Scholarly Context Adrift: Three out of Four URI References Lead to Changed Content

PubMed Central

Tobin, Richard; Grover, Claire

2016-01-01

Increasingly, scholarly articles contain URI references to “web at large” resources including project web sites, scholarly wikis, ontologies, online debates, presentations, blogs, and videos. Authors reference such resources to provide essential context for the research they report on. A reader who visits a web at large resource by following a URI reference in an article, some time after its publication, is led to believe that the resource’s content is representative of what the author originally referenced. However, due to the dynamic nature of the web, that may very well not be the case. We reuse a dataset from a previous study in which several authors of this paper were involved, and investigate to what extent the textual content of web at large resources referenced in a vast collection of Science, Technology, and Medicine (STM) articles published between 1997 and 2012 has remained stable since the publication of the referencing article. We do so in a two-step approach that relies on various well-established similarity measures to compare textual content. In a first step, we use 19 web archives to find snapshots of referenced web at large resources that have textual content that is representative of the state of the resource around the time of publication of the referencing paper. We find that representative snapshots exist for about 30% of all URI references. In a second step, we compare the textual content of representative snapshots with that of their live web counterparts. We find that for over 75% of references the content has drifted away from what it was when referenced. These results raise significant concerns regarding the long term integrity of the web-based scholarly record and call for the deployment of techniques to combat these problems. PMID:27911955

Diagnostic accuracy of uriSed automated urine microscopic sediment analyzer and dipstick parameters in predicting urine culture test results.

PubMed

Huysal, Kağan; Budak, Yasemin U; Karaca, Ayse Ulusoy; Aydos, Murat; Kahvecioğlu, Serdar; Bulut, Mehtap; Polat, Murat

2013-01-01

Urinary tract infection (UTI) is one of the most common types of infection. Currently, diagnosis is primarily based on microbiologic culture, which is time- and labor-consuming. The aim of this study was to assess the diagnostic accuracy of urinalysis results from UriSed (77 Electronica, Budapest, Hungary), an automated microscopic image-based sediment analyzer, in predicting positive urine cultures. We examined a total of 384 urine specimens from hospitalized patients and outpatients attending our hospital on the same day for urinalysis, dipstick tests and semi-quantitative urine culture. The urinalysis results were compared with those of conventional semiquantitative urine culture. Of 384 urinary specimens, 68 were positive for bacteriuria by culture, and were thus considered true positives. Comparison of these results with those obtained from the UriSed analyzer indicated that the analyzer had a specificity of 91.1%, a sensitivity of 47.0%, a positive predictive value (PPV) of 53.3% (95% confidence interval (CI) = 40.8-65.3), and a negative predictive value (NPV) of 88.8% (95% CI = 85.0-91.8%). The accuracy was 83.3% when the urine leukocyte parameter was used, 76.8% when bacteriuria analysis of urinary sediment was used, and 85.1% when the bacteriuria and leukocyturia parameters were combined. The presence of nitrite was the best indicator of culture positivity (99.3% specificity) but had a negative likelihood ratio of 0.7, indicating that it was not a reliable clinical test. Although the specificity of the UriSed analyzer was within acceptable limits, the sensitivity value was low. Thus, UriSed urinalysis resuIts do not accurately predict the outcome of culture.

Psychosocial Risk Factors for Upper Respiratory Infection: Demographic and Health History Predictors of URI (Upper Respiratory Illness) During Basic Training

DTIC Science & Technology

1988-07-05

jaundice), (v) dysentery, (w) infectious mononucleosis , (x) warts, (y) whooping cough, and (z) bronchitis. Other Diseases: Thirteen items with a "true...substantial, and knowledge about susceptibility to URIs may provide information regarding general susceptibility to infectious disease. A risk profile for...upper respiratory infections, therefore, may help develop methods for predicting and controlling the influence of infectious diseases in general, and

The yeast prefoldin-like URI-orthologue Bud27 associates with the RSC nucleosome remodeler and modulates transcription

PubMed Central

Mirón-García, María Carmen; Garrido-Godino, Ana Isabel; Martínez-Fernández, Verónica; Fernández-Pevida, Antonio; Cuevas-Bermúdez, Abel; Martín-Expósito, Manuel; Chávez, Sebastián; de la Cruz, Jesús; Navarro, Francisco

2014-01-01

Bud27, the yeast orthologue of human URI/RMP, is a member of the prefoldin-like family of ATP-independent molecular chaperones. It has recently been shown to mediate the assembly of the three RNA polymerases in an Rpb5-dependent manner. In this work, we present evidence of Bud27 modulating RNA pol II transcription elongation. We show that Bud27 associates with RNA pol II phosphorylated forms (CTD-Ser5P and CTD-Ser2P), and that its absence affects RNA pol II occupancy of transcribed genes. We also reveal that Bud27 associates in vivo with the Sth1 component of the chromatin remodeling complex RSC and mediates its association with RNA pol II. Our data suggest that Bud27, in addition of contributing to Rpb5 folding within the RNA polymerases, also participates in the correct assembly of other chromatin-associated protein complexes, such as RSC, thereby modulating their activity. PMID:25081216

The yeast prefoldin-like URI-orthologue Bud27 associates with the RSC nucleosome remodeler and modulates transcription.

PubMed

Mirón-García, María Carmen; Garrido-Godino, Ana Isabel; Martínez-Fernández, Verónica; Fernández-Pevida, Antonio; Cuevas-Bermúdez, Abel; Martín-Expósito, Manuel; Chávez, Sebastián; de la Cruz, Jesús; Navarro, Francisco

2014-09-01

Bud27, the yeast orthologue of human URI/RMP, is a member of the prefoldin-like family of ATP-independent molecular chaperones. It has recently been shown to mediate the assembly of the three RNA polymerases in an Rpb5-dependent manner. In this work, we present evidence of Bud27 modulating RNA pol II transcription elongation. We show that Bud27 associates with RNA pol II phosphorylated forms (CTD-Ser5P and CTD-Ser2P), and that its absence affects RNA pol II occupancy of transcribed genes. We also reveal that Bud27 associates in vivo with the Sth1 component of the chromatin remodeling complex RSC and mediates its association with RNA pol II. Our data suggest that Bud27, in addition of contributing to Rpb5 folding within the RNA polymerases, also participates in the correct assembly of other chromatin-associated protein complexes, such as RSC, thereby modulating their activity. © The Author(s) 2014. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of Nucleic Acids Research.

Salivary IgA as a risk factor for upper respiratory infections in elite professional athletes.

PubMed

Neville, Vernon; Gleeson, Michael; Folland, Jonathan P

2008-07-01

The relationship between physiological and psychological stress and immune function is widely recognized; however, there is little evidence to confirm a direct link between depressed immune function and incidence of illness in athletes. To examine the relationship between salivary immunoglobulin A (s-IgA) and upper respiratory infections (URI) in a cohort of professional athletes over a prolonged period. Thirty-eight elite America's Cup yacht racing athletes were studied over 50 wk of training. Resting, unstimulated saliva samples were collected weekly (38 h after exercise, consistent time of day, fasted) together with clinically confirmed URI, training load, and perceived fatigue rating. s-IgA was highly variable within (coefficients of variation [CV] = 48%) and between subjects (CV = 71%). No significant correlation was found between absolute s-IgA concentration and the incidence of URI among athletes (r = 0.11). However, a significant (28%, P < 0.005) reduction in s-IgA occurred during the 3 wk before URI episodes and returned to baseline by 2 wk after a URI. When an athlete did not have, or was not recovering from URI, a s-IgA value lower than 40% of their mean healthy s-IgA concentration indicated a one in two chance of contracting an URI within 3 wk. On a group basis, relative s-IgA determined a substantial proportion of the variability in weekly URI incidence. The typical decline in an individual's relative s-IgA over the 3 wk before a URI appears to precede and contribute to URI risk, with the magnitude of the decrease related to the risk of URI, independent of the absolute s-IgA concentration. These findings have important implications for athletes and coaches in identifying periods of high URI risk.

Facebook, stress, and incidence of upper respiratory infection in undergraduate college students.

PubMed

Campisi, Jay; Bynog, Pamela; McGehee, Hope; Oakland, Joshua C; Quirk, Shannon; Taga, Carlee; Taylor, Morgan

2012-12-01

Having a large social network is generally beneficial to health. However, it is unclear how Internet-based social networks might influence health. Chronic stress can have negative health consequences, and some data suggest that Facebook could be a new source of psychological stress. Thus, we examined undergraduate college student perceptions of Facebook use and incidence of upper respiratory infections (URIs). We hypothesized that subjects with more diverse networks (i.e., more friends on Facebook) would have fewer URIs than their less diverse counterparts; that subjects reporting Facebook-induced stress would be more susceptible to URIs; and that subjects with more diverse networks who report Facebook-induced stress would be less susceptible to URIs than subjects with less diverse social networks who reported Facebook-induced stress. In this prospective study, healthy college students completed online questionnaires that assessed use and perceptions of Facebook and technology, and then were interviewed weekly for 10 weeks to track incidence of URI. URI episodes were defined by a symptom-based criterion. The social network size was significantly related to the rate of URI, such that, the larger the social network, the greater the incidence rate of URI. Most (85.7 percent) respondents experienced some degree of Facebook-induced stress. The effects of Facebook-induced stress on incidence of URI varied across the social network size, such that, the impact of stress on the URI incidence rate increased with the size of the social network. These results are largely in contrast to our hypotheses, but clearly suggest an association between Facebook use, psychological stress, and health.

Antibiotic prescriptions for upper respiratory tract infection in Japan.

PubMed

Higashi, Takahiro; Fukuhara, Shunichi

2009-01-01

The overuse of antibiotics results in the unnecessary spread of resistant strains. A common setting for antibiotic overuse is in the treatment of upper respiratory tract infections (URIs), which are predominantly due to viruses. To investigate the type and frequency of antibiotic prescription for URI without apparent bacterial infection in Japan, based on both visits and facilities. Cross-sectional analysis of insurance claims submitted to an employer-sponsored health insurance plan in Japan between January and March, 2005 for diagnoses of URI. Claims having a potentially valid reason for antibiotic prescription (e.g., secondary diagnosis of pneumonia) were excluded. Antibiotics prescribed for these URI visits. From a total of 24,134 claims, 2,577 claims (non-bacterial URI, one visit per claim) were analyzed; antibiotics were prescribed in 60% of these visits. Third-generation cephalosporins were the most commonly-prescribed drug class (46%), followed by macrolides (27%) and quinolones (16%). In general, visits to physician offices were more likely to result in an antibiotic prescription than visits to hospital outpatient clinics. No statistically significant difference was identified among hospital types, including private and public ownership or teaching hospital status. Analysis of the frequency of antibiotic prescription by facility revealed two peaks in distribution, with one group prescribing to about 90% of URI patients and the second appearing to prescribe to about 40% of patients. Antibiotics are frequently prescribed to URI patients in Japan. Although overuse results from the difficulty in accurately distinguishing viral from bacterial URIs, some facilities appear to attempt to differentiate the underlying cause of the URI while others do not.

Effect of Lactobacillus rhamnosus LGG® and Bifidobacterium animalis ssp. lactis BB-12® on health-related quality of life in college students affected by upper respiratory infections.

PubMed

Smith, Tracey J; Rigassio-Radler, Diane; Denmark, Robert; Haley, Timothy; Touger-Decker, Riva

2013-06-01

College students are susceptible to upper respiratory infections (URI) due to inadequate sleep, stress and close living quarters. Certain probiotic strains modulate immune function and may improve health-related quality of life (HRQL) during URI. The present study recruited apparently healthy college students and assessed the effect of probiotics on HRQL outcomes (i.e. self-reported duration, symptom severity and functional impairment of URI) in those who developed URI. Missed school and work days due to URI were also considered. Subjects (n 231) were apparently healthy college students living on campus in residence halls at the Framingham State University (Framingham, MA, USA), and were randomised to receive placebo (n 117) or probiotic-containing powder (daily dose of minimum 1 billion colony-forming units of each Lactobacillus rhamnosus LGG® (LGG®) and Bifidobacterium animalis ssp. lactis BB-12® (BB-12®); n 114) for 12 weeks. Subjects completed The Wisconsin Upper Respiratory Symptom Survey-21 to assess HRQL during URI. The final analyses included 198 subjects (placebo, n 97 and probiotics, n 101). The median duration of URI was significantly shorter by 2 d and median severity score was significantly lower by 34% with probiotics v. placebo (P,0·001), indicating a higher HRQL during URI. Number of missed work days was not different between groups (P=0·429); however, the probiotics group missed significantly fewer school days (mean difference = 0·2 d) compared to the placebo group (P=0·002). LGG® and BB-12® may be beneficial among college students with URI for mitigating decrements in HRQL. More research is warranted regarding mechanisms of action associated with these findings and the cost-benefit of prophylactic supplementation.

Seroconversion rates to combined measles-mumps-rubella-varicella vaccine of children with upper respiratory tract infection.

PubMed

Dennehy, P H; Saracen, C L; Peter, G

1994-10-01

To determine if upper respiratory tract infection (URI) affects the seroconversion rate or quantitative response to each component of a combined measles-mumps-rubella-varicella vaccine. One hundred forty-nine children between 15 and 18 months of age were prospectively divided into two groups according to the presence of URI or recent history of URI symptoms within the 4 weeks before vaccination. Once stratified, 74 children in the healthy group and 75 children in the URI group were randomly assigned to receive one of three lots of measles-mumps-rubella varicella vaccine by subcutaneous injection into the deltoid area. Serum was obtained from each child just before vaccination and 4 to 6 weeks later for measuring antibody levels against each virus. Prevaccination antibody levels against each virus in the URI and healthy groups did not differ. Nine children had pre-existing antibodies to varicella and six to mumps; no child had positive serologies for measles or rubella before vaccination. Children with pre-existing antibody were excluded from analysis of seroconversion for that virus. Seroconversion to measles, mumps, and rubella occurred in 100% of children in both groups. Mean antibody levels did not differ between the healthy and URI groups for measles (111 vs 122), mumps (97 vs 108), or rubella (96 vs 102). Three (4%) of 70 children with URIs in whom varicella serologies were available failed to seroconvert to varicella vaccine although none of the 69 healthy children had vaccine failure (P = .24). The mean varicella antibody level was 11.3 +/- 1.4 in the healthy children, which did not differ significantly from the level of 9.5 +/- 0.9 in the URI group. Seroconversion to measles, mumps, rubella, and varicella was not significantly affected by the presence of a concurrent or recent URI in 15- to 18-month-old children.

Nasopharyngeal polymicrobial colonization during health, viral upper respiratory infection and upper respiratory bacterial infection.

PubMed

Xu, Qingfu; Wischmeyer, Jareth; Gonzalez, Eduardo; Pichichero, Michael E

2017-07-01

We sought to understand how polymicrobial colonization varies during health, viral upper respiratory infection (URI) and acute upper respiratory bacterial infection to understand differences in infection-prone vs. non-prone patients. Nasopharyngeal (NP) samples were collected from 74 acute otitis media (AOM) infection-prone and 754 non-prone children during 2094 healthy visits, 673 viral URI visits and 631 AOM visits. Three otopathogens Streptococcus pneumoniae (Spn), Nontypeable Haemophilus influenzae (NTHi), and Moraxella catarrhalis (Mcat) were identified by culture. NP colonization rates of multiple otopathogens during health were significantly lower than during viral URI, and during URI they were lower than at onset of upper respiratory bacterial infection in both AOM infection-prone and non-prone children. AOM infection-prone children had higher polymicrobial colonization rates than non-prone children during health, viral URI and AOM. Polymicrobial colonization rates of AOM infection-prone children during health were equivalent to that of non-prone children during viral URI, and during viral URI were equivalent to that of non-prone during AOM infection. Spn colonization was positively associated with NTHi and Mcat colonization during health, but negatively during AOM infection. The infection-prone patients more frequently have multiple potential bacterial pathogens in the NP than the non-prone patients. Polymicrobial interaction in the NP differs during health and at onset of infection. Copyright © 2017 The British Infection Association. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Epidemiological evaluation of cats rescued at a secondary emergency animal shelter in Miharu, Fukushima, after the Great East Japan Earthquakes.

PubMed

Tanaka, Aki; Martinez-Lopez, Beatriz; Kass, Philip

2017-03-01

The aims of this research were to report characteristics of rescued cats at a secondary emergency animal shelter in Fukushima prefecture, Japan, and evaluate how adoptability, stress level, upper respiratory infection (URI) syndrome incidence, and URI pathogen prevalence were associated with the cat's shelter intake source and shelter characteristics. All cats admitted to the Miharu shelter, Fukushima Prefecture from 2012 to 2014 were included in the study. The results demonstrate that in situ corticosteroid and antibiotic use were associated with cats subsequently developing upper respiratory infections (URI). Disease and cat behavior were unassociated with adoption. Cats in group housing had lower stress metrics than cats individually housed. Prevalences of URI pathogens exceeded 80%, but symptomatic cats were uncommon. Environmental enrichment and stress reduction strategies are important in controlling URI and reducing the need for corticosteroids and antibiotics in shelters. Preemptive protocols are important in preventing shelter admission of cats during disasters. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Therapeutic options for acute cough due to upper respiratory infections in children.

PubMed

Paul, Ian M

2012-02-01

Cough due to upper respiratory tract infections (URIs) is one of the most frequent complaints encountered by pediatric health-care providers, and one of the most disruptive symptoms for children and families. Despite the frequency of URIs, there is limited evidence to support the few therapeutic agents currently available in the United States (US) to treat acute cough due to URI. Published, well-designed, contemporary research supporting the efficacy of narcotics (codeine, hydrocodone) and US Food and Drug Administration (FDA)-approved over-the-counter (OTC) oral antitussives and expectorants (dextromethorphan, diphenhydramine, chlophedianol, and guaifenesin) is absent for URI-associated pediatric cough. Alternatively, honey and topically applied vapor rubs may be effective antitussives.

Hand Hygiene Program Decreases School Absenteeism Due to Upper Respiratory Infections.

PubMed

Azor-Martinez, Ernestina; Cobos-Carrascosa, Elena; Seijas-Vazquez, Maria Luisa; Fernández-Sánchez, Carmen; Strizzi, Jenna M; Torres-Alegre, Pilar; Santisteban-Martínez, Joaquin; Gimenez-Sanchez, Francisco

2016-12-01

We assessed the effectiveness of a handwashing program using hand sanitizer to prevent school absenteeism due to upper respiratory infections (URIs). This was a randomized, controlled, and open study on a sample of 1341 children 4-12 years old, attending 5 state schools in Almería (Spain), with an 8-month follow-up. The experimental group (EG) washed their hands with soap and water, together with using hand sanitizer, and the control group followed their usual handwashing procedures. Absenteeism rates due to URIs were compared between the 2 groups through a multivariate Poisson regression analysis. The percent of days missed in both groups were compared with a z test. Overall, 1271 cases of school absenteeism due to URIs were registered. Schoolchildren from the EG had a 38% lower risk of absenteeism due to URIs, incidence rate ratio: 0.62, 95% confidence interval: 0.55-0.70, and a decrease in absenteeism of 0.45 episodes/child/academic year, p < .001. Pupils missed 2734 school days due to URIs and the percentage of days absent was significantly lower in the EG, p < .001. Use of hand sanitizer plus handwashing with soap accompanied by educational support is an effective measure to reduce absenteeism due to URIs. © 2016, American School Health Association.

Incidence, etiology, and symptomatology of upper respiratory illness in elite athletes.

PubMed

Spence, Luke; Brown, Wendy J; Pyne, David B; Nissen, Michael D; Sloots, Theo P; McCormack, Joseph G; Locke, A Simon; Fricker, Peter A

2007-04-01

Upper respiratory illness (URI) is the most common medical condition affecting elite athletes. The aims of this study were to identify and evaluate the incidence, pathogenic etiology, and symptomatology of acute URI during a 5-month training and competition period. Thirty-two elite and 31 recreationally competitive triathletes and cyclists, and 20 sedentary controls (age range 18.0-34.1 yr) participated in a prospective surveillance study. Nasopharyngeal and throat swabs were collected from subjects presenting with two or more defined upper respiratory symptoms. Swabs were analyzed using microscopy, culture, and PCR testing for typical and atypical respiratory pathogens. The Wisconsin Upper Respiratory Symptom Survey (WURSS-44) was used to assess symptomatology and functional impairment. Thirty-seven URI episodes were reported in 28 subjects. Incidence rate ratios for illness were higher in both the control subjects (1.93, 95% CI: 0.72-5.18) and elite athletes (4.50, 1.91-10.59) than in the recreationally competitive athletes. Infectious agents were identified in only 11 (two control, three recreationally competitive, and six elite) out of 37 illness episodes. Rhinovirus was the most common respiratory pathogen isolated. Symptom and functional impairment severity scores were higher in subjects with an infectious pathogen episode, particularly on illness days 3-4. The results confirm a higher rate of URI among elite athletes than recreationally competitive athletes during this training and competition season. However, because pathogens were isolated in fewer than 30% of URI cases, further study is required to uncover the causes of unidentified but symptomatic URI in athletes. Despite the common perception that all URI are infections, physicians should consider both infectious and noninfectious causes when athletes present with symptoms.

Demographic and Treatment Patterns for Infections in Ambulatory Settings in the United States, 2006-2010

PubMed Central

May, Larissa; Mullins, Peter; Pines, Jesse

2013-01-01

Objectives Many factors may influence choice of care setting for treatment of acute infections. The authors evaluated a national sample of U.S. outpatient clinic and emergency department (ED) visits for three common infections (urinary tract infection [UTI], skin and soft tissue infection [SSTI], and upper respiratory infection [URI]), comparing setting, demographics, and care. Methods This was a retrospective analysis of 2006–2010 data from the National Hospital Ambulatory Care Survey (NHAMCS) and National Ambulatory Care Survey (NAMCS). Patients age ≥ 18 years with primary diagnoses of UTI, URI, and SSTI were the visits of interest. Demographics, tests, and prescriptions were compared, divided by ED versus outpatient setting using bivariate statistics. Results Between 2006 and 2010, there were an estimated 40.9 million ambulatory visits for UTI, 168.3 million visits for URI, and 34.8 million visits for SSTI; 24% of UTI, 11% of URI, and 33% of SSTI visits were seen in EDs. Across all groups, ED patients were more commonly younger and black and had Medicaid or no insurance. ED patients had more blood tests (54% vs. 22% for UTI, 21% vs. 14% for URI, and 25% vs. 20% for SSTI) and imaging studies (31% vs. 9% for UTI, 27% vs. 8% for URI, and 16% vs. 5% for SSTI). Pain medications were more frequently used in the ED; over one-fifth of UTI and SSTI visits included narcotics. In both settings, greater than 50% of URI visits received antibiotics; more than 40% of UTI ED visits included broad-spectrum fluoroquinolones. Conclusions Emergency departments treated a considerable proportion of U.S. ambulatory infections from 2006 to 2010. Patient factors, including the presence of acute pain and access to care, appear to influence choice of care setting. Observed antibiotic use in both settings suggests a need for optimizing antibiotic use. PMID:24552520

The Road to BCS

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Schrieffer, J. Robert

This article is based on an interview with Bob Schrieffer. The questions are by Joan N. Warnow. The audio version is available on the AIP website at: <uri>http://www.aip.org/history/mod/superconductivity/02.htmluri>.

[Effects of recent upper respiratory-tract infections on incidence of the perioperative respiratory adverse events in children: a prospective cohort study].

PubMed

Li, C Q; Wang, D X; Cheng, T; Zheng, X Y

2017-10-18

To investigate the effects of the recent upper respiratory tract infections (URI) on the incidence of perioperative respiratory adverse events in children scheduled to undergo general anesthesia and elective surgery. In the study, 232 children undergoing general anesthesia with laryngeal mask airway (LMA) for elective ophthalmic surgeries at Peking University First Hospital, Beijing, China, from Nov. 1, 2015 to May 10, 2016 were enrolled. On the day of the surgery, the parents of the children were preoperatively asked to fill out a questionnaire regarding the baseline characteristics and medical history of the children, including gender, age, height, weight, history of URI within the last 2 weeks before anesthesia, history of premature, long-term passive smoking exposure, habitual sleep snoring, and history of asthma. In addition, all adverse respiratory events throughout the perioperative periods (oxygen desaturation, cough, copious secretions, laryngospasm and bronchospasm) as well as peri-operative variables (number of attempts to insert the LMA successfully, anesthesia duration and so on) were recorded. Multivariate Logistic regression analysis was applied to identify independent risk factors of perioperative respiratory adverse events. Among the 232 children included in the study, 28.0% (65/232) presented with a history of a recent URI within the last 2 weeks before anesthesia. The presence of the recent URI increased the incidence of oxygen desaturation (23.1% vs.12.0%, P=0.034), copious secretions (15.4% vs. 6.6%, P=0.036) and any of all the adverse respiratory events (32.3% vs. 18.6%, P=0.024). Multivariate Logistic regression analysis identified two independent risk factors of perioperative adverse respiratory events: a history of URI within the last 2 weeks before general anesthesia (OR=2.021, 95%CI: 1.023-3.994, P=0.043) and habitual sleep snoring (OR=3.660, 95%CI: 1.517-8.832, P=0.004). A history of a recent URI within 2 weeks before general anesthesia

Providing Geographic Datasets as Linked Data in Sdi

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hietanen, E.; Lehto, L.; Latvala, P.

2016-06-01

In this study, a prototype service to provide data from Web Feature Service (WFS) as linked data is implemented. At first, persistent and unique Uniform Resource Identifiers (URI) are created to all spatial objects in the dataset. The objects are available from those URIs in Resource Description Framework (RDF) data format. Next, a Web Ontology Language (OWL) ontology is created to describe the dataset information content using the Open Geospatial Consortium's (OGC) GeoSPARQL vocabulary. The existing data model is modified in order to take into account the linked data principles. The implemented service produces an HTTP response dynamically. The data for the response is first fetched from existing WFS. Then the Geographic Markup Language (GML) format output of the WFS is transformed on-the-fly to the RDF format. Content Negotiation is used to serve the data in different RDF serialization formats. This solution facilitates the use of a dataset in different applications without replicating the whole dataset. In addition, individual spatial objects in the dataset can be referred with URIs. Furthermore, the needed information content of the objects can be easily extracted from the RDF serializations available from those URIs. A solution for linking data objects to the dataset URI is also introduced by using the Vocabulary of Interlinked Datasets (VoID). The dataset is divided to the subsets and each subset is given its persistent and unique URI. This enables the whole dataset to be explored with a web browser and all individual objects to be indexed by search engines.

Effectiveness of multifaceted interventions on rational use of antibiotics for patients with upper respiratory tract infections and acute diarrhea.

PubMed

Boonyasiri, Adhiratha; Thamlikitkul, Visanu

2014-03-01

To implement multifaceted interventions to promote rational use of antibiotics for out-patients with upper respiratory tract infection (URI) and acute diarrhea. The present study was conducted at ambulatory care facility for patients under Social Security Healthcare Benefit Scheme and Universal Health Coverage Scheme of Siriraj Hospital from January to April 2012. Multifaceted interventions were: Training responsible healthcare personnel on rational use of antibiotics, Clinical practice guidelines, Preprinted medical record forms for patients, Throat swab or stool culture to be taken from the patients (if responsible physicians needed these); and provision of brochures containing causes, necessity and harm of antibiotics for URI and acute diarrhea to patients as well as their relatives while waiting for receiving care. Pre-printed medical records were collected every day. Each patient was called on day 3 after receiving care by an investigator to determine clinical responses. There were 1,241 episodes of URI and 210 episodes of acute diarrhea during the study period. Rates of antibiotic prescriptions were 13.0% for URI and 19.1% for acute diarrhea. Throat swab cultures recovered group A beta-hemolytic streptococci in 3.8% of URI patients and non-typhoidal Salmonella spp. in 14.6% of acute diarrhea patients. Clinical responses of the patients on day 3 after receiving care revealed that more than 97% of the patients who received antibiotics and who did not receive antibiotics were cured or improved. Multifaceted interventions are very effective for promoting rational use of antibiotics for out-patients with URI and acute diarrhea at Siriraj Hospital.

47 CFR 64.613 - Numbering directory for Internet-based TRS users.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-10-01

... the user's Internet Protocol (IP) address. For each record associated with an IP Relay user, the URI... a VRS user's geographically appropriate NANP telephone number, the URI shall contain the IP address of the user's device. For each record associated with an IP Relay user's geographically appropriate...

Psychosocial Risk Factors for Upper Respiratory Infections: Assessment of Upper Respiratory Illness during Basic Training

DTIC Science & Technology

1988-05-23

association was low enough to ensure that the URI composite was not merely an index of somatic stress reactions or hypochondriasis . The eight-item...report somatic symptoms in response to stress. Adjusted URI Severity also is consistent with the clinical practice of ruling out other possible types

Developing Local Scale, High Resolution, Data to Interface with Numerical Storm Models

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Witkop, R.; Becker, A.; Stempel, P.

2017-12-01

High resolution, physical storm models that can rapidly predict storm surge, inundation, rainfall, wind velocity and wave height at the intra-facility scale for any storm affecting Rhode Island have been developed by Researchers at the University of Rhode Island's (URI's) Graduate School of Oceanography (GSO) (Ginis et al., 2017). At the same time, URI's Marine Affairs Department has developed methods that inhere individual geographic points into GSO's models and enable the models to accurately incorporate local scale, high resolution data (Stempel et al., 2017). This combination allows URI's storm models to predict any storm's impacts on individual Rhode Island facilities in near real time. The research presented here determines how a coastal Rhode Island town's critical facility managers (FMs) perceive their assets as being vulnerable to quantifiable hurricane-related forces at the individual facility scale and explores methods to elicit this information from FMs in a format usable for incorporation into URI's storm models.

Developing Local Scale, High Resolution, Data to Interface with Numerical Hurricane Models

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Witkop, R.; Becker, A.

2017-12-01

In 2017, the University of Rhode Island's (URI's) Graduate School of Oceanography (GSO) developed hurricane models that specify wind speed, inundation, and erosion around Rhode Island with enough precision to incorporate impacts on individual facilities. At the same time, URI's Marine Affairs Visualization Lab (MAVL) developed a way to realistically visualize these impacts in 3-D. Since climate change visualizations and water resource simulations have been shown to promote resiliency action (Sheppard, 2015) and increase credibility (White et al., 2010) when local knowledge is incorporated, URI's hurricane models and visualizations may also more effectively enable hurricane resilience actions if they include Facility Manager (FM) and Emergency Manager (EM) perceived hurricane impacts. This study determines how FM's and EM's perceive their assets as being vulnerable to quantifiable hurricane-related forces at the individual facility scale while exploring methods to elicit this information from FMs and EMs in a format usable for incorporation into URI GSO's hurricane models.

Clinical outcomes in Mexican children with febrile acute upper respiratory tract infections: no impact of antibiotic therapy.

PubMed

Carranza-Martinez, Martha I; Newton-Sanchez, Oscar; Franco-Paredes, Carlos; Villaseñor-Sierra, Alberto

2010-09-01

To compare the clinical outcomes (duration of signs and symptoms) and the microbiology in Mexican children with non-complicated febrile upper respiratory tract infections (URI), with and without the use of antibiotics. We conducted a prospective cohort study from September 2006 to July 2007. The study population consisted of 880 children aged 6 months to 5 years 11 months, attending four community daycare centers run by the Instituto Mexicano del Seguro Social (IMSS) and three non-IMSS daycare centers. Children with a febrile URI were enrolled before receiving any antimicrobials and were followed up for two weeks. Duration of the fever, cough, runny nose, stuffy nose, irritability, loss of appetite, tiredness, and diarrhea, and isolation of Haemophilus influenzae,Streptococcus pneumoniae, and Streptococcus pyogenes were compared in those children who received antibiotic treatment and those who did not receive antibiotics. During the study period, a total of 145 out of 880 children were enrolled, and among those enrolled, 85/145 (59%) children received antibiotics. There was no significant difference in the duration of the signs and symptoms evaluated in the two groups. Although the proportions of S. pneumoniae, H. influenzae, and S. pyogenes isolated in children with and without antibiotics were comparable, those in whom we isolated S. pneumoniae had both a significantly longer episode of URI, as well as longer lasting diarrhea. Similarly, children receiving trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole treatment experienced significantly longer durations of fever and diarrhea. The mean duration of signs and symptoms and the microbiological isolates of children with febrile URI were comparable among children treated with or without antibiotics, with the exception of a longer duration of URI and diarrhea in those children with an S. pneumoniae isolate. Our findings suggest that in our population, most cases of febrile URI are caused by viral infections, and demonstrate that

An International Conversation about Mentored Undergraduate Research and Inquiry and Academic Development

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Larson, Susan; Partridge, Lee; Walkington, Helen; Wuetherick, Brad; Moore, Jessie L.

2018-01-01

Recognising that regional differences in mentored undergraduate research and inquiry (URI) practices shape how academic developers might adapt international practices and resources to their local contexts, guest editor Jessie L. Moore invited four scholars to discuss the key terms, concepts, and initiatives for mentored URI in their countries.…

Cage size, movement in and out of housing during daily care, and other environmental and population health risk factors for feline upper respiratory disease in nine North American animal shelters.

PubMed

Wagner, Denae C; Kass, Philip H; Hurley, Kate F

2018-01-01

Upper respiratory infection (URI) is not an inevitable consequence of sheltering homeless cats. This study documents variation in risk of URI between nine North American shelters; determines whether this reflects variation in pathogen frequency on intake or differences in transmission and expression of disease; and identifies modifiable environmental and group health factors linked to risk for URI. This study demonstrated that although periodic introduction of pathogens into shelter populations may be inevitable, disease resulting from those pathogens is not. Housing and care of cats, particularly during their first week of stay in an animal shelter environment, significantly affects the rate of upper respiratory infection.

An Investigation of Selective College and University Libraries' Serial Arrangement.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kesler, Elizabeth Gates; Teborek, Gay

Data from a survey on serials arrangement procedures and policies at academic libraries was used by the University of Rhode Island (URI) Library in changing current serials policies. Ten libraries, four of which have similar serial holdings and user populations to URI, responded to a questionnaire. Information was obtained on classification versus…

Antimicrobial usage in ambulatory patients with respiratory infections in Taiwan, 2001.

PubMed

Ho, Monto; Hsiung, Chao Agnes; Yu, Hui-Tzu; Chi, Cheng-Liang; Yin, Hsiao-Chuan; Chang, Hong-Jen

2004-02-01

Excess use of antimicrobials by ambulatory patients is a determinant of antimicrobial resistance. This study investigated the types of illnesses for which antimicrobials were prescribed and the amounts prescribed with special emphasis on respiratory infections for the year in which the Bureau of National Health Insurance (BNHI) enforced a policy to restrict antimicrobials for upper respiratory infections. The number of ambulatory patients seen and the types of ambulatory facilities in Taiwan were also described. Raw data were obtained from the BNHI database on every 500 th visit in 2001. Medical diagnoses were categorized according to the ICD-9-CM system. Antimicrobial consumption was expressed in defined daily doses per 1000 population per day (DDD/1000/day). Among the population of 22.3 million in Taiwan, there were 285.8 million ambulatory patient visits (12.8 per person), including 108.9 million visits (4.9 per person) for respiratory infections, of which 62.7 million (2.8 per person) were for upper respiratory infections (URI). Antimicrobial consumption was 19.83 DDD/1000/day [standard error (SE), 0.00055], of which 9.97 DDD/1000/day (SE, 0.00047) were for respiratory infections and 4.03 DDD/1000/day (0.00055) were for URI. 23.6% of visits for URI entailed a prescription for antimicrobials. About two-thirds (66.5%) of ambulatory patients were seen in clinics, mostly private ones, and 67.6% of all antimicrobials were received there. Aminopenicillins and cephalosporins constituted 35.2% and 19.5%, respectively, of antimicrobials prescribed. Despite the new BNHI rule restricting antimicrobial usage for URI, Taiwan still has an excessive number of ambulatory patient visits, especially for respiratory infections and URI. The majority of antimicrobials used were for URI. They were mostly prescribed in private clinics rather than hospital outpatient departments.

Effectiveness of an on-site health clinic at a self-insured university: a cost-benefit analysis.

PubMed

McCaskill, Sherrie P; Schwartz, Lisa A; Derouin, Anne L; Pegram, Angela H

2014-04-01

This study assessed the impact and cost-effectiveness of an on-site health clinic at a self-insured university. Health care costs and number of claims filed to primary care providers were trended before and after the clinic was established to determine savings. A retrospective chart review of all full-time, insured employees treated for upper respiratory tract infections (URIs) during a 1-year study period was conducted. On-site clinic costs for the treatment of URIs were compared to costs at outside community providers for similar care. Community cost norms for the treatment of URIs were provided by Primary Physicians Care, the administrator of insurance claims for the University. A cost-benefit analysis compared the cost of services on-site versus similar services at an outside community provider. Based on the results of this study, the University's on-site health care services were determined to be more cost-effective than similar off-site health care services for the treatment of URIs. [Workplace Health Saf 2014;62(4):162-169.]. Copyright 2014, SLACK Incorporated.

Marine Programs at the University of Rhode Island.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Napoli, James J.

Marine science at the University of Rhode Island (URI) is an orientation, a direction. It is not an isolated activity of one department or even of one college. URI has a commitment to a total effort in marine science that is expressed in the cooperation, and, indeed, the interdependence of departments and personnel in many aspects of marine…

Common Ground on Curbing Campus Drinking

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Carothers, Robert L.; Wood, Mark D.; Cohen, Frances

2006-01-01

In the early 1990s, the University of Rhode Island (URI) had a reputation as the number one party school in America, and data showed that the number of URI students engaging in binge drinking was significantly higher than the national average. In order to salvage its reputation and the health of its students, administrators undertook a campus…

Isotopic and trace element characteristics of an unusual refractory inclusion from Essebi

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Deloule, E.; Kennedy, A. K.; Hutcheon, I. D.; Elgoresy, A.

1993-01-01

The isotopic and chemical properties of Ca-Al-rich inclusions (CAI) provide important clues to the early solar nebula environment. While the abundances of refractory major and trace elements are similar to those expected for high temperature condensates, the variety of textural, chemical, and isotopic signatures indicate most CAI experienced complex, multi-stage histories involving repeated episodes of condensation, evaporation, and metamorphism. Evidence of multiple processes is especially apparent in an unusual refractory inclusion from Essebi (URIE) described by El Goresy et al. The melilite (mel)-rich core of URIE contains polygonal framboids of spinel (sp) and hibonite (hb) or sp and fassaite (fas) and is surrounded by a rim sequence consisting of five layers. In contrast to rims on Allende, the mineralogy of the URIE rim layers becomes increasingly refractory from the core outwards, ending in a layer of spinel-Al2O3 solid solution + Sc-rich fassaite. The chemical and mineralogical features of URIE are inconsistent with crystallization from a homogeneous melt, and El Goresy et al. proposed a multi-step history involving condensation of sp + hb and aggregation into framboids, capture of framboids by a refractory silicate melt droplet, condensation of rim layers, and alteration of mel to calcite and feldspathoid. The PANURGE ion probe was used to investigate the isotopic and trace element characteristics of URIE to develop a more complete picture of the multiple processes leading to formation and metamorphism.

Knowledge, attitudes, and behaviors regarding antibiotic use for upper respiratory tract infections: a survey of Thai students.

PubMed

Saengcharoen, Woranuch; Lerkiatbundit, Sanguan; Kaewmang, Kanchana

2012-09-01

The objectives of this study were to determine knowledge, attitudes, and behaviors of antibiotic use in upper respiratory tract infections (URI) among students at different educational levels (Grade 12 students and high vocational students) and to examine factors influencing antibiotic use for URI. A cross sectional questionnaire survey was used with students in one large and one small city in Thailand. Of 712 respondents, more than 75% of all groups had misconceptions on the benefits of antibiotics. Grade 12 students, especially those in the big city, had the highest knowledge scores about antibiotic use in URI, while high vocational students had the lowest. Incomplete taking of a course of antibiotic treatment recommended by health providers was found in more than 45% of respondents in each group. In addition, approximately half of them had taken antibiotics for less than 5 days. Knowledge about antibiotic use in URI, attitudes towards antibiotic use, attitudes towards antibiotic prescribing for treating colds by physicians and by drugstores, belief in the common use of antibiotics for colds, and expectations of receiving antibiotics from physicians significantly influenced intentions and behaviors about antibiotic use. Students had misconceptions on antibiotic use for URI. The Ministry of Education should incorporate information on proper antibiotic use in the formal health education. Reliable sources of information on the correct use of antibiotics should also be more widely available to improve the use of antibiotics.

Survey of clinical pharmacists' knowledge of appropriateness of antimicrobial therapy for upper respiratory infections and acute bronchitis.

PubMed

Mainous, A G; MacFarlane, L L; Connor, M K; Green, L A; Fowler, K; Hueston, W J

1999-04-01

We conducted a survey to assess clinical pharmacists' recommendation of antibiotics for upper respiratory infections (URIs) and acute bronchitis. A random sample of 752 members of the American College of Clinical Pharmacy were mailed a multiple-choice survey that presented four examples consistent with clinical symptoms of the two disorders. Respondents were asked what treatment they would recommend for each example. The response rate was 59%. Pharmacists recommended antibiotics for the treatment of both URIs and acute bronchitis significantly more if patients' symptoms included discolored discharge or sputum as opposed to clear discharge. Those who were board certified were less likely than nonboard-certified pharmacists to recommend antibiotics for URIs with discolored discharge. Pharmacists who specialized in either ambulatory care or infectious disease were less likely than those in other specialties to recommend antibiotics for acute bronchitis with discolored sputum. Clinical pharmacists are similar to patients and physicians in their belief that antibiotics are appropriate for URIs and acute bronchitis with discolored discharge. Considering the role that pharmacists play as clinical consultants to physicians, greater efforts should be made to educate them regarding appropriate prescription of antibiotics.

Psychosocial Risk Factors for Upper Respiratory Infections: Effects of Upper Respiratory Illness on Academic Performance in U.S. Navy Basic Training

DTIC Science & Technology

1989-03-15

training which take the form of somatisized distress or situational hypochondriasis . If so, URI-performance associations would be spurious. This...indications of hypochondriasis or symptom reporting as a form of psychological distress. General Synptom Reporting was used in the present study to test...the distress hypothesis was not supported. General Symptom Reporting did affect URI, but somatically -expressed distress could not be a cause of

Risk assessment of nanomaterials in cosmetics: a European union perspective.

PubMed

Henkler, Frank; Tralau, Tewes; Tentschert, Jutta; Kneuer, Carsten; Haase, Andrea; Platzek, Thomas; Luch, Andreas; Götz, Mario E

2012-11-01

In Europe, the data requirements for the hazard and exposure characterisation of chemicals are defined according to the REACH regulation and its guidance on information requirements and chemical safety assessment (Regulation (EC) No 1907/2006 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 18 December 2006 concerning the Registration, Evaluation, Authorisation and Restriction of Chemicals (REACH), and its guidance documents; available at: http://eur-lex.europa.eu/LexUriServ/LexUriServ.do?uri=OJ:L:2006:396:0001:0849:EN:PDF ; and at: http://guidance.echa.europa.eu/docs/guidance_document/information_requirements_en.htm ). This is the basis for any related risk assessment. The standard reference for the testing of cosmetic ingredients is the SCCP's 'Notes of Guidance for the Testing of Cosmetic Ingredients and their Safety Evaluation' (The SCCP's Notes of Guidance for the testing of cosmetic ingredients and their safety evaluation (2006); available at: http://ec.europa.eu/health/ph_risk/committees/04_sccp/docs/sccp_o_03j.pdf ), which refers to the OECD guidelines for the testing of chemicals (The OECD Guidelines for the Testing of Chemicals as a collection of the most relevant internationally agreed testing methods used by government, industry and independent laboratories to assess the safety of chemical products; available at: http://www.oecd.org/topic/0,2686,en_2649_34377_1_1_1_1_37407,00.html ). According to the cosmetics directive [76/768/EEC], compounds that are classified as mutagenic, carcinogenic or toxic to reproduction are banned for the use in cosmetic products. Since December 2010, the respective labelling is based on the rules of regulation (EC) No. 1272/2008 (Regulation (EC) No 1272/2008 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 16 December 2008 on classification, labelling and packaging of substances and mixtures, amending and repealing Directives 67/548/EEC and 1999/45/EC, and amending Regulation (EC) No 1907/2006, Official Journal L 353, 31

Effect of a synthetic feline facial pheromone product on stress scores and incidence of upper respiratory tract infection in shelter cats.

PubMed

Chadwin, Robin M; Bain, Melissa J; Kass, Philip H

2017-08-15

OBJECTIVE To determine whether a synthetic feline facial pheromone product would decrease stress scores and upper respiratory tract infection (URI) incidence in shelter-housed cats. DESIGN Randomized controlled clinical trial. ANIMALS 336 stray, feral, owner-relinquished, or legally impounded cats at 2 animal shelters in northern California. PROCEDURES 5 cat holding rooms (3 at shelter A and 2 at shelter B) were used. A diffuser containing either synthetic pheromone or placebo was randomly assigned to each room, and cats were exposed for a 21-day period. Data collected on each cat included signalment, daily stress scores, and daily URI incidence. After 21 days, diffusers were removed for a 7-day washout period. The type of diffuser in each room was switched, and data were collected for another 21 days. Findings were statistically compared between exposure types and other groupings. RESULTS Cox proportional hazard analysis revealed no significant difference between exposure (pheromone or placebo) and URI incidence. Mixed-effects ordinal logistic regression revealed no significant relationship between exposure and daily stress scores. Three covariates had significant ORs: number of days in holding (OR, 0.80; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.76 to 0.84), owner-relinquished versus stray (OR, 3.25; 95% CI, 1.18 to 8.94), and feral versus adult cat room at shelter A (OR, 11.10; 95% CI, 4.47 to 27.60). CONCLUSIONS AND CLINICAL RELEVANCE No evidence was found that the evaluated synthetic feline facial pheromone product had any effect on stress scores or URI incidence in shelter-housed cats. Therefore, other established methods for stress and URI reduction should be used in shelter settings.

Epidemiological evaluation of cat health at a first-response animal shelter in Fukushima, following the Great East Japan Earthquakes of 2011.

PubMed

Tanaka, Aki; Kass, Philip H; Martinez-Lopez, Beatriz; Hayama, Shinichi

2017-01-01

The Great East Japan Earthquakes of March 11, 2011 caused immense harm to the community and subsequent nuclear accident in Fukushima Prefecture extended the damage. Local residents were forced to evacuated without pets and the left behind animals were rescued from the restricted zone one month later. Unplanned animal rescue and unregulated sheltering caused secondary damage to animals such as disease epidemics at impounded animal shelter. The purpose of this study was to retrospectively evaluate the incidence of upper respiratory infection (URI) and diarrhea in cats at the first response animal shelter in Fukushima, and investigate factors affecting the duration of disease and determinants of treatments performed. Eighty percent and 59% of impounded cats developed URI, 71% and 54% of cats developed diarrhea, and 91% and 83% of cats had at least one disease in 2011 and 2012, respectively. Uses of multiple drug administration (more than five drugs) was associated with prolonged URI and diarrhea. Multiple antibiotics, antihistamines, interferon, and steroids were associated with relapse of and prolonged URI. Developing a standardized treatment protocol for commonly observed diseases at Japanese animal shelters to prevent and control diseases, to promote animal welfare, and protect public health in the face of future disasters is overdue.

Expansion of Discovery of Sound in the Sea (DOSITS) Content and Outreach FY11-FY12

DTIC Science & Technology

2012-09-30

Content and Outreach FY11-FY12 Kathleen J. Vigness -Raposa, Ph.D. Marine Acoustics, Inc. 809 Aquidneck Ave. Middletown, RI 02842 phone: (401) 847...Discovery of Sound in the Sea Award Number: N00014-12-10252. Dr. Kathleen Vigness -Raposa from Marine Acoustics Inc. is the co-Principal Investigator...on the Discovery of Sound in the Sea project with Gail Scrowcroft from URI. Dr. Vigness -Raposa provides technical guidance for URI personnel on

Transport in Heterostructures and Device in Microwave and Millimeter Wave Regimes

DTIC Science & Technology

1992-03-31

a number of technological innovations have been demonstrated and have found their way to the commercialIworld. The URI is at the origin of two spin...studied the carrier dynamics in high-Tc superconductors in the same frequency regime. During the course of the URI a number of technological innovations ...absorption effect in quantum wells, and therefore should be capable of 10-THz bandwidth. This detector is the fastest THz detector yet demonstrated, but

Prostate Cell Specific Regulation of Androgen Receptor Phosphorylation in Vivo

DTIC Science & Technology

2009-11-01

includes both Rpb5, a subunit shared by RNA polymerase (Pol) I, II , and III, and the corepressor, Unconventional prefoldin Rpb5-Interactor (URI/C19orf2...complex that contains RNA polymerase II subunit 5, a subunit shared by all three RNA polymerases; unconventional prefoldin RPB5-in- teractor (URI), which...sequence of ART-27 is conserved throughout evolution from worms to humans and its predicted protein structure is homologous to the prefoldin -a family of

DRGs and Military Medicine: A Look at DRGs and Length of Stay.

DTIC Science & Technology

1985-01-01

70; - DRG #69 Otitis Media & URI Age 18-69 without Complications or Comorbidities, -1.93 days with S.E.- +.21; - DRG #125, Circulatory Disorders...results indicate that there are possible differences in case mix that cause the variations in LOS. DRG #69, Otitis Media & URI, Age 18-69 without 2...i----------------------------- :------------------------- ----------- i 156 Rhinoplasty 2B 4.96 0.70 2.5 0.3 1 2.461 1 169 Otitis Media 39 2.67 0.21

Observations of Near-Bottom Currents with Low-Cost SeaHorse Tilt Current Meters

DTIC Science & Technology

2009-01-01

SeaHorse Tilt Current Meters Vitalii A. Sheremet Graduate School of Oceanography University of Rhode Island Narragansett, Rhode Island 02882...Telephone: (401) 874-6939, Fax: (401) 874-6728 Email: vsheremet@gso.uri.edu Grant Number: N00014-09-1-0993 http://www.gso.uri.edu/~sheremet/ SeaHorse ...LONG-TERM GOALS The SeaHorse TCM is a low-cost, easy to use, robust current meter based on the drag principle. Use of a large number of

Observations of Near-Bottom Currents With Low-Cost SeaHorse Tilt Current Meters

DTIC Science & Technology

2009-09-30

SeaHorse Tilt Current Meters Vitalii A. Sheremet Graduate School of Oceanography University of Rhode Island Narragansett, Rhode Island 02882...Telephone: (401) 874-6939, Fax: (401) 874-6728 Email: vsheremet@gso.uri.edu Grant Number: N00014-09-1-0993 http://www.gso.uri.edu/~sheremet/ SeaHorse ...LONG-TERM GOALS The SeaHorse TCM is a low-cost, easy to use, robust current meter based on the drag principle. Use of a large number of

Distinct Gene Expression Profiles in Peripheral Blood Mononuclear Cells from Patients Infected with Vaccinia Virus, Yellow Fever 17D Virus, or Upper Respiratory Infections Running Title: PBMC Expression Response to Viral Agents

PubMed Central

Scherer, Christina A.; Magness, Charles L.; Steiger, Kathryn V.; Poitinger, Nicholas D.; Caputo, Christine M.; Miner, Douglas G.; Winokur, Patricia L.; Klinzman, Donna; McKee, Janice; Pilar, Christine; Ward, Patricia A.; Gillham, Martha H.; Haulman, N. Jean; Stapleton, Jack T.; Iadonato, Shawn P.

2007-01-01

Gene expression in human peripheral blood mononuclear cells was systematically evaluated following smallpox and yellow fever vaccination, and naturally occurring upper respiratory infection (URI). All three infections were characterized by the induction of many interferon stimulated genes, as well as enhanced expression of genes involved in proteolysis and antigen presentation. Vaccinia infection was also characterized by a distinct expression signature composed of up-regulation of monocyte response genes, with repression of genes expressed by B and T-cells. In contrast, the yellow fever host response was characterized by a suppression of ribosomal and translation factors, distinguishing this infection from vaccinia and URI. No significant URI-specific signature was observed, perhaps reflecting greater heterogeneity in the study population and etiological agents. Taken together, these data suggest that specific host gene expression signatures may be identified that distinguish one or a small number of virus agents. PMID:17651872

Distinct gene expression profiles in peripheral blood mononuclear cells from patients infected with vaccinia virus, yellow fever 17D virus, or upper respiratory infections.

PubMed

Scherer, Christina A; Magness, Charles L; Steiger, Kathryn V; Poitinger, Nicholas D; Caputo, Christine M; Miner, Douglas G; Winokur, Patricia L; Klinzman, Donna; McKee, Janice; Pilar, Christine; Ward, Patricia A; Gillham, Martha H; Haulman, N Jean; Stapleton, Jack T; Iadonato, Shawn P

2007-08-29

Gene expression in human peripheral blood mononuclear cells was systematically evaluated following smallpox and yellow fever vaccination, and naturally occurring upper respiratory infection (URI). All three infections were characterized by the induction of many interferon stimulated genes, as well as enhanced expression of genes involved in proteolysis and antigen presentation. Vaccinia infection was also characterized by a distinct expression signature composed of up-regulation of monocyte response genes, with repression of genes expressed by B and T-cells. In contrast, the yellow fever host response was characterized by a suppression of ribosomal and translation factors, distinguishing this infection from vaccinia and URI. No significant URI-specific signature was observed, perhaps reflecting greater heterogeneity in the study population and etiological agents. Taken together, these data suggest that specific host gene expression signatures may be identified that distinguish one or a small number of virus agents.

Electronic medical record features and seven quality of care measures in physician offices.

PubMed

Hsiao, Chun-Ju; Marsteller, Jill A; Simon, Alan E

2014-01-01

The effect of electronic medical records (EMRs) on quality of care in physicians' offices is uncertain. This study used the 2008-2009 National Ambulatory Medical Care Survey to examine the relationship between EMRs features and quality in physician offices. The relationship between selected EMRs features and 7 quality measures was evaluated by testing 25 associations in multivariate models. Significant relationships include reminders for guideline-based interventions or screening tests associated with lower odds of inappropriate urinalysis and prescription of antibiotics for upper respiratory infection (URI), prescription order entry associated with lower odds of prescription of antibiotics for URI, and patient problem list associated with higher odds of inappropriate prescribing for elderly patients. EMRs system level was associated with lower odds of blood pressure check, inappropriate urinalysis, and prescription of antibiotics for URI compared with no EMRs. The results show both positive and inverse relationships between EMRs features and quality of care.

Roles of Clinician, Patient, and Community Characteristics in the Management of Pediatric Upper Respiratory Tract Infections.

PubMed

Yaeger, Jeffrey P; Temte, Jonathan L; Hanrahan, Lawrence P; Martinez-Donate, P

2015-11-01

Prior studies have evaluated factors predictive of inappropriate antibiotic prescription for upper respiratory tract infections (URIs). Community factors, however, have not been examined. The aim of this study was to evaluate the roles of patient, clinician, and community factors in predicting appropriate management of URIs in children. We used a novel database exchange, linking electronic health record data with community statistics, to identify all patients aged 3 months to 18 years in whom URI was diagnosed in the period from 2007 to 2012. We followed the Healthcare Effectiveness Data and Information Set (HEDIS) quality measurement titled "Appropriate treatment for children with upper respiratory infection" to determine the rate of appropriate management of URIs. We then stratified data across individual and community characteristics and used multiple logistic regression modeling to identify variables that independently predicted antibiotic prescription. Of 20,581 patients, the overall rate for appropriate management for URI was 93.5%. Family medicine clinicians (AOR = 1.5; 95% CI 1.31, 1.71; reference = pediatric clinicians), urgent care clinicians (AOR = 2.23; 95% CI 1.93, 2.57; reference = pediatric clinicians), patients aged 12 to 18 years (AOR = 1.44; 95% CI 1.25, 1.67; reference = age 3 months to 4 years), and patients of white race/ ethnicity (AOR = 1.83; 95% CI 1.41, 2.37; reference = black non-Hispanic) were independently predictive of antibiotic prescription. No community factors were independently predictive of antibiotic prescription. Results correlate with prior studies in which non-pediatric clinicians and white race/ethnicity were predictive of antibiotic prescription, while association with older patient age has not been previously reported. Findings illustrate the promise of linking electronic health records with community data to evaluate health care disparities. © 2015 Annals of Family Medicine, Inc.

Inhibition of cough-reflex sensitivity by benzonatate and guaifenesin in acute viral cough.

PubMed

Dicpinigaitis, Peter V; Gayle, Yvonne E; Solomon, Gail; Gilbert, Richard D

2009-06-01

Acute cough due to viral upper respiratory tract infection (URI) is the most common form of cough and accounts for tremendous expenditure on prescription and non-prescription cough products worldwide. However, few agents have been shown in properly conducted clinical trials to be effective for cough due to URI. The present study evaluated the effect of benzonatate 200mg (B), guaifenesin 600 mg (G), their combination (B+G), and placebo (P) on capsaicin-induced cough in 30 adult nonsmokers with acute URI. On 3 separate days within a 7-day period, 1h after ingesting randomly assigned study drug in a double-blind fashion, subjects underwent capsaicin cough challenge testing, which involved inhalation of incremental doubling concentrations of capsaicin until the concentration of capsaicin inducing 5 or more coughs (C(5)) was attained. Each subject received 3 of 4 possible study drugs. G (p=0.01) but not B (p=NS) inhibited cough-reflex sensitivity (log C(5)) relative to P. The combination of B+G suppressed capsaicin-induced cough to a greater degree than B alone (p<0.001) or G alone (p=0.008). The mechanism by which the combination of B+G causes a potentiation of antitussive effect remains to be elucidated. Our results suggest that B+G may be an effective therapy for acute cough due to the common cold (URI).

Intelligent Advanced Communications IP Telephony Feasibility for the US Navy - Phase 3

DTIC Science & Technology

2011-03-01

atlanta.example.com CSeq: 1 BYE Content-Length: 0 Figure 2- 4 SIP Message Details 2.6.8 Implementation of Selected Features Below we examine a set of...34.priority" where priority is one of the following values: 0 Routine (lowest priority) 2 Priority 4 Immediate 6 Flash 8 Flash...cm/dial?poolId= 0 &uri=5553002 HTTPC: <-- : 192.168.0.135:8080 /cm/dial?poolId= 0 &uri=5553002 HTTPC: Closed : 192.168.0.135:8080 4

To compare the effect of dextromethorphan, promethazine and placebo on nocturnal cough in children aged 1-12 y with upper respiratory infections: a randomized controlled trial.

