatives in each discipline makes this approach unique for screening dominant variables from nondominant variables. In this study, the current Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) aerodynamic and sensitivity derivative/optimization techniques are applied for a simple cone-type forebody of a high-speed vehicle configuration to understand basic aerodynamic/structure interaction in a hypersonic flight condition.

Systems modeling and analysis for Saudi Arabian electric power requirements

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

Al-Mohawes, N.A.

This thesis addresses the long-range generation planning problem in Saudi Arabia up to the year 2000. The first part presents various models for electric energy consumption in the residential and industrial sectors. These models can be used by the decision makers for the purposes of policy analysis, evaluation, and forecasting. Forecasts of energy in each sector are obtained from two different models for each sector. These models are based on two forecasting techniques: (1) Hybrid econometric/time series model. The idea of adaptive smoothing was utilized to produce forecasts under several scenarios. (2) Box-Jenkins time series technique. Box-Jenkins models and forecastsmore » are developed for the monthly number of electric consumers and the monthly energy consumption per consumer. The results obtained indicate that high energy consumption is expected during the coming two decades which necessitate serious energy assessment and optimization. Optimization of a mix of energy sources was considered using the group multiattribute utility (MAU) function. The results of MAU for three classes of decision makers (managerial, technical, and consumers) are developed through personal interactions. The computer package WASP was also used to develop a tentative optimum plan. According to this plan, four heavy-water nuclear power plants (800 MW) and four light-water nuclear power plants (1200 MW) have to be introduced by the year 2000 in addition to sixteen oil-fired power plants (400 MW) and nine gas turbines (100 MW).« less

77 FR 43228 - Agency Information Collection Activities; Proposed Collection; Comment Request-Generic Clearance...

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2012-07-24

... using qualitative and possibly quantitative consumer research techniques, which may include focus groups... used during consumer research while testing nutrition education messages and products developed for the general public. The purpose for performing consumer research is to identify consumers' understanding of...

Biomagnetic separation of Salmonella Typhimurium with high affine and specific ligand peptides isolated by phage display technique

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Steingroewer, Juliane; Bley, Thomas; Bergemann, Christian; Boschke, Elke

2007-04-01

Analyses of food-borne pathogens are of great importance in order to minimize the health risk for customers. Thus, very sensitive and rapid detection methods are required. Current conventional culture techniques are very time consuming. Modern immunoassays and biochemical analysis also require pre-enrichment steps resulting in a turnaround time of at least 24 h. Biomagnetic separation (BMS) is a promising more rapid method. In this study we describe the isolation of high affine and specific peptides from a phage-peptide library, which combined with BMS allows the detection of Salmonella spp. with a similar sensitivity as that of immunomagnetic separation using antibodies.

Bridging the gap between high and low acceleration for planetary escape

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Indrikis, Janis; Preble, Jeffrey C.

With the exception of the often time consuming analysis by numerical optimization, no single orbit transfer analysis technique exists that can be applied over a wide range of accelerations. Using the simple planetary escape (parabolic trajectory) mission some of the more common techniques are considered as the limiting bastions at the high and the extremely low acceleration regimes. The brachistochrone, the minimum time of flight path, is proposed as the technique to bridge the gap between the high and low acceleration regions, providing a smooth bridge over the entire acceleration spectrum. A smooth and continuous velocity requirement is established for the planetary escape mission. By using these results, it becomes possible to determine the effect of finite accelerations on mission performance and target propulsion and power system designs which are consistent with a desired mission objective.

Emerging applications of fluorescence spectroscopy in medical microbiology field.

PubMed

Shahzad, Aamir; Köhler, Gottfried; Knapp, Martin; Gaubitzer, Erwin; Puchinger, Martin; Edetsberger, Michael

2009-11-26

There are many diagnostic techniques and methods available for diagnosis of medically important microorganisms like bacteria, viruses, fungi and parasites. But, almost all these techniques and methods have some limitations or inconvenience. Most of these techniques are laborious, time consuming and with chances of false positive or false negative results. It warrants the need of a diagnostic technique which can overcome these limitations and problems. At present, there is emerging trend to use Fluorescence spectroscopy as a diagnostic as well as research tool in many fields of medical sciences. Here, we will critically discuss research studies which propose that Fluorescence spectroscopy may be an excellent diagnostic as well as excellent research tool in medical microbiology field with high sensitivity and specificity.

ProTaper rotary instrument fracture during root canal preparation: a comparison between rotary and hybrid techniques.

PubMed

Farid, Huma; Khan, Farhan Raza; Rahman, Munawar

2013-03-01

This study aimed to compare the frequency of ProTaper rotary instrument fracture with rotary (conventional) and hybrid (rotary and hand files) canal preparation techniques. Secondary objectives were to determine whether there was an association of ProTaper file fracture with the canal curvature and to compare the mean time required for canal preparation in the two techniques. An in vitro experiment was conducted on 216 buccal canals of extracted maxillary and mandibular first molars. After creating an access cavity and a glide path for each canal, a periapical radiograph was taken and the canal curvature was measured with Schneider's technique. The canals were then randomly divided into Group A (rotary technique) and Group B (hybrid technique). The length of ProTaper files were measured before and after each canal preparation. Time taken for each canal preparation was recorded. A total of seven ProTaper files fractured in Group A (P=0.014) in canals with a curvature >25 degrees (P<0.001). The mean time taken for preparation of the root canals was 104.04 sec (± 55.7 sec) in Group A versus 122.88 sec (± 41.67 sec) in Group B (P=0.007). In the teeth studied, the hybrid technique of root canal preparation with ProTaper rotary files, although time consuming, was safer in canals having a curvature greater than 25 degrees.

Consumer attitudes toward new technique for preserving organic meat using herbs and berries.

PubMed

Haugaard, Pernille; Hansen, Flemming; Jensen, Martin; Grunert, Klaus G

2014-01-01

This study aims to explore consumers' attitude toward a new preservation technique using herbs and berries in organic meat production, which enables to minimize the amount of chemical additives and to reduce the salt content in meat products. Consumer acceptance of the preservation technique using herbs and berries and intention to purchase products preserved with herbs and berries were investigated through a qualitative approach by means of three focus groups. In general, most participants were positive toward the preservation technique using herbs and berries and there were only few concerns related to the technique. Concerns were related not as much to the technique but more to the products. Four factors seem important in this relation: shelf life, taste, appearance and texture. The intention to purchase products preserved with herbs and berries is generally high, but is dependent on taste and appearance of the products, the price and information level. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Atmospheric deposition of inorganic nitrogen in Spanish forests of Quercus ilex measured with ion-exchange resins and conventional collectors

Treesearch

Héctor García-Gomez; Sheila Izquieta-Rojano; Laura Aguillaume; Ignacio González-Fernández; Fernando Valiño; David Elustondo; Jesús M. Santamaría; Anna Àvila; Mark E. Fenn; Rocío Alonso

2016-01-01

Atmospheric nitrogen deposition is one of the main threats for biodiversity and ecosystem functioning. Measurement techniques like ion-exchange resin collectors (IECs), which are less expensive and time-consuming than conventional methods, are gaining relevance in the study of atmospheric deposition and are recommended to expand monitoring networks. In the present work...

Sample preparation techniques for the determination of trace residues and contaminants in foods.

PubMed

Ridgway, Kathy; Lalljie, Sam P D; Smith, Roger M

2007-06-15

The determination of trace residues and contaminants in complex matrices, such as food, often requires extensive sample extraction and preparation prior to instrumental analysis. Sample preparation is often the bottleneck in analysis and there is a need to minimise the number of steps to reduce both time and sources of error. There is also a move towards more environmentally friendly techniques, which use less solvent and smaller sample sizes. Smaller sample size becomes important when dealing with real life problems, such as consumer complaints and alleged chemical contamination. Optimal sample preparation can reduce analysis time, sources of error, enhance sensitivity and enable unequivocal identification, confirmation and quantification. This review considers all aspects of sample preparation, covering general extraction techniques, such as Soxhlet and pressurised liquid extraction, microextraction techniques such as liquid phase microextraction (LPME) and more selective techniques, such as solid phase extraction (SPE), solid phase microextraction (SPME) and stir bar sorptive extraction (SBSE). The applicability of each technique in food analysis, particularly for the determination of trace organic contaminants in foods is discussed.

Allan deviation computations of a linear frequency synthesizer system using frequency domain techniques

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Wu, Andy

1995-01-01

Allan Deviation computations of linear frequency synthesizer systems have been reported previously using real-time simulations. Even though it takes less time compared with the actual measurement, it is still very time consuming to compute the Allan Deviation for long sample times with the desired confidence level. Also noises, such as flicker phase noise and flicker frequency noise, can not be simulated precisely. The use of frequency domain techniques can overcome these drawbacks. In this paper the system error model of a fictitious linear frequency synthesizer is developed and its performance using a Cesium (Cs) atomic frequency standard (AFS) as a reference is evaluated using frequency domain techniques. For a linear timing system, the power spectral density at the system output can be computed with known system transfer functions and known power spectral densities from the input noise sources. The resulting power spectral density can then be used to compute the Allan Variance at the system output. Sensitivities of the Allan Variance at the system output to each of its independent input noises are obtained, and they are valuable for design trade-off and trouble-shooting.

Application of the SYBR Green real-time HRM PCR technique in the differentiation of the Babesia canis canis protozoa isolated in the areas of eastern Poland.

PubMed

Adaszek, Lukasz; Winiarczyk, Stanisław

2010-04-01

The aim of this study was to determine the usefulness of the real-time polymerised chain reaction (PCR) high-resolution melting (HRM) method in the differentiation of the Babesia canis canis protozoa isolated from dogs in the areas of eastern Poland. The studies involved 20 isolates of B. canis canis qualified depending on the analysis of the 18S RNA gene sequence to group A (EU 622792) and 20 isolates qualified to group B (EU 622793). It was proven with the real-time PCR technique that the melting temperature (Tm) of the obtained products of amplification was 78 degrees C for the representatives of group A and 81 degrees C for the representatives of group B, which proves that the real-time SYBR Green HRM PCR method is a technique allowing for the differentiation of the B. canis isolates which are slightly different with respect to the genetic structure, without the necessity to carry out time-consuming studies, i.e., sequencing and restriction fragment length polymorphism.

Internal preference mapping of milk-fruit beverages: Influence of color and appearance on its acceptability.

PubMed

Fernández-Vázquez, Rocío; Stinco, Carla M; Hernanz Vila, Dolores; Heredia, Francisco J; Chaya, Carolina; Vicario, Isabel M

2018-01-01

The individual preferences of 100 consumers between 20 and 30 years old for the color of 16 milk-fruit juice beverages (MFJB) were investigated by preference mapping technique. Consumers were asked to evaluate, just by looking at the samples, how much they liked them (from "Extremely dislike" to "Extremely like"). The color of the samples was analyzed by two different instrumental techniques. Results obtained from the instrumental color measurement showed the wide diversity in hues of the beverages available in the market, and correlations between techniques proved that both of them were appropriate to analyze color. Results showed that participants preferred samples with orangish appearance instead of those with a whiter look. Anyway, punctuations given by the consumers suggest that generally, color of these products is not highly evaluated by consumers, as the best mean punctuation was 6.6.

Cassini Attitude Control Operations - Guidelines Levied on Science to Extend Reaction Wheel Life

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Mittelsteadt, Carson O.

2011-01-01

The Cassini spacecraft was launched on October 15, 1997 and arrived at Saturn on June 30, 2004. It has performed detailed observations and remote sensing of Saturn, its rings, and its satellites since that time. Cassini deployed the European-built Huygens probe, which descended through the Titan atmosphere (Saturn's largest moon) and landed on its surface on January 14, 2005. The Cassini mission has recently been approved by NASA to continue through September of 2017. This 7-year extension is called the Solstice mission and it presents challenges to the spacecraft operations team and its ability to maintain the health of the spacecraft. To keep the spacecraft healthy for 7 more years, the spacecraft team must carefully manage hydrazine use (about 48% of the 132 kg launch load remains as of January 2011). A vital part of conserving hydrazine is to use the reaction wheel assembly (RWA) control system for precise pointing and slews wherever possible. In any given week, the Cassini spacecraft is commanded to use RWA control about 99% of the time, with about 1% of the time requiring reaction control system (RCS) thruster control (to perform Delta V course corrections or to bias the RWA momentum). Such extensive use of the RWA hardware throughout the mission requires that the RWAs be operated in a way that minimizes degradation in the RWA electronics, DC motor, and spin bearing for each reaction wheel. Three consumables in particular have been identified for the RWAs: (1) Total number of revolutions for each RWA. (2) Time spent at very low wheel speeds. At these low speeds, good elasto-hydrodynamic (EHD) film lubrication may be compromised. (3) Total number of on/off power cycles. The second of these consumables, minimizing the time spent at very low wheel speeds, is especially important to keep the spin bearing healthy and well-lubricated. These consumables are actively managed by the attitude control operations team throughout the mission. One vital management technique is to predict individual RWA momentum (given the pointing and slews that are needed to collect the best science) and to bias the RWA momentum in a way that reduces both the total number of revolutions as well as the time spent below EHD wheel speed. Another strategy to protect RWA health is to alter the planned pointing of the spacecraft (which can affect science collection) so that the RWA consumables are conserved. This paper focuses on why this second technique is needed, and discusses how guidelines have been developed by the attitude control team which affects the planned science pointing, so that science data can be most optimally collected while still minimizing RWA consumable usage.

[Optimizing the financial impact of transitioning to transconjunctival vitrectomy and microincisional phacoemulsification].

PubMed

Cornut, P-L; Soldermann, Y; Robin, C; Barranco, R; Kerhoas, A; Burillon, C

2013-12-01

To report the financial impact of using modern lens and vitreoretinal surgical techniques. Bottom-up sterilization and consumables costs for new surgical techniques (microincisional coaxial phacoemulsification and transconjunctival sutureless vitrectomy) and the corresponding former techniques (phacoemulsification with 3.2-mm incision and 20G vitrectomy) were determined. These costs were compared to each other and to the target costs of the Diagnosis Related Groups for public hospitals (Groupes Homogènes de Séjours [GHS]) concerned, extracted from the analytic accounting data of the French National Cost Study (Étude Nationale des Coûts [ENC]) for 2009 (target=sum of sterilization costs posted under medical logistics, consumables, implantable medical devices, and special pharmaceuticals posted as direct expenses). For outpatient lens surgery with or without vitrectomy (GHS code: 02C05J): the ENC's target cost for 2009 was 339€ out of a total of 1432€. The cost detailed in this study was 4 % higher than the target cost when the procedure was performed using the former technique (3.2mm sutured incision) and 12 % lower when the procedure was performed using the new technique (1.8mm sutureless) after removing now unnecessary consumables and optimization of the technique. For level I retinal detachment surgeries (GHS code: 02C021): the ENC's 2009 target cost was 641€ out of a total of 3091€. The cost specified in this study was 1 % lower than the target cost when the procedure was done using the former technique (20-G vitrectomy) and 16 % less when the procedure was performed using the new technique (transconjunctival vitrectomy) after removal of now unnecessary consumables and optimization of the technique. Contrary to generally accepted ideas, implementing modern techniques in ocular surgery can result in direct cost and sterilization savings when the operator takes advantage of the possibilities these techniques offer in terms of simplification of the procedures to do away with consumables that are no longer necessary. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Masson SAS. All rights reserved.

Development of an Agent Based Model to Estimate and Reduce Time to Restoration of Storm Induced Power Outages

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Walsh, T.; Layton, T.; Mellor, J. E.

2017-12-01

Storm damage to the electric grid impacts 23 million electric utility customers and costs US consumers $119 billion annually. Current restoration techniques rely on the past experiences of emergency managers. There are few analytical simulation and prediction tools available for utility managers to optimize storm recovery and decrease consumer cost, lost revenue and restoration time. We developed an agent based model (ABM) for storm recovery in Connecticut. An ABM is a computer modeling technique comprised of agents who are given certain behavioral rules and operate in a given environment. It allows the user to simulate complex systems by varying user-defined parameters to study emergent, unpredicted behavior. The ABM incorporates the road network and electric utility grid for the state, is validated using actual storm event recoveries and utilizes the Dijkstra routing algorithm to determine the best path for repair crews to travel between outages. The ABM has benefits for both researchers and utility managers. It can simulate complex system dynamics, rank variable importance, find tipping points that could significantly reduce restoration time or costs and test a broad range of scenarios. It is a modular, scalable and adaptable technique that can simulate scenarios in silico to inform emergency managers before and during storm events to optimize restoration strategies and better manage expectations of when power will be restored. Results indicate that total restoration time is strongly dependent on the number of crews. However, there is a threshold whereby more crews will not decrease the restoration time, which depends on the total number of outages. The addition of outside crews is more beneficial for storms with a higher number of outages. The time to restoration increases linearly with increasing repair time, while the travel speed has little overall effect on total restoration time. Crews traveling to the nearest outage reduces the total restoration time, while crews going to the outage with most customers affected increases the overall restoration time but more quickly decreases the customers remaining without power. This model can give utility company managers the ability to optimize their restoration strategies before or during a storm event to reduce restoration times and costs.

Automated Essay Grading using Machine Learning Algorithm

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ramalingam, V. V.; Pandian, A.; Chetry, Prateek; Nigam, Himanshu

2018-04-01

Essays are paramount for of assessing the academic excellence along with linking the different ideas with the ability to recall but are notably time consuming when they are assessed manually. Manual grading takes significant amount of evaluator’s time and hence it is an expensive process. Automated grading if proven effective will not only reduce the time for assessment but comparing it with human scores will also make the score realistic. The project aims to develop an automated essay assessment system by use of machine learning techniques by classifying a corpus of textual entities into small number of discrete categories, corresponding to possible grades. Linear regression technique will be utilized for training the model along with making the use of various other classifications and clustering techniques. We intend to train classifiers on the training set, make it go through the downloaded dataset, and then measure performance our dataset by comparing the obtained values with the dataset values. We have implemented our model using java.

A real-time, non-invasive, micro-optrode technique for detecting seed viability by using oxygen influx.

PubMed

Xin, Xia; Wan, Yinglang; Wang, Wenjun; Yin, Guangkun; McLamore, Eric S; Lu, Xinxiong

2013-10-28

Quantifying seed viability is required for seed bank maintenance. The classical methods for detecting seed viability are time consuming and frequently cause seed damage and unwanted germination. We have established a novel micro-optrode technique (MOT) to measure seed viability in a quick and non-invasive manner by measuring the oxygen influxes of intact seeds, approximately 10 seconds to screen one seed. Here, we used soybean, wheat, and oilseed rape as models to test our method. After 3-hour imbibition, oxygen influxes were recorded in real-time with the total measurement taking less than 5 minutes. The results indicated a significantly positive correlation between oxygen influxes and viability in all 3 seed types. We also established a linear equation between oxygen influxes and seed viability for each seed type. For measurements, seeds were kept in the early imbibition stage without germination. Thus, MOT is a reliable, quick, and low-cost seed viability detecting technique.

Shrink-Induced Superhydrophobic and Antibacterial Surfaces in Consumer Plastics

PubMed Central

Freschauf, Lauren R.; McLane, Jolie; Sharma, Himanshu; Khine, Michelle

2012-01-01

Structurally modified superhydrophobic surfaces have become particularly desirable as stable antibacterial surfaces. Because their self-cleaning and water resistant properties prohibit bacteria growth, structurally modified superhydrophobic surfaces obviate bacterial resistance common with chemical agents, and therefore a robust and stable means to prevent bacteria growth is possible. In this study, we present a rapid fabrication method for creating such superhydrophobic surfaces in consumer hard plastic materials with resulting antibacterial effects. To replace complex fabrication materials and techniques, the initial mold is made with commodity shrink-wrap film and is compatible with large plastic roll-to-roll manufacturing and scale-up techniques. This method involves a purely structural modification free of chemical additives leading to its inherent consistency over time and successive recasting from the same molds. Finally, antibacterial properties are demonstrated in polystyrene (PS), polycarbonate (PC), and polyethylene (PE) by demonstrating the prevention of gram-negative Escherichia coli (E. coli) bacteria growth on our structured plastic surfaces. PMID:22916100

Structured illumination assisted microdeflectometry with optical depth scanning capability

PubMed Central

Lu, Sheng-Huei; Hua, Hong

2018-01-01

Microdeflectometry is a powerful noncontact tool for measuring nanometer defects on a freeform surface. However, it requires a time-consuming process to take measurements at different depths for an extended depth of field (EDOF) and lacks surface information for integrating the measured gradient data to height. We propose an optical depth scanning technique to speed up the measurement process and introduce the structured illumination technique to efficiently determine the focused data among 3D observation and provide surface orientations for reconstructing an unknown surface shape. We demonstrated 3D measurements with an equivalent surface height sensitivity of 7.21 nm and an EDOF of at least 250 μm, which is 15 times that of the diffraction limited depth range. PMID:27607986

Towards Automatic Image Segmentation Using Optimised Region Growing Technique

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Alazab, Mamoun; Islam, Mofakharul; Venkatraman, Sitalakshmi

Image analysis is being adopted extensively in many applications such as digital forensics, medical treatment, industrial inspection, etc. primarily for diagnostic purposes. Hence, there is a growing interest among researches in developing new segmentation techniques to aid the diagnosis process. Manual segmentation of images is labour intensive, extremely time consuming and prone to human errors and hence an automated real-time technique is warranted in such applications. There is no universally applicable automated segmentation technique that will work for all images as the image segmentation is quite complex and unique depending upon the domain application. Hence, to fill the gap, this paper presents an efficient segmentation algorithm that can segment a digital image of interest into a more meaningful arrangement of regions and objects. Our algorithm combines region growing approach with optimised elimination of false boundaries to arrive at more meaningful segments automatically. We demonstrate this using X-ray teeth images that were taken for real-life dental diagnosis.

An Automated Classification Technique for Detecting Defects in Battery Cells

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

McDowell, Mark; Gray, Elizabeth

2006-01-01

Battery cell defect classification is primarily done manually by a human conducting a visual inspection to determine if the battery cell is acceptable for a particular use or device. Human visual inspection is a time consuming task when compared to an inspection process conducted by a machine vision system. Human inspection is also subject to human error and fatigue over time. We present a machine vision technique that can be used to automatically identify defective sections of battery cells via a morphological feature-based classifier using an adaptive two-dimensional fast Fourier transformation technique. The initial area of interest is automatically classified as either an anode or cathode cell view as well as classified as an acceptable or a defective battery cell. Each battery cell is labeled and cataloged for comparison and analysis. The result is the implementation of an automated machine vision technique that provides a highly repeatable and reproducible method of identifying and quantifying defects in battery cells.

Usability research study of a specially engineered sonic powered toothbrush with unique sensing and control technologies.

PubMed

Hunter, Gail; Burns, Laurie; Bone, Brian; Mintel, Thomas; Jimenez, Eduardo

2012-01-01

This paper summarizes the results of a longitudinal usability research study of a specially engineered sonic powered toothbrush with unique sensing and control technologies. The usability test was conducted with fourteen (14) consumers from the St. Louis, MO, USA area who use manual toothbrushes. The study consisted of consumers using the specially engineered sonic powered toothbrush with unique sensing and control technologies for three weeks. During the study, users participated in four toothbrush trials during weekly visits to the research facility. These trials were videotaped and were analyzed regarding brushing time, behavior, and technique. In addition, the users were required to use the toothbrush twice a day for their at-home brushing. The toothbrush had a positive impact on consumers' tooth brushing behavior. Users spent more time brushing their teeth with this toothbrush as compared to their manual toothbrush. In addition, users spent more time keeping the sonic toothbrush in the recommended angle during use. Finally, users perceived their teeth to be cleaner when using the specially engineered sonic powered toothbrush with unique sensing and control technologies. The specially engineered sonic powered toothbrush with unique sensing and control technologies left a positive impression on the users. The users perceived the toothbrush to clean their teeth better than a manual toothbrush.

Comparative analysis of techniques for evaluating the effectiveness of aircraft computing systems

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Hitt, E. F.; Bridgman, M. S.; Robinson, A. C.

1981-01-01

Performability analysis is a technique developed for evaluating the effectiveness of fault-tolerant computing systems in multiphase missions. Performability was evaluated for its accuracy, practical usefulness, and relative cost. The evaluation was performed by applying performability and the fault tree method to a set of sample problems ranging from simple to moderately complex. The problems involved as many as five outcomes, two to five mission phases, permanent faults, and some functional dependencies. Transient faults and software errors were not considered. A different analyst was responsible for each technique. Significantly more time and effort were required to learn performability analysis than the fault tree method. Performability is inherently as accurate as fault tree analysis. For the sample problems, fault trees were more practical and less time consuming to apply, while performability required less ingenuity and was more checkable. Performability offers some advantages for evaluating very complex problems.

Automated seed localization from CT datasets of the prostate.

PubMed

Brinkmann, D H; Kline, R W

1998-09-01

With the increasing utilization of permanent brachytherapy implants for treating carcinoma of the prostate, the importance of accurate post-treatment dose calculation also increases for assessing patient outcome and planning future treatments. An automatic method for seed localization of permanent brachytherapy implants, using CT datasets of the prostate, has been developed and tested on a phantom using an actual patient planned seed distribution. This method was also compared to results with the three-film technique for three patient datasets. The automatic method is as accurate or more accurate than the three film technique for 1 mm, 3 mm, and 5 mm contiguous CT slices, and eliminates the inter- and intra-observer variability of the manual methods. The automated method improves the localization of brachytherapy seeds while reducing the time required for the user to input information, and is demonstrated to be less operator dependent, less time consuming, and potentially more accurate than the three-film technique.

Identification of Microorganisms by Modern Analytical Techniques.

PubMed

Buszewski, Bogusław; Rogowska, Agnieszka; Pomastowski, Paweł; Złoch, Michał; Railean-Plugaru, Viorica

2017-11-01

Rapid detection and identification of microorganisms is a challenging and important aspect in a wide range of fields, from medical to industrial, affecting human lives. Unfortunately, classical methods of microorganism identification are based on time-consuming and labor-intensive approaches. Screening techniques require the rapid and cheap grouping of bacterial isolates; however, modern bioanalytics demand comprehensive bacterial studies at a molecular level. Modern approaches for the rapid identification of bacteria use molecular techniques, such as 16S ribosomal RNA gene sequencing based on polymerase chain reaction or electromigration, especially capillary zone electrophoresis and capillary isoelectric focusing. However, there are still several challenges with the analysis of microbial complexes using electromigration technology, such as uncontrolled aggregation and/or adhesion to the capillary surface. Thus, an approach using capillary electrophoresis of microbial aggregates with UV and matrix-assisted laser desorption ionization time-of-flight MS detection is presented.

Signature extension: An approach to operational multispectral surveys

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Nalepka, R. F.; Morgenstern, J. P.

1973-01-01

Two data processing techniques were suggested as applicable to the large area survey problem. One approach was to use unsupervised classification (clustering) techniques. Investigation of this method showed that since the method did nothing to reduce the signal variability, the use of this method would be very time consuming and possibly inaccurate as well. The conclusion is that unsupervised classification techniques of themselves are not a solution to the large area survey problem. The other method investigated was the use of signature extension techniques. Such techniques function by normalizing the data to some reference condition. Thus signatures from an isolated area could be used to process large quantities of data. In this manner, ground information requirements and computer training are minimized. Several signature extension techniques were tested. The best of these allowed signatures to be extended between data sets collected four days and 80 miles apart with an average accuracy of better than 90%.

Predicting stem total and assortment volumes in an industrial Pinus taeda L. forest plantation using airborne laser scanning data and random forest

Treesearch

Carlos Alberto Silva; Carine Klauberg; Andrew Thomas Hudak; Lee Alexander Vierling; Wan Shafrina Wan Mohd Jaafar; Midhun Mohan; Mariano Garcia; Antonio Ferraz; Adrian Cardil; Sassan Saatchi

2017-01-01

Improvements in the management of pine plantations result in multiple industrial and environmental benefits. Remote sensing techniques can dramatically increase the efficiency of plantation management by reducing or replacing time-consuming field sampling. We tested the utility and accuracy of combining field and airborne lidar data with Random Forest, a supervised...

Image based method for aberration measurement of lithographic tools

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Xu, Shuang; Tao, Bo; Guo, Yongxing; Li, Gongfa

2018-01-01

Information of lens aberration of lithographic tools is important as it directly affects the intensity distribution in the image plane. Zernike polynomials are commonly used for a mathematical description of lens aberrations. Due to the advantage of lower cost and easier implementation of tools, image based measurement techniques have been widely used. Lithographic tools are typically partially coherent systems that can be described by a bilinear model, which entails time consuming calculations and does not lend a simple and intuitive relationship between lens aberrations and the resulted images. Previous methods for retrieving lens aberrations in such partially coherent systems involve through-focus image measurements and time-consuming iterative algorithms. In this work, we propose a method for aberration measurement in lithographic tools, which only requires measuring two images of intensity distribution. Two linear formulations are derived in matrix forms that directly relate the measured images to the unknown Zernike coefficients. Consequently, an efficient non-iterative solution is obtained.

Preparation, characterization and dissolution of passive oxide film on the 400 series stainless steel surfaces

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sathyaseelan, V. S.; Rufus, A. L.; Chandramohan, P.; Subramanian, H.; Velmurugan, S.

2015-12-01

Full system decontamination of Primary Heat Transport (PHT) system of Pressurised Heavy Water Reactors (PHWRs) resulted in low decontamination factors (DF) on stainless steel (SS) surfaces. Hence, studies were carried out with 403 SS and 410 SS that are the material of construction of "End-Fitting body" and "End-Fitting Liner tubes". Three formulations were evaluated for the dissolution of passive films formed over these alloys viz., i) Two-step process consisting of oxidation and reduction reactions, ii) Dilute Chemical Decontamination (DCD) and iii) High Temperature Process. The two-step and high temperature processes could dissolve the oxide completely while the DCD process could remove only 60%. Various techniques like XRD, Raman spectroscopy and SEM-EDX were used for assessing the dissolution process. The two-step process is time consuming, laborious while the high temperature process is less time consuming and is recommended for SS decontamination.

Vibrational Micro-Spectroscopy of Human Tissues Analysis: Review.

PubMed

Bunaciu, Andrei A; Hoang, Vu Dang; Aboul-Enein, Hassan Y

2017-05-04

Vibrational spectroscopy (Infrared (IR) and Raman) and, in particular, micro-spectroscopy and micro-spectroscopic imaging have been used to characterize developmental changes in tissues, to monitor these changes in cell cultures and to detect disease and drug-induced modifications. The conventional methods for biochemical and histophatological tissue characterization necessitate complex and "time-consuming" sample manipulations and the results are rarely quantifiable. The spectroscopy of molecular vibrations using mid-IR or Raman techniques has been applied to samples of human tissue. This article reviews the application of these vibrational spectroscopic techniques for analysis of biological tissue published between 2005 and 2015.

Transmasseteric antero-parotid approach for open reduction and internal fixation of condylar fractures.

PubMed

Wilson, A W; Ethunandan, M; Brennan, P A

2005-02-01

The morbidity that results from surgical approaches to the condylar neck, and the time-consuming nature of the operation inhibits many surgeons from using open reduction and internal fixation for the treatment of condylar fractures. The many approaches that have been described stand testimony to the disadvantages of the individual techniques. The most common problems are limited access and injury to the facial nerve. We describe the transmasseteric antero-parotid (TMAP) technique, which offers swift access to the condylar neck while substantially reducing the risk to the facial nerve and eliminating the complications associated with transparotid approaches.

[Proteomics in infectious diseases].

PubMed

Quero, Sara; Párraga-Niño, Noemí; García-Núñez, Marian; Sabrià, Miquel

2016-04-01

Infectious diseases have a high incidence in the population, causing a major impact on global health. In vitro culture of microorganisms is the first technique applied for infection diagnosis which is laborious and time consuming. In recent decades, efforts have been focused on the applicability of "Omics" sciences, highlighting the progress provided by proteomic techniques in the field of infectious diseases. This review describes the management, processing and analysis of biological samples for proteomic research. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier España, S.L.U. y Sociedad Española de Enfermedades Infecciosas y Microbiología Clínica. All rights reserved.

Volume reduction of hot cell plastic wastes

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

Dykes, F W; Henscheid, J P; Lewis, L C

1989-09-19

The disposal of radioactively-contaminated solid wastes has become a national crisis. In such circumstances, it is imperative that this waste be reduced to minimum volume and be packaged to prevent pollution of the environment. The majority of the solid waste generated at the hot cell under consideration is plastic lab ware. Cutting this waste into small pieces with a hot wire technique reduced the volume 66%. Melting the waste, although more time consuming, reduced the volume 90%. The hot wire technique can also be used to cut up damaged master slave manipulator boots, greatly reducing their disposal volume.

American alligator digestion rate of blue crabs and its implications for stomach contents analysis

USGS Publications Warehouse

Nifong, James C.; Rosenblatt, Adam E.; Johnson, Nathan A.; Barichivich, William; Silliman, Brian; Heithaus, Michael R.

2012-01-01

Stomach contents analysis (SCA) provides a snap-shot observation of a consumer's diet. Interpretation of SCA data can be complicated by many factors, including variation in gastric residence times and digestion rates among prey taxa. Although some SCA methods are reported to efficiently remove all stomach contents, the effectiveness of these techniques has rarely been tested for large irregular shaped prey with hard exoskeletons. We used a controlled feeding trial to estimate gastric residency time and decomposition rate of a large crustacean prey item, the Blue Crab (Callinectes sapidus), which is consumed by American Alligators (Alligator mississippiensis), an abundant apex predator in coastal habitats of the southeastern United States. The decomposition rate of C. sapidus in the stomachs of A. mississippiensis followed a predictable pattern, and some crab pieces remained in stomachs for at least 14 days. We also found that certain portions of C. sapidus were prone to becoming caught within the stomach or esophagus, meaning not all crab parts are consistently recovered using gastric lavage techniques. However, because the state of decomposition of crabs was predictable, it is possible to estimate time since consumption for crabs recovered from wild alligators. This information, coupled with a detailed understanding of crab distributions and alligator movement tactics could help elucidate patterns of cross-ecosystem foraging by the American Alligator in coastal habitats

Monitoring bacterial resistance to chloramphenicol and other antibiotics by liquid chromatography electrospray ionization tandem mass spectrometry using selected reaction monitoring.

PubMed

Haag, Anthony M; Medina, Audrie M; Royall, Ariel E; Herzog, Norbert K; Niesel, David W

2013-06-01

Antibiotic resistance is a growing problem worldwide. For this reason, clinical laboratories often determine the susceptibility of the bacterial isolate to a number of different antibiotics in order to establish the most effective antibiotic for treatment. Unfortunately, current susceptibility assays are time consuming. Antibiotic resistance often involves the chemical modification of an antibiotic to an inactive form by an enzyme expressed by the bacterium. Selected reaction monitoring (SRM) has the ability to quickly monitor and identify these chemical changes in an unprecedented time scale. In this work, we used SRM as a technique to determine the susceptibility of several different antibiotics to the chemically modifying enzymes β-lactamase and chloramphenicol acetyltransferase, enzymes used by bacteria to confer resistance to major classes of commonly used antibiotics. We also used this technique to directly monitor the effects of resistant bacteria grown in a broth containing a specific antibiotic. Because SRM is highly selective and can also identify chemical changes in a multitude of antibiotics in a single assay, SRM has the ability to detect organisms that are resistant to multiple antibiotics in a single assay. For these reasons, the use of SRM greatly reduces the time it takes to determine the susceptibility or resistance of an organism to a multitude of antibiotics by eliminating the time-consuming process found in other currently used methods. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Multi-point estimation of total energy expenditure: a comparison between zinc-reduction and platinum-equilibration methodologies.

PubMed

Sonko, Bakary J; Miller, Leland V; Jones, Richard H; Donnelly, Joseph E; Jacobsen, Dennis J; Hill, James O; Fennessey, Paul V

2003-12-15

Reducing water to hydrogen gas by zinc or uranium metal for determining D/H ratio is both tedious and time consuming. This has forced most energy metabolism investigators to use the "two-point" technique instead of the "Multi-point" technique for estimating total energy expenditure (TEE). Recently, we purchased a new platinum (Pt)-equilibration system that significantly reduces both time and labor required for D/H ratio determination. In this study, we compared TEE obtained from nine overweight but healthy subjects, estimated using the traditional Zn-reduction method to that obtained from the new Pt-equilibration system. Rate constants, pool spaces, and CO2 production rates obtained from use of the two methodologies were not significantly different. Correlation analysis demonstrated that TEEs estimated using the two methods were significantly correlated (r=0.925, p=0.0001). Sample equilibration time was reduced by 66% compared to those of similar methods. The data demonstrated that the Zn-reduction method could be replaced by the Pt-equilibration method when TEE was estimated using the "Multi-Point" technique. Furthermore, D equilibration time was significantly reduced.

Applications of infrared thermography for nondestructive testing of fatigue cracks in steel bridges

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sakagami, Takahide; Izumi, Yui; Kobayashi, Yoshihiro; Mizokami, Yoshiaki; Kawabata, Sunao

2014-05-01

In recent years, fatigue crack propagations in aged steel bridge which may lead to catastrophic structural failures have become a serious problem. For large-scale steel structures such as orthotropic steel decks in highway bridges, nondestructive inspection of deteriorations and fatigue damages are indispensable for securing their safety and for estimating their remaining strength. As conventional NDT techniques for steel bridges, visual testing, magnetic particle testing and ultrasonic testing have been commonly employed. However, these techniques are time- and labor- consuming techniques, because special equipment is required for inspection, such as scaffolding or a truck mount aerial work platform. In this paper, a new thermography NDT technique, which is based on temperature gap appeared on the surface of structural members due to thermal insulation effect of the crack, is developed for detection of fatigue cracks. The practicability of the developed technique is demonstrated by the field experiments for highway steel bridges in service. Detectable crack size and factors such as measurement time, season or spatial resolution which influence crack detectability are investigated.

The impact of consumer involvement in research: an evaluation of consumer involvement in the London Primary Care Studies Programme.

PubMed

Wyatt, Katrina; Carter, Mary; Mahtani, Vinita; Barnard, Angela; Hawton, Annie; Britten, Nicky

2008-06-01

The value of consumer involvement in health services research is widely recognized. While there is a growing body of evidence about the principles of good consumer involvement, there is little research about the effect that involvement can have on the research. This evaluation assessed the level and impact of consumer involvement in the London Primary Care Studies Programme (LPCSP), all of whose individual projects had to demonstrate substantial involvement as a condition of funding. To evaluate consumer involvement in the LPSCP and understand what impact consumers had on the research process and outcomes. A multi-method case study approach was undertaken, using survey techniques, interviews, focus groups, observation and scrutiny of written documents. The overall data set comprised 61 questionnaires, 44 semi-structured interviews, 2 focus groups and 15 hours of observation of meetings. Eleven primary care-based research projects which together made up the LPCSP. An in-depth description of consumer involvement in the Programme was produced. Nine projects had consumers as co-applicants, four projects had been completed before the evaluation began and one was still ongoing at the time of the evaluation. Of the eight projects which have produced final reports, all met their aims and objectives. Consumers had had an additional impact in the research, in the initial design of the study, in recruitment of the research subjects, in developing data collection tools, in collecting the data, in analysis and disseminating the findings. Consumer involvement in National Health Service research is a relatively recent policy development and while there is an increasing amount of literature about how and why consumers should be involved in research, there is less evidence about the impact of such involvement. This evaluation provides evidence about the impact that consumers have not only on the research process but also on the outcomes of the research.

Increasing market share through consumer marketing: a case study in obstetrics.

PubMed

Kingsley, V H

1986-05-01

Consumers are becoming ever more selective in their choice of health care providers. Hospitals that are aware of local preferences and how to reach and influence consumers will gain a competitive advantage. Outlined in this article are consumer marketing techniques that can be utilized for all product lines. The concept is applied here as a case study in obstetrics.

RFID in Space: Exploring the Feasibility and Performance of Gen 2 Tags as a Means of Tracking Equipment, Supplies, and Consumable Products in Cargo Transport Bags onboard a Space Vehicle or Habitat

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Jones, Erick C.; Richards, Casey; Herstein, Kelli; Franca, Rodrigo; Yagoda, Evan L.; Vasquez, Reuben

2008-01-01

Current inventory management techniques for consumables and supplies aboard space vehicles are burdensome and time consuming. Inventory of food, clothing, and supplies are taken periodically by manually scanning the barcodes on each item. The inaccuracy of reading barcodes and the excessive amount of time it takes for the astronauts to perform this function would be better spent doing scientific experiments. Therefore, there is a need for an alternative method of inventory control by NASA astronauts. Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) is an automatic data capture technology that has potential to create a more effective and user-friendly inventory management system (IMS). In this paper we introduce a Design for Six Sigma Research (DFSS-R) methodology that allows for reliability testing of RFID systems. The research methodology uses a modified sequential design of experiments process to test and evaluate the quality of commercially available RFID technology. The results from the experimentation are compared to the requirements provided by NASA to evaluate the feasibility of using passive Generation 2 RFID technology to improve inventory control aboard crew exploration vehicles.

Immediate costs of mini-open versus arthroscopic rotator cuff repair in an Asian population.

PubMed

Hui, Yik Jing; Teo, Alex Quok An; Sharma, Siddharth; Tan, Bryan Hsi Ming; Kumar, V Prem

2017-01-01

While there has been increasing interest in minimally invasive surgery, the expenses incurred by patients undergoing this form of surgery have not been comprehensively studied. The authors compared the costs borne by patients undergoing arthroscopic rotator cuff repair with the standard mini-open repair at a tertiary hospital in an Asian population. This was a retrospective cohort study. The authors studied the inpatient hospital bills of patients following rotator cuff tear repair between January 2010 and October 2014 via the hospital electronic medical records system. 148 patients had arthroscopic repair and 78 had mini-open repair. The cost of implants, consumables, and the total cost of hospitalization were analyzed. Operative times and length of stay for both procedures were also studied. Constant scores and American Shoulder Elbow Scores (ASES) were recorded preoperatively and at 1 year postoperatively. Three fellowship-trained surgeons performed arthroscopic repairs and one performed the mini-open repair. The cost of implants and consumables was significantly higher with arthroscopic repair. The duration of surgery was also significantly longer with that technique. There was no difference in length of stay between the two techniques. There was also no difference in Constant scores or ASES scores, both preoperatively and at 1 year postoperatively. The immediate costs of mini-open repair of rotator cuff tears are significantly less than that of arthroscopic repair. Most of the difference arises from the cost of implants and consumables. Equivalent functional outcomes from both techniques suggest that mini-open repair may be more cost-effective.

The convenience food market in Great Britain: convenience food lifestyle (CFL) segments.

PubMed

Buckley, Marie; Cowan, Cathal; McCarthy, Mary

2007-11-01

Convenience foods enable the consumer to save time and effort in food activities, related to shopping, meal preparation and cooking, consumption and post-meal activities. The objective of this paper is to report on the attitudes and reported behaviour of food consumers in Great Britain based on a review of their convenience food lifestyle (CFLs). The paper also reports the development and application of a segmentation technique that can supply information on consumer attitudes towards convenience foods. The convenience food market in Great Britain is examined and the key drivers of growth in this market are highlighted. A survey was applied to a nationally representative sample of 1000 consumers (defined as the persons primarily responsible for food shopping and cooking in the household) in Great Britain in 2002. Segmentation analysis, based on the identification of 20 convenience lifestyle factors, identified four CFL segments of consumers: the 'food connoisseurs' (26%), the 'home meal preparers' (25%), the 'kitchen evaders' (16%) and the 'convenience-seeking grazers' (33%). In particular, the 'kitchen evaders' and the 'convenience-seeking grazers' are identified as convenience-seeking segments. Implications for food producers, in particular, convenience food manufacturers are discussed. The study provides an understanding of the lifestyles of food consumers in Great Britain, and provides food manufacturers with an insight into what motivates individuals to purchase convenience foods.

Recent Modifications and Validation of QuEChERS-dSPE Coupled to LC-MS and GC-MS Instruments for Determination of Pesticide/Agrochemical Residues in Fruits and Vegetables: Review.

PubMed

Lawal, Abubakar; Wong, Richard Chee Seng; Tan, Guan Huat; Abdulra'uf, Lukman Bola; Alsharif, Ali Mohamed Ali

2018-04-21

Fruits and vegetables constitute a major type of food consumed daily apart from whole grains. Unfortunately, the residual deposits of pesticides in these products are becoming a major health concern for human consumption. Consequently, the outcome of the long-term accumulation of pesticide residues has posed many health issues to both humans and animals in the environment. However, the residues have previously been determined using conventionally known techniques, which include liquid-liquid extraction, solid-phase extraction (SPE) and the recently used liquid-phase microextraction techniques. Despite the positive technological effects of these methods, their limitations include; time-consuming, operational difficulty, use of toxic organic solvents, low selective property and expensive extraction setups, with shorter lifespan of instrumental performances. Thus, the potential and maximum use of these methods for pesticides residue determination has resulted in the urgent need for better techniques that will overcome the highlighted drawbacks. Alternatively, attention has been drawn recently towards the use of quick, easy, cheap, effective, rugged and safe technique (QuEChERS) coupled with dispersive solid-phase extraction (dSPE) to overcome the setback challenges experienced by the previous technologies. Conclusively, the reviewed QuEChERS-dSPE techniques and the recent cleanup modifications justifiably prove to be reliable for routine determination and monitoring the concentration levels of pesticide residues using advanced instruments such as high-performance liquid chromatography, liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry and gas chromatography-mass spectrometry.

Adaptive parametric model order reduction technique for optimization of vibro-acoustic models: Application to hearing aid design

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Creixell-Mediante, Ester; Jensen, Jakob S.; Naets, Frank; Brunskog, Jonas; Larsen, Martin

2018-06-01

Finite Element (FE) models of complex structural-acoustic coupled systems can require a large number of degrees of freedom in order to capture their physical behaviour. This is the case in the hearing aid field, where acoustic-mechanical feedback paths are a key factor in the overall system performance and modelling them accurately requires a precise description of the strong interaction between the light-weight parts and the internal and surrounding air over a wide frequency range. Parametric optimization of the FE model can be used to reduce the vibroacoustic feedback in a device during the design phase; however, it requires solving the model iteratively for multiple frequencies at different parameter values, which becomes highly time consuming when the system is large. Parametric Model Order Reduction (pMOR) techniques aim at reducing the computational cost associated with each analysis by projecting the full system into a reduced space. A drawback of most of the existing techniques is that the vector basis of the reduced space is built at an offline phase where the full system must be solved for a large sample of parameter values, which can also become highly time consuming. In this work, we present an adaptive pMOR technique where the construction of the projection basis is embedded in the optimization process and requires fewer full system analyses, while the accuracy of the reduced system is monitored by a cheap error indicator. The performance of the proposed method is evaluated for a 4-parameter optimization of a frequency response for a hearing aid model, evaluated at 300 frequencies, where the objective function evaluations become more than one order of magnitude faster than for the full system.

Electrochemical impedance spectroscopy based MEMS sensors for phthalates detection in water and juices

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zia, Asif I.; Mohd Syaifudin, A. R.; Mukhopadhyay, S. C.; Yu, P. L.; Al-Bahadly, I. H.; Gooneratne, Chinthaka P.; Kosel, Jǘrgen; Liao, Tai-Shan

2013-06-01

Phthalate esters are ubiquitous environmental and food pollutants well known as endocrine disrupting compounds (EDCs). These developmental and reproductive toxicants pose a grave risk to the human health due to their unlimited use in consumer plastic industry. Detection of phthalates is strictly laboratory based time consuming and expensive process and requires expertise of highly qualified and skilled professionals. We present a real time, non-invasive, label free rapid detection technique to quantify phthalates' presence in deionized water and fruit juices. Electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) technique applied to a novel planar inter-digital (ID) capacitive sensor plays a vital role to explore the presence of phthalate esters in bulk fluid media. The ID sensor with multiple sensing gold electrodes was fabricated on silicon substrate using micro-electromechanical system (MEMS) device fabrication technology. A thin film of parylene C polymer was coated as a passivation layer to enhance the capacitive sensing capabilities of the sensor and to reduce the magnitude of Faradic current flowing through the sensor. Various concentrations, 0.002ppm through to 2ppm of di (2-ethylhexyl) phthalate (DEHP) in deionized water, were exposed to the sensing system by dip testing method. Impedance spectra obtained was analysed to determine sample conductance which led to consequent evaluation of its dielectric properties. Electro-chemical impedance spectrum analyser algorithm was employed to model the experimentally obtained impedance spectra. Curve fitting technique was applied to deduce constant phase element (CPE) equivalent circuit based on Randle's equivalent circuit model. The sensing system was tested to detect different concentrations of DEHP in orange juice as a real world application. The result analysis indicated that our rapid testing technique is able to detect the presence of DEHP in all test samples distinctively.

Analysis of Army Recruiter Selling Techniques.

DTIC Science & Technology

1991-04-01

that have been put forward in recent years to explain consumer choices and consumer behavior . Each of these will be explored in the following...Allyn and Bacon. Mittelstaedt, R. A. (1971). Criteria for a theory of consumer behavior . In Robert J. Holloway, Robert A. Mittelstaedt, and M...Verkatesan (Eds.), Consumer Behavior (pp. 8-13). Boston: Houghton-Mifflin. 𔃿 Mittelstaedt, R. A. and Madden, C. S. (1980). Lay psychology, marketing

Optimized Determination of Deployable Consumable Spares Packages

DTIC Science & Technology

2007-06-01

also called deployable bench stock) • CRSP = Consumable Readiness Spares Package • COLT = Customer -Oriented Leveling Technique • ASM = Aircraft...changed please list both.) Original title on 712 A/B: Optimized Determination of Deployable Consumable Spares Packages If the title was revised...number. 1. REPORT DATE 01 JUN 2007 2. REPORT TYPE N/A 3. DATES COVERED - 4. TITLE AND SUBTITLE Optimized Determination of Deployable Consumable

Effective Desynchronization by Nonlinear Delayed Feedback

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Popovych, Oleksandr V.; Hauptmann, Christian; Tass, Peter A.

2005-04-01

We show that nonlinear delayed feedback opens up novel means for the control of synchronization. In particular, we propose a demand-controlled method for powerful desynchronization, which does not require any time-consuming calibration. Our technique distinguishes itself by its robustness against variations of system parameters, even in strongly coupled ensembles of oscillators. We suggest our method for mild and effective deep brain stimulation in neurological diseases characterized by pathological cerebral synchronization.

Defending the New Domain: Cyberspace

DTIC Science & Technology

2011-03-21

and time consuming, the FBI has proven technology, techniques, and procedures to hunt down and capture cyber criminals , despite the anonymity of the...help stop cyber crime and make it harder for cyber criminals to commit crime on the internet. MILITARY The U.S. military relies on DoD...one country and attacking another. Cyber criminals are using servers and proxies in one country to execute their criminal activities in another

Development of Instrumentation for Boundary Layer Transition Detection

DTIC Science & Technology

1991-01-01

assistance of Maj. Aaron Byerley were largely responsible for my decision to stay on. 4t Contents Abstract Acknowledgements Nomenclature Chapter 1...The use of shr sensitive liquid crystals in aerodynamic measurements has been a mor wPu imovation. Two different prcesses can be employed to...transition location. The steady-state heat transfer technique is unsuited for use on complex geometries, may be time consuming , and has an element of

A comparison study on microwave-assisted extraction of Artemisia sphaerocephala polysaccharides with conventional method: Molecule structure and antioxidant activities evaluation.

PubMed

Wang, Junlong; Zhang, Ji; Wang, Xiaofang; Zhao, Baotang; Wu, Yiqian; Yao, Jian

2009-12-01

The conventional extraction methods for polysaccharides were time-consuming, laborious and energy-consuming. Microwave-assisted extraction (MAE) technique was employed for the extraction of Artemisia sphaerocephala polysaccharides (ASP), which is a traditional Chinese food. The extracting parameters were optimized by Box-Behnken design. In microwave heating process, a decrease in molecular weight (M(w)) was detected in SEC-LLS measurement. A d(f) value of 2.85 indicated ASP using MAE exhibited as a sphere conformation of branched clusters in aqueous solution. Furthermore, it showed stronger antioxidant activities compared with hot water extraction. The data obtained showed that the molecular weights played a more important role in antioxidant activities.

Reaction Rates Of Olivine Carbonation - An Experimental Study Using Synthetic Fluid Inclusions As Micro-Reactors

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sendula, E.; Lamadrid, H. M.; Bodnar, R. J.

