Information rates of next-generation long-haul optical fiber systems using coded modulation

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Liga, G.; Alvarado, A.; Agrell, E.; Bayvel, P.

2017-01-01

A comprehensive study of the coded performance of long-haul spectrally-efficient WDM optical fiber transmission systems with different coded modulation decoding structures is presented. Achievable information rates are derived for three different square QAM formats and the optimal format is

Information rates of probabilistically shaped coded modulation for a multi-span fiber-optic communication system with 64QAM

Science.gov (United States)

Fehenberger, Tobias

2018-02-01

This paper studies probabilistic shaping in a multi-span wavelength-division multiplexing optical fiber system with 64-ary quadrature amplitude modulation (QAM) input. In split-step fiber simulations and via an enhanced Gaussian noise model, three figures of merit are investigated, which are signal-to-noise ratio (SNR), achievable information rate (AIR) for capacity-achieving forward error correction (FEC) with bit-metric decoding, and the information rate achieved with low-density parity-check (LDPC) FEC. For the considered system parameters and different shaped input distributions, shaping is found to decrease the SNR by 0.3 dB yet simultaneously increases the AIR by up to 0.4 bit per 4D-symbol. The information rates of LDPC-coded modulation with shaped 64QAM input are improved by up to 0.74 bit per 4D-symbol, which is larger than the shaping gain when considering AIRs. This increase is attributed to the reduced coding gap of the higher-rate code that is used for decoding the nonuniform QAM input.

Achievable Rates of UAV-Relayed Cooperative Cognitive Radio MIMO Systems

KAUST Repository

Sboui, Lokman; Ghazzai, Hakim; Rezki, Zouheir; Alouini, Mohamed-Slim

2017-01-01

We study the achievable rate of an uplink MIMO cognitive radio system where the primary user (PU) and the secondary user (SU) aim to communicate to the closest primary base station (BS) via a multi-access channel through the same unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) relay. The SU message is then forwarded from the primary BS to the secondary network with a certain incentive reward as a part of the cooperation protocol between both networks. A special linear precoding scheme is proposed to enable the SU to exploit the PU free eigenmodes. We analyze two scenarios in which the UAV relay gain matrix is either fixed or optimized. We derive the optimal power allocation that maximizes the achievable rate of the SU respecting power budget, interference, and relay power constraints. Numerical results highlight the cognitive rate gain of our proposed scheme with respect to various problem parameters. We also highlight the effect of UAV altitude on the SU and PU rates. Finally, when the relay matrix is optimized, we show that the PU rate is remarkably enhanced and that the SU rate is only improved at high power regime.

Achievable Rates of UAV-Relayed Cooperative Cognitive Radio MIMO Systems

KAUST Repository

Sboui, Lokman

2017-04-19

We study the achievable rate of an uplink MIMO cognitive radio system where the primary user (PU) and the secondary user (SU) aim to communicate to the closest primary base station (BS) via a multi-access channel through the same unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) relay. The SU message is then forwarded from the primary BS to the secondary network with a certain incentive reward as a part of the cooperation protocol between both networks. A special linear precoding scheme is proposed to enable the SU to exploit the PU free eigenmodes. We analyze two scenarios in which the UAV relay gain matrix is either fixed or optimized. We derive the optimal power allocation that maximizes the achievable rate of the SU respecting power budget, interference, and relay power constraints. Numerical results highlight the cognitive rate gain of our proposed scheme with respect to various problem parameters. We also highlight the effect of UAV altitude on the SU and PU rates. Finally, when the relay matrix is optimized, we show that the PU rate is remarkably enhanced and that the SU rate is only improved at high power regime.

Integrated application of the database for airborne geophysical survey achievement information

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ji Zengxian; Zhang Junwei

2006-01-01

The paper briefly introduces the database of information for airborne geophysical survey achievements. This database was developed on the platform of Microsoft Windows System with the technical methods of Visual C++ 6.0 and MapGIS. It is an information management system concerning airborne geophysical surveying achievements with perfect functions in graphic display, graphic cutting and output, query of data, printing of documents and reports, maintenance of database, etc. All information of airborne geophysical survey achievements in nuclear industry from 1972 to 2003 was embedded in. Based on regional geological map and Meso-Cenozoic basin map, the detailed statistical information of each airborne survey area, each airborne radioactive anomalous point and high field point can be presented visually by combining geological or basin research result. The successful development of this system will provide a fairly good base and platform for management of archives and data of airborne geophysical survey achievements in nuclear industry. (authors)

Achievable Rate of Spectrum Sharing Cognitive Radio Multiple-Antenna Channels

KAUST Repository

Sboui, Lokman

2015-04-28

We investigate the spectral efficiency gain of an uplink Cognitive Radio (CR) Multi-Input-Multi-Output system in which the Secondary User (SU) is allowed to share the spectrum with the Primary User (PU) using a specific precoding scheme to communicate with a common receiver. The proposed scheme exploits, at the same time, the free eigenmodes of the primary channel after a space alignment procedure and the interference threshold tolerated by the PU. At the common receiver, we adopt a Successive Interference Cancellation (SIC) technique to eliminate the effect of the detected primary signal transmitted through the exploited eigenmodes. Furthermore, we analyze the SIC operation inaccuracy as well as the CSI estimation imperfection on the PU and SU throughputs. Numerical results show that our proposed scheme enhances considerably the cognitive achievable rate. For instance, in case of a perfect detection of the PU signal, the CR rate remains non-zero for high Signal to Noise Ratio which is usually impossible when we only employ a space alignment technique. We show that a modified water-filling power allocation policy at the PU can increase the secondary rate with a marginal degradation of the primary rate. Finally, we investigate the behavior of the PU and SU rates through the study of the rate achievable region.

The Role of Libraries and Information Centres in the Achievements ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

It views the objectives of Universal Primary Education, school libraries and infonnation centres thereby enumerating roles of libraries and information centres in the achievement of MDGs for Africa. It concludes by giving recommendations towards the achievement of education for Africa in the millennium development goals ...

Analytical Computation of Information Rate for MIMO Channels

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jinbao Zhang

2017-01-01

Full Text Available Information rate for discrete signaling constellations is significant. However, the computational complexity makes information rate rather difficult to analyze for arbitrary fading multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO channels. An analytical method is proposed to compute information rate, which is characterized by considerable accuracy, reasonable complexity, and concise representation. These features will improve accuracy for performance analysis with criterion of information rate.

Methods of achieving and maintaining an appropriate caesarean section rate.

LENUS (Irish Health Repository)

Robson, Michael

2013-04-01

Caesarean section rates continue to increase worldwide. The appropriate caesarean section rate remains a topic of debate among women and professionals. Evidence-based medicine has not provided an answer and depends on interpretation of the literature. Overall caesarean section rates are unhelpful, and caesarean section rates should not be judged in isolation from other outcomes and epidemiological characteristics. Better understanding of caesarean section rates, their consequences and their benefits will improve care, and enable learning between delivery units nationally and internationally. To achieve and maintain an appropriate caesarean section rate requires a Multidisciplinary Quality Assurance Programme in each delivery unit, recognising caesarean section rates as one of many factors that determine quality. Women will always choose the type of delivery that seems safest to them and their babies. Professionals need to monitor the quality of their practice continuously in a standardised way to ensure that women can make the right choice.

The Impact of High School Exit Exams on Graduation Rates and Achievement

Science.gov (United States)

Caves, Katherine; Balestra, Simone

2018-01-01

The authors examined the short- and long-term effects of high school exit exams (HSEEs) on graduation rates and achievement using an interrupted time series approach. There is a positive overall effect of HSEE introduction for graduation rate trends, which is heterogeneous over time. HSEEs have a negative impact on graduation rates in the year of…

On achievable rates of interference and cognitive channels with a relay

KAUST Repository

Zorgui, Marwen; Rezki, Zouheir; Alouini, Mohamed-Slim

2015-01-01

We consider a two-user interference channel assisted by a relay. Treating interference as noise at the receivers, and adopting an amplify and forward (AF) strategy at the relay, we derive achievable rates of both users, for given powers. Next, we solve the optimal power allocation problem maximizing the weighted sum rate of both users with and without relay power optimization. In particular, we propose a simple iterative line search algorithm solving the joint optimization problem over the three transmit powers and show that optimizing the relay power enhances the performance of the system. Then, considering the first user as a primary user, we determine the maximum instantaneous rate that the secondary user can achieve subject to an outage constraint with respect to the primary user and a peak power constraint. We show that, likewise the first part, jointly optimizing the secondary user and the relay transmit powers enhances the secondary user performance.

On achievable rates of interference and cognitive channels with a relay

KAUST Repository

Zorgui, Marwen

2015-08-30

We consider a two-user interference channel assisted by a relay. Treating interference as noise at the receivers, and adopting an amplify and forward (AF) strategy at the relay, we derive achievable rates of both users, for given powers. Next, we solve the optimal power allocation problem maximizing the weighted sum rate of both users with and without relay power optimization. In particular, we propose a simple iterative line search algorithm solving the joint optimization problem over the three transmit powers and show that optimizing the relay power enhances the performance of the system. Then, considering the first user as a primary user, we determine the maximum instantaneous rate that the secondary user can achieve subject to an outage constraint with respect to the primary user and a peak power constraint. We show that, likewise the first part, jointly optimizing the secondary user and the relay transmit powers enhances the secondary user performance.

The effect of zealots on the rate of consensus achievement in complex networks

Science.gov (United States)

Kashisaz, Hadi; Hosseini, S. Samira; Darooneh, Amir H.

2014-05-01

In this study, we investigate the role of zealots on the result of voting process on both scale-free and Watts-Strogatz networks. We observe that inflexible individuals are very effective in consensus achievement and also in the rate of ordering process in complex networks. Zealots make the magnetization of the system to vary exponentially with time. We obtain that on SF networks, increasing the zealots' population, Z, exponentially increases the rate of consensus achievement. The time needed for the system to reach a desired magnetization, shows a power-law dependence on Z. As well, we obtain that the decay time of the order parameter shows a power-law dependence on Z. We also investigate the role of zealots' degree on the rate of ordering process and finally, we analyze the effect of network's randomness on the efficiency of zealots. Moving from a regular to a random network, the re-wiring probability P increases. We show that with increasing P, the efficiency of zealots for reducing the consensus achievement time increases. The rate of consensus is compared with the rate of ordering for different re-wiring probabilities of WS networks.

Achievable rate of spectrum sharing cognitive radio systems over fading channels at low-power regime

KAUST Repository

Sboui, Lokman; Rezki, Zouheir; Alouini, Mohamed-Slim

2014-01-01

the previously achieved rate at the low-power regime. Interestingly, we show that the low-power regime analysis provides a specific insight into the maximum achievable rate behavior of CR that has not been reported by previous studies.

Collecting Information for Rating Global Assessment of Functioning (GAF): Sources of Information and Methods for Information Collection.

Science.gov (United States)

I H, Monrad Aas

2014-11-01

Global Assessment of Functioning (GAF) is an assessment instrument that is known worldwide. It is widely used for rating the severity of illness. Results from evaluations in psychiatry should characterize the patients. Rating of GAF is based on collected information. The aim of the study is to identify the factors involved in collecting information that is relevant for rating GAF, and gaps in knowledge where it is likely that further development would play a role for improved scoring. A literature search was conducted with a combination of thorough hand search and search in the bibliographic databases PubMed, PsycINFO, Google Scholar, and Campbell Collaboration Library of Systematic Reviews. Collection of information for rating GAF depends on two fundamental factors: the sources of information and the methods for information collection. Sources of information are patients, informants, health personnel, medical records, letters of referral and police records about violence and substance abuse. Methods for information collection include the many different types of interview - unstructured, semi-structured, structured, interviews for Axis I and II disorders, semistructured interviews for rating GAF, and interviews of informants - as well as instruments for rating symptoms and functioning, and observation. The different sources of information, and methods for collection, frequently result in inconsistencies in the information collected. The variation in collected information, and lack of a generally accepted algorithm for combining collected information, is likely to be important for rated GAF values, but there is a fundamental lack of knowledge about the degree of importance. Research to improve GAF has not reached a high level. Rated GAF values are likely to be influenced by both the sources of information used and the methods employed for information collection, but the lack of research-based information about these influences is fundamental. Further development of

Distributed Space-Time Block Coded Transmission with Imperfect Channel Estimation: Achievable Rate and Power Allocation

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Sonia Aïssa

2008-05-01

Full Text Available This paper investigates the effects of channel estimation error at the receiver on the achievable rate of distributed space-time block coded transmission. We consider that multiple transmitters cooperate to send the signal to the receiver and derive lower and upper bounds on the mutual information of distributed space-time block codes (D-STBCs when the channel gains and channel estimation error variances pertaining to different transmitter-receiver links are unequal. Then, assessing the gap between these two bounds, we provide a limiting value that upper bounds the latter at any input transmit powers, and also show that the gap is minimum if the receiver can estimate the channels of different transmitters with the same accuracy. We further investigate positioning the receiving node such that the mutual information bounds of D-STBCs and their robustness to the variations of the subchannel gains are maximum, as long as the summation of these gains is constant. Furthermore, we derive the optimum power transmission strategy to achieve the outage capacity lower bound of D-STBCs under arbitrary numbers of transmit and receive antennas, and provide closed-form expressions for this capacity metric. Numerical simulations are conducted to corroborate our analysis and quantify the effects of imperfect channel estimation.

Noise management to achieve superiority in quantum information systems.

Science.gov (United States)

Nemoto, Kae; Devitt, Simon; Munro, William J

2017-08-06

Quantum information systems are expected to exhibit superiority compared with their classical counterparts. This superiority arises from the quantum coherences present in these quantum systems, which are obviously absent in classical ones. To exploit such quantum coherences, it is essential to control the phase information in the quantum state. The phase is analogue in nature, rather than binary. This makes quantum information technology fundamentally different from our classical digital information technology. In this paper, we analyse error sources and illustrate how these errors must be managed for the system to achieve the required fidelity and a quantum superiority.This article is part of the themed issue 'Quantum technology for the 21st century'. © 2017 The Author(s).

Noise management to achieve superiority in quantum information systems

Science.gov (United States)

Nemoto, Kae; Devitt, Simon; Munro, William J.

2017-06-01

Quantum information systems are expected to exhibit superiority compared with their classical counterparts. This superiority arises from the quantum coherences present in these quantum systems, which are obviously absent in classical ones. To exploit such quantum coherences, it is essential to control the phase information in the quantum state. The phase is analogue in nature, rather than binary. This makes quantum information technology fundamentally different from our classical digital information technology. In this paper, we analyse error sources and illustrate how these errors must be managed for the system to achieve the required fidelity and a quantum superiority. This article is part of the themed issue 'Quantum technology for the 21st century'.

Achievable Performance of Zero-Delay Variable-Rate Coding in Rate-Constrained Networked Control Systems with Channel Delay

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Barforooshan, Mohsen; Østergaard, Jan; Stavrou, Fotios

2017-01-01

This paper presents an upper bound on the minimum data rate required to achieve a prescribed closed-loop performance level in networked control systems (NCSs). The considered feedback loop includes a linear time-invariant (LTI) plant with single measurement output and single control input. Moreover......, in this NCS, a causal but otherwise unconstrained feedback system carries out zero-delay variable-rate coding, and control. Between the encoder and decoder, data is exchanged over a rate-limited noiseless digital channel with a known constant time delay. Here we propose a linear source-coding scheme...

Improved achievable secrecy rate of visible light communication with cooperative jamming

KAUST Repository

Zaid, Hajar; Rezki, Zouheir; Chaaban, Anas; Alouini, Mohamed-Slim

2016-01-01

constraint on the input distribution which renders Gaussian inputs not admissible. We provide an achievable secrecy rate that improves upon a recently established one in a concurrent work by Mostafa and Lampe. Our scheme follows from both the secrecy capacity

Teacher ratings of academic achievement of children between 6 and ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

We investigated teacher ratings of the impact of parental divorce on academic achievement of children between 6 and 12 years old up to 12 months after their parents divorced. A purposive sample of 120 children attending four different primary schools in a small South African town took part in the study. One third (n = 40) of ...

On the Achievable Rate-Regions for the Gaussian Two-way Diamond Channels

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

F. Askarian

2015-12-01

Full Text Available In this channel,we study rate region of a Gaussian two-way diamond channel which operates in half-duplex mode. In this channel, two transceiver (TR nodes exchange their messages with the help of two relay nodes. We consider a special case of the Gaussian two-way diamond channels which is called Compute-and-Forward Multiple Access Channel (CF-MAC. In the CF-MAC, the TR nodes transmit their messages to the relay nodes which are followed by a simultaneous communication from the relay nodes to the TRs. Adopting rate splitting method in the terminal encoders and then using Compute-and-Forward (CF relaying and decoding the sum of messages at the relay nodes, an achievable rate region for this channel is obtained. To this end, we use a superposition coding based on lattice codes. Using numerical results, we show that our proposed scheme has better performance than other similar methods and achieves a tighter gap to the outer bound.

Power allocation and achievable data rate in spectrum-sharing channels under adaptive primary service outage constraints

KAUST Repository

Yang, Yuli

2012-09-01

In this paper, we focus on a cognitive radio network where adaptive modulation is adopted in primary links. The gap between the primary user (PU)\\'s received signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) and the lower SNR boundary of the modulation mode that is being used, provides an interference-tolerable zone. Based on this gap, a secondary user (SU) has an increased opportunity to access the licensed spectrum and to determine the transmit power it should use to keep the PU\\'s quality-of-service (QoS) unaffected. However, since the SU cannot obtain perfect information on the PU\\'s received SNR, it has to choose an SNR point between the lower and upper boundaries of the PU\\'s current modulation mode as if this point were the real SNR received by the PU. Considering this issue, in order to quantify the effect of the SU\\'s transmissions on the PU\\'s QoS, we define the PU\\'s service outage probability and obtain its closed-form expressions by taking into account whether the peak transmit power constraint is imposed on the secondary\\'s transmission or not. Subsequently, we derive the SU\\'s achievable data rate in closed form for counterpart scenarios. Numerical results provided here quantify the relation between the PU\\'s service outage probability and the SU\\'s achievable data rate, which further demonstrate that the higher the peak transmit power a secondary transmitter can support, the better performance the cognitive radio network can achieve. © 2012 IEEE.

Improved achievable secrecy rate of visible light communication with cooperative jamming

KAUST Repository

Zaid, Hajar

2016-02-25

In this paper we study the problem of securing a visible light communication (VLC) link against passive eavesdropping, with the help of a (friendly) jammer. Differently from radio frequency (RF) communications, VLC imposes a peak amplitude constraint on the input distribution which renders Gaussian inputs not admissible. We provide an achievable secrecy rate that improves upon a recently established one in a concurrent work by Mostafa and Lampe. Our scheme follows from both the secrecy capacity result by Wyner and the artificial noise scheme by Goel and Negi, but using truncated Gaussian input distributions instead of uniform ones. Via numerical results, we show that our secrecy rate outperforms the concurrent rate in different settings. © 2015 IEEE.

Autonomous Information Fading and Provision to Achieve High Response Time in Distributed Information Systems

Science.gov (United States)

Lu, Xiaodong; Arfaoui, Helene; Mori, Kinji

In highly dynamic electronic commerce environment, the need for adaptability and rapid response time to information service systems has become increasingly important. In order to cope with the continuously changing conditions of service provision and utilization, Faded Information Field (FIF) has been proposed. FIF is a distributed information service system architecture, sustained by push/pull mobile agents to bring high-assurance of services through a recursive demand-oriented provision of the most popular information closer to the users to make a tradeoff between the cost of information service allocation and access. In this paper, based on the analysis of the relationship that exists among the users distribution, information provision and access time, we propose the technology for FIF design to resolve the competing requirements of users and providers to improve users' access time. In addition, to achieve dynamic load balancing with changing users preference, the autonomous information reallocation technology is proposed. We proved the effectiveness of the proposed technology through the simulation and comparison with the conventional system.

Achievable Rates of Secure Transmission in Gaussian MISO Channel with Imperfect Main Channel Estimation

KAUST Repository

Zhou, Xinyu; Rezki, Zouheir; Alomair, Basel; Alouini, Mohamed-Slim

2016-01-01

A Gaussian multiple-input single-output (MISO) fading channel is considered. We assume that the transmitter, in addition to the statistics of all channel gains, is aware instantaneously of a noisy version of the channel to the legitimate receiver. On the other hand, the legitimate receiver is aware instantaneously of its channel to the transmitter, whereas the eavesdropper instantaneously knows all channel gains. We evaluate an achievable rate using a Gaussian input without indexing an auxiliary random variable. A sufficient condition for beamforming to be optimal is provided. When the number of transmit antennas is large, beamforming also turns out to be optimal. In this case, the maximum achievable rate can be expressed in a simple closed form and scales with the logarithm of the number of transmit antennas. Furthermore, in the case when a noisy estimate of the eavesdropper’s channel is also available at the transmitter, we introduce the SNR difference and the SNR ratio criterions and derive the related optimal transmission strategies and the corresponding achievable rates.

Achievable Rates of Secure Transmission in Gaussian MISO Channel with Imperfect Main Channel Estimation

KAUST Repository

Zhou, Xinyu

2016-03-15

A Gaussian multiple-input single-output (MISO) fading channel is considered. We assume that the transmitter, in addition to the statistics of all channel gains, is aware instantaneously of a noisy version of the channel to the legitimate receiver. On the other hand, the legitimate receiver is aware instantaneously of its channel to the transmitter, whereas the eavesdropper instantaneously knows all channel gains. We evaluate an achievable rate using a Gaussian input without indexing an auxiliary random variable. A sufficient condition for beamforming to be optimal is provided. When the number of transmit antennas is large, beamforming also turns out to be optimal. In this case, the maximum achievable rate can be expressed in a simple closed form and scales with the logarithm of the number of transmit antennas. Furthermore, in the case when a noisy estimate of the eavesdropper’s channel is also available at the transmitter, we introduce the SNR difference and the SNR ratio criterions and derive the related optimal transmission strategies and the corresponding achievable rates.

Addition by Subtraction: The Relation Between Dropout Rates and School-Level Academic Achievement.

Science.gov (United States)

Glennie, Elizabeth; Bonneau, Kara; Vandellen, Michelle; Dodge, Kenneth A

2012-01-01

Efforts to improve student achievement should increase graduation rates. However, work investigating the effects of student-level accountability has consistently demonstrated that increases in the standards for high school graduation are correlated with increases in dropout rates. The most favored explanation for this finding is that high-stakes testing policies that mandate grade repetition and high school exit exams may be the tipping point for students who are already struggling academically. These extra demands may, in fact, push students out of school. This article examines two hypotheses regarding the relation between school-level accountability and dropout rates. The first posits that improvements in school performance lead to improved success for everyone. If school-level accountability systems improve a school for all students, then the proportion of students performing at grade level increases, and the dropout rate decreases. The second hypothesis posits that schools facing pressure to improve their overall accountability score may pursue this increase at the cost of other student outcomes, including dropout rate. Our approach focuses on the dynamic relation between school-level academic achievement and dropout rates over time-that is, between one year's achievement and the subsequent year's dropout rate, and vice versa. This article employs longitudinal data of records on all students in North Carolina public schools over an 8-year period. Analyses employ fixed-effects models clustering schools and districts within years and controls each year for school size, percentage of students who were free/reduced-price lunch eligible, percentage of students who are ethnic minorities, and locale. This study finds partial evidence that improvements in school-level academic performance will lead to improvements (i.e., decreases) in school-level dropout rates. Schools with improved performance saw decreased dropout rates following these successes. However, we find

Achieving low anastomotic leak rates utilizing clinical perfusion assessment.

Science.gov (United States)

Kream, Jacob; Ludwig, Kirk A; Ridolfi, Timothy J; Peterson, Carrie Y

2016-10-01

Anastomotic leak after colorectal resection increases morbidity, mortality, and in the setting of cancer, increases recurrences rates and reduces survival odds. Recent reports suggest that fluorescence evaluation of perfusion after colorectal anastomosis creation is associated with low anastomotic leak rates (1.4%). The purpose of this work was to evaluate whether a similar low anastomotic leak rate after left-sided colorectal resections could be achieved using standard assessment of blood flow to the bowel ends. We performed a retrospective chart review at an academic tertiary referral center, evaluating 317 consecutive patients who underwent a pelvic anastomosis after sigmoid colectomy, left colectomy, or low anterior resection. All operations were performed by a single surgeon from March 2008 to January 2015 with only standard clinical measures used to assess perfusion to the bowel ends. The primary outcome measure was the anastomotic leak rate as diagnosed by clinical symptoms, exam, or routine imaging. The average patient age was 59.7 years with an average body mass index of 28.8 kg/m(2). Rectal cancer (128, 40.4%) was the most common indication for operation while hypertension (134, 42.3%) was the most common comorbidity. In total, 177 operations were laparoscopic (55.8%), 13 were reoperative resections (4.1%), and 108 were protected with a loop ileostomy (34.1%). Preoperative chemotherapy was administered to 25 patients (7.9%) while preoperative chemo/radiation was administered to 64 patients (20.2%). The anastomotic leak rate was 1.6% (5/317). Our data suggests that standard, careful evaluation of adequate blood flow via inspection and confirmation of pulsatile blood flow to the bowel ends and meticulous construction of the colorectal or coloanal anastomoses can result in very low leak rates, similar to the rate reported when intraoperative imaging is used to assess perfusion. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Rate My Information Systems Professor: Exploring the Factors That Influence Student Ratings

Science.gov (United States)

Sena, Mark; Crable, Elaine

2017-01-01

Based on 820 entries on Ratemyprofessors.com, we explore whether information systems course ratings differ from those in marketing or management courses, whether lower level course ratings differ from those in senior or graduate level courses, whether course ratings differ between genders, and whether perceived course difficulty impacts course…

Design principles for achieving integrated healthcare information systems.

Science.gov (United States)

Jensen, Tina Blegind

2013-03-01

Achieving integrated healthcare information systems has become a common goal for many countries in their pursuit of obtaining coordinated and comprehensive healthcare services. This article focuses on how a small local project termed 'Standardized pull of patient data' expanded and is now used on a large scale providing a majority of hospitals, general practitioners and citizens across Denmark with the possibility of accessing healthcare data from different electronic patient record systems and other systems. I build on design theory for information infrastructures, as presented by Hanseth and Lyytinen, to examine the design principles that facilitated this smallscale project to expand and become widespread. As a result of my findings, I outline three lessons learned that emphasize: (i) principles of flexibility, (ii) expansion from the installed base through modular strategies and (iii) identification of key healthcare actors to provide them with immediate benefits.

Achievable data rate in spectrum-sharing channels with variable-rate variable-power primary users

KAUST Repository

Yang, Yuli

2012-08-01

In this work, we propose a transmission strategy for secondary users (SUs) within a cognitive radio network where primary users (PUs) exploit variable-rate variable-power modulation. By monitoring the PU\\'s transmissions, the SU adjusts its transmit power based on the gap between the PU\\'s received effective signal-to-noise power ratio (SNR) and the lower SNR boundary for the modulation mode that is being used in the primary link. Thus, at the SU\\'s presence, the PU\\'s quality of service (QoS) is guaranteed without increasing its processing complexity thanks to no interference cancellation required in the PU\\'s operation. To demonstrate the advantage of our proposed transmission strategy, we analyze the secondary user\\'s achievable data rate by taking into account different transmission capabilities for the secondary transmitter. The corresponding numerical results not only prove the validity of our derivations but also provide a convenient tool for the network design with the proposed transmission strategy. © 2012 IEEE.

On achievable rate of two-way relaying cognitive radio with space alignment

KAUST Repository

Sboui, Lokman

2015-09-11

We study a multiple-antenna two-way relaying (TWR) spectrum sharing system. A space alignment (SA) technique is adopted by the secondary users (SU\\'s) to avoid interference with the primary users (PU\\'s). We derive the optimal power allocation that maximizes the TWR achievable sum-rate of the SU while respecting the total power budget and the relay power constraints. In the numerical results, we quantify the sum-rate gain of using the SA in the TWR CR and we show that the SU sum-rate is very limited when the relay power is low or the PU\\'s power and its resulting interference is high. © 2015 IEEE.

Validity of Assessment and Recognition of Non-Formal and Informal Learning Achievements in Higher Education

Science.gov (United States)

Kaminskiene, Lina; Stasiunaitiene, Egle

2013-01-01

The article identifies the validity of assessment of non-formal and informal learning achievements (NILA) as one of the key factors for encouraging further development of the process of assessing and recognising non-formal and informal learning achievements in higher education. The authors analyse why the recognition of non-formal and informal…

Disclosure of Individual Surgeon's Performance Rates During Informed Consent

Science.gov (United States)

Burger, Ingrid; Schill, Kathryn; Goodman, Steven

2007-01-01

Objective: The purpose of the paper is to examine the ethical arguments for and against disclosing surgeon-specific performance rates to patients during informed consent, and to examine the challenges that generating and using performance rates entail. Methods: Ethical, legal, and statistical theory is explored to approach the question of whether, when, and how surgeons should disclosure their personal performance rates to patients. The main ethical question addressed is what type of information surgeons owe their patients during informed consent. This question comprises 3 related, ethically relevant considerations that are explored in detail: 1) Does surgeon-specific performance information enhance patient decision-making? 2) Do patients want this type of information? 3) How do the potential benefits of disclosure balance against the risks? Results: Calculating individual performance measures requires tradeoffs and involves inherent uncertainty. There is a lack of evidence regarding whether patients want this information, whether it facilitates their decision-making for surgery, and how it is best communicated to them. Disclosure of personal performance rates during informed consent has the potential benefits of enhancing patient autonomy, improving patient decision-making, and improving quality of care. The major risks of disclosure include inaccurate and misleading performance rates, avoidance of high-risk cases, unjust damage to surgeon's reputations, and jeopardized patient trust. Conclusion: At this time, we think that, for most conditions, surgical procedures, and outcomes, the accuracy of surgeon- and patient-specific performance rates is illusory, obviating the ethical obligation to communicate them as part of the informed consent process. Nonetheless, the surgical profession has the duty to develop information systems that allow for performance to be evaluated to a high degree of accuracy. In the meantime, patients should be informed of the quantity of

Addition by Subtraction: The Relation Between Dropout Rates and School-Level Academic Achievement

Science.gov (United States)

GLENNIE, ELIZABETH; BONNEAU, KARA; VANDELLEN, MICHELLE; DODGE, KENNETH A.

2013-01-01

Background/Context Efforts to improve student achievement should increase graduation rates. However, work investigating the effects of student-level accountability has consistently demonstrated that increases in the standards for high school graduation are correlated with increases in dropout rates. The most favored explanation for this finding is that high-stakes testing policies that mandate grade repetition and high school exit exams may be the tipping point for students who are already struggling academically. These extra demands may, in fact, push students out of school. Purpose/Objective/Focus This article examines two hypotheses regarding the relation between school-level accountability and dropout rates. The first posits that improvements in school performance lead to improved success for everyone. If school-level accountability systems improve a school for all students, then the proportion of students performing at grade level increases, and the dropout rate decreases. The second hypothesis posits that schools facing pressure to improve their overall accountability score may pursue this increase at the cost of other student outcomes, including dropout rate. Research Design Our approach focuses on the dynamic relation between school-level academic achievement and dropout rates over time—that is, between one year’s achievement and the subsequent year’s dropout rate, and vice versa. This article employs longitudinal data of records on all students in North Carolina public schools over an 8-year period. Analyses employ fixed-effects models clustering schools and districts within years and controls each year for school size, percentage of students who were free/reduced-price lunch eligible, percentage of students who are ethnic minorities, and locale. Findings/Results This study finds partial evidence that improvements in school-level academic performance will lead to improvements (i.e., decreases) in school-level dropout rates. Schools with improved

Achievable Rates of Buffer-Aided Full-Duplex Gaussian Relay Channels

KAUST Repository

El Shafie, Ahmed

2017-10-18

We derive closed-form expressions for the achievable rates of a buffer-aided full-duplex (FD) multiple-input multipleoutput (MIMO) Gaussian relay channel. The FD relay still suffers from residual self-interference (RSI) after the application of self-interference mitigation techniques. We investigate both cases of a slow-RSI channel where the RSI is fixed over the entire codeword, and a fast-RSI channel where the RSI changes from one symbol duration to another within the codeword. We show that the RSI can be completely eliminated in the slow-RSI case when the FD relay is equipped with a buffer while the fast RSI cannot be eliminated. For the fixed-rate data transmission scenario, we derive the optimal transmission strategy that should be adopted by the source node and relay node to maximize the system throughput. We verify our analytical findings through simulations.

Achievable Rates of Buffer-Aided Full-Duplex Gaussian Relay Channels

KAUST Repository

El Shafie, Ahmed; Salem, Ahmed Sultan; Krikidis, Ioannis; Al-Dhahir, Naofal; Hamila, Ridha

2017-01-01

We derive closed-form expressions for the achievable rates of a buffer-aided full-duplex (FD) multiple-input multipleoutput (MIMO) Gaussian relay channel. The FD relay still suffers from residual self-interference (RSI) after the application of self-interference mitigation techniques. We investigate both cases of a slow-RSI channel where the RSI is fixed over the entire codeword, and a fast-RSI channel where the RSI changes from one symbol duration to another within the codeword. We show that the RSI can be completely eliminated in the slow-RSI case when the FD relay is equipped with a buffer while the fast RSI cannot be eliminated. For the fixed-rate data transmission scenario, we derive the optimal transmission strategy that should be adopted by the source node and relay node to maximize the system throughput. We verify our analytical findings through simulations.

Rates and determinants of informed consent: a case study of an international thromboprophylaxis trial.

Science.gov (United States)

Smith, Orla M; McDonald, Ellen; Zytaruk, Nicole; Foster, Denise; Matte, Andrea; Clarke, France; Meade, Laurie; O'Callaghan, Nicole; Vallance, Shirley; Galt, Pauline; Rajbhandari, Dorrilyn; Rocha, Marcelo; Mehta, Sangeeta; Ferguson, Niall D; Hall, Richard; Fowler, Robert; Burns, Karen; Qushmaq, Ismael; Ostermann, Marlies; Heels-Ansdell, Diane; Cook, Deborah

2013-02-01

Successful completion of randomized trials depends upon efficiently and ethically screening patients and obtaining informed consent. Awareness of modifiable barriers to obtaining consent may inform ongoing and future trials. The objective of this study is to describe and examine determinants of consent rates in an international heparin thromboprophylaxis trial (Prophylaxis for ThromboEmbolism in Critical Care Trial, clinicaltrials.gov NCT00182143). Throughout the 4-year trial, research personnel approached eligible critically ill patients or their substitute decision makers for informed consent. Whether consent was obtained or declined was documented daily. The trial was conducted in 67 centers in 6 countries. A total of 3764 patients were randomized. The overall consent rate was 82.2% (range, 50%-100%) across participating centers. Consent was obtained from substitute decision makers and patients in 90.1% and 9.9% of cases, respectively. Five factors were independently associated with consent rates. Research coordinators with more experience achieved higher consent rates (odds ratio [OR], 3.43; 95% confidence interval, 2.42-4.86; P 10 years of experience). Consent rates were higher in smaller intensive care units with less than 15 beds compared with intensive care units with 15 to 20 beds, 21 to 25 beds, and greater than 25 beds (all ORs, <0.5; P < .001) and were higher in centers with more than 1 full-time research staff (OR, 1.95; 95% confidence interval, 1.28-2.99; P < .001). Consent rates were lower in centers affiliated with the Canadian Critical Care Trials Group or the Australian and New Zealand Intensive Care Society Clinical Trials Group compared with other centers (OR, 0.57; 95% confidence interval, 0.42-0.77; P < .001). Finally, consent rates were highest during the pilot trial, lowest during the initiation of the full trial, and increased over years of recruitment (P < .001). Characteristics of study centers, research infrastructure, and experience

Combined effect of chemical and electrical synapses in Hindmarsh-Rose neural networks on synchronization and the rate of information.

Science.gov (United States)

Baptista, M S; Moukam Kakmeni, F M; Grebogi, C

2010-09-01

In this work we studied the combined action of chemical and electrical synapses in small networks of Hindmarsh-Rose (HR) neurons on the synchronous behavior and on the rate of information produced (per time unit) by the networks. We show that if the chemical synapse is excitatory, the larger the chemical synapse strength used the smaller the electrical synapse strength needed to achieve complete synchronization, and for moderate synaptic strengths one should expect to find desynchronous behavior. Otherwise, if the chemical synapse is inhibitory, the larger the chemical synapse strength used the larger the electrical synapse strength needed to achieve complete synchronization, and for moderate synaptic strengths one should expect to find synchronous behaviors. Finally, we show how to calculate semianalytically an upper bound for the rate of information produced per time unit (Kolmogorov-Sinai entropy) in larger networks. As an application, we show that this upper bound is linearly proportional to the number of neurons in a network whose neurons are highly connected.

Improving University Ranking to Achieve University Competitiveness by Management Information System

Science.gov (United States)

Dachyar, M.; Dewi, F.

2015-05-01

One way to increase university competitiveness is through information system management. A literature review was done to find information system factors that affect university performance in Quacquarelli Symonds (QS) University Ranking: Asia evaluation. Information system factors were then eliminated using Delphi method through consensus of 7 experts. Result from Delphi method was used as measured variables in PLS-SEM. Estimation with PLS-SEM method through 72 respondents shows that the latent variable academic reputation and citation per paper have significant correlation to university competitiveness. In University of Indonesia (UI) the priority to increase university competitiveness as follow: (i) network building in international conference, (ii) availability of research data to public, (iii) international conference information, (iv) information on achievements and accreditations of each major, (v) ease of employment for alumni.

Achievement goals and interpersonal behaviour: How mastery and performance goals shape information exchange

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Poortvliet, P.M.; Janssen, O.; Van Yperen, N.W.; Van de Vliert, E.

2007-01-01

The present research examines the impact of achievement goals on task-related information exchange. Studies 1 and 2 reveal that relative to those with mastery goals or no goal, individuals pursuing performance goals were less open in their information giving to exchange partners. Study 2 further

The effect of inquiry-flipped classroom model toward students' achievement on chemical reaction rate

Science.gov (United States)

Paristiowati, Maria; Fitriani, Ella; Aldi, Nurul Hanifah

2017-08-01

The aim of this research is to find out the effect of Inquiry-Flipped Classroom Models toward Students' Achievement on Chemical Reaction Rate topic. This study was conducted at SMA Negeri 3 Tangerang in Eleventh Graders. The Quasi Experimental Method with Non-equivalent Control Group design was implemented in this study. 72 students as the sample was selected by purposive sampling. Students in experimental group were learned through inquiry-flipped classroom model. Meanwhile, in control group, students were learned through guided inquiry learning model. Based on the data analysis, it can be seen that there is significant difference in the result of the average achievement of the students. The average achievement of the students in inquiry-flipped classroom model was 83,44 and the average achievement of the students in guided inquiry learning model was 74,06. It can be concluded that the students' achievement with inquiry-flipped classroom better than guided inquiry. The difference of students' achievement were significant through t-test which is tobs 3.056 > ttable 1.994 (α = 0.005).

Achievable Rate of Multi-relay Cognitive Radio MIMO Channel with Space Alignment

KAUST Repository

Sboui, Lokman; Ghazzai, Hakim; Rezki, Zouheir; Alouini, Mohamed-Slim

2015-01-01

We study the impact of multiple relays on the primary user (PU) and secondary user (SU) rates of underlay MIMO cognitive radio. Both users exploit amplify-and-forward relays to communicate with the destination. A space alignment technique and a special linear precoding and decoding scheme are applied to allow the SU to use the resulting free eigenmodes. In addition, the SU can communicate over the used eigenmodes under the condition of respecting an interference constraint tolerated by the PU. At the destination, a successive interference cancellation (SIC) is performed to estimate the secondary signal. We present the explicit expressions of the optimal PU and SU powers that maximize their achievable rates. In the numerical results, we show that our scheme provides cognitive rate gain even in absence of tolerated interference. In addition, we show that increasing the number of relays enhances the PU and SU rates at low power regime and/or when the relays power is sufficiently high.

Achievable Rate of Multi-relay Cognitive Radio MIMO Channel with Space Alignment

KAUST Repository

Sboui, Lokman

2015-04-21

We study the impact of multiple relays on the primary user (PU) and secondary user (SU) rates of underlay MIMO cognitive radio. Both users exploit amplify-and-forward relays to communicate with the destination. A space alignment technique and a special linear precoding and decoding scheme are applied to allow the SU to use the resulting free eigenmodes. In addition, the SU can communicate over the used eigenmodes under the condition of respecting an interference constraint tolerated by the PU. At the destination, a successive interference cancellation (SIC) is performed to estimate the secondary signal. We present the explicit expressions of the optimal PU and SU powers that maximize their achievable rates. In the numerical results, we show that our scheme provides cognitive rate gain even in absence of tolerated interference. In addition, we show that increasing the number of relays enhances the PU and SU rates at low power regime and/or when the relays power is sufficiently high.

Low ranks make the difference : How achievement goals and ranking information affect cooperation intentions

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Poortvliet, P. Marijn; Janssen, Onne; Van Yperen, N.W.; Van de Vliert, E.

This investigation tested the joint effect of achievement goals and ranking information on information exchange intentions with a commensurate exchange partner. Results showed that individuals with performance goals were less inclined to cooperate with an exchange partner when they had low or high

Corporate governance ratings as a means to reduce asymmetric information

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Claus Holm

2014-12-01

Full Text Available Can corporate governance ratings reduce problems of asymmetric information between companies and investors? To answer this question, we set out to examine the information basis for providing such ratings by reviewing corporate governance attributes that are required or recommended in laws, accounting standards, and codes, respectively. After that, we scrutinize and organize the publicly available information on the methodologies actually used by rating providers. However, important details of these methodologies are treated as confidential property, thus we approach the evaluation of corporate governance ratings as a means to reduce asymmetric information in a more general manner. We propose that the rating process may be seen as consisting of two general activities, namely a data reduction phase, and a data weighting, aggregation, and classification phase. Findings based on a Danish data-set suggest that rating providers by selecting relevant attributes in an intelligent way can improve the screening of companies according to governance quality. In contrast, it seems questionable that weighting, aggregation, and classification of corporate governance attributes considerably improve discrimination according to governance quality.

Achievable Rate of a Cognitive MIMO Multiple Access Channel With Multi-Secondary Users

KAUST Repository

Sboui, Lokman; Ghazzai, Hakim; Rezki, Zouheir; Alouini, Mohamed-Slim

2015-01-01

We study the secondary sum-rate of an underlay cognitive multiple access channel consisting of a primary user and multiple secondary users (SUs) communicating with a common destination. We propose a particular linear precoding and SU selection scheme that maximize the cognitive sum-rate. This scheme is based on space alignment strategy allowing SUs to share the spectrum without interfering with each other. We derive the optimal power allocation for each selected SU after applying perfect or imperfect successive interference cancellation. Numerical results show that the proposed scheme provides a significant sum-rate improvement as the number of SUs increases. In addition, it achieves almost the same performance as an exhaustive search selection, mainly in low and high power ranges. © 1997-2012 IEEE.

Achievable Rate of a Cognitive MIMO Multiple Access Channel With Multi-Secondary Users

KAUST Repository

Sboui, Lokman

2015-03-01

We study the secondary sum-rate of an underlay cognitive multiple access channel consisting of a primary user and multiple secondary users (SUs) communicating with a common destination. We propose a particular linear precoding and SU selection scheme that maximize the cognitive sum-rate. This scheme is based on space alignment strategy allowing SUs to share the spectrum without interfering with each other. We derive the optimal power allocation for each selected SU after applying perfect or imperfect successive interference cancellation. Numerical results show that the proposed scheme provides a significant sum-rate improvement as the number of SUs increases. In addition, it achieves almost the same performance as an exhaustive search selection, mainly in low and high power ranges. © 1997-2012 IEEE.

Students' Attitudes towards Information Technology and the Relationship with Their Academic Achievement

Science.gov (United States)

Abdullah, Zhwan Dalshad; Bit Abu Ziden, Azidah; Binti Chi Aman, Rahimi; Mustafa, Khalid Ismail

2015-01-01

The present quantitative study aims to find out the underlying factors of attitudes towards information technology and the relationship with academic achievement among students, through a self-developed questionnaire. The attitudes of the respondents were assessed in terms of three dimensions; namely affection, behavior, and belief. The results…

Corporate governance ratings as a means to reduce asymmetric information

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Holm, Claus; Balling, Morten; Poulsen, Thomas

2014-01-01

Can corporate governance ratings reduce problems of asymmetric information between companies and investors? To answer this question, we set out to examine the information basis for providing such ratings by reviewing corporate governance attributes that are required or recommended in laws......, accounting standards, and codes, respectively. After that, we scrutinize and organize the publicly available information on the methodologies actually used by rating providers. However, important details of these methodologies are treated as confidential property, thus we approach the evaluation of corporate......-set suggest that rating providers by selecting relevant attributes in an intelligent way can improve the screening of companies according to governance quality. In contrast, it seems questionable that weighting, aggregation, and classification of corporate governance attributes considerably improve...

Corporate governance ratings as a means to reduce asymmetric information

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Balling, Morten; Holm, Claus; Poulsen, Thomas

Can corporate governance ratings reduce problems of asymmetric information between companies and investors? To answer this question, we set out to examine the information basis for providing such ratings by reviewing corporate governance attributes that are required or recommended in laws......, accounting standards and codes, respectively. After that, we scrutinize and organize the publicly available information on the methodologies actually used by rating providers. However, important details of these methodologies are treated as confidential property, thus we approach the evaluation of corporate...... suggest that rating providers by selecting relevant attributes in an intelligent way can improve the screening of companies according to governance quality. In contrast, it seems questionable that weighting, aggregation and classification of corporate governance attributes considerably improve...

