Sample records for wise case study
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Data Reports for Retrospective Case Study in Wise County, Texas
Data reports from sampling events collected in wise county, texas as part of EPA's Study of the Potential Impacts of Hydraulic Fracturing for Oil and Gas on Drinking Water Resources, retrospective case study.
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This report describes the retrospective case study in north central Texas, conducted at three locations in Wise County where both conventional and unconventional gas production occurred in the past. Currently unconventional gas production occurs from the Mississippian-aged Barne...
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A Case Study Showing Parameters Affecting the Quality of Education: Faculty Perspective
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Kumari, Neeraj
2014-01-01
The study aims to examine the faculty members' perspective (age Wise, Gender Wise and Work Experience wise) of parameters affecting the quality of education in an affiliated Undergraduate Engineering Institution in Haryana. It is a descriptive type of research. The data has been collected with the help of 'Questionnaire Based Survey'. The sample…
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ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Armstrong, Patricia; Sharpley, Brian; Malcolm, Stephen
2004-01-01
The Waste Wise Schools Program was established by EcoRecycle Victoria to implement waste and litter education in Victorian schools. It is now operating in over 900 schools in Victoria and 300 schools in other Australian states / territories. This paper provides detailed case studies of two active schools in the Waste Wise Schools Program and…
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Constructing a WISE High Resolution Galaxy Atlas
NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)
Jarrett, T. H.; Masci, F.; Tsai, C. W.; Petty, S.; Cluver, M.; Assef, Roberto J.; Benford, D.; Blain, A.; Bridge, C.; Donoso, E.;
2012-01-01
After eight months of continuous observations, the Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer (WISE) mapped the entire sky at 3.4 micron, 4.6 micron, 12 micron, and 22 micron. We have begun a dedicated WISE High Resolution Galaxy Atlas project to fully characterize large, nearby galaxies and produce a legacy image atlas and source catalog. Here we summarize the deconvolution techniques used to significantly improve the spatial resolution of WISE imaging, specifically designed to study the internal anatomy of nearby galaxies. As a case study, we present results for the galaxy NGC 1566, comparing the WISE enhanced-resolution image processing to that of Spitzer, Galaxy Evolution Explorer, and ground-based imaging. This is the first paper in a two-part series; results for a larger sample of nearby galaxies are presented in the second paper.
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Afolayan, A A
1985-09-01
"The paper sets out to test whether or not the movement pattern of people in Nigeria is step-wise. It examines the spatial order in the country and the movement pattern of people. It then analyzes the survey data and tests for the validity of step-wise migration in the country. The findings show that step-wise migration cannot adequately describe all the patterns observed." The presence of large-scale circulatory migration between rural and urban areas is noted. Ways to decrease the pressure on Lagos by developing intermediate urban areas are considered. excerpt
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Find a Physician from the Society for Vascular Medicine
... by SVM_tweets About SVM Event Calendar Practice Tools Case Study Education Journal Scientific Sessions Website FAQ Copyright © ... Choosing Wisely DVT Toolkit A-Fib Decision Making Tool Job Bank Case Study Current Case Case Archive Submission Guidelines Education ...
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On the nature and correction of the spurious S-wise spiral galaxy winding bias in Galaxy Zoo 1
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Hayes, Wayne B.; Davis, Darren; Silva, Pedro
2017-04-01
The Galaxy Zoo 1 catalogue displays a bias towards the S-wise winding direction in spiral galaxies, which has yet to be explained. The lack of an explanation confounds our attempts to verify the Cosmological Principle, and has spurred some debate as to whether a bias exists in the real Universe. The bias manifests not only in the obvious case of trying to decide if the universe as a whole has a winding bias, but also in the more insidious case of selecting which Galaxies to include in a winding direction survey. While the former bias has been accounted for in a previous image-mirroring study, the latter has not. Furthermore, the bias has never been corrected in the GZ1 catalogue, as only a small sample of the GZ1 catalogue was reexamined during the mirror study. We show that the existing bias is a human selection effect rather than a human chirality bias. In effect, the excess S-wise votes are spuriously 'stolen' from the elliptical and edge-on-disc categories, not the Z-wise category. Thus, when selecting a set of spiral galaxies by imposing a threshold T so that max (PS, PZ) > T or PS + PZ > T, we spuriously select more S-wise than Z-wise galaxies. We show that when a provably unbiased machine selects which galaxies are spirals independent of their chirality, the S-wise surplus vanishes, even if humans still determine the chirality. Thus, when viewed across the entire GZ1 sample (and by implication, the Sloan catalogue), the winding direction of arms in spiral galaxies as viewed from Earth is consistent with the flip of a fair coin.
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Using Data Wisely at the System Level
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Lockwood, Meghan; Dillman, Mary; Boudett, Kathryn Parker
2017-01-01
District administrators who want to build capacity for data use in schools may be well-served by starting in the central office. This case study of the Boston Public Schools shows how central office administrators can leverage their own data inquiry cycles to improve the ways they support schools in using data. Using the Data Wise Improvement…
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Grossmann, Igor
2017-03-01
Philosophers and psychological scientists have converged on the idea that wisdom involves certain aspects of thinking (e.g., intellectual humility, recognition of uncertainty and change), enabling application of knowledge to life challenges. Empirical evidence indicates that people's ability to think wisely varies dramatically across experiential contexts that they encounter over the life span. Moreover, wise thinking varies from one situation to another, with self-focused contexts inhibiting wise thinking. Experiments can show ways to buffer thinking against bias in cases in which self-interests are unavoidable. Specifically, an ego-decentering cognitive mind-set enables wise thinking about personally meaningful issues. It appears that experiential, situational, and cultural factors are even more powerful in shaping wisdom than previously imagined. Focus on such contextual factors sheds new light on the processes underlying wise thought and its development, helps to integrate different approaches to studying wisdom, and has implications for measurement and development of wisdom-enhancing interventions.
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2009-02-19
Virginia 22203-1995 The Windy Island Soliton Experiment (WISE): Shallow Water and Basin Experiment Configuration and Preliminary Observations...case letters) The Windy Island Soliton Experiment (WISE): Shallow water and Basin Experiment Configuration and Preliminary Observations 5. FUNDING...release; distribution is unlimited 12b. DISTRIBUTION CODE 13. ABSTRACT (maximum 200 words) The Windy Islands Soliton Experiment (WISE) was
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Statistical testing and power analysis for brain-wide association study.
Gong, Weikang; Wan, Lin; Lu, Wenlian; Ma, Liang; Cheng, Fan; Cheng, Wei; Grünewald, Stefan; Feng, Jianfeng
2018-04-05
The identification of connexel-wise associations, which involves examining functional connectivities between pairwise voxels across the whole brain, is both statistically and computationally challenging. Although such a connexel-wise methodology has recently been adopted by brain-wide association studies (BWAS) to identify connectivity changes in several mental disorders, such as schizophrenia, autism and depression, the multiple correction and power analysis methods designed specifically for connexel-wise analysis are still lacking. Therefore, we herein report the development of a rigorous statistical framework for connexel-wise significance testing based on the Gaussian random field theory. It includes controlling the family-wise error rate (FWER) of multiple hypothesis testings using topological inference methods, and calculating power and sample size for a connexel-wise study. Our theoretical framework can control the false-positive rate accurately, as validated empirically using two resting-state fMRI datasets. Compared with Bonferroni correction and false discovery rate (FDR), it can reduce false-positive rate and increase statistical power by appropriately utilizing the spatial information of fMRI data. Importantly, our method bypasses the need of non-parametric permutation to correct for multiple comparison, thus, it can efficiently tackle large datasets with high resolution fMRI images. The utility of our method is shown in a case-control study. Our approach can identify altered functional connectivities in a major depression disorder dataset, whereas existing methods fail. A software package is available at https://github.com/weikanggong/BWAS. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
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Bottomley, Steven; Denny, Paul
2011-01-01
A participatory learning approach, combined with both a traditional and a competitive assessment, was used to motivate students and promote a deep approach to learning biochemistry. Students were challenged to research, author, and explain their own multiple-choice questions (MCQs). They were also required to answer, evaluate, and discuss MCQs written by their peers. The technology used to support this activity was PeerWise--a freely available, innovative web-based system that supports students in the creation of an annotated question repository. In this case study, we describe students' contributions to, and perceptions of, the PeerWise system for a cohort of 107 second-year biomedical science students from three degree streams studying a core biochemistry subject. Our study suggests that the students are eager participants and produce a large repository of relevant, good quality MCQs. In addition, they rate the PeerWise system highly and use higher order thinking skills while taking an active role in their learning. We also discuss potential issues and future work using PeerWise for biomedical students. Copyright © 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
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López-Sánchez, C; Sulleiro, E; Bocanegra, C; Romero, S; Codina, G; Sanz, I; Esperalba, J; Serra, J; Pigrau, C; Burgos, J; Almirante, B; Falcó, V
2017-04-01
In this study we attempt to assess the utility of a simplified step-wise diagnostic algorithm to determinate the aetiology of encephalitis in daily clinical practice and to describe the main causes in our setting. This was a prospective cohort study of all consecutive cases of encephalitis in adult patients diagnosed between January 2010 and March 2015 at the University Hospital Vall d'Hebron in Barcelona, Spain. The aetiological study was carried out following the proposed step-wise algorithm. The proportion of aetiological diagnoses achieved in each step was analysed. Data from 97 patients with encephalitis were assessed. Following a simplified step-wise algorithm, a definite diagnosis was made in the first step in 53 patients (55 %) and in 12 additional cases (12 %) in the second step. Overall, a definite or probable aetiological diagnosis was achieved in 78 % of the cases. Herpes virus, L. monocytogenes and M. tuberculosis were the leading causative agents demonstrated, whereas less frequent aetiologies were observed, mainly in immunosuppressed patients. The overall related mortality was 13.4 %. According to our experience, the leading and treatable causes of encephalitis can be identified in a first diagnostic step with limited microbiological studies. L. monocytogenes treatment should be considered on arrival in some patients. Additional diagnostic effort should be made in immunosuppressed patients.
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The need to approximate the use-case in clinical machine learning
Saeb, Sohrab; Jayaraman, Arun; Mohr, David C.; Kording, Konrad P.
2017-01-01
Abstract The availability of smartphone and wearable sensor technology is leading to a rapid accumulation of human subject data, and machine learning is emerging as a technique to map those data into clinical predictions. As machine learning algorithms are increasingly used to support clinical decision making, it is vital to reliably quantify their prediction accuracy. Cross-validation (CV) is the standard approach where the accuracy of such algorithms is evaluated on part of the data the algorithm has not seen during training. However, for this procedure to be meaningful, the relationship between the training and the validation set should mimic the relationship between the training set and the dataset expected for the clinical use. Here we compared two popular CV methods: record-wise and subject-wise. While the subject-wise method mirrors the clinically relevant use-case scenario of diagnosis in newly recruited subjects, the record-wise strategy has no such interpretation. Using both a publicly available dataset and a simulation, we found that record-wise CV often massively overestimates the prediction accuracy of the algorithms. We also conducted a systematic review of the relevant literature, and found that this overly optimistic method was used by almost half of the retrieved studies that used accelerometers, wearable sensors, or smartphones to predict clinical outcomes. As we move towards an era of machine learning-based diagnosis and treatment, using proper methods to evaluate their accuracy is crucial, as inaccurate results can mislead both clinicians and data scientists. PMID:28327985
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The need to approximate the use-case in clinical machine learning.
Saeb, Sohrab; Lonini, Luca; Jayaraman, Arun; Mohr, David C; Kording, Konrad P
2017-05-01
The availability of smartphone and wearable sensor technology is leading to a rapid accumulation of human subject data, and machine learning is emerging as a technique to map those data into clinical predictions. As machine learning algorithms are increasingly used to support clinical decision making, it is vital to reliably quantify their prediction accuracy. Cross-validation (CV) is the standard approach where the accuracy of such algorithms is evaluated on part of the data the algorithm has not seen during training. However, for this procedure to be meaningful, the relationship between the training and the validation set should mimic the relationship between the training set and the dataset expected for the clinical use. Here we compared two popular CV methods: record-wise and subject-wise. While the subject-wise method mirrors the clinically relevant use-case scenario of diagnosis in newly recruited subjects, the record-wise strategy has no such interpretation. Using both a publicly available dataset and a simulation, we found that record-wise CV often massively overestimates the prediction accuracy of the algorithms. We also conducted a systematic review of the relevant literature, and found that this overly optimistic method was used by almost half of the retrieved studies that used accelerometers, wearable sensors, or smartphones to predict clinical outcomes. As we move towards an era of machine learning-based diagnosis and treatment, using proper methods to evaluate their accuracy is crucial, as inaccurate results can mislead both clinicians and data scientists. © The Author 2017. Published by Oxford University Press.
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NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Nguyen, T.; Pankratius, V.; Eckman, L.; Seager, S.
2018-04-01
Debris disks around stars other than the Sun have received significant attention in studies of exoplanets, specifically exoplanetary system formation. Since debris disks are major sources of infrared emissions, infrared survey data such as the Wide-Field Infrared Survey (WISE) catalog potentially harbors numerous debris disk candidates. However, it is currently challenging to perform disk candidate searches for over 747 million sources in the WISE catalog due to the high probability of false positives caused by interstellar matter, galaxies, and other background artifacts. Crowdsourcing techniques have thus started to harness citizen scientists for debris disk identification since humans can be easily trained to distinguish between desired artifacts and irrelevant noises. With a limited number of citizen scientists, however, increasing data volumes from large surveys will inevitably lead to analysis bottlenecks. To overcome this scalability problem and push the current limits of automated debris disk candidate identification, we present a novel approach that uses citizen science results as a seed to train machine learning based classification. In this paper, we detail a case study with a computer-aided discovery pipeline demonstrating such feasibility based on WISE catalog data and NASA's Disk Detective project. Our approach of debris disk candidates classification was shown to be robust under a wide range of image quality and features. Our hybrid approach of citizen science with algorithmic scalability can facilitate big data processing for future detections as envisioned in future missions such as the Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS) and the Wide-Field Infrared Survey Telescope (WFIRST).
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Combination of GRACE monthly gravity field solutions from different processing strategies
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Jean, Yoomin; Meyer, Ulrich; Jäggi, Adrian
2018-02-01
We combine the publicly available GRACE monthly gravity field time series to produce gravity fields with reduced systematic errors. We first compare the monthly gravity fields in the spatial domain in terms of signal and noise. Then, we combine the individual gravity fields with comparable signal content, but diverse noise characteristics. We test five different weighting schemes: equal weights, non-iterative coefficient-wise, order-wise, or field-wise weights, and iterative field-wise weights applying variance component estimation (VCE). The combined solutions are evaluated in terms of signal and noise in the spectral and spatial domains. Compared to the individual contributions, they in general show lower noise. In case the noise characteristics of the individual solutions differ significantly, the weighted means are less noisy, compared to the arithmetic mean: The non-seasonal variability over the oceans is reduced by up to 7.7% and the root mean square (RMS) of the residuals of mass change estimates within Antarctic drainage basins is reduced by 18.1% on average. The field-wise weighting schemes in general show better performance, compared to the order- or coefficient-wise weighting schemes. The combination of the full set of considered time series results in lower noise levels, compared to the combination of a subset consisting of the official GRACE Science Data System gravity fields only: The RMS of coefficient-wise anomalies is smaller by up to 22.4% and the non-seasonal variability over the oceans by 25.4%. This study was performed in the frame of the European Gravity Service for Improved Emergency Management (EGSIEM; http://www.egsiem.eu) project. The gravity fields provided by the EGSIEM scientific combination service (ftp://ftp.aiub.unibe.ch/EGSIEM/) are combined, based on the weights derived by VCE as described in this article.
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NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Sheikh, Alireza; Amat, Alexandre Graell i.; Liva, Gianluigi
2017-12-01
We analyze the achievable information rates (AIRs) for coded modulation schemes with QAM constellations with both bit-wise and symbol-wise decoders, corresponding to the case where a binary code is used in combination with a higher-order modulation using the bit-interleaved coded modulation (BICM) paradigm and to the case where a nonbinary code over a field matched to the constellation size is used, respectively. In particular, we consider hard decision decoding, which is the preferable option for fiber-optic communication systems where decoding complexity is a concern. Recently, Liga \\emph{et al.} analyzed the AIRs for bit-wise and symbol-wise decoders considering what the authors called \\emph{hard decision decoder} which, however, exploits \\emph{soft information} of the transition probabilities of discrete-input discrete-output channel resulting from the hard detection. As such, the complexity of the decoder is essentially the same as the complexity of a soft decision decoder. In this paper, we analyze instead the AIRs for the standard hard decision decoder, commonly used in practice, where the decoding is based on the Hamming distance metric. We show that if standard hard decision decoding is used, bit-wise decoders yield significantly higher AIRs than symbol-wise decoders. As a result, contrary to the conclusion by Liga \\emph{et al.}, binary decoders together with the BICM paradigm are preferable for spectrally-efficient fiber-optic systems. We also design binary and nonbinary staircase codes and show that, in agreement with the AIRs, binary codes yield better performance.
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A CASE STUDY OF SOILS IN THE U.S.
Assessment of environmental condition is critical to wise management and policy decisions. However, for some concerns such as sustainability, it is difficult to assess environmental condition because it involves disparate social objectives and an understanding of complex ecologic...
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Meeting Wise: Making the Most of Collaborative Time for Educators
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Boudett, Kathryn Parker; City, Elizabeth A.
2014-01-01
This book, by two editors of "Data Wise: A Step-by-Step Guide to Using Assessment Results to Improve Teaching and Learning," attempts to bring about a fundamental shift in how educators think about the meetings we attend. They make the case that these gatherings are potentially the most important venue where adult and organizational…
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Raman exfoliative cytology for oral precancer diagnosis
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Sahu, Aditi; Gera, Poonam; Pai, Venkatesh; Dubey, Abhishek; Tyagi, Gunjan; Waghmare, Mandavi; Pagare, Sandeep; Mahimkar, Manoj; Murali Krishna, C.
2017-11-01
Oral premalignant lesions (OPLs) such as leukoplakia, erythroplakia, and oral submucous fibrosis, often precede oral cancer. Screening and management of these premalignant conditions can improve prognosis. Raman spectroscopy has previously demonstrated potential in the diagnosis of oral premalignant conditions (in vivo), detected viral infection, and identified cancer in both oral and cervical exfoliated cells (ex vivo). The potential of Raman exfoliative cytology (REC) in identifying premalignant conditions was investigated. Oral exfoliated samples were collected from healthy volunteers (n=20), healthy volunteers with tobacco habits (n=20), and oral premalignant conditions (n=27, OPL) using Cytobrush. Spectra were acquired using Raman microprobe. Spectral acquisition parameters were: λex: 785 nm, laser power: 40 mW, acquisition time: 15 s, and average: 3. Postspectral acquisition, cell pellet was subjected to Pap staining. Multivariate analysis was carried out using principal component analysis and principal component-linear discriminant analysis using both spectra- and patient-wise approaches in three- and two-group models. OPLs could be identified with ˜77% (spectra-wise) and ˜70% (patient-wise) sensitivity in the three-group model while with 86% (spectra-wise) and 83% (patient-wise) in the two-group model. Use of histopathologically confirmed premalignant cases and better sampling devices may help in development of improved standard models and also enhance the sensitivity of the method. Future longitudinal studies can help validate potential of REC in screening and monitoring high-risk populations and prognosis prediction of premalignant lesions.
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ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Kumari, Neeraj
2014-01-01
The objective of the study is to examine the students' perspective (age wise, gender wise and year wise) of parameters affecting the undergraduate engineering education system present in a private technical institution in NCR [National Capital Region], Haryana. It is a descriptive type of research in nature. The data has been collected with the…
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Measuring the Test-Wiseness of Medical Students.
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Harvill, Leo M.
The objectives for this study were to: (1) develop a valid, reliable measure of test-wiseness with equivalent forms for use with students in the health sciences; and (2) determine the level of test-wiseness of entering medical students. The test-wiseness areas included in this study were: similar options, umbrella term, item give-away, convergence…
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NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Papanikolaou, T. D.; Papadopoulos, N.
2015-06-01
The present study aims at the validation of global gravity field models through numerical investigation in gravity field functionals based on spherical harmonic synthesis of the geopotential models and the analysis of terrestrial data. We examine gravity models produced according to the latest approaches for gravity field recovery based on the principles of the Gravity field and steadystate Ocean Circulation Explorer (GOCE) and Gravity Recovery And Climate Experiment (GRACE) satellite missions. Furthermore, we evaluate the overall spectrum of the ultra-high degree combined gravity models EGM2008 and EIGEN-6C3stat. The terrestrial data consist of gravity and collocated GPS/levelling data in the overall Hellenic region. The software presented here implements the algorithm of spherical harmonic synthesis in a degree-wise cumulative sense. This approach may quantify the bandlimited performance of the individual models by monitoring the degree-wise computed functionals against the terrestrial data. The degree-wise analysis performed yields insight in the short-wavelengths of the Earth gravity field as these are expressed by the high degree harmonics.
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Using the revenues from congestion pricing : a Southern California case study
DOT National Transportation Integrated Search
1992-09-01
Congestion pricing has many goals and benefits, but one thing is clear: its success depends on wise use of the revenues. The economic theory behind the concept relies on these revenues to help compensate for the payments required of highway users. Pr...
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Wise retained in the endoplasmic reticulum inhibits Wnt signaling by reducing cell surface LRP6.
Guidato, Sonia; Itasaki, Nobue
2007-10-15
The Wnt signaling pathway is tightly regulated by extracellular and intracellular modulators. Wise was isolated as a secreted protein capable of interacting with the Wnt co-receptor LRP6. Studies in Xenopus embryos revealed that Wise either enhances or inhibits the Wnt pathway depending on the cellular context. Here we show that the cellular localization of Wise has distinct effects on the Wnt pathway readout. While secreted Wise either synergizes or inhibits the Wnt signals depending on the partner ligand, ER-retained Wise consistently blocks the Wnt pathway. ER-retained Wise reduces LRP6 on the cell surface, making cells less susceptible to the Wnt signal. This study provides a cellular mechanism for the action of Wise and introduces the modulation of cellular susceptibility to Wnt signals as a novel mechanism of the regulation of the Wnt pathway.
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de Oliveira, Tiago E.; Netz, Paulo A.; Kremer, Kurt; ...
2016-05-03
We present a coarse-graining strategy that we test for aqueous mixtures. The method uses pair-wise cumulative coordination as a target function within an iterative Boltzmann inversion (IBI) like protocol. We name this method coordination iterative Boltzmann inversion (C–IBI). While the underlying coarse-grained model is still structure based and, thus, preserves pair-wise solution structure, our method also reproduces solvation thermodynamics of binary and/or ternary mixtures. In addition, we observe much faster convergence within C–IBI compared to IBI. To validate the robustness, we apply C–IBI to study test cases of solvation thermodynamics of aqueous urea and a triglycine solvation in aqueous urea.
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ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Abbott, Eric A., Ed.
This proceedings contains keynote speeches, community case studies, and small-group recommendations concerned with successful telecommunications initiatives in rural communities. The four keynote addresses are: "Electronic Highways and Byways: Converging Technologies and Rural Development" (Heather E. Hudson); "Information…
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NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Schulz, Rachel Corinne
This study investigated the intended teacher use of a technology-enhanced learning tool, Web-based Inquiry Science Environment (WISE), and the first experiences of teachers new to using it and untrained in its use. The purpose of the study was to learn more about the factors embedded into the design of the technology that enabled it or hindered it from being used as intended. The qualitative research design applied grounded theory methods. Using theoretical sampling and a constant comparative analysis, a document review of WISE website led to a model of intended teacher use. The experiences of four middle school science teachers as they enacted WISE for the first time were investigated through ethnographic field observations, surveys and interviews using thematic analysis to construct narratives of each teachers use. These narratives were compared to the model of intended teacher use of WISE. This study found two levels of intended teacher uses for WISE. A basic intended use involved having student running the project to completion while the teacher provides feedback and assesses student learning. A more optimal description of intended use involved the supplementing the core curriculum with WISE as well as enhancing the core scope and sequence of instruction and aligning assessment with the goals of instruction through WISE. Moreover, WISE projects were optimally intended to be facilitated through student-centered teaching practices and inquiry-based instruction in a collaborative learning environment. It is also optimally intended for these projects to be shared with other colleagues for feedback and iterative development towards improving the Knowledge Integration of students. Of the four teachers who participated in this study, only one demonstrated the use of WISE as intended in the most basic way. This teacher also demonstrated the use of WISE in a number of optimal ways. Teacher confusion with certain tools available within WISE suggests that there may be a way to develop the user experience through these touch points and help teachers learn how to use the technology as they are selecting and setting up a project run. Further research may study whether improving these touch points can improve the teachers' use of WISE as intended both basically and optimally. It may also study whether or not teacher in basic and optimal ways directly impact student learning results.
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ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Cotter, Katie L.; Bacallao, Martica; Smokowski, Paul R.; Robertson, Caroline I. B.
2013-01-01
Objectives: This study examines the implementation and effectiveness of Parenting Wisely, an Internet-based parenting skills intervention. The study assesses whether parents benefit from Parenting Wisely participation and whether the delivery format influences program effectiveness. Method: This study uses a quasi-experimental design.…
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NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)
Ko, William L.; Fleischer, Van Tran
2013-01-01
This report presents a new method for estimating operational loads (bending moments, shear loads, and torques) acting on slender aerospace structures using distributed surface strains (unidirectional strains). The surface strain-sensing stations are to be evenly distributed along each span-wise strain-sensing line. A depth-wise cross section of the structure along each strain-sensing line can then be considered as an imaginary embedded beam. The embedded beam was first evenly divided into multiple small domains with domain junctures matching the strain-sensing stations. The new method is comprised of two steps. The first step is to determine the structure stiffness (bending or torsion) using surface strains obtained from a simple bending (or torsion) loading case, for which the applied bending moment (or torque) is known. The second step is to use the strain-determined structural stiffness (bending or torsion), and a new set of surface strains induced by any other loading case to calculate the associated operational loads (bending moments, shear loads, or torques). Performance of the new method for estimating operational loads was studied in light of finite-element analyses of several example structures subjected to different loading conditions. The new method for estimating operational loads was found to be fairly accurate, and is very promising for applications to the flight load monitoring of flying vehicles with slender wings.
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NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Roy, Sabyasachi; Choudhury, D. K.
2014-03-01
Nambu-Goto action for bosonic string predicts the quark-antiquark potential to be V(r) = -γ/r + σr + μ0. The coefficient γ = π(d - 2)/24 is the Lüscher coefficient of the Lüscher term 7/r, which depends upon the space-time dimension 'd'. Very recently, we have developed meson wave functions in higher dimension with this potential from higher dimensional Schrodinger equation by applying quantum mechanical perturbation technique with both Lüscher term as parent and as perturbation. In this letter, we analyze Isgur-Wise function for heavy-light mesons using these wave functions in higher dimension and make a comparative study on the status of the perturbation technique in both the cases.
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NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)
Tsai, Chao Wei; Eisenhardt, Peter; Wu, Jingwen; Bridge, Carrie; Assef, Roberto; Benford, Dominic; Blain, Andrew; Cutri, Roc; Griffith, Robert L.; Jarrett, Thomas;
2014-01-01
On behalf of the WISE Science team, we present the discovery of a class of distant dust-enshrouded galaxies with extremely high luminosity. These galaxies are selected to have extreme red colors in the mid-IR using NASA's Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer (WISE). They are faint in the optical and near-IR, predominantly at zeta = 2-4, and with IR luminosity > 10(exp 13) Solar Luminosity, making them Hyper-Luminous Infrared Galaxies (HyLIRGs). SEDs incorporating the WISE, Spitzer, and Herschel PACS and SPIRE photometry indicate hot dust dominates the bolometric luminosity, presumably powered by AGN. Preliminary multi-wavelength follow-up suggests that they are different from normal populations in the local M-sigma relation. Their low source density implies that these objects are either intrinsically rare, or a short-lived phase in a more numerous population. If the latter is the case, these hot, dust-enshrouded galaxies may be an early stage in the interplay between AGN and galaxies.
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The British Columbia Core Curriculum: A Case Study in Recentralization.
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Hersom, Naomi
Events and considerations surrounding the publication of a document specifying the curriculum to be taught in British Columbia's schools are summarized in this paper. The province has moved from a centralized to a decentralized and back to a centralized curriculum. Arthur Wise has called one response that schools have to social criticism…
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8 Lessons about E-Learning from 5 Organizations.
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Gold, Martha
2003-01-01
Summarizes a series of case studies of enterprise-wide electronic learning with these recommendations: (1) standardize courseware and narrow course selection; (2) market new ideas to employees; (3) buy wisely; (4) increase security; (5) buy cautiously; (6) find best value for your organization; (7) get buy-in from management; and (8) offer…
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Case Study: Assessing Critical-Thinking Skills Using Articles from the Popular Press
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Terry, David R.
2012-01-01
Meaningful science education requires an understanding of essential concepts, but it is just as important for scientifically literate persons to use critical thinking as they apply scientific understanding to their lives. Students should learn to use scientific information appropriately to make wise choices and to effectively solve problems that…
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WiseView: Visualizing motion and variability of faint WISE sources
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Caselden, Dan; Westin, Paul, III; Meisner, Aaron; Kuchner, Marc; Colin, Guillaume
2018-06-01
WiseView renders image blinks of Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer (WISE) coadds spanning a multi-year time baseline in a browser. The software allows for easy visual identification of motion and variability for sources far beyond the single-frame detection limit, a key threshold not surmounted by many studies. WiseView transparently gathers small image cutouts drawn from many terabytes of unWISE coadds, facilitating access to this large and unique dataset. Users need only input the coordinates of interest and can interactively tune parameters including the image stretch, colormap and blink rate. WiseView was developed in the context of the Backyard Worlds: Planet 9 citizen science project, and has enabled hundreds of brown dwarf candidate discoveries by citizen scientists and professional astronomers.
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NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Kianpour, E.; Nor Azwadi, C. S.; Golshokouh, I.
2013-12-01
We studied the effects of cylindrical and row trenched cooling holes with alignment angle of 0° at BR=3.18 on the film cooling performance near the endwall surface of a combustor simulator. In this research, a three-dimensional presentation of gas turbine engine was simulated and analyzed with a commercial finite volume package FLUENT 6.2.26 to gain fundamental data. The current study has been performed with Reynolds-averaged Navier-Stokes turbulence model (RANS) on internal cooling passages. This combustor simulator combined the interaction of two rows of dilution jets, which were staggered in the stream wise direction and aligned in the span wise direction. The entire findings of the study declared that with using the row trenched holes near the enwall surface; film cooling effectiveness is doubled compared to the cooling performance of baseline case.
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The Faintest WISE Debris Disks: Enhanced Methods for Detection and Verification
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Patel, Rahul I.; Metchev, Stanimir A.; Heinze, Aren; Trollo, Joseph
2017-02-01
In an earlier study, we reported nearly 100 previously unknown dusty debris disks around Hipparcos main-sequence stars within 75 pc by selecting stars with excesses in individual WISE colors. Here, we further scrutinize the Hipparcos 75 pc sample to (1) gain sensitivity to previously undetected, fainter mid-IR excesses and (2) remove spurious excesses contaminated by previously unidentified blended sources. We improve on our previous method by adopting a more accurate measure of the confidence threshold for excess detection and by adding an optimally weighted color average that incorporates all shorter-wavelength WISE photometry, rather than using only individual WISE colors. The latter is equivalent to spectral energy distribution fitting, but only over WISE bandpasses. In addition, we leverage the higher-resolution WISE images available through the unWISE.me image service to identify contaminated WISE excesses based on photocenter offsets among the W3- and W4-band images. Altogether, we identify 19 previously unreported candidate debris disks. Combined with the results from our earlier study, we have found a total of 107 new debris disks around 75 pc Hipparcos main-sequence stars using precisely calibrated WISE photometry. This expands the 75 pc debris disk sample by 22% around Hipparcos main-sequence stars and by 20% overall (including non-main-sequence and non-Hipparcos stars).
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Lin, Chia-Chun; Lin, Jia-Yu; Lee, Mengshan; Chiueh, Pei-Te
2017-12-31
Water availability, resulting from either a lack of water or poor water quality is a key factor contributing to regional water stress. This study proposes a set of sector-wise characterization factors (CFs), namely consumptive and degradative water stresses, to assess the impact of water withdrawals with a life cycle assessment approach. These CFs consider water availability, water quality, and competition for water between domestic, agricultural and industrial sectors and ecosystem at the watershed level. CFs were applied to a case study of regional water management of industrial water withdrawals in Taiwan to show that both regional or seasonal decrease in water availability contributes to a high consumptive water stress, whereas water scarcity due to degraded water quality not meeting sector standards has little influence on increased degradative water stress. Degradative water stress was observed more in the agricultural sector than in the industrial sector, which implies that the agriculture sector may have water quality concerns. Reducing water intensity and alleviating regional scale water stresses of watersheds are suggested as approaches to decrease the impact of both consumptive and degradative water use. The results from this study may enable a more detailed sector-wise analysis of water stress and influence water resource management policies. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
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Lintern, Katherine B; Guidato, Sonia; Rowe, Alison; Saldanha, José W; Itasaki, Nobue
2009-08-21
Cross-talk of BMP and Wnt signaling pathways has been implicated in many aspects of biological events during embryogenesis and in adulthood. A secreted protein Wise and its orthologs (Sostdc1, USAG-1, and Ectodin) have been shown to modulate Wnt signaling and also inhibit BMP signals. Modulation of Wnt signaling activity by Wise is brought about by an interaction with the Wnt co-receptor LRP6, whereas BMP inhibition is by binding to BMP ligands. Here we have investigated the mode of action of Wise on Wnt and BMP signals. It was found that Wise binds LRP6 through one of three loops formed by the cystine knot. The Wise deletion construct lacking the LRP6-interacting loop domain nevertheless binds BMP4 and inhibits BMP signals. Moreover, BMP4 does not interfere with Wise-LRP6 binding, suggesting separate domains for the physical interaction. Functional assays also show that the ability of Wise to block Wnt1 activity through LRP6 is not impeded by BMP4. In contrast, the ability of Wise to inhibit BMP4 is prevented by additional LRP6, implying a preference of Wise in binding LRP6 over BMP4. In addition to the interaction of Wise with BMP4 and LRP6, the molecular characteristics of Wise, such as glycosylation and association with heparan sulfate proteoglycans on the cell surface, are suggested. This study helps to understand the multiple functions of Wise at the molecular level and suggests a possible role for Wise in balancing Wnt and BMP signals.
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Managing the Development of the Wide-Field Infrared Survey Explorer Mission
NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)
Irace, William; Cutri, Roc; Duval, Valerie; Eisenhardt, Peter; Elwell, John; Greanias, George; Heinrichsen, Ingolf; Howard, Joan; Liu, Feng-Chuan; Royer, Donald;
2010-01-01
The Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer (WISE), a NASA Medium-Class Explorer (MIDEX) mission, is surveying the entire sky in four bands from 3.4 to 22 microns with a sensitivity hundreds to hundreds of thousands times better than previous all-sky surveys at these wavelengths. The single WISE instrument consists of a 40 cm three-mirror anastigmatic telescope, a two-stage solid hydrogen cryostat, a scan mirror mechanism, and reimaging optics giving 6" resolution (full-width-half-maximum). WISE was placed into a Sun-synchronous polar orbit on a Delta II 7320 launch vehicle on December 14, 2009. NASA selected WISE as a MIDEX in 2002 following a rigorous competitive selection process. To gain further confidence in WISE, NASA extended the development period one year with an option to cancel the mission if certain criteria were not met. MIDEX missions are led by the principal investigator who in this case delegated day-to-day management to the project manager. With a cost cap and relatively short development schedule, it was essential for all WISE partners to work seamlessly together. This was accomplished with an integrated management team representing all key partners and disciplines. The project was developed on budget and on schedule in spite of the need to surmount significant technical challenges. This paper describes our management approach, key challenges and critical decisions made. Results are described from a programmatic, technical and scientific point of view. Lessons learned are offered for projects of this type.
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Drop-wise and film-wise water condensation processes occurring on metallic micro-scaled surfaces
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Starostin, Anton; Valtsifer, Viktor; Barkay, Zahava; Legchenkova, Irina; Danchuk, Viktor; Bormashenko, Edward
2018-06-01
Water condensation was studied on silanized (superhydrophobic) and fluorinated (superoleophobic) micro-rough aluminum surfaces of the same topography. Condensation on superhydrophobic surfaces occurred via film-wise mechanism, whereas on superoleophobic surfaces it was drop-wise. The difference in the pathways of condensation was attributed to the various energy barriers separating the Cassie and Wenzel wetting states on the investigated surfaces. The higher barriers inherent for superoleophobic surfaces promoted the drop-wise condensation. Triple-stage kinetics of growth of droplets condensed on superoleophobic surfaces is reported and discussed.
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Expression of Wise in chick embryos.
Shigetani, Y; Itasaki, N
2007-08-01
We have performed in situ hybridization to study the expression of Wise in early chick embryos. Wise expression is first detectable in the ectoderm at posterior levels of late neurula. As development proceeds, Wise expression is seen in specific patterns in the ectoderm of the trunk region, pharyngeal arches, limb buds, and feather buds. In addition to these areas, particular cartilages such as the ones in the maxillary process and limbs start to express Wise at the late pharyngula stage, and the expression in these cartilages becomes stronger than that in epidermal components at later stages. Importantly, Wise is expressed in regions where other signaling molecules such as Wnt, Bmp, and Shh are known to function in morphogenesis and differentiation. Direct comparisons of the expression of Wise and these genes are also demonstrated. (c) 2007 Wiley-Liss, Inc.
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IRAC Photometry of the Coldest CatWISE-selected Brown Dwarfs
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Meisner, Aaron; Kirkpatrick, J. Davy; Kirkpatrick, J. Davy; Eisenhardt, Peter; Marocco, Federico; Faherty, Jacqueline; Cushing, Michael; Wright, Edward
2018-05-01
We will obtain IRAC [3.6] and [4.5] photometry of 250 extremely cool brown dwarfs newly revealed by the powerful combination of WISE and NEOWISE imaging at 4.6 microns. Our CatWISE effort, which is an archival data analysis program using WISE and NEOWISE data, will improve upon the motion selection of AllWISE by enabling a >10x time baseline enhancement, from 0.5 years (AllWISE) to 6.5 years (CatWISE). As a result, CatWISE motion selection is expected to yield a dramatic 8-fold increase in the sample of known brown dwarfs at spectral types T5 and later (T < 1,200 K). Many of the coolest such CatWISE discoveries will be detected exclusively in the WISE 4.6 micron (W2) channel. WISE W1 (3.4 micron) nondetections, which we expect for the majority of our most interesting sources, will provide only limits on mid-infrared color. Spitzer can supply this critical datum by measuring accurate [3.6]-[4.5] colors of our discoveries. These Spitzer color measurements will permit photometric spectral type estimates, which in turn yield estimates for critical parameters including luminosity, distance, and near-infrared flux. Using large [3.6]-[4.5] color to pinpoint the coldest late T and Y dwarfs among our CatWISE sample will enable us to prioritize these objects for spectroscopic follow-up, better understand the bottom of the substellar mass function, and identify nearby giant planet analogs suitable for future atmospheric studies with JWST.
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DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)
Patel, Rahul I.; Metchev, Stanimir A.; Trollo, Joseph
In an earlier study, we reported nearly 100 previously unknown dusty debris disks around Hipparcos main-sequence stars within 75 pc by selecting stars with excesses in individual WISE colors. Here, we further scrutinize the Hipparcos 75 pc sample to (1) gain sensitivity to previously undetected, fainter mid-IR excesses and (2) remove spurious excesses contaminated by previously unidentified blended sources. We improve on our previous method by adopting a more accurate measure of the confidence threshold for excess detection and by adding an optimally weighted color average that incorporates all shorter-wavelength WISE photometry, rather than using only individual WISE colors. Themore » latter is equivalent to spectral energy distribution fitting, but only over WISE bandpasses. In addition, we leverage the higher-resolution WISE images available through the unWISE.me image service to identify contaminated WISE excesses based on photocenter offsets among the W 3- and W 4-band images. Altogether, we identify 19 previously unreported candidate debris disks. Combined with the results from our earlier study, we have found a total of 107 new debris disks around 75 pc Hipparcos main-sequence stars using precisely calibrated WISE photometry. This expands the 75 pc debris disk sample by 22% around Hipparcos main-sequence stars and by 20% overall (including non-main-sequence and non- Hipparcos stars).« less
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Ettlin, Dominik A; Sommer, Isabelle; Brönnimann, Ben; Maffioletti, Sergio; Scheidt, Jörg; Hou, Mei-Yin; Lukic, Nenad; Steiger, Beat
2016-12-01
Medical symptoms independent of body location burden individuals to varying degrees and may require care by more than one expert. Various paper and computer-based tools exist that aim to comprehensively capture data for optimal clinical management and research. A web-based interdisciplinary symptom evaluation (WISE) was newly designed, constructed, and technically implemented. For worldwide applicability and to avoid copyright infringements, open source software tools and free validated questionnaires available in multiple languages were used. Highly secure data storage limits access strictly to those who use the tool for collecting, storing, and evaluating their data. Concept and implementation is illustrated by a WISE sample tailored for the requirements of a single center in Switzerland providing interdisciplinary care to orofacial pain and temporomandibular disorder patients. By combining a symptom- burden checklist with in-depth questionnaires serving as case-finding instruments, an algorithm was developed that assists in clarifying case complexity and need for targeted expert evaluation. This novel modular approach provides a personalized, response-tailored instrument for the time- and cost-effective collection of symptom-burden focused quantitative data. The tool includes body drawing options and instructional videos. It is applicable for biopsychosocial evaluation in a variety of clinical settings and offers direct feedback by a case report summary. In clinical practice, the new instrument assists in clarifying case complexity and referral need, based on symptom burden and response -tailored case finding. It provides single-case summary reports from a biopsychosocial perspective and includes graphical symptom maps. Secure, centrally stored data collection of anonymous data is possible. The tool enables personalized medicine, facilitates interprofessional education and collaboration, and allows for multicenter patient-reported outcomes research.
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Bi-level Multi-Source Learning for Heterogeneous Block-wise Missing Data
Xiang, Shuo; Yuan, Lei; Fan, Wei; Wang, Yalin; Thompson, Paul M.; Ye, Jieping
2013-01-01
Bio-imaging technologies allow scientists to collect large amounts of high-dimensional data from multiple heterogeneous sources for many biomedical applications. In the study of Alzheimer's Disease (AD), neuroimaging data, gene/protein expression data, etc., are often analyzed together to improve predictive power. Joint learning from multiple complementary data sources is advantageous, but feature-pruning and data source selection are critical to learn interpretable models from high-dimensional data. Often, the data collected has block-wise missing entries. In the Alzheimer’s Disease Neuroimaging Initiative (ADNI), most subjects have MRI and genetic information, but only half have cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) measures, a different half has FDG-PET; only some have proteomic data. Here we propose how to effectively integrate information from multiple heterogeneous data sources when data is block-wise missing. We present a unified “bi-level” learning model for complete multi-source data, and extend it to incomplete data. Our major contributions are: (1) our proposed models unify feature-level and source-level analysis, including several existing feature learning approaches as special cases; (2) the model for incomplete data avoids imputing missing data and offers superior performance; it generalizes to other applications with block-wise missing data sources; (3) we present efficient optimization algorithms for modeling complete and incomplete data. We comprehensively evaluate the proposed models including all ADNI subjects with at least one of four data types at baseline: MRI, FDG-PET, CSF and proteomics. Our proposed models compare favorably with existing approaches. PMID:23988272
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Bi-level multi-source learning for heterogeneous block-wise missing data.
Xiang, Shuo; Yuan, Lei; Fan, Wei; Wang, Yalin; Thompson, Paul M; Ye, Jieping
2014-11-15
Bio-imaging technologies allow scientists to collect large amounts of high-dimensional data from multiple heterogeneous sources for many biomedical applications. In the study of Alzheimer's Disease (AD), neuroimaging data, gene/protein expression data, etc., are often analyzed together to improve predictive power. Joint learning from multiple complementary data sources is advantageous, but feature-pruning and data source selection are critical to learn interpretable models from high-dimensional data. Often, the data collected has block-wise missing entries. In the Alzheimer's Disease Neuroimaging Initiative (ADNI), most subjects have MRI and genetic information, but only half have cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) measures, a different half has FDG-PET; only some have proteomic data. Here we propose how to effectively integrate information from multiple heterogeneous data sources when data is block-wise missing. We present a unified "bi-level" learning model for complete multi-source data, and extend it to incomplete data. Our major contributions are: (1) our proposed models unify feature-level and source-level analysis, including several existing feature learning approaches as special cases; (2) the model for incomplete data avoids imputing missing data and offers superior performance; it generalizes to other applications with block-wise missing data sources; (3) we present efficient optimization algorithms for modeling complete and incomplete data. We comprehensively evaluate the proposed models including all ADNI subjects with at least one of four data types at baseline: MRI, FDG-PET, CSF and proteomics. Our proposed models compare favorably with existing approaches. © 2013 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
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NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Kaluza, Thorsten; Hoor, Peter; Kunkel, Daniel
2017-04-01
Studies of baroclinic life cycles recently revelead that the tropopause inversion layer (TIL) in the extratropics is significantly strengthened by diabatic processes related to moist tropospheric dynamics as well as by breaking of the baroclinic wave itself. However, these findings summarize the results from idealized model simulations and the contribution from processes related to baroclinic life cycles relative to other processes enhancing the lower stratospheric static stability (stratospheric dynamics, seasonal variation of radiative feedbacks) to the observed TIL at midlatitudes has yet to be assessed. Further the role of the TIL for stratosphere-troposphere exchange (STE) is currently still under debate. In preparation of the up-coming field campaign WISE (Wave driven isentropic exchange) we explore the state and variability of the TIL over the North Atlantic between August and October in analysis model data. We use high resolution operational analysis from the European Center for Medium Range Weather Forecast to study the mesoscale structure of the TIL. The main focus is on case studies of the TIL in real baroclinic life cycles, in particular on small scale enhancements within the baroclinic disturbances and the relation to STE. Moreover, a summary is presented about the quasi climatological state of the tropopause location and sharpness over the North Atlantic over recent years.
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Ibáñez, Javier; Vélez, M Dolores; de Andrés, M Teresa; Borrego, Joaquín
2009-11-01
Distinctness, uniformity and stability (DUS) testing of varieties is usually required to apply for Plant Breeders' Rights. This exam is currently carried out using morphological traits, where the establishment of distinctness through a minimum distance is the key issue. In this study, the possibility of using microsatellite markers for establishing the minimum distance in a vegetatively propagated crop (grapevine) has been evaluated. A collection of 991 accessions have been studied with nine microsatellite markers and pair-wise compared, and the highest intra-variety distance and the lowest inter-variety distance determined. The collection included 489 different genotypes, and synonyms and sports. Average values for number of alleles per locus (19), Polymorphic Information Content (0.764) and heterozygosities observed (0.773) and expected (0.785) indicated the high level of polymorphism existing in grapevine. The maximum intra-variety variability found was one allele between two accessions of the same variety, of a total of 3,171 pair-wise comparisons. The minimum inter-variety variability found was two alleles between two pairs of varieties, of a total of 119,316 pair-wise comparisons. In base to these results, the minimum distance required to set distinctness in grapevine with the nine microsatellite markers used could be established in two alleles. General rules for the use of the system as a support for establishing distinctness in vegetatively propagated crops are discussed.
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Assessing High Order Thinking of Students Participating in the "WISE" Project in Israel.
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Tal, Revital; Hochberg, Nurit
2003-01-01
Studied the higher order thinking of 53 Israeli ninth graders in 3 schools using the Web-Based Inquiry Science Environment (WISE) learning environment to study about malaria. Findings show that all students used higher order thinking skills and that their English was good enough to use the WISE learning environment in the Israeli setting. (SLD)
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Boosting wisdom: distance from the self enhances wise reasoning, attitudes, and behavior.
Kross, Ethan; Grossmann, Igor
2012-02-01
Although humans strive to be wise, they often fail to do so when reasoning over issues that have profound personal implications. Here we examine whether psychological distance enhances wise reasoning, attitudes and behavior under such circumstances. Two experiments demonstrate that cueing people to reason about personally meaningful issues (Study 1: Career prospects for the unemployed during an economic recession; Study 2: Anticipated societal changes associated with one's chosen candidate losing the 2008 U.S. Presidential election) from a distanced perspective enhances wise reasoning (dialecticism; intellectual humility), attitudes (cooperation-related attitude assimilation), and behavior (willingness to join a bipartisan group).
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ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Ryan, Barry J.
2013-01-01
This paper describes how three technologies were utilised in combination to align student learning and assessment as part of a case study. Multiple choice questions (MCQs) were central to all these technologies. The peer learning technologies; Personal Response Devices (a.k.a. "Clickers") and "PeerWise"…
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Resilience in the Midst of the Storm
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Patteron, Jerry F.; Kelleher, Paul
2007-01-01
Resilience is a trait that can help school leaders use their energy wisely when faced with adversity. But why do some leaders emerge from adversity with a balance in their account and others with a deficit? To explore this question, the authors conducted a case study with a single focus: "How do resilient school leaders move ahead in the face of…
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Alan Westhaver; Richard D. Revel; Brad C. Hawkes
2007-01-01
Reducing the risk of losses from wildfires that threaten homes and communities is a growing priority in Canada. To reduce risk, “FireSmart®” standards have been adopted nationwide for managing forest fuel. However, these standards largely disregard interests of wildlife and conservation of wildlife habitat – thus raising concerns...
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2016-08-01
of the operational environment to anticipate the impacts that siting and operating CBs will have on the local context, and to consider the effects ...17 Figure 7. Density and effective proximity factor (McNulty 2009b...Area-wise consumption of cement, FY2010 (Nahar 2011). ...............................44 Figure 23. Overview of Bangladesh [green: office, orange
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ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Ofei-Manu, Paul; Didham, Robert J.; Byun, Won Jung; Phillips, Rebecca; Dickella Gamaralalage, Premakumara Jagath; Rees, Sian
2018-01-01
Quality learning for sustainability can have a transformative effect in terms of promoting empowerment, leadership and wise investments in individual and collective lives and regenerating the local economies of cities, making them more inclusive, safe, resilient and sustainable. It can also help cities move towards achieving the United Nations…
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Juneja, Prabhjot; Evans, Philp M; Harris, Emma J
2013-08-01
Validation is required to ensure automated segmentation algorithms are suitable for radiotherapy target definition. In the absence of true segmentation, algorithmic segmentation is validated against expert outlining of the region of interest. Multiple experts are used to overcome inter-expert variability. Several approaches have been studied in the literature, but the most appropriate approach to combine the information from multiple expert outlines, to give a single metric for validation, is unclear. None consider a metric that can be tailored to case-specific requirements in radiotherapy planning. Validation index (VI), a new validation metric which uses experts' level of agreement was developed. A control parameter was introduced for the validation of segmentations required for different radiotherapy scenarios: for targets close to organs-at-risk and for difficult to discern targets, where large variation between experts is expected. VI was evaluated using two simulated idealized cases and data from two clinical studies. VI was compared with the commonly used Dice similarity coefficient (DSCpair - wise) and found to be more sensitive than the DSCpair - wise to the changes in agreement between experts. VI was shown to be adaptable to specific radiotherapy planning scenarios.
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Automatic Video Analysis for Obstructive Sleep Apnea Diagnosis.
Abad, Jorge; Muñoz-Ferrer, Aida; Cervantes, Miguel Ángel; Esquinas, Cristina; Marin, Alicia; Martínez, Carlos; Morera, Josep; Ruiz, Juan
2016-08-01
We investigated the diagnostic accuracy for the identification of obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) and its severity of a noninvasive technology based on image processing (SleepWise). This is an observational, prospective study to evaluate the degree of agreement between polysomnography (PSG) and SleepWise. We recruited 56 consecutive subjects with suspected OSA who were referred as outpatients to the Sleep Unit of the Hospital Universitari Germans Trias i Pujol (HUGTiP) from January 2013 to January 2014. All patients underwent laboratory PSG and image processing with SleepWise simultaneously the same night. Both PSG and SleepWise analyses were carried independently and blindly. We analyzed 50 of the 56 patients recruited. OSA was diagnosed through PSG in a total of 44 patients (88%) with a median apnea-hypopnea index (AHI) of 25.35 (24.9). According to SleepWise, 45 patients (90%) met the criteria for a diagnosis of OSA, with a median AHI of 22.8 (22.03). An analysis of the ability of PSG and SleepWise to classify patients by severity on the basis of their AHI shows that the two diagnostic systems distribute the different groups similarly. According to PSG, 23 patients (46%) had a diagnosis of severe OSA, 11 patients (22%) moderate OSA, and 10 patients (20%) mild OSA. According to SleepWise, 20, 13, and 12 patients (40%, 26%, and 24%, respectively) had a diagnosis of severe, moderate, and mild OSA respectively. For OSA diagnosis, SleepWise was found to have sensitivity of 100% and specificity of 83% in relation to PSG. The positive predictive value was 97% and the negative predictive value was 100%. The Bland-Altman plot comparing the mean AHI values obtained through PSG and SleepWise shows very good agreement between the two diagnostic techniques, with a bias of -3.85, a standard error of 12.18, and a confidence interval of -0.39 to -7.31. SleepWise was reasonably accurate for noninvasive and automatic diagnosis of OSA in outpatients. SleepWise determined the severity of OSA with high reliability. The current study including simultaneous laboratory PSG and SleepWise processing image is proposed as a reasonable validation standard. © 2016 Associated Professional Sleep Societies, LLC.
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NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Forkert, Nils Daniel; Siemonsen, Susanne; Dalski, Michael; Verleger, Tobias; Kemmling, Andre; Fiehler, Jens
2014-03-01
The acute ischemic stroke is a leading cause for death and disability in the industry nations. In case of a present acute ischemic stroke, the prediction of the future tissue outcome is of high interest for the clinicians as it can be used to support therapy decision making. Within this context, it has already been shown that the voxel-wise multi-parametric tissue outcome prediction leads to more promising results compared to single channel perfusion map thresholding. Most previously published multi-parametric predictions employ information from perfusion maps derived from perfusion-weighted MRI together with other image sequences such as diffusion-weighted MRI. However, it remains unclear if the typically calculated perfusion maps used for this purpose really include all valuable information from the PWI dataset for an optimal tissue outcome prediction. To investigate this problem in more detail, two different methods to predict tissue outcome using a k-nearest-neighbor approach were developed in this work and evaluated based on 18 datasets of acute stroke patients with known tissue outcome. The first method integrates apparent diffusion coefficient and perfusion parameter (Tmax, MTT, CBV, CBF) information for the voxel-wise prediction, while the second method employs also apparent diffusion coefficient information but the complete perfusion information in terms of the voxel-wise residue functions instead of the perfusion parameter maps for the voxel-wise prediction. Overall, the comparison of the results of the two prediction methods for the 18 patients using a leave-one-out cross validation revealed no considerable differences. Quantitatively, the parameter-based prediction of tissue outcome led to a mean Dice coefficient of 0.474, while the prediction using the residue functions led to a mean Dice coefficient of 0.461. Thus, it may be concluded from the results of this study that the perfusion parameter maps typically derived from PWI datasets include all valuable perfusion information required for a voxel-based tissue outcome prediction, while the complete analysis of the residue functions does not add further benefits for the voxel-wise tissue outcome prediction and is also computationally more expensive.
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Wise regulates bone deposition through genetic interactions with Lrp5.
Ellies, Debra L; Economou, Androulla; Viviano, Beth; Rey, Jean-Philippe; Paine-Saunders, Stephenie; Krumlauf, Robb; Saunders, Scott
2014-01-01
In this study using genetic approaches in mouse we demonstrate that the secreted protein Wise plays essential roles in regulating early bone formation through its ability to modulate Wnt signaling via interactions with the Lrp5 co-receptor. In Wise-/- mutant mice we find an increase in the rate of osteoblast proliferation and a transient increase in bone mineral density. This change in proliferation is dependent upon Lrp5, as Wise;Lrp5 double mutants have normal bone mass. This suggests that Wise serves as a negative modulator of Wnt signaling in active osteoblasts. Wise and the closely related protein Sclerostin (Sost) are expressed in osteoblast cells during temporally distinct early and late phases in a manner consistent with the temporal onset of their respective increased bone density phenotypes. These data suggest that Wise and Sost may have common roles in regulating bone development through their ability to control the balance of Wnt signaling. We find that Wise is also required to potentiate proliferation in chondrocytes, serving as a potential positive modulator of Wnt activity. Our analyses demonstrate that Wise plays a key role in processes that control the number of osteoblasts and chondrocytes during bone homeostasis and provide important insight into mechanisms regulating the Wnt pathway during skeletal development.
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THE FIRST HUNDRED BROWN DWARFS DISCOVERED BY THE WIDE-FIELD INFRARED SURVEY EXPLORER (WISE)
DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)
Davy Kirkpatrick, J.; Gelino, Christopher R.; Griffith, Roger L.
2011-12-01
We present ground-based spectroscopic verification of 6 Y dwarfs (see also Cushing et al.), 89 T dwarfs, 8 L dwarfs, and 1 M dwarf identified by the Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer (WISE). Eighty of these are cold brown dwarfs with spectral types {>=}T6, six of which have been announced earlier by Mainzer et al. and Burgasser et al. We present color-color and color-type diagrams showing the locus of M, L, T, and Y dwarfs in WISE color space. Near-infrared and, in a few cases, optical spectra are presented for these discoveries. Near-infrared classifications as late as early Y are presentedmore » and objects with peculiar spectra are discussed. Using these new discoveries, we are also able to extend the optical T dwarf classification scheme from T8 to T9. After deriving an absolute WISE 4.6 {mu}m (W2) magnitude versus spectral type relation, we estimate spectrophotometric distances to our discoveries. We also use available astrometric measurements to provide preliminary trigonometric parallaxes to four of our discoveries, which have types of L9 pec (red), T8, T9, and Y0; all of these lie within 10 pc of the Sun. The Y0 dwarf, WISE 1541-2250, is the closest at 2.8{sup +1.3}{sub -0.6} pc; if this 2.8 pc value persists after continued monitoring, WISE 1541-2250 will become the seventh closest stellar system to the Sun. Another 10 objects, with types between T6 and >Y0, have spectrophotometric distance estimates also placing them within 10 pc. The closest of these, the T6 dwarf WISE 1506+7027, is believed to fall at a distance of {approx}4.9 pc. WISE multi-epoch positions supplemented with positional info primarily from the Spitzer/Infrared Array Camera allow us to calculate proper motions and tangential velocities for roughly one-half of the new discoveries. This work represents the first step by WISE to complete a full-sky, volume-limited census of late-T and Y dwarfs. Using early results from this census, we present preliminary, lower limits to the space density of these objects and discuss constraints on both the functional form of the mass function and the low-mass limit of star formation.« less
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An empirical examination of WISE/NEOWISE asteroid analysis and results
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Myhrvold, Nathan
2018-11-01
Asteroid observations by the WISE space telescope and the analysis of those observations by the NEOWISE project have provided more information about the diameter, albedo, and other properties of approximately 164,000 asteroids, more than all other sources combined. The raw data set from this mission will likely be the largest and most important such data on asteroids available for many years. To put this trove of data to productive use, we must understand its strengths and weaknesses, and we need clear and reproducible methods for analyzing the data set. This study critically examines the WISE observational data and the NEOWISE results published in both the original papers and the NASA Planetary Data System (PDS). There seem to be multiple areas where the analysis might benefit from improvement or independent verification. The NEOWISE results were obtained by the application of 10 different modeling methods, many of which are not adequately explained or even defined, to 12 different combinations of WISE band data. More than half of NEOWISE results are based on a single band of data. The majority of curve fits to the data in the NEOWISE results are of poor quality, frequently missing most or all of the data points on which they are based. Complete misses occur for about 30% of single-band results, and among the results derived from the most common multiple-band combinations, about 43% miss all data points in at least one band. The NEOWISE data analysis relies on assumptions that are in many cases inconsistent with each other. A substantial fraction of WISE data was systematically excluded from the NEOWISE analysis. Building on methods developed by Hanuš et al. (2015), I show that error estimates for the WISE observational data were not well characterized, and all observations have true uncertainty at least a factor of 1.3-2.5 times larger than previously described, depending on the band. I also show that the error distribution is not well fit by a normal distribution. These findings are important because the Monte Carlo error-analysis method used by the NEOWISE project depends on both the observational errors and the normal distribution. An empirical comparison of published NEOWISE diameters to those in the literature that were estimated by using radar, occultation, or spacecraft (ROS) measurements shows that, for 129 results involving 105 asteroids, the NEOWISE diameters presented in tables of thermal-modeling results exactly match prior ROS results from the literature. While these are only a tiny fraction (0.06%) of the asteroids analyzed, they are important because they represent the only independent check on NEOWISE diameter accuracy. After removing the exact matches and adding additional ROS results, I find that the accuracy of diameter estimates for NEOWISE results depends strongly on the choice of data bands and on which of the 10 models was used. I show that systematic errors in the diameter estimates are much larger than previously described and range from - 5% to + 23%. In addition, random errors range from - 15% to + 19% when all four WISE bands were used, and from - 39% to + 57% in cases employing only the W2 band. The empirical results presented here show that much work remains to be done in analyzing data from the WISE/NEOWISE mission and interpreting it for asteroid science.
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Wisdom in clinical reasoning and medical practice.
Edmondson, Ricca; Pearce, Jane; Woerner, Markus H
2009-01-01
Exploring informal components of clinical reasoning, we argue that they need to be understood via the analysis of professional wisdom. Wise decisions are needed where action or insight is vital, but neither everyday nor expert knowledge provides solutions. Wisdom combines experiential, intellectual, ethical, emotional and practical capacities; we contend that it is also more strongly social than is usually appreciated. But many accounts of reasoning specifically rule out such features as irrational. Seeking to illuminate how wisdom operates, we therefore build on Aristotle's work on informal reasoning. His account of rhetorical communication shows how non-formal components can play active parts in reasoning, retaining, or even enhancing its reasonableness. We extend this account, applying it to forms of healthcare-related reasoning which are characterised by the need for wise decision-making. We then go on to explore some of what clinical wise reasoning may mean, concluding with a case taken from psychotherapeutic practice.
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Wang, Fei; Syeda-Mahmood, Tanveer; Vemuri, Baba C.; Beymer, David; Rangarajan, Anand
2010-01-01
In this paper, we propose a generalized group-wise non-rigid registration strategy for multiple unlabeled point-sets of unequal cardinality, with no bias toward any of the given point-sets. To quantify the divergence between the probability distributions – specifically Mixture of Gaussians – estimated from the given point sets, we use a recently developed information-theoretic measure called Jensen-Renyi (JR) divergence. We evaluate a closed-form JR divergence between multiple probabilistic representations for the general case where the mixture models differ in variance and the number of components. We derive the analytic gradient of the divergence measure with respect to the non-rigid registration parameters, and apply it to numerical optimization of the group-wise registration, leading to a computationally efficient and accurate algorithm. We validate our approach on synthetic data, and evaluate it on 3D cardiac shapes. PMID:20426043
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Wang, Fei; Syeda-Mahmood, Tanveer; Vemuri, Baba C; Beymer, David; Rangarajan, Anand
2009-01-01
In this paper, we propose a generalized group-wise non-rigid registration strategy for multiple unlabeled point-sets of unequal cardinality, with no bias toward any of the given point-sets. To quantify the divergence between the probability distributions--specifically Mixture of Gaussians--estimated from the given point sets, we use a recently developed information-theoretic measure called Jensen-Renyi (JR) divergence. We evaluate a closed-form JR divergence between multiple probabilistic representations for the general case where the mixture models differ in variance and the number of components. We derive the analytic gradient of the divergence measure with respect to the non-rigid registration parameters, and apply it to numerical optimization of the group-wise registration, leading to a computationally efficient and accurate algorithm. We validate our approach on synthetic data, and evaluate it on 3D cardiac shapes.
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Folk, Johanna B.; Disabato, David J.; Goodman, Fallon R.; Carter, Sarah P.; DiMauro, Jennifer C.; Riskind, John H.
2017-01-01
Progress in clinical science, theory, and practice requires the integration of advances from multiple fields of psychology, but much integration remains to be done. The current article seeks to address the specific gap that exists between basic social psychological theories and the implementation of related therapeutic techniques. We propose several “wise additions,” based upon the principles outlined by Walton (2014), intended to bridge current social psychological research with clinical psychological therapeutic practice using cognitive behavioral therapy as an example. We consider how recent advances in social psychological theories can inform the development and implementation of wise additions in clinical case conceptualization and interventions. We specifically focus on self and identity, self-affirmation, transference, social identity, and embodied cognition, five dominant areas of interest in the field that have clear clinical applications. PMID:28919701
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Brienza, Justin P; Grossmann, Igor
2017-12-20
We propose that class is inversely related to a propensity for using wise reasoning (recognizing limits of their knowledge, consider world in flux and change, acknowledges and integrate different perspectives) in interpersonal situations, contrary to established class advantage in abstract cognition. Two studies-an online survey from regions differing in economic affluence ( n = 2 145) and a representative in-lab study with stratified sampling of adults from working and middle-class backgrounds ( n = 299)-tested this proposition, indicating that higher social class consistently related to lower levels of wise reasoning across different levels of analysis, including regional and individual differences, and subjective construal of specific situations. The results held across personal and standardized hypothetical situations, across self-reported and observed wise reasoning, and when controlling for fluid and crystallized cognitive abilities. Consistent with an ecological framework, class differences in wise reasoning were specific to interpersonal (versus societal) conflicts. These findings suggest that higher social class weighs individuals down by providing the ecological constraints that undermine wise reasoning about interpersonal affairs. © 2017 The Authors.
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A consumer`s guide to lattice QCD results
DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)
DeGrand, T.
1994-12-01
The author presents an overview of recent lattice QCD results on hadron spectroscopy and matrix elements. Case studies include light quark spectroscopy, the determination of {alpha}{sub s} from heavy quark spectroscopy, the D-meson decay constant, a calculation of the Isgur-Wise function, and some examples of the (lack of) effect of sea quarks on matrix elements. The review is intended for the nonexpert.
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NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Griffith, Roger L.; Wright, Jason T.; Maldonado, Jessica; Povich, Matthew S.; Sigurđsson, Steinn; Mullan, Brendan
2015-04-01
Nearby Type iii (galaxy-spanning) Kardashev supercivilizations would have high mid-infrared (MIR) luminosities. We have used the Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer (WISE) to survey ∼ 1× {{10}5} galaxies for extreme MIR emission, 1 × 103 times more galaxies than the only previous such search. We have calibrated the WISE All-sky Catalog pipeline products to improve their photometry for extended sources. We present 563 extended sources with |b|≥slant 10 and red MIR colors, having visually vetted them to remove artifacts. No galaxies in our sample host an alien civilization reprocessing more than 85% of its starlight into the MIR, and only 50 galaxies, including Arp 220, have MIR luminosities consistent with \\gt 50% reprocessing. Ninety of these (likely) extragalactic sources have little literature presence; in most cases, they are likely barely resolved galaxies or pairs of galaxies undergoing large amounts of star formation. Five are new to science and deserve further study. The Be star 48 Librae sits within a MIR nebula, and we suggest that it may be creating dust. WISE, 2MASS, and Spitzer imagery shows that IRAS 04287+6444 is consistent with a previously unnoticed, heavily extinguished cluster of young stellar objects. We identify five “passive” (i.e., red) spiral galaxies with unusually high MIR and low NUV luminosity. We search a set of H i dark galaxies for MIR emission and find none. These 90 poorly understood sources and 5 anomalous passive spirals deserve follow-up via both SETI and conventional astrophysics.
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Impact of HealthWise South Africa on Polydrug Use and High-Risk Sexual Behavior
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Tibbits, Melissa K.; Smith, Edward A.; Caldwell, Linda L.; Flisher, Alan J.
2011-01-01
This study was designed to evaluate the efficacy of the HealthWise South Africa HIV and substance abuse prevention program at impacting adolescents' polydrug use and sexual risk behaviors. HealthWise is a school-based intervention designed to promote social-emotional skills, increase knowledge and refusal skills relevant to substance use and…
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Test-Wiseness Cues in the Options of Mathematics Items.
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Kuntz, Patricia
The quality of mathematics multiple choice items and their susceptibility to test wiseness were examined. Test wiseness was defined as "a subject's capacity to utilize the characteristics and formats of the test and/or test taking situation to receive a high score." The study used results of the Graduate Record Examinations Aptitude Test (GRE) and…
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Differential Benefits of Memory Training for Minority Older Adults in the SeniorWISE Study
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
McDougall, Graham J., Jr.; Becker, Heather; Pituch, Keenan; Acee, Taylor W.; Vaughan, Phillip W.; Delville, Carol L.