PubMed

Bhattacharya, Malobika; Joshi, Neha; Yadav, Sangita

2013-11-01

To evaluate whether promethazine and dextromethorphan reduce nocturnal cough and improve sleep quality in children aged 1-12 y with upper respiratory tract infection (URI). This randomised double-blinded placebo-controlled trial was conducted in Pediatric outpatient department of Lok Nayak Hospital, Delhi. After randomization into promethazine, dextromethorphan and placebo groups, parental assessment of 120 children with URI for nocturnal cough severity (child), post-tussive vomiting (child) and sleep quality (child and parent) on the night before enrolment and after 3 d of assigned medication was measured using an internally validated indigenously prepared ordinal scale. Entire cohort improved in all the study parameters after 3 d. However, no superior benefit was noted when individual parameters were compared in the promethazine and dextromethorphan groups with the placebo group. Adverse effects were more frequent in the dextromethorphan and promethazine groups although the difference was not statistically significant. Nocturnal cough in URI is self-resolving and dextromethorphan and promethazine prescribed for the same are not superior to placebo.

Tapping the Power of an Online Course to Allow for Differentiated Introductory Astronomy Instruction

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gelderman, Richard

2011-01-01

Online classes are here to stay. This appears to be true regardless of whether or not student performance in online environments is really comparable to performance levels in comparable face-to-face instruction (e.g., Ury & Ury 2005, Slater & Jones 2004, Brown & Liedholm 2002). This report avoids that unwieldy question and instead concentrates on the opportunities for online courses to build on their potential to improve upon standard classroom settings. An introductory astronomy course has been designed that utilizes MasteringAstronomy and Blackboard to provide a course structure that varies depending on the results of pre-tests and quizzes. Software flags unlock additional tutorials and formative assessments for students who perform poorly on the pre-tests and gatekeeper quizzes. This "long track” involves no grade penalty, but does require additional time on task. While some students withdraw in frustration, the majority of students who find themselves on the "long track” express appreciation at being encouraged to finally learn the material. Meanwhile, the high performing students proceed quickly toward the unit exams, completing their work fairly quickly but tending to spend more time interacting within the Discussion Forums. Overall, this ability to provide differentiated instruction is a meaningful improvement over instructional approaches that can be implemented in a large enrollment face-to-face classroom. Brown, B. & Liedholm, C., 2002, Am. Economic Review, 92, 444 Slater, T. & Jones L., 2004 Astronomy Education Review, 3(1) Ury, G. & Ury, C., 2005, Proc ISECON, 22

[Factors influencing antibiotics prescribing of primary health physicians in acute upper respiratory infections].

PubMed

Kim, Nam-Soon; Jang, Soong Nang; Jang, Sun-Mee

2005-02-01

To explore the factors influencing antibiotics prescription by primary health physicians for acute upper respiratory infections (URI). We performed a survey of 370 primary health physicians randomly sampled in April, 2003. The questionnaire consisted of a prescription on the scenario of acute bronchitis case, along with opinions and reasons for prescribing antibiotics on URI. We found that 54.7% of the physicians prescribed antibiotics on the example case of acute bronchitis which is known as not needing antibiotics. Female physicians and ENT physicians had a greater tendency to prescribe antibiotics. The factors influencing antibiotics prescription on URI were the belief about the effectiveness of antibiotics, preference for their own experiences rather than clinical guidelines, perception of patients' expectations, and perception of competitive environment. The prescription of antibiotics in the example case was affected by how much they usually prescribe antibiotics (OR = 2.400, 95% CI = 1.470-3.917) and the physicians who thought that antibiotics were helpful for their income prescribed antibiotics more than others (OR = 6.773, 95% CI = 1.816-25.254). These findings demonstrated that the false belief on the effectiveness of antibiotics, patient's expectation of medication and fast relief of symptoms, and perception of competitive environment all affected the physicians' prescription of antibiotics on URI. It may help to find barriers to accommodate scientific evidence and clinical guidelines among physicians and to specify subgroups for education about appropriate prescription behaviors.

Making species checklists understandable to machines - a shift from relational databases to ontologies.

PubMed

Laurenne, Nina; Tuominen, Jouni; Saarenmaa, Hannu; Hyvönen, Eero

2014-01-01

The scientific names of plants and animals play a major role in Life Sciences as information is indexed, integrated, and searched using scientific names. The main problem with names is their ambiguous nature, because more than one name may point to the same taxon and multiple taxa may share the same name. In addition, scientific names change over time, which makes them open to various interpretations. Applying machine-understandable semantics to these names enables efficient processing of biological content in information systems. The first step is to use unique persistent identifiers instead of name strings when referring to taxa. The most commonly used identifiers are Life Science Identifiers (LSID), which are traditionally used in relational databases, and more recently HTTP URIs, which are applied on the Semantic Web by Linked Data applications. We introduce two models for expressing taxonomic information in the form of species checklists. First, we show how species checklists are presented in a relational database system using LSIDs. Then, in order to gain a more detailed representation of taxonomic information, we introduce meta-ontology TaxMeOn to model the same content as Semantic Web ontologies where taxa are identified using HTTP URIs. We also explore how changes in scientific names can be managed over time. The use of HTTP URIs is preferable for presenting the taxonomic information of species checklists. An HTTP URI identifies a taxon and operates as a web address from which additional information about the taxon can be located, unlike LSID. This enables the integration of biological data from different sources on the web using Linked Data principles and prevents the formation of information silos. The Linked Data approach allows a user to assemble information and evaluate the complexity of taxonomical data based on conflicting views of taxonomic classifications. Using HTTP URIs and Semantic Web technologies also facilitate the representation of the

Site-specific ultrasound reflection properties and superficial collagen content of bovine knee articular cartilage

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Laasanen, Mikko S.; Saarakkala, Simo; Töyräs, Juha; Rieppo, Jarno; Jurvelin, Jukka S.

2005-07-01

Previous quantitative 2D-ultrasound imaging studies have demonstrated that the ultrasound reflection measurement of articular cartilage surface sensitively detects degradation of the collagen network, whereas digestion of cartilage proteoglycans has no significant effect on the ultrasound reflection. In this study, the first aim was to characterize the ability of quantitative 2D-ultrasound imaging to detect site-specific differences in ultrasound reflection and backscattering properties of cartilage surface and cartilage-bone interface at visually healthy bovine knee (n = 30). As a second aim, we studied factors controlling ultrasound reflection properties of an intact cartilage surface. The ultrasound reflection coefficient was determined in time (R) and frequency domains (IRC) at medial femoral condyle, lateral patello-femoral groove, medial tibial plateau and patella using a 20 MHz ultrasound imaging instrument. Furthermore, cartilage surface roughness was quantified by calculating the ultrasound roughness index (URI). The superficial collagen content of the cartilage was determined using a FT-IRIS-technique. A significant site-dependent variation was shown in cartilage thickness, ultrasound reflection parameters, URI and superficial collagen content. As compared to R and IRC, URI was a more sensitive parameter in detecting differences between the measurement sites. Ultrasound reflection parameters were not significantly related to superficial collagen content, whereas the correlation between R and URI was high. Ultrasound reflection at the cartilage-bone interface showed insignificant site-dependent variation. The current results suggest that ultrasound reflection from the intact cartilage surface is mainly dependent on the cartilage surface roughness and the collagen content has a less significant role.

The interaction effects of temperature and humidity on emergency room visits for respiratory diseases in Beijing, China.

PubMed

Su, Qin; Liu, Hongsheng; Yuan, Xiaoling; Xiao, Yan; Zhang, Xian; Sun, Rongju; Dang, Wei; Zhang, Jianbo; Qin, Yuhong; Men, Baozhong; Zhao, Xiaodong

2014-11-01

Few epidemiological studies have been reported as to whether there was any interactive effect between temperature and humidity on respiratory morbidity, especially in Asian countries. The present study used time-series analysis to explore the modification effects of humidity on the association between temperature and emergency room (ER) visits for respiratory, upper respiratory tract infection (URI), pneumonia, and bronchitis in Beijing between 2009 and 2011. Results showed that an obvious joint effect of temperature and humidity was revealed on ER visits for respiratory, URI, pneumonia, and bronchitis. Below temperature threshold, the temperature effect was stronger in low humidity level and presented a trend fall with humidity level increase. The effect estimates per 1 °C increase in temperature in low humidity level were -2.88 % (95 % confidence interval (CI) -3.08, -2.67) for all respiratory, -3.24 % (-3.59, -2.88) for URI, -1.48 % (-1.93, -1.03) for pneumonia, and -3.79 % (-4.37, -3.21) for bronchitis ER visits, respectively. However, above temperature threshold, temperature effect was greater in high humidity level and trending upward with humidity level increasing. In high humidity level, a 1 °C increase in temperature, the effect estimates were 1.84 % (1.55, 2.13) for all respiratory, 1.76 % (1.41, 2.11) for URI, and 7.48 % (4.41, 10.65) for bronchitis ER visits. But, there was no statistically significant for pneumonia. This suggests that the modifying effects of the humidity should be considered when analyzing health impacts of temperature.

Is Corticosteroid of No Use for Pediatric Patients with Common Cold Undergoing Anesthesia? A Randomized, Double-Blind, Clinical Trial.

PubMed

Kamranmanesh, Mohammadreza; Gharaei, Babak

2017-06-01

Use of laryngeal mask airways (LMAs) has been advocated for children with upper respiratory tract infection (URI). However, no randomized trial has yet compared intravenous corticosteroids versus placebo in these patients. We hypothesized the lower incidence of postoperative cough (as the primary outcome) with intravenous corticosteroid versus placebo in pediatric patients with mild URI, who were anesthetized with LMA. A total of 210 patients with mild URI, aged 1 - 6 years, were included. The patients underwent full ophthalmic examination immediately (within few days). They were randomized to receive either intravenous corticosteroids (1 mg/kg of hydrocortisone and 0.1 mg/kg of dexamethasone 10 minutes prior to anesthesia induction) or placebo. Anesthesia was induced with sevoflurane. Following LMA insertion, the patients were maintained on anesthesia with spontaneous ventilation on N 2 O, O 2 , and 3% sevoflurane; LMA was removed under deep anesthesia. The outcomes were evaluated during anesthesia, recovery, and the first postoperative week. A total of 204 patients completed the trial. Cough, which was designated as the primary outcome, was not significantly different among patients receiving corticosteroids and placebo (31% vs. 34%; P = 0.7). Also, the incidence of laryngospasm (16% vs. 14%), apnea (9% VS 5%), desaturation (4% vs. 5%), bronchospasm (14% vs. 7%), vomiting (4% vs. 6%), and postoperative symptoms (8% vs. 7%) was not significantly different between the groups. Based on the present research, intravenous injection of corticosteroids has no beneficial effects for pediatric patients with minor uncomplicated URI (without a history of allergy), undergoing LMA anesthesia.

[A new approach to urinary stone analysis according to the combination of the components: experience with 7949 cases].

PubMed

Millán, F; Gracia, S; Sánchez-Martín, F M; Angerri, O; Rousaud, F; Villavicencio, H

2011-03-01

To evaluate a new approach to urinary stone analysis according to the combination of the components. A total of 7949 stones were analysed and their main components and combinations of components were classified according to gender and age. Statistical analysis was performed using the chi-square test. Calcium oxalate monohydrate (COM) was the most frequent component in both males (39%) and females (37.4%), followed by calcium oxalate dihydrate (COD) (28%) and uric acid (URI) (14.6%) in males and by phosphate (PHO) (22.2%) and COD (19.6%) in females (p=0.0001). In young people, COD and PHO were the most frequent components in males and females respectively (p=0.0001). In older patients, COM and URI (in that order) were the most frequent components in both genders (p=0.0001). COM is oxalate dependent and is related to diets with a high oxalate content and low water intake. The progressive increase in URI with age is related mainly to overweight and metabolic syndrome. Regarding the combinations of components, the most frequent were COM (26.3%), COD+Apatite (APA) (15.5%), URI (10%) and COM+COD (7.5%) (p=0.0001). This study reports not only the composition of stones but also the main combinations of components according to age and gender. The results prove that stone composition is related to the changes in dietary habits and life-style that occur over a lifetime, and the morphological structure of stones is indicative of the aetiopathogenic mechanisms. Copyright © 2010 AEU. Published by Elsevier Espana. All rights reserved.

Effect of intensive education on knowledge, attitudes, and practices regarding upper respiratory infections among urban Latinos.

PubMed

Larson, Elaine L; Ferng, Yu-Hui; McLoughlin, Jennifer Wong; Wang, Shuang; Morse, Stephen S

2009-01-01

Although upper respiratory infections (URIs) take a major social and economic toll, little research has been conducted to assess the impact of educational interventions on knowledge, attitudes, and practices of community members regarding prevention and treatment of URIs, particularly among recently immigrated urban Latinos who may not be reached by the mainstream healthcare system. The objective of this study was to assess the impact of a culturally appropriate, home-based educational intervention on the knowledge, attitudes, and practices regarding prevention and treatment of URIs among urban Latinos. Using a pretest-posttest design, Spanish-language educational materials available from sources such as the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention were adapted based on feedback from community focus groups and provided to households during an in-person home visit every 2 months (generally three to four visits). Outcome data regarding knowledge, attitudes, and practices were collected in home-based interviews using an 85-item instrument adapted and pilot tested from three other validated instruments. Nonparametric and multiple linear regression analyses were used to summarize data and identify predictors of knowledge scores. Four hundred twenty-two households had complete data at baseline and 6 months. Knowledge and attitude scores were improved significantly, and use of alcohol hand sanitizer and rates of influenza vaccine were increased significantly (all p <.01). Although this home-based educational intervention was successful in improving knowledge, attitudes, and self-reported practices among urban Latinos regarding prevention and treatment of URIs, further research is needed to determine the cost-effectiveness of such a person-intensive intervention, the long-term outcomes, and whether less intensive interventions might be equally effective.

Perioperative respiratory adverse events in children with active upper respiratory tract infection who received general anesthesia through an orotracheal tube and inhalation agents.

PubMed

Kim, So Yeon; Kim, Jeong Min; Lee, Jae Hoon; Kang, Young Ran; Jeong, Seung Ho; Koo, Bon-Nyeo

2013-08-01

Active upper respiratory tract infection (URI), orotracheal intubation and use of inhalation anesthetics are known risk factors for perioperative respiratory adverse events (RAE). This study investigated the risk factors of perioperative RAE in children with these risk factors. The records of 159 children who underwent general anesthesia with an orotracheal tube and inhalation were reviewed. These patients also had at least one of the following URI symptoms on the day of surgery: clear or green nasal secretion, dry or moist cough, nasal congestion, or fever. RAE such as laryngospasm, bronchospasm, oxygen desaturation and sustained cough were collected before induction, during intubation, during extubation, after extubation and in the postanesthesia care unit. Forty-five patients had RAE. The patients with RAE were younger than those without RAE. There were more passive smokers and a greater number of intubation attempts in patients with RAE than in those without RAE. The type of surgery and type of inhalation agents were not different between patients with and without RAE. Passive smoking was the only independent risk factor for RAE. In children with an active URI using orotracheal tube and inhalation anesthetics, passive smoking is an important risk factor for RAE.

VARED: Verification and Analysis of Requirements and Early Designs

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Badger, Julia; Throop, David; Claunch, Charles

2014-01-01

Requirements are a part of every project life cycle; everything going forward in a project depends on them. Good requirements are hard to write, there are few useful tools to test, verify, or check them, and it is difficult to properly marry them to the subsequent design, especially if the requirements are written in natural language. In fact, the inconsistencies and errors in the requirements along with the difficulty in finding these errors contribute greatly to the cost of the testing and verification stage of flight software projects [1]. Large projects tend to have several thousand requirements written at various levels by different groups of people. The design process is distributed and a lack of widely accepted standards for requirements often results in a product that varies widely in style and quality. A simple way to improve this would be to standardize the design process using a set of tools and widely accepted requirements design constraints. The difficulty with this approach is finding the appropriate constraints and tools. Common complaints against the tools available include ease of use, functionality, and available features. Also, although preferable, it is rare that these tools are capable of testing the quality of the requirements.

Color and Luminance Asymmetries in the Clear Sky

DTIC Science & Technology

2003-01-20

differences directly from x, y, and Y in the perceptually anisotropic CIE XYZ color space, we first map this data into the isotropic CIELUV color...2 v*1/ 2 . 20 January 2003 Vol. 42, No. 3 APPLIED OPTICS 459 L*, u*, v* are the CIELUV space’s orthogonal coor- dinates, and L*, u*, v...are the corresponding differences between coordinates of the two light sources being compared. Note that 3–5 CIELUV color-difference units are often

Burden of human metapneumovirus infections in patients with cancer: Risk factors and outcomes.

PubMed

El Chaer, Firas; Shah, Dimpy P; Kmeid, Joumana; Ariza-Heredia, Ella J; Hosing, Chitra M; Mulanovich, Victor E; Chemaly, Roy F

2017-06-15

Human metapneumovirus (hMPV) causes upper and lower respiratory tract infections (URIs and LRIs, respectively) in healthy and immunocompromised patients; however, its clinical burden in patients with cancer remains unknown. In a retrospective study of all laboratory-confirmed hMPV infections treated at the authors' institution between April 2012 and May 2015, clinical characteristics, risk factors for progression to an LRI, treatment, and outcomes in patients with cancer were determined. In total, 181 hMPV infections were identified in 90 patients (50%) with hematologic malignancies (HMs), in 57 (31%) hematopoietic cell transplantation (HCT) recipients, and in 34 patients (19%) with solid tumors. Most patients (92%) had a community-acquired infection and presented with URIs (67%), and 43% developed LRIs (59 presented with LRIs and 19 progressed from a URI to an LRI). On multivariable analysis, an underlying HM (adjusted odds ratio [aOR], 3.11; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.12-8.64; P = .029), nosocomial infection (aOR, 26.9; 95% CI, 2.79-259.75; P = .004), and hypoxia (oxygen saturation [SpO2], ≤ 92%) at presentation (aOR, 9.61; 95% CI, 1.98-46.57; P = .005) were identified as independent factors associated with LRI. All-cause mortality at 30 days from hMPV diagnosis was low (4%), and patients with LRIs had a 10% mortality rate at day 30 from diagnosis; whereas patients with URIs had a 0% mortality rate. hMPV infections in patients with cancer may cause significant morbidity, especially for those with underlying HM who may develop an LRI. Despite high morbidity and the lack of directed antiviral therapy for hMPV infections, mortality at day 30 from this infection remained low in this studied population. Cancer 2017;123:2329-2337. © 2017 American Cancer Society. © 2017 American Cancer Society.

Analytical and clinical performance of thyroglobulin autoantibody assays in thyroid cancer follow-up.

PubMed

Katrangi, Waddah; Grebe, Stephan K G; Algeciras-Schimnich, Alicia

2017-10-26

While thyroglobulin autoantibodies (TgAb) can result in false low serum thyroglobulin (Tg) immunoassay (IA) measurements, they might also be indicators of disease persistence/recurrence. Hence, accurate TgAb measurement, in addition to Tg quantification, is crucial for thyroid cancer monitoring. We compared the analytical and clinical performance of four commonly used TgAb IAs. We measured Tg by mass spectrometry (Tg-MS) and by four pairs of Tg and TgAb IAs (Beckman, Roche, Siemens, Thermo) in 576 samples. Limit of quantitation (LOQ) and manufacturers' upper reference interval cut-off (URI) were used for comparisons. Clinical performance was assessed by receiving operator characteristics (ROC) curve analysis. Quantitative and qualitative agreement between TgAb-IAs was moderate with R2 of 0.20-0.70 and κ from 0.41-0.66 using LOQ and 0.47-0.71 using URI. In samples with TgAb interference, detection rates of TgAb were similar using LOQ and URI for Beckman, Siemens, and Thermo, but much lower for the Roche TgAb-IA when the URI was used. In TgAb positive cases, the ROC areas under the curve (AUC) for the TgAb-IAs were 0.59 (Beckman), 0.62 (Siemens), 0.59 (Roche), and 0.59 (Thermo), similar to ROC AUCs achieved with Tg. Combining Tg and TgAb measurements improved the ROC AUCs compared to Tg or TgAb alone. TgAb-IAs show significant qualitative and quantitative differences. For 2 of the 4 TgAb-IAs, using the LOQ improves the detection of interfering TgAbs. All assays showed suboptimal clinical performance when used as surrogate markers of disease, with modest improvements when Tg and TgAb were combined.

Extending Primitive Spatial Data Models to Include Semantics

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Reitsma, F.; Batcheller, J.

2009-04-01

Our traditional geospatial data model involves associating some measurable quality, such as temperature, or observable feature, such as a tree, with a point or region in space and time. When capturing data we implicitly subscribe to some kind of conceptualisation. If we can make this explicit in an ontology and associate it with the captured data, we can leverage formal semantics to reason with the concepts represented in our spatial data sets. To do so, we extend our fundamental representation of geospatial data in a data model by including a URI in our basic data model that links it to our ontology defining our conceptualisation, We thus extend Goodchild et al's geo-atom [1] with the addition of a URI: (x, Z, z(x), URI) . This provides us with pixel or feature level knowledge and the ability to create layers of data from a set of pixels or features that might be drawn from a database based on their semantics. Using open source tools, we present a prototype that involves simple reasoning as a proof of concept. References [1] M.F. Goodchild, M. Yuan, and T.J. Cova. Towards a general theory of geographic representation in gis. International Journal of Geographical Information Science, 21(3):239-260, 2007.

Study on doctor shopping behavior: insight from patients with upper respiratory tract infection in Taiwan.

PubMed

Wang, Ming-Jye; Lin, Shu-Ping

2010-01-01

Based on the actual medical records of ambulatory care visits, this study analyzed patients' healthcare seeking behavior and doctor shopping behavior (DSB), and investigated the underlying factors and the impact on the depletion of the healthcare resources for health policy makers to build a better health delivery system. Among a cohort comprised of 200,000 patients randomly chosen from the National Health Insurance Research Database of Taiwan in 2004, only the patients seeking ambulatory care visits for upper respiratory tract infection (URI) were analyzed. Among the 45,951 URI patients, 2875 of them exhibited DSB (prevalence 6.3%). The DSB showed a reverse U-shaped relationship with the patient age (the highest DSB in age 18-34 years). The episodes of the URI had a negative impact on the DSB. The odds ratios of gender and the frequency of consultation versus DSB were 1.10 and 4.72, respectively, and the depletion of days of medication and repeat prescription increased with doctor shopping. Health education to raise DSB awareness is necessary, especially for female's age 18-34 years. Implementing a proper referral system with efficient data exchange, setting up control parameters in the IC cards, and strengthening the integrated care plan could reduce the unnecessary waste of the healthcare resources.

The Impact of Ambient Air Pollution on Daily Hospital Visits for Various Respiratory Diseases and the Relevant Medical Expenditures in Shanghai, China.

PubMed

Zhang, Hao; Niu, Yue; Yao, Yili; Chen, Renjie; Zhou, Xianghong; Kan, Haidong

2018-02-28

The evidence concerning the acute effects of ambient air pollution on various respiratory diseases was limited in China, and the attributable medical expenditures were largely unknown. From 2013 to 2015, we collected data on the daily visits to the emergency- and outpatient-department for five main respiratory diseases and their medical expenditures in Shanghai, China. We used the overdispersed generalized additive model together with distributed lag models to fit the associations of criteria air pollutants with hospital visits, and used the linear models to fit the associations with medical expenditures. Generally, we observed significant increments in emergency visits (8.81-17.26%) and corresponding expenditures (0.33-25.81%) for pediatric respiratory diseases, upper respiratory infection (URI), and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) for an interquartile range increase of air pollutant concentrations over four lag days. As a comparison, there were significant but smaller increments in outpatient visits (1.36-4.52%) and expenditures (1.38-3.18%) for pediatric respiratory diseases and upper respiratory infection (URI). No meaningful changes were observed for asthma and lower respiratory infection. Our study suggested that short-term exposure to outdoor air pollution may induce the occurrences or exacerbation of pediatric respiratory diseases, URI, and COPD, leading to considerable medical expenditures upon the patients.

Interactive system for geomagnetic data analysis

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Solovev, Igor

2017-10-01

The paper suggests the methods for analyzing geomagnetic field variations, which are implemented in "Aurora" software system for complex analysis of geophysical parameters. The software system allows one to perform a detailed magnetic data analysis. The methods allow one to estimate the intensity of geomagnetic perturbations and to allocate increased geomagnetic activity periods. The software system is publicly available (uri">http://aurorasa.ikir.ru:8580, uri">http://www.ikir.ru:8280/lsaserver/MagneticPage.jsp). This research was supported by the Russian Science Foundation (Project No. 14-11-00194).

Effect of guaifenesin on cough reflex sensitivity.

PubMed

Dicpinigaitis, Peter V; Gayle, Yvonne E

2003-12-01

Guaifenesin, a commonly used agent for the treatment of cough, is termed an expectorant since it is believed to alleviate cough discomfort by increasing sputum volume and decreasing its viscosity, thereby promoting effective cough. Despite its common usage, relatively few studies, yielding contrasting results, have been performed to investigate the action and efficacy of guaifenesin. To evaluate the effect of guaifenesin on cough reflex sensitivity. Randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial. Academic medical center. Fourteen subjects with acute viral upper respiratory tract infection (URI) and 14 healthy volunteers. On 2 separate days, subjects underwent capsaicin cough challenge 1 to 2 h after receiving a single, 400-mg dose (capsules) of guaifenesin or matched placebo. The concentration of capsaicin inducing five or more coughs (C(5)) was determined. Among subjects with URI, mean (+/- SEM) log C(5) after guaifenesin and placebo were 0.92 +/- 0.17 and 0.66 +/- 0.14, respectively (p = 0.028). No effect on cough sensitivity was observed in healthy volunteers. Our results demonstrate that guaifenesin inhibits cough reflex sensitivity in subjects with URI, whose cough receptors are transiently hypersensitive, but not in healthy volunteers. Possible mechanisms include a central antitussive effect, or a peripheral effect by increased sputum volume serving as a barrier shielding cough receptors within the respiratory epithelium from the tussive stimulus.

Homeopathic medications as clinical alternatives for symptomatic care of acute otitis media and upper respiratory infections in children.

PubMed

Bell, Iris R; Boyer, Nancy N

2013-01-01

The public health and individual risks of inappropriate antibiotic prescribing and conventional over-the-counter symptomatic drugs in pediatric treatment of acute otitis media (AOM) and upper respiratory infections (URIs) are significant. Clinical research suggests that over-the-counter homeopathic medicines offer pragmatic treatment alternatives to conventional drugs for symptom relief in children with uncomplicated AOM or URIs. Homeopathy is a controversial but demonstrably safe and effective 200-year-old whole system of complementary and alternative medicine used worldwide. Numerous clinical studies demonstrate that homeopathy accelerates early symptom relief in acute illnesses at much lower risk than conventional drug approaches. Evidence-based advantages for homeopathy include lower antibiotic fill rates during watchful waiting in otitis media, fewer and less serious side effects, absence of drug-drug interactions, and reduced parental sick leave from work. Emerging evidence from basic and preclinical science research counter the skeptics' claims that homeopathic remedies are biologically inert placebos. Consumers already accept and use homeopathic medicines for self care, as evidenced by annual US consumer expenditures of $2.9 billion on homeopathic remedies. Homeopathy appears equivalent to and safer than conventional standard care in comparative effectiveness trials, but additional well-designed efficacy trials are indicated. Nonetheless, the existing research evidence on safety supports pragmatic use of homeopathy in order to "first do no harm" in the early symptom management of otherwise uncomplicated AOM and URIs in children.

IRONSIDES: DNS With No Single Packet Denial of Service or Remote Code Execution Vulnerabilities

DTIC Science & Technology

2012-02-27

Caching DNSSEC TSIG 1Pv6 Wildcard S fi.. In terface y y Y * N __ mo e ---- o •• vare y y y N NN y m progress y y y NY N Web, Y command...Proceedings of the 2007 IEEE Aerospace Conference. [6) C. Heitmeyer, M . Archer, E. Leonard and J. Mclean, "Applying formal methods to a certifiably secure...2003). [1 5] DNSSEC-The DNS Security Extensions, http:// http://www.dnssec.net/ (16] S . Conchon, E. Contcjean and J. Kanig, "Ergo : A theorem prover

78 FR 3906 - Prospective Grant of a Co-Exclusive License: Adenovirus-Based Controls and Calibrators for...

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2013-01-17

... contemplated license should be directed to: Uri Reichman, Ph.D., M.B.A, Office of Technology Transfer, National... calibrators and controls for molecular diagnostics (e.g. real time PCR tests). The prospective co-exclusive...

Epidemiology of Antibiotic Use and Antimicrobial Resistance in Selected Communities in Thailand.

PubMed

Khamsarn, Sompong; Nampoonsak, Yupin; Busamaro, Supunnee; Tangkoskul, Teerawit; Seenama, Chakkraphong; Rattanaumpawan, Pinyo; Boonyasiri, Adhiratha; Thamlikitkul, Visanu

2016-03-01

To generate epidemiological information regarding antibiotic use and antimicrobial resistance (AMR) in targeted communities for use by the Thailand AMR Containment and Prevention Program. A survey of antibiotics sold by 215 grocery stores and retail shops located in the target communities was done by the local people who were instructed to purchase specified antibiotics and to present to such stores and shops with symptoms of sore throat, backache, common cold, acute diarrhea, inflamed uterus, and dysuria. The purchased drugs were then identified and recorded. Contamination of extended-spectrum β-lactamase (ESBL)-producing E. coli was identified in 174 samples of foods and open water sources collected from the target communities. Carriage of ESBL-producing E. coli in gastrointestinal tracts of 534 adults living in the target communities was performed by stool sample culture. One thousand three hundred one patients with upper respiratory infection (URI) and 235 patients with acute diarrhea who attended the tambon health promoting hospitals located in the target communities were monitored for their clinical outcomes of treatments. The patients with URI and acute diarrhea with no indication of antibiotic received symptomatic treatments as appropriate and they were followed via telephone contact every few days until all symptoms related to URI and acute diarrhea disappeared. The data were analyzed by descriptive statistics. Antibiotics were sold to the local people who were presenting with common ailments at many grocery stores and retail shops in their respective communities. In almost all cases, antibiotics were inappropriately given. Overall prevalence of ESBL-producing E. coli contamination in foods and open water sources was 26.4%. ESBL-producing E. coli was isolated from fresh meat and open water sources in many samples. Overall prevalence of ESBL-producing E. coli carriage in gastrointestinal tracts of the adults cultured was 66.5%. All patients with URI and

URI Regulation of Androgen Receptor-Mediated Cell Growth

DTIC Science & Technology

2013-07-01

R2TP/ Prefoldin -like cochaperone are involved in the cytoplasmic assembly of RNA polymerase II . Mol Cell 39, 912- 924. Chen, C.D., Welsbie, D.S., Tran...primers specific for the promoter of the chosen genes II . Test and titrate antibodies against the identified transcription factors in immuno...LNCaP prostate cancer cells ii . Measure KAP1 target gene expression changes (NOXA, p21, BAX) upon siRNA knockdown of ART-27 in LNCaP cells We

Diagnostic Accuracy of FebriDx: A Rapid Test to Detect Immune Responses to Viral and Bacterial Upper Respiratory Infections.

PubMed

Self, Wesley H; Rosen, Jeffrey; Sharp, Stephan C; Filbin, Michael R; Hou, Peter C; Parekh, Amisha D; Kurz, Michael C; Shapiro, Nathan I

2017-10-07

C-reactive protein (CRP) and myxovirus resistance protein A (MxA) are associated with bacterial and viral infections, respectively. We conducted a prospective, multicenter, cross-sectional study of adults and children with febrile upper respiratory tract infections (URIs) to evaluate the diagnostic accuracy of a rapid CRP/MxA immunoassay to identify clinically significant bacterial infection with host response and acute pathogenic viral infection. The reference standard for classifying URI etiology was an algorithm that included throat bacterial culture, upper respiratory PCR for viral and atypical pathogens, procalcitonin, white blood cell count, and bandemia. The algorithm also allowed for physician override. Among 205 patients, 25 (12.2%) were classified as bacterial, 53 (25.9%) as viral, and 127 (62.0%) negative by the reference standard. For bacterial detection, agreement between FebriDx and the reference standard was 91.7%, with FebriDx having a sensitivity of 80% (95% CI: 59-93%), specificity of 93% (89-97%), positive predictive value (PPV) of 63% (45-79%), and a negative predictive value (NPV) of 97% (94-99%). For viral detection, agreement was 84%, with a sensitivity of 87% (75-95%), specificity of 83% (76-89%), PPV of 64% (63-75%), and NPV of 95% (90-98%). FebriDx may help to identify clinically significant immune responses associated with bacterial and viral URIs that are more likely to require clinical management or therapeutic intervention, and has potential to assist with antibiotic stewardship.

Earth-Base: A Free And Open Source, RESTful Earth Sciences Platform

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kishor, P.; Heim, N. A.; Peters, S. E.; McClennen, M.

2012-12-01

This presentation describes the motivation, concept, and architecture behind Earth-Base, a web-based, RESTful data-management, analysis and visualization platform for earth sciences data. Traditionally web applications have been built directly accessing data from a database using a scripting language. While such applications are great at bring results to a wide audience, they are limited in scope to the imagination and capabilities of the application developer. Earth-Base decouples the data store from the web application by introducing an intermediate "data application" tier. The data application's job is to query the data store using self-documented, RESTful URIs, and send the results back formatted as JavaScript Object Notation (JSON). Decoupling the data store from the application allows virtually limitless flexibility in developing applications, both web-based for human consumption or programmatic for machine consumption. It also allows outside developers to use the data in their own applications, potentially creating applications that the original data creator and app developer may not have even thought of. Standardized specifications for URI-based querying and JSON-formatted results make querying and developing applications easy. URI-based querying also allows utilizing distributed datasets easily. Companion mechanisms for querying data snapshots aka time-travel, usage tracking and license management, and verification of semantic equivalence of data are also described. The latter promotes the "What You Expect Is What You Get" (WYEIWYG) principle that can aid in data citation and verification.

Pyrochlore Oxide Superconductor Cd2Re2O7 Revisited

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hiroi, Zenji; Yamaura, Jun-ichi; Kobayashi, Tatsuo C.; Matsubayashi, Yasuhito; Hirai, Daigorou

2018-02-01

The superconducting pyrochlore oxide Cd2Re2O7 is revisited with a particular emphasis on the sample-quality issue. The compound has drawn attention as the only superconductor (Tc = 1.0 K) that has been found in the family of α-pyrochlore oxides since its discovery in 2001. Moreover, it exhibits two characteristic structural transitions from the cubic pyrochlore structure, with the inversion symmetry broken at the first one at 200 K. Recently, it has attracted increasing attention as a candidate spin-orbit coupled metal (SOCM), in which specific Fermi liquid instability is expected to lead to an odd-parity order with spontaneous inversion-symmetry breaking [uri" xlink:href="http://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.115.026401" xlink:type="simple">L. Fu, Phys. Rev. Lett. 115, 026401 (2015)] and parity-mixing superconductivity [uri" xlink:href="http://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.115.207002" xlink:type="simple">V. Kozii and L. Fu, Phys. Rev. Lett. 115, 207002 (2015); uri" xlink:href="http://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevB.93.134512" xlink:type="simple">Y. Wang et al., Phys. Rev. B 93, 134512 (2016)]. We review our previous experimental results in comparison with those of other groups in the light of the theoretical prediction of the SOCM, which we consider meaningful and helpful for future progress in understanding this unique compound.

Antibiotic treatment of acute respiratory infections in acute care settings.

PubMed

Gonzales, Ralph; Camargo, Carlos A; MacKenzie, Thomas; Kersey, Ayanna S; Maselli, Judith; Levin, Sara K; McCulloch, Charles E; Metlay, Joshua P

2006-03-01

To examine the patterns of antibiotic use for acute respiratory tract infections (ARIs) in acute care settings. Chart reviews were performed retrospectively on a random sample of adult ARI visits to seven Veterans Affairs (VA) and seven non-VA emergency departments (EDs) for the period of November 2003 to February 2004. Visits were limited to those discharged to home and those with primary diagnoses of antibiotic-responsive (pneumonia, acute exacerbation of chronic bronchitis, pharyngitis, sinusitis) and antibiotic-nonresponsive conditions (acute bronchitis, nonspecific upper respiratory tract infection [URI]). Results are expressed as adjusted odds ratios with 95% confidence intervals. Of 2,270 ARI visits, 62% were for antibiotic-nonresponsive diagnoses. Seventy-two percent of acute bronchitis and 38% of URI visits were treated with antibiotics (p < 0.001). Stratified analyses show that antibiotic prescription rates were similar among attending-only and housestaff-associated visits for antibiotic-responsive diagnoses (p = 0.11), and acute bronchitis (76% vs. 59%; p = 0.31). However, the antibiotic prescription rate for URIs was greater for attending-only visits compared with housestaff-associated visits (48% vs. 15%; p = 0.01). Antibiotic prescription rates for total ARIs varied between sites, ranging from 42% to 89%. Patient age, gender, race and ethnicity, smoking status, comorbidities, and clinical setting (VA vs. non-VA) were not independently associated with antibiotic prescribing. Acute care settings are important targets for reducing inappropriate antibiotic prescribing. The mechanisms accounting for lower antibiotic prescription rates observed with housestaff-associated visits merit further study.

Homeopathic Medications as Clinical Alternatives for Symptomatic Care of Acute Otitis Media and Upper Respiratory Infections in Children

PubMed Central

Boyer, Nancy N

2013-01-01

The public health and individual risks of inappropriate antibiotic prescribing and conventional over-the-counter symptomatic drugs in pediatric treatment of acute otitis media (AOM) and upper respiratory infections (URIs) are significant. Clinical research suggests that over-the-counter homeopathic medicines offer pragmatic treatment alternatives to conventional drugs for symptom relief in children with uncomplicated AOM or URIs. Homeopathy is a controversial but demonstrably safe and effective 200-year-old whole system of complementary and alternative medicine used worldwide. Numerous clinical studies demonstrate that homeopathy accelerates early symptom relief in acute illnesses at much lower risk than conventional drug approaches. Evidence-based advantages for homeopathy include lower antibiotic fill rates during watchful waiting in otitis media, fewer and less serious side effects, absence of drug-drug interactions, and reduced parental sick leave from work. Emerging evidence from basic and preclinical science research counter the skeptics' claims that homeopathic remedies are biologically inert placebos. Consumers already accept and use homeopathic medicines for self care, as evidenced by annual US consumer expenditures of $2.9 billion on homeopathic remedies. Homeopathy appears equivalent to and safer than conventional standard care in comparative effectiveness trials, but additional well-designed efficacy trials are indicated. Nonetheless, the existing research evidence on safety supports pragmatic use of homeopathy in order to “first do no harm” in the early symptom management of otherwise uncomplicated AOM and URIs in children. PMID:24381823

Acute and chronic symptoms of mononucleosis.

PubMed

Lambore, S; McSherry, J; Kraus, A S

1991-07-01

The clinical symptoms and durations of illness of patients with infectious mononucleosis (IM) are variable and are poorly documented in the scientific literature. Patients who presented for care at the Student Health Service of a Canadian university between September 1985 and May 1988 and had been diagnosed as having IM were surveyed. Health experience during the acute and convalescent phases of IM was compared with that of a group of patients matched for age, sex, date of diagnosis, and year of study, who had suffered acute upper respiratory tract infections (URI), other than Epstein-Barr virus (EBV)-induced, during the same period. Students were sicker for longer after IM than after non-EBV-induced URI. During the acute phase of illness, the symptoms of fatigue (P = less than .000001), night sweats (P = .000001), and painful neck swelling (P = .00003) were seen significantly more often in the IM group. The severity and duration of these symptoms were also significantly worse in IM patients. Getting tired easily (P = .002), diurnal somnolence (P = .002), and depression (P = .002) were significantly more common postacute symptoms. Eleven percent of IM patients reported persistence of symptoms longer than 100 days, and in 6% of patients the symptoms had persisted after 1 year. Convalescent cases showed a trend toward reduced alcohol intake and, perhaps, reduced alcohol tolerance. IM involves excessive morbidity in a student community compared with URI that was other than EBV-induced, during both the acute and the postacute phases of infection.

Colds and the flu - what to ask your doctor - child

MedlinePlus

... to ask your doctor about colds and the flu - child; Influenza - what to ask your doctor - child; Upper respiratory ... URI - what to ask your doctor - child; Swine flu (H1N1) - what to ask your doctor - child

Effect of cutting temperature on hardness of SiC and diamond in the nano-cutting process of monocrystalline silicon

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wang, Jiachun; Li, Yuntao; Liu, Xiaoxuan; Lv, Maoqiang

2016-10-01

In the process of cutting silicon by natural diamond tools, groove wear happens on the flank face of cutting tool frequently.Scholars believe that one of the wear reasons is mechanical scratching effect by hard particles like SiC. To reveal the mechanical scratching mechanism, it is essential to study changes in the mechanical properties of hard particles and diamond, especially the effect of cutting temperature on hardness of diamond and hard particles. Molecular dynamics (MD) model that contact-zone temperature between tool and workpiece was calculated by dividing zone while nano-cutting monocrystalline silicon was established, cutting temperature values in different regions were computed as the simulation was carried out.On this basis, the models of molecular dynamics simulation of SiC and diamond were established separately with setting the initial temperature to room temperature. The laws of length change of C-C bond and Si-C bond varing with increase of simulation temperature were studied. And drawing on predecessors' research on theoretical calculation of hardness of covalent crystals and the relationship between crystal valence electron density and bond length, the curves that the hardness of diamond and SiC varing with bond length were obtained. The effect of temperature on the hardness was calculated. Results show that, local cutting temperature can reach 1300K.The rise in cutting temperature leaded to a decrease in the diamond local atomic clusters hardness,SiC local atomic clusters hardness increased. As the cutting temperature was more than 1100K,diamond began to soften, the local clusters hardness was less than that of SiC.

Appropriate use of antibiotics for URIs in children: Part II. Cough, pharyngitis and the common cold. The Pediatric URI Consensus Team.

PubMed

Dowell, S F; Schwartz, B; Phillips, W R

1998-10-15

This article summarizes the principles of judicious antimicrobial therapy for three of the five conditions--cough, pharyngitis, the common cold--that account for most of the outpatient use of these drugs in the United States. The principles governing the other two conditions, otitis media and acute sinusitis, were presented in the previous issue. This article summarizes evidence against the use of antibiotic treatment for illness with cough or bronchitis in children, unless the cough is prolonged. Although empiric treatment may be started in patients with pharyngitis when streptococcal infection is suspected, the authors recommend withholding antibiotic treatment until antigen testing or culture is positive. There is never any indication for antibiotic treatment of the common cold; it is important to understand the natural history of colds, because symptoms such as mucopurulent rhinitis or cough, even when they persist for up to two weeks, do not necessarily indicate bacterial infection.

High order GPS base station support for Rhode Island

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

2001-09-01

The University of Rhode Island (URI) upgraded its Global Positioning System (GPS) Base Station to provide round-the-clock Internet access to survey-grade (+/- 2 cm accuracy) reference files using a web-based data distribution system. In August 2000, ...

Landslide in Kashmir

NASA Image and Video Library

2005-10-12

This image acquired by NASA Terra spacecraft on Oct. 11, 2005, depicts a 30-kilometer 19-mile wide region southeast of the epicenter of the magnitude 7.6 Pakistan earthquake, between Muzaffarabad and Uri in the Pir Punjal range of Kashmir.

Vocabulary services to support scientific data interoperability

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Cox, Simon; Mills, Katie; Tan, Florence

2013-04-01

Shared vocabularies are a core element in interoperable systems. Vocabularies need to be available at run-time, and where the vocabularies are shared by a distributed community this implies the use of web technology to provide vocabulary services. Given the ubiquity of vocabularies or classifiers in systems, vocabulary services are effectively the base of the interoperability stack. In contemporary knowledge organization systems, a vocabulary item is considered a concept, with the "terms" denoting it appearing as labels. The Simple Knowledge Organization System (SKOS) formalizes this as an RDF Schema (RDFS) application, with a bridge to formal logic in Web Ontology Language (OWL). For maximum utility, a vocabulary should be made available through the following interfaces: * the vocabulary as a whole - at an ontology URI corresponding to a vocabulary document * each item in the vocabulary - at the item URI * summaries, subsets, and resources derived by transformation * through the standard RDF web API - i.e. a SPARQL endpoint * through a query form for human users. However, the vocabulary data model may be leveraged directly in a standard vocabulary API that uses the semantics provided by SKOS. SISSvoc3 [1] accomplishes this as a standard set of URI templates for a vocabulary. Any URI comforming to the template selects a vocabulary subset based on the SKOS properties, including labels (skos:prefLabel, skos:altLabel, rdfs:label) and a subset of the semantic relations (skos:broader, skos:narrower, etc). SISSvoc3 thus provides a RESTFul SKOS API to query a vocabulary, but hiding the complexity of SPARQL. It has been implemented using the Linked Data API (LDA) [2], which connects to a SPARQL endpoint. By using LDA, we also get content-negotiation, alternative views, paging, metadata and other functionality provided in a standard way. A number of vocabularies have been formalized in SKOS and deployed by CSIRO, the Australian Bureau of Meteorology (BOM) and their

Suitability of ARES for Simulating Tactical Burst EMP Environments.

DTIC Science & Technology

1980-04-01

Parkinson ofience Applic;a tions. t ,’,T : P Mot t- I ATTN: A. Chadsey Sidney Frankel ,N Asseate. Tf : f ,e . ATTN: S Frank] s , i ’ ’ , trtC f1(’’ ATTN...Corporation VARE-WOKUINMBS P.O. Drawer 719 S & X Santa Barbara, California 93102 I CO 1 -. qLING CEFFlOE NAME AND ADDRESS 12I REPORT P)ATE ,4, Director rM 8...definition since it must be tL,1,de(1 t)v the prevailing battlefield philosophy as well as by the laws ot pJysi,.-. Tle basic Army philosopny reyardini

Experimental realization of noise-induced adiabaticity in nuclear magnetic resonance

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wang, Bi-Xue; Xin, Tao; Kong, Xiang-Yu; Wei, Shi-Jie; Ruan, Dong; Long, Gui-Lu

2018-04-01

The adiabatic evolution is the dynamics of an instantaneous eigenstate of a slowly varing Hamiltonian. Recently, an interesting phenomenon shows up that white noises can enhance and even induce adiabaticity, which is in contrast to previous perception that environmental noises always modify and even ruin a designed adiabatic passage. We experimentally realized a noise-induced adiabaticity in a nuclear magnetic resonance system. Adiabatic Hadamard gate and entangled state are demonstrated. The effect of noise on adiabaticity is experimentally exhibited and compared with the noise-free process. We utilized a noise-injected method, which can be applied to other quantum systems.

Doctors of tomorrow: An innovative curriculum connecting underrepresented minority high school students to medical school.

PubMed

Derck, Jordan; Zahn, Kate; Finks, Jonathan F; Mand, Simanjit; Sandhu, Gurjit

2016-01-01

Racial minorities continue to be underrepresented in medicine (URiM). Increasing provider diversity is an essential component of addressing disparity in health delivery and outcomes. The pool of students URiM that are competitive applicants to medical school is often limited early on by educational inequalities in primary and secondary schooling. A growing body of evidence recognizing the importance of diversifying health professions advances the need for medical schools to develop outreach collaborations with primary and secondary schools to attract URiMs. The goal of this paper is to describe and evaluate a program that seeks to create a pipeline for URiMs early in secondary schooling by connecting these students with support and resources in the medical community that may be transformative in empowering these students to be stronger university and medical school applicants. The authors described a medical student-led, action-oriented pipeline program, Doctors of Tomorrow, which connects faculty and medical students at the University of Michigan Medical School with 9th grade students at Cass Technical High School (Cass Tech) in Detroit, Michigan. The program includes a core curriculum of hands-on experiential learning, development, and presentation of a capstone project, and mentoring of 9th grade students by medical students. Cass Tech student feedback was collected using focus groups, critical incident written narratives, and individual interviews. Medical student feedback was collected reviewing monthly meeting minutes from the Doctors of Tomorrow medical student leadership. Data were analyzed using thematic analysis. Two strong themes emerged from the Cass Tech student feedback: (i) Personal identity and its perceived effect on goal achievement and (ii) positive affect of direct mentorship and engagement with current healthcare providers through Doctors of Tomorrow. A challenge noted by the medical students was the lack of structured curriculum beyond the 1st

Commuter behavior and greenhouse gas emissions at the University of Rhode Island.

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

2006-05-01

The purpose of this research was to study commuter habits and to measure commuter greenhouse emissions at the University of Rhode Island (URI) Kingston campus. In April 2006, an online survey was e-mailed to students, faculty, and staff to collect da...

Rapid Multiplex PCR Assay To Identify Respiratory Viral Pathogens: Moving Forward Diagnosing The Common Cold

PubMed Central

Gordon, Sarah M; Elegino-Steffens, Diane U; Agee, Willie; Barnhill, Jason; Hsue, Gunther

2013-01-01

Upper respiratory tract infections (URIs) can be a serious burden to the healthcare system. The majority of URIs are viral in etiology, but definitive diagnosis can prove difficult due to frequently overlapping clinical presentations of viral and bacterial infections, and the variable sensitivity, and lengthy turn-around time of viral culture. We tested new automated nested multiplex PCR technology, the FilmArray® system, in the TAMC department of clinical investigations, to determine the feasibility of replacing the standard viral culture with a rapid turn-around system. We conducted a feasibility study using a single-blinded comparison study, comparing PCR results with archived viral culture results from a convenience sample of cryopreserved archived nasopharyngeal swabs from acutely ill ED patients who presented with complaints of URI symptoms. A total of 61 archived samples were processed. Viral culture had previously identified 31 positive specimens from these samples. The automated nested multiplex PCR detected 38 positive samples. In total, PCR was 94.5% concordant with the previously positive viral culture results. However, PCR was only 63.4% concordant with the negative viral culture results, owing to PCR detection of 11 additional viral pathogens not recovered on viral culture. The average time to process a sample was 75 minutes. We determined that an automated nested multiplex PCR is a feasible alternative to viral culture in an acute clinical setting. We were able to detect at least 94.5% as many viral pathogens as viral culture is able to identify, with a faster turn-around time. PMID:24052914

RESIDUES AND METABOLITES OF SELECTED PERSISTENT HALOGENATED HYDROCARBONS IN BLOOD SPECIMENS FROM A GENERAL POPULATION SURVEY

EPA Science Inventory

The National Center for Health Statistics collaborated with the National Human Monitoring Program of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) in a four-year study to assess the exposure of the general population to selected pesticides through analysis of blood serum and uri...

An Analysis of Bronfenbrenner's Bio-Ecological Perspective for Early Childhood Educators: Implications for Working with Families Experiencing Stress

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Swick, Kevin James; Williams, Reginald D.

2006-01-01

Today's families face many stressors during the early childhood years. Particular stressors like homelessness, violence, and chemical dependence, play havoc with the family system. Urie Bronfenbrenner's bio-ecological perspective offers an insightful lens for understanding and supporting families under stress. This article presents the key…

Cylindrical Vector Beams for Rapid Polarization-Dependent Measurements in Atomic Systems

DTIC Science & Technology

2011-12-05

www.opticsinfobase.org/abstract.cfm?URI=oe-18-24-25035. 16. S. Tripathi and K. C. Toussaint, Jr., “Rapid Mueller matrix polarimetry based on parallelized...optical trapping [11], atom guiding [12], laser machining [13], charged particle acceleration [14,15], and polarimetry [16]. Yet despite numerous

The DOI Is Coming.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Scharf, Davida

2002-01-01

Discussion of improving accessibility to copyrighted electronic content focuses on the Digital Object Identifier (DOI) and the Open URL standard and linking software. Highlights include work of the World Wide Web consortium; URI (Uniform Resource Identifier); URL (Uniform Resource Locator); URN (Uniform Resource Name); OCLC's (Online Computer…

Investigating the Effect of Situational Awareness on Persistence of Doctoral Distance Learners

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Harleman, Thomas G.

2013-01-01

This quantitative study sought to identify the effect of heightened situational awareness (SA) on persistence of doctoral distance learners. Factors in the distance learners' micro-environment, vis-à-vis Urie Bronfenbrenner's (1979) ecology theory of human development, were the focus. Study participants included new doctoral candidates continuing…

Evaluating health benefits of various fruits

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

Fruits are an essential part of our daily diets. Most fruits are naturally low in fat, sodium and calories. Fruits are important sources of many nutrients, including potassium, dietary fiber, vitamin C, folic acid and they do not contain cholesterol. Some fruits have laxative effects, prevent uri...

Linked Data for Software Security Concepts and Vulnerability Descriptions

DTIC Science & Technology

2013-07-01

named entity (NE) extractors such as DBpedia Spotlight, Alchemy API1, Extractiv2, OpenCalais3 and Zemanta were compared for their overall performance...presents substantial agreement for URI dis- ambiguation. Alchemy API, although preserving good performance in NE extraction and 1http://www.alchemyapi.com

A System for Supporting Development and Update of the International Classification of Health Interventions (ICHI).

PubMed

Donada, Marc; Della Mea, Vincenzo; Cumerlato, Megan; Rankin, Nicole; Madden, Richard

2018-01-01

The International Classification of Health Interventions (ICHI) is a member of the WHO Family of International Classifications, being developed to provide a common tool for reporting and analysing health interventions for statistical purposes. A web-based platform for classification development and update has been specifically developed to support the initial development step and then, after final approval, the continuous revision and update of the classification. The platform provides features for classification editing, versioning, comment management and URI identifiers. During the last 12 months it has been used for developing the ICHI Beta version, replacing the previous process based on the exchange of Excel files. At November 2017, 90 users have provided input to the development of the classification, which has resulted in 2913 comments and 2971 changes in the classification, since June 2017. Further work includes the development of an URI API for machine to machine communication, following the model established for ICD-11.

Expanding understanding of optical variability in Lake Superior with a 4-year dataset

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Mouw, Colleen B.; Ciochetto, Audrey B.; Grunert, Brice; Yu, Angela

2017-07-01

Lake Superior is one of the largest freshwater lakes on our planet, but few optical observations have been made to allow for the development and validation of visible spectral satellite remote sensing products. The dataset described here focuses on coincidently observing inherent and apparent optical properties along with biogeochemical parameters. Specifically, we observe remote sensing reflectance, absorption, scattering, backscattering, attenuation, chlorophyll concentration, and suspended particulate matter over the ice-free months of 2013-2016. The dataset substantially increases the optical knowledge of the lake. In addition to visible spectral satellite algorithm development, the dataset is valuable for characterizing the variable light field, particle, phytoplankton, and colored dissolved organic matter distributions, and helpful in food web and carbon cycle investigations. The compiled data can be freely accessed at URI/Mouw/LakeSuperior/" target="_blank">https://seabass.gsfc.nasa.gov/archive/URI/Mouw/LakeSuperior/.

Method for measuring dose-equivalent in a neutron flux with an unknown energy spectra and means for carrying out that method

DOEpatents

Distenfeld, Carl H.

1978-01-01

A method for measuring the dose-equivalent for exposure to an unknown and/or time varing neutron flux which comprises simultaneously exposing a plurality of neutron detecting elements of different types to a neutron flux and combining the measured responses of the various detecting elements by means of a function, whose value is an approximate measure of the dose-equivalent, which is substantially independent of the energy spectra of the flux. Also, a personnel neutron dosimeter, which is useful in carrying out the above method, comprising a plurality of various neutron detecting elements in a single housing suitable for personnel to wear while working in a radiation area.

ARO-URI Center for Opto-Electronic Systems Research. Addendum

DTIC Science & Technology

1992-12-01

5, 2015-2020 (1988). 36. "Cancellation of laser phase fluctuations in Stokes and anti-Stokes generation ," Z . W. Li, C. Radzewicz, and M. G. Raymer, J...G. Raymer, Opt. Lett. 13, 491-493 (1988). (34) "Cancellation of laser phase fluctuations in Stokes and anti-Stokes generation ," Z . W. Li, C

Examining Lives in Context: Perspectives on the Ecology of Human Development.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Moen, Phyllis, Ed.; And Others

Extending the work of behavioral scientist Urie Bronfenbrenner on the social and contextual factors influencing human development, this collection of essays, from scholars in a range of disciplines, shows how Bronfenbrenner's ecological theory and research have transformed the way many social and behavioral scientists approach, think about, and…

An Ecological Understanding of Kinship Foster Care in the United States

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hong, Jun Sung; Algood, Carl L.; Chiu, Yu-Ling; Lee, Stephanie Ai-Ping

2011-01-01

We review empirical studies on kinship foster care in the United States. We conceptualize kinship foster care within the context of Urie Bronfenbrenner's (1994) most recent ecological systems theory. Because there are multiple levels of influences on the developmental outcomes of children placed in kinship foster home, understanding the…

Challenges to the Doctoral Journey: A Case of Female Doctoral Students from Ethiopia

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Bireda, Asamenew Demessie

2015-01-01

This study aimed to investigate some challenges female doctoral students experience in their doctoral journey. The study used a qualitative design and structured interviews. The theoretical framework that guided the study was that of Urie Bronfenbrenner's ecosystemic theory. A purposely selected sample of five female doctoral students from the…

School Districts Try a New Tack.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Spitz, James A., Jr., Battaglia, Michael

1997-01-01

Politicians are increasingly pressuring school districts to improve instruction while holding down costs. To achieve this aim, western New York school districts are experimenting with mutual gains bargaining, an alternative negotiation process based on Roger Fisher and William Ury's 1991 book "Getting to Yes." Instead of bargaining from…

Is there an optimal vitamin D status for immunity in athletes and military personnel?

PubMed

He, Cheng-Shiun; Aw Yong, Xin Hui; Walsh, Neil P; Gleeson, Michael

2016-01-01

Vitamin D is mainly obtained through sunlight ultraviolet-B (UVB) exposure of the skin, with a small amount typically coming from the diet.It is now clear that vitamin D has important roles beyond its well-known effects on calcium and bone homeostasis. Immune cells express the vitamin D receptor, including antigen presenting cells, T cells and B cells, and these cells are all capable of synthesizing the biologically active vitamin D metabolite, 1, 25 hydroxy vitamin D.There has been growing interest in the benefits of supplementing vitamin D as studies report vitamin D insufficiency (circulating 25(OH)D < 50 nmol/L) in more than half of all athletes and military personnel tested during the winter, when skin sunlight UVB is negligible. The overwhelming evidence supports avoiding vitamin D deficiency (25(OH)D< 30 nmol/L)to maintain immunity and prevent upper respiratory illness (URI) in athletes and military personnel.Recent evidence supports an optimal circulating 25(OH)D of 75 nmol/L to prevent URI and enhance innate immunity and mucosal immunity and bring about anti-inflammatory actions through the induction of regulatory T cells and the inhibition of pro-inflammatory cytokine production. We provide practical recommendations for how vitamin D sufficiency can be achieved in most individuals by safe sunlight exposure in the summer and daily 1, 000 IU vitamin D3 supplementation in the winter. Studies are required in athletes and military personnel to determine the impact of these recommendations on immunity and URI; and,to demonstrate the purported benefit of achieving 25(OH)D>75 nmol/L. Copyright © 2015 International Society of Exercise and Immunology. All rights reserved.

