Repeated Sprint Ability with Inclusion of Changing Direction among Veteran Soccer Players

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Salleh, Omar Md; Nadzalan, Ali Md; Ikhwan Mohamad, Nur; Rahmat, Azali; Azny Mustafa, Mirza; Tan, Kevin

2018-05-01

This study was conducted to determine the repeated sprint ability (RSA) with the inclusion of changing direction among veteran soccer players. Twelve main players from a university veteran soccer team were recruited and were required to perform the RSA test in two conditions; i) without ball and ii) with ball. Descriptive statistics and Wilcoxon signed rank test was conducted to determine the mean score and the differences of sprint time, percentage of decrement score of sprinting (Sdec) and fatigue index (FI) between the two conditions. Both conditions demonstrated significantly drop in speed in the fifth sprint. Results showed sprint time, Sdec and FI were found to be significantly different between both conditions. Findings of this study demonstrated the important for specific training to sports for performance enhancement.

Assessment of tilt and decentration of crystalline lens and intraocular lens relative to the corneal topographic axis using anterior segment optical coherence tomography

PubMed Central

Morizane, Yuki; Shiode, Yusuke; Hirano, Masayuki; Doi, Shinichiro; Toshima, Shinji; Fujiwara, Atsushi; Shiraga, Fumio

2017-01-01

Purpose To investigate the tilt and decentration of the crystalline lens and the intraocular lens (IOL) relative to the corneal topographic axis using anterior segment ocular coherence tomography (AS-OCT). Methods A sample set of 100 eyes from 49 subjects (41 eyes with crystalline lenses and 59 eyes with IOLs) were imaged using second generation AS-OCT (CASIA2, TOMEY) in June and July 2016 at Okayama University. Both mydriatic and non-mydriatic images were obtained, and the tilt and decentration of the crystalline lens and the IOL were quantified. The effects of pupil dilation on measurements were also assessed. Results The crystalline lens showed an average tilt of 5.15° towards the inferotemporal direction relative to the corneal topographic axis under non-mydriatic conditions and 5.25° under mydriatic conditions. Additionally, an average decentration of 0.11 mm towards the temporal direction was observed under non-mydriatic conditions and 0.08 mm under mydriatic conditions. The average tilt for the IOL was 4.31° towards the inferotemporal direction relative to the corneal topographic axis under non-mydriatic conditions and 4.65° in the same direction under mydriatic conditions. The average decentration was 0.05 mm towards the temporal direction under non-mydriatic conditions and 0.08 mm in the same direction under mydriatic conditions. A strong correlation was found between the average tilt and decentration values of the crystalline lens and the IOL under both non-mydriatic and mydriatic conditions (all Spearman correlation coefficients, r ≥ 0.800; all P < 0.001). Conclusion When measured using second generation AS-OCT, both the crystalline lens and the IOL showed an average tilt of 4–6° toward the inferotemporal direction relative to the corneal topographic axis and an average decentration of less than 0.12 mm towards the temporal direction. These results were not influenced by pupil dilation and they showed good repeatability. PMID:28863141

Assessment of tilt and decentration of crystalline lens and intraocular lens relative to the corneal topographic axis using anterior segment optical coherence tomography.

PubMed

Kimura, Shuhei; Morizane, Yuki; Shiode, Yusuke; Hirano, Masayuki; Doi, Shinichiro; Toshima, Shinji; Fujiwara, Atsushi; Shiraga, Fumio

2017-01-01

To investigate the tilt and decentration of the crystalline lens and the intraocular lens (IOL) relative to the corneal topographic axis using anterior segment ocular coherence tomography (AS-OCT). A sample set of 100 eyes from 49 subjects (41 eyes with crystalline lenses and 59 eyes with IOLs) were imaged using second generation AS-OCT (CASIA2, TOMEY) in June and July 2016 at Okayama University. Both mydriatic and non-mydriatic images were obtained, and the tilt and decentration of the crystalline lens and the IOL were quantified. The effects of pupil dilation on measurements were also assessed. The crystalline lens showed an average tilt of 5.15° towards the inferotemporal direction relative to the corneal topographic axis under non-mydriatic conditions and 5.25° under mydriatic conditions. Additionally, an average decentration of 0.11 mm towards the temporal direction was observed under non-mydriatic conditions and 0.08 mm under mydriatic conditions. The average tilt for the IOL was 4.31° towards the inferotemporal direction relative to the corneal topographic axis under non-mydriatic conditions and 4.65° in the same direction under mydriatic conditions. The average decentration was 0.05 mm towards the temporal direction under non-mydriatic conditions and 0.08 mm in the same direction under mydriatic conditions. A strong correlation was found between the average tilt and decentration values of the crystalline lens and the IOL under both non-mydriatic and mydriatic conditions (all Spearman correlation coefficients, r ≥ 0.800; all P < 0.001). When measured using second generation AS-OCT, both the crystalline lens and the IOL showed an average tilt of 4-6° toward the inferotemporal direction relative to the corneal topographic axis and an average decentration of less than 0.12 mm towards the temporal direction. These results were not influenced by pupil dilation and they showed good repeatability.

Changes in selected physical, motor performance and anthropometric components of university-level rugby players after one microcycle of a combined rugby conditioning and plyometric training program.

PubMed

Pienaar, Cindy; Coetzee, Ben

2013-02-01

The purpose of this study was to determine the effects of a microcycle (4 weeks) combined rugby conditioning plyometric compared with a nonplyometric rugby conditioning program on selected physical and motor performance components and anthropometric measurements of university-level rugby players. Players (18.94 ± 0.40 years) were assigned to either a control (n = 16) or experimental group (n = 19) from the U/19 rugby teams of the North-West University (South Africa). Twenty-six direct and indirect anthropometric measurements were taken, and the players performed a battery of 5 physical and motor performance tests before and after a microcycle (4 week) combined rugby conditioning plyometric (experimental group) and a nonplyometric rugby conditioning program (control group). The dependent t-test results showed that the control group's upper-body explosive power decreased significantly, whereas the stature, skeletal mass, and femur breadth increased significantly from pre- to posttesting. The experimental group showed significant increases in wrist breadth, speed over 20 m, agility, and power and work measurements of the Wingate anaerobic test (WAnT). Despite these results, the independent t-test revealed that speed over 20 m, average power output at 20 seconds, relative work of the WAnT, and agility were the only components of the experimental group that improved significantly more than the control group. A microcycle combined rugby conditioning plyometric program therefore leads to significantly bigger changes in selected physical and motor performance components of university-level rugby players than a nonplyometric rugby conditioning program alone. Based on these findings, coaches and sport scientists should implement 3 weekly combined rugby conditioning plyometric programs in rugby players' training regimens to improve the players' speed, agility, and power.

Development of HRO interferometer at Kochi University of Technology

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Yamamoto, Masa-Yuki; Horiuchi, Hirotaka; Okamoto, Goro; Hamaguchi, Haruko; Noguchi, Kazuya

2007-12-01

As a typical radio meteor observation method, the Ham-band Radio meteor Observation (HRO) has been spread to many amateur meteor observers in the world, resulting in worldwide continuous detection of each meteor echo at precise time of appearance in any weather condition as well as in daytime. However, direction finding of incoming electromagnetic waves by meteors is difficult to obtain by a usual HRO system. An application of HRO with interferometer technique was developed in 2004-2005 in Kochi University of Technology (KUT), Japan. Within a context of the forwardscattering radar method, an HRO interferometer (HRO-IF) with 3 antennas was developed. Detailed structure of the HRO-IF system at KUT as well as calibration experiments of establishing accurate direction determination are presented.

Financial Responsibilities of Governing Boards of Colleges and Universities. Second Edition.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Association of Governing Boards of Universities and Colleges, 1985

1985-01-01

Financial planning and management responsibilities of college governing boards are examined. External factors and the institution's condition and direction of movement are addressed, along with policies concerning financial resources (e.g., tuition, financial aid, investments, and educational and auxiliary sales and services). Also considered are:…

The multisite violence prevention project: impact of a universal school-based violence prevention program on social-cognitive outcomes.

PubMed

2008-12-01

This study evaluated the impact of a universal school-based violence prevention program on social-cognitive factors associated with aggression and nonviolent behavior in early adolescence. The effects of the universal intervention were evaluated within the context of a design in which two cohorts of students at 37 schools from four sites (N = 5,581) were randomized to four conditions: (a) a universal intervention that involved implementing a student curriculum and teacher training with sixth grade students and teachers; (b) a selective intervention in which a family intervention was implemented with a subset of sixth grade students exhibiting high levels of aggression and social influence; (c) a combined intervention condition; and (d) a no-intervention control condition. Short-term and long-term (i.e., 2-year post-intervention) universal intervention effects on social-cognitive factors targeted by the intervention varied as a function of students' pre-intervention level of risk. High-risk students benefited from the intervention in terms of decreases in beliefs and attitudes supporting aggression, and increases in self-efficacy, beliefs and attitudes supporting nonviolent behavior. Effects on low-risk students were in the opposite direction. The differential pattern of intervention effects for low- and high-risk students may account for the absence of main effects in many previous evaluations of universal interventions for middle school youth. These findings have important research and policy implications for efforts to develop effective violence prevention programs.

The Multisite Violence Prevention Project: Impact of a Universal School-Based Violence Prevention Program on Social-Cognitive Outcomes

PubMed Central

Simon, Thomas R.; Ikeda, Robin M.; Smith, Emilie Phillips; Reese, Le'Roy E.; Rabiner, David L.; Miller-Johnson, Shari; Winn, Donna-Marie; Dodge, Kenneth A.; Asher, Steven R.; Home, Arthur M.; Orpinas, Pamela; Martin, Roy; Quinn, William H.; Tolan, Patrick H.; Gorman-Smith, Deborah; Henry, David B.; Gay, Franklin N.; Schoeny, Michael; Farrell, Albert D.; Meyer, Aleta L.; Sullivan, Terri N.; Allison, Kevin W.

2009-01-01

This study evaluated the impact of a universal school-based violence prevention program on social-cognitive factors associated with aggression and nonviolent behavior in early adolescence. The effects of the universal intervention were evaluated within the context of a design in which two cohorts of students at 37 schools from four sites (N=5,581) were randomized to four conditions: (a) a universal intervention that involved implementing a student curriculum and teacher training with sixth grade students and teachers; (b) a selective intervention in which a family intervention was implemented with a subset of sixth grade students exhibiting high levels of aggression and social influence; (c) a combined intervention condition; and (d) a no-intervention control condition. Short-term and long-term (i.e., 2-year post-intervention) universal intervention effects on social-cognitive factors targeted by the intervention varied as a function of students' pre-intervention level of risk. High-risk students benefited from the intervention in terms of decreases in beliefs and attitudes supporting aggression, and increases in self-efficacy, beliefs and attitudes supporting nonviolent behavior. Effects on low-risk students were in the opposite direction. The differential pattern of intervention effects for low- and high-risk students may account for the absence of main effects in many previous evaluations of universal interventions for middle school youth. These findings have important research and policy implications for efforts to develop effective violence prevention programs. PMID:18780181

The effects of list-method directed forgetting on recognition memory.

PubMed

Benjamin, Aaron S

2006-10-01

It is an almost universally accepted claim that the list-method procedure of inducing directed forgetting does not affect recognition. However, previous studies have omitted a critical comparison in reaching this conclusion. This article reports evidence that recognition of material learned after cue presentation is superior for conditions in which the material that preceded cue presentation was designated as to-be-forgotten. Because the absence of an effect of directed-forgetting instructions on recognition is the linchpin of the theoretical claim that retrieval inhibition and not selective rehearsal underlies that effect, the present results call into question the need to postulate a role for inhibition in directed forgetting.

Exploring Techniques of Developing Writing Skill in IELTS Preparatory Courses: A Data-Driven Study

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Ostovar-Namaghi, Seyyed Ali; Safaee, Seyyed Esmail

2017-01-01

Being driven by the hypothetico-deductive mode of inquiry, previous studies have tested the effectiveness of theory-driven interventions under controlled experimental conditions to come up with universally applicable generalizations. To make a case in the opposite direction, this data-driven study aims at uncovering techniques and strategies…

Creativity and the Transformation of Higher Education: The Need for a Black Mountain College Approach

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Emanuel, Richard C.; Challons-Lipton, Siu

2013-01-01

The need for increased creativity in education is currently being proposed in much innovative thinking on higher education as universities are forced to recreate themselves. There are four conditions facing higher education worldwide: alignment, motivation, connection, and direction. Higher education is characterized by a hierarchy of subjects and…

Universal Preventive Interventions for Children in the Context of Disasters and Terrorism

PubMed Central

Pfefferbaum, Betty; Varma, Vandana; Nitiéma, Pascal; Newman, Elana

2014-01-01

Synopsis This review addresses universal disaster and terrorism services and preventive interventions delivered to children pre and post event. The paper describes the organization and structure of services used to meet the needs of children in the general population (practice applications), examines screening and intervention approaches (tools for practice), and suggests future directions for the field. A literature search identified 17 empirical studies which were analyzed to examine timing and setting of intervention delivery, providers, conditions addressed and outcomes, and intervention approaches and components. PMID:24656585

University students' cognitive performance under temperature cycles induced by direct load control events.

PubMed

Zhang, F; de Dear, R

2017-01-01

As one of the most common strategies for managing peak electricity demand, direct load control (DLC) of air-conditioners involves cycling the compressors on and off at predetermined intervals. In university lecture theaters, the implementation of DLC induces temperature cycles which might compromise university students' learning performance. In these experiments, university students' learning performance, represented by four cognitive skills of memory, concentration, reasoning, and planning, was closely monitored under DLC-induced temperature cycles and control conditions simulated in a climate chamber. In Experiment 1 with a cooling set point temperature of 22°C, subjects' cognitive performance was relatively stable or even slightly promoted by the mild heat intensity and short heat exposure resulting from temperature cycles; in Experiment 2 with a cooling set point of 24°C, subjects' reasoning and planning performance observed a trend of decline at the higher heat intensity and longer heat exposure. Results confirm that simpler cognitive tasks are less susceptible to temperature effects than more complex tasks; the effect of thermal variations on cognitive performance follows an extended-U relationship with performance being relatively stable across a range of temperatures. DLC appears to be feasible in university lecture theaters if DLC algorithms are implemented judiciously. © 2016 John Wiley & Sons A/S. Published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Spiroguanidine rhodamines as fluorogenic probes for lysophosphatidic acid

PubMed Central

Wang, Lei; Sibrian-Vazquez, Martha; Escobedo, Jorge O.; Wang, Jialu; Moore, Richard G.

2015-01-01

Direct determination of total lysophosphatidic acid (LPA) was accomplished using newly developed spiroguanidines derived from rhodamine B as universal fluorogenic probes. Optimum conditions for the quantitative analysis of total LPA were investigated. The linear range for the determination of total LPA is up to 5 μM with a limit of detection of 0.512 μM. PMID:25516957

Educational Experiences and Needs of Higher Education Students with Autism Spectrum Disorder

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Cai, Ru Ying; Richdale, Amanda L.

2016-01-01

Little research directly examines the needs of post-secondary students with ASD. The experiences and support needs of 23 students with ASD enrolled in two universities and four colleges, and 15 family members were explored in 15 semi-structured focus groups. Thematic analysis identified five themes: core ASD features, co-morbid conditions,…

N.C. college to pay $325,000 to coach fired because of AIDS.

PubMed

1995-05-05

To settle a discrimination lawsuit, Campbell University agreed to pay $325,000 to a physical education instructor fired in 1993 after the university learned he had AIDS. Officials from the North Carolina university said the instructor, known as John Doe, posed a direct threat to students and himself. The Equal Employment Opportunities Commission (EEOC) sued in April 1994 on Doe's behalf, saying the university violated the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). Doe's attorney also charged the university with violating the Rehabilitation Act and the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA). According to EEOC officials, the university decided to settle after learning that medical experts were prepared to testify that Doe could perform his job without endangering anyone. As part of the settlement, Doe will return to the payroll, but at a new job which he developed. In addition, the university agreed to keep confidential the medical information of its employees, purge Doe's personnel file of any references to his medical condition or the discrimination complaint, and provide AIDS awareness and sensitivity training to university managers and supervisors.

Universal preventive interventions for children in the context of disasters and terrorism.

PubMed

Pfefferbaum, Betty; Varma, Vandana; Nitiéma, Pascal; Newman, Elana

2014-04-01

This review addresses universal disaster and terrorism services and preventive interventions delivered to children before and after an event. The article describes the organization and structure of services used to meet the needs of children in the general population (practice applications), examines screening and intervention approaches (tools for practice), and suggests future directions for the field. A literature search identified 17 empirical studies that were analyzed to examine the timing and setting of intervention delivery, providers, conditions addressed and outcomes, and intervention approaches and components. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Human-biometeorological conditions in the southern Baltic coast based on the universal thermal climate index (UTCI)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kolendowicz, Leszek; Półrolniczak, Marek; Szyga-Pluta, Katarzyna; Bednorz, Ewa

2017-10-01

The paper focuses on bioclimatic conditions in the southern part of the Baltic coast based on universal thermal climate index values. Taking into consideration the observational data from coastline stations as well as reanalysis data from the National Center for Environmental Prediction and National Center for Atmospheric Research (sea level pressure and the 500 hPa geopotential height), the authors attempt to explain which of the synoptic situations are responsible for the occurrence of days with very strong and extreme cold or heat stress. The obtained results confirm that the extreme thermal heat and cold stress conditions are for the most part associated with high-pressure systems. The researched area is usually situated in the western or southern periphery of the anticyclones. The cold stress also occurs during the advection from west or northwest, caused by the direct influence of a low-pressure system whose center is situated over the North Sea, southern Scandinavia, or the southern Baltic Sea.

Gratification: A Pivotal Point in Psychotherapy. University of Maryland Counseling Center Research Report No. 1-77.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Gelso, Charles J.

This theoretical paper is based on the premise that nearly all people who enter therapy do so, to varying degrees, with the wish (conscious or unconscious demand) to have dependent longing and affectional needs gratified in the therapy itself. The conditions under, and the extent to which, the therapist provides direct gratification are crucial…

Extent and Distribution of Old Forest Conditions on DNR-Managed State Trust Lands in Eastern Washington

Treesearch

Jerry F. Franklin; Miles Hemstrom; Robert Van Pelt; Joe Buchanan; Sabra Hull; Rex Crawford; Steve Curry; Walt Obermeyer

2007-01-01

An inventory was conducted of old forests on state trust lands in Eastern Washington managed by the Washington State Department of Natural Resources (DNR), in response to legislative direction (ESSB 6384, Section 189,2006). This inventory was conducted with guidance from an independent science panel, chaired by Jerry Franklin of the University of Washington. As...

An Integrated Approach to Universal Prevention: Independent and Combined Effects of PBIS and SEL on Youths’ Mental Health

PubMed Central

Cook, Clayton R.; Frye, Megan; Slemrod, Tal; Lyon, Aaron R.; Renshaw, Tyler L.; Zhang, Yanchen

2015-01-01

Mental health among children and adolescents is a growing national concern and schools have taken center stage in efforts to prevent problems and promote wellness. Although research and policymakers support the integration of mental health services into the schools, there is limited agreement on the ways to package or combine existing supports to achieve prevention-oriented goals. Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports (PBIS) and Social Emotional Learning (SEL) are two of the most widely-adopted, evidence-based approaches that have been advocated to address student mental health. These universal prevention approaches, however, stem from different theoretical camps and are often advocated and implemented apart from one another. The purpose of this study was to examine the independent and combined effects of PBIS and SEL on student mental health outcomes. A quasi-randomized control design at the classroom-level was used to make comparisons across four conditions: business-as-usual (BAU), PBIS alone, SEL alone, and COMBO condition with regard to their acceptability to teachers, integrity of program delivery, and student outcomes. As predicted, the COMBO condition produced significantly greater improvements in overall mental health and reductions in externalizing behaviors when compared to all other conditions. The results also indicated that the PBIS and SEL only conditions were both able to produce significant improvements in overall mental health functioning as compared to the BAU control. The implications of an integrated approach for school-based universal prevention and directions for future research are discussed. PMID:25602629

DSMC simulations of shock interactions about sharp double cones

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Moss, James N.

2001-08-01

This paper presents the results of a numerical study of shock interactions resulting from Mach 10 flow about sharp double cones. Computations are made by using the direct simulation Monte Carlo (DSMC) method of Bird. The sensitivity and characteristics of the interactions are examined by varying flow conditions, model size, and configuration. The range of conditions investigated includes those for which experiments have been or will be performed in the ONERA R5Ch low-density wind tunnel and the Calspan-University of Buffalo Research Center (CUBRC) Large Energy National Shock (LENS) tunnel.

DSMC Simulations of Shock Interactions About Sharp Double Cones

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Moss, James N.

2000-01-01

This paper presents the results of a numerical study of shock interactions resulting from Mach 10 flow about sharp double cones. Computations are made by using the direct simulation Monte Carlo (DSMC) method of Bird. The sensitivity and characteristics of the interactions are examined by varying flow conditions, model size, and configuration. The range of conditions investigated includes those for which experiments have been or will be performed in the ONERA R5Ch low-density wind tunnel and the Calspan-University of Buffalo Research Center (CUBRC) Large Energy National Shock (LENS) tunnel.

Perspectives on Current Issues Is ``Anthropic Selection'' Science?

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Larson, Ronald G.

2007-01-01

I argue that there are strong reasons for resisting as a principle of science the concept of “anthropic selection.” This concept asserts that the existence of “observers” in a universe can be used as a condition that selects physical laws and constants necessary for intelligent life from different laws or physical constants prevailing in a vast number of other universes, to thereby explain why the properties of our universe are conducive to intelligent life. My reasons for limiting “anthropic selection” to the realm of speculation rather than permitting it to creep into mainstream science include our inability to estimate the probabilities of emergence of “observers” in a universe, the lack of testability through direct observation of the assumed high variability of the constants of nature, the lack of a clear definition of an “observer,” and the arbitrariness in how and to what questions anthropic selection is applied.

Fundamental studies of radar scattering from water surfaces: The Lake Washington experiment

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Salam, A.; Bush, D.; Gogineni, S.; Zaide, A.

1991-01-01

The University of Kansas and the University of Washington conducted a series of experiments during July and August of 1989, and July and August of 1990, to study the effects of various geophysical parameters on radar backscatter. The experiments were conducted from a platform in Lake Washington. Measurements of backscattered power and radar range were made by the University of Kansas, and environmental data such as wind speed, wind direction, and air and water temperature were measured by the University of Washington. Results of preliminary data processing are described. Radar data were acquired using two radars, one that operated at C and X bands and another at Ka band. Measurements were made at W and HH antenna polarizations, at different angles of incidence and under various wind conditions. Plots of backscattered power, normalized radar cross section, and wave height, and the Modulation Transfer Functions of selected data are presented.

Energy theorem for (2+1)-dimensional gravity.

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Menotti, P.; Seminara, D.

1995-05-01

We prove a positive energy theorem in (2+1)-dimensional gravity for open universes and any matter energy-momentum tensor satisfying the dominant energy condition. We consider on the space-like initial value surface a family of widening Wilson loops and show that the energy-momentum of the enclosed subsystem is a future directed time-like vector whose mass is an increasing function of the loop, until it reaches the value 1/4G corresponding to a deficit angle of 2π. At this point the energy-momentum of the system evolves, depending on the nature of a zero norm vector appearing in the evolution equations, either into a time-like vector of a universe which closes kinematically or into a Gott-like universe whose energy momentum vector, as first recognized by Deser, Jackiw, and 't Hooft (1984) is space-like. This treatment generalizes results obtained by Carroll, Fahri, Guth, and Olum (1994) for a system of point-like spinless particle, to the most general form of matter whose energy-momentum tensor satisfies the dominant energy condition. The treatment is also given for the anti-de Sitter (2+1)-dimensional gravity.

Strategies for Choosing Descent Flight-Path Angles for Small Jets

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Wu, Minghong Gilbert; Green, Steven M.

2012-01-01

Three candidate strategies for choosing the descent flight path angle (FPA) for small jets are proposed, analyzed, and compared for fuel efficiency under arrival metering conditions. The strategies vary in operational complexity from a universally fixed FPA, or FPA function that varies with descent speed for improved fuel efficiency, to the minimum-fuel FPA computed for each flight based on winds, route, and speed profile. Methodologies for selecting the parameter for the first two strategies are described. The differences in fuel burn are analyzed over a year s worth of arrival traffic and atmospheric conditions recorded for the Dallas/Fort Worth (DFW) Airport during 2011. The results show that the universally fixed FPA strategy (same FPA for all flights, all year) burns on average 26 lbs more fuel per flight as compared to the minimum-fuel solution. This FPA is adapted to the arrival gate (direction of entry to the terminal) and various timespans (season, month and day) to improve fuel efficiency. Compared to a typical FPA of approximately 3 degrees the adapted FPAs vary significantly, up to 1.3 from one arrival gate to another or up to 1.4 from one day to another. Adapting the universally fixed FPA strategy to the arrival gate or to each day reduces the extra fuel burn relative to the minimum-fuel solution by 27% and 34%, respectively. The adaptations to gate and time combined shows up to 57% reduction of the extra fuel burn. The second strategy, an FPA function, contributes a 17% reduction in the 26 lbs of extra fuel burn over the universally fixed FPA strategy. Compared to the corresponding adaptations of the universally fixed FPA, adaptations of the FPA function reduce the extra fuel burn anywhere from 15-23% depending on the extent of adaptation. The combined effect of the FPA function strategy with both directional and temporal adaptation recovers 67% of the extra fuel relative to the minimum-fuel solution.

Reexamination of optimal quantum state estimation of pure states

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

Hayashi, A.; Hashimoto, T.; Horibe, M.

2005-09-15

A direct derivation is given for the optimal mean fidelity of quantum state estimation of a d-dimensional unknown pure state with its N copies given as input, which was first obtained by Hayashi in terms of an infinite set of covariant positive operator valued measures (POVM's) and by Bruss and Macchiavello establishing a connection to optimal quantum cloning. An explicit condition for POVM measurement operators for optimal estimators is obtained, by which we construct optimal estimators with finite POVMs using exact quadratures on a hypersphere. These finite optimal estimators are not generally universal, where universality means the fidelity is independentmore » of input states. However, any optimal estimator with finite POVM for M(>N) copies is universal if it is used for N copies as input.« less

Stem Cell Education for Medical Students at Tongji University: Primary Cell Culture and Directional Differentiation of Rat Bone Marrow Mesenchymal Stem Cells

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Jin, Caixia; Tian, Haibin; Li, Jiao; Jia, Song; Li, Siguang; Xu, Guo-Tong; Xu, Lei; Lu, Lixia

2018-01-01

Stem cells are cells that can self-renew and differentiate into a variety of cell types under certain conditions. Stem cells have great potential in regenerative medicine and cell therapy for the treatment of certain diseases. To deliver knowledge about this frontier in science and technology to medical undergraduate students, we designed an…

Origin of Noncubic Scaling Law in Disordered Granular Packing.

PubMed

Xia, Chengjie; Li, Jindong; Kou, Binquan; Cao, Yixin; Li, Zhifeng; Xiao, Xianghui; Fu, Yanan; Xiao, Tiqiao; Hong, Liang; Zhang, Jie; Kob, Walter; Wang, Yujie

2017-06-09

Recent diffraction experiments on metallic glasses have unveiled an unexpected noncubic scaling law between density and average interatomic distance, which led to the speculation of the presence of fractal glass order. Using x-ray tomography we identify here a similar noncubic scaling law in disordered granular packing of spherical particles. We find that the scaling law is directly related to the contact neighbors within the first nearest neighbor shell, and, therefore, is closely connected to the phenomenon of jamming. The seemingly universal scaling exponent around 2.5 arises due to the isostatic condition with a contact number around 6, and we argue that the exponent should not be universal.

Direct visualization of lithium via annular bright field scanning transmission electron microscopy: a review.

PubMed

Findlay, Scott David; Huang, Rong; Ishikawa, Ryo; Shibata, Naoya; Ikuhara, Yuichi

2017-02-08

Annular bright field (ABF) scanning transmission electron microscopy has proven able to directly image lithium columns within crystalline environments, offering much insight into the structure and properties of lithium-ion battery materials. We summarize the image formation mechanisms underpinning ABF imaging, review the experimental application of this technique to imaging lithium in materials and overview the conditions that help maximize the visibility of lithium columns. © The Author 2016. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of The Japanese Society of Microscopy. All rights reserved. For permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oup.com.

Seeing is not stereotyping: the functional independence of categorization and stereotype activation.

PubMed

Ito, Tiffany A; Tomelleri, Silvia

2017-05-01

Social categorization has been viewed as necessarily resulting in stereotyping, yet extant research suggests the two processes are differentially sensitive to task manipulations. Here, we simultaneously test the degree to which race perception and stereotyping are conditionally automatic. Participants performed a sequential priming task while either explicitly attending to the race of face primes or directing attention away from their semantic nature. We find a dissociation between the perceptual encoding of race and subsequent activation of associated stereotypes, with race perception occurring in both task conditions, but implicit stereotyping occurring only when attention is directed to the race of the face primes. These results support a clear conceptual distinction between categorization and stereotyping and show that the encoding of racial category need not result in stereotype activation. © The Author (2017). Published by Oxford University Press.

Automatic humidification system to support the assessment of food drying processes

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ortiz Hernández, B. D.; Carreño Olejua, A. R.; Castellanos Olarte, J. M.

2016-07-01

This work shows the main features of an automatic humidification system to provide drying air that match environmental conditions of different climate zones. This conditioned air is then used to assess the drying process of different agro-industrial products at the Automation and Control for Agro-industrial Processes Laboratory of the Pontifical Bolivarian University of Bucaramanga, Colombia. The automatic system allows creating and improving control strategies to supply drying air under specified conditions of temperature and humidity. The development of automatic routines to control and acquire real time data was made possible by the use of robust control systems and suitable instrumentation. The signals are read and directed to a controller memory where they are scaled and transferred to a memory unit. Using the IP address is possible to access data to perform supervision tasks. One important characteristic of this automatic system is the Dynamic Data Exchange Server (DDE) to allow direct communication between the control unit and the computer used to build experimental curves.

An integrated approach to universal prevention: Independent and combined effects of PBIS and SEL on youths' mental health.

PubMed

Cook, Clayton R; Frye, Megan; Slemrod, Tal; Lyon, Aaron R; Renshaw, Tyler L; Zhang, Yanchen

2015-06-01

Mental health among children and adolescents is a growing national concern and schools have taken center stage in efforts to prevent problems and promote wellness. Although research and policymakers support the integration of mental health services into the schools, there is limited agreement on the ways to package or combine existing supports to achieve prevention-oriented goals. Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports (PBIS) and Social Emotional Learning (SEL) are 2 of the most widely adopted, evidence-based approaches that have been advocated to address student mental health. These universal prevention approaches, however, stem from different theoretical camps and are often advocated and implemented apart from one another. The purpose of this study was to examine the independent and combined effects of PBIS and SEL on student mental health outcomes. A quasi-randomized control design at the classroom level was used to make comparisons across 4 conditions: business-as-usual (BAU), PBIS alone, SEL alone, and COMBO condition with regard to their acceptability to teachers, integrity of program delivery, and student outcomes. As predicted, the COMBO condition produced significantly greater improvements in overall mental health and reductions in externalizing behaviors when compared to all other conditions. The results also indicated that the PBIS- and SEL-only conditions were both able to produce significant improvements in overall mental health functioning as compared with the BAU control. The implications of an integrated approach for school-based universal prevention and directions for future research are discussed. (c) 2015 APA, all rights reserved).

Financial Analysis of National University Hospitals in Korea.

PubMed

Lee, Munjae

2015-10-01

This paper provides information for decision making of the managers and the staff of national university hospitals. In order to conduct a financial analysis of national university hospitals, this study uses reports on the final accounts of 10 university hospitals from 2008 to 2011. The results of comparing 2008 and 2011 showed that there was a general decrease in total assets, an increase in liabilities, and a decrease in total medical revenues, with a continuous deficit in many hospitals. Moreover, as national university hospitals have low debt dependence, their management conditions generally seem satisfactory. However, some individual hospitals suffer severe financial difficulties and thus depend on short-term debts, which generally aggravate the profit and loss structure. Various indicators show that the financial state and business performance of national university hospitals have been deteriorating. These research findings will be used as important basic data for managers who make direct decisions in this uncertain business environment or by researchers who analyze the medical industry to enable informed decision-making and optimized execution. Furthermore, this study is expected to contribute to raising government awareness of the need to foster and support the national university hospital industry.

Financial Analysis of National University Hospitals in Korea

PubMed Central

Lee, Munjae

2015-01-01

Objectives This paper provides information for decision making of the managers and the staff of national university hospitals. Methods In order to conduct a financial analysis of national university hospitals, this study uses reports on the final accounts of 10 university hospitals from 2008 to 2011. Results The results of comparing 2008 and 2011 showed that there was a general decrease in total assets, an increase in liabilities, and a decrease in total medical revenues, with a continuous deficit in many hospitals. Moreover, as national university hospitals have low debt dependence, their management conditions generally seem satisfactory. However, some individual hospitals suffer severe financial difficulties and thus depend on short-term debts, which generally aggravate the profit and loss structure. Various indicators show that the financial state and business performance of national university hospitals have been deteriorating. Conclusion These research findings will be used as important basic data for managers who make direct decisions in this uncertain business environment or by researchers who analyze the medical industry to enable informed decision-making and optimized execution. Furthermore, this study is expected to contribute to raising government awareness of the need to foster and support the national university hospital industry. PMID:26730356

Origin of Noncubic Scaling Law in Disordered Granular Packing

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

Xia, Chengjie; Li, Jindong; Kou, Binquan

Recent diffraction experiments on metallic glasses have unveiled an unexpected non-cubic scaling law between density and average interatomic distance, which lead to the speculations on the presence of fractal glass order. Using X-ray tomography we identify here a similar non-cubic scaling law in disordered granular packing of spherical particles. We find that the scaling law is directly related to the contact neighbors within first nearest neighbor shell, and therefore is closely connected to the phenomenon of jamming. The seemingly universal scaling exponent around 2.5 arises due to the isostatic condition with contact number around 6, and we argue that themore » exponent should not be universal.« less

Acoustic resonances of fluid-immersed elastic cylinders and spheroids: Theory and experiment

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Niemiec, Jan; Überall, Herbert; Bao, X. L.

2002-05-01

Frequency resonances in the scattering of acoustic waves from a target object are caused by the phase matching of surface waves repeatedly encircling the object. This is exemplified here by considering elastic finite cylinders and spheroids, and the phase-matching condition provides a means of calculating the complex resonance frequencies of such objects. Tank experiments carried out at Catholic University, or at the University of Le Havre, France by G. Maze and J. Ripoche, have been interpreted using this approach. The experiments employed sound pulses to measure arrival times, which allowed identification of the surface paths taken by the surface waves, thus giving rise to resonances in the scattering amplitude. A calculation of the resonance frequencies using the T-matrix approach showed satisfactory agreement with the experimental resonance frequencies that were either measured directly (as at Le Havre), or that were obtained by the interpretation of measured arrival times (at Catholic University) using calculated surface wave paths, and the extraction of resonance frequencies therefrom, on the basis of the phase-matching condition. Results for hemispherically endcapped, evacuated steel cylinders obtained in a lake experiment carried out by the NSWC were interpreted in the same fashion.

Evaluation of reinforced concrete structures using the electromagnetic method

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Chady, Tomasz; Frankowski, Paweł; Waszczuk, Paweł; Zieliński, Adam

2018-04-01

Reinforced concrete has been a universally dominant construction material for over a century, although structures made of this material are often exposed to many types of damage and deterioration due to different causes and external conditions. The most important problem is corrosion of the reinforcement. Currently, most of the inspection methods of rebar in concrete are of an indirect nature or they are partially destructive. Moreover, none of the well-known systems allow for direct and non-destructive evaluation of the rebar corrosion. The purpose of this paper is to present the new, direct and non-destructive method, which allows detection of cracks and corrosion of the reinforcement bars.

Modeling aerosol emissions from the combustion of composite materials

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Roop, J. A.; Caldwell, D. J.; Kuhlmann, K. J.

1994-01-01

The use of advanced composite materials (ACM) in the B-2 bomber, composite armored vehicle, and F-22 advanced tactical fighter has rekindled interest concerning the health risk of burned or burning ACM. The objective of this work was to determine smoke production from burning ACM and its toxicity. A commercial version of the UPITT II combustion toxicity method developed at the University of Pittsburgh, and subsequently refined through a US Army-funded basic research project, was used to established controlled combustion conditions which were selected to evaluate real-world exposure scenarios. Production and yield of toxic species varied with the combustion conditions. Previous work with this method showed that the combustion conditions directly influenced the toxicity of the decomposition products from a variety of materials.

Comparing the shear bond strength of direct and indirect composite inlays in relation to different surface conditioning and curing techniques

PubMed Central

Zorba, Yahya Orcun; Ilday, Nurcan Ozakar; Bayındır, Yusuf Ziya; Demirbuga, Sezer

2013-01-01

Objective: The aim of this study was to test the null hypothesis that different surface conditioning (etch and rinse and self-etch) and curing techniques (light cure/dual cure) had no effect on the shear bond strength of direct and indirect composite inlays. Materials and Methods: A total of 112 extracted human molar teeth were horizontally sectioned and randomly divided into two groups according to restoration technique (direct and indirect restorations). Each group was further subdivided into seven subgroups (n = 8) according to bonding agent (etch and rinse adhesives Scotchbond multi-purpose plus, All-Bond 3, Adper Single Bond and Prime Bond NT; and self-etch adhesives Clearfil Liner Bond, Futurabond DC and G bond). Indirect composites were cemented to dentin surfaces using dual-curing luting cement. Shear bond strength of specimens was tested using a Universal Testing Machine. Two samples from each subgroup were evaluated under Scanning electron microscopy to see the failing modes. Data was analyzed using independent sample t-tests and Tukey's tests. Results: Surface conditioning and curing of bonding agents were all found to have significant effects on shear bond strength (P < 0.05) of both direct and indirect composite inlays. With direct restoration, etch and rinse systems and dual-cured bonding agents yielded higher bond strengths than indirect restoration, self-etch systems and light-cured bonding agents. Conclusions: The results of the present study indicated that direct restoration to be a more reliable method than indirect restoration. Although etch and rinse bonding systems showed higher shear bond strength to dentin than self-etch systems, both systems can be safely used for the adhesion of direct as well as indirect restorations. PMID:24932118

Comparing the shear bond strength of direct and indirect composite inlays in relation to different surface conditioning and curing techniques.

PubMed

Zorba, Yahya Orcun; Ilday, Nurcan Ozakar; Bayındır, Yusuf Ziya; Demirbuga, Sezer

2013-10-01

The aim of this study was to test the null hypothesis that different surface conditioning (etch and rinse and self-etch) and curing techniques (light cure/dual cure) had no effect on the shear bond strength of direct and indirect composite inlays. A total of 112 extracted human molar teeth were horizontally sectioned and randomly divided into two groups according to restoration technique (direct and indirect restorations). Each group was further subdivided into seven subgroups (n = 8) according to bonding agent (etch and rinse adhesives Scotchbond multi-purpose plus, All-Bond 3, Adper Single Bond and Prime Bond NT; and self-etch adhesives Clearfil Liner Bond, Futurabond DC and G bond). Indirect composites were cemented to dentin surfaces using dual-curing luting cement. Shear bond strength of specimens was tested using a Universal Testing Machine. Two samples from each subgroup were evaluated under Scanning electron microscopy to see the failing modes. Data was analyzed using independent sample t-tests and Tukey's tests. Surface conditioning and curing of bonding agents were all found to have significant effects on shear bond strength (P < 0.05) of both direct and indirect composite inlays. With direct restoration, etch and rinse systems and dual-cured bonding agents yielded higher bond strengths than indirect restoration, self-etch systems and light-cured bonding agents. The results of the present study indicated that direct restoration to be a more reliable method than indirect restoration. Although etch and rinse bonding systems showed higher shear bond strength to dentin than self-etch systems, both systems can be safely used for the adhesion of direct as well as indirect restorations.

The Extreme Universe Space Observatory

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Adams, Jim; Six, N. Frank (Technical Monitor)

2002-01-01

This talk will describe the Extreme Universe Space Observatory (EUSO) mission. EUSO is an ESA mission to explore the most powerful energy sources in the universe. The mission objectives of EUSO are to investigate EECRs, those with energies above 3x10(exp 19) eV, and very high-energy cosmic neutrinos. These objectives are directly related to extreme conditions in the physical world and possibly involve the early history of the big bang and the framework of GUTs. EUSO tackles the basic problem posed by the existence of these extreme-energy events. The solution could have a unique impact on fundamental physics, cosmology, and/or astrophysics. At these energies, magnetic deflection is thought to be so small that the EECR component would serve as the particle channel for astronomy. EUSO will make the first measurements of EAS from space by observing atmospheric fluorescence in the Earth's night sky. With measurements of the airshower track, EUSO will determine the energy and arrival direction of these extreme-energy events. EUSO will make high statistics observations of CRs beyond the predicted GZK cutoff energy and widen the channel for high-energy neutrino astronomy. The energy spectra, arrival directions, and shower profiles will be analyzed to distinguish the nature of these events and search for their sources. With EUSO data, we will have the possibility to discover a local EECR source, test Z-burst scenarios and other theories, and look for evidence of the breakdown of the relativity principle at extreme Lorentz factors.

UV Radiation: a new first year physics/life sciences laboratory experiment

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Petelina, S. V.; Siddaway, J. M.

2010-12-01

Unfortunately, Australia leads the world in the number of skin cancer cases per capita. Three major factors that contribute to this are: 1) the level of damaging ultraviolet (UV) radiation in Australia is higher than in many other countries. This is caused, among other factors, by the stratospheric ozone depletion and Antarctic ozone hole; 2) many people in Australia are of Irish-Scottish origin and their skin can not repair the damage caused by the UV radiation as effectively as the skin of people of other origins; 3) Australia is one of the world’s leaders in the outdoor activities where people tend to spend more time outside. As our experience has shown, most Australian University students, high school students, and even high school teachers were largely unaware of the UV damage details and effective safety measures. Therefore, a need for new ways to educate people became apparent. The general aim of this new 1st year laboratory experiment, developed and first offered at La Trobe University (Melbourne, Australia) in 2009, is to investigate how UV-B radiation levels change under various solar illumination conditions and how effective different types of protection are. After pre-lab readings on physical concepts and biological effects of UV radiation, and after solving all pre-lab problems, the students go outside and measure the actual change in UV-B and UV-A radiation levels under various conditions. Some of these conditions are: direct sun, shade from a building, shade under the roof, reflection from various surfaces, direct sun through cheap and expensive sunglasses and eyeglasses, direct sun through various types of cloth and hair. The equipment used is the UV-Probe manufactured by sglux SolGel Technologies GmbH. The students’ feedback on this new laboratory experiment was very positive. It was ranked top among all physics experiments offered as part of that subject (Physics for Life Sciences) in 2009 and top among all physics experiments presented for peer evaluation at the Advanced Science Education Learning Laboratory Workshop in April 2010 at the University of Adelaide, Australia. All three main components of the UV Radiation experiment - pre-lab exercises, taking measurements, and a group discussion led by a demonstrator, were assessed by the students and by the teaching academics as a very important and valuable contribution to learning.

Generically large nongaussianity in small multifield inflation

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

Bramante, Joseph

If forthcoming measurements of cosmic photon polarization restrict the primordial tensor-to-scalar ratio to r<0.01, small field inflation will be a principal candidate for the origin of the universe. Here we show that small multifield inflation, without the hybrid mechanism, typically results in large squeezed nongaussianity. Small multifield potentials contain multiple flat field directions, often identified with the gauge invariant field directions in supersymmetric potentials. We find that unless these field directions have equal slopes, large nongaussianity arises. After identifying relevant differences between large and small two-field potentials, we demonstrate that the latter naturally fulfill the Byrnes-Choi-Hall large nongaussianity conditions. Computationsmore » of the primordial power spectrum, spectral index, and squeezed bispectrum, reveal that small two-field models which otherwise match observed primordial perturbations, produce excludably large nongaussianity if the inflatons’ field directions have unequal slopes.« less

Generically large nongaussianity in small multifield inflation

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

Bramante, Joseph, E-mail: josephbramante@gmail.com

If forthcoming measurements of cosmic photon polarization restrict the primordial tensor-to-scalar ratio to r < 0.01, small field inflation will be a principal candidate for the origin of the universe. Here we show that small multifield inflation, without the hybrid mechanism, typically results in large squeezed nongaussianity. Small multifield potentials contain multiple flat field directions, often identified with the gauge invariant field directions in supersymmetric potentials. We find that unless these field directions have equal slopes, large nongaussianity arises. After identifying relevant differences between large and small two-field potentials, we demonstrate that the latter naturally fulfill the Byrnes-Choi-Hall large nongaussianity conditions. Computationsmore » of the primordial power spectrum, spectral index, and squeezed bispectrum, reveal that small two-field models which otherwise match observed primordial perturbations, produce excludably large nongaussianity if the inflatons' field directions have unequal slopes.« less

For Every Dollar Invested...The Economic Impact of Public Universities.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

National Association of State Universities and Land Grant Colleges, Washington, DC.

This publication summarizes information provided during 1995 and early 1996 in an informal survey of state and land-grant universities concerning the direct and long-range economic impacts of public universities on their immediate communities. Items considered under direct impact include: expenditures by the universities on supplies, materials,…

The New University President: Communicating a Vision, Cultural Competency, and Symbolic Cultural Forms

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Wiser, Elizabeth Anne

2009-01-01

University presidents are the institutional leaders responsible for guiding the direction of an institution. The president serves both as the symbolic leader of a university and as one responsible for directing change. When a new president arrives, the institution assumes and prepares for change and a new direction. One measure of presidential…

A note on the problem of choosing a model of the universe. II

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Skalsky, Vladimir

1989-05-01

The value of the mean mass density (rho) of the universe is examined. It is shown that there is a difference between the present terrestrial conditions and the initial conditions of the universe expansion and that, for the sphere of the physical boundary conditions represented by Planck's values (when the present evolution phase of the universe was probably decided), there are serious limitations for the value of rho. It is postulated on the basis of these limiting conditions that some cause may exist for which the condition corresponding to the critical mass density of the universe was realized.

Astro-Dynasty

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Belkora, Leila

2001-05-01

Four generations of Struves directed eight observatories over two centuries. The first, Wilhelm Struve moved to Estonia from northern Germany to escape Napoleon's military conscription. He pursued university studies and ended up running an observatory for 20 years. Raising his family at the observatory in isolated conditions encouraged his offspring to follow his career path. The last, Otto Struve, was the first director of McDonald Observatory. The Struves were winners of several Gold Medals from Britain's Royal Astronomical Society for their research.

Gravitational Waves from Neutron Stars

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kokkotas, Konstantinos

2016-03-01

Neutron stars are the densest objects in the present Universe, attaining physical conditions of matter that cannot be replicated on Earth. These unique and irreproducible laboratories allow us to study physics in some of its most extreme regimes. More importantly, however, neutron stars allow us to formulate a number of fundamental questions that explore, in an intricate manner, the boundaries of our understanding of physics and of the Universe. The multifaceted nature of neutron stars involves a delicate interplay among astrophysics, gravitational physics, and nuclear physics. The research in the physics and astrophysics of neutron stars is expected to flourish and thrive in the next decade. The imminent direct detection of gravitational waves will turn gravitational physics into an observational science, and will provide us with a unique opportunity to make major breakthroughs in gravitational physics, in particle and high-energy astrophysics. These waves, which represent a basic prediction of Einstein's theory of general relativity but have yet to be detected directly, are produced in copious amounts, for instance, by tight binary neutron star and black hole systems, supernovae explosions, non-axisymmetric or unstable spinning neutron stars. The focus of the talk will be on the neutron star instabilities induced by rotation and the magnetic field. The conditions for the onset of these instabilities and their efficiency in gravitational waves will be presented. Finally, the dependence of the results and their impact on astrophysics and especially nuclear physics will be discussed.

NASA missions studies magnetic space explosions

NASA Image and Video Library

2017-12-08

Every day, invisible magnetic explosions are happening around Earth, on the surface of the sun and across the universe. These explosions, known as magnetic reconnection, occur when magnetic field lines cross, releasing stored magnetic energy. Such explosions are a key way that clouds of charged particles — plasmas — are accelerated throughout the universe. In Earth’s magnetosphere — the giant magnetic bubble surrounding our planet — these magnetic reconnections can fling charged particles toward Earth, triggering auroras. Read more: go.nasa.gov/2mnMtDm Video caption - In this simulation, a reconnection even pushes a blob of plasma toward Earth. The jet blown in the opposite direction wobbles due to the unstable conditions. Credit: NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center/Yi-Hsin Liu/Joy Ng, producer

Assessing the burden of medical impoverishment by cause: a systematic breakdown by disease in Ethiopia.

PubMed

Verguet, Stéphane; Memirie, Solomon Tessema; Norheim, Ole Frithjof

2016-10-21

Out-of-pocket (OOP) medical expenses often lead to catastrophic expenditure and impoverishment in low- and middle-income countries. Yet, there has been no systematic examination of which specific diseases and conditions (e.g., tuberculosis, cardiovascular disease) drive medical impoverishment, defined as OOP direct medical costs pushing households into poverty. We used a cost and epidemiological model to propose an assessment of the burden of medical impoverishment in Ethiopia, i.e., the number of households crossing a poverty line due to excessive OOP direct medical expenses. We utilized disease-specific mortality estimates from the Global Burden of Disease study, epidemiological and cost inputs from surveys, and secondary data from the literature to produce a count of poverty cases due to OOP direct medical costs per specific condition. In Ethiopia, in 2013, and among 20 leading causes of mortality, we estimated the burden of impoverishment due to OOP direct medical costs to be of about 350,000 poverty cases. The top three causes of medical impoverishment were diarrhea, lower respiratory infections, and road injury, accounting for 75 % of all poverty cases. We present a preliminary attempt for the estimation of the burden of medical impoverishment by cause for high mortality conditions. In Ethiopia, medical impoverishment was notably associated with illness occurrence and health services utilization. Although currently used estimates are sensitive to health services utilization, a systematic breakdown of impoverishment due to OOP direct medical costs by cause can provide important information for the promotion of financial risk protection and equity, and subsequent design of health policies toward universal health coverage, reduction of direct OOP payments, and poverty alleviation.

