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Sample records for approaches uncover increasing

  1. Uncovering transcriptional interactions via an adaptive fuzzy logic approach

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Chen Chung-Ming

    2009-12-01

    Full Text Available Abstract Background To date, only a limited number of transcriptional regulatory interactions have been uncovered. In a pilot study integrating sequence data with microarray data, a position weight matrix (PWM performed poorly in inferring transcriptional interactions (TIs, which represent physical interactions between transcription factors (TF and upstream sequences of target genes. Inferring a TI means that the promoter sequence of a target is inferred to match the consensus sequence motifs of a potential TF, and their interaction type such as AT or RT is also predicted. Thus, a robust PWM (rPWM was developed to search for consensus sequence motifs. In addition to rPWM, one feature extracted from ChIP-chip data was incorporated to identify potential TIs under specific conditions. An interaction type classifier was assembled to predict activation/repression of potential TIs using microarray data. This approach, combining an adaptive (learning fuzzy inference system and an interaction type classifier to predict transcriptional regulatory networks, was named AdaFuzzy. Results AdaFuzzy was applied to predict TIs using real genomics data from Saccharomyces cerevisiae. Following one of the latest advances in predicting TIs, constrained probabilistic sparse matrix factorization (cPSMF, and using 19 transcription factors (TFs, we compared AdaFuzzy to four well-known approaches using over-representation analysis and gene set enrichment analysis. AdaFuzzy outperformed these four algorithms. Furthermore, AdaFuzzy was shown to perform comparably to 'ChIP-experimental method' in inferring TIs identified by two sets of large scale ChIP-chip data, respectively. AdaFuzzy was also able to classify all predicted TIs into one or more of the four promoter architectures. The results coincided with known promoter architectures in yeast and provided insights into transcriptional regulatory mechanisms. Conclusion AdaFuzzy successfully integrates multiple types of

  2. Feminist Approaches to Triangulation: Uncovering Subjugated Knowledge and Fostering Social Change in Mixed Methods Research

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hesse-Biber, Sharlene

    2012-01-01

    This article explores the deployment of triangulation in the service of uncovering subjugated knowledge and promoting social change for women and other oppressed groups. Feminist approaches to mixed methods praxis create a tight link between the research problem and the research design. An analysis of selected case studies of feminist praxis…

  3. Cryptic diversity in Australian stick insects (Insecta; Phasmida) uncovered by the DNA barcoding approach.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Velonà, A; Brock, P D; Hasenpusch, J; Mantovani, B

    2015-05-18

    The barcoding approach was applied to analyze 16 Australian morphospecies of the order Phasmida, with the aim to test if it could be suitable as a tool for phasmid species identification and if its discrimination power would allow uncovering of cryptic diversity. Both goals were reached. Eighty-two specimens representing twelve morphospecies (Sipyloidea sp. A, Candovia annulata, Candovia sp. A, Candovia sp. B, Candovia sp. C, Denhama austrocarinata, Xeroderus kirbii, Parapodacanthus hasenpuschorum, Tropidoderus childrenii, Cigarrophasma tessellatum, Acrophylla wuelfingi, Eurycantha calcarata) were correctly recovered as clades through the molecular approach, their sequences forming monophyletic and well-supported clusters. In four instances, Neighbor-Joining tree and barcoding gap analyses supported either a specific (Austrocarausius mercurius, Anchiale briareus) or a subspecific (Anchiale austrotessulata, Extatosoma tiaratum) level of divergence within the analyzed morphospecies. The lack of an appropriate database of homologous coxI sequences prevented more detailed identification of undescribed taxa.

  4. Strategies and approaches in plasmidome studies—uncovering plasmid diversity disregarding of linear elements?

    Science.gov (United States)

    Dib, Julián R.; Wagenknecht, Martin; Farías, María E.; Meinhardt, Friedhelm

    2015-01-01

    The term plasmid was originally coined for circular, extrachromosomal genetic elements. Today, plasmids are widely recognized not only as important factors facilitating genome restructuring but also as vehicles for the dissemination of beneficial characters within bacterial communities. Plasmid diversity has been uncovered by means of culture-dependent or -independent approaches, such as endogenous or exogenous plasmid isolation as well as PCR-based detection or transposon-aided capture, respectively. High-throughput-sequencing made possible to cover total plasmid populations in a given environment, i.e., the plasmidome, and allowed to address the quality and significance of self-replicating genetic elements. Since such efforts were and still are rather restricted to circular molecules, here we put equal emphasis on the linear plasmids which—despite their frequent occurrence in a large number of bacteria—are largely neglected in prevalent plasmidome conceptions. PMID:26074886

  5. Sustained response with ixekizumab treatment of moderate-to-severe psoriasis with scalp involvement: results from three phase 3 trials (UNCOVER-1, UNCOVER-2, UNCOVER-3).

    Science.gov (United States)

    Reich, Kristian; Leonardi, Craig; Lebwohl, Mark; Kerdel, Francisco; Okubo, Yukari; Romiti, Ricardo; Goldblum, Orin; Dennehy, Ellen B; Kerr, Lisa; Sofen, Howard

    2017-06-01

    Scalp is a frequently affected and difficult-to-treat area in psoriasis patients. We assessed the efficacy of ixekizumab in the treatment of patients with scalp psoriasis over 60 weeks using the Psoriasis Scalp Severity Index (PSSI). In three Phase 3, multicenter, double-blind, placebo-controlled trials, patients with moderate-to-severe psoriasis in UNCOVER-1 (N = 1296), UNCOVER-2 (N = 1224) and UNCOVER-3 (N = 1346) were randomized to subcutaneous 80 mg ixekizumab every two weeks (Q2W) or every four weeks (Q4W) after a 160 mg starting dose, or placebo through Week 12. Additional UNCOVER-2 and UNCOVER-3 cohorts were randomized to 50 mg bi-weekly etanercept through Week 12. Patients entering the open-label long-term extension (LTE) (UNCOVER-3) received ixekizumab Q4W; UNCOVER-1 and UNCOVER-2 included a blinded maintenance period in which static physician global assessment (sPGA) 0/1 responders were re-randomized to placebo, ixekizumab Q4W, or 80 mg ixekizumab every 12 weeks (Q12W) through Week 60. In patients with moderate-to-severe psoriasis with baseline scalp involvement, PSSI 90 and 100 were achieved at Week 12 in higher percentages of patients treated with ixekizumab Q2W (81.7% and 74.6%) or ixekizumab Q4W (75.6% and 68.9%) compared with patients treated with placebo (7.6% and 6.7%; p psoriasis in patients with moderate-to-severe psoriasis, with most patients achieving complete or near-complete resolution of scalp psoriasis and maintaining this response over 60 weeks.

  6. Towards a project-based service delivery approach : Uncovering organisational tensions

    OpenAIRE

    12330841 - Van der Waldt, Gerrit

    2009-01-01

    In line with the modernizing, re-inventing and alternative service delivery paradigm, governments increasingly utilise project-based methodologies to improve service delivery. There is general agreement that projects are becoming increasingly important for government institutions to operationalise strategic objectives and policy programmes. This approach is commonly known as ‗Management-by-Projects‘. To adopt this approach requires of public institutions to adjust their existing structures...

  7. Uncovering Barriers to Teaching Assistants (TAs) Implementing Inquiry Teaching: Inconsistent Facilitation Techniques, Student Resistance, and Reluctance to Share Control over Learning with Students.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gormally, Cara; Sullivan, Carol Subiño; Szeinbaum, Nadia

    2016-05-01

    Inquiry-based teaching approaches are increasingly being adopted in biology laboratories. Yet teaching assistants (TAs), often novice teachers, teach the majority of laboratory courses in US research universities. This study analyzed the perspectives of TAs and their students and used classroom observations to uncover challenges faced by TAs during their first year of inquiry-based teaching. Our study revealed three insights about barriers to effective inquiry teaching practices: 1) TAs lack sufficient facilitation skills; 2) TAs struggle to share control over learning with students as they reconcile long-standing teaching beliefs with newly learned approaches, consequently undermining their fledgling ability to use inquiry approaches; and 3) student evaluations reinforce teacher-centered behaviors as TAs receive positive feedback conflicting with inquiry approaches. We make recommendations, including changing instructional feedback to focus on learner-centered teaching practices. We urge TA mentors to engage TAs in discussions to uncover teaching beliefs underlying teaching choices and support TAs through targeted feedback and practice.

  8. Uncovering Barriers to Teaching Assistants (TAs Implementing Inquiry Teaching: Inconsistent Facilitation Techniques, Student Resistance, and Reluctance to Share Control over Learning with Students

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Cara Gormally

    2016-05-01

    Full Text Available Inquiry-based teaching approaches are increasingly being adopted in biology laboratories. Yet teaching assistants (TAs, often novice teachers, teach the majority of laboratory courses in US research universities. This study analyzed the perspectives of TAs and their students and used classroom observations to uncover challenges faced by TAs during their first year of inquiry-based teaching. Our study revealed three insights about barriers to effective inquiry teaching practices: 1 TAs lack sufficient facilitation skills; 2 TAs struggle to share control over learning with students as they reconcile long-standing teaching beliefs with newly learned approaches, consequently undermining their fledgling ability to use inquiry approaches; and 3 student evaluations reinforce teacher-centered behaviors as TAs receive positive feedback conflicting with inquiry approaches. We make recommendations, including changing instructional feedback to focus on learner-centered teaching practices. We urge TA mentors to engage TAs in discussions to uncover teaching beliefs underlying teaching choices and support TAs through targeted feedback and practice.

  9. Covered versus uncovered self-expandable metal stents for malignant biliary strictures: A meta-analysis and systematic review.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Moole, Harsha; Bechtold, Matthew L; Cashman, Micheal; Volmar, Fritz H; Dhillon, Sonu; Forcione, David; Taneja, Deepak; Puli, Srinivas R

    2016-09-01

    Self-expandable metal stents (SEMS) are used for palliating inoperable malignant biliary strictures. It is unclear if covered metal stents are superior to uncovered metal stents in these patients. We compared clinical outcomes in patients with covered and uncovered stents. Studies using covered and uncovered metallic stents for palliation in patients with malignant biliary stricture were reviewed. Articles were searched in MEDLINE, PubMed, and Ovid journals. Fixed and random effects models were used to calculate the pooled proportions. Initial search identified 1436 reference articles, of which 132 were selected and reviewed. Thirteen studies (n = 2239) for covered and uncovered metallic stents which met the inclusion criteria were included in this analysis. Odds ratio for stent occlusion rates in covered vs. uncovered stents was 0.79 (95 % CI = 0.65 to 0.96). Survival benefit in patients with covered vs. uncovered stents showed the odds ratio to be 1.29 (95 % CI = 0.95 to 1.74). Pooled odds ratio for migration of covered vs. uncovered stents was 9.9 (95 % CI = 4.5 to 22.3). Covered stents seemed to have significantly lesser occlusion rates, increased odds of migration, and increased odds of pancreatitis compared to uncovered stents. There was no statistically significant difference in the survival benefit, overall adverse event rate, and patency period of covered vs. uncovered metal stents in patients with malignant biliary strictures.

  10. Uncovering Barriers to Teaching Assistants (TAs) Implementing Inquiry Teaching: Inconsistent Facilitation Techniques, Student Resistance, and Reluctance to Share Control over Learning with Students †

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gormally, Cara; Sullivan, Carol Subiño; Szeinbaum, Nadia

    2016-01-01

    Inquiry-based teaching approaches are increasingly being adopted in biology laboratories. Yet teaching assistants (TAs), often novice teachers, teach the majority of laboratory courses in US research universities. This study analyzed the perspectives of TAs and their students and used classroom observations to uncover challenges faced by TAs during their first year of inquiry-based teaching. Our study revealed three insights about barriers to effective inquiry teaching practices: 1) TAs lack sufficient facilitation skills; 2) TAs struggle to share control over learning with students as they reconcile long-standing teaching beliefs with newly learned approaches, consequently undermining their fledgling ability to use inquiry approaches; and 3) student evaluations reinforce teacher-centered behaviors as TAs receive positive feedback conflicting with inquiry approaches. We make recommendations, including changing instructional feedback to focus on learner-centered teaching practices. We urge TA mentors to engage TAs in discussions to uncover teaching beliefs underlying teaching choices and support TAs through targeted feedback and practice. PMID:27158302

  11. Multi-frequency complex network from time series for uncovering oil-water flow structure.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gao, Zhong-Ke; Yang, Yu-Xuan; Fang, Peng-Cheng; Jin, Ning-De; Xia, Cheng-Yi; Hu, Li-Dan

    2015-02-04

    Uncovering complex oil-water flow structure represents a challenge in diverse scientific disciplines. This challenge stimulates us to develop a new distributed conductance sensor for measuring local flow signals at different positions and then propose a novel approach based on multi-frequency complex network to uncover the flow structures from experimental multivariate measurements. In particular, based on the Fast Fourier transform, we demonstrate how to derive multi-frequency complex network from multivariate time series. We construct complex networks at different frequencies and then detect community structures. Our results indicate that the community structures faithfully represent the structural features of oil-water flow patterns. Furthermore, we investigate the network statistic at different frequencies for each derived network and find that the frequency clustering coefficient enables to uncover the evolution of flow patterns and yield deep insights into the formation of flow structures. Current results present a first step towards a network visualization of complex flow patterns from a community structure perspective.

  12. Familial Brugada syndrome uncovered by hyperkalaemic diabetic ketoacidosis

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Postema, Pieter G.; Vlaar, Alexander P. J.; DeVries, J. Hans; Tan, Hanno L.

    2011-01-01

    We describe a case of diabetic ketoacidosis with concomitant hyperkalaemia that uncovered a typical Brugada syndrome electrocardiogram (ECG). Further provocation testing in the patient and his son confirmed familial Brugada syndrome. Diabetic ketoacidosis with hyperkalaemia may uncover an

  13. The Uncovered Interest Parity in the Foreign Exchange (FX Markets

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Silvio Ricardo Micheloto

    2004-12-01

    Full Text Available This work verifies the uncovered interest rates parity (UIP in the FX (foreign exchange emerging markets by using the panel cointegration technique. The data involves several developing countries that compose the EMBI+ Global Index. We compare the results of several panel estimators: OLS (ordinary list square, DOLS (dynamic OLS and FMOLS (fully modified OLS. This new panel technique can handle problems of either non-stationary series (spurious regression or small problem. This latter problem has being considered one of the main causes for distorting the UIP empirical results. By using this approach, we check the UIP in the FX (foreign exchange emerging markets. These markets are more critical because they have been subjected to changing FX regimes and speculative attacks. Our results do not corroborate the uncovered interest parity for the developing countries in the recent years. Thus, the forward premium puzzle may hold in the FX emergent markets.

  14. Uncovering the Geometry of Barrierless Reactions Using Lagrangian Descriptors.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Junginger, Andrej; Hernandez, Rigoberto

    2016-03-03

    Transition-state theories describing barrierless chemical reactions, or more general activated problems, are often hampered by the lack of a saddle around which the dividing surface can be constructed. For example, the time-dependent transition-state trajectory uncovering the nonrecrossing dividing surface in thermal reactions in the framework of the Langevin equation has relied on perturbative approaches in the vicinity of the saddle. We recently obtained an alternative approach using Lagrangian descriptors to construct time-dependent and recrossing-free dividing surfaces. This is a nonperturbative approach making no reference to a putative saddle. Here we show how the Lagrangian descriptor can be used to obtain the transition-state geometry of a dissipated and thermalized reaction across barrierless potentials. We illustrate the method in the case of a 1D Brownian motion for both barrierless and step potentials; however, the method is not restricted and can be directly applied to different kinds of potentials and higher dimensional systems.

  15. Exercising self-control increases approach motivation.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Schmeichel, Brandon J; Harmon-Jones, Cindy; Harmon-Jones, Eddie

    2010-07-01

    The present research tested the hypothesis that exercising self-control causes an increase in approach motivation. Study 1 found that exercising (vs. not exercising) self-control increases self-reported approach motivation. Study 2a identified a behavior--betting on low-stakes gambles--that is correlated with approach motivation but is relatively uncorrelated with self-control, and Study 2b observed that exercising self-control temporarily increases this behavior. Last, Study 3 found that exercising self-control facilitates the perception of a reward-relevant symbol (i.e., a dollar sign) but not a reward-irrelevant symbol (i.e., a percent sign). Altogether, these results support the hypothesis that exercising self-control temporarily increases approach motivation. Failures of self-control that follow from prior efforts at self-control (i.e., ego depletion) may be explained in part by increased approach motivation.

  16. Uncovering Black Womanhood in Engineering

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gibson, Sheree L.; Espino, Michelle M.

    2016-01-01

    Despite the growing research that outlines the experiences of Blacks and women undergraduates in engineering, little is known about Black women in this field. The purpose of this qualitative study was to uncover how eight Black undergraduate women in engineering understood their race and gender identities in a culture that can be oppressive to…

  17. Comparison of covered and uncovered self-expandable stents in the treatment of malignant biliary obstruction.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Flores Carmona, Diana Yamel; Alonso Lárraga, Juan Octavio; Hernández Guerrero, Angélica; Ramírez Solís, Mauro Eduardo

    2016-05-01

    Drainage with metallic stents is the treatment of choice in malignant obstructive jaundice. Technical and clinical success with metallic stents is obtained in over 90% and 80% of cases, respectively. There are self-expandable metallic stents designed to increase permeability. The aim of this study was to describe the results obtained with totally covered self-expandable and uncovered self-expandable metallic stents in the palliative treatment of malignant biliary obstruction. Sixty eight patients with malignant obstructive jaundice secondary to pancreatobiliary or metastatic disease not amenable to surgery were retrospectively included. Two groups were created: group A (covered self-expandable metallic stents) (n = 22) and group B (uncovered self-expandable metallic stents) (n = 46). Serum total bilirubin, direct bilirubin, alkaline phosphatase and gamma glutamyl transferase levels decreased in both groups and no statistically significant difference was detected (p = 0.800, p = 0.190, p = 0.743, p = 0.521). Migration was greater with covered stents but it was not statistically significant either (p = 0.101). Obstruction was greater in the group with uncovered stents but it was not statistically significant either (p = 0.476). There are no differences when using covered self-expandable stents or uncovered self-expandable stents in terms of technical and clinical success or complications in the palliative treatment of malignant obstructive jaundice.

  18. Comparison between uncovered and covered self-expandable metal stent placement in malignant duodenal obstruction.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kim, Ji Won; Jeong, Ji Bong; Lee, Kook Lae; Kim, Byeong Gwan; Ahn, Dong Won; Lee, Jae Kyung; Kim, Su Hwan

    2015-02-07

    To compare the clinical outcomes of uncovered and covered self-expandable metal stent placements in patients with malignant duodenal obstruction. A total of 67 patients were retrospectively enrolled from January 2003 to June 2013. All patients had symptomatic obstruction characterized by nausea, vomiting, reduced oral intake, and weight loss. The exclusion criteria included asymptomatic duodenal obstruction, perforation or peritonitis, concomitant small bowel obstruction, or duodenal obstruction caused by benign strictures. The technical and clinical success rate, complication rate, and stent patency were compared according to the placement of uncovered (n = 38) or covered (n = 29) stents. The technical and clinical success rates did not differ between the uncovered and covered stent groups (100% vs 96.6% and 89.5% vs 82.8%). There were no differences in the overall complication rates between the uncovered and covered stent groups (31.6% vs 41.4%). However, stent migration occurred more frequently with covered than uncovered stents [20.7% (6/29) vs 0% (0/38), P stent patency was longer in uncovered than in covered stents [251 d (95%CI: 149.8 d-352.2 d) vs 139 d (95%CI: 45.5 d-232.5 d), P stent (70 d) and covered stent groups (60 d). Uncovered stents may be preferable in malignant duodenal obstruction because of their greater resistance to stent migration and longer stent patency than covered stents.

  19. Meta-analysis of cancer transcriptomes: A new approach to uncover molecular pathological events in different cancer tissues

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Sundus Iqbal

    2014-03-01

    Full Text Available To explore secrets of metastatic cancers, individual expression of true sets of respective genes must spread across the tissue. In this study, meta-analysis for transcriptional profiles of oncogenes was carried out to hunt critical genes or networks helping in metastasizing cancers. For this, transcriptomic analysis of different cancerous tissues causing leukemia, lung, liver, spleen, colorectal, colon, breast, bladder, and kidney cancers was performed by extracting microarray expression data from online resource; Gene Expression Omnibus. A newly developed bioinformatics technique; Dynamic Impact Approach (DIA was applied for enrichment analysis of transcriptional profiles using Database for Annotation Visualization and Integrated Discovery (DAVID. Furthermore, oPOSSUM (v. 2.0 and Cytoscape (v. 2.8.2 were used for in-depth analysis of transcription factors and regulatory gene networks respectively. DAVID analysis uncovered the most significantly enriched pathways in molecular functions that were 'Ubiquitin thiolesterase activity' up regulated in blood, breast, bladder, colorectal, lung, spleen, prostrate cancer. 'Transforming growth factor beta receptor activity' was inhibited in all cancers except leukemia, colon and liver cancer. oPOSSUM further revealed highly over-represented Transcription Factors (TFs; Broad-complex_3, Broad-complex_4, and Foxd3 except for leukemia and bladder cancer. From these findings, it is possible to target genes and networks, play a crucial role in the development of cancer. In the future, these transcription factors can serve as potential candidates for the therapeutic drug targets which can impede the deadly spread.

  20. 77 FR 12227 - Long Term 2 Enhanced Surface Water Treatment Rule: Uncovered Finished Water Reservoirs; Public...

    Science.gov (United States)

    2012-02-29

    ... Water Treatment Rule: Uncovered Finished Water Reservoirs; Public Meeting AGENCY: Environmental... review of the uncovered finished water reservoir requirement in the Long Term 2 Enhanced Surface Water... uncovered finished water reservoir requirement and the agency's Six Year Review process. EPA also plans to...

  1. Uncovering values-based practice: VBP's implicit commitments to subjectivism and relativism.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Cassidy, Ben

    2013-06-01

    Despite assertions to the contrary, KWM Fulford's values-based practice is implicitly committed to subjectivism when it comes to reasoning about values. This renders the approach unworkable. The act of merely uncovering underlying values is not enough to effect change and, therefore, resolve problems if we have no way, even in principle, of determining which values are right and which are wrong. Fulford's only departure from subjectivism about value is his commitment to 'framework values', which seems grounded in a version of ethical relativism. I argue that we need to reject both subjectivism and relativism if progress within ethical discussions about practice is to be meaningful and a real possibility. © 2013 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

  2. Use of (Time-Domain) Vector Autoregressions to Test Uncovered Interest Parity

    OpenAIRE

    Takatoshi Ito

    1984-01-01

    In this paper, a vector autoregression model (VAR) is proposed in order to test uncovered interest parity (UIP) in the foreign exchange market. Consider a VAR system of the spot exchange rate (yen/dollar), the domestic (US) interest rate and the foreign (Japanese) interest rate, describing the interdependence of the domestic and international financia lmarkets. Uncovered interest parity is stated as a null hypothesis that the current difference between the two interest rates is equal to the d...

  3. Uncovering Transcriptional Regulatory Networks by Sparse Bayesian Factor Model

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Qi Yuan(Alan

    2010-01-01

    Full Text Available Abstract The problem of uncovering transcriptional regulation by transcription factors (TFs based on microarray data is considered. A novel Bayesian sparse correlated rectified factor model (BSCRFM is proposed that models the unknown TF protein level activity, the correlated regulations between TFs, and the sparse nature of TF-regulated genes. The model admits prior knowledge from existing database regarding TF-regulated target genes based on a sparse prior and through a developed Gibbs sampling algorithm, a context-specific transcriptional regulatory network specific to the experimental condition of the microarray data can be obtained. The proposed model and the Gibbs sampling algorithm were evaluated on the simulated systems, and results demonstrated the validity and effectiveness of the proposed approach. The proposed model was then applied to the breast cancer microarray data of patients with Estrogen Receptor positive ( status and Estrogen Receptor negative ( status, respectively.

  4. Comparison of Covered Versus Uncovered Stents for Benign Superior Vena Cava (SVC) Obstruction.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Haddad, Mustafa M; Simmons, Benjamin; McPhail, Ian R; Kalra, Manju; Neisen, Melissa J; Johnson, Matthew P; Stockland, Andrew H; Andrews, James C; Misra, Sanjay; Bjarnason, Haraldur

    2018-05-01

    To identify whether long-term symptom relief and stent patency vary with the use of covered versus uncovered stents for the treatment of benign SVC obstruction. We retrospectively identified all patients with benign SVC syndrome treated to stent placement between January 2003 and December 2015 (n = 59). Only cases with both clinical and imaging follow-up were included (n = 47). In 33 (70%) of the patients, the obstruction was due to a central line or pacemaker wires, and in 14 (30%), the cause was fibrosing mediastinitis. Covered stents were placed in 17 (36%) of the patients, and 30 (64%) patients had an uncovered stent. Clinical and treatment outcomes, complications, and the percent stenosis of each stent were evaluated. Technical success was achieved in all cases at first attempt. Average clinical and imaging follow-up in years was 2.7 (range 0.1-11.1) (covered) and 1.7 (range 0.2-10.5) (uncovered), respectively. There was a significant difference (p = 0.044) in the number of patients who reported a return of symptoms between the covered (5/17 or 29.4%) and uncovered (18/30 or 60%) groups. There was also a significant difference (p = stenosis after stent placement between the covered [17.9% (range 0-100) ± 26.2] and uncovered [48.3% (range 6.8-100) ± 33.5] groups. No significant difference (p = 0.227) was found in the time (days) between the date of the procedure and the date of clinical follow-up where a return of symptoms was reported [covered: 426.6 (range 28-1554) ± 633.9 and uncovered 778.1 (range 23-3851) ± 1066.8]. One patient in the uncovered group had non-endovascular surgical intervention (innominate to right atrial bypass), while none in the covered group required surgical intervention. One major complication (SIR grade C) occurred that consisted of a pericardial hemorrhagic effusion after angioplasty that required covered stent placement. There were no procedure-related deaths. Both covered and uncovered stents can be used for

  5. Long Term Follow-up of a Transjugular Intrahepatic Portosystemic Shunt: A Comparison of Covered and Uncovered Stents

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Joo, Seung Moon; Park, Jae Hyung; Kim, Hyo Cheol; Jae, Hwan Jun; Chung, Jin Wook [Seoul National University Hospital, Seoul (Korea, Republic of)

    2009-01-15

    To evaluate the long term patency of transjugular intrahepatic portosystemic shunts (TIPS) and to compare the patency rate of covered and uncovered stents in TIPS. The study population included 78 patients with portal hypertension that underwent TIPS between January 1999 and July 2007 at our institution using uncovered stents in 53 patients and covered stents in 25 patients. The primary and secondary patency rates of TIPS were estimated to compare the uncovered and covered stent groups. The primary and secondary patency rates of the TIPS patients were found to be 83.9% and 93.9% at the 6 month follow-up and 73.5% and 88.5% at the12 month follow-up for uncovered and covered stents, respectively. A breakdown patency rates for the 12 month follow-up revealed that the primary patency rates were 76.6% and 66.3% for uncovered and covered stents, respectively; whereas, the secondary patency rates were 94.3% and 73.8% for the uncovered and covered stents, respectively. A comparative analysis did not provide evidence to suggest that a difference exists between the patency rates of the uncovered and covered stent groups (p>0.05). No significant difference was found between the patency rates of the uncovered and covered stent groups. A follow-up to this study would be a more thorough randomized evaluation of the different types of covered stents to compare long-term patency rates.

  6. The uncovered parity properties of the Czech Koruna

    Czech Academy of Sciences Publication Activity Database

    Derviz, Alexis

    2002-01-01

    Roč. 11, č. 1 (2002), s. 17-37 ISSN 1210-0455 R&D Projects: GA AV ČR KSK1019101 Institutional research plan: CEZ:AV0Z1075907 Keywords : uncovered parity * asset prices * international consumption-based capital asset pricing model Subject RIV: AH - Economics

  7. Uncovering Aberrant Mutant PKA Function with Flow Cytometric FRET

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Shin-Rong Lee

    2016-03-01

    Full Text Available Biology has been revolutionized by tools that allow the detection and characterization of protein-protein interactions (PPIs. Förster resonance energy transfer (FRET-based methods have become particularly attractive as they allow quantitative studies of PPIs within the convenient and relevant context of living cells. We describe here an approach that allows the rapid construction of live-cell FRET-based binding curves using a commercially available flow cytometer. We illustrate a simple method for absolutely calibrating the cytometer, validating our binding assay against the gold standard isothermal calorimetry (ITC, and using flow cytometric FRET to uncover the structural and functional effects of the Cushing-syndrome-causing mutation (L206R on PKA’s catalytic subunit. We discover that this mutation not only differentially affects PKAcat’s binding to its multiple partners but also impacts its rate of catalysis. These findings improve our mechanistic understanding of this disease-causing mutation, while illustrating the simplicity, general applicability, and power of flow cytometric FRET.

  8. Uncovering student ideas in physical science

    CERN Document Server

    Keeley, Page

    2014-01-01

    If you and your students can't get enough of a good thing, Volume 2 of Uncovering Student Ideas in Physical Science is just what you need. The book offers 39 new formative assessment probes, this time with a focus on electric charge, electric current, and magnets and electromagnetism. It can help you do everything from demystify electromagnetic fields to explain the real reason balloons stick to the wall after you rub them on your hair.

  9. Partially Covered Metal Stents May Not Prolong Stent Patency Compared to Uncovered Stents in Unresectable Malignant Distal Biliary Obstruction

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kim, Jae Yun; Ko, Gyu Bong; Lee, Tae Hoon; Park, Sang-Heum; Lee, Yun Nah; Cho, Young Sin; Jung, Yunho; Chung, Il-Kwun; Choi, Hyun Jong; Cha, Sang-Woo; Moon, Jong Ho; Cho, Young Deok; Kim, Sun-Joo

    2017-01-01

    Background/Aims Controversy still exists regarding the benefits of covered self-expandable metal stents (SEMSs) compared to uncovered SEMSs. We aimed to compare the patency and stent-related adverse events of partially covered SEMSs (PC-SEMSs) and uncovered SEMSs in unresectable malignant distal biliary obstruction. Methods A total of 134 patients who received a PC-SEMS or uncovered SEMS for palliation of unresectable malignant distal biliary obstruction were reviewed retrospectively. The main outcome measures were stent patency, stent-related adverse events, and overall survival. Results The median stent patency was 118 days (range, 3 to 802 days) with PC-SEMSs and 105 days (range, 2 to 485 days) with uncovered SEMSs (p=0.718). The overall endoscopic revision rate due to stent dysfunction was 36.6% (26/71) with PC-SEMSs and 36.5% (23/63) with uncovered SEMSs (p=0.589). Tumor ingrowth was more frequent with uncovered SEMSs (4.2% vs 19.1%, p=0.013), but migration was more frequent with PC-SEMSs (11.2% vs 1.5%, p=0.04). The incidence of stent-related adverse events was 2.8% (2/71) with PC-SEMSs and 9.5% (6/63) with uncovered SEMSs (p=0.224). The median overall survival was 166 days with PC-SEMSs and 168 days with uncovered SEMSs (p=0.189). Conclusions Compared to uncovered SEMSs, PC-SEMSs did not prolong stent patency in unresectable malignant distal biliary obstruction. Stent migration was more frequent with PC-SEMSs. However, tumor ingrowth was less frequent with PC-SEMSs compared to uncovered SEMSs. PMID:28208003

  10. Malignant Gastroduodenal Obstruction: Treatment with Self-Expanding Uncovered Wallstent

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Gutzeit, Andreas; Binkert, Christoph A.; Schoch, Eric; Sautter, Thomas; Jost, Res; Zollikofer, Christoph L.

    2009-01-01

    Purpose: To retrospectively evaluate the clinical effectiveness of a self-expanding uncovered Wallstent in patients with malignant gastroduodenal obstruction. Materials and Methods: Under combined endoscopic and fluoroscopic guidance, 29 patients with a malignant gastroduodenal stenosis were treated with a self-expanding uncovered metallic Wallstent. A dysphagia score was assessed before and after the intervention to measure the success of this palliative therapy. The dysphagia score ranged between grade 0 to grade 4: grade 0 = able to tolerate solid food, grade 1 = able to tolerate soft food, grade 2 = able to tolerate thick liquids, grade 3 = able to tolerate water or clear fluids, and grade 4 = unable to tolerate anything perorally. Stent patency and patients survival rates were calculated. Results: The insertion of the gastroduodenal stent was technically successful in 28 patients (96.5%). After stenting, 25 patients (86.2%) showed clinical improvement by at least one score point. During follow-up, 22 (78.5%) of 28 patients showed no stent occlusion until death and did not have to undergo any further intervention. In six patients (20.6%), all of whom were treated with secondary stent insertions, occlusion with tumor ingrowth and/or overgrowth was observed after the intervention. The median period of primary stent patency in our study was 240 days. Conclusion: Placement of an uncovered Wallstent is clinically effective in patients with malignant gastroduodenal obstruction. Stent placement is associated with high technical success, good palliation effect, and high durability of stent function.

  11. Uncovering Indicators of Commercial Sexual Exploitation.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bounds, Dawn; Delaney, Kathleen R; Julion, Wrenetha; Breitenstein, Susan

    2017-07-01

    It is estimated that annually 100,000 to 300,000 youth are at risk for sex trafficking; a commercial sex act induced by force, fraud, or coercion, or any such act where the person induced to perform such an act is younger than 18 years of age. Increasingly, such transactions are occurring online via Internet-based sites that serve the commercial sex industry. Commercial sex transactions involving trafficking are illegal; thus, Internet discussions between those involved must be veiled. Even so, transactions around sex trafficking do occur. Within these transactions are innuendos that provide one avenue for detecting potential activity. The purpose of this study is to identify linguistic indicators of potential commercial sexual exploitation within the online comments of men posted on an Internet site. Six hundred sixty-six posts from five Midwest cities and 363 unique members were analyzed via content analysis. Three main indicators were found: the presence of youth or desire for youthfulness, presence of pimps, and awareness of vulnerability. These findings begin a much-needed dialogue on uncovering online risks of commercial sexual exploitation and support the need for further research on Internet indicators of sex trafficking.

  12. Partially covered versus uncovered self-expandable nitinol stents with anti-migration properties for the palliation of malignant distal biliary obstruction: A randomized controlled trial.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Yang, Min Jae; Kim, Jin Hong; Yoo, Byung Moo; Hwang, Jae Chul; Yoo, Jun Hwan; Lee, Ki Seong; Kang, Joon Koo; Kim, Soon Sun; Lim, Sun Gyo; Shin, Sung Jae; Cheong, Jae Youn; Lee, Kee Myung; Lee, Kwang Jae; Cho, Sung Won

    2015-01-01

    Covered self-expandable metal stents (SEMSs) are increasingly used as alternatives to uncovered SEMSs for the palliation of inoperable malignant distal biliary obstruction to counteract tumor ingrowth. We aimed to compare the outcomes of partially covered and uncovered SEMSs with identical mesh structures and anti-migration properties, such as low axial force and flared ends. One hundred and three patients who were diagnosed with inoperable malignant distal biliary obstruction between January 2006 and August 2013 were randomly assigned to either the partially covered (n = 51) or uncovered (n = 52) SEMS group. There were no significant differences in the cumulative stent patency, overall patient survival, stent dysfunction-free survival and overall adverse events, including pancreatitis and cholecystitis, between the two groups. Compared to the uncovered group, stent migration (5.9% vs. 0%, p = 0.118) and tumor overgrowth (7.8% vs. 1.9%, p = 0.205) were non-significantly more frequent in the partially covered group, whereas tumor ingrowth showed a significantly higher incidence in the uncovered group (5.9% vs. 19.2%, p = 0.041). Stent migration in the partially covered group occurred only in patients with short stenosis of the utmost distal bile duct (two in ampullary cancer, one in bile duct cancer), and did not occur in any patients with pancreatic cancer. For the palliation of malignant distal biliary obstruction, endoscopic placement of partially covered SEMSs with anti-migration designs and identical mesh structures to uncovered SEMSs failed to prolong cumulative stent patency or reduce stent migration.

  13. Conformable covered versus uncovered self-expandable metallic stents for palliation of malignant gastroduodenal obstruction: a randomized prospective study.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lim, Sun Gyo; Kim, Jin Hong; Lee, Kee Myung; Shin, Sung Jae; Kim, Chan Gyoo; Kim, Kyung Ho; Kim, Ho Gak; Yang, Chang Heon

    2014-07-01

    A conformable self-expandable metallic stent was developed to overcome the limitation of previous self-expandable metallic stents. The aim of this study was to evaluate outcomes after placement of conformable covered and uncovered self-expandable metallic stents for palliation of malignant gastroduodenal obstruction. A single-blind, randomized, parallel-group, prospective study were conducted in 4 medical centres between March 2009 and July 2012. 134 patients with unresectable malignant gastroduodenal obstruction were assigned to a covered double-layered (n=66) or uncovered unfixed-cell braided (n=68) stent placement group. Primary analysis was performed to compare re-intervention rates between two groups. 120 patients were analysed (59 in the covered group and 61 in the uncovered group). Overall rates of re-intervention were not significantly different between the two groups: 13/59 (22.0%) in the covered group vs. 13/61 (21.3%) in the uncovered group, p=0.999. Stent migration was more frequent in the covered group than in the uncovered group (p=0.003). The tumour ingrowth rate was higher in the uncovered group than in the covered group (p=0.016). The rates of re-intervention did not significantly differ between the two stents. Conformable covered double-layered and uncovered unfixed-cell braided stents were associated with different patterns of stent malfunction. Copyright © 2014 Editrice Gastroenterologica Italiana S.r.l. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  14. Uncovering the Density of Matter from Multiplicity Distribution

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Bialas, A.

    2010-01-01

    Multiplicity distributions in the form of superposition of Poisson distributions which are observed in multiparticle production are interpreted as reflection of a two-step nature of this process: the creation and evolution of the strongly interacting fluid, followed by its uncorrelated decay into observed hadrons. A method to uncover the density of the fluid from the observed multiplicity distribution is described. (author)

  15. Metasystem approach to increase the load factor FMS

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Pishchukhin Alexandr

    2017-01-01

    Full Text Available The work is devoted to increasing the efficiency of using flexible manufacture systems (FMS by increasing the load factor. Unlike the well-known multi-agent approach to production management, we are investigating the addition of a metasystem level allowing flexible combination of the decentralized control method with centralization. The metasystem approach allows to reduce management to flexible switching of functioning technologies on the basis of the replacement rule, while describing FMS as a metasystem consisting of classification of the system analyst J. Klir from structured data systems. Production events are simulated in virtual space with the help of a multi-agent approach. At the same time, the number of requests from the waiting queue is chosen such that it becomes possible to optimize the loading of the FMS in the simplest case by the full-scan method, if the queue is not available, then the initiative of choice is provided to communications of agents-technologies and agents-equipments. Experimental studies were carried out on the FMS model including six pieces of equipment divided into three groups with a stream of six applications, each of which has a technological route of six operations each‥ The experimental results showed the consistency of the developed approach by increasing the load factor of the FMS.

  16. Uncovering a New Moral Dilemma of Economic Optimization in Biotechnological Processing.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Vochozka, Marek; Stehel, Vojtěch; Maroušková, Anna

    2017-06-08

    The trend of emerging biorefineries is to process the harvest as efficiently as possible and without any waste. From the most valuable phytomass, refined medicines, enzymes, dyes and other special reactants are created. Functional foods, food ingredients, oils, alcohol, solvents, plastics, fillers and a wide variety of other chemical products follow. After being treated with nutrient recovery techniques (for fertilizer production), biofuels or soil improvers are produced from the leftovers. Economic optimization algorithms have confirmed that such complex biorefineries can be financially viable only when a high degree of feedstock concentration is included. Because the plant material is extremely voluminous before processing, the farming intensity of special plants increases in the nearest vicinity of agglomerations where the biorefineries are built for logistical reasons. Interdisciplinary analyses revealed that these optimization measures lead to significantly increased pollen levels in neighbouring urban areas and subsequently an increased risk of allergies, respectively costs to the national health system. A new moral dilemma between the shareholder's profit and public interest was uncovered and subjected to disputation.

  17. The effect of increasing strength and approach velocity on triple jump performance.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Allen, Sam J; Yeadon, M R Fred; King, Mark A

    2016-12-08

    The triple jump is an athletic event comprising three phases in which the optimal phase ratio (the proportion of each phase to the total distance jumped) is unknown. This study used a planar whole body torque-driven computer simulation model of the ground contact parts of all three phases of the triple jump to investigate the effect of strength and approach velocity on optimal performance. The strength and approach velocity of the simulation model were each increased by up to 30% in 10% increments from baseline data collected from a national standard triple jumper. Increasing strength always resulted in an increased overall jump distance. Increasing approach velocity also typically resulted in an increased overall jump distance but there was a point past which increasing approach velocity without increasing strength did not lead to an increase in overall jump distance. Increasing both strength and approach velocity by 10%, 20%, and 30% led to roughly equivalent increases in overall jump distances. Distances ranged from 14.05m with baseline strength and approach velocity, up to 18.49m with 30% increases in both. Optimal phase ratios were either hop-dominated or balanced, and typically became more balanced when the strength of the model was increased by a greater percentage than its approach velocity. The range of triple jump distances that resulted from the optimisation process suggests that strength and approach velocity are of great importance for triple jump performance. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  18. Organization of physical interactomes as uncovered by network schemas.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Banks, Eric; Nabieva, Elena; Chazelle, Bernard; Singh, Mona

    2008-10-01

    Large-scale protein-protein interaction networks provide new opportunities for understanding cellular organization and functioning. We introduce network schemas to elucidate shared mechanisms within interactomes. Network schemas specify descriptions of proteins and the topology of interactions among them. We develop algorithms for systematically uncovering recurring, over-represented schemas in physical interaction networks. We apply our methods to the S. cerevisiae interactome, focusing on schemas consisting of proteins described via sequence motifs and molecular function annotations and interacting with one another in one of four basic network topologies. We identify hundreds of recurring and over-represented network schemas of various complexity, and demonstrate via graph-theoretic representations how more complex schemas are organized in terms of their lower-order constituents. The uncovered schemas span a wide range of cellular activities, with many signaling and transport related higher-order schemas. We establish the functional importance of the schemas by showing that they correspond to functionally cohesive sets of proteins, are enriched in the frequency with which they have instances in the H. sapiens interactome, and are useful for predicting protein function. Our findings suggest that network schemas are a powerful paradigm for organizing, interrogating, and annotating cellular networks.

  19. Clustering high-dimensional mixed data to uncover sub-phenotypes: joint analysis of phenotypic and genotypic data.

    Science.gov (United States)

    McParland, D; Phillips, C M; Brennan, L; Roche, H M; Gormley, I C

    2017-12-10

    The LIPGENE-SU.VI.MAX study, like many others, recorded high-dimensional continuous phenotypic data and categorical genotypic data. LIPGENE-SU.VI.MAX focuses on the need to account for both phenotypic and genetic factors when studying the metabolic syndrome (MetS), a complex disorder that can lead to higher risk of type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular disease. Interest lies in clustering the LIPGENE-SU.VI.MAX participants into homogeneous groups or sub-phenotypes, by jointly considering their phenotypic and genotypic data, and in determining which variables are discriminatory. A novel latent variable model that elegantly accommodates high dimensional, mixed data is developed to cluster LIPGENE-SU.VI.MAX participants using a Bayesian finite mixture model. A computationally efficient variable selection algorithm is incorporated, estimation is via a Gibbs sampling algorithm and an approximate BIC-MCMC criterion is developed to select the optimal model. Two clusters or sub-phenotypes ('healthy' and 'at risk') are uncovered. A small subset of variables is deemed discriminatory, which notably includes phenotypic and genotypic variables, highlighting the need to jointly consider both factors. Further, 7 years after the LIPGENE-SU.VI.MAX data were collected, participants underwent further analysis to diagnose presence or absence of the MetS. The two uncovered sub-phenotypes strongly correspond to the 7-year follow-up disease classification, highlighting the role of phenotypic and genotypic factors in the MetS and emphasising the potential utility of the clustering approach in early screening. Additionally, the ability of the proposed approach to define the uncertainty in sub-phenotype membership at the participant level is synonymous with the concepts of precision medicine and nutrition. Copyright © 2017 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. Copyright © 2017 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

  20. Impact of environmental inputs on reverse-engineering approach to network structures.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wu, Jianhua; Sinfield, James L; Buchanan-Wollaston, Vicky; Feng, Jianfeng

    2009-12-04

    Uncovering complex network structures from a biological system is one of the main topic in system biology. The network structures can be inferred by the dynamical Bayesian network or Granger causality, but neither techniques have seriously taken into account the impact of environmental inputs. With considerations of natural rhythmic dynamics of biological data, we propose a system biology approach to reveal the impact of environmental inputs on network structures. We first represent the environmental inputs by a harmonic oscillator and combine them with Granger causality to identify environmental inputs and then uncover the causal network structures. We also generalize it to multiple harmonic oscillators to represent various exogenous influences. This system approach is extensively tested with toy models and successfully applied to a real biological network of microarray data of the flowering genes of the model plant Arabidopsis Thaliana. The aim is to identify those genes that are directly affected by the presence of the sunlight and uncover the interactive network structures associating with flowering metabolism. We demonstrate that environmental inputs are crucial for correctly inferring network structures. Harmonic causal method is proved to be a powerful technique to detect environment inputs and uncover network structures, especially when the biological data exhibit periodic oscillations.

  1. Hydraulic behaviour of a partially uncovered core

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Fischer, K.; Hafner, W.

    1989-10-01

    A critical review of experimental data and theoretical models relevant to the thermohydraulic processes in a partially uncovered core has been performed. Presently available optimized thermohydraulic codes should be able to predict swell level elevations within an error band of ± 0.5 m. Rod temperature rising velocities could be predicted within an error bandwidth of ± 10%, provided the correct rod heat capacity is given. A general statement about the accuracy of predicted rod temperatures is not possible because the errors increase with simulation time. Highest errors are expected for long transients with low heating rates and low steam velocities. As a result, three areas for additional research are suggested: - a high-pressure test at 120 bar to complete the void correlation data base, - a low steam flow - low power experiment to improve heat transfer correlations, - a numerical investigation of three-dimensional effects in the reactor core with unequally heated rod bundles. For the present state of 1-dimensional experiments and models, suggestions for a satisfactory modeling have been derived. The suggested further work could improve the modelling capabilities and the code reliability for some limiting cases like high pressure boil-off, low-power long-term steam cooling, and unequal heating of neighbouring bundles considerably

  2. Uncovering Special Nuclear Materials by Low-energy Nuclear Reaction Imaging.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Rose, P B; Erickson, A S; Mayer, M; Nattress, J; Jovanovic, I

    2016-04-18

    Weapons-grade uranium and plutonium could be used as nuclear explosives with extreme destructive potential. The problem of their detection, especially in standard cargo containers during transit, has been described as "searching for a needle in a haystack" because of the inherently low rate of spontaneous emission of characteristic penetrating radiation and the ease of its shielding. Currently, the only practical approach for uncovering well-shielded special nuclear materials is by use of active interrogation using an external radiation source. However, the similarity of these materials to shielding and the required radiation doses that may exceed regulatory limits prevent this method from being widely used in practice. We introduce a low-dose active detection technique, referred to as low-energy nuclear reaction imaging, which exploits the physics of interactions of multi-MeV monoenergetic photons and neutrons to simultaneously measure the material's areal density and effective atomic number, while confirming the presence of fissionable materials by observing the beta-delayed neutron emission. For the first time, we demonstrate identification and imaging of uranium with this novel technique using a simple yet robust source, setting the stage for its wide adoption in security applications.

  3. Increasing data quality by predicting cloud-movement with Allsky-Cams

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Adam, Jan; Buss, Jens; Noethe, Maximilian [TU Dortmund (Germany); Collaboration: FACT-Collaboration

    2016-07-01

    Clouds and related atmospheric phenomena have a big influence on the quality of astronomical observations. Especially in case of ground-based gamma telescopes such as FACT, bad atmospheric conditions impair the reconstruction of air-shower events. The First G-APD Cherenkov Telescope aims for automatic long-term monitoring. Therefore, it benefits greatly from an advanced scheduling algorithm which takes into account the current weather conditions. While there is no way to reduce the occurrence of clouds in the direction of a desired object, it is possible to increase the duty cycle by switching to an uncovered source. Hence, a quantitative rating of the sky cloudiness is needed to differentiate between covered and uncovered areas. This talk presents a method to calculate the current sky cloudiness by searching stars in 180 allsky camera images. This method can be applied to arbitrary areas, e.g., the whole sky or a few degrees around any certain source. Results and various visualisations are presented, such as the distribution of the parameters for different weather conditions. Moreover, their developement over time is shown for multiple sources in a partly clouded night. And a first approach for predicting the cloud's movement by using subsequent images and additional data such as wind profiles is discussed.

  4. Regional level approach for increasing energy efficiency

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Viholainen, Juha; Luoranen, Mika; Väisänen, Sanni; Niskanen, Antti; Horttanainen, Mika; Soukka, Risto

    2016-01-01

    Highlights: • Comprehensive snapshot of regional energy system for decision makers. • Connecting regional sustainability targets and energy planning. • Involving local players in energy planning. - Abstract: Actions for increasing the renewable share in the energy supply and improving both production and end-use energy efficiency are often built into the regional level sustainability targets. Because of this, many local stakeholders such as local governments, energy producers and distributors, industry, and public and private sector operators require information on the current state and development aspects of the regional energy efficiency. The drawback is that an overall view on the focal energy system operators, their energy interests, and future energy service needs in the region is often not available for the stakeholders. To support the local energy planning and management of the regional energy services, an approach for increasing the regional energy efficiency is being introduced. The presented approach can be seen as a solid framework for gathering the required data for energy efficiency analysis and also evaluating the energy system development, planned improvement actions, and the required energy services at the region. This study defines the theoretical structure of the energy efficiency approach and the required steps for revealing such energy system improvement actions that support the regional energy plan. To demonstrate the use of the approach, a case study of a Finnish small-town of Lohja is presented. In the case example, possible actions linked to the regional energy targets were evaluated with energy efficiency analysis. The results of the case example are system specific, but the conducted study can be seen as a justified example of generating easily attainable and transparent information on the impacts of different improvement actions on the regional energy system.

  5. Uncovering Student Ideas in Astronomy 45 Formative Assessment Probes

    CERN Document Server

    Keeley, Page

    2012-01-01

    What do your students know-or think they know-about what causes night and day, why days are shorter in winter, and how to tell a planet from a star? Find out with this book on astronomy, the latest in NSTA's popular Uncovering Student Ideas in Science series. The 45 astronomy probes provide situations that will pique your students' interest while helping you understand how your students think about key ideas related to the universe and how it operates.

  6. Epistemically Virtuous Risk Management : Financial Due Diligence and Uncovering the Madoff Fraud

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    de Bruin, Boudewijn; Luetge, Christoph; Jauernig, Johanna

    2014-01-01

    The chapter analyses how Bernard Madoff’s Ponzi scheme was uncovered by Harry Markopolos, an employee of Rampart Investment Management, LLC, and the contribution of so-called epistemic virtues to Markopolos’ success. After Rampart had informed the firm about an allegedly highly successful hedge fund

  7. Integrative Genetic and Epigenetic Analysis Uncovers Regulatory Mechanisms of Autoimmune Disease.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Shooshtari, Parisa; Huang, Hailiang; Cotsapas, Chris

    2017-07-06

    Genome-wide association studies in autoimmune and inflammatory diseases (AID) have uncovered hundreds of loci mediating risk. These associations are preferentially located in non-coding DNA regions and in particular in tissue-specific DNase I hypersensitivity sites (DHSs). While these analyses clearly demonstrate the overall enrichment of disease risk alleles on gene regulatory regions, they are not designed to identify individual regulatory regions mediating risk or the genes under their control, and thus uncover the specific molecular events driving disease risk. To do so we have departed from standard practice by identifying regulatory regions which replicate across samples and connect them to the genes they control through robust re-analysis of public data. We find significant evidence of regulatory potential in 78/301 (26%) risk loci across nine autoimmune and inflammatory diseases, and we find that individual genes are targeted by these effects in 53/78 (68%) of these. Thus, we are able to generate testable mechanistic hypotheses of the molecular changes that drive disease risk. Copyright © 2017 American Society of Human Genetics. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  8. A potato NOA gene increased salinity tolerance in Arabidopsis ...

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    ONOS

    2010-09-06

    Sep 6, 2010 ... in Arabidopsis thaliana salt stress responses and increased its salinity tolerance. Key words: StNOA1 ... (NR)-dependent pathways (Cueto et al., 1996; Delledonne ..... plastome-encoded proteins uncovers a mechanism for the.

  9. Revisiting Uncovered Interest Rate Parity: Switching Between UIP and the Random Walk

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    R. Huisman (Ronald); R.J. Mahieu (Ronald)

    2007-01-01

    textabstractIn this paper, we examine in which periods uncovered interest rate parity was likely to hold. Empirical research has shown mixed evidence on UIP. The main finding is that it doesn’t hold, although some researchers were not able to reject UIP in periods with large interest differentials

  10. A Consumer-Driven Approach To Increase Suggestive Selling.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Rohn, Don; Austin, John; Sanford, Alison

    2003-01-01

    Discussion of the effectiveness of behavioral interventions in improving suggestive selling behavior of sales staff focuses on a study that examined the efficacy of a consumer-driven approach to improve suggestive selling behavior of three employees of a fast food franchise. Reports that consumer-driven intervention increased suggestive selling…

  11. Uncovering highly obfuscated plagiarism cases using fuzzy semantic-based similarity model

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Salha M. Alzahrani

    2015-07-01

    Full Text Available Highly obfuscated plagiarism cases contain unseen and obfuscated texts, which pose difficulties when using existing plagiarism detection methods. A fuzzy semantic-based similarity model for uncovering obfuscated plagiarism is presented and compared with five state-of-the-art baselines. Semantic relatedness between words is studied based on the part-of-speech (POS tags and WordNet-based similarity measures. Fuzzy-based rules are introduced to assess the semantic distance between source and suspicious texts of short lengths, which implement the semantic relatedness between words as a membership function to a fuzzy set. In order to minimize the number of false positives and false negatives, a learning method that combines a permission threshold and a variation threshold is used to decide true plagiarism cases. The proposed model and the baselines are evaluated on 99,033 ground-truth annotated cases extracted from different datasets, including 11,621 (11.7% handmade paraphrases, 54,815 (55.4% artificial plagiarism cases, and 32,578 (32.9% plagiarism-free cases. We conduct extensive experimental verifications, including the study of the effects of different segmentations schemes and parameter settings. Results are assessed using precision, recall, F-measure and granularity on stratified 10-fold cross-validation data. The statistical analysis using paired t-tests shows that the proposed approach is statistically significant in comparison with the baselines, which demonstrates the competence of fuzzy semantic-based model to detect plagiarism cases beyond the literal plagiarism. Additionally, the analysis of variance (ANOVA statistical test shows the effectiveness of different segmentation schemes used with the proposed approach.

  12. The hidden Heuchera: How science Twitter uncovered a globally imperiled species in Pennsylvania, USA

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Scott Schuette

    2018-04-01

    Full Text Available The genus Heuchera is recognized as one of the most diverse endemic radiations of Saxifragaceae in North America, yet species delimitation and geographic distribution within the group remain controversial. Many species remain difficult to identify, including Heuchera alba, a narrow Appalachian endemic and globally imperiled (G2 taxon recorded only from West Virginia and Virginia that occurs in sympatry with H. pubescens and H. americana. A recent survey of the cliffside flora of the Shikellamy Bluffs, PA recorded dozens of Heuchera individuals that, through the use of social media, were positively identified as H. alba. Aided by examination of historical herbarium records, subsequent searches of similar habitats in Pennsylvania led to the discovery of seven more populations and established a significant range expansion for this rare species. The uncovering of H. alba in Pennsylvania is an exciting conservation outcome and an example of what can happen when botanists embrace a combination of modern and classical approaches to discovery and collaboration.

  13. An integrated approach to uncover quality marker underlying the effects of Alisma orientale on lipid metabolism, using chemical analysis and network pharmacology.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Liao, Maoliang; Shang, Haihua; Li, Yazhuo; Li, Tian; Wang, Miao; Zheng, Yanan; Hou, Wenbin; Liu, Changxiao

    2018-06-01

    Quality control of traditional Chinese medicines is currently a great concern, due to the correlation between the quality control indicators and clinic effect is often questionable. According to the "multi-components and multi-targets" property of TCMs, a new special quality and bioactivity evaluation system is urgently needed. Present study adopted an integrated approach to provide new insights relating to uncover quality marker underlying the effects of Alisma orientale (AO) on lipid metabolism. In this paper, guided by the concept of the quality marker (Q-marker), an integrated strategies "effect-compound-target-fingerprint" was established to discovery and screen the potential quality marker of AO based on network pharmacology and chemical analysis. Firstly, a bioactivity evaluation was performed to screen the main active fractions. Then the chemical compositions were rapidly identified by chemical analysis. Next, networks were constructed to illuminate the interactions between these component and their targets for lipid metabolism, and the potential Q-marker of AO was initially screened. Finally, the activity of the Q-markers was validated in vitro. 50% ethanol extract fraction was found to have the strongest lipid-lowering activity. Then, the network pharmacology was used to clarify the unique relationship between the Q-markers and their integral pharmacological action. Combined with the results obtained, five active ingredients in the 50% ethanol extract fraction were given special considerations to be representative Q-markers: Alisol A, Alisol B, Alisol A 23-acetate, Alisol B 23-acetate and Alisol A 24-acetate, respectively. The chromatographic fingerprints based Q-marker was establishment. The integrated Q-marker screen may offer an alternative quality assessment of herbal medicines. Copyright © 2018. Published by Elsevier GmbH.

  14. Uncovering cognitive processes: Different techniques that can contribute to cognitive load research and instruction

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Van Gog, Tamara; Kester, Liesbeth; Nievelstein, Fleurie; Giesbers, Bas; Fred, Paas

    2009-01-01

    Van Gog, T., Kester, L., Nievelstein, F., Giesbers, B., & Paas, F. (2009). Uncovering cognitive processes: Different techniques that can contribute to cognitive load research and instruction. Computers in Human Behavior, 25, 325-331.

  15. Hepatitis C virus host cell interactions uncovered

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Gottwein, Judith; Bukh, Jens

    2007-01-01

      Insights into virus-host cell interactions as uncovered by Randall et al. (1) in a recent issue of PNAS further our understanding of the hepatitis C virus (HCV) life cycle, persistence, and pathogenesis and might lead to the identification of new therapeutic targets. HCV persistently infects 180...... million individuals worldwide, causing chronic hepatitis, liver cirrhosis, and hepatocellular carcinoma. The only approved treatment, combination therapy with IFN- and ribavirin, targets cellular pathways (2); however, a sustained virologic response is achieved only in approximately half of the patients...... treated. Therefore, there is a pressing need for the identification of novel drugs against hepatitis C. Although most research focuses on the development of HCV-specific antivirals, such as protease and polymerase inhibitors (3), cellular targets could be pursued and might allow the development of broad...

  16. Antisocial behaviour and psychopathy: Uncovering the externalizing link in the P3 modulation.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Pasion, Rita; Fernandes, Carina; Pereira, Mariana R; Barbosa, Fernando

    2017-03-22

    In 2009, Gao and Raine's meta-analysis analysed P3 modulation over the antisocial spectrum. However, some questions remained open regarding the P3 modulation patterns across impulsive and violent manifestations of antisocial behaviour, phenotypic components of psychopathy, and P3 components. A systematic review of 36 studies was conducted (N=3514) to extend previous results and to address these unresolved questions. A clear link between decreased P3 amplitude and antisocial behaviour was found. In psychopathy, dimensional approaches become more informative than taxonomic models. Distinct etiological pathways of psychopathy were evidenced in cognitive tasks: impulsive-antisocial psychopathic traits mainly predicted blunted P3 amplitude, while interpersonal-affective psychopathic traits explained enhanced P3 amplitude. Supporting the low fear hypothesis, the interpersonal-affective traits were associated with reduced P3 amplitude in emotional-affective learning tasks. From the accumulated knowledge we propose a framework of P3 amplitude modulation that uncovers the externalizing link between psychopathy and antisocial behaviour. However, the main hypotheses are exploratory and call for more data before stablishing robust conclusions. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  17. Uncovering molecular relaxation processes with nonlinear spectroscopies in the deep UV

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    West, Brantley A.; Molesky, Brian P.; Giokas, Paul G.; Moran, Andrew M.

    2013-01-01

    Highlights: • We discuss the outlook for multidimensional spectroscopies in the deep UV. • Photophysics are examined in small DNA components at cryogenic temperatures. • Wavepacket motions are detected in ring-opening systems with 2DUV spectroscopy. • Measurements of electronic wavepacket motions in molecules are proposed. - Abstract: Nonlinear laser spectroscopies in the deep UV spectral range are motivated by studies of biological systems and elementary processes in small molecules. This perspective article discusses recent technical advances in this area with a particular emphasis on diffractive optic based approaches to four-wave mixing spectroscopies. Applications to two classes of systems illustrate present experimental capabilities. First, experiments on DNA components at cryogenic temperatures are used to uncover features of excited state potential energy surfaces and vibrational cooling mechanisms. Second, sub-200 fs internal conversion processes and coherent wavepacket motions are investigated in cyclohexadiene and α-terpinene. Finally, we propose new experimental directions that combine methods for producing few-cycle UV laser pulses in noble gases with incoherent detection methods (e.g., photoionization) in experiments with time resolution near a singlefemtosecond. These measurements are motivated by knowledge of extremely fast non-adiabatic dynamics and the resolution of electronic wavepacket motions in molecules

  18. Uncovering the Motivating Factors behind Writing in English in en EFL Context

    Science.gov (United States)

    Büyükyavuz, Oya; Çakir, Ismail

    2014-01-01

    Writing in a language, whether the target or native, is regarded as a complex activity operating on multiple cognitive levels. This study aimed to uncover the factors which motivate teacher trainees of English to write in English in an EFL context. The study also investigated the differences in the ways teacher trainees are motivated in terms of…

  19. Multidimensional Poverty Indices and First Order Dominance Techniques: An Empirical Comparison of Different Approaches

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Hussain, M. Azhar; Permanyer, Iñaki

    2018-01-01

    techniques (FOD). Our empirical findings suggest that the FOD approach might be a reasonable cost-effective alternative to the United Nations Development Program (UNDP)’s flagship poverty indicator: the Multidimensional Poverty Index (MPI). To the extent that the FOD approach is able to uncover the socio...

  20. Percutaneous Transhepatic Biliary Stenting with Uncovered Self-Expandable Metallic Stents in Patients with Malignant Biliary Obstruction - Efficacy and Survival Analysis.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Pranculis, Andrius; Kievišas, Mantas; Kievišienė, Lina; Vaičius, Artūras; Vanagas, Tomas; Kaupas, Rytis Stasys; Dambrauskas, Žilvinas

    2017-01-01

    The aim of this study was to assess short- and long-term outcomes of malignant biliary obstruction (MBO) treatment by percutaneous transhepatic biliary stenting (PTBS) with uncovered selfexpandable metallic stents (SEMS), and to identify predictors of survival. A nine-year, single-centre study from a prospectively collected database included 222 patients with inoperable MBO treated by PTBS with uncovered nitinol SEMS. Technical and clinical success rates were 95.9% and 82.4%, respectively. The total rate of postprocedural complications was 14.4%. The mean durations of the primary and secondary stent patency were 114.7±15.1 and 146.4±21.2 days, respectively. The 30-day mortality rate was 15.3% with no procedure-related deaths. The mean estimated length of survival was 143.3±20.6 days. Independent predictors increasing the risk of death included higher than 115 μmol/L serum bilirubin 2-5 days after biliary stenting (HR 3.274, P =0.019), distal (non-hilar) obstruction of the bile ducts (HR 3.711, P =0.008), Bismuth-Corlette type IV stricture (HR 2.082, P =0.008), obstruction due to gallbladder cancer (HR 31.029, P =0.012) and only partial drainage of liver parenchyma (HR 4.158, P =0.040). PTBS with uncovered SEMS is an effective and safe method for palliative treatment of MBO. Serum bilirubin higher than 115 μmol/L 2-5 days after the procedure has a significant negative impact on patients' survival. Lower survival is also determined by distal bile duct obstruction, Bismuth- Corlette type IV stricture, biliary obstruction caused by gallbladder cancer and when only partial liver drainage is applied.

  1. Uncovering patterns of technology use in consumer health informatics

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hung, Man; Conrad, Jillian; Hon, Shirley D.; Cheng, Christine; Franklin, Jeremy D.; Tang, Philip

    2014-01-01

    Internet usage and accessibility has grown at a staggering rate, influencing technology use for healthcare purposes. The amount of health information technology (Health IT) available through the Internet is immeasurable and growing daily. Health IT is now seen as a fundamental aspect of patient care as it stimulates patient engagement and encourages personal health management. It is increasingly important to understand consumer health IT patterns including who is using specific technologies, how technologies are accessed, factors associated with use, and perceived benefits. To fully uncover consumer patterns it is imperative to recognize common barriers and which groups they disproportionately affect. Finally, exploring future demand and predictions will expose significant opportunities for health IT. The most frequently used health information technologies by consumers are gathering information online, mobile health (mHealth) technologies, and personal health records (PHRs). Gathering health information online is the favored pathway for healthcare consumers as it is used by more consumers and more frequently than any other technology. In regard to mHealth technologies, minority Americans, compared with White Americans utilize social media, mobile Internet, and mobile applications more frequently. Consumers believe PHRs are the most beneficial health IT. PHR usage is increasing rapidly due to PHR integration with provider health systems and health insurance plans. Key issues that have to be explicitly addressed in health IT are privacy and security concerns, health literacy, unawareness, and usability. Privacy and security concerns are rated the number one reason for the slow rate of health IT adoption. PMID:24904713

  2. Using Text Mining to Uncover Students' Technology-Related Problems in Live Video Streaming

    Science.gov (United States)

    Abdous, M'hammed; He, Wu

    2011-01-01

    Because of their capacity to sift through large amounts of data, text mining and data mining are enabling higher education institutions to reveal valuable patterns in students' learning behaviours without having to resort to traditional survey methods. In an effort to uncover live video streaming (LVS) students' technology related-problems and to…

  3. Uncovering the Transnational Networks, Organisational Techniques and State-Corporate Ties Behind Grand Corruption: Building an Investigative Methodology

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Kristian Lasslett

    2017-11-01

    Full Text Available While grand corruption is a major global governance challenge, researchers notably lack a systematic methodology for conducting qualitative research into its complex forms. To address this lacuna, the following article sets out and applies the corruption investigative framework (CIF, a methodology designed to generate a systematic, transferable approach for grand corruption research. Its utility will be demonstrated employing a case study that centres on an Australian-led megaproject being built in Papua New Guinea’s capital city, Port Moresby. Unlike conventional analyses of corruption in Papua New Guinea, which emphasise its local characteristics and patrimonial qualities, application of CIF uncovered new empirical layers that centre on transnational state-corporate power, the ambiguity of civil society, and the structural inequalities that marginalise resistance movements. The important theoretical consequences of the findings and underpinning methodology are explored.

  4. Lessons from Lithuania: A Pedagogical Approach in Teaching Improvisation

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hedden, Debra

    2017-01-01

    The purpose of this study was to uncover the approach that a professor in Lithuania utilized in successfully teaching undergraduate music education majors how to improvise during a one-semester course. The research questions focused on the participant's philosophy of teaching and learning, his methods for motivating students, the learning…

  5. 76 FR 4290 - Uncovered Innerspring Units From the People's Republic of China: Final Results of First...

    Science.gov (United States)

    2011-01-25

    ... Avenue, NW., Washington, DC 20230; telephone: (202) 482-1655. Case History With the issuance of the... material and then glued together in a linear fashion. Uncovered innersprings are classified under...

  6. The work is never ending: uncovering teamwork sustainability using realistic evaluation.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Frykman, Mandus; von Thiele Schwarz, Ulrica; Muntlin Athlin, Åsa; Hasson, Henna; Mazzocato, Pamela

    2017-03-20

    Purpose The purpose of this paper is to uncover the mechanisms influencing the sustainability of behavior changes following the implementation of teamwork. Design/methodology/approach Realistic evaluation was combined with a framework (DCOM®) based on applied behavior analysis to study the sustainability of behavior changes two and a half years after the initial implementation of teamwork at an emergency department. The DCOM® framework was used to categorize the mechanisms of behavior change interventions (BCIs) into the four categories of direction, competence, opportunity, and motivation. Non-participant observation and interview data were used. Findings The teamwork behaviors were not sustained. A substantial fallback in managerial activities in combination with a complex context contributed to reduced direction, opportunity, and motivation. Reduced direction made staff members unclear about how and why they should work in teams. Deterioration of opportunity was evident from the lack of problem-solving resources resulting in accumulated barriers to teamwork. Motivation in terms of management support and feedback was reduced. Practical implications The implementation of complex organizational changes in complex healthcare contexts requires continuous adaption and managerial activities well beyond the initial implementation period. Originality/value By integrating the DCOM® framework with realistic evaluation, this study responds to the call for theoretically based research on behavioral mechanisms that can explain how BCIs interact with context and how this interaction influences sustainability.

  7. 3D Geological Mapping - uncovering the subsurface to increase environmental understanding

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kessler, H.; Mathers, S.; Peach, D.