Persistent Identifiers for Improved Accessibility for Linked Data Querying

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Shepherd, A.; Chandler, C. L.; Arko, R. A.; Fils, D.; Jones, M. B.; Krisnadhi, A.; Mecum, B.

2016-12-01

The adoption of linked open data principles within the geosciences has increased the amount of accessible information available on the Web. However, this data is difficult to consume for those who are unfamiliar with Semantic Web technologies such as Web Ontology Language (OWL), Resource Description Framework (RDF) and SPARQL - the RDF query language. Consumers would need to understand the structure of the data and how to efficiently query it. Furthermore, understanding how to query doesn't solve problems of poor precision and recall in search results. For consumers unfamiliar with the data, full-text searches are most accessible, but not ideal as they arrest the advantages of data disambiguation and co-reference resolution efforts. Conversely, URI searches across linked data can deliver improved search results, but knowledge of these exact URIs may remain difficult to obtain. The increased adoption of Persistent Identifiers (PIDs) can lead to improved linked data querying by a wide variety of consumers. Because PIDs resolve to a single entity, they are an excellent data point for disambiguating content. At the same time, PIDs are more accessible and prominent than a single data provider's linked data URI. When present in linked open datasets, PIDs provide balance between the technical and social hurdles of linked data querying as evidenced by the NSF EarthCube GeoLink project. The GeoLink project, funded by NSF's EarthCube initiative, have brought together data repositories include content from field expeditions, laboratory analyses, journal publications, conference presentations, theses/reports, and funding awards that span scientific studies from marine geology to marine ecosystems and biogeochemistry to paleoclimatology.

Binary Classification of an Unknown Object through Atmospheric Turbulence Using a Polarimetric Blind-Deconvolution Algorithm Augmented with Adaptive Degree of Linear Polarization Priors

DTIC Science & Technology

2012-03-01

geometry of reflection from a smooth (or mirror-like) surface [27]. In passive polarimetry , the angle of polarization (AoP) provides information about... polarimetry for remote sens- ing applications”. Appl. Opt., 45(22):5453–5469, Aug 2006. URL http://ao.osa.org/abstract.cfm?URI=ao-45-22-5453. 27

The Israeli Defense Forces: An Organizational Prospective

DTIC Science & Technology

1990-03-01

Ideology was born of memory, as expressed in the following dialogue from a book by Leon Uris (a well-known author of the Jewish experience): 29 I...Left out of the picture by Dayan, the planning staffs were reduced to monitoring the battle through secondhand sources. f . Ideology The religious

Designing for Development: Across the Scales of Time

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Cole, Michael

2016-01-01

This essay traces the history of an activity designed to promote the intellectual and social development of elementary-age schoolchildren during the afterschool hours. Following in the footsteps of Urie Bronfenbrenner, I highlight his argument that just as all human development occurs in contexts of varying levels of inclusiveness and mutual…

The Former Yugoslavia and the Quest for Improving Regional Stability

DTIC Science & Technology

1993-04-09

Balkans. New Jersey: Prentice-Hall, Inc. 1965. Nelson, Daniel N. Balkan Imbroglio. Colorado: Westview Press, Inc. 1991. Ra’anon, Uri, Maria Mesner, Keith...Carlisle Barracks, 1992. JOURNALS AND PERIODICALS Altmann , Franz-Lothar. "Ex-Yugoslavia’s neighbors: who wants what?" The World Today. Vol. 48, Nos. 8-9

Place-Consciousness and Bronfenbrenner's "Ecological Systems Model": A Discussion of Recurring Issues That Undermine the Teaching of Indigenous Histories in New Zealand and Australian Schools

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Manning, Richard F.

2017-01-01

This article draws upon a "tale from the feld" (Van Maanen, 1988) to encourage New Zealand and Australian teachers of history and social studies to appraise how their own perceptions of place and teaching about Indigenous peoples' histories impact upon their students' learning. Moreover, it explains why Uri Bronfenbrenner's (1979)…

Summaries of the State-of-the-Art Position Papers on Day Care.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Texas State Dept. of Public Welfare, Austin.

This review consists of summaries of 20 position papers presenting varying viewpoints on aspects of the Federal Interagency Day Care Requirements (FIDCR). Among the authors represented are Gwen Morgan, Edward Zigler, Greta Fein, Henry Ricciuti, Urie Bronfenbrenner, Jerome Kagan and Elizabeth Prescott. Seven of the position papers deal with legal…

Two new termite (Isoptera: Rhinotermitidae) feeding indexes for woods of varing palatability

Treesearch

Chris J. Peterson; P.D. Gerard

2009-01-01

In order for bait matrices, treated wood and resistant wood species to be properly evaluated in the laboratory for termite resistance or palatability, reliable tests that can distinguish between food choices must be developed; otherwise, inferior products may enter the marketplace. In the current study, a bioassay method is proposed that allows the calculation of two...

Presenting International Literature through Author Studies and Author Pairings.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Lynch-Brown, Carol; Tomlinson, Carl M.

1997-01-01

Discusses the value of international books as a source of literature for middle school students. Considers the benefits of international books, and instructional strategies including focusing on an international author and author pairings. Provides an annotated list of works by Robin Klein, John Marsden, Uri Orlev, Anthony Browne, and Jorg Muller.…

Getting to Yes.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

McMahon, Dennis O.

This report describes a problem-solving approach to grievance settling and negotiations developed in the Brighton, Michigan, school district and inspired by the book, "Getting To Yes," by Roger Fisher and William Ury. In this approach teachers and administrators come to the table not with fixed positions but with problems both sides want…

Empowering Girls with Chemistry, Exercise and Physical Activity

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Clapham, Emily D.; Ciccomascolo, Lori E.; Clapham, Andrew J.

2015-01-01

Research suggests that a girl's career interests in the areas of science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) declines between grades 6 and 8. Similarly, in middle school, there is a decrease in physical activity among girls. Researchers at the University of Rhode Island (URI) conducted a chemistry-based science camp that took place…

Measurement of average density and relative volumes in a dispersed two-phase fluid

DOEpatents

Sreepada, Sastry R.; Rippel, Robert R.

1992-01-01

An apparatus and a method are disclosed for measuring the average density and relative volumes in an essentially transparent, dispersed two-phase fluid. A laser beam with a diameter no greater than 1% of the diameter of the bubbles, droplets, or particles of the dispersed phase is directed onto a diffraction grating. A single-order component of the diffracted beam is directed through the two-phase fluid and its refraction is measured. Preferably, the refracted beam exiting the fluid is incident upon a optical filter with linearly varing optical density and the intensity of the filtered beam is measured. The invention can be combined with other laser-based measurement systems, e.g., laser doppler anemometry.

Air pollution and acute respiratory infections among children 0-4 years of age: an 18-year time-series study.

PubMed

Darrow, Lyndsey A; Klein, Mitchel; Flanders, W Dana; Mulholland, James A; Tolbert, Paige E; Strickland, Matthew J

2014-11-15

Upper and lower respiratory infections are common in early childhood and may be exacerbated by air pollution. We investigated short-term changes in ambient air pollutant concentrations, including speciated particulate matter less than 2.5 μm in diameter (PM2.5), in relation to emergency department (ED) visits for respiratory infections in young children. Daily counts of ED visits for bronchitis and bronchiolitis (n = 80,399), pneumonia (n = 63,359), and upper respiratory infection (URI) (n = 359,246) among children 0-4 years of age were collected from hospitals in the Atlanta, Georgia, area for the period 1993-2010. Daily pollutant measurements were combined across monitoring stations using population weighting. In Poisson generalized linear models, 3-day moving average concentrations of ozone, nitrogen dioxide, and the organic carbon fraction of particulate matter less than 2.5 μm in diameter (PM2.5) were associated with ED visits for pneumonia and URI. Ozone associations were strongest and were observed at low (cold-season) concentrations; a 1-interquartile range increase predicted a 4% increase (95% confidence interval: 2%, 6%) in visits for URI and an 8% increase (95% confidence interval: 4%, 13%) in visits for pneumonia. Rate ratios tended to be higher in the 1- to 4-year age group compared with infants. Results suggest that primary traffic pollutants, ozone, and the organic carbon fraction of PM2.5 exacerbate upper and lower respiratory infections in early life, and that the carbon fraction of PM2.5 is a particularly harmful component of the ambient particulate matter mixture. © The Author 2014. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. All rights reserved. For permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oup.com.

(Re)Writing Civics in the Digital Age: The Role of Social Media in Student (Dis)Engagement

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Portman Daley, Joannah

2012-01-01

(Re)Writing Civics in the Digital Age: The Role of Social Media in Student (Dis)Engagement addresses an important gap in the knowledge of civic rhetoric available in Rhetoric and Composition by using qualitative methods to explore the parameters of civic engagement through social media-based digital writing. With funding from URI's Office of…

How Has the Environment Influenced Christy's Growth?

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Roberts, Blair E.

Defining environment as both the physical space and the people who are in it, this paper explored the effects of environment on a first-grade child. Urie Bronfenbrenner's theories on the effects of physical environment on children provided a conceptual foundation during the observation of Christy, a student at Lawrence School in Brookline,…

Donated chemical probes for open science.

PubMed

Müller, Susanne; Ackloo, Suzanne; Arrowsmith, Cheryl H; Bauser, Marcus; Baryza, Jeremy L; Blagg, Julian; Böttcher, Jark; Bountra, Chas; Brown, Peter J; Bunnage, Mark E; Carter, Adrian J; Damerell, David; Dötsch, Volker; Drewry, David H; Edwards, Aled M; Edwards, James; Elkins, Jon M; Fischer, Christian; Frye, Stephen V; Gollner, Andreas; Grimshaw, Charles E; IJzerman, Adriaan; Hanke, Thomas; Hartung, Ingo V; Hitchcock, Steve; Howe, Trevor; Hughes, Terry V; Laufer, Stefan; Li, Volkhart Mj; Liras, Spiros; Marsden, Brian D; Matsui, Hisanori; Mathias, John; O'Hagan, Ronan C; Owen, Dafydd R; Pande, Vineet; Rauh, Daniel; Rosenberg, Saul H; Roth, Bryan L; Schneider, Natalie S; Scholten, Cora; Singh Saikatendu, Kumar; Simeonov, Anton; Takizawa, Masayuki; Tse, Chris; Thompson, Paul R; Treiber, Daniel K; Viana, Amélia Yi; Wells, Carrow I; Willson, Timothy M; Zuercher, William J; Knapp, Stefan; Mueller-Fahrnow, Anke

2018-04-20

Potent, selective and broadly characterized small molecule modulators of protein function (chemical probes) are powerful research reagents. The pharmaceutical industry has generated many high-quality chemical probes and several of these have been made available to academia. However, probe-associated data and control compounds, such as inactive structurally related molecules and their associated data, are generally not accessible. The lack of data and guidance makes it difficult for researchers to decide which chemical tools to choose. Several pharmaceutical companies (AbbVie, Bayer, Boehringer Ingelheim, Janssen, MSD, Pfizer, and Takeda) have therefore entered into a pre-competitive collaboration to make available a large number of innovative high-quality probes, including all probe-associated data, control compounds and recommendations on use (uri" xlink:href="https://openscienceprobes.sgc-frankfurt.de">https://openscienceprobes.sgc-frankfurt.deuri" xlink:href="https://openscienceprobes.sgc-frankfurt.de/">/). Here we describe the chemical tools and target-related knowledge that have been made available, and encourage others to join the project. © 2018, Müller et al.

When He Said Linking, He Really Meant Linking

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Chudnov, Daniel

2009-01-01

There are many reasons to improve web links, starting with their design. The author tends to think about "design" on the web in terms of two things: (1) graphic/industrial design; and (2) human usability. A nice, clean URI (uniform resource identifier) that does not change, is readable to humans, is amenable to common web behaviors such as…

Hand Hygiene Program Decreases School Absenteeism Due to Upper Respiratory Infections

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Azor-Martinez, Ernestina; Cobos-Carrascosa, Elena; Seijas-Vazquez, Maria Luisa; Fernández-Sánchez, Carmen; Strizzi, Jenna M.; Torres-Alegre, Pilar; Santisteban-Martínez, Joaquin; Gimenez-Sanchez, Francisco

2016-01-01

Background: We assessed the effectiveness of a handwashing program using hand sanitizer to prevent school absenteeism due to upper respiratory infections (URIs). Methods: This was a randomized, controlled, and open study on a sample of 1341 children 4-12 years old, attending 5 state schools in Almería (Spain), with an 8-month follow-up. The…

Meteorological factors, air pollutants, and emergency department visits for otitis media: a time series study.

PubMed

Gestro, Massimo; Condemi, Vincenzo; Bardi, Luisella; Fantino, Claudio; Solimene, Umberto

2017-10-01

AbstractOtitis media (OM) is a very common disease in children, which results in a significant economic burden to the healthcare system for hospital-based outpatient departments, emergency departments (EDs), unscheduled medical examinations, and antibiotic prescriptions. The aim of this retrospective observational study is to investigate the association between climate variables, air pollutants, and OM visits observed in the 2007-2010 period at the ED of Cuneo, Italy. Measures of meteorological parameters (temperature, humidity, atmospheric pressure, wind) and outdoor air pollutants (particulate matter, ozone, nitrous dioxide) were analyzed at two statistical stages and in several specific steps (crude and adjusted models) according to Poisson's regression. Response variables included daily examinations for age groups 0-3, 0-6, and 0-18. Control variables included upper respiratory infections (URI), flu (FLU), and several calendar factors. A statistical procedure was implemented to capture any delayed effects. Results show a moderate association for temperature (T), age 0-3, and 0-6 with P < 0.05, as well as nitrous dioxide (NO 2 ) with P < 0.005 at age 0-18. Results of subsequent models point out to URI as an important control variable. No statistical association was observed for other pollutants and meteorological variables. The dose-response models (DLNM-final stage) implemented separately on a daily and hourly basis point out to an association between temperature (daily model) and RR 1.44 at age 0-3, CI 1.11-1.88 (lag time 0-1 days) and RR 1.43, CI 1.05-1.94 (lag time 0-3 days). The hourly model confirms a specific dose-response effect for T with RR 1.20, CI 1.04-1.38 (lag time range from 0 to 11 to 0-15 h) and for NO 2 with RR 1.03, CI 1.01-1.05 (lag time range from 0 to 8 to 0-15 h). These results support the hypothesis that the clinical context of URI may be an important risk factor in the onset of OM diagnosed at ED level. The study highlights the

Meteorological factors, air pollutants, and emergency department visits for otitis media: a time series study

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gestro, Massimo; Condemi, Vincenzo; Bardi, Luisella; Fantino, Claudio; Solimene, Umberto

2017-10-01

Abstract Otitis media (OM) is a very common disease in children, which results in a significant economic burden to the healthcare system for hospital-based outpatient departments, emergency departments (EDs), unscheduled medical examinations, and antibiotic prescriptions. The aim of this retrospective observational study is to investigate the association between climate variables, air pollutants, and OM visits observed in the 2007-2010 period at the ED of Cuneo, Italy. Measures of meteorological parameters (temperature, humidity, atmospheric pressure, wind) and outdoor air pollutants (particulate matter, ozone, nitrous dioxide) were analyzed at two statistical stages and in several specific steps (crude and adjusted models) according to Poisson's regression. Response variables included daily examinations for age groups 0-3, 0-6, and 0-18. Control variables included upper respiratory infections (URI), flu (FLU), and several calendar factors. A statistical procedure was implemented to capture any delayed effects. Results show a moderate association for temperature ( T), age 0-3, and 0-6 with P < 0.05, as well as nitrous dioxide (NO2) with P < 0.005 at age 0-18. Results of subsequent models point out to URI as an important control variable. No statistical association was observed for other pollutants and meteorological variables. The dose-response models (DLNM—final stage) implemented separately on a daily and hourly basis point out to an association between temperature (daily model) and RR 1.44 at age 0-3, CI 1.11-1.88 (lag time 0-1 days) and RR 1.43, CI 1.05-1.94 (lag time 0-3 days). The hourly model confirms a specific dose-response effect for T with RR 1.20, CI 1.04-1.38 (lag time range from 0 to 11 to 0-15 h) and for NO2 with RR 1.03, CI 1.01-1.05 (lag time range from 0 to 8 to 0-15 h). These results support the hypothesis that the clinical context of URI may be an important risk factor in the onset of OM diagnosed at ED level. The study highlights the

The science of complexity and the role of mathematics

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bountis, T.; Johnson, J.; Provata, A.; Tsironis, G.

2016-09-01

In the middle of the second decade of the 21st century, Complexity Science has reached a turning point. Its rapid advancement over the last 30 years has led to remarkable new concepts, methods and techniques, whose applications to complex systems of the physical, biological and social sciences has produced a great number of exciting results. The approach has so far depended almost exclusively on the solution of a wide variety of mathematical models by sophisticated numerical techniques and extensive simulations that have inspired a new generation of researchers interested in complex systems. Still, the impact of Complexity beyond the natural sciences, its applications to Medicine, Technology, Economics, Society and Policy are only now beginning to be explored. Furthermore, its basic principles and methods have so far remained within the realm of high level research institutions, out of reach of society's urgent need for practical applications. To address these issues, evaluate the current situation and bring Complexity Science closer to university students, a series of Ph.D. Schools on Mathematical Modeling of Complex Systems was launched, starting in July 2011 at the University of Patras, Greece (see uri" xlink:href="http://www.math.upatras.gr/˜phdsch11">http://www.math.upatras.gr/˜phdsch11). These Schools lasted two weeks each and included, beyond introductory lectures, a conference component of 2-3 days where students were exposed to recent results mainly presented by young researchers. The Ph.D. Schools continued successfully, the 2nd one taking place at Pescara, Italy (2012), (see uri" xlink:href="http://www.nodycosy.unich.it">http://www.nodycosy.unich.it), the 3d one at Heraklion, Crete, Greece (2013) (see uri" xlink:href="http://nlsconf2013.physics.uoc.gr">http://nlsconf2013.physics.uoc.gr) and the 4th one in Athens, Greece (2014) (see uri

Interactions of Small-Scale Physical Mixing Processes with the Structure, Morphology and Bloom Dynamics and Optics of Non-Spheroid Phytoplankton

DTIC Science & Technology

2001-09-30

microscopic imaging techniques, and microscopic video- cinematography protocols for both phytoplankton and zooplankton for use in current laboratory...phytoplankton, zooplankton and bioluminescence papers, and examined data/figures for layered structures. Imaging and Cinematography : Off-the-shelf...to preview it as a work-in-progress, email me (jrines@gso.uri.edu), and I will provide you with a temporary URL. Imaging and Cinematography

Positive Fungal Cultures in Burn Patients: A Multicenter Review

DTIC Science & Technology

2008-02-01

These factors include neutropenia, systemic ste- roids, central venous access,39 TPN, hemodialysis, diabetes mellitus, and urinary catheterization .40...burn treatment exposes patients to multiple other risks for fungal infection, including central venous lines, uri- nary catheters, prolonged...patients with central venous *See appendix for complete list of participants and institutions. This work was supported in part by a grant from Merck & Co

Open-Source Data Collection Techniques for Weapons Transfer Information

DTIC Science & Technology

2012-03-01

IR Infrared ISO International Organization for Standardization ITAR International Traffic in Arms Regulations NER Named Entity Recognition NLP ...Control Protocol UAE United Arab Emirates URI Uniform Resource Identifier URL Uniform Resource Locator USSR Union of Soviet Socialist Republics UTF...KOREA, DEMOCRATIC PEOPLE’S REPUBLIC OF North Korea KOREA, REPUBLIC OF South Korea LIBYAN ARAB JAMAHIRIYA Libya RUSSIAN FEDERATION Russia Table 3

Student Writing in a Talent Development Program: Sanctuary and Academic Site of the "Personally Humane"

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Paley, Karen Surman

2008-01-01

The author had the pleasure of being in an academic setting where students of color were in the majority. That was the summer of 2004 as she observed African-American Literature 1900-Present, a writing intensive class in the Special Program in Talent Development (SPTD) at the University of Rhode Island (URI). The author wants to tell the story of…

Telemetry Standards, RCC Standard 106-17. Chapter 26. TmNSDataMessage Transfer Protocol

DTIC Science & Technology

2017-07-01

Channel (RTSPDataChannel) ............................................ 26-13 26.4.3 Reliability Critical (RC) Delivery Protocol...error status code specified in RFC 2326 for "Request-URI Too Large" is 虮". 26.4.1.5 Request Types RTSPDataSources shall return valid ...to the following requirements. • Valid TmNSDataMessages shall be delivered containing the original Packages matching the requested

Phase Diagrams of Three-Dimensional Anderson and Quantum Percolation Models Using Deep Three-Dimensional Convolutional Neural Network

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Mano, Tomohiro; Ohtsuki, Tomi

2017-11-01

The three-dimensional Anderson model is a well-studied model of disordered electron systems that shows the delocalization-localization transition. As in our previous papers on two- and three-dimensional (2D, 3D) quantum phase transitions [uri" xlink:href="https://doi.org/10.7566/JPSJ.85.123706" xlink:type="simple">J. Phys. Soc. Jpn. 85, 123706 (2016), uri" xlink:href="https://doi.org/10.7566/JPSJ.86.044708" xlink:type="simple">86, 044708 (2017)], we used an image recognition algorithm based on a multilayered convolutional neural network. However, in contrast to previous papers in which 2D image recognition was used, we applied 3D image recognition to analyze entire 3D wave functions. We show that a full phase diagram of the disorder-energy plane is obtained once the 3D convolutional neural network has been trained at the band center. We further demonstrate that the full phase diagram for 3D quantum bond and site percolations can be drawn by training the 3D Anderson model at the band center.

[Treatment of cough in respiratory tract infections - the effect of combining the natural active compounds with thymol].

PubMed

Schönknecht, Karina; Krauss, Hanna; Jambor, Jerzy; Fal, Andrzej M

Cough is one of the characteristic symptoms of upper respiratory tract infections (URI). Herbal medicines are often used in the treatment of the cough associated with infection and to accelerate recovery or support the immune system. An example of such products are extracts of thyme and primrose, and also their combination with thymol. Thymus vulgaris is a spasmolytic, antimicrobial, anti-inflammatory, immunomodulatory and antioxidant agent. The most important component responsible for the activity of thyme is thymol contained in the volatile thyme oil. Primrose is, most of all, a saponine agent with expectorant and secretolytic activity, showing also spasmolytic, anti-inflammatory and antimicrobial effects. Because of the additive effects of the mentioned extracts and their wide activity profile they are often used as a combination drug. The use of this combination was assessed in the URI with the effects of alleviation of cough and dyspnea, and shortening the length of the disease. The effectiveness of the drug containing the extracts of thyme and primrose with the addition of thymol (Bronchosol®) was comparable to synthetic ambroxol and its safety has been proved. Moreover, the in-vitro antibacterial and antifungal effects of this drug have been evaluated.

Executing SPARQL Queries over the Web of Linked Data

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hartig, Olaf; Bizer, Christian; Freytag, Johann-Christoph

The Web of Linked Data forms a single, globally distributed dataspace. Due to the openness of this dataspace, it is not possible to know in advance all data sources that might be relevant for query answering. This openness poses a new challenge that is not addressed by traditional research on federated query processing. In this paper we present an approach to execute SPARQL queries over the Web of Linked Data. The main idea of our approach is to discover data that might be relevant for answering a query during the query execution itself. This discovery is driven by following RDF links between data sources based on URIs in the query and in partial results. The URIs are resolved over the HTTP protocol into RDF data which is continuously added to the queried dataset. This paper describes concepts and algorithms to implement our approach using an iterator-based pipeline. We introduce a formalization of the pipelining approach and show that classical iterators may cause blocking due to the latency of HTTP requests. To avoid blocking, we propose an extension of the iterator paradigm. The evaluation of our approach shows its strengths as well as the still existing challenges.

Statistical Analysis Aiming at Predicting Respiratory Tract Disease Hospital Admissions from Environmental Variables in the City of São Paulo

PubMed Central

de Sousa Zanotti Stagliorio Coêlho, Micheline; Luiz Teixeira Gonçalves, Fabio; do Rosário Dias de Oliveira Latorre, Maria

2010-01-01

This study is aimed at creating a stochastic model, named Brazilian Climate and Health Model (BCHM), through Poisson regression, in order to predict the occurrence of hospital respiratory admissions (for children under thirteen years of age) as a function of air pollutants, meteorological variables, and thermal comfort indices (effective temperatures, ET). The data used in this study were obtained from the city of São Paulo, Brazil, between 1997 and 2000. The respiratory tract diseases were divided into three categories: URI (Upper Respiratory tract diseases), LRI (Lower Respiratory tract diseases), and IP (Influenza and Pneumonia). The overall results of URI, LRI, and IP show clear correlation with SO2 and CO, PM10 and O3, and PM10, respectively, and the ETw4 (Effective Temperature) for all the three disease groups. It is extremely important to warn the government of the most populated city in Brazil about the outcome of this study, providing it with valuable information in order to help it better manage its resources on behalf of the whole population of the city of Sao Paulo, especially those with low incomes. PMID:20706674

The tissue microarray OWL schema: An open-source tool for sharing tissue microarray data

PubMed Central

Kang, Hyunseok P.; Borromeo, Charles D.; Berman, Jules J.; Becich, Michael J.

2010-01-01

Background: Tissue microarrays (TMAs) are enormously useful tools for translational research, but incompatibilities in database systems between various researchers and institutions prevent the efficient sharing of data that could help realize their full potential. Resource Description Framework (RDF) provides a flexible method to represent knowledge in triples, which take the form Subject-Predicate-Object. All data resources are described using Uniform Resource Identifiers (URIs), which are global in scope. We present an OWL (Web Ontology Language) schema that expands upon the TMA data exchange specification to address this issue and assist in data sharing and integration. Methods: A minimal OWL schema was designed containing only concepts specific to TMA experiments. More general data elements were incorporated from predefined ontologies such as the NCI thesaurus. URIs were assigned using the Linked Data format. Results: We present examples of files utilizing the schema and conversion of XML data (similar to the TMA DES) to OWL. Conclusion: By utilizing predefined ontologies and global unique identifiers, this OWL schema provides a solution to the limitations of XML, which represents concepts defined in a localized setting. This will help increase the utilization of tissue resources, facilitating collaborative translational research efforts. PMID:20805954

The Potential Role of Recombinant Activated Factor VIIa (rFVIIa) in Military Pre-Hospital Setting

DTIC Science & Technology

2004-09-01

coagulation factors and platelets by crystalloids, colloids, or blood products The severity of dilutional coagulopathy is determined by both volume and...RTO-MP-HFM-109 3 - 1 The Potential Role of Recombinant Activated Factor VIIa (rFVIIa) in Military Pre-Hospital Setting LTC (ret.) Uri...decrease mortality from exsanguinations. Recombinant factor VIIa (rFVIIa) has been shown to overcome a variety of coagulation and platelet disorders

Al Basrah Oil Terminal. Basrah, Iraq

DTIC Science & Technology

2007-04-26

made of plastic Conclusion Emergency evacuation capabilities are very important for the protection of personnel working on ABOT. The work... EEA ) Program and Health, Safety, and Environmental (HSE) Program URIs 22671 and 22672 As mentioned earlier in the Lifeboat section of this...accounting of all personnel.” PIJV recommended the development of an EEA plan and HSE program manual for the ABOT personnel. The EEA plan was

United States Army Aeromedical Support to African Fliers, 1941 - 1949: The Tuskegee Flight Suregons

DTIC Science & Technology

2007-04-01

infectious diseases: upper respiratory infections (URIs), measles, mumps, chicken pox and other contagious diseases, malaria and venereal diseases...as campaigns in Cuba, the Philippines, Mexico and Nicaragua. However, neither the Air Corps nor its Medical Corps officers had much experience in...with live chickens , rabbits, steers and beef cattle from natives. One physician commented that the locals would rather trade for coffee, tea or

Persistently Low Natural Killer Cell Activity and Circulating Levels of Plasma Beta Endorphin: Risk Factors for Infectious Disease

DTIC Science & Technology

1990-01-01

influenza, pneumonia, cold sores, gum infections, mononucleosis, strep throat , and gastro-intcstinal illnesses, plus the direct reporting of symptoms such...other upper respiratory symptoms ) over the follow-up period. Specifically, older age predicted lower URI morbidity; younger age was associated with the...work. They were instructed to record daily symptoms of infectious illness experienced, as well as the amount of sleep per night, daily exercise, and

Medical Surveillance Monthly Report (MSMR). Volume 9, Number 6, September/October 2003

DTIC Science & Technology

2003-10-01

October 2003Vol. 9 No. 6 Contents Incidence, severity, and trends of pneumonia/influenza and acute respiratory failure/pulmonary insufficiency, US...high risk of acute respiratory illnesses.1-3 In the US military, acute respiratory illnesses continue to be leading causes of hospitalizations and...ambulatory visits of servicemembers.4,5 The most frequent acute respiratory illnesses of US servicemembers are upper respiratory infections (URIs) that

Bacterial Respiratory Infections in the Department of Defense (DOD): Fiscal Years (FY) 2013 - 2015

DTIC Science & Technology

2016-12-01

States (US).2,3 This analysis utilized Health Level 7 formatted (HL7) Composite Health Care System (CHCS) microbiology and chemistry data to...analysis utilized Health Level 7 (HL7) formatted Composite Health Care System (CHCS) microbiology and chemistry data to identify URIs and LRIs. Seasonal...Due to seasonality of influenza and bacterial infections, data were analyzed by FY (01 October – 30 September). Microbiology and chemistry

Photosynthesis as a Possible Source of Gas Bubbles in Shallow Sandy Coastal Sediments

DTIC Science & Technology

2011-09-30

bubbles can be formed when photosynthesis by benthic microalgae causes pore water to become supersaturated with oxygen. OBJECTIVES The next...reflectivity. We also collected sediment samples from the upper few mm of sand to identify the dominant taxa of benthic microalgae present. After...Graduate School of Oceanography / University of Rhode Island (GSO/URI) to identify the benthic microalgae in the samples. Following the untimely death of

Photosynthesis as a Possible Source of Gas Bubbles in Shallow Sandy Coastal Sediments

DTIC Science & Technology

2012-09-30

clearly demonstrates that gas bubbles can be formed when photosynthesis by benthic microalgae causes pore water to become supersaturated with oxygen...We also collected sediment samples from the upper few mm of sand to identify the dominant taxa of benthic microalgae present. Although benthic...Jan Rines (Graduate School of Oceanography / University of Rhode Island = GSO/URI) to identify the benthic microalgae in the samples. Following the

XML Style Guide

DTIC Science & Technology

2015-07-01

Acronyms ASCII American Standard Code for Information Interchange DAU data acquisition unit DDML data display markup language IHAL...Transfer Standard URI uniform resource identifier W3C World Wide Web Consortium XML extensible markup language XSD XML schema definition XML Style...Style Guide, RCC 125-15, July 2015 1 Introduction The next generation of telemetry systems will rely heavily on extensible markup language (XML

Impact of Safety-Related Regulations on Codeine Use in Children: A Quasi-Experimental Study Using Taiwan's National Health Insurance Research Database.

PubMed

Lin, Chih-Wan; Wang, Ching-Huan; Huang, Wei-I; Ke, Wei-Ming; Chao, Pi-Hui; Chen, Wen-Wen; Hsiao, Fei-Yuan

2017-07-01

Safety concerns regarding potential life-threatening adverse events associated with codeine have resulted in policy decisions to restrict its use in pediatrics. However, whether these drug safety communications have had an immediate and strong impact on codeine use remains in question. We aimed to investigate the impact of the two implemented safety-related regulations (label changes and reimbursement regulations) on the use of codeine for upper respiratory infection (URI) or cough. A quasi-experimental study was performed using Taiwan's National Health Insurance Research Database. Quarterly data of codeine prescription rates for URI/cough visits were reported, and an interrupted time series design was used to assess the impact of the safety regulations on the uses of codeine among children with URI/cough visits. Multivariable logistic regression models were used to explore patient and provider characteristics associated with the use of codeine. The safety-related regulations were associated with a significant reduction in codeine prescription rates of -4.24% (95% confidence interval [CI] -4.78 to -3.70), and the relative reduction compared with predicted rates based on preregulation projections was 60.4, 56.6, and 53.2% in the first, second, and third year after the regulations began, respectively. In the postregulation period, physicians specializing in otolaryngology (odds ratio [OR] 1.47, 95% CI 1.45-1.49), practicing in district hospitals (OR 6.84, 95% CI 5.82-8.04) or clinics (OR 6.50, 95% CI 5.54-7.62), and practicing in the least urbanized areas (OR 1.60, 95% CI 1.55-1.64) were more likely to prescribe codeine to children than their counterparts. Our study provides a successful example of how to effectively reduce the codeine prescriptions in children in the 'real-world' settings, and highlights areas where future effort could be made to improve the safety use of codeine. Future research is warranted to explore whether there was a simultaneous decrease in

High Viremia and Wasting Before Antiretroviral Therapy Are Associated With Pneumonia in Early-Treated HIV-Infected Kenyan Infants.

PubMed

Sridharan, Geetha; Wamalwa, Dalton; John-Stewart, Grace; Tapia, Kenneth; Langat, Agnes; Moraa Okinyi, Helen; Adhiambo, Judith; Chebet, Daisy; Maleche-Obimbo, Elizabeth; Karr, Catherine J; Benki-Nugent, Sarah

2017-09-01

Human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)-infected children are particularly susceptible to acute respiratory infections (ARIs). We determined incidence and cofactors for ARIs in HIV-infected infants receiving antiretroviral therapy (ART). Human immunodeficiency virus-infected infants initiated ART at ≤12 months of age and were observed monthly for 2 years in Nairobi. Acute respiratory infection rates and cofactors were determined using Andersen-Gill models, allowing for multiple events per infant. Among 111 HIV-infected infants, median age at ART initiation was 4.5 months. Pre-ART median CD4% was 19%, and 29% had wasting. During 24-months follow-up while on ART, upper respiratory infection (URI) and pneumonia rates were 122.6 and 34.7 per 100 person-years (py), respectively. Infants with higher pre-ART viral load (VL) (plasma HIV ribonucleic acid [RNA] ≥7 log10 copies/mL) had 4.12-fold increased risk of pneumonia (95% confidence interval [CI], 2.17-7.80), and infants with wasting (weight-for-height z-score < -2) had 2.87-fold increased risk (95% CI, 1.56-5.28). Infants with both high pre-ART VL and wasting had a higher pneumonia rate (166.8 per 100 py) than those with only 1 of these risk factors (44.4 per 100 py) or neither (17.0 per 100 py). Infants with exposure to wood fuel had significantly higher risk of URI (hazard ratio [HR] = 1.82; 95% CI, 1.44-2.28) and pneumonia (HR = 3.31; 95% CI, 1.76-6.21). In early ART-treated HIV-infected infants, higher HIV RNA and wasting before ART were independent risk factors for pneumonia. Wood fuel use was associated with URI and pneumonia. Additional data on air pollution and respiratory outcomes in HIV-infected children may help optimize interventions to improve their lung health. © The Author 2016. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the Pediatric Infectious Diseases Society. All rights reserved. For Permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oup.com.

Nursing home nurses' and community-dwelling older adults' reported knowledge, attitudes, and behavior toward antibiotic use.

PubMed

Kistler, Christine E; Beeber, Anna; Becker-Dreps, Sylvia; Ward, Kimberly; Meade, Megan; Ross, Brittany; Sloane, Philip D

2017-01-01

Antibiotic overuse causes antibiotic resistance, one of the most important threats to human health. Older adults, particularly those in nursing homes, often receive antibiotics when they are not indicated. To understand knowledge, attitudes, and behaviors of nursing home (NH) nurses and community-dwelling older adults towards antibiotic use, especially in clinical situations consistent with antibiotic overuse, we conducted a mixed-method survey in two NHs and one Family Medicine clinic in North Carolina, among English-speaking nurses and community-dwelling, cognitively intact adults aged 65 years or older. Based on the Knowledge-Attitude-Practice model, the survey assessed knowledge, attitudes, and behavior towards antibiotic use, including three vignettes designed to elicit possible antibiotic overuse: asymptomatic bacteriuria (ASB), a viral upper respiratory illness (URI), and a wound from a fall. Of 31 NH nurses and 66 community-dwelling older adults, 70% reported knowledge of the dangers of taking antibiotics. Nurses more often reported evidence-based attitudes towards antibiotics than older adults, except 39% agreed with the statement "by the time I am sick enough to go to the doctor with a cold, I expect an antibiotic", while only 28% of older adults agreed with it. A majority of nurses did not see the need for antibiotics in any of the three vignettes: 77% for the ASB vignette, 87% for the URI vignette, and 97% for the wound vignette. Among older adults, 50% did not perceive a need for antibiotics in the ASB vignette, 58% in the URI vignette, and 74% in the wound vignette. While a substantial minority had no knowledge of the dangers of antibiotic use, non-evidence-based attitudes towards antibiotics, and behaviors indicating inappropriate management of suspected infections, most NH nurses and community-dwelling older adults know the harms of antibiotic use and demonstrate evidence-based attitudes and behaviors. However, more work is needed to improve the

Systems Biology of the Immune Response to Live and Inactivated Dengue Virus Vaccines

DTIC Science & Technology

2017-09-01

Financial support;  In-kind support (e.g., partner makes software, computers , equipment, etc., available to project staff);  Facilities (e.g...reprints of manuscripts and abstracts, a curriculum vitae, patent applications, study questionnaires, and surveys , etc. Organization name: Walter...memory B-cells and the isotype usage of the antibody response. 9. A project-specific SQL database has been set up on a server based at URI. Major

Nicotine-Induced Antinociception in Male and Female Sprague-Dawley Rats

DTIC Science & Technology

1999-07-21

drugs, e.g., ibuprofen , naproxen, and fenbufen. These agents provide analgesia and also may act peripherally to decrease the inflammatory cascade (Wall...although a single dose of ibuprofen (a non-steroidal analgesic) was an effective analgesic against electrically-induced experimental pain in male subjects...discomfort from illness or injUry (e.g., ibuprofen ). Although these two drugs have been used safely and effectively for many years, we still do not know

Resource Utilization in Ambulatory Primary Care at Darnall Army Community Hospital, Fort Hood, Texas

DTIC Science & Technology

1991-07-23

population: gastroenteritis (GI), otitis media (OM), and upper respiratory infection (URI). These resources will be thc- dependent variables of the study...1991. The children ranged in age from 3 to 5 years old and were diagnosed with otitis media , upper respiratory tract infection, and gastroenteritis. A...x-rays wer-e rarely ordered to confirm the diagnoses of otitis media , gastroeinteritis. and upper respiratory tract infection. Only eight, laboratory

Arctic Haze: Natural or Pollution?

DTIC Science & Technology

1983-08-01

plus particulate) at that time are the highest observed anywhere. A natural marine source seems likely. Aircraft samples from the Eurasian Arctic allowed...Barrow with prominent synoptic features -22- which favored organized transport. He was also able to correlate the seasonal cycle of the noncrustal Mn/V...ratio at Barrow with the westward migration of these features across Eurasia during winter. The URI studies showed that different kinds of pollution

Sustainable Materials Replacement for Prevention of Corrosion at Fort Lewis, WA

DTIC Science & Technology

2009-08-01

of volatile compounds. • Water-conservative fixtures will be installed, including waterless uri- nals and dual - flush toilets . (Composting toilets were...executed to assess the cost impacts of the selected tech- nologies. Energy consumption of the renovated building will first be simu- lated, then monitored...available, the DoD backlog of maintenance and repair re- quirements continues to grow, which has negative impacts on readiness, facility suitability for

DARPA-URI Consortium Meetings on Submicron Heterostructures of Diluted Magnetic Semiconductors.

DTIC Science & Technology

1987-01-01

Acta Physica Polonica (to be published). 89. B.E. Larson, K.C. Hass, H. Ehrenreich and A.E. Carlsson, "Theory of Exchange Interactions and Chemical...Rodriguez, "Parity Violation and Electron-Spin Resonance of Donors in Semiconductors" (to appear in Physica ). 45. Z. Barticevic, M. Dobrowolska, J.K. Furdyna

Ontobee: A linked ontology data server to support ontology term dereferencing, linkage, query and integration

PubMed Central

Ong, Edison; Xiang, Zuoshuang; Zhao, Bin; Liu, Yue; Lin, Yu; Zheng, Jie; Mungall, Chris; Courtot, Mélanie; Ruttenberg, Alan; He, Yongqun

2017-01-01

Linked Data (LD) aims to achieve interconnected data by representing entities using Unified Resource Identifiers (URIs), and sharing information using Resource Description Frameworks (RDFs) and HTTP. Ontologies, which logically represent entities and relations in specific domains, are the basis of LD. Ontobee (http://www.ontobee.org/) is a linked ontology data server that stores ontology information using RDF triple store technology and supports query, visualization and linkage of ontology terms. Ontobee is also the default linked data server for publishing and browsing biomedical ontologies in the Open Biological Ontology (OBO) Foundry (http://obofoundry.org) library. Ontobee currently hosts more than 180 ontologies (including 131 OBO Foundry Library ontologies) with over four million terms. Ontobee provides a user-friendly web interface for querying and visualizing the details and hierarchy of a specific ontology term. Using the eXtensible Stylesheet Language Transformation (XSLT) technology, Ontobee is able to dereference a single ontology term URI, and then output RDF/eXtensible Markup Language (XML) for computer processing or display the HTML information on a web browser for human users. Statistics and detailed information are generated and displayed for each ontology listed in Ontobee. In addition, a SPARQL web interface is provided for custom advanced SPARQL queries of one or multiple ontologies. PMID:27733503

Effects of viral respiratory disease education and surveillance on antibiotic prescribing.

PubMed

Temte, J L; Shult, P A; Kirk, C J; Amspaugh, J

1999-02-01

We describe a partnership between family practice residency clinics and a state public health virology laboratory that has produced comprehensive viral respiratory disease education and surveillance. Family practice residents have been provided with education on respiratory viruses and the results of ongoing viral surveillance. The preliminary effects of this program on antibiotic prescribing by senior residents are evaluated in this paper. We used a questionnaire to assess the acceptance by family practice residents of the educational component and the utility of ongoing viral surveillance. We used chart review to evaluate rates of antibiotic prescribing and the number of patients diagnosed per year with acute upper respiratory infection and acute bronchitis by senior residents in 1992 (preexposure) and 1996 (postexposure). By the third year of training, most residents (79%) reported receiving adequate training regarding common viral respiratory diseases. Moreover, residents reported that they were less likely to prescribe antibiotics to patients presenting with respiratory infections when provided with specific information on circulating viral pathogens. Antibiotic prescribing in the postexposure group was 68% lower for upper respiratory infection (URI) and 45% lower for a composite of URI and bronchitis. Education and monitoring of circulating respiratory viruses can result in familiarity with common disorders in primary care and reduce unnecessary antibiotic use.

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

Fugate, Grover J.

In 2010, the University of Rhode Island (URI) secured $2,000,000 from the Rhode Island Office of Energy Resources (OER) to support research studies for the identification of preferred sites for offshore renewable energy development in Rhode Island’s offshore waters. This research will provide the Rhode Island Coastal Resources Management Council (CRMC) with sound technical information to assist in the siting of wind turbines in Rhode Island’s offshore waters. CRMC is the state agency with jurisdiction over development, preservation and restoration of Rhode Island’s coasts out to the three-mile limit, and is the state’s authority for federal consistency. With technical supportmore » from URI, CRMC is currently leading the implementation of the Rhode Island Ocean Special Area Management Plan (Ocean SAMP) with the purpose of developing policies and standards to guide the development of offshore renewable energy. The justification behind renewable energy development in Rhode Island includes diversifying the energy sources supplying electricity consumed in the state, stabilizing long-term energy prices, enhancing environmental quality – including the reduction of air pollutants and greenhouse gas emissions – reducing the state’s reliance on fossil fuels, and creating jobs in Rhode Island in the renewable energy sector.« less

Special Inspector General for Iraq Reconstruction: Quarterly Report and Semiannual Report to the United States Congress

DTIC Science & Technology

2007-07-30

enacted November 14, 2005 • P.L. 109-148, Department of Defense, Emergency Supplemental Appropria- tions To Address Hurricanes in the Gulf of Mexico ...CEFMS IRRF NON- CONSTRUCTION THROUGH JUNE 2007 4256 W91GET-07-C-0301-NA-0001 FALCON SECURITY LTD *URI#27076* PROVIDE PERSONNEL ADN EQUIPMENT WITH... TUBERCULOSIS SCREENING EQUIPMENT FOR CTRS NC-EQUIPMENT PROCUREMENT AND MODERNIZATION NON-CONSTRUCTION $1,363,058.43 $1,363,058.43 $0.00 CEFMS IRRF NON

Epidemiological Surveillance of Influenza and Other Respiratory Diseases in Military Personnel. Prevention of Influenza and Other Respiratory Diseases - Laboratory Studies

DTIC Science & Technology

1987-06-30

of itself without any particular action. The number of positive throat cultures obtained each week are presented in Table 10. Strep - tococcal...number of individuals coming to the Clinic with URI symptoms and temperatures’C990 F is shown in the left hand column (Table 10). These numbers include...students. COMPARISON OF DIFFERENT TESTS FOR THE DIAGNOSIS OF INFLUENZA There were 15 students and 77 permanent party from whom we obtained throat

The Impact of Typhoons on the Ocean in the Pacific (ITOP) Field and Data Management Support

DTIC Science & Technology

2011-12-16

in October o f 2009 to develop effective sampling strategies for 20 I 0. EOL /Computing Data and Software Facil ity (CDS) supported the !TO P Dry Run...measurement strategies necessitated a dry run experiment in October of 2009 to develop effective sampling strategies for 2010. EOL /Computing Data and...contains products from 21 September through 32 October 2009. The catalog remains accessible at EOL at the above mentioned uri. The products listed by

NATO: Maintaining Relevance in the Twenty-First Century

DTIC Science & Technology

2012-06-01

NATO Secretary General. “NATO after Lybia.” Foreign Affairs (July/August 2011): 1–3. Arendt , Hannah . On Violence. Orlando, FL: Harcourt Books...2003. http://eur- lex.europa.eu/JOHtml.do?uri=OJ:L:2003:143:SOM:EN:HTML (accessed February 1, 2011). d’ Entreves, Maurizio Passerin. Hannah Arendt ...Stanford Encylcopedia of Philosophy). July 27, 2006. http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/ arendt / (accessed June 5, 2011). 66 Faria, Fernanda. “EUISS

The Blended Finite Element Method for Multi-fluid Plasma Modeling

DTIC Science & Technology

2016-07-01

Briefing Charts 3. DATES COVERED (From - To) 07 June 2016 - 01 July 2016 4. TITLE AND SUBTITLE The Blended Finite Element Method for Multi-fluid Plasma...BLENDED FINITE ELEMENT METHOD FOR MULTI-FLUID PLASMA MODELING Éder M. Sousa1, Uri Shumlak2 1ERC INC., IN-SPACE PROPULSION BRANCH (RQRS) AIR FORCE RESEARCH...MULTI-FLUID PLASMA MODEL 2 BLENDED FINITE ELEMENT METHOD Blended Finite Element Method Nodal Continuous Galerkin Modal Discontinuous Galerkin Model

The Media’s Role in Combatting Terrorism

DTIC Science & Technology

1991-04-01

changed after the1972 Munich Olympics Massacre; from then on, the PLO was a force to be reckoned and negotiated with. For better or worse, Yasser Arafat...Coverage During Captivity," Political Communication and Persuation . Vol. 5, No. 4, 1988, p. 244. 12. Uri Ra’anan, Robert L. Pfaltzgraff, Jr., Richard H...Media: Problems, Solutions and Counterproblems." Political Communication and Persuation . Vol. 6, 4 November 1989, pp. 311-339. 12. Dilaura, Arnold E

Using Stream Features for Instant Document Filtering

DTIC Science & Technology

2012-11-01

expansion and qual- ity indicators in searching microblog posts. Advances in Information Retrieval, pages 362–367, 2011. [12] N. Naveed, T. Gottron, J ...16] G Salton and C Buckley. Term-weighting approaches in automatic text retrieval. Information Processing & Management, 24(5):513–523, 1988. [17...Overview of the TREC-2012 Microblog Track. In trec.nist.gov. NIST. [19] Michael J Welch, Uri Schonfeld, Dan He, and Junghoo Cho. Topical semantics of

Integrated Warfare Requirements Methodology (IWRM). Phase 1 - Feasibility Study

DTIC Science & Technology

1981-05-29

effects of chemical antidotes will produce short-term reductions in effectiveness @ The psychological effects of mass destruction, fE ’, and the fa- tigue...scoreboards for each combat posture, iS necessary. K-i T ’Ri ATAR US i puu s t n d (t Uri Cu0! i~t .L voy )1 J I fy 1119 a3 Tif it’ s dL. t 1u e1 I V ver

Link Correlated Military Data for Better Decision Support

DTIC Science & Technology

2011-06-01

automatically translated into URI based links, thus can greatly reduce man power cost on software development. 3 Linked Data Technique Tim Berners - Lee ...Linked Data - while Linked Data is usually considered as part of Semantic Web, or “the Semantic Web done right” as described by Tim himself - has been...Required data of automatic link construction mechanism on more kinds of correlations. References [1] B. L. Tim , “The next Web of open, linked data

Linked Ocean Data

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Leadbetter, Adam; Arko, Robert; Chandler, Cynthia; Shepherd, Adam

2014-05-01

"Linked Data" is a term used in Computer Science to encapsulate a methodology for publishing data and metadata in a structured format so that links may be created and exploited between objects. Berners-Lee (2006) outlines the following four design principles of a Linked Data system: Use Uniform Resource Identifiers (URIs) as names for things. Use HyperText Transfer Protocol (HTTP) URIs so that people can look up those names. When someone looks up a URI, provide useful information, using the standards (Resource Description Framework [RDF] and the RDF query language [SPARQL]). Include links to other URIs so that they can discover more things. In 2010, Berners-Lee revisited his original design plan for Linked Data to encourage data owners along a path to "good Linked Data". This revision involved the creation of a five star rating system for Linked Data outlined below. One star: Available on the web (in any format). Two stars: Available as machine-readable structured data (e.g. An Excel spreadsheet instead of an image scan of a table). Three stars: As two stars plus the use of a non-proprietary format (e.g. Comma Separated Values instead of Excel). Four stars: As three stars plus the use of open standards from the World Wide Web Commission (W3C) (i.e. RDF and SPARQL) to identify things, so that people can point to your data and metadata. Five stars: All the above plus link your data to other people's data to provide context Here we present work building on the SeaDataNet common vocabularies served by the NERC Vocabulary Server, connecting projects such as the Rolling Deck to Repository (R2R) and the Biological and Chemical Oceanography Data Management Office (BCO-DMO) and other vocabularies such as the Marine Metadata Interoperability Ontology Register and Repository and the NASA Global Change Master Directory to create a Linked Ocean Data cloud. Publishing the vocabularies and metadata in standard RDF XML and exposing SPARQL endpoints renders them five-star Linked

Distribution and Geochemistry of Rare-Earth Elements in Rivers of Southern and Eastern Primorye (Far East of Russia)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Chudaev, O. V.; Bragin, I. V.; A, Kharitonova N.; Chelnokov, G. A.

2016-03-01

The distribution and geochemistry of rare earth elements (REE) in anthropogenic, technogenic and natural surface waters of southern and eastern Primorye, Far East of Russia, are presented in this study. The obtained results indicated that most of REE (up to 70%) were transported as suspended matter, ratio between dissolved and suspended forms varing from the source to the mouth of rivers. It is shown that all REE (except Ce) in the source of the rivers are predominantly presented in dissolved form, however, the content of light and heavy REE is different. Short-term enrichment of light rare earth elements (LREE) caused by REE-rich runoff from waste dumps and mining is neutralized by the increase in river flow rate. Rivers in urban areas are characterized by high content of LREE in dissolved form and very low in suspended one.

Bacteremia in nonneutropenic pediatric oncology patients with central venous catheters in the ED.

PubMed

Moskalewicz, Risha L; Isenalumhe, Leidy L; Luu, Cindy; Wee, Choo Phei; Nager, Alan L

2017-01-01

To examine clinical characteristics associated with bacteremia in febrile nonneutropenic pediatric oncology patients with central venous catheters (CVCs) in the emergency department (ED). Fever is the primary reason pediatric oncology patients present to the ED. The literature states that 0.9% to 39% of febrile nonneutropenic oncology patients are bacteremic, yet few studies have investigated infectious risk factors in this population. This was a retrospective cohort study in a pediatric ED, reviewing medical records from 2002 to 2014. Inclusion criteria were patients with cancer, temperature at least 38°C, presence of a CVC, absolute neutrophil count greater than 500 cells/μL, and age less than 22 years. Exclusion criteria were repeat ED visits within 72 hours, bloodwork results not reported by the laboratory, and patients without oncologic history documented at the study hospital. The primary outcome measure is a positive blood culture (+BC). Other variables include age, sex, CVC type, cancer diagnosis, absolute neutrophil count, vital signs, upper respiratory infection (URI) symptoms, and amount of intravenous (IV) normal saline (NS) administered in the ED. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics and a multiple logistic regression model. A total of 1322 ED visits were sampled, with 534 enrolled, and 39 visits had +BC (7.3%). Variables associated with an increased risk of +BC included the following: absence of URI symptoms (odds ratio [OR], 2.30; 95% CI, 1.13-4.69), neuroblastoma (OR, 3.65; 95% CI, 1.47-9.09), "other" cancer diagnosis (OR, 4.56; 95% CI, 1.93-10.76), tunneled externalized CVC (OR, 5.04; 95% CI, 2.25-11.28), and receiving at least 20 mL/kg IV NS (OR, 2.34; 95% CI, 1.2-4.55). The results of a multiple logistic regression model also showed these variables to be associated with +BC. The absence of URI symptoms, presence of an externalized CVC, neuroblastoma or other cancer diagnosis, and receiving at least 20 mL/kg IV NS in the ED are

Host and viral factors associated with severity of human rhinovirus-associated infant respiratory tract illness.

PubMed

Miller, E Kathryn; Williams, John V; Gebretsadik, Tebeb; Carroll, Kecia N; Dupont, William D; Mohamed, Yassir A; Morin, Laura-Lee; Heil, Luke; Minton, Patricia A; Woodward, Kimberly; Liu, Zhouwen; Hartert, Tina V

2011-04-01

Risk factors for severe human rhinovirus (HRV)-associated infant illness are unknown. We sought to examine the role of HRV infection in infant respiratory tract illness and assess viral and host risk factors for HRV-associated disease severity. We used a prospective cohort of term, previously healthy infants enrolled during an inpatient or outpatient visit for acute upper or lower respiratory tract illness during the fall-spring months of 2004-2008. Illness severity was determined by using an ordinal bronchiolitis severity score, with higher scores indicating more severe disease. HRV was identified by means of real-time RT-PCR. The VP4/VP2 region from HRV-positive specimens was sequenced to determine species. Of 630 infants with bronchiolitis or upper respiratory tract illnesses (URIs), 162 (26%) had HRV infection; HRV infection was associated with 18% of cases of bronchiolitis and 47% of cases of URI. Among infants with HRV infection, 104 (64%) had HRV infection alone. Host factors associated with more severe HRV-associated illness included a maternal and family history of atopy (median score of 3.5 [interquartile range [IQR], 1.0-7.8] vs 2.0 [IQR, 1.0-5.2] and 3.5 [IQR, 1.0-7.5] vs 2.0 [IQR, 0-4.0]). In adjusted analyses maternal history of atopy conferred an increase in the risk for more severe HRV-associated bronchiolitis (odds ratio, 2.39; 95% CI, 1.14-4.99; P = .02). In a similar model maternal asthma was also associated with greater HRV-associated bronchiolitis severity (odds ratio, 2.49, 95% CI, 1.10-5.67; P = .03). Among patients with HRV infection, 35% had HRVA, 6% had HRVB, and 30% had HRVC. HRV infection was a frequent cause of bronchiolitis and URIs among previously healthy term infants requiring hospitalization or unscheduled outpatient visits. Substantial viral genetic diversity was seen among the patients with HRV infection, and predominant groups varied by season and year. Host factors, including maternal atopy, were associated with more severe

A journey to Semantic Web query federation in the life sciences.

PubMed

Cheung, Kei-Hoi; Frost, H Robert; Marshall, M Scott; Prud'hommeaux, Eric; Samwald, Matthias; Zhao, Jun; Paschke, Adrian

2009-10-01

As interest in adopting the Semantic Web in the biomedical domain continues to grow, Semantic Web technology has been evolving and maturing. A variety of technological approaches including triplestore technologies, SPARQL endpoints, Linked Data, and Vocabulary of Interlinked Datasets have emerged in recent years. In addition to the data warehouse construction, these technological approaches can be used to support dynamic query federation. As a community effort, the BioRDF task force, within the Semantic Web for Health Care and Life Sciences Interest Group, is exploring how these emerging approaches can be utilized to execute distributed queries across different neuroscience data sources. We have created two health care and life science knowledge bases. We have explored a variety of Semantic Web approaches to describe, map, and dynamically query multiple datasets. We have demonstrated several federation approaches that integrate diverse types of information about neurons and receptors that play an important role in basic, clinical, and translational neuroscience research. Particularly, we have created a prototype receptor explorer which uses OWL mappings to provide an integrated list of receptors and executes individual queries against different SPARQL endpoints. We have also employed the AIDA Toolkit, which is directed at groups of knowledge workers who cooperatively search, annotate, interpret, and enrich large collections of heterogeneous documents from diverse locations. We have explored a tool called "FeDeRate", which enables a global SPARQL query to be decomposed into subqueries against the remote databases offering either SPARQL or SQL query interfaces. Finally, we have explored how to use the vocabulary of interlinked Datasets (voiD) to create metadata for describing datasets exposed as Linked Data URIs or SPARQL endpoints. We have demonstrated the use of a set of novel and state-of-the-art Semantic Web technologies in support of a neuroscience query

A journey to Semantic Web query federation in the life sciences

PubMed Central

Cheung, Kei-Hoi; Frost, H Robert; Marshall, M Scott; Prud'hommeaux, Eric; Samwald, Matthias; Zhao, Jun; Paschke, Adrian

2009-01-01

Background As interest in adopting the Semantic Web in the biomedical domain continues to grow, Semantic Web technology has been evolving and maturing. A variety of technological approaches including triplestore technologies, SPARQL endpoints, Linked Data, and Vocabulary of Interlinked Datasets have emerged in recent years. In addition to the data warehouse construction, these technological approaches can be used to support dynamic query federation. As a community effort, the BioRDF task force, within the Semantic Web for Health Care and Life Sciences Interest Group, is exploring how these emerging approaches can be utilized to execute distributed queries across different neuroscience data sources. Methods and results We have created two health care and life science knowledge bases. We have explored a variety of Semantic Web approaches to describe, map, and dynamically query multiple datasets. We have demonstrated several federation approaches that integrate diverse types of information about neurons and receptors that play an important role in basic, clinical, and translational neuroscience research. Particularly, we have created a prototype receptor explorer which uses OWL mappings to provide an integrated list of receptors and executes individual queries against different SPARQL endpoints. We have also employed the AIDA Toolkit, which is directed at groups of knowledge workers who cooperatively search, annotate, interpret, and enrich large collections of heterogeneous documents from diverse locations. We have explored a tool called "FeDeRate", which enables a global SPARQL query to be decomposed into subqueries against the remote databases offering either SPARQL or SQL query interfaces. Finally, we have explored how to use the vocabulary of interlinked Datasets (voiD) to create metadata for describing datasets exposed as Linked Data URIs or SPARQL endpoints. Conclusion We have demonstrated the use of a set of novel and state-of-the-art Semantic Web technologies

Morbidity Rates during a Military Cold Weather Exercise: Empire Glacier 1980.

