WorldWideScience

Sample records for center current opportunities

  1. Funding Opportunity: Genomic Data Centers

    Science.gov (United States)

    Funding Opportunity CCG, Funding Opportunity Center for Cancer Genomics, CCG, Center for Cancer Genomics, CCG RFA, Center for cancer genomics rfa, genomic data analysis network, genomic data analysis network centers,

  2. Methane Recovery from Animal Manures The Current Opportunities Casebook

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Lusk, P.

    1998-09-22

    Growth and concentration of the livestock industry create opportunities for the proper disposal of the large quantities of manures generated at dairy, swine, and poultry farms. Pollutants from unmanaged livestock wastes can degrade the environment, and methane emitted from decomposing manure may contribute to global climate change. One management system not only helps prevent pollution but can also convert a manure problem into a new profit center. Economic evaluations and case studies of operating systems indicate that the anaerobic digestion of livestock manures is a commercially viable conversion technology with considerable potential for providing profitable coproducts, including a cost-effective renewable fuel for livestock production operations. This casebook examines some of the current opportunities for recovering methane from anaerobic digestion animal manures.

  3. Methane recovery from animal manures: A current opportunities casebook

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Lusk, P. [Resource Development Associates, Marietta, GA (United States)

    1994-12-01

    One manure management system provides not only pollution prevention but also converts a manure management problem into a new profit center. Economic evaluations and case studies of operating systems indicate that the anaerobic digestion of livestock manures is a commercially-available bioconversion technology with considerable potential for providing profitable co-products including a cost-effective renewable fuel for livestock production operations. This Casebook examines some of the current opportunities for the recovery of methane from the anaerobic digestion of animal manures. The economic evaluations are based on engineering studies of digesters that generate electricity from the recovered methane. Regression models, which can be used to estimate digester cost and internal rate of return, are developed from the evaluations. Finally, anaerobic digestion has considerable potential beyond agribusiness. Examples of digesters currently employed by other industries are provided.

  4. Currently developing opportunities in food irradiation and modern irradiation facilities

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Wanke, R.

    1997-01-01

    I. Factor currently influencing advancing opportunities for food irradiation include: heightened incidence and awareness of food borne illnesses and causes. Concerns about ensuring food safety in international as well as domestic trade. Regulatory actions regarding commonly used fumigants/pesticides e.g. Me Br. II. Modern irradiator design: the SteriGenics M ini Cell . A new design for new opportunities. Faster installation of facility. Operationally and space efficient. Provides local o nsite control . Red meat: a currently developing opportunity. (Author)

  5. Currently developing opportunities in food irradiation and modern irradiation facilities

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Wanke, R [Director Business Development. SteriGenics International Inc. 17901 East Warren Avenue No. 4, Detroit, Michigan 48224-1333 (United States)

    1998-12-31

    I. Factor currently influencing advancing opportunities for food irradiation include: heightened incidence and awareness of food borne illnesses and causes. Concerns about ensuring food safety in international as well as domestic trade. Regulatory actions regarding commonly used fumigants/pesticides e.g. Me Br. II. Modern irradiator design: the SteriGenics {sup M}ini Cell{sup .} A new design for new opportunities. Faster installation of facility. Operationally and space efficient. Provides local {sup o}nsite control{sup .} Red meat: a currently developing opportunity. (Author)

  6. Currently developing opportunities in food irradiation and modern irradiation facilities

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Wanke, R. [Director Business Development. SteriGenics International Inc. 17901 East Warren Avenue No. 4, Detroit, Michigan 48224-1333 (United States)

    1997-12-31

    I. Factor currently influencing advancing opportunities for food irradiation include: heightened incidence and awareness of food borne illnesses and causes. Concerns about ensuring food safety in international as well as domestic trade. Regulatory actions regarding commonly used fumigants/pesticides e.g. Me Br. II. Modern irradiator design: the SteriGenics {sup M}ini Cell{sup .} A new design for new opportunities. Faster installation of facility. Operationally and space efficient. Provides local {sup o}nsite control{sup .} Red meat: a currently developing opportunity. (Author)

  7. Opportunities for Combined Heat and Power in Data Centers

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Darrow, Ken [ICF International; Hedman, Bruce [ICF International

    2009-03-01

    Data centers represent a rapidly growing and very energy intensive activity in commercial, educational, and government facilities. In the last five years the growth of this sector was the electric power equivalent to seven new coal-fired power plants. Data centers consume 1.5% of the total power in the U.S. Growth over the next five to ten years is expected to require a similar increase in power generation. This energy consumption is concentrated in buildings that are 10-40 times more energy intensive than a typical office building. The sheer size of the market, the concentrated energy consumption per facility, and the tendency of facilities to cluster in 'high-tech' centers all contribute to a potential power infrastructure crisis for the industry. Meeting the energy needs of data centers is a moving target. Computing power is advancing rapidly, which reduces the energy requirements for data centers. A lot of work is going into improving the computing power of servers and other processing equipment. However, this increase in computing power is increasing the power densities of this equipment. While fewer pieces of equipment may be needed to meet a given data processing load, the energy density of a facility designed to house this higher efficiency equipment will be as high as or higher than it is today. In other words, while the data center of the future may have the IT power of ten data centers of today, it is also going to have higher power requirements and higher power densities. This report analyzes the opportunities for CHP technologies to assist primary power in making the data center more cost-effective and energy efficient. Broader application of CHP will lower the demand for electricity from central stations and reduce the pressure on electric transmission and distribution infrastructure. This report is organized into the following sections: (1) Data Center Market Segmentation--the description of the overall size of the market, the size and

  8. Non-communicable diseases – harnessing the current opportunities

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Sørensen, Jane Brandt; Demaio, Alessandro Rhyll; Østergaard, Lise Rosendal

    2012-01-01

    Non-communicable diseases (NCDs) receive growing attention, which brings a unique opportunity to utilise solutions available to address them. These diseases are largely preventable; proven, cost-effective interventions are available; and when NCDs have emerged, means exist to treat them, prevent ...... complications, and to improve quality of life. Yet, there is a lack in progress in responding effectively to NCDs, and the current discussion and research focus predominantly on challenges rather than the opportunities, which this paper outlines....

  9. University of Michigan Comprehensive Cancer Center opportunities for improvement project.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Breslin, Tara M; Waldinger, Marcy; Silver, Samuel M

    2014-02-01

    The University of Michigan Comprehensive Cancer Center (UMCCC) Opportunities for Improvement project involved a detailed patient-level medical record review, feedback to medical providers and clinical leadership, and discussion of potential predictors of discordant or delayed care. The medical record review revealed that reasons for discordant or delayed care were well documented by clinical providers, and medical comorbidity was the most common predisposing factor. Another common theme was the difficulty in obtaining treatment records for patients who received a portion of their care outside UMCCC. The project provided a valuable opportunity to examine established processes of care and data collection and consider how the newly implemented electronic health record might support future efforts aimed at improving efficiency and communication among providers.

  10. Rethinking school-based health centers as complex adaptive systems: maximizing opportunities for the prevention of teen pregnancy and sexually transmitted infections.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Daley, Alison Moriarty

    2012-01-01

    This article examines school-based health centers (SBHCs) as complex adaptive systems, the current gaps that exist in contraceptive access, and the potential to maximize this community resource in teen pregnancy and sexually transmitted infection (STI) prevention efforts. Adolescent pregnancy is a major public health challenge for the United States. Existing community resources need to be considered for their potential to impact teen pregnancy and STI prevention efforts. SBHCs are one such community resource to be leveraged in these efforts. They offer adolescent-friendly primary care services and are responsive to the diverse needs of the adolescents utilizing them. However, current restrictions on contraceptive availability limit the ability of SBHCs to maximize opportunities for comprehensive reproductive care and create missed opportunities for pregnancy and STI prevention. A clinical case explores the current models of health care services related to contraceptive care provided in SBHCs and the ability to meet or miss the needs of an adolescent seeking reproductive care in a SBHC.

  11. Improving Hospital Services Based on Patient Experience Data: Current Feedback Practices and Future Opportunities.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kaipio, Johanna; Stenhammar, Hanna; Immonen, Susanna; Litovuo, Lauri; Axelsson, Minja; Lantto, Minna; Lahdenne, Pekka

    2018-01-01

    Patient feedback is considered important for healthcare organizations. However, measurement and analysis of patient reported data is useful only if gathered insights are transformed into actions. This article focuses on gathering and utilization of patient experience data at hospitals with the aim of supporting the development of patient-centered services. The study was designed to explore both current practices of collecting and utilizing patient feedback at hospitals as well as future feedback-related opportunities. Nine people working at different hierarchical levels of three university hospitals in Finland participated in in-depth interviews. Findings indicate that current feedback processes are poorly planned and inflexible. Some feedback data are gathered, but not systematically utilized. Currently, it is difficult to obtain a comprehensive picture of the situation. One future hope was to increase the amount of patient feedback to be able to better generalize and utilize the data. Based on the findings the following recommendations are given: attention to both patients' and healthcare staff's perspectives when collecting feedback, employing a coordinated approach for collecting and utilizing patient feedback, and organizational transformation towards a patient-centric culture.

  12. Missed Opportunities for Chronic Diseases Prevention in a Primary Health Care Center in Istanbul

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Ahmet Topuzoglu

    2011-12-01

    Full Text Available Aim: The aim of the study was to investigate missed opportunities about chronic diseases and related risk factors in a primary health care center in Istanbul. Method: This cross sectional study was held in a Primary Health Care Center in Istanbul with the study population consisted of 500 people which were applicated in one month period. Participants were asked; if they were questioned by their physician about major risk factors (smoking, obesity, diabetes mellitus, hypertension, coroner heart disease in family, glysemic level, cholesterol level and regular exercise practice according to Primary Care 2006 Guidelines. The data was evaluated by descriptive statatistics, chi square test. Results: The median age of the participants were 40 (25.p; 32-75.p;52 and 76.4% of them were female. 50.4% of participants were overweight, 20.8% of them were obese. 36.2% of them were smoking, 22.0% were hypertensive, 10.4% were hiperglysemic. There were around 90.0% missing opportunities screening and management of obesity and blood cholesterol level, 70.0% about hypertension and 85.0% about diabetes. Conclusion: Opportunities about chronic diseases and their risk factors are being missed and asking about risk factors are neglected in primary health care center. [TAF Prev Med Bull 2011; 10(6.000: 665-674

  13. Sandia National Laboratories: Business Opportunities Website

    Science.gov (United States)

    Environmental Management System Pollution Prevention History 60 impacts Diversity Locations Facts & Figures Does Sandia Buy? Opportunities Small Business Procurement Technical Assistance Program (PTAP) Current Technology Partnerships Business, Industry, & Non-Profits Government Universities Center for

  14. Current opportunities and challenges in skeletal muscle tissue engineering

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Koning, Merel; Harmsen, Martin C; van Luyn, Marja J A; Werker, Paul M N

    The purpose of this article is to give a concise review of the current state of the art in tissue engineering (TE) of skeletal muscle and the opportunities and challenges for future clinical applicability. The endogenous progenitor cells of skeletal muscle, i.e. satellite cells, show a high

  15. Patient-centered medical home cyberinfrastructure current and future landscape.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Finkelstein, Joseph; Barr, Michael S; Kothari, Pranav P; Nace, David K; Quinn, Matthew

    2011-05-01

    The patient-centered medical home (PCMH) is an approach that evolved from the understanding that a well-organized, proactive clinical team working in a tandem with well-informed patients is better able to address the preventive and disease management needs in a guideline-concordant manner. This approach represents a fundamental shift from episodic acute care models and has become an integral part of health reform supported on a federal level. The major aspects of PCMH, especially pertinent to its information infrastructure, have been discussed by an expert panel organized by the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality at the Informatics for Consumer Health Summit. The goal of this article is to summarize the panel discussions along the four major domains presented at the summit: (1) PCMH as an Evolving Model of Healthcare Delivery; (2) Health Information Technology (HIT) Applications to Support the PCMH; (3) Current HIT Landscape of PCMH: Challenges and Opportunities; and (4) Future HIT Landscape of PCMH: Federal Initiatives on Health Informatics, Legislation, and Standardization. Copyright © 2011 American Journal of Preventive Medicine. All rights reserved.

  16. Methane Recovery from Animal Manures The Current Opportunities Casebook

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Lusk, P.

    1998-09-01

    Growth and concentration of the livestock industry create opportunities for the proper disposal of the large quantities of manures generated at dairy, swine, and poultry farms. Pollutants from unmanaged livestock wastes can degrade the environment, and methane emitted from decomposing manure may contribute to global climate change. One management system not only provides pollution prevention but also can convert a manure problem into a new profit center. Economic evaluations and case studies of operating systems indicate that the anaerobic digestion (AD) of livestock manures is a commercially available bioconversion technology with considerable potential for providing profitable coproducts, including a cost-effective renewable fuel for livestock production operations. This Casebook examines some of the current opportunities for the recovery of methane from the AD animal manures. U.S. livestock operations currently employ four types of anaerobic digester technology: slurry, plug-flow, complete-mix, and covered lagoon. An introduction to the engineering economies of these technologies is provided, and possible end-use applications for the methane gas generated by the digestion process are discussed. The economic evaluations are based on engineering studies of digesters that generate electricity from the recovered methane. Case studies of operating digesters, with project and maintenance histories and the operators ''lessons learned,'' are included as reality checks. Factors necessary for successful projects, as well as a list of reasons explaining why some AD projects fail, are provided. The role of farm management is key; not only must digesters be well engineered and built with high-quality components, they must also be sited at farms willing to incorporate the uncertainties of a new technology. More than two decades of research has provided much information about how manure can be converted to an energy source; however, the American farmer has

  17. Missed Opportunities for Chronic Diseases Prevention in a Primary Health Care Center in Istanbul

    OpenAIRE

    Ahmet Topuzoglu; Seyhan Hidiroglu; M.Fatih Onsuz; Gulsen Polat

    2011-01-01

    Aim: The aim of the study was to investigate missed opportunities about chronic diseases and related risk factors in a primary health care center in Istanbul. Method: This cross sectional study was held in a Primary Health Care Center in Istanbul with the study population consisted of 500 people which were applicated in one month period. Participants were asked; if they were questioned by their physician about major risk factors (smoking, obesity, diabetes mellitus, hypertension, coroner hear...

  18. Exploratory Study of Perceived Barriers to Learning in an Urban Educational Opportunity Center

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lee, Jung Min

    2017-01-01

    The purpose of this study was to identify the perceived barriers of adult learners to program in the State University of New York (SUNY) Manhattan Educational Opportunity Center (MEOC) from the perspectives of students and teachers. The study also sought to determine teachers' insights regarding means of motivating adult students to continue…

  19. Childhood Obesity: Current Situation and Future Opportunities.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Koletzko, Berthold

    2016-07-01

    The early origins of overweight and obesity and the opportunities for early prevention are explored. Overweight and obesity prevalence globally has increased at an alarming rate. No single intervention can halt the rise of the obesity epidemic. Particular attention is given to exploring causative factors and preventive measures in early life, when biological determinants of risk trajectories, feeding behaviour and dietary preferences are shaped. Some lifestyle and nutrition modifications in pregnancy and infancy can reduce subsequent obesity risk. Also postnatal infant gut colonisation may modify later obesity risk, but currently available evidence does not allow firm conclusions. Surprisingly, about 3.2 times more systematic reviews (SR) than randomized clinical trials (RCTs) were published on "probiotics" and health, and even 7.9 times more SR than RCTs on "probiotics" and obesity, which is not helpful. Multiple research opportunities exist for exploring the early origins of obesity to contribute towards halting the rise in obesity prevalence. Exploring the early development of the microbiome in its complexity, its dependence on dietary and other exogenous factors, and its metabolic and regulatory functions is promising. Meaningful progress for obesity prevention can most likely be achieved by combining several strategies.

  20. Methane recovery from animal manures: A current opportunities casebook

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    NONE

    1995-08-01

    This Casebook examines some of the current opportunities for the recovery of methane from the anaerobic digestion of animal manures US livestock operations currently employ four types of anaerobic digester technology: Slurry, plug flow, complete mix, and covered lagoon. An introduction to the engineering economies of these technologies is provided, and possible end-use applications for the methane gas generated by the digestion process are discussed. The economic evaluations are based on engineering studies of digesters that generate electricity from the recovered methane. Regression models, which can be used to estimate digester cost and internal rate of return, are developed from the evaluations.