2010-01-01
Purpose: Cognitive training improves mental abilities in older adults, but the benefit to minority elders is unclear. We conducted a subgroup analysis of subjects in the SeniorWISE (Wisdom Is Simply Exploration) trial to examine this issue. Design and Methods: SeniorWISE was a Phase 3 randomized trial that enrolled 265 nondemented…
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Ground-based Submm/mm Follow-up Observations For Wise Selected Hyper-luminous Galaxies
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Wu, Jingwen; Tsai, C.; Benford, D.; Bridge, C.; Eisenhardt, P.; Blain, A.; Sayers, J.; Petty, S.; WISE Team
2012-01-01
One of the major objectives of NASA's Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer (WISE) mission is to search for the most luminous galaxies in the universe. The most productive method so far to select hyper luminous galaxies from WISE is to select targets that undetectable by WISE at 3.4 and 4.6 microns, while clearly detected at 12 and 22 microns, the so called W12 dropout galaxies. We have used the Caltech Submillimeter Observatory to follow-up these high-z (z=1.6-4.6) galaxies with SHARC-II at 350 to 850 microns, and BOLOCAM at 1.1 mm. Based on Spitzer 3.3 and 4.7 microns follow-ups, WISE W3, W4, and CSO observations, we constructed the SEDs and estimate the infrared luminosity and dust temperature for these W12 dropout galaxies. The inferred infrared luminosities are at least 10^13 to 10^14 solar luminosities, making them one of the most luminous population. The typical SEDs of these galaxies are flat from mid-IR to submillimeter, peaking at shorter wavelengths than other infrared luminous galaxies, indicating hotter dust temperature than known populations. Their SEDs can not be well fitted with existing templates, suggesting they may be a distinct new population. They may be extreme cases of Dust-Obsecured Galaxies (DOGs) with very high luminosities and dust temperature, and tracing a short transiting phase with booming luminosity at the peak epoch of AGN/starburst galaxy evolution.
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Analysis of laser printer and photocopier toners by spectral properties and chemometrics
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Verma, Neha; Kumar, Raj; Sharma, Vishal
2018-05-01
The use of printers to generate falsified documents has become a common practice in today's world. The examination and identification of the printed matter in the suspected documents (civil or criminal cases) may provide important information about the authenticity of the document. In the present study, a total number of 100 black toner samples both from laser printers and photocopiers were examined using diffuse reflectance UV-Vis Spectroscopy. The present research is divided into two parts; visual discrimination and discrimination by using multivariate analysis. A comparison between qualitative and quantitative analysis showed that multivariate analysis (Principal component analysis) provides 99.59%pair-wise discriminating power for laser printer toners while 99.84% pair-wise discriminating power for photocopier toners. The overall results obtained confirm the applicability of UV-Vis spectroscopy and chemometrics, in the nondestructive analysis of toner printed documents while enhancing their evidential value for forensic applications.
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Focus on Teen Men: Evaluating the Effectiveness of the Wise Guys Program.
Herrman, Judith W; Moore, Christopher; Rahmer, Brian
2016-04-01
Many interventions designed to promote safe sexual behaviors in teens focus on young women. Wise Guys is one curricular intervention designed to foster safe sexual practices in young men. This study assessed knowledge, attitude, and behavioral changes as the result of Wise Guys. This pre/posttest descriptive study measured changes in knowledge, attitudes, and sexual behaviors in 159 young men. This study detected limited knowledge and attitude changes but yielded statistically significant differences in safe sexual behaviors and likelihood to talk with parents or guardians about sexuality and dating. This study revealed important benefits of Wise Guys and proposed future mixed methods research to ensure that authentic teen voices inform programming. Nurses working with adolescents may find this information valuable as they address sexual health issues in their work. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
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Wise Regulates Bone Deposition through Genetic Interactions with Lrp5
Ellies, Debra L.; Economou, Androulla; Viviano, Beth; Rey, Jean-Philippe; Paine-Saunders, Stephenie; Krumlauf, Robb; Saunders, Scott
2014-01-01
In this study using genetic approaches in mouse we demonstrate that the secreted protein Wise plays essential roles in regulating early bone formation through its ability to modulate Wnt signaling via interactions with the Lrp5 co-receptor. In Wise−/− mutant mice we find an increase in the rate of osteoblast proliferation and a transient increase in bone mineral density. This change in proliferation is dependent upon Lrp5, as Wise;Lrp5 double mutants have normal bone mass. This suggests that Wise serves as a negative modulator of Wnt signaling in active osteoblasts. Wise and the closely related protein Sclerostin (Sost) are expressed in osteoblast cells during temporally distinct early and late phases in a manner consistent with the temporal onset of their respective increased bone density phenotypes. These data suggest that Wise and Sost may have common roles in regulating bone development through their ability to control the balance of Wnt signaling. We find that Wise is also required to potentiate proliferation in chondrocytes, serving as a potential positive modulator of Wnt activity. Our analyses demonstrate that Wise plays a key role in processes that control the number of osteoblasts and chondrocytes during bone homeostasis and provide important insight into mechanisms regulating the Wnt pathway during skeletal development. PMID:24789067
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Ahn, Youngwook; Sanderson, Brian W; Klein, Ophir D; Krumlauf, Robb
2010-10-01
Mice carrying mutations in Wise (Sostdc1) display defects in many aspects of tooth development, including tooth number, size and cusp pattern. To understand the basis of these defects, we have investigated the pathways modulated by Wise in tooth development. We present evidence that, in tooth development, Wise suppresses survival of the diastema or incisor vestigial buds by serving as an inhibitor of Lrp5- and Lrp6-dependent Wnt signaling. Reducing the dosage of the Wnt co-receptor genes Lrp5 and Lrp6 rescues the Wise-null tooth phenotypes. Inactivation of Wise leads to elevated Wnt signaling and, as a consequence, vestigial tooth buds in the normally toothless diastema region display increased proliferation and continuous development to form supernumerary teeth. Conversely, gain-of-function studies show that ectopic Wise reduces Wnt signaling and tooth number. Our analyses demonstrate that the Fgf and Shh pathways are major downstream targets of Wise-regulated Wnt signaling. Furthermore, our experiments revealed that Shh acts as a negative-feedback regulator of Wnt signaling and thus determines the fate of the vestigial buds and later tooth patterning. These data provide insight into the mechanisms that control Wnt signaling in tooth development and into how crosstalk among signaling pathways controls tooth number and morphogenesis.
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When to Use Methadone for pain: A Case-Based Approach.
Palat, Gayatri; Vallath, Nandini; Chary, Srini; Broderick, Ann
2018-01-01
The case studies are written in this article to illustrate how methadone might be used for pain in the Indian context. These cases might be used for discussion in a multidisciplinary team, or for individual study. It is important to understand that pain requires a multidisciplinary approach as opioids will assist only with physical, i.e. neuropathic and nociceptive pain, but not emotional, spiritual, or relational pain or the pain of immobility. The social determinants of pain were included to demonstrate how emotional, relational, and psychological dimensions of pain amplify the physical aspects of pain. The case studies follow a practical step-wise approach to pain while undergoing cancer treatment, pain toward the end-of-life and needing longer acting opioid. Methadone in children, and methadone in conditions of opioid toxicity or where there is a need for absorption in the proximal intestine cases are included.
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Deng, Yongbo; Korvink, Jan G
2016-05-01
This paper develops a topology optimization procedure for three-dimensional electromagnetic waves with an edge element-based finite-element method. In contrast to the two-dimensional case, three-dimensional electromagnetic waves must include an additional divergence-free condition for the field variables. The edge element-based finite-element method is used to both discretize the wave equations and enforce the divergence-free condition. For wave propagation described in terms of the magnetic field in the widely used class of non-magnetic materials, the divergence-free condition is imposed on the magnetic field. This naturally leads to a nodal topology optimization method. When wave propagation is described using the electric field, the divergence-free condition must be imposed on the electric displacement. In this case, the material in the design domain is assumed to be piecewise homogeneous to impose the divergence-free condition on the electric field. This results in an element-wise topology optimization algorithm. The topology optimization problems are regularized using a Helmholtz filter and a threshold projection method and are analysed using a continuous adjoint method. In order to ensure the applicability of the filter in the element-wise topology optimization version, a regularization method is presented to project the nodal into an element-wise physical density variable.
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Korvink, Jan G.
2016-01-01
This paper develops a topology optimization procedure for three-dimensional electromagnetic waves with an edge element-based finite-element method. In contrast to the two-dimensional case, three-dimensional electromagnetic waves must include an additional divergence-free condition for the field variables. The edge element-based finite-element method is used to both discretize the wave equations and enforce the divergence-free condition. For wave propagation described in terms of the magnetic field in the widely used class of non-magnetic materials, the divergence-free condition is imposed on the magnetic field. This naturally leads to a nodal topology optimization method. When wave propagation is described using the electric field, the divergence-free condition must be imposed on the electric displacement. In this case, the material in the design domain is assumed to be piecewise homogeneous to impose the divergence-free condition on the electric field. This results in an element-wise topology optimization algorithm. The topology optimization problems are regularized using a Helmholtz filter and a threshold projection method and are analysed using a continuous adjoint method. In order to ensure the applicability of the filter in the element-wise topology optimization version, a regularization method is presented to project the nodal into an element-wise physical density variable. PMID:27279766
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ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Ajayi, A. O.
2006-01-01
This study assessed farmers' willingness to pay (WTP) for extension services. The Contingent Valuation Method (CVM) was used to assess the amount which farmers are willing to pay. Primary data on the demographic, socio-economic variables of farmers and their WTP were collected from 228 farmers selected randomly in a stage-wise sampling procedure…
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... it's not caused by something that does need attention. In some cases, acanthosis nigricans can be a signal that you're at risk for diabetes. Whenever you notice a change in the color, thickness, or texture of your skin, it's wise ...
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... treatment is protected by the Constitution and case law. However, your state law may define when the living will goes into ... your state does not have a living will law, it is wise to put your wishes about ...
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Stress distribution in composite flatwise tension test specimens
NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)
Scott, Curtis A.; Pereira, J. Michael
1993-01-01
A finite element analysis was conducted to determine the stress distribution in typical graphite/epoxy composite flat wise tension (FWT) specimens under normal loading conditions. The purpose of the analysis was to determine the relationship between the applied load and the stress in the sample to evaluate the validity of the test as a means of measuring the out-of-plane strength of a composite laminate. Three different test geometries and three different material lay ups were modeled. In all cases, the out-of-plane component of stress in the test section was found to be uniform, with no stress concentrations, and very close to the nominal applied stress. The stress in the sample was found to be three-dimensional, and the magnitude of in-plane normal and shear stresses varied with the anisotropy of the test specimen. However, in the cases considered here, these components of stress were much smaller than the out-of-plane normal stress. The geometry of the test specimen had little influence on the results. It was concluded that the flat wise tension test provides a good measure of the out-of-plane strength for the representative materials that were studied.
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Institutionalizing Sex Education in Diverse U.S. School Districts.
Saul Butler, Rebekah; Sorace, Danene; Hentz Beach, Kathleen
2018-02-01
This paper describes the Working to Institutionalize Sex Education (WISE) Initiative, a privately funded effort to support ready public school districts to advance and sustain comprehensive sexuality programs, and examines the degree to which WISE has been successful in increasing access to sex education, removing barriers, and highlighting best practices. The data for this study come from a set of performance indicators, guidance documents, and tools designed for the WISE Initiative to capture changes in sex education institutionalization at WISE school districts. The evaluation includes the analysis of 186 school districts across 12 states in the U.S. As a result of the WISE Initiative, 788,865 unique students received new or enhanced sex education in school classrooms and 88 school districts reached their sex education institutionalization goals. In addition to these school district successes, WISE codified the WISE Method and toolkit-a practical guide to help schools implement sex education. Barriers to implementing sexuality education can be overcome with administrative support and focused technical assistance and training, resulting in significant student reach in diverse school districts nationwide. Copyright © 2017 The Society for Adolescent Health and Medicine. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
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Maughan, Brandon C; Baren, Jill M; Shea, Judy A; Merchant, Raina M
2015-12-01
The Choosing Wisely campaign was launched in 2011 to promote stewardship of medical resources by encouraging patients and physicians to speak with each other regarding the appropriateness of common tests and procedures. Medical societies including the American College of Emergency Physicians (ACEP) have developed lists of potentially low-value practices for their members to address with patients. No research has described the awareness or attitudes of emergency physicians (EPs) regarding the Choosing Wisely campaign. The study objective was to assess these beliefs among leaders of academic departments of emergency medicine (EM). This was a Web-based survey of emergency department (ED) chairs and division chiefs at institutions with allopathic EM residency programs. The survey examined awareness of Choosing Wisely, anticipated effects of the program, and discussions of Choosing Wisely with patients and professional colleagues. Participants also identified factors they associated with the use of potentially low-value services in the ED. Questions and answer scales were refined using iterative pilot testing with EPs and health services researchers. Seventy-eight percent (105/134) of invited participants responded to the survey. Eighty percent of respondents were aware of Choosing Wisely. A majority of participants anticipate the program will decrease costs of care (72% of respondents) and use of ED diagnostic imaging (69%) but will have no effect on EP salaries (94%) or medical-legal risks (65%). Only 45% of chairs have ever addressed Choosing Wisely with patients, in contrast to 88 and 82% who have discussed it with faculty and residents, respectively. Consultant-requested tests were identified by 97% of residents as a potential contributor to low-value services in the ED. A substantial majority of academic EM leaders in our study were aware of Choosing Wisely, but only slightly more than half could recall any ACEP recommendations for the program. Respondents familiar with Choosing Wisely anticipated generally positive effects, but chairs reported only infrequently discussing Choosing Wisely with patients. Future research should identify potentially low-value tests requested by consultants and objectively measure the utility and cost of these tests among ED patient populations. © 2015 by the Society for Academic Emergency Medicine.
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Tobin, Jade; Walach, Jan; de Beer, Dalene; Williams, Paul J; Filzmoser, Peter; Walczak, Beata
2017-11-24
While analyzing chromatographic data, it is necessary to preprocess it properly before exploration and/or supervised modeling. To make chromatographic signals comparable, it is crucial to remove the scaling effect, caused by differences in overall sample concentrations. One of the efficient methods of signal scaling is Probabilistic Quotient Normalization (PQN) [1]. However, it can be applied only to data for which the majority of features do not vary systematically among the studied classes of signals. When studying the influence of the traditional "fermentation" (oxidation) process on the concentration of 56 individual peaks detected in rooibos plant material, this assumption is not fulfilled. In this case, the only possible solution is the analysis of pairwise log-ratios, which are not influenced by the scaling constant. To estimate significant features, i.e., peaks differentiating the studied classes of samples (green and fermented rooibos plant material), we propose the application of rPLR (robust pair-wise log-ratios) as proposed by Walach et al. [2]. It allows for fast computation and identification of the significant features in terms of original variables (peaks) which is problematic, while working with the unfolded pair-wise log ratios. As demonstrated, it can be applied to designed data sets and in the case of contaminated data, it allows proper conclusions. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
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Is breast cancer awareness campaign effective in Pakistan?
Soomro, Rufina
2017-07-01
To assess the effectiveness of existing breast cancer awareness strategies in terms of early breast cancer detection.. This descriptive, retrospective study was conducted at the Breast Surgery department of the Liaquat National Hospital, Karachi, and comprised records of all biopsy-proven stage 1 breast cancer patients from 1994 to 2014.All relevant records were retrieved year-wise from computerised database and age and stage of each case at presentation were noted. Data of stage 1 breast cancer patients was calculated in all age groups in absolute numbers and in percentage. The total number of women aged below 40 years and stage 1 patients in each year were counted and percentages were calculated and year-wise plotted and compared with whole group. A total of 8,291 patients were registered during the study period. Their number increased from 53(0.64%) in 1994 to 847(10.21%) in 2014. Over the study period, there was a slow trend towards improvement in early diagnosis of breast cancer. With existing breast cancer awareness strategies, the rate of change for early diagnosis of this deadly disease was very slow.
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Improving cardiovascular disease management in Australia: NPS MedicineWise.
Gadzhanova, Svetla V; Roughead, Elizabeth E; Bartlett, Mark J
2013-08-05
To determine the impact of four NPS MedicineWise programs targeting quality use of medicines in cardiovascular management in primary care. Interrupted time-series analysis using the Department of Veterans' Affairs (DVA) claims dataset from 1 January 2002 to 31 August 2010. We examined the use of antithrombotics in people with atrial fibrillation and in those who had had a stroke, and the use of echocardiography and spironolactone in the population with heart failure. All veterans and their dependants in Australia who had received cardiovascular medicines or health services related to the targeted intervention. NPS MedicineWise national programs to improve cardiovascular management in primary care, which included prescriber feedback, academic detailing, case studies and audits as well as printed educational materials. Changes in medication and health service use before and after the interventions. All national programs were positively associated with significant improvements in related prescribing or test request practice. The interventions to improve the use of antithrombotics resulted in a 1.27% (95% CI, 1.26%-1.28%) and 0.63% (95% CI, 0.62%-0.64%) relative increase in the use of aspirin or warfarin in the population with atrial fibrillation 6 and 12 months after the program, respectively, and in a 1.51% (95% CI, 1.49%-1.53%) relative increase in the use of aspirin as monotherapy for secondary stroke prevention 12 months after the intervention. The heart failure programs resulted in a 3.69% (95% CI, 3.67%-3.71%) relative increase in the use of low-dose spironolactone and a 4.31% (95% CI, 4.27%-4.35%) relative increase in the use of echocardiogram tests 12 months after the intervention. NPS MedicineWise programs were effective in achieving positive changes in medicine and health service use for patients with cardiovascular diseases.
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An empirical examination of WISE/NEOWISE asteroid analysis and results
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Myhrvold, Nathan
2017-10-01
Observations made by the WISE space telescope and subsequent analysis by the NEOWISE project represent the largest corpus of asteroid data to date, describing the diameter, albedo, and other properties of the ~164,000 asteroids in the collection. I present a critical reanalysis of the WISE observational data, and NEOWISE results published in numerous papers and in the JPL Planetary Data System (PDS). This analysis reveals shortcomings and a lack of clarity, both in the original analysis and in the presentation of results. The procedures used to generate NEOWISE results fall short of established thermal modelling standards. Rather than using a uniform protocol, 10 modelling methods were applied to 12 combinations of WISE band data. Over half the NEOWISE results are based on a single band of data. Most NEOWISE curve fits are poor quality, frequently missing many or all the data points. About 30% of the single-band results miss all the data; 43% of the results derived from the most common multiple-band combinations miss all the data in at least one band. The NEOWISE data processing procedures rely on inconsistent assumptions, and introduce bias by systematically discarding much of the original data. I show that error estimates for the WISE observational data have a true uncertainty factor of ~1.2 to 1.9 times larger than previously described, and that the error estimates do not fit a normal distribution. These issues call into question the validity of the NEOWISE Monte-Carlo error analysis. Comparing published NEOWISE diameters to published estimates using radar, occultation, or spacecraft measurements (ROS) reveals 150 for which the NEOWISE diameters were copied exactly from the ROS source. My findings show that the accuracy of diameter estimates for NEOWISE results depend heavily on the choice of data bands and model. Systematic errors in the diameter estimates are much larger than previously described. Systematic errors for diameters in the PDS range from -3% to +27%. Random errors range from -14% to +19% when using all four WISE bands, and from -45% to +74% in cases using only the W2 band. The results presented here show that much work remains to be done towards understanding asteroid data from WISE/NEOWISE.
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Four hot DOGs in the microwave
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Frey, Sándor; Paragi, Zsolt; Gabányi, Krisztina Éva; An, Tao
2016-01-01
Hot dust-obscured galaxies (hot DOGs) are a rare class of hyperluminous infrared galaxies identified with the Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer (WISE) satellite. The majority of them are at high redshifts (z ˜ 2-3), at the peak epoch of star formation in the Universe. Infrared, optical, radio, and X-ray data suggest that hot DOGs contain heavily obscured, extremely luminous active galactic nuclei (AGN). This class may represent a short phase in the life of the galaxies, signifying the transition from starburst- to AGN-dominated phases. Hot DOGs are typically radio-quiet, but some of them show mJy-level emission in the radio (microwave) band. We observed four hot DOGs using the technique of very long baseline interferometry (VLBI). The 1.7 GHz observations with the European VLBI Network (EVN) revealed weak radio features in all sources. The radio is free from dust obscuration and, at such high redshifts, VLBI is sensitive only to compact structures that are characteristic of AGN activity. In two cases (WISE J0757+5113, WISE J1603+2745), the flux density of the VLBI-detected components is much smaller than the total flux density, suggesting that ˜70-90 per cent of the radio emission, while still dominated by AGN, originates from angular scales larger than that probed by the EVN. The source WISE J1146+4129 appears a candidate compact symmetric object, and WISE J1814+3412 shows a 5.1 kpc double structure, reminiscent of hotspots in a medium-sized symmetric object. Our observations support that AGN residing in hot DOGs may be genuine young radio sources where starburst and AGN activities coexist.
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Investigation of deformation mechanisms of staggered nanocomposites using molecular dynamics
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Mathiazhagan, S.; Anup, S.
2016-08-01
Biological materials with nanostructure of regularly or stair-wise staggered arrangements of hard platelets reinforced in a soft protein matrix have superior mechanical properties. Applications of these nanostructures to ceramic matrix composites could enhance their toughness. Using molecular dynamics simulations, mechanical behaviour of the bio-inspired nanocomposites is studied. Regularly staggered model shows better flow behaviour compared to stair-wise staggered model due to the symmetrical crack propagation along the interface. Though higher stiffness and strength are obtained for stair-wise staggered models, rapid crack propagation reduces the toughness. Arresting this crack propagation could lead to superior mechanical properties in stair-wise staggered models.
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ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Otoum, Abedalqader; Khalaf, Hisham Bani; Bajbeer, Abedalqader; Hamad, Hassan Bani
2015-01-01
This study aimed to identify the level of using Test-wiseness strategies for the students of arts and sciences Faculty at Sharourah and its relationship with some variables. a questionnaire was designed which consisted of (29) items measuring three domains of Test-wiseness strategies. It was applied on a sample which consisted of (299) students.…
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Tyagi, H R; Tewari, H B
1979-01-01
A wide coverage of the retinae of a large number of animals (Calotes, Varanus, Naja, Athene, Passer, Streptopelia, Psittacula and Funambulus) from the point of view of the histoenzymological distribution of non-specific esterase amongst the various constituents reveals mostly identical patterns. They are as follows: 1. Outer segments - positive in all cases. 2. Outer plexiform layer - equipped with enzymatic activity in all the instances. 3. Inner nuclear layer - thin cytoplasmic rim of the neurons characterized by positive activity; the nuclei of the neurons are completely negative. 4. Inner plexiform layer - this layer is endowed with the enzymatic activity. 5. Ganglion cells - negative in all cases. 6. Nerve fibres of the layer of nerve fibres, situated adjasent to ganglion cells are positive in all the animals; in case of squirrel oligodandroglial cells present in the region have demonstrated activity of a high order. On of the high-lights of the present contribution is demarcation of the inner plexiform layer into three stratified zones, equipped with enzymatic activity in Calotes, Streptopelia, Naja and Funambulus. Such stratifications are not seen in Varanus, Passer and Psittacula. The significance of the various patterns and the equipment of the enzyme in various constituents at various locals have been discussed in relation to the metabolic functions, zone-wise and interzone-wise in visual processes of various animals.
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Data Wise in Action: Stories of Schools Using Data to Improve Teaching and Learning
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Boudett, Kathryn Parker, Ed.; Steele, Jennifer L., Ed.
2007-01-01
What does it look like when a school uses data wisely? "Data Wise in Action", a new companion and sequel to the bestselling "Data Wise", tells the stories of eight very different schools following the Data Wise process of using assessment results to improve teaching and learning. "Data Wise in Action" highlights the…
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WISE Design for Knowledge Integration.
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Linn, Marcia C.; Clark, Douglas; Slotta, James D.
2003-01-01
Examines the implementation of Web-based Inquiry Science Environment (WISE), which can incorporate modeling tools and hand-held devices. Describes WISE design team practices, features of the WISE learning environment, and patterns of feature use in WISE library projects. (SOE)
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Social class and wise reasoning about interpersonal conflicts across regions, persons and situations
Brienza, Justin P.
2017-01-01
We propose that class is inversely related to a propensity for using wise reasoning (recognizing limits of their knowledge, consider world in flux and change, acknowledges and integrate different perspectives) in interpersonal situations, contrary to established class advantage in abstract cognition. Two studies—an online survey from regions differing in economic affluence (n = 2 145) and a representative in-lab study with stratified sampling of adults from working and middle-class backgrounds (n = 299)—tested this proposition, indicating that higher social class consistently related to lower levels of wise reasoning across different levels of analysis, including regional and individual differences, and subjective construal of specific situations. The results held across personal and standardized hypothetical situations, across self-reported and observed wise reasoning, and when controlling for fluid and crystallized cognitive abilities. Consistent with an ecological framework, class differences in wise reasoning were specific to interpersonal (versus societal) conflicts. These findings suggest that higher social class weighs individuals down by providing the ecological constraints that undermine wise reasoning about interpersonal affairs. PMID:29263284
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Watanabe, Yurina; Yoshizaki, Kazuhito
2014-10-01
This study aimed to investigate the generality of conflict adaptation associated with block-wise conflict frequency between two types of stimulus scripts (Kanji and Hiragana). To this end, we examined whether the modulation of the compatibility effect with one type of script depending on block-wise conflict frequency (75% versus 25% generalized to the other type of script whose block-wise conflict frequency was kept constant (50%), using the Spatial Stroop task. In Experiment 1, 16 participants were required to identify the target orientation (up or down) presented in the upper or lower visual-field. The results showed that block-wise conflict adaptation with one type of stimulus script generalized to the other. The procedure in Experiment 2 was the same as that in Experiment 1, except that the presentation location differed between the two types of stimulus scripts. We did not find a generalization from one script to the other. These results suggest that presentation location is a critical factor contributing to the generality of block-wise conflict adaptation.
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Impact of HealthWise South Africa on polydrug use and high-risk sexual behavior.
Tibbits, Melissa K; Smith, Edward A; Caldwell, Linda L; Flisher, Alan J
2011-08-01
This study was designed to evaluate the efficacy of the HealthWise South Africa HIV and substance abuse prevention program at impacting adolescents' polydrug use and sexual risk behaviors. HealthWise is a school-based intervention designed to promote social-emotional skills, increase knowledge and refusal skills relevant to substance use and sexual behaviors, and encourage healthy free time activities. Four intervention schools in one township near Cape Town, South Africa were matched to five comparison schools (N = 4040). The sample included equal numbers of male and female participants (Mean age = 14.0). Multiple regression was used to assess the impact of HealthWise on the outcomes of interest. Findings suggest that among virgins at baseline (beginning of eighth grade) who had sex by Wave 5 (beginning of 10th grade), HealthWise youth were less likely than comparison youth to engage in two or more risk behaviors at last sex. Additionally, HealthWise was effective at slowing the onset of frequent polydrug use among non-users at baseline and slowing the increase in this outcome among all participants. Program effects were not found for lifetime sexual activity, condomless sex refusal and past-month polydrug use. These findings suggest that HealthWise is a promising approach to HIV and substance abuse prevention.
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Ahn, Youngwook; Sims, Carrie; Logue, Jennifer M; Weatherbee, Scott D; Krumlauf, Robb
2013-02-01
The future site of skin appendage development is marked by a placode during embryogenesis. Although Wnt/β-catenin signaling is known to be essential for skin appendage development, it is unclear which cellular processes are controlled by the signaling and how the precise level of the signaling activity is achieved during placode formation. We have investigated roles for Lrp4 and its potential ligand Wise (Sostdc1) in mammary and other skin appendage placodes. Lrp4 mutant mice displayed a delay in placode initiation and changes in distribution and number of mammary precursor cells leading to abnormal morphology, number and position of mammary placodes. These Lrp4 mammary defects, as well as limb defects, were associated with elevated Wnt/β-catenin signaling and were rescued by reducing the dose of the Wnt co-receptor genes Lrp5 and Lrp6, or by inactivating the gene encoding β-catenin. Wise-null mice phenocopied a subset of the Lrp4 mammary defects and Wise overexpression reduced the number of mammary precursor cells. Genetic epistasis analyses suggest that Wise requires Lrp4 to exert its function and that, together, they have a role in limiting mammary fate, but Lrp4 has an early Wise-independent role in facilitating placode formation. Lrp4 and Wise mutants also share defects in vibrissa and hair follicle development, suggesting that the roles played by Lrp4 and Wise are common to skin appendages. Our study presents genetic evidence for interplay between Lrp4 and Wise in inhibiting Wnt/β-catenin signaling and provides an insight into how modulation of Wnt/β-catenin signaling controls cellular processes important for skin placode formation.
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A water market simulator considering pair-wise trades between agents
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Huskova, I.; Erfani, T.; Harou, J. J.
2012-04-01
In many basins in England no further water abstraction licences are available. Trading water between water rights holders has been recognized as a potentially effective and economically efficient strategy to mitigate increasing scarcity. A screening tool that could assess the potential for trade through realistic simulation of individual water rights holders would help assess the solution's potential contribution to local water management. We propose an optimisation-driven water market simulator that predicts pair-wise trade in a catchment and represents its interaction with natural hydrology and engineered infrastructure. A model is used to emulate licence-holders' willingness to engage in short-term trade transactions. In their simplest form agents are represented using an economic benefit function. The working hypothesis is that trading behaviour can be partially predicted based on differences in marginal values of water over space and time and estimates of transaction costs on pair-wise trades. We discuss the further possibility of embedding rules, norms and preferences of the different water user sectors to more realistically represent the behaviours, motives and constraints of individual licence holders. The potential benefits and limitations of such a social simulation (agent-based) approach is contrasted with our simulator where agents are driven by economic optimization. A case study based on the Dove River Basin (UK) demonstrates model inputs and outputs. The ability of the model to suggest impacts of water rights policy reforms on trading is discussed.
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Water Clouds in the Atmosphere of a Jupiter-Like Brown Dwarf
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Kohler, Susanna
2016-07-01
Lying a mere 7.2 light-years away, WISE 0855 is the nearest known planetary-mass object. This brown dwarf, a failed star just slightly more massive than Jupiter, is also the coldest known compact body outside of our solar system and new observations have now provided us with a first look at its atmosphere.Temperaturepressure profiles of Jupiter, WISE 0855, and what was previously the coldest extrasolar object with a 5-m spectrum, Gl 570D. Thicker lines show the location of each objects 5-m photospheres. WISE 0855s and Jupiters photospheres are near the point where water starts to condense out into clouds (dashed line). [Skemer et al. 2016]Challenging ObservationsWith a chilly temperature of 250 K, the brown dwarf WISE 0855 is the closest thing weve been able to observe to a body resembling Jupiters ~130 K. WISE 0855 therefore presents an intriguing opportunity to directly study the atmosphere of an object whose physical characteristics are similar to our own gas giants.But studying the atmospheric characteristics of such a body is tricky. WISE 0855 is too cold and faint to be able to obtain traditional optical or near-infrared ( 2.5 m) spectroscopy of it. Luckily, like Jupiter, the opacity of its gas allows thermal emission from its deep atmosphere to escape through an atmospheric window around ~5 m.A team of scientists led by Andrew Skemer (UC Santa Cruz) set out to observe WISE 0855 in this window with the Gemini-North telescope and the Gemini Near-Infrared Spectrograph. Though WISE 0855 is five times fainter than the faintest object previously detected with ground-based 5-m spectroscopy, the dry air of Mauna Kea (and a lot of patience!) allowed the team to obtain unprecedented spectra of this object.WISE 0855s spectrum shows absorption features consistent with water vapor, and its best fit by a cloudy brown-dwarf model. [Skemer et al. 2016]Water Clouds FoundExoplanets and brown dwarfs cooler than ~350 K are expected to form water ice clouds in upper atmosphere and these clouds should be thick enough to alter the emergent spectrum that we observe. Does WISE 0855 fit this picture?Yes! By modeling the spectrum of WISE 0855, Skemer and collaborators demonstrate that its completely dominated by water absorption lines. This represents the first evidence of water clouds in a body outside of our solar system.Atmospheric TurbulenceWISE 0855s water absorption profile bears a striking resemblance to Jupiters. Where the spectra differ, however, is in the lower-wavelength end of observations: Jupiter also shows absorption by a molecule called phosphine, whereas WISE 0855 doesnt.Jupiters spectrum is strikingly similar to WISE 0855s from 4.8 to 5.2 m, where both objects are dominated by water absorption. But from 4.5 to 4.8 m, Jupiters spectrum is dominated by phosphine absorption, indicating a turbulent atmosphere, while WISE 0855s is not. [Skemer et al. 2016]Interestingly, if the bodies were both in equilibrium, neither WISE 0855 nor Jupiter should contain detectable phosphine in their photospheres. The reason Jupiter does is because theres a significant amount of turbulent mixing in its atmosphere that dredges up phosphine from the planets hot interior. The fact that WISE 0855 has no sign of phosphine suggests its atmosphere may be much less turbulent than Jupiters.These observations represent an important step as we attempt to understand the atmospheres of extrasolar bodies that are similar to our own gas-giant planets. Observations of other such bodies in the future especially using new technology like the James Webb Space Telescope will allow us to learn more about the dynamical and chemical processes that occur in cold atmospheres.CitationAndrew J. Skemer et al 2016 ApJ 826 L17. doi:10.3847/2041-8205/826/2/L17
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Liu, Zhixin; Moorin, Rachael; Worthington, John; Tofler, Geoffrey; Bartlett, Mark; Khan, Rabia; Zuo, Yeqin
2016-10-13
The National Prescribing Service (NPS) MedicineWise Stroke Prevention Program, which was implemented nationally in 2009-2010 in Australia, sought to improve antithrombotic prescribing in stroke prevention using dedicated interventions that target general practitioners. This study evaluated the impact of the NPS MedicineWise Stroke Prevention Program on antithrombotic prescribing and primary stroke hospitalizations. This population-based time series study used administrative health data linked to 45 and Up Study participants with a high risk of cardiovascular disease (CVD) to assess the possible impact of the NPS MedicineWise program on first-time aspirin prescriptions and primary stroke-related hospitalizations. Time series analysis showed that the NPS MedicineWise program was significantly associated with increased first-time prescribing of aspirin (P=0.03) and decreased hospitalizations for primary ischemic stroke (P=0.03) in the at-risk study population (n=90 023). First-time aspirin prescription was correlated with a reduction in the rate of hospitalization for primary stroke (P=0.02). Following intervention, the number of first-time aspirin prescriptions increased by 19.8% (95% confidence interval, 1.6-38.0), while the number of first-time stroke hospitalizations decreased by 17.3% (95% confidence interval, 1.8-30.0). Consistent with NPS MedicineWise program messages for the high-risk CVD population, the NPS MedicineWise Stroke Prevention Program (2009) was associated with increased initiation of aspirin and a reduced rate of hospitalization for primary stroke. The findings suggest that the provision of evidence-based multifaceted large-scale educational programs in primary care can be effective in changing prescriber behavior and positively impacting patient health outcomes. © 2016 The Authors and NPS MedicineWise. Published on behalf of the American Heart Association, Inc., by Wiley Blackwell.
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Peer Teaching to Foster Learning in Physiology.
Srivastava, Tripti K; Waghmare, Lalitbhushan S; Mishra, Ved Prakash; Rawekar, Alka T; Quazi, Nazli; Jagzape, Arunita T
2015-08-01
Peer teaching is an effective tool to promote learning and retention of knowledge. By preparing to teach, students are encouraged to construct their own learning program, so that they can explain effectively to fellow learners. Peer teaching is introduced in present study to foster learning and pedagogical skills amongst first year medical under-graduates in physiology with a Hypothesis that teaching is linked to learning on part of the teacher. Non-randomized, Interventional study, with mixed methods design. Cases experienced peer teaching whereas controls underwent tutorials for four consecutive classes. Quantitative Evaluation was done through pre/post test score analysis for Class average normalized gain and tests of significance, difference in average score in surprise class test after one month and percentage of responses in closed ended items of feedback questionnaire. Qualitative Evaluation was done through categorization of open ended items and coding of reflective statements. The average pre and post test score was statistically significant within cases (p = 0.01) and controls (p = 0.023). The average post test scores was more for cases though not statistically significant. The class average normalized gain (g) for Tutorials was 49% and for peer teaching 53%. Surprise test had average scoring of 36 marks (out of 50) for controls and 41 marks for cases. Analysed section wise, the average score was better for Long answer question (LAQ) in cases. Section wise analysis suggested that through peer teaching, retention was better for descriptive answers as LAQ has better average score in cases. Feedback responses were predominantly positive for efficacy of peer teaching as a learning method. The reflective statements were sorted into reflection in action, reflection on action, claiming evidence, describing experience, and recognizing discrepancies. Teaching can stimulate further learning as it involves interplay of three processes: metacognitive awareness; deliberate practice, and self-explanation. Coupled with immediate feedback and reflective exercises, learning can be measurably enhanced along with improved teaching skills.
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Peer Teaching to Foster Learning in Physiology
Srivastava, Tripti K; Waghmare, Lalitbhushan S.; Mishra, Ved Prakash; Rawekar, Alka T; Quazi, Nazli; Jagzape, Arunita T
2015-01-01
Introduction Peer teaching is an effective tool to promote learning and retention of knowledge. By preparing to teach, students are encouraged to construct their own learning program, so that they can explain effectively to fellow learners. Peer teaching is introduced in present study to foster learning and pedagogical skills amongst first year medical under-graduates in physiology with a Hypothesis that teaching is linked to learning on part of the teacher. Materials and Methods Non-randomized, Interventional study, with mixed methods design. Cases experienced peer teaching whereas controls underwent tutorials for four consecutive classes. Quantitative Evaluation was done through pre/post test score analysis for Class average normalized gain and tests of significance, difference in average score in surprise class test after one month and percentage of responses in closed ended items of feedback questionnaire. Qualitative Evaluation was done through categorization of open ended items and coding of reflective statements. Results The average pre and post test score was statistically significant within cases (p = 0.01) and controls (p = 0.023). The average post test scores was more for cases though not statistically significant. The class average normalized gain (g) for Tutorials was 49% and for peer teaching 53%. Surprise test had average scoring of 36 marks (out of 50) for controls and 41 marks for cases. Analysed section wise, the average score was better for Long answer question (LAQ) in cases. Section wise analysis suggested that through peer teaching, retention was better for descriptive answers as LAQ has better average score in cases. Feedback responses were predominantly positive for efficacy of peer teaching as a learning method. The reflective statements were sorted into reflection in action, reflection on action, claiming evidence, describing experience, and recognizing discrepancies. Conclusion Teaching can stimulate further learning as it involves interplay of three processes: metacognitive awareness; deliberate practice, and self-explanation. Coupled with immediate feedback and reflective exercises, learning can be measurably enhanced along with improved teaching skills. PMID:26435969
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Schmitt, Hannah; Kray, Jutta; Ferdinand, Nicola K.
2017-01-01
A number of aging studies suggest that older adults process positive and negative information differently. For instance, the socioemotional selectivity theory postulates that older adults preferably process positive information in service of emotional well-being (Reed and Carstensen, 2012). Moreover, recent research has started to investigate whether incentives like gains or losses can influence cognitive control in an ongoing task. In an earlier study (Schmitt et al., 2015), we examined whether incentive cues, indicating potential monetary gains, losses, or neutral outcomes for good performance in the following trial, would influence older adults’ ability to exert cognitive control. Cognitive control was measured in an AX-Continuous-Performance-Task (AX-CPT) in which participants had to select their responses to probe stimuli depending on a preceding context cue. In this study, we did not find support for a positivity effect in older adults, but both gains and losses led to enhanced context processing. As the trial-wise presentation mode may be too demanding on cognitive resources for such a bias to occur, the main goal of the present study was to examine whether motivational mindsets, induced by block-wise presentation of incentives, would result in a positivity effect. For this reason, we examined 17 older participants (65–76 years) in the AX-CPT using a block-wise presentation of incentive cues and compared them to 18 older adults (69–78 years) with the trial-wise presentation mode from our earlier study (Schmitt et al., 2015). Event-related potentials were recorded to the onset of the motivational cue and during the AX-CPT. Our results show that (a) older adults initially process cues signaling potential losses more strongly, but later during the AX-CPT invest more cognitive resources in preparatory processes like context updating in conditions with potential gains, and (b) block-wise and trial-wise presentation of incentive cues differentially influenced cognitive control. When incentives were presented block-wise, the above described valence effects were consistently found. In contrast, when incentives were presented trial-wise, the effects were mixed and salience as well as valence effects can be obtained. Hence, how positive and negative incentive cues influence cognitive control in older adults is dependent on demands of cue processing. PMID:29170649
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Schmitt, Hannah; Kray, Jutta; Ferdinand, Nicola K
2017-01-01
A number of aging studies suggest that older adults process positive and negative information differently. For instance, the socioemotional selectivity theory postulates that older adults preferably process positive information in service of emotional well-being (Reed and Carstensen, 2012). Moreover, recent research has started to investigate whether incentives like gains or losses can influence cognitive control in an ongoing task. In an earlier study (Schmitt et al., 2015), we examined whether incentive cues, indicating potential monetary gains, losses, or neutral outcomes for good performance in the following trial, would influence older adults' ability to exert cognitive control. Cognitive control was measured in an AX-Continuous-Performance-Task (AX-CPT) in which participants had to select their responses to probe stimuli depending on a preceding context cue. In this study, we did not find support for a positivity effect in older adults, but both gains and losses led to enhanced context processing. As the trial-wise presentation mode may be too demanding on cognitive resources for such a bias to occur, the main goal of the present study was to examine whether motivational mindsets, induced by block-wise presentation of incentives, would result in a positivity effect. For this reason, we examined 17 older participants (65-76 years) in the AX-CPT using a block-wise presentation of incentive cues and compared them to 18 older adults (69-78 years) with the trial-wise presentation mode from our earlier study (Schmitt et al., 2015). Event-related potentials were recorded to the onset of the motivational cue and during the AX-CPT. Our results show that (a) older adults initially process cues signaling potential losses more strongly, but later during the AX-CPT invest more cognitive resources in preparatory processes like context updating in conditions with potential gains, and (b) block-wise and trial-wise presentation of incentive cues differentially influenced cognitive control. When incentives were presented block-wise, the above described valence effects were consistently found. In contrast, when incentives were presented trial-wise, the effects were mixed and salience as well as valence effects can be obtained. Hence, how positive and negative incentive cues influence cognitive control in older adults is dependent on demands of cue processing.
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Using Computer Assisted Instruction in a Reading and Study Skills Course.
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Rauch, Margaret
Test wiseness programs and computer assisted study skills instruction (CASSI) were found to be valuable resources for college reading and study skills instructors and students at St. Cloud State University (Minnesota). Two booklets on test wiseness cues were reorganized and used as computer programs to allow the information to be presented outside…
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Kale, Sanjay S; Ghole, Vikram Shantaram; Pawar, N J; Jagtap, Deepak V
2014-01-01
Semi-arid Karha basin from Deccan Volcanic Province, India was investigated for inter-annual variability of urolithiasis epidemic. The number of reported urolith patient, weather station data and groundwater quality results was used to assess impact of geoenvironment on urolithiasis. Data of 7081 urolith patient were processed for epidemiological study. Gender class, age group, year-wise cases and urolith type were studied in epidemiology. Rainfall, temperature, pan evaporation and sunshine hours were used to correlate urolithiasis. Further, average values of groundwater parameters were correlated with the number of urolith episodes. A total of 52 urolith samples were collected from hospitals and analysed using FTIR technique to identify dominant urolith type in study area. Result shows that male population is more prone, age group of 20-40 is more susceptible and calcium oxalate uroliths are dominant in study area. Year-wise distribution revealed that there is steady increase in urolithiasis with inflation in drought years. In climatic parameters, hot days are significantly correlated with urolithiasis. In groundwater quality, EC, Na and F are convincingly correlated with urolith patients, which concludes the strong relation between geo-environment and urolithiasis.
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Walsh, Jason L; Harris, Benjamin H L; Denny, Paul; Smith, Phil
2018-01-01
Purpose of the study There are few studies on the value of authoring questions as a study method, the quality of the questions produced by students and student perceptions of student-authored question banks. Here we evaluate PeerWise, a widely used and free online resource that allows students to author, answer and discuss multiple-choice questions. Study design We introduced two undergraduate medical student cohorts to PeerWise (n=603). We looked at their patterns of PeerWise usage; identified associations between student engagement and summative exam performance; and used focus groups to assess student perceptions of the value of PeerWise for learning. We undertook item analysis to assess question difficulty and quality. Results Over two academic years, the two cohorts wrote 4671 questions, answered questions 606 658 times and posted 7735 comments. Question writing frequency correlated most strongly with summative performance (Spearman’s rank: 0.24, p=<0.001). Student focus groups found that: (1) students valued curriculum specificity; and (2) students were concerned about student-authored question quality. Only two questions of the 300 ’most-answered' questions analysed had an unacceptable discriminatory value (point-biserial correlation <0.2). Conclusions Item analysis suggested acceptable question quality despite student concerns. Quantitative and qualitative methods indicated that PeerWise is a valuable study tool. PMID:28866607
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Promotion of a healthy work life at small enterprises in Thailand by participatory methods.
Krungkraiwong, Sudthida; Itani, Toru; Amornratanapaichit, Ratanaporn
2006-01-01
The major problems of small enterprises include unfavourable working conditions and environment that affect safety and health of workers. The WISE (Work Improvement in Small Enterprises) methodology developed by the ILO has been widely applied to improve occupational safety and health in small enterprises in Thailand. The participatory methods building on local good practices and focusing on practicable improvements have proven effective in controlling the occupational hazards in these enterprises at their sources. As a result of applying the methods in small-scale industries, the frequency of occupational accidents was reduced and the working environment actually improved in the cases studied. The results prove that the participatory approach taken by the WISE activities is a useful and effective tool to make owner/managers and workers in small enterprises voluntarily improve their own working conditions and environment. In promoting a healthy work life at small enterprises in Thailand, it is important to further develop and spread the approach.
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NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Assef, R. J.; Stern, D.; Noirot, G.; Jun, H. D.; Cutri, R. M.; Eisenhardt, P. R. M.
2018-02-01
We present two large catalogs of active galactic nucleus (AGN) candidates identified across 30,093 deg2 of extragalactic sky from the Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer’s AllWISE Data Release. Both catalogs are selected purely using the Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer (WISE) W1 and W2 bands. The R90 catalog consists of 4,543,530 AGN candidates with 90% reliability, while the C75 catalog consists of 20,907,127 AGN candidates with 75% completeness. These reliability and completeness figures were determined from a detailed analysis of UV- to near-IR spectral energy distributions of ∼ {10}5 sources in the 9 deg2 Boötes field. The AGN selection criteria are based on those of Assef et al. (2013) recalibrated to the AllWISE data release. We provide a detailed discussion of potential artifacts and excise portions of the sky close to the Galactic Center, Galactic Plane, nearby galaxies, and other expected contaminating sources. These catalogs are expected to enable a broad range of science, and we present a few illustrative cases. From the R90 sample, we identify 45 highly variable AGNs lacking radio counterparts in the FIRST survey. One of these sources, WISEA J142846.71+172353.1, is a changing-look quasar at z = 0.104, which has changed from having broad Hα to being a narrow-lined AGN. We characterize our catalogs by comparing them to large, wide-area AGN catalogs in the literature. We identify four ROSAT X-ray sources that are each matched to three WISE-selected AGNs in the R90 sample within 30″. Spectroscopy reveals that one of these systems, 2RXS J150158.6+691029, consists of a triplet of quasars at z = 1.133 ± 0.004, suggestive of a rich group or forming galaxy cluster.
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Wise, a context-dependent activator and inhibitor of Wnt signalling.
Itasaki, Nobue; Jones, C Michael; Mercurio, Sara; Rowe, Alison; Domingos, Pedro M; Smith, James C; Krumlauf, Robb
2003-09-01
We have isolated a novel secreted molecule, Wise, by a functional screen for activities that alter the anteroposterior character of neuralised Xenopus animal caps. Wise encodes a secreted protein capable of inducing posterior neural markers at a distance. Phenotypes arising from ectopic expression or depletion of Wise resemble those obtained when Wnt signalling is altered. In animal cap assays, posterior neural markers can be induced by Wnt family members, and induction of these markers by Wise requires components of the canonical Wnt pathway. This indicates that in this context Wise activates the Wnt signalling cascade by mimicking some of the effects of Wnt ligands. Activation of the pathway was further confirmed by nuclear accumulation of beta-catenin driven by Wise. By contrast, in an assay for secondary axis induction, extracellularly Wise antagonises the axis-inducing ability of Wnt8. Thus, Wise can activate or inhibit Wnt signalling in a context-dependent manner. The Wise protein physically interacts with the Wnt co-receptor, lipoprotein receptor-related protein 6 (LRP6), and is able to compete with Wnt8 for binding to LRP6. These activities of Wise provide a new mechanism for integrating inputs through the Wnt coreceptor complex to modulate the balance of Wnt signalling.
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Explanatory Supplement to the AllWISE Data Release Products
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Cutri, R. M.; Wright, E. L.; Conrow, T.; Fowler, J. W.; Eisenhardt, P. R. M.; Grillmair, C.; Kirkpatrick, J. D.; Masci, F.; McCallon, H. L.; Wheelock, S. L.; Fajardo-Acosta, S.; Yan, L.; Benford, D.; Harbut, M.; Jarrett, T.; Lake, S.; Leisawitz, D.; Ressler, M. E.; Stanford, S. A.; Tsai, C. W.; Liu, F.; Helou, G.; Mainzer, A.; Gettings, D.; Gonzalez, A.; Hoffman, D.; Marsh, K. A.; Padgett, D.; Skrutskie, M. F.; Beck, R. P.; Papin, M.; Wittman, M.
2013-11-01
The AllWISE program builds upon the successful Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer (WISE; Wright et al. 2010) mission by combining data from all WISE and NEOWISE (Mainzer et al. 2011) survey phases to form the most comprehensive view of the mid-infrared sky currently available. By combining the data from two complete sky coverage epochs in an advanced data processing system, AllWISE has generated new products that have enhanced photometric sensitivity and accuracy, and improved astrometric precision compared with the earlier WISE All-Sky Data Release. Exploiting the 6 month baseline between the WISE sky coverage epochs enables AllWISE to measure source motions for the first time, and to compute improved flux variability statistics. AllWISE data release products include: a Source Catalog that contains 4-band fluxes, positions, apparent motion measurements, and flux variability statistics for over 747 million objects detected at SNR>5 in the combined exposures; a Multiepoch Photometry Database containing over 42 billion time-tagged, single-exposure fluxes for each object detected on the combined exposures; and an Image Atlas of 18,240 4-band calibrated FITS images, depth-of-coverage and noise maps that cover the sky produced by coadding nearly 7.9 million single-exposure images from the cryogenic and post-cryogenic survey phases. The Explanatory Supplement to the AllWISE Data Release Products is a general guide for users of the AllWISE data. The Supplement contains detailed descriptions of the format and characteristics of the AllWISE data products, as well as a summary of cautionary notes that describe known limitations. The Supplement is an on-line document that is updated frequently to provide the most current information for users of the AllWISE data products. The Explanatory Supplement is maintained at: http://wise2.ipac.caltech.edu/docs/release/allwise/expsup/index.html AllWISE makes use of data from WISE, which is a joint project of the University of California, Los Angeles, and the Jet Propulsion Laboratory/California Institute of Technology, and NEOWISE, which is a project of the Jet Propulsion Laboratory/California Institute of Technology. WISE and NEOWISE are funded by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration.
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Wise Crowd Content Assessment and Educational Rubrics
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Passonneau, Rebecca J.; Poddar, Ananya; Gite, Gaurav; Krivokapic, Alisa; Yang, Qian; Perin, Dolores
2018-01-01
Development of reliable rubrics for educational intervention studies that address reading and writing skills is labor-intensive, and could benefit from an automated approach. We compare a main ideas rubric used in a successful writing intervention study to a highly reliable wise-crowd content assessment method developed to evaluate…
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Flows in a tube structure: Equation on the graph
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Panasenko, Grigory; Pileckas, Konstantin
2014-08-01
The steady-state Navier-Stokes equations in thin structures lead to some elliptic second order equation for the macroscopic pressure on a graph. At the nodes of the graph the pressure satisfies Kirchoff-type junction conditions. In the non-steady case the problem for the macroscopic pressure on the graph becomes nonlocal in time. In the paper we study the existence and uniqueness of a solution to such one-dimensional model on the graph for a pipe-wise network. We also prove the exponential decay of the solution with respect to the time variable in the case when the data decay exponentially with respect to time.
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Caldwell, Linda; Wegner, Lisa; Smith, Edward; Jones, Damon
2016-01-01
This study examined how the perception of the availability of leisure opportunities may prevent substance use initiation through HealthWise, a school-based program focused on reducing risky behavior. In this study, we specifically focused on whether HealthWise increased student perceptions of leisure opportunities between 8th grade and 10th grade (N = 5610) in an under-resourced community in South Africa. Path analyses were used to test hypotheses. Given gender differences in substance use patterns, societal norms, and leisure opportunities in under-resourced communities, such as the townships of Cape Town, South Africa, it was especially important to examine associations within each gender. Results suggested that HealthWise directly reduced the likelihood of initiating alcohol and cigarette use and increased the amount of perceived leisure opportunities among girls but not boys. Perceived leisure opportunities mediated the effect of HealthWise on reducing the initiation of alcohol and cigarette use directly, and marijuana use indirectly, among girls but not boys. This is the first study to demonstrate how experimentally targeting leisure through an intervention can increase perceived leisure opportunities and thereby prevent early substance use initiation for a specific population. The importance of considering the context of gender, age, and location is discussed. PMID:27129478
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NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)
Benford, Dominic J.
2010-01-01
The Wide-field Infrared Survey is a medium class Explorer mission that was launched onl4Dec 2009. WISE should detect hundreds of millions of stars and galaxies, including millions of ULIRGS and QSOs; hundreds of thousands of asteroids; and hundreds of cold brown dwarfs. The telescope cover was ejected on 29 Dec 2009 and the all-sky survey started on 14 Jan 2010. WISE takes more the 7000 framesets per day, with each frameset covering 0.6 square degrees in four bands centered at 3.4, 4.6, 12 and 22 microns. WISE is well-suited to the discovery of brown dwarfs, ultraluminous infrared galaxies, and near-Earth objects. With an angular resolution of 6 arcsecouds at 12 microns, a 5(sigma) point-source sensitivity of around 1 mJy at 12 microns and 6 mJy at 22 microns, and coverage of over 99% of the sky, WISE also provides a powerful database for the study of the dusty ISM in our own galaxy. A preliminary release of WISE data will be made available to the community 6 months after the end of the cryogenic survey, or about May 2011. The final data release will be 11 months later, about April 2012.
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The Aging Well through Interaction and Scientific Education (AgeWISE) Program.
O'Connor, Maureen K; Kraft, Malissa L; Daley, Ryan; Sugarman, Michael A; Clark, Erika L; Scoglio, Arielle A J; Shirk, Steven D
2017-12-08
We conducted a randomized controlled trial of the Aging Well through Interaction and Scientific Education (AgeWISE) program, a 12-week manualized cognitive rehabilitation program designed to provide psychoeducation to older adults about the aging brain, lifestyle factors associated with successful brain aging, and strategies to compensate for age related cognitive decline. Forty-nine cognitively intact participants ≥ 60 years old were randomly assigned to the AgeWISE program (n = 25) or a no-treatment control group (n = 24). Questionnaire data were collected prior to group assignment and post intervention. Two-factor repeated-measures analyses of covariance (ANCOVAs) were used to compare group outcomes. Upon completion, participants in the AgeWISE program reported increases in memory contentment and their sense of control in improving memory; no significant changes were observed in the control group. Surprisingly, participation in the group was not associated with significant changes in knowledge of memory aging, perception of memory ability, or greater use of strategies. The AgeWISE program was successfully implemented and increased participants' memory contentment and their sense of control in improving memory in advancing age. This study supports the use of AgeWISE to improve perspectives on healthy cognitive aging.
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Thomas, Michael L; Bangen, Katherine J; Palmer, Barton W; Sirkin Martin, Averria; Avanzino, Julie A; Depp, Colin A; Glorioso, Danielle; Daly, Rebecca E; Jeste, Dilip V
2017-09-08
Wisdom is an ancient concept that has gained new interest among clinical researchers as a complex trait relevant to well-being and healthy aging. As the empirical data regarding wisdom have grown, several measures have been used to assess an individual's level of wisdom. However, none of these measures has been based on a construct of wisdom with neurobiological underpinnings. We sought to develop a new scale, the San Diego Wisdom Scale (SD-WISE), which builds upon recent gains in the understanding of psychological and neurobiological models of the trait. Data were collected from 524 community-dwelling adults age 25-104 years as part of a structured multi-cohort study of adult lifespan. Participants were administered the SD-WISE along with two existing measures of wisdom that have been shown to have good psychometric properties. Factor analyses confirmed the hypothesized measurement model. SD-WISE total scores were reliable, demonstrated convergent and discriminant validity, and correlated, as hypothesized, negatively with emotional distress, but positively with well-being. However, the magnitudes of these associations were small, suggesting that the SD-WISE is not just a global measure of mental state. The results support the reliability and validity of SD-WISE scores. Study limitations are discussed. The SD-WISE, with good psychometric properties, a brief administration time, and a measurement model that is consistent with commonly cited content domains of wisdom based on a putative neurobiological model, may be useful in clinical practice as well as in bio-psycho-social research, especially investigations into the neurobiology of wisdom and experimental interventions to enhance wisdom. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
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Time-Resolved Coadds and Forced Photometry of the WISE and NEOWISE-Reactivation Data
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Schlegel, David
We propose to produce full-sky, time-resolved coadds of the images collected from the NASA WISE (Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer) satellite, including the WISE, NEOWISE, and two years of the NEOWISE-Reactivation (NEOWISE-R) mission phases. Catalogs of forced photometry over the SDSS footprint will be generated at six epochs and for the full image stack. The images and catalogs will be suitable for stellar and extragalactic studies. The WISE satellite scans the sky such that each part of the sky is visited every six months, with 10 or more exposures per visit. We propose to coadd these 10 or more exposures to produce one coadd per visit that is, one coadd each six months. For most parts of the sky, there is one visit during the original WISE mission, one visit during NEOWISE, and then, after a 33-month gap, four more visits during the NEOWISE-R mission. These data, over a six-year baseline, are compelling both for studies of variability and of proper motion of nearby stars, and AGN and quasars at high redshift. Furthermore, the full image coadds will add considerable depth to the existing unWISE and AllWISE coadds at 3.4¼m and 4.6¼m, thereby playing a critical role in enabling target selection for next-generation massive redshift surveys. We will utilize our new data products to map quasar variability to the depths required for the future DESI dark energy experiment, and to discover high-proper motion objects in the solar neighborhood of the Milky Way to 1.4 magnitudes greater depth than previous searches.
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A Study of Locale-Wise Differences in Certain Cognitive and Non-Cognitive Variables
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Puar, Surjit Singh
2012-01-01
The present study has been designed to investigate the locale-wise differences among high school students on the basis of certain cognitive variables like general mental ability and academic achievement and non-cognitive variables such as anxiety, emotional maturity and social maturity. The study was conducted over a sample of 400 (200 boys and…
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Virtual Factory Framework for Supporting Production Planning and Control.
Kibira, Deogratias; Shao, Guodong
2017-01-01
Developing optimal production plans for smart manufacturing systems is challenging because shop floor events change dynamically. A virtual factory incorporating engineering tools, simulation, and optimization generates and communicates performance data to guide wise decision making for different control levels. This paper describes such a platform specifically for production planning. We also discuss verification and validation of the constituent models. A case study of a machine shop is used to demonstrate data generation for production planning in a virtual factory.
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2004-06-13
antiquity. Plutarch is credited for saying in Morals--Against Colotes the Epicurean, "For to err in opinion, though it be not the part of wise men, it is at...least human" ( Plutarch , AD 110). Of the 5 definitions for error given in Merriam-Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary, the third one listed "an act that...Identifying and managing inappropriate hospital utilization: A policy synthesis. Health Services Research, 22(5), 710-57. Plutarch . (AD 110) . Worldofquotes
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Assessing the Effectiveness of "Wise Guys": A Mixed-Methods Approach
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Herrman, Judith W.; Gordon, Mellissa; Rahmer, Brian; Moore, Christopher C.; Habermann, Barbara; Haigh, Katherine M.
2017-01-01
Previous research raised questions on the validity of survey studies with the teen population. As one response, our team implemented a mixed-methods study to evaluate an evidence-based, interactive curriculum, "Wise Guys," which is designed to promote healthy relationships and sexual behavior in young men ages 4-17. The current study…
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The Functional Architecture of Visual Object Recognition
1991-07-01
different forms of agnosia can provide clues to the representations underlying normal object recognition (Farah, 1990). For example, the pair-wise...patterns of deficit and sparing occur. In a review of 99 published cases of agnosia , the observed patterns of co- occurrence implicated two underlying
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Gerety, Gregg; Bebakar, Wan Mohamad Wan; Chaykin, Louis; Ozkaya, Mesut; Macura, Stanislava; Hersløv, Malene Lundgren; Behnke, Thomas
2016-05-01
This 26-week, multicenter, randomized, open-label, parallel-group, treat-to-target trial in adults with type 2 diabetes compared the efficacy and safety of treatment intensification algorithms with twice-daily (BID) insulin degludec/insulin aspart (IDegAsp). Patients randomized 1:1 to IDegAsp BID used either a 'Simple' algorithm (twice-weekly dose adjustments based on a single prebreakfast and pre-evening meal self-monitored plasma glucose [SMPG] measurement; IDegAsp[BIDSimple], n = 136) or a 'Stepwise' algorithm (once-weekly dose adjustments based on the lowest of 3 pre-breakfast and 3 pre-evening meal SMPG values; IDegAsp[BIDStep-wise], n = 136). After 26 weeks, mean change from baseline in glycated hemoglobin (HbA1c) with IDegAsp[BIDSimple] was noninferior to IDegAsp[BIDStep-wise] (-15 mmol/mol versus -14 mmol/mol; 95% confidence interval [CI] upper limit, <4 mmol/mol) (baseline HbA1c: 66.3 mmol/mol IDegAsp[BIDSimple] and 66.6 mmol/mol IDegAsp[BIDStep-wise]). The proportion of patients who achieved HbA1c <7.0% (<53 mmol/mol) at the end of the trial was 66.9% with IDegAsp[BIDSimple] and 62.5% with IDegAsp[BIDStep-wise]. Fasting plasma glucose levels were reduced with each titration algorithm (-1.51 mmol/L IDegAsp[BIDSimple] versus -1.95 mmol/L IDegAsp[BIDStep-wise]). Weight gain was 3.8 kg IDegAsp[BIDSimple] versus 2.6 kg IDegAsp[BIDStep-wise], and rates of overall confirmed hypoglycemia (5.16 episodes per patient-year of exposure [PYE] versus 8.93 PYE) and nocturnal confirmed hypoglycemia (0.78 PYE versus 1.33 PYE) were significantly lower with IDegAsp[BIDStep-wise] versus IDegAsp[BIDSimple]. There were no significant differences in insulin dose increments between groups. Treatment intensification with IDegAsp[BIDSimple] was noninferior to IDegAsp[BIDStep-wise]. Both titration algorithms were well tolerated; however, the more conservative step-wise algorithm led to less weight gain and fewer hypoglycemic episodes. Clinicaltrials.gov: NCT01680341.
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WISE Photometry for 400 million SDSS sources
Lang, Dustin; Hogg, David W.; Schlegel, David J.
2016-01-28
Here, we present photometry of images from the Wide-Field Infrared Survey Explorer (WISE) of over 400 million sources detected by the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS). We also use a "forced photometry" technique, using measured SDSS source positions, star-galaxy classification, and galaxy profiles to define the sources whose fluxes are to be measured in the WISE images. We perform photometry with The Tractor image modeling code, working on our "unWISE" coaddds and taking account of the WISE point-spread function and a noise model. The result is a measurement of the flux of each SDSS source in each WISE band. Manymore » sources have little flux in the WISE bands, so often the measurements we report are consistent with zero given our uncertainties. But, for many sources we get 3σ or 4σ measurements; these sources would not be reported by the "official" WISE pipeline and will not appear in the WISE catalog, yet they can be highly informative for some scientific questions. In addition, these small-signal measurements can be used in stacking analyses at the catalog level. The forced photometry approach has the advantage that we measure a consistent set of sources between SDSS and WISE, taking advantage of the resolution and depth of the SDSS images to interpret the WISE images; objects that are resolved in SDSS but blended together in WISE still have accurate measurements in our photometry. Our results, and the code used to produce them, are publicly available at http://unwise.me.« less
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NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Borders, Kareen; Mendez, Bryan; Thaller, Michelle; Gorjian, Varoujan; Borders, Kyla; Pitman, Peter; Pereira, Vincent; Sepulveda, Babs; Stark, Ron; Knisely, Cindy; Dandrea, Amy; Winglee, Robert; Plecki, Marge; Goebel, Jeri; Condit, Matt; Kelly, Susan
The Spitzer Space Telescope and the recently launched WISE (Wide Field Infrared Survey Explorer) observe the sky in infrared light. Among the objects WISE will study are asteroids, the coolest and dimmest stars, and the most luminous galaxies. Secondary students can do authentic research using infrared data. For example, students will use WISE data to mea-sure physical properties of asteroids. In order to prepare students and teachers at this level with a high level of rigor and scientific understanding, the WISE and the Spitzer Space Tele-scope Education programs provided an immersive teacher professional development workshop in infrared astronomy.The lessons learned from the Spitzer and WISE teacher and student pro-grams can be applied to other programs engaging them in authentic research experiences using data from space-borne observatories such as Herschel and Planck. Recently, WISE Educator Ambassadors and NASA Explorer School teachers developed and led an infrared astronomy workshop at Arecibo Observatory in PuertoRico. As many common misconceptions involve scale and distance, teachers worked with Moon/Earth scale, solar system scale, and distance and age of objects in the Universe. Teachers built and used basic telescopes, learned about the history of telescopes, explored ground and satellite based telescopes, and explored and worked on models of WISE Telescope. An in-depth explanation of WISE and the Spitzer telescopes gave participants background knowledge for infrared astronomy observations. We taught the electromagnetic spectrum through interactive stations. We will outline specific steps for sec-ondary astronomy professional development, detail student involvement in infrared telescope data analysis, provide data demonstrating the impact of the above professional development on educator understanding and classroom use, and detail future plans for additional secondary professional development and student involvement in infrared astronomy. Funding was provided by NASA, WISE Telescope, the Spitzer Space Telescope, the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics, the National Optical Astronomy Observatory, Starbucks, and Washington Space Grant Consortium.
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Al-Halabi, Susana; Garcia-Portilla, Maria Paz; Saiz, Pilar Alejandra; Fonseca, Eduardo; Bobes-Bascaran, Maria Teresa; Galván, Gonzalo; Iglesias, Celso; Arrojo, Manuel; Benabarre, Antoni; Goikolea, José Manuel; Sanchez, Emilio; Sarramea, Fernando; Bobes, Julio
2012-11-01
Clinicians need brief and valid instruments to monitor the psychosocial impact of weight gain in persons with psychiatric disorders. We examined the psychometric properties of the Spanish version of the Body Weight, Image and Self-Esteem Evaluation (B-WISE) questionnaire in patients with severe mental disorders. The data come from a naturalistic, cross-sectional, validation study conducted at 6 centres in Spain. A total of 211 outpatients with severe mental disorders, 118 with schizophrenia and 93 with bipolar disorder, were evaluated using the B-WISE, the Visual Analogue Scale for Weight and Body Image, and the Clinical Global Impression-Severity (CGI-S). The body mass index was also obtained. The principal component analysis confirms 3 components explaining 50.93% of the variance. The Cronbach α values for B-WISE scales ranged between .55 and .73. Significant Pearson correlations were found between B-WISE total score and CGI-S (r = -0.25; P < .001) and Visual Analogue Scale for Weight and Body Image (r = 0.47; P < .001). The B-WISE discriminates among patients with mild, moderate, and severe mental disorders according to CGI-S scores (F = 6.52; P < .005). Body mass index categorization significantly influenced total B-WISE scores (F = 3.586, P < .050). The B-WISE score corresponding to the 5th and 10th percentiles was 22. We were able to demonstrate that the Spanish version of the B-WISE is a valid instrument for assessing psychosocial impact of weight gain in patients with severe mental disorders in daily clinical practice. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
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Detection of longitudinal visual field progression in glaucoma using machine learning.