Advanced Hybrid Modeling of Hall Thruster Plumes

DTIC Science & Technology

2010-06-16

Hall thruster operated in the Large Vacuum Test Facility at the University of Michigan. The approach utilizes the direct simulation Monte Carlo method and the Particle-in-Cell method to simulate the collision and plasma dynamics of xenon neutrals and ions. The electrons are modeled as a fluid using conservation equations. A second code is employed to model discharge chamber behavior to provide improved input conditions at the thruster exit for the plume simulation. Simulation accuracy is assessed using experimental data previously

Universal Frequency Domain Baseband Receiver Structure for Future Military Software Defined Radios

DTIC Science & Technology

2010-09-01

selective channels, i.e., it may have a poor performance at good conditions [4]. Military systems may require a direct sequence ( DS ) component for...frequency bins using a spreading code. This is called the MC- CDMA signal. Note that spreading does not need to cover all the subcarriers but just a few, like...preambles with appropriate frequency domain properties. A DS component can be added as usually. The FDP block then includes this code as a reference

Reconfigurable Optical Directed-Logic Circuits

DTIC Science & Technology

2015-11-20

AFRL-AFOSR-VA-TR-2016-0053 Reconfigurable Optical Directed-Logic Circuits Jacob Robinson WILLIAM MARSH RICE UNIV HOUSTON TX Final Report 11/20/2015...2015 Reconfigurable Optical Directed-Logic Circuits FA9550-12-1-0261 FA9550-12-1-0261 Robinson, Jacob Rice University 6100 Main Street Houston...Optical Directed-Logic Circuits Jacob T. Robinson and Qianfan Xu Rice University 1. Motivation for Directed-Logic Circuits Directed-logic is

"It's like playing with your destiny": Bosnian immigrants' views of advance directives and end-of-life decision-making.

PubMed

Searight, H Russell; Gafford, Jennifer

2005-07-01

Patient autonomy is a primary value in US health care. It is assumed that patients want to be fully and directly informed about serious health conditions and want to engage in advance planning about medical care at the end-of-life. Written advance directives and proxy decision-makers are vehicles to promote autonomy when patients are no longer able to represent their wishes. Cross-cultural studies have raised questions about the universal acceptance of these health care values among all ethnicities. In the current investigation, Bosnian immigrants were interviewed about their views of physician-patient communication, advance directives, and locus of decision-making in serious illness. Many of the respondents indicated that they did not want to be directly informed of a serious illness. There was an expressed preference for physician- or family-based health care decisions. Advance directives and formally appointed proxies were typically seen as unnecessary and inconsistent with many respondents' personal values. The findings suggest that the value of individual autonomy and control over the health care decisions may not be applicable to cultures with a collectivist orientation.

End-of-life care in the 21st century: advance directives in universal rights discourse.

PubMed

Besirević, Violeta

2010-03-01

This article explores universal normative bases that could help to shape a workable legal construct that would facilitate a global use of advance directives. Although I believe that advance directives are of universal character, my primary aim in approaching this issue is to remain realistic. I will make three claims. First, I will argue that the principles of autonomy, dignity and informed consent, embodied in the Oviedo Convention and the UNESCO Declaration on Bioethics and Human Rights, could arguably be regarded as universal bases for the global use of advance directives. Second, I will demonstrate that, despite the apparent consensus of ethical authorities in support of their global use, it is unlikely, for the time being, that such consensus could lead to unqualified legal recognition of advance directives, because of different understandings of the nature of the international rules, meanings of autonomy and dignity which are context-specific and culture-specific, and existing imperfections that make advance directives either unworkable or hardly applicable in practice. The third claim suggests that the fact that the concept of the advance directive is not universally shared does not mean that it should not become so, but never as the only option in managing incompetent patients. A way to proceed is to prioritize work on developing higher standards in managing incompetent patients and on progressing towards the realization of universal human rights in the sphere of bioethics, by advocating a universal, legally binding international convention that would outlaw human rights violations in end-of-life decision-making.

Fission in R-processes Elements (FIRE) - Annual Report: Fiscal Year 2017

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

Schunck, Nicolas

The goal of the FIRE topical collaboration in nuclear theory is to determine the astrophysical conditions of the rapid neutron capture process (r-process), which is responsible for the formation of heavy elements. This will be achieved by including in r-process simulations the most advanced models of fission (spontaneous, neutron-induced, beta-delayed) that have been developed at LLNL and LANL. The collaboration is composed of LLNL (lead) and LANL for work on nuclear data (ground-state properties, fission, beta-decay), BNL for nuclear data management, and the university of Notre Dame and North Carolina State University for r-process simulations. Under DOE/NNSA agreement, both universitiesmore » receive funds from the DOE Office of Science, while national laboratories receive funds directly from NA221.« less

Involvement and emancipation of the worker. Action research in a university hospital.

PubMed

Bolis, Ivan; Brunoro, Claudio; Sznelwar, Laerte Idal

2012-01-01

The present action research article is linked to an ergonomics project in a university hospital. The author's proposal is to focus action on the effective worker involvement required for the creation of spaces/mechanisms within organizations where people can enhance cooperation and deliberation on matters relating to work. For this purpose, a committee was introduced to assist in finding problems and solutions directly in work situations, so that workers could experience relative autonomy allowing them to develop procedures and choose tools appropriate to their own real needs. Based on this organizational implementation and on subsequent interviews, the practical results are analyzed and related to employee involvement. One can conclude that workers in all areas of the organization can be active elements for improving working conditions and productivity in companies.

Changing the Learning Curve in Novice Laparoscopists: Incorporating Direct Visualization into the Simulation Training Program.

PubMed

Dawidek, Mark T; Roach, Victoria A; Ott, Michael C; Wilson, Timothy D

A major challenge in laparoscopic surgery is the lack of depth perception. With the development and continued improvement of 3D video technology, the potential benefit of restoring 3D vision to laparoscopy has received substantial attention from the surgical community. Despite this, procedures conducted under 2D vision remain the standard of care, and trainees must become proficient in 2D laparoscopy. This study aims to determine whether incorporating 3D vision into a 2D laparoscopic simulation curriculum accelerates skill acquisition in novices. Postgraduate year-1 surgical specialty residents (n = 15) at the Schulich School of Medicine and Dentistry, at Western University were randomized into 1 of 2 groups. The control group practiced the Fundamentals of Laparoscopic Surgery peg-transfer task to proficiency exclusively under standard 2D laparoscopy conditions. The experimental group first practiced peg transfer under 3D direct visualization, with direct visualization of the working field. Upon reaching proficiency, this group underwent a perceptual switch, changing to standard 2D laparoscopy conditions, and once again trained to proficiency. Incorporating 3D direct visualization before training under standard 2D conditions significantly (p < 0.0.5) reduced the total training time to proficiency by 10.9 minutes or 32.4%. There was no difference in total number of repetitions to proficiency. Data were also used to generate learning curves for each respective training protocol. An adaptive learning approach, which incorporates 3D direct visualization into a 2D laparoscopic simulation curriculum, accelerates skill acquisition. This is in contrast to previous work, possibly owing to the proficiency-based methodology employed, and has implications for resource savings in surgical training. Crown Copyright © 2016. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

DSMC Simulation of Separated Flows About Flared Bodies at Hypersonic Conditions

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Moss, James N.

2000-01-01

This paper describes the results of a numerical study of interacting hypersonic flows at conditions that can be produced in ground-based test facilities. The computations are made with the direct simulation Monte Carlo (DSMC) method of Bird. The focus is on Mach 10 flows about flared axisymmetric configurations, both hollow cylinder flares and double cones. The flow conditions are those for which experiments have been or will be performed in the ONERA R5Ch low-density wind tunnel and the Calspan-University of Buffalo Research Center (CUBRC) Large Energy National Shock (LENS) tunnel. The range of flow conditions, model configurations, and model sizes provides a significant range of shock/shock and shock/boundary layer interactions at low Reynolds number conditions. Results presented will highlight the sensitivity of the calculations to grid resolution, contrast the differences in flow structure for hypersonic cold flows and those of more energetic but still low enthalpy flows, and compare the present results with experimental measurements for surface heating, pressure, and extent of separation.

β-Decay Half-Lives of 110 Neutron-Rich Nuclei across the N=82 Shell Gap: Implications for the Mechanism and Universality of the Astrophysical r Process.

PubMed

Lorusso, G; Nishimura, S; Xu, Z Y; Jungclaus, A; Shimizu, Y; Simpson, G S; Söderström, P-A; Watanabe, H; Browne, F; Doornenbal, P; Gey, G; Jung, H S; Meyer, B; Sumikama, T; Taprogge, J; Vajta, Zs; Wu, J; Baba, H; Benzoni, G; Chae, K Y; Crespi, F C L; Fukuda, N; Gernhäuser, R; Inabe, N; Isobe, T; Kajino, T; Kameda, D; Kim, G D; Kim, Y-K; Kojouharov, I; Kondev, F G; Kubo, T; Kurz, N; Kwon, Y K; Lane, G J; Li, Z; Montaner-Pizá, A; Moschner, K; Naqvi, F; Niikura, M; Nishibata, H; Odahara, A; Orlandi, R; Patel, Z; Podolyák, Zs; Sakurai, H; Schaffner, H; Schury, P; Shibagaki, S; Steiger, K; Suzuki, H; Takeda, H; Wendt, A; Yagi, A; Yoshinaga, K

2015-05-15

The β-decay half-lives of 110 neutron-rich isotopes of the elements from _{37}Rb to _{50}Sn were measured at the Radioactive Isotope Beam Factory. The 40 new half-lives follow robust systematics and highlight the persistence of shell effects. The new data have direct implications for r-process calculations and reinforce the notion that the second (A≈130) and the rare-earth-element (A≈160) abundance peaks may result from the freeze-out of an (n,γ)⇄(γ,n) equilibrium. In such an equilibrium, the new half-lives are important factors determining the abundance of rare-earth elements, and allow for a more reliable discussion of the r process universality. It is anticipated that universality may not extend to the elements Sn, Sb, I, and Cs, making the detection of these elements in metal-poor stars of the utmost importance to determine the exact conditions of individual r-process events.

About the nature of design in universal design.

PubMed

Heylighen, Ann

2014-01-01

Studies suggest that the concept of universal design (UD) is not widely accepted and that some of its ideas are received rather sceptically. This article confronts the concept of UD with prevailing notions and practices of design. It examines how UD can be situated relative to design in general, and explores whether elements in the nature of design can help us explain this scepticism. The article confronts writings about how design is understood with the concept and ideas of UD. This confrontation is substantiated with examples from studies of design processes in architectural design practice. The confrontation highlights the ambiguity of how UD is framed and presented, ranging from an attitude over something utopian to a normative design domain. (1) Besides UD other attitudes are thinkable that address the diversity in human abilities and conditions. (2) The impossibility to really design for everyone may be inherent to design rather than characteristic of UD. (3) Even if UD as a normative design domain were a top priority, the question remains how to assess whether a design is universally usable given the nature of design (problems), and prevailing design practices. Implications for Rehabilitation Understanding disability as originating in the interaction between features of an individual's body and features of his/her environment, as universal design does, implies that rehabilitation specialists need to consider the context in which a person lives. Besides striving for independence, self-reliance and individualism, rehabilitation specialists may consider other attitudes to address the diversity in human abilities and conditions. Designers do not have direct access to the perspective of the people they design for. Assessing whether a design is universally accessible may benefit from expertise of rehabilitation specialists.

Symptomatic Dry Eye and Its Associated Factors: A Study of University Undergraduate Students in Ghana.

PubMed

Asiedu, Kofi; Kyei, Samuel; Boampong, Frank; Ocansey, Stephen

2017-07-01

To estimate the prevalence and risk factors of symptomatic dry eye disease (DED) among undergraduate students in a Ghanaian university. This cross-sectional study included 700 undergraduate students of the University of Cape Coast, aged 18 to 34 years. Participants completed questionnaires delivered directly to randomly and systematically selected subjects to detect symptomatic dry eye and its predictive factors. Symptomatic dry eye was defined as any reported symptom on the Standard Patient Evaluation Eye Dryness (SPEED) questionnaire reported as often or constant or if any symptom on the Ocular Surface Disease Index (OSDI) was reported as most of the time or all of the time. Furthermore, OSDI ≥13 and SPEED ≥6 were used to defined symptomatic dry eye and prevalence were also estimated with these criteria as secondary measures. Current symptoms of dry eye and possible risk factors such as age, gender, current alcohol drinking, use of oral contraceptives, use of computer more than an hour daily, environmental conditions, allergies, and self-medication with over-the-counter eye drops were the main outcome measures. We used logistic regression analysis to examine the associations between dry eye and its predictive factors. Of the 700 participants, 650 completed the questionnaire. The prevalence of symptomatic dry eye was 44.3% (95% confidence interval [CI], 40.6%-48.2%). There was a significant association between symptomatic dry eye and discomfort with eyes in windy conditions (χ=110.1; df=4; P<0.001), areas with low humidity (χ=91.6; df=4; P<0.001), and air-conditioned rooms (χ=89.0; df=4; P<0.001). Self-medication with over-the-counter eye drops (OR 4.20; 95% CI, 2.61-6.74; P<0.001), any allergies (OR 2.46; 95% CI, 1.42-4.29; P=0.001), and use of oral contraceptives (OR 4.04; 95% CI, 1.02-16.01; P=0.047) were predictive factors of symptomatic dry eye. Sex was predictive in univariate analysis but was not significantly associated in multivariate analysis. The prevalence of symptomatic dry eye among undergraduate students in Ghana is high and it is associated with self-medication with over-the-counter eye drops, allergies, use of oral contraceptive, windy conditions, very low humid areas, air-conditioned rooms, and sex. Relevant input directed against modifiable risks factors may have a positive impact on the well-being of undergraduate students in Ghana.

[Transcultural adaptation into Spanish of the Patient empowerment in long-term conditions questionnaire].

PubMed

Garcimartin, Paloma; Pardo-Cladellas, Yolanda; Verdú-Rotellar, Jose-Maria; Delgado-Hito, Pilar; Astals-Vizcaino, Monica; Comin-Colet, Josep

2017-12-22

To describe the process of translation and cultural adaptation of the Patient empowerment in long-term condition to the Spanish language. Translation, cross-cultural adaptation, and pilot testing (cognitive debriefing) LOCATION: Primary and Hospital care. Ten patients admitted to a cardiology department of a University Hospital MAIN MEASUREMENTS: 1) Direct translation, 2) conciliation and synthesis of the versions by expert panel, 3) back- translation, 4) agreement on the back-translated version with the author of the original version, 5) analysis of comprehensibility through cognitive interviews. There were no differences between the direct-translated versions. The expert panel introduced changes in 23 out of the 47 items of the questionnaire. The author of the original version agreed with the version of the back-translation. In the cognitive interviews, patients reported high difficulty in one item and low difficulty in 4. The Spanish version of the Patient Empowerment in long-term conditions questionnaire is semantically and conceptually equivalent to the original tool. The assessment of the psychometric properties of the Spanish version of the questionnaire will be carried out at a later stage. Copyright © 2017 The Authors. Publicado por Elsevier España, S.L.U. All rights reserved.

Core disgust is attenuated by ingroup relations.

PubMed

Reicher, Stephen D; Templeton, Anne; Neville, Fergus; Ferrari, Lucienne; Drury, John

2016-03-08

We present the first experimental evidence to our knowledge that ingroup relations attenuate core disgust and that this helps explain the ability of groups to coact. In study 1, 45 student participants smelled a sweaty t-shirt bearing the logo of another university, with either their student identity (ingroup condition), their specific university identity (outgroup condition), or their personal identity (interpersonal condition) made salient. Self-reported disgust was lower in the ingroup condition than in the other conditions, and disgust mediated the relationship between condition and willingness to interact with target. In study 2, 90 student participants smelled a sweaty target t-shirt bearing either the logo of their own university, another university, or no logo, with either their student identity or their specific university identity made salient. Walking time to wash hands and pumps of soap indicated that disgust was lower where the relationship between participant and target was ingroup rather than outgroup or ambivalent (no logo).

Core disgust is attenuated by ingroup relations

PubMed Central

Reicher, Stephen D.; Templeton, Anne; Neville, Fergus; Ferrari, Lucienne

2016-01-01

We present the first experimental evidence to our knowledge that ingroup relations attenuate core disgust and that this helps explain the ability of groups to coact. In study 1, 45 student participants smelled a sweaty t-shirt bearing the logo of another university, with either their student identity (ingroup condition), their specific university identity (outgroup condition), or their personal identity (interpersonal condition) made salient. Self-reported disgust was lower in the ingroup condition than in the other conditions, and disgust mediated the relationship between condition and willingness to interact with target. In study 2, 90 student participants smelled a sweaty target t-shirt bearing either the logo of their own university, another university, or no logo, with either their student identity or their specific university identity made salient. Walking time to wash hands and pumps of soap indicated that disgust was lower where the relationship between participant and target was ingroup rather than outgroup or ambivalent (no logo). PMID:26903640

Physiotherapy in Malawi - a step in the right direction.

PubMed

Fielder, S; Mpezeni, S; Benjamin, L; Cary, I

2013-09-01

Physiotherapists in Malawi are in short supply and the demand for this service is increasing. This profession is instrumental in the rehabilitation of patients following accident and disease. Early input from a physiotherapist can be life changing; for example, timely physiotherapy could prevent a patient from becoming wheelchair-bound for life. This article explores the role of physiotherapists, in the context of what they do, the medical conditions that benefit from physiotherapy and the services available in Malawi. The clinical focus will be on orthopaedic, musculoskeletal and neurological conditions, since those are the specialties of the authors. With the start of the physiotherapy degree programme at the College of Medicine, University of Malawi, huge steps have been taken to address this neglected profession.

High-Priority Directions of Modernization of University Education in Innovational Society

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Sergeev, Nikolai

2017-01-01

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to verify the offered hypothesis and to determine high-priority directions of modernization of university education in an innovational society by the example of modern Russia. Design/methodology/approach: During the empirical study of connection between university education and innovational development of…

Effects of Cloud on Goddard Lidar Observatory for Wind (GLOW) Performance and Analysis of Associated Errors

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bacha, Tulu

The Goddard Lidar Observatory for Wind (GLOW), a mobile direct detection Doppler LIDAR based on molecular backscattering for measurement of wind in the troposphere and lower stratosphere region of atmosphere is operated and its errors characterized. It was operated at Howard University Beltsville Center for Climate Observation System (BCCOS) side by side with other operating instruments: the NASA/Langely Research Center Validation Lidar (VALIDAR), Leosphere WLS70, and other standard wind sensing instruments. The performance of Goddard Lidar Observatory for Wind (GLOW) is presented for various optical thicknesses of cloud conditions. It was also compared to VALIDAR under various conditions. These conditions include clear and cloudy sky regions. The performance degradation due to the presence of cirrus clouds is quantified by comparing the wind speed error to cloud thickness. The cloud thickness is quantified in terms of aerosol backscatter ratio (ASR) and cloud optical depth (COD). ASR and COD are determined from Howard University Raman Lidar (HURL) operating at the same station as GLOW. The wind speed error of GLOW was correlated with COD and aerosol backscatter ratio (ASR) which are determined from HURL data. The correlation related in a weak linear relationship. Finally, the wind speed measurements of GLOW were corrected using the quantitative relation from the correlation relations. Using ASR reduced the GLOW wind error from 19% to 8% in a thin cirrus cloud and from 58% to 28% in a relatively thick cloud. After correcting for cloud induced error, the remaining error is due to shot noise and atmospheric variability. Shot-noise error is the statistical random error of backscattered photons detected by photon multiplier tube (PMT) can only be minimized by averaging large number of data recorded. The atmospheric backscatter measured by GLOW along its line-of-sight direction is also used to analyze error due to atmospheric variability within the volume of measurement. GLOW scans in five different directions (vertical and at elevation angles of 45° in north, south, east, and west) to generate wind profiles. The non-uniformity of the atmosphere in all scanning directions is a factor contributing to the measurement error of GLOW. The atmospheric variability in the scanning region leads to difference in the intensity of backscattered signals for scanning directions. Taking the ratio of the north (east) to south (west) and comparing the statistical differences lead to a weak linear relation between atmospheric variability and line-of-sights wind speed differences. This relation was used to make correction which reduced by about 50%.

High Energy Astrophysics Mission

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

White, Nicholas E.; Ormes, Jonathan F. (Technical Monitor)

2000-01-01

The nature of gravity and its relationship to the other three forces and to quantum theory is one of the major challenges facing us as we begin the new century. In order to make progress we must challenge the current theories by observing the effects of gravity under the most extreme conditions possible. Black holes represent one extreme, where the laws of physics as we understand them break down. The Universe as whole is another extreme, where its evolution and fate is dominated by the gravitational influence of dark matter and the nature of the Cosmological constant. The early universe represents a third extreme, where it is thought that gravity may somehow be unified with the other forces. NASA's "Cosmic Journeys" program is part of a NASA/NSF/DoE tri-agency initiative designed to observe the extremes of gravity throughout the universe. This program will probe the nature of black holes, ultimately obtaining a direct image of the event horizon. It will investigate the large scale structure of the Universe to constrain the location and nature of dark matter and the nature of the cosmological constant. Finally it will search for and study the highest energy processes, that approach those found in the early universe. I will outline the High Energy Astrophysics part of this program.

University of Idaho's low-speed flex fuel direct-injected 797cc two-stroke rear drive snowmobile.

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

2012-06-01

The University of Idahos entry into the 2012 SAE Clean Snowmobile Challenge uses a Ski-Doo XP chassis with a low-speed 797 cc direct-injection two-stroke powered snowmobile modified for flex fuel use on blended ethanol fuel. A battery-less direct ...

Aspects regarding the hygienic-sanitary conditions at the level of certain dental medicine cabinets in Iasi County.

PubMed

Cernei, E R; Maxim, Dana Cristiana; Indrei, L L

2013-01-01

This baseline study aims to find out the evaluation of hygienic-sanitary conditions at the level of dental medicine cabinets through the verification of certain hygienic aspects. The study conducted consists in monitoring the hygienic/sanitary conditions at the level of 68 dental medicine cabinets (40 private cabinets and 28 school/university dental cabinets in Iasi county), using sheets for the assessment of the hygienic/sanitary conditions adapted from the control sheets of existing dental medicine cabinets at the level of DSP (Public Health Department) Iasi. The sheets for the assessment of the hygienic/sanitary conditions were evaluated by a specialized team and the results were i llustrated in the specific charts. At the level of all the dental cabinets the study revealed nonconformities regarding the means to carry out cleaning, disinfection operations, including the management of perilous waste, the control of medical personnel. An optimization of the hygienic-sanitary conditions at the level of dental medicine cabinets is still necessary, through participation to the activity of personnel training, who is directly involved in dental medical assistance.

The topology of large-scale structure. VI - Slices of the universe

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Park, Changbom; Gott, J. R., III; Melott, Adrian L.; Karachentsev, I. D.

1992-03-01

Results of an investigation of the topology of large-scale structure in two observed slices of the universe are presented. Both slices pass through the Coma cluster and their depths are 100 and 230/h Mpc. The present topology study shows that the largest void in the CfA slice is divided into two smaller voids by a statistically significant line of galaxies. The topology of toy models like the white noise and bubble models is shown to be inconsistent with that of the observed slices. A large N-body simulation was made of the biased cloud dark matter model and the slices are simulated by matching them in selection functions and boundary conditions. The genus curves for these simulated slices are spongelike and have a small shift in the direction of a meatball topology like those of observed slices.

The topology of large-scale structure. VI - Slices of the universe

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Park, Changbom; Gott, J. R., III; Melott, Adrian L.; Karachentsev, I. D.

1992-01-01

Results of an investigation of the topology of large-scale structure in two observed slices of the universe are presented. Both slices pass through the Coma cluster and their depths are 100 and 230/h Mpc. The present topology study shows that the largest void in the CfA slice is divided into two smaller voids by a statistically significant line of galaxies. The topology of toy models like the white noise and bubble models is shown to be inconsistent with that of the observed slices. A large N-body simulation was made of the biased cloud dark matter model and the slices are simulated by matching them in selection functions and boundary conditions. The genus curves for these simulated slices are spongelike and have a small shift in the direction of a meatball topology like those of observed slices.

"Lomonosov" Satellite—Space Observatory to Study Extreme Phenomena in Space

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sadovnichii, V. A.; Panasyuk, M. I.; Amelyushkin, A. M.; Bogomolov, V. V.; Benghin, V. V.; Garipov, G. K.; Kalegaev, V. V.; Klimov, P. A.; Khrenov, B. A.; Petrov, V. L.; Sharakin, S. A.; Shirokov, A. V.; Svertilov, S. I.; Zotov, M. Y.; Yashin, I. V.; Gorbovskoy, E. S.; Lipunov, V. M.; Park, I. H.; Lee, J.; Jeong, S.; Kim, M. B.; Jeong, H. M.; Shprits, Y. Y.; Angelopoulos, V.; Russell, C. T.; Runov, A.; Turner, D.; Strangeway, R. J.; Caron, R.; Biktemerova, S.; Grinyuk, A.; Lavrova, M.; Tkachev, L.; Tkachenko, A.; Martinez, O.; Salazar, H.; Ponce, E.

2017-11-01

The "Lomonosov" space project is lead by Lomonosov Moscow State University in collaboration with the following key partners: Joint Institute for Nuclear Research, Russia, University of California, Los Angeles (USA), University of Pueblo (Mexico), Sungkyunkwan University (Republic of Korea) and with Russian space industry organizations to study some of extreme phenomena in space related to astrophysics, astroparticle physics, space physics, and space biology. The primary goals of this experiment are to study: Ultra-high energy cosmic rays (UHECR) in the energy range of the Greizen-Zatsepin-Kuzmin (GZK) cutoff; Ultraviolet (UV) transient luminous events in the upper atmosphere; Multi-wavelength study of gamma-ray bursts in visible, UV, gamma, and X-rays; Energetic trapped and precipitated radiation (electrons and protons) at low-Earth orbit (LEO) in connection with global geomagnetic disturbances; Multicomponent radiation doses along the orbit of spacecraft under different geomagnetic conditions and testing of space segments of optical observations of space-debris and other space objects; Instrumental vestibular-sensor conflict of zero-gravity phenomena during space flight. This paper is directed towards the general description of both scientific goals of the project and scientific equipment on board the satellite. The following papers of this issue are devoted to detailed descriptions of scientific instruments.

76 FR 17819 - Proposed Information Collection; Comment Request; Direct Investment Surveys: BE-15, Annual Survey...

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2011-03-31

... universe of U.S. affiliates collected once every five years on the BE-12 benchmark survey. The survey forms... that subsequently entered the direct investment universe. The BE-15 is a sample survey, as described; universe estimates are developed from the reported sample data. III. Data OMB Control Number: 0608-0034...

A Comparison of Factors Related to University Students' Learning: College-Transfer and Direct-Entry from High School Students

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Acai, Anita; Newton, Genevieve

2015-01-01

Articulation agreements between colleges and universities, whereby students with two-year college diplomas can receive advancement toward a four-year university degree, are provincially mandated in some Canadian provinces and highly encouraged in others. In this study, we compared learning in college transfer and direct-entry from high school…

A theoretical modeling of photocurrent generation and decay in layered MoS2 thin-film transistor photosensors

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hur, Ji-Hyun; Park, Junghak; Jeon, Sanghun

2017-02-01

A model that universally describes the characteristics of photocurrent in molybdenum disulphide (MoS2) thin-film transistor (TFT) photosensors in both ‘light on’ and ‘light off’ conditions is presented for the first time. We considered possible material-property dependent carrier generation and recombination mechanisms in layered MoS2 channels with different numbers of layers. We propose that the recombination rates that are mainly composed of direct band-to-band recombination and interface trap-involved recombination change on changing the light condition and the number of layers. By comparing the experimental results, it is shown that the model performs well in describing the photocurrent behaviors of MoS2 TFT photosensors, including the photocurrent generation under illumination and a hugely long time persistent trend of the photocurrent decay in the dark condition, for a range of MoS2 layer numbers.

Self-Directed Learning Readiness among Undergraduate Students at Saudi Electronic University in Saudi Arabia

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Alfaifi, Mousa S.

2016-01-01

This study aimed to determine the level of self-directed learning readiness (SDLR) among undergraduate students at Saudi Electronic University in Saudi Arabia. Also, investigated were potential relationships between the level of self-directed learning readiness and selected demographic variables such as gender and specific college within the…

The Organization of Future Translators' Self-Directed Learning at US Universities

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Nakonechna, Alyona

2017-01-01

The article deals with studying the peculiarities in the organization of future translators' self-directed learning at US universities. It has been stated that various researches on the problem prove the underestimation of self-directed learning that leads to insufficient professional competency of future translators. It has been found out that to…

Predicting Binary Black Hole Collisions Using Numerical Methods in Collaboration with LIGO

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Afshari, Nousha; Lovelace, Geoffrey

2015-04-01

Detecting astronomical gravitational waves will soon open a new window on the universe. The effects of gravitational waves have already been seen indirectly, but a direct observation of these waves will test Einstein's theory of general relativity under the most extreme conditions. The Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory, or LIGO, will soon begin searching for gravitational waves, and the first direct detections are likely in the next few years. To help LIGO detect as many gravitational waves as possible, a major research effort is underway to accurately predict the expected waves. In this presentation, I will discuss new supercomputer simulations of merging black holes--some of the brightest sources of gravitational waves--that I have completed using the Spectral Einstein Code (http://www.black-holes.org/SpEC.html).

The AC photovoltaic module is here!

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Strong, Steven J.; Wohlgemuth, John H.; Wills, Robert H.

1997-02-01

This paper describes the design, development, and performance results of a large-area photovoltaic module whose electrical output is ac power suitable for direct connection to the utility grid. The large-area ac PV module features a dedicated, integrally mounted, high-efficiency dc-to-ac power inverter with a nominal output of 250 watts (STC) at 120 Vac, 60 H, that is fully compatible with utility power. The module's output is connected directly to the building's conventional ac distribution system without need for any dc wiring, string combiners, dc ground-fault protection or additional power-conditioning equipment. With its advantages, the ac photovoltaic module promises to become a universal building block for use in all utility-interactive PV systems. This paper discusses AC Module design aspects and utility interface issues (including islanding).

Investigation of the air pollutant distribution over Northeast Asia using Models-3/CMAQ

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kim, J. Y.; Ghim, Y. S.; Won, J.-G.; Yoon, S.-C.; Woo, J.-H.

2003-04-01

Northeast Asia is one of the most densely populated areas in the world. Huge amount of air pollutants emitted in the area is transported to the east along with prevailing westerlies. In spring of Northeast Asia, migratory anticyclones are frequent. Transport and distribution of air pollutants can be substantially altered according to the locations of anticyclones. In this work, two different synoptic meteorological conditions associated with different locations of anticyclones in May 1999 were identified. The distributions of gaseous and particulate pollutants in these meteorological conditions were predicted and compared. Models-3/CMAQ (USEPA Models-3/Community Multi-scale Air Quality) and MM5 (PSU/NCAR Mesoscale Modeling System) were used to predict air quality and meteorology, respectively. The modeling domain was 5,184 km x 3,456 km centering on the Korean Peninsula (130o N, 40o E). The grid size was 108 km x 108 km and the number of grids was 48 in the west-east direction and 32 in the south-north direction. The number of layers in the vertical direction was six to the height of 500 hPa. Emission data were taken from the Center for Global and Regional Environmental Research, University of Iowa for anthropogenic emissions and from GEIA (Global Emissions Inventory Activity) for biogenic emissions. The GDAPS (Global Data Assimilation and Prediction System) data of six-hour intervals were used for initial and boundary conditions of MM5.

Influence of Background Noise Produced in University Facilities on the Brain Waves Associated With Attention of Students and Employees.

PubMed

Trista N-Hernández, E; Pav On-García, I; Campos-Cantón, I; Ontaño N-García, L J; Kolosovas-Machuca, E S

2017-09-01

As a consequence of noise exposure, lack of attention badly affects directly the academic and work performance. The study of the brain and the waves that it produces is the most objective way to evaluate this process. Attentional improvement is associated with increases of the amplitude in both beta and theta bands. The objective of this work is to study the influence of background noise produced inside university facilities on changes in the cerebral waves related to attention processes (beta 13-30 Hz and theta 4-7 Hz). Volunteers were asked to perform a specific task in which attention was involved. This task was performed in both silent and noisy conditions. To evaluate the cerebral activity of volunteers during the development of the test, measurement of spontaneous activity (electroencephalogram) was developed. The results show significant decreases in both beta and theta frequency bands under background noise exposure. Since attentional improvement is related to an increment on amplitude of both beta and theta bands, it is suggested that decreases on amplitude of these frequency bands could directly be related to a lack of attention caused by the exposure to background noise.

Development of suicidality within socioeconomic context: mediation effect of parental control and anomie.

PubMed

Heydari, Arash; Teymoori, Ali; Nasiri, Hedayat

Despite some scientific research on suicide as one of the most serious social and mental health problems in Iran, there is still lack of research on the effective structural and socio-familial factors contributing to the issue in Iran. The purpose of this study is to investigate some of the effective variables conditioning suicidality while also establishing a synthetic model. Three hundred-fifty university students (165 males, 185 females) were randomly chosen from Shahid Chamran University, Ahvaz, Iran. The participants were asked to complete a package of self-report questionnaires including subjective socioeconomic status (SES), feeling of anomie, perceived parental control, and suicidality. The results show that all correlations among variables are significant. For testing the theoretical model, results of standardized regression coefficients suggest that SES has direct effect on suicidality and indirect effect via anomie and parental control. In addition, parental control has direct effects on suicidality and indirect effect via anomie as well. The findings confirm the expected paths hypothesized among variables which are consistent with the theories of Durkheim, Merton, Kohn, and Agnew. It implies that the development of suicidality takes place within socioeconomic context through the influence of parental control and feeling of anomie.

Directed polymers versus directed percolation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Halpin-Healy, Timothy

1998-10-01

Universality plays a central role within the rubric of modern statistical mechanics, wherein an insightful continuum formulation rises above irrelevant microscopic details, capturing essential scaling behaviors. Nevertheless, occasions do arise where the lattice or another discrete aspect can constitute a formidable legacy. Directed polymers in random media, along with its close sibling, directed percolation, provide an intriguing case in point. Indeed, the deep blood relation between these two models may have sabotaged past efforts to fully characterize the Kardar-Parisi-Zhang universality class, to which the directed polymer belongs.

The drive for universal healthcare in South Africa: views from private general practitioners.

PubMed

Surender, Rebecca; Van Niekerk, Robert; Hannah, Bridget; Allan, Lucie; Shung-King, Maylene

2015-07-01

To address problems of inadequate public health services, escalating private healthcare costs and widening health inequalities, the South Africa (SA) Government has launched a bold new proposal to introduce a universal, comprehensive and integrated system for all SAs; National Health Insurance. Though attention has been devoted to the economics of universal coverage less attention has been paid to other potential challenges, in particular the important role played by the clinicians tasked with implementing the reforms. However, historical and comparative analysis reveals that whenever health systems undergo radical reform, the medical profession is instrumental in determining its nature and outcomes. Moreover, early indications suggest many SA private general practitioners (GPs) are opposed to the measures--and it is not yet known whether they will comply with the proposals. This study therefore analyses the dynamics and potential success of the reforms by directly examining the perceptions of the SA medical profession, in particular private-sector GPs. It draws on a conceptual framework which argues that understanding human motivation and behaviour is essential for the successful design of social policy. Seventy-six interviews were conducted with clinicians in the Eastern Cape Province in 2012. The findings suggest that the SA government will face significant challenges in garnering the support of private GPs. Concerns revolved around remuneration, state control, increased workload, clinical autonomy and diminished quality of care and working conditions. Although there were as yet few signs of mobilization or agency by private clinicians in the policy process, the findings suggests that it will be important for the government to directly address their concerns in order to ensure a stable transition and successful implementation of the reforms. Published by Oxford University Press in association with The London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine © The Author 2014; all rights reserved.

A nano universal joint made from curved double-walled carbon nanotubes

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

Cai, Kun; Cai, Haifang; Shi, Jiao

2015-06-15

A nano universal joint is constructed from curved double-wall carbon nanotubes with a short outer tube as stator and a long inner tube as a rotor. When one end of the rotor is driven (by a rotary motor) to rotate, the same rotational speed but with different rotational direction will be induced at the other end of the rotor. This mechanism makes the joint useful for designing a flexible nanodevice with an adjustable output rotational signal. The motion transmission effect of the universal joint is analyzed using a molecular dynamics simulation approach. In particular, the effects of three factors aremore » investigated. The first factor is the curvature of the stator, which produces a different rotational direction of the rotor at the output end. The second is the bonding conditions of carbon atoms on the adjacent tube ends of the motor and the rotor, sp{sup 1} or sp{sup 2} atoms, which create different attraction between the motor and the rotor. The third is the rotational speed of the motor, which can be considered as the input signal of the universal joint. It is noted that the rotor's rotational speed is usually the same as that of the motor when the carbon atoms on the adjacent ends of the motor and the rotor are sp{sup 1} carbon atoms. When they become the new sp{sup 2} atoms, the rotor experiences a jump in rotational speed from a lower value to that of the motor. The mechanism of drops in potential of the motor is revealed. If the carbon atoms on the adjacent ends are sp{sup 2} atoms, the rotor rotates more slowly than the motor, whereas the rotational speed is stable when driven by a higher speed motor.« less

A nano universal joint made from curved double-walled carbon nanotubes

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Cai, Kun; Cai, Haifang; Shi, Jiao; Qin, Qing H.

2015-06-01

A nano universal joint is constructed from curved double-wall carbon nanotubes with a short outer tube as stator and a long inner tube as a rotor. When one end of the rotor is driven (by a rotary motor) to rotate, the same rotational speed but with different rotational direction will be induced at the other end of the rotor. This mechanism makes the joint useful for designing a flexible nanodevice with an adjustable output rotational signal. The motion transmission effect of the universal joint is analyzed using a molecular dynamics simulation approach. In particular, the effects of three factors are investigated. The first factor is the curvature of the stator, which produces a different rotational direction of the rotor at the output end. The second is the bonding conditions of carbon atoms on the adjacent tube ends of the motor and the rotor, sp1 or sp2 atoms, which create different attraction between the motor and the rotor. The third is the rotational speed of the motor, which can be considered as the input signal of the universal joint. It is noted that the rotor's rotational speed is usually the same as that of the motor when the carbon atoms on the adjacent ends of the motor and the rotor are sp1 carbon atoms. When they become the new sp2 atoms, the rotor experiences a jump in rotational speed from a lower value to that of the motor. The mechanism of drops in potential of the motor is revealed. If the carbon atoms on the adjacent ends are sp2 atoms, the rotor rotates more slowly than the motor, whereas the rotational speed is stable when driven by a higher speed motor.

DSMC Computations for Regions of Shock/Shock and Shock/Boundary Layer Interaction

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Moss, James N.

2001-01-01

This paper presents the results of a numerical study of hypersonic interacting flows at flow conditions that include those for which experiments have been conducted in the Calspan-University of Buffalo Research Center (CUBRC) Large Energy National Shock (LENS) tunnel and the ONERA R5Ch low-density wind tunnel. The computations are made with the direct simulation Monte Carlo (DSMC) method of Bird. The focus is on Mach 9.3 to 11.4 flows about flared axisymmetric configurations, both hollow cylinder flares and double cones. The results presented highlight the sensitivity of the calculations to grid resolution, provide results concerning the conditions for incipient separation, and provide information concerning the flow structure and surface results for the extent of separation, heating, pressure, and skin friction.

Response solutions and quasi-periodic degenerate bifurcations for quasi-periodically forced systems

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Si, Wen; Si, Jianguo

2018-06-01

This paper includes two parts. In the first part, we first focus on quasi-periodic time dependent perturbations of one-dimensional quasi-periodically forced systems with degenerate equilibrium. We study the system in two cases, for one of which system admits a response solution under a non-resonant condition on the frequency vector weaker than Brjuno–Rüssmann’s and for another of which system also admits a response solution without any non-resonant conditions. Next, we investigate the existence of response solutions of a quasi-periodic perturbed system with degenerate (including completely degenerate) equilibrium under Brjuno–Rüssmann’s non-resonant condition by using the Herman method. In the second part, we consider, firstly, the quasi-periodic perturbation of a universal unfolding of one-dimensional degenerate vector field . Secondly, we consider the perturbation of a universal unfolding of normal two-dimensional Hamiltonian system with completely degenerate equilibrium. With KAM theory and singularity theory, we show that these two classes of universal unfolding can persist on large Cantor sets under Brjuno–Rüssmann’s non-resonant condition, which implies all the invariant tori in the integrable part and all the bifurcation scenario can survive on large Cantor sets. The result for Hamiltonian system can apply directly to the response context for quasi-periodically forced systems. Our results in this paper can be regarded as an improvement with respect to several results in various literature (Broer et al 2005 Nonlinearity 18 1735–69 Broer et al 2006 J. Differ. Equ. 222 233–62 Wagener 2005 J. Differ. Equ. 216 216–81 Xu 2010 J. Differ. Equ. 250 551–71 Xu and Jiang 2010 Ergod. Theor. Dynam. Syst. 31 599–611 Lu and Xu 2014 Nonlinear Differ. Equ. Appl. 21 361–70). This work was partially supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant Nos. 11171185, 11571201).

To evaluate and compare the efficacy, cleaning ability of hand and two rotary systems in root canal retreatment.

PubMed

Shivanand, Sunita; Patil, Chetan R; Thangala, Venugopal; Kumar, Pabbati Ravi; Sachdeva, Jyoti; Krishna, Akash

2013-05-01

To evaluate and compare the efficacy, cleaning ability of hand and two rotary systems in root canal retreatment. Sixty extracted premolars were retreated with following systems: Group -ProTaper Universal retreatment files, Group 2-ProFile system, Group 3-H-file. Specimens were split longitudinally and amount of remaining gutta-percha on the canal walls was assessed using direct visual scoring with the aid of stereomicroscope. Results were statistically analyzed using ANOVA test. Completely clean root canal walls were not achieved with any of the techniques investigated. However, all three systems proved to be effective for gutta-percha removal. Significant difference was found between ProTaper universal retreatment file and H-file, and also between ProFile and H-file. Under the conditions of the present study, ProTaper Universal retreatment files left significantly less guttapercha and sealer than ProFile and H-file. Rotary systems in combination with gutta-percha solvents can perform superiorly as compared to the time tested traditional hand instrumentation in root canal retreatment.

Universalism under siege? Exploring the association between targeting, child benefits and child poverty across 26 countries.

PubMed

Van Lancker, Wim; Van Mechelen, Natascha

2015-03-01

The long-standing wisdom that universally designed benefits outperform targeted benefits in terms of poverty reduction has come under siege. Recent empirical studies tend to find that targeting is not necessarily associated anymore with lower levels of poverty reduction. In this study, we investigate for a broad set of European countries (1) the relationship between child benefits and child poverty reduction; (2) whether a universal or targeted approach is more effective in reducing child poverty; and (3) the causal mechanisms explaining the link between (1) and (2). In doing so, we take into account the general characteristics of the child benefit system, the size of the redistributive budget and the generosity of benefit levels. In contrast to previous studies, we construct an indicator of targeting that captures the design instead of the outcomes of child benefit systems. We find that targeting towards lower incomes is associated with higher levels of child poverty reduction, conditional on the direction of targeting and the characteristics of the benefit system. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

300 GeV Observations of Unidentified EGRET Sources. A Search for TeV Counterparts to BATSE Gamma-ray Bursts

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Weekes, Trevor C.

1998-01-01

There are few things more intriguing in high energy astrophysics than the study of the highest energy particles in the universe. Where and how these particles achieve their extreme energies is of interest not only to the astrophysicist but also to the particle physicist. At GeV and TeV energies the problem is manageable since the physics is known and the acceleration processes feasible. But the energy spectrum extends to 10(exp 20)Ev and there the problem of their origin is both more difficult and interesting; in fact at these high energies we do not even know what the particles are. The study of the origin and distribution of relativistic particles in the universe has been a challenge for more than 80 years but it is only in recent years that the technology has become available to really address the question. Although something can be learned from studies of composition and energy spectrum, the origins (and thence the acceleration mechanisms) can only come from the direct study of the neutral particle component (in this respect the highest energy particles are effectively neutral since they are virtually undeflected). The feasible channels of investigation are therefore the study of the arrival directions of: (1) TeV photons (covered by the following U.S. experiments: STACEE, Whipple/VERITAS, MILAGRO and, to some extent, by EGRET/GLAST); (2) neutrinos of TeV energy and above (AMANDA/KM3); (3) the highest energy cosmic rays (HiRes, Auger). While these studies represent a form of astronomy they are the astronomy of the extraordinary universe, the universe populated by the most dynamic and physically exciting objects, the universe of the high energy astrophysicist whose cosmic laboratories represent conditions beyond anything that can be duplicated in a terrestrial laboratory. This extraordinary astronomy may say little about the normal evolution of stars and galaxies but it opens windows into cosmic particle acceleration where new and strange physical processes take place.

[On practicability of implementing the speciality "podiatry" in traumatology and orthopedics].

PubMed

2011-01-01

The absence of single opinion concerning the classification of foot and ankle joint pathology does not permit to formulate universal and practical approach to the identification of pathological syndromes in case of patient foot lesion. The situation is aggravated by the unsolved issues related to the terminological definition of podiatry as a direction in orthopedics to solve the issues of foot and ankle joint pathology. In actual conditions the implementation of new technologies into the structure of traumatological orthopedics care is needed. This approach permits to combine the qualities of models of effective and optimized care to patients with foot and ankle joint pathology. The study of issue related to the systematization of podiatric pathology revealed that actually no single universal classification easy-to-use in practice exists. Hence the development of original applied working scheme of foot and ankle joint pathology is proposed.

Dielectric spectroscopy of polymer-metal composites across the percolation threshold

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Panda, Maheswar; Srinivas, V.; Thakur, A. K.

2014-11-01

Polymer (polar/nonpolar)/metal composites (PMC) were prepared under different process conditions. In polar PMC, dipolar relaxation plays a predominant role below percolation threshold (fc) and anomalous low frequency dispersion (ALFD) becomes dominant above fc while ALFD is the only likely possibility for nonpolar PMC above fc. The magnitude of relaxation exponents "m", "p" and "n", evaluated from the experimental results using Jonscher's universal dielectric response (JUDR) laws, falls within the universal limit [0, 1] with additional feature of strong dependence on volume fraction of conductor (fcon). The decrease in the relaxation exponent "m" with an increase of fcon is directly linked with decrease in the number of dipoles of the polymer in the composite and is accompanied by a distribution of relaxation time due to increased heterogeneity of the system. The magnitude of the relaxation exponent "n" decreases at fc, due to the prevalence of Maxwell-Wagner-Sillar polarization contributed by uncorrelated electrons.

Searching for axion stars and Q-balls with a terrestrial magnetometer network

DOE PAGES

Jackson Kimball, D. F.; Budker, D.; Eby, J.; ...

2018-02-08

Light (pseudo-)scalar fields are promising candidates to be the dark matter in the Universe. Under certain initial conditions in the early Universe and/or with certain types of self-interactions, they can form compact dark-matter objects such as axion stars or Q-balls. Direct encounters with such objects can be searched for by using a global network of atomic magnetometers. It is shown that for a range of masses and radii not ruled out by existing observations, the terrestrial encounter rate with axion stars or Q-balls can be sufficiently high (at least once per year) for a detection. Furthermore, it is shown thatmore » a global network of atomic magnetometers is sufficiently sensitive to pseudoscalar couplings to atomic spins so that a transit through an axion star or Q-ball could be detected over a broad range of unexplored parameter space.« less

Searching for axion stars and Q -balls with a terrestrial magnetometer network

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Jackson Kimball, D. F.; Budker, D.; Eby, J.; Pospelov, M.; Pustelny, S.; Scholtes, T.; Stadnik, Y. V.; Weis, A.; Wickenbrock, A.

2018-02-01

Light (pseudo-)scalar fields are promising candidates to be the dark matter in the Universe. Under certain initial conditions in the early Universe and/or with certain types of self-interactions, they can form compact dark-matter objects such as axion stars or Q -balls. Direct encounters with such objects can be searched for by using a global network of atomic magnetometers. It is shown that for a range of masses and radii not ruled out by existing observations, the terrestrial encounter rate with axion stars or Q -balls can be sufficiently high (at least once per year) for a detection. Furthermore, it is shown that a global network of atomic magnetometers is sufficiently sensitive to pseudoscalar couplings to atomic spins so that a transit through an axion star or Q -ball could be detected over a broad range of unexplored parameter space.

Searching for axion stars and Q-balls with a terrestrial magnetometer network

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

Jackson Kimball, D. F.; Budker, D.; Eby, J.

Light (pseudo-)scalar fields are promising candidates to be the dark matter in the Universe. Under certain initial conditions in the early Universe and/or with certain types of self-interactions, they can form compact dark-matter objects such as axion stars or Q-balls. Direct encounters with such objects can be searched for by using a global network of atomic magnetometers. It is shown that for a range of masses and radii not ruled out by existing observations, the terrestrial encounter rate with axion stars or Q-balls can be sufficiently high (at least once per year) for a detection. Furthermore, it is shown thatmore » a global network of atomic magnetometers is sufficiently sensitive to pseudoscalar couplings to atomic spins so that a transit through an axion star or Q-ball could be detected over a broad range of unexplored parameter space.« less

Preliminary Evidence That Excitatory Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation Extends Time to Task Failure of a Sustained, Submaximal Muscular Contraction in Older Adults.

PubMed

Oki, Kentaro; Mahato, Niladri K; Nakazawa, Masato; Amano, Shinichi; France, Christopher R; Russ, David W; Clark, Brian C

2016-08-01

Decreased cortical excitability has been proposed as a potential mechanism underlying task failure during sustained muscular contractions, and cortical excitability may decrease with old age. We tested the hypothesis that transcranial direct current stimulation, which has been reported to raise cortical excitability, would prolong the time to task failure during a sustained muscular contraction in older adults. Thirteen older adults (68.3±2.0 years; eight women and five men) performed isometric, elbow flexions to failure while receiving sham or anodal transcranial direct current stimulation. Order of stimulation was randomized, and the subjects and investigators were blinded to condition. Time to task failure was measured alongside selected psychological indices of perceived exertion and affect. Anodal transcranial direct current stimulation prolonged mean time to task failure by approximately 15% (16.9±2.2 vs 14.7±1.8 minutes) and slowed the rate of increase in rating of perceived exertion (0.29±0.03 vs 0.31±0.03) relative to the sham condition. These preliminary findings suggest that anodal transcranial direct current stimulation enhances time to task failure of a sustained, submaximal contraction in older adults by potentially increasing cortical excitability and/or influencing the perception of exertion. These results raise the question of whether interventions that acutely increase cortical excitability could enhance physical function and/or exercise-induced adaptations in older adults. © The Author 2016. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of The Gerontological Society of America. All rights reserved. For permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oup.com.

Modeling the characteristics of wheel/rail rolling noise

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lui, Wai Keung; Li, Kai Ming; Frommer, Glenn H.

2005-04-01

To study the sound radiation characteristics of a passing train, four sets of noise measurements for different train operational conditions have been conducted at three different sites, including ballast tracks at grade and railway on a concrete viaduct. The time histories computed by the horizontal radiation models were compared with the measured noise profiles. The measured sound exposure levels are used to deduce the vertical directivity pattern for different railway systems. It is found that the vertical directivity of different railway systems shows a rather similar pattern. The vertical directivity of train noise is shown to increase up to about 30× before reducing to a minimum at 90×. A multipole expansion model is proposed to account for the vertical radiation directivity of the train noise. An empirical formula, which has been derived, compares well with the experimental data. The empirical model is found to be applicable to different train/rail systems at train speeds ranging up to 120 km/h in this study. [Work supported by MTR Corporation Ltd., Innovation Technology Commission of the HKSAR Government and The Hong Kong Polytechnic University.