DTIC Science & Technology

1981-10-28

stomach upset, or pain and hemorrhoids . Flu constituted 9.6% of the GI cases (although more appropriately might have been included with URI). The...COMPLAINTS Eleven-day Totals Ave./Day Rates* 1. Nausea (Upset Stomach) 33 (3.0) .34 2. Stomach Pain 26 (2.4) .27 3. Hemorrhoids 18 (1.6) .18 Flu...Reported that cold usually bothers him, that hemorrhoids are aggravated by the cold. Doesn’t care for cold weather in general. No classroom instruction and

Special Inspector General for Iraq Reconstruction. Quarterly and Semiannual Report to the United States Congress

DTIC Science & Technology

2007-07-30

of Mexico , and Pandemic Influenza Act, 2006, enacted December 30, 2005 • P.L. 109-234, The Emergency Supplemental Appropriations Act for Defense...1,561,750.00 $0.00 CEFMS IRRF NON- CONSTRUCTION THROUGH JUNE 2007 4256 W91GET-07-C-0301-NA-0001 FALCON SECURITY LTD *URI#27076* PROVIDE PERSONNEL ADN EQUIPMENT... TUBERCULOSIS SCREENING EQUIPMENT FOR CTRS NC-EQUIPMENT PROCUREMENT AND MODERNIZATION NON-CONSTRUCTION $1,363,058.43 $1,363,058.43 $0.00 CEFMS IRRF

Proceedings of the International Topical Conference on Electron Beam Research and Technology, Held in Albuquerque, New Mexico on 3-6 November 1975. Volume 1

DTIC Science & Technology

1975-11-01

was short- circuited by the surface current flowing in the skin-layer of a plasma channel. This current induced the magnetic field around the channel...subjects in the program of REB application to pulsed fusion. For this reason it was decided to carry out scaling experiments on multi- module radial...Sci. Instr. 41_, 1334 (1970). 7. M. Friedman and M. Ury, Rev. Sci. Instr. 43, 1659 (1972). 372 Figure 1. Circuit Diagram for the Long Pulse

Pandemic Influenza Virus 2009 H1N1 and Adenovirus in a High Risk Population of Young Adults: Epidemiology, Comparison of Clinical Presentations, and Coinfection

DTIC Science & Technology

2014-01-08

Pandemic Influenza Virus 2009 H1N1 and Adenovirus in a High Risk Population of Young Adults: Epidemiology, Comparison of Clinical Presentations, and... H1N1 influenza virus (2009 H1N1 ) emerged worldwide, causing morbidity and mortality that disproportionately affected young adults. Upper respiratory...adenovirus and 2009 H1N1 were prospectively collected. Results: 375 trainees with URI enrolled and were tested for both adenovirus and 2009 H1N1 by

China 2015: U.S. National Strategic Policy Now and Then

DTIC Science & Technology

1996-06-05

even rosy outlook are from Gregor (UC Berkely ) and Kelly (Pacific CSIS), who firmly believe that China currently views us as an enemy who will...Xinxian, Sanjiu Enterprise Group, the PLA’s first transnational corporation , Boston Globe, May 17, 1993, Bickford, 460. 63Dadush, Uri and Dong He...34China: A New Power in World Trade," Finance and Development, Vol. 32, June 1995, 37. 64Knocking Knees," The Economist, 16 March 1996, 40. 65 Harry

Ontobee: A linked ontology data server to support ontology term dereferencing, linkage, query and integration.

PubMed

Ong, Edison; Xiang, Zuoshuang; Zhao, Bin; Liu, Yue; Lin, Yu; Zheng, Jie; Mungall, Chris; Courtot, Mélanie; Ruttenberg, Alan; He, Yongqun

2017-01-04

Linked Data (LD) aims to achieve interconnected data by representing entities using Unified Resource Identifiers (URIs), and sharing information using Resource Description Frameworks (RDFs) and HTTP. Ontologies, which logically represent entities and relations in specific domains, are the basis of LD. Ontobee (http://www.ontobee.org/) is a linked ontology data server that stores ontology information using RDF triple store technology and supports query, visualization and linkage of ontology terms. Ontobee is also the default linked data server for publishing and browsing biomedical ontologies in the Open Biological Ontology (OBO) Foundry (http://obofoundry.org) library. Ontobee currently hosts more than 180 ontologies (including 131 OBO Foundry Library ontologies) with over four million terms. Ontobee provides a user-friendly web interface for querying and visualizing the details and hierarchy of a specific ontology term. Using the eXtensible Stylesheet Language Transformation (XSLT) technology, Ontobee is able to dereference a single ontology term URI, and then output RDF/eXtensible Markup Language (XML) for computer processing or display the HTML information on a web browser for human users. Statistics and detailed information are generated and displayed for each ontology listed in Ontobee. In addition, a SPARQL web interface is provided for custom advanced SPARQL queries of one or multiple ontologies. © The Author(s) 2016. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of Nucleic Acids Research.

STS-102 Expedition 2 Increment and Science Briefing

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

2001-01-01

Merri Sanchez, Expedition 2 Increment Manager, John Uri, Increment Scientist, and Lybrease Woodard, Lead Payload Operations Director, give an overview of the upcoming activities and objectives of the Expedition 2's (E2's) mission in this prelaunch press conference. Ms. Sanchez describes the crew rotation of Expedition 1 to E2, the timeline E2 will follow during their stay on the International Space Station (ISS), and the various flights going to the ISS and what each will bring to ISS. Mr. Uri gives details on the on-board experiments that will take place on the ISS in the fields of microgravity research, commercial, earth, life, and space sciences (such as radiation characterization, H-reflex, colloids formation and interaction, protein crystal growth, plant growth, fermentation in microgravity, etc.). He also gives details on the scientific facilities to be used (laboratory racks and equipment such as the human torso facsimile or 'phantom torso'). Ms. Woodard gives an overview of Marshall Flight Center's role in the mission. Computerized simulations show the installation of the Space Station Remote Manipulator System (SSRMS) onto the ISS and the installation of the airlock using SSRMS. Live footage shows the interior of the ISS, including crew living quarters, the Progress Module, and the Destiny Laboratory. The three then answer questions from the press.

Physicians in health care management: 10. Managing conflict through negotiation.

PubMed Central

Lemieux-Charles, L

1994-01-01

The recent focus on collaborative relationships in health care means that people and groups must cooperate to accomplish clinical and management tasks. This increasing interdependence may also cause increased organizational conflict. The management of conflicts is critical to the effectiveness of an organization. Negotiating strategies, based on Fisher and Ury's method of "principled negotiation," include establishing superordinate goals, separating the people from the problem, focussing on interests, inventing options, using objective criteria and defining success in terms of gains. PMID:7922944

Increase in Blood-Brain Barrier Perrmeability, Oxidative Stress, and Activated Microglia in a Rat Model of Blast-Induced Traumatic Brain Injury

DTIC Science & Technology

2010-01-01

a critical role in the secondary it~ury process following TBI. In recent work, our coiJeagues demonstrated that, in both controlled cortical...Animals were then placed inco the end of the expansion chamber of an air-driven shock tube (2.5 ft com- pression chamber conn!:cted to a 15 ft expansion...Significance with A NOVA fo llowed by post hoc analysis (SNK) as follows: * P < 0.05. progression of neuropatho logical processes tha t could be relevant to

Moscow’s Post-Brezhnev Reassessment of the Third World.

DTIC Science & Technology

1986-02-01

F. Fukuyama, "The New Marxist-Leninist States and Internal Conflict in the Third World," in Uri Ra’anan et al ., Third World Marxist-Leninist Regimes...work in the specialized institutes. ’Dzirkals et al . (1982). p. 20. 12For example, the internal Central Committee debate on the lessons of Chile after...fairly clear motive for sales to countries like Libya. % 2The study by Charles Wolf et al . (1983) cited earlier attempts to perform a more rigorous

NetCDF4/HDF5 and Linked Data in the Real World - Enriching Geoscientific Metadata without Bloat

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ip, Alex; Car, Nicholas; Druken, Kelsey; Poudjom-Djomani, Yvette; Butcher, Stirling; Evans, Ben; Wyborn, Lesley

2017-04-01

NetCDF4 has become the dominant generic format for many forms of geoscientific data, leveraging (and constraining) the versatile HDF5 container format, while providing metadata conventions for interoperability. However, the encapsulation of detailed metadata within each file can lead to metadata "bloat", and difficulty in maintaining consistency where metadata is replicated to multiple locations. Complex conceptual relationships are also difficult to represent in simple key-value netCDF metadata. Linked Data provides a practical mechanism to address these issues by associating the netCDF files and their internal variables with complex metadata stored in Semantic Web vocabularies and ontologies, while complying with and complementing existing metadata conventions. One of the stated objectives of the netCDF4/HDF5 formats is that they should be self-describing: containing metadata sufficient for cataloguing and using the data. However, this objective can be regarded as only partially-met where details of conventions and definitions are maintained externally to the data files. For example, one of the most widely used netCDF community standards, the Climate and Forecasting (CF) Metadata Convention, maintains standard vocabularies for a broad range of disciplines across the geosciences, but this metadata is currently neither readily discoverable nor machine-readable. We have previously implemented useful Linked Data and netCDF tooling (ncskos) that associates netCDF files, and individual variables within those files, with concepts in vocabularies formulated using the Simple Knowledge Organization System (SKOS) ontology. NetCDF files contain Uniform Resource Identifier (URI) links to terms represented as SKOS Concepts, rather than plain-text representations of those terms, so we can use simple, standardised web queries to collect and use rich metadata for the terms from any Linked Data-presented SKOS vocabulary. Geoscience Australia (GA) manages a large volume of diverse

Crystalline lens dislocation secondary to bacterial endogenous endophthalmitis.

PubMed

Sangave, Amit; Komati, Rahul; Weinmann, Allison; Samuel, Linoj; Desai, Uday

2017-09-01

To present an unusual case of endogenous endophthalmitis secondary to Group A streptococcus (GAS) that resulted in dislocation of the crystalline lens. An immunocompetent 51-year-old man presented to the emergency room (ER) with upper respiratory infection (URI) symptoms and painful right eye. He was diagnosed with URI and viral conjunctivitis and discharged on oral azithromycin and polytrim eyedrops. He returned to the ER 30 h later with sepsis and findings consistent with endophthalmitis, including light perception only vision. Ophthalmology was consulted at this time and an emergent vitreous tap and injection was performed. Both blood and vitreous cultures grew an atypical non-hemolytic variant of GAS ( Streptococcus pyogenes ). The primary source of infection was presumed to be secondary to pharyngitis or cutaneous dissemination. Final vision in the affected eye was no light perception, likely from a combination of anterior segment scarring, posterior segment damage, and hypotony. Interestingly, head computed tomography (CT) at the initial ER presentation showed normal lens position, but repeat CT at re-presentation revealed posterior dislocation of the lens. Endophthalmitis secondary to GAS has been sparsely reported in the literature, and this case highlights a unique clinical presentation. We suspect that this atypical non-hemolytic strain may have evaded detection on initial pharyngeal cultures. Additionally, we hypothesize that GAS-mediated protease release resulted in breakdown of the zonular fibers and subsequent lens dislocation. Ophthalmologists should be aware of GAS and its devastating intraocular manifestations.

Final report of PVM-6 and PVM-7 Weather Documentation, AFCRL/Minuteman Report Number 6

DTIC Science & Technology

1975-09-11

Research Laboratories, Hanscon AFB, MA 01731. USAFGL ltr, 1 Aug 1983 TH!3 R~PORT HAS BEEN DELIMI~ED AND CLtARED FOR PUBLIC REL~5E UNDER DOP DiRECTIVE...5200.20 AND NO RESTniCTIONS ARE IMPDSED UPON r rs usE P.ND n 1 scu1sURI:. DISTRIBUTION STATE~ENT A APPROVED FQR PUBLIC RELEASE; DISTRIBUTION...NO AFCRL -TR-75 -04817^ F C ^ I - 1 ^T" 1 . » " 3^ 3 / *■ TlTUSfltf fidUtUlt- JINAL REPORT OFPyM-6 AND PVM-7 WEATHER DOCUMENTATION^ | AFCRl

dada - a web-based 2D detector analysis tool

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Osterhoff, Markus

2017-06-01

The data daemon, dada, is a server backend for unified access to 2D pixel detector image data stored with different detectors, file formats and saved with varying naming conventions and folder structures across instruments. Furthermore, dada implements basic pre-processing and analysis routines from pixel binning over azimuthal integration to raster scan processing. Common user interactions with dada are by a web frontend, but all parameters for an analysis are encoded into a Uniform Resource Identifier (URI) which can also be written by hand or scripts for batch processing.

The semantic architecture of the World-Wide Molecular Matrix (WWMM)

PubMed Central

2011-01-01

The World-Wide Molecular Matrix (WWMM) is a ten year project to create a peer-to-peer (P2P) system for the publication and collection of chemical objects, including over 250, 000 molecules. It has now been instantiated in a number of repositories which include data encoded in Chemical Markup Language (CML) and linked by URIs and RDF. The technical specification and implementation is now complete. We discuss the types of architecture required to implement nodes in the WWMM and consider the social issues involved in adoption. PMID:21999475

Understanding Change: Sigismund Von Schlichting and the Operational Level of War

DTIC Science & Technology

1989-05-10

Day-, we see the relationship between mass arT ie- lethal weapons and the emergence of both a nw form c,’ co:mrtat (which we now call ALI+tragStakt ik...war wa_,sa - science , and that wi su-f+icient Plannino the eet c a mp a: Qn could be aoresc-1 arnd arranac wi th somethi~.ng mathematical certainty. In...clearly that the technological changes of the 19th CentUry had created a new form of the military art --what we now call the ooerat2.~nal art . His

The semantic architecture of the World-Wide Molecular Matrix (WWMM).

PubMed

Murray-Rust, Peter; Adams, Sam E; Downing, Jim; Townsend, Joe A; Zhang, Yong

2011-10-14

The World-Wide Molecular Matrix (WWMM) is a ten year project to create a peer-to-peer (P2P) system for the publication and collection of chemical objects, including over 250, 000 molecules. It has now been instantiated in a number of repositories which include data encoded in Chemical Markup Language (CML) and linked by URIs and RDF. The technical specification and implementation is now complete. We discuss the types of architecture required to implement nodes in the WWMM and consider the social issues involved in adoption.

The semantics of Chemical Markup Language (CML): dictionaries and conventions.

PubMed

Murray-Rust, Peter; Townsend, Joe A; Adams, Sam E; Phadungsukanan, Weerapong; Thomas, Jens

2011-10-14

The semantic architecture of CML consists of conventions, dictionaries and units. The conventions conform to a top-level specification and each convention can constrain compliant documents through machine-processing (validation). Dictionaries conform to a dictionary specification which also imposes machine validation on the dictionaries. Each dictionary can also be used to validate data in a CML document, and provide human-readable descriptions. An additional set of conventions and dictionaries are used to support scientific units. All conventions, dictionaries and dictionary elements are identifiable and addressable through unique URIs.

The semantics of Chemical Markup Language (CML): dictionaries and conventions

PubMed Central

2011-01-01

The semantic architecture of CML consists of conventions, dictionaries and units. The conventions conform to a top-level specification and each convention can constrain compliant documents through machine-processing (validation). Dictionaries conform to a dictionary specification which also imposes machine validation on the dictionaries. Each dictionary can also be used to validate data in a CML document, and provide human-readable descriptions. An additional set of conventions and dictionaries are used to support scientific units. All conventions, dictionaries and dictionary elements are identifiable and addressable through unique URIs. PMID:21999509

Pliocene-Pleistocene changes in Arctic sea-ice cover: New biomarker records from Fram Strait/Yermak Plateau (ODP Sites 911 and 912)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Stein, Ruediger; Fahl, Kirsten

2013-04-01

Recently, a novel and promising biomarker proxy for reconstruction of Arctic sea-ice conditions was developed and is based on the determination of a highly branched isoprenoid with 25 carbons (IP25; Belt et al., 2007). Following this pioneer IP25 study by Belt and colleagues, several IP25 studies of marine surface sediments and sediment cores as well as sediment trap samples from northpolar areas were carried out successfully and allowed detailed reconstruction of modern and late Quaternary sea ice variability in these regions (e.g., Massé et al., 2008; Müller et al., 2009, 2011; Vare et al., 2009; Belt et al., 2010; Fahl and Stein, 2012; for review see Stein et al., 2012). Here, we present new (low-resolution) biomarker records from Ocean Drilling Program (ODP) Sites 911 and 912, representing the Pliocene-Pleistocene time interval (including the interval of major intensification of Northern Hemisphere Glaciation near 2.7 Ma). These data indicate that sea ice of variable extent was present in the Fram Strait/southern Yermak Plateau area during most of the time period under investigation. In general, an increase in sea-ice cover seems to correlate with phases of extended late Pliocene-Pleistocene continental ice-sheets. At ODP Site 912, a significant increase in sea-ice extension occurred near 1.2 Ma (Stein and Fahl, 2012). Furthermore, our data support the idea that a combination of IP25 and open water, phytoplankton biomarker data ("PIP25 index"; Müller et al., 2011) may give more reliable and quantitative estimates of past sea-ice cover (at least for the study area). This study reveals that the novel IP25/PIP25 biomarker approach has potential for semi-quantitative paleo-sea ice studies covering the entire Quaternary and motivate to carry out further detailed high-resolution research on ODP/IODP material using this proxy. References Belt, S.T., Massé, G., Rowland, S.J., Poulin, M., Michel, C., LeBlanc, B., 2007. A novel chemical fossil of palaeo sea ice: IP25

Moby and Moby 2: creatures of the deep (web).

PubMed

Vandervalk, Ben P; McCarthy, E Luke; Wilkinson, Mark D

2009-03-01

Facile and meaningful integration of data from disparate resources is the 'holy grail' of bioinformatics. Some resources have begun to address this problem by providing their data using Semantic Web standards, specifically the Resource Description Framework (RDF) and the Web Ontology Language (OWL). Unfortunately, adoption of Semantic Web standards has been slow overall, and even in cases where the standards are being utilized, interconnectivity between resources is rare. In response, we have seen the emergence of centralized 'semantic warehouses' that collect public data from third parties, integrate it, translate it into OWL/RDF and provide it to the community as a unified and queryable resource. One limitation of the warehouse approach is that queries are confined to the resources that have been selected for inclusion. A related problem, perhaps of greater concern, is that the majority of bioinformatics data exists in the 'Deep Web'-that is, the data does not exist until an application or analytical tool is invoked, and therefore does not have a predictable Web address. The inability to utilize Uniform Resource Identifiers (URIs) to address this data is a barrier to its accessibility via URI-centric Semantic Web technologies. Here we examine 'The State of the Union' for the adoption of Semantic Web standards in the health care and life sciences domain by key bioinformatics resources, explore the nature and connectivity of several community-driven semantic warehousing projects, and report on our own progress with the CardioSHARE/Moby-2 project, which aims to make the resources of the Deep Web transparently accessible through SPARQL queries.

Associations between Viral Infection History Symptoms, Granulocyte Reactive Oxygen Species Activity, and Active Rheumatoid Arthritis Disease in Untreated Women at Onset: Results from a Longitudinal Cohort Study of Tatarstan Women

PubMed Central

Arleevskaya, Marina I.; Shafigullina, Albina Z.; Filina, Yulia V.; Lemerle, Julie; Renaudineau, Yves

2017-01-01

To evaluate the effects of infectious episodes at early stages of rheumatoid arthritis (eRA) development, 59 untreated eRA patients, 77 first-degree relatives, from a longitudinal Tatarstan women cohort, were included, and compared to 67 healthy women without rheumatoid arthritis (RA) in their family history. At inclusion, informations were collected regarding both the type and incidence of infectious symptom episodes in the preceding year, and granulocyte reactive oxygen species (ROS) were studied at the basal level and after stimulation with serum-treated zymosan (STZ). In the eRA group, clinical [disease activity score (DAS28), health assessment questionnaire] and biological parameters associated with inflammation (erythrocyte sedimentation rate, C-reactive protein) or with RA [rheumatoid factor, anticyclic citrullinated peptide (anti-CCP2) antibodies] were evaluated. An elevated incidence of infection events in the previous year characterized the eRA and relative groups. In addition, a history of herpes simplex virus (HSV) episodes was associated with disease activity, while an elevated incidence of anti-CCP2 autoantibody characterized eRA patients with a history of viral upper respiratory tract infection symptoms (V-URI). Granulocyte ROS activity in eRA patients was quantitatively [STZ peak and its area under the curve (AUC)] and qualitatively (STZ time of peak) altered, positively correlated with disease activity, and parameters were associated with viral symptoms including HSV exacerbation/recurrence, and V-URI. In conclusion, our study provides arguments to consider a history of increased viral infection symptoms in RA at the early stage and such involvement needs to be studied further. PMID:29259607

Associations between Viral Infection History Symptoms, Granulocyte Reactive Oxygen Species Activity, and Active Rheumatoid Arthritis Disease in Untreated Women at Onset: Results from a Longitudinal Cohort Study of Tatarstan Women.

PubMed

Arleevskaya, Marina I; Shafigullina, Albina Z; Filina, Yulia V; Lemerle, Julie; Renaudineau, Yves

2017-01-01

To evaluate the effects of infectious episodes at early stages of rheumatoid arthritis (eRA) development, 59 untreated eRA patients, 77 first-degree relatives, from a longitudinal Tatarstan women cohort, were included, and compared to 67 healthy women without rheumatoid arthritis (RA) in their family history. At inclusion, informations were collected regarding both the type and incidence of infectious symptom episodes in the preceding year, and granulocyte reactive oxygen species (ROS) were studied at the basal level and after stimulation with serum-treated zymosan (STZ). In the eRA group, clinical [disease activity score (DAS28), health assessment questionnaire] and biological parameters associated with inflammation (erythrocyte sedimentation rate, C-reactive protein) or with RA [rheumatoid factor, anticyclic citrullinated peptide (anti-CCP2) antibodies] were evaluated. An elevated incidence of infection events in the previous year characterized the eRA and relative groups. In addition, a history of herpes simplex virus (HSV) episodes was associated with disease activity, while an elevated incidence of anti-CCP2 autoantibody characterized eRA patients with a history of viral upper respiratory tract infection symptoms (V-URI). Granulocyte ROS activity in eRA patients was quantitatively [STZ peak and its area under the curve (AUC)] and qualitatively (STZ time of peak) altered, positively correlated with disease activity, and parameters were associated with viral symptoms including HSV exacerbation/recurrence, and V-URI. In conclusion, our study provides arguments to consider a history of increased viral infection symptoms in RA at the early stage and such involvement needs to be studied further.

Histologic and Molecular Correlation in Shelter Cats with Acute Upper Respiratory Infection ▿

PubMed Central

Burns, Rachel E.; Wagner, Denae C.; Leutenegger, Christian M.; Pesavento, Patricia A.

2011-01-01

This is a descriptive study designed to correlate diagnostic real-time PCR results with histopathologic lesions in cats with clinical signs of upper respiratory infection (URI). The study occurred over a 9-month period in a single open-intake animal shelter. Cats that were selected for euthanasia by the shelter staff and additionally had URI were included in the study, for a total of 22 study cats. Combined conjunctival and oropharyngeal swab specimens were tested by quantitative real-time PCR (qPCR) for feline herpesvirus type 1 (FHV-1), feline calicivirus (FCV), Mycoplasma felis, Chlamydophila felis, and Bordetella bronchiseptica. Necropsy was performed on all cats, and a complete set of respiratory tract tissues was examined by histopathology. Among 22 cats, 20 were qPCR positive for FHV-1, 7 for M. felis, 5 for FCV, 1 for C. felis, and 0 for B. bronchiseptica. Nine cats were positive for two or more pathogens. Histopathologic lesions were present in all cats, with consistent lesions in the nasal cavity, including acute necroulcerative rhinitis in 16 cats. Histologic or antigenic detection of FHV-1 was seen in 18 of 20 cats positive for FHV-1 by qPCR. No lesions that could be specifically attributed to FCV, M. felis, or C. felis were seen, although interpretation in this cohort could be confounded by coinfection with FHV-1. A significant agreement was found between the amount of FHV-1 DNA determined by qPCR and the presence of specific histopathologic lesions for FHV-1 but not for the other respiratory pathogens. PMID:21562109

Histologic and molecular correlation in shelter cats with acute upper respiratory infection.

PubMed

Burns, Rachel E; Wagner, Denae C; Leutenegger, Christian M; Pesavento, Patricia A

2011-07-01

This is a descriptive study designed to correlate diagnostic real-time PCR results with histopathologic lesions in cats with clinical signs of upper respiratory infection (URI). The study occurred over a 9-month period in a single open-intake animal shelter. Cats that were selected for euthanasia by the shelter staff and additionally had URI were included in the study, for a total of 22 study cats. Combined conjunctival and oropharyngeal swab specimens were tested by quantitative real-time PCR (qPCR) for feline herpesvirus type 1 (FHV-1), feline calicivirus (FCV), Mycoplasma felis, Chlamydophila felis, and Bordetella bronchiseptica. Necropsy was performed on all cats, and a complete set of respiratory tract tissues was examined by histopathology. Among 22 cats, 20 were qPCR positive for FHV-1, 7 for M. felis, 5 for FCV, 1 for C. felis, and 0 for B. bronchiseptica. Nine cats were positive for two or more pathogens. Histopathologic lesions were present in all cats, with consistent lesions in the nasal cavity, including acute necroulcerative rhinitis in 16 cats. Histologic or antigenic detection of FHV-1 was seen in 18 of 20 cats positive for FHV-1 by qPCR. No lesions that could be specifically attributed to FCV, M. felis, or C. felis were seen, although interpretation in this cohort could be confounded by coinfection with FHV-1. A significant agreement was found between the amount of FHV-1 DNA determined by qPCR and the presence of specific histopathologic lesions for FHV-1 but not for the other respiratory pathogens.

Ada Compiler Validation Capability (ACVC) Version 1.11 (Field-Test Release). ANSI

DTIC Science & Technology

1989-06-01

DATE CO TO: Infiataion Services r ~. LO FR.OM: Comcucer ?rccluctn Su,=crt 7rru _______ RE:)~)CI~ih7 AU-- N 101U, C E I N G P-A I K e T az (Data...CCrz:~u:: ucn ol- r ,. 1 S tC c’ k ecuezz _________cop.es nst .o sen- r . to Doc- ent Ccnzo Sectior DISCLAIMER NOTICE THIS DOCUMENT IS BEST QUALITY...67 6, W- r L .;1- PII u rtioli AF11, Oh to 4543i3-650 13 6. PRODUCT NAME (Urie e14g.’Y riiimfenlaaIIro) Adat Compier Vtttidation Caipability (ACVC

Medical coverage of winter Nordic sports: an overview from the field.

PubMed

Gaul, Lawrence W

2010-01-01

Traveling with sports teams requires flexibility and a wide range of knowledge, as well as problem-solving abilities. Dominating the medical types of problems in the Nordic sports are the respiratory illnesses, especially asthma and upper respiratory infections (URI). Additionally, the team physician must have an awareness of antidoping issues. This overview highlights many of the issues encountered traveling domestically as well as internationally with high-level Nordic teams. Helpful links are included to facilitate the care of all levels of athletes. Additionally, a few side issues such as altitude illness and minor trauma are mentioned.

URI's ARMADA Research Experience Leads to Inspiring Middle School Students to Become Ocean Stewards

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Barrett, M.

2010-12-01

After spending three weeks aboard NOAA’s David Starr Jordon, my classroom has come alive with ocean life. My research experience was part of URI’s ARMADA project. I worked alongside scientists as they conducted ‘business as usual’ on the CSCAPE expedition. CSCAPE’s mission was to survey the cetacean abundance in the Pacific Ocean. My leg of the voyage took us as far out as 300 nautical miles from the coast and from points between Newport, Oregon and San Francisco, California. Throughout the three weeks, I learned with the best of them how cetaceans are identified, photographed, counted, and biopsied. This 2005 research experience is still with me today in the classroom. I have created a “Bring the Sea to Me” program in which my middle school students teach elementary students about ocean life. My students also use video footage and photographs from my expedition to create wildlife documentaries shown at our annual Film Festival. My students have also worked with engineering students from a local university to create a life-size fin whale, which travels with us on our teaching trips, and I have since purchased a 100-gallon touch tank to give the students a hands-on experience with the organisms we collect while seining along the New Jersey coast. The science I learned while on the Jordan has allowed me to teach my students how cetaceans are surveyed, how to identify cetaceans by their blows and dorsal fins, and how to identify individuals within a species. Survey graphs are interpreted and conclusions are drawn. The students also see the importance of writing in science when they explore my journals from the expedition (www.armadaproject.org/journals/2005-2006/barrett/barrett-8-21.htm). My participation in CSCAPE inspired me beyond belief, and I can only hope that my enthusiasm for the ocean is inspiring students to become stewards of our oceans.

Prospective evaluation of quality of life after interstitial brachytherapy for localized prostate cancer

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

Caffo, Orazio; Fellin, Gianni; Bolner, Andrea

2006-09-01

Purpose: Permanent interstitial brachytherapy (IB) has become an increasingly appealing therapeutic option for localized prostate cancer (LPC) among physicians and patients because it involves short hospitalization and treatment and its postulated low degree of toxicity may reduce its impact on the patients' quality of life (QoL). The aim of this prospective study was to assess the impact of IB on the QoL of patients with LPC. Methods and Materials: A validated self-completed questionnaire was administered to the patients before and after IB and then at yearly intervals. The items allowed the identification of seven subscales exploring physical well-being (PHY), physicalmore » autonomy (POW), psychological well-being (PSY), relational life (REL), urinary function (URI), rectal function (REC), and sexual function (SEX). Results: The assessment of the QoL of 147 patients treated between May 2000 and February 2005 revealed no relevant differences in the PHY scale scores 1 month after IB or later, and the same was true of the POW, PSY, and REL scales. Urinary function significantly worsened after IB and returned to pretreatment levels only after 3 years; the impact of the treatment on the URI scale was greater in the patients with good baseline urinary function than in those presenting more urinary symptoms before IB. Rectal and sexual functions were significantly worse only at the post-IB evaluation. Conclusions: The results of the present study confirm that the impact of IB on the patients' QoL is low despite its transient negative effects on some function, and extend existing knowledge concerning QoL after IB.« less

Perspective: Web-based machine learning models for real-time screening of thermoelectric materials properties

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gaultois, Michael W.; Oliynyk, Anton O.; Mar, Arthur; Sparks, Taylor D.; Mulholland, Gregory J.; Meredig, Bryce

2016-05-01

The experimental search for new thermoelectric materials remains largely confined to a limited set of successful chemical and structural families, such as chalcogenides, skutterudites, and Zintl phases. In principle, computational tools such as density functional theory (DFT) offer the possibility of rationally guiding experimental synthesis efforts toward very different chemistries. However, in practice, predicting thermoelectric properties from first principles remains a challenging endeavor [J. Carrete et al., Phys. Rev. X 4, 011019 (2014)], and experimental researchers generally do not directly use computation to drive their own synthesis efforts. To bridge this practical gap between experimental needs and computational tools, we report an open machine learning-based recommendation engine (<uri xlink:href="http://thermoelectrics.citrination.com">http://thermoelectrics.citrination.comuri>) for materials researchers that suggests promising new thermoelectric compositions based on pre-screening about 25 000 known materials and also evaluates the feasibility of user-designed compounds. We show this engine can identify interesting chemistries very different from known thermoelectrics. Specifically, we describe the experimental characterization of one example set of compounds derived from our engine, RE12Co5Bi (RE = Gd, Er), which exhibits surprising thermoelectric performance given its unprecedentedly high loading with metallic d and f block elements and warrants further investigation as a new thermoelectric material platform. We show that our engine predicts this family of materials to have low thermal and high electrical conductivities, but modest Seebeck coefficient, all of which are confirmed experimentally. We note that the engine also predicts materials that may simultaneously optimize all three properties entering into zT; we selected RE12Co5Bi for this study due to its interesting chemical composition and known facile synthesis.

Pediatric emergency department visits and ambient Air pollution in the U.S. State of Georgia: a case-crossover study.

PubMed

Xiao, Qingyang; Liu, Yang; Mulholland, James A; Russell, Armistead G; Darrow, Lyndsey A; Tolbert, Paige E; Strickland, Matthew J

2016-11-25

Estimating the health effects of ambient air pollutant mixtures is necessary to understand the risk of real-life air pollution exposures. Pediatric Emergency Department (ED) visit records for asthma or wheeze (n = 148,256), bronchitis (n = 84,597), pneumonia (n = 90,063), otitis media (n = 422,268) and upper respiratory tract infection (URI) (n = 744,942) were obtained from Georgia hospitals during 2002-2008. Spatially-contiguous daily concentrations of 11 ambient air pollutants were estimated from CMAQ model simulations that were fused with ground-based measurements. Using a case-crossover study design, odds ratios for 3-day moving average air pollutant concentrations were estimated using conditional logistic regression, matching on ZIP code, day-of-week, month, and year. In multipollutant models, the association of highest magnitude observed for the asthma/wheeze outcome was with "oxidant gases" (O 3 , NO 2 , and SO 2 ); the joint effect estimate for an IQR increase of this mixture was OR: 1.068 (95% CI: 1.040, 1.097). The group of "secondary pollutants" (O 3 and the PM 2.5 components SO 4 2- , NO 3- , and NH 4+ ) was strongly associated with bronchitis (OR: 1.090, 95% CI: 1.050, 1.132), pneumonia (OR: 1.085, 95% CI: 1.047, 1.125), and otitis media (OR: 1.059, 95% CI: 1.042, 1.077). ED visits for URI were strongly associated with "oxidant gases," "secondary pollutants," and the "criteria pollutants" (O 3 , NO 2 , CO, SO 2 , and PM 2.5 ). Short-term exposures to air pollution mixtures were associated with ED visits for several different pediatric respiratory diseases.

Botanical medicines for the urinary tract.

PubMed

Yarnell, Eric

2002-11-01

Four important categories of urologic herbs, their history, and modern scientific investigations regarding them are reviewed. Botanical diuretics are discussed with a focus on Solidago spp (goldenrod) herb, Levisticum officinale (lovage) root, Petroselinum crispus (parsley) fruit, and Urtica dioica (stinging nettle) herb. Urinary antiseptic and anti-adhesion herbs, particularly Arctostaphylos uva-ursi (uva-uri) leaf, Juniperus spp (juniper) leaf, and Vaccinium macrocarpon (cranberry) fruit are reviewed. The antinephrotoxic botanicals Rheum palmatum (Chinese rhubarb) root and Lespedeza capitata (round-head lespedeza) herb are surveyed, followed by herbs for symptoms of benign prostatic hyperplasia, most notably Serenoa repens (saw palmetto) fruit, Urtica dioica root, and Prunus africana (pygeum) bark.

The variation of molybdenum isotopes within the weathering system of the black shales

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Jianming, Z.

2016-12-01

Jian-Ming Zhu 1,2, De-Can Tan 2, Liang Liang 2, Wang Jing21 State Key Laboratory of Geological Processes and Mineral Resources, China University of Geosciences, Beijing, 100083, China 2 State Key Laboratory of Environmental Geochemistry, Institute of Geochemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Guiyang, 550002, China Molybdenum (Mo) stable isotopes have been developed as a tracer to indicate the evolution of the atmospheric and oceanic oxygenation related with continent weathering, and to reveal the extent of ancient oceanic euxinia. Molybdenum isotopic variation within the weathering system of basalts has been studied, and was presented the whole trend with heavier isotopes preferentially removed during weathering processes. However, there are few researches to study the variation of Mo isotopes during black shale weathering, especiall on the behavoir of Mo isotopes within the perfect shales' profiles. Here, the weathering profiles of Mo and selenium(Se)-rich carbonaceous rocks in Enshi southwest Hubei Province were selected. The Mo isotopes was measured on Nu Plasma II's MC-ICP-MS using 97Mo-100Mo double spike, and δ98/95Mo was reported relative to NIST 3134. A comprehensive set of Mo isotopic composition and concentration data from the unweathered, weakly and intensely weathered rocks were collected. The δ98/95Mo in fresh shales (220±248 mg/kg Mo, 1SD, n=41) from Shadi and Yutangba drill cores varies from 0.41‰ to 0.99‰ with an average of 0.67±0.16‰, while the strongly weathered shales (19.9±5.8 mg/kg Mo, 1SD, n=5) from Shadi profiles are isotopically heavier with average δ98/95Mo values of 1.03±0.10‰ (1SD, n=5). The Locally altered shales exposed in a quarry at Yutangba are highly enriched in Mo, varing from 31 to 2377 mg/kg with an average of 428 ±605mg/kg (1SD, n=24), approximately 2 times greater than that in fresh shales samples. These rocks are presented a significant variation in δ98/95Mo values varing from -0.24 ‰ to -3.99 ‰ with

Technologies and practices for maintaining and publishing earth science vocabularies

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Cox, Simon; Yu, Jonathan; Williams, Megan; Giabardo, Fabrizio; Lowe, Dominic

2015-04-01

Shared vocabularies are a key element in geoscience data interoperability. Many organizations curate vocabularies, with most Geologic Surveys having a long history of development of lexicons and authority tables. However, their mode of publication is heterogeneous, ranging from PDFs and HTML web pages, spreadsheets and CSV, through various user-interfaces, and public and private APIs. Content maintenance ranges from tightly-governed and externally opaque, through various community processes, all the way to crowd-sourcing ('folksonomies'). Meanwhile, there is an increasing expectation of greater harmonization and vocabulary re-use, which create requirements for standardized content formalization and APIs, along with transparent content maintenance and versioning. We have been trialling a combination of processes and software dealing with vocabulary formalization, registration, search and linking. We use the Simplified Knowledge Organization System (SKOS) to provide a generic interface to content. SKOS is an RDF technology for multi-lingual, hierarchical vocabularies, oriented around 'concepts' denoted by URIs, and thus consistent with Linked Open Data. SKOS may be mixed in with classes and properties from specialized ontologies which provide a more specific interface when required. We have developed a suite of practices and techniques for conversion of content from the source technologies and styles into SKOS, largely based on spreadsheet manipulation before RDF conversion, and SPARQL afterwards. The workflow for each vocabulary must be adapted to match the specific inputs. In linked data applications, two requirements are paramount for user confidence: (i) the URI that denotes a vocabulary item is persistent, and should be dereferenceable indefinitely; (ii) the history and status of the resource denoted by a URI must be available. This is implemented by the Linked Data Registry (LDR), originally developed for the World Meteorological Organization and the UK

Using Isotope Ratio Infrared Spectrometer to determine δ13C and δ18O of carbonate samples

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Smajgl, Danijela; Stöbener, Nils; Mandic, Magda

2017-04-01

The isotopic composition of calcifying organisms is a key tool for reconstruction past seawater temperature and water chemistry. Therefore stable carbon and oxygen isotopes (δ13C and δ18O) in carbonates have been widely used for reconstruction of paleoenvironments. Precise and accurate determination of isotopic composition of carbon (13C) and oxygen (18O) from carbonate sample with proper referencing and data evaluation algorithm presents a challenge for scientists. Mass spectrometry was the only widely used technique for this kind of analysis, but recent advances make laser based spectroscopy a viable alternative. The Thermo Scientific Delta Ray Isotope Ratio Infrared Spectrometer (IRIS) analyzer with the Universal Reference Interface (URI) Connect is one of those alternatives and with TELEDYNE Cetac ASX-7100 autosampler extends the traditional offerings with a system of high precision and throughput of samples. To establish precision and accuracy of measurements and also to develop optimal sample preparation method for measurements with Delta Ray IRIS and URI Connect, IAEA reference materials were used. Preparation is similar to a Gas Bench II method. Carbonate material is added into the vials, flushed with CO2 free synthetic air and acidified with few droplets of 104% H3PO4. Sample amount used for analysis can be as low as 200 μg. Samples are measured after acidification and equilibration time of one hour at 70°C. The CO2 gas generated by reaction is flushed into the variable volume inside the URI Connect through the Nafion based built-in water trap. For this step, carrier gas (CO2 free air) is used to flush the gas from the vial into the variable volume with a maximum volume of 100 ml. A small amount of the sample is then used for automatic concentration determination present in the variable volume. The Thermo Scientific Qtegra Software automatically adjusts any additional dilution of the sample to achieve the desired concentration (usually 400 ppm) in the

Expanding the Telepresence Paradigm to the UNOLS Fleet

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Coleman, D.; Scowcroft, G.

2014-12-01

The Inner Space Center (ISC) at the University of Rhode Island Graduate School of Oceanography (URI-GSO) has been at the forefront of developing the tools, techniques, and protocols for telepresence-enabled ocean science exploration and education programs. Working primarily with the Ocean Exploration Trust's E/V Nautilus and the NOAA Ship Okeanos Explorer, the ISC facility and staff have supported dozens of research cruises with significant shore-based support, while delivering related educational programming across the globe. Through a partnership with the University National Oceanographic Laboratory System (UNOLS), the ISC is broadening its reach and capabilities to serve vessels in the U.S. academic research fleet, managed by UNOLS. The ISC has developed and used a portable shipboard "mobile telepresence unit" (MTU) on several UNOLS ships to support projects led by ocean scientists that employed the telepresence paradigm as part of their research and outreach programs. Utilizing the ISC facilities provides opportunities for effective, successful broader impact activities and shore-based remote science connectivity. With new UNOLS ships coming online, including the R/V Sikuliaq, the R/V Neil Armstrong, and the R/V Sally Ride, in addition to future Regional Class Research Vessels (RCRVs), telepresence capability has become a technical requirement for a variety of reasons. Older vessels are being retrofit with this forward-looking technology, and URI's research vessel, the R/V Endeavor, has been recently configured with technology to support telepresence operations. This presentation will provide an overview of the future of telepresence technology, its use in ocean science research and education, and advantages for using this capability to support broader impact activities. In addition, ISC successes, challenges, and lessons learned in employing telepresence technologies and methodologies onboard the academic research fleet will be discussed.

Piloting Telepresence-Enabled Education and Outreach Programs from a UNOLS Ship - Live Interactive Broadcasts from the R/V Endeavor

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Pereira, M.; Coleman, D.; Donovan, S.; Sanders, R.; Gingras, A.; DeCiccio, A.; Bilbo, E.

2016-02-01

The University of Rhode Island's R/V Endeavor was recently equipped with a new satellite telecommunication system and a telepresence system to enable live ship-to-shore broadcasts and remote user participation through the Inner Space Center. The Rhode Island Endeavor Program, which provides state-funded ship time to support local oceanographic research and education, funded a 5-day cruise off the Rhode Island coast that involved a multidisciplinary team of scientists, engineers, students, educators and video producers. Using two remotely operated vehicle (ROV) systems, several dives were conducted to explore various shipwrecks including the German WWII submarine U-853. During the cruise, a team of URI ocean engineers supported ROV operations and performed engineering tests of a new manipulator. Colleagues from the United States Coast Guard Academy operated a small ROV to collect imagery and environmental data around the wreck sites. Additionally, a team of engineers and oceanographers from URI tested a new acoustic sound source and small acoustic receivers developed for a fish tracking experiment. The video producers worked closely with the participating scientists, students and two high school science teachers to communicate the oceanographic research during live educational broadcasts streamed into Rhode Island classrooms, to the public Internet, and directly to Rhode Island Public Television. This work contributed to increasing awareness of possible career pathways for the Rhode Island K-12 population, taught about active oceanographic research projects, and engaged the public in scientific adventures at sea. The interactive nature of the broadcasts included live responses to questions submitted online and live updates and feedback using social media tools. This project characterizes the power of telepresence and video broadcasting to engage diverse learners and exemplifies innovative ways to utilize social media and the Internet to draw a varied audience.

Particulate matter from re-suspended mineral dust and emergency cause-specific respiratory hospitalizations in Hong Kong

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Pun, Vivian C.; Tian, Linwei; Ho, Kin-fai

2017-09-01

While contribution from non-exhaust particulate matter (PM) emissions towards traffic-related emissions is increasing, few epidemiologic evidence of their health impact is available. We examined the association of short-term exposure to PM10 apportioned to re-suspended mineral dust with emergency hospitalizations for three major respiratory causes in Hong Kong between 2001 and 2008. Time-series regression model was constructed to examine association of PM10 from re-suspended mineral dust with emergency hospitalizations for upper respiratory infection (URI), chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and asthma at exposure lag 0-5 days, adjusting for time trends, seasonality, temperature and relative humidity. An interquartile range (6.8 μg/m3) increment in re-suspended mineral dust on previous day was associated with 0.66% (95% CI: 0.12, 0.98) increase in total respiratory hospitalizations, and 1.01% (95% CI: 0.14, 1.88) increase in URI hospitalizations. A significant 0.66%-0.80% increases in risk of COPD hospitalizations were found after exposure to re-suspended mineral dust at lag 3 or later. Exposure to mineral dust at lag 4 was linked to 1.71% increase (95% CI: 0.14, 2.22) in asthma hospitalizations. Associations from single-pollutant models remained significant in multi-pollutant models, which additionally adjusted for PM10 contributing from vehicle exhaust, regional combustion, residual oil, fresh sea salt, aged sea salt, secondary nitrate and secondary sulfate, or gaseous pollutants (i.e., nitrogen dioxide, sulfur dioxide, or ozone), respectively. Our findings provide insight into the biological mechanism by which non-exhaust pollution may be associated with risk of adverse respiratory outcomes, and also stress the needs for strategies to reduce emission and re-suspension of mineral dust. More research is warranted to assess the health effects of different non-exhaust PM emissions under various roadway conditions and vehicle fleets.

Efficacy and tolerability of a polysaccharide-resin-honey based cough syrup as compared to carbocysteine syrup for children with colds: a randomized, single-blinded, multicenter study.

PubMed

Cohen, Herman Avner; Hoshen, Moshe; Gur, Shmuel; Bahir, Arie; Laks, Yoseph; Blau, Hannah

2017-02-01

Available pediatric treatments for acute cough are limited by lack of demonstrated efficacy. The objective of this trial is to compare the effects of a polysaccharide-resin-honey based cough syrup, and carbocysteine syrups on nocturnal and daytime cough associated with childhood upper respiratory tract infections (URIs). Using a single-blind randomization design, the study recruited children from 4 general pediatric community clinics. Participants included 150 children aged 2 to 5 years with an URI, nocturnal and daytime cough and illness duration of ≤7 days. To be eligible, children had to be free of medication on the day before presentation. A survey was administered to parents on 4 consecutive days beginning from the day of presentation in clinic. Children received the study preparation on the first evening and then 3 times per day for 3 further days. Main outcome measures were cough frequency, cough severity, bothersome nature of cough, and quality of sleep for both child and parent. Both preparations were well tolerated and cough improved over the study period. After one night and on all survey days, there was a significantly better result for polysaccharide-resin-honey (P<0.05) for all the main outcome measures. The trend of improvement over the 4 days was steeper for polysaccharide-resin-honey (P<0.05) with regards to all cough parameters. Both polysaccharide-resin-honey and carbocysteine cough syrups were well tolerated in children over 2 years of age. The polysaccharide-resin-honey syrup was associated with a more rapid and greater improvement in all clinical cough symptoms measured, beginning from the first night of therapy. Both nocturnal and daytime cough improved, as did sleep quality for both children and parents.

Cellular interaction of different forms of aluminum nanoparticles in rat alveolar macrophages.

PubMed

Wagner, Andrew J; Bleckmann, Charles A; Murdock, Richard C; Schrand, Amanda M; Schlager, John J; Hussain, Saber M

2007-06-28

Nanomaterials, with dimensions in the 1-100 nm range, possess numerous potential benefits to society. However, there is little characterization of their effects on biological systems, either within the environment or on human health. The present study examines cellular interaction of aluminum oxide and aluminum nanomaterials, including their effect on cell viability and cell phagocytosis, with reference to particle size and the particle's chemical composition. Experiments were performed to characterize initial in vitro cellular effects of rat alveolar macrophages (NR8383) after exposure to aluminum oxide nanoparticles (Al2O3-NP at 30 and 40 nm) and aluminum metal nanoparticles containing a 2-3 nm oxide coat (Al-NP at 50, 80, and 120 nm). Characterization of the nanomaterials, both as received and in situ, was performed using transmission electron microscopy (TEM), dynamic light scattering (DLS), laser Doppler velocimetry (LDV), and/or CytoViva150 Ultra Resolution Imaging (URI)). Particles showed significant agglomeration in cell exposure media using DLS and the URI as compared to primary particle size in TEM. Cell viability assay results indicate a marginal effect on macrophage viability after exposure to Al2O3-NP at doses of 100 microg/mL for 24 h continuous exposure. Al-NP produced significantly reduced viability after 24 h of continuous exposure with doses from 100 to 250 microg/mL. Cell phagocytotic ability was significantly hindered by exposure to 50, 80, or 120 nm Al-NP at 25 microg/mL for 24 h, but the same concentration (25 microg/mL) had no significant effect on the cellular viability. However, no significant effect on phagocytosis was observed with Al2O3-NP. In summary, these results show that Al-NP exhibit greater toxicity and more significantly diminish the phagocytotic ability of macrophages after 24 h of exposure when compared to Al2O3-NP.

Interactions of Transportation and Telecommunications Behaviors

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Dholakia, N.; Mundorf, N.; Dholakia, R. R.; Xiao, J. J.

2002-05-01

This project was designed as a social science complement to the engineering studies supported by the University of Rhode Island (URI) Transportation Center (URITC). The project developed a behavioral knowledge base about the actual and intended transport and telecommunications behaviors of transportation users, with a particular focus on southern Rhode Island. Background studies, drawing from literature on telecommuting and travel behavior, led to the development of a generalized framework to understand the transport-telecom interactions. In particular, we developed working papers dealing with transport aspects of e-retailing and distance education. In the empirical part of this project, two major field studies were completed. The first of these was a survey of URI students, probing their car travel, carpool, bus use, and Internet use behaviors. The students were surveyed first by telephone, selected randomly from a list obtained from the Register's office. A total of 220 students responded to the telephone survey. Characteristics of the telephone survey respondents are shown in Appendix B. This was supplemented by an in-class survey of 107 students conveniently selected from the courses taught by the research faculty. This supplementary questionnaire probed the students more deeply regarding their motivations for transportation and technology use issues. The second major field study was a mail survey of southern Rhode Island residents. In this survey, we not only investigated actual travel and transport behaviors but also measured attitudes towards the environment and alternative transport and telecommuting solutions. At the time of writing this report, about 850 individuals had responded to our mail questionnaire. Characteristics of the resident sample are described in Appendix B. The results have laid the groundwork for our second year project where we plan to study the impact of specific interventions on transportation and telecommuting attitudes and intentions.

bioGUID: resolving, discovering, and minting identifiers for biodiversity informatics

PubMed Central

Page, Roderic DM

2009-01-01

Background Linking together the data of interest to biodiversity researchers (including specimen records, images, taxonomic names, and DNA sequences) requires services that can mint, resolve, and discover globally unique identifiers (including, but not limited to, DOIs, HTTP URIs, and LSIDs). Results bioGUID implements a range of services, the core ones being an OpenURL resolver for bibliographic resources, and a LSID resolver. The LSID resolver supports Linked Data-friendly resolution using HTTP 303 redirects and content negotiation. Additional services include journal ISSN look-up, author name matching, and a tool to monitor the status of biodiversity data providers. Conclusion bioGUID is available at . Source code is available from . PMID:19900301

Utility of QR codes in biological collections

PubMed Central

Diazgranados, Mauricio; Funk, Vicki A.

2013-01-01

Abstract The popularity of QR codes for encoding information such as URIs has increased exponentially in step with the technological advances and availability of smartphones, digital tablets, and other electronic devices. We propose using QR codes on specimens in biological collections to facilitate linking vouchers’ electronic information with their associated collections. QR codes can efficiently provide such links for connecting collections, photographs, maps, ecosystem notes, citations, and even GenBank sequences. QR codes have numerous advantages over barcodes, including their small size, superior security mechanisms, increased complexity and quantity of information, and low implementation cost. The scope of this paper is to initiate an academic discussion about using QR codes on specimens in biological collections. PMID:24198709

Utility of QR codes in biological collections.

PubMed

Diazgranados, Mauricio; Funk, Vicki A

2013-01-01

The popularity of QR codes for encoding information such as URIs has increased exponentially in step with the technological advances and availability of smartphones, digital tablets, and other electronic devices. We propose using QR codes on specimens in biological collections to facilitate linking vouchers' electronic information with their associated collections. QR codes can efficiently provide such links for connecting collections, photographs, maps, ecosystem notes, citations, and even GenBank sequences. QR codes have numerous advantages over barcodes, including their small size, superior security mechanisms, increased complexity and quantity of information, and low implementation cost. The scope of this paper is to initiate an academic discussion about using QR codes on specimens in biological collections.

Comparison of Clinical Features in a Population of Basic Military Trainees Versus the General Department of Defense Beneficiary Population Presenting With Influenza.

PubMed

Scheuller, H Samuel; Park, Jisuk; Lott, Lisa; Tavish, Michele; Danaher, Patrick

2017-09-01

Upper respiratory tract infection (URI) is a well-documented cause of morbidity, extra expense, and lost training time among basic military trainees (BMTs). The goal of this study was to characterize the clinical presentation of influenza in the BMT population and to better understand how this presentation differs from that of the general Department of Defense (DoD) beneficiary population (non-BMTs). Clinical and demographic data were collected in a prospective study that enrolled DoD beneficiaries presenting to medical treatment facilities in San Antonio, Texas, with URI symptoms between January 2005 and March 2011. Vital signs and symptom duration were collected at the time of enrollment along with basic demographic information. Among 4,448 participants enrolled, 466 (10.5%) tested positive for influenza: 198 of 3,103 BMTs (6.4%) vs. 268 of 1,345 non-BMTs (20%) (p < 0.01); 412 of 466 had complete data for nine symptom-related variables. BMTs were more likely to be Caucasian males and younger than non-BMTs. BMTs had a higher temperature at the time of presentation (101.5°F vs. 100.5°F, p < 0.01). BMTs presented less frequently than non-BMTs with chills (79.7% vs. 94.4%, p < 0.01), malaise (62.1% vs. 87.0%, p < 0.01), nausea (30.2% vs. 43.0%, p < 0.01), and vomiting (12.1% vs. 21.7%, p = 0.01). Multiple logistic regression analysis showed that BMTs were less likely to have the four symptoms compared to non-BMTs even after controlling for gender and age (chills: odds ratio [OR] = 0.3, 95% confidence interval [CI] = 0.1-0.6, p < 0.01; malaise: OR = 0.5, 95% CI = 0.3-0.8, p < 0.01; nausea: OR = 0.5, 95% CI = 0.3-0.8, p < 0.01; vomiting: OR = 0.4, 95% CI = 0.2-0.8, p < 0.01). Although there was no difference in the frequency of subjective fever between the two groups, reported duration of fever was significantly shorter in BMTs than non-BMTs: median of 1 day (range 0-10) vs. 2 days (range 0-8) (p < 0.01). BMTs presented with a composite symptom index mean of 6

Actionable, long-term stable and semantic web compatible identifiers for access to biological collection objects

PubMed Central

Hyam, Roger; Hagedorn, Gregor; Chagnoux, Simon; Röpert, Dominik; Casino, Ana; Droege, Gabi; Glöckler, Falko; Gödderz, Karsten; Groom, Quentin; Hoffmann, Jana; Holleman, Ayco; Kempa, Matúš; Koivula, Hanna; Marhold, Karol; Nicolson, Nicky; Smith, Vincent S.; Triebel, Dagmar

2017-01-01

With biodiversity research activities being increasingly shifted to the web, the need for a system of persistent and stable identifiers for physical collection objects becomes increasingly pressing. The Consortium of European Taxonomic Facilities agreed on a common system of HTTP-URI-based stable identifiers which is now rolled out to its member organizations. The system follows Linked Open Data principles and implements redirection mechanisms to human-readable and machine-readable representations of specimens facilitating seamless integration into the growing semantic web. The implementation of stable identifiers across collection organizations is supported with open source provider software scripts, best practices documentations and recommendations for RDF metadata elements facilitating harmonized access to collection information in web portals. Database URL: http://cetaf.org/cetaf-stable-identifiers PMID:28365724

Orbital cellulitis and brain abscess – rare complications of maxillo-spheno-ethmoidal rhinosinusitis

PubMed Central

Constantin, Farah; Niculescu, Patricia-Alexandra; Petre, Oana; Balasa, Daniel; Tunas, Alexandru; Rusu, Ioana; Lupascu, Mihai; Orodel, Cristiana

2017-01-01

Sinus infections can be complicated by ocular infections and, in late phases, by brain parenchyma infection. The article debates the case of a 12-year-old patient suffering from paucisymptomatic maxillo-spheno-ethmoidal rhinosinusitis, which was later complicated by orbital cellulitis, ending with the development of a brain abscess. The treatment is complex, initially targeting the source of the infection through draining the collection by middle maxillary antrostomy and anterior posterior ethmoidectomy, then the ablation of the brain abscess and postoperatively with prolonged massive antibiotherapy. Abbreviation: URI = upper respiratory infection, CT = computer tomography, MRI = magnetic resonance imaging, BA = brain abscess, VAS = visual scale of pain, ENT = ear, nose, throat, RE VA = right eye visual acuity, RE = right eye, CSF = cerebrospinal fluid PMID:29450387

The prefoldin bud27 mediates the assembly of the eukaryotic RNA polymerases in an rpb5-dependent manner.