Yousefi, Siamak; Kiwaki, Taichi; Zheng, Yuhui; Suigara, Hiroki; Asaoka, Ryo; Murata, Hiroshi; Lemij, Hans; Yamanishi, Kenji
2018-06-16
Global indices of standard automated perimerty are insensitive to localized losses, while point-wise indices are sensitive but highly variable. Region-wise indices sit in between. This study introduces a machine-learning-based index for glaucoma progression detection that outperforms global, region-wise, and point-wise indices. Development and comparison of a prognostic index. Visual fields from 2085 eyes of 1214 subjects were used to identify glaucoma progression patterns using machine learning. Visual fields from 133 eyes of 71 glaucoma patients were collected 10 times over 10 weeks to provide a no-change, test-retest dataset. The parameters of all methods were identified using visual field sequences in the test-retest dataset to meet fixed 95% specificity. An independent dataset of 270 eyes of 136 glaucoma patients and survival analysis were utilized to compare methods. The time to detect progression in 25% of the eyes in the longitudinal dataset using global mean deviation (MD) was 5.2 years (95% confidence interval, 4.1 - 6.5 years); 4.5 years (4.0 - 5.5) using region-wise, 3.9 years (3.5 - 4.6) using point-wise, and 3.5 years (3.1 - 4.0) using machine learning analysis. The time until 25% of eyes showed subsequently confirmed progression after two additional visits were included were 6.6 years (5.6 - 7.4 years), 5.7 years (4.8 - 6.7), 5.6 years (4.7 - 6.5), and 5.1 years (4.5 - 6.0) for global, region-wise, point-wise, and machine learning analyses, respectively. Machine learning analysis detects progressing eyes earlier than other methods consistently, with or without confirmation visits. In particular, machine learning detects more slowly progressing eyes than other methods. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
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Programmatic Efforts Affect Retention of Women in Science and Engineering
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Hathaway, Russel S.; Sharp, Sally; Davis, Cinda-Sue
This article presents findings from a study that investigated the impact of a women in science and engineering residence program (WISE-RP) on the retention of women in science and engineering disciplines. From a matched sample of 1,852 science and engineering students, the authors compared WISE-RP participants with male and female control students for science and engineering retention. The findings suggest a strong connection between WISE-KP participation and science retention, but not engineering retention. The results also indicate that a WISE-RP is more effective in retaining White and Asian students than underrepresented students of color. The authors highlight the importance of combining academic and personal support in a residential learning program and draw implications for retaining women т science, mathematics, and engineering disciplines.
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Wise Detections of Known QSOS at Redshifts Greater Than Six
NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)
Blain, Andrew W.; Assef, Roberto; Stern, Daniel; Tsai, Chao-Wei; Eisenhardt, Peter; Bridge, Carrie; Benford, Dominic; Jarrett, Tom; Cutri, Roc; Petty, Sara;
2013-01-01
We present WISE All-Sky mid-infrared (IR) survey detections of 55 % (17/31) of the known QSOs at z greater than 6 from a range of surveys: the SDSS, the CFHT-LS, FIRST, Spitzer and UK1DSS. The WISE catalog thus provides a substantial increase in tiie quantity of IR data available for these sources: 17 are detected in the WISE Wl (3.4 micrometer) band, 16 in W2 (4.6 micrometers), 3 in W3 (12 micrometers) and 0 in W4 (22micrometers). This is particularly important with Spitzer in its warm-mission phase and no faint follow-up capability at wavelengths longwards of 5 micrometers until the launch of JWST. WISE thus provides a useful tool for understanding QSOs found in forthcoming large-area optical/IR sky surveys, using PanSTARRS, SkyMapper, VISTA, DES and LSST. The rest-UV properties of the WISE-detected and the WISE-non-detected samples differ: the detections have brighter i/z-band magnitudes and redder rest-UV colors. This suggests thai a more aggressive hunt for very-high-redshift QSOs, by combining WISE Wl and W2 data with red observed optical colors could be effective at least, for a subset of dusty candidate QSOs. Stacking the WISE images of the WISE-non-detected QSOs indicates that they are on average significantly fainter than the WISE-detccted examples, and are thus not narrowly missing detection in the WISE catalog. The WISE-catalog detection of three of our sample in the W3 band indicates that their mid-ID flux can be detected individually, although there is no stacked W3 detection of sources detected in Wl but not. W3. Stacking analyses of WISE data for large AGN samples will be a useful tool, and high-redshifl. QSOs of all types will be easy targets for JWST.
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Public Libraries--A Wise Investment: A Return on Investment Study of Colorado Public Libraries
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Steffen, Nicolle; Lietzau, Zeth; Lance, Keith Curry; Rybin, Amanda; Molliconi, Carla
2009-01-01
Public libraries deliver many benefits to their patrons, but understanding these benefits in terms of dollars-and-cents is difficult. In an effort to quantify the return on investment to taxpayers for monies invested in public libraries, the Library Research Service (LRS) initiated the study, "Public Libraries -- A Wise Investment: A Return…
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The SunWise Policy Intervention for School-Based Sun Protection: A Pilot Study
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Emmons, Karen M.; Geller, Alan C.; Viswanath, Vish; Rutsch, Linda; Zwirn, Jodie; Gorham, Sue; Puleo, Elaine
2008-01-01
Skin cancer is highly preventable, but clearly there is a critical need to focus on better ways to disseminate information about known skin cancer prevention. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) SunWise Program is one channel for reaching children, teachers, and school nurses. In a pilot study designed to increase adoption of…
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Toh, Siao Hui; Coenen, Pieter; Howie, Erin K.
2017-01-01
Background The use of mobile touch screen devices (MTSDs) has increased rapidly over the last decade, and there are concerns that their use may have negative musculoskeletal consequences; yet evidence on the association of MTSD use with musculoskeletal symptoms and exposures is currently dispersed. The aim of this study was to systematically review available literature on musculoskeletal symptoms and exposures associated with MTSD use. The synthesised information may facilitate wise use of MTSDs and may identify areas in need of further research. Methods EMBASE, Medline, Scopus, PsycINFO and Proquest electronic databases were searched for articles published up to June 2016, using keywords describing MTSD, musculoskeletal symptoms (e.g. pain, discomfort) and musculoskeletal exposures (e.g. posture, muscle activity). Two reviewers independently screened the articles, extracted relevant data and assessed methodological quality of included studies. Due to heterogeneity in the studies, a meta-analysis was not possible and a structured narrative synthesis of the findings was undertaken. Results A total of 9,908 articles were screened for eligibility with 45 articles finally included for review. Included articles were of cross-sectional, case-control or experimental laboratory study designs. No longitudinal studies were identified. Findings were presented and discussed in terms of the amount, features, tasks and positions of MTSD use and its association with musculoskeletal symptoms and musculoskeletal exposures. Conclusions There is limited evidence that MTSD use, and various aspects of its use (i.e. amount of usage, features, tasks and positions) are associated with musculoskeletal symptoms and exposures. This is due to mainly low quality experimental and case-control laboratory studies, with few cross-sectional and no longitudinal studies. Further research is warranted in order to develop guidelines for wise use of MTSDs. PMID:28787453
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Senathirajah, Yalini; Kaufman, David; Bakken, Suzanne
2014-12-01
User-composable approaches provide clinicians with the control to design and assemble information elements on screen via drag/drop. They hold considerable promise for enhancing the electronic-health-records (EHRs) user experience. We previously described this novel approach to EHR design and our illustrative system, MedWISE. The purpose of this paper is to describe clinician users' intelligent uses of space during completion of real patient case studies in a laboratory setting using MedWISE. Thirteen clinicians at a quaternary academic medical center used the system to review four real patient cases. We analyzed clinician utterances, behaviors, screen layouts (i.e., interface designs), and their perceptions associated with completing patient case studies. Clinicians effectively used the system to review all cases. Two coding schemata pertaining to human-computer interaction and diagnostic reasoning were used to analyze the data. Users adopted three main interaction strategies: rapidly gathering items on screen and reviewing ('opportunistic selection' approach); creating highly structured screens ('structured' approach); and interacting with small groups of items in sequence as their case review progressed ('dynamic stage' approach). They also used spatial arrangement in ways predicted by theory and research on workplace spatial arrangement. This includes assignment of screen regions for particular purposes (24% of spatial codes), juxtaposition to facilitate calculation or other cognitive tasks ('epistemic action'), and grouping elements with common meanings or relevance to the diagnostic facets of the case (20.3%). A left-to-right progression of orienting materials, data, and action items or reflection space was a commonly observed pattern. Widget selection was based on user assessment of what information was useful or relevant. We developed and tested an illustrative system that gives clinicians greater control of the EHR, and demonstrated its feasibility for case review by typical clinicians. Producing the simplifying inventions, such as user-composable platforms that shift control to the user, may serve to promote productive EHR use and enhance its value as an instrument of patient care. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
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Senathirajah, Yalini; Kaufman, David; Bakken, Suzanne
2018-01-01
User-composable approaches provide clinicians with the control to design and assemble information elements on screen via drag/drop. They hold considerable promise for enhancing the electronic-health-records (EHRs) user experience. We previously described this novel approach to EHR design and our illustrative system, MedWISE. The purpose of this paper is to describe clinician users’ intelligent uses of space during completion of real patient case studies in a laboratory setting using MedWISE. Thirteen clinicians at a quaternary academic medical center used the system to review four real patient cases. We analyzed clinician utterances, behaviors, screen layouts (i.e., interface designs), and their perceptions associated with completing patient case studies. Clinicians effectively used the system to review all cases. Two coding schemata pertaining to human-computer interaction and diagnostic reasoning were used to analyze the data. Users adopted three main interaction strategies: rapidly gathering items on screen and reviewing (‘opportunistic selection’ approach); creating highly structured screens (‘structured’ approach); and interacting with small groups of items in sequence as their case review progressed (‘dynamic stage’ approach). They also used spatial arrangement in ways predicted by theory and research on workplace spatial arrangement. This includes assignment of screen regions for particular purposes (24% of spatial codes), juxtaposition to facilitate calculation or other cognitive tasks (‘epistemic action’), and grouping elements with common meanings or relevance to the diagnostic facets of the case (20.3%). A left-to-right progression of orienting materials, data, and action items or reflection space was a commonly observed pattern. Widget selection was based on user assessment of what information was useful or relevant. We developed and tested an illustrative system that gives clinicians greater control of the EHR, and demonstrated its feasibility for case review by typical clinicians. Producing the simplifying inventions, such as user-composable platforms that shift control to the user, may serve to promote productive EHR use and enhance its value as an instrument of patient care. PMID:25445921
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NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Williams, Michelle
2008-08-01
The paper reports on a 3-year study of an experienced fifth grade teacher learning to integrate a Web-based Inquiry Science Environment (WISE) into his core science instruction. Data from this study included videotapes and transcripts of classroom instruction, and audiotapes and transcripts of professional development meetings and interviews conducted with the teacher as he was implementing the curriculum. The results suggest that the teacher's classroom practices shifted meaningfully over time, thus moving WISE from the peripheral to the center of his science class instruction. There was an increased integrated use of the technology by this teacher during the WISE enactments in years two and three. The teacher also engaged his students in significantly more science dialogues during the WISE online investigations. Further findings suggest that this shift in pedagogy can be attributed to repeated opportunities for the instructor to teach an inquiry-based curriculum, as well as reflecting on his teaching experiences.
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Spacewatch Survey for Asteroids and Comets
2005-11-01
radar images. Relationship of Spacewatch to the WISE spacecraft mission: E. L. Wright of the UCLA Astronomy Dept. is the PI of the Wide-field Infrared ...Survey Explorer (WISE) MIDEX spacecraft mission. WISE will map the whole sky at thermal infrared wavelengths with 500 times more sensitivity than the...elongations. WISE=s detections in the thermal infrared will also provide a size-limited sample of asteroids instead of the brightness-limited surveys
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Mazur, Lukasz M; Mosaly, Prithima R; Hoyle, Lesley M; Jones, Ellen L; Marks, Lawrence B
2013-01-01
To quantify, and compare, workload for several common physician-based treatment planning tasks using objective and subjective measures of workload. To assess the relationship between workload and performance to define workload levels where performance could be expected to decline. Nine physicians performed the same 3 tasks on each of 2 cases ("easy" vs "hard"). Workload was assessed objectively throughout the tasks (via monitoring of pupil size and blink rate), and subjectively at the end of each case (via National Aeronautics and Space Administration Task Load Index; NASA-TLX). NASA-TLX assesses the 6 dimensions (mental, physical, and temporal demands, frustration, effort, and performance); scores > or ≈ 50 are associated with reduced performance in other industries. Performance was measured using participants' stated willingness to approve the treatment plan. Differences in subjective and objective workload between cases, tasks, and experience were assessed using analysis of variance (ANOVA). The correlation between subjective and objective workload measures were assessed via the Pearson correlation test. The relationships between workload and performance measures were assessed using the t test. Eighteen case-wise and 54 task-wise assessments were obtained. Subjective NASA-TLX scores (P < .001), but not time-weighted averages of objective scores (P > .1), were significantly lower for the easy vs hard case. Most correlations between the subjective and objective measures were not significant, except between average blink rate and NASA-TLX scores (r = -0.34, P = .02), for task-wise assessments. Performance appeared to decline at NASA-TLX scores of ≥55. The NASA-TLX may provide a reasonable method to quantify subjective workload for broad activities, and objective physiologic eye-based measures may be useful to monitor workload for more granular tasks within activities. The subjective and objective measures, as herein quantified, do not necessarily track each other, and more work is needed to assess their utilities. From a series of controlled experiments, we found that performance appears to decline at subjective workload levels ≥55 (as measured via NASA-TLX), which is consistent with findings from other industries. Copyright © 2013 American Society for Radiation Oncology. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
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The power of counselling--for better or worse?
Cohen, J
1994-04-01
Counselling is an extremely powerful tool, a vital skill to acquire in general practice today. Nevertheless, it must be used wisely and not prescribed wholesale. This article discusses counselling in general practice in relation to a series of cases where a presentation of nightmares disguised underlying repressed traumas.
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Smoller, Jordan W.; Gallagher, Patience J.; Duncan, Laramie E.; McGrath, Lauren M.; Haddad, Stephen A.; Holmes, Avram.; Wolf, Aaron B.; Hilker, Sidney; Block, Stefanie R.; Weill, Sydney; Young, Sarah; Choi, Eun Young; Rosenbaum, Jerrold F.; Biederman, Joseph; Faraone, Stephen V.; Roffman, Joshua; Manfro, Gisele G.; Blaya, Carolina; Hirshfeld-Becker, Dina R.; Stein, Murray B.; Van Ameringen, Michael; Tolin, David F.; Otto, Michael W.; Pollack, Mark H.; Simon, Naomi M.; Buckner, Randy L.; Ongur, Dost; Cohen, Bruce M.
2014-01-01
Background Individuals with panic disorder (PD) exhibit a hypersensitivity to inhaled carbon dioxide (CO2), possibly reflecting a lowered threshold for sensing signals of suffocation. Animal studies have shown that CO2-mediated fear behavior depends on chemosensing of acidosis in the amygdala via the acid sensing ion channel ASIC1a. We examined whether the human ortholog of the ASIC1a gene, ACCN2, is associated with the presence of PD and with amygdala structure and function. Methods We conducted a case-control analysis (N=414 PD cases, 846 healthy controls) of ACCN2single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) and PD. We then tested whether variants showing significant association with PD are also associated with amygdala volume (n=1,048) and/or task-evoked reactivity to emotional stimuli (n=103) in healthy individuals. Results Two SNPs at the ACCN2 locus showed evidence of association with PD: rs685012 (OR=1.32, gene-wise corrected p=0.011) and rs10875995 (OR=1.26, gene-wise corrected p=0.046). The association appeared to be stronger when early-onset (age ≤ 20) PD cases and when cases with prominent respiratory symptoms were compared to controls. The PD risk allele at rs10875995 was associated with increased amygdala volume (p=0.035), as well as task-evoked amygdala reactivity to fearful and angry faces (p=0.0048). Conclusions Genetic variation at ACCN2 appears to be associated with PD and with amygdala phenotypes that have been linked to anxiety proneness. These results support the possibility that modulation of acid-sensing ion channels may have therapeutic potential for PD. PMID:24529281
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Martin, B A; Chewning, B A; Margolis, A R; Wilson, D A; Renken, J
2016-01-01
The health and economic toll of medication errors by older adults is well documented. Poor communication and medication coordination problems increase the likelihood of adverse drug events (ADEs). Older adults have difficulty communicating with health care professionals, including pharmacists. As such, the theory-based Med Wise program was designed. Building on the Self-efficacy Framework and the Chronic Care Model, this program was tested with community-dwelling older adults. This study and its resultant paper: (1) describe the theory-based design of the Med Wise program; (2) describe the collaboration of multiple community partners to develop a sustainable model for implementing Med Wise; and (3) present findings from the Med Wise course evaluation. Med Wise was designed to be a sustainable, skill-based educational and behavior change program consisting of two, 2-h interactive classes to enhance participants' medication communication skills and self-efficacy. To explore the potential to disseminate Med Wise throughout the state, a partnership was formed between the pharmacy team and the statewide Aging & Disability Resource Centers (ADRCs), as well as the Community-Academic Aging Research Network (CAARN). Over 30 lay volunteer leaders in 8 Wisconsin (U.S. State) counties were trained, and they delivered Med Wise through ADRC community centers. The CAARN staff evaluated the fidelity of the course delivery by leaders. To evaluate Med Wise, a quasi-experimental design using pre/post surveys assessed knowledge, worry and self-efficacy. A telephone follow-up three months later assessed self-efficacy and translation of medication management skills and behaviors. Med Wise programs were presented to 198 community-dwelling older adults while maintaining program fidelity. This evaluation found significant increases in older adults' knowledge about pharmacists' roles and responsibilities, likelihood of talking with a pharmacist about medication concerns, and self-efficacy for communicating with pharmacists. At the 3 month follow-up, participants reported increased interactions with pharmacists, with 29.2% of participants reported seeking medication reviews and 28.5% medication schedule reviews. The two-class Med Wise program showed sustained impact at 3 months on key outcomes. Further, the community partners successfully implemented the program with fidelity across 8 counties suggesting its ability to be disseminated and sustained. Future directions include expanding the program to examine wider adoption, and measuring program impact on regimen safety and health outcomes linked to increases in patient engagement. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
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Cool Astronomy: Education and Public Outreach for the WISE mission
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Mendez, Bryan J.
2011-01-01
The Education and Public Outreach (E/PO) program of the Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer (WISE) aims to educate and engage students, teachers, and the general public in the endeavor of science. We bring a collection of accomplished professionals in formal and informal astronomy education from around the nation to create learning materials and experiences that appeal to broad audiences. Our E/PO program trains teachers in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) topics related to WISE; creates standards-based classroom resources and lessons using WISE data and WISE-related STEM topics; develops interactive programming for museums and science centers; and inspires the public with WISE science and images.
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Provision of a Medicines Information Service to Consumers on Facebook: An Australian Case Study
Chen, Timothy F; Spagnardi, Sarah; Beer, Troy; Aslani, Parisa
2015-01-01
Background Social networking sites (SNSs) have changed the way people communicate. They may also change the way people seek health advice. Objective This study describes the provision of a medicines information service on Facebook to individual consumers. It aimed to discuss the pros and cons, and inform health and pharmacy stakeholders and researchers about the opportunities and challenges of providing such a service. Methods We adopted an exploratory approach using a case study method. Results NPS MedicineWise, an independent, not-for-profit Australian organization, runs a public question-and-answer service on Facebook, dubbed Pharmacist Hour. Consumers following the organization’s Facebook page are invited to post medication-related questions often with a suggested health topic. A wide range of questions and comments are posted related to medication usage. The pharmacist answers the queries, providing evidence-based medicines information and using consumer-friendly language, during the specific 1-hour period. The most popular questions in the past 12 months were related to adverse effects, treatment options for conditions, and drug interactions. The service had a mean number of engagements (defined as a like or share of the Pharmacy Hour post) of 38 (SD 19) people and a mean 5 (SD 3) questions per session. Conclusions The Pharmacist Hour Facebook service addresses the medicines information needs of consumers and indirectly promotes other appropriate and relevant NPS MedicineWise products and services to further assist consumers. The service offers a new medium for a quality use of medicines organization committed to promoting awareness about the correct and safe use of medicines in Australia. PMID:26596328
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Provision of a Medicines Information Service to Consumers on Facebook: An Australian Case Study.
Benetoli, Arcelio; Chen, Timothy F; Spagnardi, Sarah; Beer, Troy; Aslani, Parisa
2015-11-23
Social networking sites (SNSs) have changed the way people communicate. They may also change the way people seek health advice. This study describes the provision of a medicines information service on Facebook to individual consumers. It aimed to discuss the pros and cons, and inform health and pharmacy stakeholders and researchers about the opportunities and challenges of providing such a service. We adopted an exploratory approach using a case study method. NPS MedicineWise, an independent, not-for-profit Australian organization, runs a public question-and-answer service on Facebook, dubbed Pharmacist Hour. Consumers following the organization's Facebook page are invited to post medication-related questions often with a suggested health topic. A wide range of questions and comments are posted related to medication usage. The pharmacist answers the queries, providing evidence-based medicines information and using consumer-friendly language, during the specific 1-hour period. The most popular questions in the past 12 months were related to adverse effects, treatment options for conditions, and drug interactions. The service had a mean number of engagements (defined as a like or share of the Pharmacy Hour post) of 38 (SD 19) people and a mean 5 (SD 3) questions per session. The Pharmacist Hour Facebook service addresses the medicines information needs of consumers and indirectly promotes other appropriate and relevant NPS MedicineWise products and services to further assist consumers. The service offers a new medium for a quality use of medicines organization committed to promoting awareness about the correct and safe use of medicines in Australia.
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Genetic loci associated with nonobstructive coronary artery disease in Caucasian women.
Weng, Liming; Taylor, Kent D; Chen, Yii-Der Ida; Sopko, George; Kelsey, Sheryl F; Bairey Merz, C Noel; Pepine, Carl J; Miller, Virginia M; Rotter, Jerome I; Gulati, Martha; Goodarzi, Mark O; Cooper-DeHoff, Rhonda M
2016-01-01
Nonobstructive coronary artery disease (CAD) in women is associated with adverse cardiovascular (CV) outcomes; however, information regarding genetic variants that predispose women to nonobstructive CAD is lacking. Women from the Women's Ischemia Syndrome Evaluation (WISE) Study and the St. James Women Take Heart (WTH) Study were genotyped with the Cardio-MetaboChip. WISE enrolled women with symptoms and signs of ischemia referred for coronary angiography; WTH enrolled asymptomatic, community-based women without heart disease. Analyses were conducted with a case (WISE)--control (WTH) design and multivariate logistic regression models to investigate genetic variation associated with likelihood of nonobstructive CAD. One genetic marker, single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) rs2301753 on chromosome 6 in RNF39, achieved chip-wide significance for nonobstructive CAD (P < 9.5 × 10(-7)). After adjusting for baseline characteristics, we found no variants achieved chip-wide significance. However, SNP rs2301753 on chromosome 6 in RNF39 was associated with reduced likelihood of nonobstructive CAD [odds ratio (OR) 0.42 and 95% confidence interval (CI) of 0.29 to 0.68], at a nominal level of P = 5.6 × 10(-6), while SNP rs12818945 in the ATP2B1 locus on chromosome 12 was associated with increased odds for nonobstructive CAD (OR 2.38 and 95% CI of 1.63 to 3.45) and nominal P = 5.8 × 10(-6). The functions of RNF39 and ATP2B1 raise the possibility that genes involved in cardio-dysfunction may contribute to nonobstructive CAD in Caucasian women and may provide insights into novel approaches for therapy and prevention. If replicated, incorporation of these genetic variants into diagnostic evaluation may identify women at high risk for nonobstructive CAD.
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Brennan, Emily; Wakefield, Melanie A; Durkin, Sarah J; Jernigan, David H; Dixon, Helen G; Pettigrew, Simone
2017-08-01
DrinkWise Australia is an alcohol industry Social Aspects/Public Relations Organisation (SAPRO). We assessed the Australian public's awareness of DrinkWise, beliefs about its funding source, and associations between funding beliefs and perceptions of DrinkWise. A total of 467 adult weekly drinkers completed an online cross-sectional survey in February 2016. Half the sample had heard of DrinkWise (48.6%); of these, the proportion aware that DrinkWise is industry funded (37.0%) was much smaller than the proportion believing it receives government funding (84.1%). Respondents who incorrectly believed DrinkWise receives government funding were more likely to hold a favourable perception of the organisation's credibility, trustworthiness and respectability than those who did not believe it receives government funding (75.9% vs. 58.3%; p=0.032). The drinking population is vulnerable to believing that alcohol industry public relations organisations such as DrinkWise are government funded, which in turn is associated with more favourable perceptions of the organisation's credibility, trustworthiness, and respectability. Implications for public health: Favourable perceptions of DrinkWise may enhance the industry's ability to delay or dilute potentially effective alcohol control policies. Future research should investigate whether educating the public about DrinkWise's alcohol industry funding alters the public's perception of how credible, trustworthy and respectable the organisation is. © 2017 The Authors.
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WISE Inquiry in Fifth Grade Biology.
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Williams, Michelle; Linn, Marcia C.
2002-01-01
Reports on a two-year study designed to investigate how a Web-Based Integrated Science Environment (WISE) project called "Plants in Space" featuring classroom investigations enabled 5th grade students to increase their understanding of plant growth and development. Investigates two versions of the curriculum and considers how understanding of the…
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A Qualitative Inquiry of Wisdom Development: Educators' Perspectives
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Chen, Li-Ming; Wu, Pi-Ju; Cheng, Ying-Yao; Hsueh, Hsiu-I
2011-01-01
This study draws on the perspectives of educators to explore the factors and processes underlying wisdom development. We interviewed 25 wise Taiwanese nominees and used a grounded theory method to analyze the qualitative data. The wise nominees mentioned eight facilitative factors, including work experiences, life experiences, social interactions,…
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Asia Wise Workbook Number One.
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Tasmanian Education Dept., Hobart (Australia).
This workbook is a compilation of work sheets from the teacher's sections of the 1989 issues of "Asia Wise," an Auatralian magazine devoted to the study of Asia. Profiles and worksheets are provided for the countries of China, Indo-China, Indonesia, Japan, Philippines, and Thailand. Worksheets feature the following themes: Asian…
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WISE PHOTOMETRY FOR 400 MILLION SDSS SOURCES
DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)
Lang, Dustin; Hogg, David W.; Schlegel, David J., E-mail: dstndstn@gmail.com
2016-02-15
We present photometry of images from the Wide-Field Infrared Survey Explorer (WISE) of over 400 million sources detected by the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS). We use a “forced photometry” technique, using measured SDSS source positions, star–galaxy classification, and galaxy profiles to define the sources whose fluxes are to be measured in the WISE images. We perform photometry with The Tractor image modeling code, working on our “unWISE” coaddds and taking account of the WISE point-spread function and a noise model. The result is a measurement of the flux of each SDSS source in each WISE band. Many sources havemore » little flux in the WISE bands, so often the measurements we report are consistent with zero given our uncertainties. However, for many sources we get 3σ or 4σ measurements; these sources would not be reported by the “official” WISE pipeline and will not appear in the WISE catalog, yet they can be highly informative for some scientific questions. In addition, these small-signal measurements can be used in stacking analyses at the catalog level. The forced photometry approach has the advantage that we measure a consistent set of sources between SDSS and WISE, taking advantage of the resolution and depth of the SDSS images to interpret the WISE images; objects that are resolved in SDSS but blended together in WISE still have accurate measurements in our photometry. Our results, and the code used to produce them, are publicly available at http://unwise.me.« less
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McGettigan, Patricia; Henry, David
2011-09-01
Randomised trials have highlighted the cardiovascular risks of non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) in high doses and sometimes atypical settings. Here, we provide estimates of the comparative risks with individual NSAIDs at typical doses in community settings. We performed a systematic review of community-based controlled observational studies. We conducted comprehensive literature searches, extracted adjusted relative risk (RR) estimates, and pooled the estimates for major cardiovascular events associated with use of individual NSAIDs, in different doses, and in populations with low and high background risks of cardiovascular events. We also compared individual drugs in pair-wise (within study) analyses, generating ratios of RRs (RRRs). Thirty case-control studies included 184,946 cardiovascular events, and 21 cohort studies described outcomes in >2.7 million exposed individuals. Of the extensively studied drugs (ten or more studies), the highest overall risks were seen with rofecoxib, 1.45 (95% CI 1.33, 1.59), and diclofenac, 1.40 (1.27, 1.55), and the lowest with ibuprofen, 1.18 (1.11, 1.25), and naproxen, 1.09 (1.02, 1.16). In a sub-set of studies, risk was elevated with low doses of rofecoxib, 1.37 (1.20, 1.57), celecoxib, 1.26 (1.09, 1.47), and diclofenac, 1.22 (1.12, 1.33), and rose in each case with higher doses. Ibuprofen risk was seen only with higher doses. Naproxen was risk-neutral at all doses. Of the less studied drugs etoricoxib, 2.05 (1.45, 2.88), etodolac, 1.55 (1.28, 1.87), and indomethacin, 1.30 (1.19, 1.41), had the highest risks. In pair-wise comparisons, etoricoxib had a higher RR than ibuprofen, RRR = 1.68 (99% CI 1.14, 2.49), and naproxen, RRR = 1.75 (1.16, 2.64); etodolac was not significantly different from naproxen and ibuprofen. Naproxen had a significantly lower risk than ibuprofen, RRR = 0.92 (0.87, 0.99). RR estimates were constant with different background risks for cardiovascular disease and rose early in the course of treatment. This review suggests that among widely used NSAIDs, naproxen and low-dose ibuprofen are least likely to increase cardiovascular risk. Diclofenac in doses available without prescription elevates risk. The data for etoricoxib were sparse, but in pair-wise comparisons this drug had a significantly higher RR than naproxen or ibuprofen. Indomethacin is an older, rather toxic drug, and the evidence on cardiovascular risk casts doubt on its continued clinical use. Please see later in the article for the Editors' Summary.
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Ethical principles in federal regulations: the case of children and research risks.
Williams, P C
1996-04-01
Ethical principles play an important part not only in the promulgation of regulations but also in their application, i.e., enforcement and adjudication. while traditional ethical principles--promotion of welfare, freedom, and fairness--play an important role in both elements of regulation, some other kinds of ethical principles are significant as well. Principles governing the structure of decision processes should shape the structure and actions of agencies; principles of wise application should govern the work of those whose responsibility it is to apply regulatory language to particular situations. These points are demonstrated by investigating a case study: federal regulations designed to protect children involved in scientific research applied to a placebo study of the effects of recombinant human growth hormone on children of extremely short stature.
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Automated novelty detection in the WISE survey with one-class support vector machines
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Solarz, A.; Bilicki, M.; Gromadzki, M.; Pollo, A.; Durkalec, A.; Wypych, M.
2017-10-01
Wide-angle photometric surveys of previously uncharted sky areas or wavelength regimes will always bring in unexpected sources - novelties or even anomalies - whose existence and properties cannot be easily predicted from earlier observations. Such objects can be efficiently located with novelty detection algorithms. Here we present an application of such a method, called one-class support vector machines (OCSVM), to search for anomalous patterns among sources preselected from the mid-infrared AllWISE catalogue covering the whole sky. To create a model of expected data we train the algorithm on a set of objects with spectroscopic identifications from the SDSS DR13 database, present also in AllWISE. The OCSVM method detects as anomalous those sources whose patterns - WISE photometric measurements in this case - are inconsistent with the model. Among the detected anomalies we find artefacts, such as objects with spurious photometry due to blending, but more importantly also real sources of genuine astrophysical interest. Among the latter, OCSVM has identified a sample of heavily reddened AGN/quasar candidates distributed uniformly over the sky and in a large part absent from other WISE-based AGN catalogues. It also allowed us to find a specific group of sources of mixed types, mostly stars and compact galaxies. By combining the semi-supervised OCSVM algorithm with standard classification methods it will be possible to improve the latter by accounting for sources which are not present in the training sample, but are otherwise well-represented in the target set. Anomaly detection adds flexibility to automated source separation procedures and helps verify the reliability and representativeness of the training samples. It should be thus considered as an essential step in supervised classification schemes to ensure completeness and purity of produced catalogues. The catalogues of outlier data are only available at the CDS via anonymous ftp to http://cdsarc.u-strasbg.fr (http://130.79.128.5) or via http://cdsarc.u-strasbg.fr/viz-bin/qcat?J/A+A/606/A39
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Walsh, Jason L; Harris, Benjamin H L; Denny, Paul; Smith, Phil
2018-02-01
There are few studies on the value of authoring questions as a study method, the quality of the questions produced by students and student perceptions of student-authored question banks. Here we evaluate PeerWise, a widely used and free online resource that allows students to author, answer and discuss multiple-choice questions. We introduced two undergraduate medical student cohorts to PeerWise (n=603). We looked at their patterns of PeerWise usage; identified associations between student engagement and summative exam performance; and used focus groups to assess student perceptions of the value of PeerWise for learning. We undertook item analysis to assess question difficulty and quality. Over two academic years, the two cohorts wrote 4671 questions, answered questions 606 658 times and posted 7735 comments. Question writing frequency correlated most strongly with summative performance (Spearman's rank: 0.24, p=<0.001). Student focus groups found that: (1) students valued curriculum specificity; and (2) students were concerned about student-authored question quality. Only two questions of the 300 'most-answered' questions analysed had an unacceptable discriminatory value (point-biserial correlation <0.2). Item analysis suggested acceptable question quality despite student concerns. Quantitative and qualitative methods indicated that PeerWise is a valuable study tool. © Article author(s) (or their employer(s) unless otherwise stated in the text of the article) 2018. All rights reserved. No commercial use is permitted unless otherwise expressly granted.
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Development and evaluation of learning module on clinical decision-making in Prosthodontics.
Deshpande, Saee; Lambade, Dipti; Chahande, Jayashree
2015-01-01
Best practice strategies for helping students learn the reasoning skills of problem solving and critical thinking (CT) remain a source of conjecture, particularly with regard to CT. The dental education literature is fundamentally devoid of research on the cognitive components of clinical decision-making. This study was aimed to develop and evaluate the impact of blended learning module on clinical decision-making skills of dental graduates for planning prosthodontics rehabilitation. An interactive teaching module consisting of didactic lectures on clinical decision-making and a computer-assisted case-based treatment planning software was developed Its impact on cognitive knowledge gain in clinical decision-making was evaluated using an assessment involving problem-based multiple choice questions and paper-based case scenarios. Mean test scores were: Pretest (17 ± 1), posttest 1 (21 ± 2) and posttest 2 (43 ± 3). Comparison of mean scores was done with one-way ANOVA test. There was overall significant difference in between mean scores at all the three points (P < 0.001). A pair-wise comparison of mean scores was done with Bonferroni test. The mean difference is significant at the 0.05 level. The pair-wise comparison shows that posttest 2 score is significantly higher than posttest 1 and posttest 1 is significantly higher than pretest that is, pretest 2 > posttest 1 > pretest. Blended teaching methods employing didactic lectures on the clinical decision-making as well as computer assisted case-based learning can be used to improve quality of clinical decision-making in prosthodontic rehabilitation for dental graduates.
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Inhibition of WISE preserves renal allograft function.
Qian, Xueming; Yuan, Xiaodong; Vonderfecht, Steven; Ge, Xupeng; Lee, Jae; Jurisch, Anke; Zhang, Li; You, Andrew; Fitzpatrick, Vincent D; Williams, Alexia; Valente, Eliane G; Pretorius, Jim; Stevens, Jennitte L; Tipton, Barbara; Winters, Aaron G; Graham, Kevin; Harriss, Lindsey; Baker, Daniel M; Damore, Michael; Salimi-Moosavi, Hossein; Gao, Yongming; Elkhal, Abdallah; Paszty, Chris; Simonet, W Scott; Richards, William G; Tullius, Stefan G
2013-01-01
Wnt-modulator in surface ectoderm (WISE) is a secreted modulator of Wnt signaling expressed in the adult kidney. Activation of Wnt signaling has been observed in renal transplants developing interstitial fibrosis and tubular atrophy; however, whether WISE contributes to chronic changes is not well understood. Here, we found moderate to high expression of WISE mRNA in a rat model of renal transplantation and in kidneys from normal rats. Treatment with a neutralizing antibody against WISE improved proteinuria and graft function, which correlated with higher levels of β-catenin protein in kidney allografts. In addition, treatment with the anti-WISE antibody reduced infiltration of CD68(+) macrophages and CD8(+) T cells, attenuated glomerular and interstitial injury, and decreased biomarkers of renal injury. This treatment reduced expression of genes involved in immune responses and in fibrogenic pathways. In summary, WISE contributes to renal dysfunction by promoting tubular atrophy and interstitial fibrosis.
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DriveWise: an interdisciplinary hospital-based driving assessment program.
O'Connor, Margaret G; Kapust, Lissa R; Hollis, Ann M
2008-01-01
Health care professionals working with the elderly have opportunities through research and clinical practice to shape public policy affecting the older driver. This article describes DriveWise, an interdisciplinary hospital-based driving assessment program developed in response to clinical concerns about the driving safety of individuals with medical conditions. DriveWise clinicians use evidence-based, functional assessments to determine driving competence. In addition, the program was designed to meet the emotional needs of individuals whose driving safety has been called into question. To date, approximately 380 participants have been assessed through DriveWise. The following report details the DriveWise mission, DriveWise team members, and road test results. We continue to refine the assessment process to promote safety and support the dignity and independence of all participants. The DriveWise interdisciplinary approach to practice is a concrete example of how gerontological education across professions can have direct benefits to the older adult.
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Mechanism of tonal noise generation from circular cylinder with spiral fin
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Yamashita, Ryo; Hayashi, Hidechito; Okumura, Tetsuya; Hamakawa, Hiromitsu
2014-12-01
The pitch of the spiral finned tube influences seriously to the acoustic resonance in the heat exchanger. In this research, the flow characteristics in relating to the aeolian tone from the finned cylinder are studied by the numerical simulation. It is observed that the tonal noise generated from the finned tube at two pitch spaces. The ratio of the fin pitch to the cylinder diameter is changed at 0.11 and 0.27. The tone level increases and the frequency decreases with the pitch shorter. The separation flow from the cylinder generates the span-wise vortices, Karman vortices, and the separation flow from the fin generates the stream-wise vortices. When the fin pitch ratio is small, the stream-wise vortices line up to span-wise and become weak rapidly. Only the Karman vortices are remained and integrate in span. So the Karman vortex became large. This causes the low frequency and the large aeolian tone.
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Clinical Decisions Made in Primary Care Clinics Before and After Choosing Wisely.
Kost, Amanda; Genao, Inginia; Lee, Jay W; Smith, Stephen R
2015-01-01
The Choosing Wisely campaign encourages physicians to avoid low-value care. Although widely lauded, no study has examined its impact on clinical decisions made in primary care settings. We compared clinical decisions made for 5 Choosing Wisely recommendations over two 6-month time periods before and after the campaign launch and an educational intervention to promote it at 3 primary care residency clinics. The rate of recommendations adherence was high (93.2%) at baseline but did significantly increase to 96.5% after the launch. These findings suggest primary care physicians respond to training and publicity in low-value care, though further research is needed. Given that even small decreases of physician test ordering can produce large cost savings, the Choosing Wisely project may help achieve the health care triple aim. © Copyright 2015 by the American Board of Family Medicine.
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Beyond Worst-Case Analysis in Privacy and Clustering: Exploiting Explicit and Implicit Assumptions
2013-08-01
Dwork et al [63]. Given a query function f , the curator first estimates the global sensitivity of f , denoted GS(f) = maxD,D′ f(D)− f(D′), then outputs f...Ostrovsky et al [121]. Ostrovsky et al study instances in which the ratio between the cost of the optimal (k − 1)-means solu- tion and the cost of the...k-median objective. We also build on the work of Balcan et al [25] that investigate the connection between point-wise approximations of the target
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Zhang, Chu; Liu, Fei; He, Yong
2018-02-01
Hyperspectral imaging was used to identify and to visualize the coffee bean varieties. Spectral preprocessing of pixel-wise spectra was conducted by different methods, including moving average smoothing (MA), wavelet transform (WT) and empirical mode decomposition (EMD). Meanwhile, spatial preprocessing of the gray-scale image at each wavelength was conducted by median filter (MF). Support vector machine (SVM) models using full sample average spectra and pixel-wise spectra, and the selected optimal wavelengths by second derivative spectra all achieved classification accuracy over 80%. Primarily, the SVM models using pixel-wise spectra were used to predict the sample average spectra, and these models obtained over 80% of the classification accuracy. Secondly, the SVM models using sample average spectra were used to predict pixel-wise spectra, but achieved with lower than 50% of classification accuracy. The results indicated that WT and EMD were suitable for pixel-wise spectra preprocessing. The use of pixel-wise spectra could extend the calibration set, and resulted in the good prediction results for pixel-wise spectra and sample average spectra. The overall results indicated the effectiveness of using spectral preprocessing and the adoption of pixel-wise spectra. The results provided an alternative way of data processing for applications of hyperspectral imaging in food industry.
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More Than a Pretty Picture: Making WISE Data Accessible to the Public
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Ali, Nancy; Mendez, B.; Fricke, K.; Wright, E. L.; Eisenhardt, P. R.; Cutri, R. M.; Hurt, R.; WISE Team
2011-01-01
NASA's Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer (WISE) has surveyed the sky in four bands of infrared light, creating a treasure trove of data. This data is of interest not only to the professional astronomical community, but also to educators, students and the general public. The Education and Public Outreach (E/PO) program for WISE is creating opportunities to make WISE data accessible to these audiences through the Internet as well as through teacher professional development programs. Shortly after WISE took its first light image in January 2010, images have been featured weekly on the WISE website. These images serve to engage the general public through "pretty pictures” that are accompanied by educational captions. Social media such as Facebook and Twitter are used to further engage the public with the images. For a more comprehensive view of WISE images, we are creating a guided tour of the infrared sky on the WorldWide Telescope. The public will be able to use the free WorldWide Telescope software to interact with WISE images and listen to narration that describes features of the Universe as seen in infrared light. We are also developing resources for teachers and students to access WISE data when in becomes public in 2011 to learn about astronomical imaging and to conduct authentic scientific investigations.
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DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)
Cushing, Michael C.; Kirkpatrick, J. Davy; Gelino, Christopher R.
2014-05-01
As part of a larger search of Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer (WISE) data for cool brown dwarfs with effective temperatures less than 1000 K, we present the discovery of three new cool brown dwarfs with spectral types later than T7. Using low-resolution, near-infrared spectra obtained with the NASA Infrared Telescope Facility and the Hubble Space Telescope, we derive spectral types of T9.5 for WISE J094305.98+360723.5, T8 for WISE J200050.19+362950.1, and Y0: for WISE J220905.73+271143.9. The identification of WISE J220905.73+271143.9 as a Y dwarf brings the total number of spectroscopically confirmed Y dwarfs to 17. In addition, we present an improvedmore » spectrum (i.e., higher signal-to-noise ratio) of the Y0 dwarf WISE J041022.71+150248.4 that confirms the Cushing et al. classification of Y0. Spectrophotometric distance estimates place all three new brown dwarfs at distances less than 12 pc, with WISE J200050.19+362950.1 lying at a distance of only 3.9-8.0 pc. Finally, we note that brown dwarfs like WISE J200050.19+362950.1 that lie in or near the Galactic plane offer an exciting opportunity to directly measure the mass of a brown dwarf via astrometric microlensing.« less
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THE SPITZER-WISE SURVEY OF THE ECLIPTIC POLES
DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)
Jarrett, T. H.; Masci, F.; Cutri, R. M.
2011-07-10
We have carried out a survey of the north and south ecliptic poles, EP-N and EP-S, respectively, with the Spitzer Space Telescope and the Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer (WISE). The primary objective was to cross-calibrate WISE with the Spitzer and Midcourse Space Experiment (MSX) photometric systems by developing a set of calibration stars that are common to these infrared missions. The ecliptic poles were continuous viewing zones for WISE due to its polar-crossing orbit, making these areas ideal for both absolute and internal calibrations. The Spitzer IRAC and MIPS imaging survey covers a complete area of 0.40 deg{sup 2} formore » the EP-N and 1.28 deg{sup 2} for the EP-S. WISE observed the whole sky in four mid-infrared bands, 3.4, 4.6, 12, and 22 {mu}m, during its eight-month cryogenic mission, including several hundred ecliptic polar passages; here we report on the highest coverage depths achieved by WISE, an area of {approx}1.5 deg{sup 2} for both poles. Located close to the center of the EP-N, the Sy-2 galaxy NGC 6552 conveniently functions as a standard calibrator to measure the red response of the 22 {mu}m channel of WISE. Observations from Spitzer-IRAC/MIPS/IRS-LL and WISE show that the galaxy has a strong red color in the mid-infrared due to star-formation and the presence of an active galactic nucleus (AGN), while over a baseline >1 year the mid-IR photometry of NGC 6552 is shown to vary at a level less than 2%. Combining NGC 6552 with the standard calibrator stars, the achieved photometric accuracy of the WISE calibration, relative to the Spitzer and MSX systems, is 2.4%, 2.8%, 4.5%, and 5.7% for W1 (3.4 {mu}m), W2 (4.6 {mu}m), W3 (12 {mu}m), and W4 (22 {mu}m), respectively. The WISE photometry is internally stable to better than 0.1% over the cryogenic lifetime of the mission. The secondary objective of the Spitzer-WISE Survey was to explore the poles at greater flux-level depths, exploiting the higher angular resolution Spitzer observations and the exceptionally deep (in total coverage) WISE observations that potentially reach down to the confusion limit of the survey. The rich Spitzer and WISE data sets were used to study the Galactic and extragalactic populations through source counts, color-magnitude and color-color diagrams. As an example of what the data sets facilitate, we have separated stars from galaxies, delineated normal galaxies from power-law-dominated AGNs, and reported on the different fractions of extragalactic populations. In the EP-N, we find an AGN source density of {approx}260 deg{sup -2} to a 12 {mu}m depth of 115 {mu}Jy, representing 15% of the total extragalactic population to this depth, similar to what has been observed for low-luminosity AGNs in other fields.« less
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Get Kids Interested in the Law before the Law Gets Interested in Them.
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Thomas, R. Murray; Murray, Paul V.
1983-01-01
Many children do not know enough about the law to make wise judgments about their behavior. Educational strategies for teaching about lawbreaking and its consequences are presented. Six laws commonly broken by young people are described, first in legal terms and then stated more simply. Case histories follow. (PP)
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Gustafsson, Lars L; Wettermark, Björn; Godman, Brian; Andersén-Karlsson, Eva; Bergman, Ulf; Hasselström, Jan; Hensjö, Lars-Olof; Hjemdahl, Paul; Jägre, Ingrid; Julander, Margaretha; Ringertz, Bo; Schmidt, Daniel; Sjöberg, Susan; Sjöqvist, Folke; Stiller, Carl-Olav; Törnqvist, Elisabeth; Tryselius, Rolf; Vitols, Sigurd; von Bahr, Christer
2011-04-01
The aim was to present and evaluate the impact of a comprehensive strategy over 10 years to select, communicate and achieve adherence to essential drug recommendations (EDR) in ambulatory care in a metropolitan healthcare region. EDRs were issued and launched as a 'Wise List' by the regional Drug and Therapeutics Committee in Stockholm. This study presents the concept by: (i) documenting the process for selecting, communicating and monitoring the impact of the 'Wise List'; (ii) analysing the variation in the number of drug substances recommended between 2000 and 2010; (iii) assessing the attitudes to the 'Wise List' among prescribers and the public; (iv) evaluating the adherence to recommendations between 2003 and 2009. The 'Wise List' consistently contained 200 drug substances for treating common diseases. The drugs were selected based on their efficacy, safety, suitability and cost-effectiveness. The 'Wise List' was known among one-third of a surveyed sample of the public in 2002 after initial marketing campaigns. All surveyed prescribers knew about the concept and 81% found the recommendations trustworthy in 2005. Adherence to recommendations increased from 69% in 1999 to 77% in 2009. In primary care, adherence increased from 83% to 87% from 2003 to 2009. The coefficient of variation (CV%) decreased from 6.1% to 3.8% for 156 healthcare centres between these years. The acceptance of the 'Wise List' in terms of trust among physicians and among the public and increased adherence may be explained by clear criteria for drug recommendations, a comprehensive communication strategy, electronic access to recommendations, continuous medical education and involvement of professional networks and patients.
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Metacognitive Awareness of Reading Strategies: An Indian Context
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Pinninti, Lakshmana Rao
2016-01-01
Over the last four decades, there has been a substantial body of research on metacognitive awareness of reading strategies. However, very few studies have focused on stage-wise frequency (pre-, while- and post-reading) and conditional knowledge of reading strategies. The purpose of this paper is to report stage-wise frequency and conditional…
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Shape models of asteroids reconstructed from WISE data and sparse photometry
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Durech, Josef; Hanus, Josef; Ali-Lagoa, Victor
2017-10-01
By combining sparse-in-time photometry from the Lowell Observatory photometry database with WISE observations, we reconstructed convex shape models for about 700 new asteroids and for other ~850 we derived 'partial' models with unconstrained ecliptic longitude of the spin axis direction. In our approach, the WISE data were treated as reflected light, which enabled us to directly join them with sparse photometry into one dataset that was processed by the lightcurve inversion method. This simplified treatment of thermal infrared data turned out to provide correct results, because in most cases the phase offset between optical and thermal lightcurves was small and the correct sidereal rotation period was determined. The spin and shape parameters derived from only optical data and from a combination of optical and WISE data were very similar. The new models together with those already available in the Database of Asteroid Models from Inversion Techniques (DAMIT) represent a sample of ~1650 asteroids. When including also partial models, the total sample is about 2500 asteroids, which significantly increases the number of models with respect to those that have been available so far. We will show the distribution of spin axes for different size groups and also for several collisional families. These observed distributions in general agree with theoretical expectations proving that smaller asteroids are more affected by YORP/Yarkovsky evolution. In asteroid families, we see a clear bimodal distribution of prograde/retrograde rotation that correlates with the position to the right/left from the center of the family measured by the semimajor axis.
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Wang, X; Jiao, Y; Tang, T; Wang, H; Lu, Z
2013-12-19
Intrinsic connectivity networks (ICNs) are composed of spatial components and time courses. The spatial components of ICNs were discovered with moderate-to-high reliability. So far as we know, few studies focused on the reliability of the temporal patterns for ICNs based their individual time courses. The goals of this study were twofold: to investigate the test-retest reliability of temporal patterns for ICNs, and to analyze these informative univariate metrics. Additionally, a correlation analysis was performed to enhance interpretability. Our study included three datasets: (a) short- and long-term scans, (b) multi-band echo-planar imaging (mEPI), and (c) eyes open or closed. Using dual regression, we obtained the time courses of ICNs for each subject. To produce temporal patterns for ICNs, we applied two categories of univariate metrics: network-wise complexity and network-wise low-frequency oscillation. Furthermore, we validated the test-retest reliability for each metric. The network-wise temporal patterns for most ICNs (especially for default mode network, DMN) exhibited moderate-to-high reliability and reproducibility under different scan conditions. Network-wise complexity for DMN exhibited fair reliability (ICC<0.5) based on eyes-closed sessions. Specially, our results supported that mEPI could be a useful method with high reliability and reproducibility. In addition, these temporal patterns were with physiological meanings, and certain temporal patterns were correlated to the node strength of the corresponding ICN. Overall, network-wise temporal patterns of ICNs were reliable and informative and could be complementary to spatial patterns of ICNs for further study. Copyright © 2013 IBRO. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
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Infrared excesses in stars with and without planets using revised WISE photometry
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Maldonado, Raul F.; Chavez, Miguel; Bertone, Emanuele; Cruz-Saenz de Miera, Fernando
2017-11-01
We present an analysis on the potential prevalence of mid-infrared excesses in stars with and without planetary companions. Based on an extended data base of stars detected with the Wide Infrared Survey Explorer (WISE) satellite, we studied two stellar samples: one with 236 planet hosts and another with 986 objects for which planets have been searched, but not found. We determined the presence of an excess over the photosphere by comparing the observed flux ratio at 22 and 12 μm (f22/f12) with the corresponding synthetic value, derived from results of classical model photospheres. We found a detection rate of 0.85 per cent at 22 μm (two excesses) in the sample of stars with planets and 0.1 per cent (1 detection) for the stars without planets. The difference of the detection rate between the two samples is not statistically significant, a result that is independent of the different approaches found in the literature to define an excess in the wavelength range covered by WISE observations. As an additional result, we found that the WISE fluxes required a normalization procedure to make them compatible with synthetic data, probably pointing out a revision of the WISE data calibration.
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Evaluation of body-wise and organ-wise registrations for abdominal organs
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Xu, Zhoubing; Panjwani, Sahil A.; Lee, Christopher P.; Burke, Ryan P.; Baucom, Rebeccah B.; Poulose, Benjamin K.; Abramson, Richard G.; Landman, Bennett A.
2016-03-01
Identifying cross-sectional and longitudinal correspondence in the abdomen on computed tomography (CT) scans is necessary for quantitatively tracking change and understanding population characteristics, yet abdominal image registration is a challenging problem. The key difficulty in solving this problem is huge variations in organ dimensions and shapes across subjects. The current standard registration method uses the global or body-wise registration technique, which is based on the global topology for alignment. This method (although producing decent results) has substantial influence of outliers, thus leaving room for significant improvement. Here, we study a new image registration approach using local (organ-wise registration) by first creating organ-specific bounding boxes and then using these regions of interest (ROIs) for aligning references to target. Based on Dice Similarity Coefficient (DSC), Mean Surface Distance (MSD) and Hausdorff Distance (HD), the organ-wise approach is demonstrated to have significantly better results by minimizing the distorting effects of organ variations. This paper compares exclusively the two registration methods by providing novel quantitative and qualitative comparison data and is a subset of the more comprehensive problem of improving the multi-atlas segmentation by using organ normalization.
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Searching for Planet Nine and Other Nearby Worlds with WISE and NEOWISE
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Meisner, Aaron Michael; Bromley, Benjamin; Nugent, Peter; Schlegel, David; Kenyon, Scott; Schlafly, Eddie; Dawson, Kyle; Anderson, Teddy
2018-01-01
Launched nearly eight years ago, NASA's WISE satellite continues to collect millions of infrared images at 3-5 microns as part of its asteroid-hunting NEOWISE mission. We have repurposed these NEOWISE exposures for science beyond the main belt by generating a novel full-sky set of time-resolved coadded images. This reprocessing allows for moving object searches reaching ~1.3 magnitudes fainter than previous studies while also providing a factor of ten increase in time baseline. This creates an exciting opportunity for motion-based discovery of very cold and faint objects which may have thus far eluded detection despite residing close to the Sun. We present the results of our latest WISE/NEOWISE search for 'Planet Nine', a giant planet hypothesized to orbit the Sun at hundreds of astronomical units. Our search incorporates over four years of WISE W1 observations spanning a seven year time period, and covers more than 75% of the sky. Variants of the WISE/NEOWISE Planet Nine search methodology we have developed should enable motion-based discoveries of large numbers of cold, faint brown dwarfs, especially those which are not detectable with Gaia.
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Transient Growth Analysis of Compressible Boundary Layers with Parabolized Stability Equations
NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)
Paredes, Pedro; Choudhari, Meelan M.; Li, Fei; Chang, Chau-Lyan
2016-01-01
The linear form of parabolized linear stability equations (PSE) is used in a variational approach to extend the previous body of results for the optimal, non-modal disturbance growth in boundary layer flows. This methodology includes the non-parallel effects associated with the spatial development of boundary layer flows. As noted in literature, the optimal initial disturbances correspond to steady counter-rotating stream-wise vortices, which subsequently lead to the formation of stream-wise-elongated structures, i.e., streaks, via a lift-up effect. The parameter space for optimal growth is extended to the hypersonic Mach number regime without any high enthalpy effects, and the effect of wall cooling is studied with particular emphasis on the role of the initial disturbance location and the value of the span-wise wavenumber that leads to the maximum energy growth up to a specified location. Unlike previous predictions that used a basic state obtained from a self-similar solution to the boundary layer equations, mean flow solutions based on the full Navier-Stokes (NS) equations are used in select cases to help account for the viscous-inviscid interaction near the leading edge of the plate and also for the weak shock wave emanating from that region. These differences in the base flow lead to an increasing reduction with Mach number in the magnitude of optimal growth relative to the predictions based on self-similar mean-flow approximation. Finally, the maximum optimal energy gain for the favorable pressure gradient boundary layer near a planar stagnation point is found to be substantially weaker than that in a zero pressure gradient Blasius boundary layer.
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NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Borders, Kareen; Mendez, B.; Borders, K.; Thaller, M.; Plecki, M.; Usuda, K.
2011-05-01
In order to prepare students in grades 4-12 for a global workforce, NASA supports science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) immersion education for secondary students. Secondary schools, through the NASA Explorer School program, the Spitzer Space Telescope, the National Optical Astronomy Observatory, and the WISE (Wide Field Infrared Survey Explorer) Telescope Teacher Ambassador program, offer authentic research opportunities for students. Spitzer and WISE studied the sky in infrared light. Among the objects WISE studied are asteroids, the coolest and dimmest stars, and the most luminous galaxies. The lessons learned from the NASA Explorer School program and Spitzer and WISE teacher and student programs can be applied to other programs, engaging students in authentic research experiences by using data from space-borne and earth-based observatories such Kitt Peak Observatory. Several ground based telescopes at Kitt Peak Observatory study visible light from objects such as supernovae. Utilizing a student research immersion philosophy along with data analysis skills learned from the Spitzer and WISE student research programs, an analysis of supernovae distribution with respect to location in the Andromeda galaxy was conducted using images of the Andromeda galaxy taken from the WIYN 0.9 meter telescope on Kitt Peak. A comparison was made between the 12 outer fields (spiral arms) and the 4 inner fields (central bulge). Novae were found by "blinking” images of each field throughout 100 epochs of data. Blinking is a technique used to compare images of fields and noting brightness (via x,y coordinates) in one field that is not visible in the same field during a different epoch. Although the central bulge was expected to contain more supernovae due to stellar density and proximity of stars to each other, analysis of data indicates that the there is also a concentration of supernovae that appeared in outer regions. WISE Telescope funding is gratefully acknowledged.
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Shigetani, Yasuyo; Howard, Sara; Guidato, Sonia; Furushima, Kenryo; Abe, Takaya; Itasaki, Nobue
2008-07-15
While most cranial ganglia contain neurons of either neural crest or placodal origin, neurons of the trigeminal ganglion derive from both populations. The Wnt signaling pathway is known to be required for the development of neural crest cells and for trigeminal ganglion formation, however, migrating neural crest cells do not express any known Wnt ligands. Here we demonstrate that Wise, a Wnt modulator expressed in the surface ectoderm overlying the trigeminal ganglion, play a role in promoting the assembly of placodal and neural crest cells. When overexpressed in chick, Wise causes delamination of ectodermal cells and attracts migrating neural crest cells. Overexpression of Wise is thus sufficient to ectopically induce ganglion-like structures consisting of both origins. The function of Wise is likely synergized with Wnt6, expressed in an overlapping manner with Wise in the surface ectoderm. Electroporation of morpholino antisense oligonucleotides against Wise and Wnt6 causes decrease in the contact of neural crest cells with the delaminated placode-derived cells. In addition, targeted deletion of Wise in mouse causes phenotypes that can be explained by a decrease in the contribution of neural crest cells to the ophthalmic lobe of the trigeminal ganglion. These data suggest that Wise is able to function cell non-autonomously on neural crest cells and promote trigeminal ganglion formation.
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Comparation between different tracers of SFR in the CALIFA sample
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Catalán-Torrecilla, C.; Armando Gil de Paz, A.; África Castillo-Morales, A.; Jorge Iglesias-Páramo, J.; Almudena Alonso-Herrero, A.; Califa Team
2013-05-01
The Calar Alto Legacy Integral Field Area survey (CALIFA survey) has been designed to be the first survey to provide Integral Field Spectroscopy (IFS) data for a statistical sample of all galaxy types (˜ 600 galaxies) in the Local Universe (0.005
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NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)
Wooden, Diane H.; Lederer, Susan M.; Jehin, Emmanuel; Howell, Ellen S.; Fernandez, Yan; Harker, David E.; Ryan, Erin; Lovell, Amy; Woodward, Charles E.; Benner, Lance A.
2015-01-01
Parameters important for NEO risk assessment and mitigation include Near-Earth Object diameter and taxonomic classification, which translates to surface composition. Diameters of NEOs are derived from the thermal fluxes measured by WISE, NEOWISE, Spitzer Warm Mission and ground-based telescopes including the IRTF and UKIRT. Diameter and its coupled parameters Albedo and IR beaming parameter (a proxy for thermal inertia and/or surface roughness) are dependent upon the phase angle, which is the Sun-target-observer angle. Orbit geometries of NEOs, however, typically provide for observations at phase angles greater than 20 degrees. At higher phase angles, the observed thermal emission is sampling both the day and night sides of the NEO. We compare thermal models for NEOs that exclude (NEATM) and include (NESTM) night-side emission. We present a case study of NEO 3691 Bede, which is a higher albedo object, X (Ec) or Cgh taxonomy, to highlight the range of H magnitudes for this object (depending on the albedo and phase function slope parameter G), and to examine at different phase angles the taxonomy and thermal model fits for this NEO. Observations of 3691 Bede include our observations with IRTF+SpeX and with the 10 micrometer UKIRT+Michelle instrument, as well as WISE and Spitzer Warm mission data. By examining 3691 Bede as a case study, we highlight the interplay between the derivation of basic physical parameters and observing geometry, and we discuss the uncertainties in H magnitude, taxonomy assignment amongst the X-class (P, M, E), and diameter determinations. Systematic dependencies in the derivation of basic characterization parameters of H-magnitude, diameter, albedo and taxonomy with observing geometry are important to understand. These basic characterization parameters affect the statistical assessments of the NEO population, which in turn, affects the assignment of statistically-assessed basic parameters to discovered but yet-to-be-fully-characterized NEOs.
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Explanatory Supplement to the WISE All-Sky Release Products
NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)
2012-01-01
The Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer (WISE; Wright et al. 2010) surveyed the entire sky at 3.4, 4.6, 12 and 22 microns in 2010, achieving 5-sigma point source sensitivities per band better than 0.08, 0.11, 1 and 6 mJy in unconfused regions on the ecliptic. The WISE All-Sky Data Release, conducted on March 14, 2012, incorporates all data taken during the full cryogenic mission phase, 7 January 2010 to 6 August 20l0,that were processed with improved calibrations and reduction algorithms. Release data products include: (1) an Atlas of 18,240 match-filtered, calibrated and coadded image sets; (2) a Source Catalog containing positions and four-band photometry for over 563 million objects, and (3) an Explanatory Supplement. Ancillary products include a Reject Table that contains 284 million detections that were not selected for the Source Catalog because they are low signal-to-noise ratio or spurious detections of image artifacts, an archive of over 1.5 million sets of calibrated WISE Single-exposure images, and a database of 9.4 billion source extractions from those single images, and moving object tracklets identified by the NEOWISE program (Mainzer et aI. 2011). The WISE All-Sky Data Release products supersede those from the WISE Preliminary Data Release (Cutri et al. 2011). The Explanatory Supplement to the WISE All-Sky Data Release Products is a general guide for users of the WISE data. The Supplement contains an overview of the WISE mission, facilities, and operations, a detailed description of WISE data processing algorithms, a guide to the content and formals of the image and tabular data products, and cautionary notes that describe known limitations of the All-Sky Release products. Instructions for accessing the WISE data products via the services of the NASA/IPAC Infrared Science Archive are provided. The Supplement also provides analyses of the achieved sky coverage, photometric and astrometric characteristics and completeness and reliability of the All-Sky Release data products. The WISE All-Sky Release Explanatory Supplement is an on-line document that is updated frequently to provide the most current information for users of the WISE data products. The Explanatory Supplement is maintained at: http://wise2.ipac.caltech.edu/docs/release/allsky/expsup/index.html WISE is a joint project of the University of California, Los Angeles and the Jet Propulsion Laboratory/California Institute of Technology, funded by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration. NEOWISE is a project of the Jet Propulsion Laboratory/California Institute of Technology, funded by the Planetary Science Division of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration.
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ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Henwood, Flis
1996-01-01
Examines Women into Science and Engineering (WISE) discourse and explains why WISE has had limited success. It argues the WISE discourse limits the space women have to speak of the conflicts and contradictions they experience, and suggests the need for a greater understanding of how subjective experiences of gender and sexuality impinge upon work…
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Update on the Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer (WISE)
NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)
Mainzer, Amanda K.; Eisenhardt, Peter; Wright, Edward L.; Liu, Feng-Chuan; Irace, William; Heinrichsen, Ingolf; Cutri, Roc; Duval, Valerie
2006-01-01
The Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer (WISE), a NASA MIDEX mission, will survey the entire sky in four bands from 3.3 to 23 microns with a sensitivity 1000 times greater than the IRAS survey. The WISE survey will extend the Two Micron All Sky Survey into the thermal infrared and will provide an important catalog for the James Webb Space Telescope. Using 1024(sup 2) HgCdTe and Si:As arrays at 3.3, 4.7, 12 and 23 microns, WISE will find the most luminous galaxies in the universe, the closest stars to the Sun, and it will detect most of the main belt asteroids larger than 3 km. The single WISE instrument consists of a 40 cm diamond-turned aluminum afocal telescope, a two-stage solid hydrogen cryostat, a scan mirror mechanism, and reimaging optics giving 5 resolution (full-width-half-maximum). The use of dichroics and beamsplitters allows four color images of a 47' x47' field of view to be taken every 8.8 seconds, synchronized with the orbital motion to provide total sky coverage with overlap between revolutions. WISE will be placed into a Sun-synchronous polar orbit on a Delta 7320-10 launch vehicle. The WISE survey approach is simple and efficient. The three-axis-stabilized spacecraft rotates at a constant rate while the scan mirror freezes the telescope line of sight during each exposure. WISE has completed its mission Preliminary Design Review and its NASA Confirmation Review, and the project is awaiting confirmation from NASA to proceed to the Critical Design phase. Much of the payload hardware is now complete, and assembly of the payload will occur over the next year. WISE is scheduled to launch in late 2009; the project web site can be found at www.wise.ssl.berkeley.edu.
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DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)
Masci, Frank J.; Grillmair, Carl J.; Cutri, Roc M.
2014-07-01
We describe a methodology to classify periodic variable stars identified using photometric time-series measurements constructed from the Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer (WISE) full-mission single-exposure Source Databases. This will assist in the future construction of a WISE Variable Source Database that assigns variables to specific science classes as constrained by the WISE observing cadence with statistically meaningful classification probabilities. We have analyzed the WISE light curves of 8273 variable stars identified in previous optical variability surveys (MACHO, GCVS, and ASAS) and show that Fourier decomposition techniques can be extended into the mid-IR to assist with their classification. Combined with other periodicmore » light-curve features, this sample is then used to train a machine-learned classifier based on the random forest (RF) method. Consistent with previous classification studies of variable stars in general, the RF machine-learned classifier is superior to other methods in terms of accuracy, robustness against outliers, and relative immunity to features that carry little or redundant class information. For the three most common classes identified by WISE: Algols, RR Lyrae, and W Ursae Majoris type variables, we obtain classification efficiencies of 80.7%, 82.7%, and 84.5% respectively using cross-validation analyses, with 95% confidence intervals of approximately ±2%. These accuracies are achieved at purity (or reliability) levels of 88.5%, 96.2%, and 87.8% respectively, similar to that achieved in previous automated classification studies of periodic variable stars.« less
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Melfa, G; Bernardi, L; Tettamanti, M; Mangano, S
2004-01-01
We report a case of acute renal failure, quickly evolved, in which the coexistence of parenchimal nephropaty and renal mass, have induced not a common diagnostic and therapeutic approach, finalized to optimize the interventional nephrology procedures, with the use of various imaging procedures. It is followed a multidisciplinar therapeutic approach, with the employment of dialysis, steroid therapy and surgical treatment.
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Consistency-based rectification of nonrigid registrations
Gass, Tobias; Székely, Gábor; Goksel, Orcun
2015-01-01
Abstract. We present a technique to rectify nonrigid registrations by improving their group-wise consistency, which is a widely used unsupervised measure to assess pair-wise registration quality. While pair-wise registration methods cannot guarantee any group-wise consistency, group-wise approaches typically enforce perfect consistency by registering all images to a common reference. However, errors in individual registrations to the reference then propagate, distorting the mean and accumulating in the pair-wise registrations inferred via the reference. Furthermore, the assumption that perfect correspondences exist is not always true, e.g., for interpatient registration. The proposed consistency-based registration rectification (CBRR) method addresses these issues by minimizing the group-wise inconsistency of all pair-wise registrations using a regularized least-squares algorithm. The regularization controls the adherence to the original registration, which is additionally weighted by the local postregistration similarity. This allows CBRR to adaptively improve consistency while locally preserving accurate pair-wise registrations. We show that the resulting registrations are not only more consistent, but also have lower average transformation error when compared to known transformations in simulated data. On clinical data, we show improvements of up to 50% target registration error in breathing motion estimation from four-dimensional MRI and improvements in atlas-based segmentation quality of up to 65% in terms of mean surface distance in three-dimensional (3-D) CT. Such improvement was observed consistently using different registration algorithms, dimensionality (two-dimensional/3-D), and modalities (MRI/CT). PMID:26158083
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The WISE Satellite Development: Managing the Risks and the Opportunities
NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)
Duval, Valerie G.; Elwell, John D.; Howard, Joan F.; Irace, William R.; Liu, Feng-Chuan
2010-01-01
NASA's Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer (WISE) MIDEX mission is surveying the entire sky in four infrared bands from 3.4 to 22 micrometers. The WISE instrument consists of a 40 cm telescope, a solid hydrogen cryostat, a scan mirror mechanism, and four 1K x1K infrared detectors. The WISE spacecraft bus provides communication, data handling, and avionics including instrument pointing. A Delta 7920 successfully launched WISE into a Sun-synchronous polar orbit on December 14, 2009. WISE was competitively selected by NASA as a Medium cost Explorer mission (MIDEX) in 2002. MIDEX missions are led by the Principal Investigator who delegates day-to-day management to the Project Manager. Given the tight cost cap and relatively short development schedule, NASA chose to extend the development period one year with an option to cancel the mission if certain criteria were not met. To meet this and other challenges, the WISE management team had to learn to work seamlessly across institutional lines and to recognize risks and opportunities in order to develop the flight hardware within the project resources. In spite of significant technical issues, the WISE satellite was delivered on budget and on schedule. This paper describes our management approach and risk posture, technical issues, and critical decisions made.