Self-Reported and Network Scale-Up Estimates of Substance Use Prevalence among University Students in Kerman, Iran.

PubMed

Zahedi, Razieh; Noroozi, Alireza; Hajebi, Ahmad; Haghdoost, Ali Akbar; Baneshi, Mohammad Reza; Sharifi, Hamid; Mirzazadeh, Ali

2018-04-30

This study aimed to estimate the prevalence of substance use among university students measured by direct and indirect methods, and to calculate the visibility factor (VF) defined as ratio of indirect to direct estimates of substance use prevalence. A cross-sectional study. Using a multistage non-random sampling approach, we recruited 2157 students from three universities in Kerman, Iran, in 2016. We collected data on substance use by individual face-to-face interview using direct (i.e. self-report of their own behaviors) and indirect (NSU: Network scale up) methods. All estimates from direct and indirect methods were weighted based on inverse probability weight of sampling university. The response rate was 83.6%. The last year prevalence of water pipe, alcohol, and cigarettes indirect method was 44.6%, 18.1%, and 13.2% respectively. Corresponding figures in NSU analysis were 36.4%, 18.2%, and 16.5% respectively. In the female population, VF for all types of substance was less than male. Considerable numbers of university students used substances like a water pipe, alcohol, and cigarettes. NSU seems a promising method, especially among male students. Among female students, direct method provided more reliable results mainly due to transmission and prestige biases.

Scan Directed Load Balancing for Highly-Parallel Mesh-Connected Computers

DTIC Science & Technology

1991-07-01

DTIC ~ ELECTE OCT 2 41991 AD-A242 045 Scan Directed Load Balancing for Highly-Parallel Mesh-Connected Computers’ Edoardo S. Biagioni Jan F. Prins...Department of Computer Science University of North Carolina Chapel Hill, N.C. 27599-3175 USA biagioni @cs.unc.edu prinsOcs.unc.edu Abstract Scan Directed...MasPar Computer Corpora- tion. Bibliography [1] Edoardo S. Biagioni . Scan Directed Load Balancing. PhD thesis., University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill

The Direct and Indirect Economic Impact of UTK [University of Tennessee, Knoxville] on the Knoxville Area, 1971-1972. Volume 13, Number 80.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Moore, John R.; Ericksen, Craig G.

In recent years colleges and universities have undertaken programs designed to interpret themselves to the larger community on an unprecedented scale. It is clear that the University of Tennessee is an important economic force on the local economy, accounting for some $123,787,021 in direct and $42,235,596 in indirect income created for a total…

Two-dimensional fracture analysis of piezoelectric material based on the scaled boundary node method

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Shen-Shen, Chen; Juan, Wang; Qing-Hua, Li

2016-04-01

A scaled boundary node method (SBNM) is developed for two-dimensional fracture analysis of piezoelectric material, which allows the stress and electric displacement intensity factors to be calculated directly and accurately. As a boundary-type meshless method, the SBNM employs the moving Kriging (MK) interpolation technique to an approximate unknown field in the circumferential direction and therefore only a set of scattered nodes are required to discretize the boundary. As the shape functions satisfy Kronecker delta property, no special techniques are required to impose the essential boundary conditions. In the radial direction, the SBNM seeks analytical solutions by making use of analytical techniques available to solve ordinary differential equations. Numerical examples are investigated and satisfactory solutions are obtained, which validates the accuracy and simplicity of the proposed approach. Project supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant Nos. 11462006 and 21466012), the Foundation of Jiangxi Provincial Educational Committee, China (Grant No. KJLD14041), and the Foundation of East China Jiaotong University, China (Grant No. 09130020).

Gingival condition and tooth-brushing behavior after alcohol consumption.

PubMed

Mizutani, S; Ekuni, D; Tomofuji, T; Yamane, M; Azuma, T; Iwasaki, Y; Morita, M

2015-08-01

Various studies have reported the relationship between alcohol consumption and gingival condition. However, they focus on the direct effects of alcohol consumption or alcohol sensitivity on gingival condition, and it is unclear how oral health behaviors relate these relationships. The aims of this study were to assess the inter-relationships between gingival condition, tooth-brushing behavior after drinking alcohol and alcohol sensitivity in university students who drink more than once per week on average. A total of 808 students (541 males, 267 females) that habitually consume alcohol were analyzed. The disease activity of gingival condition was assessed as the percentage of bleeding on probing (%BOP). Additional information regarding alcohol sensitivity and oral health behaviors, including tooth-brushing behavior after drinking, were also collected. Thirteen percent of the current participants reported neglecting tooth-brushing after drinking, and their alcohol consumption was higher than those who did not neglect tooth-brushing. Logistic regression analysis showed that high %BOP (%BOP ≥ 20) was associated with male (OR = 1.53; 95% CI, 1.01-2.33), neglect of tooth-brushing after drinking (OR = 2.60; 95% CI, 1.20-5.61) and debris index (OR = 8.38; 95% CI, 4.24-16.60) in participants with low alcohol sensitivity. In participants with high alcohol sensitivity, high %BOP was associated with debris index (OR = 7.60; 95% CI, 3.12-18.51), but not with any oral health behaviors. The study revealed that alcohol consumption was indirectly related to gingival disease activity through the neglect of tooth-brushing after drinking alcohol in university students with low alcohol sensitivity. © 2014 John Wiley & Sons A/S. Published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

A Neural Mechanism for Nonconscious Activation of Conditioned Placebo and Nocebo Responses.

PubMed

Jensen, Karin B; Kaptchuk, Ted J; Chen, Xiaoyan; Kirsch, Irving; Ingvar, Martin; Gollub, Randy L; Kong, Jian

2015-10-01

Fundamental aspects of human behavior operate outside of conscious awareness. Yet, theories of conditioned responses in humans, such as placebo and nocebo effects on pain, have a strong emphasis on conscious recognition of contextual cues that trigger the response. Here, we investigated the neural pathways involved in nonconscious activation of conditioned pain responses, using functional magnetic resonance imaging in healthy participants. Nonconscious compared with conscious activation of conditioned placebo analgesia was associated with increased activation of the orbitofrontal cortex, a structure with direct connections to affective brain regions and basic reward processing. During nonconscious nocebo, there was increased activation of the thalamus, amygdala, and hippocampus. In contrast to previous assumptions about conditioning in humans, our results show that conditioned pain responses can be elicited independently of conscious awareness and our results suggest a hierarchical activation of neural pathways for nonconscious and conscious conditioned responses. Demonstrating that the human brain has a nonconscious mechanism for responding to conditioned cues has major implications for the role of associative learning in behavioral medicine and psychiatry. Our results may also open up for novel approaches to translational animal-to-human research since human consciousness and animal cognition is an inherent paradox in all behavioral science. © The Author 2014. Published by Oxford University Press.

BC University Outcomes for Direct Entry and Transfer Students: Comparison of the Class of 2000 and Class of 1996 Five Years after Graduation. Research Results

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Karlinski, Jean

2007-01-01

The University of British Columbia's Planning and Institutional Research office prepared a research report for the BC Council on Admissions and Transfer (BCCAT) on the BC university graduating class of 1996 five years later. The report compared the outcomes for those students who were admitted to SFU, UBC, UNBC, and UVic as BC direct entry with…

Accuracy of ICD-10 Coding System for Identifying Comorbidities and Infectious Conditions Using Data from a Thai University Hospital Administrative Database.

PubMed

Rattanaumpawan, Pinyo; Wongkamhla, Thanyarak; Thamlikitkul, Visanu

2016-04-01

To determine the accuracy of International Statistical Classification of Disease and Related Health Problems, 10th Revision (ICD-10) coding system in identifying comorbidities and infectious conditions using data from a Thai university hospital administrative database. A retrospective cross-sectional study was conducted among patients hospitalized in six general medicine wards at Siriraj Hospital. ICD-10 code data was identified and retrieved directly from the hospital administrative database. Patient comorbidities were captured using the ICD-10 coding algorithm for the Charlson comorbidity index. Infectious conditions were captured using the groups of ICD-10 diagnostic codes that were carefully prepared by two independent infectious disease specialists. Accuracy of ICD-10 codes combined with microbiological dataf or diagnosis of urinary tract infection (UTI) and bloodstream infection (BSI) was evaluated. Clinical data gathered from chart review was considered the gold standard in this study. Between February 1 and May 31, 2013, a chart review of 546 hospitalization records was conducted. The mean age of hospitalized patients was 62.8 ± 17.8 years and 65.9% of patients were female. Median length of stay [range] was 10.0 [1.0-353.0] days and hospital mortality was 21.8%. Conditions with ICD-10 codes that had good sensitivity (90% or higher) were diabetes mellitus and HIV infection. Conditions with ICD-10 codes that had good specificity (90% or higher) were cerebrovascular disease, chronic lung disease, diabetes mellitus, cancer HIV infection, and all infectious conditions. By combining ICD-10 codes with microbiological results, sensitivity increased from 49.5 to 66%for UTI and from 78.3 to 92.8%for BS. The ICD-10 coding algorithm is reliable only in some selected conditions, including underlying diabetes mellitus and HIV infection. Combining microbiological results with ICD-10 codes increased sensitivity of ICD-10 codes for identifying BSI. Future research is needed to improve the accuracy of hospital administrative coding system in Thailand.

The influence of urban area opacity on biologically active UV-B irradiance

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Chubarova, Nataly; Rozental', Victor

2013-04-01

The study of UV irradiance changes in urban area is an essential problem due to the significant effect of UV irradiance on human health which can be positive (vitamin D synthesis) and negative (erythema, skin cancer, eye damage). According to the results of several experiments within the Moscow megacity we studied the effects of urban area opacity on the different types of biologically active UV-B irradiance on the base of a specially developed mobile photometric complex snd additional measurements of the urban opacity by Nikon Fisheye Converter FC-E8. We analyzed both the level of erythemally-active irradiance and the UV eye damaging radiation using the broadband UVB-1 YES pyranometer calibrated against ultraviolet spectroradiometer Bentham DTM-300 of the Medical University of Innsbruck (courtesy of Dr. M.Blumthaler). In order to estimate the effects of the urban opacity the measurements were normalized on similar measurements at the Meteorological Observatory of Moscow State University with zero opacity. This ratio is defined as an urban radiative transmittance (URT). Different atmospheric conditions were considered. In cloudy conditions the effect of opacity on URT is much less than that in conditions when the sun disk is open from clouds. We revealed some spectral features in transmittance of biologically active UV-B irradiance which is characterized by higher URT variations in overcast cloudy conditions due to more intensive scattering and smaller direct solar radiation component. In the absence of cloudiness the effect of opacity was studied for open and screening solar disk conditions. We obtained much higher URT in UVB spectral region compared with that for total solar irradiance for screening solar disk conditions with a significant URT dependence on the opacity only in UVB spectral region. No URT dependence was obtained for total solar irradiance in these conditions. Some model calculations were fulfilled to match the experimental results.

Variability and Maintenance of Turbulence in the Very Stable Boundary Layer

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Mahrt, Larry

2010-04-01

The relationship of turbulence quantities to mean flow quantities, such as the Richardson number, degenerates substantially for strong stability, at least in those studies that do not place restrictions on minimum turbulence or non-stationarity. This study examines the large variability of the turbulence for very stable conditions by analyzing four months of turbulence data from a site with short grass. Brief comparisons are made with three additional sites, one over short grass on flat terrain and two with tall vegetation in complex terrain. For very stable conditions, any dependence of the turbulence quantities on the mean wind speed or bulk Richardson number becomes masked by large scatter, as found in some previous studies. The large variability of the turbulence quantities is due to random variations and other physical influences not represented by the bulk Richardson number. There is no critical Richardson number above which the turbulence vanishes. For very stable conditions, the record-averaged vertical velocity variance and the drag coefficient increase with the strength of the submeso motions (wave motions, solitary waves, horizontal modes and numerous more complex signatures). The submeso motions are on time scales of minutes and not normally considered part of the mean flow. The generation of turbulence by such unpredictable motions appears to preclude universal similarity theory for predicting the surface stress for very stable conditions. Large variation of the stress direction with respect to the wind direction for the very stable regime is also examined. Needed additional work is noted.

Diagnosing Guerilla Warfare: Was William Clarke Quantrill Missouri’s Francis Marion?

DTIC Science & Technology

2010-04-28

the Military Struggle for American Independence. rev ed. A1m Arbor: University of Michigan Press, 1990. Sutherland , Daniel, ed. Guerillas, Unionists...Directed by Ray Emigh. Universal Intemational Pictures, 1950. The Outlaw Josey Wales. With Clint Eastwood and Sondra Locke. Directed by Clint ...raiding Jayhawkers. 87 The Outlaw Josey Wales. With Clint Eastwood and Sondra Locke. Directed by Clint ·Eastwood. Warner Studios, 1976. In one of

Differential Scanning Calorimetry and Evolved Gas Analysis at Mars Ambient Conditions Using the Thermal Evolved Gas Analyzer (TEGA)

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Musselwhite, D. S.; Boynton, W. V.; Ming, Douglas W.; Quadlander, G.; Kerry, K. E.; Bode, R. C.; Bailey, S. H.; Ward, M. G.; Pathare, A. V.; Lorenz, R. D.

2000-01-01

Differential Scanning Calorimetry (DSC) combined with evolved gas analysis (EGA) is a well developed technique for the analysis of a wide variety of sample types with broad application in material and soil sciences. However, the use of the technique for samples under conditions of pressure and temperature as found on other planets is one of current C development and cutting edge research. The Thermal Evolved Gas Analyzer (MGA), which was designed, built and tested at the University of Arizona's Lunar and Planetary Lab (LPL), utilizes DSC/EGA. TEGA, which was sent to Mars on the ill-fated Mars Polar Lander, was to be the first application of DSC/EGA on the surface of Mars as well as the first direct measurement of the volatile-bearing mineralogy in martian soil.

Promoting proximal formative assessment with relational discourse

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Scherr, Rachel E.; Close, Hunter G.; McKagan, Sarah B.

2012-02-01

The practice of proximal formative assessment - the continual, responsive attention to students' developing understanding as it is expressed in real time - depends on students' sharing their ideas with instructors and on teachers' attending to them. Rogerian psychology presents an account of the conditions under which proximal formative assessment may be promoted or inhibited: (1) Normal classroom conditions, characterized by evaluation and attention to learning targets, may present threats to students' sense of their own competence and value, causing them to conceal their ideas and reducing the potential for proximal formative assessment. (2) In contrast, discourse patterns characterized by positive anticipation and attention to learner ideas increase the potential for proximal formative assessment and promote self-directed learning. We present an analysis methodology based on these principles and demonstrate its utility for understanding episodes of university physics instruction.

Persistent states in vision break universality and time invariance

PubMed Central

Wexler, Mark; Duyck, Marianne; Mamassian, Pascal

2015-01-01

Studies of perception usually emphasize processes that are largely universal across observers and—except for short-term fluctuations—stationary over time. Here we test the universality and stationarity assumptions with two families of ambiguous visual stimuli. Each stimulus can be perceived in two different ways, parameterized by two opposite directions from a continuous circular variable. A large-sample study showed that almost all observers have preferred directions or biases, with directions lying within 90 degrees of the bias direction nearly always perceived and opposite directions almost never perceived. The biases differ dramatically from one observer to the next, and although nearly every bias direction occurs in the population, the population distributions of the biases are nonuniform, featuring asymmetric peaks in the cardinal directions. The biases for the two families of stimuli are independent and have distinct population distributions. Following external perturbations and spontaneous fluctuations, the biases decay over tens of seconds toward their initial values. Persistent changes in the biases are found on time scales of several minutes to 1 hour. On scales of days to months, the biases undergo a variety of dynamical processes such as drifts, jumps, and oscillations. The global statistics of a majority of these long-term time series are well modeled as random walk processes. The measurable fluctuations of these hitherto unknown degrees of freedom show that the assumptions of universality and stationarity in perception may be unwarranted and that models of perception must include both directly observable variables as well as covert, persistent states. PMID:26627250

A recipe for primordial soup

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Kolb, E.

2001-01-01

If the universe emerged from a state of high temperature and high density, we can study the origin of the universe by recreating those conditions in the laboratory. While we can not reproduce the Big Bang, we can recreate its conditions and study the physical processes responsible for producing the rich and varied universe we observe today.

Texas A & M University at Galveston: College and University Computing Environment.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

CAUSE/EFFECT, 1986

1986-01-01

Texas A & M University at Galveston is the only marine and maritime-oriented University in the Southwest. Its computing policy/direction, academic computing, administrative computing, and library automation are described, and hurricance emergency plans are also discussed. (MLW)

Speech Intelligibility in Various Noise Conditions with the Nucleus® 5 CP810 Sound Processor.

PubMed

Dillier, Norbert; Lai, Wai Kong

2015-06-11

The Nucleus(®) 5 System Sound Processor (CP810, Cochlear™, Macquarie University, NSW, Australia) contains two omnidirectional microphones. They can be configured as a fixed directional microphone combination (called Zoom) or as an adaptive beamformer (called Beam), which adjusts the directivity continuously to maximally reduce the interfering noise. Initial evaluation studies with the CP810 had compared performance and usability of the new processor in comparison with the Freedom™ Sound Processor (Cochlear™) for speech in quiet and noise for a subset of the processing options. This study compares the two processing options suggested to be used in noisy environments, Zoom and Beam, for various sound field conditions using a standardized speech in noise matrix test (Oldenburg sentences test). Nine German-speaking subjects who previously had been using the Freedom speech processor and subsequently were upgraded to the CP810 device participated in this series of additional evaluation tests. The speech reception threshold (SRT for 50% speech intelligibility in noise) was determined using sentences presented via loudspeaker at 65 dB SPL in front of the listener and noise presented either via the same loudspeaker (S0N0) or at 90 degrees at either the ear with the sound processor (S0NCI+) or the opposite unaided ear (S0NCI-). The fourth noise condition consisted of three uncorrelated noise sources placed at 90, 180 and 270 degrees. The noise level was adjusted through an adaptive procedure to yield a signal to noise ratio where 50% of the words in the sentences were correctly understood. In spatially separated speech and noise conditions both Zoom and Beam could improve the SRT significantly. For single noise sources, either ipsilateral or contralateral to the cochlear implant sound processor, average improvements with Beam of 12.9 and 7.9 dB in SRT were found. The average SRT of -8 dB for Beam in the diffuse noise condition (uncorrelated noise from both sides and back) is truly remarkable and comparable to the performance of normal hearing listeners in the same test environment. The static directivity (Zoom) option in the diffuse noise condition still provides a significant benefit of 5.9 dB in comparison with the standard omnidirectional microphone setting. These results indicate that CI recipients may improve their speech recognition in noisy environments significantly using these directional microphone-processing options.

Likelihood analysis of supersymmetric SU(5) GUTs

DOE PAGES

Bagnaschi, Emanuele; Costa, J. C.; Sakurai, K.; ...

2017-02-16

Here, we perform a likelihood analysis of the constraints from accelerator experiments and astrophysical observations on supersymmetric (SUSY) models with SU(5) boundary conditions on soft SUSY-breaking parameters at the GUT scale. The parameter space of the models studied has 7 parameters: a universal gaugino massmore » $$m_{1/2}$$, distinct masses for the scalar partners of matter fermions in five- and ten-dimensional representations of SU(5), $$m_5$$ and $$m_{10}$$, and for the $$\\mathbf{5}$$ and $$\\mathbf{\\bar 5}$$ Higgs representations $$m_{H_u}$$ and $$m_{H_d}$$, a universal trilinear soft SUSY-breaking parameter $$A_0$$, and the ratio of Higgs vevs $$\\tan \\beta$$. In addition to previous constraints from direct sparticle searches, low-energy and flavour observables, we incorporate constraints based on preliminary results from 13 TeV LHC searches for jets + MET events and long-lived particles, as well as the latest PandaX-II and LUX searches for direct Dark Matter detection. In addition to previously-identified mechanisms for bringing the supersymmetric relic density into the range allowed by cosmology, we identify a novel $${\\tilde u_R}/{\\tilde c_R} - \\tilde{\\chi}^0_1$$ coannihilation mechanism that appears in the supersymmetric SU(5) GUT model and discuss the role of $${\\tilde \

Effects of Cabin Upsets on Adsorption Columns for Air Revitalization

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

LeVan, M. Douglas

1999-01-01

The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) utilizes adsorption technology as part of contaminant removal systems designed for long term missions. A variety of trace contaminants can be effectively removed from gas streams by adsorption onto activated carbon. An activated carbon adsorption column meets NASA's requirements of a lightweight and efficient means of controlling trace contaminant levels aboard spacecraft and space stations. The activated carbon bed is part of the Trace Contaminant Control System (TCCS) which is utilized to purify the cabin atmosphere. TCCS designs oversize the adsorption columns to account for irregular fluctuations in cabin atmospheric conditions. Variations in the cabin atmosphere include changes in contaminant concentrations, temperature, and relative humidity. Excessively large deviations from typical conditions can result from unusual crew activity, equipment malfunctions, or even fires. The research carried out under this award focussed in detail on the effects of cabin upsets on the performance of activated carbon adsorption columns. Both experiments and modeling were performed with an emphasis on the roll of a change in relative humidity on adsorption of trace contaminants. A flow through fixed-bed apparatus was constructed at the NASA Ames Research Center, and experiments were performed there by W. Scot Appel under the direction of Dr. John E. Finn. Modeling work was performed at the University of Virginia and at Vanderbilt University by W. Scot Appel under the direction of M. Douglas LeVan. All three participants collaborated in all of the various phases of the research. The most comprehensive document describing the research is the Ph.D. dissertation of W. Scot Appel. Results have been published in several papers and presented in talks at technical conferences. All documents have been transmitted to Dr. John E. Finn.

Penrose junction conditions extended: Impulsive waves with gyratons

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Podolský, J.; Švarc, R.; Steinbauer, R.; Sämann, C.

2017-09-01

We generalize the classical junction conditions for constructing impulsive gravitational waves by the Penrose "cut and paste" method. Specifically, we study nonexpanding impulses which propagate in spaces of constant curvature with any value of the cosmological constant (that is, Minkowski, de Sitter, or anti-de Sitter universes) when additional off-diagonal metric components are present. Such components encode a possible angular momentum of the ultrarelativistic source of the impulsive wave—the so-called gyraton. We explicitly derive and analyze a specific transformation that relates the distributional form of the metric to a new form which is (Lipschitz) continuous. Such a transformation automatically implies an extended version of the Penrose junction conditions. It turns out that the conditions for identifying points of the background spacetime across the impulse are the same as in the original Penrose cut and paste construction, but their derivatives now directly represent the influence of the gyraton on the axial motion of test particles. Our results apply both for vacuum and nonvacuum solutions of Einstein's field equations and can also be extended to other theories of gravity.

Thermonuclear reactions probed at stellar-core conditions with laser-based inertial-confinement fusion

DOE PAGES

Casey, D. T.; Sayre, D. B.; Brune, C. R.; ...

2017-08-07

Stars are giant thermonuclear plasma furnaces that slowly fuse the lighter elements in the universe into heavier elements, releasing energy, and generating the pressure required to prevent collapse. To understand stars, we must rely on nuclear reaction rate data obtained, up to now, under conditions very different from those of stellar cores. Here we show thermonuclear measurements of the 2H(d, n) 3He and 3H(t,2n) 4He S-factors at a range of densities (1.2–16 g cm –3) and temperatures (2.1–5.4 keV) that allow us to test the conditions of the hydrogen-burning phase of main-sequence stars. The relevant conditions are created using inertial-confinementmore » fusion implosions at the National Ignition Facility. Here, our data agree within uncertainty with previous accelerator-based measurements and establish this approach for future experiments to measure other reactions and to test plasma-nuclear effects present in stellar interiors, such as plasma electron screening, directly in the environments where they occur.« less

[Tendencies on ability related to competence education when realizing undergraduate public health study system].

PubMed

Sveikauskas, Vaclovas

2006-01-01

The aim of this paper is to reveal tendencies on competence and ability education when realizing undergraduate public health study program in the interaction context of traditional and modern higher education features. Competence is implementation of qualification or the ability to act, conditioned by individual's knowledge, skills, motives, personal characteristics, and values. The integrated competence is necessary for the change of the internal and external work conditions; it is based on the integrity of behavior and knowledge that conditions the essential change of activity. The holistic competence is necessary for a new work development and the transfer of qualification to new situations; it is conditioned by holistic approach toward education. When researching undergraduate public health study program in the context of traditional and modern higher education features at Kaunas University of Medicine, the following problems were stated: insufficient qualities of student's self-analysis, self-directed learning and formation of communication skills; insufficient communication of teachers and students during study process; limited possibilities team work with representatives of other professions when solving problems of public health improvement.

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

Casey, D. T.; Sayre, D. B.; Brune, C. R.

Stars are giant thermonuclear plasma furnaces that slowly fuse the lighter elements in the universe into heavier elements, releasing energy, and generating the pressure required to prevent collapse. To understand stars, we must rely on nuclear reaction rate data obtained, up to now, under conditions very different from those of stellar cores. Here we show thermonuclear measurements of the 2H(d, n) 3He and 3H(t,2n) 4He S-factors at a range of densities (1.2–16 g cm –3) and temperatures (2.1–5.4 keV) that allow us to test the conditions of the hydrogen-burning phase of main-sequence stars. The relevant conditions are created using inertial-confinementmore » fusion implosions at the National Ignition Facility. Here, our data agree within uncertainty with previous accelerator-based measurements and establish this approach for future experiments to measure other reactions and to test plasma-nuclear effects present in stellar interiors, such as plasma electron screening, directly in the environments where they occur.« less

Critical Casimir force scaling functions of the two-dimensional Ising model at finite aspect ratios

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hobrecht, Hendrik; Hucht, Alfred

2017-02-01

We present a systematic method to calculate the universal scaling functions for the critical Casimir force and the according potential of the two-dimensional Ising model with various boundary conditions. Therefore we start with the dimer representation of the corresponding partition function Z on an L× M square lattice, wrapped around a torus with aspect ratio ρ =L/M . By assuming periodic boundary conditions and translational invariance in at least one direction, we systematically reduce the problem to a 2× 2 transfer matrix representation. For the torus we first reproduce the results by Kaufman and then give a detailed calculation of the scaling functions. Afterwards we present the calculation for the cylinder with open boundary conditions. All scaling functions are given in form of combinations of infinite products and integrals. Our results reproduce the known scaling functions in the limit of thin films ρ \\to 0 . Additionally, for the cylinder at criticality our results confirm the predictions from conformal field theory.

Inter-Universal Quantum Entanglement

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Robles-Pérez, S. J.; González-Díaz, P. F.

2015-01-01

The boundary conditions to be imposed on the quantum state of the whole multiverse could be such that the universes would be created in entangled pairs. Then, interuniversal entanglement would provide us with a vacuum energy for each single universe that might be fitted with observational data, making testable not only the multiverse proposal but also the boundary conditions of the multiverse. Furthermore, the second law of the entanglement thermodynamics would enhance the expansion of the single universes.

Toward Universal Definitions for Direct and Indirect Assessment

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Elbeck, Matt; Bacon, Don

2015-01-01

The absence of universally accepted definitions for direct and indirect assessment motivates the purpose of this article: to offer definitions that are literature-based and theoretically driven, meeting K. Lewin's (1945) dictum that, "There is nothing so practical as a good theory" (p. 129). The authors synthesize the literature to…

Hydrologic requirements of and consumptive ground-water use by riparian vegetation along the San Pedro River, Arizona. Chapters A-D.

USGS Publications Warehouse

Leenhouts, James M.; Stromberg, Juliet C.; Scott, Russell L.; authors include Leenhouts, James M.; Lite, Sharon J.; Dixon, Mark; Rychener, Tyler; Makings, Elizabeth; Williams, David G.; Goodrich, David C.; Cable, William L.; Levick, Lainie R.; McGuire, Roberta; Gazal, Rico M.; Yepez, Enrico A.; Ellsworth, Patrick; Huxman, Travis E.

2006-01-01

This study is a coordinated effort by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), the U.S. Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service (USDA ARS), and Arizona State University, with assistance from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, the University of Wyoming, and the University of Arizona. The specific objectives of the study were: to determine the water needs of riparian vegetation through the riparian growing season and throughout the SPRNCA to ensure its long-term ecological integrity; to quantify the total water use of riparian vegetation within the SPRNCA; and to determine the source of water used by key riparian plant species within the SPRNCA. To meet these objectives, the study was divided into three elements: (1) a characterization of the status and variability of hydrologic factors within the riparian system (USGS), (2) a riparian biohydrology study to relate spatial and temporal aspects of riparian changes and condition to the hydrologic variables (Arizona State University), and (3) a water-use evapotranspiration (ET) study to quantify annual consumptive ground-water use by riparian transpiration and direct evaporation from the stream channel (USDA ARS) in cooperation with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, the University of Wyoming, and the University of Arizona. Twenty-six sites within the SPRNCA were selected for collection of vegetation data from three primary streamflow regimes (perennial, intermittent-wet, intermittent-dry), which include the principal vegetation communities. Detailed hydrologic-condition data were collected at a subset of 16 of these sites, called the SPRNCA biohydrology sites. Water-use and water-source data were collected at a subset of 5 of the 16 biohydrology sites. Vegetation data also were collected at supplemental sites within the SPRNCA boundary in the Upper San Pedro Basin and in the Lower San Pedro Basin. In addition to information about vegetation and geomorphic conditions, hydrologic data collected at the 16 biohydrology sites were used to delineate 14 reaches that were internally homogenous in terms of streamflow hydrology (spatial intermittence of streamflow) and geomorphology (channel sinuosity and flood-plain width). Although this overall study consisted of three elements, the elements were closely coordinated to derive integrated results. Specifically, the connection between water demand, water availability, and riparian functioning represents a synthesis of the study elements. The effects of intra- and inter-annual as well as spatial variability of hydrologic and riparian factors were observed in each of the three study elements.

[The Rosenthal experiment or: about the site of productive research - on move of the physiological experimental laboratory of Isidor Rosenthal (1836-1915) from the city to the country].

PubMed

Stahnisch, Frank W

2010-01-01

The disciplinary development of the new science of experimental physiology is often associated with the conditions of cultural development and increasingly technical working contexts of the Industrial Age. Following this perspective, the germ cells of 19th century institutes of experimental physiology were particularly found in the metropolises of Paris, Leipzig or Berlin. Only the major cities sat the revolutionary trends and within this general process, the scientific trends were no exceptions - the provincial research universities simply followed the central ones in their normal science endeavours. Due to this interpretation, the development of the scientific community was pre-formatted as the interplay of innovation (the city) and reception (the periphery). Isidor Rosenthal (1836-1915) was born in Labischin (District of Bromberg/Posen) in 1836 and got his medical training in Berlin. Like not many other experimental physiologists, he can be used as a historiographical testing probe, to follow the conditions of knowledge transfer from center to periphery: After his studies at the Friedrich Wilhelms University and the completion of his dissertation in 1859, Rosenthal entered the newly founded Physiological Institute in Berlin as the first Research Associate of Emil DuBois-Reymond (1818-1896). Rosenthal worked here particularly on the problem of "direct and indirect muscle irritation" in frogs. These neurophysiological investigations led to his growing scientific renown. In 1872, Rosenthal became offered a first professorship in physiology at the Friedrich Alexander University in Bavaria, as one of only few Jewish scientists (and even before Wilhelm Wundt, 1832-1920). But his life and work proved not only exceptional because of his scientific achievements, but also due to his deep rootedness in cultural life--both during his time in Berlin and in Erlangen. By applying a comparative and microhistorical approach in this article, the working conditions of this scientific migrant from Berlin are scrutinized as to the changes that took place between the city and regional university.

Rating, ranking, and understanding acoustical quality in university classrooms

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hodgson, Murray

2002-08-01

Nonoptimal classroom acoustical conditions directly affect speech perception and, thus, learning by students. Moreover, they may lead to voice problems for the instructor, who is forced to raise his/her voice when lecturing to compensate for poor acoustical conditions. The project applied previously developed simplified methods to predict speech intelligibility in occupied classrooms from measurements in unoccupied and occupied university classrooms. The methods were used to predict the speech intelligibility at various positions in 279 University of British Columbia (UBC) classrooms, when 70% occupied, and for four instructor voice levels. Classrooms were classified and rank ordered by acoustical quality, as determined by the room-average speech intelligibility. This information was used by UBC to prioritize classrooms for renovation. Here, the statistical results are reported to illustrate the range of acoustical qualities found at a typical university. Moreover, the variations of quality with relevant classroom acoustical parameters were studied to better understand the results. In particular, the factors leading to the best and worst conditions were studied. It was found that 81% of the 279 classrooms have "good," "very good," or "excellent" acoustical quality with a "typical" (average-male) instructor. However, 50 (18%) of the classrooms had "fair" or "poor" quality, and two had "bad" quality, due to high ventilation-noise levels. Most rooms were "very good" or "excellent" at the front, and "good" or "very good" at the back. Speech quality varied strongly with the instructor voice level. In the worst case considered, with a quiet female instructor, most of the classrooms were "bad" or "poor." Quality also varies with occupancy, with decreased occupancy resulting in decreased quality. The research showed that a new classroom acoustical design and renovation should focus on limiting background noise. They should promote high instructor speech levels at the back of the classrooms. This involves, in part, limiting the amount of sound absorption that is introduced into classrooms to control reverberation. Speech quality is not very sensitive to changes in reverberation, so controlling it for its own sake should not be a design priority. copyright 2002 Acoustical Society of America.

Financial Measures Project: Measuring Financial Conditions of Colleges and Universities, 1978 Working Conference.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Coldren, Sharon L., Ed.

Papers are presented from a 1978 working conference on measuring financial conditions of colleges and universities. Contents include the following: "The Federal Government's Interest in the Development of Financial Measures" by M. Chandler; "Improving the Conceptual Framework for Measuring Financial Condition Using Institutional…

Excellence in Research: Creative Organizational Responses at Berkeley, Harvard, MIT, and Stanford. ASHE 1985 Annual Meeting Paper.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Gardiner, John J.

Research environments of four leading universities were studied: University of California at Berkeley (UC-Berkeley), Harvard University, Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), and Stanford University. Attention was directed to organizational responses for encouraging collaboration in research at these leading universities, as well as to…

A Discussion of Events Which Influenced the Developmental Directions of North Carolina Central University.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Fleming, Joseph E.

Influences that have had significant effect on North Carolina Central University, a historically black university with a liberal arts tradition, are examined. The following topics are considered: events relating to the university's founding; circumstances affecting the transition of the university from a private normal school to a public…

The University, Knowledge Spillovers and Local Development: The Experience of a New University

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Higher Education Management and Policy, 2005

2005-01-01

Universities make an economic contribution to their host territory in two ways. Firstly, there is the direct impact of the initial investment and the effects of students and staff spending and universities' operating expenditure on the surrounding economy. Secondly, universities are also public institutions that carry out missions of higher…

Direct and Indirect Effects of Pesticides on the Insidious Flower Bug (Hemiptera: Anthocoridae) Under Laboratory Conditions.

PubMed

Herrick, Nathan J; Cloyd, Raymond A

2017-06-01

Greenhouse producers are interested in integrating natural enemies along with pesticides to suppress western flower thrips, Frankliniella occidentalis (Pergande), populations. The insidious flower bug, Orius insidiosus (Say), is a commercially available natural enemy of western flower thrips. We conducted a series of laboratory experiments to determine the direct and indirect effects of 28 pesticides (insecticides, miticides, and fungicides), 4 pesticide mixtures, and 4 surfactants (36 total treatments plus a water control) on the adult O. insidiosus survival and predation on western flower thrips adults under laboratory conditions. The number of live and dead O. insidiosus adults was recorded after 24, 48, 72, and 96 h. The results of the study indicate that the fungicides (aluminum tris, azoxystrobin, fenhexamid, and kresoxim-methyl), insect growth regulators (azadirachtin, buprofezin, kinoprene, and pyriproxyfen), botanicals (Capsicum oleoresin extract, garlic oil, soybean oil; and rosemary, rosemary oil, peppermint oil, and cottonseed oil), and entomopathogenic fungi (Beauveria bassiana and Metarhizium anisopliae) were minimally directly harmful to adult O. insidiosus, with 80% to 100% adult survival. However, abamectin, spinosad, pyridalyl, chlorfenapyr, tau-fluvalinate, imidacloprid, dinotefuran, acetamiprid, and thiamethoxam directly affected O. insidiosus survival after 96 h (0-60% adult survival). The pesticide mixtures of abamectin + spinosad and chlorfenapyr + dinotefuran reduced adult survival (20% and 0%, respectively, after 48 h). Furthermore, the surfactants were not directly harmful to O. insidiosus adults. All western flower thrips adults were killed by the surviving adult O. insidiosus after 48 h, indicating no indirect effects of the pesticides on predation. © The Authors 2017. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of Entomological Society of America. All rights reserved. For Permissions, please email: journals.permissions@oup.com.

Results of the Housing Building Condition Evaluation Survey at the University of Georgia.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Casey, John M.

A complete campus building condition evaluation survey was conducted at the University of Georgia in 1989 and results for the housing department were analyzed. The survey design was based on a model developed by Harlan Bareither at the University of Illinois that separates building deficiencies into seven general headings. Data were collected at…

University Research Program in Robotics - "Technologies for Micro-Electrical-Mechanical Systems in directed Stockpile Work (DSW) Radiation and Campaigns", Final Technical Annual Report, Project Period 9/1/06 - 8/31/07

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

James S. Tulenko; Carl D. Crane

The University Research Program in Robotics (URPR) is an integrated group of universities performing fundamental research that addresses broad-based robotics and automation needs of the NNSA Directed Stockpile Work (DSW) and Campaigns. The URPR mission is to provide improved capabilities in robotics science and engineering to meet the future needs of all weapon systems and other associated NNSA/DOE activities.

Career Selection Education Program, 1965-1968. Report.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Digneo, Ellen Hartnett, Ed.; Shaya, Tila, Ed.

Career Selection Education Programs were conducted during the 1965-66 school year at Cloudcroft and Weed High Schools under the direction of personnel from New Mexico State University, and at Cliff High School under the direction of personnel from Western New Mexico University. These programs were designed specifically to enable young people in…

Exploring the Dynamics of Directed Studies Courses: Student, Instructor, and Administrator Perspectives

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hvenegaard, Glen; Link, Anne-Marie L.; Moore, Sean E.; Wesselius, Janet C.

2013-01-01

North American universities are encouraged to increase opportunities for undergraduate research experiences (UREs). To this end, many universities offer directed studies courses (DSCs) which are 1-2 semester long courses involving one-on-one instruction, with a focus on student-led independent research. Building on the understanding of dynamics…

Is the Cosmic Microwave Background a Shell Around Us? or are the Microwaves Everywhere in the Universe?

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Mather, John

2015-01-01

A: The cosmic microwave background (CMB) radiation fills the universe and travels in all directions. As we see it from here in satellite maps, it is about equally bright in all directions, and thats one of the main reasons we know its cosmic.

Replication RCT of Early Universal Prevention Effects on Young Adult Substance Misuse

PubMed Central

Spoth, Richard; Trudeau, Linda; Redmond, Cleve; Shin, Chungyeol

2014-01-01

Objective For many substances, more frequent and problematic use occurs in young adulthood; these types of use are predicted by the timing of initiation during adolescence. We replicated and extended an earlier study examining whether delayed substance initiation during adolescence, resulting from universal preventive interventions implemented in middle school, reduces problematic use in young adulthood. Method Participants were middle school students from 36 Iowa schools randomly assigned to the Strengthening Families Program plus Life Skills Training (SFP 10–14 + LST), LST-only, or a control condition. Self-report questionnaires were collected at 11 time points, including four during young adulthood. The intercept (average level) and rate of change (slope) in young adult frequency measures (drunkenness, alcohol-related problems, cigarettes, and illicit drugs) across ages 19–22 were modeled as outcomes influenced by growth factors describing substance initiation during adolescence. Analyses entailed testing a two-step hierarchical latent growth curve model; models included the effects of baseline risk, intervention condition assignment, and their interaction. Results Analyses showed significant indirect intervention effects on the average levels of all young adult outcomes, through effects on adolescent substance initiation growth factors, along with intervention by risk interaction effects favoring the higher-risk subsample. Additional direct effects on young adult use were observed in some cases. Relative reduction rates were larger for the higher-risk subsample at age 22, ranging from 5.8% to 36.4% on outcomes showing significant intervention effects. Conclusions Universal preventive interventions implemented during early adolescence have the potential to decrease the rates of substance use and associated problems, into young adulthood. PMID:24821095

Maximum of an Airy process plus Brownian motion and memory in Kardar-Parisi-Zhang growth

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Le Doussal, Pierre

2017-12-01

We obtain several exact results for universal distributions involving the maximum of the Airy2 process minus a parabola and plus a Brownian motion, with applications to the one-dimensional Kardar-Parisi-Zhang (KPZ) stochastic growth universality class. This allows one to obtain (i) the universal limit, for large time separation, of the two-time height correlation for droplet initial conditions, e.g., C∞=limt2/t1→+∞h(t1) h (t2)¯c/h(t1)2¯c, with C∞≈0.623 , as well as conditional moments, which quantify ergodicity breaking in the time evolution; (ii) in the same limit, the distribution of the midpoint position x (t1) of a directed polymer of length t2; and (iii) the height distribution in stationary KPZ with a step. These results are derived from the replica Bethe ansatz for the KPZ continuum equation, with a "decoupling assumption" in the large time limit. They agree and confirm, whenever they can be compared, with (i) our recent tail results for two-time KPZ with the work by de Nardis and Le Doussal [J. Stat. Mech. (2017) 053212, 10.1088/1742-5468/aa6bce], checked in experiments with the work by Takeuchi and co-workers [De Nardis et al., Phys. Rev. Lett. 118, 125701 (2017), 10.1103/PhysRevLett.118.125701] and (ii) a recent result of Maes and Thiery [J. Stat. Phys. 168, 937 (2017), 10.1007/s10955-017-1839-2] on midpoint position.

Problems in University Teaching Faculty Construction and Countermeasures

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Han, Yuzheng

2015-01-01

The construction of university teaching faculty directly affects and restricts the long-term development of universities. Since the reform and opening up, China's university teaching faculty construction has realized marvelous achievements. However, in comparison with the higher education in developed countries, in China the construction of…

The Faculty Subculture, the Librarian Subculture, and Librarians' Scholarly Productivity

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Walters, William H.

2016-01-01

This study examines the influence of four predictor variables--university-wide research activity, faculty status (eligibility for sabbaticals), university control (public versus private), and enrollment--on the scholarly productivity of librarians at research universities in the United States. University-wide research activity is directly related…

[Aspects of the social realities of children and adolescents seen at a reference service for bancroftian filariasis in Recife, state of Pernambuco].

PubMed

Mattos, Denise; Mota, Solange; Dreyer, Gerusa

2008-01-01

The authors report on aspects of the social realities of children and adolescents living in Jaboatão dos Guararapes, State of Pernambuco, who were diagnosed with Bancroftian filariasis infection and were treated at the Filariasis Teaching, Research and Care Center of the Federal University of Pernambuco (Health Sciences Center), which is a tertiary-level reference service for filariasis. The patients' housing conditions were quantified and classified as subhuman, with a direct relationship with the maintenance of Bancroftian filariasis transmission, and the authors highlight the need for political decisions regarding the implementation of basic sanitation projects.

Pedagogical Conditions of Ensuring Students' Readiness for Scientific Researches--Example of Technical University

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Slessarev, Yuri Vassilyevich; Moisseyev, Vassily Borisovich; Vostroknutov, Evgeniy Vladimirovich

2015-01-01

This article describes pedagogical conditions of ensuring students readiness for scientific researches on the basis of scientific literature and experience of Penza State Technological University students. Introduction of suggested conditions favors the process of training of highly skilled expert who is ready for generation of new ideas in fields…

Implementation of Total Asset Management at the University of Tasmania.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Smith, Matt

2002-01-01

Describes the implementation of total asset management (TAM) at the University of Tasmania to better link physical resources management with the university's strategic planning. Discusses TAM's principles, objectives, and future direction. (EV)

Training School Personnel to Implement a Universal School-Based Prevention of Depression Program under Real-World Conditions

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Harnett, P.H.; Dadds, M.R.

2004-01-01

The present study evaluated the impact of a universal prevention of depression program [the Resourceful Adolescent Program (RAP)] when implemented under real-world conditions in a school setting. Prior research has found the RAP program to be beneficial for high-school students when the program was implemented by university staff selected,…

The effect of directive tutor guidance on students' conceptual understanding of statistics in problem-based learning.

PubMed

Budé, Luc; van de Wiel, Margaretha W J; Imbos, Tjaart; Berger, Martijn P F

2011-06-01

Education is aimed at students reaching conceptual understanding of the subject matter, because this leads to better performance and application of knowledge. Conceptual understanding depends on coherent and error-free knowledge structures. The construction of such knowledge structures can only be accomplished through active learning and when new knowledge can be integrated into prior knowledge. The intervention in this study was directed at both the activation of students as well as the integration of knowledge. Undergraduate university students from an introductory statistics course, in an authentic problem-based learning (PBL) environment, were randomly assigned to conditions and measurement time points. In the PBL tutorial meetings, half of the tutors guided the discussions of the students in a traditional way. The other half guided the discussions more actively by asking directive and activating questions. To gauge conceptual understanding, the students answered open-ended questions asking them to explain and relate important statistical concepts. Results of the quantitative analysis show that providing directive tutor guidance improved understanding. Qualitative data of students' misconceptions seem to support this finding. Long-term retention of the subject matter seemed to be inadequate. ©2010 The British Psychological Society.

Glucose control of root growth direction in Arabidopsis thaliana.

PubMed

Singh, Manjul; Gupta, Aditi; Laxmi, Ashverya

2014-07-01

Directional growth of roots is a complex process that is modulated by various environmental signals. This work shows that presence of glucose (Glc) in the medium also extensively modulated seedling root growth direction. Glc modulation of root growth direction was dramatically enhanced by simultaneous brassinosteroid (BR) application. Glc enhanced BR receptor BRASSINOSTEROID INSENSITIVE1 (BRI1) endocytosis from plasma membrane to early endosomes. Glc-induced root deviation was highly enhanced in a PP2A-defective mutant, roots curl in naphthyl phthalamic acid 1-1 (rcn1-1) suggesting that there is a role of phosphatase in Glc-induced root-growth deviation. RCN1, therefore, acted as a link between Glc and the BR-signalling pathway. Polar auxin transport worked further downstream to BR in controlling Glc-induced root deviation response. Glc also affected other root directional responses such as root waving and coiling leading to altered root architecture. High light intensity mimicked the Glc-induced changes in root architecture that were highly reduced in Glc-signalling mutants. Thus, under natural environmental conditions, changing light flux in the environment may lead to enhanced Glc production/response and is a way to manipulate root architecture for optimized development via integrating several extrinsic and intrinsic signalling cues. © The Author 2014. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the Society for Experimental Biology.

Proposal for Implementation of Office of Educational Radio Services.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Petrizzi, David M.; Wright, A. J.

Auburn University's radio station is being faced with providing quality public radio programing with inadequate resources, including money, personnel, and university support. This proposal is directed to the university community and discusses the university radio station's problems at three levels. At the federal level, concerns relate to…

The European System for Electing University Presidents and University Governance

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Ma, Huaide

2014-01-01

The system of electing university presidents in Spain, Switzerland, Italy, and the United Kingdom has distinctive characteristics. Almost all university presidents are elected by teachers and students, either directly or indirectly through elections with government approval of the appointment a mere formality. Principles of these elections include…

The American University: National Treasure or Endangered Species?

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Ehrenberg, Ronald G. Ed.

This book of nine essays was written to honor Frank H. T. Rhodes, President Emeritus of Cornell University (New York) and addresses ways in which research universities can respond to current challenges. An introductory chapter, "The American University: Dilemmas and Directions" (Ronald G. Ehrenberg), identifies key issues raised in the following…

Inflationary tensor fossils in large-scale structure

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

Dimastrogiovanni, Emanuela; Fasiello, Matteo; Jeong, Donghui

Inflation models make specific predictions for a tensor-scalar-scalar three-point correlation, or bispectrum, between one gravitational-wave (tensor) mode and two density-perturbation (scalar) modes. This tensor-scalar-scalar correlation leads to a local power quadrupole, an apparent departure from statistical isotropy in our Universe, as well as characteristic four-point correlations in the current mass distribution in the Universe. So far, the predictions for these observables have been worked out only for single-clock models in which certain consistency conditions between the tensor-scalar-scalar correlation and tensor and scalar power spectra are satisfied. Here we review the requirements on inflation models for these consistency conditions to bemore » satisfied. We then consider several examples of inflation models, such as non-attractor and solid-inflation models, in which these conditions are put to the test. In solid inflation the simplest consistency conditions are already violated whilst in the non-attractor model we find that, contrary to the standard scenario, the tensor-scalar-scalar correlator probes directly relevant model-dependent information. We work out the predictions for observables in these models. For non-attractor inflation we find an apparent local quadrupolar departure from statistical isotropy in large-scale structure but that this power quadrupole decreases very rapidly at smaller scales. The consistency of the CMB quadrupole with statistical isotropy then constrains the distance scale that corresponds to the transition from the non-attractor to attractor phase of inflation to be larger than the currently observable horizon. Solid inflation predicts clustering fossils signatures in the current galaxy distribution that may be large enough to be detectable with forthcoming, and possibly even current, galaxy surveys.« less

Hypothesizing the body's genius to trigger and self-organize its healing: 25 years using a standardized neurophysics therapy

PubMed Central

Ross, Sara N.; Ware, Ken

2013-01-01

We aim for this contribution to operate bi-directionally, both as a “bedside to bench” reverse-translational fractal physiological hypothesis and as a methodological innovation to inform clinical practice. In 25 years using gym equipment therapeutically in non-research settings, the standardized therapy is consistently observed to trigger universal responses of micro to macro waves of system transition dynamics in the human nervous system. These are associated with observably desirable impacts on disorders, injuries, diseases, and athletic performance. Requisite conditions are therapeutic coaching, erect posture, extremely slow movements in mild resistance exercises, and executive control over arousal and attention. To motivate research into the physiological improvements and in validation studies, we integrate from across disciplines to hypothesize explanations for the relationships among the methods, the system dynamics, and evident results. Key hypotheses include: (1) Correctly-directed system efforts may reverse a system's heretofore misdirected efforts, restoring healthier neurophysiology. (2) The enhanced information processing accompanying good posture is an essential initial condition. (3) Behaviors accompanying exercises performed with few degrees of freedom amplify information processing, triggering destabilization and transition dynamics. (4) Executive control over arousal and attention is essential to release system constraints, amplifying and complexifying information. (5) The dynamics create necessary and in many cases evidently sufficient conditions for the body to resolve or improve its own conditions within often short time periods. Literature indicates how the human system possesses material self-awareness. A broad explanation for the nature and effects of the therapy appears rooted in the cascading recursions of the systems' dynamics, which appear to trigger health-fostering self-reorganizing processes when this therapy provides catalytic initial conditions. PMID:24312056

High speed flux feedback for tuning a universal field oriented controller capable of operating in direct and indirect field orientation modes

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

De Doncker, Rik W. A. A.