The Effect of Creative Drama on Student Achievement in the Course of Information Technologies

Science.gov (United States)

Özek, Müzeyyen Bulut

2016-01-01

The purpose of this study is to determine the effect of creative drama on student achievement in the Information Technologies course. The study was carried out for the unit "Tomorrow's Technology" which is the first unit of Information Technologies course. For this study, 89 sixth grade students were selected from primary school in…

Efficiency and credit ratings: a permutation-information-theory analysis

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bariviera, Aurelio Fernandez; Martinez, Lisana B; Zunino, Luciano; Belén Guercio, M; Rosso, Osvaldo A

2013-01-01

The role of credit rating agencies has been under severe scrutiny after the subprime crisis. In this paper we explore the relationship between credit ratings and informational efficiency of a sample of thirty nine corporate bonds of US oil and energy companies from April 2008 to November 2012. For this purpose we use a powerful statistical tool, relatively new in the financial literature: the complexity–entropy causality plane. This representation space allows us to graphically classify the different bonds according to their degree of informational efficiency. We find that this classification agrees with the credit ratings assigned by Moody’s. In particular, we detect the formation of two clusters, which correspond to the global categories of investment and speculative grades. Regarding the latter cluster, two subgroups reflect distinct levels of efficiency. Additionally, we also find an intriguing absence of correlation between informational efficiency and firm characteristics. This allows us to conclude that the proposed permutation-information-theory approach provides an alternative practical way to justify bond classification. (paper)

Self-Informant Agreement in Well-Being Ratings: A Meta-Analysis

Science.gov (United States)

Schneider, Leann; Schimmack, Ulrich

2009-01-01

A meta-analysis of published studies that reported correlations between self-ratings and informant ratings of well-being (life-satisfaction, happiness, positive affect, negative affect) was performed. The average self-informant correlation based on 44 independent samples and 81 correlations for a total of 8,897 participants was r = 0.42 [99%…

The letter of recommendation effect in informant ratings of personality.

Science.gov (United States)

Leising, Daniel; Erbs, Julia; Fritz, Ulrike

2010-04-01

In most studies using informant reports of personality, the informants are recruited by the targets. Such informants may tend to like the targets and thus portray them in specific ways (e.g., too positively). Study 1 (N = 403) demonstrated the necessity to distinguish between "liking" and "knowing" in studying the relationships between informants and targets. Informants who liked their targets better described them more positively (i.e., as being more extraverted, agreeable, open, conscientious, and less neurotic). The association between personality ratings and liking was moderated by item evaluativeness. Liked targets were also described as being more similar to each other (range restriction), which would lower correlations of informant ratings of personality with external variables. Study 2 (N = 90) used a within-subjects design to disentangle actual personality differences between targets (substance) from the informants' specific views on the targets (style). Ninety informants were asked to nominate targets they did not like. These targets then nominated informants of their own choice. Target-nominated informants liked the targets very much and described the targets' personalities very positively and in ways that were highly redundant with the average target's self-rating. There was evidence that lower liking may be associated with better accuracy. Higher subjective levels of knowing were not associated with better interrater agreement but with a greater willingness to describe targets negatively. Implications for the field of recruiting are discussed. Where possible, the choice of informants and referees should be made independent of the targets' preferences.

An entropy approach for evaluating the maximum information content achievable by an urban rainfall network

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

E. Ridolfi

2011-07-01

Full Text Available Hydrological models are the basis of operational flood-forecasting systems. The accuracy of these models is strongly dependent on the quality and quantity of the input information represented by rainfall height. Finer space-time rainfall resolution results in more accurate hazard forecasting. In this framework, an optimum raingauge network is essential in predicting flood events.

This paper develops an entropy-based approach to evaluate the maximum information content achievable by a rainfall network for different sampling time intervals. The procedure is based on the determination of the coefficients of transferred and nontransferred information and on the relative isoinformation contours.

The nontransferred information value achieved by the whole network is strictly dependent on the sampling time intervals considered. An empirical curve is defined, to assess the objective of the research: the nontransferred information value is plotted versus the associated sampling time on a semi-log scale. The curve has a linear trend.

In this paper, the methodology is applied to the high-density raingauge network of the urban area of Rome.

Negative ratings play a positive role in information filtering

Science.gov (United States)

Zeng, Wei; Zhu, Yu-Xiao; Lü, Linyuan; Zhou, Tao

2011-11-01

The explosive growth of information asks for advanced information filtering techniques to solve the so-called information overload problem. A promising way is the recommender system which analyzes the historical records of users’ activities and accordingly provides personalized recommendations. Most recommender systems can be represented by user-object bipartite networks where users can evaluate and vote for objects, and ratings such as “dislike” and “I hate it” are treated straightforwardly as negative factors or are completely ignored in traditional approaches. Applying a local diffusion algorithm on three benchmark data sets, MovieLens, Netflix and Amazon, our study arrives at a very surprising result, namely the negative ratings may play a positive role especially for very sparse data sets. In-depth analysis at the microscopic level indicates that the negative ratings from less active users to less popular objects could probably have positive impacts on the recommendations, while the ones connecting active users and popular objects mostly should be treated negatively. We finally outline the significant relevance of our results to the two long-term challenges in information filtering: the sparsity problem and the cold-start problem.

Achievable rate of cognitive radio spectrum sharing MIMO channel with space alignment and interference temperature precoding

KAUST Repository

Sboui, Lokman

2013-06-01

In this paper, we investigate the spectral efficiency gain of an uplink Cognitive Radio (CR) Multi-Input MultiOutput (MIMO) system in which the Secondary/unlicensed User (SU) is allowed to share the spectrum with the Primary/licensed User (PU) using a specific precoding scheme to communicate with a common receiver. The proposed scheme exploits at the same time the free eigenmodes of the primary channel after a space alignment procedure and the interference threshold tolerated by the PU. In our work, we study the maximum achievable rate of the CR node after deriving an optimal power allocation with respect to an outage interference and an average power constraints. We, then, study a protection protocol that considers a fixed interference threshold. Applied to Rayleigh fading channels, we show, through numerical results, that our proposed scheme enhances considerably the cognitive achievable rate. For instance, in case of a perfect detection of the PU signal, after applying Successive Interference Cancellation (SIC), the CR rate remains non-zero for high Signal to Noise Ratio (SNR) which is usually impossible when we only use space alignment technique. In addition, we show that the rate gain is proportional to the allowed interference threshold by providing a fixed rate even in the high SNR range. © 2013 IEEE.

Wireless Powered Relaying Networks Under Imperfect Channel State Information: System Performance and Optimal Policy for Instantaneous Rate

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

D. T. Do

2017-09-01

Full Text Available In this investigation, we consider wireless powered relaying systems, where energy is scavenged by a relay via radio frequency (RF signals. We explore hybrid time switching-based and power splitting-based relaying protocol (HTPSR and compare performance of Amplify-and-Forward (AF with Decode-and-Forward (DF scheme under imperfect channel state information (CSI. Most importantly, the instantaneous rate, achievable bit error rate (BER are determined in the closed-form expressions under the impact of imperfect CSI. Through numerical analysis, we evaluate system insights via different parameters such as power splitting (PS and time switching (TS ratio of the considered HTPSR which affect outage performance and BER. It is noted that DF relaying networks outperform AF relaying networks. Besides that, the numerical results are given to prove the optimization problems of PS and TS ratio to obtain optimal instantaneous rate.

School Climate, Peer Victimization, and Academic Achievement: Results from a Multi-Informant Study

Science.gov (United States)

Wang, Weijun; Vaillancourt, Tracy; Brittain, Heather L.; McDougall, Patricia; Krygsman, Amanda; Smith, David; Cunningham, Charles E.; Haltigan, J. D.; Hymel, Shelley

2014-01-01

School-level school climate was examined in relation to self-reported peer victimization and teacher-rated academic achievement (grade point average; GPA). Participants included a sample of 1,023 fifth-grade children nested within 50 schools. Associations between peer victimization, school climate, and GPA were examined using multilevel modeling,…

Effects of phase lag on the information rate of a bistable Duffing oscillator

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Perkins, Edmon; Balachandran, Balakumar

2015-01-01

To utilize noise for systems, which are transmitting or receiving information, the information rate is a necessary metric to consider. The phase lag, which is the difference between the sender (applied forcing) and receiver (the oscillator) phases, has a significant effect on the information rate. However, this phase lag is a nonlinear function of the noise level. Here, the effects of phase lag on the information rate for a Duffing oscillator are examined and comparative discussions are made with phase lag from linear response theory. The phase lag is shown to be an important variable in calculating the information rate. - Highlights: • Simulations and Fokker–Planck analysis for Duffing oscillator response are performed. • The phase lag is found to be a nonlinear function of the noise level. • The phase lag is shown to be important for calculating the information rate metric

Effects of phase lag on the information rate of a bistable Duffing oscillator

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Perkins, Edmon, E-mail: edmon@umd.edu; Balachandran, Balakumar, E-mail: balab@umd.edu

2015-02-06

To utilize noise for systems, which are transmitting or receiving information, the information rate is a necessary metric to consider. The phase lag, which is the difference between the sender (applied forcing) and receiver (the oscillator) phases, has a significant effect on the information rate. However, this phase lag is a nonlinear function of the noise level. Here, the effects of phase lag on the information rate for a Duffing oscillator are examined and comparative discussions are made with phase lag from linear response theory. The phase lag is shown to be an important variable in calculating the information rate. - Highlights: • Simulations and Fokker–Planck analysis for Duffing oscillator response are performed. • The phase lag is found to be a nonlinear function of the noise level. • The phase lag is shown to be important for calculating the information rate metric.

Developing an Interpretive Structural Modeling(ISM in order to Achieve Agility via Information Technology in Manufacturing Organization

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ali Mohammadi

2012-12-01

Full Text Available Agility is considered the ability to respond quickly to changes and a major factor for success and survival in today's business. The purpose of this research is to offer a conceptual model using Interpretive Structural Modeling(ISM. To this end after reviewing literature and theoretical background, the indices related to achieving agility via information technology (IT have been identified and then the Interpretive Structural Model in four levels has been represented. Findings show that tendency and commitment of top managers, organizational climate and strategic planning alignment with information technology planning is the major factors affecting agility achievement via information technology (IT.

Point of care experience with pneumococcal and influenza vaccine documentation among persons aged ≥65 years: high refusal rates and missing information.

Science.gov (United States)

Brownfield, Elisha; Marsden, Justin E; Iverson, Patty J; Zhao, Yumin; Mauldin, Patrick D; Moran, William P

2012-09-01

Missed opportunities to vaccinate and refusal of vaccine by patients have hindered the achievement of national health care goals. The meaningful use of electronic medical records should improve vaccination rates, but few studies have examined the content of these records. In our vaccine intervention program using an electronic record with physician prompts, paper prompts, and nursing standing orders, we were unable to achieve national vaccine goals, due in large part to missing information and patient refusal. Copyright © 2012 Association for Professionals in Infection Control and Epidemiology, Inc. Published by Mosby, Inc. All rights reserved.

The impact of informal economy on the interest rate pass-through ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Furthermore, the results indicated that the effect of the informal economy is much stronger in the long-run compared to the short-run. Finally, the results indicated that in both the short run and long run existence of an informal economy dampens the transmission of changes in the policy rate to retail rates as expected from ...

49 CFR 575.301 - Vehicle Labeling of Safety Rating Information.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-10-01

... providing them with safety rating information developed by NHTSA in its New Car Assessment Program (NCAP..., as specified at 15 U.S.C. 1231-1233. (2) Safety rating label means the label with NCAP safety rating... has approved an optional NCAP test that will cover that category, the manufacturer may depict vehicles...

Towards universal ARV access: Achievements and challenges in ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Information on staff training, vacancy rates and funding allocations for the ARV roll-out was obtained from official government reports. Projections were made of expected new ARV enrolments for 2008 and 2009 and compared with goals set by the National Strategic Plan (NSP) to achieve universal access to ARVs by 2011.

Estimating the possible range of recycling rates achieved by dump waste pickers: The case of Bantar Gebang in Indonesia.

Science.gov (United States)

Sasaki, Shunsuke; Araki, Tetsuya

2014-06-01

This article presents informal recycling contributions made by scavengers in the surrounding area of Bantar Gebang final disposal site for municipal solid waste generated in Jakarta. Preliminary fieldwork was conducted through daily conversations with scavengers to identify recycling actors at the site, and then quantitative field surveys were conducted twice. The first survey (n = 504 households) covered 33% of all households in the area, and the second survey (n = 69 households) was conducted to quantify transactions of recyclables among scavengers. Mathematical equations were formulated with assumptions made to estimate the possible range of recycling rates achieved by dump waste pickers. Slightly over 60% of all respondents were involved in informal recycling and over 80% of heads of households were waste pickers, normally referred to as live-in waste pickers and live-out waste pickers at the site. The largest percentage of their spouses were family workers, followed by waste pickers and housewives. Over 95% of all households of respondents had at least one waste picker or one small boss who has a coequal status of a waste picker. Average weight of recyclables collected by waste pickers at the site was estimated to be approximately 100 kg day(-1) per household on the net weight basis. The recycling rate of solid wastes collected by all scavengers at the site was estimated to be in the range of 2.8-7.5% of all solid wastes transported to the site. © The Author(s) 2014.

Aspect-Aware Latent Factor Model: Rating Prediction with Ratings and Reviews

OpenAIRE

Cheng, Zhiyong; Ding, Ying; Zhu, Lei; Kankanhalli, Mohan

2018-01-01

Although latent factor models (e.g., matrix factorization) achieve good accuracy in rating prediction, they suffer from several problems including cold-start, non-transparency, and suboptimal recommendation for local users or items. In this paper, we employ textual review information with ratings to tackle these limitations. Firstly, we apply a proposed aspect-aware topic model (ATM) on the review text to model user preferences and item features from different aspects, and estimate the aspect...

Adaptive rate transmission for spectrum sharing system with quantized channel state information

KAUST Repository

Abdallah, Mohamed M.

2011-03-01

The capacity of a secondary link in spectrum sharing systems has been recently investigated in fading environments. In particular, the secondary transmitter is allowed to adapt its power and rate to maximize its capacity subject to the constraint of maximum interference level allowed at the primary receiver. In most of the literature, it was assumed that estimates of the channel state information (CSI) of the secondary link and the interference level are made available at the secondary transmitter via an infinite-resolution feedback links between the secondary/primary receivers and the secondary transmitter. However, the assumption of having infinite resolution feedback links is not always practical as it requires an excessive amount of bandwidth. In this paper we develop a framework for optimizing the performance of the secondary link in terms of the average spectral efficiency assuming quantized CSI available at the secondary transmitter. We develop a computationally efficient algorithm for optimally quantizing the CSI and finding the optimal power and rate employed at the cognitive transmitter for each quantized CSI level so as to maximize the average spectral efficiency. Our results give the number of bits required to represent the CSI sufficient to achieve almost the maximum average spectral efficiency attained using full knowledge of the CSI for Rayleigh fading channels. © 2011 IEEE.

Adaptive rate transmission for spectrum sharing system with quantized channel state information

KAUST Repository

Abdallah, Mohamed M.; Salem, Ahmed H.; Alouini, Mohamed-Slim; Qaraqe, Khalid A.

2011-01-01

The capacity of a secondary link in spectrum sharing systems has been recently investigated in fading environments. In particular, the secondary transmitter is allowed to adapt its power and rate to maximize its capacity subject to the constraint of maximum interference level allowed at the primary receiver. In most of the literature, it was assumed that estimates of the channel state information (CSI) of the secondary link and the interference level are made available at the secondary transmitter via an infinite-resolution feedback links between the secondary/primary receivers and the secondary transmitter. However, the assumption of having infinite resolution feedback links is not always practical as it requires an excessive amount of bandwidth. In this paper we develop a framework for optimizing the performance of the secondary link in terms of the average spectral efficiency assuming quantized CSI available at the secondary transmitter. We develop a computationally efficient algorithm for optimally quantizing the CSI and finding the optimal power and rate employed at the cognitive transmitter for each quantized CSI level so as to maximize the average spectral efficiency. Our results give the number of bits required to represent the CSI sufficient to achieve almost the maximum average spectral efficiency attained using full knowledge of the CSI for Rayleigh fading channels. © 2011 IEEE.

Information theory and rate distortion theory for communications and compression

CERN Document Server

Gibson, Jerry

2013-01-01

This book is very specifically targeted to problems in communications and compression by providing the fundamental principles and results in information theory and rate distortion theory for these applications and presenting methods that have proved and will prove useful in analyzing and designing real systems. The chapters contain treatments of entropy, mutual information, lossless source coding, channel capacity, and rate distortion theory; however, it is the selection, ordering, and presentation of the topics within these broad categories that is unique to this concise book. While the cover

Impact of Improper Gaussian Signaling on the Achievable Rate of Overlay Cognitive Radio

KAUST Repository

Amin, Osama

2017-05-12

Improper Gaussian signaling (IGS) has been recently shown to provide performance improvements in underlay cognitive radio systems as opposed to the conventional proper Gaussian signaling (PGS) scheme. For the first time, this paper implements IGS scheme in overlay cognitive radio system, where the secondary transmitter broadcasts a mixture of two different signals. The first signal is selected from the PGS scheme to support the primary message transmission. On the other hand, the second signal is chosen to be from the IGS scheme in order to reduce the interference effect on the primary receiver. We then optimally design the overlay cognitive radio that employs IGS to maximize the secondary link achievable rate while satisfying the minimum rate requirement of the primary network. In particular, we derive closed form expressions for the circularity coefficient used in the IGS scheme and the power distribution parameters. Simulation results are provided to support our theoretical derivations.

Impact of Improper Gaussian Signaling on the Achievable Rate of Overlay Cognitive Radio

KAUST Repository

Amin, Osama; Abediseid, Walid; Alouini, Mohamed-Slim

2017-01-01

Improper Gaussian signaling (IGS) has been recently shown to provide performance improvements in underlay cognitive radio systems as opposed to the conventional proper Gaussian signaling (PGS) scheme. For the first time, this paper implements IGS scheme in overlay cognitive radio system, where the secondary transmitter broadcasts a mixture of two different signals. The first signal is selected from the PGS scheme to support the primary message transmission. On the other hand, the second signal is chosen to be from the IGS scheme in order to reduce the interference effect on the primary receiver. We then optimally design the overlay cognitive radio that employs IGS to maximize the secondary link achievable rate while satisfying the minimum rate requirement of the primary network. In particular, we derive closed form expressions for the circularity coefficient used in the IGS scheme and the power distribution parameters. Simulation results are provided to support our theoretical derivations.

34 CFR 668.45 - Information on completion or graduation rates.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-07-01

... POSTSECONDARY EDUCATION, DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION STUDENT ASSISTANCE GENERAL PROVISIONS Institutional and Financial Assistance Information for Students § 668.45 Information on completion or graduation rates. (a)(1... Management and Budget under control number 1845-0004) (Authority: 20 U.S.C. 1092) [74 FR 55944, Oct. 29, 2009] ...

Influence of User Ratings, Expert Ratings and Purposes of Information Use on the Credibility Judgments of College Students

Science.gov (United States)

Lim, Sook; Steffel, Nick

2015-01-01

Introduction: This study examined whether user ratings, expert ratings and the purpose of the use of a book on a user-generated site influenced the credibility of the book. It also examined whether the effects of user ratings and expert ratings on credibility judgments of the book varied according to the purpose of information use. In addition,…

[Problem based learning: achievement of educational goals in the information and comprehension sub-categories of Bloom cognitive domain].

Science.gov (United States)

Montecinos, P; Rodewald, A M

1994-06-01

The aim this work was to assess and compare the achievements of medical students, subjected to problem based learning methodology. The information and comprehension categories of Bloom were tested in 17 medical students in four different occasions during the physiopathology course, using a multiple choice knowledge test. There was a significant improvement in the number of correct answers towards the end of the course. It is concluded that these medical students obtained adequate learning achievements in the information subcategory of Bloom using problem based learning methodology, during the physiopathology course.

Explaining the Variation in Adoption Rates of the Information Content of Environmental Disclosure

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Fallan, Even

2015-01-01

of content, and whether innovation adoption theory might represent important factors of this decision-making process. Design/methodology/approach: - Actual adoption rates of 13 information content categories are computed using content analysis of annual reports for 62 listed companies. Each content category......Purpose: - Corporate management decides what types of environmental information content to disclose/adopt. It is explored whether internal context - decision-makers’ perception of characteristics of the information content - might predict the variation in adoption rates of different types...... is seen as an innovation the company decides to adopt or not. Interviews with management in several companies illustrate the decision process of disclosure, and help predict adoption rates. Predicted and actual adoption rates are compared. Findings: - Adoption rates vary considerably among the 13 types...

Quantum data locking for high-rate private communication

OpenAIRE

Lupo, Cosmo; Lloyd, Seth

2015-01-01

We show that, if the accessible information is used as a security quantifier, quantum channels with a certain symmetry can convey private messages at a tremendously high rate, as high as less than one bit below the rate of non-private classical communication. This result is obtained by exploiting the quantum data locking effect. The price to pay to achieve such a high private communication rate is that accessible information security is in general not composable. However, composable security ...

NEDO Forum 2000. Proliferation of information and achievements, and evaluation session (toward achievement evaluation and information signaling); Joho seika no fukyu to hyoka session. Seika no hyoka to joho hasshin ni mukete

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

NONE

2000-09-01

The following themes were presented at the present session: (1) fundamental survey on evaluation of projects, (2) the IEA information exchange agreement project and information providing activities by NEDO, (3) the NEDO technological information database, (4) the NEDO's intelligent property releasing institution and utilization of the patent database, (5) examples of successful utilization of NEDO patents (mask producing equipment by means of electronic beam depiction), and (6) special lectures (the current status of information network technologies and their new development in the future). Item (1) describes a method to evaluate reasonability of decision makings at each time point around project management, in which time divisions are set, and compared with requirements in each time. It also describes discussions on the reasonability thereof. As the execution agreement with IEA for energy technology data exchange (ETDE), Item (2) introduces the IEA energy and environment technology information (a project by Centre for the Analysis and Dissemination of Demonstrated Energy Technology (CADDET) and a project of Greenhouse Gas Technology Information Exchange (GREENTIE)), as well as the execution agreement to establish IEA coal researches, and the NEDO information providing activities. Item (3) introduces the NEDO project information, NEDO achievement report, CADDET database, and GREENTIE database as the databases provided by the NEDO Information Center. (NEDO)

INFORMATION SYSTEM DESIGN OF PERFORMANCE ACHIEVEMENTS MONITORING IN THE UNIVERSITY: A CASE STUDY IN BINUS UNIVERSITY

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Irma Irawati Ibrahim

2012-05-01

Full Text Available Dashboard is a computer interface that displays a variety of charts, graphs, tables, which are selected reports from various data that are considered important to display rapidly, with an attractive appearance, dynamic, and relevant so that it can immediately be seen quickly to analyze a condition. Dashboard information system is widely used in various companies as a support system for decision-making where Dashboard usually displays data business trends of the company or the achievement of KPI (Key Performance Indicator of a company. The method used is descriptive analysis by means of collecting information that areimportant for universities to be considered asthe Key Success Factors (KSF of the university, and then, the design of the dashboard is made in accordance with these important factors.The result of this study is a grand design of information systems for the university performance monitoring, starting from the reception of students, faculty performance, student academic achievement, effectiveness and efficiency of services, including graduates. It is expected that by the time the system has been fully implemented, the university can take action quickly and accurately with respect to the required conditions.Keywords: Information System Dashboard; Dashboard; Academic Dashboard; University Dashboard

Effects of health information exchange adoption on ambulatory testing rates.

Science.gov (United States)

Ross, Stephen E; Radcliff, Tiffany A; Leblanc, William G; Dickinson, L Miriam; Libby, Anne M; Nease, Donald E

2013-01-01

To determine the effects of the adoption of ambulatory electronic health information exchange (HIE) on rates of laboratory and radiology testing and allowable charges. Claims data from the dominant health plan in Mesa County, Colorado, from 1 April 2005 to 31 December 2010 were matched to HIE adoption data on the provider level. Using mixed effects regression models with the quarter as the unit of analysis, the effect of HIE adoption on testing rates and associated charges was assessed. Claims submitted by 306 providers in 69 practices for 34 818 patients were analyzed. The rate of testing per provider was expressed as tests per 1000 patients per quarter. For primary care providers, the rate of laboratory testing increased over the time span (baseline 1041 tests/1000 patients/quarter, increasing by 13.9 each quarter) and shifted downward with HIE adoption (downward shift of 83, prates or imputed charges in either provider group. Ambulatory HIE adoption is unlikely to produce significant direct savings through reductions in rates of testing. The economic benefits of HIE may reside instead in other downstream outcomes of better informed, higher quality care.

Using Student Achievement Data Effectively to Inform Instruction

Science.gov (United States)

Bunns, Sandra D.

2012-01-01

The use of student achievement data to improve teaching and learning is a national concern driven by accountability requirements of the No Child Left Behind Act of 2002. Research studies that examine how schools use student achievement data document the need for teachers to connect data to instructional practices. Bruner's social constructivist…

Energy - achieving an optimum through information

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Gitt, W.

1986-01-01

What have computer programs in common with everyday human behaviour. Or the birds' passage, or photosynthesis, or the chemical reactions in a cell. They all primarily are information-controlled processes. The book under review deals with 'information' and 'energy', two main concepts in today's technological world. 'Energy' during the last few years has become a significant criterion with regard to technological progress. 'Information' is not only a main term in informatics terminology, but also a central concept for example in biology, linguistics, and communication science. The author shows that every 'information' is the result of an intellectual and purposeful process. The concept of information is taken as the red thread leading the author's journey through manifold strata of modern life, asking questions, finding answers, discussing problems. The wide spectrum of aspects discussed, including for instance a new approach to the Bible, and the remarkable examples presented by the author, make this book a treasure of knowledge, and of faith. (orig./HP) [de

The Role of Private Information in Short-term Fluctuations of Won/Dollar Exchange Rates

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Haesik Park

1999-12-01

Full Text Available In this paper, we have examined the short-run movement of the won/dollar exchange rate using information obtained from the inter-bank market in Korea. First, we constructed the hourly measure of excess demand for dollar and used it as a proxy for the trading pattern of market participants. To construct this time series, we relied on the bid and ask won/dollar exchange rates collected on the two-minute interval. We then estimated the structural VAR model consisting of the actually observed won/dollar exchange rate and the proxied trading pattern of market participants to see if private information, as opposed to public information, is relevant for explaining the hourly movement of the won/dollar exchange rate. Private information is found to account for more 30% of hourly variations of the won/dollar exchange rate. Next, we constructed the trading pattern of market participants on a daily basis using the same data set employed to build the hourly measure. We then examined whether private information is useful for predicting the daily won/dollar exchange rate movement. We found that the forecast model using both private and public information reduces out-of-sample forecast errors of an alternative model relying only on public information by 20~25%. Also, the out-of-sample forecast of the model using both private and public information is found to be more accurate than the random walk model.

77 FR 63804 - Federal Acquisition Regulation; Information Collection; Indirect Cost Rates

Science.gov (United States)

2012-10-17

... cost accounting information normally prepared by organizations under sound management and accounting...; Information Collection; Indirect Cost Rates AGENCY: Department of Defense (DOD), General Services... Paperwork Reduction Act, the Regulatory Secretariat will be submitting to the Office of Management and...

49 CFR 575.106 - Tire fuel efficiency consumer information program.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-10-01

... to provide information indicating the relative performance of replacement passenger car tires in the... achieve the level of performance represented by each rating. (A) Ratings. Each tire shall be rated with... 49 Transportation 7 2010-10-01 2010-10-01 false Tire fuel efficiency consumer information program...

Boys starting school disadvantaged: implications from teachers' ratings of behaviour and achievement in the first two years.

Science.gov (United States)

Childs, G; McKay, M

2001-06-01

Consistent evidence indicates that low socio-economic status (SES) acts as an important stressor and vulnerability factor for children's school learning. However, specific mechanism(s) of this process are still not well understood. This study was a follow-up of the classroom learning behaviour and perceived achievement of low and middle income children after two years at school, who had previously been rated soon after starting school. It examined whether teachers' ratings displayed predictive stability over that period, and whether significant differences evident at age 5 in SES and gender were still operative at age 7. Two samples, of low income (N = 85) and middle income (N = 63) children, were rated following school entry (mean age 5 years 3 months) and rated again after two years at school. The children were rated at both points by their regular classroom teachers using the Learning Behaviours Scale (Stott et al., 1998) with subscales of Distractible, Apprehensive and Uncooperative, together with ratings of academic achievement and their personal perception of each child. SES was found to be a very limited predictor for the learning behaviour subscale ratings and for teachers' personal perceptions at both ages 5 and 7. SES did significantly predict expected Academic Achievement at age 5, but this effect disappeared completely by age 7. Conversely, within the two defined groups, Low Income boys were found to display significantly poorer learning behaviours at age 5, especially in terms of distractible behaviour, compared with Middle Income boys and with girls generally. This pattern was maintained over the next two years of their schooling. The effect of SES was thus demonstrated more powerfully in between-group differences than by means of regression. The findings emphasised the persistence of teachers' initial negative impressions about distractible 'hard to manage' boys from low SES families. The outcomes of this study suggest that low SES boys commenced

Reading Achievement and In-Grade Retention Rate Differentials for Mexican-American and Black Students in Selected States of the Southwest.

Science.gov (United States)

Casavantes, Edward Joseph

Two sets of data from the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights' Mexican American Education Study were selected for analysis in the areas of (1) comparative reading achievement rates of Mexican Americans and black students; and (2) differential in-grade retention rates of Anglo, Mexican American, and black students. Two separate issues were examined.…

Energy - achieving an optimum through information. Energie - optimal durch Information

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Gitt, W.

1986-01-01

What have computer programs in common with everyday human behaviour. Or the birds' passage, or photosynthesis, or the chemical reactions in a cell. They all primarily are information-controlled processes. The book under review deals with 'information' and 'energy', two main concepts in today's technological world. 'Energy' during the last few years has become a significant criterion with regard to technological progress. 'Information' is not only a main term in informatics terminology, but also a central concept for example in biology, linguistics, and communication science. The author shows that every 'information' is the result of an intellectual and purposeful process. The concept of information is taken as the red thread leading the author's journey through manifold strata of modern life, asking questions, finding answers, discussing problems. The wide spectrum of aspects discussed, including for instance a new approach to the Bible, and the remarkable examples presented by the author, make this book a treasure of knowledge, and of faith.

Questionnaire survey of current status and reserve for breast cancer screening in Mie prefecture. Achievement of a 50% participation rate

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kobayashi, Shigeki; Tanaka, Yukio; Matsuo, Michiko

2012-01-01

Mie Medical Network of Breast Cancer Screening, a NPO, was assigned the task of breast cancer screening in Mie prefecture in April, 2010. For breast cancer screening in Mie prefecture in 2009, a questionnaire survey was performed toward both consigner and consignee. Consigners were local public offices managing breast cancer screening for local inhabitants, and consignees were facilities offering breast cancer screening. The number of breast cancer screening was investigated toward all 29 of consigners in Mie prefecture. The questionnaire survey was conducted toward all 52 of the facilities possessing mammography systems (breast cancer screening being performed at 48 of them) in Mie prefecture in 2009. We investigated the predictive additional number of breast cancer screening and also investigated the requisite number of staff to achieve the predictive maximum number of breast cancer screening. As a result, the total number of breast cancer screenings was 93,525, and the participation rate was 27.5% which was calculated by reduction of continuator in Mie prefecture in 2009. The continuator accounted for over 30% of all breast cancer screenings. The predictive additional number was 126,950, this indicates that a possible participation rate of 75.2% after 2011. To achieve this high participation rate, active support is essential for short-handed facilities, and about 20% increase of medical staff is necessary. To achieve a participation rate of over 50% as a goal, new screenees should be recruited and breast cancer screening of every other year should be enlightened. (author)

RATING MODELS AND INFORMATION TECHNOLOGIES APPLICATION FOR MANAGEMENT OF ADMINISTRATIVE-TERRITORIAL COMPLEXES

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

O. M. Pshinko

2016-12-01

Full Text Available Purpose. The paper aims to develop rating models and related information technologies designed to resolve the tasks of strategic planning of the administrative and territorial units’ development, as well as the tasks of multi-criteria control of inhomogeneous multiparameter objects operation. Methodology. When solving problems of strategic planning of administrative and territorial development and heterogeneous classes management of objects under control, a set of agreed methods is used. Namely the multi-criteria properties analysis for objects of planning and management, diagnostics of the state parameters, forecasting and management of complex systems of different classes. Their states are estimated by sets of different quality indicators, as well as represented by the individual models of operation process. A new information technology is proposed and created to implement the strategic planning and management tasks. This technology uses the procedures for solving typical tasks, that are implemented in MS SQL Server. Findings. A new approach to develop models of analyze and management of complex systems classes based on the ratings has been proposed. Rating models development for analysis of multicriteria and multiparameter systems has been obtained. The management of these systems is performed on the base of parameters of the current and predicted state by non-uniform distribution of resources. The procedure of sensitivity analysis of the changes in the rating model of inhomogeneous distribution of resources parameters has been developed. The information technology of strategic planning and management of heterogeneous classes of objects based on the rating model has been created. Originality. This article proposes a new approach of the rating indicators’ using as a general model for strategic planning of the development and management of heterogeneous objects that can be characterized by the sets of parameters measured on different scales

Emission trading in Europe with an exchange rate

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Klassen, G.A.J.; Amann, M.; Foersund, F.R.

1994-01-01

The analytical and empirical properties of a new method for emission trading according to a fixed exchange rate are explored. The exchange rate is based on the ratios of the marginal costs of abatement in the optimal solution in order to account for the impact of the location of emission sources on the deposition. It is shown that, generally, this system will not achieve the optimal solution and does not guarantee that environmental deposition constraints are not violated, although total abatement costs are always reduced. A routine was developed to mimic trading as a bilateral, sequential process, subject to an exchange rate. Use has been made of an adapted version of the optimization module in the RAINS (REgional Acidification INformation and Simulation) model. In the example used, results for SO 2 emissions in Europe show that, starting from a uniform reduction, exchange-rate trading achieves higher cost savings than one-to-one trading, without achieving the cost minimum. Sulfur deposition targets are not violated since the initial emission allocation overfulfilled targets at many places. The results are sensitive to: pre-trade emission levels, the transaction costs, the availability of information on potential cost savings and assumptions made on the behavior of trading partners. 6 figs., 3 tabs., 28 refs

Cardiothoracic and Vascular Surgeons Achieve High Rates of K-Award Conversion Into R01 Funding.

Science.gov (United States)

Narahari, Adishesh K; Mehaffey, J Hunter; Hawkins, Robert B; Baderdinni, Pranav K; Chandrabhatla, Anirudha S; Tribble, Curtis G; Kron, Irving L; Roeser, Mark E; Walters, Dustin M; Ailawadi, Gorav

2018-03-14

Obtaining National Institutes of Health (NIH) R01 funding remains extremely difficult. The utility of career development grants (K awards) for achieving the goal of R01 funding remains debated, particularly for surgeon-scientists. We examined the success rate for cardiothoracic and vascular (CTV) surgeons compared to other specialties in converting K-level grants into R01 equivalents. All K (K08 and K23) grants awarded to surgeons by the NIH between 1992-2017 were identified through NIH RePORTER, an online database combining funding, publications, and patents. Only grants awarded to CTV surgeons were included. Grants active within the past year were excluded. Mann-Whitney U-tests and Chi-squared tests were used to compare groups. A total of 62 K grants awarded to CTV surgeons were identified during this period. Sixteen grants were still active within the last year and excluded from analysis. Twenty-two (48%) of the remaining K awardees successfully transitioned to an R01 or equivalent grant. Awardees with successful conversion published 9 publications per K grant compared to 4 publications for those who did not convert successfully (p=0.01). The median time for successful conversion to an R grant was 5.0 years after the K award start date. Importantly, the 10-year conversion rate to R01 was equal for CTV surgeons compared to other clinician-investigators (52.6% vs 42.5%). CTV surgeons have an equal 10-year conversion rate to first R01 award compared to other clinicians. These data suggest that NIH achieves a good return on investment when funding CTV surgeon-scientists with K-level funding. Copyright © 2018 The Society of Thoracic Surgeons. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Participation rate or informed choice? Rethinking the European key performance indicators for mammography screening.

Science.gov (United States)

Strech, Daniel

2014-03-01

Despite the intensive controversies about the likelihood of benefits and harms of mammography screening almost all experts conclude that the choice to screen or not to screen needs to be made by the individual patient who is adequately informed. However, the "European guideline for quality assurance in breast cancer screening and diagnosis" specifies a participation rate of 70% as the key performance indicator for mammography screening. This paper argues that neither the existing evidence on benefits and harms, nor survey research with women, nor compliance rates in clinical trials, nor cost-effectiveness ratios justify participation rates as a reasonable performance indicator for preference-sensitive condition such as mammography screening. In contrast, an informed choice rate would be more reasonable. Further research needs to address the practical challenges in assessing informed choice rates. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

E-Learning Interactions, Information Technology Self Efficacy and Student Achievement at the University of Sharjah, UAE

Science.gov (United States)

Abulibdeh, Enas Said; Hassan, Sharifah Sariah Syed

2011-01-01

The purpose for this study is to validate a model of student interactions (student-content, student-instructor and student-student interactions and vicarious interaction), information technology self efficacy and student achievement. Investigation of the relationships was undertaken with structural equation modeling analyses, in a study with 250…

Achievable Information Rates on Linear Interference Channels with Discrete Input

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Yankov, Metodi Plamenov; Forchhammer, Søren

2015-01-01

In this paper lower bound on the capacity of multi-dimensional linear interference channels is derived, when the input is taken from a finite size alphabet. The bounds are based on the QR decomposition of the channel matrix, and hold for any input distribution that is independent across dimensions...

Diagnosis of major depressive disorder by combining multimodal information from heart rate dynamics and serum proteomics using machine-learning algorithm.

Science.gov (United States)

Kim, Eun Young; Lee, Min Young; Kim, Se Hyun; Ha, Kyooseob; Kim, Kwang Pyo; Ahn, Yong Min

2017-06-02

Major depressive disorder (MDD) is a systemic and multifactorial disorder that involves abnormalities in multiple biochemical pathways and the autonomic nervous system. This study applied a machine-learning method to classify MDD and control groups by incorporating data from serum proteomic analysis and heart rate variability (HRV) analysis for the identification of novel peripheral biomarkers. The study subjects consisted of 25 drug-free female MDD patients and 25 age- and sex-matched healthy controls. First, quantitative serum proteome profiles were analyzed by liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry using pooled serum samples from 10 patients and 10 controls. Next, candidate proteins were quantified with multiple reaction monitoring (MRM) in 50 subjects. We also analyzed 22 linear and nonlinear HRV parameters in 50 subjects. Finally, we identified a combined biomarker panel consisting of proteins and HRV indexes using a support vector machine with recursive feature elimination. A separation between MDD and control groups was achieved using five parameters (apolipoprotein B, group-specific component, ceruloplasmin, RMSSD, and SampEn) at 80.1% classification accuracy. A combination of HRV and proteomic data achieved better classification accuracy. A high classification accuracy can be achieved by combining multimodal information from heart rate dynamics and serum proteomics in MDD. Our approach can be helpful for accurate clinical diagnosis of MDD. Further studies using larger, independent cohorts are needed to verify the role of these candidate biomarkers for MDD diagnosis. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Unfamiliar voice identification: Effect of post-event information on accuracy and voice ratings

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Harriet Mary Jessica Smith

2014-04-01

Full Text Available This study addressed the effect of misleading post-event information (PEI on voice ratings, identification accuracy, and confidence, as well as the link between verbal recall and accuracy. Participants listened to a dialogue between male and female targets, then read misleading information about voice pitch. Participants engaged in verbal recall, rated voices on a feature checklist, and made a lineup decision. Accuracy rates were low, especially on target-absent lineups. Confidence and accuracy were unrelated, but the number of facts recalled about the voice predicted later lineup accuracy. There was a main effect of misinformation on ratings of target voice pitch, but there was no effect on identification accuracy or confidence ratings. As voice lineup evidence from earwitnesses is used in courts, the findings have potential applied relevance.

Quantum data locking for high-rate private communication

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lupo, Cosmo; Lloyd, Seth

2015-01-01

We show that, if the accessible information is used as a security quantifier, quantum channels with a certain symmetry can convey private messages at a tremendously high rate, as high as less than one bit below the rate of non-private classical communication. This result is obtained by exploiting the quantum data locking effect. The price to pay to achieve such a high private communication rate is that accessible information security is in general not composable. However, composable security holds against an eavesdropper who is forced to measure her share of the quantum system within a finite time after she gets it. (paper)

A Service Oriented Architecture Approach to Achieve Interoperability between Immunization Information Systems in Iran.

Science.gov (United States)

Hosseini, Masoud; Ahmadi, Maryam; Dixon, Brian E

2014-01-01

Clinical decision support (CDS) systems can support vaccine forecasting and immunization reminders; however, immunization decision-making requires data from fragmented, independent systems. Interoperability and accurate data exchange between immunization information systems (IIS) is an essential factor to utilize Immunization CDS systems. Service oriented architecture (SOA) and Health Level 7 (HL7) are dominant standards for web-based exchange of clinical information. We implemented a system based on SOA and HL7 v3 to support immunization CDS in Iran. We evaluated system performance by exchanging 1500 immunization records for roughly 400 infants between two IISs. System turnaround time is less than a minute for synchronous operation calls and the retrieved immunization history of infants were always identical in different systems. CDS generated reports were accordant to immunization guidelines and the calculations for next visit times were accurate. Interoperability is rare or nonexistent between IIS. Since inter-state data exchange is rare in United States, this approach could be a good prototype to achieve interoperability of immunization information.

Can Raters with Reduced Job Descriptive Information Provide Accurate Position Analysis Questionnaire (PAQ) Ratings?

Science.gov (United States)

Friedman, Lee; Harvey, Robert J.

1986-01-01

Job-naive raters provided with job descriptive information made Position Analysis Questionnaire (PAQ) ratings which were validated against ratings of job analysts who were also job content experts. None of the reduced job descriptive information conditions enabled job-naive raters to obtain either acceptable levels of convergent validity with…

76 FR 15055 - Proposed Information Collection (Requirements for Interest Rate Reduction Refinancing Loans...

Science.gov (United States)

2011-03-18

... (Requirements for Interest Rate Reduction Refinancing Loans); Comment Request AGENCY: Veterans Benefits... to refinance a delinquent VA-guaranteed loan with a lower interest rate. DATES: Written comments and... techniques or the use of other forms of information technology. Title: Requirements for Interest Rate...

Preserving information in neural transmission.

Science.gov (United States)

Sincich, Lawrence C; Horton, Jonathan C; Sharpee, Tatyana O

2009-05-13

Along most neural pathways, the spike trains transmitted from one neuron to the next are altered. In the process, neurons can either achieve a more efficient stimulus representation, or extract some biologically important stimulus parameter, or succeed at both. We recorded the inputs from single retinal ganglion cells and the outputs from connected lateral geniculate neurons in the macaque to examine how visual signals are relayed from retina to cortex. We found that geniculate neurons re-encoded multiple temporal stimulus features to yield output spikes that carried more information about stimuli than was available in each input spike. The coding transformation of some relay neurons occurred with no decrement in information rate, despite output spike rates that averaged half the input spike rates. This preservation of transmitted information was achieved by the short-term summation of inputs that geniculate neurons require to spike. A reduced model of the retinal and geniculate visual responses, based on two stimulus features and their associated nonlinearities, could account for >85% of the total information available in the spike trains and the preserved information transmission. These results apply to neurons operating on a single time-varying input, suggesting that synaptic temporal integration can alter the temporal receptive field properties to create a more efficient representation of visual signals in the thalamus than the retina.

77 FR 38397 - Agency Information Collection (Interest Rate Reduction Refinancing Loan Worksheet) Activities...

Science.gov (United States)

2012-06-27

... . Please refer to ``OMB Control No. 2900- 0386.'' SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Title: Interest Rate Reduction... guaranty on all interest rate reduction refinancing loan and provide a receipt as proof that the funding... ensure lenders computed the funding fee and the maximum permissible loan amount for interest rate...

On the Information in the Interest Rate Term Structure and Option Prices

NARCIS (Netherlands)

de Jong, F.; Driessen, J.; Pelsser, A.

2004-01-01

We examine whether the information in cap and swaption prices is consistent with realized movements of the interest rate term structure. To extract an option-implied interest rate covariance matrix from cap and swaption prices, we use Libor market models as a modelling framework. We propose a

Economic Evaluation of the Information Security Levels Achieved by Electric Energy Providers in North Arctic Region

Science.gov (United States)

Sushko, O. P.; Kaznin, A. A.; Babkin, A. V.; Bogdanov, D. A.

2017-10-01

The study we are conducting involves the analysis of information security levels achieved by energy providers operating in the North Arctic Region. We look into whether the energy providers’ current information security levels meet reliability standards and determine what further actions may be needed for upgrading information security in the context of the digital transformation that the world community is undergoing. When developing the information security systems for electric energy providers or selecting the protection means for them, we are governed by the fact that the assets to be protected are process technologies. While information security risk can be assessed using different methods, the evaluation of the economic damage from these risks appears to be a difficult task. The most probable and harmful risks we have identified when evaluating the electric energy providers’ information security will be used by us as variables. To provide the evaluation, it is necessary to calculate the costs relating to elimination of the risks identified. The final stage of the study will involve the development of an operation algorithm for the North Arctic Region’s energy provider’s business information protection security system - a set of information security services, and security software and hardware.

78 FR 71036 - Pipeline Safety: Random Drug Testing Rate; Contractor Management Information System Reporting...

Science.gov (United States)

2013-11-27

... PHMSA-2013-0248] Pipeline Safety: Random Drug Testing Rate; Contractor Management Information System Reporting; and Obtaining Drug and Alcohol Management Information System Sign-In Information AGENCY: Pipeline... Management Information System (MIS) Data; and New Method for Operators to Obtain User Name and Password for...

Investigation of relationship between mental workload and information flow rate of accident diagnosis tasks in NPPs

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ha, Chang Hoon

2005-02-01

The objective of this study is to investigate experimentally the relationship between an operator's mental workload and the information flow rate of accident diagnosis tasks and further to propose the information flow rate as an analytic method for measuring the mental workload. There are two types of mental workload in the advanced MCR of NPPs: the information processing workload, which is the processing that the human operator must actually perform in order to complete the diagnosis task, and emotional stress workload experienced by the operator. In this study, the focus is on the former. Three kinds of methods are used to measure the operator's workload: information flow rate, subjective methods, and physiological measures. Information flows for eight accident diagnosis tasks are modeled qualitatively using a stage model and are quantified using Conant's model. The eight accident cases are considered here are: Loss Of Coolant Accident (LOCA), Steam Generator Tube Rupture (SGTR), Steam Line Break (SLB), Feedwater Line Break (FLB), Pressurizer (PZR) spray and heater failure, Reactor Coolant Pump (RCP) trip, Main Steam Isolation Valve (MSIV) failure, and PZR spray failure. The information flow rate is obtained for each diagnosis task by imposing time limit restrictions for the tasks. Subjective methods require the operators to respond to questionnaires to rate their level of mental effort. NASA-TLX and MCH scale are selected as subjective methods. NASA-TLX is a subjective method used in the various fields including the aviation, automobile, and nuclear industries. It has a multi-dimensional rating technique and provides an overall workload score based on a weighted average on six subscales using pair-wise comparison tests. MCH, on the other hand, is one-dimensional and uses a 10- point rating technique. As with NASA-TLX, the higher the score is, the higher the subjective workload is. For the physiological measurements, an eye tracking system analyzes eye movements

Informant Effects on Behavioral and Academic Associations: A Latent Variable Longitudinal Examination

Science.gov (United States)

Konold, Timothy R.; Shukla, Kathan D.