    2012-12-01

    Geological understanding is required for many disciplines studying natural processes from hydrology to landscape evolution. The subsurface structure of rocks and soils and their properties occupies three-dimensional (3D) space and geological processes operate in time. Traditionally geologists have captured their spatial and temporal knowledge in 2 dimensional maps and cross-sections and through narrative, because paper maps and later two dimensional geographical information systems (GIS) were the only tools available to them. Another major constraint on using more explicit and numerical systems to express geological knowledge is the fact that a geologist only ever observes and measures a fraction of the system they study. Only on rare occasions does the geologist have access to enough real data to generate meaningful predictions of the subsurface without the input of conceptual understanding developed from and knowledge of the geological processes responsible for the deposition, emplacement and diagenesis of the rocks. This in turn has led to geology becoming an increasingly marginalised science as other disciplines have embraced the digital world and have increasingly turned to implicit numerical modelling to understand environmental processes and interactions. Recent developments in geoscience methodology and technology have gone some way to overcoming these barriers and geologists across the world are beginning to routinely capture their knowledge and combine it with all available subsurface data (of often highly varying spatial distribution and quality) to create regional and national geological three dimensional geological maps. This is re-defining the way geologists interact with other science disciplines, as their concepts and knowledge are now expressed in an explicit form that can be used downstream to design process models structure. For example, groundwater modellers can refine their understanding of groundwater flow in three dimensions or even directly

  8. Community Mapping in Action: Uncovering Resources and Assets for Young Children and Their Families

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ordonez-Jasis, Rosario; Myck-Wayne, Janice

    2012-01-01

    Community mapping is a promising practice that can assist early intervention/early childhood special education (EI/ECSE) professionals uncover the depth and diversity of community needs, resources, and learning opportunities, in the neighborhoods surrounding their schools. Community mapping is an inquiry-based method that situates learning in the…

  9. Biallelic mutations in the 3' exonuclease TOE1 cause pontocerebellar hypoplasia and uncover a role in snRNA processing

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Lardelli, Rea M.; Schaffer, Ashleigh E.; Eggens, Veerle R C

    2017-01-01

    ) is a unique recessive syndrome characterized by neurodegeneration and ambiguous genitalia. We studied 12 human families with PCH7, uncovering biallelic, loss-of-function mutations in TOE1, which encodes an unconventional deadenylase. toe1-morphant zebrafish displayed midbrain and hindbrain degeneration...... of TOE1 accumulated 3'-end-extended pre-snRNAs, and the immunoisolated TOE1 complex was sufficient for 3'-end maturation of snRNAs. Our findings identify the cause of a neurodegenerative syndrome linked to snRNA maturation and uncover a key factor involved in the processing of snRNA 3' ends....

  10. Uncovering client retention antecedents in service organizations

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Mari Jansen van Rensburg

    2014-01-01

    Full Text Available This paper develops a multi-dimensional model of retention to provide a more complete and integrated view of client retention and its determinants in service contexts. To uncover the antecedents of client retention, social and economic exchanges were reviewed under the fundamental ideas of the Social Exchange Theory. Findings from a survey of senior South African advertising executives suggest that client retention is the result of evaluative as well as relational factors that can influence client responses. Despite contractual obligations, advertisers are willing to pay the costs and make the sacrifices of switching should their expectations be unmet. An important contribution of this study is the use of multi-item scales to measure retention. The model developed provides valuable insight to agencies on client retention management and the optimal allocation of resources for maximum customer equity. This model may also be applied to other service organisations to provide insight to client retention.

  11. Uncovering the Green, Blue, and Grey Water Footprint and Virtual Water of Biofuel Production in Brazil: A Nexus Perspective

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Raul Munoz Castillo

    2017-11-01

    Full Text Available Brazil plays a major role in the global biofuel economy as the world’s second largest producer and consumer and the largest exporter of ethanol. Its demand is expected to significantly increase in coming years, largely driven by national and international carbon mitigation targets. However, biofuel crops require significant amounts of water and land resources that could otherwise be used for the production of food, urban water supply, or energy generation. Given Brazil’s uneven spatial distribution of water resources among regions, a potential expansion of ethanol production will need to take into account regional or local water availability, as an increased water demand for irrigation would put further pressure on already water-scarce regions and compete with other users. By applying an environmentally extended multiregional input-output (MRIO approach, we uncover the scarce water footprint and the interregional virtual water flows associated with sugarcane-derived biofuel production driven by domestic final consumption and international exports in 27 states in Brazil. Our results show that bio-ethanol is responsible for about one third of the total sugarcane water footprint besides sugar and other processed food production. We found that richer states such as São Paulo benefit by accruing a higher share of economic value added from exporting ethanol as part of global value chains while increasing water stress in poorer states through interregional trade. We also found that, in comparison with other crops, sugarcane has a comparative advantage when rainfed while showing a comparative disadvantage as an irrigated crop; a tradeoff to be considered when planning irrigation infrastructure and bioethanol production expansion.

  12. Uncovering missing links with cold ends

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zhu, Yu-Xiao; Lü, Linyuan; Zhang, Qian-Ming; Zhou, Tao

    2012-11-01

    To evaluate the performance of prediction of missing links, the known data are randomly divided into two parts, the training set and the probe set. We argue that this straightforward and standard method may lead to terrible bias, since in real biological and information networks, missing links are more likely to be links connecting low-degree nodes. We therefore study how to uncover missing links with low-degree nodes, namely links in the probe set are of lower degree products than a random sampling. Experimental analysis on ten local similarity indices and four disparate real networks reveals a surprising result that the Leicht-Holme-Newman index [E.A. Leicht, P. Holme, M.E.J. Newman, Vertex similarity in networks, Phys. Rev. E 73 (2006) 026120] performs the best, although it was known to be one of the worst indices if the probe set is a random sampling of all links. We further propose an parameter-dependent index, which considerably improves the prediction accuracy. Finally, we show the relevance of the proposed index to three real sampling methods: acquaintance sampling, random-walk sampling and path-based sampling.

  13. Epistemically Virtuous Risk Management: Financial Due Diligence and Uncovering the Madoff Fraud

    OpenAIRE

    de Bruin, Boudewijn; Luetge, Christoph; Jauernig, Johanna

    2014-01-01

    The chapter analyses how Bernard Madoff’s Ponzi scheme was uncovered by Harry Markopolos, an employee of Rampart Investment Management, LLC, and the contribution of so-called epistemic virtues to Markopolos’ success. After Rampart had informed the firm about an allegedly highly successful hedge fund run by Madoff, Markopolos used qualitative and quantitative methods from financial due diligence to examine Madoff’s risks, returns and strategy, ultimately to conclude that Madoff was running a l...

  14. 78 FR 17635 - Uncovered Innerspring Units From the People's Republic of China: Final Results of Antidumping...

    Science.gov (United States)

    2013-03-22

    ... DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE International Trade Administration [A-570-928] Uncovered Innerspring Units... AGENCY: Import Administration, International Trade Administration, Department of Commerce. SUMMARY: On... Operations, Office 9, Import Administration, International Trade Administration, U.S. Department of Commerce...

  15. Evaluating the thermal and electrical performance of several uncovered PVT collectors with a field test

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    de Keizer, C.; de Jong, M.; Mendes, T.; Katiyar, M.; Folkerts, W.; Rindt, C.C.M.; Zondag, H.A.

    Recently, there has been a lot of interest in PV thermal systems, which generate both heat and power. Within the WenSDak project, several companies and research institutes work together to (further) develop several uncovered PVT collectors. The outdoor performance of prototypes of these collectors

  16. Uncovering growth-suppressive MicroRNAs in lung cancer

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Liu, Xi; Sempere, Lorenzo F; Galimberti, Fabrizio

    2009-01-01

    PURPOSE: MicroRNA (miRNA) expression profiles improve classification, diagnosis, and prognostic information of malignancies, including lung cancer. This study uncovered unique growth-suppressive miRNAs in lung cancer. EXPERIMENTAL DESIGN: miRNA arrays were done on normal lung tissues...... and adenocarcinomas from wild-type and proteasome degradation-resistant cyclin E transgenic mice to reveal repressed miRNAs in lung cancer. Real-time and semiquantitative reverse transcription-PCR as well as in situ hybridization assays validated these findings. Lung cancer cell lines were derived from each......-malignant human lung tissue bank. RESULTS: miR-34c, miR-145, and miR-142-5p were repressed in transgenic lung cancers. Findings were confirmed by real-time and semiquantitative reverse transcription-PCR as well as in situ hybridization assays. Similar miRNA profiles occurred in human normal versus malignant lung...

  17. Sociocultural Theory as an Approach to Aid EFL Learners

    Science.gov (United States)

    Behroozizad, Sorayya; Nambiar, Radha M. K.; Amir, Zaini

    2014-01-01

    Learning English as a foreign language (EFL) has long been regarded a challenging task. Said challenge is clearly evident in the many studies attempting to delineate some of the major problems faced by EFL learners while trying to uncover both the sources and the solutions. This paper turns to the Vygotskian approach to language learning, in…

  18. Percutaneous Transhepatic Biliary Stenting with Uncovered Self-Expandable Metallic Stents in Patients with Malignant Biliary Obstruction – Efficacy and Survival Analysis

    Science.gov (United States)

    Pranculis, Andrius; Kievišienė, Lina; Vaičius, Artūras; Vanagas, Tomas; Kaupas, Rytis Stasys; Dambrauskas, Žilvinas

    2017-01-01

    Summary Background The aim of this study was to assess short- and long-term outcomes of malignant biliary obstruction (MBO) treatment by percutaneous transhepatic biliary stenting (PTBS) with uncovered selfexpandable metallic stents (SEMS), and to identify predictors of survival. Material/Methods A nine-year, single-centre study from a prospectively collected database included 222 patients with inoperable MBO treated by PTBS with uncovered nitinol SEMS. Results Technical and clinical success rates were 95.9% and 82.4%, respectively. The total rate of postprocedural complications was 14.4%. The mean durations of the primary and secondary stent patency were 114.7±15.1 and 146.4±21.2 days, respectively. The 30-day mortality rate was 15.3% with no procedure-related deaths. The mean estimated length of survival was 143.3±20.6 days. Independent predictors increasing the risk of death included higher than 115 μmol/L serum bilirubin 2–5 days after biliary stenting (HR 3.274, P=0.019), distal (non-hilar) obstruction of the bile ducts (HR 3.711, P=0.008), Bismuth-Corlette type IV stricture (HR 2.082, P=0.008), obstruction due to gallbladder cancer (HR 31.029, P=0.012) and only partial drainage of liver parenchyma (HR 4.158, P=0.040). Conclusions PTBS with uncovered SEMS is an effective and safe method for palliative treatment of MBO. Serum bilirubin higher than 115 μmol/L 2–5 days after the procedure has a significant negative impact on patients’ survival. Lower survival is also determined by distal bile duct obstruction, Bismuth– Corlette type IV stricture, biliary obstruction caused by gallbladder cancer and when only partial liver drainage is applied. PMID:29662569

  19. Novel resistance functions uncovered using functional metagenomic investigations of resistance reservoirs

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Erica C. Pehrsson

    2013-06-01

    Full Text Available Rates of infection with antibiotic-resistant bacteria have increased precipitously over the past several decades, with far-reaching healthcare and societal costs. Recent evidence has established a link between antibiotic resistance genes in human pathogens and those found in non-pathogenic, commensal, and environmental organisms, prompting deeper investigation of natural and human-associated reservoirs of antibiotic resistance. Functional metagenomic selections, in which shotgun-cloned DNA fragments are selected for their ability to confer survival to an indicator host, have been increasingly applied to the characterization of many antibiotic resistance reservoirs. These experiments have demonstrated that antibiotic resistance genes are highly diverse and widely distributed, many times bearing little to no similarity to known sequences. Through unbiased selections for survival to antibiotic exposure, functional metagenomics can improve annotations by reducing the discovery of false-positive resistance and by allowing for the identification of previously unrecognizable resistance genes. In this review, we summarize the novel resistance functions uncovered using functional metagenomic investigations of natural and human-impacted resistance reservoirs. Examples of novel antibiotic resistance genes include those highly divergent from known sequences, those for which sequence is entirely unable to predict resistance function, bifunctional resistance genes, and those with unconventional, atypical resistance mechanisms. Overcoming antibiotic resistance in the clinic will require a better understanding of existing resistance reservoirs and the dissemination networks that govern horizontal gene exchange, informing best practices to limit the spread of resistance-conferring genes to human pathogens.

  20. Ethnomathematics study: uncovering units of length, area, and volume in Kampung Naga Society

    Science.gov (United States)

    Septianawati, T.; Turmudi; Puspita, E.

    2017-02-01

    During this time, mathematics is considered as something neutral and not associated with culture. It can be seen from mathematics learning in the school which adopt many of foreign mathematics learning are considered more advanced (western). In fact, Indonesia is a rich country in cultural diversity. In the cultural activities, there are mathematical ideas that were considered a important thing in the mathematics learning. A study that examines the idea or mathematical practices in a variety of cultural activities are known as ethnomathematics. In Indonesia, there are some ethnic maintain their ancestral traditions, one of them is Kampung Naga. Therefore, this study was conducted in Kampung Naga. This study aims to uncover units of length, area, and volume used by Kampung Naga society. This study used a qualitative approach and ethnography methods. In this research, data collection is done through the principles of ethnography such as observation, interviews, documentation, and field notes. The results of this study are units of length, area, and volume used by Kampung Naga society and its conversion into standard units. This research is expected to give information to the public that mathematics has a relationship with culture and become recommendation to mathematics curriculum in Indonesia.

  1. Consolidity: Mystery of inner property of systems uncovered

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Hassen T. Dorrah

    2012-10-01

    Full Text Available This paper uncovers the mystery of consolidity, an inner property of systems that was amazingly hidden. Consolidity also reveals the secrecy of why strong stable and highly controllable systems are not invulnerable of falling and collapsing. Consolidity is measured by its Consolidity Index, defined as the ratio of overall changes of output parameters over combined changes of input and system parameters, all operating in fully fuzzy environment. Under this notion, systems are classified into consolidated, quasi-consolidated, neutrally consolidated, unconsolidated, quasi-unconsolidated and mixed types. The strategy for the implementation of consolidity is elaborated for both natural and man-made existing systems as well as the new developed ones. An important critique arises that the by-product consolidity of natural or built-as-usual system could lead to trapping such systems into a completely undesired unconsolidity. This suggests that the ample number of conventional techniques that do not take system consolidity into account should gradually be changed, and adjusted with improved consolidity-based techniques. Four Golden Rules are highlighted for handling system consolidity, and applied to several illustrative case studies. These case studies cover the consolidity analysis of the Drug Concentration problem, Predator-Prey Population problem, Spread of Infectious Disease problem, AIDS Epidemic problem and Arm Race model. It is demonstrated that consolidity changes are contrary (opposite in sign to changes of both stability and controllability. This is a very significant result showing that our present practice of stressing on building strong stable and highly controllable systems could have already jeopardized the consolidity behavior of an ample family of existing real life systems. It is strongly recommended that the four Golden Rules of consolidity should be enforced as future strict regulations of systems modeling, analysis, design and

  2. DOES UNCOVERED INTEREST RATE PARITY HOLD IN TURKEY?

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Ozcan Karahan

    2012-01-01

    Full Text Available Most of the earlier empirical studies focusing on developed countries failed to give evidence in favor of the Uncovered Interest Rate Parity (UIP. After intensive financial liberalization processes and mostly preferred free exchange rate regimes, a new area of research starts to involve the investigation whether UIP holds for developing economies differently. Accordingly, we tested the UIP for Turkey’s monthly interest rate and exchange rate data between 2002 and 2011. We run conventional regressions in the form of Ordinary Least Squares (OLS and used a simple Generalized Autoregressive Conditional Heteroskedasticity (GARCH analysis. The empirical results of both methods do not support the validity of UIP for Turkey. Thus, together with most of the earlier empirical studies focusing on developed countries and detecting the invalidity of UIP, we can argue that the experience of Turkey and developed economies are not different.

  3. Career writing : a creative, expressive and reflective approach to qualitative assessment and guidance

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    dr. Frans Meijers; Reinekke Lengelle

    2015-01-01

    Career Writing is a narrative approach to qualitative career assessment whereby client (or student) groups use creative, reflective, and expressive forms of writing to foster an internal dialogue about career. It is intended to help individuals construct a career identity by uncovering life themes,

  4. 76 FR 80337 - Uncovered Innerspring Units From the People's Republic of China: Rescission of Antidumping Duty...

    Science.gov (United States)

    2011-12-23

    ... fashion. Uncovered innersprings are classified under subheading 9404.29.9010, 9404.29.9005 and 9404.29... (``APO'') of their responsibility concerning the return or destruction of proprietary information... written notification of the return or destruction of APO materials or conversion to judicial protective...

  5. A review of active learning approaches to experimental design for uncovering biological networks

    Science.gov (United States)

    2017-01-01

    Various types of biological knowledge describe networks of interactions among elementary entities. For example, transcriptional regulatory networks consist of interactions among proteins and genes. Current knowledge about the exact structure of such networks is highly incomplete, and laboratory experiments that manipulate the entities involved are conducted to test hypotheses about these networks. In recent years, various automated approaches to experiment selection have been proposed. Many of these approaches can be characterized as active machine learning algorithms. Active learning is an iterative process in which a model is learned from data, hypotheses are generated from the model to propose informative experiments, and the experiments yield new data that is used to update the model. This review describes the various models, experiment selection strategies, validation techniques, and successful applications described in the literature; highlights common themes and notable distinctions among methods; and identifies likely directions of future research and open problems in the area. PMID:28570593

  6. Multivariate weighted recurrence network inference for uncovering oil-water transitional flow behavior in a vertical pipe.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gao, Zhong-Ke; Yang, Yu-Xuan; Cai, Qing; Zhang, Shan-Shan; Jin, Ning-De

    2016-06-01

    Exploring the dynamical behaviors of high water cut and low velocity oil-water flows remains a contemporary and challenging problem of significant importance. This challenge stimulates us to design a high-speed cycle motivation conductance sensor to capture spatial local flow information. We systematically carry out experiments and acquire the multi-channel measurements from different oil-water flow patterns. Then we develop a novel multivariate weighted recurrence network for uncovering the flow behaviors from multi-channel measurements. In particular, we exploit graph energy and weighted clustering coefficient in combination with multivariate time-frequency analysis to characterize the derived complex networks. The results indicate that the network measures are very sensitive to the flow transitions and allow uncovering local dynamical behaviors associated with water cut and flow velocity. These properties render our method particularly useful for quantitatively characterizing dynamical behaviors governing the transition and evolution of different oil-water flow patterns.

  7. Detection of consensuses and treatment principles of diabetic nephropathy in traditional Chinese medicine: A new approach

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Xu Tong

    2015-10-01

    Conclusion: The results suggest that the community detection-based approach is useful and feasible for uncovering consensuses and treatment principles of DN treatment in TCM, and could be used to address other similar problems in TCM.

  8. 77 FR 21961 - Uncovered Innerspring Units From the People's Republic of China: Final Results and Final...

    Science.gov (United States)

    2012-04-12

    ... material and then glued together in a linear fashion. Uncovered innersprings are classified under... responsibility concerning the return or destruction of proprietary information disclosed under the APO, which... notification of the return/destruction of APO materials or conversion to judicial protective order is hereby...

  9. Uncovering the Best Skill Multimap by Constraining the Error Probabilities of the Gain-Loss Model

    Science.gov (United States)

    Anselmi, Pasquale; Robusto, Egidio; Stefanutti, Luca

    2012-01-01

    The Gain-Loss model is a probabilistic skill multimap model for assessing learning processes. In practical applications, more than one skill multimap could be plausible, while none corresponds to the true one. The article investigates whether constraining the error probabilities is a way of uncovering the best skill assignment among a number of…

  10. The invisible Web uncovering information sources search engines can't see

    CERN Document Server

    Sherman, Chris

    2001-01-01

    Enormous expanses of the Internet are unreachable with standard web search engines. This book provides the key to finding these hidden resources by identifying how to uncover and use invisible web resources. Mapping the invisible Web, when and how to use it, assessing the validity of the information, and the future of Web searching are topics covered in detail. Only 16 percent of Net-based information can be located using a general search engine. The other 84 percent is what is referred to as the invisible Web-made up of information stored in databases. Unlike pages on the visible Web, informa

  11. Uncovering Listeria monocytogenes hypervirulence by harnessing its biodiversity

    Science.gov (United States)

    Charlier, Caroline; Touchon, Marie; Chenal-Francisque, Viviane; Leclercq, Alexandre; Criscuolo, Alexis; Gaultier, Charlotte; Roussel, Sophie; Brisabois, Anne; Disson, Olivier; Rocha, Eduardo P. C.; Brisse, Sylvain; Lecuit, Marc

    2016-01-01

    Microbial pathogenesis studies are typically performed with reference strains, thereby overlooking microbial intra-species virulence heterogeneity. Here we integrated human epidemiological and clinical data with bacterial population genomics to harness the biodiversity of the model foodborne pathogen Listeria monocytogenes and decipher the basis of its neural and placental tropisms. Taking advantage of the clonal structure of this bacterial species, we identify clones epidemiologically associated with either food or human central nervous system (CNS) and maternal-neonatal (MN) listeriosis. The latter are also most prevalent in patients without immunosuppressive comorbidities. Strikingly, CNS and MN clones are hypervirulent in a humanized mouse model of listeriosis. By integrating epidemiological data and comparative genomics, we uncovered multiple novel putative virulence factors and demonstrated experimentally the contribution of the first gene cluster mediating Listeria monocytogenes neural and placental tropisms. This study illustrates the exceptional power of harnessing microbial biodiversity to identify clinically relevant microbial virulence attributes. PMID:26829754

  12. Innovative Approaches to Increase Access to Medicines in Developing Countries

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Hilde Stevens

    2017-12-01

    Full Text Available Access to essential medicines is problematic for one third of all persons worldwide. The price of many medicines (i.e., drugs, vaccines, and diagnostics is unaffordable to the majority of the population in need, especially in least-developed countries, but also increasingly in middle-income countries. Several innovative approaches, based on partnerships, intellectual property, and pricing, are used to stimulate innovation, promote healthcare delivery, and reduce global health disparities. No single approach suffices, and therefore stakeholders need to further engage in partnerships promoting knowledge and technology transfer in assuring essential medicines to be manufactured, authorized, and distributed in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs in an effort of making them available at affordable and acceptable conditions.

  13. A functional approach for research on cognitive control: Analysing cognitive control tasks and their effects in terms of operant conditioning.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Liefooghe, Baptist; De Houwer, Jan

    2016-02-01

    Cognitive control is an important mental ability that is examined using a multitude of cognitive control tasks and effects. The present paper presents the first steps in the elaboration of a functional approach, which aims to uncover the communalities and differences between different cognitive control tasks and their effects. Based on the idea that responses in cognitive control tasks qualify as operant behaviour, we propose to reinterpret cognitive control tasks in terms of operant contingencies and cognitive control effects as instances of moderated stimulus control. We illustrate how our approach can be used to uncover communalities between topographically different cognitive control tasks and can lead to novel questions about the processes underlying cognitive control. © 2015 International Union of Psychological Science.

  14. Association analysis of multiple traits by an approach of combining ...

    Indian Academy of Sciences (India)

    Lili Chen

    diseases. Joint analysis of multiple traits can increase statistical power of association analysis and uncover the underlying genetic ... genthaler and Thilly 2007), the combined multivariate and ... Because of using reverse regression model, our.

  15. Uncovering transcriptional regulation of metabolism by using metabolic network topology

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Patil, Kiran Raosaheb; Nielsen, Jens

    2005-01-01

    in the metabolic network that follow a common transcriptional response. Thus, the algorithm enables identification of so-called reporter metabolites (metabolites around which the most significant transcriptional changes occur) and a set of connected genes with significant and coordinated response to genetic......Cellular response to genetic and environmental perturbations is often reflected and/or mediated through changes in the metabolism, because the latter plays a key role in providing Gibbs free energy and precursors for biosynthesis. Such metabolic changes are often exerted through transcriptional...... therefore developed an algorithm that is based on hypothesis-driven data analysis to uncover the transcriptional regulatory architecture of metabolic networks. By using information on the metabolic network topology from genome-scale metabolic reconstruction, we show that it is possible to reveal patterns...

  16. Assessment of Credit Risk Approaches in Relation with Competitiveness Increase of the Banking Sector

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Cipovová Eva

    2012-06-01

    Full Text Available The article is focused on a presentation and analysis of selected methods of credit risk management in relation with competitiveness increase of the banking sector. The article is defined credit risk approaches under the Basel III gradually. Aim of this contribution constitutes various methods of credit risk management and effects of their usage on regulatory capital amount in respect of corporate exposures. Optimal equity amount in relation to the risk portfolio presents an essential prerequisite of performance and competitiveness growth of commercial banks. Gradually capital requirements using Standardized Approach and Internal Based Approach in a case of used and unused techniques of credit risk reduce has been quantified. We presume that sophisticated approach means significant saving for bank’s equity which increases competitiveness of banking sector also. Within the article, quantification of capital savings in case of Standardized (with and without assigned external ratings and Foundation Internal Based Approach at the selected credit portfolio has been effected.

  17. A Diagnostic Approach to Increase Reusable Dinnerware Selection in a Cafeteria

    Science.gov (United States)

    Manuel, Jennifer C.; Sunseri, Mary Anne; Olson, Ryan; Scolari, Miranda

    2007-01-01

    The current project tested a diagnostic approach to selecting interventions to increase patron selection of reusable dinnerware in a cafeteria. An assessment survey, completed by a sample of 43 patrons, suggested that the primary causes of wasteful behavior were (a) environmental arrangement of dinnerware options and (b) competing motivational…

  18. TIME HORIZON AND UNCOVERED INTEREST PARITY IN EMERGING ECONOMIES

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Norlida Hanim Mohd Salleh

    2011-07-01

    Full Text Available The aim of this study is to re-examine the well-known empirical puzzle of uncovered interest parity (UIP for emerging market economies with different prediction time horizons. The empirical results obtained using dynamic panel and time series techniques for monthly data from January 1995 to December 2009 eventually show that the panel data estimates are more powerful than those obtained by applying individual time series estimations and the significant contribution of the exchange rate prediction horizons in determining the status of UIP. This finding reveals that at the longer time horizon, the model has better econometric specification and thus more predictive power for exchange rate movements compared to the shorter time period. The findings can also be a signalling of well-integrated currency markets and a reliable guide to international investors as well as for the orderly conduct of monetary authorities.

  19. A study of multidimensional modeling approaches for data warehouse

    Science.gov (United States)

    Yusof, Sharmila Mat; Sidi, Fatimah; Ibrahim, Hamidah; Affendey, Lilly Suriani

    2016-08-01

    Data warehouse system is used to support the process of organizational decision making. Hence, the system must extract and integrate information from heterogeneous data sources in order to uncover relevant knowledge suitable for decision making process. However, the development of data warehouse is a difficult and complex process especially in its conceptual design (multidimensional modeling). Thus, there have been various approaches proposed to overcome the difficulty. This study surveys and compares the approaches of multidimensional modeling and highlights the issues, trend and solution proposed to date. The contribution is on the state of the art of the multidimensional modeling design.

  20. A Rule-Based Spatial Reasoning Approach for OpenStreetMap Data Quality Enrichment; Case Study of Routing and Navigation

    Science.gov (United States)

    2017-01-01

    Finding relevant geospatial information is increasingly critical because of the growing volume of geospatial data available within the emerging “Big Data” era. Users are expecting that the availability of massive datasets will create more opportunities to uncover hidden information and answer more complex queries. This is especially the case with routing and navigation services where the ability to retrieve points of interest and landmarks make the routing service personalized, precise, and relevant. In this paper, we propose a new geospatial information approach that enables the retrieval of implicit information, i.e., geospatial entities that do not exist explicitly in the available source. We present an information broker that uses a rule-based spatial reasoning algorithm to detect topological relations. The information broker is embedded into a framework where annotations and mappings between OpenStreetMap data attributes and external resources, such as taxonomies, support the enrichment of queries to improve the ability of the system to retrieve information. Our method is tested with two case studies that leads to enriching the completeness of OpenStreetMap data with footway crossing points-of-interests as well as building entrances for routing and navigation purposes. It is concluded that the proposed approach can uncover implicit entities and contribute to extract required information from the existing datasets. PMID:29088125

  1. A Rule-Based Spatial Reasoning Approach for OpenStreetMap Data Quality Enrichment; Case Study of Routing and Navigation

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Amin Mobasheri

    2017-10-01

    Full Text Available Finding relevant geospatial information is increasingly critical because of the growing volume of geospatial data available within the emerging “Big Data” era. Users are expecting that the availability of massive datasets will create more opportunities to uncover hidden information and answer more complex queries. This is especially the case with routing and navigation services where the ability to retrieve points of interest and landmarks make the routing service personalized, precise, and relevant. In this paper, we propose a new geospatial information approach that enables the retrieval of implicit information, i.e., geospatial entities that do not exist explicitly in the available source. We present an information broker that uses a rule-based spatial reasoning algorithm to detect topological relations. The information broker is embedded into a framework where annotations and mappings between OpenStreetMap data attributes and external resources, such as taxonomies, support the enrichment of queries to improve the ability of the system to retrieve information. Our method is tested with two case studies that leads to enriching the completeness of OpenStreetMap data with footway crossing points-of-interests as well as building entrances for routing and navigation purposes. It is concluded that the proposed approach can uncover implicit entities and contribute to extract required information from the existing datasets.

  2. Increasing rice production in Malaysia: Department of Agriculture approach

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Asna Booty Othman; Chua Lee Kiang; Rathinam Thiagarajan; Aziziah Md Jan

    2002-01-01

    Increasing rice productivity will continue to be an important agenda in the agricultural development program of the country. This represents a challenge to the Department of Agriculture. To address this challenge, it calls for creativity, innovation, ideas and initiatives in the use of technologies that consist of land leveling, in the field water management, Integrated Pest Management (IPM), production and distribution of quality seeds, effective fertilizer usage and value added activities. Rice areas which have been leveled using laser guided technology have shown yield increase from 3.3 t/ha to 5.1 t/ha. In-field water management increases rice yield, reduces water wastage and ensures timeliness of operations and improve soil water bearing capacity. IPM has proven highly beneficial in the control of field rats, reducing the incidence of diseases such as rice blast, lowering the occurrence of insect pest outbreaks and weed infestation. Fish rearing and fattening of ducklings to adulthood in the rice fields have also been undertaken as profitable enterprises in the rice farming system. In its effort to modernise and increase rice productivity, the Department of Agriculture approach in acquisition of technology from research agencies, and its adaptation and adoption are discussed. Any technology promoted must be economically viable, socially acceptable and technologically feasible for effective implementation. (Author)

  3. Radiologic Placement of Uncovered Stents for the Treatment of Malignant Colonic Obstruction Proximal to the Descending Colon

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Yoon, Jehong; Kwon, Se Hwan, E-mail: Kwon98@khu.ac.kr [Kyung Hee University, Department of Radiology, College of Medicine (Korea, Republic of); Lee, Chang-Kyun [Kyung Hee University, Department of Internal Medicine, College of Medicine (Korea, Republic of); Park, Sun Jin [Kyung Hee University, Department of Surgery, College of Medicine (Korea, Republic of); Oh, Ji Young [Kyung Hee University Hospital at Gangdong, Department of Radiology (Korea, Republic of); Oh, Joo Hyeong [Kyung Hee University, Department of Radiology, College of Medicine (Korea, Republic of)

    2017-01-15

    PurposeTo evaluate the safety, feasibility, and patency rates of radiologic placement of uncovered stents for the treatment of malignant colonic obstruction proximal to the descending colon.Materials and MethodsThis was a retrospective, single-center study. From May 2003 to March 2015, 53 image-guided placements of uncovered stents (44 initial placements, 9 secondary placements) were attempted in 44 patients (male:female = 23:21; mean age, 71.8 years). The technical and clinical success, complication rates, and patency rates of the stents were also evaluated. Technical success was defined as the successful deployment of the stent under fluoroscopic guidance alone and clinical success was defined as the relief of obstructive symptoms or signs within 48 h of stent deployment.ResultsIn total, 12 (27.3 %) patients underwent preoperative decompression, while 32 (72.7 %) underwent decompression with palliative intent. The technical success rate was 93.2 % (41/44) for initial placement and 88.9 % (8/9) for secondary placement. Secondary stent placement in the palliative group was required in nine patients after successful initial stent placement due to stent obstruction from tumor ingrowth (n = 7) and stent migration (n = 2). The symptoms of obstruction were relieved in all successful cases (100 %). In the palliative group, the patency rates were 94.4 % at 1 month, 84.0 % at 3 months, 64.8 % at 6 months, and 48.6 % at 12 months.ConclusionsThe radiologic placement of uncovered stents for the treatment of malignant obstruction proximal to the descending colon is feasible and safe, and provides acceptable clinical results.

  4. The Increase of Critical Thinking Skills through Mathematical Investigation Approach

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sumarna, N.; Wahyudin; Herman, T.

    2017-02-01

    Some research findings on critical thinking skills of prospective elementary teachers, showed a response that is not optimal. On the other hand, critical thinking skills will lead a student in the process of analysis, evaluation and synthesis in solving a mathematical problem. This study attempts to perform an alternative solution with a focus on mathematics learning conditions that is held in the lecture room through mathematical investigation approach. This research method was Quasi-Experimental design with pre-test post-test design. Data analysis using a mixed method with Embedded design. Subjects were regular students enrolled in 2014 at the study program of education of primary school teachers. The number of research subjects were 111 students consisting of 56 students in the experimental group and 55 students in the control group. The results of the study showed that (1) there is a significant difference in the improvement of critical thinking ability of students who receive learning through mathematical investigation approach when compared with students studying through expository approach, and (2) there is no interaction effect between prior knowledge of mathematics and learning factors (mathematical investigation and expository) to increase of critical thinking skills of students.

  5. Transcriptomic Analysis of Long Non-Coding RNAs and Coding Genes Uncovers a Complex Regulatory Network That Is Involved in Maize Seed Development

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Ming Zhu

    2017-10-01

    Full Text Available Long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs have been reported to be involved in the development of maize plant. However, few focused on seed development of maize. Here, we identified 753 lncRNA candidates in maize genome from six seed samples. Similar to the mRNAs, lncRNAs showed tissue developmental stage specific and differential expression, indicating their putative role in seed development. Increasing evidence shows that crosstalk among RNAs mediated by shared microRNAs (miRNAs represents a novel layer of gene regulation, which plays important roles in plant development. Functional roles and regulatory mechanisms of lncRNAs as competing endogenous RNAs (ceRNA in plants, particularly in maize seed development, are unclear. We combined analyses of consistently altered 17 lncRNAs, 840 mRNAs and known miRNA to genome-wide investigate potential lncRNA-mediated ceRNA based on “ceRNA hypothesis”. The results uncovered seven novel lncRNAs as potential functional ceRNAs. Functional analyses based on their competitive coding-gene partners by Gene Ontology (GO and KEGG biological pathway demonstrated that combined effects of multiple ceRNAs can have major impacts on general developmental and metabolic processes in maize seed. These findings provided a useful platform for uncovering novel mechanisms of maize seed development and may provide opportunities for the functional characterization of individual lncRNA in future studies.

  6. Uncovering Sundanese Values by Analyzing Symbolic Meaning of Ménak Priangan Clothing (1800-1942)

    Science.gov (United States)

    Karmila, M.; Suciati; Widiaty, I.

    2016-04-01

    This study investigates symbolic meanings found in the Sunda ethnic clothing, particularly the Menak Priangan clothing. This study aims to uncover and document those symbolic meanings found in the Menak Priangan clothing as an effort to develop Sunda cultural artefacts of West Java. This study on Menak Priangan clothing applies ethnography (visual) and aesthetic methods. The visual method is utilized in order to uncover local cultural (Sunda) values found in Menak Priangan clothing visualization, including: design, model, name, and representing colours, which then directed towards local Sundanese aesthetic concepts living within the Priangan community. Furthermore, aesthetic method is used to explore role of aesthetic values in empowering visual cultural values within certain community, particularly Sunda aesthetic values. The study results show that since the 19th century, Sunda ethnic clothing was limited to Priangan Sunda only, while traditional clothing wearing by Priangan people reflects their social strata, consisting of: a. Menak Gede (Menak pangluhurna: mayor), bearing raden title, b. Menak Leutik/Santana (mayor assistant), titles: asep, mas, agus, ujang, (Nyimas for woman), c. Somah/Cacah: ordinary people/lower class. Clothing is a cultural phenomenon within certain culture reflecting such society experiences. For Menak people, clothing and its accessories have important meanings. They wear such traditional clothing and accessories as a symbol of power they have within bureaucratic structure and as a symbol of social status they bear within traditional community structure.

  7. A reduced-dimensionality approach to uncovering dyadic modes of body motion in conversations.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gaziv, Guy; Noy, Lior; Liron, Yuvalal; Alon, Uri

    2017-01-01

    Face-to-face conversations are central to human communication and a fascinating example of joint action. Beyond verbal content, one of the primary ways in which information is conveyed in conversations is body language. Body motion in natural conversations has been difficult to study precisely due to the large number of coordinates at play. There is need for fresh approaches to analyze and understand the data, in order to ask whether dyads show basic building blocks of coupled motion. Here we present a method for analyzing body motion during joint action using depth-sensing cameras, and use it to analyze a sample of scientific conversations. Our method consists of three steps: defining modes of body motion of individual participants, defining dyadic modes made of combinations of these individual modes, and lastly defining motion motifs as dyadic modes that occur significantly more often than expected given the single-person motion statistics. As a proof-of-concept, we analyze the motion of 12 dyads of scientists measured using two Microsoft Kinect cameras. In our sample, we find that out of many possible modes, only two were motion motifs: synchronized parallel torso motion in which the participants swayed from side to side in sync, and still segments where neither person moved. We find evidence of dyad individuality in the use of motion modes. For a randomly selected subset of 5 dyads, this individuality was maintained for at least 6 months. The present approach to simplify complex motion data and to define motion motifs may be used to understand other joint tasks and interactions. The analysis tools developed here and the motion dataset are publicly available.

  8. Uncovering the mechanism(s) of deep brain stimulation

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Li Gang; Yu Chao; Lin Ling; Lu, Stephen C-Y

    2005-01-01

    Deep brain stimulators, often called 'pacemakers for the brain', are implantable devices which continuously deliver impulse stimulation to specific targeted nuclei of deep brain structure, namely deep brain stimulation (DBS). To date, deep brain stimulation (DBS) is the most effective clinical technique for the treatment of several medically refractory movement disorders (e.g., Parkinson's disease, essential tremor, and dystonia). In addition, new clinical applications of DBS for other neurologic and psychiatric disorders (e.g., epilepsy and obsessive-compulsive disorder) have been put forward. Although DBS has been effective in the treatment of movement disorders and is rapidly being explored for the treatment of other neurologic disorders, the scientific understanding of its mechanisms of action remains unclear and continues to be debated in the scientific community. Optimization of DBS technology for present and future therapeutic applications will depend on identification of the therapeutic mechanism(s) of action. The goal of this review is to address our present knowledge of the effects of high-frequency stimulation within the central nervous system and comment on the functional implications of this knowledge for uncovering the mechanism(s) of DBS

  9. Comparative genomics of Beauveria bassiana: uncovering signatures of virulence against mosquitoes.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Valero-Jiménez, Claudio A; Faino, Luigi; Spring In't Veld, Daphne; Smit, Sandra; Zwaan, Bas J; van Kan, Jan A L

    2016-12-01

    Entomopathogenic fungi such as Beauveria bassiana are promising biological agents for control of malaria mosquitoes. Indeed, infection with B. bassiana reduces the lifespan of mosquitoes in the laboratory and in the field. Natural isolates of B. bassiana show up to 10-fold differences in virulence between the most and the least virulent isolate. In this study, we sequenced the genomes of five isolates representing the extremes of low/high virulence and three RNA libraries, and applied a genome comparison approach to uncover genetic mechanisms underpinning virulence. A high-quality, near-complete genome assembly was achieved for the highly virulent isolate Bb8028, which was compared to the assemblies of the four other isolates. Whole genome analysis showed a high level of genetic diversity between the five isolates (2.85-16.8 SNPs/kb), which grouped into two distinct phylogenetic clusters. Mating type gene analysis revealed the presence of either the MAT1-1-1 or the MAT1-2-1 gene. Moreover, a putative new MAT gene (MAT1-2-8) was detected in the MAT1-2 locus. Comparative genome analysis revealed that Bb8028 contains 163 genes exclusive for this isolate. These unique genes have a tendency to cluster in the genome and to be often located near the telomeres. Among the genes unique to Bb8028 are a Non-Ribosomal Peptide Synthetase (NRPS) secondary metabolite gene cluster, a polyketide synthase (PKS) gene, and five genes with homology to bacterial toxins. A survey of candidate virulence genes for B. bassiana is presented. Our results indicate several genes and molecular processes that may underpin virulence towards mosquitoes. Thus, the genome sequences of five isolates of B. bassiana provide a better understanding of the natural variation in virulence and will offer a major resource for future research on this important biological control agent.

  10. Structural insight to mutation effects uncover a common allosteric site in class C GPCRs

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Harpsøe, Kasper; Boesgaard, Michael W; Munk, Christian

    2017-01-01

    MOTIVATION: Class C G protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs) regulate important physiological functions and allosteric modulators binding to the transmembrane domain constitute an attractive and, due to a lack of structural insight, a virtually unexplored potential for therapeutics and the food industry....... Combining pharmacological site-directed mutagenesis data with the recent class C GPCR experimental structures will provide a foundation for rational design of new therapeutics. RESULTS: We uncover one common site for both positive and negative modulators with different amino acid layouts that can...

  11. Uncovering China’s transport CO2 emission patterns at the regional level

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Guo, Bin; Geng, Yong; Franke, Bernd; Hao, Han; Liu, Yaxuan; Chiu, Anthony

    2014-01-01

    With China’s rapid economic development, its transport sector has experienced a dramatic growth, leading to a large amount of related CO 2 emission. This paper aims to uncover China’s transport CO 2 emission patterns at the regional and provincial level. We first present the CO 2 emission features from transport sector in 30 Chinese provinces, including per capita emissions, emission intensities, and historical evolution of annual CO 2 emission. We then quantify the related driving forces by adopting both period-wise and time-series LMDI analysis. Results indicate that significant regional CO 2 emission disparities exist in China’s transport sector. The eastern region had higher total CO 2 emissions and per capita CO 2 emissions, but lower CO 2 emission intensities in its transport sector. The western region had higher CO 2 emission intensities and experienced a rapid CO 2 emission increase. The CO 2 emission increments in the eastern provinces were mainly contributed by both economic activity effect and population effect, while energy intensity partially offset the emission growth and energy structure had a marginal effect. However, in the central and western provinces, both economic activity effect and energy intensity effect induced the CO 2 emission increases, while the effects from population and energy structure change were limited. - Highlights: • The CO 2 emission features from transport sector in 30 Chinese provinces were presented. • The driving forces of CO 2 emissions from transport sector were quantified. • Regional disparities on China’s transport sector CO 2 emission exist. • Region-specific mitigation policies on transport sector CO 2 emission are needed

  12. Health Detectives: Uncovering the Mysteries of Disease (LBNL Science at the Theater)

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Bissell, Mina; Canaria, Christie; Celnicker, Susan; Karpen, Gary

    2012-04-23

    In this April 23, 2012 Science at the Theater event, Berkeley Lab scientists discuss how they uncover the mysteries of disease in unlikely places. Speakers and topics include: World-renowned cancer researcher Mina Bissell's pioneering research on the role of the cellular microenvironment in breast cancer has changed the conversation about the disease. How does DNA instability cause disease? To find out, Christie Canaria images neural networks to study disorders such as Huntington's disease. Fruit flies can tell us a lot about ourselves. Susan Celniker explores the fruit fly genome to learn how our genome works. DNA is not destiny. Gary Karpen explores how environmental factors shape genome function and disease through epigenetics.

  13. Affinity purification mass spectrometry analysis of PD-1 uncovers SAP as a new checkpoint inhibitor.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Peled, Michael; Tocheva, Anna S; Sandigursky, Sabina; Nayak, Shruti; Philips, Elliot A; Nichols, Kim E; Strazza, Marianne; Azoulay-Alfaguter, Inbar; Askenazi, Manor; Neel, Benjamin G; Pelzek, Adam J; Ueberheide, Beatrix; Mor, Adam

    2018-01-16

    Programmed cell death-1 (PD-1) is an essential inhibitory receptor in T cells. Antibodies targeting PD-1 elicit durable clinical responses in patients with multiple tumor indications. Nevertheless, a significant proportion of patients do not respond to anti-PD-1 treatment, and a better understanding of the signaling pathways downstream of PD-1 could provide biomarkers for those whose tumors respond and new therapeutic approaches for those whose tumors do not. We used affinity purification mass spectrometry to uncover multiple proteins associated with PD-1. Among these proteins, signaling lymphocytic activation molecule-associated protein (SAP) was functionally and mechanistically analyzed for its contribution to PD-1 inhibitory responses. Silencing of SAP augmented and overexpression blocked PD-1 function. T cells from patients with X-linked lymphoproliferative disease (XLP), who lack functional SAP, were hyperresponsive to PD-1 signaling, confirming its inhibitory role downstream of PD-1. Strikingly, signaling downstream of PD-1 in purified T cell subsets did not correlate with PD-1 surface expression but was inversely correlated with intracellular SAP levels. Mechanistically, SAP opposed PD-1 function by acting as a molecular shield of key tyrosine residues that are targets for the tyrosine phosphatase SHP2, which mediates PD-1 inhibitory properties. Our results identify SAP as an inhibitor of PD-1 function and SHP2 as a potential therapeutic target in patients with XLP.

  14. Kinetic approach to plasma end loss from linear devices

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Dreicer, H.

    1976-01-01

    A first step in the direction of a kinetic approach to end loss has been presented. This approach brings to light some fundamental processes not uncovered by the magnetohydrodynamic or guiding center approach. Attention was focused on the basically transient phenomenon in a way that describes the quite different behavior of collision dominated and collisionless ions, but ignores the magnetic nozzle effects near the ends of the system. The treatment illuminates some of the roles played by the parameter l/sub ii//L, and suggests the direction for more detailed investigations. End loss from linear systems is a very many faceted problem. Kinetic effects, magnetic effects, heat flow, etc. are all intermixed, and it will require a strong long term experimental and theoretical program to unravel all of its mysteries

  15. Revelando sentidos na prática docente: a abordagem de corpus na análise do discurso Uncovering meanings in pedagogical practice: the corpus approach in discourse analysis

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Vander Viana

    2011-01-01

    Full Text Available Este artigo discute a viabilidade da utilização de ferramentas da Linguística de Corpus na análise do discurso pedagógico. Para tanto, são apresentados dois estudos de caso. O primeiro focaliza o discurso de professores de língua inglesa de um renomado curso de idiomas do Rio de Janeiro acerca da implementação de recursos tecnológicos na sala de aula. O segundo estudo, por sua vez, busca perceber qual é o posicionamento de professores universitários de literaturas em língua inglesa sobre literatura e seu ensino. Os resultados apontam para a riqueza dos dados contextuais que podem ser depreendidos a partir de uma análise linguística de base empírica. Em última análise, o artigo revela a importância e a flexibilidade da abordagem de corpus na análise do discurso, que pode ser aplicada a inúmeros contextos.This paper discusses the feasibility of using Corpus Linguistics tools in the analysis of pedagogic discourse. For doing this, two case studies are presented. The first one focuses on the discourse of English language teachers of a well-known languages course in Rio de Janeiro about the implementation of technological resources in the classroom. The second study, in its turn, seeks to realize the position held by university professors of literatures in English language with regard to literature and its teaching. The results point out to the richness of contextual data which can be inferred from a linguistic analysis with an empirical basis. All in all, the paper uncovers the importance and flexibility of the corpus approach in discourse analysis, which may be applied to several contexts.

  16. Uncovering the Links between Prospective Teachers' Personal Responsibility, Academic Optimism, Hope, and Emotions about Teaching: A Mediation Analysis

    Science.gov (United States)

    Eren, Altay

    2014-01-01

    Prospective teachers' sense of personal responsibility has not been examined together with their academic optimism, hope, and emotions about teaching in a single study to date. However, to consider hope, academic optimism, and emotions about teaching together with personal responsibility is important to uncover the factors affecting…

  17. Increasing the public health impact of evidence-based interventions in behavioral medicine: new approaches and future directions.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Buscemi, Joanna; Janke, E Amy; Kugler, Kari C; Duffecy, Jenna; Mielenz, Thelma J; St George, Sara M; Sheinfeld Gorin, Sherri N

    2017-02-01

    The dissemination and implementation of evidence-based behavioral medicine interventions into real world practice has been limited. The purpose of this paper is to discuss specific limitations of current behavioral medicine research within the context of the RE-AIM framework, and potential opportunities to increase public health impact by applying novel intervention designs and data collection approaches. The MOST framework has recently emerged as an alternative approach to development and evaluation that aims to optimize multicomponent behavioral and bio-behavioral interventions. SMART designs, imbedded within the MOST framework, are an approach to optimize adaptive interventions. In addition to innovative design strategies, novel data collection approaches that have the potential to improve the public-health dissemination include mHealth approaches and considering environment as a potential data source. Finally, becoming involved in advocacy via policy related work may help to improve the impact of evidence-based behavioral interventions. Innovative methods, if increasingly implemented, may have the ability to increase the public health impact of evidence-based behavioral interventions to prevent disease.

  18. Towards a mechanism-based approach to pain management in osteoarthritis.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Malfait, Anne-Marie; Schnitzer, Thomas J

    2013-11-01

    Pain is the defining symptom of osteoarthritis (OA), yet available treatment options, of which NSAIDs are the most common, provide inadequate pain relief and are associated with serious health risks when used long term. Chronic pain pathways are subject to complex levels of control and modulation, both in the periphery and in the central nervous system. Ongoing clinical and basic research is uncovering how these pathways operate in OA. Indeed, clinical investigation into the types of pain associated with progressive OA, the presence of central sensitization, the correlation with structural changes in the joint, and the efficacy of novel analgesics affords new insights into the pathophysiology of OA pain. Moreover, studies in disease-specific animal models enable the unravelling of the cellular and molecular pathways involved. We expect that increased understanding of the mechanisms by which chronic OA-associated pain is generated and maintained will offer opportunities for targeting and improving the safety of analgesia. In addition, using clinical and genetic approaches, it might become possible to identify subsets of patients with pain of different pathophysiology, thus enabling a tailored approach to pain management.

  19. Uncovering phenotypes of poor-pitch singing: the Sung Performance Battery (SPB)

    Science.gov (United States)

    Berkowska, Magdalena; Dalla Bella, Simone

    2013-01-01

    Singing is as natural as speaking for humans. Increasing evidence shows that the layman can carry a tune (e.g., when asked to sing a well-known song or to imitate single pitches, intervals and short melodies). Yet, important individual differences exist in the general population with regard to singing proficiency. Some individuals are particularly inaccurate or imprecise in producing or imitating pitch information (poor-pitch singers), thus showing a variety of singing phenotypes. Unfortunately, so far there is not a standard set of tasks for assessing singing proficiency in the general population, allowing to uncover and characterize individual profiles of poor-pitch singing. Different tasks and analysis methods are typically used in various experiments, making the comparison of the results across studies arduous. To fill this gap we propose here a new tool for assessing singing proficiency (the Sung Performance Battery, SPB). The SPB starts from the assessment of participants' vocal range followed by five tasks: (1) single-pitch matching, (2) pitch-interval matching, (3) novel-melody matching, (4) singing from memory of familiar melodies (with lyrics and on a syllable), and (5) singing of familiar melodies (with lyrics and on a syllable) at a slow tempo indicated by a metronome. Data analysis via acoustical methods provides objective measures of pitch accuracy and precision in terms of absolute and relative pitch. The SPB has been tested in a group of 50 occasional singers. The results indicate that the battery is useful for characterizing proficient singing and for detecting cases of inaccurate and/or imprecise singing. PMID:24151475

  20. Uncovering phenotypes of poor-pitch singing: The Sung Performance Battery (SPB

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Magdalena eBerkowska

    2013-10-01

    Full Text Available Singing is as natural as speaking for humans. Increasing evidence shows that the layman can carry a tune (e.g., when asked to sing a well-known song or to imitate single pitches, intervals and short melodies. Yet, important individual differences exist in the general population with regard to singing proficiency. Some individuals are particularly inaccurate or imprecise in producing or imitating pitch information (poor-pitch singers, thus showing a variety of singing phenotypes. Unfortunately, so far there is not a standard set of tasks for assessing singing proficiency in the general population, allowing to uncover and characterize individual profiles of poor-pitch singing. Different tasks and analysis methods are typically used in various experiments, making the comparison of the results across studies arduous. To fill this gap we propose here a new tool for assessing singing proficiency (the Sung Performance Battery, SPB. The SPB starts from the assessment of participants’ vocal range followed by five tasks: 1 single-pitch matching, 2 pitch-interval matching, 3 novel-melody matching, 4 singing from memory of familiar melodies (with lyrics and on a syllable, and 5 singing of familiar melodies (with lyrics and on a syllable at a slow tempo indicated by a metronome. Data analysis via acoustical methods provides objective measures of pitch accuracy and precision in terms of absolute and relative pitch. The SPB has been tested in a group of 50 occasional singers. The results indicate that the battery is useful for characterizing proficient singing and for detecting cases of inaccurate and/or imprecise singing.

  1. Heuristic Artificial Bee Colony Algorithm for Uncovering Community in Complex Networks

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Yuquan Guo

    2017-01-01

    Full Text Available Community structure is important for us to understand the functions and structure of the complex networks. In this paper, Heuristic Artificial Bee Colony (HABC algorithm based on swarm intelligence is proposed for uncovering community. The proposed HABC includes initialization, employed bee searching, onlooker searching, and scout bee searching. In initialization stage, the nectar sources with simple community structure are generated through network dynamic algorithm associated with complete subgraph. In employed bee searching and onlooker searching stages, the searching function is redefined to address the community problem. The efficiency of searching progress can be improved by a heuristic function which is an average agglomerate probability of two neighbor communities. Experiments are carried out on artificial and real world networks, and the results demonstrate that HABC will have better performance in terms of comparing with the state-of-the-art algorithms.

  2. Constellation modulation - an approach to increase spectral efficiency.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Dash, Soumya Sunder; Pythoud, Frederic; Hillerkuss, David; Baeuerle, Benedikt; Josten, Arne; Leuchtmann, Pascal; Leuthold, Juerg

    2017-07-10

    Constellation modulation (CM) is introduced as a new degree of freedom to increase the spectral efficiency and to further approach the Shannon limit. Constellation modulation is the art of encoding information not only in the symbols within a constellation but also by encoding information by selecting a constellation from a set of constellations that are switched from time to time. The set of constellations is not limited to sets of partitions from a given constellation but can e.g., be obtained from an existing constellation by applying geometrical transformations such as rotations, translations, scaling, or even more abstract transformations. The architecture of the transmitter and the receiver allows for constellation modulation to be used on top of existing modulations with little penalties on the bit-error ratio (BER) or on the required signal-to-noise ratio (SNR). The spectral bandwidth used by this modulation scheme is identical to the original modulation. Simulations demonstrate a particular advantage of the scheme for low SNR situations. So, for instance, it is demonstrated by simulation that a spectral efficiency increases by up to 33% and 20% can be obtained at a BER of 10 -3 and 2×10 -2 for a regular BPSK modulation format, respectively. Applying constellation modulation, we derive a most power efficient 4D-CM-BPSK modulation format that provides a spectral efficiency of 0.7 bit/s/Hz for an SNR of 0.2 dB at a BER of 2 × 10 -2 .

  3. Uncovering configurations of HRM service provider intellectual capital and worker human capital for creating high HRM service value using fsQCA

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Meijerink, Jeroen Gerard; Bondarouk, Tatiana

    Although traditionally applied independently, this study combines two theoretical perspectives – the intellectual capital theory and the consumer perspective – to uncover value-creating configurations of human resource management (HRM) service providers' and workers' knowledge resources. We examined

  4. Uncovering beat deafness: detecting rhythm disorders with synchronized finger tapping and perceptual timing tasks.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Dalla Bella, Simone; Sowiński, Jakub

    2015-03-16

    A set of behavioral tasks for assessing perceptual and sensorimotor timing abilities in the general population (i.e., non-musicians) is presented here with the goal of uncovering rhythm disorders, such as beat deafness. Beat deafness is characterized by poor performance in perceiving durations in auditory rhythmic patterns or poor synchronization of movement with auditory rhythms (e.g., with musical beats). These tasks include the synchronization of finger tapping to the beat of simple and complex auditory stimuli and the detection of rhythmic irregularities (anisochrony detection task) embedded in the same stimuli. These tests, which are easy to administer, include an assessment of both perceptual and sensorimotor timing abilities under different conditions (e.g., beat rates and types of auditory material) and are based on the same auditory stimuli, ranging from a simple metronome to a complex musical excerpt. The analysis of synchronized tapping data is performed with circular statistics, which provide reliable measures of synchronization accuracy (e.g., the difference between the timing of the taps and the timing of the pacing stimuli) and consistency. Circular statistics on tapping data are particularly well-suited for detecting individual differences in the general population. Synchronized tapping and anisochrony detection are sensitive measures for identifying profiles of rhythm disorders and have been used with success to uncover cases of poor synchronization with spared perceptual timing. This systematic assessment of perceptual and sensorimotor timing can be extended to populations of patients with brain damage, neurodegenerative diseases (e.g., Parkinson's disease), and developmental disorders (e.g., Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder).

  5. Uncovering the lived experiences of junior and senior undergraduate female science majors

    Science.gov (United States)

    Adornato, Philip

    The following dissertation focuses on a case study that uses critical theory, social learning theory, identity theory, liberal feminine theory, and motivation theory to conduct a narrative describing the lived experience of females and their performance in two highly selective private university, where students can cross-register between school, while majoring in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM). Through the use of narratives, the research attempts to shed additional light on the informal and formal science learning experiences that motivates young females to major in STEM in order to help increase the number of women entering STEM careers and retaining women in STEM majors. In the addition to the narratives, surveys were performed to encompass a larger audience while looking for themes and phenomena which explore what captivates and motivates young females' interests in science and continues to nurture and facilitate their growth throughout high school and college, and propel them into a major in STEM in college. The purpose of this study was to uncover the lived experiences of junior and senior undergraduate female science majors during their formal and informal education, their science motivation to learn science, their science identities, and any experiences in gender inequity they may have encountered. The findings have implications for young women deciding on future careers and majors through early exposure and guidance, understanding and recognizing what gender discrimination, and the positive effects of mentorships.

  6. Pierre Bourdieu's Theory of Practice offers nurses a framework to uncover embodied knowledge of patients living with disabilities or illnesses: A discussion paper.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Oerther, Sarah; Oerther, Daniel B

    2018-04-01

    To discuss how Bourdieu's theory of practice can be used by nurse researchers to better uncover the embodied knowledge of patients living with disability and illness. Bourdieu's theory of practice has been used in social and healthcare researches. This theory emphasizes that an individual's everyday practices are not always explicit and mediated by language, but instead an individual's everyday practices are often are tacit and embodied. Discussion paper. Ovid MEDLINE, CINAHL and SCOPUS were searched for concepts from Bourdieu's theory that was used to understand embodied knowledge of patients living with disability and illness. The literature search included articles from 2003 - 2017. Nurse researchers should use Bourdieu's theory of practice to uncover the embodied knowledge of patients living with disability and illness, and nurse researchers should translate these discoveries into policy recommendations and improved evidence-based best practice. The practice of nursing should incorporate an understanding of embodied knowledge to support disabled and ill patients as these patients modify "everyday practices" in the light of their disabilities and illnesses. Bourdieu's theory enriches nursing because the theory allows for consideration of both the objective and the subjective through the conceptualization of capital, habitus and field. Uncovering individuals embodied knowledge is critical to implement best practices that assist patients as they adapt to bodily changes during disability and illness. © 2017 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

  7. MARS A Cosmic Stepping Stone Uncovering Humanity’s Cosmic Context

    CERN Document Server

    Nolan, Kevin

    2008-01-01

    The questions of our origin and cosmic abundance of life are among the most compelling facing humanity. We have determined much about the nature and origin of the Universe and our place in it, but with virtually all evidence of our origin long since gone from our world and an unimaginably vast Universe still to explore, defining answers are difficult to obtain. For all of the difficulties facing us however, the planet Mars may act as a ‘cosmic stepping stone’ in uncovering some of the answers. Although different today, the origin and early history of both Earth and Mars may have been similar enough to consider an origin to life on both. But because Mars’ planetary processes collapsed over three billion years ago – just as life was beginning to flourish on Earth – a significant and unique record of activity from that era perhaps relevant to the origin of life still resides there today. In recognition of this, both the US and Europe are currently engaged in one of the most ambitious programs of explor...

  8. Where we stand, where we are moving: Surveying computational techniques for identifying miRNA genes and uncovering their regulatory role

    KAUST Repository

    Kleftogiannis, Dimitrios A.; Korfiati, Aigli; Theofilatos, Konstantinos A.; Likothanassis, Spiridon D.; Tsakalidis, Athanasios K.; Mavroudi, Seferina P.

    2013-01-01

    Traditional biology was forced to restate some of its principles when the microRNA (miRNA) genes and their regulatory role were firstly discovered. Typically, miRNAs are small non-coding RNA molecules which have the ability to bind to the 3'untraslated region (UTR) of their mRNA target genes for cleavage or translational repression. Existing experimental techniques for their identification and the prediction of the target genes share some important limitations such as low coverage, time consuming experiments and high cost reagents. Hence, many computational methods have been proposed for these tasks to overcome these limitations. Recently, many researchers emphasized on the development of computational approaches to predict the participation of miRNA genes in regulatory networks and to analyze their transcription mechanisms. All these approaches have certain advantages and disadvantages which are going to be described in the present survey. Our work is differentiated from existing review papers by updating the methodologies list and emphasizing on the computational issues that arise from the miRNA data analysis. Furthermore, in the present survey, the various miRNA data analysis steps are treated as an integrated procedure whose aims and scope is to uncover the regulatory role and mechanisms of the miRNA genes. This integrated view of the miRNA data analysis steps may be extremely useful for all researchers even if they work on just a single step. © 2013 Elsevier Inc.

  9. Where we stand, where we are moving: Surveying computational techniques for identifying miRNA genes and uncovering their regulatory role

    KAUST Repository

    Kleftogiannis, Dimitrios A.

    2013-06-01

    Traditional biology was forced to restate some of its principles when the microRNA (miRNA) genes and their regulatory role were firstly discovered. Typically, miRNAs are small non-coding RNA molecules which have the ability to bind to the 3\\'untraslated region (UTR) of their mRNA target genes for cleavage or translational repression. Existing experimental techniques for their identification and the prediction of the target genes share some important limitations such as low coverage, time consuming experiments and high cost reagents. Hence, many computational methods have been proposed for these tasks to overcome these limitations. Recently, many researchers emphasized on the development of computational approaches to predict the participation of miRNA genes in regulatory networks and to analyze their transcription mechanisms. All these approaches have certain advantages and disadvantages which are going to be described in the present survey. Our work is differentiated from existing review papers by updating the methodologies list and emphasizing on the computational issues that arise from the miRNA data analysis. Furthermore, in the present survey, the various miRNA data analysis steps are treated as an integrated procedure whose aims and scope is to uncover the regulatory role and mechanisms of the miRNA genes. This integrated view of the miRNA data analysis steps may be extremely useful for all researchers even if they work on just a single step. © 2013 Elsevier Inc.

  10. Inverse statistical approach in heartbeat time series

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Ebadi, H; Shirazi, A H; Mani, Ali R; Jafari, G R

    2011-01-01

    We present an investigation on heart cycle time series, using inverse statistical analysis, a concept borrowed from studying turbulence. Using this approach, we studied the distribution of the exit times needed to achieve a predefined level of heart rate alteration. Such analysis uncovers the most likely waiting time needed to reach a certain change in the rate of heart beat. This analysis showed a significant difference between the raw data and shuffled data, when the heart rate accelerates or decelerates to a rare event. We also report that inverse statistical analysis can distinguish between the electrocardiograms taken from healthy volunteers and patients with heart failure

  11. The typological approach in child and family psychology: a review of theory, methods, and research.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Mandara, Jelani

    2003-06-01

    The purpose of this paper was to review the theoretical underpinnings, major concepts, and methods of the typological approach. It was argued that the typological approach offers a systematic, empirically rigorous and reliable way to synthesize the nomothetic variable-centered approach with the idiographic case-centered approach. Recent advances in cluster analysis validation make it a promising method for uncovering natural typologies. This paper also reviewed findings from personality and family studies that have revealed 3 prototypical personalities and parenting styles: Adjusted/Authoritative, Overcontrolled/Authoritarian, and Undercontrolled/Permissive. These prototypes are theorized to be synonymous with attractor basins in psychological state space. The connection between family types and personality structure as well as future directions of typological research were also discussed.

  12. Testing and interpreting uncovered interest parity in Russia

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Dmitry Vasilyev

    2017-06-01

    Full Text Available The failure of uncovered interest rate parity (UIP is a well-known phenomenon of the last thirty years. UIP failure is more prominent in advanced economies than in emerging market economies. Typically, UIP estimation for an advanced economy generates a negative coefficient, meaning that a higher interest rate in advanced economy A will result in the appreciation of economy A's exchange rate. For emerging market economies, higher interest rates usually correspond to future depreciation, although this depreciation is not sufficient for UIP to hold. This paper shows that UIP holds in Russia better than in other emerging market economies when the UIP equation accounts for a constant risk premium. Consequently, there is no forward premium puzzle for Russian data for 2001–2014. To determine the results for Russia and to compare them with the results for other countries, we estimate UIP first for Russia and then for advanced and emerging market economies using seemingly unrelated regressions and panel data analysis. By comparing the profitability of static and dynamic carry trade strategies, we also confirm that in emerging market economies, risk premiums are often constant, whereas in advanced economies, risk premiums are almost always volatile. This may explain why UIP holds better in emerging market economies. It also enables us to formulate a hypothesis that macroeconomic policies of emerging market economies (e.g., the accumulation of large foreign exchange reserves stabilize risk premiums.

  13. Application of solution focused brief counseling model to increase of counselee resilience as a part of multicultural society

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Dita Kurnia Sari

    2016-12-01

    Full Text Available Modern multicultural society and is a dynamic life marked by interaction between the components of a diverse society based on the rule of science and technology. A society that is increasingly complex due to the rapid changes in various aspects of life often creates problems for the individual's life. For example, inner tension, internal and external conflicts, and emotional disturbance. Facing these challenges, the individual is expected to have resilience was good. The role of the counselor is to help the counselee improve resilience with counseling approach effectively. Counseling models that meet the criteria of an effective and efficient is the Solution Focused Brief Counseling. Counseling model emphasizes the collaborative process between counselor and counselee to find solutions to achieve the expected goals. In the process of this counseling model uses questioning techniques to uncover the story, advantages, strengths and exceptions problems experienced by counselee in a short time.

  14. Favoring the unfavored: Selective electrochemical nitrogen fixation using a reticular chemistry approach.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lee, Hiang Kwee; Koh, Charlynn Sher Lin; Lee, Yih Hong; Liu, Chong; Phang, In Yee; Han, Xuemei; Tsung, Chia-Kuang; Ling, Xing Yi

    2018-03-01

    Electrochemical nitrogen-to-ammonia fixation is emerging as a sustainable strategy to tackle the hydrogen- and energy-intensive operations by Haber-Bosch process for ammonia production. However, current electrochemical nitrogen reduction reaction (NRR) progress is impeded by overwhelming competition from the hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) across all traditional NRR catalysts and the requirement for elevated temperature/pressure. We achieve both excellent NRR selectivity (~90%) and a significant boost to Faradic efficiency by 10 percentage points even at ambient operations by coating a superhydrophobic metal-organic framework (MOF) layer over the NRR electrocatalyst. Our reticular chemistry approach exploits MOF's water-repelling and molecular-concentrating effects to overcome HER-imposed bottlenecks, uncovering the unprecedented electrochemical features of NRR critical for future theoretical studies. By favoring the originally unfavored NRR, we envisage our electrocatalytic design as a starting point for high-performance nitrogen-to-ammonia electroconversion directly from water vapor-abundant air to address increasing global demand of ammonia in (bio)chemical and energy industries.

  15. Using ergonomic approaches for increasing effect of preparation at arm sport.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Podrigalo L.V.

    2012-01-01

    Full Text Available Possibility of the use of ergonometric approaches for the increase of efficiency of preparation of sportsmen of arm sport is studied. Complex research of the functional state of sportsmen of different level of trade is conducted. Corroboration legitimacy of organization of the specialized training, being based on primary development of muscles of overhead extremities. Importance of optimum capture and development of sling-dog is grounded, as a factor of success. Main and leading links are selected in providing of effectiveness. The necessity of physical development of working link (hands and brushes and association of the dynamic and static training is marked.

  16. Approaches for increasing the cooperation between Member States and IAEA under SSS

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Rheem, Karp-Soon; Park, Wan-Sou; Kim, Byung-Koo

    1997-01-01

    With introduction of the Strengthened Safeguards System (SSS), both the IAEA and Member States are concerned about the limited resources to carry out the SSS activity and the potential increase of additional cost and burdens. Even though the IAEA has recently prepared a procedure of the generalized New Partnership Approach (NPA), its wider application to the general Member States is difficult at the present time. For the generalized NPA necessitates that SSACs of the Member States have sufficient technical capability in safeguards to carry out the necessary activities. Unfortunately a few Member States seem to be qualified to have the sufficient technical capability that the IAEA desires. In this topic, a new approach to increase the cooperation between Member States and IAEA under SSS is proposed such that effective supports can be provided to all of its Member States that are not technically competent in terms of safeguards experience. This is realized by so called 'tunneling effort', meaning that desired goals are accomplished by efforts from both Member States and the IAEA. The Member States having high technical competence in safeguards provide technical assistance to the Member States that are not competent until they attain to a certain level in technical capability, while the IAEA provides the guidelines, and coordinates the process. The formal introduction of the Quality Control concept to the safeguards management is proposed as well so as to efficiently reduce burdens from the implementation of the SSS. (author)

  17. Metabolic adaptation of a human pathogen during chronic infections - a systems biology approach

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Thøgersen, Juliane Charlotte

    modeling to uncover how human pathogens adapt to the human host. Pseudomonas aeruginosa infections in cystic fibrosis patients are used as a model system for under-­‐ standing these adaptation processes. The exploratory systems biology approach facilitates identification of important phenotypes...... by classical molecular biology approaches where genes and reactions typically are investigated in a one to one relationship. This thesis is an example of how mathematical approaches and modeling can facilitate new biologi-­‐ cal understanding and provide new surprising ideas to important biological processes....... and metabolic pathways that are necessary or related to establishment of chronic infections. Archetypal analysis showed to be successful in extracting relevant phenotypes from global gene expression da-­‐ ta. Furthermore, genome-­‐scale metabolic modeling showed to be useful in connecting the genotype...