The direct (d) and quadrature (q) components of flux, as sensed by flux sensors or determined from voltage and current measurements in a direct field orientation scheme, are processed rapidly and accurately to provide flux amplitude and angular position values for use by the vector rotator of a universal field-oriented (UFO) controller. Flux amplitude (linear or squared) is provided as feedback to tune the UFO controller for operation in direct and indirect field orientation modes and enables smooth transitions from one mode to the other.

High speed flux feedback for tuning a universal field oriented controller capable of operating in direct and indirect field orientation modes

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

De Doncker, R.W.A.A.

The direct (d) and quadrature (q) components of flux, as sensed by flux sensors or determined from voltage and current measurements in a direct field orientation scheme, are processed rapidly and accurately to provide flux amplitude and angular position values for use by the vector rotator of a universal field-oriented (UFO) controller. Flux amplitude (linear or squared) is provided as feedback to tune the UFO controller for operation in direct and indirect field orientation modes and enables smooth transitions from one mode to the other. 3 figs.

High speed flux feedback for tuning a universal field oriented controller capable of operating in direct and indirect field orientation modes

DOEpatents

De Doncker, R.W.A.A.

1992-09-01

The direct (d) and quadrature (q) components of flux, as sensed by flux sensors or determined from voltage and current measurements in a direct field orientation scheme, are processed rapidly and accurately to provide flux amplitude and angular position values for use by the vector rotator of a universal field-oriented (UFO) controller. Flux amplitude (linear or squared) is provided as feedback to tune the UFO controller for operation in direct and indirect field orientation modes and enables smooth transitions from one mode to the other. 3 figs.

[Anaesthesia education at german university hospitals: the teachers' perspective -- results of a nationwide survey].

PubMed

Goldmann, K; Steinfeldt, T; Wulf, H

2006-04-01

The principle purpose of this study was to collect data on the conditions and practice of anaesthesia education as well as the teaching qualification of consultants at German university hospitals. Based upon the collected data, areas of weakness and strength as well as measures required to improve anaesthesia training are described. A questionnaire containing 26 items was mailed to 607 consultants employed at 41 German university hospitals in June 2003. A total of 255 questionnaires was analysed (response rate: 43 %). Genuine training activities account for 14 % of the working hours of the participating consultants. On average, at the institutions of participating consultants, novices work for a duration of 1 month together with a consultant anaesthetist before they give anaesthetics without direct and constant supervision. When asked to describe the predominant method of training at their institution 71 % indicated "case-oriented teaching"; however, 53 % chose "see one, do one, teach one" and 49 % "learning by doing" as method of training as well (multiple choice). According to 63 % of respondents, departmental educational activities usually happen after their regular working hours. "Daily workload" (96 %), "time pressure" (96 %), "lack of time" (96 %) and "lack of personnel" (90 %) were indicated as the main obstacles of teaching. According to 80 % of respondents, a dedicated financial budget for education does not exist; instead, financial resources of third parties (industry) (58 %), of the state (for research und undergraduate education) (60 %) and of patients service (66 %) are used to ensure training of anaesthesia residents. Due to a lack of a dedicated financial budget for resident training and an increasing economic pressure, "lack of time" and "lack of personnel" are the main factors leading to the situation at German university hospitals that consultants can only spend 14 % of their working hours for teaching purposes despite of sufficient qualification and motivation. As a consequence, novice anaesthetists are faced with the situation to be working without direct and constant supervision after 1 month of training.

Young consumers' considerations of healthy working conditions in purchasing decisions: a qualitative examination.

PubMed

Dixon, Shane M; Nordvall, Anna-Carin; Cukier, Wendy; Neumann, W Patrick

2017-05-01

Research has suggested that products manufactured under healthy work conditions (HWC) may provide a marketing advantage to companies. This paper explores young consumers' considerations of HWC in purchasing decisions using data from qualitative interviews with a sample of 21 university students. The results suggest that interviewees frequently considered the working conditions of those who produced the products they purchased. Participants reported a willingness to pay 17.5% more on a $100 product if it were produced under HWC compared to not. Their ability and willingness to act on this issue was, however, hampered by  a lack of credible information about working conditions in production, the limited availability of HWC goods and a presumed higher price of HWC goods. While caution should be applied when generalising from this targetable market segment to a general population, these results provide actionable direction for companies interested in using a HWC brand image to gain a strategic sales advantage. Practitioner Summary: This interview study shows that young consumers are interested in, and willing to pay a premium for, goods made under healthy working conditions (HWC). Reported barriers to acting on this impulse include a lack of credible information on working conditions. Ergonomics can help provide a strategic marketing advantage for companies.

Detecting dark energy in orbit: The cosmological chameleon

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

Brax, Philippe; Bruck, Carsten van de; Davis, Anne-Christine

2004-12-15

We show that the chameleon scalar field can drive the current phase of cosmic acceleration for a large class of scalar potentials that are also consistent with local tests of gravity. These provide explicit realizations of a quintessence model where the quintessence scalar field couples directly to baryons and dark matter with gravitational strength. We analyze the cosmological evolution of the chameleon field and show the existence of an attractor solution with the chameleon following the minimum of its effective potential. For a wide range of initial conditions, spanning many orders of magnitude in initial chameleon energy density, the attractormore » is reached before nucleosynthesis. Surprisingly, the range of allowed initial conditions leading to a successful cosmology is wider than in normal quintessence. We discuss applications to the cyclic model of the universe and show how the chameleon mechanism weakens some of the constraints on cyclic potentials.« less

Differential Scanning Calorimetry and Evolved Gas Analysis at Mars Ambient Conditions Using the Thermal Evolved Gas Analyser (TEGA)

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Musselwhite, D. S.; Boynton, W. V.; Ming, D. W.; Quadlander, G.; Kerry, K. E.; Bode, R. C.; Bailey, S. H.; Ward, M. G.; Pathare, A. V.; Lorenz, R. D.

2000-01-01

Differential Scanning Calorimetry (DSC) combined with evolved gas analysis (EGA) is a well developed technique for the analysis of a wide variety of sample types with broad application in material and soil sciences. However, the use of the technique for samples under conditions of pressure and temperature as found on other planets is one of current development and cutting edge research. The Thermal Evolved Gas Analyzer (TEGA), which was designed, built and tested at the University of Arizona's Lunar and Planetary Lab (LPL), utilizes DSC/EGA. TEGA, which was sent to Mars on the ill-fated Mars Polar Lander, was to be the first application of DSC/EGA on the surface of Mars as well as the first direct measurement of the volatile-bearing mineralogy in martian soil. Additional information is available in the original extended abstract.

Nano-Disperse Borides and Carbides: Plasma Technology Production, Specific Properties, Economic Evaluation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Galevskii, G. V.; Rudneva, V. V.; Galevskii, S. G.; Tomas, K. I.; Zubkov, M. S.

2016-04-01

The experience of production and study on properties of nano-disperse chromium and titanium borides and carbides, and silicon carbide has been generalized. The structure and special service aspects of utilized plasma-metallurgical complex equipped with a three-jet direct-flow reactor with a capacity of 150 kW have been outlined. Processing, heat engineering and service life characteristics of the reactor are specified. The synthesis parameters of borides and carbides, as well as their basic characteristics in nano-disperse condition and their production flow diagram are outlined. Engineering and economic performance of synthesizing borides in laboratory and industrial conditions is assessed, and the respective segment of the international market as well. The work is performed at State Siberian Industrial University as a project part of the State Order of Ministry of Science and Education of the Russian Federation No. 11.1531/2014/K.

Photochemical processing of diesel fuel emissions as a large secondary source of isocyanic acid (HNCO)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Link, M. F.; Friedman, B.; Fulgham, R.; Brophy, P.; Galang, A.; Jathar, S. H.; Veres, P.; Roberts, J. M.; Farmer, D. K.

2016-04-01

Isocyanic acid (HNCO) is a well-known air pollutant that affects human health. Biomass burning, smoking, and combustion engines are known HNCO sources, but recent studies suggest that secondary production in the atmosphere may also occur. We directly observed photochemical production of HNCO from the oxidative aging of diesel exhaust during the Diesel Exhaust Fuel and Control experiments at Colorado State University using acetate ionization time-of-flight mass spectrometry. Emission ratios of HNCO were enhanced, after 1.5 days of simulated atmospheric aging, from 50 to 230 mg HNCO/kg fuel at idle engine operating conditions. Engines operated at higher loads resulted in less primary and secondary HNCO formation, with emission ratios increasing from 20 to 40 mg HNCO/kg fuel under 50% load engine operating conditions. These results suggest that photochemical sources of HNCO could be more significant than primary sources in urban areas.

Field test analysis of concentrator photovoltaic system focusing on average photon energy and temperature

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Husna, Husyira Al; Ota, Yasuyuki; Minemoto, Takashi; Nishioka, Kensuke

2015-08-01

The concentrator photovoltaic (CPV) system is unique and different from the common flat-plate PV system. It uses a multi-junction solar cell and a Fresnel lens to concentrate direct solar radiation onto the cell while tracking the sun throughout the day. The cell efficiency could reach over 40% under high concentration ratio. In this study, we analyzed a one year set of environmental condition data of the University of Miyazaki, Japan, where the CPV system was installed. Performance ratio (PR) was discussed to describe the system’s performance. Meanwhile, the average photon energy (APE) was used to describe the spectrum distribution at the site where the CPV system was installed. A circuit simulator network was used to simulate the CPV system electrical characteristics under various environmental conditions. As for the result, we found that the PR of the CPV systems depends on the APE level rather than the cell temperature.

Phase space of modified Gauss-Bonnet gravity.

PubMed

Carloni, Sante; Mimoso, José P

2017-01-01

We investigate the evolution of non-vacuum Friedmann-Lemaître-Robertson-Walker (FLRW) spacetimes with any spatial curvature in the context of Gauss-Bonnet gravity. The analysis employs a new method which enables us to explore the phase space of any specific theory of this class. We consider several examples, discussing the transition from a decelerating into an acceleration universe within these theories. We also deduce from the dynamical equations some general conditions on the form of the action which guarantee the presence of specific behaviours like the emergence of accelerated expansion. As in f ( R ) gravity, our analysis shows that there is a set of initial conditions for which these models have a finite time singularity which can be an attractor. The presence of this instability also in the Gauss-Bonnet gravity is to be ascribed to the fourth-order derivative in the field equations, i.e., is the direct consequence of the higher order of the equations.

Scalar transport across the turbulent/non-turbulent interface in jets: Schmidt number effects

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Silva, Tiago S.; B. da Silva, Carlos; Idmec Team

2016-11-01

The dynamics of a passive scalar field near a turbulent/non-turbulent interface (TNTI) is analysed through direct numerical simulations (DNS) of turbulent planar jets, with Reynolds numbers ranging from 142 <= Reλ <= 246 , and Schmidt numbers from 0 . 07 <= Sc <= 7 . The steepness of the scalar gradient, as observed from conditional profiles near the TNTI, increases with the Schmidt number. Conditional scalar gradient budgets show that for low and moderate Schmidt numbers a diffusive superlayer emerges at the TNTI, where the scalar gradient diffusion dominates, while the production is negligible. For low Schmidt numbers the growth of the turbulent front is commanded by the molecular diffusion, whereas the scalar gradient convection is negligible. The authors acknowledge the Laboratory for Advanced Computing at University of Coimbra for providing HPC, computing, consulting resources that have contributed to the research results reported within this paper. URL http://www.lca.uc.pt.

Toward measurements of volatile behavior at realistic pressure and temperature conditions in planetary deep interiors. (Invited)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

McWilliams, R. S.

2013-12-01

Laboratory studies of volatiles at high pressure are constantly challenged to achieve conditions directly relevant to planets. While dynamic compression experiments are confined to adiabatic pathways that frequently exceed relevant temperatures due to the low densities and bulk moduli of volatile samples, static compression experiments are often complicated by sample reactivity and mobility before reaching relevant temperatures. By combining the speed of dynamic compression with the flexibility of experimental path afforded by static compression, optical spectroscopy measurements in volatiles such as H, N, and Ar have been demonstrated at previously-unexplored planetary temperature (up to 11,000 K) and pressure (up to 150 GPa). These optical data characterize the electronic properties of extreme states and have implications for bonding, transport, and mixing behavior in volatiles within planets. This work was conducted in collaboration with D.A. Dalton and A.F. Goncharov (Carnegie Institution of Washington) and M.F. Mahmood (Howard University).

Saltman on solidarity.

PubMed

Brown, Lawrence D; Chinitz, David P

2015-01-01

Richard Saltman suggests that solidarity, a cherished notion at the heart of West European health care systems is being reconsidered in the light of today's austere economic conditions. Solidarity, he argues, has always been a flexible moral guideline, one that allows for policy responses, such as limitations on health benefits or increased out of pocket payments, that challenging fiscal conditions are said to demand. Here we consider what the basic elements in solidarity - universality, redistribution, and uniformity-- mean in health as compared to other social policy realms such as pensions. Traditionally, the commitment to solidarity said little about the contents of services, but the latter is perhaps subject to increasing scrutiny under the health policy microscope. Saltman is right to emphasize the conceptual and cross-national flexibility of solidarity, but the notion retains a solid and durable core that continues to give valuable direction to policymakers in search of acceptable strategies and structures for decision making.

77 FR 75406 - Submission for OMB Review; Comment Request

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2012-12-20

... by state. The data are also used to update similar data for the universe of U.S. affiliates collected... direct investment universe. The BE-15 is a sample survey, as described; universe estimates are developed...

Phenotypic Dimensions of Spirituality: Implications for Mental Health in China, India, and the United States

PubMed Central

McClintock, Clayton H.; Lau, Elsa; Miller, Lisa

2016-01-01

While the field of empirical study on religion and spirituality in relation to mental health has rapidly expanded over the past decade, little is known about underlying dimensions of spirituality cross-culturally conceived. We aimed to bridge this gap by inductively deriving potential universal dimensions of spirituality through a large-scale, multi-national data collection, and examining the relationships of these dimensions with common psychiatric conditions. Five-thousand five-hundred and twelve participants from China, India, and the United States completed a two-hour online survey consisting of wide-ranging measures of the lived experience of spirituality, as well as clinical assessments. A series of inductive Exploratory Factor Analysis (EFA) and cross-validating Exploratory Structural Equation Modeling (ESEM) were conducted to derive common underlying dimensions of spirituality. Logistic regression analyses were then conducted with each dimension to predict depression, suicidal ideation, generalized anxiety, and substance-related disorders. Preliminary EFA results were consistently supported by ESEM findings. Analyses of 40 spirituality measures revealed five invariant factors across countries which were interpreted as five dimensions of universal spiritual experience, specifically: love, in the fabric of relationships and as a sacred reality; unifying interconnectedness, as a sense of energetic oneness with other beings in the universe; altruism, as a commitment beyond the self with care and service; contemplative practice, such as meditation, prayer, yoga, or qigong; and religious and spiritual reflection and commitment, as a life well-examined. Love, interconnectedness, and altruism were associated with less risk of psychopathology for all countries. Religious and spiritual reflection and commitment and contemplative practice were associated with less risk in India and the United States but associated with greater risk in China. Education was directly associated with dimensions of spiritual awareness in India and China but inversely associated with dimensions in the United States. Findings support the notion that spirituality is a universal phenomenon with potentially universal dimensions. These aspects of spirituality may each offer protective effects against psychiatric symptoms and disorders and suggest new directions for treatment. PMID:27833570

Phenotypic Dimensions of Spirituality: Implications for Mental Health in China, India, and the United States.

PubMed

McClintock, Clayton H; Lau, Elsa; Miller, Lisa

2016-01-01

While the field of empirical study on religion and spirituality in relation to mental health has rapidly expanded over the past decade, little is known about underlying dimensions of spirituality cross-culturally conceived. We aimed to bridge this gap by inductively deriving potential universal dimensions of spirituality through a large-scale, multi-national data collection, and examining the relationships of these dimensions with common psychiatric conditions. Five-thousand five-hundred and twelve participants from China, India, and the United States completed a two-hour online survey consisting of wide-ranging measures of the lived experience of spirituality, as well as clinical assessments. A series of inductive Exploratory Factor Analysis (EFA) and cross-validating Exploratory Structural Equation Modeling (ESEM) were conducted to derive common underlying dimensions of spirituality. Logistic regression analyses were then conducted with each dimension to predict depression, suicidal ideation, generalized anxiety, and substance-related disorders. Preliminary EFA results were consistently supported by ESEM findings. Analyses of 40 spirituality measures revealed five invariant factors across countries which were interpreted as five dimensions of universal spiritual experience, specifically: love, in the fabric of relationships and as a sacred reality; unifying interconnectedness, as a sense of energetic oneness with other beings in the universe; altruism, as a commitment beyond the self with care and service; contemplative practice, such as meditation, prayer, yoga, or qigong; and religious and spiritual reflection and commitment, as a life well-examined. Love, interconnectedness, and altruism were associated with less risk of psychopathology for all countries. Religious and spiritual reflection and commitment and contemplative practice were associated with less risk in India and the United States but associated with greater risk in China. Education was directly associated with dimensions of spiritual awareness in India and China but inversely associated with dimensions in the United States. Findings support the notion that spirituality is a universal phenomenon with potentially universal dimensions. These aspects of spirituality may each offer protective effects against psychiatric symptoms and disorders and suggest new directions for treatment.

[Self-assessment of patterns of antibiotic use in a university hospital].

PubMed

Gómez, J; García-Vázquez, E; Bonillo, C; Hernández, A; Bermejo, M; Canteras, M

2014-10-01

A questionnaire was used to determine the knowledge, attitudes and practices of antibiotic prescribing among doctors at a university hospital. An anonymous questionnaire was directly distributed by a staff member of the Infectious Diseases Department. A total of 316 questionnaires were distributed with 100% response rate; antibiotic dose, route of administration, and treatment duration were always adjusted according to site of infection and underlying conditions in 65, 68 and 45%, respectively. Antibiotic de-escalation was recognized as usual practice in 20%; 31 and 10% considered potential microbiological resistances and economical-cost when taking prescription decisions, respectively; 16% admitted often prescribing antibiotics with no clinical indication. There were no major significant differences between staff and training physicians, or between surgical or medical specialists. The self-perception of physicians and residents in our hospital is that they make improper use of antimicrobials. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier España, S.L.U. y Sociedad Española de Enfermedades Infecciosas y Microbiología Clínica. All rights reserved.

Adiabatic Quantum Computation with Neutral Atoms

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Biedermann, Grant

2013-03-01

We are implementing a new platform for adiabatic quantum computation (AQC)[2] based on trapped neutral atoms whose coupling is mediated by the dipole-dipole interactions of Rydberg states. Ground state cesium atoms are dressed by laser fields in a manner conditional on the Rydberg blockade mechanism,[3,4] thereby providing the requisite entangling interactions. As a benchmark we study a Quadratic Unconstrained Binary Optimization (QUBO) problem whose solution is found in the ground state spin configuration of an Ising-like model. In collaboration with Lambert Parazzoli, Sandia National Laboratories; Aaron Hankin, Center for Quantum Information and Control (CQuIC), University of New Mexico; James Chin-Wen Chou, Yuan-Yu Jau, Peter Schwindt, Cort Johnson, and George Burns, Sandia National Laboratories; Tyler Keating, Krittika Goyal, and Ivan Deutsch, Center for Quantum Information and Control (CQuIC), University of New Mexico; and Andrew Landahl, Sandia National Laboratories. This work was supported by the Laboratory Directed Research and Development program at Sandia National Laboratories

The effects of instructions, incentive, and feedback on a community problem: dormitory noise.

PubMed

Meyers, A W; Artz, L M; Craighead, W E

A reinforcement system utilizing instructions, modelling, feedback, and group reinforcement was employed in an attempt to reduce disruptive noise on three university residence halls. A fourth hall received the same treatment program without the reinforcement component. Noise scores were determined by recording the number of discrete noise occurrences over a criterion decibel level. On all four residential floors, noise scores during treatment conditions were lower than initial and final baseline levels. Additionally, periods of noise reduction corresponded to the changing criterion multiple-baseline and reversal designs utilized. Pre- and posttreatment questionnaire responses from the three reinforcement floors paralleled changes in objective noise data. At posttreatment, residents reported less noise disturbance of study and sleep and more control over the noise situation and floor problems in general. These results indicated that a comprehensive behavior-modification treatment package was effective in reducing disruptive noise in university residence halls. Difficulties in data collection and anomalies in the data are discussed. Future directions for field-based behavior-modification research are outlined.

Autophagy proteins are not universally required for phagosome maturation.

PubMed

Cemma, Marija; Grinstein, Sergio; Brumell, John H

2016-09-01

Phagocytosis plays a central role in immunity and tissue homeostasis. After internalization of cargo into single-membrane phagosomes, these compartments undergo a maturation sequences that terminates in lysosome fusion and cargo degradation. Components of the autophagy pathway have recently been linked to phagosome maturation in a process called LC3-associated phagocytosis (LAP). In this process, autophagy machinery is thought to conjugate LC3 directly onto the phagosomal membrane to promote lysosome fusion. However, a recent study has suggested that ATG proteins may in fact impair phagosome maturation to promote antigen presentation. Here, we examined the impact of ATG proteins on phagosome maturation in murine cells using FCGR2A/FcγR-dependent phagocytosis as a model. We show that phagosome maturation is not affected in Atg5-deficient mouse embryonic fibroblasts, or in Atg5- or Atg7-deficient bone marrow-derived macrophages using standard assays of phagosome maturation. We propose that ATG proteins may be required for phagosome maturation under some conditions, but are not universally required for this process.

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

Michael Keane; Xiao-Chun Shi; Tong-man Ong

The project staff partnered with Costas Sioutas from the University of Southern California to apply the VACES (Versatile Aerosol Concentration Enhancement System) to a diesel engine test facility at West Virginia University Department of Mechanical Engineering and later the NIOSH Lake Lynn Mine facility. The VACES system was able to allow diesel exhaust particulate matter (DPM) to grow to sufficient particle size to be efficiently collected with the SKC Biosampler impinger device, directly into a suspension of simulated pulmonary surfactant. At the WVU-MAE facility, the concentration of the aerosol was too high to allow efficient use of the VACES concentrationmore » enhancement, although aerosol collection was successful. Collection at the LLL was excellent with the diluted exhaust stream. In excess of 50 samples were collected at the LLL facility, along with matching filter samples, at multiple engine speed and load conditions. Replicate samples were combined and concentration increased using a centrifugal concentrator. Bioassays were negative for all tested samples, but this is believed to be due to insufficient concentration in the final assay suspensions.« less

Exploratory Calibration of Adjustable-Protrusion Surface-Obstacle (APSO) Skin Friction Vector Gage

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Hakkinen, Raimo J.; Neubauer, Jeremy S.; Hamory, Philip J.; Bui, Trong T.; Noffz, Gregory K.; Young, Ron (Technical Monitor)

2003-01-01

The design of an adjustable-protrusion surface-obstacle (APSO) skin friction vector gage is presented. Results from exploratory calibrations conducted in laminar and turbulent boundary layers at the Washington University Low-Speed Wind Tunnel and for turbulent boundary layers at speeds up to Mach 2 on the ceiling of the NASA Glenn Research Center 8- X 6-ft Supersonic Wind Tunnel are also discussed. The adjustable-height gage was designed to yield both the magnitude and direction of the surface shear stress vector and to measure the local static pressure distribution. Results from the NASA test show good correlation for subsonic and low supersonic conditions covering several orders of magnitude in terms of the adopted similarity variables. Recommendations for future work in this area consist of identifying the physical parameters responsible for the disagreement between the university and NASA data sets, developing a compressibility correction specific to the APSO geometry, and examining the effect that static pressure distribution and skewed boundary layers have on the results from the APSO.

State University of New York Research Foundation: Controls over Direct Costs. Report 93-S-64.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

New York State Office of the Comptroller, Albany. Div. of Management Audit.

An evaluation was done of the State University of New York (SUNY) Research Foundation's controls over direct expenditures for research and sponsored activities. The Foundation is a private, non-profit educational corporation established to expand the educational mission of SUNY through fund raising, administration of gifts and grants, and…

Direct and Indirect Costs of Research at Colleges and Universities. Revised Edition.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

National Association of College and University Business Officers, Washington, DC. Committee on Governmental Relations.

Information on direct and indirect costs of federally-sponsored research at colleges and universities, the nature of such costs, and the necessity of such costs are presented in this booklet that summarizes relevant federal regulations itemized in Office of Management and Budget Circular A-21, which deals wholly with the costs of research and…

Facilitating Self-Directed Learning (SDL) and Satisfaction with SDL among Pre-University Students

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Yeoh, Miranda P.; Cazan, Ana-Maria; Ierardi, Enzo; Jacic, Ljubomir A.

2017-01-01

The aim of the study was to evaluate our practice of self-directed learning (SDL) among pre-university students in Malaysia. Respondents provided data on their previous school learning experiences besides present SDL experiences in college. We carried out exploratory factor analysis based on the school data. We did a confirmatory factor analysis…

Multi-Directional Creative Transfer between Practice-Based Arts Education and Work

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Shreeve, Alison; Smith, Catherine

2012-01-01

In this article we examine how 19 students in creative arts disciplines in two universities experience work in not-for-profit and public sectors. We explore the notion of transfer from university education and suggest that "creative transfer" is taking place, often in more than one direction. Students draw on their life-wide experiences…

Environmental Management in Swedish Higher Education: Directives, Driving Forces, Hindrances, Environmental Aspects and Environmental Co-Ordinators in Swedish Universities

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Sammalisto, Kaisu; Arvidsson, Karin

2005-01-01

Purpose: This study of environment management systems implementation in Swedish universities contributes to the dialogue about the role of management systems as tools in developing sustainability in higher education. Design/methodology/approach: The empirical study is based on Government directives that make environmental management systems…

Developing Nationally Competitive NASA Research Capability in West Virginia

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Calzonetti, Frank J.

1997-01-01

In May, 1995 West Virginia EPSCOR was awarded $150,000 to support activities to develop research capabilities in West Virginia in support of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). These funds were used to support three projects: 1) Information Processing and the Earth Observing System, directed by Dr. Stuart Tewksbury of West Virginia University; 2) Development of Optical Materials for Atmospheric Sensing Experiments, directed by Dr. Nancy Giles of West Virginia University; and 3) Development of Doppler Global Velocimeter (DGV) for Aeronautical and Combustion Studies, directed by Dr. John Kuhlman of West Virginia University. The funding provides the means to develop capability in each of these areas. This report summarizes the technical accomplishments in each project supported under this award.

Achieving effective universal health coverage with equity: evidence from Chile.

PubMed

Frenz, Patricia; Delgado, Iris; Kaufman, Jay S; Harper, Sam

2014-09-01

Chile's 'health guarantees' approach to providing universal and equitable coverage for quality healthcare in a dual public-private health system has generated global interest. The programme, called AUGE, defines legally enforceable rights to explicit healthcare benefits for priority health conditions, which incrementally covered 56 problems representing 75% of the disease burden between 2005 and 2009. It was accompanied by other health reform measures to increase public financing and public sector planning to secure the guarantees nationwide, as well as the state's stewardship role. We analysed data from household surveys conducted before and after the AUGE reform to estimate changes in levels of unmet health need, defined as the lack of a healthcare visit for a health problem occurring in the last 30 days, by age, sex, income, education, health insurance, residence and ethnicity; fitting logistic regression models and using predictive margins. The overall prevalence of unmet health need was much lower in 2009 (17.6%, 95% CI: 16.5%, 18.6%) than in 2000 (30.0%, 95% CI: 28.3%, 31.7%). Differences by income and education extremes and rural-urban residence disappeared. In 2009, people who had been in treatment for a condition covered by AUGE in the past year had a lower adjusted prevalence of unmet need for their recent problem (11.7%, 95% CI: 10.5%, 13.2%) than who had not (21.0%, 95% CI: 19.6%, 22.4%). Despite limitations including cross-sectional and self-reported data, our findings suggest that the Chilean health system has become more equitable and responsive to need. While these changes cannot be directly attributed to AUGE, they were coincident with the AUGE reforms. However, healthcare equity concerns are still present, relating to quality of care, health system barriers and differential access for health conditions that are not covered by AUGE. Published by Oxford University Press in association with The London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine © The Author 2013; all rights reserved.

Numerical Studies of Boundary-Layer Receptivity

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Reed, Helen L.

1995-01-01

Direct numerical simulations (DNS) of the acoustic receptivity process on a semi-infinite flat plate with a modified-super-elliptic (MSE) leading edge are performed. The incompressible Navier-Stokes equations are solved in stream-function/vorticity form in a general curvilinear coordinate system. The steady basic-state solution is found by solving the governing equations using an alternating direction implicit (ADI) procedure which takes advantage of the parallelism present in line-splitting techniques. Time-harmonic oscillations of the farfield velocity are applied as unsteady boundary conditions to the unsteady disturbance equations. An efficient time-harmonic scheme is used to produce the disturbance solutions. Buffer-zone techniques have been applied to eliminate wave reflection from the outflow boundary. The spatial evolution of Tollmien-Schlichting (T-S) waves is analyzed and compared with experiment and theory. The effects of nose-radius, frequency, Reynolds number, angle of attack, and amplitude of the acoustic wave are investigated. This work is being performed in conjunction with the experiments at the Arizona State University Unsteady Wind Tunnel under the direction of Professor William Saric. The simulations are of the same configuration and parameters used in the wind-tunnel experiments.

Longitudinal study of effects of patient characteristics on direct costs in Alzheimer disease.

PubMed

Zhu, C W; Scarmeas, N; Torgan, R; Albert, M; Brandt, J; Blacker, D; Sano, M; Stern, Y

2006-09-26

To estimate long-term trajectories of direct cost of caring for patients with Alzheimer disease (AD) and examine the effects of patients' characteristics on cost longitudinally. The sample is drawn from the Predictors Study, a large, multicenter cohort of patients with probable AD, prospectively followed up annually for up to 7 years in three university-based AD centers in the United States. Random effects models estimated the effects of patients' clinical and sociodemographic characteristics on direct cost of care. Direct cost included cost associated with medical and nonmedical care. Clinical characteristics included cognitive status (measured by Mini-Mental State Examination), functional capacity (measured by Blessed Dementia Rating Scale [BDRS]), psychotic symptoms, behavioral problems, depressive symptoms, extrapyramidal signs, and comorbidities. The model also controlled for patients' sex, age, and living arrangements. Total direct cost increased from approximately 9,239 dollars per patient per year at baseline, when all patients were at the early stages of the disease, to 19,925 dollars by year 4. After controlling for other variables, a one-point increase in the BDRS score increased total direct cost by 7.7%. One more comorbid condition increased total direct cost by 14.3%. Total direct cost was 20.8% lower for patients living at home compared with those living in an institutional setting. Total direct cost of caring for patients with Alzheimer disease increased substantially over time. Much of the cost increases were explained by patients' clinical and demographic variables. Comorbidities and functional capacity were associated with higher direct cost over time.

An Expanding Universe in the Classroom.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Chandler, David

1991-01-01

Two computer-generated star charts that can be used as overlay transparencies to show an expanding universe are presented. Directions on how to use the star charts to determine the Hubble constant and the age of the universe are provided. (KR)

Is the Universe a white-hole?

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Berman, Marcelo Samuel

2007-10-01

Pathria (1972) has shown, for a pressureless closed Universe, that it is inside a black (or white) hole. We show now, that the Universe with a cosmic pressure obeying Einstein’s field equations, can be inside a white-hole. In the closed case, a positive cosmological constant does the job; for the flat and open cases, the condition we find is not verified for the very early Universe, but with the growth of the scale-factor, the condition will be certainly fulfilled for a positive cosmological constant, after some time. We associate the absolute temperature of the Universe, with the temperature of the corresponding white-hole.

Change Readiness among Teaching Staff at Anadolu University, Turkey

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Akbulut, Yavuz; Kuzu, Abdullah; Latchem, Colin; Odabasi, Ferhan

2007-01-01

Turkey's Anadolu University is one of the world's largest mega-universities. It is engaged in strategic planning in response to changes in the expectations of the Turkish Higher Education Council and the community at large. In re-examining its vision and strategic directions, Anadolu University needs to be informed on the knowledge, skills, and…

Antimatter in the universe

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Stigman, G.

1973-01-01

The means of detecting the presence of antimatter in the universe are discussed. Both direct, annihilation processes, and indirect, cosmic ray particles, were analyzed. All results were negative and it was concluded that no antimatter exists, if the universe is in fact symmetric. If the universe is not symmetric then matter and antimatter are well separated from each other.

Tensile bond strength of resin composite repair in vitro using different surface preparation conditionings to an aged CAD/CAM resin nanoceramic.

PubMed

Stawarczyk, Bogna; Krawczuk, Andreas; Ilie, Nicoleta

2015-03-01

This study was conducted in order to assess the pretreatment method (air abrasion, both wet and dry, and Al2O3 grinder), the conditioning method (comprised of different adhesive systems), the repair resin composite (low and high modulus of elasticity), the contamination of CoJet air-abraded surfaces with water, and the effect phosphoric acid on the macrotensile bond strength (TBS) to aged CAD/CAM resin nanoceramic (RNC). Aged RNC substrates (LAVA Ultimate, 3M ESPE; N = 900; 10,000 cycles, 5 °C/55 °C) were air-abraded (CoJet 3M ESPE) with and without water contamination or treated with an Al2O3 grinder (Cimara, Voco). Immediately after pretreatment, half of the specimens were additionally cleaned with phosphoric acid, while the rest were only rinsed with water. Four intermediate agents (Futurabond U/VOCO, Scotchbond Universal/3M ESPE, One Coat Bond/Coltène Whaledent, visio.link/bredent) were selected for conditioning the surface, while no conditioned specimens acted as control groups. Specimens were thereafter repaired using two direct resin composites (Arabesk Top and GrandioSo, VOCO), stored for 24 h at 37 °C in H2O, and thermally aged for 10,000 cycles (5 °C/55 °C; n = 15/subgroup). TBS and failure types were determined and evaluated with four- and one-way ANOVA and χ (2) test (p < 0.05). The highest influence on TBS was exerted by the conditioning method (partial eta-squared (η P (2)) = 0.273, p < 0.05), followed by the resin composite repair (η P (2) = 0.07, p < 0.05) and the surface pretreatment method (η P (2) = 0.032, p < 0.05), while an acid contamination after surface pretreatment was insignificant (p = 0.154). Air abrasion produced superior TBS compared to grinding of the surface with Al2O3 prior to repair. The tested universal adhesives proved to be effective intermediate agents for repairing aged CAD/CAM RNC, while visio.link and Scotchbond Universal performed slightly better than Futurabond U. Phosphoric acid or water contamination of the air-abraded surface does not affect the repair bond strength.

Western Michigan University Libraries' "Electronic Journal Finder"

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Gedeon, Randle; Boston, George

2005-01-01

This article describes the development of the "Electronic Journal Finder," a TDNet installation for the University Libraries of Western Michigan University. Topics covered include: rationale for subscription project timeline, content, product customization, set-up, maintenance issues, reporting functions, directing URL links, searching…

Can Universities Develop Advanced Technology and Solve Social Problems?

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Pérez Ones, Isarelis; Núñez Jover, Jorge

This paper presents case studies on how Cuban universities have increasingly become directly involved with the economic and social development of the country. The paper shows how Cuban universities, from the early 1980s and early 1990s, started reorientation and organization of their scientific research, becoming more directly and intensely involved in the economic and social development of the country. In this way, special reference is made to the case of a research group at the University of Havana: the Laboratory of Synthetic Antigens. This group developed the first synthetic vaccine for human use approved in the world. In the article, public policies involved in this success as well as different obstacles are discussed. These obstacles demonstrate the difficulties and challenges that universities face when carrying out research and innovation activities related to economic and social development.

Life in the lithosphere, kinetics and the prospects for life elsewhere.

PubMed

Cockell, Charles S

2011-02-13

The global contiguity of life on the Earth today is a result of the high flux of carbon and oxygen from oxygenic photosynthesis over the planetary surface and its use in aerobic respiration. Life's ability to directly use redox couples from components of the planetary lithosphere in a pre-oxygenic photosynthetic world can be investigated by studying the distribution of organisms that use energy sources normally bound within rocks, such as iron. Microbiological data from Iceland and the deep oceans show the kinetic limitations of living directly off igneous rocks in the lithosphere. Using energy directly extracted from rocks the lithosphere will support about six orders of magnitude less productivity than the present-day Earth, and it would be highly localized. Paradoxically, the biologically extreme conditions of the interior of a planet and the inimical conditions of outer space, between which life is trapped, are the locations from which volcanism and impact events, respectively, originate. These processes facilitate the release of redox couples from the planetary lithosphere and might enable it to achieve planetary-scale productivity approximately one to two orders of magnitude lower than that produced by oxygenic photosynthesis. The significance of the detection of extra-terrestrial life is that it will allow us to test these observations elsewhere and establish an understanding of universal relationships between lithospheres and life. These data also show that the search for extra-terrestrial life must be accomplished by 'following the kinetics', which is different from following the water or energy.

Contribution of air conditioning adoption to future energy use under global warming.

PubMed

Davis, Lucas W; Gertler, Paul J

2015-05-12

As household incomes rise around the world and global temperatures go up, the use of air conditioning is poised to increase dramatically. Air conditioning growth is expected to be particularly strong in middle-income countries, but direct empirical evidence is scarce. In this paper we use high-quality microdata from Mexico to describe the relationship between temperature, income, and air conditioning. We describe both how electricity consumption increases with temperature given current levels of air conditioning, and how climate and income drive air conditioning adoption decisions. We then combine these estimates with predicted end-of-century temperature changes to forecast future energy consumption. Under conservative assumptions about household income, our model predicts near-universal saturation of air conditioning in all warm areas within just a few decades. Temperature increases contribute to this surge in adoption, but income growth by itself explains most of the increase. What this will mean for electricity consumption and carbon dioxide emissions depends on the pace of technological change. Continued advances in energy efficiency or the development of new cooling technologies could reduce the energy consumption impacts. Similarly, growth in low-carbon electricity generation could mitigate the increases in carbon dioxide emissions. However, the paper illustrates the enormous potential impacts in this sector, highlighting the importance of future research on adaptation and underscoring the urgent need for global action on climate change.

Contribution of air conditioning adoption to future energy use under global warming

PubMed Central

Davis, Lucas W.; Gertler, Paul J.

2015-01-01

As household incomes rise around the world and global temperatures go up, the use of air conditioning is poised to increase dramatically. Air conditioning growth is expected to be particularly strong in middle-income countries, but direct empirical evidence is scarce. In this paper we use high-quality microdata from Mexico to describe the relationship between temperature, income, and air conditioning. We describe both how electricity consumption increases with temperature given current levels of air conditioning, and how climate and income drive air conditioning adoption decisions. We then combine these estimates with predicted end-of-century temperature changes to forecast future energy consumption. Under conservative assumptions about household income, our model predicts near-universal saturation of air conditioning in all warm areas within just a few decades. Temperature increases contribute to this surge in adoption, but income growth by itself explains most of the increase. What this will mean for electricity consumption and carbon dioxide emissions depends on the pace of technological change. Continued advances in energy efficiency or the development of new cooling technologies could reduce the energy consumption impacts. Similarly, growth in low-carbon electricity generation could mitigate the increases in carbon dioxide emissions. However, the paper illustrates the enormous potential impacts in this sector, highlighting the importance of future research on adaptation and underscoring the urgent need for global action on climate change. PMID:25918391

Peru and its new challenge in higher education: Towards a research university.

PubMed

Lavalle, Carlos; de Nicolas, Victor Luis

2017-01-01

The paradigm of research universities linked to the emergence of university rankings has unified and universalized the criteria relating to the quality of higher education. This situation has led to multiple responses across global society, which has started rating the quality of higher education systems through these rankings, supported by a series of indicators aligned to the characteristics of research universities. Given that the quality of a country's higher education is one of the fundamental pillars of its development, many countries have started to take government action in this respect. In the case of Peru this has not taken long, with the approval of Law 30220 in 2014. This aims to regulate the quality of higher education through a series of specific conditions governed by a newly created body known as SUNEDU. This article uses a Delphi panel to analyze the existing relationship between the conditions imposed by SUNEDU and the research universities' intrinsic characteristics. During the Delphi panel a consensus was reached through an acceptable and stable level of responses, resulting in confirmation that there is alignment between the conditions imposed by SUNEDU and the intrinsic characteristics of research universities.

University building safety index measurement using risk and implementation matrix

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Rahman, A.; Arumsari, F.; Maryani, A.

2018-04-01

Many high rise building constructed in several universities in Indonesia. The high-rise building management must provide the safety planning and proper safety equipment in each part of the building. Unfortunately, most of the university in Indonesia have not been applying safety policy yet and less awareness on treating safety facilities. Several fire accidents in university showed that some significant risk should be managed by the building management. This research developed a framework for measuring the high rise building safety index in university The framework is not only assessed the risk magnitude but also designed modular building safety checklist for measuring the safety implementation level. The safety checklist has been developed for 8 types of the university rooms, i.e.: office, classroom, 4 type of laboratories, canteen, and library. University building safety index determined using risk-implementation matrix by measuring the risk magnitude and assessing the safety implementation level. Building Safety Index measurement has been applied in 4 high rise buildings in ITS Campus. The building assessment showed that the rectorate building in secure condition and chemical department building in beware condition. While the library and administration center building was in less secure condition.

Medial Temporal Lobe Contributions to Episodic Future Thinking: Scene Construction or Future Projection?

PubMed

Palombo, D J; Hayes, S M; Peterson, K M; Keane, M M; Verfaellie, M

2018-02-01

Previous research has shown that the medial temporal lobes (MTL) are more strongly engaged when individuals think about the future than about the present, leading to the suggestion that future projection drives MTL engagement. However, future thinking tasks often involve scene processing, leaving open the alternative possibility that scene-construction demands, rather than future projection, are responsible for the MTL differences observed in prior work. This study explores this alternative account. Using functional magnetic resonance imaging, we directly contrasted MTL activity in 1) high scene-construction and low scene-construction imagination conditions matched in future thinking demands and 2) future-oriented and present-oriented imagination conditions matched in scene-construction demands. Consistent with the alternative account, the MTL was more active for the high versus low scene-construction condition. By contrast, MTL differences were not observed when comparing the future versus present conditions. Moreover, the magnitude of MTL activation was associated with the extent to which participants imagined a scene but was not associated with the extent to which participants thought about the future. These findings help disambiguate which component processes of imagination specifically involve the MTL. Published by Oxford University Press 2016.

Mineral solubility and free energy controls on microbial reaction kinetics: Application to contaminant transport in the subsurface

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

Taillefert, Martial; Van Cappellen, Philippe

Recent developments in the theoretical treatment of geomicrobial reaction processes have resulted in the formulation of kinetic models that directly link the rates of microbial respiration and growth to the corresponding thermodynamic driving forces. The overall objective of this project was to verify and calibrate these kinetic models for the microbial reduction of uranium(VI) in geochemical conditions that mimic as much as possible field conditions. The approach combined modeling of bacterial processes using new bioenergetic rate laws, laboratory experiments to determine the bioavailability of uranium during uranium bioreduction, evaluation of microbial growth yield under energy-limited conditions using bioreactor experiments, competitionmore » experiments between metabolic processes in environmentally relevant conditions, and model applications at the field scale. The new kinetic descriptions of microbial U(VI) and Fe(III) reduction should replace those currently used in reactive transport models that couple catabolic energy generation and growth of microbial populations to the rates of biogeochemical redox processes. The above work was carried out in collaboration between the groups of Taillefert (batch reactor experiments and reaction modeling) at Georgia Tech and Van Cappellen (retentostat experiments and reactive transport modeling) at University of Waterloo (Canada).« less

Influence of degradation conditions on dentin bonding durability of three universal adhesives.

PubMed

Sai, Keiichi; Shimamura, Yutaka; Takamizawa, Toshiki; Tsujimoto, Akimasa; Imai, Arisa; Endo, Hajime; Barkmeier, Wayne W; Latta, Mark A; Miyazaki, Masashi

2016-11-01

This study aims to determine dentin bonding durability of universal adhesives using shear bond strength (SBS) tests under various degradation conditions. G-Premio Bond (GP, GC), Scotchbond Universal (SU, 3M ESPE) and All Bond Universal (AB, Bisco) were compared with conventional two-step self-etch adhesive Clearfil SE Bond (SE, Kuraray Noritake Dental). Bonded specimens were divided into three groups of ten, and SBSs with bovine dentin were determined after the following treatments: 1) Storage in distilled water at 37°C for 24h followed by 3000, 10,000, 20,000 or 30,000 thermal cycles (TC group), 2) Storage in distilled water at 37°C for 3 months, 6 months or 1year (water storage, WS group) and 3) Storage in distilled water at 37°C for 24h (control). SE bonded specimens showed significantly higher SBSs than universal adhesives, regardless of TC or storage periods, although AB specimens showed significantly increased SBSs after 30,000 thermal cycles. In comparisons of universal adhesives under control and degradation conditions, SBS was only reduced in SU after 1year of WS. Following exposure of various adhesive systems to degradation conditions of thermal cycling and long term storage, SBS values of adhesive systems varied primarily with degradation period. Although universal adhesives have lower SBSs than the two-step self-etch adhesive SE, the present data indicate that the dentin bonding durability of universal adhesives in self-etch mode is sufficient for clinical use. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Are Parents Getting it Right? A Survey of Parents' Internet Use for Children's Health Care Information.

PubMed

Pehora, Carolyne; Gajaria, Nisha; Stoute, Melyssa; Fracassa, Sonia; Serebale-O'Sullivan, Refilwe; Matava, Clyde T

2015-06-22

The use of the Internet to search for medical and health-related information is increasing and associated with concerns around quality and safety. We investigated the current use and perceptions on reliable websites for children's health information by parents. Following institutional ethics approval, we conducted a survey of parents/guardians of children presenting for day surgery. A 20-item survey instrument developed and tested by the investigators was administered. Ninety-eight percent of respondents reported that they used the Internet to search for information about their child's health. Many respondents reported beginning their search at public search engines (80%); less than 20% reported starting their search at university/hospital-based websites. Common conditions such as colds/flu, skin conditions and fever were the most frequently searched, and unique conditions directly affecting the child were second. Despite low usage levels of university/hospital-based websites for health information, the majority of respondents (74%) regarded these as providing safe, accurate, and reliable information. In contrast, only 24% of respondents regarded public search engines as providing safe and reliable information. Fifty percent of respondents reported that they cross-checked information found on the internet with a family physician. An unprecedented majority of parents and guardians are using the Internet for their child's health information. Of concern is that parents and guardians are currently not using reliable and safe sources of information. Health care providers should begin to focus on improving access to safe, accurate, and reliable information through various modalities including education, designing for multiplatform, and better search engine optimization.

Japanese Flagship Universities at a Crossroads

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Yonezawa, Akiyoshi

2007-01-01

The increasing pace and scope of global structural change has left Japanese flagship universities at a crossroads. Reflecting upon historical trends, current policy changes and respective institutional strategies for global marketing among Japanese top research universities, the author discusses possible future directions for these institutions…

Incorporating Context Dependency of Species Interactions in Species Distribution Models.

PubMed

Lany, Nina K; Zarnetske, Phoebe L; Gouhier, Tarik C; Menge, Bruce A

2017-07-01

Species distribution models typically use correlative approaches that characterize the species-environment relationship using occurrence or abundance data for a single species. However, species distributions are determined by both abiotic conditions and biotic interactions with other species in the community. Therefore, climate change is expected to impact species through direct effects on their physiology and indirect effects propagated through their resources, predators, competitors, or mutualists. Furthermore, the sign and strength of species interactions can change according to abiotic conditions, resulting in context-dependent species interactions that may change across space or with climate change. Here, we incorporated the context dependency of species interactions into a dynamic species distribution model. We developed a multi-species model that uses a time-series of observational survey data to evaluate how abiotic conditions and species interactions affect the dynamics of three rocky intertidal species. The model further distinguishes between the direct effects of abiotic conditions on abundance and the indirect effects propagated through interactions with other species. We apply the model to keystone predation by the sea star Pisaster ochraceus on the mussel Mytilus californianus and the barnacle Balanus glandula in the rocky intertidal zone of the Pacific coast, USA. Our method indicated that biotic interactions between P. ochraceus and B. glandula affected B. glandula dynamics across >1000 km of coastline. Consistent with patterns from keystone predation, the growth rate of B. glandula varied according to the abundance of P. ochraceus in the previous year. The data and the model did not indicate that the strength of keystone predation by P. ochraceus varied with a mean annual upwelling index. Balanus glandula cover increased following years with high phytoplankton abundance measured as mean annual chlorophyll-a. M. californianus exhibited the same pattern to a lesser degree, although this pattern was not significant. This work bridges the disciplines of biogeography and community ecology to develop tools to better understand the direct and indirect effects of abiotic conditions on ecological communities. © The Author 2017. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the Society for Integrative and Comparative Biology. All rights reserved. For permissions please email: journals.permissions@oup.com.

Pathways from College to University: A Social Science Example from Ontario

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

LeSage, Ann; Samis, John; Hinch, Ron; Longo, Fabiola; DiGiuseppe, Maurice; Goodman, William; Percival, Jennifer; De La Rocha, Arlene; Rodrigues, Anna; Raby, Phil; Sanchez, Otto

2014-01-01

This study evaluates the impact of a College to University Pathway Program in the Faculty of Social Science and Humanities at The University of Ontario Institute of Technology. The findings support the assertion that Pathway students perform as well as or better than students who enter university directly from secondary school. This finding is…

University Research and the City: A Report from the President of New York University.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hester, James M.

This report describes selected urban-oriented research projects of New York University that are designed to draw on the city's resources to develop new knowledge for the improvement of urban society. The university's efforts to solve urban problems take 2 forms: (1) research leadership, directed at identifying and analyzing major problems and…

Longitudinal Investigation of Perceptions towards University Concept through Metaphors: A University Sample in Turkey

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Argon, Türkan

2015-01-01

This study aims to fill the gap in the field of observation-based longitudinal studies about metaphors in educational literature and investigates students' perceptions about the concept of university before and after university by identifying and comparing the change and the direction of change observed in perceptions. The phenomenological study…

Evaluating the Impact of Research Produced by a Mission-Directed Emergent University

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Ivey, Paul W.; Oliver, Gossett; Henry, Martin

2014-01-01

The University of Technology, Jamaica (UTech) is quite young, having been granted university status in 1995, a mere 19 years ago. Nevertheless, UTech is acutely aware that it is research that sets a university apart from other post-secondary institutions. Driven by this awareness, it has developed, articulated, and implemented a coherent research…

Lecturers' Perception of Research Activities for Knowledge Production in Universities in Cross River State, Nigeria

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Uchendu, C. C.; Osim, R. O.; Odigwe, F. N.; Alade, F. N.

2014-01-01

This study examined lecturers' perception of research activities for knowledge production in universities in Cross River State, Nigeria. Two hypotheses were isolated to give direction to this investigation. 240 university lecturers were sampled from a population of 1,868 from the two universities in Cross River State, using stratified random…

Organizing Partnerships for Sustainable Community Economic Development: Lessons Learned from the University of Illinois-Chicago Neighborhoods Initiative

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Gonzalez, Atanacio; Ramasubramanian, Laxmi; Ali, Asma M.; Eichelkraut, Amanda J.