2014-01-01

Discrepancies among informants' ratings of a given child's behavior complicate the study of linkages between child behavior and academic achievement. In the current study, we examined the potential moderating effect of informant type on associations between behavior and two types of achievement in a longitudinal growth model that…

Parallel photonic information processing at gigabyte per second data rates using transient states

Science.gov (United States)

Brunner, Daniel; Soriano, Miguel C.; Mirasso, Claudio R.; Fischer, Ingo

2013-01-01

The increasing demands on information processing require novel computational concepts and true parallelism. Nevertheless, hardware realizations of unconventional computing approaches never exceeded a marginal existence. While the application of optics in super-computing receives reawakened interest, new concepts, partly neuro-inspired, are being considered and developed. Here we experimentally demonstrate the potential of a simple photonic architecture to process information at unprecedented data rates, implementing a learning-based approach. A semiconductor laser subject to delayed self-feedback and optical data injection is employed to solve computationally hard tasks. We demonstrate simultaneous spoken digit and speaker recognition and chaotic time-series prediction at data rates beyond 1Gbyte/s. We identify all digits with very low classification errors and perform chaotic time-series prediction with 10% error. Our approach bridges the areas of photonic information processing, cognitive and information science.

Investigation of relationship between mental workload and information flow rate of accident diagnosis tasks in NPPs

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Ha, Chang Hoon

2005-02-15

The objective of this study is to investigate experimentally the relationship between an operator's mental workload and the information flow rate of accident diagnosis tasks and further to propose the information flow rate as an analytic method for measuring the mental workload. There are two types of mental workload in the advanced MCR of NPPs: the information processing workload, which is the processing that the human operator must actually perform in order to complete the diagnosis task, and emotional stress workload experienced by the operator. In this study, the focus is on the former. Three kinds of methods are used to measure the operator's workload: information flow rate, subjective methods, and physiological measures. Information flows for eight accident diagnosis tasks are modeled qualitatively using a stage model and are quantified using Conant's model. The eight accident cases are considered here are: Loss Of Coolant Accident (LOCA), Steam Generator Tube Rupture (SGTR), Steam Line Break (SLB), Feedwater Line Break (FLB), Pressurizer (PZR) spray and heater failure, Reactor Coolant Pump (RCP) trip, Main Steam Isolation Valve (MSIV) failure, and PZR spray failure. The information flow rate is obtained for each diagnosis task by imposing time limit restrictions for the tasks. Subjective methods require the operators to respond to questionnaires to rate their level of mental effort. NASA-TLX and MCH scale are selected as subjective methods. NASA-TLX is a subjective method used in the various fields including the aviation, automobile, and nuclear industries. It has a multi-dimensional rating technique and provides an overall workload score based on a weighted average on six subscales using pair-wise comparison tests. MCH, on the other hand, is one-dimensional and uses a 10- point rating technique. As with NASA-TLX, the higher the score is, the higher the subjective workload is. For the physiological measurements, an eye tracking system analyzes

77 FR 58856 - Notice of Proposed Information Collection: Comment Request; Maintenance Wage Rate Recommendation...

Science.gov (United States)

2012-09-24

...-assisted low-income or affordable housing are paid no less than prevailing wages that are determined or... Information Collection: Comment Request; Maintenance Wage Rate Recommendation, and Maintenance Wage Rate Survey; and Report of Additional Classification and Wage Rate AGENCY: Office of Departmental Operations...

An Empirical Analysis of the Default Rate of Informal Lending—Evidence from Yiwu, China

Science.gov (United States)

Lu, Wei; Yu, Xiaobo; Du, Juan; Ji, Feng

This study empirically analyzes the underlying factors contributing to the default rate of informal lending. This paper adopts snowball sampling interview to collect data and uses the logistic regression model to explore the specific factors. The results of these analyses validate the explanation of how the informal lending differs from the commercial loan. Factors that contribute to the default rate have particular attributes, while sharing some similarities with commercial bank or FICO credit scoring Index. Finally, our concluding remarks draw some inferences from empirical analysis and speculate as to what this may imply for the role of formal and informal financial sectors.

Teacher Ratings of Academic Achievement of Children between 6 and 12 Years Old from Intact and Non-Intact Families

Science.gov (United States)

Molepo, Lephodisa S.; Maunganidze, Levison; Mudhovozi, Pilot; Sodi, Tholene

2010-01-01

We investigated teacher ratings of the impact of parental divorce on academic achievement of children between 6 and 12 years old up to 12 months after their parents divorced. A purposive sample of 120 children attending four different primary schools in a small South African town took part in the study. One third (n = 40) of the children had…

Information Acquisition and Excessive Risk: Impact of Policy Rate and Market Volatility

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Volha Audzei

2015-12-01

Full Text Available Excessive risk-taking of financial agents drew a lot of attention in the aftermath of the financial crisis. Low interest rates and subdued market volatility during the Great Moderation are sometimes blamed for stimulating risk-taking and leading to the recent financial crisis. In recent years, with many central banks around the world conducting the policy of low interest rates and mitigating market risks, it has been debatable whether this policy contributes to the building up of another credit boom. This paper addresses this issue by focusing on information acquisition by the financial agents. We build a theoretical model which captures excessive risk taking in response to changes in policy rate and market volatility. This excessive risk takes the form of an increased risk appetite of the agents, but also of decreased incentives to acquire information about risky assets. As a result, with market risk being reduced, agents tend to acquire more risk in their portfolios then they would with the higher market risk. The same forces increase portfolio risk when the safe interest rate is falling. The robustness of the results is considered with different learning rules.

Achieving high mobility ZnO : Al at very high growth rates by dc filtered cathodic arc deposition

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Mendelsberg, R J; Lim, S H N; Wallig, J; Anders, A; Zhu, Y K; Milliron, D J

2011-01-01

Achieving a high growth rate is paramount for making large-area transparent conducting oxide coatings at a low cost. Unfortunately, the quality of thin films grown by most techniques degrades as the growth rate increases. Filtered dc cathodic arc is a lesser known technique which produces a stream of highly ionized plasma, in stark contrast to the neutral atoms produced by standard sputter sources. Ions bring a large amount of potential energy to the growing surface which is in the form of heat, not momentum. By minimizing the distance from cathode to substrate, the high ion flux gives a very high effective growth temperature near the film surface without causing damage from bombardment. The high surface temperature is a direct consequence of the high growth rate and allows for high-quality crystal growth. Using this technique, 500-1300 nm thick and highly transparent ZnO : Al films were grown on glass at rates exceeding 250 nm min -1 while maintaining resistivity below 5 x 10 -4 Ω cm with electron mobility as high as 60 cm 2 V -1 s -1 . (fast track communication)

Co-emergence of multi-scale cortical activities of irregular firing, oscillations and avalanches achieves cost-efficient information capacity.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Dong-Ping Yang

2017-02-01

Full Text Available The brain is highly energy consuming, therefore is under strong selective pressure to achieve cost-efficiency in both cortical connectivities and activities. However, cost-efficiency as a design principle for cortical activities has been rarely studied. Especially it is not clear how cost-efficiency is related to ubiquitously observed multi-scale properties: irregular firing, oscillations and neuronal avalanches. Here we demonstrate that these prominent properties can be simultaneously observed in a generic, biologically plausible neural circuit model that captures excitation-inhibition balance and realistic dynamics of synaptic conductance. Their co-emergence achieves minimal energy cost as well as maximal energy efficiency on information capacity, when neuronal firing are coordinated and shaped by moderate synchrony to reduce otherwise redundant spikes, and the dynamical clusterings are maintained in the form of neuronal avalanches. Such cost-efficient neural dynamics can be employed as a foundation for further efficient information processing under energy constraint.

A methodology for achieving high-speed rates for artificial conductance injection in electrically excitable biological cells.

Science.gov (United States)

Butera, R J; Wilson, C G; Delnegro, C A; Smith, J C

2001-12-01

We present a novel approach to implementing the dynamic-clamp protocol (Sharp et al., 1993), commonly used in neurophysiology and cardiac electrophysiology experiments. Our approach is based on real-time extensions to the Linux operating system. Conventional PC-based approaches have typically utilized single-cycle computational rates of 10 kHz or slower. In thispaper, we demonstrate reliable cycle-to-cycle rates as fast as 50 kHz. Our system, which we call model reference current injection (MRCI); pronounced merci is also capable of episodic logging of internal state variables and interactive manipulation of model parameters. The limiting factor in achieving high speeds was not processor speed or model complexity, but cycle jitter inherent in the CPU/motherboard performance. We demonstrate these high speeds and flexibility with two examples: 1) adding action-potential ionic currents to a mammalian neuron under whole-cell patch-clamp and 2) altering a cell's intrinsic dynamics via MRCI while simultaneously coupling it via artificial synapses to an internal computational model cell. These higher rates greatly extend the applicability of this technique to the study of fast electrophysiological currents such fast a currents and fast excitatory/inhibitory synapses.

An optimized clarithromycin-free 14-day triple therapy for Helicobacter pylori eradication achieves high cure rates in Uruguay.

Science.gov (United States)

Dacoll, Cristina; Sánchez-Delgado, Jordi; Balter, Henia; Pazos, Ximena; Di Pace, María; Sandoya, Gabriela; Cohen, Henry; Calvet, Xavier

Strong acid inhibition increases cure rates with triple therapy and 14-day are more effective than 7-day treatments. The combination of amoxicillin plus metronidazole at full doses has been shown to overcome metronidazole resistance and to achieve good eradication rates even in patients harboring resistant strains. No previous studies have been reported in Latin-America with this optimized triple-therapy scheme. The aim of the present study was to assess the eradication rate and tolerance of a new first-line treatment regimen associating strong acid inhibition, amoxicillin and metronidazole. Patients from the Clínica de Gastroenterología of the Hospital de Clínicas (Montevideo, Uruguay) were included. Hp status was mainly assessed by at least one of the following: histologyor urea breath test (UBT). A 14-day treatment was prescribed comprising esomeprazole 40mg twice a day plus amoxicillin 1g and metronidazole 500mg, both three times a day. H. pylori cure was assessed by UBT. Forty-one patients were enrolled. Mean age was 53.3±13 years and 17.1% of patients were male. Main indications for treatment were: functional dyspepsia (27.5%), gastritis (45%), gastric or duodenal erosions (20%), gastric ulcer (5%) and intestinal metaplasia (2.5%). H. pylori eradication was achieved in 33 of the 37 patients who returned for follow-up. Eradication rates were 80.5% (95% CI: 68.4-92.6) by intention-to-treat (ITT) analysis and 89.2% (95% CI; 79.2-99.2) per protocol (PP). No major side effects were reported; 26 patients (65.8%) complained of mild side effects (nausea, diarrhea and headache). Cure rates of this triple therapy including esomeprazole, amoxicillin and metronidazole were 81% per ITT and the treatment was well tolerated. These optimal results with a simple clarithromycin-free triple therapy are better than described for standard triple therapy but there is still room for improvement to reach the desired target of 90% per ITT. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier España, S

Achievement goal profiles and developments in effort and achievement in upper elementary school.

Science.gov (United States)

Hornstra, Lisette; Majoor, Marieke; Peetsma, Thea

2017-12-01

The multiple goal perspective posits that certain combinations of achievement goals are more favourable than others in terms of educational outcomes. This study aimed to examine longitudinally whether students' achievement goal profiles and transitions between profiles are associated with developments in self-reported and teacher-rated effort and academic achievement in upper elementary school. Participants were 722 fifth-grade students and their teachers in fifth and sixth grade (N = 68). Students reported on their achievement goals and effort in language and mathematics three times in grade 5 to grade 6. Teachers rated students' general school effort. Achievement scores were obtained from school records. Goal profiles were derived with latent profile and transition analyses. Longitudinal multilevel analyses were conducted. Theoretically favourable goal profiles (high mastery and performance-approach goals, low on performance-avoidance goals), as well as transitions from less to more theoretically favourable goal profiles, were associated with higher levels and more growth in effort for language and mathematics and with stronger language achievement gains. Overall, these results provide support for the multiple goal perspective and show the sustained benefits of favourable goal profiles beyond effects of cognitive ability and background characteristics. © 2017 The Authors. British Journal of Education Psychology published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd on behalf of British Psychological Society.

Rate-distortion theory and human perception.

Science.gov (United States)

Sims, Chris R

2016-07-01

The fundamental goal of perception is to aid in the achievement of behavioral objectives. This requires extracting and communicating useful information from noisy and uncertain sensory signals. At the same time, given the complexity of sensory information and the limitations of biological information processing, it is necessary that some information must be lost or discarded in the act of perception. Under these circumstances, what constitutes an 'optimal' perceptual system? This paper describes the mathematical framework of rate-distortion theory as the optimal solution to the problem of minimizing the costs of perceptual error subject to strong constraints on the ability to communicate or transmit information. Rate-distortion theory offers a general and principled theoretical framework for developing computational-level models of human perception (Marr, 1982). Models developed in this framework are capable of producing quantitatively precise explanations for human perceptual performance, while yielding new insights regarding the nature and goals of perception. This paper demonstrates the application of rate-distortion theory to two benchmark domains where capacity limits are especially salient in human perception: discrete categorization of stimuli (also known as absolute identification) and visual working memory. A software package written for the R statistical programming language is described that aids in the development of models based on rate-distortion theory. Copyright © 2016 The Author. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Information transfer with rate-modulated Poisson processes: a simple model for nonstationary stochastic resonance.

Science.gov (United States)

Goychuk, I

2001-08-01

Stochastic resonance in a simple model of information transfer is studied for sensory neurons and ensembles of ion channels. An exact expression for the information gain is obtained for the Poisson process with the signal-modulated spiking rate. This result allows one to generalize the conventional stochastic resonance (SR) problem (with periodic input signal) to the arbitrary signals of finite duration (nonstationary SR). Moreover, in the case of a periodic signal, the rate of information gain is compared with the conventional signal-to-noise ratio. The paper establishes the general nonequivalence between both measures notwithstanding their apparent similarity in the limit of weak signals.

Academic achievement in children with epilepsy: a review.

Science.gov (United States)

Reilly, Colin; Neville, Brian G R

2011-11-01

To examine published studies which have focussed on academic achievement in children with epilepsy with respect to prevalence rates of academic difficulties and possible correlates of academic achievement. This review examines studies which have focussed on prevalence rates of academic difficulties and correlates of academic achievement in children with epilepsy from 1990 to 2010. Prevalence rates of low academic achievement and academic underachievement are reported and correlates of academic achievement including seizure/epilepsy variables, demographic variables, and child/family variables are examined with respect to published studies. Published studies suggest that low academic achievement is more common than academic underachievement (achievement below that expected on basis of IQ scores) and it is not clear from published studies if rates of academic underachievement are significantly higher than in the general population. Clear patterns with regard to the identification of correlates of academic underachievement have not emerged although low achievement may be influenced in many cases by lower than average levels of cognitive functioning. Most studies have not focussed on the IQ-achievement discrepancy definitions of (specific) learning disability. Children with epilepsy who are experiencing academic difficulties may not qualify for formal educational supports to address these difficulties if eligibility criteria for such supports stress an IQ-achievement discrepancy. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Construction of Rate-Compatible LDPC Codes Utilizing Information Shortening and Parity Puncturing

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jones Christopher R

2005-01-01

Full Text Available This paper proposes a method for constructing rate-compatible low-density parity-check (LDPC codes. The construction considers the problem of optimizing a family of rate-compatible degree distributions as well as the placement of bipartite graph edges. A hybrid approach that combines information shortening and parity puncturing is proposed. Local graph conditioning techniques for the suppression of error floors are also included in the construction methodology.

Predicting protein folding rate change upon point mutation using residue-level coevolutionary information.

Science.gov (United States)

Mallik, Saurav; Das, Smita; Kundu, Sudip

2016-01-01

Change in folding kinetics of globular proteins upon point mutation is crucial to a wide spectrum of biological research, such as protein misfolding, toxicity, and aggregations. Here we seek to address whether residue-level coevolutionary information of globular proteins can be informative to folding rate changes upon point mutations. Generating residue-level coevolutionary networks of globular proteins, we analyze three parameters: relative coevolution order (rCEO), network density (ND), and characteristic path length (CPL). A point mutation is considered to be equivalent to a node deletion of this network and respective percentage changes in rCEO, ND, CPL are found linearly correlated (0.84, 0.73, and -0.61, respectively) with experimental folding rate changes. The three parameters predict the folding rate change upon a point mutation with 0.031, 0.045, and 0.059 standard errors, respectively. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Eyewitness identification: Bayesian information gain, base-rate effect equivalency curves, and reasonable suspicion.

Science.gov (United States)

Wells, Gary L; Yang, Yueran; Smalarz, Laura

2015-04-01

We provide a novel Bayesian treatment of the eyewitness identification problem as it relates to various system variables, such as instruction effects, lineup presentation format, lineup-filler similarity, lineup administrator influence, and show-ups versus lineups. We describe why eyewitness identification is a natural Bayesian problem and how numerous important observations require careful consideration of base rates. Moreover, we argue that the base rate in eyewitness identification should be construed as a system variable (under the control of the justice system). We then use prior-by-posterior curves and information-gain curves to examine data obtained from a large number of published experiments. Next, we show how information-gain curves are moderated by system variables and by witness confidence and we note how information-gain curves reveal that lineups are consistently more proficient at incriminating the guilty than they are at exonerating the innocent. We then introduce a new type of analysis that we developed called base rate effect-equivalency (BREE) curves. BREE curves display how much change in the base rate is required to match the impact of any given system variable. The results indicate that even relatively modest changes to the base rate can have more impact on the reliability of eyewitness identification evidence than do the traditional system variables that have received so much attention in the literature. We note how this Bayesian analysis of eyewitness identification has implications for the question of whether there ought to be a reasonable-suspicion criterion for placing a person into the jeopardy of an identification procedure. (c) 2015 APA, all rights reserved).

Need for closure and heuristic information processing: the moderating role of the ability to achieve the need for closure.

Science.gov (United States)

Kossowska, Małgorzata; Bar-Tal, Yoram

2013-11-01

In contrast to the ample research that shows a positive relationship between the need for closure (NFC) and heuristic information processing, this research examines the hypothesis that this relationship is moderated by the ability to achieve closure (AAC), that is, the ability to use information-processing strategies consistent with the level of NFC. Three different operationalizations of heuristic information processing were used: recall of information consistent with the impression (Study 1); pre-decisional information search (Study 2); and stereotypic impression formation (Study 3). The results of the studies showed that there were positive relationships between NFC and heuristic information processing when participants assessed themselves as being able to use cognitive strategies consistent with their level of NFC (high AAC). For individuals with low AAC, the relationships were negative. Our data show that motivation-cognition interactions influence the information-processing style. © 2012 The British Psychological Society.

ESTATÍSTICAS DE DESEMPENHO ESCOLAR: O LADO AVESSO SCHOOL ACHIEVEMENT RATES: THE OTHER SIDE

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Marília Pinto de Carvalho

2001-12-01

Full Text Available Algumas das principais políticas para a educação no País, hoje, centram-se sobre a "correção do fluxo escolar", isto é, a diminuição dos índices de evasão e repetência, assim como as diversas práticas de "aceleração". Os resultados dessas políticas são avaliados por meio de estatísticas de desempenho escolar, que vêm sendo alardeadas pelos governos federal e do estado de São Paulo como grandes vitórias. Este artigo pretende olhar o avesso da produção desses dados, isto é, buscar como eles vêm sendo produzidos e utilizados no cotidiano das escolas, suas interações com a cultura escolar e seus efeitos sobre a aprendizagem das crianças. Com esses objetivos, está baseado em dados obtidos em observações, entrevistas e consultas a documentos de uma escola pública de 1ª a 4ª séries do ensino fundamental, de um município da região metropolitana de São Paulo. Essa experiência de pesquisa relatada reforça a importância de nos posicionarmos a favor da permanência das crianças e jovens na escola, mas contra a maquiagem estatística da ignorância e do fracasso do sistema em ensinar.In Brazil, some of the most important educational policies are nowadays centered on reducing school failure rates. Their results are measured through academic achievement statistics that both The Federal Government and The State of São Paulo Government announce as great accomplishments. This paper looks at the other side of the production of these rates. It looks on how they are produced in the school day-to-day life. Based on classroom observations and interviews with the staff of a public elementary school in São Paulo, it concludes on the importance of reinforcing the school achievement of children and young people but, at the same time, of denouncing the statistical make up of school failure.

Rate of information processing and reaction time of aircraft pilots and non-pilots

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Werner Barkhuizen

2002-09-01

Full Text Available Reaction time and rate of information processing are cited as critical components in the make-up of pilots. A need was identified to establish the validity of various chronometric measures in the selection of pilots. Fifty-eight military and commercial pilots and twenty non-pilots were subjected to Schepers’ Computerised Information Processing Test Battery, which measures reaction time, form discrimination time, colour discrimination time, rate of information processing (perceptual and rate of information processing (conceptual. Five hypotheses and one postulate were formulated and tested. The results indicate that pilots could be differentiated from non-pilots with 92,3% accuracy. However, the results need to be cross-validated before they are used for selection. Opsomming Reaksietyd en tempo van inligtingverwerking word as kritieke komponente in die samestelling van vlieëniers beskou. ‘n Behoefte is geïdentifiseer om die geldigheid van verskeie chronometriese metinge in vlieënierskeuring te bepaal. Agt en vyftig militêre en kommersiële vlieëniers en twintig nie-vlieëniers is onderwerp aan Schepers se Gerekenariseerde Inligtingverwerkingstoets-battery wat reaksietyd, vormdiskriminasietyd, kleurdiskriminasietyd, tempo van inligtingverwerking (perseptueel en tempo van inligtingverwerking (konseptueel meet. Vyf hipoteses en een postulaat is gestel en getoets. Die resultate dui daarop dat vlieëniers met 92,3% akkuraatheid van nievlieëniers onderskei kan word. Die resultate behoort egter eers gekruisvalideer te word voordat dit finaal vir keuring gebruik kan word.

Inference of financial networks using the normalised mutual information rate

Science.gov (United States)

2018-01-01

In this paper, we study data from financial markets, using the normalised Mutual Information Rate. We show how to use it to infer the underlying network structure of interrelations in the foreign currency exchange rates and stock indices of 15 currency areas. We first present the mathematical method and discuss its computational aspects, and apply it to artificial data from chaotic dynamics and to correlated normal-variates data. We then apply the method to infer the structure of the financial system from the time-series of currency exchange rates and stock indices. In particular, we study and reveal the interrelations among the various foreign currency exchange rates and stock indices in two separate networks, of which we also study their structural properties. Our results show that both inferred networks are small-world networks, sharing similar properties and having differences in terms of assortativity. Importantly, our work shows that global economies tend to connect with other economies world-wide, rather than creating small groups of local economies. Finally, the consistent interrelations depicted among the 15 currency areas are further supported by a discussion from the viewpoint of economics. PMID:29420644

Inference of financial networks using the normalised mutual information rate.

Science.gov (United States)

Goh, Yong Kheng; Hasim, Haslifah M; Antonopoulos, Chris G

2018-01-01

In this paper, we study data from financial markets, using the normalised Mutual Information Rate. We show how to use it to infer the underlying network structure of interrelations in the foreign currency exchange rates and stock indices of 15 currency areas. We first present the mathematical method and discuss its computational aspects, and apply it to artificial data from chaotic dynamics and to correlated normal-variates data. We then apply the method to infer the structure of the financial system from the time-series of currency exchange rates and stock indices. In particular, we study and reveal the interrelations among the various foreign currency exchange rates and stock indices in two separate networks, of which we also study their structural properties. Our results show that both inferred networks are small-world networks, sharing similar properties and having differences in terms of assortativity. Importantly, our work shows that global economies tend to connect with other economies world-wide, rather than creating small groups of local economies. Finally, the consistent interrelations depicted among the 15 currency areas are further supported by a discussion from the viewpoint of economics.

Spike rate and spike timing contributions to coding taste quality information in rat periphery

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Vernon eLawhern

2011-05-01

Full Text Available There is emerging evidence that individual sensory neurons in the rodent brain rely on temporal features of the discharge pattern to code differences in taste quality information. In contrast, in-vestigations of individual sensory neurons in the periphery have focused on analysis of spike rate and mostly disregarded spike timing as a taste quality coding mechanism. The purpose of this work was to determine the contribution of spike timing to taste quality coding by rat geniculate ganglion neurons using computational methods that have been applied successfully in other sys-tems. We recorded the discharge patterns of narrowly-tuned and broadly-tuned neurons in the rat geniculate ganglion to representatives of the five basic taste qualities. We used mutual in-formation to determine significant responses and the van Rossum metric to characterize their temporal features. While our findings show that spike timing contributes a significant part of the message, spike rate contributes the largest portion of the message relayed by afferent neurons from rat fungiform taste buds to the brain. Thus, spike rate and spike timing together are more effective than spike rate alone in coding stimulus quality information to a single basic taste in the periphery for both narrowly-tuned specialist and broadly-tuned generalist neurons.

The Informational Content of Credit Ratings in Brazil: An Event Study

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Flávia Cruz de Souza Murcia

2014-03-01

Full Text Available This study analyzes the effect of credit rating announcements on stock returns in the Brazilian market during 1997-2011. We conducted an event study using a sample of 242 observations of listed companies, 179 from Standard and Poor’s and 63 from Moody’s, to analyze stock market reaction. Abnormal returns have been computed using the Market Model and CAPM for three windows: three days (-1, +1, 11 days (-5, +5 and 21 days (-10, +10. We find statistically significant abnormal returns in days -1 and 0 for all the three types of rating announcement tested: initial rating, downgrades and upgrades. For downgrades, consisted with prior studies, our results also showed negative abnormal returns for all practically all windows tested. Overall, our findings evidence the rating announcements do have information content, as it impacts stock returns causing abnormal returns, especially when they bring ‘bad news’ to the market.

The Mechanics of Human Achievement

OpenAIRE

Duckworth, Angela L.; Eichstaedt, Johannes C.; Ungar, Lyle H.

2015-01-01

Countless studies have addressed why some individuals achieve more than others. Nevertheless, the psychology of achievement lacks a unifying conceptual framework for synthesizing these empirical insights. We propose organizing achievement-related traits by two possible mechanisms of action: Traits that determine the rate at which an individual learns a skill are talent variables and can be distinguished conceptually from traits that determine the effort an individual puts forth. This approach...

Transparency of Accounting Information in Achieving Good Corporate Governance. True View and Fair Value

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Mariana Man

2016-05-01

Full Text Available One of the key factors affecting the efficient use of resources, the increase of shareholders confidence in the managers of the company, the success in achieving objectives and economic efficiency is the system of corporate governance by which a company is managed and controlled. We cannot talk about a culture of corporate governance without thinking of the criteria of transparency, of responsibility in ensuring the accuracy of data from financial reports. Transparency is a prerequisite of good communication between the company and the interested parties. This paper examines the concepts of true image and fair value as premises of transparency of the accounting information in order to accomplish good corporate governance.

Effective transfer entropy approach to information flow between exchange rates and stock markets

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sensoy, Ahmet; Sobaci, Cihat; Sensoy, Sadri; Alali, Fatih

2014-01-01

We investigate the strength and direction of information flow between exchange rates and stock prices in several emerging countries by the novel concept of effective transfer entropy (an alternative non-linear causality measure) with symbolic encoding methodology. Analysis shows that before the 2008 crisis, only low level interaction exists between these two variables and exchange rates dominate stock prices in general. During crisis, strong bidirectional interaction arises. In the post-crisis period, the strong interaction continues to exist and in general stock prices dominate exchange rates

Validation analysis of informant's ratings of cognitive function in African Americans and Nigerians

Science.gov (United States)

Shen, Jianzhao; Gao, Sujuan; Unverzagt, Frederick W.; Ogunniyi, Adesola; Baiyewu, Olusegun; Gureje, Oye; Hendrie, Hugh C.; Hall, Kathleen S.

2011-01-01

SUMMARY Objectives To examine informant validity using the Community Screening Interview for Dementia (CSI ‘D’) both cross-sectionally and longitudinally in two very different cultures and to explore the effects of informants and study participants’ characteristics on the validity of informants’ reports. Methods Elderly African Americans age 65 years and older residing in Indianapolis, USA and elderly Yoruba Nigerians age 65 years and older residing in Ibadan, Nigeria were assessed on cognitive functioning using the CSI ‘D’ at baseline (1992–1993) and five-year follow-up (1997–1998). At baseline, the informant validity in both samples was evaluated against participants’ cognitive tests using Pearson correlation and regular regression models. At follow-up, informants ratings on cognitive decline were assessed against participants’ cognitive decline scores from baseline to follow-up using biserial correlation and logistic regressions. Results At baseline, informants’ reports on cognitive functioning significantly correlated with cognitive scores in both samples (Indianapolis:r = –0.43, p Yoruba Nigerians. At follow-up, informants’ ratings on cognitive decline significantly correlated with the cognitive decline scores (Indianapolis r = 0.38, p cultures, languages and environments. PMID:16802282

Information relevant to ensuring that occupational radiation exposures at nuclear power stations will be as low as in reasonably achievable

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Anon.

1979-01-01

Regulations require that all reasonable efforts must be made to maintain exposure to radiation as far below the limits specified in 10 CFR Part 20 as is reasonably achievable. Information is provided relevant to attaining goals and objectives for planning, designing, constructing, operating and decommissioning a light-water-cooled nuclear power station to meet that criterion. Much of the information presented is also applicable to other than light-water-cooled nuclear power stations

Factors affecting the educational achievement of mature Māori information technology students: A case study

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Blain Harre Rakena

Full Text Available This paper reports on the results of an investigation into the experiences of academically successful adult Māori students undertaking the Bachelor of Information Technology (BIT programme at the Waikato Institute of Technology (Wintec. This research looked at the participants\\' motivation for attending Wintec, the barriers (such as financial, social and family hardships they encountered as they made the transition back to full time study, and their experiences at Wintec. The paper considers the reasons why the participants have achieved well, identifies the support systems they called on, and explores the challenges that they experienced while studying in a tertiary learning environment. Its significance lies in the focus on factors that affect Māori academic success, specifically in information technology, so that teaching approaches and support systems, particularly in the institute of technology and polytechnic (ITP sector, can enhance the success of Māori in the field of IT.

Effects of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) on Students' Academic Achievement and Retention in Chemistry at Secondary Level

Science.gov (United States)

Hussain, Ishtiaq; Suleman, Qaiser; ud Din, M. Naseer; Shafique, Farhan

2017-01-01

The current paper investigated the effects of information and communication technology on the students' academic achievement and retention in chemistry. Fifty students of 9th grade were selected randomly from Kohsar Public School and College Latamber Karak. The students were grouped into equivalent groups based on pretest score. In order to…

Reliability and Validity of the Clinical Dementia Rating for Community-Living Elderly Subjects without an Informant.

Science.gov (United States)

Nyunt, Ma Shwe Zin; Chong, Mei Sian; Lim, Wee Shiong; Lee, Tih Shih; Yap, Philip; Ng, Tze Pin

2013-01-01

The Clinical Dementia Rating (CDR) scale is widely used to assess cognitive impairment in Alzheimer's disease. It requires collateral information from a reliable informant who is not available in many instances. We adapted the original CDR scale for use with elderly subjects without an informant (CDR-NI) and evaluated its reliability and validity for assessing mild cognitive impairment (MCI) and dementia among community-dwelling elderly subjects. At two consecutive visits 1 week apart, nurses trained in CDR assessment interviewed, observed and rated cognitive and functional performance according to a protocol in 90 elderly subjects with suboptimal cognitive performance [Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE) reliability (κ 0.77-1.00 for six domains and 0.95 for global rating) and test-retest reliability (κ 0.75-1.00 for six domains and 0.80 for global rating), good agreement (κ 0.79) with the clinical assessment status of MCI (n = 37) and dementia (n = 4) and significant differences in the mean scores for MMSE, MOCA and Instrumental Activities of Daily Living (ANOVA global p reliable assessment of MCI and dementia in community-living elderly subjects without an informant.

Multi-UAV Doppler Information Fusion for Target Tracking Based on Distributed High Degrees Information Filters

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Hamza Benzerrouk

2018-03-01

Full Text Available Multi-Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV Doppler-based target tracking has not been widely investigated, specifically when using modern nonlinear information filters. A high-degree Gauss–Hermite information filter, as well as a seventh-degree cubature information filter (CIF, is developed to improve the fifth-degree and third-degree CIFs proposed in the most recent related literature. These algorithms are applied to maneuvering target tracking based on Radar Doppler range/range rate signals. To achieve this purpose, different measurement models such as range-only, range rate, and bearing-only tracking are used in the simulations. In this paper, the mobile sensor target tracking problem is addressed and solved by a higher-degree class of quadrature information filters (HQIFs. A centralized fusion architecture based on distributed information filtering is proposed, and yielded excellent results. Three high dynamic UAVs are simulated with synchronized Doppler measurement broadcasted in parallel channels to the control center for global information fusion. Interesting results are obtained, with the superiority of certain classes of higher-degree quadrature information filters.

7 CFR 1810.1 - Information concerning interest rates, amortization, guarantee fee, annual charge, and fixed period.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-01-01

... 7 Agriculture 12 2010-01-01 2010-01-01 false Information concerning interest rates, amortization... UTILITIES SERVICE, AND FARM SERVICE AGENCY, DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE GENERAL REGULATIONS INTEREST RATES, TERMS, CONDITIONS, AND APPROVAL AUTHORITY Interest Rates, Amortization, Guarantee Fee, Annual Charge...

Challenges to achievement of metal sustainability in our high-tech society.

Science.gov (United States)

Izatt, Reed M; Izatt, Steven R; Bruening, Ronald L; Izatt, Neil E; Moyer, Bruce A

2014-04-21

Achievement of sustainability in metal life cycles from mining of virgin ore to consumer and industrial devices to end-of-life products requires greatly increased recycling rates and improved processing of metals using conventional and green chemistry technologies. Electronic and other high-tech products containing precious, toxic, and specialty metals usually have short lifetimes and low recycling rates. Products containing these metals generally are incinerated, discarded as waste in landfills, or dismantled in informal recycling using crude and environmentally irresponsible procedures. Low recycling rates of metals coupled with increasing demand for high-tech products containing them necessitate increased mining with attendant environmental, health, energy, water, and carbon-footprint consequences. In this tutorial review, challenges to achieving metal sustainability, including projected use of urban mining, in present high-tech society are presented; health, environmental, and economic incentives for various government, industry, and public stakeholders to improve metal sustainability are discussed; a case for technical improvements, including use of molecular recognition, in selective metal separation technology, especially for metal recovery from dilute feed stocks is given; and global consequences of continuing on the present path are examined.

Secure Communications over Wireless Networks Even 1-bit Feedback Helps Achieving Security

KAUST Repository

Rezki, Zouheir

2016-01-06

Recently, there have been a surge toward developing sophisticated security mechanisms based on a cross layer design. While an extensive progress has been realized toward establishing physical layer security as an important design paradigm to enhance security of existing wireless networks, only a little effort has been made toward designing practical coding schemes that achieve or approach the secrecy capacity. Most of existing results are tied to some simplifying assumptions that do not seem always reasonable (passive eavesdropper, perfect channel state information (CSI), etc.). Furthermore, it is still not very clear how to exploit physical layer security paradigms, together with existing cryptosystems, in order to add a supplementary level of protection for information transmission or to achieve key agreement. In this talk, we address the first part of the above problematic, i.e., the effect of channel uncertainty on network security. Particularly, we show that even a coarse estimate of the main channel (channel between the transmitter and the legitimate receiver) can help providing a positive secrecy rate. Specifically, we assume two types of channel uncertainty at the transmitter. The first one is a rate-limited feedback in a block fading channel where the feedback information can be proactive (at the beginning of the coherence block) or of ARQ-type. The second type of uncertainty takes the form of a noisy estimate of the main channel at the transmitter in a fast fading channel. In both cases, we provide upper and lower bounds on the secrecy capacity. We argue how our achievable schemes and upper bounding techniques extend to multi-user setting (broadcasting a single confidential message or multiple confidential messages to multiple legitimate receivers) and to multiple antenna channels.

Secure Communications over Wireless Networks Even 1-bit Feedback Helps Achieving Security

KAUST Repository

Rezki, Zouheir

2016-01-01

Recently, there have been a surge toward developing sophisticated security mechanisms based on a cross layer design. While an extensive progress has been realized toward establishing physical layer security as an important design paradigm to enhance security of existing wireless networks, only a little effort has been made toward designing practical coding schemes that achieve or approach the secrecy capacity. Most of existing results are tied to some simplifying assumptions that do not seem always reasonable (passive eavesdropper, perfect channel state information (CSI), etc.). Furthermore, it is still not very clear how to exploit physical layer security paradigms, together with existing cryptosystems, in order to add a supplementary level of protection for information transmission or to achieve key agreement. In this talk, we address the first part of the above problematic, i.e., the effect of channel uncertainty on network security. Particularly, we show that even a coarse estimate of the main channel (channel between the transmitter and the legitimate receiver) can help providing a positive secrecy rate. Specifically, we assume two types of channel uncertainty at the transmitter. The first one is a rate-limited feedback in a block fading channel where the feedback information can be proactive (at the beginning of the coherence block) or of ARQ-type. The second type of uncertainty takes the form of a noisy estimate of the main channel at the transmitter in a fast fading channel. In both cases, we provide upper and lower bounds on the secrecy capacity. We argue how our achievable schemes and upper bounding techniques extend to multi-user setting (broadcasting a single confidential message or multiple confidential messages to multiple legitimate receivers) and to multiple antenna channels.

A project for increasing the rate of participation in mammographic breast cancer screening in Kyoto prefecture to 50%

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Nakajima, Hiroo; Fujiwara, Ikuya; Mizuta, Naruhiko; Sakaguchi, Koichi; Hachimine, Yasushi; Kageyama, Norio; Sawai, Kiyoshi; Nishida, Naoko

2007-01-01

The rate of participation in breast cancer screening carried out by inspection and palpation associated with mammography in Kyoto Prefecture has been still low. In order to decrease the rate of breast cancer death, a high rate of screening participation must be achieved. We have organized the Kyoto Executive Committee of Pink Ribbon Activity aiming at the goal of achieving a 50% rate of participation in mammography screening by the end of 2010, and undertaken the following campaign activities: performing free screening, distribution and display of posters and leaflets about breast cancer screening, cooperation with various media to spread educational and informative messages, cooperation with a commercial institute in Kyoto City to distribute useful information, performing free breast cancer screening, and holding public lecture meetings, distribution of leaflets at student festivals at universities and colleges in Kyoto, and holding a ''Pink Ribbon symposium'' in a cosponsored company. All the above projects were performed successfully and many participants attended. We will continue these activities until the 50% participation rate is achieved. (author)

MyOcean Information System : achievements and perspectives

Science.gov (United States)

Loubrieu, T.; Dorandeu, J.; Claverie, V.; Cordier, K.; Barzic, Y.; Lauret, O.; Jolibois, T.; Blower, J.

2012-04-01

MyOcean system (http://www.myocean.eu) objective is to provide a Core Service for the Ocean. This means MyOcean is setting up an operational service for forecasts, analysis and expertise on ocean currents, temperature, salinity, sea level, primary ecosystems and ice coverage. The production of observation and forecasting data is distributed through 12 production centres. The interface with the external users (including web portal) and the coordination of the overall service is managed by a component called service desk. Besides, a transverse component called MIS (myOcean Information System) aims at connecting the production centres and service desk together, manage the shared information for the overall system and implement a standard Inspire interface for the external world. 2012 is a key year for the system. The MyOcean, 3-year project, which has set up the first versions of the system is ending. The MyOcean II, 2-year project, which will upgrade and consolidate the system is starting. Both projects are granted by the European commission within the GMES Program (7th Framework Program). At the end of the MyOcean project, the system has been designed and the 2 first versions have been implemented. The system now offers an integrated service composed with 237 ocean products. The ocean products are homogeneously described in a catalogue. They can be visualized and downloaded by the user (identified with a unique login) through a seamless web interface. The discovery and viewing interfaces are INSPIRE compliant. The data production, subsystems availability and audience are continuously monitored. The presentation will detail the implemented information system architecture and the chosen software solutions. Regarding the information system, MyOcean II is mainly aiming at consolidating the existing functions and promoting the operations cost-effectiveness. In addition, a specific effort will be done so that the less common data features of the system (ocean in

Estimation of Uncertainty in Tracer Gas Measurement of Air Change Rates

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Atsushi Iizuka

2010-12-01

Full Text Available Simple and economical measurement of air change rates can be achieved with a passive-type tracer gas doser and sampler. However, this is made more complex by the fact many buildings are not a single fully mixed zone. This means many measurements are required to obtain information on ventilation conditions. In this study, we evaluated the uncertainty of tracer gas measurement of air change rate in n completely mixed zones. A single measurement with one tracer gas could be used to simply estimate the air change rate when n = 2. Accurate air change rates could not be obtained for n ≥ 2 due to a lack of information. However, the proposed method can be used to estimate an air change rate with an accuracy of

INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY USE AND ACADEMIC ACHIEVEMENTS OF STUDENTS IN PRIMARY SCHOOLS

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Khalid Said Rabayah

2014-10-01

Full Text Available The association between ICT diffusion and education is a subject of hot debate in both ICT and educational circles. Stances range from positive enthusiast, to skeptics, to disbelievers vis-a-vis the impact of ICT on students’ achievements. The purpose of this paper is to investigate the presence of any correlation between students’ academic achievements as recorded by Trends in International Mathematics and Science (TIMMS 2011 and the penetration of ICT in their schools and households, with focus primarily on computers and the Internet. The paper relies on the analysis of the data published by the Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMMS 2011, international study center and the international association for the evaluation of educational achievements. Statistical data analysis will be employed to figure out whether there is any correlation between the penetration level of ICT and the students’ score in math and science tests as recorded by the TIMMS 2011 international scale. The analysis conducted within the scope of this research indicates the lack of any association between ICT use and students achievements in math and science subjects. Though the linkage between students’ achievements is not a straightforward issue that can be uncovered via simple regression analysis, however, the results definitely indicate that employment of ICT in both schools and homes is an insignificant factor that can be easily offset by other major factors, like socio-economic conditions, instruction resources, teachers’ capabilities, or cultural factors.

Estimation of uncertainty in tracer gas measurement of air change rates.

Science.gov (United States)

Iizuka, Atsushi; Okuizumi, Yumiko; Yanagisawa, Yukio

2010-12-01

Simple and economical measurement of air change rates can be achieved with a passive-type tracer gas doser and sampler. However, this is made more complex by the fact many buildings are not a single fully mixed zone. This means many measurements are required to obtain information on ventilation conditions. In this study, we evaluated the uncertainty of tracer gas measurement of air change rate in n completely mixed zones. A single measurement with one tracer gas could be used to simply estimate the air change rate when n = 2. Accurate air change rates could not be obtained for n ≥ 2 due to a lack of information. However, the proposed method can be used to estimate an air change rate with an accuracy of air change rate can be avoided. The proposed estimation method will be useful in practical ventilation measurements.

Compression and information recovery in ptychography

Science.gov (United States)

Loetgering, L.; Treffer, D.; Wilhein, T.

2018-04-01

Ptychographic coherent diffraction imaging (PCDI) is a scanning microscopy modality that allows for simultaneous recovery of object and illumination information. This ability renders PCDI a suitable technique for x-ray lensless imaging and optics characterization. Its potential for information recovery typically relies on large amounts of data redundancy. However, the field of view in ptychography is practically limited by the memory and the computational facilities available. We describe techniques that achieve robust ptychographic information recovery at high compression rates. The techniques are compared and tested with experimental data.

Engineering Information Security The Application of Systems Engineering Concepts to Achieve Information Assurance

CERN Document Server

Jacobs, Stuart

2011-01-01

Information security is the act of protecting information from unauthorized access, use, disclosure, disruption, modification, or destruction. This book discusses why information security is needed and how security problems can have widespread impacts. It covers the complete security lifecycle of products and services, starting with requirements and policy development and progressing through development, deployment, and operations, and concluding with decommissioning. Professionals in the sciences, engineering, and communications fields will turn to this resource to understand the many legal,

Adjusting Expected Mortality Rates Using Information From a Control Population: An Example Using Socioeconomic Status.

Science.gov (United States)

Bower, Hannah; Andersson, Therese M-L; Crowther, Michael J; Dickman, Paul W; Lambe, Mats; Lambert, Paul C

2018-04-01

Expected or reference mortality rates are commonly used in the calculation of measures such as relative survival in population-based cancer survival studies and standardized mortality ratios. These expected rates are usually presented according to age, sex, and calendar year. In certain situations, stratification of expected rates by other factors is required to avoid potential bias if interest lies in quantifying measures according to such factors as, for example, socioeconomic status. If data are not available on a population level, information from a control population could be used to adjust expected rates. We have presented two approaches for adjusting expected mortality rates using information from a control population: a Poisson generalized linear model and a flexible parametric survival model. We used a control group from BCBaSe-a register-based, matched breast cancer cohort in Sweden with diagnoses between 1992 and 2012-to illustrate the two methods using socioeconomic status as a risk factor of interest. Results showed that Poisson and flexible parametric survival approaches estimate similar adjusted mortality rates according to socioeconomic status. Additional uncertainty involved in the methods to estimate stratified, expected mortality rates described in this study can be accounted for using a parametric bootstrap, but this might make little difference if using a large control population.

The Impact of Reviews and Average Rating on Hotel-Booking-Intention

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Buus, Line Thomassen; Jensen, Charlotte Thodberg; Jessen, Anne Mette Karnøe

2016-01-01

User-generated information types (ratings and reviews) are highly used when booking hotel rooms on Online Travel Agency (OTA) websites. The impact of user-generated information on decision-making is often investigated through quantitative research, thereby not examining in depth how and why...... website followed by an interview. We processed the data from the interview, and the analysis resulted in a model generalizing the use of reviews and average rating in the deliberation phase of a hotel-booking. The findings are overall consistent with related research. Yet, beyond this, the qualitative...... travelers use this information. This paper therefore presents a qualitative study conducted to achieve a deeper understanding. We investigated the use of reviews and average rating in a hotel-booking-context through a laboratory experiment, which involved a task of examining a hotel on a pre-designed OTA...

Extracting breathing rate information from a wearable reflectance pulse oximeter sensor.