  18. PPARalpha siRNA-treated expression profiles uncover the causal sufficiency network for compound-induced liver hypertrophy.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Xudong Dai

    2007-03-01

    Full Text Available Uncovering pathways underlying drug-induced toxicity is a fundamental objective in the field of toxicogenomics. Developing mechanism-based toxicity biomarkers requires the identification of such novel pathways and the order of their sufficiency in causing a phenotypic response. Genome-wide RNA interference (RNAi phenotypic screening has emerged as an effective tool in unveiling the genes essential for specific cellular functions and biological activities. However, eliciting the relative contribution of and sufficiency relationships among the genes identified remains challenging. In the rodent, the most widely used animal model in preclinical studies, it is unrealistic to exhaustively examine all potential interactions by RNAi screening. Application of existing computational approaches to infer regulatory networks with biological outcomes in the rodent is limited by the requirements for a large number of targeted permutations. Therefore, we developed a two-step relay method that requires only one targeted perturbation for genome-wide de novo pathway discovery. Using expression profiles in response to small interfering RNAs (siRNAs against the gene for peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor alpha (Ppara, our method unveiled the potential causal sufficiency order network for liver hypertrophy in the rodent. The validity of the inferred 16 causal transcripts or 15 known genes for PPARalpha-induced liver hypertrophy is supported by their ability to predict non-PPARalpha-induced liver hypertrophy with 84% sensitivity and 76% specificity. Simulation shows that the probability of achieving such predictive accuracy without the inferred causal relationship is exceedingly small (p < 0.005. Five of the most sufficient causal genes have been previously disrupted in mouse models; the resulting phenotypic changes in the liver support the inferred causal roles in liver hypertrophy. Our results demonstrate the feasibility of defining pathways mediating drug

  19. Intermittent fasting uncovers and rescues cognitive phenotypes in PTEN neuronal haploinsufficient mice.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Cabral-Costa, J V; Andreotti, D Z; Mello, N P; Scavone, C; Camandola, S; Kawamoto, E M

    2018-06-05

    Phosphatase and tensin homolog (PTEN) is an important protein with key modulatory functions in cell growth and survival. PTEN is crucial during embryogenesis and plays a key role in the central nervous system (CNS), where it directly modulates neuronal development and synaptic plasticity. Loss of PTEN signaling function is associated with cognitive deficits and synaptic plasticity impairment. Accordingly, Pten mutations have a strong link with autism spectrum disorder. In this study, neuronal Pten haploinsufficient male mice were subjected to a long-term environmental intervention - intermittent fasting (IF) - and then evaluated for alterations in exploratory, anxiety and learning and memory behaviors. Although no significant effects on spatial memory were observed, mutant mice showed impaired contextual fear memory in the passive avoidance test - an outcome that was effectively rescued by IF. In this study, we demonstrated that IF modulation, in addition to its rescue of the memory deficit, was also required to uncover behavioral phenotypes otherwise hidden in this neuronal Pten haploinsufficiency model.

  20. Developing a Forensic Continuous Audit Model

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Grover S. Kearns

    2011-06-01

    Full Text Available Despite increased attention to internal controls and risk assessment, traditional audit approaches do not seem to be highly effective in uncovering the majority of frauds. Less than 20 percent of all occupational frauds are uncovered by auditors. Forensic accounting has recognized the need for automated approaches to fraud analysis yet research has not examined the benefits of forensic continuous auditing as a method to detect and deter corporate fraud. The purpose of this paper is to show how such an approach is possible. A model is presented that supports the acceptance of forensic continuous auditing by auditors and management as an effective tool to support the audit function, meet management’s regulatory objectives, and to combat fraud. An approach to developing such a system is presented.

  1. RNA shotgun metagenomic sequencing of northern California (USA mosquitoes uncovers viruses, bacteria, and fungi

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    James Angus eChandler

    2015-03-01

    Full Text Available Mosquitoes, most often recognized for the microbial agents of disease they may carry, harbor diverse microbial communities that include viruses, bacteria, and fungi, collectively called the microbiota. The composition of the microbiota can directly and indirectly affect disease transmission through microbial interactions that could be revealed by its characterization in natural populations of mosquitoes. Furthermore, the use of shotgun metagenomic sequencing (SMS approaches could allow the discovery of unknown members of the microbiota. In this study, we use RNA SMS to characterize the microbiota of seven individual mosquitoes (species include Culex pipiens, Culiseta incidens, and Ochlerotatus sierrensis collected from a variety of habitats in California, USA. Sequencing was performed on the Illumina HiSeq platform and the resulting sequences were quality-checked and assembled into contigs using the A5 pipeline. Sequences related to single stranded RNA viruses of the Bunyaviridae and Rhabdoviridae were uncovered, along with an unclassified genus of double-stranded RNA viruses. Phylogenetic analysis finds that in all three cases, the closest relatives of the identified viral sequences are other mosquito-associated viruses, suggesting widespread host-group specificity among disparate viral taxa. Interestingly, we identified a Narnavirus of fungi, also reported elsewhere in mosquitoes, that potentially demonstrates a nested host-parasite association between virus, fungi, and mosquito. Sequences related to 8 bacterial families and 13 fungal families were found across the seven samples. Bacillus and Escherichia/Shigella were identified in all samples and Wolbachia was identified in all Cx. pipiens samples, while no single fungal genus was found in more than two samples. This study exemplifies the utility of RNA SMS in the characterization of the natural microbiota of mosquitoes and, in particular, the value of identifying all microbes associated with

  2. Uncovering student thinking about mathematics in the common core, grades 6-8 25 formative assessment probes

    CERN Document Server

    Tobey, Cheryl Rose

    2013-01-01

    Pinpoint and reverse math misconceptions with laser-like accuracyQuickly and reliably uncover common math misconceptions in Grades 6-8 with these convenient and easy-to-implement diagnostic tools! Bestselling authors Cheryl Tobey and Carolyn Arline provide 25 new assessment probes that pinpoint subconcepts within the new Common Core Standards for Mathematics to promote deep learning and expert math instruction--while learning is already underway.Completely CCSM aligned, these grade-specific probes eliminate the guesswork and help teachers: Systematically address conceptual and procedural mistakes Help students better understand areas of struggle Plan targeted instruction that covers Grades 6-8 CCSM mathematical processes and proficiencies.

  3. Natural Language Processing Approach for Searching the Quran: Quick and Intuitive

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Zainal Abidah

    2017-01-01

    Full Text Available The Quran is a scripture that acts as the main reference to people which their religion is Islam. It covers information from politics to science, with vast amount of information that requires effort to uncover the knowledge behind it. Today, the emergence of smartphones has led to the development of a wide-range application for enhancing knowledge-seeking activities. This project proposes a mobile application that is taking a natural language approach to searching topics in the Quran based on keyword searching. The benefit of the application is two-fold; it is intuitive and it saves time.

  4. A heuristic approach to handle capacitated facility location problem evaluated using clustering internal evaluation

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sutanto, G. R.; Kim, S.; Kim, D.; Sutanto, H.

    2018-03-01

    One of the problems in dealing with capacitated facility location problem (CFLP) is occurred because of the difference between the capacity numbers of facilities and the number of customers that needs to be served. A facility with small capacity may result in uncovered customers. These customers need to be re-allocated to another facility that still has available capacity. Therefore, an approach is proposed to handle CFLP by using k-means clustering algorithm to handle customers’ allocation. And then, if customers’ re-allocation is needed, is decided by the overall average distance between customers and the facilities. This new approach is benchmarked to the existing approach by Liao and Guo which also use k-means clustering algorithm as a base idea to decide the facilities location and customers’ allocation. Both of these approaches are benchmarked by using three clustering evaluation methods with connectedness, compactness, and separations factors.

  5. Mapping the fitness landscape of gene expression uncovers the cause of antagonism and sign epistasis between adaptive mutations.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Hsin-Hung Chou

    2014-02-01

    Full Text Available How do adapting populations navigate the tensions between the costs of gene expression and the benefits of gene products to optimize the levels of many genes at once? Here we combined independently-arising beneficial mutations that altered enzyme levels in the central metabolism of Methylobacterium extorquens to uncover the fitness landscape defined by gene expression levels. We found strong antagonism and sign epistasis between these beneficial mutations. Mutations with the largest individual benefit interacted the most antagonistically with other mutations, a trend we also uncovered through analyses of datasets from other model systems. However, these beneficial mutations interacted multiplicatively (i.e., no epistasis at the level of enzyme expression. By generating a model that predicts fitness from enzyme levels we could explain the observed sign epistasis as a result of overshooting the optimum defined by a balance between enzyme catalysis benefits and fitness costs. Knowledge of the phenotypic landscape also illuminated that, although the fitness peak was phenotypically far from the ancestral state, it was not genetically distant. Single beneficial mutations jumped straight toward the global optimum rather than being constrained to change the expression phenotypes in the correlated fashion expected by the genetic architecture. Given that adaptation in nature often results from optimizing gene expression, these conclusions can be widely applicable to other organisms and selective conditions. Poor interactions between individually beneficial alleles affecting gene expression may thus compromise the benefit of sex during adaptation and promote genetic differentiation.

  6. Meta-analysis and other approaches for synthesizing structured and unstructured data in plant pathology.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Scherm, H; Thomas, C S; Garrett, K A; Olsen, J M

    2014-01-01

    The term data deluge is used widely to describe the rapidly accelerating growth of information in the technical literature, in scientific databases, and in informal sources such as the Internet and social media. The massive volume and increased complexity of information challenge traditional methods of data analysis but at the same time provide unprecedented opportunities to test hypotheses or uncover new relationships via mining of existing databases and literature. In this review, we discuss analytical approaches that are beginning to be applied to help synthesize the vast amount of information generated by the data deluge and thus accelerate the pace of discovery in plant pathology. We begin with a review of meta-analysis as an established approach for summarizing standardized (structured) data across the literature. We then turn to examples of synthesizing more complex, unstructured data sets through a range of data-mining approaches, including the incorporation of 'omics data in epidemiological analyses. We conclude with a discussion of methodologies for leveraging information contained in novel, open-source data sets through web crawling, text mining, and social media analytics, primarily in the context of digital disease surveillance. Rapidly evolving computational resources provide platforms for integrating large and complex data sets, motivating research that will draw on new types and scales of information to address big questions.

  7. A genome-wide approach accounting for body mass index identifies genetic variants influencing fasting glycemic traits and insulin resistance

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Manning, Alisa K; Hivert, Marie-France; Scott, Robert A

    2012-01-01

    pathways might be uncovered by accounting for differences in body mass index (BMI) and potential interactions between BMI and genetic variants. We applied a joint meta-analysis approach to test associations with fasting insulin and glucose on a genome-wide scale. We present six previously unknown loci...... associated with fasting insulin at P triglyceride and lower high-density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol levels, suggesting a role for these loci...

  8. Parasitic resistive switching uncovered from complementary resistive switching in single active-layer oxide memory device

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zhu, Lisha; Hu, Wei; Gao, Chao; Guo, Yongcai

    2017-12-01

    This paper reports the reversible transition processes between the bipolar and complementary resistive switching (CRS) characteristics on the binary metal-oxide resistive memory devices of Pt/HfO x /TiN and Pt/TaO x /TiN by applying the appropriate bias voltages. More interestingly, by controlling the amplitude of the negative bias, the parasitic resistive switching effect exhibiting repeatable switching behavior is uncovered from the CRS behavior. The electrical observation of the parasitic resistive switching effect can be explained by the controlled size of the conductive filament. This work confirms the transformation and interrelationship among the bipolar, parasitic, and CRS effects, and thus provides new insight into the understanding of the physical mechanism of the binary metal-oxide resistive switching memory devices.

  9. Stakeholder participation in health impact assessment: A multicultural approach

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Negev, Maya; Davidovitch, Nadav; Garb, Yaakov; Tal, Alon

    2013-01-01

    The literature on impact assessment (HIA) registers the importance of stakeholder participation in the assessment process, but still lacks a model for engaging stakeholders of diverse ethnic, professional and sectorial backgrounds. This paper suggests that the multicultural approach can contribute to HIA through a revision of the generic 5-step HIA model, and its implementation in a metropolitan plan in Southern Israel. The health issue scoped by the stakeholders in the HIA is related to land uses in the vicinity of the national hazardous industry and hazardous waste site. The stakeholders were representatives of the diverse populations at stake, including rural Bedouins and Jewish city dwellers, as well as representatives from the public sector, private sector, non-governmental organizations and academia. The case study revealed that a multicultural stakeholder participation process helps to uncover health issues known to the community which were not addressed in the original plan, and provides local knowledge regarding health conditions that is especially valuable when scientific data is uncertain or absent. It enables diverse stakeholders to prioritize the health issues that will be assessed. The case study also reveals ways in which the model needs revisions and improvements such as in recruitment of diverse participants. This paper presents a multicultural model of HIA and discusses some of the challenges that are faced when HIA is implemented in the context of current decision-making culture. -- Highlights: • We revised the generic HIA model in light of the multicultural approach. • We tested the model in a case study of zoning a hazardous industry site. • Multicultural stakeholder participation uncovers health issues known to communities. • It enables community prioritization of health issues. • We present a model for multicultural stakeholder participation in HIA

  10. Stakeholder participation in health impact assessment: A multicultural approach

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Negev, Maya, E-mail: mayane@tau.ac.il [Hartog School of Government and Policy, Faculty of Social Sciences, Tel Aviv University, P.O.B. 39040, Tel Aviv 69978 (Israel); Davidovitch, Nadav, E-mail: nadavd@bgu.ac.il [Department of Health Systems Management, Faculty of Health Sciences, Ben-Gurion University, P.O.B. 653, Be' er Sheva 84105 (Israel); Garb, Yaakov, E-mail: ygarb@bgu.ac.il [Swiss Institute for Dryland Environmental Research, The Jacob Blaustein Institutes for Desert Research, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, Sede Boqer 84990 (Israel); Tal, Alon, E-mail: alontal@bgu.ac.il [Mitrani Department of Dryland Ecology, Swiss Institute for Dryland Environmental Research, The Jacob Blaustein Institutes for Desert Research, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, Sede Boqer 84990 (Israel)

    2013-11-15

    The literature on impact assessment (HIA) registers the importance of stakeholder participation in the assessment process, but still lacks a model for engaging stakeholders of diverse ethnic, professional and sectorial backgrounds. This paper suggests that the multicultural approach can contribute to HIA through a revision of the generic 5-step HIA model, and its implementation in a metropolitan plan in Southern Israel. The health issue scoped by the stakeholders in the HIA is related to land uses in the vicinity of the national hazardous industry and hazardous waste site. The stakeholders were representatives of the diverse populations at stake, including rural Bedouins and Jewish city dwellers, as well as representatives from the public sector, private sector, non-governmental organizations and academia. The case study revealed that a multicultural stakeholder participation process helps to uncover health issues known to the community which were not addressed in the original plan, and provides local knowledge regarding health conditions that is especially valuable when scientific data is uncertain or absent. It enables diverse stakeholders to prioritize the health issues that will be assessed. The case study also reveals ways in which the model needs revisions and improvements such as in recruitment of diverse participants. This paper presents a multicultural model of HIA and discusses some of the challenges that are faced when HIA is implemented in the context of current decision-making culture. -- Highlights: • We revised the generic HIA model in light of the multicultural approach. • We tested the model in a case study of zoning a hazardous industry site. • Multicultural stakeholder participation uncovers health issues known to communities. • It enables community prioritization of health issues. • We present a model for multicultural stakeholder participation in HIA.

  11. Theoretical Approaches to Nuclear Proliferation

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Konstantin S. Tarasov

    2015-01-01

    Full Text Available This article analyses discussions between representatives of three schools in the theory of international relations - realism, liberalism and constructivism - on the driving factors of nuclear proliferation. The paper examines major theoretical approaches, outlined in the studies of Russian and foreign scientists, to the causes of nuclear weapons development, while unveiling their advantages and limitations. Much of the article has been devoted to alternative approaches, particularly, the role of mathematical modeling in assessing proliferation risks. The analysis also reveals a variety of different approaches to nuclear weapons acquisition, as well as the absence of a comprehensive proliferation theory. Based on the research results the study uncovers major factors both favoring and impeding nuclear proliferation. The author shows that the lack of consensus between realists, liberals and constructivists on the nature of proliferation led a number of scientists to an attempt to explain nuclear rationale by drawing from the insights of more than one school in the theory of IR. Detailed study of the proliferation puzzle contributes to a greater understating of contemporary international realities, helps to identify mechanisms that are most likely to deter states from obtaining nuclear weapons and is of the outmost importance in predicting short- and long-term security environment. Furthermore, analysis of the existing scientific literature on nuclear proliferation helps to determine future research agenda of the subject at hand.

  12. Uncovering the inertia of dislocation motion and negative mechanical response in crystals.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Tang, Yizhe

    2018-01-09

    Dislocations are linear defects in crystals and their motion controls crystals' mechanical behavior. The dissipative nature of dislocation propagation is generally accepted although the specific mechanisms are still not fully understood. The inertia, which is undoubtedly the nature of motion for particles with mass, seems much less convincing for configuration propagation. We utilize atomistic simulations in conditions that minimize dissipative effects to enable uncovering of the hidden nature of dislocation motion, in three typical model metals Mg, Cu and Ta. We find that, with less/no dissipation, dislocation motion is under-damped and explicitly inertial at both low and high velocities. The inertia of dislocation motion is intrinsic, and more fundamental than the dissipative nature. The inertia originates from the kinetic energy imparted from strain energy and stored in the moving core. Peculiar negative mechanical response associated with the inertia is also discovered. These findings shed light on the fundamental nature of dislocation motion, reveal the underlying physics, and provide a new physical explanation for phenomena relevant to high-velocity dislocations.

  13. What Studying Problems Are Faced by the Adolescent Grade Repeaters in Macao: Uncovering Underlying Mechanisms Based on Evidences from the PISA 2012 Study

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sit, Pou-seong; Cheung, Kwok-cheung; Cheong, Wai-cheong; Mak, Soi-kei; Soh, Kay-cheng; Ieong, Man-kai

    2015-01-01

    Most schools in Macao are private schools, and there is a variety of grade repetition policy practiced in the 45 secondary schools. The policies are translated into school-based accountability of some kind of minimum competency standards. The objective of this study is to uncover the mediation mechanisms accounting for the influences of grade…

  14. Designing e-learning solutions with a client centred approach

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Ørngreen, Rikke; Nielsen, Janni; Levinsen, Karin

    2008-01-01

      This paper claims that the strategies applied in designing e-learning solutions tend to focus on how to proceed after the precondition, e.g., learners requirements, pedagogical choice, etc., have been decided upon. Investigating the HCI research field, we find that the methodological approaches...... as the organisation that has initiated the e-learning project and needs to manage the e-learning system after its development. Through the Client Centred Design and in close collaboration with the client, three strategic issues are uncovered and strategic models are presented for each. These models are complementary...... perspectives in a Client Centred framework that is useable as the starting point for others in developing large scale e-learning projects....

  15. Mega-phylogeny approach for comparative biology: an alternative to supertree and supermatrix approaches.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Smith, Stephen A; Beaulieu, Jeremy M; Donoghue, Michael J

    2009-02-11

    Biology has increasingly recognized the necessity to build and utilize larger phylogenies to address broad evolutionary questions. Large phylogenies have facilitated the discovery of differential rates of molecular evolution between trees and herbs. They have helped us understand the diversification patterns of mammals as well as the patterns of seed evolution. In addition to these broad evolutionary questions there is increasing awareness of the importance of large phylogenies for addressing conservation issues such as biodiversity hotspots and response to global change. Two major classes of methods have been employed to accomplish the large tree-building task: supertrees and supermatrices. Although these methods are continually being developed, they have yet to be made fully accessible to comparative biologists making extremely large trees rare. Here we describe and demonstrate a modified supermatrix method termed mega-phylogeny that uses databased sequences as well as taxonomic hierarchies to make extremely large trees with denser matrices than supermatrices. The two major challenges facing large-scale supermatrix phylogenetics are assembling large data matrices from databases and reconstructing trees from those datasets. The mega-phylogeny approach addresses the former as the latter is accomplished by employing recently developed methods that have greatly reduced the run time of large phylogeny construction. We present an algorithm that requires relatively little human intervention. The implemented algorithm is demonstrated with a dataset and phylogeny for Asterales (within Campanulidae) containing 4954 species and 12,033 sites and an rbcL matrix for green plants (Viridiplantae) with 13,533 species and 1,401 sites. By examining much larger phylogenies, patterns emerge that were otherwise unseen. The phylogeny of Viridiplantae successfully reconstructs major relationships of vascular plants that previously required many more genes. These demonstrations

  16. A distinctive avian assemblage (Aves: Passeriformes in Western Darién, Panama is uncovered through a disease surveillance program

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Matthew J. Miller

    2014-08-01

    Full Text Available Basic knowledge about the distribution of flora and fauna is lacking for most tropical areas. Improving our knowledge of the tropical biota will help address contemporary global problems, including emerging tropical diseases. Less appreciated is the role that applied studies can have in improving our understanding of basic biological patterns and processes in the tropics. Here, I describe a novel avifauna assemblage uncovered in Western Darién province in the Republic of Panama that was uncovered during a vector-borne disease surveillance program. I compared the passerine bird species composition at 16 sites using records from recent ornithological expeditions sponsored by the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute in Central and Eastern Panama. Based on the results of a Mantel test, geographic distance did not correlate with pairwise distinctiveness of sites. Instead, based on an index of distinctiveness modified from the Chao-Jaccard index, most sites were more or less similarly distinctive, with one site, Aruza Abajo, significantly more distinctive than the rest. I found that the distinctiveness of this site was due not only to the presence of several rare and range-restricted taxa, but also to the absence of taxa that are common elsewhere. This finding provides more evidence of high species composition turnover (beta-diversity in the Panamanian biota, which appears to be driven by a combination of soil and climate differences over narrow distances. Rev. Biol. Trop. 62 (2: 711-717. Epub 2014 June 01.

  17. Disordered Collarettes and Uncovered Tables

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Nørgaard, Nina

    2007-01-01

    functions of negative constructions in context. After this theoretical overview, the various approaches are applied to an analysis of Joyce's story, in the course of which it is demonstrated that although negatives are not a salient feature of the text they are nevertheless a significant meaning...

  18. Uncovered Interest Parity in Central and Eastern Europe: Convergence and the Global Financial Crisis

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Fabio Filipozzi

    2012-12-01

    Full Text Available This paper presents tests of uncovered interest parity in Croatia, the Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland and Romania; all countries in Central and Eastern Europe with floating exchange rates. Data are monthly and the trading horizon is three months. The estimations show that the UIP hypothesis is rejected for the full sample from 1999 to 2011 for all five countries. A number of reasons for the rejection were investigated. Rolling regressions show that standard versions of the UIP essentially lose all explanatory power in 2008-10, which was a period in which the global financial crisis led to instability in currency and interest markets in Central and Eastern Europe. Two indicators of global risk aversion were also found to enter significantly in the many UIP estimations. Finally, the size of the interest rates spread also seems to be of importance, at least for Poland and Romania

  19. Applying the health action process approach (HAPA) to the choice of health products: An exploratory study

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Krutulyte, Rasa; Grunert, Klaus G.; Scholderer, Joachim

    This paper presents the results of a qualitative pilot study that aimed to uncovering Danish consumers' motives for choosing health food. Schwarzer's (1992) health action process approach (HAPA) was applied to understand the process by which people chose health products. The research focused...... on the role of the behavioural intention predictors such as risk perception, outcome expectations and self-efficacy. The model has been proved to be a useful framework for understanding consumer choosing health food and is substantial in the further application of dietary choice issues....

  20. Omics-based approaches reveal phospholipids remodeling of Rhizopus oryzae responding to furfural stress for fumaric acid-production from xylose.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Pan, Xinrong; Liu, Huanhuan; Liu, Jiao; Wang, Cheng; Wen, Jianping

    2016-12-01

    In order to relieve the toxicity of furfural on Rhizopus oryzae fermentation, the molecular mechanism of R. oryzae responding to furfural stress for fumaric acid-production was investigated by omics-based approaches. In metabolomics analysis, 29 metabolites including amino acid, sugars, polyols and fatty acids showed significant changes for maintaining the basic cell metabolism at the cost of lowering fumaric acid production. To further uncover the survival mechanism, lipidomics was carried out, revealing that phosphatidylcholine, phosphatidylglycerol, phosphatidylinositol and polyunsaturated acyl chains might be closely correlated with R. oryzae's adapting to furfural stress. Based on the above omics analysis, lecithin, inositol and soybean oil were exogenously supplemented separately with an optimized concentration in the presence of furfural, which increased fumaric acid titer from 5.78g/L to 10.03g/L, 10.05g/L and 12.13g/L (increased by 73.5%, 73.8% and 110%, respectively). These findings provide a methodological guidance for hemicellulose-fumaric acid development. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  1. Reactive or proactive approach towards sustainability? A conceptual framework based on sustainable business models to increase stakeholders' sustainable value capture

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Rosati, Francesco; Morioka, Sandra; Monteiro de Carvalho, Marly

    2016-01-01

    and challenging companies to seek for business opportunities with an entrepreneurial attitude to help solving sustainable development challenges. By combining both approaches, organizations have the opportunity to increase sustainable value capture by its stakeholders, acting on their institutional responsibility...... as instrument to help companies describe, analyze, manage and communicate their sustainable value proposition, creation, delivery and capture mechanism. In particular, this research focuses on value capture dynamics, aiming to explore how companies can increase their contribution to sustainable development...... sustainability. In this sense, a proactive approach to foster sustainable value capture can complement the reactive approach by delivering value beyond stakeholders' expectations. In this case, companies use their capabilities to identify opportunities to create and deliver sustainable value that stakeholders...

  2. Newly Uncovered Large-Scale Component of the Northern Jet in R Aqr

    Science.gov (United States)

    Montez, Rodolfo; Karovska, Margarita; Nichols, Joy S.; Kashyap, Vinay

    2017-06-01

    R Aqr is a symbiotic system comprised a compact white dwarf and Mira giant star. The interaction of these stars is responsible for the presence of a two-sided jet structure that is seen across the electromagnetic spectrum. X-ray emission from the jet was first discovered in 2000 with an observation by the Chandra X-ray Observatory. Since then follow-up observations have traced the evolution of the X-ray emission from the jet and a central compact source. In X-rays, the NE jet is brighter than the SW jet, but the full extent of the SW jet was larger - before it began fading below the detection threshold. However, we have uncovered evidence for large-scale emission associated with the NE jet that matches the extent of the SW jet. The emission has escaped previous identification because it is near the detection threshold, but it has been present since the first 2000 observation and clearly evolves in subsequent observations. We present our study of the emission from this component of the NE jet, its relationship to multiwavelength observations, and how it impacts our interpretation of the jet-phenomenon in R Aqr.

  3. Uncovering Voter Preference Structures Using a Best-Worst Scaling Procedure: Method and Empirical Example in the British General Election of 2010

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Ormrod, Robert P.; Savigny, Heather

    Best-Worst scaling (BWS) is a method that can provide insights into the preference structures of voters. By asking voters to select the ‘best’ and ‘worst’ option (‘most important’ and ‘least important’ media in our investigation) from a short list of alternatives it is possible to uncover the rel...... the least information. We furthermore investigate group differences using an ANOVA procedure to demonstrate how contextual variables can enrich our empirical investigations using the BWS method....

  4. Machine Learning Approaches to Increasing Value of Spaceflight Omics Databases

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gentry, Diana

    2017-01-01

    The number of spaceflight bioscience mission opportunities is too small to allow all relevant biological and environmental parameters to be experimentally identified. Simulated spaceflight experiments in ground-based facilities (GBFs), such as clinostats, are each suitable only for particular investigations -- a rotating-wall vessel may be 'simulated microgravity' for cell differentiation (hours), but not DNA repair (seconds) -- and introduce confounding stimuli, such as motor vibration and fluid shear effects. This uncertainty over which biological mechanisms respond to a given form of simulated space radiation or gravity, as well as its side effects, limits our ability to baseline spaceflight data and validate mission science. Machine learning techniques autonomously identify relevant and interdependent factors in a data set given the set of desired metrics to be evaluated: to automatically identify related studies, compare data from related studies, or determine linkages between types of data in the same study. System-of-systems (SoS) machine learning models have the ability to deal with both sparse and heterogeneous data, such as that provided by the small and diverse number of space biosciences flight missions; however, they require appropriate user-defined metrics for any given data set. Although machine learning in bioinformatics is rapidly expanding, the need to combine spaceflight/GBF mission parameters with omics data is unique. This work characterizes the basic requirements for implementing the SoS approach through the System Map (SM) technique, a composite of a dynamic Bayesian network and Gaussian mixture model, in real-world repositories such as the GeneLab Data System and Life Sciences Data Archive. The three primary steps are metadata management for experimental description using open-source ontologies, defining similarity and consistency metrics, and generating testing and validation data sets. Such approaches to spaceflight and GBF omics data may

  5. Construction of large signaling pathways using an adaptive perturbation approach with phosphoproteomic data.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Melas, Ioannis N; Mitsos, Alexander; Messinis, Dimitris E; Weiss, Thomas S; Rodriguez, Julio-Saez; Alexopoulos, Leonidas G

    2012-04-01

    Construction of large and cell-specific signaling pathways is essential to understand information processing under normal and pathological conditions. On this front, gene-based approaches offer the advantage of large pathway exploration whereas phosphoproteomic approaches offer a more reliable view of pathway activities but are applicable to small pathway sizes. In this paper, we demonstrate an experimentally adaptive approach to construct large signaling pathways from phosphoproteomic data within a 3-day time frame. Our approach--taking advantage of the fast turnaround time of the xMAP technology--is carried out in four steps: (i) screen optimal pathway inducers, (ii) select the responsive ones, (iii) combine them in a combinatorial fashion to construct a phosphoproteomic dataset, and (iv) optimize a reduced generic pathway via an Integer Linear Programming formulation. As a case study, we uncover novel players and their corresponding pathways in primary human hepatocytes by interrogating the signal transduction downstream of 81 receptors of interest and constructing a detailed model for the responsive part of the network comprising 177 species (of which 14 are measured) and 365 interactions.

  6. Cultural/Favorite Recipe Day: Strengthening Approaches to Increase Culturally Diverse Foods Served in Head Start Meals

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hoffman, Jessica A.; Agrawal, Tara; Carter, Sonia; Grinder, AnnMarie; Castaneda-Sceppa, Carmen

    2012-01-01

    One approach to halting the childhood obesity epidemic has been the modification of foods available to children during the school day. In recent years there has been an increased focus on obesity prevention efforts among children ages birth to 5 and the role of child care settings in prevention efforts. Head Start serves as an important venue for…

  7. Opportunities and Challenges of Implementing Instructional Games in Mathematics Classrooms: Examining the Quality of Teacher-Student Interactions during the Cover-Up and Un-Cover Games

    Science.gov (United States)

    Heshmati, Saeideh; Kersting, Nicole; Sutton, Taliesin

    2018-01-01

    This study explored the design and implementation of the Cover-up and Un-cover games, two manipulative-based fraction games, in 14 fifth-grade classrooms. We examined how the fraction concepts were integrated into the game design and explored the nature of teacher-student interactions during games using lesson videos. Our examination showed that…

  8. Optimizing donor scheduling before recruitment: An effective approach to increasing apheresis platelet collections.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lokhandwala, Parvez M; Shike, Hiroko; Wang, Ming; Domen, Ronald E; George, Melissa R

    2018-01-01

    Typical approach for increasing apheresis platelet collections is to recruit new donors. Here, we investigated the effectiveness of an alternative strategy: optimizing donor scheduling, prior to recruitment, at a hospital-based blood donor center. Analysis of collections, during the 89 consecutive months since opening of donor center, was performed. Linear regression and segmented time-series analyses were performed to calculate growth rates of collections and to test for statistical differences, respectively. Pre-intervention donor scheduling capacity was 39/month. In the absence of active donor recruitment, during the first 29 months, the number of collections rose gradually to 24/month (growth-rate of 0.70/month). However, between month-30 and -55, collections exhibited a plateau at 25.6 ± 3.0 (growth-rate of -0.09/month) (pcollection days/week (month-72). Consequently, the scheduling capacity increased to 130/month. Post-interventions, apheresis platelet collections between month-56 and -81 exhibited a spontaneous renewed growth at a rate of 0.62/month (pcollections. Apheresis platelet collections plateau at nearly 2/3rd of the scheduling capacity. Optimizing the scheduling capacity prior to active donor recruitment is an effective strategy to increase platelet collections at a hospital-based donor center.

  9. Danube region strategy: Arguments for a territorial capital based multilevel approach

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Giffinger Rudolf

    2010-01-01

    Full Text Available During the last months the discussion on a strategy for the Danube Region as a new approach for a European macro-region has been intensified, predominantly within the area of Central and South-Eastern Europe. Evidently the territory of the Danube Region is characterized by a divergent group of countries concerning the process of integration and the preconditions in geographic, economic, cultural and socio-demographic terms. Besides, the region’s spatial development shows divergent trends causing increasing regional disparities. Therefore, territorial cohesion - understood as intensified functional interrelations and strategic cooperation - is jeopardized in manifold ways. Hence, the main objective of this paper is to discuss the basic features of a strategy aiming at strengthening the polycentric development on different spatial levels. We start by assuming that the development of every city (as an element of the urban system depends on its territorial capital and relevant assets providing location based advantages regarding its competitiveness on different spatial levels. Therefore we uncover what we understand as assets driving urban development. In this context the meaning of polycentric development and the importance of polycentric structures as an asset of a city’s territorial capital is being revealed. Based on these conceptual considerations we examine some relevant features of the urban polycentric system in the Danube region and finally argue that a multilevel and evidence based approach should be evolved facing the differences in the preconditions and already existing assets of spatial development.

  10. Using the latent class approach to cluster firms in benchmarking: An application to the US electricity transmission industry

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Manuel Llorca

    2014-03-01

    Full Text Available In this paper we advocate using the latent class model (LCM approach to control for technological differences in traditional efficiency analysis of regulated electricity networks. Our proposal relies on the fact that latent class models are designed to cluster firms by uncovering differences in technology parameters. Moreover, it can be viewed as a supervised method for clustering data that takes into account the same (production or cost relationship that is analysed later, often using nonparametric frontier techniques. The simulation exercises show that the proposed approach outperforms other sample selection procedures. The proposed methodology is illustrated with an application to a sample of US electricity transmission firms for the period 2001–2009.

  11. A Novel Nonsense Variant in Nav1.5 Cofactor MOG1 Eliminates Its Sodium Current Increasing Effect and May Increase the Risk of Arrhythmias

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Olesen, Morten S; Jensen, Niels F; Holst, Anders G

    2011-01-01

    at a lower frequency (1.8% vs 0.4%, P = 0.078). Electrophysiological investigation showed that the p.E61X variant completely eliminates the sodium current-increasing effect of MOG1 and thereby causes loss of function in the sodium current. When mimicking heterozygosity by coexpression of Nav1.5 with wild......BACKGROUND: The protein MOG1 is a cofactor of the cardiac sodium channel, Nav1.5. Overexpression of MOG1 in Nav1.5-expressing cells increases sodium current markedly. Mutations in the genes encoding Nav1.5 and its accessory proteins have been associated with cardiac arrhythmias of significant...... and 23 were patients with Brugada syndrome. The effect of one variant was investigated functionally by patch-clamping CHO-K1 cells coexpressing Nav1.5 with MOG1. RESULTS: We uncovered a novel heterozygous nonsense variant, c.181G>T (p.E61X), that, however, was also present in control subjects, albeit...

  12. Attitudes towards semi-processed foods in the hospital sector

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Mikkelsen, Bent Egberg; Friis, Alan; Lassen, Anne Dahl

    2005-01-01

    The paper addresses some of the challenges the food service sector faces in relation to the increased pressure for cost effective operations. The approach pertains to application of semi-prepared constituents for meals the so-called meal elements. The study uncovers attitudes towards application ...

  13. Nutrition and inequalities. A note on sociological approaches.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Murcott, Anne

    2002-09-01

    This article provides an overview of three approaches taken to illuminate the sociological contribution to the field of nutrition and inequalities, in the hope of prompting future researchers to pursue the lines of enquiry suggested. Under the heading of inequalities in food use, the paper first exemplifies the utility of 'political arithmetic', possibly the sociological approach best known in public health. This includes socio-economic patterning in food purchases as well as disadvantage in access, where studies of poverty represent a longstanding focus. A rural/urban dimension has, however, been left dormant. A second approach is illustrated by work on public understandings of nutrition, encompassing primarily small-scale studies of beliefs about nutrition, which emphasise the plurality of lay definitions of diet and health. Lacking are studies which build on this work to uncover the relation to health inequalities. Third to be introduced is sociological work on the social distribution of taste, which illuminates the potential for examining enduring, shared ideas of styles in eating embedded in forms of the social organisation of the home that is associated with different socio-economic levels. The paper ends with comment on practical implications for public health practice and policy designed to reduce inequalities in nutrition.

  14. Drive Cost Reduction, Increase Innovation and Mitigate Risk with Advanced Knowledge Discovery Tools Designed to Unlock and Leverage Prior Knowledge

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Mitchell, I.

    2016-01-01

    Full text: The nuclear industry is knowledge-intensive and includes a diverse number of stakeholders. Much of this knowledge is at risk as engineers, technicians and project professionals retire, leaving a widening skills and information gap. This knowledge is critical in an increasingly complex environment with information from past projects often buried in decades-old, non-integrated systems enterprise. Engineers can spend 40% or more of their time searching for answers across the enterprise instead of solving problems. The inability to access trusted industry knowledge results in increased risk and expense. Advanced knowledge discovery technologies slash research times by as much as 75% and accelerate innovation and problem solving by giving technical professionals access to the information they need, in the context of the problems they are trying to solve. Unlike traditional knowledge management approaches, knowledge discovery tools powered by semantic search technologies are adept at uncovering answers in unstructured data and require no tagging, organization or moving of data, meaning a smaller IT footprint and faster time-to-knowledge. This session will highlight best-in-class knowledge discovery technologies, content, and strategies to give nuclear industry organizations the ability to leverage the corpus of enterprise knowledge into the future. (author

  15. A multi-site evaluation of innovative approaches to increase tuberculosis case notification: summary results.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Creswell, Jacob; Sahu, Suvanand; Blok, Lucie; Bakker, Mirjam I; Stevens, Robert; Ditiu, Lucica

    2014-01-01

    Globally, TB notifications have stagnated since 2007, and sputum smear positive notifications have been declining despite policies to improve case detection. We evaluate results of 28 interventions focused on improving TB case detection. We measured additional sputum smear positive cases treated, defined as the intervention area's increase in case notification during the project compared to the previous year. Projects were encouraged to select control areas and collect historical notification data. We used time series negative binomial regression for over-dispersed cross-sectional data accounting for fixed and random effects to test the individual projects' effects on TB notification while controlling for trend and control populations. Twenty-eight projects, 19 with control populations, completed at least four quarters of case finding activities, covering a population of 89.2 million. Among all projects sputum smear positive (SS+) TB notifications increased 24.9% and annualized notification rates increased from 69.1 to 86.2/100,000 (p = 0.0209) during interventions. Among the 19 projects with control populations, SS+TB case notifications increased 36.9% increase while in the control populations a 3.6% decrease was observed. Fourteen (74%) of the 19 projects' SS+TB notification rates in intervention areas increased from the baseline to intervention period when controlling for historical trends and notifications in control areas. Interventions were associated with large increases in TB notifications across many settings, using an array of interventions. Many people with TB are not reached using current approaches. Different methods and interventions tailored to local realities are urgently needed.

  16. A multi-site evaluation of innovative approaches to increase tuberculosis case notification: summary results.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Jacob Creswell

    Full Text Available BACKGROUND: Globally, TB notifications have stagnated since 2007, and sputum smear positive notifications have been declining despite policies to improve case detection. We evaluate results of 28 interventions focused on improving TB case detection. METHODS: We measured additional sputum smear positive cases treated, defined as the intervention area's increase in case notification during the project compared to the previous year. Projects were encouraged to select control areas and collect historical notification data. We used time series negative binomial regression for over-dispersed cross-sectional data accounting for fixed and random effects to test the individual projects' effects on TB notification while controlling for trend and control populations. RESULTS: Twenty-eight projects, 19 with control populations, completed at least four quarters of case finding activities, covering a population of 89.2 million. Among all projects sputum smear positive (SS+ TB notifications increased 24.9% and annualized notification rates increased from 69.1 to 86.2/100,000 (p = 0.0209 during interventions. Among the 19 projects with control populations, SS+TB case notifications increased 36.9% increase while in the control populations a 3.6% decrease was observed. Fourteen (74% of the 19 projects' SS+TB notification rates in intervention areas increased from the baseline to intervention period when controlling for historical trends and notifications in control areas. CONCLUSIONS: Interventions were associated with large increases in TB notifications across many settings, using an array of interventions. Many people with TB are not reached using current approaches. Different methods and interventions tailored to local realities are urgently needed.

  17. Uncovering Tensions and Capitalizing on Synergies in HIV/AIDS and Antiviolence Programs

    Science.gov (United States)

    Dunbar, Megan S.; Krishnan, Suneeta; Hatcher, Abigail M.; Sawires, Sharif

    2011-01-01

    Research frequently points to the need to empower women to effectively combat the twin epidemics of HIV/AIDS and gender-based violence. Simultaneously, there has been increased attention given to working with men in gender equality efforts. The latter approach intervenes on masculinities as part of the fight against HIV/AIDS and violence. No research has considered these 2 lines of work side by side to address several important questions: What are the points of overlap, and the tensions and contradictions between these 2 approaches? What are the limitations and unintended consequences of each? We analyzed these 2 parallel research trends and made suggestions for how to capitalize on the synergies that come from bolstering each position with the strengths of the other. PMID:21164091

  18. Increasing the efficiency of designing hemming processes by using an element-based metamodel approach

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kaiser, C.; Roll, K.; Volk, W.

    2017-09-01

    In the automotive industry, the manufacturing of automotive outer panels requires hemming processes in which two sheet metal parts are joined together by bending the flange of the outer part over the inner part. Because of decreasing development times and the steadily growing number of vehicle derivatives, an efficient digital product and process validation is necessary. Commonly used simulations, which are based on the finite element method, demand significant modelling effort, which results in disadvantages especially in the early product development phase. To increase the efficiency of designing hemming processes this paper presents a hemming-specific metamodel approach. The approach includes a part analysis in which the outline of the automotive outer panels is initially split into individual segments. By doing a para-metrization of each of the segments and assigning basic geometric shapes, the outline of the part is approximated. Based on this, the hemming parameters such as flange length, roll-in, wrinkling and plastic strains are calculated for each of the geometric basic shapes by performing a meta-model-based segmental product validation. The metamodel is based on an element similar formulation that includes a reference dataset of various geometric basic shapes. A random automotive outer panel can now be analysed and optimized based on the hemming-specific database. By implementing this approach into a planning system, an efficient optimization of designing hemming processes will be enabled. Furthermore, valuable time and cost benefits can be realized in a vehicle’s development process.

  19. Unified theory in the worldline approach

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    James P. Edwards

    2015-11-01

    Full Text Available We explore unified field theories based on the gauge groups SU(5 and SO(10 using the worldline approach for chiral fermions with a Wilson loop coupling to a background gauge field. Representing path ordering and chiral projection operators with functional integrals has previously reproduced the sum over the chiralities and representations of standard model particles in a compact way. This paper shows that for SU(5 the 5¯ and 10 representations – into which the Georgi–Glashow model places the left-handed fermionic content of the standard model – appear naturally and with the familiar chirality. We carry out the same analysis for flipped SU(5 and uncover a link to SO(10 unified theory. We pursue this by exploring the SO(10 theory in the same framework, the less established unified theory based on SU(6 and briefly consider the Pati–Salam model using SU(4×SU(2×SU(2.

  20. Uncovering stability mechanisms in microbial ecosystems - combining microcosm experiments, computational modelling and ecological theory in a multidisciplinary approach

    Science.gov (United States)

    Worrich, Anja; König, Sara; Banitz, Thomas; Centler, Florian; Frank, Karin; Kästner, Matthias; Miltner, Anja; Thullner, Martin; Wick, Lukas

    2015-04-01

    Although bacterial degraders in soil are commonly exposed to fluctuating environmental conditions, the functional performance of the biodegradation processes can often be maintained by resistance and resilience mechanisms. However, there is still a gap in the mechanistic understanding of key factors contributing to the stability of such an ecosystem service. Therefore we developed an integrated approach combining microcosm experiments, simulation models and ecological theory to directly make use of the strengths of these disciplines. In a continuous interplay process, data, hypotheses, and central questions are exchanged between disciplines to initiate new experiments and models to ultimately identify buffer mechanisms and factors providing functional stability. We focus on drying and rewetting-cycles in soil ecosystems, which are a major abiotic driver for bacterial activity. Functional recovery of the system was found to depend on different spatial processes in the computational model. In particular, bacterial motility is a prerequisite for biodegradation if either bacteria or substrate are heterogeneously distributed. Hence, laboratory experiments focussing on bacterial dispersal processes were conducted and confirmed this finding also for functional resistance. Obtained results will be incorporated into the model in the next step. Overall, the combination of computational modelling and laboratory experiments identified spatial processes as the main driving force for functional stability in the considered system, and has proved a powerful methodological approach.

  1. Dramatic expansion of the black widow toxin arsenal uncovered by multi-tissue transcriptomics and venom proteomics.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Haney, Robert A; Ayoub, Nadia A; Clarke, Thomas H; Hayashi, Cheryl Y; Garb, Jessica E

    2014-06-11

    Animal venoms attract enormous interest given their potential for pharmacological discovery and understanding the evolution of natural chemistries. Next-generation transcriptomics and proteomics provide unparalleled, but underexploited, capabilities for venom characterization. We combined multi-tissue RNA-Seq with mass spectrometry and bioinformatic analyses to determine venom gland specific transcripts and venom proteins from the Western black widow spider (Latrodectus hesperus) and investigated their evolution. We estimated expression of 97,217 L. hesperus transcripts in venom glands relative to silk and cephalothorax tissues. We identified 695 venom gland specific transcripts (VSTs), many of which BLAST and GO term analyses indicate may function as toxins or their delivery agents. ~38% of VSTs had BLAST hits, including latrotoxins, inhibitor cystine knot toxins, CRISPs, hyaluronidases, chitinase, and proteases, and 59% of VSTs had predicted protein domains. Latrotoxins are venom toxins that cause massive neurotransmitter release from vertebrate or invertebrate neurons. We discovered ≥ 20 divergent latrotoxin paralogs expressed in L. hesperus venom glands, significantly increasing this biomedically important family. Mass spectrometry of L. hesperus venom identified 49 proteins from VSTs, 24 of which BLAST to toxins. Phylogenetic analyses showed venom gland specific gene family expansions and shifts in tissue expression. Quantitative expression analyses comparing multiple tissues are necessary to identify venom gland specific transcripts. We present a black widow venom specific exome that uncovers a trove of diverse toxins and associated proteins, suggesting a dynamic evolutionary history. This justifies a reevaluation of the functional activities of black widow venom in light of its emerging complexity.

  2. A new and unifying approach to spin dynamics and beam polarization in storage rings

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Heinemann, K.; Ellison, J.A.

    2014-09-01

    With this paper we extend our studies on polarized beams by distilling tools from the theory of principal bundles. Four major theorems are presented, one which ties invariant fields with the notion of normal form, one which allows one to compare different invariant fields, and two that relate the existence of invariant fields to the existence of certain invariant sets and relations between them. We then apply the theory to the dynamics of spin-1/2 and spin-1 particles and their density matrices describing statistically the particle-spin content of bunches. Our approach thus unifies the spin-vector dynamics from the T-BMT equation with the spin-tensor dynamics and other dynamics. This unifying aspect of our approach relates the examples elegantly and uncovers relations between the various underlying dynamical systems in a transparent way.

  3. Seeing the forest through the trees: uncovering phenomic complexity through interactive network visualization.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Warner, Jeremy L; Denny, Joshua C; Kreda, David A; Alterovitz, Gil

    2015-03-01

    Our aim was to uncover unrecognized phenomic relationships using force-based network visualization methods, based on observed electronic medical record data. A primary phenotype was defined from actual patient profiles in the Multiparameter Intelligent Monitoring in Intensive Care II database. Network visualizations depicting primary relationships were compared to those incorporating secondary adjacencies. Interactivity was enabled through a phenotype visualization software concept: the Phenomics Advisor. Subendocardial infarction with cardiac arrest was demonstrated as a sample phenotype; there were 332 primarily adjacent diagnoses, with 5423 relationships. Primary network visualization suggested a treatment-related complication phenotype and several rare diagnoses; re-clustering by secondary relationships revealed an emergent cluster of smokers with the metabolic syndrome. Network visualization reveals phenotypic patterns that may have remained occult in pairwise correlation analysis. Visualization of complex data, potentially offered as point-of-care tools on mobile devices, may allow clinicians and researchers to quickly generate hypotheses and gain deeper understanding of patient subpopulations. © The Author 2014. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the American Medical Informatics Association. All rights reserved. For Permissions, please email: journals.permissions@oup.com.

  4. Methods uncovering usability issues in medication-related alerting functions: results from a systematic review.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Marcilly, Romaric; Vasseur, Francis; Ammenwerth, Elske; Beuscart-Zephir, Marie-Catherine

    2014-01-01

    This paper aims at listing the methods used to evaluate the usability of medication-related alerting functions and at knowing what type of usability issues those methods allow to detect. A sub-analysis of data from this systematic review has been performed. Methods applied in the included papers were collected. Then, included papers were sorted in four types of evaluation: "expert evaluation", "user- testing/simulation", "on site observation" and "impact studies". The types of usability issues (usability flaws, usage problems and negative outcomes) uncovered by those evaluations were analyzed. Results show that a large set of methods are used. The largest proportion of papers uses "on site observation" evaluation. This is the only evaluation type for which every kind of usability flaws, usage problems and outcomes are detected. It is somehow surprising that, in a usability systematic review, most of the papers included use a method that is not often presented as a usability method. Results are discussed about the opportunity to provide usability information collected after the implementation of the technology during their design process, i.e. before their implementation.

  5. Urban Stream Burial Increases Watershed-Scale Nitrate Export.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Jake J Beaulieu

    Full Text Available Nitrogen (N uptake in streams is an important ecosystem service that reduces nutrient loading to downstream ecosystems. Here we synthesize studies that investigated the effects of urban stream burial on N-uptake in two metropolitan areas and use simulation modeling to scale our measurements to the broader watershed scale. We report that nitrate travels on average 18 times farther downstream in buried than in open streams before being removed from the water column, indicating that burial substantially reduces N uptake in streams. Simulation modeling suggests that as burial expands throughout a river network, N uptake rates increase in the remaining open reaches which somewhat offsets reduced N uptake in buried reaches. This is particularly true at low levels of stream burial. At higher levels of stream burial, however, open reaches become rare and cumulative N uptake across all open reaches in the watershed rapidly declines. As a result, watershed-scale N export increases slowly at low levels of stream burial, after which increases in export become more pronounced. Stream burial in the lower, more urbanized portions of the watershed had a greater effect on N export than an equivalent amount of stream burial in the upper watershed. We suggest that stream daylighting (i.e., uncovering buried streams can increase watershed-scale N retention.

  6. Evaluating statistical approaches to leverage large clinical datasets for uncovering therapeutic and adverse medication effects.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Choi, Leena; Carroll, Robert J; Beck, Cole; Mosley, Jonathan D; Roden, Dan M; Denny, Joshua C; Van Driest, Sara L

    2018-04-18

    Phenome-wide association studies (PheWAS) have been used to discover many genotype-phenotype relationships and have the potential to identify therapeutic and adverse drug outcomes using longitudinal data within electronic health records (EHRs). However, the statistical methods for PheWAS applied to longitudinal EHR medication data have not been established. In this study, we developed methods to address two challenges faced with reuse of EHR for this purpose: confounding by indication, and low exposure and event rates. We used Monte Carlo simulation to assess propensity score (PS) methods, focusing on two of the most commonly used methods, PS matching and PS adjustment, to address confounding by indication. We also compared two logistic regression approaches (the default of Wald vs. Firth's penalized maximum likelihood, PML) to address complete separation due to sparse data with low exposure and event rates. PS adjustment resulted in greater power than propensity score matching, while controlling Type I error at 0.05. The PML method provided reasonable p-values, even in cases with complete separation, with well controlled Type I error rates. Using PS adjustment and the PML method, we identify novel latent drug effects in pediatric patients exposed to two common antibiotic drugs, ampicillin and gentamicin. R packages PheWAS and EHR are available at https://github.com/PheWAS/PheWAS and at CRAN (https://www.r-project.org/), respectively. The R script for data processing and the main analysis is available at https://github.com/choileena/EHR. leena.choi@vanderbilt.edu. Supplementary data are available at Bioinformatics online.

  7. Increasing safer sexual behavior among Lao kathoy through an integrated social marketing approach.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Longfield, Kim; Panyanouvong, Xouchai; Chen, Judy; Kays, Megan B

    2011-11-16

    Although HIV prevalence has remained low in Laos thus far, there is reason to be concerned that Lao male-to-female (MtF) transgender persons (kathoy) and their partners may facilitate the spread of HIV. Little is known about how to most effectively reach kathoy with HIV prevention programming. This paper evaluates an intervention with Lao kathoy with the objective of increasing safe sex with regular and casual partners. Quantitative surveys were administered in November 2004 (n = 288) and June 2006 (n = 415) using time location sampling at venues where kathoy were known to congregate. Respondents were aged 15-35 and from three urban centers in Laos. UNIANOVA tests were used to compare baseline and follow-up survey data and to evaluate the impact of PSI's kathoy-specific interventions on items that changed significantly over time. Exposure to the intervention was associated with higher levels of condom use at last anal sex with casual partners and greater use of water-based lubricant. Exposure was also linked to improved perceptions of product availability for condoms and water-based lubricant. Knowledge about the importance of consistent condom use improved over time as well as the need to use condoms with regular partners. Some HIV knowledge decreased over time and the intention to use condoms with casual partners when water-based lubricant is available also declined. Study results demonstrate the feasibility of reaching kathoy with an integrated social marketing approach; combining product promotion, peer education, and other types of interpersonal communication. The approach was successful at increasing condom use with casual partners and water-based lubricant use, but the importance of using condoms along with water-based lubricant must be emphasized and modified strategies are required for improving condom use with boyfriends. Future messages should emphasize consistent condom use with all types of partners as well as improve knowledge and correct

  8. Influence of approaching tram on behaviour of pedestrians in signalised crosswalks in Poland.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kruszyna, Maciej; Rychlewski, Jeremi

    2013-06-01

    Research done in two Polish cities has uncovered an influence of an approaching tram on pedestrian behaviour. The measurements were done by counting pedestrians waiting for a green signal, crossing on red signal safely, or crossing on red signal taking a risk of being hit by a car, differentiating between pedestrians attempting to board a public transport vehicle and other pedestrians. It was expected, that pedestrian behaviour might be influenced by traffic control predictability, therefore two cities were chosen for the task: Wrocław with fixed time traffic control and Poznań with a majority of traffic responsive traffic signals. Data from the measurements was compared in order to find behaviour patterns - the comparison led to a conclusion, that an attempt to get on board of an incoming public transport vehicle can be a major cause for pedestrians to violate a red signal, including an increase of unsafe behaviour. These pedestrians may provoke other pedestrians to cross on a red signal. On the other hand if traffic control guarantees boarding the public transport vehicle, passengers-to-be may be even more obedient than other pedestrians. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  9. Process Knowledge Discovery Using Sparse Principal Component Analysis

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Gao, Huihui; Gajjar, Shriram; Kulahci, Murat

    2016-01-01

    As the goals of ensuring process safety and energy efficiency become ever more challenging, engineers increasingly rely on data collected from such processes for informed decision making. During recent decades, extracting and interpreting valuable process information from large historical data sets...... SPCA approach that helps uncover the underlying process knowledge regarding variable relations. This approach systematically determines the optimal sparse loadings for each sparse PC while improving interpretability and minimizing information loss. The salient features of the proposed approach...

  10. Mega-phylogeny approach for comparative biology: an alternative to supertree and supermatrix approaches

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Beaulieu Jeremy M

    2009-02-01

    Full Text Available Abstract Background Biology has increasingly recognized the necessity to build and utilize larger phylogenies to address broad evolutionary questions. Large phylogenies have facilitated the discovery of differential rates of molecular evolution between trees and herbs. They have helped us understand the diversification patterns of mammals as well as the patterns of seed evolution. In addition to these broad evolutionary questions there is increasing awareness of the importance of large phylogenies for addressing conservation issues such as biodiversity hotspots and response to global change. Two major classes of methods have been employed to accomplish the large tree-building task: supertrees and supermatrices. Although these methods are continually being developed, they have yet to be made fully accessible to comparative biologists making extremely large trees rare. Results Here we describe and demonstrate a modified supermatrix method termed mega-phylogeny that uses databased sequences as well as taxonomic hierarchies to make extremely large trees with denser matrices than supermatrices. The two major challenges facing large-scale supermatrix phylogenetics are assembling large data matrices from databases and reconstructing trees from those datasets. The mega-phylogeny approach addresses the former as the latter is accomplished by employing recently developed methods that have greatly reduced the run time of large phylogeny construction. We present an algorithm that requires relatively little human intervention. The implemented algorithm is demonstrated with a dataset and phylogeny for Asterales (within Campanulidae containing 4954 species and 12,033 sites and an rbcL matrix for green plants (Viridiplantae with 13,533 species and 1,401 sites. Conclusion By examining much larger phylogenies, patterns emerge that were otherwise unseen. The phylogeny of Viridiplantae successfully reconstructs major relationships of vascular plants that previously

  11. THE RESULTS OF PROFESSIONAL APPROACH AND INCREASED INTENSITY OF WORK

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Georgi Georgiev

    2014-06-01

    Full Text Available Introduction: The goal of the research is to establish if the professional approach and increased intensity of applied results in improvements and differences between the functional and motoric abilities (skills and habits with students. Methods: The research has been conducted on a sample of 76 students at the age of 14. The first subsample consists of 40 students, and the second of 36 students, who, along with their regular school classes of 3 times a week and additional sports subject as choice (this refers to the first subsample as well, had regular trainings in basketball clubs three hours a week. They were tested by three indexes: 1 motoric abilities; 2 motoric skills and habits (Majeric, 2004; and 3 functional abilities (Jovanovic, 1999. There were calculated: basic descriptive statistic parameters, t-tests of independent samples, analysis of variance and Friedman test (Bala, 1986. Results: The results of the analyses are represented in 8 tables. On the base of the obtained results, the conclusion is that better results in all three indexes, are determined with the second subsample. It is those who are involved in regular school classes, have the sport as their additional subject choice, and had an active training work in their sports clubs. Discussion: The authors general conclusion of the research is that the number of that kind of research approach is quite small The results of the analyses of the first index in the conducted research show great similarity with the results obtained in the research of Georgiev, Kostovski, & Mitrevski (2012. The results of the second index indicate great similarity with Mitrevski’s research (2012. The results of the third index are logically sustained. They are better with the second subsample. References: Bala G (1986. Logicke osnove metoda za analizu podataka iz istrazivanja u fizickoj kulturi. Novi Sad, Sava Muncan. Georgiev G, Kostovski Z, Mitrevski V (2012. Sport Mont, 34-36, 105-9. Jovanovic G

  12. Cryptic diversity in Ptyodactylus (Reptilia: Gekkonidae from the northern Hajar Mountains of Oman and the United Arab Emirates uncovered by an integrative taxonomic approach.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Marc Simó-Riudalbas

    Full Text Available The Hajar Mountains of south-eastern Arabia form an isolated massif surrounded by the sea to the east and by a large desert to the west. As a result of their old geological origin, geographical isolation, complex topography and local climate, these mountains provide an important refuge for endemic and relict species of plants and animals. With 19 species restricted to the Hajar Mountains, reptiles are the vertebrate group with the highest level of endemicity, becoming an excellent model for understanding the patterns and processes that generate and shape diversity in this arid mountain range. The geckos of the Ptyodactylus hasselquistii species complex are the largest geckos in Arabia and are found widely distributed across the Arabian Mountains, constituting a very important component of the reptile mountain fauna. Preliminary analyses suggested that their diversity in the Hajar Mountains may be higher than expected and that their systematics should be revised. In order to tackle these questions, we inferred a nearly complete calibrated phylogeny of the genus Ptyodactylus to identify the origin of the Hajar Mountains lineages using information from two mitochondrial and four nuclear genes. Genetic variability within the Hajar Mountains was further investigated using 68 specimens of Ptyodactylus from 46 localities distributed across the entire mountain range and sequenced for the same genes as above. The molecular phylogenies and morphological analyses as well as niche comparisons indicate the presence of two very old sister cryptic species living in allopatry: one restricted to the extreme northern Hajar Mountains and described as a new species herein; the other distributed across the rest of the Hajar Mountains that can be confidently assigned to the species P. orlovi. Similar to recent findings in the geckos of the genus Asaccus, the results of the present study uncover more hidden diversity in the northern Hajar Mountains and stress once

  13. The Project Approach in Organization of Foreign Economic Activity as a Means of Increasing Competitiveness of Industrial Enterprise

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Lazarenko Vladimir Ye.

    2017-12-01

    Full Text Available The article is aimed at studying the organization of foreign economic activity of industrial enterprise in case of introduction of project approach to its management. New conditions of doing business in terms of aircraft building enterprises, consisting in the transition to production according to international standards, require a modern approach to the solution of the range of issues. In conditions of limited internal financial resources of company and high expenses connected with entering the foreign market, it is extremely important to define the priority directions of foreign economic activity and the most optimal mechanisms of its organization and management. The functioning of the sphere of foreign economic activity of industrial enterprise in case of introduction of project approach to management has been analyzed. The essence, features and the main parameters of project approach as a means of increasing the competitiveness of enterprise have been defined. Priorities of the large-scale enterprise development strategy have been analyzed and suggested by means of carrying out the project method of organization of foreign economic activity.

  14. The dark side of going abroad: How broad foreign experiences increase immoral behavior.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lu, Jackson G; Quoidbach, Jordi; Gino, Francesca; Chakroff, Alek; Maddux, William W; Galinsky, Adam D

    2017-01-01

    Because of the unprecedented pace of globalization, foreign experiences are increasingly common and valued. Past research has focused on the benefits of foreign experiences, including enhanced creativity and reduced intergroup bias. In contrast, the present work uncovers a potential dark side of foreign experiences: increased immoral behavior. We propose that broad foreign experiences (i.e., experiences in multiple foreign countries) foster not only cognitive flexibility but also moral flexibility. Using multiple methods (longitudinal, correlational, and experimental), 8 studies (N > 2,200) establish that broad foreign experiences can lead to immoral behavior by increasing moral relativism-the belief that morality is relative rather than absolute. The relationship between broad foreign experiences and immoral behavior was robust across a variety of cultural populations (anglophone, francophone), life stages (high school students, university students, MBA students, middle-aged adults), and 7 different measures of immorality. As individuals are exposed to diverse cultures, their moral compass may lose some of its precision. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2016 APA, all rights reserved).

  15. Using Increases in Criminal Deportees from the US to Estimate the Effect of Crime on Economic Growth and Development in Latin America and the Caribbean

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Garfield O. Blake

    2015-11-01

    Full Text Available Previous empirical studies have uncovered little evidence that crime hinders development, possibly due to simultaneity problems. This paper uses the increase in criminal deportees from the US as an instrumental variable to identify the causal effect of crime on economic growth and development. An increase in the number of criminal deportees received by a country is shown to substantially increase that country’s homicide rate. Using panel data for a sample of 30 Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC countries, I show that the increase in crime is becoming a major obstacle to growth and development in the region.

  16. Synthetic-Creative Intelligence and Psychometric Intelligence: Analysis of the Threshold Theory and Creative Process

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ferrando, Mercedes; Soto, Gloria; Prieto, Lola; Sáinz, Marta; Ferrándiz, Carmen

    2016-01-01

    There has been an increasing body of research to uncover the relationship between creativity and intelligence. This relationship usually has been examined using traditional measures of intelligence and seldom using new approaches (i.e. Ferrando et al. 2005). In this work, creativity is measured by tools developed based on Sternberg's successful…

  17. Percutaneous treatment of adult isthmic aortic coarctation: acute and long-term clinical and imaging outcome with a self-expandable uncovered nitinol stent.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kische, Stephan; D'Ancona, Giuseppe; Stoeckicht, Yannik; Ortak, Jasmin; Elsässer, Albrecht; Ince, Hüseyin

    2015-01-01

    To present perioperative and long-term results of percutaneous treatment of adult isthmic coarctation of the aorta by means of a self-expandable closed-web uncovered nitinol stent (Sinus-XL, Optimed, Esslingen, Germany). Preoperative, perioperative, and long-term clinical and computed tomographic angiography data were collected and analyzed prospectively. A total of 52 consecutive patients were treated with the Sinus-XL stent. Mean age was 36.6 (21-67) years, peak invasive trans-coarctation of the aorta gradient was 54.7 ± 9.9 mm Hg, and upper body hypertension unresponsive to medical treatment was present in all patients. Mean stent diameter and length were 24.2 mm (22-28 mm) and 70.4 mm (40-80 mm), respectively. Eight patients (15.4%) required coarctation of the aorta predilatation. All patients underwent poststent dilatation with a noncompliant balloon. Postoperative peak gradient (3.3 ± 2.5 mm Hg) was reduced significantly (P stent collapse and secondary migration and documented stability in aortic diameter (18.3 ± 2.7 mm). Thirty patients (57.7%) were completely weaned-off antihypertensive medications and their use dropped from 2.6 to 0.9 drugs/patient (P self-expandable uncovered stent is safe and durable. The peculiar stent design maintains adequate localized radial strength over time with minimal trauma on the adjacent aortic wall and negligible device-related complications. Blood pressure control optimization is immediate and persistent even at long-term follow-up. © 2015 American Heart Association, Inc.

  18. Different approaches for uncovering InAs/AlAs quantum dots

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Sheremet, Evgeniya; Rodriguez, Raul D.; Zahn, Dietrich R.T. [Semiconductor Physics, Chemnitz University of Technology, D-09107 Chemnitz (Germany); Jagemann, Torsten; Dentel, Doreen [Solid Surfaces Analysis, Chemnitz University of Technology, D-09107 Chemnitz (Germany); Gruenewald, Wolfgang [Leica Mikrosysteme GmbH, 1170 Vienna (Austria); Toropov, Alexander; Milekhin, Alexander [Institute of Semiconductor Physics, 630090 Novosibirsk (Russian Federation)

    2013-07-01

    The versatile capability of tuning energy band-gap by changing size, and composition makes quantum dot (QD) materials of significant technological impact. In this work, towards the study of electronic, structural and vibrational properties of a single QD, we performed experimental investigations of InAs (AlAs) QD in AlAs (InAs) matrix prepared by molecular beam epitaxy on GaAs substrates. We report on the systematic investigation of different surface preparation methods including crystal cleavage, ion milling, and mechanical polishing and their effect on the QD superlattice topography. We found that the less invasive sample processing method, namely crystal cleavage, provides very good surface structure but fails for the structures with growth defects. In this case the most optimal QD surface is achieved by ion milling at low temperature and low ion energy, what is revealed by atomic force microscopy. The structural defects introduced by preparation on QD superlattices, as well as degradation over time were investigated using Raman spectroscopy.

  19. Increasing Influenza Vaccine Uptake. A Comprehensive Approach

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Looijmans - van den Akker, I.

    2009-01-01

    General introduction: To prevent influenza virus infection, immunization against influenza has been recommended for individuals with increased risk of complications. These groups comprise individuals of 60 years and older, individuals with risk-elevating co-morbid conditions, residents of nursing

  20. New approach to increasing rice lodging resistance and biomass yield through the use of high gibberellin producing varieties.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Okuno, Ayako; Hirano, Ko; Asano, Kenji; Takase, Wakana; Masuda, Reiko; Morinaka, Yoichi; Ueguchi-Tanaka, Miyako; Kitano, Hidemi; Matsuoka, Makoto

    2014-01-01

    Traditional breeding for high-yielding rice has been dependent on the widespread use of fertilizers and the cultivation of gibberellin (GA)-deficient semi-dwarf varieties. The use of semi-dwarf plants facilitates high grain yield since these varieties possess high levels of lodging resistance, and thus could support the high grain weight. Although this approach has been successful in increasing grain yield, it is desirable to further improve grain production and also to breed for high biomass. In this study, we re-examined the effect of GA on rice lodging resistance and biomass yield using several GA-deficient mutants (e.g. having defects in the biosynthesis or perception of GA), and high-GA producing line or mutant. GA-deficient mutants displayed improved bending-type lodging resistance due to their short stature; however they showed reduced breaking-type lodging resistance and reduced total biomass. In plants producing high amounts of GA, the bending-type lodging resistance was inferior to the original cultivars. The breaking-type lodging resistance was improved due to increased lignin accumulation and/or larger culm diameters. Further, these lines had an increase in total biomass weight. These results show that the use of rice cultivars producing high levels of GA would be a novel approach to create higher lodging resistance and biomass.

  1. A Network Pharmacology Approach to Uncover the Multiple Mechanisms of Hedyotis diffusa Willd. on Colorectal Cancer

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Xinkui Liu

    2018-01-01

    Full Text Available Background. As one of the most frequently diagnosed cancer diseases globally, colorectal cancer (CRC remains an important cause of cancer-related death. Although the traditional Chinese herb Hedyotis diffusa Willd. (HDW has been proven to be effective for treating CRC in clinical practice, its definite mechanisms have not been completely deciphered. Objective. The aim of our research is to systematically explore the multiple mechanisms of HDW on CRC. Methods. This study adopted the network pharmacology approach, which was mainly composed of active component gathering, target prediction, CRC gene collection, network analysis, and gene enrichment analysis. Results. The network analysis showed that 10 targets might be the therapeutic targets of HDW on CRC, namely, HRAS, PIK3CA, KRAS, TP53, APC, BRAF, GSK3B, CDK2, AKT1, and RAF1. The gene enrichment analysis implied that HDW probably benefits patients with CRC by modulating pathways related to cancers, infectious diseases, endocrine system, immune system, nervous system, signal transduction, cellular community, and cell motility. Conclusions. This study partially verified and predicted the pharmacological and molecular mechanism of HDW against CRC from a holistic perspective, which will also lay a foundation for the further experimental research and clinical rational application of HDW.

  2. Increasing instruction time in school does increase learning

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Andersen, Simon Calmar; Humlum, Maria; Nandrup, Anne Brink

    2016-01-01

    Increasing instruction time in school is a central element in the attempts of many governments to improve student learning, but prior research—mainly based on observational data—disputes the effect of this approach and points out the potential negative effects on student behavior. Based on a large......-scale, cluster-randomized trial, we find that increasing instruction time increases student learning and that a general increase in instruction time is at least as efficient as an expert-developed, detailed teaching program that increases instruction with the same amount of time. These findings support the value...... of increased instruction time....