2017-12-01

Ultramafic and mafic rocks (e.g. peridotites, serpentinites and basalts) are being considered as possible targets for CO2 sequestration via mineral carbonation. The determination of reaction kinetics and the factors that control mineralization are important in order to understand and predict fluid-rock reactions between the injected CO2 and the host rocks. Here we present results of experiments focused on determining the reaction rates of carbonation of olivine as a function of initial CO2 concentration (20 mol% and 11 mol%) in the aqueous solution and temperature (100°C and 50°C). We used a recently developed experimental method (Lamadrid et al., 2017) that uses synthetic fluid inclusions as micro-reactors. The micro-reactor technique coupled with non-destructive Raman spectroscopy allows us to monitor the reaction progress in situ and in real time, by quantifying the amount of CO2 consumed in the reaction as a function of time. Results show a measurable decrease of CO2 density in the fluid inclusions as a result of the reaction between the CO2-bearing aqueous phase and olivine. Magnesite formation begins within several hours at 100°C and most of the CO2 was consumed within two days. At 50°C, however, magnesite nucleation and precipitation required weeks to months to begin, and the reaction rates were about an order of magnitude slower than in the experiments at 100°C. No significant differences were observed in the reaction rates as a function of initial CO2 concentration. The application of the synthetic fluid inclusion technique as micro-reactors coupled with non-destructive analytical techniques is a promising tool to monitor rates of fluid-rock reactions in situ and in real time, allowing detailed micron-scale investigations. The technique can be applied to a wide variety of chemical systems, host minerals, reaction products, fluid densities, temperatures, and different starting fluid compositions.

Chapter 14: Electron Microscopy on Thin Films for Solar Cells

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

Romero, Manuel; Abou-Ras, Daniel; Nichterwitz, Melanie

2016-07-22

This chapter overviews the various techniques applied in scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM), and highlights their possibilities and also limitations. It gives the various imaging and analysis techniques applied on a scanning electron microscope. The chapter shows that imaging is divided into that making use of secondary electrons (SEs) and of backscattered electrons (BSEs), resulting in different contrasts in the images and thus providing information on compositions, microstructures, and surface potentials. Whenever aiming for imaging and analyses at scales of down to the angstroms range, TEM and its related techniques are appropriate tools. In many cases,more » also SEM techniques provide the access to various material properties of the individual layers, not requiring specimen preparation as time consuming as TEM techniques. Finally, the chapter dedicates to cross-sectional specimen preparation for electron microscopy. The preparation decides indeed on the quality of imaging and analyses.« less

Kalman filter techniques for accelerated Cartesian dynamic cardiac imaging.

PubMed

Feng, Xue; Salerno, Michael; Kramer, Christopher M; Meyer, Craig H

2013-05-01

In dynamic MRI, spatial and temporal parallel imaging can be exploited to reduce scan time. Real-time reconstruction enables immediate visualization during the scan. Commonly used view-sharing techniques suffer from limited temporal resolution, and many of the more advanced reconstruction methods are either retrospective, time-consuming, or both. A Kalman filter model capable of real-time reconstruction can be used to increase the spatial and temporal resolution in dynamic MRI reconstruction. The original study describing the use of the Kalman filter in dynamic MRI was limited to non-Cartesian trajectories because of a limitation intrinsic to the dynamic model used in that study. Here the limitation is overcome, and the model is applied to the more commonly used Cartesian trajectory with fast reconstruction. Furthermore, a combination of the Kalman filter model with Cartesian parallel imaging is presented to further increase the spatial and temporal resolution and signal-to-noise ratio. Simulations and experiments were conducted to demonstrate that the Kalman filter model can increase the temporal resolution of the image series compared with view-sharing techniques and decrease the spatial aliasing compared with TGRAPPA. The method requires relatively little computation, and thus is suitable for real-time reconstruction. Copyright © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Kalman Filter Techniques for Accelerated Cartesian Dynamic Cardiac Imaging

PubMed Central

Feng, Xue; Salerno, Michael; Kramer, Christopher M.; Meyer, Craig H.

2012-01-01

In dynamic MRI, spatial and temporal parallel imaging can be exploited to reduce scan time. Real-time reconstruction enables immediate visualization during the scan. Commonly used view-sharing techniques suffer from limited temporal resolution, and many of the more advanced reconstruction methods are either retrospective, time-consuming, or both. A Kalman filter model capable of real-time reconstruction can be used to increase the spatial and temporal resolution in dynamic MRI reconstruction. The original study describing the use of the Kalman filter in dynamic MRI was limited to non-Cartesian trajectories, because of a limitation intrinsic to the dynamic model used in that study. Here the limitation is overcome and the model is applied to the more commonly used Cartesian trajectory with fast reconstruction. Furthermore, a combination of the Kalman filter model with Cartesian parallel imaging is presented to further increase the spatial and temporal resolution and SNR. Simulations and experiments were conducted to demonstrate that the Kalman filter model can increase the temporal resolution of the image series compared with view sharing techniques and decrease the spatial aliasing compared with TGRAPPA. The method requires relatively little computation, and thus is suitable for real-time reconstruction. PMID:22926804

Computational Issues Associated with Temporally Deforming Geometries Such as Thrust Vectoring Nozzles

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Boyalakuntla, Kishore; Soni, Bharat K.; Thornburg, Hugh J.; Yu, Robert

1996-01-01

During the past decade, computational simulation of fluid flow around complex configurations has progressed significantly and many notable successes have been reported, however, unsteady time-dependent solutions are not easily obtainable. The present effort involves unsteady time dependent simulation of temporally deforming geometries. Grid generation for a complex configuration can be a time consuming process and temporally varying geometries necessitate the regeneration of such grids for every time step. Traditional grid generation techniques have been tried and demonstrated to be inadequate to such simulations. Non-Uniform Rational B-splines (NURBS) based techniques provide a compact and accurate representation of the geometry. This definition can be coupled with a distribution mesh for a user defined spacing. The present method greatly reduces cpu requirements for time dependent remeshing, facilitating the simulation of more complex unsteady problems. A thrust vectoring nozzle has been chosen to demonstrate the capability as it is of current interest in the aerospace industry for better maneuverability of fighter aircraft in close combat and in post stall regimes. This current effort is the first step towards multidisciplinary design optimization which involves coupling the aerodynamic heat transfer and structural analysis techniques. Applications include simulation of temporally deforming bodies and aeroelastic problems.

The Assertive Consumer: Credit and Warranties. Administrative Model.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Clark, Barbara; Veraska, Wanda

This administrative model contains materials to be used in setting up a workshop designed to train members of action organizations (consumer, community, educational) in techniques such as role playing, modeling, and developing strong communications skills for assertively securing legal consumer rights in the areas of credits and warranties, and to…

The Assertive Consumer: Credit and Warranties. Student's Manual.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Clark, Barbara; And Others

This student manual contains materials to be used in a workshop designed to train members of action organizations (consumer, community, educational) in techniques such as role playing, modeling, and developing strong communication skills for assertively securing legal consumer rights in the areas of credits and warranties and to prepare the…

Optimal RTP Based Power Scheduling for Residential Load in Smart Grid

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Joshi, Hemant I.; Pandya, Vivek J.

2015-12-01

To match supply and demand, shifting of load from peak period to off-peak period is one of the effective solutions. Presently flat rate tariff is used in major part of the world. This type of tariff doesn't give incentives to the customers if they use electrical energy during off-peak period. If real time pricing (RTP) tariff is used, consumers can be encouraged to use energy during off-peak period. Due to advancement in information and communication technology, two-way communications is possible between consumers and utility. To implement this technique in smart grid, home energy controller (HEC), smart meters, home area network (HAN) and communication link between consumers and utility are required. HEC interacts automatically by running an algorithm to find optimal energy consumption schedule for each consumer. However, all the consumers are not allowed to shift their load simultaneously during off-peak period to avoid rebound peak condition. Peak to average ratio (PAR) is considered while carrying out minimization problem. Linear programming problem (LPP) method is used for minimization. The simulation results of this work show the effectiveness of the minimization method adopted. The hardware work is in progress and the program based on the method described here will be made to solve real problem.

Applying a low energy HPGe detector gamma ray spectrometric technique for the evaluation of Pu/Am ratio in biological samples.

PubMed

Singh, I S; Mishra, Lokpati; Yadav, J R; Nadar, M Y; Rao, D D; Pradeepkumar, K S

2015-10-01

The estimation of Pu/(241)Am ratio in the biological samples is an important input for the assessment of internal dose received by the workers. The radiochemical separation of Pu isotopes and (241)Am in a sample followed by alpha spectrometry is a widely used technique for the determination of Pu/(241)Am ratio. However, this method is time consuming and many times quick estimation is required. In this work, Pu/(241)Am ratio in the biological sample was estimated with HPGe detector based measurements using gamma/X-rays emitted by these radionuclides. These results were compared with those obtained from alpha spectroscopy of sample after radiochemical analysis and found to be in good agreement. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

A simple method to ensure proper screw position and plate size selection using the Morscher cervical spine locking plate. Technical note.

PubMed

Ball, P A; Benzel, E C; Baldwin, N G

1994-04-01

The use of bone plate instrumentation with screw fixation has proved to be a useful adjunctive measure in anterior cervical spine fusion surgery. Proper fitting, positioning, and attachment of this instrumentation have been shown to be frequently suboptimal if done without radiographic guidance. The most commonly used method of radiographic assistance for placement of this instrumentation is fluoroscopy. While this gives satisfactory technical results, it is expensive and time-consuming, and exposes the patient and the operating room personnel to ionizing radiation. The authors present a simple technique to ensure screw placement and plate fitting using Kirschner wires and a single lateral radiograph. This technique saves time, reduces exposure to radiation, and has led to satisfactory results in over 20 operative cases.

Efficient calculation of luminance variation of a luminaire that uses LED light sources

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Goldstein, Peter

2007-09-01

Many luminaires have an array of LEDs that illuminate a lenslet-array diffuser in order to create the appearance of a single, extended source with a smooth luminance distribution. Designing such a system is challenging because luminance calculations for a lenslet array generally involve tracing millions of rays per LED, which is computationally intensive and time-consuming. This paper presents a technique for calculating an on-axis luminance distribution by tracing only one ray per LED per lenslet. A multiple-LED system is simulated with this method, and with Monte Carlo ray-tracing software for comparison. Accuracy improves, and computation time decreases by at least five orders of magnitude with this technique, which has applications in LED-based signage, displays, and general illumination.

Survival analysis: A consumer-friendly method to estimate the optimum sucrose level in probiotic petit suisse.

PubMed

Esmerino, E A; Paixão, J A; Cruz, A G; Garitta, L; Hough, G; Bolini, H M A

2015-11-01

For years, just-about-right (JAR) scales have been among the most used techniques to obtain sensory information about consumer perception, but recently, some researchers have harshly criticized the technique. The present study aimed to apply survival analysis to estimate the optimum sucrose concentration in probiotic petit suisse cheese and compare the survival analysis to JAR scales to verify which technique more accurately predicted the optimum sucrose concentration according to consumer acceptability. Two panels of consumers (total=170) performed affective tests to determine the optimal concentration of sucrose in probiotic petit suisse using 2 different methods of analysis: JAR scales (n=85) and survival analysis (n=85). Then an acceptance test was conducted using naïve consumers (n=100) between 18 and 60 yr old, with 2 samples of petit suisse, one with the ideal sucrose determined by JAR scales and the other with the ideal sucrose content determined by survival analysis, to determine which formulation was in accordance with consumer acceptability. The results indicate that the 2 sensory methods were equally effective in predicting the optimum sucrose level in probiotic petit suisse cheese, and no significant differences were detected in any of the characteristics related to liking evaluated. However, survival analysis has important advantages over the JAR scales. Survival analysis has shown the potential to be an advantageous tool for dairy companies because it was able to accurately predict the optimum sucrose content in a consumer-friendly way and was also practical for researchers because experimental sensory work is simpler and has been shown to be more cost effective than JAR scales without losses of consumer acceptability. Copyright © 2015 American Dairy Science Association. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Depth-Based Detection of Standing-Pigs in Moving Noise Environments.

PubMed

Kim, Jinseong; Chung, Yeonwoo; Choi, Younchang; Sa, Jaewon; Kim, Heegon; Chung, Yongwha; Park, Daihee; Kim, Hakjae

2017-11-29

In a surveillance camera environment, the detection of standing-pigs in real-time is an important issue towards the final goal of 24-h tracking of individual pigs. In this study, we focus on depth-based detection of standing-pigs with "moving noises", which appear every night in a commercial pig farm, but have not been reported yet. We first apply a spatiotemporal interpolation technique to remove the moving noises occurring in the depth images. Then, we detect the standing-pigs by utilizing the undefined depth values around them. Our experimental results show that this method is effective for detecting standing-pigs at night, in terms of both cost-effectiveness (using a low-cost Kinect depth sensor) and accuracy (i.e., 94.47%), even with severe moving noises occluding up to half of an input depth image. Furthermore, without any time-consuming technique, the proposed method can be executed in real-time.

Numerical techniques for high-throughput reflectance interference biosensing

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sevenler, Derin; Ünlü, M. Selim

2016-06-01

We have developed a robust and rapid computational method for processing the raw spectral data collected from thin film optical interference biosensors. We have applied this method to Interference Reflectance Imaging Sensor (IRIS) measurements and observed a 10,000 fold improvement in processing time, unlocking a variety of clinical and scientific applications. Interference biosensors have advantages over similar technologies in certain applications, for example highly multiplexed measurements of molecular kinetics. However, processing raw IRIS data into useful measurements has been prohibitively time consuming for high-throughput studies. Here we describe the implementation of a lookup table (LUT) technique that provides accurate results in far less time than naive methods. We also discuss an additional benefit that the LUT method can be used with a wider range of interference layer thickness and experimental configurations that are incompatible with methods that require fitting the spectral response.

Parallel processors and nonlinear structural dynamics algorithms and software

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Belytschko, Ted

1990-01-01

Techniques are discussed for the implementation and improvement of vectorization and concurrency in nonlinear explicit structural finite element codes. In explicit integration methods, the computation of the element internal force vector consumes the bulk of the computer time. The program can be efficiently vectorized by subdividing the elements into blocks and executing all computations in vector mode. The structuring of elements into blocks also provides a convenient way to implement concurrency by creating tasks which can be assigned to available processors for evaluation. The techniques were implemented in a 3-D nonlinear program with one-point quadrature shell elements. Concurrency and vectorization were first implemented in a single time step version of the program. Techniques were developed to minimize processor idle time and to select the optimal vector length. A comparison of run times between the program executed in scalar, serial mode and the fully vectorized code executed concurrently using eight processors shows speed-ups of over 25. Conjugate gradient methods for solving nonlinear algebraic equations are also readily adapted to a parallel environment. A new technique for improving convergence properties of conjugate gradients in nonlinear problems is developed in conjunction with other techniques such as diagonal scaling. A significant reduction in the number of iterations required for convergence is shown for a statically loaded rigid bar suspended by three equally spaced springs.

Interactive use of online health resources: a comparison of consumer and professional questions

PubMed Central

Demner-Fushman, Dina

2016-01-01

Objective To understand how consumer questions on online resources differ from questions asked by professionals, and how such consumer questions differ across resources. Materials and Methods Ten online question corpora, 5 consumer and 5 professional, with a combined total of over 40 000 questions, were analyzed using a variety of natural language processing techniques. These techniques analyze questions at the lexical, syntactic, and semantic levels, exposing differences in both form and content. Results Consumer questions tend to be longer than professional questions, more closely resemble open-domain language, and focus far more on medical problems. Consumers ask more sub-questions, provide far more background information, and ask different types of questions than professionals. Furthermore, there is substantial variance of these factors between the different consumer corpora. Discussion The form of consumer questions is highly dependent upon the individual online resource, especially in the amount of background information provided. Professionals, on the other hand, provide very little background information and often ask much shorter questions. The content of consumer questions is also highly dependent upon the resource. While professional questions commonly discuss treatments and tests, consumer questions focus disproportionately on symptoms and diseases. Further, consumers place far more emphasis on certain types of health problems (eg, sexual health). Conclusion Websites for consumers to submit health questions are a popular online resource filling important gaps in consumer health information. By analyzing how consumers write questions on these resources, we can better understand these gaps and create solutions for improving information access. This article is part of the Special Focus on Person-Generated Health and Wellness Data, which published in the May 2016 issue, Volume 23, Issue 3. PMID:27147494

A Stochastic Spiking Neural Network for Virtual Screening.

PubMed

Morro, A; Canals, V; Oliver, A; Alomar, M L; Galan-Prado, F; Ballester, P J; Rossello, J L

2018-04-01

Virtual screening (VS) has become a key computational tool in early drug design and screening performance is of high relevance due to the large volume of data that must be processed to identify molecules with the sought activity-related pattern. At the same time, the hardware implementations of spiking neural networks (SNNs) arise as an emerging computing technique that can be applied to parallelize processes that normally present a high cost in terms of computing time and power. Consequently, SNN represents an attractive alternative to perform time-consuming processing tasks, such as VS. In this brief, we present a smart stochastic spiking neural architecture that implements the ultrafast shape recognition (USR) algorithm achieving two order of magnitude of speed improvement with respect to USR software implementations. The neural system is implemented in hardware using field-programmable gate arrays allowing a highly parallelized USR implementation. The results show that, due to the high parallelization of the system, millions of compounds can be checked in reasonable times. From these results, we can state that the proposed architecture arises as a feasible methodology to efficiently enhance time-consuming data-mining processes such as 3-D molecular similarity search.

Spatial calibration of an optical see-through head mounted display

PubMed Central

Gilson, Stuart J.; Fitzgibbon, Andrew W.; Glennerster, Andrew

2010-01-01

We present here a method for calibrating an optical see-through Head Mounted Display (HMD) using techniques usually applied to camera calibration (photogrammetry). Using a camera placed inside the HMD to take pictures simultaneously of a tracked object and features in the HMD display, we could exploit established camera calibration techniques to recover both the intrinsic and extrinsic properties of the HMD (width, height, focal length, optic centre and principal ray of the display). Our method gives low re-projection errors and, unlike existing methods, involves no time-consuming and error-prone human measurements, nor any prior estimates about the HMD geometry. PMID:18599125

Assesment on the performance of electrode arrays using image processing technique

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Usman, N.; Khiruddin, A.; Nawawi, Mohd

2017-08-01

Interpreting inverted resistivity section is time consuming, tedious and requires other sources of information to be relevant geologically. Image processing technique was used in order to perform post inversion processing which make geophysical data interpretation easier. The inverted data sets were imported into the PCI Geomatica 9.0.1 for further processing. The data sets were clipped and merged together in order to match the coordinates of the three layers and permit pixel to pixel analysis. Dipole-dipole array is more sensitive to resistivity variation with depth in comparison with Werner-Schlumberger and pole-dipole. Image processing serves as good post-inversion tool in geophysical data processing.

Fabrication of a metal-ceramic crown to fit an existing partial removable dental prosthesis using ceramic pressed to metal technique: a clinical report

PubMed Central

Seo, Jae-Min

2014-01-01

Fabricating a crown to retrofit an existing abutment tooth for a partial removable dental prosthesis (PRDP) is one of the most time-consuming and labor-intensive clinical procedures. In particular, when the patient is concerned with esthetic aspects of restoration, the task of fabricating becomes more daunting. Many techniques for the fabrication of all-metallic or metal-ceramic crowns have been discussed in the literature. This article was aimed to describe a simple fabrication method in which a retrofitting crown was fabricated for a precise fit using a ceramic-pressed-to-metal system. PMID:25006389

Multiplanar visualization in 3D transthoracic echocardiography for precise delineation of mitral valve pathology.

PubMed

Kuppahally, Suman S; Paloma, Allan; Craig Miller, D; Schnittger, Ingela; Liang, David

2008-01-01

A novel multiplanar reformatting (MPR) technique in three-dimensional transthoracic echocardiography (3D TTE) was used to precisely localize the prolapsed lateral segment of posterior mitral valve leaflet in a patient symptomatic with mitral valve prolapse (MVP) and moderate mitral regurgitation (MR) before undergoing mitral valve repair surgery. Transesophageal echocardiography was avoided based on the findings of this new technique by 3D TTE. It was noninvasive, quick, reproducible and reliable. Also, it did not need the time-consuming reconstruction of multiple cardiac images. Mitral valve repair surgery was subsequently performed based on the MPR findings and corroborated the findings from the MPR examination.

Linear triangular optimization technique and pricing scheme in residential energy management systems

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Anees, Amir; Hussain, Iqtadar; AlKhaldi, Ali Hussain; Aslam, Muhammad

2018-06-01

This paper presents a new linear optimization algorithm for power scheduling of electric appliances. The proposed system is applied in a smart home community, in which community controller acts as a virtual distribution company for the end consumers. We also present a pricing scheme between community controller and its residential users based on real-time pricing and likely block rates. The results of the proposed optimization algorithm demonstrate that by applying the anticipated technique, not only end users can minimise the consumption cost, but it can also reduce the power peak to an average ratio which will be beneficial for the utilities as well.

Measuring the efficacy of advertising communication with neuroscience methods: an experiment performed by Telecom Italia.

PubMed

Grimaldi, Loredana

2012-01-01

Recently, there has been a concentrated effort by companies to better understand the needs and desires of their consumers. Such efforts usually employ different and sophisticated analysis techniques for monitoring the consumers preferences and how such consumers perceive the advertising communication campaign from a specific company.

Interactive distributed hardware-accelerated LOD-sprite terrain rendering with stable frame rates

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Swan, J. E., II; Arango, Jesus; Nakshatrala, Bala K.

2002-03-01

A stable frame rate is important for interactive rendering systems. Image-based modeling and rendering (IBMR) techniques, which model parts of the scene with image sprites, are a promising technique for interactive systems because they allow the sprite to be manipulated instead of the underlying scene geometry. However, with IBMR techniques a frequent problem is an unstable frame rate, because generating an image sprite (with 3D rendering) is time-consuming relative to manipulating the sprite (with 2D image resampling). This paper describes one solution to this problem, by distributing an IBMR technique into a collection of cooperating threads and executable programs across two computers. The particular IBMR technique distributed here is the LOD-Sprite algorithm. This technique uses a multiple level-of-detail (LOD) scene representation. It first renders a keyframe from a high-LOD representation, and then caches the frame as an image sprite. It renders subsequent spriteframes by texture-mapping the cached image sprite into a lower-LOD representation. We describe a distributed architecture and implementation of LOD-Sprite, in the context of terrain rendering, which takes advantage of graphics hardware. We present timing results which indicate we have achieved a stable frame rate. In addition to LOD-Sprite, our distribution method holds promise for other IBMR techniques.

Neuromarketing empirical approaches and food choice: A systematic review.

PubMed

Stasi, A; Songa, G; Mauri, M; Ciceri, A; Diotallevi, F; Nardone, G; Russo, V

2018-06-01

Consumers' food choices are often driven by reasons of which consumers are not fully aware. Decision-making about food is influenced by a complex set of emotions, feelings, attitudes, and values that are impossible to assess simply by asking consumers their opinions. Indeed, traditional techniques, such as self-reports or interviews, mainly allow the measurement of conscious and rational reactions to a product or advertising. Recently, there has been a rapidly growing interest in the multidisciplinary field of "neuromarketing," which takes advantage of neuroscientific techniques to study consumer behavior. This discipline applies neuroscientific methods and tools that allow the measurement of consumers' emotional and spontaneous reactions in a more objective and observable way. The aim of this paper is (a) to describe neuromarketing's underlying assumptions, techniques, and the advantages of this perspective, examining the scientific literature on the use of neuromarketing in food studies; and (b) to suggest best practices to apply this novel approach in the food marketing domain, with a specific focus on non-invasive methods. Finally, although the perception of nutritional elements has already been explored, the health content of labels, the presence of additives, and the evaluation of the information conveyed by food packaging remain other possible elements of interest in future food neuromarketing research. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Remote sensing techniques in cultural resource management archaeology

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Johnson, Jay K.; Haley, Bryan S.

2003-04-01

Cultural resource management archaeology in the United States concerns compliance with legislation set in place to protect archaeological resources from the impact of modern activities. Traditionally, surface collection, shovel testing, test excavation, and mechanical stripping are used in these projects. These methods are expensive, time consuming, and may poorly represent the features within archaeological sites. The use of remote sensing techniques in cultural resource management archaeology may provide an answer to these problems. Near-surface geophysical techniques, including magnetometry, resistivity, electromagnetics, and ground penetrating radar, have proven to be particularly successful at efficiently locating archaeological features. Research has also indicated airborne and satellite remote sensing may hold some promise in the future for large-scale archaeological survey, although this is difficult in many areas of the world where ground cover reflect archaeological features in an indirect manner. A cost simulation of a hypothetical data recovery project on a large complex site in Mississippi is presented to illustrate the potential advantages of remote sensing in a cultural resource management setting. The results indicate these techniques can save a substantial amount of time and money for these projects.

Personalized diagnostics and biosensors: a review of the biology and technology needed for personalized medicine.

PubMed

Ahmed, Minhaz Uddin; Saaem, Ishtiaq; Wu, Pae C; Brown, April S

2014-06-01

Exploiting the burgeoning fields of genomics, proteomics and metabolomics improves understanding of human physiology and, critically, the mutations that signal disease susceptibility. Through these emerging fields, rational design approaches to diagnosis, drug development and ultimately personalized medicine are possible. Personalized medicine and point-of-care testing techniques must fulfill a host of constraints for real-world applicability. Point-of-care devices (POCDs) must ultimately provide a cost-effective alternative to expensive and time-consuming laboratory tests in order to assist health care personnel with disease diagnosis and treatment decisions. Sensor technologies are also expanding beyond the more traditional classes of biomarkers--nucleic acids and proteins--to metabolites and direct detection of pathogens, ultimately increasing the palette of available techniques for the use of personalized medicine. The technologies needed to perform such diagnostics have also been rapidly evolving, with each generation being increasingly sensitive and selective while being more resource conscious. Ultimately, the final hurdle for all such technologies is to be able to drive consumer adoption and achieve a meaningful medical outcome for the patient.

A subjective framework for seat comfort based on a heuristic multi criteria decision making technique and anthropometry.

PubMed

Fazlollahtabar, Hamed

2010-12-01

Consumer expectations for automobile seat comfort continue to rise. With this said, it is evident that the current automobile seat comfort development process, which is only sporadically successful, needs to change. In this context, there has been growing recognition of the need for establishing theoretical and methodological automobile seat comfort. On the other hand, seat producer need to know the costumer's required comfort to produce based on their interests. The current research methodologies apply qualitative approaches due to anthropometric specifications. The most significant weakness of these approaches is the inexact extracted inferences. Despite the qualitative nature of the consumer's preferences there are some methods to transform the qualitative parameters into numerical value which could help seat producer to improve or enhance their products. Nonetheless this approach would help the automobile manufacturer to provide their seats from the best producer regarding to the consumers idea. In this paper, a heuristic multi criteria decision making technique is applied to make consumers preferences in the numeric value. This Technique is combination of Analytical Hierarchy Procedure (AHP), Entropy method, and Technique for Order Preference by Similarity to an Ideal Solution (TOPSIS). A case study is conducted to illustrate the applicability and the effectiveness of the proposed heuristic approach. Copyright © 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Advanced Signal Processing Analysis of Laser-Induced Breakdown Spectroscopy Data for the Discrimination of Obsidian Sources

DTIC Science & Technology

2012-02-09

different sources [12,13], but the analytical techniques needed for such analysis (XRD, INAA , & ICP-MS) are time consuming and require expensive...partial least-squares discriminant analysis (PLSDA) that used the SIMPLS solving method [33]. In the experi- ment design, a leave-one-sample-out (LOSO) para...REPORT Advanced signal processing analysis of laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy data for the discrimination of obsidian sources 14. ABSTRACT 16

An Automated Solution to the Multiuser Carved Data Ascription Problem

DTIC Science & Technology

2010-12-01

computer might have several authorized users. It is also common in many families, as well as in libraries, hospitals, and Internet cafes . Another way for...starting disk sector number were used in preference to features such as the Microsoft Office em- bedded “Creator” attribute. We believe that this is...with exemplars in a reference collection. 5) Validation Server: Although the technique presented in this paper is effective, it is time consuming to

Multilevel wireless capsule endoscopy video segmentation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hwang, Sae; Celebi, M. Emre

2010-03-01

Wireless Capsule Endoscopy (WCE) is a relatively new technology (FDA approved in 2002) allowing doctors to view most of the small intestine. WCE transmits more than 50,000 video frames per examination and the visual inspection of the resulting video is a highly time-consuming task even for the experienced gastroenterologist. Typically, a medical clinician spends one or two hours to analyze a WCE video. To reduce the assessment time, it is critical to develop a technique to automatically discriminate digestive organs and shots each of which consists of the same or similar shots. In this paper a multi-level WCE video segmentation methodology is presented to reduce the examination time.

Comparison of closed and open methods of pneumoperitonium in laparoscopic cholecystectomy.

PubMed

Akbar, Mohammad; Khan, Ishtiaq Ali; Naveed, Danish; Khattak, Irfanuddin; Zafar, Arshad; Wazir, Muhammad Salim; Khan, Asif Nawaz; Zia-ur-Rehman

2008-01-01

Pneumoperitonium is the first step in laparoscopic surgery including cholecystectomy. Two commonly used methods to create pneumoperitonium are closed and open technique. Both have advantages and disadvantages. The current study was designed to compare these two techniques in terms of safety and time required to complete the procedure. This was a randomized controlled prospective study conducted at Department of Surgery, Ayub Hospital Complex Abbottabad, from 1st June 2007 to 31st May 2008. Randomization was done into two groups randomly using sealed envelopes containing the questionnaire. Seventy envelopes were kept in the cupboard, containing 35 proformas for group A and 35 for group B. An envelope was randomly fetched and opened upon selection of the patient after taking the informed consent. Pneumoperitonium was created by closed technique in group A, and by open technique in group B. Time required for successful pneumoperitonium was calculated in each group. Failure to induce pneumoperitonium was determined for each technique. Time required to close the wounds at completion, total operating time and injuries sustained during induction of pneumoperitonium were compared in both techniques. Out of the total 70 patients included in study, 35 were in group A and 35 in group B. Mean time required for successful pneumoperitonium was 9.17 minutes in group A and 8.11 minutes in group B. Total operating time ranged from 55 minutes to 130 minutes in group A and from 45 minutes to 110 minutes in group B. Mean of total operating time was 78.34 and 67 minutes in group A and B respectively. Mean time needed to close the wound was 9.88 minutes in group A and 4.97 minutes in group B. Failure of technique was noted in three patients in group A while no failure was experienced in group B. In two cases in group A minor complications during creation of pneumoperitonium were observed while in group B no complication occurred. No patient died in the study. We concluded from this study that open technique of pneumoperitonium was, less time consuming and safer than the closed technique.

Matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization time-of-flight (MALDI-TOF) mass spectrometry applied to virus identification

PubMed Central

Calderaro, Adriana; Arcangeletti, Maria-Cristina; Rodighiero, Isabella; Buttrini, Mirko; Gorrini, Chiara; Motta, Federica; Germini, Diego; Medici, Maria-Cristina; Chezzi, Carlo; De Conto, Flora

2014-01-01

Virus detection and/or identification traditionally rely on methods based on cell culture, electron microscopy and antigen or nucleic acid detection. These techniques are good, but often expensive and/or time-consuming; furthermore, they not always lead to virus identification at the species and/or type level. In this study, Matrix-Assisted Laser Desorption/Ionization Time-of-Flight Mass Spectrometry (MALDI-TOF MS) was tested as an innovative tool to identify human polioviruses and to identify specific viral protein biomarkers in infected cells. The results revealed MALDI-TOF MS to be an effective and inexpensive tool for the identification of the three poliovirus serotypes. The method was firstly applied to Sabin reference strains, and then to isolates from different clinical samples, highlighting its value as a time-saving, sensitive and specific technique when compared to the gold standard neutralization assay and casting new light on its possible application to virus detection and/or identification. PMID:25354905

Glenohumeral joint injection: a comparative study of ultrasound and fluoroscopically guided techniques before MR arthrography.

PubMed

Rutten, Matthieu J C M; Collins, James M P; Maresch, Bas J; Smeets, Jacques H J M; Janssen, Caroline M M; Kiemeney, Lambertus A L M; Jager, Gerrit J

2009-03-01

To assess the variability in accuracy of contrast media introduction, leakage, required time and patient discomfort in four different centres, each using a different image-guided glenohumeral injection technique. Each centre included 25 consecutive patients. The ultrasound-guided anterior (USa) and posterior approach (USp), fluoroscopic-guided anterior (FLa) and posterior (FLp) approach were used. Number of injection attempts, effect of contrast leakage on diagnostic quality, and total room, radiologist and procedure times were measured. Pain was documented with a visual analogue scale (VAS) pain score. Access to the joint was achieved in all patients. A successful first attempt significantly occurred more often with US (94%) than with fluoroscopic guidance (72%). Leakage of contrast medium did not cause interpretative difficulties. With US guidance mean room, procedure and radiologist times were significantly shorter (p < 0.001). The USa approach was rated with the lowest pre- and post-injection VAS scores. The four image-guided injection techniques are successful in injection of contrast material into the glenohumeral joint. US-guided injections and especially the anterior approach are significantly less time consuming, more successful on the first attempt, cause less patient discomfort and obviate the need for radiation and iodine contrast.

Predictable repair of provisional restorations.

PubMed

Hammond, Barry D; Cooper, Jeril R; Lazarchik, David A

2009-01-01

The importance of provisional restorations is often downplayed, as they are thought of by some as only "temporaries." As a result, a less-than-ideal provisional is sometimes fabricated, in part because of the additional chair time required to make provisional modifications when using traditional techniques. Additionally, in many dental practices, these provisional restorations are often fabricated by auxillary personnel who may not be as well trained in the fabrication process. Because provisionals play an important role in achieving the desired final functional and esthetic result, a high-quality provisional restoration is essential to fabricating a successful definitive restoration. This article describes a method for efficiently and predictably repairing both methacrylate and bis-acryl provisional restorations using flowable composite resin. By use of this relatively simple technique, provisional restorations can now be modified or repaired in a timely and productive manner to yield an exceptional result. Successful execution of esthetic and restorative dentistry requires attention to detail in every aspect of the case. Fabrication of high-quality provisional restorations can, at times, be challenging and time consuming. The techniques for optimizing resin provisional restorations as described in this paper are pragmatic and will enhance the delivery of dental treatment.

Enteral Feeding Set Handling Techniques.

PubMed

Lyman, Beth; Williams, Maria; Sollazzo, Janet; Hayden, Ashley; Hensley, Pam; Dai, Hongying; Roberts, Cristine

2017-04-01

Enteral nutrition therapy is common practice in pediatric clinical settings. Often patients will receive a pump-assisted bolus feeding over 30 minutes several times per day using the same enteral feeding set (EFS). This study aims to determine the safest and most efficacious way to handle the EFS between feedings. Three EFS handling techniques were compared through simulation for bacterial growth, nursing time, and supply costs: (1) rinsing the EFS with sterile water after each feeding, (2) refrigerating the EFS between feedings, and (3) using a ready-to-hang (RTH) product maintained at room temperature. Cultures were obtained at baseline, hour 12, and hour 21 of the 24-hour cycle. A time-in-motion analysis was conducted and reported in average number of seconds to complete each procedure. Supply costs were inventoried for 1 month comparing the actual usage to our estimated usage. Of 1080 cultures obtained, the overall bacterial growth rate was 8.7%. The rinse and refrigeration techniques displayed similar bacterial growth (11.4% vs 10.3%, P = .63). The RTH technique displayed the least bacterial growth of any method (4.4%, P = .002). The time analysis in minutes showed the rinse method was the most time-consuming (44.8 ± 2.7) vs refrigeration (35.8 ± 2.6) and RTH (31.08 ± 0.6) ( P < .0001). All 3 EFS handling techniques displayed low bacterial growth. RTH was superior in bacterial growth, nursing time, and supply costs. Since not all pediatric formulas are available in RTH, we conclude that refrigerating the EFS between uses is the next most efficacious method for handling the EFS between bolus feeds.

Molecular diagnosis of bloodstream infections: planning to (physically) reach the bedside.

PubMed

Leggieri, N; Rida, A; François, P; Schrenzel, Jacques

2010-08-01

Faster identification of infecting microorganisms and treatment options is a first-ranking priority in the infectious disease area, in order to prevent inappropriate treatment and overuse of broad-spectrum antibiotics. Standard bacterial identification is intrinsically time-consuming, and very recently there has been a burst in the number of commercially available nonphenotype-based techniques and in the documentation of a possible clinical impact of these techniques. Matrix-assisted laser desorption ionization time-of-flight mass spectrometry (MALDI-TOF MS) is now a standard diagnostic procedure on cultures and hold promises on spiked blood. Meanwhile, commercial PCR-based techniques have improved with the use of bacterial DNA enrichment methods, the diversity of amplicon analysis techniques (melting curve analysis, microarrays, gel electrophoresis, sequencing and analysis by mass spectrometry) leading to the ability to challenge bacterial culture as the gold standard for providing earlier diagnosis with a better 'clinical' sensitivity and additional prognostic information. Laboratory practice has already changed with MALDI-TOF MS, but a change in clinical practice, driven by emergent nucleic acid-based techniques, will need the demonstration of real-life applicability as well as robust clinical-impact-oriented studies.

Digitally synthesized beat frequency-multiplexed fluorescence lifetime spectroscopy

PubMed Central

Chan, Jacky C. K.; Diebold, Eric D.; Buckley, Brandon W.; Mao, Sien; Akbari, Najva; Jalali, Bahram

2014-01-01

Frequency domain fluorescence lifetime imaging is a powerful technique that enables the observation of subtle changes in the molecular environment of a fluorescent probe. This technique works by measuring the phase delay between the optical emission and excitation of fluorophores as a function of modulation frequency. However, high-resolution measurements are time consuming, as the excitation modulation frequency must be swept, and faster low-resolution measurements at a single frequency are prone to large errors. Here, we present a low cost optical system for applications in real-time confocal lifetime imaging, which measures the phase vs. frequency spectrum without sweeping. Deemed Lifetime Imaging using Frequency-multiplexed Excitation (LIFE), this technique uses a digitally-synthesized radio frequency comb to drive an acousto-optic deflector, operated in a cat’s-eye configuration, to produce a single laser excitation beam modulated at multiple beat frequencies. We demonstrate simultaneous fluorescence lifetime measurements at 10 frequencies over a bandwidth of 48 MHz, enabling high speed frequency domain lifetime analysis of single- and multi-component sample mixtures. PMID:25574449

Rapid, cost-effective and accurate quantification of Yucca schidigera Roezl. steroidal saponins using HPLC-ELSD method.

PubMed

Tenon, Mathieu; Feuillère, Nicolas; Roller, Marc; Birtić, Simona

2017-04-15

Yucca GRAS-labelled saponins have been and are increasingly used in food/feed, pharmaceutical or cosmetic industries. Existing techniques presently used for Yucca steroidal saponin quantification remain either inaccurate and misleading or accurate but time consuming and cost prohibitive. The method reported here addresses all of the above challenges. HPLC/ELSD technique is an accurate and reliable method that yields results of appropriate repeatability and reproducibility. This method does not over- or under-estimate levels of steroidal saponins. HPLC/ELSD method does not require each and every pure standard of saponins, to quantify the group of steroidal saponins. The method is a time- and cost-effective technique that is suitable for routine industrial analyses. HPLC/ELSD methods yield a saponin fingerprints specific to the plant species. As the method is capable of distinguishing saponin profiles from taxonomically distant species, it can unravel plant adulteration issues. Copyright © 2016 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier Ltd.. All rights reserved.

Noncontact, Electrode-free Capacitance/Voltage Measurement Based on General Theory of Metal-Oxide-Semiconductor (MOS) Structure

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sakai, Takamasa; Kohno, Motohiro; Hirae, Sadao; Nakatani, Ikuyoshi; Kusuda, Tatsufumi

1993-09-01

In this paper, we discussed a novel approach to semiconductor surface inspection, which is analysis using the C--V curve measured in a noncontact method by the metal-air-semiconductor (MAIS) technique. A new gap sensing method using the so-called Goos-Haenchen effect was developed to achieve the noncontact C--V measurement. The MAIS technique exhibited comparable sensitivity and repeatability to those of conventional C--V measurement, and hence, good reproducibility and resolution for quantifying the electrically active impurity on the order of 1× 109/cm2, which is better than most spectrometric techniques, such as secondary ion mass spectroscopy (SIMS), electron spectroscopy for chemical analysis (ESCA) and Auger electron spectrocopy (AES) which are time-consuming and destructive. This measurement without preparation of any electrical contact metal electrode suggested, for the first time, the possibility of measuring an intrinsic characteristic of the semiconductor surface, using the examples of a concrete examination.

A novel lobule rotation flap for the reconstruction of middle third auricular defects.

PubMed

Basu, Indraneil; Way, Benjamin; Al-Basri, Isam

2013-12-01

There are numerous techniques for the reconstruction of cutaneous defects of the pinna. Many of these distort the auricle, and several are challenging and time-consuming to perform. An illustrative case is presented to demonstrate a novel lobule rotational flap, which can be used to cover cutaneous defects of the middle third of the pinna. Postoperative photography illustrates that this simple one-stage technique causes minimal anatomical distortion and allows the final scar to be concealed within the inner helical rim. Small local flaps can be raised from the lobule to cover challenging defects of the middle third of the pinna. In selected patients, with abundant lobular tissue, this technique can be as effective as more complex reconstructive options. © 2013 The International Society of Dermatology.

Diagnostic tool for structural health monitoring: effect of material nonlinearity and vibro-impact process

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hiwarkar, V. R.; Babitsky, V. I.; Silberschmidt, V. V.

2013-07-01

Numerous techniques are available for monitoring structural health. Most of these techniques are expensive and time-consuming. In this paper, vibration-based techniques are explored together with their use as diagnostic tools for structural health monitoring. Finite-element simulations are used to study the effect of material nonlinearity on dynamics of a cracked bar. Additionally, several experiments are performed to study the effect of vibro-impact behavior of crack on its dynamics. It was observed that a change in the natural frequency of the cracked bar due to crack-tip plasticity and vibro-impact behavior linked to interaction of crack faces, obtained from experiments, led to generation of higher harmonics; this can be used as a diagnostic tool for structural health monitoring.

What the Pendulum Can Tell Educators about Children's Scientific Reasoning

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Stafford, Erin

2004-11-01

Inhelder and Piaget (1958) studied schoolchildren's understanding of a simplependulum as a means of investigating the development of the control of variablesscheme and the ceteris paribus principle central to scientific experimentation.The time-consuming nature of the individual interview technique used by Inhelderhas led to the development of a whole range of group test techniques aimed attesting the empirical validity and increasing the practical utility of Piaget's work.The Rasch measurement techniques utilized in this study reveal that the Piagetian Reasoning Task III — Pendulum and the méthode clinique interview revealthe same underlying ability. Of particular interest to classroom teachers is theevidence that some individuals produced rather disparate performances across thetwo testing situations. The implications of the commonalities and individualdifferences in performance for interpreting children's scientific understanding arediscussed.

Nondestructive examination of recovery stage during annealing of a cold-rolled low-carbon steel using eddy current testing technique

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Seyfpour, M.; Ghanei, S.; Mazinani, M.; Kashefi, M.; Davis, C.

2018-04-01

The recovery process in steel is usually investigated by conventional destructive tests that are expensive, time-consuming and also cumbersome. In this study, an alternative non-destructive test technique (based on eddy current testing) is used to characterise the recovery process during annealing of cold-rolled low-carbon steels. For assessing the reliability of eddy current results corresponding to different levels of recovery, X-ray line broadening analysis is also employed. It is shown that there is a strong relationship between eddy current outputs and the extent to which recovery occurs at different annealing temperatures. Accordingly, the non-destructive eddy current test technique represents the potential to be used as a reliable process for detection of the occurrence of recovery in the steel microstructure.

High-speed time-reversed ultrasonically encoded (TRUE) optical focusing inside dynamic scattering media at 793 nm

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Liu, Yan; Lai, Puxiang; Ma, Cheng; Xu, Xiao; Suzuki, Yuta; Grabar, Alexander A.; Wang, Lihong V.

2014-03-01

Time-reversed ultrasonically encoded (TRUE) optical focusing is an emerging technique that focuses light deep into scattering media by phase-conjugating ultrasonically encoded diffuse light. In previous work, the speed of TRUE focusing was limited to no faster than 1 Hz by the response time of the photorefractive phase conjugate mirror, or the data acquisition and streaming speed of the digital camera; photorefractive-crystal-based TRUE focusing was also limited to the visible spectral range. These time-consuming schemes prevent this technique from being applied in vivo, since living biological tissue has a speckle decorrelation time on the order of a millisecond. In this work, using a Tedoped Sn2P2S6 photorefractive crystal at a near-infrared wavelength of 793 nm, we achieved TRUE focusing inside dynamic scattering media having a speckle decorrelation time as short as 7.7 ms. As the achieved speed approaches the tissue decorrelation rate, this work is an important step forward toward in vivo applications of TRUE focusing in deep tissue imaging, photodynamic therapy, and optical manipulation.

Advances in Non-Destructive Early Assessment of Fruit Ripeness towards Defining Optimal Time of Harvest and Yield Prediction—A Review

PubMed Central

Lecourt, Julien; Bishop, Gerard

2018-01-01

Global food security for the increasing world population not only requires increased sustainable production of food but a significant reduction in pre- and post-harvest waste. The timing of when a fruit is harvested is critical for reducing waste along the supply chain and increasing fruit quality for consumers. The early in-field assessment of fruit ripeness and prediction of the harvest date and yield by non-destructive technologies have the potential to revolutionize farming practices and enable the consumer to eat the tastiest and freshest fruit possible. A variety of non-destructive techniques have been applied to estimate the ripeness or maturity but not all of them are applicable for in situ (field or glasshouse) assessment. This review focuses on the non-destructive methods which are promising for, or have already been applied to, the pre-harvest in-field measurements including colorimetry, visible imaging, spectroscopy and spectroscopic imaging. Machine learning and regression models used in assessing ripeness are also discussed. PMID:29320410

Children as consumers: advertising and marketing.

PubMed

Calvert, Sandra L

2008-01-01

Marketing and advertising support the U.S. economy by promoting the sale of goods and services to consumers, both adults and children. Sandra Calvert addresses product marketing to children and shows that although marketers have targeted children for decades, two recent trends have increased their interest in child consumers. First, both the discretionary income of children and their power to influence parent purchases have increased over time. Second, as the enormous increase in the number of available television channels has led to smaller audiences for each channel, digital interactive technologies have simultaneously opened new routes to narrow cast to children, thereby creating a growing media space just for children and children's products. Calvert explains that paid advertising to children primarily involves television spots that feature toys and food products, most of which are high in fat and sugar and low in nutritional value. Newer marketing approaches have led to online advertising and to so-called stealth marketing techniques, such as embedding products in the program content in films, online, and in video games. All these marketing strategies, says Calvert, make children younger than eight especially vulnerable because they lack the cognitive skills to understand the persuasive intent of television and online advertisements. The new stealth techniques can also undermine the consumer defenses even of older children and adolescents. Calvert explains that government regulations implemented by the Federal Communications Commission and the Federal Trade Commission provide some protection for children from advertising and marketing practices. Regulators exert more control over content on scarce television airwaves that belong to the public than over content on the more open online spaces. Overall, Calvert concludes, children live and grow up in a highly sophisticated marketing environment that influences their preferences and behaviors.

Evaluating Multi-core Architectures through Accelerating the Three-Dimensional Lax–Wendroff Correction

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

You, Yang; Fu, Haohuan; Song, Shuaiwen

2014-07-18

Wave propagation forward modeling is a widely used computational method in oil and gas exploration. The iterative stencil loops in such problems have broad applications in scientific computing. However, executing such loops can be highly time time-consuming, which greatly limits application’s performance and power efficiency. In this paper, we accelerate the forward modeling technique on the latest multi-core and many-core architectures such as Intel Sandy Bridge CPUs, NVIDIA Fermi C2070 GPU, NVIDIA Kepler K20x GPU, and the Intel Xeon Phi Co-processor. For the GPU platforms, we propose two parallel strategies to explore the performance optimization opportunities for our stencil kernels.more » For Sandy Bridge CPUs and MIC, we also employ various optimization techniques in order to achieve the best.« less

High-Throughput Platform for Synthesis of Melamine-Formaldehyde Microcapsules.

PubMed

Çakir, Seda; Bauters, Erwin; Rivero, Guadalupe; Parasote, Tom; Paul, Johan; Du Prez, Filip E

2017-07-10

The synthesis of microcapsules via in situ polymerization is a labor-intensive and time-consuming process, where many composition and process factors affect the microcapsule formation and its morphology. Herein, we report a novel combinatorial technique for the preparation of melamine-formaldehyde microcapsules, using a custom-made and automated high-throughput platform (HTP). After performing validation experiments for ensuring the accuracy and reproducibility of the novel platform, a design of experiment study was performed. The influence of different encapsulation parameters was investigated, such as the effect of the surfactant, surfactant type, surfactant concentration and core/shell ratio. As a result, this HTP-platform is suitable to be used for the synthesis of different types of microcapsules in an automated and controlled way, allowing the screening of different reaction parameters in a shorter time compared to the manual synthetic techniques.

Effect of micro-oxygenation on sensory characteristics and consumer preference of Cabernet Sauvignon wine.

PubMed

Parpinello, Giuseppina Paola; Plumejeau, François; Maury, Chantal; Versari, Andrea

2012-04-01

The main objective of this study was to improve the structure of a Cabernet Sauvignon red wine in a short period of time by micro-oxygenation (MOX) at high rates (25 and 50 mL L(-1) month(-1) ), the effects of which were evaluated based on sensory characteristics and consumer preference. Sensory data were analysed by principal component analysis, discriminant analysis and ordinal logistic regression (OLR). MOX led to significant differences in the colour, colour stability and phenolic compounds of wine. Sensory characteristics also changed through MOX treatment, and wine experts were able to discriminate between MOX-treated and untreated samples, with olfactory intensity, complexity, astringency and roundness being the main discriminating characteristics. Ordinal logistic regression enabled identification of the sensory characteristics that drove consumer preference. MOX at high rates improved the sensory characteristics of wine and may therefore be considered a valid technique for obtaining structured wines in a short period of time, i.e. within just a few months after the vintage. The results highlight the need for (i) careful selection of the MOX dosage rate and duration (the 25 mL L(-1) month(-1) dose for 6 days provided the best result) and (ii) continuous monitoring of the MOX treatment. Copyright © 2011 Society of Chemical Industry.

Novel and successful free comments method for sensory characterization of chocolate ice cream: A comparative study between pivot profile and comment analysis.

PubMed

Fonseca, Fernando G A; Esmerino, Erick A; Filho, Elson R Tavares; Ferraz, Juliana P; da Cruz, Adriano G; Bolini, Helena M A

2016-05-01

Rapid sensory profiling methods have gained space in the sensory evaluation field. Techniques using direct analysis of the terms generated by consumers are considered easy to perform, without specific training requirements, thus improving knowledge about consumer perceptions on various products. This study aimed to determine the sensory profile of different commercial samples of chocolate ice cream, labeled as conventional and light or diet, using the "comment analysis" and "pivot profile" methods, based on consumers' perceptions. In the comment analysis task, consumers responded to 2 separate open questions describing the sensory attributes they liked or disliked in each sample. In the pivot profile method, samples were served in pairs (consisting of a coded sample and pivot), and consumers indicated the higher and lower intensity attributes in the target sample compared with the pivot. We observed that both methods were able to characterize the different chocolate ice cream samples using consumer perception, with high correlation results and configurational similarity (regression vector coefficient=0.917) between them. However, it is worth emphasizing that comment analysis is performed intuitively by consumers, whereas the pivot profile method showed high analytical and discriminative power even using consumers, proving to be a promising technique for routine application when classical descriptive methods cannot be used. Copyright © 2016 American Dairy Science Association. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Our experience with a new instrument for laparoscopic gallbladder extraction, the "Bergetrokar".

PubMed

Höferlin, A; Höhle, K D

1993-01-01

Laparoscopic cholecystectomy has become a standardized technique within the last years. However, the extraction of the stone-filled gallbladder often becomes a time-consuming and difficult part of the operation. We have developed a new instrument for quick and safe extraction of the stone-filled gallbladder. The instrument, called "Bergetrokar", is a trocar cannula with a trumpet valve and cone-shaped tip which can be spread. The application of this device is simple. After using the "Bergetrokar" in about 180 cases we have not observed any perforation of the gallbladder or loss of stones. Extraction times were reduced.

Nuclear reactor descriptions for space power systems analysis

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Mccauley, E. W.; Brown, N. J.

1972-01-01

For the small, high performance reactors required for space electric applications, adequate neutronic analysis is of crucial importance, but in terms of computational time consumed, nuclear calculations probably yield the least amount of detail for mission analysis study. It has been found possible, after generation of only a few designs of a reactor family in elaborate thermomechanical and nuclear detail to use simple curve fitting techniques to assure desired neutronic performance while still performing the thermomechanical analysis in explicit detail. The resulting speed-up in computation time permits a broad detailed examination of constraints by the mission analyst.

An automated repair method of water pipe infrastructure using carbon fiber bundles

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wisotzkey, Sean; Carr, Heath; Fyfe, Ed

2011-04-01

The United States water pipe infrastructure is made up of over 2 million miles of pipe. Due to age and deterioration, a large portion of this pipe is in need of repair to prevent catastrophic failures. Current repair methods generally involve intrusive techniques that can be time consuming and costly, but also can cause major societal impacts. A new automated repair method incorporating innovative carbon fiber technology is in development. This automated method would eliminate the need for trenching and would vastly cut time and labor costs, providing a much more economical pipe repair solution.