Science.gov (United States)

Johnston, W S; Mendelson, Y

2004-01-01

The integration of multiple vital physiological measurements could help combat medics and field commanders to better predict a soldier's health condition and enhance their ability to perform remote triage procedures. In this paper we demonstrate the feasibility of extracting accurate breathing rate information from a photoplethysmographic signal that was recorded by a reflectance pulse oximeter sensor mounted on the forehead and subsequently processed by a simple time domain filtering and frequency domain Fourier analysis.

The relationship of learning motivation, achievement and satisfaction for nurses learning simple excel VBA information systems programming.

Science.gov (United States)

Lee, Ying Li; Chien, Tsai Feng; Kuo, Ming Chuan; Chang, Polun

2014-01-01

This study aims to understand the relationship between participating nurses' motivation, achievement and satisfaction before and after they learned to program in Excel Visual Basic for Applications (Excel VBA). We held a workshop to train nurses in developing simple Excel VBA information systems to support their clinical or administrative practices. Before and after the workshop, the participants were evaluated on their knowledge of Excel VBA, and a questionnaire was given to survey their learning motivation and satisfaction. Statistics softwares Winsteps and SPSS were used for data analysis. Results show that the participants are more knowledgeable about VBA as well as more motivated in learning VBA after the workshop. Participants were highly satisfied with the overall arrangement of the workshop and instructors, but didn't have enough confidence in promoting the application of Excel VBA themselves. In addition, we were unable to predict the participants' achievement by their demographic characteristics or pre-test motivation level.

INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY USE AND ACADEMIC ACHIEVEMENTS OF STUDENTS IN PRIMARY SCHOOLS

OpenAIRE

Khalid Said Rabayah

2014-01-01

The association between ICT diffusion and education is a subject of hot debate in both ICT and educational circles. Stances range from positive enthusiast, to skeptics, to disbelievers vis-a-vis the impact of ICT on students’ achievements. The purpose of this paper is to investigate the presence of any correlation between students’ academic achievements as recorded by Trends in International Mathematics and Science (TIMMS 2011) and the penetration of ICT in their schools and households, with ...

Information System Specific in Achievement of Construction Projects

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Cătălin Onuţu

2005-01-01

Full Text Available Because of the economic changes from our country and also of the rapid adjusting necessity to the requirement of a market economy, it is observed a huge request for information, and especially techniques, tools, methodologies that would facilitate the managerial activity in any field. In the construction field the problem is even more serious because of specific aspects and of the traditional information system that is very stiff. Formal and bureaucratic, and this makes the adjusting process of specialist to the economic realities to be more difficult.

From Information Management to Information Visualization

Science.gov (United States)

Karami, Mahtab

2016-01-01

Summary Objective The development and implementation of a dashboard of medical imaging department (MID) performance indicators. Method Several articles discussing performance measures of imaging departments were searched for this study. All the related measures were extracted. Then, a panel of imaging experts were asked to rate these measures with an open ended question to seek further potential indicators. A second round was performed to confirm the performance rating. The indicators and their ratings were then reviewed by an executive panel. Based on the final panel’s rating, a list of indicators to be used was developed. A team of information technology consultants were asked to determine a set of user interface requirements for the building of the dashboard. In the first round, based on the panel’s rating, a list of main features or requirements to be used was determined. Next, Qlikview was utilized to implement the dashboard to visualize a set of selected KPI metrics. Finally, an evaluation of the dashboard was performed. Results 92 MID indicators were identified. On top of this, 53 main user interface requirements to build of the prototype of dashboard were determined. Then, the project team successfully implemented a prototype of radiology management dashboards into study site. The visual display that was designed was rated highly by users. Conclusion To develop a dashboard, management of information is essential. It is recommended that a quality map be designed for the MID. It can be used to specify the sequence of activities, their related indicators and required data for calculating these indicators. To achieve both an effective dashboard and a comprehensive view of operations, it is necessary to design a data warehouse for gathering data from a variety of systems. Utilizing interoperability standards for exchanging data among different systems can be also effective in this regard. PMID:27437043

Relationship between Corporate Governance and Information Security Governance Effectiveness in United States Corporations

Science.gov (United States)

Davis, Robert E.

2017-01-01

Cyber attackers targeting large corporations achieved a high perimeter penetration success rate during 2013, resulting in many corporations incurring financial losses. Corporate information technology leaders have a fiduciary responsibility to implement information security domain processes that effectually address the challenges for preventing…

The Mechanics of Human Achievement.

Science.gov (United States)

Duckworth, Angela L; Eichstaedt, Johannes C; Ungar, Lyle H

2015-07-01

Countless studies have addressed why some individuals achieve more than others. Nevertheless, the psychology of achievement lacks a unifying conceptual framework for synthesizing these empirical insights. We propose organizing achievement-related traits by two possible mechanisms of action: Traits that determine the rate at which an individual learns a skill are talent variables and can be distinguished conceptually from traits that determine the effort an individual puts forth. This approach takes inspiration from Newtonian mechanics: achievement is akin to distance traveled, effort to time, skill to speed, and talent to acceleration. A novel prediction from this model is that individual differences in effort (but not talent) influence achievement (but not skill) more substantially over longer (rather than shorter) time intervals. Conceptualizing skill as the multiplicative product of talent and effort, and achievement as the multiplicative product of skill and effort, advances similar, but less formal, propositions by several important earlier thinkers.

Heterogeneous Information about the Term Structure of Interest rates, Least-Squares Learning and Optimal Interest Rate Rules for Inflation Forecast Targeting

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Schaling, E.; Eijffinger, S.C.W.; Tesfaselassie, M.F.

2004-01-01

In this paper we incorporate the term structure of interest rates in a standard inflation forecast targeting framework.Learning about the transmission process of monetary policy is introduced by having heterogeneous agents - i.e. the central bank and private agents - who have different information

Relations among Academic Enablers and Academic Achievement in Children with and without High Levels of Parent-Rated Symptoms of Inattention, Impulsivity, and Hyperactivity

Science.gov (United States)

Demaray, Michelle Kilpatrick; Jenkins, Lyndsay N.

2011-01-01

This study examined the relationships among academic enablers (i.e., engagement, interpersonal skills, motivation, study skills) and academic achievement in children with and without high levels of parent-rated symptoms of inattention, impulsivity, and hyperactivity (Symptoms of IIH Group). The study included 69 participants (29 [42%] in the IIH…

Reliability and Validity of the Clinical Dementia Rating for Community-Living Elderly Subjects without an Informant

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ma Shwe Zin Nyunt

2013-10-01

Full Text Available Background: The Clinical Dementia Rating (CDR scale is widely used to assess cognitive impairment in Alzheimer's disease. It requires collateral information from a reliable informant who is not available in many instances. We adapted the original CDR scale for use with elderly subjects without an informant (CDR-NI and evaluated its reliability and validity for assessing mild cognitive impairment (MCI and dementia among community-dwelling elderly subjects. Method: At two consecutive visits 1 week apart, nurses trained in CDR assessment interviewed, observed and rated cognitive and functional performance according to a protocol in 90 elderly subjects with suboptimal cognitive performance [Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE Results: The CDR-NI scores (0, 0.5, 1 showed good internal consistency (Crohnbach's a 0.83-0.84, inter-rater reliability (κ 0.77-1.00 for six domains and 0.95 for global rating and test-retest reliability (κ 0.75-1.00 for six domains and 0.80 for global rating, good agreement (κ 0.79 with the clinical assessment status of MCI (n = 37 and dementia (n = 4 and significant differences in the mean scores for MMSE, MOCA and Instrumental Activities of Daily Living (ANOVA global p Conclusion: Owing to the protocol of the interviews, assessments and structured observations gathered during the two visits, CDR-NI provides valid and reliable assessment of MCI and dementia in community-living elderly subjects without an informant.

Relationship between dysfunctional breathing patterns and ability to achieve target heart rate variability with features of "coherence" during biofeedback.

Science.gov (United States)

Courtney, Rosalba; Cohen, Marc; van Dixhoorn, Jan

2011-01-01

Heart rate variability (HRV) biofeedback is a self-regulation strategy used to improve conditions including asthma, stress, hypertension, and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. Respiratory muscle function affects hemodynamic influences on respiratory sinus arrhythmia (RSA), and HRV and HRV-biofeedback protocols often include slow abdominal breathing to achieve physiologically optimal patterns of HRV with power spectral distribution concentrated around the 0.1-Hz frequency and large amplitude. It is likely that optimal balanced breathing patterns and ability to entrain heart rhythms to breathing reflect physiological efficiency and resilience and that individuals with dysfunctional breathing patterns may have difficulty voluntarily modulating HRV and RSA. The relationship between breathing movement patterns and HRV, however, has not been investigated. This study examines how individuals' habitual breathing patterns correspond with their ability to optimize HRV and RSA. Breathing pattern was assessed using the Manual Assessment of Respiratory Motion (MARM) and the Hi Lo manual palpation techniques in 83 people with possible dysfunctional breathing before they attempted HRV biofeedback. Mean respiratory rate was also assessed. Subsequently, participants applied a brief 5-minute biofeedback protocol, involving breathing and positive emotional focus, to achieve HRV patterns proposed to reflect physiological "coherence" and entrainment of heart rhythm oscillations to other oscillating body systems. Thoracic-dominant breathing was associated with decreased coherence of HRV (r = -.463, P = .0001). Individuals with paradoxical breathing had the lowest HRV coherence (t(8) = 10.7, P = .001), and the negative relationship between coherence of HRV and extent of thoracic breathing was strongest in this group (r = -.768, P = .03). Dysfunctional breathing patterns are associated with decreased ability to achieve HRV patterns that reflect cardiorespiratory efficiency and

The discrepancy between patients and informants on clinician-rated measures in major depressive disorder: implications for clinical trials and clinical practice.

Science.gov (United States)

Peselow, Eric D; Karamians, Reneh; Lord, Marie; Tobia, Gabriel; IsHak, Waguih William

2014-03-01

Clinician-rated measures are used in clinical trials and measurement-based clinical care settings to assess baseline symptoms and treatment outcomes of major depressive disorder (MDD), with a widely held dictum that they are sufficient in assessing the patient's clinical status. In this study, we examined clinician-rated measures of depressive and global symptom severity, obtained by interviewing patients as well as informants in an attempt to examine the potential difference or similarity between these two sources of information. The sample consisted of 89 treatment seeking, DSM-IV diagnosed MDD outpatients treated between 1995 and 2004. The clinician-rated measures used included the Montgomery Åsberg Depression Rating Scale (MADRS), and the Clinical Global Impression Scale (CGI) for Severity. The scores of the clinician-rated measures collected from patients' interviews were compared with those collected from informants' interviews. Clinician-rated scores, collected by interviewing patients, were significantly higher and indicative of greater symptom severity when compared with those collected by interviewing informants. This was true for both the MADRS before (Ppractical in MDD clinical trials or everyday clinical care. The discrepancies observed between the clinician-rated scores obtained from patients and informants emphasize the importance of incorporating collateral information during the assessment and rating of depressive symptom severity in both clinical trials as well as in clinical practice.

Achievable data rate in spectrum-sharing channels with variable-rate variable-power primary users

KAUST Repository

Yang, Yuli; Aï ssa, Sonia

2012-01-01

In this work, we propose a transmission strategy for secondary users (SUs) within a cognitive radio network where primary users (PUs) exploit variable-rate variable-power modulation. By monitoring the PU's transmissions, the SU adjusts its transmit

A globally convergent MC algorithm with an adaptive learning rate.

Science.gov (United States)

Peng, Dezhong; Yi, Zhang; Xiang, Yong; Zhang, Haixian

2012-02-01

This brief deals with the problem of minor component analysis (MCA). Artificial neural networks can be exploited to achieve the task of MCA. Recent research works show that convergence of neural networks based MCA algorithms can be guaranteed if the learning rates are less than certain thresholds. However, the computation of these thresholds needs information about the eigenvalues of the autocorrelation matrix of data set, which is unavailable in online extraction of minor component from input data stream. In this correspondence, we introduce an adaptive learning rate into the OJAn MCA algorithm, such that its convergence condition does not depend on any unobtainable information, and can be easily satisfied in practical applications.

Simultaneous Wireless Information and Power Transfer for MIMO Amplify-and-Forward Relay Systems

KAUST Repository

Benkhelifa, Fatma

2016-03-28

© 2015 IEEE. In this paper, we investigate two-hop Multiple- Input Multiple-Output (MIMO) Amplify-and-Forward (AF) relay communication systems with simultaneous wireless information and power transfer (SWIPT) at the multi-antenna energy harvesting relay. We derive the optimal source and relay covariance matrices to characterize the achievable region between the source-destination rate and the harvested energy at the relay, namely Rate-Energy (R-E) region. In this context, we consider the ideal scenario where the energy harvester (EH) receiver and the information decoder (ID) receiver at the relay can simultaneously decode the information and harvest the energy at the relay. This scheme provides an outer bound for the achievable R-E region since practical energy harvesting circuits are not yet able to harvest the energy and decode the information simultaneously. Then, we consider more practical schemes which are the power splitting (PS) and the time switching (TS) proposed in [1] and which separate the EH and ID transfer over the power domain and the time domain, respectively. In our study, we derive the boundary of the achievable R- E region and we show the effect of the source transmit power, the relay transmit power and the position of the relay between the source and the destination on the achievable R-E region for the ideal scenario and the two practical schemes.

An information-guided channel-hopping scheme for block-fading channels with estimation errors

KAUST Repository

Yang, Yuli

2010-12-01

Information-guided channel-hopping technique employing multiple transmit antennas was previously proposed for supporting high data rate transmission over fading channels. This scheme achieves higher data rates than some mature schemes, such as the well-known cyclic transmit antenna selection and space-time block coding, by exploiting the independence character of multiple channels, which effectively results in having an additional information transmitting channel. Moreover, maximum likelihood decoding may be performed by simply decoupling the signals conveyed by the different mapping methods. In this paper, we investigate the achievable spectral efficiency of this scheme in the case of having channel estimation errors, with optimum pilot overhead for minimum meansquare error channel estimation, when transmitting over blockfading channels. Our numerical results further substantiate the robustness of the presented scheme, even with imperfect channel state information. ©2010 IEEE.

On achievable rates for long-haul fiber-optic communications

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Fehenberger, T.; Alvarado, A.; Bayvel, P.; Hanik, N.

2015-01-01

Lower bounds on mutual information (MI) of long-haul optical fiber systems for hard-decision and soft-decision decoding are studied. Ready-to-use expressions to calculate the MI are presented. Extensive numerical simulations are used to quantify how changes in the optical transmitter, receiver, and

High Heating Rates Affect Greatly the Inactivation Rate of Escherichia coli

Science.gov (United States)

Huertas, Juan-Pablo; Aznar, Arantxa; Esnoz, Arturo; Fernández, Pablo S.; Iguaz, Asunción; Periago, Paula M.; Palop, Alfredo

2016-01-01

Heat resistance of microorganisms can be affected by different influencing factors. Although, the effect of heating rates has been scarcely explored by the scientific community, recent researches have unraveled its important effect on the thermal resistance of different species of vegetative bacteria. Typically heating rates described in the literature ranged from 1 to 20°C/min but the impact of much higher heating rates is unclear. The aim of this research was to explore the effect of different heating rates, such as those currently achieved in the heat exchangers used in the food industry, on the heat resistance of Escherichia coli. A pilot plant tubular heat exchanger and a thermoresistometer Mastia were used for this purpose. Results showed that fast heating rates had a deep impact on the thermal resistance of E. coli. Heating rates between 20 and 50°C/min were achieved in the heat exchanger, which were much slower than those around 20°C/s achieved in the thermoresistometer. In all cases, these high heating rates led to higher inactivation than expected: in the heat exchanger, for all the experiments performed, when the observed inactivation had reached about seven log cycles, the predictions estimated about 1 log cycle of inactivation; in the thermoresistometer these differences between observed and predicted values were even more than 10 times higher, from 4.07 log cycles observed to 0.34 predicted at a flow rate of 70 mL/min and a maximum heating rate of 14.7°C/s. A quantification of the impact of the heating rates on the level of inactivation achieved was established. These results point out the important effect that the heating rate has on the thermal resistance of E. coli, with high heating rates resulting in an additional sensitization to heat and therefore an effective food safety strategy in terms of food processing. PMID:27563300

45 CFR 284.20 - What information will we use to determine the child poverty rate in each State?

Science.gov (United States)

2010-10-01

... child poverty rate in each State? 284.20 Section 284.20 Public Welfare Regulations Relating to Public... TERRITORY'S CHILD POVERTY RATE IS THE RESULT OF THE TANF PROGRAM § 284.20 What information will we use to determine the child poverty rate in each State? (a) General. We will determine the child poverty rate in...

Making the Information Manager (G6/J6): Leveraging Information Management to Achieve Information Dominance

National Research Council Canada - National Science Library

Cross, Frederick

2002-01-01

The three primary communications disciplines offered to signal officers by the U.S. Army Signal Corps separately do not meet the educational and training needs required of the G6/J6 Information Manager to support future doctrine...

Information Technology, Mathematics Achievement and Educational Equity in Developed Economies

Science.gov (United States)

Tan, Cheng Yong; Hew, Khe Foon

2017-01-01

The present study examined how access to home and school IT resources impacted student mathematics achievement. Data comprised 144,395 secondary school students from 7,308 schools in 22 developed economies who participated in the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) 2012. Results of hierarchical linear modelling showed that after…

Cooperation schemes for rate enhancement in detect-and-forward relay channels

KAUST Repository

Benjillali, Mustapha

2010-05-01

To improve the spectral efficiency of "Detect-and-Forward" (DetF) half-duplex relaying in fading channels, we propose a cooperation scheme where the relay uses a modulation whose order is higher than the one at the source. In a new common framework, we show that the proposed scheme offers considerable gains - in terms of achievable information rates - compared to the conventional DetF relaying schemes for both orthogonal and non-orthogonal source/relay cooperation. This allows us to propose an adaptive cooperation scheme based on the maximization of the information rate at the destination which needs to observe only the average signal-to-noise ratios of direct and relaying links. ©2010 IEEE.

Energy Information Augmented Community-Based Energy Reduction

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Mark Rembert

2012-06-01

Full Text Available More than one-half of all U.S. states have instituted energy efficiency mandates requiring utilities to reduce energy use. To achieve these goals, utilities have been permitted rate structures to help them incentivize energy reduction projects. This strategy is proving to be only modestly successful in stemming energy consumption growth. By the same token, community energy reduction programs have achieved moderate to very significant energy reduction. The research described here offers an important tool to strengthen the community energy reduction efforts—by providing such efforts energy information tailored to the energy use patterns of each building occupant. The information provided most importantly helps each individual energy customer understand their potential for energy savings and what reduction measures are most important to them. This information can be leveraged by the leading community organization to prompt greater action in its community. A number of case studies of this model are shown. Early results are promising.

Information theoretic bounds for compressed sensing in SAR imaging

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Jingxiong, Zhang; Ke, Yang; Jianzhong, Guo

2014-01-01

Compressed sensing (CS) is a new framework for sampling and reconstructing sparse signals from measurements significantly fewer than those prescribed by Nyquist rate in the Shannon sampling theorem. This new strategy, applied in various application areas including synthetic aperture radar (SAR), relies on two principles: sparsity, which is related to the signals of interest, and incoherence, which refers to the sensing modality. An important question in CS-based SAR system design concerns sampling rate necessary and sufficient for exact or approximate recovery of sparse signals. In the literature, bounds of measurements (or sampling rate) in CS have been proposed from the perspective of information theory. However, these information-theoretic bounds need to be reviewed and, if necessary, validated for CS-based SAR imaging, as there are various assumptions made in the derivations of lower and upper bounds on sub-Nyquist sampling rates, which may not hold true in CS-based SAR imaging. In this paper, information-theoretic bounds of sampling rate will be analyzed. For this, the SAR measurement system is modeled as an information channel, with channel capacity and rate-distortion characteristics evaluated to enable the determination of sampling rates required for recovery of sparse scenes. Experiments based on simulated data will be undertaken to test the theoretic bounds against empirical results about sampling rates required to achieve certain detection error probabilities

Secure Broadcasting with Uncertain Channel State Information

KAUST Repository

Hyadi, Amal

2016-01-06

We investigate the problem of secure broadcasting over fast fading channels with imperfect main channel state information (CSI) at the transmitter. In particular, we analyze the effect of the noisy estimation of the main CSI on the throughput of a broadcast channel where the transmission is intended for multiple legitimate receivers in the presence of an eavesdropper. Besides, we consider the realistic case where the transmitter is only aware of the statistics of the eavesdropper s CSI and not of its channel s realizations. First, we discuss the common message transmission case where the source broadcasts the same information to all the receivers, and we provide an upper and a lower bounds on the ergodic secrecy capacity. For this case, we show that the secrecy rate is limited by the legitimate receiver having, on average, the worst main channel link and we prove that a non-zero secrecy rate can still be achieved even when the CSI at the transmitter is noisy. Then, we look at the independent messages case where the transmitter broadcasts multiple messages to the receivers, and each intended user is interested in an independent message. For this case, we present an expression for the achievable secrecy sum-rate and an upper bound on the secrecy sum-capacity and we show that, in the limit of large number of legitimate receivers K, our achievable secrecy sum-rate follows the scaling law log((1-a ) log(K)), where is the estimation error variance of the main CSI. The special cases of high SNR, perfect and no-main CSI are also analyzed. Analytical derivations and numerical results are presented to illustrate the obtained expressions for the case of independent and identically distributed Rayleigh fading channels.

Secure Broadcasting with Uncertain Channel State Information

KAUST Repository

Hyadi, Amal

2017-03-13

We investigate the problem of secure broadcasting over fast fading channels with imperfect main channel state information (CSI) at the transmitter. In particular, we analyze the effect of the noisy estimation of the main CSI on the throughput of a broadcast channel where the transmission is intended for multiple legitimate receivers in the presence of an eavesdropper. Besides, we consider the realistic case where the transmitter is only aware of the statistics of the eavesdropper\\'s CSI and not of its channel\\'s realizations. First, we discuss the common message transmission case where the source broadcasts the same information to all the receivers, and we provide an upper and a lower bounds on the ergodic secrecy capacity. For this case, we show that the secrecy rate is limited by the legitimate receiver having, on average, the worst main channel link and we prove that a non-zero secrecy rate can still be achieved even when the CSI at the transmitter is noisy. Then, we look at the independent messages case where the transmitter broadcasts multiple messages to the receivers, and each intended user is interested in an independent message. For this case, we present an expression for the achievable secrecy sum-rate and an upper bound on the secrecy sum-capacity and we show that, in the limit of large number of legitimate receivers K, our achievable secrecy sum-rate follows the scaling law log((1-a ) log(K)), where is the estimation error variance of the main CSI. The special cases of high SNR, perfect and no-main CSI are also analyzed. Analytical derivations and numerical results are presented to illustrate the obtained expressions for the case of independent and identically distributed Rayleigh fading channels.

Academic Achievement of University Students with Dyslexia.

Science.gov (United States)

Olofsson, Åke; Taube, Karin; Ahl, Astrid

2015-11-01

Broadened recruitment to higher education is on the agenda in many countries, and it is also widely recognized that the number of dyslexic students entering higher education is increasing. In Sweden, as in many other European countries, higher education institutions are required to accommodate students with dyslexia. The present study focuses on the study outcome for 50 students with diagnosed dyslexia, mainly in teacher education and nurses' training, at three universities in Northern Sweden. The students trusted their own ability to find information on the Internet but mistrusted their own abilities in reading course books and articles in English and in taking notes. The mean rate of study was 23.5 European Credit Transfer and Accumulation System credits per semester, which is slightly below the national baseline of 26.7. The results show that more than half of the students are examined at a normal rate of study but that about one fifth have a very low rate of study. Messages Most students with dyslexia can compensate for their reading problems. Taking notes during lessons and reading in foreign language may be especially difficult for students with dyslexia. Diagnoses should distinguish between reading comprehension and word decoding. More than half of the students with dyslexia can achieve at a normal rate of study. One-fifth of the students with dyslexia may need a longer period of study than other students. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Enabling women to achieve their breastfeeding goals.

Science.gov (United States)

Stuebe, Alison M

2014-03-01

In mammalian physiology, lactation follows pregnancy, and disruption of this physiology is associated with adverse health outcomes for mother and child. Although lactation is the physiologic norm, cultural norms for infant feeding have changed dramatically over the past century. Breastfeeding initiation fell from 70% in the early 1900s to 22% in 1972. In the past 40 years, rates have risen substantially, to 77% in 2010. Although more mothers are initiating breastfeeding, many report that they do not continue as long as they desire. As reproductive health care experts, obstetricians are uniquely positioned to assist women to make an informed feeding decision, offer anticipatory guidance, support normal lactation physiology, and evaluate and treat breastfeeding complications. Integration of care among the obstetrician, pediatric provider, and lactation consultant may enable more women to achieve their breastfeeding goals, thereby improving health outcomes across two generations.

Measuring more than we know? An examination of the motivational and situational influences in science achievement

Science.gov (United States)

Haydel, Angela Michelle

average, who differed in terms of their teachers' ratings of their science ability, achievement goals, capability beliefs and experiences with science achievement tasks perceived, engaged in, and performed on multiple-choice items and performance assessments. Person-centered analyses provided information about the perceptions, engagement and performance of subgroups of individuals who had different motivational characteristics. Generally, students' personal goals and capability beliefs related more strongly to test perceptions, but not performance, while teacher ratings of ability and test-specific beliefs related to performance.

Quality of information about success rates provided on assisted reproductive technology clinic websites in Australia and New Zealand.

Science.gov (United States)

Hammarberg, Karin; Prentice, Tess; Purcell, Isabelle; Johnson, Louise

2018-06-01

Many factors influence the chance of having a baby with assisted reproductive technologies (ART). A 2016 Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) investigation concluded that ART clinics needed to improve the quality of information they provide about chance of ART success. To evaluate changes in the quality of information about success rates provided on the websites of ART clinics in Australia and New Zealand before and after the ACCC investigation. Desktop audits of websites of ART clinics in Australia and New Zealand were conducted in 2016 and 2017 and available information about success rates was scored using a matrix with eight variables and a possible range of scores of 0-9. Of the 54 clinic websites identified in 2016, 32 had unique information and were eligible to be audited. Of these, 29 were also eligible to be audited in 2017. While there was a slight improvement in the mean score from 2016 to 2017 (4.93-5.28), this was not statistically significantly different. Of the 29 clinics, 14 had the same score on both occasions, 10 had a higher and five a lower information quality score in 2017. To allow people who consider ART to make informed decisions about treatment they need comprehensive and accurate information about what treatment entails and what the likely outcomes are. As measured by a scoring matrix, most ART clinics had not improved the quality of the information about success rates following the ACCC investigation. © 2017 The Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists.

A Comparison of the Incremental Difference between the Beginning and Ending Heart Rate When Shorthand Writers Are Informed and Not Informed of Speeds of Dictation.

Science.gov (United States)

Dickey, Patsy A.

1980-01-01

Forty female students were used to compare the incremental difference in heart rate of shorthand writers when they were informed and not informed of shorthand speeds prior to dictation. It was concluded that students' performances were enhanced by receiving instructions as to speed of dictation prior to the take. (Author/CT)

THE RELATIONSHIP OF MEASURES OF ATTAINMENT VALUE AND ACHIEVEMENT EXPECTANCY TO THE READING ACHIEVEMENT OF FIRST-GRADE CHILDREN FROM LOW-INCOME FAMILIES.

Science.gov (United States)

WOOD, FRANK H.

THIS INVESTIGATION FOCUSED ON THE USEFULNESS OF A PROCEDURE FOR OBTAINING MEASURES OF THE MOTIVATION OF FIRST-GRADE CHILDREN FROM LOW-INCOME FAMILIES TO ACHIEVE IN READING WHICH DID NOT REQUIRE WRITTEN OR ORAL VERBAL RESPONSES FROM THE SUBJECTS. MEASURES OF ACHIEVEMENT MOTIVATION WERE CORRELATED WITH TEACHER RATINGS OF EFFORTS TO ACHIEVE IN…

An opioid-based pain control program for head and neck cancer patients undergoing chemoradiation therapy achieves a high completion rate of radiation

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kato, Kengo; Matsuura, Kazuto; Zenda, Sadamoto

2011-01-01

Appropriate supportive care is essential for intensive chemoradiation therapy (CRT), and pain management is an important supportive care for CRT for head and neck cancer. We developed an opioid-based pain control program for head and neck cancer patients undergoing CRT, and assessed its efficacy and safety. 110 head and neck cancer patients undergoing platinum-based concomitant CRT were enrolled from 10 cancer centers or university hospitals. Their pain caused by CRT was managed with a four-step opioid-based pain control program, and adverse events and usage of opioid were analyzed. 101 suitable cases of 110 patients were analyzed. 53% of cases suffered grade 3-4 mucositis. The rate of completion of radiotherapy was 99% and the rate of unplanned breaks in radiotherapy was 13%. The usage rate of opioid was 83% and the rate of compliance with the pain control program was 92%. The median maximum quantity of morphine used per day was 35 mg. No patient had to stop the opioid program or radiotherapy due to adverse effects of opioids. An opioid-based pain control program for head and neck cancer patients undergoing CRT achieves a high completion rate of radiation. (author)

Achieving minimum-error discrimination of an arbitrary set of laser-light pulses

Science.gov (United States)

da Silva, Marcus P.; Guha, Saikat; Dutton, Zachary

2013-05-01

Laser light is widely used for communication and sensing applications, so the optimal discrimination of coherent states—the quantum states of light emitted by an ideal laser—has immense practical importance. Due to fundamental limits imposed by quantum mechanics, such discrimination has a finite minimum probability of error. While concrete optical circuits for the optimal discrimination between two coherent states are well known, the generalization to larger sets of coherent states has been challenging. In this paper, we show how to achieve optimal discrimination of any set of coherent states using a resource-efficient quantum computer. Our construction leverages a recent result on discriminating multicopy quantum hypotheses [Blume-Kohout, Croke, and Zwolak, arXiv:1201.6625]. As illustrative examples, we analyze the performance of discriminating a ternary alphabet and show how the quantum circuit of a receiver designed to discriminate a binary alphabet can be reused in discriminating multimode hypotheses. Finally, we show that our result can be used to achieve the quantum limit on the rate of classical information transmission on a lossy optical channel, which is known to exceed the Shannon rate of all conventional optical receivers.

QUALIMETRICAL EVALUTION OF EDUCATIONAL ACHIEVEMENTS (in Russian)

OpenAIRE

Natalia BELKINA

2013-01-01

Presents a methodology qualimetrical evaluation of achievements of the students, using a common approach to the definition of the levels of quality in the individual components of student activities and the total of its rating. Visibility approach is supported by the proposed "the tree of the rating".

Impact of information on research and development activities of nuclear scientists in Ghana

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Agyeman, E.A.; Timpo, S.E.; Kisiedu, C.; Boye, M.

2004-01-01

This paper considers the relationship between nuclear information use and the professional development of nuclear scientists in Ghana with reference to some identified productivity and achievement indicators. The assumption is that, frequent use of library and information services results in higher productivity and achievement. A national survey of nuclear scientists was conducted resulting in a response rate of 92 percent. The analytical framework proposed by the International Development Research Centre (IDRC) for impact studies served as an appropriate guide for the study. The results indicate that information use leads to increase in the volume and quality of work output of nuclear scientists. Evidence is also found to support the claim that information use enhances contributions of scientists to their organisations. The study concludes with recommendations aimed at improving information delivery to nuclear scientists. (author)

Success Rates by Software Development Methodology in Information Technology Project Management: A Quantitative Analysis

Science.gov (United States)

Wright, Gerald P.

2013-01-01

Despite over half a century of Project Management research, project success rates are still too low. Organizations spend a tremendous amount of valuable resources on Information Technology projects and seek to maximize the utility gained from their efforts. The author investigated the impact of software development methodology choice on ten…

FIRES: Fire Information Retrieval and Evaluation System - A program for fire danger rating analysis

Science.gov (United States)

Patricia L. Andrews; Larry S. Bradshaw

1997-01-01

A computer program, FIRES: Fire Information Retrieval and Evaluation System, provides methods for evaluating the performance of fire danger rating indexes. The relationship between fire danger indexes and historical fire occurrence and size is examined through logistic regression and percentiles. Historical seasonal trends of fire danger and fire occurrence can be...

45 CFR 284.50 - What information will we use to determine the child poverty rate in each Territory?

Science.gov (United States)

2010-10-01

... child poverty rate in each Territory? 284.50 Section 284.50 Public Welfare Regulations Relating to... STATE OR TERRITORY'S CHILD POVERTY RATE IS THE RESULT OF THE TANF PROGRAM § 284.50 What information will we use to determine the child poverty rate in each Territory? (a) Our intent is that, to the extent...

Rate-adaptive BCH coding for Slepian-Wolf coding of highly correlated sources

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Forchhammer, Søren; Salmistraro, Matteo; Larsen, Knud J.

2012-01-01

This paper considers using BCH codes for distributed source coding using feedback. The focus is on coding using short block lengths for a binary source, X, having a high correlation between each symbol to be coded and a side information, Y, such that the marginal probability of each symbol, Xi in X......, given Y is highly skewed. In the analysis, noiseless feedback and noiseless communication are assumed. A rate-adaptive BCH code is presented and applied to distributed source coding. Simulation results for a fixed error probability show that rate-adaptive BCH achieves better performance than LDPCA (Low......-Density Parity-Check Accumulate) codes for high correlation between source symbols and the side information....

Rate Maximization in MIMO Decode-and-Forward Communications With an EH Relay and Possibly Imperfect CSI

KAUST Repository

Benkhelifa, Fatma

2016-08-29

In this paper, we investigate the simultaneous wireless information and power transfer (SWIPT) in a multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) decode-and-forward (DF) relay system where the relay is an energy harvesting (EH) multi-antenna node equipped with an EH receiver and an information decoding (ID) receiver. The relay harvests the energy from the radio frequency (RF) signals sent by the source and uses it to forward the signals to the destination. The main objective in this paper is to maximize the achievable transmission rate of the overall link by optimizing the source/relay precoders. First, we study an upper bound on the maximum achievable rate where we assume that the EH and ID receivers operate simultaneously and have access to the whole power of the received signals. Afterwards, we study two practical schemes, which are the power splitting (PS) and time switching (TS) schemes, where the ID and EH receivers have partial access to the power or duration of the received signals. For each scheme, we have studied the complexity and the performance comparison. In addition, we considered the case of the imperfect channel estimation error and we have observed its impact on the achievable end-to-end rate and the harvested energy at the relay. © 1972-2012 IEEE.

Achieving a SALP-1 radiation protection program

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Andersen, R.L.; Slider, J.E.

1992-01-01

In 1987, the Detroit Edison Company embarked on an ambitious program to raise the performance of the radiation protection (RP) program at its Fermi-2 nuclear plant. The target chosen was a systematic assessment of licensee's performance (SALP)-1 rating by the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC). This goal was achieved in the spring of 1990. This paper summarizes key parts of the improvement program undertaken by Detroit Edison, lessons learned from this experience, and recommendations about applying the lessons learned at other sites. This information may be particularly helpful to commercial and federal government sites wishing to upgrade the performance of their RP programs. Excellence does not necessarily require great expenditures on new equipment or additional staff. It requires a willingness and ability to examine all functions of the RP department and an honest assessment of the most efficient means to accomplish those functions

Hospital IT adoption strategies associated with implementation success: implications for achieving meaningful use.

Science.gov (United States)

Ford, Eric W; Menachemi, Nir; Huerta, Timothy R; Yu, Feliciano

2010-01-01

Health systems are facing significant pressure to either implement health information technology (HIT) systems that have "certified" electronic health record applications and that fulfill the federal government's definition of "meaningful use" or risk substantial financial penalties in the near future. To this end, hospitals have adopted one of three strategies, described as "best of breed," "best of suite," and "single vendor," to meet organizational and regulatory demands. The single-vendor strategy is used by the simple majority of U.S. hospitals, but is it the most effective mode for achieving full implementation? Moreover, what are the implications of adopting this strategy for achieving meaningful use? The simple answer to the first question is that the hospitals using the hybrid best of suite strategy had fully implemented HIT systems in significantly greater proportions than did hospitals employing either of the other strategies. Nonprofit and system-affiliated hospitals were more likely to have fully implemented their HIT systems. In addition, increased health maintenance organization market penetration rates were positively correlated with complete implementation rates. These results have ongoing implications for achieving meaningful use in the near term. The federal government's rewards and incentives program related to the meaningful use of HIT in hospitals has created an organizational imperative to implement such systems. For hospitals that have not begun systemwide implementation, pursuing a best of suite strategy may provide the greatest chance for achieving all or some of the meaningful use targets in the near term or at least avoiding future penalties scheduled to begin in 2015.

QUALIMETRICAL EVALUTION OF EDUCATIONAL ACHIEVEMENTS (in Russian

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Natalia BELKINA

2013-04-01

Full Text Available Presents a methodology qualimetrical evaluation of achievements of the students, using a common approach to the definition of the levels of quality in the individual components of student activities and the total of its rating. Visibility approach is supported by the proposed "the tree of the rating".

Evaluation of Self-Ratings for Health Information Behaviour Skills Requires More Heterogeneous Sample, but Finds that Public Library Print Collections and Health Information Literacy of Librarians Needs Improvement

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Carol Perryman

2016-03-01

Full Text Available Objective – To understand public library users’ perceptions of ability to locate, evaluate, and use health information; to identify barriers experienced in finding and using health information; and to compare self-ratings of skills to an administered instrument. Design – Mixed methods. Setting – Main library and two branches of one public library system in Florida. Subjects – 20 adult library users purposively selected from 131 voluntary respondents to a previously conducted survey (Yi, 2014 based on age range, ethnicity, gender, and educational level. Of the 20, 13 were female; 11 White, 8 Black, 1 Native American; most had attained college or graduate school education levels (9 each, with 2 having graduated from high school. 15 respondents were aged 45 or older. Methods – Intensive interviews conducted between April and May 2011 used critical incident technique to inquire about a recalled health situation. Participants responded to questions about skill self-appraisal, health situation severity, information seeking and assessment behaviour, use of information, barriers, and outcome. Responses were compared to results of the short form of the Test of Functional Health Literacy in Adults (S-TOFHLA test, administered to participants. Main Results – On a scale of 100, participants’ S-TOFHLA scores measured at high levels of proficiency, with 90% rating 90 points or above. Self-ratings of ability to find health information related to recalled need were ”excellent” (12 participants or “good” (8 participants. Fourteen participants did not seek library assistance; 12 began their search on the Internet, 5 searched the library catalogue, and 3 reported going directly to the collection. Resource preferences were discussed, although no frequency descriptions were provided. 90% of participants self-rated their ability to evaluate the quality of health information as “good” or “excellent.” Participants selected authority

Twin specific risk factors in primary school achievements.

Science.gov (United States)

de Zeeuw, Eveline L; van Beijsterveldt, Catherina E M; de Geus, Eco J C; Boomsma, Dorret I

2012-02-01

The main aim of this study was to examine twin specific risk factors that influence educational achievement in primary school. We included prenatal factors that are not unique to twins, except for zygosity, but show a higher prevalence in twins than in singletons. In addition, educational achievement was compared between twins and their nontwin siblings in a within-family design. Data were obtained from parents and teachers of approximately 10,000 twins and their nontwin siblings registered with the Netherlands Twin Register. Teachers rated the proficiency of the children on arithmetic, language, reading, and physical education, and reported a national educational achievement test score (CITO). Structural equation modeling showed that gestational age, birth weight, and sex were significant predictors of educational achievement, even after correction for socioeconomic status. Mode of delivery and zygosity did not have an effect, while parental age only influenced arithmetic. Mode of conception, incubator time, and birth complications negatively affected achievement in physical education. The comparison of educational achievement of twins and singletons showed significantly lower ratings on arithmetic, reading, and language in twins, compared to their older siblings, but not compared to their younger siblings. Low gestational age and low birth weight were the most important risk factors for lower educational achievement of twins in primary school. It seems that the differences observed between twins and their nontwin siblings in educational achievement can largely be explained by birth order within the family.

Student Alienation, Academic Achievement, and WebCT Use

Science.gov (United States)

Johnson, Genevieve Marie

2005-01-01

The current investigation sought to understand the relationships between college student alienation, academic achievement, and use of WebCT. Fifty-three students enrolled in an undergraduate educational psychology course provided three types of data: 1) self-rating of eight Likert scale alienation items, 2) academic achievement measured with four…

A permutation information theory tour through different interest rate maturities: the Libor case.

Science.gov (United States)

Bariviera, Aurelio Fernández; Guercio, María Belén; Martinez, Lisana B; Rosso, Osvaldo A

2015-12-13

This paper analyses Libor interest rates for seven different maturities and referred to operations in British pounds, euros, Swiss francs and Japanese yen, during the period 2001-2015. The analysis is performed by means of two quantifiers derived from information theory: the permutation Shannon entropy and the permutation Fisher information measure. An anomalous behaviour in the Libor is detected in all currencies except euros during the years 2006-2012. The stochastic switch is more severe in one, two and three months maturities. Given the special mechanism of Libor setting, we conjecture that the behaviour could have been produced by the manipulation that was uncovered by financial authorities. We argue that our methodology is pertinent as a market overseeing instrument. © 2015 The Author(s).

The Role of Arts-Related Information and Communication Technology Use in Problem Solving and Achievement: Findings from the Programme for International Student Assessment

Science.gov (United States)

Liem, Gregory Arief D.; Martin, Andrew J.; Anderson, Michael; Gibson, Robyn; Sudmalis, David

2014-01-01

Drawing on the Programme for International Student Assessment 2003 data set comprising over 190,000 15-year-old students in 25 countries, the current study sought to examine the role of arts-related information and communication technology (ICT) use in students' problem-solving skill and science and mathematics achievement. Structural equation…

Effective information rates of single-carrier and multi-carrier modulation schemes for bandwidth constrained IM/DD systems

KAUST Repository

Mazahir, Sana

2017-07-31

Information-theoretic and signal processing aspects of some modulation schemes designed for intensity modulation/direct detection (IM/DD) optical wireless communication (OWC) systems are studied. Due to the constraints of IM/DD signals (non-negative real and baseband signals), the construction of these signals along with their time and frequency characteristics differ from their RF counterparts. This necessitates a careful study of such schemes under practical constraints. Three schemes are studied in this paper, namely, single carrier pulse amplitude modulation (SC-PAM), asymmetrically clipped optical OFDM (ACO-OFDM), and DC biased optical OFDM (DCO-OFDM). Our aim is to carry out a comparative study of these schemes in the presence of identical constraints on bandwidth and average optical power. The study reveals that the clipping operation required in ACO-OFDM significantly reduces its information rate, and as a result, it is outperformed by SC-PAM. Such a limitation does not apply to DCO-OFDM which has a higher information rate, even though part of the available optical power is expended in the non-information-bearing DC bias.

Associations between presence of relevant information in referrals to radiology and prevalence rates in patients with suspected pulmonary embolism.

Science.gov (United States)

Hedner, Charlotta; Sundgren, Pia C; Kelly, Aine Marie

2013-09-01

The purpose of this study was to assess if the presence of information including the pretest probability (Wells score), other known risk factors, and symptoms given on referrals for computed tomography (CT) pulmonary angiography correlated with prevalence rates for pulmonary embolism (PE). Also, to evaluate for differences between a university and a regional hospital setting regarding patient characteristics, amount of relevant information provided on referrals, and prevalence rates for pulmonary embolism. Retrospective review of all consecutive referrals (emergency room, inpatient, and outpatient) for CT performed on children and adults for suspected PE from two sites: a tertiary (university) hospital (site 1) and a secondary (regional) hospital (site 2) over a 5-year period. The overall prevalence rate was 510/3641 or 14% of all referrals. Significantly higher number of males had a positive CT compared to women (18% versus 12%, P relevant information on the referral and the probability for positive finding existed, a slight trend was noted (P = .09). In two categories, "hypoxia" and "signs of deep vein thrombosis," the presence of this information conferred a higher probability for pulmonary embolism, P information conferred a higher probability for pulmonary embolism. The amount of relevant clinical information on the request did not correlate with prevalence rates, which may reflect a lack of documentation on the part of emergency physicians who may use a "gestalt" approach. Request forms likely did not capture all relevant patient risks and many factors may interact with each other, both positively and negatively. Pretest probability estimations were rarely performed, despite their inclusion in major society guidelines. Copyright © 2013 AUR. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Catholic High Schools and Rural Academic Achievement.

Science.gov (United States)

Sander, William

1997-01-01

A study of national longitudinal data examined effects of rural Catholic high schools on mathematics achievement, high school graduation rates, and the likelihood that high school graduates attend college. Findings indicate that rural Catholic high schools had a positive effect on mathematics test scores and no effect on graduation rates or rates…

To Achieve or Not To Achieve: A Self-Regulation Perspective on Adolescents' Academic Decision Making.

Science.gov (United States)

Miller, David C.; Byrnes, James P.

2001-01-01

This study investigated the utility of the self-regulation model of decision making for explaining and predicting adolescents' academic decision making. Measures included an assessment of decision-making skill; academic goals; select scales of Learning and Study Strategies Inventory; and teacher ratings of achievement behavior. Adolescents'…

Instructor Reputation: An Expectancy Relationship Involving Student Ratings and Achievement.

Science.gov (United States)

Perry, Raymond P.

1979-01-01

Instructor expressiveness and lecture content were combined with instructor reputation in a 2 X 2 X 2 factorial design to assess interaction effects. Results indicated that reputation interacted with expressiveness but not content, in which students rated positive, high-expressive instructors more favorably than negative, high-expressive…

The Influence of Base Rate and Case Information on Health-Risk Perceptions: A Unified Model of Self-Positivity and Self-Negativity

OpenAIRE

Dengfeng Yan; Jaideep Sengupta

2013-01-01

This research examines how consumers use base rate (e.g., disease prevalence in a population) and case information (e.g., an individual's disease symptoms) to estimate health risks. Drawing on construal level theory, we propose that consumers' reliance on base rate (case information) will be enhanced (weakened) by psychological distance. A corollary of this premise is that self-positivity (i.e., underestimating self-risk vs. other-risk) is likely when the disease base rate is high but the cas...

Rates and patterns of deforestation in the Philippines: application of geographic information system analysis

Science.gov (United States)

Dawning S. Lui; Louis R. Iverson; Sandra Brown

1993-01-01

Land-use maps for 1934 and 1988, and a 1941 road map of the Philippines were digitized into a geographic information system. These maps were then analyzed to determine the rates of deforestation and their relationship with factors such as the distance of forests to roads and forest fragmentation (measured by perimeter-to-area ratio (P/A ratio) of forest patches) for...