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Enhanced Condensation Heat Transfer On Patterned Surfaces
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Alizadeh-Birjandi, Elaheh; Kavehpour, H. Pirouz
2017-11-01
Transition from film to drop wise condensation can improve the efficiency of thermal management applications and result in considerable savings in investments and operating costs by millions of dollars every year. The current methods available are either hydrophobic coating or nanostructured surfaces. The former has little adhesion to the structure which tends to detach easily under working conditions, the fabrication techniques of the latter are neither cost-effective nor scalable, and both are made with low thermal conductivity materials that would negate the heat transfer enhancement by drop wise condensation. Therefore, the existing technologies have limitations in enhancing vapor-to-liquid condensation. This work focuses on development of surfaces with wettability contrast to boost drop wise condensation, which its overall heat transfer efficiency is 2-3 times film wise condensation, while maintaining high conduction rate through the surface at low manufacturing costs. The variation in interfacial energy is achieved through crafting hydrophobic patterns to the surface of the metal via scalable fabrication techniques. The results of experimental and surface optimization studies are also presented.
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WISE Observations of Comets, Centaurs, & Scattered Disk Objects
NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)
Bauer, J.; Walker, R.; Mainzer, A.; Masiero, J.; Grav, T.; Cutri, R.; Dailey, J.; McMillan, R.; Lisse, C. M.; Fernandez, Y. R.;
2011-01-01
The Wide-Field Infrared Survey Explorer (WISE) was luanched on December 14, 2009. WISE imaged more than 99% of the sky in the mid-infrared for a 9-month mission lifetome. In addition to its primary goals of detecting the most luminous infrared galaxies and the nearest brown dwarfs, WISE, detected over 155500 of solar system bodies, 33700 of which were previously unknown. Most of the new objects were main Belt asteriods, and particular emphasis was on the discovery of Near Earth Asteoids. Hundreds of Jupiter Trojans have been imaged by WISE as well. However a substantial number of Centaurs, Scattered Disc Objects (SDOs), & cometary objects, were observed and discovered.
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Scarpazza, Cristina; Nichols, Thomas E; Seramondi, Donato; Maumet, Camille; Sartori, Giuseppe; Mechelli, Andrea
2016-01-01
In recent years, an increasing number of studies have used Voxel Based Morphometry (VBM) to compare a single patient with a psychiatric or neurological condition of interest against a group of healthy controls. However, the validity of this approach critically relies on the assumption that the single patient is drawn from a hypothetical population with a normal distribution and variance equal to that of the control group. In a previous investigation, we demonstrated that family-wise false positive error rate (i.e., the proportion of statistical comparisons yielding at least one false positive) in single case VBM are much higher than expected (Scarpazza et al., 2013). Here, we examine whether the use of non-parametric statistics, which does not rely on the assumptions of normal distribution and equal variance, would enable the investigation of single subjects with good control of false positive risk. We empirically estimated false positive rates (FPRs) in single case non-parametric VBM, by performing 400 statistical comparisons between a single disease-free individual and a group of 100 disease-free controls. The impact of smoothing (4, 8, and 12 mm) and type of pre-processing (Modulated, Unmodulated) was also examined, as these factors have been found to influence FPRs in previous investigations using parametric statistics. The 400 statistical comparisons were repeated using two independent, freely available data sets in order to maximize the generalizability of the results. We found that the family-wise error rate was 5% for increases and 3.6% for decreases in one data set; and 5.6% for increases and 6.3% for decreases in the other data set (5% nominal). Further, these results were not dependent on the level of smoothing and modulation. Therefore, the present study provides empirical evidence that single case VBM studies with non-parametric statistics are not susceptible to high false positive rates. The critical implication of this finding is that VBM can be used to characterize neuroanatomical alterations in individual subjects as long as non-parametric statistics are employed.
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Cold Brown Dwarfs with WISE: Y Dwarfs and the Field Mass Function
NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)
Kirkpatrick, J. Davy
2012-01-01
Why study Brown Dwarf stars? They re the lowest mass byproducts of star formation.. They provide time capsules across the age of the Galaxy.. They show what low-T(sub eff) atmospheres look like.. They may be some of our closest neighbors in space..WISE is a 40cm Earth-orbiting telescope. There are 211 stars and only 33 brown dwarfs in this volume.. This means that stars outnumber brown dwarfs by a factor of 6:1 currently.. The number of brown dwarfs will continue to increase if:: (a) more nearby Y dwarf candidates are confirmed, or (b) our distances to known Y s are overestimated, or (c) there are colder BDs invisible to WISE..
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Does reflection lead to wise choices?
Bortolotti, Lisa
2011-01-01
Does conscious reflection lead to good decision-making? Whereas engaging in reflection is traditionally thought to be the best way to make wise choices, recent psychological evidence undermines the role of reflection in lay and expert judgement. The literature suggests that thinking about reasons does not improve the choices people make, and that experts do not engage in reflection, but base their judgements on intuition, often shaped by extensive previous experience. Can we square the traditional accounts of wisdom with the results of these empirical studies? Should we even attempt to? I shall defend the view that philosophy and cognitive sciences genuinely interact in tackling questions such as whether reflection leads to making wise choices. PMID:22408385
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Educational Materials - Burn Wise
Burn Wise outreach material. Burn Wise is a partnership program of that emphasizes the importance of burning the right wood, the right way, in the right wood-burning appliance to protect your home, health, and the air we breathe.
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A study of flame spread in engineered cardboard fuelbeds: Part I: Correlations and observations
Mark A. Finney; Jason Forthofer; Isaac C. Grenfell; Brittany A. Adam; Nelson K. Akafuah; Kozo Saito
2013-01-01
Wind tunnel laboratory fires spreading through laser-cut cardboard fuel beds were instrumented and analyzed for physical processes associated with spread. Flames in the span-wise direction appeared as a regular series of peaks-and-troughs that scaled directly with flame length. Flame structure in the stream-wise direction fluctuated with the forward advection of...
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Evans, Rhiannon; Brockman, Rowan; Grey, Jillian; Bell, Sarah; Harding, Sarah; Gunnell, David; Campbell, Rona; Murphy, Simon; Ford, Tamsin; Hollingworth, William; Tilling, Kate; Morris, Richard; Kadir, Bryar; Araya, Ricardo; Kidger, Judi
2018-05-04
Secondary school teachers have low levels of wellbeing and high levels of depression compared with the general population. Teachers are in a key position to support students, but poor mental health may be a barrier to doing so effectively. The Wellbeing in Secondary Education (WISE) project is a cluster randomised controlled trial (RCT) of an intervention to improve the mental health support and training available to secondary school teachers through delivery of the training package Mental Health First Aid and a staff peer support service. We will conduct a process evaluation as part of the WISE trial to support the interpretation of trial outcomes and refine intervention theory. The domains assessed will be: the extent to which the hypothesised mechanisms of change are activated; system level influences on these mechanisms; programme differentiation and usual practice; intervention implementation, including any adaptations; intervention acceptability; and intervention sustainability. Research questions will be addressed via quantitative and qualitative methods. All study schools (n = 25) will provide process evaluation data, with more detailed focus group, interview and observation data being collected from a subsample of case study schools (4 intervention and 4 control). Mechanisms of change, as outlined in a logic model, will be measured via teacher and student surveys and focus groups. School context will be explored via audits of school practice that relate to mental health and wellbeing, combined with stakeholder interviews and focus groups. Implementation of the training and peer support service will be assessed via training observations, training participant evaluation forms, focus groups with participants, interviews with trainers and peer support service users, and peer supporter logs recording help provided. Acceptability and sustainability will be examined via interviews with funders, head teachers, trainers and peer support services users, and focus groups with training participants. The process evaluation embedded within the WISE cluster RCT will illuminate how and why the intervention was effective, ineffective or conferred iatrogenic effects. It will contribute to the refinement of the theory underpinning the intervention, and will help to inform any future implementation. International Standard Randomised Controlled Trial Number: ISRCTN95909211 registered on 24 March 2016.
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Submillimeter Follow-up of WISE-selected Hyperluminous Galaxies
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Wu, Jingwen; Tsai, Chao-Wei; Sayers, Jack; Benford, Dominic; Bridge, Carrie; Blain, Andrew; Eisenhardt, Peter R. M.; Stern, Daniel; Petty, Sara; Assef, Roberto; Bussmann, Shane; Comerford, Julia M.; Cutri, Roc; Evans, Neal J., II; Griffith, Roger; Jarrett, Thomas; Lake, Sean; Lonsdale, Carol; Rho, Jeonghee; Stanford, S. Adam; Weiner, Benjamin; Wright, Edward L.; Yan, Lin
2012-09-01
We have used the Caltech Submillimeter Observatory (CSO) to follow-up a sample of Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer (WISE) selected, hyperluminous galaxies, the so-called W1W2-dropout galaxies. This is a rare (~1000 all-sky) population of galaxies at high redshift (peaks at z = 2-3), which are faint or undetected by WISE at 3.4 and 4.6 μm, yet are clearly detected at 12 and 22 μm. The optical spectra of most of these galaxies show significant active galactic nucleus activity. We observed 14 high-redshift (z > 1.7) W1W2-dropout galaxies with SHARC-II at 350-850 μm, with nine detections, and observed 18 with Bolocam at 1.1 mm, with five detections. Warm Spitzer follow-up of 25 targets at 3.6 and 4.5 μm, as well as optical spectra of 12 targets, are also presented in the paper. Combining WISE data with observations from warm Spitzer and CSO, we constructed their mid-IR to millimeter spectral energy distributions (SEDs). These SEDs have a consistent shape, showing significantly higher mid-IR to submillimeter ratios than other galaxy templates, suggesting a hotter dust temperature. We estimate their dust temperatures to be 60-120 K using a single-temperature model. Their infrared luminosities are well over 1013 L ⊙. These SEDs are not well fitted with existing galaxy templates, suggesting they are a new population with very high luminosity and hot dust. They are likely among the most luminous galaxies in the universe. We argue that they are extreme cases of luminous, hot dust-obscured galaxies (DOGs), possibly representing a short evolutionary phase during galaxy merging and evolution. A better understanding of their long-wavelength properties needs ALMA as well as Herschel data.
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THE WISE LIGHT CURVES OF POLARS
DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)
Harrison, Thomas E.; Campbell, Ryan K., E-mail: tharriso@nmsu.edu, E-mail: Ryan.Campbell@humboldt.edu
2015-08-15
We have extracted the WISE (Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer) single-exposure data for a sample of 72 polars, which are highly magnetic cataclysmic variables (CVs). We combine these data with both published and unpublished optical and infrared data to explore the origins of the large amplitude variations seen in these systems. In nearly every case, we find evidence for cyclotron emission in the WISE bandpasses. We find that the derived magnetic field strengths for some polars are either too high, or cyclotron emission from lower field components, located spatially coincident to the main accreting poles, must be occurring. We have alsomore » estimated field strengths for a number of polars where no such values exist. In addition, contrary to expectations, we find that emission from the fundamental cyclotron harmonic (n = 1) appears to be nearly always present when the magnetic field is of the appropriate strength that it falls within a WISE bandpass. We find that the light curves for RBS 490, an ultrashort-period (46 minutes) CV, suggest that it is a polar. Modeling its spectrum indicates that its donor star is much hotter than expected. Nearly all of the detected polars show 11.5 μm (“W3 band”) excesses. The general lack of variability seen in the W3 bandpass light curves for higher-field polars demonstrates that these excesses are probably not due to cyclotron emission. There is circumstantial evidence that these excesses can be attributed to bremsstrahlung emission from their accretion streams. Reduction of the Spitzer 24 μm image of V1500 Cyg shows that it appears to be located at the center of a small nebula.« less
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VoxelStats: A MATLAB Package for Multi-Modal Voxel-Wise Brain Image Analysis.
Mathotaarachchi, Sulantha; Wang, Seqian; Shin, Monica; Pascoal, Tharick A; Benedet, Andrea L; Kang, Min Su; Beaudry, Thomas; Fonov, Vladimir S; Gauthier, Serge; Labbe, Aurélie; Rosa-Neto, Pedro
2016-01-01
In healthy individuals, behavioral outcomes are highly associated with the variability on brain regional structure or neurochemical phenotypes. Similarly, in the context of neurodegenerative conditions, neuroimaging reveals that cognitive decline is linked to the magnitude of atrophy, neurochemical declines, or concentrations of abnormal protein aggregates across brain regions. However, modeling the effects of multiple regional abnormalities as determinants of cognitive decline at the voxel level remains largely unexplored by multimodal imaging research, given the high computational cost of estimating regression models for every single voxel from various imaging modalities. VoxelStats is a voxel-wise computational framework to overcome these computational limitations and to perform statistical operations on multiple scalar variables and imaging modalities at the voxel level. VoxelStats package has been developed in Matlab(®) and supports imaging formats such as Nifti-1, ANALYZE, and MINC v2. Prebuilt functions in VoxelStats enable the user to perform voxel-wise general and generalized linear models and mixed effect models with multiple volumetric covariates. Importantly, VoxelStats can recognize scalar values or image volumes as response variables and can accommodate volumetric statistical covariates as well as their interaction effects with other variables. Furthermore, this package includes built-in functionality to perform voxel-wise receiver operating characteristic analysis and paired and unpaired group contrast analysis. Validation of VoxelStats was conducted by comparing the linear regression functionality with existing toolboxes such as glim_image and RMINC. The validation results were identical to existing methods and the additional functionality was demonstrated by generating feature case assessments (t-statistics, odds ratio, and true positive rate maps). In summary, VoxelStats expands the current methods for multimodal imaging analysis by allowing the estimation of advanced regional association metrics at the voxel level.
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Submillimeter Follow-Up of WISE-Selected Hyperluminous Galaxies
NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)
Wu, Jingwen; Tsai, Chao-Wei; Sayers, Jack; Benford, Dominic; Bridge, Carrie; Blain, Andrew; Eisenhardt, Peter R.; Stern, Daniel; Petty, Sara; Assef, Roberto;
2012-01-01
We have used the Caltech Submillimeter Observatory (CSO) to follow-up a sample of Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer (WISE) selected, hyperluminous galaxies, the so-called W1W2-dropout galaxies. This is a rare (approx.1000 all-sky) population of galaxies at high redshift (peaks at z = 2-3), which are faint or undetected by WISE at 3.4 and 4.6 microns, yet are clearly detected at 12 and 22 microns. The optical spectra of most of these galaxies show significant active galactic nucleus activity. We observed 14 high-redshift (z > 1.7) W1W2-dropout galaxies with SHARC-II at 350-850 microns, with nine detections, and observed 18 with Bolocam at 1.1 mm, with five detections. Warm Spitzer follow-up of 25 targets at 3.6 and 4.5 microns, as well as optical spectra of 12 targets, are also presented in the paper. Combining WISE data with observations from warm Spitzer and CSO, we constructed their mid-IR to millimeter spectral energy distributions (SEDs). These SEDs have a consistent shape, showing significantly higher mid-IR to submillimeter ratios than other galaxy templates, suggesting a hotter dust temperature.We estimate their dust temperatures to be 60 C120 K using a single-temperature model. Their infrared luminosities are well over 10(exp 13) Stellar Luminosity. These SEDs are not well fitted with existing galaxy templates, suggesting they are a new population with very high luminosity and hot dust. They are likely among the most luminous galaxies in the universe.We argue that they are extreme cases of luminous, hot dust-obscured galaxies (DOGs), possibly representing a short evolutionary phase during galaxy merging and evolution. A better understanding of their long-wavelength properties needs ALMA as well as Herschel data.
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Submillimeter Follow-up of Wise-Selected Hyperluminous Galaxies
NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)
Wu, Jingwen; Tsai, Chao-Wei; Sayers, Jack; Benford, Dominic; Bridge, Carrie; Blain, Andrew; Eisenhardt, Peter R. M.; Stern, Daniel; Petty, Sara; Assef, Roberto;
2013-01-01
We have used the Caltech Submillimeter Observatory (CSO) to follow-up a sample of Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer (WISE) selected, hyperluminous galaxies, the so-called W1W2-dropout galaxies. This is a rare (approximately 1000 all-sky) population of galaxies at high redshift (peaks at zeta = 2-3), which are faint or undetected by WISE at 3.4 and 4.6 micrometers, yet are clearly detected at 12 and 22 micrometers. The optical spectra of most of these galaxies show significant active galactic nucleus activity. We observed 14 high-redshift (zeta greater than 1.7) W1W2-dropout galaxies with SHARC-II at 350-850 micrometers, with nine detections, and observed 18 with Bolocam at 1.1 mm, with five detections. Warm Spitzer follow-up of 25 targets at 3.6 and 4.5 micrometers, as well as optical spectra of 12 targets, are also presented in the paper. Combining WISE data with observations from warm Spitzer and CSO, we constructed their mid-IR to millimeter spectral energy distributions (SEDs). These SEDs have a consistent shape, showing significantly higher mid-IR to submillimeter ratios than other galaxy templates, suggesting a hotter dust temperature.We estimate their dust temperatures to be 60-120 K using a single-temperature model. Their infrared luminosities are well over 10(exp 13) solar luminosity. These SEDs are not well fitted with existing galaxy templates, suggesting they are a new population with very high luminosity and hot dust. They are likely among the most luminous galaxies in the universe.We argue that they are extreme cases of luminous, hot dust-obscured galaxies (DOGs), possibly representing a short evolutionary phase during galaxy merging and evolution. A better understanding of their long-wavelength properties needs ALMA as well as Herschel data.
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Local Burn-Up Effects in the NBSR Fuel Element
DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)
Brown N. R.; Hanson A.; Diamond, D.
2013-01-31
This study addresses the over-prediction of local power when the burn-up distribution in each half-element of the NBSR is assumed to be uniform. A single-element model was utilized to quantify the impact of axial and plate-wise burn-up on the power distribution within the NBSR fuel elements for both high-enriched uranium (HEU) and low-enriched uranium (LEU) fuel. To validate this approach, key parameters in the single-element model were compared to parameters from an equilibrium core model, including neutron energy spectrum, power distribution, and integral U-235 vector. The power distribution changes significantly when incorporating local burn-up effects and has lower power peakingmore » relative to the uniform burn-up case. In the uniform burn-up case, the axial relative power peaking is over-predicted by as much as 59% in the HEU single-element and 46% in the LEU single-element with uniform burn-up. In the uniform burn-up case, the plate-wise power peaking is over-predicted by as much as 23% in the HEU single-element and 18% in the LEU single-element. The degree of over-prediction increases as a function of burn-up cycle, with the greatest over-prediction at the end of Cycle 8. The thermal flux peak is always in the mid-plane gap; this causes the local cumulative burn-up near the mid-plane gap to be significantly higher than the fuel element average. Uniform burn-up distribution throughout a half-element also causes a bias in fuel element reactivity worth, due primarily to the neutronic importance of the fissile inventory in the mid-plane gap region.« less
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Burn Wise Educational Materials for Businesses
Burn Wise outreach material. Burn Wise is a partnership program of that emphasizes the importance of burning the right wood, the right way, in the right wood-burning appliance to protect your home, health, and the air we breathe.
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Infrared Astronomy Professional Development for K-12 Educators: WISE Telescope
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Borders, Kareen; Mendez, B. M.
2010-01-01
K-12 educators need effective and relevant astronomy professional development. WISE Telescope (Wide-Field Infrared Survey Explorer) and Spitzer Space Telescope Education programs provided an immersive teacher professional development workshop at Arecibo Observatory in Puerto Rico during the summer of 2009. As many common misconceptions involve scale and distance, teachers worked with Moon/Earth scale, solar system scale, and distance of objects in the universe. Teachers built and used basic telescopes, learned about the history of telescopes, explored ground and satellite based telescopes, and explored and worked on models of WISE Telescope. An in-depth explanation of WISE and Spitzer telescopes gave participants background knowledge for infrared astronomy observations. We taught the electromagnetic spectrum through interactive stations. The stations included an overview via lecture and power point, the use of ultraviolet beads to determine ultraviolet exposure, the study of WISE lenticulars and diagramming of infrared data, listening to light by using speakers hooked up to photoreceptor cells, looking at visible light through diffraction glasses and diagramming the data, protocols for using astronomy based research in the classroom, and infrared thermometers to compare environmental conditions around the observatory. An overview of LIDAR physics was followed up by a simulated LIDAR mapping of the topography of Mars. We will outline specific steps for K-12 infrared astronomy professional development, provide data demonstrating the impact of the above professional development on educator understanding and classroom use, and detail future plans for additional K-12 professional development. Funding was provided by WISE Telescope, Spitzer Space Telescope, Starbucks, Arecibo Observatory, the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics, and the Washington Space Grant Consortium.
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A corporate approach to social monitoring and assessment for development in a fragile environment.
May, Peter H; Dabbs, Alan W; Fernández-Dávila, Patricia; Da Vinha, Valéria; Zaidenweber, Nathan
2002-05-01
The prevailing corporate trend regarding development of energy resources in the tropics emphasizes financial gain over long-term societal benefits. Some corporations are beginning to find a competitive advantage linked to proactive relations with host communities and adequate protection of fragile ecosystems. Herein, we describe a case study where an international energy production company worked with stakeholders to achieve social capital and sustainable development. The strategies aimed to strengthen local capacity to improve social welfare and to ensure conservation and wise use of biodiversity. We provide examples, discuss lessons learned and make recommendations for future development projects.
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THE SPECTRAL ENERGY DISTRIBUTION OF THE COLDEST KNOWN BROWN DWARF
DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)
Luhman, K. L.; Esplin, T. L., E-mail: kluhman@astro.psu.edu
2016-09-01
WISE J085510.83–071442.5 (hereafter WISE 0855–0714) is the coldest known brown dwarf (∼250 K) and the fourth-closest known system to the Sun (2.2 pc). It has been previously detected only in the J band and two mid-IR bands. To better measure its spectral energy distribution (SED), we have performed deep imaging of WISE 0855–0714 in six optical and near-IR bands with Gemini Observatory, the Very Large Telescope, and the Hubble Space Telescope . Five of the bands show detections, although one detection is marginal (S/N ∼ 3). We also have obtained two epochs of images with the Spitzer Space Telescope for use inmore » refining the parallax of the brown dwarf. By combining astrometry from this work and previous studies, we have derived a parallax of 0.449 ± 0.008″ (2.23 ± 0.04 pc). We have compared our photometry for WISE 0855–0714 to data for known Y dwarfs and to the predictions of three suites of models by Saumon et al. and Morley et al. that are defined by the presence or absence of clouds and nonequilibrium chemistry. Our estimates of Y − J and J − H for WISE 0855–0714 are redder than colors of other Y dwarfs, confirming a predicted reversal of near-IR colors to redder values at temperatures below 300–400 K. In color–magnitude diagrams, no single suite of models provides a clearly superior match to the sequence formed by WISE 0855–0714 and other Y dwarfs. Instead, the best-fitting model changes from one diagram to the next. Similarly, all of the models have substantial differences from the SED of WISE 0855–0714. As a result, we are currently unable to constrain the presence of clouds or nonequilibrium chemistry in its atmosphere.« less
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Adaptive Grid Refinement for Atmospheric Boundary Layer Simulations
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
van Hooft, Antoon; van Heerwaarden, Chiel; Popinet, Stephane; van der linden, Steven; de Roode, Stephan; van de Wiel, Bas
2017-04-01
We validate and benchmark an adaptive mesh refinement (AMR) algorithm for numerical simulations of the atmospheric boundary layer (ABL). The AMR technique aims to distribute the computational resources efficiently over a domain by refining and coarsening the numerical grid locally and in time. This can be beneficial for studying cases in which length scales vary significantly in time and space. We present the results for a case describing the growth and decay of a convective boundary layer. The AMR results are benchmarked against two runs using a fixed, fine meshed grid. First, with the same numerical formulation as the AMR-code and second, with a code dedicated to ABL studies. Compared to the fixed and isotropic grid runs, the AMR algorithm can coarsen and refine the grid such that accurate results are obtained whilst using only a fraction of the grid cells. Performance wise, the AMR run was cheaper than the fixed and isotropic grid run with similar numerical formulations. However, for this specific case, the dedicated code outperformed both aforementioned runs.
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Winchester, David E; Baxter, Diana; Markham, Merry J; Beyth, Rebecca J
2017-05-04
The World Wide Web and social media provide the public with access to medical information unlike any other time in human history. However, the quality of content related to cardiac stress testing is not well understood. The aim of our study was to evaluate the quality of content on the Internet relating to the use of cardiac nuclear stress testing and the Choosing Wisely campaign. We searched the World Wide Web, Google Video (including YouTube), and Twitter for information relating to these two topics. Searches were performed using English language terms from a computer in the United States not logged into any personal user accounts. Search results were reviewed for discussion of specific topics including radiation risk, accuracy of testing, alternative testing options, and discouragement of inappropriate test use. We evaluated a total of 348 items of content from our searches. Relevant search results for Choosing Wisely were fewer than for other search terms (45 vs 303). We did not find any content which encouraged inappropriate testing (ie, screening in low risk individuals or testing prior to low risk operations). Content related to Choosing Wisely was more likely to discourage inappropriate testing than search results for other terms (29/45, 64% vs 12/303, 4.0%, odds ratio 43.95, 95% CI 17.6-112.2, P<.001). The Internet content on nuclear stress tests consistently discouraged inappropriate testing. The Choosing Wisely content was more likely to discourage inappropriate testing, less relevant content was available. Generating authoritative content on the Internet relating to judicious use of medical interventions may be an important role for the Choosing Wisely campaign. ©David E Winchester, Diana Baxter, Merry J Markham, Rebecca J Beyth. Originally published in the Interactive Journal of Medical Research (http://www.i-jmr.org/), 04.05.2017.
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An L+T Spectral Binary with Possible AB Doradus Kinematics
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Bardalez Gagliuffi, Daniella C.; Gagné, Jonathan; Faherty, Jacqueline K.; Burgasser, Adam J.
2018-02-01
We present the identification of WISE J135501.90‑825838.9 as a spectral binary system with a slight possibility of planetary-mass components in the 130–200 Myr AB Doradus moving group. Peculiarities in the near-infrared spectrum of this source suggest it to be a blended-light binary with L6.0 ± 1.0 and T3.0 ± 1.8 or L7.0 ± 0.6 and T7.5 ± 0.4 components. Its proper motion and radial velocity as a combined-light source yield a high membership probability for AB Doradus. While the young L6+T3 case is underluminous in a color–magnitude diagram at the AB Doradus kinematic distance, the young L7+T7.5 case could be viable. Gravity-sensitive indicators are more consistent with a field-age binary. If confirmed as a young object member of AB Doradus, we estimate masses of 11 ± 1 M Jup and 9 ± 1 M Jup with both component masses below the Deuterium-burning mass limit. Otherwise, we find masses of {72}-5+4 and {61}-8+6 for the field L6+T3 case and {70}-4+2 and {42}-6+5 for the field L7+T7.5 case. Our identification of WISE J135501.90‑825838.9 as a candidate young spectral binary introduces a new technique for detecting and characterizing planetary-mass companions to young brown dwarfs.
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Structure based alignment and clustering of proteins (STRALCP)
Zemla, Adam T.; Zhou, Carol E.; Smith, Jason R.; Lam, Marisa W.
2013-06-18
Disclosed are computational methods of clustering a set of protein structures based on local and pair-wise global similarity values. Pair-wise local and global similarity values are generated based on pair-wise structural alignments for each protein in the set of protein structures. Initially, the protein structures are clustered based on pair-wise local similarity values. The protein structures are then clustered based on pair-wise global similarity values. For each given cluster both a representative structure and spans of conserved residues are identified. The representative protein structure is used to assign newly-solved protein structures to a group. The spans are used to characterize conservation and assign a "structural footprint" to the cluster.
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Belavý, Daniel L; Armbrecht, Gabriele; Blenk, Tilo; Bock, Oliver; Börst, Hendrikje; Kocakaya, Emine; Luhn, Franziska; Rantalainen, Timo; Rawer, Rainer; Tomasius, Frederike; Willnecker, Johannes; Felsenberg, Dieter
2016-02-01
We evaluated which aspects of neuromuscular performance are associated with bone mass, density, strength and geometry. 417 women aged 60-94years were examined. Countermovement jump, sit-to-stand test, grip strength, forearm and calf muscle cross-sectional area, areal bone mineral content and density (aBMC and aBMD) at the hip and lumbar spine via dual X-ray absorptiometry, and measures of volumetric vBMC and vBMD, bone geometry and section modulus at 4% and 66% of radius length and 4%, 38% and 66% of tibia length via peripheral quantitative computed tomography were performed. The first principal component of the neuromuscular variables was calculated to generate a summary neuromuscular variable. Percentage of total variance in bone parameters explained by the neuromuscular parameters was calculated. Step-wise regression was also performed. At all pQCT bone sites (radius, ulna, tibia, fibula), a greater percentage of total variance in measures of bone mass, cortical geometry and/or bone strength was explained by peak neuromuscular performance than for vBMD. Sit-to-stand performance did not relate strongly to bone parameters. No obvious differential in the explanatory power of neuromuscular performance was seen for DXA aBMC versus aBMD. In step-wise regression, bone mass, cortical morphology, and/or strength remained significant in relation to the first principal component of the neuromuscular variables. In no case was vBMD positively related to neuromuscular performance in the final step-wise regression models. Peak neuromuscular performance has a stronger relationship with leg and forearm bone mass and cortical geometry as well as proximal forearm section modulus than with vBMD. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
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McGettigan, Patricia; Henry, David
2011-01-01
Background Randomised trials have highlighted the cardiovascular risks of non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) in high doses and sometimes atypical settings. Here, we provide estimates of the comparative risks with individual NSAIDs at typical doses in community settings. Methods and Findings We performed a systematic review of community-based controlled observational studies. We conducted comprehensive literature searches, extracted adjusted relative risk (RR) estimates, and pooled the estimates for major cardiovascular events associated with use of individual NSAIDs, in different doses, and in populations with low and high background risks of cardiovascular events. We also compared individual drugs in pair-wise (within study) analyses, generating ratios of RRs (RRRs). Thirty case-control studies included 184,946 cardiovascular events, and 21 cohort studies described outcomes in >2.7 million exposed individuals. Of the extensively studied drugs (ten or more studies), the highest overall risks were seen with rofecoxib, 1.45 (95% CI 1.33, 1.59), and diclofenac, 1.40 (1.27, 1.55), and the lowest with ibuprofen, 1.18 (1.11, 1.25), and naproxen, 1.09 (1.02, 1.16). In a sub-set of studies, risk was elevated with low doses of rofecoxib, 1.37 (1.20, 1.57), celecoxib, 1.26 (1.09, 1.47), and diclofenac, 1.22 (1.12, 1.33), and rose in each case with higher doses. Ibuprofen risk was seen only with higher doses. Naproxen was risk-neutral at all doses. Of the less studied drugs etoricoxib, 2.05 (1.45, 2.88), etodolac, 1.55 (1.28, 1.87), and indomethacin, 1.30 (1.19, 1.41), had the highest risks. In pair-wise comparisons, etoricoxib had a higher RR than ibuprofen, RRR = 1.68 (99% CI 1.14, 2.49), and naproxen, RRR = 1.75 (1.16, 2.64); etodolac was not significantly different from naproxen and ibuprofen. Naproxen had a significantly lower risk than ibuprofen, RRR = 0.92 (0.87, 0.99). RR estimates were constant with different background risks for cardiovascular disease and rose early in the course of treatment. Conclusions This review suggests that among widely used NSAIDs, naproxen and low-dose ibuprofen are least likely to increase cardiovascular risk. Diclofenac in doses available without prescription elevates risk. The data for etoricoxib were sparse, but in pair-wise comparisons this drug had a significantly higher RR than naproxen or ibuprofen. Indomethacin is an older, rather toxic drug, and the evidence on cardiovascular risk casts doubt on its continued clinical use. Please see later in the article for the Editors' Summary PMID:21980265
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Secure Genomic Computation through Site-Wise Encryption
Zhao, Yongan; Wang, XiaoFeng; Tang, Haixu
2015-01-01
Commercial clouds provide on-demand IT services for big-data analysis, which have become an attractive option for users who have no access to comparable infrastructure. However, utilizing these services for human genome analysis is highly risky, as human genomic data contains identifiable information of human individuals and their disease susceptibility. Therefore, currently, no computation on personal human genomic data is conducted on public clouds. To address this issue, here we present a site-wise encryption approach to encrypt whole human genome sequences, which can be subject to secure searching of genomic signatures on public clouds. We implemented this method within the Hadoop framework, and tested it on the case of searching disease markers retrieved from the ClinVar database against patients’ genomic sequences. The secure search runs only one order of magnitude slower than the simple search without encryption, indicating our method is ready to be used for secure genomic computation on public clouds. PMID:26306278
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Secure Genomic Computation through Site-Wise Encryption.
Zhao, Yongan; Wang, XiaoFeng; Tang, Haixu
2015-01-01
Commercial clouds provide on-demand IT services for big-data analysis, which have become an attractive option for users who have no access to comparable infrastructure. However, utilizing these services for human genome analysis is highly risky, as human genomic data contains identifiable information of human individuals and their disease susceptibility. Therefore, currently, no computation on personal human genomic data is conducted on public clouds. To address this issue, here we present a site-wise encryption approach to encrypt whole human genome sequences, which can be subject to secure searching of genomic signatures on public clouds. We implemented this method within the Hadoop framework, and tested it on the case of searching disease markers retrieved from the ClinVar database against patients' genomic sequences. The secure search runs only one order of magnitude slower than the simple search without encryption, indicating our method is ready to be used for secure genomic computation on public clouds.
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DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)
Two online resources help fleets evaluate the economic soundness of a compressed natural gas program. The National Renewable Energy Laboratory's (NREL's) Vehicle Infrastructure and Cash-Flow Evaluation (VICE 2.0) model and the accompanying report, Building a Business Case for Compressed Natural Gas in Fleet Applications, are uniquely designed for fleet managers considering an investment in CNG and can help ensure wise investment decisions about CNG vehicles and infrastructure.
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Choose Wisely: Static or Kinetic Friction--The Power of Dimensionless Plots
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Ludwigsen, Daniel; Svinarich, Kathryn
2009-01-01
Consider a problem of sliding blocks, one stacked atop the other, resting on a frictionless table. If the bottom block is pulled horizontally, nature makes a choice: if the applied force is small, static friction between the blocks accelerates the blocks together, but with a large force the blocks slide apart. In that case, kinetic friction still…
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Superintendent Searches Public or Confidential? The Case for an Open Search Process
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Davis, Terre
2010-01-01
Board of education members come and go, but the community remains. Wise candidates for a superintendent position, as well as the dedicated board members involved in fulfilling this important duty, understand this and therefore want the public to be part of the superintendent search process. As a search consultant to school boards for 20 years, the…
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Disk Detective Follow-Up Program
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Kuchner, Marc
As new data on exoplanets and young stellar associations arrive, we will want to know: which of these planetary systems and young stars have circumstellar disks? The vast allsky database of 747 million infrared sources from NASA's Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer (WISE) mission can supply answers. WISE is a discovery tool intended to find targets for JWST, sensitive enough to detect circumstellar disks as far away as 3000 light years. The vast WISE archive already serves us as a roadmap to guide exoplanet searches, provide information on disk properties as new planets are discovered, and teach us about the many hotly debated connections between disks and exoplanets. However, because of the challenges of utilizing the WISE data, this resource remains underutilized as a tool for disk and planet hunters. Attempts to use WISE to find disks around Kepler planet hosts were nearly scuttled by confusion noise. Moreover, since most of the stars with WISE infrared excesses were too red for Hipparcos photometry, most of the disks sensed by WISE remain obscure, orbiting stars unlisted in the usual star databases. To remedy the confusion noise problem, we have begun a massive project to scour the WISE data archive for new circumstellar disks. The Disk Detective project (Kuchner et al. 2016) engages layperson volunteers to examine images from WISE, NASA's Two Micron All-Sky Survey (2MASS) and optical surveys to search for new circumstellar disk candidates via the citizen science website DiskDetective.org. Fueled by the efforts of > 28,000 citizen scientists, Disk Detective is the largest survey for debris disks with WISE. It has already uncovered 4000 disk candidates worthy of follow-up. However, most host stars of the new Disk Detective disk candidates have no known spectral type or distance, especially those with red colors: K and M stars and Young Stellar Objects. Others require further observations to check for false positives. The Disk Detective project is supported by NASA ADAP funds, which are not allowed to fund a major observational follow-up campaign. So here we propose a campaign of follow-up observations that will turn the unique, growing catalog of Disk Detective disk candidates into a reliable, publically-available treasure trove of new data on nearby disks in time to complement the upcoming new catalogs of planet hosts and stellar moving groups. We will use automated adaptive optics (AO) instruments to image disk candidates and check them for contamination from background objects. We will correlate our discoveries with the vast Gaia and LAMOST surveys to study disks in associations with other young stars. We will follow up disk candidates spectroscopically to remove more false positives. We will search for cold dust around our disk candidates with the James Clerk Maxwell Telescope (JCMT) and analyze data from the Gemini Planet Imager (GPI) to image young, nearby disk candidates. This follow up work will realize the full potential of the WISE mission as a roadmap to future exoplanet discoveries. It will yield contamination rates that will be crucial for interpreting all disk searches done with WISE. Our search will yield 2000 well-vetted nearby disks, including 60 that the Gaia mission will likely find to contain giant planets. This crucial follow-up work should be done now to take full advantage of Gaia during JWST's planned lifetime.
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Influencing Adolescent Leisure Motivation: Intervention Effects of HealthWise South Africa
Caldwell, Linda L.; Patrick, Megan E.; Smith, Edward A.; Palen, Lori-Ann; Wegner, Lisa
2014-01-01
This study investigates changes in self-reported motivation for leisure due to participation in HealthWise, a high school curriculum aimed at decreasing risk behavior and promoting health behavior. Participants were 2,193 mixed race adolescents (M = 14 years old) from 9 schools (4 intervention, 5 control) near Cape Town, South Africa. Students in the HealthWise school with the greatest involvement in teacher training and implementation fidelity reported increased intrinsic and identified motivation and decreased introjected motivation and amotivation compared to students in control schools. These results point to the potential for intervention programming to influence leisure motivation among adolescents in South Africa and represent a first step toward identifying leisure motivation as a mediator of program effects. PMID:25429164
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Quasar probabilities and redshifts from WISE mid-IR through GALEX UV photometry
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
DiPompeo, M. A.; Bovy, J.; Myers, A. D.; Lang, D.
2015-09-01
Extreme deconvolution (XD) of broad-band photometric data can both separate stars from quasars and generate probability density functions for quasar redshifts, while incorporating flux uncertainties and missing data. Mid-infrared photometric colours are now widely used to identify hot dust intrinsic to quasars, and the release of all-sky WISE data has led to a dramatic increase in the number of IR-selected quasars. Using forced photometry on public WISE data at the locations of Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS) point sources, we incorporate this all-sky data into the training of the XDQSOz models originally developed to select quasars from optical photometry. The combination of WISE and SDSS information is far more powerful than SDSS alone, particularly at z > 2. The use of SDSS+WISE photometry is comparable to the use of SDSS+ultraviolet+near-IR data. We release a new public catalogue of 5537 436 (total; 3874 639 weighted by probability) potential quasars with probability PQSO > 0.2. The catalogue includes redshift probabilities for all objects. We also release an updated version of the publicly available set of codes to calculate quasar and redshift probabilities for various combinations of data. Finally, we demonstrate that this method of selecting quasars using WISE data is both more complete and efficient than simple WISE colour-cuts, especially at high redshift. Our fits verify that above z ˜ 3 WISE colours become bluer than the standard cuts applied to select quasars. Currently, the analysis is limited to quasars with optical counterparts, and thus cannot be used to find highly obscured quasars that WISE colour-cuts identify in significant numbers.
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Skeletal Maturation and Mineralisation of Children with Moderate to Severe Spastic Quadriplegia.
Sharawat, Indar Kumar; Sitaraman, Sadasivan
2016-06-01
Diminished bone mineral density and delayed skeletal maturation are common in children with spastic quadriplegia. The purpose of our study was to evaluate the Bone Mineral Density (BMD) of children with moderate to severe spastic quadriplegia and its relationship with other variables like nutrition and growth. This was a hospital based, cross- sectional, case-control study. Forty-two (28 males, 14 females) children with spastic quadriplegia and 42 (24 males, 18 females) healthy children were included in the study. BMD of cases and control were measured by Dual Energy X-ray Absorptiometry (DEXA). Radiographs of left hand and wrist of cases and controls were taken and bone age was determined. BMD values of upper extremity, lower extremity, thoraco-lumbar spine and pelvis in cases were lower than those of controls (p <0.0001). In children with non severe malnutrition, 75% of the cases had lower bone age than chronological age, whereas all cases with severe malnutrition had lower bone age than chronological age. Step wise regression analysis showed that nutritional status independently contributed to lower BMD values but the BMD values did not correlate significantly with the use of anticonvulsant drugs and presence of physical therapy. Decreased BMD and delayed bone age is prevalent in children with spastic quadriplegia and nutritional status is an important contributing factor.
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Chen, Gang; Taylor, Paul A.; Shin, Yong-Wook; Reynolds, Richard C.; Cox, Robert W.
2016-01-01
It has been argued that naturalistic conditions in FMRI studies provide a useful paradigm for investigating perception and cognition through a synchronization measure, inter-subject correlation (ISC). However, one analytical stumbling block has been the fact that the ISC values associated with each single subject are not independent, and our previous paper (Chen et al., 2016) used simulations and analyses of real data to show that the methodologies adopted in the literature do not have the proper control for false positives. In the same paper, we proposed nonparametric subject-wise bootstrapping and permutation testing techniques for one and two groups, respectively, which account for the correlation structure, and these greatly outperformed the prior methods in controlling the false positive rate (FPR); that is, subject-wise bootstrapping (SWB) worked relatively well for both cases with one and two groups, and subject-wise permutation (SWP) testing was virtually ideal for group comparisons. Here we seek to explicate and adopt a parametric approach through linear mixed-effects (LME) modeling for studying the ISC values, building on the previous correlation framework, with the benefit that the LME platform offers wider adaptability, more powerful interpretations, and quality control checking capability than nonparametric methods. We describe both theoretical and practical issues involved in the modeling and the manner in which LME with crossed random effects (CRE) modeling is applied. A data-doubling step further allows us to conveniently track the subject index, and achieve easy implementations. We pit the LME approach against the best nonparametric methods, and find that the LME framework achieves proper control for false positives. The new LME methodologies are shown to be both efficient and robust, and they will be added as an additional option and settings in an existing open source program, 3dLME, in AFNI (http://afni.nimh.nih.gov). PMID:27751943
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Mirjavan, Mohammad; Asayesh, Azita; Asgharian Jeddi, Ali Asghar
2017-02-01
Surgical mesh is being used for healing hernia, pelvic organ prolapse, skull injuries and urinary incontinence. In this research the effect of fabric structure on the mechanical properties of warp knitted surgical meshes in comparison to abdominal fascia has been investigated. For this purpose, warp knitted surgical mesh with five different structures (Tricot, Pin-hole-net, quasi-Sandfly, Sandfly and quasi-Marquissite) were produced using polypropylene monofilament. Thereafter, their mechanical properties such as uniaxial tensile behavior in various directions (wale-wise (90°), course-wise (0°) and diagonal (45°)), bending resistance and crease recovery were analyzed. The meshes demonstrated different elastic modulus in various directions, which can be attributed to the pore shape (pore angle) and underlap angle in the structure of mesh. Except Pin-hole-net mesh, other produced meshes exhibited better level of orthotropy in comparison to abdominal fascia. The most flexible mesh in both wale-wise and course-wise directions was quasi-Sandfly and thereafter quasi-Marquissite. Tricot and Pin-hole-net manifested the highest crease recovery in wale-wise and coursewise directions respectively. The most desirable mesh in terms of porosity was quasi-Marquissite mesh. Overall, the quasi-Marquissite mesh was selected as the most suitable surgical mesh considering all advantages and disadvantages of each produced mesh in this study. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
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Robust group-wise rigid registration of point sets using t-mixture model
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Ravikumar, Nishant; Gooya, Ali; Frangi, Alejandro F.; Taylor, Zeike A.
2016-03-01
A probabilistic framework for robust, group-wise rigid alignment of point-sets using a mixture of Students t-distribution especially when the point sets are of varying lengths, are corrupted by an unknown degree of outliers or in the presence of missing data. Medical images (in particular magnetic resonance (MR) images), their segmentations and consequently point-sets generated from these are highly susceptible to corruption by outliers. This poses a problem for robust correspondence estimation and accurate alignment of shapes, necessary for training statistical shape models (SSMs). To address these issues, this study proposes to use a t-mixture model (TMM), to approximate the underlying joint probability density of a group of similar shapes and align them to a common reference frame. The heavy-tailed nature of t-distributions provides a more robust registration framework in comparison to state of the art algorithms. Significant reduction in alignment errors is achieved in the presence of outliers, using the proposed TMM-based group-wise rigid registration method, in comparison to its Gaussian mixture model (GMM) counterparts. The proposed TMM-framework is compared with a group-wise variant of the well-known Coherent Point Drift (CPD) algorithm and two other group-wise methods using GMMs, using both synthetic and real data sets. Rigid alignment errors for groups of shapes are quantified using the Hausdorff distance (HD) and quadratic surface distance (QSD) metrics.
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Evolution of group-wise cooperation: Is direct reciprocity insufficient?
Kurokawa, Shun; Ihara, Yasuo
2017-02-21
Group-wise cooperation, or cooperation among three or more individuals, is an integral part of human societies. It is likely that group-wise cooperation also played a crucial role in the survival of early hominins, who were confronted with novel environmental challenges, long before the emergence of Homo sapiens. However, previous theoretical and empirical studies, focusing mainly on modern humans, have tended to suggest that evolution of cooperation in sizable groups cannot be explained by simple direct reciprocity and requires some additional mechanisms (reputation, punishment, etc.), which are cognitively too demanding for early hominins. As a partial resolution of the paradox, our recent analysis of a stochastic evolutionary model, which considers the effect of random drift, has revealed that evolution of group-wise cooperation is more likely to occur in larger groups when an individual's share of the benefit produced by one cooperator does not decrease with increasing group size (i.e., goods are non-rivalrous). In this paper, we further extend our previous analysis to explore possible consequences of introducing rare mistakes in behavior or imperfect information about behavior of others on the model outcome. Analyses of the extended models show that evolution of group-wise cooperation can be facilitated by large group size even when individuals intending to cooperate sometimes fail to do so or when all the information about the past behavior of group members is not available. We argue, therefore, that evolution of cooperation in sizable groups does not necessarily require other mechanisms than direct reciprocity if the goods to be produced via group-wise cooperation are non-rivalrous. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
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PHOTOMETRIC MONITORING OF THE COLDEST KNOWN BROWN DWARF WITH THE SPITZER SPACE TELESCOPE
DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)
Esplin, T. L.; Luhman, K. L.; Cushing, M. C.
2016-11-20
Because WISE J085510.83-071442.5 (hereafter WISE 0855-0714) is the coldest known brown dwarf (∼250 K) and one of the Sun’s closest neighbors (2.2 pc), it offers a unique opportunity to study a planet-like atmosphere in an unexplored regime of temperature. To detect and characterize inhomogeneities in its atmosphere (e.g., patchy clouds, hot spots), we have performed time-series photometric monitoring of WISE 0855-0714 at 3.6 and 4.5 μ m with the Spitzer Space Telescope during two 23 hr periods that were separated by several months. For both bands, we have detected variability with peak-to-peak amplitudes of 4%–5% and 3%–4% in the firstmore » and second epochs, respectively. The light curves are semiperiodic in the first epoch for both bands, but they are more irregular in the second epoch. Models of patchy clouds have predicted a large increase in mid-infrared (mid-IR) variability amplitudes (for a given cloud covering fraction) with the appearance of water ice clouds at T {sub eff} < 375 K, so if such clouds are responsible for the variability of WISE 0855-0714, then its small amplitudes of variability indicate a very small deviation in cloud coverage between hemispheres. Alternatively, the similarity in mid-IR variability amplitudes between WISE 0855-0714 and somewhat warmer T and Y dwarfs may suggest that they share a common origin for their variability (i.e., not water clouds). In addition to our variability data, we have examined other constraints on the presence of water ice clouds in the atmosphere of WISE 0855-0714, including the recent mid-IR spectrum from Skemer et al. (2016). We find that robust evidence of such clouds is not yet available.« less
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Galaxy and Mass Assembly (GAMA): Exploring the WISE Web in G12
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Jarrett, T. H.; Cluver, M. E.; Magoulas, C.; Bilicki, M.; Alpaslan, M.; Bland-Hawthorn, J.; Brough, S.; Brown, M. J. I.; Croom, S.; Driver, S.; Holwerda, B. W.; Hopkins, A. M.; Loveday, J.; Norberg, P.; Peacock, J. A.; Popescu, C. C.; Sadler, E. M.; Taylor, E. N.; Tuffs, R. J.; Wang, L.
2017-02-01
We present an analysis of the mid-infrared Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer (WISE) sources seen within the equatorial GAMA G12 field, located in the North Galactic Cap. Our motivation is to study and characterize the behavior of WISE source populations in anticipation of the deep multiwavelength surveys that will define the next decade, with the principal science goal of mapping the 3D large-scale structures and determining the global physical attributes of the host galaxies. In combination with cosmological redshifts, we identify galaxies from their WISE W1 (3.4 μm) resolved emission, and we also perform a star-galaxy separation using apparent magnitude, colors, and statistical modeling of star counts. The resulting galaxy catalog has ≃590,000 sources in 60 deg2, reaching a W1 5σ depth of 31 μJy. At the faint end, where redshifts are not available, we employ a luminosity function analysis to show that approximately 27% of all WISE extragalactic sources to a limit of 17.5 mag (31 μJy) are at high redshift, z> 1. The spatial distribution is investigated using two-point correlation functions and a 3D source density characterization at 5 Mpc and 20 Mpc scales. For angular distributions, we find that brighter and more massive sources are strongly clustered relative to fainter sources with lower mass; likewise, based on WISE colors, spheroidal galaxies have the strongest clustering, while late-type disk galaxies have the lowest clustering amplitudes. In three dimensions, we find a number of distinct groupings, often bridged by filaments and superstructures. Using special visualization tools, we map these structures, exploring how clustering may play a role with stellar mass and galaxy type.
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Windfuhr, J P
2016-04-01
Pediatric autoimmune neuropsychiatric disorders associated with streptococcal infections (PANDAS) is a disease attributed to children with obsessive compulsive or tic disorders associated with streptococcal infections. Because otolaryngologists evaluate a large number of pediatric patients with recurrent streptococcal infections, tonsillectomy (TE) is a common option of therapy. This study was undertaken to evaluate the efficacy of tonsillectomy in patients presenting with a verified PANDAS. A PubMed research was performed using search terms "tonsillectomy" and "PANDAS", "OCD", "compulsive", "pediatric autoimmune", "Chorea" and "Tic" limited by publication date January 1, 1995 to July 31, 2015. Reviews without patients were not included in the review. Nine papers matched our search terms, including 6 case reports with 8 patients and 3 case series. Most case reports were in favor for TE, but this was by far not supported by the findings in the case series. The follow-up ranged form 2-36 months (case reports) and 24-36 months (case series). establishing the diagnosis of PANDAS is complicated by underlying co-morbidities in the field of neurology-psychiatry and the lack of a reliable biomarker. The positive outcome after TE as reported in case studies may be influenced by the postoperative medication and is not supported by the results of large-scale studies. In the light of the considerable postoperative morbidity and unavoidable mortality rate it appears wise to indicate TE only in clinical studies with standardized inclusion criteria. © Georg Thieme Verlag KG Stuttgart · New York.
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WISE TF: A MID-INFRARED, 3.4 {mu}m EXTENSION OF THE TULLY-FISHER RELATION USING WISE PHOTOMETRY
DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)
Lagattuta, David J.; Mould, Jeremy R.; Staveley-Smith, Lister
2013-07-10
We present a mid-infrared Tully-Fisher (TF) relation using photometry from the 3.4 {mu}m W1 band of the Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer (WISE) satellite. The WISE TF relation is formed from 568 galaxies taken from the all-sky 2MASS Tully-Fisher (2MTF) galaxy catalog, spanning a range of environments including field, group, and cluster galaxies. This constitutes the largest mid-infrared TF relation constructed to date. After applying a number of corrections to galaxy magnitudes and line widths, we measure a master TF relation given by M{sub corr} = -22.24 - 10.05[log (W{sub corr}) - 2.5], with an average dispersion of {sigma}{sub WISE} =more » 0.686 mag. There is some tension between WISE TF and a preliminary 3.6 {mu}m relation, which has a shallower slope and almost no intrinsic dispersion. However, our results agree well with a more recent relation constructed from a large sample of cluster galaxies. We additionally compare WISE TF to the near-infrared 2MTF template relations, finding a good agreement between the TF parameters and total dispersions of WISE TF and the 2MTF K-band template. This fact, coupled with typical galaxy colors of (K - W1) {approx} 0, suggests that these two bands are tracing similar stellar populations, including the older, centrally-located stars in the galactic bulge which can (for galaxies with a prominent bulge) dominate the light profile.« less
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DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)
Gordon, L.M.; Banks, D.L.; Brenneke, M.E.
1998-07-01
WashWise is a regional market transformation program designed to promote the sale and acceptance or resource-efficient clothes washers (RECWs) in the Northwest through financial incentives, education, and marketing. The Program is sponsored by the Northwest Energy Efficiency Alliance (the Alliance), a non-profit regional consortium of utilities, government, public interest groups, and private sector organizations. WashWise started in May 1997 and will continue through the end of 1999. WashWise works to transform the clothes washer market primarily at the retail level through an in-store instant rebate and a retailer bonus. In addition to financial incentives, WashWise has undertaken a collaborative marketingmore » and promotional campaign to educate consumers about the financial savings and other benefits of RECWs. The program promotes only RECWs that meet strict energy and water savings criteria. WashWise has far exceeded initial expectations; annual program sales goals were met in the first three months. As of June 1998, 30,000 RECWs have been sold through the program (representing approximately 13 percent of the Northwest residential clothes washer market). In addition, over 540 retailers, including national and regional chains, are participating in the program. Preliminary survey results also have also provided evidence of broad customer satisfaction. This paper reviews the key elements that have contributed to the success of the WashWise program. In addition, the paper provides program results and indicates future directions for WashWise and the RECW market.« less
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Analytic hierarchy process (AHP) as a tool in asset allocation
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Zainol Abidin, Siti Nazifah; Mohd Jaffar, Maheran
2013-04-01
Allocation capital investment into different assets is the best way to balance the risk and reward. This can prevent from losing big amount of money. Thus, the aim of this paper is to help investors in making wise investment decision in asset allocation. This paper proposes modifying and adapting Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) model. The AHP model is widely used in various fields of study that are related in decision making. The results of the case studies show that the proposed model can categorize stocks and determine the portion of capital investment. Hence, it can assist investors in decision making process and reduce the risk of loss in stock market investment.
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Sleboda, Patrycja; Sokolowska, Joanna
2017-01-01
The first goal of this study was to validate the Rational-Experiential Inventory (REI) and the Cognitive Reflection Test (CRT) through checking their relation to the transitivity axiom. The second goal was to test the relation between decision strategies and cognitive style as well as the relation between decision strategies and the transitivity of preferences. The following characteristics of strategies were investigated: requirements for trade-offs, maximization vs. satisficing and option-wise vs. attribute-wise information processing. Respondents were given choices between two multi-attribute options. The options were designed so that the choice indicated which strategy was applied. Both the REI-R and the CRT were found to be good predictors of the transitivity of preferences. Respondents who applied compensatory strategies and the maximization criterion scored highly on the REI-R and in the CRT, whereas those who applied the satisficing rule scored highly on the REI-R but not in the CRT. Attribute-wise information processing was related to low scores in both measurements. Option-wise information processing led to a high transitivity of preferences. PMID:29093695
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The G-HAT Search for Advanced Extraterrestrial Civilizations: The Reddest Extended WISE Sources
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Maldonado, Jessica; Povich, Matthew S.; Wright, Jason; Griffith, Roger; Sigurdsson, Steinn; Mullan, Brendan L.
2015-01-01
Freeman Dyson (1960) theorized how to identify possible signatures of advanced extra-terrestrial civilizations by their waste heat, an inevitable byproduct of a civilization using a significant fraction of the luminosity from their host star. If a civilizations could tap the starlight throughout their host galaxy their waste heat would be easily detectable by recent infrared surveys. The Glimpsing Heat from Alien Technologies (G-HAT) pilot project aims to place limits on the existence of extraterrestrial civilizations at pan-galactic scales. We present results from the G-HAT cleaned catalog of 563 extremely red, extended high Galactic latitude (|b| ≥ 10) sources from the WISE All-Sky Catalog. Our catalog includes sources new to the scientific literature along with well-studied objects (e.g. starburst galaxies, AGN, and planetary nebulae) that exemplify extreme WISE colors. Objects of particular interest include a supergiant Be star (48 Librae) surrounded by a resolved, mid-infrared nebula, possibly indicating dust in the stellar wind ejecta, and a curious cluster of seven extremely red WISE sources (associated with IRAS 04287+6444) that have no optical counterparts.
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Sleboda, Patrycja; Sokolowska, Joanna
2017-01-01
The first goal of this study was to validate the Rational-Experiential Inventory ( REI ) and the Cognitive Reflection Test ( CRT ) through checking their relation to the transitivity axiom. The second goal was to test the relation between decision strategies and cognitive style as well as the relation between decision strategies and the transitivity of preferences. The following characteristics of strategies were investigated: requirements for trade-offs, maximization vs. satisficing and option-wise vs. attribute-wise information processing. Respondents were given choices between two multi-attribute options. The options were designed so that the choice indicated which strategy was applied. Both the REI-R and the CRT were found to be good predictors of the transitivity of preferences. Respondents who applied compensatory strategies and the maximization criterion scored highly on the REI-R and in the CRT , whereas those who applied the satisficing rule scored highly on the REI-R but not in the CRT . Attribute-wise information processing was related to low scores in both measurements. Option-wise information processing led to a high transitivity of preferences.
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ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Gorlewski, Julie A., Ed.; Gorlewski, David A., Ed.; Hopkins, Jed, Ed.; Porfilio, Brad J., Ed.
2014-01-01
In our work as educators, we all aspire to be effective. We also aspire to be wise. If teachers are to represent and advocate for education, we must become the stewards of a discourse that nurtures education's possibilities. This book explores how teacher dispositions are defined, developed, cultivated, and assessed. The authors in the volume…
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Step-wise refolding of recombinant proteins.
Tsumoto, Kouhei; Arakawa, Tsutomu; Chen, Linda
2010-04-01
Protein refolding is still on trial-and-error basis. Here we describe step-wise dialysis refolding, in which denaturant concentration is altered in step-wise fashion. This technology controls the folding pathway by adjusting the concentrations of the denaturant and other solvent additives to induce sequential folding or disulfide formation.
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ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Wentworth, Donald R.; And Others
1982-01-01
The theme article of this issue, "Spending Money Wisely," by Donald R. Wentworth, begins with an explanation of basic strategies which aid wise spending. The article goes on to provide an introduction to economic reasoning related to consumer purchases and focusing on the role of incentives, scarcity, and alternatives. Four teaching units follow…
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Choosing Wisely When It Comes to Eye Care: Punctal Plugs for Dry Eye
... Wisely campaign is available at Choosing Wisely . Related Stories Solar Eclipse Inflicts Damage in the Shape of the Eclipse Itself Dec 08, 2017 Eye Injuries from Laundry Packets On the Rise Jun 30, 2017 New Technology Helps the Legally Blind Be More Independent Oct ...
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Sustainable Materials Management (SMM) WasteWise Data
EPA??s WasteWise encourages organizations and businesses to achieve sustainability in their practices and reduce select industrial wastes. WasteWise is part of EPA??s sustainable materials management efforts, which promote the use and reuse of materials more productively over their entire lifecycles. All U.S. businesses, governments and nonprofit organizations can join WasteWise as a partner, endorser or both. Current participants range from small local governments and nonprofit organizations to large multinational corporations. Partners demonstrate how they reduce waste, practice environmental stewardship and incorporate sustainable materials management into their waste-handling processes. Endorsers promote enrollment in WasteWise as part of a comprehensive approach to help their stakeholders realize the economic benefits to reducing waste. WasteWise helps organizations reduce their impact on global climate change through waste reduction. Every stage of a product's life cycle??extraction, manufacturing, distribution, use and disposal??indirectly or directly contributes to the concentration of greenhouse gases (GHGs) in the atmosphere and affects the global climate. WasteWise is part of EPA's larger SMM program (https://www.epa.gov/smm). Sustainable Materials Management (SMM) is a systemic approach to using and reusing materials more productively over their entire lifecycles. It represents a change in how our society thinks about the use of natural resources
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VizieR Online Data Catalog: WISE/NEOWISE Mars-crossing asteroids (Ali-Lagoa+, 2017)
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Ali-Lagoa, V.; Delbo, M.
2017-07-01
We fitted the near-Earth asteroid thermal model of Harris (1998, Icarus, 131, 29) to WISE/NEOWISE thermal infrared data (see, e.g., Mainzer et al. 2011ApJ...736..100M, and Masiero et al. 2014, Cat. J/ApJ/791/121). The table contains the best-fitting values of size and beaming parameter. We note that the beaming parameter is a strictly positive quantity, but a negative sign is given to indicate whenever we could not fit it and had to assume a default value. We also provide the visible geometric albedos computed from the diameter and the tabulated absolute magnitudes. Minimum relative errors of 10, 15, and 20 percent should be considered for size, beaming parameter and albedo in those cases for which the beaming parameter could be fitted. Otherwise, the minimum relative errors in size and albedo increase to 20 and 40 percent (see, e.g., Mainzer et al. 2011ApJ...736..100M). The asteroid absolute magnitudes and slope parameters retrieved from the Minor Planet Center (MPC) are included, as well as the number of observations used in each WISE band (nW2, nW3, nW4) and the corresponding average values of heliocentric and geocentric distances and phase angle of the observations. The ephemerides were retrieved from the MIRIADE service (http://vo.imcce.fr/webservices/miriade/?ephemph). (1 data file).
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Bakir, May; Nelson, Michael D; Jones, Erika; Li, Quanlin; Wei, Janet; Sharif, Behzad; Minissian, Margo; Shufelt, Chrisandra; Sopko, George; Pepine, Carl J; Merz, C Noel Bairey
2016-11-15
Women with signs and symptoms of ischemia, no obstructive coronary artery disease, and preserved left ventricular ejection fraction enrolled in the National Heart Lung and Blood Institute (NHLBI) sponsored Women's Ischemia Syndrome Evaluation (WISE) study have an unexpectedly high rate of subsequent heart failure (HF) hospitalization. We sought to verify and characterize the HF hospitalizations. A retrospective chart review was performed on 223 women with signs and symptoms of ischemia, undergoing coronary angiography for suspected coronary artery disease followed for 6±2.6years. Data were collected from a single site in the WISE study. At the time of study enrollment, the women were 57±11years of age, all had preserved left ventricular ejection fraction, and 81 (36%) had obstructive CAD (defined as >50% stenosis in at least one epicardial artery). Among the 223 patients, 25 (11%) reported HF hospitalizations, of which 14/25 (56%) had recurrent HF hospitalizations (>2 hospitalizations). Medical records were available in 13/25 (52%) women. Left ventricular ejection fraction was measured in all verified cases and was found to be preserved in 12/13 (92%). HF hospitalization was not related to obstructive CAD. Among women with signs and symptoms of ischemia undergoing coronary angiography for suspected obstructive CAD, HF hospitalization at 6-year follow-up was predominantly characterized by a preserved ejection fraction and not associated with obstructive CAD. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.
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Degreeless in Debt: What Happens to Borrowers Who Drop Out. Charts You Can Trust
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Nguyen, Mary
2012-01-01
The stories of college graduates burdened with mountains of debt and poor job prospects have been well documented in this recession year. But while these students do face real problems in today's tough economy, their degree will still likely prove to be a wise investment even as the recession draws to a close. This isn't the case for another group…
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NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Anvari, S. R.; Monirvaghefi, S. M.; Enayati, M. H.
2015-06-01
In this study, step-wise multilayer and functionally graded Ni-P coatings were deposited with electroless in which the content of phosphorus and nickel would be changed gradually and step-wise through the thickness of the coatings, respectively. To compare the properties of these coatings with Ni-P single-layer coatings, three types of coatings with different phosphorus contents were deposited. Heat treatment of coatings was performed at 400 °C for 1 h. The microstructure and phase transformation of coatings were characterized by SEM/EDS, TEM, and XRD. The mechanical properties of coatings were studied by nanoindentation test. According to the results of the single-layer coatings, low P coating had the maximum hardness and also the ratio of hardness ( H) to elasticity modulus ( E) for the mentioned coating was maximum. In addition, low and medium P coatings had crystalline and semi-crystalline structure, respectively. The mentioned coatings had <111> texture and after heat treatment their texture didn't change. While high P coating had amorphous structure, after heat treatment it changed to crystalline structure with <100> texture for nickel grains. Furthermore, the results showed that functionally graded and step-wise multilayer coatings were deposited successfully by using the same initial bath and changing the temperature and pH during deposition. Nanoindentation test results showed that the hardness of the mentioned coatings changed from 670 Hv near the substrate to 860 Hv near the top surface of coatings. For functionally graded coating the hardness profile had gradual changes, while step-wise multilayer coating had step-wise hardness profile. After heat treatment trend of hardness profiles was changed, so that near the substrate, hardness was measured 1400 Hv and changed to 1090 Hv at the top coat.
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An L Band Spectrum of the Coldest Brown Dwarf
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Morley, Caroline V.; Skemer, Andrew J.; Allers, Katelyn N.; Marley, Mark. S.; Faherty, Jacqueline K.; Visscher, Channon; Beiler, Samuel A.; Miles, Brittany E.; Lupu, Roxana; Freedman, Richard S.; Fortney, Jonathan J.; Geballe, Thomas R.; Bjoraker, Gordon L.
2018-05-01
The coldest brown dwarf, WISE 0855, is the closest known planetary-mass, free-floating object and has a temperature nearly as cold as the solar system gas giants. Like Jupiter, it is predicted to have an atmosphere rich in methane, water, and ammonia, with clouds of volatile ices. WISE 0855 is faint at near-infrared wavelengths and emits almost all its energy in the mid-infrared. Skemer et al. presented a spectrum of WISE 0855 from 4.5–5.1 μm (M band), revealing water vapor features. Here, we present a spectrum of WISE 0855 in the L band, from 3.4–4.14 μm. We present a set of atmosphere models that include a range of compositions (metallicities and C/O ratios) and water ice clouds. Methane absorption is clearly present in the spectrum. The mid-infrared color can be better matched with a methane abundance that is depleted relative to solar abundance. We find that there is evidence for water ice clouds in the M band spectrum, and we find a lack of phosphine spectral features in both the L and M band spectra. We suggest that a deep continuum opacity source may be obscuring the near-infrared flux, possibly a deep phosphorous-bearing cloud, ammonium dihyrogen phosphate. Observations of WISE 0855 provide critical constraints for cold planetary atmospheres, bridging the temperature range between the long-studied solar system planets and accessible exoplanets. The James Webb Space Telescope will soon revolutionize our understanding of cold brown dwarfs with high-precision spectroscopy across the infrared, allowing us to study their compositions and cloud properties, and to infer their atmospheric dynamics and formation processes.
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ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Parco-Tropicales, Marishirl; de Guzman, Allan B.
2014-01-01
In recent years, wisdom is seen as a key resource for school leaders in dealing with the dynamics of the changing school environments. This study purports to expand the growing interest on wisdom by testing a model that describes the impact of transformational, visionary, charismatic and ethical leadership styles on wise leadership development…
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Local repair of stoma prolapse: Case report of an in vivo application of linear stapler devices.