PubMed

Mirón-García, María Carmen; Garrido-Godino, Ana Isabel; García-Molinero, Varinia; Hernández-Torres, Francisco; Rodríguez-Navarro, Susana; Navarro, Francisco

2013-01-01

The unconventional prefoldin URI/RMP, in humans, and its orthologue in yeast, Bud27, have been proposed to participate in the biogenesis of the RNA polymerases. However, this role of Bud27 has not been confirmed and is poorly elucidated. Our data help clarify the mechanisms governing biogenesis of the three eukaryotic RNA pols. We show evidence that Bud27 is the first example of a protein that participates in the biogenesis of the three eukaryotic RNA polymerases and the first example of a protein modulating their assembly instead of their nuclear transport. In addition we demonstrate that the role of Bud27 in RNA pols biogenesis depends on Rpb5. In fact, lack of BUD27 affects growth and leads to a substantial accumulation of the three RNA polymerases in the cytoplasm, defects offset by the overexpression of RPB5. Supporting this, our data demonstrate that the lack of Bud27 affects the correct assembly of Rpb5 and Rpb6 to the three RNA polymerases, suggesting that this process occurs in the cytoplasm and is a required step prior to nuclear import. Also, our data support the view that Rpb5 and Rpb6 assemble somewhat later than the rest of the complexes. Furthermore, Bud27 Rpb5-binding but not PFD-binding domain is necessary for RNA polymerases biogenesis. In agreement, we also demonstrate genetic interactions between BUD27, RPB5, and RPB6. Bud27 shuttles between the nucleus and the cytoplasm in an Xpo1-independent manner, and also independently of microtubule polarization and possibly independently of its association with the RNA pols. Our data also suggest that the role of Bud27 in RNA pols biogenesis is independent of the chaperone prefoldin (PFD) complex and of Iwr1. Finally, the role of URI seems to be conserved in humans, suggesting conserved mechanisms in RNA pols biogenesis.

Rationale and design of REACT: a randomised controlled trial assessing the effectiveness of home-collection to increase chlamydia retesting and detect repeat positive tests.

PubMed

Smith, Kirsty S; Hocking, Jane S; Chen, Marcus; Fairley, Christopher K; McNulty, Anna; Read, Phillip; Bradshaw, Catriona S; Tabrizi, Sepehr N; Wand, Handan; Saville, Marion; Rawlinson, William; Garland, Suzanne M; Donovan, Basil; Kaldor, John M; Guy, Rebecca

2014-04-24

Repeat infection with Chlamydia trachomatis is common and increases the risk of sequelae in women and HIV seroconversion in men who have sex with men (MSM). Despite guidelines recommending chlamydia retesting three months after treatment, retesting rates are low. We are conducting the first randomised controlled trial to assess the effectiveness of home collection combined with short message service (SMS) reminders on chlamydia retesting and reinfection rates in three risk groups. The REACT (retest after Chlamydia trachomatis) trial involves 600 patients diagnosed with chlamydia: 200 MSM, 200 women and 200 heterosexual men recruited from two Australian sexual health clinics where SMS reminders for retesting are routine practice. Participants will be randomised to the home group (3-month SMS reminder and home-collection) or the clinic group (3-month SMS reminder to return to the clinic). Participants in the home group will be given the choice of attending the clinic if they prefer. The mailed home-collection kit includes a self-collected vaginal swab (women), UriSWAB (Copan) for urine collection (heterosexual men), and UriSWAB plus rectal swab (MSM). The primary outcome is the retest rate at 1-4 months after a chlamydia diagnosis, and the secondary outcomes are: the repeat positive test rate; the reinfection rate; the acceptability of home testing with SMS reminders; and the cost effectiveness of home testing. Sexual behaviour data collected via an online survey at 4-5 months, and genotyping of repeat infections, will be used to discriminate reinfections from treatment failures. The trial will be conducted over two years. An intention to treat analysis will be conducted. This study will provide evidence about the effectiveness of home-collection combined with SMS reminders on chlamydia retesting, repeat infection and reinfection rates in three risk groups. The trial will determine client acceptability and cost effectiveness of this strategy. Australian and New

The Prefoldin Bud27 Mediates the Assembly of the Eukaryotic RNA Polymerases in an Rpb5-Dependent Manner

PubMed Central

Mirón-García, María Carmen; Garrido-Godino, Ana Isabel; García-Molinero, Varinia; Hernández-Torres, Francisco; Rodríguez-Navarro, Susana; Navarro, Francisco

2013-01-01

The unconventional prefoldin URI/RMP, in humans, and its orthologue in yeast, Bud27, have been proposed to participate in the biogenesis of the RNA polymerases. However, this role of Bud27 has not been confirmed and is poorly elucidated. Our data help clarify the mechanisms governing biogenesis of the three eukaryotic RNA pols. We show evidence that Bud27 is the first example of a protein that participates in the biogenesis of the three eukaryotic RNA polymerases and the first example of a protein modulating their assembly instead of their nuclear transport. In addition we demonstrate that the role of Bud27 in RNA pols biogenesis depends on Rpb5. In fact, lack of BUD27 affects growth and leads to a substantial accumulation of the three RNA polymerases in the cytoplasm, defects offset by the overexpression of RPB5. Supporting this, our data demonstrate that the lack of Bud27 affects the correct assembly of Rpb5 and Rpb6 to the three RNA polymerases, suggesting that this process occurs in the cytoplasm and is a required step prior to nuclear import. Also, our data support the view that Rpb5 and Rpb6 assemble somewhat later than the rest of the complexes. Furthermore, Bud27 Rpb5-binding but not PFD-binding domain is necessary for RNA polymerases biogenesis. In agreement, we also demonstrate genetic interactions between BUD27, RPB5, and RPB6. Bud27 shuttles between the nucleus and the cytoplasm in an Xpo1-independent manner, and also independently of microtubule polarization and possibly independently of its association with the RNA pols. Our data also suggest that the role of Bud27 in RNA pols biogenesis is independent of the chaperone prefoldin (PFD) complex and of Iwr1. Finally, the role of URI seems to be conserved in humans, suggesting conserved mechanisms in RNA pols biogenesis. PMID:23459708

Components for Maintaining and Publishing Earth Science Vocabularies

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Cox, S. J. D.; Yu, J.

2014-12-01

Shared vocabularies are an important aid to geoscience data interoperability. Many organizations maintain useful vocabularies, with Geologic Surveys having a particularly long history of vocabulary and lexicon development. However, the mode of publication is heterogeneous, ranging from PDFs and HTML web pages, spreadsheets and CSV, through various user-interfaces and APIs. Update and maintenance ranges from tightly-governed and externally opaque, through various community processes, all the way to crowd-sourcing ('folksonomies'). A general expectation, however, is for greater harmonization and vocabulary re-use. In order to be successful this requires (a) standardized content formalization and APIs (b) transparent content maintenance and versioning. We have been trialling a combination of software dealing with registration, search and linking. SKOS is designed for formalizing multi-lingual, hierarchical vocabularies, and has been widely adopted in earth and environmental sciences. SKOS is an RDF vocabulary, for which SPARQL is the standard low-level API. However, for interoperability between SKOS vocabulary sources, a SKOS-based API (i.e. based on the SKOS predicates prefLabel, broader, narrower, etc) is required. We have developed SISSvoc for this purpose, and used it to deploy a number of vocabularies on behalf of the IUGS, ICS, NERC, OGC, the Australian Government, and CSIRO projects. SISSvoc Search provides simple search UI on top of one or more SISSvoc sources. Content maintenance is composed of many elements, including content-formalization, definition-update, and mappings to related vocabularies. Typically there is a degree of expert judgement required. In order to provide confidence in users, two requirements are paramount: (i) once published, a URI that denotes a vocabulary item must remain dereferenceable; (ii) the history and status of the content denoted by a URI must be available. These requirements match the standard 'registration' paradigm which is

Early functional and morphological brain disturbances in late-onset intrauterine growth restriction.

PubMed

Starčević, Mirta; Predojević, Maja; Butorac, Dražan; Tumbri, Jasna; Konjevoda, Paško; Kadić, Aida Salihagić

2016-02-01

To determine whether the brain disturbances develop in late-onset intrauterine growth restriction (IUGR) before blood flow redistribution towards the fetal brain (detected by Doppler measurements in the middle cerebral artery and umbilical artery). Further, to evaluate predictive values of Doppler arterial indices and umbilical cord blood gases and pH for early functional and/or morphological brain disturbances in late-onset IUGR. This cohort study included 60 singleton term pregnancies with placental insufficiency caused late-onset IUGR (IUGR occurring after 34 gestational weeks). Umbilical artery resistance index (URI), middle cerebral artery resistance index (CRI), and cerebroumbilical (C/U) ratio (CRI/URI) were monitored once weekly. Umbilical blood cord samples (arterial and venous) were collected for the analysis of pO2, pCO2 and pH. Morphological neurological outcome was evaluated by cranial ultrasound (cUS), whereas functional neurological outcome by Amiel-Tison Neurological Assessment at Term (ATNAT). 50 fetuses had C/U ratio>1, and 10 had C/U ratio≤1; among these 10 fetuses, 9 had abnormal neonatal cUS findings and all 10 had non-optimal ATNAT. However, the total number of abnormal neurological findings was much higher. 32 neonates had abnormal cUS (53.37%), and 42 (70.00%) had non-optimal ATNAT. Furthermore, Doppler indices had higher predictive validity for early brain disturbances than umbilical cord blood gases and pH. C/U ratio had the highest predictive validity with threshold for adverse neurological outcome at value 1.13 (ROC analysis), i.e., 1.18 (party machine learning algorithm). Adverse neurological outcome at average values of C/U ratios>1 confirmed that early functional and/or structural brain disturbances in late-onset IUGR develop even before activation of fetal cardiovascular compensatory mechanisms, i.e., before Doppler signs of blood flow redistribution between the fetal brain and the placenta. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ireland Ltd

Ecological Factors in Human Development.

PubMed

Cross, William E

2017-05-01

Urie Bronfenbrenner (1992) helped developmental psychologists comprehend and define "context" as a rich, thick multidimensional construct. His ecological systems theory consists of five layers, and within each layer are developmental processes unique to each layer. The four articles in this section limit the exploration of context to the three innermost systems: the individual plus micro- and macrolayers. Rather than examine both the physical features and processes, the articles tend to focus solely on processes associated with a niche. Processes explored include social identity development, social network dynamics, peer influences, and school-based friendship patterns. The works tend to extend the generalization of extant theory to the developmental experience of various minority group experiences. © 2017 The Authors. Child Development © 2017 Society for Research in Child Development, Inc.

A compilation of cold cases using scanning electron microscopy at the University of Rhode Island

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Platek, Michael J.; Gregory, Otto J.

2015-10-01

Scanning electron microscopy combined with microchemical analysis has evolved into one of the most widely used instruments in forensic science today. In particular, the environmental scanning electron microscope (SEM) in conjunction with energy dispersive spectroscopy (EDS), has created unique opportunities in forensic science in regard to the examination of trace evidence; i.e. the examination of evidence without altering the evidence with conductive coatings, thereby enabling criminalists to solve cases that were previously considered unsolvable. Two cold cases were solved at URI using a JEOL 5900 LV SEM in conjunction with EDS. A cold case murder and a cold missing person case will be presented from the viewpoint of the microscopist and will include sample preparation, as well as image and chemical analysis of the trace evidence using electron microscopy and optical microscopy.

Psychosocial Risk Factors for Upper Respiratory Infection: Personality Predictors of URI (Upper Respiratory Illness) during Basic Training

DTIC Science & Technology

1988-08-05

boils, (t) encephalitis, (u) hepatitis (jaundice), (v) dysentery, (w) infectious mononucleosis , (x) warts, (y) whooping cough, and (z) bron- chitis...may provide information regarding general susceptibility to infectious disease. A risk profile for upper respiratory infections, therefore, may help...develop methods for predicting and controlling the influence of infectious diseases in general, and upper respiratory infections in particular, in Navy

Knowledge Extraction and Semantic Annotation of Text from the Encyclopedia of Life

PubMed Central

Thessen, Anne E.; Parr, Cynthia Sims

2014-01-01

Numerous digitization and ontological initiatives have focused on translating biological knowledge from narrative text to machine-readable formats. In this paper, we describe two workflows for knowledge extraction and semantic annotation of text data objects featured in an online biodiversity aggregator, the Encyclopedia of Life. One workflow tags text with DBpedia URIs based on keywords. Another workflow finds taxon names in text using GNRD for the purpose of building a species association network. Both workflows work well: the annotation workflow has an F1 Score of 0.941 and the association algorithm has an F1 Score of 0.885. Existing text annotators such as Terminizer and DBpedia Spotlight performed well, but require some optimization to be useful in the ecology and evolution domain. Important future work includes scaling up and improving accuracy through the use of distributional semantics. PMID:24594988

Optical levitation of a microdroplet containing a single quantum dot

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Minowa, Yosuke; Kawai, Ryoichi; Ashida, Masaaki

2015-03-01

We demonstrate the optical levitation or trapping in helium gas of a single quantum dot (QD) within a liquid droplet. Bright single photon emission from the levitated QD in the droplet was observed for more than 200 s. The observed photon count rates are consistent with the value theoretically estimated from the two-photon-action cross section. This paper presents the realization of an optically levitated solid-state quantum emitter. This paper was published in Optics Letters and is made available as an electronic reprint with the permission of OSA. The paper can be found at the following URL on the OSA website: https://www.opticsinfobase.org/ol/abstract.cfm?uri=ol-40-6-906. Systematic or multiple reproduction or distribution to multiple locations via electronic or other means is prohibited and is subject to penalties under law.

Dual Intervention to Increase Chlamydia Retesting: A Randomized Controlled Trial in Three Populations.

PubMed

Smith, Kirsty S; Hocking, Jane S; Chen, Marcus Y; Fairley, Christopher K; McNulty, Anna M; Read, Phillip; Bradshaw, Catriona S; Tabrizi, Sepehr N; Wand, Handan; Saville, Marion; Rawlinson, William; Garland, Suzanne M; Donovan, Basil; Kaldor, John M; Guy, Rebecca J

2015-07-01

Chlamydia retesting 3 months after treatment is recommended to detect reinfections, but retesting rates are typically low. The purpose of this study is to determine if the addition of a postal home collection kit to a short message service (SMS) reminder at 3 months increases the percentage of patients retested for chlamydia at 1-4 months, compared to SMS alone. In this unblinded randomized controlled trial, participants were randomized 1:1 to intervention (home arm) or control (clinic arm) status. Participants included 200 each of women, heterosexual men, and men who have sex with men diagnosed and treated for chlamydia at sexual health services. Three months after chlamydia diagnosis, home arm participants received an SMS reminder and postal home collection kit (women, vaginal swab; heterosexual men, Copan UriSwab; men who have sex with men, UriSwab and rectal swab). The main outcome measures were the percentage of participants retested at 1-4 months after chlamydia diagnosis and the percentage in each arm with repeat positive tests, by risk group and overall, analyzed by intention to treat. Data were collected from 2011 to 2013 and analyzed in 2014. The percentage retested within 1-4 months of chlamydia diagnosis was significantly higher in home versus clinic arm participants among women (64% [66/103] vs 39% [38/97], p<0.001); heterosexual men (56% [57/101] vs 34% [34/99], p=0.002); men who have sex with men (62% [61/98] vs 44% [45/102], p=0.010); and overall (61% [184/302] vs 39% [117/298], p<0.001). The percentage in the home versus clinic arm with repeat positive tests was significantly higher among men who have sex with men (16% [16/98] vs 5% [5/102], p=0.021) and overall (10% [31/302] vs 4% [12/298], p=0.006). The addition of a postal home collection kit to routine SMS reminders resulted in substantial improvements in chlamydia retesting rates in all three risk groups and detection of more repeat positive tests, compared with SMS alone. Extending the

New tool for getting data on the field for paleoclimate and paleoceanography data based on isotope 13C and 18O measurements

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Mandic, M.; Stöbener, N.; Smajgl, D.

2017-12-01

For many decades different instrumental methods involving generations of the isotope ratio mass spectrometers with different periphery units for sample preparation, have provided scientifically required high precision, and high throughput of samples for varies application - from geological and hydrological to food and forensic. With this work we introduce automated measurement of δ13C and δ18O from solid carbonate samples, DIC and δ18O of water. We have demonstrated usage of a Thermo Scientific™ Delta Ray™ IRIS with URI Connect on certified reference materials and confirmed the high achievable accuracy and a precision better then <0.1‰ for both δ13C and δ18O, in the laboratory or the field with same precision and throughput of samples. With equilibration method for determination of δ18O in water samples, which we present in this work, achieved repeatability and accuracy are 0.12‰ and 0.68‰ respectively, which fulfill requirements of regulatory methods. The preparation of the samples for carbonate and DIC analysis on the Delta Ray IRIS with URI Connect is similar to the previously mentioned Gas Bench II methods. Samples are put into vials and phosphoric acid is added. The resulting sample-acid chemical reaction releases CO2 gas, which is then introduced into the Delta Ray IRIS via the Variable Volume. Three international standards of carbonate materials (NBS-18, NBS-19 and IAEA-CO-1) were analyzed. NBS-18 and NBS-19 were used as standards for calibration, and IAEA-CO-1 was treated as unknown. For water sample analysis equilibration method with 1% of CO2 in dry air was used. Test measurements and conformation of precision and accuracy of method determination δ18O in water samples were done with three lab standards, namely ANST, OCEAN 2 and HBW. All laboratory standards were previously calibrated with international reference material VSMOW2 and SLAP2 to assure accuracy of the isotopic values. The Principle of Identical Treatment was applied in sample

Molecular epidemiology of feline bordetellosis in two animal shelters in California, USA.

PubMed

Foley, Janet E; Rand, Courtney; Bannasch, Mike J; Norris, Carol R; Milan, Joy

2002-06-25

"Kennel cough" in dogs in animal shelters is readily transmissible, reduces adoption rates, and commonly leads to the euthanasia of affected dogs. In cats, tracheobronchitis, conjunctivitis, and pneumonia have been associated with Bordetella bronchiseptica infection-but most cases of upper-respiratory infection (URI) probably are caused by herpesvirus and calicivirus, and many B. bronchiseptica culture-positive cats are clinically normal. Our prospective observational study was undertaken to document the contribution of B. bronchiseptica to disease in cats and dogs from two animal shelters undergoing outbreaks of canine kennel cough, to evaluate whether cross-species transmission might have occurred, and to determine if the presence of infected cats represented a risk to dogs. Clinically defined cases of kennel cough in dogs and URI in cats were investigated in two shelters by calculating clinical-disease incidence, alveolar-lavage cytological examination, bacterial and viral cultures, antibiotic-susceptibility testing, and molecular fingerprinting by pulsed-field gel electrophoresis. In a 40-cat and 40-dog "no-kill" shelter, the prevalences of culture positivity were 47% for B. bronchiseptica and 36% for calicivirus at the same time as two resident dogs demonstrated clinical cough. When no dogs had kennel cough 3 months later, 10% of cats were B. bronchiseptica-culture-positive and 63% calicivirus positive. In a large traditional shelter, the incidence of kennel cough in dogs increased over 12 weeks to a maximum of 19 cases/week/120 dogs, during which time the culture prevalence was 23% for B. bronchiseptica in dogs and 47% in cats. Three to 6 months before the kennel-cough epidemic, no dogs or cats were B. bronchiseptica positive. Very little genetic variability was detected in isolates from these shelters; all isolates except one corresponded to a single strain type which was identical to the pattern in a vaccine used in these shelters. Isolates from other cats

Indoor/outdoor relationships, sources and cancer risk assessment of NPAHs and OPAHs in PM2.5 at urban and suburban hotels in Jinan, China

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Li, Yanyan; Yang, Lingxiao; Chen, Xiangfeng; Jiang, Pan; Gao, Ying; Zhang, Junmei; Yu, Hao; Wang, Wenxing

2018-06-01

Paired indoor and outdoor measurements of 16 NPAHs and 5 OPAHs in PM2.5 were conducted at urban and suburban sites during January 2016 in Jinan, China. The concentrations of both indoor and outdoor NPAHs and OPAHs were higher at the urban site compared with the suburban site. 9N-ANT (16-42%), 2+3N-FLA (15-51%), 2N-PYR (6-20%), and 1N-PYR (4-6%) were the dominant NPAHs at all sites, and 9-FO (61-81%) was the most abundant OPAHs. Solid fuel combustion, motor vehicle exhausts, and secondary generation were the main sources of the PAH derivatives in this study area. The I/O ratios of 90% of NPAHs and OPAHs at the first urban indoor site (abbreviated as URI1, Green Tree Inn) and the suburban indoor site (abbreviated as SUI, the Seven Star Hotel) were <1.00 indicating that many of the compounds measured indoors originated from outdoor sources. At the second urban indoor site (abbreviated as URI2, Shandong University Hotel), the I/O ratios of 2- and 3-ring NPAHs and OPAHs were >1.00, which was likely due to cooking activities occurring near the measurement site. Measurements of outdoor 2+3N-FLA/1N-PYR revealed mainly primary emission at the urban site and secondary sources at the suburban site, the average ratios were 3.76 and 12.22, respectively. The average ratio of 2+3N-FLA/2N-PYR at all sites was 3.3, indicating that the OH-initiated reaction was the dominant secondary formation pathway. Nighttime ratios of 2+3N-FLA/1N-PYR were significantly higher than the daytime ratios at all sites. The difference was especially pronounced during heavily polluted conditions at the suburban site, which suggests that heavy pollution and nighttime conditions promote secondary production. Additionally, the cancer risk was highest in urban outdoor (abbreviated as URO) when the population expose to the level as the outdoor air in the urban. The risk suggested that adults may be at a higher cancer risk.

PDF-1 neuropeptide signaling modulates a neural circuit for mate-searching behavior in C. elegans.

PubMed

Barrios, Arantza; Ghosh, Rajarshi; Fang, Chunhui; Emmons, Scott W; Barr, Maureen M

2012-12-01

Appetitive behaviors require complex decision making that involves the integration of environmental stimuli and physiological needs. C. elegans mate searching is a male-specific exploratory behavior regulated by two competing needs: food and reproductive appetite. We found that the pigment dispersing factor receptor (PDFR-1) modulates the circuit that encodes the male reproductive drive that promotes male exploration following mate deprivation. PDFR-1 and its ligand, PDF-1, stimulated mate searching in the male, but not in the hermaphrodite. pdf-1 was required in the gender-shared interneuron AIM, and the receptor acted in internal and external environment-sensing neurons of the shared nervous system (URY, PQR and PHA) to produce mate-searching behavior. Thus, the pdf-1 and pdfr-1 pathway functions in non-sex-specific neurons to produce a male-specific, goal-oriented exploratory behavior. Our results indicate that secretin neuropeptidergic signaling is involved in regulating motivational internal states.

Sharing Epigraphic Information as Linked Data

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Álvarez, Fernando-Luis; García-Barriocanal, Elena; Gómez-Pantoja, Joaquín-L.

The diffusion of epigraphic data has evolved in the last years from printed catalogues to indexed digital databases shared through the Web. Recently, the open EpiDoc specifications have resulted in an XML-based schema for the interchange of ancient texts that uses XSLT to render typographic representations. However, these schemas and representation systems are still not providing a way to encode computational semantics and semantic relations between pieces of epigraphic data. This paper sketches an approach to bring these semantics into an EpiDoc based schema using the Ontology Web Language (OWL) and following the principles and methods of information sharing known as "linked data". The paper describes the general principles of the OWL mapping of the EpiDoc schema and how epigraphic data can be shared in RDF format via dereferenceable URIs that can be used to build advanced search, visualization and analysis systems.

Automated Derivation of Complex System Constraints from User Requirements

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Muery, Kim; Foshee, Mark; Marsh, Angela

2006-01-01

International Space Station (ISS) payload developers submit their payload science requirements for the development of on-board execution timelines. The ISS systems required to execute the payload science operations must be represented as constraints for the execution timeline. Payload developers use a software application, User Requirements Collection (URC), to submit their requirements by selecting a simplified representation of ISS system constraints. To fully represent the complex ISS systems, the constraints require a level of detail that is beyond the insight of the payload developer. To provide the complex representation of the ISS system constraints, HOSC operations personnel, specifically the Payload Activity Requirements Coordinators (PARC), manually translate the payload developers simplified constraints into detailed ISS system constraints used for scheduling the payload activities in the Consolidated Planning System (CPS). This paper describes the implementation for a software application, User Requirements Integration (URI), developed to automate the manual ISS constraint translation process.

Free and Open Source Software underpinning the European Forest Data Centre

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Rodriguez Aseretto, Dario; Di Leo, Margherita; de Rigo, Daniele; Corti, Paolo; McInerney, Daniel; Camia, Andrea; San-Miguel-Ayanz, Jesús

2013-04-01

), 104-103. http://dx.doi.org/10.1109/MC.2007.292 Cai, Y., Judd, K. L., Lontzek, T. S., May 2012. Open science is necessary. Nature Climate Change 2 (5), 299. http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/nclimate1509 Sonnenburg, S., Braun, M. L., Ong, C. S., Bengio, S., Bottou, L., Holmes, G., LeCun, Y., Müller, K. R., Pereira, F., Rasmussen, C. E., Rätsch, G., Schölkopf, B., Smola, A., Vincent, P., Weston, J., Williamson, R., Dec. 2007. The need for open source software in machine learning. J. Mach. Learn. Res. 8, 2443-2466. http://jmlr.csail.mit.edu/papers/v8/sonnenburg07a.html de Vos, M. G., Janssen, S. J. C., van Bussel, L. G. J., Kromdijk, J., van Vliet, J., Top, J. L., Dec. 2011. Are environmental models transparent and reproducible enough? In: Chan, F., Marinova, D., Anderssen, R. S. (Eds.), MODSIM2011, 19th International Congress on Modelling and Simulation. Modelling and Simulation Society of Australia and New Zealand, pp. 2954-2961. http://www.mssanz.org.au/modsim2011/G7/devos.pdf Peng, R. D., 2011. Reproducible research in computational science. Science 334 (6060), 1226-1227. http://dx.doi.org/10.1126/science.1213847 European Commission, 2011. Strategy for internal use of OSS at the EC. European Commission, Directorate-General for Informatics (DIGIT). http://ec.europa.eu/dgs/informatics/oss_tech/index_en.htm (archived at: http://www.webcitation.org/6DXuBeTAU ) European Commission, 2006. European Union forest action plan. No. COM(2006) 302 final. Communication from the Commission. http://eur-lex.europa.eu/LexUriServ/LexUriServ.do?uri=COM:2006:0302:FIN:EN:HTML Ticheler, J., Hielkema, J. U., 2007. GeoNetwork opensource. OSGeo Journal 2, 1-5. http://journal.osgeo.org/index.php/journal/article/viewFile/86/69 European Parliament, 2007. Directive 2007/2/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 14 march 2007 establishing an infrastructure for spatial information in the european community (INSPIRE). Official Journal of the European Union 50 (L 108), 1-14. http://eur-lex.europa.eu/LexUriServ/LexUriServ.do?uri

Studies of the Cr-CrN coating characteristics formed by means of the magnetron sputtering method from bulk target

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kachalin, G. V.; Mednikov, A. F.; Tkhabisimov, A. B.; Sidorov, S. V.

2017-07-01

The paper presents the study’s results of ion-plasma chromium based coating characteristics produced on blade steel samples 12Kh13 and EI961 by means of the magnetron sputtering method from the bulk “hot” target. A set of metallographic studies and erosion tests of coatings were carried out using the research equipment URI (unique research installation) “Hydroshock rig Erosion-M” of NRU “MPEI”. Cr-CrN based coatings have a layered structure; thickness of intermediate Cr layers ranges from 0.7 to 1.7 μm, thickness of nitride layers CrN ranges from 1.5 to 4 μm, while the overall coating thickness is 17.0-21.5 μm coating microhardness is 1830-1880 HV0.05. The resulting coatings are found to increase 1.5 times the incubation period duration of erosion wear for steels 12Kh13 and EI961; they reduce the maximum erosion rate 1.3 times, and the steady erosion rate - 1.5 times.

Libsharp - spherical harmonic transforms revisited

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Reinecke, M.; Seljebotn, D. S.

2013-06-01

We present libsharp, a code library for spherical harmonic transforms (SHTs), which evolved from the libpsht library and addresses several of its shortcomings, such as adding MPI support for distributed memory systems and SHTs of fields with arbitrary spin, but also supporting new developments in CPU instruction sets like the Advanced Vector Extensions (AVX) or fused multiply-accumulate (FMA) instructions. The library is implemented in portable C99 and provides an interface that can be easily accessed from other programming languages such as C++, Fortran, Python, etc. Generally, libsharp's performance is at least on par with that of its predecessor; however, significant improvements were made to the algorithms for scalar SHTs, which are roughly twice as fast when using the same CPU capabilities. The library is available at uri" xlink:href="http://sourceforge.net/projects/libsharp/">http://sourceforge.net/projects/libsharp/ under the terms of the GNU General Public License.

Hazardous Glaciers In Switzerland: A Statistical Analysis of Inventory Data

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Raymond, M.; Funk, M.; Wegmann, M.

Because of the recent increase in both occupation and economical activities in high mountain areas, a systematic overview of potential hazard zones of glaciers is needed to avoid the constuction of settlements and infrastructures in endangered areas in fu- ture. Historical informations about glacier disasters show that catastrophic events can happen repeatedly for the same causes and with the same dramatic consequences. Past catastrophic events are not only useful to identify potentially dangerous glaciers, but represent an indication of the kind of glacier hazards to expect for any given glacier. An inventory containing all known events having caused damages in the past has been compiled for Switzerland. Three different types of glacier hazards are distinguished , e.g. ice avalanches, glacier floods and glacier length changes.Hazardous glaciers have been identified in the alpine cantons of Bern, Grison, Uri, Vaud and Valais so far. The inventory data were analysed in terms of periodicity of different types of events as well as of damage occured.

Relationship between Magnetic Anisotropy below Pseudogap Temperature and Short-Range Antiferromagnetic Order in High-Temperature Cuprate Superconductor

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Morinari, Takao

2018-06-01

The central issue in high-temperature cuprate superconductors is the pseudogap state appearing below the pseudogap temperature T*, which is well above the superconducting transition temperature. In this study, we theoretically investigate the rapid increase of the magnetic anisotropy below the pseudogap temperature detected by the recent torque-magnetometry measurements on YBa2Cu3Oy [Y. Sato et al., uri" xlink:href="https://doi.org/10.1038/nphys4205" xlink:type="simple">Nat. Phys. 13, 1074 (2017)]. Applying the spin Green's function formalism including the Dzyaloshinskii-Moriya interaction arising from the buckling of the CuO2 plane, we obtain results that are in good agreement with the experiment and find a scaling relationship. Our analysis suggests that the characteristic temperature associated with the magnetic anisotropy, which coincides with T*, is not a phase transition temperature but a crossover temperature associated with the short-range antiferromagnetic order.

The continuous time random walk, still trendy: fifty-year history, state of art and outlook

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kutner, Ryszard; Masoliver, Jaume

2017-03-01

In this article we demonstrate the very inspiring role of the continuous-time random walk (CTRW) formalism, the numerous modifications permitted by its flexibility, its various applications, and the promising perspectives in the various fields of knowledge. A short review of significant achievements and possibilities is given. However, this review is still far from completeness. We focused on a pivotal role of CTRWs mainly in anomalous stochastic processes discovered in physics and beyond. This article plays the role of an extended announcement of the Eur. Phys. J. B Special Issue [uri" xlink:href="http://epjb.epj.org/open-calls-for-papers/123-epj-b/1090-ctrw-50-years-on">http://epjb.epj.org/open-calls-for-papers/123-epj-b/1090-ctrw-50-years-on] containing articles which show incredible possibilities of the CTRWs. Contribution to the Topical Issue "Continuous Time Random Walk Still Trendy: Fifty-year History, Current State and Outlook", edited by Ryszard Kutner and Jaume Masoliver.

Using Isotope Ratio Infrared Spectrometer to determine δ13C of CaCO3 carbonate and DIC samples and δ18O of water

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Mandic, M.; Stöbener, N.; Mandic, L.; Smajgl, D.; Jost, H. J. H.

2016-12-01

Precise and accurate determination of isotopic composition of carbon (13C) and oxygen (18O) from carbonate or DIC sample with proper referencing and data evaluation algorithm presents a challenge for scientists. Mass spectrometry was the only widely used technique for this kind of analysis, but recent advances make laser based isotope ratio infrared spectroscopy (IRIS) a viable alternative. To analyze discrete samples, the Universal Reference Interface (URI) Connect was developed. CO2 free syntethic air is used to flush out the contents of a sample container into a variable volume. If necessary, the sample is further diluted before entering the analysis chamber. Reference gas measurements are automatically performed at the same concentration as sample measurements to compensate for instrument drifts and non linearity. The URI Connect can handle about 100 samples per day from an autosampler, or samples can be injected one at a time through a septum on the front of the instrument. Gas samples collected in flasks, bags, syringes, or vials can be analyzed. The system only needs the equivalent of about 80µg - or 40µL - of pure CO2 gas to complete an analysis. Due to it's small weight and robustness, sample analysis can be performed in the field, e.g. aboard a research vessel. To demonstrate the performance, a test experiment with 1% CO2 in 12 ml vials was performed. We achieved an internal precision of better than 0.07‰ and 0.1‰ for δ13C and δ18O, respectively. Analyses with sample amounts as low as 200 μg of carbonate can also be performed reliably with IRIS. We present measurements of three international reference materials, and one of them treated as an unknown. Five samples each of approximately 1mg each were acidified using a few droplets of 43% H3PO4 and left for equilibration overnight at 25°C. The standard deviation was less than 0.1‰ δ13C and the accuracy <0.01‰ As another example of head space analysis in 12 ml vials, we determined δ18O of

USGIN ISO metadata profile

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Richard, S. M.

2011-12-01

The USGIN project has drafted and is using a specification for use of ISO 19115/19/39 metadata, recommendations for simple metadata content, and a proposal for a URI scheme to identify resources using resolvable http URI's(see http://lab.usgin.org/usgin-profiles). The principal target use case is a catalog in which resources can be registered and described by data providers for discovery by users. We are currently using the ESRI Geoportal (Open Source), with configuration files for the USGIN profile. The metadata offered by the catalog must provide sufficient content to guide search engines to locate requested resources, to describe the resource content, provenance, and quality so users can determine if the resource will serve for intended usage, and finally to enable human users and sofware clients to obtain or access the resource. In order to achieve an operational federated catalog system, provisions in the ISO specification must be restricted and usage clarified to reduce the heterogeneity of 'standard' metadata and service implementations such that a single client can search against different catalogs, and the metadata returned by catalogs can be parsed reliably to locate required information. Usage of the complex ISO 19139 XML schema allows for a great deal of structured metadata content, but the heterogenity in approaches to content encoding has hampered development of sophisticated client software that can take advantage of the rich metadata; the lack of such clients in turn reduces motivation for metadata producers to produce content-rich metadata. If the only significant use of the detailed, structured metadata is to format into text for people to read, then the detailed information could be put in free text elements and be just as useful. In order for complex metadata encoding and content to be useful, there must be clear and unambiguous conventions on the encoding that are utilized by the community that wishes to take advantage of advanced metadata

A semantically rich and standardised approach enhancing discovery of sensor data and metadata

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kokkinaki, Alexandra; Buck, Justin; Darroch, Louise

2016-04-01

The marine environment plays an essential role in the earth's climate. To enhance the ability to monitor the health of this important system, innovative sensors are being produced and combined with state of the art sensor technology. As the number of sensors deployed is continually increasing,, it is a challenge for data users to find the data that meet their specific needs. Furthermore, users need to integrate diverse ocean datasets originating from the same or even different systems. Standards provide a solution to the above mentioned challenges. The Open Geospatial Consortium (OGC) has created Sensor Web Enablement (SWE) standards that enable different sensor networks to establish syntactic interoperability. When combined with widely accepted controlled vocabularies, they become semantically rich and semantic interoperability is achievable. In addition, Linked Data is the recommended best practice for exposing, sharing and connecting information on the Semantic Web using Uniform Resource Identifiers (URIs), Resource Description Framework (RDF) and RDF Query Language (SPARQL). As part of the EU-funded SenseOCEAN project, the British Oceanographic Data Centre (BODC) is working on the standardisation of sensor metadata enabling 'plug and play' sensor integration. Our approach combines standards, controlled vocabularies and persistent URIs to publish sensor descriptions, their data and associated metadata as 5 star Linked Data and OGC SWE (SensorML, Observations & Measurements) standard. Thus sensors become readily discoverable, accessible and useable via the web. Content and context based searching is also enabled since sensors descriptions are understood by machines. Additionally, sensor data can be combined with other sensor or Linked Data datasets to form knowledge. This presentation will describe the work done in BODC to achieve syntactic and semantic interoperability in the sensor domain. It will illustrate the reuse and extension of the Semantic Sensor

[Quantitative determination of the main metabolites of acetylsalicylic acid/2nd communication: the concentrations of salicylic acid and its metabolites in patients with renal insufficiency (author's transl)].

PubMed

Daneels, R; Loew, D; Pütter, J

1975-07-01

Quantitative Determination of the Main Metabolites of Acetylsalicylic Acid / 2nd Communication: The concentrations of salicylic acid and its metabolies in patients with renal insufficiency 9 patients suffering from renal insufficiencies of varing degrees and treated regularly by hemodialysis were given 1.5 g Colfarit (microcapsulated acetyl salicylic acid) as a single dose. The concentrations of salicylic acid (SA), salicyluric acid (SU), further salicylic acid conjugates (SAC) and salicyluric acid conjugates (SUC) were determined in the blood plasma. Likewise urea and creatinine were determined. SA concentration decreased continually and, at the end of the trial (72 h after application), had vanished almost completely from the plasma of most patients. SU increased at first and decreased afterwards. With the exception of the dailysis time SAC and SUC increased during the trial. After 3 days the SUC level was more than 50% of total salicylate (SSS) in most patients. SSS (the sum of SA + SU + SAC + SUC) did not change very much before dialysis, but showed a rather high decrease during the first hours of dialysis. tafter dialysis the SSS levels rose again, apparently as a consequence of a redistribution and of the synthesis of conjugates with decreased tissue affinity. It could be shown that SSS in the blood plasma does not parallel SSS in the whole body. The interindividual variation of SA metabolism as well as the variation of the biological blank values was rather high. The results are discussed with regard to salicylate pharmacokinetics in renal insufficiency and to normal salicylate metabolism.

Low-lying Photoexcited States of a One-Dimensional Ionic Extended Hubbard Model

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Yokoi, Kota; Maeshima, Nobuya; Hino, Ken-ichi

2017-10-01

We investigate the properties of low-lying photoexcited states of a one-dimensional (1D) ionic extended Hubbard model at half-filling. Numerical analysis by using the full and Lanczos diagonalization methods shows that, in the ionic phase, there exist low-lying photoexcited states below the charge transfer gap. As a result of comparison with numerical data for the 1D antiferromagnetic (AF) Heisenberg model, it was found that, for a small alternating potential Δ, these low-lying photoexcited states are spin excitations, which is consistent with a previous analytical study [Katsura et al., uri" xlink:href="https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.103.177402" xlink:type="simple">Phys. Rev. Lett. 103, 177402 (2009)]. As Δ increases, the spectral intensity of the 1D ionic extended Hubbard model rapidly deviates from that of the 1D AF Heisenberg model and it is clarified that this deviation is due to the neutral-ionic domain wall, an elementary excitation near the neutral-ionic transition point.

Investigation of the Vortex States of Sr2RuO4-Ru Eutectic Microplates Using DC-SQUIDs

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sakuma, Daisuke; Nago, Yusuke; Ishiguro, Ryosuke; Kashiwaya, Satoshi; Nomura, Shintaro; Kono, Kimitoshi; Maeno, Yoshiteru; Takayanagi, Hideaki

2017-11-01

We investigated the magnetic properties of a Sr2RuO4-Ru eutectic microplate containing a single Ru-inclusion using micrometer-sized DC-SQUIDs (direct-current superconducting quantum interference devices). A phase frustration at the interface between chiral p-wave superconducting Sr2RuO4 and s-wave superconducting Ru is expected to cause novel magnetic vortex states such as the spontaneous Ru-center vortex under zero magnetic field [as reported by H. Kaneyasu and M. Sigrist, uri" xlink:href="https://doi.org/10.1143/JPSJ.79.053706" xlink:type="simple">J. Phys. Soc. Jpn. 79, 053706 (2010)]. Our experimental results show no positive evidence for such a spontaneous vortex state. However, in an applied field, an abrupt change in the magnetic flux distribution was observed at a superconducting transition of Ru. The flux distribution is clarified by comparing our experimental results with electromagnetic field simulations in our sample geometry. We discuss the transition of the vortex states and the superconducting coupling at the Sr2RuO4/Ru interface.

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

Vigeant, Paul; Miller, John; Howes, Brian

Project Goals: The funding provided by this contract supported the following activities: A) Test Site Development; B) Seed Grant Funded Technology Development; C) Stakeholder Activities The first year of funding was dedicated to the formation of the NE MREC University Consortium which was comprised of University of Massachusetts Dartmouth (UMD) and Amherst (UMA), Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI), University of New Hampshire (UNH), and the University of Rhode Island (URI). The consortium worked together to encourage research and promote benefits of obtaining energy from ocean wind, waves, tides and currents. In addition, NE MREC’s goalmore » was to fund projects aimed at potential test sites with the first year funding going to studies of the potential for tidal device testing in Muskeget Channel, at the General Sullivan Bridge in New Hampshire, and for wave device testing at the proposed National Offshore Renewable Energy Innovation Zone (NOREIZ) located off the Massachusetts coast. The project spanned 4.5 years and addressed three specific tasks that are interrelated but also served as independent investigations.« less

General Formalism of Mass Scaling Approach for Replica-Exchange Molecular Dynamics and its Application

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Nagai, Tetsuro

2017-01-01

Replica-exchange molecular dynamics (REMD) has demonstrated its efficiency by combining trajectories of a wide range of temperatures. As an extension of the method, the author formalizes the mass-manipulating replica-exchange molecular dynamics (MMREMD) method that allows for arbitrary mass scaling with respect to temperature and individual particles. The formalism enables the versatile application of mass-scaling approaches to the REMD method. The key change introduced in the novel formalism is the generalized rules for the velocity and momentum scaling after accepted replica-exchange attempts. As an application of this general formalism, the refinement of the viscosity-REMD (V-REMD) method [P. H. Nguyen, uri" xlink:href="https://doi.org/10.1063/1.3369626" xlink:type="simple">J. Chem. Phys. 132, 144109 (2010)] is presented. Numerical results are provided using a pilot system, demonstrating easier and more optimized applicability of the new version of V-REMD as well as the importance of adherence to the generalized velocity scaling rules. With the new formalism, more sound and efficient simulations will be performed.

Split Fermi Surfaces of the Spin-Orbit-Coupled Metal Cd2Re2O7 Probed by de Haas-van Alphen Effect

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Matsubayashi, Yasuhito; Sugii, Kaori; Hirose, Hishiro T.; Hirai, Daigorou; Sugiura, Shiori; Terashima, Taichi; Uji, Shinya; Hiroi, Zenji

2018-05-01

The superconducting pyrochlore oxide Cd2Re2O7 shows a structural transition with inversion symmetry breaking (ISB) at Ts1 = 200 K. A recent theory [uri" xlink:href="https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.115.026401" xlink:type="simple">L. Fu, Phys. Rev. Lett. 115, 026401 (2015)] suggests that the origin is an electronic instability that leads to a multipolar order in the spin-orbit-coupled metal. To observe the Fermi surface of the low-temperature phase of Cd2Re2O7, we perform de Haas-van Alphen effect measurements by means of magnetic torque. In reference to a calculated band structure, the spin-split Fermi surfaces with large cyclotron masses of 5-9m0 are revealed. The splitting is suggested to be due to an antisymmetric spin-orbit coupling induced by ISB, the strength of which is estimated to be approximately 67 K, which is rather smaller than those of typical non-centrosymmetric metals.

Re-use of standard ontologies in a water quality vocabulary (Invited)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Cox, S. J.; Simons, B.; Yu, J.

2013-12-01

Interest (ChEBI). ChEBI is an OWL-based dictionary of over 70 000 molecular entities, based on existing scientific work and linked through to International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry (IUPAC) Nomenclature. Within the model the relevant classes, including those from QUDT, are declared to be subclasses of SKOS Concept, so the resulting vocabularies may be directly mapped to other SKOS-based vocabularies, such as from the NERC Vocabulary Service or the Marine Metadata Initiative, using SKOS predicates. Where the external vocabularies are not published with persistent URIs, such as CUAHSI, the mapping may be recorded more informally using annotations, or use proxy URIs for the external vocabulary. The resulting SKOS vocabularies demonstrate a separation of governance of key definitions such as units and quantities and chemical entities, ensuring reuse where possible and extending and adding detail where necessary.

University of Rhode Island Regional Earth Systems Center

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

Rothstein, Lewis; Cornillon, P.

The primary objective of this program was to establish the URI Regional Earth System Center (“Center”) that would enhance overall societal wellbeing (health, financial, environmental) by utilizing the best scientific information and technology to achieve optimal policy decisions with maximum stakeholder commitment for energy development, coastal environmental management, water resources protection and human health protection, while accelerating regional economic growth. The Center was to serve to integrate existing URI institutional strengths in energy, coastal environmental management, water resources, and human wellbeing. This integrated research, educational and public/private sector outreach Center was to focus on local, state and regional resources. Themore » centerpiece activity of the Center was in the development and implementation of integrated assessment models (IAMs) that both ‘downscaled’ global observations and interpolated/extrapolated regional observations for analyzing the complexity of interactions among humans and the natural climate system to further our understanding and, ultimately, to predict the future state of our regional earth system. The Center was to begin by first ‘downscaling’ existing global earth systems management tools for studying the causes of local, state and regional climate change and potential social and environmental consequences, with a focus on the regional resources identified above. The Center would ultimately need to address the full feedbacks inherent in the nonlinear earth systems by quantifying the “upscaled” impacts of those regional changes on the global earth system. Through an interacting suite of computer simulations that are informed by observations from the nation’s evolving climate observatories, the Center activities integrates climate science, technology, economics, and social policy into forecasts that will inform solutions to pressing issues in regional climate change science, �

Search for supersymmetry in events with soft leptons, low jet multiplicity, and missing transverse energy in proton–proton collisions at $$\\sqrt{s}$$ = 8 TeV

DOE PAGES

Khachatryan, Vardan

2016-05-16

Results are presented from a search for supersymmetric particles in scenarios with a compressed mass spectrum. The data sample corresponds to 19.7 inverse femtobarns of proton-proton collisions recorded by the CMS experiment at √s = 8 TeV. The search targets top squark (more » $$\\tilde{t}$$ pair production in scenarios with mass differences Δm = m($$\\tilde{t}$$ – m($$\\tilde{\\chi}$$ 1 0) below the W-boson mass and with top-squark decays in the four-body mode ($$\\tilde{t}$$ → blv$$\\tilde{\\chi}$$ 1 0), where the ($$\\tilde{\\chi}$$ 1 0) is assumed to be the lightest supersymmetric particle (LSP). The signature includes a high transverse momentum (p T) jet associated with initial-state radiation, one or two low-p T leptons, and significant missing transverse energy. The event yields observed in data are consistent with the expected background contributions from standard model processes. Limits are set on the cross section for top squark pair production as a function of the $$\\tilde{t}$$ and LSP masses. Assuming a 100% branching fraction for the four-body decay mode, top-squark masses below 316 GeV are excluded for Δm = 25 GeV at 95% CL. Furthermore, the dilepton data are also interpreted under the assumption of chargino-neutralino production, with subsequent decays to sleptons or sneutrinos. Assuming a difference between the common $$\\tilde{\\chi}$$ 1 +/$$\\tilde{\\chi}$$ 2 + mass and the LSP mass of 20 GeV and a τ-enriched decay scenario, masses in the range m( $$\\tilde{\\chi}$$ 1 +) <307 GeVare excluded at 95% CL.« less

Duloxetine for the treatment of painful diabetic peripheral neuropathy in Venezuela: economic evaluation.

PubMed

Carlos, Fernando; Espejel, Luis; Novick, Diego; López, Rubén; Flores, Daniel

2015-09-25

Painful diabetic peripheral neuropathy affects 40-50% of patients with diabetic neuropathy, leading to impaired quality of life and substantial costs. Duloxetine and pregabalin have evidence-based support, and are formally approved for controlling painful diabetic peripheral neuropathy. We used a 12-week decision model for examining painful diabetic peripheral neuropathy first-line therapy with daily doses of duloxetine 60mg or pregabalin 300mg, under the perspective of the Instituto Venezolano de los Seguros Sociales. We gathered model parameters from published literature and expert´s opinion, focusing on the magnitude of pain relief, the presence of adverse events, the possibility of withdrawal owing to intolerable adverse events or due to lack of efficacy, and the quality-adjusted life years expected in each strategy. We analyzed direct medical costs (which are expressed in Bolívares Fuertes, BsF) comprising drug acquisition besides additional care devoted to treatment of adverse events and poor pain relief. We conducted both deterministic and probabilistic sensitivity analyses. Total expected costs per 1000 patients were BsF 1 046 146 (26%) lower with duloxetine than with pregabalin. Most of these savings (91%) corresponds to the difference in the acquisition’s cost of each medication. duloxetine also provided 23 more patients achieving good pain relief and a gain of about two quality-adjusted life years per 1000 treated. Model was robust to plausible changes in main parameters. Duloxetine remained the preferred option in 93.9% of the second-order Monte Carlo simulations. This study suggests duloxetine dominates (i.e., is more effective and lead to gains in quality-adjusted life years), remaining less costly than pregabalin for treatment of painful diabetic peripheral neuropathy.

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

Khachatryan, Vardan

Results are presented from a search for supersymmetric particles in scenarios with a compressed mass spectrum. The data sample corresponds to 19.7 inverse femtobarns of proton-proton collisions recorded by the CMS experiment at √s = 8 TeV. The search targets top squark (more » $$\\tilde{t}$$ pair production in scenarios with mass differences Δm = m($$\\tilde{t}$$ – m($$\\tilde{\\chi}$$ 1 0) below the W-boson mass and with top-squark decays in the four-body mode ($$\\tilde{t}$$ → blv$$\\tilde{\\chi}$$ 1 0), where the ($$\\tilde{\\chi}$$ 1 0) is assumed to be the lightest supersymmetric particle (LSP). The signature includes a high transverse momentum (p T) jet associated with initial-state radiation, one or two low-p T leptons, and significant missing transverse energy. The event yields observed in data are consistent with the expected background contributions from standard model processes. Limits are set on the cross section for top squark pair production as a function of the $$\\tilde{t}$$ and LSP masses. Assuming a 100% branching fraction for the four-body decay mode, top-squark masses below 316 GeV are excluded for Δm = 25 GeV at 95% CL. Furthermore, the dilepton data are also interpreted under the assumption of chargino-neutralino production, with subsequent decays to sleptons or sneutrinos. Assuming a difference between the common $$\\tilde{\\chi}$$ 1 +/$$\\tilde{\\chi}$$ 2 + mass and the LSP mass of 20 GeV and a τ-enriched decay scenario, masses in the range m( $$\\tilde{\\chi}$$ 1 +) <307 GeVare excluded at 95% CL.« less

Publishing high-quality climate data on the semantic web

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Woolf, Andrew; Haller, Armin; Lefort, Laurent; Taylor, Kerry

2013-04-01

The effort over more than a decade to establish the semantic web [Berners-Lee et. al., 2001] has received a major boost in recent years through the Open Government movement. Governments around the world are seeking technical solutions to enable more open and transparent access to Public Sector Information (PSI) they hold. Existing technical protocols and data standards tend to be domain specific, and so limit the ability to publish and integrate data across domains (health, environment, statistics, education, etc.). The web provides a domain-neutral platform for information publishing, and has proven itself beyond expectations for publishing and linking human-readable electronic documents. Extending the web pattern to data (often called Web 3.0) offers enormous potential. The semantic web applies the basic web principles to data [Berners-Lee, 2006]: using URIs as identifiers (for data objects and real-world 'things', instead of documents) making the URIs actionable by providing useful information via HTTP using a common exchange standard (serialised RDF for data instead of HTML for documents) establishing typed links between information objects to enable linking and integration Leading examples of 'linked data' for publishing PSI may be found in both the UK (http://data.gov.uk/linked-data) and US (http://www.data.gov/page/semantic-web). The Bureau of Meteorology (BoM) is Australia's national meteorological agency, and has a new mandate to establish a national environmental information infrastructure (under the National Plan for Environmental Information, NPEI [BoM, 2012a]). While the initial approach is based on the existing best practice Spatial Data Infrastructure (SDI) architecture, linked-data is being explored as a technological alternative that shows great promise for the future. We report here the first trial of government linked-data in Australia under data.gov.au. In this initial pilot study, we have taken BoM's new high-quality reference surface

Lock-in of a Chiral Soliton Lattice by Itinerant Electrons

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Okumura, Shun; Kato, Yasuyuki; Motome, Yukitoshi

2018-03-01

Chiral magnets often show intriguing magnetic and transport properties associated with their peculiar spin textures. A typical example is a chiral soliton lattice, which is found in monoaxial chiral magnets, such as CrNb3S6 and Yb(Ni1-xCux)3Al9 in an external magnetic field perpendicular to the chiral axis. Here, we theoretically investigate the electronic and magnetic properties in the chiral soliton lattice by a minimal itinerant electron model. Using variational calculations, we find that the period of the chiral soliton lattice can be locked at particular values dictated by the Fermi wave number, in stark contrast to spin-only models. We discuss this behavior caused by the spin-charge coupling as a possible mechanism for the lock-in discovered in Yb(Ni1-xCux)3Al9 [T. Matsumura et al., uri" xlink:href="https://doi.org/10.7566/JPSJ.86.124702" xlink:type="simple">J. Phys. Soc. Jpn. 86, 124702 (2017)]. We also show that the same mechanism leads to the spontaneous formation of the chiral soliton lattice even in the absence of the magnetic field.

Stellar Parameters in an Instant with Machine Learning. Application to Kepler LEGACY Targets

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bellinger, Earl P.; Angelou, George C.; Hekker, Saskia; Basu, Sarbani; Ball, Warrick H.; Guggenberger, Elisabet

2017-10-01

With the advent of dedicated photometric space missions, the ability to rapidly process huge catalogues of stars has become paramount. Bellinger and Angelou et al. [1] recently introduced a new method based on machine learning for inferring the stellar parameters of main-sequence stars exhibiting solar-like oscillations. The method makes precise predictions that are consistent with other methods, but with the advantages of being able to explore many more parameters while costing practically no time. Here we apply the method to 52 so-called "LEGACY" main-sequence stars observed by the Kepler space mission. For each star, we present estimates and uncertainties of mass, age, radius, luminosity, core hydrogen abundance, surface helium abundance, surface gravity, initial helium abundance, and initial metallicity as well as estimates of their evolutionary model parameters of mixing length, overshooting coeffcient, and diffusion multiplication factor. We obtain median uncertainties in stellar age, mass, and radius of 14.8%, 3.6%, and 1.7%, respectively. The source code for all analyses and for all figures appearing in this manuscript can be found electronically at uri">https://github.com/earlbellinger/asteroseismology

Shmuel Malkin (1934-2017) : Listening to photosynthesis and making music.

PubMed

Herbert, Stephen K; Siderer, Yona; Govindjee

2018-07-01

We present here the life and work of Shmuel Malkin (1934-2017), an accomplished scientist and a gifted musician who touched the lives of many around the world. His early scientific work addressed the dynamics of light harvesting and electron transport in photosynthesis. Later, he used photoacoustic and photothermal methodologies to explore all aspects of photosynthesis. As a musician, Shmuel played the piano often for family and friends but after his formal retirement, he produced a body of original musical compositions, many of which were performed publicly. Throughout his life, Shmuel was a caring and deeply thoughtful man, respected and loved by colleagues, family, and friends. This tribute presents a summary of Shmuel's work as well as remembrances written by his wife, Nava Malkin, their son, Eyal Malkinson, and many of his colleagues: Michael Havaux from France; Sandra and Marcel Jansen from Ireland; David Cahen, Marvin Edelmann, Joop and Onnie de Graaf, Jonathan Gressel, Uri Pick, Yona Siderer, and Elisha Tel-Or from Israel; Ulrich Schreiber from Germany; James Barber and Alison Telfer from the UK; Govindjee, Stephen Herbert and Thomas Sharkey from the USA. Minnie Ho and Iris Malkin of the USA wrote contributions about Shmuel's music.

Defrosting the digital library: bibliographic tools for the next generation web.

PubMed

Hull, Duncan; Pettifer, Steve R; Kell, Douglas B

2008-10-01

Many scientists now manage the bulk of their bibliographic information electronically, thereby organizing their publications and citation material from digital libraries. However, a library has been described as "thought in cold storage," and unfortunately many digital libraries can be cold, impersonal, isolated, and inaccessible places. In this Review, we discuss the current chilly state of digital libraries for the computational biologist, including PubMed, IEEE Xplore, the ACM digital library, ISI Web of Knowledge, Scopus, Citeseer, arXiv, DBLP, and Google Scholar. We illustrate the current process of using these libraries with a typical workflow, and highlight problems with managing data and metadata using URIs. We then examine a range of new applications such as Zotero, Mendeley, Mekentosj Papers, MyNCBI, CiteULike, Connotea, and HubMed that exploit the Web to make these digital libraries more personal, sociable, integrated, and accessible places. We conclude with how these applications may begin to help achieve a digital defrost, and discuss some of the issues that will help or hinder this in terms of making libraries on the Web warmer places in the future, becoming resources that are considerably more useful to both humans and machines.

Defrosting the Digital Library: Bibliographic Tools for the Next Generation Web

PubMed Central

Hull, Duncan; Pettifer, Steve R.; Kell, Douglas B.