Rate-adaptive BCH codes for distributed source coding

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Salmistraro, Matteo; Larsen, Knud J.; Forchhammer, Søren

2013-01-01

This paper considers Bose-Chaudhuri-Hocquenghem (BCH) codes for distributed source coding. A feedback channel is employed to adapt the rate of the code during the decoding process. The focus is on codes with short block lengths for independently coding a binary source X and decoding it given its...... strategies for improving the reliability of the decoded result are analyzed, and methods for estimating the performance are proposed. In the analysis, noiseless feedback and noiseless communication are assumed. Simulation results show that rate-adaptive BCH codes achieve better performance than low...... correlated side information Y. The proposed codes have been analyzed in a high-correlation scenario, where the marginal probability of each symbol, Xi in X, given Y is highly skewed (unbalanced). Rate-adaptive BCH codes are presented and applied to distributed source coding. Adaptive and fixed checking...

Mind the information gap: fertility rate and use of cesarean delivery and tocolytic hospitalizations in Taiwan.

Science.gov (United States)

Ma, Ke-Zong M; Norton, Edward C; Lee, Shoou-Yih D

2011-12-12

Physician-induced demand (PID) is an important theory to test given the longstanding controversy surrounding it. Empirical health economists have been challenged to find natural experiments to test the theory because PID is tantamount to strong income effects. The data requirements are both a strong exogenous change in income and two types of treatment that are substitutes but have different net revenues. The theory implies that an exogenous fall in income would lead physicians to recoup their income by substituting a more expensive treatment for a less expensive treatment. This study takes advantages of the dramatic decline in the Taiwanese fertility rate to examine whether an exogenous and negative income shock to obstetricians and gynecologists (ob/gyns) affected the use of c-sections, which has a higher reimbursement rate than vaginal delivery under Taiwan's National Health Insurance system during the study period, and tocolytic hospitalizations. The primary data were obtained from the 1996 to 2004 National Health Insurance Research Database in Taiwan. We hypothesized that a negative income shock to ob/gyns would cause them to provide more c-sections and tocolytic hospitalizations to less medically-informed pregnant women. Multinomial probit and probit models were estimated and the marginal effects of the interaction term were conducted to estimate the impacts of ob/gyn to birth ratio and the information gap. Our results showed that a decline in fertility did not lead ob/gyns to supply more c-sections to less medically-informed pregnant women, and that during fertility decline ob/gyns may supply more tocolytic hospitalizations to compensate their income loss, regardless of pregnant women's access to health information. The exogenous decline in the Taiwanese fertility rate and the use of detailed medical information and demographic attributes of pregnant women allowed us to avoid the endogeneity problem that threatened the validity of prior research. They also

Preserving information from the beginning to the end of time in a Robertson–Walker spacetime

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Mancini, Stefano; Pierini, Roberto; Wilde, Mark M

2014-01-01

Preserving information stored in a physical system subjected to noise can be modeled in a communication-theoretic paradigm, in which storage and retrieval correspond to an input encoding and output decoding, respectively. The encoding and decoding are then constructed in such a way as to protect against the action of a given noisy quantum channel. This paper considers the situation in which the noise is not due to technological imperfections, but rather to the physical laws governing the evolution of the Universe. In particular, we consider the dynamics of quantum systems under a 1 + 1 Robertson–Walker spacetime and find that the noise imparted to them is equivalent to the well known amplitude damping channel. Since one might be interested in preserving both classical and quantum information in such a scenario, we study trade-off coding strategies and determine a region of achievable rates for the preservation of both kinds of information. For applications beyond the physical setting studied here, we also determine a trade-off between achievable rates of classical and quantum information preservation when entanglement assistance is available. (paper)

Multi-way Communications: An Information Theoretic Perspective

KAUST Repository

Chaaban, Anas

2015-09-15

Multi-way communication is a means to significantly improve the spectral efficiency of wireless networks. For instance, in a bi-directional (or two-way) communication channel, two users can simultaneously use the transmission medium to exchange information, thus achieving up to twice the rate that would be achieved had each user transmitted separately. Multi-way communications provides an overview on the developments in this research area since it has been initiated by Shannon. The basic two-way communication channel is considered first, followed by the two-way relay channel obtained by the deployment of an additional cooperative relay node to improve the overall communication performance. This basic setup is then extended to multi-user systems. For all these setups, fundamental limits on the achievable rates are reviewed, thereby making use of a linear high-SNR deterministic channel model to provide valuable insights which are helpful when discussing the coding schemes for Gaussian channel models in detail. Several tools and communication strategies are used in the process, including (but not limited to) computation, signal-space alignment, and nested-lattice codes. Finally, extensions of multi-way communication channels to multiple antenna settings are discussed. © 2015 A. Chaaban and A. Sezgin.

Social-Emotional Factors Affecting Achievement Outcomes Among Disadvantaged Students: Closing the Achievement Gap.

Science.gov (United States)

Becker, Bronwyn E; Luthar, Suniya S

2002-01-01

Despite concentrated efforts at improving inferior academic outcomes among disadvantaged students, a substantial achievement gap between the test scores of these students and others remains (Jencks & Phillips, 1998; National Center for Education Statistics, 2000a, 2000b; Valencia & Suzuki, 2000). Existing research used ecological models to document social-emotional factors at multiple levels of influence that undermine academic performance. This article integrates ideas from various perspectives in a comprehensive and interdisciplinary model that will inform policy makers, administrators, and schools about the social-emotional factors that act as both risk and protective factors for disadvantaged students' learning and opportunities for academic success. Four critical social-emotional components that influence achievement performance (academic and school attachment, teacher support, peer values, and mental health) are reviewed.

Associations between informant ratings of personality disorder traits, self-reports of personality, and directly observed behavior.

Science.gov (United States)

Kaurin, Aleksandra; Sauerberger, Kyle S; Funder, David C

2018-03-02

Diagnoses of personality disorders (PD) must rely on judgments of observers-either clinicians or acquaintances-because personality disorders are primarily defined in terms of maladaptive interpersonal behavior. Little is known, however, about how closely acquaintances' judgments of PD traits relate to self-reports of theoretically relevant Big Five traits or directly observed behavioral outcomes in interpersonal situations. The present study examines associations between judgments of the 10 PD traits provided by close acquaintances, self-reports of PD-relevant Big Five personality traits, and observed interpersonal behaviors across three different three-person laboratory interactions (i.e., unstructured chat, cooperative task, competitive game). The sample consisted of 256 undergraduate students (130 females; M age  = 19.83, SD = 1.25). Four unacquainted observers independently rated participants' behaviors from video recordings. In line with previous work, informant reports of PD traits demonstrate strong convergent validity with relevant self-reported Big Five traits (as identified by Lynam & Widiger, 2001). Directly observed behavior is meaningfully associated with acquaintances' judgments and self-reports of PD-relevant traits, and the associations between these judgments and behavior are strongest for traits associated with histrionic and schizoid PD. Vector correlations between behavioral profiles associated with informant and self-reports show that both assessments have similar behavioral correlates. Associations between PD trait ratings and behavior appeared to differ as a function of gender, with males showing more and stronger correlations. Informants' ratings of PD traits are impressively accurate, converging both with self-reports of relevant traits and directly observed interpersonal behavior. Therefore, a comprehensive understanding of PDs and associated traits can be augmented by information from multiple acquaintances who have the

Longitudinal relationship between social skills and academic achievement in a gender perspective

OpenAIRE

Gustavsen, Ann Margareth

2017-01-01

Previous studies found that girls have higher academic achievement than boys in most school subjects. Teachers’ grading of academic achievement seems to be based not only on students’ knowledge but also their social skills, and teachers tend to assess girls as having better social skills than boys. The main aim of this study was to examine through multilevel analysis the extent to which teacher-rated social skills predicted teacher-rated academic achievement in Norwegian, mathematics and Engl...

AIR TICKETS RATES MONITORING: INFORMATION SYSTEM DEVELOPMENT

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Oleg Smirnov

2015-05-01

Full Text Available In the article conduct analysis of preconditions of air tickets fares dynamics. Monitoring informational system formation in aim of public regulation of air transport on base of an assessment of the current state and development prospects of Russian civil aviation, and formed the conceptual basis for information system architecture at the levels of the presentation layer, business-logic and data access layer.

Information-guided transmission in decode-and-forward relaying systems: Spatial exploitation and throughput enhancement

KAUST Repository

Yang, Yuli

2011-07-01

In addressing the issue of achieving high throughput in half-duplex relay channels, we exploit a concept of information-guided transmission for the network consisting of a source node, a destination node, and multiple half-duplex relay nodes. For further benefiting from multiple relay nodes, the relay-selection patterns are defined as the arbitrary combinations of given relay nodes. By exploiting the difference among the spatial channels states, in each relay-help transmission additional information to be forwarded is mapped onto the index of the active relay-selection pattern besides the basic information mapped onto the traditional constellation, which is forwarded by the relay node(s) in the active relay-selection pattern, so as to enhance the relay throughtput. With iterative decoding, the destination node can achieve a robust detection by decoupling the signals forwarded in different ways. We investigate the proposed scheme considering "decode-and-forward" protocol and establish its achievable transmission rate. The analytical results on capacity behaviors prove the efficiency of the proposed scheme by showing that it achieves better capacity performance than the conventional scheme. © 2011 IEEE.

Physical Activity, Fitness, Cognitive Function, and Academic Achievement in Children: A Systematic Review.

Science.gov (United States)

Donnelly, Joseph E; Hillman, Charles H; Castelli, Darla; Etnier, Jennifer L; Lee, Sarah; Tomporowski, Phillip; Lambourne, Kate; Szabo-Reed, Amanda N

2016-06-01

, with only one cross-sectional study meeting the inclusion criteria. Evidence indicates that PA has a relationship to areas of the brain that support complex cognitive processes during laboratory tasks. Although favorable results have been obtained from cross-sectional and longitudinal studies related to academic achievement, the results obtained from controlled experiments evaluating the benefits of PA on academic performance are mixed, and additional, well-designed studies are needed. Limitations in evidence meeting inclusion criteria for this review include lack of randomized controlled trials, limited studies that are adequately powered, lack of information on participant characteristics, failure to blind for outcome measures, proximity of PA to measurement outcomes, and lack of accountability for known confounders. Therefore, many studies were ranked as high risk for bias because of multiple design limitations. The present systematic review found evidence to suggest that there are positive associations among PA, fitness, cognition, and academic achievement. However, the findings are inconsistent, and the effects of numerous elements of PA on cognition remain to be explored, such as type, amount, frequency, and timing. Many questions remain regarding how to best incorporate PA within schools, such as activity breaks versus active lessons in relation to improved academic achievement. Regardless, the literature suggests no indication that increases in PA negatively affect cognition or academic achievement and PA is important for growth and development and general health. On the basis of the evidence available, the authors concluded that PA has a positive influence on cognition as well as brain structure and function; however, more research is necessary to determine mechanisms and long-term effect as well as strategies to translate laboratory findings to the school environment. Therefore, the evidence category rating is B. The literature suggests that PA and PE have a

Low-sampling-rate ultra-wideband channel estimation using a bounded-data-uncertainty approach

KAUST Repository

Ballal, Tarig

2014-01-01

This paper proposes a low-sampling-rate scheme for ultra-wideband channel estimation. In the proposed scheme, P pulses are transmitted to produce P observations. These observations are exploited to produce channel impulse response estimates at a desired sampling rate, while the ADC operates at a rate that is P times less. To avoid loss of fidelity, the interpulse interval, given in units of sampling periods of the desired rate, is restricted to be co-prime with P. This condition is affected when clock drift is present and the transmitted pulse locations change. To handle this situation and to achieve good performance without using prior information, we derive an improved estimator based on the bounded data uncertainty (BDU) model. This estimator is shown to be related to the Bayesian linear minimum mean squared error (LMMSE) estimator. The performance of the proposed sub-sampling scheme was tested in conjunction with the new estimator. It is shown that high reduction in sampling rate can be achieved. The proposed estimator outperforms the least squares estimator in most cases; while in the high SNR regime, it also outperforms the LMMSE estimator. © 2014 IEEE.

Consumer Health Information Websites with High Visual Design Ratings Likely to Be also Highly Rated for Perceived Credibility. A Review of: Robins, D., Holmes, J., & Stansbury, M. (2010. Consumer health information on the web: The relationship of visual design and perceptions of credibility. Journal of the American Society for Information Science and Technology, 61(1, 13-19.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Kate Kelly

2010-09-01

Full Text Available Objective – To answer two research questions: 1 What is the relationship between the visual design of a consumer health information web site and perceptions of the credibility of information found on it? 2 Is there a relationship between brand recognition, visual design preference, and credibility judgments?Design – Qualitative (correlation of rating of response to stimulus and quantitative (credibility coding of participant commentsSetting – Not stated; assumed to be academic institutions in the United States.Subjects – Thirty-four participants over the age of 35 (34 for statistical power and age over 35 on the hypothesis that this age group is most likely to seek health information on the Internet.Methods – Screen shots of 31 consumer health information sites chosen from the results of a Google search using the term “consumer health information” were converted to slide format and shown to participants. The 31 sites included 12 of the top ranked consumer health information sites derived from three sources: the Consumer and Patient Health Information Section (CAPHIS of the Medical Library Association (MLA, the MLA itself, and Consumer Reports. Participants were read and shown a script explaining the process prior to being asked to view and rate the 31 sites. Participants were first shown a blank slide with a crosshair to focus attention. Then a stimulus slide was shown for 2.8 seconds. A blank black screen was shown while they determined their rating. Participants were first asked to rate the visual design and aesthetics of the 31 web sites using a rating scale of -4 to -1 for negative judgments and +1 to +4 for positive judgments. Then they were asked to remember why they had made positive or negative ratings and why some web sites were preferred to others. The process was repeated with the slides re-ordered, and participants were asked to rate the credibility of the sites using the same rating scales. Upon completion

Output Information Based Fault-Tolerant Iterative Learning Control for Dual-Rate Sampling Process with Disturbances and Output Delay

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Hongfeng Tao

2018-01-01

Full Text Available For a class of single-input single-output (SISO dual-rate sampling processes with disturbances and output delay, this paper presents a robust fault-tolerant iterative learning control algorithm based on output information. Firstly, the dual-rate sampling process with output delay is transformed into discrete system in state-space model form with slow sampling rate without time delay by using lifting technology; then output information based fault-tolerant iterative learning control scheme is designed and the control process is turned into an equivalent two-dimensional (2D repetitive process. Moreover, based on the repetitive process stability theory, the sufficient conditions for the stability of system and the design method of robust controller are given in terms of linear matrix inequalities (LMIs technique. Finally, the flow control simulations of two flow tanks in series demonstrate the feasibility and effectiveness of the proposed method.

Credit rating dynamics and competition

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Hirth, Stefan

2014-01-01

I analyze the market for credit ratings with competition between more than two rating agencies. How can honest rating behavior be achieved, and under which conditions can a new honest rating agency successfully invade a market with inflating incumbents? My model predicts cyclic dynamics...

A comparison of information functions and search strategies for sensor planning in target classification.

Science.gov (United States)

Zhang, Guoxian; Ferrari, Silvia; Cai, Chenghui

2012-02-01

This paper investigates the comparative performance of several information-driven search strategies and decision rules using a canonical target classification problem. Five sensor models are considered: one obtained from classical estimation theory and four obtained from Bernoulli, Poisson, binomial, and mixture-of-binomial distributions. A systematic approach is presented for deriving information functions that represent the expected utility of future sensor measurements from mutual information, Rènyi divergence, Kullback-Leibler divergence, information potential, quadratic entropy, and the Cauchy-Schwarz distance. The resulting information-driven strategies are compared to direct-search, alert-confirm, task-driven (TS), and log-likelihood-ratio (LLR) search strategies. Extensive numerical simulations show that quadratic entropy typically leads to the most effective search strategy with respect to correct-classification rates. In the presence of prior information, the quadratic-entropy-driven strategy also displays the lowest rate of false alarms. However, when prior information is absent or very noisy, TS and LLR strategies achieve the lowest false-alarm rates for the Bernoulli, mixture-of-binomial, and classical sensor models.

Engineering Principles for Information Technology Security (A Baseline for Achieving Security)

National Research Council Canada - National Science Library

Stoneburner, Gary

2001-01-01

The purpose of the Engineering Principles for Information Technology (IT) Security (HP-ITS) is to present a list of system-level security principles to he considered in the design, development, and operation of an information system...

Trust on the Ratee: A Trust Management System for Social Internet of Vehicles

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Fangyu Gai

2017-01-01

Full Text Available The integration of social networking concepts with Internet of Vehicles (IoV has led to the novel paradigm “Social Internet of Vehicles (SIoV,” which enables vehicles to establish social relationships autonomously to improve traffic conditions and service discovery. There is a growing requirement for effective trust management in the SIoV, considering the critical consequences of acting on misleading information spread by malicious nodes. However, most existing trust models are rater-based, where the reputation information of each node is stored in other nodes it has interacted with. This is not suitable for vehicular environment due to the ephemeral nature of the network. To fill this gap, we propose a Ratee-based Trust Management (RTM system, where each node stores its own reputation information rated by others during past transactions, and a credible CA server is introduced to ensure the integrality and the undeniability of the trust information. RTM is built based on the concept of SIoV, so that the relationships established between nodes can be used to increase the accuracy of the trustworthiness. Experimental results demonstrate that our scheme achieves faster information propagation and higher transaction success rate than the rater-based method, and the time cost when calculating trustworthiness can meet the demand of vehicular networks.

Improving rates of screening and prevention by leveraging existing information systems.

Science.gov (United States)

Neil, Nancy

2003-11-01

In 1997 Virginia Mason Health System (VMMC), a vertically integrated hospital and multispecialty group practice, had no process or system to deliver the right patient clinical data, in the right form, at the right place--when providers needed it for effective patient care. Without any new investment in technology, a work group of five individuals leveraged existing, primarily paper-based information systems to launch development and implementation of a provider prompting tool--a primary care and prevention (PCP) report--which prompted providers to complete screening, prevention, and disease management services at every patient appointment. The work group developed and pilot tested the report and created a mechanism by which the report could be delivered just in time before each patient's appointment. The report integrated information from independent appointment scheduling, laboratory results reporting, patient demographics, and billing data sources. MEASURING THE PCP REPORT'S IMPACT: The results of two separate analyses demonstrate improvement in rates of screening and prevention across VMMC soon after the PCP report became available. These results led senior leadership to make the PCP report's utilization a systemwide imperative. The PCP report is used by nearly all primary care providers as a prompt to complete screening, prevention, and disease management services at every patient appointment.

Challenges to achieving sustainable sanitation in informal settlements of Kigali, Rwanda.

Science.gov (United States)

Tsinda, Aime; Abbott, Pamela; Pedley, Steve; Charles, Katrina; Adogo, Jane; Okurut, Kenan; Chenoweth, Jonathan

2013-12-10

Like most cities in developing countries, Kigali is experiencing rapid urbanisation leading to an increase in the urban population and rapid growth in the size and number of informal settlements. More than 60% of the city's population resides in these settlements, where they experience inadequate and poor quality urban services including sanitation. This article discusses the issues and constraints related to the provision of sustainable sanitation in the informal settlements in Kigali. Two informal settlements (Gatsata and Kimisagara) were selected for the study, which used a mixed method approach for data collection. The research found that residents experienced multiple problems because of poor sanitation and that the main barrier to improved sanitation was cost. Findings from this study can be used by the city authorities in the planning of effective sanitation intervention strategies for communities in informal settlements.

Simultaneous Wireless Information and Power Transfer for Decode-and-Forward MIMO Relay Communication Systems

KAUST Repository

Benkhelifa, Fatma

2015-05-01

In this paper, we investigate the simultaneous wireless information and power transfer (SWIPT) for a decode-and-forward (DF) multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) relay system where the relay is an energy harvesting node. We consider the ideal scenario where both the energy harvesting (EH) receiver and information decoding (ID) receiver at the relay have access to the whole received signal and its energy. The relay harvests the energy while receiving the signal from the source and uses the harvested power to forward the signal to the destination. We obtain the optimal precoders at the source and the relay to maximize the achievable throughput rate of the overall link. In the numerical results, the effect of the transmit power at the source and the position of the relay between the source and the destination on the maximum achievable rate are investigated. © 2015 IEEE.

Secure Broadcasting with Imperfect Channel State Information at the Transmitter

KAUST Repository

Hyadi, Amal; Rezki, Zouheir; Khisti, Ashish; Alouini, Mohamed-Slim

2015-01-01

We investigate the problem of secure broadcasting over fast fading channels with imperfect main channel state information (CSI) at the transmitter. In particular, we analyze the effect of the noisy estimation of the main CSI on the throughput of a broadcast channel where the transmission is intended for multiple legitimate receivers in the presence of an eavesdropper. Besides, we consider the realistic case where the transmitter is only aware of the statistics of the eavesdropper’s CSI and not of its channel’s realizations. First, we discuss the common message transmission case where the source broadcasts the same information to all the receivers, and we provide an upper and a lower bounds on the ergodic secrecy capacity. For this case, we show that the secrecy rate is limited by the legitimate receiver having, on average, the worst main channel link and we prove that a non-zero secrecy rate can still be achieved even when the CSI at the transmitter is noisy. Then, we look at the independent messages case where the transmitter broadcasts multiple messages to the receivers, and each intended user is interested in an independent message. For this case, we present an expression for the achievable secrecy sum-rate and an upper bound on the secrecy sum-capacity and we show that, in the limit of large number of legitimate receivers K, our achievable secrecy sum-rate follows the scaling law log((1−) log(K)), where is the estimation error variance of the main CSI. The special cases of high SNR, perfect and no-main CSI are also analyzed. Analytical derivations and numerical results are presented to illustrate the obtained expressions for the case of independent and identically distributed Rayleigh fading channels.

Secure Broadcasting with Imperfect Channel State Information at the Transmitter

KAUST Repository

Hyadi, Amal

2015-11-13

We investigate the problem of secure broadcasting over fast fading channels with imperfect main channel state information (CSI) at the transmitter. In particular, we analyze the effect of the noisy estimation of the main CSI on the throughput of a broadcast channel where the transmission is intended for multiple legitimate receivers in the presence of an eavesdropper. Besides, we consider the realistic case where the transmitter is only aware of the statistics of the eavesdropper’s CSI and not of its channel’s realizations. First, we discuss the common message transmission case where the source broadcasts the same information to all the receivers, and we provide an upper and a lower bounds on the ergodic secrecy capacity. For this case, we show that the secrecy rate is limited by the legitimate receiver having, on average, the worst main channel link and we prove that a non-zero secrecy rate can still be achieved even when the CSI at the transmitter is noisy. Then, we look at the independent messages case where the transmitter broadcasts multiple messages to the receivers, and each intended user is interested in an independent message. For this case, we present an expression for the achievable secrecy sum-rate and an upper bound on the secrecy sum-capacity and we show that, in the limit of large number of legitimate receivers K, our achievable secrecy sum-rate follows the scaling law log((1−) log(K)), where is the estimation error variance of the main CSI. The special cases of high SNR, perfect and no-main CSI are also analyzed. Analytical derivations and numerical results are presented to illustrate the obtained expressions for the case of independent and identically distributed Rayleigh fading channels.

School Autonomy, Leadership and Student Achievement: Reflections from Finland

Science.gov (United States)

Saarivirta, Toni; Kumpulainen, Kristiina

2016-01-01

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to provide national information on school autonomy, leadership and student achievements in Finland. Design/methodology/approach: The paper is a literature review on Finnish studies focusing on school autonomy, leadership and student achievement. The studies have been reviewed on the basis of a content…

School climate, peer victimization, and academic achievement: results from a multi-informant study.

Science.gov (United States)

Wang, Weijun; Vaillancourt, Tracy; Brittain, Heather L; McDougall, Patricia; Krygsman, Amanda; Smith, David; Cunningham, Charles E; Haltigan, J D; Hymel, Shelley

2014-09-01

School-level school climate was examined in relation to self-reported peer victimization and teacher-rated academic achievement (grade point average; GPA). Participants included a sample of 1,023 fifth-grade children nested within 50 schools. Associations between peer victimization, school climate, and GPA were examined using multilevel modeling, with school climate as a contextual variable. Boys and girls reported no differences in victimization by their peers, although boys had lower GPAs than girls. Peer victimization was related to lower GPA and to a poorer perception of school climate (individual-level), which was also associated with lower GPA. Results of multilevel analyses revealed that peer victimization was again negatively associated with GPA, and that lower school-level climate was associated with lower GPA. Although no moderating effects of school-level school climate or sex were observed, the relation between peer victimization and GPA remained significant after taking into account (a) school-level climate scores, (b) individual variability in school-climate scores, and (c) several covariates--ethnicity, absenteeism, household income, parental education, percentage of minority students, type of school, and bullying perpetration. These findings underscore the importance of a positive school climate for academic success and viewing school climate as a fundamental collective school outcome. Results also speak to the importance of viewing peer victimization as being harmfully linked to students' academic performance. PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2014 APA, all rights reserved.

The Credit-Risk Decision Mechanism on Fixed Loan Interest Rate with Imperfect Information

Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)

无

2001-01-01

In this paper, decision mechanism of credit-risk for banks is studied when the loan interest rate is fixed with asymmetry information in credit market. We give out the designs of rationing and non-rationing on credit risky decision mechanism when collateral value provided by an entrepreneur is not less than the minimum demands of the bank. It shows that under the action of the mechanism, banks could efficiently identify the risk size of the project. Finally, the condition of the project investigation of bank is given over again.

Gender differences in school achievement: The role of self-regulation

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Mirjam eWeis

2013-07-01

Full Text Available This study examined whether different aspects of self-regulation (i.e., emotion and behavior regulation account for gender differences in German and mathematics achievement. Specifically, we investigated whether higher school achievement by girls in comparison to boys can be explained by self-regulation. German and mathematics achievement were assessed in a sample of 53 German fifth graders (19 boys, 34 girls using formal academic performance tests (i.e., reading, writing, mathematics and teachers’ ratings (i.e., grades in German and mathematics. Moreover, teachers rated children’s behavior regulation using the Self-Control Scale (SCS-K-D. Children’s self-reported strategies of emotion regulation were assessed with the Questionnaire for the Measurement of Stress and Coping in Children and Adolescents (SSKJ 3-8. Age and intelligence (CFT 20-R were included as control variables. Analyses of mean differences showed that girls outperformed boys in German achievement and behavior regulation. Regression analyses, using a bootstrapping method, revealed that relations between gender and German achievement were mediated by behavior regulation. Furthermore, we found a suppression effect of behavior regulation on the relation between gender and mathematics achievement: boys’ mathematics achievement was underestimated when the analyses did not control for behavior regulation. We discuss these results from a developmental perspective and within the theoretical framework of self-regulation and achievement.

Effect of information seeking and avoidance behavior on self-rated health status among cancer survivors.

Science.gov (United States)

Jung, Minsoo; Ramanadhan, Shoba; Viswanath, Kasisomayajula

2013-07-01

Social determinants, such as socioeconomic status (SES) and race/ethnicity are linked to striking health disparities across the cancer continuum. One important mechanism linking social determinants and health disparities may be communication inequalities that are caused by differences in accessing, processing and utilizing cancer information. In this context, we examined health information-seeking/avoidance as a potential mediator between social determinants and self-rated health (SRH) status among cancer survivors. Data came from the 2008 well-informed, thriving and surviving (WITS) study of post-treatment cancer survivors (n=501). We examined the mediating effect of health communication-related behavior between SES and disparities in SRH. The likelihood of belonging to the Low SRH group was higher among patients who had avoided health information and whose family members had not sought health information on behalf of the survivor, those in the lowest household income bracket, and those who had high school or less education after adjusting for potential confounders. Differences in SRH among cancer survivors are associated with SES as well as communication inequalities. It is necessary to provide a supportive environment in which health information is made available if disparities in health-related quality of life among cancer survivors are to be reduced. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

Determining the Accuracy of Self-Report Versus Informant-Report Using the Conners' Adult ADHD Rating Scale.

Science.gov (United States)

Alexander, Lisa; Liljequist, Laura

2016-04-01

The present research examined the validity of self-report versus informant-report in relation to a performance-based indicator of adult ADHD. Archival data from 118 participants (52 males, 66 females) were used to compare Conners' Adult ADHD Rating Scale-Self-Report: Long Format (CAARS-S:L) and Conners' Adult ADHD Rating Scale-Observer Report: Long Format (CAARS-O:L) with discrepancy scores calculated between the Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale-Third Edition (WAIS-III) Verbal Comprehension Index - Working Memory Index (VCI - WMI) and Perceptual-Organizational Index - Processing Speed Index (POI - PSI) scaled scores. Neither the self- nor informant-report formats of the CAARS were better predictors of discrepancies between WAIS-III Index scores. Intercorrelations between the CAARS-S:L and CAARS-O:L revealed generally higher correlations between the same scales of different formats and among scales measuring externally visible symptoms. Furthermore, regression analysis indicated that both the CAARS-S:L and CAARS-O:L clinical scales contributed a significant proportion of variance in WAIS-III VCI - WMI discrepancy scores (14.7% and 16.4%, respectively). Results did not establish greater accuracy of self-report versus informant-report of ADHD symptomatology, rather demonstrate the need for multimodal assessment of ADHD in adults. © The Author(s) 2013.

School Segregation and Racial Academic Achievement Gaps

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Sean F. Reardon

2016-09-01

Full Text Available Although it is clear that racial segregation is linked to academic achievement gaps, the mechanisms underlying this link have been debated since James Coleman published his eponymous 1966 report. In this paper, I examine sixteen distinct measures of segregation to determine which is most strongly associated with academic achievement gaps. I find clear evidence that one aspect of segregation in particular—the disparity in average school poverty rates between white and black students’ schools—is consistently the single most powerful correlate of achievement gaps, a pattern that holds in both bivariate and multivariate analyses. This implies that high-poverty schools are, on average, much less effective than lower-poverty schools and suggests that strategies that reduce the differential exposure of black, Hispanic, and white students to poor schoolmates may lead to meaningful reductions in academic achievement gaps.

Cross Time-Frequency Analysis for Combining Information of Several Sources: Application to Estimation of Spontaneous Respiratory Rate from Photoplethysmography

Science.gov (United States)

Peláez-Coca, M. D.; Orini, M.; Lázaro, J.; Bailón, R.; Gil, E.

2013-01-01

A methodology that combines information from several nonstationary biological signals is presented. This methodology is based on time-frequency coherence, that quantifies the similarity of two signals in the time-frequency domain. A cross time-frequency analysis method, based on quadratic time-frequency distribution, has been used for combining information of several nonstationary biomedical signals. In order to evaluate this methodology, the respiratory rate from the photoplethysmographic (PPG) signal is estimated. The respiration provokes simultaneous changes in the pulse interval, amplitude, and width of the PPG signal. This suggests that the combination of information from these sources will improve the accuracy of the estimation of the respiratory rate. Another target of this paper is to implement an algorithm which provides a robust estimation. Therefore, respiratory rate was estimated only in those intervals where the features extracted from the PPG signals are linearly coupled. In 38 spontaneous breathing subjects, among which 7 were characterized by a respiratory rate lower than 0.15 Hz, this methodology provided accurate estimates, with the median error {0.00; 0.98} mHz ({0.00; 0.31}%) and the interquartile range error {4.88; 6.59} mHz ({1.60; 1.92}%). The estimation error of the presented methodology was largely lower than the estimation error obtained without combining different PPG features related to respiration. PMID:24363777

Cross Time-Frequency Analysis for Combining Information of Several Sources: Application to Estimation of Spontaneous Respiratory Rate from Photoplethysmography

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

M. D. Peláez-Coca

2013-01-01

Full Text Available A methodology that combines information from several nonstationary biological signals is presented. This methodology is based on time-frequency coherence, that quantifies the similarity of two signals in the time-frequency domain. A cross time-frequency analysis method, based on quadratic time-frequency distribution, has been used for combining information of several nonstationary biomedical signals. In order to evaluate this methodology, the respiratory rate from the photoplethysmographic (PPG signal is estimated. The respiration provokes simultaneous changes in the pulse interval, amplitude, and width of the PPG signal. This suggests that the combination of information from these sources will improve the accuracy of the estimation of the respiratory rate. Another target of this paper is to implement an algorithm which provides a robust estimation. Therefore, respiratory rate was estimated only in those intervals where the features extracted from the PPG signals are linearly coupled. In 38 spontaneous breathing subjects, among which 7 were characterized by a respiratory rate lower than 0.15 Hz, this methodology provided accurate estimates, with the median error {0.00; 0.98} mHz ({0.00; 0.31}% and the interquartile range error {4.88; 6.59} mHz ({1.60; 1.92}%. The estimation error of the presented methodology was largely lower than the estimation error obtained without combining different PPG features related to respiration.

Low-sampling-rate ultra-wideband channel estimation using equivalent-time sampling

KAUST Repository

Ballal, Tarig

2014-09-01

In this paper, a low-sampling-rate scheme for ultra-wideband channel estimation is proposed. The scheme exploits multiple observations generated by transmitting multiple pulses. In the proposed scheme, P pulses are transmitted to produce channel impulse response estimates at a desired sampling rate, while the ADC samples at a rate that is P times slower. To avoid loss of fidelity, the number of sampling periods (based on the desired rate) in the inter-pulse interval is restricted to be co-prime with P. This condition is affected when clock drift is present and the transmitted pulse locations change. To handle this case, and to achieve an overall good channel estimation performance, without using prior information, we derive an improved estimator based on the bounded data uncertainty (BDU) model. It is shown that this estimator is related to the Bayesian linear minimum mean squared error (LMMSE) estimator. Channel estimation performance of the proposed sub-sampling scheme combined with the new estimator is assessed in simulation. The results show that high reduction in sampling rate can be achieved. The proposed estimator outperforms the least squares estimator in almost all cases, while in the high SNR regime it also outperforms the LMMSE estimator. In addition to channel estimation, a synchronization method is also proposed that utilizes the same pulse sequence used for channel estimation. © 2014 IEEE.

Some Fundamental Limits on SAW RFID Tag Information Capacity and Collision Resolution

Science.gov (United States)

Barton, Richard J.

2013-01-01

In this paper, we apply results from multi-user information theory to study the limits of information capacity and collision resolution for SAW RFID tags. In particular, we derive bounds on the achievable data rate per tag as a function of fundamental parameters such as tag time-bandwidth product, tag signal-to-noise ratio (SNR), and number of tags in the environment. We also discuss the implications of these bounds for tag waveform design and tag interrogation efficiency

Academic Achievement in Children with Epilepsy

OpenAIRE

J Gordon Millichap

1998-01-01

Academic achievement, measured by school-administered group tests, child attitudes and self-concept, and teachers rated school adaptive functioning were compared in 117 children with epilepsy and 108 with asthma, ages 8 to 12 years, and data were analyzed at the Indiana University Schools of Nursing, Education, and Medicine, Indianapolis.

Dealing with China's future population decline: a proposal for replacing low birth rates with sustainable rates.

Science.gov (United States)

Cao, Shixiong; Wang, Xiuqing

2009-09-01

Decreasing population levels due to declining birth rates are becoming a potentially serious social problem in developed and rapidly developing countries. China urgently needed to reduce birth rates so that its population would decline to a sustainable level, and the family planning policy designed to achieve this goal has largely succeeded. However, continuing to pursue this policy is leading to serious, unanticipated problems such as a shift in the country's population distribution towards the elderly and increasing difficulty supporting that elderly population. Social and political changes that promoted low birth rates and the lack of effective policies to encourage higher birth rates suggest that mitigating the consequences of the predicted population decline will depend on a revised approach based on achieving sustainable birth rates.

Energy policy implementation process : BC Hydro information session and workshop on stepped rates and access principles. draft ed.

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

2003-01-01

The government of British Columbia recognizes that some changes are needed in the energy sector to promote new investment and increase trade while maintaining low power rates and environmentally responsible energy development. BC Hydro held a workshop where several rate design parameters were presented in accordance with the Energy Plan objectives. The workshop identified some key implementation measures and invited input from customers. This paper describes 8 policy actions that will be implemented, or which are already underway to achieve objectives of the Energy Plan. Policy Action number 14 states that under the new rate structures, large electricity consumers will be able to choose a supplier other than the local distributor. Policy Action number 21 states that new rate structures will offer better price signals to large electricity consumers for conservation and energy efficiency. A new stepped rate has been proposed to implement the policy actions. The stepped rate design features different rates for different blocks of energy consumption. The stepped rate design encourages customers to invest in cost-effective conservation and self generation. The disadvantage is that customers shut down facilities and receive financial benefits as if they had invested in conservation. Customers will also continually switch back and forth between rate designs or suppliers, depending on which one provides immediate gains. It was noted that a stepped rate design requires a choice of where to place the cutoff between various Tier rates. Market options for calculating Tier 1 and Tier 2 rates were described. The three causes for reductions in energy consumption were identified as being energy efficiency, self generation, and partial or full shutdown. 4 tabs., 10 figs

Metabolic rates of giant pandas inform conservation strategies

Science.gov (United States)

Fei, Yuxiang; Hou, Rong; Spotila, James R.; Paladino, Frank V.; Qi, Dunwu; Zhang, Zhihe

2016-06-01

The giant panda is an icon of conservation and survived a large-scale bamboo die off in the 1980s in China. Captive breeding programs have produced a large population in zoos and efforts continue to reintroduce those animals into the wild. However, we lack sufficient knowledge of their physiological ecology to determine requirements for survival now and in the face of climate change. We measured resting and active metabolic rates of giant pandas in order to determine if current bamboo resources were sufficient for adding additional animals to populations in natural reserves. Resting metabolic rates were somewhat below average for a panda sized mammal and active metabolic rates were in the normal range. Pandas do not have exceptionally low metabolic rates. Nevertheless, there is enough bamboo in natural reserves to support both natural populations and large numbers of reintroduced pandas. Bamboo will not be the limiting factor in successful reintroduction.

The relationship between twelve-month home stimulation and school achievement.

Science.gov (United States)

van Doorninck, W J; Caldwell, B M; Wright, C; Frankenburg, W K

1981-09-01

Home Observation for Measurement of the Environment (HOME) was designed to reflect parental support of early cognitive and socioemotional development. 12-month HOME scores were correlated with elementary school achievement, 5--9 years later. 50 low-income children were rank ordered by a weighted average of centile estimates of achievement test scores, letter grades, and curriculum levels in reading and math. 24 children were classified as having significant school achievement problems. The HOME total score correlated significantly, r = .37, with school centile scores among the low-income families. The statistically more appropriate contingency table analysis revealed a 68% correct classification rate and a significantly reduced error rate over random or blanket prediction. The results supported the predictive value of the 12-month HOME for school achievement among low-income families. In an additional sample of 21 middle-income families, there was insufficient variability among HOME scores to allow prediction. The HOME total scores were highly correlated, r = .86, among siblings tested at least 10 months apart.

The role of effective communication in achieving informed consent for clinical trials.

Science.gov (United States)

Pick, Andrew; Gilbert, Kayleigh; McCaul, James

2014-11-11

Informed consent is fundamental to the protection of the rights, safety and wellbeing of patients in clinical research. For consent to be valid, patients must first be given all the information they need about the proposed research to be able to decide whether they would like to take part. This material should be presented in a way that is easy for them to understand. This article explores the importance of communication in clinical research, and how more effective communication with patients during the informed consent process can ensure they are fully informed.

Turning State Data and Research into Information: An Example from Washington State's Student Achievement Initiative

Science.gov (United States)

Prince, David; Seppanen, Loretta; Stephens, Deborah; Stewart, Carmen

2010-01-01

This chapter discusses Washington State's Student Achievement Initiative, a new performance funding system for community and technical colleges. Its purposes are to improve public accountability by more accurately describing what students achieve from enrolling in state colleges each year and provide incentives through financial rewards to…

The utilization rate of the regional health information exchange: how it impacts on health care delivery outcomes.

Science.gov (United States)

Mäenpää, Tiina; Asikainen, Paula; Gissler, Mika; Siponen, Kimmo; Maass, Marianne; Saranto, Kaija; Suominen, Tarja

2012-01-01

Interest in improving quality and effectiveness is the primary driver for health information exchange efforts across a health care system to improve the provision of public health care services. The aim here was to describe and identify the impact of a regional health information exchange (HIE) using quantitative statistics for 2004-2008 in one hospital district in Finland. We conducted a comparative, longitudinal 5-year follow-up study to evaluate the utilization rates of HIE, and the impact on health care delivery outcomes. The selected outcomes were total laboratory tests, radiology examinations, appointments, emergency visits, and referrals. The HIE utilization rates increased annually in all 10 federations of municipalities, and the viewing of reference information increased steadily in each professional group over the 5-year study period. In these federations, a significant connection was found to the number of laboratory tests and radiology examinations, with a statistically significant increase in the number of viewed references and use of HIE. The higher the numbers of emergency visits and appointments, the higher the numbers of emergency referrals to specialized care, viewed references, and HIE usage among the groups of different health care professionals. There is increasing interest in HIE usage through regional health information system among health professionals to improve health care delivery regionally and bring information on the patient directly to care delivery. It will be important to study which changes in working methods in the service system are explained by RHIS. Also, the experiences of the change that has taken place should be studied among the different stakeholders, administrative representatives, and patients.

Metabolic rates of giant pandas inform conservation strategies

Science.gov (United States)

Fei, Yuxiang; Hou, Rong; Spotila, James R.; Paladino, Frank V.; Qi, Dunwu; Zhang, Zhihe

2016-01-01

The giant panda is an icon of conservation and survived a large-scale bamboo die off in the 1980s in China. Captive breeding programs have produced a large population in zoos and efforts continue to reintroduce those animals into the wild. However, we lack sufficient knowledge of their physiological ecology to determine requirements for survival now and in the face of climate change. We measured resting and active metabolic rates of giant pandas in order to determine if current bamboo resources were sufficient for adding additional animals to populations in natural reserves. Resting metabolic rates were somewhat below average for a panda sized mammal and active metabolic rates were in the normal range. Pandas do not have exceptionally low metabolic rates. Nevertheless, there is enough bamboo in natural reserves to support both natural populations and large numbers of reintroduced pandas. Bamboo will not be the limiting factor in successful reintroduction. PMID:27264109

NATIC achievement report

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

NONE

1999-03-01

This paper reports the achievements of the MAnufacturing Technology supported by advanced and integrated Information system through international Cooperation (MATIC) ended in March 1999. The MATIC project is intended to develop international information systems to support manufacturing process from design to production through an international network in order to upgrade the manufacturing and supporting industries in Asian countries. The project has been completed by support provided by a large number of Japanese corporations and research institutes, and the counterparts in China, Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore and Thailand. The developed prototype systems cover the three areas of automobile, electronics, textile and apparel industries. Demonstration tests have verified the functions thereof. In the automobile industry field, development was made on a system to link Japanese research and development corporations with Indonesian parts making corporations, and a system to exchange technological data between Indonesia and Thailand. In the electronics industry field, development was performed on an electronic catalog system to link Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore and Thailand. (NEDO)

The Impact of Complexity, Rate of Change and Information Availability on the Production Planning and Control Structure

NARCIS (Netherlands)

M.F. van Assen (Marcel); S.L. van de Velde (Steef)

2003-01-01

textabstractThe organizational theory literature argues that the more uncertain the environment, the more likely the firm’s operational decision structure is decentralized. However, it remains unclear which uncertainty dimensions (i.e. complexity, rate of change and lack of information) impacts the

Satellite passive microwave rain rate measurement over croplands during spring, summer and fall

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Spencer, R.W.

1984-01-01

Rain rate algorithms for spring, summer and fall that have been developed from comparisons between the brightness temperatures measured by the Nimbus-7 Scanning Multichannel Microwave Radiometer (SMMR) and rain rates derived from operational WSR-57 radars over land are described. Data were utilized from a total of 25 SMMR passes and 234 radars, resulting in ∼12 000 observations of ∼1600 km 2 areas. Multiple correlation coefficients of 0.63, 0.80 and 0.75 are achieved for the spring, summer and fall algorithms, respectively. Most of this information is in the form of multifrequency contrast in brightness temperature, which is interpreted as a measurement of the degree to which the land-emitted radiation is attenuated by the rain systems. The SMMR 37 GHz channel has more information on rain rate than any other channel. By combining the lower frequency channels with the 37 GHz observations, variations in land and precipitation thermometric temperatures can be removed, leaving rain attenuation as the major effect on brightness temperature. Polarization screening at 37 GHz is found to be sufficient to screen out cases of wet ground, which is only important when the ground is relatively vegetation free. Heavy rain cases are found to be a significant part of the algorithms' success, because of the strong microwave signatures (low brightness temperatures) that result from the presence of precipitation-sized ice in the upper portions of heavily precipitating storms. If IR data are combined with the summer microwave data, an improved (0.85) correlation with radar rain rates is achieved

A Network Diffusion Model of Food Safety Scare Behavior considering Information Transparency

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Tingqiang Chen

2017-01-01

Full Text Available This study constructs the network diffusion model of food safety scare behavior under the effect of information transparency and examines the network topology and evolution characteristics of food safety scare behavior in a numerical simulation. The main conclusions of this study are as follows. (1 Under the effect of information transparency, the network degree distribution of food safety scare behavior diffusion demonstrates the decreasing characteristics of diminishing margins. (2 Food safety scare behavior diffusion increases with the information dissemination rate and consumer concern about food safety incidents and shows the characteristics of monotone increasing. And with the increasing of the government food safety supervision information transparency and media food safety supervision information transparency, the whole is declining characteristic of diminishing marginal. In addition, the extinction of food safety scare behavior cannot be achieved gradually given a single regulation of government food safety supervision information transparency and media food safety supervision information transparency. (3 The interaction effects between improving government food safety supervision information transparency or media food safety supervision information transparency and declining consumer concerns about food safety incidents or information transmission rate can engender the suppression of food safety scare behavior diffusion.

On the ergodic secret message capacity of the wiretap channel with finite-rate feedback

KAUST Repository

Rezki, Zouheir

2012-07-01

We study the secret message capacity of an ergodic block fading wiretap channel with partial channel state information at the transmitter and perfect channel state information at the receivers. We consider that in addition to the statistics of the main and the eavesdropper channel state information (CSI), the sender is provided by the legitimate receiver with a q-bit feedback, at the beginning of each coherence block, through an error-free feedback channel, with capacity q bits. We establish upper and lower bounds on the secrecy capacity. We show that a positive secrecy rate is achievable even when the feedback is at the end of each coherence block and q = 1. We also show that the lower and the upper bounds coincide asymptotically as q → ∞. Finally, asymptotic analysis at high Signal-to-Noise Ratio (SNR) are presented where it is found that the capacity is bounded at high-SNR and present a simple suboptimal scalar quantizer that is capacity achieving, without the need of any numerical optimization, as q → ∞. When applied to Rayleigh fading channels, we show that, at high-SNR, a 4-bit feedback achieves 90% of the secrecy capacity when perfect main CSI is available at the transmitter. © 2012 IEEE.