  1. Defense Threat Reduction Agency > Contracts > Business Opportunities

    Science.gov (United States)

    History Documents US Underground Nuclear Test History Reports NTPR Radiation Exposure Reports Enewetak Atoll Cleanup Documents TRAC About Who We Are Our Values History Locations Our Leadership Director Support Center Contact Us FAQ Sheet Links Success Stories Contracts Business Opportunities Current

  2. Defense Threat Reduction Agency > Contracts > Business Opportunities >

    Science.gov (United States)

    Atmospheric Nuclear Test History Documents US Underground Nuclear Test History Reports NTPR Radiation Exposure Reports Enewetak Atoll Cleanup Documents TRAC About Who We Are Our Values History Locations Our Leadership Support Center Contact Us FAQ Sheet Links Success Stories Contracts Business Opportunities Current

  3. Physical Activity Opportunities Within the Schedule of Early Care and Education Centers.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Mazzucca, Stephanie; Hales, Derek; Evenson, Kelly R; Ammerman, Alice; Tate, Deborah F; Berry, Diane C; Ward, Dianne S

    2018-02-01

    Physical activity has many benefits for young children's health and overall development, but few studies have investigated how early care and education centers allot time for physical activity, along with measured individual physical activity levels for indoor/outdoor activities during a typical day. Fifty early care and education centers in central North Carolina participated in 4 full-day observations, and 559 children aged 3-5 years within centers wore accelerometers assessing physical activity during observation days. Observation and physical activity data were linked and analyzed for associations between child activity and type of classroom activity. Children averaged 51 (13) minutes per day of moderate to vigorous physical activity and 99 (18) minutes per day of light physical activity while in child care. Children averaged 6 (10) and 10 (13) minutes per day of observed outdoor and indoor daily teacher-led physical activity, respectively. Outdoor time averaged 67 (49) minutes per day, and physical activity levels were higher during outdoor time than during common indoor activities (center time, circle time, and TV time). Physical activity levels varied between indoor and outdoor class activities. Policy and program-related efforts to increase physical activity in preschoolers should consider these patterns to leverage opportunities to optimize physical activity within early care and education centers.

  4. Prognostics and Health Management of Wind Turbines: Current Status and Future Opportunities

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Sheng, Shuangwen

    2016-10-04

    This presentation was given at the 2016 Annual Conference of the Prognostics and Health Management Society. It covers the current status and challenges and opportunities of prognostics and health management of wind turbines.

  5. ISO 50001 for US Commercial Buildings - Current Status and Opportunities

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Liu, Jingjing; Sheaffer, Paul

    2017-12-01

    ''ISO 50001: 2011 Energy management systems – Requirements with guidance for use'' is a voluntary International Standard which provides organizations a proven framework to manage energy and continuously improve their energy performance. Implementing ISO 50001 in the commercial building sector has its unique opportunities and challenges in comparison with the industrial sector. The energy footprint of a portfolio of commercial buildings can be just as significant as a large industrial facility in comparison. There are many energy-saving opportunities in commercial buildings that can be addressed without capital investments, and the perceived risks for making energy improvements can be lower than in the industrial sector. In addition, the energy-consuming systems in commercial buildings are limited in types and have many similarities across buildings, which makes it much easier to standardize many ISO 50001 required processes, 5 procedures and documents to simplify implementation. There are also some sector-unique challenges, such as less familiar with ISO systems and the certification process. Another challenge arises from the complexity in some buildings’ ownership, tenancy, and O&M responsibilities. This whitepaper discusses these opportunities and issues in detail. The paper also recommends the characteristics of organizations in the commercial building sector that can benefit the most from adopting the ISO 50001 standard – namely the “suitable market”. Eight segments (education, food sales, retail, inpatient health care, hospitality, office buildings, laboratories and data centers) within the commercial building sector are highlighted.

  6. Southwest Center for Environmental Excellence and Opportunity Year End Report (Final Deliverable)

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    None

    1998-11-09

    The Southwest Center for Environmental Excellence and Opportunity (Southwest CEEO) has been in existence since October 1996 at Albuquerque Technical Vocational Institute's (TVI) South Valley Campus. The Special Project was comprised of three objectives: (1) Increasing the number of Hispanics in careers related to the environment by improving education and job training opportunities; (2) Strengthening the infrastructure of Hispanic businesses and building their capacity to participate in environmental clean-up activities and potential technology commercialization; and (3) Increasing the Hispanic community's understanding of and participation in environmental protection through improved access to information and outreach activities, paying attention to cultural and linguistic issues. The Southwest CEEO has been successful in each of the above objective areas and continues to provide valuable services to TVI and the community. The Southwest CEEO has developed a scholarship/mentorship program involving business and industry, community organizations, and TVI faculty that will be replicated by other student mentorship programs. The Southwest CEEO has awarded approximately $50,000 over the two-year program funded by the U.S. Department of Energy Oakland Operations Office. The Southwest CEEO has also developed a K-12 partnership with Albuquerque Public Schools (APS) to enhance environmental education for students and professional development for teachers. Incorporated into these student activities are experimental learning opportunities and curriculum development and/or enhancement. The Southwest CEEO has worked closely with the TVI Small Business Development Center (SBDC) to support Hispanic businesses in technology partnership activities. The Southwest CEEO in partnership the TVI SBDC has provided a large business forum and business workshops. In addition, the Southwest CEEO has developed a Technology Transfer Model that will be expanded in the future to a

  7. User-Centered Design Strategies for Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs)

    Science.gov (United States)

    Mendoza-Gonzalez, Ricardo, Ed.

    2016-01-01

    In today's society, educational opportunities have evolved beyond the traditional classroom setting. Most universities have implemented virtual learning environments in an effort to provide more opportunities for potential or current students seeking alternative and more affordable learning solutions. "User-Centered Design Strategies for…

  8. Survey on current hydrotherapy use among North American burn centers.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Davison, Peter G; Loiselle, Frederick B; Nickerson, Duncan

    2010-01-01

    The authors have reviewed hydrotherapy practices in North American burn centers and described the epidemiology of hydrotherapy-associated nosocomial infections. A web-based survey was distributed to the directors of all burn care facilities listed by the American Burn Association. Questions addressed aspects of practice, including the method, additives, disposable liners, decontamination practices, nosocomial pathogens, and perceptions regarding the "ideal" method of hydrotherapy. The response rate was 44%, 59 of 142 centers, or 827 of 1900 beds. Hydrotherapy is regularly used by 83% of centers. Among these centers, 10% use exclusively immersion hydrotherapy (IH), 54% use exclusively shower cart hydrotherapy (SCH), and 35% use a combination of IH and SCH. Disposable liners are used at 80% of centers. Tap water alone is used by 51% of centers, 27% add detergent, 16% chlorhexidine, and 7% povidone-iodine. The majority of centers (57%) do not routinely culture their hydrotherapy equipment, 20% culture weekly, 7% monthly, and 17% less than once per month. Directors believe that Pseudomonas aeruginosa, methicillin-sensitive Staphylococcus aureus, and methicillin-resistant S. aureus are the most common nosocomial pathogens, followed by Acinetobacter species and Candida albicans. The relative frequency of occurrence of the first three pathogens did not vary with regard to the hydrotherapy method used. Given the opportunity to redesign, 45% of burn unit directors would implement SCH only, 42% a combination of SCH and IH, 2% exclusively IH, and 11% no hydrotherapy or bedside irrigation only. The prevalence of hydrotherapy use at North American burn centers has decreased since 1990 (83% vs 95%), yet continues to be used at the majority of centers. The use of IH has also declined (55% vs 81%). The trend away from the exclusive use of IH will likely continue, because more centers incorporate showering methods.

  9. Current Situation and Developing Countermeasures of Postgraduate Innovation Center in China

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Li Can

    2017-01-01

    Full Text Available Innovation is the driving force to promote the development of our nation. Postgraduate education, as an important approach to cultivate high-level talents, is a major part of the national innovation system. The establishment of the Postgraduate Innovation Center has an important significance for the cultivation of innovative talents in colleges and universities. This paper expounds the connotation and characteristics of Postgraduate Innovation Center and analyzes its current situation, operation mode, function orientation, institution settings and the innovative products. The paper also points out the problems in the current situation of the Postgraduate Innovation Center and finds the factors which restrict the development of the center. Finally, the paper puts forward some corresponding countermeasures.

  10. The Evolving Academic Health Center: Challenges and Opportunities for Psychiatry

    Science.gov (United States)

    Mirin, Steven; Summergrad, Paul

    2011-01-01

    Objective: Regardless of the outcome of current efforts at healthcare reform, the resources that academic health centers need--to provide care for increasingly complex patient populations, support clinical innovation, grow the clinical enterprise, and carry out their research and teaching missions--are in jeopardy. This article examines the value…

  11. Advanced practice registered nurses and physician assistants in sleep centers and clinics: a survey of current roles and educational background.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Colvin, Loretta; Cartwright, Ann; Collop, Nancy; Freedman, Neil; McLeod, Don; Weaver, Terri E; Rogers, Ann E

    2014-05-15

    To survey Advanced Practice Registered Nurse (APRN) and Physician Assistant (PA) utilization, roles and educational background within the field of sleep medicine. Electronic surveys distributed to American Academy of Sleep Medicine (AASM) member centers and APRNs and PAs working within sleep centers and clinics. Approximately 40% of responding AASM sleep centers reported utilizing APRNs or PAs in predominantly clinical roles. Of the APRNs and PAs surveyed, 95% reported responsibilities in sleep disordered breathing and more than 50% in insomnia and movement disorders. Most APRNs and PAs were prepared at the graduate level (89%), with sleep-specific education primarily through "on the job" training (86%). All APRNs surveyed were Nurse Practitioners (NPs), with approximately double the number of NPs compared to PAs. APRNs and PAs were reported in sleep centers at proportions similar to national estimates of NPs and PAs in physicians' offices. They report predominantly clinical roles, involving common sleep disorders. Given current predictions that the outpatient healthcare structure will change and the number of APRNs and PAs will increase, understanding the role and utilization of these professionals is necessary to plan for the future care of patients with sleep disorders. Surveyed APRNs and PAs reported a significant deficiency in formal and standardized sleep-specific education. Efforts to provide formal and standardized educational opportunities for APRNs and PAs that focus on their clinical roles within sleep centers could help fill a current educational gap.

  12. Regional power marketing opportunities : current challenges and future outlooks

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Stiers, M.

    1998-01-01

    The North American demand for electric power and natural gas by sector was described and a comparison was made between the number of FERC certified electric power marketers versus natural gas marketing companies between 1986 and 1997 to illustrate the extent of changes that occurred during the decade. Regional opportunities for energy marketers were reviewed. By way of current challenges, the author identified (1) regulatory impediments, (2) divestiture of assets, (3) creation of an effective ISO, (4) establishment of effective pricing mechanisms, (5) customer systems and infrastructure, (6) forcing legislative reform, and (7) stranded cost recovery, as the most important. figs

  13. Ethics and Regulatory Challenges and Opportunities in Patient-Centered Comparative Effectiveness Research.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sugarman, Jeremy

    2016-04-01

    The Affordable Care Act includes provisions for the conduct of large-scale, patient-centered comparative effectiveness research. Such efforts aim toward the laudable moral goal of having evidence to improve health care decision making. Nevertheless, these pragmatic clinical research efforts that typically pose minimal incremental risk and are enmeshed in routine care settings perhaps surprisingly encounter an array of ethics and regulatory challenges and opportunities for academic health centers. An emphasis on patient-centeredness forces an examination of the appropriateness of traditional methods used to protect the rights, interests, and welfare of participants. At the same time, meaningful collaboration with patients throughout the research process also necessitates ensuring that novel approaches to research (including recruitment and consent) entail necessary protections regarding such issues as privacy. As the scientific and logistical aspects of this research are being developed, substantial attention is being focused on the accompanying ethics and regulatory issues that have emerged, which should help to facilitate ethically appropriate research in a variety of contexts.

  14. SWOT analysis in Sina Trauma and Surgery Research Center.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Salamati, Payman; ashraf Eghbali, Ali; Zarghampour, Manijeh

    2014-01-01

    The present study was conducted with the aim of identifying and evaluating the internal and external factors, affecting the Sina Trauma and Surgery Research Center, affiliated to Tehran University of Medical Sciences and propose some of related strategies to senior managers. We used a combined quantitative and qualitative methodology. Our study population consisted of personnel (18 individuals) at Sina Trauma and Surgery Research Center. Data-collection tools were the group discussions and the questionnaires. Data were analyzed with descriptive statistics and SWOT (Strength, Weakness, Opportunities and Threats) analysis. 18 individuals participated in sessions, consisting of 8 women (44.4%) and 10 men (55.6%). The final scores were 2.45 for internal factors (strength-weakness) and 2.17 for external factors (opportunities-threats). In this study, we proposed 36 strategies (10 weakness-threat strategies, 10 weakness-opportunity strategies, 7 strength-threat strategies, and 9 strength-opportunity strategies). The current status of Sina Trauma and Surgery Research Center is threatened weak. We recommend the center to implement the proposed strategies.

  15. Current status, future opportunities, and remaining challenges in landscape genetics [Chapter 14

    Science.gov (United States)

    Niko Balkenhol; Samuel A. Cushman; Lisette P. Waits; Andrew Storfer

    2016-01-01

    Landscape genetics has advanced the field of evolutionary ecology by providing a direct focus on relationships between landscape patterns and population processes, such as gene flow, selection, and genetic drift. This chapter discusses the current and emerging challenges and opportunities, which focus and facilitate future progress in the field. It presents ten...

  16. Current and Future Opportunities for Wind Power in the Southeast

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Tinnesand, Heidi; Roberts, Owen; Lantz, Eric

    2016-10-05

    This presentation discusses future wind opportunities in the Southeast including factors such as changes in wind turbine technology, historical innovation trends, and forecast demand growth among regions. The presentation covers the current status of wind in the United States at 80-m hub height and the near-future outlook with a hub height at 110 to 140 meters. Future cost reductions in 2030 and beyond are also explored. Heidi Tinnesand presented this information to a utility advisory group meeting in Charlotte, North Carolina, on October 5, 2016.

  17. Data center networks and network architecture

    Science.gov (United States)

    Esaki, Hiroshi

    2014-02-01

    This paper discusses and proposes the architectural framework, which is for data center networks. The data center networks require new technical challenges, and it would be good opportunity to change the functions, which are not need in current and future networks. Based on the observation and consideration on data center networks, this paper proposes; (i) Broadcast-free layer 2 network (i.e., emulation of broadcast at the end-node), (ii) Full-mesh point-to-point pipes, and (iii) IRIDES (Invitation Routing aDvertisement for path Engineering System).

  18. Additive Manufacturing (AM) in Expeditionary Operations: Current Needs, Technical Challenges, and Opportunities

    Science.gov (United States)

    2016-06-01

    REPORT TYPE AND DATES COVERED Master’s Thesis 06-30-2014 to 06-17-2016 4. TITLE AND SUBTITLE ADDITIVE MANUFACTURING (AM) IN EXPEDITIONARY OPERATIONS: CUR...CODE 13. ABSTRACT (maximum 200 words) Additive manufacturing (AM), or 3D printing, is poised to change the world of military expeditionary operations...unlimited ADDITIVE MANUFACTURING (AM) IN EXPEDITIONARY OPERATIONS: CURRENT NEEDS, TECHNICAL CHALLENGES, AND OPPORTUNITIES Matthew Daniel Friedell Captain

  19. The Practice of School Psychology in Quebec English Schools: Current Challenges and Opportunities

    Science.gov (United States)

    Finn, Cindy A.

    2016-01-01

    In Quebec, school psychology is alive and well. This article outlines current challenges and opportunities related to the practice of psychology in Quebec English schools. Changes to the practice of psychology in Quebec over the last decade have had an impact on the delivery of psychological services in schools. Modifications of the admission…

  20. Partnership Opportunities with AFRC for Wireless Systems Flight Testing

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hang, Richard

    2015-01-01

    The presentation will overview the flight test capabilities at NASA Armstrong Flight Research Center (AFRC), to open up partnership collaboration opportunities for Wireless Community to conduct flight testing of aerospace wireless technologies. Also, it will brief the current activities on wireless sensor system at AFRC through SBIR (Small Business Innovation Research) proposals, and it will show the current areas of interest on wireless technologies that AFRC would like collaborate with Wireless Community to further and testing.

  1. [A SWOT (strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, threats) analysis of the current immunization program in Zhejiang Province].