2008-01-01

Many scientists now manage the bulk of their bibliographic information electronically, thereby organizing their publications and citation material from digital libraries. However, a library has been described as “thought in cold storage,” and unfortunately many digital libraries can be cold, impersonal, isolated, and inaccessible places. In this Review, we discuss the current chilly state of digital libraries for the computational biologist, including PubMed, IEEE Xplore, the ACM digital library, ISI Web of Knowledge, Scopus, Citeseer, arXiv, DBLP, and Google Scholar. We illustrate the current process of using these libraries with a typical workflow, and highlight problems with managing data and metadata using URIs. We then examine a range of new applications such as Zotero, Mendeley, Mekentosj Papers, MyNCBI, CiteULike, Connotea, and HubMed that exploit the Web to make these digital libraries more personal, sociable, integrated, and accessible places. We conclude with how these applications may begin to help achieve a digital defrost, and discuss some of the issues that will help or hinder this in terms of making libraries on the Web warmer places in the future, becoming resources that are considerably more useful to both humans and machines. PMID:18974831

Theory of the n = 2 levels in muonic helium-3 ions

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Franke, Beatrice; Krauth, Julian J.; Antognini, Aldo; Diepold, Marc; Kottmann, Franz; Pohl, Randolf

2017-12-01

The present knowledge of Lamb shift, fine-, and hyperfine structure of the 2S and 2P states in muonic helium-3 ions is reviewed in anticipation of the results of a first measurement of several 2S → 2P transition frequencies in the muonic helium-3 ion, μ3He+. This ion is the bound state of a single negative muon μ- and a bare helium-3 nucleus (helion), 3He++. A term-by-term comparison of all available sources, including new, updated, and so far unpublished calculations, reveals reliable values and uncertainties of the QED and nuclear structure-dependent contributions to the Lamb shift and the hyperfine splitting. These values are essential for the determination of the helion rms charge radius and the nuclear structure effects to the hyperfine splitting in μ3He+. With this review we continue our series of theory summaries in light muonic atoms [see A. Antognini et al., Ann. Phys. 331, 127 (2013); J.J. Krauth et al., Ann. Phys. 366, 168 (2016); and M. Diepold et al. uri" xlink:href="https://arxiv.org/abs/1606.05231">arXiv:1606.05231 (2016)].

Sideslip estimation for articulated heavy vehicles at the limits of adhesion

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Morrison, Graeme; Cebon, David

2016-11-01

Various active safety systems proposed for articulated heavy goods vehicles (HGVs) require an accurate estimate of vehicle sideslip angle. However in contrast to passenger cars, there has been minimal published research on sideslip estimation for articulated HGVs. State-of-the-art observers, which rely on linear vehicle models, perform poorly when manoeuvring near the limits of tyre adhesion. This paper investigates three nonlinear Kalman filters (KFs) for estimating the tractor sideslip angle of a tractor-semitrailer. These are compared to the current state-of-the-art, through computer simulations and vehicle test data. An unscented KF using a 5 degrees-of-freedom single-track vehicle model with linear adaptive tyres is found to substantially outperform the state-of-the-art linear KF across a range of test manoeuvres on different surfaces, both at constant speed and during emergency braking. Robustness of the observer to parameter uncertainty is also demonstrated. Data supporting this research can be accessed at uri" xlink:href="http://dx.doi.org/10.17863/CAM.1234">http://dx.doi.org/10.17863/CAM.1234

US National Geothermal Data System: Web feature services and system operations

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Richard, Stephen; Clark, Ryan; Allison, M. Lee; Anderson, Arlene

2013-04-01

The US National Geothermal Data System is being developed with support from the US Department of Energy to reduce risk in geothermal energy development by providing online access to the body of geothermal data available in the US. The system is being implemented using Open Geospatial Consortium web services for catalog search (CSW), map browsing (WMS), and data access (WFS). The catalog now includes 2427 registered resources, mostly individual documents accessible via URL. 173 WMS and WFS services are registered, hosted by 4 NGDS system nodes, as well as 6 other state geological surveys. Simple feature schema for interchange formats have been developed by an informal community process in which draft content models are developed based on the information actually available in most data provider's internal datasets. A template pattern is used for the content models so that commonly used content items have the same name and data type across models. Models are documented in Excel workbooks and posted for community review with a deadline for comment; at the end of the comment period a technical working group reviews and discusses comments and votes on adoption. When adopted, an XML schema is implemented for the content model. Our approach has been to keep the focus of each interchange schema narrow, such that simple-feature (flat file) XML schema are sufficient to implement the content model. Keeping individual interchange formats simple, and allowing flexibility to introduce new content models as needed have both assisted in adoption of the service architecture. One problem that remains to be solved is that off-the-shelf server packages (GeoServer, ArcGIS server) do not permit configuration of a normative schema location to be bound with XML namespaces in instance documents. Such configuration is possible with GeoServer using a more complex deployment process. XML interchange format schema versions are indicated by the namespace URI; because of the schema location

Solar Ion Processing of Itokawa Grains: Constraints on Surface Exposure Times

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Christoffersen, R.; Keller, L. P.

2015-01-01

Analytical TEM observations obtained to date reveal that a significant sub-population of grains returned from the surface of asteroid Itokawa have had their outer 30-100 nm processed by space weathering effects. Although the effects include some surface deposition of condensed impact vapor and isolated impact melt splashes, much of the width of the space weathered outer margins or "rims" on grains is derived from solar wind processing of the original host grain. Similar to what has long been reported for some lunar grains, the ion-processed rims on Itokawa grains exhibit varing degrees and depths of penetration of atomic-displacement ion damage, resulting in complete amorphization for some rims (particularly in plagioclase), or formation of highly defective but still crystalline structures in others (particularly in pyroxene and olivine). Possibly different from lunar grains, however, is the presence of isolated internal cavities or voids in Itokawa grain rims, which may be implantation "bubbles" due to accumulating implanted solar wind H and/or He. For a given mineral exposed at a particular set of long term solar wind conditions, the level of ion damage in a given grain rim, the depth of damage penetration represented by the rim width, and the formation or lack of formation of implantation bubbles can all be linked to the time spent by the grain in an uncovered state on the topmost, space-exposed, regolith surface. For the lunar case, we have previously shown that with reasonable assumptions about solar wind characteristics over time, a model can be developed to estimate this exposure time based on the width of amorphous rims on lunar grains. Here we report on an expansion of the model to cover exposure time information contained in the array of solar ion-induced features in Itokawa grains.

The ChEMBL database as linked open data

PubMed Central

2013-01-01

Background Making data available as Linked Data using Resource Description Framework (RDF) promotes integration with other web resources. RDF documents can natively link to related data, and others can link back using Uniform Resource Identifiers (URIs). RDF makes the data machine-readable and uses extensible vocabularies for additional information, making it easier to scale up inference and data analysis. Results This paper describes recent developments in an ongoing project converting data from the ChEMBL database into RDF triples. Relative to earlier versions, this updated version of ChEMBL-RDF uses recently introduced ontologies, including CHEMINF and CiTO; exposes more information from the database; and is now available as dereferencable, linked data. To demonstrate these new features, we present novel use cases showing further integration with other web resources, including Bio2RDF, Chem2Bio2RDF, and ChemSpider, and showing the use of standard ontologies for querying. Conclusions We have illustrated the advantages of using open standards and ontologies to link the ChEMBL database to other databases. Using those links and the knowledge encoded in standards and ontologies, the ChEMBL-RDF resource creates a foundation for integrated semantic web cheminformatics applications, such as the presented decision support. PMID:23657106

Sci-Hub provides access to nearly all scholarly literature.

PubMed

Himmelstein, Daniel S; Romero, Ariel Rodriguez; Levernier, Jacob G; Munro, Thomas Anthony; McLaughlin, Stephen Reid; Greshake Tzovaras, Bastian; Greene, Casey S

2018-03-01

The website Sci-Hub enables users to download PDF versions of scholarly articles, including many articles that are paywalled at their journal's site. Sci-Hub has grown rapidly since its creation in 2011, but the extent of its coverage has been unclear. Here we report that, as of March 2017, Sci-Hub's database contains 68.9% of the 81.6 million scholarly articles registered with Crossref and 85.1% of articles published in toll access journals. We find that coverage varies by discipline and publisher, and that Sci-Hub preferentially covers popular, paywalled content. For toll access articles, we find that Sci-Hub provides greater coverage than the University of Pennsylvania, a major research university in the United States. Green open access to toll access articles via licit services, on the other hand, remains quite limited. Our interactive browser at uri" xlink:href="https://greenelab.github.io/scihub">https://greenelab.github.io/scihub allows users to explore these findings in more detail. For the first time, nearly all scholarly literature is available gratis to anyone with an Internet connection, suggesting the toll access business model may become unsustainable. © 2018, Himmelstein et al.

The field representation language.

PubMed

Tsafnat, Guy

2008-02-01

The complexity of quantitative biomedical models, and the rate at which they are published, is increasing to a point where managing the information has become all but impossible without automation. International efforts are underway to standardise representation languages for a number of mathematical entities that represent a wide variety of physiological systems. This paper presents the Field Representation Language (FRL), a portable representation of values that change over space and/or time. FRL is an extensible mark-up language (XML) derivative with support for large numeric data sets in Hierarchical Data Format version 5 (HDF5). Components of FRL can be reused through unified resource identifiers (URI) that point to external resources such as custom basis functions, boundary geometries and numerical data. To demonstrate the use of FRL as an interchange we present three models that study hyperthermia cancer treatment: a fractal model of liver tumour microvasculature; a probabilistic model simulating the deposition of magnetic microspheres throughout it; and a finite element model of hyperthermic treatment. The microsphere distribution field was used to compute the heat generation rate field around the tumour. We used FRL to convey results from the microsphere simulation to the treatment model. FRL facilitated the conversion of the coordinate systems and approximated the integral over regions of the microsphere deposition field.

Convolution kernels for multi-wavelength imaging

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Boucaud, A.; Bocchio, M.; Abergel, A.; Orieux, F.; Dole, H.; Hadj-Youcef, M. A.

2016-12-01

Astrophysical images issued from different instruments and/or spectral bands often require to be processed together, either for fitting or comparison purposes. However each image is affected by an instrumental response, also known as point-spread function (PSF), that depends on the characteristics of the instrument as well as the wavelength and the observing strategy. Given the knowledge of the PSF in each band, a straightforward way of processing images is to homogenise them all to a target PSF using convolution kernels, so that they appear as if they had been acquired by the same instrument. We propose an algorithm that generates such PSF-matching kernels, based on Wiener filtering with a tunable regularisation parameter. This method ensures all anisotropic features in the PSFs to be taken into account. We compare our method to existing procedures using measured Herschel/PACS and SPIRE PSFs and simulated JWST/MIRI PSFs. Significant gains up to two orders of magnitude are obtained with respect to the use of kernels computed assuming Gaussian or circularised PSFs. A software to compute these kernels is available at uri" xlink:href="http://github.com/aboucaud/pypher">https://github.com/aboucaud/pypher

Science Writing and Rhetorical Training: A New Model for Developing Graduate Science Writers

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Karraker, N. E.; Lofgren, I.; Druschke, C. G.; McWilliams, S. R.; Morton-Aiken, J.; Reynolds, N.

2016-12-01

Graduate programs in the sciences generally offer minimal support for writing and communication, yet there is an increasing need for scientists to engage with the public and policymakers on technological, environmental, and health issues. The traditional focus on gaining particular discipline-related technical skills, coupled with the relegation of writing largely to the end of a student's academic tenure, falls short in equipping them to tackle these challenges. To address this problem, we launched a cross-disciplinary, National Science Foundation-funded training program in rhetoric and writing for science graduate students and faculty at the University of Rhode Island. This innovative program bases curricular and pedagogical support on three central practices, habitual writing, multiple genres, and frequent review, to offer a flexible model of writing training for science graduate students and pedagogical training for faculty that could be adopted in other institutional contexts. Key to the program, called SciWrite@URI, is a unique emphasis on rhetoric, which, we argue, is an essential—but currently lacking—component of science communication education. This new model has the potential to transform graduate education in the sciences by producing graduates who are as adept at the fundamentals of their science as they are at communicating that science to diverse audiences.

RF wave simulation for cold edge plasmas using the MFEM library

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Shiraiwa, S.; Wright, J. C.; Bonoli, P. T.; Kolev, T.; Stowell, M.

2017-10-01

A newly developed generic electro-magnetic (EM) simulation tool for modeling RF wave propagation in SOL plasmas is presented. The primary motivation of this development is to extend the domain partitioning approach for incorporating arbitrarily shaped SOL plasmas and antenna to the TORIC core ICRF solver, which was previously demonstrated in the 2D geometry [S. Shiraiwa, et. al., "HISTORIC: extending core ICRF wave simulation to include realistic SOL plasmas", Nucl. Fusion in press], to larger and more complicated simulations by including a 3D realistic antenna and integrating RF rectified sheath potential model. Such an extension requires a scalable high fidelity 3D edge plasma wave simulation. We used the MFEM [uri">http://mfem.org], open source scalable C++ finite element method library, and developed a Python wrapper for MFEM (PyMFEM), and then a radio frequency (RF) wave physics module in Python. This approach allows for building a physics layer rapidly, while separating the physics implementation being apart from the numerical FEM implementation. An interactive modeling interface was built on pScope [S Shiraiwa, et. al. Fusion Eng. Des. 112, 835] to work with an RF simulation model in a complicated geometry.

A new online database of nuclear electromagnetic moments

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Mertzimekis, Theo J.

2017-09-01

Nuclear electromagnetic (EM) moments, i.e., the magnetic dipole and the electric quadrupole moments, provide important information of nuclear structure. As in other types of experimental data available to the community, measurements of nuclear EM moments have been organized systematically in compilations since the dawn of nuclear science. However, the wealth of recent moments measurements with radioactive beams, as well as earlier existing measurements, lack an online, easy-to-access, systematically organized presence to disseminate information to researchers. In addition, available printed compilations suffer a rather long life cycle, being left behind experimental measurements published in journals or elsewhere. A new, online database (uri" xlink:href="http://magneticmoments.info">http://magneticmoments.info) focusing on nuclear EM moments has been recently developed to disseminate experimental data to the community. The database includes non-evaluated experimental data of nuclear EM moments, giving strong emphasis on frequent updates (life cycle is 3 months) and direct connection to the sources via DOI and NSR hyperlinks. It has been recently integrated in IAEA LiveChart [1], but can also be found as a standalone webapp [2]. A detailed review of the database features, as well as plans for further development and expansion in the near future is discussed.

Antibiotic identification, use, and self-medication for respiratory illnesses among urban Latinos

PubMed Central

Landers, Timothy F.; Ferng, Yu-hui; McLoughlin, Jennifer Wong; Barrett, Angela E.; Larson, Elaine

2010-01-01

Purpose The purpose of this study was to describe the extent to which antibiotic and nonantibiotic medications commonly used for upper respiratory infections (URIs) were correctly identified by a sample of urban dwelling Latinas and the association of medication identification with antibiotic use and self-medication. Data sources One hundred women completed an interview and were asked to identify whether a list of 39 medications (17 antibiotics, 22 nonantibiotics) were antibiotics or not, whether anyone in the household had used the medication, their ages, and the source of the medication. Results Overall, participants correctly identified 62% of nonantibiotics and 34% of antibiotics. Seventy three (73%) women in the study reported antibiotic use by at least one member of the household in the past year. Among users, self-medication was reported in 67.2% of antibiotics for adults, but in only 2.4% of children. There was no difference in antibiotic recognition between those who self-medicated and those who did not, but antibiotic self-medication was associated with a significantly lower recognition of nonantibiotics (p = .01). Implications for practice Measures to improve antibiotic utilization should address self-medication and consider the cultural and social context in which antibiotic use occurs. PMID:20854641

Laser based water equilibration method for d18O determination of water samples

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Mandic, Magda; Smajgl, Danijela; Stoebener, Nils

2017-04-01

Determination of d18O with water equilibration method using mass spectrometers equipped with equilibration unit or Gas Bench is known already for many years. Now, with development of laser spectrometers this extends methods and possibilities to apply different technologies in laboratory but also in the field. The Thermo Scientific™ Delta Ray™ Isotope Ratio Infrared Spectrometer (IRIS) analyzer with the Universal Reference Interface (URI) Connect and Teledyne Cetac ASX-7100 offers high precision and throughput of samples. It employs optical spectroscopy for continuous measurement of isotope ratio values and concentration of carbon dioxide in ambient air, and also for analysis of discrete samples from vials, syringes, bags, or other user-provided sample containers. Test measurements and conformation of precision and accuracy of method determination d18O in water samples were done in Thermo Fisher application laboratory with three lab standards, namely ANST, Ocean II and HBW. All laboratory standards were previously calibrated with international reference material VSMOW2 and SLAP2 to assure accuracy of the isotopic values of the water. With method that we present in this work achieved repeatability and accuracy are 0.16‰ and 0.71‰, respectively, which fulfill requirements of regulatory method for wine and must after equilibration with CO2.

Effect of methotrexate/vitamin B12 on DNA methylation as a potential factor in leukemia treatment-related neurotoxicity.

PubMed

Forster, Victoria J; McDonnell, Alex; Theobald, Rachel; McKay, Jill A

2017-09-01

Methotrexate (MTX) is administered to treat childhood acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL). It acts by inhibiting dihydrofolate reductase which reduces methyltetrahydrofolate, a key component in one carbon metabolism, thus reducing cell proliferation. Further perturbations to one carbon metabolism, such as reduced vitamin B 12 levels via the use of nitrous oxide for sedation during childhood ALL treatment, may increase neurotoxicity risk. With B 12 as an enzymatic cofactor, methyltetrahydrofolate is essential to produce methionine, which is critical for DNA methylation. We investigated global and gene specific DNA methylation in neuronal cell lines in response to MTX treatment and vitamin B 12 concentration individually, and in combination. MTX treatment alone significantly increased LINE-1 methylation in SH-SY5Y (p = 0.040) and DAOY (p < 0.001), and increased FKBP5 methylation in MO3.13 cells (p = 0.009). We conclude that altered DNA methylation of brain/central nervous system cells could be one mechanism involved in MTX treatment-related neurotoxicities and neurocognitive late effects in ALL survivors. This work is licensed under a uri" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink" xlink:href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License

Using an extended 2D hydrodynamic model for evaluating damage risk caused by extreme rain events: Flash-Flood-Risk-Map (FFRM) Upper Austria

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Humer, Günter; Reithofer, Andreas

2016-04-01

(SWITCH-ON), http://water-switch-on.eu [6] European Commission, directive 2007/60/EC of the European Parliament and the Council of 23rd October 2007 on the assessment and management of flood risks: http://eur-lex.europa.eu/LexUriServ/LexUriServ.do?uri=OJ:L:2007:288:0027:0034:en:PDF [7] http://ehyd.gv.at [8] Austrian Federal Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry, Environment and Water Management: „Kosten-Nutzen-Untersuchungen im Schutzwaserbau", July 2009

Water Quality Vocabulary Development and Deployment

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Simons, B. A.; Yu, J.; Cox, S. J.

2013-12-01

IdentifiedObject individuals are linked to the ChEBI ontology for definitions of chemical substances.. Second, to allow compatibility with SKOS-based tools and to ensure the vocabulary does not violate the meta-modelling constraints of the OWL-DL profile, the relevant classes in QUDT are declared to be subclasses of SKOS Concept and a shadow SKOS view of ChEBI was generated (as ChEBI models all elements and substances as OWL classes). The provenance of each SKOS concept shadowing an OWL class is recorded using the PROV-O ontology. Some aspects of these processing steps can be automated through SPARQL queries, while other aspects must be done manually. For maintenance and provenance purposes, the complete vocabulary and ontologies are persisted in around 20 separate RDF files (in addition to the QUDT and ChEBI sources), each of which constitutes a separate RDF graph and reflects the various aspects of above steps. The vocabularies are published in multiple ways: - For download as files from the ontology URI - At a SPARQL endpoint - Through a URI-based SKOS API (SISSvoc) - Through search UIs built on top of the SPARQL endpoint or SISSvoc service

Network of Research Infrastructures for European Seismology (NERIES)-Web Portal Developments for Interactive Access to Earthquake Data on a European Scale

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Spinuso, A.; Trani, L.; Rives, S.; Thomy, P.; Euchner, F.; Schorlemmer, D.; Saul, J.; Heinloo, A.; Bossu, R.; van Eck, T.

2009-04-01

The Network of Research Infrastructures for European Seismology (NERIES) is European Commission (EC) project whose focus is networking together seismological observatories and research institutes into one integrated European infrastructure that provides access to data and data products for research. Seismological institutes and organizations in European and Mediterranean countries maintain large, geographically distributed data archives, therefore this scenario suggested a design approach based on the concept of an internet service oriented architecture (SOA) to establish a cyberinfrastructure for distributed and heterogeneous data streams and services. Moreover, one of the goals of NERIES is to design and develop a Web portal that acts as the uppermost layer of the infrastructure and provides rendering capabilities for the underlying sets of data The Web services that are currently being designed and implemented will deliver data that has been adopted to appropriate formats. The parametric information about a seismic event is delivered using a seismology-specific Extensible mark-up Language(XML) format called QuakeML (https://quake.ethz.ch/quakeml), which has been formalized and implemented in coordination with global earthquake-information agencies. Uniform Resource Identifiers (URIs) are used to assign identifiers to (1) seismic-event parameters described by QuakeML, and (2) generic resources, for example, authorities, locations providers, location methods, software adopted, and so on, described by use of a data model constructed with the resource description framework (RDF) and accessible as a service. The European-Mediterranean Seismological Center (EMSC) has implemented a unique event identifier (UNID) that will create the seismic event URI used by the QuakeML data model. Access to data such as broadband waveform, accelerometric data and stations inventories will be also provided through a set of Web services that will wrap the middleware used by the

Network of Research Infrastructures for European Seismology (NERIES) - Web Portal Developments for Interactive Access to Earthquake Data on a European Scale

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Spinuso, A.; Trani, L.; Rives, S.; Thomy, P.; Euchner, F.; Schorlemmer, D.; Saul, J.; Heinloo, A.; Bossu, R.; van Eck, T.

2008-12-01

The Network of Research Infrastructures for European Seismology (NERIES) is European Commission (EC) project whose focus is networking together seismological observatories and research institutes into one integrated European infrastructure that provides access to data and data products for research. Seismological institutes and organizations in European and Mediterranean countries maintain large, geographically distributed data archives, therefore this scenario suggested a design approach based on the concept of an internet service oriented architecture (SOA) to establish a cyberinfrastructure for distributed and heterogeneous data streams and services. Moreover, one of the goals of NERIES is to design and develop a Web portal that acts as the uppermost layer of the infrastructure and provides rendering capabilities for the underlying sets of data The Web services that are currently being designed and implemented will deliver data that has been adopted to appropriate formats. The parametric information about a seismic event is delivered using a seismology- specific Extensible mark-up Language(XML) format called QuakeML (https://quake.ethz.ch/quakeml), which has been formalized and implemented in coordination with global earthquake-information agencies. Uniform Resource Identifiers (URIs) are used to assign identifiers to (1) seismic-event parameters described by QuakeML, and (2) generic resources, for example, authorities, locations providers, location methods, software adopted, and so on, described by use of a data model constructed with the resource description framework (RDF) and accessible as a service. The European-Mediterranean Seismological Center (EMSC) has implemented a unique event identifier (UNID) that will create the seismic event URI used by the QuakeML data model. Access to data such as broadband waveform, accelerometric data and stations inventories will be also provided through a set of Web services that will wrap the middleware used by the

Improving Web-Based Student Learning Through Online Video Demonstrations

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Miller, Scott; Redman, S.

2010-01-01

Students in online courses continue to lag their peers in comparable face-to-face (F2F) courses (Ury 2004, Slater & Jones 2004). A meta-study of web-based vs. classroom instruction by Sitzmann et al (2006) discovered that the degree of learner control positively influences the effectiveness of instruction: students do better when they are in control of their own learning. In particular, web-based courses are more effective when they incorporate a larger variety of instructional methods. To address this need, we developed a series of online videos to demonstrate various astronomical concepts and provided them to students enrolled in an online introductory astronomy course at Penn State University. We found that the online students performed worse than the F2F students on questions unrelated to the videos (t = -2.84), but that the online students who watched the videos performed better than the F2F students on related examination questions (t = 2.11). We also found that the online students who watched the videos performed significantly better than those who did not (t = 3.43). While the videos in general proved helpful, some videos were more helpful than others. We will discuss our thoughts on why this might be, and future plans to improve upon this study. These videos are freely available on iTunesU, YouTube, and Google Video.

Radiative forcing of the desert aerosol at Ouarzazate (Morocco)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Tahiri, Abdelouahid; Diouri, Mohamed

2018-05-01

The atmospheric aerosol contributes to the definition of the climate with direct effect, the diffusion and absorption of solar and terrestrial radiations, and indirect, the cloud formation process where aerosols behave as condensation nuclei and alter the optical properties. Satellites and ground-based networks (solar photometers) allow the terrestrial aerosol observation and the determination of impact. Desert aerosol considered among the main types of tropospheric aerosols whose optical property uncertainties are still quite important. The analysis concerns the optical parameters recorded in 2015 at Ouarzazate solar photometric station (AERONET/PHOTONS network, uri" xlink:href="http://aeronet.gsfc.nasa.gov/">http://aeronet.gsfc.nasa.gov/) close to Saharan zone. The daily average aerosol optical depthτaer at 0.5μm, are relatively high in summer and less degree in spring (from 0.01 to 1.82). Daily average of the Angstrom coefficients α vary between 0.01 and 1.55. The daily average of aerosol radiative forcing at the surface range between -150W/m2 and -10 W/m2 with peaks recorded in summer, characterized locally by large loads of desert aerosol in agreement with the advections of the Southeast of Morocco. Those recorded at the Top of the atmosphere show a variation from -74 W/m2 to +24 W/m2

The 'indirect costs' of underfunding foreign partners in global health research: A case study.

PubMed

Crane, Johanna T; Andia Biraro, Irene; Fouad, Tamer M; Boum, Yap; R Bangsberg, David

2017-09-16

This study of a global health research partnership assesses how U.S. fiscal administrative policies impact capacity building at foreign partner institutions. We conducted a case study of a research collaboration between Mbarara University of Science and Technology (MUST) in Mbarara, Uganda, and originally the University of California San Francisco (UCSF), but now Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH). Our case study is based on three of the authors' experiences directing and working with this partnership from its inception in 2003 through 2015. The collaboration established an independent Ugandan non-profit to act as a local fiscal agent and grants administrator and to assure compliance with the Ugandan labour and tax law. This structure, combined with low indirect cost reimbursements from U.S. federal grants, failed to strengthen institutional capacity at MUST. In response to problems with this model, the collaboration established a contracts and grants office at MUST. This office has built administrative capacity at MUST but has also generated new risks and expenses for MGH. We argue that U.S. fiscal administrative practices may drain rather than build capacity at African universities by underfunding the administrative costs of global health research, circumventing host country institutions, and externalising legal and financial risks associated with international work. MGH: Massachusetts General Hospital; MUST: Mbarara University of Science and Technology; NIH: National Institutes of Health; UCSF: University of California San Francisco; URI: Uganda Research Institute.

Inspection of 56Fe γ-Ray angular distributions as a function of incident neutron energy using optical model approaches

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Vanhoy, J. R.; Ramirez, A. P.; Alcorn-Dominguez, D. K.; Hicks, S. F.; Peters, E. E.; McEllistrem, M. T.; Mukhopadhyay, S.; Yates, S. W.

2017-09-01

Neutron inelastic scattering cross sections measured directly through (n,n) or deduced from γ-ray production cross sections following inelastic neutron scattering (n,n'γ) are a focus of basic and applied research at the University of Kentucky Accelerator Laboratory (uri" xlink:href="http://www.pa.uky.edu/accelerator">www.pa.uky.edu/accelerator). For nuclear data applications, angle-integrated cross sections are desired over a wide range of fast neutron energies. Several days of experimental beam time are required for a data set at each incident neutron energy, which limits the number of angular distributions that can be measured in a reasonable amount of time. Approximations can be employed to generate cross sections with a higher energy resolution, since at 125o, the a2P2 term of the Legendre expansion is identically zero and the a4P4 is assumed to be very small. Provided this assumption is true, a single measurement at 125o would produce the γ-ray production cross section. This project tests these assumptions and energy dependences using the codes CINDY/SCAT and TALYS/ECIS06/SCAT. It is found that care must be taken when interpreting γ-ray excitation functions as cross sections when the incident neutron energy is < 1000 keV above threshold or before the onset of feeding.

Definition of the Flexible Image Transport System (FITS), version 3.0

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Pence, W. D.; Chiappetti, L.; Page, C. G.; Shaw, R. A.; Stobie, E.

2010-12-01

The Flexible Image Transport System (FITS) has been used by astronomers for over 30 years as a data interchange and archiving format; FITS files are now handled by a wide range of astronomical software packages. Since the FITS format definition document (the “standard”) was last printed in this journal in 2001, several new features have been developed and standardized, notably support for 64-bit integers in images and tables, variable-length arrays in tables, and new world coordinate system conventions which provide a mapping from an element in a data array to a physical coordinate on the sky or within a spectrum. The FITS Working Group of the International Astronomical Union has therefore produced this new version 3.0 of the FITS standard, which is provided here in its entirety. In addition to describing the new features in FITS, numerous editorial changes were made to the previous version to clarify and reorganize many of the sections. Also included are some appendices which are not formally part of the standard. The FITS standard is likely to undergo further evolution, in which case the latest version may be found on the FITS Support Office Web site at uri" xlink:href="http://fits.gsfc.nasa.gov/">http://fits.gsfc.nasa.gov/, which also provides many links to FITS-related resources.

An experimental, theoretical and event-driven computational study of narrow vibrofluidised granular materials

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Thornton, Anthony; Windows-Yule, Kit; Parker, David; Luding, Stefan

2017-06-01

We review simulations, experiments and a theoretical treatment of vertically vibrated granular media. The systems considered are confined in narrow quasi-two-dimensional and quasi-one-dimensional (column) geometries, where the vertical extension of the container is much larger than one or both horizontal lengths. The additional geometric constraint present in the column setup frustrates the convection state that is normally observed in wider geometries. We start by showing that the Event Driven (ED) simulation method is able to accurately reproduce the previously experimentally determined phase-diagram for vibrofludised granular materials. We then review two papers that used ED simulations to study narrow quasi-one-dimensional systems revealing a new phenomenon: collective oscillations of the grains with a characteristic frequency that is much lower than the frequency of energy injection. Theoretical work was then undertaken that is able to accurately predict the frequency of such an oscillation and Positron Emission Particle Tracking (PEPT) experiments were undertaken to provide the first experimental evidence of this new phenomenon. Finally, we briefly discuss ongoing work to create an open-source version of this ED via its integration in the existing open-source package MercuryDPM (uri" xlink:href="http://MercuryDPM.org">http://MercuryDPM.org); which has many advanced features that are not found in other codes.

Low Dose Radiation Cancer Risks: Epidemiological and Toxicological Models

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

David G. Hoel, PhD

2012-04-19

The basic purpose of this one year research grant was to extend the two stage clonal expansion model (TSCE) of carcinogenesis to exposures other than the usual single acute exposure. The two-stage clonal expansion model of carcinogenesis incorporates the biological process of carcinogenesis, which involves two mutations and the clonal proliferation of the intermediate cells, in a stochastic, mathematical way. The current TSCE model serves a general purpose of acute exposure models but requires numerical computation of both the survival and hazard functions. The primary objective of this research project was to develop the analytical expressions for the survival functionmore » and the hazard function of the occurrence of the first cancer cell for acute, continuous and multiple exposure cases within the framework of the piece-wise constant parameter two-stage clonal expansion model of carcinogenesis. For acute exposure and multiple exposures of acute series, it is either only allowed to have the first mutation rate vary with the dose, or to have all the parameters be dose dependent; for multiple exposures of continuous exposures, all the parameters are allowed to vary with the dose. With these analytical functions, it becomes easy to evaluate the risks of cancer and allows one to deal with the various exposure patterns in cancer risk assessment. A second objective was to apply the TSCE model with varing continuous exposures from the cancer studies of inhaled plutonium in beagle dogs. Using step functions to estimate the retention functions of the pulmonary exposure of plutonium the multiple exposure versions of the TSCE model was to be used to estimate the beagle dog lung cancer risks. The mathematical equations of the multiple exposure versions of the TSCE model were developed. A draft manuscript which is attached provides the results of this mathematical work. The application work using the beagle dog data from plutonium exposure has not been completed due to the

COGNAT: a web server for comparative analysis of genomic neighborhoods.

PubMed

Klimchuk, Olesya I; Konovalov, Kirill A; Perekhvatov, Vadim V; Skulachev, Konstantin V; Dibrova, Daria V; Mulkidjanian, Armen Y

2017-11-22

In prokaryotic genomes, functionally coupled genes can be organized in conserved gene clusters enabling their coordinated regulation. Such clusters could contain one or several operons, which are groups of co-transcribed genes. Those genes that evolved from a common ancestral gene by speciation (i.e. orthologs) are expected to have similar genomic neighborhoods in different organisms, whereas those copies of the gene that are responsible for dissimilar functions (i.e. paralogs) could be found in dissimilar genomic contexts. Comparative analysis of genomic neighborhoods facilitates the prediction of co-regulated genes and helps to discern different functions in large protein families. We intended, building on the attribution of gene sequences to the clusters of orthologous groups of proteins (COGs), to provide a method for visualization and comparative analysis of genomic neighborhoods of evolutionary related genes, as well as a respective web server. Here we introduce the COmparative Gene Neighborhoods Analysis Tool (COGNAT), a web server for comparative analysis of genomic neighborhoods. The tool is based on the COG database, as well as the Pfam protein families database. As an example, we show the utility of COGNAT in identifying a new type of membrane protein complex that is formed by paralog(s) of one of the membrane subunits of the NADH:quinone oxidoreductase of type 1 (COG1009) and a cytoplasmic protein of unknown function (COG3002). This article was reviewed by Drs. Igor Zhulin, Uri Gophna and Igor Rogozin.

Using ESO Reflex with Web Services

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Järveläinen, P.; Savolainen, V.; Oittinen, T.; Maisala, S.; Ullgrén, M. Hook, R.

2008-08-01

ESO Reflex is a prototype graphical workflow system, based on Taverna, and primarily intended to be a flexible way of running ESO data reduction recipes along with other legacy applications and user-written tools. ESO Reflex can also readily use the Taverna Web Services features that are based on the Apache Axis SOAP implementation. Taverna is a general purpose Web Service client, and requires no programming to use such services. However, Taverna also has some restrictions: for example, no numerical types such integers. In addition the preferred binding style is document/literal wrapped, but most astronomical services publish the Axis default WSDL using RPC/encoded style. Despite these minor limitations we have created simple but very promising test VO workflow using the Sesame name resolver service at CDS Strasbourg, the Hubble SIAP server at the Multi-Mission Archive at Space Telescope (MAST) and the WESIX image cataloging and catalogue cross-referencing service at the University of Pittsburgh. ESO Reflex can also pass files and URIs via the PLASTIC protocol to visualisation tools and has its own viewer for VOTables. We picked these three Web Services to try to set up a realistic and useful ESO Reflex workflow. They also demonstrate ESO Reflex abilities to use many kind of Web Services because each of them requires a different interface. We describe each of these services in turn and comment on how it was used

International Space Station (ISS)

NASA Image and Video Library

2002-06-01

Huddled together in the Destiny laboratory of the International Space Station (ISS) are the Expedition Four crew (dark blue shirts), Expedition Five crew (medium blue shirts) and the STS-111 crew (green shirts). The Expedition Four crewmembers are, from front to back, Cosmonaut Ury I. Onufrienko, mission commander; and Astronauts Daniel W. Bursch and Carl E. Waltz, flight engineers. The ISS crewmembers are, from front to back, Astronauts Kerneth D. Cockrell, mission commander; Franklin R. Chang-Diaz, mission specialist; Paul S. Lockhart, pilot; and Philippe Perrin, mission specialist. Expedition Five crewmembers are, from front to back, Cosmonaut Valery G. Korzun, mission commander; Astronaut Peggy A. Whitson and Cosmonaut Sergei Y. Treschev, flight engineers. The ISS recieved a new crew, Expedition Five, replacing Expedition Four after a record-setting 196 days in space, when the Space Shuttle Orbiter Endeavour STS-111 mission visited in June 2002. Three spacewalks enabled the STS-111 crew to accomplish additional mission objectives: the delivery and installation of the Mobile Base System (MBS), which is an important part of the station's Mobile Servicing System allowing the robotic arm to travel the length of the station; the replacement of a wrist roll joint on the Station's robotic arm; and unloading supplies and science experiments from the Leonardo Multi-Purpose Logistics Module, which made its third trip to the orbital outpost. The STS-111 mission, the 14th Shuttle mission to visit the ISS, was launched on June 5, 2002 and landed June 19, 2002.

Expedition Crews Four and Five and STS-111 Crew Aboard the ISS

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

2002-01-01

Huddled together in the Destiny laboratory of the International Space Station (ISS) are the Expedition Four crew (dark blue shirts), Expedition Five crew (medium blue shirts) and the STS-111 crew (green shirts). The Expedition Four crewmembers are, from front to back, Cosmonaut Ury I. Onufrienko, mission commander; and Astronauts Daniel W. Bursch and Carl E. Waltz, flight engineers. The ISS crewmembers are, from front to back, Astronauts Kerneth D. Cockrell, mission commander; Franklin R. Chang-Diaz, mission specialist; Paul S. Lockhart, pilot; and Philippe Perrin, mission specialist. Expedition Five crewmembers are, from front to back, Cosmonaut Valery G. Korzun, mission commander; Astronaut Peggy A. Whitson and Cosmonaut Sergei Y. Treschev, flight engineers. The ISS recieved a new crew, Expedition Five, replacing Expedition Four after a record-setting 196 days in space, when the Space Shuttle Orbiter Endeavour STS-111 mission visited in June 2002. Three spacewalks enabled the STS-111 crew to accomplish additional mission objectives: the delivery and installation of the Mobile Base System (MBS), which is an important part of the station's Mobile Servicing System allowing the robotic arm to travel the length of the station; the replacement of a wrist roll joint on the Station's robotic arm; and unloading supplies and science experiments from the Leonardo Multi-Purpose Logistics Module, which made its third trip to the orbital outpost. The STS-111 mission, the 14th Shuttle mission to visit the ISS, was launched on June 5, 2002 and landed June 19, 2002.

Rapid Deployment of a RESTful Service for Oceanographic Research Cruises

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Fu, Linyun; Arko, Robert; Leadbetter, Adam

2014-05-01

The Ocean Data Interoperability Platform (ODIP) seeks to increase data sharing across scientific domains and international boundaries, by providing a forum to harmonize diverse regional data systems. ODIP participants from the US include the Rolling Deck to Repository (R2R) program, whose mission is to capture, catalog, and describe the underway/environmental sensor data from US oceanographic research vessels and submit the data to public long-term archives. R2R publishes information online as Linked Open Data, making it widely available using Semantic Web standards. Each vessel, sensor, cruise, dataset, person, organization, funding award, log, report, etc, has a Uniform Resource Identifier (URI). Complex queries that federate results from other data providers are supported, using the SPARQL query language. To facilitate interoperability, R2R uses controlled vocabularies developed collaboratively by the science community (eg. SeaDataNet device categories) and published online by the NERC Vocabulary Server (NVS). In response to user feedback, we are developing a standard programming interface (API) and Web portal for R2R's Linked Open Data. The API provides a set of simple REST-type URLs that are translated on-the-fly into SPARQL queries, and supports common output formats (eg. JSON). We will demonstrate an implementation based on the Epimorphics Linked Data API (ELDA) open-source Java package. Our experience shows that constructing a simple portal with limited schema elements in this way can significantly reduce development time and maintenance complexity.

Growth studies of CVD-MBE by in-situ diagnostics

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Maracas, George N.; Steimle, Timothy C.

1992-10-01

This is the final technical report for the three year DARPA-URI program 'Growth Studies of CVD-MBE by in-situ Diagnostics'. The goals of the program were to develop non-invasive, real time epitaxial growth monitoring techniques and combine them to gain an understanding of processes that occur during MBE growth from gas sources. We have adapted these techniques to a commercially designed gas source MBE system (Vacuum Generators Inc.) to facilitate technology transfer out of the laboratory into industrial environments. The in-situ measurement techniques of spectroscopic ellipsometry (SE) and laser induced fluorescence (LIF) have been successfully implemented to monitor the optical and chemical properties of the growing epitaxial film and the gas phase reactants. The ellipsometer was jointly developed with the J. Woolam Co. and has become a commercial product. The temperature dependence of group 3 and 5 desorption from GaAs and InP has been measured as well as the incident effusion cell fluxes. The temporal evolution of the growth has also been measured both by SE and LIF to show the smoothing of heterojunction surfaces during growth interruption. Complicated microcavity optical device structures have been monitored by ellipsometry in real time to improve device quality. This data has been coupled with the structural information obtained from reflection high energy electron diffraction (RHEED) to understand the growth processes in binary and ternary bulk 3-5 semiconductors and heterojunctions.

Adaptable Information Models in the Global Change Information System

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Duggan, B.; Buddenberg, A.; Aulenbach, S.; Wolfe, R.; Goldstein, J.

2014-12-01

The US Global Change Research Program has sponsored the creation of the Global Change Information System () to provide a web based source of accessible, usable, and timely information about climate and global change for use by scientists, decision makers, and the public. The GCIS played multiple roles during the assembly and release of the Third National Climate Assessment. It provided human and programmable interfaces, relational and semantic representations of information, and discrete identifiers for various types of resources, which could then be manipulated by a distributed team with a wide range of specialties. The GCIS also served as a scalable backend for the web based version of the report. In this talk, we discuss the infrastructure decisions made during the design and deployment of the GCIS, as well as ongoing work to adapt to new types of information. Both a constrained relational database and an open ended triple store are used to ensure data integrity while maintaining fluidity. Using natural primary keys allows identifiers to propagate through both models. Changing identifiers are accomodated through fine grained auditing and explicit mappings to external lexicons. A practical RESTful API is used whose endpoints are also URIs in an ontology. Both the relational schema and the ontology are maleable, and stability is ensured through test driven development and continuous integration testing using modern open source techniques. Content is also validated through continuous testing techniques. A high degres of scalability is achieved through caching.

The post-LGM deglaciation in Central and Southeast Switzerland: New insights from surface exposure dating

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Boxleitner, Max; Maisch, Max; Brandova, Dagmar; Egli, Markus; Ochs, Susan Ivy; Christl, Marcus

2017-04-01

The deglaciation of the Alps after the Last Glacial Maximum was not a linear process. Moraines as traces of glacier re-advances show that the climate within the general Late-Pleistocene-warming is characterized by repeated cold intervals. While moraine series resulting from these cold spells have been already described for many Alpine valleys at the beginning of the 20th century, absolute chronologies of the Lateglacial climate and glacier development are still fragmentary. The advent of surface exposure dating as a new absolute dating method some 30 years ago made it possible to directly target the deposition-age of moraines. But still many questions regarding the local-to-regional glacier development and its coupling to the overall climate change remain open. In the framework of my PhD-project we study key sites in Central (Uri) and Southeast (Engadine) Switzerland with the aim to develop an absolute post-LGM chronology. More than 50 rock-samples from boulders of different moraine complexes from both regions have been analyzed using 10Be-surface-expsure-dating. Our results show that especially the Younger Dryas plays not unexpected an important role as a very pronounced cold interval. With our results we will refine the understanding of the glacier development in the Swiss Alps during the Lateglacial and the Holocene and improve estimates of equilibrium lines of altitude (ELA) of glaciers from the LGM to the beginning of the Holocene.

An intersection network based on combining SNP co-association and RNA co-expression networks for feed utilization traits in Japanese Black cattle.

PubMed

Okada, D; Endo, S; Matsuda, H; Ogawa, S; Taniguchi, Y; Katsuta, T; Watanabe, T; Iwaisaki, H

2018-05-12

Genome-wide association studies (GWAS) of quantitative traits have detected numerous genetic associations, but they encounter difficulties in pinpointing prominent candidate genes and inferring gene networks. The present study used a systems genetics approach integrating GWAS results with external RNA-expression data to detect candidate gene networks in feed utilization and growth traits of Japanese Black cattle, which are matters of concern. A SNP co-association network was derived from significant correlations between SNPs with effects estimated by GWAS across seven phenotypic traits. The resulting network genes contained significant numbers of annotations related to the traits. Using bovine transcriptome data from a public database, an RNA co-expression network was inferred based on the similarity of expression patterns across different tissues. An intersection network was then generated by superimposing the SNP and RNA networks and extracting shared interactions. This intersection network contained four tissue-specific modules: nervous system, reproductive system, muscular system, and glands. To characterize the structure (topographical properties) of the three networks, their scale-free properties were evaluated, which revealed that the intersection network was the most scale-free. In the sub-network containing the most connected transcription factors (URI1, ROCK2 and ETV6), most genes were widely expressed across tissues, and genes previously shown to be involved in the traits were found. Results indicated that the current approach might be used to construct a gene network that better reflects biological information, providing encouragement for the genetic dissection of economically important quantitative traits.

Respiratory Health Symptoms among Schoolchildren in Relation to Possible Food-Related Risk and Protective Factors.

PubMed

Wright, Caradee Y; Nkosi, Vusumuzi; Wichmann, Janine

2018-03-13

Respiratory health outcomes are among the top five causes of child morbidity and mortality around the world. We aimed to investigate possible food-related risk and protective factors for respiratory health outcomes in children. Structured questionnaires completed by primary caregivers of 10-year old children were used to collect information on demographics, socio-economic status, house characteristics and child respiratory health status. Upper (URIs) and Lower (LRIs) respiratory illnesses comprised hay fever, and wheezing, asthma and bronchitis, respectively. Eight hundred questionnaires were distributed, 648 retrieved and 420 completed in full (52.5% response rate). The hay fever 6-month prevalence was 22.4% and wheezing had the highest 6-month prevalence among the LRIs (13.8%). The majority of children ate vegetables (75.5%), fruit (69.3%) and chicken or fish (81.7%) regularly. Nearly half of the children (45.5%) regularly ate processed food. Eating processed food regularly was statistical significantly associated with wheeze (Adjusted Odds Ratio (OR) = 2.65; 95% CI: 1.38-5.08), hay fever (OR = 1.62; 95% CI: 1.09-2.64) and bronchitis (OR = 1.27; 95% CI: 1.06-2.56). The study found an association between regular consumption of processed foods and wheeze, hay fever and bronchitis among 10 year old children. The regular consumption of processed food plays a role in adverse respiratory health effects among children and healthy eating is emphasized.

Linked Metadata - lightweight semantics for data integration (Invited)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hendler, J. A.

2013-12-01

The "Linked Open Data" cloud (http://linkeddata.org) is currently used to show how the linking of datasets, supported by SPARQL endpoints, is creating a growing set of linked data assets. This linked data space has been growing rapidly, and the last version collected is estimated to have had over 35 billion 'triples.' As impressive as this may sound, there is an inherent flaw in the way the linked data story is conceived. The idea is that all of the data is represented in a linked format (generally RDF) and applications will essentially query this cloud and provide mashup capabilities between the various kinds of data that are found. The view of linking in the cloud is fairly simple -links are provided by either shared URIs or by URIs that are asserted to be owl:sameAs. This view of the linking, which primarily focuses on shared objects and subjects in RDF's subject-predicate-object representation, misses a critical aspect of Semantic Web technology. Given triples such as * A:person1 foaf:knows A:person2 * B:person3 foaf:knows B:person4 * C:person5 foaf:name 'John Doe' this view would not consider them linked (barring other assertions) even though they share a common vocabulary. In fact, we get significant clues that there are commonalities in these data items from the shared namespaces and predicates, even if the traditional 'graph' view of RDF doesn't appear to join on these. Thus, it is the linking of the data descriptions, whether as metadata or other vocabularies, that provides the linking in these cases. This observation is crucial to scientific data integration where the size of the datasets, or even the individual relationships within them, can be quite large. (Note that this is not restricted to scientific data - search engines, social networks, and massive multiuser games also create huge amounts of data.) To convert all the triples into RDF and provide individual links is often unnecessary, and is both time and space intensive. Those looking to do on the

Scalable persistent identifier systems for dynamic datasets

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Golodoniuc, P.; Cox, S. J. D.; Klump, J. F.

2016-12-01

Reliable and persistent identification of objects, whether tangible or not, is essential in information management. Many Internet-based systems have been developed to identify digital data objects, e.g., PURL, LSID, Handle, ARK. These were largely designed for identification of static digital objects. The amount of data made available online has grown exponentially over the last two decades and fine-grained identification of dynamically generated data objects within large datasets using conventional systems (e.g., PURL) has become impractical. We have compared capabilities of various technological solutions to enable resolvability of data objects in dynamic datasets, and developed a dataset-centric approach to resolution of identifiers. This is particularly important in Semantic Linked Data environments where dynamic frequently changing data is delivered live via web services, so registration of individual data objects to obtain identifiers is impractical. We use identifier patterns and pattern hierarchies for identification of data objects, which allows relationships between identifiers to be expressed, and also provides means for resolving a single identifier into multiple forms (i.e. views or representations of an object). The latter can be implemented through (a) HTTP content negotiation, or (b) use of URI querystring parameters. The pattern and hierarchy approach has been implemented in the Linked Data API supporting the United Nations Spatial Data Infrastructure (UNSDI) initiative and later in the implementation of geoscientific data delivery for the Capricorn Distal Footprints project using International Geo Sample Numbers (IGSN). This enables flexible resolution of multi-view persistent identifiers and provides a scalable solution for large heterogeneous datasets.

Scholarly context not found: One in five articles suffers from reference rot

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

Klein, Martin; Van de Sompel, Herbert; Sanderson, Robert

The emergence of the web has fundamentally affected most aspects of information communication, including scholarly communication. The immediacy that characterizes publishing information to the web, as well as accessing it, allows for a dramatic increase in the speed of dissemination of scholarly knowledge. But, the transition from a paper-based to a web-based scholarly communication system also poses challenges. In this paper, we focus on reference rot, the combination of link rot and content drift to which references to web resources included in Science, Technology, and Medicine (STM) articles are subject. We investigate the extent to which reference rot impacts themore » ability to revisit the web context that surrounds STM articles some time after their publication. We do so on the basis of a vast collection of articles from three corpora that span publication years 1997 to 2012. For over one million references to web resources extracted from over 3.5 million articles, we determine whether the HTTP URI is still responsive on the live web and whether web archives contain an archived snapshot representative of the state the referenced resource had at the time it was referenced. We observe that the fraction of articles containing references to web resources is growing steadily over time. We find one out of five STM articles suffering from reference rot, meaning it is impossible to revisit the web context that surrounds them some time after their publication. When only considering STM articles that contain references to web resources, this fraction increases to seven out of ten.« less

Development, dissemination, and applications of a new terminological resource, the Q-Code taxonomy for professional aspects of general practice/family medicine.

PubMed

Jamoulle, Marc; Resnick, Melissa; Grosjean, Julien; Ittoo, Ashwin; Cardillo, Elena; Vander Stichele, Robert; Darmoni, Stefan; Vanmeerbeek, Marc

2018-12-01

While documentation of clinical aspects of General Practice/Family Medicine (GP/FM) is assured by the International Classification of Primary Care (ICPC), there is no taxonomy for the professional aspects (context and management) of GP/FM. To present the development, dissemination, applications, and resulting face validity of the Q-Codes taxonomy specifically designed to describe contextual features of GP/FM, proposed as an extension to the ICPC. The Q-Codes taxonomy was developed from Lamberts' seminal idea for indexing contextual content (1987) by a multi-disciplinary team of knowledge engineers, linguists and general practitioners, through a qualitative and iterative analysis of 1702 abstracts from six GP/FM conferences using Atlas.ti software. A total of 182 concepts, called Q-Codes, representing professional aspects of GP/FM were identified and organized in a taxonomy. Dissemination: The taxonomy is published as an online terminological resource, using semantic web techniques and web ontology language (OWL) ( http://www.hetop.eu/Q ). Each Q-Code is identified with a unique resource identifier (URI), and provided with preferred terms, and scope notes in ten languages (Portuguese, Spanish, English, French, Dutch, Korean, Vietnamese, Turkish, Georgian, German) and search filters for MEDLINE and web searches. This taxonomy has already been used to support queries in bibliographic databases (e.g., MEDLINE), to facilitate indexing of grey literature in GP/FM as congress abstracts, master theses, websites and as an educational tool in vocational teaching, Conclusions: The rapidly growing list of practical applications provides face-validity for the usefulness of this freely available new terminological resource.

GFVO: the Genomic Feature and Variation Ontology.

PubMed

Baran, Joachim; Durgahee, Bibi Sehnaaz Begum; Eilbeck, Karen; Antezana, Erick; Hoehndorf, Robert; Dumontier, Michel

2015-01-01

Falling costs in genomic laboratory experiments have led to a steady increase of genomic feature and variation data. Multiple genomic data formats exist for sharing these data, and whilst they are similar, they are addressing slightly different data viewpoints and are consequently not fully compatible with each other. The fragmentation of data format specifications makes it hard to integrate and interpret data for further analysis with information from multiple data providers. As a solution, a new ontology is presented here for annotating and representing genomic feature and variation dataset contents. The Genomic Feature and Variation Ontology (GFVO) specifically addresses genomic data as it is regularly shared using the GFF3 (incl. FASTA), GTF, GVF and VCF file formats. GFVO simplifies data integration and enables linking of genomic annotations across datasets through common semantics of genomic types and relations. Availability and implementation. The latest stable release of the ontology is available via its base URI; previous and development versions are available at the ontology's GitHub repository: https://github.com/BioInterchange/Ontologies; versions of the ontology are indexed through BioPortal (without external class-/property-equivalences due to BioPortal release 4.10 limitations); examples and reference documentation is provided on a separate web-page: http://www.biointerchange.org/ontologies.html. GFVO version 1.0.2 is licensed under the CC0 1.0 Universal license (https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0) and therefore de facto within the public domain; the ontology can be appropriated without attribution for commercial and non-commercial use.

NMR Evidences of the Coupling between Conduction Electrons and Molecular Degrees of Freedom in the Exotic Member of the Bechgaard Salt (TMTSF)2FSO3

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Satsukawa, Hidetaka; Yajima, Akio; Hiraki, Ko-ichi; Takahashi, Toshihiro; Kang, Haeyong; Jo, Younjung; Kang, Woun; Chung, Ok-Hee

2016-12-01

We performed 77Se- and 19F-NMR measurements on single crystals of (TMTSF)2FSO3 to characterize the electronic structures of different phases in the temperature-pressure phase diagram, determined by precise transport measurements [Jo et al., uri" xlink:href="http://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevB.67.014516" xlink:type="simple">Phys. Rev. B 67, 014516 (2003)]. We claim that such varieties of electronic states in the refined phase diagram are caused by strong couplings of the conduction electrons with FSO3 anions, especially with the permanent electric dipoles on the anions. We suggest that as temperature decreases, the FSO3 anions form orientational ordering through two steps; first, only the tetrahedrons form an orientational order leaving the orientations of the electronic dipoles in random (transition I); then the dipoles form a perfect orientational order at a lower temperature (transition II). In the intermediate temperature range between transitions I and II, we found an appreciable enhancement of homogeneous and inhomogeneous widths of the 77Se-NMR spectrum. From the analysis of the angular dependence of the linewidth, we attributed these anomalies to the intramolecular charge disproportionation or imbalance and its slow dynamics caused by the coupling with the permanent electric dipole of the anion. Results of 19F-NMR relaxation and lineshape measurements support this picture very well. Electronic structures at higher pressures up to 1.25 GPa are discussed on the basis of the results of the 77Se- and 19F-NMR measurements.

Scholarly context not found: One in five articles suffers from reference rot

DOE PAGES

Klein, Martin; Van de Sompel, Herbert; Sanderson, Robert; ...

2014-12-26

The emergence of the web has fundamentally affected most aspects of information communication, including scholarly communication. The immediacy that characterizes publishing information to the web, as well as accessing it, allows for a dramatic increase in the speed of dissemination of scholarly knowledge. But, the transition from a paper-based to a web-based scholarly communication system also poses challenges. In this paper, we focus on reference rot, the combination of link rot and content drift to which references to web resources included in Science, Technology, and Medicine (STM) articles are subject. We investigate the extent to which reference rot impacts themore » ability to revisit the web context that surrounds STM articles some time after their publication. We do so on the basis of a vast collection of articles from three corpora that span publication years 1997 to 2012. For over one million references to web resources extracted from over 3.5 million articles, we determine whether the HTTP URI is still responsive on the live web and whether web archives contain an archived snapshot representative of the state the referenced resource had at the time it was referenced. We observe that the fraction of articles containing references to web resources is growing steadily over time. We find one out of five STM articles suffering from reference rot, meaning it is impossible to revisit the web context that surrounds them some time after their publication. When only considering STM articles that contain references to web resources, this fraction increases to seven out of ten.« less

Reliable and Persistent Identification of Linked Data Elements

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wood, David

Linked Data techniques rely upon common terminology in a manner similar to a relational database'vs reliance on a schema. Linked Data terminology anchors metadata descriptions and facilitates navigation of information. Common vocabularies ease the human, social tasks of understanding datasets sufficiently to construct queries and help to relate otherwise disparate datasets. Vocabulary terms must, when using the Resource Description Framework, be grounded in URIs. A current bestpractice on the World Wide Web is to serve vocabulary terms as Uniform Resource Locators (URLs) and present both human-readable and machine-readable representations to the public. Linked Data terminology published to theWorldWideWeb may be used by others without reference or notification to the publishing party. That presents a problem: Vocabulary publishers take on an implicit responsibility to maintain and publish their terms via the URLs originally assigned, regardless of the inconvenience such a responsibility may cause. Over the course of years, people change jobs, publishing organizations change Internet domain names, computers change IP addresses,systems administrators publish old material in new ways. Clearly, a mechanism is required to manageWeb-based vocabularies over a long term. This chapter places Linked Data vocabularies in context with the wider concepts of metadata in general and specifically metadata on the Web. Persistent identifier mechanisms are reviewed, with a particular emphasis on Persistent URLs, or PURLs. PURLs and PURL services are discussed in the context of Linked Data. Finally, historic weaknesses of PURLs are resolved by the introduction of a federation of PURL services to address needs specific to Linked Data.

Analysis of sea ice and phytoplankton biomarkers in marine sediments from the Nordic Seas - a calibration study

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Navarro Rodriguez, A.; Cabedo Sanz, P.; Belt, S.; Brown, T.; Knies, J.; Husum, K.; Giraudeau, J.