On the ergodic secret message capacity of the wiretap channel with finite-rate feedback

KAUST Repository

Rezki, Zouheir; Khisti, Ashish J.; Alouini, Mohamed-Slim

2012-01-01

We study the secret message capacity of an ergodic block fading wiretap channel with partial channel state information at the transmitter and perfect channel state information at the receivers. We consider that in addition to the statistics of the main and the eavesdropper channel state information (CSI), the sender is provided by the legitimate receiver with a q-bit feedback, at the beginning of each coherence block, through an error-free feedback channel, with capacity q bits. We establish upper and lower bounds on the secrecy capacity. We show that a positive secrecy rate is achievable even when the feedback is at the end of each coherence block and q = 1. We also show that the lower and the upper bounds coincide asymptotically as q → ∞. Finally, asymptotic analysis at high Signal-to-Noise Ratio (SNR) are presented where it is found that the capacity is bounded at high-SNR and present a simple suboptimal scalar quantizer that is capacity achieving, without the need of any numerical optimization, as q → ∞. When applied to Rayleigh fading channels, we show that, at high-SNR, a 4-bit feedback achieves 90% of the secrecy capacity when perfect main CSI is available at the transmitter. © 2012 IEEE.

THE ACHIEVABILITY OF TARGET CONVECTION VOLUMES IN ON-LINE HEMODIAFILTRATION

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

A. B. Sabodash

2015-01-01

Full Text Available Aim. To evaluate the achievability of recommended convection volumes in hemodiafiltration (HDF and impeding factors. Materials and methods. In short interventional one-center study among 67 stable prevalent dialysis patients we succeeded in achieving convection volume of more than 24 l/session in 60 patients (90%. Results. Substitution volume rose in the whole group from 21.1 ± 1.6 to 23.8 ± 1.2 l/session (p < 0.01. 12 patients, who didn`t achieve target volume had similar age, duration of renal replacement therapy and ultrafiltration rate as those who did. They differed from 55 patients who achieved target volume by substitution volume at first session in evaluation period (22.2 ± 1.7 vs. 23.6 ± 1.5 liters, р = 0.004, by transmembrane pressure (170 ± 40 vs. 146 ± 24 mmHg, р = 0.009 and by session duration (248 ± 15 vs. 262 ± 17 min, р = 0.0017. Blood flow rate also differed at the start of the study between the achievers and non-achievers: 353 ± 21 vs. 339 ± 19 ml/min, р = 0.035. The pressure in venous segment was lower in the achievers (154 ± 25 vs. 176 ± 36, р = 0.02 as well as transmembrane pressure (144 ± 24 vs. 164 ± 36, р = 0.014 which has been rising session by session in nonachievers. In non-achievers the membrane surface area was lower: 1.75 ± 0.2 vs. 1.91 ± 0.2 m2 (p = 0.02. In the multiple binary logistic regression model the session duration and membrane surface area were positive factors while the transmembrane pressure was negative one. Session prolonged by 15 min was associated with increase in relative chance to achieve target volume by 39% (95% CI 5–82%; р = 0.02. The membrane surface area enlarged by 0.1 m2 was linked with increase of chance by 4.2% (95% CI 0.2–8.4%; р = 0.04. The transmembrane pressure increased by 10 mmHg was associated with decreased chance to achieve target volume by 17% (95% CI 0–70%; р = 0.05. Conclusion. To achieve convection volume of 24 l/session one needs to afford

Simultaneous Wireless Information and Power Transfer for MIMO Amplify-and-Forward Relay Systems

KAUST Repository

Benkhelifa, Fatma; Alouini, Mohamed-Slim

2016-01-01

In this paper, we investigate the simultaneous wireless information and power transfer (SWIPT) for the two-hop Multiple-Input Multiple-Output (MIMO) Amplify-and-Forward (AF) relay communication systems with the multiantenna energy harvesting relay. We derive the optimal source and relay covariance matrices to characterize the achievable region between the sourcedestination rate and the harvested energy at the relay, namely Rate-Energy (R-E) region. In this context, we consider the ideal scenario where the energy harvester (EH) receiver and the information decoder (ID) receiver at the relay can simultaneously decode the information and harvest the energy at the relay. Then, we consider more practical schemes which are the power splitting (PS) and the time switching (TS) which separate the EH and ID transfer over the power domain and the time domain, respectively.

Simultaneous Wireless Information and Power Transfer for MIMO Amplify-and-Forward Relay Systems

KAUST Repository

Benkhelifa, Fatma

2016-01-06

In this paper, we investigate the simultaneous wireless information and power transfer (SWIPT) for the two-hop Multiple-Input Multiple-Output (MIMO) Amplify-and-Forward (AF) relay communication systems with the multiantenna energy harvesting relay. We derive the optimal source and relay covariance matrices to characterize the achievable region between the sourcedestination rate and the harvested energy at the relay, namely Rate-Energy (R-E) region. In this context, we consider the ideal scenario where the energy harvester (EH) receiver and the information decoder (ID) receiver at the relay can simultaneously decode the information and harvest the energy at the relay. Then, we consider more practical schemes which are the power splitting (PS) and the time switching (TS) which separate the EH and ID transfer over the power domain and the time domain, respectively.

Understanding the Role of Achievements in Game-Based Learning

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Lucas Blair

2016-12-01

Full Text Available The objective of the current research was to examine whether one potentially effective gaming strategy—achievements—has a positive impact on learning in a game-based environment. An achievement in a video game is a reward or recognition earned by players for an in-game accomplishment. This paper describes a series of studies to evaluate the effects of achievement types on learning in a game designed to teach about health resources. The Game “Phone Dash” was used as the testbed for the following studies. The following questionnaires were utilized in this study: Video Game Self-Efficacy Scale (VGSES questionnaire, Relevance and Usefulness questionnaire, Game Engagement Questionnaire (GEQ, and the Intrinsic Motivation Inventory (IMI. Four studies were conducted. Results indicated that while in unison, the achievements were not as potent in motivating performance, certainly when combined they produced measurable changes in behavior. The four studies described in this paper provide important information regarding the optimal design of achievements in game-based health education. Developers of future game-based learning can use this information to enhance the potential effectiveness of their products. 

Achievement Goals and Achievement Emotions: A Meta-Analysis

Science.gov (United States)

Huang, Chiungjung

2011-01-01

This meta-analysis synthesized 93 independent samples (N = 30,003) in 77 studies that reported in 78 articles examining correlations between achievement goals and achievement emotions. Achievement goals were meaningfully associated with different achievement emotions. The correlations of mastery and mastery approach goals with positive achievement…

Effects of Intradistrict School Mobility and High Student Turnover Rates on Early Reading Achievement

Science.gov (United States)

LeBoeuf, Whitney A.; Fantuzzo, John W.

2018-01-01

The primary aim of this study was to assess the relations between concurrent, cumulative, and contextual intradistrict school mobility and early reading achievement. Longitudinal administrative school records were used for an entire cohort of students in a large urban district from first through third grade. Findings indicated that students with a…

Stability of Self-Esteem Ratings and Their Relation to Academic Achievement: A Longitudinal Study

Science.gov (United States)

Rubin, Rosalyn A.

1978-01-01

In a sample of 380 children, self-esteem as measured by the Coopersmith Self-Esteem Inventory became more stable and more highly correlated with school achievement as the children grew older. Children's self-perceptions appear less firmly established, and therefore may be more responsive to intervention, at earlier ages. (Author)

Compressed Sensing mm-Wave SAR for Non-Destructive Testing Applications Using Multiple Weighted Side Information

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Mathias Becquaert

2018-05-01

Full Text Available This work explores an innovative strategy for increasing the efficiency of compressed sensing applied on mm-wave SAR sensing using multiple weighted side information. The approach is tested on synthetic and on real non-destructive testing measurements performed on a 3D-printed object with defects while taking advantage of multiple previous SAR images of the object with different degrees of similarity. The tested algorithm attributes autonomously weights to the side information at two levels: (1 between the components inside the side information and (2 between the different side information. The reconstruction is thereby almost immune to poor quality side information while exploiting the relevant components hidden inside the added side information. The presented results prove that, in contrast to common compressed sensing, good SAR image reconstruction is achieved at subsampling rates far below the Nyquist rate. Moreover, the algorithm is shown to be much more robust for low quality side information compared to coherent background subtraction.

Base Rates: Both Neglected and Intuitive

Science.gov (United States)

Pennycook, Gordon; Trippas, Dries; Handley, Simon J.; Thompson, Valerie A.

2014-01-01

Base-rate neglect refers to the tendency for people to underweight base-rate probabilities in favor of diagnostic information. It is commonly held that base-rate neglect occurs because effortful (Type 2) reasoning is required to process base-rate information, whereas diagnostic information is accessible to fast, intuitive (Type 1) processing…

Approximate Arithmetic Training Improves Informal Math Performance in Low Achieving Preschoolers

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Emily Szkudlarek

2018-05-01

Full Text Available Recent studies suggest that practice with approximate and non-symbolic arithmetic problems improves the math performance of adults, school aged children, and preschoolers. However, the relative effectiveness of approximate arithmetic training compared to available educational games, and the type of math skills that approximate arithmetic targets are unknown. The present study was designed to (1 compare the effectiveness of approximate arithmetic training to two commercially available numeral and letter identification tablet applications and (2 to examine the specific type of math skills that benefit from approximate arithmetic training. Preschool children (n = 158 were pseudo-randomly assigned to one of three conditions: approximate arithmetic, letter identification, or numeral identification. All children were trained for 10 short sessions and given pre and post tests of informal and formal math, executive function, short term memory, vocabulary, alphabet knowledge, and number word knowledge. We found a significant interaction between initial math performance and training condition, such that children with low pretest math performance benefited from approximate arithmetic training, and children with high pretest math performance benefited from symbol identification training. This effect was restricted to informal, and not formal, math problems. There were also effects of gender, socio-economic status, and age on post-test informal math score after intervention. A median split on pretest math ability indicated that children in the low half of math scores in the approximate arithmetic training condition performed significantly better than children in the letter identification training condition on post-test informal math problems when controlling for pretest, age, gender, and socio-economic status. Our results support the conclusion that approximate arithmetic training may be especially effective for children with low math skills, and that

Approximate Arithmetic Training Improves Informal Math Performance in Low Achieving Preschoolers.

Science.gov (United States)

Szkudlarek, Emily; Brannon, Elizabeth M

2018-01-01

Recent studies suggest that practice with approximate and non-symbolic arithmetic problems improves the math performance of adults, school aged children, and preschoolers. However, the relative effectiveness of approximate arithmetic training compared to available educational games, and the type of math skills that approximate arithmetic targets are unknown. The present study was designed to (1) compare the effectiveness of approximate arithmetic training to two commercially available numeral and letter identification tablet applications and (2) to examine the specific type of math skills that benefit from approximate arithmetic training. Preschool children ( n = 158) were pseudo-randomly assigned to one of three conditions: approximate arithmetic, letter identification, or numeral identification. All children were trained for 10 short sessions and given pre and post tests of informal and formal math, executive function, short term memory, vocabulary, alphabet knowledge, and number word knowledge. We found a significant interaction between initial math performance and training condition, such that children with low pretest math performance benefited from approximate arithmetic training, and children with high pretest math performance benefited from symbol identification training. This effect was restricted to informal, and not formal, math problems. There were also effects of gender, socio-economic status, and age on post-test informal math score after intervention. A median split on pretest math ability indicated that children in the low half of math scores in the approximate arithmetic training condition performed significantly better than children in the letter identification training condition on post-test informal math problems when controlling for pretest, age, gender, and socio-economic status. Our results support the conclusion that approximate arithmetic training may be especially effective for children with low math skills, and that approximate arithmetic

Growth trajectories of mathematics achievement: Longitudinal tracking of student academic progress.

Science.gov (United States)

Mok, Magdalena M C; McInerney, Dennis M; Zhu, Jinxin; Or, Anthony

2015-06-01

A number of methods to investigate growth have been reported in the literature, including hierarchical linear modelling (HLM), latent growth modelling (LGM), and multidimensional scaling applied to longitudinal profile analysis (LPAMS). This study aimed at modelling the mathematics growth of students over a span of 6 years from Grade 3 to Grade 9. The sample comprised secondary longitudinal data collected in three waves from n = 866 Hong Kong students when they were in Grade 3, Grade 6, and Grade 9. Mathematics achievement was measured thrice on a vertical scale linked with anchor items. Linear and nonlinear latent growth models were used to assess students' growth. Gender differences were also examined. A nonlinear latent growth curve with a decelerated rate had a good fit to the data. Initial achievement and growth rate were negatively correlated. No gender difference was found. Mathematics growth from Grade 6 to Grade 9 was slower than that from Grade 3 to Grade 6. Students with lower initial achievement improved at a faster rate than those who started at a higher level. Gender did not affect growth rate. © 2014 The British Psychological Society.

Convergence Rate Analysis of Distributed Gossip (Linear Parameter) Estimation: Fundamental Limits and Tradeoffs

Science.gov (United States)

Kar, Soummya; Moura, José M. F.

2011-08-01

The paper considers gossip distributed estimation of a (static) distributed random field (a.k.a., large scale unknown parameter vector) observed by sparsely interconnected sensors, each of which only observes a small fraction of the field. We consider linear distributed estimators whose structure combines the information \\emph{flow} among sensors (the \\emph{consensus} term resulting from the local gossiping exchange among sensors when they are able to communicate) and the information \\emph{gathering} measured by the sensors (the \\emph{sensing} or \\emph{innovations} term.) This leads to mixed time scale algorithms--one time scale associated with the consensus and the other with the innovations. The paper establishes a distributed observability condition (global observability plus mean connectedness) under which the distributed estimates are consistent and asymptotically normal. We introduce the distributed notion equivalent to the (centralized) Fisher information rate, which is a bound on the mean square error reduction rate of any distributed estimator; we show that under the appropriate modeling and structural network communication conditions (gossip protocol) the distributed gossip estimator attains this distributed Fisher information rate, asymptotically achieving the performance of the optimal centralized estimator. Finally, we study the behavior of the distributed gossip estimator when the measurements fade (noise variance grows) with time; in particular, we consider the maximum rate at which the noise variance can grow and still the distributed estimator being consistent, by showing that, as long as the centralized estimator is consistent, the distributed estimator remains consistent.

Improved detection of common variants associated with schizophrenia and bipolar disorder using pleiotropy-informed conditional false discovery rate

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Andreassen, Ole A; Thompson, Wesley K; Schork, Andrew J

2013-01-01

are currently lacking. Here, we use a genetic pleiotropy-informed conditional false discovery rate (FDR) method on GWAS summary statistics data to identify new loci associated with schizophrenia (SCZ) and bipolar disorders (BD), two highly heritable disorders with significant missing heritability...... associated with both SCZ and BD (conjunction FDR). Together, these findings show the feasibility of genetic pleiotropy-informed methods to improve gene discovery in SCZ and BD and indicate overlapping genetic mechanisms between these two disorders....

Physical Activity, Fitness, Cognitive Function, and Academic Achievement in Children: A Systematic Review

Science.gov (United States)

Donnelly, Joseph E.; Hillman, Charles H.; Castelli, Darla; Etnier, Jennifer L.; Lee, Sarah; Tomporowski, Phillip; Lambourne, Kate; Szabo-Reed, Amanda N.

2016-01-01

Category rating is B. The literature suggests that PA and PE have a neutral effect on academic achievement. Thus, due to the limitations in the literature and the current information available, the Evidence Category rating for academic achievement is C. PMID:27182986

Credit Rating and Competition

OpenAIRE

Nelson Camanho; Pragyan Deb; Zijun Liu

2010-01-01

In principle, credit rating agencies are supposed to be impartial observers that bridge the gap between private information of issuers and the information available to the wider pool of investors. However, since the 1970s, rating agencies have relied on an issuer-pay model, creating a conflict of interest the largest source of income for the rating agencies are the fees paid by the issuers the rating agencies are supposed to impartially rate. In this paper, we explore the trade-off between re...

The treasury analysis based on the financial rates, a method of assessing the profitability and efficiency of the economic agents

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Eugeniu ŢURLEA

2011-06-01

Full Text Available The main objective of each firm is to achieve an increased profitability, by determining the quantity of the profit. This indicator is not sufficient to assess the degree of efficiency, profitability or business profitability. It becomes useful, therefore, through the determination of the financial rates, as these companies provide information about the direction towards the business moves. The financial rates are tools through which firms can make a series of tests and may also determine which strategies to pursue in order to achieve certain objectives. Based on these considerations, the purpose of this study is to determine a number of financial rates specific to the company treasury, having as a reference point the cash flow statements, and to perform an analysis on the obtained results.

[Association between inequality and suicide rate in Colombia (1994-2013)].

Science.gov (United States)

Campo-Arias, Adalberto; Herazo, Edwin

2015-01-01

Income inequality is directly related to the mental health of the population. However, the relationship between income inequality and suicide rates in Colombia has still not been explored. To estimate the relationship between inequality and suicide rates in Colombia from 1994 to 2013. An ecological study was conducted, in which the correlation was estimated (Spearman) between inequality (Gini coefficient) and suicide rate between 1994 and 2013, according to official information available from the National Administrative Department of Statistics (DANE), and the National Institute of Forensic Science and Forensic Medicine. A Gini coefficient between 0.53 and 0.60 (median, 0.65 [interquartile range, 0.54-0.57]) was observed, and suicide rates were between 3.84 and 5.26 (median, 4.20 [4.08-4.86]). The correlation between inequality and suicide rates was positive and statistically significant (r=.70; p<.001). There is a positive association between economic inequality and suicide rate in Colombia. It is important to achieve greater equity in the distribution of income to reduce suicide rate in the country. Copyright © 2014 Asociación Colombiana de Psiquiatría. Publicado por Elsevier España. All rights reserved.

Measures For Achieving Sustainable Rabbit Production In ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

A study was conducted to ascertain ways of achieving sustainable rabbits production in Ogba/Egbema/Ndoni Local Government Area of Rivers State. The study population involved 120 respondents comprising 40 students and 80 farmers. Two sets of structured questionnaire designed with a 4-point Likert type rating scale ...

Correct mutual information, quantum bit error rate and secure transmission efficiency in Wojcik's eavesdropping scheme on ping-pong protocol

OpenAIRE

Zhang, Zhanjun

2004-01-01

Comment: The wrong mutual information, quantum bit error rate and secure transmission efficiency in Wojcik's eavesdropping scheme [PRL90(03)157901]on ping-pong protocol have been pointed out and corrected

Executive Information System Modelling to Monitor Indonesian Criminal Rate

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Josef Bernadi

2016-05-01

Full Text Available Similar to any other governments, Indonesia government has the role of protecting the security of its citizens via the established police unit. However, the executive unit is often unable to provide response in timely manner due to the huge data size. For the reason, an executive information system (EIS is established in order to provide necessary information to leverage the decision making process. This work intends to establish and evaluate the executive information system and its support to facilitate the efforts to fight crimes in Indonesia territory. The EIS prototype is established and is evaluated on the basis of the six information system success factors where the required data are collected by means of questionnaire. The results suggest that the factors of system quality, information quality, easy-of-use, user satisfaction, and individual and organization impacts are very significant.

The effects of chronic achievement motivation and achievement primes on the activation of achievement and fun goals.

Science.gov (United States)

Hart, William; Albarracín, Dolores

2009-12-01

This research examined the hypothesis that situational achievement cues can elicit achievement or fun goals depending on chronic differences in achievement motivation. In 4 studies, chronic differences in achievement motivation were measured, and achievement-denoting words were used to influence behavior. The effects of these variables were assessed on self-report inventories, task performance, task resumption following an interruption, and the pursuit of means relevant to achieving or having fun. Findings indicated that achievement priming (vs. control priming) activated a goal to achieve and inhibited a goal to have fun in individuals with chronically high-achievement motivation but activated a goal to have fun and inhibited a goal to achieve in individuals with chronically low-achievement motivation.

Reducing failures rate within the project documentation using Building Information Modelling, especially Level of Development

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Prušková Kristýna

2018-01-01

Full Text Available Paper´s focus is on differences between traditional modelling in 2D software and modelling within the BIM technology. Research uncovers failures connected to the traditional way of designing and construction of project documentation. There are revealed and shown mismatches within the project documentation. Solution within the Building information modelling Technology is outlined. As a reference, there is used experience with design of specific building in both ways of construction of project documentation: in the way of traditional modelling and in the way when using BIM technology, especially using Level of Development. Output of this paper is pointing to benefits of using advanced technology in building design, thus Building Information Modelling, especially Level of Development, which leads to reducing failures rate within the project documentation.

Students' Achievement Goals, Learning-Related Emotions and Academic Achievement

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Marko eLüftenegger

2016-05-01

Full Text Available In the present research, the recently proposed 3x2 model of achievement goals is tested and associations with achievement emotions and their joint influence on academic achievement are investigated. The study was conducted with 388 students using the 3x2 Achievement Goal Questionnaire including the six proposed goal constructs (task-approach, task-avoidance, self-approach, self-avoidance, other-approach, other-avoidance and the enjoyment and boredom scales from the Achievement Emotion Questionnaire. Exam grades were used as an indicator of academic achievement. Findings from CFAs provided strong support for the proposed structure of the 3x2 achievement goal model. Self-based goals, other-based goals and task-approach goals predicted enjoyment. Task-approach goals negatively predicted boredom. Task-approach and other-approach predicted achievement. The indirect effects of achievement goals through emotion variables on achievement were assessed using bias-corrected bootstrapping. No mediation effects were found. Implications for educational practice are discussed.

A trial for improving the rate of participation in breast cancer screening

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Aki, Fuminori; Ito, Sueyoshi; Kaneko, Akira; Yamakawa, Takashi; Sugimoto, Takeki

2007-01-01

In order to search for a good method of increasing the rate of participation in breast cancer screening, we reviewed our previous records of breast cancer screening carried out by inspection and palpation during the preceding 32-year period. Screening by mammography was started in 2004, and in the following year became employed in all districts of Kochi Prefecture. When mammography screening began, we hoped that the participation rate would be at least 20%, which was the level when breast cancer screening was performed by inspection and palpation. In fact, the participation rate was as high as 27.6% in the period 2004-2005, and the breast cancer detection rate was 0.38%. We think that this high participation rate was achieved through complete transition from screening by inspection and palpation to that by mammography, offering guidance to district health nurses and local government administrative staff, education of the public about the importance of breast self-palpation, and other informative activities. (author)

Advancing the Multi-Informant Assessment of Sluggish Cognitive Tempo: Child Self-Report in Relation to Parent and Teacher Ratings of SCT and Impairment.

Science.gov (United States)

Sáez, Belén; Servera, Mateu; Burns, G Leonard; Becker, Stephen P

2018-04-27

Despite increasing interest in sluggish cognitive tempo (SCT) in children and advancements in its measurement, little research has examined child self-reported SCT. Child self-report of SCT is important for the multi-informant assessment of SCT. The current study used a large, school-based sample of children and a multi-informant design to examine child self-reported SCT using the Child Concentration Inventory - Version 2 (CCI-2) which was recently revised based on meta-analytic findings and parallels the item content of validated parent and teacher rating scales. The study involved 2142 unique children (ages 8-13 years, 50.51% males). Children (n = 1980) completed measures of SCT, loneliness, and preference for solitude. Mothers (n = 1648), fathers (n = 1358), and teachers (n = 1773) completed measures of SCT, attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder-IN (ADHD-IN), academic impairment, social impairment, and conflicted shyness. Children's self-reported SCT demonstrated good reliability with the 15 SCT symptoms showing moderate to strong loadings on the SCT factor. The child self-report SCT factor also showed moderate convergent validity with mother, father, and teacher ratings of children's SCT. In addition, higher child-reported SCT predicted greater mother, father, and teacher ratings of children's academic impairment even after controlling for mother, father, and teacher ratings of children's SCT and ADHD-IN. Higher child-rated SCT also predicted greater mother ratings of children's social impairment after controlling for mother ratings of children's SCT and ADHD-IN. The present study provides initial empirical support for the reliability and validity of child-reported SCT as part of the multi-informant assessment of SCT. A key direction for future research includes evaluating the unique contributions of different informants and their utility within specific contexts to guide evidence-based recommendations for assessing SCT.

The Achievement Ideology and Whiteness: "Achieving Whiteness" or "Achieving Middle Class?"

Science.gov (United States)

Allen, Ricky Lee

Over the past few decades, social reproduction theorists have criticized achievement ideology as a dominant and dominating myth that hides the true nature of class immobility. Social reproductionists' primary criticism of achievement ideology is that it blinds the working class, regardless of race or gender, to the possibilities of collective…

Online dose rate monitoring: Better information by using the IRMA concept (Integral Radiological Multidetector Arrays)

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Genrich, V.

1989-01-01

A new GM detector system has been developed for online environmental monitoring. The approach is unorthodox, but simple: A) Take a set of radiological probes and feed all their information to an 'intelligent' front-end. B) Elaborate some algorithms, so that the system will give out just one gamma dose rate (running over more than nine decades). C) If necessary, associate some additional sensors, and the system will exhibit better discriminating qualities for the detection of artificial nuclides in the environment. (orig.)

MyOcean Central Information System - Achievements and Perspectives

Science.gov (United States)

Claverie, Vincent; Loubrieu, Thomas; Jolibois, Tony; de Dianous, Rémi; Blower, Jon; Romero, Laia; Griffiths, Guy

2013-04-01

Since 2009, MyOcean (http://www.myocean.eu) is providing an operational service, for forecasts, analysis and expertise on ocean currents, temperature, salinity, sea level, primary ecosystems and ice coverage. The production of observation and forecasting data is done by 42 Production Units (PU). Product download and visualisation are hosted by 25 Dissemination Units (DU). All these products and associated services are gathered in a single catalogue hiding the intricate distributed organization of PUs and DUs. Besides applying INSPIRE directive and OGC recommendations, MyOcean overcomes technical choices and challenges. This presentation focuses on 3 specific issues met by MyOcean and relevant for many Spatial Data Infrastructures: user's transaction accounting, large volume download and stream line the catalogue maintenance. Transaction Accounting: Set up powerful means to get detailed knowledge of system usage in order to subsequently improve the products (ocean observations, analysis and forecast dataset) and services (view, download) offer. This subject drives the following ones: Central authentication management for the distributed web services implementations: add-on to THREDDS Data Server for WMS and NETCDF sub-setting service, specific FTP. Share user management with co-funding projects. In addition to MyOcean, alternate projects also need consolidated information about the use of the cofunded products. Provide a central facility for the user management. This central facility provides users' rights to geographically distributed services and gathers transaction accounting history from these distributed services. Propose a user-friendly web interface to download large volume of data (several GigaBytes) as robust as basic FTP but intuitive and file/directory independent. This should rely on a web service drafting the INSPIRE to-be specification and OGC recommendations for download taking into account that FTP server is not enough friendly (need to know

Online Particle Detection by Neural Networks Based on Topologic Calorimetry Information

CERN Document Server

Ciodaro, T; The ATLAS collaboration; Damazio, D; de Seixas, JM

2011-01-01

This paper presents the last results from the Ringer algorithm, which is based on artificial neural networks for the electron identification at the online filtering system of the ATLAS particle detector, in the context of the LHC experiment at CERN. The algorithm performs topological feature extraction over the ATLAS calorimetry information (energy measurements). Later, the extracted information is presented to a neural network classifier. Studies showed that the Ringer algorithm achieves high detection efficiency, while keeping the false alarm rate low. Optimizations, guided by detailed analysis, reduced the algorithm execution time in 59%. Also, the payload necessary to store the Ringer algorithm information represents less than 6.2 percent of the total filtering system amount

AGGLOMERATIVE CLUSTERING OF SOUND RECORD SPEECH SEGMENTS BASED ON BAYESIAN INFORMATION CRITERION

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

O. Yu. Kydashev

2013-01-01

Full Text Available This paper presents the detailed description of agglomerative clustering system implementation for speech segments based on Bayesian information criterion. Numerical experiment results with different acoustic features, as well as the full and diagonal covariance matrices application are given. The error rate DER equal to 6.4% for audio records of radio «Svoboda» was achieved by means of designed system.

Achievement and qualification of multigroup cross-section library for light water reactor calculation

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Gastaldi, B.

1986-07-01

This study intends to improve then to check on integral experiments, the calculation of the main neutronic parameters in light water moderated lattices: Uranium 238 capture and consequently Plutonium 239 build-up, multiplication factor, temperature coefficient. The first part of this work concerns the resonant reaction rate calculation method implemented in the APOLLO code, the so-called LIVOLANT and JEANPIERRE formalism. The errors introduced by the corresponding assumptions are quantified and we propose substitution methods which avoid large biases and supply satisfactory results. The second part is dedicated to the cross-section evaluation of uranium major isotopes and to the achievement of APOLLO multigroup cross-sections. This cross-section set takes into considerations on the one hand the recent differential information and the other hand the various integral information obtained in the French Atomic Energy Commission facilities. The nuclear data file (JEF abd ENDF/B5) processing, for multigroup and self-shielded cross-sections achieving enable us to check the new THEMIS computer code. In the last part, the experimental validation of the proposed procedure (accurate formalism mutuel shielding and new multigroup library) is presented. This qualification is based on the reinterpretation of critical experiments performed in the EOLE reactor at Cadarache and spent fuel analysis. The corresponding results demonstrate that our propositions provide improvements on the computation of the PWR neutronic parameters; calculation-experiment discrepancies are now consistent with experimental uncertainty margins. 46 refs; 31 figs; 23 tabl [fr

Lecturers, librarians and students in collaboration – A way of achieving complex educational goals in information literacy in three programmes at Lund University

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Cajsa Andersson

2013-12-01

Full Text Available A key factor in achieving educational goals is collaboration between lecturers at faculty and departmental level, and librarians. Experience has shown that generic skills should be integrated into courses. For example, exercises in information searching, criticism of sources of information and group work will only be meaningful if they are clearly related to the students' subject of study. This is a challenging logistical problem in large groups of students. In the spring of 2009, we started working on the introduction and integration of generic skills using two variations of a model. The experience gained from these initial attempts has been applied in the introduction of first-year university students. To date (autumn term 2012, almost 900 students starting programmes in Engineering Physics, Environmental Engineering, and Industrial Management and Engineering, have taken part in a compulsory introductory course.

[Do laymen understand information about hospital quality? An empirical verification using risk-adjusted mortality rates as an example].

Science.gov (United States)

Sander, Uwe; Kolb, Benjamin; Taheri, Fatemeh; Patzelt, Christiane; Emmert, Martin

2017-11-01

The effect of public reporting to improve quality in healthcare is reduced by the limited intelligibility of information about the quality of healthcare providers. This may result in worse health-related choices especially for older people and those with lower levels of education. There is, as yet, little information as to whether laymen understand the concepts behind quality comparisons and if this comprehension is correlated with hospital choices. An instrument with 20 items was developed to analyze the intelligibility of five technical terms which were used in German hospital report cards to explain risk-adjusted death rates. Two online presentations of risk-adjusted death rates for five hospitals in the style of hospital report cards were developed. An online survey of 353 volunteers tested the comprehension of the risk-adjusted mortality rates and included an experimental hospital choice. The intelligibility of five technical terms was tested: risk-adjusted, actual and expected death rate, reference range and national average. The percentages of correct answers for the five technical terms were in the range of 75.0-60.2%. Between 23.8% and 5.1% of the respondents were not able to answer the question about the technical term itself. The least comprehensible technical terms were "risk-adjusted death rate" and "reference range". The intelligibility of the 20 items that were used to test the comprehension of the risk-adjusted mortality was between 89.5% and 14.2%. The two items that proved to be least comprehensible were related to the technical terms "risk-adjusted death rate" and "reference range". For all five technical terms it was found that a better comprehension correlated significantly with better hospital choices. We found a better than average intelligibility for the technical terms "actual and expected death rate" and for "national average". The least understandable were "risk-adjusted death rate" and "reference range". Since the self

Information Guided Precoding for OFDM

KAUST Repository

Li, Qiang

2017-08-09

In the conventional orthogonal frequency division multiplexing with index modulation (OFDM-IM), the M-ary modulated symbols are transmitted on a subset of subcarriers under the guidance of information bits. In this paper, a novel information guided precoding, called precoding aided (P-)OFDMIM, is proposed to improve the spectral efficiency (SE) of OFDMIM. In P-OFDM-IM, the information bits are jointly conveyed through the conventional M-ary modulated symbols and the indices of precoding matrices and vectors. Then, the principle of P-OFDM-IM is embodied in two different implementation types, including P-OFDM-IM-I and P-OFDM-IM-II. Specifically, P-OFDM-IM-I divides all subcarriers into L groups and modulates them by L distinguishable constellations. P-OFDM-IM-II partitions the total subcarriers into L overlapped layers and performs IM layer by layer, where distinguishable constellations are employed across layers. A practical precoding strategy is designed for P-OFDM-IM under the phase shift keying/quadrature amplitude modulation constraint. A low-complexity log-likelihood ratio detector is proposed to ease the computational burden on the receiver. To evaluate the performance of P-OFDM-IM theoretically, an upper bound on the bit error rate and the achievable rate are studied. Computer simulation results show that P-OFDM-IM-I outperforms the existing OFDM-IM related schemes at high SE, while P-OFDM-IM-II performs the best at low SE.

What constitutes information integrity?

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

S. Flowerday

2008-01-01

Full Text Available This research focused on what constitutes information integrity as this is a problem facing companies today. Moreover, information integrity is a pillar of information security and is required in order to have a sound security management programme. However, it is acknowledged that 100% information integrity is not currently achievable due to various limitations and therefore the auditing concept of reasonable assurance is adopted. This is in line with the concept that 100% information security is not achievable and the notion that adequate security is the goal, using appropriate countermeasures. The main contribution of this article is to illustrate the importance of and provide a macro view of what constitutes information integrity. The findings are in harmony with Samuel Johnson's words (1751: 'Integrity without knowledge is weak and useless, and knowledge without integrity is dangerous and dreadful.'

What constitutes information integrity?

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

S. Flowerday

2007-12-01

Full Text Available This research focused on what constitutes information integrity as this is a problem facing companies today. Moreover, information integrity is a pillar of information security and is required in order to have a sound security management programme. However, it is acknowledged that 100% information integrity is not currently achievable due to various limitations and therefore the auditing concept of reasonable assurance is adopted. This is in line with the concept that 100% information security is not achievable and the notion that adequate security is the goal, using appropriate countermeasures. The main contribution of this article is to illustrate the importance of and provide a macro view of what constitutes information integrity. The findings are in harmony with Samuel Johnson's words (1751: 'Integrity without knowledge is weak and useless, and knowledge without integrity is dangerous and dreadful.'

Heart rate monitoring mobile applications

OpenAIRE

Chaudhry, Beenish M.

2016-01-01

Total number of times a heart beats in a minute is known as the heart rate. Traditionally, heart rate was measured using clunky gadgets but these days it can be measured with a smartphone?s camera. This can help you measure your heart rate anywhere and at anytime, especially during workouts so you can adjust your workout intensity to achieve maximum health benefits. With simple and easy to use mobile app, ?Unique Heart Rate Monitor?, you can also maintain your heart rate history for personal ...

Achieving DoD's Net Centric Vision of Information Sharing While Overcoming Cultural Biases to Control Information

National Research Council Canada - National Science Library

Shaw, Paul M

2008-01-01

.... A culture change from a "need to know' to a "need to share" is the desired end state. This culture change is in contrast to known organizational and individual cultural biases to control information...

Motivation, cognitive processing and achievement in higher education

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Bruinsma, M.

2004-01-01

This study investigated the question of whether a student's expectancy, values and negative affect influenced their deep information processing approach and achievement at the end of the first and second academic year. Five hundred and sixty-five first-year students completed a self-report

Information mining in weighted complex networks with nonlinear rating projection

Science.gov (United States)

Liao, Hao; Zeng, An; Zhou, Mingyang; Mao, Rui; Wang, Bing-Hong

2017-10-01

Weighted rating networks are commonly used by e-commerce providers nowadays. In order to generate an objective ranking of online items' quality according to users' ratings, many sophisticated algorithms have been proposed in the complex networks domain. In this paper, instead of proposing new algorithms we focus on a more fundamental problem: the nonlinear rating projection. The basic idea is that even though the rating values given by users are linearly separated, the real preference of users to items between the different given values is nonlinear. We thus design an approach to project the original ratings of users to more representative values. This approach can be regarded as a data pretreatment method. Simulation in both artificial and real networks shows that the performance of the ranking algorithms can be improved when the projected ratings are used.

The effect of information about false negative and false positive rates on people's attitudes towards colorectal cancer screening using faecal occult blood testing (FOBt).

Science.gov (United States)

Miles, Anne; Rodrigues, Vania; Sevdalis, Nick

2013-11-01

To examine the impact of numeric risk information about false negative (FN) and false positive (FP) rates in faecal occult blood testing (FOBt) on attitudes towards screening. 95 people aged 45-59, living in England, read 6 hypothetical vignettes presented online about the use of FOB testing to detect bowel cancer, in which information about FN and FP rates was systematically varied. Both verbal and numeric FN risk information reduced people's interest in screening compared with no FN information. Numeric FN risk information reduced people's perceptions of screening effectiveness and lowered perceived trust in the results of screening compared with both verbal FN information and no FN information. FP information did not affect attitudes towards FOB testing. There was limited evidence that FN information reduced interest and perceptions of screening effectiveness more in educated groups. Numeric FN risk information decreased people's perceptions of screening effectiveness and trust in the results of screening but did not affect people's interest in screening anymore than verbal FN risk information. Numeric FN information could be added to patient information without affecting interest in screening, although this needs to be replicated in a larger, more representative sample. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

Divergent Streams: Race-Gender Achievement Gaps at Selective Colleges and Universities.

Science.gov (United States)

Massey, Douglas S; Probasco, Lierin

2010-03-01

In this paper, we extend previous research on racial performance gaps at 28 selective US colleges and universities by examining differences in grade achievement and graduate rates across race-gender categories. Using data from the National Longitudinal Survey of Freshmen, we show that black males, black females, and Hispanic males attain significantly lower grades than other race-gender groups, and that black males are 35% less likely to graduate on-time than other race-gender groups. Analyses consider an array of personal and institutional indicators of academic performance. Grades and graduation rates are improved by academic preparation (particularly high school GPA), scholarly effort, and, for graduation rates, membership in career-oriented or majority-white campus groups. Grade performance and graduation rates are undermined by a hostile racial climate on campus, family stress, and stereotype threat, all of which disproportionately affect minority students. We conclude with recommendations to college administrators for ways of selecting and supporting minority students to reduce differentials in academic achievement across race-gender groups.

The Relationship between Computer Games and Reading Achievement

Science.gov (United States)

Reed, Tammy Dotson

2010-01-01

Illiteracy rates are increasing. The negative social and economic effects caused by weak reading skills include political unrest, social and health service inequality, poverty, and employment challenges. This quantitative study explored the proposition that the use of computer software games would increase reading achievement in second grade…

Comparing Computer Game and Traditional Lecture Using Experience Ratings from High and Low Achieving Students

Science.gov (United States)

Grimley, Michael; Green, Richard; Nilsen, Trond; Thompson, David

2012-01-01

Computer games are purported to be effective instructional tools that enhance motivation and improve engagement. The aim of this study was to investigate how tertiary student experiences change when instruction was computer game based compared to lecture based, and whether experiences differed between high and low achieving students. Participants…

An approach to radiotherapy under informed consent

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Okazaki, Atsushi; Maehara, Tadayuki; Baba, Sadaaki; Nakamura, Yuji; Kamitani, Hiroshi

1996-01-01

Over the past two years, we have attempted to practice radiotherapy in accordance with the principle of informed consent. The procedure used in our radiotherapy, which consists of informing the patient of the seriousness of his or her disease (malignant and benign) and receiving signed consent forms, is a new system in Japan. This is a report of our experience with this system and its advantages and disadvantages. We are satisfied with the clinical results of the attempt. Radiotherapy in accordance with informed consent has now become routine at our hospital. We feel that this practice will produce the mutual enhancement of our responsibility to patients and their trust in us, and improve cure rates. In promoting mutual understanding between our patients and ourselves, we must keep in mind that we, radiation oncologists, are not only radiotherapists but also health-care providers in our capacity as medical and surgical doctors. It is also necessary to achieve the best radiotherapeutic system in Japan. (author)

Dynamic statistical information theory

Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)

无

2006-01-01

In recent years we extended Shannon static statistical information theory to dynamic processes and established a Shannon dynamic statistical information theory, whose core is the evolution law of dynamic entropy and dynamic information. We also proposed a corresponding Boltzmman dynamic statistical information theory. Based on the fact that the state variable evolution equation of respective dynamic systems, i.e. Fokker-Planck equation and Liouville diffusion equation can be regarded as their information symbol evolution equation, we derived the nonlinear evolution equations of Shannon dynamic entropy density and dynamic information density and the nonlinear evolution equations of Boltzmann dynamic entropy density and dynamic information density, that describe respectively the evolution law of dynamic entropy and dynamic information. The evolution equations of these two kinds of dynamic entropies and dynamic informations show in unison that the time rate of change of dynamic entropy densities is caused by their drift, diffusion and production in state variable space inside the systems and coordinate space in the transmission processes; and that the time rate of change of dynamic information densities originates from their drift, diffusion and dissipation in state variable space inside the systems and coordinate space in the transmission processes. Entropy and information have been combined with the state and its law of motion of the systems. Furthermore we presented the formulas of two kinds of entropy production rates and information dissipation rates, the expressions of two kinds of drift information flows and diffusion information flows. We proved that two kinds of information dissipation rates (or the decrease rates of the total information) were equal to their corresponding entropy production rates (or the increase rates of the total entropy) in the same dynamic system. We obtained the formulas of two kinds of dynamic mutual informations and dynamic channel

Correlations of circulating peptide YY and ghrelin with body weight, rate of weight gain, and time required to achieve the recommended daily intake in preterm infants.

Science.gov (United States)

Chen, XiaFang; Du, XueLiang; Zhu, JianXing; Xie, LiJuan; Zhang, YongJun; He, ZhenJuan

2012-07-01

The objective was to elucidate the relationships between serum concentrations of the gut hormone peptide YY (PYY) and ghrelin and growth development in infants for potential application to the clinical observation index. Serum concentrations of PYY and ghrelin were measured using radioimmunoassay from samples collected at the clinic. For each patient, gestational age, birth weight, time required to return to birth weight, rate of weight gain, time required to achieve recommended daily intake (RDI) standards, time required for full-gastric feeding, duration of hospitalization, and time of administration of total parenteral nutrition were recorded. Serum PYY and ghrelin concentrations were significantly higher in the preterm group (N = 20) than in the full-term group (N = 20; P weight, and the degree of correlation varied with age. Serum ghrelin concentration correlated negatively with birth weight and positively with the time required to achieve RDI (P newborns and to determine the usefulness of measuring these hormones in clinical practice.

Heart rate monitoring mobile applications.

Science.gov (United States)

Chaudhry, Beenish M

2016-01-01

Total number of times a heart beats in a minute is known as the heart rate. Traditionally, heart rate was measured using clunky gadgets but these days it can be measured with a smartphone's camera. This can help you measure your heart rate anywhere and at anytime, especially during workouts so you can adjust your workout intensity to achieve maximum health benefits. With simple and easy to use mobile app, 'Unique Heart Rate Monitor', you can also maintain your heart rate history for personal reflection and sharing with a provider.

Leadership in Groups: Social Networks and Perceptions of Formal and Informal Leaders

Science.gov (United States)

2006-03-01

anguish . Using SPSS v. 12.0. Melbourne, Australia: Wiley and Sons. Cohen, P. A. (1981). Student ratings of instruction and student achievement: A...level of analysis. Level one data was analyzed using the SPSS ® statistical package for Windows™ (version 13.0). The informal leader side of the...expressive-instrumental leadership model consists of both group and individual level data. Again, SPSS ® was used to analyze the level one data

Drug safety in pregnancy: utopia or achievable prospect? Risk information, risk research and advocacy in Teratology Information Services.

Science.gov (United States)

Schaefer, Christof

2011-03-01

Even though from preclinical testing to drug risk labeling, the situation with drugs in pregnancy has improved substantially since the thalidomide scandal, there is still an increasing need to provide healthcare professionals and patients with updated individualized risk information for clinical decision making. For the majority of drugs, clinical experience is still insufficient with respect to their safety in pregnancy. There is often uncertainty in how to interpret the available scientific data. Based on 20 years of experience with Teratology Information Services (TIS) cooperating in the European Network of Teratology Information Services (ENTIS) methods of risk interpretation, follow-up of exposed pregnancies through the consultation process and their evaluation is discussed. Vitamin K antagonists, isotretinoin and angiotensin (AT) II-receptor-antagonists are presented as examples of misinterpretation of drug risks and subjects of research based on observational clinical data recorded in TIS. As many TIS are poorly funded, advocacy is necessary by establishing contacts with decision makers in health politics and administration, informing them of the high return in terms of health outcomes and cost savings provided by TIS as reference institutions in clinical teratology. © 2011 The Author. Congenital Anomalies © 2011 Japanese Teratology Society.

Integrated care information technology.

Science.gov (United States)

Rowe, Ian; Brimacombe, Phil

2003-02-21

Counties Manukau District Health Board (CMDHB) uses information technology (IT) to drive its Integrated Care strategy. IT enables the sharing of relevant health information between care providers. This information sharing is critical to closing the gaps between fragmented areas of the health system. The tragic case of James Whakaruru demonstrates how people have been falling through those gaps. The starting point of the Integrated Care strategic initiative was the transmission of electronic discharges and referral status messages from CMDHB's secondary provider, South Auckland Health (SAH), to GPs in the district. Successful pilots of a Well Child system and a diabetes disease management system embracing primary and secondary providers followed this. The improved information flowing from hospital to GPs now enables GPs to provide better management for their patients. The Well Child system pilot helped improve reported immunization rates in a high health need area from 40% to 90%. The diabetes system pilot helped reduce the proportion of patients with HbA1c rang:9 from 47% to 16%. IT has been implemented as an integral component of an overall Integrated Care strategic initiative. Within this context, Integrated Care IT has helped to achieve significant improvements in care outcomes, broken down barriers between health system silos, and contributed to the establishment of a system of care continuum that is better for patients.