Wine consumption habits and consumer preferences between wines aged in barrels or with chips.

PubMed

Pérez-Magariño, Silvia; Ortega-Heras, Miriam; González-Sanjosé, María Luisa

2011-03-30

The use of oak wood pieces in winemaking is increasing, but the acceptance of this technique by consumers is unknown. For that reason, the main aim of this study was to measure consumers' opinion of red wines made with this new technique, their acceptance of them and their intention to purchase these wines. A preference ranking test was also carried out. A specific questionnaire was drawn up for this study and 65 frequent red wine consumers tasted four wines, two aged traditionally in barrels and two macerated with chips, and a forced choice preference test was carried out. Fifty-five per cent of respondents said that they would not buy wines made using oak chips, although most respondents would buy these wines if, after tasting them, they were as pleasant and had the same quality as the wines aged traditionally in barrels. Wines obtained with oak wood fragments were not significantly rejected either by consumers who answered the questionnaire or by consumer tasters, which could be due to the large disparity of preferences found among tasters. The results clearly indicate that producers should develop each wine taking into account the specific preferences of each consumer group. Copyright © 2011 Society of Chemical Industry.

Acceptability of willingness to pay techniques to consumers.

PubMed

Taylor, Susan J; Armour, Carol L

2002-12-01

The purpose of this study was to assess and compare the proportion of usable responses and protest votes obtained with two willingness to pay (WTP) techniques, contingent valuation (CV) and discrete choice experiment (DCE) and to assess the acceptability of the techniques to respondents. Pregnant women attending the public antenatal clinics of a Sydney teaching hospital were surveyed. Preference for either Treatment A (artificial rupture of the membranes followed by intravenous oxytocin) or Treatment B (prostaglandin E2 gel followed by oxytocin if necessary) was assessed. Then WTP for the preferred treatments was assessed using CV and WTP for specific attributes of the treatments in the DCE. In addition, the acceptability of the two techniques was compared in terms of responses deemed to be valid according to defined criteria, protest votes and comments recorded by consumers. With the CV, 74% of respondents chose gel and their maximum WTP was Aus$178 compared with $133 for the alternative. A total of 68% of responses were deemed to be valid including 5% who may have been expressing a protest vote. With the DCE, respondents were WTP $55 for every 1 h reduction in the length of time from induction to delivery. A total of 72% of responses were deemed valid and only two of these 258 women were considered to have expressed a protest vote. Only a small number of women expressed objections to the use of WTP questions in health-care and the majority of women completed both questions successfully.

Interactive use of online health resources: a comparison of consumer and professional questions.

PubMed

Roberts, Kirk; Demner-Fushman, Dina

2016-07-01

To understand how consumer questions on online resources differ from questions asked by professionals, and how such consumer questions differ across resources. Ten online question corpora, 5 consumer and 5 professional, with a combined total of over 40 000 questions, were analyzed using a variety of natural language processing techniques. These techniques analyze questions at the lexical, syntactic, and semantic levels, exposing differences in both form and content. Consumer questions tend to be longer than professional questions, more closely resemble open-domain language, and focus far more on medical problems. Consumers ask more sub-questions, provide far more background information, and ask different types of questions than professionals. Furthermore, there is substantial variance of these factors between the different consumer corpora. The form of consumer questions is highly dependent upon the individual online resource, especially in the amount of background information provided. Professionals, on the other hand, provide very little background information and often ask much shorter questions. The content of consumer questions is also highly dependent upon the resource. While professional questions commonly discuss treatments and tests, consumer questions focus disproportionately on symptoms and diseases. Further, consumers place far more emphasis on certain types of health problems (eg, sexual health). Websites for consumers to submit health questions are a popular online resource filling important gaps in consumer health information. By analyzing how consumers write questions on these resources, we can better understand these gaps and create solutions for improving information access.This article is part of the Special Focus on Person-Generated Health and Wellness Data, which published in the May 2016 issue, Volume 23, Issue 3. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the American Medical Informatics Association 2016. This work is written by US Government employees and is in the public domain in the United States.

Electronic neuroprocessors

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Thakoor, Anil

1991-01-01

The JPL Center for Space Microelectronics Technology (CSMT) is actively pursuing research in the neural network theory, algorithms, and electronics as well as optoelectronic neural net hardware implementations, to explore the strengths and application potential for a variety of NASA, DoD, as well as commercial application problems, where conventional computing techniques are extremely time-consuming, cumbersome, or simply non-existent. An overview of the JPL electronic neural network hardware development activities and some of the striking applications of the JPL electronic neuroprocessors are presented.

Method of Characteristics Calculations and Computer Code for Materials with Arbitrary Equations of State and Using Orthogonal Polynomial Least Square Surface Fits

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Chang, T. S.

1974-01-01

A numerical scheme using the method of characteristics to calculate the flow properties and pressures behind decaying shock waves for materials under hypervelocity impact is developed. Time-consuming double interpolation subroutines are replaced by a technique based on orthogonal polynomial least square surface fits. Typical calculated results are given and compared with the double interpolation results. The complete computer program is included.

A distributed algorithm for demand-side management: Selling back to the grid.

PubMed

Latifi, Milad; Khalili, Azam; Rastegarnia, Amir; Zandi, Sajad; Bazzi, Wael M

2017-11-01

Demand side energy consumption scheduling is a well-known issue in the smart grid research area. However, there is lack of a comprehensive method to manage the demand side and consumer behavior in order to obtain an optimum solution. The method needs to address several aspects, including the scale-free requirement and distributed nature of the problem, consideration of renewable resources, allowing consumers to sell electricity back to the main grid, and adaptivity to a local change in the solution point. In addition, the model should allow compensation to consumers and ensurance of certain satisfaction levels. To tackle these issues, this paper proposes a novel autonomous demand side management technique which minimizes consumer utility costs and maximizes consumer comfort levels in a fully distributed manner. The technique uses a new logarithmic cost function and allows consumers to sell excess electricity (e.g. from renewable resources) back to the grid in order to reduce their electric utility bill. To develop the proposed scheme, we first formulate the problem as a constrained convex minimization problem. Then, it is converted to an unconstrained version using the segmentation-based penalty method. At each consumer location, we deploy an adaptive diffusion approach to obtain the solution in a distributed fashion. The use of adaptive diffusion makes it possible for consumers to find the optimum energy consumption schedule with a small number of information exchanges. Moreover, the proposed method is able to track drifts resulting from changes in the price parameters and consumer preferences. Simulations and numerical results show that our framework can reduce the total load demand peaks, lower the consumer utility bill, and improve the consumer comfort level.

When continuous observations just won't do: developing accurate and efficient sampling strategies for the laying hen.

PubMed

Daigle, Courtney L; Siegford, Janice M

2014-03-01

Continuous observation is the most accurate way to determine animals' actual time budget and can provide a 'gold standard' representation of resource use, behavior frequency, and duration. Continuous observation is useful for capturing behaviors that are of short duration or occur infrequently. However, collecting continuous data is labor intensive and time consuming, making multiple individual or long-term data collection difficult. Six non-cage laying hens were video recorded for 15 h and behavioral data collected every 2 s were compared with data collected using scan sampling intervals of 5, 10, 15, 30, and 60 min and subsamples of 2 second observations performed for 10 min every 30 min, 15 min every 1 h, 30 min every 1.5 h, and 15 min every 2 h. Three statistical approaches were used to provide a comprehensive analysis to examine the quality of the data obtained via different sampling methods. General linear mixed models identified how the time budget from the sampling techniques differed from continuous observation. Correlation analysis identified how strongly results from the sampling techniques were associated with those from continuous observation. Regression analysis identified how well the results from the sampling techniques were associated with those from continuous observation, changes in magnitude, and whether a sampling technique had bias. Static behaviors were well represented with scan and time sampling techniques, while dynamic behaviors were best represented with time sampling techniques. Methods for identifying an appropriate sampling strategy based upon the type of behavior of interest are outlined and results for non-caged laying hens are presented. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

STS-1 environmental control and life support system. Consumables and thermal analysis

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Steines, G.

1980-01-01

The Environmental Control and Life Support Systems (ECLSS)/thermal systems analysis for the Space Transportation System 1 Flight (STS-1) was performed using the shuttle environmental consumables usage requirements evaluation (SECURE) computer program. This program employs a nodal technique utilizing the Fortran Environmental Analysis Routines (FEAR). The output parameters evaluated were consumable quantities, fluid temperatures, heat transfer and rejection, and cabin atmospheric pressure. Analysis of these indicated that adequate margins exist for the nonpropulsive consumables and related thermal environment.

Inserting ex vivo fluorescence confocal microscopy perioperatively in Mohs micrographic surgery expedites bedside assessment of excision margins in recurrent basal cell carcinoma.

PubMed

Longo, Caterina; Ragazzi, Moira; Castagnetti, Fabio; Gardini, Stefano; Palmieri, Tamara; Lallas, Aimilios; Moscarella, Elvira; Piana, Simonetta; Pellacani, Giovanni; Zalaudek, Iris; Argenziano, Giuseppe

2013-01-01

Mohs micrographic surgery can be employed in recurrent basal cell carcinoma, although it is a time-consuming technique. Recently, ex vivo fluorescence confocal microscopy (FCM) has been employed to obtain a fast assessment of tumor margins at the bedside. In our case we successfully employed ex vivo FCM to assess the tumor margins and we treated the persistent tumor with intensity-modulated radiation therapy. Our case demonstrates that a multidisciplinary approach is very efficient in managing complex and recurrent tumors and highlights the benefits of FCM as a new technique that can be used in the surgical theater to speed up the entire procedure.

Three dimensional profile measurement using multi-channel detector MVM-SEM

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Yoshikawa, Makoto; Harada, Sumito; Ito, Keisuke; Murakawa, Tsutomu; Shida, Soichi; Matsumoto, Jun; Nakamura, Takayuki

2014-07-01

In next generation lithography (NGL) for the 1x nm node and beyond, the three dimensional (3D) shape measurements such as side wall angle (SWA) and height of feature on photomask become more critical for the process control. Until today, AFM (Atomic Force Microscope), X-SEM (cross-section Scanning Electron Microscope) and TEM (Transmission Electron Microscope) tools are normally used for 3D measurements, however, these techniques require time-consuming preparation and observation. And both X-SEM and TEM are destructive measurement techniques. This paper presents a technology for quick and non-destructive 3D shape analysis using multi-channel detector MVM-SEM (Multi Vision Metrology SEM), and also reports its accuracy and precision.

Development of an in situ calibration technique for combustible gas detectors

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Shumar, J. W.; Wynveen, R. A.; Lance, N., Jr.; Lantz, J. B.

1977-01-01

This paper describes the development of an in situ calibration procedure for combustible gas detectors (CGD). The CGD will be a necessary device for future space vehicles as many subsystems in the Environmental Control/Life Support System utilize or produce hydrogen (H2) gas. Existing calibration techniques are time-consuming and require support equipment such as an environmental chamber and calibration gas supply. The in situ calibration procedure involves utilization of a water vapor electrolysis cell for the automatic in situ generation of a H2/air calibration mixture within the flame arrestor of the CGD. The development effort concluded with the successful demonstration of in situ span calibrations of a CGD.

Virtual Screening of Receptor Sites for Molecularly Imprinted Polymers.

PubMed

Bates, Ferdia; Cela-Pérez, María Concepción; Karim, Kal; Piletsky, Sergey; López-Vilariño, José Manuel

2016-08-01

Molecularly Imprinted Polymers (MIPs) are highly advantageous in the field of analytical chemistry. However, interference from secondary molecules can also impede capture of a target by a MIP receptor. This greatly complicates the design process and often requires extensive laboratory screening which is time consuming, costly, and creates substantial waste products. Herein, is presented a new technique for screening of "virtually imprinted receptors" for rebinding of the molecular template as well as secondary structures, correlating the virtual predictions with experimentally acquired data in three case studies. This novel technique is particularly applicable to the evaluation and prediction of MIP receptor specificity and efficiency in complex aqueous systems. © 2016 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.

Applications of emerging imaging techniques for meat quality and safety detection and evaluation: A review.

PubMed

Xiong, Zhenjie; Sun, Da-Wen; Pu, Hongbin; Gao, Wenhong; Dai, Qiong

2017-03-04

With improvement in people's living standards, many people nowadays pay more attention to quality and safety of meat. However, traditional methods for meat quality and safety detection and evaluation, such as manual inspection, mechanical methods, and chemical methods, are tedious, time-consuming, and destructive, which cannot meet the requirements of modern meat industry. Therefore, seeking out rapid, non-destructive, and accurate inspection techniques is important for the meat industry. In recent years, a number of novel and noninvasive imaging techniques, such as optical imaging, ultrasound imaging, tomographic imaging, thermal imaging, and odor imaging, have emerged and shown great potential in quality and safety assessment. In this paper, a detailed overview of advanced applications of these emerging imaging techniques for quality and safety assessment of different types of meat (pork, beef, lamb, chicken, and fish) is presented. In addition, advantages and disadvantages of each imaging technique are also summarized. Finally, future trends for these emerging imaging techniques are discussed, including integration of multiple imaging techniques, cost reduction, and developing powerful image-processing algorithms.

Towards a consumer-informed research agenda for aphasia: preliminary work.

PubMed

Hinckley, Jacqueline; Boyle, Erika; Lombard, Diane; Bartels-Tobin, Lori

2014-01-01

Person-centeredness in clinical practice incorporates the values of clients into a shared decision-making approach. The values of person-centeredness can be extended into the realm of research when the views of consumers towards relevant and important research topics are sought. Work in other health domains has shown the importance of gathering consumer views on health care research, which ultimately extends into health care policy and practice. The purpose of this paper is to report methods used successfully to gather the views of individuals living with aphasia on research topics they view as important. The project is founded on principles of community-based participatory research. Using a modified nominal group technique, members of an aphasia support group generated a list of research topics. The Aphasia Support Group identified twenty-two potential research questions. Although a majority (59%) of the research questions generated by persons with aphasia could be addressed with accumulated scientific evidence, the remainder of the generated questions has not been addressed in the research literature. This project demonstrates that consumers with aphasia can participate as stakeholders in the discussion of research needs in aphasia. Additional work is needed to fully develop a consumer-informed research agenda for aphasia. The perspectives of individuals with post-stroke aphasia on research needs can be successfully collected using nominal group techniques. Consumer input to research agendas and priorities can help to address potential research biases. Clinicians and researchers can use these techniques and other communication supports to foster collaborative, patient-centered care in their practice and work.

Recent Advances in Techniques for Starch Esters and the Applications: A Review

PubMed Central

Hong, Jing; Zeng, Xin-An; Brennan, Charles S.; Brennan, Margaret; Han, Zhong

2016-01-01

Esterification is one of the most important methods to alter the structure of starch granules and improve its applications. Conventionally, starch esters are prepared by conventional or dual modification techniques, which have the disadvantages of being expensive, have regent overdoses, and are time-consuming. In addition, the degree of substitution (DS) is often considered as the primary factor in view of its contribution to estimate substituted groups of starch esters. In order to improve the detection accuracy and production efficiency, different detection techniques, including titration, nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR), thermal gravimetric analysis/infrared spectroscopy (TGA/IR) and headspace gas chromatography (HS-GC), have been developed for DS. This paper gives a comprehensive overview on the recent advances in DS analysis and starch esterification techniques. Additionally, the advantages, limitations, some perspectives on future trends of these techniques and the applications of their derivatives in the food industry are also presented. PMID:28231145

Determination of oestrous cycle of the rats by direct examination: how reliable?

PubMed

Yener, T; Turkkani Tunc, A; Aslan, H; Aytan, H; Cantug Caliskan, A

2007-02-01

For determination of the oestrous cycle in rats classical Papanicolaou technique has long been used successfully. Instead of using many stains in Papanicolaou, staining the vaginal secretions with only methylene blue has also been defined. Recently a new technique in which vaginal samples are directly examined under light microscope has been introduced. The aim of this study was to assess the reliability of this new technique by comparing it with the classical staining techniques. From 20 Wistar rats 60 vaginal samples were collected with a micropipette, three from each. Briefly, the vagina was flushed two to three times then the fluid was placed onto a glass slide. The fluid was equally distributed onto three glass slides. The glass slides were coded. Two samples were stained with Papanicolaou and methylene blue while the other one was examined directly. Determination of the phases of the oestrous cycle was made by the same histologist who was blinded to the groups and coding system. After determination of the oestrous phase in all samples, the results were compared and it was found that the results were matching. In conclusion, the same results can be obtained with the direct examination technique and this technique is reliable, so there is no need to use relatively time-consuming, less practical and more expensive techniques such as Papanicolaou or methylene blue.

Structural health monitoring of pipelines rehabilitated with lining technology

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Farhidzadeh, Alireza; Dehghan-Niri, Ehsan; Salamone, Salvatore

2014-03-01

Damage detection of pipeline systems is a tedious and time consuming job due to digging requirement, accessibility, interference with other facilities, and being extremely wide spread in metropolitans. Therefore, a real-time and automated monitoring system can pervasively reduce labor work, time, and expenditures. This paper presents the results of an experimental study aimed at monitoring the performance of full scale pipe lining systems, subjected to static and dynamic (seismic) loading, using Acoustic Emission (AE) technique and Guided Ultrasonic Waves (GUWs). Particularly, two damage mechanisms are investigated: 1) delamination between pipeline and liner as the early indicator of damage, and 2) onset of nonlinearity and incipient failure of the liner as critical damage state.

Scalable Performance Measurement and Analysis

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

Gamblin, Todd

2009-01-01

Concurrency levels in large-scale, distributed-memory supercomputers are rising exponentially. Modern machines may contain 100,000 or more microprocessor cores, and the largest of these, IBM's Blue Gene/L, contains over 200,000 cores. Future systems are expected to support millions of concurrent tasks. In this dissertation, we focus on efficient techniques for measuring and analyzing the performance of applications running on very large parallel machines. Tuning the performance of large-scale applications can be a subtle and time-consuming task because application developers must measure and interpret data from many independent processes. While the volume of the raw data scales linearly with the number ofmore » tasks in the running system, the number of tasks is growing exponentially, and data for even small systems quickly becomes unmanageable. Transporting performance data from so many processes over a network can perturb application performance and make measurements inaccurate, and storing such data would require a prohibitive amount of space. Moreover, even if it were stored, analyzing the data would be extremely time-consuming. In this dissertation, we present novel methods for reducing performance data volume. The first draws on multi-scale wavelet techniques from signal processing to compress systemwide, time-varying load-balance data. The second uses statistical sampling to select a small subset of running processes to generate low-volume traces. A third approach combines sampling and wavelet compression to stratify performance data adaptively at run-time and to reduce further the cost of sampled tracing. We have integrated these approaches into Libra, a toolset for scalable load-balance analysis. We present Libra and show how it can be used to analyze data from large scientific applications scalably.« less

Non-Halal biomarkers identification based on Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FTIR) and Gas Chromatography-Time of Flight Mass Spectroscopy (GC-TOF MS) techniques

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Witjaksono, Gunawan; Saputra, Irwan; Latief, Marsad; Jaswir, Irwandi; Akmeliawati, Rini; Abdelkreem Saeed Rabih, Almur

2017-11-01

Consumption of meat from halal (lawful) sources is essential for Muslims. The identification of non-halal meat is one of the main issues that face consumers in meat markets, especially in non-Islamic countries. Pig is one of the non-halal sources of meat, and hence pig meat and its derivatives are forbidden for Muslims to consume. Although several studies have been conducted to identify the biomarkers for nonhalal meats like pig meat, these studies are still in their infancy stages, and as a result there is no universal biomarker which could be used for clear cut identification. The purpose of this paper is to use Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FTIR) and Gas Chromatography-Time of Flight Mass Spectroscopy (GC-TOF MS) techniques to study fat of pig, cow, lamb and chicken to find possible biomarkers for pig fat (lard) identification. FTIR results showed that lard and chicken fat have unique peaks at wavenumbers 1159.6 cm-1, 1743.4 cm-1, 2853.1 cm-1 and 2922.5 cm-1 compared to lamb and beef fats which did not show peaks at these wavenumbers. On the other hand, GC/MS-TOF results showed that the concentration of 1,2,3-trimethyl-Benzene, Indane, and Undecane in lard are 250, 14.5 and 1.28 times higher than their concentrations in chicken fat, respectively, and 91.4, 2.3 and 1.24 times higher than their concentrations in cow fat, respectively. These initial results clearly indicate that there is a possibility to find biomarkers for non-halal identification.

Rapid Structured Volume Grid Smoothing and Adaption Technique

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Alter, Stephen J.

2006-01-01

A rapid, structured volume grid smoothing and adaption technique, based on signal processing methods, was developed and applied to the Shuttle Orbiter at hypervelocity flight conditions in support of the Columbia Accident Investigation. Because of the fast pace of the investigation, computational aerothermodynamicists, applying hypersonic viscous flow solving computational fluid dynamic (CFD) codes, refined and enhanced a grid for an undamaged baseline vehicle to assess a variety of damage scenarios. Of the many methods available to modify a structured grid, most are time-consuming and require significant user interaction. By casting the grid data into different coordinate systems, specifically two computational coordinates with arclength as the third coordinate, signal processing methods are used for filtering the data [Taubin, CG v/29 1995]. Using a reverse transformation, the processed data are used to smooth the Cartesian coordinates of the structured grids. By coupling the signal processing method with existing grid operations within the Volume Grid Manipulator tool, problems related to grid smoothing are solved efficiently and with minimal user interaction. Examples of these smoothing operations are illustrated for reductions in grid stretching and volume grid adaptation. In each of these examples, other techniques existed at the time of the Columbia accident, but the incorporation of signal processing techniques reduced the time to perform the corrections by nearly 60%. This reduction in time to perform the corrections therefore enabled the assessment of approximately twice the number of damage scenarios than previously possible during the allocated investigation time.

Rapid Structured Volume Grid Smoothing and Adaption Technique

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Alter, Stephen J.

2004-01-01

A rapid, structured volume grid smoothing and adaption technique, based on signal processing methods, was developed and applied to the Shuttle Orbiter at hypervelocity flight conditions in support of the Columbia Accident Investigation. Because of the fast pace of the investigation, computational aerothermodynamicists, applying hypersonic viscous flow solving computational fluid dynamic (CFD) codes, refined and enhanced a grid for an undamaged baseline vehicle to assess a variety of damage scenarios. Of the many methods available to modify a structured grid, most are time-consuming and require significant user interaction. By casting the grid data into different coordinate systems, specifically two computational coordinates with arclength as the third coordinate, signal processing methods are used for filtering the data [Taubin, CG v/29 1995]. Using a reverse transformation, the processed data are used to smooth the Cartesian coordinates of the structured grids. By coupling the signal processing method with existing grid operations within the Volume Grid Manipulator tool, problems related to grid smoothing are solved efficiently and with minimal user interaction. Examples of these smoothing operations are illustrated for reduction in grid stretching and volume grid adaptation. In each of these examples, other techniques existed at the time of the Columbia accident, but the incorporation of signal processing techniques reduced the time to perform the corrections by nearly 60%. This reduction in time to perform the corrections therefore enabled the assessment of approximately twice the number of damage scenarios than previously possible during the allocated investigation time.

Automatic Tracking Of Remote Sensing Precipitation Data Using Genetic Algorithm Image Registration Based Automatic Morphing: September 1999 Storm Floyd Case Study

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Chiu, L.; Vongsaard, J.; El-Ghazawi, T.; Weinman, J.; Yang, R.; Kafatos, M.

U Due to the poor temporal sampling by satellites, data gaps exist in satellite derived time series of precipitation. This poses a challenge for assimilating rain- fall data into forecast models. To yield a continuous time series, the classic image processing technique of digital image morphing has been used. However, the digital morphing technique was applied manually and that is time consuming. In order to avoid human intervention in the process, an automatic procedure for image morphing is needed for real-time operations. For this purpose, Genetic Algorithm Based Image Registration Automatic Morphing (GRAM) model was developed and tested in this paper. Specifically, automatic morphing technique was integrated with Genetic Algo- rithm and Feature Based Image Metamorphosis technique to fill in data gaps between satellite coverage. The technique was tested using NOWRAD data which are gener- ated from the network of NEXRAD radars. Time series of NOWRAD data from storm Floyd that occurred at the US eastern region on September 16, 1999 for 00:00, 01:00, 02:00,03:00, and 04:00am were used. The GRAM technique was applied to data col- lected at 00:00 and 04:00am. These images were also manually morphed. Images at 01:00, 02:00 and 03:00am were interpolated from the GRAM and manual morphing and compared with the original NOWRAD rainrates. The results show that the GRAM technique outperforms manual morphing. The correlation coefficients between the im- ages generated using manual morphing are 0.905, 0.900, and 0.905 for the images at 01:00, 02:00,and 03:00 am, while the corresponding correlation coefficients are 0.946, 0.911, and 0.913, respectively, based on the GRAM technique. Index terms ­ Remote Sensing, Image Registration, Hydrology, Genetic Algorithm, Morphing, NEXRAD

Indoor Pedestrian Navigation Using Foot-Mounted IMU and Portable Ultrasound Range Sensors

PubMed Central

Girard, Gabriel; Côté, Stéphane; Zlatanova, Sisi; Barette, Yannick; St-Pierre, Johanne; van Oosterom, Peter

2011-01-01

Many solutions have been proposed for indoor pedestrian navigation. Some rely on pre-installed sensor networks, which offer good accuracy but are limited to areas that have been prepared for that purpose, thus requiring an expensive and possibly time-consuming process. Such methods are therefore inappropriate for navigation in emergency situations since the power supply may be disturbed. Other types of solutions track the user without requiring a prepared environment. However, they may have low accuracy. Offline tracking has been proposed to increase accuracy, however this prevents users from knowing their position in real time. This paper describes a real time indoor navigation system that does not require prepared building environments and provides tracking accuracy superior to previously described tracking methods. The system uses a combination of four techniques: foot-mounted IMU (Inertial Motion Unit), ultrasonic ranging, particle filtering and model-based navigation. The very purpose of the project is to combine these four well-known techniques in a novel way to provide better indoor tracking results for pedestrians. PMID:22164034

Real time diffuse reflectance polarisation spectroscopy imaging to evaluate skin microcirculation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

O'Doherty, Jim; Henricson, Joakim; Nilsson, Gert E.; Anderson, Chris; Leahy, Martin J.

2007-07-01

This article describes the theoretical development and design of a real-time microcirculation imaging system, an extension from a previously technology developed by our group. The technology utilises polarisation spectroscopy, a technique used in order to selectively gate photons returning from various compartments of human skin tissue, namely from the superficial layers of the epidermis, and the deeper backscattered light from the dermal matrix. A consumer-end digital camcorder captures colour data with three individual CCDs, and a custom designed light source consisting of a 24 LED ring light provides broadband illumination over the 400 nm - 700 nm wavelength region. Theory developed leads to an image processing algorithm, the output of which scales linearly with increasing red blood cell (RBC) concentration. Processed images are displayed online in real-time at a rate of 25 frames s -1, at a frame size of 256 x 256 pixels, and is limited only by computer RAM memory and processing speed. General demonstrations of the technique in vivo display several advantages over similar technology.

Real-time spectral characterization of a photon pair source using a chirped supercontinuum seed.

PubMed

Erskine, Jennifer; England, Duncan; Kupchak, Connor; Sussman, Benjamin

2018-02-15

Photon pair sources have wide ranging applications in a variety of quantum photonic experiments and protocols. Many of these protocols require well controlled spectral correlations between the two output photons. However, due to low cross-sections, measuring the joint spectral properties of photon pair sources has historically been a challenging and time-consuming task. Here, we present an approach for the real-time measurement of the joint spectral properties of a fiber-based four wave mixing source. We seed the four wave mixing process using a broadband chirped pulse, studying the stimulated process to extract information regarding the spontaneous process. In addition, we compare stimulated emission measurements with the spontaneous process to confirm the technique's validity. Joint spectral measurements have taken many hours historically and several minutes with recent techniques. Here, measurements have been demonstrated in 5-30 s depending on resolution, offering substantial improvement. Additional benefits of this approach include flexible resolution, large measurement bandwidth, and reduced experimental overhead.

Subsampled Hessian Newton Methods for Supervised Learning.

PubMed

Wang, Chien-Chih; Huang, Chun-Heng; Lin, Chih-Jen

2015-08-01

Newton methods can be applied in many supervised learning approaches. However, for large-scale data, the use of the whole Hessian matrix can be time-consuming. Recently, subsampled Newton methods have been proposed to reduce the computational time by using only a subset of data for calculating an approximation of the Hessian matrix. Unfortunately, we find that in some situations, the running speed is worse than the standard Newton method because cheaper but less accurate search directions are used. In this work, we propose some novel techniques to improve the existing subsampled Hessian Newton method. The main idea is to solve a two-dimensional subproblem per iteration to adjust the search direction to better minimize the second-order approximation of the function value. We prove the theoretical convergence of the proposed method. Experiments on logistic regression, linear SVM, maximum entropy, and deep networks indicate that our techniques significantly reduce the running time of the subsampled Hessian Newton method. The resulting algorithm becomes a compelling alternative to the standard Newton method for large-scale data classification.

Green Aspects of Techniques for the Determination of Currently Used Pesticides in Environmental Samples

PubMed Central

Stocka, Jolanta; Tankiewicz, Maciej; Biziuk, Marek; Namieśnik, Jacek

2011-01-01

Pesticides are among the most dangerous environmental pollutants because of their stability, mobility and long-term effects on living organisms. Their presence in the environment is a particular danger. It is therefore crucial to monitor pesticide residues using all available analytical methods. The analysis of environmental samples for the presence of pesticides is very difficult: the processes involved in sample preparation are labor-intensive and time-consuming. To date, it has been standard practice to use large quantities of organic solvents in the sample preparation process; but as these solvents are themselves hazardous, solvent-less and solvent-minimized techniques are becoming popular. The application of Green Chemistry principles to sample preparation is primarily leading to the miniaturization of procedures and the use of solvent-less techniques, and these are discussed in the paper. PMID:22174632

Window-assisted nanosphere lithography for vacuum micro-nano-electronics

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

Li, Nannan; Institute of Electronic Engineering, Chinese Academy of Engineering Physics, Mianyang, 621900; Pang, Shucai

2015-04-15

Development of vacuum micro-nano-electronics is quite important for combining the advantages of vacuum tubes and solid-state devices but limited by the prevailing fabricating techniques which are expensive, time consuming and low-throughput. In this work, window-assisted nanosphere lithography (NSL) technique was proposed and enabled the low-cost and high-efficiency fabrication of nanostructures for vacuum micro-nano-electronic devices, thus allowing potential applications in many areas. As a demonstration, we fabricated high-density field emitter arrays which can be used as cold cathodes in vacuum micro-nano-electronic devices by using the window-assisted NSL technique. The details of the fabricating process have been investigated. This work provided amore » new and feasible idea for fabricating nanostructure arrays for vacuum micro-nano-electronic devices, which would spawn the development of vacuum micro-nano-electronics.« less

Neutron radiography of irradiated nuclear fuel at Idaho National Laboratory

DOE PAGES

Craft, Aaron E.; Wachs, Daniel M.; Okuniewski, Maria A.; ...

2015-09-10

Neutron radiography of irradiated nuclear fuel provides more comprehensive information about the internal condition of irradiated nuclear fuel than any other non-destructive technique to date. Idaho National Laboratory (INL) has multiple nuclear fuels research and development programs that routinely evaluate irradiated fuels using neutron radiography. The Neutron Radiography reactor (NRAD) sits beneath a shielded hot cell facility where neutron radiography and other evaluation techniques are performed on these highly radioactive objects. The NRAD currently uses the foil-film transfer technique for imaging fuel that is time consuming but provides high spatial resolution. This study describes the NRAD and hot cell facilities,more » the current neutron radiography capabilities available at INL, planned upgrades to the neutron imaging systems, and new facilities being brought online at INL related to neutron imaging.« less

Increasing the speed of tumour diagnosis during surgery with selective scanning Raman microscopy

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kong, Kenny; Rowlands, Christopher J.; Varma, Sandeep; Perkins, William; Leach, Iain H.; Koloydenko, Alexey A.; Pitiot, Alain; Williams, Hywel C.; Notingher, Ioan

2014-09-01

One of the main challenges in cancer surgery is ensuring that all tumour cells are removed during surgery, while sparing as much healthy tissue as possible. Histopathology, the gold-standard technique for cancer diagnosis, is often impractical for intra-operative use because of the time-consuming tissue preparation procedures (sectioning and staining). Raman micro-spectroscopy is a powerful technique that can discriminate between tumours and healthy tissues with high accuracy, based entirely on intrinsic chemical differences. However, raster-scanning Raman micro-spectroscopy is a slow imaging technique that typically requires data acquisition times as long as several days for typical tissue samples obtained during surgery (1 × 1 cm2) - in particular when high signal-to-noise ratio spectra are required to ensure accurate diagnosis. In this paper we present two techniques based on selective sampling Raman micro-spectroscopy that can overcome these limitations. In selective sampling, information regarding the spatial features of the tissue, either measured by an alternative optical technique or estimated in real-time from the Raman spectra, can be used to drastically reduce the number of Raman spectra required for diagnosis. These sampling strategies allowed diagnosis of basal cell carcinoma in skin tissue samples excised during Mohs micrographic surgery faster than frozen section histopathology, and two orders of magnitude faster than previous techniques based on raster-scanning Raman microscopy. Further development of these techniques may help during cancer surgery by providing a fast and objective way for surgeons to ensure the complete removal of tumour cells while sparing as much healthy tissue as possible.

Direct-to-consumer advertisements for prescription drugs: what are Americans being sold?

PubMed

Woloshin, S; Schwartz, L M; Tremmel, J; Welch, H G

2001-10-06

Pharmaceutical companies spent US$1.8 billion on direct-to-consumer advertisements for prescription drugs in 1999. Our aim was to establish what messages are being communicated to the public by these advertisements. We investigated the content of advertisements, which appeared in ten magazines in the USA. We examined seven issues of each of these published between July, 1998, and July, 1999. 67 advertisements appeared a total of 211 times during our study. Of these, 133 (63%) were for drugs to ameliorate symptoms, 54 (26%) to treat disease, and 23 (11%) to prevent illness. In the 67 unique advertisements, promotional techniques used included emotional appeals (45, 67%) and encouragement of consumers to consider medical causes for their experiences (26, 39%). More advertisements described the benefit of medication with vague, qualitative terms (58, 87%), than with data (9, 13%). However, half the advertisements used data to describe side-effects, typically with lists of side-effects that generally occurred infrequently. None mentioned cost. Provision of complete information about the benefit of prescription drugs in advertisements would serve the interests of physicians and the public.

Neuromarketing techniques in pharmaceutical drugs advertising. A discussion and agenda for future research.

PubMed

Orzan, G; Zara, I A; Purcarea, V L

2012-12-15

Recent years have seen an "explosion" in the abilities of scientists to use neuroscience in new domains. Unfortunately, it is little known and reported on how advertising companies make more effective pharmaceutical drugs commercials. The purpose of this paper is to analyze how neuromarketing techniques may impact the consumer response to pharmaceutical advertising campaigns. The result shows that using neuromarketing methods a pharmaceutical company can better understand the conscious and unconscious consumer's thoughts and tailor specific marketing messages.

Trends in Food Packaging.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Ott, Dana B.

1988-01-01

This article discusses developments in food packaging, processing, and preservation techniques in terms of packaging materials, technologies, consumer benefits, and current and potential food product applications. Covers implications due to consumer life-style changes, cost-effectiveness of packaging materials, and the ecological impact of…

The Consumer Health Information System Adoption Model.

PubMed

Monkman, Helen; Kushniruk, Andre W

2015-01-01

Derived from overlapping concepts in consumer health, a consumer health information system refers to any of the broad range of applications, tools, and educational resources developed to empower consumers with knowledge, techniques, and strategies, to manage their own health. As consumer health information systems become increasingly popular, it is important to explore the factors that impact their adoption and success. Accumulating evidence indicates a relationship between usability and consumers' eHealth Literacy skills and the demands consumer HISs place on their skills. Here, we present a new model called the Consumer Health Information System Adoption Model, which depicts both consumer eHealth literacy skills and system demands on eHealth literacy as moderators with the potential to affect the strength of relationship between usefulness and usability (predictors of usage) and adoption, value, and successful use (actual usage outcomes). Strategies for aligning these two moderating factors are described.

Testing single point incremental forming moulds for rotomoulding operations

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Afonso, Daniel; de Sousa, Ricardo Alves; Torcato, Ricardo

2017-10-01

Low pressure polymer processes as thermoforming or rotational moulding use much simpler moulds than high pressure processes like injection. However, despite the low forces involved in the process, moulds manufacturing for these applications is still a very material, energy and time consuming operation. Particularly in rotational moulding there is no standard for the mould manufacture and very different techniques are applicable. The goal of this research is to develop and validate a method for manufacturing plastically formed sheet metal moulds by single point incremental forming (SPIF) for rotomoulding and rotocasting operations. A Stewart platform based SPIF machine allow the forming of thick metal sheets, granting the required structural stiffness for the mould surface, and keeping a short manufacture lead time and low thermal inertia. The experimental work involves the proposal of a hollow part, design and fabrication of a sheet metal mould using dieless incremental forming techniques and testing its operation in the production of prototype parts.

Comparison of 3D CRT and IMRT Tratment Plans

PubMed Central

Bakiu, Erjona; Telhaj, Ervis; Kozma, Elvisa; Ruçi, Ferdinand; Malkaj, Partizan

2013-01-01

Plans of patients with prostate tumor have been studied. These patients have been scanned in the CT simulator and the images have been sent to the Focal, the system where the doctor delineates the tumor and the organs at risk. After that in the treatment planning system XiO there are created for the same patients three dimensional conformal and intensity modulated radiotherapy treatment plans. The planes are compared according to the dose volume histograms. It is observed that the plans with IMRT technique conform better the isodoses to the planning target volume and protect more the organs at risk, but the time needed to create such plans and to control it is higher than 3D CRT. So it necessary to decide in which patients to do one or the other technique depending on the full dose given to PTV and time consuming in genereral. PMID:24167395

Application of LIBS and TMA for the determination of combustion predictive indices of coals and coal blends

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ctvrtnickova, T.; Mateo, M. P.; Yañez, A.; Nicolas, G.

2011-04-01

Presented work brings results of Laser-Induced Breakdown Spectroscopy (LIBS) and Thermo-Mechanical Analysis (TMA) of coals and coal blends used in coal fired power plants all over Spain. Several coal specimens, its blends and corresponding laboratory ash were analyzed by mentioned techniques and results were compared to standard laboratory methods. The indices of slagging, which predict the tendency of coal ash deposition on the boiler walls, were determined by means of standard chemical analysis, LIBS and TMA. The optimal coal suitable to be blended with the problematic national lignite coal was suggested in order to diminish the slagging problems. Used techniques were evaluated based on the precision, acquisition time, extension and quality of information they could provide. Finally, the applicability of LIBS and TMA to the successful calculation of slagging indices is discussed and their substitution of time-consuming and instrumentally difficult standard methods is considered.

NIR hyperspectral compressive imager based on a modified Fabry–Perot resonator

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Oiknine, Yaniv; August, Isaac; Blumberg, Dan G.; Stern, Adrian

2018-04-01

The acquisition of hyperspectral (HS) image datacubes with available 2D sensor arrays involves a time consuming scanning process. In the last decade, several compressive sensing (CS) techniques were proposed to reduce the HS acquisition time. In this paper, we present a method for near-infrared (NIR) HS imaging which relies on our rapid CS resonator spectroscopy technique. Within the framework of CS, and by using a modified Fabry–Perot resonator, a sequence of spectrally modulated images is used to recover NIR HS datacubes. Owing to the innovative CS design, we demonstrate the ability to reconstruct NIR HS images with hundreds of spectral bands from an order of magnitude fewer measurements, i.e. with a compression ratio of about 10:1. This high compression ratio, together with the high optical throughput of the system, facilitates fast acquisition of large HS datacubes.

Analysis of consumer behavior in decision making of purchasing ornamental freshwater fish (case of study at ornamental freshwater fish market at Peta Street, Bandung)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gumilar, I.; Rizal, A.; Sriati; Setiawan Putra, R.

2018-04-01

This research aim was to analyzed process of decision making of purchasing ornamental freshwater fish at Peta Street, Bandung City and Analyzed what factors are driving consumers to buy freshwater fish Peta Street. The method used in this research is case study with rating scale and rank spearman analysis. The sampling technique is the accidental random sampling method consist of 30 respondents. The consumer’s decision making process consist of five stages, namely the recognition of needs, information searching, alternative evaluation, process of purchasing, and the evaluation of results. The results showed that at the stage of recognition of needs the motivation of purchasing freshwater fish because respondents are very fond of ornamental freshwater fish, at the stage of information search, the information sources are from the print media and friends or neighborhood. At the stage of alternative evaluation, the reason consumers buy ornamental freshwater fish because the quality of good products. The stage of purchasing decision process consumers bought 1-5 fish with frequency of purchase 1 time per month. The evaluation of results of post-purchasing consumers feel very satisfied with the fish products and the price is very affordable. To observe the factors that influence purchasing motivation of consumers, spearman rank test is the method. The results showed that the quality and price of the product are the factors that most influence the purchase decision of ornamental freshwater fish with the range of student-t value 3,968 and 2,107.

A hybrid neural networks-fuzzy logic-genetic algorithm for grade estimation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Tahmasebi, Pejman; Hezarkhani, Ardeshir

2012-05-01

The grade estimation is a quite important and money/time-consuming stage in a mine project, which is considered as a challenge for the geologists and mining engineers due to the structural complexities in mineral ore deposits. To overcome this problem, several artificial intelligence techniques such as Artificial Neural Networks (ANN) and Fuzzy Logic (FL) have recently been employed with various architectures and properties. However, due to the constraints of both methods, they yield the desired results only under the specific circumstances. As an example, one major problem in FL is the difficulty of constructing the membership functions (MFs).Other problems such as architecture and local minima could also be located in ANN designing. Therefore, a new methodology is presented in this paper for grade estimation. This method which is based on ANN and FL is called "Coactive Neuro-Fuzzy Inference System" (CANFIS) which combines two approaches, ANN and FL. The combination of these two artificial intelligence approaches is achieved via the verbal and numerical power of intelligent systems. To improve the performance of this system, a Genetic Algorithm (GA) - as a well-known technique to solve the complex optimization problems - is also employed to optimize the network parameters including learning rate, momentum of the network and the number of MFs for each input. A comparison of these techniques (ANN, Adaptive Neuro-Fuzzy Inference System or ANFIS) with this new method (CANFIS-GA) is also carried out through a case study in Sungun copper deposit, located in East-Azerbaijan, Iran. The results show that CANFIS-GA could be a faster and more accurate alternative to the existing time-consuming methodologies for ore grade estimation and that is, therefore, suggested to be applied for grade estimation in similar problems.

A hybrid neural networks-fuzzy logic-genetic algorithm for grade estimation

PubMed Central

Tahmasebi, Pejman; Hezarkhani, Ardeshir

2012-01-01

The grade estimation is a quite important and money/time-consuming stage in a mine project, which is considered as a challenge for the geologists and mining engineers due to the structural complexities in mineral ore deposits. To overcome this problem, several artificial intelligence techniques such as Artificial Neural Networks (ANN) and Fuzzy Logic (FL) have recently been employed with various architectures and properties. However, due to the constraints of both methods, they yield the desired results only under the specific circumstances. As an example, one major problem in FL is the difficulty of constructing the membership functions (MFs).Other problems such as architecture and local minima could also be located in ANN designing. Therefore, a new methodology is presented in this paper for grade estimation. This method which is based on ANN and FL is called “Coactive Neuro-Fuzzy Inference System” (CANFIS) which combines two approaches, ANN and FL. The combination of these two artificial intelligence approaches is achieved via the verbal and numerical power of intelligent systems. To improve the performance of this system, a Genetic Algorithm (GA) – as a well-known technique to solve the complex optimization problems – is also employed to optimize the network parameters including learning rate, momentum of the network and the number of MFs for each input. A comparison of these techniques (ANN, Adaptive Neuro-Fuzzy Inference System or ANFIS) with this new method (CANFIS–GA) is also carried out through a case study in Sungun copper deposit, located in East-Azerbaijan, Iran. The results show that CANFIS–GA could be a faster and more accurate alternative to the existing time-consuming methodologies for ore grade estimation and that is, therefore, suggested to be applied for grade estimation in similar problems. PMID:25540468

Attacking the Obesity Epidemic: The Potential Health Benefits of Providing Nutrition Information in Restaurants

PubMed Central

Burton, Scot; Creyer, Elizabeth H.; Kees, Jeremy; Huggins, Kyle

2006-01-01

Objectives. Requiring restaurants to present nutrition information on menus is under consideration as a potential way to slow the increasing prevalence of obesity. Using a survey methodology, we examined how accurately consumers estimate the nutrient content of typical restaurant meals. Based on these results, we then conducted an experiment to address how the provision of nutrition information on menus influences purchase intentions and reported preferences. Methods. For both the survey and experiment, data were analyzed using analysis of variance techniques. Results. Survey results showed that levels of calories, fat, and saturated fat in less-healthful restaurant items were significantly underestimated by consumers. Actual fat and saturated fat levels were twice consumers’ estimates and calories approached 2 times more than what consumers expected. In the subsequent experiment, for items for which levels of calories, fat, and saturated fat substantially exceeded consumers’ expectations, the provision of nutrition information had a significant influence on product attitude, purchase intention, and choice. Conclusions. Most consumers are unaware of the high levels of calories, fat, saturated fat, and sodium found in many menu items. Provision of nutrition information on restaurant menus could potentially have a positive impact on public health by reducing the consumption of less-healthful foods. PMID:16873758

Usefulness of image morphing techniques in cancer treatment by conformal radiotherapy

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Atoui, Hussein; Sarrut, David; Miguet, Serge

2004-05-01

Conformal radiotherapy is a cancer treatment technique, that targets high-energy X-rays to tumors with minimal exposure to surrounding healthy tissues. Irradiation ballistics is calculated based on an initial 3D Computerized Tomography (CT) scan. At every treatment session, the random positioning of the patient, compared to the reference position defined by the initial 3D CT scan, can generate treatment inaccuracies. Positioning errors potentially predispose to dangerous exposure to healthy tissues as well as insufficient irradiation to the tumor. A proposed solution would be the use of portal images generated by Electronic Portal Imaging Devices (EPID). Portal images (PI) allow a comparison with reference images retained by physicians, namely Digitally Reconstructed Radiographs (DRRs). At present, physicians must estimate patient positional errors by visual inspection. However, this may be inaccurate and consumes time. The automation of this task has been the subject of many researches. Unfortunately, the intensive use of DRRs and the high computing time required have prevented real time implementation. We are currently investigating a new method for DRR generation that calculates intermediate DRRs by 2D deformation of previously computed DRRs. We approach this investigation with the use of a morphing-based technique named mesh warping.

Ultrafast Fabrication of Flexible Dye-Sensitized Solar Cells by Ultrasonic Spray-Coating Technology

PubMed Central

Han, Hyun-Gyu; Weerasinghe, Hashitha C.; Min Kim, Kwang; Soo Kim, Jeong; Cheng, Yi-Bing; Jones, David J.; Holmes, Andrew B.; Kwon, Tae-Hyuk

2015-01-01

This study investigates novel deposition techniques for the preparation of TiO2 electrodes for use in flexible dye-sensitized solar cells. These proposed new methods, namely pre-dye-coating and codeposition ultrasonic spraying, eliminate the conventional need for time-consuming processes such as dye soaking and high-temperature sintering. Power conversion efficiencies of over 4.0% were achieved with electrodes prepared on flexible polymer substrates using this new deposition technology and N719 dye as a sensitizer. PMID:26420466

Proximity operations analysis: Retrieval of the solar maximum mission observatory

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Yglesias, J. A.

1980-01-01

Retrieval of the solar maximum mission (SMM) observatory is feasible in terms of orbiter primary reaction control system (PRCS) plume disturbance of the SMM, orbiter propellant consumed, and flight time required. Man-in-loop simulations will be required to validate these operational techniques before the verification process is complete. Candidate approach and flyaround techniques were developed that allow the orbiter to attain the proper alinement with the SMM for clear access to the grapple fixture (GF) prior grappling. Because the SMM has very little control authority (approximately 14.8 pound-foot-seconds in two axes and rate-damped in the third) it is necessary to inhibit all +Z (upfiring) PRCS jets on the orbiter to avoid tumbling the SMM. A profile involving a V-bar approach and an out-of-plane flyaround appears to be the best choice and is recommended at this time. The flyaround technique consists of alining the +X-axes of the two vehicles parallel with each other and then flying the orbiter around the SMM until the GF is in view. The out-of-plane flyaround technique is applicable to any inertially stabilized payload, and, the entire final approach profile could be considered as standard for most retrieval missions.

Closed-form Static Analysis with Inertia Relief and Displacement-Dependent Loads Using a MSC/NASTRAN DMAP Alter

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Barnett, Alan R.; Widrick, Timothy W.; Ludwiczak, Damian R.

1995-01-01

Solving for the displacements of free-free coupled systems acted upon by static loads is commonly performed throughout the aerospace industry. Many times, these problems are solved using static analysis with inertia relief. This solution technique allows for a free-free static analysis by balancing the applied loads with inertia loads generated by the applied loads. For some engineering applications, the displacements of the free-free coupled system induce additional static loads. Hence, the applied loads are equal to the original loads plus displacement-dependent loads. Solving for the final displacements of such systems is commonly performed using iterative solution techniques. Unfortunately, these techniques can be time-consuming and labor-intensive. Since the coupled system equations for free-free systems with displacement-dependent loads can be written in closed-form, it is advantageous to solve for the displacements in this manner. Implementing closed-form equations in static analysis with inertia relief is analogous to implementing transfer functions in dynamic analysis. Using a MSC/NASTRAN DMAP Alter, displacement-dependent loads have been included in static analysis with inertia relief. Such an Alter has been used successfully to solve efficiently a common aerospace problem typically solved using an iterative technique.

Flow injection gas chromatography with sulfur chemiluminescence detection for the analysis of total sulfur in complex hydrocarbon matrixes.

PubMed

Hua, Yujuan; Hawryluk, Myron; Gras, Ronda; Shearer, Randall; Luong, Jim

2018-01-01

A fast and reliable analytical technique for the determination of total sulfur levels in complex hydrocarbon matrices is introduced. The method employed flow injection technique using a gas chromatograph as a sample introduction device and a gas phase dual-plasma sulfur chemiluminescence detector for sulfur quantification. Using the technique described, total sulfur measurement in challenging hydrocarbon matrices can be achieved in less than 10 s with sample-to-sample time <2 min. The high degree of selectivity and sensitivity toward sulfur compounds of the detector offers the ability to measure low sulfur levels with a detection limit in the range of 20 ppb w/w S. The equimolar response characteristic of the detector allows the quantitation of unknown sulfur compounds and simplifies the calibration process. Response is linear over a concentration range of five orders of magnitude, with a high degree of repeatability. The detector's lack of response to hydrocarbons enables direct analysis without the need for time-consuming sample preparation and chromatographic separation processes. This flow injection-based sulfur chemiluminescence detection technique is ideal for fast analysis or trace sulfur analysis. © 2017 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.

Direct identification of microorganisms from positive blood cultures using the lysis-filtration technique and matrix assisted laser desorption ionization time-of-flight mass spectrometry (MALDI-TOF MS): a multicentre study.

PubMed

Farina, Claudio; Arena, Fabio; Casprini, Patrizia; Cichero, Paola; Clementi, Massimo; Cosentino, Marina; Degl'Innocenti, Roberto; Giani, Tommaso; Luzzaro, Francesco; Mattei, Romano; Mauri, Carola; Nardone, Maria; Rossolini, Gian Maria; Serna Ortega, Paula Andrea; Vailati, Francesca

2015-04-01

Microbial identification from blood cultures is essential to institute optimal antibiotic therapy and improve survival possibilities. Matrix-assisted laser desorption ionization-time of flight mass spectrometry (MALDI-TOF MS) has been successfully applied to identify bacteria and yeasts from positive blood cultures broths. The aim of this multicentre study was to evaluate the reliability of the lysis-filtration technique associated with MALDI-TOF MS to directly identify microorganisms from 765 positive blood cultures collected in six Italian hospitals. Overall, 675/765 (78.1%) blood isolates were correctly identified at the species level, with significant differences between Gram-negative and Gram-positive bacteria (92.6%, and 69.8%, respectively). Some difficulties arise in identifying Streptococcus pneumoniae, Staphylococcus aureus, yeasts and anaerobes. The lysis-filtration protocol is a suitable procedure in terms of performance in identifying microorganisms, but it is quite expensive and technically time-consuming since the time of filtration is not regular for all the samples. The application of the MALDI-TOF MS technique to the direct microbial identification from positive blood cultures is a very promising approach, even if more experience must be gained to minimize errors and costs.

An Overview of the Evolution of Infrared Spectroscopy Applied to Bacterial Typing.