2012-04-01

The work presented here is part of the Changing Arctic and SubArctic Environment program (EU CASE) which is an Initial Training Network (ITN) on climate change and marine environment and is an interdisciplinary project focussing on biological proxies. One of these proxies is the sea ice diatom biomarker IP25 which is a highly branched isoprenoid (HBI) alkene synthesised by some Arctic sea-ice diatoms and has been shown to be a specific, stable and sensitive proxy measure of Arctic sea ice when detected in underlying sediments (Belt et al., 2007). The current study focuses on two key elements: (1) An analytical calibration of IP25 isolated from marine sediments and purified using a range of chromatographic methods was conducted in order to improve the quantification of this biomarker in sediment extracts. (2) Analysis of >30 near-surface sediments from the Nordic Seas was carried out to quantify biomarkers previously suggested as indicators of open-water phytoplankton (brassicasterol) (Müller et al., 2011) and sea-ice (IP25) conditions (Belt et al., 2010). The outcomes of the biomarker analyses were used to make comparisons between proxy data and known sea ice conditions in the study area derived from satellite record over the last 20 years. The results of this study should inform longer timescale reconstructions of sea ice conditions in the Nordic sea in the future. Belt, S.T., Massé, G., Rowland. S.J., Poulin. M., Michel. C., LeBlanc. B., (2007). A novel chemical fossil of palaeo sea ice : IP25 . Organic Geochemistry 38 (16-27). Belt, S. T., Vare, L. L., Massé, G., Manners, H. R., Price, J. C., MacLachlan, S. E., Andrews, J. T. & Schmidt, S. (2010) 'Striking similarities in temporal changes to spring sea ice occurrence across the central Canadian Arctic Archipelago over the last 7000 years', Quaternary Science Reviews, 29 (25-26), pp. 3489-3504. Müller, J., Wagner, A., Fahl, K., Stein, R., Prange, M., & Lohmann, G. (2011). Towards quantitative sea ice

Supporting Information Linking and Discovery Across Organizations Using the VIVO Semantic Web Software Suite

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Mayernik, M. S.; Daniels, M. D.; Maull, K. E.; Khan, H.; Krafft, D. B.; Gross, M. B.; Rowan, L. R.

2016-12-01

Geosciences research is often conducted using distributed networks of researchers and resources. To better enable the discovery of the research output from the scientists and resources used within these organizations, UCAR, Cornell University, and UNAVCO are collaborating on the EarthCollab (http://earthcube.org/group/earthcollab) project which seeks to leverage semantic technologies to manage and link scientific data. As part of this effort, we have been exploring how to leverage information distributed across multiple research organizations. EarthCollab is using the VIVO semantic software suite to lookup and display Semantic Web information across our project partners.Our presentation will include a demonstration of linking between VIVO instances, discussing how to create linkages between entities in different VIVO instances where both entities describe the same person or resource. This discussion will explore how we designate the equivalence of these entities using "same as" assertions between identifiers representing these entities including URIs and ORCID IDs and how we have extended the base VIVO architecture to support the lookup of which entities in separate VIVO instances may be equivalent and to then display information from external linked entities. We will also discuss how these extensions can support other linked data lookups and sources of information.This VIVO cross-linking mechanism helps bring information from multiple VIVO instances together and helps users in navigating information spread-out between multiple VIVO instances. Challenges and open questions for this approach relate to how to display the information obtained from an external VIVO instance, both in order to preserve the brands of the internal and external systems and to handle discrepancies between ontologies, content, and/or VIVO versions.

Pneumatic low-coherence interferometry otoscope to quantify tympanic membrane mobility and middle ear pressure.

PubMed

Won, Jungeun; Monroy, Guillermo L; Huang, Pin-Chieh; Dsouza, Roshan; Hill, Malcolm C; Novak, Michael A; Porter, Ryan G; Chaney, Eric; Barkalifa, Ronit; Boppart, Stephen A

2018-02-01

Pneumatic otoscopy to assess the mobility of the tympanic membrane (TM) is a highly recommended diagnostic method of otitis media (OM), a widespread middle ear infection characterized by the fluid accumulation in the middle ear. Nonetheless, limited depth perception and subjective interpretation of small TM displacements have challenged the appropriate and efficient examination of TM dynamics experienced during OM. In this paper, a pneumatic otoscope integrated with low coherence interferometry (LCI) was adapted with a controlled pressure-generating system to record the pneumatic response of the TM and to estimate middle ear pressure (MEP). Forty-two ears diagnosed as normal (n = 25), with OM (n = 10), or associated with an upper respiratory infection (URI) (n = 7) were imaged with a pneumatic LCI otoscope with an axial, transverse, and temporal resolution of 6 µm, 20 µm, and 1 msec, respectively. The TM displacement under pneumatic pressure transients (a duration of 0.5 sec with an intensity of ± 150 daPa) was measured to compute two metrics (compliance and amplitude ratio). These metrics were correlated with peak acoustic admittance and MEP from tympanometry and statistically compared via Welch's t- test. As a result, the compliance represents pneumatic TM mobility, and the amplitude ratio estimates MEP. The presence of a middle ear effusion (MEE) significantly decreased compliance (p<0.001). The amplitude ratio of the OM group was statistically less than that of the normal group (p<0.01), indicating positive MEP. Unlike tympanometry, pneumatic LCI otoscopy quantifies TM mobility as well as MEP regardless of MEE presence. With combined benefits of pneumatic otoscopy and tympanometry, pneumatic LCI otoscopy may provide new quantitative metrics for understanding TM dynamics and diagnosing OM.

An open-label, multicenter, flexible dose study to evaluate the efficacy and safety of Viagra (sildenafil citrate) in Korean men with erectile dysfunction and arterial hypertension who are taking antihypertensive agents.

PubMed

Park, Hyun Jun; Park, Nam Cheol; Shim, Hong Bang; Park, Jong Kwan; Lee, Sung Won; Park, Kwangsung; Kim, Sae Woong; Moon, Ki Hak; Lee, Dong Hyeon; Yoon, Sang Jin

2008-10-01

Erectile dysfunction (ED) is common among men taking antihypertensive agents to control blood pressure. We evaluated the efficacy and safety of sildenafil citrate in men with ED taking antihypertensive agents. A total of 198 male subjects, aged 20 years and older were enrolled. This study was conducted for 10 weeks as an open-label, multicenter and flexible dose trial with a 2-week screening period and an 8-week treatment phase. Subjects were asked to complete Event Log Worksheets, as well as the International Index of Erectile Function (IIEF) and the Global Efficacy Assessment Questions (GEAQ) questionnaires during the study period. The average age among the 167 subjects who completed the study was 55.8 (31.7 to 77.1). The scores for questions 3 and 4 of IIEF improved from 2.3 and 1.8 at baseline to 3.7 and 3.4 at week 4 and 3.8 and 3.4 at week 8, respectively. There were 86.3% of the patients reported improved erectile function at week 8; 88.3% of the patients reported improved ability to achieve sexual intercourse at week 8. There were no significant differences observed in the responses to questions 3 and 4 of IIEF and GEAQ by the number of antihypertensive agents taken. The adverse events were facial flushing (20.1%), headache (11.7%), palpitation (5.0%), rhinitis (2.8%), URI (2.8%), dizziness (2.2%), dyspnea (2.2%), and nausea (1.7%). Sildenafil citrate is an effective treatment for ED; it is safe and well tolerated by patients with ED taking multiple antihypertensive agents for arterial hypertension.

Success Factors in Human Space Programs - Why Did Apollo Succeed Better Than Later Programs?

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Jones, Harry W.

2015-01-01

The Apollo Program reached the moon, but the Constellation Program (CxP) that planned to return to the moon and go on to Mars was cancelled. Apollo is NASA's greatest achievement but its success is poorly understood. The usual explanation is that President Kennedy announced we were going to the moon, the scientific community and the public strongly supported it, and Congress provided the necessary funding. This is partially incorrect and does not actually explain Apollo's success. The scientific community and the public did not support Apollo. Like Apollo, Constellation was announced by a president and funded by Congress, with elements that continued on even after it was cancelled. Two other factors account for Apollo's success. Initially, the surprise event of Uri Gagarin's first human space flight created political distress and a strong desire for the government to dramatically demonstrate American space capability. Options were considered and Apollo was found to be most effective and technically feasible. Political necessity overrode both the lack of popular and scientific support and the extremely high cost and risk. Other NASA human space programs were either canceled, such as the Space Exploration Initiative (SEI), repeatedly threatened with cancellation, such as International Space Station (ISS), or terminated while still operational, such as the space shuttle and even Apollo itself. Large crash programs such as Apollo are initiated and continued if and only if urgent political necessity produces the necessary political will. They succeed if and only if they are technically feasible within the provided resources. Future human space missions will probably require gradual step-by-step development in a more normal environment.

GeoSciML and EarthResourceML Update, 2012

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Richard, S. M.; Commissionthe Management; Application Inte, I.

2012-12-01

CGI Interoperability Working Group activities during 2012 include deployment of services using the GeoSciML-Portrayal schema, addition of new vocabularies to support properties added in version 3.0, improvements to server software for deploying services, introduction of EarthResourceML v.2 for mineral resources, and collaboration with the IUSS on a markup language for soils information. GeoSciML and EarthResourceML have been used as the basis for the INSPIRE Geology and Mineral Resources specifications respectively. GeoSciML-Portrayal is an OGC GML simple-feature application schema for presentation of geologic map unit, contact, and shear displacement structure (fault and ductile shear zone) descriptions in web map services. Use of standard vocabularies for geologic age and lithology enables map services using shared legends to achieve visual harmonization of maps provided by different services. New vocabularies have been added to the collection of CGI vocabularies provided to support interoperable GeoSciML services, and can be accessed through http://resource.geosciml.org. Concept URIs can be dereferenced to obtain SKOS rdf or html representations using the SISSVoc vocabulary service. New releases of the FOSS GeoServer application greatly improve support for complex XML feature schemas like GeoSciML, and the ArcGIS for INSPIRE extension implements similar complex feature support for ArcGIS Server. These improved server implementations greatly facilitate deploying GeoSciML services. EarthResourceML v2 adds features for information related to mining activities. SoilML provides an interchange format for soil material, soil profile, and terrain information. Work is underway to add GeoSciML to the portfolio of Open Geospatial Consortium (OGC) specifications.

Calibration and application of the IP25 biomarker for Arctic sea ice reconstructions

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Cabedo Sanz, P.; Navarro Rodriguez, A.; Belt, S. T.; Brown, T. A.; Knies, J.; Husum, K.; Giraudeau, J.; Andrews, J.

2012-04-01

The presence of the sea ice diatom biomarker IP25 in Arctic marine sediments has been used in previous studies as a proxy for past spring sea ice occurrence and as an indicator of wider palaeoenvironmental conditions for different regions of the Arctic over various timescales [e.g. 1, 3]. In addition, measurement of IP25 has also been applied as a sea ice origin tracer for studying the transfer of organic carbon through Arctic food-webs [2]. The current study focuses on three main areas: (1) In order to improve on the quantitative analytical aspects of IP25 based research, we present here the results of a large scale extraction, purification and identification procedure for IP25 from marine sediments. This has confirmed the structure of IP25 in sediments and enabled more robust quantitative measurements by gas chromatography - mass spectrometry (GC-MS) to be established. (2) Quantitative measurements of IP25 from a sediment core from Andfjord (continental shelf, Tromsø, Norway) have been determined for the period 6.3 to 14.3 ka BP. The results of this study add significant further information to that reported previously from other biomarker studies for this core (e.g. brassicasterol) [4]. (3) Analytical detection issues (GC-MS) regarding the occurrence of IP25 in other sub-Arctic regions (e.g. East Greenland - North Iceland area) will be presented and discussed with relation to other proxy data (e.g. IRD). Belt, S. T., Vare, L. L., Massé, G., Manners, H. R., Price, J. C., MacLachlan, S. E., Andrews, J. T. & Schmidt, S. (2010) 'Striking similarities in temporal changes to spring sea ice occurrence across the central Canadian Arctic Archipelago over the last 7000 years', Quaternary Science Reviews, 29 (25-26), pp. 3489-3504. Brown, T. A. & Belt, S. T. (2012) 'Identification of the sea ice diatom biomarker IP25 in Arctic benthic macrofauna: direct evidence for a sea ice diatom diet in Arctic heterotrophs', Polar Biology, 35, pp. 131-137. Müller, J., Massé, G

Pneumatic low-coherence interferometry otoscope to quantify tympanic membrane mobility and middle ear pressure

PubMed Central

Won, Jungeun; Monroy, Guillermo L.; Huang, Pin-Chieh; Dsouza, Roshan; Hill, Malcolm C.; Novak, Michael A.; Porter, Ryan G.; Chaney, Eric; Barkalifa, Ronit; Boppart, Stephen A.

2018-01-01

Pneumatic otoscopy to assess the mobility of the tympanic membrane (TM) is a highly recommended diagnostic method of otitis media (OM), a widespread middle ear infection characterized by the fluid accumulation in the middle ear. Nonetheless, limited depth perception and subjective interpretation of small TM displacements have challenged the appropriate and efficient examination of TM dynamics experienced during OM. In this paper, a pneumatic otoscope integrated with low coherence interferometry (LCI) was adapted with a controlled pressure-generating system to record the pneumatic response of the TM and to estimate middle ear pressure (MEP). Forty-two ears diagnosed as normal (n = 25), with OM (n = 10), or associated with an upper respiratory infection (URI) (n = 7) were imaged with a pneumatic LCI otoscope with an axial, transverse, and temporal resolution of 6 µm, 20 µm, and 1 msec, respectively. The TM displacement under pneumatic pressure transients (a duration of 0.5 sec with an intensity of ± 150 daPa) was measured to compute two metrics (compliance and amplitude ratio). These metrics were correlated with peak acoustic admittance and MEP from tympanometry and statistically compared via Welch’s t-test. As a result, the compliance represents pneumatic TM mobility, and the amplitude ratio estimates MEP. The presence of a middle ear effusion (MEE) significantly decreased compliance (p<0.001). The amplitude ratio of the OM group was statistically less than that of the normal group (p<0.01), indicating positive MEP. Unlike tympanometry, pneumatic LCI otoscopy quantifies TM mobility as well as MEP regardless of MEE presence. With combined benefits of pneumatic otoscopy and tympanometry, pneumatic LCI otoscopy may provide new quantitative metrics for understanding TM dynamics and diagnosing OM. PMID:29552381

A new short-term forecasting model for the total electron content storm time disturbances

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Tsagouri, Ioanna; Koutroumbas, Konstantinos; Elias, Panagiotis

2018-06-01

This paper aims to introduce a new model for the short-term forecast of the vertical Total Electron Content (vTEC). The basic idea of the proposed model lies on the concept of the Solar Wind driven autoregressive model for Ionospheric short-term Forecast (SWIF). In its original version, the model is operationally implemented in the DIAS system (uri" xlink:href="http://dias.space.noa.gr">http://dias.space.noa.gr) and provides alerts and warnings for upcoming ionospheric disturbances, as well as single site and regional forecasts of the foF2 critical frequency over Europe up to 24 h in advance. The forecasts are driven by the real time assessment of the solar wind conditions at ACE location. The comparative analysis of the variations in foF2 and vTEC during eleven geomagnetic storm events that occurred in the present solar cycle 24 reveals similarities but also differences in the storm-time response of the two characteristics with respect to the local time and the latitude of the observation point. Since the aforementioned dependences drive the storm-time forecasts of the SWIF model, the results obtained here support the upgrade of the SWIF's modeling technique in forecasting the storm-time vTEC variation from its onset to full development and recovery. According to the proposed approach, the vTEC storm-time response can be forecasted from 1 to 12-13 h before its onset, depending on the local time of the observation point at storm onset at L1. Preliminary results on the assessment of the performance of the proposed model and further considerations on its potential implementation in operational mode are also discussed.

Analytical Solutions for the Surface States of Bi1-xSbx (0 ≤ x ≲ 0.1)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Fuseya, Yuki; Fukuyama, Hidetoshi

2018-04-01

Analytical solutions for the surface state (SS) of an extended Wolff Hamiltonian, which is a common Hamiltonian for strongly spin-orbit coupled systems, are obtained both for semi-infinite and finite-thickness boundary conditions. For the semi-infinite system, there are two types of SS solutions: (I-a) linearly crossing SSs in the direct bulk band gap, and (I-b) SSs with linear dispersions entering the bulk conduction or valence bands away from the band edge. For the finite-thickness system, a gap opens in the SS of solution I-a. Numerical solutions for the SS are also obtained based on the tight-binding model of Liu and Allen [uri" xlink:href="https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevB.52.1566" xlink:type="simple">Phys. Rev. B 52, 1566 (1995)] for Bi1-xSbx (0 ≤ x ≤ 0.1). A perfect correspondence between the analytic and numerical solutions is obtained around the \\bar{M} point including their thickness dependence. This is the first time that the character of the SS numerically obtained is identified with the help of analytical solutions. The size of the gap for I-a SS can be larger than that of bulk band gap even for a "thick" films ( ≲ 200 bilayers ≃ 80 nm) of pure bismuth. Consequently, in such a film of Bi1-xSbx, there is no apparent change in the SSs through the band inversion at x ≃ 0.04, even though the nature of the SS is changed from solution I-a to I-b. Based on our theoretical results, the experimental results on the SS of Bi1-xSbx (0 ≤ x ≲ 0.1) are discussed.

Making `Internal Thermal Energy' Visible

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zou, Xueli

2004-09-01

In a 1992 paper published in this journal, Uri Ganiel described a pair of model carts used to demonstrate elastic and inelastic collisions. The wooden carts had low-friction wheels and a steel-strip bumper on one end. On one of the carts, a number of brass washers were rigidly mounted in vertical stacks to a wooden framework. The other cart was similar except that the washers were tied to rubber bands that were stretched horizontally and diagonally across the framework. When the first cart was rolled into a wall it bounced off with only a small reduction in speed ("elastic" collision). The second cart, on the other hand, was found to come nearly to a complete stop upon colliding with the wall ("inelastic" collision). Following the instructions given in Ganiel's paper, I built a pair of carts and demonstrated them to introductory-level physics students at a large public university. It was interesting to find that many students were distracted by the different-looking structures of the two model carts.2 They thought the different distributions of washers between the carts resulted in the rubber-band cart bouncing back a significantly shorter distance than the rigid-rod one after they both collided with a wall at the same initial speed. Apparently, the students had difficulties in understanding the collisions and used surface features to reason about them. To avoid this superficial distraction and to help students visualize easily "where the kinetic energy goes in an inelastic collision," I modified the rigid-rod cart to have washers fixed on hollow aluminum rods mounted at four different levels horizontally and diagonally (see Fig. 1). The new pair of the model carts look very similar to each other: They have the same bumpers, same wheels, same distributions of washers, and same masses.

The Effective and Evolving Role of Graduate Students in the SURFO REU Program

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Pockalny, R. A.

2005-12-01

The Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowships in Oceanography (SURFO) program is a 10-week research/educational program designed to expose 9 undergraduates per year to cutting-edge, authentic oceanographic research at the Graduate School of Oceanography/University of Rhode Island. The SURFO program primarily focuses on the more quantitative aspects of oceanography (e.g., physical oceanography, geophysical fluid dynamics and marine geophysics), which closely parallel the strengths of GSO/URI. Thus, the primary undergraduate population targeted by the program includes students from various disciplines, but with strong backgrounds in math, physics, computer science, and engineering. Over its 20-year existence, the SURFO program has continuously evolved; however, three basics goals of the program have been maintained: 1) expose students to the breadth and depth of oceanography, 2) provide students with an authentic research experience, and 3) integrate/assimilate students into the lifestyle and community of a graduate research institution. An integral component for achieving these goals has been the inclusion of graduate students as workshop leaders/instructors, research mentors, and social directors. In these roles the graduate students act as a 'big brother/sister' to transition the undergraduates into the academic and research community. The graduate students also initially behave as liaisons between the senior researcher and the SURFO participant by fielding questions and concerns the undergraduate may be too intimidated to voice. As the summer progresses, the graduate students typically evolve into a lead research advisor and begin to learn effective techniques for advising students. Responses from SURFO participants on exit questionnaires frequently comment on how their experience and research project were directly affected by the extent of graduate student participation during the summer. Anecdotal evidence also indicates the participating graduate students gain

Diabetes and gout: efficacy and safety of febuxostat and allopurinol.

PubMed

Becker, M A; MacDonald, P A; Hunt, B J; Jackson, R L

2013-11-01

Assess influences of demographics and co-morbidities of gout patients with or without diabetes on safety and efficacy of urate-lowering agents. Post-hoc analysis of 312 diabetic and 1957 non-diabetic gout patients [baseline serum urate levels (sUA) ≥8.0 mg/dl] enrolled in a 6-month randomized controlled trial comparing urate-lowering efficacy (ULE) and safety of daily xanthine oxidase inhibitors (XOIs) febuxostat (40 mg or 80 mg) and allopurinol (200 mg or 300 mg). We compared baseline demographic, gout and co-morbid characteristics, ULE, and safety of XOI treatment in diabetic and non-diabetic gout patients. ULE was measured by the proportion of diabetic and non-diabetic patients in each treatment group achieving final visit sUA < 6.0 mg/dl. Safety was monitored throughout the trial. Diabetic gout patients were older, more frequently female, and had longer gout duration. Co-morbidities were more frequent among diabetic patients: cardiovascular disease; impaired renal function; hyperlipidemia; and obesity (body mass index >30 kg/m²) (p < 0.001 for all comparisons). Febuxostat 80 mg ULE exceeded that of febuxostat 40 mg or allopurinol (p < 0.050) at all levels of renal function, achieving sUA goal range in the majority of diabetic and non-diabetic patients. Diabetics and non-diabetics reported self-limiting diarrhoea and URIs as the most common adverse events. Despite higher co-morbidity rates in diabetic patients, febuxostat and allopurinol were safe in both groups at the doses tested. Febuxostat 80 mg achieved sUA <6.0 mg/dl more often than febuxostat 40 mg or allopurinol at commonly prescribed doses. © 2013 The Authors. Diabetes, Obesity and Metabolism published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Diabetes and gout: efficacy and safety of febuxostat and allopurinol

PubMed Central

Becker, M A; MacDonald, P A; Hunt, B J; Jackson, R L

2013-01-01

Aim Assess influences of demographics and co-morbidities of gout patients with or without diabetes on safety and efficacy of urate-lowering agents. Methods Post-hoc analysis of 312 diabetic and 1957 non-diabetic gout patients [baseline serum urate levels (sUA) ≥8.0 mg/dl] enrolled in a 6-month randomized controlled trial comparing urate-lowering efficacy (ULE) and safety of daily xanthine oxidase inhibitors (XOIs) febuxostat (40 mg or 80 mg) and allopurinol (200 mg or 300 mg). We compared baseline demographic, gout and co-morbid characteristics, ULE, and safety of XOI treatment in diabetic and non-diabetic gout patients. ULE was measured by the proportion of diabetic and non-diabetic patients in each treatment group achieving final visit sUA < 6.0 mg/dl. Safety was monitored throughout the trial. Results Diabetic gout patients were older, more frequently female, and had longer gout duration. Co-morbidities were more frequent among diabetic patients: cardiovascular disease; impaired renal function; hyperlipidemia; and obesity (body mass index >30 kg/m2) (p < 0.001 for all comparisons). Febuxostat 80 mg ULE exceeded that of febuxostat 40 mg or allopurinol (p < 0.050) at all levels of renal function, achieving sUA goal range in the majority of diabetic and non-diabetic patients. Diabetics and non-diabetics reported self-limiting diarrhoea and URIs as the most common adverse events. Conclusions Despite higher co-morbidity rates in diabetic patients, febuxostat and allopurinol were safe in both groups at the doses tested. Febuxostat 80 mg achieved sUA <6.0 mg/dl more often than febuxostat 40 mg or allopurinol at commonly prescribed doses. PMID:23683134

Engaging the Public in the 38th Voyage Of The Whaling Ship the Charles W. Morgan with Coastal Telepresence Technology

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Babb, I.; Coleman, D.; Lawrence, M.

2016-02-01

The world's last remaining sail-powered whaling ship, the Charles W. Morgan, conducted her 38th voyage in 2014 traveling from Mystic, CT to NOAA's Stellwagen Bank National Marine Sanctuary (SBNMS) as a symbolic journey to one of the world's premier whale watching sites. This voyage captured the renaissance of the Morgan from a whale hunting ship to an emissary of ocean conservation. Low cost, microwave-based telepresence technology was installed aboard the Morgan, her support ship the M/V Rohan (a fishing vessel) and linked to the Pilgrim Monument to enable ship-to-shore webcasts that featured Sanctuary researchers, historians, artists and authors onboard the Morgan highlighting their research and outreach activities. A partnership NURTEC at UConn, the Inner Space Center at URI, NOAA, SBNMS and the Mystic Seaport developed comprehensive research and historical content that was incorporated into the broadcasts, which were delivered to thousands of viewers. The concept of telepresence as envisioned for the Morgan's voyage was not simply broadcasting a single camera feed, but to turn the Morgan into a mobile "news studio" that allowed multiple cameras onboard to focus on the business of sailing the ship, interviews with experts in maritime history and marine science onboard, and other onboard programming. In addition, an onshore studio was set up at the Pilgrim Monument in Provincetown, MA that integrated additional historians, scientists and archaeologists into the webcasts. The public was able to follow the Morgan's visit to the sanctuary on OceansLIVE (oceanslive.org) that broadcast three live shows daily from the vessel and other locations from July 11-13th. Each of the shows featured interviews and commentary with historians, scientists, authors and artists discussing the shift from whale hunting to whale watching in New England. This talk will review the range of science presented and provide an overview of the enabling technologies.

Increasing Shore-based Participation of Scientists & Students in Telepresence-enabled Nautilus Expeditions

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bell, K. L. C.; Raineault, N.; Carey, S.; Eberli, G. P.; John, B. E.; Cheadle, M. J.; German, C. R.; Mirmalek, Z.; Pallant, A.

2016-02-01

As the US oceanographic research fleet shrinks, reducing seagoing opportunities for scientists and students, remote participation in cruises via telepresence will become increasingly vital. The Nautilus Exploration Program is improving the experience of shoreside participants through the development of new tools and methodologies for connecting them to expeditions in real time increasing accessibility to oceanographic cruises. The Scientist Ashore Program is a network of scientists around the world who participate in Exploration Vessel Nautilus expeditions from their own labs or homes. We have developed a suite of collaboration tools to allow scientists to view video and data in real time, as well as to communicate with ship-based and other shore-based participants to enable remote participation in cruises. Post-cruise, scientists and students may access digital data and biological and geological samples from our partner shore-based repositories: the University of Rhode Island Inner Space Center, Harvard Museum of Comparative Zoology, and URI Marine Geological Samples Lab. We present examples of successful shore-based participation by scientists and students in Nautilus expeditions. In 2013, Drs. Cheadle and John stood watch 24/7 with ten undergraduate and graduate students at the University of Wyoming, recording geologic features and samples, during a cruise to the Cayman Rise. The Straits of Florida & Great Bahama Bank cruise was co-led by Dr. Eberli at the University of Miami in 2014, greatly complementing existing data. That same year, the ISC hosted four early career scientists and their twelve undergraduate students who led dives from shore in collaboration with Dr. Carey, Lead Scientist at sea on the Kick'em Jenny Volcano & the Barbados Mud Volcanoes cruise. In 2015, 12 Scientists Ashore worked in collaboration with the ship-based team on the exploration of Galapagos National Park, and more than 20 are working with OET on post-cruise data & sample analysis.

Geo-hazard harmonised data a driven process to environmental analysis system

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Cipolloni, Carlo; Iadanza, Carla; Pantaloni, Marco; Trigila, Alessandro

2015-04-01

In the last decade an increase of damage caused by natural disasters has been recorded in Italy. To support environmental safety and human protection, by reducing vulnerability of exposed elements as well as improving the resilience of the involved communities, it need to give access to harmonized and customized data that is one of several steps towards delivering adequate support to risk assessment, reduction and management. In this contest has been developed SEIS and Copernicus-GEMES as infrastructure based on web services for environmental analysis, to integrates in its own system specifications and results from INSPIRE. The two landslide risk scenarios developed in different European projects driven the harmonization process of data that represents the basic element to have interoperable web services in environmental analysis system. From two different perspective we have built a common methodology to analyse dataset and transform them into INSPIRE compliant format following the Data Specification on Geology and on Natural Risk Zone given by INSPIRE. To ensure the maximum results and re-usability of data we have also applied to the landslide and geological datasets a wider Data model standard like GeoSciML, that represents the natural extension of INSPIRE data model to provide more information. The aim of this work is to present the first results of two projects concerning the data harmonisation process, where an important role is played by the semantic harmonisation using the ontology service and/or the hierarchy vocabularies available as Link Data or Link Open Data by means of URI directly in the data spatial services. It will be presented how the harmonised web services can provide an add value in a risk scenario analysis system, showing the first results of the landslide environmental analysis developed by the eENVplus and LIFE+IMAGINE projects.

Vertical Transport of Sediment from Muddy Buoyant River Plumes in the Presence of Different Modes of Interfacial Instabilities

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Strom, K.; Rouhnia, M.

2016-12-01

Previous studies have suggested that sedimentation from buoyant, muddy plumes lofting over clear saltwater can take place at rates higher than that expected from individual particle settling (i.e., CWs). Two potential drivers of enhanced sedimentation are flocculation and interfacial instabilities. We experimentally measured the sediment fluxes from each of these processes using two sets of laboratory experiments that investigate two different modes of instability, one driven by sediment settling and one driven by fluid shear. The settling-driven and shear-driven instability experiments were carried out in a stagnant stratification tank and a stratification flume respectively. In both sets, continuous interface monitoring and concentration measurements were made to observe developments of instabilities and their effects on the removal of sediment. Floc size was measured during the experiments using a floc camera and image analysis routines. This presentation will provide an overview of the stagnant tank experiments, but will focus on results from the stratified flume experiments and an analysis that attempts to synthesizes the results from the entirety of the study. The results from the stratified flume experiments show that under shear instabilities, the effective settling velocity is greater than the floc settling velocity, and that the rate increases with plume velocity and interface mixing. The difference between effective and floc settling velocity was denoted as the shear-induced settling velocity. This rate was found to be a strong function of the Richardson number, and was attributed to mixing processes at the interface. Conceptual and empirical analysis shows that the shear-induced settling velocity is proportional to URi-2. The resulting effective settling velocity models developed from these experiments are then used to examine the rates and potential locations of operations of these mechanism over the length of a river mouth plume.

Developing a Data Discovery Tool for Interdisciplinary Science: Leveraging a Web-based Mapping Application and Geosemantic Searching

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Albeke, S. E.; Perkins, D. G.; Ewers, S. L.; Ewers, B. E.; Holbrook, W. S.; Miller, S. N.

2015-12-01

The sharing of data and results is paramount for advancing scientific research. The Wyoming Center for Environmental Hydrology and Geophysics (WyCEHG) is a multidisciplinary group that is driving scientific breakthroughs to help manage water resources in the Western United States. WyCEHG is mandated by the National Science Foundation (NSF) to share their data. However, the infrastructure from which to share such diverse, complex and massive amounts of data did not exist within the University of Wyoming. We developed an innovative framework to meet the data organization, sharing, and discovery requirements of WyCEHG by integrating both open and closed source software, embedded metadata tags, semantic web technologies, and a web-mapping application. The infrastructure uses a Relational Database Management System as the foundation, providing a versatile platform to store, organize, and query myriad datasets, taking advantage of both structured and unstructured formats. Detailed metadata are fundamental to the utility of datasets. We tag data with Uniform Resource Identifiers (URI's) to specify concepts with formal descriptions (i.e. semantic ontologies), thus allowing users the ability to search metadata based on the intended context rather than conventional keyword searches. Additionally, WyCEHG data are geographically referenced. Using the ArcGIS API for Javascript, we developed a web mapping application leveraging database-linked spatial data services, providing a means to visualize and spatially query available data in an intuitive map environment. Using server-side scripting (PHP), the mapping application, in conjunction with semantic search modules, dynamically communicates with the database and file system, providing access to available datasets. Our approach provides a flexible, comprehensive infrastructure from which to store and serve WyCEHG's highly diverse research-based data. This framework has not only allowed WyCEHG to meet its data stewardship

IEDA Thesaurus: A Controlled Vocabulary for IEDA Systems to Advance Integration

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ji, P.; Lehnert, K. A.; Arko, R. A.; Song, L.; Hsu, L.; Carter, M. R.; Ferrini, V. L.; Ash, J.

2014-12-01

Simple Knowledge Organization System (SKOS) format. The IEDA thesaurus server provides classic web semantic features such as SPARQL, RESTful web services, and unique URI based on open source technologies.

Geoscience Australia Publishes Sample Descriptions using W3C standards

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Car, N. J.; Cox, S. J. D.; Bastrakova, I.; Wyborn, L. A.

2017-12-01

The recent revision of the W3C Semantic Sensor Network Ontology (SSN) has focused on three key concerns: Extending the scope of the ontology to include sampling and actuation as well as observation and sensing Modularizing the ontology into a simple core with few classes and properties and little formal axiomatization, supplemented by additional modules that formalize the semantics and extend the scope Alignments with several existing applications and upper ontologies These enhancements mean that SSN can now be used as the basis for publishing descriptions of geologic samples as Linked Data. Geoscience Australia maintains a database of about three million samples, collected over 50 years through projects from ocean core, terrestrial rock and hydrochemistry borehole projects, almost all of which are held in in the special-purpose GA samples repository. Access to descriptions of these samples as Linked Data has recently been enabled. The sample descriptions can be viewed in various machine-readable formalizations, including IGSN (XML & RDF), Dublin Core (XML & RDF) and SSN (RDF), as well as web landing-pages for people. Of particular importance is the support for encoding relationships between samples, and between samples and surveys, boreholes, and traverses which they are related to, as well as between samples processed for analytical purposes and their parents, siblings, and back to the original field samples. The SSN extension for Sample Relationships provides an extensible, semantically rich mechanism to capture any relationship necessary to explain the provenance of observation results obtained from samples. Sample citation is facilitated through the use of URI-based persistent identifiers which resolve to samples' landing pages. The sample system also allows PROV pingbacks to be received for samples when users of them record provenance for their actions.

Scholarly Context Not Found: One in Five Articles Suffers from Reference Rot

PubMed Central

Klein, Martin; Van de Sompel, Herbert; Sanderson, Robert; Shankar, Harihar; Balakireva, Lyudmila; Zhou, Ke; Tobin, Richard

2014-01-01

The emergence of the web has fundamentally affected most aspects of information communication, including scholarly communication. The immediacy that characterizes publishing information to the web, as well as accessing it, allows for a dramatic increase in the speed of dissemination of scholarly knowledge. But, the transition from a paper-based to a web-based scholarly communication system also poses challenges. In this paper, we focus on reference rot, the combination of link rot and content drift to which references to web resources included in Science, Technology, and Medicine (STM) articles are subject. We investigate the extent to which reference rot impacts the ability to revisit the web context that surrounds STM articles some time after their publication. We do so on the basis of a vast collection of articles from three corpora that span publication years 1997 to 2012. For over one million references to web resources extracted from over 3.5 million articles, we determine whether the HTTP URI is still responsive on the live web and whether web archives contain an archived snapshot representative of the state the referenced resource had at the time it was referenced. We observe that the fraction of articles containing references to web resources is growing steadily over time. We find one out of five STM articles suffering from reference rot, meaning it is impossible to revisit the web context that surrounds them some time after their publication. When only considering STM articles that contain references to web resources, this fraction increases to seven out of ten. We suggest that, in order to safeguard the long-term integrity of the web-based scholarly record, robust solutions to combat the reference rot problem are required. In conclusion, we provide a brief insight into the directions that are explored with this regard in the context of the Hiberlink project. PMID:25541969

Enabling Linked Science in Global Climate Uncertainty Quantification (UQ) Research

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Elsethagen, T.; Stephan, E.; Lin, G.; Williams, D.; Banks, E.

2012-12-01

This paper shares a real-world global climate UQ science use case and illustrates how a linked science application called Provenance Environment (ProvEn), currently being developed, enables and facilitates scientific teams to publish, share, link, and discover new links over their UQ research results. UQ results include terascale datasets that are published to an Earth Systems Grid Federation (ESGF) repository. ProvEn demonstrates how a scientific team conducting UQ studies can discover dataset links using its domain knowledgebase, allowing them to better understand the UQ study research objectives, the experimental protocol used, the resulting dataset lineage, related analytical findings, ancillary literature citations, along with the social network of scientists associated with the study. This research claims that scientists using this linked science approach will not only allow them to greatly benefit from understanding a particular dataset within a knowledge context, a benefit can also be seen by the cross reference of knowledge among the numerous UQ studies being stored in ESGF. ProvEn collects native forms of data provenance resources as the UQ study is carried out. The native data provenance resources can be collected from a variety of sources such as scripts, a workflow engine log, simulation log files, scientific team members etc. Schema alignment is used to translate the native forms of provenance into a set of W3C PROV-O semantic statements used as a common interchange format which will also contain URI references back to resources in the UQ study dataset for querying and cross referencing. ProvEn leverages Fedora Commons' digital object model in a Resource Oriented Architecture (ROA) (i.e. a RESTful framework) to logically organize and partition native and translated provenance resources by UQ study. The ROA also provides scientists the means to both search native and translated forms of provenance.

A resource-oriented architecture for a Geospatial Web

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Mazzetti, Paolo; Nativi, Stefano

2010-05-01

In this presentation we discuss some architectural issues on the design of an architecture for a Geospatial Web, that is an information system for sharing geospatial resources according to the Web paradigm. The success of the Web in building a multi-purpose information space, has raised questions about the possibility of adopting the same approach for systems dedicated to the sharing of more specific resources, such as the geospatial information, that is information characterized by spatial/temporal reference. To this aim an investigation on the nature of the Web and on the validity of its paradigm for geospatial resources is required. The Web was born in the early 90's to provide "a shared information space through which people and machines could communicate" [Berners-Lee 1996]. It was originally built around a small set of specifications (e.g. URI, HTTP, HTML, etc.); however, in the last two decades several other technologies and specifications have been introduced in order to extend its capabilities. Most of them (e.g. the SOAP family) actually aimed to transform the Web in a generic Distributed Computing Infrastructure. While these efforts were definitely successful enabling the adoption of service-oriented approaches for machine-to-machine interactions supporting complex business processes (e.g. for e-Government and e-Business applications), they do not fit in the original concept of the Web. In the year 2000, R. T. Fielding, one of the designers of the original Web specifications, proposes a new architectural style for distributed systems, called REST (Representational State Transfer), aiming to capture the fundamental characteristics of the Web as it was originally conceived [Fielding 2000]. In this view, the nature of the Web lies not so much in the technologies, as in the way they are used. Maintaining the Web architecture conform to the REST style would then assure the scalability, extensibility and low entry barrier of the original Web. On the contrary

Web-based Academic Roadmaps for Careers in the Geosciences

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Murray, D. P.; Veeger, A. I.; Grossman-Garber, D.

2007-12-01

To a greater extent than most science programs, geology is underrepresented in K-12 curricula and the media. Thus potential majors have scant knowledge of academic requirements and career trajectories, and their idea of what geologists do--if they have one at all--is outdated. We have addressed these concerns by developing a dynamic, web-based academic roadmap for current and prospective students, their families, and others who are contemplating careers in the geosciences. The goals of this visually attractive "educational pathway" are to not only improve student recruitment and retention, but to empower student learning by creating better communication and advising tools that can render our undergraduate program transparent for learners and their families. Although we have developed academic roadmaps for four environmental and life science programs at the University of Rhode Island, we focus here on the roadmap for the geosciences, which illustrates educational pathways along the academic and early-career continuum for current and potential (i.e., high school) students who are considering the earth sciences. In essence, the Geosciences Academic Roadmap is a "one-stop'" portal to the discipline. It includes user- friendly information about our curriculum, outcomes (which at URI are tightly linked to performance in courses and the major), extracurricular activities (e.g., field camp, internships), careers, graduate programs, and training. In the presentation of this material extensive use is made of streaming video, interviews with students and earth scientists, and links to other relevant sites. Moreover, through the use of "Hot Topics", particular attention is made to insure that examples of geoscience activities are not only of relevance to today's students, but show geologists using the modern methods of the discipline in exciting ways. Although this is a "work-in-progress", evaluation of the sites, by high school through graduate students, has been strongly

Short term soil erosion dynamics in alpine grasslands - Results from a Fallout Radionuclide repeated-sampling approach

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Arata, Laura; Meusburger, Katrin; Zehringer, Markus; Ketterer, Michael E.; Mabit, Lionel; Alewell, Christine

2016-04-01

Improper land management and climate change has resulted in accelerated soil erosion rates in Alpine grasslands. To efficiently mitigate and control soil erosion and reduce its environmental impact in Alpine grasslands, reliable and validated methods for comprehensive data generation on its magnitude and spatial extent are mandatory. The use of conventional techniques (e.g. sediment traps, erosion pins or rainfall simulations) may be hindered by the extreme topographic and climatic conditions of the Alps. However, the application of the Fallout Radionuclides (FRNs) as soil tracers has already showed promising results in these specific agro-ecosystems. Once deposited on the ground, FRNs strongly bind to fine particles at the surface soil and move across the landscape primarily through physical processes. As such, they provide an effective track of soil and sediment redistribution. So far, applications of FRN in the Alps include 137Cs (half-life: 30.2 years) and 239+240Pu (239Pu [half-life = 24110 years] and 240Pu [half-life = 6561 years]). To investigate short term (4-5 years) erosion dynamics in the Swiss Alps, the authors applied a FRNs repeated sampling approach. Two study areas in the central Swiss Alps have been investigated: the Urseren Valley (Canton Uri), where significant land use changes occurred in the last centuries, and the Piora Valley (Canton Ticino), where land use change plays a minor role. Soil samples have been collected at potentially erosive sites along the valleys over a period of 4-5 years and measured for 137Cs and 239+240Pu activity. The inventory change between the sampling years indicates high erosion and deposition dynamics at both valleys. High spatial variability of 137Cs activities at all sites has been observed, reflecting the heterogeneous distribution of 137Cs fallout after the Chernobyl power plant accident in 1986. Finally, a new modelling technique to convert the inventory changes to quantitative estimates of soil erosion has

Rolling Deck to Repository (R2R): A "Linked Data" Approach for the U.S. Academic Research Fleet

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Arko, R.; Chandler, C.; Clark, P.; Milan, A.; Mize, J.

2012-04-01

The Rolling Deck to Repository (R2R; http://rvdata.us/) program is developing infrastructure to routinely document, assess, and preserve the underway sensor data from U.S. academic research vessels. The R2R master catalog of vessels, instrument systems, operating institutions, cruises, personnel, data sets, event logs, and field reports has grown to over 2,200 cruises in less than two years, and is now accessible via Web services. This catalog is of great value to peer data systems, ranging from large inter/national data centers to small disciplinary data offices, as an aid in quality controlling their own collections and finding related data from authoritative sources. R2R breaks with the tradition of stovepipe portals built around complex search interfaces tightly bound to backend databases. Instead, we have adopted a Linked Data approach to publish our catalog content, based on the W3C Resource Description Framework (RDF) and Uniform Resource Identifiers (URIs). Our data model is published as a collection of W3C Simple Knowledge Organization System (SKOS) concepts, mapped to partner vocabularies such as those developed by the Global Change Master Directory (GCMD) and the pan-European SeaDataNet partnership, and our catalog content is published as collections of RDF resources with globally unique and persistent identifiers. The combination of exposing our data model, mapping local terms to community-wide vocabularies, and using reliable identifiers improves interoperability and reduces ambiguity. R2R's metric of success is the degree to which peer data systems harvest and reuse our content. R2R is working collaboratively with the NOAA National Data Centers and the NSF-funded Biological and Chemical Oceanography Data Management Office (BCO-DMO) on a range of Linked Data pilot applications, including production of ISO-compliant metadata and deployment of a RDF Query Language (SPARQL) interface. Our objective is to support a distributed, loosely federated network of

[Different species of human rhinovirus infection in children with acute respiratory tract infections in Beijing].

PubMed

Song, Ming-hui; Zhao, Lin-qing; Qian, Yuan; Zhu, Ru-nan; Deng, Jie; Wang, Fang; Sun, Yu; Tian, Run

2013-12-01

To understand the clinical characteristics of different groups human rhinovirus (HRV)-A, B and C infection in children with acute respiratory tract infections (ARI) in Beijing. Respiratory tract specimens (n = 1412) collected from children with ARI during Jan. 2011 to Dec. 2012 were tested for HRV by using semi-nested PCR. Gene fragments of VP4/VP2 capsid protein amplified from HRV positive specimens were sequenced for HRV genotype confirmation. Then epidemiological characteristics of these HRV-positive cases were analyzed. Among these 1412 specimens tested, 103 (7.3%) were HRV positive, including 54 (52.4%) positive for HRV-A, 14 (13.6%) for HRV-B, 35 (34.0%) for HRV-C determined by sequence analysis. The positive rates of HRV-A, B and C (2.5%, 16/638; 0.3%, 2/638 and 1.3%, 8/638) in children with acute upper respiratory tract infections (URI) were lower than those (5.8%, 36/623; 1.8%, 11/623 and 3.9%, 24/623) in children with acute lower respiratory tract infections (LRI) (P = 0.003, 0.011, 0.003). In children with LRI, the positive rates of HRV-A, C were similar to each other (P = 0.112), and both were higher than that of HRV-B (P = 0.000, P = 0.026). The severity of ARI among children positive for different groups HRV showed no significant difference evaluated by Kruskal-Wallis H test (Hc = 0.044, P > 0.05), as well as that between children co-infected with HRV and other viruses and those infected with HRV only evaluated by Wilcoxon rank sum test (Zc = 0.872, P > 0.05). HRV is one of important pathogens for children with ARI, especially LRI in Beijing. The positive rates of HRV-A and HRV-C are similar to each other, and both are higher than that of HRV-B. No significant difference was shown among children with different HRV genotypes by evaluation of the severity of ARI, and co-infections of HRV with other viruses do not significantly increase the severity of ARI.

Using Social Media to Characterize Public Sentiment Toward Medical Interventions Commonly Used for Cancer Screening: An Observational Study.

PubMed

Metwally, Omar; Blumberg, Seth; Ladabaum, Uri; Sinha, Sidhartha R

2017-06-07

cancer screening, as well as other people they may influence with such postings. ©Omar Metwally, Seth Blumberg, Uri Ladabaum, Sidhartha R. Sinha. Originally published in the Journal of Medical Internet Research (http://www.jmir.org), 07.06.2017.

Suitability of 239+240Pu and 137Cs as tracers for soil erosion assessment in mountain grasslands.

PubMed

Alewell, Christine; Meusburger, Katrin; Juretzko, Gregor; Mabit, Lionel; Ketterer, Michael E

2014-05-01

Anthropogenic radionuclides have been distributed globally due to nuclear weapons testing, nuclear accidents, nuclear weapons fabrication, and nuclear fuel reprocessing. While the negative consequences of this radioactive contamination are self-evident, the ubiquitous fallout radionuclides (FRNs) distribution form the basis for the use as tracers in ecological studies, namely for soil erosion assessment. Soil erosion is a major threat to mountain ecosystems worldwide. We compare the suitability of the anthropogenic FRNs, 137Cs and 239+240Pu as soil erosion tracers in two alpine valleys of Switzerland (Urseren Valley, Canton Uri, Central Swiss Alps and Val Piora, Ticino, Southern Alps). We sampled reference and potentially erosive sites in transects along both valleys. 137Cs measurements of soil samples were performed with a Li-drifted Germanium detector and 239+240Pu with ICP-MS. Our data indicates a heterogeneous deposition of the 137Cs, since most of the fallout origins from the Chernobyl April/May 1986 accident, when large parts of the European Alps were still snow-covered. In contrast, 239+240Pu fallout originated mainly from 1950s to 1960s atmospheric nuclear weapons tests, resulting in a more homogenous distribution and thus seems to be a more suitable tracer in mountainous grasslands. Soil erosion assessment using 239+240Pu as a tracer pointed to a huge dynamic and high heterogeneity of erosive processes (between sedimentation of 1.9 and 7 t ha(-1) yr(-1) and erosion of 0.2-16.4 t ha(-1) yr(-1) in the Urseren Valley and sedimentation of 0.4-20.3 t ha(-1) yr(-1) and erosion of 0.1-16.4 t ha(-1) yr(-1) at Val Piora). Our study represents a novel and successful application of 239+240Pu as a tracer of soil erosion in a mountain environment. Copyright © 2013 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd.. All rights reserved.

OpenTox predictive toxicology framework: toxicological ontology and semantic media wiki-based OpenToxipedia.

PubMed

Tcheremenskaia, Olga; Benigni, Romualdo; Nikolova, Ivelina; Jeliazkova, Nina; Escher, Sylvia E; Batke, Monika; Baier, Thomas; Poroikov, Vladimir; Lagunin, Alexey; Rautenberg, Micha; Hardy, Barry

2012-04-24

The OpenTox Framework, developed by the partners in the OpenTox project (http://www.opentox.org), aims at providing a unified access to toxicity data, predictive models and validation procedures. Interoperability of resources is achieved using a common information model, based on the OpenTox ontologies, describing predictive algorithms, models and toxicity data. As toxicological data may come from different, heterogeneous sources, a deployed ontology, unifying the terminology and the resources, is critical for the rational and reliable organization of the data, and its automatic processing. The following related ontologies have been developed for OpenTox: a) Toxicological ontology - listing the toxicological endpoints; b) Organs system and Effects ontology - addressing organs, targets/examinations and effects observed in in vivo studies; c) ToxML ontology - representing semi-automatic conversion of the ToxML schema; d) OpenTox ontology- representation of OpenTox framework components: chemical compounds, datasets, types of algorithms, models and validation web services; e) ToxLink-ToxCast assays ontology and f) OpenToxipedia community knowledge resource on toxicology terminology.OpenTox components are made available through standardized REST web services, where every compound, data set, and predictive method has a unique resolvable address (URI), used to retrieve its Resource Description Framework (RDF) representation, or to initiate the associated calculations and generate new RDF-based resources.The services support the integration of toxicity and chemical data from various sources, the generation and validation of computer models for toxic effects, seamless integration of new algorithms and scientifically sound validation routines and provide a flexible framework, which allows building arbitrary number of applications, tailored to solving different problems by end users (e.g. toxicologists). The OpenTox toxicological ontology projects may be accessed via the Open

Effectiveness of Micronutrient Powders (MNP) in women and children

PubMed Central

2013-01-01

Introduction More than 3.5 million women and children under five die each year in poor countries due to underlying undernutrition. Many of these are associated with concomitant micronutrient deficiencies. In the last decade point of use or home fortification has emerged to tackle the widespread micronutrient deficiencies. We in this review have estimated the effect of Micronutrient Powders (MNPs) on the health outcomes of women and children. Methods We systematically reviewed literature published up to November 2012 to identify studies describing the effectiveness of MNPs. We used a standardized abstraction and grading format to estimate the effect of MNPs by applying the standard Child Health Epidemiology Reference Group (CHERG) rules. Results We included 17 studies in this review. MNPs significantly reduced the prevalence of anemia by 34% (RR: 0.66, 95% CI: 0.57-0.77), iron deficiency anemia by 57% (RR: 0.43, 95% CI: 0.35-0.52) and retinol deficiency by 21% (RR: 0.79, 95% CI: 0.64, 0.98). It also significantly improved the hemoglobin levels (SMD: 0.98, 95% CI: 0.55-1.40). While there were no statistically significant impacts observed for serum ferritin and zinc deficiency. Our analysis shows no impact of MNPs on various anthropometric outcomes including stunting (RR: 0.92, 95% CI: 0.81, 1.04), wasting (RR: 1.13, 95% CI: 0.91, 1.40), underweight (RR:0.96, 95% CI: 0.83, 1.10), HAZ (SMD: 0.04, 95% CI: -0.13, 0.22), WAZ (SMD: 0.05, 95% CI: -0.12, 0.23) and WHZ (SMD: 0.04, 95% CI: -0.13, 0.21), although showing favorable trends. MNPs were found to be associated with significant increase in diarrhea (RR: 1.04, 95% CI: 1.01, 1.06) with non-significant impacts on fever and URI. Conclusion Our analysis of the effect of MNPs in children suggests benefit in improving anemia and hemoglobin however the lack of impact on growth and evidence of increased diarrhea requires careful consideration before recommending the intervention for implementing at scale. PMID:24564207

Putting FLEXPART to REST: The Provision of Atmospheric Transport Modeling Services

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Morton, Don; Arnold, Dèlia

2015-04-01

We are developing a RESTful set of modeling services for the FLEXPART modeling system. FLEXPART (FLEXible PARTicle dispersion model) is a Lagrangian transport and dispersion model used by a growing international community. It has been used to simulate and forecast the atmospheric transport of wildfire smoke, volcanic ash and radionuclides and may be run in backwards mode to provide information for the determination of emission sources such as nuclear emissions and greenhouse gases. This open source software is distributed in source code form, and has several compiler and library dependencies that users need to address. Although well-documented, getting it compiled, set up, running, and post-processed is often tedious, making it difficult for the inexperienced or casual user. Well-designed modeling services lower the entry barrier for scientists to perform simulations, allowing them to create and execute their models from a variety of devices and programming environments. This world of Service Oriented Architectures (SOA) has progressed to a REpresentational State Transfer (REST) paradigm, in which the pervasive and mature HTTP environment is used as a foundation for providing access to model services. With such an approach, sound software engineering practises are adhered to in order to deploy service modules exhibiting very loose coupling with the clients. In short, services are accessed and controlled through the formation of properly-constructed Uniform Resource Identifiers (URI's), processed in an HTTP environment. In this way, any client or combination of clients - whether a bash script, Python program, web GUI, or even Unix command line - that can interact with an HTTP server, can run the modeling environment. This loose coupling allows for the deployment of a variety of front ends, all accessing a common modeling backend system. Furthermore, it is generally accepted in the cloud computing community that RESTful approaches constitute a sound approach towards

Post-earthquake outbreak of rotavirus gastroenteritis in Kashmir (India): an epidemiological analysis.

PubMed

Karmakar, Somenath; Rathore, Abhilakh Singh; Kadri, Syed Manzoor; Dutt, Som; Khare, Shashi; Lal, Shiv

2008-10-01

An earthquake struck Kashmir on 8 October 2005. A central team of public health specialists was sent to Kashmir to assess the public health measures required following the earthquake, and to assist in institution of public health measures. Epidemiological and environmental investigation in Tangdar block (Kupwara district) and Uri Tehsil (Baramula district). Visits to villages affected by the earthquake, rehabilitation camps and health care, examination of cases with acute diarrhoeal disease (ADD), environmental observations, collection of clinical samples from ADD cases and environmental samples from drinking water sources, and laboratory methods. In total, 1783 cases of ADD were reported between 14 October and 17 December 2005 in Tangdar (population 65000). The overall attack rate was 20% in children under 4 years of age. Twelve cases of ADD with loose motions without blood were studied, and 11 rectal swabs and one stool sample were processed. No bacterial enteropathogens could be isolated, but three of the 12 samples yielded rotavirus antigen on enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. Twelve of 13 (92.3%) water samples, collected from various stream or tap water (source: spring/stream) sources, were unsatisfactory (P=0.001) using the H(2)S strip method compared with other sources (well/mineral water). All eight water sources in Tangdar block were unsatisfactory, indicated by blackening of H(2)S filter paper strips. Following the earthquake, drinking stream water or tap water without boiling or chlorination may have led to a common source water-borne outbreak of rotavirus gastroenteritis. Other contributing factors were: overcrowding; poor sanitation; open-air defaecation; poor hygiene; and living in makeshift camps near streams. Person-to-person transmission may also have contributed to perpetuation of the outbreak. Following the establishment of medical camps and information, education and communication regarding the need to drink boiled water and follow safer

A Semantically Enabled Metadata Repository for Solar Irradiance Data Products

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wilson, A.; Cox, M.; Lindholm, D. M.; Nadiadi, I.; Traver, T.

2014-12-01

The Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics, LASP, has been conducting research in Atmospheric and Space science for over 60 years, and providing the associated data products to the public. LASP has a long history, in particular, of making space-based measurements of the solar irradiance, which serves as crucial input to several areas of scientific research, including solar-terrestrial interactions, atmospheric, and climate. LISIRD, the LASP Interactive Solar Irradiance Data Center, serves these datasets to the public, including solar spectral irradiance (SSI) and total solar irradiance (TSI) data. The LASP extended metadata repository, LEMR, is a database of information about the datasets served by LASP, such as parameters, uncertainties, temporal and spectral ranges, current version, alerts, etc. It serves as the definitive, single source of truth for that information. The database is populated with information garnered via web forms and automated processes. Dataset owners keep the information current and verified for datasets under their purview. This information can be pulled dynamically for many purposes. Web sites such as LISIRD can include this information in web page content as it is rendered, ensuring users get current, accurate information. It can also be pulled to create metadata records in various metadata formats, such as SPASE (for heliophysics) and ISO 19115. Once these records are be made available to the appropriate registries, our data will be discoverable by users coming in via those organizations. The database is implemented as a RDF triplestore, a collection of instances of subject-object-predicate data entities identifiable with a URI. This capability coupled with SPARQL over HTTP read access enables semantic queries over the repository contents. To create the repository we leveraged VIVO, an open source semantic web application, to manage and create new ontologies and populate repository content. A variety of ontologies were used in

PIBAS FedSPARQL: a web-based platform for integration and exploration of bioinformatics datasets.

PubMed

Djokic-Petrovic, Marija; Cvjetkovic, Vladimir; Yang, Jeremy; Zivanovic, Marko; Wild, David J

2017-09-20

There are a huge variety of data sources relevant to chemical, biological and pharmacological research, but these data sources are highly siloed and cannot be queried together in a straightforward way. Semantic technologies offer the ability to create links and mappings across datasets and manage them as a single, linked network so that searching can be carried out across datasets, independently of the source. We have developed an application called PIBAS FedSPARQL that uses semantic technologies to allow researchers to carry out such searching across a vast array of data sources. PIBAS FedSPARQL is a web-based query builder and result set visualizer of bioinformatics data. As an advanced feature, our system can detect similar data items identified by different Uniform Resource Identifiers (URIs), using a text-mining algorithm based on the processing of named entities to be used in Vector Space Model and Cosine Similarity Measures. According to our knowledge, PIBAS FedSPARQL was unique among the systems that we found in that it allows detecting of similar data items. As a query builder, our system allows researchers to intuitively construct and run Federated SPARQL queries across multiple data sources, including global initiatives, such as Bio2RDF, Chem2Bio2RDF, EMBL-EBI, and one local initiative called CPCTAS, as well as additional user-specified data source. From the input topic, subtopic, template and keyword, a corresponding initial Federated SPARQL query is created and executed. Based on the data obtained, end users have the ability to choose the most appropriate data sources in their area of interest and exploit their Resource Description Framework (RDF) structure, which allows users to select certain properties of data to enhance query results. The developed system is flexible and allows intuitive creation and execution of queries for an extensive range of bioinformatics topics. Also, the novel "similar data items detection" algorithm can be particularly

Rolling Deck to Repository (R2R): Linking and Integrating Data for Oceanographic Research

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Arko, R. A.; Chandler, C. L.; Clark, P. D.; Shepherd, A.; Moore, C.