2005-01-01

Urban universities are often characterized as economic engines--directly and indirectly serving the needs of the communities within which they are situated. However, the relationship between urban universities and their neighbors is often strained. Reflecting on the University of Illinois at Chicago's Neighborhoods Initiative (UICNI) and its…

Unexpected Benefits of Pre-University Skills Training for A-Level Students

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Jones, H. L.; Gaskell, E. H.; Prendergast, J. R.; Bavage, A. D.

2017-01-01

First-year undergraduates can find the transition from the prescriptive learning environment at school to one of self-directed learning at university, a considerable challenge. A Pre-university Skills Course (PSC) was developed to address this issue by preparing sixth formers for the university learning style. It was piloted with students in the…

Financial Report of Ontario Universities 1988-89. Volume I--Universities.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Council of Ontario Universities, Toronto. Research Div.

The first volume of a report by the Council of Ontario Universities provides information on the 21 universities and related institutions which receive grants directly from the government of Ontario. It is part of a three-volume set offering detailed information on the revenues and expenses and changes in fund balances at all Ontario universities…

The University in Transformation: Global Perspectives on the Futures of the University.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Inayatullah, Sohail, Ed.; Gidley, Jennifer, Ed.

This book examines emerging trends and issues that promise to change the face of the university in the 21st century. The book is divided into four sections: chapters in the first section examine the future of higher education in the Western hemisphere, which given the dominating position of Western universities has direct and structural…

Revitalising the Nigerian University System: The Imperatives of a Market Driven Funding Mechanism

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Chiemeka, Nnorom; Nwagwu, Nwakaire Onuzuruike

2015-01-01

The needs assessment report of Nigerian public universities (2012) exposed a disturbing level of decay in public universities in Nigeria. The report, among other things advocated better financial management as a panacea for revitalising the university system. This paper compared the direct funding allocation mechanism (which is the major way of…

Bullying at a University: Students' Experiences of Bullying

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Sinkkonen, Hanna-Maija; Puhakka, Helena; Meriläinen, Matti

2014-01-01

This study focuses on bullying at a Finnish university. In May 2010 an e-questionnaire was sent to each university student (N?=?10,551), and 27% of these students (N?=?2,805) responded. According to the results, 5% of the university students had experienced either indirect public bullying or direct verbal bullying on campus. In most cases, the…

Extensive goniometric spectral measurements at desert sites for military engineering

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Berry, T. E.; Morgan, J. C.; Furey, J. S.; DeMoss, T. A.; Kelley, J. R.; McKenna, J. R.

2012-10-01

Remote-sensing technology designed to exploit disturbed earth signatures has become extremely useful in the detection of disturbed soil in military areas of operation. Soil reflectance can be exploited for this purpose and is dependent on atmospheric conditions. An understanding of the in situ soil background is vital to any type of change detection. Researchers from the Engineering Research and Development Center (ERDC) conducted OCONUS soil spectral measurements at ten sites in Afghanistan from July to November, 2011. Sampling sites were chosen on the basis of geomorphic setting, surface-soil characteristics, and field-expedient conditions. Goniometric spectral measurements at these sites have provided high quality bi-directional reflectance data, and their analyses are presented in the context of threat recognition and discrimination. These data can also provide the basis for BDRF model validation. Most spectral data were acquired under ambient solar lighting, but other data were collected at night and under artificial illumination conditions. Bidirectional measurements of soil reflectance in the VIS/NIR and SWIR were taken using the University of Lethbridge Goniometer System (ULGS) at dawn, mid-day, dusk and after sunset with a light. Soil surface roughness and reflectance varied, depending on the presence of desert varnish and desert pavement at some sites. Sun angle and dust and smoke in the atmosphere impacted soil reflectance and noise in the SWIR part of the light spectrum, in particular. The presence of minerals such as calcium carbonate, gypsum, and oxidized iron in the subsurface directly impacted reflectance measurements in disturbed soil.

Free Fermions and the Classical Compact Groups

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Cunden, Fabio Deelan; Mezzadri, Francesco; O'Connell, Neil

2018-06-01

There is a close connection between the ground state of non-interacting fermions in a box with classical (absorbing, reflecting, and periodic) boundary conditions and the eigenvalue statistics of the classical compact groups. The associated determinantal point processes can be extended in two natural directions: (i) we consider the full family of admissible quantum boundary conditions (i.e., self-adjoint extensions) for the Laplacian on a bounded interval, and the corresponding projection correlation kernels; (ii) we construct the grand canonical extensions at finite temperature of the projection kernels, interpolating from Poisson to random matrix eigenvalue statistics. The scaling limits in the bulk and at the edges are studied in a unified framework, and the question of universality is addressed. Whether the finite temperature determinantal processes correspond to the eigenvalue statistics of some matrix models is, a priori, not obvious. We complete the picture by constructing a finite temperature extension of the Haar measure on the classical compact groups. The eigenvalue statistics of the resulting grand canonical matrix models (of random size) corresponds exactly to the grand canonical measure of free fermions with classical boundary conditions.

Copayment and recommended strategies to mitigate its impacts on access to emergency medical services under universal health coverage: a case study from Thailand.

PubMed

Suriyawongpaisal, Paibul; Aekplakorn, Wichai; Srithamrongsawat, Samrit; Srithongchai, Chaisit; Prasitsiriphon, Orawan; Tansirisithikul, Rassamee

2016-10-21

Although bodies of evidence on copayment effects on access to care and quality of care in general have not been conclusive, allowing copayment in the case of emergency medical conditions might pose a high risk of delayed treatment leading to avoidable disability or death. Using mixed-methods approach to draw evidence from multiple sources (over 40,000 records of administrative dataset of Thai emergency medical services, in-depth interviews, telephone survey of users and documentary review), we are were able to shed light on the existence of copayment and its related factors in the Thai healthcare system despite the presence of universal health coverage since 2001. The copayment poses a barrier of access to emergency care delivered by private hospitals despite the policy proclaiming free access and payment. The copayment differentially affects beneficiaries of the major 3 public-health insurance schemes hence inducing inequity of access. We have identified 6 drivers of the copayment i.e., 1) perceived under payment, 2) unclear operational definitions of emergency conditions or 3) lack of criteria to justify inter-hospital transfer after the first 72 h of admission, 4) limited understanding by the service users of the policy-directed benefits, 5) weak regulatory mechanism as indicated by lack of information systems to trace private provider's practices, and 6) ineffective arrangements for inter-hospital transfer. With demand-side perspectives, we addressed the reasons for bypassing gatekeepers or assigned local hospitals. These are the perception of inferior quality of care and age-related tendency to use emergency department, which indicate a deficit in the current healthcare systems under universal health coverage. Finally, we have discussed strategies to address these potential drivers of copayment and needs for further studies.

Effects of cosmic acceleration on black hole thermodynamics

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Mandal, Abhijit

2016-07-01

Direct local impacts of cosmic acceleration upon a black hole are matters of interest. Babichev et. al. had published before that the Friedmann equations which are prevailing the part of fluid filled up in the universe to lead (or to be very specific, `dominate') the other constituents of universe and are forcing the universe to undergo present-day accelerating phase (or to lead to violate the strong energy condition and latter the week energy condition), will themselves tell that the rate of change of mass of the central black hole due to such exotic fluid's accretion will essentially shrink the mass of the black hole. But this is a global impact indeed. The local changes in the space time geometry next to the black hole can be analysed from a modified metric governing the surrounding space time of a black hole. A charged deSitter black hole solution encircled by quintessence field is chosen for this purpose. Different thermodynamic parameters are analysed for different values of quintessence equation of state parameter, ω_q. Specific jumps in the nature of the thermodynamic space near to the quintessence or phantom barrier are noted and physically interpreted as far as possible. Nature of phase transitions and the situations at which these transitions are taking place are also explored. It is determined that before quintessence starts to work (ω_q=-0.33>-1/3) it was preferable to have a small unstable black hole followed by a large stable one. But in quintessence (-1/3>ω_q>-1), black holes are destined to be unstable large ones pre-quelled by stable/ unstable small/ intermediate mass black holes.

Nudging healthy food choices: a field experiment at the train station.

PubMed

Kroese, Floor M; Marchiori, David R; de Ridder, Denise T D

2016-06-01

Recognizing the mindless nature of many food decisions, it has been suggested that attempts to increase healthy eating should not focus on convincing people what is 'right' but rather aim to adjust the environment such that people are automatically directed toward healthy choices. This study investigated a nudge aiming to promote healthy food choices in train station snack shops. The nudge involved a repositioning of food products: healthy foods were placed at the cash register desk, while keeping unhealthy products available elsewhere in the shop. Three snack shops were included: a control condition; a nudge condition repositioning healthy products and a nudge + disclosure condition employing the same nudge together with an explanatory sign. Next to examining its effectiveness during 1 week, the study assessed customers' acceptance of the nudge. Controlling for a baseline week, more healthy (but not fewer unhealthy) products were sold in both nudge conditions, with no difference between the nudge and the nudge + disclosure condition. A majority of customers reported positive attitudes toward the nudge. Repositioning healthy foods is a simple, effective and well-accepted nudge to increase healthy purchases. Moreover, disclosing its purpose does not impact on effectiveness. © The Author 2015. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of Faculty of Public Health. All rights reserved. For permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oup.com.

"But There's a Million Jokes about Everybody...": Prevalence of, and Reasons for, Directing Negative Behaviors toward Gay Men on a Canadian University Campus

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Jewell, Lisa M.; Morrison, Melanie A.

2010-01-01

The purpose of this study was to assess the frequency and types of negative behaviors directed toward gay men on university campuses and to understand heterosexual men's and women's motivations for engaging in antigay discrimination. Using a mixed methods approach, results from a quantitative survey (N = 286) indicated that students primarily…

Dental School Accreditation Costs: The Impact of Accreditation on Dental Education at the University of Maryland Dental School, 1981.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Moreland, Ernest F.; Linthicum, Dorothy S.

The Baltimore College of Dental Surgery (University of Maryland) measured direct and indirect costs of the school's 1981 accreditation visit. The four objectives of the cost study were these: (1) to determine the direct (wages and operating expenditures) and indirect (effect on school goals and morale) cost of accreditation to the Dental School;…

Software Architecture for Big Data Systems

DTIC Science & Technology

2014-03-27

Software Architecture: Trends and New Directions #SEIswArch © 2014 Carnegie Mellon University Software Architecture for Big Data Systems...AND SUBTITLE Software Architecture for Big Data Systems 5a. CONTRACT NUMBER 5b. GRANT NUMBER 5c. PROGRAM ELEMENT NUMBER 6. AUTHOR(S) 5d. PROJECT...ih - . Software Architecture: Trends and New Directions #SEIswArch © 2014 Carnegie Mellon University WHAT IS BIG DATA ? FROM A SOFTWARE

Place-Making AN Approach to the Rationale Behind the Location Choice of Power Places. Iowa State University Campus as Case Study

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Poplin, A.; Yamu, C.; Rico-Gutierrez, L.

2017-09-01

This paper concentrates on power places as perceived by the students in a 60,000 people college town in the United States. Power places are favourite outdoor locations that evoke positive emotions, and are conducive to relaxation and reduction of stress. Further understanding how location affects those places and the feelings of students will help planners and designers be more intentional as they create conditions favourable to the development of cities that are healthy, sustainable, resilient and smart. Research methodologies used in this paper include empirical cartography, mapping and space syntax. We conclude the paper with a discussion of the presented results and further research directions.

Hydrodynamic force characteristics in the splash zone

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

Daliri, M.R.; Haritos, N.

1996-12-31

A comprehensive experimental study concerned with the hydrodynamic force characteristics of both rigid and compliant surface piercing cylinders, with a major focus on the local nature of these characteristics as realized in the splash zone and in the fully submerged zone immediately below this region, has been in progress at the University of Melbourne for the last three years. This paper concentrates on a portion of this study associated with uni-directional regular wave inputs with wave steepness (H/{lambda}) in the range 0.0005--0.1580 and Keulegan-Carpenter (KC) numbers in the range 2--15 which encompasses inertia force dominant (KC<5) to drag force significantmore » conditions (5« less

Successful operative rib fixation of traumatic flail chest in a patient with osteogenesis imperfecta.

PubMed

Kulaylat, Afif N; Chesnut, Charles H; Santos, Ariel P; Armen, Scott B

2014-09-01

Increasing attention has been directed towards operative rib fixation of traumatic flail chest; reported benefits include more rapid weaning from the ventilator, decreased intensive care unit stays, decreased complications and improved functional results. The outcomes of this surgical intervention in patients with osteogenesis imperfecta, a rare condition characterized by low bone density and bone fragility, are unknown. This case demonstrates that, in the management of traumatic flail chest in a patient with osteogenesis imperfecta, surgical fixation can be successful and should be considered early. © The Author 2014. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the European Association for Cardio-Thoracic Surgery. All rights reserved.

Numerical Analysis of the Acoustic Field of Tip-Clearance Flow

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Alavi Moghadam, S. M.; M. Meinke Team; W. Schröder Team

2015-11-01

Numerical simulations of the acoustic field generated by a shrouded axial fan are studied by a hybrid fluid-dynamics-acoustics method. In a first step, large-eddy simulations are performed to investigate the dynamics of tip clearance flow for various tip gap sizes and to determine the acoustic sources. The simulations are performed for a single blade out of five blades with periodic boundary conditions in the circumferential direction on a multi-block structured mesh with 1.4 ×108 grid points. The turbulent flow is simulated at a Reynolds number of 9.36 ×105 at undisturbed inflow condition and the results are compared with experimental data. The diameter and strength of the tip vortex increase with the tip gap size, while simultaneously the efficiency of the fan decreases. In a second step, the acoustic field on the near field is determined by solving the acoustic perturbation equations (APE) on a mesh for a single blade consisting of approx. 9.8 ×108 grid points. The overall agreement of the pressure spectrum and its directivity with measurements confirm the correct identification of the sound sources and accurate prediction of the acoustic duct propagation. The results show that the longer the tip gap size the higher the broadband noise level. Senior Scientist, Institute of Aerodynamics, RWTH Aachen University.

Spatio-temporal characteristics of large scale motions in a turbulent boundary layer from direct wall shear stress measurement

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Pabon, Rommel; Barnard, Casey; Ukeiley, Lawrence; Sheplak, Mark

2016-11-01

Particle image velocimetry (PIV) and fluctuating wall shear stress experiments were performed on a flat plate turbulent boundary layer (TBL) under zero pressure gradient conditions. The fluctuating wall shear stress was measured using a microelectromechanical 1mm × 1mm floating element capacitive shear stress sensor (CSSS) developed at the University of Florida. The experiments elucidated the imprint of the organized motions in a TBL on the wall shear stress through its direct measurement. Spatial autocorrelation of the streamwise velocity from the PIV snapshots revealed large scale motions that scale on the order of boundary layer thickness. However, the captured inclination angle was lower than that determined using the classic method by means of wall shear stress and hot-wire anemometry (HWA) temporal cross-correlations and a frozen field hypothesis using a convection velocity. The current study suggests the large size of these motions begins to degrade the applicability of the frozen field hypothesis for the time resolved HWA experiments. The simultaneous PIV and CSSS measurements are also used for spatial reconstruction of the velocity field during conditionally sampled intense wall shear stress events. This material is based upon work supported by the National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship under Grant No. DGE-1315138.

Measurement of air kerma rates for 6- to 7-MeV high-energy gamma-ray field by ionisation chamber and build-up plate.

PubMed

Kowatari, Munehiko; Tanimura, Yoshihiko; Tsutsumi, Masahiro

2014-12-01

The 6- to 7-MeV high-energy gamma-ray calibration field by the (19)F(p, αγ)(16)O reaction is to be served at the Japan Atomic Energy Agency. For the determination of air kerma rates using an ionisation chamber in the 6- to 7-MeV high-energy gamma-ray field, the establishment of the charged particle equilibrium must be achieved during measurement. In addition to measurement of air kerma rates by the ionisation chamber with a thick build-up cap, measurement using the ionisation chamber and a build-up plate (BUP) was attempted, in order to directly determine air kerma rates under the condition of regular calibration for ordinary survey meters and personal dosemeters. Before measurements, Monte Carlo calculations were made to find the optimum arrangement of BUP in front of the ionisation chamber so that the charged particle equilibrium could be well established. Measured results imply that air kerma rates for the 6- to 7-MeV high-energy gamma-ray field could be directly determined under the appropriate condition using an ionisation chamber coupled with build-up materials. © The Author 2014. Published by Oxford University Press. All rights reserved. For Permissions, please email: journals.permissions@oup.com.

SWiFT site atmospheric characterization

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

Kelley, Christopher Lee; Ennis, Brandon Lee

2016-01-01

Historical meteorological tall tower data are analyzed from the Texas Tech University 200 m tower to characterize the atmospheric trends of the Scaled Wind Farm Technologies (SWiFT) site. In this report the data are analyzed to reveal bulk atmospheric trends, temporal trends and correlations of atmospheric variables. Through this analysis for the SWiFT turbines the site International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC) classification is determined to be class III-C. Averages and distributions of atmospheric variables are shown, revealing large fluctuations and the importance of understanding the actual site trends as opposed to simply using averages. The site is significantly directional with themore » average wind speed from the south, and particularly so in summer and fall. Site temporal trends are analyzed from both seasonal (time of the year) to daily (hour of the day) perspectives. Atmospheric stability is seen to vary most with time of day and less with time of year. Turbulence intensity is highly correlated with stability, and typical daytime unstable conditions see double the level of turbulence intensity versus that experienced during the average stable night. Shear, veer and atmospheric stability correlations are shown, where shear and veer are both highest for stable atmospheric conditions. An analysis of the Texas Tech University tower anemometer measurements is performed which reveals the extent of the tower shadow effects and sonic tilt misalignment.« less

Realistic Clocks for a Universe Without Time

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bryan, K. L. H.; Medved, A. J. M.

2018-01-01

There are a number of problematic features within the current treatment of time in physical theories, including the "timelessness" of the Universe as encapsulated by the Wheeler-DeWitt equation. This paper considers one particular investigation into resolving this issue; a conditional probability interpretation that was first proposed by Page and Wooters. Those authors addressed the apparent timelessness by subdividing a faux Universe into two entangled parts, "the clock" and "the remainder of the Universe", and then synchronizing the effective dynamics of the two subsystems by way of conditional probabilities. The current treatment focuses on the possibility of using a (somewhat) realistic clock system; namely, a coherent-state description of a damped harmonic oscillator. This clock proves to be consistent with the conditional probability interpretation; in particular, a standard evolution operator is identified with the position of the clock playing the role of time for the rest of the Universe. Restrictions on the damping factor are determined and, perhaps contrary to expectations, the optimal choice of clock is not necessarily one of minimal damping.

Shuttle Flight Experiment on USMP-4: In Situ Monitoring of Crystal Growth Using MEPHISTO

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Abbaschian, Reza; deGroh, Henry C., III; Leonardi, E.; deVahlDavis, Graham; Coriell, Sam; Cambon, Gerard

2001-01-01

This reports on the MEPHISTO-4 experiment on the Space Shuttle Columbia, STS-87, November 19-December 5, 1997. Involved were NASA; the University of Florida at Gainesville; groups from France that developed and built the furnace; the National Institute of Standards and Technology; The University of New South Wales, Australia; and Purdue University. This was a solidification study in which three long rods of Bismuth- 1 at.% Tin were directionally solidified. The goals were to solidify in an environment free of natural convection; to determine the relationship among solidification growth velocity, growth mode, and temperature; and determine the diffusivity of Sn in Bi. The flight samples grew with a planar solid/liquid interface at velocities less than 3.4 gm/s, and cellular growth was present at velocities greater than 6.7 um/s; grain orientation influenced the planar to cellular transition. The temperature gradient in the liquid was 204 K/cm. The s/l interface was flat with slight concavity. Diffusion-dominated conditions were present during MEPHISTO-4. The Seebeck technique was used to determine the s/I interface temperature during growth, however, to date, analysis of the Seebeck results has not yielded a reliable measurement of the interface temperature. The partition coefficient for Bi alloyed with Sn was measured, k = 0.029.

Neuroticism and Negative Urgency in Problematic Alcohol Use: A Pilot Study.

PubMed

Papachristou, Harilaos; Nederkoorn, Chantal; Jansen, Anita

2016-09-18

Problematic alcohol use is common among university students and personality might account for individual differences in developing this maladaptive behavior. Two personality dispositions implicated in problematic alcohol use are negative urgency and neuroticism. However, the relationship of these traits to problematic alcohol use is unclear. In college students high neuroticism is not directly linked to problematic alcohol use. On the other hand, the experience of emotional distress in people high in neuroticism could impair the capacity for impulse control. Loss of impulse control under conditions of negative affect could trigger impulsive drinking and problematic alcohol use in the long run. We investigated this idea by testing whether negative urgency mediates the relationship of neuroticism to problematic alcohol use. Participants were 60 undergraduate university students who completed the Urgency subscale of the Urgency, (lack of) Premeditation, (lack of) Perseverance, Sensation Seeking, and Positive Urgency Impulsive Behaviour scale (UPPS-P), the Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test (AUDIT), and the Neuroticism subscale of the Eysenck Personality Questionnaire Revised short form (EPQ-RSS). The results confirmed our hypothesis as we found an indirect effect of negative urgency on the relationship between neuroticism and problematic alcohol use. It appears that it is not distress but the tendency to act rashly when distressed that is important in developing problematic alcohol drinking in university students.

The New American University: Preparation of the M.Ed. Graduate Student for the 21st Century Institution

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Antonucci, Mark J.

2011-01-01

To sustain world preeminence, 21st century university and college leaders in the United States are redesigning their institutions organizationally and culturally to align with the direction of local and global societies and markets. The New American University enterprise model at Arizona State University has become one of the leading organization…

Indicators of University-Industry Knowledge Transfer Performance and Their Implications for Universities: Evidence from the United Kingdom

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Rossi, Federica; Rosli, Ainurul

2015-01-01

The issue of what indicators are most appropriate in order to measure the performance of universities in knowledge transfer (KT) activities remains relatively under-investigated. The main aim of this paper is to identify and discuss the limitations to the current measurements of university-industry KT performance, and propose some directions for…

OU/OSU Study Committee, SB 1009.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Oklahoma State Regents for Higher Education, Oklahoma City.

An Oklahoma State Legislature directive formed a committee to study University of Oklahoma (OU) and Oklahoma State University (OSU) services and programs and make recommendations for enhancement. The role of Oklahoma's two comprehensive research universities in the future of the state was the Committee's overriding consideration. Much discussion…

University of Alaska 1984 Statistical Summary.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Spargo, Frank R.; Gaylord, Thomas A.

Designed to inform decisions about the University of Alaska's (UA's) budget, direction, scope, and academic thrusts, this report provides statewide, unit, and campus data for the two- and four-year colleges in the university system. First, a systemwide summary offers information on finances, enrollments, student loan program participation,…

Cost Sharing-Past, Present-and Future?

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hardy, Robert B.

2000-01-01

Addresses ongoing issues in research cost sharing between government and universities in the context of the current Presidential Review Directive on the Government-University Research Partnership. Issues include the procurement vs. assistance conundrum, systemic shifting of costs of research from the government to universities, and the failure of…

Promotion of Biotechnology amongst Students by University Departments in South Africa

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Boshoff, N.; Treptow, R. F.

2011-01-01

University departments (including schools and centres) with a direct or indirect link to biotechnology were identified. Representatives at these entities were surveyed to establish what measures South African universities are undertaking to promote biotechnology amongst students. Of the 168 departments identified, 55 submitted usable…

Dynamical features of an anisotropic cosmological model

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Mishra, B.; Tarai, Sankarsan; Tripathy, S. K.

2018-04-01

The dynamical features of Bianchi type VI_h (BVI_h) universe are investigated in f(R, T) theory of gravity. The field equations and the physical properties of the model are derived considering a power law expansion of the universe. The effect of anisotropy on the dynamics of the universe as well as on the energy conditions are studied. The assumed anisotropy of the model is found to have substantial effects on the energy conditions and dynamical parameters.

The social ties that bind: social anxiety and academic achievement across the university years.

PubMed

Brook, Christina A; Willoughby, Teena

2015-05-01

Given that engagement and integration in university/college are considered key to successful academic achievement, the identifying features of social anxiety, including fear of negative evaluation and distress and avoidance of new or all social situations, may be particularly disadvantageous in the social and evaluative contexts that are integral to university/college life. Thus, the purpose of this study was to examine the direct effects of social anxiety on academic achievement, as well as investigate an indirect mechanism through which social anxiety might impact on academic achievement, namely, the formation of new social ties in university. The participants were 942 (71.7 % female; M = 19 years at Time 1) students enrolled in a mid-sized university in Southern Ontario, Canada. Students completed annual assessments of social anxiety, social ties, and academic achievement for three consecutive years. The results from an autoregressive cross-lag path analysis indicated that social anxiety had a significant and negative direct relationship with academic achievement. Moreover, the negative indirect effect of social anxiety on academic achievement through social ties was significant, as was the opposing direction of effects (i.e., the indirect effect of academic achievement on social anxiety through social ties). These findings highlight the critical role that social ties appear to play in successful academic outcomes and in alleviating the effects of social anxiety during university/college.

Trapping penguins with entangled B mesons

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

Dadisman, Ryan; Gardner, Susan; Yan, Xinshuai

2016-01-08

Our first direct observation of time-reversal (T) violation in the BBsystem was reported by the BaBar Collaboration, employing the method of Bañuls and Bernabéu. Given this, we generalize their analysis of the time-dependent T-violating asymmetry (AT) to consider different choices of CP tags for which the dominant amplitudes have the same weak phase. As one application, we find that it is possible to measure departures from the universality of sin(2β)directly. If sin(2β)is universal, as in the Standard Model, the method permits the direct determination of penguin effects in these channels. This method, although no longer a strict test of T,more » can yield tests of the sin(2β)universality, or, alternatively, of penguin effects, of much improved precision even with existing data sets.« less

Gender differences of the influential factors on the mental health condition of teachers in the A university.

PubMed

Kataoka, Mika; Ozawa, Kazuhiro; Tanioka, Tetsuya; Okuda, Kikuko; Chiba, Shinichi; Tomotake, Masahito; King, Beth

2015-01-01

The purpose of this research was to investigate the gender differences of the influential factors on the mental health condition among university teachers in the A university in Japan. A questionnaire survey was mailed to 924 university teachers in Japan, with a survey return rate of 43.8% (N=405). The General Health Questionnaire 28 (GHQ-28), Multidimensional Scale of Perceived Social Support (MSPSS), the Japanese version of the Brief Coping Orientation to Problems Experienced (COPE) and the Work Situation Questionnaire (WSQ) developed by the authors were administered to subjects. The GHQ-28 total score and all of sub-score of the woman was significantly higher than men. In the correlated factor of mental health, level of job satisfaction and job control, social support of significant others was observed in the both sexes. However, gender differences was observed in the coping style. Some copings including self-distraction and self-blame were related to the men, but the woman was related to the substance use. University teachers had some gender differences in the factors affecting their mental health condition. In order to improve university teacher's mental health condition, it is necessary to increase their level of job satisfaction and feeling of job control in the workplace. Especially, it was considered women's coping using substance use was important.

Effects of a Universal Classroom Behavior Management Program in First and Second Grades on Young Adult Behavioral, Psychiatric, and Social Outcomes*

PubMed Central

Kellam, Sheppard G.; Brown, C. Hendricks; Poduska, Jeanne; Ialongo, Nicholas; Wang, Wei; Toyinbo, Peter; Petras, Hanno; Ford, Carla; Windham, Amy; Wilcox, Holly C.

2008-01-01

Background The Good Behavior Game (GBG), a method of classroom behavior management used by teachers, was tested in first- and second-grade classrooms in 19 Baltimore City Public Schools beginning in the 1985–1986 school year. The intervention was directed at the classroom as a whole to socialize children to the student role and reduce aggressive, disruptive behaviors, confirmed antecedents of later substance abuse and dependence disorders, smoking, and antisocial personality disorder. This article reports on impact to age 19–21. Methods In five poor to lower-middle class, mainly African American urban areas, three or four schools were matched and within each set randomly assigned to one of three conditions: 1) GBG, 2) a curriculum-and-instruction program directed at reading achievement, or 3) the standard program. Balanced assignment of children to classrooms was made, and then, within intervention schools, classrooms and teachers were randomly assigned to intervention or control. Results By young adulthood significant impact was found among males, particularly those in first grade who were more aggressive, disruptive, in reduced drug and alcohol abuse/dependence disorders, regular smoking, and antisocial personality disorder. These results underline the value of a first-grade universal prevention intervention. Replication A replication was implemented with the next cohort of first-grade children with the same teachers during the following school year, but with diminished mentoring and monitoring of teachers. The results showed significant GBG impact for males on drug abuse/dependence disorders with some variation. For other outcomes the effects were generally smaller but in the same direction. PMID:18343607

The University and Morality: A Revised Approach to University Autonomy and Its Limits.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Alexander, Jeffrey C.

1986-01-01

The "critical" and "established" positions on university morality leave important questions unanswered. A revised position distinguishing between the corporate and intellectual bodies of the university is offered. Three social conditions for maintaining a value-rational debate are proposed. (Author/MLW)

Magnetized string cosmological models of accelerated expansion of the Universe in f(R,T) theory of gravity

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Pradhan, Anirudh; Jaiswal, Rekha

A class of spatially homogeneous and anisotropic Bianchi-V massive string models have been studied in the modified f(R,T)-theory of gravity proposed by Harko et al. [Phys. Rev. D 84:024020, 2011] in the presence of magnetic field. For a specific choice of f(R,T)=f1(R) + f2(T), where f1(R) = ν1R and f2(T) = ν2T; ν1, ν2 being arbitrary parameters, solutions of modified gravity field equations have been generated. To find the deterministic solution of the field equations, we have considered the time varying deceleration parameter which is consistent with observational data of standard cosmology (SNIa, BAO and CMB). As a result to study the transit behavior of Universe, we consider a law of variation for the specifically chosen scale factor, which yields a time-dependent deceleration parameter comprising a class of models that depicts a transition of the Universe from the early decelerated phase to the recent accelerating phase. In this context, for the model of the Universe, the field equations are solved and corresponding cosmological aspects have been discussed. The Energy conditions in this modified gravity theory are also studied. Stability analysis of the solutions through cosmological perturbation is performed and it is concluded that the expanding solution is stable against the perturbation with respect to anisotropic spatial direction. Some physical and geometric properties of the models are also discussed.

First-Year University Physics Students' Knowledge about Direct Current Circuits: Probing Improvement in Understanding as a Function of Teaching and Learning Interventions

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Newman, Richard; van der Ventel, Brandon; Hanekom, Crischelle

2017-01-01

Probing university students' understanding of direct-current (DC) resistive circuits is still a field of active physics education research. We report here on a study we conducted of this understanding, where the cohort consisted of students in a large-enrollment first-year physics module. This is a non-calculus based physics module for students in…

University of Miami Hurricane Football Team Off-Season Strength Training Program.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Ganong, Ray

The off-season football strength training and conditioning program at the University of Miami was developed to emphasize commitment and continued intensity of effort on the part of the individual player. The program emphasizes the intrinsic rewards of physical conditioning, positive reinforcement for effort, and individual responsibility for…

45 CFR 1388.6 - Program criteria-services and supports.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

2014-10-01

..., DEVELOPMENTAL DISABILITIES PROGRAM THE UNIVERSITY AFFILIATED PROGRAMS § 1388.6 Program criteria—services and... training setting within the community including the university. Direct service projects may involve...

45 CFR 1388.6 - Program criteria-services and supports.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-10-01

..., DEVELOPMENTAL DISABILITIES PROGRAM THE UNIVERSITY AFFILIATED PROGRAMS § 1388.6 Program criteria—services and... training setting within the community including the university. Direct service projects may involve...

45 CFR 1388.6 - Program criteria-services and supports.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

2013-10-01

..., DEVELOPMENTAL DISABILITIES PROGRAM THE UNIVERSITY AFFILIATED PROGRAMS § 1388.6 Program criteria—services and... training setting within the community including the university. Direct service projects may involve...

Implant dentistry in postgraduate university education. Present conditions, potential, limitations and future trends.

PubMed

Mattheos, N; Wismeijer, D; Shapira, L

2014-03-01

In recent years, opportunities for postgraduate university education in implant dentistry have increased significantly, with an increase in both the number but also the complexity of available postgraduate programmes. However, there appears to be a lack of standards directing the learning outcomes of such programmes. A scientific literature search was conducted for publications reporting on university programmes within implant dentistry, including description of programmes and evaluation of learning outcomes. A separate Internet search was conducted to collect information on existing university programmes as presented on university websites. Implant dentistry has reached a critical mass of an independent, multidisciplinary and vibrant domain of science, which combines knowledge and discovery from many clinical and basic sciences. Many university programmes conclude with a master's or equivalent degree, but there appears to be a great diversity with regard to duration and learning objectives, as well as targeted skills and competences. The importance of implant dentistry has also increased within established specialist training programmes. There was little indication, however, that the comprehensive aspects of implant dentistry are present in all specialist training programmes where implants are being covered. Although universities should maintain the options of designing academic programmes as they best see fit, it is imperative for them to introduce some form of transparent and comparable criteria, which will allow the profession and the public to relate the degree and academic credentials to the actual skills and competences of the degree holder. With regard to established specialist training programmes, the interdisciplinary and comprehensive nature of implant dentistry needs to be emphasised, covering both surgical and restorative aspects. Finally, implant dentistry is not, at present, a dental specialty. The profession has not reached a consensus as to whether the introduction of a new recognised specialist field is either necessary or desired. © 2014 John Wiley & Sons A/S. Published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

76 FR 58420 - Direct Investment Surveys: BE-12, Benchmark Survey of Foreign Direct Investment in the United States

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2011-09-21

...] RIN 0691-AA80 Direct Investment Surveys: BE-12, Benchmark Survey of Foreign Direct Investment in the... of Foreign Direct Investment in the United States. Benchmark surveys are conducted every five years; the prior survey covered 2007. The benchmark survey covers the universe of foreign direct investment...

The Reality, Direction, and Future of Computerized Publications

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Levenstein, Nicholas

2012-01-01

Sharing information in digital form by using a computer is a growing phenomenon. Many universities are making their applications available on computer. More than one hundred and thirty-six universities have developed computerized applications on their own or through a commercial vendor. Universities developed computerized applications in order to…

76 FR 33193 - Submission for OMB Review; Comment Request

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2011-06-08

... universe of U.S. affiliates collected once every five years on the BE-12 benchmark survey. No changes in... States, along with businesses that subsequently entered the direct investment universe. The BE-15 is a sample survey, as described; universe estimates are developed from the reported sample data. Affected...

Inclusive Education in Higher Education?

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Morgado, Beatriz; Cortés-Vega, Mª Dolores; López-Gavira, Rosario; Álvarez, Encarna; Moriña, Anabel

2016-01-01

The present study provides partial findings from research currently underway at the University of Seville: "Hurdles & Help as Perceived by University Students Disabilities". (Directed by Dr. Anabel Moriña, project funding: MICINN, I+D+I, ref. EDU 2010-16264). How does the university, as an institution, open doors and/or put hurdles…

A Study of Undergraduate Admissions to Alabama Colleges and Universities, 1971-72.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Alabama State Commission on Higher Education, Montgomery.

This study examines the undergraduate admission process at Alabama colleges and universities. A questionnaire mailed to officials directing admissions at the 54 public and private colleges and universities in Alabama was constructed to determine: the minimum requirements for undergraduate admission; routine extra-credential considerations; the…

University Technology Transfer: In Tough Economic Times

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Powers, Joshua B.; Campbell, Eric G.

2009-01-01

In 1907, Frederick Cottrell, professor of chemistry at the University of California-Berkeley and father of the modern academic patent, worried that if universities became too directly involved in patenting and licensing operations, their thirst for profits could lead to the erosion of the openness necessary for academic science to flourish. For…

Political Action and the Development of a Research University.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Bjork, Lars G.

The manner in which the University of New Mexico developed from an undergraduate teaching institution in the direction of a graduate research university during 1967-1978 was studied, using an ethnohistorical research approach. A combination of qualitative research commonly associated with the participant-observation approach was employed. A large…

32 CFR 242b.7 - Officers of the University.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-07-01

... THE HEALTH SCIENCES § 242b.7 Officers of the University. (a) Dean of the University. (1) The Regents... Services and Materiel Acquisition; (C) Military Personnel; (D) Civilian Personnel; (E) Computer Operations... Management and Computer Operations will report directly to the Vice President for Operations; the Civilian...

32 CFR 242b.7 - Officers of the University.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-07-01

... THE HEALTH SCIENCES § 242b.7 Officers of the University. (a) Dean of the University. (1) The Regents... Services and Materiel Acquisition; (C) Military Personnel; (D) Civilian Personnel; (E) Computer Operations... Management and Computer Operations will report directly to the Vice President for Operations; the Civilian...

32 CFR 242b.7 - Officers of the University.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-07-01

... THE HEALTH SCIENCES § 242b.7 Officers of the University. (a) Dean of the University. (1) The Regents... Services and Materiel Acquisition; (C) Military Personnel; (D) Civilian Personnel; (E) Computer Operations... Management and Computer Operations will report directly to the Vice President for Operations; the Civilian...

32 CFR 242b.7 - Officers of the University.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

2013-07-01

... THE HEALTH SCIENCES § 242b.7 Officers of the University. (a) Dean of the University. (1) The Regents... Services and Materiel Acquisition; (C) Military Personnel; (D) Civilian Personnel; (E) Computer Operations... Management and Computer Operations will report directly to the Vice President for Operations; the Civilian...

32 CFR 242b.7 - Officers of the University.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

2014-07-01

... THE HEALTH SCIENCES § 242b.7 Officers of the University. (a) Dean of the University. (1) The Regents... Services and Materiel Acquisition; (C) Military Personnel; (D) Civilian Personnel; (E) Computer Operations... Management and Computer Operations will report directly to the Vice President for Operations; the Civilian...

Allocation of Students in North African Universities.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Jones, Marie Thourson

1981-01-01

Student bodies at public universities in Morocco, Algeria, and Tunisia have grown rapidly, outside the direct control of university authorities. How the three North African nations differ in their policies regulating which students may study which subjects, and the implications of these policies for the goals of higher education are discussed.…

Generative Themes and At-Risk Students

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Thelin, William H.; Taczak, Kara

2007-01-01

At the University of Akron, the administration decided to segregate the students previously called "provisional" from the "regular" population. As an open-access institution, the university directly admits only approximately 15 percent of the students to a program of study. The vast majority of students start in University College and transfer to…

Policy and Procedures, University of Rhode Island Foundation.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Leslie, James W.

A guide to policies and procedures of the University of Rhode Island Foundation is presented. Attention is directed to the following concerns: fund-raising policies, the act incorporating the University of Rhode Island Foundation, by-laws, dual signature system, nominating committee responsibilities and procedures, policy and guidelines for the…

The Engaged University: International Perspectives on Civic Engagement. International Studies in Higher Education

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Watson, David; Hollister, Robert; Stroud, Susan E.; Babcock, Elizabeth

2011-01-01

"The Engaged University" is a comprehensive empirical account of the global civic engagement movement in higher education. In universities around the world, something extraordinary is underway. Mobilizing their human and intellectual resources, institutions of higher education are directly tackling community problems--combating poverty,…

Healthy Academic Processes in the University Context

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Castillo-Cedeño, Ileana; Flores-Davis, Luz Emilia; Miranda-Cervantes, Giselle

2015-01-01

This scientific article aims to identify the perceptions of healthy academic administrative processes in the university context. This contribution was directed by socio-educational research processes generated at the National University of Costa Rica (UNA), in the Center for Research and Teaching in Education (CIDE). The issue of health is part of…

Employee Turnover in Christian College/University Admissions

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Dougherty, Kevin D.; Andrews, Megan

2007-01-01

Few campus offices bear the weight of organizational health and vitality more directly than college and university admissions offices. This is particularly true for Christian colleges and universities where annual operating budgets depend largely on student tuition dollars. The purpose of the research reported in this paper was to explore rates…

Learning Styles and the Japanese University Second Language Student.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Rausch, Anthony S.

This study investigated learning styles and learning strategies among Japanese university students whose majors are directly related to English. Data were gathered in a survey of 365 students in English literature, language, or linguistics courses at two universities. The survey included questions about study outside class time, study using…

Direct behavior rating as a school-based behavior universal screener: replication across sites.

PubMed

Kilgus, Stephen P; Riley-Tillman, T Chris; Chafouleas, Sandra M; Christ, Theodore J; Welsh, Megan E

2014-02-01

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the utility of Direct Behavior Rating Single Item Scale (DBR-SIS) targets of disruptive, engaged, and respectful behavior within school-based universal screening. Participants included 31 first-, 25 fourth-, and 23 seventh-grade teachers and their 1108 students, sampled from 13 schools across three geographic locations (northeast, southeast, and midwest). Each teacher rated approximately 15 of their students across three measures, including DBR-SIS, the Behavioral and Emotional Screening System (Kamphaus & Reynolds, 2007), and the Student Risk Screening Scale (Drummond, 1994). Moderate to high bivariate correlations and area under the curve statistics supported concurrent validity and diagnostic accuracy of DBR-SIS. Receiver operating characteristic curve analyses indicated that although respectful behavior cut scores recommended for screening remained constant across grade levels, cut scores varied for disruptive behavior and academic engaged behavior. Specific cut scores for first grade included 2 or less for disruptive behavior, 7 or greater for academically engaged behavior, and 9 or greater for respectful behavior. In fourth and seventh grades, cut scores changed to 1 or less for disruptive behavior and 8 or greater for academically engaged behavior, and remained the same for respectful behavior. Findings indicated that disruptive behavior was particularly appropriate for use in screening at first grade, whereas academically engaged behavior was most appropriate at both fourth and seventh grades. Each set of cut scores was associated with acceptable sensitivity (.79-.87), specificity (.71-.82), and negative predictive power (.94-.96), but low positive predictive power (.43-.44). DBR-SIS multiple gating procedures, through which students were only considered at risk overall if they exceeded cut scores on 2 or more DBR-SIS targets, were also determined acceptable in first and seventh grades, as the use of both disruptive behavior and academically engaged behavior in defining risk yielded acceptable conditional probability indices. Overall, the current findings are consistent with previous research, yielding further support for the DBR-SIS as a universal screener. Limitations, implications for practice, and directions for future research are discussed. Copyright © 2013 Society for the Study of School Psychology. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Composite materials for the extravehicular mobility unit

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Barrera, Enrique V.; Tello, Hector M.

1992-01-01

The extravehicular mobility unit (EMU), commonly known as the astronaut space suit assembly (SSA) and primary life support system (PLSS), has evolved through the years to incorporate new and innovative materials in order to meet the demands of the space environment. The space shuttle program which is seeing an increasing level of extravehicular activity (EVA), also called space walks, along with interest in an EMU for Lunar-Mars missions means even more demanding conditions are being placed on the suit and PLSS. The project for this NASA-ASEE Summer Program was to investigate new materials for these applications. The focus was to emphasize the use of composite materials for every component of the EMU to enhance the properties while reducing the total weight of the EMU. To accomplish this, development of new materials called fullerene reinforced materials (FRM's) was initiated. Fullerenes are carbon molecules which when added to a material significantly reduce the weight of that material. The Faculty Fellow worked directly on the development of the fullerene reinforced materials. A chamber for fullerene production was designed and assembled and first generation samples were processed. He also supervised with the JSC Colleague, a study of composite materials for the EMU conducted by the student participant in the NASA-ASEE Program, Hector Tello a Rice University graduate student, and by a NASA Aerospace Technologist (Materials Engineer) Evelyne Orndoff, in the Systems Engineering Analysis Office (EC7), also a Rice University graduate student. Hector Tello conducted a study on beryllium and Be alloys and initiated a study of carbon and glass reinforced composites for space applications. Evelyne Orndoff compiled an inventory of the materials on the SSA. Ms. Orndoff also reviewed SSA material requirements and cited aspects of the SSA design where composite materials might be further considered. Hector Tello spent part of his time investigating the solar radiation sensitivity of anodic coatings. This project was directed toward the effects of ultra-violet radiation on high emissivity anodic coatings. The work of both Evelyne Orndoff and Hector Tello is of interest to the Engineering Directorate at NASA/JSC and is also directed toward their research as Rice University graduate students.

Re-conceptualizing the origins of life

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Walker, Sara I.; Packard, N.; Cody, G. D.

2017-11-01

Over the last several hundred years of scientific progress, we have arrived at a deep understanding of the non-living world. We have not yet achieved an analogous, deep understanding of the living world. The origins of life is our best chance at discovering scientific laws governing life, because it marks the point of departure from the predictable physical and chemical world to the novel, history-dependent living world. This theme issue aims to explore ways to build a deeper understanding of the nature of biology, by modelling the origins of life on a sufficiently abstract level, starting from prebiotic conditions on Earth and possibly on other planets and bridging quantitative frameworks approaching universal aspects of life. The aim of the editors is to stimulate new directions for solving the origins of life. The present introduction represents the point of view of the editors on some of the most promising future directions. This article is part of the themed issue 'Reconceptualizing the origins of life'.

Tau hyperphosphorylation induces oligomeric insulin accumulation and insulin resistance in neurons.

PubMed

Rodriguez-Rodriguez, Patricia; Sandebring-Matton, Anna; Merino-Serrais, Paula; Parrado-Fernandez, Cristina; Rabano, Alberto; Winblad, Bengt; Ávila, Jesús; Ferrer, Isidre; Cedazo-Minguez, Angel

2017-12-01

Insulin signalling deficiencies and insulin resistance have been directly linked to the progression of neurodegenerative disorders like Alzheimer's disease. However, to date little is known about the underlying molecular mechanisms or insulin state and distribution in the brain under pathological conditions. Here, we report that insulin is accumulated and retained as oligomers in hyperphosphorylated tau-bearing neurons in Alzheimer's disease and in several of the most prevalent human tauopathies. The intraneuronal accumulation of insulin is directly dependent on tau hyperphosphorylation, and follows the tauopathy progression. Furthermore, cells accumulating insulin show signs of insulin resistance and decreased insulin receptor levels. These results suggest that insulin retention in hyperphosphorylated tau-bearing neurons is a causative factor for the insulin resistance observed in tauopathies, and describe a novel neuropathological concept with important therapeutic implications. © The Author (2017). Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the Guarantors of Brain. All rights reserved. For Permissions, please email: journals.permissions@oup.com.

Method of monaural localization of the acoustic source direction from the standpoint of the active perception theory

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gai, V. E.; Polyakov, I. V.; Krasheninnikov, M. S.; Koshurina, A. A.; Dorofeev, R. A.

2017-01-01

Currently, the scientific and educational center of the “Transport” of NNSTU performs work on the creation of the universal rescue vehicle. This vehicle is a robot, and intended to reduce the number of human victims in accidents on offshore oil platforms. An actual problem is the development of a method for determining the location of a person overboard in low visibility conditions, when a traditional vision is not efficient. One of the most important sensory robot systems is the acoustic sensor system, because it is omnidirectional and does not require finding of an acoustic source in visibility scope. Features of the acoustic sensor robot system can complement the capabilities of the video sensor in the solution of the problem of localization of a person or some event in the environment. This paper describes the method of determination of the direction of the acoustic source using just one microphone. The proposed method is based on the active perception theory.

Global map of solar power production efficiency, considering micro climate factors

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hassanpour Adeh, E.; Higgins, C. W.

2017-12-01

Natural resources degradation and greenhouse gas emissions are creating a global crisis. Renewable energy is the most reliable option to mitigate this environmental dilemma. Abundancy of solar energy makes it highly attractive source of electricity. The existing global spatial maps of available solar energy are created with various models which consider the irradiation, latitude, cloud cover, elevation, shading and aerosols, and neglect the influence of local meteorological conditions. In this research, the influences of microclimatological variables on solar energy productivity were investigated with an in-field study at the Rabbit Hills solar arrays near Oregon State University. The local studies were extended to a global level, where global maps of solar power were produced, taking the micro climate variables into account. These variables included: temperature, relative humidity, wind speed, wind direction, solar radiation. The energy balance approach was used to synthesize the data and compute the efficiencies. The results confirmed that the solar power efficiency can be directly affected by the air temperature and wind speed.

Where and why do large shallow intraslab earthquakes occur?

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Seno, Tetsuzo; Yoshida, Masaki

2004-03-01

We try to find how often, and in what regions large earthquakes ( M≥7.0) occur within the shallow portion (20-60 km depth) of a subducting slab. Searching for events in published individual studies and the Harvard University centroid moment tensor catalogue, we find twenty such events in E. Hokkaido, Kyushu-SW, Japan, S. Mariana, Manila, Sumatra, Vanuatu, N. Chile, C. Peru, El Salvador, Mexico, N. Cascadia and Alaska. Slab stresses revealed from the mechanism solutions of these large intraslab events and nearby smaller events are almost always down-dip tensional. Except for E. Hokkaido, Manila, and Sumatra, the upper plate shows horizontal stress gradient in the arc-perpendicular direction. We infer that shear tractions are operating at the base of the upper plate in this direction to produce the observed gradient and compression in the outer fore-arc, balancing the down-dip tensional stress of the slab. This tectonic situation in the subduction zone might be realized as part of the convection system with some conditions, as shown by previous numerical simulations.

Gravitational wave signals from short-lived topological defects in the MSSM

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

Kamada, Ayuki; Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of California,Riverside, CA, 92507; Yamada, Masaki

2015-10-09

Supersymmetric theories, including the minimal supersymmetric standard model, usually contain many scalar fields whose potentials are absent in the exact supersymmetric limit and within the renormalizable level. Since their potentials are vulnerable to the finite energy density of the Universe through supergravity effects, these flat directions have nontrivial dynamics in the early Universe. Recently, we have pointed out that a flat direction may have a positive Hubble induced mass term during inflation whereas a negative one after inflation. In this case, the flat direction stays at the origin of the potential during inflation and then obtain a large vacuum expectationmore » value after inflation. After that, when the Hubble parameter decreases down to the mass of the flat direction, it starts to oscillate around the origin of the potential. In this paper, we investigate the dynamics of the flat direction with and without higher dimensional superpotentials and show that topological defects, such as cosmic strings and domain walls, form at the end of inflation and disappear at the beginning of oscillation of the flat direction. We numerically calculate their gravitational signals and find that the observation of gravitational signals would give us information of supersymmetric scale, the reheating temperature of the Universe, and higher dimensional operators.« less

Gravitational wave signals from short-lived topological defects in the MSSM

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

Kamada, Ayuki; Yamada, Masaki, E-mail: ayuki.kamada@ucr.edu, E-mail: yamadam@icrr.u-tokyo.ac.jp

2015-10-01

Supersymmetric theories, including the minimal supersymmetric standard model, usually contain many scalar fields whose potentials are absent in the exact supersymmetric limit and within the renormalizable level. Since their potentials are vulnerable to the finite energy density of the Universe through supergravity effects, these flat directions have nontrivial dynamics in the early Universe. Recently, we have pointed out that a flat direction may have a positive Hubble induced mass term during inflation whereas a negative one after inflation. In this case, the flat direction stays at the origin of the potential during inflation and then obtain a large vacuum expectationmore » value after inflation. After that, when the Hubble parameter decreases down to the mass of the flat direction, it starts to oscillate around the origin of the potential. In this paper, we investigate the dynamics of the flat direction with and without higher dimensional superpotentials and show that topological defects, such as cosmic strings and domain walls, form at the end of inflation and disappear at the beginning of oscillation of the flat direction. We numerically calculate their gravitational signals and find that the observation of gravitational signals would give us information of supersymmetric scale, the reheating temperature of the Universe, and higher dimensional operators.« less

Portland State University's Second (R)evolution: Partnering to Anchor the Institution in Sustainable Communities

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Wiewel, Wim; Kecskes, Kevin; Martin, Sheila

2011-01-01

Portland State University has become internationally known for its whole-university approach to community-university engagement. Many academic leaders from around the world are now drawing on models for engagement that originated at Portland State. As the university takes stock of its successes, of changing economic conditions, and of the…

Universities in capacity building in sustainable development: focus on solid waste management and technology.