  3. The proteome and phosphoproteome of maize pollen uncovers fertility candidate proteins.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Chao, Qing; Gao, Zhi-Fang; Wang, Yue-Feng; Li, Zhe; Huang, Xia-He; Wang, Ying-Chun; Mei, Ying-Chang; Zhao, Biligen-Gaowa; Li, Liang; Jiang, Yu-Bo; Wang, Bai-Chen

    2016-06-01

    Maize is unique since it is both monoecious and diclinous (separate male and female flowers on the same plant). We investigated the proteome and phosphoproteome of maize pollen containing modified proteins and here we provide a comprehensive pollen proteome and phosphoproteome which contain 100,990 peptides from 6750 proteins and 5292 phosphorylated sites corresponding to 2257 maize phosphoproteins, respectively. Interestingly, among the total 27 overrepresented phosphosite motifs we identified here, 11 were novel motifs, which suggested different modification mechanisms in plants compared to those of animals. Enrichment analysis of pollen phosphoproteins showed that pathways including DNA synthesis/chromatin structure, regulation of RNA transcription, protein modification, cell organization, signal transduction, cell cycle, vesicle transport, transport of ions and metabolisms, which were involved in pollen development, the following germination and pollen tube growth, were regulated by phosphorylation. In this study, we also found 430 kinases and 105 phosphatases in the maize pollen phosphoproteome, among which calcium dependent protein kinases (CDPKs), leucine rich repeat kinase, SNF1 related protein kinases and MAPK family proteins were heavily enriched and further analyzed. From our research, we also uncovered hundreds of male sterility-associated proteins and phosphoproteins that might influence maize productivity and serve as targets for hybrid maize seed production. At last, a putative complex signaling pathway involving CDPKs, MAPKs, ubiquitin ligases and multiple fertility proteins was constructed. Overall, our data provides new insight for further investigation of protein phosphorylation status in mature maize pollen and construction of maize male sterile mutants in the future.

  4. A low protein diet increases the hypoxic tolerance in Drosophila.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Paul Vigne

    2006-12-01

    Full Text Available Dietary restriction is well known to increase the life span of a variety of organisms from yeast to mammals, but the relationships between nutrition and the hypoxic tolerance have not yet been considered. Hypoxia is a major cause of cell death in myocardial infarction and stroke. Here we forced hypoxia-related death by exposing one-day-old male Drosophila to chronic hypoxia (5% O(2 and analysed their survival. Chronic hypoxia reduced the average life span from 33.6 days to 6.3 days when flies were fed on a rich diet. A demographic analysis indicated that chronic hypoxia increased the slope of the mortality trajectory and not the short-term risk of death. Dietary restriction produced by food dilution, by yeast restriction, or by amino acid restriction partially reversed the deleterious action of hypoxia. It increased the life span of hypoxic flies up to seven days, which represented about 25% of the life time of an hypoxic fly. Maximum survival of hypoxic flies required only dietary sucrose, and it was insensitive to drugs such as rapamycin and resveratrol, which increase longevity of normoxic animals. The results thus uncover a new link between protein nutrition, nutrient signalling, and resistance to hypoxic stresses.

  5. Reduced ultraviolet light transmission increases insecticide longevity in protected culture raspberry production.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Leach, Heather; Wise, John C; Isaacs, Rufus

    2017-12-01

    High tunnels are large protective structures used for season extension of many crops, including raspberries. These structures are often covered in plastic films to reduce and diffuse ultraviolet light transmission for pest and disease control, but this may also affect the photodegradation and efficacy of pesticides applied under these tunnels. We compared the residue levels of ten insecticides under three tunnel plastics with varying levels of UV transmission and open field conditions. Raspberry plants placed in research-scale tunnels were treated with insecticides and residues on fruit and foliage were monitored for one or two weeks in early 2015 and early and late 2016. Plastics that reduce UV transmission resulted in 50% greater residues of some insecticides compared to transparent plastics, and 60% compared to uncovered tunnels. This increased persistence of residues was evident within 1 day and remained consistently higher for up to 14 days. This pattern was demonstrated for multiple insecticides, including bifenthrin, esfenvalerate, imidacloprid, thiamethoxam, and spinosad. In contrast, the insecticide malathion degraded rapidly regardless of the plastic treatment, indicating less sensitivity to photodegradation. Bioassays using insecticide-treated leaves that were under UV-blocking plastic revealed higher mortality of the invasive fruit pest, Drosophila suzukii, compared to leaves that were uncovered. This indicates that the activity of pesticides under high tunnels covered in UV-reducing plastics may be prolonged, allowing for fewer insecticide applications and longer intervals between sprays. This information can be used to help optimize pest control in protected culture berry production. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  6. THE ROLE OF INTERNATIONAL INNOVATION CLUSTERS ON INCREASING ECONOMIC AGENTS SUSTAINABILITY

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    M. Ustymenko

    2014-09-01

    Full Text Available The influence of enterprises integration into international innovation clusters on the increasing of enterprises, countries and regions economic sustainability under the global instability are explored. Potential sources of instability and threats of the integration into international cluster structures are defined. Author outlines the main benefits of international innovation cluster for enhancement of economic agents sustainability, such as: possibility for joint exploitation of market opportunities and efforts consolidation for overcoming market threats, cluster self-sufficiency, effective cluster internal reorganization and adaptation in response to external changes. Three clusters (engineering for agriculture production cluster (Hersonska oblast and German enterprises, IT cluster (Lvivska oblast and Poland enterprises, cluster for R&D commercialization (Slobodzanschina euroregion are examined to uncover the role of international innovation cluster formation on enhancement of economic agents' economic sustainability.

  7. A POPULATION OF VERY HOT SUPER-EARTHS IN MULTIPLE-PLANET SYSTEMS SHOULD BE UNCOVERED BY KEPLER

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Schlaufman, Kevin C.; Lin, D. N. C.; Ida, S.

    2010-01-01

    We simulate a Kepler-like observation of a theoretical exoplanet population and show that the observed orbital period distribution of the Kepler giant planet candidates is best matched by an average stellar specific dissipation function Q' * in the interval 10 6 ∼ * ∼ 7 . In that situation, the few super-Earths that are driven to orbital periods of P < 1 day by dynamical interactions in multiple-planet systems will survive tidal disruption for a significant fraction of the main-sequence lifetimes of their stellar hosts. Consequently, though these very hot super-Earths are not characteristic of the overall super-Earth population, their substantial transit probability implies that they should be significant contributors to the full super-Earth population uncovered by Kepler. As a result, the CoRoT-7 system may be the first representative of a population of very hot super-Earths that we suggest should be found in multiple-planet systems preferentially orbiting the least-dissipative stellar hosts in the Kepler sample.

  8. Uncovering the Connection Between Low-Frequency Dynamics and Phase Transformation Phenomena in Molecular Solids

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ruggiero, Michael T.; Zhang, Wei; Bond, Andrew D.; Mittleman, Daniel M.; Zeitler, J. Axel

    2018-05-01

    The low-frequency motions of molecules in the condensed phase have been shown to be vital to a large number of physical properties and processes. However, in the case of disordered systems, it is often difficult to elucidate the atomic-level details surrounding these phenomena. In this work, we have performed an extensive experimental and computational study on the molecular solid camphor, which exhibits a rich and complex structure-dynamics relationship, and undergoes an order-disorder transition near ambient conditions. The combination of x-ray diffraction, variable temperature and pressure terahertz time-domain spectroscopy, ab initio molecular dynamics, and periodic density functional theory calculations enables a complete picture of the phase transition to be obtained, inclusive of mechanistic, structural, and thermodynamic phenomena. Additionally, the low-frequency vibrations of a disordered solid are characterized for the first time with atomic-level precision, uncovering a clear link between such motions and the phase transformation. Overall, this combination of methods allows for significant details to be obtained for disordered solids and the associated transformations, providing a framework that can be directly applied for a wide range of similar systems.

  9. High-throughput sequencing approach uncovers the miRNome of peritoneal endometriotic lesions and adjacent healthy tissues.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Merli Saare

    Full Text Available Accumulating data have shown the involvement of microRNAs (miRNAs in endometriosis pathogenesis. In this study, we used a novel approach to determine the endometriotic lesion-specific miRNAs by high-throughput small RNA sequencing of paired samples of peritoneal endometriotic lesions and matched healthy surrounding tissues together with eutopic endometria of the same patients. We found five miRNAs specific to epithelial cells--miR-34c, miR-449a, miR-200a, miR-200b and miR-141 showing significantly higher expression in peritoneal endometriotic lesions compared to healthy peritoneal tissues. We also determined the expression levels of miR-200 family target genes E-cadherin, ZEB1 and ZEB2 and found that the expression level of E-cadherin was significantly higher in endometriotic lesions compared to healthy tissues. Further evaluation verified that studied miRNAs could be used as diagnostic markers for confirming the presence of endometrial cells in endometriotic lesion biopsy samples. Furthermore, we demonstrated that the miRNA profile of peritoneal endometriotic lesion biopsies is largely masked by the surrounding peritoneal tissue, challenging the discovery of an accurate lesion-specific miRNA profile. Taken together, our findings indicate that only particular miRNAs with a significantly higher expression in endometriotic cells can be detected from lesion biopsies, and can serve as diagnostic markers for endometriosis.

  10. Increasing safer sexual behavior among Lao kathoy through an integrated social marketing approach

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Longfield Kim

    2011-11-01

    Full Text Available Abstract Background Although HIV prevalence has remained low in Laos thus far, there is reason to be concerned that Lao male-to-female (MtF transgender persons (kathoy and their partners may facilitate the spread of HIV. Little is known about how to most effectively reach kathoy with HIV prevention programming. This paper evaluates an intervention with Lao kathoy with the objective of increasing safe sex with regular and casual partners. Methods Quantitative surveys were administered in November 2004 (n = 288 and June 2006 (n = 415 using time location sampling at venues where kathoy were known to congregate. Respondents were aged 15-35 and from three urban centers in Laos. UNIANOVA tests were used to compare baseline and follow-up survey data and to evaluate the impact of PSI's kathoy-specific interventions on items that changed significantly over time. Results Exposure to the intervention was associated with higher levels of condom use at last anal sex with casual partners and greater use of water-based lubricant. Exposure was also linked to improved perceptions of product availability for condoms and water-based lubricant. Knowledge about the importance of consistent condom use improved over time as well as the need to use condoms with regular partners. Some HIV knowledge decreased over time and the intention to use condoms with casual partners when water-based lubricant is available also declined. Conclusions Study results demonstrate the feasibility of reaching kathoy with an integrated social marketing approach; combining product promotion, peer education, and other types of interpersonal communication. The approach was successful at increasing condom use with casual partners and water-based lubricant use, but the importance of using condoms along with water-based lubricant must be emphasized and modified strategies are required for improving condom use with boyfriends. Future messages should emphasize consistent condom use with all types

  11. Increasing safer sexual behavior among Lao kathoy through an integrated social marketing approach

    Science.gov (United States)

    2011-01-01

    Background Although HIV prevalence has remained low in Laos thus far, there is reason to be concerned that Lao male-to-female (MtF) transgender persons (kathoy) and their partners may facilitate the spread of HIV. Little is known about how to most effectively reach kathoy with HIV prevention programming. This paper evaluates an intervention with Lao kathoy with the objective of increasing safe sex with regular and casual partners. Methods Quantitative surveys were administered in November 2004 (n = 288) and June 2006 (n = 415) using time location sampling at venues where kathoy were known to congregate. Respondents were aged 15-35 and from three urban centers in Laos. UNIANOVA tests were used to compare baseline and follow-up survey data and to evaluate the impact of PSI's kathoy-specific interventions on items that changed significantly over time. Results Exposure to the intervention was associated with higher levels of condom use at last anal sex with casual partners and greater use of water-based lubricant. Exposure was also linked to improved perceptions of product availability for condoms and water-based lubricant. Knowledge about the importance of consistent condom use improved over time as well as the need to use condoms with regular partners. Some HIV knowledge decreased over time and the intention to use condoms with casual partners when water-based lubricant is available also declined. Conclusions Study results demonstrate the feasibility of reaching kathoy with an integrated social marketing approach; combining product promotion, peer education, and other types of interpersonal communication. The approach was successful at increasing condom use with casual partners and water-based lubricant use, but the importance of using condoms along with water-based lubricant must be emphasized and modified strategies are required for improving condom use with boyfriends. Future messages should emphasize consistent condom use with all types of partners as well as

  12. Gene Expression Deconvolution for Uncovering Molecular Signatures in Response to Therapy in Juvenile Idiopathic Arthritis.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Ang Cui

    Full Text Available Gene expression-based signatures help identify pathways relevant to diseases and treatments, but are challenging to construct when there is a diversity of disease mechanisms and treatments in patients with complex diseases. To overcome this challenge, we present a new application of an in silico gene expression deconvolution method, ISOpure-S1, and apply it to identify a common gene expression signature corresponding to response to treatment in 33 juvenile idiopathic arthritis (JIA patients. Using pre- and post-treatment gene expression profiles only, we found a gene expression signature that significantly correlated with a reduction in the number of joints with active arthritis, a measure of clinical outcome (Spearman rho = 0.44, p = 0.040, Bonferroni correction. This signature may be associated with a decrease in T-cells, monocytes, neutrophils and platelets. The products of most differentially expressed genes include known biomarkers for JIA such as major histocompatibility complexes and interleukins, as well as novel biomarkers including α-defensins. This method is readily applicable to expression datasets of other complex diseases to uncover shared mechanistic patterns in heterogeneous samples.

  13. New approach to increasing rice lodging resistance and biomass yield through the use of high gibberellin producing varieties.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Ayako Okuno

    Full Text Available Traditional breeding for high-yielding rice has been dependent on the widespread use of fertilizers and the cultivation of gibberellin (GA-deficient semi-dwarf varieties. The use of semi-dwarf plants facilitates high grain yield since these varieties possess high levels of lodging resistance, and thus could support the high grain weight. Although this approach has been successful in increasing grain yield, it is desirable to further improve grain production and also to breed for high biomass. In this study, we re-examined the effect of GA on rice lodging resistance and biomass yield using several GA-deficient mutants (e.g. having defects in the biosynthesis or perception of GA, and high-GA producing line or mutant. GA-deficient mutants displayed improved bending-type lodging resistance due to their short stature; however they showed reduced breaking-type lodging resistance and reduced total biomass. In plants producing high amounts of GA, the bending-type lodging resistance was inferior to the original cultivars. The breaking-type lodging resistance was improved due to increased lignin accumulation and/or larger culm diameters. Further, these lines had an increase in total biomass weight. These results show that the use of rice cultivars producing high levels of GA would be a novel approach to create higher lodging resistance and biomass.

  14. Uncovering neurodevelopmental windows of susceptibility to manganese exposure using dentine microspatial analyses.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Claus Henn, Birgit; Austin, Christine; Coull, Brent A; Schnaas, Lourdes; Gennings, Chris; Horton, Megan K; Hernández-Ávila, Mauricio; Hu, Howard; Téllez-Rojo, Martha Maria; Wright, Robert O; Arora, Manish

    2018-02-01

    Associations between manganese (Mn) and neurodevelopment may depend on dose and exposure timing, but most studies cannot measure exposure variability over time well. We apply temporally informative tooth-matrix biomarkers to uncover windows of susceptibility in early life when Mn is associated with visual motor ability in childhood. We also explore effect modification by lead (Pb) and child sex. Participants were drawn from the ELEMENT (Early Life Exposures in MExico and NeuroToxicology) longitudinal birth cohort studies. We reconstructed dose and timing of prenatal and early postnatal Mn and Pb exposures for 138 children by analyzing deciduous teeth using laser ablation-inductively coupled plasma-mass spectrometry. Neurodevelopment was assessed between 6 and 16 years of age using the Wide Range Assessment of Visual Motor Abilities (WRAVMA). Mn associations with total WRAVMA scores and subscales were estimated with multivariable generalized additive mixed models. We examined Mn interactions with Pb and child sex in stratified models. Levels of dentine Mn were highest in the second trimester and declined steeply over the prenatal period, with a slower rate of decline after birth. Mn was positively associated with visual spatial and total WRAVMA scores in the second trimester, among children with lower (windows in which Mn was associated with visual-spatial abilities. Our results suggest that Mn associations are driven in large part by exposure timing, with beneficial effects found for prenatal levels and toxic effects found for postnatal levels. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  15. Uncovering patterns of consumers' interest for beer: A case study with craft beers.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Donadini, Gianluca; Porretta, Sebastiano

    2017-01-01

    To uncover patterns of consumer interest in craft beers, the authors explored the quality perception of craft beers in a panel of industrial mass-marketed beer drinkers (n=150) and examined the differences in interest for this beer segment between men and women. The authors adopted a conjoint rating experiment in which the respondents were given forty-nine beer profiles to evaluate and were asked to score the degree of interest in each profile on a 9-point scale. Each profile was described on eight attributes (type of brewery, brewing technology, characterizing raw materials, brewhouse equipment, location of the brewery, type of container, retail price, where to buy) varied at different levels. Results showed that Italian consumers placed greatest importance on type of container (30.49%) and on brewing technology (17.64%). Characterizing raw materials (13.44%) and type of brewery (12.64) rank 3 and 4 and were placed in the same band some way below brewing technology. Retail price (9.87%) and where to buy (8.73%) were of far less importance. The least importance of all was attached to brewhouse equipment (4.44%) and to location of the brewery (2.75%). As far as utility values are concerned, the factor level glass bottle+crown cap and the factor level microfiltration are the utilities that most increased the interest of consumers. They were followed by the factor level local grains, stainless steel keg and monastery. In contrast, the factor level PET Keg, aluminum can and large scale corporate brewery showed the greatest negative impact on interest. Men and women shared similar patterns of interest. However, men placed more importance than women on retail price, location of the brewery and where to buy. Women attached more importance than men on type of container, brewing technology and type of brewer. These findings are relevant to understanding consumers'behavior in the beer market and to translating consumer needs, wants and expectations into manufacturing

  16. Vitroprocines, new antibiotics against Acinetobacter baumannii, discovered from marine Vibrio sp. QWI-06 using mass-spectrometry-based metabolomics approach

    Science.gov (United States)

    Liaw, Chih-Chuang; Chen, Pei-Chin; Shih, Chao-Jen; Tseng, Sung-Pin; Lai, Ying-Mi; Hsu, Chi-Hsin; Dorrestein, Pieter C.; Yang, Yu-Liang

    2015-08-01

    A robust and convenient research strategy integrating state-of-the-art analytical techniques is needed to efficiently discover novel compounds from marine microbial resources. In this study, we identified a series of amino-polyketide derivatives, vitroprocines A-J, from the marine bacterium Vibrio sp. QWI-06 by an integrated approach using imaging mass spectroscopy and molecular networking, as well as conventional bioactivity-guided fractionation and isolation. The structure-activity relationship of vitroprocines against Acinetobacter baumannii is proposed. In addition, feeding experiments with 13C-labeled precursors indicated that a pyridoxal 5‧-phosphate-dependent mechanism is involved in the biosynthesis of vitroprocines. Elucidation of amino-polyketide derivatives from a species of marine bacteria for the first time demonstrates the potential of this integrated metabolomics approach to uncover marine bacterial biodiversity.

  17. Radiation protection of waterlogged archaeological catalpa wood uncovered from Changtaiguan Xingyang

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Zhao Hongying; Wang Jingwu; Cui Guoshi

    2008-01-01

    Waterlogged archaeological catalpa wood uncovered from Changtaiguan was tentatively treated by gradient dehydration of ethanol concentration, replacement of PEG200DMA gradually, and 60 Co γ-rays radiation cur- ing with absorbed dose 30.72 kGy at dose rate 90.35 Gy/min. It can be found that the color and appearance of rein- forced archaeological wood with clear texture looks like original one. There is no cracking, no warping, and no glare on the wood surface. The Compression strength of reinforced ancient wood (33.06 MPa) is close to that of modem Catalpa wood. The maximum linear shrinkage of reinforced ancient wood is 1.05% in grain direction, 4.10% in radial direction, and 4.32% in tangential direction respectively compared with that of original sample. The linear shrinkage under the condition of 180 days storage in the ambient temperature and humidity is 0.076% in grain direction, 1.17% in radial direction, and 1.86% in tangential direction respectively. The linear shrinkage under the condition of 90 days storage in the temperature (25 ± 2) degree C and relative humidity (5 ± 2)% is 0.066% in grain direction, 0.115% in radial di- rection, and 0.279% in tangential direction respectively. The linear swelling ratio after 90 days storage in the temperature (25 ± 2) degree C and relative humidity (98 ± 2)% is 1.79% in grain direction, 2.42% in radial direction, and 2.61% in tangential direction respectively. It is confirmed by microstructure study that capillaries in residual wood has been filled with polymers, so that the wood mechanical strength and the shape stability is improved respectively. (authors)

  18. Approaches to modernize the combination drug development paradigm

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Daphne Day

    2016-10-01

    Full Text Available Abstract Recent advances in genomic sequencing and omics-based capabilities are uncovering tremendous therapeutic opportunities and rapidly transforming the field of cancer medicine. Molecularly targeted agents aim to exploit key tumor-specific vulnerabilities such as oncogenic or non-oncogenic addiction and synthetic lethality. Additionally, immunotherapies targeting the host immune system are proving to be another promising and complementary approach. Owing to substantial tumor genomic and immunologic complexities, combination strategies are likely to be required to adequately disrupt intricate molecular interactions and provide meaningful long-term benefit to patients. To optimize the therapeutic success and application of combination therapies, systematic scientific discovery will need to be coupled with novel and efficient clinical trial approaches. Indeed, a paradigm shift is required to drive precision medicine forward, from the traditional “drug-centric” model of clinical development in pursuit of small incremental benefits in large heterogeneous groups of patients, to a “strategy-centric” model to provide customized transformative treatments in molecularly stratified subsets of patients or even in individual patients. Crucially, to combat the numerous challenges facing combination drug development—including our growing but incomplete understanding of tumor biology, technical and informatics limitations, and escalating financial costs—aligned goals and multidisciplinary collaboration are imperative to collectively harness knowledge and fuel continual innovation.

  19. Novel approaches to mitigating bacterial biofilm formation and intercellular communication

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kasper, Stephen H.

    Long thought of as solitary single-cell organisms, it is now widely accepted that bacteria can act and cooperate as social organisms. Phenomena such as biofilm formation and quorum sensing (QS) are two intimately intertwined cooperative behaviors that significantly contribute to the pathogenesis of many bacteria. Biofilms are surface associated communities of bacteria encased in a secreted extracellular matrix, which provides several advantages over an individualized lifestyle, such as increased protection from antimicrobial agents as well as enhanced opportunity for the exchange of genetic material. Bacterial QS is a system of population-based communication through the production, sensing, and response to chemical signals, often controlling the expression of diverse virulence factors (e.g. toxins, proteases). Biofilm formation and QS are cooperative processes that are often leveraged as bacteria coordinate infection processes, and can therefore be novel targets for anti-infective treatments that differ from conventional antibiotic treatment. Our lab has previously identified a novel class of small molecules that inhibit biofilm formation and disrupt QS by the pathogenic bacterium Pseudomonas aeruginosa. These organosulfur-based compounds are either natural products or related derivatives of the tropical plant Petiveria alliacea. Because oral biofilm (e.g. dental plaque) is a major conduit of oral and systemic disease, and is also a site for horizontal transfer for genes encoding antibiotic resistance, there exists a need for novel strategies for inhibiting oral biofilm development. Therefore, a small library (˜50 compounds) of structural derivatives was developed and screened for their ability to inhibit biofilm formation by multiple orally associated bacteria. The screening effort uncovered several related compounds that inhibited oral biofilm development. To determine how natural product-based organosulfur compounds could be inducing QS inhibitory effects, an

  20. A Single-Cell Biochemistry Approach Reveals PAR Complex Dynamics during Cell Polarization.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Dickinson, Daniel J; Schwager, Francoise; Pintard, Lionel; Gotta, Monica; Goldstein, Bob

    2017-08-21

    Regulated protein-protein interactions are critical for cell signaling, differentiation, and development. For the study of dynamic regulation of protein interactions in vivo, there is a need for techniques that can yield time-resolved information and probe multiple protein binding partners simultaneously, using small amounts of starting material. Here we describe a single-cell protein interaction assay. Single-cell lysates are generated at defined time points and analyzed using single-molecule pull-down, yielding information about dynamic protein complex regulation in vivo. We established the utility of this approach by studying PAR polarity proteins, which mediate polarization of many animal cell types. We uncovered striking regulation of PAR complex composition and stoichiometry during Caenorhabditis elegans zygote polarization, which takes place in less than 20 min. PAR complex dynamics are linked to the cell cycle by Polo-like kinase 1 and govern the movement of PAR proteins to establish polarity. Our results demonstrate an approach to study dynamic biochemical events in vivo. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  1. Discovery and Development of ATP-Competitive mTOR Inhibitors Using Computational Approaches.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Luo, Yao; Wang, Ling

    2017-11-16

    The mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR) is a central controller of cell growth, proliferation, metabolism, and angiogenesis. This protein is an attractive target for new anticancer drug development. Significant progress has been made in hit discovery, lead optimization, drug candidate development and determination of the three-dimensional (3D) structure of mTOR. Computational methods have been applied to accelerate the discovery and development of mTOR inhibitors helping to model the structure of mTOR, screen compound databases, uncover structure-activity relationship (SAR) and optimize the hits, mine the privileged fragments and design focused libraries. Besides, computational approaches were also applied to study protein-ligand interactions mechanisms and in natural product-driven drug discovery. Herein, we survey the most recent progress on the application of computational approaches to advance the discovery and development of compounds targeting mTOR. Future directions in the discovery of new mTOR inhibitors using computational methods are also discussed. Copyright© Bentham Science Publishers; For any queries, please email at epub@benthamscience.org.

  2. The QTL GNP1 Encodes GA20ox1, Which Increases Grain Number and Yield by Increasing Cytokinin Activity in Rice Panicle Meristems.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wu, Yuan; Wang, Yun; Mi, Xue-Fei; Shan, Jun-Xiang; Li, Xin-Min; Xu, Jian-Long; Lin, Hong-Xuan

    2016-10-01

    Cytokinins and gibberellins (GAs) play antagonistic roles in regulating reproductive meristem activity. Cytokinins have positive effects on meristem activity and maintenance. During inflorescence meristem development, cytokinin biosynthesis is activated via a KNOX-mediated pathway. Increased cytokinin activity leads to higher grain number, whereas GAs negatively affect meristem activity. The GA biosynthesis genes GA20oxs are negatively regulated by KNOX proteins. KNOX proteins function as modulators, balancing cytokinin and GA activity in the meristem. However, little is known about the crosstalk among cytokinin and GA regulators together with KNOX proteins and how KNOX-mediated dynamic balancing of hormonal activity functions. Through map-based cloning of QTLs, we cloned a GA biosynthesis gene, Grain Number per Panicle1 (GNP1), which encodes rice GA20ox1. The grain number and yield of NIL-GNP1TQ were significantly higher than those of isogenic control (Lemont). Sequence variations in its promoter region increased the levels of GNP1 transcripts, which were enriched in the apical regions of inflorescence meristems in NIL-GNP1TQ. We propose that cytokinin activity increased due to a KNOX-mediated transcriptional feedback loop resulting from the higher GNP1 transcript levels, in turn leading to increased expression of the GA catabolism genes GA2oxs and reduced GA1 and GA3 accumulation. This rebalancing process increased cytokinin activity, thereby increasing grain number and grain yield in rice. These findings uncover important, novel roles of GAs in rice florescence meristem development and provide new insights into the crosstalk between cytokinin and GA underlying development process.

  3. Ranking Journals Using Social Choice Theory Methods: A Novel Approach in Bibliometrics

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Aleskerov, F.T.; Pislyakov, V.; Subochev, A.N.

    2016-07-01

    We use data on economic, management and political science journals to produce quantitative estimates of (in)consistency of evaluations based on seven popular bibliometric indica (impact factor, 5-year impact factor, immediacy index, article influence score, h-index, SNIP and SJR). We propose a new approach to aggregating journal rankings: since rank aggregation is a multicriteria decision problem, ordinal ranking methods from social choice theory may solve it. We apply either a direct ranking method based on majority rule (the Copeland rule, the Markovian method) or a sorting procedure based on a tournament solution, such as the uncovered set and the minimal externally stable set. We demonstrate that aggregate rankings reduce the number of contradictions and represent the set of single-indicator-based rankings better than any of the seven rankings themselves. (Author)

  4. Enhancing Care of Aged and Dying Prisoners: Is e-Learning a Feasible Approach?

    Science.gov (United States)

    Loeb, Susan J; Penrod, Janice; Myers, Valerie H; Baney, Brenda L; Strickfaden, Sophia M; Kitt-Lewis, Erin; Wion, Rachel K

    Prisons and jails are facing sharply increased demands in caring for aged and dying inmates. Our Toolkit for Enhancing End-of-life Care in Prisons effectively addressed end-of-life (EOL) care; however, geriatric content was limited, and the product was not formatted for broad dissemination. Prior research adapted best practices in EOL care and aging; but, delivery methods lacked emerging technology-focused learning and interactivity. Our purposes were to uncover current training approaches and preferences and to ascertain the technological capacity of correctional settings to deliver computer-based and other e-learning training. An environmental scan was conducted with 11 participants from U.S. prisons and jails to ensure proper fit, in terms of content and technology capacity, between an envisioned computer-based training product and correctional settings. Environmental scan findings focused on content of training, desirable qualities of training, prominence of "homegrown" products, and feasibility of commercial e-learning. This study identified qualities of training programs to adopt and pitfalls to avoid and revealed technology-related issues to be mindful of when designing computer-based training for correctional settings, and participants spontaneously expressed an interest in geriatrics and EOL training using this learning modality as long as training allowed for tailoring of materials.

  5. Nicotine reduction as an increase in the unit price of cigarettes: a behavioral economics approach.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Smith, Tracy T; Sved, Alan F; Hatsukami, Dorothy K; Donny, Eric C

    2014-11-01

    Urgent action is needed to reduce the harm caused by smoking. Product standards that reduce the addictiveness of cigarettes are now possible both in the U.S. and in countries party to the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control. Specifically, standards that required substantially reduced nicotine content in cigarettes could enable cessation in smokers and prevent future smoking among current non-smokers. Behavioral economics uses principles from the field of microeconomics to characterize how consumption of a reinforcer changes as a function of the unit price of that reinforcer (unit price=cost/reinforcer magnitude). A nicotine reduction policy might be considered an increase in the unit price of nicotine because smokers are paying more per unit of nicotine. This perspective allows principles from behavioral economics to be applied to nicotine reduction research questions, including how nicotine consumption, smoking behavior, use of other tobacco products, and use of other drugs of abuse are likely to be affected. This paper reviews the utility of this approach and evaluates the notion that a reduction in nicotine content is equivalent to a reduction in the reinforcement value of smoking-an assumption made by the unit price approach. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  6. Intersectionality - an intercategorical approach

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Emerek, Ruth

    2017-01-01

    The aim of this article is to demonstrate how to empirically uncover intersectional complexity by simple methods. The article is based on three examples of intercategorical complexity. Firstly, by discussing gender mainstreaming, it is shown that a narrow focus on categories without their interse...... of a study in partial analyses may reveal intersectionality. The examples show how interaction and interwoven categories can be included in intercategorical analyses of structural relationships....

  7. Role of connected mobility concept for twenty-first-century cities—Trial approach for conceptualization of connected mobility through case studies

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Fumihiko Nakamura

    2014-07-01

    The author defined the idea of “mobility design” in the scope of urban transportation and explored the concept of connected mobility through case studies that the author has been involved in or researched. Although many important connections in and approaches to urban transportation have come to light, the process of actually working on such projects has uncovered many issues to address such as sharing and social capital. The ability to design mobility as a connected entity and pursue our research topics from that perspective will be vital to overcoming the issues highlighted above and helping the concept of connected mobility flourish.

  8. Uncovering the Dynamic in Static Assessment Interaction

    Science.gov (United States)

    Muskett, Tom; Body, Richard; Perkins, Mick

    2012-01-01

    Traditional approaches to standardized assessment are underpinned by the assumption that between-assessor variation in delivery can effectively be eliminated. However, fine-grained analyses of the administration of such assessments (e.g. Maynard and Marlaire, 1992) have established that significant subtle interactional variations occur even in…

  9. Multidisciplinary approach to increasing Resilience in communities versus the hydrogeological and volcanic risk

    Science.gov (United States)

    Avvisati, Gala; Colucci, Orazio; Marotta, Enrica; Masucci, Armando; Nave, Rosella; Peluso, Rosario; Tomasone, Mario

    2017-04-01

    A given area may be exposed to different natural hazards, such as landslides, floods, earthquakes, volcanic events etc. which could affect usual human activities at many levels. The goal of our work is to increase the resilience level in communities exposed to natural hazards through an innovative and multidisciplinary research approach integrating engineering, geological, medical and sociological skills. We are going to use an analytical approach to consider simultaneously the Natural Environment and their dwellers, taking into account the sanitary protocols. We'll start by studying the hazards to which the Natural Environment could be exposed evaluating the deriving risks level trough technical studies. For each scenario it's vital to assess the defining aspects such as magnitude and frequency, through a statistical analysis of the specific data-bases in possession of relevant Authorities in charge. Regarding the Inhabitants, it's also vital to analyse the dwellers Risk Perception and their Historical Resilience through a sociological and psychological approach, in order to define the specific information and education program on natural risks. This study is of particular relevance, as even the most advanced risk management plan could fail if locals are not aware and informed about it. A correct disaster management policy must consider the medics role as paramount. Emergency first aid and emergency medicine are to be considered specific field of partitioning, and to be seen as the most appropriate way to deal with a dire situation, especially when the resources vs. magnitude of event ratio is low. The study of best practices helping to improve the resilience and reaction of areas exposed to different natural hazards with different socio-cultural layers is hence crucial. A possible model is to directly involve the residents into controlling the environment and improving/detailing the risks' and emergency areas mapping. These make the population more aware of both

  10. Destroyed documents: uncovering the science that Imperial Tobacco Canada sought to conceal.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hammond, David; Chaiton, Michael; Lee, Alex; Collishaw, Neil

    2009-11-10

    In 1992, British American Tobacco had its Canadian affiliate, Imperial Tobacco Canada, destroy internal research documents that could expose the company to liability or embarrassment. Sixty of these destroyed documents were subsequently uncovered in British American Tobacco's files. Legal counsel for Imperial Tobacco Canada provided a list of 60 destroyed documents to British American Tobacco. Information in this list was used to search for copies of the documents in British American Tobacco files released through court disclosure. We reviewed and summarized this information. Imperial Tobacco destroyed documents that included evidence from scientific reviews prepared by British American Tobacco's researchers, as well as 47 original research studies, 35 of which examined the biological activity and carcinogenicity of tobacco smoke. The documents also describe British American Tobacco research on cigarette modifications and toxic emissions, including the ways in which consumers adapted their smoking behaviour in response to these modifications. The documents also depict a comprehensive research program on the pharmacology of nicotine and the central role of nicotine in smoking behaviour. British American Tobacco scientists noted that ".. the present scale of the tobacco industry is largely dependent on the intensity and nature of the pharmacological action of nicotine," and that "... should nicotine become less attractive to smokers, the future of the tobacco industry would become less secure." The scientific evidence contained in the documents destroyed by Imperial Tobacco demonstrates that British American Tobacco had collected evidence that cigarette smoke was carcinogenic and addictive. The evidence that Imperial Tobacco sought to destroy had important implications for government regulation of tobacco.

  11. Uncovering buffered pleiotropy: a genome-scale screen for mel-28 genetic interactors in Caenorhabditis elegans.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Fernandez, Anita G; Mis, Emily K; Lai, Allison; Mauro, Michael; Quental, Angela; Bock, Carly; Piano, Fabio

    2014-01-10

    mel-28 (maternal-effect-lethal-28) encodes a conserved protein required for nuclear envelope function and chromosome segregation in Caenorhabditis elegans. Because mel-28 is a strict maternal-effect lethal gene, its function is required in the early embryo but appears to be dispensable for larval development. We wanted to test the idea that mel-28 has postembryonic roles that are buffered by the contributions of other genes. To find genes that act coordinately with mel-28, we did an RNA interference-based genetic interaction screen using mel-28 and wild-type larvae. We screened 18,364 clones and identified 65 genes that cause sterility in mel-28 but not wild-type worms. Some of these genes encode components of the nuclear pore. In addition we identified genes involved in dynein and dynactin function, vesicle transport, and cell-matrix attachments. By screening mel-28 larvae we have bypassed the requirement for mel-28 in the embryo, uncovering pleiotropic functions for mel-28 later in development that are normally provided by other genes. This work contributes toward revealing the gene networks that underlie cellular processes and reveals roles for a maternal-effect lethal gene later in development.

  12. Uncovering packaging features of co-regulated modules based on human protein interaction and transcriptional regulatory networks

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    He Weiming

    2010-07-01

    Full Text Available Abstract Background Network co-regulated modules are believed to have the functionality of packaging multiple biological entities, and can thus be assumed to coordinate many biological functions in their network neighbouring regions. Results Here, we weighted edges of a human protein interaction network and a transcriptional regulatory network to construct an integrated network, and introduce a probabilistic model and a bipartite graph framework to exploit human co-regulated modules and uncover their specific features in packaging different biological entities (genes, protein complexes or metabolic pathways. Finally, we identified 96 human co-regulated modules based on this method, and evaluate its effectiveness by comparing it with four other methods. Conclusions Dysfunctions in co-regulated interactions often occur in the development of cancer. Therefore, we focussed on an example co-regulated module and found that it could integrate a number of cancer-related genes. This was extended to causal dysfunctions of some complexes maintained by several physically interacting proteins, thus coordinating several metabolic pathways that directly underlie cancer.

  13. THE INCREASE OF ENTERPRISES’ INNOVATIVE DEVELOPMENT BASED ON THE NETWORK APPROACH

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Olena Gudz

    2018-01-01

    Full Text Available The purpose of the paper is studying the role and problems of the innovative development of domestic enterprises, discovering the factors that influence these processes. Methodology. The methodology for the study was based on logical and historical methods, methods of the system-functional approach, methods of scientific abstraction, systematization, grouping, generalization and formalization, analysis and synthesis, economic and statistical methods, and method of questioning and peer review. Results. It is studied the essence and substantiated the expediency of the network approach use, it is outlined its capabilities and limitations, determined the effectiveness of network innovation structures, and developed the proposals for activating the innovative development of enterprises in new dimensions of the economic space based on the network approach. Practical implications. The proposed measures will promote the activation of innovative development for domestic enterprises, improve the quality of business chains, competitiveness and management structures, and provide the development of new market segments. Value/originality. The information background for the paper was the official data of the State Statistics Service of Ukraine, statistical and financial statements of enterprises, rating estimates by the international agency Bloomberg Rankings, analytical report “Global Innovation Index” (World Intellectual Property Organization, WIPO, the report of the European Innovation Scoreboard, scientific publications of domestic and foreign researchers, normative reference literature, analytical and logical generalizations and observations of authors, Internet information resources.

  14. A predictive modeling approach to increasing the economic effectiveness of disease management programs.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bayerstadler, Andreas; Benstetter, Franz; Heumann, Christian; Winter, Fabian

    2014-09-01

    Predictive Modeling (PM) techniques are gaining importance in the worldwide health insurance business. Modern PM methods are used for customer relationship management, risk evaluation or medical management. This article illustrates a PM approach that enables the economic potential of (cost-) effective disease management programs (DMPs) to be fully exploited by optimized candidate selection as an example of successful data-driven business management. The approach is based on a Generalized Linear Model (GLM) that is easy to apply for health insurance companies. By means of a small portfolio from an emerging country, we show that our GLM approach is stable compared to more sophisticated regression techniques in spite of the difficult data environment. Additionally, we demonstrate for this example of a setting that our model can compete with the expensive solutions offered by professional PM vendors and outperforms non-predictive standard approaches for DMP selection commonly used in the market.

  15. A Thematic Approach to Increasing Climate Literacy

    Science.gov (United States)

    Myers, R. J.; Schwerin, T. G.; Witiw, M. R.

    2010-12-01

    The Earth System Science Education Alliance (ESSEA), an NSF, NASA, and NOAA supported program providing K-12 teacher professional development uses a thematic approach to frame participant inquiry. To address topics such as carbon sequestration, ocean acidification or aerosols, ESSEA online courses present participants with scenarios or contexts depicting an anomaly or perturbation to the Earth system. The courses deepen teachers’ content knowledge within an inquiry environment through reflection, analysis and self-discovery. Courses familiarize participants with Earth system analyses and provide a suite of techniques that can be employed to facilitate student learning, for example, through the use of Problem-based learning (PBL). Problem-based learning (PBL) is designed to "simultaneously develop both problem solving strategies and disciplinary knowledge bases and skills by placing students in the active role of problem-solvers confronted with an ill-structured problem that mirrors real-world problems.” PBL models are generally characterized by the following steps: 1) the presentation of a problem to a small group of students, 2) discussion of the problem among the students which produces tentative explanations of the problem, and 3) an attempt to solve the problem. When participants work to solve ill-structured problems, they are working toward learning generalized procedures for problem solving that will transfer to new situations (University of Delaware, 1999). At the end of an ESSEA course experience, teachers are better equipped with the content and the confidence in using inquiry in the teaching of climate science.

  16. Uncovering sensory axonal dysfunction in asymptomatic type 2 diabetic neuropathy.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Jia-Ying Sung

    Full Text Available This study investigated sensory and motor nerve excitability properties to elucidate the development of diabetic neuropathy. A total of 109 type 2 diabetes patients were recruited, and 106 were analyzed. According to neuropathy severity, patients were categorized into G0, G1, and G2+3 groups using the total neuropathy score-reduced (TNSr. Patients in the G0 group were asymptomatic and had a TNSr score of 0. Sensory and motor nerve excitability data from diabetic patients were compared with data from 33 healthy controls. Clinical assessment, nerve conduction studies, and sensory and motor nerve excitability testing data were analyzed to determine axonal dysfunction in diabetic neuropathy. In the G0 group, sensory excitability testing revealed increased stimulus for the 50% sensory nerve action potential (P<0.05, shortened strength-duration time constant (P<0.01, increased superexcitability (P<0.01, decreased subexcitability (P<0.05, decreased accommodation to depolarizing current (P<0.01, and a trend of decreased accommodation to hyperpolarizing current in threshold electrotonus. All the changes progressed into G1 (TNSr 1-8 and G2+3 (TNSr 9-24 groups. In contrast, motor excitability only had significantly increased stimulus for the 50% compound motor nerve action potential (P<0.01 in the G0 group. This study revealed that the development of axonal dysfunction in sensory axons occurred prior to and in a different fashion from motor axons. Additionally, sensory nerve excitability tests can detect axonal dysfunction even in asymptomatic patients. These insights further our understanding of diabetic neuropathy and enable the early detection of sensory axonal abnormalities, which may provide a basis for neuroprotective therapeutic approaches.

  17. Fully Integrating Academic Advising with Career Coaching to Increase Student Retention, Graduation Rates and Future Job Satisfaction: An Industry Approach

    Science.gov (United States)

    Tudor, Thomas R.

    2018-01-01

    Higher education institutions in the United States are under increasing pressure to retain and graduate more students. Traditionally, the academic advisor helps students to meet degree graduation requirements and may also do some minor career advising. A new approach is proposed, in which career coaching with industry help becomes just as…

  18. TIMP-1 gene deficiency increases tumour cell sensitivity to chemotherapy-induced apoptosis

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Davidsen, Marie Louise; Würts, S.Ø.; Rømer, Maria Unni Koefoed

    2006-01-01

    deficiency increases the response to chemotherapy considerably, confirming that TIMP-1 protects the cells from apoptosis. This is to our knowledge the first study investigating TIMP-1 and chemotherapy-induced apoptosis employing a powerful model system comprising TIMP-1 gene-deficient cells...... this hypothesis, we have established TIMP-1 gene-deficient and TIMP-1 wild-type fibrosarcoma cells from mouse lung tissue. We have characterised these cells with regard to TIMP-1 genotype, TIMP-1 expression, malignant transformation and sensitivity to chemotherapy-induced apoptosis. We show that TIMP-1 gene...... and their genetically identical wild-type controls. For future studies, this cell system can be used to uncover the mechanisms and signalling pathways involved in the TIMP-1-mediated inhibition of apoptosis as well as to investigate the possibility of using TIMP-1 inhibitors to optimise the effect of conventional...

  19. Uncovering the roots of paranoid suicidal plants

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Lolle, Signe

    is that forms of plant autoimmunity are due to inappropriate NLR activation. We show here that NLR triggered immunity in pat1 can be prevented by the expression of a dominant negative (DN) allele of the NLR SUMM2. We further find that this DN approach is faster than crossing in knock-outs, and has the advantage...

  20. Mouse genetic approaches applied to the normal tissue radiation response

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Haston, Christina K.

    2012-01-01

    The varying responses of inbred mouse models to radiation exposure present a unique opportunity to dissect the genetic basis of radiation sensitivity and tissue injury. Such studies are complementary to human association studies as they permit both the analysis of clinical features of disease, and of specific variants associated with its presentation, in a controlled environment. Herein I review how animal models are studied to identify specific genetic variants influencing predisposition to radiation-induced traits. Among these radiation-induced responses are documented strain differences in repair of DNA damage and in extent of tissue injury (in the lung, skin, and intestine) which form the base for genetic investigations. For example, radiation-induced DNA damage is consistently greater in tissues from BALB/cJ mice, than the levels in C57BL/6J mice, suggesting there may be an inherent DNA damage level per strain. Regarding tissue injury, strain specific inflammatory and fibrotic phenotypes have been documented for principally, C57BL/6 C3H and A/J mice but a correlation among responses such that knowledge of the radiation injury in one tissue informs of the response in another is not evident. Strategies to identify genetic differences contributing to a trait based on inbred strain differences, which include linkage analysis and the evaluation of recombinant congenic (RC) strains, are presented, with a focus on the lung response to irradiation which is the only radiation-induced tissue injury mapped to date. Such approaches are needed to reveal genetic differences in susceptibility to radiation injury, and also to provide a context for the effects of specific genetic variation uncovered in anticipated clinical association studies. In summary, mouse models can be studied to uncover heritable variation predisposing to specific radiation responses, and such variations may point to pathways of importance to phenotype development in the clinic.

  1. Deepwater Horizon: Experience the Events That Led to This Accident, Follow the Investigation as They Uncover the Human Factors

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Bannerman, T.

    2016-01-01

    With the Key themes of leadership, culture, reputation and risk, process safety and the human and organizational factors inside partnership and joint ventures, this session run by AKT immerses you into the situation on board the Deepwater Horizon drilling rig in the Gulf of Mexico on the day of the disaster 20 April 2010. The sequence of events are acted out and then we follow the investigation as they uncover negligence, poor regulation, inadequate maintenance, and catastrophic decision making and what the US authorities called “a reckless disregard for safety”. This session will show how this type of workshop event has been used in different organizations, and the actors run the session to show how the facts of the disaster can be used to enhance knowledge of managers and senior leaders of factors that can trigger a major event. (author)

  2. Mannerisms of the Elderly and Approaches to Rapport.

    Science.gov (United States)

    French, Warren A.; And Others

    1980-01-01

    Many older adults react to old age with empirically identified distinguishable mannerisms. Using these mannerisms, or behavior patterns, as a basis for rapport, gerontologists can: (1) uncover causes of adjustment problems; (2) assess seriousness of problems; and (3) implement counseling suggestions. (Author/JAC)

  3. A knowledge integration approach to flood vulnerability

    Science.gov (United States)

    Mazzorana, Bruno; Fuchs, Sven

    2014-05-01

    Understanding, qualifying and quantifying vulnerability is an essential need for implementing effective and efficient flood risk mitigation strategies; in particular if possible synergies between different mitigation alternatives, such as active and passive measures, should be achieved. In order to combine different risk management options it is necessary to take an interdisciplinary approach to vulnerability reduction, and as a result the affected society may be willing to accept a certain degree of self-responsibility. However, due to differing mono-disciplinary approaches and regional foci undertaken until now, different aspects of vulnerability to natural hazards in general and to floods in particular remain uncovered and as a result the developed management options remain sub-optimal. Taking an even more fundamental viewpoint, the empirical vulnerability functions used in risk assessment specifically fail to capture physical principles of the damage-generating mechanisms to the build environment. The aim of this paper is to partially close this gap by discussing a balanced knowledge integration approach which can be used to resolve the multidisciplinary disorder in flood vulnerability research. Modelling techniques such as mathematical-physical modelling of the flood hazard impact to and response from the building envelope affected, and formative scenario analyses of possible consequences in terms of damage and loss are used in synergy to provide an enhanced understanding of vulnerability and to render the derived knowledge into interdisciplinary mitigation strategies. The outlined formal procedure allows for a convincing knowledge alignment of quantified, but partial, information about vulnerability as a result of the application of physical and engineering notions and valuable, but often underspecified, qualitative argumentation strings emerging from the adopted socio-economic viewpoint.

  4. Modelling the impact of increasing soil sealing on runoff coefficients at regional scale: a hydropedological approach

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Ungaro Fabrizio

    2014-03-01

    Full Text Available Soil sealing is the permanent covering of the land surface by buildings, infrastructures or any impermeable artificial material. Beside the loss of fertile soils with a direct impact on food security, soil sealing modifies the hydrological cycle. This can cause an increased flooding risk, due to urban development in potential risk areas and to the increased volumes of runoff. This work estimates the increase of runoff due to sealing following urbanization and land take in the plain of Emilia Romagna (Italy, using the Green and Ampt infiltration model for two rainfall return periods (20 and 200 years in two different years, 1976 and 2008. To this goal a hydropedological approach was adopted in order to characterize soil hydraulic properties via locally calibrated pedotransfer functions (PTF. PTF inputs were estimated via sequential Gaussian simulations coupled with a simple kriging with varying local means, taking into account soil type and dominant land use. Results show that in the study area an average increment of 8.4% in sealed areas due to urbanization and sprawl induces an average increment in surface runoff equal to 3.5 and 2.7% respectively for 20 and 200-years return periods, with a maximum > 20% for highly sealed coast areas.

  5. Uncovering the spatially distant feedback loops of global trade: A network and input-output approach.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Prell, Christina; Sun, Laixiang; Feng, Kuishuang; He, Jiaying; Hubacek, Klaus

    2017-05-15

    Land-use change is increasingly driven by global trade. The term "telecoupling" has been gaining ground as a means to describe how human actions in one part of the world can have spatially distant impacts on land and land-use in another. These interactions can, over time, create both direct and spatially distant feedback loops, in which human activity and land use mutually impact one another over great expanses. In this paper, we develop an analytical framework to clarify spatially distant feedbacks in the case of land use and global trade. We use an innovative mix of multi-regional input-output (MRIO) analysis and stochastic actor-oriented models (SAOMs) for analyzing the co-evolution of changes in trade network patterns with those of land use, as embodied in trade. Our results indicate that the formation of trade ties and changes in embodied land use mutually impact one another, and further, that these changes are linked to disparities in countries' wealth. Through identifying this feedback loop, our results support ongoing discussions about the unequal trade patterns between rich and poor countries that result in uneven distributions of negative environmental impacts. Finally, evidence for this feedback loop is present even when controlling for a number of underlying mechanisms, such as countries' land endowments, their geographical distance from one another, and a number of endogenous network tendencies. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  6. Analysis of Increasing Malwares and Cyber Crimes Using Economic Approach

    OpenAIRE

    Asgher, Umer; Dar, Fahad Moazzam; Hamza, Ali; Paracha, Abdul Moeed

    2014-01-01

    The economics of an internet crime has newly developed into a field of controlling black money. This economic approach not only provides estimated technique of analyzing internet crimes but also gives details to analyzers of system dependability and divergence. This paper will highlight on the subject of online crime, which has formed its industry since. It all started from amateur hackers who cracked websites and wrote malicious software in pursuit of fun or achieving limited objectives to p...

  7. COMBINED UNCOVERED SHEET-AND-TUBE PVT-COLLECTOR SYSTEM WITH BUILT-IN STORAGE WATER HEATER

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Muhammad Abid

    2012-02-01

    Full Text Available This work describes the design and investigation of a simple combined uncovered sheet-and-tube photo-voltaic-thermal (PVT collector system. The PVT-collector system consists of a support, standard PV module (1.22x0.305m, area=0.37m2, fill factor=0.75, sheet-and-tube water collector and storage tank-heater. The collector was fixed under PV module. Inclination angle of the PVT-collector to the horizontal plane was 45 degree. The storage tank-heater played double role i.e. for storage of hot water and for water heating. The PVT-collector system could work in the fixed and tracking modes of operation. During investigations of PVT-collector in natural conditions, solar irradiance, voltage and current of PV module, ambient temperature and water temperature in storage tank were measured. Average thermal and electrical powers of the PVT-collector system at the tracking mode of operation observed were 39W and 21W, with efficiencies of 15% and 8% respectively at the input power of 260W. The maximum temperature of the water obtained was 42oC. The system was observed efficient for low-temperature applications. The PVT-collector system may be used as a prototype for design of PVT-collector system for domestic application, teaching aid and for demonstration purposes.

  8. Quantifying the risk of an increase in the prices of non-energy products by combining the portfolio and input-output approaches

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Suzuki, Kengo; Uchiyama, Yohji

    2010-01-01

    An increase in the price of imported fossil fuels indirectly increases the producer price in non-energy sectors; however, this indirect influence cannot be taken into account by the traditional portfolio approach. This study proposes an analytical framework combining the input-output (I-O) model and the portfolio approach that can take the indirect influence into account. A risk of an increase in the producer price in Japanese non-energy sectors during the period 1970-2000 is estimated, and the causes of a decrease in the risk through the analysis period are clarified by decomposing an index of the risk. The result indicates that almost all non-energy sectors have decreased this risk during the analysis period. The degree and cause of the decrease depends on a sector's location in the hierarchical structure of Japanese industries. For example, assembly sectors have decreased their risk mainly as the result of improvement in energy usage by upstream sectors, such as material sectors, rather than their own improvements. Proper policies considering such a structure are required to decrease the risk further because the effort taken to do so is seldom motivated by economic profit.

  9. Atmospheric pollution history at Linfen (China) uncovered by magnetic and chemical parameters of sediments from a water reservoir.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ma, Mingming; Hu, Shouyun; Cao, Liwan; Appel, Erwin; Wang, Longsheng

    2015-09-01

    We studied magnetic and chemical parameters of sediments from sediments of a water reservoir at Linfen (China) in order to quantitatively reconstruct the atmospheric pollution history in this region. The results show that the main magnetic phases are magnetite and maghemite originating from the surrounding catchment and from anthropogenic activities, and there is a significant positive relationship between magnetic concentration parameters and heavy metals concentrations, indicating that magnetic proxies can be used to monitor the anthropogenic pollution. In order to uncover the atmospheric pollution history, we combined the known events of environmental improvement with variations of magnetic susceptibility (χ) and heavy metals along the cores to obtain a detailed chronological framework. In addition, air comprehensive pollution index (ACPI) was reconstructed from regression equation among magnetic and chemical parameters as well as atmospheric monitoring data. Based on these results, the atmospheric pollution history was successfully reconstructed. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  10. Increasing Teachers' Use of Praise with a Response-to-Intervention Approach

    Science.gov (United States)

    Myers, Diane M.; Simonsen, Brandi; Sugai, George

    2011-01-01

    A multiple baseline design across teachers was used to evaluate the effects of a systematic, response-to-intervention (RTI) approach on rates of desired teacher behavior. Specifically, teachers whose rates of specific, contingent praise were nonresponsive to typical schoolwide positive behavior support training (primary intervention tier) were…

  11. Systems Bioinformatics: increasing precision of computational diagnostics and therapeutics through network-based approaches.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Oulas, Anastasis; Minadakis, George; Zachariou, Margarita; Sokratous, Kleitos; Bourdakou, Marilena M; Spyrou, George M

    2017-11-27

    Systems Bioinformatics is a relatively new approach, which lies in the intersection of systems biology and classical bioinformatics. It focuses on integrating information across different levels using a bottom-up approach as in systems biology with a data-driven top-down approach as in bioinformatics. The advent of omics technologies has provided the stepping-stone for the emergence of Systems Bioinformatics. These technologies provide a spectrum of information ranging from genomics, transcriptomics and proteomics to epigenomics, pharmacogenomics, metagenomics and metabolomics. Systems Bioinformatics is the framework in which systems approaches are applied to such data, setting the level of resolution as well as the boundary of the system of interest and studying the emerging properties of the system as a whole rather than the sum of the properties derived from the system's individual components. A key approach in Systems Bioinformatics is the construction of multiple networks representing each level of the omics spectrum and their integration in a layered network that exchanges information within and between layers. Here, we provide evidence on how Systems Bioinformatics enhances computational therapeutics and diagnostics, hence paving the way to precision medicine. The aim of this review is to familiarize the reader with the emerging field of Systems Bioinformatics and to provide a comprehensive overview of its current state-of-the-art methods and technologies. Moreover, we provide examples of success stories and case studies that utilize such methods and tools to significantly advance research in the fields of systems biology and systems medicine. © The Author 2017. Published by Oxford University Press.

  12. Buffering mechanisms in aging: a systems approach toward uncovering the genetic component of aging.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Aviv Bergman

    2007-08-01

    Full Text Available An unrealized potential to understand the genetic basis of aging in humans, is to consider the immense survival advantage of the rare individuals who live 100 years or more. The Longevity Gene Study was initiated in 1998 at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine to investigate longevity genes in a selected population: the "oldest old" Ashkenazi Jews, 95 years of age and older, and their children. The study proved the principle that some of these subjects are endowed with longevity-promoting genotypes. Here we reason that some of the favorable genotypes act as mechanisms that buffer the deleterious effect of age-related disease genes. As a result, the frequency of deleterious genotypes may increase among individuals with extreme lifespan because their protective genotype allows disease-related genes to accumulate. Thus, studies of genotypic frequencies among different age groups can elucidate the genetic determinants and pathways responsible for longevity. Borrowing from evolutionary theory, we present arguments regarding the differential survival via buffering mechanisms and their target age-related disease genes in searching for aging and longevity genes. Using more than 1,200 subjects between the sixth and eleventh decades of life (at least 140 subjects in each group, we corroborate our hypotheses experimentally. We study 66 common allelic site polymorphism in 36 candidate genes on the basis of their phenotype. Among them we have identified a candidate-buffering mechanism and its candidate age-related disease gene target. Previously, the beneficial effect of an advantageous cholesteryl ester transfer protein (CETP-VV genotype on lipoprotein particle size in association with decreased metabolic and cardiovascular diseases, as well as with better cognitive function, have been demonstrated. We report an additional advantageous effect of the CETP-VV (favorable genotype in neutralizing the deleterious effects of the lipoprotein(a (LPA gene

  13. Uncovering the nutritional landscape of food.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Seunghyeon Kim

    Full Text Available Recent progresses in data-driven analysis methods, including network-based approaches, are revolutionizing many classical disciplines. These techniques can also be applied to food and nutrition, which must be studied to design healthy diets. Using nutritional information from over 1,000 raw foods, we systematically evaluated the nutrient composition of each food in regards to satisfying daily nutritional requirements. The nutrient balance of a food was quantified and termed nutritional fitness; this measure was based on the food's frequency of occurrence in nutritionally adequate food combinations. Nutritional fitness offers a way to prioritize recommendable foods within a global network of foods, in which foods are connected based on the similarities of their nutrient compositions. We identified a number of key nutrients, such as choline and α-linolenic acid, whose levels in foods can critically affect the nutritional fitness of the foods. Analogously, pairs of nutrients can have the same effect. In fact, two nutrients can synergistically affect the nutritional fitness, although the individual nutrients alone may not have an impact. This result, involving the tendency among nutrients to exhibit correlations in their abundances across foods, implies a hidden layer of complexity when exploring for foods whose balance of nutrients within pairs holistically helps meet nutritional requirements. Interestingly, foods with high nutritional fitness successfully maintain this nutrient balance. This effect expands our scope to a diverse repertoire of nutrient-nutrient correlations, which are integrated under a common network framework that yields unexpected yet coherent associations between nutrients. Our nutrient-profiling approach combined with a network-based analysis provides a more unbiased, global view of the relationships between foods and nutrients, and can be extended towards nutritional policies, food marketing, and personalized nutrition.

  14. Uncovering the Nutritional Landscape of Food

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kim, Seunghyeon; Sung, Jaeyun; Foo, Mathias; Jin, Yong-Su; Kim, Pan-Jun

    2015-01-01

    Recent progresses in data-driven analysis methods, including network-based approaches, are revolutionizing many classical disciplines. These techniques can also be applied to food and nutrition, which must be studied to design healthy diets. Using nutritional information from over 1,000 raw foods, we systematically evaluated the nutrient composition of each food in regards to satisfying daily nutritional requirements. The nutrient balance of a food was quantified and termed nutritional fitness; this measure was based on the food’s frequency of occurrence in nutritionally adequate food combinations. Nutritional fitness offers a way to prioritize recommendable foods within a global network of foods, in which foods are connected based on the similarities of their nutrient compositions. We identified a number of key nutrients, such as choline and α-linolenic acid, whose levels in foods can critically affect the nutritional fitness of the foods. Analogously, pairs of nutrients can have the same effect. In fact, two nutrients can synergistically affect the nutritional fitness, although the individual nutrients alone may not have an impact. This result, involving the tendency among nutrients to exhibit correlations in their abundances across foods, implies a hidden layer of complexity when exploring for foods whose balance of nutrients within pairs holistically helps meet nutritional requirements. Interestingly, foods with high nutritional fitness successfully maintain this nutrient balance. This effect expands our scope to a diverse repertoire of nutrient-nutrient correlations, which are integrated under a common network framework that yields unexpected yet coherent associations between nutrients. Our nutrient-profiling approach combined with a network-based analysis provides a more unbiased, global view of the relationships between foods and nutrients, and can be extended towards nutritional policies, food marketing, and personalized nutrition. PMID:25768022

  15. Working with teams of "insiders": Qualitative approaches to data collection in the Global South

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Enid Schatz

    2015-02-01

    Full Text Available Background: The convergence of two qualitative methodological strategies - working in "teams" and with "insiders" - can facilitate access, efficiency, and insights into research questions of interest to demographers. Even though this approach is becoming more common among population researchers in the Global South to address a range of research questions, little has been published that describes the method and critically assesses its strengths and weaknesses. Objective: We draw on three projects embedded in the Agincourt Health and Socio-Demographic Surveillance System site in rural South Africa that integrate both approaches to demonstrate the benefits and limitations of this strategy. Methods: We document, through in-depth description, how these three projects achieve access, efficiency, and insights into issues of population concern (HIV/AIDS, aging, and child wellbeing utilizing a "team-insider" approach by working with groups of local research assistants. Conclusions: The projects vary in their use of "teams" and "insiders" but collectively deepen our understanding of pressing population concerns in the Global South. In particular, by using teams of insiders, these projects gain insights into local ideas about HIV, uncover ways that HIV affects older women's lives, and provide in-depth understanding of children's social connections. The approach also presents a number of challenges, however, such as grappling with the responsibilities and burdens that are placed on local insider team members.

  16. A Window Toward the World: Older Adults' Experiences of Becoming in Health and Developing as Human Beings Through Interacting With Others Using Real Video Communication.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hemberg, Jessica; Santamäki Fischer, Regina

    The population in the Nordic countries, as well as globally, is increasingly becoming older. Concurrently, with an increased aging population, there is an increase in poor health and loneliness among older adults. The aim of this study was to uncover, from a caring science perspective, community-living older adults' experiences of interacting with others via real video communication. The study uses a hermeneutical approach. The material consists of interviews with older adults regarding their experiences of using real video communication. The texts were interpreted through hermeneutical reading. Study participation and data storage and handling for research purposes were approved by the participants when they provided their informed consent. Ethical permission to conduct this study was granted by a research board. The findings uncovered that welfare technology offers a metaphor-a window toward the world-that comprises the overarching core theme "Being in a movement toward becoming a unity as a human being," and 3 main themes: "Alleviating suffering through beating involuntary solitude," "Being in the world as an equal and dignified human being," and "Dedicating new perspectives and meaning in life." Welfare technology seems to be an important means to improve the quality of life for older adults living at home. Welfare technology enables older people to be in contact with other people in an easy way. Further research is needed to uncover issues of welfare technology from different perspectives.

  17. A first step toward uncovering the truth about weight tuning in deformable image registration

    Science.gov (United States)

    Pirpinia, Kleopatra; Bosman, Peter A. N.; Sonke, Jan-Jakob; van Herk, Marcel; Alderliesten, Tanja

    2016-03-01

    Deformable image registration is currently predominantly solved by optimizing a weighted linear combination of objectives. Successfully tuning the weights associated with these objectives is not trivial, leading to trial-and-error approaches. Such an approach assumes an intuitive interplay between weights, optimization objectives, and target registration errors. However, it is not known whether this always holds for existing registration methods. To investigate the interplay between weights, optimization objectives, and registration errors, we employ multi-objective optimization. Here, objectives of interest are optimized simultaneously, causing a set of multiple optimal solutions to exist, called the optimal Pareto front. Our medical application is in breast cancer and includes the challenging prone-supine registration problem. In total, we studied the interplay in three different ways. First, we ran many random linear combinations of objectives using the well-known registration software elastix. Second, since the optimization algorithms used in registration are typically of a local-search nature, final solutions may not always form a Pareto front. We therefore employed a multi-objective evolutionary algorithm that finds weights that correspond to registration outcomes that do form a Pareto front. Third, we examined how the interplay differs if a true multi-objective (i.e., weight-free) image registration method is used. Results indicate that a trial-and-error weight-adaptation approach can be successful for the easy prone to prone breast image registration case, due to the absence of many local optima. With increasing problem difficulty the use of more advanced approaches can be of value in finding and selecting the optimal registration outcomes.

  18. AEDs at your fingertips: automated external defibrillators on college campuses and a novel approach for increasing accessibility.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Berger, Ryan J; O'Shea, Jesse G

    2014-01-01

    The use of automated external defibrillators (AEDs) increases survival in cardiac arrest events. Due to the success of previous efforts and free, readily available mobile mapping software, the discussion is to emphasize the importance of the use of AEDs to prevent sudden cardiac arrest-related deaths on college campuses and abroad, while suggesting a novel approach to aiding in access and awareness issues. A user-friendly mobile application (a low-cost iOS map) was developed at Florida State University to decrease AED retrieval distance and time. The development of mobile AED maps is feasible for a variety of universities and other entities, with the potential to save lives. Just having AEDs installed is not enough--they need to be easily locatable. Society increasingly relies on phones to provide information, and there are opportunities to use mobile technology to locate and share information about relevant emergency devices; these should be incorporated into the chain of survival.

  19. High genetic diversity and fine-scale spatial structure in the marine flagellate Oxyrrhis marina (Dinophyceae uncovered by microsatellite loci.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Chris D Lowe

    2010-12-01

    Full Text Available Free-living marine protists are often assumed to be broadly distributed and genetically homogeneous on large spatial scales. However, an increasing application of highly polymorphic genetic markers (e.g., microsatellites has provided evidence for high genetic diversity and population structuring on small spatial scales in many free-living protists. Here we characterise a panel of new microsatellite markers for the common marine flagellate Oxyrrhis marina. Nine microsatellite loci were used to assess genotypic diversity at two spatial scales by genotyping 200 isolates of O. marina from 6 broad geographic regions around Great Britain and Ireland; in one region, a single 2 km shore line was sampled intensively to assess fine-scale genetic diversity. Microsatellite loci resolved between 1-6 and 7-23 distinct alleles per region in the least and most variable loci respectively, with corresponding variation in expected heterozygosities (H(e of 0.00-0.30 and 0.81-0.93. Across the dataset, genotypic diversity was high with 183 genotypes detected from 200 isolates. Bayesian analysis of population structure supported two model populations. One population was distributed across all sampled regions; the other was confined to the intensively sampled shore, and thus two distinct populations co-occurred at this site. Whilst model-based analysis inferred a single UK-wide population, pairwise regional F(ST values indicated weak to moderate population sub-division (0.01-0.12, but no clear correlation between spatial and genetic distance was evident. Data presented in this study highlight extensive genetic diversity for O. marina; however, it remains a substantial challenge to uncover the mechanisms that drive genetic diversity in free-living microorganisms.

  20. Modeling joint purchases with a multivariate MNL approach

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Boztug, Yasemin; Hildebrandt, Lutz

    2008-01-01

    implies a cross-category dependence of brand choice behavior. We hypothesize that the global utility function related to a product bundle is the result of the marketing-mix of the underlying brands. The structure of the chosen products allows us to uncover the impact of certain marketing-mix variables...

  1. Theoretical and empirical approaches to using films as a means to increase communication efficiency.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Kiselnikova, N.V.

    2016-07-01

    Full Text Available The theoretical framework of this analytic study is based on studies in the field of film perception. Films are considered as a communicative system that is encrypted in an ordered series of shots, and decoding proceeds during perception. The shots are the elements of a cinematic message that must be “read” by viewer. The objective of this work is to analyze the existing theoretical approaches to using films in psychotherapy and education. An original approach to film therapy that is based on teaching clients to use new communicative sets and psychotherapeutic patterns through watching films is presented. The article specifies the main emphasized points in theories of film therapy and education. It considers the specifics of film therapy in the process of increasing the effectiveness of communication. It discusses the advantages and limitations of the proposed method. The contemporary forms of film therapy and the formats of cinema clubs are criticized. The theoretical assumptions and empirical research that could be used as a basis for a method of developing effective communication by means of films are discussed. Our studies demonstrate that the usage of film therapy must include an educational stage for more effective and stable results. This means teaching viewers how to recognize certain psychotherapeutic and communicative patterns in the material of films, to practice the skill of finding as many examples as possible for each pattern and to transfer the acquired schemes of analyzing and recognizing patterns into one’s own life circumstances. The four stages of the film therapeutic process as well as the effects that are achieved at each stage are described in detail. In conclusion, the conditions under which the usage of the film therapy method would be the most effective are observed. Various properties of client groups and psychotherapeutic scenarios for using the method of active film therapy are described.