PubMed

Quintelas, Cristina; Ferreira, Eugénio C; Lopes, João A; Sousa, Clara

2018-01-01

The sustained emergence of new declared bacterial species makes typing a continuous challenge for microbiologists. Molecular biology techniques have a very significant role in the context of bacterial typing, but they are often very laborious, time consuming, and eventually fail when dealing with very closely related species. Spectroscopic-based techniques appear in some situations as a viable alternative to molecular methods with advantages in terms of analysis time and cost. Infrared and mass spectrometry are among the most exploited techniques in this context: particularly, infrared spectroscopy emerged as a very promising method with multiple reported successful applications. This article presents a systematic review on infrared spectroscopy applications for bacterial typing, highlighting fundamental aspects of infrared spectroscopy, a detailed literature review (covering different taxonomic levels and bacterial species), advantages, and limitations of the technique over molecular biology methods and a comparison with other competing spectroscopic techniques such as MALDI-TOF MS, Raman, and intrinsic fluorescence. Infrared spectroscopy possesses a high potential for bacterial typing at distinct taxonomic levels and worthy of further developments and systematization. The development of databases appears fundamental toward the establishment of infrared spectroscopy as a viable method for bacterial typing. © 2017 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.

Detection of Frauds and Other Non-technical Losses in Power Utilities using Smart Meters: A Review

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ahmad, Tanveer; Ul Hasan, Qadeer

2016-06-01

Analysis of losses in power distribution system and techniques to mitigate these are two active areas of research especially in energy scarce countries like Pakistan to increase the availability of power without installing new generation. Since total energy losses account for both technical losses (TL) as well as non-technical losses (NTLs). Utility companies in developing countries are incurring of major financial losses due to non-technical losses. NTLs lead to a series of additional losses, such as damage to the network (infrastructure and the reduction of network reliability) etc. The purpose of this paper is to perform an introductory investigation of non-technical losses in power distribution systems. Additionally, analysis of NTLs using consumer energy consumption data with the help of Linear Regression Analysis has been carried out. This data focuses on the Low Voltage (LV) distribution network, which includes: residential, commercial, agricultural and industrial consumers by using the monthly kWh interval data acquired over a period (one month) of time using smart meters. In this research different prevention techniques are also discussed to prevent illegal use of electricity in the distribution of electrical power system.

Real-Time PCR for the Detection of Precise Transgene Copy Number in Wheat.

PubMed

Giancaspro, Angelica; Gadaleta, Agata; Blanco, Antonio

2017-01-01

Despite the unceasing advances in genetic transformation techniques, the success of common delivery methods still lies on the behavior of the integrated transgenes in the host genome. Stability and expression of the introduced genes are influenced by several factors such as chromosomal location, transgene copy number and interaction with the host genotype. Such factors are traditionally characterized by Southern blot analysis, which can be time-consuming, laborious, and often unable to detect the exact copy number of rearranged transgenes. Recent research in crop field suggests real-time PCR as an effective and reliable tool for the precise quantification and characterization of transgene loci. This technique overcomes most problems linked to phenotypic segregation analysis and can analyze hundreds of samples in a day, making it an efficient method for estimating a gene copy number integrated in a transgenic line. This protocol describes the use of real-time PCR for the detection of transgene copy number in durum wheat transgenic lines by means of two different chemistries (SYBR ® Green I dye and TaqMan ® probes).

Lysophosphatidic acid enhances collagen deposition and matrix thickening in engineered tissue.

PubMed

Chabaud, Stéphane; Marcoux, Thomas-Louis; Deschênes-Rompré, Marie-Pier; Rousseau, Alexandre; Morissette, Amélie; Bouhout, Sara; Bernard, Geneviève; Bolduc, Stéphane

2015-11-01

The time needed to produce engineered tissue is critical. A self-assembly approach provided excellent results regarding biological functions and cell differentiation because it closely respected the microenvironment of cells. Nevertheless, the technique was time consuming for producing tissue equivalents with enough extracellular matrix to allow manipulations. Unlike L-arginine supplementation that only increased accumulation of collagen in cell culture supernatant in our model, addition of lysophosphatidic acid, a natural bioactive lipid, did not modify the amount of accumulated collagen in the cell culture supernatant; however, it enhanced the matrix deposition rate without inducing fibroblast hyperproliferation and tissue fibrosis. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Protein Folding Using a Vortex Fluidic Device.

PubMed

Britton, Joshua; Smith, Joshua N; Raston, Colin L; Weiss, Gregory A

2017-01-01

Essentially all biochemistry and most molecular biology experiments require recombinant proteins. However, large, hydrophobic proteins typically aggregate into insoluble and misfolded species, and are directed into inclusion bodies. Current techniques to fold proteins recovered from inclusion bodies rely on denaturation followed by dialysis or rapid dilution. Such approaches can be time consuming, wasteful, and inefficient. Here, we describe rapid protein folding using a vortex fluidic device (VFD). This process uses mechanical energy introduced into thin films to rapidly and efficiently fold proteins. With the VFD in continuous flow mode, large volumes of protein solution can be processed per day with 100-fold reductions in both folding times and buffer volumes.

Sensing Free Sulfur Dioxide in Wine

PubMed Central

Monro, Tanya M.; Moore, Rachel L.; Nguyen, Mai-Chi; Ebendorff-Heidepriem, Heike; Skouroumounis, George K.; Elsey, Gordon M.; Taylor, Dennis K.

2012-01-01

Sulfur dioxide (SO2) is important in the winemaking process as it aids in preventing microbial growth and the oxidation of wine. These processes and others consume the SO2 over time, resulting in wines with little SO2 protection. Furthermore, SO2 and sulfiting agents are known to be allergens to many individuals and for that reason their levels need to be monitored and regulated in final wine products. Many of the current techniques for monitoring SO2 in wine require the SO2 to be separated from the wine prior to analysis. This investigation demonstrates a technique capable of measuring free sulfite concentrations in low volume liquid samples in white wine. This approach adapts a known colorimetric reaction to a suspended core optical fiber sensing platform, and exploits the interaction between guided light located within the fiber voids and a mixture of the wine sample and a colorimetric analyte. We have shown that this technique enables measurements to be made without dilution of the wine samples, thus paving the way towards real time in situ wine monitoring. PMID:23112627

Trends in hard X-ray fluorescence mapping: environmental applications in the age of fast detectors.

PubMed

Lombi, E; de Jonge, M D; Donner, E; Ryan, C G; Paterson, D

2011-06-01

Environmental samples are extremely diverse but share a tendency for heterogeneity and complexity. This heterogeneity poses methodological challenges when investigating biogeochemical processes. In recent years, the development of analytical tools capable of probing element distribution and speciation at the microscale have allowed this challenge to be addressed. Of these available tools, laterally resolved synchrotron techniques such as X-ray fluorescence mapping are key methods for the in situ investigation of micronutrients and inorganic contaminants in environmental samples. This article demonstrates how recent advances in X-ray fluorescence detector technology are bringing new possibilities to environmental research. Fast detectors are helping to circumvent major issues such as X-ray beam damage of hydrated samples, as dwell times during scanning are reduced. They are also helping to reduce temporal beamtime requirements, making particularly time-consuming techniques such as micro X-ray fluorescence (μXRF) tomography increasingly feasible. This article focuses on μXRF mapping of nutrients and metalloids in environmental samples, and suggests that the current divide between mapping and speciation techniques will be increasingly blurred by the development of combined approaches.

Ultrasonic sensor based defect detection and characterisation of ceramics.

PubMed

Kesharaju, Manasa; Nagarajah, Romesh; Zhang, Tonzhua; Crouch, Ian

2014-01-01

Ceramic tiles, used in body armour systems, are currently inspected visually offline using an X-ray technique that is both time consuming and very expensive. The aim of this research is to develop a methodology to detect, locate and classify various manufacturing defects in Reaction Sintered Silicon Carbide (RSSC) ceramic tiles, using an ultrasonic sensing technique. Defects such as free silicon, un-sintered silicon carbide material and conventional porosity are often difficult to detect using conventional X-radiography. An alternative inspection system was developed to detect defects in ceramic components using an Artificial Neural Network (ANN) based signal processing technique. The inspection methodology proposed focuses on pre-processing of signals, de-noising, wavelet decomposition, feature extraction and post-processing of the signals for classification purposes. This research contributes to developing an on-line inspection system that would be far more cost effective than present methods and, moreover, assist manufacturers in checking the location of high density areas, defects and enable real time quality control, including the implementation of accept/reject criteria. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Wear study of Al-SiC metal matrix composites processed through microwave energy

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Honnaiah, C.; Srinath, M. S.; Prasad, S. L. Ajit

2018-04-01

Particulate reinforced metal matrix composites are finding wider acceptance in many industrial applications due to their isotropic properties and ease of manufacture. Uniform distribution of reinforcement particulates and good bonding between matrix and reinforcement phases are essential features in order to obtain metal matrix composites with improved properties. Conventional powder metallurgy technique can successfully overcome the limitation of stir casting techniques, but it is time consuming and not cost effective. Use of microwave technology for processing particulate reinforced metal matrix composites through powder metallurgy technique is being increasingly explored in recent times because of its cost effectiveness and speed of processing. The present work is an attempt to process Al-SiC metal matrix composites using microwaves irradiated at 2.45 GHz frequency and 900 W power for 10 minutes. Further, dry sliding wear studies were conducted at different loads at constant velocity of 2 m/s for various sliding distances using pin-on-disc equipment. Analysis of the obtained results show that the microwave processed Al-SiC composite material shows around 34 % of resistance to wear than the aluminium alloy.

Rapid detection of terbufos in stomach contents using desorption electrospray ionization mass spectrometry.

PubMed

Wilson, Christina R; Mulligan, Christopher C; Strueh, Kurt D; Stevenson, Gregory W; Hooser, Stephen B

2014-05-01

Desorption electrospray ionization mass spectrometry (DESI-MS) is an emerging analytical technique that permits the rapid and direct analysis of biological or environmental samples under ambient conditions. Highlighting the versatility of this technique, DESI-MS has been used for the rapid detection of illicit drugs, chemical warfare agents, agricultural chemicals, and pharmaceuticals from a variety of sample matrices. In diagnostic veterinary toxicology, analyzing samples using traditional analytical instrumentation typically includes extensive sample extraction procedures, which can be time consuming and labor intensive. Therefore, efforts to expedite sample analyses are a constant goal for diagnostic toxicology laboratories. In the current report, DESI-MS was used to directly analyze stomach contents from a dog exposed to the organophosphate insecticide terbufos. The total DESI-MS analysis time required to confirm the presence of terbufos and diagnose organophosphate poisoning in this case was approximately 5 min. This highlights the potential of this analytical technique in the field of veterinary toxicology for the rapid diagnosis and detection of toxicants in biological samples. © 2014 The Author(s).

Alternative method of removing otoliths from sturgeon

USGS Publications Warehouse

Chalupnicki, Marc A.; Dittman, Dawn E.

2016-01-01

Extracting the otoliths (ear bones) from fish that have very thick skulls can be difficult and very time consuming. The common practice of making a transverse vertical incision on the top of the skull with a hand or electrical saw may damage the otolith if not performed correctly. Sturgeons (Acipenseridae) are one family in particular that have a very large and thick skull. A new laboratory method entering the brain cavity from the ventral side of the fish to expose the otoliths was easier than other otolith extraction methods found in the literature. Methods reviewed in the literature are designed for the field and are more efficient at processing large quantities of fish quickly. However, this new technique was designed to be more suited for a laboratory setting when time is not pressing and successful extraction from each specimen is critical. The success of finding and removing otoliths using this technique is very high and does not compromise the structure in any manner. This alternative technique is applicable to other similar fish species for extracting the otoliths.

Cerebral perfusion imaging with bolus harmonic imaging (Honorable Mention Poster Award)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kier, Christian; Toth, Daniel; Meyer-Wiethe, Karsten; Schindler, Angela; Cangur, Hakan; Seidel, Gunter; Aach, Til

2005-04-01

Fast visualisation of cerebral microcirculation supports diagnosis of acute stroke. However, the commonly used CT/MRI-based methods are time consuming, costly and not applicable to every patient. The bolus perfusion harmonic imaging (BHI) method is an ultrasound imaging technique which makes use of the fact, that ultrasound contrast agents unlike biological tissues resonate at harmonic frequencies. Exploiting this effect, the contrast between perfused and non-perfused areas can be improved. Thus, BHI overcomes the low signal-to-noise ratio of transcranial ultrasound and the high impedance of the skull. By analysing image sequences, visualising the qualitative characteristics of an US contrast agent bolus injection becomes possible. The analysis consists of calculating four perfusion-related parameters, Local Peak Intensity, Time To Peak, Area Under Curve, and Average Rising, from the time/intensity curve and providing them as colour-coded images. For calculating these parameters the fundamental assumption is that image intensity corresponds to contrast agent concentration which in turn shows the perfusion of the corresponding brain region. In a clinical study on patients suffering from acute ischemic stroke it is shown that some of the parameters correlate significantly to the infarction area. Thus, BHI becomes a less time-consuming and inexpensive bedside method for diagnosis of cerebral perfusion deficits.

Acceptability of willingness to pay techniques to consumers

PubMed Central

Taylor, Susan J.; Armour, Carol L.

2002-01-01

Abstract Objective The purpose of this study was to assess and compare the proportion of usable responses and protest votes obtained with two willingness to pay (WTP) techniques, contingent valuation (CV) and discrete choice experiment (DCE) and to assess the acceptability of the techniques to respondents. Setting and participants Pregnant women attending the public antenatal clinics of a Sydney teaching hospital were surveyed. Main variables studied Preference for either Treatment A (artificial rupture of the membranes followed by intravenous oxytocin) or Treatment B (prostaglandin E2 gel followed by oxytocin if necessary) was assessed. Then WTP for the preferred treatments was assessed using CV and WTP for specific attributes of the treatments in the DCE. In addition, the acceptability of the two techniques was compared in terms of responses deemed to be valid according to defined criteria, protest votes and comments recorded by consumers. Results With the CV, 74% of respondents chose gel and their maximum WTP was Aus$178 compared with $133 for the alternative. A total of 68% of responses were deemed to be valid including 5% who may have been expressing a protest vote. With the DCE, respondents were WTP $55 for every 1 h reduction in the length of time from induction to delivery. A total of 72% of responses were deemed valid and only two of these 258 women were considered to have expressed a protest vote. Conclusions Only a small number of women expressed objections to the use of WTP questions in health‐care and the majority of women completed both questions successfully. PMID:12460223

A novel brominated triazine-based flame retardant (TTBP-TAZ) in plastic consumer products and indoor dust.

PubMed

Ballesteros-Gómez, Ana; de Boer, Jacob; Leonards, Pim E G

2014-04-15

The presence of a novel brominated flame retardant named 2,4,6-tris(2,4,6-tribromophenoxy)-1,3,5-triazine (TTBP-TAZ) is reported for the first time in plastic parts of consumer products and indoor dust samples. TTBP-TAZ was identified by untargeted screening and can be a replacement of the banned polybrominated diphenyl ethers. Analysis techniques based on ambient mass spectrometry and on liquid chromatography with atmospheric pressure chemical ionization combined with high resolution time-of-flight mass spectrometry were developed for the screening, detection and quantification of this low volatility and high molecular weight compound. TTBP-TAZ was present in 8 of 13 plastic parts of consumer products (from mainly electric and electronic equipment acquired in 2012) at estimated concentrations of 0.01-1.9% by weight of the product (%, w/w). It was not present in any of the older 13 plastic samples that were collected in a recycling park (manufacture date before 2006), this suggests a recent use of TTBP-TAZ. It was also found in 9 of 17 house dust samples in the range of 160-22150 ng g(-1), with the highest levels being found in samples collected on electronic and electrical equipment. These preliminary results highlight the need for further research on TTBP-TAZ and the potential of using alternative analysis methods for the identification of new flame retardants.

WWREX: A case study in the development of Internet E-Commerce in the energy industry

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

Yeich, K.; Horner, D.; Dunn, A.

Even more so than the World Wide Web, the utility industry is undergoing a massive deregulation that is turning it into a Wild West environment that has fostered fierce competition, new technology and new services in the energy marketplace. It has become increasingly complex for consumers, suppliers and utilities to buy and sell energy at the best prices. With the help of the Internet, Per-Se Technologies and North American Power have developed the World Wide Retail Energy eXchange (WWREX): a real-time, Web-based electronic commerce application that matches suppliers of electricity and natural gas with potential customers online. This service ismore » the first online application to facilitate the buying and selling of energy via the Internet. Designed to take advantage of the deregulated utilities marketplace, REX benefits multiple market players. With REX, business energy consumers can buy energy at the best price, from multiple suppliers and with significant time and cost reductions. Suppliers can instantly access new customer bases and close efficient, bulk transactions without the traditional sales and marketing costs associated with selling to a diverse set of consumers. The challenges and solutions of this project illustrate the technologies and techniques in creating a viable E-Commerce application. The resulting system provides effective electronic commerce and solves a critical business need at a relatively low cost.« less

Nanostructured surfaces for analysis of anticancer drug and cell diagnosis based on electrochemical and SERS tools.

PubMed

El-Said, Waleed A; Yoon, Jinho; Choi, Jeong-Woo

2018-01-01

Discovering new anticancer drugs and screening their efficacy requires a huge amount of resources and time-consuming processes. The development of fast, sensitive, and nondestructive methods for the in vitro and in vivo detection of anticancer drugs' effects and action mechanisms have been done to reduce the time and resources required to discover new anticancer drugs. For the in vitro and in vivo detection of the efficiency, distribution, and action mechanism of anticancer drugs, the applications of electrochemical techniques such as electrochemical cell chips and optical techniques such as surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy (SERS) have been developed based on the nanostructured surface. Research focused on electrochemical cell chips and the SERS technique have been reviewed here; electrochemical cell chips based on nanostructured surfaces have been developed for the in vitro detection of cell viability and the evaluation of the effects of anticancer drugs, which showed the high capability to evaluate the cytotoxic effects of several chemicals at low concentrations. SERS technique based on the nanostructured surface have been used as label-free, simple, and nondestructive techniques for the in vitro and in vivo monitoring of the distribution, mechanism, and metabolism of different anticancer drugs at the cellular level. The use of electrochemical cell chips and the SERS technique based on the nanostructured surface should be good tools to detect the effects and action mechanisms of anticancer drugs.

Nanostructured surfaces for analysis of anticancer drug and cell diagnosis based on electrochemical and SERS tools

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

El-Said, Waleed A.; Yoon, Jinho; Choi, Jeong-Woo

2018-04-01

Discovering new anticancer drugs and screening their efficacy requires a huge amount of resources and time-consuming processes. The development of fast, sensitive, and nondestructive methods for the in vitro and in vivo detection of anticancer drugs' effects and action mechanisms have been done to reduce the time and resources required to discover new anticancer drugs. For the in vitro and in vivo detection of the efficiency, distribution, and action mechanism of anticancer drugs, the applications of electrochemical techniques such as electrochemical cell chips and optical techniques such as surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy (SERS) have been developed based on the nanostructured surface. Research focused on electrochemical cell chips and the SERS technique have been reviewed here; electrochemical cell chips based on nanostructured surfaces have been developed for the in vitro detection of cell viability and the evaluation of the effects of anticancer drugs, which showed the high capability to evaluate the cytotoxic effects of several chemicals at low concentrations. SERS technique based on the nanostructured surface have been used as label-free, simple, and nondestructive techniques for the in vitro and in vivo monitoring of the distribution, mechanism, and metabolism of different anticancer drugs at the cellular level. The use of electrochemical cell chips and the SERS technique based on the nanostructured surface should be good tools to detect the effects and action mechanisms of anticancer drugs.

Mitigating randomness of consumer preferences under certain conditional choices

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bothos, John M. A.; Thanos, Konstantinos-Georgios; Papadopoulou, Eirini; Daveas, Stelios; Thomopoulos, Stelios C. A.

2017-05-01

Agent-based crowd behaviour consists a significant field of research that has drawn a lot of attention in recent years. Agent-based crowd simulation techniques have been used excessively to forecast the behaviour of larger or smaller crowds in terms of certain given conditions influenced by specific cognition models and behavioural rules and norms, imposed from the beginning. Our research employs conditional event algebra, statistical methodology and agent-based crowd simulation techniques in developing a behavioural econometric model about the selection of certain economic behaviour by a consumer that faces a spectre of potential choices when moving and acting in a multiplex mall. More specifically we try to analyse the influence of demographic, economic, social and cultural factors on the economic behaviour of a certain individual and then we try to link its behaviour with the general behaviour of the crowds of consumers in multiplex malls using agent-based crowd simulation techniques. We then run our model using Generalized Least Squares and Maximum Likelihood methods to come up with the most probable forecast estimations, regarding the agent's behaviour. Our model is indicative about the formation of consumers' spectre of choices in multiplex malls under the condition of predefined preferences and can be used as a guide for further research in this area.

Engineering PGPMOs through Gene Editing and Systems Biology: A Solution for Phytoremediation?

PubMed

Basu, Supratim; Rabara, Roel C; Negi, Sangeeta; Shukla, Pratyoosh

2018-05-01

In light of extensive urbanization and deforestation, toxic wastes are being released into the atmosphere, causing increased air and soil pollution. Conventional methods of soil remediation are time consuming and labor and cost intensive, rendering them uneconomical to maintain sustainable agriculture. One solution is to use natural resources like plants and microbes for phytoremediation. A thorough systemic knowledge of plant-microbe interactions will allow the use of gene editing and gene manipulation techniques to increase the efficiency of plants in phytoremediation. This Opinion article focuses on gene editing techniques used in plants and microbes for phytoremediation and also emphasizes their effectiveness, advancement, and future implications for sustainable and environmentally friendly agriculture. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Multispectral system analysis through modeling and simulation

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Malila, W. A.; Gleason, J. M.; Cicone, R. C.

1977-01-01

The design and development of multispectral remote sensor systems and associated information extraction techniques should be optimized under the physical and economic constraints encountered and yet be effective over a wide range of scene and environmental conditions. Direct measurement of the full range of conditions to be encountered can be difficult, time consuming, and costly. Simulation of multispectral data by modeling scene, atmosphere, sensor, and data classifier characteristics is set forth as a viable alternative, particularly when coupled with limited sets of empirical measurements. A multispectral system modeling capability is described. Use of the model is illustrated for several applications - interpretation of remotely sensed data from agricultural and forest scenes, evaluating atmospheric effects in Landsat data, examining system design and operational configuration, and development of information extraction techniques.

Multispectral system analysis through modeling and simulation

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Malila, W. A.; Gleason, J. M.; Cicone, R. C.

1977-01-01

The design and development of multispectral remote sensor systems and associated information extraction techniques should be optimized under the physical and economic constraints encountered and yet be effective over a wide range of scene and environmental conditions. Direct measurement of the full range of conditions to be encountered can be difficult, time consuming, and costly. Simulation of multispectral data by modeling scene, atmosphere, sensor, and data classifier characteristics is set forth as a viable alternative, particularly when coupled with limited sets of empirical measurements. A multispectral system modeling capability is described. Use of the model is illustrated for several applications - interpretation of remotely sensed data from agricultural and forest scenes, evaluating atmospheric effects in LANDSAT data, examining system design and operational configuration, and development of information extraction techniques.

Monte Carlo Simulation of Soil Moisture Effects on Anti-Tank Landmines Detection by Neutron Backscattering Technique

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Mowlawi, Ali Asghar; Yazdani, Majed

The detection of landmines using available technologies is a time consuming, expensive, and extremely dangerous job, so that there is a need for technological breakthroughs in this field. One of the safest and most effective technologies to landmine and explosive detection is the neutron backscattering technique. The slowing-down of fast neutrons to the thermal energy is a direct measure of the concentration of hydrogen, one of the main elements present in explosive materials. The elastic scattering of fast neutrons is affected by the strong resonances in the cross-section of the three other elements of explosives: nitrogen, oxygen, and carbon. In this work, Monte Carlo estimations of the soil moisture effects on landmine detection are presented.

Bone biosensors: knowing the present and predicting the future

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Khashayar, Patricia; Amoabediny, Ghassem; Larijani, Bagher; Vanfleteren, Jan

2016-02-01

Bone is an active organ with the capacity of continuous remodeling throughout adult life. In view of the fact that the current gold standard to assess bone remodeling, bone mineral density, suffers from certain limitations, newer techniques are being developed. Currently enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay is commonly used to assess bone turnover markers; the technique, however, is expensive, time consuming and needs trained personnel. Thus, there is a growing demand to fabricate different types of biosensors to provide low cost miniaturized platforms to assess the bone remodeling process more accurately. This review focuses on the latest advancements in the field of bone biosensing technologies. Its results might help provide possible solutions for translation of this technology for point-of-care diagnostic applications.

Alternative and Efficient Extraction Methods for Marine-Derived Compounds

PubMed Central

Grosso, Clara; Valentão, Patrícia; Ferreres, Federico; Andrade, Paula B.

2015-01-01

Marine ecosystems cover more than 70% of the globe’s surface. These habitats are occupied by a great diversity of marine organisms that produce highly structural diverse metabolites as a defense mechanism. In the last decades, these metabolites have been extracted and isolated in order to test them in different bioassays and assess their potential to fight human diseases. Since traditional extraction techniques are both solvent- and time-consuming, this review emphasizes alternative extraction techniques, such as supercritical fluid extraction, pressurized solvent extraction, microwave-assisted extraction, ultrasound-assisted extraction, pulsed electric field-assisted extraction, enzyme-assisted extraction, and extraction with switchable solvents and ionic liquids, applied in the search for marine compounds. Only studies published in the 21st century are considered. PMID:26006714

Profile of Dental Caries in Teenagers in Mumbai City Visiting Nair Hospital Dental College.

PubMed

Banga, Kulvinder Singh; Rastogi, Sweta; Mistry, Siddhi

2018-01-01

Witnessing the alarming rise and pattern of distribution of dental caries worldwide, the need of the hour is to take initiative in preventing the spread further. This survey was conducted to determine the occurrence of dental caries and its associated risk factors in teenagers of Mumbai city who visited Nair Hospital Dental College. The objective of the study was to analyze the current dietary habits, oral hygiene status, and the number of sugar exposures in teenagers by a questionnaire followed by clinical examination which was carried out using International Caries Detection and Assessment System (ICDAS) II to detect the profile of dental caries. The data obtained from the questionnaire and examination were analyzed using Chi-square test. The survey showed that, out of the 300 teenagers examined, 67% visited the dentist only when they were symptomatic. Around 60% consumed sweets 2-3 times/day. A major percentage, 89%, consumed sweets irrespective of meal time and 52% consumed aerated drinks often. Only 16% used appropriate brushing techniques and 93% were not aware if their toothpaste was fluoridated. ICDAS II revealed that a total number of teeth requiring preventive treatment ranged from 8.3% to 14% and total number of teeth requiring definitive treatment ranged from 36% to 48%. It was found that tooth most commonly treated was 36 followed by tooth number 46 showing that the incidence of caries is higher in lower arch. Most of the teenagers had a high rate of sweet consumption in between meals and poor knowledge of brushing techniques, fluoridated toothpaste, interdental aids, and mouthrinses. ICDAS showed a high incidence of caries in teenagers, especially in the lower arch. ICDAS II showed good accuracy in differentiating between noncavitated and cavitated lesions which helps to provide an accurate treatment plan for teenagers so that it prevents the progression of the lesion.

The productive techniques and constitutive effects of 'evidence-based policy' and 'consumer participation' discourses in health policy processes.

PubMed

Lancaster, K; Seear, K; Treloar, C; Ritter, A

2017-03-01

For over twenty years there have been calls for greater 'consumer' participation in health decision-making. While it is recognised by governments and other stakeholders that 'consumer' participation is desirable, barriers to meaningful involvement nonetheless remain. It has been suggested that the reifying of 'evidence-based policy' may be limiting opportunities for participation, through the way this discourse legitimates particular voices to the exclusion of others. Others have suggested that assumptions underpinning the very notion of the 'affected community' or 'consumers' as fixed and bounded 'policy publics' need to be problematised. In this paper, drawing on interviews (n = 41) with individuals closely involved in Australian drug policy discussions, we critically interrogate the productive techniques and constitutive effects of 'evidence-based policy' and 'consumer participation' discourses in the context of drug policy processes. To inform our analysis, we draw on and combine a number of critical perspectives including Foucault's concept of subjugated knowledges, the work of feminist theorists, as well as recent work regarding conceptualisations of emergent policy publics. First, we explore how the subject position of 'consumer' might be seen as enacted in the material-discursive practices of 'evidence-based policy' and 'consumer participation' in drug policy processes. Secondly, we consider the centralising power-effects of the dominant 'evidence-based policy' paradigm, and how resistance may be thought about in this context. We suggest that such interrogation has potential to recast the call for 'consumer' participation in health policy decision-making and drug policy processes. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Evaluating authentication options for mobile health applications in younger and older adults

PubMed Central

Khan, Hassan; Hengartner, Urs; Ong, Stephanie; Logan, Alexander G.; Vogel, Daniel; Gebotys, Robert; Yang, Jilan

2018-01-01

Objective Apps promoting patient self-management may improve health outcomes. However, methods to secure stored information on mobile devices may adversely affect usability. We tested the reliability and usability of common user authentication techniques in younger and older adults. Methodology Usability testing was conducted in two age groups, 18 to 30 years and 50 years and older. After completing a demographic questionnaire, each participant tested four authentication options in random order: four-digit personal identification number (PIN), graphical password (GRAPHICAL), Android pattern-lock (PATTERN), and a swipe-style Android fingerprint scanner (FINGERPRINT). Participants rated each option using the Systems Usability Scale (SUS). Results A total of 59 older and 43 younger participants completed the study. Overall, PATTERN was the fastest option (3.44s), and PIN had the fewest errors per attempt (0.02). Participants were able to login using PIN, PATTERN, and GRAPHICAL at least 98% of the time. FINGERPRINT was the slowest (26.97s), had an average of 1.46 errors per attempt, and had a successful login rate of 85%. Overall, PIN and PATTERN had higher SUS scores than FINGERPRINT and GRAPHICAL. Compared to younger participants, older participants were also less likely to find PATTERN to be tiring, annoying or time consuming and less likely to consider PIN to be time consuming. Younger participants were more likely to rate GRAPHICAL as annoying, time consuming and tiring than older participants. Conclusions On mobile devices, PIN and pattern-lock outperformed graphical passwords and swipe-style fingerprints. All participants took longer to authenticate using the swipe-style fingerprint compared to other options. Older participants also took two to three seconds longer to authenticate using the PIN, pattern and graphical passwords though this did not appear to affect perceived usability. PMID:29300736

Evaluating authentication options for mobile health applications in younger and older adults.

PubMed

Grindrod, Kelly; Khan, Hassan; Hengartner, Urs; Ong, Stephanie; Logan, Alexander G; Vogel, Daniel; Gebotys, Robert; Yang, Jilan

2018-01-01

Apps promoting patient self-management may improve health outcomes. However, methods to secure stored information on mobile devices may adversely affect usability. We tested the reliability and usability of common user authentication techniques in younger and older adults. Usability testing was conducted in two age groups, 18 to 30 years and 50 years and older. After completing a demographic questionnaire, each participant tested four authentication options in random order: four-digit personal identification number (PIN), graphical password (GRAPHICAL), Android pattern-lock (PATTERN), and a swipe-style Android fingerprint scanner (FINGERPRINT). Participants rated each option using the Systems Usability Scale (SUS). A total of 59 older and 43 younger participants completed the study. Overall, PATTERN was the fastest option (3.44s), and PIN had the fewest errors per attempt (0.02). Participants were able to login using PIN, PATTERN, and GRAPHICAL at least 98% of the time. FINGERPRINT was the slowest (26.97s), had an average of 1.46 errors per attempt, and had a successful login rate of 85%. Overall, PIN and PATTERN had higher SUS scores than FINGERPRINT and GRAPHICAL. Compared to younger participants, older participants were also less likely to find PATTERN to be tiring, annoying or time consuming and less likely to consider PIN to be time consuming. Younger participants were more likely to rate GRAPHICAL as annoying, time consuming and tiring than older participants. On mobile devices, PIN and pattern-lock outperformed graphical passwords and swipe-style fingerprints. All participants took longer to authenticate using the swipe-style fingerprint compared to other options. Older participants also took two to three seconds longer to authenticate using the PIN, pattern and graphical passwords though this did not appear to affect perceived usability.

Rapid detection of bacteria in drinking water and water contamination case studies

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Deininger, Rolf A.; Lee, Jiyoung; Clark, Robert M.

2011-12-01

Water systems are inherently vulnerable to physical, chemical and biologic threats that might compromise a systems' ability to reliably deliver safe water. The ability of a water supply to provide water to its customers can be compromised by destroying or disrupting key physical elements of the water system. However, contamination is generally viewed as the most serious potential terrorist threat to water systems. Chemical or biologic agents could spread throughout a distribution system and result in sickness or death among the consumers and for some agents the presence of the contaminant might not be known until emergency rooms report an increase in patients with a particular set of symptoms. Even without serious health impacts, just the knowledge that a water system had been breached could seriously undermine consumer confidence in public water supplies. Therefore, the ability to rapidly detect contamination, especially microbiological contamination, is highly desirable. The authors summarize water contamination case studies and discuss a technique for identifying microbiological contamination based on ATP bioluminescence. This assay allows an estimation of bacterial populations within minutes and can be applied using a local platform. Previous ATP-based methods requires one hour, one liter of water, and has a sensitivity of 100000 cells for detection. The improved method discussed here is 100 times more sensitive, requires one-hundredth of the sample volume, and is over 10 times faster than standard method. This technique has a great deal of potential for application in situations in which a water system has been compromised.

New Approach For Prediction Groundwater Depletion

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Moustafa, Mahmoud

2017-01-01

Current approaches to quantify groundwater depletion involve water balance and satellite gravity. However, the water balance technique includes uncertain estimation of parameters such as evapotranspiration and runoff. The satellite method consumes time and effort. The work reported in this paper proposes using failure theory in a novel way to predict groundwater saturated thickness depletion. An important issue in the failure theory proposed is to determine the failure point (depletion case). The proposed technique uses depth of water as the net result of recharge/discharge processes in the aquifer to calculate remaining saturated thickness resulting from the applied pumping rates in an area to evaluate the groundwater depletion. Two parameters, the Weibull function and Bayes analysis were used to model and analyze collected data from 1962 to 2009. The proposed methodology was tested in a nonrenewable aquifer, with no recharge. Consequently, the continuous decline in water depth has been the main criterion used to estimate the depletion. The value of the proposed approach is to predict the probable effect of the current applied pumping rates on the saturated thickness based on the remaining saturated thickness data. The limitation of the suggested approach is that it assumes the applied management practices are constant during the prediction period. The study predicted that after 300 years there would be an 80% probability of the saturated aquifer which would be expected to be depleted. Lifetime or failure theory can give a simple alternative way to predict the remaining saturated thickness depletion with no time-consuming processes such as the sophisticated software required.

10 CFR Appendix Y to Subpart B of... - Uniform Test Method for Measuring the Energy Consumption of Battery Chargers

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-01-01

... power (i.e., watts) consumed as the time series integral of the power consumed over a 1-hour test period...) consumed as the time series integral of the power consumed over a 1-hour test period, divided by the period...-maintenance mode and standby mode over time periods defined in the test procedure. b. Active mode is the...

10 CFR Appendix Y to Subpart B of... - Uniform Test Method for Measuring the Energy Consumption of Battery Chargers

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-01-01

... power (i.e., watts) consumed as the time series integral of the power consumed over a 1-hour test period...) consumed as the time series integral of the power consumed over a 1-hour test period, divided by the period...-maintenance mode and standby mode over time periods defined in the test procedure. b. Active mode is the...

Genetic risks and healthy choices: creating citizen-consumers of genetic services through empowerment and facilitation.

PubMed

Harvey, Alison

2010-03-01

Genetic testing to identify susceptibility to a variety of common complex diseases is increasingly becoming available. In this article, focusing on the development of genetic susceptibility testing for diet-related disease, I examine the emergence of direct-to-the-consumer genetic testing services and the (re)configuration of healthcare provision, both within and outside the specialist genetics service, in the UK. I identify two key techniques within these practices: empowerment and facilitation. Using Foucauldian social theory, I show that empowerment and facilitation are being positioned as tools for the creation of citizen-consumers who will make appropriate dietary choices, based on the results of their genetic analysis. Through these techniques, individuals are transformed into properly entrepreneurial citizens who will, through judicious choices, act to maximise their 'vital capital' (their health) and the capital of the social body. I argue that the user of these services is not purely an economic figure, making rational choices as a consumer, but that her configuration as a citizen-consumer who avails herself of genetic information and services in a proper manner ensures that she is fit to contribute to the economic life of our present.

A novel fast and flexible technique of radical kinetic behaviour investigation based on pallet for plasma evaluation structure and numerical analysis

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Malinowski, Arkadiusz; Takeuchi, Takuya; Chen, Shang; Suzuki, Toshiya; Ishikawa, Kenji; Sekine, Makoto; Hori, Masaru; Lukasiak, Lidia; Jakubowski, Andrzej

2013-07-01

This paper describes a new, fast, and case-independent technique for sticking coefficient (SC) estimation based on pallet for plasma evaluation (PAPE) structure and numerical analysis. Our approach does not require complicated structure, apparatus, or time-consuming measurements but offers high reliability of data and high flexibility. Thermal analysis is also possible. This technique has been successfully applied to estimation of very low value of SC of hydrogen radicals on chemically amplified ArF 193 nm photoresist (the main goal of this study). Upper bound of our technique has been determined by investigation of SC of fluorine radical on polysilicon (in elevated temperature). Sources of estimation error and ways of its reduction have been also discussed. Results of this study give an insight into the process kinetics, and not only they are helpful in better process understanding but additionally they may serve as parameters in a phenomenological model development for predictive modelling of etching for ultimate CMOS topography simulation.

Visualization of ultrasound induced cavitation bubbles using the synchrotron x-ray Analyzer Based Imaging technique.

PubMed

Izadifar, Zahra; Belev, George; Izadifar, Mohammad; Izadifar, Zohreh; Chapman, Dean

2014-12-07

Observing cavitation bubbles deep within tissue is very difficult. The development of a method for probing cavitation, irrespective of its location in tissues, would improve the efficiency and application of ultrasound in the clinic. A synchrotron x-ray imaging technique, which is capable of detecting cavitation bubbles induced in water by a sonochemistry system, is reported here; this could possibly be extended to the study of therapeutic ultrasound in tissues. The two different x-ray imaging techniques of Analyzer Based Imaging (ABI) and phase contrast imaging (PCI) were examined in order to detect ultrasound induced cavitation bubbles. Cavitation was not observed by PCI, however it was detectable with ABI. Acoustic cavitation was imaged at six different acoustic power levels and six different locations through the acoustic beam in water at a fixed power level. The results indicate the potential utility of this technique for cavitation studies in tissues, but it is time consuming. This may be improved by optimizing the imaging method.

Two- and three-dimensional accuracy of dental impression materials: effects of storage time and moisture contamination.

PubMed

Chandran, Deepa T; Jagger, Daryll C; Jagger, Robert G; Barbour, Michele E

2010-01-01

Dental impression materials are used to create an inverse replica of the dental hard and soft tissues, and are used in processes such as the fabrication of crowns and bridges. The accuracy and dimensional stability of impression materials are of paramount importance to the accuracy of fit of the resultant prosthesis. Conventional methods for assessing the dimensional stability of impression materials are two-dimensional (2D), and assess shrinkage or expansion between selected fixed points on the impression. In this study, dimensional changes in four impression materials were assessed using an established 2D and an experimental three-dimensional (3D) technique. The former involved measurement of the distance between reference points on the impression; the latter a contact scanning method for producing a computer map of the impression surface showing localised expansion, contraction and warpage. Dimensional changes were assessed as a function of storage times and moisture contamination comparable to that found in clinical situations. It was evident that dimensional changes observed using the 3D technique were not always apparent using the 2D technique, and that the former offers certain advantages in terms of assessing dimensional accuracy and predictability of impression methods. There are, however, drawbacks associated with 3D techniques such as the more time-consuming nature of the data acquisition and difficulty in statistically analysing the data.

Methodological optimization of tinnitus assessment using prepulse inhibition of the acoustic startle reflex.

PubMed

Longenecker, R J; Galazyuk, A V

2012-11-16

Recently prepulse inhibition of the acoustic startle reflex (ASR) became a popular technique for tinnitus assessment in laboratory animals. This method confers a significant advantage over the previously used time-consuming behavioral approaches utilizing basic mechanisms of conditioning. Although this technique has been successfully used to assess tinnitus in different laboratory animals, many of the finer details of this methodology have not been described enough to be replicated, but are critical for tinnitus assessment. Here we provide detail description of key procedures and methodological issues that provide guidance for newcomers with the process of learning to correctly apply gap detection techniques for tinnitus assessment in laboratory animals. The major categories of these issues include: refinement of hardware for best performance, optimization of stimulus parameters, behavioral considerations, and identification of optimal strategies for data analysis. This article is part of a Special Issue entitled: Tinnitus Neuroscience. Copyright © 2012. Published by Elsevier B.V.

Determining Tooth Occlusal Surface Relief Indicator by Means of Automated 3d Shape Analysis

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gaboutchian, A. V.; Knyaz, V. A.

2017-05-01

Determining occlusal surface relief indicator plays an important role in odontometric tooth shape analysis. An analysis of the parameters of surface relief indicators provides valuable information about closure of dental arches (occlusion) and changes in structure of teeth in lifetime. Such data is relevant for dentistry or anthropology applications. Descriptive techniques commonly used for surface relief evaluation have limited precision which, as a result, does not provide for reliability of conclusions about structure and functioning of teeth. Parametric techniques developed for such applications need special facilities and are time-consuming which limits their spread and ease to access. Nevertheless the use of 3D models, obtained by photogrammetric techniques, allows attaining required measurements accuracy and has a potential for process automation. We introduce new approaches for determining tooth occlusal surface relief indicator and provide data on efficiency in use of different indicators in natural attrition evaluation.

Enzyme-based electrochemical biosensors for determination of organophosphorus and carbamate pesticides

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

Everett, W.R.; Rechnitz, G.A.

1999-01-01

A mini review of enzyme-based electrochemical biosensors for inhibition analysis of organophosphorus and carbamate pesticides is presented. Discussion includes the most recent literature to present advances in detection limits, selectivity and real sample analysis. Recent reviews on the monitoring of pesticides and their residues suggest that the classical analytical techniques of gas and liquid chromatography are the most widely used methods of detection. These techniques, although very accurate in their determinations, can be quite time consuming and expensive and usually require extensive sample clean up and pro-concentration. For these and many other reasons, the classical techniques are very difficult tomore » adapt for field use. Numerous researchers, in the past decade, have developed and made improvements on biosensors for use in pesticide analysis. This mini review will focus on recent advances made in enzyme-based electrochemical biosensors for the determinations of organophosphorus and carbamate pesticides.« less

Advances in paper-based sample pretreatment for point-of-care testing.

PubMed

Tang, Rui Hua; Yang, Hui; Choi, Jane Ru; Gong, Yan; Feng, Shang Sheng; Pingguan-Murphy, Belinda; Huang, Qing Sheng; Shi, Jun Ling; Mei, Qi Bing; Xu, Feng

2017-06-01

In recent years, paper-based point-of-care testing (POCT) has been widely used in medical diagnostics, food safety and environmental monitoring. However, a high-cost, time-consuming and equipment-dependent sample pretreatment technique is generally required for raw sample processing, which are impractical for low-resource and disease-endemic areas. Therefore, there is an escalating demand for a cost-effective, simple and portable pretreatment technique, to be coupled with the commonly used paper-based assay (e.g. lateral flow assay) in POCT. In this review, we focus on the importance of using paper as a platform for sample pretreatment. We firstly discuss the beneficial use of paper for sample pretreatment, including sample collection and storage, separation, extraction, and concentration. We highlight the working principle and fabrication of each sample pretreatment device, the existing challenges and the future perspectives for developing paper-based sample pretreatment technique.

Waste Printed Circuit Board (PCB) Recycling Techniques.

PubMed

Ning, Chao; Lin, Carol Sze Ki; Hui, David Chi Wai; McKay, Gordon

2017-04-01

With the development of technologies and the change of consumer attitudes, the amount of waste electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE) is increasing annually. As the core part of WEEE, the waste printed circuit board (WPCB) is a dangerous waste but at the same time a rich resource for various kinds of materials. In this work, various WPCB treatment methods as well as WPCB recycling techniques divided into direct treatment (landfill and incineration), primitive recycling technology (pyrometallurgy, hydrometallurgy, biometallurgy and primitive full recovery of NMF-non metallic fraction), and advanced recycling technology (mechanical separation, direct use and modification of NMF) are reviewed and analyzed based on their advantages and disadvantages. Also, the evaluation criteria are discussed including economic, environmental, and gate-to-market ability. This review indicates the future research direction of WPCB recycling should focus on a combination of several techniques or in series recycling to maximize the benefits of process.

Terminology model discovery using natural language processing and visualization techniques.

PubMed

Zhou, Li; Tao, Ying; Cimino, James J; Chen, Elizabeth S; Liu, Hongfang; Lussier, Yves A; Hripcsak, George; Friedman, Carol

2006-12-01

Medical terminologies are important for unambiguous encoding and exchange of clinical information. The traditional manual method of developing terminology models is time-consuming and limited in the number of phrases that a human developer can examine. In this paper, we present an automated method for developing medical terminology models based on natural language processing (NLP) and information visualization techniques. Surgical pathology reports were selected as the testing corpus for developing a pathology procedure terminology model. The use of a general NLP processor for the medical domain, MedLEE, provides an automated method for acquiring semantic structures from a free text corpus and sheds light on a new high-throughput method of medical terminology model development. The use of an information visualization technique supports the summarization and visualization of the large quantity of semantic structures generated from medical documents. We believe that a general method based on NLP and information visualization will facilitate the modeling of medical terminologies.

Deep convolutional neural network for the automated detection and diagnosis of seizure using EEG signals.

PubMed

Acharya, U Rajendra; Oh, Shu Lih; Hagiwara, Yuki; Tan, Jen Hong; Adeli, Hojjat

2017-09-27

An encephalogram (EEG) is a commonly used ancillary test to aide in the diagnosis of epilepsy. The EEG signal contains information about the electrical activity of the brain. Traditionally, neurologists employ direct visual inspection to identify epileptiform abnormalities. This technique can be time-consuming, limited by technical artifact, provides variable results secondary to reader expertise level, and is limited in identifying abnormalities. Therefore, it is essential to develop a computer-aided diagnosis (CAD) system to automatically distinguish the class of these EEG signals using machine learning techniques. This is the first study to employ the convolutional neural network (CNN) for analysis of EEG signals. In this work, a 13-layer deep convolutional neural network (CNN) algorithm is implemented to detect normal, preictal, and seizure classes. The proposed technique achieved an accuracy, specificity, and sensitivity of 88.67%, 90.00% and 95.00%, respectively. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Chemical and biological extraction of metals present in E waste: A hybrid technology.

PubMed

Pant, Deepak; Joshi, Deepika; Upreti, Manoj K; Kotnala, Ravindra K

2012-05-01

Management of metal pollution associated with E-waste is widespread across the globe. Currently used techniques for the extraction of metals from E-waste by using either chemical or biological leaching have their own limitations. Chemical leaching is much rapid and efficient but has its own environmental consequences, even the future prospects of associated nanoremediation are also uncertain. Biological leaching on the other hand is comparatively a cost effective technique but at the same moment it is time consuming and the complete recovery of the metal, alone by biological leaching is not possible in most of the cases. The current review addresses the individual issues related to chemical and biological extraction techniques and proposes a hybrid-methodology which incorporates both, along with safer chemicals and compatible microbes for better and efficient extraction of metals from the E-waste. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

CRISPR/Cas9 and genome editing in Drosophila.

PubMed

Bassett, Andrew R; Liu, Ji-Long

2014-01-20

Recent advances in our ability to design DNA binding factors with specificity for desired sequences have resulted in a revolution in genetic engineering, enabling directed changes to the genome to be made relatively easily. Traditional techniques for generating genetic mutations in most organisms have relied on selection from large pools of randomly induced mutations for those of particular interest, or time-consuming gene targeting by homologous recombination. Drosophila melanogaster has always been at the forefront of genetic analysis, and application of these new genome editing techniques to this organism will revolutionise our approach to performing analysis of gene function in the future. We discuss the recent techniques that apply the CRISPR/Cas9 system to Drosophila, highlight potential uses for this technology and speculate upon the future of genome engineering in this model organism. Copyright © 2014 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd.. All rights reserved.

Acoustic emission source location in complex structures using full automatic delta T mapping technique

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Al-Jumaili, Safaa Kh.; Pearson, Matthew R.; Holford, Karen M.; Eaton, Mark J.; Pullin, Rhys

2016-05-01

An easy to use, fast to apply, cost-effective, and very accurate non-destructive testing (NDT) technique for damage localisation in complex structures is key for the uptake of structural health monitoring systems (SHM). Acoustic emission (AE) is a viable technique that can be used for SHM and one of the most attractive features is the ability to locate AE sources. The time of arrival (TOA) technique is traditionally used to locate AE sources, and relies on the assumption of constant wave speed within the material and uninterrupted propagation path between the source and the sensor. In complex structural geometries and complex materials such as composites, this assumption is no longer valid. Delta T mapping was developed in Cardiff in order to overcome these limitations; this technique uses artificial sources on an area of interest to create training maps. These are used to locate subsequent AE sources. However operator expertise is required to select the best data from the training maps and to choose the correct parameter to locate the sources, which can be a time consuming process. This paper presents a new and improved fully automatic delta T mapping technique where a clustering algorithm is used to automatically identify and select the highly correlated events at each grid point whilst the "Minimum Difference" approach is used to determine the source location. This removes the requirement for operator expertise, saving time and preventing human errors. A thorough assessment is conducted to evaluate the performance and the robustness of the new technique. In the initial test, the results showed excellent reduction in running time as well as improved accuracy of locating AE sources, as a result of the automatic selection of the training data. Furthermore, because the process is performed automatically, this is now a very simple and reliable technique due to the prevention of the potential source of error related to manual manipulation.

Development of a Time-Intensity Evaluation System for Consumers: Measuring Bitterness and Retronasal Aroma of Coffee Beverages in 106 Untrained Panelists.

PubMed

Gotow, Naomi; Moritani, Ami; Hayakawa, Yoshinobu; Akutagawa, Akihito; Hashimoto, Hiroshi; Kobayakawa, Tatsu

2015-06-01

In order to develop products that are acceptable to consumers, it is necessary to incorporate consumers' intentions into products' characteristics. Therefore, investigation of consumers' perceptions of the taste or smell of common beverages provides information that should be useful in predicting market responses. In this study, we sought to develop a time-intensity evaluation system for consumer panels. Using our system, we performed time-intensity evaluation of flavor attributes (bitterness and retronasal aroma) that consumers perceived after swallowing a coffee beverage. Additionally, we developed quantitative evaluation methods for determining whether consumer panelists can properly perform time-intensity evaluation. In every trial, we fitted an exponential function to measured intensity data for bitterness and retronasal aroma. The correlation coefficients between measured time-intensity data and the fitted exponential curves were greater than 0.8 in about 90% of trials, indicating that we had successfully developed a time-intensity system for use with consumer panelists, even after just a single training trial using a nontrained consumer. We classified participants into two groups based on their consumption of canned coffee beverages. Significant difference was observed in only AUC of sensory modality (bitterness compared with retronasal aroma) among conventional TI parameters using two-way ANOVA. However, three-way ANOVA including a time course revealed significant difference between bitterness and retronasal aroma in the high-consumption group. Moreover, the high-consumption group more easily discriminated between bitterness and retronasal aroma than the low-consumption group. This finding implied that manufacturers should select consumer panelists who are suitable for their concepts of new products. © 2015 Institute of Food Technologists®

An intelligent detection method for high-field asymmetric waveform ion mobility spectrometry.

PubMed

Li, Yue; Yu, Jianwen; Ruan, Zhiming; Chen, Chilai; Chen, Ran; Wang, Han; Liu, Youjiang; Wang, Xiaozhi; Li, Shan

2018-04-01

In conventional high-field asymmetric waveform ion mobility spectrometry signal acquisition, multi-cycle detection is time consuming and limits somewhat the technique's scope for rapid field detection. In this study, a novel intelligent detection approach has been developed in which a threshold was set on the relative error of α parameters, which can eliminate unnecessary time spent on detection. In this method, two full-spectrum scans were made in advance to obtain the estimated compensation voltage at different dispersion voltages, resulting in a narrowing down of the whole scan area to just the peak area(s) of interest. This intelligent detection method can reduce the detection time to 5-10% of that of the original full-spectrum scan in a single cycle.

Rapid, Reliable Shape Setting of Superelastic Nitinol for Prototyping Robots

PubMed Central

Gilbert, Hunter B.; Webster, Robert J.