Extracting information on the spatial variability in erosion rate stored in detrital cooling age distributions in river sands

Science.gov (United States)

Braun, Jean; Gemignani, Lorenzo; van der Beek, Peter

2018-03-01

One of the main purposes of detrital thermochronology is to provide constraints on the regional-scale exhumation rate and its spatial variability in actively eroding mountain ranges. Procedures that use cooling age distributions coupled with hypsometry and thermal models have been developed in order to extract quantitative estimates of erosion rate and its spatial distribution, assuming steady state between tectonic uplift and erosion. This hypothesis precludes the use of these procedures to assess the likely transient response of mountain belts to changes in tectonic or climatic forcing. Other methods are based on an a priori knowledge of the in situ distribution of ages to interpret the detrital age distributions. In this paper, we describe a simple method that, using the observed detrital mineral age distributions collected along a river, allows us to extract information about the relative distribution of erosion rates in an eroding catchment without relying on a steady-state assumption, the value of thermal parameters or an a priori knowledge of in situ age distributions. The model is based on a relatively low number of parameters describing lithological variability among the various sub-catchments and their sizes and only uses the raw ages. The method we propose is tested against synthetic age distributions to demonstrate its accuracy and the optimum conditions for it use. In order to illustrate the method, we invert age distributions collected along the main trunk of the Tsangpo-Siang-Brahmaputra river system in the eastern Himalaya. From the inversion of the cooling age distributions we predict present-day erosion rates of the catchments along the Tsangpo-Siang-Brahmaputra river system, as well as some of its tributaries. We show that detrital age distributions contain dual information about present-day erosion rate, i.e., from the predicted distribution of surface ages within each catchment and from the relative contribution of any given catchment to the

Extracting information on the spatial variability in erosion rate stored in detrital cooling age distributions in river sands

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

J. Braun

2018-03-01

Full Text Available One of the main purposes of detrital thermochronology is to provide constraints on the regional-scale exhumation rate and its spatial variability in actively eroding mountain ranges. Procedures that use cooling age distributions coupled with hypsometry and thermal models have been developed in order to extract quantitative estimates of erosion rate and its spatial distribution, assuming steady state between tectonic uplift and erosion. This hypothesis precludes the use of these procedures to assess the likely transient response of mountain belts to changes in tectonic or climatic forcing. Other methods are based on an a priori knowledge of the in situ distribution of ages to interpret the detrital age distributions. In this paper, we describe a simple method that, using the observed detrital mineral age distributions collected along a river, allows us to extract information about the relative distribution of erosion rates in an eroding catchment without relying on a steady-state assumption, the value of thermal parameters or an a priori knowledge of in situ age distributions. The model is based on a relatively low number of parameters describing lithological variability among the various sub-catchments and their sizes and only uses the raw ages. The method we propose is tested against synthetic age distributions to demonstrate its accuracy and the optimum conditions for it use. In order to illustrate the method, we invert age distributions collected along the main trunk of the Tsangpo–Siang–Brahmaputra river system in the eastern Himalaya. From the inversion of the cooling age distributions we predict present-day erosion rates of the catchments along the Tsangpo–Siang–Brahmaputra river system, as well as some of its tributaries. We show that detrital age distributions contain dual information about present-day erosion rate, i.e., from the predicted distribution of surface ages within each catchment and from the relative contribution of

Non-contact detection of cardiac rate based on visible light imaging device

Science.gov (United States)

Zhu, Huishi; Zhao, Yuejin; Dong, Liquan

2012-10-01

We have developed a non-contact method to detect human cardiac rate at a distance. This detection is based on the general lighting condition. Using the video signal of human face region captured by webcam, we acquire the cardiac rate based on the PhotoPlethysmoGraphy theory. In this paper, the cardiac rate detecting method is mainly in view of the blood's different absorptivities of the lights various wavelengths. Firstly, we discompose the video signal into RGB three color signal channels and choose the face region as region of interest to take average gray value. Then, we draw three gray-mean curves on each color channel with time as variable. When the imaging device has good fidelity of color, the green channel signal shows the PhotoPlethysmoGraphy information most clearly. But the red and blue channel signals can provide more other physiological information on the account of their light absorptive characteristics of blood. We divide red channel signal by green channel signal to acquire the pulse wave. With the passband from 0.67Hz to 3Hz as a filter of the pulse wave signal and the frequency spectrum superimposed algorithm, we design frequency extracted algorithm to achieve the cardiac rate. Finally, we experiment with 30 volunteers, containing different genders and different ages. The results of the experiments are all relatively agreeable. The difference is about 2bmp. Through the experiment, we deduce that the PhotoPlethysmoGraphy theory based on visible light can also be used to detect other physiological information.

Modeling stability of growth between mathematics and science achievement during middle and high school.

Science.gov (United States)

Ma, Xin; Ma, Lingling

2004-04-01

In this study, the authors introduced a multivariate multilevel model to estimate the consistency among students and schools in the rates of growth between mathematics and science achievement during the entire middle and high school years with data from the Longitudinal Study of American Youth (LSAY). There was no evident consistency in the rates of growth between mathematics and science achievement among students, and this inconsistency was not much influenced by student characteristics and school characteristics. However, there was evident consistency in the average rates of growth between mathematics and science achievement among schools, and this consistency was influenced by student characteristics and school characteristics. Major school-level variables associated with parental involvement did not show any significant impacts on consistency among either students or schools. Results call for educational policies that promote collaboration between mathematics and science departments or teachers.

Mobile e-Commerce Recommendation System Based on Multi-Source Information Fusion for Sustainable e-Business

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Yan Guo

2018-01-01

Full Text Available A lack of in-depth excavation of user and resources information has become the main bottleneck restricting the predictive analytics of recommendation systems in mobile commerce. This article provides a method which makes use of multi-source information to analyze consumers’ requirements for e-commerce recommendation systems. Combined with the characteristics of mobile e-commerce, this method employs an improved radial basis function (RBF network in order to determine the weights of recommendations, and an improved Dempster–Shafer theory to fuse the multi-source information. Power-spectrum estimation is then used to handle the fusion results and allow decision-making. The experimental results illustrate that the traditional method is inferior to the proposed approach in terms of recommendation accuracy, simplicity, coverage rate and recall rate. These achievements can further improve recommendation systems, and promote the sustainable development of e-business.

Ratings Revisited

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Lai, Signe Sophus

2015-01-01

tværs af medier og platforme, forskudt i tid og on-demand. This article focuses on audience ratings, which have functioned as the central ‘currency’ informing the media trade. It discusses changes to the production and accuracy of audience ratings at a time when established standards are being...

Rate Optimization of Two-Way Relaying with Wireless Information and Power Transfer

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Thinh Phu Do

2017-11-01

Full Text Available We consider the simultaneous wireless information and power transfer in two-phase decode-and-forward two-way relaying networks, where a relay harvests the energy from the signal to be relayed through either power splitting or time splitting. Here, we formulate the resource allocation problems optimizing the time-phase and signal splitting ratios to maximize the sum rate of the two communicating devices. The joint optimization problems are shown to be convex for both the power splitting and time splitting approaches after some transformation if required to be solvable with an existing solver. To lower the computational complexity, we also present the suboptimal methods optimizing the splitting ratio for the fixed time-phase and derive a closed-form solution for the suboptimal method based on the power splitting. The results demonstrate that the power splitting approaches outperform their time splitting counterparts and the suboptimal power splitting approach provides a performance close to the optimal one while reducing the complexity significantly.

Prognosis of critical limb ischemia patients with tissue loss after achievement of complete wound healing by endovascular therapy.

Science.gov (United States)

Kobayashi, Norihiro; Hirano, Keisuke; Nakano, Masatsugu; Ito, Yoshiaki; Ishimori, Hiroshi; Yamawaki, Masahiro; Tsukahara, Reiko; Muramatsu, Toshiya

2015-04-01

Critical limb ischemia (CLI) patients with tissue loss have been recognized to have a poor survival rate. In this study, we aimed to determine whether the prognosis of CLI patients with tissue loss improves after complete wound healing is achieved by endovascular therapy. We treated 187 CLI patients with tissue loss by endovascular therapy from April 2007 to December 2012. Among these patients, 113 patients who achieved complete wound healing were enrolled. The primary end point was survival rate at 3 years. The secondary end points were limb salvage rate and recurrence rate of CLI at 3 years. The mean follow-up period after achievement of complete wound healing was 32 ± 18 months. At 1 year, 2 years, and 3 years, the survival rates were 86%, 79%, and 74%; the limb salvage rates were 100%, 100%, and 100%; the recurrence rates of CLI were 2%, 6%, and 9%, respectively. On multivariate Cox proportional hazard analysis, age >75 years (hazard ratio, 3.18; 95% confidence interval, 1.23-8.24; P = .017) and nonambulatory status (hazard ratio, 2.46; 95% confidence interval, 1.08-5.65; P = .035) were identified as independent predictors of death for CLI patients with tissue loss even after complete wound healing was achieved. The Kaplan-Meier curve for the overall survival rate at 3 years showed that CLI patients of older age (>75 years) had a significantly decreased survival rate compared with CLI patients of younger age (≤75 years) (58% vs 87%; log-rank test, P wound healing was achieved. Nonambulatory status and age >75 years can serve as predictors of death even after complete wound healing is achieved. Copyright © 2015 Society for Vascular Surgery. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Achievement gaps and correlates of early mathematics achievement: Evidence from the ECLS K—first grade sample. Vol. 13 No. 46

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Madhabi Chatterji

2005-11-01

Full Text Available In light of the NCLB Act of 2001, this study estimated mathematics achievement gaps in different subgroups of kindergartners and first graders, and identified child- and school-level correlates and moderators of early mathematics achievement. A subset of 2300 students nested in 182 schools from the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study K-First Grade data set was analyzed with hierarchical linear models. Relative to school mean estimates at the end of kindergarten, significant mathematics achievement gaps were found in Hispanics, African Americans and high poverty students. At the end of Grade 1, mathematics gaps were significant in African American, high poverty, and female subgroups, but not in Hispanics. School-level correlates of Grade 1 Mathematics achievement were class size (with a small negative main effect, at-home reading time by parents (with a large positive main effect and school size (with a small positive main effect. Cross-level interactions in Grade 1 indicated that schools with larger class and school sizes had a negative effect on African American children's math scores; schools giving more instructional time to reading and math had a positive effect on high poverty students' scores, and schools with higher elementary teacher certification rates had a positive effect on boys' mathematics achievement.

Field Office Telephone Service - Monthly National Answer Rate and Busy Rate

Data.gov (United States)

Social Security Administration — This dataset provides information at the national level by month for federal fiscal year 2013 onward for answer rate and busy rate for calls to our field offices....

Medical Biotechnology Trends and Achievements in Iran

Science.gov (United States)

Mahboudi, Fereidoun; Hamedifar, Haleh; Aghajani, Hamideh

2012-01-01

A healthcare system has been the most important priority for all governments worldwide. Biotechnology products have affected the promotion of health care over the last thirty years. During the last several decades, Iran has achieved significant success in extending healthcare to the rural areas and in reducing the rates of infant mortality and increasing population growth. Biomedical technology as a converging technology is considered a helpful tool to fulfill the Iranian healthcare missions. The number of biotechnology products has reached 148 in 2012. The total sales have increased to 98 billion USD without considering vaccines and plasma derived proteins in 2012. Iran is one of the leading countries in the Middle East and North Africa in the area of Medical biotechnology. The number of biotechnology medicines launched in Iran is 13 products until 2012. More than 15 products are in pipelines now. Manufacturers are expecting to receive the market release for more than 8 products by the end of 2012. Considering this information, Iran will lead the biotechnology products especially in area of biosimilars in Asia after India in next three years. The present review will discuss leading policy, decision makers’ role, human resource developing system and industry development in medical biotechnology. PMID:23407888

Cognitive predictors of children's development in mathematics achievement: A latent growth modeling approach.

Science.gov (United States)

Xenidou-Dervou, Iro; Van Luit, Johannes E H; Kroesbergen, Evelyn H; Friso-van den Bos, Ilona; Jonkman, Lisa M; van der Schoot, Menno; van Lieshout, Ernest C D M

2018-04-24

Research has identified various domain-general and domain-specific cognitive abilities as predictors of children's individual differences in mathematics achievement. However, research into the predictors of children's individual growth rates, namely between-person differences in within-person change in mathematics achievement is scarce. We assessed 334 children's domain-general and mathematics-specific early cognitive abilities and their general mathematics achievement longitudinally across four time-points within the first and second grades of primary school. As expected, a constellation of multiple cognitive abilities contributed to the children's starting level of mathematical success. Specifically, latent growth modeling revealed that WM abilities, IQ, counting skills, nonsymbolic and symbolic approximate arithmetic and comparison skills explained individual differences in the children's initial status on a curriculum-based general mathematics achievement test. Surprisingly, however, only one out of all the assessed cognitive abilities was a unique predictor of the children's individual growth rates in mathematics achievement: their performance in the symbolic approximate addition task. In this task, children were asked to estimate the sum of two large numbers and decide if this estimated sum was smaller or larger compared to a third number. Our findings demonstrate the importance of multiple domain-general and mathematics-specific cognitive skills for identifying children at risk of struggling with mathematics and highlight the significance of early approximate arithmetic skills for the development of one's mathematical success. We argue the need for more research focus on explaining children's individual growth rates in mathematics achievement. © 2018 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

The influence of sovereign credit ratings on corporate credit ratings.

OpenAIRE

Umutoni, Liliane

2017-01-01

Credit ratings have a key role in modern financial markets as they communicate crucial information on the creditworthiness of a debt issuer to investors and regulators. These credit ratings are mostly determined by three rating agencies, namely Standard & Poor’s, Moody’s and Fitch, even though, the credit rating industry counts a dozen of recognized rating agencies. Indeed, the three agencies have become the market leaders with a market share of 94.3% on the U.S market (Bloomberg, 2015) and 9...

A contribution to quantum cryptography in finite-dimensional systems including further results from the field of quantum information theory

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ranade, Kedar S.

2009-01-01

This PhD thesis deals with quantum-cryptographic protocols which allow general finite-dimensional quantum systems (qudits) as carriers of information in contrast to the predominantly used two-dimensional quantum systems (qubits). The main focus of investigations is the maximum tolerable error rate of such protocols and its behaviour as a function of the dimension of the information carriers. For this purpose, several concepts are introduced which allow the treatment of this problem. In particular, protocols are presented which work up to a maximum tolerate error rate, and it is shown that a wide class of protocols cannot be used for higher error rates. Among other things, it turns out that the maximum tolerable error rate for two-basis protocols increases up to 50% for high dimensions. Apart from the above-mentioned main subjects of this thesis, some other results from the field of quantum information theory are given, which were achieved during this PhD project. (orig.)

Motivation, Cognitive Processing and Achievement in Higher Education

Science.gov (United States)

Bruinsma, Marjon

2004-01-01

This study investigated the question of whether a student's expectancy, values and negative affect influenced their deep information processing approach and achievement at the end of the first and second academic year. Five hundred and sixty-five first-year students completed a self-report questionnaire on three different occasions. The…

Maternal Employment and Children's Achievement in Context: A Meta-Analysis of Four Decades of Research

Science.gov (United States)

Goldberg, Wendy A.; Prause, JoAnn; Lucas-Thompson, Rachel; Himsel, Amy

2008-01-01

This meta-analysis of 68 studies (770 effect sizes) used random effects models to examine whether children's achievement differed depending on whether their mothers were employed. Four achievement outcomes were emphasized: formal tests of achievement and intellectual functioning, grades, and teacher ratings of cognitive competence. When all…

Achieving quality assurance through clinical audit.

Science.gov (United States)

Patel, Seraphim

2010-06-01

Audit is a crucial component of improvements to the quality of patient care. Clinical audits are undertaken to help ensure that patients can be given safe, reliable and dignified care, and to encourage them to self-direct their recovery. Such audits are undertaken also to help reduce lengths of patient stay in hospital, readmission rates and delays in discharge. This article describes the stages of clinical audit and the support required to achieve organisational core values.

Rate-distortion in Closed-Loop LTI Systems

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Silva, Eduardo; Derpich, Milan; Østergaard, Jan

2013-01-01

We consider a networked LTI system subject to an average data-rate constraint in the feedback path.We provide upper bounds to the minimal source coding rate required to achieve mean square stability and a desired level of performance. In the quadratic Gaussian case, an almost complete rate...

Poverty, Academic Achievement, and Giftedness: A Literature Review

Science.gov (United States)

Olszewski-Kubilius, Paula; Corwith, Susan

2018-01-01

In this article, we review research on poverty, both poverty rates and the effects of poverty on academic achievement more generally and on the identification and services for low-income gifted children specifically. This review sets the stage for further discussion of the research findings on identification practices including the efficacy of…

Information-guided communications in MIMO systems with channel state impairments

KAUST Repository

Yang, Yuli

2013-06-20

Information-guided channel hopping (IGCH) is a promising technique for high-data-rate communications using multiple antennas for information mapping at the transmitter and optional antenna diversity at the receiver. Compared with some popular multi-antenna techniques, the advantage of this scheme is proven in ideal channel conditions, where the channel is spatially white and the perfect channel state information is assumed available at the receiver. The main objective of this paper is to present an information theoretical study on IGCH in realistic propagation environments with channel degeneracy due to spatial correlation and keyhole phenomena as well as imperfect channel estimation. It is proven that good performance promised by IGCH can be achieved in a variety of non-ideal channel conditions. Moreover, the analysis in this paper provides a convenient tool for the corresponding system design in practical operating environments. © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Information-guided communications in MIMO systems with channel state impairments

KAUST Repository

Yang, Yuli; Aï ssa, Sonia

2013-01-01

Information-guided channel hopping (IGCH) is a promising technique for high-data-rate communications using multiple antennas for information mapping at the transmitter and optional antenna diversity at the receiver. Compared with some popular multi-antenna techniques, the advantage of this scheme is proven in ideal channel conditions, where the channel is spatially white and the perfect channel state information is assumed available at the receiver. The main objective of this paper is to present an information theoretical study on IGCH in realistic propagation environments with channel degeneracy due to spatial correlation and keyhole phenomena as well as imperfect channel estimation. It is proven that good performance promised by IGCH can be achieved in a variety of non-ideal channel conditions. Moreover, the analysis in this paper provides a convenient tool for the corresponding system design in practical operating environments. © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Supporting information for the estimation of plutonium oxide leak rates through very small apertures

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Schwendiman, L.C.

1977-01-01

Information is presented from which an estimate can be made of the release of plutonium oxide from shipping containers. The leak diameter is estimated from gas leak tests of the container and an estimate is made of gas leak rate as a function of pressure over the time of interest in the accident. These calculations are limited in accuracy because of assumptions regarding leak geometry and the basic formulations of hydrodynamic flow for the assumed conditions. Sonic flow is assumed to be the limiting gas flow rate. Particles leaking from the air space above the powder will be limited by the low availability of particles due to rapid settling, the very limited driving force (pressure buildup) during the first minute, and the deposition in the leak channel. Equations are given to estimate deposition losses. Leaks of particles occurring below the level of the bulk powder will be limited by mechanical interference when leaks are of dimension smaller than particle sizes present. Some limiting cases can be calculated. When the leak dimension is large compared to the particle sizes present, maximum particle releases can be estimated, but will be very conservative

Achieving Closure for Bioregenerative Life Support Systems: Engineering and Ecological Challenges, Research Opportunities

Science.gov (United States)

Dempster, William; Allen, John P.

Closed systems are desirable for a number of purposes: space life support systems where precious life-supporting resources need to be kept inside; biospheric systems; where global ecological pro-cesses can be studied in great detail and testbeds where research topics requiring isolation from the outside (e.g. genetically modified organisms; radioisotopes) can be studied in isolation from the outside environment and where their ecological interactions and fluxes can be studied. But to achieve and maintain closure raises both engineering and ecological challenges. Engineering challenges include methods of achieving closure for structures of different materials, and devel-oping methods of allowing energy (for heating and cooling) and information transfer through the materially closed structure. Methods of calculating degree of closure include measuring degradation rates of inert trace gases introduced into the system. An allied problem is devel-oping means of locating where leaks are located so that they may be repaired and degree of closure maintained. Once closure is achieved, methods of dealing with the pressure differen-tials between inside and outside are needed: from inflatable structures which might adjust to the pressure difference to variable volume chambers attached to the life systems component. These issues are illustrated through the engineering employed at Biosphere 2, the Biosphere 2 Test Module and the Laboratory Biosphere and a discussion of methods used by other closed ecological system facility engineers. Ecological challenges include being able to handle faster cycling rates and accentuated daily and seasonal fluxes of critical life elements such as carbon dioxide, oxygen, water, macro-and mico-nutrients. The problems of achieving sustainability in closed systems for life support include how to handle atmospheric dynamics including trace gases, producing a complete human diet and recycling nutrients and maintaining soil fertility, healthy air and

Analysis of 4999 online physician ratings indicates that most patients give physicians a favorable rating.

Science.gov (United States)

Kadry, Bassam; Chu, Larry F; Kadry, Bayan; Gammas, Danya; Macario, Alex

2011-11-16

Many online physician-rating sites provide patients with information about physicians and allow patients to rate physicians. Understanding what information is available is important given that patients may use this information to choose a physician. The goals of this study were to (1) determine the most frequently visited physician-rating websites with user-generated content, (2) evaluate the available information on these websites, and (3) analyze 4999 individual online ratings of physicians. On October 1, 2010, using Google Trends we identified the 10 most frequently visited online physician-rating sites with user-generated content. We then studied each site to evaluate the available information (eg, board certification, years in practice), the types of rating scales (eg, 1-5, 1-4, 1-100), and dimensions of care (eg, recommend to a friend, waiting room time) used to rate physicians. We analyzed data from 4999 selected physician ratings without identifiers to assess how physicians are rated online. The 10 most commonly visited websites with user-generated content were HealthGrades.com, Vitals.com, Yelp.com, YP.com, RevolutionHealth.com, RateMD.com, Angieslist.com, Checkbook.org, Kudzu.com, and ZocDoc.com. A total of 35 different dimensions of care were rated by patients in the websites, with a median of 4.5 (mean 4.9, SD 2.8, range 1-9) questions per site. Depending on the scale used for each physician-rating website, the average rating was 77 out of 100 for sites using a 100-point scale (SD 11, median 76, range 33-100), 3.84 out of 5 (77%) for sites using a 5-point scale (SD 0.98, median 4, range 1-5), and 3.1 out of 4 (78%) for sites using a 4-point scale (SD 0.72, median 3, range 1-4). The percentage of reviews rated ≥75 on a 100-point scale was 61.5% (246/400), ≥4 on a 5-point scale was 57.74% (2078/3599), and ≥3 on a 4-point scale was 74.0% (740/1000). The patient's single overall rating of the physician correlated with the other dimensions of care that

Predicting Atomic Decay Rates Using an Informational-Entropic Approach

Science.gov (United States)

Gleiser, Marcelo; Jiang, Nan

2018-06-01

We show that a newly proposed Shannon-like entropic measure of shape complexity applicable to spatially-localized or periodic mathematical functions known as configurational entropy (CE) can be used as a predictor of spontaneous decay rates for one-electron atoms. The CE is constructed from the Fourier transform of the atomic probability density. For the hydrogen atom with degenerate states labeled with the principal quantum number n, we obtain a scaling law relating the n-averaged decay rates to the respective CE. The scaling law allows us to predict the n-averaged decay rate without relying on the traditional computation of dipole matrix elements. We tested the predictive power of our approach up to n = 20, obtaining an accuracy better than 3.7% within our numerical precision, as compared to spontaneous decay tables listed in the literature.

Predicting Atomic Decay Rates Using an Informational-Entropic Approach

Science.gov (United States)

Gleiser, Marcelo; Jiang, Nan

2018-02-01

We show that a newly proposed Shannon-like entropic measure of shape complexity applicable to spatially-localized or periodic mathematical functions known as configurational entropy (CE) can be used as a predictor of spontaneous decay rates for one-electron atoms. The CE is constructed from the Fourier transform of the atomic probability density. For the hydrogen atom with degenerate states labeled with the principal quantum number n, we obtain a scaling law relating the n-averaged decay rates to the respective CE. The scaling law allows us to predict the n-averaged decay rate without relying on the traditional computation of dipole matrix elements. We tested the predictive power of our approach up to n = 20, obtaining an accuracy better than 3.7% within our numerical precision, as compared to spontaneous decay tables listed in the literature.

Assessing Multiple Pathways for Achieving China’s National Emissions Reduction Target

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Mingyue Wang

2018-06-01

Full Text Available In order to achieve China’s target of carbon intensity emissions reduction in 2030, there is a need to identify a scientific pathway and feasible strategies. In this study, we used stochastic frontier analysis method of energy efficiency, incorporating energy structure, economic structure, human capital, capital stock and potential energy efficiency to identify an efficient pathway for achieving emissions reduction target. We set up 96 scenarios including single factor scenarios and multi-factors combination scenarios for the simulation. The effects of each scenario on achieving the carbon intensity reduction target are then evaluated. It is found that: (1 Potential energy efficiency has the greatest contribution to the carbon intensity emissions reduction target; (2 they are unlikely to reach the 2030 carbon intensity reduction target of 60% by only optimizing a single factor; (3 in order to achieve the 2030 target, several aspects have to be adjusted: the fossil fuel ratio must be lower than 80%, and its average growth rate must be decreased by 2.2%; the service sector ratio in GDP must be higher than 58.3%, while the growth rate of non-service sectors must be lowered by 2.4%; and both human capital and capital stock must achieve and maintain a stable growth rate and a 1% increase annually in energy efficiency. Finally, the specific recommendations of this research were discussed, including constantly improved energy efficiency; the upgrading of China’s industrial structure must be accelerated; emissions reduction must be done at the root of energy sources; multi-level input mechanisms in overall levels of education and training to cultivate the human capital stock must be established; investment in emerging equipment and accelerate the closure of backward production capacity to accumulate capital stock.

Rating mutual funds

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Bechmann, Ken L.; Rangvid, Jesper

2007-01-01

We develop a new rating of mutual funds: the atpRating. The atpRating assigns crowns to each individual mutual fund based upon the costs an investor pays when investing in the fund in relation to what it would cost to invest in the fund's peers. Within each investment category, the rating assigns...... the return of a fund in a certain year generally contains only little information about the future return that the fund will generate. Finally, we have information on the investments in different mutual funds made by a small subgroup of investors known to have been exposed to both the atp...... five crowns to funds with the lowest costs and one crown to funds with the highest costs. We investigate the ability of the atpRating to predict the future performance of a fund. We find that an investor who has invested in the funds with the lowest costs within an investment category would have...

Rating Mutual Funds

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Bechmann, Ken L.; Rangvid, Jesper

We develop a new rating of mutual funds: the atpRating. The atpRating assigns crowns to each individual mutual fund based upon the costs an investor pays when investing in the fund in relation to what it would cost to invest in the fund’s peers. Within each investment category, the rating assigns......, whereas the return of a fund in a certain year generally contains only little information about the future return that the fund will generate. Finally, we have information on the investments in different mutual funds made by a small subgroup of investors known to have been exposed to both the atp...... five crowns to funds with the lowest costs and one crown to funds with the highest costs. We investigate the ability of the atpRating to predict the future performance of a fund. We find that an investor who has invested in the funds with the lowest costs within an investment category would have...

Classroom Climate and Students' Academic Achievement in Social ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

The instrument used was a structured six-point Likert scale questionnaire, the reliability estimate of which ranged from 0.7 to 0.8 and achievement test adapted from Junior Secondary School Certificate Examination, Ministry of Education, Cross River State (2004) were used to collect information used in the study. The data ...

The Effect of Distributed Practice Homework on Precalculus Achievement at a Military Academy.

Science.gov (United States)

1996-04-08

This study investigated the main effect of distributive practice homework on achievement in Precalculus . This study also investigated the aptitude...achievement in Precalculus . The sample consisted of 351 United States Air Force Academy cadets (experimental n = 161, control n = 190), all in their first...achievement. A subset of the Math Anxiety Rating Scale developed by Alexander and Martray (1989) was used as the measure of mathematics anxiety. Precalculus

Achievement goals, social goals, and motivational regulations in physical education settings.

Science.gov (United States)

Cecchini Estrada, José A; González González-Mesa, Carmen; Méndez-Giménez, Antonio; Fernández-Río, Javier

2011-02-01

This study examined the relationship between achievement and social goals, and explored how both goals affect students' level of informed self-determination in Physical Education. Participants were 395 high school students. Three scales were used to assess achievement, social goals, and motivation. Several hierarchical regression analyses revealed that mastery-approach goals were the greatest contributors to the individuals' levels of self-determination. Achievement and social goals were found to be separate predictors of students' levels of self-determination, and this highlights the importance of separating mastery and performance goals into avoidance and approach profiles. Girls reported significantly higher values than boys on responsibility, relationship, and mastery-avoidance goals, whereas boys scored higher on performance-approach goals. Researchers could use achievement and social goals to study students' motivation and achievement in Physical Education settings.

Small-scale quantum information processing with linear optics

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bergou, J.A.; Steinberg, A.M.; Mohseni, M.

2005-01-01

Full text: Photons are the ideal systems for carrying quantum information. Although performing large-scale quantum computation on optical systems is extremely demanding, non scalable linear-optics quantum information processing may prove essential as part of quantum communication networks. In addition efficient (scalable) linear-optical quantum computation proposal relies on the same optical elements. Here, by constructing multirail optical networks, we experimentally study two central problems in quantum information science, namely optimal discrimination between nonorthogonal quantum states, and controlling decoherence in quantum systems. Quantum mechanics forbids deterministic discrimination between nonorthogonal states. This is one of the central features of quantum cryptography, which leads to secure communications. Quantum state discrimination is an important primitive in quantum information processing, since it determines the limitations of a potential eavesdropper, and it has applications in quantum cloning and entanglement concentration. In this work, we experimentally implement generalized measurements in an optical system and demonstrate the first optimal unambiguous discrimination between three non-orthogonal states with a success rate of 55 %, to be compared with the 25 % maximum achievable using projective measurements. Furthermore, we present the first realization of unambiguous discrimination between a pure state and a nonorthogonal mixed state. In a separate experiment, we demonstrate how decoherence-free subspaces (DFSs) may be incorporated into a prototype optical quantum algorithm. Specifically, we present an optical realization of two-qubit Deutsch-Jozsa algorithm in presence of random noise. By introduction of localized turbulent airflow we produce a collective optical dephasing, leading to large error rates and demonstrate that using DFS encoding, the error rate in the presence of decoherence can be reduced from 35 % to essentially its pre

Promoting information diffusion through interlayer recovery processes in multiplex networks

Science.gov (United States)

Wang, Xin; Li, Weihua; Liu, Longzhao; Pei, Sen; Tang, Shaoting; Zheng, Zhiming

2017-09-01

For information diffusion in multiplex networks, the effect of interlayer contagion on spreading dynamics has been explored in different settings. Nevertheless, the impact of interlayer recovery processes, i.e., the transition of nodes to stiflers in all layers after they become stiflers in any layer, still remains unclear. In this paper, we propose a modified ignorant-spreader-stifler model of rumor spreading equipped with an interlayer recovery mechanism. We find that the information diffusion can be effectively promoted for a range of interlayer recovery rates. By combining the mean-field approximation and the Markov chain approach, we derive the evolution equations of the diffusion process in two-layer homogeneous multiplex networks. The optimal interlayer recovery rate that achieves the maximal enhancement can be calculated by solving the equations numerically. In addition, we find that the promoting effect on a certain layer can be strengthened if information spreads more extensively within the counterpart layer. When applying the model to two-layer scale-free multiplex networks, with or without degree correlation, similar promoting effect is also observed in simulations. Our work indicates that the interlayer recovery process is beneficial to information diffusion in multiplex networks, which may have implications for designing efficient spreading strategies.

A Review of Large-Scale "How Much Information?" Inventories: Variations, Achievements and Challenges

Science.gov (United States)

Hilbert, Martin

2015-01-01

Introduction: Pressed by the increasing social importance of digital information, including the current attention given to the "big data paradigm", several research projects have taken up the challenge to quantify the amount of technologically mediated information. Method: This meta-study reviews the eight most important inventories in a…

Bit-padding information guided channel hopping

KAUST Repository

Yang, Yuli

2011-02-01

In the context of multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) communications, we propose a bit-padding information guided channel hopping (BP-IGCH) scheme which breaks the limitation that the number of transmit antennas has to be a power of two based on the IGCH concept. The proposed scheme prescribes different bit-lengths to be mapped onto the indices of the transmit antennas and then uses padding technique to avoid error propagation. Numerical results and comparisons, on both the capacity and the bit error rate performances, are provided and show the advantage of the proposed scheme. The BP-IGCH scheme not only offers lower complexity to realize the design flexibility, but also achieves better performance. © 2011 IEEE.

Operating philosophy for maintaining occupational radiation exposures as low as is reasonably achievable

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

1975-09-01

Both this guide and Regulatory Guide 8.8, ''Information Relevant to Maintaining Occupational Radiation Exposure as Low as is Reasonably Achievable (Nuclear Power Reactors),'' deal with the concept of ''as low as is reasonably achievable'' occupational exposures to radiation. This guide describes an operating philosophy that the NRC staff believes all specific licensees should follow to keep occupational exposures to radiation as low as is reasonably achievable. (auth)

The Character, Organization Change and Information System

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Santo Fernandi Wijaya

2011-06-01

Full Text Available The success of building an integrated information system is an expectation of every company management to achieve effective and efficient working system. However, in the real business practices, not a few companies failed in building an integrated information system caused by the absence of several factors: strong commitment, hard work and smart effort conducted by a team. The team determines the success level in building an integrated information system. A factor of intelligence and mental maturity of users in running a new information system that has not been known is also another key to success. Therefore, it takes a good user’s character supported by a management decision to make management changes to achieve the building success level. This study aims to address the role of character and organization changes in achieving a success building an integrated information system. 

Effect of cooling rate on achieving thermodynamic equilibrium in uranium-plutonium mixed oxides

Science.gov (United States)

Vauchy, Romain; Belin, Renaud C.; Robisson, Anne-Charlotte; Hodaj, Fiqiri

2016-02-01

In situ X-ray diffraction was used to study the structural changes occurring in uranium-plutonium mixed oxides U1-yPuyO2-x with y = 0.15; 0.28 and 0.45 during cooling from 1773 K to room-temperature under He + 5% H2 atmosphere. We compare the fastest and slowest cooling rates allowed by our apparatus i.e. 2 K s-1 and 0.005 K s-1, respectively. The promptly cooled samples evidenced a phase separation whereas samples cooled slowly did not due to their complete oxidation in contact with the atmosphere during cooling. Besides the composition of the annealing gas mixture, the cooling rate plays a major role on the control of the Oxygen/Metal ratio (O/M) and then on the crystallographic properties of the U1-yPuyO2-x uranium-plutonium mixed oxides.

An adaptation method to improve secret key rates of time-frequency QKD in atmospheric turbulence channels

Science.gov (United States)

Sun, Xiaole; Djordjevic, Ivan B.; Neifeld, Mark A.

2016-03-01

Free-space optical (FSO) channels can be characterized by random power fluctuations due to atmospheric turbulence, which is known as scintillation. Weak coherent source based FSO quantum key distribution (QKD) systems suffer from the scintillation effect because during the deep channel fading the expected detection rate drops, which then gives an eavesdropper opportunity to get additional information about protocol by performing photon number splitting (PNS) attack and blocking single-photon pulses without changing QBER. To overcome this problem, in this paper, we study a large-alphabet QKD protocol, which is achieved by using pulse-position modulation (PPM)-like approach that utilizes the time-frequency uncertainty relation of the weak coherent photon state, called here TF-PPM-QKD protocol. We first complete finite size analysis for TF-PPM-QKD protocol to give practical bounds against non-negligible statistical fluctuation due to finite resources in practical implementations. The impact of scintillation under strong atmospheric turbulence regime is studied then. To overcome the secure key rate performance degradation of TF-PPM-QKD caused by scintillation, we propose an adaptation method for compensating the scintillation impact. By changing source intensity according to the channel state information (CSI), obtained by classical channel, the adaptation method improves the performance of QKD system with respect to the secret key rate. The CSI of a time-varying channel can be predicted using stochastic models, such as autoregressive (AR) models. Based on the channel state predictions, we change the source intensity to the optimal value to achieve a higher secret key rate. We demonstrate that the improvement of the adaptation method is dependent on the prediction accuracy.

A broad-application microchannel-plate detector system for advanced particle or photon detection tasks large area imaging, precise multi-hit timing information and high detection rate

CERN Document Server

Jagutzki, O; Mergel, V; Schmidt-Böcking, H; Spielberger, L; Spillmann, U; Ullmann-Pfleger, K

2002-01-01

New applications for single particle and photon detection in many fields require both large area imaging performance and precise time information on each detected particle. Moreover, a very high data acquisition rate is desirable for most applications and eventually the detection and imaging of more than one particle arriving within a microsecond is required. Commercial CCD systems lack the timing information whereas other electronic microchannel plate (MCP) read-out schemes usually suffer from a low acquisition rate and complicated and sometimes costly read-out electronics. We have designed and tested a complete imaging system consisting of an MCP position readout with helical wire delay-lines, single-unit amplifier box and PC-controlled time-to-digital converter (TDC) readout. The system is very flexible and can detect and analyse position and timing information at single particle rates beyond 1 MHz. Alternatively, multi-hit events can be collected and analysed at about 20 kHz rate. We discuss the advantage...

Achievable Rates of Cognitive Radio Networks Using Multi-Layer Coding with Limited CSI

KAUST Repository

Sboui, Lokman; Rezki, Zouheir; Alouini, Mohamed-Slim

2016-01-01

In a Cognitive Radio (CR) framework, the channel state information (CSI) feedback to the secondary transmitter (SU Tx) can be limited or unavailable. Thus, the statistical model is adopted in order to determine the system performance using

Validity and Reliability of Trichotomous Achievement Goal Scale

Science.gov (United States)

Ilker, Gokce Erturan; Arslan, Yunus; Demirhan, Giyasettin

2011-01-01

The Trichotomous Achievement Goal Scale was developed by Agbuga and Xiang (2008) by including selected items from the scales of Duda and Nicholls (1992), Elliot (1999), and Elliot and Church (1997) and adapting them into Turkish. The scale consists of 18 items, and students rated each item on a 7-point Likert scale. To ascertain the validity and…

PRE-CONTRACTUAL INFORMATION IN CREDIT AGREEMENTS FOR CONSUMERS

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Mihaela-Irina IONESCU

2015-07-01

Full Text Available The article provides an image to the point on information provided to consumers before the conclusion of a credit contract, starting with the importance of information and ending with the legal framework. A high consumer protection may be achieved primarily through consumer information. The complexity of banking services but also the vulnerability of consumers in relation to the banks and the unbalanced relationship led to the need to develop specific legislation that clearly establishes the rights and obligations of the parties of a credit agreement for consumers. In this regard, in 2008, after many debates, Directive 2008/48/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council on credit agreements for consumers was adopted. At national level, the Directive was transposed by the Government Emergency Ordinance no. 50/2010 on credit agreements for consumers. Taking into account national specificities, such as lack of experience of consumers in financial products, the irresponsible lending and the unfair practices of creditors, the national act includes wider provisions than the European Directive, such as those relating to fees limitations or those related to the calculation of the variable interest rate. Also the GEO no 50/2010 applies to all credit agreements concluded by consumers and creditors. As regards the advertising, any advertisement shall include a series of standard information. Also, pre-contractual information is standard information, is provided to consumers 15 days before the contract is concluded and is transmitted through the “European Consumer Credit Information sheet Standard”. The article presents when, how and what information should be given to consumers and insists on the importance of annual percentage rate and to what consumers should pay attention in order to be able to compare different offers.

Tools for evidence-based vascular nursing practice: Achieving information literacy for lifelong learning.

Science.gov (United States)

Jameson, Jodi; Walsh, M Eileen

2017-12-01

Information literacy is essential in facilitating evidence-based practice (EBP) activities. In vascular nursing, the implementation of EBP is of utmost importance. Best practice grounded in research evidence can contribute to improved patient care outcomes for individuals with vascular disease. The following paper discusses information literacy competencies for nurses to develop in the context of EBP, with an emphasis on formulating a clinical question and searching for evidence. Relevant health science information resources are described, including their value and purpose in the 6S model of evidence. Also discussed are practical and supportive solutions with proven effectiveness in ensuring nurses' success with EBP. Copyright © 2017 Society for Vascular Nursing, Inc. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Building health research systems to achieve better health

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

González Block Miguel

2006-11-01

Full Text Available Abstract Health research systems can link knowledge generation with practical concerns to improve health and health equity. Interest in health research, and in how health research systems should best be organised, is moving up the agenda of bodies such as the World Health Organisation. Pioneering health research systems, for example those in Canada and the UK, show that progress is possible. However, radical steps are required to achieve this. Such steps should be based on evidence not anecdotes. Health Research Policy and Systems (HARPS provides a vehicle for the publication of research, and informed opinion, on a range of topics related to the organisation of health research systems and the enormous benefits that can be achieved. Following the Mexico ministerial summit on health research, WHO has been identifying ways in which it could itself improve the use of research evidence. The results from this activity are soon to be published as a series of articles in HARPS. This editorial provides an account of some of these recent key developments in health research systems but places them in the context of a distinguished tradition of debate about the role of science in society. It also identifies some of the main issues on which 'research on health research' has already been conducted and published, in some cases in HARPS. Finding and retaining adequate financial and human resources to conduct health research is a major problem, especially in low and middle income countries where the need is often greatest. Research ethics and agenda-setting that responds to the demands of the public are issues of growing concern. Innovative and collaborative ways are being found to organise the conduct and utilisation of research so as to inform policy, and improve health and health equity. This is crucial, not least to achieve the health-related Millennium Development Goals. But much more progress is needed. The editorial ends by listing a wide range of topics

Quantum information

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kilin, Sergei Ya

1999-01-01

A new research direction known as quantum information is a multidisciplinary subject which involves quantum mechanics, optics, information theory, programming, discrete mathematics, laser physics and spectroscopy, and depends heavily on contributions from such areas as quantum computing, quantum teleportation and quantum cryptography, decoherence studies, and single-molecule and impurity spectroscopy. Some new results achieved in this rapidly growing field are discussed. (reviews of topical problems)

Quantum information

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Kilin, Sergei Ya [B.I. Stepanov Institute of Physics, National Academy of Sciences of Belarus, Minsk (Belarus)

1999-05-31

A new research direction known as quantum information is a multidisciplinary subject which involves quantum mechanics, optics, information theory, programming, discrete mathematics, laser physics and spectroscopy, and depends heavily on contributions from such areas as quantum computing, quantum teleportation and quantum cryptography, decoherence studies, and single-molecule and impurity spectroscopy. Some new results achieved in this rapidly growing field are discussed. (reviews of topical problems)

A Study of Leadership Styles that Lead to Academic Achievement of Hispanic Students

Science.gov (United States)

Smith, Mitzi Harris

2010-01-01

The purpose of this study was to determine the relationship between secondary principal leadership style and Hispanic student achievement. Student achievement was measured by the graduation rate for each school. The principals' leadership styles were defined by scores in the Leadership Orientations Profile. The online survey was sent to 549…

Can we replace curation with information extraction software?

Science.gov (United States)

Karp, Peter D

2016-01-01

Can we use programs for automated or semi-automated information extraction from scientific texts as practical alternatives to professional curation? I show that error rates of current information extraction programs are too high to replace professional curation today. Furthermore, current IEP programs extract single narrow slivers of information, such as individual protein interactions; they cannot extract the large breadth of information extracted by professional curators for databases such as EcoCyc. They also cannot arbitrate among conflicting statements in the literature as curators can. Therefore, funding agencies should not hobble the curation efforts of existing databases on the assumption that a problem that has stymied Artificial Intelligence researchers for more than 60 years will be solved tomorrow. Semi-automated extraction techniques appear to have significantly more potential based on a review of recent tools that enhance curator productivity. But a full cost-benefit analysis for these tools is lacking. Without such analysis it is possible to expend significant effort developing information-extraction tools that automate small parts of the overall curation workflow without achieving a significant decrease in curation costs.Database URL. © The Author(s) 2016. Published by Oxford University Press.

High burn rate solid composite propellants

Science.gov (United States)

Manship, Timothy D.

High burn rate propellants help maintain high levels of thrust without requiring complex, high surface area grain geometries. Utilizing high burn rate propellants allows for simplified grain geometries that not only make production of the grains easier, but the simplified grains tend to have better mechanical strength, which is important in missiles undergoing high-g accelerations. Additionally, high burn rate propellants allow for a higher volumetric loading which reduces the overall missile's size and weight. The purpose of this study is to present methods of achieving a high burn rate propellant and to develop a composite propellant formulation that burns at 1.5 inches per second at 1000 psia. In this study, several means of achieving a high burn rate propellant were presented. In addition, several candidate approaches were evaluated using the Kepner-Tregoe method with hydroxyl terminated polybutadiene (HTPB)-based propellants using burn rate modifiers and dicyclopentadiene (DCPD)-based propellants being selected for further evaluation. Propellants with varying levels of nano-aluminum, nano-iron oxide, FeBTA, and overall solids loading were produced using the HTPB binder and evaluated in order to determine the effect the various ingredients have on the burn rate and to find a formulation that provides the burn rate desired. Experiments were conducted to compare the burn rates of propellants using the binders HTPB and DCPD. The DCPD formulation matched that of the baseline HTPB mix. Finally, GAP-plasticized DCPD gumstock dogbones were attempted to be made for mechanical evaluation. Results from the study show that nano-additives have a substantial effect on propellant burn rate with nano-iron oxide having the largest influence. Of the formulations tested, the highest burn rate was a 84% solids loading mix using nano-aluminum nano-iron oxide, and ammonium perchlorate in a 3:1(20 micron: 200 micron) ratio which achieved a burn rate of 1.2 inches per second at 1000

What research impacts do Australian primary health care researchers expect and achieve?