  2. Uncovering the genetic landscape for multiple sleep-wake traits.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Christopher J Winrow

    Full Text Available Despite decades of research in defining sleep-wake properties in mammals, little is known about the nature or identity of genes that regulate sleep, a fundamental behaviour that in humans occupies about one-third of the entire lifespan. While genome-wide association studies in humans and quantitative trait loci (QTL analyses in mice have identified candidate genes for an increasing number of complex traits and genetic diseases, the resources and time-consuming process necessary for obtaining detailed quantitative data have made sleep seemingly intractable to similar large-scale genomic approaches. Here we describe analysis of 20 sleep-wake traits from 269 mice from a genetically segregating population that reveals 52 significant QTL representing a minimum of 20 genomic loci. While many (28 QTL affected a particular sleep-wake trait (e.g., amount of wake across the full 24-hr day, other loci only affected a trait in the light or dark period while some loci had opposite effects on the trait during the light vs. dark. Analysis of a dataset for multiple sleep-wake traits led to previously undetected interactions (including the differential genetic control of number and duration of REM bouts, as well as possible shared genetic regulatory mechanisms for seemingly different unrelated sleep-wake traits (e.g., number of arousals and REM latency. Construction of a Bayesian network for sleep-wake traits and loci led to the identification of sub-networks of linkage not detectable in smaller data sets or limited single-trait analyses. For example, the network analyses revealed a novel chain of causal relationships between the chromosome 17@29cM QTL, total amount of wake, and duration of wake bouts in both light and dark periods that implies a mechanism whereby overall sleep need, mediated by this locus, in turn determines the length of each wake bout. Taken together, the present results reveal a complex genetic landscape underlying multiple sleep-wake traits

  3. Effect of diode lasers with wavelength of 445 and 980 nm on a temperature rise when uncovering implants for second stage surgery: An ex-vivo study in pigs.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Matys, Jacek; Flieger, Rafał; Dominiak, Marzena

    2017-07-01

    Many surgical procedures in soft tissue are performed using diode lasers. Recently, a novel diode laser operating at 445 nm wavelength was introduced in dentistry. The aim of our study was to evaluate the time of surgery and an increase in temperature of titanium implants during its uncovering using 445 and 980 nm wavelengths. The research included 45 pig mandibles (n = 45). The specimens were randomly divided into 3 groups (n = 15) according to the laser irradiation mode and wavelength; G1 - 445 nm laser, power: 3 W, continuous wave (CW), distance: 2 mm, power density: 7460 W/cm2, fiber: 320 μm, noncontact mode; G2 - 445 nm laser (power: 2 W, CW, power density: 4970 W/cm2, fiber: 320 μm, contact mode; G3 (control) - 980 nm laser, power: 2.5 W, CW, power density: 15920 W/cm2, fiber: 200 μm, contact mode. The temperature was measured with a 2 K-type thermocouples (a P1 at collar and a P2 at mid height of the implant). The mean temperature rises measured by the P1 thermocouple were 16.9°C, 36.1°C and 21.6°C in the G1, G2 and G3 group, respectively. Significant differences in temperature rise were found between the G1 and G2 group (p = 0.0007) and the G2 and G3 group (p = 0.01). The mean temperature rises measured by the P2 thermocouple were 1.8°C, 1.4°C and 5.6°C in the G1, G2 and G3 group, respectively. Significant differences in temperature rise were found between the G1 and the G2 or G3 group (p = 0.0001). The significant differences among the study groups in average time necessary for uncovering the implants amounted to 69.7, 54.4 and 83.6 s, respectively (p diode laser in non-contact mode reduced the temperature rise of the implants. The additional pulse intervals during laser irradiation with wavelength of 445 nm when operating in contact mode are needed.

  4. Towards a comprehensive understanding of emerging dynamics and function of pancreatic islets: A complex network approach. Comment on "Network science of biological systems at different scales: A review" by Gosak et al.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Loppini, Alessandro

    2018-03-01

    Complex network theory represents a comprehensive mathematical framework to investigate biological systems, ranging from sub-cellular and cellular scales up to large-scale networks describing species interactions and ecological systems. In their exhaustive and comprehensive work [1], Gosak et al. discuss several scenarios in which the network approach was able to uncover general properties and underlying mechanisms of cells organization and regulation, tissue functions and cell/tissue failure in pathology, by the study of chemical reaction networks, structural networks and functional connectivities.

  5. A Participatory Systemic Approach To Rural Community Development In Vietnam

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Tuan M. Ha

    2015-08-01

    Full Text Available Various failures of the traditional approach in community development in developing countries have led to the development of a more appropriate and holistic approach to address complex development issues. Systems approaches and cutting-edge tools have recently been embraced to deal with such complexities under contexts of interwoven relationships amongst social economic political cultural and environmental factors. This paper provides reflections on practical value of the Evolutionary Learning Laboratory ELLab through a case study on improving the quality of life for women farmers in northern Vietnam where gender-bias labour hardship and poor living-standard are evident. The first five steps of the participatory systems-based ELLab were implemented during 2013-2014 providing valuable results that have made both practical and theoretical contributions with substantial implications to community development. Our study finds that the context-based results reshaped the original project goal. The approach and framework helped to identify and engage right stakeholders in problem analyses and decision making activities. Fuzzy problems within the complex web of life of the women and rural households were uncovered using relevant systems tools to develop a big picture systems model of the current situation defining levers for systemic interventions. The ELLab helps to build capacity of local people for taking ownership of the process and outcomes to guarantee sustainability and long-term impacts. It also facilitates true participation and co-learning amongst stakeholders triggering transformative learning. Contributions to action research and an innovative mechanism for sharing reflections and lessons at both local and global levels via the online Think2ImpactTM are discussed.

  6. Towards high-throughput molecular detection of Plasmodium: new approaches and molecular markers

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Rogier Christophe

    2009-04-01

    Full Text Available Abstract Background Several strategies are currently deployed in many countries in the tropics to strengthen malaria control toward malaria elimination. To measure the impact of any intervention, there is a need to detect malaria properly. Mostly, decisions still rely on microscopy diagnosis. But sensitive diagnosis tools enabling to deal with a large number of samples are needed. The molecular detection approach offers a much higher sensitivity, and the flexibility to be automated and upgraded. Methods Two new molecular methods were developed: dot18S, a Plasmodium-specific nested PCR based on the 18S rRNA gene followed by dot-blot detection of species by using species-specific probes and CYTB, a Plasmodium-specific nested PCR based on cytochrome b gene followed by species detection using SNP analysis. The results were compared to those obtained with microscopic examination and the "standard" 18S rRNA gene based nested PCR using species specific primers. 337 samples were diagnosed. Results Compared to the microscopy the three molecular methods were more sensitive, greatly increasing the estimated prevalence of Plasmodium infection, including P. malariae and P. ovale. A high rate of mixed infections was uncovered with about one third of the villagers infected with more than one malaria parasite species. Dot18S and CYTB sensitivity outranged the "standard" nested PCR method, CYTB being the most sensitive. As a consequence, compared to the "standard" nested PCR method for the detection of Plasmodium spp., the sensitivity of dot18S and CYTB was respectively 95.3% and 97.3%. Consistent detection of Plasmodium spp. by the three molecular methods was obtained for 83% of tested isolates. Contradictory results were mostly related to detection of Plasmodium malariae and Plasmodium ovale in mixed infections, due to an "all-or-none" detection effect at low-level parasitaemia. Conclusion A large reservoir of asymptomatic infections was uncovered using the

  7. Combining Novel Simulation Methods and Nucleation Theory to Uncover the Secrets of Gas Hydrates

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Keyes, Thomas [Boston Univ., MA (United States). Dept. of Chemistry

    2016-04-14

    Conventional computer simulation methods fail for some of the most important problems. With the design and application of innovative algorithms, this project achieved a breakthrough for the case of systems undergoing first-order phase transitions. We gave a complete simulation protocol based upon a well optimized version of our "generalized replica exchange method". The transition of primary interest was gas hydrate formation, a process of significance for climate science and natural gas retrieval. Since hydrates consist of guest molecules in the cages of a water matrix, β ice, the freezing and melting of water was also studied. New information was uncovered about the transition pathways and thermodynamics. Some highlights are 1. the finding that in a very dilute solution without deep supercooling, representative of real-world conditions and very challenging to conventional algorithms, methane can act as a catalyst to drive the formation of large amounts of β ice with empty cages as metastable intermediates, which might be filled by additional methane in a mechanism for hydrate formation, and 2. illumination of the role of metastable cubic ice in water freezing, with determination of the surface tensions of the cubic, hexagonal, and β ices, and the free energy difference of cubic vs hexagonal ice. Work was begun on lipid systems, bilayers and nanoreactors promising for energy-related photoreductions, and targets for future research. Our methods yielded what is arguably the most complete description of the composite lipid/water phases and the transition pathways among them.

  8. Promoting Approaches For Increasing The Cost-Efficiency Of Energy Wood And Pulpwood Harvesting In Young Stands

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Oikari, Markku; Palander, Teijo; Ovaskainen, Heikki (Univ. of Joensuu, Faculty of Forest Science FI-80101 Joensuu (Finland)); Kaerhae, Kalle (Metsaeteho Oy , FI-00171 Helsinki (Finland))

    2008-10-15

    Potential approaches for increasing the cost-efficiency of energy wood and industrial roundwood (i.e. pulpwood) harvesting from early thinnings in Finland were ranked in the survey carried out by Metsaeteho Oy and the University of Joensuu. The study was implemented by conducting personal interviews. Research data, based on a total of 40 interviews, were collected during January and February, 2008. In this study, employment, education, and operator issues proved to be of decisive importance for improving energy wood and industrial roundwood harvesting. In the opinion of the respondents, there is considerable potential for increasing the cost-efficiency of wood harvesting by improving harvesting conditions (i.e. effective tending of seedling stands, delaying harvesting operations, pre-clearance of undergrowth, and new wood production methods). The interviewees also stressed that harvesting methods can be rationalized, e.g. multiple-tree handling in industrial roundwood cuttings, integrated pulpwood and energy wood harvesting, and grapple scale measuring. If the most potential methods and techniques were utilized completely in wood harvesting, then there would be significant possibilities for cost savings in young stands. Based on the suggestions of this study, the most profitable guidelines should be utilized immediately

  9. Evaluation of Big Data and Innovation Interaction in Increase Supply Chain Competencies

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Zumrut Ecevit Sati

    2017-12-01

    Full Text Available In business today, it means a great deal to uncover meaningful relationships, patterns and trends from the huge stacks of data that are often now available. The explosion in data diversity and volume coming from enterprise content and application data, data from social media, sensor data and also data including streams from third parties is significantly changing the ways and methods of interaction for both companies and their customers. This pressure is felt considerably more in the management of innovation through trying to develop the capability to integrate the supply chain to match the correct methods with the right information. This situation has directed companies into using “big data” in managing both their structured and unstructured data. Big data, which is information, held on a vast scale, can reveal significant potential in its transparency and convenience. To bring about a balanced approach to the use of internal and external information, supporting improved capabilities to better predict future competence, and provide that all important “big picture” through business analytics can improve the vision of businesses through the provision of more in-depth information about how to best access their customers. Improved communication and information links between partners of the supply chain may create major sources of information by bringing together both internal and external resources for customers, partners, stakeholders and suppliers in managing innovation. In this study, it is aimed to provide an extensive literature review on the interaction of innovation and big data in order to increase supply chain competencies and to study the problem, obstacles and driving forces for such interactions, and to consider projections for the future through the application of technology-based methods.

  10. Endoscopic management of unresectable malignant gastroduodenal obstruction with a nitinol uncovered metal stent: A prospective Japanese multicenter study

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sasaki, Reina; Sakai, Yuji; Tsuyuguchi, Toshio; Nishikawa, Takao; Fujimoto, Tatsuya; Mikami, Shigeru; Sugiyama, Harutoshi; Yokosuka, Osamu

    2016-01-01

    AIM: To determine the safety and efficacy of endoscopic duodenal stent placement in patients with malignant gastric outlet obstruction. METHODS: This prospective, observational, multicenter study included 39 consecutive patients with malignant gastric outlet obstruction. All patients underwent endoscopic placement of a nitinol, uncovered, self-expandable metal stent. The primary outcome was clinical success at 2 wk after stent placement that was defined as improvement in the Gastric Outlet Obstruction Scoring System score relative to the baseline. RESULTS: Technical success was achieved in all duodenal stent procedures. Procedure-related complications occurred in 4 patients (10.3%) in the form of mild pneumonitis. No other morbidities or mortalities were observed. The clinical success rate was 92.3%. The mean survival period after stent placement was 103 d. The mean period of stent patency was 149 d and the patency remained acceptable for the survival period. Stent dysfunction occurred in 3 patients (7.7%) on account of tumor growth. CONCLUSION: Endoscopic management using duodenal stents for patients with incurable malignant gastric outlet obstruction is safe and improved patients’ quality of life. PMID:27076769

  11. Online Teaching Evaluation for Higher Quality Education: Strategies to Increase University Students' Participation

    Science.gov (United States)

    Weng, Cathy; Weng, Apollo; Tsai, Kevin

    2014-01-01

    The primary purpose of this study was to uncover determines of students' intention to adopt online teaching evaluation at the end of semester by proposing a research model based on the Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB). The second purpose was to investigate the efficacy of the theory for predicting such intention. Besides users' attitude and…

  12. Evaluating a physician leadership development program - a mixed methods approach.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Throgmorton, Cheryl; Mitchell, Trey; Morley, Tom; Snyder, Marijo

    2016-05-16

    Purpose - With the extent of change in healthcare today, organizations need strong physician leaders. To compensate for the lack of physician leadership education, many organizations are sending physicians to external leadership programs or developing in-house leadership programs targeted specifically to physicians. The purpose of this paper is to outline the evaluation strategy and outcomes of the inaugural year of a Physician Leadership Academy (PLA) developed and implemented at a Michigan-based regional healthcare system. Design/methodology/approach - The authors applied the theoretical framework of Kirkpatrick's four levels of evaluation and used surveys, observations, activity tracking, and interviews to evaluate the program outcomes. The authors applied grounded theory techniques to the interview data. Findings - The program met targeted outcomes across all four levels of evaluation. Interview themes focused on the significance of increasing self-awareness, building relationships, applying new skills, and building confidence. Research limitations/implications - While only one example, this study illustrates the importance of developing the evaluation strategy as part of the program design. Qualitative research methods, often lacking from learning evaluation design, uncover rich themes of impact. The study supports how a PLA program can enhance physician learning, engagement, and relationship building throughout and after the program. Physician leaders' partnership with organization development and learning professionals yield results with impact to individuals, groups, and the organization. Originality/value - Few studies provide an in-depth review of evaluation methods and outcomes of physician leadership development programs. Healthcare organizations seeking to develop similar in-house programs may benefit applying the evaluation strategy outlined in this study.

  13. Caloric Restriction and Exercise Increase Plasma ANGPTL4 Levels in Humans via Elevated Free Fatty Acids

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Kersten, A.H.; Lichtenstein, L.L.; Steenbergen, E.; Mudde, C.M.; Hendriks, H.F.J.; Hesselink, M.K.; Schrauwen, P.; Müller, M.R.

    2009-01-01

    Objective - Plasma lipoprotein levels are determined by the balance between lipoprotein production and clearance. Recently, angiopoietin-like protein 4 (ANGPTL4) was uncovered as a novel endocrine factor that potently raises plasma triglyceride levels by inhibiting triglyceride clearance. However,

  14. Caloric restriction and exercise increase plasma ANGPTL4 levels in humans via elevated free fatty acids.

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Kersten, S.; Lichtenstein, L.; Steenbergen, E.; Mudde, K.; Hendriks, H.F.; Hesselink, M.K.; Schrauwen, P.; Muller, M

    2009-01-01

    OBJECTIVE: Plasma lipoprotein levels are determined by the balance between lipoprotein production and clearance. Recently, angiopoietin-like protein 4 (ANGPTL4) was uncovered as a novel endocrine factor that potently raises plasma triglyceride levels by inhibiting triglyceride clearance. However,

  15. Caloric restriction and exercise increase plasma ANGPTL4 levels in humans via elevated free fatty acids

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Kersten, S.; Lichtenstein, L.; Steenbergen, E.; Mudde, K.; Hendriks, H.F.J.; Hesselink, M.K.; Schrauwen, P.; Müller, M.

    2009-01-01

    OBJECTIVE-: Plasma lipoprotein levels are determined by the balance between lipoprotein production and clearance. Recently, angiopoietin-like protein 4 (ANGPTL4) was uncovered as a novel endocrine factor that potently raises plasma triglyceride levels by inhibiting triglyceride clearance. However,

  16. #fitspo on Instagram: A mixed-methods approach using Netlytic and photo analysis, uncovering the online discussion and author/image characteristics.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Santarossa, Sara; Coyne, Paige; Lisinski, Carly; Woodruff, Sarah J

    2016-11-01

    The #fitspo 'tag' is a recent trend on Instagram, which is used on posts to motivate others towards a healthy lifestyle through exercise/eating habits. This study used a mixed-methods approach consisting of text and network analysis via the Netlytic program ( N = 10,000 #fitspo posts), and content analysis of #fitspo images ( N = 122) was used to examine author and image characteristics. Results suggest that #fitspo posts may motivate through appearance-mediated themes, as the largest content categories (based on the associated text) were 'feeling good' and 'appearance'. Furthermore, #fitspo posts may create peer influence/support as personal (opposed to non-personal) accounts were associated with higher popularity of images (i.e. number of likes/followers). Finally, most images contained posed individuals with some degree of objectification.

  17. A food-based approach introducing orange-fleshed sweet potatoes increased vitamin A intake and serum retinol concentrations in young children in rural Mozambique.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Low, Jan W; Arimond, Mary; Osman, Nadia; Cunguara, Benedito; Zano, Filipe; Tschirley, David

    2007-05-01

    Vitamin A deficiency is widespread and has severe consequences for young children in the developing world. Food-based approaches may be an appropriate and sustainable complement to supplementation programs. Orange-fleshed sweet potato (OFSP) is rich in beta-carotene and is well accepted by young children. In an extremely resource poor area in Mozambique, the effectiveness of introduction of OFSP was assessed in an integrated agriculture and nutrition intervention, which aimed to increase vitamin A intake and serum retinol concentrations in young children. The 2-y quasi-experimental intervention study followed households and children (n = 741; mean age 13 mo at baseline) through 2 agricultural cycles. In y 2, 90% of intervention households produced OFSP, and mean OFSP plot size in intervention areas increased from 33 to 359 m(2). Intervention children (n = 498) were more likely than control children (n = 243) to eat OFSP 3 or more d in the last wk (55% vs. 8%, P children (median 426 vs. 56 microg retinol activity equivalent, P children and did not increase significantly in control subjects. Integrated promotion of OFSP can complement other approaches and contribute to increases in vitamin A intake and serum retinol concentrations in young children in rural Mozambique and similar areas in Sub-Saharan Africa.

  18. New chromaticity compensation approach and dynamic aperture increase in the SSRF storage ring

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Tian Shunqiang; Hou Jie; Chen Guangling; Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing; Liu Guimin

    2008-01-01

    Strong chromatic sextupoles used to compensate natural chromaticities in the third generation light source storage ring usually reduce dynamic aperture drastically. Many optimization methods can be used to find solutions that provide large dynamic apertures. This paper discusses a new optimization approach of sextupole strengths with step-by-step procedure, which is applied in the SSRF storage ring, and a better solution is obtained. Investigating driving terms generated by the sextupoles in every step can analyze their convergences and guide the weight setting among different terms in object function of the single resonance approach based on the perturbation theory. (authors)

  19. Uncovering the Design Principle of Amino Acid-Derived Photoluminescent Biodots with Tailor-Made Structure-Properties and Applications for Cellular Bioimaging.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Xu, Hesheng Victor; Zheng, Xin Ting; Zhao, Yanli; Tan, Yen Nee

    2018-06-01

    Natural amino acids possess side chains with different functional groups (R groups), which make them excellent precursors for programmable synthesis of biomolecule-derived nanodots (biodots) with desired properties. Herein, we report the first systematic study to uncover the material design rules of biodot synthesis from 20 natural α-amino acids via a green hydrothermal approach. The as-synthesized amino acid biodots (AA dots) are comprehensively characterized to establish a structure-property relationship between the amino acid precursors and the corresponding photoluminescent properties of AA dots. It was found that the amino acids with reactive R groups, including amine, hydroxyl, and carboxyl functional groups form unique C-O-C/C-OH and N-H bonds in the AA dots which stabilize the surface defects, giving rise to brightly luminescent AA dots. Furthermore, the AA dots were found to be amorphous and the length of the R group was observed to affect the final morphology (e.g., disclike nanostructure, nanowire, or nanomesh) of the AA dots, which in turn influence their photoluminescent properties. It is noteworthy to highlight that the hydroxyl-containing amino acids, that is, Ser and Thr, form the brightest AA dots with a quantum yield of 30.44% and 23.07%, respectively, and possess high photostability with negligible photobleaching upon continuous UV exposure for 3 h. Intriguingly, by selective mixing of Ser or Thr with another amino acid precursor, the resulting mixed AA dots could inherit unique properties such as improved photostability and significant red shift in their emission wavelength, producing enhanced green and red fluorescent intensity. Moreover, our cellular studies demonstrate that the as-synthesized AA dots display outstanding biocompatibility and excellent intracellular uptake, which are highly desirable for imaging applications. We envision that the material design rules discovered in this study will be broadly applicable for the rational

  20. Oleanolic acid activates daf-16 to increase lifespan in Caenorhabditis elegans.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zhang, Jiaolong; Lu, Lulu; Zhou, Lijun

    2015-12-25

    Oleanolic acid (OA) is an active ingredient in natural plants. It has been reported to possess a variety of pharmacological activities, but very little is known about its effects of anti-aging. We investigate here whether OA has an impact on longevity in vivo, and more specifically, we have examined effects of OA on the lifespan and stress tolerance in Caenorhabditis elegans (C. elegans). Our results showed that OA could extend the lifespan, increase its stress resistance and reduce the intracellular reactive oxygen species (ROS) in wild-type worms. Moreover, we have found that OA-induced longevity may not be associated with the calorie restriction (CR) mechanism. Our mechanistic studies using daf-16 loss-of-function mutant strains (GR1307) indicated that the extension of lifespan by OA requires daf-16. In addition, OA treatment could also modulate the nuclear localization, and the quantitative real-time PCR results revealed that up-regulation of daf-16 target genes such as sod-3, hsp-16.2 and ctl-1 could prolong lifespan and increase stress response in C. elegans. This study overall uncovers the longevity effect of OA and its underpinning mechanisms. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  1. Impact Of The Ban On Uncovered SCDS Trade On the Interdependencies Between The CDS Market And Other Sectors Of Financial Markets. The Case Of Safe And Developed Versus Risky And Developing European Markets

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Kliber Agata

    2016-03-01

    Full Text Available The aim of the article is to verify the impact of the ban on uncovered sCDS trade in Europe on the interdependencies between the sCDS market and other sectors of financial markets. We analyse two European markets: the safe and developed Swedish market, and the risky and developing Hungarian one. The study covers the period from October 2008 to October 2013. We analyse changes in the interdependencies between the sCDS market and the bond market, as well as between the sCDS market and the stock exchange. We found out that in the case of the safe Swedish market, the strength of relationships of each sector of financial markets with the sCDS one was much weaker than in the case of Hungary, which may suggest that the Swedish market is less prone to crisis transmission arising from herd behaviour or speculative attacks. In the end we show that in the two economies, the influence of the sCDS market on the other sectors of financial market indeed diminished following introduction of the ban on uncovered sCDS trade.

  2. Multipulse spectroscopy on the wild-type and YM210W Bacterial Reaction Centre uncovers a new intermediate state in the special pair excited state

    Science.gov (United States)

    Cohen Stuart, T. A.; van Grondelle, R.

    2009-06-01

    The Bacterial Reaction Centre (BRC) has a complex electronic excited state, P ∗, that evolves into subsequent charge separated product states P +H - and P +B -. Pump-dump-probe spectroscopy on the wild-type BRC and on YM210W, a mutant with a stabilized, long-lived P ∗ excited state, has uncovered a new charge-separated state in both BRC's. When P ∗ is dumped, a fraction of its population is transferred to this state that has a strong Stark shift in the accessory bacteriochlorophyll (B M) region which serves as a signature for P + and a lifetime highly comparable to the slow phase of P ∗ decay. This lead us propose this intermediate to be P +/P -.

  3. The Direct Anterior Approach Does Not Increase Return to Function Following Hemiarthroplasty for Femoral Neck Fracture.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Carlson, Victor R; Ong, Alvin C; Orozco, Fabio R; Lutz, Rex W; Duque, Andres F; Post, Zachary D

    2017-11-01

    The purpose of this study was to evaluate functional outcomes for hemiarthroplasty using a direct anterior approach or a direct lateral approach for femoral neck fracture. This retrospective review used data collected from a single institution between 2006 and 2016. Eighty-five and 75 consecutive patients who underwent hemiarthroplasty via a direct anterior approach and a direct lateral approach, respectively, met inclusion criteria. All patients with femoral neck fractures were treated by 1 of 2 fellowship-trained orthopedic surgeons using the direct anterior approach or the direct lateral approach to hemiarthroplasty. Disposition, ambulation, and other perioperative surgical outcomes were compared between the cohorts. Compared with the direct lateral cohort, the direct anterior cohort had a shorter mean operative time (2.4 minutes, P<.01), a shorter mean length of hospital stay (2.7 days, P<.01), and a smaller mean decrease in hemoglobin postoperatively (0.7 g/dL, P<.01). No significant difference was observed between the cohorts for postoperative disposition, the number of feet ambulated on the second postoperative day, or the prevalence of ambulatory decline at 4- to 6-week and 4- to 6-month follow-up visits. Compared with the direct lateral approach, the direct anterior approach may benefit patients by small, but statistically significant, improvements in blood loss, surgical time, and length of hospital stay after hemiarthroplasty. However, the direct anterior approach does not appear to decrease the likelihood of transfer to a skilled nursing facility postoperatively or accelerate return to preoperative function. [Orthopedics. 2017; 40(6):e1055-e1061.]. Copyright 2017, SLACK Incorporated.

  4. How do urban households in China respond to increasing block pricing in electricity? Evidence from a fuzzy regression discontinuity approach

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Zhang, Zibin; Cai, Wenxin; Feng, Xiangzhao

    2017-01-01

    China is the largest electricity consumption country after it has passed the United States in 2011. Residential electricity consumption in China grew by 381.35% (12.85% per annum) between 2000 and 2013. In order to deal with rapid growth in residential electricity consumption, an increasing block pricing policy was introduced for residential electricity consumers in China on July 1st, 2012. Using difference-in-differences models with a fuzzy regression discontinuity design, we estimate a causal effect of price on electricity consumption for urban households during the introduction of increasing block pricing policy in Guangdong province of China. We find that consumers do not respond to a smaller (approximately 8%) increase in marginal price. However, consumers do respond to a larger increase in marginal price. An approximately 40% increase in marginal price induces an approximately 35% decrease in electricity use (284 kW h per month). Our results suggest that although the increasing block pricing could affect the behavior of households with higher electricity use, there is only a limit potential to overall energy conservation. - Highlights: • Estimate electricity consumption changes in response to the IBP in China. • Employ quasi-experimental approach and micro household level data in China. • Households do not respond to a smaller increase in marginal price. • 40% increase in marginal price induces a 35% decrease in electricity use.

  5. Assessing and Increasing Physical Activity

    Science.gov (United States)

    Van Camp, Carole M.; Hayes, Lynda B.

    2012-01-01

    Increasing physical activity is a crucial component of any comprehensive approach to combat the growing obesity epidemic. This review summarizes recent behavioral research on the measurement of physical activity and interventions aimed at increasing physical activity and provides directions for future research.

  6. Setting-level influences on implementation of the responsive classroom approach.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wanless, Shannon B; Patton, Christine L; Rimm-Kaufman, Sara E; Deutsch, Nancy L

    2013-02-01

    We used mixed methods to examine the association between setting-level factors and observed implementation of a social and emotional learning intervention (Responsive Classroom® approach; RC). In study 1 (N = 33 3rd grade teachers after the first year of RC implementation), we identified relevant setting-level factors and uncovered the mechanisms through which they related to implementation. In study 2 (N = 50 4th grade teachers after the second year of RC implementation), we validated our most salient Study 1 finding across multiple informants. Findings suggested that teachers perceived setting-level factors, particularly principal buy-in to the intervention and individualized coaching, as influential to their degree of implementation. Further, we found that intervention coaches' perspectives of principal buy-in were more related to implementation than principals' or teachers' perspectives. Findings extend the application of setting theory to the field of implementation science and suggest that interventionists may want to consider particular accounts of school setting factors before determining the likelihood of schools achieving high levels of implementation.

  7. Uncovering effective strategies for hearing loss prevention

    Science.gov (United States)

    Morata, Thais C.; Meinke, Deanna

    2016-01-01

    Occupational health agencies, researchers and policy makers have recognized the need for evidence on the effectiveness of interventions designed to reduce or prevent workplace injuries and illnesses. While many workplaces comply with legal or obligatory requirements and implement recommended interventions, few publications exist documenting the effectiveness of these actions. Additionally, some workplaces have discovered through their own processes, novel ways to reduce the risk of injury. Peer-reviewed information on the effectiveness of the many strategies and approaches currently in use could help correct weaknesses, or further encourage their adoption and expansion. The evaluation of intervention effectiveness would certainly contribute to improved worker health and safety. This need is particularly relevant regarding noise exposure in the workplace and hearing loss prevention interventions. In a 2006 review of the U.S. National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) Hearing Loss Research Program, the independent National Academies of Sciences recommended that NIOSH place greater emphasis on identifying the effectiveness of hearing loss prevention measures on the basis of outcomes that are as closely related as possible to reducing noise exposure and work related hearing loss (http://www.nap.edu/openbook.php?record_id=11721). NIOSH used two different approaches to address that recommendation: the first one was to conduct research, including broad systematic reviews on the effectiveness of interventions to prevent occupational noise-induced hearing loss. The second was to create an award program, the Safe-In-Sound Excellence in Hearing Loss Prevention Award™, to identify and honor excellent real-world examples of noise control and other hearing loss prevention practices and innovations. PMID:27397968

  8. A Next-Generation Sequencing Approach Uncovers Viral Transcripts Incorporated in Poxvirus Virions

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Marica Grossegesse

    2017-10-01

    Full Text Available Transcripts are known to be incorporated in particles of DNA viruses belonging to the families of Herpesviridae and Mimiviridae, but the presence of transcripts in other DNA viruses, such as poxviruses, has not been analyzed yet. Therefore, we first established a next-generation-sequencing (NGS-based protocol, enabling the unbiased identification of transcripts in virus particles. Subsequently, we applied our protocol to analyze RNA in an emerging zoonotic member of the Poxviridae family, namely Cowpox virus. Our results revealed the incorporation of 19 viral transcripts, while host identifications were restricted to ribosomal and mitochondrial RNA. Most viral transcripts had an unknown and immunomodulatory function, suggesting that transcript incorporation may be beneficial for poxvirus immune evasion. Notably, the most abundant transcript originated from the D5L/I1R gene that encodes a viral inhibitor of the host cytoplasmic DNA sensing machinery.

  9. Uncovering the complexity of workplace wellbeing using a cross-case analysis approach

    OpenAIRE

    Pettinger, C; Bannigan, K; Nelder, R; Nnoaham, K

    2017-01-01

    Background: Workplace wellbeing has become an important public health priority, due to working days lost and the economic cost of ill-health. Evidence for effective workplace interventions, however, remains inconsistent. Plymouth City Council (Public Health) prioritised workplace wellbeing as the inaugural focus for their ten-year inequalities programme ‘Thrive Plymouth’. An evaluation was commissioned to appraise this as an exemplar to optimize workplace wellbeing – assessing organizational ...

  10. Uncovering attribute-based determinants of loyalty in cigarette brands

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Krystallis Krontalis, Athanasios

    2013-01-01

    Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to examine the importance of tobacco differentiation attributes (i.e. nicotine and tar content, length, flavor and thickness) in market performance and loyalty levels of brands. Design/methodology/approach – The study adopts a stochastic approach to measure...... brand loyalty at the attribute level using the Dirichlet model as a benchmark tool. Data based on the Juster Probability Scale were collected from a sample of n ¼ 155 young smokers in Iceland. Findings – Product differentiation strategies operate differently. Light nicotine and tar content encourages...... smokers to switch across brands and within family brands, resulting on improved market performance and loyalty levels. Length and thickness-related differentiation are slightly better than nondifferentiation in inducing loyalty, but worse in improving performance. Practical implications – Two types...

  11. Uncovering the Mechanisms Responsible for Why Language Learning May Promote Healthy Cognitive Aging

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Mark Antoniou

    2017-12-01

    Full Text Available One of the great challenges facing humankind in the 21st century is preserving healthy brain function in our aging population. Individuals over 60 are the fastest growing age group in the world, and by 2050, it is estimated that the number of people over the age of 60 will triple. The typical aging process involves cognitive decline related to brain atrophy, especially in frontal brain areas and regions that subserve declarative memory, loss of synaptic connections, and the emergence of neuropathological symptoms associated with dementia. The disease-state of this age-related cognitive decline is Alzheimer’s disease and other dementias, which may cause older adults to lose their independence and rely on others to live safely, burdening family members and health care systems in the process. However, there are two lines of research that offer hope to those seeking to promote healthy cognitive aging. First, it has been observed that lifestyle variables such as cognitive leisure activities can moderate the risk of Alzheimer’s disease, which has led to the development of plasticity-based interventions for older adults designed to protect against the adverse effects of cognitive decline. Second, there is evidence that lifelong bilingualism acts as a safeguard in preserving healthy brain function, possibly delaying the incidence of dementia by several years. In previous work, we have suggested that foreign language learning programs aimed at older populations are an optimal solution for building cognitive reserve because language learning engages an extensive brain network that is known to overlap with the regions negatively affected by the aging process. Here, we will outline potential future lines of research that may uncover the mechanism responsible for the emergence of language learning related brain advantages, such as language typology, bi- vs. multi-lingualism, age of acquisition, and the elements that are likely to result in the largest

  12. Uncovering the Mechanisms Responsible for Why Language Learning May Promote Healthy Cognitive Aging

    Science.gov (United States)

    Antoniou, Mark; Wright, Sarah M.

    2017-01-01

    One of the great challenges facing humankind in the 21st century is preserving healthy brain function in our aging population. Individuals over 60 are the fastest growing age group in the world, and by 2050, it is estimated that the number of people over the age of 60 will triple. The typical aging process involves cognitive decline related to brain atrophy, especially in frontal brain areas and regions that subserve declarative memory, loss of synaptic connections, and the emergence of neuropathological symptoms associated with dementia. The disease-state of this age-related cognitive decline is Alzheimer’s disease and other dementias, which may cause older adults to lose their independence and rely on others to live safely, burdening family members and health care systems in the process. However, there are two lines of research that offer hope to those seeking to promote healthy cognitive aging. First, it has been observed that lifestyle variables such as cognitive leisure activities can moderate the risk of Alzheimer’s disease, which has led to the development of plasticity-based interventions for older adults designed to protect against the adverse effects of cognitive decline. Second, there is evidence that lifelong bilingualism acts as a safeguard in preserving healthy brain function, possibly delaying the incidence of dementia by several years. In previous work, we have suggested that foreign language learning programs aimed at older populations are an optimal solution for building cognitive reserve because language learning engages an extensive brain network that is known to overlap with the regions negatively affected by the aging process. Here, we will outline potential future lines of research that may uncover the mechanism responsible for the emergence of language learning related brain advantages, such as language typology, bi- vs. multi-lingualism, age of acquisition, and the elements that are likely to result in the largest gains. PMID:29326636

  13. Uncovering multiple populations with washington photometry. I. The globular cluster NGC 1851

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Cummings, Jeffrey D.; Geisler, D.; Villanova, S. [Departamento de Astronomía, Casilla 160-C, Universidad de Concepción (Chile); Carraro, G. [ESO, Alonso de Cordova 3107, Casilla 19001, Santiago de Chile (Chile)

    2014-08-01

    The analysis of multiple populations (MPs) in globular clusters (GCs) has become a forefront area of research in astronomy. Multiple red giant branches (RGBs), subgiant branches (SGBs), and even main sequences (MSs) have now been observed photometrically in many GCs, while broad abundance distributions of certain elements have been detected spectroscopically in most, if not all, GCs. UV photometry has been crucial in discovering and analyzing these MPs, but the Johnson U and the Stromgren and Sloan u filters that have generally been used are relatively inefficient and very sensitive to reddening and atmospheric extinction. In contrast, the Washington C filter is much broader and redder than these competing UV filters, making it far more efficient at detecting MPs and much less sensitive to reddening and extinction. Here, we investigate the use of the Washington system to uncover MPs using only a 1 m telescope. Our analysis of the well-studied GC NGC 1851 finds that the C filter is both very efficient and effective at detecting its previously discovered MPs in the RGB and SGB. Remarkably, we have also detected an intrinsically broad MS best characterized by two distinct but heavily overlapping populations that cannot be explained by binaries, field stars, or photometric errors. The MS distribution is in very good agreement with that seen on the RGB, with ∼30% of the stars belonging to the second population. There is also evidence for two sequences in the red horizontal branch, but this appears to be unrelated to the MPs in this cluster. Neither of these latter phenomena have been observed previously in this cluster. The redder MS stars are also more centrally concentrated than the blue MS. This is the first time MPs in an MS have been discovered from the ground, and using only a 1 m telescope. The Washington system thus proves to be a very powerful tool for investigating MPs, and holds particular promise for extragalactic objects where photons are limited.

  14. Degenerate primer MOB typing of multiresistant clinical isolates of E. coli uncovers new plasmid backbones.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Garcillán-Barcia, M Pilar; Ruiz del Castillo, Belén; Alvarado, Andrés; de la Cruz, Fernando; Martínez-Martínez, Luis

    2015-01-01

    Degenerate Primer MOB Typing is a PCR-based protocol for the classification of γ-proteobacterial transmissible plasmids in five phylogenetic relaxase MOB families. It was applied to a multiresistant E. coli collection, previously characterized by PCR-based replicon-typing, in order to compare both methods. Plasmids from 32 clinical isolates of multiresistant E. coli (19 extended spectrum beta-lactamase producers and 13 non producers) and their transconjugants were analyzed. A total of 95 relaxases were detected, at least one per isolate, underscoring the high potential of these strains for antibiotic-resistance transmission. MOBP12 and MOBF12 plasmids were the most abundant. Most MOB subfamilies detected were present in both subsets of the collection, indicating a shared mobilome among multiresistant E. coli. The plasmid profile obtained by both methods was compared, which provided useful data upon which decisions related to the implementation of detection methods in the clinic could be based. The phylogenetic depth at which replicon and MOB-typing classify plasmids is different. While replicon-typing aims at plasmid replication regions with non-degenerate primers, MOB-typing classifies plasmids into relaxase subfamilies using degenerate primers. As a result, MOB-typing provides a deeper phylogenetic depth than replicon-typing and new plasmid groups are uncovered. Significantly, MOB typing identified 17 plasmids and an integrative and conjugative element, which were not detected by replicon-typing. Four of these backbones were different from previously reported elements. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  15. No Place to Hide: Missing Primitive Stars Outside Milky Way Uncovered

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-02-01

    After years of successful concealment, the most primitive stars outside our Milky Way galaxy have finally been unmasked. New observations using ESO's Very Large Telescope have been used to solve an important astrophysical puzzle concerning the oldest stars in our galactic neighbourhood - which is crucial for our understanding of the earliest stars in the Universe. "We have, in effect, found a flaw in the forensic methods used until now," says Else Starkenburg, lead author of the paper reporting the study. "Our improved approach allows us to uncover the primitive stars hidden among all the other, more common stars." Primitive stars are thought to have formed from material forged shortly after the Big Bang, 13.7 billion years ago. They typically have less than one thousandth the amount of chemical elements heavier than hydrogen and helium found in the Sun and are called "extremely metal-poor stars" [1]. They belong to one of the first generations of stars in the nearby Universe. Such stars are extremely rare and mainly observed in the Milky Way. Cosmologists think that larger galaxies like the Milky Way formed from the merger of smaller galaxies. Our Milky Way's population of extremely metal-poor or "primitive" stars should already have been present in the dwarf galaxies from which it formed, and similar populations should be present in other dwarf galaxies. "So far, evidence for them has been scarce," says co-author Giuseppina Battaglia. "Large surveys conducted in the last few years kept showing that the most ancient populations of stars in the Milky Way and dwarf galaxies did not match, which was not at all expected from cosmological models." Element abundances are measured from spectra, which provide the chemical fingerprints of stars [2]. The Dwarf galaxies Abundances and Radial-velocities Team [3] used the FLAMES instrument on ESO's Very Large Telescope to measure the spectra of over 2000 individual giant stars in four of our galactic neighbours, the Fornax

  16. INCREASING WATERFLOOD RESERVES IN THE WILMINGTON OIL FIELD THROUGH IMPROVED RESERVOIR CHARACTERIZATION AND RESERVOIR MANAGEMENT

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Scott Walker; Chris Phillips; Roy Koerner; Don Clarke; Dan Moos; Kwasi Tagbor

    2002-02-28

    This project increased recoverable waterflood reserves in slope and basin reservoirs through improved reservoir characterization and reservoir management. The particular application of this project is in portions of Fault Blocks IV and V of the Wilmington Oil Field, in Long Beach, California, but the approach is widely applicable in slope and basin reservoirs. Transferring technology so that it can be applied in other sections of the Wilmington Field and by operators in other slope and basin reservoirs is a primary component of the project. This project used advanced reservoir characterization tools, including the pulsed acoustic cased-hole logging tool, geologic three-dimensional (3-D) modeling software, and commercially available reservoir management software to identify sands with remaining high oil saturation following waterflood. Production from the identified high oil saturated sands was stimulated by recompleting existing production and injection wells in these sands using conventional means as well as a short radius redrill candidate. Although these reservoirs have been waterflooded over 40 years, researchers have found areas of remaining oil saturation. Areas such as the top sand in the Upper Terminal Zone Fault Block V, the western fault slivers of Upper Terminal Zone Fault Block V, the bottom sands of the Tar Zone Fault Block V, and the eastern edge of Fault Block IV in both the Upper Terminal and Lower Terminal Zones all show significant remaining oil saturation. Each area of interest was uncovered emphasizing a different type of reservoir characterization technique or practice. This was not the original strategy but was necessitated by the different levels of progress in each of the project activities.

  17. Improvement of environment and work posture through ergonomic approach to increase productivity of balinese kepeng coin workers in Kamasan village Klungkung Bali

    Science.gov (United States)

    Suarbawa, I. K. G. J.; Arsawan, M.; Yusuf, M.; Anom Santiana, I. M.

    2018-01-01

    Balinese coins (Pis Bolong) have become part of Balinese life as yadnya material or religious ceremony. To meet a variety of purposes, balinese coint today many produced by the community Kamasan village of Bali, in addition to religious purposes are also used as souvenirs. Pis bolong (kepeng coin) manufactured by molding techniques and molding metal in a simple manner of raw materials in a furnace smelting subsequently printed and refining process. Kepeng coins (Balinese coins) to production reached 20,000 in a day with more than 50 artisans. Use of a furnace with open flame and work posture and ways of working are not naturally able to increase the workload, subjective disorders of artisans, and decrease productivity. To overcome these problems, the improvement of environment and work posture by ergonomic approach. This research used by design “pre and post test group design” to 8 crafters of the melting process. Productivity calculated from the number of kepeng coin produced per work pulse of workers. The results showed that there were significant difference in productivity between treatment 1 (using old way) with treatment 2 (using improvement of environment and work posture) in kepeng coin workers. Work productivity increase by 33.9%. It can be concluded that the improvement of environment and work posture through ergonomic approach increase productivity of kepeng coin workers.

  18. Uncovering New Thermal and Elastic Properties of Nanostructured Materials Using Coherent EUV Light

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hernandez Charpak, Jorge Nicolas

    directly probe the dynamics of phonons in complex materials, which is critical to both technological applications and fundamental condensed matter physics. I developed a proof of concept model and used it to extract the first experimental differential conductivity phonon mean free path (MFP) spectra for silicon and sapphire, which compare well with first-principles calculations. However, a complete picture of the physics is still elusive. Thus, I developed a computational solver for the phonon Boltzmann transport equation in realistic experimental geometries. Using this approach, I successfully found confirmation of the influence of the period in thermal transport from periodic heat sources: a smaller periodicity can enhance the heat dissipation efficiency. This result is qualitatively consistent with the results of the "collectively-diffusive regime", but more work is needed for a full theoretical quantitative picture of the experimental results. In other work, I used coherent EUV nanometrology to simultaneously measure, in a non-contact and non-destructive way, Young's modulus and, for the first time, Poisson's ratio of ultra-thin films. I successfully extracted the full elastic tensor of the thinnest films to date (10.9nm). Moreover, by using our technique on a series of low-k dielectric sub-100 nm SiC:H films, I uncovered an unexpected transition from compressible to non-compressible behavior. This new behavior is observed for materials whose network connectivity had been modified through hydrogenation (that breaks bonds in order to decrease the dielectric constant of these materials). This finding demonstrates that coherent EUV nanometrology provides a valuable, quantitative new tool for measuring nanomaterial properties with dimensions an order of magnitude smaller than what was possible with traditional techniques. I also present here some of my written work on science and technology policy studies. I present my thoughts on the Kuhnian model of scientific

  19. Epistaxis revealing the rupture of a carotid aneurysm of the cavernous sinus extending into the sphenoid: treatment using an uncovered stent and coils. Review of literature.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lehmann, Pierre; Saliou, Guillaume; Page, Cyril; Balut, Antonia; Le Gars, Daniel; Vallée, Jean Noel

    2009-05-01

    True carotid aneurysms with sphenoid extension and revealed by epistaxis are rare. A review of the literature shows the mortality risk of this pathology and the different therapeutic options. A 41-year-old female presented with a cavernous carotid aneurysm with sphenoid extension revealed by massive epistaxis. We propose a combined treatment of the affected vessel using coils and an uncovered stent. The first stage to stop the hemorrhages and occlude the aneurysm using the coil and the second stage several days later after anticoagulation using the stent to prevent revascularization. This treatment has been shown to be effective in producing immediate hemostasis and stable long-term occlusion.

  20. Nested radiations and the pulse of angiosperm diversification: increased diversification rates often follow whole genome duplications.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Tank, David C; Eastman, Jonathan M; Pennell, Matthew W; Soltis, Pamela S; Soltis, Douglas E; Hinchliff, Cody E; Brown, Joseph W; Sessa, Emily B; Harmon, Luke J

    2015-07-01

    Our growing understanding of the plant tree of life provides a novel opportunity to uncover the major drivers of angiosperm diversity. Using a time-calibrated phylogeny, we characterized hot and cold spots of lineage diversification across the angiosperm tree of life by modeling evolutionary diversification using stepwise AIC (MEDUSA). We also tested the whole-genome duplication (WGD) radiation lag-time model, which postulates that increases in diversification tend to lag behind established WGD events. Diversification rates have been incredibly heterogeneous throughout the evolutionary history of angiosperms and reveal a pattern of 'nested radiations' - increases in net diversification nested within other radiations. This pattern in turn generates a negative relationship between clade age and diversity across both families and orders. We suggest that stochastically changing diversification rates across the phylogeny explain these patterns. Finally, we demonstrate significant statistical support for the WGD radiation lag-time model. Across angiosperms, nested shifts in diversification led to an overall increasing rate of net diversification and declining relative extinction rates through time. These diversification shifts are only rarely perfectly associated with WGD events, but commonly follow them after a lag period. © 2015 The Authors. New Phytologist © 2015 New Phytologist Trust.

  1. Gross separation approaching a blunt trailing edge as the turbulence intensity increases.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Scheichl, B

    2014-07-28

    A novel rational description of incompressible two-dimensional time-mean turbulent boundary layer (BL) flow separating from a bluff body at an arbitrarily large globally formed Reynolds number, Re, is devised. Partly in contrast to and partly complementing previous approaches, it predicts a pronounced delay of massive separation as the turbulence intensity level increases. This is bounded from above by a weakly decaying Re-dependent gauge function (hence, the BL approximation stays intact locally), and thus the finite intensity level characterizing fully developed turbulence. However, it by far exceeds the moderate level found in a preceding study which copes with the associated moderate delay of separation. Thus, the present analysis bridges this self-consistent and another forerunner theory, proposing extremely retarded separation by anticipating a fully attached external potential flow. Specifically, it is shown upon formulation of a respective distinguished limit at which rate the separation point and the attached-flow trailing edge collapse as [Formula: see text] and how on a short streamwise scale the typical small velocity deficit in the core region of the incident BL evolves to a large one. Hence, at its base, the separating velocity profile varies generically with the one-third power of the wall distance, and the classical triple-deck problem describing local viscous-inviscid interaction crucial for moderately retarded separation is superseded by a Rayleigh problem, governing separation of that core layer. Its targeted solution proves vital for understanding the separation process more close to the wall. Most importantly, the analysis does not resort to any specific turbulence closure. A first comparison with the available experimentally found positions of separation for the canonical flow past a circular cylinder is encouraging. © 2014 The Author(s) Published by the Royal Society. All rights reserved.

  2. A dialogue-centric approach to environmental-remediation decision-making - 59115

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Boucher, Laurel; Clark, James F.

    2012-01-01

    This paper outlines a multi-step approach to streamline and enhance the decision-making process that guides environmental remediation. The inability of the responsible party and the various stakeholders to reach agreement on the remediation plan can delay the remediation, result in financial penalties, and lead to the development of an adversarial stance that inhibits the ability of the parties to work together in a creative and constructive manner. The approach presented by the authors is designed to expand dialogue in a way that moves it beyond technical or fiscal matters by addressing what the authors describe as the 'hidden barriers' to productive dialogue. These 'hidden barriers' include: self-interests, the perception as to how people are being treated, a lack of clarity or poor management of responsibilities and accountabilities, unclear or convoluted communication protocols, and an underlying tone of conflict and cynicism. A key element of the multi-step approach outlined in this paper is the process of uncovering these 'hidden barriers' and addressing them in a way that turns discourse into collaboration. The paper describes a model the authors have used to streamline and enhance the process of creating sustainable agreements both for the U.S. Department of Energy's Office of Environmental Management as well as the U.S. Department of Defense for a variety of environmental remediation projects. The results of this approach include the acceleration of an environmental clean-up from a projected 19 years to 11 years, the development of innovative technical strategies, the reduction of a major backlog of environmental proposals requiring review and comment, and the distinction accorded one group of being recognized as a model of effective partnering. The approach described has widespread implications not only because its use can be expanded to include a multitude of decision-making applications but also because of the impact it creates by expanding both the

  3. Polymorphisms in the mitochondrial ribosome recycling factor EF-G2mt/MEF2 compromise cell respiratory function and increase atorvastatin toxicity.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Sylvie Callegari

    Full Text Available Mitochondrial translation, essential for synthesis of the electron transport chain complexes in the mitochondria, is governed by nuclear encoded genes. Polymorphisms within these genes are increasingly being implicated in disease and may also trigger adverse drug reactions. Statins, a class of HMG-CoA reductase inhibitors used to treat hypercholesterolemia, are among the most widely prescribed drugs in the world. However, a significant proportion of users suffer side effects of varying severity that commonly affect skeletal muscle. The mitochondria are one of the molecular targets of statins, and these drugs have been known to uncover otherwise silent mitochondrial mutations. Based on yeast genetic studies, we identify the mitochondrial translation factor MEF2 as a mediator of atorvastatin toxicity. The human ortholog of MEF2 is the Elongation Factor Gene (EF-G 2, which has previously been shown to play a specific role in mitochondrial ribosome recycling. Using small interfering RNA (siRNA silencing of expression in human cell lines, we demonstrate that the EF-G2mt gene is required for cell growth on galactose medium, signifying an essential role for this gene in aerobic respiration. Furthermore, EF-G2mt silenced cell lines have increased susceptibility to cell death in the presence of atorvastatin. Using yeast as a model, conserved amino acid variants, which arise from non-synonymous single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs in the EF-G2mt gene, were generated in the yeast MEF2 gene. Although these mutations do not produce an obvious growth phenotype, three mutations reveal an atorvastatin-sensitive phenotype and further analysis uncovers a decreased respiratory capacity. These findings constitute the first reported phenotype associated with SNPs in the EF-G2mt gene and implicate the human EF-G2mt gene as a pharmacogenetic candidate gene for statin toxicity in humans.

  4. Cyclist–motorist crash patterns in Denmark: A latent class clustering approach

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Kaplan, Sigal; Prato, Carlo Giacomo

    2013-01-01

    to prioritize safety issues and to devise efficient preventive measures. Method: The current study focused on cyclist–motorist crashes that occurred in Denmark during the period between 2007 and 2011. To uncover crash patterns, the current analysis applied latent class clustering, an unsupervised probabilistic...

  5. Implications for research and practice of the biographic approach for storytelling.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ewens, Beverley; Hendricks, Joyce; Sundin, Deb

    2017-01-23

    Background Intensive care unit survivors face many physical and psychological difficulties during their recovery following discharge from hospital. These difficulties can significantly affect their quality of life. Healthcare providers and survivors' families often do not understand what recovery means in this population, which may affect the support provided. Aim To consider the potential of the biographical method in helping to create stories that illustrate recovery in intensive care survivors and other populations. Discussion This paper identifies how the biographical approach has provided survivors with a way to uncover the hidden parts of their lives through diaries and interviews, and reveal the hidden stories of intensive care survivorship and recovery. Conclusion The application of the biographical method enabled stories to be created that identified the disruption survivors encounter as they struggle to appear recovered. Implications for practice The biographical method can illuminate experiences uncaptured by other methods. This insight into recovery journeys can help healthcare practitioners and family members to understand and recognise the need for support during recovery.

  6. Participant perceptions of a novel physiotherapy approach ("Blue Prescription") for increasing levels of physical activity in people with multiple sclerosis: a qualitative study following intervention.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Smith, Catherine M; Hale, Leigh A; Mulligan, Hilda F; Treharne, Gareth J

    2013-07-01

    The aim of this study was to investigate experiences of participating in a feasibility trial of a novel physiotherapy intervention (Blue Prescription). The trial was designed to increase participation in physical activity for people with multiple sclerosis living in the community. We individually interviewed 27 volunteers from two New Zealand metropolitan areas at the conclusion of their participation in Blue Prescription. We asked volunteers about what participation in Blue Prescription had meant to them; how participants intended to continue with their physical activity; how the approach differed from previous experiences of physiotherapy encounters; and how Blue Prescription could be improved. Interviews were semi-structured, audio-recorded, transcribed verbatim, and analysed using a General Inductive Approach. 'Support' was identified as a key theme with three sub-themes: 'The therapeutic relationship'; 'The Blue Prescription approach'; and 'Supporting themselves'. We identified two additional themes 'Motivation to participate' and 'Improving the Blue Prescription approach'. A novel approach (Blue Prescription) which facilitates engagement in higher levels of desirable physical activity was perceived by participants to be supportive, motivating and enabling. This approach might be particularly useful for people with multiple sclerosis ready to adopt new health-related behaviours. For future studies, this approach requires further refinement, particularly with regards to methods of communication and evaluation.

  7. A high-resolution peak fractionation approach for streamlined screening of nuclear-factor-E2-related factor-2 activators in Salvia miltiorrhiza.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zhang, Hui; Luo, Li-Ping; Song, Hui-Peng; Hao, Hai-Ping; Zhou, Ping; Qi, Lian-Wen; Li, Ping; Chen, Jun

    2014-01-24

    Generation of a high-purity fraction library for efficiently screening active compounds from natural products is challenging because of their chemical diversity and complex matrices. In this work, a strategy combining high-resolution peak fractionation (HRPF) with a cell-based assay was proposed for target screening of bioactive constituents from natural products. In this approach, peak fractionation was conducted under chromatographic conditions optimized for high-resolution separation of the natural product extract. The HRPF approach was automatically performed according to the predefinition of certain peaks based on their retention times from a reference chromatographic profile. The corresponding HRPF database was collected with a parallel mass spectrometer to ensure purity and characterize the structures of compounds in the various fractions. Using this approach, a set of 75 peak fractions on the microgram scale was generated from 4mg of the extract of Salvia miltiorrhiza. After screening by an ARE-luciferase reporter gene assay, 20 diterpene quinones were selected and identified, and 16 of these compounds were reported to possess novel Nrf2 activation activity. Compared with conventional fixed-time interval fractionation, the HRPF approach could significantly improve the efficiency of bioactive compound discovery and facilitate the uncovering of minor active components. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  8. Sinus Floor Elevation with Modified Crestal Approach and Single Loaded Short Implants: A Case Report with 4 Years of Follow-Up

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Michele Perelli

    2017-01-01

    Full Text Available Tooth extraction is usually followed by bone reduction. In the maxillary posterior region, this remodelling combined with sinus pneumatisation and periodontal defects may lead to a reduced basal bone height available for implant placement. Sinus floor elevation can be performed with different surgical techniques. Crestal approach has demonstrated to be effective, less invasive, and associated with a reduced morbidity. This article reports a modified sinus floor elevation by means of rotary, noncutting instruments, addition of xenograft, and 2 short-threaded implant placements. The aim of the study was to evaluate the implant’s success and intrasinus radiographical bone gain after 4 years of functional loading. The premolar implant site presented a starting basal bone height of 6 mm, while the molar site was of 2 mm. In the first surgical step, sinus floor elevation was performed mesially and the implant was inserted, and distally only sinus floor elevation was performed. After 6 months, the mesial implant was uncovered and the second implant was inserted; 4 months later, the second fixture was uncovered, and both fixtures were loaded with single provisional screw-retained crowns and later with single screw-retained porcelain fused to metal crowns. Implants integrated successfully, and crestal bone remodelling did not exceed the smooth collar. Bone gain was 3 mm for the mesial implant and more than 5 mm for the distal one.

  9. Using complementary approaches to identify trans-domain nuclear gene transfers in the extremophile Galdieria sulphuraria (Rhodophyta).

    Science.gov (United States)

    Pandey, Ravi S; Saxena, Garima; Bhattacharya, Debashish; Qiu, Huan; Azad, Rajeev K

    2017-02-01

    Identification of horizontal gene transfers (HGTs) has primarily relied on phylogenetic tree based methods, which require a rich sampling of sequenced genomes to ensure a reliable inference. Because the success of phylogenetic approaches depends on the breadth and depth of the database, researchers usually apply stringent filters to detect only the most likely gene transfers in the genomes of interest. One such study focused on a highly conservative estimate of trans-domain gene transfers in the extremophile eukaryote, Galdieria sulphuraria (Galdieri) Merola (Rhodophyta), by applying multiple filters in their phylogenetic pipeline. This led to the identification of 75 inter-domain acquisitions from Bacteria or Archaea. Because of the evolutionary, ecological, and potential biotechnological significance of foreign genes in algae, alternative approaches and pipelines complementing phylogenetics are needed for a more comprehensive assessment of HGT. We present here a novel pipeline that uncovered 17 novel foreign genes of prokaryotic origin in G. sulphuraria, results that are supported by multiple lines of evidence including composition-based, comparative data, and phylogenetics. These genes encode a variety of potentially adaptive functions, from metabolite transport to DNA repair. © 2016 Phycological Society of America.

  10. Beyond incentives for involvement to compensation for consultants: increasing equity in CBPR approaches.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Black, Kristin Z; Hardy, Christina Yongue; De Marco, Molly; Ammerman, Alice S; Corbie-Smith, Giselle; Council, Barbara; Ellis, Danny; Eng, Eugenia; Harris, Barbara; Jackson, Melvin; Jean-Baptiste, Jimmy; Kearney, William; Legerton, Mac; Parker, Donald; Wynn, Mysha; Lightfoot, Alexandra

    2013-01-01

    Community-based participatory research (CBPR) strives for equitable collaboration among community and academic partners throughout the research process. To build the capacity of academia to function as effective research partners with communities, the North Carolina Translational and Clinical Sciences Institute (NC TraCS), home of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (UNC-CH)'s Clinical and Translational Sciences Award (CTSA), developed a community engagement consulting model. This new model harnesses the expertise of community partners with CBPR experience and compensates them equitably to provide technical assistance to community-academic research partnerships. This paper describes approaches to valuing community expertise, the importance of equitable compensation for community partners, the impact on the community partners, opportunities for institutional change, and the constraints faced in model implementation. Community Experts (CEs) are independent contractor consultants. CEs were interviewed to evaluate their satisfaction with their engagement and compensation for their work. (1) CEs have knowledge, power, and credibility to push for systems change. (2) Changes were needed within the university to facilitate successful consultation to community-academic partnerships. (3) Sustaining the CE role requires staff support, continued compensation, increased opportunities for engagement, and careful consideration of position demands. (4) The role provides benefits beyond financial compensation. (5) Opportunities to gather deepened relationships within the partnership and built collective knowledge that strengthened the project. Leveraging CE expertise and compensating them for their role benefits both university and community. Creating a place for community expertise within academia is an important step toward equitably including the community in research.

  11. Uncovering the Hidden Transaction Costs of Market Power

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Foss, Kirsten; Foss, Nicolai J.; Klein, Peter G.

    2018-01-01

    A central construct in competitive strategy research is market power, the ability to raise price above marginal cost. Positioning research focuses on attempts to build, protect, and exercise market power. However, this approach contains hidden assumptions about transaction costs. Parties made worse...... off by the exercise of market power can negotiate, bargain, form coalitions, and otherwise contract around the focal firm's attempts to appropriate monopoly profits—depending on transaction costs. We build on property rights economics to explain how transaction costs affect positioning and offer...

  12. Genome-enabled Modeling of Microbial Biogeochemistry using a Trait-based Approach. Does Increasing Metabolic Complexity Increase Predictive Capabilities?

    Science.gov (United States)

    King, E.; Karaoz, U.; Molins, S.; Bouskill, N.; Anantharaman, K.; Beller, H. R.; Banfield, J. F.; Steefel, C. I.; Brodie, E.

    2015-12-01

    The biogeochemical functioning of ecosystems is shaped in part by genomic information stored in the subsurface microbiome. Cultivation-independent approaches allow us to extract this information through reconstruction of thousands of genomes from a microbial community. Analysis of these genomes, in turn, gives an indication of the organisms present and their functional roles. However, metagenomic analyses can currently deliver thousands of different genomes that range in abundance/importance, requiring the identification and assimilation of key physiologies and metabolisms to be represented as traits for successful simulation of subsurface processes. Here we focus on incorporating -omics information into BioCrunch, a genome-informed trait-based model that represents the diversity of microbial functional processes within a reactive transport framework. This approach models the rate of nutrient uptake and the thermodynamics of coupled electron donors and acceptors for a range of microbial metabolisms including heterotrophs and chemolithotrophs. Metabolism of exogenous substrates fuels catabolic and anabolic processes, with the proportion of energy used for cellular maintenance, respiration, biomass development, and enzyme production based upon dynamic intracellular and environmental conditions. This internal resource partitioning represents a trade-off against biomass formation and results in microbial community emergence across a fitness landscape. Biocrunch was used here in simulations that included organisms and metabolic pathways derived from a dataset of ~1200 non-redundant genomes reflecting a microbial community in a floodplain aquifer. Metagenomic data was directly used to parameterize trait values related to growth and to identify trait linkages associated with respiration, fermentation, and key enzymatic functions such as plant polymer degradation. Simulations spanned a range of metabolic complexities and highlight benefits originating from simulations

  13. Uncovering the molecular networks in periodontitis

    Science.gov (United States)

    Trindade, Fábio; Oppenheim, Frank G.; Helmerhorst, Eva J.; Amado, Francisco; Gomes, Pedro S.; Vitorino, Rui

    2015-01-01

    Periodontitis is a complex immune-inflammatory disease that results from a preestablished infection in gingiva, mainly due to Gram-negative bacteria that colonize deeper in gingival sulcus and latter periodontal pocket. Host inflammatory and immune responses have both protective and destructive roles. Although cytokines, prostaglandins, and proteases struggle against microbial burden, these molecules promote connective tissue loss and alveolar bone resorption, leading to several histopathological changes, namely destruction of periodontal ligament, deepening of periodontal pocket, and bone loss, which can converge to attain tooth loss. Despite the efforts of genomics, transcriptomics, proteomics/peptidomics, and metabolomics, there is no available biomarker for periodontitis diagnosis, prognosis, and treatment evaluation, which could assist on the established clinical evaluation. Nevertheless, some genes, transcripts, proteins and metabolites have already shown a different expression in healthy subjects and in patients. Though, so far, ‘omics approaches only disclosed the host inflammatory response as a consequence of microbial invasion in periodontitis and the diagnosis in periodontitis still relies on clinical parameters, thus a molecular tool for assessing periodontitis lacks in current dental medicine paradigm. Saliva and gingival crevicular fluid have been attracting researchers due to their diagnostic potential, ease, and noninvasive nature of collection. Each one of these fluids has some advantages and disadvantages that are discussed in this review. PMID:24828325

  14. Hyperlink Analysis of E-commerce Websites for Business Intelligence: Exploring Websites of Top Retail Companies of Asia Pacific and USA

    OpenAIRE

    Kannan, Rathimala; Govindan, Marthandan

    2011-01-01

    Hyperlinks, which connect web pages on the World Wide Web, are rich sources of hidden information. E- Commerce Websites, which are created for different purposes from online sales to company promotion, would benefit if they receive more links from other websites as this would lead to increase the traffic to these websites. This paper analyses the structure of e-commerce websites using webometric approach to uncover any hidden information from the hyperlinks. The top 50 retail companies' e-com...

  15. Integrated systems approach identifies risk regulatory pathways and key regulators in coronary artery disease.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zhang, Yan; Liu, Dianming; Wang, Lihong; Wang, Shuyuan; Yu, Xuexin; Dai, Enyu; Liu, Xinyi; Luo, Shanshun; Jiang, Wei

    2015-12-01

    Coronary artery disease (CAD) is the most common type of heart disease. However, the molecular mechanisms of CAD remain elusive. Regulatory pathways are known to play crucial roles in many pathogenic processes. Thus, inferring risk regulatory pathways is an important step toward elucidating the mechanisms underlying CAD. With advances in high-throughput data, we developed an integrated systems approach to identify CAD risk regulatory pathways and key regulators. Firstly, a CAD-related core subnetwork was identified from a curated transcription factor (TF) and microRNA (miRNA) regulatory network based on a random walk algorithm. Secondly, candidate risk regulatory pathways were extracted from the subnetwork by applying a breadth-first search (BFS) algorithm. Then, risk regulatory pathways were prioritized based on multiple CAD-associated data sources. Finally, we also proposed a new measure to prioritize upstream regulators. We inferred that phosphatase and tensin homolog (PTEN) may be a key regulator in the dysregulation of risk regulatory pathways. This study takes a closer step than the identification of disease subnetworks or modules. From the risk regulatory pathways, we could understand the flow of regulatory information in the initiation and progression of the disease. Our approach helps to uncover its potential etiology. We developed an integrated systems approach to identify risk regulatory pathways. We proposed a new measure to prioritize the key regulators in CAD. PTEN may be a key regulator in dysregulation of the risk regulatory pathways.

  16. Graphene growth process modeling: a physical-statistical approach

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wu, Jian; Huang, Qiang

    2014-09-01

    As a zero-band semiconductor, graphene is an attractive material for a wide variety of applications such as optoelectronics. Among various techniques developed for graphene synthesis, chemical vapor deposition on copper foils shows high potential for producing few-layer and large-area graphene. Since fabrication of high-quality graphene sheets requires the understanding of growth mechanisms, and methods of characterization and control of grain size of graphene flakes, analytical modeling of graphene growth process is therefore essential for controlled fabrication. The graphene growth process starts with randomly nucleated islands that gradually develop into complex shapes, grow in size, and eventually connect together to cover the copper foil. To model this complex process, we develop a physical-statistical approach under the assumption of self-similarity during graphene growth. The growth kinetics is uncovered by separating island shapes from area growth rate. We propose to characterize the area growth velocity using a confined exponential model, which not only has clear physical explanation, but also fits the real data well. For the shape modeling, we develop a parametric shape model which can be well explained by the angular-dependent growth rate. This work can provide useful information for the control and optimization of graphene growth process on Cu foil.

  17. Acetabular Dysplasia and Surgical Approaches Other Than Direct Anterior Increases Risk for Malpositioning of the Acetabular Component in Total Hip Arthroplasty

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Gromov, Kirill; Greene, Meridith E; Huddleston, James I

    2016-01-01

    BACKGROUND: Persistent acetabular dysplasia (AD) after periacetabular osteotomy has been hypothesized to increase the risk for malpositioning of the acetabular component. In this study, we investigate whether AD is an independent risk factor for cup malpositioning during primary total hip...... arthroplasty (THA). METHODS: Patient demographics, surgical approach, presence of AD assessed using the lateral center-edge angle, and acetabular cup positioning determined using Martell Hip Analysis Suite were investigated in 836 primary THA patients enrolled in a prospective multicenter study. RESULTS: We...

  18. Faculty Development for Fostering Clinical Reasoning Skills in Early Medical Students Using a Modified Bayesian Approach.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Addy, Tracie Marcella; Hafler, Janet; Galerneau, France

    2016-01-01

    Clinical reasoning is a necessary skill for medical students to acquire in the course of their education, and there is evidence that they can start this process at the undergraduate level. However, physician educators who are experts in their given fields may have difficulty conveying their complex thought processes to students. Providing faculty development that equips educators with tools to teach clinical reasoning may support skill development in early medical students. We provided faculty development on a modified Bayesian method of teaching clinical reasoning to clinician educators who facilitated small-group, case-based workshops with 2nd-year medical students. We interviewed them before and after the module regarding their perceptions on teaching clinical reasoning. We solicited feedback from the students about the effectiveness of the method in developing their clinical reasoning skills. We carried out this project during an institutional curriculum rebuild where clinical reasoning was a defined goal. At the time of the intervention, there was also increased involvement of the Teaching and Learning Center in elevating the status of teaching and learning. There was high overall satisfaction with the faculty development program. Both the faculty and the students described the modified Bayesian approach as effective in fostering the development of clinical reasoning skills. Through this work, we learned how to form a beneficial partnership between a clinician educator and Teaching and Learning Center to promote faculty development on a clinical reasoning teaching method for early medical students. We uncovered challenges faced by both faculty and early learners in this study. We observed that our faculty chose to utilize the method of teaching clinical reasoning in a variety of manners in the classroom. Despite obstacles and differing approaches utilized, we believe that this model can be emulated at other institutions to foster the development of clinical

  19. Monte Carlo wave-packet approach to trace nuclear dynamics in molecular excited states by XUV-pump-IR-probe spectroscopy

    Science.gov (United States)

    Jing, Qingli; Bello, Roger Y.; Martín, Fernando; Palacios, Alicia; Madsen, Lars Bojer

    2018-04-01

    Recent research interests have been raised in uncovering and controlling ultrafast dynamics in excited neutral molecules. In this work we generalize the Monte Carlo wave packet (MCWP) approach to XUV-pump-IR-probe schemes to simulate the process of dissociative double ionization of H2 where singly excited states in H2 are involved. The XUV pulse is chosen to resonantly excite the initial ground state of H2 to the lowest excited electronic state of 1Σu + symmetry in H2 within the Franck-Condon region. The delayed intense IR pulse couples the excited states of 1Σu + symmetry with the nearby excited states of 1Σg + symmetry. It also induces the first ionization from H2 to H2 + and the second ionization from H2 + to H++H+. To reduce the computational costs in the MCWP approach, a sampling method is proposed to determine in time the dominant ionization events from H2 to H2+. By conducting a trajectory analysis, which is a unique possibility within the MCWP approach, the origins of the characteristic features in the nuclear kinetic energy release spectra are identified for delays ranging from 0 to 140 fs and the nuclear dynamics in the singly excited states in H2 is mapped out.