2016-01-01

Shape setting Nitinol tubes and wires in a typical laboratory setting for use in superelastic robots is challenging. Obtaining samples that remain superelastic and exhibit desired precurvatures currently requires many iterations, which is time consuming and consumes a substantial amount of Nitinol. To provide a more accurate and reliable method of shape setting, in this paper we propose an electrical technique that uses Joule heating to attain the necessary shape setting temperatures. The resulting high power heating prevents unintended aging of the material and yields consistent and accurate results for the rapid creation of prototypes. We present a complete algorithm and system together with an experimental analysis of temperature regulation. We experimentally validate the approach on Nitinol tubes that are shape set into planar curves. We also demonstrate the feasibility of creating general space curves by shape setting a helical tube. The system demonstrates a mean absolute temperature error of 10°C. PMID:27648473

Rapid, Reliable Shape Setting of Superelastic Nitinol for Prototyping Robots.

PubMed

Gilbert, Hunter B; Webster, Robert J

Shape setting Nitinol tubes and wires in a typical laboratory setting for use in superelastic robots is challenging. Obtaining samples that remain superelastic and exhibit desired precurvatures currently requires many iterations, which is time consuming and consumes a substantial amount of Nitinol. To provide a more accurate and reliable method of shape setting, in this paper we propose an electrical technique that uses Joule heating to attain the necessary shape setting temperatures. The resulting high power heating prevents unintended aging of the material and yields consistent and accurate results for the rapid creation of prototypes. We present a complete algorithm and system together with an experimental analysis of temperature regulation. We experimentally validate the approach on Nitinol tubes that are shape set into planar curves. We also demonstrate the feasibility of creating general space curves by shape setting a helical tube. The system demonstrates a mean absolute temperature error of 10°C.

Optimization of a Viability PCR Method for the Detection of Listeria monocytogenes in Food Samples.

PubMed

Agustí, Gemma; Fittipaldi, Mariana; Codony, Francesc

2018-06-01

Rapid detection of Listeria and other microbial pathogens in food is an essential part of quality control and it is critical for ensuring the safety of consumers. Culture-based methods for detecting foodborne pathogens are time-consuming, laborious and cannot detect viable but non-culturable microorganism, whereas viability PCR methodology provides quick results; it is able to detect viable but non-culturable cells, and allows for easier handling of large amount of samples. Although the most critical point to use viability PCR technique is achieving the complete exclusion of dead cell amplification signals, many improvements are being introduced to overcome this. In the present work, the yield of dead cell DNA neutralization was enhanced by incorporating two new sample treatment strategies: tube change combined with a double light treatment. This procedure was successfully tested using artificially contaminated food samples, showing improved neutralization of dead cell DNA.

Apply 3D model on the customized product color combination for the interior decoration

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Chen, Cheih-Ying

2013-03-01

The customized product color interface for the interior decoration is designed to simulate the display of various color combination sofas in the interior of the room. There are 144 color combinations of the spatial image resulted from four the interior rooms and 36 popular color sofas. The image compositing technique is adopted to appear the 144 color combinations of the spatial image on computer screen. This study tests the experience of using the interface by the questionnaire for User Interface Satisfaction (QUIS). The results show that the high grade of evaluation items including wonderful, easy, satisfying, stimulating and flexible for the experience of users. Therefore, the entrepreneur who wants to display the color primarily commodity could using the customized color combination interface with 3D models for consumers to take opportunity to find the appropriate products to meet with the interior room, so as to shorten communication time between entrepreneurs and consumers.

Detection of adulterants in honey using a portable Raman Spectrometer

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Garcia, Kenneth Leigh

Food adulteration is a growing problem worldwide. In the United States over half of honey consumed is provided with imported products as total domestic production of honey is unable to meet the demand. As pure, natural honey is a labor intensive, relatively expensive product it is a prime target for adulteration with less expensive sweeteners. Previously published work describes the detection of these adulterants in a strict laboratory environment with time consuming techniques and delicate instrumentation. Experiments confirm that adulterants such as high fructose corn syrup and rice malt syrup can be detected in honey using Raman Spectroscopy and portable equipment. When laser light is applied to the products, the result is a Raman signal of inelastically scattered photons representing the fingerprints of the various molecules. When this signal is detected and stored in a laptop computer it can be analyzed for characteristics peculiar to honey and to the adulterants.

A study of an adaptive replication framework for orchestrated composite web services.

PubMed

Mohamed, Marwa F; Elyamany, Hany F; Nassar, Hamed M

2013-01-01

Replication is considered one of the most important techniques to improve the Quality of Services (QoS) of published Web Services. It has achieved impressive success in managing resource sharing and usage in order to moderate the energy consumed in IT environments. For a robust and successful replication process, attention should be paid to suitable time as well as the constraints and capabilities in which the process runs. The replication process is time-consuming since outsourcing some new replicas into other hosts is lengthy. Furthermore, nowadays, most of the business processes that might be implemented over the Web are composed of multiple Web services working together in two main styles: Orchestration and Choreography. Accomplishing a replication over such business processes is another challenge due to the complexity and flexibility involved. In this paper, we present an adaptive replication framework for regular and orchestrated composite Web services. The suggested framework includes a number of components for detecting unexpected and unhappy events that might occur when consuming the original published web services including failure or overloading. It also includes a specific replication controller to manage the replication process and select the best host that would encapsulate a new replica. In addition, it includes a component for predicting the incoming load in order to decrease the time needed for outsourcing new replicas, enhancing the performance greatly. A simulation environment has been created to measure the performance of the suggested framework. The results indicate that adaptive replication with prediction scenario is the best option for enhancing the performance of the replication process in an online business environment.

Minimally invasive knee arthroplasty: An overview

PubMed Central

Tria, Alfred J; Scuderi, Giles R

2015-01-01

Minimally invasive surgery (MIS) for arthroplasty of the knee began with surgery for unicondylar knee arthroplasty (UKA). Partial knee replacements were designed in the 1970s and were amenable to a more limited exposure. In the 1990s Repicci popularized the MIS for UKA. Surgeons began to apply his concepts to total knee arthroplasty. Four MIS surgical techniques were developed: quadriceps sparing, mini-mid vastus, mini-subvastus, and mini-medial parapatellar. The quadriceps sparing technique is the most limited one and is also the most difficult. However, it is the least invasive and allows rapid recovery. The mini-midvastus is the most common technique because it affords slightly better exposure and can be extended. The mini-subvastus technique entirely avoids incising the quadriceps extensor mechanism but is time consuming and difficult in the obese and in the muscular male patient. The mini-parapatellar technique is most familiar to surgeons and represents a good starting point for surgeons who are learning the techniques. The surgeries are easier with smaller instruments but can be performed with standard ones. The techniques are accurate and do lead to a more rapid recovery, with less pain, less blood loss, and greater motion if they are appropriately performed. PMID:26601062

Seafood consumption habits of South Carolina shrimp baiters.

PubMed

Laska, Deborah; Vahey, Grace; Faith, Trevor; Vena, John; Williams, Edith M

2017-01-01

Shrimp baiting is a fishing technique used by many South Carolinians and has been regulated in the state since the late 1980s. A postcard survey was developed and included with 400 South Carolina Department of Natural Resources (SCDNR) annual surveys of registered shrimp baiters over a two-year period. The survey contained questions concerning frequency, portion size, baiting locations, and preparation techniques for shrimp as well as other species consumed and demographic information. An overall response rate of 37% was received. The majority of respondents were men over the age of 55 years. Charleston and Beaufort counties were the most common locations for shrimp baiting. Almost half (45.9%) of respondents reported eating locally caught shrimp at least 2-3 times per month. The most common portion size was ½ pound (8 oz. or 277 g), with 44.8% of respondents reporting this as their typical amount of shrimp ingested at one meal. Only 3.7% of respondents reported typically eating the whole shrimp, while all other respondents ingested shrimp with the head removed. The most commonly consumed species besides shrimp were blue crab, oysters, and flounder. According to the US Food and Drug Administration mercury (Hg) guidelines, the majority (97%) of our respondents were not at risk for consuming unsafe levels of Hg from locally caught shrimp. However, this does not take into account other local seafood eaten or other contaminants of concern. These consumption results may be used in conjunction with data on contaminant levels in shrimp to determine potential adverse health risks associated with consumption of locally caught shrimp.

12 CFR Supplement I to Part 213 - Official Staff Commentary to Regulation M

Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

2013-01-01

... primary use. 2. Period of time. To be a consumer lease, the initial term of the lease must be more than... lease (unless terminable without penalty at any time by the consumer) under which the consumer: i... time of consummation. The threshold amount in effect during a particular time period is the amount...

12 CFR Supplement I to Part 213 - Official Staff Commentary to Regulation M

Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

2014-01-01

... primary use. 2. Period of time. To be a consumer lease, the initial term of the lease must be more than... lease (unless terminable without penalty at any time by the consumer) under which the consumer: i... time of consummation. The threshold amount in effect during a particular time period is the amount...

12 CFR Supplement I to Part 213 - Official Staff Commentary to Regulation M

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-01-01

... primary use. 2. Period of time. To be a consumer lease, the initial term of the lease must be more than... lease (unless terminable without penalty at any time by the consumer) under which the consumer: i... time of consummation. The threshold amount in effect during a particular time period is the amount...

Development of a QFD-based expert system for CNC turning centre selection

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Prasad, Kanika; Chakraborty, Shankar

2015-12-01

Computer numerical control (CNC) machine tools are automated devices capable of generating complicated and intricate product shapes in shorter time. Selection of the best CNC machine tool is a critical, complex and time-consuming task due to availability of a wide range of alternatives and conflicting nature of several evaluation criteria. Although, the past researchers had attempted to select the appropriate machining centres using different knowledge-based systems, mathematical models and multi-criteria decision-making methods, none of those approaches has given due importance to the voice of customers. The aforesaid limitation can be overcome using quality function deployment (QFD) technique, which is a systematic approach for integrating customers' needs and designing the product to meet those needs first time and every time. In this paper, the adopted QFD-based methodology helps in selecting CNC turning centres for a manufacturing organization, providing due importance to the voice of customers to meet their requirements. An expert system based on QFD technique is developed in Visual BASIC 6.0 to automate the CNC turning centre selection procedure for different production plans. Three illustrative examples are demonstrated to explain the real-time applicability of the developed expert system.

A review of DTCA techniques: Appraising their success and potential impact on medication users.

PubMed

Babar, Zaheer-Ud-Din; Siraj, Ashna Medina; Curley, Louise

2018-03-01

Direct-to-consumer advertising (DTCA) has been present in some countries for nearly two decades. Its success and ramifications have been examined but not yet cataloged recently in a comprehensive manner. To review existing literature studies on the topic of DTCA techniques to provide an analysis of the current methods considered by drug marketers to enhance the effect of pharmaceutical product promotion and its success, as well as examine ramifications on the drug use process. A search of 7 electronic databases including MEDLINE and SCOPUS was conducted in December 2015, and updated until February 2016. A scientific review of literature (2008-2015) was performed to identify and collate information from relevant, peer reviewed original study articles investigating various DTCA techniques commonly employed in pharmaceutical promotion. A thematic analysis was undertaken to categorize categories of drug promotion, or techniques, and the saliency and impact of these. Nineteen original study articles were included in this review. All articles were based in the U.S. and New Zealand, where DTCA is legal. After reviewing all the articles, 4 themes with 11 subcategories were generated. These themes included disease mongering and medicalization, drug references, advertisement strategies and eDTCA. The themes describe different categories of techniques used to augment DTC advertisements to increase their impact and overall success in promoting a pharmaceutical product. Many DTCA techniques utilized by pharmaceutical marketers are beneficial to the success of DTC promotion of a drug. These techniques include the use of drug efficacy information, comparative claims, non-branded help seeking advertisements, formatted risks information, celebrity or expert endorsers and website trust factors. Through their use, public perception of the drug is made more favorable, increased attention is drawn to the advertisement, and the pharmaceutical product gains greater credibility and subsequent success in sales. However some techniques, although beneficial to pharmaceutical promotion, need to be monitored by policymakers and regulatory advisors, as they have the potential to negatively impact consumer health knowledge. Overall, through this review it is evident that there are a number if techniques that employed by pharmaceutical marketers to augment the success of pharmaceutical promotion. While these techniques may be beneficial to pharmaceutical companies and might increase awareness amongst consumers, it is important to be critical of them, as they have the potential to be exploited by pharmaceutical marketers. This review indicated that although some techniques are successful and appear to be satisfactory in providing information to consumers, other techniques need to be appraised more closely. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

EMR is not inferior to ESD for early Barrett’s and EGJ neoplasia: An extensive review on outcome, recurrence and complication rates

PubMed Central

Komeda, Yoriaki; Bruno, Marco; Koch, Arjun

2014-01-01

Background and study aims In recent years, it has been reported that early Barrett’s and esophagogastric junction (EGJ) neoplasia can be effectively and safely treated using endoscopic mucosal resection (EMR) and endoscopic submucosal dissection (ESD). Multiband mucosectomy (MBM) appears to be the safest EMR method. The aim of this systematic review is to assess the safety and efficacy of MBM compared with ESD for the treatment of early neoplasia in Barrett’s or at the EGJ. Methods A literature review of studies published up to May 2013 on EMR and ESD for early Barrett’s esophagus (BE) neoplasia and adenocarcinoma at the EGJ was performed through MEDLINE, EMBASE and the Cochrane Library. Results on outcome parameters such as number of curative resections, complications and procedure times are compared and reported. Results A total of 16 studies met the inclusion criteria for analysis in this study. There were no significant differences in recurrence rates when comparing EMR (10/380, 2.6 %) to ESD (1/333, 0.7 %) (OR 8.55; 95 %CI, 0.91 – 80.0, P = 0.06). All recurrences after EMR were treated with additional endoscopic resection. The risks of delayed bleeding, perforation and stricture rates in both groups were similar. The procedure was considerably less time-consuming in the EMR group (mean time 36.7 min, 95 %CI, 34.5 – 38.9) than in the ESD group (mean time 83.3 min, 95 %CI, 57.4 – 109.2). Conclusions The MBM technique for EMR is as effective as ESD when comparing outcomes related to recurrence and complication rates for the treatment of early Barrett’s or EGJ neoplasia. The MBM technique is considerably less time-consuming. PMID:26135261

Evaluation of the Service Review Model with Performance Scorecards

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Szabo, Thomas G.; Williams, W. Larry; Rafacz, Sharlet D.; Newsome, William; Lydon, Christina A.

2012-01-01

The current study combined a management technique termed "Service Review" with performance scorecards to enhance staff and consumer behavior in a human service setting consisting of 11 supervisors and 56 front-line staff working with 9 adult consumers with challenging behaviors. Results of our intervention showed that service review and…

12 CFR Supplement I to Part 1005 - Official Interpretations

Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

2013-01-01

... used to capture the Magnetic Ink Character Recognition (MICR) encoding to initiate a one-time automated clearinghouse (ACH) debit. For example, if a consumer authorizes a one-time ACH debit from the consumer's... involved at the time of the transaction, if the consumer's asset account is subsequently debited for the...

12 CFR Supplement I to Part 1005 - Official Interpretations

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-01-01

... used to capture the Magnetic Ink Character Recognition (MICR) encoding to initiate a one-time automated clearinghouse (ACH) debit. For example, if a consumer authorizes a one-time ACH debit from the consumer's... involved at the time of the transaction, if the consumer's asset account is subsequently debited for the...

12 CFR 205.3 - Coverage.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

2014-01-01

... to initiate a one-time electronic fund transfer from a consumer's account. The consumer must...-time electronic fund transfer (in providing a check to a merchant or other payee for the MICR encoding... information for the transfer shall also provide a notice to the consumer at the same time it provides the...

12 CFR 1005.3 - Coverage.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

2014-01-01

...-time electronic fund transfer from a consumer's account. The consumer must authorize the transfer. (ii... one-time electronic fund transfer (in providing a check to a merchant or other payee for the MICR... transfer. A consumer authorizes a one-time electronic fund transfer from his or her account to pay the fee...

12 CFR 205.3 - Coverage.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-01-01

... to initiate a one-time electronic fund transfer from a consumer's account. The consumer must...-time electronic fund transfer (in providing a check to a merchant or other payee for the MICR encoding... information for the transfer shall also provide a notice to the consumer at the same time it provides the...

12 CFR 205.3 - Coverage.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

2013-01-01

... to initiate a one-time electronic fund transfer from a consumer's account. The consumer must...-time electronic fund transfer (in providing a check to a merchant or other payee for the MICR encoding... information for the transfer shall also provide a notice to the consumer at the same time it provides the...

Microextraction by packed sorbent: an emerging, selective and high-throughput extraction technique in bioanalysis.

PubMed

Pereira, Jorge; Câmara, José S; Colmsjö, Anders; Abdel-Rehim, Mohamed

2014-06-01

Sample preparation is an important analytical step regarding the isolation and concentration of desired components from complex matrices and greatly influences their reliable and accurate analysis and data quality. It is the most labor-intensive and error-prone process in analytical methodology and, therefore, may influence the analytical performance of the target analytes quantification. Many conventional sample preparation methods are relatively complicated, involving time-consuming procedures and requiring large volumes of organic solvents. Recent trends in sample preparation include miniaturization, automation, high-throughput performance, on-line coupling with analytical instruments and low-cost operation through extremely low volume or no solvent consumption. Micro-extraction techniques, such as micro-extraction by packed sorbent (MEPS), have these advantages over the traditional techniques. This paper gives an overview of MEPS technique, including the role of sample preparation in bioanalysis, the MEPS description namely MEPS formats (on- and off-line), sorbents, experimental and protocols, factors that affect the MEPS performance, and the major advantages and limitations of MEPS compared with other sample preparation techniques. We also summarize MEPS recent applications in bioanalysis. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Non-Destructive and rapid evaluation of staple foods quality by using spectroscopic techniques: A review.

PubMed

Su, Wen-Hao; He, Hong-Ju; Sun, Da-Wen

2017-03-24

Staple foods, including cereals, legumes, and root/tuber crops, dominate the daily diet of humans by providing valuable proteins, starch, oils, minerals, and vitamins. Quality evaluation of staple foods is primarily carried out on sensory (e.g. external defect, color), adulteration (e.g. species, origin), chemical (e.g. starch, proteins), mycotoxin (e.g. Fusarium toxin, aflatoxin), parasitic infection (e.g. weevil, beetle), and internal physiological (e.g. hollow heart, black heart) aspects. Conventional methods for the quality assessment of staple foods are always laborious, destructive, and time-consuming. Requirements for online monitoring of staple foods have been proposed to encourage the development of rapid, reagentless, and noninvasive techniques. Spectroscopic techniques, such as visible-infrared spectroscopy, Raman spectroscopy, nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy, and spectral imaging, have been introduced as promising analytical tools and applied for the quality evaluation of staple foods. This review summarizes the recent applications and progress of such spectroscopic techniques in determining various qualities of staple foods. Besides, challenges and future trends of these spectroscopic techniques are also presented.

Electrocoagulation for the treatment of textile industry effluent--a review.

PubMed

Khandegar, V; Saroha, Anil K

2013-10-15

Various techniques such as physical, chemical, biological, advanced oxidation and electrochemical are used for the treatment of industrial effluent. The commonly used conventional biological treatment processes are time consuming, need large operational area and are not effective for effluent containing toxic elements. Advanced oxidation techniques result in high treatment cost and are generally used to obtain high purity grade water. The chemical coagulation technique is slow and generates large amount of sludge. Electrocoagulation has recently attracted attention as a potential technique for treating industrial effluent due to its versatility and environmental compatibility. This technique uses direct current source between metal electrodes immersed in the effluent, which causes the dissolution of electrode plates into the effluent. The metal ions, at an appropriate pH, can form wide range of coagulated species and metal hydroxides that destabilize and aggregate particles or precipitate and adsorb the dissolved contaminants. Therefore, the objective of the present manuscript is to review the potential of electrocoagulation for the treatment of industrial effluents, mainly removal of dyes from textile effluent. © 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Comparison of two methods to explore consumer preferences for cottage cheese.

PubMed

Drake, S L; Lopetcharat, K; Drake, M A

2009-12-01

In the past 2 decades, total sales of cottage cheese have declined 17% despite increases in sales for low-fat cottage cheese. There are no recent published studies investigating consumer preferences for cottage cheese. This study was conducted to identify and define sensory characteristics of commercial cottage cheese and to compare 2 approaches for characterizing consumer preferences: traditional preference mapping and a new composite qualitative approach, qualitative multivariate analysis (QMA). A sensory language was identified to document the sensory properties (visual, flavor, and texture) of cottage cheeses. Twenty-six commercial cottage cheeses with variable fat contents (4, 2, 1, and 0% fat) were evaluated by trained panelists using the sensory language. Eight representative cottage cheeses were selected for consumer acceptance testing (n = 110) and QMA with consumer home usage testing (n = 12), followed by internal and external preference mapping to identify key drivers. Principal component analysis of descriptive data indicated that cottage cheeses were primarily differentiated by cooked, milkfat, diacetyl, and acetaldehyde flavors and salty taste, and by firmness, smoothness, tackiness, curd size, and adhesiveness texture attributes. Similar drivers of liking (diacetyl and milkfat flavors, smooth texture, and mouthcoating) were identified by both consumer research techniques. However, the QMA technique identified controversial distinctions among the cottage cheeses and the influence of brand and pricing. These results can be used by processors to promote cottage cheese sales.

Reinforcing the role of the conventional C-arm--a novel method for simplified distal interlocking.

PubMed

Windolf, Markus; Schroeder, Josh; Fliri, Ladina; Dicht, Benno; Liebergall, Meir; Richards, R Geoff

2012-01-25

The common practice for insertion of distal locking screws of intramedullary nails is a freehand technique under fluoroscopic control. The process is technically demanding, time-consuming and afflicted to considerable radiation exposure of the patient and the surgical personnel. A new concept is introduced utilizing information from within conventional radiographic images to help accurately guide the surgeon to place the interlocking bolt into the interlocking hole. The newly developed technique was compared to conventional freehand in an operating room (OR) like setting on human cadaveric lower legs in terms of operating time and radiation exposure. The proposed concept (guided freehand), generally based on the freehand gold standard, additionally guides the surgeon by means of visible landmarks projected into the C-arm image. A computer program plans the correct drilling trajectory by processing the lens-shaped hole projections of the interlocking holes from a single image. Holes can be drilled by visually aligning the drill to the planned trajectory. Besides a conventional C-arm, no additional tracking or navigation equipment is required.Ten fresh frozen human below-knee specimens were instrumented with an Expert Tibial Nail (Synthes GmbH, Switzerland). The implants were distally locked by performing the newly proposed technique as well as the conventional freehand technique on each specimen. An orthopedic resident surgeon inserted four distal screws per procedure. Operating time, number of images and radiation time were recorded and statistically compared between interlocking techniques using non-parametric tests. A 58% reduction in number of taken images per screw was found for the guided freehand technique (7.4 ± 3.4) (mean ± SD) compared to the freehand technique (17.6 ± 10.3) (p < 0.001). Total radiation time (all 4 screws) was 55% lower for the guided freehand technique compared to conventional freehand (p = 0.001). Operating time per screw (from first shot to screw tightened) was on average 22% reduced by guided freehand (p = 0.018). In an experimental setting, the newly developed guided freehand technique for distal interlocking has proven to markedly reduce radiation exposure when compared to the conventional freehand technique. The method utilizes established clinical workflows and does not require cost intensive add-on devices or extensive training. The underlying principle carries potential to assist implant positioning in numerous other applications within orthopedics and trauma from screw insertions to placement of plates, nails or prostheses.

Application of the weighted total field-scattering field technique to 3D-PSTD light scattering model

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hu, Shuai; Gao, Taichang; Liu, Lei; Li, Hao; Chen, Ming; Yang, Bo

2018-04-01

PSTD (Pseudo Spectral Time Domain) is an excellent model for the light scattering simulation of nonspherical aerosol particles. However, due to the particularity of its discretization form of the Maxwell's equations, the traditional Total Field/Scattering Field (TF/SF) technique for FDTD (Finite Differential Time Domain) is not applicable to PSTD, and the time-consuming pure scattering field technique is mainly applied to introduce the incident wave. To this end, the weighted TF/SF technique proposed by X. Gao is generalized and applied to the 3D-PSTD scattering model. Using this technique, the incident light can be effectively introduced by modifying the electromagnetic components in an inserted connecting region between the total field and the scattering field region with incident terms, where the incident terms are obtained by weighting the incident field by a window function. To optimally determine the thickness of connection region and the window function type for PSTD calculations, their influence on the modeling accuracy is firstly analyzed. To further verify the effectiveness and advantages of the weighted TF/SF technique, the improved PSTD model is validated against the PSTD model equipped with pure scattering field technique in both calculation accuracy and efficiency. The results show that, the performance of PSTD seems to be not sensitive to variation of window functions. The number of the connection layer required decreases with the increasing of spatial resolution, where for spatial resolution of 24 grids per wavelength, a 6-layer region is thick enough. The scattering phase matrices and integral scattering parameters obtained by the improved PSTD show an excellent consistency with those well-tested models for spherical and nonspherical particles, illustrating that the weighted TF/SF technique can introduce the incident precisely. The weighted TF/SF technique shows higher computational efficiency than pure scattering technique.

The role of personal values in Chinese consumers' food consumption decisions. A case study of healthy drinks.

PubMed

Lee, Pui Yee; Lusk, Karen; Mirosa, Miranda; Oey, Indrawati

2014-02-01

Differences in culture, language, and behavior between Chinese and Western consumers make entering the Chinese market a challenge. Chinese consumers may desire similar product features (e.g. brand name, quality, and flavor) to Western consumers but the value that consumers attach to the same product may differ cross-nationally. Besides values, an understanding of desired product attributes and the consequences linking to these values is also important. To the authors' knowledge, there is no published scientific research that investigates how personal values influence Chinese consumers' food consumption decisions. The aim of this research was to identify the links among product attributes, consequences of these attributes, and personal values associated with healthy drink consumption decisions within the Chinese market. Specifically, this research employed means-end chain theory and used association pattern technique (APT) as the main data collection technique to identify these links. Focus groups (n=6) were held in Hangzhou, China to identify the important attributes and consequences involved in the consumption decisions of healthy drinks. These attributes and consequences along with Schwartz's 10 basic values were used to construct the matrices included in the APT survey. A total of 600 APT surveys were administered in six different companies in Hangzhou, with 570 returned. Construction of the hierarchical value map (HVM) identified four of Schwartz's personal values influencing Chinese consumers' healthy drink consumption decisions: security, hedonism, benevolence, and self-direction. Food safety was the foremost concern for Chinese consumers when choosing healthy drinks. Chinese consumers also sought a good tasting and nutritious drink that was good value for money. Results from this study provide food marketers with an in-depth understanding of Chinese consumers' healthy drink consumption decisions. Implications and recommendations are provided that will assist food marketers to effectively enact marketing strategies in China. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Identifying Key Flavors in Strawberries Driving Liking via Internal and External Preference Mapping.

PubMed

Oliver, Penelope; Cicerale, Sara; Pang, Edwin; Keast, Russell

2018-04-01

Australian consumers desire the development of a more flavorsome Australian strawberry cultivar. To aid in the development of well-liked strawberries, the attributes driving liking need to be identified. The objective of this research is to apply Preference Mapping (PM) techniques to the descriptive profile of commercial and newly bred strawberry cultivars, together with consumer preference data to determine the flavors contributing to liking. A trained sensory panel (n = 12) used Quantitative Descriptive Analysis (QDA®) methodology to evaluate two appearance, seven aroma, five texture, 10 flavor and 10 aftertaste attributes of three commercial strawberry cultivars and six elite breeding lines grown in Victoria, Australia. Strawberry consumers (n = 150) assessed their liking of the same strawberry cultivars. QDA® significantly discriminated strawberries on 28 of the 34 sensory attributes. There were significant differences in hedonic ratings of strawberries (F(8,714) = 11.5, P = 0.0001), with Hierarchical Cluster Analysis (HCA) identifying three consumer clusters each displaying differing patterns of preference. Internal and external PM techniques were applied to the data to identify the attributes driving consumer acceptability. Sweet, berry, caramel, fruity and floral attributes were identified as most contributing to liking. Sour, citrus, green, astringent, firm and gritty attributes were conversely associated with a reduction in consumer liking. Elite Lines 2 and 6 have been identified as having the broadest appeal, satisfying between 60% and 70% of consumers in the population assessed, thus the introduction of these cultivars should satisfy the largest group of consumers in the Australian market. The results of this research could be applied to breeding programs, to ensure newly bred cultivars express characteristics that were identified as well-liked amongst consumers. In addition, this research provides evidence for marketing strawberries by cultivar, to assist consumers in identifying those strawberries for which they have a preference. © 2018 Institute of Food Technologists®.

Revisiting GMOs: Are There Differences in European Consumers' Acceptance and Valuation for Cisgenically vs Transgenically Bred Rice?

PubMed

Delwaide, Anne-Cécile; Nalley, Lawton L; Dixon, Bruce L; Danforth, Diana M; Nayga, Rodolfo M; Van Loo, Ellen J; Verbeke, Wim

2015-01-01

Both cisgenesis and transgenesis are plant breeding techniques that can be used to introduce new genes into plant genomes. However, transgenesis uses gene(s) from a non-plant organism or from a donor plant that is sexually incompatible with the recipient plant while cisgenesis involves the introduction of gene(s) from a crossable--sexually compatible--plant. Traditional breeding techniques could possibly achieve the same results as those from cisgenesis, but would require a much larger timeframe. Cisgenesis allows plant breeders to enhance an existing cultivar more quickly and with little to no genetic drag. The current regulation in the European Union (EU) on genetically modified organisms (GMOs) treats cisgenic plants the same as transgenic plants and both are mandatorily labeled as GMOs. This study estimates European consumers' willingness-to-pay (WTP) for rice labeled as GM, cisgenic, with environmental benefits (which cisgenesis could provide), or any combination of these three attributes. Data were collected from 3,002 participants through an online survey administered in Belgium, France, the Netherlands, Spain and the United Kingdom in 2013. Censored regression models were used to model consumers' WTP in each country. Model estimates highlight significant differences in WTP across countries. In all five countries, consumers are willing-to-pay a premium to avoid purchasing rice labeled as GM. In all countries except Spain, consumers have a significantly higher WTP to avoid consuming rice labeled as GM compared to rice labeled as cisgenic, suggesting that inserting genes from the plant's own gene pool is more acceptable to consumers. Additionally, French consumers are willing-to-pay a premium for rice labeled as having environmental benefits compared to conventional rice. These findings suggest that not all GMOs are the same in consumers' eyes and thus, from a consumer preference perspective, the differences between transgenic and cisgenic products are recommended to be reflected in GMO labeling and trade policies.

The Trojan female technique: a novel, effective and humane approach for pest population control.

PubMed

Gemmell, Neil J; Jalilzadeh, Aidin; Didham, Raphael K; Soboleva, Tanya; Tompkins, Daniel M

2013-12-22

Humankind's ongoing battle with pest species spans millennia. Pests cause or carry disease, damage or consume food crops and other resources, and drive global environmental change. Conventional approaches to pest management usually involve lethal control, but such approaches are costly, of varying efficiency and often have ethical issues. Thus, pest management via control of reproductive output is increasingly considered an optimal solution. One of the most successful such 'fertility control' strategies developed to date is the sterile male technique (SMT), in which large numbers of sterile males are released into a population each generation. However, this approach is time-consuming, labour-intensive and costly. We use mathematical models to test a new twist on the SMT, using maternally inherited mitochondrial (mtDNA) mutations that affect male, but not female reproductive fitness. 'Trojan females' carrying such mutations, and their female descendants, produce 'sterile-male'-equivalents under natural conditions over multiple generations. We find that the Trojan female technique (TFT) has the potential to be a novel humane approach for pest control. Single large releases and relatively few small repeat releases of Trojan females both provided effective and persistent control within relatively few generations. Although greatest efficacy was predicted for high-turnover species, the additive nature of multiple releases made the TFT applicable to the full range of life histories modelled. The extensive conservation of mtDNA among eukaryotes suggests this approach could have broad utility for pest control.

Fast and memory efficient text image compression with JBIG2.

PubMed

Ye, Yan; Cosman, Pamela

2003-01-01

In this paper, we investigate ways to reduce encoding time, memory consumption and substitution errors for text image compression with JBIG2. We first look at page striping where the encoder splits the input image into horizontal stripes and processes one stripe at a time. We propose dynamic dictionary updating procedures for page striping to reduce the bit rate penalty it incurs. Experiments show that splitting the image into two stripes can save 30% of encoding time and 40% of physical memory with a small coding loss of about 1.5%. Using more stripes brings further savings in time and memory but the return diminishes. We also propose an adaptive way to update the dictionary only when it has become out-of-date. The adaptive updating scheme can resolve the time versus bit rate tradeoff and the memory versus bit rate tradeoff well simultaneously. We then propose three speedup techniques for pattern matching, the most time-consuming encoding activity in JBIG2. When combined together, these speedup techniques can save up to 75% of the total encoding time with at most 1.7% of bit rate penalty. Finally, we look at improving reconstructed image quality for lossy compression. We propose enhanced prescreening and feature monitored shape unifying to significantly reduce substitution errors in the reconstructed images.

Evaluation of Reaction Cross Section Data Used for Thin Layer Activation Technique

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ditrói, F.; Takács, S.; Tárkányi, F.

2005-05-01

Thin layer activation (TLA) is a widely used nuclear method to investigate and control the loss of material during wear, corrosion and erosion processes. The process requires knowledge of depth profiles of the investigated radioisotopes produced by charged particle bombardment. The depth distribution of the activity can be determined with direct, very time-consuming step by step measurement or by calculation from reliable cross section, stopping power and sample composition data. These data were checked experimentally at several points performing only a couple of measurements.

Evaluation of Reaction Cross Section Data Used for Thin Layer Activation Technique

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

Ditroi, F.; Takacs, S.; Tarkanyi, F.

2005-05-24

Thin layer activation (TLA) is a widely used nuclear method to investigate and control the loss of material during wear, corrosion and erosion processes. The process requires knowledge of depth profiles of the investigated radioisotopes produced by charged particle bombardment. The depth distribution of the activity can be determined with direct, very time-consuming step by step measurement or by calculation from reliable cross section, stopping power and sample composition data. These data were checked experimentally at several points performing only a couple of measurements.

Automating security monitoring and analysis for Space Station Freedom's electric power system

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Dolce, James L.; Sobajic, Dejan J.; Pao, Yoh-Han

1990-01-01

Operating a large, space power system requires classifying the system's status and analyzing its security. Conventional algorithms are used by terrestrial electric utilities to provide such information to their dispatchers, but their application aboard Space Station Freedom will consume too much processing time. A new approach for monitoring and analysis using adaptive pattern techniques is presented. This approach yields an on-line security monitoring and analysis algorithm that is accurate and fast; and thus, it can free the Space Station Freedom's power control computers for other tasks.

Automating security monitoring and analysis for Space Station Freedom's electric power system

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Dolce, James L.; Sobajic, Dejan J.; Pao, Yoh-Han

1990-01-01

Operating a large, space power system requires classifying the system's status and analyzing its security. Conventional algorithms are used by terrestrial electric utilities to provide such information to their dispatchers, but their application aboard Space Station Freedom will consume too much processing time. A novel approach for monitoring and analysis using adaptive pattern techniques is presented. This approach yields an on-line security monitoring and analysis algorithm that is accurate and fast; and thus, it can free the Space Station Freedom's power control computers for other tasks.

Large area sheet task: Advanced Dendritic Web Growth Development

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Duncan, C. S.; Seidensticker, R. G.; Mchugh, J. P.; Hopkins, R. H.; Meier, D.; Schruben, J.

1981-01-01

A melt level control system was implemented to provide stepless silicon feed rates from zero to rates exactly matching the silicon consumed during web growth. Bench tests of the unit were successfully completed and the system mounted in a web furnace for operational verification. Tests of long term temperature drift correction techniques were made; web width monitoring seems most appropriate for feedback purposes. A system to program the initiation of the web growth cycle was successfully tested. A low cost temperature controller was tested which functions as well as units four times as expensive.

Biomechanical reposition techniques in anterior shoulder dislocation: a randomised multicentre clinical trial— the BRASD-trial protocol

PubMed Central

Roetman, Martijn H; Boeije, Tom; Roodheuvel, Floris; Mullaart-Jansen, Nieke; Peeters, Suzanne; Burg, Mike D

2017-01-01

Introduction Glenohumeral (shoulder) dislocations are the most common large joint dislocations seen in the emergency department (ED). They cause pain, often severe, and require timely interventions to minimise discomfort and tissue damage. Commonly used reposition or relocation techniques often involve traction and/or leverage. These techniques have high success rates but may be painful and time consuming. They may also cause complications. Recently, other techniques—the biomechanical reposition techniques (BRTs)—have become more popular since they may cause less pain, require less time and cause fewer complications. To our knowledge, no research exists comparing the various BRTs. Our objective is to establish which BRT or BRT combination is fastest, least painful and associated with the lowest complication rate for adult ED patients with anterior glenohumeral dislocations (AGDs). Methods and analysis Adults presenting to the participating EDs with isolated AGDs, as determined by radiographs, will be randomised to one of three BRTs: Cunningham, modified Milch or scapular manipulation. Main study parameters/endpoints are ED length of stay and patients’ self-report of pain. Secondary study parameters/endpoints are procedure times, need for analgesic and/or sedative medications, iatrogenic complications and rates of successful reduction. Ethics and dissemination Non-biomechanical AGD repositioning techniques based on traction and/or leverage are inherently painful and potentially harmful. We believe that the three BRTs used in this study are more physiological, more patient friendly, less likely to cause pain, more time efficient and less likely to produce complications. By comparing these three techniques, we hope to improve the care provided to adults with acute AGDs by reducing their ED length of stay and minimising pain and procedure-related complications. We also hope to define which of the three BRTs is quickest, most likely to be successful and least likely to require sedative or analgesic medications to achieve reduction. Trial registration number NTR5839. PMID:28729305

Evaluation of an Innovative Use of Removable Thin Film Coating Technology for the Abatement of Hazardous Contaminants

PubMed Central

Lumia, Margaret E.; Gentile, Charles; Gochfeld, Michael; Efthimion, Philip; Robson, Mark

2015-01-01

This study evaluates a new decontamination technique for the mitigation and abatement of hazardous particulates. The traditional decontamination methods used to clean facilities and equipment are time-consuming, prolonging workers' exposure time, may generate airborne hazards, and can be expensive. The use of removable thin film coating as a decontamination technique for surface contamination proved to be a more efficient method of decontamination. This method was tested at three different sites on different hazardous metals. One application of the coating reduced the levels of these metals 90% and had an average reduction of one magnitude. The paired t-tests that were performed for each metal demonstrated that there was a statistically significant reduction of the metal after the use of the coating: lead (p = 0.03), beryllium (p = 0.05), aluminum (p = 0.006), iron (p = 0.0001), and copper (p = 0.004). The Kendall tau-b correlation coefficient demonstrates that there was a positive correlation between the initial levels of contamination and the removal efficiency for all the samples taken from different locations on the floor for each of the three sites. This new decontamination technique worked efficiently, requiring only one application, which decreased exposure time and did not generate any airborne dust. PMID:19437305

Postreinforcement Pause in Grocery Shopping: Comparing Interpurchase Times across Products and Consumers

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Oliveira-Castro, Jorge M.; James, Victoria K.; Foxall, Gordon R.

2007-01-01

Purchase probability as a function of interpurchase time was examined through comparison of findings from laboratory experiments on reinforcement schedules and from marketing investigations of consumers' interpurchase time. Panel data, based on a sample of 80 consumers who purchased nine supermarket food products during 16 weeks, were used. For…

Accuracy of ringless casting and accelerated wax-elimination technique: a comparative in vitro study.

PubMed

Prasad, Rahul; Al-Keraif, Abdulaziz Abdullah; Kathuria, Nidhi; Gandhi, P V; Bhide, S V

2014-02-01

The purpose of this study was to determine whether the ringless casting and accelerated wax-elimination techniques can be combined to offer a cost-effective, clinically acceptable, and time-saving alternative for fabricating single unit castings in fixed prosthodontics. Sixty standardized wax copings were fabricated on a type IV stone replica of a stainless steel die. The wax patterns were divided into four groups. The first group was cast using the ringless investment technique and conventional wax-elimination method; the second group was cast using the ringless investment technique and accelerated wax-elimination method; the third group was cast using the conventional metal ring investment technique and conventional wax-elimination method; the fourth group was cast using the metal ring investment technique and accelerated wax-elimination method. The vertical marginal gap was measured at four sites per specimen, using a digital optical microscope at 100× magnification. The results were analyzed using two-way ANOVA to determine statistical significance. The vertical marginal gaps of castings fabricated using the ringless technique (76.98 ± 7.59 μm) were significantly less (p < 0.05) than those castings fabricated using the conventional metal ring technique (138.44 ± 28.59 μm); however, the vertical marginal gaps of the conventional (102.63 ± 36.12 μm) and accelerated wax-elimination (112.79 ± 38.34 μm) castings were not statistically significant (p > 0.05). The ringless investment technique can produce castings with higher accuracy and can be favorably combined with the accelerated wax-elimination method as a vital alternative to the time-consuming conventional technique of casting restorations in fixed prosthodontics. © 2013 by the American College of Prosthodontists.

Developing NDE Techniques for Large Cryogenic Tanks

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Parker, Don; Starr, Stan; Arens, Ellen

2011-01-01

The Shuttle Program requires very large cryogenic ground storage tanks in which to store liquid oxygen and hydrogen. The existing Pads A and B Launch Complex-39 tanks, which will be passed onto future launch programs, are 45 years old and have received minimal refurbishment and only external inspections over the years. The majority of the structure is inaccessible without a full system drain of cryogenic liquid and granular insulation in the annular region. It was previously thought that there was a limit to the number of temperature cycles that the tanks could handle due to possible insulation compaction before undergoing a costly and time consuming complete overhaul; therefore the tanks were not drained and performance issues with these tanks, specifically the Pad B liquid hydrogen tank, were accepted. There is a needind an opportunity, as the Shuttle program ends and work to upgrade the launch pads progresses, to develop innovative non-destructive evaluation (NDE) techniques to analyze the current tanks. Techniques are desired that can aid in determining the extent of refurbishment required to keep the tanks in service for another 20+ years. A nondestructive technique would also be a significant aid in acceptance testing of new and refurbished tanks, saving significant time and money, if corrective actions can be taken before cryogen is introduced to the systems.

A simpler method for total scalp irradiation: the multijaw-size concave arc technique.

PubMed

Inoue, Minoru; Konno, Masahiro; Ogawa, Hirofumi; Harada, Hideyuki; Asakura, Hirofumi; Fuji, Hiroshi; Murayama, Shigeyuki; Nishimura, Tetsuo

2014-07-08

The lateral electron-photon technique (LEPT) and intensity-modulated radiation therapy (IMRT) are commonly used for total scalp irradiation. However, the treatment planning and irradiation are laborious and time-consuming. We herein present the multijaw-size concave arc technique (MCAT) as a total scalp irradiation method that overcomes these problems. CT datasets for eight patients previously treated for angiosarcoma of the scalp were replanned using MCAT, LEPT, and IMRT. The MCAT was designed with a dynamic conformal arc for the total scalp, with a multileaf collimator to shield the brain. Two additional conformal arcs with a decreased upper-jaw position of the first dynamic conformal arc were used to reduce the cranial hotspots. The prescribed dose was 40 Gy (2 Gy/fraction) to 95% of the planning target volume (PTV, defined as the total scalp plus a 4 mm margin). MCAT was compared with LEPT and IMRT with respect to the PTV dose homogeneity (D5%-95%), underdosage (V < 90%), overdosage (V > 110%), doses to the brain, and the delivery time and monitor units (MUs) for single irradiation. We were able to formulate treatment plans for all three techniques that could deliver the prescription dose in all patients. MCAT was significantly superior to LEPT with respect to PTV dose homogeneity, overdosage, and underdosage, although MCAT was inferior to IMRT with respect to dose homogeneity and overdosage. The mean brain dose and high-dosage volume of all three techniques were low, but IMRT provided larger volume to the brain than did the other two techniques in the low dosage region. In MCAT, the mean delivery time could be reduced by approximately half or more, and the mean MUs could be reduced by at least 100 compared to the other two techniques. MCAT can achieve total scalp irradiation with substantially fewer MUs and a shorter delivery time than LEPT and IMRT.

Consumer product safety: A systems problem

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Clark, C. C.

1971-01-01

The manufacturer, tester, retailer, consumer, repairer disposer, trade and professional associations, national and international standards bodies, and governments in several roles are all involved in consumer product safety. A preliminary analysis, drawing on system safety techniques, is utilized to distinguish the inter-relations of these many groups and the responsibilities that they are or could take for product safety, including the slow accident hazards as well as the more commonly discussed fast accident hazards. The importance of interactive computer aided information flow among these groups is particularly stressed.

Who Is Going to College? Predicting Education Training from Pre-VR Consumer Characteristics

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Boutin, Daniel L.; Wilson, Keith B.

2012-01-01

The relationship of receiving college and university training within the state vocational rehabilitation (VR) program to pre-VR consumer characteristics was investigated with a multiple direct logistic regression technique. A model containing 11 pre-VR characteristics predict the reception of college and university training for a multidisability…

Validation of the Consumer Values versus Perceived Product Attributes Model Measuring the Purchase of Athletic Team Merchandise

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Lee, Donghun; Byon, Kevin K.; Schoenstedt, Linda; Johns, Gary; Bussell, Leigh Ann; Choi, Hwansuk

2012-01-01

Various consumer values and perceived product attributes trigger consumptive behaviors of athletic team merchandise (Lee, Trail, Kwon, & Anderson, 2011). Likewise, using a principal component analysis technique on a student sample, a measurement scale was proposed that consisted of nine factors affecting the purchase of athletic team…

Disease registries on the nationwide health information network.

PubMed

Russler, Daniel

2011-05-01

Donation by individuals of their protected health information (PHI) for evidence-based research potentially benefits all individuals with disease through improved understandings of disease patterns. In the future, a better understanding of how disease features combine into unique patterns of disease will generate new disease classifications, supporting greater specificity in health management techniques. However, without large numbers of people who donate their PHI to disease registries designed for research, it is difficult for researchers to discover the existence of complex patterns or to create more specific evidence-based management techniques. In order to identify new opportunities in disease registry design, an analysis of the current stage of maturity of the newly created U.S. Nationwide Health Information Network (NwHIN) related to large-scale consumer donation of PHI is presented. Utilizing a use-case analysis methodology, the consumer-centric designs of the policies and technologies created for the NwHIN were examined for the potential to support consumer donations of PHI to research. The NwHIN design has placed the enforcement point for the policy-based release of PHI over the Internet into a specialized gateway accessible to consumer authorization. However, current NwHIN policies leave the final decision regarding release of PHI for research to the health care providers rather than to the consumers themselves. Should disease registries designed for research be established on the NwHIN, consumers might then directly authorize the donation of their PHI to these disease registries. However, under current NwHIN policies, consumer authorization does not guarantee release of PHI by health providers. © 2011 Diabetes Technology Society.

Study of consumer fireworks post-blast residues by ATR-FTIR.

PubMed

Martín-Alberca, Carlos; Zapata, Félix; Carrascosa, Héctor; Ortega-Ojeda, Fernando E; García-Ruiz, Carmen

2016-03-01

Specific analytical procedures are requested for the forensic analysis of pre- and post-blast consumer firework samples, which present significant challenges. Up to date, vibrational spectroscopic techniques such as Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) have not been tested for the analysis of post-blast residues in spite of their interesting strengths for the forensic field. Therefore, this work proposes a simple and fast procedure for the sampling and analysis of consumer firework post-blast residues by a portable FTIR instrument with an Attenuated Total Reflection (ATR) accessory. In addition, the post-blast residues spectra of several consumer fireworks were studied in order to achieve the identification of their original chemical compositions. Hence, this work analysed 22 standard reagents usually employed to make consumer fireworks, or because they are related to their combustion products. Then, 5 different consumer fireworks were exploded, and their residues were sampled with dry cotton swabs and directly analysed by ATR-FTIR. In addition, their pre-blast fuses and charges were also analysed in order to stablish a proper comparison. As a result, the identification of the original chemical compositions of the post-blast samples was obtained. Some of the compounds found were potassium chlorate, barium nitrate, potassium nitrate, potassium perchlorate or charcoal. An additional study involving chemometric tools found that the results might greatly depend on the swab head type used for the sampling, and its sampling efficiency. The proposed procedure could be used as a complementary technique for the analysis of consumer fireworks post-blast residues. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Chromatographic peak deconvolution of constitutional isomers by multiple-reaction-monitoring mass spectrometry.

PubMed

Trapp, Oliver

2010-02-12

Highly efficient and sophisticated separation techniques are available to analyze complex compound mixtures with superior sensitivities and selectivities often enhanced by a 2nd dimension, e.g. a separation technique or spectroscopic and spectrometric techniques. For enantioselective separations numerous chiral stationary phases (CSPs) exist to cover a broad range of chiral compounds. Despite these advances enantioselective separations can become very challenging for mixtures of stereolabile constitutional isomers, because the on-column interconversion can lead to completely overlapping peak profiles. Typically, multidimensional separation techniques, e.g. multidimensional GC (MDGC), using an achiral 1st separation dimension and transferring selected analytes to a chiral 2nd separation are the method of choice to approach such problems. However, this procedure is very time consuming and only predefined sections of peaks can be transferred by column switching to the second dimension. Here we demonstrate for stereolabile 1,2-dialkylated diaziridines a technique to experimentally deconvolute overlapping gas chromatographic elution profiles of constitutional isomers based on multiple-reaction-monitoring MS (MRM-MS). The here presented technique takes advantage of different fragmentation probabilities and pathways to isolate the elution profile of configurational isomers. Copyright 2009 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Breaking through the Glass Ceiling: Consumers in Mental Health Organisations' Hierarchies.

PubMed

Scholz, Brett; Bocking, Julia; Happell, Brenda

2017-05-01

Contemporary mental health policies call for consumers to be engaged in all levels of mental health service planning, implementation, and delivery. Critical approaches to traditional healthcare hierarchies can effectively challenge barriers to better engagement with consumers in mental health organisations. This qualitative exploratory study analyses how particular strategies for consumer leadership facilitate or hinder relationships between consumers and mental health services, and how these strategies influence hierarchical structures. Fourteen participants from a range of mental health organisations were interviewed. These interviews were analysed using thematic analytic and discursive psychological techniques. The findings highlight several benefits of having consumers within mental health organisational hierarchies, and elaborate on ways that employees within mental health services can support integration of consumers into existing hierarchies. Specific barriers to consumers in hierarchies are discussed, including a lack of clarity of structures and roles within hierarchies, and resistance to consumers reaching the highest levels of leadership within organisations. Alternative hierarchical models which privilege consumers' control over resources and power are also discussed. Mental health organisations are encouraged to integrate consumer leaders into their hierarchical structures to improve their organisational offerings, their reputation, and their service innovation.

Modelling of high-frequency structure-borne sound transmission on FEM grids using the Discrete Flow Mapping technique

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hartmann, Timo; Tanner, Gregor; Xie, Gang; Chappell, David; Bajars, Janis

2016-09-01

Dynamical Energy Analysis (DEA) combined with the Discrete Flow Mapping technique (DFM) has recently been introduced as a mesh-based high frequency method modelling structure borne sound for complex built-up structures. This has proven to enhance vibro-acoustic simulations considerably by making it possible to work directly on existing finite element meshes circumventing time-consuming and costly re-modelling strategies. In addition, DFM provides detailed spatial information about the vibrational energy distribution within a complex structure in the mid-to-high frequency range. We will present here progress in the development of the DEA method towards handling complex FEM-meshes including Rigid Body Elements. In addition, structure borne transmission paths due to spot welds are considered. We will present applications for a car floor structure.

Chapter 15: Disease Gene Prioritization

PubMed Central

Bromberg, Yana

2013-01-01

Disease-causing aberrations in the normal function of a gene define that gene as a disease gene. Proving a causal link between a gene and a disease experimentally is expensive and time-consuming. Comprehensive prioritization of candidate genes prior to experimental testing drastically reduces the associated costs. Computational gene prioritization is based on various pieces of correlative evidence that associate each gene with the given disease and suggest possible causal links. A fair amount of this evidence comes from high-throughput experimentation. Thus, well-developed methods are necessary to reliably deal with the quantity of information at hand. Existing gene prioritization techniques already significantly improve the outcomes of targeted experimental studies. Faster and more reliable techniques that account for novel data types are necessary for the development of new diagnostics, treatments, and cure for many diseases. PMID:23633938

4D Hyperspherical Harmonic (HyperSPHARM) Representation of Multiple Disconnected Brain Subcortical Structures

PubMed Central

Hosseinbor, A. Pasha; Chung, Moo K.; Schaefer, Stacey M.; van Reekum, Carien M.; Peschke-Schmitz, Lara; Sutterer, Matt; Alexander, Andrew L.; Davidson, Richard J.

2014-01-01

We present a novel surface parameterization technique using hyperspherical harmonics (HSH) in representing compact, multiple, disconnected brain subcortical structures as a single analytic function. The proposed hyperspherical harmonic representation (HyperSPHARM) has many advantages over the widely used spherical harmonic (SPHARM) parameterization technique. SPHARM requires flattening 3D surfaces to 3D sphere which can be time consuming for large surface meshes, and can’t represent multiple disconnected objects with single parameterization. On the other hand, HyperSPHARM treats 3D object, via simple stereographic projection, as a surface of 4D hypersphere with extremely large radius, hence avoiding the computationally demanding flattening process. HyperSPHARM is shown to achieve a better reconstruction with only 5 basis compared to SPHARM that requires more than 441. PMID:24505716

A guide for digitising manuscript climate data

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Brönnimann, S.; Annis, J.; Dann, W.; Ewen, T.; Grant, A. N.; Griesser, T.; Krähenmann, S.; Mohr, C.; Scherer, M.; Vogler, C.