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Reed Richard L

2011-11-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background Funding for research is under pressure to be accountable in terms of benefits and translation of research findings into practice and policy. Primary health care research has considerable potential to improve health care in a wide range of settings, but little is known about the extent to which these impacts actually occur. This study examines the impact of individual primary health care research projects on policy and practice from the perspective of Chief Investigators (CIs. Methods The project used an online survey adapted from the Buxton and Hanney Payback Framework to collect information about the impacts that CIs expected and achieved from primary health care research projects funded by Australian national competitive grants. Results and Discussion Chief Investigators (CIs provided information about seventeen completed projects. While no CI expected their project to have an impact in every domain of the framework used in the survey, 76% achieved at least half the impacts they expected. Sixteen projects had published and/or presented their work, 10 projects included 11 doctorate awards in their research capacity domain. All CIs expected their research to lead to further research opportunities with 11 achieving this. Ten CIs achieved their expectation of providing information for policy making but only four reported their research had influenced policy making. However 11 CIs achieved their expectation of providing information for organizational decision making and eight reported their research had influenced organizational decision making. Conclusion CIs reported that nationally funded primary health care research projects made an impact on knowledge production, staff development and further research, areas within the realm of influence of the research team and within the scope of awareness of the CIs. Some also made an impact on policy and organizational decision-making, and on localized clinical practice and service

Using the instructional congruence model to change a science teacher's practices and English language learners' attitudes and achievement in science

Science.gov (United States)

Salame, Hania Moussa

The purpose of the current study was to examine the effects of adapting the instructional congruence model on the English Language Learners' (ELL) attitudes and achievement in science. Changes in teacher's views and practices were documented. The mixed-method approach was adapted. Data sources were the "Attitude Towards Science" survey, VNOS-C questionnaire, Luykx and Lee (2007) observational instrument, Gee (1997) discussion categories, video recordings, and pre- and post-tests. A science teacher and a class of 24 ELL female students in a charter school participated in this research. The results of this study indicated that student achievement increased significantly and students' attitudes improved in all contexts. At the conclusion of the study, all teacher's views on NOS were reported to be informed, teacher's practices were rated higher, and different classroom interactions increased significantly. The instructional congruence model in science education has been successful in reaching different learners, improving students' attitudes and achievement in science and enhancing teacher's views and practices. This model has significant potential for meeting the challenging goals of reformed science education.

Using language models to identify relevant new information in inpatient clinical notes.

Science.gov (United States)

Zhang, Rui; Pakhomov, Serguei V; Lee, Janet T; Melton, Genevieve B

2014-01-01

Redundant information in clinical notes within electronic health record (EHR) systems is ubiquitous and may negatively impact the use of these notes by clinicians, and, potentially, the efficiency of patient care delivery. Automated methods to identify redundant versus relevant new information may provide a valuable tool for clinicians to better synthesize patient information and navigate to clinically important details. In this study, we investigated the use of language models for identification of new information in inpatient notes, and evaluated our methods using expert-derived reference standards. The best method achieved precision of 0.743, recall of 0.832 and F1-measure of 0.784. The average proportion of redundant information was similar between inpatient and outpatient progress notes (76.6% (SD=17.3%) and 76.7% (SD=14.0%), respectively). Advanced practice providers tended to have higher rates of redundancy in their notes compared to physicians. Future investigation includes the addition of semantic components and visualization of new information.

Measuring self-rated health status among resettled adult refugee populations to inform practice and policy - a scoping review.

Science.gov (United States)

Dowling, Alison; Enticott, Joanne; Russell, Grant

2017-12-08

The health status of refugees is a significant factor in determining their success in resettlement and relies heavily on self-rated measures of refugee health. The selection of robust and appropriate self-rated health measurement tools is challenging due to the number and methodological variation in the use of assessment tools across refugee health studies. This study describes the existing self-report health measures which have been used in studies of adult refugees living in the community to allow us to address the challenges of selecting appropriate assessments to measure health within refugee groups. Electronic databases of Ovid Medline, CINAHL, SCOPUS, Embase and Scopus. This review identified 45 different self-rated health measurements in 183 studies. Most of the studies were cross sectional explorations of the mental health status of refugees living in community settings within Western nations. A third of the tools were designed specifically for use within refugee populations. More than half of the identified measurement tools have been evaluated for reliability and/or validity within refugee populations. Much variation was found in the selection, development and testing of measurement tools across the reviewed studies. This review shows that there are currently a number of reliable and valid tools available for use in refugee health research; however, further work is required to achieve consistency in the quality and in the use of these tools. Methodological guidelines are required to assist researchers and clinicians in the development and testing of self-rated health measurement tools for use in refugee research.

Effect of cooling rate on achieving thermodynamic equilibrium in uranium–plutonium mixed oxides

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Vauchy, Romain, E-mail: romain.vauchy@cea.fr [CEA, DEN, DTEC, Marcoule, 30207, Bagnols-sur-Cèze (France); CEA, DEN, DEC, Cadarache, 13108, Saint-Paul-lez-Durance (France); Belin, Renaud C.; Robisson, Anne-Charlotte [CEA, DEN, DEC, Cadarache, 13108, Saint-Paul-lez-Durance (France); Hodaj, Fiqiri [Univ. Grenoble Alpes, SIMAP, F-38000, Grenoble (France); CNRS, Grenoble INP, SIMAP, F-38000, Grenoble (France)

2016-02-15

In situ X-ray diffraction was used to study the structural changes occurring in uranium–plutonium mixed oxides U{sub 1−y}Pu{sub y}O{sub 2−x} with y = 0.15; 0.28 and 0.45 during cooling from 1773 K to room-temperature under He + 5% H{sub 2} atmosphere. We compare the fastest and slowest cooling rates allowed by our apparatus i.e. 2 K s{sup −1} and 0.005 K s{sup −1}, respectively. The promptly cooled samples evidenced a phase separation whereas samples cooled slowly did not due to their complete oxidation in contact with the atmosphere during cooling. Besides the composition of the annealing gas mixture, the cooling rate plays a major role on the control of the Oxygen/Metal ratio (O/M) and then on the crystallographic properties of the U{sub 1−y}Pu{sub y}O{sub 2−x} uranium–plutonium mixed oxides.

Academic Self-Concept, Achievement Goals, and Achievement: Is Their Relation the Same for Academic Achievers and Underachievers?

Science.gov (United States)

Preckel, Franzis; Brunner, Martin

2015-01-01

This longitudinal study investigated the contribution of achievement goals and academic self-concept for the prediction of unexpected academic achievement (i.e., achievement that is higher or lower than expected with respect to students' cognitive ability) in general and when comparing groups of extreme over- and underachievers. Our sample…

A mediation analysis of achievement motives, goals, learning strategies, and academic achievement.

Science.gov (United States)

Diseth, Age; Kobbeltvedt, Therese

2010-12-01

Previous research is inconclusive regarding antecedents and consequences of achievement goals, and there is a need for more research in order to examine the joint effects of different types of motives and learning strategies as predictors of academic achievement. To investigate the relationship between achievement motives, achievement goals, learning strategies (deep, surface, and strategic), and academic achievement in a hierarchical model. Participants were 229 undergraduate students (mean age: 21.2 years) of psychology and economics at the University of Bergen, Norway. Variables were measured by means of items from the Achievement Motives Scale (AMS), the Approaches and Study Skills Inventory for Students, and an achievement goal scale. Correlation analysis showed that academic achievement (examination grade) was positively correlated with performance-approach goal, mastery goal, and strategic learning strategies, and negatively correlated with performance-avoidance goal and surface learning strategy. A path analysis (structural equation model) showed that achievement goals were mediators between achievement motives and learning strategies, and that strategic learning strategies mediated the relationship between achievement goals and academic achievement. This study integrated previous findings from several studies and provided new evidence on the direct and indirect effects of different types of motives and learning strategies as predictors of academic achievement.

Adaptive threshold control for auto-rate fallback algorithm in IEEE 802.11 multi-rate WLANs

Science.gov (United States)

Wu, Qilin; Lu, Yang; Zhu, Xiaolin; Ge, Fangzhen

2012-03-01

The IEEE 802.11 standard supports multiple rates for data transmission in the physical layer. Nowadays, to improve network performance, a rate adaptation scheme called auto-rate fallback (ARF) is widely adopted in practice. However, ARF scheme suffers performance degradation in multiple contending nodes environments. In this article, we propose a novel rate adaptation scheme called ARF with adaptive threshold control. In multiple contending nodes environment, the proposed scheme can effectively mitigate the frame collision effect on rate adaptation decision by adaptively adjusting rate-up and rate-down threshold according to the current collision level. Simulation results show that the proposed scheme can achieve significantly higher throughput than the other existing rate adaptation schemes. Furthermore, the simulation results also demonstrate that the proposed scheme can effectively respond to the varying channel condition.

An Advanced Information Management Support System to Improve the Decision Making Process within Future Command Information Centers

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Maas, H.L.M.M.; Wynia, S.J.

2000-01-01

This paper describes the achieved research results within several national and international C2 and information-management projects for developing concepts for balancing the information push with the operator's information need to meet the requirement to avoid / suppress information overload

The Russian Landing Rate, Central Bank’s Policy Related Rate and Intermediation Premium

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Chu V. Nguyen

2017-04-01

Full Text Available This paper illustrates asymmetries in the Russian intermediation premium as measured by the spread between the commercial lending rate and the Central Bank’s policy related rate. Empirical results have shown that the Russian intermediation premium adjusts to the threshold faster when the Central Bank’s policy related rates increase relative to lending rates as opposed to when the Central Bank’s policy related rates move in the opposite direction. The findings of this paper suggest that during the period when the Russian Federation faced formidable challenges from a sharp decline in oil prices and reduced access to international capital markets due to Western sanctions, the Central Bank of Russia was not effective in utilizing countercyclical monetary policy to achieve macroeconomic objectives and commercial banks exhibited predatory pricing behavior.

Achieving Energy Efficient Ship Operations Under Third Party Management

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Taudal Poulsen, René; Sornn-Friese, Henrik

2015-01-01

Profitable energy saving measures are often not fully implemented in shipping, causing energy efficiency gaps. The paper identifies energy efficiency gaps in ship operations, and explores their causes. Lack of information on energy efficiency, lack of energy training at sea and onshore and lack...... of time to produce and provide reliable energy efficiency information cause energy efficiency gaps. The paper brings together the energy efficiency and ship management literatures, demonstrating how ship management models influence energy efficiency in ship operations. Achieving energy efficiency in ship...

In Their Own Words: Reasons Underlying the Achievement Striving of Students in Schools

Science.gov (United States)

Lee, Minhye; Bong, Mimi

2016-01-01

By analyzing the open-ended reasons for studying generated by 3 different groups of Korean middle school students, we aimed to provide partial answers to current issues in achievement goal research that are difficult to resolve solely with the use of survey ratings. We categorized student responses using the achievement goal frameworks of Midgley…

Egalitarianism and Achievement in the Involvement of Others in Consumer Decisions: A Functional Analysis.

Science.gov (United States)

Miller, Duane I.

1980-01-01

Studied how egalitaranism and success through individual achievement, were expressed in the involvement of others in consumer decisions. Results found egalitarians involved others in seeking more information. Individual achievement subjects delegated more decision responsibility for non-ego involving decisions. Suggests involvement of others could…

Attitude Towards Physics and Additional Mathematics Achievement Towards Physics Achievement

Science.gov (United States)

Veloo, Arsaythamby; Nor, Rahimah; Khalid, Rozalina

2015-01-01

The purpose of this research is to identify the difference in students' attitude towards Physics and Additional Mathematics achievement based on gender and relationship between attitudinal variables towards Physics and Additional Mathematics achievement with achievement in Physics. This research focused on six variables, which is attitude towards…

Instructional Style, Cognitive Processing, and Achievement Behavior Patterns of Schoolchildren

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Atasi Mohanty

2015-03-01

Full Text Available The objective of the study was to examine the performance characteristics and differences between English and Oriya medium school children on various cognitive processing, reading, academic achievement, and teacher perception measures. The sample consists of 243 schoolchildren, 120 from Grade IV and 123 from Grade VII from three different schools of Cuttack city in Orissa, India. The children were individually administered the Figure-Copying, Raven’s Progressive Matrices, Matching Familiar Figure Task, Serial Recall, Digit-Span, Wechsler’s Intelligence Scale for Children, Block Design, Cloze Reading Comprehension, and Oral Reading tasks. Classroom Achievement scores on different subjects and the teachers’ ratings about their students were also taken. Results revealed that children reading in English medium schools outperformed their Oriya medium counterparts in some cognitive measures such as Figure Copying, MFFT, RPM, and Digit-Span tasks irrespective of levels. However, the children studying in Oriya medium schools scored higher in Reading Comprehension task and commit less error compared with their English medium counterparts. However, in case of academic achievement measures at primary level, the Oriya medium children performed better in social science, whereas the English medium students excelled in first language and mathematics. The teachers of Oriya medium schools also rated their children better in general conduct, motivation, and effort in schoolwork, whereas, at the secondary level, there was no difference between these two groups in academic achievement or teacher perception measures.

Efficiency achievements from a user-developed real-time modifiable clinical information system.

Science.gov (United States)

Bishop, Roderick O; Patrick, Jon; Besiso, Ali

2015-02-01

This investigation was initiated after the introduction of a new information system into the Nepean Hospital Emergency Department. A retrospective study determined that the problems introduced by the new system led to reduced efficiency of the clinical staff, demonstrated by deterioration in the emergency department's (ED's) performance. This article is an investigation of methods to improve the design and implementation of clinical information systems for an ED by using a process of clinical team-led design and a technology built on a radically new philosophy denoted as emergent clinical information systems. The specific objectives were to construct a system, the Nepean Emergency Department Information Management System (NEDIMS), using a combination of new design methods; determine whether it provided any reduction in time and click burden on the user in comparison to an enterprise proprietary system, Cerner FirstNet; and design and evaluate a model of the effect that any reduction had on patient throughput in the department. The methodology for conducting a direct comparison between the 2 systems used the 6 activity centers in the ED of clerking, triage, nursing assessments, fast track, acute care, and nurse unit manager. A quantitative study involved the 2 systems being measured for their efficiency on 17 tasks taken from the activity centers. A total of 332 task instances were measured for duration and number of mouse clicks in live usage on Cerner FirstNet and in reproduction of the same Cerner FirstNet work on NEDIMS as an off-line system. The results showed that NEDIMS is at least 41% more efficient than Cerner FirstNet (95% confidence interval 21.6% to 59.8%). In some cases, the NEDIMS tasks were remodeled to demonstrate the value of feedback to create improvements and the speed and economy of design revision in the emergent clinical information systems approach. The cost of the effort in remodeling the designs showed that the time spent on remodeling is

Parent involvement and science achievement: A latent growth curve analysis

Science.gov (United States)

Johnson, Ursula Yvette

This study examined science achievement growth across elementary and middle school and parent school involvement using the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study - Kindergarten Class of 1998--1999 (ECLS-K). The ECLS-K is a nationally representative kindergarten cohort of students from public and private schools who attended full-day or half-day kindergarten class in 1998--1999. The present study's sample (N = 8,070) was based on students that had a sampling weight available from the public-use data file. Students were assessed in science achievement at third, fifth, and eighth grades and parents of the students were surveyed at the same time points. Analyses using latent growth curve modeling with time invariant and varying covariates in an SEM framework revealed a positive relationship between science achievement and parent involvement at eighth grade. Furthermore, there were gender and racial/ethnic differences in parents' school involvement as a predictor of science achievement. Findings indicated that students with lower initial science achievement scores had a faster rate of growth across time. The achievement gap between low and high achievers in earth, space and life sciences lessened from elementary to middle school. Parents' involvement with school usually tapers off after elementary school, but due to parent school involvement being a significant predictor of eighth grade science achievement, later school involvement may need to be supported and better implemented in secondary schooling.

Heart rate informed artificial pancreas system enhances glycemic control during exercise in adolescents with T1D.

Science.gov (United States)

DeBoer, Mark D; Cherñavvsky, Daniel R; Topchyan, Katarina; Kovatchev, Boris P; Francis, Gary L; Breton, Marc D

2017-11-01

To evaluate the safety and performance of using a heart rate (HR) monitor to inform an artificial pancreas (AP) system during exercise among adolescents with type 1 diabetes (T1D). In a randomized, cross-over trial, adolescents with T1D age 13 - 18 years were enrolled to receive on separate days either the unmodified UVa AP (stdAP) or an AP system connected to a portable HR monitor (AP-HR) that triggered an exercise algorithm for blood glucose (BG) control. During admissions participants underwent a structured exercise regimen. Hypoglycemic events and CGM tracings were compared between the two admissions, during exercise and for the full 24-hour period. Eighteen participants completed the trial. While number of hypoglycemic events during exercise and rest was not different between visits (0.39 AP-HR vs 0.50 stdAP), time below 70 mg dL -1 was lower on AP-HR compared to stdAP, 0.5±2.1% vs 7.4±12.5% (P = 0.028). Time with BG within 70-180 mg dL -1 was higher for the AP-HR admission vs stdAP during the exercise portion and overall (96% vs 87%, and 77% vs 74%), but these did not reach statistical significance (P = 0.075 and P = 0.366). Heart rate signals can safely and efficaciously be integrated in a wireless AP system to inform of physical activity. While exercise contributes to hypoglycemia among adolescents, even when using an AP system, informing the system of exercise via a HR monitor improved time <70 mg dL -1 . Nonetheless, it did not significantly reduce the total number of hypoglycemic events, which were low in both groups. © 2016 John Wiley & Sons A/S. Published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Achieving biopolymer synergy in systems chemistry.

Science.gov (United States)

Bai, Yushi; Chotera, Agata; Taran, Olga; Liang, Chen; Ashkenasy, Gonen; Lynn, David G

2018-05-31

Synthetic and materials chemistry initiatives have enabled the translation of the macromolecular functions of biology into synthetic frameworks. These explorations into alternative chemistries of life attempt to capture the versatile functionality and adaptability of biopolymers in new orthogonal scaffolds. Information storage and transfer, however, so beautifully represented in the central dogma of biology, require multiple components functioning synergistically. Over a single decade, the emerging field of systems chemistry has begun to catalyze the construction of mutualistic biopolymer networks, and this review begins with the foundational small-molecule-based dynamic chemical networks and peptide amyloid-based dynamic physical networks on which this effort builds. The approach both contextualizes the versatile approaches that have been developed to enrich chemical information in synthetic networks and highlights the properties of amyloids as potential alternative genetic elements. The successful integration of both chemical and physical networks through β-sheet assisted replication processes further informs the synergistic potential of these networks. Inspired by the cooperative synergies of nucleic acids and proteins in biology, synthetic nucleic-acid-peptide chimeras are now being explored to extend their informational content. With our growing range of synthetic capabilities, structural analyses, and simulation technologies, this foundation is radically extending the structural space that might cross the Darwinian threshold for the origins of life as well as creating an array of alternative systems capable of achieving the progressive growth of novel informational materials.

The National Bank of Ukraine Communication Strategy Optimization within the Framework of Impact on Exchange Rate Expectations of Economic Agents

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Roksolana Holub

2017-09-01

Full Text Available An important challenge in terms of smoothing excessive exchange rate volatility under the conditions of flexible exchange rate arrangement is optimization of the communication strategy of the country’s monetary regulator. Over the past two decades, communication (information support has become an increasingly important aspect of monetary policy. Communication enables influence of the volatility of financial markets, improvement of the predictability of monetary policy, and helps to achieve macroeconomic objectives. Nevertheless, as of today, consensus on the issue into what the optimal strategy of the central bank communication is has not been reached, either in Ukraine, nor in developed countries yet. Considering the abovementioned, the methodical approaches to improve the central bank’s communication strategies, based on the use of its verbal interventions in the context of smoothing out excessive cyclical volatility of exchange rates of the national currency, are determined in this article. It is suggested to consider the growth of the factor “information signal/information noise” as a criterion of the central bank’s optimal communication strategy. It is proved that the monetary regulator’s main task should be the continual provision of information concerning a fundamentally justified level of the exchange rate and the level of deviation of the actual rate of the national currency from its fundamental-equilibrium level, as of a given time, to the national foreign exchange market participants. The methodological approach to the improvement of information support of forecasting fundamentally specified value of the national currency is outlined.

Defining Information Quality Into Health Websites: A Conceptual Framework of Health Website Information Quality for Educated Young Adults.

Science.gov (United States)

Tao, Donghua; LeRouge, Cynthia; Smith, K Jody; De Leo, Gianluca

2017-10-06

Today's health care environment encourages health care consumers to take an active role in managing their health. As digital natives, young educated adults do much of their health information management through the Internet and consider it a valid source of health advice. However, the quality of information on health websites is highly variable and dynamic. Little is known about the understandings and perceptions that young educated adults have garnered on the quality of information on health websites used for health care-related purposes. To fill this gap, the aim of this study was to develop a conceptual framework of health website information quality with quality dimensions (ie, criteria) and associated quality drivers (ie, attributes) specified in the context of young educated adults' use of health websites for health care-related purposes. This aim was achieved by (1) identifying information quality dimensions of health websites from the perspective of young educated adults; (2) identifying the importance ratings of these quality dimensions; and (3) constructing a framework of health website information quality with quality dimensions and associated drivers specified in the context of young educated adults' use of health websites for health care-related purposes. The study employed both qualitative and quantitative methods. Methods included semistructured group interviews and an individual quality assessment exercise grounded in visiting various websites and responding to Likert scale questions regarding the importance ratings of information quality dimensions and open-ended questions with specifying website quality drivers. Study participants included junior and senior undergraduate and graduate students in business, allied health, and public health majors. Qualitative, open-coding procedures were used to develop the conceptual framework reflecting the participants' means of assessing information quality on health websites. Five dimensions of information

Regulation and drive system for high rep-rate magnetic-pulse compressors

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Birx, D.L.; Cook, E.G.; Hawkins, S.; Meyers, A.; Reginato, L.L.; Schmidt, J.A.; Smith, M.W.

1982-01-01

The essentially unlimited rep-rate capability of non-linear magnetic systems has imposed strict requirements on the drive system which initiates the pulse compression. An order of magnitude increase in the rep-rates achieved by the Advanced Test Accelerator (ATA) gas blown system is not difficult to achieve in the magnetic compressor. The added requirement of having a high degree of regulation at the higher rep-rates places strict requirements on the triggerable switch for charging and de-Queing. A novel feedback technique which applies the proper bias to a magnetic core by comparing a reference voltage to the charging voltage eases considerably the regulation required to achieve low jitter in magnetic compression. The performance of the high rep-rate charging and regulation systems will be described in the following pages

A malware detection scheme based on mining format information.

Science.gov (United States)

Bai, Jinrong; Wang, Junfeng; Zou, Guozhong

2014-01-01

Malware has become one of the most serious threats to computer information system and the current malware detection technology still has very significant limitations. In this paper, we proposed a malware detection approach by mining format information of PE (portable executable) files. Based on in-depth analysis of the static format information of the PE files, we extracted 197 features from format information of PE files and applied feature selection methods to reduce the dimensionality of the features and achieve acceptable high performance. When the selected features were trained using classification algorithms, the results of our experiments indicate that the accuracy of the top classification algorithm is 99.1% and the value of the AUC is 0.998. We designed three experiments to evaluate the performance of our detection scheme and the ability of detecting unknown and new malware. Although the experimental results of identifying new malware are not perfect, our method is still able to identify 97.6% of new malware with 1.3% false positive rates.

Development and Reliability Evaluation of the Movement Rating Instrument for Virtual Reality Video Game Play.

Science.gov (United States)

Levac, Danielle; Nawrotek, Joanna; Deschenes, Emilie; Giguere, Tia; Serafin, Julie; Bilodeau, Martin; Sveistrup, Heidi

2016-06-01

Virtual reality active video games are increasingly popular physical therapy interventions for children with cerebral palsy. However, physical therapists require educational resources to support decision making about game selection to match individual patient goals. Quantifying the movements elicited during virtual reality active video game play can inform individualized game selection in pediatric rehabilitation. The objectives of this study were to develop and evaluate the feasibility and reliability of the Movement Rating Instrument for Virtual Reality Game Play (MRI-VRGP). Item generation occurred through an iterative process of literature review and sample videotape viewing. The MRI-VRGP includes 25 items quantifying upper extremity, lower extremity, and total body movements. A total of 176 videotaped 90-second game play sessions involving 7 typically developing children and 4 children with cerebral palsy were rated by 3 raters trained in MRI-VRGP use. Children played 8 games on 2 virtual reality and active video game systems. Intraclass correlation coefficients (ICCs) determined intra-rater and interrater reliability. Excellent intrarater reliability was evidenced by ICCs of >0.75 for 17 of the 25 items across the 3 raters. Interrater reliability estimates were less precise. Excellent interrater reliability was achieved for far reach upper extremity movements (ICC=0.92 [for right and ICC=0.90 for left) and for squat (ICC=0.80) and jump items (ICC=0.99), with 9 items achieving ICCs of >0.70, 12 items achieving ICCs of between 0.40 and 0.70, and 4 items achieving poor reliability (close-reach upper extremity-ICC=0.14 for right and ICC=0.07 for left) and single-leg stance (ICC=0.55 for right and ICC=0.27 for left). Poor video quality, differing item interpretations between raters, and difficulty quantifying the high-speed movements involved in game play affected reliability. With item definition clarification and further psychometric property evaluation, the MRI

Precollege science achievement growth: Racial-ethnic and gender differences in cognitive and psychosocial constructs

Science.gov (United States)

Muller, Patricia Ann

The purpose of this study was to gain a more complete understanding of the differences in science, mathematics and engineering education among racial-ethnic and gender subgroups by exploring factors related to precollege science achievement growth rates. Using Hierarchical Linear Modeling (HLM) and multi-wave, longitudinal data from the first three waves of the National Education Longitudinal Study of 1988--1994 (NELS:88/94), this study examined precollege science achievement growth rates during the 8th to 10th grade period and the 10th to 12th grade period for African American males, African American females, Latino males, Latina females, Asian American males, Asian American females, White males and White females. For the 8th--10th grade period, previous grades were significantly and positively related to science achievement growth for all subgroups; and socio-economic status and high school program were significantly and positively related to science achievement growth for all subgroups except one (Latino males, and Asian American males respectively). For the 10th--12th grade period, the quantity of science courses completed (science units) was the only variable that was statistically significant for more than one racial-ethnic by gender subgroup. Science units taken were significantly and positively related to 10 th--12th grade growth rates for all racial-ethnic by gender subgroups except Latino males. Locus-of-control was the only cognitive or psychosocial factor included from Eccles, Adler, Futterman, Goff, Kaczala, Meece and Midgley's (1983) theoretical framework for achievement behaviors that appeared to exhibit any pattern across race-ethnicities. Locus-of-control was positively related to 8th--10 th grade science achievement growth for females across all racial-ethnic subgroups, as well as for African American males. However, for both the 8 th--10th grade and 10th--12 th grade periods, there was no consistency across racial-ethnic or gender subgroups in

Achievable Steps Toward Building a National Health Information Infrastructure in the United States

OpenAIRE

Stead, William W.; Kelly, Brian J.; Kolodner, Robert M.

2005-01-01

Consensus is growing that a health care information and communication infrastructure is one key to fixing the crisis in the United States in health care quality, cost, and access. The National Health Information Infrastructure (NHII) is an initiative of the Department of Health and Human Services receiving bipartisan support. There are many possible courses toward its objective. Decision makers need to reflect carefully on which approaches are likely to work on a large enough scale to have th...

Automatic seizure detection based on the combination of newborn multi-channel EEG and HRV information

Science.gov (United States)

Mesbah, Mostefa; Balakrishnan, Malarvili; Colditz, Paul B.; Boashash, Boualem

2012-12-01

This article proposes a new method for newborn seizure detection that uses information extracted from both multi-channel electroencephalogram (EEG) and a single channel electrocardiogram (ECG). The aim of the study is to assess whether additional information extracted from ECG can improve the performance of seizure detectors based solely on EEG. Two different approaches were used to combine this extracted information. The first approach, known as feature fusion, involves combining features extracted from EEG and heart rate variability (HRV) into a single feature vector prior to feeding it to a classifier. The second approach, called classifier or decision fusion, is achieved by combining the independent decisions of the EEG and the HRV-based classifiers. Tested on recordings obtained from eight newborns with identified EEG seizures, the proposed neonatal seizure detection algorithms achieved 95.20% sensitivity and 88.60% specificity for the feature fusion case and 95.20% sensitivity and 94.30% specificity for the classifier fusion case. These results are considerably better than those involving classifiers using EEG only (80.90%, 86.50%) or HRV only (85.70%, 84.60%).

Hybrid wars’ information component

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

T. A. Nevskaya

2015-01-01

Full Text Available The war of the new generation - hybrid war, the information component which is directed not so much on the direct destruction of the enemy, how to achieve the goals without warfare. Fighting in the information field is no less important than immediate military action.

A Multilevel, Longitudinal Analysis of Middle School Math and Language Achievement

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Keith Zvoch

2003-07-01

Full Text Available The performance of schools in a large urban school district was examined using achievement data from a longitudinally matched cohort of middle school students. Schools were evaluated in terms of the mean achievement and mean growth of students in mathematics and language arts. Application of multilevel, longitudinal models to student achievement data revealed that 1 school performance varied across both outcome measures in both subject areas, 2 significant proportions of variation were associated with school-to-school differences in performance, 3 evaluations of school performance differed depending on whether school mean achievement or school mean growth in achievement was examined, and 4 school mean achievement was a weak predictor of school mean growth. These results suggest that assessments of school performance depend on choices of how data are modeled and analyzed. In particular, the present study indicates that schools with low mean scores are not always “poor performing” schools. Use of student growth rates to evaluate school performance enables schools that would otherwise be deemed low performing to demonstrate positive effects on student achievement. Implications for state accountability systems are discussed.

Dogs’ Body Language Relevant to Learning Achievement

Science.gov (United States)

Hasegawa, Masashi; Ohtani, Nobuyo; Ohta, Mitsuaki

2014-01-01

Simple Summary For humans and dogs to live together amiably, dog training is required, and a lack of obedience training is significantly related to the prevalence of certain behavioral problems. To train efficiently, it is important that the trainer/owner ascertains the learning level of the dog. Understanding the dog’s body language helps humans understand the animal’s emotions. This study evaluated the posture of certain dog body parts during operant conditioning. Our findings suggest that certain postures were related to the dog’s learning level during operant conditioning. Being aware of these postures could be helpful to understand canine emotion during learning. Abstract The facial expressions and body postures of dogs can give helpful information about their moods and emotional states. People can more effectively obedience train their dogs if we can identify the mannerisms associated with learning in dogs. The aim of this study was to clarify the dog’s body language during operant conditioning to predict achievement in the test that followed by measuring the duration of behaviors. Forty-six untrained dogs (17 males and 26 females) of various breeds were used. Each session consisted of 5 minutes of training with a treat reward followed by 3 minutes of rest and finally an operant conditioning test that consisted of 20 “hand motion” cues. The operant tests were conducted a total of nine times over three consecutive days, and the success numbers were counted. The duration of the dog’s behavior, focusing on the dog’s eyes, mouth, ears, tail and tail-wagging, was recorded during the operant conditioning sessions before the test. Particular behaviors, including wide-eyes, closed mouth, erect ears, and forward and high tail carriage, without wagging or with short and quick wagging, related to high achievement results. It is concluded that dogs' body language during operant conditioning was related to their success rate. PMID:26479883

Income-Based Disparities in Early Elementary School Science Achievement

Science.gov (United States)

Curran, F. Chris

2017-01-01

This study documents gaps in kindergarten and first-grade science achievement by family income and explores the degree to which such gaps can be accounted for by student race/ethnicity, out-of-school activities, parental education, and school fixed effects. In doing so, it expands on prior research that documents disparate rates of science…

Human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine coverage achievements in low and middle-income countries 2007-2016.

Science.gov (United States)

Gallagher, Katherine E; Howard, Natasha; Kabakama, Severin; Mounier-Jack, Sandra; Burchett, Helen E D; LaMontagne, D Scott; Watson-Jones, Deborah

2017-12-01

Since 2007, HPV vaccine has been available to low and middle income countries (LAMIC) for small-scale 'demonstration projects', or national programmes. We analysed coverage achieved in HPV vaccine demonstration projects and national programmes that had completed at least 6 months of implementation between January 2007-2016. A mapping exercise identified 45 LAMICs with HPV vaccine delivery experience. Estimates of coverage and factors influencing coverage were obtained from 56 key informant interviews, a systematic published literature search of 5 databases that identified 61 relevant full texts and 188 solicited unpublished documents, including coverage surveys. Coverage achievements were analysed descriptively against country or project/programme characteristics. Heterogeneity in data, funder requirements, and project/programme design precluded multivariate analysis. Estimates of uptake, schedule completion rates and/or final dose coverage were available from 41 of 45 LAMICs included in the study. Only 17 estimates from 13 countries were from coverage surveys, most were administrative data. Final dose coverage estimates were all over 50% with most between 70% and 90%, and showed no trend over time. The majority of delivery strategies included schools as a vaccination venue. In countries with school enrolment rates below 90%, inclusion of strategies to reach out-of-school girls contributed to obtaining high coverage compared to school-only strategies. There was no correlation between final dose coverage and estimated recurrent financial costs of delivery from cost analyses. Coverage achieved during joint delivery of HPV vaccine combined with another intervention was variable with little/no evaluation of the correlates of success. This is the most comprehensive descriptive analysis of HPV vaccine coverage in LAMICs to date. It is possible to deliver HPV vaccine with excellent coverage in LAMICs. Further good quality data are needed from health facility based

Information Security Service Branding – beyond information security awareness

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Rahul Rastogi

2012-12-01

Full Text Available End-users play a critical role in the effective implementation and running of an information security program in any organization. The success of such a program depends primarily on the effective implementation and execution of associated information security policies and controls and the resultant behavior and actions of end-users. However, end-users often have negative perception of information security in the organization and exhibit non-compliance. In order to improve compliance levels, it is vital to improve the image of information security in the minds of end-users. This paper borrows the concepts of brands and branding from the domain of marketing to achieve this objective and applies these concepts to information security. The paper also describes a process for creating the information security service brand in the organization.

Information Literacy Follow-Through: Enhancing Preservice Teachers' Information Evaluation Skills through Formative Assessment

Science.gov (United States)

Seely, Sara Robertson; Fry, Sara Winstead; Ruppel, Margie

2011-01-01

An investigation into preservice teachers' information evaluation skills at a large university suggests that formative assessment can improve student achievement. Preservice teachers were asked to apply information evaluation skills in the areas of currency, relevancy, authority, accuracy, and purpose. The study used quantitative methods to assess…

Cluster Analysis of International Information and Social Development.

Science.gov (United States)

Lau, Jesus

1990-01-01

Analyzes information activities in relation to socioeconomic characteristics in low, middle, and highly developed economies for the years 1960 and 1977 through the use of cluster analysis. Results of data from 31 countries suggest that information development is achieved mainly by countries that have also achieved social development. (26…

Good character at school: positive classroom behavior mediates the link between character strengths and school achievement.

Science.gov (United States)

Wagner, Lisa; Ruch, Willibald

2015-01-01

Character strengths have been found to be substantially related to children's and adolescents' well-being. Initial evidence suggests that they also matter for school success (e.g., Weber and Ruch, 2012). The present set of two studies aimed at replicating and extending these findings in two different age groups, primary school students (N = 179; mean age = 11.6 years) and secondary school students (N = 199; mean age = 14.4 years). The students completed the VIA-Youth (Values in Action Inventory of Strengths for Youth), a self-report measure of the 24 character strengths in the VIA classification. Their teachers rated the students' positive behavior in the classroom. Additionally, school achievement was assessed: For the primary school students (Study 1), teachers rated the students' overall school achievement and for the secondary school students (Study 2), we used their grades as a measure of school achievement. We found that several character strengths were associated with both positive classroom behavior and school achievement. Across both samples, school achievement was correlated with love of learning, perseverance, zest, gratitude, hope, and perspective. The strongest correlations with positive classroom behavior were found for perseverance, self-regulation, prudence, social intelligence, and hope. For both samples, there were indirect effects of some of the character strengths on school achievement through teacher-rated positive classroom behavior. The converging findings from the two samples support the notion that character strengths contribute to positive classroom behavior, which in turn enhances school achievement. Results are discussed in terms of their implications for future research and for school interventions based on character strengths.

Good character at school: Positive classroom behavior mediates the link between character strengths and school achievement

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Lisa eWagner

2015-05-01

Full Text Available Character strengths have been found to be substantially related to children’s and adolescents’ well-being. Initial evidence suggests that they also matter for school success (e.g., Weber and Ruch, 2012. The present set of two studies aimed at replicating and extending these findings in two different age groups, primary school students (N = 179; mean age = 11.6 years and secondary school students (N = 199; mean age = 14.4 years. The students completed the VIA-Youth, a self-report measure of the 24 character strengths in the VIA classification. Their teachers rated the students’ positive behavior in the classroom. Additionally, school achievement was assessed: For the primary school students (Study 1, teachers rated the students’ overall school achievement and for the secondary school students (Study 2, we used their grades as a measure of school achievement. We found that several character strengths were associated with both positive classroom behavior and school achievement. Across both samples school achievement was correlated with love of learning, perseverance, zest, gratitude, hope, and perspective. The strongest correlations with positive classroom behavior were found for perseverance, self-regulation, prudence, social intelligence, and hope. For both samples, there were indirect effects of most of the character strengths on school achievement through teacher-rated positive classroom behavior. The converging findings from the two samples support the notion that character strengths contribute to positive classroom behavior, which in turn enhances school achievement. Results are discussed in terms of their implications for future research and for school interventions based on character strengths.

Erythrocyte Sedimentation Rate (ESR): MedlinePlus Lab Test Information

Science.gov (United States)

... K. Brunner & Suddarth's Handbook of Laboratory and Diagnostic Tests. 2 nd Ed, Kindle. Philadelphia: Wolters Kluwer Health, Lippincott Williams & Wilkins; c2014. Erythrocyte Sedimentation Rate (ESR); p. 267– ...

Information Security in Distributed Healthcare : Exploring the Needs for Achieving Patient Safety and Patient Privacy

OpenAIRE

Åhlfeldt, Rose-Mharie

2008-01-01

In healthcare, patient information is a critical factor. The right information at the right time is a necessity in order to provide the best possible care for a patient. Patient information must also be protected from unauthorized access in order to protect patient privacy. It is furthermore common for patients to visit more than one healthcare provider, which implies a need for cross border healthcare and continuity in the patient process. This thesis is focused on information security in he...

Diamond-turning HP-21 beryllium to achieve an optical surface

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Allen, D.K.; Hauschildt, H.W.; Bryan, J.B.

1975-01-01

Investigation of diamond turning on beryllium was made in anticipation of obtaining an optical finish. Although results of past experiences were poor, it was decided to continue diamond turning on beryllium beyond initial failures. By changing speed and using coolant, partial success was achieved. Tool wear was the major problem. Tests were made to establish and plot wear as a function of cutting speed and time. Slower speeds did cause lower wear rates, but at no time did wear reach an acceptable level. The machine, tools, and procedure used were chosen based on the results of preliminary attempts and on previous experience. It was unnecessary to use an air-bearing spindle because tool failure governed the best finish that could be expected. All tools of diamond composition, whether single crystal or polycrystalline, wore at unacceptable rates. Based on present technology, it must be concluded that beryllium cannot be feasibly diamond turned to achieve an optical finish. (22 fig.)

ACHIEVING MATURITY (AND MEASURING PERFORMANCE THROUGH MODEL-BASED PROCESS IMPROVEMENT

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jose Marcelo Almeida Prado Cestari

2013-08-01

Full Text Available This paper presents the approach adopted by a software development unit in order to achieve the maturity level 3 of CMMI-DEV and therefore obtaining better performance. Through historical research and secondary data analysis of the organization, the paper intends to answer the following research question: "Could the adoption of maturity/best practices models bring better performance results to small and medium organizations?" Data and analysis conducted show that, besides the creation of indicator’s based management, there are some quantitative performance improvements in indicators such as: Schedule Deviation Rate, Effort Deviation Rate, Percent Late Delivery, Productivity Deviation and Internal Rework Rate

CCHMM_PROF: a HMM-based coiled-coil predictor with evolutionary information

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Bartoli, Lisa; Fariselli, Piero; Krogh, Anders

2009-01-01

tools are available for predicting coiled-coil domains in protein sequences, including those based on position-specific score matrices and machine learning methods. RESULTS: In this article, we introduce a hidden Markov model (CCHMM_PROF) that exploits the information contained in multiple sequence...... alignments (profiles) to predict coiled-coil regions. The new method discriminates coiled-coil sequences with an accuracy of 97% and achieves a true positive rate of 79% with only 1% of false positives. Furthermore, when predicting the location of coiled-coil segments in protein sequences, the method reaches...

Recent achievements in food composition information of traditional foods from Europe

OpenAIRE

Costa, H.S.; Sanches-Silva, A.; Albuquerque, T.G.; Trichopoulou, A.; Vasilopoulou, E.; D'Antuono, L.F.; Finglas, P.

2013-01-01

Comunicação oral a convite. Objectives: A trend towards the rediscovering of traditional foods has emerged as a reaction to the impact of globalization, in order to protect and maintain the diversity of regional food and agricultural traditions. Research in food composition, particularly traditional foods, is essential to understand their implications in human health and trace recommendations for an improved diet. One of the aims within EuroFIR (European Food Information Resource) and BaSe...

High-Rate Data-Capture for an Airborne Lidar System

Science.gov (United States)

Valett, Susan; Hicks, Edward; Dabney, Philip; Harding, David

2012-01-01

A high-rate data system was required to capture the data for an airborne lidar system. A data system was developed that achieved up to 22 million (64-bit) events per second sustained data rate (1408 million bits per second), as well as short bursts (less than 4 s) at higher rates. All hardware used for the system was off the shelf, but carefully selected to achieve these rates. The system was used to capture laser fire, single-photon detection, and GPS data for the Slope Imaging Multi-polarization Photo-counting Lidar (SIMPL). However, the system has applications for other laser altimeter systems (waveform-recording), mass spectroscopy, xray radiometry imaging, high-background- rate ranging lidar, and other similar areas where very high-speed data capture is needed. The data capture software was used for the SIMPL instrument that employs a micropulse, single-photon ranging measurement approach and has 16 data channels. The detected single photons are from two sources those reflected from the target and solar background photons. The instrument is non-gated, so background photons are acquired for a range window of 13 km and can comprise many times the number of target photons. The highest background rate occurs when the atmosphere is clear, the Sun is high, and the target is a highly reflective surface such as snow. Under these conditions, the total data rate for the 16 channels combined is expected to be approximately 22 million events per second. For each photon detection event, the data capture software reads the relative time of receipt, with respect to a one-per-second absolute time pulse from a GPS receiver, from an event timer card with 0.1-ns precision, and records that information to a RAID (Redundant Array of Independent Disks) storage device. The relative time of laser pulse firings must also be read and recorded with the same precision. Each of the four event timer cards handles the throughput from four of the channels. For each detection event, a flag is

BETTER FINGERPRINT IMAGE COMPRESSION AT LOWER BIT-RATES: AN APPROACH USING MULTIWAVELETS WITH OPTIMISED PREFILTER COEFFICIENTS

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

N R Rema

2017-08-01

Full Text Available In this paper, a multiwavelet based fingerprint compression technique using set partitioning in hierarchical trees (SPIHT algorithm with optimised prefilter coefficients is proposed. While wavelet based progressive compression techniques give a blurred image at lower bit rates due to lack of high frequency information, multiwavelets can be used efficiently to represent high frequency information. SA4 (Symmetric Antisymmetric multiwavelet when combined with SPIHT reduces the number of nodes during initialization to 1/4th compared to SPIHT with wavelet. This reduction in nodes leads to improvement in PSNR at lower bit rates. The PSNR can be further improved by optimizing the prefilter coefficients. In this work genetic algorithm (GA is used for optimizing prefilter coefficients. Using the proposed technique, there is a considerable improvement in PSNR at lower bit rates, compared to existing techniques in literature. An overall average improvement of 4.23dB and 2.52dB for bit rates in between 0.01 to 1 has been achieved for the images in the databases FVC 2000 DB1 and FVC 2002 DB3 respectively. The quality of the reconstructed image is better even at higher compression ratios like 80:1 and 100:1. The level of decomposition required for a multiwavelet is lesser compared to a wavelet.

Beyond access: barriers to internet health information seeking among the urban poor.

Science.gov (United States)

McCloud, Rachel F; Okechukwu, Cassandra A; Sorensen, Glorian; Viswanath, K

2016-11-01

Communication inequalities deepen health disparities even when internet access is achieved. The goal of this study is to understand how a range of barriers may inhibit individuals from low socioeconomic position (SEP) from engaging with online health information even when it is freely available. Detailed data were collected from 118 low-SEP individuals from a randomized controlled trial providing internet access. Measures triangulated the health-seeking experience through internet use tracked in real-time, call log data, and self-reported barriers. Negative binomial regression models were fitted with technology and perceived predictors, and our outcome, health information seeking, and then stratified by medical status. Participants experienced a median of two computer issues (median 6 days) and two internet issues (median 6.5 days). Duration of internet problems was associated with a decrease in the rate of internet health information seeking by a factor of 0.990 (P = .03) for each additional day. Participants with a medical problem who were frustrated in their search for health information had half the rate of health information seeking of those who were not frustrated (incidence rate ratio = 0.395, P = .030). Despite IT support, participants still experienced internet connectivity issues that negatively impacted their health information seeking. Frustration in their search to find information may serve as an additional barrier to those who have medical issues. After initial internet access, a second-level digital divide emerged due to connectivity issues, highlighting the need to understand the complex network of barriers experienced by low-SEP internet users. © The Author 2016. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the American Medical Informatics Association. All rights reserved. For Permissions, please email: journals.permissions@oup.com.

BIBLIOGRAPHY ON ACHIEVEMENT.

Science.gov (United States)

Harvard Univ., Cambridge, MA. Graduate School of Education.

THIS BIBLIOGRAPHY LISTS MATERIAL ON VARIOUS ASPECTS OF ACHIEVEMENT. APPROXIMATELY 40 UNANNOTATED REFERENCES ARE PROVIDED TO DOCUMENTS DATING FROM 1952 TO 1965. JOURNALS, BOOKS, AND REPORT MATERIALS ARE LISTED. SUBJECT AREAS INCLUDED ARE BEHAVIOR TESTS, ACHIEVEMENT BEHAVIOR, ACADEMIC ACHIEVEMENT, AND SOCIAL-CLASS BACKGROUND. A RELATED REPORT IS ED…

Identifying Predictors of Achievement in the Newly Defined Information Literacy: A Neural Network Analysis

Science.gov (United States)

Sexton, Randall; Hignite, Michael; Margavio, Thomas M.; Margavio, Geanie W.

2009-01-01

Information Literacy is a concept that evolved as a result of efforts to move technology-based instructional and research efforts beyond the concepts previously associated with "computer literacy." While computer literacy was largely a topic devoted to knowledge of hardware and software, information literacy is concerned with students' abilities…

Rate Adaptation Based on Collision Probability for IEEE 802.11 WLANs

Science.gov (United States)

Kim, Taejoon; Lim, Jong-Tae

Nowadays IEEE 802.11 wireless local area networks (WLANs) support multiple transmission rates. To achieve the best performance, transmitting stations adopt the various forms of automatic rate fallback (ARF). However, ARF suffers from severe performance degradation as the number of transmitting stations increases. In this paper, we propose a new rate adaptation scheme which adjusts the ARF's up/down threshold according to the channel contention level. Simulation result shows that the proposed scheme achieves fairly good performance compared with the existing schemes.