    Science.gov (United States)

    He, Han-Qing; Ling, Luo-Ya; Xu, Xu-Qing

    2009-02-01

    To know the status of Immunization program in Zhejiang Province. The investigation on immunization program in zhejiang province was conducted, and the SWOT analysis was corducted to make a comprehensive evaluation. 11 cities, 22 counties and 44 towns were investigated in this study, and the current immunization program in Zhejiang province were explored by SWOT analysis. The SWOT Matrix, includes SO (strength-opportunity), ST (strength-threat), WO (weakness-opportunity) and WT (weakness-threat) can apply to make optimal strategy for the development of expanded program on immunization.

  2. NASA Johnson Space Center Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Successes, Infusion and Commercializations and Potential International Partnering Opportunities

    Science.gov (United States)

    Packard, Kathryn; Goodman, Doug; Whittington, James

    2016-01-01

    The NASA Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Program has served as a beneficial funding vehicle to both US small technology businesses and the Federal Agencies that participate in the program. This paper, to the extent possible, while observing Intellectual Property (IP) laws, will discuss the many SBIR and STTR (SBIR Technology Transfer) successes in the recent history of the NASA Johnson Space Center (JSC). Many of the participants of the International Conference on Environmental Systems (ICES) have based their research and papers on technologies that were made possible by SBIR/STTR awards and post award funding. Many SBIR/STTR successes have flown on Space Shuttle missions, Space X Dragons, and other spacecraft. SBIR/STTR technologies are currently infused on the International Space Station (ISS) and satellites, one of which was a NASA/JAXA (Japanese Space Agency) joint venture. Many of these companies have commercialized their technologies and grown as businesses while helping the economy through the creation of new jobs. In addition, this paper will explore the opportunity for international partnership with US SBIR/STTR companies as up to 49% of the makeup of the company is not required to be American owned. Although this paper will deal with technical achievements, it does not purport to be technical in nature. It will address the many requests for information on successes and opportunities within NASA SBIR and the virtually untapped potential of international partnering.

  3. Physicians' current practices and opportunities for DNA banking of dying patients with cancer.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Quillin, John M; Bodurtha, Joann N; Siminoff, Laura A; Smith, Thomas J

    2011-05-01

    The availability of genetic tests for cancer susceptibility is increasing. Current tests, however, have limited clinical sensitivity. Even when clinically valid tests are available, the genetic counseling and informed consent process might not be feasible for dying patients with cancer. DNA banking preserves the opportunity for future research or clinical testing and may provide critical opportunities for surviving relatives. This study explored the current practices and potential for DNA banking for cancer susceptibility among oncologists specializing in palliative care. Palliative care oncologists actively providing clinical care for dying patients with cancer were recruited for an online survey. Descriptive statistics for DNA banking practices, perceived qualification to recommend banking, and potential predictors were assessed. Data were collected from 49 physicians (37% recruitment rate). Eighty percent reported assessing at least some patients for genetic cancer susceptibility in the past 12 months. No participants reported banking DNA for patients in the past 12 months. Only 5% reported feeling at least somewhat qualified to order DNA banking. A Web-based risk assessment tool and genetic counselor on staff were perceived as the most helpful potential resources. Despite its potential, DNA banking is not being used by palliative care oncologists.

  4. Challenges and Opportunities to Improve Cervical Cancer Screening Rates in US Health Centers through Patient-Centered Medical Home Transformation

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Olga Moshkovich

    2015-01-01

    Full Text Available Over the last 50 years, the incidence of cervical cancer has dramatically decreased. However, health disparities in cervical cancer screening (CCS persist for women from racial and ethnic minorities and those residing in rural and poor communities. For more than 45 years, federally funded health centers (HCs have been providing comprehensive, culturally competent, and quality primary health care services to medically underserved communities and vulnerable populations. To enhance the quality of care and to ensure more women served at HCs are screened for cervical cancer, over eight HCs received funding to support patient-centered medical home (PCMH transformation with goals to increase CCS rates. The study conducted a qualitative analysis using Atlas.ti software to describe the barriers and challenges to CCS and PCMH transformation, to identify potential solutions and opportunities, and to examine patterns in barriers and solutions proposed by HCs. Interrater reliability was assessed using Cohen’s Kappa. The findings indicated that HCs more frequently described patient-level barriers to CCS, including demographic, cultural, and health belief/behavior factors. System-level barriers were the next commonly cited, particularly failure to use the full capability of electronic medical records (EMRs and problems coordinating with external labs or providers. Provider-level barriers were least frequently cited.

  5. Digitalization influence on shopping centers strategic management

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Ioniţă Irene Mihaela

    2017-07-01

    Full Text Available Shopping centers are an important aspect of the extremely dynamic life of the 21st century consumer. Nowadays, worldwide, shopping centers represent significant multimillion euro investments, remarking themselves with bold architectures and structures and an individual brand image. Retail markets are currently under transformation by a confluence of new retailing technologies, dramatic shifts in the demographic profile and preferences of more affluent and educated shoppers. Part of the market share in modern retail moved to new forms of selling, which weakened the offer of some traditional retailers, while also creating opportunities for retailers to move and integrate their offerings with new digital tools (via electronic commerce, social commerce and mobile commerce. Meeting customer needs and increasing sales are the primary drivers behind retailers use of information systems and technology (IS/IT. New developments in IS/IT offer new opportunities and challenges for organizations and society. The current paper proposes to analyze the way digital media and information technology (computers and mobile devices influences the virtual and physical shopping experiences, and shopping centers management consequently. The need for communication & sales channels integration, the impact of new information technologies (IT’s, the growing role of social / digital media, the balance between personalization and privacy – all represent challenges retail industry needs to currently adapt to face digitalization. E-commerce is transforming both consumer behavior and retailing business models, by greatly expanding shopping convenience, selection and affordability.

  6. Patient centric approach for clinical trials: Current trend and new opportunities.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sharma, Neha Shankar

    2015-01-01

    The clinical research industry today is undergoing a major facelift. Companies are continuously looking to adopt and implement effective and innovative ways to accelerate drug launches in the market. Companies today are more open and do not view patients as mere "subjects" who generate data, - but as informed collaborators whose participation is "core" to the overall success of trials leading to the emergence of the concept of "patient-centric trials." This paper is intended to highlight the current trends and new opportunities that can be seen in industry -indicative of crucial role patients today play in their own health care using technology, social media and self education.

  7. Patient centric approach for clinical trials: Current trend and new opportunities

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Neha Shankar Sharma

    2015-01-01

    Full Text Available The clinical research industry today is undergoing a major facelift. Companies are continuously looking to adopt and implement effective and innovative ways to accelerate drug launches in the market. Companies today are more open and do not view patients as mere "subjects" who generate data, - but as informed collaborators whose participation is "core" to the overall success of trials leading to the emergence of the concept of "patient-centric trials." This paper is intended to highlight the current trends and new opportunities that can be seen in industry -indicative of crucial role patients today play in their own health care using technology, social media and self education.

  8. Office of Equal Opportunity Programs

    Science.gov (United States)

    Chin, Jennifer L.

    2004-01-01

    The NASA Glenn Office of Equal Opportunity Programs works to provide quality service for all programs and/or to assist the Center in becoming a model workplace. During the summer of 2004, I worked with Deborah Cotleur along with other staff members to create and modify customer satisfaction surveys. This office aims to assist in developing a model workplace by providing functions as a change agent to the center by serving as an advisor to management to ensure equity throughout the Center. In addition, the office serves as a mediator for the Center in addressing issues and concerns. Lastly, the office provides assistance to employees to enable attainment of personal and organizational goals. The Office of Equal Opportunities is a staff office which reports and provides advice to the Center Director and Executive Leadership, implements laws, regulations, and presidential executive orders, and provides center wide leadership and assistance to NASA GRC employees. Some of the major responsibilities of the office include working with the discrimination complaints program, special emphasis programs (advisory groups), management support, monitoring and evaluation, contract compliance, and community outreach. During my internship in this office, my main objective was to create four customer satisfaction surveys based on EO retreats, EO observances, EO advisory boards, and EO mediation/counseling. I created these surveys after conducting research on past events and surveys as well as similar survey research created and conducted by other NASA centers, program for EO Advisory group members, leadership training sessions for supervisors, preventing sexual harassment training sessions, and observance events. I also conducted research on the style and format from feedback surveys from the Marshall Equal Opportunity website, the Goddard website, and the main NASA website. Using the material from the Office of Equal Opportunity Programs at Glenn Research Center along with my

  9. Operational validation - current status and opportunities for improvement

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Davey, E.

    2002-01-01

    The design of nuclear plant systems and operational practices is based on the application of multiple defenses to minimize the risk of occurrence of safety and production challenges and upsets. With such an approach, the effectiveness of individual or combinations of design and operational features in preventing upset challenges should be known. A longstanding industry concern is the adverse impact errors in human performance can have on plant safety and production. To minimize the risk of error occurrence, designers and operations staff routinely employ multiple design and operational defenses. However, the effectiveness of individual or combinations of defensive features in minimizing error occurrence are generally only known in a qualitative sense. More importantly, the margins to error or upset occurrence provided by combinations of design or operational features are generally not characterized during design or operational validation. This paper provides some observations and comments on current validation practice as it relates to operational human performance concerns. The paper also discusses opportunities for future improvement in validation practice in terms of the resilience of validation results to operating changes and characterization of margins to safety or production challenge. (author)

  10. Biodesulfurization of Petroleum Distillates—Current Status, Opportunities and Future Challenges

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Olawumi O. Sadare

    2017-11-01

    Full Text Available Sulfur oxide (SO2 and hydrogen sulfide (H2S are considered as one of the major air pollutants in the world today. In addition, high sulfur levels in petroleum distillates can promote the deactivation of catalysts through poisoning in fluidized catalytic cracking (FCC during hydrocracking of the heavy distillates to lighter ones. The presence of high sulfur-containing compounds in the process streams could cause corrosion of piping and fittings and equipment, thereby damaging the pipelines and leading to air emissions of sulfur-containing compounds, which are undesirable for mankind and his environment. In many cases, a large quantity of SOx is released into the atmosphere when petroleum distillates that contain substantial amount of sulphur-containing compounds are used as fuel and combust. In this article, a short overview of different desulfurization methods that are employed to remove sulfur from petroleum distillates is provided. In particular, the review concentrates on biodesulfurization technique. In addition, this article intends to provide its readers current status of biodesulfurization (BDS. It critically analyses the trend in the development of the technology to showcase its strength and weakness that could pave a way for future opportunities. Approaches that are suitable to remediate sulfur-contaminated environment are discussed as well. Lastly, speculations on future directions or opportunities that require exploration are provided as a way of provoking the thoughts of researchers in this field.

  11. The Precarious Question of Black Cultural Centers Versus Multicultural Centers.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Princes, Carolyn D. W.

    This paper discusses the role of black cultural centers on university campuses, focusing on whether black cultural centers or multicultural centers best meet the needs of an increasingly diverse student body and society. It examines the historical role of black cultural centers as vehicles to promote educational opportunity, student retention, and…

  12. Building an imaging center: laying the foundation.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Foreman, M Shane; Geise, Jon D; Reed, Mary A

    2005-01-01

    In Spring 2003, Central Louisiana Imaging, Inc. (CLII), an 11-member radiology group, decided to create a properly configured freestanding imaging center. Before moving forward with the project, CLII conducted extensive market research and learned the following: CLII's ability to draw patients from a broad geography (central Louisiana) would work in its favor While the defined market was shrinking slightly and made up of middle-income households, the population was fairly well insured and aging at a rate comparable to the nation. Given an aging population and advances in technology, market demand for imaging was projected to grow despite the shrinking population. There were opportunities to differentiate on quality technology, service offering, and customer service; the sophistication and positioning of competitors is more important than the sheer number of competitors. CLII's relationship with key referring physicians was likely portable and would translate into volume within the new center. The group measured each potential service or modality against 5 evaluation criteria to determine whether a market opportunity existed: demographic fit, projected market demand, competitive positioning, "anchor service," and synergy with CLII's strategy. Once the market opportunity was confirmed and the service offering was set, CLII completed a 5-year proforma in order to project cash flows, capital costs, and the anticipated return on investment. CLII opened the imaging center in September 2004. Ten months into opeations, the center was a measurable success. The levels, and break-even by month 4, volumes are currently at year 2 levels, and the center recently added nuclear medicine and its second magnetic resonance imaging system-11 months ahead of schedule.

  13. Identifying Strategic Scientific Opportunities

    Science.gov (United States)

    As NCI's central scientific strategy office, CRS collaborates with the institute's divisions, offices, and centers to identify research opportunities to advance NCI's vision for the future of cancer research.

  14. Land administration in Ecuador; Current situation and opportunities with adoption of fit-for-purpose land administration approach

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Todorovski, D.; Salazar, Rodolfo; Jacome, Ginella; Bermeo, Antonio; Orellana, Esteban; Zambrano, Fatima; Teran, Andrea; Mejia, Raul

    2018-01-01

    The aim of this paper is to explore current land administration situation in Ecuador and identify opportunities for fit-for-purpose (FFP) land administration approach that could improve the land administration functions for the country and its citizens. In this paper, initially literature about land

  15. Opportunities of the energy revolution. Scientific contributions to the KIT

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Breh, Wolfgang; Schaetzler, Katharina

    2013-01-01

    ''Opportunities for energy revolution'' was the title under which the KIT Energy Center of Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT) in May 2012 held its first annual meeting. The meeting covered the whole Topic of the KIT Energy Center. The present proceedings give those interested the opportunity to delve into the contributions and to provide a differentiated picture of the challenges and opportunities of the energy transition.

  16. Current status of international training center for nuclear security and security issues in Korea

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Lee, Jong-UK; Sin, Byung Woo

    2013-01-01

    During the 2010 Nuclear Security Summit (NSS) President Lee declared that Korea will establish an international training center (ITC) for nuclear security near the Korea Institute of Nuclear Nonproliferation and Control (KINAC). It will be open to the world in 2014. The government's long term goal is to make the center a hub for education and training in the nuclear field in Asia. The ITC will accomplish this by establishing facilities for practical and realistic exercises through the use of a test bed and various other experiments. The center will also provide comprehensive educational programs for nuclear newcomers. Its main programs include: a well designed educational program, customized training courses, and on-the-job training. This paper will discuss the current status of the ITC and describe practical plans for solving current security issues in Korea. (authors)

  17. Physician tracking in sub-Saharan Africa: current initiatives and opportunities.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Chen, Candice; Baird, Sarah; Ssentongo, Katumba; Mehtsun, Sinit; Olapade-Olaopa, Emiola Oluwabunmi; Scott, Jim; Sewankambo, Nelson; Talib, Zohray; Ward-Peterson, Melissa; Mariam, Damen Haile; Rugarabamu, Paschalis

    2014-04-23

    Physician tracking systems are critical for health workforce planning as well as for activities to ensure quality health care - such as physician regulation, education, and emergency response. However, information on current systems for physician tracking in sub-Saharan Africa is limited. The objective of this study is to provide information on the current state of physician tracking systems in the region, highlighting emerging themes and innovative practices. This study included a review of the literature, an online search for physician licensing systems, and a document review of publicly available physician registration forms for sub-Saharan African countries. Primary data on physician tracking activities was collected as part of the Medical Education Partnership Initiative (MEPI) - through two rounds over two years of annual surveys to 13 medical schools in 12 sub-Saharan countries. Two innovations were identified during two MEPI school site visits in Uganda and Ghana. Out of twelve countries, nine had existing frameworks for physician tracking through licensing requirements. Most countries collected basic demographic information: name, address, date of birth, nationality/citizenship, and training institution. Practice information was less frequently collected. The most frequently collected practice fields were specialty/degree and current title/position. Location of employment and name and sector of current employer were less frequently collected. Many medical schools are taking steps to implement graduate tracking systems. We also highlight two innovative practices: mobile technology access to physician registries in Uganda and MDNet, a public-private partnership providing free mobile-to-mobile voice and text messages to all doctors registered with the Ghana Medical Association. While physician tracking systems vary widely between countries and a number of challenges remain, there appears to be increasing interest in developing these systems and many

  18. Lujan Center upgrade for cold moderators: current design and future options

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Ferguson, P. D.; Russell, G. J.; Pitcher, E. J.