2006-10-01

Hand-written or printed manuscript data are an important source for paleo-climatological studies, but bringing them into a suitable format can be a time consuming adventure with uncertain success. Before digitising such data (e.g., in the context a specific research project), it is worthwhile spending a few thoughts on the characteristics of the data, the scientific requirements with respect to quality and coverage, the metadata, and technical aspects such as reproduction techniques, digitising techniques, and quality control strategies. Here we briefly discuss the most important considerations according to our own experience and describe different methods for digitising numeric or text data (optical character recognition, speech recognition, and key entry). We present a tentative guide that is intended to help others compiling the necessary information and making the right decisions.

A guide for digitising manuscript climate data

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Brönnimann, S.; Annis, J.; Dann, W.; Ewen, T.; Grant, A. N.; Griesser, T.; Krähenmann, S.; Mohr, C.; Scherer, M.; Vogler, C.

2006-05-01

Hand-written or printed manuscript data are an important source for paleo-climatological studies, but bringing them into a suitable format can be a time consuming adventure with uncertain success. Before starting the digitising work, it is worthwhile spending a few thoughts on the characteristics of the data, the scientific requirements with respect to quality and coverage, and on the different digitising techniques. Here we briefly discuss the most important considerations and report our own experience. We describe different methods for digitising numeric or text data, i.e., optical character recognition (OCR), speech recognition, and key entry. Each technique has its advantages and disadvantages that may become important for certain applications. It is therefore crucial to thoroughly investigate beforehand the characteristics of the manuscript data, define the quality targets and develop validation strategies.

Surface acquisition through virtual milling

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Merriam, Marshal L.

1993-01-01

Surface acquisition deals with the reconstruction of three dimensional objects from a set of data points. The most straightforward techniques require human intervention, a time consuming proposition. It is desirable to develop a fully automated alternative. Such a method is proposed in this paper. It makes use of surface measurements obtained from a 3-D laser digitizer - an instrument which provides the (x,y,z) coordinates of surface data points from various viewpoints. These points are assembled into several partial surfaces using a visibility constraint and a 2-D triangulation technique. Reconstruction of the final object requires merging these partial surfaces. This is accomplished through a procedure that emulates milling, a standard machining operation. From a geometrical standpoint the problem reduces to constructing the intersection of two or more non-convex polyhedra.

Simulation reduction using the Taguchi method

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Mistree, Farrokh; Lautenschlager, Ume; Erikstad, Stein Owe; Allen, Janet K.

1993-01-01

A large amount of engineering effort is consumed in conducting experiments to obtain information needed for making design decisions. Efficiency in generating such information is the key to meeting market windows, keeping development and manufacturing costs low, and having high-quality products. The principal focus of this project is to develop and implement applications of Taguchi's quality engineering techniques. In particular, we show how these techniques are applied to reduce the number of experiments for trajectory simulation of the LifeSat space vehicle. Orthogonal arrays are used to study many parameters simultaneously with a minimum of time and resources. Taguchi's signal to noise ratio is being employed to measure quality. A compromise Decision Support Problem and Robust Design are applied to demonstrate how quality is designed into a product in the early stages of designing.

Rapid and efficient gene delivery into the adult mouse brain via focal electroporation

PubMed Central

Nomura, Tadashi; Nishimura, Yusuke; Gotoh, Hitoshi; Ono, Katsuhiko

2016-01-01

In vivo gene delivery is required for studying the cellular and molecular mechanisms of various biological events. Virus-mediated gene transfer or generation of transgenic animals is widely used; however, these methods are time-consuming and expensive. Here we show an improved electroporation technique for acute gene delivery into the adult mouse brain. Using a syringe-based microelectrode, local DNA injection and the application of electric current can be performed simultaneously; this allows rapid and efficient gene transduction of adult non-neuronal cells. Combining this technique with various expression vectors that carry specific promoters resulted in targeted gene expression in astrocytic cells. Our results constitute a powerful strategy for the genetic manipulation of adult brains in a spatio-temporally controlled manner. PMID:27430903

Recent advances in electronic nose techniques for monitoring of fermentation process.

PubMed

Jiang, Hui; Zhang, Hang; Chen, Quansheng; Mei, Congli; Liu, Guohai

2015-12-01

Microbial fermentation process is often sensitive to even slight changes of conditions that may result in unacceptable end-product quality. Thus, the monitoring of the process is critical for discovering unfavorable deviations as early as possible and taking the appropriate measures. However, the use of traditional analytical techniques is often time-consuming and labor-intensive. In this sense, the most effective way of developing rapid, accurate and relatively economical method for quality assurance in microbial fermentation process is the use of novel chemical sensor systems. Electronic nose techniques have particular advantages in non-invasive monitoring of microbial fermentation process. Therefore, in this review, we present an overview of the most important contributions dealing with the quality control in microbial fermentation process using the electronic nose techniques. After a brief description of the fundamentals of the sensor techniques, some examples of potential applications of electronic nose techniques monitoring are provided, including the implementation of control strategies and the combination with other monitoring tools (i.e. sensor fusion). Finally, on the basis of the review, the electronic nose techniques are critically commented, and its strengths and weaknesses being highlighted. In addition, on the basis of the observed trends, we also propose the technical challenges and future outlook for the electronic nose techniques.

Food labeling issues in patients with severe food allergies: solving a hamlet-like doubt.

PubMed

Fierro, Vincenzo; Di Girolamo, Francesco; Marzano, Valeria; Dahdah, Lamia; Mennini, Maurizio

2017-06-01

We review the laws on labeling in the international community, the difficulties they pose to the food manufacturers to prepare the food labels and the methodologies to determine the concentration of potential allergens in foods. European Food Safety Authority and International Life Sciences Institute Europe are evaluating strategies to identify the threshold level of allergen that can trigger a reaction in individuals. The most used techniques to detect the presence of protein in food are Enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay, polymerase chain reaction and real time polymerase chain reaction. Researchers are now trying to apply proteomics to estimate the amount of protein within the food.In order to protect the health of consumers, the Codex Alimentarius Commission updates constantly the list of allergens. In response to these regulations, some industries have also added some precautionary allergen labeling (PAL). It was generally agreed that PAL statements needed to be visible, simple, and safe. It was suggested that PAL be standardized, an action that would occur if the 'Voluntary Incidental Trace Allergen Labelling' process was made mandatory. So far, no laboratory technique is able to reassure the consumers about the composition of foods found on the packaging. International authorities produced increasingly stringent laws, but more is still to do.

A noninvasive technique for real-time detection of bruises in apple surface based on machine vision

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhao, Juan; Peng, Yankun; Dhakal, Sagar; Zhang, Leilei; Sasao, Akira

2013-05-01

Apple is one of the highly consumed fruit item in daily life. However, due to its high damage potential and massive influence on taste and export, the quality of apple has to be detected before it reaches the consumer's hand. This study was aimed to develop a hardware and software unit for real-time detection of apple bruises based on machine vision technology. The hardware unit consisted of a light shield installed two monochrome cameras at different angles, LED light source to illuminate the sample, and sensors at the entrance of box to signal the positioning of sample. Graphical Users Interface (GUI) was developed in VS2010 platform to control the overall hardware and display the image processing result. The hardware-software system was developed to acquire the images of 3 samples from each camera and display the image processing result in real time basis. An image processing algorithm was developed in Opencv and C++ platform. The software is able to control the hardware system to classify the apple into two grades based on presence/absence of surface bruises with the size of 5mm. The experimental result is promising and the system with further modification can be applicable for industrial production in near future.

Real-time color image processing for forensic fiber investigations

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Paulsson, Nils

1995-09-01

This paper describes a system for automatic fiber debris detection based on color identification. The properties of the system are fast analysis and high selectivity, a necessity when analyzing forensic fiber samples. An ordinary investigation separates the material into well above 100,000 video images to analyze. The system is based on standard techniques such as CCD-camera, motorized sample table, and IBM-compatible PC/AT with add-on-boards for video frame digitalization and stepping motor control as the main parts. It is possible to operate the instrument at full video rate (25 image/s) with aid of the HSI-color system (hue- saturation-intensity) and software optimization. High selectivity is achieved by separating the analysis into several steps. The first step is fast direct color identification of objects in the analyzed video images and the second step analyzes detected objects with a more complex and time consuming stage of the investigation to identify single fiber fragments for subsequent analysis with more selective techniques.

Rapid wasted-free microfluidic fabrication based on ink-jet approach for microfluidic sensing applications

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Jarujareet, Ungkarn; Amarit, Rattasart; Sumriddetchkajorn, Sarun

2016-11-01

Realizing that current microfluidic chip fabrication techniques are time consuming and labor intensive as well as always have material leftover after chip fabrication, this research work proposes an innovative approach for rapid microfluidic chip production. The key idea relies on a combination of a widely-used inkjet printing method and a heat-based polymer curing technique with an electronic-mechanical control, thus eliminating the need of masking and molds compared to typical microfluidic fabrication processes. In addition, as the appropriate amount of polymer is utilized during printing, there is much less amount of material wasted. Our inkjet-based microfluidic printer can print out the desired microfluidic chip pattern directly onto a heated glass surface, where the printed polymer is suddenly cured. Our proof-of-concept demonstration for widely-used single-flow channel, Y-junction, and T-junction microfluidic chips shows that the whole microfluidic chip fabrication process requires only 3 steps with a fabrication time of 6 minutes.

12 CFR Supplement I to Part 213 - Official Staff Commentary to Regulation M

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-01-01

... primary use. 2. Period of time. To be a consumer lease, the initial term of the lease must be more than... lease (unless terminable without penalty at any time by the consumer) under which the consumer: i... the lease contract, so long as all disclosures are given at the same time. Alternatively, all...

12 CFR Supplement I to Part 213 - Official Staff Commentary to Regulation M

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-01-01

... primary use. 2. Period of time. To be a consumer lease, the initial term of the lease must be more than... lease (unless terminable without penalty at any time by the consumer) under which the consumer: i... the lease contract, so long as all disclosures are given at the same time. Alternatively, all...

Time trends and patterns of reported egg consumption in the U.S. by sociodemographic characteristics

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

Objectives: To 1) describe time trends of the percentage of individuals in the U.S that consume eggs, 2) describe time trends of the daily amount of eggs consumed per day, and 3) examine differences in the amount of eggs consumed per day; overall and by gender, age, income, education, race-ethnicit...

Creating more effective health plan quality reports for consumers: lessons from a synthesis of qualitative testing.

PubMed Central

Harris-Kojetin, L D; McCormack, L A; Jaël, E F; Sangl, J A; Garfinkel, S A

2001-01-01

OBJECTIVE: Social marketing techniques such as consumer testing have only recently been applied to develop effective consumer health insurance information. This article discusses lessons learned from consumer testing to create consumer plan choice materials. DATA SOURCES/STUDY SETTING: Data were collected from 268 publicly and privately insured consumers in three studies between 1994 and 1999. STUDY DESIGN: Iterative testing and revisions were conducted to design seven booklets to help Medicaid, Medicare, and employed consumers choose a health plan. DATA COLLECTION METHODS: Standardized protocols were used in 11 focus groups and 182 interviews to examine the content, comprehension, navigation, and utility of the booklets. PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: A method is suggested to help consumers narrow their plan choices by breaking down the process into smaller decisions using a set of guided worksheets. CONCLUSION: Implementing these lessons is challenging and not often done well. This article gives examples of evidence-based approaches to address cognitive barriers that designers of consumer health insurance information can adapt to their needs. Images Figure. 3 PMID:11482584

Microwave-assisted extraction of total bioactive saponin fraction from Gymnema sylvestre with reference to gymnemagenin: a potential biomarker.

PubMed

Mandal, Vivekananda; Dewanjee, Saikat; Mandal, Subhash C

2009-01-01

To develop a fast and ecofriendly microwave assisted extraction (MAE) technique for the effective and exhaustive extraction of gymnemagenin as an indicative biomarker for the quality control of Gymnema sylvestre. Several extraction parameters such as microwave power, extraction time, solvent composition, pre-leaching time, loading ratio and extraction cycle were studied for the determination of the optimum extraction condition. Scanning electron micrographs were obtained to elucidate the mechanism of extraction. The final optimum extraction conditions as obtained from the study were: 40% microwave power, 6 min irradiation time, 85% v/v methanol as the extraction solvent, 15 min pre-leaching time and 25 : 1 (mL/g) as the solvent-to-material loading ratio. The proposed extraction technique produced a maximum yield of 4.3% w/w gymnemagenin in 6 min which was 1.3, 2.5 and 1.95 times more efficient than 6 h of heat reflux, 24 h of maceration and stirring extraction, respectively. A synergistic heat and mass transfer theory was also proposed to support the extraction mechanism. Comparison with conventional extraction methods revealed that MAE could save considerable amounts of time and energy, whilst the reduction of volume of organic solvent consumed provides an ecofriendly feature.

Quadrant Analysis as a Strategic Planning Technique in Curriculum Development and Program Marketing.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Lynch, James; And Others

1996-01-01

Quadrant analysis, a widely-used research technique, is suggested as useful in college or university strategic planning. The technique uses consumer preference data and produces information suitable for a wide variety of curriculum and marketing decisions. Basic quadrant analysis design is described, and advanced variations are discussed, with…

Acousto-optic time- and space-integrating spotlight-mode SAR processor

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Haney, Michael W.; Levy, James J.; Michael, Robert R., Jr.

1993-09-01

The technical approach and recent experimental results for the acousto-optic time- and space- integrating real-time SAR image formation processor program are reported. The concept overcomes the size and power consumption limitations of electronic approaches by using compact, rugged, and low-power analog optical signal processing techniques for the most computationally taxing portions of the SAR imaging problem. Flexibility and performance are maintained by the use of digital electronics for the critical low-complexity filter generation and output image processing functions. The results include a demonstration of the processor's ability to perform high-resolution spotlight-mode SAR imaging by simultaneously compensating for range migration and range/azimuth coupling in the analog optical domain, thereby avoiding a highly power-consuming digital interpolation or reformatting operation usually required in all-electronic approaches.

RTL validation methodology on high complexity wireless microcontroller using OVM technique for fast time to market

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhafirah Muhammad, Nurul; Harun, A.; Hambali, N. A. M. A.; Murad, S. A. Z.; Mohyar, S. N.; Isa, M. N.; Jambek, AB

2017-11-01

Increased demand in internet of thing (IOT) application based has inadvertently forced the move towards higher complexity of integrated circuit supporting SoC. Such spontaneous increased in complexity poses unequivocal complicated validation strategies. Hence, the complexity allows researchers to come out with various exceptional methodologies in order to overcome this problem. This in essence brings about the discovery of dynamic verification, formal verification and hybrid techniques. In reserve, it is very important to discover bugs at infancy of verification process in (SoC) in order to reduce time consuming and fast time to market for the system. Ergo, in this paper we are focusing on the methodology of verification that can be done at Register Transfer Level of SoC based on the AMBA bus design. On top of that, the discovery of others verification method called Open Verification Methodology (OVM) brings out an easier way in RTL validation methodology neither as the replacement for the traditional method yet as an effort for fast time to market for the system. Thus, the method called OVM is proposed in this paper as the verification method for larger design to avert the disclosure of the bottleneck in validation platform.

Optimisation of 12 MeV electron beam simulation using variance reduction technique

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Jayamani, J.; Termizi, N. A. S. Mohd; Kamarulzaman, F. N. Mohd; Aziz, M. Z. Abdul

2017-05-01

Monte Carlo (MC) simulation for electron beam radiotherapy consumes a long computation time. An algorithm called variance reduction technique (VRT) in MC was implemented to speed up this duration. This work focused on optimisation of VRT parameter which refers to electron range rejection and particle history. EGSnrc MC source code was used to simulate (BEAMnrc code) and validate (DOSXYZnrc code) the Siemens Primus linear accelerator model with the non-VRT parameter. The validated MC model simulation was repeated by applying VRT parameter (electron range rejection) that controlled by global electron cut-off energy 1,2 and 5 MeV using 20 × 107 particle history. 5 MeV range rejection generated the fastest MC simulation with 50% reduction in computation time compared to non-VRT simulation. Thus, 5 MeV electron range rejection utilized in particle history analysis ranged from 7.5 × 107 to 20 × 107. In this study, 5 MeV electron cut-off with 10 × 107 particle history, the simulation was four times faster than non-VRT calculation with 1% deviation. Proper understanding and use of VRT can significantly reduce MC electron beam calculation duration at the same time preserving its accuracy.

Rapid response sensor for analyzing Special Nuclear Material

DOE PAGES

Mitra, S. S.; Doron, O.; Chen, A. X.; ...

2015-06-18

Rapid in-situ analytical techniques are attractive for characterizing Special Nuclear Material (SNM). Present techniques are time consuming, and require sample dissolution. Proof-of-principal studies are performed to demonstrate the utility of employing low energy neutrons from a portable pulsed neutron generator for non-destructive isotopic analysis of nuclear material. In particular, time-sequenced data acquisition, operating synchronously with the pulsing of a neutron generator, partitions the characteristic elemental prompt gamma-rays according to the type of the reaction; inelastic neutron scattering reactions during the ON state and thermal neutron capture reactions during the OFF state of the generator. Thus, the key challenge is isolatingmore » these signature gamma- rays from the prompt fission and β-delayed gamma-rays that are also produced during the neutron interrogation. A commercial digital multi-channel analyzer has been specially customized to enable time-resolved gamma-ray spectral data to be acquired in multiple user-defined time bins within each of the ON/OFF gate periods of the neutron generator. Preliminary results on new signatures from depleted uranium as well as modeling and benchmarking of the concept are presented, however this approach should should be applicable for virtually all forms of SNM.« less

A longitudinal model of the dynamics between HMOs' consumer-friendliness and preventive health care utilization.

PubMed

Xiao, Qian; Savage, Grant T; Zhuang, Weiling

2014-01-01

This study aims at replicating and extending Xiao and Savage's (2008) research to understand the multidimensional aspect of HMOs distinguished by HMOs' consumer-friendliness, and their relationship to consumers' preventive care utilization. This study develops a dynamic model to consider both concurrent and time lagging effects of HMOs' consumer-friendliness. Our data analysis discloses similar relationship patterns as revealed by Xiao and Savage. Additionally, our findings reveal the time-series changes of the influence of HMOs' consumer-friendliness that either the effects of early experienced HMOs' consumer-friendliness wear out totally or HMOs' consumer-friendly characteristics on the concurrent term contain most of the explanatory power.

Persistent Atrial Fibrillation Ablation using the Tip-Versatile Ablation Catheter.

PubMed

Davies, Edward J; Clayton, Ben; Lines, Ian; Haywood, Guy A

2016-07-01

The mechanisms by which persistent atrial fibrillation (PsAF) develops are incompletely understood. Consequently, the optimal strategy for the ablative management of PsAF remains debated. Current methods are often time consuming, complex and non-reproducible. We assessed the Tip-Versatile Ablation Catheter (T-VAC) technique, a rapidly delivered, empirical technique based on the box-set concept using duty-cycled linear catheter ablation technology. Forty-four procedures in 40 patients undergoing PsAF ablation with the novel technique were prospectively entered onto a database: 27 de novo. Primary endpoint was freedom from arrhythmia at over two-year follow-up. Secondary endpoints were time to first arrhythmia recurrence, freedom from atrial fibrillation (AF) on and off antiarrhythmic drugs (AAD), procedural and fluoroscopy duration and complication rate. At mean follow-up of 33 months, absolute freedom from arrhythmia recurrence was 45% in the de novo group. Overall, at 33 (IQR 24-63) months, 60% of de novo patients were in sustained normal sinus rhythm and a further 15% reported only occasional paroxysms of AF at long-term follow-up. Procedure time was 192±25 mins, total energy delivered 2239±883s and fluoroscopy time was 60±10mins. In selected patients with persistent AF, a long-term rate of 60% arrhythmia free survival off AAD can be achieved using this novel T-VAC technique. Copyright © 2016 Australian and New Zealand Society of Cardiac and Thoracic Surgeons (ANZSCTS) and the Cardiac Society of Australia and New Zealand (CSANZ). Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

16 CFR 433.3 - Exemption of sellers taking or receiving open end consumer credit contracts before November 1...

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-01-01

... make loans, from time to time, directly from the creditor or indirectly by use of a credit card, check... open end consumer credit contracts before November 1, 1977 from requirements of § 433.2(a). 433.3... CONSUMERS' CLAIMS AND DEFENSES § 433.3 Exemption of sellers taking or receiving open end consumer credit...

77 FR 38305 - Agency Information Collection Activities; Announcement of Office of Management and Budget...

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2012-06-27

...; ``Real Time'' Surveys of Consumers' Knowledge, Perceptions and Reported Behavior Concerning Foodborne...' Surveys of Consumers' Knowledge, Perceptions and Reported Behavior Concerning Foodborne Illness Outbreaks... ```Real Time' Surveys of Consumers' Knowledge, Perceptions and Reported Behavior Concerning Foodborne...

The modernization of cooking techniques in two rural Mayan communities of Yucatán: the case of lard frying.

PubMed

Arroyo, Pedro; Pardío-López, Jeanette; Loria, Alvar; Fernández-García, Victoria

2010-01-01

The objective of this article is to provide information on cooking techniques used by two rural communities of Yucatán. We used a 24-hour recall method with 275 participants consuming 763 dishes. Dishes were classified according to cooking technique: 205 were lard-fried (27%), 169 oil-fried (22%), and 389 boiled/grilled (51%). The smaller more secluded community (San Rafael) consumed more fried dishes than the larger community (Uci) (54% versus 45%) and used more lard-frying than Uci (65% versus 46%). The more extensive use of lard in the smaller community appears to be due to fewer modernizing influences such as the availability and use of industrialized vegetable oils. Copyright © Taylor & Francis Group, LLC

Does anyone understand HMO advertising?

PubMed

Bisinger, J M

1986-12-01

Much HMO advertising is executed with technical proficiency, but a high level of technical skill cannot compensate for poor objectives, an inadequate analysis of the business situation, or a lack of advertising effectiveness. Industrial marketing techniques often involve person-to-person selling via a sales staff, sales reps, on-site technical assistance and informational meetings, team selling, etc. Some HMOs also employ these techniques. In general, the promotional focus in these situations is not on mass media; communication tends to be in support of personal sales activities. These personal techniques are used because of the difficulty of selling complicated products or services. Is an HMO a simple product/service? If it is not, consumer promotional tactics will probably be ineffective. If used, these promotional tactics probably will be unintelligible because "consumers" do not select HMOs; their employers do.

Splitting a colon geometry with multiplanar clipping

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ahn, David K.; Vining, David J.; Ge, Yaorong; Stelts, David R.

1998-06-01

Virtual colonoscopy, a recent three-dimensional (3D) visualization technique, has provided radiologists with a unique diagnostic tool. Using this technique, a radiologist can examine the internal morphology of a patient's colon by navigating through a surface-rendered model that is constructed from helical computed tomography image data. Virtual colonoscopy can be used to detect early forms of colon cancer in a way that is less invasive and expensive compared to conventional endoscopy. However, the common approach of 'flying' through the colon lumen to visually search for polyps is tedious and time-consuming, especially when a radiologist loses his or her orientation within the colon. Furthermore, a radiologist's field of view is often limited by the 3D camera position located inside the colon lumen. We have developed a new technique, called multi-planar geometry clipping, that addresses these problems. Our algorithm divides a complex colon anatomy into several smaller segments, and then splits each of these segments in half for display on a static medium. Multi-planar geometry clipping eliminates virtual colonoscopy's dependence upon expensive, real-time graphics workstations by enabling radiologists to globally inspect the entire internal surface of the colon from a single viewpoint.

Application of surface plasmon resonance for the detection of carbohydrates, glycoconjugates, and measurement of the carbohydrate-specific interactions: a comparison with conventional analytical techniques. A critical review.

PubMed

Safina, Gulnara

2012-01-27

Carbohydrates (glycans) and their conjugates with proteins and lipids contribute significantly to many biological processes. That makes these compounds important targets to be detected, monitored and identified. The identification of the carbohydrate content in their conjugates with proteins and lipids (glycoforms) is often a challenging task. Most of the conventional instrumental analytical techniques are time-consuming and require tedious sample pretreatment and utilising various labeling agents. Surface plasmon resonance (SPR) has been intensively developed during last two decades and has received the increasing attention for different applications, from the real-time monitoring of affinity bindings to biosensors. SPR does not require any labels and is capable of direct measurement of biospecific interaction occurring on the sensing surface. This review provides a critical comparison of modern analytical instrumental techniques with SPR in terms of their analytical capabilities to detect carbohydrates, their conjugates with proteins and lipids and to study the carbohydrate-specific bindings. A few selected examples of the SPR approaches developed during 2004-2011 for the biosensing of glycoforms and for glycan-protein affinity studies are comprehensively discussed. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Continuous fast Fourier transforms cyclic voltammetry as a new approach for investigation of skim milk k-casein proteolysis, a comparative study.

PubMed

Shayeh, Javad Shabani; Sefidbakht, Yahya; Siadat, Seyed Omid Ranaei; Niknam, Kaveh

2017-10-01

Cheese production is relied upon the action of Rennet on the casein micelles of milk. Chymosin assay methods are usually time consuming and offline. Herein, we report a new electrochemical technique for studying the proteolysis of K-casein. The interaction of rennet and its substrate was studied by fast Fourier transform continuous cyclic voltammetry (FFTCCV) based on a determination of k-casein in aqueous solution. FFTCCV technique is a very useful method for studying the enzymatic procedures. Fast response, no need of modified electrodes or complex equipment is some of FFTCCV advantages. Various concentrations of enzyme and substrate were selected and the increase in the appearance of charged species in solution as a result of the addition of rennet was studied. Data obtained using FFTCCV technique were also confirmed by turbidity analysis. The results show that rennet proteolysis activity occurs in much shorter time scales compare with its aggregation. Hence, following the appearance of charged segments as a result of proteolysis could be under consideration as a rapid and online method. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Classifying seismic waveforms from scratch: a case study in the alpine environment

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hammer, C.; Ohrnberger, M.; Fäh, D.

2013-01-01

Nowadays, an increasing amount of seismic data is collected by daily observatory routines. The basic step for successfully analyzing those data is the correct detection of various event types. However, the visually scanning process is a time-consuming task. Applying standard techniques for detection like the STA/LTA trigger still requires the manual control for classification. Here, we present a useful alternative. The incoming data stream is scanned automatically for events of interest. A stochastic classifier, called hidden Markov model, is learned for each class of interest enabling the recognition of highly variable waveforms. In contrast to other automatic techniques as neural networks or support vector machines the algorithm allows to start the classification from scratch as soon as interesting events are identified. Neither the tedious process of collecting training samples nor a time-consuming configuration of the classifier is required. An approach originally introduced for the volcanic task force action allows to learn classifier properties from a single waveform example and some hours of background recording. Besides a reduction of required workload this also enables to detect very rare events. Especially the latter feature provides a milestone point for the use of seismic devices in alpine warning systems. Furthermore, the system offers the opportunity to flag new signal classes that have not been defined before. We demonstrate the application of the classification system using a data set from the Swiss Seismological Survey achieving very high recognition rates. In detail we document all refinements of the classifier providing a step-by-step guide for the fast set up of a well-working classification system.

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

Lu, J-Y; Huang, B-T; Zhang, W-Z

Purpose: To compare volumetric modulated arc radiotherapy (VMAT) technique with fixed-gantry intensity-modulated radiotherapy (IMRT) technique for locally advanced laryngeal carcinoma. Methods: CT datasets of eleven patients were included. Dual-arc VMAT and 7-field IMRT plans, which were created based on the Eclipse treatment planning system, were compared in terms of dose-volume parameters, conformity index (CI) and homogeneity index (HI) of planning target volume (PTV), as well as organ-at-risk (OAR) sparing, planning time, monitor units (MUs) and delivery time. Results: Compared with the IMRT plans, the VMAT plans provided lower D2% and better CI/HI for the high-risk PTV (PTV1), and provided bettermore » CI and comparable HI for the low-risk PTV (PTV2). Concerning the OAR sparing, the VMAT plans demonstrated significantly lower Dmax of the spinal cord (planning OAR volume, PRV) and brainstem (PRV), as well as lower Dmean and V30Gy of the right parotid. No significant differences were observed between the two plans concerning the doses delivered to the thyroid, carotid, oral cavity and left parotid. Moreover, the VMAT planning (147 ± 18 min) consumed 213% more time than the IMRT planning (48 ± 10 min). The MUs of the VMAT plans (556 ± 52) were 64% less than those of the IMRT plans (1684 ± 409), and the average delivery time (2.1 ± 0.1 min) was 66% less than that of the IMRT plans (6.3 ± 0.7 min). Conclusion: Compared with the IMRT technique, the VMAT technique can achieve superior target dose distribution and better sparing of the spinal cord, brainstem and right parotid, with less MUs and less delivery time. It is recommended for the radiotherapy of locally advanced laryngeal carcinoma.« less

Fast-GPU-PCC: A GPU-Based Technique to Compute Pairwise Pearson's Correlation Coefficients for Time Series Data-fMRI Study.

PubMed

Eslami, Taban; Saeed, Fahad

2018-04-20

Functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) is a non-invasive brain imaging technique, which has been regularly used for studying brain’s functional activities in the past few years. A very well-used measure for capturing functional associations in brain is Pearson’s correlation coefficient. Pearson’s correlation is widely used for constructing functional network and studying dynamic functional connectivity of the brain. These are useful measures for understanding the effects of brain disorders on connectivities among brain regions. The fMRI scanners produce huge number of voxels and using traditional central processing unit (CPU)-based techniques for computing pairwise correlations is very time consuming especially when large number of subjects are being studied. In this paper, we propose a graphics processing unit (GPU)-based algorithm called Fast-GPU-PCC for computing pairwise Pearson’s correlation coefficient. Based on the symmetric property of Pearson’s correlation, this approach returns N ( N − 1 ) / 2 correlation coefficients located at strictly upper triangle part of the correlation matrix. Storing correlations in a one-dimensional array with the order as proposed in this paper is useful for further usage. Our experiments on real and synthetic fMRI data for different number of voxels and varying length of time series show that the proposed approach outperformed state of the art GPU-based techniques as well as the sequential CPU-based versions. We show that Fast-GPU-PCC runs 62 times faster than CPU-based version and about 2 to 3 times faster than two other state of the art GPU-based methods.

Automated discovery of safety and efficacy concerns for joint & muscle pain relief treatments from online reviews.

PubMed

Adams, David Z; Gruss, Richard; Abrahams, Alan S

2017-04-01

Product issues can cost companies millions in lawsuits and have devastating effects on a firm's sales, image and goodwill, especially in the era of social media. The ability for a system to detect the presence of safety and efficacy (S&E) concerns early on could not only protect consumers from injuries due to safety hazards, but could also mitigate financial damage to the manufacturer. Prior studies in the field of automated defect discovery have found industry-specific techniques appropriate to the automotive, consumer electronics, home appliance, and toy industries, but have not investigated pain relief medicines and medical devices. In this study, we focus specifically on automated discovery of S&E concerns in over-the-counter (OTC) joint and muscle pain relief remedies and devices. We select a dataset of over 32,000 records for three categories of Joint & Muscle Pain Relief treatments from Amazon's online product reviews, and train "smoke word" dictionaries which we use to score holdout reviews, for the presence of safety and efficacy issues. We also score using conventional sentiment analysis techniques. Compared to traditional sentiment analysis techniques, we found that smoke term dictionaries were better suited to detect product concerns from online consumer reviews, and significantly outperformed the sentiment analysis techniques in uncovering both efficacy and safety concerns, across all product subcategories. Our research can be applied to the healthcare and pharmaceutical industry in order to detect safety and efficacy concerns, reducing risks that consumers face using these products. These findings can be highly beneficial to improving quality assurance and management in joint and muscle pain relief. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

A green salt-leaching technique to produce sericin/PVA/glycerin scaffolds with distinguished characteristics for wound-dressing applications.

PubMed

Aramwit, Pornanong; Ratanavaraporn, Juthamas; Ekgasit, Sanong; Tongsakul, Duangta; Bang, Nipaporn

2015-05-01

Sericin/PVA/glycerin scaffolds could be fabricated using the freeze-drying technique; they showed good physical and biological properties and can be applied as wound dressings. However, freeze-drying is an energy- and time-consuming process with a high associated cost. In this study, an alternative, solvent-free, energy- and time-saving, low-cost salt-leaching technique is introduced as a green technology to produce sericin/PVA/glycerin scaffolds. We found that sericin/PVA/glycerin scaffolds were successfully fabricated without any crosslinking using a salt-leaching technique. The salt-leached sericin/PVA/glycerin scaffolds had a porous structure with pore interconnectivity. The sericin in the salt-leached scaffolds had a crystallinity that was as high as that of the freeze-dried scaffolds. Compared to the freeze-dried scaffolds with the same composition, the salt-leached sericin/PVA/glycerin scaffolds has larger pores, a lower Young's modulus, and faster rates of biodegradation and sericin release. When cultured with L929 mouse fibroblast cells, a higher number of cells were found in the salt-leached scaffolds. Furthermore, the salt-leached scaffolds were less adhesive to the wound, which would reduce pain upon removal. Therefore, salt-leached sericin/PVA/glycerin scaffolds with distinguished characteristics were introduced as another choice of wound dressing, and their production process was simpler, more energy efficient, and saved time and money compared to the freeze-dried scaffolds. © 2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Precision in robotic rectal surgery using the da Vinci Xi system and integrated table motion, a technical note.

PubMed

Panteleimonitis, Sofoklis; Harper, Mick; Hall, Stuart; Figueiredo, Nuno; Qureshi, Tahseen; Parvaiz, Amjad

2017-09-15

Robotic rectal surgery is becoming increasingly more popular among colorectal surgeons. However, time spent on robotic platform docking, arm clashing and undocking of the platform during the procedure are factors that surgeons often find cumbersome and time consuming. The newest surgical platform, the da Vinci Xi, coupled with integrated table motion can help to overcome these problems. This technical note aims to describe a standardised operative technique of single docking robotic rectal surgery using the da Vinci Xi system and integrated table motion. A stepwise approach of the da Vinci docking process and surgical technique is described accompanied by an intra-operative video that demonstrates this technique. We also present data collected from a prospectively maintained database. 33 consecutive rectal cancer patients (24 male, 9 female) received robotic rectal surgery with the da Vinci Xi during the preparation of this technical note. 29 (88%) patients had anterior resections, and four (12%) had abdominoperineal excisions. There were no conversions, no anastomotic leaks and no mortality. Median operation time was 331 (249-372) min, blood loss 20 (20-45) mls and length of stay 6.5 (4-8) days. 30-day readmission rate and re-operation rates were 3% (n = 1). This standardised technique of single docking robotic rectal surgery with the da Vinci Xi is safe, feasible and reproducible. The technological advances of the new robotic system facilitate the totally robotic single docking approach.

Ex vivo applications of multiphoton microscopy in urology

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Jain, Manu; Mukherjee, Sushmita

2016-03-01

Background: Routine urological surgery frequently requires rapid on-site histopathological tissue evaluation either during biopsy or intra-operative procedure. However, resected tissue needs to undergo processing, which is not only time consuming but may also create artifacts hindering real-time tissue assessment. Likewise, pathologist often relies on several ancillary methods, in addition to H&E to arrive at a definitive diagnosis. Although, helpful these techniques are tedious and time consuming and often show overlapping results. Therefore, there is a need for an imaging tool that can rapidly assess tissue in real-time at cellular level. Multiphoton microscopy (MPM) is one such technique that can generate histology-quality images from fresh and fixed tissue solely based on their intrinsic autofluorescence emission, without the need for tissue processing or staining. Design: Fresh tissue sections (neoplastic and non-neoplastic) from biopsy and surgical specimens of bladder and kidney were obtained. Unstained deparaffinized slides from biopsy of medical kidney disease and oncocytic renal neoplasms were also obtained. MPM images were acquired using with an Olympus FluoView FV1000MPE system. After imaging, fresh tissues were submitted for routine histopathology. Results: Based on the architectural and cellular details of the tissue, MPM could characterize normal components of bladder and kidney. Neoplastic tissue could be differentiated from non-neoplastic tissue and could be further classified as per histopathological convention. Some of the tumors had unique MPM signatures not otherwise seen on H&E sections. Various subtypes of glomerular lesions were identified as well as renal oncocytic neoplasms were differentiated on unstained deparaffinized slides. Conclusions: We envision MPM to become an integral part of regular diagnostic workflow for rapid assessment of tissue. MPM can be used to evaluate the adequacy of biopsies and triage tissues for ancillary studies. It can also be used as an adjunct to frozen section analysis for intra-operative margin assessment. Further, it can play an important role for pathologist for guiding specimen grossing, selecting tissue for tumor banking and as a rapid ancillary diagnostic tool.

Vision based tunnel inspection using non-rigid registration

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Badshah, Amir; Ullah, Shan; Shahzad, Danish

2015-04-01

Growing numbers of long tunnels across the globe has increased the need for safety measurements and inspections of tunnels in these days. To avoid serious damages, tunnel inspection is highly recommended at regular intervals of time to find any deformations or cracks at the right time. While following the stringent safety and tunnel accessibility standards, conventional geodetic surveying using techniques of civil engineering and other manual and mechanical methods are time consuming and results in troublesome of routine life. An automatic tunnel inspection by image processing techniques using non rigid registration has been proposed. There are many other image processing methods used for image registration purposes. Most of the processes are operation of images in its spatial domain like finding edges and corners by Harris edge detection method. These methods are quite time consuming and fail for some or other reasons like for blurred or images with noise. Due to use of image features directly by these methods in the process, are known by the group, correlation by image features. The other method is featureless correlation, in which the images are converted into its frequency domain and then correlated with each other. The shift in spatial domain is the same as in frequency domain, but the processing is order faster than in spatial domain. In the proposed method modified normalized phase correlation has been used to find any shift between two images. As pre pre-processing the tunnel images i.e. reference and template are divided into small patches. All these relative patches are registered by the proposed modified normalized phase correlation. By the application of the proposed algorithm we get the pixel movement of the images. And then these pixels shifts are converted to measuring units like mm, cm etc. After the complete process if there is any shift in the tunnel at described points are located.

Improving exchange with consumers within mental health organizations: Recognizing mental ill health experience as a 'sneaky, special degree'.

PubMed

Scholz, Brett; Bocking, Julia; Happell, Brenda

2018-02-01

Stigmatizing views towards consumers may be held even by those working within mental health organizations. Contemporary mental health policies require organizations to work collaboratively with consumers in producing and delivering services. Using social exchange theory, which emphasises mutual exchange to maximise benefits in partnership, the current study explores the perspectives of those working within organizations that have some level of consumer leadership. Interviews were conducted with 14 participants from a range of mental health organizations. Data were transcribed, and analyzed using thematic analytic and discursive psychological techniques. Findings suggest stigma is still prevalent even in organizations that have consumers in leadership positions, and consumers are often perceived as less able to work in mental health organizations than non-consumers. Several discourses challenged such a view - showing how consumers bring value to mental health organizations through their expertise in the mental health system, and their ability to provide safety and support to other consumers. Through a social exchange theory lens, the authors call for organizations to challenge stigma and promote the value that consumers can bring to maximize mutual benefits. © 2017 Australian College of Mental Health Nurses Inc.

Rank-Order and Paired Comparisons as the Basis for Measurement.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Linacre, John M.

Three case studies are presented demonstrating the application of straight-forward Rasch techniques to rank order data. Paired comparisons are the simplest form of rank ordering. A consumer preference test with 56 pairs of cups of coffee tasted by each of 26 consumers illustrates analysis of these rankings. When subjects are allowed the option of…

Food Science. Content Modules for Food Science Featuring Problem-Solving Activities in Family and Consumer Sciences.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Roff, Lori; Stringer, Lola

The food science course developed in Missouri combines basic scientific and mathematics principles in a hands-on instructional format as a part of the family and consumer sciences education curriculum. Throughout the course, students conduct controlled experiments and use scientific laboratory techniques and information to explore the biological…

Effects of intentionally enhanced chocolate on mood.

PubMed

Radin, Dean; Hayssen, Gail; Walsh, James

2007-01-01

A double-blind, randomized, placebo-controlled experiment investigated whether chocolate exposed to "good intentions" would enhance mood more than unexposed chocolate. Individuals were assigned to one of four groups and asked to record their mood each day for a week by using the Profile of Mood States. For days three, four and five, each person consumed a half ounce of dark chocolate twice a day at prescribed times. Three groups blindly received chocolate that had been intentionally treated by three different techniques. The intention in each case was that people who ate the chocolate would experience an enhanced sense of energy, vigor, and well-being. The fourth group blindly received untreated chocolate as a placebo control. The hypothesis was that mood reported during the three days of eating chocolate would improve more in the intentional groups than in the control group. Stratified random sampling was used to distribute 62 participants among the four groups, matched for age, gender, and amount of chocolate consumed on average per week. Most participants lived in the same geographic region to reduce mood variations due to changes in weather, and the experiment was conducted during one week to reduce effects of current events on mood fluctuations. On the third day of eating chocolate, mood had improved significantly more in the intention conditions than in the control condition (P = .04). Analysis of a planned subset of individuals who habitually consumed less than the grand mean of 3.2 ounces of chocolate per week showed a stronger improvement in mood (P = .0001). Primary contributors to the mood changes were the factors of declining fatigue (P = .01) and increasing vigor (P = .002). All three intentional techniques contributed to the observed results. The mood-elevating properties of chocolate can be enhanced with intention.

Public Notification - RTCR Treatment Technique Violation Template

EPA Pesticide Factsheets

When a PWS receives a Treatment Technique Violation following an RTCR Level 1 or Level 2 assessment, it must issue a public notice to inform consumers of that violation. This template can be used as a guide to prepare that public notice.

Consumer confidence in the safety of food and newspaper coverage of food safety issues: a longitudinal perspective.

PubMed

de Jonge, Janneke; Van Trijp, Hans; Renes, Reint Jan; Frewer, Lynn J

2010-01-01

This study develops a longitudinal perspective on consumer confidence in the safety of food to explore if, how, and why consumer confidence changes over time. In the first study, a theory-based monitoring instrument for consumer confidence in the safety of food was developed and validated. The monitoring instrument assesses consumer confidence together with its determinants. Model and measurement invariance were validated rigorously before developments in consumer confidence in the safety of food and its determinants were investigated over time. The results from the longitudinal analysis show that across four waves of annual data collection (2003-2006), the framework was stable and that the relative importance of the determinants of confidence was, generally, constant over time. Some changes were observed regarding the mean ratings on the latent constructs. The second study explored how newspaper coverage of food safety related issues affects consumer confidence in the safety of food through subjective consumer recall of food safety incidents. The results show that the newspaper coverage on food safety issues is positively associated with consumer recall of food safety incidents, both in terms of intensity and recency of media coverage.

PLS-LS-SVM based modeling of ATR-IR as a robust method in detection and qualification of alprazolam

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Parhizkar, Elahehnaz; Ghazali, Mohammad; Ahmadi, Fatemeh; Sakhteman, Amirhossein

2017-02-01

According to the United States pharmacopeia (USP), Gold standard technique for Alprazolam determination in dosage forms is HPLC, an expensive and time-consuming method that is not easy to approach. In this study chemometrics assisted ATR-IR was introduced as an alternative method that produce similar results in fewer time and energy consumed manner. Fifty-eight samples containing different concentrations of commercial alprazolam were evaluated by HPLC and ATR-IR method. A preprocessing approach was applied to convert raw data obtained from ATR-IR spectra to normal matrix. Finally, a relationship between alprazolam concentrations achieved by HPLC and ATR-IR data was established using PLS-LS-SVM (partial least squares least squares support vector machines). Consequently, validity of the method was verified to yield a model with low error values (root mean square error of cross validation equal to 0.98). The model was able to predict about 99% of the samples according to R2 of prediction set. Response permutation test was also applied to affirm that the model was not assessed by chance correlations. At conclusion, ATR-IR can be a reliable method in manufacturing process in detection and qualification of alprazolam content.

Earth Science Data Education through Cooking Up Recipes

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Weigel, A. M.; Maskey, M.; Smith, T.; Conover, H.

2016-12-01

One of the major challenges in Earth science research and applications is understanding and applying the proper methods, tools, and software for using scientific data. These techniques are often difficult and time consuming to identify, requiring novel users to conduct extensive research, take classes, and reach out for assistance, thus hindering scientific discovery and real-world applications. To address these challenges, the Global Hydrology Resource Center (GHRC) DAAC has developed a series of data recipes that novel users such as students, decision makers, and general Earth scientists can leverage to learn how to use Earth science datasets. Once the data recipe content had been finalized, GHRC computer and Earth scientists collaborated with a web and graphic designer to ensure the content is both attractively presented to data users, and clearly communicated to promote the education and use of Earth science data. The completed data recipes include, but are not limited to, tutorials, iPython Notebooks, resources, and tools necessary for addressing key difficulties in data use across a broad user base. These recipes enable non-traditional users to learn how to use data, but also curates and communicates common methods and approaches that may be difficult and time consuming for these users to identify.

Automatic segmentation of coronary arteries from computed tomography angiography data cloud using optimal thresholding

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ansari, Muhammad Ahsan; Zai, Sammer; Moon, Young Shik

2017-01-01

Manual analysis of the bulk data generated by computed tomography angiography (CTA) is time consuming, and interpretation of such data requires previous knowledge and expertise of the radiologist. Therefore, an automatic method that can isolate the coronary arteries from a given CTA dataset is required. We present an automatic yet effective segmentation method to delineate the coronary arteries from a three-dimensional CTA data cloud. Instead of a region growing process, which is usually time consuming and prone to leakages, the method is based on the optimal thresholding, which is applied globally on the Hessian-based vesselness measure in a localized way (slice by slice) to track the coronaries carefully to their distal ends. Moreover, to make the process automatic, we detect the aorta using the Hough transform technique. The proposed segmentation method is independent of the starting point to initiate its process and is fast in the sense that coronary arteries are obtained without any preprocessing or postprocessing steps. We used 12 real clinical datasets to show the efficiency and accuracy of the presented method. Experimental results reveal that the proposed method achieves 95% average accuracy.

Real-time specific surface area measurements via laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy

USGS Publications Warehouse

Washburn, Kathryn E.; Birdwell, Justin E.; Howard, James E.

2017-01-01

From healthcare to cosmetics to environmental science, the specific surface area (SSA) of micro- and mesoporous materials or products can greatly affect their chemical and physical properties. SSA results are also widely used to examine source rocks in conventional and unconventional petroleum resource plays. Despite its importance, current methods to measure SSA are often cumbersome, time-consuming, or require cryogenic consumables (e.g., liquid nitrogen). These methods are not amenable to high-throughput environments, have stringent sample preparation requirements, and are not practical for use in the field. We present a new application of laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy for rapid measurement of SSA. This study evaluates geological samples, specifically organic-rich oil shales, but the approach is expected to be applicable to many other types of materials. The method uses optical emission spectroscopy to examine laser-generated plasma and quantify the amount of argon adsorbed to a sample during an inert gas purge. The technique can accommodate a wide range of sample sizes and geometries and has the potential for field use. These advantages for SSA measurement combined with the simultaneous acquisition of composition information make this a promising new approach for characterizing geologic samples and other materials.

Failure Mode and Effects Analysis: views of hospital staff in the UK.

PubMed

Shebl, Nada; Franklin, Bryony; Barber, Nick; Burnett, Susan; Parand, Anam

2012-01-01

To explore health care professionals' experiences and perceptions of Failure Mode and Effects Analysis (FMEA), a team-based, prospective risk analysis technique. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 21 operational leads (20 pharmacists, one nurse) in medicines management teams of hospitals participating in a national quality improvement programme. Interviews were transcribed, coded and emergent themes identified using framework analysis. Themes identified included perceptions and experiences of participants with FMEA, validity and reliability issues, and FMEA's use in practice. FMEA was considered to be a structured but subjective process that helps health care professionals get together to identify high risk areas of care. Both positive and negative opinions were expressed, with the majority of interviewees expressing positive views towards FMEA in relation to its structured nature and the use of a multidisciplinary team. Other participants criticised FMEA for being subjective and lacking validity. Most likely to restrict its widespread use were its time consuming nature and its perceived lack of validity and reliability. FMEA is a subjective but systematic tool that helps identify high risk areas, but its time consuming nature, difficulty with the scores and perceived lack of validity and reliability may limit its widespread use.

Recent advances in rapid and nondestructive determination of fat content and fatty acids composition of muscle foods.

PubMed

Tao, Feifei; Ngadi, Michael

2018-06-13

Conventional methods for determining fat content and fatty acids (FAs) composition are generally based on the solvent extraction and gas chromatography techniques, respectively, which are time consuming, laborious, destructive to samples and require use of hazard solvents. These disadvantages make them impossible for large-scale detection or being applied to the production line of meat factories. In this context, the great necessity of developing rapid and nondestructive techniques for fat and FAs analyses has been highlighted. Measurement techniques based on near-infrared spectroscopy, Raman spectroscopy, nuclear magnetic resonance and hyperspectral imaging have provided interesting and promising results for fat and FAs prediction in varieties of foods. Thus, the goal of this article is to give an overview of the current research progress in application of the four important techniques for fat and FAs analyses of muscle foods, which consist of pork, beef, lamb, chicken meat, fish and fish oil. The measurement techniques are described in terms of their working principles, features, and application advantages. Research advances for these techniques for specific food are summarized in detail and the factors influencing their modeling results are discussed. Perspectives on the current situation, future trends and challenges associated with the measurement techniques are also discussed.

Simultaneous Comparison of Two Roller Compaction Techniques and Two Particle Size Analysis Methods.

PubMed

Saarinen, Tuomas; Antikainen, Osmo; Yliruusi, Jouko

2017-11-01

A new dry granulation technique, gas-assisted roller compaction (GARC), was compared with conventional roller compaction (CRC) by manufacturing 34 granulation batches. The process variables studied were roll pressure, roll speed, and sieve size of the conical mill. The main quality attributes measured were granule size and flow characteristics. Within granulations also the real applicability of two particle size analysis techniques, sieve analysis (SA) and fast imaging technique (Flashsizer, FS), was tested. All granules obtained were acceptable. In general, the particle size of GARC granules was slightly larger than that of CRC granules. In addition, the GARC granules had better flowability. For example, the tablet weight variation of GARC granules was close to 2%, indicating good flowing and packing characteristics. The comparison of the two particle size analysis techniques showed that SA was more accurate in determining wide and bimodal size distributions while FS showed narrower and mono-modal distributions. However, both techniques gave good estimates for mean granule sizes. Overall, SA was a time-consuming but accurate technique that provided reliable information for the entire granule size distribution. By contrast, FS oversimplified the shape of the size distribution, but nevertheless yielded acceptable estimates for mean particle size. In general, FS was two to three orders of magnitude faster than SA.

Narrow band imaging combined with water immersion technique in the diagnosis of celiac disease.

PubMed

Valitutti, Francesco; Oliva, Salvatore; Iorfida, Donatella; Aloi, Marina; Gatti, Silvia; Trovato, Chiara Maria; Montuori, Monica; Tiberti, Antonio; Cucchiara, Salvatore; Di Nardo, Giovanni

2014-12-01

The "multiple-biopsy" approach both in duodenum and bulb is the best strategy to confirm the diagnosis of celiac disease; however, this increases the invasiveness of the procedure itself and is time-consuming. To evaluate the diagnostic yield of a single biopsy guided by narrow-band imaging combined with water immersion technique in paediatric patients. Prospective assessment of the diagnostic accuracy of narrow-band imaging/water immersion technique-driven biopsy approach versus standard protocol in suspected celiac disease. The experimental approach correctly diagnosed 35/40 children with celiac disease, with an overall diagnostic sensitivity of 87.5% (95% CI: 77.3-97.7). An altered pattern of narrow-band imaging/water immersion technique endoscopic visualization was significantly associated with villous atrophy at guided biopsy (Spearman Rho 0.637, p<0.001). Concordance of narrow-band imaging/water immersion technique endoscopic assessments was high between two operators (K: 0.884). The experimental protocol was highly timesaving compared to the standard protocol. An altered narrow-band imaging/water immersion technique pattern coupled with high anti-transglutaminase antibodies could allow a single guided biopsy to diagnose celiac disease. When no altered mucosal pattern is visible even by narrow-band imaging/water immersion technique, multiple bulbar and duodenal biopsies should be obtained. Copyright © 2014. Published by Elsevier Ltd.

Liposomal Bupivacaine Injection Technique in Total Knee Arthroplasty.