  20. Where am I? Location archetype keyword extraction from urban mobility patterns.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kostakos, Vassilis; Juntunen, Tomi; Goncalves, Jorge; Hosio, Simo; Ojala, Timo

    2013-01-01

    Can online behaviour be used as a proxy for studying urban mobility? The increasing availability of digital mobility traces has provided new insights into collective human behaviour. Mobility datasets have been shown to be an accurate proxy for daily behaviour and social patterns, and behavioural data from Twitter has been used to predict real world phenomena such as cinema ticket sale volumes, stock prices, and disease outbreaks. In this paper we correlate city-scale urban traffic patterns with online search trends to uncover keywords describing the pedestrian traffic location. By analysing a 3-year mobility dataset we show that our approach, called Location Archetype Keyword Extraction (LAKE), is capable of uncovering semantically relevant keywords for describing a location. Our findings demonstrate an overarching relationship between online and offline collective behaviour, and allow for advancing analysis of community-level behaviour by using online search keywords as a practical behaviour proxy.

  1. A genetic screen for increasing metabolic flux in the isoprenoid pathway of Saccharomyces cerevisiae: Isolation of SPT15 mutants using the screen

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    M. Wadhwa

    2016-12-01

    Full Text Available A genetic screen to identify mutants that can increase flux in the isoprenoid pathway of yeast has been lacking. We describe a carotenoid-based visual screen built with the core carotenogenic enzymes from the red yeast Rhodosporidium toruloides. Enzymes from this yeast displayed the required, higher capacity in the carotenoid pathway. The development also included the identification of the metabolic bottlenecks, primarily phytoene dehydrogenase, that was subjected to a directed evolution strategy to yield more active mutants. To further limit phytoene pools, a less efficient version of GGPP synthase was employed. The screen was validated with a known flux increasing gene, tHMG1. New mutants in the TATA binding protein SPT15 were isolated using this screen that increased the yield of carotenoids, and an alternate isoprenoid, α-Farnesene confirming increase in overall flux. The findings indicate the presence of previously unknown links to the isoprenoid pathway that can be uncovered using this screen. Keywords: Metabolic engineering, Carotenoids, Isoprenoids, α-Farnesene, Rhodosporidium toruloides, SPT15

  2. Uncovering Potential Applications of Cyanobacteria and Algal Metabolites in Biology, Agriculture and Medicine: Current Status and Future Prospects

    Science.gov (United States)

    Singh, Rachana; Parihar, Parul; Singh, Madhulika; Bajguz, Andrzej; Kumar, Jitendra; Singh, Samiksha; Singh, Vijay P.; Prasad, Sheo M.

    2017-01-01

    Cyanobacteria and algae having complex photosynthetic systems can channelize absorbed solar energy into other forms of energy for production of food and metabolites. In addition, they are promising biocatalysts and can be used in the field of “white biotechnology” for enhancing the sustainable production of food, metabolites, and green energy sources such as biodiesel. In this review, an endeavor has been made to uncover the significance of various metabolites like phenolics, phytoene/terpenoids, phytols, sterols, free fatty acids, photoprotective compounds (MAAs, scytonemin, carotenoids, polysaccharides, halogenated compounds, etc.), phytohormones, cyanotoxins, biocides (algaecides, herbicides, and insecticides) etc. Apart from this, the importance of these metabolites as antibiotics, immunosuppressant, anticancer, antiviral, anti-inflammatory agent has also been discussed. Metabolites obtained from cyanobacteria and algae have several biotechnological, industrial, pharmaceutical, and cosmetic uses which have also been discussed in this review along with the emerging technology of their harvesting for enhancing the production of compounds like bioethanol, biofuel etc. at commercial level. In later sections, we have discussed genetically modified organisms and metabolite production from them. We have also briefly discussed the concept of bioprocessing highlighting the functioning of companies engaged in metabolites production as well as their cost effectiveness and challenges that are being addressed by these companies. PMID:28487674

  3. Atmospheric pollution history at Linfen (China) uncovered by magnetic and chemical parameters of sediments from a water reservoir

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Ma, Mingming; Hu, Shouyun; Cao, Liwan; Appel, Erwin; Wang, Longsheng

    2015-01-01

    We studied magnetic and chemical parameters of sediments from sediments of a water reservoir at Linfen (China) in order to quantitatively reconstruct the atmospheric pollution history in this region. The results show that the main magnetic phases are magnetite and maghemite originating from the surrounding catchment and from anthropogenic activities, and there is a significant positive relationship between magnetic concentration parameters and heavy metals concentrations, indicating that magnetic proxies can be used to monitor the anthropogenic pollution. In order to uncover the atmospheric pollution history, we combined the known events of environmental improvement with variations of magnetic susceptibility (χ) and heavy metals along the cores to obtain a detailed chronological framework. In addition, air comprehensive pollution index (ACPI) was reconstructed from regression equation among magnetic and chemical parameters as well as atmospheric monitoring data. Based on these results, the atmospheric pollution history was successfully reconstructed. - Highlights: • Magnetic proxies can be used to monitor the heavy mental pollution in sediments. • Accurate age model was obtained using known events of environmental improvement. • Regression equation was obtained among sediment records and monitoring data. • Atmospheric pollution history was quantitatively reconstructed. - Atmospheric pollution history was quantitatively reconstructed using magnetic and chemical records of reservoir sediments combined with atmospheric monitoring data

  4. Uncovering Potential Applications of Cyanobacteria and Algal Metabolites in Biology, Agriculture and Medicine: Current Status and Future Prospects

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Vijay P. Singh

    2017-04-01

    Full Text Available Cyanobacteria and algae having complex photosynthetic systems can channelize absorbed solar energy into other forms of energy for production of food and metabolites. In addition, they are promising biocatalysts and can be used in the field of “white biotechnology” for enhancing the sustainable production of food, metabolites, and green energy sources such as biodiesel. In this review, an endeavor has been made to uncover the significance of various metabolites like phenolics, phytoene/terpenoids, phytols, sterols, free fatty acids, photoprotective compounds (MAAs, scytonemin, carotenoids, polysaccharides, halogenated compounds, etc., phytohormones, cyanotoxins, biocides (algaecides, herbicides, and insecticides etc. Apart from this, the importance of these metabolites as antibiotics, immunosuppressant, anticancer, antiviral, anti-inflammatory agent has also been discussed. Metabolites obtained from cyanobacteria and algae have several biotechnological, industrial, pharmaceutical, and cosmetic uses which have also been discussed in this review along with the emerging technology of their harvesting for enhancing the production of compounds like bioethanol, biofuel etc. at commercial level. In later sections, we have discussed genetically modified organisms and metabolite production from them. We have also briefly discussed the concept of bioprocessing highlighting the functioning of companies engaged in metabolites production as well as their cost effectiveness and challenges that are being addressed by these companies.

  5. Opioid withdrawal increases transient receptor potential vanilloid 1 activity in a protein kinase A-dependent manner.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Spahn, Viola; Fischer, Oliver; Endres-Becker, Jeannette; Schäfer, Michael; Stein, Christoph; Zöllner, Christian

    2013-04-01

    Hyperalgesia is a cardinal symptom of opioid withdrawal. The transient receptor potential vanilloid 1 (TRPV1) is a ligand-gated ion channel expressed on sensory neurons responding to noxious heat, protons, and chemical stimuli such as capsaicin. TRPV1 can be inhibited via μ-opioid receptor (MOR)-mediated reduced activity of adenylyl cyclases (ACs) and decreased cyclic adenosine monophosphate (cAMP) levels. In contrast, opioid withdrawal following chronic activation of MOR uncovers AC superactivation and subsequent increases in cAMP and protein kinase A (PKA) activity. Here we investigated (1) whether an increase in cAMP during opioid withdrawal increases the activity of TRPV1 and (2) how opioid withdrawal modulates capsaicin-induced nocifensive behavior in rats. We applied whole-cell patch clamp, microfluorimetry, cAMP assays, radioligand binding, site-directed mutagenesis, and behavioral experiments. Opioid withdrawal significantly increased cAMP levels and capsaicin-induced TRPV1 activity in both transfected human embryonic kidney 293 cells and dissociated dorsal root ganglion (DRG) neurons. Inhibition of AC and PKA, as well as mutations of the PKA phosphorylation sites threonine 144 and serine 774, prevented the enhanced TRPV1 activity. Finally, capsaicin-induced nocifensive behavior was increased during opioid withdrawal in vivo. In summary, our results demonstrate an increased activity of TRPV1 in DRG neurons as a new mechanism contributing to opioid withdrawal-induced hyperalgesia. Copyright © 2013 International Association for the Study of Pain. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  6. Uncovering trophic positions and food resources of soil animals using bulk natural stable isotope composition.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Potapov, Anton M; Tiunov, Alexei V; Scheu, Stefan

    2018-06-19

    Despite the major importance of soil biota in nutrient and energy fluxes, interactions in soil food webs are poorly understood. Here we provide an overview of recent advances in uncovering the trophic structure of soil food webs using natural variations in stable isotope ratios. We discuss approaches of application, normalization and interpretation of stable isotope ratios along with methodological pitfalls. Analysis of published data from temperate forest ecosystems is used to outline emerging concepts and perspectives in soil food web research. In contrast to aboveground and aquatic food webs, trophic fractionation at the basal level of detrital food webs is large for carbon and small for nitrogen stable isotopes. Virtually all soil animals are enriched in 13 C as compared to plant litter. This 'detrital shift' likely reflects preferential uptake of 13 C-enriched microbial biomass and underlines the importance of microorganisms, in contrast to dead plant material, as a major food resource for the soil animal community. Soil organic matter is enriched in 15 N and 13 C relative to leaf litter. Decomposers inhabiting mineral soil layers therefore might be enriched in 15 N resulting in overlap in isotope ratios between soil-dwelling detritivores and litter-dwelling predators. By contrast, 13 C content varies little between detritivores in upper litter and in mineral soil, suggesting that they rely on similar basal resources, i.e. little decomposed organic matter. Comparing vertical isotope gradients in animals and in basal resources can be a valuable tool to assess trophic interactions and dynamics of organic matter in soil. As indicated by stable isotope composition, direct feeding on living plant material as well as on mycorrhizal fungi is likely rare among soil invertebrates. Plant carbon is taken up predominantly by saprotrophic microorganisms and channelled to higher trophic levels of the soil food web. However, feeding on photoautotrophic microorganisms and non

  7. A systematic approach to analyze the social determinants of cardiovascular disease

    Science.gov (United States)

    Martínez-García, Mireya; Salinas-Ortega, Magaly; Estrada-Arriaga, Iván; Hernández-Lemus, Enrique; García-Herrera, Rodrigo

    2018-01-01

    Cardiovascular diseases are the leading cause of human mortality worldwide. Among the many factors associated with the etiology, incidence, and evolution of such diseases; social and environmental issues constitute an important and often overlooked component. Understanding to a greater extent the scope to which such social determinants of cardiovascular diseases (SDCVD) occur as well as the connections among them would be useful for public health policy making. Here, we will explore the historical trends and associations among the main SDCVD in the published literature. Our aim will be finding meaningful relations among those that will help us to have an integrated view on this complex phenomenon by providing historical context and a relational framework. To uncover such relations, we used a data mining approach to the current literature, followed by network analysis of the interrelationships discovered. To this end, we systematically mined the PubMed/MEDLINE database for references of published studies on the subject, as outlined by the World Health Organization’s framework on social determinants of health. The analyzed structured corpus consisted in circa 1190 articles categorized by means of the Medical Subheadings (MeSH) content-descriptor. The use of data analytics techniques allowed us to find a number of non-trivial connections among SDCVDs. Such relations may be relevant to get a deeper understanding of the social and environmental issues associated with cardiovascular disease and are often overlooked by traditional literature survey approaches, such as systematic reviews and meta-analyses. PMID:29370200

  8. A systematic approach to analyze the social determinants of cardiovascular disease.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Martínez-García, Mireya; Salinas-Ortega, Magaly; Estrada-Arriaga, Iván; Hernández-Lemus, Enrique; García-Herrera, Rodrigo; Vallejo, Maite

    2018-01-01

    Cardiovascular diseases are the leading cause of human mortality worldwide. Among the many factors associated with the etiology, incidence, and evolution of such diseases; social and environmental issues constitute an important and often overlooked component. Understanding to a greater extent the scope to which such social determinants of cardiovascular diseases (SDCVD) occur as well as the connections among them would be useful for public health policy making. Here, we will explore the historical trends and associations among the main SDCVD in the published literature. Our aim will be finding meaningful relations among those that will help us to have an integrated view on this complex phenomenon by providing historical context and a relational framework. To uncover such relations, we used a data mining approach to the current literature, followed by network analysis of the interrelationships discovered. To this end, we systematically mined the PubMed/MEDLINE database for references of published studies on the subject, as outlined by the World Health Organization's framework on social determinants of health. The analyzed structured corpus consisted in circa 1190 articles categorized by means of the Medical Subheadings (MeSH) content-descriptor. The use of data analytics techniques allowed us to find a number of non-trivial connections among SDCVDs. Such relations may be relevant to get a deeper understanding of the social and environmental issues associated with cardiovascular disease and are often overlooked by traditional literature survey approaches, such as systematic reviews and meta-analyses.

  9. Increased spontaneous MEG signal diversity for psychoactive doses of ketamine, LSD and psilocybin

    Science.gov (United States)

    Schartner, Michael M.; Carhart-Harris, Robin L.; Barrett, Adam B.; Seth, Anil K.; Muthukumaraswamy, Suresh D.

    2017-04-01

    What is the level of consciousness of the psychedelic state? Empirically, measures of neural signal diversity such as entropy and Lempel-Ziv (LZ) complexity score higher for wakeful rest than for states with lower conscious level like propofol-induced anesthesia. Here we compute these measures for spontaneous magnetoencephalographic (MEG) signals from humans during altered states of consciousness induced by three psychedelic substances: psilocybin, ketamine and LSD. For all three, we find reliably higher spontaneous signal diversity, even when controlling for spectral changes. This increase is most pronounced for the single-channel LZ complexity measure, and hence for temporal, as opposed to spatial, signal diversity. We also uncover selective correlations between changes in signal diversity and phenomenological reports of the intensity of psychedelic experience. This is the first time that these measures have been applied to the psychedelic state and, crucially, that they have yielded values exceeding those of normal waking consciousness. These findings suggest that the sustained occurrence of psychedelic phenomenology constitutes an elevated level of consciousness - as measured by neural signal diversity.

  10. Project Energise: Using participatory approaches and real time computer prompts to reduce occupational sitting and increase work time physical activity in office workers.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gilson, Nicholas D; Ng, Norman; Pavey, Toby G; Ryde, Gemma C; Straker, Leon; Brown, Wendy J

    2016-11-01

    This efficacy study assessed the added impact real time computer prompts had on a participatory approach to reduce occupational sedentary exposure and increase physical activity. Quasi-experimental. 57 Australian office workers (mean [SD]; age=47 [11] years; BMI=28 [5]kg/m 2 ; 46 men) generated a menu of 20 occupational 'sit less and move more' strategies through participatory workshops, and were then tasked with implementing strategies for five months (July-November 2014). During implementation, a sub-sample of workers (n=24) used a chair sensor/software package (Sitting Pad) that gave real time prompts to interrupt desk sitting. Baseline and intervention sedentary behaviour and physical activity (GENEActiv accelerometer; mean work time percentages), and minutes spent sitting at desks (Sitting Pad; mean total time and longest bout) were compared between non-prompt and prompt workers using a two-way ANOVA. Workers spent close to three quarters of their work time sedentary, mostly sitting at desks (mean [SD]; total desk sitting time=371 [71]min/day; longest bout spent desk sitting=104 [43]min/day). Intervention effects were four times greater in workers who used real time computer prompts (8% decrease in work time sedentary behaviour and increase in light intensity physical activity; pcomputer prompts facilitated the impact of a participatory approach on reductions in occupational sedentary exposure, and increases in physical activity. Copyright © 2016 Sports Medicine Australia. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  11. Improved Assimilation of Streamflow and Satellite Soil Moisture with the Evolutionary Particle Filter and Geostatistical Modeling

    Science.gov (United States)

    Yan, Hongxiang; Moradkhani, Hamid; Abbaszadeh, Peyman

    2017-04-01

    Assimilation of satellite soil moisture and streamflow data into hydrologic models using has received increasing attention over the past few years. Currently, these observations are increasingly used to improve the model streamflow and soil moisture predictions. However, the performance of this land data assimilation (DA) system still suffers from two limitations: 1) satellite data scarcity and quality; and 2) particle weight degeneration. In order to overcome these two limitations, we propose two possible solutions in this study. First, the general Gaussian geostatistical approach is proposed to overcome the limitation in the space/time resolution of satellite soil moisture products thus improving their accuracy at uncovered/biased grid cells. Secondly, an evolutionary PF approach based on Genetic Algorithm (GA) and Markov Chain Monte Carlo (MCMC), the so-called EPF-MCMC, is developed to further reduce weight degeneration and improve the robustness of the land DA system. This study provides a detailed analysis of the joint and separate assimilation of streamflow and satellite soil moisture into a distributed Sacramento Soil Moisture Accounting (SAC-SMA) model, with the use of recently developed EPF-MCMC and the general Gaussian geostatistical approach. Performance is assessed over several basins in the USA selected from Model Parameter Estimation Experiment (MOPEX) and located in different climate regions. The results indicate that: 1) the general Gaussian approach can predict the soil moisture at uncovered grid cells within the expected satellite data quality threshold; 2) assimilation of satellite soil moisture inferred from the general Gaussian model can significantly improve the soil moisture predictions; and 3) in terms of both deterministic and probabilistic measures, the EPF-MCMC can achieve better streamflow predictions. These results recommend that the geostatistical model is a helpful tool to aid the remote sensing technique and the EPF-MCMC is a

  12. Implementation of the Participatory Approach for Supervisors to Increase Self-Efficacy in Addressing Risk of Sick Leave of Employees : Results of a Cluster-Randomized Controlled Trial

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Ketelaar, S. M.; Schaafsma, F. G.; Geldof, M. F.; Kraaijeveld, R. A.; Boot, C. R. L.; Shaw, W. S.; Bultmann, U.; Anema, J. R.

    Purpose To study the effectiveness of a multifaceted strategy to implement the participatory approach (PA) for supervisors to increase their self-efficacy in addressing risk of sick leave of employees. Methods Supervisors from three organizations were invited to participate. Randomization was

  13. Uncovering the Hidden Costs of Offshoring

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Larsen, Marcus M.; Manning, Stephan; Pedersen, Torben

    2013-01-01

    This study investigates estimation errors due to hidden costs—the costs of implementation that are neglected in strategic decision-making processes—in the context of services offshoring. Based on data from the Offshoring Research Network, we find that decision makers are more likely to make cost......-estimation errors given increasing configuration and task complexity in captive offshoring and offshore outsourcing, respectively. Moreover, we show that experience and a strong orientation toward organizational design in the offshoring strategy reduce the cost-estimation errors that follow from complexity. Our...

  14. Increasing nursing students' understanding and accuracy with medical dose calculations: A collaborative approach.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Mackie, Jane E; Bruce, Catherine D

    2016-05-01

    Accurate calculation of medication dosages can be challenging for nursing students. Specific interventions related to types of errors made by nursing students may improve the learning of this important skill. The objective of this study was to determine areas of challenge for students in performing medication dosage calculations in order to design interventions to improve this skill. Strengths and weaknesses in the teaching and learning of medication dosage calculations were assessed. These data were used to create online interventions which were then measured for the impact on student ability to perform medication dosage calculations. The setting of the study is one university in Canada. The qualitative research participants were 8 nursing students from years 1-3 and 8 faculty members. Quantitative results are based on test data from the same second year clinical course during the academic years 2012 and 2013. Students and faculty participated in one-to-one interviews; responses were recorded and coded for themes. Tests were implemented and scored, then data were assessed to classify the types and number of errors. Students identified conceptual understanding deficits, anxiety, low self-efficacy, and numeracy skills as primary challenges in medication dosage calculations. Faculty identified long division as a particular content challenge, and a lack of online resources for students to practice calculations. Lessons and online resources designed as an intervention to target mathematical and concepts and skills led to improved results and increases in overall pass rates for second year students for medication dosage calculation tests. This study suggests that with concerted effort and a multi-modal approach to supporting nursing students, their abilities to calculate dosages can be improved. The positive results in this study also point to the promise of cross-discipline collaborations between nursing and education. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights

  15. Uncovering the Repertoire of Endogenous Flaviviral Elements in Aedes Mosquito Genomes.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Suzuki, Yasutsugu; Frangeul, Lionel; Dickson, Laura B; Blanc, Hervé; Verdier, Yann; Vinh, Joelle; Lambrechts, Louis; Saleh, Maria-Carla

    2017-08-01

    antiviral defense. Because mosquitoes also have EVEs in their genomes, characterizing these EVEs is a prerequisite for their potential use to manipulate the mosquito antiviral response. In the study described here, we focused on EVEs related to the Flavivirus genus, to which dengue and Zika viruses belong, in individual Aedes mosquitoes from geographically distinct areas. We show the existence in vivo of flaviviral EVEs previously identified in mosquito cell lines, and we detected new ones. We show that EVEs have evolved differently in each mosquito population. They produce transcripts and small RNAs but not proteins, suggesting a function at the RNA level. Our study uncovers the diverse repertoire of flaviviral EVEs in Aedes mosquito populations and contributes to an understanding of their role in the host antiviral system. Copyright © 2017 Suzuki et al.

  16. Chlorophyll Fluorescence Imaging Uncovers Photosynthetic Fingerprint of Citrus Huanglongbing

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Haiyan Cen

    2017-08-01

    Full Text Available Huanglongbing (HLB is one of the most destructive diseases of citrus, which has posed a serious threat to the global citrus production. This research was aimed to explore the use of chlorophyll fluorescence imaging combined with feature selection to characterize and detect the HLB disease. Chlorophyll fluorescence images of citrus leaf samples were measured by an in-house chlorophyll fluorescence imaging system. The commonly used chlorophyll fluorescence parameters provided the first screening of HLB disease. To further explore the photosynthetic fingerprint of HLB infected leaves, three feature selection methods combined with the supervised classifiers were employed to identify the unique fluorescence signature of HLB and perform the three-class classification (i.e., healthy, HLB infected, and nutrient deficient leaves. Unlike the commonly used fluorescence parameters, this novel data-driven approach by using the combination of the mean fluorescence parameters and image features gave the best classification performance with the accuracy of 97%, and presented a better interpretation for the spatial heterogeneity of photochemical and non-photochemical components in HLB infected citrus leaves. These results imply the potential of the proposed approach for the citrus HLB disease diagnosis, and also provide a valuable insight for the photosynthetic response to the HLB disease.

  17. A Developmental, Person-Centered Approach to Exploring Multiple Motivational Pathways in Gifted Underachievement

    Science.gov (United States)

    Snyder, Kate E.; Linnenbrink-Garcia, Lisa

    2013-01-01

    Research on underachieving gifted students has uncovered a large number of characteristics differentiating gifted underachieving and achieving students. However, less is known about the way in which underachievement develops across schooling. Using a person-centered theoretical framework and key constructs from current motivational theories, we…

  18. Plastome Sequencing of Ten Nonmodel Crop Species Uncovers a Large Insertion of Mitochondrial DNA in Cashew.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Rabah, Samar O; Lee, Chaehee; Hajrah, Nahid H; Makki, Rania M; Alharby, Hesham F; Alhebshi, Alawiah M; Sabir, Jamal S M; Jansen, Robert K; Ruhlman, Tracey A

    2017-11-01

    In plant evolution, intracellular gene transfer (IGT) is a prevalent, ongoing process. While nuclear and mitochondrial genomes are known to integrate foreign DNA via IGT and horizontal gene transfer (HGT), plastid genomes (plastomes) have resisted foreign DNA incorporation and only recently has IGT been uncovered in the plastomes of a few land plants. In this study, we completed plastome sequences for l0 crop species and describe a number of structural features including variation in gene and intron content, inversions, and expansion and contraction of the inverted repeat (IR). We identified a putative in cinnamon ( J. Presl) and other sequenced Lauraceae and an apparent functional transfer of to the nucleus of quinoa ( Willd.). In the orchard tree cashew ( L.), we report the insertion of an ∼6.7-kb fragment of mitochondrial DNA into the plastome IR. BLASTn analyses returned high identity hits to mitogenome sequences including an intact open reading frame. Using three plastome markers for five species of , we generated a phylogeny to investigate the distribution and timing of the insertion. Four species share the insertion, suggesting that this event occurred <20 million yr ago in a single clade in the genus. Our study extends the observation of mitochondrial to plastome IGT to include long-lived tree species. While previous studies have suggested possible mechanisms facilitating IGT to the plastome, more examples of this phenomenon, along with more complete mitogenome sequences, will be required before a common, or variable, mechanism can be elucidated. Copyright © 2017 Crop Science Society of America.

  19. A new feature constituting approach to detection of vocal fold pathology

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hariharan, M.; Polat, Kemal; Yaacob, Sazali

    2014-08-01

    In the last two decades, non-invasive methods through acoustic analysis of voice signal have been proved to be excellent and reliable tool to diagnose vocal fold pathologies. This paper proposes a new feature vector based on the wavelet packet transform and singular value decomposition for the detection of vocal fold pathology. k-means clustering based feature weighting is proposed to increase the distinguishing performance of the proposed features. In this work, two databases Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary (MEEI) voice disorders database and MAPACI speech pathology database are used. Four different supervised classifiers such as k-nearest neighbour (k-NN), least-square support vector machine, probabilistic neural network and general regression neural network are employed for testing the proposed features. The experimental results uncover that the proposed features give very promising classification accuracy of 100% for both MEEI database and MAPACI speech pathology database.

  20. An Efficient Approach for Pixel Decomposition to Increase the Spatial Resolution of Land Surface Temperature Images from MODIS Thermal Infrared Band Data

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Fei Wang

    2014-12-01

    Full Text Available Land surface temperature (LST images retrieved from the thermal infrared (TIR band data of Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS have much lower spatial resolution than the MODIS visible and near-infrared (VNIR band data. The coarse pixel scale of MODIS LST images (1000 m under nadir have limited their capability in applying to many studies required high spatial resolution in comparison of the MODIS VNIR band data with pixel scale of 250–500 m. In this paper we intend to develop an efficient approach for pixel decomposition to increase the spatial resolution of MODIS LST image using the VNIR band data as assistance. The unique feature of this approach is to maintain the thermal radiance of parent pixels in the MODIS LST image unchanged after they are decomposed into the sub-pixels in the resulted image. There are two important steps in the decomposition: initial temperature estimation and final temperature determination. Therefore the approach can be termed double-step pixel decomposition (DSPD. Both steps involve a series of procedures to achieve the final result of decomposed LST image, including classification of the surface patterns, establishment of LST change with normalized difference of vegetation index (NDVI and building index (NDBI, reversion of LST into thermal radiance through Planck equation, and computation of weights for the sub-pixels of the resulted image. Since the Advanced Spaceborne Thermal Emission and Reflection Radiometer (ASTER with much higher spatial resolution than MODIS data was on-board the same platform (Terra as MODIS for Earth observation, an experiment had been done in the study to validate the accuracy and efficiency of our approach for pixel decomposition. The ASTER LST image was used as the reference to compare with the decomposed LST image. The result showed that the spatial distribution of the decomposed LST image was very similar to that of the ASTER LST image with a root mean square error

  1. An efficient approach for pixel decomposition to increase the spatial resolution of land surface temperature images from MODIS thermal infrared band data.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wang, Fei; Qin, Zhihao; Li, Wenjuan; Song, Caiying; Karnieli, Arnon; Zhao, Shuhe

    2014-12-25

    Land surface temperature (LST) images retrieved from the thermal infrared (TIR) band data of Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) have much lower spatial resolution than the MODIS visible and near-infrared (VNIR) band data. The coarse pixel scale of MODIS LST images (1000 m under nadir) have limited their capability in applying to many studies required high spatial resolution in comparison of the MODIS VNIR band data with pixel scale of 250-500 m. In this paper we intend to develop an efficient approach for pixel decomposition to increase the spatial resolution of MODIS LST image using the VNIR band data as assistance. The unique feature of this approach is to maintain the thermal radiance of parent pixels in the MODIS LST image unchanged after they are decomposed into the sub-pixels in the resulted image. There are two important steps in the decomposition: initial temperature estimation and final temperature determination. Therefore the approach can be termed double-step pixel decomposition (DSPD). Both steps involve a series of procedures to achieve the final result of decomposed LST image, including classification of the surface patterns, establishment of LST change with normalized difference of vegetation index (NDVI) and building index (NDBI), reversion of LST into thermal radiance through Planck equation, and computation of weights for the sub-pixels of the resulted image. Since the Advanced Spaceborne Thermal Emission and Reflection Radiometer (ASTER) with much higher spatial resolution than MODIS data was on-board the same platform (Terra) as MODIS for Earth observation, an experiment had been done in the study to validate the accuracy and efficiency of our approach for pixel decomposition. The ASTER LST image was used as the reference to compare with the decomposed LST image. The result showed that the spatial distribution of the decomposed LST image was very similar to that of the ASTER LST image with a root mean square error (RMSE) of 2

  2. Operating Room-to-ICU Patient Handovers: A Multidisciplinary Human-Centered Design Approach.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Segall, Noa; Bonifacio, Alberto S; Barbeito, Atilio; Schroeder, Rebecca A; Perfect, Sharon R; Wright, Melanie C; Emery, James D; Atkins, B Zane; Taekman, Jeffrey M; Mark, Jonathan B

    2016-09-01

    Patient handovers (handoffs) following surgery have often been characterized by poor teamwork, unclear procedures, unstructured processes, and distractions. A study was conducted to apply a human-centered approach to the redesign of operating room (OR)-to-ICU patient handovers in a broad surgical ICU (SICU) population. This approach entailed (1) the study of existing practices, (2) the redesign of the handover on the basis of the input of hand over participants and evidence in the medical literature, and (3) the study of the effects of this change on processes and communication. The Durham [North Carolina] Veterans Affairs Medical Center SICU is an 11-bed mixed surgical specialty unit. To understand the existing process for receiving postoperative patients in the SICU, ethnographic methods-a series of observations, surveys, interviews, and focus groups-were used. The handover process was redesigned to better address providers' work flow, information needs, and expectations, as well as concerns identified in the literature. Technical and communication flaws were uncovered, and the handover was redesigned to address them. For the 49 preintervention and 49 postintervention handovers, the information transfer score and number of interruptions were not significantly different. However, staff workload and team behaviors scores improved significantly, while the hand over duration was not prolonged by the new process. Handover participants were also significantly more satisfied with the new handover method. An HCD approach led to improvements in the patient handover process from the OR to the ICU in a mixed adult surgical population. Although the specific handover process would unlikely be optimal in another clinical setting if replicated exactly, the HCD foundation behind the redesign process is widely applicable.

  3. Mobility and increased risk of HIV acquisition in South Africa: a mixed-method systematic review protocol.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Dzomba, Armstrong; Govender, Kaymarlin; Mashamba-Thompson, Tivani P; Tanser, Frank

    2018-02-27

    In South Africa (home of the largest HIV epidemic globally), there are high levels of mobility. While studies produced in the recent past provide useful perspectives to the mobility-HIV risk linkage, systematic analyses are needed for in-depth understanding of the complex dynamics between mobility and HIV risk. We plan to undertake an evidence-based review of existing literature connecting mobility and increased risky sexual behavior as well as risk of HIV acquisition in South Africa. We will conduct a mixed-method systematic review of peer-reviewed studies published between 2000 and 2015. In particular, we will search for relevant South African studies from the following databases: MEDLINE, EMBASE, Web of Science, and J-STOR databases. Studies explicitly examining HIV and labor migration will be eligible for inclusion, while non-empirical work and other studies on key vulnerable populations such as commercial sex workers (CSW) and men who have sex with men (MSM) will be excluded. The proposed mixed-method systematic review will employ a three-phase sequential approach [i.e., (i) identifying relevant studies through data extraction (validated by use of Distiller-SR data management software), (ii) qualitative synthesis, and (iii) quantitative synthesis including meta-analysis data]. Recurrent ideas and conclusions from syntheses will be compiled into key themes and further processed into categories and sub-themes constituting the primary and secondary outcomes of this study. Synthesis of main findings from different studies examining the subject issue here may uncover important research gaps in this literature, laying a strong foundation for research and development of sustainable localized migrant-specific HIV prevention strategies in South Africa. Our protocol was registered with PROSPERO under registration number: CRD 42017055580. ( https://www.crd.york.ac.uk/PROSPERO/display_record.asp?ID=CRD42017055580 ).

  4. Flipped Classroom Approach

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ozdamli, Fezile; Asiksoy, Gulsum

    2016-01-01

    Flipped classroom is an active, student-centered approach that was formed to increase the quality of period within class. Generally this approach whose applications are done mostly in Physical Sciences, also attracts the attention of educators and researchers in different disciplines recently. Flipped classroom learning which wide-spreads rapidly…

  5. Comparison on the Efficacy between Partially Covered Self-Expandable Metal Stent with Funnel-Shaped Enlarged Head versus Uncovered Self-Expandable Metal Stent for Palliation of Gastric Outlet Obstruction

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Jung Wan Choe

    2018-01-01

    Full Text Available Background. Shape modification has been one of the methods adopted to improve stent patency but has not always translated into positive outcome. The aim of this study was to compare the efficacy of shape-modified partially covered self-expandable metal stent (SEMS that has enlarged head versus uncovered SEMS for palliation of gastric outlet obstruction (GOO. Methods. A total of 48 patients underwent insertion of either enlarged-head SEMS (n=24 or uncovered SEMS (uSEMS (n=24 for palliation of GOO from July 2009 to July 2016. Patients with inoperable or advanced malignancy were included. Technical feasibility and clinical outcomes were compared. Results. Technical success rate was 100% (24/24 and 95.8% (23/24 for enlarged-head SEMS group and uSEMS group, respectively. Clinical success rate was 87.5% (21/24 and 87.0% (20/23 for enlarged-head SEMS group and uSEMS group, respectively. The gastric outlet obstruction scoring system score significantly improved in both groups (p<0.001 for both. Mean survival was similar between the groups: enlarged-head SEMS group, 99.3 days (range, 19–358 days versus uSEMS group, 82.1 days (range, 11–231 days (p=0.418. The mean stent patency also showed no difference between the groups: enlarged-head SEMS group, 87.1 days (range, 8–358 days versus uSEMS group, 60.4 days (range, 2–231 days (p=0.204. With enlarged-head SEMS, distal migration did not occur, but proximal migration was observed in four cases. Conclusions. Distal migration was prevented by shaping the SEMS to have an enlarged head, but improvement in stent patency could not be observed.

  6. Oleanolic acid activates daf-16 to increase lifespan in Caenorhabditis elegans

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Zhang, Jiaolong; Lu, Lulu; Zhou, Lijun

    2015-01-01

    Oleanolic acid (OA) is an active ingredient in natural plants. It has been reported to possess a variety of pharmacological activities, but very little is known about its effects of anti-aging. We investigate here whether OA has an impact on longevity in vivo, and more specifically, we have examined effects of OA on the lifespan and stress tolerance in Caenorhabditis elegans (C. elegans). Our results showed that OA could extend the lifespan, increase its stress resistance and reduce the intracellular reactive oxygen species (ROS) in wild-type worms. Moreover, we have found that OA-induced longevity may not be associated with the calorie restriction (CR) mechanism. Our mechanistic studies using daf-16 loss-of-function mutant strains (GR1307) indicated that the extension of lifespan by OA requires daf-16. In addition, OA treatment could also modulate the nuclear localization, and the quantitative real-time PCR results revealed that up-regulation of daf-16 target genes such as sod-3, hsp-16.2 and ctl-1 could prolong lifespan and increase stress response in C. elegans. This study overall uncovers the longevity effect of OA and its underpinning mechanisms. - Graphical abstract: Oleanolic acid modulates the activity of DAF-16 to promote longevity and increase stress resistance in Caenorhabditis elegans. - Highlights: • OA extends the lifespan of wild-type Caenorhabditis elegans. • OA improves the stress resistance and reduces the intracellular ROS level in C. elegans. • OA induces lifespan extension may not proceed through the CR mechanism. • OA extends the lifespan in C. elegans is modulated by daf-16.

  7. Oleanolic acid activates daf-16 to increase lifespan in Caenorhabditis elegans

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Zhang, Jiaolong; Lu, Lulu; Zhou, Lijun, E-mail: lijunzhou@tju.edu.cn

    2015-12-25

    Oleanolic acid (OA) is an active ingredient in natural plants. It has been reported to possess a variety of pharmacological activities, but very little is known about its effects of anti-aging. We investigate here whether OA has an impact on longevity in vivo, and more specifically, we have examined effects of OA on the lifespan and stress tolerance in Caenorhabditis elegans (C. elegans). Our results showed that OA could extend the lifespan, increase its stress resistance and reduce the intracellular reactive oxygen species (ROS) in wild-type worms. Moreover, we have found that OA-induced longevity may not be associated with the calorie restriction (CR) mechanism. Our mechanistic studies using daf-16 loss-of-function mutant strains (GR1307) indicated that the extension of lifespan by OA requires daf-16. In addition, OA treatment could also modulate the nuclear localization, and the quantitative real-time PCR results revealed that up-regulation of daf-16 target genes such as sod-3, hsp-16.2 and ctl-1 could prolong lifespan and increase stress response in C. elegans. This study overall uncovers the longevity effect of OA and its underpinning mechanisms. - Graphical abstract: Oleanolic acid modulates the activity of DAF-16 to promote longevity and increase stress resistance in Caenorhabditis elegans. - Highlights: • OA extends the lifespan of wild-type Caenorhabditis elegans. • OA improves the stress resistance and reduces the intracellular ROS level in C. elegans. • OA induces lifespan extension may not proceed through the CR mechanism. • OA extends the lifespan in C. elegans is modulated by daf-16.

  8. Programmed heating of coke ovens for increased coke size

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Jenkins, D.R.; Mahoney, M.R. [University of Newcastle, Callaghan, NSW (Australia)

    2010-11-15

    Large, uniform sized coke is desirable for blast furnace use. It has previously been shown that the coke oven flue temperature in the first few hours of coking is a key determinant of coke size. In this paper, the authors present a new programmed heating approach, which is called pulsed heating, aiming to increase coke mean size at a given average flue temperature. The approach takes into account the charging sequence in coke oven batteries and the authors demonstrate how existing operating practice can be modified in batteries with suitable heating systems to achieve the desired heating programme. A mathematical model of fissure formation provides a prediction of the increase in coke mean size using pulsed heating, compared with standard heating. Pilot scale experiments have also been performed to validate the modelling approach. The results of the modelling indicate that the mean coke size can be increased by several millimetres in some cases, although results from the pilot scale show that pulsed heating increases coke size, but by a smaller amount than that predicted by the model. The potential advantages and limitations of pulsed heating are discussed, as well as opportunities for further investigation of the approach.

  9. Increased Materialistic Trends Among Youth

    OpenAIRE

    Shama Mazahir, Afsheen Masood, Rubab Musarrat

    2016-01-01

    The goal of this qualitative research is to investigate the increased sense of materialism among youth. The main research question is to identify the factors which are causing materialism among youth. The sample of this research included 25 people, age group 18-25 years obtained from students that are enrolled in universities. The interpretive phenomenological approach was taken which was based on semi-structured interviews. The findings revealed that materialistic trends are increasing among...

  10. Increased Materialistic Trends among Youth

    OpenAIRE

    Afsheen Masood; Rubab Musarrat; Shama Mazahir

    2016-01-01

    The goal of this qualitative research is to investigate the increased sense of materialism among youth. The main research question is to identify the factors which are causing materialism among youth. The sample of this research included 25 people, age group 18-25 years obtained from students that are enrolled in universities. The interpretive phenomenological approach was taken which was based on semi-structured interviews. The findings revealed that materialistic trends are increasing among...

  11. Reflections on the Use of Grounded Theory to Uncover Patterns of Exclusion in an Online Discussion Forum at an Institution of Higher Education

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Louise Postma PhD

    2013-02-01

    Full Text Available This article reports on an example of grounded theory methodology used in a case study to describe power inequalities among participants in an online forum at a higher education institution in South Africa. Critical poststructuralist theory informs the study as it investigates how hegemony influences the strategic interaction of participants. An interpretive analysis through coding procedures uncovered elements of intensified exclusion, inequality, and oppression. This took place within a virtual space which is theoretically idealized as an equalizer and promoter of freedom of speech. The process involved in the eliciting of voices and in the analysing and interpreting of subjective accounts is described to give an account of disillusioned experiences with a potentially liberating form of technology. The article contributes to qualitative methodology in applying the generic paradigmatic conditions within grounded theory and illustrates both the interrelatedness and the cyclic nature of the conditions within the specific paradigms of participants.

  12. Where am I? Location archetype keyword extraction from urban mobility patterns.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Vassilis Kostakos

    Full Text Available Can online behaviour be used as a proxy for studying urban mobility? The increasing availability of digital mobility traces has provided new insights into collective human behaviour. Mobility datasets have been shown to be an accurate proxy for daily behaviour and social patterns, and behavioural data from Twitter has been used to predict real world phenomena such as cinema ticket sale volumes, stock prices, and disease outbreaks. In this paper we correlate city-scale urban traffic patterns with online search trends to uncover keywords describing the pedestrian traffic location. By analysing a 3-year mobility dataset we show that our approach, called Location Archetype Keyword Extraction (LAKE, is capable of uncovering semantically relevant keywords for describing a location. Our findings demonstrate an overarching relationship between online and offline collective behaviour, and allow for advancing analysis of community-level behaviour by using online search keywords as a practical behaviour proxy.

  13. Transcriptome atlas of eight liver cell types uncovers effects of ...

    Indian Academy of Sciences (India)

    ... types, and bioinformatic and systems biology approaches were employed to analyse the relationship between above genes and rat liver regeneration. The results showed that the urocanic acid (UA) was degraded from histidine in Kupffer cells, acts on Kupffer cells itself and dendritic cells to generate immune suppression ...

  14. Increasing the value of geospatial informatics with open approaches for Big Data

    Science.gov (United States)

    Percivall, G.; Bermudez, L. E.

    2017-12-01

    Open approaches to big data provide geoscientists with new capabilities to address problems of unmatched size and complexity. Consensus approaches for Big Geo Data have been addressed in multiple international workshops and testbeds organized by the Open Geospatial Consortium (OGC) in the past year. Participants came from government (NASA, ESA, USGS, NOAA, DOE); research (ORNL, NCSA, IU, JPL, CRIM, RENCI); industry (ESRI, Digital Globe, IBM, rasdaman); standards (JTC 1/NIST); and open source software communities. Results from the workshops and testbeds are documented in Testbed reports and a White Paper published by the OGC. The White Paper identifies the following set of use cases: Collection and Ingest: Remote sensed data processing; Data stream processing Prepare and Structure: SQL and NoSQL databases; Data linking; Feature identification Analytics and Visualization: Spatial-temporal analytics; Machine Learning; Data Exploration Modeling and Prediction: Integrated environmental models; Urban 4D models. Open implementations were developed in the Arctic Spatial Data Pilot using Discrete Global Grid Systems (DGGS) and in Testbeds using WPS and ESGF to publish climate predictions. Further development activities to advance open implementations of Big Geo Data include the following: Open Cloud Computing: Avoid vendor lock-in through API interoperability and Application portability. Open Source Extensions: Implement geospatial data representations in projects from Apache, Location Tech, and OSGeo. Investigate parallelization strategies for N-Dimensional spatial data. Geospatial Data Representations: Schemas to improve processing and analysis using geospatial concepts: Features, Coverages, DGGS. Use geospatial encodings like NetCDF and GeoPackge. Big Linked Geodata: Use linked data methods scaled to big geodata. Analysis Ready Data: Support "Download as last resort" and "Analytics as a service". Promote elements common to "datacubes."

  15. Surgical exposure of an impacted maxillary canine and increasing a band of keratinized gingiva

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Vijayalakshmi R

    2009-01-01

    Full Text Available An adequate amount of keratinized gingival tissue that is under proper plaque control, is a fundamental requirement for periodontal health. When the teeth erupt uneventfully in the center of the alveolar ridge, an adequate amount of keratinized tissue will surround the erupted permanent tooth. Labially or buccally erupting teeth show reduced dimensions of the gingiva as abnormal eruption of permanent teeth restricts or eliminates the keratinized tissue between the erupting cusp and the deciduous tooth. A lack of attached gingiva poses a potential risk for gingival recession in labially or buccally erupted teeth due to the possibility of accumulation of plaque and/or traumatic tooth-brushing during subsequent orthodontic treatment. A good understanding between the orthodontist and periodontist along with proper management of periodontal tissues, can prevent these problems. Various surgical techniques can be employed to uncover impacted teeth. This paper discusses the validity of utilizing periodontal surgery to increase a band of keratinized tissue in a case of an impacted canine erupting from the alveolar mucosa.

  16. Fasting mediated increase in p-BAD(ser155) and p-AKT(ser473) in the prefrontal cortex of mice.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Pitchaimani, Vigneshwaran; Arumugam, Somasundaram; Thandavarayan, Rajarajan Amirthalingam; Karuppagounder, Vengadeshprabhu; Sreedhar, Remya; Afrin, Rejina; Harima, Meilei; Suzuki, Hiroshi; Miyashita, Shizuka; Nomoto, Mayumi; Sone, Hirohito; Suzuki, Kenji; Watanabe, Kenichi

    2014-09-05

    BAD-deficient mice and fasting have several common functional roles in seizures, beta-hydroxybutyrate (BHB) uptake in brain and alteration in counterregulatory hormonal regulation during hypoglycemia. Neuronal specific insulin receptor knockout (NIRKO) mice display impaired counterregulatory hormonal responses during hypoglycemia. In this study we investigated the fasting mediated expression of p-BAD(ser155) and p-AKT(ser473) in different regions of brain (prefrontal cortex, hippocampus, midbrain and hypothalamus). Fasting specifically increases p-BAD(ser155) and p-AKT(ser473) in prefrontal cortex and decreases in other regions of brain. Our results suggest that fasting may increase the uptake BHB by decreasing p-BAD(ser155) in the brain during hypoglycemia except prefrontal cortex and it uncovers specific functional area of p-BAD(ser155) and p-AKT(ser473) that may regulates counter regulatory hormonal response. Overall in support with previous findings, fasting mediated hypoglycemia activates prefrontal cortex insulin signaling which influences the hypothalamic paraventricular nucleus mediated activation of sympathoadrenal hormonal responses. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

  17. Internationalization of Higher Education: A Literature Review on Competency Approach

    OpenAIRE

    Chong Pui Yee

    2014-01-01

    This paper is a literature review on the internationalization of higher education focusing on staff competency in managing international students. This writing uncovered some empirical studies by researchers in a Malaysian context on the issue, challenges and expectation from both international students and university academics and administrators. International students faced great challenges in adjusting their life in Malaysia, these include different teaching and learning style, culture, la...

  18. Increasing oral absorption of polar neuraminidase inhibitors: a prodrug transporter approach applied to oseltamivir analogue.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gupta, Deepak; Varghese Gupta, Sheeba; Dahan, Arik; Tsume, Yasuhiro; Hilfinger, John; Lee, Kyung-Dall; Amidon, Gordon L

    2013-02-04

    Poor oral absorption is one of the limiting factors in utilizing the full potential of polar antiviral agents. The neuraminidase target site requires a polar chemical structure for high affinity binding, thus limiting oral efficacy of many high affinity ligands. The aim of this study was to overcome this poor oral absorption barrier, utilizing prodrug to target the apical brush border peptide transporter 1 (PEPT1). Guanidine oseltamivir carboxylate (GOCarb) is a highly active polar antiviral agent with insufficient oral bioavailability (4%) to be an effective therapeutic agent. In this report we utilize a carrier-mediated targeted prodrug approach to improve the oral absorption of GOCarb. Acyloxy(alkyl) ester based amino acid linked prodrugs were synthesized and evaluated as potential substrates of mucosal transporters, e.g., PEPT1. Prodrugs were also evaluated for their chemical and enzymatic stability. PEPT1 transport studies included [(3)H]Gly-Sar uptake inhibition in Caco-2 cells and cellular uptake experiments using HeLa cells overexpressing PEPT1. The intestinal membrane permeabilities of the selected prodrugs and the parent drug were then evaluated for epithelial cell transport across Caco-2 monolayers, and in the in situ rat intestinal jejunal perfusion model. Prodrugs exhibited a pH dependent stability with higher stability at acidic pHs. Significant inhibition of uptake (IC(50) 30-fold increase in affinity compared to GOCarb. The l-valyl prodrug exhibited significant enhancement of uptake in PEPT1/HeLa cells and compared favorably with the well-absorbed valacyclovir. Transepithelial permeability across Caco-2 monolayers showed that these amino acid prodrugs have a 2-5-fold increase in permeability as compared to the parent drug and showed that the l-valyl prodrug (P(app) = 1.7 × 10(-6) cm/s) has the potential to be rapidly transported across the epithelial cell apical membrane. Significantly, only the parent drug (GOCarb) appeared in the basolateral

  19. Impact Of The Ban On Uncovered SCDS Trade On the Interdependencies Between The CDS Market And Other Sectors Of Financial Markets. The Case Of Safe And Developed Versus Risky And Developing European Markets

    OpenAIRE

    Kliber, Agata

    2016-01-01

    The aim of the article is to verify the impact of the ban on uncovered sCDS trade in Europe on the interdependencies between the sCDS market and other sectors of financial markets. We analyse two European markets: the safe and developed Swedish market, and the risky and developing Hungarian one. The study covers the period from October 2008 to October 2013. We analyse changes in the interdependencies between the sCDS market and the bond market, as well as between the sCDS market and the stock...

  20. Multi-stage crypto ransomware attacks: A new emerging cyber threat to critical infrastructure and industrial control systems

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Aaron Zimba

    2018-03-01

    Full Text Available The inevitable integration of critical infrastructure to public networks has exposed the underlying industrial control systems to various attack vectors. In this paper, we model multi-stage crypto ransomware attacks, which are today an emerging cyber threat to critical infrastructure. We evaluate our modeling approach using multi-stage attacks by the infamous WannaCry ransomware. The static malware analysis results uncover the techniques employed by the ransomware to discover vulnerable nodes in different SCADA and production subnets, and for the subsequent network propagation. Based on the uncovered artifacts, we recommend a cascaded network segmentation approach, which prioritizes the security of production network devices. Keywords: Critical infrastructure, Cyber-attack, Industrial control system, Crypto ransomware, Vulnerability

  1. Cryptic genetic diversity is paramount in small-bodied amphibians of the genus Euparkerella (Anura: Craugastoridae endemic to the Brazilian Atlantic forest.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Luciana A Fusinatto

    Full Text Available Morphological similarity associated to restricted distributions and low dispersal abilities make the direct developing "Terrarana" frogs of the genus Euparkerella a good model for examining diversification processes. We here infer phylogenetic relationships within the genus Euparkerella, using DNA sequence data from one mitochondrial and four nuclear genes coupled with traditional Bayesian phylogenetic reconstruction approaches and more recent coalescent methods of species tree inference. We also used Bayesian clustering analysis and a recent Bayesian coalescent-based approach specifically to infer species delimitation. The analysis of 39 individuals from the four known Euparkerella species uncovered high levels of genetic diversity, especially within the two previously morphologically-defined E. cochranae and E. brasiliensis. Within these species, the gene trees at five independent loci and trees from combined data (concatenated dataset and the species tree uncovered six deeply diverged and geographically coherent evolutionary units, which may have diverged between the Miocene and the Pleistocene. These six units were also uncovered in the Bayesian clustering analysis, and supported by the Bayesian coalescent-based species delimitation (BPP, and Genealogical Sorting Index (GSI, providing thus strong evidence for underestimation of the current levels of diversity within Euparkerella. The cryptic diversity now uncovered opens new opportunities to examine the origins and maintenance of microendemism in the context of spatial heterogeneity and/or human induced fragmentation of the highly threatened Brazilian Atlantic forest hotspot.

  2. Pilot implementations and learning in CSCW settings

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Hansen, Magnus

    2011-01-01

    Pilot implementations of new technology in organizations have been proposed as a promising approach to uncover emergent knowledge and learning of the specific work practices in which they are implemented. In this research proposal I will discuss how a participatory approach to evaluating CSCW...

  3. Beliefs and Practices of Writing Instruction in Japanese Elementary Schools

    Science.gov (United States)

    Spence, Lucy K.; Kite, Yuriko

    2018-01-01

    Focusing on writing instruction within an era of international curricular reform, this study analysed classroom observations, educator interviews, and documents related to Japanese elementary writing instruction. A deductive approach using discourses of writing framework and an inductive approach to Japanese cultural practices uncovered beliefs…

  4. Effect of interlayer bonding strength and bending stiffness on 2-dimensional materials’ frictional properties at atomic-scale steps

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Lang, Haojie; Peng, Yitian; Zeng, Xingzhong

    2017-01-01

    Highlights: • Bending of uncovered step edge of 2-dimensional materials could be a common phenomenon during friction processes. • 2-dimensional materials with large interlayer bonding strength possess good frictional properties at step. • Increased bending stiffness of step edge could be the major reason that lateral force increased with step height. - Abstract: Atomic-scale steps generally presented in 2-dimensional materials have important influence on the overall nanotribological properties of surface. Frictional properties at atomic-scale steps of two types of 2-dimensional materials are studied using calibrated atomic force microscopy (AFM) tip sliding against the steps. The lateral force at uncovered step is larger than covered step due to the bending of step edge. The lateral force at monolayer uncovered step edge of h-BN is lower than graphene because h-BN possesses higher interlayer bonding strength than graphene and the bending of h-BN step edge is suppressed to some extent. The high uncovered step exhibits much larger lateral force than low uncovered step, which could be mainly induced by increased bending stiffness of step edge rather than increased step height. The results revealed that interlayer bonding strength and bending stiffness have great influence on the lateral force at atomic-scale steps. The studies can provide a further understanding of frictional properties at atomic scale steps and could be helpful for the applications of 2-dimensional materials as lubricant coating.

  5. Effect of interlayer bonding strength and bending stiffness on 2-dimensional materials’ frictional properties at atomic-scale steps

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Lang, Haojie; Peng, Yitian, E-mail: yitianpeng@dhu.edu.cn; Zeng, Xingzhong

    2017-07-31

    Highlights: • Bending of uncovered step edge of 2-dimensional materials could be a common phenomenon during friction processes. • 2-dimensional materials with large interlayer bonding strength possess good frictional properties at step. • Increased bending stiffness of step edge could be the major reason that lateral force increased with step height. - Abstract: Atomic-scale steps generally presented in 2-dimensional materials have important influence on the overall nanotribological properties of surface. Frictional properties at atomic-scale steps of two types of 2-dimensional materials are studied using calibrated atomic force microscopy (AFM) tip sliding against the steps. The lateral force at uncovered step is larger than covered step due to the bending of step edge. The lateral force at monolayer uncovered step edge of h-BN is lower than graphene because h-BN possesses higher interlayer bonding strength than graphene and the bending of h-BN step edge is suppressed to some extent. The high uncovered step exhibits much larger lateral force than low uncovered step, which could be mainly induced by increased bending stiffness of step edge rather than increased step height. The results revealed that interlayer bonding strength and bending stiffness have great influence on the lateral force at atomic-scale steps. The studies can provide a further understanding of frictional properties at atomic scale steps and could be helpful for the applications of 2-dimensional materials as lubricant coating.

  6. An analytical approach for predicting the energy capture and conversion by impulsively-excited bistable vibration energy harvesters

    Science.gov (United States)

    Harne, R. L.; Zhang, Chunlin; Li, Bing; Wang, K. W.

    2016-07-01

    Impulsive energies are abundant throughout the natural and built environments, for instance as stimulated by wind gusts, foot-steps, or vehicle-road interactions. In the interest of maximizing the sustainability of society's technological developments, one idea is to capture these high-amplitude and abrupt energies and convert them into usable electrical power such as for sensors which otherwise rely on less sustainable power supplies. In this spirit, the considerable sensitivity to impulse-type events previously uncovered for bistable oscillators has motivated recent experimental and numerical studies on the power generation performance of bistable vibration energy harvesters. To lead to an effective and efficient predictive tool and design guide, this research develops a new analytical approach to estimate the electroelastic response and power generation of a bistable energy harvester when excited by an impulse. Comparison with values determined by direct simulation of the governing equations shows that the analytically predicted net converted energies are very accurate for a wide range of impulse strengths. Extensive experimental investigations are undertaken to validate the analytical approach and it is seen that the predicted estimates of the impulsive energy conversion are in excellent agreement with the measurements, and the detailed structural dynamics are correctly reproduced. As a result, the analytical approach represents a significant leap forward in the understanding of how to effectively leverage bistable structures as energy harvesting devices and introduces new means to elucidate the transient and far-from-equilibrium dynamics of nonlinear systems more generally.

  7. Virtual Worlds and Gamification to Increase Integration of International Students in Higher Education: An Inclusive Design Approach

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zhang, Bo; Robb, Nigel; Eyerman, Joe; Goodman, Lizbeth

    2017-01-01

    In response to the growing trend of internationalisation in education, it is important to consider approaches to help international students integrate in their new settings. One possible approach involves the use of e-Learning tools, such as virtual worlds and gamification. To maximise the potential effectiveness of such tools, it may be…

  8. New approach to the adjustment of group cross-sections fitting integral measurements

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Chao, Y.A.

    1979-01-01

    The adjustment of group cross-sections fitting integral measurements is viewed as a process of uncovering theoretical and/or experimental negligence errors to bring statistical consistency to the integral and differential data so that they can be combined to form an enlarged ensemble, on which an improved estimation of the physical constants can be based. An approach with three steps is suggested, and its formalism of general validity is developed. In step one, the data of negligence error are extracted from the given integral and differential data. The method of extraction is based on the concepts of prior probability and information entropy. It automatically leads to vanishing negligence error as the two sets of data are statistically consistent. The second step is to identify the sources of negligence error and adjust the data by an amount compensating the extracted negligence discrepancy. In the last step the two data sets, already adjusted to mutual consistency, are combined as a single unified ensemble. Standard methods of statistics can then be applied to re-estimate the physical constants. A simple example is shown as a demonstration of the method. 1 figure

  9. Contribute to Wikipedia: An approach to Increase Research Visibility on the Web

    OpenAIRE

    Ebrahim, Nader Ale

    2016-01-01

    Wikipedia is a tool for collaboration, information sharing and knowledge/content management which anyone can edit. Wikipedia is widely used by students during the research process. So, due to Wikipedia popularity, contributing to Wikipedia website is one way of increasing citation score. In this workshop, I try to answer “Does including your papers as citations on Wikipedia increase the number of academic citations you get?” if yes, how?.

  10. PathEdEx – Uncovering high-explanatory visual diagnostics heuristics using digital pathology and multiscale gaze data

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Dmitriy Shin

    2017-01-01

    Full Text Available Background: Visual heuristics of pathology diagnosis is a largely unexplored area where reported studies only provided a qualitative insight into the subject. Uncovering and quantifying pathology visual and nonvisual diagnostic patterns have great potential to improve clinical outcomes and avoid diagnostic pitfalls. Methods: Here, we present PathEdEx, an informatics computational framework that incorporates whole-slide digital pathology imaging with multiscale gaze-tracking technology to create web-based interactive pathology educational atlases and to datamine visual and nonvisual diagnostic heuristics. Results: We demonstrate the capabilities of PathEdEx for mining visual and nonvisual diagnostic heuristics using the first PathEdEx volume of a hematopathology atlas. We conducted a quantitative study on the time dynamics of zooming and panning operations utilized by experts and novices to come to the correct diagnosis. We then performed association rule mining to determine sets of diagnostic factors that consistently result in a correct diagnosis, and studied differences in diagnostic strategies across different levels of pathology expertise using Markov chain (MC modeling and MC Monte Carlo simulations. To perform these studies, we translated raw gaze points to high-explanatory semantic labels that represent pathology diagnostic clues. Therefore, the outcome of these studies is readily transformed into narrative descriptors for direct use in pathology education and practice. Conclusion: PathEdEx framework can be used to capture best practices of pathology visual and nonvisual diagnostic heuristics that can be passed over to the next generation of pathologists and have potential to streamline implementation of precision diagnostics in precision medicine settings.

  11. Uncovering Wildlife

    Science.gov (United States)

    Travis, Holly

    2016-01-01

    Many ground-dwelling amphibians, reptiles, small mammals, insects, and other arthropods seek cover during their resting hours. Their natural hideaways include underground burrows, rotting logs, and leaf litter, which are widely distributed and difficult to discover and observe. To make observation easier, scientists, educators, and students can…

  12. Fresh Kids: the efficacy of a Health Promoting Schools approach to increasing consumption of fruit and water in Australia.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Laurence, S; Peterken, R; Burns, C

    2007-09-01

    The Fresh Kids programme utilized the Health Promoting Schools (HPSs) framework to design a whole-of-school, multifaceted intervention targeting specific behaviours to promote healthy eating and reduce the risk factors associated with childhood obesity. The aim of the programme was to evaluate the effectiveness of the HPS framework to increase fruit and water consumption among primary school-aged children over a 2-year period. The study design was an interrupted time series. Four primary schools in the inner west of Melbourne, Australia, participated in the programme intervention. Baseline data were collected using a lunch box audit to assess the frequency of children with fresh fruit, water and sweet drinks, either brought from home or selected from canteen lunch orders. The lunch box audit was repeated periodically for up to 2 years following programme implementation to assess the sustainability of dietary changes. Across all participating schools, significant increases between 25 and 50% were observed in the proportion of children bringing fresh fruit. Similarly, all schools recorded increases between 15 and 60% in the proportion of students bringing filled water bottles to school and reductions between 8 and 38% in the proportion of children bringing sweet drinks. These significant changes in dietary patterns were sustained for up to 2 years following programme implementation. Targeting key nutrition behaviours and using the HPS framework is an effective and simple approach which could be readily implemented in similar childhood settings. Effective strategies include facilitating organizational change within the school; integrating curriculum activities; formalizing school policy and establishing project partnerships with local community nutrition and dietetic services.

  13. The Campus-Wide Presentation: An Experiential Approach to Increasing Student Learning, Growth and Marketability

    Science.gov (United States)

    Redcross, Natalie Ryder

    2015-01-01

    The purpose of this article is to describe and encourage an approach to a public relations course that can be applied to any discipline. Grounded in the experiential learning theory, students prepare for 16 weeks to present an issue-based campaign to a targeted, live audience at an oncampus venue. Using the course textbook and required readings as…

  14. The Social Marketing Approach: A Way to Increase Reporting and Treatment of Sexual Assault

    Science.gov (United States)

    Boehm, Amnon; Itzhaky, Haya

    2004-01-01

    Objective: Too often communities remain silent in response to cases of sexual assault of children. Members of the community are afraid to report such incidents and victims are reluctant to seek and accept treatment. The purpose of the paper is to examine whether application of a social marketing approach may serve as an effective means for…

  15. Community landscapes: an integrative approach to determine overlapping network module hierarchy, identify key nodes and predict network dynamics.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    István A Kovács

    Full Text Available BACKGROUND: Network communities help the functional organization and evolution of complex networks. However, the development of a method, which is both fast and accurate, provides modular overlaps and partitions of a heterogeneous network, has proven to be rather difficult. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: Here we introduce the novel concept of ModuLand, an integrative method family determining overlapping network modules as hills of an influence function-based, centrality-type community landscape, and including several widely used modularization methods as special cases. As various adaptations of the method family, we developed several algorithms, which provide an efficient analysis of weighted and directed networks, and (1 determine persvasively overlapping modules with high resolution; (2 uncover a detailed hierarchical network structure allowing an efficient, zoom-in analysis of large networks; (3 allow the determination of key network nodes and (4 help to predict network dynamics. CONCLUSIONS/SIGNIFICANCE: The concept opens a wide range of possibilities to develop new approaches and applications including network routing, classification, comparison and prediction.

  16. Primary care practice a la carte among GPs: using organizational diversity to increase job satisfaction.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Geneau, Robert; Lehoux, Pascale; Pineault, Raynald; Lamarche, Paul A

    2007-04-01

    Primary care revival in Canada and elsewhere is viewed by many as conditional to the introduction of new organizational models. Endorsement by GPs is a key factor in the success of these models, and increasing GPs' job satisfaction is often one of the desired outcomes of the reforms currently underway. The phenomenon of work satisfaction from the GP's perspective is not yet fully understood. The objectives of this study were to elicit its different facets and to understand better how organizational factors affect it. This is a case study carried out in the province of Quebec (Canada). We conducted semi-structured interviews with 28 GPs working in private clinics and community health centres (Centre local de services communautaires). The main themes uncovered are related to the relationship between time management and quality of care, variation in work, autonomy in day-to-day practice, team 'orientedness' and social rewards. We also found that some GPs prefer to combine work in different organizations and models in order to increase their job satisfaction and to better cope with an increasingly complex task environment. Our study provides a comprehensive view of the various dimensions that GPs consider important in their professional life. Our findings suggest that, for many GPs, the perfect practice is tailor made and implies a combination of organizational models in order to fulfil their multiple professional goals. This has important implications for decision makers who are promoting new primary care models.

  17. Boulder Food Rescue: An Innovative Approach to Reducing Food Waste and Increasing Food Security.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sewald, Craig A; Kuo, Elena S; Dansky, Hana

    2018-05-01

    Food waste and food insecurity are both significant issues in communities throughout the U.S., including Boulder, Colorado. As much as 40% of the food produced in the U.S. goes uneaten and ends up in landfills. Nearly 13% of people in the Boulder region experience some level of food insecurity. Founded in 2011, Boulder Food Rescue supports community members to create their own food security through a participatory approach to an emergency food system. The organization uses a web-application "robot" to manage a schedule of volunteers. They coordinate with individuals at low-income senior housing sites, individual housing sites, family housing sites, after-school programs, and pre-schools to set up no-cost grocery programs stocked with food from local markets and grocers that would otherwise go to waste. Each site coordinator makes decisions about how, when, and where food delivery and distribution will occur. The program also conducts robust, real-time data collection and analysis. Boulder Food Rescue is a member and manager of the Food Rescue Alliance, and its model has been replicated and adapted by other cities, including Denver, Colorado Springs, Seattle, Jackson Hole, Minneapolis, Binghamton, and in the Philippines. Information for this special article was collected through key informant interviews with current and former Boulder Food Rescue staff and document review of Boulder Food Rescue materials. Boulder Food Rescue's open source software is available to other communities; to date, 40 cities have used the tool to start their own food rescue organizations. Boulder Food Rescue hopes to continue spreading this model to other cities that are considering ways to reduce food waste and increase food security. This article is part of a supplement entitled Building Thriving Communities Through Comprehensive Community Health Initiatives, which is sponsored by Kaiser Permanente, Community Health. Copyright © 2018 American Journal of Preventive Medicine. Published by

  18. The mnemonic mover: nostalgia regulates avoidance and approach motivation.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Stephan, Elena; Wildschut, Tim; Sedikides, Constantine; Zhou, Xinyue; He, Wuming; Routledge, Clay; Cheung, Wing-Yee; Vingerhoets, Ad J J M

    2014-06-01

    In light of its role in maintaining psychological equanimity, we proposed that nostalgia--a self-relevant, social, and predominantly positive emotion--regulates avoidance and approach motivation. We advanced a model in which (a) avoidance motivation triggers nostalgia and (b) nostalgia, in turn, increases approach motivation. As a result, nostalgia counteracts the negative impact of avoidance motivation on approach motivation. Five methodologically diverse studies supported this regulatory model. Study 1 used a cross-sectional design and showed that avoidance motivation was positively associated with nostalgia. Nostalgia, in turn, was positively associated with approach motivation. In Study 2, an experimental induction of avoidance motivation increased nostalgia. Nostalgia then predicted increased approach motivation. Studies 3-5 tested the causal effect of nostalgia on approach motivation and behavior. These studies demonstrated that experimental nostalgia inductions strengthened approach motivation (Study 3) and approach behavior as manifested in reduced seating distance (Study 4) and increased helping (Study 5). The findings shed light on nostalgia's role in regulating the human motivation system.

  19. Regional Radiological Security Partnership in Southeast Asia - Increasing the Sustainability of Security Systems at the Site-Level by Using a Model Facility Approach

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Chamberlain, Travis L.; Dickerson, Sarah; Ravenhill, Scott D.; Murray, Allan; Morris, Frederic A.; Herdes, Gregory A.

    2009-01-01

    In 2004, Australia, through the Australian Nuclear Science and Technology Organisation (ANSTO), created the Regional Security of Radioactive Sources (RSRS) project and partnered with the U.S. Department of Energy's Global Threat Reduction Initiative (GTRI) and the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) to form the Southeast Asian Regional Radiological Security Partnership (RRSP). The intent of the RRSP is to cooperate with countries in Southeast Asia to improve the security of their radioactive sources. This Southeast Asian Partnership supports objectives to improve the security of high risk radioactive sources by raising awareness of the need and developing national programs to protect and control such materials, improve the security of such materials, and recover and condition the materials no longer in use. The RRSP has utilized many tools to meet those objectives including: provision of physical protection upgrades, awareness training, physical protection training, regulatory development, locating and recovering orphan sources, and most recently - development of model security procedures at a model facility. This paper discusses the benefits of establishing a model facility, the methods employed by the RRSP, and three of the expected outcomes of the Model Facility approach. The first expected outcome is to increase compliance with source security guidance materials and national regulations by adding context to those materials, and illustrating their impact on a facility. Second, the effectiveness of each of the tools above is increased by making them part of an integrated system. Third, the methods used to develop the model procedures establishes a sustainable process that can ultimately be transferred to all facilities beyond the model. Overall, the RRSP has utilized the Model Facility approach as an important tool to increase the security of radioactive sources, and to position facilities and countries for the long term secure management of those sources.

  20. Spacecraft Software Maintenance: An Effective Approach to Reducing Costs and Increasing Science Return

    Science.gov (United States)

    Shell, Elaine M.; Lue, Yvonne; Chu, Martha I.