2012-12-01

The Rolling Deck to Repository (R2R) program is developing infrastructure to ensure the underway sensor data from NSF-supported oceanographic research vessels are routinely and consistently documented, preserved in long-term archives, and disseminated to the science community. We have published the entire R2R Catalog as a Linked Data collection, making it easily accessible to encourage linking and integration with data at other repositories. We are developing the R2R Linked Data collection with specific goals in mind: 1.) We facilitate data access and reuse by providing the richest possible collection of resources to describe vessels, cruises, instruments, and datasets from the U.S. academic fleet, including data quality assessment results and clean trackline navigation. We are leveraging or adopting existing community-standard concepts and vocabularies, particularly concepts from the Biological and Chemical Oceanography Data Management Office (BCO-DMO) ontology and terms from the pan-European SeaDataNet vocabularies, and continually re-publish resources as new concepts and terms are mapped. 2.) We facilitate data citation through the entire data lifecycle from field acquisition to shoreside archiving to (ultimately) global syntheses and journal articles. We are implementing globally unique and persistent identifiers at the collection, dataset, and granule levels, and encoding these citable identifiers directly into the Linked Data resources. 3.) We facilitate linking and integration with other repositories that publish Linked Data collections for the U.S. academic fleet, such as BCO-DMO and the Index to Marine and Lacustrine Geological Samples (IMLGS). We are initially mapping datasets at the resource level, and plan to eventually implement rule-based mapping at the concept level. We work collaboratively with partner repositories to develop best practices for URI patterns and consensus on shared vocabularies. The R2R Linked Data collection is implemented as a

OpenTox predictive toxicology framework: toxicological ontology and semantic media wiki-based OpenToxipedia

PubMed Central

2012-01-01

Background The OpenTox Framework, developed by the partners in the OpenTox project (http://www.opentox.org), aims at providing a unified access to toxicity data, predictive models and validation procedures. Interoperability of resources is achieved using a common information model, based on the OpenTox ontologies, describing predictive algorithms, models and toxicity data. As toxicological data may come from different, heterogeneous sources, a deployed ontology, unifying the terminology and the resources, is critical for the rational and reliable organization of the data, and its automatic processing. Results The following related ontologies have been developed for OpenTox: a) Toxicological ontology – listing the toxicological endpoints; b) Organs system and Effects ontology – addressing organs, targets/examinations and effects observed in in vivo studies; c) ToxML ontology – representing semi-automatic conversion of the ToxML schema; d) OpenTox ontology– representation of OpenTox framework components: chemical compounds, datasets, types of algorithms, models and validation web services; e) ToxLink–ToxCast assays ontology and f) OpenToxipedia community knowledge resource on toxicology terminology. OpenTox components are made available through standardized REST web services, where every compound, data set, and predictive method has a unique resolvable address (URI), used to retrieve its Resource Description Framework (RDF) representation, or to initiate the associated calculations and generate new RDF-based resources. The services support the integration of toxicity and chemical data from various sources, the generation and validation of computer models for toxic effects, seamless integration of new algorithms and scientifically sound validation routines and provide a flexible framework, which allows building arbitrary number of applications, tailored to solving different problems by end users (e.g. toxicologists). Availability The OpenTox toxicological

Extending VIVO, a semantic web app, to share semantic data across institutions

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Rowan, Linda R.; Gross, M. Benjamin; Mayernik, Matthew; Khan, Huda; Boler, Frances; Maull, Keith; Stott, Don; Johns, Erica; Daniels, Michael; Krafft, Dean; Meertens, Charles

2017-04-01

The EarthCollab project, a U.S. National Science Foundation EarthCube Building Block, is extending an existing open-source semantic web application, VIVO, to enable the exchange of information about scientific researchers and resources across institutions. VIVO has been implemented by more than 100 universities and research institutions to highlight research and institutional achievements. Most implementations of VIVO, however, gather information about a single organization. The EarthCollab project VIVO extensions enable cross-linking of VIVO instances to reduce duplication of information about the same people and scientific resources, and enable dynamic linking of related information across VIVO installations. EarthCollab is a collaboration between UNAVCO, a geodetic facility and consortium that supports diverse research projects informed by geodesy, The Bering Sea Project, an interdisciplinary field program whose data archive is hosted by NCAR's Earth Observing Laboratory, and Cornell University. Test cross-linking implementations have been deployed by UNAVCO and Cornell to demonstrate the following core features: 1. Look up people and things at an external VIVO instance, 2. Assert equivalence between URIs at the two institutions (i.e., a person) using the 'owl:sameAs' property, 3. Provide a subset of data as RDF and JSON as a service from one institution, 4. Display the data requested from the service at the other institution's site, and 5. Allow a user to distinguish between data sources when displayed on one page. Currently, a curator makes the 'sameAs' assertions manually, but persistent and unique identifiers such as ORCIDs for people and DOIs for datasets could be used to automate the process. As development of the cross-linking extension continues, we must address a number of open questions. For example, if cross-linking institutions have duplicate or conflicting information, should one institution be considered the canonical source, or should the

Operational Characteristics of Four Commercially Available Personal Cooling Vests

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Ku, Yu-Tsuan E.; Montgomery, Leslie D.; Lee, Hank C.; Webbon, Bruce W.; Kliss, Mark (Technical Monitor)

1997-01-01

Personal thermoregulatory systems which provide chest cooling are used in the industrial and aerospace environments to alleviate thermal stress. However, little information is available regarding the physiologic and circulatory changes produced by routine operation of these systems. The objectives of this study were to compare the effectiveness of two passive and two active cooling vests, and to measure the body temperature and circulatory changes produced by each cooling vest configuration. The MicroClimate Systems and the Life Enhancement Tech(LET) lightweight liquid cooling vests, the Steele Vest and LET's Zipper Front Garment were used to cool the chest region of 11 male and 10 female subjects (25 to 55 yr.) in this study. Calf, forearm and finger blood flows were measured using a tetrapolar impedance rheograph. The subjects, seated in an upright position at normal room temperature (approx.21 C), were tested for 60 min. with the cooling system operated at its maximum cooling capacity. Blood flows were recorded continuously using a computer data acquisition system with a sampling frequency of 250 Hz. Oral, right and left ear temperatures and cooling system parameters were logged manually every 5 min. Arm, leg, chest and rectal temperatures; heart rate; respiration; and an activity index were recorded continuously on a URI Inc. Biolog ambulatory monitor. In general, the male and female subjects' rectal and ear temperature responses to cooling were similar for all vest configurations tested. Oral temperatures during the recovery period were significantly (P<0.05) lower than during the control period, approx.0.2 - 0.5 C, for both men and women wearing any of the four different garments. The corresponding car temperatures were significantly (P<0.05) decreased approx.0.2 - 0.3 C by the end of the recovery period. Compared to the control period, no significant differences were found in rectal temperatures during cooling and recovery periods. These results show that

Strategies for Success of Women Faculty in Science: The ADVANCE Program at the University of Rhode Island

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wishner, K.; Silver, B.; Boudreaux-Bartels, F.; Harlow, L.; Knickle, H.; Mederer, H.; Peckham, J.; Roheim, C.; Trubatch, J.; Webster, K.

2004-12-01

The NSF-funded ADVANCE program seeks to increase the recruitment and retention of women faculty in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) disciplines as part of a national goal of creating a broad-based scientific workforce able to effectively address societal demands. The University of Rhode Island, a recipient of an Institutional Transformation ADVANCE grant in 2003, has begun a campus-wide initiative. The 5 goals are (1) to increase the numbers of women STEM faculty, (2) to provide faculty development opportunities, (3) to improve networks of professional and social support, (4) to assess the academic work environment for all faculty, and (5) to implement long-term changes throughout the university that promote a supportive work environment for women STEM faculty. Accomplishments during the first year include (1) hiring several ADVANCE Assistant Professors, (2) developing workshops on critical skills for junior faculty (grant writing, negotiations, mentoring), (3) initiating a series of lunch meetings where pertinent topical and work-family issues are discussed informally, (4) awarding small Incentive grants for research and other projects that enhance the careers of women STEM faculty, (5) developing and modifying university policies on family leave and dual career couple recruitment, (6) developing and implementing quantitative and qualitative assessment tools for baseline and ongoing campus-wide work climate surveys within the context of a theoretical model for change, and (7) offering directed self-study workshops for entire departments using a trained facilitator. The ADVANCE Assistant Professor position, unique to URI's program, allows a new hire to spend the first 2-3 years developing a research program without teaching obligations. ADVANCE pays their salary during this time, at which point they transition to a regular faculty position. During this first of five years of NSF funding, the ADVANCE program has been met with campus wide

Leverage and Delegation in Developing an Information Model for Geology

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Cox, S. J.

2007-12-01

GeoSciML is an information model and XML encoding developed by a group of primarily geologic survey organizations under the auspices of the IUGS CGI. The scope of the core model broadly corresponds with information traditionally portrayed on a geologic map, viz. interpreted geology, some observations, the map legend and accompanying memoir. The development of GeoSciML has followed the methodology specified for an Application Schema defined by OGC and ISO 19100 series standards. This requires agreement within a community concerning their domain model, its formal representation using UML, documentation as a Feature Type Catalogue, with an XML Schema implementation generated from the model by applying a rule-based transformation. The framework and technology supports a modular governance process. Standard datatypes and GI components (geometry, the feature and coverage metamodels, metadata) are imported from the ISO framework. The observation and sampling model (including boreholes) is imported from OGC. The scale used for most scalar literal values (terms, codes, measures) allows for localization where necessary. Wildcards and abstract base- classes provide explicit extensibility points. Link attributes appear in a regular way in the encodings, allowing reference to external resources using URIs. The encoding is compatible with generic GI data-service interfaces (WFS, WMS, SOS). For maximum interoperability within a community, the interfaces may be specialised through domain-specified constraints (e.g. feature-types, scale and vocabulary bindings, query-models). Formalization using UML and XML allows use of standard validation and processing tools. Use of upper-level elements defined for generic GI application reduces the development effort and governance resonsibility, while maximising cross-domain interoperability. On the other hand, enabling specialization to be delegated in a controlled manner is essential to adoption across a range of subdisciplines and

Rolling Deck to Repository (R2R): A "Linked Data" Approach for the U.S. Academic Research Fleet

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Arko, R. A.; Chandler, C. L.; Clark, P. D.; Milan, A.; Mize, J.

2011-12-01

The U.S. academic research fleet is an essential mobile observing platform for ocean science. The NSF-funded Rolling Deck to Repository (R2R) program is working with the fleet community to routinely document, assess, and preserve data from the underway sensor systems on each vessel.
The R2R facility maintains a master catalog of vessels, instrument systems, operating institutions, cruises, personnel, and data sets. In less than two years, the catalog has grown to over 2,000 cruises including unique identifiers for vessel deployments, project titles, chief scientists, dates, ports, survey targets, and navigation tracks. This master catalog is of great value to peer data systems, ranging from large national data centers to small disciplinary data offices, as an aid in organizing, extending, and quality controlling their own collections and finding related data from authoritative sources.
R2R breaks with the tradition of stovepipe portals built around complex search interfaces tightly bound to backend databases. Instead, we have adopted a Linked Data approach to publish our catalog content, based on the W3C Resource Description Framework (RDF) and Uniform Resource Identifiers (URIs). Our data model is published as a collection of W3C Simple Knowledge Organization System (SKOS) concepts, mapped to partner vocabularies such as those developed by the Global Change Master Directory (GCMD) and the pan-European SeaDataNet partnership, and our catalog content is published as collections of RDF resources with globally unique and persistent identifiers. The combination of exposing our data model, mapping local terms to community-wide vocabularies, and using reliable identifiers improves interoperability and reduces ambiguity. R2R's metric of success is the degree to which peer data systems routinely harvest and reuse our content.
R2R is working collaboratively with the NOAA National Data Centers and the NSF-funded Biological and Chemical Oceanography Data

The costal landslide from analogue experiments: perspectives and limitation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Del Ventisette, C.; Nolesini, T.; Moretti, S.; Fanti, R.

2010-12-01

varing between 35° and 25°, depending on whether the simulated environment is subaerial or submarine, according to the inclination Average Sciara del Fuoco (Boldini et al. 2005; Chiocci et al., 2008). During models construction several difficulties came out as the difficulties to chose the suitable material for analogue models in the presence of water. Indeed the presence of water causes in the analogue materials a very fast capillary rising. In this work we propose some technical devices to minimize this limitations, such as impermeable barriers. References Boldini D., Wang F. W., Sassa K., Tommasi P., 2005. Mechanism of landslide causing the December 2002 tsunami at Stromboli volcano. Landslide: Risk Analysis and Sustainable Disaster Management, 173-180, Springer, New York. Chiocci F. L., Romagnoli C., Tommasi P., Bosman A., 2008. The Stromboli tsunamigenic submarine slide: Characteristic and possible failure mechanism. Journal of Geophysical research vol. 113, B 10102. Hubbert M.K., 1937. Theory of scale models as applied to the study of geologic structures. Geol. Soc. Am. Bull. 48, 1459-1520. Ramberg H., 1981. Gravity, deformation and the Earth’s crust in theory, experiments and geologic application, 2nd Edition. Academic, London, pp 1-452.

Identification of contrasting seasonal sea ice conditions during the Younger Dryas

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Cabedo-Sanz, P.; Belt, S. T.; Knies, J.

2012-12-01

through a comparison of the concentrations of IP25 with those of another highly branched isoprenoid (HBI) alkene that is di-unsaturated and believed to also be produced by sea ice diatoms. The ratio of the HBI diene to IP25, termed DIP25, is believed to provide a useful indicator of stability or variability in sea ice conditions and complements the outcomes from the IP25 and PBIP25 index data. 1. Belt, S.T., Vare, L.L., Massé, G., Manners, H.R., Price, J.C., MacLachlan, S.E., Andrews, J.T. , Schmidt, S., 2010. Striking similarities in temporal changes to spring sea ice occurrence across the central Canadian Arctic Archipelago over the last 7000 years. Quaternary Science Reviews 29, 3489-3504. 2. Müller, J., Massé, G., Stein, R., Belt, S.T., 2009. Variability of sea-ice conditions in the Fram Strait over the past 30,000 years. Nature Geoscience 2, 772-776.

MASSIV: Mass Assembly Survey with SINFONI in VVDS. III. Evidence for positive metallicity gradients in z ~ 1.2 star-forming galaxies

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Queyrel, J.; Contini, T.; Kissler-Patig, M.; Epinat, B.; Amram, P.; Garilli, B.; Le Fèvre, O.; Moultaka, J.; Paioro, L.; Tasca, L.; Tresse, L.; Vergani, D.; López-Sanjuan, C.; Perez-Montero, E.

2012-03-01

Aims: The estimate of radial abundance gradients in high-redshift galaxies allows to constrain their star formation history and their interplay with the surrounding intergalactic medium. Methods: We present VLT/SINFONI integral-field spectroscopy of a first sample of 50 galaxies at z ~ 1.2 in the MASSIV survey. Using the N2 ratio between the [N ii]6584 and Hα rest-frame optical emission lines as a proxy for oxygen abundance in the interstellar medium, we measured the metallicity of the sample galaxies. We developed a tool to extract spectra in annular regions, leading to a spatially resolved estimate of the oxygen abundance in each galaxy. We were able to derive a metallicity gradient for 26 galaxies in our sample and discovered a significant fraction of galaxies with a "positive" gradient. Using a simple chemical evolution model, we derived infall rates of pristine gas onto the disks. Results: Seven galaxies display a positive gradient at a high confidence level. Four out of these are interacting, and one is a chain galaxy. We suggest that interactions might be responsible for shallowing and even inverting the abundance gradient. We also identify two interesting correlations in our sample: a) galaxies with higher gas velocity dispersion have shallower/positive gradients; and b) metal-poor galaxies tend to show a positive gradient, whereas metal-rich ones tend to show a negative one. This last observation can be explained by the infall of metal-poor gas into the center of the disks. We address the question of the origin of this infall under the influence of gas flows triggered by interactions and/or cold gas accretion. All the data published in this paper are publicly available at the time of publication following this link: uri" xlink:href="http://cosmosdb.lambrate.inaf.it/VVDS-SINFONI">http://cosmosdb.lambrate.inaf.it/VVDS-SINFONI. This work is based on observations collected at the European Southern Observatory (ESO) Very

The MMI Device Ontology: Enabling Sensor Integration

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Rueda, C.; Galbraith, N.; Morris, R. A.; Bermudez, L. E.; Graybeal, J.; Arko, R. A.; Mmi Device Ontology Working Group

2010-12-01

The Marine Metadata Interoperability (MMI) project has developed an ontology for devices to describe sensors and sensor networks. This ontology is implemented in the W3C Web Ontology Language (OWL) and provides an extensible conceptual model and controlled vocabularies for describing heterogeneous instrument types, with different data characteristics, and their attributes. It can help users populate metadata records for sensors; associate devices with their platforms, deployments, measurement capabilities and restrictions; aid in discovery of sensor data, both historic and real-time; and improve the interoperability of observational oceanographic data sets. We developed the MMI Device Ontology following a community-based approach. By building on and integrating other models and ontologies from related disciplines, we sought to facilitate semantic interoperability while avoiding duplication. Key concepts and insights from various communities, including the Open Geospatial Consortium (eg., SensorML and Observations and Measurements specifications), Semantic Web for Earth and Environmental Terminology (SWEET), and W3C Semantic Sensor Network Incubator Group, have significantly enriched the development of the ontology. Individuals ranging from instrument designers, science data producers and consumers to ontology specialists and other technologists contributed to the work. Applications of the MMI Device Ontology are underway for several community use cases. These include vessel-mounted multibeam mapping sonars for the Rolling Deck to Repository (R2R) program and description of diverse instruments on deepwater Ocean Reference Stations for the OceanSITES program. These trials involve creation of records completely describing instruments, either by individual instances or by manufacturer and model. Individual terms in the MMI Device Ontology can be referenced with their corresponding Uniform Resource Identifiers (URIs) in sensor-related metadata specifications (e

A first attempt to derive soil erosion rates from 137Cs airborne gamma measurements in two Alpine valleys

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Arata, Laura; Meusburger, Katrin; Bucher, Benno; Mabit, Lionel; Alewell, Christine

2016-04-01

The application of fallout radionuclides (FRNs) as soil tracers is currently one of the most promising and effective approach for evaluating soil erosion magnitudes in mountainous grasslands. Conventional assessment or measurement methods are laborious and constrained by the topographic and climatic conditions of the Alps. The 137Cs (half-life = 30.2 years) is the most frequently used FRN to study soil redistribution. However the application of 137Cs in alpine grasslands is compromised by the high heterogeneity of the fallout due to the origin of 137Cs fallout in the Alps, which is linked to single rain events occurring just after the Chernobyl accident when most of the Alpine soils were still covered by snow. The aim of this study was to improve our understanding of the 137Cs distribution in two study areas in the Central Swiss Alps: the Ursern valley (Canton Uri), and the Piora valley (Canton Ticino). In June 2015, a helicopter equipped with a NaI gamma detector flew over the two study sites and screened the 137Cs activity of the top soil. The use of airborne gamma measurements is particularly efficient in case of higher 137Cs concentration in the soil. Due to their high altitude and high precipitation rates, the Swiss Alps are expected to be more contaminated by 137Cs fallout than other parts of Switzerland. The airborne gamma measurements have been related to several key parameters which characterize the areas, such as soil properties, slopes, expositions and land uses. The ground truthing of the airborne measurements (i.e. the 137Cs laboratory measurements of the soil samples collected at the same points) returned a good fit. The obtained results offer an overview of the 137Cs concentration in the study areas, which allowed us to identify suitable reference sites, and to analyse the relationship between the 137Cs distribution and the above cited parameters. The authors also derived a preliminary qualitative and a quantitative assessment of soil redistribution

Evolutionary consequences of polyploidy in prokaryotes and the origin of mitosis and meiosis.

PubMed

Markov, Alexander V; Kaznacheev, Ilya S

2016-06-08

evolutionary steps towards eukaryotic sex could have taken place in the ancestral polyploid, amitotic proto-eukaryotes, as they were struggling to survive in the highly mutagenic environment of the Early Proterozoic shallow water microbial communities, through the succession of the following stages: (1) acquisition of high-frequency between-individual genetic exchange coupled with homologous recombination; (2) acquisition of mitosis, followed by rapid chromosome diversification and specialization; (3) evolution of homolog synapsis and meiosis. Additional evidence compatible with this scenario includes mass acquisition of new families of paralogous genes by the basal eukaryotes, and recently discovered correlation between polyploidy and the presence of histones in Archaea. This article was reviewed by Eugene Koonin, Uri Gophna and Armen Mulkidjanian. For the full reviews, please go to the Reviewers' comments section.

Proceedings of the First International Linked Science Workshop

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

Pouchard, Line Catherine; Kauppinnen, Tomi; Kessler, Carsten

2011-01-01

Scientific efforts are traditionally published only as articles, with an estimate of millions of publications worldwide per year; the growth rate of PubMed alone is now 1 papers per minute. The validation of scientific results requires reproducible methods, which can only be achieved if the same data, processes, and algorithms as those used in the original experiments were available. However, the problem is that although publications, methods and datasets are very related, they are not always openly accessible and interlinked. Even where data is discoverable, accessible and assessable, significant challenges remain in the reuse of the data, in particular facilitatingmore » the necessary correlation, integration and synthesis of data across levels of theory, techniques and disciplines. In the LISC 2011 (1st International Workshop on Linked Science) we will discuss and present results of new ways of publishing, sharing, linking, and analyzing such scientific resources motivated by driving scientific requirements, as well as reasoning over the data to discover interesting new links and scientific insights. Making entities identifiable and referenceable using URIs augmented by semantic, scientifically relevant annotations greatly facilitates access and retrieval for data which used to be hardly accessible. This Linked Science approach, i.e., publishing, sharing and interlinking scientific resources and data, is of particular importance for scientific research, where sharing is crucial for facilitating reproducibility and collaboration within and across disciplines. This integrated process, however, has not been established yet. Bibliographic contents are still regarded as the main scientific product, and associated data, models and software are either not published at all, or published in separate places, often with no reference to the respective paper. In the workshop we will discuss whether and how new emerging technologies (Linked Data, and semantic technologies

The VIMOS Public Extragalactic Redshift Survey (VIPERS). Full spectroscopic data and auxiliary information release (PDR-2)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Scodeggio, M.; Guzzo, L.; Garilli, B.; Granett, B. R.; Bolzonella, M.; de la Torre, S.; Abbas, U.; Adami, C.; Arnouts, S.; Bottini, D.; Cappi, A.; Coupon, J.; Cucciati, O.; Davidzon, I.; Franzetti, P.; Fritz, A.; Iovino, A.; Krywult, J.; Le Brun, V.; Le Fèvre, O.; Maccagni, D.; Małek, K.; Marchetti, A.; Marulli, F.; Polletta, M.; Pollo, A.; Tasca, L. A. M.; Tojeiro, R.; Vergani, D.; Zanichelli, A.; Bel, J.; Branchini, E.; De Lucia, G.; Ilbert, O.; McCracken, H. J.; Moutard, T.; Peacock, J. A.; Zamorani, G.; Burden, A.; Fumana, M.; Jullo, E.; Marinoni, C.; Mellier, Y.; Moscardini, L.; Percival, W. J.

2018-01-01

We present the full public data release (PDR-2) of the VIMOS Public Extragalactic Redshift Survey (VIPERS), performed at the ESO VLT. We release redshifts, spectra, CFHTLS magnitudes and ancillary information (as masks and weights) for a complete sample of 86 775 galaxies (plus 4732 other objects, including stars and serendipitous galaxies); we also include their full photometrically-selected parent catalogue. The sample is magnitude limited to iAB ≤ 22.5, with an additional colour-colour pre-selection devised as to exclude galaxies at z < 0.5. This practically doubles the effective sampling of the VIMOS spectrograph over the range 0.5 < z < 1.2 (reaching 47% on average), yielding a final median local galaxy density close to 5 × 10-3h3 Mpc-3. The total area spanned by the final data set is ≃ 23.5 deg2, corresponding to 288 VIMOS fields with marginal overlaps, split over two regions within the CFHTLS-Wide W1 and W4 equatorial fields (at RA ≃ 2 and ≃ 22 h, respectively). Spectra were observed at a resolution R = 220, covering a wavelength range 5500-9500 Å. Data reduction and redshift measurements were performed through a fully automated pipeline; all redshift determinations were then visually validated and assigned a quality flag. Measurements with a quality flag ≥ 2 are shown to have a confidence level of 96% or larger and make up 88% of all measured galaxy redshifts (76 552 out of 86 775), constituting the VIPERS prime catalogue for statistical investigations. For this sample the rms redshift error, estimated using repeated measurements of about 3000 galaxies, is found to be σz = 0.00054(1 + z). All data are available at uri" xlink:href="http://vipers.inaf.it">http://vipers.inaf.it and on the ESO Archive. Based on observations collected at the European Southern Observatory, Cerro Paranal, Chile, using the Very Large Telescope under programmes 182.A-0886 and partly 070.A-9007. Also based on observations obtained with

Caracterisation thermique de modules de refroidissement pour la photovoltaique concentree

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Collin, Louis-Michel

a la surface opposee du recepteur pour evacuer la chaleur injectee. Les resultats mettent egalement en evidence l'importance des interfaces thermiques et les avantages de diffuser la chaleur dans les couches metalliques avant de la conduire au travers des couches dielectriques du recepteur. Des recepteurs de multiples compositions ont ete caracterises, demontrant que les outils developpes peuvent definir la capacite de diffusion thermique. La repetabilite de la plateforme est evaluee par l'analyse de l'etendue des mesures repetees sur des echantillons selectionnes. La plateforme demontre une precision et reproductibilite de +/- 0.14 ° C/W. Ce travail fournit des outils pour la conception des recepteurs en proposant une mesure qui permet de comparer et d'evaluer l'impact thermique de ces recepteurs integres a uri module de refroidissement. Mots-cles : cellule solaire, photovoltaique, transfert de chaleur, concentration, resistances thermiques, plateforme de caracterisation, refroidissement

NERIES: Seismic Data Gateways and User Composed Datasets Metadata Management

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Spinuso, Alessandro; Trani, Luca; Kamb, Linus; Frobert, Laurent

2010-05-01

One of the NERIES EC project main objectives is to establish and improve the networking of seismic waveform data exchange and access among four main data centers in Europe: INGV, GFZ, ORFEUS and IPGP. Besides the implementation of the data backbone, several investigations and developments have been conducted in order to offer to the users the data available from this network, either programmatically or interactively. One of the challenges is to understand how to enable users` activities such as discovering, aggregating, describing and sharing datasets to obtain a decrease in the replication of similar data queries towards the network, exempting the data centers to guess and create useful pre-packed products. We`ve started to transfer this task more and more towards the users community, where the users` composed data products could be extensively re-used. The main link to the data is represented by a centralized webservice (SeismoLink) acting like a single access point to the whole data network. Users can download either waveform data or seismic station inventories directly from their own software routines by connecting to this webservice, which routes the request to the data centers. The provenance of the data is maintained and transferred to the users in the form of URIs, that identify the dataset and implicitly refer to the data provider. SeismoLink, combined with other webservices (eg EMSC-QuakeML earthquakes catalog service), is used from a community gateway such as the NERIES web portal (http://www.seismicportal.eu). Here the user interacts with a map based portlet which allows the dynamic composition of a data product, binding seismic event`s parameters with a set of seismic stations. The requested data is collected by the back-end processes of the portal, preserved and offered to the user in a personal data cart, where metadata can be generated interactively on-demand. The metadata, expressed in RDF, can also be remotely ingested. They offer rating

Passive vs Active Knowledge Transfer: boosting grant proposal impact

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Grigorov, Ivo; Bayliss-Brown, Georgia; Murphy, David; Thøgersen, Thomas; Mariani, Patrizio

2017-04-01

fisheries and aquaculture governance bodies and private sector). Horizon2020 COLUMBUS Consortium proposes and tests a methodology for categorizing the diverse output of research into verifiable "knowledge outputs" , and documenting the execution of an transfer plan to very specific and identified potential users, in order to transfer knowledge along the lab-2-market spectrum. The presentation will demonstrate how Open Science and detailed knowledge transfer plans complement each other, enhance grant proposal evaluation pre- and post-award, and can address Blue Growth policy objectives. Concepts presented are developed by FP7/H2020 FOSTER (www.fosteropenscience.eu), H2020 COLUMBUS (www.columbusproject.eu) References: Beagrie, Neil, and Charles Beagrie. "The Value and Impact of the European Bioinformatics Institute," January 2016. http://www.beagrie.com/static/resource/EBI-impact-report.pdf Houghton, John, Alma Swan, and Sheridan Brown. "Access to Research and Technical Information in Denmark." Monograph, April 2011. http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/272603/ Marine Knowledge 2020: roadmap http://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=SWD:2014:149:FIN

AASG Wells Data for the EGS Test Site Planning and Analysis Task

DOE Data Explorer

Augustine, Chad

2013-10-09

AASG Wells Data for the EGS Test Site Planning and Analysis Task Temperature measurement data obtained from boreholes for the Association of American State Geologists (AASG) geothermal data project. Typically bottomhole temperatures are recorded from log headers, and this information is provided through a borehole temperature observation service for each state. Service includes header records, well logs, temperature measurements, and other information for each borehole. Information presented in Geothermal Prospector was derived from data aggregated from the borehole temperature observations for all states. For each observation, the given well location was recorded and the best available well identified (name), temperature and depth were chosen. The “Well Name Source,” “Temp. Type” and “Depth Type” attributes indicate the field used from the original service. This data was then cleaned and converted to consistent units. The accuracy of the observation’s location, name, temperature or depth was note assessed beyond that originally provided by the service. - AASG bottom hole temperature datasets were downloaded from repository.usgin.org between the dates of May 16th and May 24th, 2013. - Datasets were cleaned to remove “null” and non-real entries, and data converted into consistent units across all datasets - Methodology for selecting ”best” temperature and depth attributes from column headers in AASG BHT Data sets: • Temperature: • CorrectedTemperature – best • MeasuredTemperature – next best • Depth: • DepthOfMeasurement – best • TrueVerticalDepth – next best • DrillerTotalDepth – last option • Well Name/Identifier • APINo – best • WellName – next best • ObservationURI - last option. The column headers are as follows: • gid = internal unique ID • src_state = the state from which the well was downloaded (note: the low temperature wells in Idaho are coded as “ID_LowTemp”, while all other wells are

EO Domain Specific Knowledge Enabled Services (KES-B)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Varas, J.; Busto, J.; Torguet, R.

2004-09-01

This paper recovers and describes a number of major statements with respect to the vision, mission and technological approaches of the Technological Research Project (TRP) "EO Domain Specific Knowledge Enabled Services" (project acronym KES-B), which is currently under development at the European Space Research Institute (ESRIN) under contract "16397/02/I- SB". Resulting from the on-going R&D activities, the KES-B project aims are to demonstrate with a prototype system the feasibility of the application of innovative knowledge-based technologies to provide services for easy, scheduled and controlled exploitation of EO resources (e.g.: data, algorithms, procedures, storage, processors, ...), to automate the generation of products, and to support users in easily identifying and accessing the required information or products by using their own vocabulary, domain knowledge and preferences. The ultimate goals of KES-B are summarized in the provision of the two main types of KES services: 1st the Search service (also referred to as Product Exploitation or Information Retrieval; and 2nd the Production service (also referred to as Information Extraction), with the strategic advantage that they are enabled by Knowledge consolidated (formalized) within the system. The KES-B system technical solution approach is driven by a strong commitment for the adoption of industry (XML-based) language standards, aiming to have an interoperable, scalable and flexible operational prototype. In that sense, the Search KES services builds on the basis of the adoption of consolidated and/or emergent W3C semantic-web standards. Remarkably the languages/models Dublin Core (DC), Universal Resource Identifier (URI), Resource Description Framework (RDF) and Ontology Web Language (OWL), and COTS like Protege [1] and JENA [2] are being integrated in the system as building bricks for the construction of the KES based Search services. On the other hand, the Production KES services builds on top of

Artificial intelligence: Collective behaviors of synthetic micromachines

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Duan, Wentao

: lower pH leads to outward pumping, and higer pH results in inward particle motion. A COMSOL Multiphysics model is built with different boundary conditions and parameters, in accordance with the experimental system. The reasonable agreement between experimental and simulation results confirms self-diffusiophoresis as the powering mechanism. By varing parameters, the model also suggests possible routes to tune the performance of the micropump. COMSOL simulations on micropumps that are based on density-driven mechanism are also included.

Increasing the selectivity and sensitivity of gas sensors for the detection of explosives

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Mallin, Daniel

Over the past decade, the use of improvised explosive devices (IEDs) has increased, domestically and internationally, highlighting a growing need for a method to quickly and reliably detect explosive devices in both military and civilian environments before the explosive can cause damage. Conventional techniques have been successful in explosive detection, however they typically suffer from enormous costs in capital equipment and maintenance, costs in energy consumption, sampling, operational related expenses, and lack of continuous and real-time monitoring. The goal was thus to produce an inexpensive, portable sensor that continuously monitors the environment, quickly detects the presence of explosive compounds and alerts the user. In 2012, here at URI, a sensor design was proposed for the detection of triacetone triperoxide (TATP). The design entailed a thermodynamic gas sensor that measures the heat of decomposition between trace TATP vapor and a metal oxide catalyst film. The sensor was able to detect TATP vapor at the part per million level (ppm) and showed great promise for eventual commercial use, however, the sensor lacked selectivity. Thus, the specific objective of this work was to take the original sensor design proposed in 2012 and to make several key improvements to advance the sensor towards commercialization. It was demonstrated that a sensor can be engineered to detect TATP and ignore the effects of interferent H2O2 molecules by doping SnO2 films with varying amounts of Pd. Compared with a pure SnO2 catalyst, a SnO2, film doped with 8 wt. % Pd had the highest selectivity between TATP and H2O2. Also, at 12 wt. % Pd, the response to TATP and H2O2 was enhanced, indicating that sensitivity, not only selectivity, can be increased by modifying the composition of the catalyst. An orthogonal detection system was demonstrated. The platform consists of two independent sensing mechanisms, one thermodynamic and one conductometric, which take measurements from

GeoSciML v3.0 - a significant upgrade of the CGI-IUGS geoscience data model

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Raymond, O.; Duclaux, G.; Boisvert, E.; Cipolloni, C.; Cox, S.; Laxton, J.; Letourneau, F.; Richard, S.; Ritchie, A.; Sen, M.; Serrano, J.-J.; Simons, B.; Vuollo, J.

2012-04-01

analytical data using the Observations and Measurements (ISO19156) and SWE Common v2 models. The GeoSciML v3 data model does not include vocabularies to support the data model. However, it does provide a standard pattern to reference controlled vocabulary concepts using HTTP-URIs. The international GeoSciML community has developed distributed RDF-based geoscience vocabularies that can be accessed by GeoSciML web services using the standard pattern recommended in GeoSciML v3. GeoSciML v3 is the first version of GeoSciML that will be accompanied by web service validation tools using Schematron rules. For example, these validation tools may check for compliance of a web service to a particular profile of GeoSciML, or for logical consistency of data content that cannot be enforced by the application schemas. This validation process will support accreditation of GeoSciML services and a higher degree of semantic interoperability. * International Union of Geological Sciences Commission for Management and Application of Geoscience Information (CGI-IUGS)

Spitzer deep and wide legacy mid- and far-infrared number counts and lower limits of cosmic infrared background

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Béthermin, M.; Dole, H.; Beelen, A.; Aussel, H.

2010-03-01

, respectively. Products (point spread function, counts, CIB contributions, software) are publicly available for download at uri" xlink:href="http://www.ias.u-psud.fr/irgalaxies/">http://www.ias.u-psud.fr/irgalaxies/ Counts and CIB contributions are only available in electronic form at the CDS via anonymous ftp to cdsarc.u-strasbg.fr (130.79.128.5) or via http://cdsweb.u-strasbg.fr/cgi-bin/qcat?J/A+A/512/A78

Geoscientific Vocabularies and Linked Data at The British Geological Survey - progress and pragmatism

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

McCormick, T.; Heaven, R.

2013-12-01

solve performance and security issues by serving the linked data as pre-generated static files in a range of formats rather than using a triple-store. This also allows the data to be indexed by search engines. Wherever possible it is good practice to use predicates from well-known published sources, for example RDFS, SKOS, or Dublin Core, in preference to inventing new ones. This promotes re-use of the linked data by as many potential users as possible. Linked data do not directly address logical inference, which is supposed to be one of the aims of the ';Semantic Web'. This sort of ';calculating with knowledge' must be implemented using additional, possibly human-based rather than mechanical, reasoning. Linked data come with all the same issues surrounding provenance and authority of the data that any web resource is subject to. There are issues surrounding versioning and permanence of URIs. Our work on publishing BGS' vocabularies as linked data is proceeding in parallel with our work with the Commission of Geoscience Information (CGI) Geoscience Terminology Working Group which is jointly developing multilingual vocabularies in range of knowledge domains.

Discrete Quantum Mechanics

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Williams, H. Thomas

2015-12-01

-citation> [Shor1997] Shor P W 1997 Polynomial-time algorithms for prime factorization and discrete logarithms on a quantum computer' SIAM J. Comput. 26 1484 1509 1484-509 10.1137/S0097539795293172 [Grover1996] Grover L K 1996 A fast quantum mechanical algorithm for database search Proc. 28th Annu. ACM Symp. on the Theory of Computing p 212 [Simon1994] Simon D R 1994 On the power of quantum computation Proc. 35th Annu. Symp. on the Foundations of Computer Science Los Alamitos, CA IEEE pp 116 193 116-93 1 [Mathworld] MathWorld-A Wolfram Web Resource uri" xlink:href="http://mathworld.wolfram.com/RSAEncryption.html">http://mathworld.wolfram.com/RSAEncryption.html Comparison of two non-invasive methods of microbial analysis in surgery practice: incision swabbing and the indirect imprint technique.

PubMed

Chovanec, Zdenek; Veverkova, Lenka; Votava, Miroslav; Svoboda, Jiri; Jedlicka, Vaclav; Capov, Ivan

2014-12-01

A variety of methods exist to take samples from surgical site infections for cultivation; however, an unambiguous and suitable method has not yet been defined. The aim of our retrospective non-randomized study was to compare two non-invasive techniques of sampling material for microbiologic analysis in surgical practice. We compared bacteria cultured from samples obtained with the use of the swab technique, defined in our study as the gold standard, with the indirect imprint technique. A cotton-tipped swab (Copan, Brescia, Italy) was used; the imprints were taken using Whatman no. 4 filter paper (Macherey-Nagal, Duren, Germany) cut into 5×5 cm pieces placed on blood agar in a Petri dish. To culture the microorganisms in the microbiology laboratory, we used blood agar, UriSelect 4 medium (Bio-Rad, Marnes-la-Coquette, France), and a medium with sodium chloride (blood agar with salt). After careful debridement, a sample was taken from the incision surface by swab and subsequently the same area of the surface was imprinted onto filter paper. The samples were analyzed in the microbiology laboratory under standard safety precautions. The cultivation results of the two techniques were processed statistically using contingency tables and the McNemar test. Those samples that were simultaneously cultivation-positive by imprint and -negative by swabbing were processed in greater detail. Over the period between October 2008 and March 2013, 177 samples from 70 patients were analyzed. Sampling was carried out from 42 males and 28 females. One hundred forty-six samples were from incisions after operations (21 samples from six patients after operation on the thoracic cavity, 73 samples from 35 patients after operation on the abdominal cavity combined with the gastrointestinal tract, 52 samples from 19 patients with other surgical site infections not included above) and 31 samples from 11 patients with no post-operative infection. One patient had a sample taken both from a post

Connecting geoscience systems and data using Linked Open Data in the Web of Data

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ritschel, Bernd; Neher, Günther; Iyemori, Toshihiko; Koyama, Yukinobu; Yatagai, Akiyo; Murayama, Yasuhiro; Galkin, Ivan; King, Todd; Fung, Shing F.; Hughes, Steve; Habermann, Ted; Hapgood, Mike; Belehaki, Anna

2014-05-01

Linked Data or Linked Open Data (LOD) in the realm of free and publically accessible data is one of the most promising and most used semantic Web frameworks connecting various types of data and vocabularies including geoscience and related domains. The semantic Web extension to the commonly existing and used World Wide Web is based on the meaning of entities and relationships or in different words classes and properties used for data in a global data and information space, the Web of Data. LOD data is referenced and mash-uped by URIs and is retrievable using simple parameter controlled HTTP-requests leading to a result which is human-understandable or machine-readable. Furthermore the publishing and mash-up of data in the semantic Web realm is realized by specific Web standards, such as RDF, RDFS, OWL and SPARQL defined for the Web of Data. Semantic Web based mash-up is the Web method to aggregate and reuse various contents from different sources, such as e.g. using FOAF as a model and vocabulary for the description of persons and organizations -in our case- related to geoscience projects, instruments, observations, data and so on. On the example of three different geoscience data and information management systems, such as ESPAS, IUGONET and GFZ ISDC and the associated science data and related metadata or better called context data, the concept of the mash-up of systems and data using the semantic Web approach and the Linked Open Data framework is described in this publication. Because the three systems are based on different data models, data storage structures and technical implementations an extra semantic Web layer upon the existing interfaces is used for mash-up solutions. In order to satisfy the semantic Web standards, data transition processes, such as the transfer of content stored in relational databases or mapped in XML documents into SPARQL capable databases or endpoints using D2R or XSLT is necessary. In addition, the use of mapped and/or merged domain

Scleractinian corals from the upper Berriasian of central Europe and comparison with contemporaneous coral assemblages.

PubMed

Baron-Szabo, Rosemarie Christine

2018-02-22

Scleractinian coral faunas from the upper Berriasian part of the Oehrli Formation of western Austria (Vorarlberg) and eastern Switzerland (Canton of Appenzell) are taxonomically described for the first time. Furthermore, scleractinian corals of the upper Berriasian part of the Oehrli Formation of the Swiss Cantons of Nidwalden and Uri are revised based on the study of type material. Lectotypes are designated for the species Dimorphocoeniopsis alpina (Koby, 1896) and Pleurophyllia tobleri (Koby, 1896). Sixty-one species belonging to 43 genera and 18 families were identified, making the coral fauna of the upper Oehrli Formation by far the most diverse among the Berriasian assemblages: Actinastrea pseudominima (Koby), A. sp., Adelocoenia bulgarica (Toula)(new combination), A. hexaphyllia (d'Orbigny)(new combination), A. radisensis (d'Orbigny)(new combination), Allocoeniopsis luciensis (d'Orbigny), Amphiaulastrea sp., Astraeofungia cf. decipiens (Michelin), Cladophyllia conybearei Milne Edwards Haime, Columnocoenia ksiazkiewiczi Morycowa, Comoseris jireceki Toula, Complexastrea seriata Turnšek, C. lobata Geyer, Cycloria mariscali (Felix)(new combination), Dermosmilia capitata (Koby), D. simplex Koby, Dimorphastrea excavata d'Orbigny, D. explanata De Fromentel, Dimorphocoeniopsis alpina (Koby), Ellipsocoenia lorioli (Koby), Enallhelia compressa (Münster), E. rathieri d'Orbigny, Epistreptophyllum cf. densum Roniewicz, Fungiastraea moeschi (Koby), Heliocoenia corallina Koby, H. humberti Étallon, H. minima Sikharulidze, Heterocoenia cf. inflexa (Eichwald), Latiphyllia neocomiensis De Fromentel, Latiastrea mucronata Sikharulidze, Latomeandra sp., Meandrastrea rudis (De Fromentel)(new combination), M. cf. lamberti (Bataller), Meandrophyllia corrugata (Michelin), Microsolena major (Ferry), M. cf. subexcavata Eguchi, Mitrodendron cf. modicum Eliášová, Mixastraea polyseptata Morycowa, Montlivaltia arcuata Beauvais, M. kaufmanni Koby, M. truncata (Defrance, 1817

From printed geological maps to web-based service oriented data products - strategies, foundations and problems.

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ebner, M.; Schiegl, M.; Stöckl, W.; Heger, H.

2012-04-01

. This two-step transformation is necessary since a direct mapping to international standards is not possible for traditional map-based data. Controlled vocabularies provide the foundation of a semantic harmonization. For the encoding of the vocabularies we build upon the W3C standard SKOS (=Simple Knowledge Organisation System), a thesaurus specification for the semantic web, which is itself based on the Resource Description Framework (RDF) and RDF Schema and added some DublinCore and VoID for the metadata of our vocabularies and resources. For the development of these thesauri we use the commercial software PoolParty, which is a tool specially build to develop, manage and publish multilingual thesauri. The corporate thesauri of the Austrian Geological Survey are exposed via a web-service that is conformant with the linked data principles. This web-service gives access to a (1) RDF/HTML representation of the resources via a simple, robust and thus persistent http URIs (2) a download of the complete vocabularies in RDF-format (3) a full-fledged SPARQL-Endpoint to query the thesaurus. With the development of physical data-models (based on preexisting conceptual models) one must dismiss the classical schemes of map-based portrayal of data. E.g. for individual Geological units on traditional geological maps usually a single age range is given (e.g. formation age). But one might want to attribute several geologic ages (formation age, metamorphic age, cooling ages etc.) to individual units. Such issues have to be taken into account when developing robust physical data-models. Based on our experience we are convinced that individual institutions need to develop their own controlled vocabularies and individual data-models that fit the specific needs on an organizational level. If externally developed vocabularies and data-models are introduced to established workflows newly generated and existing data may be diverging and it will be hard to achieve or maintain a common standard

Linked Data: what does it offer Earth Sciences?

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Cox, Simon; Schade, Sven

2010-05-01

'Linked Data' is a current buzz-phrase promoting access to various forms of data on the internet. It starts from the two principles that have underpinned the architecture and scalability of the World Wide Web: 1. Universal Resource Identifiers - using the http protocol which is supported by the DNS system. 2. Hypertext - in which URIs of related resources are embedded within a document. Browsing is the key mode of interaction, with traversal of links between resources under control of the client. Linked Data also adds, or re-emphasizes: • Content negotiation - whereby the client uses http headers to tell the service what representation of a resource is acceptable, • Semantic Web principles - formal semantics for links, following the RDF data model and encoding, and • The 'mashup' effect - in which original and unexpected value may emerge from reuse of data, even if published in raw or unpolished form. Linked Data promotes typed links to all kinds of data, so is where the semantic web meets the 'deep web', i.e. resources which may be accessed using web protocols, but are in representations not indexed by search engines. Earth sciences are data rich, but with a strong legacy of specialized formats managed and processed by disconnected applications. However, most contemporary research problems require a cross-disciplinary approach, in which the heterogeneity resulting from that legacy is a significant challenge. In this context, Linked Data clearly has much to offer the earth sciences. But, there are some important questions to answer. What is a resource? Most earth science data is organized in arrays and databases. A subset useful for a particular study is usually identified by a parameterized query. The Linked Data paradigm emerged from the world of documents, and will often only resolve data-sets. It is impractical to create even nested navigation resources containing links to all potentially useful objects or subsets. From the viewpoint of human user

The Meteoritical Quincentennial: The Stone of Ensisheim 1492-1992

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Marvin, U. B.

1992-07-01

This year marks the 500th anniversary of the fall of a meteorite at Ensisheim in Alsace. In at least two respects this event is unique in the history of meteoritics. First, this was the earliest witnessed meteorite fall in the West from which pieces are preserved. Second, it is the only meteorite of which a continuous five-century public record exists in manuscripts and books. Beginning with newsheets printed in 1492, writings about this event illuminate the evolution of ideas from a 15th century belief that stones from the sky were of miraculous origin, to an 18th century conviction that stones do not fall from the sky, to our present view that they fall in abundance, originating in interplanetary space (Marvin, 1992). This paper will highlight certain previously unexamined aspects of the story and address problems inherent in historical analysis. Unusable Maps. The fall of the stone was heralded by an explosion which, according to Sebastian Brant (1492), was heard along the valleys of the Danube, Neckar, Aare, Ill, and Rhine and in the alpine cantons of Schwyz and Uri. Contemporary maps, such as that published in The Nuremberg Chronicle of 1493, so distorted the regional geography that a fireball trajectory cannot be reconstructed on them. On modern maps, however, the areas Brant listed stretch about 150 km to the southeast of Ensisheim, a distance well within the range of sounds reported from other exploding fireballs. Newton (1891) and Marvin (1992) worked out possible trajectories that could account for the sound being heard in all named localities. This suggests that, far from exaggerating distances for dramatic effect, Brant's description may well have been accurate. If so, he compiled his information from word-of-mouth reports without reference to the rudimentary maps available in his time. The Language of Wonder. A document mounted beside the stone in the Ensisheim church stated that learned men did not know what it was: it must be supernatural, a wonder

PREFACE: First International Congress of the International Association of Inverse Problems (IPIA): Applied Inverse Problems 2007: Theoretical and Computational Aspects

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Uhlmann, Gunther

2008-07-01

This volume represents the proceedings of the fourth Applied Inverse Problems (AIP) international conference and the first congress of the Inverse Problems International Association (IPIA) which was held in Vancouver, Canada, June 25 29, 2007. The organizing committee was formed by Uri Ascher, University of British Columbia, Richard Froese, University of British Columbia, Gary Margrave, University of Calgary, and Gunther Uhlmann, University of Washington, chair. The conference was part of the activities of the Pacific Institute of Mathematical Sciences (PIMS) Collaborative Research Group on inverse problems (http://www.pims.math.ca/scientific/collaborative-research-groups/past-crgs). This event was also supported by grants from NSF and MITACS. Inverse Problems (IP) are problems where causes for a desired or an observed effect are to be determined. They lie at the heart of scientific inquiry and technological development. The enormous increase in computing power and the development of powerful algorithms have made it possible to apply the techniques of IP to real-world problems of growing complexity. Applications include a number of medical as well as other imaging techniques, location of oil and mineral deposits in the earth's substructure, creation of astrophysical images from telescope data, finding cracks and interfaces within materials, shape optimization, model identification in growth processes and, more recently, modelling in the life sciences. The series of Applied Inverse Problems (AIP) Conferences aims to provide a primary international forum for academic and industrial researchers working on all aspects of inverse problems, such as mathematical modelling, functional analytic methods, computational approaches, numerical algorithms etc. The steering committee of the AIP conferences consists of Heinz Engl (Johannes Kepler Universität, Austria), Joyce McLaughlin (RPI, USA), William Rundell (Texas A&M, USA), Erkki Somersalo (Helsinki University of Technology

Production of bioinspired and rationally designed polymer hydrogels for controlled delivery of therapeutic proteins

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kim, Sung Hye

1940 Pa. by varing the cross-linking density, suggesting its flexible applications depending on matrix needs. The non-anti-coagulative property of SPa, assessed via activated partial thromboplastin time (APTT) and HeptestRTM in comparison to LMWH, implied its usefulness in applications without excessive bleeding. The VEGF released from [PEG-SPa] hydrogel showed up to ca. 400% greater bioactivity on proliferation of human umbilical vein endothelical cell (HUVEC) compared to the VEGF incubated in solution for the same period: this was significantly higher than that of [PEG] hydrogel (ca. 280%), suggesting the SPa may protect the bioactivity of VEGF when bound. The release of dual growth factor, i.e. VEGF and fibroblast growth factor-2 (FGF-2), were investigated on [PEG-SPa] hydrogel: the release of bFGF was lower than that of VEGF due to weaker binding affinity to matrix-bound SPa. The HUVEC culture on dual growth factor loaded [PEG-SPa] showed that the synergistic effects of dual system in select concentrations, suggesting the opportunity of manipulating cell responses. Given that sulfated peptides for various binding targets with desired affinity can be identified, applications are suggested in multiple growth factors delivery where an integrated action of multiple growth factors is required, such as angiogenesis.

An integrated modeling framework for real-time irrigation scheduling: the benefit of spectroscopy and weather forecasts

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Brook, Anna; Polinova, Maria; Housh, Mashor

2016-04-01

and short-term weekly forecasts. In order to optimize the water resource use, the irrigation scheduling will be defined by use a simulation model of soil-plant and atmosphere system (e.g. SWAP model, Van Dam et al., 2008). The use of this tool is necessary to: i) take into account the soil spatial variability; ii) to predict the system behaviour under the forecasted climate; iii) define the optimized irrigation water volumes. Given this knowledge in the three domains of optimization under uncertainty, spectroscopy/remote sensing and climate forecasting, we will be presented as an integrated framework for deriving optimal irrigation decisions. References Nelson, Gerald C., et al. Climate change: Impact on agriculture and costs of adaptation. Vol. 21. Intl Food Policy Res Inst, 2009. Housh, Mashor, Avi Ostfeld, and Uri Shamir. "Seasonal multi-year optimal management of quantities and salinities in regional water supply systems." Environmental Modelling & Software 37 (2012): 55-67. Wang, Dingbao, and Ximing Cai. "Irrigation scheduling - Role of weather forecasting and farmers' behavior." Journal of Water Resources Planning and Management 135.5 (2009): 364-372. Van Dam, J. C., et al. SWAP version 3.2: Theory description and user manual. No. 1649. Wageningen, The Netherlands: Alterra, 2008.

Comet or Asteroid?

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

1997-11-01

When is a minor object in the solar system a comet? And when is it an asteroid? Until recently, there was little doubt. Any object that was found to display a tail or appeared diffuse was a comet of ice and dust grains, and any that didn't, was an asteroid of solid rock. Moreover, comets normally move in rather elongated orbits, while most asteroids follow near-circular orbits close to the main plane of the solar system in which the major planets move. However, astronomers have recently discovered some `intermediate' objects which seem to possess properties that are typical for both categories. For instance, a strange object (P/1996 N2 - Elst-Pizarro) was found last year at ESO ( ESO Press Photo 36/96 ) which showed a cometary tail, while moving in a typical asteroidal orbit. At about the same time, American scientists found another (1996 PW) that moved in a very elongated comet-type orbit but was completely devoid of a tail. Now, a group of European scientists, by means of observations carried out at the ESO La Silla observatory, have found yet another object that at first appeared to be one more comet/asteroid example. However, continued and more detailed observations aimed at revealing its true nature have shown that it is most probably a comet . Consequently, it has received the provisional cometary designation P/1997 T3 . The Uppsala-DLR Trojan Survey Some time ago, Claes-Ingvar Lagerkvist (Astronomical Observatory, Uppsala, Sweden), in collaboration with Gerhard Hahn, Stefano Mottola, Magnus Lundström and Uri Carsenty (DLR, Institute of Planetary Exploration, Berlin, Germany), started to study the distribution of asteroids near Jupiter. They were particularly interested in those that move in orbits similar to that of Jupiter and which are located `ahead' of Jupiter in the so-called `Jovian L4 Lagrangian point'. Together with those `behind' Jupiter, these asteroids have been given the names of Greek and Trojan Heroes who participated in the famous Trojan war

Spanish Network on Effects of Wildfires on Soils. The view after 5 years of networking

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Jordán, Antonio; Mataix-Solera, Jorge; Cerdà, Artemi

2013-04-01

incendios forestales sobre los suelos en España. El estado de la cuestión visto por los científicos españoles [Effects of wildfires on soils in Spain. The state of the question as seen by Spanish scientists; in Spanish]. Càtedra de Divulgació de la Ciència. Universitat de Valencia. 529 pp. ISBN: 978-84-370-7653-9. Díaz Raviña, M., Benito, E., Carballas, T., Fontúrbel, M.T., Vega , J.A.(Eds.). 2010. Research and post-fire Management: Soil Protection and Rehabilitation Techniques for Burnt Forest Ecosystems. IIAG (CSIC). Santiago de Compostela. 326 pp. ISBN: 978-84-8408-583-6. Jordán, A., Zavala, L.M. de la Rosa, J.M., Knicker, H., González-Pérez, J.A., González-Vila, F.J. (Eds.). 2009. Advances in forest fire effects on soils 2009. IRNAS-CSIC-Universidad de Sevilla. Sevilla. 144 pp. URI: http://hdl.handle.net/10261/18162. FUEGORED INTERNATIONAL MEETINGS FUEGORED2008. I International Meeting Effects of Wildfires son Soils. 03-05 December 2008. Valencia/Enguera/Alcoi, Spain. FUEGORED2009. II International Meeting Effects of Wildfires son Soils. 04-06 November 2009. Sevilla/Cortegana, Spain. FUEGORED2010. III International Meeting Effects of Wildfires son Soils Research and post-fire Management: Soil Protection and Rehabilitation Techniques for Burnt Forest Ecosystems 06-08 October 2010. Santiago de Compostela, Spain. FUEGORED2012. IV International Meeting Effects of Wildfires son Soils 24-27 October 2012. Puerto de la Cruz, Spain.

An Open and Holistic Approach for Geo and Space Sciences

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ritschel, Bernd; Seelus, Christoph; Neher, Günther; Toshihiko, Iyemori; Yatagai, Akiyo; Koyama, Yukinobu; Murayama, Yasuhiro; King, Todd; Hughes, Steve; Fung, Shing; Galkin, Ivan; Hapgood, Mike; Belehaki, Anna

2016-04-01

domain-specific data servers is necessary. In times of the WWW or nowadays Semantic Web, context enriched and mashed-up open data catalogs pointing to the appropriate data sources, step-by-step will help to overcome the burden of the users to find the right data. Further on, the Semantic Web provides an interoperable and universal format for data and metadata. The Resource Description Formation (RDF) inherently enables a domain and cross-domain mashup of data, e.g. realized in the Linked Open Data project. Scientific work and appropriate papers in the geo and space domain often are based on data, physical models and previous publications, which again have been dependent on data, models and publications. So, in order to guarantee a high quality of scientific work, the complete verification process of the results is necessary. This is nothing new, but in times of Big Data a real challenge. So, what do we need for a complete verification of presented results? Yes, especially we need all the original data which has been used. But it is also necessary to get complete information about the context of the research objectives and the resulting constraints in the preparation of the raw data. Further on we need knowledge about the methods and the appropriate processing software, which has been used to generate the results. The Open Data approach enriched by the Open Archive idea is providing the concept for sustainable and verifiable scientific work. Open Archive of course stands for the free availability of scientific papers. But furthermore it focuses on mechanisms and methods within the realm of scientific publications for referencing and providing the underlying data, methods and software. Such reference mechanism are the use of Digital Object Identifier (DOI) or Uniform Resource Identifier (URI) within the Semantic Web -in our case for geo and space science data- but also methods and software code. Nowadays, more and more open and private publishers are demanding such kind of

Selective Photonic Disinfection; A ray of hope in the war against pathogens

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Tsen, Shaw-Wei D.; Tsen, Kong-Thon

2016-06-01

>Kiang G 2007 Inactivation of viruses with a very low power visible femtosecond laser J. Phys.: Condens. Matter 19 322102 10.1088/0953-8984/19/32/322102 16 Eisberg R M 1961 Fundamentals of Modern Physics New York Wiley 17 Hayes W Loudon R 1978 Scattering of Light by Crystals New York Wiley 18 See, for example, uri" xlink:href="www.epa.gov/rpdweb00/understand/ionize_nonionize.html">www.epa.gov/rpdweb00/understand/ionize_nonionize.html 19 Cadeta J Sageb E Doukia T 2005 Ultraviolet radiation-mediated damage to cellular DNA