Monette, Margaret M; Harney, Rodney T; Morris, Melanie S; Chu, Daniel I
2016-11-01
One of the most common late complications following stoma construction is prolapse. Although the majority of prolapse can be managed conservatively, surgical revision is required with incarceration/strangulation and in certain cases laparotomy and/or stoma reversal are not appropriate. This report will inform surgeons on safe and effective approaches to revising prolapsed stomas using local techniques. A 58 year old female with an obstructing rectal cancer previously received a diverting transverse loop colostomy. On completion of neoadjuvant treatment, re-staging found new lung metastases. She was scheduled for further chemotherapy but incarcerated a prolapsed segment of her loop colostomy. As there was no plan to resect her primary rectal tumor at the time, a local revision was preferred. Linear staplers were applied to the prolapsed stoma in step-wise fashion to locally revise the incarcerated prolapse. Post-operative recovery was satisfactory with no complications or recurrence of prolapse. We detail in step-wise fashion a technique using linear stapler devices that can be used to locally revise prolapsed stoma segments and therefore avoid a laparotomy. The procedure is technically easy to perform with satisfactory post-operative outcomes. We additionally review all previous reports of local repairs and show the evolution of local prolapse repair to the currently reported technique. This report offers surgeons an alternative, efficient and effective option for addressing the complications of stoma prolapse. While future studies are needed to assess long-term outcomes, in the short-term, our report confirms the safety and effectiveness of this local technique.
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WISE Science: Web-based Inquiry in the Classroom. Technology, Education--Connections
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Slotta, James D.; Linn, Marcia C.
2009-01-01
This book shares the lessons learned by a large community of educational researchers and science teachers as they designed, developed, and investigated a new technology-enhanced learning environment known as WISE: The Web-Based Inquiry Science Environment. WISE offers a collection of free, customizable curriculum projects on topics central to the…
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Evaluation of the Wise Guys Male Responsibility Curriculum: Participant-Control Comparisons
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Gruchow, Harvey William; Brown, Roger K.
2011-01-01
Background: Although males are often the initiators of teen sexual activity, pregnancy prevention programs generally target females. To address this deficiency, the Wise Guys Male Responsibility Curriculum was developed to be delivered to adolescent males in weekly classroom sessions. Methods: Seventh grade participants (n = 124) in the Wise Guys…
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ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Murphy, Carole; Ozturgut, Osman; French, Joan
2013-01-01
The purpose of this article is to help leaders do their jobs more effectively by examining the components of brain-wise leadership. The article is divided into five parts: Part I is a general overview, defining brain-wise leadership, its traits, attributes and some of the styles of effective leadership. Part II begins with the strategies for…
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Viewing Violence, Mental Illness and Addiction through a Wise Practices Lens
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Wesley-Esquimaux, Cynthia C.; Snowball, Andrew
2010-01-01
The progressive approaches First Nations, Metis, and Inuit communities use to address health and wellness concerns are rarely written about or acknowledged in a positive manner. This paper speaks to a concept introduced through the Canadian Aboriginal Aids Network (CAAN) entitled "wise practices". CAAN saw a "wise practices"…
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R-WISE: A Computerized Environment for Tutoring Critical Literacy.
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Carlson, P.; Crevoisier, M.
This paper describes a computerized environment for teaching the conceptual patterns of critical literacy. While the full implementation of the software covers both reading and writing, this paper covers only the writing aspects of R-WISE (Reading and Writing in a Supportive Environment). R-WISE consists of a suite of computerized…
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VizieR Online Data Catalog: WISE Preliminary Data Release (Cutri+ 2011)
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Cutri, R. M.; et al.
2012-01-01
The Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer (WISE; see Wright et al. 2010AJ....140.1868W) is a NASA Medium Class Explorer mission that conducted a digital imaging survey of the entire sky in the 3.4, 4.6, 12 and 22um mid-infrared bandpasses (hereafter W1, W2, W3 and W4). WISE will produce and release to the world astronomical and educational communities and general public a digital Image Atlas covering the sky in the four survey bands, and a reliable Source Catalog containing accurate photometry and astrometry for over 300 million objects. The WISE Catalog and Atlas will enable a broad variety of research efforts ranging from the search for the closest stars and brown dwarfs to the most luminous galaxies in the Universe. WISE science data products will serve as an important reference data set for planning observations and interpreting data obtained with future ground and space-borne observatories, such as JWST. WISE was launched on 2009-12-14 from Vandenberg SLC2W. (1 data file).
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VizieR Online Data Catalog: WISE All-Sky Data Release (Cutri+ 2012)
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Cutri, R. M.; et al.
2012-04-01
The Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer (WISE; see Wright et al. 2010AJ....140.1868W) is a NASA Medium Class Explorer mission that conducted a digital imaging survey of the entire sky in the 3.4, 4.6, 12 and 22um mid-infrared bandpasses (hereafter W1, W2, W3 and W4). WISE will produce and release to the world astronomical and educational communities and general public a digital Image Atlas covering the sky in the four survey bands, and a reliable Source Catalog containing accurate photometry and astrometry for over 300 million objects. The WISE Catalog and Atlas will enable a broad variety of research efforts ranging from the search for the closest stars and brown dwarfs to the most luminous galaxies in the Universe. WISE science data products will serve as an important reference data set for planning observations and interpreting data obtained with future ground and space-borne observatories, such as JWST. WISE was launched on 2009-12-14 from Vandenberg SLC2W. (1 data file).
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VizieR Online Data Catalog: WISE W1/W2 Tully-Fisher relation calibrator data (Neill+, 2014)
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Neill, J. D.; Seibert, M.; Tully, R. B.; Courtois, H.; Sorce, J. G.; Jarrett, T. H.; Scowcroft, V.; Masci, F. J.
2017-04-01
We have instigated a separate project to provide high-quality surface photometry of all WISE galaxies larger than 0.8' on the sky. The WISE Nearby Galaxy Atlas (WNGA; M. Seibert et al., in preparation) will provide photometry that is quality controlled for over 20000 galaxies. This photometry, optimized for extended sources, significantly reduces the resulting scatter in the Tully-Fisher relation (here after TFR) calibration and thus improves the resulting distances. Having an accurate calibration of the TFR for these two WISE passbands will allow the use of this large sample to explore the structure and dynamics of local galaxy bulk flows. With the current tally, there are 310 cluster calibrators with WISE W1 and W2 photometry, compared with 213 available to Sorce et al. (2013, J/ApJ/765/94) for the Spitzer calibration, and 291 of the 310 WISE calibrators have I-band photometry, compared with the 267 available to Tully & Courtois (2012ApJ...749...78T) for the previous I-band calibration. (1 data file).
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NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Pu, Xingting
2014-02-01
We present the results of a study which uses a sample of 1822 Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS) quasars with reliable Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer (WISE) detections in the redshift range 1.7≤ z≤4.38 to investigate the mid-infrared fraction of broad absorption line (BAL) quasars. The BAL quasars in the sample include both high-ionization BAL (HiBAL) quasars that show broad absorption from C iv and low-ionization BAL (LoBAL) quasars that show additional broad absorption from Mg ii. The fraction of C iv BAL quasars with nonzero absorption index (AI) is found to be 38.7±1.2 %, in good agreement with that derived for the Two Micron All Sky Survey (2MASS) sample. The C iv BAL quasar fractions remain constant with magnitude in the WISE 3.4 μm (W1) and 4.6 μm (W2) bands, and increase rapidly with decreasing magnitude in the WISE 12 μm (W3) and 22 μm (W4) bands. The nonzero AI fraction of 44.5±2.1 % determined in the WISE W4 band is more likely to represent the intrinsic BAL quasar fraction. No evidence that the fraction is a strong function of redshift is found. At 1.7≤ z≤2.15, the overall mid-infrared LoBAL fraction is and the fractions increase significantly with decreasing magnitude in all four of WISE bands. Moreover, it is found that the mean optical-to-WISE colors of BAL quasars are ≃0.2 mag redder than that of non-BAL quasars, while the traditional (nonzero balnicity) BAL quasars are redder than the nontraditional BAL quasars by ≃0.15 mag, which suggest a continuum of more reddening from non-BAL to nontraditional BAL to traditional BAL. No evidence that nontraditional BALs are a distinct class from traditional BALs is found. Finally, it is shown that the mean optical-to-WISE colors of LoBALs are ≃0.4 mag redder than that of HiBALs at 1.7≤ z≤2.15.
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WISE J061213.85-303612.5: a new T-dwarf binary candidate
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Huélamo, N.; Ivanov, V. D.; Kurtev, R.; Girard, J. H.; Borissova, J.; Mawet, D.; Mužić, K.; Cáceres, C.; Melo, C. H. F.; Sterzik, M. F.; Minniti, D.
2015-06-01
Context. T and Y dwarfs are among the coolest and least luminous objects detected, and they can help to understand the properties of giant planets. Up to now, there are more than 350 T dwarfs that have been identified thanks to large imaging surveys in the infrared, and their multiplicity properties can shed light on the formation process. Aims: The aim of this work is to look for companions around a sample of seven ultracoool objects. Most of them have been discovered by the WISE observatory and have not been studied before for multiplicity. Methods: We observed a sample six T dwarfs and one L9 dwarf with the Laser Guide Star (LGS) and NAOS-CONICA, the adaptive optics (AO) facility, and the near infrared camera at the ESO Very Large Telescope. We observed all the objects in one or more near-IR filters (JHKs). Results: From the seven observed objects, we have identified a subarcsecond binary system, WISE J0612-3036, composed of two similar components with spectral types of T6. We measure a separation of ρ = 350 ± 5 mas and a position angle of PA = 235 ± 1°. Using the mean absolute magnitudes of T6 dwarfs in the 2MASS JHKs bands, we estimate a distance of d = 31 ± 6 pc and derive a projected separation of ρ ~ 11 ± 2 au. Another target, WISE J2255-3118, shows a very faint object at 1.̋3 in the Ks image. The object is marginally detected in H, and we derive a near infrared color of H - Ks> 0.1 mag. HST/WFC3 public archival data reveals that the companion candidate is an extended source. Together with the derived color, this suggests that the source is most probably a background galaxy. The five other sources are apparently single, with 3-σ sensitivity limits between H = 19-21 for companions at separations ≥0.̋5. Conclusions: WISE 0612-3036 is probably a new T-dwarf binary composed of two T6 dwarfs. As in the case of other late T-dwarf binaries, it shows a mass ratio close to 1, although its projected separation, ~11 au, is larger than the average (~5 au). Additional observations are needed to confirm that the system is bound. This work used data collected at the VLT under runs 89.C-0494(A, B, C) and 91.C-0501(A, B).Based on observations made with the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope, and obtained from the Hubble Legacy Archive, which is a collaboration between the Space Telescope Science Institute (STScI/NASA), the Space Telescope European Coordinating Facility (ST-ECF/ESA), and the Canadian Astronomy Data Centre (CADC/NRC/CSA).
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Stream-wise distribution of skin-friction drag reduction on a flat plate with bubble injection
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Qin, Shijie; Chu, Ning; Yao, Yan; Liu, Jingting; Huang, Bin; Wu, Dazhuan
2017-03-01
To investigate the stream-wise distribution of skin-friction drag reduction on a flat plate with bubble injection, both experiments and simulations of bubble drag reduction (BDR) have been conducted in this paper. Drag reductions at various flow speeds and air injection rates have been tested in cavitation tunnel experiments. Visualization of bubble flow pattern is implemented synchronously. The computational fluid dynamics (CFD) method, in the framework of Eulerian-Eulerian two fluid modeling, coupled with population balance model (PBM) is used to simulate the bubbly flow along the flat plate. A wide range of bubble sizes considering bubble breakup and coalescence is modeled based on experimental bubble distribution images. Drag and lift forces are fully modeled based on applicable closure models. Both predicted drag reductions and bubble distributions are in reasonable concordance with experimental results. Stream-wise distribution of BDR is revealed based on CFD-PBM numerical results. In particular, four distinct regions with different BDR characteristics are first identified and discussed in this study. Thresholds between regions are extracted and discussed. And it is highly necessary to fully understand the stream-wise distribution of BDR in order to establish a universal scaling law. Moreover, mechanism of stream-wise distribution of BDR is analysed based on the near-wall flow parameters. The local drag reduction is a direct result of near-wall max void fraction. And the near-wall velocity gradient modified by the presence of bubbles is considered as another important factor for bubble drag reduction.
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Collins, Sarah; Byrne, Michael; Hawe, James; O'Reilly, Gary
2018-06-01
To investigate the acceptability and utility of a newly developed computerized cognitive behavioural therapy (cCBT) programme, MindWise (2.0), for adults attending Irish primary care psychology services. Adult primary care psychology service users across four rural locations in Ireland were invited to participate in this study. A total of 60 service users participated in the MindWise (2.0) treatment group and compared to 22 people in a comparison waiting list control group. Participants completed pre- and post-intervention outcome measures of anxiety, depression, and work/social functioning. At post-intervention, 25 of 60 people in the MindWise (2.0) condition had fully completed the programme and 19 of 22 people in the waiting list condition provided time 2 data. Relative to those in the control group, the MindWise (2.0) participants reported significantly reduced symptoms of anxiety and no change in depression or work/social functioning. The newly developed cCBT programme, MindWise (2.0), resulted in significant improvements on a measure of anxiety and may address some barriers to accessing more traditional face-to-face mental health services for adults in a primary care setting. Further programme development and related research appears both warranted and needed to lower programme drop-out, establish if gains in anxiety management are maintained over time, and support people in a primary care context with depression. There is a growing evidence base that computerized self-help programmes can assist in a stepped-care approach to adult mental health service provision. These programmes require further development to address issues such as high dropout, the development of equally effective transdiagnostic content, and greater effectiveness in the country of origin. This study evaluated the acceptability and utility of a brief online CBT programme for adults referred due to anxiety or low mood to primary care psychology services in the national health service in Ireland. Results indicate that 42% of people completed the programme and experienced a significant reduction in anxiety but not depression and no improvement in work or social adjustment compared to similar adults on a waiting list for services. This study suggests the programme warrants further development and research and may in time become a useful and suitable intervention within the national health service in Ireland. © 2017 The British Psychological Society.
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Continuum-wise expansiveness for generic diffeomorphisms
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Lee, Manseob
2018-06-01
Let M be a closed smooth manifold and let be a diffeomorphism. C 1-generically, a continuum-wise expansive satisfies Axiom A without cycles. Let and let . There are a C 1 neighborhood of and a residual set such that for any , g is not continuum-wise expansive, where is the set of all robustly transitive diffeomorphisms on
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A Closer Look at Chinese EFL Learners' Test-Wiseness Strategies in Reading Test
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Haiyan, Miao; Rilong, Liu
2016-01-01
This paper reports on an investigation into the relationship of test-takers' use of test-wiseness strategies to Chinese EFL learners' reading test performance. A test-wiseness questionnaire was administered immediately after the final achievement test to probe into how learners thought while completing the reading section of the test. It was found…
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The SunWise School Program Guide: A School Program that Radiates Good Ideas
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
US Environmental Protection Agency, 2003
2003-01-01
To help educators raise sun safety awareness, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has developed the SunWise School Program, a national education program for children in grades K through 8. SunWise Partner Schools sponsor classroom and schoolwide activities that raise children's awareness of stratospheric ozone depletion, UV radiation,…
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Key Elements of Observing Practice: A Data Wise DVD and Facilitator's Guide
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Boudett, Kathryn Parker; City, Elizabeth A.; Russell, Marcia K.
2010-01-01
Based on the bestselling book "Data Wise: A Step-by-Step Guide to Using Assessment Results to Improve Teaching and Learning", and its companion volume, "Data Wise in Action", this DVD and Facilitator's Guide offer insight into one of the most challenging steps in capturing data about school performance: observing and analyzing instructional…
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Revisiting the Gamma-Ray Source 2FGL J1823.8+4312
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Stern, Daniel; Assef, Roberto J.
2013-02-01
One of the great challenges of gamma-ray astronomy is identifying the lower energy counterparts to these high-energy sources. Recently, in this journal, Massaro et al. attempted to find the counterpart of 2FGL J1823.8+4312, a gamma-ray active galactic nucleus (AGN) of uncertain type from the Second Fermi Large Area Telescope catalog. After considering mid-infrared data in the field from the Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer (WISE), those authors conclude that the preferred identification of 2FGL J1823.8+4312 is WISE J182352.33+431452.5, despite the fact that the mid-infrared source is undetected at radio energies. They claim that WISE J182352.33+431452.5 constitutes the discovery of a new class of extragalactic X-ray source, either a radio-faint blazar or the prototype of a new class of active galaxy with an enigmatic spectral energy distribution. This conclusion is claimed to be independent of whether or not the WISE source is the actual counterpart to 2FGL J1823.8+4312. Based on a re-analysis of public data in this field and new spectroscopy from Palomar, we conclude that WISE J182352.33+431452.5 is a dust-reddened quasar at z = 0.560, a representative example of a very common extragalactic AGN class. Were WISE J182352.33+431452.5 to be associated with the gamma-ray emission, this would be an unusual and exciting discovery. However, we argue that 2FGL J1823.8+4312 is more likely associated with either WISE J182409.25+431404.7 or, more likely, WISE J182419.04+430949.6, two radio-loud sources in the field. The former is a radio-loud quasar and the latter is an optically variable source with a featureless blue spectrum.
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A New Flow-Diverter (the FloWise): In-Vivo Evaluation in an Elastase-Induced Rabbit Aneurysm Model.
Kim, Byung Moon; Kim, Dong Joon; Kim, Dong Ik
2016-01-01
We aimed to evaluate the efficacy and safety of a newly developed, partially retrievable flow-diverter (the FloWise) in an elastase-induced rabbit aneurysm model. We developed a partially retrievable flow diverter composed of 48 strands of Nitinol and platinum wire. The FloWise is compatible with any microcatheter of 0.027-inch inner diameter, and is retrievable up to 70% deployment. The efficacy and safety of the FloWise were evaluated in the elastase-induced rabbit aneurysm model. The rate of technical success (full coverage of aneurysm neck) and assessment of aneurysm occlusion and stent patency was conducted by angiograms and histologic examinations at the 1-month, 3-month, and 6-month follow-up. The patency of small arterial branches (intercostal or lumbar arteries) covered by the FloWise were also assessed in the 5 subjects. We attempted FloWise insertion in a total of 32 aneurysm models. FloWise placement was successful in 31 subjects (96.9%). Two stents (6.2%) were occluded at the 3-month follow-up, but there was no evidence of in-stent stenosis in other subjects. All stented aneurysms showed progressive occlusion: grade I (complete aneurysm occlusion) in 44.4% and grade II (aneurysm occlusion > 90%) in 55.6% at 1 month; grade I in 90% and II in 10% at 3 months; and grade I in 90% and II in 10% at 6 months. All small arterial branches covered by the FloWise remained patent. A newly developed, partially retrievable flow-diverter seems to be a safe and effective tool of aneurysm occlusion, as evaluated in the rabbit aneurysm model.
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Prevalence of ketosis in dairy cows in milk shed areas of Odisha state, India.
Biswal, Sangram; Nayak, Dhruba Charan; Sardar, Kautuk Kumar
2016-11-01
The present study was conducted to ascertain the prevalence of ketosis in dairy cows in dairy herds, milksheds, and mixed population of milk cows selected randomly in milkshed areas of Odisha state, India. The investigation was conducted in 280 private dairy herds with variable herd size of 10-15 cows comprising crossbred Jersey cows (CBJ), crossbred Holstein Friesian (CHF) cows, and indigenous local breeds. The analysis of urine (Rothera's test), milk (Ross test), and blood samples of 2760 test cows were conducted through qualitative assessment by Rothera's test and Ross test, respectively, for the presence of ketone bodies to screen the ketotic animals. Cut-points have been decided based on β-hydroxybutyric acid level (≥1.2-1.4 mmol/L) in milk. We noted positive cases of ketosis with a prevalence rate of 36.7% (1014/2760) entailing 27.2% in clinical ketosis and 9.6% in subclinical ketosis. The breed wise incident rate was recorded to be the highest (38.0%) in CBJs. The age-wise prevalence rate was found to be the highest (40.8%) in the age group of 5.5-6.5 years. The season wise prevalence rate in 5 th calver was recorded to be the highest (38.6%) in summer season as compared to other seasons. The prevalence of ketosis was observed to be the highest at 56.7% on the first stage of lactation at the 1 st month after 2 weeks. The incidence rates for clinical and subclinical ketosis were found to be 25.2%; 12.2%, 26.6%; 11.2% and 30.3%; 2.9% in CBJ, CHF and indigenous cows, respectively. The breed wise overall prevalence rate was recorded to be 38.0% in CBJ, 37.8% in CHF, and 33.2% in indigenous cows. Ketosis and subclinical ketosis is highly prevalent metabolic disorder and has severe effect on the production status of affected animal and needs to be prevented, rather than treated, by maintaining cows in good and healthy conditions. We have attempted to give great attention for diagnosis, management, and control of this disease during risk stage to prevent economic loss sustained by the dairy farmers of Eastern India.
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Prevalence of ketosis in dairy cows in milk shed areas of Odisha state, India
Biswal, Sangram; Nayak, Dhruba Charan; Sardar, Kautuk Kumar
2016-01-01
Aim: The present study was conducted to ascertain the prevalence of ketosis in dairy cows in dairy herds, milksheds, and mixed population of milk cows selected randomly in milkshed areas of Odisha state, India. Materials and Methods: The investigation was conducted in 280 private dairy herds with variable herd size of 10-15 cows comprising crossbred Jersey cows (CBJ), crossbred Holstein Friesian (CHF) cows, and indigenous local breeds. The analysis of urine (Rothera’s test), milk (Ross test), and blood samples of 2760 test cows were conducted through qualitative assessment by Rothera’s test and Ross test, respectively, for the presence of ketone bodies to screen the ketotic animals. Cut-points have been decided based on β-hydroxybutyric acid level (≥1.2-1.4 mmol/L) in milk. Results: We noted positive cases of ketosis with a prevalence rate of 36.7% (1014/2760) entailing 27.2% in clinical ketosis and 9.6% in subclinical ketosis. The breed wise incident rate was recorded to be the highest (38.0%) in CBJs. The age-wise prevalence rate was found to be the highest (40.8%) in the age group of 5.5-6.5 years. The season wise prevalence rate in 5th calver was recorded to be the highest (38.6%) in summer season as compared to other seasons. The prevalence of ketosis was observed to be the highest at 56.7% on the first stage of lactation at the 1st month after 2 weeks. The incidence rates for clinical and subclinical ketosis were found to be 25.2%; 12.2%, 26.6%; 11.2% and 30.3%; 2.9% in CBJ, CHF and indigenous cows, respectively. The breed wise overall prevalence rate was recorded to be 38.0% in CBJ, 37.8% in CHF, and 33.2% in indigenous cows. Conclusion: Ketosis and subclinical ketosis is highly prevalent metabolic disorder and has severe effect on the production status of affected animal and needs to be prevented, rather than treated, by maintaining cows in good and healthy conditions. We have attempted to give great attention for diagnosis, management, and control of this disease during risk stage to prevent economic loss sustained by the dairy farmers of Eastern India. PMID:27956776
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NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Mawardi, Muhamad Iqbal; Padmadisastra, Septiadi; Tantular, Bertho
2018-03-01
Configural Frequency Analysis is a method for cell-wise testing in contingency tables for exploratory search type and antitype, that can see the existence of discrepancy on the model by existence of a significant difference between the frequency of observation and frequency of expectation. This analysis focuses on whether or not the interaction among categories from different variables, and not the interaction among variables. One of the extensions of CFA method is Bayesian CFA, this alternative method pursue the same goal as frequentist version of CFA with the advantage that adjustment of the experiment-wise significance level α is not necessary and test whether groups of types and antitypes form composite types or composite antitypes. Hence, this research will present the concept of the Bayesian CFA and how it works for the real data. The data on this paper is based on case studies in a company about decrease Brand Awareness & Image motor X on Top Of Mind Unit indicator in Cirebon City for user 30.8% and non user 9.8%. From the result of B-CFA have four characteristics from deviation, one of the four characteristics above that is the configuration 2212 need more attention by company to determine promotion strategy to maintain and improve Top Of Mind Unit in Cirebon City.
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NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Maike Achterberg, Inke Elisabeth; Eckstein, Jan; Birkholz, Bernhard; Bauerochse, Andreas; Leuschner, Hanns Hubert
2018-01-01
The investigated northwest German mire site at
Totes Moor
is densely covered with subfossil pine stumps (Pinus sylvestris L.) from the fen-bog transition. This facilitates the spatio-temporal reconstruction of mire development, which is based on 212 in situ tree stumps in the case study presented here. Six dendrochronologically dated site chronologies together cover 2345 years between 6703 and 3403 BC. The gaps in between are 6 to 550 years long. Additionally, a floating chronology of 309 years, containing 30 trees, was radiocarbon-dated to the beginning of the 7th millennium cal BC. Peat-stratigraphical survey was carried out additionally, and elevations a.s.l. were determined at several locations. Tree dying-off phases, which indicate water level rise at the site, mostly in context of the local fen-bog transition, are evident for ca. 6600-6450, ca. 6350-5750, ca. 5300-4900, ca. 4700-4550, ca. 3900-3850, ca. 3700-3600, ca. 3500-3450 and ca. 3400 BC. The spatial distribution of the dated in situ trees illustrates the phase-wise expansion of raised bog over fen peat at the site. The documented bog expansion pulses likely correspond to climatic wet sifts. -
Fast and robust group-wise eQTL mapping using sparse graphical models.
Cheng, Wei; Shi, Yu; Zhang, Xiang; Wang, Wei
2015-01-16
Genome-wide expression quantitative trait loci (eQTL) studies have emerged as a powerful tool to understand the genetic basis of gene expression and complex traits. The traditional eQTL methods focus on testing the associations between individual single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) and gene expression traits. A major drawback of this approach is that it cannot model the joint effect of a set of SNPs on a set of genes, which may correspond to hidden biological pathways. We introduce a new approach to identify novel group-wise associations between sets of SNPs and sets of genes. Such associations are captured by hidden variables connecting SNPs and genes. Our model is a linear-Gaussian model and uses two types of hidden variables. One captures the set associations between SNPs and genes, and the other captures confounders. We develop an efficient optimization procedure which makes this approach suitable for large scale studies. Extensive experimental evaluations on both simulated and real datasets demonstrate that the proposed methods can effectively capture both individual and group-wise signals that cannot be identified by the state-of-the-art eQTL mapping methods. Considering group-wise associations significantly improves the accuracy of eQTL mapping, and the successful multi-layer regression model opens a new approach to understand how multiple SNPs interact with each other to jointly affect the expression level of a group of genes.
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Arokoski, Mikko E A; Tiitu, Virpi; Jurvelin, Jukka S; Korhonen, Rami K; Fick, James M
2015-09-01
In this study, we explore topographical changes in proteoglycan distribution from femoral condylar cartilage in early osteoarthritis, acquired from both the lateral and medial condyles of anterior cruciate ligament transected (ACLT) and contralateral (CNTRL) rabbit knee joints, at 4 weeks post operation. Four sites across the cartilage surface in a parasagittal plane were defined across tissue sections taken from femoral condyles, and proteoglycan (PG) content was quantified using digital densitometry. The greatest depth-wise change in PG content due to an ACLT (compared to the CNTRL group) was observed anteriorly (site C) from the most weight-bearing location within the lateral compartment. In the medial compartment, the greatest change was observed in the most weight-bearing location (site B). The depth-wise changes in PG content were observed up to 48% and 28% depth from the tissue surface at these aforementioned sites, respectively (p < 0.05). The smallest depth-wise change in PG content was observed posteriorly (site A) from the most weight-bearing location within both femoral condyles (up to 20% and up to 5% depth from the tissue surface at lateral and medial compartments, respectively). This study gives further insight into how early cartilage deterioration progresses across the parasagittal plane of the femoral condyle. © 2015 Orthopaedic Research Society. Published by Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
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Software Project Management and Measurement on the World-Wide-Web (WWW)
NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)
Callahan, John; Ramakrishnan, Sudhaka
1996-01-01
We briefly describe a system for forms-based, work-flow management that helps members of a software development team overcome geographical barriers to collaboration. Our system, called the Web Integrated Software Environment (WISE), is implemented as a World-Wide-Web service that allows for management and measurement of software development projects based on dynamic analysis of change activity in the workflow. WISE tracks issues in a software development process, provides informal communication between the users with different roles, supports to-do lists, and helps in software process improvement. WISE minimizes the time devoted to metrics collection and analysis by providing implicit delivery of messages between users based on the content of project documents. The use of a database in WISE is hidden from the users who view WISE as maintaining a personal 'to-do list' of tasks related to the many projects on which they may play different roles.
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Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer
NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)
Padgett, Deborah
2012-01-01
We present WISE (Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer) mid-infrared photometry of young stellar object candidates in the Canis Majoris clouds at a distance of 1 kpc. WISE has identified 682 objects with apparent 12 and 22 micron excess emission in a 7 deg x 10 deg field around the CMa Rl cloud . While a substantial fraction of these candidates are likely galaxies, AGB stars, and artifacts from confusion along the galactic plane, others are part of a spectacular cluster of YSOs imaged by WISE along a dark filament in the R1 cloud. Palomar Double Spectrograph observations of several sources in this cluster confirm their identity as young A and B stars with strong emission lines. In this contribution, we plot the optical -mid-infrared spectral energy distribution for the WISE YSO candidates and discuss potential contaminants to the sample . The data demonstrate the utility of WISE in performing wide-area surveys for young stellar objects.
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Testing of the ABBN-RF multigroup data library in photon transport calculations
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Koscheev, Vladimir; Lomakov, Gleb; Manturov, Gennady; Tsiboulia, Anatoly
2017-09-01
Gamma radiation is produced via both of nuclear fuel and shield materials. Photon interaction is known with appropriate accuracy, but secondary gamma ray production known much less. The purpose of this work is studying secondary gamma ray production data from neutron induced reactions in iron and lead by using MCNP code and modern nuclear data as ROSFOND, ENDF/B-7.1, JEFF-3.2 and JENDL-4.0. Results of calculations show that all of these nuclear data have different photon production data from neutron induced reactions and have poor agreement with evaluated benchmark experiment. The ABBN-RF multigroup cross-section library is based on the ROSFOND data. It presented in two forms of micro cross sections: ABBN and MATXS formats. Comparison of group-wise calculations using both ABBN and MATXS data to point-wise calculations with the ROSFOND library shows a good agreement. The discrepancies between calculation and experimental C/E results in neutron spectra are in the limit of experimental errors. For the photon spectrum they are out of experimental errors. Results of calculations using group-wise and point-wise representation of cross sections show a good agreement both for photon and neutron spectra.
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NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Kumar, Anil; Maithani, Rajesh; Suri, Amar Raj Singh
2017-12-01
In this study, numerical and experimental investigation has been carried out for a range of system and operating parameters in order to analyse the effect of dimpled rib on heat and fluid flow behaviours in heat exchanger tube. Tube has, stream wise spacing ( x/ d d ) range of 15-35, span wise spacing ( y/ d d ) range of 15-35, ratio of dimpled depth to print diameter ( e/ d d ) of 1.0 and Reynolds number ( Re n ) ranges from 4000 to 28,000. Simulations were carried out to obtain heat and fluid flow behaviour of smooth and rough tube, using commercial CFD software, ANSYS 16.0 (Fluent). Renormalization k - ɛ model was employed to assess the influence of dimpled on turbulent flow and velocity field. Simulation results show that, the enhancement of 3.18 times in heat transfer and 2.87 times enhancement in thermal hydraulic performance as a function of stream wise direction ( x/ d d ) of 15 and span wise direction ( y/ d d ) of 15 respectively. Comparison between numerical and experimental simulation results showed that good agreement as the data fell within ±10% error band.
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JPRS Report, Soviet Union, Kommunist, No. 3, February 1989
1989-05-22
consumer , it would be best to lower or, perhaps, maintain the stability of food retail prices. However, during the first postwar decade the "wise...taxes imposed on their personal auxiliary farms, were forced to leave the countryside. From producers they turned into consumers of food- stuffs...structural balance between production and consumer demand. In this case it is a question both of developing anti-outlay incentives and motivations
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1991-08-28
published in the press. Look at the new slogans. They no longer call strictly for I believe that Filip Dimitrov has long been familiar with "immediate...wise, the SDS did not budge. Mr. Filip Dimitrov is its SDS [Union of Democratic Forces]! The imagination of chairman, and it has a national leadership...in parliament [Interview with Kiril Borisov, chairman of the Liberal against the government. In any case, demagoguery, as Party-Pernik, by Mariya
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SUBMILLIMETER FOLLOW-UP OF WISE-SELECTED HYPERLUMINOUS GALAXIES
DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)
Wu Jingwen; Eisenhardt, Peter R. M.; Stern, Daniel
2012-09-01
We have used the Caltech Submillimeter Observatory (CSO) to follow-up a sample of Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer (WISE) selected, hyperluminous galaxies, the so-called W1W2-dropout galaxies. This is a rare ({approx}1000 all-sky) population of galaxies at high redshift (peaks at z = 2-3), which are faint or undetected by WISE at 3.4 and 4.6 {mu}m, yet are clearly detected at 12 and 22 {mu}m. The optical spectra of most of these galaxies show significant active galactic nucleus activity. We observed 14 high-redshift (z > 1.7) W1W2-dropout galaxies with SHARC-II at 350-850 {mu}m, with nine detections, and observed 18 with Bolocam atmore » 1.1 mm, with five detections. Warm Spitzer follow-up of 25 targets at 3.6 and 4.5 {mu}m, as well as optical spectra of 12 targets, are also presented in the paper. Combining WISE data with observations from warm Spitzer and CSO, we constructed their mid-IR to millimeter spectral energy distributions (SEDs). These SEDs have a consistent shape, showing significantly higher mid-IR to submillimeter ratios than other galaxy templates, suggesting a hotter dust temperature. We estimate their dust temperatures to be 60-120 K using a single-temperature model. Their infrared luminosities are well over 10{sup 13} L{sub Sun }. These SEDs are not well fitted with existing galaxy templates, suggesting they are a new population with very high luminosity and hot dust. They are likely among the most luminous galaxies in the universe. We argue that they are extreme cases of luminous, hot dust-obscured galaxies (DOGs), possibly representing a short evolutionary phase during galaxy merging and evolution. A better understanding of their long-wavelength properties needs ALMA as well as Herschel data.« less
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Xirasagar, Sudha; Lin, Herng-Ching
2004-01-01
Objective To test the hypotheses that: (1) average adjusted costs per discharge are higher in high-competition relative to low-competition markets, and (2) increased competition is associated with cost convergence between public and for-profit (FP) hospitals for case payment diagnoses, but not for cost-plus reimbursed diagnoses. Data Sources Taiwan's National Health Insurance database; 325,851 inpatient claims for cesarean section, vaginal delivery, prostatectomy, and thyroidectomy (all case payment), and bronchial asthma and cholelithiasis (both cost-based payment). Study Design Retrospective population-based, cross-sectional study. Data Analysis Diagnosis-wise regression analyses were done to explore associations between cost per discharge and hospital ownership under high and low competition, adjusted for clinical severity and institutional characteristics. Principal Findings Adjusted costs per discharge are higher for all diagnoses in high-competition markets. For case payment diagnoses, the magnitudes of adjusted cost differences between public and FP hospitals are lower under high competition relative to low competition. This is not so for the cost-based diagnoses. Conclusions We find that the empirical evidence supports both our hypotheses. PMID:15544646
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Treatment outcome of tuberculosis patients in a clinic of Bangalore.
Subramaniyam, S; Chadha, V K; Manuvel, C; Praseeja, P; Sharada, M A; Nagendra, N; Gupta, J
2014-07-01
A total of 112 cases (New = 101, previously treated = 11) were diagnosed as suffering from tuberculosis (TB) at a private clinic in Bangalore city. The clinic identified TB suspects, established diagnosis of TB, administered direct observation of treatment (DOT), maintained treatment cards and undertook defaulter retrieval actions as and when required. The Revised National Tuberculosis Control Programme (RNTCP) provided support in terms of sputum microscopy supply of patient-wise drug boxes and registration of patients. Ninety six (95.1%) of new cases and 10 (90.9%) of previously treated cases had successful treatment outcome. Most patients completed treatment within the prescribed period. No TB deaths were reported during the period of treatment.
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NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)
Fabinsky, Beth
2006-01-01
WISE, the Wide Field Infrared Survey Explorer, is scheduled for launch in June 2010. The mission operations system for WISE requires a software modeling tool to help plan, integrate and simulate all spacecraft pointing and verify that no attitude constraints are violated. In the course of developing the requirements for this tool, an investigation was conducted into the design of similar tools for other space-based telescopes. This paper summarizes the ground software and processes used to plan and validate pointing for a selection of space telescopes; with this information as background, the design for WISE is presented.
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The First Brown Dwarf Discovered by the Backyard Worlds: Planet 9 Citizen Science Project
NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)
Kuchner, Marc J.; Faherty, Jacqueline K.; Schneider, Adam C.; Meisner, Aaron M.; Filippazzo, Joseph C.; Gagne, Jonathan; Trouille, Laura; Silverberg, Steven M.; Castro, Rosa; Fletcher, Bob;
2017-01-01
The Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer (WISE) is a powerful tool for finding nearby brown dwarfs and searching for new planets in the outer solar system, especially with the incorporation of NEOWISE and NEOWISE Reactivation data. However, so far, searches for brown dwarfs in WISE data have yet to take advantage of the full depth of the WISE images. To efficiently search this unexplored space via visual inspection, we have launched anew citizen science project, called "Backyard Worlds: Planet 9," which asks volunteers to examine short animations composed of difference images constructed from time-resolved WISE co adds. We report the first new substellar object discovered by this project, WISEA J110125.95+540052.8, a T5.5 brown dwarf located approximately 34 pc from the Sun with a total proper motion of approx.0. "7/ yr. WISEA J110125.95+540052.8 has a WISE W2 magnitude of W2 = 15.37+/- 0.09; our sensitivity to this source demonstrates the ability of citizen scientists to identify moving objects via visual inspection that are 0.9 mag fainter than the W2 single-exposure sensitivity, a threshold that has limited prior motion-based brown dwarf searches with WISE.
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Windfuhr, Jochen P
2016-01-01
Background: Pediatric autoimmune neuropsychiatric disorders associated with streptococcal infections (PANDAS) is a disease attributed to children with obsessive compulsive disorders (OCD) or tic disorders associated with streptococcal infections. Because otolaryngologists examine a large number of pediatric patients with recurrent streptococcal infections, tonsillectomy (TE) is a common option of therapy. This study was conducted to evaluate the efficacy of TE in patients presenting with verified PANDAS. Material and methods: A PubMed review was performed using search terms "tonsillectomy" and "PANDAS", "OCD", "compulsive" "pediatric autoimmune", "chorea" and "tic" limited by publication date of January 1, 1995, to July 31, 2015. Reviews without patients were not included in the review. Results: Nine papers matched our search criteria, including 6 case reports with 8 patients and 3 case series. Most case reports were in favor of TE, but this was by far not supported by the findings in the case series. The follow-up ranged from 2 to 36 months in case reports and from 24 to 36 in case series. Conclusion: Establishing the diagnosis of PANDAS is complicated because of underlying comorbidities in the field of neurology-psychiatry and the lack of a reliable biomarker. The positive outcome after TE as reported in case studies may be influenced by the postoperative medication and is not supported by the results of large-scale studies. In the light of the considerable postoperative morbidity rate, it appears wise to indicate TE for PANDAS only in supervised clinical studies.
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Skeletal Maturation and Mineralisation of Children with Moderate to Severe Spastic Quadriplegia
Sitaraman, Sadasivan
2016-01-01
Introduction Diminished bone mineral density and delayed skeletal maturation are common in children with spastic quadriplegia. Aim The purpose of our study was to evaluate the Bone Mineral Density (BMD) of children with moderate to severe spastic quadriplegia and its relationship with other variables like nutrition and growth. Materials and Methods This was a hospital based, cross- sectional, case-control study. Forty-two (28 males, 14 females) children with spastic quadriplegia and 42 (24 males, 18 females) healthy children were included in the study. BMD of cases and control were measured by Dual Energy X-ray Absorptiometry (DEXA). Radiographs of left hand and wrist of cases and controls were taken and bone age was determined. Results BMD values of upper extremity, lower extremity, thoraco-lumbar spine and pelvis in cases were lower than those of controls (p <0.0001). In children with non severe malnutrition, 75% of the cases had lower bone age than chronological age, whereas all cases with severe malnutrition had lower bone age than chronological age. Step wise regression analysis showed that nutritional status independently contributed to lower BMD values but the BMD values did not correlate significantly with the use of anticonvulsant drugs and presence of physical therapy. Conclusion Decreased BMD and delayed bone age is prevalent in children with spastic quadriplegia and nutritional status is an important contributing factor. PMID:27504366
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Determinants of unwanted pregnancies in India using matched case-control designs.
Dixit, Priyanka; Ram, Faujdar; Dwivedi, Laxmi Kant
2012-08-11
In India, while the total fertility rate has been declined from 3.39 in 1992-93 to 2.68 in 2005-06, the prevalence of unintended pregnancy is still stagnant over the same period. A review of existing literature shows that within the country, there are variations in fertility preferences between different regions. Also there is a strong argument that the availability of a health facility at the village level plays an important role in reshaping the fertility behavior of women. Keeping in mind the fact that there is no information at the village level (which is the lowest geographical boundary) in the recent round of National Family Health Survey (NFHS-3), the specific objective of this study is to examine the impact of individual and household level variables on unwanted pregnancies without controlling the village level variation. Further, once the village level variation (i.e. unobserved variation) has been controlled, it is necessary to study whether there has been any alteration in the contribution of factors from earlier results of without adjusting the village level variation. This paper attempts to examine the associated factors of unwanted pregnancies, without matching the village and after matching the village, by using the matched case-control design. Nationwide data from India's latest NFHS-3 conducted during 2005-06 was used for the present study. Frequency and pair wise matching has been applied in the present paper and conditional logistic regression analysis was used to work out the models and to find out the factors associated with unwanted pregnancies. A major finding of this study was that 1:3 case-control study (without matching the village) shows that women belonging to non Hindu/Muslim religion, Scheduled Tribe, women who have experienced child loss and if the previous birth interval is 24 through 36 months were significant predictors of unwanted pregnancy. However, this relationship did not hold significant after village wise matching. Other factors such as Muslim religion, women and their partners with high school education and above, women belonging to the richest wealth index and if the sex of the last child was female, emerge as significant predictors of unwanted pregnancies. This study clearly underscores the importance of adjusting the village (PSU) level variation in explaining unwanted pregnancies.
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Communicating with sentences: A multi-word naming game model
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Lou, Yang; Chen, Guanrong; Hu, Jianwei
2018-01-01
Naming game simulates the process of naming an object by a single word, in which a population of communicating agents can reach global consensus asymptotically through iteratively pair-wise conversations. We propose an extension of the single-word model to a multi-word naming game (MWNG), simulating the case of describing a complex object by a sentence (multiple words). Words are defined in categories, and then organized as sentences by combining them from different categories. We refer to a formatted combination of several words as a pattern. In such an MWNG, through a pair-wise conversation, it requires the hearer to achieve consensus with the speaker with respect to both every single word in the sentence as well as the sentence pattern, so as to guarantee the correct meaning of the saying; otherwise, they fail reaching consensus in the interaction. We validate the model in three typical topologies as the underlying communication network, and employ both conventional and man-designed patterns in performing the MWNG.
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Are the Dyson rings around pulsars detectable?
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Osmanov, Z.
2018-04-01
In the previous paper ring (Osmanov 2016) (henceforth Paper-I) we have extended the idea of Freeman Dyson and have shown that a supercivilization has to use ring-like megastructures around pulsars instead of a spherical shell. In this work we reexamine the same problem in the observational context and we show that facilities of modern infrared (IR) telescopes (Very Large Telescope Interferometer and Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer (WISE)) might efficiently monitor the nearby zone of the solar system and search for the IR Dyson-rings up to distances of the order of 0.2 kpc, corresponding to the current highest achievable angular resolution, 0.001 mas. In this case the total number of pulsars in the observationally reachable area is about 64 +/- 21. We show that pulsars from the distance of the order of ~ 1 kpc are still visible for WISE as point-like sources but in order to confirm that the object is the neutron star, one has to use the ultraviolet telescopes, which at this moment cannot provide enough sensitivity.
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Xirasagar, Sudha; Lin, Herng-Ching
2004-12-01
To test the hypotheses that: (1) average adjusted costs per discharge are higher in high-competition relative to low-competition markets, and (2) increased competition is associated with cost convergence between public and for-profit (FP) hospitals for case payment diagnoses, but not for cost-plus reimbursed diagnoses. Taiwan's National Health Insurance database; 325,851 inpatient claims for cesarean section, vaginal delivery, prostatectomy, and thyroidectomy (all case payment), and bronchial asthma and cholelithiasis (both cost-based payment). Retrospective population-based, cross-sectional study. Diagnosis-wise regression analyses were done to explore associations between cost per discharge and hospital ownership under high and low competition, adjusted for clinical severity and institutional characteristics. Adjusted costs per discharge are higher for all diagnoses in high-competition markets. For case payment diagnoses, the magnitudes of adjusted cost differences between public and FP hospitals are lower under high competition relative to low competition. This is not so for the cost-based diagnoses. We find that the empirical evidence supports both our hypotheses.
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Gustafsson, Lars L; Ateva, Kristina; Bastholm-Rahmner, Pia; Ovesjö, Marie-Louise; Jirlow, Malena; Juhasz-Haverinen, Maria; Lärfars, Gerd; Malmström, Rickard E; Wettermark, Björn; Andersén-Karlsson, Eva
2017-01-01
Objectives To present the ‘Wise List’ (a formulary of essential medicines for primary and specialised care in Stockholm Healthcare Region) and assess adherence to the recommendations over a 15-year period. Design Retrospective analysis of all prescription data in the Stockholm Healthcare Region between 2000 and 2015 in relation to the Wise List recommendations during the same time period. Setting All outpatient care in the Stockholm Healthcare Region. Participants All prescribers in the Stockholm Healthcare Region. Main outcome measures The number of core and complementary substances included in the Wise List, the adherence to recommendations by Anatomic Therapeutic Chemical (ATC) 1st level using defined daily doses (DDDs) adjusted to the DDD for 2015, adherence to recommendations over time measured by dispensed prescriptions yearly between 2002 and 2015. Results The number of recommended core substances was stable (175–212). Overall adherence to the recommendations for core medicines for all prescribers increased from 75% to 84% (2000 to 2015). The adherence to recommendations in primary care for core medicines increased from 80% to 90% (2005 to 2015) with decreasing range in practice variation (32% to 13%). Hospital prescriber adherence to core medicine recommendations was stable but increased for the combination core and complementary medicines from 77% to 88% (2007 to 2015). Adherence varied between the 4 therapeutic areas studied. Conclusions High and increasing adherence to the Wise List recommendations was seen for all prescriber categories. The transparent process for developing recommendations involving respected experts and clinicians using strict criteria for handling potential conflicts of interests, feedback to prescribers, continuous medical education and financial incentives are possible contributing factors. High-quality evidence-based recommendations to prescribers, such as the Wise List, disseminated through a multifaceted approach, will become increasingly important and should be developed further to include recommendations and introduction protocols for new expensive medicines. PMID:28465306
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GEO Collisional Risk Assessment Based on Analysis of NASA-WISE Data and Modeling
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Howard, S.; Murray-Krezan, J.; Dao, P.; Surka, D.
From December 2009 thru 2011 the NASA Wide-Field Infrared Survey Explorer (WISE) gathered radiometrically exquisite measurements of debris in near Earth orbits, substantially augmenting the current catalog of known debris. The WISE GEO-belt debris population adds approximately 2,000 previously uncataloged objects. This paper describes characterization of the WISE GEO-belt orbital debris population in terms of location, epoch, and size. The WISE GEO-belt debris population characteristics are compared with the publically available U.S. catalog and previous descriptions of the GEO-belt debris population. We found that our results differ from previously published debris distributions, suggesting the need for updates to collision probability models and a better measurement-based understanding of the debris population. Previous studies of collisional rate in GEO invoke the presence of a large number of debris in the regime of sizes too small to track, i.e. not in the catalog, but large enough to cause significant damage and fragmentation in a collision. A common approach is to estimate that population of small debris by assuming that it is dominated by fragments and therefore should follow trends observed in fragmentation events or laboratory fragmentation tests. In other words, the population of debris can be extrapolated from trackable sizes to small sizes using an empirically determined trend of population as a function of size. We use new information suggested by the analysis of WISE IR measurements to propose an updated relationship. Our trend is an improvement because we expect that an IR emissive signature is a more reliable indicator of physical size. Based on the revised relationship, we re-estimate the total collisional rate in the GEO belt with the inclusion of projected uncatalogued debris and applying a conjunction assessment technique. Through modeling, we evaluate the hot spots near the geopotential wells and the effects of fragmentation in the GEO graveyard to the collision with GEO objects.
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Star Formation Activity Beyond the Outer Arm. I. WISE -selected Candidate Star-forming Regions
DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)
Izumi, Natsuko; Yasui, Chikako; Saito, Masao
The outer Galaxy beyond the Outer Arm provides a good opportunity to study star formation in an environment significantly different from that in the solar neighborhood. However, star-forming regions in the outer Galaxy have never been comprehensively studied or cataloged because of the difficulties in detecting them at such large distances. We studied 33 known young star-forming regions associated with 13 molecular clouds at R {sub G} ≥ 13.5 kpc in the outer Galaxy with data from the Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer ( WISE ) mid-infrared all-sky survey. From their color distribution, we developed a simple identification criterion of star-forming regions inmore » the outer Galaxy with the WISE color. We applied the criterion to all the WISE sources in the molecular clouds in the outer Galaxy at R {sub G} ≥ 13.5 kpc detected with the Five College Radio Astronomy Observatory (FCRAO) {sup 12}CO survey of the outer Galaxy, of which the survey region is 102.°49 ≤ l ≤ 141.°54, −3.°03 ≤ b ≤ 5.°41, and successfully identified 711 new candidate star-forming regions in 240 molecular clouds. The large number of samples enables us to perform the statistical study of star formation properties in the outer Galaxy for the first time. This study is crucial to investigate the fundamental star formation properties, including star formation rate, star formation efficiency, and initial mass function, in a primordial environment such as the early phase of the Galaxy formation.« less
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Keihaninejad, Shiva; Ryan, Natalie S; Malone, Ian B; Modat, Marc; Cash, David; Ridgway, Gerard R; Zhang, Hui; Fox, Nick C; Ourselin, Sebastien
2012-01-01
Tract-based spatial statistics (TBSS) is a popular method for the analysis of diffusion tensor imaging data. TBSS focuses on differences in white matter voxels with high fractional anisotropy (FA), representing the major fibre tracts, through registering all subjects to a common reference and the creation of a FA skeleton. This work considers the effect of choice of reference in the TBSS pipeline, which can be a standard template, an individual subject from the study, a study-specific template or a group-wise average. While TBSS attempts to overcome registration error by searching the neighbourhood perpendicular to the FA skeleton for the voxel with maximum FA, this projection step may not compensate for large registration errors that might occur in the presence of pathology such as atrophy in neurodegenerative diseases. This makes registration performance and choice of reference an important issue. Substantial work in the field of computational anatomy has shown the use of group-wise averages to reduce biases while avoiding the arbitrary selection of a single individual. Here, we demonstrate the impact of the choice of reference on: (a) specificity (b) sensitivity in a simulation study and (c) a real-world comparison of Alzheimer's disease patients to controls. In (a) and (b), simulated deformations and decreases in FA were applied to control subjects to simulate changes of shape and WM integrity similar to what would be seen in AD patients, in order to provide a "ground truth" for evaluating the various methods of TBSS reference. Using a group-wise average atlas as the reference outperformed other references in the TBSS pipeline in all evaluations.
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Keihaninejad, Shiva; Ryan, Natalie S.; Malone, Ian B.; Modat, Marc; Cash, David; Ridgway, Gerard R.; Zhang, Hui; Fox, Nick C.; Ourselin, Sebastien
2012-01-01
Tract-based spatial statistics (TBSS) is a popular method for the analysis of diffusion tensor imaging data. TBSS focuses on differences in white matter voxels with high fractional anisotropy (FA), representing the major fibre tracts, through registering all subjects to a common reference and the creation of a FA skeleton. This work considers the effect of choice of reference in the TBSS pipeline, which can be a standard template, an individual subject from the study, a study-specific template or a group-wise average. While TBSS attempts to overcome registration error by searching the neighbourhood perpendicular to the FA skeleton for the voxel with maximum FA, this projection step may not compensate for large registration errors that might occur in the presence of pathology such as atrophy in neurodegenerative diseases. This makes registration performance and choice of reference an important issue. Substantial work in the field of computational anatomy has shown the use of group-wise averages to reduce biases while avoiding the arbitrary selection of a single individual. Here, we demonstrate the impact of the choice of reference on: (a) specificity (b) sensitivity in a simulation study and (c) a real-world comparison of Alzheimer's disease patients to controls. In (a) and (b), simulated deformations and decreases in FA were applied to control subjects to simulate changes of shape and WM integrity similar to what would be seen in AD patients, in order to provide a “ground truth” for evaluating the various methods of TBSS reference. Using a group-wise average atlas as the reference outperformed other references in the TBSS pipeline in all evaluations. PMID:23139736
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unWISE: Unblurred Coadds of the WISE Imaging
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Lang, Dustin
2014-05-01
The Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer (WISE) satellite observed the full sky in four mid-infrared bands in the 2.8-28 μm range. The primary mission was completed in 2010. The WISE team has done a superb job of producing a series of high-quality, well-documented, complete data releases in a timely manner. However, the "Atlas Image" coadds that are part of the recent AllWISE and previous data releases were intentionally blurred. Convolving the images by the point-spread function while coadding results in "matched-filtered" images that are close to optimal for detecting isolated point sources. But these matched-filtered images are sub-optimal or inappropriate for other purposes. For example, we are photometering the WISE images at the locations of sources detected in the Sloan Digital Sky Survey through forward modeling, and this blurring decreases the available signal-to-noise by effectively broadening the point-spread function. This paper presents a new set of coadds of the WISE images that have not been blurred. These images retain the intrinsic resolution of the data and are appropriate for photometry preserving the available signal-to-noise. Users should be cautioned, however, that the W3- and W4-band coadds contain artifacts around large, bright structures (large galaxies, dusty nebulae, etc.); eliminating these artifacts is the subject of ongoing work. These new coadds, and the code used to produce them, are publicly available at http://unwise.me.
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VizieR Online Data Catalog: HCG and RSCG compact group galaxies with WISE (Zucker+, 2016)
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Zucker, C.; Walker, L. M.; Johnson, K.; Gallagher, S.; Alatalo, K.; Tzanavaris, P.
2016-07-01
For this study, we draw our sample from groups in the HCG catalog (Hickson 1982, VII/213) and the Redshift Survey Compact Group catalog (RSCG; Barton et al. 1996AJ....112..871B). We utilize new ALLWISE coadds from Lang (unWISE; 2014AJ....147..108L), which preserve the native resolution of the raw frames (~6.1", 6.4", 6.5" and 12.0" for bands W1, W2, W3, and W4). (1 data file).
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Treadmill Exercise Within LBNP as an Integrated Coutermeasure to Microgravity
NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)
Lee, Stuart; Hargens, A. R.; Schneider, S. M.; Watenpaugh, D. E.
2010-01-01
An integrated exercise countermeasure for microgravity is needed to protect multiple physiologic systems and save crew time. Such a countermeasure should protect orthostatic tolerance, upright ambulatory capability (including sprinting), aerobic capacity, muscle strength/endurance, and other physiologic parameters relevant to human performance. We developed a novel physiologic countermeasure, treadmill exercise within LBNP, for preventing cardiovascular and musculoskeletal deconditioning associated with prolonged bed rest and spaceflight. We evaluated 40 min of daily LBNP treadmill exercise by a battery of physiologic parameters relevant to maintaining exercise performance and health of both women and men during bed-rest (simulated microgravity) studies lasting from 5 to 60 days. For 30 day studies, we employed identical twins with one twin as the control and the other twin as the exerciser to improve comparative power. During the WISE 60-day HDT study, the treadmill exercise within LBNP was performed 3-4 days each week and resistive exercise was performed 2-3 days each week. Our treadmill within LBNP protocol maintained plasma volume and sprint speed (30 day HDT bed-rest studies of identical twins), orthostatic tolerance to a degree, upright exercise capacity, muscle strength and endurance, and some bone parameters during 30 day (twin studies) and 60 day (WISE-2005) bed-rest simulations of microgravity. When combining treadmill exercise within LBNP and resistive exercise (WISE), cardiac mass increased significantly in the exercise (EX) group during bed rest relative to controls (CON). Upright peak VO2, and knee extensor strength and endurance decreased significantly in CON subjects; but these parameters were preserved in the EX group. In the 60 day WISE study, each LBNP exercise session was followed immediately by 10 minutes of static LBNP, and the last such session occurred three days before the end of bed rest. Still, orthostatic tolerance was better maintained in the EX group than in the CON group. Therefore, these collective peer-reviewed results document that our treadmill exercise within LBNP countermeasure safely and efficiently protects multiple physiologic systems in women and men during bed-rest studies of up to 60 days. Supported by NASA grants NNJ04HF71G and NAG 9-1425, NIH grant GCRC M01 RR00827 and by WISE support from ESA, NASA, CSA, and CNES.
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Two Stochastic Phases of Tick-wise Price Fluctuation and the Price Prediction Generator
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Tanaka-Yamawaki, Mieko; Tokuoka, Seiji
2007-07-01
We report in this paper the existence of two different stochastic phases in the tick-wise price fluctuations. Based on this observation, we improve our old method of developing the evolutional strategy to predict the direction of the tick-wise price movements. We obtain a stable predictive power even in the region where the old method had a difficulty.
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Sun Savvy Students: Free Teaching Resources from EPA's SunWise Program
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Hall-Jordan, Luke
2008-01-01
With summer in full swing and the sun is naturally on our minds, what better time to take advantage of a host of free materials provided by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's Sun Wise program. Sun Wise aims to teach students and teachers about the stratospheric ozone layer, ultraviolet (UV) radiation, and how to be safe while in the Sun.…
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Calibrating Star Formation in WISE Using Total Infrared Luminosity
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Cluver, M. E.; Jarrett, T. H.; Dale, D. A.; Smith, J.-D. T.; August, Tamlyn; Brown, M. J. I.
2017-11-01
We present accurate resolved WISE photometry of galaxies in the combined SINGS and KINGFISH sample. The luminosities in the W3 12 μm and W4 23 μm bands are calibrated to star formation rates (SFRs) derived using the total infrared luminosity, avoiding UV/optical uncertainties due to dust extinction corrections. The W3 relation has a 1σ scatter of 0.15 dex that is over nearly 5 orders of magnitude in SFR and 12 μm luminosity, and a range in host stellar mass from dwarfs (107 {M}⊙ ) to ˜ 3× {M}{\\star } (1011.5 {M}⊙ ) galaxies. In the absence of deep silicate absorption features and powerful active galactic nuclei, we expect this to be a reliable SFR indicator chiefly due to the broad nature of the W3 band. By contrast, the W4 SFR relation shows more scatter (1σ =0.18 dex). Both relations show reasonable agreement with radio-continuum-derived SFRs and excellent accordance with so-called “hybrid” Hα + 24 μm and FUV+24 μm indicators. Moreover, the WISE SFR relations appear to be insensitive to the metallicity range in the sample. We also compare our results with IRAS-selected luminous infrared galaxies, showing that the WISE relations maintain concordance, but systematically deviate for the most extreme galaxies. Given the all-sky coverage of WISE and the performance of the W3 band as an SFR indicator, the {L}12μ {{m}} SFR relation could be of great use to studies of nearby galaxies and forthcoming large-area surveys at optical and radio wavelengths.
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Synergy of WISE and SDSS in Stripe 82
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Musin, Marat; Yan, Haojing
2018-06-01
We report the current results from our effort to synergize WISE and SDSS in the ~ 300 sq. degree Stripe 82 region. Using the SDSS images as the prior, we fit the SDSS-detected objects to the WISE W1/W2 images to obtain consistent optical-to-IR SEDs. The major outcome will consist of two catalogs: (1) one is the "SDSS-WISE" photometric catalog on ~ 22 million SDSS-detected sources, and (2) the other one is the "WoDrop" catalog that are optical-dropouts detected on the residual W1/W2 images that do not have SDSS counterparts. The applications and the implications of our results will be briefly discussed.
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GridWise Standards Mapping Overview
DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)
Bosquet, Mia L.
''GridWise'' is a concept of how advanced communications, information and controls technology can transform the nation's energy system--across the spectrum of large scale, central generation to common consumer appliances and equipment--into a collaborative network, rich in the exchange of decision making information and an abundance of market-based opportunities (Widergren and Bosquet 2003) accompanying the electric transmission and distribution system fully into the information and telecommunication age. This report summarizes a broad review of standards efforts which are related to GridWise--those which could ultimately contribute significantly to advancements toward the GridWise vision, or those which represent today's current technological basis uponmore » which this vision must build.« less
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A Route to Well-being: Intelligence vs. Wise Reasoning
Grossmann, Igor; Na, Jinkyung; Varnum, Michael E.W.; Kitayama, Shinobu; Nisbett, Richard E.
2012-01-01
Laypeople and many social scientists assume that superior reasoning abilities lead to greater well-being. However, previous research has been inconclusive. This may be because prior investigators used operationalizations of reasoning that favored analytic as opposed to wise thinking. We assessed wisdom in terms of the degree to which people use various pragmatic schemas to deal with social conflicts. With a random sample of Americans we found that wise reasoning is associated with greater life satisfaction, less negative affect, better social relationships, less depressive rumination, more positive vs. negative words used in speech, and greater longevity. The relationship between wise reasoning and well-being held even when controlling for socio-economic factors, verbal abilities, and several personality traits. As in prior work there was no association between intelligence and well-being. Further, wise reasoning mediated age-related differences in well-being, particularly among the middle-aged and older adults. Implications for research on reasoning, well-being and aging are discussed. PMID:22866683
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Pair-Wise Trajectory Management-Oceanic (PTM-O) . [Concept of Operations—Version 3.9
NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)
Jones, Kenneth M.
2014-01-01
This document describes the Pair-wise Trajectory Management-Oceanic (PTM-O) Concept of Operations (ConOps). Pair-wise Trajectory Management (PTM) is a concept that includes airborne and ground-based capabilities designed to enable and to benefit from, airborne pair-wise distance-monitoring capability. PTM includes the capabilities needed for the controller to issue a PTM clearance that resolves a conflict for a specific pair of aircraft. PTM avionics include the capabilities needed for the flight crew to manage their trajectory relative to specific designated aircraft. Pair-wise Trajectory Management PTM-Oceanic (PTM-O) is a regional specific application of the PTM concept. PTM is sponsored by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) Concept and Technology Development Project (part of NASA's Airspace Systems Program). The goal of PTM is to use enhanced and distributed communications and surveillance along with airborne tools to permit reduced separation standards for given aircraft pairs, thereby increasing the capacity and efficiency of aircraft operations at a given altitude or volume of airspace.
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Managers' views on and experiences with moral case deliberation in nursing teams.
Weidema, Froukje C; Molewijk, A C Bert; Kamsteeg, Frans; Widdershoven, Guy A M
2015-11-01
Providing management insights regarding moral case deliberation (MCD) from the experiential perspective of nursing managers. MCD concerns systematic group-wise reflection on ethical issues. Attention to implementing MCD in health care is increasing, and managers' experiences regarding facilitating MCD's implementation have not yet been studied. As part of an empirical qualitative study on implementing MCD in mental health care, a responsive evaluation design was used. Using former research findings (iterative procedures), a managers' focus group was organised. Managers appreciated MCD, fostering nurses' empowerment and critical reflection - according to managers, professional core competences. Managers found MCD a challenging intervention, resulting in dilemmas due to MCD's confidential and egalitarian nature. Managers value MCD's process-related outcomes, yet these are difficult to control/regulate. MCD urges managers to reflect on their role and (hierarchical) position both within MCD and in the nursing team. MCD is in line with transformative and participatory management, fostering dialogical interaction between management and nursing team. © 2015 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.
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Applying Emax model and bivariate thin plate splines to assess drug interactions
Kong, Maiying; Lee, J. Jack
2014-01-01
We review the semiparametric approach previously proposed by Kong and Lee and extend it to a case in which the dose-effect curves follow the Emax model instead of the median effect equation. When the maximum effects for the investigated drugs are different, we provide a procedure to obtain the additive effect based on the Loewe additivity model. Then, we apply a bivariate thin plate spline approach to estimate the effect beyond additivity along with its 95% point-wise confidence interval as well as its 95% simultaneous confidence interval for any combination dose. Thus, synergy, additivity, and antagonism can be identified. The advantages of the method are that it provides an overall assessment of the combination effect on the entire two-dimensional dose space spanned by the experimental doses, and it enables us to identify complex patterns of drug interaction in combination studies. In addition, this approach is robust to outliers. To illustrate this procedure, we analyzed data from two case studies. PMID:20036878
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Applying Emax model and bivariate thin plate splines to assess drug interactions.
Kong, Maiying; Lee, J Jack
2010-01-01
We review the semiparametric approach previously proposed by Kong and Lee and extend it to a case in which the dose-effect curves follow the Emax model instead of the median effect equation. When the maximum effects for the investigated drugs are different, we provide a procedure to obtain the additive effect based on the Loewe additivity model. Then, we apply a bivariate thin plate spline approach to estimate the effect beyond additivity along with its 95 per cent point-wise confidence interval as well as its 95 per cent simultaneous confidence interval for any combination dose. Thus, synergy, additivity, and antagonism can be identified. The advantages of the method are that it provides an overall assessment of the combination effect on the entire two-dimensional dose space spanned by the experimental doses, and it enables us to identify complex patterns of drug interaction in combination studies. In addition, this approach is robust to outliers. To illustrate this procedure, we analyzed data from two case studies.
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GEO Collisional Risk Assessment Based on Analysis of NASA-WISE Data and Modeling
2015-10-18
GEO Collisional Risk Assessment Based on Analysis of NASA -WISE Data and Modeling Jeremy Murray Krezan1, Samantha Howard1, Phan D. Dao1, Derek...Surka2 1AFRL Space Vehicles Directorate,2Applied Technology Associates Incorporated From December 2009 through 2011 the NASA Wide-Field Infrared...of known debris. The NASA -WISE GEO belt debris population adds potentially thousands previously uncataloged objects. This paper describes
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Simulating (log(c) n)-wise Independence in NC
1989-05-01
independent) distribution. However, Xk (A) = (1x(I))k = Z Z y (i,)...X(ik). iEA ijEAi 2 EA IkEA So Lemma 2.4 applies to show that any k-wise independent...AEA AEAi1EA ikEA So henceforth we want an X such that F(X) >_ E[F(X)]. 2.5 Generating k-Wise Independent Variables It still remains to demonstrate a k
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The First Brown Dwarf Discovered by the Backyard Worlds: Planet 9 Citizen Science Project
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Kuchner, Marc J.; Faherty, Jacqueline K.; Schneider, Adam C.; Meisner, Aaron M.; Filippazzo, Joseph C.; Gagné, Jonathan; Trouille, Laura; Silverberg, Steven M.; Castro, Rosa; Fletcher, Bob; Mokaev, Khasan; Stajic, Tamara
2017-06-01
The Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer (WISE) is a powerful tool for finding nearby brown dwarfs and searching for new planets in the outer solar system, especially with the incorporation of NEOWISE and NEOWISE-Reactivation data. However, so far, searches for brown dwarfs in WISE data have yet to take advantage of the full depth of the WISE images. To efficiently search this unexplored space via visual inspection, we have launched a new citizen science project, called “Backyard Worlds: Planet 9,” which asks volunteers to examine short animations composed of difference images constructed from time-resolved WISE coadds. We report the first new substellar object discovered by this project, WISEA J110125.95+540052.8, a T5.5 brown dwarf located approximately 34 pc from the Sun with a total proper motion of ˜0.″7 {{yr}}-1. WISEA J110125.95+540052.8 has a WISE W2 magnitude of W2=15.37+/- 0.09; our sensitivity to this source demonstrates the ability of citizen scientists to identify moving objects via visual inspection that are 0.9 mag fainter than the W2 single-exposure sensitivity, a threshold that has limited prior motion-based brown dwarf searches with WISE.
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Invariant features of spatial inequality in consumption: The case of India
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Chatterjee, Arnab; Chakrabarti, Anindya S.; Ghosh, Asim; Chakraborti, Anirban; Nandi, Tushar K.
2016-01-01
We study the distributional features and inequality of consumption expenditure across India, for different states, castes, religion and urban-rural divide. We find that even though the aggregate measures of inequality are fairly diversified across states, the consumption distributions show near identical statistics, once properly normalized. This feature is seen to be robust with respect to variations in sociological and economic factors. We also show that state-wise inequality seems to be positively correlated with growth which is in accord with the traditional idea of Kuznets' curve. We present a brief model to account for the invariance found empirically and show that better but riskier technology draws can create a positive correlation between inequality and growth.