    1997-09-01

    The upgraded Lujan Center target system is designed to be a split target with two tiers of moderators. The original suite of four moderators serving twelve flight paths has been optimized and an additional pair of moderators, one water and one LH 2 , have been added in a new upper moderator tier serving four additional flight paths. The upper moderators are partially coupled and viewed in backscattering geometry, as opposed to the decoupled moderators in the existing Lujan Center target system, which are viewed in transmission geometry. Fabrication of this new target system is currently in progress and installation is expected in 1998. The decoupling scheme for the upper moderator tier is documented. The neutronic performance of the two cold moderators is presented in the form of time and energy spectra with comparisons to the existing Lujan Center LH 2 moderator. Neutronic performance of a partially-coupled flux trap LH 2 moderator is also presented.

  19. Participatory Sensing Marine Debris: Current Trends and Future Opportunities

    Science.gov (United States)

    Jambeck, J.; Johnsen, K.

    2016-02-01

    The monitoring of litter and debris is challenging at the global scale because of spatial and temporal variability, disconnected local organizations and the use of paper and pen for documentation. The Marine Debris Tracker mobile app and citizen science program allows for the collection of global standardized data at a scale, speed and efficiency that was not previously possible. The app itself also serves as an outreach and education tool, creating an engaged participatory sensing instrument. This instrument is characterized by several aspects including range and frequency, accuracy and precision, accessibility, measurement dimensions, participant performance, and statistical analysis. Also, important to Marine Debris Tracker is open data and transparency. A web portal provides data that users have logged allowing immediate feedback to users and additional education opportunities. The engagement of users through a top tracker competition and social media keeps participants interested in the Marine Debris Tracker community. Over half a million items have been tracked globally, and maps provide both global and local distribution of data. The Marine Debris Tracker community and dataset continues to grow daily. We will present current usage and engagement, participatory sensing data distributions, choropleth maps of areas of active tracking, and discuss future technologies and platforms to expand data collection and conduct statistical analysis.

  20. International opportunities and value creation in international entrepreneurship.

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Mainela, Tuija; Puhakka, Vesa; Wakkee, Ingrid; Marinova, Svetla; Larimo, Jorma; Nummela, Niina

    2016-01-01

    International entrepreneurship (IE) as a field of research has emerged at the intersection of internationalization and entrepreneurship theories. At this intersection it has come to emphasize the activities centered on international opportunities. International opportunities, then, are about value

  1. Current NDT activities at Cekmece Nuclear Research and Training Center

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Ekinci, S.

    2004-01-01

    Nondestructive testing (NDT) activities at Cekmece Nuclear Research and Training Center (CNAEM) has been initiated in the Industrial Application Department of the Center which was established in 1976 as the Radioisotope Applications Group for Industry. The Department started its first NDT activity with industrial radiography. The NDT activities have been developed by the support of various national (State Planning Organization (DPT)) and international (IAEA and UNDP) projects. Today, there are five basic NDT techniques (radiography, ultrasonic, magnetic particle, liquid penetrant and eddy current) used in the Industrial Application Department. The Department arranges routinely NDT qualification courses according to ISO 9712 and TS EN 473 standards for level 1 and 2 for Turkish Industry. It also carries out national DPT and IAEA Technical Co-operation projects and gives NDT services in the laboratory and in the field. Digital radiography and digital ultrasonic techniques are being used in advanced NDT applications. This paper describes the NDT activities of CNAEM. (author)

  2. Current standards of neuropsychological assessment in epilepsy surgery centers across Europe.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Vogt, Viola Lara; Äikiä, Marja; Del Barrio, Antonio; Boon, Paul; Borbély, Csaba; Bran, Ema; Braun, Kees; Carette, Evelien; Clark, Maria; Cross, Judith Helen; Dimova, Petia; Fabo, Daniel; Foroglou, Nikolaos; Francione, Stefano; Gersamia, Anna; Gil-Nagel, Antonio; Guekht, Alla; Harrison, Sue; Hecimovic, Hrvoje; Heminghyt, Einar; Hirsch, Edouard; Javurkova, Alena; Kälviäinen, Reetta; Kavan, Nicole; Kelemen, Anna; Kimiskidis, Vasilios K; Kirschner, Margarita; Kleitz, Catherine; Kobulashvili, Teia; Kosmidis, Mary H; Kurtish, Selin Yagci; Lesourd, Mathieu; Ljunggren, Sofia; Lossius, Morten Ingvar; Malmgren, Kristina; Mameniskiené, Ruta; Martin-Sanfilippo, Patricia; Marusic, Petr; Miatton, Marijke; Özkara, Çiğdem; Pelle, Federica; Rubboli, Guido; Rudebeck, Sarah; Ryvlin, Philippe; van Schooneveld, Monique; Schmid, Elisabeth; Schmidt, Pia-Magdalena; Seeck, Margitta; Steinhoff, Bernhard J; Shavel-Jessop, Sara; Tarta-Arsene, Oana; Trinka, Eugen; Viggedal, Gerd; Wendling, Anne-Sophie; Witt, Juri-Alexander; Helmstaedter, Christoph

    2017-03-01

    We explored the current practice with respect to the neuropsychological assessment of surgical epilepsy patients in European epilepsy centers, with the aim of harmonizing and establishing common standards. Twenty-six epilepsy centers and members of "E-PILEPSY" (a European pilot network of reference centers in refractory epilepsy and epilepsy surgery), were asked to report the status of neuropsychological assessment in adults and children via two different surveys. There was a consensus among these centers regarding the role of neuropsychology in the presurgical workup. Strong agreement was found on indications (localization, epileptic dysfunctions, adverse drugs effects, and postoperative monitoring) and the domains to be evaluated (memory, attention, executive functions, language, visuospatial skills, intelligence, depression, anxiety, and quality of life). Although 186 different tests are in use throughout these European centers, a core group of tests reflecting a moderate level of agreement could be discerned. Variability exists with regard to indications, protocols, and paradigms for the assessment of hemispheric language dominance. For the tests in use, little published evidence of clinical validity in epilepsy was provided. Participants in the survey reported a need for improvement concerning the validity of the tests, tools for the assessment of everyday functioning and accelerated forgetting, national norms, and test co-normalization. Based on the present survey, we documented a consensus regarding the indications and principles of neuropsychological testing. Despite the variety of tests in use, the survey indicated that there may be a core set of tests chosen based on experience, as well as on published evidence. By combining these findings with the results of an ongoing systematic literature review, we aim for a battery that can be recommended for the use across epilepsy surgical centers in Europe. Wiley Periodicals, Inc. © 2017 International League

  3. Analysis of near-term production and market opportunities for hydrogen and related activities

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Mauro, R.; Leach, S. [National Hydrogen Association, Washington, DC (United States)

    1995-09-01

    This paper summarizes current and planned activities in the areas of hydrogen production and use, near-term venture opportunities, and codes and standards. The rationale for these efforts is to assess industry interest and engage in activities that move hydrogen technologies down the path to commercialization. Some of the work presented in this document is a condensed, preliminary version of reports being prepared under the DOE/NREL contract. In addition, the NHA work funded by Westinghouse Savannah River Corporation (WSRC) to explore the opportunities and industry interest in a Hydrogen Research Center is briefly described. Finally, the planned support of and industry input to the Hydrogen Technical Advisory Panel (HTAP) on hydrogen demonstration projects is discussed.

  4. Current neurotrauma treatment practice in secondary medical service centers

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Suehiro, Eiichi; Yoshino, Hiroko; Koizumi, Hiroyasu; Yoneda, Hiroshi; Suzuki, Michiyasu

    2011-01-01

    Despite neurotrauma treatment practices comprising a significant amount of neurosurgical work for secondary medical service centers, little attention has been placed on neurotrauma cases and evaluation of current neurotrauma treatment practices is limited. Therefore we investigated current neurotrauma practices in our hospital located in a Japanese suburban city. We analyzed 439 patients with traumatic brain injury (TBI) admitted to our hospital between April 2004 and October 2010. Patients were divided into three groups based on the Glasgow Coma Scale (GCS) score on admission: mild TBI (GCS 14-15) in 252 patients (57.4%), moderate TBI (GCS 9-13) in 116 patients (26.4%), and severe TBI (GCS 3-8) in 71 patients (16.2%). Age, gender, alcohol consumption, cause of injury, cranial CT findings, neurosurgical procedure, length of hospital stay, and clinical outcome were analyzed. The average age of the patients was 59.2 years old. Male patients comprised 65%. Alcohol consumption was reported in 81 cases (18.5%), most of them with moderate TBI. Fall (208 cases, 47.4%) was the most frequent cause of injury, followed by traffic accident (115 cases, 26.2%) and high fall (73 cases, 16.6%). Acute subdural hematoma (174 cases, 39.6%) was most frequently seen in cranial CT findings on admission, which significantly increased with severity. A neurosurgical procedure was performed for 70 cases (15.9%), of which 15 (6.0%) were mild TBI and 18 (15.5%) were moderate TBI. The average hospital stay was 20.8 days, which significantly increased with severity. The overall rate of favorable outcome was 82.7%, and mortality was 8.2%; outcome deteriorated with severity. Some mild and moderate TBI cases had deteriorated and required surgery or resulted in death. These findings suggest that cautious treatment is necessary even in mild to moderate TBI cases which are often encountered in secondary medical service centers. (author)

  5. Fundraising for Your Center: An Opportunity to Build Community

    Science.gov (United States)

    Tsakoyias-Mendes, Vicky

    2010-01-01

    Last summer, the Chabot College Children's Center Evening Program came close to being shut down due to lack of funding. In order to break the typical mold of annual fundraising ideas (e.g., t-shirts, flower pots, and cookie sales) which give low returns, the Center hosted its first fundraising venture called "International Arts Performance…

  6. Influence of anisotropy and pinning centers on critical current properties in Bi-2212 superconductors

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Haraguchi, T.; Takayama, S.; Kiuchi, M.; Otabe, E.S.; Matsushita, T.; Yasuda, T.; Okayasu, S.; Uchida, S.; Shimoyama, J.; Kishio, K.

    2006-01-01

    The critical current density in Bi-2212 superconductors with various anisotropies irradiated by heavy ions was investigated in the medium temperature region to understand the effects of defect size and the anisotropy of the superconductor. It was found that the critical current density and the irreversibility field were larger for the specimen with larger defect and/or with smaller anisotropy. Introduction of stronger pinning centers and the optimization of the doping condition to improve the dimensionality are desired for further improvement of the critical current properties

  7. Smart grids in the colombian electric system: Current situation and potential opportunities

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    William Mauricio Giral Ramírez

    2017-07-01

    Full Text Available Context: This paper focuses on providing a functional analysis of smart grids, with the purpose of establishing a framework to identify the main characteristics of the current electric interconnection system in Colombia. It also names the positive incentives proposed by the Colombian government to support both research and development projects that implement non-conventional energy sources and promoting energy management based on efficiency. Method: An architecture model that describes the components interoperability of a smart grid is presented using a descriptive methodology. Results: The results include a list of the objectives established by the Colombian public and private entities related to energy development, specially focusing on the opportunities to provide some kind of artificial intelligence to the current electrical system. Conclusions: It is necessary for the Colombian energy system to supply the energy demand considering electrical safety, social equity, and the minimum environmental impact. These restrictions impose new challenges for the energy system itself: From a technical point of view, the traditional electrical grid must be outfitted with the characteristics of a smart grid, and from a legal perspective, it is essential to generate a clear regulatory framework that promotes the development of this type of technology.

  8. The Current State of Poison Control Centers in Pakistan and the Need for Capacity Building

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Nadeem Khan

    2014-03-01

    Full Text Available Background: Chemical exposure is a major health problem globally. Poison control centers (PCCs play a leading role both in developed and developing countries in the prevention and control of poisonous chemical exposures. In this study, we aimed to assess the current state of PCCs in Pakistan and highlight capacity building needs in these centers. Methods: A cross-sectional survey of the two registered PCCs was done during August – December 2011. Necessary services of the PCCs were evaluated and the data were recorded on a predesigned checklist. Results: Both PCCs are affiliated to a tertiary care hospital. Clinical services to poisoned patients were available 24 hours a day / 7 days a week. Information on common local products was available to poison center staff. Both centers were involved in undergraduate and post graduate teaching. Telephone poison information service was not available in either of centers. There was a limited capacity for qualitative and analytical toxicology. Common antidotes were available. There were limited surveillance activities to capture toxic risks existing in the community and also a deficiency was observed in chemical disaster planning. Conclusion: PCCs in Pakistan need capacity building for specialized training in toxicology, toxicovigilance, chemical disaster planning, analytical laboratory tests and telephone service for consultation in poisoning cases.   How to cite this article: Khan NU, Mir MU, Khan UR, Khan AR, Ara J, Raja K, et al. The Current State of Poison Control Centers in Pakistan and the Need for Capacity Building. Asia Pac J Med Toxicol 2014;3:31-5.

  9. From the Margins to the Center: Recommendations for Current and Aspiring Educational Leaders

    Science.gov (United States)

    Nolan, Tina R.

    2009-01-01

    Tina Nolan presents a call to action for current and future leaders to assume a new role as change leaders for the museum education profession. This article puts forth a series of recommendations and strategies for repositioning museum educators from the margins of their institutions to the center. Included among these recommendations are…

  10. Current status of Hiroshima Synchrotron Radiation Center

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Taniguchi, Masaki

    2000-01-01

    The Hiroshima Synchrotron Radiation Center is a common facility for both research and education in the field of synchrotron radiation science. The role of the center is to promote original research, training of young scientists, international exchange and cooperative research with neighbouring universities, public organizations and industries. (author)

  11. Report to Congress on Server and Data Center Energy Efficiency: Public Law 109-431

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Alliance to Save Energy; ICF Incorporated; ERG Incorporated; U.S. Environmental Protection Agency; Brown, Richard E; Brown, Richard; Masanet, Eric; Nordman, Bruce; Tschudi, Bill; Shehabi, Arman; Stanley, John; Koomey, Jonathan; Sartor, Dale; Chan, Peter; Loper, Joe; Capana, Steve; Hedman, Bruce; Duff, Rebecca; Haines, Evan; Sass, Danielle; Fanara, Andrew

    2007-08-02

    This report was prepared in response to the request from Congress stated in Public Law 109-431 (H.R. 5646),"An Act to Study and Promote the Use of Energy Efficient Computer Servers in the United States." This report assesses current trends in energy use and energy costs of data centers and servers in the U.S. (especially Federal government facilities) and outlines existing and emerging opportunities for improved energy efficiency. It also makes recommendations for pursuing these energy-efficiency opportunities broadly across the country through the use of information and incentive-based programs.

  12. COMPUTATIONAL SCIENCE CENTER

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    DAVENPORT,J.

    2004-11-01

    The Brookhaven Computational Science Center brings together researchers in biology, chemistry, physics, and medicine with applied mathematicians and computer scientists to exploit the remarkable opportunities for scientific discovery which have been enabled by modern computers. These opportunities are especially great in computational biology and nanoscience, but extend throughout science and technology and include for example, nuclear and high energy physics, astrophysics, materials and chemical science, sustainable energy, environment, and homeland security.

  13. EPA Center for Corporate Climate Leadership

    Science.gov (United States)

    EPA's Center for Corporate Climate Leadership is a comprehensive resource to help organizations measure & manage GHG emissions. The Center provides technical tools, educational resources, opportunities for information sharing & highlights best practices.

  14. The Revitalized Tutoring Center

    Science.gov (United States)

    Koselak, Jeremy

    2017-01-01

    One high-leverage strategy rooted in a strong research base--the revitalized tutoring center--provides a wealth of opportunity to students who may be otherwise underserved. This embedded, open-all-day tutoring center supports collaborative teacher teams by using peer tutors and community volunteers. By centralizing resources and providing supports…

  15. Is There an Opportunity for Current Chemotherapeutics to Up-regulate MIC-A/B Ligands?

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Kendel Quirk

    2017-10-01

    Full Text Available Natural killer (NK cells are critical effectors of the immune system. NK cells recognize unhealthy cells by specific ligands [e.g., MHC- class I chain related protein A or B (MIC-A/B] for further elimination by cytotoxicity. Paradoxically, cancer cells down-regulate MIC-A/B and evade NK cell’s anticancer activity. Recent data indicate that cellular-stress induces MIC-A/B, leading to enhanced sensitivity of cancer cells to NK cell-mediated cytotoxicity. In this Perspective article, we hypothesize that current chemotherapeutics at sub-lethal, non-toxic dose may promote cellular-stress and up-regulate the expression of MIC-A/B ligands to augment cancer’s sensitivity to NK cell-mediated cytotoxicity. Preliminary data from two human breast cancer cell lines, MDA-MB-231 and T47D treated with clinically relevant therapeutics such as doxorubicin, paclitaxel and methotrexate support the hypothesis. The goal of this Perspective is to underscore the prospects of current chemotherapeutics in NK cell immunotherapy, and discuss potential challenges and opportunities to improve cancer therapy.