PubMed

Meneghini, R Michael; Bagsby, Deren; Ireland, Philip H; Ziemba-Davis, Mary; Lovro, Luke R

2017-01-01

Liposomal bupivacaine has gained popularity for pain control after total knee arthroplasty (TKA), yet its true efficacy remains unproven. We compared the efficacy of two different periarticular injection (PAI) techniques for liposomal bupivacaine with a conventional PAI control group. This retrospective cohort study compared consecutive patients undergoing TKA with a manufacturer-recommended, optimized injection technique for liposomal bupivacaine, a traditional injection technique for liposomal bupivacaine, and a conventional PAI of ropivacaine, morphine, and epinephrine. The optimized technique utilized a smaller gauge needle and more injection sites. Self-reported pain scores, rescue opioids, and side effects were compared. There were 41 patients in the liposomal bupivacaine optimized injection group, 60 in the liposomal bupivacaine traditional injection group, and 184 in the conventional PAI control group. PAI liposomal bupivacaine delivered via manufacturer-recommended technique offered no benefit over PAI ropivacaine, morphine, and epinephrine. Mean pain scores and the proportions reporting no or mild pain, time to first opioid, and amount of opioids consumed were not better with PAI liposomal bupivacaine compared with PAI ropivacaine, morphine, and epinephrine. The use of the manufacturer-recommended technique for PAI of liposomal bupivacaine does not offer benefit over a conventional, less expensive PAI during TKA. Thieme Medical Publishers 333 Seventh Avenue, New York, NY 10001, USA.

Biomechanical reposition techniques in anterior shoulder dislocation: a randomised multicentre clinical trial- the BRASD-trial protocol.

PubMed

Baden, David N; Roetman, Martijn H; Boeije, Tom; Roodheuvel, Floris; Mullaart-Jansen, Nieke; Peeters, Suzanne; Burg, Mike D

2017-07-20

Glenohumeral (shoulder) dislocations are the most common large joint dislocations seen in the emergency department (ED). They cause pain, often severe, and require timely interventions to minimise discomfort and tissue damage. Commonly used reposition or relocation techniques often involve traction and/or leverage. These techniques have high success rates but may be painful and time consuming. They may also cause complications. Recently, other techniques-the biomechanical reposition techniques (BRTs)-have become more popular since they may cause less pain, require less time and cause fewer complications. To our knowledge, no research exists comparing the various BRTs. Our objective is to establish which BRT or BRT combination is fastest, least painful and associated with the lowest complication rate for adult ED patients with anterior glenohumeral dislocations (AGDs). Adults presenting to the participating EDs with isolated AGDs, as determined by radiographs, will be randomised to one of three BRTs: Cunningham, modified Milch or scapular manipulation. Main study parameters/endpoints are ED length of stay and patients' self-report of pain. Secondary study parameters/endpoints are procedure times, need for analgesic and/or sedative medications, iatrogenic complications and rates of successful reduction. Non-biomechanical AGD repositioning techniques based on traction and/or leverage are inherently painful and potentially harmful. We believe that the three BRTs used in this study are more physiological, more patient friendly, less likely to cause pain, more time efficient and less likely to produce complications. By comparing these three techniques, we hope to improve the care provided to adults with acute AGDs by reducing their ED length of stay and minimising pain and procedure-related complications. We also hope to define which of the three BRTs is quickest, most likely to be successful and least likely to require sedative or analgesic medications to achieve reduction. NTR5839. © Article author(s) (or their employer(s) unless otherwise stated in the text of the article) 2017. All rights reserved. No commercial use is permitted unless otherwise expressly granted.

Comparing The Efficacy of Hematoxylin and Eosin, Periodic Acid Schiff and Fluorescent Periodic Acid Schiff-Acriflavine Techniques for Demonstration of Basement Membrane in Oral Lichen Planus: A Histochemical Study

PubMed Central

Pujar, Ashwini; Pereira, Treville; Tamgadge, Avinash; Bhalerao, Sudhir; Tamgadge, Sandhya

2015-01-01

Background: Basement membrane (BM) is a thick sheet of extracellular matrix molecules, upon which epithelial cells attach. Various immunohistochemical studies in the past have been carried out but these advanced staining techniques are expensive and not feasible in routine laboratories. Although hematoxylin and eosin (H-E) is very popular among pathologists for looking at biopsies, the method has some limitations. This is where special stains come handy. Aims and Objectives: The aim of the present study was to demonstrate and compare the efficacy of H-E, periodic acid Schiff (PAS) and fluorescent periodic acid–acriflavine staining techniques for the basement membrane and to establish a histochemical stain which could be cost effective, less time consuming, and unambiguous for observation of the basement membrane zone. Materials and Methods: A total number of 40 paraffin-embedded tissue sections of known basement membrane containing tissues including 10 – Normal oral mucosa (NOM) and 30 – oral lichen planus (OLP) were considered in the study. Four-micron-thick sections of each block were cut and stained with H-E stain, PAS and fluorescent periodic acid–acriflavine stain. Sections were evaluated by three oral pathologists independently for continuity, contrast and pattern. Results: Though all the three stains showed favorable features at different levels, acriflavine stain was better than the other stains in demonstrating BM continuity, contrast and also the pattern followed by PAS stain. Acriflavine stain was the better in demonstrating a fibrillar pattern of a BM. Acriflavine stains a BM distinctly and is less time consuming and easy to carry out using readily available dyes as compared to other stains. Conclusion: The continuity and contrast along with the homogenous pattern and the afibrillar pattern of the BM was better demonstrated by acriflavine followed by the PAS stain. PMID:26538690

An automated method of quantifying ferrite microstructures using electron backscatter diffraction (EBSD) data.

PubMed

Shrestha, Sachin L; Breen, Andrew J; Trimby, Patrick; Proust, Gwénaëlle; Ringer, Simon P; Cairney, Julie M

2014-02-01

The identification and quantification of the different ferrite microconstituents in steels has long been a major challenge for metallurgists. Manual point counting from images obtained by optical and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) is commonly used for this purpose. While classification systems exist, the complexity of steel microstructures means that identifying and quantifying these phases is still a great challenge. Moreover, point counting is extremely tedious, time consuming, and subject to operator bias. This paper presents a new automated identification and quantification technique for the characterisation of complex ferrite microstructures by electron backscatter diffraction (EBSD). This technique takes advantage of the fact that different classes of ferrite exhibit preferential grain boundary misorientations, aspect ratios and mean misorientation, all of which can be detected using current EBSD software. These characteristics are set as criteria for identification and linked to grain size to determine the area fractions. The results of this method were evaluated by comparing the new automated technique with point counting results. The technique could easily be applied to a range of other steel microstructures. © 2013 Published by Elsevier B.V.

[Demand for and the Development of Detection Techniques for Source of Schistosome Infection in China].

PubMed

Wang, Shi-ping; He, Xin; Zhou, Yun-fei

2015-12-01

Schistosomiasis is a type of zoonotic parasitosis that severely impairs human health. Rapid detection of infection sources is a key to the control of schistosomiasis. With the effective control of schistosomiasis in China, the detection techniques for infection sources have also been developed. The rate and the intensity of infection among humans and livestocks have been significantly decreased in China, as the control program has entered the transmission control stage in most of the endemic areas. Under this situation, the traditional etiological diagnosing techniques and common immunological methods can not afford rapid detection of infection sources of schistosomiasis. Instead, we are calling for detection methods with higher sensitivity, specificity and stability while being less time-consuming, more convenient and less costing. In recent years, many improved or novel detection methods have been applied for the epidemiological surveillance of schistosomiasis, such as the automatic scanning microscopic image acquisition system, PCR-ELISA, immunosensors, loop-mediated isothermal amplification, etc. The development of new monitoring techniques can facilitate rapid detection of schistosome infection sources in endemic areas.

A study of DNA damage in buccal cells of consumers of well- and/or tap-water using the comet assay: Assessment of occupational exposure to genotoxicants.

PubMed

Vazquez Boucard, Celia; Lee-Cruz, Larisa; Mercier, Laurence; Ramírez Orozco, Martín; Serrano Pinto, Vania; Anguiano, Gerardo; Cazares, Linette; Díaz, Daniel

2017-10-01

Because of concerns that natural aquifers in the region of Todos Santos (Baja California Sur, Mexico) might be contaminated by organochlorine pesticides and heavy metals, a case-control study was conducted among consumers and non-consumers of well- and/or tap-water to determine risks to human health. This study was based on a genotoxic evaluation of buccal cells using the Comet assay technique. Levels of DNA damage in the consumers group were significantly higher than those of the control group. However, occupational exposure to genotoxicants showed to be the critical factor rather than water consumption. Taking into account the professions of well- and/or tap-water consumers, agricultural workers exposed directly (those who fumigated) or indirectly (those not involved in fumigating) to agrochemicals showed greater genetic damage than controls. This difference persisted even when age, and whether the person smoked or consumed alcoholic drinks were considered. These factors were not associated with the level of genetic damage observed. Chemical analyses of organochlorine pesticides and heavy metals were carried out to evaluate the water quality of wells, faucets, and surface water of canals consumed by the population and/or used for irrigation. High concentrations of α and β endosulfan were detected in water of surface canals. Although our inventory of agrochemicals employed in the region showed the use of products considered carcinogenic and/or mutagenic, they were not detected by the analytical techniques used. Heavy metals (arsenic, mercury, and lead) were detected in water of some wells used for irrigation and human consumption. Environ. Mol. Mutagen. 58:619-627, 2017. © 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. © 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

What Is Direct-to-Consumer Genetic Testing?

MedlinePlus

... consumer genetic testing? What is direct-to-consumer genetic testing? Most of the time, genetic testing is ... testing. For more information about direct-to-consumer genetic testing: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) ...

Principal Component Analysis in the Spectral Analysis of the Dynamic Laser Speckle Patterns

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ribeiro, K. M.; Braga, R. A., Jr.; Horgan, G. W.; Ferreira, D. D.; Safadi, T.

2014-02-01

Dynamic laser speckle is a phenomenon that interprets an optical patterns formed by illuminating a surface under changes with coherent light. Therefore, the dynamic change of the speckle patterns caused by biological material is known as biospeckle. Usually, these patterns of optical interference evolving in time are analyzed by graphical or numerical methods, and the analysis in frequency domain has also been an option, however involving large computational requirements which demands new approaches to filter the images in time. Principal component analysis (PCA) works with the statistical decorrelation of data and it can be used as a data filtering. In this context, the present work evaluated the PCA technique to filter in time the data from the biospeckle images aiming the reduction of time computer consuming and improving the robustness of the filtering. It was used 64 images of biospeckle in time observed in a maize seed. The images were arranged in a data matrix and statistically uncorrelated by PCA technique, and the reconstructed signals were analyzed using the routine graphical and numerical methods to analyze the biospeckle. Results showed the potential of the PCA tool in filtering the dynamic laser speckle data, with the definition of markers of principal components related to the biological phenomena and with the advantage of fast computational processing.

Electromagnetic navigation technology for more precise electrode placement in the foramen ovale: a technical report.

PubMed

Van Buyten, Jean-Pierre; Smet, Iris; Van de Kelft, Erik

2009-07-01

Introduction. Interventional pain management techniques require precise positioning of needles or electrodes, therefore fluoroscopic control is mandatory. This imaging technique does however not visualize soft tissues such as blood vessels. Moreover, patient and physician are exposed to a considerable dose of radiation. Computed tomography (CT)-scans give a better view of soft tissues, but there use requires presence of a radiologist and has proven to be laborious and time consuming. Objectives. This study is to develop a technique using electromagnetic (EM) navigation as a guidance technique for interventional pain management, using CT and/or magnetic resonance (MRI) images uploaded on the navigation station. Methods. One of the best documented interventional procedures for the management of trigeminal neuralgia is percutaneous radiofrequency treatment of the Gasserian ganglion. EM navigation software for intracranial applications already exists. We developed a technique using a stylet with two magnetic coils suitable for EM navigation. The procedure is followed in real time on a computer screen where the patient's multislice CT-scan images and three-dimensional reconstruction of his face are uploaded. Virtual landmarks on the screen are matched with those on the patient's face, calculating the precision of the needle placement. Discussion. The experience with EM navigation acquired with the radiofrequency technique can be transferred to other interventional pain management techniques, for instance, for the placement of a neuromodulation electrode close to the Gasserian ganglion. Currently, research is ongoing to extend the software of the navigation station for spinal application, and to adapt neurostimulation hardware to the EM navigation technology. This technology will allow neuromodulation techniques to be performed without x-ray exposure for the patient and the physician, and this with the precision of CT/MR imaging guidance. © 2009 International Neuromodulation Society.

Does a time constraint modify results from rating-based conjoint analysis? Case study with orange/pomegranate juice bottles.

PubMed

Reis, Felipe; Machín, Leandro; Rosenthal, Amauri; Deliza, Rosires; Ares, Gastón

2016-12-01

People do not usually process all the available information on packages for making their food choices and rely on heuristics for making their decisions, particularly when having limited time. However, in most consumer studies encourage participants to invest a lot of time for making their choices. Therefore, imposing a time-constraint in consumer studies may increase their ecological validity. In this context, the aim of the present work was to evaluate the influence of a time-constraint on consumer evaluation of pomegranate/orange juice bottles using rating-based conjoint task. A consumer study with 100 participants was carried out, in which they had to evaluate 16 pomegranate/orange fruit juice bottles, differing in bottle design, front-of-pack nutritional information, nutrition claim and processing claim, and to rate their intention to purchase. Half of the participants evaluated the bottle images without time constraint and the other half had a time-constraint of 3s for evaluating each image. Eye-movements were recorded during the evaluation. Results showed that time-constraint when evaluating intention to purchase did not largely modify the way in which consumers visually processed bottle images. Regardless of the experimental condition (with or without time constraint), they tended to evaluate the same product characteristics and to give them the same relative importance. However, a trend towards a more superficial evaluation of the bottles that skipped complex information was observed. Regarding the influence of product characteristics on consumer intention to purchase, bottle design was the variable with the largest relative importance in both conditions, overriding the influence of nutritional or processing characteristics, which stresses the importance of graphic design in shaping consumer perception. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Direct analysis in real time--high resolution mass spectrometry as a valuable tool for the pharmaceutical drug development.

PubMed

Srbek, Jan; Klejdus, Bořivoj; Douša, Michal; Břicháč, Jiří; Stasiak, Pawel; Reitmajer, Josef; Nováková, Lucie

2014-12-01

In this study, direct analysis in real time-mass spectrometry (DART-MS) was assessed for the analysis of various pharmaceutical formulations with intention to summarize possible applications for the routine pharmaceutical development. As DART is an ambient ionization technique, it allows direct analysis of pharmaceutical samples in solid or liquid form without complex sample preparation, which is often the most time-consuming part of the analytical method. This makes the technique suitable for many application fields, including pharmaceutical drug development. DART mass spectra of more than twenty selected tablets and other common pharmaceutical formulations, i.e. injection solutions, ointments and suppositories developed in the pharmaceutical industry during several recent years are presented. Moreover, as thin-layer chromatography (TLC) is still very popular for the monitoring of the reactions in the synthetic chemistry, several substances were analyzed directly from the TLC plates to demonstrate the simplicity of the technique. Pure substance solutions were spotted onto a TLC plate and then analyzed with DART without separation. This was the first DART-MS study of pharmaceutical dosage forms using DART-Orbitrap combination. The duration of sample analysis by the DART-MS technique lasted several seconds, allowing enough time to collect sufficient number of data points for compound identification. The experimental setup provided excellent mass accuracy and high resolution of the mass spectra which allowed unambiguous identification of the compounds of interest. Finally, DART mass spectrometry was also used for the monitoring of the selected impurity distribution in the atorvastatin tablets. These measurements demonstrated DART to be robust ionization technique, which provided easy-to-interpret mass spectra for the broad range of compounds. DART has high-throughput potential for various types of pharmaceutical analyses and therefore eliminates the time for sample cleanup and chromatographic separation. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Technologies and Trends to Improve Table Olive Quality and Safety

PubMed Central

Campus, Marco; Değirmencioğlu, Nurcan; Comunian, Roberta

2018-01-01

Table olives are the most widely consumed fermented food in the Mediterranean countries. Peculiar processing technologies are used to process olives, which are aimed at the debittering of the fruits and improvement of their sensory characteristics, ensuring safety of consumption at the same time. Processors demand for novel techniques to improve industrial performances, while consumers' attention for natural and healthy foods has increased in recent years. From field to table, new techniques have been developed to decrease microbial load of potential spoilage microorganisms, improve fermentation kinetics and ensure safety of consumption of the packed products. This review article depicts current technologies and recent advances in the processing technology of table olives. Attention has been paid on pre processing technologies, some of which are still under-researched, expecially physical techniques, such ad ionizing radiations, ultrasounds and electrolyzed water solutions, which are interesting also to ensure pesticide decontamination. The selections and use of starter cultures have been extensively reviewed, particularly the characterization of Lactic Acid Bacteria and Yeasts to fasten and safely drive the fermentation process. The selection and use of probiotic strains to address the request for functional foods has been reported, along with salt reduction strategies to address health concerns, associated with table olives consumption. In this respect, probiotics enriched table olives and strategies to reduce sodium intake are the main topics discussed. New processing technologies and post packaging interventions to extend the shelf life are illustrated, and main findings in modified atmosphere packaging, high pressure processing and biopreservaton applied to table olive, are reported and discussed. PMID:29670593

RSA in Spine: A Review.

PubMed

Humadi, Ali; Dawood, Sulaf; Halldin, Klas; Freeman, Brian

2017-12-01

Systematic review of literature. This systematic review was conducted to investigate the accuracy of radiostereometric analysis (RSA), its assessment of spinal motion and disorders, and to investigate the limitations of this technique in spine assessment. Systematic review in all current literature to invesigate the role of RSA in spine. The results of this review concluded that RSA is a very powerful tool to detect small changes between 2 rigid bodies such as a vertebral segment. The technique is described for animal and human studies for cervical and lumbar spine and can be used to analyze range of motion, inducible displacement, and fusion of segments. However, there are a few disadvantages with the technique; RSA percutaneous procedure needs to be performed to implant the markers (and cannot be used preoperatively), one needs a specific knowledge to handle data and interpret the results, and is relatively time consuming and expensive. RSA should be looked at as a very powerful research instrument and there are many questions suitable for RSA studies.

RSA in Spine: A Review

PubMed Central

Dawood, Sulaf; Halldin, Klas; Freeman, Brian

2017-01-01

Study Design: Systematic review of literature. Objectives: This systematic review was conducted to investigate the accuracy of radiostereometric analysis (RSA), its assessment of spinal motion and disorders, and to investigate the limitations of this technique in spine assessment. Methods: Systematic review in all current literature to invesigate the role of RSA in spine. Results: The results of this review concluded that RSA is a very powerful tool to detect small changes between 2 rigid bodies such as a vertebral segment. The technique is described for animal and human studies for cervical and lumbar spine and can be used to analyze range of motion, inducible displacement, and fusion of segments. However, there are a few disadvantages with the technique; RSA percutaneous procedure needs to be performed to implant the markers (and cannot be used preoperatively), one needs a specific knowledge to handle data and interpret the results, and is relatively time consuming and expensive. Conclusions: RSA should be looked at as a very powerful research instrument and there are many questions suitable for RSA studies. PMID:29238647

A force-based, parallel assay for the quantification of protein-DNA interactions.

PubMed

Limmer, Katja; Pippig, Diana A; Aschenbrenner, Daniela; Gaub, Hermann E

2014-01-01

Analysis of transcription factor binding to DNA sequences is of utmost importance to understand the intricate regulatory mechanisms that underlie gene expression. Several techniques exist that quantify DNA-protein affinity, but they are either very time-consuming or suffer from possible misinterpretation due to complicated algorithms or approximations like many high-throughput techniques. We present a more direct method to quantify DNA-protein interaction in a force-based assay. In contrast to single-molecule force spectroscopy, our technique, the Molecular Force Assay (MFA), parallelizes force measurements so that it can test one or multiple proteins against several DNA sequences in a single experiment. The interaction strength is quantified by comparison to the well-defined rupture stability of different DNA duplexes. As a proof-of-principle, we measured the interaction of the zinc finger construct Zif268/NRE against six different DNA constructs. We could show the specificity of our approach and quantify the strength of the protein-DNA interaction.

Detection of counterfeit electronic components through ambient mass spectrometry and chemometrics.

PubMed

Pfeuffer, Kevin P; Caldwell, Jack; Shelley, Jake T; Ray, Steven J; Hieftje, Gary M

2014-09-21

In the last several years, illicit electronic components have been discovered in the inventories of several distributors and even installed in commercial and military products. Illicit or counterfeit electronic components include a broad category of devices that can range from the correct unit with a more recent date code to lower-specification or non-working systems with altered names, manufacturers and date codes. Current methodologies for identification of counterfeit electronics rely on visual microscopy by expert users and, while effective, are very time-consuming. Here, a plasma-based ambient desorption/ionization source, the flowing atmospheric pressure afterglow (FAPA) is used to generate a mass-spectral fingerprint from the surface of a variety of discrete electronic integrated circuits (ICs). Chemometric methods, specifically principal component analysis (PCA) and the bootstrapped error-adjusted single-sample technique (BEAST), are used successfully to differentiate between genuine and counterfeit ICs. In addition, chemical and physical surface-removal techniques are explored and suggest which surface-altering techniques were utilized by counterfeiters.

Lithography Assisted Fiber-Drawing Nanomanufacturing

PubMed Central

Gholipour, Behrad; Bastock, Paul; Cui, Long; Craig, Christopher; Khan, Khouler; Hewak, Daniel W.; Soci, Cesare

2016-01-01

We present a high-throughput and scalable technique for the production of metal nanowires embedded in glass fibres by taking advantage of thin film properties and patterning techniques commonly used in planar microfabrication. This hybrid process enables the fabrication of single nanowires and nanowire arrays encased in a preform material within a single fibre draw, providing an alternative to costly and time-consuming iterative fibre drawing. This method allows the combination of materials with different thermal properties to create functional optoelectronic nanostructures. As a proof of principle of the potential of this technique, centimetre long gold nanowires (bulk Tm = 1064 °C) embedded in silicate glass fibres (Tg = 567 °C) were drawn in a single step with high aspect ratios (>104); such nanowires can be released from the glass matrix and show relatively high electrical conductivity. Overall, this fabrication method could enable mass manufacturing of metallic nanowires for plasmonics and nonlinear optics applications, as well as the integration of functional multimaterial structures for completely fiberised optoelectronic devices. PMID:27739543

Extrapolating bound state data of anions into the metastable domain

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Feuerbacher, Sven; Sommerfeld, Thomas; Cederbaum, Lorenz S.

2004-10-01

Computing energies of electronically metastable resonance states is still a great challenge. Both scattering techniques and quantum chemistry based L2 methods are very time consuming. Here we investigate two more economical extrapolation methods. Extrapolating bound states energies into the metastable region using increased nuclear charges has been suggested almost 20 years ago. We critically evaluate this attractive technique employing our complex absorbing potential/Green's function method that allows us to follow a bound state into the continuum. Using the 2Πg resonance of N2- and the 2Πu resonance of CO2- as examples, we found that the extrapolation works suprisingly well. The second extrapolation method involves increasing of bond lengths until the sought resonance becomes stable. The keystone is to extrapolate the attachment energy and not the total energy of the system. This method has the great advantage that the whole potential energy curve is obtained with quite good accuracy by the extrapolation. Limitations of the two techniques are discussed.

Open otoplasty.

PubMed

Nordzell, B

2000-12-01

The fundamental challenge in correcting protruding ears is to create an anthelix fold that has a natural appearance: evenly rounded and without sharp edges. More or less favorable results have been reached using different methods of excision, superficial incision, suturing, and cartilage tubing. A good method must also fulfill some additional requirements. It must be simple and not too time-consuming. In addition, it should be comfortable for the patient, easily adapted to different anatomical conditions, and have a minimal recurrence rate. The following technique to be described has been used by the author for more than 30 years. He has operated on approximately 870 patients with the open technique. In this article, the last 80 consecutive patients are reported after their follow-up visits. Over the years, the technique has been modified in some details. The auricular cartilage is incised along the lateral border of the anthelical fold. The entire anterior surface of the anthelix is dissected free and abraded. The cartilage bends backward, and a natural anthelix fold is created.

A novel beamformer design method for medical ultrasound. Part I: Theory.

PubMed

Ranganathan, Karthik; Walker, William F

2003-01-01

The design of transmit and receive aperture weightings is a critical step in the development of ultrasound imaging systems. Current design methods are generally iterative, and consequently time consuming and inexact. We describe a new and general ultrasound beamformer design method, the minimum sum squared error (MSSE) technique. The MSSE technique enables aperture design for arbitrary beam patterns (within fundamental limitations imposed by diffraction). It uses a linear algebra formulation to describe the system point spread function (psf) as a function of the aperture weightings. The sum squared error (SSE) between the system psf and the desired or goal psf is minimized, yielding the optimal aperture weightings. We present detailed analysis for continuous wave (CW) and broadband systems. We also discuss several possible applications of the technique, such as the design of aperture weightings that improve the system depth of field, generate limited diffraction transmit beams, and improve the correlation depth of field in translated aperture system geometries. Simulation results are presented in an accompanying paper.

Analysis and optimal design of moisture sensor for rice grain moisture measurement

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Jain, Sweety; Mishra, Pankaj Kumar; Thakare, Vandana Vikas

2018-04-01

The analysis and design of a microstrip sensor for accurate determination of moisture content (MC) in rice grains based on oven drying technique, this technique is easy, fast and less time-consuming to other techniques. The sensor is designed with low insertion loss, reflection coefficient and maximum gain is -35dB and 5.88dB at 2.68GHz as well as discussed all the parameters such as axial ratio, maximum gain, smith chart etc, which is helpful for analysis the moisture measurement. The variation in percentage of moisture measurement with magnitude and phase of transmission coefficient is investigated at selected frequencies. The microstrip moisture sensor consists of one layer: substrate FR4, thickness 1.638 is simulated by computer simulated technology microwave studio (CST MWS). It is concluded that the proposed sensor is suitable for development as a complete sensor and to estimate the optimum moisture content of rice grains with accurately, sensitivity, compact, versatile and suitable for determining the moisture content of other crops and agriculture products.

Immunodiagnosis of fascioliasis using sandwich enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay for detection of Fasciola gigantica paramyosin antigen

PubMed Central

Abou-Elhakam, Hany Mohamed Adel; Bauomy, Ibraheem Rabia; El Deeb, Somaya Osman; El Amir, Azza Mohamed

2013-01-01

Background: Many immunological techniques have been developed over years using the different Fasciola antigens for diagnosis of parasitic infection and to replace the parasitological techniques, which are time consuming and usually lack sensitivity and reproducibility. Materials and Methods: In this study, Fasciola gigantica paramyosin (Pmy) antigen was early detected in cattle sera using sandwich enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA), to evaluate the Pmy antigen performance in diagnosis. This work was conducted on 135 cattle blood samples, which were classified according to parasitological investigation into, healthy control (30), fascioliasis (75), and other parasites (30) groups. Results: The sensitivity of Sandwich ELISA was 97.33%, and the specificity was 95%, in comparison with parasitological examination, which recorded 66.66% sensitivity and 100% specificity, respectively. Conclusions: It was clear that the native F. gigantica Pmy is considered as a powerful antigen in early immunodiagnosis of fascioliasis, using a highly sensitive and specific sandwich ELISA technique. PMID:23961441

Lithography Assisted Fiber-Drawing Nanomanufacturing

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gholipour, Behrad; Bastock, Paul; Cui, Long; Craig, Christopher; Khan, Khouler; Hewak, Daniel W.; Soci, Cesare

2016-10-01

We present a high-throughput and scalable technique for the production of metal nanowires embedded in glass fibres by taking advantage of thin film properties and patterning techniques commonly used in planar microfabrication. This hybrid process enables the fabrication of single nanowires and nanowire arrays encased in a preform material within a single fibre draw, providing an alternative to costly and time-consuming iterative fibre drawing. This method allows the combination of materials with different thermal properties to create functional optoelectronic nanostructures. As a proof of principle of the potential of this technique, centimetre long gold nanowires (bulk Tm = 1064 °C) embedded in silicate glass fibres (Tg = 567 °C) were drawn in a single step with high aspect ratios (>104) such nanowires can be released from the glass matrix and show relatively high electrical conductivity. Overall, this fabrication method could enable mass manufacturing of metallic nanowires for plasmonics and nonlinear optics applications, as well as the integration of functional multimaterial structures for completely fiberised optoelectronic devices.

Scabies: Advances in Noninvasive Diagnosis.

PubMed

Micali, Giuseppe; Lacarrubba, Francesco; Verzì, Anna Elisa; Chosidow, Olivier; Schwartz, Robert A

2016-06-01

Scabies is a common, highly contagious skin parasitosis caused by Sarcoptes scabiei var. hominis. Early identification and prompt treatment of infested subjects is essential, as missed diagnosis may result in outbreaks, considerable morbidity, and significantly increased economic burden. The standard diagnostic technique consists of mites' identification by microscopic examination of scales obtained by skin scraping. This is a time-consuming and risk-associated procedure that is also not suitable to a busy practice. In recent years, some advanced and noninvasive techniques such as videodermatoscopy, dermatoscopy, reflectance confocal microscopy, and optical coherence tomography have demonstrated improved efficacy in the diagnosis of scabies. Their advantages include rapid, noninvasive mass screening and post-therapeutic follow-up, with no physical risk. A greater knowledge of these techniques among general practitioners and other specialists involved in the intake care of overcrowded populations vulnerable to scabies infestations is now viewed as urgent and important in the management of outbreaks, as well as in consideration of the recent growing inflow of migrants in Europe from North Africa.

Scabies: Advances in Noninvasive Diagnosis

PubMed Central

Lacarrubba, Francesco; Verzì, Anna Elisa; Chosidow, Olivier; Schwartz, Robert A.

2016-01-01

Scabies is a common, highly contagious skin parasitosis caused by Sarcoptes scabiei var. hominis. Early identification and prompt treatment of infested subjects is essential, as missed diagnosis may result in outbreaks, considerable morbidity, and significantly increased economic burden. The standard diagnostic technique consists of mites’ identification by microscopic examination of scales obtained by skin scraping. This is a time-consuming and risk-associated procedure that is also not suitable to a busy practice. In recent years, some advanced and noninvasive techniques such as videodermatoscopy, dermatoscopy, reflectance confocal microscopy, and optical coherence tomography have demonstrated improved efficacy in the diagnosis of scabies. Their advantages include rapid, noninvasive mass screening and post-therapeutic follow-up, with no physical risk. A greater knowledge of these techniques among general practitioners and other specialists involved in the intake care of overcrowded populations vulnerable to scabies infestations is now viewed as urgent and important in the management of outbreaks, as well as in consideration of the recent growing inflow of migrants in Europe from North Africa. PMID:27311065

Computational Biology Methods for Characterization of Pluripotent Cells.

PubMed

Araúzo-Bravo, Marcos J

2016-01-01

Pluripotent cells are a powerful tool for regenerative medicine and drug discovery. Several techniques have been developed to induce pluripotency, or to extract pluripotent cells from different tissues and biological fluids. However, the characterization of pluripotency requires tedious, expensive, time-consuming, and not always reliable wet-lab experiments; thus, an easy, standard quality-control protocol of pluripotency assessment remains to be established. Here to help comes the use of high-throughput techniques, and in particular, the employment of gene expression microarrays, which has become a complementary technique for cellular characterization. Research has shown that the transcriptomics comparison with an Embryonic Stem Cell (ESC) of reference is a good approach to assess the pluripotency. Under the premise that the best protocol is a computer software source code, here I propose and explain line by line a software protocol coded in R-Bioconductor for pluripotency assessment based on the comparison of transcriptomics data of pluripotent cells with an ESC of reference. I provide advice for experimental design, warning about possible pitfalls, and guides for results interpretation.

Residential Customer Enrollment in Time-based Rate and Enabling Technology Programs: Smart Grid Investment Grant Consumer Behavior Study Analysis

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

Todd, Annika; Cappers, Peter; Goldman, Charles

2013-05-01

The U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE’s) Smart Grid Investment Grant (SGIG) program is working with a subset of the 99 SGIG projects undertaking Consumer Behavior Studies (CBS), which examine the response of mass market consumers (i.e., residential and small commercial customers) to time-varying electricity prices (referred to herein as time-based rate programs) in conjunction with the deployment of advanced metering infrastructure (AMI) and associated technologies. The effort presents an opportunity to advance the electric industry’s understanding of consumer behavior.

Autologous Fat Grafting to the Breast Using REVOLVE System to Reduce Clinical Costs.

PubMed

Brzezienski, Mark A; Jarrell, John A

2016-09-01

With the increasing popularity of fat grafting over the past decade, the techniques for harvest, processing and preparation, and transfer of the fat cells have evolved to improve efficiency and consistency. The REVOLVE System is a fat processing device used in autologous fat grafting which eliminates much of the specialized equipment as well as the labor intensive and time consuming efforts of the original Coleman technique of fat processing. This retrospective study evaluates the economics of fat grafting, comparing traditional Coleman processing to the REVOLVE System. From June 2013 through December 2013, 88 fat grafting cases by a single-surgeon were reviewed. Timed procedures using either the REVOLVE System or Coleman technique were extracted from the group. Data including fat grafting procedure time, harvested volume, harvest and recipient sites, and concurrent procedures were gathered. Cost and utilization assessments were performed comparing the economics between the groups using standard values of operating room costs provided by the study hospital. Thirty-seven patients with timed procedures were identified, 13 of which were Coleman technique patients and twenty-four (24) were REVOLVE System patients. The average rate of fat transfer was 1.77 mL/minute for the Coleman technique and 4.69 mL/minute for the REVOLVE System, which was a statistically significant difference (P < 0.0001) between the 2 groups. Cost analysis comparing the REVOLVE System and Coleman techniques demonstrates a dramatic divergence in the price per mL of transferred fat at 75 mL when using the previously calculated rates for each group. This single surgeon's experience with the REVOLVE System for fat processing establishes economic support for its use in specific high-volume fat grafting cases. Cost analysis comparing the REVOLVE System and Coleman techniques suggests that in cases of planned fat transfer of 75 mL or more, using the REVOLVE System for fat processing is more economically beneficial. This study may serve as a guide to plastic surgeons in deciding which cases might be appropriate for the use of the REVOLVE System and is the first report comparing economics of fat grafting with the traditional Coleman technique and the REVOLVE System.

Piezoelectric energy harvester interface with real-time MPPT

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Elliott, A. D. T.; Mitcheson, P. D.

2014-11-01

Power of resonant piezoelectric harvesters can be severely limited if the damping force cannot be dynamically altered as the mechanical excitation level changes. The singlesupply pre-biasing (SSPB) technique enables the Coulomb damping force to be set by a single voltage and so by varying that voltage, real-time adaptation to variations in the mechanical force can be implemented. Similarly the conduction angle of a diode bridge rectifier circuit can be altered by changing the biasing voltage applied. This paper presents a method of achieving this by altering the amount of energy transferred from the pre-biasing capacitor used in SSPB and the diode bridge rectifier to a storage battery via a buck converter. The control system was implemented on a FPGA and consumed 50 μW.

Safe Onboard Guidance and Control Under Probabilistic Uncertainty

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Blackmore, Lars James

2011-01-01

An algorithm was developed that determines the fuel-optimal spacecraft guidance trajectory that takes into account uncertainty, in order to guarantee that mission safety constraints are satisfied with the required probability. The algorithm uses convex optimization to solve for the optimal trajectory. Convex optimization is amenable to onboard solution due to its excellent convergence properties. The algorithm is novel because, unlike prior approaches, it does not require time-consuming evaluation of multivariate probability densities. Instead, it uses a new mathematical bounding approach to ensure that probability constraints are satisfied, and it is shown that the resulting optimization is convex. Empirical results show that the approach is many orders of magnitude less conservative than existing set conversion techniques, for a small penalty in computation time.

Adaptive compressive ghost imaging based on wavelet trees and sparse representation.

PubMed

Yu, Wen-Kai; Li, Ming-Fei; Yao, Xu-Ri; Liu, Xue-Feng; Wu, Ling-An; Zhai, Guang-Jie

2014-03-24

Compressed sensing is a theory which can reconstruct an image almost perfectly with only a few measurements by finding its sparsest representation. However, the computation time consumed for large images may be a few hours or more. In this work, we both theoretically and experimentally demonstrate a method that combines the advantages of both adaptive computational ghost imaging and compressed sensing, which we call adaptive compressive ghost imaging, whereby both the reconstruction time and measurements required for any image size can be significantly reduced. The technique can be used to improve the performance of all computational ghost imaging protocols, especially when measuring ultra-weak or noisy signals, and can be extended to imaging applications at any wavelength.

Scalable cluster administration - Chiba City I approach and lessons learned.

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

Navarro, J. P.; Evard, R.; Nurmi, D.

2002-07-01

Systems administrators of large clusters often need to perform the same administrative activity hundreds or thousands of times. Often such activities are time-consuming, especially the tasks of installing and maintaining software. By combining network services such as DHCP, TFTP, FTP, HTTP, and NFS with remote hardware control, cluster administrators can automate all administrative tasks. Scalable cluster administration addresses the following challenge: What systems design techniques can cluster builders use to automate cluster administration on very large clusters? We describe the approach used in the Mathematics and Computer Science Division of Argonne National Laboratory on Chiba City I, a 314-node Linuxmore » cluster; and we analyze the scalability, flexibility, and reliability benefits and limitations from that approach.« less

Detection of Glaucoma Using Image Processing Techniques: A Critique.

PubMed

Kumar, B Naveen; Chauhan, R P; Dahiya, Nidhi

2018-01-01

The primary objective of this article is to present a summary of different types of image processing methods employed for the detection of glaucoma, a serious eye disease. Glaucoma affects the optic nerve in which retinal ganglion cells become dead, and this leads to loss of vision. The principal cause is the increase in intraocular pressure, which occurs in open-angle and angle-closure glaucoma, the two major types affecting the optic nerve. In the early stages of glaucoma, no perceptible symptoms appear. As the disease progresses, vision starts to become hazy, leading to blindness. Therefore, early detection of glaucoma is needed for prevention. Manual analysis of ophthalmic images is fairly time-consuming and accuracy depends on the expertise of the professionals. Automatic analysis of retinal images is an important tool. Automation aids in the detection, diagnosis, and prevention of risks associated with the disease. Fundus images obtained from a fundus camera have been used for the analysis. Requisite pre-processing techniques have been applied to the image and, depending upon the technique, various classifiers have been used to detect glaucoma. The techniques mentioned in the present review have certain advantages and disadvantages. Based on this study, one can determine which technique provides an optimum result.

Controlling Fringe Sensitivity of Electro-Optic Holography Systems Using Laser Diode Current Modulation

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Bybee, Shannon J.

2001-01-01

Electro-Optic Holography (EOH) is a non-intrusive, laser-based, displacement measurement technique capable of static and dynamic displacement measurements. EOH is an optical interference technique in which fringe patterns that represent displacement contour maps are generated. At excessively large displacements the fringe density may be so great that individual fringes are not resolvable using typical EOH techniques. This thesis focuses on the development and implementation of a method for controlling the sensitivity of the EOH system. This method is known as Frequency Translated Electro-Optic Holography (FTEOH). It was determined that by modulating the current source of the laser diode at integer multiples of the object vibration, the fringe pattern is governed by higher order Bessel function of the first kind and the number of fringes that represent a given displacement can be controlled. The reduction of fringes is theoretically unlimited but physically limited by the frequency bandwidth of the signal generator, providing modulation to the laser diode. Although this research technique has been verified theoretically and experimentally in this thesis, due to the current laser diode capabilities it is a tedious and time consuming process to acquire data using the FTEOH technique.

Reinforcing the role of the conventional C-arm - a novel method for simplified distal interlocking

PubMed Central

2012-01-01

Background The common practice for insertion of distal locking screws of intramedullary nails is a freehand technique under fluoroscopic control. The process is technically demanding, time-consuming and afflicted to considerable radiation exposure of the patient and the surgical personnel. A new concept is introduced utilizing information from within conventional radiographic images to help accurately guide the surgeon to place the interlocking bolt into the interlocking hole. The newly developed technique was compared to conventional freehand in an operating room (OR) like setting on human cadaveric lower legs in terms of operating time and radiation exposure. Methods The proposed concept (guided freehand), generally based on the freehand gold standard, additionally guides the surgeon by means of visible landmarks projected into the C-arm image. A computer program plans the correct drilling trajectory by processing the lens-shaped hole projections of the interlocking holes from a single image. Holes can be drilled by visually aligning the drill to the planned trajectory. Besides a conventional C-arm, no additional tracking or navigation equipment is required. Ten fresh frozen human below-knee specimens were instrumented with an Expert Tibial Nail (Synthes GmbH, Switzerland). The implants were distally locked by performing the newly proposed technique as well as the conventional freehand technique on each specimen. An orthopedic resident surgeon inserted four distal screws per procedure. Operating time, number of images and radiation time were recorded and statistically compared between interlocking techniques using non-parametric tests. Results A 58% reduction in number of taken images per screw was found for the guided freehand technique (7.4 ± 3.4) (mean ± SD) compared to the freehand technique (17.6 ± 10.3) (p < 0.001). Total radiation time (all 4 screws) was 55% lower for the guided freehand technique compared to conventional freehand (p = 0.001). Operating time per screw (from first shot to screw tightened) was on average 22% reduced by guided freehand (p = 0.018). Conclusions In an experimental setting, the newly developed guided freehand technique for distal interlocking has proven to markedly reduce radiation exposure when compared to the conventional freehand technique. The method utilizes established clinical workflows and does not require cost intensive add-on devices or extensive training. The underlying principle carries potential to assist implant positioning in numerous other applications within orthopedics and trauma from screw insertions to placement of plates, nails or prostheses. PMID:22276698

Role of non-invasive ventilation in difficult-to-wean children with acute neuromuscular disease.

PubMed

Reddy, V G; Nair, M P; Bataclan, F

2004-05-01

Weaning from mechanical ventilation in children could be time-consuming and on many occasions, leads to reintubation with its associate complications. We report two children with acute neuromuscular disease, in whom bi-level positive airway pressure (BiPAP) as a mode of non-invasive ventilation was successfully used to wean the child from ventilators and prevented the need for tracheostomy. Despite the limited number of studies published in the literature suggesting BiPAP as a mode of weaning from mechanical ventilation, the technique when applied correctly seems to be safe and effective in weaning and avoiding tracheostomy.

Hydraulic Robotic Surgical Tool Changing Manipulator

PubMed Central

Pourghodrat, Abolfazl; Nelson, Carl A.; Oleynikov, Dmitry

2017-01-01

Natural orifice transluminal endoscopic surgery (NOTES) is a surgical technique to perform “scarless” abdominal operations. Robotic technology has been exploited to improve NOTES and circumvent its limitations. Lack of a multitasking platform is a major limitation. Manual tool exchange can be time consuming and may lead to complications such as bleeding. Previous multifunctional manipulator designs use electric motors. These designs are bulky, slow, and expensive. This paper presents design, prototyping, and testing of a hydraulic robotic tool changing manipulator. The manipulator is small, fast, low-cost, and capable of carrying four different types of laparoscopic instruments. PMID:28450979

Free-living amoebae: Health concerns in the indoor environment

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

Tyndall, R.L.; Ironside, K.S.

1990-01-01

Free-living amoebae are the most likely protozoa implicated in health concerns of the indoor environment. These amoebae can be the source of allergic reactions, eye infections or, on rare occasions, encephalitis. While too large to be effectively aerosolized, free- living amoebae can support the multiplication of pathogens such as Legionella which are easily aerosolized and infectious via the pulmonary route. Traditional detection methods for free-living amoebae are laborious and time consuming. Newer techniques for rapidly detecting and quantitating free-living amoebae such as monoclonal antibodies, flow cytometry, gene probes, and laser optics have or could be employed. 25 refs.

Lattice Boltzmann for Airframe Noise Predictions

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Barad, Michael; Kocheemoolayil, Joseph; Kiris, Cetin

2017-01-01

Increase predictive use of High-Fidelity Computational Aero- Acoustics (CAA) capabilities for NASA's next generation aviation concepts. CFD has been utilized substantially in analysis and design for steady-state problems (RANS). Computational resources are extremely challenged for high-fidelity unsteady problems (e.g. unsteady loads, buffet boundary, jet and installation noise, fan noise, active flow control, airframe noise, etc) ü Need novel techniques for reducing the computational resources consumed by current high-fidelity CAA Need routine acoustic analysis of aircraft components at full-scale Reynolds number from first principles Need an order of magnitude reduction in wall time to solution!

FOCIS: A forest classification and inventory system using LANDSAT and digital terrain data

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Strahler, A. H.; Franklin, J.; Woodcook, C. E.; Logan, T. L.

1981-01-01

Accurate, cost-effective stratification of forest vegetation and timber inventory is the primary goal of a Forest Classification and Inventory System (FOCIS). Conventional timber stratification using photointerpretation can be time-consuming, costly, and inconsistent from analyst to analyst. FOCIS was designed to overcome these problems by using machine processing techniques to extract and process tonal, textural, and terrain information from registered LANDSAT multispectral and digital terrain data. Comparison of samples from timber strata identified by conventional procedures showed that both have about the same potential to reduce the variance of timber volume estimates over simple random sampling.

Parameters modelling of amaranth grain processing technology

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Derkanosova, N. M.; Shelamova, S. A.; Ponomareva, I. N.; Shurshikova, G. V.; Vasilenko, O. A.

2018-03-01

The article presents a technique that allows calculating the structure of a multicomponent bakery mixture for the production of enriched products, taking into account the instability of nutrient content, and ensuring the fulfilment of technological requirements and, at the same time considering consumer preferences. The results of modelling and analysis of optimal solutions are given by the example of calculating the structure of a three-component mixture of wheat and rye flour with an enriching component, that is, whole-hulled amaranth flour applied to the technology of bread from a mixture of rye and wheat flour on a liquid leaven.

Tchebichef moment transform on image dithering for mobile applications

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ernawan, Ferda; Abu, Nur Azman; Rahmalan, Hidayah

2012-04-01

Currently, mobile image applications spend a lot of computing process to display images. A true color raw image contains billions of colors and it consumes high computational power in most mobile image applications. At the same time, mobile devices are only expected to be equipped with lower computing process and minimum storage space. Image dithering is a popular technique to reduce the numbers of bit per pixel at the expense of lower quality image displays. This paper proposes a novel approach on image dithering using 2x2 Tchebichef moment transform (TMT). TMT integrates a simple mathematical framework technique using matrices. TMT coefficients consist of real rational numbers. An image dithering based on TMT has the potential to provide better efficiency and simplicity. The preliminary experiment shows a promising result in term of error reconstructions and image visual textures.

Civil infrastructure monitoring for IVHS using optical fiber sensors

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

de Vries, Marten J.; Arya, Vivek; Grinder, C. R.; Murphy, Kent A.; Claus, Richard O.

1995-01-01

8Early deployment of Intelligent Vehicle Highway Systems would necessitate the internal instrumentation of infrastructure for emergency preparedness. Existing quantitative analysis and visual analysis techniques are time consuming, cost prohibitive, and are often unreliable. Fiber optic sensors are rapidly replacing conventional instrumentation because of their small size, light weight, immunity to electromagnetic interference, and extremely high information carrying capability. In this paper research on novel optical fiber sensing techniques for health monitoring of civil infrastructure such as highways and bridges is reported. Design, fabrication, and implementation of fiber optic sensor configurations used for measurements of strain are discussed. Results from field tests conducted to demonstrate the effectiveness of fiber sensors at determining quantitative strain vector components near crack locations in bridges are presented. Emerging applications of fiber sensors for vehicle flow, vehicle speed, and weigh-in-motion measurements are also discussed.

Development of a HIV-1 Virus Detection System Based on Nanotechnology.

PubMed

Lee, Jin-Ho; Oh, Byung-Keun; Choi, Jeong-Woo

2015-04-27

Development of a sensitive and selective detection system for pathogenic viral agents is essential for medical healthcare from diagnostics to therapeutics. However, conventional detection systems are time consuming, resource-intensive and tedious to perform. Hence, the demand for sensitive and selective detection system for virus are highly increasing. To attain this aim, different aspects and techniques have been applied to develop virus sensor with improved sensitivity and selectivity. Here, among those aspects and techniques, this article reviews HIV virus particle detection systems incorporated with nanotechnology to enhance the sensitivity. This review mainly focused on four different detection system including vertically configured electrical detection based on scanning tunneling microscopy (STM), electrochemical detection based on direct electron transfer in virus, optical detection system based on localized surface plasmon resonance (LSPR) and surface enhanced Raman spectroscopy (SERS) using plasmonic nanoparticle.

Patch-Based Super-Resolution of MR Spectroscopic Images: Application to Multiple Sclerosis

PubMed Central

Jain, Saurabh; Sima, Diana M.; Sanaei Nezhad, Faezeh; Hangel, Gilbert; Bogner, Wolfgang; Williams, Stephen; Van Huffel, Sabine; Maes, Frederik; Smeets, Dirk

2017-01-01

Purpose: Magnetic resonance spectroscopic imaging (MRSI) provides complementary information to conventional magnetic resonance imaging. Acquiring high resolution MRSI is time consuming and requires complex reconstruction techniques. Methods: In this paper, a patch-based super-resolution method is presented to increase the spatial resolution of metabolite maps computed from MRSI. The proposed method uses high resolution anatomical MR images (T1-weighted and Fluid-attenuated inversion recovery) to regularize the super-resolution process. The accuracy of the method is validated against conventional interpolation techniques using a phantom, as well as simulated and in vivo acquired human brain images of multiple sclerosis subjects. Results: The method preserves tissue contrast and structural information, and matches well with the trend of acquired high resolution MRSI. Conclusions: These results suggest that the method has potential for clinically relevant neuroimaging applications. PMID:28197066

Current trends and challenges in sample preparation for metallic nanoparticles analysis in daily products and environmental samples: A review

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

De la Calle, Inmaculada; Menta, Mathieu; Séby, Fabienne

2016-11-01

Due to the increasing use of nanoparticles (NPs) in consumer products, it becomes necessary to develop different strategies for their detection, identification, characterization and quantification in a wide variety of samples. Since the analysis of NPs in consumer products and environmental samples is particularly troublesome, a detailed description of challenges and limitations is given here. This review mainly focuses on sample preparation procedures applied for the mostly used techniques for metallic and metal oxide NPs characterization in consumer products and most outstanding publications of biological and environmental samples (from 2006 to 2015). We summarize the procedures applied for total metal content, extraction/separation and/or preconcentration of NPs from the matrix, separation of metallic NPs from their ions or from larger particles and NPs' size fractionation. Sample preparation procedures specifically for microscopy are also described. Selected applications in cosmetics, food, other consumer products, biological tissues and environmental samples are presented. Advantages and inconveniences of those procedures are considered. Moreover, selected simplified schemes for NPs sample preparation, as well as usual techniques applied are included. Finally, promising directions for further investigations are discussed.

Estimation of Carbon Sink in Surface Carbonate Rocks of Guangxi Province by Using Remote Sensing Images

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Jia, B.; Zhou, G.; Wang, H.; Yue, T.; Huang, W.

2018-04-01

Studies of the imbalance of source sinks in the carbon cycle show that CO2 absorbed during rock weathering is part of the "miss carbon" of the global carbon cycle. The carbon sink contribution of carbonate rocks obviously plays a very important role in the absorption of atmospheric CO2. Estimation of carbon sinks in karst dynamic system of Guangxi province has great significance for further understanding of global karst carbon cycle and global climate research. This paper quotes the rock data from Tao Xiaodong's paper, which is obtained using RS and GIS techniques. At the same time, the dissolution rate model studied by Zhou Guoqing and others was used to estimate the dissolution rate of carbonate rocks in Guangxi Province. Finally, the CO2 content consumed by carbonate karstification in Guangxi Province was 1342910.447 t a-1. The results obtained are in the same order of magnitude as the CO2 content consumed by carbonate rock karstification in Guangxi Province calculated by Tao Xiaodong.

Anticipatory Consumer Socialization.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Moore, Roy L.; Moschis, George P.

Anticipatory consumer socialization is the learning of consumer roles and perceptions, which will be assumed at a later time, such as those that children acquire before they become adult consumers. A survey of 784 adolescents was conducted in a southern state to examine the anticipatory consumer socialization effects of such factors as the mass…

An investigation of used electronics return flows: a data-driven approach to capture and predict consumers storage and utilization behavior.

PubMed

Sabbaghi, Mostafa; Esmaeilian, Behzad; Raihanian Mashhadi, Ardeshir; Behdad, Sara; Cade, Willie

2015-02-01

Consumers often have a tendency to store their used, old or un-functional electronics for a period of time before they discard them and return them back to the waste stream. This behavior increases the obsolescence rate of used still-functional products leading to lower profitability that could be resulted out of End-of-Use (EOU) treatments such as reuse, upgrade, and refurbishment. These types of behaviors are influenced by several product and consumer-related factors such as consumers' traits and lifestyles, technology evolution, product design features, product market value, and pro-environmental stimuli. Better understanding of different groups of consumers, their utilization and storage behavior and the connection of these behaviors with product design features helps Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEMs) and recycling and recovery industry to better overcome the challenges resulting from the undesirable storage of used products. This paper aims at providing insightful statistical analysis of Electronic Waste (e-waste) dynamic nature by studying the effects of design characteristics, brand and consumer type on the electronics usage time and end of use time-in-storage. A database consisting of 10,063 Hard Disk Drives (HDD) of used personal computers returned back to a remanufacturing facility located in Chicago, IL, USA during 2011-2013 has been selected as the base for this study. The results show that commercial consumers have stored computers more than household consumers regardless of brand and capacity factors. Moreover, a heterogeneous storage behavior is observed for different brands of HDDs regardless of capacity and consumer type factors. Finally, the storage behavior trends are projected for short-time forecasting and the storage times are precisely predicted by applying machine learning methods. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Fast Computation of Ground Motion Shaking Map base on the Modified Stochastic Finite Fault Modeling

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Shen, W.; Zhong, Q.; Shi, B.