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A note on the accuracy of spectral method applied to nonlinear conservation laws
NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)
Shu, Chi-Wang; Wong, Peter S.
1994-01-01
Fourier spectral method can achieve exponential accuracy both on the approximation level and for solving partial differential equations if the solutions are analytic. For a linear partial differential equation with a discontinuous solution, Fourier spectral method produces poor point-wise accuracy without post-processing, but still maintains exponential accuracy for all moments against analytic functions. In this note we assess the accuracy of Fourier spectral method applied to nonlinear conservation laws through a numerical case study. We find that the moments with respect to analytic functions are no longer very accurate. However the numerical solution does contain accurate information which can be extracted by a post-processing based on Gegenbauer polynomials.
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On the Incidence of Wise Infrared Excess Among Solar Analog, Twin, and Sibling Stars
DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)
Da Costa, A. D.; Martins, B. L. Canto; Lima Jr, J. E.
2017-03-01
This study presents a search for infrared (IR) excess in the 3.4, 4.6, 12, and 22 μ m bands in a sample of 216 targets, composed of solar sibling, twin, and analog stars observed by the Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer ( WISE ) mission. In general, an IR excess suggests the existence of warm dust around a star. We detected 12 μ m and/or 22 μ m excesses at the 3 σ level of confidence in five solar analog stars, corresponding to a frequency of 4.1% of the entire sample of solar analogs analyzed, and in one out of 29more » solar sibling candidates, confirming previous studies. The estimation of the dust properties shows that the sources with IR excesses possess circumstellar material with temperatures that, within the uncertainties, are similar to that of the material found in the asteroid belt in our solar system. No photospheric flux excess was identified at the W1 (3.4 μ m) and W2 (4.6 μ m) WISE bands, indicating that, in the majority of stars of the present sample, no detectable dust is generated. Interestingly, among the 60 solar twin stars analyzed in this work, no WISE photospheric flux excess was detected. However, a null-detection excess does not necessarily indicate the absence of dust around a star because different causes, including dynamic processes and instrument limitations, can mask its presence.« less
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VizieR Online Data Catalog: WISE IR excesses among main sequence stars (Da Costa+, 2017)
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
da Costa, A. D.; Canto Martins, B. L.; Leao, I. C.; Lima, J. E., Jr.; Freire da Silva, D.; de Freitas, D. B.; de Medeiros, J. R.
2017-10-01
This study presents a search for infrared (IR) excess in the 3.4, 4.6, 12, and 22μm bands in a sample of 216 targets, composed of solar sibling, twin, and analog stars observed by the Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer (WISE) mission. In general, an IR excess suggests the existence of warm dust around a star. We detected 12μm and/or 22μm excesses at the 3σ level of confidence in five solar analog stars, corresponding to a frequency of 4.1% of the entire sample of solar analogs analyzed, and in one out of 29 solar sibling candidates, confirming previous studies. The estimation of the dust properties shows that the sources with IR excesses possess circumstellar material with temperatures that, within the uncertainties, are similar to that of the material found in the asteroid belt in our solar system. No photospheric flux excess was identified at the W1 (3.4μm) and W2 (4.6μm) WISE bands, indicating that, in the majority of stars of the present sample, no detectable dust is generated. Interestingly, among the 60 solar twin stars analyzed in this work, no WISE photospheric flux excess was detected. However, a null-detection excess does not necessarily indicate the absence of dust around a star because different causes, including dynamic processes and instrument limitations, can mask its presence. (1 data file).
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Légaré, France; Hébert, Jessica; Goh, Larissa; Lewis, Krystina B; Leiva Portocarrero, Maria Ester; Robitaille, Hubert; Stacey, Dawn
2016-01-01
Objectives Choosing Wisely is a remarkable physician-led campaign to reduce unnecessary or harmful health services. Some of the literature identifies Choosing Wisely as a shared decision-making approach. We evaluated the patient materials developed by Choosing Wisely Canada to determine whether they meet the criteria for shared decision-making tools known as patient decision aids. Design Descriptive analysis of all Choosing Wisely Canada patient materials. Data source In May 2015, we selected all Choosing Wisely Canada patient materials from its official website. Main outcomes and measures Four team members independently extracted characteristics of the English materials using the International Patient Decision Aid Standards (IPDAS) modified 16-item minimum criteria for qualifying and certifying patient decision aids. The research team discussed discrepancies between data extractors and reached a consensus. Descriptive analysis was conducted. Results Of the 24 patient materials assessed, 12 were about treatments, 11 were about screening and 1 was about prevention. The median score for patient materials using IPDAS criteria was 10/16 (range: 8–11) for screening topics and 6/12 (range: 6–9) for prevention and treatment topics. Commonly missed criteria were stating the decision (21/24 did not), providing balanced information on option benefits/harms (24/24 did not), citing evidence (24/24 did not) and updating policy (24/24 did not). Out of 24 patient materials, only 2 met the 6 IPDAS criteria to qualify as patient decision aids, and neither of these 2 met the 6 certifying criteria. Conclusions Patient materials developed by Choosing Wisely Canada do not meet the IPDAS minimal qualifying or certifying criteria for patient decision aids. Modifications to the Choosing Wisely Canada patient materials would help to ensure that they qualify as patient decision aids and thus as more effective shared decision-making tools. PMID:27566638
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NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Deng, J.; Zhou, L.; Dong, Y.; Sanford, R. A.; Shechtman, L. A.; Alcalde, R.; Werth, C. J.; Fouke, B. W.
2017-12-01
Microorganisms in nature have evolved in response to a variety of environmental stresses, including gradients in pH, flow and chemistry. While environmental stresses are generally considered to be the driving force of adaptive evolution, the impact and extent of any specific stress needed to drive such changes has not been well characterized. In this study, a microfluidic diffusion chamber (MDC) and a batch culturing system were used to systematically study the effects of continuous versus step-wise stress increments on adaptation of E. coli to the antibiotic ciprofloxacin. In the MDC, a diffusion gradient of ciprofloxacin was established across a microfluidic well array to microscopically observe changes in Escherichia coli strain 307 replication and migration patterns that would indicate emergence of resistance due to genetic mutations. Cells recovered from the MDC only had resistance of 50-times the original minimum inhibition concentration (MICoriginal) of ciprofloxacin, although minimum exposure concentrations were over 80 × MICoriginal by the end of the experiment. In complementary batch experiments, E. coli 307 were exposed to step-wise daily increases of ciprofloxacin at rates equivalent to 0.1×, 0.2×, 0.4× or 0.8× times MICoriginal/day. Over a period of 18 days, E. coli cells were able to acquire resistance of up to 225 × MICoriginal, with exposure to ciprofloxacin concentration up to only 14.9 × MICoriginal. The different levels of acquired resistance in the continuous MDC versus step-wise batch increment experiments suggests that the intrinsic rate of E. coli adaptation was exceeded in the MDC, while the step-wise experiments favor adaptation to the highest ciprofloxacin experiments. Genomic analyses of E. coli DNA extracted from the microfluidic cell and batch cultures indicated four single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) mutations of amino acid 82, 83 and 87 in the gyrA gene. The progression of adaptation in the step-wise increments of ciprofloxacin indicate that the Ser83-Leu mutation gradually becomes dominant over other gyrA mutations with increased antibiotic resistance. Co-existence of the Ser83-Leu and Asp87—Gly mutations appear to provide the greatest level of resistance (i.e., 85 × to 225 × MICoriginal), and only emerged after the whole community acquired the Ser83—Leu mutation.
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Media coverage of "wise" interventions can reduce concern for the disadvantaged.
Ikizer, Elif G; Blanton, Hart
2016-06-01
Recent articulation of the "wise" approach to psychological intervention has drawn attention to the way small, seemingly trivial social psychological interventions can exert powerful, long-term effects. These interventions have been used to address such wide-ranging social issues as the racial achievement gap, environmental conservation, and the promotion of safer sex. Although there certainly are good reasons to seek easier as opposed to harder solutions to social problems, we examine a potentially undesirable effect that can result from common media portrayals of wise interventions. By emphasizing the ease with which interventions help address complex social problems, media reports might decrease sympathy for the individuals assisted by such efforts. Three studies provide evidence for this, showing that media coverage of wise interventions designed to address academic and health disparities increased endorsement of the view that the disadvantaged can solve their problems on their own, and the tendency to blame such individuals for their circumstances. Effects were strongest for interventions targeted at members of a historically disadvantaged group (African Americans as opposed to college students) and when the coverage was read by conservatives as opposed to liberals. Attempts to undermine this effect by introducing cautious language had mixed success. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2016 APA, all rights reserved).
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Ushida, Yuka; Koshy, Geena; Kawashima, Yoko; Kiji, Makoto; Umeda, Makoto; Nitta, Hiroshi; Nagasawa, Toshiyuki; Ishikawa, Isao; Izumi, Yuichi
2008-11-01
This study aimed to compare the effect of single-visit full-mouth mechanical debridement (FMD) and quadrant-wise mechanical debridement (QMD) on the levels of serum interleukin (IL)-6, C-reactive protein (CRP) and soluble thrombomodulin. Thirty-six subjects with chronic periodontitis were randomly allocated to three groups: undergoing QMD, single-visit FMD with povidone iodine or with water. Serum IL-6 and soluble thrombomodulin were measured by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay, and serum CRP was measured by the latex-enhanced nephelometric method. Serum IL-6 level increased significantly immediately after debridement in all the three groups, with this increase being greatest in the full-mouth groups. However, the increase in the full-mouth groups was not significantly higher than that of quadrant-wise group. In the quadrant-wise group, serum IL-6 level decreased significantly 1 month after debridement compared with baseline. Serum-soluble thrombomodulin decreased significantly in the full-mouth groups but not in the quadrant-wise group. Changes in CRP level were not significant at baseline or after debridement in all the three groups. FMD increased serum IL-6 and reduced serum-soluble thrombomodulin to a greater extent than QMD, suggesting that the former technique has stronger transient effects on systemic vascular endothelial functions than the latter.
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Teklu, Gebreyohans Gebru; Hailu, Teweldemedhn Gebretinsae; Eshetu, Gebremedhin Romha
2017-01-01
Background Rabies is a fatal zoonotic disease that has been known in Ethiopia for centuries in society as “Mad Dog Disease”. It is an important disease with veterinary and public health significance in the North western zone of Tigray where previous studies have not been conducted. Frequent occurrence of outbreaks in the area led the researchers to carry out a four year retrospective study to estimate the incidence of human rabies exposure in Northwestern Tigray, Ethiopia. Methodology A referent study was conducted on human rabies exposure cases recorded from 2012 to 2015 at Suhul hospital, Shire Endaselase, Northwestern Tigray, Ethiopia. Exposure cases included in this research constituted victims bitten by unprovoked dogs and who received post exposure prophylaxis (PEP) at the hospital. Two thousand one hundred eighty human rabies exposure cases retrieved from the rabies case database were included in this study. Principal findings The majority of the exposed cases were males (1363/2180, 63%). Age wise, the most exposed age group was ≥15 years in all the study years: 166 (58%), 335 (65%), 492 (66%) and 394 (63%) in 2012, 2013, 2014 and 2015, respectively. Similarly, exposure cases for human rabies increased with age in both males and females across the study years. The incidence of human rabies exposure cases calculated per 100,000 populations was 35.8, 63.0, 89.8 and 73.1 in 2012, 2013, 2014 and 2015, respectively. Binary logistic regression analysis revealed that being male was a risk for human rabies exposure in all the study years. Conclusion The study discovered the highest annual human rabies exposure incidence in Ethiopia. This suggests an urgent need for synergistic efforts of human and animal health sectors to implement prevention and control strategies in this area. PMID:28060935
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Amirian, E Susan; Scheurer, Michael E; Liu, Yanhong; D'Amelio, Anthony M; Houlston, Richard S; Etzel, Carol J; Shete, Sanjay; Swerdlow, Anthony J; Schoemaker, Minouk J; McKinney, Patricia A; Fleming, Sarah J; Muir, Kenneth R; Lophatananon, Artitaya; Bondy, Melissa L
2011-08-01
Despite extensive research on the topic, glioma etiology remains largely unknown. Exploration of potential interactions between single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNP) of immune genes is a promising new area of glioma research. The case-only study design is a powerful and efficient design for exploring possible multiplicative interactions between factors that are independent of one another. The purpose of our study was to use this exploratory design to identify potential pair wise SNP-SNP interactions from genes involved in several different immune-related pathways for investigation in future studies. The study population consisted of two case groups: 1,224 histologic confirmed, non-Hispanic white glioma cases from the United States and a validation population of 634 glioma cases from the United Kingdom. Polytomous logistic regression, in which one SNP was coded as the outcome and the other SNP was included as the exposure, was utilized to calculate the ORs of the likelihood of cases simultaneously having the variant alleles of two different SNPs. Potential interactions were examined only between SNPs located in different genes or chromosomes. Using this data mining strategy, we found 396 significant SNP-SNP interactions among polymorphisms of immune-related genes that were present in both the U.S. and U.K. study populations. This exploratory study was conducted for the purpose of hypothesis generation, and thus has provided several new hypotheses that can be tested using traditional case-control study designs to obtain estimates of risk. This is the first study, to our knowledge, to take this novel approach to identifying SNP-SNP interactions relevant to glioma etiology. ©2011 AACR.
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SU-F-J-156: The Feasibility of MR-Only IMRT Planning for Prostate Anatomy
DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)
Vaitheeswaran, R; Sivaramakrishnan, KR; Kumar, Prashant
Purpose: For prostate anatomy, previous investigations have shown that simulated CT (sCT) generated from MR images can be used for accurate dose computation. In this study, we demonstrate the feasibility of MR-only IMRT planning for prostate case. Methods: Regular CT (rCT) and MR images of the same patient were acquired for prostate anatomy. Regions-of-interest (ROIs) i.e. target and risk structures are delineated on the rCT. A simulated CT (sCT) is generated from the MR image using the method described by Schadewaldt N et al. Their work establishes the clinical acceptability of dose calculation results on the sCT when compared tomore » rCT. rCT and sCT are rigidly registered to ensure proper alignment between the two images. rCT and sCT are overlaid on each other and slice-wise visual inspection confirms excellent agreement between the two images. ROIs on the rCT are copied over to sCT. Philips AutoPlanning solution is used for generating treatment plans. The same treatment technique protocol (plan parameters and clinical goals) is used to generate AutoPlan-rCT and AutoPlan-sCT respectively for rCT and and sCT. DVH comparison on ROIs and slice-wise evaluation of dose is performed between AutoPlan-rCT and AutoPlan-sCT. Delivery parameters i.e. beam and corresponding segments from the AutoPlan-sCT are copied over to rCT and dose is computed to get AutoPlan-sCT-on-rCT. Results: Plan evaluation is done based on Dose Volume Histogram (DVH) of ROIs and manual slice-wise inspection of dose distribution. Both AutoPlan-rCT and AutoPlan-sCT provide a clinically acceptable plan. Also, AutoPlan-sCT-on-rCT shows excellent agreement with AutoPlan-sCT. Conclusion: The study demonstrates that it is feasible to do IMRT planning on the simulated CT image obtained from MR image for prostate anatomy. The research is supported by Philips India Ltd.« less
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2009-10-20
VANDENBERG AIR FORCE BASE, Calif. - The logo for NASA's Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer, or WISE, mission. WISE will survey the entire sky at infrared wavelengths, creating a cosmic clearinghouse of hundreds of millions of objects which will be catalogued and provide a vast storehouse of knowledge about the solar system, the Milky Way, and the universe. Launch is scheduled for Dec. 9. For additional information, visit http://www.nasa.gov/wise. Photo credit: NASA/Doug Kulkow, VAFB
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VizieR Online Data Catalog: Luminosity and redshift of galaxies from WISE/SDSS (Toba+, 2014)
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Toba, Y.; Oyabu, S.; Matsuhara, H.; Malkan, M. A.; Gandhi, P.; Nakagawa, T.; Isobe, N.; Shirahata, M.; Oi, N.; Ohyama, Y.; Takita, S.; Yamauchi, C.; Yano, K.
2017-07-01
We selected 12 and 22 um flux-limited galaxies based on the WISE (Cat. II/311) and SDSS (Cat. II/294) catalogs, and these galaxies were then classified into five types according to their optical spectroscopic information in the SDSS catalog. For spectroscopically classified galaxies, we constructed the luminosity functions using the 1/Vmax method, considering the detection limit of the WISE and SDSS catalogs. (1 data file).
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Massive and Distant Clusters of WISE Survey (MaDCoWS)
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Brodwin, Mark; MaDCoWS Collaboration
2018-06-01
The Massive and Distant Clusters of WISE Survey (MaDCoWS) is a comprehensive program to detect and characterize the most massive galaxy clusters in the Universe at z ~ 1, and is the only all-sky survey sensitive to galaxy clusters at this epoch. The foundation for this program is data from the NASA Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer (WISE). The primary goal is to study the evolution of massive galaxies in the most overdense environments at z > 1 when star formation and AGN activity may be peaking in these structures. Spitzer follow-up imaging of 2000 MaDCoWS clusters has allowed us to select the richest and/or most distant clusters for detailed study. To date we have spectroscopically confirmed over 35 MaDCoWS clusters, spanning a wide range of masses (2-11 x 10^14 Msun), out to z = 1.5. This includes the discovery of the most massive z > 1.15 cluster found to date, as well as a cluster at z = 1.23 that is lensing a z = 2.22 supernova Ia. Multiwavelength follow-up observations of these distant clusters, currently underway, will permit several novel studies of galaxy evolution in rich cluster environments at z > 1.
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Point-Wise Phase Matching for Nonlinear Frequency Generation in Dielectric Resonators
NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)
Yu, Nan (Inventor); Strekalov, Dmitry V. (Inventor); Lin, Guoping (Inventor)
2016-01-01
An optical resonator fabricated from a uniaxial birefringent crystal, such as beta barium borate. The crystal is cut with the optical axis not perpendicular to a face of the cut crystal. In some cases the optical axis lies in the plane of the cut crystal face. An incident (input) electromagnetic signal (which can range from the infrared through the visible to the ultraviolet) is applied to the resonator. An output signal is recovered which has a frequency that is an integer multiple of the frequency of the input signal. In some cases a prism is used to evanescently couple the input and the output signals to the resonator.
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Searching For Infrared Excesses Around White Dwarf Stars
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Deeb Wilson, Elin; Rebull, Luisa M.; Debes, John H.; Stark, Chris
2017-01-01
Many WDs have been found to be “polluted,” meaning they contain heavier elements in their atmospheres. Either an active process that counters gravitational settling is taking place, or an external mechanism is the cause. One proposed external mechanism for atmospheric pollution of WDs is the disintegration and accretion of rocky bodies, which would result in a circumstellar (CS) disk. As CS disks are heated, they emit excess infrared (IR) emission. WDs with IR excesses indicative of a CS disk are known as dusty WDs. Statistical studies are still needed to determine how numerous dusty, polluted WDs are, along with trends and correlations regarding rate of planetary accretion, the lifetimes of CS disks, and the structure and evolution of CS disks. These findings will allow for a better understanding of the fates of planets along with potential habitability of surviving planets.In this work, we are trying to confirm IR excesses around a sample of 69 WD stars selected as part of the WISE InfraRed Excesses around Degenerates (WIRED) Survey (Debes et al. 2011). We have archival data from WISE, Spitzer, 2MASS, DENIS, and SDSS. The targets were initially selected from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS), and identified as containing IR excesses based on WISE data. We also have data from the Four Star Infrared Camera array, which is part of Carnegie Institution’s Magellan 6.5 meter Baade Telescope located at Las Campanas Observatory in Chile. These Four Star data are much higher spatial resolution than the WISE data that were used to determine if each WD has an IR excess. There are often not many bands delineating the IR excess portion of the SED; therefore, we are using the Four Star data to check if there is another source in the WISE beam affecting the IR excess.
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Vanderhaeghe, F; Smolders, A J P; Roelofs, J G M; Hoffmann, M
2012-03-01
Selecting an appropriate variable subset in linear multivariate methods is an important methodological issue for ecologists. Interest often exists in obtaining general predictive capacity or in finding causal inferences from predictor variables. Because of a lack of solid knowledge on a studied phenomenon, scientists explore predictor variables in order to find the most meaningful (i.e. discriminating) ones. As an example, we modelled the response of the amphibious softwater plant Eleocharis multicaulis using canonical discriminant function analysis. We asked how variables can be selected through comparison of several methods: univariate Pearson chi-square screening, principal components analysis (PCA) and step-wise analysis, as well as combinations of some methods. We expected PCA to perform best. The selected methods were evaluated through fit and stability of the resulting discriminant functions and through correlations between these functions and the predictor variables. The chi-square subset, at P < 0.05, followed by a step-wise sub-selection, gave the best results. In contrast to expectations, PCA performed poorly, as so did step-wise analysis. The different chi-square subset methods all yielded ecologically meaningful variables, while probable noise variables were also selected by PCA and step-wise analysis. We advise against the simple use of PCA or step-wise discriminant analysis to obtain an ecologically meaningful variable subset; the former because it does not take into account the response variable, the latter because noise variables are likely to be selected. We suggest that univariate screening techniques are a worthwhile alternative for variable selection in ecology. © 2011 German Botanical Society and The Royal Botanical Society of the Netherlands.
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Student goal orientation in learning inquiry skills with modifiable software advisors
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Shimoda, Todd A.; White, Barbara Y.; Frederiksen, John R.
2002-03-01
A computer support environment (SCI-WISE) for learning and doing science inquiry projects was designed. SCI-WISE incorporates software advisors that give general advice about a skill such as hypothesizing. By giving general advice (rather than step-by-step procedures), the system is intended to help students conduct experiments that are more epistemologically authentic. Also, students using SCI-WISE can select the type of advice the advisors give and when they give advice, as well as modify the advisors' knowledge bases. The system is based partly on a theoretical framework of levels of agency and goal orientation. This framework assumes that giving students higher levels of agency facilitates higher-level goal orientations (such as mastery or knowledge building as opposed to task completion) that in turn produce higher levels of competence. A study of sixth grade science students was conducted. Students took a pretest questionnaire that measured their goal orientations for science projects and their inquiry skills. The students worked in pairs on an open-ended inquiry project that requires complex reasoning about human memory. The students used one of two versions of SCI-WISE - one that was modifiable and one that was not. After finishing the project, the students took a posttest questionnaire similar to the pretest, and evaluated the version of the system they used. The main results showed that (a) there was no correlation of goal orientation with grade point average, (b) knowledge-oriented students using the modifiable version tended to rate SCI-WISE more helpful than task-oriented students, and (c) knowledge-oriented pairs using the nonmodifiable version tended to have higher posttest inquiry skills scores than other pair types.
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Naval Research Logistics Quarterly. Volume 28. Number 3,
1981-09-01
denotes component-wise maximum. f has antone (isotone) differences on C x D if for cl < c2 and d, < d2, NAVAL RESEARCH LOGISTICS QUARTERLY VOL. 28...or negative correlations and linear or nonlinear regressions. Given are the mo- ments to order two and, for special cases, (he regression function and...data sets. We designate this bnb distribution as G - B - N(a, 0, v). The distribution admits only of positive correlation and linear regressions
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Logar, M; Smrkolj, V; Veselko, M
1996-02-01
The authors report a case of foot trauma produced by a piece of the lawn mower blade, which was fired projectile-wise from the machine while it was in operation. At hit the calcaneous and remained trapped in the bone. The wound healed after removal of the foreign body, wound debridement and systemic and local antibiotic prophylaxis. In the professional literature available, no report has been found on a missile injury produced by a piece of rotating lawn mower knife.
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The WIRED Survey. 2; Infrared Excesses in the SDSS DR7 White Dwarf Catalog
NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)
Debes, John H.; Hoard, D. W.; Wachter, Stefanie; Leisawitz, David T.; Cohen, Martin
2011-01-01
With the launch of the Wide-field Infrar.ed Survey Explorer (WISE), a new era of detecting planetary debris and brown dwarfs (BDs) around white dwarfs (WDs) has begun with the WISE InfraRed Excesses around Degenerates (WIRED) Survey. The WIRED Survey is sensitive to substellar objects and dusty debris around WDs out to distances exceeding 100 pc, well beyond the completeness level of local WDs. In this paper, we present a cross-correlation of the preliminary Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS) Data Release 7 (DR7) WD catalog between the WISE, Two-Micron All Sky Survey (2MASS), UKIRT Infrared Deep Sky Survey (UKIDSS), and SDSS DR7 photometric catalogs. From -18,000 input targets, there are WISE detections comprising 344 "naked" WDs (detection of the WD photosphere only), 1020 candidate WD+M dwarf binaries, 42 candidate WD+BD systems, 52 candidate WD+dust disk systems, and 69 targets with indeterminate infrared excess. We classified all of the detected targets through spectral energy distribution model fitting of the merged optical, near-IR, and WISE photometry. Some of these detections could be the result of contaminating sources within the large (approx. 6") WISE point-spread function; we make a preliminary estimate for the rates of contamination for our WD+BD and WD+disk candidates and provide notes for each target of interest. Each candidate presented here should be confirmed with higher angular resolution infrared imaging or infrared spectroscopy. We also present an overview of the observational characteristics of the detected WDs in the WISE photometric bands, including the relative frequencies of candidate WD+M, WD+BD, and WD+disk systems.
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Full-Depth Coadds of the WISE and First-Year NEOWISE-Reactivation Images
Meisner, Aaron M.; Lang, Dustin; Schlegel, David J.
2017-01-03
The Near Earth Object Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer (NEOWISE) Reactivation mission released data from its first full year of observations in 2015. This data set includes ~2.5 million exposures in each of W1 and W2, effectively doubling the amount of WISE imaging available at 3.4 μm and 4.6 μm relative to the AllWISE release. In this paper, we have created the first ever full-sky set of coadds combining all publicly available W1 and W2 exposures from both the AllWISE and NEOWISE-Reactivation (NEOWISER) mission phases. We employ an adaptation of the unWISE image coaddition framework, which preserves the native WISE angularmore » resolution and is optimized for forced photometry. By incorporating two additional scans of the entire sky, we not only improve the W1/W2 depths, but also largely eliminate time-dependent artifacts such as off-axis scattered moonlight. We anticipate that our new coadds will have a broad range of applications, including target selection for upcoming spectroscopic cosmology surveys, identification of distant/massive galaxy clusters, and discovery of high-redshift quasars. In particular, our full-depth AllWISE+NEOWISER coadds will be an important input for the Dark Energy Spectroscopic Instrument selection of luminous red galaxy and quasar targets. Our full-depth W1/W2 coadds are already in use within the DECam Legacy Survey (DECaLS) and Mayall z-band Legacy Survey (MzLS) reduction pipelines. Finally, much more work still remains in order to fully leverage NEOWISER imaging for astrophysical applications beyond the solar system.« less
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More powerful haplotype sharing by accounting for the mode of inheritance.
Ziegler, Andreas; Ewhida, Adel; Brendel, Michael; Kleensang, André
2009-04-01
The concept of haplotype sharing (HS) has received considerable attention recently, and several haplotype association methods have been proposed. Here, we extend the work of Beckmann and colleagues [2005 Hum. Hered. 59:67-78] who derived an HS statistic (BHS) as special case of Mantel's space-time clustering approach. The Mantel-type HS statistic correlates genetic similarity with phenotypic similarity across pairs of individuals. While phenotypic similarity is measured as the mean-corrected cross product of phenotypes, we propose to incorporate information of the underlying genetic model in the measurement of the genetic similarity. Specifically, for the recessive and dominant modes of inheritance we suggest the use of the minimum and maximum of shared length of haplotypes around a marker locus for pairs of individuals. If the underlying genetic model is unknown, we propose a model-free HS Mantel statistic using the max-test approach. We compare our novel HS statistics to BHS using simulated case-control data and illustrate its use by re-analyzing data from a candidate region of chromosome 18q from the Rheumatoid Arthritis (RA) Consortium. We demonstrate that our approach is point-wise valid and superior to BHS. In the re-analysis of the RA data, we identified three regions with point-wise P-values<0.005 containing six known genes (PMIP1, MC4R, PIGN, KIAA1468, TNFRSF11A and ZCCHC2) which might be worth follow-up.
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Windfuhr, Jochen P.
2016-01-01
Background: Pediatric autoimmune neuropsychiatric disorders associated with streptococcal infections (PANDAS) is a disease attributed to children with obsessive compulsive disorders (OCD) or tic disorders associated with streptococcal infections. Because otolaryngologists examine a large number of pediatric patients with recurrent streptococcal infections, tonsillectomy (TE) is a common option of therapy. This study was conducted to evaluate the efficacy of TE in patients presenting with verified PANDAS. Material and methods: A PubMed review was performed using search terms “tonsillectomy” and “PANDAS”, “OCD”, “compulsive” “pediatric autoimmune”, “chorea” and “tic” limited by publication date of January 1, 1995, to July 31, 2015. Reviews without patients were not included in the review. Results: Nine papers matched our search criteria, including 6 case reports with 8 patients and 3 case series. Most case reports were in favor of TE, but this was by far not supported by the findings in the case series. The follow-up ranged from 2 to 36 months in case reports and from 24 to 36 in case series. Conclusion: Establishing the diagnosis of PANDAS is complicated because of underlying comorbidities in the field of neurology-psychiatry and the lack of a reliable biomarker. The positive outcome after TE as reported in case studies may be influenced by the postoperative medication and is not supported by the results of large-scale studies. In the light of the considerable postoperative morbidity rate, it appears wise to indicate TE for PANDAS only in supervised clinical studies. PMID:28025607
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Community Wise: paving the way for empowerment in community reentry.
Windsor, Liliane Cambraia; Jemal, Alexis; Benoit, Ellen
2014-01-01
Theoretical approaches traditionally applied in mental health and criminal justice interventions fail to address the historical and structural context that partially explains health disparities. Community Wise was developed to address this gap. It is a 12week group intervention informed by Critical Consciousness Theory and designed to prevent substance abuse, related health risk behaviors, psychological distress, and reoffending among individuals with a history of incarceration and substance abuse. This paper reports findings from the first implementation and pilot evaluation of Community Wise in two community-based organizations. This pre-posttest evaluation pilot-tested Community Wise and used findings to improve the intervention. Twenty-six participants completed a phone and clinical screening, baseline, 6- and 12-week follow-ups, and a focus group at the end of the intervention. Measures assessed participants' demographic information, psychological distress, substance use, criminal offending, HIV risk behaviors, community cohesion, community support, civic engagement, critical consciousness, ethnic identification, group cohesion, client satisfaction, and acquired treatment skills. Research methods were found to be feasible and useful in assessing the intervention. Results indicated that while Community Wise is a promising intervention, several changes need to be made in order to enhance the intervention. Community Wise is a new approach where oppressed individuals join in critical dialogue, tap into existing community resources, and devise, implement and evaluate their own community solutions to structural barriers. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
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Asteroid Euphrosyne as Seen by WISE
2015-08-03
The asteroid Euphrosyne glides across a field of background stars in this time-lapse view from NASA's WISE spacecraft. WISE obtained the images used to create this view over a period of about a day around May 17, 2010, during which it observed the asteroid four times. Because WISE (renamed NEOWISE in 2013) is an infrared telescope, it senses heat from asteroids. Euphrosyne is quite dark in visible light, but glows brightly at infrared wavelengths. This view is a composite of images taken at four different infrared wavelengths: 3.4 microns (color-coded blue), 4.6 microns (cyan), 12 microns (green) and 22 microns (red). The moving asteroid appears as a string of red dots because it is much cooler than the distant background stars. Stars have temperatures in the thousands of degrees, but the asteroid is cooler than room temperature. Thus the stars are represented by shorter wavelength (hotter) blue colors in this view, while the asteroid is shown in longer wavelength (cooler) reddish colors. The WISE spacecraft was put into hibernation in 2011 upon completing its goal of surveying the entire sky in infrared light. WISE cataloged three quarters of a billion objects, including asteroids, stars and galaxies. In August 2013, NASA decided to reinstate the spacecraft on a mission to find and characterize more asteroids. http://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA19645
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Micro-PIV/LIF measurements on electrokinetically-driven flow in surface modified microchannels
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Ichiyanagi, Mitsuhisa; Sasaki, Seiichi; Sato, Yohei; Hishida, Koichi
2009-04-01
Effects of surface modification patterning on flow characteristics were investigated experimentally by measuring electroosmotic flow velocities, which were obtained by micron-resolution particle image velocimetry using a confocal microscope. The depth-wise velocity was evaluated by using the continuity equation and the velocity data. The microchannel was composed of a poly(dimethylsiloxane) chip and a borosilicate cover-glass plate. Surface modification patterns were fabricated by modifying octadecyltrichlorosilane (OTS) on the glass surface. OTS can decrease the electroosmotic flow velocity compared to the velocity in the glass microchannel. For the surface charge varying parallel to the electric field, the depth-wise velocity was generated at the boundary area between OTS and the glass surfaces. For the surface charge varying perpendicular to the electric field, the depth-wise velocity did not form because the surface charge did not vary in the stream-wise direction. The surface charge pattern with the oblique stripes yielded a three-dimensional flow in a microchannel. Furthermore, the oblique patterning was applied to a mixing flow field in a T-shaped microchannel, and mixing efficiencies were evaluated from heterogeneity degree of fluorescent dye intensity, which was obtained by laser-induced fluorescence. It was found that the angle of the oblique stripes is an important factor to promote the span-wise and depth-wise momentum transport and contributes to the mixing flow in a microchannel.
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Overdensities of SMGs around WISE-selected, ultraluminous, high-redshift AGNs
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Jones, Suzy F.; Blain, Andrew W.; Assef, Roberto J.; Eisenhardt, Peter; Lonsdale, Carol; Condon, James; Farrah, Duncan; Tsai, Chao-Wei; Bridge, Carrie; Wu, Jingwen; Wright, Edward L.; Jarrett, Tom
2017-08-01
We investigate extremely luminous dusty galaxies in the environments around Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer (WISE)-selected hot dust-obscured galaxies (Hot DOGs) and WISE/radio-selected active galactic nuclei (AGNs) at average redshifts of z = 2.7 and 1.7, respectively. Previous observations have detected overdensities of companion submillimetre-selected sources around 10 Hot DOGs and 30 WISE/radio AGNs, with overdensities of ˜2-3 and ˜5-6, respectively. We find that the space densities in both samples to be overdense compared to normal star-forming galaxies and submillimetre galaxies (SMGs) in the Submillimetre Common-User Bolometer Array 2 (SCUBA-2) Cosmology Legacy Survey (S2CLS). Both samples of companion sources have consistent mid-infrared (mid-IR) colours and mid-IR to submm ratios as SMGs. The brighter population around WISE/radio AGNs could be responsible for the higher overdensity reported. We also find that the star formation rate densities are higher than the field, but consistent with clusters of dusty galaxies. WISE-selected AGNs appear to be good signposts for protoclusters at high redshift on arcmin scales. The results reported here provide an upper limit to the strength of angular clustering using the two-point correlation function. Monte Carlo simulations show no angular correlation, which could indicate protoclusters on scales larger than the SCUBA-2 1.5-arcmin scale maps.
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Bryndová, Michala; Kasari, Liis; Norberg, Anna; Weiss, Matthias; Bishop, Tom R.; Luke, Sarah H.; Sam, Katerina; Le Bagousse-Pinguet, Yoann; Lepš, Jan; Götzenberger, Lars; de Bello, Francesco
2016-01-01
Functional diversity (FD) is an important component of biodiversity that quantifies the difference in functional traits between organisms. However, FD studies are often limited by the availability of trait data and FD indices are sensitive to data gaps. The distribution of species abundance and trait data, and its transformation, may further affect the accuracy of indices when data is incomplete. Using an existing approach, we simulated the effects of missing trait data by gradually removing data from a plant, an ant and a bird community dataset (12, 59, and 8 plots containing 62, 297 and 238 species respectively). We ranked plots by FD values calculated from full datasets and then from our increasingly incomplete datasets and compared the ranking between the original and virtually reduced datasets to assess the accuracy of FD indices when used on datasets with increasingly missing data. Finally, we tested the accuracy of FD indices with and without data transformation, and the effect of missing trait data per plot or per the whole pool of species. FD indices became less accurate as the amount of missing data increased, with the loss of accuracy depending on the index. But, where transformation improved the normality of the trait data, FD values from incomplete datasets were more accurate than before transformation. The distribution of data and its transformation are therefore as important as data completeness and can even mitigate the effect of missing data. Since the effect of missing trait values pool-wise or plot-wise depends on the data distribution, the method should be decided case by case. Data distribution and data transformation should be given more careful consideration when designing, analysing and interpreting FD studies, especially where trait data are missing. To this end, we provide the R package “traitor” to facilitate assessments of missing trait data. PMID:26881747
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Májeková, Maria; Paal, Taavi; Plowman, Nichola S; Bryndová, Michala; Kasari, Liis; Norberg, Anna; Weiss, Matthias; Bishop, Tom R; Luke, Sarah H; Sam, Katerina; Le Bagousse-Pinguet, Yoann; Lepš, Jan; Götzenberger, Lars; de Bello, Francesco
2016-01-01
Functional diversity (FD) is an important component of biodiversity that quantifies the difference in functional traits between organisms. However, FD studies are often limited by the availability of trait data and FD indices are sensitive to data gaps. The distribution of species abundance and trait data, and its transformation, may further affect the accuracy of indices when data is incomplete. Using an existing approach, we simulated the effects of missing trait data by gradually removing data from a plant, an ant and a bird community dataset (12, 59, and 8 plots containing 62, 297 and 238 species respectively). We ranked plots by FD values calculated from full datasets and then from our increasingly incomplete datasets and compared the ranking between the original and virtually reduced datasets to assess the accuracy of FD indices when used on datasets with increasingly missing data. Finally, we tested the accuracy of FD indices with and without data transformation, and the effect of missing trait data per plot or per the whole pool of species. FD indices became less accurate as the amount of missing data increased, with the loss of accuracy depending on the index. But, where transformation improved the normality of the trait data, FD values from incomplete datasets were more accurate than before transformation. The distribution of data and its transformation are therefore as important as data completeness and can even mitigate the effect of missing data. Since the effect of missing trait values pool-wise or plot-wise depends on the data distribution, the method should be decided case by case. Data distribution and data transformation should be given more careful consideration when designing, analysing and interpreting FD studies, especially where trait data are missing. To this end, we provide the R package "traitor" to facilitate assessments of missing trait data.
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Gonzales, Ralph; Moriates, Christopher; Lau, Catherine; Valencia, Victoria; Imershein, Sarah; Rajkomar, Alvin; Prasad, Priya; Boscardin, Christy; Grady, Deborah; Johnston, S
2017-08-01
We describe a program called "Caring Wisely"®, developed by the University of California, San Francisco's (UCSF), Center for Healthcare Value, to increase the value of services provided at UCSF Health. The overarching goal of the Caring Wisely® program is to catalyze and advance delivery system redesign and innovations that reduce costs, enhance healthcare quality, and improve health outcomes. The program is designed to engage frontline clinicians and staff-aided by experienced implementation scientists-to develop and implement interventions specifically designed to address overuse, underuse, or misuse of services. Financial savings of the program are intended to cover the program costs. The theoretical underpinnings for the design of the Caring Wisely® program emphasize the importance of stakeholder engagement, behavior change theory, market (target audience) segmentation, and process measurement and feedback. The Caring Wisely® program provides an institutional model for using crowdsourcing to identify "hot spot" areas of low-value care, inefficiency and waste, and for implementing robust interventions to address these areas. © 2017 Society of Hospital Medicine.
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Discovery of a Possible Early-T Thick-disk Subdwarf from the AllWISE2 Motion Survey
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Kellogg, Kendra; Kirkpatrick, J. Davy; Metchev, Stanimir; Gagné, Jonathan; Faherty, Jacqueline K.
2018-02-01
We have discovered a potential T0 ± 1 subdwarf from a search for sources in the AllWISE2 Motion Survey that do not have counterparts in surveys at shorter wavelengths. With a tangential velocity of ∼170 km s‑1, this object—WISE J071121.36–573634.2—has kinematics that are consistent with the thick-disk population of the Milky Way. Spectral fits suggest a low-metallicity for this object but also allow for the possibility of unresolved multiplicity. If WISE J0711–5736 is indeed an sdT0 dwarf, it would be only the second early-T subdwarf discovered to date. This paper includes data gathered with the 6.5 m Magellan Telescopes located at Las Campanas Observatory, Chile.
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Target and (Astro-)WISE technologies Data federations and its applications
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Valentijn, E. A.; Begeman, K.; Belikov, A.; Boxhoorn, D. R.; Brinchmann, J.; McFarland, J.; Holties, H.; Kuijken, K. H.; Verdoes Kleijn, G.; Vriend, W.-J.; Williams, O. R.; Roerdink, J. B. T. M.; Schomaker, L. R. B.; Swertz, M. A.; Tsyganov, A.; van Dijk, G. J. W.
2017-06-01
After its first implementation in 2003 the Astro-WISE technology has been rolled out in several European countries and is used for the production of the KiDS survey data. In the multi-disciplinary Target initiative this technology, nicknamed WISE technology, has been further applied to a large number of projects. Here, we highlight the data handling of other astronomical applications, such as VLT-MUSE and LOFAR, together with some non-astronomical applications such as the medical projects Lifelines and GLIMPS; the MONK handwritten text recognition system; and business applications, by amongst others, the Target Holding. We describe some of the most important lessons learned and describe the application of the data-centric WISE type of approach to the Science Ground Segment of the Euclid satellite.
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... Consumers Consumer Information by Audience For Women Use Medicines Wisely Share Tweet Linkedin Pin it More sharing ... or foods should I avoid? 2. Keep a Medicine List Write down the important facts about each ...
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Prevalence of human malaria infection in Pakistani areas bordering with Iran.
Yasinzai, Mohammad Iqbal; Kakarsulemankhel, Juma Khan
2013-03-01
To study the prevalence of malarial infections in human population of district Panjgur in south-western Pakistan. The cross-sectional study identified malarial parasites in the blood slides of 6119 suspected malaria patients from July 2006 to June 2008 through passive and active case detection methods. SPSS 11 was used for statistical analysis. Out of 6119 suspected cases of malaria, 2346 (38.3%) were found to be positive for malarial parasite on blood smear slides. Of these, 1868 (79.6%) cases were due to Plasmodium vivax infection, and 478 (20.3%) had P. falciparum. However, seasonal variation was also noted: P. vivax infection was the highest (n = 131/144, 90.9%) in November and the lowest (n=83/176, 47.1%) in October. The prevalence was higher (n=1831, 78%) in males. Age-wise, the prevalence of the disease was 81.2% (n=334) and 80% (n=860) for age groups 1-10 years and 11-20 years. No case of P. malariae and P. ovale was detected in the study period. No association was found between types of infection and age groups. Human malaria infection was quite frequent in the study region, which is one of the hottest areas of Balochistan, Pakistan. In clinically-suspected cases of malaria, there was a high slide positivity rate. The high prevalence rate of P. vivax poses a significant health hazard but R falciparum also may lead to serious complications, including cerebral malaria.
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NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Kehoe, A. E.; Shaw, C.; Kehoe, T. J. J.
2017-12-01
Zodiacal dust bands are a fine-structure feature of the mid-IR emission profile of the zodiacal cloud. The dust bands have been studied for many years dating back to the InfraRed Astronomical Satellite (IRAS) data of the 1980's. The recent discovery and modeling (Espy et al., 2009; 2010; Espy Kehoe et al., 2015) of a very young, still-forming dust band structure has shown that, in the early stages following an asteroid disruption, much information on the dust parameters of the original disruption is retained in the band. Partial dust bands allow a never-before-seen observational look at the size distribution and cross-sectional area of dust produced in an asteroidal disruption, before it has been lost or significantly altered by orbital and collisional decay. The study of these partial band structures reveals information on the way asteroids disrupt and allow us to reconstruct the surface properties of the parent asteroid, including the depth of the surface regolith and the size distribution of particles composing the regolith. Using the greatly increased sensitivity of the Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer (WISE), we can now detect much fainter (and thus younger) dust bands. The WISE data also reveals much better longitudinal resolution of the bands, allowing a better constraint on the source and age of the disruption. We will present our newest results from the WISE dataset, including detection of faint partial dust bands, improved models of more prominent bands, and our constraints on the asteroid surface properties from modeling these structures.
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Mavronicolas, Heather A; Laraque, Fabienne; Shankar, Arti; Campbell, Claudia
2017-05-01
Care coordination programmes are an important aspect of HIV management whose success depends largely on HIV primary care provider (PCP) and case manager collaboration. Factors influencing collaboration among HIV PCPs and case managers remain to be studied. The study objective was to test an existing theoretical model of interprofessional collaborative practice and determine which factors play the most important role in facilitating collaboration. A self-administered, anonymous mail survey was sent to HIV PCPs and case managers in New York City. An adapted survey instrument elicited information on demographic, contextual, and perceived social exchange (trustworthiness, role specification, and relationship initiation) characteristics. The dependent variable, perceived interprofessional practice, was constructed from a validated scale. A sequential block wise regression model specifying variable entry order examined the relative importance of each group of factors and of individual variables. The analysis showed that social exchange factors were the dominant drivers of collaboration. Relationship initiation was the most important predictor of interprofessional collaboration. Additional influential factors included organisational leadership support of collaboration, practice settings, and frequency of interprofessional meetings. Addressing factors influencing collaboration among providers will help public health programmes optimally design their structural, hiring, and training strategies to foster effective social exchanges and promote collaborative working relationships.
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DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)
Castro, Philip J.; Gizis, John E.; Harris, Hugh C.
2013-10-20
We discover four high proper motion L dwarfs by comparing the Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer (WISE) to the Two Micron All Sky Survey. WISE J140533.32+835030.5 is an L dwarf at the L/T transition with a proper motion of 0.85 ± 0.''02 yr{sup –1}, previously overlooked due to its proximity to a bright star (V ≈ 12 mag). From optical spectroscopy we find a spectral type of L8, and from moderate-resolution J band spectroscopy we find a near-infrared spectral type of L9. We find WISE J140533.32+835030.5 to have a distance of 9.7 ± 1.7 pc, bringing the number of L dwarfsmore » at the L/T transition within 10 pc from six to seven. WISE J040137.21+284951.7, WISE J040418.01+412735.6, and WISE J062442.37+662625.6 are all early L dwarfs within 25 pc, and were classified using optical and low-resolution near-infrared spectra. WISE J040418.01+412735.6 is an L2 pec (red) dwarf, a member of the class of unusually red L dwarfs. We use follow-up optical and low-resolution near-infrared spectroscopy to classify a previously discovered fifth object WISEP J060738.65+242953.4 as an (L8 Opt/L9 NIR), confirming it as an L dwarf at the L/T transition within 10 pc. WISEP J060738.65+242953.4 shows tentative CH{sub 4} in the H band, possibly the result of unresolved binarity with an early T dwarf, a scenario not supported by binary spectral template fitting. If WISEP J060738.65+242953.4 is a single object, it represents the earliest onset of CH{sub 4} in the H band of an L/T transition dwarf in the SpeX Library. As very late L dwarfs within 10 pc, WISE J140533.32+835030.5 and WISEP J060738.65+242953.4 will play a vital role in resolving outstanding issues at the L/T transition.« less
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Coherent structures shed by multiscale cut-in trailing edge serrations on lifting wings
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Prigent, S. L.; Buxton, O. R. H.; Bruce, P. J. K.
2017-07-01
This experimental study presents the effect of multiscale cut-in trailing edge serrations on the coherent structures shed into the wake of a lifting wing. Two-probe span-wise hot-wire traverses are performed to study spectra, coherence, and phase shift. In addition, planar particle image velocimetry is used to study the spatio-temporal structure of the vortices shed by the airfoils. Compared with a single tone sinusoidal serration, the multiscale ones reduce the vortex shedding energy as well as the span-wise coherence. Results indicate that the vortex shedding is locked into an arch-shaped cell structure. This structure is weakened by the multiscale patterns, which explains the reduction in both shedding energy and coherence.
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WISE infrared properties of OH megamaser galaxies: Guide for future FAST OHM searching?
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Zhang, JiangShui; Wang, JunZhi; Li, Di
2015-08-01
All 119 OH maser galaxies (110 out of them are megamasers, i.e., LOH > 10 Lsun) published so far were compiled and were cross-identified with the Wide-Field Infrared Survey Explorer (WISE) catalog, to investigate the middle infrared (MIR) properties of OH maser galaxies. The WISE magnitude data at the 3.4, 4.6, 12 and 22 μm (W1 to W4 band) were collected for the OH maser sample and one control sample, which are non-detection sources. The color-color diagrams show that both OH megamaser (OHM) and non-OHM (ultra)luminous infrared galaxies ((U)LIRGs) are far away from the single blackbody model line and many of them can follow the path described by the power-law model. The active galaxy nuclei (AGN) fraction is about 40% for both OHM and non-OHM (U)LIRGs, according to the AGN criteria W1-W2 ≥ 0.8. Among the Arecibo survey sample, OHM sources tend to have a lower luminosity at short MIR wavelengths (e.g., 3.4 μm and 4.6 μm) than that of non-OHM sources, which should come from the low OHM fraction among the survey sample with large 3.4 μm and 4.6 μm luminosity. The OHM fraction tends to increase with cooler MIR colors (larger F22 μm/F3.4 μm). In the case of the power-law model, we derived the spectral indices for our samples. For the Arecibo survey sample, OHM (U)LIRGs tend to have larger spectral index α22-12 than non-OHM sources, which agrees with previous results. One significant correlation exists between the WISE infrared luminosity at 22 μm and the color [W1]-[W4] for the Arecibo OHM hosts. In summary, these clues should provide suitable constraints on the sample selection for future OH megamaser surveys through the Five hundred aperture spherical telescope (FAST). Further potentials on FAST OH megamasers research are investigated, including detectability, sky density of OH megamasers etc.
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Wheel inspection system environment.
DOT National Transportation Integrated Search
2008-11-18
International Electronic Machines Corporation (IEM) has developed and is now marketing a state-of-the-art Wheel Inspection System Environment (WISE). WISE provides wheel profile and dimensional measurements, i.e. rim thickness, flange height, flange ...
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Using Wise Interventions to Motivate Deliberate Practice
Eskreis-Winkler, Lauren; Shulman, Elizabeth P.; Young, Victoria; Tsukayama, Eli; Brunwasser, Steven M.; Duckworth, Angela L.
2015-01-01
Deliberate practice leads to world-class excellence across domains. In the current investigation, we examined whether psychologically “wise” interventions targeting expectancies and values—stock antecedents of ordinary effortful behaviors—could motivate non-experts to engage in deliberate practice and improve their achievement. As a preliminary, we developed and validated a novel task measure of deliberate practice and confirmed its association with (a) expectancy-value beliefs and (b) achievement in the non-expert setting (Study 1). Next, across four longitudinal, randomized-controlled, field experiments, we intervened. Among lower-achievers, wise deliberate practice interventions improved math performance for fifth and sixth graders (Study 2), end-of-semester grades for undergraduates (Study 3), and end-of-quarter grades for sixth graders (Study 4); the same pattern of results emerged in end-of-quarter grades for seventh graders (Study 5). Following the intervention, expectancy-value beliefs and deliberate practice improved for one month (Study 4), but not four (Study 5). Treatment proved beneficial over and above two control conditions, one that taught standard study skills (Studies 2 and 3), and one that discussed deep interests, generalized motivation, and high achievement (Studies 4 and 5). Collectively, these findings provide preliminary support for the heretofore untested hypothesis that deliberate practice submits to the same laws that govern typical forms of effortful behavior, and that wise interventions that tap into these laws can spur short-term gains in adaptive beliefs, deliberate practice, and objectively-measured achievement. PMID:27762575
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Burn Wise is a partnership program of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency that emphasizes the importance of burning the right wood, the right way, in the right appliance to protect your home, health, and the air we breathe.
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Using Dietary Supplements Wisely
... T U V W X Y Z Using Dietary Supplements Wisely Share: On This Page Key Points About ... will help ensure coordinated and safe care. About Dietary Supplements Dietary supplements were defined in a law passed ...
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2009-11-12
A scaffolding structure built around NASA Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer allows engineers to freeze its hydrogen coolant. The WISE infrared instrument is kept extremely cold by a bottle-like tank filled with frozen hydrogen, called the cryostat.
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Within this site you will find information for consumers to make informed decisions about what it means to burn wise. And partners will learn about how they can work with EPA to bring cleaner-burning appliances to market.
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VizieR Online Data Catalog: NIR albedos of main-belt asteroids (Masiero+, 2014)
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Masiero, J. R.; Grav, T.; Mainzer, A. K.; Nugent, C. R.; Bauer, J. M.; Stevenson, R.; Sonnett, S.
2017-04-01
To fit for NIR albedos of main-belt asteroids, we use data from the WISE/NEOWISE all-sky single exposure source table, which are available for download from the Infrared Science Archive (IRSA, http://irsa.ipac.caltech.edu ; Cutri et al. 2012, xplanatory Supplement to the WISE All-Sky Data Release Products, http://wise2.ipac.caltech.edu/docs/release/allsky/expsup/index.html). We extract photometric measurements of all asteroids observed by WISE following the technique described in Masiero et al. (2011, J/ApJ/741/68) and Mainzer et al. (2011ApJ...731...53M). In particular, we use the NEOWISE observations reported to the MPC and included in the MPC's minor planet observation database as the final validated list of reliable NEOWISE detections of solar system objects. (1 data file).
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NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Mainzer, A.; Bauer, J.; Grav, T.; Masiero, J.; Cutri, R. M.; Dailey, J.; Eisenhardt, P.; McMillan, R. S.; Wright, E.; Walker, R.; Jedicke, R.; Spahr, T.; Tholen, D.; Alles, R.; Beck, R.; Brandenburg, H.; Conrow, T.; Evans, T.; Fowler, J.; Jarrett, T.; Marsh, K.; Masci, F.; McCallon, H.; Wheelock, S.; Wittman, M.; Wyatt, P.; DeBaun, E.; Elliott, G.; Elsbury, D.; Gautier, T., IV; Gomillion, S.; Leisawitz, D.; Maleszewski, C.; Micheli, M.; Wilkins, A.
2011-04-01
The Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer (WISE) has surveyed the entire sky at four infrared wavelengths with greatly improved sensitivity and spatial resolution compared to its predecessors, the Infrared Astronomical Satellite and the Cosmic Background Explorer. NASA's Planetary Science Division has funded an enhancement to the WISE data processing system called "NEOWISE" that allows detection and archiving of moving objects found in the WISE data. NEOWISE has mined the WISE images for a wide array of small bodies in our solar system, including near-Earth objects (NEOs), Main Belt asteroids, comets, Trojans, and Centaurs. By the end of survey operations in 2011 February, NEOWISE identified over 157,000 asteroids, including more than 500 NEOs and ~120 comets. The NEOWISE data set will enable a panoply of new scientific investigations.
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Galaxy and Mass Assembly (GAMA): Mid-infrared Properties and Empirical Relations from WISE
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Cluver, M. E.; Jarrett, T. H.; Hopkins, A. M.; Driver, S. P.; Liske, J.; Gunawardhana, M. L. P.; Taylor, E. N.; Robotham, A. S. G.; Alpaslan, M.; Baldry, I.; Brown, M. J. I.; Peacock, J. A.; Popescu, C. C.; Tuffs, R. J.; Bauer, A. E.; Bland-Hawthorn, J.; Colless, M.; Holwerda, B. W.; Lara-López, M. A.; Leschinski, K.; López-Sánchez, A. R.; Norberg, P.; Owers, M. S.; Wang, L.; Wilkins, S. M.
2014-02-01
The Galaxy And Mass Assembly (GAMA) survey furnishes a deep redshift catalog that, when combined with the Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer (WISE), allows us to explore for the first time the mid-infrared properties of >110, 000 galaxies over 120 deg2 to z ~= 0.5. In this paper we detail the procedure for producing the matched GAMA-WISE catalog for the G12 and G15 fields, in particular characterizing and measuring resolved sources; the complete catalogs for all three GAMA equatorial fields will be made available through the GAMA public releases. The wealth of multiwavelength photometry and optical spectroscopy allows us to explore empirical relations between optically determined stellar mass (derived from synthetic stellar population models) and 3.4 μm and 4.6 μm WISE measurements. Similarly dust-corrected Hα-derived star formation rates can be compared to 12 μm and 22 μm luminosities to quantify correlations that can be applied to large samples to z < 0.5. To illustrate the applications of these relations, we use the 12 μm star formation prescription to investigate the behavior of specific star formation within the GAMA-WISE sample and underscore the ability of WISE to detect star-forming systems at z ~ 0.5. Within galaxy groups (determined by a sophisticated friends-of-friends scheme), results suggest that galaxies with a neighbor within 100 h -1 kpc have, on average, lower specific star formation rates than typical GAMA galaxies with the same stellar mass.
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2017-06-30
along the intermetallic component or at the interface between the two components of the composite. The availability of rnicroscale experimental data in...obtained with the PD model; (c) map of strain energy density; (d) the new quasi -index damage is a predictor of fai lure. As in the case of FRCs, one...which points are most likely to fail, before actual failure happens. The " quasi -damage index", shown in the formula below, is a point-wise measure
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The impact of social media and technology on professionalism in medical education.
Essary, Alison C
2011-01-01
The use of social media is the norm among the digital native generation, with 75% of the Millennial Generation connected through Facebook. For students in medical education who struggle to distinguish between personal and professional boundaries, social media provides yet another challenge. Incidents of unprofessional conduct and academic dismissal have been reported. Administration, faculty, and students would benefit from clear policies and procedures, case scenarios of social media violations, and suggestions for using social media wisely.
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A WISE Selection of MIR AGN in Different Environments
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Cheeseboro, Belinda D.; Norman, Dara J.
2015-01-01
This study was undertaken to understand the role of large scale environment in the evolution of MIR-selected AGN. In this study we examine AGN candidates in two types of environments: 7 clusters and 6 blank fields. Two types of clusters were studied in this project: 3 virialized and 4 non-virialized. The redshift of the clusters ranged 0.22≤z≤0.28. We used the mid-infrared WISE All-Sky database to identify AGN, applying various methods to refine our AGN candidate selection. To ascertain if there is an excess or deficit of MIR AGN in galaxy clusters vs. blank fields, we compared the AGN candidate distributions in virialized vs. non-virialized clusters to the blank fields. After close examination and comparison of the results to X-ray selected AGN from the Gilmour et al. (2009) study, we concluded that we do not detect an excess or deficit of MIR AGN in our clusters whether the cluster was virialized or non-virialized. This contrasted the conclusion of the Gilmour et al. (2009) study where there was an excess of X-Ray selected AGN in clusters.We also note an interesting feature in our WISE color-color plots that might be used for further investigation.Cheeseboro was supported by the NOAO/KPNO ResearchExperiences for Undergraduates (REU) Program which is funded by theNational Science Foundation Research Experiences for UndergraduatesProgram (AST-1262829).
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Deep Full-sky Coadds from Three Years of WISE and NEOWISE Observations
Meisner, A. M.; Lang, D.; Schlegel, D. J.
2017-09-26
Here, we have reprocessed over 100 terabytes of single-exposure Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer (WISE)/NEOWISE images to create the deepest ever full-sky maps at 3-5 microns. We include all publicly available W1 and W2 imaging - a total of ~8 million exposures in each band - from ~37 months of observations spanning 2010 January to 2015 December. Our coadds preserve the native WISE resolution and typically incorporate ~3× more input frames than those of the AllWISE Atlas stacks. Our coadds are designed to enable deep forced photometry, in particular for the Dark Energy Camera Legacy Survey (DECaLS) and Mayall z-Band Legacymore » Survey (MzLS), both of which are being used to select targets for the Dark Energy Spectroscopic Instrument. We describe newly introduced processing steps aimed at leveraging added redundancy to remove artifacts, with the intent of facilitating uniform target selection and searches for rare/exotic objects (e.g., high-redshift quasars and distant galaxy clusters). Forced photometry depths achieved with these coadds extend 0.56 (0.46) magnitudes deeper in W1 (W2) than is possible with only pre-hibernation WISE imaging.« less
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Deep Full-sky Coadds from Three Years of WISE and NEOWISE Observations
DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)
Meisner, A. M.; Lang, D.; Schlegel, D. J., E-mail: ameisner@lbl.gov
We have reprocessed over 100 terabytes of single-exposure Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer ( WISE )/NEOWISE images to create the deepest ever full-sky maps at 3–5 microns. We include all publicly available W1 and W2 imaging—a total of ∼8 million exposures in each band—from ∼37 months of observations spanning 2010 January to 2015 December. Our coadds preserve the native WISE resolution and typically incorporate ∼3× more input frames than those of the AllWISE Atlas stacks. Our coadds are designed to enable deep forced photometry, in particular for the Dark Energy Camera Legacy Survey (DECaLS) and Mayall z-Band Legacy Survey (MzLS), bothmore » of which are being used to select targets for the Dark Energy Spectroscopic Instrument. We describe newly introduced processing steps aimed at leveraging added redundancy to remove artifacts, with the intent of facilitating uniform target selection and searches for rare/exotic objects (e.g., high-redshift quasars and distant galaxy clusters). Forced photometry depths achieved with these coadds extend 0.56 (0.46) magnitudes deeper in W1 (W2) than is possible with only pre-hibernation WISE imaging.« less
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A 3π Search for Planet Nine at 3.4 μm with WISE and NEOWISE
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Meisner, A. M.; Bromley, B. C.; Kenyon, S. J.; Anderson, T. E.
2018-04-01
The recent “Planet Nine” hypothesis has led to many observational and archival searches for this giant planet proposed to orbit the Sun at hundreds of astronomical units. While trans-Neptunian object searches are typically conducted in the optical, models suggest Planet Nine could be self-luminous and potentially bright enough at ∼3–5 μm to be detected by the Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer (WISE). We have previously demonstrated a Planet Nine search methodology based on time-resolved WISE coadds, allowing us to detect moving objects much fainter than would be possible using single-frame extractions. In the present work, we extend our 3.4 μm (W1) search to cover more than three-quarters of the sky and incorporate four years of WISE observations spanning a seven-year time period. This represents the deepest and widest-area WISE search for Planet Nine to date. We characterize the spatial variation of our survey’s sensitivity and rule out the presence of Planet Nine in the parameter space searched at W1 < 16.7 in high Galactic latitude regions (90% completeness).
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Deep Full-sky Coadds from Three Years of WISE and NEOWISE Observations
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Meisner, A. M.; Lang, D.; Schlegel, D. J.
2017-10-01
We have reprocessed over 100 terabytes of single-exposure Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer (WISE)/NEOWISE images to create the deepest ever full-sky maps at 3-5 microns. We include all publicly available W1 and W2 imaging—a total of ˜8 million exposures in each band—from ˜37 months of observations spanning 2010 January to 2015 December. Our coadds preserve the native WISE resolution and typically incorporate ˜3× more input frames than those of the AllWISE Atlas stacks. Our coadds are designed to enable deep forced photometry, in particular for the Dark Energy Camera Legacy Survey (DECaLS) and Mayall z-Band Legacy Survey (MzLS), both of which are being used to select targets for the Dark Energy Spectroscopic Instrument. We describe newly introduced processing steps aimed at leveraging added redundancy to remove artifacts, with the intent of facilitating uniform target selection and searches for rare/exotic objects (e.g., high-redshift quasars and distant galaxy clusters). Forced photometry depths achieved with these coadds extend 0.56 (0.46) magnitudes deeper in W1 (W2) than is possible with only pre-hibernation WISE imaging.
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Deep Full-sky Coadds from Three Years of WISE and NEOWISE Observations
DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)
Meisner, A. M.; Lang, D.; Schlegel, D. J.
Here, we have reprocessed over 100 terabytes of single-exposure Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer (WISE)/NEOWISE images to create the deepest ever full-sky maps at 3-5 microns. We include all publicly available W1 and W2 imaging - a total of ~8 million exposures in each band - from ~37 months of observations spanning 2010 January to 2015 December. Our coadds preserve the native WISE resolution and typically incorporate ~3× more input frames than those of the AllWISE Atlas stacks. Our coadds are designed to enable deep forced photometry, in particular for the Dark Energy Camera Legacy Survey (DECaLS) and Mayall z-Band Legacymore » Survey (MzLS), both of which are being used to select targets for the Dark Energy Spectroscopic Instrument. We describe newly introduced processing steps aimed at leveraging added redundancy to remove artifacts, with the intent of facilitating uniform target selection and searches for rare/exotic objects (e.g., high-redshift quasars and distant galaxy clusters). Forced photometry depths achieved with these coadds extend 0.56 (0.46) magnitudes deeper in W1 (W2) than is possible with only pre-hibernation WISE imaging.« less
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Burns, Pippa; Jones, Sandra C; Iverson, Don; Caputi, Peter
2013-09-01
The aim of this study was to establish the feasibility and acceptability of an online asthma self-management program developed for older Australians with asthma. AsthmaWise, an internet education self-management program, was piloted for a 3-month period at the beginning of 2012. Participants were recruited using both online and offline strategies and were required to complete surveys, both pre- and post-intervention, in a repeated measures design. Matched data were collected from 51 participants; the results showed AsthmaWise to be a feasible and acceptable method of delivering asthma education to the target population. Self-reported measures showed an increase in participants' asthma knowledge, asthma control and quality of life. Results from the Perceived Health Web Site Usability Questionnaire (PHWSUQ) showed improvements between usability testing and implementation. The need for asthma self-management education will continue to increase as the population ages and a greater number of older adults are living with asthma. This small pilot study indicates that an online asthma self-management education program can result in improved outcome measures in a target group not normally considered technologically literate.
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2009-10-13
Initial assembly of NASA Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer cryostat. The cryostat is a 2-stage solid hydrogen dewar that is used to cool the WISE optics and detectors. Here the cryostat internal structures are undergoing their initial vacuum pumpdown.
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Bringing Technology in Line with the Natural Laws.
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Clark, Mary E.
1979-01-01
Biology teachers can provide lessons for students to help them plan the future wisely. Three natural laws are emphasized as imperative to understanding how to plan wisely for restoring a balance in nature. (SA)
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Within this site you will find information for consumers to make informed decisions about what it means to burn wise. State & local agencies learn to improve air quality in their communities through changeout programs and education.
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Supratentorial lesions contribute to trigeminal neuralgia in multiple sclerosis.
Fröhlich, Kilian; Winder, Klemens; Linker, Ralf A; Engelhorn, Tobias; Dörfler, Arnd; Lee, De-Hyung; Hilz, Max J; Schwab, Stefan; Seifert, Frank
2018-06-01
Background It has been proposed that multiple sclerosis lesions afflicting the pontine trigeminal afferents contribute to trigeminal neuralgia in multiple sclerosis. So far, there are no imaging studies that have evaluated interactions between supratentorial lesions and trigeminal neuralgia in multiple sclerosis patients. Methods We conducted a retrospective study and sought multiple sclerosis patients with trigeminal neuralgia and controls in a local database. Multiple sclerosis lesions were manually outlined and transformed into stereotaxic space. We determined the lesion overlap and performed a voxel-wise subtraction analysis. Secondly, we conducted a voxel-wise non-parametric analysis using the Liebermeister test. Results From 12,210 multiple sclerosis patient records screened, we identified 41 patients with trigeminal neuralgia. The voxel-wise subtraction analysis yielded associations between trigeminal neuralgia and multiple sclerosis lesions in the pontine trigeminal afferents, as well as larger supratentorial lesion clusters in the contralateral insula and hippocampus. The non-parametric statistical analysis using the Liebermeister test yielded similar areas to be associated with multiple sclerosis-related trigeminal neuralgia. Conclusions Our study confirms previous data on associations between multiple sclerosis-related trigeminal neuralgia and pontine lesions, and showed for the first time an association with lesions in the insular region, a region involved in pain processing and endogenous pain modulation.
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The First Hundred Brown Dwarfs Discovered by the Wide-Field Infrared Survey Explorer (WISE)
NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)
Kirkpatrick, J. Davy; Cushing, Michael C.; Gelino, Christopher R.; Griffith, Roger L.; Skrutskie, Michael F.; Marsh, Kenneth A.; Wright, Edward L.; Mainzer, Amanda K.; Eisenhardt, Peter R.; McLean, Ian S.;
2011-01-01
We present ground-based spectroscopic verification of six Y dwarfs also Cushing et al.), eighty-nine T dwarfs, eight L dwarfs, and one M dwarf identified by the Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer (WISE). Eighty of these are cold brown dwarfs with spectral types > or =T6, six of which have been announced earlier in Mainzer et al. and I3urgasser et al. We present color-color and colortype diagrams showing the locus of M, L, T, and Y dwarfs in WISE color space. "
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Central Stars of Mid-Infrared Nebulae Discovered with Spitzer and WISE
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Gvaramadze, V. V.; Kniazev, A. Y.
2017-02-01
Searches for compact mid-IR nebulae with the Spitzer Space Telescope and the Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer (WISE), accompanied by spectroscopic observations of central stars of these nebulae led to the discovery of many dozens of massive stars at different evolutionary stages, of which the most numerous are candidate luminous blue variables (LBVs). In this paper, we give a census of candidate and confirmed Galactic LBVs revealed with Spitzer and WISE, and present some new results of spectroscopic observations of central stars of mid-IR nebulae.