  16. 29 CFR 34.22 - Designation of Equal Opportunity Officer.

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-07-01

    ... OPPORTUNITY REQUIREMENTS OF THE JOB TRAINING PARTNERSHIP ACT OF 1982, AS AMENDED (JTPA) Recordkeeping and... and implementation of the Methods of Administration pursuant to § 34.33. The Equal Opportunity Officer..., Job Corps Center Director, SESA Administrator, or chief executive officer of the SDA or substate grant...

  17. Current use of imaging and electromagnetic source localization procedures in epilepsy surgery centers across Europe.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Mouthaan, Brian E; Rados, Matea; Barsi, Péter; Boon, Paul; Carmichael, David W; Carrette, Evelien; Craiu, Dana; Cross, J Helen; Diehl, Beate; Dimova, Petia; Fabo, Daniel; Francione, Stefano; Gaskin, Vladislav; Gil-Nagel, Antonio; Grigoreva, Elena; Guekht, Alla; Hirsch, Edouard; Hecimovic, Hrvoje; Helmstaedter, Christoph; Jung, Julien; Kalviainen, Reetta; Kelemen, Anna; Kimiskidis, Vasilios; Kobulashvili, Teia; Krsek, Pavel; Kuchukhidze, Giorgi; Larsson, Pål G; Leitinger, Markus; Lossius, Morten I; Luzin, Roman; Malmgren, Kristina; Mameniskiene, Ruta; Marusic, Petr; Metin, Baris; Özkara, Cigdem; Pecina, Hrvoje; Quesada, Carlos M; Rugg-Gunn, Fergus; Rydenhag, Bertil; Ryvlin, Philippe; Scholly, Julia; Seeck, Margitta; Staack, Anke M; Steinhoff, Bernhard J; Stepanov, Valentin; Tarta-Arsene, Oana; Trinka, Eugen; Uzan, Mustafa; Vogt, Viola L; Vos, Sjoerd B; Vulliémoz, Serge; Huiskamp, Geertjan; Leijten, Frans S S; Van Eijsden, Pieter; Braun, Kees P J

    2016-05-01

    In 2014 the European Union-funded E-PILEPSY project was launched to improve awareness of, and accessibility to, epilepsy surgery across Europe. We aimed to investigate the current use of neuroimaging, electromagnetic source localization, and imaging postprocessing procedures in participating centers. A survey on the clinical use of imaging, electromagnetic source localization, and postprocessing methods in epilepsy surgery candidates was distributed among the 25 centers of the consortium. A descriptive analysis was performed, and results were compared to existing guidelines and recommendations. Response rate was 96%. Standard epilepsy magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) protocols are acquired at 3 Tesla by 15 centers and at 1.5 Tesla by 9 centers. Three centers perform 3T MRI only if indicated. Twenty-six different MRI sequences were reported. Six centers follow all guideline-recommended MRI sequences with the proposed slice orientation and slice thickness or voxel size. Additional sequences are used by 22 centers. MRI postprocessing methods are used in 16 centers. Interictal positron emission tomography (PET) is available in 22 centers; all using 18F-fluorodeoxyglucose (FDG). Seventeen centers perform PET postprocessing. Single-photon emission computed tomography (SPECT) is used by 19 centers, of which 15 perform postprocessing. Four centers perform neither PET nor SPECT in children. Seven centers apply magnetoencephalography (MEG) source localization, and nine apply electroencephalography (EEG) source localization. Fourteen combinations of inverse methods and volume conduction models are used. We report a large variation in the presurgical diagnostic workup among epilepsy surgery centers across Europe. This diversity underscores the need for high-quality systematic reviews, evidence-based recommendations, and harmonization of available diagnostic presurgical methods. Wiley Periodicals, Inc. © 2016 International League Against Epilepsy.

  18. 42 CFR 405.809 - Opportunity to submit evidence.

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-10-01

    ... 42 Public Health 2 2010-10-01 2010-10-01 false Opportunity to submit evidence. 405.809 Section 405.809 Public Health CENTERS FOR MEDICARE & MEDICAID SERVICES, DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES MEDICARE PROGRAM FEDERAL HEALTH INSURANCE FOR THE AGED AND DISABLED Appeals Under the Medicare Part B Program § 405.809 Opportunity to submit...

  19. Climate Prediction Center - Outlooks: Current UV Index Forecast Map

    Science.gov (United States)

    Weather Service NWS logo - Click to go to the NWS home page Climate Prediction Center Home Site Map News Service NOAA Center for Weather and Climate Prediction Climate Prediction Center 5830 University Research Court College Park, Maryland 20740 Page Author: Climate Prediction Center Internet Team Disclaimer

  20. National health inequality monitoring: current challenges and opportunities.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hosseinpoor, Ahmad Reza; Bergen, Nicole; Schlotheuber, Anne; Boerma, Ties

    National health inequality monitoring needs considerably more investment to realize equity-oriented health improvements in countries, including advancement towards the Sustainable Development Goals. Following an overview of national health inequality monitoring and the associated resource requirements, we highlight challenges that countries may encounter when setting up, expanding or strengthening national health inequality monitoring systems, and discuss opportunities and key initiatives that aim to address these challenges. We provide specific proposals on what is needed to ensure that national health inequality monitoring systems are harnessed to guide the reduction of health inequalities.

  1. A social work study on different entrepreneurship opportunities

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Zahra Zakeri Nasrabadi

    2012-10-01

    Full Text Available Entrepreneurs are big potentials for developing economy in any countries. They provide new job opportunities and help economy boost. There are literally many industries, which rely on new these people and they are considered as the primary source of generating new jobs. In this paper, we discuss three entrepreneurship opportunities including universities, technical and vocational centers and women. Universities are able to educate highly skilled people and send them to business and they are able to create new ideas. Technical and vocational centers are, in fact, the best place for training basic or recent advances in technological skills through short term or long term planning. The survey also indicates that women can be considered as a good source of job creation. In this paper, we review the recent related literature on entrepreneurship opportunities in the world and discuss some of the related issues more specifically in Iran.

  2. Exposure information in environmental health research: Current opportunities and future directions for particulate matter, ozone, and toxic air pollutants

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    McKone, Thomas E.; Ryan, P. Barry; Ozkaynak, Haluk

    2007-02-01

    Understanding and quantifying outdoor and indoor sources of human exposure are essential but often not adequately addressed in health-effects studies for air pollution. Air pollution epidemiology, risk assessment, health tracking and accountability assessments are examples of health-effects studies that require but often lack adequate exposure information. Recent advances in exposure modeling along with better information on time-activity and exposure factors data provide us with unique opportunities to improve the assignment of exposures for both future and ongoing studies linking air pollution to health impacts. In September 2006, scientists from the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) along with scientists from the academic community and state health departments convened a symposium on air pollution exposure and health in order to identify, evaluate, and improve current approaches for linking air pollution exposures to disease. This manuscript presents the key issues, challenges and recommendations identified by the exposure working group, who used cases studies of particulate matter, ozone, and toxic air pollutant exposure to evaluate health-effects for air pollution. One of the over-arching lessons of this workshop is that obtaining better exposure information for these different health-effects studies requires both goal-setting for what is needed and mapping out the transition pathway from current capabilities to meeting these goals. Meeting our long-term goals requires definition of incremental steps that provide useful information for the interim and move us toward our long-term goals. Another over-arching theme among the three different pollutants and the different health study approaches is the need for integration among alternate exposure assessment approaches. For example, different groups may advocate exposure indicators, biomonitoring, mapping methods (GIS), modeling, environmental media

  3. 70 Years of Aeropropulsion Research at NASA Glenn Research Center

    Science.gov (United States)

    Reddy, Dhanireddy R.

    2013-01-01

    This paper presents a brief overview of air-breathing propulsion research conducted at the NASA Glenn Research Center (GRC) over the past 70 years. It includes a historical perspective of the center and its various stages of propulsion research in response to the countrys different periods of crises and growth opportunities. GRCs research and technology development covered a broad spectrum, from a short-term focus on improving the energy efficiency of aircraft engines to advancing the frontier technologies of high-speed aviation in the supersonic and hypersonic speed regimes. This paper highlights major research programs, showing their impact on industry and aircraft propulsion, and briefly discusses current research programs and future aeropropulsion technology trends in related areas

  4. Current Capabilities and Capacity of Ebola Treatment Centers in the United States.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Herstein, Jocelyn J; Biddinger, Paul D; Kraft, Colleen S; Saiman, Lisa; Gibbs, Shawn G; Le, Aurora B; Smith, Philip W; Hewlett, Angela L; Lowe, John J

    2016-03-01

    To describe current Ebola treatment center (ETC) locations, their capacity to care for Ebola virus disease patients, and infection control infrastructure features. A 19-question survey was distributed electronically in April 2015. Responses were collected via email by June 2015 and analyzed in an electronic spreadsheet. The survey was sent to and completed by site representatives of each ETC. The survey was sent to all 55 ETCs; 47 (85%) responded. Of the 47 responding ETCs, there are 84 isolation beds available for adults and 91 for children; of these pediatric beds, 35 (38%) are in children's hospitals. In total, the simultaneous capacity of the 47 reporting ETCs is 121 beds. On the basis of the current US census, there are 0.38 beds per million population. Most ETCs have negative pressure isolation rooms, anterooms, and a process for category A waste sterilization, although only 11 facilities (23%) have the capability to sterilize infectious waste on site. Facilities developed ETCs on the basis of Centers for Disease Control and Prevention guidance, but specific capabilities are not mandated at this present time. Owing to the complex and costly nature of Ebola virus disease treatment and variability in capabilities from facility to facility, in conjunction with the lack of regulations, nationwide capacity in specialized facilities is limited. Further assessments should determine whether ETCs can adapt to safely manage other highly infectious disease threats.

  5. Opportunity's Surroundings on Sol 1818

    Science.gov (United States)

    2009-01-01

    NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity used its navigation camera to take the images combined into this full-circle view of the rover's surroundings during the 1,818th Martian day, or sol, of Opportunity's surface mission (March 5, 2009). South is at the center; north at both ends. The rover had driven 80.3 meters (263 feet) southward earlier on that sol. Tracks from the drive recede northward in this view. The terrain in this portion of Mars' Meridiani Planum region includes dark-toned sand ripples and lighter-toned bedrock. This view is presented as a cylindrical projection with geometric seam correction.

  6. User Frustrations as Opportunities

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Michael Weiss

    2012-04-01

    Full Text Available User frustrations are an excellent source of new product ideas. Starting with this observation, this article describes an approach that entrepreneurs can use to discover business opportunities. Opportunity discovery starts with a problem that the user has, but may not be able to articulate. User-centered design techniques can help elicit those latent needs. The entrepreneur should then try to understand how users are solving their problem today, before proposing a solution that draws on the unique skills and technical capabilities available to the entrepreneur. Finally, an in-depth understanding of the user allows the entrepreneur to hone in on the points of difference and resonance that are the foundation of a strong customer value proposition.

  7. Current Situation and Development Opportunities of Apple Production inThe Province Konya

    OpenAIRE

    BAYRAMOĞLU, Zeki; ÇELİK, Yusuf; OĞUZ, Cennet

    2009-01-01

    In this study sectoral analysis of apple production activity in Konya was made. Within this scope at first apple production amount in Turkey and in the world and developments in cultivation areas were examined, development opportunities of apple production in the province were discussed. The data about this issue was collected from secondary sources (Food and Agriculture Organization, Turkish Statistical Institute etc.) In line with this data strong, weak sides of this sector, opportunities a...

  8. Opportunity's 'Rub al Khali' Panorama

    Science.gov (United States)

    2005-01-01

    [figure removed for brevity, see original site] Click on the image for Opportunity's 'Rub al Khali' Panorama (QTVR) This panoramic image, dubbed 'Rub al Khali,' was acquired by NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity on the plains of Meridiani during the period from the rover's 456th to 464th sols on Mars (May 6 to May 14, 2005). Opportunity was about 2 kilometers (1.2 miles) south of 'Endurance Crater' at a place known informally as 'Purgatory Dune.' The rover was stuck in the dune's deep fine sand for more than a month. 'Rub al Khali' (Arabic translation: 'the empty quarter') was chosen as the name for this panorama because it is the name of a similarly barren, desolate part of the Saudi Arabian desert on Earth. The view spans 360 degrees. It consists of images obtained in 97 individual pointings of the panoramic camera. The camera took images with five camera filters at each pointing. This 22,780-by-6,000-pixel mosaic is an approximately true-color rendering generated using the images acquired through filters admitting light wavelengths of 750, 530, and 480 nanometers. Lighting varied during the nine sols it took to acquire this panorama, resulting in some small image seams within the mosaic. These seams have been smoothed in sky parts of the mosaic to better simulate the vista that a person would see if able to view it all at the same time on Mars. Opportunity's tracks leading back to the north (center of the panorama) are a reminder of the rover's long trek from Endurance Crater. The deep ruts dug by Opportunity's wheels as it became stuck in the sand appear in the foreground. The crest and trough of the last ripple the rover crossed before getting stuck is visible in the center. These wind-formed sand features are only about 10 to 15 centimeters (4 to 6 inches) tall. The crest of the actual ripple where the rover got stuck can be seen just to the right of center. The tracks and a few other places on and near ripple crests can be seen in this color image to

  9. Public health engineering education in India: current scenario, opportunities and challenges.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hussain, Mohammad Akhtar; Sharma, Kavya; Zodpey, Sanjay

    2011-01-01

    Public health engineering can play an important and significant role in solving environmental health issues. In order to confront public health challenges emerging out of environmental problems we need adequately trained public health engineers / environmental engineers. Considering the current burden of disease attributable to environmental factors and expansion in scope of applications of public health / environmental engineering science, it is essential to understand the present scenario of teaching, training and capacity building programs in these areas. Against this background the present research was carried out to know the current teaching and training programs in public health engineering and related disciplines in India and to understand the potential opportunities and challenges available. A systematic, predefined approach was used to collect and assemble the data related to various teaching and training programs in public health engineering / environmental engineering in India. Public health engineering / environmental engineering education and training in the country is mainly offered through engineering institutions, as pre-service and in-service training. Pre-service programs include diploma, degree (graduate) and post-graduate courses affiliated to various state technical boards, institutes and universities, whereas in-service training is mainly provided by Government of India recognized engineering and public health training institutes. Though trainees of these programs acquire skills related to engineering sciences, they significantly lack in public health skills. The teaching and training of public health engineering / environmental engineering is limited as a part of public health programs (MD Community Medicine, MPH, DPH) in India. There is need for developing teaching and training of public health engineering or environmental engineering as an interdisciplinary subject. Public health institutes can play an important and significant role in this

  10. Report to Congress on Server and Data Center Energy Efficiency: Public Law 109-431: Appendices

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Alliance to Save Energy; ICF Incorporated; ERG Incorporated; U.S. Environmental Protection Agency; Brown, Richard E; Brown, Richard; Masanet, Eric; Nordman, Bruce; Tschudi, Bill; Shehabi, Arman; Stanley, John; Koomey, Jonathan; Sartor, Dale; Chan, Peter; Loper, Joe; Capana, Steve; Hedman, Bruce; Duff, Rebecca; Haines, Evan; Sass, Danielle; Fanara, Andrew

    2007-08-02

    This report is the appendices to a companion report, prepared in response to the request from Congress stated in Public Law 109-431 (H.R. 5646),"An Act to Study and Promote the Use of Energy Efficient Computer Servers in the United States." This report assesses current trends in energy use and energy costs of data centers and servers in the U.S. (especially Federal government facilities) and outlines existing and emerging opportunities for improved energy efficiency. It also makes recommendations for pursuing these energy-efficiency opportunities broadly across the country through the use of information and incentive-based programs.

  11. Views on personal networks and business opportunities

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Windekilde, Iwona Maria; Roswall, Rune

    2009-01-01

    opportunities. The aim has been to examine new business opportunities PNs. This work consists of three main elements: a) classification and categorisation of different business opportunity areas, b) an overview of relevant Industry trends, c) explanation of stakeholder opportunities and the strategies......The EU project MAGNET-Beyond has examined the business opportunities regarding Personal Networks (PN) for the typical value network stakeholders. In the current communication markets, companies deliver services to customers in cooperation with other market players profiting on different business...