2012-12-01

Rapidly regional MMI mapping soon after a moderate-large earthquake is crucial to loss estimation, emergency services and planning of emergency action by the government. In fact, many countries show different degrees of attention on the technology of rapid estimation of MMI , and this technology has made significant progress in earthquake-prone countries. In recent years, numerical modeling of strong ground motion has been well developed with the advances of computation technology and earthquake science. The computational simulation of strong ground motion caused by earthquake faulting has become an efficient way to estimate the regional MMI distribution soon after earthquake. In China, due to the lack of strong motion observation in network sparse or even completely missing areas, the development of strong ground motion simulation method has become an important means of quantitative estimation of strong motion intensity. In many of the simulation models, stochastic finite fault model is preferred to rapid MMI estimating for its time-effectiveness and accuracy. In finite fault model, a large fault is divided into N subfaults, and each subfault is considered as a small point source. The ground motions contributed by each subfault are calculated by the stochastic point source method which is developed by Boore, and then summed at the observation point to obtain the ground motion from the entire fault with a proper time delay. Further, Motazedian and Atkinson proposed the concept of Dynamic Corner Frequency, with the new approach, the total radiated energy from the fault and the total seismic moment are conserved independent of subfault size over a wide range of subfault sizes. In current study, the program EXSIM developed by Motazedian and Atkinson has been modified for local or regional computations of strong motion parameters such as PGA, PGV and PGD, which are essential for MMI estimating. To make the results more reasonable, we consider the impact of V30 for the ground shaking intensity, and the results of the comparisons between the simulated and observed MMI for the 2004 Mw 6.0 Parkfield earthquake, the 2008 Mw 7.9Wenchuan earthquake and the 1976 Mw 7.6Tangshan earthquake is fairly well. Take Parkfield earthquake as example, the simulative result reflect the directivity effect and the influence of the shallow velocity structure well. On the other hand, the simulative data is in good agreement with the network data and NGA (Next Generation Attenuation). The consumed time depends on the number of the subfaults and the number of the grid point. For the 2004 Mw 6.0 Parkfield earthquake, the grid size we calculated is 2.5° × 2.5°, the grid space is 0.025°, and the total time consumed is about 1.3hours. For the 2008 Mw 7.9 Wenchuan earthquake, the grid size calculated is 10° × 10°, the grid space is 0.05°, the total number of grid point is more than 40,000, and the total time consumed is about 7.5 hours. For t the 1976 Mw 7.6 Tangshan earthquake, the grid size we calculated is 4° × 6°, the grid space is 0.05°, and the total time consumed is about 2.1 hours. The CPU we used is 3.40GHz, and such computational time could further reduce by using GPU computing technique and other parallel computing technique. This is also our next focus.

Comparing terrestrial laser scanning with ground and UAV-based imaging for national-level assessment of upland soil erosion

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

McShane, Gareth; Farrow, Luke; Morgan, David; Glendell, Miriam; James, Mike; Quinton, John; Evans, Martin; Anderson, Karen; Rawlins, Barry; Quine, Timothy; Debell, Leon; Benaud, Pia; Jones, Lee; Kirkham, Matthew; Lark, Murray; Rickson, Jane; Brazier, Richard

2015-04-01

Quantifying soil loss through erosion processes at a high resolution can be a time consuming and costly undertaking. In this pilot study 'a cost effective framework for monitoring soil erosion in England and Wales', funded by the UK Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra), we compare methods for collecting suitable topographic measurements via remote sensing. The aim is to enable efficient but detailed site-scale studies of erosion forms in inaccessible UK upland environments, to quantify dynamic processes, such as erosion and mass movement. The techniques assessed are terrestrial laser scanning (TLS), and unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) photography and ground-based photography, both processed using structure-from-motion (SfM) 3D reconstruction software. Compared to other established techniques, such as expensive TLS, SfM offers a potentially low-cost alternative for the reconstruction of 3D high-resolution micro-topographic models from photographs taken with consumer grade cameras. However, whilst an increasing number of research papers examine the relative merits of these novel versus more established survey techniques, no study to date has compared both ground-based and aerial SfM photogrammetry with TLS scanning across a range of scales (from m2 to 16ha). The evaluation of these novel low cost techniques is particularly relevant in upland landscapes, where the remoteness and inaccessibility of field sites may render some of the more established survey techniques impractical. Volumetric estimates of soil loss are quantified using the digital surface models (DSMs) derived from the data from each technique and subtracted from a modelled pre-erosion surface. The results from each technique are compared. The UAV was able to capture information over a wide area, a range of altitudes and angles over the study area. Combined with automated SfM-based processing, this technique was able to produce rapid orthophotos to support ground-based data acquisition, as well as a DSM for volume loss measurement in larger features. However, the DSM of erosion features lacked the detail of those captured using the ground-based methods. Terrestrial laser scanning provided detailed, accurate, high density measurements of the ground surface over long (100s m) distances, but size and weight of the instrument made it difficult to use in mountainous environments. In addition, deriving a reliable bare-earth digital terrain model (DTM) from TLS was at times problematic due to the presence of tall shrubby vegetation. Ground-based photography produced comparable data sets to terrestrial laser scanning and was the most useful for characterising small and difficult to view features. The relative advantages, limitations and cost-effectiveness of each approach at 5 upland sites across the UK are discussed.

Traditional and online consumers in China: a preliminary study of their personality traits and decision-making styles.

PubMed

Zhu, Junpeng; Xu, You; Huang, Jingyi; Yeow, Changdar; Wang, Wei

2012-12-01

Population of online consumers increases rapidly, but the decision-making styles of online consumers and psychiatric denominators such as the personality correlates remain unclear. In 196 traditional, and 196 age-, education- and gender-matched online consumers, we have tested the Zuckerman-Kuhlman Personality Questionnaire (ZKPQ) and the Consumer Style Inventory (CSI). After exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses, we have defined a five-factor model CSI with 24 items. Online consumers scored lower on ZKPQ Neuroticism-Anxiety and higher on Aggression-Hostility than traditional ones did, and scored higher on CSI Novelty-fashion consciousness and Brand consciousness, and lower on Time consciousness than the traditional consumers did. ZKPQ Neuroticism-Anxiety was positively correlated with CSI Confused by overchoice in both groups, Sociability was positively correlated with Novelty-fashion consciousness and negatively with Time consciousness in traditional group, and Impulsive Sensation Seeking was positively correlated with Novelty-fashion consciousness and Time consciousness in online group. Our study suggests that, regarding the decision-making styles, online consumers display curiosity that lacks security and need other ways to improve their social lives. It also calls further designs to address the contributions of other psychiatric features to the particular decision-making styles in online consumers.

Sensory characteristics and consumer acceptability of decaffeinated green teas.

PubMed

Lee, S M; Lee, H-S; Kim, K-H; Kim, K-O

2009-04-01

Green tea has been widely consumed for its mild flavors and its health benefits, yet caffeine in green tea has been a limitation for those who want to avoid it. The limitation brought increase in need for decaffeinated products in the green tea market. Most of the conventional decaffeination techniques applied in food use organic solvents. However, supercritical carbon dioxide fluid extraction (SC-CO2) method is gaining its intension as one of the future decaffeination methods that overcomes the problems of conventional methods. The purpose of this study was to identify sensory characteristics of decaffeinated green teas applied with SC-CO2 method and to observe the relationship with consumer acceptability to elucidate the potentiality of applying SC-CO2 technique in decaffeinated green tea market. Descriptive analysis was performed on 8 samples: green teas containing 4 caffeine levels (10%, 35%, 60%, and 100%) infused at 2 infusing periods (1 or 2 min). It was found that the SC-CO2 process not only reduced caffeine but also decreased some important features of original tea flavors. Two groups were recruited for consumer acceptability test: one (GP I, N = 52), consuming all types of green teas including hot/cold canned teas; and the other (GP II, N = 40), only consuming the loose type. While GP II liked original green tea the most, GP I liked highly decaffeinated green teas. Although the SC-CO2 method had limitations of losing complex flavors of green teas, it appeared to have future potential in the decaffeinated green tea market within or without the addition of desirable flavors.

Simultaneous acquisition for T2 -T2 Exchange and T1 -T2 correlation NMR experiments

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Montrazi, Elton T.; Lucas-Oliveira, Everton; Araujo-Ferreira, Arthur G.; Barsi-Andreeta, Mariane; Bonagamba, Tito J.

2018-04-01

The NMR measurements of longitudinal and transverse relaxation times and its multidimensional correlations provide useful information about molecular dynamics. However, these experiments are very time-consuming, and many researchers proposed faster experiments to reduce this issue. This paper presents a new way to simultaneously perform T2 -T2 Exchange and T1 -T2 correlation experiments by taking the advantage of the storage time and the two steps phase cycling used for running the relaxation exchange experiment. The data corresponding to each step is either summed or subtracted to produce the T2 -T2 and T1 -T2 data, enhancing the information obtained while maintaining the experiment duration. Comparing the results from this technique with traditional NMR experiments it was possible to validate the method.

MEMS 3-DoF gyroscope design, modeling and simulation through equivalent circuit lumped parameter model

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

Mian, Muhammad Umer, E-mail: umermian@gmail.com; Khir, M. H. Md.; Tang, T. B.

Pre-fabrication, behavioural and performance analysis with computer aided design (CAD) tools is a common and fabrication cost effective practice. In light of this we present a simulation methodology for a dual-mass oscillator based 3 Degree of Freedom (3-DoF) MEMS gyroscope. 3-DoF Gyroscope is modeled through lumped parameter models using equivalent circuit elements. These equivalent circuits consist of elementary components which are counterpart of their respective mechanical components, used to design and fabricate 3-DoF MEMS gyroscope. Complete designing of equivalent circuit model, mathematical modeling and simulation are being presented in this paper. Behaviors of the equivalent lumped models derived for themore » proposed device design are simulated in MEMSPRO T-SPICE software. Simulations are carried out with the design specifications following design rules of the MetalMUMPS fabrication process. Drive mass resonant frequencies simulated by this technique are 1.59 kHz and 2.05 kHz respectively, which are close to the resonant frequencies found by the analytical formulation of the gyroscope. The lumped equivalent circuit modeling technique proved to be a time efficient modeling technique for the analysis of complex MEMS devices like 3-DoF gyroscopes. The technique proves to be an alternative approach to the complex and time consuming couple field analysis Finite Element Analysis (FEA) previously used.« less

Using a Virtual Store As a Research Tool to Investigate Consumer In-store Behavior.

PubMed

Ploydanai, Kunalai; van den Puttelaar, Jos; van Herpen, Erica; van Trijp, Hans

2017-07-24

People's responses to products and/or choice environments are crucial to understanding in-store consumer behaviors. Currently, there are various approaches (e.g., surveys or laboratory settings) to study in-store behaviors, but the external validity of these is limited by their poor capability to resemble realistic choice environments. In addition, building a real store to meet experimental conditions while controlling for undesirable effects is costly and highly difficult. A virtual store developed by virtual reality techniques potentially transcends these limitations by offering the simulation of a 3D virtual store environment in a realistic, flexible, and cost-efficient way. In particular, a virtual store interactively allows consumers (participants) to experience and interact with objects in a tightly controlled yet realistic setting. This paper presents the key elements of using a desktop virtual store to study in-store consumer behavior. Descriptions of the protocol steps to: 1) build the experimental store, 2) prepare the data management program, 3) run the virtual store experiment, and 4) organize and export data from the data management program are presented. The virtual store enables participants to navigate through the store, choose a product from alternatives, and select or return products. Moreover, consumer-related shopping behaviors (e.g., shopping time, walking speed, and number and type of products examined and bought) can also be collected. The protocol is illustrated with an example of a store layout experiment showing that shelf length and shelf orientation influence shopping- and movement-related behaviors. This demonstrates that the use of a virtual store facilitates the study of consumer responses. The virtual store can be especially helpful when examining factors that are costly or difficult to change in real life (e.g., overall store layout), products that are not presently available in the market, and routinized behaviors in familiar environments.

A simpler method for total scalp irradiation: the multijaw‐size concave arc technique

PubMed Central

Konno, Masahiro; Ogawa, Hirofumi; Harada, Hideyuki; Asakura, Hirofumi; Fuji, Hiroshi; Murayama, Shigeyuki; Nishimura, Tetsuo

2014-01-01

The lateral electron‐photon technique (LEPT) and intensity‐modulated radiation therapy (IMRT) are commonly used for total scalp irradiation. However, the treatment planning and irradiation are laborious and time‐consuming. We herein present the multijaw‐size concave arc technique (MCAT) as a total scalp irradiation method that overcomes these problems. CT datasets for eight patients previously treated for angiosarcoma of the scalp were replanned using MCAT, LEPT, and IMRT. The MCAT was designed with a dynamic conformal arc for the total scalp, with a multileaf collimator to shield the brain. Two additional conformal arcs with a decreased upper‐jaw position of the first dynamic conformal arc were used to reduce the cranial hotspots. The prescribed dose was 40 Gy (2 Gy/fraction) to 95% of the planning target volume (PTV, defined as the total scalp plus a 4 mm margin). MCAT was compared with LEPT and IMRT with respect to the PTV dose homogeneity (D5%–95%), underdosage (V < 90%), overdosage (V > 110%), doses to the brain, and the delivery time and monitor units (MUs) for single irradiation. We were able to formulate treatment plans for all three techniques that could deliver the prescription dose in all patients. MCAT was significantly superior to LEPT with respect to PTV dose homogeneity, overdosage, and underdosage, although MCAT was inferior to IMRT with respect to dose homogeneity and overdosage. The mean brain dose and high‐dosage volume of all three techniques were low, but IMRT provided larger volume to the brain than did the other two techniques in the low dosage region. In MCAT, the mean delivery time could be reduced by approximately half or more, and the mean MUs could be reduced by at least 100 compared to the other two techniques. MCAT can achieve total scalp irradiation with substantially fewer MUs and a shorter delivery time than LEPT and IMRT. PACS number: 87.55.D‐ PMID:25207405

Semi-automatic detection of Gd-DTPA-saline filled capsules for colonic transit time assessment in MRI

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Harrer, Christian; Kirchhoff, Sonja; Keil, Andreas; Kirchhoff, Chlodwig; Mussack, Thomas; Lienemann, Andreas; Reiser, Maximilian; Navab, Nassir

2008-03-01

Functional gastrointestinal disorders result in a significant number of consultations in primary care facilities. Chronic constipation and diarrhea are regarded as two of the most common diseases affecting between 2% and 27% of the population in western countries 1-3. Defecatory disorders are most commonly due to dysfunction of the pelvic floor or the anal sphincter. Although an exact differentiation of these pathologies is essential for adequate therapy, diagnosis is still only based on a clinical evaluation1. Regarding quantification of constipation only the ingestion of radio-opaque markers or radioactive isotopes and the consecutive assessment of colonic transit time using X-ray or scintigraphy, respectively, has been feasible in clinical settings 4-8. However, these approaches have several drawbacks such as involving rather inconvenient, time consuming examinations and exposing the patient to ionizing radiation. Therefore, conventional assessment of colonic transit time has not been widely used. Most recently a new technique for the assessment of colonic transit time using MRI and MR-contrast media filled capsules has been introduced 9. However, due to numerous examination dates per patient and corresponding datasets with many images, the evaluation of the image data is relatively time-consuming. The aim of our study was to develop a computer tool to facilitate the detection of the capsules in MRI datasets and thus to shorten the evaluation time. We present a semi-automatic tool which provides an intensity, size 10, and shape-based 11,12 detection of ingested Gd-DTPA-saline filled capsules. After an automatic pre-classification, radiologists may easily correct the results using the application-specific user interface, therefore decreasing the evaluation time significantly.

The impact of services that offer individualised funds, shared management, person-centred relationships, and self-direction on the lived experiences of consumers with mental illness.

PubMed

Peterson, Sunila; Buchanan, Angus; Falkmer, Torbjorn

2014-01-01

Mental health service providers across Australia, including Western Australia (WA), have begun to offer individualised funds, shared management, person-centred and self-directed (SPS) services. No research exists on the impact of SPS services on the lived experiences of these particular consumers. This study explored the impact of a SPS service offered for the first time in WA to consumers with mental illness. Data on sixteen consumers' lived experiences were analysed using an abbreviated grounded theory approach. These data had been developed by the consumers, Guides (staff) and an independent evaluator, and most of it had been collected in the past prior to the commencement of the study. Three over-arching categories, and related subcategories, emerged indicating that 1) access to individualised funds enabled practical and psychological benefits to consumers; 2) consistent contact in shared management and person-centred relationships enhanced the provision of timely and meaningful staff support to consumers; and 3) high quality shared management and person-centred relationships with staff and the opportunity to self-direct enabled consumers' change and growth. SPS services enhanced consumers' lived experiences and enabled staff to provide and consumers to experience timely access to recovery resources, consistent contact, responsive and high quality support, and self-direction of services. In this, consumers changed, grew and achieved desired recovery experiences. The overall impact of the SPS service seemed to be founded on the goodness of fit between person characteristics of staff and consumers, which enabled rich support that provided for corrective emotional experiences. This enabled consumers to build meaningful and hopeful lives where they started to live with, and beyond, their mental illness.

An Algorithm to Automatically Generate the Combinatorial Orbit Counting Equations

PubMed Central

Melckenbeeck, Ine; Audenaert, Pieter; Michoel, Tom; Colle, Didier; Pickavet, Mario

2016-01-01

Graphlets are small subgraphs, usually containing up to five vertices, that can be found in a larger graph. Identification of the graphlets that a vertex in an explored graph touches can provide useful information about the local structure of the graph around that vertex. Actually finding all graphlets in a large graph can be time-consuming, however. As the graphlets grow in size, more different graphlets emerge and the time needed to find each graphlet also scales up. If it is not needed to find each instance of each graphlet, but knowing the number of graphlets touching each node of the graph suffices, the problem is less hard. Previous research shows a way to simplify counting the graphlets: instead of looking for the graphlets needed, smaller graphlets are searched, as well as the number of common neighbors of vertices. Solving a system of equations then gives the number of times a vertex is part of each graphlet of the desired size. However, until now, equations only exist to count graphlets with 4 or 5 nodes. In this paper, two new techniques are presented. The first allows to generate the equations needed in an automatic way. This eliminates the tedious work needed to do so manually each time an extra node is added to the graphlets. The technique is independent on the number of nodes in the graphlets and can thus be used to count larger graphlets than previously possible. The second technique gives all graphlets a unique ordering which is easily extended to name graphlets of any size. Both techniques were used to generate equations to count graphlets with 4, 5 and 6 vertices, which extends all previous results. Code can be found at https://github.com/IneMelckenbeeck/equation-generator and https://github.com/IneMelckenbeeck/graphlet-naming. PMID:26797021

[Endoscopic full-thickness resection].

PubMed

Meier, B; Schmidt, A; Caca, K

2016-08-01

Conventional endoscopic resection techniques such as endoscopic mucosal resection (EMR) or endoscopic submucosal dissection (ESD) are powerful tools for the treatment of gastrointestinal (GI) neoplasms. However, those techniques are limited to the superficial layers of the GI wall (mucosa and submucosa). Lesions without lifting sign (usually arising from deeper layers) or lesions in difficult anatomic positions (appendix, diverticulum) are difficult - if not impossible - to resect using conventional techniques, due to the increased risk of complications. For larger lesions (>2 cm), ESD appears to be superior to the conventional techniques because of the en bloc resection, but the procedure is technically challenging, time consuming, and associated with complications even in experienced hands. Since the development of the over-the-scope clips (OTSC), complications like bleeding or perforation can be endoscopically better managed. In recent years, different endoscopic full-thickness resection techniques came to the focus of interventional endoscopy. Since September 2014, the full-thickness resection device (FTRD) has the CE marking in Europe for full-thickness resection in the lower GI tract. Technically the device is based on the OTSC system and combines OTSC application and snare polypectomy in one step. This study shows all full-thickness resection techniques currently available, but clearly focuses on the experience with the FTRD in the lower GI tract.

A Review of Gene Knockout Strategies for Microbial Cells.

PubMed

Tang, Phooi Wah; Chua, Pooi San; Chong, Shiue Kee; Mohamad, Mohd Saberi; Choon, Yee Wen; Deris, Safaai; Omatu, Sigeru; Corchado, Juan Manuel; Chan, Weng Howe; Rahim, Raha Abdul

2015-01-01

Predicting the effects of genetic modification is difficult due to the complexity of metabolic net- works. Various gene knockout strategies have been utilised to deactivate specific genes in order to determine the effects of these genes on the function of microbes. Deactivation of genes can lead to deletion of certain proteins and functions. Through these strategies, the associated function of a deleted gene can be identified from the metabolic networks. The main aim of this paper is to review the available techniques in gene knockout strategies for microbial cells. The review is done in terms of their methodology, recent applications in microbial cells. In addition, the advantages and disadvantages of the techniques are compared and discuss and the related patents are also listed as well. Traditionally, gene knockout is done through wet lab (in vivo) techniques, which were conducted through laboratory experiments. However, these techniques are costly and time consuming. Hence, various dry lab (in silico) techniques, where are conducted using computational approaches, have been developed to surmount these problem. The development of numerous techniques for gene knockout in microbial cells has brought many advancements in the study of gene functions. Based on the literatures, we found that the gene knockout strategies currently used are sensibly implemented with regard to their benefits.

Integrating consumer engagement in health and medical research - an Australian framework.

PubMed

Miller, Caroline L; Mott, Kathy; Cousins, Michael; Miller, Stephanie; Johnson, Anne; Lawson, Tony; Wesselingh, Steve

2017-02-10

Quality practice of consumer engagement is still in its infancy in many sectors of medical research. The South Australian Health and Medical Research Institute (SAHMRI) identified, early in its development, the opportunity to integrate evidence-driven consumer and community engagement into its operations. SAHMRI partnered with Health Consumers Alliance and consumers in evidence generation. A Partnership Steering Committee of researchers and consumers was formed for the project. An iterative mixed-method qualitative process was used to generate a framework for consumer engagement. This process included a literature review followed by semi-structured interviews with experts in consumer engagement and lead medical researchers, group discussions and a consensus workshop with the Partnership Steering Committee, facilitated by Health Consumer Alliance. The literature revealed a dearth of evidence about effective consumer engagement methodologies. Four organisational dimensions are reported to contribute to success, namely governance, infrastructure, capacity and advocacy. Key themes identified through the stakeholder interviews included sustained leadership, tangible benefits, engagement strategies should be varied, resourcing, a moral dimension, and challenges. The consensus workshop produced a framework and tangible strategies. Comprehensive examples of consumer participation in health and medical research are limited. There are few documented studies of what techniques are effective. This evidence-driven framework, developed in collaboration with consumers, is being integrated in a health and medical research institute with diverse programs of research. This framework is offered as a contribution to the evidence base around meaningful consumer engagement and as a template for other research institutions to utilise.

Time: a vital resource.

PubMed

Collins, Sandra K; Collins, Kevin S

2004-01-01

Resolving problems with time management requires an understanding of the concept of working smarter rather than harder. Therefore, managing time effectively is a vital responsibility of department managers. When developing a plan for more effectively managing time, it is important to carefully analyze where time is currently being used/lost. Keeping a daily log can be a time consuming effort. However, the log can provide information about ways that time may be saved and how to organize personal schedules to maximize time efficiency. The next step is to develop a strategy to decrease wasted time and create a more cohesive radiology department. The following list of time management strategies provides some suggestions for developing a plan. Get focused. Set goals and priorities. Get organized. Monitor individual motivation factors. Develop memory techniques. In healthcare, success means delivering the highest quality of care by getting organized, meeting deadlines, creating efficient schedules and appropriately budgeting resources. Effective time management focuses on knowing what needs to be done when. The managerial challenge is to shift the emphasis from doing everything all at once to orchestrating the departmental activities in order to maximize the time given in a normal workday.

Factors affecting dry-cured ham consumer acceptability.

PubMed

Morales, R; Guerrero, L; Aguiar, A P S; Guàrdia, M D; Gou, P

2013-11-01

The objectives of the present study were (1) to compare the relative importance of price, processing time, texture and intramuscular fat in purchase intention of dry-cured ham through conjoint analysis, (2) to evaluate the effect of dry-cured ham appearance on consumer expectations, and (3) to describe the consumer sensory preferences of dry-cured ham using external preference mapping. Texture and processing time influenced the consumer preferences in conjoint analysis. Red colour intensity, colour uniformity, external fat and white film presence/absence influenced consumer expectations. The consumer disliked hams with bitter and metallic flavour and with excessive saltiness and piquantness. Differences between expected and experienced acceptability were found, which indicates that the visual preference of consumers does not allow them to select a dry-cured ham that satisfies their sensory preferences of flavour and texture. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Usefulness of Deep Hypothermic Circulatory Arrest and Regional Cerebral Perfusion in Children

PubMed Central

Guo, Zheng; Hu, Ren-Jie; Zhu, De-Ming; Zhu, Zhong-Qun; Zhang, Hai-Bo

2013-01-01

To compare the safety and usefulness of deep hypothermic circulatory arrest (DHCA) and regional cerebral perfusion (RCP) during pediatric open heart surgery. Between January 1, 2004 and September 30, 2012, 1250 children with congenital cardiac defect underwent corrective operation with the DHCA or RCP technique in the Shanghai Children's Medical Center. Of them, 947 cases underwent the operation with the aid of DHCA (DHCA group), and 303 cases with RCP (RCP group). The mean DHCA time was 30.64±15.81 (7–63) minutes and mean RCP time was 36.18±12.86 (10–82) minutes. The mortality rate was 7.18% (68/947) and 6.60% (20/30) in two groups, respectively. The postoperative incidences of temporary and permanent neurological dysfunction were 6.23% (59/947) in the DHCA group and 2.64% (8/303) in the RCP group (p<0.01). The incidence of other complications such as low cardiac output, renal dysfunction, and lung issues are similar in both groups. RCP is a reliable technique for cerebral protection and it facilitates time-consuming corrected procedures for complex congenital cardiac defect repair procedures. PMID:24066266

Overlapping Community Detection based on Network Decomposition

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ding, Zhuanlian; Zhang, Xingyi; Sun, Dengdi; Luo, Bin

2016-04-01

Community detection in complex network has become a vital step to understand the structure and dynamics of networks in various fields. However, traditional node clustering and relatively new proposed link clustering methods have inherent drawbacks to discover overlapping communities. Node clustering is inadequate to capture the pervasive overlaps, while link clustering is often criticized due to the high computational cost and ambiguous definition of communities. So, overlapping community detection is still a formidable challenge. In this work, we propose a new overlapping community detection algorithm based on network decomposition, called NDOCD. Specifically, NDOCD iteratively splits the network by removing all links in derived link communities, which are identified by utilizing node clustering technique. The network decomposition contributes to reducing the computation time and noise link elimination conduces to improving the quality of obtained communities. Besides, we employ node clustering technique rather than link similarity measure to discover link communities, thus NDOCD avoids an ambiguous definition of community and becomes less time-consuming. We test our approach on both synthetic and real-world networks. Results demonstrate the superior performance of our approach both in computation time and accuracy compared to state-of-the-art algorithms.

A simple technique to identify key recruitment issues in randomised controlled trials: Q-QAT - Quanti-Qualitative Appointment Timing.

PubMed

Paramasivan, Sangeetha; Strong, Sean; Wilson, Caroline; Campbell, Bruce; Blazeby, Jane M; Donovan, Jenny L

2015-03-11

Recruitment to pragmatic randomised controlled trials (RCTs) is acknowledged to be difficult, and few interventions have proved to be effective. Previous qualitative research has consistently revealed that recruiters provide imbalanced information about RCT treatments. However, qualitative research can be time-consuming to apply. Within a programme of research to optimise recruitment and informed consent in challenging RCTs, we developed a simple technique, Q-QAT (Quanti-Qualitative Appointment Timing), to systematically investigate and quantify the imbalance to help identify and address recruitment difficulties. The Q-QAT technique comprised: 1) quantification of time spent discussing the RCT and its treatments using transcripts of audio-recorded recruitment appointments, 2) targeted qualitative research to understand the obstacles to recruitment and 3) feedback to recruiters on opportunities for improvement. This was applied to two RCTs with different clinical contexts and recruitment processes. Comparisons were made across clinical centres, recruiters and specialties. In both RCTs, the Q-QAT technique first identified considerable variations in the time spent by recruiters discussing the RCT and its treatments. The patterns emerging from this initial quantification of recruitment appointments then enabled targeted qualitative research to understand the issues and make suggestions to improve recruitment. In RCT1, presentation of the treatments was balanced, but little time was devoted to describing the RCT. Qualitative research revealed patients would have considered participation, but lacked awareness of the RCT. In RCT2, the balance of treatment presentation varied by specialists and centres. Qualitative research revealed difficulties with equipoise and confidence among recruiters presenting the RCT. The quantitative and qualitative findings were well-received by recruiters and opportunities to improve information provision were discussed. A blind coding exercise across three researchers led to the development of guidelines that can be used to apply the Q-QAT technique to other difficult RCTs. The Q-QAT technique was easy to apply and rapidly identified obstacles to recruitment that could be understood through targeted qualitative research and addressed through feedback. The technique's combination of quantitative and qualitative findings enabled the presentation of a holistic picture of recruitment challenges and added credibility to the feedback process. Note: both RCTs in this manuscript asked to be anonymised, so no trial registration details are provided.

Real time emotion aware applications: a case study employing emotion evocative pictures and neuro-physiological sensing enhanced by Graphic Processor Units.

PubMed

Konstantinidis, Evdokimos I; Frantzidis, Christos A; Pappas, Costas; Bamidis, Panagiotis D

2012-07-01

In this paper the feasibility of adopting Graphic Processor Units towards real-time emotion aware computing is investigated for boosting the time consuming computations employed in such applications. The proposed methodology was employed in analysis of encephalographic and electrodermal data gathered when participants passively viewed emotional evocative stimuli. The GPU effectiveness when processing electroencephalographic and electrodermal recordings is demonstrated by comparing the execution time of chaos/complexity analysis through nonlinear dynamics (multi-channel correlation dimension/D2) and signal processing algorithms (computation of skin conductance level/SCL) into various popular programming environments. Apart from the beneficial role of parallel programming, the adoption of special design techniques regarding memory management may further enhance the time minimization which approximates a factor of 30 in comparison with ANSI C language (single-core sequential execution). Therefore, the use of GPU parallel capabilities offers a reliable and robust solution for real-time sensing the user's affective state. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

The Effects of Consumer Education on Consumer Search.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Fast, Janet; And Others

1989-01-01

A study investigated the relationship between selected consumer and marketplace characteristics and consumers' prepurchase allocation of search time among information sources (product test reports; dealer sales representatives; advertisements; family and friends). The household production model proved useful; written educational materials appeared…

Tanning preparations.

PubMed

Levy, S B

2000-10-01

Increasing consumer awareness as to the hazards of UV light should fuel ongoing interest in self-tanning products. As a result of the benign toxicologic profile of DHA, products containing DHA represent a safe alternative to UV-induced tanning. The results obtained with these products depend on the final formulation, the individual application technique, and the consumer's complexion type. Greater experience in formulation combined with increasing sophistication on the part of the consumer should lead to continuing growth in interest and satisfaction with the use of DHA-containing sunless or self-tanning products. Individuals need to be informed that these products do not offer significant protection against UV-B. If formulated with standard sunscreens, consumers should be cautioned that the duration of UV protection is more short-lived than the color change.

System design for 3D wound imaging using low-cost mobile devices

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sirazitdinova, Ekaterina; Deserno, Thomas M.

2017-03-01

The state-of-the art method of wound assessment is a manual, imprecise and time-consuming procedure. Per- formed by clinicians, it has limited reproducibility and accuracy, large time consumption and high costs. Novel technologies such as laser scanning microscopy, multi-photon microscopy, optical coherence tomography and hyper-spectral imaging, as well as devices relying on the structured light sensors, make accurate wound assessment possible. However, such methods have limitations due to high costs and may lack portability and availability. In this paper, we present a low-cost wound assessment system and architecture for fast and accurate cutaneous wound assessment using inexpensive consumer smartphone devices. Computer vision techniques are applied either on the device or the server to reconstruct wounds in 3D as dense models, which are generated from images taken with a built-in single camera of a smartphone device. The system architecture includes imaging (smartphone), processing (smartphone or PACS) and storage (PACS) devices. It supports tracking over time by alignment of 3D models, color correction using a reference color card placed into the scene and automatic segmentation of wound regions. Using our system, we are able to detect and document quantitative characteristics of chronic wounds, including size, depth, volume, rate of healing, as well as qualitative characteristics as color, presence of necrosis and type of involved tissue.

Parallel optimization of signal detection in active magnetospheric signal injection experiments

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gowanlock, Michael; Li, Justin D.; Rude, Cody M.; Pankratius, Victor

2018-05-01

Signal detection and extraction requires substantial manual parameter tuning at different stages in the processing pipeline. Time-series data depends on domain-specific signal properties, necessitating unique parameter selection for a given problem. The large potential search space makes this parameter selection process time-consuming and subject to variability. We introduce a technique to search and prune such parameter search spaces in parallel and select parameters for time series filters using breadth- and depth-first search strategies to increase the likelihood of detecting signals of interest in the field of magnetospheric physics. We focus on studying geomagnetic activity in the extremely and very low frequency ranges (ELF/VLF) using ELF/VLF transmissions from Siple Station, Antarctica, received at Québec, Canada. Our technique successfully detects amplified transmissions and achieves substantial speedup performance gains as compared to an exhaustive parameter search. We present examples where our algorithmic approach reduces the search from hundreds of seconds down to less than 1 s, with a ranked signal detection in the top 99th percentile, thus making it valuable for real-time monitoring. We also present empirical performance models quantifying the trade-off between the quality of signal recovered and the algorithm response time required for signal extraction. In the future, improved signal extraction in scenarios like the Siple experiment will enable better real-time diagnostics of conditions of the Earth's magnetosphere for monitoring space weather activity.

Optimal Reservoir Operation using Stochastic Model Predictive Control

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sahu, R.; McLaughlin, D.

2016-12-01

Hydropower operations are typically designed to fulfill contracts negotiated with consumers who need reliable energy supplies, despite uncertainties in reservoir inflows. In addition to providing reliable power the reservoir operator needs to take into account environmental factors such as downstream flooding or compliance with minimum flow requirements. From a dynamical systems perspective, the reservoir operating strategy must cope with conflicting objectives in the presence of random disturbances. In order to achieve optimal performance, the reservoir system needs to continually adapt to disturbances in real time. Model Predictive Control (MPC) is a real-time control technique that adapts by deriving the reservoir release at each decision time from the current state of the system. Here an ensemble-based version of MPC (SMPC) is applied to a generic reservoir to determine both the optimal power contract, considering future inflow uncertainty, and a real-time operating strategy that attempts to satisfy the contract. Contract selection and real-time operation are coupled in an optimization framework that also defines a Pareto trade off between the revenue generated from energy production and the environmental damage resulting from uncontrolled reservoir spills. Further insight is provided by a sensitivity analysis of key parameters specified in the SMPC technique. The results demonstrate that SMPC is suitable for multi-objective planning and associated real-time operation of a wide range of hydropower reservoir systems.

Conceptual Design Oriented Wing Structural Analysis and Optimization

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Lau, May Yuen

1996-01-01

Airplane optimization has always been the goal of airplane designers. In the conceptual design phase, a designer's goal could be tradeoffs between maximum structural integrity, minimum aerodynamic drag, or maximum stability and control, many times achieved separately. Bringing all of these factors into an iterative preliminary design procedure was time consuming, tedious, and not always accurate. For example, the final weight estimate would often be based upon statistical data from past airplanes. The new design would be classified based on gross characteristics, such as number of engines, wingspan, etc., to see which airplanes of the past most closely resembled the new design. This procedure works well for conventional airplane designs, but not very well for new innovative designs. With the computing power of today, new methods are emerging for the conceptual design phase of airplanes. Using finite element methods, computational fluid dynamics, and other computer techniques, designers can make very accurate disciplinary-analyses of an airplane design. These tools are computationally intensive, and when used repeatedly, they consume a great deal of computing time. In order to reduce the time required to analyze a design and still bring together all of the disciplines (such as structures, aerodynamics, and controls) into the analysis, simplified design computer analyses are linked together into one computer program. These design codes are very efficient for conceptual design. The work in this thesis is focused on a finite element based conceptual design oriented structural synthesis capability (CDOSS) tailored to be linked into ACSYNT.

Adiabatic Demagnetisation Refrigerators for Future Sub-Millimetre Space Missions

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hepburn, I. D.; Davenport, I.; Smith, A.

1995-10-01

Space worthy refrigeration capable of providing a 100 mK and below heat load sink for bolometric detectors will be required for the next generation of sub-millimetre space missions. Adiabatic demagnetisation refrigeration (ADR), being a gravity independent laboratory method for obtaining such temperatures, is a favourable technique for utilisation in space. We show that by considering a 3 salt pill refrigerator rather than the classic single salt pill design the space prohibitive laboratory ADR properties of high magnetic field (6 Tesla) and a<2 K environment (provided by a bath of liquid4He) can be alleviated, while maintaining a sufficient low temperature hold time and short recycle time. The additional salt pills, composed of Gadolinium Gallium Garnet (GGG) provide intermediate cooling stages, enabling operation from a 4 K environment provided by a single 4 K mechanical cooler, thereby providing consumable free operation. Such ADRs could operate with fields as low as 1 Tesla allowing the use of high temperature, mechanically cooled superconducting magnets and so effectively remove the risk of quenching. We discuss the possibility of increasing the hold time from 3 hours, for the model presented, to between 40 and 80 hours, plus reducing the number of salt pills to two, through the use of a more efficient Garnet. We believe the technical advances necessitated by the envisaged ADRs are minimal and conclude that such ADRs offer a long orbital life time, consumable free, high efficiency means of milli-Kelvin cooling, requiring relatively little laboratory development.

Exposure of man to mercury: a review. II. Contamination of food and analytical methods

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

Hugunin, A.G.; Bradley, R.L. Jr.

Man is exposed to mercury through every facet of his life, however, for the average citizen the most probable source of toxic levels of mercury would be his food supply. Although most foods contain less than 0.02 ppm mercury, considerable variation occurs depending on the type of food, production techniques, and location. Mercury is concentrated at higher trophic levels of food chains, particularily in aquatic food chains in which concentration factor of hundreds and thousands have been observed. The concentration of mercury in some large fish has been found to exceed the 0.5 ppm tolerance limit of the FDA andmore » the 1.0 ppm limit of the Swedish government. Fifty-seven grams of fish containing 0.5 ppm mercury in the methyl form could be consumed daily without exceeding the joint FAO/WHO recommended weekly tolerable intake of 0.2 mg. In the US, Sweden, and Japan the per capita daily fish consumptions are 18, 56, and 88 g, respectively. Determination of mercury concentrations generally involves colorimetric, atomic absorption or emission spectrometry, neutron activation, or gas chromatography techniques. The sample preparations are often time consuming, subject to numerous sources of error, and complicated by the low concentrations of mercury. Differentiation of mercury compounds usually necessitates selective extraction followed by gas chromatographic analysis. 256 references, 5 tables.« less

Empirical OPC rule inference for rapid RET application

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kulkarni, Anand P.

2006-10-01

A given technological node (45 nm, 65 nm) can be expected to process thousands of individual designs. Iterative methods applied at the node consume valuable days in determining proper placement of OPC features, and manufacturing and testing mask correspondence to wafer patterns in a trial-and-error fashion for each design. Repeating this fabrication process for each individual design is a time-consuming and expensive process. We present a novel technique which sidesteps the requirement to iterate through the model-based OPC analysis and pattern verification cycle on subsequent designs at the same node. Our approach relies on the inference of rules from a correct pattern at the wafer surface it relates to the OPC and pre-OPC pattern layout files. We begin with an offline phase where we obtain a "gold standard" design file that has been fab-tested at the node with a prepared, post-OPC layout file that corresponds to the intended on-wafer pattern. We then run an offline analysis to infer rules to be used in this method. During the analysis, our method implicitly identifies contextual OPC strategies for optimal placement of RET features on any design at that node. Using these strategies, we can apply OPC to subsequent designs at the same node with accuracy comparable to the original design file but significantly smaller expected runtimes. The technique promises to offer a rapid and accurate complement to existing RET application strategies.

LEAN SIX SIGMA TECHNIQUES TO IMPROVE OPHTHALMOLOGY CLINIC EFFICIENCY.

PubMed

Ciulla, Thomas A; Tatikonda, Mohan V; ElMaraghi, Yehya A; Hussain, Rehan M; Hill, Amanda L; Clary, Julie M; Hattab, Eyas

2017-07-18

Ophthalmologists serve an increasing volume of a growing elderly population undergoing increasingly complex outpatient medical care, including extensive diagnostic testing and treatment. The resulting prolonged patient visit times ("patient flow times") limit quality, patient and employee satisfaction, and represent waste. Lean Six Sigma process improvement was used in a vitreoretinal practice to decrease patient flow time, demonstrating that this approach can yield significant improvement in health care. Process flow maps were created to determine the most common care pathways within clinic. Three months' visits from the electronic medical record system, which tracks patient task times at each process step in the office were collected. Care tasks and care pathways consuming the greatest time and variation were identified and modified. Follow-up analysis from 6 weeks' visits was conducted to assess improvement. Nearly all patients took one of five paths through the office. Patient flow was redesigned to reduce waiting room time by having staff members immediately start patients into one of those five paths; staffing was adjusted to address high demand tasks, and scheduling was optimized around derived predictors of patient flow times. Follow-up analysis revealed a statistically significant decline in mean patient flow time by 18% and inpatient flow time SD by 4.6%. Patient and employee satisfaction scores improved. Manufacturing industry techniques, such as Lean and Six Sigma, can be used to improve patient care, minimize waste, and enhance patient and staff satisfaction in outpatient clinics.

Triumph and adversity: Exploring the complexities of consumer storytelling in mental health nursing education.

PubMed

Happell, Brenda; Bennetts, Wanda

2016-12-01

Consumer participation in the education of health professionals is increasing, particularly in mental health nursing education and storytelling remains the most frequent approach to consumer involvement. The use of story has tended to be accepted as a legitimate educational tool with limited critique or consideration of its potential consequences presented within the academic literature. A qualitative exploratory research study was undertaken with mental health nurse academics (n = 34) and consumer educators and academics (n = 12), to investigate the perceptions and experiences of mental health nurses and consumers regarding the involvement of consumers in mental health nursing education. Data were analysed thematically. Story was a major theme to emerge from consumer participants and received some attention from nurse academics. Consumers and nurses both referred to the power of story to convey the human experience of mental illness diagnosis and service use; and the vulnerability that can result from storytelling. Consumers also described: story as expectation; preparation and support; and the politics of story. All participants supported the value of storytelling in mental health nursing education. Consumers had considered the complexities in far greater detail. The ongoing value of story as an educational technique requires further research. Equally important is considering a broader range of educational roles for mental health consumers. © 2016 Australian College of Mental Health Nurses Inc.

Socio-economic differences in takeaway food consumption among adults.

PubMed

Miura, Kyoko; Giskes, Katrina; Turrell, Gavin

2012-02-01

To examine socio-economic differences in the frequency and types of takeaway foods consumed. A cross-sectional postal survey. Participants were asked about their usual consumption of overall takeaway food (<4 times/month or ≥4 times/month) and of twenty-two specific takeaway food items (<1 time/month or ≥1 time/month); these latter foods were grouped into 'healthy' and 'less healthy' choices. Socio-economic position was measured on the basis of educational level and equivalised household income, and differences in takeaway food consumption were assessed by calculating prevalence ratios using log binomial regression. Adults aged 25-64 years from Brisbane, Australia, were randomly selected from the electoral roll (n 903; 63·7 % response rate). Compared with their more educated counterparts, the least educated were more regular consumers of overall takeaway food and fruit or vegetable juice and less regular consumers of sushi. For the 'less healthy' items, the least educated more regularly consumed potato chips, savoury pies, fried chicken and non-diet soft drinks; however, the least educated were less likely to consume curry. Household income was not associated with overall takeaway consumption. The lowest-income group was a more regular consumer of fruit or vegetable juice compared with the highest-income group. Among the 'less healthy' items, the lowest-income group was a more regular consumer of fried fish, ice cream and milk shakes, whereas curry was consumed less regularly. The frequency and types of takeaway foods consumed by socio-economically disadvantaged groups may contribute to inequalities in overweight or obesity and to chronic disease.

12 CFR 227.22 - Unfair acts or practices regarding time to make payment.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-01-01

... THE FEDERAL RESERVE SYSTEM UNFAIR OR DECEPTIVE ACTS OR PRACTICES (REGULATION AA) Consumer Credit Card.... Except as provided in paragraph (c) of this section, a bank must not treat a payment on a consumer credit card account as late for any purpose unless the consumer has been provided a reasonable amount of time...

75 FR 36639 - Change in Times for Meeting of Chronic Hazard Advisory Panel on Phthalates and Phthalate...

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2010-06-28

... children's toys and child care articles, pursuant to section 108 of the Consumer Product Safety Improvement..., pursuant to section 108 of the Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act of 2008 (CPSIA) (Pub. L. 110-314... CONSUMER PRODUCT SAFETY COMMISSION Change in Times for Meeting of Chronic Hazard Advisory Panel on...

Understanding the role of individual consumer-provider relationships within assertive community treatment.

PubMed

Stanhope, Victoria; Matejkowski, Jason

2010-08-01

The widespread adoption of assertive community treatment has resulted in a shift from an individual model to a team model of case management. The shift has had implications for individual relationships between case managers and consumers, but still little is known about how these relationships develop in teams. This exploratory mixed methods study looked at how case managers and consumers negotiate individual relationships within a team model. Quantitative methods identified high and low service intensity relationships between consumers and case managers and qualitative methods explored and compared these relationships. Consumers in high service intensity relationships described a preference for certain case managers and the burden of working with multiple people. Case managers invested high service intensity relationships with special therapeutic value, articulated the challenges of coordinating care across the team, and utilized team limit setting techniques. In contrast, low service intensity relationships were more likely to reflect integration with the entire team. Findings suggest that teams need to consider how individual relationships enhance care for their consumers and how to nurture these relationships while maintaining the support necessary for case managers and consumers.

Food and wellbeing. Towards a consumer-based approach.

PubMed

Ares, Gastón; De Saldamando, Luis; Giménez, Ana; Deliza, Rosires

2014-03-01

Interest in understanding how foods affect consumers' perceived wellbeing has grown in the last decade due to the increasing need to modify dietary patterns. Considering that wellbeing is a broad concept that lacks of a unique definition, in order to use and measure this concept it is necessary to explore how consumers understand it, particularly in the context of food consumption. The aim of the present work was to investigate consumers' perception of wellbeing in a food-related context using an exploratory qualitative approach. A study was carried out with 120 Uruguayan participants using three qualitative techniques: word association, open-ended questions and free listing. Wellbeing in a food-related context was strongly associated with physical health. The expected effects of foods on wellbeing were mainly related to non-communicable diseases such as high cholesterol levels, hypertension, and cardiovascular diseases. However, hedonic and emotional aspects of food consumption were also salient for consumers perceived wellbeing. The information gathered in this study can contribute to the development of scales for measuring consumer perceived wellbeing when consuming foods. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

An investigation of used electronics return flows: A data-driven approach to capture and predict consumers storage and utilization behavior

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

Sabbaghi, Mostafa, E-mail: mostafas@buffalo.edu; Esmaeilian, Behzad, E-mail: b.esmaeilian@neu.edu; Raihanian Mashhadi, Ardeshir, E-mail: ardeshir@buffalo.edu

Highlights: • We analyzed a data set of HDDs returned back to an e-waste collection site. • We studied factors that affect the storage behavior. • Consumer type, brand and size are among factors which affect the storage behavior. • Commercial consumers have stored computers more than household consumers. • Machine learning models were used to predict the storage behavior. - Abstract: Consumers often have a tendency to store their used, old or un-functional electronics for a period of time before they discard them and return them back to the waste stream. This behavior increases the obsolescence rate of usedmore » still-functional products leading to lower profitability that could be resulted out of End-of-Use (EOU) treatments such as reuse, upgrade, and refurbishment. These types of behaviors are influenced by several product and consumer-related factors such as consumers’ traits and lifestyles, technology evolution, product design features, product market value, and pro-environmental stimuli. Better understanding of different groups of consumers, their utilization and storage behavior and the connection of these behaviors with product design features helps Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEMs) and recycling and recovery industry to better overcome the challenges resulting from the undesirable storage of used products. This paper aims at providing insightful statistical analysis of Electronic Waste (e-waste) dynamic nature by studying the effects of design characteristics, brand and consumer type on the electronics usage time and end of use time-in-storage. A database consisting of 10,063 Hard Disk Drives (HDD) of used personal computers returned back to a remanufacturing facility located in Chicago, IL, USA during 2011–2013 has been selected as the base for this study. The results show that commercial consumers have stored computers more than household consumers regardless of brand and capacity factors. Moreover, a heterogeneous storage behavior is observed for different brands of HDDs regardless of capacity and consumer type factors. Finally, the storage behavior trends are projected for short-time forecasting and the storage times are precisely predicted by applying machine learning methods.« less

Testing animal-assisted cleaning prior to transplantation in coral reef restoration.

PubMed

Frias-Torres, Sarah; van de Geer, Casper

2015-01-01

Rearing coral fragments in nurseries and subsequent transplantation onto a degraded reef is a common approach for coral reef restoration. However, if barnacles and other biofouling organisms are not removed prior to transplantation, fish will dislodge newly cemented corals when feeding on biofouling organisms. This behavior can lead to an increase in diver time due to the need to reattach the corals. Thus, cleaning nurseries to remove biofouling organisms such as algae and invertebrates is necessary prior to transplantation, and this cleaning constitutes a significant time investment in a restoration project. We tested a novel biomimicry technique of animal-assisted cleaning on nursery corals prior to transplantation at a coral reef restoration site in Seychelles, Indian Ocean. To determine whether animal-assisted cleaning was possible, preliminary visual underwater surveys were performed to quantify the fish community at the study site. Then, cleaning stations consisting of nursery ropes carrying corals and biofouling organisms, set at 0.3 m, 2 m, 4 m, 6 m and 8 m from the seabed, were placed at both the transplantation (treatment) site and the nursery (control) site. Remote GoPro video cameras recorded fish feeding at the nursery ropes without human disturbance. A reef fish assemblage of 32 species from 4 trophic levels (18.8% herbivores, 18.8% omnivores, 59.3% secondary consumers and 3.1% carnivores) consumed 95% of the barnacles on the coral nursery ropes placed 0.3 m above the seabed. Using this cleaning station, we reduced coral dislodgement from 16% to zero. This cleaning station technique could be included as a step prior to coral transplantation worldwide on the basis of location-specific fish assemblages and during the early nursery phase of sexually produced juvenile corals.

Testing animal-assisted cleaning prior to transplantation in coral reef restoration

PubMed Central

van de Geer, Casper

2015-01-01

Rearing coral fragments in nurseries and subsequent transplantation onto a degraded reef is a common approach for coral reef restoration. However, if barnacles and other biofouling organisms are not removed prior to transplantation, fish will dislodge newly cemented corals when feeding on biofouling organisms. This behavior can lead to an increase in diver time due to the need to reattach the corals. Thus, cleaning nurseries to remove biofouling organisms such as algae and invertebrates is necessary prior to transplantation, and this cleaning constitutes a significant time investment in a restoration project. We tested a novel biomimicry technique of animal-assisted cleaning on nursery corals prior to transplantation at a coral reef restoration site in Seychelles, Indian Ocean. To determine whether animal-assisted cleaning was possible, preliminary visual underwater surveys were performed to quantify the fish community at the study site. Then, cleaning stations consisting of nursery ropes carrying corals and biofouling organisms, set at 0.3 m, 2 m, 4 m, 6 m and 8 m from the seabed, were placed at both the transplantation (treatment) site and the nursery (control) site. Remote GoPro video cameras recorded fish feeding at the nursery ropes without human disturbance. A reef fish assemblage of 32 species from 4 trophic levels (18.8% herbivores, 18.8% omnivores, 59.3% secondary consumers and 3.1% carnivores) consumed 95% of the barnacles on the coral nursery ropes placed 0.3 m above the seabed. Using this cleaning station, we reduced coral dislodgement from 16% to zero. This cleaning station technique could be included as a step prior to coral transplantation worldwide on the basis of location-specific fish assemblages and during the early nursery phase of sexually produced juvenile corals. PMID:26468440