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Correction of Microplate Data from High-Throughput Screening.
Wang, Yuhong; Huang, Ruili
2016-01-01
High-throughput screening (HTS) makes it possible to collect cellular response data from a large number of cell lines and small molecules in a timely and cost-effective manner. The errors and noises in the microplate-formatted data from HTS have unique characteristics, and they can be generally grouped into three categories: run-wise (temporal, multiple plates), plate-wise (background pattern, single plate), and well-wise (single well). In this chapter, we describe a systematic solution for identifying and correcting such errors and noises, mainly basing on pattern recognition and digital signal processing technologies.
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Lydall, Gregory John; Bass, Nicholas J; McQuillin, Andrew; Lawrence, Jacob; Anjorin, Adebayo; Kandaswamy, Radhika; Pereira, Ana; Guerrini, Irene; Curtis, David; Vine, Anna E; Sklar, Pamela; Purcell, Shaun M; Gurling, Hugh Malcolm Douglas
2011-12-01
Alcoholism and affective disorders are both strongly comorbid and heritable. We have investigated the genetic comorbidity between bipolar affective disorder and alcoholism. A genome-wide allelic association study of 506 patients from the University College London bipolar disorder case-control sample and 510 ancestrally matched supernormal controls. One hundred forty-three of the bipolar patients fulfilled the Research Diagnostic Criteria diagnosis of alcoholism. A total of 372 193 single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) were genotyped. Genes previously shown to be associated with alcoholism and addiction phenotypes were then tested for association in the bipolar alcoholic sample using gene-wise permutation tests of all SNPs genotyped within a 50-kb region flanking each gene. Several central nervous system genes showed significant (P<0.05) gene-wise evidence of association with bipolar alcoholism. The genes implicated, which replicated genes previously shown to be associated with alcoholism were: cadherin 11, collagen type 11 α2, neuromedin U receptor 2, exportin7, and semaphorin-associated protein 5A. The SNPs most strongly implicated in bipolar alcoholism, but, which did not meet conventional genome-wide significance criteria were the insulin-like growth factor-binding protein 7, carboxypeptidase O, cerebellin 2, and the cadherin 12 genes. We have confirmed the role of some genes previously shown to be associated with alcoholism in the comorbid bipolar alcoholism subgroup. In this subgroup, bipolar disorder may lower the threshold for the phenotypic expression of these alcoholism susceptibility genes. We also show that some genes may independently increase susceptibility to affective disorder and alcoholism.
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McGee, T K
2011-10-01
This study examined neighbourhood level wildfire mitigation programs being implemented in neighbourhoods in Canada (FireSmart-ForestWise), Australia (Community Fireguard) and the US (Firewise Communities). Semi-structured interviews were completed with 19 residents participating in the programs. A wide range of activities were completed as part of the three programs. Despite differences between the three programs, participants appeared to participate in the programs for three main reasons: Fire experience, agency involvement, and personal and family protection. A fire therefore provides a window of opportunity to engage residents in neighbourhood level wildfire mitigation programs. The neighbourhood level wildfire mitigation programs helped to reduce the wildfire risk, but also enhanced both community resilience and relationships between residents and government agencies. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
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Information systems as a tool to improve legal metrology activities
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Rodrigues Filho, B. A.; Soratto, A. N. R.; Gonçalves, R. F.
2016-07-01
This study explores the importance of information systems applied to legal metrology as a tool to improve the control of measuring instruments used in trade. The information system implanted in Brazil has also helped to understand and appraise the control of the measurements due to the behavior of the errors and deviations of instruments used in trade, allowing the allocation of resources wisely, leading to a more effective planning and control on the legal metrology field. A study case analyzing the fuel sector is carried out in order to show the conformity of fuel dispersers according to maximum permissible errors. The statistics of measurement errors of 167,310 fuel dispensers of gasoline, ethanol and diesel used in the field were analyzed demonstrating the accordance of the fuel market in Brazil to the legal requirements.
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Ethical case deliberation and decision making.
Gracia, Diego
2003-01-01
During the last thirty years different methods have been proposed in order to manage and resolve ethical quandaries, specially in the clinical setting. Some of these methodologies are based on the principles of Decision-making theory. Others looked to other philosophical traditions, like Principlism, Hermeneutics, Narrativism, Casuistry, Pragmatism, etc. This paper defends the view that deliberation is the cornerstone of any adequate methodology. This is due to the fact that moral decisions must take into account not only principles and ideas, but also emotions, values and beliefs. Deliberation is the process in which everyone concerned by the decision is considered a valid moral agent, obliged to give reasons for their own points of view, and to listen to the reasons of others. The goal of this process is not the reaching of a consensus but the enrichment of one's own point of view with that of the others, increasing in this way the maturity of one's own decision, in order to make it more wise or prudent. In many cases the members of a group of deliberation will differ in the final solution of the case, but the confrontation of their reasons will modify the perception of the problem of everyone. This is the profit of the process. Our moral decisions cannot be completely rational, due to the fact that they are influenced by feelings, values, beliefs, etc., but they must be reasonable, that is, wise and prudent. Deliberation is the main procedure to reach this goal. It obliges us to take others into account, respecting their different beliefs and values and prompting them to give reasons for their own points of view. This method has been traditional in Western clinical medicine all over its history, and it should be also the main procedure for clinical ethics.
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Mapping the Infrared Universe: Part 1
2011-04-14
This image is a map of the portion of the sky covered by the preliminary release of WISE data. WISE surveyed the entire sky in four infrared wavelengths in 2010. This map is centered on the Milky Way galaxy.
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Validation of Regression-Based Myogenic Correction Techniques for Scalp and Source-Localized EEG
McMenamin, Brenton W.; Shackman, Alexander J.; Maxwell, Jeffrey S.; Greischar, Lawrence L.; Davidson, Richard J.
2008-01-01
EEG and EEG source-estimation are susceptible to electromyographic artifacts (EMG) generated by the cranial muscles. EMG can mask genuine effects or masquerade as a legitimate effect - even in low frequencies, such as alpha (8–13Hz). Although regression-based correction has been used previously, only cursory attempts at validation exist and the utility for source-localized data is unknown. To address this, EEG was recorded from 17 participants while neurogenic and myogenic activity were factorially varied. We assessed the sensitivity and specificity of four regression-based techniques: between-subjects, between-subjects using difference-scores, within-subjects condition-wise, and within-subject epoch-wise on the scalp and in data modeled using the LORETA algorithm. Although within-subject epoch-wise showed superior performance on the scalp, no technique succeeded in the source-space. Aside from validating the novel epoch-wise methods on the scalp, we highlight methods requiring further development. PMID:19298626
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Towards a Full-sky, High-resolution Dust Extinction Map with WISE and Planck
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Meisner, Aaron M.; Finkbeiner, D. P.
2014-01-01
We have recently completed a custom processing of the entire WISE 12 micron All-sky imaging data set. The result is a full-sky map of diffuse, mid-infrared Galactic dust emission with angular resolution of 15 arcseconds, and with contaminating artifacts such as compact sources removed. At the same time, the 2013 Planck HFI maps represent a complementary data set in the far-infrared, with zero-point relatively immune to zodiacal contamination and angular resolution superior to previous full-sky data sets at similar frequencies. Taken together, these WISE and Planck data products present an opportunity to improve upon the SFD (1998) dust extinction map, by virtue of enhanced angular resolution and potentially better-controlled systematics on large scales. We describe our continuing efforts to construct and test high-resolution dust extinction and temperature maps based on our custom WISE processing and Planck HFI data.
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The Overdense Environments of WISE-selected, ultra-luminous, high-redshift AGN in the submillimetre
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Jones, Suzy F.
2017-11-01
The environments around WISE-selected hot dust obscured galaxies (Hot DOGs) and WISE/radio-selected active galactic nuclei (AGNs) at average redshifts of z = 2.7 and z = 1.7, respectively, were found to have overdensities of companion submillimetre-selected sources. The overdensities were of ˜ 2 - 3 and ˜ 5 - 6 , respectively, compared with blank field submm surveys. The space densities in both samples were found to be overdense compared to normal star-forming galaxies and submillimetre galaxies (SMGs). All of the companion sources have consistent mid-IR colours and mid-IR to submm ratios to SMGs. Monte Carlo simulations show no angular correlation, which could indicate protoclusters on scales larger than the SCUBA-2 1.5 arcmin scale maps. WISE-selected AGNs appear to be good indicators of overdense areas of active galaxies at high redshift.
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Towards a consistent approach of measuring and modelling CO2 exchange with manual chambers
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Huth, Vytas; Vaidya, Shrijana; Hoffmann, Mathias; Jurisch, Nicole; Günther, Anke; Gundlach, Laura; Hagemann, Ulrike; Elsgaard, Lars; Augustin, Jürgen
2016-04-01
Determining ecosystem CO2 exchange with the manual closed chamber method has been applied in the past for e.g. plant, soil or treatment on a wide range of terrestrial ecosystems. Its major limitation is the discontinuous data acquisation challenging any gap-filling procedures. In addition, both data acquisition and gap-filling of closed chamber data have been carried out in different ways in the past. The reliability and comparability of the derived results from different closed chamber studies has therefore remained unclear. Hence, this study compares two different approaches of obtaining fluxes of gross primary production (GPP) either via sunrise to noon or via gradually-shaded mid-day measurements of transparent chamber fluxes (i.e. net ecosystem exchange, NEE) and opaque chamber fluxes (i.e., ecosystem respiration, RECO) on a field experiment plot in NE Germany cropped with a lucerne-clover-grass mix. Additionally, we compare three approaches of pooling RECO data for consecutive modelling of annual balances of NEE, i.e. campaign-wise (single measurement day RECO models), seasonal-wise (one RECO model for the entire study period), and cluster-wise (two RECO models representing low-/high-vegetation-stage data) modelling. The annual NEE balances of the sunrise to noon measurements are insensitive towards differing RECO modelling approaches (-101 to -131 g C m-2), whereas the choice of modelling annual NEE balances with the shaded mid-day measurements must be taken carefully (-200 to 425 g C m-2). In addition, the campaign-wise RECO modelling approach is very sensitive to daily data pooling (sunrise vs. mid-day) and only advisable when the diurnal variability of CO2 fluxes and environmental parameters (i.e. photosynthetically active radiation, temperature) is sufficiently covered. The seasonal- and cluster-wise approaches lead to robust NEE balances with only little variation in terms of daily data collection. We therefore recommend sunrise to noon measurements and data pooling from adjacent measurement campaigns as long as pooling over e.g. harvest events and significant changes in plant development can be omitted. If, e.g. for extensive treatment comparisons, the sunrise to noon measurements are not feasible due to their higher workload, data pooling accounting for plant development is necessary.
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Title: Characterizing a Frozen Extrasolar World
NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)
Skemer, Andrew J.; Morley, Caroline V.; Allers, Katelyn N.; Geballe, Thomas R.; Marley, Mark S.; Fortney, Jonathan J.; Faherty, Jacqueline K.; Bjoraker, Gordon L.
2016-01-01
The recently discovered brown dwarf WISE 0855 presents our first opportunity to study an object outside the Solar System that is nearly as cold as our own gas giant planets. However the traditional methodology for characterizing brown dwarfs-near infrared spectroscopy-is not currently feasible as WISE 0855 is too cold and faint. To characterize this frozen extrasolar world we obtained a 4.5-5.2 micrometers spectrum, the same bandpass long used to study Jupiter's deep thermal emission. Our spectrum reveals the presence of atmospheric water vapor and clouds, with an absorption profile that is strikingly similar to Jupiter. The spectrum is high enough quality to allow the investigation of dynamical and chemical processes that have long been studied in Jupiter's atmosphere, but this time on an extrasolar world.
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NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)
Moser, Robert D.; Rogers, Michael M.
1992-01-01
The evolution of three-dimensional temporally evolving plane mixing layers through as many as three pairings was simulated numerically. Initial conditions for all simulations consisted of a few low-wavenumber disturbances, usually derived from linear stability theory, in addition to the mean velocity. Three-dimensional perturbations were used with amplitudes ranging from infinitesimal to large enough to trigger a rapid transition to turbulence. Pairing is found both to inhibit the growth of infinitesimal three-dimensional disturbances and to trigger the transition to turbulence in highly three dimensional flows. The mechanisms responsible for the growth of three-dimensionality as well as the initial phases of the transition to turbulence are described. The transition to turbulence is accompanied by the formation of thin sheets of span wise vorticity, which undergo a secondary roll up. Transition also produces an increase in the degree of scalar mixing, in agreement with experimental observations of mixing transition. Simulations were also conducted to investigate changes in span wise length scale that may occur in response to the change in stream wise length scale during a pairing. The linear mechanism for this process was found to be very slow, requiring roughly three pairings to complete a doubling of the span wise scale. Stronger three-dimensionality can produce more rapid scale changes but is also likely to trigger transition to turbulence. No evidence was found for a change from an organized array of rib vortices at one span wise scale to a similar array at a larger span wise scale.
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New Exozodi and Asteroid Belt Analogs using WISE
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Patel, Rahul; Metchev, Stanimir; Heinze, Aren
2015-01-01
The presence of circumstellar dust in the terrestrial planet zone and asteroid belt regions of stars can be ascertained from the excess flux from main sequence stars in the mid-infrared wavelengths. Finding dust in these regions is significant as it traces material related to terrestrial planet formation. The WISE All-Sky survey presents an opportunity to extend the population of faint disks to flux levels 100x fainter than disks detected by IRAS.We use the WISE All-Sky Survey data to detect circumstellar debris disks at the 12 and 22 μm bandpasses (W3 and W4, respectively). We present the detection of a sample of over 214 exozodi and asteroid belt analog candidates, 45% of which are brand new detections at confidence levels >99.5%. This was done by cross-matching Hipparcos main-sequence stars with the WISE All-Sky Data Release for stars within 75 pc and outside the galactic plane (|b|>5 deg) and then seeking color excesses at W3 and W4. In addition to applying the standard WISE photometric flags and filters to remove contaminants from our sample, we also improved our selection techniques by correcting for previously unknown systematic behavior in the WISE photometry, thereby including bright saturated stars into our sample. Our debris disk candidates are reliable detections as well as unprecedentedly faint, due in large part to these improved selection techniques. These new nearby excess hosts are optimal targets for direct imaging campaigns to characterize the disk morphology and to provide a larger sample of well characterized disks with which to understand the overall exoplanetary system architecture.
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Goto, Masami; Abe, Osamu; Hata, Junichi; Fukunaga, Issei; Shimoji, Keigo; Kunimatsu, Akira; Gomi, Tsutomu
2017-02-01
Background Diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) is a magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) technique that reflects the Brownian motion of water molecules constrained within brain tissue. Fractional anisotropy (FA) is one of the most commonly measured DTI parameters, and can be applied to quantitative analysis of white matter as tract-based spatial statistics (TBSS) and voxel-wise analysis. Purpose To show an association between metallic implants and the results of statistical analysis (voxel-wise group comparison and TBSS) for fractional anisotropy (FA) mapping, in DTI of healthy adults. Material and Methods Sixteen healthy volunteers were scanned with 3-Tesla MRI. A magnetic keeper type of dental implant was used as the metallic implant. DTI was acquired three times in each participant: (i) without a magnetic keeper (FAnon1); (ii) with a magnetic keeper (FAimp); and (iii) without a magnetic keeper (FAnon2) as reproducibility of FAnon1. Group comparisons with paired t-test were performed as FAnon1 vs. FAnon2, and as FAnon1 vs. FAimp. Results Regions of significantly reduced and increased local FA values were revealed by voxel-wise group comparison analysis (a P value of less than 0.05, corrected with family-wise error), but not by TBSS. Conclusion Metallic implants existing outside the field of view produce artifacts that affect the statistical analysis (voxel-wise group comparisons) for FA mapping. When statistical analysis for FA mapping is conducted by researchers, it is important to pay attention to any dental implants present in the mouths of the participants.
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Evaluation of Solid Modeling Software for Finite Element Analysis of Woven Ceramic Matrix Composites
NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)
Nemeth, Noel N.; Mital, Subodh; Lang, Jerry
2010-01-01
Three computer programs, used for the purpose of generating 3-D finite element models of the Repeating Unit Cell (RUC) of a textile, were examined for suitability to model woven Ceramic Matrix Composites (CMCs). The programs evaluated were the open-source available TexGen, the commercially available WiseTex, and the proprietary Composite Material Evaluator (COMATE). A five-harness-satin (5HS) weave for a melt-infiltrated (MI) silicon carbide matrix and silicon carbide fiber was selected as an example problem and the programs were tested for their ability to generate a finite element model of the RUC. The programs were also evaluated for ease-of-use and capability, particularly for the capability to introduce various defect types such as porosity, ply shifting, and nesting of a laminate. Overall, it was found that TexGen and WiseTex were useful for generating solid models of the tow geometry; however, there was a lack of consistency in generating well-conditioned finite element meshes of the tows and matrix. TexGen and WiseTex were both capable of allowing collective and individual shifting of tows within a ply and WiseTex also had a ply nesting capability. TexGen and WiseTex were sufficiently userfriendly and both included a Graphical User Interface (GUI). COMATE was satisfactory in generating a 5HS finite element mesh of an idealized weave geometry but COMATE lacked a GUI and was limited to only 5HS and 8HS weaves compared to the larger amount of weave selections available with TexGen and WiseTex.
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Using Nuclear Medicine Imaging Wisely in Diagnosing Infectious Diseases
Censullo, Andrea
2017-01-01
Abstract In recent years, there has been an increasing emphasis on efficient and accurate diagnostic testing, exemplified by the American Board of Internal Medicine’s “Choosing Wisely” campaign. Nuclear imaging studies can provide early and accurate diagnoses of many infectious disease syndromes, particularly in complex cases where the differential remains broad. This review paper offers clinicians a rational, evidence-based guide to approaching nuclear medicine tests, using an example case of methicillin-sensitive Staphylococcus aureus (MSSA) bacteremia in a patient with multiple potential sources. Fluorodeoxyglucose-positron emission tomography (FDG-PET) with computed tomography (CT) and sulfur colloid imaging with tagged white blood cell (WBC) scanning offer the most promise in facilitating rapid and accurate diagnoses of endovascular graft infections, vertebral osteomyelitis (V-OM), diabetic foot infections, and prosthetic joint infections (PJIs). However, radiologists at different institutions may have varying degrees of expertise with these modalities. Regardless, infectious disease consultants would benefit from knowing what nuclear medicine tests to order when considering patients with complex infectious disease syndromes. PMID:28480283
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Some error bounds for K-iterated Gaussian recursive filters
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Cuomo, Salvatore; Galletti, Ardelio; Giunta, Giulio; Marcellino, Livia
2016-10-01
Recursive filters (RFs) have achieved a central role in several research fields over the last few years. For example, they are used in image processing, in data assimilation and in electrocardiogram denoising. More in particular, among RFs, the Gaussian RFs are an efficient computational tool for approximating Gaussian-based convolutions and are suitable for digital image processing and applications of the scale-space theory. As is a common knowledge, the Gaussian RFs, applied to signals with support in a finite domain, generate distortions and artifacts, mostly localized at the boundaries. Heuristic and theoretical improvements have been proposed in literature to deal with this issue (namely boundary conditions). They include the case in which a Gaussian RF is applied more than once, i.e. the so called K-iterated Gaussian RFs. In this paper, starting from a summary of the comprehensive mathematical background, we consider the case of the K-iterated first-order Gaussian RF and provide the study of its numerical stability and some component-wise theoretical error bounds.
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Pattern Of Leukaemia Patients Admitted In Ayub Teaching Hospital Abbottabad.
Khan, Tariq Mehmood
2016-01-01
Any tissue of the body can give rise to cancer. However, those tissues which multiply rapidly are at high risk of developing cancer and haematopoietic system is one of them. Neoplasms of this system are known as leukaemia and lymphoma, according to the types of white cells involved. Study of cancer patterns in different societies, however can contribute a substantial knowledge about the aetiology of cancer. The present Study was designed and aimed to estimate the frequency of different types of leukaemia in patients admitted in Ayub Teaching hospital Abbottabad. Data from the patients admitted at oncology Department of Ayub Teaching Hospital Abbottabad from 2010 to 2015 was collected and analysed to calculate cumulative and year-wise frequency of leukaemia and its major types. Frequency distribution with reference to gender and age was also calculated. In our analysis about 16% patients had acute myelocytic leukaemia and 32% patients had acute lymphocytic leukaemia; while chronic myeloid leukaemia outnumbered chronic lymphocytic leukaemia (11% and 3%); Hodgkin lymphoma was seen in 18% cases while Non Hodgkin lymphoma (NHL) was present in 20% cases. Out of the total, 150 cases (75%) belonged to mountainous areas of Hazara, i.e., 40 cases belonged to Kohistan, another 40 cases were residents of Battagram, 45 cases belonged to hilly areas of Mansehra and 25 cases to Kaghan valley, while only 50 (25%) cases were from the plain areas of Abbottabad and Haripur districts, i.e., 20 and 30 cases respectively. Leukaemia is more common in hilly areas of Hazara, since majority of the cases belonged to well-known mountainous regions of Kohistan, Battagram, Kaghan or Mansehra and only few cases belonged to the plain areas of Abbottabad and Haripur districts.
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Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR
2010-10-01
... less overutilized species than before; applying new technology; improving safety or fuel efficiency..., growth, productivity, or any other business attribute. Demand means a noteholder's request that the.... Wise use means the wise use of fisheries resources and their development, advancement, management...
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DOT National Transportation Integrated Search
2009-03-20
International Electronic Machines Corporation (IEM) has developed and is now marketing a state-of-the-art Wheel Inspection System Environment (WISE). WISE provides wheel profile and dimensional measurements, i.e. rim thickness, flange height, flange ...
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Grand Challenges for Disaster Reduction
2005-06-01
6—Promote risk-wise behavior. Develop and apply principles of economics and human behavior to enhance communications, trust, and understand- ing...Challenges for Disaster Reduction Promote Risk-Wise Behavior. Develop and apply principles of economics and human behavior to enhance communications
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Kennedy, Anne; Rogers, Anne; Chew-Graham, Carolyn; Blakeman, Thomas; Bowen, Robert; Gardner, Caroline; Lee, Victoria; Morris, Rebecca; Protheroe, Joanne
2014-10-21
Implementation of long-term condition management interventions rests on the notion of whole systems re-design, where incorporating wider elements of health care systems are integral to embedding effective and integrated solutions. However, most self-management support (SMS) evaluations still focus on particular elements or outcomes of a sub-system. A randomised controlled trial of a SMS intervention (WISE-Whole System Informing Self-management Engagement) implemented in primary care showed no effect on patient-level outcomes. This paper reports on a parallel process evaluation to ascertain influences affecting WISE implementation at patient, clinical and organisational levels. Normalisation Process Theory (NPT) provided a sensitising background and analytical framework. A multi-method approach using surveys and interviews with organisational stakeholders, practice staff and trial participants about impact of training and use of tools developed for WISE. Analysis was sensitised by NPT (coherence, cognitive participation, collective action and reflective monitoring). The aim was to identify what worked and what did not work for who and in what context. Interviews with organisation stakeholders emphasised top-down initiation of WISE by managers who supported innovation in self-management. Staff from 31 practices indicated engagement with training but patchy adoption of WISE tools; SMS was neither prioritised by practices nor fitted with a biomedically focussed ethos, so little effort was invested in WISE techniques. Interviews with 24 patients indicated no awareness of any changes following the training of practice staff; furthermore, they did not view primary care as an appropriate place for SMS. The results contribute to understanding why SMS is not routinely adopted and implemented in primary care. WISE was not embedded because of the perceived lack of relevance and fit to the ethos and existing work. Enacting SMS within primary care practice was not viewed as a legitimate activity or a professional priority. There was failure to, in principle, engage with and identify patients' support needs. Policy presumptions concerning SMS appear to be misplaced. Implementation of SMS within the health service does not currently account for patient circumstances. Primary care priorities and support for SMS could be enhanced if they link to patients' broader systems of implementation networks and resources.
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NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Thomas, Brinda A.; Hausfather, Zeke; Azevedo, Inês L.
2014-07-01
Many US states rely on energy efficiency goals as a strategy to reduce CO2e emissions and air pollution, to minimize investments in new power plants, and to create jobs. For those energy efficiency interventions that are cost-effective, i.e., saving money and reducing energy, consumers may increase their use of energy services, or re-spend cost savings on other carbon- and energy-intensive goods and services. In this paper, we simulate the magnitude of these ‘rebound effects’ in each of the 50 states in terms of CO2e emissions, focusing on residential electric end-uses under plausible assumptions. We find that a 10% reduction in annual electricity use by a household results in an emissions’ reduction penalty ranging from 0.1 ton CO2e in California to 0.3 ton CO2e in Alabama (from potential emissions reductions of 0.3 ton CO2e and 1.6 ton CO2e, respectively, in the no rebound case). Rebound effects, percentage-wise, range from 6% in West Virginia (which has a high-carbon electricity and low electricity prices), to as high as 40% in California (which has low-carbon electricity and high electricity prices). The magnitude of rebound effects percentage-wise depends on the carbon intensity of the grid: in states with low emissions factors and higher electricity prices, such as California, the rebound effects are much larger percentage-wise than in states like Pennsylvania. Conversely, the states with larger per cent rebound effects are the ones where the implications in terms of absolute emissions changes are the smallest.
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Quantitative Rapid Assessment of Leukoaraiosis in CT : Comparison to Gold Standard MRI.
Hanning, Uta; Sporns, Peter Bernhard; Schmidt, Rene; Niederstadt, Thomas; Minnerup, Jens; Bier, Georg; Knecht, Stefan; Kemmling, André
2017-10-20
The severity of white matter lesions (WML) is a risk factor of hemorrhage and predictor of clinical outcome after ischemic stroke; however, in contrast to magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) reliable quantification for this surrogate marker is limited for computed tomography (CT), the leading stroke imaging technique. We aimed to present and evaluate a CT-based automated rater-independent method for quantification of microangiopathic white matter changes. Patients with suspected minor stroke (National Institutes of Health Stroke scale, NIHSS < 4) were screened for the analysis of non-contrast computerized tomography (NCCT) at admission and compared to follow-up MRI. The MRI-based WML volume and visual Fazekas scores were assessed as the gold standard reference. We employed a recently published probabilistic brain segmentation algorithm for CT images to determine the tissue-specific density of WM space. All voxel-wise densities were quantified in WM space and weighted according to partial probabilistic WM content. The resulting mean weighted density of WM space in NCCT, the surrogate of WML, was correlated with reference to MRI-based WML parameters. The process of CT-based tissue-specific segmentation was reliable in 79 cases with varying severity of microangiopathy. Voxel-wise weighted density within WM spaces showed a noticeable correlation (r = -0.65) with MRI-based WML volume. Particularly in patients with moderate or severe lesion load according to the visual Fazekas score the algorithm provided reliable prediction of MRI-based WML volume. Automated observer-independent quantification of voxel-wise WM density in CT significantly correlates with microangiopathic WM disease in gold standard MRI. This rapid surrogate of white matter lesion load in CT may support objective WML assessment and therapeutic decision-making during acute stroke triage.
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Comparing methods for modelling spreading cell fronts.
Markham, Deborah C; Simpson, Matthew J; Maini, Philip K; Gaffney, Eamonn A; Baker, Ruth E
2014-07-21
Spreading cell fronts play an essential role in many physiological processes. Classically, models of this process are based on the Fisher-Kolmogorov equation; however, such continuum representations are not always suitable as they do not explicitly represent behaviour at the level of individual cells. Additionally, many models examine only the large time asymptotic behaviour, where a travelling wave front with a constant speed has been established. Many experiments, such as a scratch assay, never display this asymptotic behaviour, and in these cases the transient behaviour must be taken into account. We examine the transient and the asymptotic behaviour of moving cell fronts using techniques that go beyond the continuum approximation via a volume-excluding birth-migration process on a regular one-dimensional lattice. We approximate the averaged discrete results using three methods: (i) mean-field, (ii) pair-wise, and (iii) one-hole approximations. We discuss the performance of these methods, in comparison to the averaged discrete results, for a range of parameter space, examining both the transient and asymptotic behaviours. The one-hole approximation, based on techniques from statistical physics, is not capable of predicting transient behaviour but provides excellent agreement with the asymptotic behaviour of the averaged discrete results, provided that cells are proliferating fast enough relative to their rate of migration. The mean-field and pair-wise approximations give indistinguishable asymptotic results, which agree with the averaged discrete results when cells are migrating much more rapidly than they are proliferating. The pair-wise approximation performs better in the transient region than does the mean-field, despite having the same asymptotic behaviour. Our results show that each approximation only works in specific situations, thus we must be careful to use a suitable approximation for a given system, otherwise inaccurate predictions could be made. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
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DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)
Casagrande, L.; Asplund, M.; Ramirez, I.
Solar infrared colors provide powerful constraints on the stellar effective temperature scale, but they must be measured with both accuracy and precision in order to do so. We fulfill this requirement by using line-depth ratios to derive in a model-independent way the infrared colors of the Sun, and we use the latter to test the zero point of the Casagrande et al. effective temperature scale, confirming its accuracy. Solar colors in the widely used Two Micron All Sky Survey (2MASS) JHK{sub s} and WISE W1-4 systems are provided: (V - J){sub Sun} = 1.198, (V - H){sub Sun} = 1.484,more » (V - K{sub s} ){sub Sun} = 1.560, (J - H){sub Sun} = 0.286, (J - K{sub s} ){sub Sun} = 0.362, (H - K{sub s} ){sub Sun} = 0.076, (V - W1){sub Sun} = 1.608, (V - W2){sub Sun} = 1.563, (V - W3){sub Sun} = 1.552, and (V - W4){sub Sun} = 1.604. A cross-check of the effective temperatures derived implementing 2MASS or WISE magnitudes in the infrared flux method confirms that the absolute calibration of the two systems agrees within the errors, possibly suggesting a 1% offset between the two, thus validating extant near- and mid-infrared absolute calibrations. While 2MASS magnitudes are usually well suited to derive T{sub eff}, we find that a number of bright, solar-like stars exhibit anomalous WISE colors. In most cases, this effect is spurious and can be attributed to lower-quality measurements, although for a couple of objects (3% {+-} 2% of the total sample) it might be real, and may hint at the presence of warm/hot debris disks.« less
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Principles for the wise use of computers by children.
Straker, L; Pollock, C; Maslen, B
2009-11-01
Computer use by children at home and school is now common in many countries. Child computer exposure varies with the type of computer technology available and the child's age, gender and social group. This paper reviews the current exposure data and the evidence for positive and negative effects of computer use by children. Potential positive effects of computer use by children include enhanced cognitive development and school achievement, reduced barriers to social interaction, enhanced fine motor skills and visual processing and effective rehabilitation. Potential negative effects include threats to child safety, inappropriate content, exposure to violence, bullying, Internet 'addiction', displacement of moderate/vigorous physical activity, exposure to junk food advertising, sleep displacement, vision problems and musculoskeletal problems. The case for child specific evidence-based guidelines for wise use of computers is presented based on children using computers differently to adults, being physically, cognitively and socially different to adults, being in a state of change and development and the potential to impact on later adult risk. Progress towards child-specific guidelines is reported. Finally, a set of guideline principles is presented as the basis for more detailed guidelines on the physical, cognitive and social impact of computer use by children. The principles cover computer literacy, technology safety, child safety and privacy and appropriate social, cognitive and physical development. The majority of children in affluent communities now have substantial exposure to computers. This is likely to have significant effects on child physical, cognitive and social development. Ergonomics can provide and promote guidelines for wise use of computers by children and by doing so promote the positive effects and reduce the negative effects of computer-child, and subsequent computer-adult, interaction.
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Pattern of organophosphorous poisoning: a retrospective community based study.
Chataut, J; Adhikari, R K; Sinha, N P; Marahatta, S B
2011-01-01
Pesticide poisoning is very common in Nepal. Hospital based studies from various parts of Nepal have shown that poisoning with organophosphorus compounds is the most common type of poisoning. Current study is undertaken to see the pattern of organophosphorus poisoning and to identify the common risk factors among the cases. If the risk factors are modifiable, attempts in addressing the risk factors and decreasing the likelihood of poisoning will certainly be fruitful in reducing the morbidity and mortality associated with organophosphorus poisoning. To assess the risk factors of organophosphorus poisoning which is major public health problem in Nepal. A community based retrospective study of 75 cases of organophosphate poisoning who were brought to the emergency department of Dhulikhel hospital over the period of 3 years. Basic information was collected from hospital records and home visits were made to study the risk factors. Data were collected through interviews of the study population and their family members using a pre-designed questionnaire. In this study 75 cases and their families were interviewed of which there were 59% males and 42% females (M/F ratio of 1:1.4). The majority (40%) of the poisoning cases were in the age group 25-34 years. Lower literacy level showed positive association with the incidence of poisoning. Occupation wise vast majority (80%) of the cases were engaged in agricultural work. Suicidal attempts by ingesting organophosphate compounds were high in farmers and females. In this study, majority of the poisoning were attempts of intentional self harm. Agriculture workers and females are high risk groups and may be associated with the fact that they have easy access to the poison. Interventions directed towards health education, counseling, and enforcement of laws restricting the availability and use of harmful pesticides may help in reducing such events in future.
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Liu, Feng; Tian, Hongjun; Li, Jie; Li, Shen; Zhuo, Chuanjun
2018-05-04
Previous seed- and atlas-based structural covariance/connectivity analyses have demonstrated that patients with schizophrenia is accompanied by aberrant structural connection and abnormal topological organization. However, it remains unclear whether this disruption is present in unbiased whole-brain voxel-wise structural covariance networks (SCNs) and whether brain genetic expression variations are linked with network alterations. In this study, ninety-five patients with schizophrenia and 95 matched healthy controls were recruited and gray matter volumes were extracted from high-resolution structural magnetic resonance imaging scans. Whole-brain voxel-wise gray matter SCNs were constructed at the group level and were further analyzed by using graph theory method. Nonparametric permutation tests were employed for group comparisons. In addition, regression modes along with random effect analysis were utilized to explore the associations between structural network changes and gene expression from the Allen Human Brain Atlas. Compared with healthy controls, the patients with schizophrenia showed significantly increased structural covariance strength (SCS) in the right orbital part of superior frontal gyrus and bilateral middle frontal gyrus, while decreased SCS in the bilateral superior temporal gyrus and precuneus. The altered SCS showed reproducible correlations with the expression profiles of the gene classes involved in therapeutic targets and neurodevelopment. Overall, our findings not only demonstrate that the topological architecture of whole-brain voxel-wise SCNs is impaired in schizophrenia, but also provide evidence for the possible role of therapeutic targets and neurodevelopment-related genes in gray matter structural brain networks in schizophrenia.
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Depressive symptoms and white matter dysfunction in retired NFL players with concussion history.
Strain, Jeremy; Didehbani, Nyaz; Cullum, C Munro; Mansinghani, Sethesh; Conover, Heather; Kraut, Michael A; Hart, John; Womack, Kyle B
2013-07-02
To determine whether correlates of white matter integrity can provide general as well as specific insight into the chronic effects of head injury coupled with depression symptom expression in professional football players. We studied 26 retired National Football League (NFL) athletes who underwent diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) scanning. Depressive symptom severity was measured using the Beck Depression Inventory II (BDI-II) including affective, cognitive, and somatic subfactor scores (Buckley 3-factor model). Fractional anisotropy (FA) maps were processed using tract-based spatial statistics from FSL. Correlations between FA and BDI-II scores were assessed using both voxel-wise and region of interest (ROI) techniques, with ROIs that corresponded to white matter tracts. Tracts demonstrating significant correlations were further evaluated using a receiver operating characteristic curve that utilized the mean FA to distinguish depressed from nondepressed subjects. Voxel-wise analysis identified widely distributed voxels that negatively correlated with total BDI-II and cognitive and somatic subfactors, with voxels correlating with the affective component (p < 0.05 corrected) localized to frontal regions. Four tract ROIs negatively correlated (p < 0.01) with total BDI-II: forceps minor, right frontal aslant tract, right uncinate fasciculus, and left superior longitudinal fasciculus. FA of the forceps minor differentiated depressed from nondepressed athletes with 100% sensitivity and 95% specificity. Depressive symptoms in retired NFL athletes correlate negatively with FA using either an unbiased voxel-wise or an ROI-based, tract-wise approach. DTI is a promising biomarker for depression in this population.
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Privacy Impact Assessment for the Registration and Tracking System for SunWise
The Registration and Tracking System for SunWise collects contact information and demographics about each educator. Learn how this data is collected, used, access to the data, the purpose of data collection, and record retention policies.
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Mapping the Infrared Universe: The Entire WISE Sky
2012-03-14
This is a mosaic of the images covering the entire sky as observed by NASA Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer WISE, part of its All-Sky Data Release. In this mosaic, the Milky Way Galaxy runs horizontally across the map.
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2009-10-21
VANDENBERG AIR FORCE BASE, Calif. - At Space Launch Complex 2 at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California, workers receive the first of three solid rocket boosters for the United Launch Alliance Delta II rocket for launch of NASA's Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer, or WISE, at the pad. WISE will survey the entire sky at infrared wavelengths, creating a cosmic clearinghouse of hundreds of millions of objects which will be catalogued and provide a vast storehouse of knowledge about the solar system, the Milky Way, and the universe. Launch is scheduled for Dec. 7. For additional information, visit http://wise.ssl.berkeley.edu. Photo credit: NASA/VAFB
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DairyWise, a whole-farm dairy model.
Schils, R L M; de Haan, M H A; Hemmer, J G A; van den Pol-van Dasselaar, A; de Boer, J A; Evers, A G; Holshof, G; van Middelkoop, J C; Zom, R L G
2007-11-01
A whole-farm dairy model was developed and evaluated. The DairyWise model is an empirical model that simulated technical, environmental, and financial processes on a dairy farm. The central component is the FeedSupply model that balanced the herd requirements, as generated by the DairyHerd model, and the supply of homegrown feeds, as generated by the crop models for grassland and corn silage. The output of the FeedSupply model was used as input for several technical, environmental, and economic submodels. The submodels simulated a range of farm aspects such as nitrogen and phosphorus cycling, nitrate leaching, ammonia emissions, greenhouse gas emissions, energy use, and a financial farm budget. The final output was a farm plan describing all material and nutrient flows and the consequences on the environment and economy. Evaluation of DairyWise was performed with 2 data sets consisting of 29 dairy farms. The evaluation showed that DairyWise was able to simulate gross margin, concentrate intake, nitrogen surplus, nitrate concentration in ground water, and crop yields. The variance accounted for ranged from 37 to 84%, and the mean differences between modeled and observed values varied between -5 to +3% per set of farms. We conclude that DairyWise is a powerful tool for integrated scenario development and evaluation for scientists, policy makers, extension workers, teachers and farmers.
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VizieR Online Data Catalog: The magnetic field of L1544. I. NIR data (Clemens+, 2016)
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Clemens, D. P.; Tassis, K.; Goldsmith, P. F.
2017-04-01
NIR imaging polarimetric observations of L1544 were conducted on the UT nights of 2013 January 20, 2015 October 27 and 31, 2015 November 1 and 2, and 2016 January 27 and 31 using the Mimir instrument on the 1.83m Perkins Telescope, located outside Flagstaff, Arizona. Six pointing centers ("fields") were selected toward a Center direction (RAJ200=05:04:16.6, DEJ2000=+25:10:48), the four equatorial NSEW directions offset by 6 arcmin from the Center, and one field to the NW offset mostly diagonally by about 10.9 arcmin. In addition, the AllWISE (Cutri+ 2013, II/328) catalog entries for the field shown in Figure 1 were fetched, resulting in 3616 stars with a detection in at least the WISE W1 (3.6um) band or W2 (4.5um) band. These were positionally matched to the H-band catalog, yielding 1262 matches. The properties of the 450 H-band stars without WISE star matches and the WISE stars without H-band star matches were similar in being fainter than the subset of stars with H-to-WISE matches. The combined data set of 1712 stars is listed in Table 1. (1 data file).
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The Incidence of Buried Dual AGN in Advanced Mergers: New results from Chandra
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Pfeifle, Ryan William; Satyapal, Shobita; Secrest, Nathan; Gliozzi, Mario; Ricci, Claudio; Ellison, Sara L.; Blecha, Laura; Rothberg, Barry; Constantin, Anca
2018-01-01
Since the vast majority of galaxies contain supermassive black holes (SMBHs) and galaxy interactions trigger nuclear gas accretion, a direct consequence of the hierarchical model of galaxy formation would be the existence of dual active galactic nuclei (AGN). The existence, frequency, and characteristics of such dual AGN have important astrophysical implications on the SMBH mass function, the interplay between SMBHs and the host galaxy, and the M-sigma relation. Despite decades of searching, and strong theoretical reasons for their existence, observationally confirmed cases of dual AGN are extremely rare, and most have been discovered serendipitously. Using the all-sky WISE survey, we identified a population of over one hundred strongly interacting galaxies that display extreme red mid-infrared colors thus far exclusively associated with extragalactic sources possessing powerful AGN. In a recent Chandra, XMM-Newton, and NuSTAR investigation of advanced mergers selected by WISE, we find dual AGN candidates in 8 out of 15 mergers, all of which show no evidence for AGN based on optical spectroscopy. Our results demonstrate that 1) optical studies miss a significant fraction of single and dual AGN in advanced mergers, and 2) mid-infrared pre-selection is extremely effective in identifying dual AGN candidates in late-stage mergers. Our multi-wavelength observations suggest that the buried AGN in these mergers are highly absorbed, with intrinsic column densities in excess of NH > 1024 cm-2, consistent with hydrodynamic simulations.
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Simultaneous Control of Error Rates in fMRI Data Analysis
Kang, Hakmook; Blume, Jeffrey; Ombao, Hernando; Badre, David
2015-01-01
The key idea of statistical hypothesis testing is to fix, and thereby control, the Type I error (false positive) rate across samples of any size. Multiple comparisons inflate the global (family-wise) Type I error rate and the traditional solution to maintaining control of the error rate is to increase the local (comparison-wise) Type II error (false negative) rates. However, in the analysis of human brain imaging data, the number of comparisons is so large that this solution breaks down: the local Type II error rate ends up being so large that scientifically meaningful analysis is precluded. Here we propose a novel solution to this problem: allow the Type I error rate to converge to zero along with the Type II error rate. It works because when the Type I error rate per comparison is very small, the accumulation (or global) Type I error rate is also small. This solution is achieved by employing the Likelihood paradigm, which uses likelihood ratios to measure the strength of evidence on a voxel-by-voxel basis. In this paper, we provide theoretical and empirical justification for a likelihood approach to the analysis of human brain imaging data. In addition, we present extensive simulations that show the likelihood approach is viable, leading to ‘cleaner’ looking brain maps and operationally superiority (lower average error rate). Finally, we include a case study on cognitive control related activation in the prefrontal cortex of the human brain. PMID:26272730
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NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Wu, Bo; Chung Liu, Wai; Grumpe, Arne; Wöhler, Christian
2016-06-01
Lunar topographic information, e.g., lunar DEM (Digital Elevation Model), is very important for lunar exploration missions and scientific research. Lunar DEMs are typically generated from photogrammetric image processing or laser altimetry, of which photogrammetric methods require multiple stereo images of an area. DEMs generated from these methods are usually achieved by various interpolation techniques, leading to interpolation artifacts in the resulting DEM. On the other hand, photometric shape reconstruction, e.g., SfS (Shape from Shading), extensively studied in the field of Computer Vision has been introduced to pixel-level resolution DEM refinement. SfS methods have the ability to reconstruct pixel-wise terrain details that explain a given image of the terrain. If the terrain and its corresponding pixel-wise albedo were to be estimated simultaneously, this is a SAfS (Shape and Albedo from Shading) problem and it will be under-determined without additional information. Previous works show strong statistical regularities in albedo of natural objects, and this is even more logically valid in the case of lunar surface due to its lower surface albedo complexity than the Earth. In this paper we suggest a method that refines a lower-resolution DEM to pixel-level resolution given a monocular image of the coverage with known light source, at the same time we also estimate the corresponding pixel-wise albedo map. We regulate the behaviour of albedo and shape such that the optimized terrain and albedo are the likely solutions that explain the corresponding image. The parameters in the approach are optimized through a kernel-based relaxation framework to gain computational advantages. In this research we experimentally employ the Lunar-Lambertian model for reflectance modelling; the framework of the algorithm is expected to be independent of a specific reflectance model. Experiments are carried out using the monocular images from Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO) Narrow Angle Camera (NAC) (0.5 m spatial resolution), constrained by the SELENE and LRO Elevation Model (SLDEM 2015) of 60 m spatial resolution. The results indicate that local details are largely recovered by the algorithm while low frequency topographic consistency is affected by the low-resolution DEM.
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Pain and temperature processing in dementia: a clinical and neuroanatomical analysis
Fletcher, Phillip D.; Downey, Laura E.; Golden, Hannah L.; Clark, Camilla N.; Slattery, Catherine F.; Paterson, Ross W.; Rohrer, Jonathan D.; Schott, Jonathan M.; Rossor, Martin N.
2015-01-01
Symptoms suggesting altered processing of pain and temperature have been described in dementia diseases and may contribute importantly to clinical phenotypes, particularly in the frontotemporal lobar degeneration spectrum, but the basis for these symptoms has not been characterized in detail. Here we analysed pain and temperature symptoms using a semi-structured caregiver questionnaire recording altered behavioural responsiveness to pain or temperature for a cohort of patients with frontotemporal lobar degeneration (n = 58, 25 female, aged 52–84 years, representing the major clinical syndromes and representative pathogenic mutations in the C9orf72 and MAPT genes) and a comparison cohort of patients with amnestic Alzheimer’s disease (n = 20, eight female, aged 53–74 years). Neuroanatomical associations were assessed using blinded visual rating and voxel-based morphometry of patients’ brain magnetic resonance images. Certain syndromic signatures were identified: pain and temperature symptoms were particularly prevalent in behavioural variant frontotemporal dementia (71% of cases) and semantic dementia (65% of cases) and in association with C9orf72 mutations (6/6 cases), but also developed in Alzheimer’s disease (45% of cases) and progressive non-fluent aphasia (25% of cases). While altered temperature responsiveness was more common than altered pain responsiveness across syndromes, blunted responsiveness to pain and temperature was particularly associated with behavioural variant frontotemporal dementia (40% of symptomatic cases) and heightened responsiveness with semantic dementia (73% of symptomatic cases) and Alzheimer’s disease (78% of symptomatic cases). In the voxel-based morphometry analysis of the frontotemporal lobar degeneration cohort, pain and temperature symptoms were associated with grey matter loss in a right-lateralized network including insula (P < 0.05 corrected for multiple voxel-wise comparisons within the prespecified anatomical region of interest) and anterior temporal cortex (P < 0.001 uncorrected over whole brain) previously implicated in processing homeostatic signals. Pain and temperature symptoms accompanying C9orf72 mutations were specifically associated with posterior thalamic atrophy (P < 0.05 corrected for multiple voxel-wise comparisons within the prespecified anatomical region of interest). Together the findings suggest candidate cognitive and neuroanatomical bases for these salient but under-appreciated phenotypic features of the dementias, with wider implications for the homeostatic pathophysiology and clinical management of neurodegenerative diseases. PMID:26463677
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A dimension-wise analysis method for the structural-acoustic system with interval parameters
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Xu, Menghui; Du, Jianke; Wang, Chong; Li, Yunlong
2017-04-01
The interval structural-acoustic analysis is mainly accomplished by interval and subinterval perturbation methods. Potential limitations for these intrusive methods include overestimation or interval translation effect for the former and prohibitive computational cost for the latter. In this paper, a dimension-wise analysis method is thus proposed to overcome these potential limitations. In this method, a sectional curve of the system response surface along each input dimensionality is firstly extracted, the minimal and maximal points of which are identified based on its Legendre polynomial approximation. And two input vectors, i.e. the minimal and maximal input vectors, are dimension-wisely assembled by the minimal and maximal points of all sectional curves. Finally, the lower and upper bounds of system response are computed by deterministic finite element analysis at the two input vectors. Two numerical examples are studied to demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed method and show that, compared to the interval and subinterval perturbation method, a better accuracy is achieved without much compromise on efficiency by the proposed method, especially for nonlinear problems with large interval parameters.
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Wang, Kun; Matthews, Thomas; Anis, Fatima; Li, Cuiping; Duric, Neb; Anastasio, Mark A
2015-03-01
Ultrasound computed tomography (USCT) holds great promise for improving the detection and management of breast cancer. Because they are based on the acoustic wave equation, waveform inversion-based reconstruction methods can produce images that possess improved spatial resolution properties over those produced by ray-based methods. However, waveform inversion methods are computationally demanding and have not been applied widely in USCT breast imaging. In this work, source encoding concepts are employed to develop an accelerated USCT reconstruction method that circumvents the large computational burden of conventional waveform inversion methods. This method, referred to as the waveform inversion with source encoding (WISE) method, encodes the measurement data using a random encoding vector and determines an estimate of the sound speed distribution by solving a stochastic optimization problem by use of a stochastic gradient descent algorithm. Both computer simulation and experimental phantom studies are conducted to demonstrate the use of the WISE method. The results suggest that the WISE method maintains the high spatial resolution of waveform inversion methods while significantly reducing the computational burden.
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van der Voet, Hilko; Goedhart, Paul W; Schmidt, Kerstin
2017-11-01
An equivalence testing method is described to assess the safety of regulated products using relevant data obtained in historical studies with assumedly safe reference products. The method is illustrated using data from a series of animal feeding studies with genetically modified and reference maize varieties. Several criteria for quantifying equivalence are discussed, and study-corrected distribution-wise equivalence is selected as being appropriate for the example case study. An equivalence test is proposed based on a high probability of declaring equivalence in a simplified situation, where there is no between-group variation, where the historical and current studies have the same residual variance, and where the current study is assumed to have a sample size as set by a regulator. The method makes use of generalized fiducial inference methods to integrate uncertainties from both the historical and the current data. Copyright © 2017 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd.. All rights reserved.
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NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Lin, Zi-Jing; Li, Lin; Cazzell, Marry; Liu, Hanli
2013-03-01
Functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) is a non-invasive imaging technique which measures the hemodynamic changes that reflect the brain activity. Diffuse optical tomography (DOT), a variant of fNIRS with multi-channel NIRS measurements, has demonstrated capability of three dimensional (3D) reconstructions of hemodynamic changes due to the brain activity. Conventional method of DOT image analysis to define the brain activation is based upon the paired t-test between two different states, such as resting-state versus task-state. However, it has limitation because the selection of activation and post-activation period is relatively subjective. General linear model (GLM) based analysis can overcome this limitation. In this study, we combine the 3D DOT image reconstruction with GLM-based analysis (i.e., voxel-wise GLM analysis) to investigate the brain activity that is associated with the risk-decision making process. Risk decision-making is an important cognitive process and thus is an essential topic in the field of neuroscience. The balloon analogue risk task (BART) is a valid experimental model and has been commonly used in behavioral measures to assess human risk taking action and tendency while facing risks. We have utilized the BART paradigm with a blocked design to investigate brain activations in the prefrontal and frontal cortical areas during decision-making. Voxel-wise GLM analysis was performed on 18human participants (10 males and 8females).In this work, we wish to demonstrate the feasibility of using voxel-wise GLM analysis to image and study cognitive functions in response to risk decision making by DOT. Results have shown significant changes in the dorsal lateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC) during the active choice mode and a different hemodynamic pattern between genders, which are in good agreements with published literatures in functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) and fNIRS studies.
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2014-03-07
The third closest star system to the sun, called WISE J104915.57-531906, center of large image, which was taken by NASA WISE. It appeared to be a single object, but a sharper image from Gemini Observatory, revealed that it was binary star system.
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Nutrition support programs for young adult athletes.
Clark, N
1998-12-01
After graduating from college and entering the work force, young adult athletes often struggle with the task of fueling themselves optimally for top performance and weight control. The stresses and time constraints of work, family, and social responsibilities often result in eating fast foods on the run. These young adults can benefit from nutrition education programs in the worksite, at health clubs, in the community, and via the media. Dietitians who specialize in sport nutrition have particular appeal to these athletes, who are struggling to each well, exercise well, and stay lean yet put little time or effort into their food program. This article includes two case studies of young adults and the dietary recommendations that taught them how to make wise food choices, fuel themselves well for high energy, and control their weight.
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Utilization of curve offsets in additive manufacturing
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Haseltalab, Vahid; Yaman, Ulas; Dolen, Melik
2018-05-01
Curve offsets are utilized in different fields of engineering and science. Additive manufacturing, which lately becomes an explicit requirement in manufacturing industry, utilizes curve offsets widely. One of the necessities of offsetting is for scaling which is required if there is shrinkage after the fabrication or if the surface quality of the resulting part is unacceptable. Therefore, some post-processing is indispensable. But the major application of curve offsets in additive manufacturing processes is for generating head trajectories. In a point-wise AM process, a correct tool-path in each layer can reduce lots of costs and increase the surface quality of the fabricated parts. In this study, different curve offset generation algorithms are analyzed to show their capabilities and disadvantages through some test cases and improvements on their drawbacks are suggested.
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The First Hyper-Luminous Infrared Galaxy Discovered by WISE
NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)
Eisenhardt, Peter R.; Wu, Jingwen; Tsai, Chao-Wei; Assef, Roberto; Benford, Dominic; Blain, Andrew; Bridge, Carrie; Condon, J. J.; Cushing, Michael C.; Cutri, Roc;
2012-01-01
We report the discovery by the Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer of the z = 2.452 source WISEJ181417.29+341224.9, the first hyperluminous source found in the WISE survey. WISE 1814+3412 is also the prototype for an all-sky sample of approximately 1000 extremely luminous "W1W2-dropouts" (sources faint or undetected by WISE at 3.4 and 4.6 micrometers and well detected at 12 or 22 micrometers). The WISE data and a 350 micrometers detection give a minimum bolometric luminosity of 3.7 x 10(exp 13) solar luminosity, with approximately 10(exp 14) solar luminosity plausible. Followup images reveal four nearby sources: a QSO and two Lyman Break Galaxies (LBGs) at z = 2.45, and an M dwarf star. The brighter LBG dominates the bolometric emission. Gravitational lensing is unlikely given the source locations and their different spectra and colors. The dominant LBG spectrum indicates a star formation rate approximately 300 solar mass yr(exp -1), accounting for less than or equal to 10 percent of the bolometric luminosity. Strong 22 micrometer emission relative to 350 micrometer implies that warm dust contributes significantly to the luminosity, while cooler dust normally associated with starbursts is constrained by an upper limit at 1.1 mm. Radio emission is approximately 10? above the far-infrared/radio correlation, indicating an active galactic nucleus is present. An obscured AGN combined with starburst and evolved stellar components can account for the observations. If the black hole mass follows the local MBH-bulge mass relation, the implied Eddington ratio is approximately greater than 4. WISE 1814+3412 may be a heavily obscured object where the peak AGN activity occurred prior to the peak era of star formation.
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A spectroscopic survey of WISE-selected obscured quasars with the southern african large telescope
DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)
Hainline, Kevin N.; Hickox, Ryan C.; Carroll, Christopher M.
2014-11-10
We present the results of an optical spectroscopic survey of a sample of 40 candidate obscured quasars identified on the basis of their mid-infrared emission detected by the Wide-Field Infrared Survey Explorer (WISE). Optical spectra for this survey were obtained using the Robert Stobie Spectrograph on the Southern African Large Telescope. Our sample was selected with WISE colors characteristic of active galactic nuclei (AGNs), as well as red optical to mid-IR colors indicating that the optical/UV AGN continuum is obscured by dust. We obtain secure redshifts for the majority of the objects that comprise our sample (35/40), and find thatmore » sources that are bright in the WISE W4 (22 μm) band are typically at moderate redshift ((z) = 0.35) while sources fainter in W4 are at higher redshifts ((z) = 0.73). The majority of the sources have narrow emission lines with optical colors and emission line ratios of our WISE-selected sources that are consistent with the locus of AGN on the rest-frame g – z color versus [Ne III] λ3869/[O II] λλ3726+3729 line ratio diagnostic diagram. We also use empirical AGN and galaxy templates to model the spectral energy distributions (SEDs) for the objects in our sample, and find that while there is significant variation in the observed SEDs for these objects, the majority require a strong AGN component. Finally, we use the results from our analysis of the optical spectra and the SEDs to compare our selection criteria to alternate criteria presented in the literature. These results verify the efficacy of selecting luminous obscured AGNs based on their WISE colors.« less
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Spin-Based Lattice-Gas Quantum Computers in Solids Using Optical Addressing
2007-04-30
excitation spectra recorded while changing step wise the applied electric field from zero to 0.3 MVm 1. The resulting spectral trails give an overview of...optics (Wiley, New York, 1984). 24 to a few MVm ’, the Stark shift of the optical resonance is well fitted by linear and quadratic dependences, Av= aF+bF2...effect with a = - 6.3 GHz/ MVm n which corresponds to Ag = 1.3 D (I Debye = 3.33 1030 Cm). This value is very similar to values found in other cases
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Update on antimicrobial resistance.
Weber, Carol J
2005-02-01
WHO experts believe that antimicrobial resistance is potentially containable, but the window of opportunity to control and eventually eliminate the most dangerous infectious diseases is closing. If we miss our opportunity, it may become very difficult and expensive--and in some cases impossible--to treat infectious diseases. WHO's global strategy to contain antimicrobial resistance requires a massive effort and an alliance among countries, governments, international organizations, drug manufacturers, and private and public health care sectors. If infectious diseases are fought wisely and widely by the international community, drug resistance can be controlled and lives saved.
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THE FIRST SPECTRUM OF THE COLDEST BROWN DWARF
DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)
Skemer, Andrew J.; Morley, Caroline V.; Fortney, Jonathan J.
2016-08-01
The recently discovered brown dwarf WISE 0855 presents the first opportunity to directly study an object outside the solar system that is nearly as cold as our own gas giant planets. However, the traditional methodology for characterizing brown dwarfs—near-infrared spectroscopy—is not currently feasible, as WISE 0855 is too cold and faint. To characterize this frozen extrasolar world we obtained a 4.5–5.2 μ m spectrum, the same bandpass long used to study Jupiter’s deep thermal emission. Our spectrum reveals the presence of atmospheric water vapor and clouds, with an absorption profile that is strikingly similar to Jupiter’s. The spectrum quality ismore » high enough to allow for the investigation of dynamical and chemical processes that have long been studied in Jupiter’s atmosphere, but now on an extrasolar world.« less
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2011-01-01
Andrade and Willbanks, “Cords/Phoenix,” 16. Knowlege is indivisable. When people grow wise in one direction, they are sure to make it easier for themselves to grow wise in other directions as well. -- Isaac Asimov
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The Mission Operations System for Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer (WISE)
NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)
Heinrichsen, Ingolf H.
2006-01-01
The goal of the Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer (WISE) mission is to perform a highly sensitive all-sky survey in 4 wavebands from 3 to 25(mu)m. Launched on a Delta II rocket into a 500km Sun-synchronous orbit in June 2009, during its 7 months of operations, WISE will acquire about 50GBytes of raw science data every day, which will be down-linked via the TDRSS relay satellite system and processed into an astronomical catalogue and image atlas. The WISE mission operations system is being implemented in collaboration between UCLA, JPL and IPAC (Caltech). In this paper we describe the challenges to manage a high data rate, cryogenic, low earth-orbit mission; maintaining safe on-orbit operations, fast anomaly recoveries (mandated by the desire to provide complete sky coverage in a limited lifetime), production and dissemination of high quality science products, given the constraints imposed by funding profiles for small space missions.
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Method and apparatus for simulating gravitational forces on a living organism
NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)
Thornton, W. E. (Inventor)
1983-01-01
A method and apparatus for simulating gravitational forces on a living organism wherein a series of negative pressures are externally applied to successive length-wise sections of a lower limb of the organism. The pressures decreasing progressively with distance of said limb sections from the heart of the organism. A casing defines a chamber adapted to contain the limb of the organism and is rigidified to resist collapse upon the application of negative pressures to the interior of the chamber. Seals extend inwardly from the casing for effective engagement with the limb of the organism and, in cooperation with the limb, subdivide the chamber into a plurality of compartments each in negative pressure communicating relation with the limb.
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Dengue fever in patients admitted in tertiary care hospitals in Pakistan.
Munir, Muhammad Arif; Alam, Syed Ejaz; Khan, Zareef Uddin; Saeed, Quaid; Arif, Ambreen; Iqbal, Rizwan; Saqib, Muhammad Arif Nadeem; Qureshi, Huma
2014-05-01
To assess the gaps in the diagnosis and management of dengue fever cases. The retrospective descriptive analytical study was done with a case record analysis of patients with dengue fever admitted from January to December 2010 at five tertiary care hospitals in different Pakistani cities. Using a questionnaire, information was gathered on demography, haematological profile, management, use of blood and platelet transfusions and the outcome. For comparison, data of serologically-confirmed dengue patients from a private laboratory in Islamabad was collected to see the age, gender and month-wise distribution of cases tested over the same period. SPSS 16 was used for statistical analysis. Out of the 841 confirmed dengue cases, 514 (79%) were males and 139 (21%) females. The overall mean age was 31.3 +/- 14.0 years. Dengue fever was seen in 653 (78%) and dengue haemorrhagic fever (DHF) in 188 (22%) patients. Most cases were between 20 and 49 years of age. A gradual increase in dengue fever and dengue haemorrhagic fever was seen from August, with a peak in October/November. Tourniquet test was done only in 20 (2.3%) cases, out of which 11 (55%) were positive and 9 (45%) were negative. Serial haematocrit was not done in any case. Total deaths were 5 (0.6%). Most cases were seen in October/November with the majority being in the 20-39 age group. Tourniquet test and serial haematocrit were infrequently used. No standard national guidelines were employed.
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WISE J233237.05-505643.5: A Double-Peaked Broad-Lined AGN with Spiral-Shaped Radio Morphology
NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)
Tsai, Chao Wei; Jarrett, Thomas H.; Stern, Daniel; Emonts, Bjorn; Barrows, R. Scott; Assef, Roberto J.; Norris, Ray P.; Eisenhardt, Peter R. M.; Lonsdale, Carol; Blain, Andrew W.;
2013-01-01
We present radio continuum mapping, optical imaging and spectroscopy of the newly discovered double-peaked broad-lined AGN WISE J233237.05-505643.5 at redshift z = 0.3447. This source exhibits an FR-I and FR-II hybrid-morphology, characterized by bright core, jet, and Doppler-boosted lobe structures in ATCA continuum maps at 1.5, 5.6, and 9 GHz. Unlike most FR-II objects, W2332-5056 is hosted by a disk-like galaxy. The core has a projected 5" linear radio feature that is perpendicular to the curved primary jet, hinting at unusual and complex activity within the inner 25 kpc. The multi-epoch optical-near-IR photometric measurements indicate significant variability over a 3-20 year baseline from the AGN component. Gemini-South optical data shows an unusual double-peaked emission-line features: the centroids of the broad-lined components of H-alpha and H-beta are blueshifted with respect to the narrow lines and host galaxy by approximately 3800 km/s. We examine possible cases which involve single or double supermassive black holes in the system, and discuss required future investigations to disentangle the mystery nature of this system.
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Squeeze-SegNet: a new fast deep convolutional neural network for semantic segmentation
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Nanfack, Geraldin; Elhassouny, Azeddine; Oulad Haj Thami, Rachid
2018-04-01
The recent researches in Deep Convolutional Neural Network have focused their attention on improving accuracy that provide significant advances. However, if they were limited to classification tasks, nowadays with contributions from Scientific Communities who are embarking in this field, they have become very useful in higher level tasks such as object detection and pixel-wise semantic segmentation. Thus, brilliant ideas in the field of semantic segmentation with deep learning have completed the state of the art of accuracy, however this architectures become very difficult to apply in embedded systems as is the case for autonomous driving. We present a new Deep fully Convolutional Neural Network for pixel-wise semantic segmentation which we call Squeeze-SegNet. The architecture is based on Encoder-Decoder style. We use a SqueezeNet-like encoder and a decoder formed by our proposed squeeze-decoder module and upsample layer using downsample indices like in SegNet and we add a deconvolution layer to provide final multi-channel feature map. On datasets like Camvid or City-states, our net gets SegNet-level accuracy with less than 10 times fewer parameters than SegNet.
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Growing controversy over "wise international water governance".
Trondalen, J M
2004-01-01
This article takes the perspective that when political relationships are strained, there seem to be few examples of wise international water resources governance. The Middle East is a striking example. Much effort has been put into policy development and the design of international principles, but very little into the translation of those into concrete and lasting governance. One of the theses of the article is that politics--whether domestic or international--in most cases overrides these principles and standards. Moreover readymade regional co-operation models of water managements are not directly applicable to every geographical, political, economic and social setting. Certain factors are often under-estimated in international water negotiations, such as: the complexity of any hydro-political negotiations, and need to develop commonly accepted standards; the difficulty of translating policy--either politically or legally--into an operational and realistic negotiations strategy; the format of the procedures and meetings; recognition that third parties should have a long-term perspective on any conflict they get involved in. With reservations, the lessons learned indicate that the following factors have an impact on grid locked situations, such as: new substantive information; new trade-offs between the parties; and changed political climate or relationship with external power-brokers.
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A novel method of reducing agent contacting pattern for metal ceramic composite membrane fabrication
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Agarwal, Amrita; Pujari, Murali; Uppaluri, Ramgopal; Verma, Anil
2014-11-01
Deliberating upon process modifications for surfactant induced electroless plating (SIEP), this article highlights the plating bath performance characteristics for two distinct reducing agent contacting modes (bulk and drop wise). Eventually, the effect of reducing agent concentration (50, 100, 200% excess) suitable for electroless plating bath for a nickel concentration of 0.08 mol/L was investigated. Finally, the compatibility of variation in nickel concentration (0.08-0.24 mol/L) with respect to variation in reducing agent concentration (50, 100, 200% excess) was investigated. LPSA, BET, FTIR, XRD, FESEM and nitrogen permeation experiments were used for surface and physical characterization. It was observed that for the bulk addition of reducing agent, the PPD values were 84.5% which increased to 89.3% for dropwise addition case. Thus the optimal combinations of SIEP process parameters were identified as 0.08 mol/L of nickel metal solution concentration with 100% excess drop-wise reducing agent. These conditions provided a plating rate of 5.5 × 10-5 mol/m2 s, PPD of 89.3% and a metal film thickness of 15.7 μm respectively after 12 h of sequential plating.
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Incidence of bovine clinical mastitis in Jammu region and antibiogram of isolated pathogens.
Bhat, Adil Majid; Soodan, Jasvinder Singh; Singh, Rajiv; Dhobi, Ishfaq Ahmad; Hussain, Tufail; Dar, Mohammad Yousuf; Mir, Muheet
2017-08-01
This study was conducted to evaluate the incidence of clinical mastitis in bovines of Jammu region, to identify the infectious organisms responsible for it, and the antimicrobial sensitivity of isolated pathogens. The study was conducted on cases that were presented to the Medicine Division of Teaching Veterinary Clinical Complex, Faculty of Veterinary Sciences and Animal Husbandry, R.S. Pura, Jammu, Jammu and Kashmir. A total of 260 cases of bovines were presented from June 30, 2012, to July 01, 2013, out of which 30 cases were of clinical mastitis. The diagnosis of clinical mastitis was made on the basis of history and clinical examination of affected animals. Animal and quarter-wise incidence of clinical mastitis were found to be 11.5% and 5.76%, respectively. Of the 23 isolates obtained, Staphylococcus aureus (60.87%) was the most frequently isolated organism, followed by coagulase negative Staphylococci (13.04%), Streptococcus uberis (4.35%), Streptococcus dysgalactiae (8.69%), and Escherichia coli (13.04%). The antimicrobial sensitivity of isolates revealed maximum sensitivity to enrofloxacin, gentamicin, amoxicillin/sulbactam, ceftriaxone/tazobactam, ceftizoxime, ampicillin/sulbactam and least sensitivity for oxytetracycline and penicillin. Staphylococcus spp. is the major causative agent of clinical mastitis in bovines of Jammu region. The causative agents of the clinical mastitis were most sensitive to enrofloxacin and gentamicin.
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CD10 and osteopontin expression in dentigerous cyst and ameloblastoma.