PubMed

Agamuthu, P; Hansen, Jens Aage

2007-06-01

This paper analyses some of the higher education and research capacity building experiences gained from 1998-2006 by Danish and Malaysian universities. The focus is on waste management, directly relating to both the environmental and socio-economic dimensions of sustainable development. Primary benefits, available as an educational legacy to universities, were obtained in terms of new and enhanced study curricula established on Problem-oriented Project-based Learning (POPBL) pedagogy, which strengthened academic environmental programmes at Malaysian and Danish universities. It involved more direct and mutually beneficial cooperation between academia and businesses in both countries. This kind of university reach-out is considered vital to development in all countries actively striving for global and sustainable development. Supplementary benefits were accrued for those involved directly in activities such as the 4 months of field studies, workshops, field courses and joint research projects. For students and academics, the gains have been new international dimensions in university curricula, enhanced career development and research collaboration based on realworld cases. It is suggested that the area of solid waste management offers opportunities for much needed capacity building in higher education and research, contributing to sustainable waste management on a global scale. Universities should be more actively involved in such educational, research and innovation programmes to make the necessary progress. ISWA can support capacity building activities by utilizing its resources--providing a lively platform for debate, securing dissemination of new knowledge, and furthering international networking beyond that which universities already do by themselves. A special challenge to ISWA may be to improve national and international professional networks between academia and business, thereby making education, research and innovation the key driving mechanisms in sustainable development in solid waste management.

Developing Adult Education in Universities: A Political View.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Bourgeois, Etienne; Lienard, Georges

1992-01-01

Difficulties in the development of adult education programs in research-oriented, elite universities are discussed, focusing on the differences in traditional values and objectives of adult and university education. Organizational conditions at the University of Louvain (Belgium) that have proven conducive to a successful adult education program…

A Prototype Two-tier Mentoring Program for Undergraduate Summer Interns from Minority-Serving Institutions at the University of Alaska Fairbanks

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gens, R.; Prakash, A.; Ozbay, G.; Sriharan, S.; Balazs, M. S.; Chittambakkam, A.; Starkenburg, D. P.; Waigl, C.; Cook, S.; Ferguson, A.; Foster, K.; Jones, E.; Kluge, A.; Stilson, K.

2013-12-01

The University of Alaska Fairbanks (UAF) is partnering with Delaware State University, Virginia State University, Elizabeth City State University, Bethune-Cookman University, and Morgan State University on a U.S. Department of Agriculture - National Institute for Food and Agriculture funded grant for ';Enhancing Geographic Information System Education and Delivery through Collaboration: Curricula Design, Faculty, Staff, and Student Training and Development, and Extension Services'. As a part of this grant, in summer 2013, UAF hosted a week long workshop followed by an intense two week undergraduate internship program. Six undergraduate students from partnering Universities worked with UAF graduate students as their direct mentors. This cohort of undergraduate mentees and graduate student mentors were in-turn counseled by the two UAF principal investigators who served as ';super-mentors'. The role of each person in the two-tier mentoring system was well defined. The super-mentors ensured that there was consistency in the way the internship was setup and resources were allocated. They also ensured that there were no technical glitches in the research projects and that there was healthy communication and interaction among participants. Mentors worked with the mentees ahead of time in outlining a project that aligned with the mentees research interest, provided basic reading material to the interns to get oriented, prepared the datasets required to start the project, and guided the undergraduates throughout the internship. Undergraduates gained hands-on experience in geospatial data collection and application of tools in their projects related to mapping geomorphology, landcover, geothermal sites, fires, and meteorological conditions. Further, they shared their research results and experiences with a broad university-wide audience at the end of the internship period. All participants met at lunch-time for a daily science talk from external speakers. The program offered a rich and gratifying experience for all participants. Undergraduate students got a sneak-peek into a career in higher academia before stepping into graduate school. Graduate students gained mentoring experience, and also learned the importance of good time management and setting clear expectations.

The Evolution of the Use of β-Blockers to Treat Heart Failure: A Conversation With Finn Waagstein, MD.

PubMed

Waagstein, Finn; Rutherford, John D

2017-09-05

Finn Waagstein was born in Copenhagen in 1938. He graduated from Aarhus University Medical School in 1964. He received his cardiology training in the Sahlgrenska University Hospital at the University of Gothenburg, Sweden. He was appointed Associate Professor in 1980, and he assisted in establishing and directing the first Swedish heart transplant program. From 1990 he directed the heart failure and cardiomyopathy research programs. He is currently Professor of Cardiology and senior physician at Wallenberg Laboratory. In 2002, he was awarded the King Faisal International Prize for Medicine. © 2017 American Heart Association, Inc.

Vigilance as a caring expression and Leininger's theory of cultural care diversity and universality.

PubMed

Carr, J M

1998-01-01

Vigilance, or the close, protective involvement of families caring for hospitalized relatives, was explored in this study using holistic ethnography. Leininger's theory of cultural care diversity and universality provided direction for the researcher to generate substantive data about the meanings, patterns, and day-to-day experience of vigilance. Five categories of meaning were derived from the data: commitment to care, emotional upheaval, dynamic nexus, transition, and resilience. The research findings expand understanding of vigilance as a caring expression, suggest direction for nursing practice, and contribute to Leininger's theory of cultural care diversity and universality and the development of nursing science.

Simultaneous Measurements of Temperature and Major Species Concentration in a Hydrocarbon-Fueled Dual Mode Scramjet Using WIDECARS

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gallo, Emanuela Carolina Angela

Width increased dual-pump enhanced coherent anti-Stokes Raman spectroscopy (WIDECARS) measurements were conducted in a McKenna air-ethylene premixed burner, at nominal equivalence ratio range between 0.55 and 2.50 to provide quantitative measurements of six major combustion species (C2H 4, N2, O2, H2, CO, CO2) concentration and temperature simultaneously. The purpose of this test was to investigate the uncertainties in the experimental and spectral modeling methods in preparation for an subsequent scramjet C2H4/air combustion test at the University of Virginia-Aerospace Research Laboratory. A broadband Pyrromethene (PM) PM597 and PM650 dye laser mixture and optical cavity were studied and optimized to excite the Raman shift of all the target species. Two hundred single shot recorded spectra were processed, theoretically fitted and then compared to computational models, to verify where chemical equilibrium or adiabatic condition occurred, providing experimental flame location and formation, species concentrations, temperature, and heat losses inputs to computational kinetic models. The Stark effect, temperature, and concentration errors are discussed. Subsequently, WIDECARS measurements of a premixed air-ethylene flame were successfully acquired in a direct connect small-scale dual-mode scramjet combustor, at University of Virginia Supersonic Combustion Facility (UVaSCF). A nominal Mach 5 flight condition was simulated (stagnation pressure p0 = 300 kPa, temperature T0 = 1200 K, equivalence ratio range ER = 0.3 -- 0.4). The purpose of this test was to provide quantitative measurements of the six major combustion species concentration and temperature. Point-wise measurements were taken by mapping four two-dimensional orthogonal planes (before, within, and two planes after the cavity flame holder) with respect to the combustor freestream direction. Two hundred single shot recorded spectra were processed and theoretically fitted. Mean flow and standard deviation are provided for each investigated case. Within the flame limits tested, WIDECARS data were analyzed and compared with CFD simulations and OH-PLIF measurements.

English Language Influence on THE-Reuters 2010 University Rankings; The Evidence: A South Korean Model in a Global Context

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Jambor, Paul Z.

2011-01-01

There appears to be a direct as well as an indirect link between the scholastic presence of the English language at any particular university and its respective Times Higher Education-Thomson Reuters 2010 World University Ranking, one of numerous world university rankings. Due to the author's familiarity and to some extent intimate relationship…

Peru and its new challenge in higher education: Towards a research university

PubMed Central

2017-01-01

The paradigm of research universities linked to the emergence of university rankings has unified and universalized the criteria relating to the quality of higher education. This situation has led to multiple responses across global society, which has started rating the quality of higher education systems through these rankings, supported by a series of indicators aligned to the characteristics of research universities. Given that the quality of a country’s higher education is one of the fundamental pillars of its development, many countries have started to take government action in this respect. In the case of Peru this has not taken long, with the approval of Law 30220 in 2014. This aims to regulate the quality of higher education through a series of specific conditions governed by a newly created body known as SUNEDU. This article uses a Delphi panel to analyze the existing relationship between the conditions imposed by SUNEDU and the research universities’ intrinsic characteristics. During the Delphi panel a consensus was reached through an acceptable and stable level of responses, resulting in confirmation that there is alignment between the conditions imposed by SUNEDU and the intrinsic characteristics of research universities. PMID:28787463

Preface

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Jakovics, A.

2007-06-01

The International Scientific Colloquium "Modelling for Material Processing" took place last year on June 8-9. It was the fourth time the colloquium was organized. The first colloquium took place in 1999. All colloquia were organized by the University of Latvia together with Leibniz University of Hannover (Germany) that signifies a long-term tradition (since 1988) of scientific cooperation between researchers of these two universities in the field of electrothermal process modelling. During the last colloquium scientific reports in the field of mathematical modelling in industrial electromagnetic applications for different materials (liquid metals, semiconductor technology, porous materials, melting of oxides and inductive heating) were presented. 70 researchers from 10 countries attended the colloquium. The contributions included about 30 oral presentations and 12 posters. The most illustrative presentations (oral and poster) in the field of MHD were selected for publication in a special issue of the international journal "Magnetohydrodynamics". Traditionally, many reports of the colloquium discuss the problems of MHD methods and devices applied to the metallurgical technologies and processes of semiconductor crystal growth. The new results illustrate the influence of combined electromagnetic fields on the hydrodynamics and heat/mass transfer in melts. The presented reports demonstrate that the models for simulation of turbulent liquid metal flows in melting furnaces, crystallization of alloys and single crystal growth in electromagnetic fields have become much more complex. The adequate description of occurring physical phenomena and the use of high performance computer and clusters allow to reduce the number of experiments in industrial facilities. The use of software and computers for modelling technological and environmental processes has a very long history at the University of Latvia. The first modelling activities in the field of industrial MHD applications had led to the establishment of the chair of Electrodynamics and Continuum Mechanics in 1970, the first head of which was professor Juris Mikelsons. In the early 90's, when all research institutions in our country underwent dramatic changes, not all research directions and institutions managed to adapt successfully to the new conditions. Fortunately, the people who were involved in computer modelling of physical processes were among the most successful. First, the existing and newly established contacts in Western Europe were used actively to reorient the applied researches in the directions actively studied at the universities and companies, which were the partners of the University of Latvia. As a result, research groups involved in these activities successfully joined the international effort related to the application of computer models to industrial processes, and the scientific laboratory for Mathematical Modelling of Environmental and Technological Processes was founded in 1994. The second direction of modelling development was related to the application of computer-based models for the environmental and technological processes (e.g., sediment transport in harbours, heat transfer in building constructions) that were important for the companies and state institutions in Latvia. Currently, the field of engineering physics, the core of which is the computer modelling of technological and environmental processes, is one of the largest and most successfully developing parts of researches and educational programs at the Department of Physics of the University of Latvia with very good perspectives in the future for the development of new technologies and knowledge transfer.

On the no-boundary proposal for ekpyrotic and cyclic cosmologies

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

Battarra, Lorenzo; Lehners, Jean-Luc, E-mail: lorenzo.battarra@aei.mpg.de, E-mail: jlehners@aei.mpg.de

2014-12-01

The no-boundary proposal provides a compelling theory for the initial conditions of our universe. We study the implications of such initial conditions for ekpyrotic and cyclic cosmologies. These cosmologies allow for the existence of a new type of ''ekpyrotic instanton'', which describes the creation of a universe in the ekpyrotic contraction phase. Remarkably, we find that the ekpyrotic attractor can explain how the universe became classical. In a cyclic context, in addition to the ekpyrotic instantons there exist de Sitter-like instantons describing the emergence of the universe in the dark energy phase. Our results show that typically the ekpyrotic instantonsmore » yield a higher probability. In fact, in a potential energy landscape allowing both inflationary and cyclic cosmologies, the no-boundary proposal implies that the probability for ekpyrotic and cyclic initial conditions is vastly higher than that for inflationary ones.« less

Evaluating a Web-Based Social Anxiety Intervention Among University Students: Randomized Controlled Trial.

PubMed

McCall, Hugh Cameron; Richardson, Chris G; Helgadottir, Fjola Dogg; Chen, Frances S

2018-03-21

Treatment rates for social anxiety, a prevalent and potentially debilitating condition, remain among the lowest of all major mental disorders today. Although computer-delivered interventions are well poised to surmount key barriers to the treatment of social anxiety, most are only marginally effective when delivered as stand-alone treatments. A new, Web-based cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) intervention called Overcome Social Anxiety was recently created to address the limitations of prior computer-delivered interventions. Users of Overcome Social Anxiety are self-directed through various CBT modules incorporating cognitive restructuring and behavioral experiments. The intervention is personalized to each user's symptoms, and automatic email reminders and time limits are used to encourage adherence. The purpose of this study was to conduct a randomized controlled trial to investigate the effectiveness of Overcome Social Anxiety in reducing social anxiety symptoms in a nonclinical sample of university students. As a secondary aim, we also investigated whether Overcome Social Anxiety would increase life satisfaction in this sample. Following eligibility screening, participants were randomly assigned to a treatment condition or a wait-list control condition. Only those assigned to the treatment condition were given access to Overcome Social Anxiety; they were asked to complete the program within 4 months. The social interaction anxiety scale (SIAS), the fear of negative evaluation scale (FNE), and the quality of life enjoyment and satisfaction questionnaire-short form (Q-LES-Q-SF) were administered to participants from both conditions during baseline and 4-month follow-up lab visits. Over the course of the study, participants assigned to the treatment condition experienced a significant reduction in social anxiety (SIAS: P<.001, Cohen d=0.72; FNE: P<.001, Cohen d=0.82), whereas those assigned to the control condition did not (SIAS: P=.13, Cohen d=0.26; FNE: P=.40, Cohen d=0.14). Additionally, a direct comparison of the average change in social anxiety in the 2 conditions over the course of the study showed that those assigned to the treatment condition experienced significantly more improvement than those assigned to the control condition (SIAS: P=.03, Cohen d=0.56; FNE: P=.001, Cohen d=0.97). Although participants assigned to the treatment condition experienced a slight increase in life satisfaction, as measured by Q-LES-Q-SF scores, and those assigned to the control condition experienced a slight decrease, these changes were not statistically significant (treatment: P=.35, Cohen d=-0.18; control: P=.30, Cohen d=0.18). Our findings indicate that Overcome Social Anxiety is an effective intervention for treating symptoms of social anxiety and that it may have further utility in serving as a model for the development of new interventions. Additionally, our findings provide evidence that contemporary Web-based interventions can be sophisticated enough to benefit users even when delivered as stand-alone treatments, suggesting that further opportunities likely exist for the development of other Web-based mental health interventions. ClinicalTrials.gov NCT02792127; https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/record/NCT02792127 (Archived by WebCite at http://www.webcitation.org/6xGSRh7MG). ©Hugh Cameron McCall, Chris G Richardson, Fjola Dogg Helgadottir, Frances S Chen. Originally published in the Journal of Medical Internet Research (http://www.jmir.org), 21.03.2018.

Evaluating a Web-Based Social Anxiety Intervention Among University Students: Randomized Controlled Trial

PubMed Central

McCall, Hugh Cameron; Richardson, Chris G; Helgadottir, Fjola Dogg

2018-01-01

Background Treatment rates for social anxiety, a prevalent and potentially debilitating condition, remain among the lowest of all major mental disorders today. Although computer-delivered interventions are well poised to surmount key barriers to the treatment of social anxiety, most are only marginally effective when delivered as stand-alone treatments. A new, Web-based cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) intervention called Overcome Social Anxiety was recently created to address the limitations of prior computer-delivered interventions. Users of Overcome Social Anxiety are self-directed through various CBT modules incorporating cognitive restructuring and behavioral experiments. The intervention is personalized to each user’s symptoms, and automatic email reminders and time limits are used to encourage adherence. Objective The purpose of this study was to conduct a randomized controlled trial to investigate the effectiveness of Overcome Social Anxiety in reducing social anxiety symptoms in a nonclinical sample of university students. As a secondary aim, we also investigated whether Overcome Social Anxiety would increase life satisfaction in this sample. Methods Following eligibility screening, participants were randomly assigned to a treatment condition or a wait-list control condition. Only those assigned to the treatment condition were given access to Overcome Social Anxiety; they were asked to complete the program within 4 months. The social interaction anxiety scale (SIAS), the fear of negative evaluation scale (FNE), and the quality of life enjoyment and satisfaction questionnaire—short form (Q-LES-Q-SF) were administered to participants from both conditions during baseline and 4-month follow-up lab visits. Results Over the course of the study, participants assigned to the treatment condition experienced a significant reduction in social anxiety (SIAS: P<.001, Cohen d=0.72; FNE: P<.001, Cohen d=0.82), whereas those assigned to the control condition did not (SIAS: P=.13, Cohen d=0.26; FNE: P=.40, Cohen d=0.14). Additionally, a direct comparison of the average change in social anxiety in the 2 conditions over the course of the study showed that those assigned to the treatment condition experienced significantly more improvement than those assigned to the control condition (SIAS: P=.03, Cohen d=0.56; FNE: P=.001, Cohen d=0.97). Although participants assigned to the treatment condition experienced a slight increase in life satisfaction, as measured by Q-LES-Q-SF scores, and those assigned to the control condition experienced a slight decrease, these changes were not statistically significant (treatment: P=.35, Cohen d=−0.18; control: P=.30, Cohen d=0.18). Conclusions Our findings indicate that Overcome Social Anxiety is an effective intervention for treating symptoms of social anxiety and that it may have further utility in serving as a model for the development of new interventions. Additionally, our findings provide evidence that contemporary Web-based interventions can be sophisticated enough to benefit users even when delivered as stand-alone treatments, suggesting that further opportunities likely exist for the development of other Web-based mental health interventions. Trial Registration ClinicalTrials.gov NCT02792127; https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/record/NCT02792127 (Archived by WebCite at http://www.webcitation.org/6xGSRh7MG) PMID:29563078

Rapid Determination of Clenbuterol in Pork by Direct Immersion Solid-Phase Microextraction Coupled with Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry.

PubMed

Ye, Diru; Wu, Susu; Xu, Jianqiao; Jiang, Ruifen; Zhu, Fang; Ouyang, Gangfeng

2016-02-01

Direct immersion solid-phase microextraction (DI-SPME) coupled with gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) was developed for rapid analysis of clenbuterol in pork for the first time. In this work, a low-cost homemade 44 µm polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) SPME fiber was employed to extract clenbuterol in pork. After extraction, derivatization was performed by suspending the fiber in the headspace of the 2 mL sample vial saturated with a vapor of 100 µL hexamethyldisilazane. Lastly, the fiber was directly introduced to GC-MS for analysis. All parameters that influenced absorption (extraction time), derivatization (derivatization reagent, time and temperature) and desorption (desorption time) were optimized. Under optimized conditions, the method offered a wide linear range (10-1000 ng g(-1)) and a low detection limit (3.6 ng g(-1)). Finally, the method was successfully applied in the analysis of pork from the market, and recoveries of the method for spiked pork were 97.4-105.7%. Compared with the traditional solvent extraction method, the proposed method was much cheaper and fast. © The Author 2015. Published by Oxford University Press. All rights reserved. For Permissions, please email: journals.permissions@oup.com.

Walking the Walk: School/University Collaboration in Teacher Education.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hayes, Curt; Camilli, Valerie; Piazza, Jenny

This paper analyzes the failure of a professional development school (PDS) initiative undertaken by a university department of education by using eight points from John P. Kotter's book "Leading Change," which describes conditions in business that prevent change and points to some necessary conditions for change to occur. The eight points and…

Ankle Bracing, Fatigue, and Time to Stabilization in Collegiate Volleyball Athletes

PubMed Central

Shaw, Megan Y; Gribble, Phillip A; Frye, Jamie L

2008-01-01

Context: Fatigue has been shown to disrupt dynamic stability in healthy volunteers. It is not known if wearing prophylactic ankle supports can improve dynamic stability in fatigued athletes. Objective: To determine the type of ankle brace that may be more effective at providing dynamic stability after a jump-landing task during normal and fatigued conditions. Design: Two separate repeated-measures analyses of variance with 2 within-subjects factors (condition and time) were performed for each dependent variable. Setting: Research laboratory. Patients or Other Participants: Ten healthy female collegiate volleyball athletes participated (age  =  19.5 ± 1.27 years, height  =  179.07 ± 7.6 cm, mass  =  69.86 ± 5.42 kg). Intervention(s): Athletes participated in 3 separate testing sessions, applying a different bracing condition at each session: no brace (NB), Swede-O Universal lace-up ankle brace (AB), and Active Ankle brace (AA). Three trials of a jump-landing task were performed under each condition before and after induced functional fatigue. The jump-landing task consisted of a single-leg landing onto a force plate from a height equivalent to 50% of each participant's maximal jump height and from a starting position 70 cm from the center of the force plate. Main Outcome Measure(s): Time to stabilization in the anterior-posterior (APTTS) and medial-lateral (MLTTS) directions. Results: For APTTS, a condition-by-time interaction existed (F2,18  =  5.55, P  =  .013). For the AA condition, Tukey post hoc testing revealed faster pretest (2.734 ± 0.331 seconds) APTTS than posttest (3.817 ± 0.263 seconds). Post hoc testing also revealed that the AB condition provided faster APTTS (2.492 ± 0.271 seconds) than AA (3.817 ± 0.263 seconds) and NB (3.341 ± 0.339 seconds) conditions during posttesting. No statistically significant findings were associated with MLTTS. Conclusions: Fatigue increased APTTS for the AA condition. Because the AB condition was more effective than the other 2 conditions during the posttesting, the AB appears to be the best option for providing dynamic stability in the anterior-posterior direction during a landing task. PMID:18345341

The hidden universe

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

Disney, M.

1985-01-01

Astronomer Disney has followed a somewhat different tack than that of most popular books on cosmology by concentrating on the notion of hidden (as in not directly observable by its own radiation) matter in the universe.

Universal filtered multi-carrier system for asynchronous uplink transmission in optical access network

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kang, Soo-Min; Kim, Chang-Hun; Han, Sang-Kook

2016-02-01

In passive optical network (PON), orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) has been studied actively due to its advantages such as high spectra efficiency (SE), dynamic resource allocation in time or frequency domain, and dispersion robustness. However, orthogonal frequency division multiple access (OFDMA)-PON requires tight synchronization among multiple access signals. If not, frequency orthogonality could not be maintained. Also its sidelobe causes inter-channel interference (ICI) to adjacent channel. To prevent ICI caused by high sidelobes, guard band (GB) is usually used which degrades SE. Thus, OFDMA-PON is not suitable for asynchronous uplink transmission in optical access network. In this paper, we propose intensity modulation/direct detection (IM/DD) based universal filtered multi-carrier (UFMC) PON for asynchronous multiple access. The UFMC uses subband filtering to subsets of subcarriers. Since it reduces sidelobe of each subband by applying subband filtering, it could achieve better performance compared to OFDM. For the experimental demonstration, different sample delay was applied to subbands to implement asynchronous transmission condition. As a result, time synchronization robustness of UFMC was verified in asynchronous multiple access system.

Advances in modeling the pressure correlation terms in the second moment equations

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Shih, Tsan-Hsing; Shabbir, Aamir; Lumley, John L.

1991-01-01

In developing turbulence models, various model constraints were proposed in an attempt to make the model equations more general (or universal). The most recent of these are the realizability principle, the linearity principle, the rapid distortion theory, and the material indifference principle. Several issues are discussed concerning these principles and special attention is payed to the realizability principle. Realizability (defined as the requirement of non-negative energy and Schwarz' inequality between any fluctuating quantities) is the basic physical and mathematical principle that any modeled equation should obey. Hence, it is the most universal, important and also the minimal requirement for a model equation to prevent it from producing unphysical results. The principle of realizability is described in detail, the realizability conditions are derived for various turbulence models, and the model forms are proposed for the pressure correlation terms in the second moment equations. Detailed comparisons of various turbulence models with experiments and direct numerical simulations are presented. As a special case of turbulence, the two dimensional two-component turbulence modeling is also discussed.

Topology and geometry of the dark matter web

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ramachandra, Nesar; Shandarin, Sergei

2017-01-01

Topological connections in the single-streaming voids and multi-streaming filaments and walls reveal a cosmic web structure different from traditional mass density fields. A single void structure not only percolates the multi-stream field in all the directions, but also occupies over 99 per cent of all the single-streaming regions. Sub-grid analyses on scales smaller than simulation resolution reveal tiny pockets of voids that are isolated by membranes of the structure. For the multi-streaming excursion sets, the percolating structure is much thinner than the filaments in over-density excursion approach. We also introduce, for the first time, a framework to detect dark matter haloes in multi-stream fields. Closed compact regions hosting local maxima of the multi-stream field are detected using local geometrical conditions and properties of the Lagrangian sub-manifold. All the halo particles are guaranteed to be completely outside void regions of the Universe. Majority of the halo candidates are embedded in the largest structure that percolates the entire volume. The University of Kansas FY 2017 Competition General Research Fund, GRF Award 2301155.

Management of health care services for flood victims: the case of the shelter at Nakhon Pathom Rajabhat University Central Thailand.

PubMed

Buajaroen, Hathaichanok

2013-08-01

In Central Thailand basic health care services were affected by a natural disaster in the form of a flood situation. Flood Relief Operations Centers were established from the crisis. Nakhon Pathom Rajabhat University and including the faculty of nursing volunteered to care for those affected and assist in re-establishing a functioning health care system. The aim of this study was to make explicit knowledge of concept, lesson learned, and the process of management for re-establishing a health care service system at a flood victims at Relief Operations Center, Nakhon Pathom Rajabhat University. We used a qualitative design with mixed methods. This involved in-depth interviews, focus group, observational participation and non-observational participation. Key informants included university administrators, instructors, leaders of flood victims and the flood victims. Data was collected during October-December, 2010. Data were analysed using content analysis and compared matrix. We found that the concept and principle of health care services management were community based and involved home care and field hospital services. We had prepared a management system that placed emphasise on a community based approach and holistic caring such as 24h Nursing Clinic Home, visits with family, a referral system, field hospital. The core of management was to achieve integrated instruction started from nursing students were practiced skills as Health promotion and nursing techniques practicum. Rules were established regarding the health care service system. The outcomes of Health Care Service at the Flood Relief Operations Center were direct and sincere help without conditions, administrations concerned and volunteer nursing students instructors, University Officer have sympathetic and charitable with flood victims and environment. Copyright © 2013 College of Emergency Nursing Australasia Ltd. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Assessment of Staff Retention in Private Universities in Ghana: A Study of the Perez University College, Winneba

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kwegyir-Aggrey, Peter

2016-01-01

Staff turnover especially among lecturers in private universities is high due to poor and disappointing conditions of service. This negatively affects effective teaching, learning and research. The purpose of the study was to examine the causes of staff turnover in private universities, using the Perez University College in Winneba as a case…

High-Resolution Measurement of Beach Morphological Response to Hurricane-Induced Wave Dynamics

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Starek, M.; Slatton, K. C.; Adams, P.

2005-12-01

During the Atlantic hurricane season of 2004, the Florida Pan Handle, Gulf Coast region, was impacted directly by three major hurricanes within approximately a one-month time period. The short temporal span between impacts coupled with the sudden increase in wave energy delivered to the coast resulted in drastic changes to the coastal morphology. The purpose of this study was to investigate the direct effects of deep-water wave climate and energy setups induced by the hurricanes and relate those processes to the observed change in shoreline morphology. The availability of research-grade Airborne Laser Swath Mapping (ALSM) altimetry data, often referred to as Light Detection and Ranging (LiDAR) data, enabled sub-meter spatial sampling of the coastal topography. The ALSM data were acquired by the University of Florida's Geosensing Engineering and Mapping (GEM) Center. Offshore wave measurements were obtained from the NOAA NDBC buoy network for the Gulf Coast region. The ALSM data acquired shortly before and after the three major hurricane landfalls near the Phillips Inlet barrier island region of Bay County, Florida, were used to calculate changes in the shoreline position and identify regions of erosion and deposition. Time series data of offshore wave height, period, and direction were transformed, through shoaling and refraction calculations, to nearshore wave conditions which were correlated to observed changes in beach morphology. Hurricane wave conditions drove severe shoreline retreat on the west-side of the inlet (~15+ meters) but affected the east-side shoreline minimally. The eastern backside of the inlet, however, witnessed a significant volume of washover sediment.

Research in Second Language Studies at Michigan State University

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Inceoglu, Solene; Spino, Le Anne

2013-01-01

Since its inception seven years ago, Michigan State University's vibrant Second Language Studies (SLS) Program has grown quickly under the direction of Dr. Susan Gass. Thus far, twelve students have graduated from the program and now hold academic positions in various universities in the United States and elsewhere. In 2011, the department…

Exploring the Combined Relationships of Student and Teacher Factors on Learning Approaches and Self-Directed Learning Readiness at a Malaysian University

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kek, Megan; Huijser, Henk

2011-01-01

This article presents the findings of a study of the interrelationships between students' individual characteristics, self-efficacy beliefs, parental involvement, university and classroom learning environments; teachers' individual characteristics, teaching efficacies, university and classroom learning environments, teacher outcomes and approaches…

Ratify, Reject or Revise: Balanced Scorecard and Universities

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Sayed, Naqi

2013-01-01

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to examine the use of the Balanced Scorecard (BSC) in universities. Initially directed toward profit-oriented businesses, the BSC has since been adopted by many non-profit organisations with seemingly diverse objectives. A number of primarily publicly-funded universities and institutions, which are part of…

Internationalization at Home: Using Learning Motivation to Predict Students' Attitudes toward Teaching in a Foreign Language

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Gorges, Julia; Kandler, Christian; Bohner, Gerd

2012-01-01

Fostering foreign language proficiency is an important goal of university teaching. We identified German university students' (N = 1265) goal orientations developed during secondary school as predictors of attitudes toward receiving instruction in English at university. Mastery goal orientation was proposed to "directly" promote positive…

East-West Encounters: The Challenges of Directing a Program in Jordan.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Sawaie, Mohammed

1995-01-01

The director of a University of Virginia Arabic language program in Jordan discusses issues, sometimes unfamiliar, with which the administrator must deal. In addition to logistical and administrative tasks, in this context these include the role of women in the Arab university and students' questions about the universality of social values. (MSE)

New Directions for Higher Education: Q&A with Trachtenberg on Three-Year Degrees

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

DiSalvio, Philip

2014-01-01

In this article, Philip DiSalvio, dean of the College of Advancing and Professional Studies at the University of Massachusetts Boston, interviews Stephen Trachtenberg, president emeritus and University Professor of Public Service at George Washington University. Trachtenberg shares his views on the traditional four-year undergraduate degree, the…

University of Nevada System Planning Report: 1987-1991. Future Directions for Nevada's Colleges and Universities.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Nevada Univ. System, Reno.

Goals and priorities of the University of Nevada System for 1987-1991 are presented, with attention to growth projections, campus academic and budget priorities, capital construction needs, economic development, strengthening higher education in the state, and data collection. In addition to the System's goals, academic priorities are described…

A Study of Factors Affecting University Professors' Research Output: Perspectives of Taiwanese Professors

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Yang, Jason Cheng-Cheng

2017-01-01

Higher education in Taiwan is facing competition and challenges from the macro environment of globalization. Taiwan's key policy direction is enhancing university quality in order to respond to these future trends. Universities' international competitiveness relies on not only faculty members' teaching quality, but also their research performance.…

Connecting University Course Work and Practitioner Knowledge through Mediated Field Experiences

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Campbell, Sara Sunshine; Dunleavy, Teresa K.

2016-01-01

Teacher preparation in the United States, both university based and alternative, has been strongly critiqued as ineffective when it comes to preparing new teachers. Although many criticisms have been directed at alternative teacher education, this article focuses on university-based teacher education because approximately 70% of our nation's…

Higher Education's Economic Impact in Arkansas.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kennedy, Robert L.

Direct and indirect contributions of nine Arkansas universities to the economic well-being of the state, as well as the expected rate of return from support of higher education, were assessed. In-state expenditures by the universities and local expenditures by university staff and students were measured. A major impact was the value of business…

Self-Access Language Learning for Malaysian University Students

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Tse, Andrew Yau Hau

2012-01-01

Just a few Malaysian universities offer self-access language learning activities to students. The objective of this study is to investigate if self-access learning can promote self-directed or autonomous learning in a public Malaysian technical university. Data collection is by means of interviewing the Director, lecturers, and students in a…

The Personal Coat-of-Arms Speech: Application in the Basic Course.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Matula, Theodore

The personal coat-of-arms speech provides students with specific directions in constructing a speech of introduction and has been used with success at Illinois State University, Daley College (Chicago), St. Xavier University (Chicago), and Ohio State University. The personal coat-of-arms speech gives students concrete experience on which to draw…

The Charlotte Action Research Project: A Model for Direct and Mutually Beneficial Community-University Engagement

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Morrell, Elizabeth; Sorensen, Janni; Howarth, Joe

2015-01-01

This article describes the evolution of the Charlotte Action Research Project (CHARP), a community-university partnership founded in 2008 at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte, and focuses particularly on the program's unique organizational structure. Research findings of a project evaluation suggest that the CHARP model's unique…

Wanted: Well-Rounded Students Who Can Think

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Clough, G. Wayne

2008-01-01

The sweeping impact of our times has affected all segments of society, universities included. Society's perception is that universities have not responded to changes, and criticism has been directed at tuition costs, access and willingness to reach out to the community. Yet universities are key if this country is to maintain its leadership as an…

The Impact of the Bologna Reform on the Productivity of Swiss Universities

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Agasisti, Tommaso; Bolli, Thomas

2013-01-01

The Bologna reform aims to enhance several dimensions of the universities' activities, by favouring mobility and mutual recognition of higher education degrees across Europe, with the objective to create a European Higher Education Area. The radical changes induced by the Bologna Process affect universities' productivity both directly (for…

Preventing Chronic Pain: A Human Systems Approach-Results From a Massive Open Online Course.

PubMed

Fricton, James; Anderson, Kathleen; Clavel, Alfred; Fricton, Regina; Hathaway, Kate; Kang, Wenjun; Jaeger, Bernadette; Maixner, William; Pesut, Daniel; Russell, Jon; Weisberg, Mark B; Whitebird, Robin

2015-09-01

Chronic pain conditions are the top reason patients seek care, the most common reason for disability and addiction, and the biggest driver of healthcare costs; their treatment costs more than cancer, heart disease, dementia, and diabetes care. The personal impact in terms of suffering, disability, depression, suicide, and other problems is incalculable. There has been much effort to prevent many medical and dental conditions, but little effort has been directed toward preventing chronic pain. To address this deficit, a massive open online course (MOOC) was developed for students and healthcare professionals. "Preventing Chronic Pain: A Human Systems Approach" was offered by the University of Minnesota through the online platform Coursera. The first offering of this free open course was in the spring of 2014 and had 23 650 participants; 53% were patients or consumers interested in pain. This article describes the course concepts in preventing chronic pain, the analytic data from course participants, and postcourse evaluation forms.

Preventing Chronic Pain: A Human Systems Approach—Results From a Massive Open Online Course

PubMed Central

Anderson, Kathleen; Clavel, Alfred; Fricton, Regina; Hathaway, Kate; Kang, Wenjun; Jaeger, Bernadette; Maixner, William; Pesut, Daniel; Russell, Jon; Weisberg, Mark B.; Whitebird, Robin

2015-01-01

Chronic pain conditions are the top reason patients seek care, the most common reason for disability and addiction, and the biggest driver of healthcare costs; their treatment costs more than cancer, heart disease, dementia, and diabetes care. The personal impact in terms of suffering, disability, depression, suicide, and other problems is incalculable. There has been much effort to prevent many medical and dental conditions, but little effort has been directed toward preventing chronic pain. To address this deficit, a massive open online course (MOOC) was developed for students and healthcare professionals. “Preventing Chronic Pain: A Human Systems Approach” was offered by the University of Minnesota through the online platform Coursera. The first offering of this free open course was in the spring of 2014 and had 23 650 participants; 53% were patients or consumers interested in pain. This article describes the course concepts in preventing chronic pain, the analytic data from course participants, and postcourse evaluation forms. PMID:26421231

Remote semi-continuous flow rate logging seepage meter

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Reay, William G.; Walthall, Harry G.

1991-01-01

The movement of groundwater and its associated solutes from upland regions was implicated in the degradation of receiving surface water bodies. Current efforts to directly measure this influx of water incorporate manually operated seepage meters which are hindered by severe limitations. A prototype seepage meter was developed by NASA Langley Research Center and Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University that will allow for the semi-continuous collection and data logging of seepage flux across the sediment water interface. The meter is designed to operate at depths to 40 meters, and alleviate or minimize all disadvantages associated with traditional methods while remaining cost effective. The unit was designed to operate independently for time periods on the order of weeks with adjustable sample sequences depending upon hydrologic conditions. When used in conjunction with commercially available pressure transducers, this seepage meter allows for correlations to be made between groundwater discharge and tidal/sea state conditions in coastal areas. Field data from the Chesapeake Bay and Florida Bay systems are presented.

Life cycle cost reduction road map : final report.

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

2016-12-01

Rutgers University Center for Advanced Infrastructure and Transportation (CAIT), in collaboration : with research partners within the University Transportation Center (UTC) consortium, seeks to identify : knowledge gaps and chart future R&D direction...

1984-1985 ANSMET Season

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sandford, Scott

The Antarctic Search for Meteorites program (ANSMET), under the overall direction of W. A. Cassidy (University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, Pa.), continued its work of past years by conducting an expedition to southern Victoria Land during the 1984-1985 austral summer. Party members included Cassidy, Catherine King-Frazier (James Madison University, Harrisonburg, Va.), Scott Sandford (Washington University, St. Louis, Mo.), John Schutt (University of Pittsburgh), Roberta Score (National Aeronautics and Space Administration/Johnson Space Center, Houston, Tex.), Carl Thompson (a freelance mountaineer from Canterbury, New Zealand), and Robert Walker (Washington University).

Soccer athletes are superior to non-athletes at perceiving soccer-specific and non-sport specific human biological motion

PubMed Central

Romeas, Thomas; Faubert, Jocelyn

2015-01-01

Recent studies have shown that athletes’ domain specific perceptual-cognitive expertise can transfer to everyday tasks. Here we assessed the perceptual-cognitive expertise of athletes and non-athletes using sport specific and non-sport specific biological motion perception (BMP) tasks. Using a virtual environment, university-level soccer players and university students’ non-athletes were asked to perceive the direction of a point-light walker and to predict the trajectory of a masked-ball during a point-light soccer kick. Angles of presentation were varied for orientation (upright, inverted) and distance (2 m, 4 m, 16 m). Accuracy and reaction time were measured to assess observers’ performance. The results highlighted athletes’ superior ability compared to non-athletes to accurately predict the trajectory of a masked soccer ball presented at 2 m (reaction time), 4 m (accuracy and reaction time), and 16 m (accuracy) of distance. More interestingly, experts also displayed greater performance compared to non-athletes throughout the more fundamental and general point-light walker direction task presented at 2 m (reaction time), 4 m (accuracy and reaction time), and 16 m (reaction time) of distance. In addition, athletes showed a better performance throughout inverted conditions in the walker (reaction time) and soccer kick (accuracy and reaction time) tasks. This implies that during human BMP, athletes demonstrate an advantage for recognizing body kinematics that goes beyond sport specific actions. PMID:26388828

Retest reliability of force-time variables of neck muscles under isometric conditions.

PubMed

Almosnino, Sivan; Pelland, Lucie; Stevenson, Joan M

2010-01-01

Proper conditioning of the neck muscles may play a role in reducing the risk of neck injury and, possibly, concussions in contact sports. However, the ability to reliably measure the force-time-based variables that might be relevant for this purpose has not been addressed. To assess the between-days reliability of discrete force-time-based variables of neck muscles during maximal voluntary isometric contractions in 5 directions. Cohort study. University research center. Twenty-six highly physically active men (age  =  21.6 ± 2.1 years, height  =  1.85 ± 0.09 m, mass  =  81.6 ± 9.9 kg, head circumference  =  0.58 ± 0.01 m, neck circumference  =  0.39 ± 0.02 m). We used a custom-built testing apparatus to measure maximal voluntary isometric contractions of the neck muscles in 5 directions (extension, flexion, protraction, left lateral bending, and right lateral bending) on 2 separate occasions separated by 7 to 8 days. Variables measured were peak force (PF), rate of force development (RFD), and time to 50% of PF (T(50)PF). Reliability indices calculated for each variable comprised the difference in scores between the testing sessions, with corresponding 95% confidence intervals, the coefficient of variation of the typical error of measurement (CV(TE)), and intraclass correlation coefficients (ICC [3,3]). No evidence of systematic bias was detected for the dependent measures across any movement direction; retest differences in measurements were between 1.8% and 2.7%, with corresponding 95% confidence interval ranges of less than 10% and overlapping zero. The CV(TE) was lowest for PF (range, 2.4%-6.3%) across all testing directions, followed by RFD (range, 4.8%-9.0%) and T(50)PF (range, 7.1%-9.3%). The ICC score range for all dependent measures was 0.90 to 0.99. Discrete variables representative of the force-generating capacity of neck muscles under isometric conditions can be measured with an acceptable degree of reliability. This finding has possible applications for investigating the role of neck muscle strength-training programs in reducing the risk of injuries in sport settings.

Skills Mismatch among University Graduates in the Nigeria Labor Market

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Pitan, Oluyomi S.; Adedeji, S. O.

2012-01-01

University graduates in Nigeria have been reported to be poorly prepared for work in recent years. This has implications on the relevance of university education, the employability and productivity of university graduates. One of the reasons suggested for this condition by previous studies was skill mismatch--a situation where there is a disparity…

Working Together within the University: An Interdisciplinary Project in Education

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Ferrándiz-Vindel, Isabel-María

2010-01-01

The evolution of the professional and environmental conditions is forcing the university education to a change in the teaching-learning process. This implies a new definition in the roles and functions of university teachers from whom new ways of educational training should arise. These days, university teachers are called upon to encourage and…

Discursive Battles about the Meaning of University: The Case of Danish University Reform and Its Academics

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Krejsler, John

2006-01-01

The meaning of university and, subsequently, academics' working conditions are rapidly changing as knowledge economy and globalisation discourses continue to deepen across the Western world. Higher education and research agendas are increasingly staged in the discursive universe of knowledge economy language: common strategies and harmonisation…

The Condition of Pre-K-12 Education in Arizona: 2004

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Arizona Education Policy Initiative, 2004

2004-01-01

This paper is a collection of ten policy briefs examining various key elements of the state's public education system. The authors, contributors, and reviewers of the briefs are, for the most part, on the faculty of Arizona's three public universities: Arizona State University, Northern Arizona University, and the University of Arizona. Michael…

The Antinomic Condition of the University: "Universal Labour" beyond "Academic Capitalism"

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Pavlidis, Periklis

2012-01-01

This paper aims at identifying the characteristics acquired by the university under the regime of academic capitalism. It also attempts to put forward their antinomic relationship to the essential properties of academic activity, perceived in the light of the concept of "universal labour" introduced by Karl Marx. (Contains 1 note.)

Agreement Between Fairleigh Dickinson University and Fairleigh Dickenson University Council of American Association of University Professors Chapter, September 1, 1977-August 31, 1979.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

1977

The negotiation agreement covers nondiscrimination, salary, fringe benefits, leave of absence, faculty workload, working conditions, calendars and schedules, department governance, college and campus governance, the university senate, grievance and arbitration procedures, research and travel, financial exigency, employment security, association…

Conditions for Distance Education at the University Level in Sweden and the Other Nordic Countries.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Willen, Birgitta

This report discusses the highly decentralized Nordic model of distance education at the university level, which involves giving responsibility for carrying out distance education to the individual university departments. Meeting at the university and using the telephone are primary contact methods. The report includes a discussion of higher…

Teaching Sight Words to Elementary Students With Intellectual Disability and Autism: A Comparison of Teacher-Directed Versus Computer-Assisted Simultaneous Prompting.

PubMed

Coleman, Mari Beth; Cherry, Rebecca A; Moore, Tara C; Park, Yujeong; Cihak, David F

2015-06-01

The purpose of this study was to compare the effects of teacher-directed simultaneous prompting to computer-assisted simultaneous prompting for teaching sight words to 3 elementary school students with intellectual disability. Activities in the computer-assisted condition were designed with Intellitools Classroom Suite software whereas traditional materials (i.e., flashcards) were used in the teacher-directed condition. Treatment conditions were compared using an adapted alternating treatments design. Acquisition of sight words occurred in both conditions for all 3 participants; however, each participant either clearly responded better in the teacher-directed condition or reported a preference for the teacher-directed condition when performance was similar with computer-assisted instruction being more efficient. Practical implications and directions for future research are discussed.

The performance simulation of single cylinder electric power confined piston engine

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gou, Yanan

2017-04-01

A new type of power plant. i.e, Electric Power Confined Piston Engine, is invented by combining the free piston engine and the crank connecting rod mechanism of the traditional internal combustion engine. Directly using the reciprocating movement of the piston, this new engine converts the heat energy produced by fuel to electrical energy and output it. The paper expounds the working mechanism of ECPE and establishes the kinematics and dynamics equations. Furthermore, by using the analytic method, the ECPE electromagnetic force is solved at load cases. Finally, in the simulation environment of MARLAB, the universal characteristic curve is obtained in the condition of rotational speed n between 1000 r/min and 2400 r/min, throttle opening α between 30% and 100%.

The overlap between anxiety, depression, and obsessive-compulsive disorder

PubMed Central

Goodwin, Guy M.

2015-01-01

The anxiety disorders include generalized anxiety disorder, specific phobia, social phobia, agoraphobia, and panic disorder. In addition to the specific symptoms of these disorders, there may be a common experience of anxiety and even dysphoria across the conditions, and of course recourse to the same drug or choice of drugs for treatment. This overlap probably occurs because of universal dimensions of distress or negative affectivity, a shared genetic predisposition, and a common neurobiology Evidence of shared genes is still based mainly on twin studies, but the shared neurobiology can be investigated directly by the investigation of emotional or cognitive bias either behaviorally or using functional brain imaging. This intermediate phenotype can then provide a substrate for understanding and developing medicines and psychological treatments. PMID:26487806

Educational Experiences and Needs of Higher Education Students with Autism Spectrum Disorder.

PubMed

Cai, Ru Ying; Richdale, Amanda L

2016-01-01

Little research directly examines the needs of post-secondary students with ASD. The experiences and support needs of 23 students with ASD enrolled in two universities and four colleges, and 15 family members were explored in 15 semi-structured focus groups. Thematic analysis identified five themes: core ASD features, co-morbid conditions, transition, disclosure, and services and support. Most students felt educationally but not socially supported; most families felt support was poor in both areas. Transition from secondary school was often unplanned, and disclosure of diagnosis usually occurred after enrolment, often following a significant problem. Many parents provided substantial student support. Thus disclosure of ASD diagnosis and meeting the individual needs of these students are important considerations as higher education enrolments increase.

A Partnership across the Ocean between the University of the Western Cape and the University of Missouri-St. Louis: Facilitating a Global Research Programme for Doctoral Students

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Boyer, Patricia G.; Holtman, Lorna; Murphy, Carole H.; Thaver, Beverley

2014-01-01

The downturn of the global economy requires universities worldwide to do more with fewer resources. These conditions have presented an opportunity for two universities, the University of the Western Cape and the University of Missouri-St. Louis, to collaborate on a research course offered to postgraduate students. The purpose of this article is to…

Illness as a source of variation of laterality in lions (Panthera leo).

PubMed

Zucca, Paolo; Baciadonna, Luigi; Masci, Stefano; Mariscoli, Massimo

2011-05-01

Brain asymmetry--i.e. the specialisation of each cerebral hemisphere for sensorimotor processing mechanisms and for specific cognitive functions-is widely distributed among vertebrates. Several factors, such as embryological manipulations, sex, age, and breeds, can influence the maintenance, strength, and direction of laterality within a certain vertebrate species. Brain lateralisation is a universal phenomenon characterising not only cerebral control of cognitive or emotion-related functions but also cerebral regulation of somatic processes, and its evolution is strongly influenced by social selection pressure. Diseases are well known to be a cost of sociality but their role in influencing behaviour has received very little attention. The present study investigates the influence of illness conditions as a source of variation on laterality in a social keystone vertebrate predator model, the lion. In a preliminary stage, the clinical conditions of 24 adult lions were assessed. The same animals were scored for forelimb preference when in the quadrupedal standing position. Lions show a marked forelimb preference with a population bias towards the use of the right forelimb. Illness conditions strongly influenced the strength of laterality bias, with a significant difference between clinically healthy and sick lions. According to these results, health conditions should be recognised as an important source of variation in brain lateralisation.

An Evaluation of Specialist Mentoring for University Students with Autism Spectrum Disorders and Mental Health Conditions

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Lucas, Rebecca; James, Alana I.

2018-01-01

Mentoring is often recommended to universities as a way of supporting students with Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD) and/or mental health conditions (MHC), but there is little literature on optimising this support. We used mixed-methods to evaluate mentees' and mentors' experiences of a specialist mentoring programme. Mentees experienced academic,…

User preferences for social conditions on the St. Croix international waterway

Treesearch

Jamie Hannon; John J. Daigle; Cynthia Stacey

2002-01-01

In cooperation with the St. Croix International Waterway Commission the University of New Brunswick and University of Maine conducted a study of waterway users during the summer of 1999 to determine: 1) characteristics of the waterway visit, including activities, method of travel on the waterway, length of stay, camping conditions encountered; 2) characteristics of...

Investigating Conditions for Student Success at an American University in the Middle East

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hassan, Karma El

2014-01-01

It is of great significance to an institution of higher education to meet its goals and to establish its institutional effectiveness and that it has a framework for discussing its institutional performance results, accordingly this study aims to investigate a) the conditions for student success at the University with respect to the five benchmarks…

Research Universities: Producers of Economic Development or Luxury Goods? ASHE 1985 Annual Meeting Paper.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

McClure, Maureen W.