    1999-01-01

    Flight software is a mission critical element of spacecraft functionality and performance. When ground operations personnel interface to a spacecraft, they are typically dealing almost entirely with the capabilities of onboard software. This software, even more than critical ground/flight communications systems, is expected to perform perfectly during all phases of spacecraft life. Due to the fact that it can be reprogrammed on-orbit to accommodate degradations or failures in flight hardware, new insights into spacecraft characteristics, new control options which permit enhanced science options, etc., the on- orbit flight software maintenance team is usually significantly responsible for the long term success of a science mission. Failure of flight software to perform as needed can result in very expensive operations work-around costs and lost science opportunities. There are three basic approaches to maintaining spacecraft software--namely using the original developers, using the mission operations personnel, or assembling a center of excellence for multi-spacecraft software maintenance. Not planning properly for flight software maintenance can lead to unnecessarily high on-orbit costs and/or unacceptably long delays, or errors, in patch installations. A common approach for flight software maintenance is to access the original development staff. The argument for utilizing the development staff is that the people who developed the software will be the best people to modify the software on-orbit. However, it can quickly becomes a challenge to obtain the services of these key people. They may no longer be available to the organization. They may have a more urgent job to perform, quite likely on another project under different project management. If they havn't worked on the software for a long time, they may need precious time for refamiliarization to the software, testbeds and tools. Further, a lack of insight into issues related to flight software in its on

  1. Swedish approach to information needs in severe accident situations

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Soederman, E. (ES-Konsult AB, Stockholm (Sweden)); Karnik, P. (ES-Konsult AB, Stockholm (Sweden))

    1992-07-01

    In Sweden, systems for mitigating severe accidents have been installed at all plants and procedures have been implemented for accident management. This work has included the assessment of needs of information and the survivability of existing instrumentation during the various phases of an accident scenario. The approach has been pragmatic and based on existing knowledge of accident phenomenology and MAAP code calculations together with plant staff experience of detailed plant design and installation. During the early phases of accidents, which is defined to remain up to maximum fuel temperatures in the order of 800 C, the ordinary instrumentation is to a great extent useful. The reactor vessel level measurement is however identified to be weak in BWRs as soon as the core is partly uncovered. This has lead to the development of a Core Cooling Monitor. In later phases of accident scenarios, the general basis has been that no intrumentation inside the containment can survive. It has been analysed what information is strictly needed. It has been found that detailed information of the status inside the pressure vessel is of little importance after vessel penetration. Certain important information needs have been identified, that was not safely accessible from existing instrumentation. This had lead to complementary installations, using instruments inserted into the containment through protected guide tubes. Also for sampling of gas and water complementary installations have been made. (orig.)

  2. Swedish approach to information needs in severe accident situations

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Soederman, E.; Karnik, P.

    1992-01-01

    In Sweden, systems for mitigating severe accidents have been installed at all plants and procedures have been implemented for accident management. This work has included the assessment of needs of information and the survivability of existing instrumentation during the various phases of an accident scenario. The approach has been pragmatic and based on existing knowledge of accident phenomenology and MAAP code calculations together with plant staff experience of detailed plant design and installation. During the early phases of accidents, which is defined to remain up to maximum fuel temperatures in the order of 800 C, the ordinary instrumentation is to a great extent useful. The reactor vessel level measurement is however identified to be weak in BWRs as soon as the core is partly uncovered. This has lead to the development of a Core Cooling Monitor. In later phases of accident scenarios, the general basis has been that no intrumentation inside the containment can survive. It has been analysed what information is strictly needed. It has been found that detailed information of the status inside the pressure vessel is of little importance after vessel penetration. Certain important information needs have been identified, that was not safely accessible from existing instrumentation. This had lead to complementary installations, using instruments inserted into the containment through protected guide tubes. Also for sampling of gas and water complementary installations have been made. (orig.)

  3. Data-driven security analysis, visualization and dashboards

    CERN Document Server

    Jacobs, Jay

    2014-01-01

    Uncover hidden patterns of data and respond with countermeasures Security professionals need all the tools at their disposal to increase their visibility in order to prevent security breaches and attacks. This careful guide explores two of the most powerful ? data analysis and visualization. You'll soon understand how to harness and wield data, from collection and storage to management and analysis as well as visualization and presentation. Using a hands-on approach with real-world examples, this book shows you how to gather feedback, measure the effectiveness of your security methods, and ma

  4. Myotubular myopathy and the neuromuscular junction: a novel therapeutic approach from mouse models

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    James J. Dowling

    2012-11-01

    Myotubular myopathy (MTM is a severe congenital muscle disease characterized by profound weakness, early respiratory failure and premature lethality. MTM is defined by muscle biopsy findings that include centralized nuclei and disorganization of perinuclear organelles. No treatments currently exist for MTM. We hypothesized that aberrant neuromuscular junction (NMJ transmission is an important and potentially treatable aspect of the disease pathogenesis. We tested this hypothesis in two murine models of MTM. In both models we uncovered evidence of a disorder of NMJ transmission: fatigable weakness, improved strength with neostigmine, and electrodecrement with repetitive nerve stimulation. Histopathological analysis revealed abnormalities in the organization, appearance and size of individual NMJs, abnormalities that correlated with changes in acetylcholine receptor gene expression and subcellular localization. We additionally determined the ability of pyridostigmine, an acetylcholinesterase inhibitor, to ameliorate aspects of the behavioral phenotype related to NMJ dysfunction. Pyridostigmine treatment resulted in significant improvement in fatigable weakness and treadmill endurance. In all, these results describe a newly identified pathological abnormality in MTM, and uncover a potential disease-modifying therapy for this devastating disorder.

  5. ChromaSig: a probabilistic approach to finding common chromatin signatures in the human genome.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Gary Hon

    2008-10-01

    Full Text Available Computational methods to identify functional genomic elements using genetic information have been very successful in determining gene structure and in identifying a handful of cis-regulatory elements. But the vast majority of regulatory elements have yet to be discovered, and it has become increasingly apparent that their discovery will not come from using genetic information alone. Recently, high-throughput technologies have enabled the creation of information-rich epigenetic maps, most notably for histone modifications. However, tools that search for functional elements using this epigenetic information have been lacking. Here, we describe an unsupervised learning method called ChromaSig to find, in an unbiased fashion, commonly occurring chromatin signatures in both tiling microarray and sequencing data. Applying this algorithm to nine chromatin marks across a 1% sampling of the human genome in HeLa cells, we recover eight clusters of distinct chromatin signatures, five of which correspond to known patterns associated with transcriptional promoters and enhancers. Interestingly, we observe that the distinct chromatin signatures found at enhancers mark distinct functional classes of enhancers in terms of transcription factor and coactivator binding. In addition, we identify three clusters of novel chromatin signatures that contain evolutionarily conserved sequences and potential cis-regulatory elements. Applying ChromaSig to a panel of 21 chromatin marks mapped genomewide by ChIP-Seq reveals 16 classes of genomic elements marked by distinct chromatin signatures. Interestingly, four classes containing enrichment for repressive histone modifications appear to be locally heterochromatic sites and are enriched in quickly evolving regions of the genome. The utility of this approach in uncovering novel, functionally significant genomic elements will aid future efforts of genome annotation via chromatin modifications.

  6. Coldest Temperature Extreme Monotonically Increased and Hottest Extreme Oscillated over Northern Hemisphere Land during Last 114 Years.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zhou, Chunlüe; Wang, Kaicun

    2016-05-13

    Most studies on global warming rely on global mean surface temperature, whose change is jointly determined by anthropogenic greenhouse gases (GHGs) and natural variability. This introduces a heated debate on whether there is a recent warming hiatus and what caused the hiatus. Here, we presented a novel method and applied it to a 5° × 5° grid of Northern Hemisphere land for the period 1900 to 2013. Our results show that the coldest 5% of minimum temperature anomalies (the coldest deviation) have increased monotonically by 0.22 °C/decade, which reflects well the elevated anthropogenic GHG effect. The warmest 5% of maximum temperature anomalies (the warmest deviation), however, display a significant oscillation following the Atlantic Multidecadal Oscillation (AMO), with a warming rate of 0.07 °C/decade from 1900 to 2013. The warmest (0.34 °C/decade) and coldest deviations (0.25 °C/decade) increased at much higher rates over the most recent decade than last century mean values, indicating the hiatus should not be interpreted as a general slowing of climate change. The significant oscillation of the warmest deviation provides an extension of previous study reporting no pause in the hottest temperature extremes since 1979, and first uncovers its increase from 1900 to 1939 and decrease from 1940 to 1969.

  7. A Systems Genetic Approach to Identify Low Dose Radiation-Induced Lymphoma Susceptibility/DOE2013FinalReport

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Balmain, Allan [University of California, San Francisco; Song, Ihn Young [University of California, San Francisco

    2013-05-15

    The ultimate goal of this project is to identify the combinations of genetic variants that confer an individual's susceptibility to the effects of low dose (0.1 Gy) gamma-radiation, in particular with regard to tumor development. In contrast to the known effects of high dose radiation in cancer induction, the responses to low dose radiation (defined as 0.1 Gy or less) are much less well understood, and have been proposed to involve a protective anti-tumor effect in some in vivo scientific models. These conflicting results confound attempts to develop predictive models of the risk of exposure to low dose radiation, particularly when combined with the strong effects of inherited genetic variants on both radiation effects and cancer susceptibility. We have used a Systems Genetics approach in mice that combines genetic background analysis with responses to low and high dose radiation, in order to develop insights that will allow us to reconcile these disparate observations. Using this comprehensive approach we have analyzed normal tissue gene expression (in this case the skin and thymus), together with the changes that take place in this gene expression architecture a) in response to low or high- dose radiation and b) during tumor development. Additionally, we have demonstrated that using our expression analysis approach in our genetically heterogeneous/defined radiation-induced tumor mouse models can uniquely identify genes and pathways relevant to human T-ALL, and uncover interactions between common genetic variants of genes which may lead to tumor susceptibility.

  8. Increased P diffusion as an explanation of increased P availability in flooded rice soils

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Turner, F.T.; Gilliam, J.W.

    1976-01-01

    Phosphorus supply factors (capacity, kinetic, intensity, and diffusivity) and plant growth were the approaches used to assess P supply of flooded rice soils. Increases in the capacity, intensity and kinetic factors, as measured by E-value, solution P concentration, and soil P release rate to a distilled water 'sink' respectively, were unpronounced and infrequent upon water-saturation of ten soils. However, increases in the diffusivity factor, as measured by 32 P diffusion coefficients, were at least ten-fold as soil moisture increased. The greatest increases in P diffusion occurred as soil moisture increased beyond one-third bar. Using a P-fertilized soil or P treated powdered cellulose as the P source and a minus P nutrient solution to nourish a split root system with water and nutrients, data were obtained which suggested that P uptake and rice shoot growth (indicators of P availability) increased with increasing moisture level. Phosphorus uptake and rice-shoot growth were greatest when the soil or P treated cellulose were water-saturated. These data indicate that increased soil P availability upon flooding can be attributed to an increase in the diffusivity factor

  9. Cache Hardware Approaches to Multiple Independent Levels of Security (MILS)

    Science.gov (United States)

    2012-10-01

    point-to-point interconnect for multicore processors. From [6] ..... 6 Figure 4 - State Diagram showing transitions to and from SMM ...separate mode of operation, called System Management Mode ( SMM ). This mode is in addition to the more commonly known x86 modes – Real Mode and Protected...of the SMM . A possible security exploit was uncovered with SMM , and is described in the section on Task 2. Task 3 took significantly extra time, as

  10. Edit What do guests value most in Airbnb accommodations? An application of the hedonic pricing approach

    OpenAIRE

    Tarik Dogru; Osman Pekin

    2017-01-01

    Private rooms, entire homes, laundry, free parking, kitchens - these are just some of the amenities that Airbnb guests are looking for in accommodations. Using data from the Greater Boston Area, Dr. Dogru and Osman Pekin uncover how these amenities affect Airbnb nightly rates.

  11. HIV among immigrants living in high-income countries: a realist review of evidence to guide targeted approaches to behavioural HIV prevention

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    McMahon Tadgh

    2012-11-01

    Full Text Available Abstract Background Immigrants from developing and middle-income countries are an emerging priority in HIV prevention in high-income countries. This may be explained in part by accelerating international migration and population mobility. However, it may also be due to the vulnerabilities of immigrants including social exclusion along with socioeconomic, cultural and language barriers to HIV prevention. Contemporary thinking on effective HIV prevention stresses the need for targeted approaches that adapt HIV prevention interventions according to the cultural context and population being addressed. This review of evidence sought to generate insights into targeted approaches in this emerging area of HIV prevention. Methods We undertook a realist review to answer the research question: ‘How are HIV prevention interventions in high-income countries adapted to suit immigrants’ needs?’ A key goal was to uncover underlying theories or mechanisms operating in behavioural HIV prevention interventions with immigrants, to uncover explanations as how and why they work (or not for particular groups in particular contexts, and thus to refine the underlying theories. The realist review mapped seven initial mechanisms underlying culturally appropriate HIV prevention with immigrants. Evidence from intervention studies and qualitative studies found in systematic searches was then used to test and refine these seven mechanisms. Results Thirty-four intervention studies and 40 qualitative studies contributed to the analysis and synthesis of evidence. The strongest evidence supported the role of ‘consonance’ mechanisms, indicating the pivotal need to incorporate cultural values into the intervention content. Moderate evidence was found to support the role of three other mechanisms – ‘understanding’, ‘specificity’ and ‘embeddedness’ – which indicated that using the language of immigrants, usually the ‘mother tongue’, targeting (in terms

  12. HIV among immigrants living in high-income countries: a realist review of evidence to guide targeted approaches to behavioural HIV prevention

    Science.gov (United States)

    2012-01-01

    Background Immigrants from developing and middle-income countries are an emerging priority in HIV prevention in high-income countries. This may be explained in part by accelerating international migration and population mobility. However, it may also be due to the vulnerabilities of immigrants including social exclusion along with socioeconomic, cultural and language barriers to HIV prevention. Contemporary thinking on effective HIV prevention stresses the need for targeted approaches that adapt HIV prevention interventions according to the cultural context and population being addressed. This review of evidence sought to generate insights into targeted approaches in this emerging area of HIV prevention. Methods We undertook a realist review to answer the research question: ‘How are HIV prevention interventions in high-income countries adapted to suit immigrants’ needs?’ A key goal was to uncover underlying theories or mechanisms operating in behavioural HIV prevention interventions with immigrants, to uncover explanations as how and why they work (or not) for particular groups in particular contexts, and thus to refine the underlying theories. The realist review mapped seven initial mechanisms underlying culturally appropriate HIV prevention with immigrants. Evidence from intervention studies and qualitative studies found in systematic searches was then used to test and refine these seven mechanisms. Results Thirty-four intervention studies and 40 qualitative studies contributed to the analysis and synthesis of evidence. The strongest evidence supported the role of ‘consonance’ mechanisms, indicating the pivotal need to incorporate cultural values into the intervention content. Moderate evidence was found to support the role of three other mechanisms – ‘understanding’, ‘specificity’ and ‘embeddedness’ – which indicated that using the language of immigrants, usually the ‘mother tongue’, targeting (in terms of ethnicity) and the use of

  13. Why do most Gitano/Romani students not complete compulsory secondary education in Spain? Uncovering the view of the educational community using concept mapping

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Álvarez Arturo

    2016-01-01

    Full Text Available This paper describes the results of research that used Concept Mapping to study the causes of the high rates of school failure among the students of the Gitano or Spanish Romani minority. A sample of 52 members of a school community—pupils, families and teachers—participated in the research. Data were collected in focus groups. Generated ideas were sorted and rated by participants. A multidimensional scaling of sorted data resulted in a map of points. A cluster analysis with the points’ coordinates was run. The results uncovered a model of six clusters: ethnic differences, families, adolescent risk behaviours, students’ attitudes and values, curriculum gap, and finally effects of compensatory education and attention to diversity programmes. The relationships among the clusters point to three sources of concern: cultural and gender issues within the family setting that encourage girls to drop out of school; lack of motivation and educational orientation of the students; and structural problems of the educational system that contribute to maintain the educational gap between minority and majority students.

  14. Belene nuclear power plant contracting approach

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Tankosic, D.; Mignone, O.

    2004-01-01

    Historically, three main types of project execution and contractual approaches have been applied to energy and industrial projects, including nuclear projects. These approaches are grouped into three broad categories: 1) Turnkey Approach; 2) Split Package (Island) Approach; and 3)Multiple Package Approach. Based on a preliminary screening done by an ongoing feasibility study work for NPP Belene (NEK contract to Parsons E and C), the recommended approach is going to follow that general trend i.e., with some variation between the Split Package and the Turnkey approach. Before deciding on an execution approach or at least before issuing bid specifications for the nuclear power plant, it is prudent, even for a country with existing nuclear power program (like Bulgaria), to re-check/verify capabilities of the interested bidders to handle contracts of this size and nature. During the last decades, nuclear energy went through a substantial restructuring and most of the capabilities (human and financial) that existed before are not any more available. This re-checking should mainly cover the experience of the bidders as regards the design, construction and operation of the stations where they were involved, but also include items such as local experience, capability to bring favorable financing, liability coverage, general background, potential and organizational structures. The advantages and disadvantages for the Owner of the three contracting approaches can be briefly summarized as follows: Turnkey Approach - main advantages: all responsibilities rest in a Contractor or Consortium. Main disadvantages - limited project control by Owner and restricted local participation. For Split Package Contract Approach main advantage are more favorable financing conditions and increased local participation. Main disadvantage is the increased interface problems. For Multiple package Contract Approach main advantages are the opportunity to tailor the plant and maximum increase of local

  15. Molecular features of grass allergens and development of biotechnological approaches for allergy prevention.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Devis, Deborah L; Davies, Janet M; Zhang, Dabing

    2017-09-01

    Allergic diseases are characterized by elevated allergen-specific IgE and excessive inflammatory cell responses. Among the reported plant allergens, grass pollen and grain allergens, derived from agriculturally important members of the Poaceae family such as rice, wheat and barley, are the most dominant and difficult to prevent. Although many allergen homologs have been predicted from species such as wheat and timothy grass, fundamental aspects such as the evolution and function of plant pollen allergens remain largely unclear. With the development of genetic engineering and genomics, more primary sequences, functions and structures of plant allergens have been uncovered, and molecular component-based allergen-specific immunotherapies are being developed. In this review, we aim to provide an update on (i) the distribution and importance of pollen and grain allergens of the Poaceae family, (ii) the origin and evolution, and functional aspects of plant pollen allergens, (iii) developments of allergen-specific immunotherapy for pollen allergy using biotechnology and (iv) development of less allergenic plants using gene engineering techniques. We also discuss future trends in revealing fundamental aspects of grass pollen allergens and possible biotechnological approaches to reduce the amount of pollen allergens in grasses. Copyright © 2017. Published by Elsevier Inc.

  16. A Model Based Approach to Increase the Part Accuracy in Robot Based Incremental Sheet Metal Forming

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Meier, Horst; Laurischkat, Roman; Zhu Junhong

    2011-01-01

    One main influence on the dimensional accuracy in robot based incremental sheet metal forming results from the compliance of the involved robot structures. Compared to conventional machine tools the low stiffness of the robot's kinematic results in a significant deviation of the planned tool path and therefore in a shape of insufficient quality. To predict and compensate these deviations offline, a model based approach, consisting of a finite element approach, to simulate the sheet forming, and a multi body system, modeling the compliant robot structure, has been developed. This paper describes the implementation and experimental verification of the multi body system model and its included compensation method.

  17. Comparative phylogenomics uncovers the impact of symbiotic associations on host genome evolution.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Pierre-Marc Delaux

    2014-07-01

    Full Text Available Mutualistic symbioses between eukaryotes and beneficial microorganisms of their microbiome play an essential role in nutrition, protection against disease, and development of the host. However, the impact of beneficial symbionts on the evolution of host genomes remains poorly characterized. Here we used the independent loss of the most widespread plant-microbe symbiosis, arbuscular mycorrhization (AM, as a model to address this question. Using a large phenotypic approach and phylogenetic analyses, we present evidence that loss of AM symbiosis correlates with the loss of many symbiotic genes in the Arabidopsis lineage (Brassicales. Then, by analyzing the genome and/or transcriptomes of nine other phylogenetically divergent non-host plants, we show that this correlation occurred in a convergent manner in four additional plant lineages, demonstrating the existence of an evolutionary pattern specific to symbiotic genes. Finally, we use a global comparative phylogenomic approach to track this evolutionary pattern among land plants. Based on this approach, we identify a set of 174 highly conserved genes and demonstrate enrichment in symbiosis-related genes. Our findings are consistent with the hypothesis that beneficial symbionts maintain purifying selection on host gene networks during the evolution of entire lineages.

  18. Comparative Phylogenomics Uncovers the Impact of Symbiotic Associations on Host Genome Evolution

    Science.gov (United States)

    Delaux, Pierre-Marc; Varala, Kranthi; Edger, Patrick P.; Coruzzi, Gloria M.; Pires, J. Chris; Ané, Jean-Michel

    2014-01-01

    Mutualistic symbioses between eukaryotes and beneficial microorganisms of their microbiome play an essential role in nutrition, protection against disease, and development of the host. However, the impact of beneficial symbionts on the evolution of host genomes remains poorly characterized. Here we used the independent loss of the most widespread plant–microbe symbiosis, arbuscular mycorrhization (AM), as a model to address this question. Using a large phenotypic approach and phylogenetic analyses, we present evidence that loss of AM symbiosis correlates with the loss of many symbiotic genes in the Arabidopsis lineage (Brassicales). Then, by analyzing the genome and/or transcriptomes of nine other phylogenetically divergent non-host plants, we show that this correlation occurred in a convergent manner in four additional plant lineages, demonstrating the existence of an evolutionary pattern specific to symbiotic genes. Finally, we use a global comparative phylogenomic approach to track this evolutionary pattern among land plants. Based on this approach, we identify a set of 174 highly conserved genes and demonstrate enrichment in symbiosis-related genes. Our findings are consistent with the hypothesis that beneficial symbionts maintain purifying selection on host gene networks during the evolution of entire lineages. PMID:25032823

  19. Novel Approach for Ensuring Increased Validity in Home Blood Pressure Monitoring

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Wagner, Stefan Rahr; Toftegaard, Thomas Skjødeberg; Bertelsen, Olav Wedege

    This paper proposes a novel technique to increase the validity of home blood pressure monitoring by using various sensor technologies as part of an intelligent environment platform in the home of the user. A range of recommendations exists on how to obtain a valid blood pressure but with the devi......This paper proposes a novel technique to increase the validity of home blood pressure monitoring by using various sensor technologies as part of an intelligent environment platform in the home of the user. A range of recommendations exists on how to obtain a valid blood pressure...

  20. A genome-wide approach accounting for body mass index identifies genetic variants influencing fasting glycemic traits and insulin resistance

    Science.gov (United States)

    Manning, Alisa K.; Hivert, Marie-France; Scott, Robert A.; Grimsby, Jonna L.; Bouatia-Naji, Nabila; Chen, Han; Rybin, Denis; Liu, Ching-Ti; Bielak, Lawrence F.; Prokopenko, Inga; Amin, Najaf; Barnes, Daniel; Cadby, Gemma; Hottenga, Jouke-Jan; Ingelsson, Erik; Jackson, Anne U.; Johnson, Toby; Kanoni, Stavroula; Ladenvall, Claes; Lagou, Vasiliki; Lahti, Jari; Lecoeur, Cecile; Liu, Yongmei; Martinez-Larrad, Maria Teresa; Montasser, May E.; Navarro, Pau; Perry, John R. B.; Rasmussen-Torvik, Laura J.; Salo, Perttu; Sattar, Naveed; Shungin, Dmitry; Strawbridge, Rona J.; Tanaka, Toshiko; van Duijn, Cornelia M.; An, Ping; de Andrade, Mariza; Andrews, Jeanette S.; Aspelund, Thor; Atalay, Mustafa; Aulchenko, Yurii; Balkau, Beverley; Bandinelli, Stefania; Beckmann, Jacques S.; Beilby, John P.; Bellis, Claire; Bergman, Richard N.; Blangero, John; Boban, Mladen; Boehnke, Michael; Boerwinkle, Eric; Bonnycastle, Lori L.; Boomsma, Dorret I.; Borecki, Ingrid B.; Böttcher, Yvonne; Bouchard, Claude; Brunner, Eric; Budimir, Danijela; Campbell, Harry; Carlson, Olga; Chines, Peter S.; Clarke, Robert; Collins, Francis S.; Corbatón-Anchuelo, Arturo; Couper, David; de Faire, Ulf; Dedoussis, George V; Deloukas, Panos; Dimitriou, Maria; Egan, Josephine M; Eiriksdottir, Gudny; Erdos, Michael R.; Eriksson, Johan G.; Eury, Elodie; Ferrucci, Luigi; Ford, Ian; Forouhi, Nita G.; Fox, Caroline S; Franzosi, Maria Grazia; Franks, Paul W; Frayling, Timothy M; Froguel, Philippe; Galan, Pilar; de Geus, Eco; Gigante, Bruna; Glazer, Nicole L.; Goel, Anuj; Groop, Leif; Gudnason, Vilmundur; Hallmans, Göran; Hamsten, Anders; Hansson, Ola; Harris, Tamara B.; Hayward, Caroline; Heath, Simon; Hercberg, Serge; Hicks, Andrew A.; Hingorani, Aroon; Hofman, Albert; Hui, Jennie; Hung, Joseph; Jarvelin, Marjo Riitta; Jhun, Min A.; Johnson, Paul C.D.; Jukema, J Wouter; Jula, Antti; Kao, W.H.; Kaprio, Jaakko; Kardia, Sharon L. R.; Keinanen-Kiukaanniemi, Sirkka; Kivimaki, Mika; Kolcic, Ivana; Kovacs, Peter; Kumari, Meena; Kuusisto, Johanna; Kyvik, Kirsten Ohm; Laakso, Markku; Lakka, Timo; Lannfelt, Lars; Lathrop, G Mark; Launer, Lenore J.; Leander, Karin; Li, Guo; Lind, Lars; Lindstrom, Jaana; Lobbens, Stéphane; Loos, Ruth J. F.; Luan, Jian’an; Lyssenko, Valeriya; Mägi, Reedik; Magnusson, Patrik K. E.; Marmot, Michael; Meneton, Pierre; Mohlke, Karen L.; Mooser, Vincent; Morken, Mario A.; Miljkovic, Iva; Narisu, Narisu; O’Connell, Jeff; Ong, Ken K.; Oostra, Ben A.; Palmer, Lyle J.; Palotie, Aarno; Pankow, James S.; Peden, John F.; Pedersen, Nancy L.; Pehlic, Marina; Peltonen, Leena; Penninx, Brenda; Pericic, Marijana; Perola, Markus; Perusse, Louis; Peyser, Patricia A; Polasek, Ozren; Pramstaller, Peter P.; Province, Michael A.; Räikkönen, Katri; Rauramaa, Rainer; Rehnberg, Emil; Rice, Ken; Rotter, Jerome I.; Rudan, Igor; Ruokonen, Aimo; Saaristo, Timo; Sabater-Lleal, Maria; Salomaa, Veikko; Savage, David B.; Saxena, Richa; Schwarz, Peter; Seedorf, Udo; Sennblad, Bengt; Serrano-Rios, Manuel; Shuldiner, Alan R.; Sijbrands, Eric J.G.; Siscovick, David S.; Smit, Johannes H.; Small, Kerrin S.; Smith, Nicholas L.; Smith, Albert Vernon; Stančáková, Alena; Stirrups, Kathleen; Stumvoll, Michael; Sun, Yan V.; Swift, Amy J.; Tönjes, Anke; Tuomilehto, Jaakko; Trompet, Stella; Uitterlinden, Andre G.; Uusitupa, Matti; Vikström, Max; Vitart, Veronique; Vohl, Marie-Claude; Voight, Benjamin F.; Vollenweider, Peter; Waeber, Gerard; Waterworth, Dawn M; Watkins, Hugh; Wheeler, Eleanor; Widen, Elisabeth; Wild, Sarah H.; Willems, Sara M.; Willemsen, Gonneke; Wilson, James F.; Witteman, Jacqueline C.M.; Wright, Alan F.; Yaghootkar, Hanieh; Zelenika, Diana; Zemunik, Tatijana; Zgaga, Lina; Wareham, Nicholas J.; McCarthy, Mark I.; Barroso, Ines; Watanabe, Richard M.; Florez, Jose C.; Dupuis, Josée; Meigs, James B.; Langenberg, Claudia

    2013-01-01

    Recent genome-wide association studies have described many loci implicated in type 2 diabetes (T2D) pathophysiology and beta-cell dysfunction, but contributed little to our understanding of the genetic basis of insulin resistance. We hypothesized that genes implicated in insulin resistance pathways may be uncovered by accounting for differences in body mass index (BMI) and potential interaction between BMI and genetic variants. We applied a novel joint meta-analytical approach to test associations with fasting insulin (FI) and glucose (FG) on a genome-wide scale. We present six previously unknown FI loci at P<5×10−8 in combined discovery and follow-up analyses of 52 studies comprising up to 96,496non-diabetic individuals. Risk variants were associated with higher triglyceride and lower HDL cholesterol levels, suggestive of a role for these FI loci in insulin resistance pathways. The localization of these additional loci will aid further characterization of the role of insulin resistance in T2D pathophysiology. PMID:22581228

  1. A first step toward uncovering the truth about weight tuning in deformable image registration

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    K. Pirpinia (Kleopatra); P.A.N. Bosman (Peter); J.-J. Sonke (Jan-Jakob); M. van Herk (Marcel); T. Alderliesten (Tanja)

    2016-01-01

    textabstractDeformable image registration is currently predominantly solved by optimizing a weighted linear combination of objectives. Successfully tuning the weights associated with these objectives is not trivial, leading to trial-and-error approaches. Such an approach assumes an intuitive

  2. Using Machine Learning to Uncover Latent Research Topics in Fishery Models

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Syed, Shaheen; Weber, Charlotte Teresa

    2018-01-01

    Modeling has become the most commonly used method in fisheries science, with numerous types of models and approaches available today. The large variety of models and the overwhelming amount of scientific literature published yearly can make it difficult to effectively access and use the output of

  3. First-principles approach to the dynamic magnetoelectric couplings for the non-reciprocal directional dichroism in BiFeO3

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Lee, Jun Hee; Fishman, Randy S; Kézsmáki, István

    2016-01-01

    Due to the complicated magnetic and crystallographic structures of BiFeO 3 , its magnetoelectric (ME) couplings and microscopic model Hamiltonian remain poorly understood. By employing a first-principles approach, we uncover all possible ME couplings associated with the spin-current (SC) and exchange-striction (ES) polarizations, and construct an appropriate Hamiltonian for the long-range spin-cycloid in BiFeO 3 . First-principles calculations are used to understand the microscopic origins of the ME couplings. We find that inversion symmetries broken by ferroelectric and antiferroelectric distortions induce the SC and the ES polarizations, which cooperatively produce the dynamic ME effects in BiFeO 3 . A model motivated by first principles reproduces the absorption difference of counter-propagating light beams called non-reciprocal directional dichroism. The current paper focuses on the spin-driven (SD) polarizations produced by a dynamic electric field, i.e. the dynamic ME couplings. Due to the inertial properties of Fe, the dynamic SD polarizations differ significantly from the static SD polarizations. Our systematic approach can be generally applied to any multiferroic material, laying the foundation for revealing hidden ME couplings on the atomic scale and for exploiting optical ME effects in the next generation of technological devices such as optical diodes. (paper)

  4. Uncovering homo-and hetero-interactions on the cell membrane using single particle tracking approaches

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Torreno-Pina, Juan A; Manzo, Carlo; Garcia-Parajo, Maria F

    2016-01-01

    The plasma membrane of eukaryotic cells is responsible for a myriad of functions that regulate cell physiology and plays a crucial role in a multitude of processes that include adhesion, migration, signaling recognition and cell–cell communication. This is accomplished by specific interactions between different membrane components such as lipids and proteins on the lipid bilayer but also through interactions with the underlying cortical actin cytoskeleton on the intracellular side and the glycocalyx matrix in close proximity to the extracellular side. Advanced biophysical techniques, including single particle tracking (SPT) have revealed that the lateral diffusion of molecular components on the plasma membrane represents a landmark manifestation of such interactions. Indeed, by studying changes in the diffusivity of individual membrane molecules, including sub-diffusion, confined diffusion and/or transient arrest of molecules in membrane compartments, it has been possible to gain insight on the nature of molecular interactions and to infer on its functional role for cell response. In this review, we will revise some exciting results where SPT has been crucial to reveal homo- and hetero-interactions on the cell membrane. (paper)

  5. A Go/No-go approach to uncovering implicit attitudes towards safe and risky driving

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Martinussen, Laila Marianne; Sømhovd, Mikael J.; Møller, Mette

    2015-01-01

    Self-report measures of driving-related attitudes and beliefs miss potentially important precursors of driving behaviour, namely, automatic and implicit thought processes. The present study used an adapted Go/No-go Association Task to measure implicit thought without relying on the participants......' self-reports. Implicit attitudes towards safe and risky driving were measured in 53 Danish drivers (31 female, 22 male). Further, we explored the relationship between implicit attitudes towards risky and safe driving, and self-reported driving behaviour and skills. The results suggest that implicit...... attitudes were significantly related to self-reported driving behaviour and skills for male (but not female) drivers. Pending future research with larger sample sizes, the difference between implicit attitudes towards safe versus risky driving that we observed may contribute to a greater theoretical...

  6. THE PHYSICAL LABORATORY ACTIVITIES WITH PROBLEM SOLVING APPROACH TO INCREASE CRITICAL THINKING SKILL AND UNDERSTANDING STUDENT CONCEPT

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Eli Trisnowati

    2017-10-01

    Full Text Available This study aims to investigate the description of the improvement of students’ critical thinking skills and the concept understanding by implementing the problem-solving approach. This study was in laboratory activities. This study was done in four times meeting. The try out subjects was 31 students of grades X of MAN Yogyakarta III. This research is using the quasi experimental method with the pretest-posttest design. The data were collected by using multiple choices tests with assessment rubric and observation sheets. The data are analyzed by using multivariate analysis. Based on the result, the gain standard value of students’ conceptual understanding and students’ critical thinking skills for grade X who learned through student’s worksheet with a problem-solving approach, called treatment class, are higher than students who learned without student’s worksheet with a problem-solving approach, called control class.

  7. Approach to increasing techno-economic effects of ventilation in uranium mines

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Zhou Xinhuo

    1989-01-01

    The main factors affecting techno-economic effects of ventilation in uranium mines are discussed in this paper. Under the conditions of technical feasibility and economic rationality, the method of economic analysis for ventilation and radiation protection in uranium mines is proposed. The technically feasible and economically reasonable suggestions are presented for increasing the techno-economic effects of ventilation in uranium mines

  8. Childhood obesity: Current and novel approaches.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sabin, Matthew A; Kiess, Wieland

    2015-06-01

    The prevalence of childhood obesity has increased over the last fifty years by approximately 5% per decade, and approximately a quarter of all children are now either overweight or obese. These children have a significantly increased risk of many future health problems including adult obesity, type 2 diabetes and heart disease. Despite this relentless increase, common-sense approaches aimed at prevention and treatment have failed to solve the problem. Current approaches at prevention have faced major challenges with some progress in implementing smaller scale programs and social marketing, but little action on broad public policy approaches which often appears unpalatable to society or individual governments. Meanwhile, treatment approaches have mainly focused on lifestyle change, and novel approaches are urgently needed. Prevention needs to shift to improving maternal health prior to conception, with more research focussed on the impact of early years in programming offspring to future overweight/obesity. Likewise, treatment paradigms need to move from simply thinking that obesity can be solved by readdressing diet and activity levels. Novel approaches are needed which take into consideration the complex physiology which regulates early childhood growth and the development of obesity in susceptible individuals. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  9. A New Approach to Reducing Search Space and Increasing Efficiency in Simulation Optimization Problems via the Fuzzy-DEA-BCC

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Rafael de Carvalho Miranda

    2014-01-01

    Full Text Available The development of discrete-event simulation software was one of the most successful interfaces in operational research with computation. As a result, research has been focused on the development of new methods and algorithms with the purpose of increasing simulation optimization efficiency and reliability. This study aims to define optimum variation intervals for each decision variable through a proposed approach which combines the data envelopment analysis with the Fuzzy logic (Fuzzy-DEA-BCC, seeking to improve the decision-making units’ distinction in the face of uncertainty. In this study, Taguchi’s orthogonal arrays were used to generate the necessary quantity of DMUs, and the output variables were generated by the simulation. Two study objects were utilized as examples of mono- and multiobjective problems. Results confirmed the reliability and applicability of the proposed method, as it enabled a significant reduction in search space and computational demand when compared to conventional simulation optimization techniques.

  10. The Pro-children Project- a cross-national approach to increasing fruits and vegetables in the next generation and onwards

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Anderson Annie S

    2006-09-01

    Full Text Available Abstract This editorial introduces the special series in the International Journal of Behavioral Nutrition and Physical Activity on the Pro Children study (Promoting and Sustaining Health through Increased vegetable and Fruit Consumption among European Schoolchildren. The Pro Children study is a new and innovative study that takes a cross -national approach to identifying the factors associated with fruit and vegetables consumption in European children (from nine countries and evaluating a multi-centre intervention programme. A full set of papers on many aspects of the study will appear as a series in the IJBPNA allowing a more detailed view of design, behavioural theoretical constructs, action, methods for implementation, assessment tools, impacts and outcomes to be reported. Areas for future work will also be identified and discussed in the context of the 21st century developed world environment which is superb at encouraging the promotion of energy dense foods and drinks.

  11. Shifts in alpine lakes' ecosystems in Japan driven by increasing Asian dusts

    Science.gov (United States)

    Tsugeki, N. K.; Tani, Y.; Ueda, S.; Agusa, T.; Toyoda, K.; Kuwae, M.; Oda, H.; Tanabe, S.; Urabe, J.

    2011-12-01

    Recently in East Asia the amount of fossil fuel combustion have increased with economic growth. It has caused a problem of trans-boundary air pollution in the whole of eastern Asia. Furthermore, Asian dust storms contribute episodically to the global aerosol load. However, the effects of increased Asian dusts on aquatic ecosystems are not well understood. If biologically important nutrients such as nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P) are transported via air dust, the atmospheric deposition of the dust may have serious impacts on recipient aquatic ecosystems because the biological production is limited by these nutrient elements. A previous report using sedimentary records has evaluated that atmospheric P inputs to the alpine lakes in the United States increased fivefold following the increased western settlement to this country during the nineteenth century. Since P is the most deficient nutrient for production in many lakes increase in P loading through atmospheric deposition of anthropogenically-derived dust might greatly affect the lake ecosystems. We examined fossil pigments and zooplankton remains from Pb-dated sediments taken from a high mountain lake of Hourai-Numa, located in the Towada-Hachimantai National Park of Japan, to uncover historical changes in the phyto- and zooplankton community over the past 100 years. Simultaneously, we measured the biogeochemical variables of TOC, TN, TP, δ13C, δ15N, and 206Pb/207Pb, 208Pb/207Pb in the sediments to identify environmental factors causing such changes. As a result, despite little anthropogenic activities in the watersheds, alpine lakes in Japan Islands increased algal and herbivore plankton biomasses by 3-6 folds for recent years depending on terrestrial the surrounded vegetations and landscape conditions. Biological and biogeochemical proxies recorded in the lake sediments indicate that this eutrophication occurred after the 1990s when P deposition increased due to atmospheric loading transported from Asian

  12. Connectionist neuropsychology: uncovering ultimate causes of acquired dyslexia.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Woollams, Anna M

    2014-01-01

    Acquired dyslexia offers a unique window on to the nature of the cognitive and neural architecture supporting skilled reading. This paper provides an integrative overview of recent empirical and computational work on acquired dyslexia within the context of the primary systems framework as implemented in connectionist neuropsychological models. This view proposes that damage to general visual, phonological or semantic processing abilities are the root causes of different forms of acquired dyslexia. Recent case-series behavioural evidence concerning pure alexia, phonological dyslexia and surface dyslexia that supports this perspective is presented. Lesion simulations of these findings within connectionist models of reading demonstrate the viability of this approach. The commitment of such models to learnt representations allows them to capture key aspects of performance in each type of acquired dyslexia, particularly the associated non-reading deficits, the role of relearning and the influence of individual differences in the premorbid state of the reading system. Identification of these factors not only advances our understanding of acquired dyslexia and the mechanisms of normal reading but they are also relevant to the complex interactions underpinning developmental reading disorders.

  13. An Incremental Approach to Support Realization of Modularization Benefits

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Hansen, Poul H. Kyvsgård; Sun, Hongyi

    2010-01-01

    In general, the phenomenon of managing modularization is not well known. The cause-effect relationships between modularization and realized benefits are complex and comprehensive. Though a number of research works have contributed to the study of the phenomenon of efficient and effective...... modularization management it is far from clarified. Recognizing the need for further empirical research, we studied 40 modularity cases. Then we develop a research framework with the purpose of uncovering the current state. Furthermore, we formulate a tentative model aiming at guiding the platform management...

  14. Social power and approach-related neural activity.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Boksem, Maarten A S; Smolders, Ruud; De Cremer, David

    2012-06-01

    It has been argued that power activates a general tendency to approach whereas powerlessness activates a tendency to inhibit. The assumption is that elevated power involves reward-rich environments, freedom and, as a consequence, triggers an approach-related motivational orientation and attention to rewards. In contrast, reduced power is associated with increased threat, punishment and social constraint and thereby activates inhibition-related motivation. Moreover, approach motivation has been found to be associated with increased relative left-sided frontal brain activity, while withdrawal motivation has been associated with increased right sided activations. We measured EEG activity while subjects engaged in a task priming either high or low social power. Results show that high social power is indeed associated with greater left-frontal brain activity compared to low social power, providing the first neural evidence for the theory that high power is associated with approach-related motivation. We propose a framework accounting for differences in both approach motivation and goal-directed behaviour associated with different levels of power.

  15. Neurogenesis Inhibition Prevents Enriched Environment to Prolong and Strengthen Social Recognition Memory, But Not to Increase BDNF Expression.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Pereira-Caixeta, Ana Raquel; Guarnieri, Leonardo O; Pena, Roberta R; Dias, Thomáz L; Pereira, Grace Schenatto

    2017-07-01

    Hippocampus-dependent memories, such as social recognition (SRM), are modulated by neurogenesis. However, the precise role of newborn neurons in social memory processing is still unknown. We showed previously that 1 week of enriched environment (EE) is sufficient to increase neurogenesis in the hippocampus (HIP) and the olfactory bulb (OB) of mice. Here, we tested the hypothesis that 1 week of EE would enhance SRM persistence and strength. In addition, as brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) may mediate some of the neurogenesis effects on memory, we also tested if 1 week of EE would increase BDNF expression in the HIP and OB. We also predicted that neurogenesis inhibition would block the gain of function caused by EE on both SRM and BDNF expression. We found that EE increased BDNF expression in the HIP and OB of mice; at the same time, it allowed SRM to last longer. In addition, mice on EE had their SRM unaffected by memory consolidation interferences. As we predicted, treatment with the anti-mitotic drug AraC blocked EE effects on SRM. Surprisingly, neurogenesis inhibition did not affect the BDNF expression, increased by EE. Together, our results suggest that newborn neurons improve SRM persistence through a BDNF-independent mechanism. Interestingly, this study on social memory uncovered an unexpected dissociation between the effect of adult neurogenesis and BDNF expression on memory persistence, reassuring the idea that not all neurogenesis effects on memory are BDNF-dependent.

  16. Interprofessional Approach to Increase Billable Care-Events in a Rural Community

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Geoffrey A Twigg

    2017-02-01

    Full Text Available Objectives: The study was designed to build a financially stable, replicable, and interprofessional program around a Center of Excellence (COE model exclusively in a community pharmacy setting. This involved creating a separate pharmacy-based clinic within the community pharmacy with recognized rendering providers by payers allowing pharmacists to bill incident to for services and increase the quality of patient clinical outcomes. Setting: Apple Discount drugs in Salisbury, MD is a multi-site independent community pharmacy setting offering traditional pharmacy services along with several pharmacist run clinical programs. Practice Innovation: The pharmacy developed an interprofessional team around a Center of Excellence (COE model as a separate medical clinic within the community pharmacy as a subsidiary of the parent company that was staffed with healthcare providers that are recognized by payers to bill for services. Main Outcome Measures: Outcomes of the study included analysis of the number of patients seen, the ability to obtain reimbursement for the clinical services offered, and changes in A1C and BMI to support the clinical value of pharmacist intervention. Results: A total of 309 patients with diabetes were seen over a 16 month period, including 120 patients who completed the 10 hour diabetes training program. Clinical outcomes showed an improvement in A1C from 9.1 pre enrollment to 7.5 post intervention, and a drop in BMI from 35.7 pre enrollment to 32.4 post intervention. The pharmacy was also able to increase the amount of reimbursement for services provided. Conclusions: The development of a pharmacy based clinic business model inside of a community pharmacy has increased the amount of clinically billed services for the pharmacy. Improvements in clinical outcomes led to an acceptance of the pharmacist as a member of the patient’s care team by patients, local physician’s offices, and third party payers. Funding: This work was

  17. Uncovering the unknown: A grounded theory study exploring the impact of self-awareness on the culture of feedback in residency education.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ramani, Subha; Könings, Karen; Mann, Karen V; van der Vleuten, Cees

    2017-10-01

    Self-assessment and reflection are essential for meaningful feedback. We aimed to explore whether the well-known Johari window model of self-awareness could guide feedback conversations between faculty and residents and enhance the institutional feedback culture. We had previously explored perceptions of residents and faculty regarding sociocultural factors impacting feedback. We re-analyzed data targeting themes related to self-assessment, reflection, feedback seeking and acceptance, aiming to generate individual and institutional feedback strategies applicable to each quadrant of the window. We identified the following themes for each quadrant: (1) Behaviors known to self and others - Validating the known; (2) Behaviors unknown to self but known to others - Accepting the blind; (3) Behaviors known to self and unknown to others - Disclosure of hidden; and (4) Behaviors unknown to self and others - Uncovering the unknown. Normalizing self-disclosure of limitations, encouraging feedback seeking, training in nonjudgmental feedback and providing opportunities for longitudinal relationships could promote self-awareness, ultimately expanding the "open" quadrant of the Johari window. The Johari window, a model of self-awareness in interpersonal communications, could provide a robust framework for individuals to improve their feedback conversations and institutions to design feedback initiatives that enhance its quality and impact.

  18. Optics industry in Spain: a cluster approach to increasing competitiveness through collaboration in R&D and innovation

    Science.gov (United States)

    Cifuentes, Andrés F.

    2011-10-01

    The optics industry in Spain pooled together to create the Southern European Cluster in Photonics and Optics - SECPhO, founded in April 2009, with the mission to help the sector increase competitiveness, specially through collaboration. From 10 founding members, SECPhO no incorporates over 40 members, which is nearly 40% of the optics industry in the region. From the beginning of operations the cluster has focused on three strategic challenges: R&D+i and Productivity, Visibility and Internationalization, and Betterment and Retention of Talent. A brief summary of the clusters activities is given. In this article, the focus will be on R&D and innovation, through industry driven collaborative initiatives and the tools and actions that lead to successful partnerships. Topics discussed in this work are will be a cluster's role in promoting strategic change, the value chain approach to partnerships, international collaboration in projects and specific cluster activities. Some practical examples of initiatives relating to effective collaboration are described, focusing on one of the mayor challenges of our time: the greening of the planet. Examples will be addressed in smart cities, efficient LASER applications and lightweight optical sensors for civil security. In all cases the collaboration between the public and private sectors is shown.

  19. Edit What do guests value most in Airbnb accommodations? An application of the hedonic pricing approach

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Tarik Dogru

    2017-06-01

    Full Text Available Private rooms, entire homes, laundry, free parking, kitchens - these are just some of the amenities that Airbnb guests are looking for in accommodations. Using data from the Greater Boston Area, Dr. Dogru and Osman Pekin uncover how these amenities affect Airbnb nightly rates.

  20. Flipped Classroom Approach

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Fezile Ozdamli

    2016-07-01

    Full Text Available Flipped classroom is an active, student-centered approach that was formed to increase the quality of period within class. Generally this approach whose applications are done mostly in Physical Sciences, also attracts the attention of educators and researchers in different disciplines recently. Flipped classroom learning which wide-spreads rapidly in the world, is not well recognized in our country. That is why the aim of study is to attract attention to its potential in education field and provide to make it recognize more by educators and researchers. With this aim, in the study what flipped classroom approach is, flipped classroom technology models, its advantages and limitations were explained.

  1. Uncovering the role of the East Asian jet stream and heterogeneities in atmospheric rivers affecting the western United States.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zhang, Wei; Villarini, Gabriele

    2018-01-30

    Atmospheric rivers (ARs) exert major socioeconomic repercussions along the US West Coast by inducing heavy rainfall, flooding, strong winds, and storm surge. Despite the significant societal and economic repercussions of these storms, our understanding of the physical drivers responsible for their interannual variability is limited, with different climate modes identified as possible mechanisms. Here we show that the Pacific-Japan (PJ) teleconnections/patterns and the East Asian subtropical jet (EASJ) exhibit a strong linkage with the total frequency of ARs making landfall over the western United States, much stronger than the other potential climate modes previously considered. While our findings indicate that the PJ pattern and EASJ are the most relevant climate modes driving the overall AR activity, we also uncover heterogeneities in AR tracks. Specifically, we show that not all ARs making landfall along the West Coast come from a single population, but rather that it is possible to stratify these storms into three clusters. While the PJ pattern and EASJ are major drivers of AR activity for two clusters, the cluster that primarily affects the US Southwest is largely driven by other climate modes [El Niño Southern Oscillation (ENSO), the Atlantic meridional mode (AMM), the Pacific-North America (PNA) teleconnection pattern, and the North Pacific Gyre Oscillation (NPGO)]. Therefore, important regional differences exist and this information can substantially enhance our ability to predict and prepare for these storms and their impacts.

  2. Increased Body Weight Reduces Voluntary Movement to Maintain Energy Expenditure of Rats Exposed to Increases in Gravity

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wade, C. E.; Moran, M. M.; Stein, T. P.; Sin, Sidney (Technical Monitor)

    2001-01-01

    With the increase in obesity related diseases there is heightened interest in mechanisms regulating body weight. To assess the influence of increases in body weight on energy expenditure and intake in rats we employed variable levels of gravity. Our approach afforded the means to measure interactions of energy expenditure and intake in response to increases in body weight (body mass x gravity level). We found a dose relationship between rapid elevation of body weight and reduction of voluntary movement, such that the energy requirements for activity are unchanged, and total energy expenditure and intake maintained. Reduction of movement appears to be a response to increased body weight, rather than a contributing factor, suggesting a new regulatory pathway.

  3. When hunger does (or doesn't) increase unhealthy and healthy food consumption through food wanting: The distinctive role of impulsive approach tendencies toward healthy food.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Cheval, Boris; Audrin, Catherine; Sarrazin, Philippe; Pelletier, Luc

    2017-09-01

    Hunger indirectly triggers unhealthy high-calorie food consumption through its positive effect on the incentive value (or "wanting") for food. Yet, not everyone consumes unhealthy food in excess, suggesting that some individuals react differently when they are exposed to unhealthy high-calorie food, even when they are hungry. The purpose of the present study was to investigate whether individual differences in impulsive approach tendencies toward food may explain how, and for whom, hunger will influence unhealthy food consumption through its effect on food wanting. A complementary goal was to explore whether these individual differences also influence healthy food consumption. Students (N = 70) completed a questionnaire measuring their hunger and food wanting. Then, they performed a manikin task designed to evaluate their impulsive approach tendencies toward unhealthy food (IAUF) and healthy food (IAHF). The main outcomes variables were the amount of sweets (i.e., unhealthy food) and raisins (i.e., healthy food) consumed during a product-testing task. A moderated mediation analysis revealed that the indirect effect of hunger on unhealthy consumption through food wanting was moderated by IAHF. Specifically, hunger positively predicted sweets consumption through wanting for food among individuals with a low or moderate, but not high IAHF. The moderated mediation pattern was, however, not confirmed for IAUF. Finally, results revealed a direct and positive effect of IAHF on raisins consumption. These findings showed that IAHF play a protective role by preventing hunger to indirectly increase unhealthy food consumption through wanting for food. It confirms the importance of considering how individuals may differ in their impulsive approach tendencies toward food to better understand why some individuals will increase their unhealthy food intake when they are hungry, whereas other will not. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  4. What can we learn from the network approach in finance?

    Science.gov (United States)

    Janos, Kertesz

    2005-03-01

    Correlations between variations of stock prices reveal information about relationships between companies. Different methods of analysis have been applied to such data in order to uncover the taxonomy of the market. We use Mantegna's miminum spanning tree (MST) method for daily data in a dynamic way: By introducing a moving window we study the temporal changes in the structure of the network defined by this ``asset tree.'' The MST is scale free with a significantly changing exponent of the degree distribution for crash periods, which demonstrates the restructuring of the network due to the enhancement of correlations. This approach is compared to that based on what we call ``asset graphs:'' We start from an empty graph with no edges where the vertices correspond to stocks and then, one by one, we insert edges between the vertices according to the rank of their correlation strength. We study the properties of the creatred (weighted) networks, such as topologically different growth types, number and size of clusters and clustering coefficient. Furthermore, we define new tools like subgraph intensity and coherence to describe the role of the weights. We also investigate the time shifted cross correlation functions for high frequency data and find a characteristic time delay in many cases representing that some stocks lead the price changes while others follow them. These data can be used to construct a directed network of influence.

  5. Mixed Integer Linear Programming based machine learning approach identifies regulators of telomerase in yeast.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Poos, Alexandra M; Maicher, André; Dieckmann, Anna K; Oswald, Marcus; Eils, Roland; Kupiec, Martin; Luke, Brian; König, Rainer

    2016-06-02

    Understanding telomere length maintenance mechanisms is central in cancer biology as their dysregulation is one of the hallmarks for immortalization of cancer cells. Important for this well-balanced control is the transcriptional regulation of the telomerase genes. We integrated Mixed Integer Linear Programming models into a comparative machine learning based approach to identify regulatory interactions that best explain the discrepancy of telomerase transcript levels in yeast mutants with deleted regulators showing aberrant telomere length, when compared to mutants with normal telomere length. We uncover novel regulators of telomerase expression, several of which affect histone levels or modifications. In particular, our results point to the transcription factors Sum1, Hst1 and Srb2 as being important for the regulation of EST1 transcription, and we validated the effect of Sum1 experimentally. We compiled our machine learning method leading to a user friendly package for R which can straightforwardly be applied to similar problems integrating gene regulator binding information and expression profiles of samples of e.g. different phenotypes, diseases or treatments. © The Author(s) 2016. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of Nucleic Acids Research.

  6. ENVIRONMENTAL IMPLICATIONS OF THE INCREASING DEMAND FOR ENERGY

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Perticas Diana

    2012-07-01

    Full Text Available During human society’s development on large geographical areas, a series of cultural systems have appeared and have determined a certain approach concerning the environment and social relations. These systems of thought persist even today and they are strongly influenced by individuals’ thinking and approaches in that society, thing that requires a specific approach for the implementation of these relatively new concepts (e.g. sustainable development, pollution, ecological approaches on social life. Furthermore, the continuous growth of the demand for energy in the world is seen as an alarm. Between 1970 and 1997 world energy consumption has almost doubled and it is projected to grow by about 57% during 2004-2030 and the thing which should be mentioned is that with the increasing energy demand, pollution levels will increase too. But we must not forget that electric and thermal power represent one of the basic needs of mankind, and when the fulfilment of this need started to affect the climate and implicitly human health this problem turned into a hardly manageable one. We must not forget that the world’s population is growing rapidly and the level of pollution per capita increased we might even say in direct proportion. In many cases, increased pollution has its explanation in the growing number of individuals at global level and also the increasing needs, desires, aspirations, standard of living, of these. This paper intends to objectively analyse the interconnections that arise between the environment and the growth of the demand for energy, emphasizing the devastating effects of pollution created by burning fossil fuels in order to obtain electric and thermal power as well as the current and future possibilities for the replacement of these energy reserves with renewable energy reserves. The whole analysis will be accompanied by case studies and will follow strictly imposed goals by sustainable development.

  7. International parity relations between Poland and Germany: a cointegrated VAR approach

    OpenAIRE

    Stazka, Agnieszka

    2008-01-01

    This paper analyses empirically the purchasing power parity, the uncovered interest parity and the real interest parity (Fisher parity) between Poland and Germany. The international parity relations are investigated jointly within the cointegrated VAR framework. Our analysis fails to find evidence that the parities, or any linear combinations of them, hold for our data set. We identify two long-run equilibrium relations: one imposing a long-run homogeneity restriction on the domestic (i.e. Po...

  8. Uncovering tacit knowledge: a pilot study to broaden the concept of knowledge in knowledge translation.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kothari, Anita R; Bickford, Julia J; Edwards, Nancy; Dobbins, Maureen J; Meyer, Mechthild

    2011-08-18

    All sectors in health care are being asked to focus on the knowledge-to-practice gap, or knowledge translation, to increase service effectiveness. A social interaction approach to knowledge translation assumes that research evidence becomes integrated with previously held knowledge, and practitioners build on and co-create knowledge through mutual interactions. Knowledge translation strategies for public health have not provided anticipated positive changes in evidence-based practice, possibly due in part to a narrow conceptualization of knowledge. More work is needed to understand the role of tacit knowledge in decision-making and practice. This pilot study examined how health practitioners applied tacit knowledge in public health program planning and implementation. This study used a narrative approach, where teams from two public health units in Ontario, Canada were conveniently selected. Respondents participated in individual interviews and focus groups at each site. Questions were designed to understand the role of tacit knowledge as it related to the program planning process. Data were analyzed through a combination of content analysis and thematic comparison. The findings highlighted two major aspects of knowledge that arose: the use of tacit knowledge and the integration of tacit and explicit knowledge. Tacit knowledge included: past experiences, organization-specific knowledge, community contextual knowledge, and the recognition of the tacit knowledge of others. Explicit knowledge included: research literature, the Internet, popular magazines, formal assessments (surveys and interviews), legislation and regulations. Participants sometimes deliberately combined tacit and explicit knowledge sources in planning. This pilot demonstrated that front-line public health workers draw upon both tacit knowledge and explicit knowledge in their everyday lived reality. Further, tacit knowledge plays an important role in practitioners' interpretation and implementation

  9. Uncovering Offshore Financial Centers: Conduits and Sinks in the Global Corporate Ownership Network.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Garcia-Bernardo, Javier; Fichtner, Jan; Takes, Frank W; Heemskerk, Eelke M

    2017-07-24

    Multinational corporations use highly complex structures of parents and subsidiaries to organize their operations and ownership. Offshore Financial Centers (OFCs) facilitate these structures through low taxation and lenient regulation, but are increasingly under scrutiny, for instance for enabling tax avoidance. Therefore, the identification of OFC jurisdictions has become a politicized and contested issue. We introduce a novel data-driven approach for identifying OFCs based on the global corporate ownership network, in which over 98 million firms (nodes) are connected through 71 million ownership relations. This granular firm-level network data uniquely allows identifying both sink-OFCs and conduit-OFCs. Sink-OFCs attract and retain foreign capital while conduit-OFCs are attractive intermediate destinations in the routing of international investments and enable the transfer of capital without taxation. We identify 24 sink-OFCs. In addition, a small set of five countries - the Netherlands, the United Kingdom, Ireland, Singapore and Switzerland - canalize the majority of corporate offshore investment as conduit-OFCs. Each conduit jurisdiction is specialized in a geographical area and there is significant specialization based on industrial sectors. Against the idea of OFCs as exotic small islands that cannot be regulated, we show that many sink and conduit-OFCs are highly developed countries.

  10. Using risk-tracing snowball approach to increase HIV case detection among high-risk populations in Cambodia: an intervention study.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Chhim, Srean; Macom, John; Pav, Chettana; Nim, Nirada; Yun, Phearun; Seng, Sopheap; Chhim, Kolab; Tuot, Sovannary; Yi, Siyan

    2017-10-18

    Early HIV diagnosis and initiation onto antiretroviral therapy may prevent ongoing spread of HIV. Risk Tracing Snowball Approach (RTSA) has been shown to be effective in detecting new HIV cases in other settings. The main objective of this study is to evaluate the effectiveness of RTSA in increasing the rate of newly identified HIV cases among high-risk populations. Our second objective was to evaluate the effectiveness of RTSA, as compared to the walk-in group, in increasing the number of HIV tests and early case detection. This study was conducted from April 1 to September 30, 2016 at two NGO clinics in Phnom Penh, Cambodia. Respondent driven sampling method was adapted to develop RTSA to reach high-risk populations, including key populations and the general population who have social connections with key populations. Bivariate and multivariate logistic regression analyses were conducted. During the implementation period, 721 clients walked in for HIV testing (walk-in group), and all were invited to be seeds. Of the invited clients, 36.6% agreed to serve as seeds. Throughout the implementation, 6195 coupons were distributed to seeds or recruiters, and resulted in 1572 clients visiting the two clinics with coupons (RTSA group), for a coupon return rate of 25.3%. The rate of newly identified HIV cases among the RTSA group was significantly lower compared to that in walk-in group. However, the highest number of newly identified HIV cases was found during the implementation period, compared to both pre- and post-implementation period. Although statistically not significant, the mean CD4 count of newly identified HIV cases detected through RTSA was almost 200 cells/mm3 higher than that in the walk-in group. Although the rate of newly identified HIV cases among the RTSA group was lower than that in the walk-in group, the inclusion of RTSA in addition to the traditional walk-in method boosted new HIV case detection in the two participating clinics. A higher mean CD4

  11. A Revisit to the Impacts of Land Use Changes on the Human Wellbeing via Altering the Ecosystem Provisioning Services

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Xiangzheng Deng

    2013-01-01

    Full Text Available It is widely acknowledged that land use changes (LUC associated with climate variations are affecting the human wellbeing. This paper conducted a revisit to relevant researches on the impacts of LUC on human wellbeing via specifically altering the ecosystem provisioning services. First, the explorations on the influences of LUC on ecosystem provisioning services were reviewed, including the researches on the influences of LUC on agroecosystem services and forest and/or grassland ecosystem services. Then the quantitative identification of the impacts of LUC on ecosystem provisioning services was commented on. In the light of enhanced observation and valuation methods, several approaches to ecosystem services and improved models for assessing those ecosystem services were assessed. The major indicators used to uncover the influences of LUC on human wellbeing were summarized including the increase of inputs and the reduction of outputs in production and the augmented health risk induced by the irrational land uses. Finally, this paper uncovered the research gaps and proposed several research directions to address these gaps.

  12. Functional and gene network analyses of transcriptional signatures characterizing pre-weaned bovine mammary parenchyma or fat pad uncovered novel inter-tissue signaling networks during development

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Lewin Harris A

    2010-05-01

    Full Text Available Abstract Background The neonatal bovine mammary fat pad (MFP surrounding the mammary parenchyma (PAR is thought to exert proliferative effects on the PAR through secretion of local modulators of growth induced by systemic hormones. We used bioinformatics to characterize transcriptomics differences between PAR and MFP from ~65 d old Holstein heifers. Data were mined to uncover potential crosstalk through the analyses of signaling molecules preferentially expressed in one tissue relative to the other. Results Over 9,000 differentially expressed genes (DEG; False discovery rate ≤ 0.05 were found of which 1,478 had a ≥1.5-fold difference between PAR and MFP. Within the DEG highly-expressed in PAR vs. MFP (n = 736 we noted significant enrichment of functions related to cell cycle, structural organization, signaling, and DNA/RNA metabolism. Only actin cytoskeletal signaling was significant among canonical pathways. DEG more highly-expressed in MFP vs. PAR (n = 742 belong to lipid metabolism, signaling, cell movement, and immune-related functions. Canonical pathways associated with metabolism and signaling, particularly immune- and metabolism-related were significantly-enriched. Network analysis uncovered a central role of MYC, TP53, and CTNNB1 in controlling expression of DEG highly-expressed in PAR vs. MFP. Similar analysis suggested a central role for PPARG, KLF2, EGR2, and EPAS1 in regulating expression of more highly-expressed DEG in MFP vs. PAR. Gene network analyses revealed putative inter-tissue crosstalk between cytokines and growth factors preferentially expressed in one tissue (e.g., ANGPTL1, SPP1, IL1B in PAR vs. MFP; ADIPOQ, IL13, FGF2, LEP in MFP vs. PAR with DEG preferentially expressed in the other tissue, particularly transcription factors or pathways (e.g., MYC, TP53, and actin cytoskeletal signaling in PAR vs. MFP; PPARG and LXR/RXR Signaling in MFP vs. PAR. Conclusions Functional analyses underscored a reciprocal influence in

  13. Flipped Classroom Approach

    OpenAIRE

    Fezile Ozdamli; Gulsum Asiksoy

    2016-01-01

    Flipped classroom is an active, student-centered approach that was formed to increase the quality of period within class. Generally this approach whose applications are done mostly in Physical Sciences, also attracts the attention of educators and researchers in different disciplines recently. Flipped classroom learning which wide-spreads rapidly in the world, is not well recognized in our country. That is why the aim of study is to attract attention to its potential in education field and pr...

  14. "What's Past Is Prologue": "English Journal" Roots of a Performance-Based Approach to Teaching Shakespeare

    Science.gov (United States)

    Haughey, Joseph

    2012-01-01

    In scouring the earliest editions of "English Journal," one of the most fascinating details one uncovers is that the issues facing Shakespeare teachers today are similar to those issues that faced Shakespeare teachers 100 years ago. The earliest contributors to "English Journal" were far more in line with contemporary educational scholars than one…

  15. TACKLING THE INFORMAL ECONOMY IN THE EUROPEAN UNION: A SOCIAL ACTOR APPROACH

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Colin C. Williams

    2016-12-01

    Full Text Available In recent years, participants in the informal economy have started to be viewed less as rational economic actors who engage in the informal economy when the pay-off is greater than the expected cost of being caught and punished, and more as social actors who engage when their tax morale (i.e., motivation to pay taxes is low. To evaluate this new social actor approach and the implications for tackling the informal economy, this paper reports evidence from 41,689 face-to-face interviews conducted across the European Union. Multilevel logistic regression analysis reveals a strong association between participation in the informal economy and the level of tax morale. Finding that higher tax morale (and thus lower participation in the informal economy is strongly correlated at the country-level with greater levels of state intervention and at the individual-level with characteristics such as gender, age, education and employment status, the outcome is to confirm a structuralist political economy explanation and refute the modernization and neo-liberal explanations and remedies, as well as to uncover the importance of some policy solutions not considered until now, including older citizens mentoring of younger people, and improving women’s participation in the labour force.

  16. Thermodynamic approach to biomass gasification

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Boissonnet, G.; Seiler, J.M.

    2003-01-01

    The document presents an approach of biomass transformation in presence of steam, hydrogen or oxygen. Calculation results based on thermodynamic equilibrium are discussed. The objective of gasification techniques is to increase the gas content in CO and H 2 . The maximum content in these gases is obtained when thermodynamic equilibrium is approached. Any optimisation action of a process. will, thus, tend to approach thermodynamic equilibrium conditions. On the other hand, such calculations can be used to determine the conditions which lead to an increase in the production of CO and H 2 . An objective is also to determine transformation enthalpies that are an important input for process calculations. Various existing processes are assessed, and associated thermodynamic limitations are evidenced. (author)

  17. Parent Communication Prompt to Increase Shared Decision-Making: A New Intervention Approach

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Lauren M. Hubner

    2018-03-01

    intervention group.ConclusionsParent and clinician enrollment and data collection with minimal loss suggest that this novel approach is easy to use and could be employed in future outpatient studies exploring SDM. In this clinical setting, both intervention and comparison group parents reported high levels of SDM participation and no main group effect was detected. Further study of this novel parent-directed SDM intervention approach is needed in a larger sample with greater variability in parent-reported SDM to determine its efficacy.

  18. Predicting diabetes mellitus using SMOTE and ensemble machine learning approach: The Henry Ford ExercIse Testing (FIT) project.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Alghamdi, Manal; Al-Mallah, Mouaz; Keteyian, Steven; Brawner, Clinton; Ehrman, Jonathan; Sakr, Sherif

    2017-01-01

    Machine learning is becoming a popular and important approach in the field of medical research. In this study, we investigate the relative performance of various machine learning methods such as Decision Tree, Naïve Bayes, Logistic Regression, Logistic Model Tree and Random Forests for predicting incident diabetes using medical records of cardiorespiratory fitness. In addition, we apply different techniques to uncover potential predictors of diabetes. This FIT project study used data of 32,555 patients who are free of any known coronary artery disease or heart failure who underwent clinician-referred exercise treadmill stress testing at Henry Ford Health Systems between 1991 and 2009 and had a complete 5-year follow-up. At the completion of the fifth year, 5,099 of those patients have developed diabetes. The dataset contained 62 attributes classified into four categories: demographic characteristics, disease history, medication use history, and stress test vital signs. We developed an Ensembling-based predictive model using 13 attributes that were selected based on their clinical importance, Multiple Linear Regression, and Information Gain Ranking methods. The negative effect of the imbalance class of the constructed model was handled by Synthetic Minority Oversampling Technique (SMOTE). The overall performance of the predictive model classifier was improved by the Ensemble machine learning approach using the Vote method with three Decision Trees (Naïve Bayes Tree, Random Forest, and Logistic Model Tree) and achieved high accuracy of prediction (AUC = 0.92). The study shows the potential of ensembling and SMOTE approaches for predicting incident diabetes using cardiorespiratory fitness data.

  19. Predicting diabetes mellitus using SMOTE and ensemble machine learning approach: The Henry Ford ExercIse Testing (FIT project.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Manal Alghamdi

    Full Text Available Machine learning is becoming a popular and important approach in the field of medical research. In this study, we investigate the relative performance of various machine learning methods such as Decision Tree, Naïve Bayes, Logistic Regression, Logistic Model Tree and Random Forests for predicting incident diabetes using medical records of cardiorespiratory fitness. In addition, we apply different techniques to uncover potential predictors of diabetes. This FIT project study used data of 32,555 patients who are free of any known coronary artery disease or heart failure who underwent clinician-referred exercise treadmill stress testing at Henry Ford Health Systems between 1991 and 2009 and had a complete 5-year follow-up. At the completion of the fifth year, 5,099 of those patients have developed diabetes. The dataset contained 62 attributes classified into four categories: demographic characteristics, disease history, medication use history, and stress test vital signs. We developed an Ensembling-based predictive model using 13 attributes that were selected based on their clinical importance, Multiple Linear Regression, and Information Gain Ranking methods. The negative effect of the imbalance class of the constructed model was handled by Synthetic Minority Oversampling Technique (SMOTE. The overall performance of the predictive model classifier was improved by the Ensemble machine learning approach using the Vote method with three Decision Trees (Naïve Bayes Tree, Random Forest, and Logistic Model Tree and achieved high accuracy of prediction (AUC = 0.92. The study shows the potential of ensembling and SMOTE approaches for predicting incident diabetes using cardiorespiratory fitness data.