  12. Current Technical Approaches for the Early Detection of Foodborne Pathogens: Challenges and Opportunities

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Il-Hoon Cho

    2017-09-01

    Full Text Available The development of novel and high-tech solutions for rapid, accurate, and non-laborious microbial detection methods is imperative to improve the global food supply. Such solutions have begun to address the need for microbial detection that is faster and more sensitive than existing methodologies (e.g., classic culture enrichment methods. Multiple reviews report the technical functions and structures of conventional microbial detection tools. These tools, used to detect pathogens in food and food homogenates, were designed via qualitative analysis methods. The inherent disadvantage of these analytical methods is the necessity for specimen preparation, which is a time-consuming process. While some literature describes the challenges and opportunities to overcome the technical issues related to food industry legal guidelines, there is a lack of reviews of the current trials to overcome technological limitations related to sample preparation and microbial detection via nano and micro technologies. In this review, we primarily explore current analytical technologies, including metallic and magnetic nanomaterials, optics, electrochemistry, and spectroscopy. These techniques rely on the early detection of pathogens via enhanced analytical sensitivity and specificity. In order to introduce the potential combination and comparative analysis of various advanced methods, we also reference a novel sample preparation protocol that uses microbial concentration and recovery technologies. This technology has the potential to expedite the pre-enrichment step that precedes the detection process.

  13. Current Technical Approaches for the Early Detection of Foodborne Pathogens: Challenges and Opportunities.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Cho, Il-Hoon; Ku, Seockmo

    2017-09-30

    The development of novel and high-tech solutions for rapid, accurate, and non-laborious microbial detection methods is imperative to improve the global food supply. Such solutions have begun to address the need for microbial detection that is faster and more sensitive than existing methodologies (e.g., classic culture enrichment methods). Multiple reviews report the technical functions and structures of conventional microbial detection tools. These tools, used to detect pathogens in food and food homogenates, were designed via qualitative analysis methods. The inherent disadvantage of these analytical methods is the necessity for specimen preparation, which is a time-consuming process. While some literature describes the challenges and opportunities to overcome the technical issues related to food industry legal guidelines, there is a lack of reviews of the current trials to overcome technological limitations related to sample preparation and microbial detection via nano and micro technologies. In this review, we primarily explore current analytical technologies, including metallic and magnetic nanomaterials, optics, electrochemistry, and spectroscopy. These techniques rely on the early detection of pathogens via enhanced analytical sensitivity and specificity. In order to introduce the potential combination and comparative analysis of various advanced methods, we also reference a novel sample preparation protocol that uses microbial concentration and recovery technologies. This technology has the potential to expedite the pre-enrichment step that precedes the detection process.

  14. Fort Mason Center: Pier 2 Project

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Nester, Patrick [Fort Mason Center, San Francisco, CA (United States)

    2014-08-30

    The rooftop Photovoltaic (PV) panels and radiant piping project was constructed by Fort Mason Center as part of its $21 million comprehensive rehabilitation of the Pier 2 shed which include the shed’s electrical, natural gas and water systems. Fort Mason Center improved performance while reducing energy and water usage and costs to demonstrate the efficiencies and opportunities available to large multi-function facilities. The scalable demand of these facilities required a layered approach to conservation, control and production. The project employed a comprehensive retrofit of electrical natural gas, and plumbing systems to maximize efficiency and lower carbon footprint specifically to demonstrate the effectiveness of these strategies in a public setting with varied and diverse use. The project was completed in July 2014 and met the expected outcomes regarding increased comfort and operational efficiency throughout the Pier 2 shed as well as on site electrical generation of current consumption. The entire Pier 2 shed project won a 2015 California Preservation Foundation design award for historic rehabilitation.

  15. Current Situation of Treatment for Anaphylaxis in a Japanese Pediatric Emergency Center.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ninchoji, Takeshi; Iwatani, Sota; Nishiyama, Masahiro; Kamiyoshi, Naohiro; Taniguchi-Ikeda, Mariko; Morisada, Naoya; Ishibashi, Kazuto; Iijima, Kazumoto; Ishida, Akihito; Morioka, Ichiro

    2018-04-01

    Anaphylaxis is a systemic allergic reaction that sometimes requires prompt treatment with intramuscular adrenaline. The aim of the study was to investigate the current situation regarding anaphylaxis treatment in a representative pediatric primary emergency facility in Japan. We retrospectively examined the medical records dating from April 2011 through March 2014 from Kobe Children's Primary Emergency Medical Center, where general pediatricians work on a part-time basis. Clinical characteristics and current treatments for patients with anaphylaxis who presented to the facility were investigated. Furthermore, we compared the clinical characteristics between anaphylaxis patients given intramuscular adrenaline and those not given it. During the study period, 217 patients were diagnosed with anaphylaxis. The median Sampson grade at the time of visit was 2, and 90 patients (41%) were grade 4 or higher. No patients received self-intramuscular injected adrenaline before arrival at our emergency medical center because none of the patients had been prescribed it. Further treatment during the visit was provided to 128 patients (59%), with only 17 (8%) receiving intramuscular adrenaline. Patients given intramuscular adrenaline had significantly lower peripheral saturation of oxygen at the visit (P = 0.025) and more frequent transfer to a referral hospital (P < 0.001) than those not given intramuscular adrenaline. Education for Japanese pediatric practitioners and patients is warranted, because no patients used self-intramuscular injected adrenaline as a prehospital treatment for anaphylaxis, and only severely affected patients who needed oxygen therapy or hospitalization received intramuscular adrenaline in a pediatric primary emergency setting.

  16. Oman: Current status, upstream and export developments, investment opportunities

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Skeet, I.

    1994-01-01

    Oil production in Oman has consistently increased since 1980 to reach its current level of ca 800,000 bbl/d. Reserves total ca 5 billion bbl and gas reserves are over 20 trillion ft 3 , of which a third is being dedicated for export. The main operator is Petroleum Development Oman (PDO), which is 60% owned by the Omani government. Some production areas are taken up by other companies under production sharing contracts. Gas is used for local industrial purposes and a third of gas reserves are being dedicated to a liquefied natural gas export scheme planned to be on-stream by 2000. The government has been seeking foreign investment and increasing private-sector participation, an example being a Belgian-Omani consortium to construct a 100-MW gas-fired power station. However, opportunities for investing in the upstream oil/gas sector are limited since most prospective areas have already been taken up. The economic, political, and social problems which may affect future investment are discussed. Oman is essentially a one-resource economy and declines in oil prices have led to widening government deficits. Social expectations created by the oil-financed welfare state make it difficult for government expenditures to be cut back. There is lack of public debate in the state-controlled media and no public participation in policy and decision making. There is a perception of widening corruption in government and a nascent movement toward a more rigid Islamic view of society. Controls are needed to maintain a reasonable balance between oil revenues and public expenditures, while pressures from an increasingly literate and numerous population will demand changes to the traditional autocratic system of government. 5 figs., 2 tabs

  17. Current State of Agile User-Centered Design: A Survey

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hussain, Zahid; Slany, Wolfgang; Holzinger, Andreas

    Agile software development methods are quite popular nowadays and are being adopted at an increasing rate in the industry every year. However, these methods are still lacking usability awareness in their development lifecycle, and the integration of usability/User-Centered Design (UCD) into agile methods is not adequately addressed. This paper presents the preliminary results of a recently conducted online survey regarding the current state of the integration of agile methods and usability/UCD. A world wide response of 92 practitioners was received. The results show that the majority of practitioners perceive that the integration of agile methods with usability/UCD has added value to their adopted processes and to their teams; has resulted in the improvement of usability and quality of the product developed; and has increased the satisfaction of the end-users of the product developed. The top most used HCI techniques are low-fidelity prototyping, conceptual designs, observational studies of users, usability expert evaluations, field studies, personas, rapid iterative testing, and laboratory usability testing.

  18. The Trauma Center Organizational Culture Survey: development and conduction.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Davis, Matthew L; Wehbe-Janek, Hania; Subacius, Haris; Pinto, Ruxandra; Nathens, Avery B

    2015-01-01

    The Trauma Center Organizational Culture Survey (TRACCS) instrument was developed to assess organizational culture of trauma centers enrolled in the American College of Surgeons Trauma Quality Program (ACS TQIP). The objective is to provide evidence on the psychometric properties of the factors of TRACCS and describe the current organizational culture of TQIP-enrolled trauma centers. A cross-sectional study was conducted by surveying a sampling of employees at 174 TQIP-enrolled trauma centers. Data collection was preceded by multistep survey development. Psychometric properties were assessed by an exploratory factor analysis (construct validity) and the item-total correlations and Cronbach alpha were calculated (internal reliability). Statistical outcomes of the survey responses were measured by descriptive statistics and mixed effect models. The response rate for trauma center participation in the study was 78.7% (n = 137). The factor analysis resulted in 16 items clustered into three factors as described: opportunity, pride, and diversity, trauma center leadership, and employee respect and recognition. TRACCS was found to be highly reliable with a Cronbach alpha of 0.90 in addition to the three factors (0.91, 0.90, and 0.85). Considerable variability of TRACCS overall and factor score among hospitals was measured, with the largest interhospital deviations among trauma center leadership. More than 80% of the variability in the responses occurred within rather than between hospitals. TRACCS was developed as a reliable tool for measuring trauma center organizational culture. Relationships between TQIP outcomes and measured organizational culture are under investigation. Trauma centers could apply TRACCS to better understand current organizational culture and how change tools can impact culture and subsequent patient and process outcomes. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  19. Resident Reactions to Person-Centered Communication by Long-Term Care Staff.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Savundranayagam, Marie Y; Sibalija, Jovana; Scotchmer, Emma

    2016-09-01

    Long-term care staff caregivers who are person centered incorporate the life history, preferences, and feelings of residents with dementia during care interactions. Communication is essential for person-centered care. However, little is known about residents' verbal reactions when staff use person-centered communication. Accordingly, this study investigated the impact of person-centered communication and missed opportunities for such communication by staff on resident reactions. Conversations (N = 46) between staff-resident dyads were audio-recorded during routine care tasks over 12 weeks. Staff utterances were coded for person-centered communication and missed opportunities. Resident utterances were coded for positive reactions, such as cooperation, and negative reactions, such as distress. Linear regression analyses revealed that the more staff used person-centered communication, the more likely that residents reacted positively. Additionally, the more missed opportunities in a conversation, the more likely that the residents reacted negatively. Conversation illustrations elaborate on the quantitative findings and implications for staff training are discussed. © The Author(s) 2016.

  20. Stockbridge Munsee Community Health and Wellness Center and the Mohican Family Center Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency Feasibility Study

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    DeRocher, Andy [Stockbridge-Munsee Health and Wellness Center, Bowler, WI (United States); Barrnett, Michael [Stockbridge-Munsee Health and Wellness Center, Bowler, WI (United States)

    2014-03-14

    The results of the Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency Feasibility Study of Stockbridge Munsee Community’s Health and Wellness Center (HWC) indicate that a variety of renewable energy options and energy conservation measures (ECMs) exist for the facility. A requirement of the Request for Proposal for this study was to assess renewable energy options that could offset 30 to 100 percent of the HWC’s energy use. This study identifies that a geothermal system is the most cost effective renewable energy option available to decrease the HWC’s energy consumption by 30 to 100 percent. Currently the HWC performs in the lowest 8 percent of buildings in its building category, as scored in the EPA portfolio manager benchmarking tool. Multiple ECM opportunities have been identified with paybacks of less than five years to yield an estimated 25-percent decrease in annual energyconsumption. The ECMs within this payback period are estimated to save $26,800 per year with an implementation cost of just $4,650 (0.2 year payback). For the Mohican Family Center document: The results of the Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency Feasibility Study of Stockbridge Munsee Community’s Mohican Family Center (MFC) indicate that a variety of renewable energy options and energy conservation measures (ECMs) exist for the facility. A requirement of the Request for Proposal for this study was to assess renewable energy options that could offset 30 to 100 percent of the MFC’s energy use. This study identifies that a geothermal system is the most cost effective renewable energy option available to decrease the MFC’s energy consumption by 30 to 100 percent. Currently the MFC performs better than 80 percent of buildings in its building category, as scored in the EPA portfolio manager benchmarking tool. Multiple ECM opportunities have been identified with short term paybacks to yield an estimated 13-percent decrease in energy consumption. The ECMs within this payback period are estimated

  1. Opportunity for Collaboration Between Radiation Injury Treatment Network Centers and Medical Toxicology Specialists.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Davlantes, Elizabeth; Shartar, Samuel; Venero, Jennifer; Steck, Alaina; Langston, Amelia; Kazzi, Ziad N

    2017-08-01

    The Radiation Injury Treatment Network (RITN) comprises >50 centers across the United States that are poised to care for victims of a radiation emergency. The network is organized around bone marrow transplant centers because these facilities excel in both radiation medicine and the care of patients with severe bone marrow depression. A radiation emergency may cause not only irradiation from an external source but also internal contamination with radioactive material. Because medical toxicologists are trained in radiation injury management and have expertise in the management of internal contamination, RITN centers may benefit from partnerships with medical toxicology resources, which may be located at academic medical centers, hospital inpatient clinical services, outpatient clinics, or poison control centers. We determined the locations of existing RITN centers and assessed their proximity to various medical toxicology resources, including medical toxicology fellowship programs, inpatient toxicology services, outpatient toxicology clinics, and poison control centers. Data were derived from publicly available Internet sources in March 2015. The majority of RITN centers do not have a medical toxicology fellowship, an inpatient toxicology service, or an outpatient toxicology clinic within the same institution. Fifty-seven percent of RITN centers have at least one of these resources located in the same city, however, and 73% of centers have at least one of these resources or a poison control center within the same city. Ninety-five percent of RITN centers have at least one medical toxicology resource within the state. Most RITN centers are located in the same city as at least one medical toxicology resource. Establishing relationships between RITN centers and medical toxicologists needs to be explored further.

  2. Tsinghua-Johns Hopkins Joint Center for Biomedical Engineering Research: scientific and cultural exchange in undergraduate engineering.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wisneski, Andrew D; Huang, Lixia; Hong, Bo; Wang, Xiaoqin

    2011-01-01

    A model for an international undergraduate biomedical engineering research exchange program is outlined. In 2008, the Johns Hopkins University in collaboration with Tsinghua University in Beijing, China established the Tsinghua-Johns Hopkins Joint Center for Biomedical Engineering Research. Undergraduate biomedical engineering students from both universities are offered the opportunity to participate in research at the overseas institution. Programs such as these will not only provide research experiences for undergraduates but valuable cultural exchange and enrichment as well. Currently, strict course scheduling and rigorous curricula in most biomedical engineering programs may present obstacles for students to partake in study abroad opportunities. Universities are encouraged to harbor abroad opportunities for undergraduate engineering students, for which this particular program can serve as a model.

  3. Municipal wastewater treatment in Mexico: current status and opportunities for employing ecological treatment systems.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zurita, Florentina; Roy, Eric D; White, John R

    2012-06-01

    The aim of this paper is to evaluate the current status of municipal wastewater (MWW) treatment in Mexico, as well as to assess opportunities for using ecological treatment systems, such as constructed wetlands. In 2008, Mexico had 2101 MWW treatment plants that treated only 84 m3/s of wastewater (208 m3/s ofMWW were collected in sewer systems). Unfortunately, most treatment plants operate below capacity owing to a lack of maintenance and paucity of properly trained personnel. The main types of treatment systems applied in Mexico are activated sludge and waste stabilization ponds, which treat 44.3% and 18% of the MWW collected, respectively. As in many other developing nations around the world, there is a great need in Mexico for low-cost, low-maintenance wastewater treatment systems that are both economically and environmentally sustainable. In 2005, 24.3 million Mexicans lived in villages of less than 2500 inhabitants and 14.1 million lived in towns with 2500-15,000 inhabitants. An opportunity exists to extend the use of ecological treatment systems to these low population density areas and considerably increase the percentage of MWW that is treated in Mexico. Small-scale and medium-size constructed wetlands have been built successfully in some states, primarily during the past five years. Several barriers need to be overcome to increase the adoption and utilization of ecological wastewater technology in Mexico, including: a lack of knowledge about this technology, scarce technical information in Spanish, and the government's concentration on constructing MWW treatment plants solely in urban areas.

  4. COMPUTATIONAL SCIENCE CENTER

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    DAVENPORT, J.

    2005-11-01

    The Brookhaven Computational Science Center brings together researchers in biology, chemistry, physics, and medicine with applied mathematicians and computer scientists to exploit the remarkable opportunities for scientific discovery which have been enabled by modern computers. These opportunities are especially great in computational biology and nanoscience, but extend throughout science and technology and include, for example, nuclear and high energy physics, astrophysics, materials and chemical science, sustainable energy, environment, and homeland security. To achieve our goals we have established a close alliance with applied mathematicians and computer scientists at Stony Brook and Columbia Universities.