Research that occurs in universities under conditions of patronage is distinguished from research that occurs under less distorted market conditions. It is claimed that academic research is shifting from an area of patronage consumption to one of economic development investment. In addition to considering the markets for academic research and…

Financial Measures Project. New Developments in Measuring Financial Conditions of Colleges and Universities: Papers Presented at a Working Conference.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

New York Community Trust, NY.

Papers presented at a working conference on new developments in measuring financial conditions of colleges and universities included the following: "Using Financial Indicators for Public Policy Purposes," by George W. Bonham; "Conceptual Advances in Specifying Financial Indicators: Cash Flows in the Short and Long Run," by Hans…

FAST TRACK COMMUNICATION: Criticality-induced universality in ratchets

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Chacón, Ricardo

2010-08-01

Conclusive mathematical arguments are presented supporting the ratchet conjecture (Chacón 2007 J. Phys. A: Math. Theor. 40 F413), i.e. the existence of a universal force waveform which optimally enhances directed transport by symmetry breaking. Specifically, such a particular waveform is shown to be unique for both temporal and spatial biharmonic forces, and general (non-perturbative) laws providing the dependence of the strength of directed transport on the force parameters are deduced for these forces. The theory explains previous results for a great diversity of systems subjected to such biharmonic forces and provides a universal quantitative criterion to optimize any application of the ratchet effect induced by symmetry breaking of temporal and spatial biharmonic forces.

Collaborative proposal on resilience : definitions, measurement, tools and research opportunities.

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

2016-08-01

Rutgers University Center for Advanced Infrastructure and Transportation (CAIT), in collaboration : with research partners within the University Transportation Center (UTC) consortium, seeks to identify : knowledge gaps and chart future R&D direction...

Research Highlights | UChicago MRSEC

Science.gov Websites

& Directions Related Links Directories Login University of Chicago National Science Foundation Chicago Materials Research Center 929 East 57th Street, Chicago, IL 60637 © 2012 The University of Chicago

The Influence of a Mouthpiece-Based Topography Measurement Device on Electronic Cigarette User's Plasma Nicotine Concentration, Heart Rate, and Subjective Effects Under Directed and Ad Libitum Use Conditions.

PubMed

Spindle, Tory R; Hiler, Marzena M; Breland, Alison B; Karaoghlanian, Nareg V; Shihadeh, Alan L; Eissenberg, Thomas

2017-04-01

Electronic cigarettes e-cigarettes aerosolize a liquid solution often containing nicotine. e-cigarette nicotine delivery may be influenced by user puffing behaviors ("puff topography"). E-cigarette puff topography can be recorded using mouthpiece-based computerized systems. The present study sought to examine the extent to which these systems influence e-cigarette nicotine delivery and other e-cigarette associated acute effects under ad libitum use conditions. Plasma nicotine concentration, heart rate, and subjective effects were assessed in 29 experienced e-cigarette users using their preferred e-cigarette battery and liquid (≥12mg/mL nicotine) in two sessions differing only by the presence of a mouthpiece-based device. In both sessions, participants completed a directed e-cigarette use bout (10 puffs, 30-s interpuff interval) and a 90-min ad libitum bout. Puff topography was recorded in the session with the topography mouthpiece. Plasma nicotine, heart rate, and subjective effects, aside from "Did the e-cigarette Taste Good?" were independent of topography measurement (higher mean taste ratings were observed in the no topography condition). Mean (SEM) plasma nicotine concentration following the ad libitum bout was 34.3ng/mL (4.9) in the no topography condition and 35.7ng/mL (4.3) in the topography condition. Longer puff durations, longer interpuff intervals, and larger puff volumes were observed in the ad libitum relative to the directed bout. E-cigarette use significantly increased plasma nicotine concentration and heart rate while suppressing abstinence symptoms. These effects did not differ when a topography mouthpiece was present. Future studies using ad libitum e-cigarette use bouts would facilitate understanding of e-cigarette toxicant yield. No prior study has examined whether mouthpiece-based topography recording devices influence e-cigarette associated nicotine delivery, heart rate, or subjective effects under ad libitum conditions or assessed ad libitum puff topography in experienced individuals using their preferred e-cigarette battery and liquid with a mouthpiece-based computerized device. E-cigarette use significantly increased plasma nicotine concentration and heart rate while suppressing abstinence symptoms. These effects did not differ when a topography mouthpiece was present. Ad libitum puff topography differed from puff topography recorded during directed puffing. These findings suggest that future studies using ad libitum use bouts would facilitate better understanding of e-cigarette toxicant yield. © The Author 2016. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the Society for Research on Nicotine and Tobacco. All rights reserved. For permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oup.com.

Physical condition for elimination of ambiguity in conditionally convergent lattice sums

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Young, K.

1987-02-01

The conditional convergence of the lattice sum defining the Madelung constant gives rise to an ambiguity in its value. It is shown that this ambiguity is related, through a simple and universal integral, to the average charge density on the crystal surface. The physically correct value is obtained by setting the charge density to zero. A simple and universally applicable formula for the Madelung constant is derived as a consequence. It consists of adding up dipole-dipole energies together with a nontrivial correction term.

Program Review Report on the College of Dentistry, University of Florida.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Christiansen, Richard

The programs offered by the College of Dentistry at the University of Florida (UF) were reviewed by an outside consultant in order to provide information on the State University System's vision of the college and its mission for Florida, the support base for the program, and current directions and anticipated fiscal and human forces that help…

Le Federalisme Canadien et les Subventions aux Universites Quebecoises. (The Intervention of the Canadian Government in Quebec Universities.)

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Bellavance, Michel

1980-01-01

The intervention of the Canadian government in financing Quebec universities has followed various paths through individual or institutional direct or indirect grants, operating or investment grants, and fiscal transfers. The historical evolution of federal grants to Quebec universities is described by singling out four periods. In French.…

An Exploration of Policies Governing Faculty-to-Student Consensual Sexual Relationships on University Campuses: Current Strategies and Future Directions

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Richards, Tara N.; Crittenden, Courtney; Garland, Tammy S.; McGuffee, Karen

2014-01-01

Consensual sexual relationships between students and faculty have traditionally been viewed as private matters and have been ignored by university administrators except in cases that resulted in sexual harassment claims. Due to increasing sexual harassment litigation and the liabilities associated with such relationships, universities have…

26 CFR 1.25A-5 - Special rules relating to characterization and timing of payments.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-04-01

... dependent children. F is an employee of University A. F's dependent child, G, enrolls in a graduate-level course at University A. Section 117(d) does not apply, because it is limited to tuition reductions... qualified tuition and related expenses paid directly to the institution by Parent A. Example 3. University A...

26 CFR 1.25A-5 - Special rules relating to characterization and timing of payments.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

2014-04-01

... dependent children. F is an employee of University A. F's dependent child, G, enrolls in a graduate-level course at University A. Section 117(d) does not apply, because it is limited to tuition reductions... qualified tuition and related expenses paid directly to the institution by Parent A. Example 3. University A...

Hutchins' University: A Memoir of the University of Chicago 1929-1950.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

McNeill, William H.

This book aims to set forth the convergence of institutional and sociological circumstances with intellectual and personal aspirations at the University of Chicago in the 1930s and 1940s under the direction of its fifth president, Robert Maynard Hutchins. Based in part on the author's personal experiences as a student and young faculty member…

Mobile Student to Mobile Worker: The Role of Universities in the "War for Talent"

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Li, Zhen; Lowe, John

2016-01-01

Universities, as part of the neoliberal regime imposed on them, are being co-opted into a "war for talent", in which national economic success is heavily invested. We examine part of this "war" that affects universities directly--the recruitment of "the brightest and the best" internationally mobile students and their…

Three Universities in Georgia, Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan: The Struggle against Corruption and for Social Cohesion

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Heyneman, Stephen P.

2007-01-01

Universities may contribute to a nation's social cohesion through both direct and indirect means. In their syllabi they may include techniques necessary for understanding complex social problems. Faculty may model good behaviour in terms of listening and understanding points of view that may contradict their own. University administrators may…

Cost Analysis and Overhead Charges at a Major Research University. AIR Forum 1982 Paper.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Young, Michael E.; Geason, Ronald W.

The development of a cost allocation model at Ohio State University is discussed. The model was designed to measure the direct, indirect, and total operating costs of university operations and to recover general fund overhead costs associated with unrestricted general fund support of auxiliary enterprises and revenue-generating activities. The…

The Relationship between Leadership Styles and Lecturers' Job Satisfaction in Institutions of Higher Learning in Kenya

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kiplangat, Henry Kiptiony

2017-01-01

University management and academic staff have a critical role to diligently play in fulfilling university's mandate. Effective and efficient governance and management of both private and public universities have a direct bearing on the overall quality of the institutions. With management operating under laid down governance structures, it is…

University of Arizona Scholar of Higher Education Will Lead Professors' Association

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Wilson, Robin

2008-01-01

This article reports that Gary Rhoades, who has spent his entire 22-year career at the University of Arizona studying issues that affect the professoriate, has been named general secretary of the American Association of University Professors (AAUP). Mr. Rhoades directs Arizona's Center for the Study of Higher Education. Leaders of the AAUP hope…

Community Engagement, Globalisation, and Restorative Action: Approaching Systems and Research in the Universities

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Odora Hoppers, Catherine A.

2013-01-01

It is clear that there is a wide range of arguments that reflect varying degrees of disaffection with the university worldwide. A great deal of understandable effort is directed at the impact of globalisation, especially the way it is making universities engage in academic capitalism (Slaughter and Leslie, 1997). The alternative arguments…

Students' Performance in M. Ed. Programs at the Cleveland State University, 1968-1975.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Gans, Thomas G.

The College of Education of the Cleveland State University opened its first graduate program in 1968. The purpose of the study reported here is to provide information for reflection about the college's past performance and for planning new directions in its graduate programs. The study uses information from college and university records,…

Creating a University for the 21st Century: Strategic Plan

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

North Dakota University System, 2005

2005-01-01

This document presents the strategic plan of the North Dakota University System, revised in November 2005, to develop a common vision and clear set of expectations for higher education in North Dakota. The strategic plan for the University System is directly linked to the Roundtable on Higher Education plan. This document presents the ten sections…

The Relationship between Choice of Major and Career, Experience of University and Attrition

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Willcoxson, Lesley; Wynder, Monte

2010-01-01

This study builds on earlier findings that clear choice of major and clarity of career direction is associated with university student retention. Data on business students' experience of university were correlated with data on intention to leave for two distinct major or career groupings--students who had committed themselves to a career-related…

Opportunity Adrift: Our Flagship Universities Are Straying from Their Public Mission

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Haycock, Kati; Lynch, Mary; Engle, Jennifer

2010-01-01

Public flagship universities provide excellence to students who cannot afford high-quality private institutions. Yet many of these universities direct aid to wealthy students who will attend college without it. Meantime, many high-achieving minority and poor students wind up in lesser institutions or do not attend college at all. In fact, some…

Board of Regents' Montana University System (MUS) Strategic Plan 2016

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Montana University System, 2016

2016-01-01

The Montana University System Strategic Plan is the primary planning document of the Board of Regents. The Plan sets forth an agenda for higher education in Montana by delineating the strategic directions, goals, and objectives that guide the Montana University System (MUS). In July 2006, after several years of study, public dialogue, and internal…

Upward Bound: Campaigns Soar, in Ambitions and Scope, as Donor Requirements Grow More Exacting

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Meyers, Harriet

2012-01-01

In this article, the author discusses how campaigns soar, in ambitions and scope, as donor requirements grow more exacting. For a glimpse at the direction in which college and university fundraising campaigns are headed, take a look at the University of Colorado. The university system's foundation is conducting its most ambitious campaign, joining…

Improving Agricultural Extension Services through University Outreach Initiatives: A Case of Farmers in Model Villages in Ogun State, Nigeria

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Oloruntoba, Abayomi; Adegbite, Dorcas A.

2006-01-01

University outreach is an educational and research-based information source enabling farmers to make decisions that improve the quality of their lives. This paper explores how collaborative efforts between the university and farmers have directly impacted in albeit Striga ("noxious witch weed") ravaged maize farms in rainforest farming…

A Retrospective Examination of a University's Thirteen Years in Latin America.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Blood, Ronald E.; And Others

The context of educational reform within which U.S. higher education has worked in selected Latin American countries is examined, with attention directed to the specific experience of the University of New Mexico. The evolution of the Latin American Programs in Education office (LAPE) in the university setting, the organizational milieu in which…

How Colleges, Universities, and Other Educational Institutions Can Use Direct Mail More Effectively.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Anderson, Glenn L.

This series of magazine articles stresses ways in which educational institutions can use direct mail advertising to promote lectures, concerts, and other programs to off-campus audiences. The application of direct mail principles to selling education is suggested, and the advantages and disadvantages of direct mailings by colleges and universities…

"Axis of Universe" Not Seen in Data, Astronomers Say

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

1997-04-01

A claim that the universe has a preferred direction is not supported by recent observational evidence, according to three astronomers who analyzed data from the Very Large Array (VLA) radio telescope in New Mexico and the W.M. Keck Telescope in Hawaii. John Wardle of Brandeis University, Rick Perley of the National Radio Astronomy Observatory, and Marshall Cohen of the California Institute of Technology responded to an article in the April 21 issue of Physical Review Letters, in which Borge Nodland of the University of Rochester and John Ralston of the University of Kansas claimed to have found that the universe has a distinct axis that affects electromagnetic radiation (light, radio waves, etc.). Nodland and Ralston said that their analysis of previous radio observations of 160 galaxies, made in the 1970s and 1980s, showed that radiation coming from objects had its direction of polarization rotated by different amounts, depending on the direction of the galaxies. The amount of polarization rotation, they said, increases with the distance of the galaxies, and depends on direction, indicating that the universe has an axis along which more rotation occurs. Wardle, Perley and Cohen say that recent, high-quality observations with the VLA and the 10-meter W.M. Keck telescope show "that the radio and optical data directly refute" the contention of Nodland and Ralston. The more-recent data, consisting of polarization images of galaxies and quasars at a variety of distances and in different directions, simply do not show any evidence for Nodland and Ralston's "cosmic corkscrew" effect, the researchers say. Wardle, Perley and Cohen have submitted their results to Physical Review Letters. Galaxies and quasars, and the "jets" of subatomic particles ejected at great speeds by some of these objects, have definite patterns of polarized emission of light and radio waves. These patterns are well-known and established. If the polarization of their light were rotated by some cosmological effect, the known relationships between the objects and the direction of polarization of their light should be altered, Wardle, Perley and Cohen reasoned. They examined polarization images to seek evidence for such alteration. For example, the quasar PKS 2209+152, nearly 9 billion light-years distant, should, according to the Nodland and Ralston "corkscrew" hypothesis, have had the polarization of its radio emission rotated by about 90 degrees. Instead, VLA observations showed no rotation at all. After studying VLA and Keck data on 26 galaxies and quasars, Wardle, Perley and Cohen conclude that "the observational data at both optical and radio wavelengths show that any rotation of the plane of polarizaton over cosmological distances is unmeasurably small and is indistinguishable from zero." Wardle said, "The best fit to the high resolution optical and radio data shows that any effect is at least a hundred times smaller than that claimed by Nodland and Ralston." The VLA is an instrument of the National Radio Astronomy Observatory, a facility of the National Science Foundation, operated under cooperative agreement by Associated Universities, Inc. The W.M. Keck Observatory is operated as a scientific partnership between the California Institute of Technology, the University of California and NASA; it was made possible by the generous financial support of the W.M. Keck Foundation.

AEROSE 2004 - An Interdisciplinary Atmosphere-Ocean Saharan Dust Expedition

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Clemente-Colón, P.

2004-05-01

The NOAA Center for Atmospheric Sciences (NCAS) is sponsoring a Trans-Atlantic Saharan Dust AERosol and Ocean Science Expedition (AEROSE) aboard the NOAA Ship Ronald H. Brown in March 2004. The fundamental purpose of this aerosol cruise is to study the impacts and microphysical evolution of Saharan dust aerosol as it is transported across the Atlantic Ocean. The mission encompasses both, atmospheric and oceanographic components. Participating institutions include Howard University, NCAS lead institution, the University of Puerto Rico at Mayagüez, the Canary Institute of Marine Sciences, the Spanish Institute of Oceanography, the Laboratory of Atmospheric Physics Siméon Fongang, the University of Miami Rosenstiel School of Marine and Atmospheric Science, the University of Washington Applied Physics Laboratory, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, the NOAA Cooperative Institute for Meteorological Satellite Studies at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory, and the NOAA/NESDIS Office of Research and Applications. This collaboration provides unique atmospheric and oceanic observations across the North Tropical Atlantic during eastward and westward tracks during a period of nearly one month. Characterization of microphysical properties of Saharan dust aerosol is done trough direct observations of mass, size, and particle number distributions, chemical composition, spatial distributions, and air chemistry. Aerosol radiative properties are studied through a suite of sensors that include a Multi-Angle Absorption Photometer (MAAP), the Marine-Atmosphere Emitted Radiance Interferometer (M-AERI), sunphotometers, and an assortment of other radiometers. Characterization of atmospheric conditions is done through a combination of over 250 radiosonde and ozonesonde launches at 3 to 5 hour intervals during the duration of the cruise and in coordination with satellite overpasses. AEROSE is also supporting the collection of bio-optics and oceanographic observations including water sampling, spectroradiometry, and continuous in-water optical measurements using and under-tow undulating instrument aimed at investigate deposition rates of aerosol and the response of oceanographic systems. Additionally, the cruise effort provides complementary in-situ and remote sensing observations that support the validation and improvement of AVHRR SST corrections under tropospheric aerosol conditions, the validation of MODIS aerosol and oceanographic data and products, the validation of AIRS soundings, and the validation of ICESat aerosol observations, among other activities. An overview of the cruise, available datasets, preliminary results, and follow-on research plans are be presented in this paper.

Developing the Self-Directed Learning Instructional Model to Enhance English Reading Ability and Self-Directed Learning of Undergraduate Students

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Wichadee, Saovapa

2011-01-01

The purposes of this study were to develop the instructional model for enhancing self-directed learning skills of Bangkok University students, study the impacts of the model on their English reading comprehension and self-directed learning ability as well as explore their opinion towards self-directed learning. The model development process…

Wikipedia ranking of world universities

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lages, José; Patt, Antoine; Shepelyansky, Dima L.

2016-03-01

We use the directed networks between articles of 24 Wikipedia language editions for producing the wikipedia ranking of world Universities (WRWU) using PageRank, 2DRank and CheiRank algorithms. This approach allows to incorporate various cultural views on world universities using the mathematical statistical analysis independent of cultural preferences. The Wikipedia ranking of top 100 universities provides about 60% overlap with the Shanghai university ranking demonstrating the reliable features of this approach. At the same time WRWU incorporates all knowledge accumulated at 24 Wikipedia editions giving stronger highlights for historically important universities leading to a different estimation of efficiency of world countries in university education. The historical development of university ranking is analyzed during ten centuries of their history.

Evolution of axis ratios from phase space dynamics of triaxial collapse

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Nadkarni-Ghosh, Sharvari; Arya, Bhaskar

2018-04-01

We investigate the evolution of axis ratios of triaxial haloes using the phase space description of triaxial collapse. In this formulation, the evolution of the triaxial ellipsoid is described in terms of the dynamics of eigenvalues of three important tensors: the Hessian of the gravitational potential, the tensor of velocity derivatives, and the deformation tensor. The eigenvalues of the deformation tensor are directly related to the parameters that describe triaxiality, namely, the minor-to-major and intermediate-to-major axes ratios (s and q) and the triaxiality parameter T. Using the phase space equations, we evolve the eigenvalues and examine the evolution of the probability distribution function (PDF) of the axes ratios as a function of mass scale and redshift for Gaussian initial conditions. We find that the ellipticity and prolateness increase with decreasing mass scale and decreasing redshift. These trends agree with previous analytic studies but differ from numerical simulations. However, the PDF of the scaled parameter {\\tilde{q}} = (q-s)/(1-s) follows a universal distribution over two decades in mass range and redshifts which is in qualitative agreement with the universality for conditional PDF reported in simulations. We further show using the phase space dynamics that, in fact, {\\tilde{q}} is a phase space invariant and is conserved individually for each halo. These results demonstrate that the phase space analysis is a useful tool that provides a different perspective on the evolution of perturbations and can be applied to more sophisticated models in the future.

Mechanisms of high-temperature, solid-state flow in minerals and ceramics and their bearing on the creep behavior of the mantle

USGS Publications Warehouse

Kirby, S.H.; Raleigh, C.B.

1973-01-01

The problem of applying laboratory silicate-flow data to the mantle, where conditions can be vastly different, is approached through a critical review of high-temperature flow mechanisms in ceramics and their relation to empirical flow laws. The intimate association of solid-state diffusion and high-temperature creep in pure metals is found to apply to ceramics as well. It is shown that in ceramics of moderate grain size, compared on the basis of self-diffusivity and elastic modulus, normalized creep rates compare remarkably well. This comparison is paralleled by the near universal occurrence of similar creep-induced structures, and it is thought that the derived empirical flow laws can be associated with dislocation creep. Creep data in fine-grained ceramics, on the other hand, are found to compare poorly with theories involving the stress-directed diffusion of point defects and have not been successfully correlated by self-diffusion rates. We conclude that these fine-grained materials creep primarily by a quasi-viscous grain-boundary sliding mechanism which is unlikely to predominate in the earth's deep interior. Creep predictions for the mantle reveal that under most conditions the empirical dislocation creep behavior predominates over the mechanisms involving the stress-directed diffusion of point defects. The probable role of polymorphic transformations in the transition zone is also discussed. ?? 1973.

Experimental study of temporal evolution of waves under transient wind conditions

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zavadsky, Andrey; Shemer, Lev

2016-11-01

Temporal variation of the waves excited by nearly sudden wind forcing over an initially still water surface is studied in a small wind-wave flume at Tel Aviv University for variety of fetches and wind velocities. Simultaneous measurements of the surface elevation using a conventional capacitance wave-gauge and of the surface slope in along-wind and cross-wind directions by a laser slope gauge were performed. Variation with time of two components of instantaneous surface velocity was measured by particle tracking velocimetry. The size of the experimental facility and thus relatively short characteristic time scales of the phenomena under investigation, as well as an automated experimental procedure controlling the experiments made it possible to record a large amount of independent realizations for each wind-fetch condition. Sufficient data were accumulated to compute reliable ensemble averaged temporal variation of governing wave parameters. The essentially three-dimensional structure of wind-waves at all stages of evolution is demonstrated. The results obtained at each wind-fetch condition allowed to characterize the major stages of the evolution of the wind-wave field and to suggest a plausible scenario for the initial growth of the wind-waves.

The effects of practice with MP3 players on driving performance.

PubMed

Chisholm, S L; Caird, J K; Lockhart, J

2008-03-01

This study examined the effects of repeated iPod interactions on driver performance to determine if performance decrements decreased with practice. Nineteen younger drivers (mean age=19.4, range 18-22) participated in a seven session study in the University of Calgary Driving Simulator (UCDS). Drivers encountered a number of critical events on the roadways while interacting with an iPod including a pedestrian entering the roadway, a vehicle pullout, and a lead vehicle braking. Measures of hazard response, vehicle control, eye movements, and secondary task performance were analyzed. Increases in perception response time (PRT) and collisions were found while drivers were performing the difficult iPod tasks, which involved finding a specific song within the song titles menu. Over the course of the six experimental sessions, driving performance improved in all conditions. Difficult iPod interactions significantly increased the amount of visual attention directed into the vehicle above that of the baseline condition. With practice, slowed responses to driving hazards while interacting with the iPod declined somewhat, but a decrement still remained relative to the baseline condition. The multivariate results suggest that access to difficult iPod tasks while vehicles are in motion should be curtailed.

The Condition of Pre-K-12 Education in Arizona: 2005

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Arizona Education Policy Initiative, 2005

2005-01-01

This paper, the second annual report by the Arizona Education Policy Initiative (AEPI), is a collection of policy briefs on key issues in Arizona education. The authors of these briefs are on the faculty of Arizona's three public universities: Arizona State University (ASU), Northern Arizona University (NAU), and the University of Arizona (UA).…

The Dilemmas of the "Efficiency University" Policy and the Everyday Life of University Teachers

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Jauhiainen, Arto; Jauhiainen, Annukka; Laiho, Anne

2009-01-01

Global, neo-liberalistic social and education policy has changed the working conditions and the working culture in universities. Enrolments have grown and the demands for efficiency have increased. This article analyses the manifestation of these changes in the everyday life of university teachers, particularly in their teaching. The data used for…

Black hole growth in the early Universe is self-regulated and largely hidden from view.

PubMed

Treister, Ezequiel; Schawinski, Kevin; Volonteri, Marta; Natarajan, Priyamvada; Gawiser, Eric

2011-06-15

The formation of the first massive objects in the infant Universe remains impossible to observe directly and yet it sets the stage for the subsequent evolution of galaxies. Although some black holes with masses more than 10(9) times that of the Sun have been detected in luminous quasars less than one billion years after the Big Bang, these individual extreme objects have limited utility in constraining the channels of formation of the earliest black holes; this is because the initial conditions of black hole seed properties are quickly erased during the growth process. Here we report a measurement of the amount of black hole growth in galaxies at redshift z = 6-8 (0.95-0.7 billion years after the Big Bang), based on optimally stacked, archival X-ray observations. Our results imply that black holes grow in tandem with their host galaxies throughout cosmic history, starting from the earliest times. We find that most copiously accreting black holes at these epochs are buried in significant amounts of gas and dust that absorb most radiation except for the highest-energy X-rays. This suggests that black holes grew significantly more during these early bursts than was previously thought, but because of the obscuration of their ultraviolet emission they did not contribute to the re-ionization of the Universe.

Financial Measures Conference: Progress in Measuring Financial Conditions of Colleges and Universities. Proceedings of the 1979 Working Conference (Annapolis, Maryland, September 27-28, 1979).

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Stich, Judith, Ed.

Proceedings of the 1979 Financial Measures Conference which assess "Progress in Measuring Financial Conditions of Colleges and Universities" are presented. Focus is the prospective uses of financial indicators and the results of attempts to employ indicators at the institutional, state, regional, and federal levels for management, and…

Conditioning Factors and Opportunities for Teamwork. A Case Study from a Catalan University

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Galtés, Ruth; Tomás, Marina

2015-01-01

The aim of this article is to analyse the conditioning factors and opportunities that influence teamwork among teachers at a Catalan university. The creation of new academic identities based on a culture of mutual and continuing learning are essential if teacher teams are to be encouraged. A descriptive methodology was used, based on a case study…

Nonlinear adaptive formation control for a class of autonomous holonomic planetary exploration rovers

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ganji, Farid

This dissertation presents novel nonlinear adaptive formation controllers for a heterogeneous group of holonomic planetary exploration rovers navigating over flat terrains with unknown soil types and surface conditions. A leader-follower formation control architecture is employed. In the first part, using a point-mass model for robots and a Coulomb-viscous friction model for terrain resistance, direct adaptive control laws and a formation speed-adaptation strategy are developed for formation navigation over unknown and changing terrain in the presence of actuator saturation. On-line estimates of terrain frictional parameters compensate for unknown terrain resistance and its variations. In saturation events over difficult terrain, the formation speed is reduced based on the speed of the slowest saturated robot, using internal fleet communication and a speed-adaptation strategy, so that the formation error stays bounded and small. A formal proof for asymptotic stability of the formation system in non-saturated conditions is given. The performance of robot controllers are verified using a modular 3-robot formation simulator. Simulations show that the formation errors reduce to zero asymptotically under non-saturated conditions as is guaranteed by the theoretical proof. In the second part, the proposed adaptive control methodology is extended for formation control of a class of omnidirectional rovers with three independently-driven universal holonomic rigid wheels, where the rovers' rigid-body dynamics, drive-system electromechanical characteristics, and wheel-ground interaction mechanics are incorporated. Holonomic rovers have the ability to move simultaneously and independently in translation and rotation, rendering great maneuverability and agility, which makes them suitable for formation navigation. Novel nonlinear adaptive control laws are designed for the input voltages of the three wheel-drive motors. The motion resistance, which is due to the sinkage of rover wheels in soft planetary terrain, is modeled using classical terramechanics theory. The unknown system parameters for adaptive estimation pertain to the rolling resistance forces and scrubbing resistance torques at the wheel-terrain interfaces. Novel terramechanical formulas for terrain resistance forces and torques are derived via considering the universal holonomic wheels as rigid toroidal wheels moving forward and/or sideways as well as turning on soft ground. The asymptotic stability of the formation control system is rigorously proved using Lyapunov's direct method.

'Kids need to talk too': inclusive practices for children's healthcare education and participation.

PubMed

Koller, Donna

2017-09-01

To examine how children with chronic medical conditions view healthcare education and decision-making and to propose the application of the universal design for learning in paediatric settings. Children and adolescents with chronic medical conditions tend to be excluded from healthcare decision-making. In schools, the universal design for learning promotes access to education and participation in school communities for all children, regardless of their disabilities or medical needs, rendering it an appropriate model for children's participation in healthcare decision-making. This article presents findings from a qualitative study with 26 children and adolescents with chronic medical conditions about their views and experiences with healthcare education and decision-making. Twenty-six children and adolescents with chronic medical conditions were interviewed using semi-structured interviews. Findings provide evidence that clinical practices often fail to provide equal opportunities for paediatric patients to understand their condition, share their views and/or participate in decisions regarding their care. In response to ongoing concerns about paediatric decision-making, we propose that the universal design for learning be adapted in paediatrics. The model presents exemplary programmes as inclusive, accounting for the needs of all children through multiple means of engagement and expression. A discussion of how the principles of universal design for learning could be applied in paediatric settings is offered for the purpose of advancing ethical and psychosocial care for all children regardless of their age, developmental capacity or condition. © 2016 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Minority Universities Systems Engineering (MUSE) Program at the University of Texas at El Paso

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Robbins, Mary Clare; Usevitch, Bryan; Starks, Scott A.

1997-01-01

In 1995, The University of Texas at El Paso (UTEP) responded to the suggestion of NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory (NASA JPL) to form a consortium comprised of California State University at Los Angeles (CSULA), North Carolina Agricultural and Technical University (NCAT), and UTEP from which developed the Minority Universities Systems Engineering (MUSE) Program. The mission of this consortium is to develop a unique position for minority universities in providing the nation's future system architects and engineers as well as enhance JPL's system design capability. The goals of this collaboration include the development of a system engineering curriculum which includes hands-on project engineering and design experiences. UTEP is in a unique position to take full advantage of this program since UTEP has been named a Model Institution for Excellence (MIE) by the National Science Foundation. The purpose of MIE is to produce leaders in Science, Math, and Engineering. Furthermore, UTEP has also been selected as the site for two new centers including the Pan American Center for Earth and Environmental Sciences (PACES) directed by Dr. Scott Starks and the FAST Center for Structural Integrity of Aerospace Systems directed by Dr. Roberto Osegueda. The UTEP MUSE Program operates under the auspices of the PACES Center.

OCT for early quality evaluation of tooth-composite bond in clinical trials.

PubMed

Haak, Rainer; Schmidt, Patrick; Park, Kyung-Jin; Häfer, Matthias; Krause, Felix; Ziebolz, Dirk; Schneider, Hartmut

2018-06-19

To evaluate early quality of composite restorations with a universal adhesive in different application modes clinically and with optical coherence tomography (OCT). 22 patients with four non-carious cervical lesions each received composite restorations (Filtek Supreme TM XTE, 3 M). The universal adhesive Scotchbond Universal TM (SBU, 3 M) was applied with three etching protocols: self-etch (SE), selective-enamel-etch (SEE) and etch-and-rinse (ER). The etch-and-rinse adhesive OptiBond TM FL (OFL, Kerr) served as a control. Restorations were imaged by OCT (Thorlabs) directly after application (t 0 ). After 14 days (t 1 ) and 6 month (t 2 ) OCT imaging (interfacial adhesive defects) was repeated combined with clinical assessment (FDI criteria). Groups were compared by Friedman-/Wilcoxon- and McNemar-Test. No differences were seen clinically between groups (p i ≥ 0.500). OCT assessment revealed more adhesive defects at the enamel interface with SBU/SE at t 0- t 2 compared to all groups (p i ≤ 0.016). OFL showed more defects than SBU/ER (t 1 : p = 0.01; t 2 : p = 0.083). At dentin/cementum interface OFL exhibited more adhesive defects than SBU with all conditioning modes (t 0 , t 1 , p i ≤ 0.003) and at t 2 to SBU/SE and SBU/ER (p < 0.001). Since t 1 defects with SBU were detected more frequently in the SE and SEE modes compared to ER (p i ≤ 0.037). In contrast to SBU defects increased with OFL up to t 2 (p i ≤ 0.007). In contrast to clinical evaluation, OCT revealed subtle adhesive defects directly after application that might interfere with clinical success. It was demonstrated that ER doesn't decrease initial adhesion of SBU to dentin. Copyright © 2018. Published by Elsevier Ltd.

Toward Developing a Universal Code of Ethics for Adult Educators.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Siegel, Irwin H.

2000-01-01

Presents conflicting viewpoints on a universal code of ethics for adult educators. Suggests objectives of a code (guidance for practice, policymaking direction, common reference point, shared values). Outlines content and methods for implementing a code. (SK)

Assessing Teaching Readiness of University Students in Cross River State, Nigeria: Implications for Managing Teacher Education Reforms

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Akuegwu, B. A.; Edet, A. O.; Uchendu, C. C.; Ekpoh, U. I.

2011-01-01

This ex-post-facto designed study was geared towards assessing the readiness of would-be teachers in universities in Cross River State for the teaching profession, and how reforms can be managed to strengthen this. Three hypotheses were isolated to give direction to this investigation. 200 students from the two universities in the state…

Learning by Doing by Learning: Reflections on scholar-activism with the Brisbane Free University

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Thompsett, Fern

2016-01-01

As universities are swept by a near-global tide of capitalist restructuring, myriad forms of resistance are also on the rise. While struggles that grapple directly with universities are vital, different streams of activism aim beyond them, in the form of "prefigurative" politics--one that works to build a better world "in the shell…

The Corporation of Learning: Nonprofit Higher Education Takes Lessons from Business. Research & Occasional Paper Series. CSHE.5.03

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kirp, David L.

2003-01-01

This essay examines the ways in which nonprofit universities increasingly emulate businesses, focusing on two of the most direct forms of emulation: the creation of internal university markets at the University of Southern California through adoption of variants of resource center management (RCM) and the privatization of public higher education…

The Effects of University Mergers in China since 1990s: From the Perspective of Knowledge Production

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Mao, Ya-qing; Du, Yuan; Liu, Jing-juan

2009-01-01

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to discover and better understand the efficiency of university mergers from the perspective of knowledge production, with the research capability as the point of contact. Design/methodology/approach: In total, 20 colleges and universities directly under the central ministries that merged in 2000 were taken as…

Russian Dreams and Prussian Ghosts: Immanuel Kant Baltic Federal University and Debates over Historical Memory and Identity in Kaliningrad

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Clarkson, Alexander

2017-01-01

This article examines how the Immanuel Kant Baltic Federal University and the Kaliningrad State Technical University have come to exert considerable influence over debates surrounding historical memory and identity in the Kaliningrad region. Under the direct control of the Russian Federation, the Baltic exclave of Kaliningrad is surrounded by…

British Muslim University Students' Perceptions of Prevent and Its Impact on Their Sense of Identity

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kyriacou, Chris; Szczepek Reed, Beatrice; Said, Fatma; Davies, Ian

2017-01-01

The Prevent strategy at UK universities is designed to reduce the possibility of university students becoming radicalised and so working against them supporting or directly engaging in terrorist activities. In this study, we were concerned to reflect on our reading of some relevant literature by exploring the views of a sample of British Muslim…

University management nurse: a grounded theory.

PubMed

Cunha, Kamylla Santos da; Andrade, Selma Regina de; Erdmann, Alacoque Lorenzini

2018-03-08

to understand the meaning of the university management performed by nurses managers of the nursing undergraduate course of a public university. this is a qualitative research, based on the grounded theory. Data collection took place between May and September 2016, with open interviews, in the scenario of a federal public university. The technique of constant comparative analysis of the data was followed, obtaining a theoretical sample with 19 nurses, in two sample groups. there were three categories emerged that shaped the phenomenon: Articulating complex collectives through university management for the qualified training of new nurses. The categories included: a) conditions, defined by perceiving the commitment to the collective, previous experiences, and training for health management, as motivations to be a teacher manager; b) actions/interactions, delimited by Knowing and recognizing, in practice, the university management process, limits and possibilities in the coordination of complex collective subjects; and, c) consequences, such as Improving teaching work and taking responsibility for university education. the nurses teaching managers to explain university management as a set of individual and collective actions that, articulated in a complex social environment, promote conditions for the training of critical and reflexive nurses with the demands of society.

Religion, Purpose in Life, Social Support, and Psychological Distress in Chinese University Students.

PubMed

Wang, Zhizhong; Koenig, Harold G; Ma, Hui; Shohaib, Saad Al

2016-06-01

We examined the relationship between religious involvement and psychological distress and explored the mediating effects of social support and purpose in life in university students in western, mid-western, and eastern China. Cross-sectional survey of a representative sample of 1812 university students was conducted. The Purpose in Life scale, Duke Social Support Index, and Religious Commitment Inventory-10 were administered, along with Kessler's Psychological Distress Scale. Structural equation modeling was used to test two models of the mediation hypothesis, examining direct, indirect, and total effects. Model 1 (with direction of effect hypothesized from religiosity to psychological distress) indicated that religious involvement had a direct effect on increasing psychological distress (β = 0.23, p < .01) with minor mediated effects. However, Model 2 (with direction of effect hypothesized from psychological distress to religiosity) indicated strong indirect protective effects of religiosity on psychological distress through purpose in life and social support (β = -.40, p < .01). The findings are consistent with the hypothesis that psychological distress increases religious involvement, which then increases purpose in life and social support that then lead to lower psychological distress.

EEG Oscillatory States: Universality, Uniqueness and Specificity across Healthy-Normal, Altered and Pathological Brain Conditions

PubMed Central

Fingelkurts, Alexander A.; Fingelkurts, Andrew A.

2014-01-01

For the first time the dynamic repertoires and oscillatory types of local EEG states in 13 diverse conditions (examined over 9 studies) that covered healthy-normal, altered and pathological brain states were quantified within the same methodological and conceptual framework. EEG oscillatory states were assessed by the probability-classification analysis of short-term EEG spectral patterns. The results demonstrated that brain activity consists of a limited repertoire of local EEG states in any of the examined conditions. The size of the state repertoires was associated with changes in cognition and vigilance or neuropsychopathologic conditions. Additionally universal, optional and unique EEG states across 13 diverse conditions were observed. It was demonstrated also that EEG oscillations which constituted EEG states were characteristic for different groups of conditions in accordance to oscillations’ functional significance. The results suggested that (a) there is a limit in the number of local states available to the cortex and many ways in which these local states can rearrange themselves and still produce the same global state and (b) EEG individuality is determined by varying proportions of universal, optional and unique oscillatory states. The results enriched our understanding about dynamic microstructure of EEG-signal. PMID:24505292

The Many Faces of School-University Collaboration: Characteristics of Successful Partnerships.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Ravid, Ruth, Ed.; Handler, Marianne G., Ed.

This book is designed to help educators entering into school-university collaborative relationships have a clearer picture of conditions that drive successful partnerships. The models described include collaboration between a university and professional development school, consultation, one-to-one collaborations, and multiple collaboration…

A Collaborative University Model for Employee Wellness

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Carter, Melondie R.; Kelly, Rebecca C.; Alexander, Chelley K.; Holmes, Lauren M.

2011-01-01

Universities are taking a more active approach in understanding and monitoring employees' modifiable health risk factors and chronic care conditions by developing strategies to encourage employees to start and sustain healthy behaviors. WellBama, the University of Alabama's signature health and wellness program, utilizes a collaborative model in…

Change as a Constant: Organizational Restructuring at Carnegie Mellon University.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Keating, Patrick J.; And Others

1996-01-01

The origins and strategies for change in the administrative structure of Carnegie Mellon University (Pennsylvania) are discussed, including trends within all of higher education and conditions specific to the university. Quality improvement efforts are described briefly. Special attention is given to the institution's procurement-disbursement…

The Faculty Handbook of Columbia University 1975.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Columbia Univ., New York, NY.

Columbia University's faculty handbook is designed as a general guide to the organization and operation of the university. The chief administrative units and their duties are detailed as are the conditions of appointment and general personnel policy including salaries, promotions, tenure, termination, and fringe benefits. Faculty obligations and…

7 CFR 3430.306 - Matching requirements.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

2013-01-01

... college, university, or research foundation maintained by a college or university that ranks in the lowest 1/3 of such colleges, universities, and research foundations on the basis of Federal research funds... a condition of making a grant for applied research, the Secretary shall require the funding of the...

7 CFR 3430.306 - Matching requirements.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

2014-01-01

... college, university, or research foundation maintained by a college or university that ranks in the lowest 1/3 of such colleges, universities, and research foundations on the basis of Federal research funds... a condition of making a grant for applied research, the Secretary shall require the funding of the...

7 CFR 3430.306 - Matching requirements.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-01-01

... college, university, or research foundation maintained by a college or university that ranks in the lowest 1/3 of such colleges, universities, and research foundations on the basis of Federal research funds... a condition of making a grant for applied research, the Secretary shall require the funding of the...

7 CFR 3430.306 - Matching requirements.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-01-01

... college, university, or research foundation maintained by a college or university that ranks in the lowest 1/3 of such colleges, universities, and research foundations on the basis of Federal research funds... a condition of making a grant for applied research, the Secretary shall require the funding of the...

Scapular kinematics and shoulder elevation in a traditional push-up.

PubMed

Suprak, David N; Bohannon, Jennifer; Morales, Gabriel; Stroschein, Joseph; San Juan, Jun G

2013-01-01

Proper scapulothoracic motion is critical for the health and function of the shoulder and represents a principal focus in the rehabilitation setting. Variants of the traditional push-up are used frequently to help restore proper scapular kinematics. To date, substantial research has focused on muscle activation levels of rotator cuff and scapular-stabilizing musculature, whereas a dearth of literature exists regarding scapular kinematics during push-up variants. To examine the effect of shoulder position on scapular kinematics across the range of motion (ROM) of a traditional push-up. Cross-sectional study. University laboratory. Sixteen healthy participants without a history of upper extremity or spine injury requiring rehabilitation or surgery. Participants performed a traditional push-up while kinematic measurements were acquired from multiple upper extremity segments. The 3 shoulder position conditions were (1) self-selected position, (2) shoulder adducted upon ascent (at side), and (3) shoulder elevated to approximately 90°. Scapular posterior tilt, upward rotation, and external rotation were examined across elbow-extension ROM and compared across conditions. Posterior tilt was greater in the self-selected and at-side conditions than in the elevated condition and increased linearly with elbow extension. External rotation was greater in the self-selected and at-side conditions compared with that in the elevated condition. In the at-side condition, upward rotation began lower than in the other conditions at the start of the concentric phase but increased above the others soon after the elbow started to extend. Performing a traditional push-up with the shoulders elevated may place the scapula in a position of impingement. Clinicians should be cognizant of shoulder elevation when prescribing and monitoring exercise progression. The results of this study will provide further direction for clinicians in prescribing rehabilitation exercises for the upper extremity, especially closed chain exercises for shoulder conditions.

The Changing University?

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Schuller, Tom, Ed.

This collection of papers investigates change and compares university education experiences worldwide, looking at it from the perspective of numbers of students, range of institutions, funding, institutional functions, boundaries, and directions, orientation of students and staff, and institutional change. After an introduction by Tom Schuler,…

Statement on Intellectual Property

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

American Association of University Professors, 2014

2014-01-01

The management of university-generated intellectual property is complex and carries significant consequences for those involved in direct negotiations (faculty inventors, companies, university administrators, attorneys, and invention-management agents) as well as those who may be affected (competing companies, the public, patients, and the wider…

Deakin University: A New Beginning.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Gough, J. E.

Information on Australia's Deakin University, incorporated in 1975 to absorb the Gordon Institute of Technology and the State College of Victoria, Geelong, is presented. Attention is directed to educational heritage, transition for students, schools and courses, enrollments, location, temporary sites, buildings, student facilities and…

Alternatives to the University Property Tax Exemption

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Rokoff, Gerald

1973-01-01

Discusses the fiscal burden of the property tax exemption and analyzes alternative responses to the problem. Suggests that subsidization of private universities through the property tax exemption should be accompanied by direct state payments to local governments that host educational institutions. (Author)

Use of a Universal Identifier by Grant Applicants

EPA Pesticide Factsheets

OMB has issued a policy directive to implement the requirement for grant applicants to provide a Dun & Bradstreet (D&B) Data Universal NNumbering System (DUNS) number when applying for FedFederal grants or cooperative agreements on or after October 1,2003.

Universal Long Ranged Correlations in Driven Binary Mixtures

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Poncet, Alexis; Bénichou, Olivier; Démery, Vincent; Oshanin, Gleb

2017-03-01

When two populations of "particles" move in opposite directions, like oppositely charged colloids under an electric field or intersecting flows of pedestrians, they can move collectively, forming lanes along their direction of motion. The nature of this "laning transition" is still being debated and, in particular, the pair correlation functions, which are the key observables to quantify this phenomenon, have not been characterized yet. Here, we determine the correlations using an analytical approach based on a linearization of the stochastic equations for the density fields, which is valid for dense systems of soft particles. We find that the correlations decay algebraically along the direction of motion, and have a self-similar exponential profile in the transverse direction. Brownian dynamics simulations confirm our theoretical predictions and show that they also hold beyond the validity range of our analytical approach, pointing to a universal behavior.

Conditions Enhancing Self-Directed Learning in the Workplace. A Report to the Participants.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

1992

The appreciative inquiry process was used to identify conditions enhancing self-directed learning. Participants in the project did the following: (1) used the five-step process to identify factors/conditions/forces that seemed to cause self-directed learning to occur; (2) created a matrix by combining the factors/conditions/forces with six…

Driving Directions

Science.gov Websites

close X Directions to the Automotive Research Center North Campus, University of Michigan W.E. Lay directions and a map of visitor parking lots. From I-94: Take Exit 180B onto US-23 North. Take Exit 41 to parking permit is displayed prominently. North Campus parking map close X

Direction of Wording Effects in Balanced Scales.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Miller, Timothy R.; Cleary, T. Anne

1993-01-01

The degree to which statistical item selection reduces direction-of-wording effects in balanced affective measures developed from relatively small item pools was investigated with 171 male and 228 female undergraduate and graduate students at 2 U.S. universities. Clearest direction-of-wording effects result from selection of items with high…

Effects of Directed Learning Groups upon Students' Ability to Understand Conceptual Ideas

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Johnson, Karen Gabrielle; Galluzzo, Benjamin Jason

2014-01-01

Mathematical modeling and directed learning groups were employed in a terminal mathematics course to encourage university students to conceptualize real-world mathematics problems. Multiple assessments were utilized to determine whether students' conceptual development is enhanced by participating in directed learning groups conducted in a…

Development of an Ethanol Blend Two-Stroke Direct-Injection Snowmobile for Use in the Clean Snowmobile Challenge and National Parks

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

2010-09-01

The University of Idaho's entry into the 2010 SAE Clean Snowmobile Challenge (CSC) was a direct-injection (DI) two-stroke powered snowmobile modified to use blended ethanol fuel. The modulated and battery-less direct-injection system used to decrease...

Cantonese versus Canadian Evaluation of Directive and Non-Directive Therapy.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Waxer, Peter H.

1989-01-01

Examined differences between Canadian and Cantonese university students who read transcripts of Carl Rogers and Albert Ellis counseling sessions and rated these counselors on directiveness, forcefulness, repetitiveness, sensitivity, politeness, and willingness to see either Ellis or Rogers. Found Canadians more willing to see Rogers than Chinese…

Direct and Indirect Economic Impacts of the Department of Residence Halls of the University of Tennessee at Knoxville (U.T.K.) on U.T.K. and the Knoxville Area Tennessee, U.S.A.: An Exploratory Report.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Roddy, Vernon; Stoner, Kenneth L.

The University of Tennessee residence halls have been considered a central component of the total university educational program. Although they play an important role in the socialization and development of students, the residence halls also have a considerable economic impact on the Knoxville community. Statistics from a study of the university's…

Response of Arctic Snow and Sea Ice Extents to Melt Season Atmospheric Forcing Across the Land-Ocean Boundary

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bliss, A. C.; Anderson, M. R.

2011-12-01

Little research has gone into studying the concurrent variations in the annual loss of continental snow cover and sea ice extent across the land-ocean boundary, however, the analysis of these data averaged spatially over three study regions located in North America and Eastern and Western Russia, reveals a distinct difference in the response of anomalous snow and sea ice conditions to the atmospheric forcing. This study compares the monthly continental snow cover and sea ice extent loss in the Arctic, during the melt season months (May-August) for the period 1979-2007, with regional atmospheric conditions known to influence summer melt including: mean sea level pressures, 925 hPa air temperatures, and mean 2 m U and V wind vectors from NCEP/DOE Reanalysis 2. The monthly hemispheric snow cover extent data used are from the Rutgers University Global Snow Lab and sea ice extents for this study are derived from the monthly passive microwave satellite Bootstrap algorithm sea ice concentrations available from the National Snow and Ice Data Center. Three case study years (1985, 1996, and 2007) are used to compare the direct response of monthly anomalous sea ice and snow cover areal extents to monthly mean atmospheric forcing averaged spatially over the extent of each study region. This comparison is then expanded for all summer months over the 29 year study period where the monthly persistence of sea ice and snow cover extent anomalies and changes in the sea ice and snow conditions under differing atmospheric conditions are explored further. The monthly anomalous atmospheric conditions are classified into four categories including: warmer temperatures with higher pressures, warmer temperatures with lower pressures, cooler temperatures with higher pressures, and cooler temperatures with lower pressures. Analysis of the atmospheric conditions surrounding anomalous loss of snow and ice cover over the independent study regions indicates that conditions of warmer temperatures advected via southerly winds are effective at forcing melt, while conditions of anomalously cool temperatures with persistent, strong northeasterly winds in the later melt season months are also effective at removing anomalous extents of sea ice cover, likely through ice divergence. Normalized sea ice extent anomalies, regardless of the snow cover, tend to persist in the same positive or negative directions (or remain near normal) from month to month over the summer season in 73.6% of cases from June to July, in 69% of cases from July to August, and in 54% of cases for the entire season (June-August) for the 29 year study period. However, when shifts in the sea ice extent anomaly directions from the conditions present in the early melt season occur, it is generally associated with a shift in the atmospheric conditions forcing the change in sea ice extent loss for the region.

Trends in Financial Indicators of Colleges and Universities.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Gomberg, Irene L.; Atelsek, Frank J.

A survey conducted by the Higher Education Panel sought trends in various items of information about the financial condition of colleges and universities. A stratified sample of 760 insitutions was used, excluding major research universities. Information was requested on basic finance data, dormitory occupancy rates, occurrence of institutional…

Towards a Cosmopolitan African University

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Waghid, Y.