Masloub, Shaimaa M; Abdel-Azim, Adel M; Elhamid, Ehab S Abd
2011-05-24
To investigate the expression of CD10 and osteopontin in dentigerous cyst and ameloblastoma and to correlate their expression with neoplastic potentiality of dentigerous cyst and local invasion and risk of local recurrence in ameloblastoma. CD10 and osteopontin expression was studied by means of immunohistochemistry in 9 cases of dentigerous cysts (DC) and 17 cases of ameloblastoma. There were 7 unicystic ameloblastoma (UCA) and 10 multicystic ameloblastoma (MCA). Positive cases were included in the statistical analysis, carried on the tabulated data using the Open Office Spreadsheet 3.2.1 under Linux operating system. Analysis of variance and correlation studies were performed using "R" under Linux operating system (R Development Core Team (2010). Tukey post-hoc test was also performed as a pair-wise test. The significant level was set at 0.05. High CD10 and osteopontin expression was observed in UCA and MCA, and low CD10 and osteopontin expression was observed in DC. Significant correlation was seen between CD10 and osteopontin expression and neoplastic potentiality of DC and local invasion and risk of recurrences in ameloblastoma. In DC, high CD10 and osteopontin expression may indicate the neoplastic potentiality of certain areas. In UCA & MCA, high CD10 and osteopontin expression may identify areas with locally invasive behavior and high risk of recurrence.
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Aims and harvest of moral case deliberation.
Weidema, Froukje C; Molewijk, Bert A C; Kamsteeg, Frans; Widdershoven, Guy A M
2013-09-01
Deliberative ways of dealing with ethical issues in health care are expanding. Moral case deliberation is an example, providing group-wise, structured reflection on dilemmas from practice. Although moral case deliberation is well described in literature, aims and results of moral case deliberation sessions are unknown. This research shows (a) why managers introduce moral case deliberation and (b) what moral case deliberation participants experience as moral case deliberation results. A responsive evaluation was conducted, explicating moral case deliberation experiences by analysing aims (N = 78) and harvest (N = 255). A naturalistic data collection included interviews with managers and evaluation questionnaires of moral case deliberation participants (nurses). From the analysis, moral case deliberation appeals for cooperation, team bonding, critical attitude towards routines and nurses' empowerment. Differences are that managers aim to foster identity of the nursing profession, whereas nurses emphasize learning processes and understanding perspectives. We conclude that moral case deliberation influences team cooperation that cannot be controlled with traditional management tools, but requires time and dialogue. Exchanging aims and harvest between manager and team could result in co-creating (moral) practice in which improvements for daily cooperation result from bringing together perspectives of managers and team members.
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Machine-learning identification of galaxies in the WISE × SuperCOSMOS all-sky catalogue
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Krakowski, T.; Małek, K.; Bilicki, M.; Pollo, A.; Kurcz, A.; Krupa, M.
2016-11-01
Context. The two currently largest all-sky photometric datasets, WISE and SuperCOSMOS, have been recently cross-matched to construct a novel photometric redshift catalogue on 70% of the sky. Galaxies were separated from stars and quasars through colour cuts, which may leave imperfections because different source types may overlap in colour space. Aims: The aim of the present work is to identify galaxies in the WISE × SuperCOSMOS catalogue through an alternative approach of machine learning. This allows us to define more complex separations in the multi-colour space than is possible with simple colour cuts, and should provide a more reliable source classification. Methods: For the automatised classification we used the support vector machines (SVM) learning algorithm and employed SDSS spectroscopic sources that we cross-matched with WISE × SuperCOSMOS to construct the training and verification set. We performed a number of tests to examine the behaviour of the classifier (completeness, purity, and accuracy) as a function of source apparent magnitude and Galactic latitude. We then applied the classifier to the full-sky data and analysed the resulting catalogue of candidate galaxies. We also compared the resulting dataset with the one obtained through colour cuts. Results: The tests indicate very high accuracy, completeness, and purity (>95%) of the classifier at the bright end; this deteriorates for the faintest sources, but still retains acceptable levels of 85%. No significant variation in the classification quality with Galactic latitude is observed. When we applied the classifier to all-sky WISE × SuperCOSMOS data, we found 15 million galaxies after masking problematic areas. The resulting sample is purer than the one produced by applying colour cuts, at the price of a lower completeness across the sky. Conclusions: The automatic classification is a successful alternative approach to colour cuts for defining a reliable galaxy sample. The identifications we obtained are included in the public release of the WISE × SuperCOSMOS galaxy catalogue. The public release of the WISE × SuperCOSMOS galaxy catalogue is available from http://ssa.roe.ac.uk/WISExSCOS
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Air-borne heavy metal contamination to dietary vegetables: a case study from India.
Pandey, J; Pandey, Richa; Shubhashish, K
2009-12-01
Contamination of edible parts of three dietary vegetables, Spinach (Spinacia oleracea L.), Radish (Raphanus sativus L.), and Tomato (Lycopersicon esculentum Mill.) by air-borne cadmium (Cd), chromium (Cr), copper (Cu), nickel (Ni), and lead (Pb) was determined using pot culture experiments at three sites in the city of Varanasi, India. The data revealed that although Cr and Cu in vegetables remained below their safe limits, about 68% of the total samples contained Cd, Ni, and Pb above their respective safe limits of 1.5, 1.5, and 2.5 μg g(-1). Site wise synchrony and air accumulation factor (AAF) indicated that atmospheric deposition was the main contributor of metal contamination to vegetables. The study suggests that if the present trends of atmospheric deposition are continued, air-borne heavy metals will contaminate the agricultural produce with long-term health implications.
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The Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Wright, E. L.
2009-12-01
The Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer (WISE) will map the whole sky in the thermal infrared, filling a gap in sensitive all-sky surveys between the 2MASS near infrared survey and the AKARI Far-Infrared Survey. WISE will survey the sky in 6 months following its launch and in-orbit checkout. Launch is currently scheduled for November, 2009. WISE should cover more than 95% of sky with sensitivities of 120, 160, 650 & 2600 μJy or better in bands centered at 3.3, 4.7, 12 & 23 μm wavelength. The angular resolution should be 6 arcsec except at 23 μm where diffraction gives 12 arcsec.
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2009-10-19
VANDENBERG AIR FORCE BASE, Calif. - At Space Launch Complex 2 at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California, workers supervise the first stage of the United Launch Alliance Delta II rocket for launch of NASA's Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer, or WISE, as it is lowered onto pedestal's in the pad's mobile service tower. WISE will survey the entire sky at infrared wavelengths, creating a cosmic clearinghouse of hundreds of millions of objects which will be catalogued and provide a vast storehouse of knowledge about the solar system, the Milky Way, and the universe. Launch is scheduled for Dec. 7. For additional information, visit http://wise.ssl.berkeley.edu. Photo credit: NASA/Roy Allison, VAFB
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The Glass Is Half Full: Evidence for Efficacy of Alcohol-Wise at One University But Not the Other
CROOM, KATHERINE; STAIANO-COICO, LISA; LESSER, MARTIN L.; LEWIS, DEBORAH K.; REYNA, VALERIE F.; MARCHELL, TIMOTHY C.; FRANK, JEREMY; IVES, STEPHANIE
2017-01-01
This research extends the growing literature about online alcohol prevention programs for first-year college students. Two independent randomized control studies, conducted at separate universities, evaluated the short-term effectiveness of Alcohol-Wise, an online alcohol prevention program not previously studied. It was hypothesized the prevention program would increase alcohol knowledge and reduce alcohol consumption, including high-risk alcohol-related behaviors, among first-year college students. At both universities, the intervention significantly increased alcohol-related knowledge. At one university, the prevention program also significantly reduced alcohol consumption and high-risk drinking behaviors, such as playing drinking games, heavy drinking, and extreme ritualistic alcohol consumption. Implications for the use of online alcohol prevention programs and student affairs are discussed. PMID:25909233
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Platelet Function in Basset Hound Hereditary Thrombopathy.
1986-01-01
4021, 1975. 20. DZANDU, J.K., DEH, M.E., BARRETT, D.L., AND WISE, G.E. Detec- tion of erythrocyte membrane proteins, sialoproteins , and lipids in the...Wise GE. Detection of erythrocyte membrane proteins, sialoproteins , and lipids in the same polyacrylamide gel using a double staining technique. Proc
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ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Kennedy, Mike
2007-01-01
In 2007, schools and universities allocated billions of dollars to build education facilities. Responsible administrators strive to spend those funds wisely, but over the years, educators and community members have not always agreed on what constitutes wise spending. In the Baby Boom years, the accelerating demand for space led many schools and…
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Leading Educational Change Wisely
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Forrester, Gillian
2011-01-01
In this article, the author reviews Christopher Branson's book entitled "Leading Educational Change Wisely". The book provides an alternative and engaging perspective on leading educational change. Branson utilises "wisdom" as its central conceptual device to present a thought-provoking and philosophical account on how leaders are able to build a…
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Finite cohesion due to chain entanglement in polymer melts.
Cheng, Shiwang; Lu, Yuyuan; Liu, Gengxin; Wang, Shi-Qing
2016-04-14
Three different types of experiments, quiescent stress relaxation, delayed rate-switching during stress relaxation, and elastic recovery after step strain, are carried out in this work to elucidate the existence of a finite cohesion barrier against free chain retraction in entangled polymers. Our experiments show that there is little hastened stress relaxation from step-wise shear up to γ = 0.7 and step-wise extension up to the stretching ratio λ = 1.5 at any time before or after the Rouse time. In contrast, a noticeable stress drop stemming from the built-in barrier-free chain retraction is predicted using the GLaMM model. In other words, the experiment reveals a threshold magnitude of step-wise deformation below which the stress relaxation follows identical dynamics whereas the GLaMM or Doi-Edwards model indicates a monotonic acceleration of the stress relaxation dynamics as a function of the magnitude of the step-wise deformation. Furthermore, a sudden application of startup extension during different stages of stress relaxation after a step-wise extension, i.e. the delayed rate-switching experiment, shows that the geometric condensation of entanglement strands in the cross-sectional area survives beyond the reptation time τd that is over 100 times the Rouse time τR. Our results point to the existence of a cohesion barrier that can prevent free chain retraction upon moderate deformation in well-entangled polymer melts.
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Hot DOGs: The Most Luminous Galaxies Found by WISE
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Eisenhardt, Peter; Tsai, Chao-Wei; Wu, Jingwen; Griffith, Roger; Yan, Lin; Stern, Daniel; Stanford, Adam; Blain, Andrew; Benford, Dominic; Bridge, Carrie; Assef, Roberto; Petty, Sara
2013-02-01
NASA's Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer (WISE) has achieved its fundamental goal by delivering its all-sky survey at 3.4, 4.6, 12 and 22 (micron) (W1, W2, W3, and W4), reaching sensitivities hundreds of times deeper than IRAS. One of the two primary science objectives for WISE is to identify the most luminous galaxies in the Universe (Ultra-Luminous IR Galaxies, or ULIRGs). We have used WISE photometry to select an all- sky sample of objects which are extremely luminous, and for which Herschel far-IR follow-up observations are underway. The objects are prominent in W3 and W4, but faint or undetected in W1 and W2. Available spectroscopy and far IR photometry for these objects show they typically have redshifts z > 2 and luminosities over 10^13 L_odot, with about 10% exceeding 10^14 L_odot and rivaling the brightest known QSOs. Their dust is more than twice as hot as other IR luminous objects: they are hot dust obscured galaxies or ``hot DOGs," and may represent a new phase in galaxy evolution. We request NOAO time to obtain redshifts and optical and near IR photometry for the all-sky sample of the brightest hot DOGs, all of which are in our Herschel program. With existing and allocated observations, this request should complete the acquisition of these crucial data for this primary WISE science objective.
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Hot DOGs: The Most Luminous Galaxies Found by WISE
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Eisenhardt, Peter; Tsai, Chao-Wei; Wu, Jingwen; Assef, Roberto; Stern, Daniel; Wright, Edward
2013-08-01
NASA's Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer (WISE) has achieved its fundamental goal by delivering an all-sky survey at 3.4, 4.6, 12 and 22 (micron) (W1, W2, W3, and W4), reaching sensitivities hundreds of times deeper than IRAS. One of the two primary science objectives for WISE is to identify the most luminous galaxies in the Universe. We have used WISE photometry to select an all-sky sample of objects which are extremely luminous, and for which Herschel far-IR follow-up observations are 99% complete. The objects are prominent in W3 and W4, but faint or undetected in W1 and W2. The spectroscopy and far IR photometry for these objects show they typically have redshifts z > 2 and luminosities over 10^13 L_⊙, with about 5 - 10% exceeding 10^14 L_⊙ and rivaling the brightest known QSOs. Their dust is more than twice as hot as other IR luminous objects: they are hot dust obscured galaxies or ``hot DOGs," and may represent a new phase in galaxy evolution. Because our 2012B allocation had mixed weather, we request 2013B NOAO time to complete the collection of redshifts and optical and near IR photometry for this all-sky sample of the brightest hot DOGs. With existing and allocated observations, this request should complete the acquisition of these crucial data for this primary WISE science objective.
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An analysis of 3105 Medico Legal Cases at Tertiary Care Hospital, Rawalpindi.
Malik, Romana; Atif, Iffat; Rashid, Farah; Abbas, Maqbool
2017-01-01
Medico legal cases are essential component of medical practice and comprise most important constituent of emergencies. The reporting of such cases is imperative to recognize theirsocioeconomic burden on any country. The present study was conducted to scrutinize different categories of medico legal cases and characteristics of the victims at casualty department oftertiary care hospital Rawalpindi. The objective of the study was to find out the frequency ofvarious categories of medico legal cases and major characteristics ofvictims at tertiary care hospital, Rawalpindi. This was a cross-sectional study on 3105 registered cases in medico legal record of the casualty department of Benazir Bhutto hospital, Rawalpindi from January 2015 to December 2015. The hospital is located on the main road in densely populated central area of the city. The data wascollected on age, sex, month-wise distribution of various medico legal cases, weapon inflicting the injury, blunt trauma or physical assault, firearm injuries and road traffic accidents. The data thus obtained was analyzed using SPSS; observations were presented in tables and graphs. Out of all 3105 registered medico legal cases, reported cases caused by Road Traffic Accident 1230 (40%) followed by blunt injury or physical assault 966 (32%) cases, 19% by sharp weapons, 5% by poisoning, and 4% by firearm injuries. In our study out of 3105 cases, almost three quarter of victims (73%) were below 30 years of age, with a decreasing frequency beyond this age, males were predominantly inflicted 2516(81%) as compared to females 589 (19%). The reported road traffic accidents cases from urban areas were high (74%) as compared to those from rural locality (37%). In cases of blunt trauma, sharp weapon injuries and firearm injuries, there was a huge preponderance of victims from rural areas (65%), (62%) and 61% respectively, with urban cases constituting less. Road traffic injuries are one of the foremost causes of medico legal cases followed by blunt trauma and sharp weapon injuries. The emerging medico legal cases are neglected epidemic in most of the developing countries comprising a considerable public health problem.
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Ghai, Shashank; Schmitz, Gerd; Hwang, Tong-Hun; Effenberg, Alfred O.
2018-01-01
The purpose of the study was to assess the influence of real-time auditory feedback on knee proprioception. Thirty healthy participants were randomly allocated to control (n = 15), and experimental group I (15). The participants performed an active knee-repositioning task using their dominant leg, with/without additional real-time auditory feedback where the frequency was mapped in a convergent manner to two different target angles (40 and 75°). Statistical analysis revealed significant enhancement in knee re-positioning accuracy for the constant and absolute error with real-time auditory feedback, within and across the groups. Besides this convergent condition, we established a second divergent condition. Here, a step-wise transposition of frequency was performed to explore whether a systematic tuning between auditory-proprioceptive repositioning exists. No significant effects were identified in this divergent auditory feedback condition. An additional experimental group II (n = 20) was further included. Here, we investigated the influence of a larger magnitude and directional change of step-wise transposition of the frequency. In a first step, results confirm the findings of experiment I. Moreover, significant effects on knee auditory-proprioception repositioning were evident when divergent auditory feedback was applied. During the step-wise transposition participants showed systematic modulation of knee movements in the opposite direction of transposition. We confirm that knee re-positioning accuracy can be enhanced with concurrent application of real-time auditory feedback and that knee re-positioning can modulated in a goal-directed manner with step-wise transposition of frequency. Clinical implications are discussed with respect to joint position sense in rehabilitation settings. PMID:29568259
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Jovian Trojans: Orbital structures versus the WISE data
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Rozehnal, Jakub; Broz, M.
2013-10-01
In this work, we study the relation between orbital characteristics of Jovian Trojans and their albedos and diameters as measured by the WISE/NEOWISE mission (Grav et al. 2011, 2012). In our previous work (Broz & Rozehnal 2011), we concluded that there is only one collisional family with parent body size larger than 100 km among Trojans, namely the Eurybates. This finding was based on the analysis of the observed size distributions, colour data from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey, and simulations of orbital evolution. The WISE albedos serve as an independent source of information which allows us to verify our previous results. We also update our database of suitable resonant elements (i.e. the libration amplidude D, eccentricity e, inclination I) of Trojans and we look for new (to-be-discovered) clusters by the Hierarchical Clustering Method. Using the WISE diameters, we can construct more precise size-frequency distributions of Trojans in both the leading/trailing clouds which we compare to SFD of the cluster(s) mentioned above. We then prepare a collisional model (based on the Boulder code, Morbidelli et al. 2009). Initial conditions of our model are based on an assumption that the Trojans were captured from a destabilised transplanetary disc while Jupiter jumped during its close encounter with a Neptune-mass planet - the so-called "jump capture" (Nesvorny et al. 2013). Within the framework of this model we try to constrain the age of the Eurybates family. The work of MB was supported by grant GACR 13-013085 of the Czech Science Foundation and the Research Programme MSM0021620860 of the Czech Ministry of Education.
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Tokuda, Junichi; Mamata, Hatsuho; Gill, Ritu R; Hata, Nobuhiko; Kikinis, Ron; Padera, Robert F; Lenkinski, Robert E; Sugarbaker, David J; Hatabu, Hiroto
2011-04-01
To investigates the impact of nonrigid motion correction on pixel-wise pharmacokinetic analysis of free-breathing DCE-MRI in patients with solitary pulmonary nodules (SPNs). Misalignment of focal lesions due to respiratory motion in free-breathing dynamic contrast-enhanced MRI (DCE-MRI) precludes obtaining reliable time-intensity curves, which are crucial for pharmacokinetic analysis for tissue characterization. Single-slice 2D DCE-MRI was obtained in 15 patients. Misalignments of SPNs were corrected using nonrigid B-spline image registration. Pixel-wise pharmacokinetic parameters K(trans) , v(e) , and k(ep) were estimated from both original and motion-corrected DCE-MRI by fitting the two-compartment pharmacokinetic model to the time-intensity curve obtained in each pixel. The "goodness-of-fit" was tested with χ(2) -test in pixel-by-pixel basis to evaluate the reliability of the parameters. The percentages of reliable pixels within the SPNs were compared between the original and motion-corrected DCE-MRI. In addition, the parameters obtained from benign and malignant SPNs were compared. The percentage of reliable pixels in the motion-corrected DCE-MRI was significantly larger than the original DCE-MRI (P = 4 × 10(-7) ). Both K(trans) and k(ep) derived from the motion-corrected DCE-MRI showed significant differences between benign and malignant SPNs (P = 0.024, 0.015). The study demonstrated the impact of nonrigid motion correction technique on pixel-wise pharmacokinetic analysis of free-breathing DCE-MRI in SPNs. Copyright © 2011 Wiley-Liss, Inc.
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NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Korsaga, M.; Carignan, C.; Amram, P.; Epinat, B.; Jarrett, T. H.
2018-04-01
We present the mass distribution of a sample of 121 nearby galaxies with high quality optical velocity fields and available infra-red WISE 3.4 μm data. Contrary to previous studies, this sample covers all morphological types and is not biased toward late-type galaxies. These galaxies are part of the Fabry-Perot kinematical GHASP survey of spirals and irregular nearby galaxies. Combining the kinematical data to the WISE surface brightness data probing the emission from the old stellar population, we derive mass models allowing us to compare the luminous to the dark matter halo mass distribution in the optical regions of those galaxies. Dark matter (DM) models are constructed using the isothermal core profile and the Navarro-Frenk-White cuspy profile. We allow the M/L of the baryonic disc to vary or we keep it fixed, constrained by stellar evolutionary models (WISE W1-W2 color) and we carry out best fit (BFM) and pseudo-isothermal maximum disc (MDM) models. We found that the MDM provides M/L values four times higher than the BFM, suggesting that disc components, on average, tend to be maximal. The main results are: (i) the rotation curves of most galaxies are better fitted with core rather than cuspy profiles; (ii) the relation between the parameters of the DM and of the luminous matter components mostly depends on morphological types. More precisely, the distribution of the DM inside galaxies depends on whether or not the galaxy has a bulge.
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Quality of life in children with infantile hemangioma: a case control study.
Wang, Chuan; Li, Yanan; Xiang, Bo; Xiong, Fei; Li, Kai; Yang, Kaiying; Chen, Siyuan; Ji, Yi
2017-11-16
Infantile hemangioma (IH) is the most common vascular tumor in children. It is controversial whether IHs has effects on the quality of life (QOL) in patients of whom IH poses no threat or potential for complication. Thus, we conducted this study to evaluate the q QOL in patients with IH and find the predictors of poor QOL. The PedsQL 4.0 Genetic Core Scales and the PedsQL family information form were administered to parents of children with IH and healthy children both younger than 2-year-old. The quality-of-life instrument for IH (IH-QOL) and the PedsQL 4.0 family impact module were administered to parents of children with IH. We compared the PedsQL 4.0 Genetic Core Scales (GCIS) scores of the two groups. Multiple step-wise regression analysis was used to determine factors that influenced QOL in children with IH and their parents. Except for physical symptom, we found no significant difference in GCIS between patient group and healthy group (P = 0.409). The internal reliability of IH-QOL was excellent with the Cronbach's alpha coefficient for summary scores being 0.76. Multiple step-wise regression analysis showed that the predictors of poor IH-QOL total scores were hemangioma size, location, and mother's education level. The predictors of poor FIM total scores were hemangioma location and father's education level. The predictors of poor GCIS total scores were children's age, hemangioma location and father's education level. The findings support the feasibility and reliability of the Chinese version of IH-QOL to evaluate the QOL in children with IH and their parents. Hemangioma size, location and education level of mother are important impact factors for QOL in children with IH and their parents.
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Lydall, Gregory J; Bass, Nicholas J; McQuillin, Andrew; Lawrence, Jacob; Anjorin, Adebayo; Kandaswamy, Radhika; Pereira, Ana; Guerrini, Irene; Curtis, David; Vine, Anna E; Sklar, Pamela; Purcell, Shaun M; Gurling, Hugh MD
2012-01-01
Objectives Alcoholism and affective disorders are both strongly comorbid and heritable. We have investigated the genetic comorbidity between bipolar affective disorder and alcoholism. Methods A genome-wide allelic association study of 506 patients from the University College London (UCL) bipolar disorder case control sample and 510 ancestrally-matched supernormal controls. 143 of the bipolar subjects fulfilled the research diagnostic criteria (RDC) diagnosis of alcoholism. 372,193 single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) were genotyped. Genes previously shown to be associated with alcoholism and addiction phenotypes were then tested for association in the bipolar alcoholic sample using gene wise permutation tests of all SNPs genotyped within a 50kb region flanking each gene. Results Several CNS genes showed significant (p<0.05) gene wise evidence of association with bipolar alcoholism. The genes implicated which replicated previously identified associations with alcoholism were: cadherin 11 (CDH11), collagen type XI alpha 2 (COL11A2), neuromedin U receptor 2 (NMUR2), exportin7 (XP07) and semaphorin associated protein 5A (SEMA5A). The SNPs most strongly implicated in bipolar alcoholism, but which did not meet conventional genome-wide significance criteria were the insulin-like growth factor binding protein 7 (IGFBP7), carboxypeptidase O (CPO), cerebellin 2 (CBLN2), and the cadherin 12 (CDH12) genes. Conclusions We have confirmed the role of some genes previously shown to be associated with alcoholism in the comorbid bipolar alcoholism subgroup. In this subgroup bipolar disorder may lower the threshold for the phenotypic expression of these alcoholism susceptibility genes. We also show that some genes may independently increase susceptibility to affective disorder and alcoholism. PMID:21876473
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Bilateral syndactyly. A unique case with surgical correction.
Cisco, R W; Pitts, T E; Cicchinelli, L D; Caldarella, D J
1993-11-01
Cases must be treated on an individual basis, appreciating the complexity of the syndactyly, considering the patient compliance, and understanding the goals of the surgical correction. Extensive discussion with the patient and parents must occur to clarify the goals of the surgery, the expectations, and possible complications. Careful preoperative planning and incision design is paramount in obtaining satisfactory results. Skin grafting may be required, either full-thickness from a variety of donor sites or split-thickness grafting as in one case study reported. Adjunctively, manipulation and stretching of the web space for 2 to 3 months preoperatively may be helpful to achieve more laxity of the soft tissues. The choice of suture material is of particular concern when dealing with a small child. It is usually wise to use an absorbable suture material for skin closure in a small child to prevent undue emotional stress to the child or even further anesthesia upon suture removal. Vascular compromise caused by soft tissue tension in not an infrequent occurrence. As with any surgery that addresses largely cosmetic deformities, there is no substitute for exact prior planning, meticulous technique, and surgeon experience to optimize results.
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DriveWise: An Interdisciplinary Hospital-Based Driving Assessment Program
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
O'Connor, Margaret G.; Kapust, Lissa R.; Hollis, Ann M.
2008-01-01
Health care professionals working with the elderly have opportunities through research and clinical practice to shape public policy affecting the older driver. This article describes DriveWise, an interdisciplinary hospital-based driving assessment program developed in response to clinical concerns about the driving safety of individuals with…
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Annotated Bibliography on the Teaching of Psychology: 2007
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Johnson, David E.; Schroder, Simone I.; Erickson, Jonathan P.; Grimes, Katherine N.
2008-01-01
This annotated bibliography is a continuation of those previously published in "Teaching of Psychology" (e.g., Berry & Daniel, 1984; Fulkerson & Wise, 1987; Johnson & Schroder, 1997; Wise & Fulkerson, 1996). In this paper, the authors maintained similar search methods and criteria for inclusion that were used in previous bibliographies. They also…
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36 CFR 272.4 - Commercial use.
Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR
2010-07-01
..., importation, reproduction, or use of Woodsy Owl upon the following findings: (1) That the proposed use of Woodsy Owl will contribute to public knowledge about wise use of the environment and programs which... the status of Woodsy Owl as a national symbol for a public service campaign to promote wise use of the...
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46 CFR 56.50-55 - Bilge pumps.
Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR
2013-10-01
... Type of vessel Waters navigated Power pumps (1) Hand pumps Sailing Ocean and coastwise Two (2) Manned... Vessels Vessel length, in feet Passenger vessels 1 International voyages 3 Ocean, coast-wise and Great Lakes All other waters Dry-cargo vessels 2 Ocean, coast-wise and Great Lakes All waters Tankvessels All...
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46 CFR 56.50-55 - Bilge pumps.
Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR
2011-10-01
... Type of vessel Waters navigated Power pumps (1) Hand pumps Sailing Ocean and coastwise Two (2) Manned... Vessels Vessel length, in feet Passenger vessels 1 International voyages 3 Ocean, coast-wise and Great Lakes All other waters Dry-cargo vessels 2 Ocean, coast-wise and Great Lakes All waters Tank vessels All...
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46 CFR 56.50-55 - Bilge pumps.
Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR
2014-10-01
... Type of vessel Waters navigated Power pumps (1) Hand pumps Sailing Ocean and coastwise Two (2) Manned... Vessels Vessel length, in feet Passenger vessels 1 International voyages 3 Ocean, coast-wise and Great Lakes All other waters Dry-cargo vessels 2 Ocean, coast-wise and Great Lakes All waters Tankvessels All...
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46 CFR 56.50-55 - Bilge pumps.
Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR
2012-10-01
... Type of vessel Waters navigated Power pumps (1) Hand pumps Sailing Ocean and coastwise Two (2) Manned... Vessels Vessel length, in feet Passenger vessels 1 International voyages 3 Ocean, coast-wise and Great Lakes All other waters Dry-cargo vessels 2 Ocean, coast-wise and Great Lakes All waters Tankvessels All...
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Features of Wisdom: Prototypical Attributes of Wise People.
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Maciel, Anna G.; And Others
Features of everyday conceptions of a "wise person" were examined, based on a model of wisdom-related knowledge (Baltes & Smith, 1990). The goal was to examine whether the psychological theory underlying this model is consistent with lay conceptions of wisdom, and whether everyday conceptions contain additional features not contained…
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Model-Invariant Hybrid Computations of Separated Flows for RCA Standard Test Cases
NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)
Woodruff, Stephen
2016-01-01
NASA's Revolutionary Computational Aerosciences (RCA) subproject has identified several smooth-body separated flows as standard test cases to emphasize the challenge these flows present for computational methods and their importance to the aerospace community. Results of computations of two of these test cases, the NASA hump and the FAITH experiment, are presented. The computations were performed with the model-invariant hybrid LES-RANS formulation, implemented in the NASA code VULCAN-CFD. The model- invariant formulation employs gradual LES-RANS transitions and compensation for model variation to provide more accurate and efficient hybrid computations. Comparisons revealed that the LES-RANS transitions employed in these computations were sufficiently gradual that the compensating terms were unnecessary. Agreement with experiment was achieved only after reducing the turbulent viscosity to mitigate the effect of numerical dissipation. The stream-wise evolution of peak Reynolds shear stress was employed as a measure of turbulence dynamics in separated flows useful for evaluating computations.
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Computer-aided assessment of pulmonary disease in novel swine-origin H1N1 influenza on CT
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Yao, Jianhua; Dwyer, Andrew J.; Summers, Ronald M.; Mollura, Daniel J.
2011-03-01
The 2009 pandemic is a global outbreak of novel H1N1 influenza. Radiologic images can be used to assess the presence and severity of pulmonary infection. We develop a computer-aided assessment system to analyze the CT images from Swine-Origin Influenza A virus (S-OIV) novel H1N1 cases. The technique is based on the analysis of lung texture patterns and classification using a support vector machine (SVM). Pixel-wise tissue classification is computed from the SVM value. The method was validated on four H1N1 cases and ten normal cases. We demonstrated that the technique can detect regions of pulmonary abnormality in novel H1N1 patients and differentiate these regions from visually normal lung (area under the ROC curve is 0.993). This technique can also be applied to differentiate regions infected by different pulmonary diseases.
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2009-10-19
VANDENBERG AIR FORCE BASE, Calif. - At the Astrotech payload processing facility at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California, spacecraft technicians supervise the lift of a transportation canister containing NASA's Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer, or WISE, from a work stand for its move to Space Launch Complex 2. WISE will survey the entire sky at infrared wavelengths, creating a cosmic clearinghouse of hundreds of millions of objects which will be catalogued and provide a vast storehouse of knowledge about the solar system, the Milky Way, and the universe. Launch aboard a United Launch Alliance Delta II rocket is scheduled for Dec. 9. For additional information, visit http://www.nasa.gov/wise. Photo credit: NASA/Daniel Liberotti, VAFB
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2009-10-18
VANDENBERG AIR FORCE BASE, Calif. - At the Astrotech payload processing facility at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California, spacecraft technicians inspect the direct mate adapter, a transport fixture on which NASA's Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer, or WISE, enclosed in an environmental covering, will be moved to Space Launch Complex 2. WISE will survey the entire sky at infrared wavelengths, creating a cosmic clearinghouse of hundreds of millions of objects which will be catalogued and provide a vast storehouse of knowledge about the solar system, the Milky Way, and the universe. Launch aboard a United Launch Alliance Delta II rocket is scheduled for Dec. 9. For additional information, visit http://www.nasa.gov/wise. Photo credit: NASA
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2009-10-19
VANDENBERG AIR FORCE BASE, Calif. - At the Astrotech payload processing facility at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California, spacecraft technicians secure the transportation canister, in which NASA's Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer, or WISE, is enclosed, to the direct mate adapter, a transport fixture, for the spacecraft's move to Space Launch Complex 2. WISE will survey the entire sky at infrared wavelengths, creating a cosmic clearinghouse of hundreds of millions of objects which will be catalogued and provide a vast storehouse of knowledge about the solar system, the Milky Way, and the universe. Launch aboard a United Launch Alliance Delta II rocket is scheduled for Dec. 9. For additional information, visit http://www.nasa.gov/wise. Photo credit: NASA/Daniel Liberotti, VAFB
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Day case hernia repair: weak evidence or practice gap?
Scarfe, Anje; Duncan, Joanna; Ma, Ning; Cameron, Alun; Rankin, David; Karatassas, Alex; Fletcher, David; Watters, David; Maddern, Guy
2018-06-01
Analysis of a private insurer's administrative data set revealed significant variation in the length of hospital stay following hernia surgery. This review examined factors influencing the performance of day surgery for inguinal, femoral and umbilical hernia repair in adults. A systematic literature search was conducted in the PubMed, Embase and Cochrane Library databases to identify studies and clinical practice guidelines (CPGs) comparing same day hernia surgery to surgery followed by an overnight stay. Screening of studies by abstract and full text was completed by a single researcher and checked by a second. Studies were selected for inclusion based on a step-wise approach across three phases. Limited evidence from one systematic review, and three case series studies including 3213 patients found that same day hernia surgery was as safe and effective as an overnight stay. All identified CPGs recommended a same day procedure for most patients. Two case series studies reported that 3-8% of patients were ineligible for day procedures due to medical reasons; however, the characteristics of patients, in general, which are not suitable, have not been adequately investigated. Day surgery for groin hernia repair is safe and effective for most patients. However, evidence-based support is only one of many factors that may contribute to the uptake of day surgery in Australia. There is an opportunity for key stakeholders across the private healthcare system to deliver an equally effective but more sustainable and affordable hernia care by increasing the day surgery rates. © 2018 Royal Australasian College of Surgeons.
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Breast ultrasound computed tomography using waveform inversion with source encoding
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Wang, Kun; Matthews, Thomas; Anis, Fatima; Li, Cuiping; Duric, Neb; Anastasio, Mark A.
2015-03-01
Ultrasound computed tomography (USCT) holds great promise for improving the detection and management of breast cancer. Because they are based on the acoustic wave equation, waveform inversion-based reconstruction methods can produce images that possess improved spatial resolution properties over those produced by ray-based methods. However, waveform inversion methods are computationally demanding and have not been applied widely in USCT breast imaging. In this work, source encoding concepts are employed to develop an accelerated USCT reconstruction method that circumvents the large computational burden of conventional waveform inversion methods. This method, referred to as the waveform inversion with source encoding (WISE) method, encodes the measurement data using a random encoding vector and determines an estimate of the speed-of-sound distribution by solving a stochastic optimization problem by use of a stochastic gradient descent algorithm. Computer-simulation studies are conducted to demonstrate the use of the WISE method. Using a single graphics processing unit card, each iteration can be completed within 25 seconds for a 128 × 128 mm2 reconstruction region. The results suggest that the WISE method maintains the high spatial resolution of waveform inversion methods while significantly reducing the computational burden.
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Uncovering Heavily Obscured AGN with WISE and NuSTAR
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Hickox, Ryan C.; Carroll, Christopher M.; Yan, Wei; DiPompeo, Michael A.; Hainline, Kevin N.; NuSTAR Obscured AGN Team
2018-01-01
Supermassive black holes gain their mass through accretion as active galactic nuclei (AGN), but it is now clear that a large fraction of this growth is "hidden" behind large columns of gas and dust. Of particular interest are Compton-thick (CT) AGN, with columns NH > 1024 cm-2, that have been difficult to identify using optical or soft X-ray surveys. We will present two studies of heavily obscured AGN that aim to uncover more of the full population of "hidden" growing black holes: (1) Analysis of the spectral energy distributions of millions of galaxies with photometry from WISE (mid-IR), UKIDSS (near-IR), and SDSS (optical), that uncovers large populations of weak or heavily buried AGN, and (2) NuSTAR observations of a sample of candidate highly obscured AGN, selected from WISE and SDSS photometry,and confirmed using SALT and Keck spectroscopy. The NuSTAR data reveal the existence of powerful CT quasars with extremely large columns NH > 1025 cm-2, which may represent a significant fraction of previously hidden black hole growth. This work is supported by NASA grant numbers NNX16AN48G and NNX15AP24G, and the NSF through grant numbers 1515364 and 1554584.
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Relationships between HI Gas Mass, Stellar Mass and Star Formation Rate of HICAT+WISE Galaxies
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Parkash, Vaishali; Brown, Michael J. I.
2018-01-01
Galaxies grow via a combination of star formation and mergers. In this thesis, I have studied what drives star formation in nearby galaxies. Using archival WISE, Galex, 21-cm data and new IFU observations, I examine the HI content, Hα emission, stellar kinematics, and gas kinematics of three sub-classes of galaxies: spiral galaxies, shell galaxies and HI galaxies with unusually low star formation rates (SFR). In this dissertation talk, I will focus on the scaling relations between atomic (HI) gas, stellar mass and SFR of spiral galaxies. Star formation is fuelled by HI and molecular hydrogen, therefore we expect correlations between HI mass, stellar mass and SFR. However, the measured scaling relationships vary in the prior literature due to sample selection or low completeness. I will discuss new scaling relationships determined using HI Parkes All Sky-Survey Catalogue (HICAT) and the Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer (WISE). The combination of the local HICAT survey with sensitive WISE mid-infrared imaging improves the stellar masses, SFRs and completeness relative to previous literature. Of the 3,513 HICAT sources, we find 3.4 μm counterparts for 2,824 sources (80%), and provide new WISE matched aperture photometry for these galaxies. For a stellar mass selected sample of z ≤ 0.01 spiral galaxies, we find HI detections for 94% of the galaxies, enabling us to accurately measure HI mass as a function of stellar mass. In contrast to HI-selected galaxy samples, we find that star formation efficiency of spiral galaxies is constant at 10-9.5 yr‑1 with a scatter of 0.5 dex for stellar masses above 109.5 solar masses. We find HI mass increases with stellar mass for spiral galaxies, but the scatter is 1.7 dex for all spiral galaxies and 0.6 dex for galaxies with the T-type 5 to 7. We find an upper limit on HI mass that depends on stellar mass, which is consistent with this limit being dictated by the halo spin parameter.
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Project WISE: Building STEM-Focused Youth-Programs that Serve the Community
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
DiLisi, Gregory A.; McMillin, Keith A.; Virostek, Margaret E.
2011-01-01
We describe the design and implementation of Project WISE, a multi-institutional partnership that assembles interdisciplinary teams of undergraduate and high school students charged with developing STEM-focused community youth-programs. Our goal is twofold: (i.) to promote young women's interest in STEM-oriented careers through an early, positive…
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Boxes with Fires: Wisely Integrating Learning Technologies into the Art Classroom
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Gregory, Diane C.
2009-01-01
By integrating and infusing computer learning technologies wisely into student-centered or social constructivist art learning environments, art educators can improve student learning and at the same time provide a creative, substantive model for how schools can and should be reformed. By doing this, art educators have an opportunity to demonstrate…
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Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014
2010-09-03
... this action are elementary and middle school students, parents, and educators (informal and external... appropriate automated electronic, mechanical, or other technological collection techniques or other forms of... is consolidated in 40 CFR part 9. Abstract: The goal of the SunWise School Program is to teach...
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SunWise[R] Meteorologist Tool Kit
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
US Environmental Protection Agency, 2007
2007-01-01
The SunWise Program is designed to help meteorologists raise sun safety awareness by addressing the science of the sun, the risk of overexposure to its ultraviolet (UV) radiation, and what students and their families can do to protect themselves from overexposure. This Tool Kit has been designed for use all over the United States and its…
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Wise Humanising Creativity: Changing How We Create in a Virtual Learning Environment
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Chappell, Kerry; Walsh, Chris; Wren, Heather; Kenny, Karen; Schmoelz, Alexander; Stouraitis, Elias
2017-01-01
This article interrogates how a particular conception of creativity: "wise humanising creativity" (WHC) is manifest within a virtual learning environment (VLE) with children and young people. It reports on the outcomes of C[superscript 2]Learn, a three-year European Commission funded project which introduced innovative digital gaming…
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Methods as Tools: A Response to O'Keefe.
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Hewes, Dean E.
2003-01-01
Tries to distinguish the key insights from some distortions by clarifying the goals of experiment-wise error control that D. O'Keefe correctly identifies as vague and open to misuse. Concludes that a better understanding of the goal of experiment-wise error correction erases many of these "absurdities," but the clarifications necessary…
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Street Wise Part 2: Educating Children for Safe Bicycling
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Crider, Linda B.; Hall, Amanda K.
2006-01-01
This part of the "Street Wise" series incorporates essential bicycle safety skills into a one week bike unit, designed for 3rd through 6th graders. These skills require much repetition and practice but can help children develop safe traffic behaviors that save lives, such as stopping, scanning, signaling, street crossing, and avoiding…
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Using PeerWise to Develop a Contributing Student Pedagogy for Postgraduate Psychology
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
McKenzie, Wendy; Roodenburg, John
2017-01-01
The importance of the role of peer and self-assessment in developing formative and sustainable assessment practice in higher education is increasingly becoming evident. PeerWise is an online software tool that engages students in contributing to their own and others' learning by authoring, answering and providing feedback on multiple choice…
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NuSTAR Observations of Heavily Obscured Quasars Selected by WISE
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Yan, Wei
2017-08-01
A key goal of the Nuclear Spectroscopic Telescope Array (NuSTAR) program is to find and characterize heavily obscured quasars, luminous accreting supermassive black holes hidden by gas and dust. Based on mid-infrared (IR) photometry from Wide-Field Infrared Survey Explorer (WISE) and optical photometry from the Sloan Digital Sky Surveys, we have selected a large population of obscured quasars; here we report the NuSTAR observations of four WISE-selected heavily obscured quasars for which we have optical spectroscopy from the Southern African Large Telescope and KECK Telescope. Three of four objects are undetected with NuSTAR, while the fourth has only a marginal detection. We confirm our objects have observed hard X-ray (10-40 keV) luminosities at or below ~1043 erg s-1. We compare IR and X-ray luminosities to obtain estimates of hydrogen column NH based on the suppression of the hard X-ray emission. We estimate NH to be at or greater than 1025 cm-2, confirming that WISE and optical selection can identify very heavily obscured quasars that may be missed in X-ray surveys.
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Ren, Yudan; Fang, Jun; Lv, Jinglei; Hu, Xintao; Guo, Cong Christine; Guo, Lei; Xu, Jiansong; Potenza, Marc N; Liu, Tianming
2017-08-01
Assessing functional brain activation patterns in neuropsychiatric disorders such as cocaine dependence (CD) or pathological gambling (PG) under naturalistic stimuli has received rising interest in recent years. In this paper, we propose and apply a novel group-wise sparse representation framework to assess differences in neural responses to naturalistic stimuli across multiple groups of participants (healthy control, cocaine dependence, pathological gambling). Specifically, natural stimulus fMRI (N-fMRI) signals from all three groups of subjects are aggregated into a big data matrix, which is then decomposed into a common signal basis dictionary and associated weight coefficient matrices via an effective online dictionary learning and sparse coding method. The coefficient matrices associated with each common dictionary atom are statistically assessed for each group separately. With the inter-group comparisons based on the group-wise correspondence established by the common dictionary, our experimental results demonstrated that the group-wise sparse coding and representation strategy can effectively and specifically detect brain networks/regions affected by different pathological conditions of the brain under naturalistic stimuli.
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Straker, L; Maslen, B; Burgess-Limerick, R; Johnson, P; Dennerlein, J
2010-04-01
Computer use by children is common and there is concern over the potential impact of this exposure on child physical development. Recently principles for child-specific evidence-based guidelines for wise use of computers have been published and these included one concerning the facilitation of appropriate physical development. This paper reviews the evidence and presents detailed guidelines for this principle. The guidelines include encouraging a mix of sedentary and whole body movement tasks, encouraging reasonable postures during computing tasks through workstation, chair, desk, display and input device selection and adjustment and special issues regarding notebook computer use and carriage, computing skills and responding to discomfort. The evidence limitations highlight opportunities for future research. The guidelines themselves can inform parents and teachers, equipment designers and suppliers and form the basis of content for teaching children the wise use of computers. STATEMENT OF RELEVANCE: Many children use computers and computer-use habits formed in childhood may track into adulthood. Therefore child-computer interaction needs to be carefully managed. These guidelines inform those responsible for children to assist in the wise use of computers.
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NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Kay, Alison E.; Hardy, Judy; Galloway, Ross K.
2018-06-01
PeerWise is an online application where students are encouraged to generate a bank of multiple choice questions for their classmates to answer. After answering a question, students can provide feedback to the question author about the quality of the question and the question author can respond to this. Student use of, and attitudes to, this online community within PeerWise was investigated in two large first year undergraduate physics courses, across three academic years, to explore how students interact with the system and the extent to which they believe PeerWise to be useful to their learning. Most students recognized that there is value in engaging with PeerWise, and many students engaged deeply with the system, thinking critically about the quality of their submissions and reflecting on feedback provided to them. Students also valued the breadth of topics and level of difficulty offered by the questions, recognized the revision benefits afforded by the resource, and were often willing to contribute to the community by providing additional explanations and engaging in discussion.
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Samavedi, Satyavrata; Vaidya, Prasad; Gaddam, Prudhvidhar; Whittington, Abby R; Goldstein, Aaron S
2014-12-01
Although bone-patellar tendon-bone (B-PT-B) autografts are the gold standard for repair of anterior cruciate ligament ruptures, they suffer from drawbacks such as donor site morbidity and limited supply. Engineered tissues modeled after B-PT-B autografts are promising alternatives because they have the potential to regenerate connective tissue and facilitate osseointegration. Towards the long-term goal of regenerating ligaments and their bony insertions, the objective of this study was to construct 2D meshes and 3D cylindrical composite scaffolds - possessing simultaneous region-wise differences in fiber orientation, diameter, chemistry and mechanical properties - by electrospinning two different polymers from off-set spinnerets. Using a dual drum collector, 2D meshes consisting of an aligned polycaprolactone (PCL) fiber region, randomly oriented poly(lactide-co-glycolide) (PLGA) fiber region and a transition region (comprised of both PCL and PLGA fibers) were prepared, and region-wise differences were confirmed by microscopy and tensile testing. Bone marrow stromal cells (BMSCs) cultured on these meshes exhibited random orientations and low aspect ratios on the random PLGA regions, and high aspect ratios and alignment on the aligned PCL regions. Next, meshes containing an aligned PCL region flanked by two transition regions and two randomly oriented PLGA regions were prepared and processed into 3D cylindrical composite scaffolds using an interpenetrating photo-crosslinkable polyethylene glycol diacrylate hydrogel to recapitulate the shape of B-PT-B autografts. Tensile testing indicated that cylindrical composites were mechanically robust, and eventually failed due to stress concentration in the aligned PCL region. In summary, this study demonstrates a process to fabricate electrospun meshes possessing region-wise differences in properties that can elicit region-dependent cell responses, and be readily processed into scaffolds with the shape of B-PT-B autografts. © 2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
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Fast parallel image registration on CPU and GPU for diagnostic classification of Alzheimer's disease
Shamonin, Denis P.; Bron, Esther E.; Lelieveldt, Boudewijn P. F.; Smits, Marion; Klein, Stefan; Staring, Marius
2013-01-01
Nonrigid image registration is an important, but time-consuming task in medical image analysis. In typical neuroimaging studies, multiple image registrations are performed, i.e., for atlas-based segmentation or template construction. Faster image registration routines would therefore be beneficial. In this paper we explore acceleration of the image registration package elastix by a combination of several techniques: (i) parallelization on the CPU, to speed up the cost function derivative calculation; (ii) parallelization on the GPU building on and extending the OpenCL framework from ITKv4, to speed up the Gaussian pyramid computation and the image resampling step; (iii) exploitation of certain properties of the B-spline transformation model; (iv) further software optimizations. The accelerated registration tool is employed in a study on diagnostic classification of Alzheimer's disease and cognitively normal controls based on T1-weighted MRI. We selected 299 participants from the publicly available Alzheimer's Disease Neuroimaging Initiative database. Classification is performed with a support vector machine based on gray matter volumes as a marker for atrophy. We evaluated two types of strategies (voxel-wise and region-wise) that heavily rely on nonrigid image registration. Parallelization and optimization resulted in an acceleration factor of 4–5x on an 8-core machine. Using OpenCL a speedup factor of 2 was realized for computation of the Gaussian pyramids, and 15–60 for the resampling step, for larger images. The voxel-wise and the region-wise classification methods had an area under the receiver operator characteristic curve of 88 and 90%, respectively, both for standard and accelerated registration. We conclude that the image registration package elastix was substantially accelerated, with nearly identical results to the non-optimized version. The new functionality will become available in the next release of elastix as open source under the BSD license. PMID:24474917
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DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)
You, D; Aryal, M; Samuels, S
Purpose: A previous study showed that large sub-volumes of tumor with low blood volume (BV) (poorly perfused) in head-and-neck (HN) cancers are significantly associated with local-regional failure (LRF) after chemoradiation therapy, and could be targeted with intensified radiation doses. This study aimed to develop an automated and scalable model to extract voxel-wise contrast-enhanced temporal features of dynamic contrastenhanced (DCE) MRI in HN cancers for predicting LRF. Methods: Our model development consists of training and testing stages. The training stage includes preprocessing of individual-voxel DCE curves from tumors for intensity normalization and temporal alignment, temporal feature extraction from the curves, featuremore » selection, and training classifiers. For feature extraction, multiresolution Haar discrete wavelet transformation is applied to each DCE curve to capture temporal contrast-enhanced features. The wavelet coefficients as feature vectors are selected. Support vector machine classifiers are trained to classify tumor voxels having either low or high BV, for which a BV threshold of 7.6% is previously established and used as ground truth. The model is tested by a new dataset. The voxel-wise DCE curves for training and testing were from 14 and 8 patients, respectively. A posterior probability map of the low BV class was created to examine the tumor sub-volume classification. Voxel-wise classification accuracy was computed to evaluate performance of the model. Results: Average classification accuracies were 87.2% for training (10-fold crossvalidation) and 82.5% for testing. The lowest and highest accuracies (patient-wise) were 68.7% and 96.4%, respectively. Posterior probability maps of the low BV class showed the sub-volumes extracted by our model similar to ones defined by the BV maps with most misclassifications occurred near the sub-volume boundaries. Conclusion: This model could be valuable to support adaptive clinical trials with further validation. The framework could be extendable and scalable to extract temporal contrastenhanced features of DCE-MRI in other tumors. We would like to acknowledge NIH for funding support: UO1 CA183848.« less
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NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Singh, Navneet K.; Singh, Asheesh K.; Tripathy, Manoj
2012-05-01
For power industries electricity load forecast plays an important role for real-time control, security, optimal unit commitment, economic scheduling, maintenance, energy management, and plant structure planning
etc . A new technique for long term load forecasting (LTLF) using optimized feed forward artificial neural network (FFNN) architecture is presented in this paper, which selects optimal number of neurons in the hidden layer as well as the best training method for the case study. The prediction performance of proposed technique is evaluated using mean absolute percentage error (MAPE) of Thailand private electricity consumption and forecasted data. The results obtained are compared with the results of classical auto-regressive (AR) and moving average (MA) methods. It is, in general, observed that the proposed method is prediction wise more accurate. -
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Bayat, Hamid Reza; Krämer, Julian; Wunderlich, Linus; Wulfinghoff, Stephan; Reese, Stefanie; Wohlmuth, Barbara; Wieners, Christian
2018-03-01
This work presents a systematic study of discontinuous and nonconforming finite element methods for linear elasticity, finite elasticity, and small strain plasticity. In particular, we consider new hybrid methods with additional degrees of freedom on the skeleton of the mesh and allowing for a local elimination of the element-wise degrees of freedom. We show that this process leads to a well-posed approximation scheme. The quality of the new methods with respect to locking and anisotropy is compared with standard and in addition locking-free conforming methods as well as established (non-) symmetric discontinuous Galerkin methods with interior penalty. For several benchmark configurations, we show that all methods converge asymptotically for fine meshes and that in many cases the hybrid methods are more accurate for a fixed size of the discrete system.
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Type-II generalized family-wise error rate formulas with application to sample size determination.
Delorme, Phillipe; de Micheaux, Pierre Lafaye; Liquet, Benoit; Riou, Jérémie
2016-07-20
Multiple endpoints are increasingly used in clinical trials. The significance of some of these clinical trials is established if at least r null hypotheses are rejected among m that are simultaneously tested. The usual approach in multiple hypothesis testing is to control the family-wise error rate, which is defined as the probability that at least one type-I error is made. More recently, the q-generalized family-wise error rate has been introduced to control the probability of making at least q false rejections. For procedures controlling this global type-I error rate, we define a type-II r-generalized family-wise error rate, which is directly related to the r-power defined as the probability of rejecting at least r false null hypotheses. We obtain very general power formulas that can be used to compute the sample size for single-step and step-wise procedures. These are implemented in our R package rPowerSampleSize available on the CRAN, making them directly available to end users. Complexities of the formulas are presented to gain insight into computation time issues. Comparison with Monte Carlo strategy is also presented. We compute sample sizes for two clinical trials involving multiple endpoints: one designed to investigate the effectiveness of a drug against acute heart failure and the other for the immunogenicity of a vaccine strategy against pneumococcus. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
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VizieR Online Data Catalog: AMIGA sample: CO properties (Lisenfeld+, 2017)
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Lisenfeld, U.; Alatalo, K.; Zucker, C.; Appleton, P. N.; Gallagher, S.; Guillard, P.; Johnson, K.
2017-09-01
Our sample is based on the catalog of Zucker et al. (2016, Cat. J/ApJ/821/113), which presents WISE data for 652 galaxies in 163 compact groups, of which 428 galaxies have reliable photometry (S/N> 2 in all bands). We searched the literature for all existing CO data for this Zucker et al. (2016, Cat. J/ApJ/821/113) subsample (294 galaxies) and obtained CO measurements for 102 HCG galaxies (Verdes-Montenegro et al., 1998ApJ...497...89V; Leon et al., 1998A&A...330...37L; Martinez-Badenes et al., 2012, Cat. J/A+A/540/A96; Lisenfeld et al., 2014, Cat. J/A+A/570/A24) and for two RSCG galaxies (Mirabel et al., 1990A&A...236..327M; Wiklind et al., 1995A&A...297..643W, NGC 232 and NGC 2831). The observations were carried out with the Institut de Radioastronomie Millimetrique (IRAM) 30m telescope, Five College Radio Telescope, Swedish-ESO Submillimetre Telescope (SEST), and Kitt Peak Radio Telescope with single pointings at the central position for most cases. To supplement the CO data for these 104 galaxies from the literature, as part of this study we observed the redshifted CO(1-0) line for an additional 27 galaxies. We observed an additional 27 galaxies in CGs between January and April 2017 with the IRAM 30m telescope on Pico Veleta. We selected the sources, based on their WISE colors, as preferentially canyon or IRTZ objects. (1 data file).
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POWER-ENHANCED MULTIPLE DECISION FUNCTIONS CONTROLLING FAMILY-WISE ERROR AND FALSE DISCOVERY RATES.
Peña, Edsel A; Habiger, Joshua D; Wu, Wensong
2011-02-01
Improved procedures, in terms of smaller missed discovery rates (MDR), for performing multiple hypotheses testing with weak and strong control of the family-wise error rate (FWER) or the false discovery rate (FDR) are developed and studied. The improvement over existing procedures such as the Šidák procedure for FWER control and the Benjamini-Hochberg (BH) procedure for FDR control is achieved by exploiting possible differences in the powers of the individual tests. Results signal the need to take into account the powers of the individual tests and to have multiple hypotheses decision functions which are not limited to simply using the individual p -values, as is the case, for example, with the Šidák, Bonferroni, or BH procedures. They also enhance understanding of the role of the powers of individual tests, or more precisely the receiver operating characteristic (ROC) functions of decision processes, in the search for better multiple hypotheses testing procedures. A decision-theoretic framework is utilized, and through auxiliary randomizers the procedures could be used with discrete or mixed-type data or with rank-based nonparametric tests. This is in contrast to existing p -value based procedures whose theoretical validity is contingent on each of these p -value statistics being stochastically equal to or greater than a standard uniform variable under the null hypothesis. Proposed procedures are relevant in the analysis of high-dimensional "large M , small n " data sets arising in the natural, physical, medical, economic and social sciences, whose generation and creation is accelerated by advances in high-throughput technology, notably, but not limited to, microarray technology.
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Thermal Intertias of Main-Belt Asteroids from Wise Thermal Infrared Data
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Hanus, Josef; Delbo', Marco; Durech, Josef; Alí-Lagoa, Victor
2014-11-01
By means of a modified thermophysical model (TPM) that takes into account asteroid shape and pole uncertainties, we analyze the thermal infrared data acquired by the NASA's Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer (WISE) of about 300 asteroids with derived convex shape models. We adopt convex shape models from the DAMIT database (Durech et al., 2010, A&A 513, A46) and present new determinations based on optical disk-integrated photometry and the lightcurve inversion method (Kaasalainen & Torppa, 2001, Icarus 153, 37). This work more than double the number of asteroids with determined thermophysical properties. We also discuss cases in which shape uncertainties prevent the determination of reliable thermophysical properties. This is per-se a novel result, as the effect of shape has been often neglected in thermophysical modeling of asteroids.We also present the main results of the statistical study of derived thermophysical parameters within the whole population of MBAs and within few asteroid families. The thermal inertia increases with decreasing size, but a large range of thermal inertia values is observed within the similar size ranges between 10-100 km. Surprisingly, we derive low (<20J m^{-2} s^{-1/2} K^{-1}) thermal inertia values for several asteroids with sizes D>10 km, indicating a very fine and mature regolith on these small bodies. The work of JH and MD was carried under the contract 11-BS56-008 (SHOCKS) of the French Agence National de la Recherche (ANR), and JD has been supported by the grant GACR P209/10/0537 of the Czech Science Foundation.
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Walss-Bass, Consuelo; Suchting, Robert; Olvera, Rene L; Williamson, Douglas E
2018-07-01
Immune system abnormalities have been repeatedly observed in several psychiatric disorders, including severe depression and anxiety. However, whether specific immune mediators play an early role in the etiopathogenesis of these disorders remains unknown. In a longitudinal design, component-wise gradient boosting was used to build models of depression, assessed by the Mood-Feelings Questionnaire-Child (MFQC), and anxiety, assessed by the Screen for Child Anxiety Related Emotional Disorders (SCARED) in 254 adolescents from a large set of candidate predictors, including sex, race, 39 inflammatory proteins, and the interactions between those proteins and time. Each model was reduced via backward elimination to maximize parsimony and generalizability. Component-wise gradient boosting and model reduction found that female sex, growth- regulated oncogene (GRO), and transforming growth factor alpha (TGF-alpha) predicted depression, while female sex predicted anxiety. Differential onset of puberty as well as a lack of control for menstrual cycle may also have been responsible for differences between males and females in the present study. In addition, investigation of all possible nonlinear relationships between the predictors and the outcomes was beyond the computational capacity and scope of the present research. This study highlights the need for novel statistical modeling to identify reliable biological predictors of aberrant psychological behavior. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
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Gopinath, Kaundinya; Krishnamurthy, Venkatagiri; Lacey, Simon; Sathian, K
2018-02-01
In a recent study Eklund et al. have shown that cluster-wise family-wise error (FWE) rate-corrected inferences made in parametric statistical method-based functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) studies over the past couple of decades may have been invalid, particularly for cluster defining thresholds less stringent than p < 0.001; principally because the spatial autocorrelation functions (sACFs) of fMRI data had been modeled incorrectly to follow a Gaussian form, whereas empirical data suggest otherwise. Hence, the residuals from general linear model (GLM)-based fMRI activation estimates in these studies may not have possessed a homogenously Gaussian sACF. Here we propose a method based on the assumption that heterogeneity and non-Gaussianity of the sACF of the first-level GLM analysis residuals, as well as temporal autocorrelations in the first-level voxel residual time-series, are caused by unmodeled MRI signal from neuronal and physiological processes as well as motion and other artifacts, which can be approximated by appropriate decompositions of the first-level residuals with principal component analysis (PCA), and removed. We show that application of this method yields GLM residuals with significantly reduced spatial correlation, nearly Gaussian sACF and uniform spatial smoothness across the brain, thereby allowing valid cluster-based FWE-corrected inferences based on assumption of Gaussian spatial noise. We further show that application of this method renders the voxel time-series of first-level GLM residuals independent, and identically distributed across time (which is a necessary condition for appropriate voxel-level GLM inference), without having to fit ad hoc stochastic colored noise models. Furthermore, the detection power of individual subject brain activation analysis is enhanced. This method will be especially useful for case studies, which rely on first-level GLM analysis inferences.
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NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Langus, T. C.; Tempel, R. N.
2017-12-01
The Women in Science & Engineering (WiSE) program at the University of Nevada, Reno (UNR) aims to recruit and retain a diverse population of women in STEM fields. During the WiSE Program's 10 years in service, we have primarily functioned as a resource for 364 young women to expand their pre-professional network by building valuable relationships with like-minded women. More recently, we have introduced key changes to better benefit our WiSE scholars, establishing a new residence hall, the Living Learning Community (LLC). The introduction of the LLC, resident assistants, and academic mentors helped to provide support to a diverse culture of women with varying thoughts, values, attitudes, and identities. To evaluate the progress of our program, demographic data was statistically analyzed using SPSS to identify correlations between math preparation, performance in foundational courses, average time to graduation, and retention in STEM majors. Initial programmatic assessment indicates that students participating in WiSE are provided a more well-rounded experience while pursuing higher education. We have maintained a 90% retention rate of females graduating with bachelor's degrees in STEM disciplines (n=187), with many graduates completing advanced masters and doctoral degrees and seamlessly entering into post-graduate internships, professional, and industry careers. The success of the WiSE program is attributed to a focused initiative in fostering supportive classroom environments through common course enrollment, professional development, and engaging women in their community through service learning. As a continued focus, we aim to increase the inclusivity and representation of women at UNR in underrepresented fields such as physics, math, and the geosciences. Further program improvements will be based on ongoing research, including a qualitative approach to explore how providing gender equitable resources influences the persistence of women in STEM.
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WISE J080822.18-644357.3 - a 45 Myr-old accreting M dwarf hosting a primordial disc
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Murphy, Simon J.; Mamajek, Eric E.; Bell, Cameron P. M.
2018-05-01
WISE J080822.18-644357.3 (WISE J0808-6443) was recently identified as a new M dwarf debris disc system and a candidate member of the 45 Myr-old Carina association. Given that the strength of its infrared excess (LIR/L⋆ ≃ 0.1) appears to be more consistent with a young protoplanetary disc, we present the first optical spectra of the star and reassess its evolutionary and membership status. We find WISE J0808-6443 to be a Li-rich M5 star with strong H α emission (-125 < EW < -65 Å over 4 epochs) whose strength and broad width are consistent with accretion at a low level (˜10-10 M⊙ yr-1) from its disc. The spectral energy distribution of the star is consistent with a primordial disc and is well-fitted using a two-temperature blackbody model with Tinner ≃ 1100 K and Touter ≃ 240 K. AllWISE multi-epoch photometry shows the system exhibits significant variability in the 3.4 and 4.6 μm bands. We calculate an improved proper motion based on archival astrometry, and combined with a new radial velocity, the kinematics of the star are consistent with membership in Carina at a kinematic distance of 90 ± 9 pc. The spectroscopic and photometric data are consistent with WISE J0808-6443 being a ˜0.1 M⊙ Classical T-Tauri star and one of the oldest known accreting M-type stars. These results provide further evidence that the upper limit on the lifetimes of gas-rich discs - and hence the time-scales to form and evolve protoplanetary systems - around the lowest mass stars may be longer than previously recognized, or some mechanism may be responsible for regenerating short-lived discs at later stages of pre-main sequence evolution.
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NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)
Howell, Charles T., III; Jones, Frank; Thorson, Taylor; Grube, Richard; Mellanson, Cecil; Joyce, Lee; Coggin, John; Kennedy, Jack
2016-01-01
The first government sanctioned delivery of medical supplies by UAS occurred at Wise, Virginia, on July 17, 2015. The "Let's Fly Wisely" event was a demonstration of the humanitarian use of UAS to facilitate delivery of medical supplies to remote or otherwise difficult-to-reach areas. The event was the result of coordinated efforts by a partnership which included the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) Langley Research Center (LaRC), Virginia Polytechnic Institute, the Mid-Atlantic Aviation Partnership (MAAP), Flirtey Corporation, Lonesome Pine Airport, Remote Area Medical (RAM), Health Wagon, SEESPAN Aerial Interactive, Rx Partnership, and Wise County, Virginia. The historic event occurred during the annual Remote Area Medical clinic at the Wise County Fairgrounds. The medical supplies in small packages were delivered to the Wise County Fairgrounds from the Lonesome Pine Airport by UAS operated by Firtey. A larger supply of medical supplies were delivered to the Lonesome Pine Airport from the Tazewell County Airport by NASA Langley's SR22 UAS Surrogate Research aircraft. The UAS Surrogate aircraft was remotely controlled for most of the flight by a UAS Ground Control Station located at the Lonesome Pine Airport. The medical supplies were delivered from the UAS Surrogate to Flirtey for final delivery by Hex Multi-Rotor UAS in smaller packages and multiple trips to the fairgrounds. A Certificate of Authorization (COA) issued by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) designated the site as an authorized UAS test site. The paper will present additional details of the historic delivery of pharmaceuticals by UAS during the "Let's Fly Wisely" event. The paper will also provide details of NASA's SR22 UAS Surrogate Research aircraft. The UAS Surrogate was designed to investigate the procedures, aircraft sensors and other systems that may be required to allow Unmanned Aerial Systems (UAS) to safely operate with manned aircraft in the National Airspace System (NAS).
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Spitzer Photometry of WISE-Selected Brown Dwarf and Hyper-Lumninous Infrared Galaxy Candidates
NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)
Griffith, Roger L.; Kirkpatrick, J. Davy; Eisenhardt, Peter R. M.; Gelino, Christopher R.; Cushing, Michael C.; Benford, Dominic; Blain, Andrew; Bridge, Carrie R.; Cohen, Martin; Cutri, Roc M.;
2012-01-01
We present Spitzer 3.6 and 4.5 micrometer photometry and positions for a sample of 1510 brown dwarf candidates identified by the Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer (WISE) all-sky survey. Of these, 166 have been spectroscopically classified as objects with spectral types M(1), L(7), T(146), and Y(12). Sixteen other objects are non-(sub)stellar in nature. The remainder are most likely distant L and T dwarfs lacking spectroscopic verification, other Y dwarf candidates still awaiting follow-up, and assorted other objects whose Spitzer photometry reveals them to be background sources. We present a catalog of Spitzer photometry for all astrophysical sources identified in these fields and use this catalog to identify seven fainter (4.5 m to approximately 17.0 mag) brown dwarf candidates, which are possibly wide-field companions to the original WISE sources. To test this hypothesis, we use a sample of 919 Spitzer observations around WISE-selected high-redshift hyper-luminous infrared galaxy candidates. For this control sample, we find another six brown dwarf candidates, suggesting that the seven companion candidates are not physically associated. In fact, only one of these seven Spitzer brown dwarf candidates has a photometric distance estimate consistent with being a companion to the WISE brown dwarf candidate. Other than this, there is no evidence for any widely separated (greater than 20 AU) ultra-cool binaries. As an adjunct to this paper, we make available a source catalog of 7.33 x 10(exp 5) objects detected in all of these Spitzer follow-up fields for use by the astronomical community. The complete catalog includes the Spitzer 3.6 and 4.5 m photometry, along with positionally matched B and R photometry from USNO-B; J, H, and Ks photometry from Two Micron All-Sky Survey; and W1, W2, W3, and W4 photometry from the WISE all-sky catalog.
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Choosing wisely: prevalence and correlates of low-value health care services in the United States.
Colla, Carrie H; Morden, Nancy E; Sequist, Thomas D; Schpero, William L; Rosenthal, Meredith B
2015-02-01
Specialty societies in the United States identified low-value tests and procedures that contribute to waste and poor health care quality via implementation of the American Board of Internal Medicine Foundation's Choosing Wisely initiative. To develop claims-based algorithms, to use them to estimate the prevalence of select Choosing Wisely services and to examine the demographic, health and health care system correlates of low-value care at a regional level. Using Medicare data from 2006 to 2011, we created claims-based algorithms to measure the prevalence of 11 Choosing Wisely-identified low-value services and examined geographic variation across hospital referral regions (HRRs). We created a composite low-value care score for each HRR and used linear regression to identify regional characteristics associated with more intense use of low-value services. Fee-for-service Medicare beneficiaries over age 65. Prevalence of selected Choosing Wisely low-value services. The national average annual prevalence of the selected Choosing Wisely low-value services ranged from 1.2% (upper urinary tract imaging in men with benign prostatic hyperplasia) to 46.5% (preoperative cardiac testing for low-risk, non-cardiac procedures). Prevalence across HRRs varied significantly. Regional characteristics associated with higher use of low-value services included greater overall per capita spending, a higher specialist to primary care ratio and higher proportion of minority beneficiaries. Identifying and measuring low-value health services is a prerequisite for improving quality and eliminating waste. Our findings suggest that the delivery of wasteful and potentially harmful services may be a fruitful area for further research and policy intervention for HRRs with higher per-capita spending. These findings should inform action by physicians, health systems, policymakers, payers and consumer educators to improve the value of health care by targeting services and areas with greater use of potentially inappropriate care.