  5. 75 FR 10464 - Broadband Technology Opportunities Program

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-03-08

    ... window for Public Computer Center (PCC) and Sustainable Broadband Adoption (SBA) projects. DATES: All...; Extension of Application Closing Deadline for Comprehensive Community Infrastructure (CCI) Projects. SUMMARY... Infrastructure (CCI) projects under the Broadband Technology Opportunities Program (BTOP) is extended until 5:00...

  6. Optics and photonics education centers of excellence: an opportunity for international collaboration

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hull, Daniel M.

    2015-10-01

    The increased demand for highly educated and trained workers in optics and photonics is evident in many countries. Colleges and universities that provide this education can benefit greatly from support by non-profit National Education Centers of Excellence that conduct research in workforce needs, design curricula, develop industry-validated teaching materials, train new faculty and establish models for laser/optics laboratories. In 2006, the National Science Foundation (NSF) established OP-TEC, the National Center for Optics and Photonics Education, which encourages and supports U.S. colleges to educate and train an adequate supply of high quality technicians to meet the workforce demand by companies, institutions and government agencies. In 2013 and 2014 NSF awarded grants to establish regional photonics centers in the southeast U.S. (LASER-TEC) and the Midwest (MPEC). These Centers work cooperatively with OP-TEC, sharing resources, teaching materials and best practices for colleges with photonics technician education programs. This successful "center organization plan" that has evolved could be adopted in other countries, and international cooperation could be established between similar Centers of Education in Photonics education.

  7. Opportunities for Increasing Human Papillomavirus Vaccine Provision in School Health Centers

    Science.gov (United States)

    Moss, Jennifer L.; Feld, Ashley L.; O'Malley, Brittany; Entzel, Pamela; Smith, Jennifer S.; Gilkey, Melissa B.; Brewer, Noel T.

    2014-01-01

    Background: Uptake of human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine remains low among adolescents in the United States. We sought to assess barriers to HPV vaccine provision in school health centers to inform subsequent interventions. Methods: We conducted structured interviews in the fall of 2010 with staff from all 33 school health centers in North…

  8. Proton Therapy: Ever Shifting Sands and the Opportunities and Obligations within

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Hill-Kayser, Christine E.; Both, Stefan; Tochner, Zelig, E-mail: hill@uphs.upenn.edu [Department of Radiation Oncology, Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA (United States)

    2011-09-06

    Proton therapy is associated with significant benefit in terms of normal tissue sparing and potential radiation dose escalation for many patients with malignant diseases. Due to recognition of these qualities, the availability of this technology is increasing rapidly, both through increased availability of large centers, and with the possibility of smaller, lower cost proton therapy centers. Such expansion is associated with increased opportunity to provide this beneficial technology to larger numbers of patients; however, the importance of careful treatment planning and delivery, deliberate patient selection, rigorous scientific investigation including comparison to other technologies when possible, and mindfulness of ethical issues and cost effectiveness must not be forgotten. The obligation to move forward responsibly rests on the shoulders of radiation oncologists around the world. In this article, we discuss current use of proton therapy worldwide, as well as many of the factors that must be taken into account during rapid expansion of this exciting technology.

  9. Condition for the occurrence of phase slip centers in superconducting nanowires under applied current or voltage

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Michotte, S.; Mátéfi-Tempfli, Stefan; Piraux, L.

    2004-01-01

    Experimental results on the phase slip process in superconducting lead nanowires are presented under two different experimental conditions: constant applied current or constant voltage. Based on these experiments we established a simple model which gives us the condition of the appearance of phase...... slip centers in a quasi-one-dimensional wire. The competition between two relaxations times (relaxation time of the absolute value of the order parameter τ and relaxation time of the phase of the order parameter in the phase slip center τ) governs the phase slip process. Phase slips, as periodic...... oscillations in time of the order parameter, are only possible if the gradient of the phase grows faster than the value of the order parameter in the phase slip center, or equivalently if τ≤ τ....

  10. The Oral Health Care Manager in a Patient-Centered Health Facility.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Theile, Cheryl Westphal; Strauss, Shiela M; Northridge, Mary Evelyn; Birenz, Shirley

    2016-06-01

    The dental hygienist team member has an opportunity to coordinate care within an interprofessional practice as an oral health care manager. Although dental hygienists are currently practicing within interprofessional teams in settings such as pediatric offices, hospitals, nursing homes, schools, and federally qualified health centers, they often still assume traditional responsibilities rather than practicing to the full extent of their training and licenses. This article explains the opportunity for the dental hygiene professional to embrace patient-centered care as an oral health care manager who can facilitate integration of oral and primary care in a variety of health care settings. Based on an innovative model of collaboration between a college of dentistry and a college of nursing, an idea emerged among several faculty members for a new management method for realizing continuity and coordination of comprehensive patient care. Involved faculty members began working on the development of an approach to interprofessional practice with the dental hygienist serving as an oral health care manager who would address both oral health care and a patient's related primary care issues through appropriate referrals and follow-up. This approach is explained in this article, along with the results of several pilot studies that begin to evaluate the feasibility of a dental hygienist as an oral health care manager. A health care provider with management skills and leadership qualities is required to coordinate the interprofessional provision of comprehensive health care. The dental hygienist has the opportunity to lead closer integration of oral and primary care as an oral health care manager, by coordinating the team of providers needed to implement comprehensive, patient-centered care. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  11. Active play opportunities at child care.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Tandon, Pooja S; Saelens, Brian E; Christakis, Dimitri A

    2015-06-01

    Physical activity (PA) is important for children's health and development, yet preschoolers are not meeting PA recommendations. The objective of this study was to examine different PA opportunities at child care and how variation in indoor versus outdoor and free versus teacher-led opportunities relate to children's PA. An observational study of 98 children (mean age 4.5 years, 49% girls) from 10 child care centers. Classrooms were observed for at least 4 full days per center (total 50 days) to categorize time into (1) not an active play opportunity (APO); (2) naptime; (3) APO, outdoor free play; (4) APO, outdoor teacher-led; (5) APO, indoor free play; and (6) APO, indoor teacher-led. Children wore accelerometers during observations. Linear regression models examined the influence of APO categories on moderate-vigorous physical activity (MVPA) and sedentary time. Children's activity was 73% sedentary, 13% light, and 14% MVPA. For 88% of time children did not have APOs, including 26% time as naptime. On average, 48 minutes per day were APOs (41% sedentary, 18% light, and 41% MVPA), 33 minutes per day were outdoors. The most frequent APO was outdoor free play (8% of time); outdoor teacher-led time was Children were more active and less sedentary outdoors versus indoors and during the child-initiated APOs (indoors and outdoors) versus teacher-led APOs. Preschoolers were presented with significantly fewer than recommended opportunities for PA at child care. More APOs are needed for children to meet recommendations, particularly those that encourage more outdoor time, more teacher-led and child-initiated active play, and flexibility in naptime for preschoolers. Copyright © 2015 by the American Academy of Pediatrics.

  12. Prognostics and Health Management of Wind Turbines: Current Status and Future Opportunities

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Sheng, Shuangwen

    2015-12-14

    Prognostics and health management is not a new concept. It has been used in relatively mature industries, such as aviation and electronics, to help improve operation and maintenance (O&M) practices. In the wind industry, prognostics and health management is relatively new. The level for both wind industry applications and research and development (R&D) has increased in recent years because of its potential for reducing O&M cost of wind power, especially for turbines installed offshore. The majority of wind industry application efforts has been focused on diagnosis based on various sensing and feature extraction techniques. For R&D, activities are being conducted in almost all areas of a typical prognostics and health management framework (i.e., sensing, data collection, feature extraction, diagnosis, prognosis, and maintenance scheduling). This presentation provides an overview of the current status of wind turbine prognostics and health management that focuses on drivetrain condition monitoring through vibration, oil debris, and oil condition analysis techniques. It also discusses turbine component health diagnosis through data mining and modeling based on supervisory control and data acquisition system data. Finally, it provides a brief survey of R&D activities for wind turbine prognostics and health management, along with future opportunities.

  13. Opportunities for Launch Site Integrated System Health Engineering and Management

    Science.gov (United States)

    Waterman, Robert D.; Langwost, Patricia E.; Waterman, Susan J.

    2005-01-01

    The launch site processing flow involves operations such as functional verification, preflight servicing and launch. These operations often include hazards that must be controlled to protect human life and critical space hardware assets. Existing command and control capabilities are limited to simple limit checking durig automated monitoring. Contingency actions are highly dependent on human recognition, decision making, and execution. Many opportunities for Integrated System Health Engineering and Management (ISHEM) exist throughout the processing flow. This paper will present the current human-centered approach to health management as performed today for the shuttle and space station programs. In addition, it will address some of the more critical ISHEM needs, and provide recommendations for future implementation of ISHEM at the launch site.

  14. Opportunity's Surroundings on Sol 1818 (Vertical)

    Science.gov (United States)

    2009-01-01

    NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity used its navigation camera to take the images combined into this full-circle view of the rover's surroundings during the 1,818th Martian day, or sol, of Opportunity's surface mission (March 5, 2009). South is at the center; north at both ends. This view is presented as a vertical projection with geometric seam correction. North is at the top. The rover had driven 80.3 meters (263 feet) southward earlier on that sol. Tracks from the drive recede northward in this view. The terrain in this portion of Mars' Meridiani Planum region includes dark-toned sand ripples and lighter-toned bedrock.

  15. Opportunity's Surroundings on Sol 1818 (Polar)

    Science.gov (United States)

    2009-01-01

    NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity used its navigation camera to take the images combined into this full-circle view of the rover's surroundings during the 1,818th Martian day, or sol, of Opportunity's surface mission (March 5, 2009). South is at the center; north at both ends. This view is presented as a polar projection with geometric seam correction. North is at the top. The rover had driven 80.3 meters (263 feet) southward earlier on that sol. Tracks from the drive recede northward in this view. The terrain in this portion of Mars' Meridiani Planum region includes dark-toned sand ripples and lighter-toned bedrock.

  16. Cyberlearning for Climate Literacy: Challenges and Opportunities

    Science.gov (United States)

    McCaffrey, M. S.; Buhr, S. M.; Gold, A. U.; Ledley, T. S.; Mooney, M. E.; Niepold, F.

    2010-12-01

    Cyberlearning tools provide cost and carbon-efficient avenues for fostering a climate literate society through online engagement with learners. With climate change education becoming a Presidential Priority in 2009, funding for grants from NSF, NASA and NOAA is leading to a new generation of cyberlearning resources that supplement existing online resources. This paper provides an overview of challenges and opportunities relating to the online delivery of high quality, often complex climate science by examining several existing and emerging efforts, including the Climate Literacy and Energy Awareness Network (CLEAN,) a National Science Digital Library Pathway, the development by CIRES Education and Outreach of the Inspiring Climate Education Excellence (ICEE) online course, TERC’s Earth Exploration Toolbook (EET,) DataTools, and EarthLab modules, the NOAA Climate Stewards Education Program (CSEP) that utilizes the NSTA E-Learning Center, online efforts by members of the Federation of Earth Science Information Partners (ESIP), UCAR’s Climate Discovery program, and the Climate Adaptation, Mitigation e-Learning (CAMeL) project. In addition, we will summarize outcomes of the Cyberlearning for Climate Literacy workshop held in Washington DC in the Fall of 2009 and examine opportunities for teachers to develop and share their own lesson plans based on climate-related web resources that currently lack built-in learning activities, assessments or teaching tips.

  17. Data center virtualization and its economic implications for the companies

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Cristian STEFAN

    2009-05-01

    Full Text Available In the current situation of the economic crisis, when companies target budgetcuttings in a context of an explosive data growth, the IT community must evaluate potentialtechnology developments not only on their technical advantages, but on their economiceffects as well. More then ever, the old cliché “doing more things with fewer resources” istrue today. Many IT companies started building very large facilities, called data centers(DCs or Internet DC (IDCs, which provide businesses a wide range of solutions forsystems deployment and operation. In recent years, the IT departments around the worldhave moved from data center and infrastructure consolidation to virtualization.Data center virtualization is the process of aligning available resources with the actualneeds of the offered services, moving from physical servers to virtual servers, sharing andprovisioning servers, networks, storage, and applications. By taking advantage of threebasic innovations — virtualization, tiered storage architectures and dynamic provisioningsoftware — an organization can achieve greater efficiencies in their current computingenvironment.Such a unified computing architecture offers end-to-end virtualization; all structures areoptimized for virtualized environments, from the CPU to the aggregation layer. Incombination with embedded management, this new approach increases responsiveness andreduces the opportunities for human error, improving consistency and reducing server andnetwork deployment times.

  18. Propane: North American opportunities

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Dempsey, C.

    1992-01-01

    Opportunities for expanding the propane market in North America are discussed. The goal of change should be to enhance client satisfaction and loyalty. The current customer base is largely comprised of pick-up trucks, vans and buses in commercial fleet service, police and similar fleet service and privately owned vehicles. Opportunities for the expansion of propane exist due to: vehicles being kept and lasting longer, allowing a longer pay-back time; exhaust emission standards becoming more stringent; the possible introduction of emission standards for substances currently not controlled; and properly combusted CO 2 emissions that are at least 12% lower than gasoline. The continuing development of engine fuel management systems, application of extensive road/highway experience, matching supply and refuelling infrastructure to consumer demands, application in air quality non-attainment areas, and original equipment manufacturer, government and industry cooperation are discussed. 8 figs

  19. Career opportunities in oncology.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Farrow, L

    Oncology nursing offers nurses a wide range of opportunities. Nurses need a wide range of skills in order to care for patients who may have acute oncological illnesses or require palliative care. The nature of the nurse/patient relationship can be intense. Nurses generally find this enhances job satisfaction. The pressures exerted on nurses working in oncology can be immense. Oncology nursing is rewarding but very demanding and therefore the nurse has to be resourceful. Early career planning is advisable to take advantage of the opportunities that are currently available.

  20. 75 FR 39953 - Modification to the Basic Center Program Funding Opportunity Announcement

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-07-13

    .... Announcement Type: Modification. Funding Opportunity Number: HHS-2010-ACF-ACYF-CY-0002. CFDA Number: 93.623... points. Margins less than \\1/2\\ inch: Deduction of 3 points. Font is not at least 12-point size or Times...

  1. The ability of current micro-velocity models to represent center-limb line profiles

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Evans, J.C.; Testerman, L.

    1975-01-01

    Results are presented on the ability of microturbulences, LTE line formation and a homogeneous thermal model to realistically represent the center-limb variation of temporally and spacially averaged solar line profiles. Three somewhat similar semi-empirical thermal models have been used in combination with five current microturbulence models which cover the gamut of homogeneous-isotropic to nonhomogeneous-anisotropic. From high resolution photoelectric data for (lambdalambda 5000-6000 at five μ-values(1,0.63,0.4,0.25,0.16) obtained at KPNO, were selected 17 Fe I and 5 Fe II line profiles to be unblended and symmetrized for study. An iterative scheme has been developed to calculate theoretical profiles for the various combination of models and compare them to the observed profile using the abundance at each limb position and the magnitude of the pressure broadening at the center of the disc as parameters. It was found that a microturbulence model, for which the radial and tangential components increase into deeper layers with xisub(tan)>xisub(rad), produces a reasonable good center-limb fit for lines less than 100mA. However for lines stronger than 140mA, microturbulence models with no depth dependence produce the best match between theory and observation. Thus there is reason to question the uniqueness of the microturbulence concept. (Auth.)