  20. Surveying the experiences and perceptions of undergraduate nursing students of a flipped classroom approach to increase understanding of drug science and its application to clinical practice.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hanson, Julie

    2016-01-01

    Patient harm from medication error is a significant issue. Individual failures by health professionals including knowledge deficits and poor communication have been identified as increasing the likelihood of medication administration errors. In Australia, the National Strategy for Quality Use of Medicines in 2002 compels health professionals to have the knowledge and skills to use medicines safely and effectively. This paper examines nursing students' perceptions of the effectiveness of a flipped classroom approach to increase understanding of pharmacology principles and the application of this knowledge to medication practice. An internet-based self-completion questionnaire was used in 2013 (n = 26) after the flipped classroom approach was implemented, and pre- (n = 6) and post-flipping (n = 25) in 2014. Students who engaged with digitally recorded lectures (eLectures) prior to face-to-face workshops stated that they had greater understanding of the subject and enhanced critical thinking skills. The replay function of the eLecture was perceived by some students as most beneficial to independent learning. However, for some students, time constraints meant that they relied on eLectures alone, while others preferred traditional teaching methods. Although limited by sample size and potential participant bias, the results provide insights about the flipped classroom experience from a student perspective. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  1. Learning Analytics Considered Harmful

    Science.gov (United States)

    Dringus, Laurie P.

    2012-01-01

    This essay is written to present a prospective stance on how learning analytics, as a core evaluative approach, must help instructors uncover the important trends and evidence of quality learner data in the online course. A critique is presented of strategic and tactical issues of learning analytics. The approach to the critique is taken through…

  2. New food approaches to reduce and/or eliminate increased gastric acidity related to gastroesophageal pathologies.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Langella, Ciro; Naviglio, Daniele; Marino, Marina; Calogero, Armando; Gallo, Monica

    2018-03-22

    Gastroesophageal reflux disease is very common in industrialized countries and rapidly and significantly increasing even in developing countries. The approach in this study is one not commonly found to date in the scientific literature. To assess the ability of reduced-carbohydrate diets and foods that are enriched with acid potential of hydrogen (pH; lemon and tomato) to quickly and exponentially reduce symptoms that are related to conditions such as gastritis and gastroesophageal reflux and unrelated to Helicobacter pylori. After the administration of an anamnestic test, 130 patients were selected including 73 women and 57 men, 21 to 67 y, and with a gastritis diagnosis for 92 patients (56 women, 36 men) and reflux gastritis for 38 patients (17 women, 21 men). Study participants followed three dietary treatments in succession. Each treatment lasted 2 wk and treatments were separated by 2 wk of washout. The patients followed a diet that consisted primarily of proteins and fats and included the exponential reduction of glycides (simple and complex). In addition, the treatment provided for the daily intake of the juice of two lemons and approximately 100 g of fresh orange tomato without seeds eaten either raw or cooked and peeled. During treatment and at the end of 2 wk of treatment, the patients reported significant improvements including an almost total disappearance of symptoms that were related to the disease in question. This study shows that a carbohydrate-free diet and/or highly hypoglycidal diet that is enriched with acid pH foods appears to lead to a decrease in the pH of the gastric contents, thus inhibiting the further production of hydrochloric acid with a reduction or disappearance of heartburn symptoms that are typical of gastroesophageal diseases. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  3. The Budgetary Process with a Use of Modern Approaches in Cost Management

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Jiří Hammer

    2016-01-01

    Full Text Available State organisational units still compile their budget as incremental and as such it therefore disregards causes of the origination of costs and does not put a sufficient pressure on increase in efficiency of economy. This article aims to propose a budgetary setup for operating costs using the methods of ABC/ABM (Activity Based Costing/Activity Based Management in state organisational units (SOU. Essence of the proposed procedure towards budgetary setup as well as cost management is specification of such cost drivers that reflect the causal link between activities of the given organisation and indirect operating costs. Through a system of linear equations there is in turn resolved parity between demands on budgetary funding of a specific activity and full costs of activities. Using a multiple regression analyses, for selected cost groups there was also tested their dependence upon criteria that may act as general cost drivers. Undertaken research has also uncovered that frequently used variable “number of workers” cannot explain the analysed cost groups. Benefit of proposed solutions is increase in efficiency of SOU economy. This way, the management receives a tool for budgeting and cost control not only within the process structure based on activities, but also within individual items of the budgetary classification.

  4. A Theoretical Approach

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    NICO

    L-rhamnose and L-fucose: A Theoretical Approach ... L-ramnose and L-fucose, by means of the Monte Carlo conformational search method. The energy of the conformers ..... which indicates an increased probability for the occurrence of.

  5. Money creation and financial instability: An agent-based credit network approach

    OpenAIRE

    Lengnick, Matthias; Krug, Sebastian; Wohltmann, Hans-Werner

    2013-01-01

    The authors develop a simple agent-based and stock flow consistent model of a monetary economy. Their model is well suited to explain money creation along the lines of mainstream theory. Additionally it uncovers a potential instability that follows from a maturity mismatch of assets and liabilities. The authors analyze the impact of interbank lending on the stability of the financial sector and find that an interbank market stabilizes the economy during normal times but amplifies systemic ins...

  6. Crop diversity for yield increase.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Chengyun Li

    2009-11-01

    Full Text Available Traditional farming practices suggest that cultivation of a mixture of crop species in the same field through temporal and spatial management may be advantageous in boosting yields and preventing disease, but evidence from large-scale field testing is limited. Increasing crop diversity through intercropping addresses the problem of increasing land utilization and crop productivity. In collaboration with farmers and extension personnel, we tested intercropping of tobacco, maize, sugarcane, potato, wheat and broad bean--either by relay cropping or by mixing crop species based on differences in their heights, and practiced these patterns on 15,302 hectares in ten counties in Yunnan Province, China. The results of observation plots within these areas showed that some combinations increased crop yields for the same season between 33.2 and 84.7% and reached a land equivalent ratio (LER of between 1.31 and 1.84. This approach can be easily applied in developing countries, which is crucial in face of dwindling arable land and increasing food demand.

  7. A Markov chain approach to modelling charge exchange processes of an ion beam in monotonically increasing or decreasing potentials

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Shrier, O; Khachan, J; Bosi, S

    2006-01-01

    A Markov chain method is presented as an alternative approach to Monte Carlo simulations of charge exchange collisions by an energetic hydrogen ion beam with a cold background hydrogen gas. This method was used to determine the average energy of the resulting energetic neutrals along the path of the beam. A comparison with Monte Carlo modelling showed a good agreement but with the advantage that it required much less computing time and produced no numerical noise. In particular, the Markov chain method works well for monotonically increasing or decreasing electrostatic potentials. Finally, a good agreement is obtained with experimental results from Doppler shift spectroscopy on energetic beams from a hollow cathode discharge. In particular, the average energy of ions that undergo charge exchange reaches a plateau that can be well below the full energy that might be expected from the applied voltage bias, depending on the background gas pressure. For example, pressures of ∼20 mTorr limit the ion energy to ∼20% of the applied voltage

  8. A new non-invasive approach based on polyhexamethylene biguanide increases the regression rate of HPV infection

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Gentile Antonio

    2012-09-01

    Full Text Available Abstract Background HPV infection is a worldwide problem strictly linked to the development of cervical cancer. Persistence of the infection is one of the main factors responsible for the invasive progression and women diagnosed with intraepithelial squamous lesions are referred for further assessment and surgical treatments which are prone to complications. Despite this, there are several reports on the spontaneous regression of the infection. This study was carried out to evaluate the effectiveness of a long term polyhexamethylene biguanide (PHMB-based local treatment in improving the viral clearance, reducing the time exposure to the infection and avoiding the complications associated with the invasive treatments currently available. Method 100 women diagnosed with HPV infection were randomly assigned to receive six months of treatment with a PHMB-based gynecological solution (Monogin®, Lo.Li. Pharma, Rome - Italy or to remain untreated for the same period of time. Results A greater number of patients, who received the treatment were cleared of the infection at the two time points of the study (three and six months compared to that of the control group. A significant difference in the regression rate (90% Monogin group vs 70% control group was observed at the end of the study highlighting the time-dependent ability of PHMB to interact with the infection progression. Conclusions The topic treatment with PHMB is a preliminary safe and promising approach for patients with detected HPV infection increasing the chance of clearance and avoiding the use of invasive treatments when not strictly necessary. Trial registration ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier NCT01571141

  9. Researchers Find a Mechanism for Schizophrenia

    Science.gov (United States)

    ... issue Health Capsule Researchers Find a Mechanism for Schizophrenia En español Send us your comments Scientists uncovered a mechanism behind genetic variations previously linked to schizophrenia. The findings may lead to new clinical approaches. ...

  10. Increased Urge to Gamble Following Near-Miss Outcomes May Drive Purchasing Behaviour in Scratch Card Gambling.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Stange, Madison; Graydon, Candice; Dixon, Mike J

    2017-09-01

    Previous research into scratch card gambling has highlighted the effects of these games on players' arousal and affective states. Specifically, near-miss outcomes in scratch cards (uncovering 2 of 3 needed jackpot symbols) have been associated with high levels of physiological and subjective arousal and negative emotional evaluations, including increased frustration. We sought to extend this research by examining whether near-misses prompted increases in gambling urge, and the subsequent purchasing of additional scratch cards. Participants played two scratch cards with varying outcomes with half of the sample experiencing a near-miss for the jackpot prize, and the other half experiencing a regular loss. Players rated their urge to continue gambling after each game outcome, and following the initial playing phase, were then able to use their winnings to purchase additional cards. Our results indicated that near-misses increased the urge to gamble significantly more than regular losses, and urge to gamble in the near-miss group was significantly correlated with purchasing at least one additional card. Although some players in the loss group purchased another card, there was no correlation between urge to gamble and purchasing in this group. Additionally, participants in the near-miss group who purchased additional cards reported higher levels of urge than those who did not purchase more cards. This was not true for the loss group: participants who experienced solely losing outcomes reported similar levels of urge regardless of whether or not they purchased more scratch cards. Despite near-misses' objective status as monetary losses, the increased urge that follows near-miss outcomes may translate into further scratch card gambling for a subset of individuals .

  11. Rural Credit in Vietnam

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Barslund, Mikkel Christoffer; Tarp, Finn

    This paper uses a survey of 932 rural households to uncover how the rural credit market operates in four provinces of Vietnam. Households obtain credit through formal and informal lenders, but formal loans are almost entirely for production and asset accumulation. Interest rates fell from 1997...... to 2002, reflecting increased market integration; but the determinants of formal and informal credit demand are distinct. Credit rationing depends on education and credit history, but we find no evidence of a bias against women. Regional differences are striking, and a ‘one size fits all’ approach...... to credit policy is clearly inappropriate....

  12. Mammary stem cells: Novel markers and novel approaches to increase lactation efficiency

    Science.gov (United States)

    Mammary stem cells (MaSC) provide for net growth, renewal and turnover of mammary epithelial cells, and are therefore potential targets for strategies to increase production efficiency. Appropriate regulation of MaSC can potentially benefit milk yield, persistency, dry period management and tissue r...

  13. Site-dependent effects of tDCS uncover dissociations in the communication network underlying the processing of visual search.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ball, Keira; Lane, Alison R; Smith, Daniel T; Ellison, Amanda

    2013-11-01

    The right posterior parietal cortex (rPPC) and the right frontal eye field (rFEF) form part of a network of brain areas involved in orienting spatial attention. Previous studies using transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) have demonstrated that both areas are critically involved in the processing of conjunction visual search tasks, since stimulation of these sites disrupts performance. This study investigated the effects of long term neuronal modulation to rPPC and rFEF using transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) with the aim of uncovering sharing of these resources in the processing of conjunction visual search tasks. Participants completed four blocks of conjunction search trials over the course of 45 min. Following the first block they received 15 min of either cathodal or anodal stimulation to rPPC or rFEF, or sham stimulation. A significant interaction between block and stimulation condition was found, indicating that tDCS caused different effects according to the site (rPPC or rFEF) and type of stimulation (cathodal, anodal, or sham). Practice resulted in a significant reduction in reaction time across the four blocks in all conditions except when cathodal tDCS was applied to rPPC. The effects of cathodal tDCS over rPPC are subtler than those seen with TMS, and no effect of tDCS was evident at rFEF. This suggests that rFEF has a more transient role than rPPC in the processing of conjunction visual search and is robust to longer-term methods of neuro-disruption. Our results may be explained within the framework of functional connectivity between these, and other, areas. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  14. A genome-wide immunodetection screen in S. cerevisiae uncovers novel genes involved in lysosomal vacuole function and morphology.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Florante Ricarte

    Full Text Available Vacuoles of yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae are functionally analogous to mammalian lysosomes. Both are cellular organelles responsible for macromolecular degradation, ion/pH homeostasis, and stress survival. We hypothesized that undefined gene functions remain at post-endosomal stage of vacuolar events and performed a genome-wide screen directed at such functions at the late endosome and vacuole interface - ENV genes. The immunodetection screen was designed to identify mutants that internally accumulate precursor form of the vacuolar hydrolase carboxypeptidase Y (CPY. Here, we report the uncovering and initial characterizations of twelve ENV genes. The small size of the collection and the lack of genes previously identified with vacuolar events are suggestive of the intended exclusive functional interface of the screen. Most notably, the collection includes four novel genes ENV7, ENV9, ENV10, and ENV11, and three genes previously linked to mitochondrial processes - MAM3, PCP1, PPE1. In all env mutants, vesicular trafficking stages were undisturbed in live cells as assessed by invertase and active α-factor secretion, as well as by localization of the endocytic fluorescent marker FM4-64 to the vacuole. Several mutants exhibit defects in stress survival functions associated with vacuoles. Confocal fluorescence microscopy revealed the collection to be significantly enriched in vacuolar morphologies suggestive of fusion and fission defects. These include the unique phenotype of lumenal vesicles within vacuoles in the novel env9Δ mutant and severely fragmented vacuoles upon deletion of GET4, a gene recently implicated in tail anchored membrane protein insertion. Thus, our results establish new gene functions in vacuolar function and morphology, and suggest a link between vacuolar and mitochondrial events.

  15. Novel approaches for the treatment of psychostimulant and opioid abuse - focus on opioid receptor-based therapies.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bailey, Chris P; Husbands, Stephen M

    2014-11-01

    Psychostimulant and opioid addiction are poorly treated. The majority of abstinent users relapse back to drug-taking within a year of abstinence, making 'anti-relapse' therapies the focus of much current research. There are two fundamental challenges to developing novel treatments for drug addiction. First, there are three key stimuli that precipitate relapse back to drug-taking: stress, presentation of drug-conditioned cue, taking a small dose of drug. The most successful novel treatment would be effective against all three stimuli. Second, a large number of drug users are poly-drug users: taking more than one drug of abuse at a time. The ideal anti-addiction treatment would, therefore, be effective against all classes of drugs of abuse. In this review, the authors discuss the clinical need and animal models used to uncover potential novel treatments. There is a very broad range of potential treatment approaches and targets currently being examined as potential anti-relapse therapies. These broadly fit into two categories: 'memory-based' and 'receptor-based' and the authors discuss the key targets here within. Opioid receptors and ligands have been widely studied, and research into how different opioid subtypes affect behaviours related to addiction (reward, dysphoria, motivation) suggests that they are tractable targets as anti-relapse treatments. Regarding opioid ligands as novel 'anti-relapse' medication targets, research suggests that a 'non-selective' approach to targeting opioid receptors will be the most effective.

  16. Ibrutinib in CLL: a focus on adverse events, resistance, and novel approaches beyond ibrutinib.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kaur, Varinder; Swami, Arjun

    2017-07-01

    Bruton's tyrosine kinase (BTK), a mediator in B cell receptor signaling has been successfully exploited as a therapeutic target in treatment of chronic lymphocytic leukemia/small lymphocytic lymphoma (CLL/SLL). Ibrutinib is a BTK inhibitor that has shown excellent efficacy in treatment-naïve, heavily pre-treated, and high-risk CLL/SLL. With remarkable efficacy, good oral bioavailability, and modest adverse events profile, ibrutinib use is likely to continue to increase. As data with ibrutinib use in CLL matures, concerns regarding adverse events and drug resistance have emerged. New insights into mechanisms of ibrutinib resistance in CLL have uncovered potential therapeutic targets. Several promising novel agents are currently in early phases of development for overcoming ibrutinib resistance in CLL/SLL. We provide a comprehensive analysis of emerging adverse events profile of ibrutinib, summarize our current understanding of ibrutinib resistance in CLL, and review promising novel therapeutic tools to overcome this challenge.

  17. Increased Materialistic Trends among Youth

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Afsheen Masood

    2016-12-01

    Full Text Available The goal of this qualitative research is to investigate the increased sense of materialism among youth. The main research question is to identify the factors which are causing materialism among youth. The sample of this research included 25 people, age group 18-25 years obtained from students that are enrolled in universities. The interpretive phenomenological approach was taken which was based on semi-structured interviews. The findings revealed that materialistic trends are increasing among youth nowadays. Because thought patterns of youth and societal demands have changed totally. Factors that are increasing materialism include social media, brand consciousness; self-centeredness; fake personality development and desire to be socially accepted. The implications indicate that materialistic trend should stop by controlling the social media possession among youth which is the primary source of enhancing materialism among youth.

  18. A participatory and integrative approach to increase productivity and comfort in assembly

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Looze, M.P. de; Rhijn, G. van; Tuinzaad, B.; Deursen, J. van

    2000-01-01

    Manufacturers of manually assembled products are more and more forced to improve the flow of assembly orders together with a more efficient employment, in order to meet increasing demands on short delivery times, high product variety, good quality and low manufacturing costs. At the same time, the

  19. UNTANGLING THE FUNGAL NICHE: A TRAIT-BASED APPROACH

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Thomas W Crowther

    2014-10-01

    Full Text Available Fungi are prominent components of most terrestrial ecosystems, both in terms of biomass and ecosystem functioning, but the hyper-diverse nature of most communities has obscured the search for unifying principles governing community organization. In particular, unlike plants and animals, observational studies provide little evidence for the existence of niche processes in structuring fungal communities at broad spatial scales. This limits our capacity to predict how communities, and their functioning, vary across landscapes. We outline how a shift in focus, from taxonomy towards functional traits, might prove to be valuable in the search for general patterns in fungal ecology. We build on theoretical advances in plant and animal ecology to provide an empirical framework for a trait-based approach in fungal community ecology. Drawing upon specific characteristics of the fungal system, we highlight the significance of drought stress and combat in structuring free-living fungal communities. We propose a conceptual model to formalize how trade-offs between stress-tolerance and combative dominance are likely to organize communities across environmental gradients. Given that the survival of a fungus in a given environment is contingent on its ability to tolerate antagonistic competitors, measuring variation in combat trait expression along environmental gradients provides a means of elucidating realized, from fundamental niche spaces. We conclude that, using a trait-based understanding of how niche processes structure fungal communities across time and space, we can ultimately link communities with ecosystem functioning. Our trait-based framework highlights fundamental uncertainties that require testing in the fungal system, given their potential to uncover general mechanisms in fungal ecology.

  20. Does green consumerism increase the acceptance of wind power?

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Thøgersen, John; Noblet, Caroline

    2012-01-01

    In this paper, we discuss what might be termed an action-based learning approach to promoting important pro-environmental actions, such as support for or acceptance of environmental policy. Such an approach involves promoting simple and easy behaviours as entry points for more radical steps towards sustainability, referred to as “catalytic” or “wedge” behaviours. Despite the obvious need for innovative approaches to promote important pro-environmental behaviour, and sound theoretical backing for such concepts, there is a lack of research testing the key propositions of this approach. In a survey study based on a random sample of residents of the state of Maine, USA, we find that both everyday “green” behaviour and the acceptance of an expansion of wind power are rooted in environmental concern and that everyday “green” behaviour gives a significant contribution to predicting acceptance of wind power when controlling for environmental concern. Hence, the promotion of everyday “green” behaviours may prepare the grounds for increasing acceptance of more far-reaching changes in the population, such as an expansion of wind power. - Highlights: ► Acceptance of wind power increases with environmental concern. ► So does everyday “green” consumerism. ► Green consumerism further increases acceptance of wind power. ► The effect of environmental concern on acceptance is partly mediated through green consumerism. ► Participants in the study are a random sample of residents of Maine, USA.

  1. Deficiency of ABCA1 and ABCG1 in Macrophages Increases Inflammation and Accelerates Atherosclerosis in Mice

    Science.gov (United States)

    Westerterp, Marit; Murphy, Andrew J.; Wang, Mi; Pagler, Tamara A.; Vengrenyuk, Yuliya; Kappus, Mojdeh S.; Gorman, Darren J.; Nagareddy, Prabhakara R.; Zhu, Xuewei; Abramowicz, Sandra; Parks, John S.; Welch, Carrie; Fisher, Edward A.; Wang, Nan; Yvan-Charvet, Laurent; Tall, Alan R.

    2013-01-01

    Rationale Plasma HDL levels are inversely correlated with atherosclerosis. Although it is widely assumed that this is due to the ability of HDL to promote cholesterol efflux from macrophage foam cells, direct experimental support for this hypothesis is lacking. Objective To assess the role of macrophage cholesterol efflux pathways in atherogenesis. Methods and Results We developed MAC-ABCDKO mice with efficient deletion of the ATP Binding Cassette Transporters A1 and G1 (ABCA1 and ABCG1) in macrophages but not in hematopoietic stem or progenitor populations. MAC-ABCDKO bone marrow (BM) was transplanted into Ldlr-/- recipients. On the chow diet, these mice had similar plasma cholesterol and blood monocyte levels but increased atherosclerosis compared to controls. On the Western type diet (WTD), MAC-ABCDKO BM transplanted Ldlr-/- mice had disproportionate atherosclerosis, considering they also had lower VLDL/LDL cholesterol levels than controls. ABCA1/G1 deficient macrophages in lesions showed increased inflammatory gene expression. Unexpectedly, WTD-fed MAC-ABCDKO BM transplanted Ldlr-/- mice displayed monocytosis and neutrophilia in the absence of HSPC proliferation. Mechanistic studies revealed increased expression of M-CSF and G-CSF in splenic macrophage foam cells, driving BM monocyte and neutrophil production. Conclusion These studies 1) show that macrophage deficiency of ABCA1/G1 is pro-atherogenic likely by promoting plaque inflammation and 2) uncover a novel positive feedback loop in which cholesterol-laden splenic macrophages signal BM progenitors to produce monocytes, with suppression by macrophage cholesterol efflux pathways. PMID:23572498

  2. The Blogging Artist: a Genre-Analysis Approach to Teaching English for Art Purposes

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Anda-Elena Crețiu

    2013-07-01

    Full Text Available Building on the now classic approaches to Discourse Analysis offered by Swales and Bhatia, the present paper tries to establish the benefits and value of applying the method of Genre Analysis to teaching English for Art Purposes, with a focus on a more recent Internet genre, that of the artist’s blog (weblog. The artist’s blog is seen as part of the greater genre of the weblog, which has already been classified into a number of subgenres. The paper proposes yet another dimension to be added to those already considered when classifying the weblogs: the dimension of “occupational-oriented content” as a descriptive for further classifications; it also tries to uncover the generic features of this type of discourse. The ultimate aim of this study is, on the one hand, that of providing art students with the necessary know-how of using the weblog genre for their current and future professional purposes, as part of the complex system of genres devised by the artistic discourse community in order to communicate both within and without itself, and, on the other hand, to help students use their knowledge of the English language to create such a discourse type in order to obtain maximum benefits.

  3. The human factors engineering approach to biomedical informatics projects: state of the art, results, benefits and challenges.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Beuscart-Zéphir, M-C; Elkin, Peter; Pelayo, Sylvia; Beuscart, Regis

    2007-01-01

    The objective of this paper is to define a comprehensible overview of the Human Factors approach to biomedical informatics applications for healthcare. The overview starts with a presentation of the necessity of a proper management of Human factors for Healthcare IT projects to avoid unusable products and unsafe work situations. The first section is dedicated to definitions of the Human Factors Engineering (HFE) main concepts. The second section describes a functional model of an HFE lifecycle adapted for healthcare work situations. The third section provides an overview of existing HF and usability methods for healthcare products and presents a selection of interesting results. The last section discusses the benefits and limitations of the HFE approach. Literature review based on Pubmed and conference proceedings in the field of Medical Informatics coupled with a review of other databases and conference proceedings in the field of Ergonomics focused on papers addressing healthcare work and system design. Usability studies performed on healthcare applications have uncovered unacceptable usability flaws that make the systems error prone, thus endangering the patient safety. Moreover, in many cases, the procurement and the implementation process simply forget about human factors: following only technological considerations, they issue potentially dangerous and always unpleasant work situations. But when properly applied to IT projects, the HFE approach proves efficient when seeking to improve patient safety, users' satisfaction and adoption of the products. We recommend that the HFE methodology should be applied to most informatics and systems development projects, and the usability of the products should be systematically checked before permitting their release and implementation. This requires the development of Centers specialized in Human Factors for Healthcare and Patient safety in each Country/Region.

  4. Demystifying traditional herbal medicine with modern approach.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Li, Fu-Shuang; Weng, Jing-Ke

    2017-07-31

    Plants have long been recognized for their therapeutic properties. For centuries, indigenous cultures around the world have used traditional herbal medicine to treat a myriad of maladies. By contrast, the rise of the modern pharmaceutical industry in the past century has been based on exploiting individual active compounds with precise modes of action. This surge has yielded highly effective drugs that are widely used in the clinic, including many plant natural products and analogues derived from these products, but has fallen short of delivering effective cures for complex human diseases with complicated causes, such as cancer, diabetes, autoimmune disorders and degenerative diseases. While the plant kingdom continues to serve as an important source for chemical entities supporting drug discovery, the rich traditions of herbal medicine developed by trial and error on human subjects over thousands of years contain invaluable biomedical information just waiting to be uncovered using modern scientific approaches. Here we provide an evolutionary and historical perspective on why plants are of particular significance as medicines for humans. We highlight several plant natural products that are either in the clinic or currently under active research and clinical development, with particular emphasis on their mechanisms of action. Recent efforts in developing modern multi-herb prescriptions through rigorous molecular-level investigations and standardized clinical trials are also discussed. Emerging technologies, such as genomics and synthetic biology, are enabling new ways for discovering and utilizing the medicinal properties of plants. We are entering an exciting era where the ancient wisdom distilled into the world's traditional herbal medicines can be reinterpreted and exploited through the lens of modern science.

  5. City evacuations an interdisciplinary approach

    CERN Document Server

    Binner, Jane; Branicki, Layla; Galla, Tobias; Jones, Nick; King, James; Kolokitha, Magdalini; Smyrnakis, Michalis

    2015-01-01

    Evacuating a city is a complex problem that involves issues of governance, preparedness education, warning, information sharing, population dynamics, resilience and recovery. As natural and anthropogenic threats to cities grow, it is an increasingly pressing problem for policy makers and practitioners.   The book is the result of a unique interdisciplinary collaboration between researchers in the physical and social sciences to consider how an interdisciplinary approach can help plan for large scale evacuations.  It draws on perspectives from physics, mathematics, organisation theory, economics, sociology and education.  Importantly it goes beyond disciplinary boundaries and considers how interdisciplinary methods are necessary to approach a complex problem involving human actors and increasingly complex communications and transportation infrastructures.   Using real world case studies and modelling the book considers new approaches to evacuation dynamics.  It addresses questions of complexity, not only ...

  6. Activation of VCAM-1 and Its Associated Molecule CD44 Leads to Increased Malignant Potential of Breast Cancer Cells

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Pei-Chen Wang

    2014-02-01

    Full Text Available VCAM-1 (CD106, a transmembrane glycoprotein, was first reported to play an important role in leukocyte adhesion, leukocyte transendothelial migration and cell activation by binding to integrin VLA-1 (α4β1. In the present study, we observed that VCAM-1 expression can be induced in many breast cancer epithelial cells by cytokine stimulation in vitro and its up-regulation directly correlated with advanced clinical breast cancer stage. We found that VCAM-1 over-expression in the NMuMG breast epithelial cells controls the epithelial and mesenchymal transition (EMT program to increase cell motility rates and promote chemoresistance to doxorubicin and cisplatin in vitro. Conversely, in the established MDAMB231 metastatic breast cancer cell line, we confirmed that knockdown of endogenous VCAM-1 expression reduced cell proliferation and inhibited TGFβ1 or IL-6 mediated cell migration, and increased chemosensitivity. Furthermore, we demonstrated that knockdown of endogenous VCAM-1 expression in MDAMB231 cells reduced tumor formation in a SCID xenograft mouse model. Signaling studies showed that VCAM-1 physically associates with CD44 and enhances CD44 and ABCG2 expression. Our findings uncover the possible mechanism of VCAM-1 activation facilitating breast cancer progression, and suggest that targeting VCAM-1 is an attractive strategy for therapeutic intervention.

  7. Approaches to Increasing Ethical Compliance in China with Drug Trial Standards of Practice

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Rosenberg, Jacob

    2016-01-01

    . With recent reports of scientific misconduct from China, there is an urgent need to find approaches to compel researchers to adhere to ethical research practices. This problem does not call for a simple solution, but if forces are joined with governmental regulations, education in ethics issues for medical......Zeng et al.'s Ethics Review highlights some of the challenges associated with clinical research in China. They found that only a minority of published clinical trials of anti-dementia drugs reported that they fulfilled the basic ethical principles as outlined in the Declaration of Helsinki...... researchers, and strong reinforcement by Chinese journal editors not to publish studies with these flaws, then research ethics and publication standards will probably improve. Other solutions to foster ethical practice of drug trials are discussed including Chinese initiatives directed at managing conflict...

  8. Selection for a Zinc-Finger Protein Contributes to Seed Oil Increase during Soybean Domestication.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Li, Qing-Tian; Lu, Xiang; Song, Qing-Xin; Chen, Hao-Wei; Wei, Wei; Tao, Jian-Jun; Bian, Xiao-Hua; Shen, Ming; Ma, Biao; Zhang, Wan-Ke; Bi, Ying-Dong; Li, Wei; Lai, Yong-Cai; Lam, Sin-Man; Shui, Guang-Hou; Chen, Shou-Yi; Zhang, Jin-Song

    2017-04-01

    Seed oil is a momentous agronomical trait of soybean ( Glycine max ) targeted by domestication in breeding. Although multiple oil-related genes have been uncovered, knowledge of the regulatory mechanism of seed oil biosynthesis is currently limited. We demonstrate that the seed-preferred gene GmZF351 , encoding a tandem CCCH zinc finger protein, is selected during domestication. Further analysis shows that GmZF351 facilitates oil accumulation by directly activating WRINKLED1 , BIOTIN CARBOXYL CARRIER PROTEIN2 , 3-KETOACYL-ACYL CARRIER PROTEIN SYNTHASE III , DIACYLGLYCEROL O-ACYLTRANSFERASE1 , and OLEOSIN2 in transgenic Arabidopsis ( Arabidopsis thaliana ) seeds. Overexpression of GmZF351 in transgenic soybean also activates lipid biosynthesis genes, thereby accelerating seed oil accumulation. The ZF351 haplotype from the cultivated soybean group and the wild soybean ( Glycine soja ) subgroup III correlates well with high gene expression level, seed oil contents and promoter activity, suggesting that selection of GmZF351 expression leads to increased seed oil content in cultivated soybean. Our study provides novel insights into the regulatory mechanism for seed oil accumulation, and the manipulation of GmZF351 may have great potential in the improvement of oil production in soybean and other related crops. © 2017 American Society of Plant Biologists. All Rights Reserved.

  9. Peer-led, transformative learning approaches increase classroom engagement in care self-management classes during inpatient rehabilitation of individuals with spinal cord injury.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gassaway, Julie; Jones, Michael L; Sweatman, W Mark; Young, Tamara

    2017-10-16

    Evaluate effects of revised education classes on classroom engagement during inpatient rehabilitation for individuals with spinal cord injury/disease (SCI/D). Multiple-baseline, quasi-experimental design with video recorded engagement observations during conventional and revised education classes; visual and statistical analysis of difference in positive engagement responses observed in classes using each approach. 81 patients (72% male, 73% white, mean age 36 SD 15.6) admitted for SCI/D inpatient rehabilitation in a non-profit rehabilitation hospital, who attended one or more of 33 care self-management education classes that were video recorded. All study activities were approved by the host facility institutional review board. Conventional nurse-led self-management classes were replaced with revised peer-led classes incorporating approaches to promote transformative learning. Revised classes were introduced across three subject areas in a step-wise fashion over 15 weeks. Positive engagement responses (asking questions, participating in discussion, gesturing, raising hand, or otherwise noting approval) were documented from video recordings of 14 conventional and 19 revised education classes. Significantly higher average (per patient per class) positive engagement responses were observed in the revised compared to conventional classes (p=0.008). Redesigning SCI inpatient rehabilitation care self-management classes to promote transformative learning increased patient engagement. Additional research is needed to examine longer term outcomes and replicability in other settings.

  10. Genetic mapping uncovers cis-regulatory landscape of RNA editing.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ramaswami, Gokul; Deng, Patricia; Zhang, Rui; Anna Carbone, Mary; Mackay, Trudy F C; Li, Jin Billy

    2015-09-16

    Adenosine-to-inosine (A-to-I) RNA editing, catalysed by ADAR enzymes conserved in metazoans, plays an important role in neurological functions. Although the fine-tuning mechanism provided by A-to-I RNA editing is important, the underlying rules governing ADAR substrate recognition are not well understood. We apply a quantitative trait loci (QTL) mapping approach to identify genetic variants associated with variability in RNA editing. With very accurate measurement of RNA editing levels at 789 sites in 131 Drosophila melanogaster strains, here we identify 545 editing QTLs (edQTLs) associated with differences in RNA editing. We demonstrate that many edQTLs can act through changes in the local secondary structure for edited dsRNAs. Furthermore, we find that edQTLs located outside of the edited dsRNA duplex are enriched in secondary structure, suggesting that distal dsRNA structure beyond the editing site duplex affects RNA editing efficiency. Our work will facilitate the understanding of the cis-regulatory code of RNA editing.

  11. Effects of Increasing Drag on Conjunction Assessment

    Science.gov (United States)

    Frigm, Ryan Clayton; McKinley, David P.

    2010-01-01

    Conjunction Assessment Risk Analysis relies heavily on the computation of the Probability of Collision (Pc) and the understanding of the sensitivity of this calculation to the position errors as defined by the covariance. In Low Earth Orbit (LEO), covariance is predominantly driven by perturbations due to atmospheric drag. This paper describes the effects of increasing atmospheric drag through Solar Cycle 24 on Pc calculations. The process of determining these effects is found through analyzing solar flux predictions on Energy Dissipation Rate (EDR), historical relationship between EDR and covariance, and the sensitivity of Pc to covariance. It is discovered that while all LEO satellites will be affected by the increase in solar activity, the relative effect is more significant in the LEO regime around 700 kilometers in altitude compared to 400 kilometers. Furthermore, it is shown that higher Pc values can be expected at larger close approach miss distances. Understanding these counter-intuitive results is important to setting Owner/Operator expectations concerning conjunctions as solar maximum approaches.

  12. Predicting opportunities to increase utilization of laparoscopy for colon cancer.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Keller, Deborah S; Parikh, Niraj; Senagore, Anthony J

    2017-04-01

    Despite proven safety and efficacy, rates of minimally invasive approaches for colon cancer remain low in the USA. Given the known benefits, investigating the root causes of underutilization and methods to increase laparoscopy is warranted. Our goal was to develop a predictive model of factors impacting use of laparoscopic surgery for colon cancer. The Premier Hospital Database was reviewed for elective colorectal resections for colon cancer (2009-2014). Patients were identified by ICD-9-CM diagnosis code and then stratified into open or laparoscopic approaches by ICD-9-CM procedure codes. An adjusted multivariate logistic regression model identified variables predictive of use of laparoscopy for colon cancer. A total of 24,245 patients were included-12,523 (52 %) laparoscopic and 11,722 (48 %) open. General surgeons performed the majority of all procedures (77.99 % open, 71.60 % laparoscopic). Overall use of laparoscopy increased from 48.94 to 52.03 % over the study period (p colon cancer laparoscopically. Colorectal surgeons were 32 % more likely to approach a case laparoscopically than general surgeons (OR 1.315, 95 % CI [1.222, 1.415], p characteristics that can be identified preoperatively to predict who will undergo surgery for colon cancer using laparoscopy. However, additional patients may be eligible for laparoscopy based on patient-level characteristics. These results have implications for regionalization and increasing teaching of MIS. Recognizing and addressing these variables with training and recruiting could increase use of minimally invasive approaches, with the associated clinical and financial benefits.

  13. Economic expansion and increase in labout market formality: a poaching approach

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Carlos Henrique L. Corseuil

    2012-06-01

    Full Text Available This paper investigates the relationship between economic expansion and the degree of formalization for the Brazilian labour market in the recent period. We present a theoretical framework that attempts to explain this relationship through the dynamics of firms hiring strategies. The main predictions are: the share of formal employment rises as the unemployment rate falls, and that the formal-informal wage gap increases, at least at the beginning of the economic expansion. In the empirical part, we use longitudinal microdata from a Brazilian household survey to check whether these two predictions are confirmed. To a large extent our results corroborate both predictions.

  14. The SPIRIT Action Framework: A structured approach to selecting and testing strategies to increase the use of research in policy.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Redman, Sally; Turner, Tari; Davies, Huw; Williamson, Anna; Haynes, Abby; Brennan, Sue; Milat, Andrew; O'Connor, Denise; Blyth, Fiona; Jorm, Louisa; Green, Sally

    2015-07-01

    The recent proliferation of strategies designed to increase the use of research in health policy (knowledge exchange) demands better application of contemporary conceptual understandings of how research shapes policy. Predictive models, or action frameworks, are needed to organise existing knowledge and enable a more systematic approach to the selection and testing of intervention strategies. Useful action frameworks need to meet four criteria: have a clearly articulated purpose; be informed by existing knowledge; provide an organising structure to build new knowledge; and be capable of guiding the development and testing of interventions. This paper describes the development of the SPIRIT Action Framework. A literature search and interviews with policy makers identified modifiable factors likely to influence the use of research in policy. An iterative process was used to combine these factors into a pragmatic tool which meets the four criteria. The SPIRIT Action Framework can guide conceptually-informed practical decisions in the selection and testing of interventions to increase the use of research in policy. The SPIRIT Action Framework hypothesises that a catalyst is required for the use of research, the response to which is determined by the capacity of the organisation to engage with research. Where there is sufficient capacity, a series of research engagement actions might occur that facilitate research use. These hypotheses are being tested in ongoing empirical work. Copyright © 2015 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd.. All rights reserved.

  15. Strategies for Increasing the Market Share of Recycled Products—A Games Theory Approach

    Science.gov (United States)

    Batzias, Dimitris F.; Pollalis, Yannis A.

    2009-08-01

    A methodological framework (including 28 activity stages and 10 decision nodes) has been designed under the form of an algorithmic procedure for the development of strategies for increasing the market share of recycled products within a games theory context. A case example is presented referring to a paper market, where a recycling company (RC) is in competition with a virgin-raw-material-using company (VC). The strategies of the VC, for increasing its market share, are the strengthening of (and advertisement based on) the high quality (VC1), the high reliability (VC2), the combination quality and reliability, putting emphasis on the first component (VC3), the combination quality and reliability, putting emphasis on the second component (VC4). The strategies of the RC, for increasing its market share, are proper advertisement based on the low price of produced recycled paper satisfying minimum quality requirements (RC1), the combination of low price with sensitization of the public as regards environmental and materials-saving issues, putting emphasis on the first component (RC2), the same combination, putting emphasis on the second component (RC3). Analysis of all possible situations for the case example under examination is also presented.

  16. Increased dysbindin-1B isoform expression in schizophrenia and its propensity in aggresome formation

    Science.gov (United States)

    Xu, Yiliang; Sun, Yuhui; Ye, Haihong; Zhu, Li; Liu, Jianghong; Wu, Xiaofeng; Wang, Le; He, Tingting; Shen, Yan; Wu, Jane Y; Xu, Qi

    2015-01-01

    Genetic variations in the human dysbindin-1 gene (DTNBP1) have been associated with schizophrenia. As a result of alternative splicing, the human DTNBP1 gene generates at least three distinct protein isoforms, dysbindin-1A, -1B and -1C. Significant effort has focused on dysbindin-1A, an important player in multiple steps of neurodevelopment. However, the other isoforms, dysbindin-1B and dysbindin-1C have not been well characterized. Nor have been associated with human diseases. Here we report an increase in expression of DTNBP1b mRNA in patients with paranoid schizophrenia as compared with healthy controls. A single-nucleotide polymorphism located in intron 9, rs117610176, has been identified and associated with paranoid schizophrenia, and its C allele leads to an increase of DTNBP1b mRNA splicing. Our data show that different dysbindin splicing isoforms exhibit distinct subcellular distribution, suggesting their distinct functional activities. Dysbindin-1B forms aggresomes at the perinuclear region, whereas dysbindin-1A and -1C proteins exhibit diffused patterns in the cytoplasm. Dysbindin-1A interacts with dysbindin-1B, getting recruited to the aggresome structure when co-expressed with dysbindin-1B. Moreover, cortical neurons over-expressing dysbindin-1B show reduction in neurite outgrowth, suggesting that dysbindin-1B may interfere with dysbindin-1A function in a dominant-negative manner. Taken together, our study uncovers a previously unknown association of DTNBP1b expression with schizophrenia in addition to its distinct biochemical and functional properties. PMID:27462430

  17. Alcohol consumption increases locomotion in an open field and induces Fos-immunoreactivity in reward and approach/withdrawal-related neurocircuitries.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wscieklica, Tatiana; de Barros Viana, Milena; Le Sueur Maluf, Luciana; Pouza, Kathlein Cristiny Peres; Spadari, Regina Célia; Céspedes, Isabel Cristina

    2016-02-01

    Drug addiction is a chronically relapsing disorder characterized by compulsion to seek and take the drug, loss of control in limiting intake and, eventually, the emergence of a negative emotional state when access to the drug is prevented. Both dopamine and corticotropin-releasing factor (CRF)-mediated systems seem to play important roles in the modulation of alcohol abuse and dependence. The present study investigated the effects of alcohol consumption on anxiety and locomotor parameters and on the activation of dopamine and CRF-innervated brain regions. Male Wistar rats were given a choice of two bottles for 31 days, one containing water and the other a solution of saccharin + alcohol. Control animals only received water and a solution of 0.2% saccharin. On the 31st day, animals were tested in the elevated plus-maze and open field, and euthanized immediately after the behavioral tests. An independent group of animals was treated with ethanol and used to measure blood ethanol concentration. Results showed that alcohol intake did not alter behavioral measurements in the plus-maze, but increased the number of crossings in the open field, an index of locomotor activity. Additionally, alcohol intake increased Fos-immunoreactivity (Fos-ir) in the prefrontal cortex, in the shell region of the nucleus accumbens, in the medial and central amygdala, in the bed nucleus of the stria terminalis, in the septal region, and in the paraventricular and dorsomedial hypothalamus, structures that have been linked to reward and to approach/withdrawal behavior. These observations might be relevant to a better understanding of the behavioral and physiological alterations that follow alcohol consumption. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  18. Poly(GR) in C9ORF72-Related ALS/FTD Compromises Mitochondrial Function and Increases Oxidative Stress and DNA Damage in iPSC-Derived Motor Neurons.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lopez-Gonzalez, Rodrigo; Lu, Yubing; Gendron, Tania F; Karydas, Anna; Tran, Helene; Yang, Dejun; Petrucelli, Leonard; Miller, Bruce L; Almeida, Sandra; Gao, Fen-Biao

    2016-10-19

    GGGGCC repeat expansions in C9ORF72 are the most common genetic cause of both ALS and FTD. To uncover underlying pathogenic mechanisms, we found that DNA damage was greater, in an age-dependent manner, in motor neurons differentiated from iPSCs of multiple C9ORF72 patients than control neurons. Ectopic expression of the dipeptide repeat (DPR) protein (GR) 80 in iPSC-derived control neurons increased DNA damage, suggesting poly(GR) contributes to DNA damage in aged C9ORF72 neurons. Oxidative stress was also increased in C9ORF72 neurons in an age-dependent manner. Pharmacological or genetic reduction of oxidative stress partially rescued DNA damage in C9ORF72 neurons and control neurons expressing (GR) 80 or (GR) 80 -induced cellular toxicity in flies. Moreover, interactome analysis revealed that (GR) 80 preferentially bound to mitochondrial ribosomal proteins and caused mitochondrial dysfunction. Thus, poly(GR) in C9ORF72 neurons compromises mitochondrial function and causes DNA damage in part by increasing oxidative stress, revealing another pathogenic mechanism in C9ORF72-related ALS and FTD. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  19. Involvement of family members in life with type 2 diabetes

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Grabowski, Dan; Andersen, Tue Helms; Varming, Annemarie

    2017-01-01

    OBJECTIVES: Family involvement plays a key role in diabetes management. Problems and challenges related to type 2-diabetes often affect the whole family, and relatives are at increased risk of developing diabetes themselves. We highlight these issues in our objectives: (1) to uncover specific...... family problems associated with mutual involvement in life with type 2-diabetes and (2) to analytically look at ways of approaching these problems in healthcare settings. METHODS: Qualitative data were gathered in participatory problem assessment workshops. The data were analysed in three rounds using...... radical hermeneutics. RESULTS: Problems were categorized in six domains: knowledge, communication, support, everyday life, roles and worries. The final cross-analysis focusing on the link between family identity and healthcare authenticity provided information on how the six domains can be approached...

  20. Using a system of differential equations that models cattle growth to uncover the genetic basis of complex traits.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Freua, Mateus Castelani; Santana, Miguel Henrique de Almeida; Ventura, Ricardo Vieira; Tedeschi, Luis Orlindo; Ferraz, José Bento Sterman

    2017-08-01

    The interplay between dynamic models of biological systems and genomics is based on the assumption that genetic variation of the complex trait (i.e., outcome of model behavior) arises from component traits (i.e., model parameters) in lower hierarchical levels. In order to provide a proof of concept of this statement for a cattle growth model, we ask whether model parameters map genomic regions that harbor quantitative trait loci (QTLs) already described for the complex trait. We conducted a genome-wide association study (GWAS) with a Bayesian hierarchical LASSO method in two parameters of the Davis Growth Model, a system of three ordinary differential equations describing DNA accretion, protein synthesis and degradation, and fat synthesis. Phenotypic and genotypic data were available for 893 Nellore (Bos indicus) cattle. Computed values for parameter k 1 (DNA accretion rate) ranged from 0.005 ± 0.003 and for α (constant for energy for maintenance requirement) 0.134 ± 0.024. The expected biological interpretation of the parameters is confirmed by QTLs mapped for k 1 and α. QTLs within genomic regions mapped for k 1 are expected to be correlated with the DNA pool: body size and weight. Single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) which were significant for α mapped QTLs that had already been associated with residual feed intake, feed conversion ratio, average daily gain (ADG), body weight, and also dry matter intake. SNPs identified for k 1 were able to additionally explain 2.2% of the phenotypic variability of the complex ADG, even when SNPs for k 1 did not match the genomic regions associated with ADG. Although improvements are needed, our findings suggest that genomic analysis on component traits may help to uncover the genetic basis of more complex traits, particularly when lower biological hierarchies are mechanistically described by mathematical simulation models.

  1. Percutaneous Palliation of Pancreatic Head Cancer: Randomized Comparison of ePTFE/FEP–Covered Versus Uncovered Nitinol Biliary Stents

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Krokidis, Miltiadis; Fanelli, Fabrizio; Orgera, Gianluigi; Tsetis, Dimitrios; Mouzas, Ioannis; Bezzi, Mario; Kouroumalis, Elias; Pasariello, Roberto; Hatzidakis, Adam

    2011-01-01

    The purpose of this study was to compare the clinical effectiveness of expanded polytetrafluoroethylene/fluorinated-ethylene-propylene (ePTFE/FEP)–covered stents with that of uncovered nitinol stents for the palliation of malignant jaundice caused by inoperable pancreatic head cancer. Eighty patients were enrolled in a prospective randomized study. Bare nitinol stents were used in half of the patients, and ePTFE/FEP–covered stents were used in the remaining patients. Patency, survival, complications, and mean cost were calculated in both groups. Mean patency was 166.0 ± 13.11 days for the bare-stent group and 234.0 ± 20.87 days for the covered-stent group (p = 0.007). Primary patency rates at 3, 6, and 12 months were 77.5, 69.8, and 69.8% for the bare-stent group and 97.5, 92.2, and 87.6% for the covered-stent group, respectively. Mean secondary patency was 123.7 ± 22.5 days for the bare-stent group and 130.3 ± 21.4 days for the covered-stent group. Tumour ingrowth occurred exclusively in the bare-stent group in 27.5% of cases (p = 0.002). Median survival was 203.2 ± 11.8 days for the bare-stent group and 247.0 ± 20 days for the covered-stent group (p = 0.06). Complications and mean cost were similar in both groups. Regarding primary patency and ingrowth rate, ePTFE/FEP–covered stents have shown to be significantly superior to bare nitinol stents for the palliation of malignant jaundice caused by inoperable pancreatic head cancer and pose comparable cost and complications. Use of a covered stent does not significantly influence overall survival rate; nevertheless, the covered endoprosthesis seems to offer result in fewer reinterventions and better quality of patient life.

  2. Uncovering the intrinsic relationship of electrocatalysis and molecular electrochemistry for dissociative electron transfer to polychloroethanes at silver cathode

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Huang, Binbin; Zhu, Yuanyuan; Li, Jing; Zeng, Guangming; Lei, Chao

    2017-01-01

    Highlights: • Thermodynamics of dissociative electron transfer to C–Cl bonds at Ag are studied. • The catalyzed dissociative electron transfer theory was proposed for the first time. • The adsorption of organic chlorides onto Ag plays a key role for dechlorination. • The catalytic property of Ag is ascribed to the lower of intrinsic barrier energy. • The relationship of electrocatalysis and molecular electrochemistry is indicated. - Abstract: The relationship between electrocatalysis and molecular electrochemistry for the reductive dechlorination of organic chlorides has been a central topic for decades. Herein, we try to reveal the catalytic property of silver electrode by investigating the thermodynamics of dissociative electron transfer (DET) to C–Cl bonds of polychloroethanes (PCAs) on both inert (GC) and catalytic (Ag) electrodes. By extending the “sticky” DET model reported by Savéant, we show that the catalyzed DET model can well describe the activation-driving force relationships for the electrocatalytic dechlorination on Ag, where in addition to the possible ion-dipole interations, the adsorption of chlorinated species onto Ag surface, which is found to play a fundamental role in the electrocatalysis process in this study, is introduced in the new developed DET model. In this work, we firstly report that the catalytic property of Ag electrode characterizing with drastically postive shift of reduction potential is ascribed to the lower of intrinsic barrier free energy, rather than the activation free energy, for the reductive dechlorination. Moreover, the intrinsic relationship of electrocatalysis and molecular electrochemistry is clearly indicated and quantitatively developed. These results may provide new insights in uncovering both the nature of catalytic property of Ag and the relationship of electrocatalysis and molecular electrochemistry for PCAs and other halocarbons.

  3. Alternative approaches to postgraduate supervision: A planning tool ...

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    Increased demands on academics due to the changing work and higher educational environments challenge traditional approaches to postgraduate supervision. Supervisors often tend to follow the apprenticeship approach uncritically. Supervisors therefore need to be aware of alternative approaches to supervision and of ...

  4. Buying business services : towards a structured service purchasing process

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Valk, van der W.; Rozemeijer, F.A.

    2009-01-01

    Abstract: Purpose – This paper aims to uncover the specific difficulties associated with buying services and proposes a structured purchasing process which can help organisational buyers to overcome the problems associated with services purchasing. Design/methodology/approach – The authors

  5. Uncovering plant-pathogen crosstalk through apoplastic proteomic studies.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Delaunois, Bertrand; Jeandet, Philippe; Clément, Christophe; Baillieul, Fabienne; Dorey, Stéphan; Cordelier, Sylvain

    2014-01-01

    Plant pathogens have evolved by developing different strategies to infect their host, which in turn have elaborated immune responses to counter the pathogen invasion. The apoplast, including the cell wall and extracellular space outside the plasma membrane, is one of the first compartments where pathogen-host interaction occurs. The plant cell wall is composed of a complex network of polysaccharides polymers and glycoproteins and serves as a natural physical barrier against pathogen invasion. The apoplastic fluid, circulating through the cell wall and intercellular spaces, provides a means for delivering molecules and facilitating intercellular communications. Some plant-pathogen interactions lead to plant cell wall degradation allowing pathogens to penetrate into the cells. In turn, the plant immune system recognizes microbial- or damage-associated molecular patterns (MAMPs or DAMPs) and initiates a set of basal immune responses, including the strengthening of the plant cell wall. The establishment of defense requires the regulation of a wide variety of proteins that are involved at different levels, from receptor perception of the pathogen via signaling mechanisms to the strengthening of the cell wall or degradation of the pathogen itself. A fine regulation of apoplastic proteins is therefore essential for rapid and effective pathogen perception and for maintaining cell wall integrity. This review aims to provide insight into analyses using proteomic approaches of the apoplast to highlight the modulation of the apoplastic protein patterns during pathogen infection and to unravel the key players involved in plant-pathogen interaction.

  6. A systems level approach reveals new gene regulatory modules in the developing ear

    OpenAIRE

    Chen, Jingchen; Tambalo, Monica; Barembaum, Meyer; Ranganathan, Ramya; Simões-Costa, Marcos; Bronner, Marianne E.; Streit, Andrea

    2017-01-01

    The inner ear is a complex vertebrate sense organ, yet it arises from a simple epithelium, the otic placode. Specification towards otic fate requires diverse signals and transcriptional inputs that act sequentially and/or in parallel. Using the chick embryo, we uncover novel genes in the gene regulatory network underlying otic commitment and reveal dynamic changes in gene expression. Functional analysis of selected transcription factors reveals the genetic hierarchy underlying the transition ...

  7. Individualising Chronic Care Management by Analysing Patients' Needs - A Mixed Method Approach.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Timpel, P; Lang, C; Wens, J; Contel, J C; Gilis-Januszewska, A; Kemple, K; Schwarz, P E

    2017-11-13

    Modern health systems are increasingly faced with the challenge to provide effective, affordable and accessible health care for people with chronic conditions. As evidence on the specific unmet needs and their impact on health outcomes is limited, practical research is needed to tailor chronic care to individual needs of patients with diabetes. Qualitative approaches to describe professional and informal caregiving will support understanding the complexity of chronic care. Results are intended to provide practical recommendations to be used for systematic implementation of sustainable chronic care models. A mixed method study was conducted. A standardised survey (n = 92) of experts in chronic care using mail responses to open-ended questions was conducted to analyse existing chronic care programs focusing on effective, problematic and missing components. An expert workshop (n = 22) of professionals and scientists of a European funded research project MANAGE CARE was used to define a limited number of unmet needs and priorities of elderly patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus and comorbidities. This list was validated and ranked using a multilingual online survey (n = 650). Participants of the online survey included patients, health care professionals and other stakeholders from 56 countries. The survey indicated that current care models need to be improved in terms of financial support, case management and the consideration of social care. The expert workshop identified 150 patient needs which were summarised in 13 needs dimensions. The online survey of these pre-defined dimensions revealed that financial issues, education of both patients and professionals, availability of services as well as health promotion are the most important unmet needs for both patients and professionals. The study uncovered competing demands which are not limited to medical conditions. The findings emphasise that future care models need to focus stronger on individual patient needs and

  8. Ecological approaches to human nutrition.

    Science.gov (United States)

    DeClerck, Fabrice A J; Fanzo, Jessica; Palm, Cheryl; Remans, Roseline

    2011-03-01

    Malnutrition affects a large number of people throughout the developing world. Approaches to reducing malnutrition rarely focus on ecology and agriculture to simultaneously improve human nutrition and environmental sustainability. However, evidence suggests that interdisciplinary approaches that combine the knowledge bases of these disciplines can serve as a central strategy in alleviating hidden hunger for the world's poorest. To describe the role that ecological knowledge plays in alleviating hidden hunger, considering human nutrition as an overlooked ecosystem service. We review existing literature and propose a framework that expands on earlier work on econutrition. We provide novel evidence from case studies conducted by the authors in western Kenya and propose a framework for interdisciplinary collaboration to alleviate hidden hunger, increase agricultural productivity, and improve environmental sustainability. Our review supports the concept that an integrated approach will impact human nutrition. We provide evidence that increased functional agrobiodiversity can alleviate anemia, and interventions that contribute to environmental sustainability can have both direct and indirect effects on human health and nutritional well-being. Integrated and interdisciplinary approaches are critical to reaching development goals. Ecologists must begin to consider not only how their field can contribute to biodiversity conservation, but also, the relationship between biodiversity and provisioning of nontraditional ecosystem services such as human health. Likewise, nutritionists and agronomists must recognize that many of the solutions to increasing human wellbeing and health can best be achieved by focusing on a healthy environment and the conservation of ecosystem services.

  9. THE ROLE OF INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY IN THE EFFECTIVENESS INCREASING OF SOCIAL WORK WITH YOUNG PEOPLE

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Elena V. Lyapuncova

    2015-01-01

    Full Text Available Uncovers the need to develop new approachesto social work with young people through theuse of modern information technologies.Find the actual material, confirming the relevance of the research topic. Recommendations concerning the expansion of the contentof social orientation in the Internet, use of social networking technologies and computergames in order to form a high moral and Patriotic foundations of Russian society, attracting young people to social work, to assist them inaddressing a wide range of problems.Also provides guidance on the youth socialtourism development as a highly effective and popular with young people method of socialwork.

  10. Optimizing antiretroviral product selection: a sample approach to improving patient outcomes, saving money, and scaling-up health services in developing countries.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Amole, Carolyn D; Brisebois, Catherine; Essajee, Shaffiq; Koehler, Erin; Levin, Andrew D; Moore, Meredith C; Brown Ripin, David H; Sickler, Joanna J; Singh, Inder R

    2011-08-01

    Over the last decade, increased funding to support HIV treatment programs has enabled millions of new patients in developing countries to access the medications they need. Today, although demand for antiretrovirals continues to grow, the financial crisis has severely constrained funding leaving countries with difficult choices on program prioritization. Product optimization is one solution countries can pursue to continue to improve patient care while also uncovering savings that can be used for further scale up or other health system needs. Program managers can make procurement decisions that actually reduce program costs by considering additional factors beyond World Health Organization guidelines when making procurement decisions. These include in-country product availability, convenience, price, and logistics such as supply chain implications and laboratory testing requirements. Three immediate product selection opportunities in the HIV space include using boosted atazanavir in place of lopinovir for second-line therapy, lamivudine instead of emtricitabine in both first-line and second-line therapy, and tenofovir + lamivudine over abacavir + didanosine in second-line therapy. If these 3 opportunities were broadly implemented in sub-Saharan Africa and India today, approximately $300 million of savings would be realized over the next 5 years, enabling hundreds of thousands of additional patients to be treated. Although the discussion herein is specific to antriretrovirals, the principles of product selection are generalizable to diseases with multiple treatment options and fungible commodity procurement. Identifying and implementing approaches to overcome health system inefficiencies will help sustain and may expand quality care in resource-limited settings.

  11. The discovery uncovered

    CERN Multimedia

    Antonella Del Rosso

    2016-01-01

    Almost exactly one hundred years after the publication of Einstein’s paper on General Relativity, the LIGO and Virgo collaborations have published a paper in which they show a gravitational signal emitted by the merger of two black holes. The signal has been observed with 5-sigma accuracy and is the first direct observation of gravitational waves.   On Thursday, 11 February, Barry Clark Barish, one of the fathers of the LIGO experiment, presented the latest results in a packed Auditorium. Ripples in space-time, the fabric of the Universe: this is how we can picture gravitational waves. In his visionary paper published in June 1916, Einstein predicted that masses deform space-time and, therefore, any change in their position causes a distortion that propagates at the speed of light, resulting in gravitational waves.   It wasn’t until 1975, almost 60 years later, that Russell Hulse and Joseph Taylor, who were awarded the Nobel Prize in 1993, inferred t...

  12. Uncovering Prepositional Senses

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Lassen, Tine

    of these data stem from a small pre-defined set of relations, and the ontological type information stems from the SIMPLE ontology. The resulting data set was used as input to a machine-learning algorithm, and the result was a set of rules that predict the semantic relation of a preposition based...... language wordnet, DanNet, as a source of ontological type information, while the relations stem from a larger set of relations which were the result of an analysis of dictionary entries and corpus evidences containing prepositions. Again, machine learning was applied, and the result was a set of rules...... called the skeleton ontology, and a set of production rules (cf. generative grammars) that allows for production of compound concepts. We represent such compound concepts in the ontology language ONTOLOG. In this language, compound concepts are represented as conceptual feature structures of the form c...

  13. Ancient Wood Uncovered

    Science.gov (United States)

    Daniel C. Dey; Richard Guyette; Michael Stanbaugh

    2003-01-01

    Toppled by an eroding stream bank, a large sycamore, leaves still green, slumps low over the water, nearly blocking the channel. Farther downstream, another fallen tree helps create a pool that shelters a catfish. But this tree has fallen 12,000 years ago!

  14. Uncovering the Cornfield

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Carter, Dale

    2015-01-01

    occasioning most friction – ‘Cabin Essence’ – argues that it was neither disorganized nor unintelligible. An encapsulation of Smile’s concerns informed by the new left and counter-cultural contexts of its creation, it offered critical snapshots of the nation’s historical experience and identity, and a complex......Observers agree that a pivotal factor in the abandonment of the Beach Boys’ Smile album in 1967 was the hostility shown by group members to some of Brian Wilson co-writer Van Dyke Parks’s lyrics. The latter still tend, however, to be cited more than they are analyzed. This reading of the song...

  15. A quality improvement approach to reducing use of meperidine.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gordon, D B; Jones, H D; Goshman, L M; Foley, D K; Bland, S E

    2000-12-01

    In 1991 the University of Wisconsin Hospital and Clinics formed a pain management QI team whose goal was to improve pain management through education, outcome monitoring, and the development of programs intended to improve clinical practice. Longitudinal monitoring mechanisms were established to audit medical records and survey patients to examine both staff practice patterns and patient outcomes. The QI team targeted use of meperidine, one of the most widely used opioid analgesics for the treatment of moderate to severe pain, which is now discouraged as a first-line agent for most painful conditions. A QI process was implemented using a traditional plan-do-check-act (PDCA) model, resulting in a successful and sustained reduction of inappropriate meperidine use. A cause-and-effect diagram helped highlight the multiple factors contributing to the drug's overuse and was used to prioritize targets for action. A flow chart helped to uncover some of the interrelationships between the myths about meperidine and the resultant customary prescribing and administration practices. While most of the strategies were implemented in 1996 (formulary guideline release, change in stock supply and physician orders, staff education and feedback), a significant impact in practice was not seen until late 1997. Ongoing tracking and feedback loops were established to ensure continued low use of meperidine. Use of a QI approach in pain management has been shown to affect the visibility of pain as a clinical priority, enhance interdisciplinary collaboration, facilitate the implementation of clinical guidelines at the bedside, and improve the quality of care for patients.

  16. Climate-driven shifts in continental net primary production implicated as a driver of a recent abrupt increase in the land carbon sink

    Science.gov (United States)

    Buermann, Wolfgang; Beaulieu, Claudie; Parida, Bikash; Medvigy, David; Collatz, George J.; Sheffield, Justin; Sarmiento, Jorge L.

    2016-03-01

    The world's ocean and land ecosystems act as sinks for anthropogenic CO2, and over the last half century their combined sink strength grew steadily with increasing CO2 emissions. Recent analyses of the global carbon budget, however, have uncovered an abrupt, substantial ( ˜ 1 PgC yr-1) and sustained increase in the land sink in the late 1980s whose origin remains unclear. In the absence of this prominent shift in the land sink, increases in atmospheric CO2 concentrations since the late 1980s would have been ˜ 30 % larger than observed (or ˜ 12 ppm above current levels). Global data analyses are limited in regards to attributing causes to changes in the land sink because different regions are likely responding to different drivers. Here, we address this challenge by using terrestrial biosphere models constrained by observations to determine if there is independent evidence for the abrupt strengthening of the land sink. We find that net primary production significantly increased in the late 1980s (more so than heterotrophic respiration), consistent with the inferred increase in the global land sink, and that large-scale climate anomalies are responsible for this shift. We identify two key regions in which climatic constraints on plant growth have eased: northern Eurasia experienced warming, and northern Africa received increased precipitation. Whether these changes in continental climates are connected is uncertain, but North Atlantic climate variability is important. Our findings suggest that improved understanding of climate variability in the North Atlantic may be essential for more credible projections of the land sink under climate change.

  17. Exponentially increasing incidences of cutaneous malignant melanoma in Europe correlate with low personal annual UV doses and suggests 2 major risk factors.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Merrill, Stephen J; Ashrafi, Samira; Subramanian, Madhan; Godar, Dianne E

    2015-01-01

    For several decades the incidence of cutaneous malignant melanoma (CMM) steadily increased in fair-skinned, indoor-working people around the world. Scientists think poor tanning ability resulting in sunburns initiate CMM, but they do not understand why the incidence continues to increase despite the increased use of sunscreens and formulations offering more protection. This paradox, along with lower incidences of CMM in outdoor workers, although they have significantly higher annual UV doses than indoor workers have, perplexes scientists. We found a temporal exponential increase in the CMM incidence indicating second-order reaction kinetics revealing the existence of 2 major risk factors. From epidemiology studies, we know one major risk factor for getting CMM is poor tanning ability and we now propose the other major risk factor may be the Human Papilloma Virus (HPV) because clinicians find β HPVs in over half the biopsies. Moreover, we uncovered yet another paradox; the increasing CMM incidences significantly correlate with decreasing personal annual UV dose, a proxy for low vitamin D3 levels. We also discovered the incidence of CMM significantly increased with decreasing personal annual UV dose from 1960, when it was almost insignificant, to 2000. UV and other DNA-damaging agents can activate viruses, and UV-induced cytokines can hide HPV from immune surveillance, which may explain why CMM also occurs in anatomical locations where the sun does not shine. Thus, we propose the 2 major risk factors for getting CMM are intermittent UV exposures that result in low cutaneous levels of vitamin D3 and possibly viral infection.

  18. Uncovering the evolutionary history of neo-XY sex chromosomes in the grasshopper Ronderosia bergii (Orthoptera, Melanoplinae) through satellite DNA analysis.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Palacios-Gimenez, Octavio M; Milani, Diogo; Lemos, Bernardo; Castillo, Elio R; Martí, Dardo A; Ramos, Erica; Martins, Cesar; Cabral-de-Mello, Diogo C

    2018-01-08

    Neo-sex chromosome systems arose independently multiple times in evolution, presenting the remarkable characteristic of repetitive DNAs accumulation. Among grasshoppers, occurrence of neo-XY was repeatedly noticed in Melanoplinae. Here we analyzed the most abundant tandem repeats of R. bergii (2n = 22, neo-XY♂) using deep Illumina sequencing and graph-based clustering in order to address the neo-sex chromosomes evolution. The analyses revealed ten families of satDNAs comprising about ~1% of the male genome, which occupied mainly C-positive regions of autosomes. Regarding the sex chromosomes, satDNAs were recorded within centromeric or interstitial regions of the neo-X chromosome and four satDNAs occurred in the neo-Y, two of them being exclusive (Rber248 and Rber299). Using a combination of probes we uncovered five well-defined cytological variants for neo-Y, originated by multiple paracentric inversions and satDNA amplification, besides fragmented neo-Y. These neo-Y variants were distinct in frequency between embryos and adult males. The genomic data together with cytogenetic mapping enabled us to better understand the neo-sex chromosome dynamics in grasshoppers, reinforcing differentiation of neo-X and neo-Y and revealing the occurrence of multiple additional rearrangements involved in the neo-Y evolution of R. bergii. We discussed the possible causes that led to differences in frequency for the neo-Y variants between embryos and adults. Finally we hypothesize about the role of DNA satellites in R. bergii as well as putative historical events involved in the evolution of the R. bergii neo-XY.

  19. Uncovering the popularity mechanisms for Facebook applications

    Science.gov (United States)

    Li, Sheng-Nan; Guo, Qiang; Yang, Kai; Liu, Jian-Guo; Zhang, Yi-Cheng

    2018-03-01

    Understanding the popularity dynamics of online application(App) is significant for the online social systems. In this paper, by dividing the Facebook Apps into different groups in terms of their popularities, we empirically investigate the popularity dynamics for different kinds of Facebook Apps. Then, taking into account the influence of cumulative and recent popularities on the user choice, we present a model to regenerate the growth of popularity for different App groups. The experimental results of 917 Facebook Apps show that as the popularities of Facebook Apps increase, the recent popularity plays more important role. Specifically, the recent popularity plays more important role in regenerating the popularity dynamics for more popular Apps, and the cumulative popularity plays more important role for unpopular Apps. We also conduct temporal analysis on the growth characteristic of individual App by comparing the increment at each time with the average of historical records. The results show that the growth of more popular App tends to fluctuate more greatly. Our work may shed some lights for deeply understanding the popularity mechanism for online applications.

  20. MRI and mammography surveillance of women at increased risk for breast cancer: recommendations using an evidence-based approach.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Granader, Elon J; Dwamena, Ben; Carlos, Ruth C

    2008-12-01

    To evaluate breast cancer screening with mammography and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) in high-risk populations, including women with the BRCA mutation, using an evidence-based approach. The MEDLINE, PubMed, EBM Reviews, ACP Journal Club, Cochrane Database MEDSEARCH, and SCOPUS databases were accessed and searched for articles up to August 2007. Articles were collected using the following terms and medical subject headings (MeSH) that applied to the focused clinical question: "BRCA1" and "BRCA2" with "mammography," "MRI," "prevention," "screening," and "surveillance." References from retrieved articles were also used to identify relevant papers. Abstracts were screened and relevant papers retrieved. Retrieved papers were graded for quality. Summary performance measures were obtained by random effects modeling of study-specific performance estimates and standard errors derived from the multiple 2 x 2 tables. Additionally, studies meeting the Centre for Evidence-Based Medicine level 2b quality were reviewed. In women with an increased risk without the BRCA gene, cancer detection rates by MRI were 0.011 (95% confidence interval [CI] 0.003-0.019), by mammography 0.005 (95% CI 0.002-0.008), and by a combination of both, 0.012 (95% CI 0.004-0.020). False-positive rates by MRI, mammography, or a combination of both were 0.10 (95% CI 0.03-0.18), 0.05 (95% CI 0.03-0.06), and 0.14 (95% CI 0.04-0.24). In BRCA positive women, cancer detection rates by MRI were 0.027 (95% CI 0.015-0.040), by mammography 0.010 (95% CI 0.005-0.016), and by a combination of both 0.031 (95% CI 0.018-0.045). False-positive rates by MRI, mammography, or a combination of both were 0.10 (95% CI 0.01-0.19), 0.05 (95% CI 0.03-0.07), and 0.14 (95% CI 0.04-0.24), respectively. The data support an essential role for screening MRI in women with an increased risk for breast cancer.