2009-01-01

In this article I offer a defence of cosmopolitanism as an enabling condition for university education in Africa. Recent xenophobic outbursts in South Africa suggests that the enactment of defensible virtues in societies remain distant from the practices of many people. My contention is that university education ought to take seriously the…

Financial Management of Canadian Universities: Adaptive Strategies to Fiscal Constraints

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Deering, Darren; Sá, Creso M.

2014-01-01

Decreasing government funding and regulated tuition policies have created a financially constrained environment for Canada's universities. The conventional response to such conditions is to cut programme offerings and services in an attempt to lower costs throughout the institution. However, we argue that three Canadian universities have reacted…

Ontario Universities Statistical Compendium, 1970-71 to 1978-79. Part B, Supporting Data.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Council of Ontario Universities, Toronto.

Data on the 1970-79 conditions of Ontario universities that were used in the derivation of macro-indicators are presented. The supporting data cover the following areas: operating revenue in Ontario universities; operating expenditures; distribution of academic salaries, nonacademic salaries, employee benefits; and nonsalary operating…

Now What?

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Stuart, Reginald

2012-01-01

When officials at tuition-driven Fisk University raised the veil of secrecy a few years ago surrounding the university's financial condition, the details they laid out were less than encouraging. The Nashville-based university, home of the historic Jubilee Singers, was losing several million dollars a year and had not received any major private…

1,8-Naphthalene Linked Cofacial Binuclear Phthalocyanines.

DTIC Science & Technology

1987-06-01

Chemistry University of Utah Indiana University Salt Lake City, Utah 84112 Bloomington, Indiana 47405 Dr. J. 0. Thomas Dr. Mark A. McHugh University...2.0g, 5.3mmol) in a mixed coupling reaction, in the presence of elementary nickel powder under conditions described for homocoupling reactions[8 ,9

A Comparison of Level of Discrimination Directed at Academic Staff in a Turkish and an Azerbaijani University

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Halici, Ali; Kasimoglu, Murat

2006-01-01

Purpose: The aim of this study is to understand the level of discrimination against academic staff in a Turkish and an Azerbaijani university. This research is the last stage of a four-stage study. Design/methodology/approach: In the first part of the study, the areas of discrimination in universities were determined using approaches related to…

Responses to the Revolution in the Urban Academic Environment in Higher Education: A Case Study Report -- George Mason University.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Willis, William S.; And Others

A description of the graduate school of George Mason University, a suburban institution serving about 9,600 students in the urban suburban region of Northern Virginia, is provided in this paper. In the past five years the university has begun to direct its outlook to serve its student body which has become both culturally and intellectually…

Improving the Research Infrastructure at U.S. Universities and Colleges. Hearing before the Committee on Science and Technology. U.S. House of Representatives, Ninety-Eighth Congress, Second Session.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Congress of the U.S., Washington, DC. House Committee on Science and Technology.

The state of university science and engineering research capabilities is considered. Attention is directed to the need for improving and enhancing the research infrastructure, including support for instrumentation, buildings, and other related research facilities. U.S. universities and colleges are encountering severe facilities and…

The Key Predictors of Success in University in France: What Are the Contributing Factors and Possible New Directions in Educational Research?

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Duguet, Amélie; Le Mener, Marielle; Morlaix, Sophie

2016-01-01

In France, the university has been experiencing a major crisis for several decades in the form of a high rate of student failure, particularly during the "licence," or first cycle of studies. This prolonged crisis has led educational researchers to focus on the predictors of student failure in University. This paper reviews the existing…

Evaluation of microbiological air quality and of microclimate in university classrooms.

PubMed

Grisoli, Pietro; Rodolfi, Marinella; Chiara, Tiziana; Zonta, Laura Attinia; Dacarro, Cesare

2012-07-01

The proliferation of air-diffused microorganisms inside public buildings such as schools, hospitals, and universities, is often indicated as a possible health risk. In this research, we have illustrated the results of an investigation realized to determine the health of the air in some university classrooms, both from a microbiological and a microclimatic viewpoint, during the normal didactic activity of direct lessons. The results obtained have been expressed by means of contamination indices, already used in previous works. Very little contamination was recorded in the different phases of air treatment, which underlines the efficiency of the system and of the maintenance protocols. The Global Index of Microbial Contamination (GIMC per cubic meter) showed a value greater than the mean during the heating period (290), while the highest values (95th percentile 1,138.45) were recorded in the period using air conditioning. The index of mesophilic bacterial contamination, though it did not show any significant differences in the various modes of air treatment, showed a mean value (1.34) and the 95th percentile value (4.14), which was greater in the air-conditioning phase. Finally, the mean value of the amplification index underlined a decrease in the microbial contamination in comparison to the outside, while showing situations of increased microbial amplification during the period of simple ventilation (95th percentile 4.27). The 95th percentile values found for GICM in the three sampling periods, however, permitted us to identify the value of GIMC per cubic meter equal to 1,000 as a guide to provide a means of self-monitoring the quality of the air inside the classrooms. From a microclimatic viewpoint, two periods of the year manifested discomfort situations: during the heating phase (winter) and during the simple ventilation phase (spring). The results obtained indicate, therefore, a need to intervene on the environmental parameters, not being able, in this particular case, to intervene on other aspects that influence the microclimate.

The analysis of the distribution of unitary stresses for the universal plowshare in tiller seeder combos (UPTSC)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Chiorescu, D.; Chiorescu, E.; Dodun, O.; Crăciun, V.

2016-11-01

The sustainable development of agriculture is an important component of economic and social progress of the mankind aiming especially at promoting environmentally friendly systems and technologies. Thus, the implementation of sustainable agriculture also requires some high performance farming aggregates such as tiller seeder combos. Their most stressed active working part is the plowshare which has an important part in cutting the soil. For this reason, we consider that theoretical and experimental research is needed for the tear to which this working part is subjected to. This paper analyses the behavior of the universal plowshare, component part of UPTSC, using the Finite Element Method (FEM) and the Ansys software program. With the help of FEM, we analyzed the universal plowshare in the material structure during the soil cutting process, highlighting the deformation degree and the stress field in the working part. In the first stage, we identified a representative set of problems concerning the soil cutting process, for which we designed the solutions through numerical simulations. In the processing stage, we designed a 3D model which respects entirely the geometric shape of the active element in Cartesian coordinates. In order to simulate the soil cutting process in accordance with the real conditions, the compilations are done for various refinement degrees of the discretization network in finite elements. In the same stage we introduced the constraints represented by: the fixation of the plowshare support, direction, as well as the action of the cohesion and shear strength. Using the Explicit Dynamics module of the Ansys software, which allows studying the plowshare behavior, we analyzed in real conditions, the normal and the shear stresses as well as the deformation, for various soil types and various soil states. Considering the data on the existent stresses, following the FEM analysis of the working part, we determined the wear and suggested the safety coefficients for this case.

Evaluation of occupational exposure to ELF magnetic fields at power plants in Greece in the context of European directives.

PubMed

Christopoulou, Maria; Govari, Chrysa; Tsaprouni, Panagiota; Karabetsos, Efthymios

2015-12-01

The scope of this paper is to comparatively present the extremely low-frequency (ELF) measurements performed at four power plants in Greece, focusing on: (a) the worst-case exposure conditions, (b) the existence of magnetic field harmonic components, (c) the technical similarities among the power plants and (d) comparison of the measured percentages of reference levels at typical working areas in the power plants. A detailed measurement methodology is proposed, including broadband on-site inspection of the working areas, weighted averaged root-mean-square and peak values of magnetic flux density, percentage of reference levels, according to 1998 ICNIRP guidelines and harmonic analysis of the multi-frequency magnetic fields. During the analysis of the occupational exposure in all power plants, the new Directive 2013/35/EU has been taken into account. The study concludes by proposing a mapping procedure of working areas into certain zones, in order to take measures for workers safety. © The Author 2015. Published by Oxford University Press. All rights reserved. For Permissions, please email: journals.permissions@oup.com.

Critical factors for optimising skill-grade-mix based on principles of Lean Management - a qualitative substudy

PubMed

Inauen, Alice; Rettke, Horst; Fridrich, Annemarie; Spirig, Rebecca; Bauer, Georg F

2017-01-01

Background: Due to scarce resources in health care, staff deployment has to meet the demands. To optimise skill-grade-mix, a Swiss University Hospital initiated a project based on principles of Lean Management. The project team accompanied each participating nursing department and scientifically evaluated the results of the project. Aim: The aim of this qualitative sub-study was to identify critical success factors of this project. Method: In four focus groups, participants discussed their experience of the project. Recruitment was performed from departments assessing the impact of the project retrospectively either positive or critical. In addition, the degree of direct involvement in the project served as a distinguishing criterion. Results: While the degree of direct involvement in the project was not decisive, conflicting opinions and experiences appeared in the groups with more positive or critical project evaluation. Transparency, context and attitude proved critical for the project’s success. Conclusions: Project managers should ensure transparency of the project’s progress and matching of the project structure with local conditions in order to support participants in their critical or positive attitude towards the project.

HAWKING'S Theory of Quantum Cosmology

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhi, Fang Li; Chao, Wu Zhong

The most important problem in cosmology is the birth of the universe. Recently Hartle and Hawking put forward a ground state proposal for the quantum state of the universe which incorporates the idea that the universe must come from nothing. Many models have been discussed in quantum cosmology with this boundary condition. It has been shown that every model is a step towards to a realistic universe, i.e. a 4-dimensional isotropic universe with a long inflationary stage.

Sign changes as a universal concept in first-passage-time calculations

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Braun, Wilhelm; Thul, Rüdiger

2017-01-01

First-passage-time problems are ubiquitous across many fields of study, including transport processes in semiconductors and biological synapses, evolutionary game theory and percolation. Despite their prominence, first-passage-time calculations have proven to be particularly challenging. Analytical results to date have often been obtained under strong conditions, leaving most of the exploration of first-passage-time problems to direct numerical computations. Here we present an analytical approach that allows the derivation of first-passage-time distributions for the wide class of nondifferentiable Gaussian processes. We demonstrate that the concept of sign changes naturally generalizes the common practice of counting crossings to determine first-passage events. Our method works across a wide range of time-dependent boundaries and noise strengths, thus alleviating common hurdles in first-passage-time calculations.

Efficient swimming of a plunging elastic plate in a viscous fluid

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Yeh, Peter; Alexeev, Alexander

2014-03-01

We use three dimensional computer simulations to examine the combined hydrodynamics and structural response of a plunging elastic plate submerged in a viscous fluid with Reynolds number of 250. The plate is actuated at the root with a prescribed vertical sinusoidal displacement and a zero slope (clamped) boundary condition. We explore the steady state swimming velocity and the associated input power as a function of driving frequency, added mass, and aspect ratio. We find a universal bending pattern independent of geometry and added mass that maximizes the distance traveled per unit applied work. This bending pattern is associated with minimizing center of mass oscillations normal to the direction of travel. Subsequently, the flow around the sides of the swimmer, which does not aid in propulsion, is minimized, thereby reducing viscous losses.

Development of In Vitro-In Vivo Correlation/Relationship Modeling Approaches for Immediate Release Formulations Using Compartmental Dynamic Dissolution Data from “Golem”: A Novel Apparatus

PubMed Central

Tuszyński, Paweł K.; Polak, Sebastian; Jachowicz, Renata; Mendyk, Aleksander; Dohnal, Jiří

2015-01-01

Different batches of atorvastatin, represented by two immediate release formulation designs, were studied using a novel dynamic dissolution apparatus, simulating stomach and small intestine. A universal dissolution method was employed which simulated the physiology of human gastrointestinal tract, including the precise chyme transit behavior and biorelevant conditions. The multicompartmental dissolution data allowed direct observation and qualitative discrimination of the differences resulting from highly pH dependent dissolution behavior of the tested batches. Further evaluation of results was performed using IVIVC/IVIVR development. While satisfactory correlation could not be achieved using a conventional deconvolution based-model, promising results were obtained through the use of a nonconventional approach exploiting the complex compartmental dissolution data. PMID:26120580

Mission of the University in Science and Technology Discoveries and Applications of the Universal Knowledge within the Various Socio-economics Systems.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Chiang, Gustavo

The mission of the university is fundamentally to interpret, create, and transmit culture and science. The historical development and the needs of the community condition and orientate the university in its task. A rational application of science and technology will contribute to the resolution of many of today's serious problems. A direct…

Initial conditions for cosmological perturbations

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ashtekar, Abhay; Gupt, Brajesh

2017-02-01

Penrose proposed that the big bang singularity should be constrained by requiring that the Weyl curvature vanishes there. The idea behind this past hypothesis is attractive because it constrains the initial conditions for the universe in geometric terms and is not confined to a specific early universe paradigm. However, the precise statement of Penrose’s hypothesis is tied to classical space-times and furthermore restricts only the gravitational degrees of freedom. These are encapsulated only in the tensor modes of the commonly used cosmological perturbation theory. Drawing inspiration from the underlying idea, we propose a quantum generalization of Penrose’s hypothesis using the Planck regime in place of the big bang, and simultaneously incorporating tensor as well as scalar modes. Initial conditions selected by this generalization constrain the universe to be as homogeneous and isotropic in the Planck regime as permitted by the Heisenberg uncertainty relations.

Bond durability of universal adhesive to bovine enamel using self-etch mode.

PubMed

Suzuki, Soshi; Takamizawa, Toshiki; Imai, Arisa; Tsujimoto, Akimasa; Sai, Keiichi; Takimoto, Masayuki; Barkmeier, Wayne W; Latta, Mark A; Miyazaki, Masashi

2018-04-01

The purpose of this study was to examine the enamel bond durability of universal adhesives in the self-etch mode under 2-year water storage and thermal cycling conditions. Three commercially available universal adhesives and a gold standard two-step self-etch adhesive were used. Ten specimens of bovine enamel were prepared per test group, and shear bond strength (SBS) was measured to determine the bonding durability after thermal cycling (TC) or long-term water storage (WS). The bonded specimens were divided into three groups: (1) specimens subjected to TC, where the bonded specimens were stored in 37 °C distilled water for 24 h before being subjected to 3000, 10,000, 20,000 or 30,000 TC; (2) specimens stored in 37 °C distilled water for 3 months, 6 months, 1 year or 2 year; and (3) specimens stored in 37 °C distilled water for 24 h, serving as a baseline. The two-step self-etch adhesive showed significantly higher SBS than the universal adhesives tested, regardless of the type of degradation method. All universal adhesives showed no significant enamel SBS reductions in TC and WS, when compared to baseline and the other degradation conditions. Compared to the bond strengths obtained with the two-step self-etch adhesive, significantly lower bond strengths were obtained with universal adhesives. However, the enamel bond durability of universal adhesives was relatively stable under both degradation conditions tested. The present data indicate that the enamel bond durability of universal adhesives in the self-etch mode might be sufficient for clinical use.

The Patient Educator Presentation in Dental Education: Reinforcing the Importance of Learning About Rare Conditions.

PubMed

Edwards, Paul C; Graham, Jasmine; Oling, Rebecca; Frantz, Kate E

2016-05-01

The aim of this study was to determine whether a patient educator presentation (PEP) on pemphigus vulgaris would increase second-year dental students' awareness of the importance of learning about rare conditions and improve their retention of rare disease knowledge. The study involved students' subjective assessments of a PEP experience at two U.S. dental schools. In this mixed methods study, cross-sectional data were obtained by surveys and in-depth interviews. Questions focused on students' assessment of the messages acquired from the PEP and its likely impact on their future clinical care. At University 1, students completed paper surveys with open-ended questions and participated in a focus group. At University 2, students completed an online survey consisting of rating scale and open-ended questions. Responses to open-ended questions were categorized into themes. At University 1, 79 students (out of a possible 102; response rate 77.5%) completed the survey, and an additional ten students participated in a focus group. At University 2, 30 students (out of a possible 104; response rate 28.8%) completed the survey. At Universities 1 and 2, 88% and 100%, respectively, of respondents stated the PEP would influence their future clinical decision making. The vast majority of respondents (94% and 100% at University 1 and University 2, respectively) were of the opinion that the personal testimonial from a patient would help them recall information about pemphigus vulgaris in five years' time. Respondents from both universities commented that the PEP emphasized the importance of not dismissing a patient's concerns. These results suggest that a presentation by a patient with a rare condition can be an effective educational tool for preclinical dental students.

FPI Cohort Reports: Canada/CAUBO

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Dew, George

2013-01-01

CAUBO--the Canadian Association of University Business Officers--is a volunteer-driven organization that represents the administrative function of virtually all Canadian universities (CAUBO is the Canadian counterpart to NACUBO in the United States). Member committees provide direction and subject matter expertise, with each committee typically…

After the Fireworks: Opportunities and Directions for University Libraries.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Byrne, Alex

This paper discusses developments in information and communications technologies and their impact on university libraries. Topics addressed include: (1) background, including the Information Revolution, the Knowledge Economy, implications for education and information services, and responses to the challenges of globalization; (2) university…

Development and Management of University Research Groups.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Smith, Robert V.

Guidelines for managers of university research groups cover securing resources, personnel, and services and choosing collaborators, as well as organizing, supervising, and controlling research activities. Attention is directed to: orientation of personnel; reporting mechanisms; boosting morale; the needs of different personnel; handling travel,…

Use of AECC Directives and Cooperative Learning Theory in Introductory Accounting Classes.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Holt, Doris L.; Swanson, Janice Goodnow

1995-01-01

Explores how colleges and universities are responding to the directives of the Accounting Education Change Commission for introductory accounting classes and whether these classrooms use cooperative learning techniques. (Author/JOW)

Successful Student Recruitment Using Direct Marketing and Information Technology.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Merante, Joseph A.

1982-01-01

Educational marketing--which uses marketing methods unique to education institutions, including segmentation, direct mail, and information technology--is discussed. A model for student recruitment developed by the University of Pittsburgh is described. (Author/MLW)

The Impact of the Good Behavior Game, a Universal Classroom-Based Preventive Intervention in First and Second Grades, on High-Risk Sexual Behaviors and Drug Abuse and Dependence Disorders into Young Adulthood

PubMed Central

Wang, Wei; Mackenzie, Amelia C. L.; Brown, C. Hendricks; Ompad, Danielle C.; Or, Flora; Ialongo, Nicholas S.; Poduska, Jeanne M.; Windham, Amy

2013-01-01

The Good Behavior Game (GBG), a method of teacher classroom behavior management, was tested in first-and second-grade classrooms in 19 Baltimore City Public Schools beginning in the 1985–1986 school year. The intervention was directed at the classroom as a whole to socialize children to the student role and reduce aggressive, disruptive behaviors, confirmed antecedents of a profile of externalizing problem outcomes. This article reports on the GBG impact on the courses and interrelationships among aggressive, disruptive behavior through middle school, risky sexual behaviors, and drug abuse and dependence disorders through ages 19–21. In five poor to lower-middle class, mainly African American urban areas, classrooms within matched schools were assigned randomly to either the GBG intervention or the control condition. Balanced assignment of children to classrooms was made, and teachers were randomly assigned to intervention or control. Analyses involved multilevel growth mixture modeling. By young adulthood, significant GBG impact was found in terms of reduced high-risk sexual behaviors and drug abuse and dependence disorders among males who in first grade and through middle school were more aggressive, disruptive. A replication with the next cohort of first-grade children with the same teachers occurred during the following school year, but with minimal teacher mentoring and monitoring. Findings were not significant but generally in the predicted direction. A universal classroom-based prevention intervention in first- and second-grade classrooms can reduce drug abuse and dependence disorders and risky sexual behaviors. PMID:23070695

Cosmological N-body Simulation of Galaxy and Large-Scale Structure Formation: The Gravity Frontier

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Klypin, Anatoly

2015-04-01

One of the first N-body simulations done almost 50 years ago had only 200 self-gravitating particles. Even this first baby step made substantial impact on understanding how astronomical objects should form. Now powerful supercomputers and new algorithms allow astronomers produce N-body simulations that employ up to a trillion dark matter particles and produce vital theoretical predictions regarding formation, evolution, structure and statistics of objects ranging from dwarf galaxies to clusters and superclusters of galaxies. With only gravity involved in these theoretical models, one would naively expect that by now we should know everything we need about N-body dynamics of cosmological fluctuations. Not the case. It appears that the Universe was not cooperative and gave us divergencies in the initial conditions generated during the Inflation epoch and subsequent expansion of the Universe - the infinite phase-space density and divergent density fluctuations. Ever increasing observational demands on statistics and accuracy of theoretical predictions is another driving force for more realistic and larger N-body simulations. Large current and new planned observational projects such as BOSS, eBOSS, Euclid, LSST will bring information on spatial distribution, motion, and properties of millions of galaxies at different redshifts. Direct simulations of evolution of gas and formation of stars for millions of forming galaxies will not be available for years leaving astronomers with the only option - to develop methods to combine large N-body simulations with models of galaxy formation to produce accurate theoretical predictions. I will discuss the current status of the field and directions of its development.

Cosmology beyond the Standard Model

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wells, Christopher M.

The Standard Model of Cosmology, like its particle physics counterpart, is incomplete in its present form theoretically and observationally. Additional structure, in the form of an early period of accelerated expansion (inflation), is suggested by the special initial conditions required to produce the visible universe. Furthermore, a wide variety of indirect observations indicate that 80% of the mass in the universe is dark. In this thesis, we construct a class of inflation models free from the usual pathologies. In particular, we build a novel realization of hybrid inflation, in which both the inflaton and waterfall degrees of freedom are moduli of a higher dimensional compactification. Because the inflationary fields are realized as global degrees of freedom in the extra dimension, they are protected from the 4D quantum corrections that would otherwise spoil inflation. Via the Ads/CFT correspondence we can relate our construction to a dual theory of composite inflationary degrees of freedom. We then turn to studying the problem of missing matter in the Standard Cosmology. Despite an abundance of indirect observations of dark matter, direct detection experiments have produced conflicting results which seem to point to a more complicated dark sector. In this thesis, we propose that dark matter be made up primarily of non-relativistic bound states, i.e. dark atoms. We explore the atomic parameter space allowed by the demands that dark matter is predominantly atomic and that the dark atoms and ions satisfy observational bounds on dark matter self-interactions. We then study possible interactions between dark matter and normal matter such that dark atoms scatter inelastically from nuclei in direct detection experiments.

The impact of the Good Behavior Game, a universal classroom-based preventive intervention in first and second grades, on high-risk sexual behaviors and drug abuse and dependence disorders into young adulthood.

PubMed

Kellam, Sheppard G; Wang, Wei; Mackenzie, Amelia C L; Brown, C Hendricks; Ompad, Danielle C; Or, Flora; Ialongo, Nicholas S; Poduska, Jeanne M; Windham, Amy

2014-02-01

The Good Behavior Game (GBG), a method of teacher classroom behavior management, was tested in first- and second-grade classrooms in 19 Baltimore City Public Schools beginning in the 1985-1986 school year. The intervention was directed at the classroom as a whole to socialize children to the student role and reduce aggressive, disruptive behaviors, confirmed antecedents of a profile of externalizing problem outcomes. This article reports on the GBG impact on the courses and interrelationships among aggressive, disruptive behavior through middle school, risky sexual behaviors, and drug abuse and dependence disorders through ages 19-21. In five poor to lower-middle class, mainly African American urban areas, classrooms within matched schools were assigned randomly to either the GBG intervention or the control condition. Balanced assignment of children to classrooms was made, and teachers were randomly assigned to intervention or control. Analyses involved multilevel growth mixture modeling. By young adulthood, significant GBG impact was found in terms of reduced high-risk sexual behaviors and drug abuse and dependence disorders among males who in first grade and through middle school were more aggressive, disruptive. A replication with the next cohort of first-grade children with the same teachers occurred during the following school year, but with minimal teacher mentoring and monitoring. Findings were not significant but generally in the predicted direction. A universal classroom-based prevention intervention in first- and second-grade classrooms can reduce drug abuse and dependence disorders and risky sexual behaviors.

Trend-Analysis of Solid-State Structures: Low-Energy Conformational 'Reactions' Involving Directed and Coupled Movements in Half-Sandwich Compounds [CpFe(CO){C(=O)R}PPh3].

PubMed

Brunner, Henri; Tsuno, Takashi

2018-05-01

Invited for this month's cover picture are Prof. Dr. Henri Brunner from the University of Regensburg (Germany) and Prof. Dr. Takashi Tsuno from Nihon University (Japan). The cover picture shows the conformational reaction of JIDLUD→FIHTUL. The order of sample points of solid-state structures reveals information concerning low-energy, directed, and coupled movements in molecules. Read the full text of their Communication at https://doi.org/10.1002/open.201800007.

Bianchi-V string cosmological model with dark energy anisotropy

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Mishra, B.; Tripathy, S. K.; Ray, Pratik P.

2018-05-01

The role of anisotropic components on the dark energy and the dynamics of the universe is investigated. An anisotropic dark energy fluid with different pressures along different spatial directions is assumed to incorporate the effect of anisotropy. One dimensional cosmic strings aligned along x-direction supplement some kind of anisotropy. Anisotropy in the dark energy pressure is found to evolve with cosmic expansion at least at late times. At an early phase, the anisotropic effect due to the cosmic strings substantially affect the dynamics of the accelerating universe.

A Fully Directional Universal Power Electronic Interface for EV, HEV, and PHEV Applications

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

Onar, Omer C

2012-01-01

This study focuses on a universal power electronic interface that can be utilized in any type of the electric vehicles, hybrid electric vehicles, and plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEVs). Basically, the proposed converter interfaces the energy storage device of the vehicle with the motor drive and the external charger, in case of PHEVs. The proposed converter is capable of operating in all directions in buck or boost modes with a noninverted output voltage (positive output voltage with respect to the input) and bidirectional power flow.

How Do Young Adults Read Directions with and without Pictures?

DTIC Science & Technology

1980-09-01

AD-ABG9 223 NEW YORK STATE COLL OF AGRICULTURE AND LIFE SCIENCES --ETC F/S 5/10 NOW DO YOUNG ADULTS READ DIRECTIONS WITH AND WITHOUT PICTURESflU) SEP...College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, a Statutory College of the State University, Cornell Unversity, .7. Ithaca. N.Y. 14.853. It is supported in part...ADDRESS.. 10. PROGRAM ELEMENT. PROJECT, TASK Cornell University. Dept. of Educ., N..Stt9Q13(2) RO College of Agriculture 9 Life Sciences: A 613(2 R4-0

Identification of Gene Loci That Overlap Between Schizophrenia and Educational Attainment.

PubMed

Le Hellard, Stéphanie; Wang, Yunpeng; Witoelar, Aree; Zuber, Verena; Bettella, Francesco; Hugdahl, Kenneth; Espeseth, Thomas; Steen, Vidar M; Melle, Ingrid; Desikan, Rahul; Schork, Andrew J; Thompson, Wesley K; Dale, Anders M; Djurovic, Srdjan; Andreassen, Ole A

2017-05-01

There is evidence for genetic overlap between cognitive abilities and schizophrenia (SCZ), and genome-wide association studies (GWAS) demonstrate that both SCZ and general cognitive abilities have a strong polygenic component with many single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) each with a small effect. Here we investigated the shared genetic architecture between SCZ and educational attainment, which is regarded as a "proxy phenotype" for cognitive abilities, but may also reflect other traits. We applied a conditional false discovery rate (condFDR) method to GWAS of SCZ (n = 82 315), college completion ("College," n = 95 427), and years of education ("EduYears," n = 101 069). Variants associated with College or EduYears showed enrichment of association with SCZ, demonstrating polygenic overlap. This was confirmed by an increased replication rate in SCZ. By applying a condFDR threshold <0.01, we identified 18 genomic loci associated with SCZ after conditioning on College and 15 loci associated with SCZ after conditioning on EduYears. Ten of these loci overlapped. Using conjunctional FDR, we identified 10 loci shared between SCZ and College, and 29 loci shared between SCZ and EduYears. The majority of these loci had effects in opposite directions. Our results provide evidence for polygenic overlap between SCZ and educational attainment, and identify novel pleiotropic loci. Other studies have reported genetic overlap between SCZ and cognition, or SCZ and educational attainment, with negative correlation. Importantly, our methods enable identification of bi-directional effects, which highlight the complex relationship between SCZ and educational attainment, and support polygenic mechanisms underlying both cognitive dysfunction and creativity in SCZ. © The Author 2016. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the Maryland Psychiatric Research Center. All rights reserved. For permissions, please email: journals.permissions@oup.com.

PreliminaryEquatorial Paleomagnetic results from Mt Kenya lavas. Neil D Opdyke, 1, Dennis V Kent, 2, Kainian Huang ,1, J.P. Patel , 3

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Opdyke, N. D.; Kent, D. V.; Huang, K.; Patel, J. P.

2007-12-01

Field work on this study was carried out in August of 2006 by field parties from the University of Florida and Rutgers University. Mt Kenya is believed to be Plio-Pleistocene in age and an Argon dating survey is underway Ten samples were taken at each site consisting of one exposure in individual lava Flows. These exposures are usually in road cuts, streambeds and in some cases roadbeds. We sampled 100 sites distributed around the Mt Kenya Massif and to the northeast along the Nyambini range. The equator bisex's Mt Kenya and all sites were sampled within 40" north or south of the equator . The samples were returned to the US and processed at the University of Florida paleomagnetic laboratory. Many sites were severely affected by lightning however after demagnetization 68 sites yielded directions with alpha 95's equal to or less than 10°. Normal magnetized sites dominate, with N=58 (Dec=1°,Inc -0.1°,α95=2.6°) whereas only 10 reverse sites(Dec. =181.9,Inc. .6°α 95=8°) were identified. The combined site mean direction is Dec=1.1°, Inc..= -0.2° and α 95=3.2°. This result is not significantly different from what is expected from the geocentric axial dipole. VGP's were calculated from each site and the dispersion is low with the ASD = 11° which is in agreement with model "G" of MacFadden and McElhinny .No transitional directions were identified . Quadrupole components are not resolved. 1 Department of geological Sciences, the University of Florida , 2 Dept of Geology, Rutgers University,3,dept of Physics ,The University of Nairobi

Aerodynamics of advanced axial-flow turbomachinery

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Serovy, G. K.; Kavanagh, P.; Kiishi, T. H.

1980-01-01

A multi-task research program on aerodynamic problems in advanced axial-flow turbomachine configurations was carried out at Iowa State University. The elements of this program were intended to contribute directly to the improvement of compressor, fan, and turbine design methods. Experimental efforts in intra-passage flow pattern measurements, unsteady blade row interaction, and control of secondary flow are included, along with computational work on inviscid-viscous interaction blade passage flow techniques. This final report summarizes the results of this program and indicates directions which might be taken in following up these results in future work. In a separate task a study was made of existing turbomachinery research programs and facilities in universities located in the United States. Some potentially significant research topics are discussed which might be successfully attacked in the university atmosphere.

Generalized Gödel universes in higher dimensions and pure Lovelock gravity

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Dadhich, Naresh; Molina, Alfred; Pons, Josep M.

2017-10-01

The Gödel universe is a homogeneous rotating dust with negative Λ which is a direct product of a three-dimensional pure rotation metric with a line. We would generalize it to higher dimensions for Einstein and pure Lovelock gravity with only one N th-order term. For higher-dimensional generalization, we have to include more rotations in the metric, and hence we shall begin with the corresponding pure rotation odd (d =2 n +1 )-dimensional metric involving n rotations, which eventually can be extended by a direct product with a line or a space of constant curvature for yielding a higher-dimensional Gödel universe. The considerations of n rotations and also of constant curvature spaces is a new line of generalization and is being considered for the first time.

Overview of areawide programs and the program for suppression of codling moth in the western USA directed by the United States Department of Agriculture--Agricultural Research Service.

PubMed

Calkins, Carrol O; Faust, Robert J

2003-01-01

An areawide suppression program for codling moth (Cydia pomonella L) populations was initiated in 1995 in Washington, Oregon and California under the direction of the US Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service in cooperation with Washington State University, Oregon State University and University of California, Berkeley. Mating disruption was used to reduce the pest population while reducing and eliminating the use of organophosphate insecticides. During the 5-year program, the original 1064 hectares were expanded to 8400 hectares and from 66 grower participants to more than 400 participants. The acreage under mating disruption in the three states increased from 6000 hectares in 1994 to 54000 hectares in the year 2000.

An exploration of decision aid effectiveness: the impact of promoting affective vs. deliberative processing on a health-related decision.

PubMed

Davis, Esther L; McCaffery, Kirsten; Mullan, Barbara; Juraskova, Ilona

2015-12-01

Decision aids (DAs) are non-directive communication tools that help patients make value-consistent health-care decisions. However, most DAs have been developed without an explicit theoretical framework, resulting in a lack of understanding of how DAs achieve outcomes. To investigate the effect of promoting affective vs. deliberative processing on DA effectiveness based on dual-process theory. One hundred and forty-eight female university students participated in a randomized controlled experiment with three conditions: emotion-focused, information-focused and control. Preference-value consistency, knowledge, decisional conflict and satisfaction were compared across the conditions using planned contrast analyses. The intervention comprised two different DAs and instructional manipulations. The emotion-focused condition received a modified DA with affective content and instructions to induce an affective reaction. The information-focused and control conditions received the same DA without the affective content. The information-focused condition received additional instructions to induce deliberative processing. Controlling for the experiment-wise error rate at P < 0.017, the emotion-focused and information-focused conditions had significantly higher decisional satisfaction than the control condition (P < 0.001). The emotion-focused condition did not demonstrate preference-value consistency. There were no significant differences for decisional conflict and knowledge. Results suggest that the promotion of affective processing may hinder value-consistent decision making, while deliberative processing may enhance decisional satisfaction. This investigation of the effect of affective and deliberative processes in DA-supported decision making has implications for the design and use of DAs. DA effectiveness may be enhanced by incorporating a simple instruction to focus on the details of the information. © 2014 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Muon Bundles as a Sign of Strangelets from the Universe

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

Kankiewicz, P.; Rybczyński, M.; Włodarczyk, Z.

Recently, the CERN ALICE experiment observed muon bundles of very high multiplicities in its dedicated cosmic ray (CR) run, thereby confirming similar findings from the LEP era at CERN (in the CosmoLEP project). Originally, it was argued that they apparently stem from the primary CRs with a heavy masses. We propose an alternative possibility arguing that muonic bundles of highest multiplicity are produced by strangelets, hypothetical stable lumps of strange quark matter infiltrating our universe. We also address the possibility of additionally deducing their directionality which could be of astrophysical interest. Significant evidence for anisotropy of arrival directions of themore » observed high-multiplicity muonic bundles is found. Estimated directionality suggests their possible extragalactic provenance.« less

Vulnerabilities of children admitted to a pediatric inpatient care unit☆

PubMed Central

de Oliveira, Larissa Natacha; Breigeiron, Márcia Koja; Hallmann, Sofia; Witkowski, Maria Carolina

2014-01-01

OBJECTIVE: To identify the vulnerabilities of children admitted to a pediatric inpatient unit of a university hospital. METHODS: Cross-sectional, descriptive study from April to September 2013 with36 children aged 30 days to 12 years old, admitted to medical-surgical pediatric inpatient units of a university hospital and their caregivers. Data concerning sociocultural, socioeconomic and clinical context of children and their families were collected by interview with the child caregiver and from patients, records, and analyzed by descriptive statistics. RESULTS: Of the total sample, 97.1% (n=132) of children had at least one type of vulnerability, the majority related to the caregiver's level of education, followed by caregiver's financial situation, health history of the child, caregiver's family situation, use of alcohol, tobacco, and illicit drugs by the caregiver, family's living conditions, caregiver's schooling, and bonding between the caregiver and the child. Only 2.9% (n=4) of the children did not show any criteria to be classified in a category of vulnerability. CONCLUSIONS: Most children were classified has having a social vulnerability. It is imperative to create networks of support between the hospital and the primary healthcare service to promote healthcare practices directed to the needs of the child and family. PMID:25511001

Development Status of Amine-based, Combined Humidity, CO2, and Trace Contaminant Control System for CEV

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Smith, Fred; Perry, Jay; Nalette, Tim; Papale, William

2006-01-01

Under a NASA-sponsored technology development project, a multi-disciplinary team consisting of industry, academia, and government organizations lead by Hamilton Sundstrand is developing an amine-based humidity and CO2 removal process and prototype equipment for Vision for Space Exploration (VSE) applications. Originally this project sought to research enhanced amine formulations and incorporate a trace contaminant control capability into the sorbent. In October 2005, NASA re-directed the project team to accelerate the delivery of hardware by approximately one year and emphasize deployment on board the Crew Exploration Vehicle (CEV) as the near-term developmental goal. Preliminary performance requirements were defined based on nominal and off-nominal conditions and the design effort was initiated using the baseline amine sorbent, SA9T. As part of the original project effort, basic sorbent development was continued with the University of Connecticut and dynamic equilibrium trace contaminant adsorption characteristics were evaluated by NASA. This paper summarizes the University sorbent research effort, the basic trace contaminant loading characteristics of the SA9T sorbent, design support testing, and the status of the full-scale system hardware design and manufacturing effort.

Reliability and Concurrent Validity of Dynamic Rotator Stability Test-A Cross Sectional study.

PubMed

Binoy Mathew, K V; Eapen, Charu; Kumar, P Senthil

2012-01-01

To find intra rater and inter rater reliability of Dynamic Rotator Stability Test (DRST) and to find concurrent validity of Dynamic Rotator Stability Test (DRST) with University of Pennsylvania Shoulder Score (PENN) Scale. 40 subjects of either gender between the age group of 18-70 with painful shoulder conditions of musculoskeletal origin was selected through convenient sampling. Tester 1 and tester 2 administered DRST and PENN scale randomly. In a subgroup of 20 subjects DRST was administered by both the testers to find the inter rater reliability. 180° Standard Universal Goniometer was used to take measurements. For intra-rater reliability, all the test variables were showing highly significant correlation (p=.94 - 1). For inter -rater, with tester 2, test variables like position, ROM, force, direction of abnormal translation, pain during the test, compensatory movement during test were found to be significant (p=.71-1).only some variables of DRST showed significant correlation with PENN scale (P=.320-.450). Dynamic Rotator Stability Test has good intra rater and moderate inter rater reliability. Concurrent validity of Dynamic Rotator Stability Test was found to be poor when compared to PENN Shoulder Score.

Non-equilibrium relaxation in a stochastic lattice Lotka-Volterra model

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Chen, Sheng; Täuber, Uwe C.

2016-04-01

We employ Monte Carlo simulations to study a stochastic Lotka-Volterra model on a two-dimensional square lattice with periodic boundary conditions. If the (local) prey carrying capacity is finite, there exists an extinction threshold for the predator population that separates a stable active two-species coexistence phase from an inactive state wherein only prey survive. Holding all other rates fixed, we investigate the non-equilibrium relaxation of the predator density in the vicinity of the critical predation rate. As expected, we observe critical slowing-down, i.e., a power law dependence of the relaxation time on the predation rate, and algebraic decay of the predator density at the extinction critical point. The numerically determined critical exponents are in accord with the established values of the directed percolation universality class. Following a sudden predation rate change to its critical value, one finds critical aging for the predator density autocorrelation function that is also governed by universal scaling exponents. This aging scaling signature of the active-to-absorbing state phase transition emerges at significantly earlier times than the stationary critical power laws, and could thus serve as an advanced indicator of the (predator) population’s proximity to its extinction threshold.

Cross-cultural differences in adult Theory of Mind abilities: A comparison of native-English speakers and native-Chinese speakers on the Self/Other Differentiation task.

PubMed

Bradford, Elisabeth Ef; Jentzsch, Ines; Gomez, Juan-Carlos; Chen, Yulu; Zhang, Da; Su, Yanjie

2018-02-01

Theory of Mind (ToM) refers to the ability to compute and attribute mental states to ourselves and other people. It is currently unclear whether ToM abilities are universal or whether they can be culturally influenced. To address this question, this research explored potential differences in engagement of ToM processes between two different cultures, Western (individualist) and Chinese (collectivist), using a sample of healthy adults. Participants completed a computerised false-belief task, in which they attributed beliefs to either themselves or another person, in a matched design, allowing direct comparison between "Self"- and "Other"-oriented conditions. Results revealed that both native-English speakers and native-Chinese individuals responded significantly faster to self-oriented than other-oriented questions. Results also showed that when a trial required a "perspective-shift," participants from both cultures were slower to shift from Self-to-Other than from Other-to-Self. Results indicate that despite differences in collectivism scores, culture does not influence task performance, with similar results found for both Western and non-Western participants, suggesting core and potentially universal similarities in the ToM mechanism across these two cultures.

A Site Density Functional Theory for Water: Application to Solvation of Amino Acid Side Chains.

PubMed

Liu, Yu; Zhao, Shuangliang; Wu, Jianzhong

2013-04-09

We report a site density functional theory (SDFT) based on the conventional atomistic models of water and the universality ansatz of the bridge functional. The excess Helmholtz energy functional is formulated in terms of a quadratic expansion with respect to the local density deviation from that of a uniform system and a universal functional for all higher-order terms approximated by that of a reference hard-sphere system. With the atomistic pair direct correlation functions of the uniform system calculated from MD simulation and an analytical expression for the bridge functional from the modified fundamental measure theory, the SDFT can be used to predict the structure and thermodynamic properties of water under inhomogeneous conditions with a computational cost negligible in comparison to that of brute-force simulations. The numerical performance of the SDFT has been demonstrated with the predictions of the solvation free energies of 15 molecular analogs of amino acid side chains in water represented by SPC/E, SPC, and TIP3P models. For theTIP3P model, a comparison of the theoretical predictions with MD simulation and experimental data shows agreement within 0.64 and 1.09 kcal/mol on average, respectively.

College and University Environmental Programs as a Policy Problem (Part 2): Strategies for Improvement

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Clark, Susan G.; Rutherford, Murray B.; Auer, Matthew R.; Cherney, David N.; Wallace, Richard L.; Mattson, David J.; Clark, Douglas A.; Foote, Lee; Krogman, Naomi; Wilshusen, Peter; Steelman, Toddi

2011-05-01

Environmental studies and environmental sciences programs in American and Canadian colleges and universities seek to ameliorate environmental problems through empirical enquiry and analytic judgment. In a companion article (Part 1) we describe the environmental program movement (EPM) and discuss factors that have hindered its performance. Here, we complete our analysis by proposing strategies for improvement. We recommend that environmental programs re-organize around three principles. First, adopt as an overriding goal the concept of human dignity—defined as freedom and social justice in healthy, sustainable environments. This clear higher-order goal captures the human and environmental aspirations of the EPM and would provide a more coherent direction for the efforts of diverse participants. Second, employ an explicit, genuinely interdisciplinary analytical framework that facilitates the use of multiple methods to investigate and address environmental and social problems in context. Third, develop educational programs and applied experiences that provide students with the technical knowledge, powers of observation, critical thinking skills and management acumen required for them to become effective professionals and leaders. Organizing around these three principles would build unity in the EPM while at the same time capitalizing on the strengths of the many disciplines and diverse local conditions involved.

Quantum Kinetics and the Zeno Ansatz: Sterile Neutrino Dark Matter in the Early Universe

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Dvornikov, Olexiy V.

We solved the quantum kinetic equations for the evolution of neutrino states in the early universe. Starting at high temperatures, we evolve neutrino states to observe the resonant conversion of active-to-sterile neutrinos in a lepton asymmetric (more neutrinos than anti-neutrinos) universe. We find that at high temperatures, the high neutrino scattering and oscillation rates enforce a local equilibrium that balances the growth of coherence at the oscillation rate and the damping of coherence through scattering. This equilibrium, which we call a "quantum kinetic equilibrium," appears to approximately hold throughout the neutrino evolution, from the initial conditions through resonances that may be non adiabatic. Using this quantum kinetic equilibrium informs a proper choice of the initial conditions of the neutrino state and the relaxation process that occurs to this equilibrium when the initial conditions (as are typically chosen in the literature) are not coincident with the equilibrium values. We also discuss how to use this equilibrium to reduce the computational expense of solving the full quantum kinetic equations for neutrino states evolving in the early universe.

Universal versus conditional day 3 follow-up for children with non-severe unclassified fever at the community level in Ethiopia: A cluster-randomised non-inferiority trial.

PubMed

Källander, Karin; Alfvén, Tobias; Funk, Tjede; Abebe, Ayalkibet; Hailemariam, Abreham; Getachew, Dawit; Petzold, Max; Steinhardt, Laura C; Gutman, Julie R

2018-04-01

With declining malaria prevalence and improved use of malaria diagnostic tests, an increasing proportion of children seen by community health workers (CHWs) have unclassified fever. Current community management guidelines by WHO advise that children seen with non-severe unclassified fever (on day 1) should return to CHWs on day 3 for reassessment. We compared the safety of conditional follow-up reassessment only in cases where symptoms do not resolve with universal follow-up on day 3. We undertook a 2-arm cluster-randomised controlled non-inferiority trial among children aged 2-59 months presenting with fever and without malaria, pneumonia, diarrhoea, or danger signs to 284 CHWs affiliated with 25 health centres (clusters) in Southern Nations, Nationalities, and Peoples' Region, Ethiopia. The primary outcome was treatment failure (persistent fever, development of danger signs, hospital admission, death, malaria, pneumonia, or diarrhoea) at 1 week (day 8) of follow-up. Non-inferiority was defined as a 4% or smaller difference in the proportion of treatment failures with conditional follow-up compared to universal follow-up. Secondary outcomes included the percentage of children brought for reassessment, antimicrobial prescription, and severe adverse events (hospitalisations and deaths) after 4 weeks (day 29). From December 1, 2015, to November 30, 2016, we enrolled 4,595 children, of whom 3,946 (1,953 universal follow-up arm; 1,993 conditional follow-up arm) adhered to the CHW's follow-up advice and also completed a day 8 study visit within ±1 days. Overall, 2.7% had treatment failure on day 8: 0.8% (16/1,993) in the conditional follow-up arm and 4.6% (90/1,953) in the universal follow-up arm (risk difference of treatment failure -3.81%, 95% CI -∞, 0.65%), meeting the prespecified criterion for non-inferiority. There were no deaths recorded by day 29. In the universal follow-up arm, 94.6% of caregivers reported returning for reassessment on day 3, in contrast to 7.5% in the conditional follow-up arm (risk ratio 22.0, 95% CI 17.9, 27.2, p < 0.001). Few children sought care from another provider after their initial visit to the CHW: 3.0% (59/1,993) in the conditional follow-up arm and 1.1% (22/1,953) in the universal follow-up arm, on average 3.2 and 3.4 days later, respectively, with no significant difference between arms (risk difference 1.79%, 95% CI -1.23%, 4.82%, p = 0.244). The mean travel time to another provider was 2.2 hours (95% CI 0.01, 5.3) in the conditional follow-up arm and 2.6 hours (95% CI 0.02, 4.5) in the universal follow-up arm (p = 0.82); the mean cost for seeking care after visiting the CHW was 26.5 birr (95% CI 7.8, 45.2) and 22.8 birr (95% CI 15.6, 30.0), respectively (p = 0.69). Though this study was an important step to evaluate the safety of conditional follow-up, the high adherence seen may have resulted from knowledge of the 1-week follow-up visit and may therefore not transfer to routine practice; hence, in an implementation setting it is crucial that CHWs are well trained in counselling skills to advise caregivers on when to come back for follow-up. Conditional follow-up of children with non-severe unclassified fever in a low malaria endemic setting in Ethiopia was non-inferior to universal follow-up through day 8. Allowing CHWs to advise caregivers to bring children back only in case of continued symptoms might be a more efficient use of resources in similar settings. www.clinicaltrials.gov, identifier NCT02926625.

Reducing noise and vibration of hydraulic hybrid and plug-in hybrid electric vehicles : final report.

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

2012-02-01

The University of Toledo University Transportation Center (UT-UTC) has identified : hybrid vehicles as one of the three areas of the research. The activities in this research : are directed towards the noise, vibration, and harshness (NVH) solutions ...

The University of Georgia Chemical Waste Disposal Program.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Dreesen, David W.; Pohlman, Thomas J.

1980-01-01

Describes a university-wide program directed at reducing the improper storage and disposal of toxic chemical wastes from laboratories. Specific information is included on the implementation of a waste pick-up service, safety equipment, materials and methods for packaging, and costs of the program. (CS)

Houston Baptist University Academic Advising Handbook, 1986-1987.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Ford, Jerry

A handbook for academic advisers at Houston Baptist University (HBU) is presented. Attention is directed to: definitions of advising, roles of academic advisers, behavioral objectives, limitations of academic advising, adviser and advisee responsibilities, and information pertaining to specific HBU departments and regulations. Additional topics…

Impact of Information Management in the University Setting.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Sholtys, Phyllis

1985-01-01

Many organizations are establishing the role of "chief information officer," charged with directing the evolution and integration of information processing. The impact on Northern Kentucky University of adding a chief information officer and reorganizing campus information services is traced. Organizational, political, and social factors…

Prebiotic Synthesis of Autocatalytic Products From Formaldehyde-Derived Sugars as the Carbon and Energy Source

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Weber, Arthur L.

2003-01-01

Our research objective is to understand and model the chemical processes on the primitive Earth that generated the first autocatalytic molecules and microstructures involved in the origin of life. Our approach involves: (a) investigation of a model origin-of-life process named the Sugar Model that is based on the reaction of formaldehyde- derived sugars (trioses and tetroses) with ammonia, and (b) elucidation of the constraints imposed on the chemistry of the origin of life by the fixed energies and rates of C,H,O-organic reactions under mild aqueous conditions. Recently, we demonstrated that under mild aqueous conditions the Sugar Model process yields autocatalytic products, and generates organic micropherules (2-20 micron dia.) that exhibit budding, size uniformity, and chain formation. We also discovered that the sugar substrates of the Sugar Model are capable of reducing nitrite to ammonia under mild aqueous conditions. In addition studies done in collaboration with Sandra Pizzarrello (Arizona State University) revealed that chiral amino acids (including meteoritic isovaline) catalyze both the synthesis and specific handedness of chiral sugars. Our systematic survey of the energies and rates of reactions of C,H,O-organic substrates under mild aqueous conditions revealed several general principles (rules) that govern the direction and rate of organic reactions. These reactivity principles constrain the structure of chemical pathways used in the origin of life, and in modern and primitive metabolism.

External Factors, Internal Factors and Self-Directed Learning Readiness

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Ramli, Nurjannah; Muljono, Pudji; Afendi, Farit M.

2018-01-01

There are many factors which affect the level of self-directed learning readiness. This study aims to investigate the relationship between external factors, internal factors and self-directed learning readiness. This study was carried out by using a census method for fourth year students of medical program of Tadulako University. Data were…

Exploring First-Year Undergraduate Medical Students' Self-Directed Learning Readiness to Physiology

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Abraham, Reem Rachel; Fisher, Murray; Kamath, Asha; Izzati, T. Aizan; Nabila, Saidatul; Atikah, Nik Nur

2011-01-01

Medical students are expected to possess self-directed learning skills to pursue lifelong learning. Previous studies have reported that the readiness for self-directed learning depends on personal attributes as well as the curriculum followed in institutions. Melaka Manipal Medical College of Manipal University (Karnataka, India) offers a Bachelor…