  2. University of Kentucky Center for Applied Energy Research

    Science.gov (United States)

    University of Kentucky Center for Applied Energy Research Search Help Research Our Expertise University of Kentucky Center for Applied Energy Research | An Equal Opportunity University All Rights Remediation Power Generation CAER TechFacts CAER Factsheets CAER Affiliations Research Contacts Publications

  3. Ecological opportunity and the adaptive diversification of lineages.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wellborn, Gary A; Langerhans, R Brian

    2015-01-01

    The tenet that ecological opportunity drives adaptive diversification has been central to theories of speciation since Darwin, yet no widely accepted definition or mechanistic framework for the concept currently exists. We propose a definition for ecological opportunity that provides an explicit mechanism for its action. In our formulation, ecological opportunity refers to environmental conditions that both permit the persistence of a lineage within a community, as well as generate divergent natural selection within that lineage. Thus, ecological opportunity arises from two fundamental elements: (1) niche availability, the ability of a population with a phenotype previously absent from a community to persist within that community and (2) niche discordance, the diversifying selection generated by the adaptive mismatch between a population's niche-related traits and the newly encountered ecological conditions. Evolutionary response to ecological opportunity is primarily governed by (1) spatiotemporal structure of ecological opportunity, which influences dynamics of selection and development of reproductive isolation and (2) diversification potential, the biological properties of a lineage that determine its capacity to diversify. Diversification under ecological opportunity proceeds as an increase in niche breadth, development of intraspecific ecotypes, speciation, and additional cycles of diversification that may themselves be triggered by speciation. Extensive ecological opportunity may exist in depauperate communities, but it is unclear whether ecological opportunity abates in species-rich communities. Because ecological opportunity should generally increase during times of rapid and multifarious environmental change, human activities may currently be generating elevated ecological opportunity - but so far little work has directly addressed this topic. Our framework highlights the need for greater synthesis of community ecology and evolutionary biology, unifying

  4. Room Temperature Magnetic Determination of the Current Center Line for the ITER TF Coils

    CERN Document Server

    Lerch, Philippe; Buzio, Marco; Negrazus, Marco; Baynham, Elwyn; Sanfilippo, Stephane; Foussat, Arnaud

    2014-01-01

    The ITER tokamak includes 18 superconducting D-shaped toroidal field (IT) coils. Unavoidable shape deformations as well as assembly errors will lead to field errors, which can be modeled with the knowledge of the current center line (CCL). Accurate survey during the entire manufacturing and assembly process, including transfer of survey points, is complex. In order to increase the level of confidence, a room temperature magnetic measurement of the CCL on assembled and closed winding packs is foreseen, prior to insertion into their cold case. In this contribution, we discuss the principle of the CCL determination and present a low frequency ac measurement system under development at PSI, within an ITER framework contract. The largest current allowed to flow in the TF coil at room temperature and the precision requirements for the determination of the CCL loci of the coil are hard boundaries. Eddy currents in the radial plates, the winding pack enclosures, and possibly from iron in the reinforced concrete floor...

  5. Book clubs--outreach opportunities for hospital libraries.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Stephenson, Priscilla L; Clever, Shannon; Coady, Teresa R; Ender, Deniz; Heyd, Michael; Peth, Sara

    2014-01-01

    Book clubs and discussion groups provide opportunities for hospital librarians to reach out to staff from all areas of their facilities while introducing them to literature reflecting participants' personal and professional interests. Librarians presenting these case studies have coordinated local book clubs where topics ranged from titles about the nature of healing, to leadership development, and patient-centered care. Some also included contemporary novels of interest to participants. No matter the setting or scope of material discussed, each group has provided unique networking opportunities for staff to meet others working in various departments of their facilities.

  6. Human-Centered Design Capability

    Science.gov (United States)

    Fitts, David J.; Howard, Robert

    2009-01-01

    For NASA, human-centered design (HCD) seeks opportunities to mitigate the challenges of living and working in space in order to enhance human productivity and well-being. Direct design participation during the development stage is difficult, however, during project formulation, a HCD approach can lead to better more cost-effective products. HCD can also help a program enter the development stage with a clear vision for product acquisition. HCD tools for clarifying design intent are listed. To infuse HCD into the spaceflight lifecycle the Space and Life Sciences Directorate developed the Habitability Design Center. The Center has collaborated successfully with program and project design teams and with JSC's Engineering Directorate. This presentation discusses HCD capabilities and depicts the Center's design examples and capabilities.

  7. The Availability of Slow and Fast Calories in the Dutch Diet: The Current Situation and Opportunities for Interventions.

    Science.gov (United States)

    van den Boer, Janet; Werts, Melanie; Siebelink, Els; de Graaf, Cees; Mars, Monica

    2017-10-02

    Choosing foods that require more time to consume and have a low energy density might constitute an effective strategy to control energy intake, because of their satiating capacity. The current study assessed the eating rate of Dutch food, and investigated the associations between eating rate and other food properties. We also explored the opportunities for a diet with a low energy intake rate (kJ/min). Laboratory data on the eating rate of 240 foods-representing the whole Dutch diet-was obtained. The results show a wide variation in both eating rate (from 2 g/min for rice waffle to 641 g/min for apple juice) and energy intake rate (from 0 kJ/min (0 kcal/min) for water to 1766 kJ/min (422 kcal/min) for chocolate milk). Eating rate was lower when foods were more solid. Moreover, eating rate was positively associated with water content and inversely with energy density. Energy intake rate differed substantially between and within food groups, demonstrating that the available foods provide opportunities for selecting alternatives with a lower energy intake rate. These findings offer guidance when selecting foods to reduce energy intake.

  8. The Availability of Slow and Fast Calories in the Dutch Diet: The Current Situation and Opportunities for Interventions

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Janet van den Boer

    2017-10-01

    Full Text Available Choosing foods that require more time to consume and have a low energy density might constitute an effective strategy to control energy intake, because of their satiating capacity. The current study assessed the eating rate of Dutch food, and investigated the associations between eating rate and other food properties. We also explored the opportunities for a diet with a low energy intake rate (kJ/min. Laboratory data on the eating rate of 240 foods—representing the whole Dutch diet—was obtained. The results show a wide variation in both eating rate (from 2 g/min for rice waffle to 641 g/min for apple juice and energy intake rate (from 0 kJ/min (0 kcal/min for water to 1766 kJ/min (422 kcal/min for chocolate milk. Eating rate was lower when foods were more solid. Moreover, eating rate was positively associated with water content and inversely with energy density. Energy intake rate differed substantially between and within food groups, demonstrating that the available foods provide opportunities for selecting alternatives with a lower energy intake rate. These findings offer guidance when selecting foods to reduce energy intake.

  9. Current status of endovascular catheter robotics.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lumsden, Alan B; Bismuth, Jean

    2018-06-01

    In this review, we will detail the evolution of endovascular therapy as the basis for the development of catheter-based robotics. In parallel, we will outline the evolution of robotics in the surgical space and how the convergence of technology and the entrepreneurs who push this evolution have led to the development of endovascular robots. The current state-of-the-art and future directions and potential are summarized for the reader. Information in this review has been drawn primarily from our personal clinical and preclinical experience in use of catheter robotics, coupled with some ground-breaking work reported from a few other major centers who have embraced the technology's capabilities and opportunities. Several case studies demonstrating the unique capabilities of a precisely controlled catheter are presented. Most of the preclinical work was performed in the advanced imaging and navigation laboratory. In this unique facility, the interface of advanced imaging techniques and robotic guidance is being explored. Although this procedure employs a very high-tech approach to navigation inside the endovascular space, we have conveyed the kind of opportunities that this technology affords to integrate 3D imaging and 3D control. Further, we present the opportunity of semi-autonomous motion of these devices to a target. For the interventionist, enhanced precision can be achieved in a nearly radiation-free environment.

  10. S'COOL Provides Research Opportunities and Current Data for Today's Technological Classroom

    Science.gov (United States)

    Green, Carolyn J.; Chambers, Lin H.; Racel, Anne M.

    1999-01-01

    NASA's Students' Cloud Observations On-Line (S'COOL) project, a hands-on educational project, was an innovative idea conceived by the scientists in the Radiation Sciences Branch at NASA Langley Research Center, Hampton, Virginia, in 1996. It came about after a local teacher expressed the idea that she wanted her students to be involved in real-life science. S'COOL supports NASA's Clouds and the Earth's Radiant Energy System (CERES) instrument, which was launched on the Tropical Rainforest Measuring Mission (TRMM) in November, 1997, as part of NASA's Earth Science Enterprise. With the S'COOL project students observe clouds and related weather conditions, compute data and note vital information while obtaining ground truth observations for the CERES instrument. The observations can then be used to help validate the CERES measurements, particularly detection of clear sky from space. In addition to meeting math, science and geography standards, students are engaged in using the computer to obtain, report and analyze current data, thus bringing modern technology into the realm of classroom, a paradigm that demands our attention.

  11. 42 CFR 435.906 - Opportunity to apply.

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-10-01

    ... 42 Public Health 4 2010-10-01 2010-10-01 false Opportunity to apply. 435.906 Section 435.906 Public Health CENTERS FOR MEDICARE & MEDICAID SERVICES, DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES (CONTINUED) MEDICAL ASSISTANCE PROGRAMS ELIGIBILITY IN THE STATES, DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA, THE NORTHERN MARIANA ISLANDS, AND AMERICAN SAMOA Eligibility in the...

  12. 42 CFR 405.374 - Opportunity for rebuttal.

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-10-01

    ... 42 Public Health 2 2010-10-01 2010-10-01 false Opportunity for rebuttal. 405.374 Section 405.374 Public Health CENTERS FOR MEDICARE & MEDICAID SERVICES, DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES MEDICARE PROGRAM FEDERAL HEALTH INSURANCE FOR THE AGED AND DISABLED Suspension of Payment, Recovery of Overpayments, and Repayment of Scholarships and...

  13. Opportunities for Space Science Education Using Current and Future Solar System Missions

    Science.gov (United States)

    Matiella Novak, M.; Beisser, K.; Butler, L.; Turney, D.

    2010-12-01

    The Education and Public Outreach (E/PO) office in The Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory (APL) Space Department strives to excite and inspire the next generation of explorers by creating interactive education experiences. Since 1959, APL engineers and scientists have designed, built, and launched 61 spacecraft and over 150 instruments involved in space science. With the vast array of current and future Solar System exploration missions available, endless opportunities exist for education programs to incorporate the real-world science of these missions. APL currently has numerous education and outreach programs tailored for K-12 formal and informal education, higher education, and general outreach communities. Current programs focus on Solar System exploration missions such as the Compact Reconnaissance Imaging Spectrometer for Mars (CRISM), Miniature Radio Frequency (Mini-RF) Moon explorer, the Radiation Belt Storm Probes (RBSP), New Horizons mission to Pluto, and the Thermosphere Ionosphere Mesosphere Energetics and Dynamics (TIMED) Satellite, to name a few. Education and outreach programs focusing on K-12 formal education include visits to classrooms, summer programs for middle school students, and teacher workshops. APL hosts a Girl Power event and a STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) Day each year. Education and outreach specialists hold teacher workshops throughout the year to train educators in using NASA spacecraft science in their lesson plans. High school students from around the U.S. are able to engage in NASA spacecraft science directly by participating in the Mars Exploration Student Data Teams (MESDT) and the Student Principal Investigator Programs. An effort is also made to generate excitement for future missions by focusing on what mysteries will be solved. Higher education programs are used to recruit and train the next generation of scientists and engineers. The NASA/APL Summer Internship Program offers a

  14. Energy Efficient Industrialized Housing Research Program, Center for Housing Innovation, University of Oregon and the Florida Solar Energy Center

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Brown, G.Z.

    1990-01-01

    This research program addresses the need to increase the energy efficiency of industrialized housing. Two research centers have responsibility for the program: the Center for Housing Innovation at the University of Oregon and the Florida Solar Energy Center, a research institute of the University of Central Florida. The two organizations provide complementary architectural, systems engineering, and industrial engineering capabilities. In 1989 we worked on these tasks: (1) the formation of a steering committee, (2) the development of a multiyear research plan, (3) analysis of the US industrialized housing industry, (4) assessment of foreign technology, (5) assessment of industrial applications, (6) analysis of computerized design and evaluation tools, and (7) assessment of energy performance of baseline and advanced industrialized housing concepts. The current research program, under the guidance of a steering committee composed of industry and government representatives, focuses on three interdependent concerns -- (1) energy, (2) industrial process, and (3) housing design. Building homes in a factory offers the opportunity to increase energy efficiency through the use of new materials and processes, and to increase the value of these homes by improving the quality of their construction. Housing design strives to ensure that these technically advanced homes are marketable and will meet the needs of the people who will live in them.

  15. Current Status of Operation and Management of Dental School Clinics.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Reinhardt, John W

    2017-08-01

    This article summarizes the current status of the operation and management of dental school clinics as schools strive to provide excellent patient-centered care in an environment that is educationally sound, efficient, and financially strong. Clinical education is a large component of dental education and an area in which many dental schools have an opportunity to enhance revenue. Clinical efficiencies and alternative models of clinical education are evolving in U.S. dental schools, and this article describes some of those evolutionary changes. This article was written as part of the project "Advancing Dental Education in the 21 st Century."

  16. 20 CFR 638.541 - Job Corps training opportunities.

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-04-01

    ... 20 Employees' Benefits 3 2010-04-01 2010-04-01 false Job Corps training opportunities. 638.541 Section 638.541 Employees' Benefits EMPLOYMENT AND TRAINING ADMINISTRATION, DEPARTMENT OF LABOR JOB CORPS PROGRAM UNDER TITLE IV-B OF THE JOB TRAINING PARTNERSHIP ACT Center Operations § 638.541 Job Corps...

  17. Theme: Staying Current--Horticulture.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Shry, Carroll L., Jr.; And Others

    1986-01-01

    This theme issue on staying current in horticulture includes articles on sex equity in horticulture, Future Farmers of America, career opportunities in horticulture, staying current with your school district's needs, staying current in horticulture instruction, staying current with landscape trade associations, emphasizing the basics in vocational…

  18. Small Business Innovation Research, Post-Phase II Opportunity Assessment

    Science.gov (United States)

    Nguyen, Hung D.; Steele, Gynelle C.

    2015-01-01

    This report outlines current Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Post-Phase II opportunity contract award results for the SBIR technology program from 2007 to 2011 for NASA's Aeronautics Research Mission Directorate (ARMD), Human Exploration and Operations Mission Directorate (HEOMD), Science Mission Directorate (SMD), and Space Technology Mission Directorate (STMD). The report provides guidelines for incorporating SBIR technology into NASA programs and projects and provides a quantitative overview of the post-Phase II award patterns that correspond with each mission directorate at NASA Glenn Research Center (GRC). In recent years, one of NASA's goals has been to not only transfer SBIR technologies to commercial industries, but to ensure that NASA mission directorates incorporate SBIR technologies into their program and project activities. Before incorporating technologies into MD programs, it is important to understand each mission directorate structure because each directorate has different objectives and needs. The directorate program structures follow.

  19. Current nanoscience and nanoengineering at the Center for ...

    Indian Academy of Sciences (India)

    The Center for Nanoscale Science and Engineering (CeNSE) at the University of ... molecular electronics, nanotube FETs), nanotem-plates for electronics and gas sensors ... This paper provides glimpses of this research and future directions.

  20. Kennedy Space Center Spaceport Analysis

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wary, Samantha A.

    2013-01-01

    Until the Shuttle Atlantis' final landing on July 21, 2011, Kennedy Space Center (KSC) served as NASA's main spaceport, which is a launch and landing facility for rockets and spacecraft that are attempting to enter orbit. Many of the facilities at KSC were created to assist the Shuttle Program. One of the most important and used facilities is the Shuttle Landing Facility (SLF), This was the main landing area for the return of the shuttle after her mission in space. · However, the SLF has also been used for a number of other projects including straight-line testing by Gibbs Racing, weather data collection by NOAA, and an airfield for the KSC helicopters. This runway is three miles long with control tower at midfield and a fire department located at the end in care of an emergency. This facility, which was part of the great space race, will continue to be used for historical events as Kennedy begins to commercialize its facilities. KSC continues to be an important spaceport to the government, and it will transform into an important spaceport for the commercial industry as well. During my internship at KSC's Center Planning and Development Directorate, I had the opportunity to be a part of the negotiation team working on the agreement for Space Florida to control the Shuttle Landing Facility. This gave me the opportunity to learn about all the changes that are occurring here at Kennedy Space Center. Through various meetings, I discovered the Master Plan and its focus is to transform the existing facilities that were primarily used for the Shuttle Program, to support government operations and commercial flights in the future. This. idea is also in a new strategic business plan and completion of a space industry market analysis. All of these different documentations were brought to my attention and I. saw how they came together in the discussions of transitioning the SLF to a commercial operator, Space Florida. After attending meetings and partaking in discussions for

  1. Senior Centers and Policy Advocacy: Changing Public Perceptions

    Science.gov (United States)

    Pardasani, Manoj; Goldkind, Lauri

    2012-01-01

    As critical components of the aging continuum of care, senior centers promote older adult health and well-being by providing opportunities for recreation, socialization, nutrition, health education, and access to vital social services. Nationally, a vast network of 11,000 senior centers serves over four million older adults annually. As the United…

  2. Variation in Structure and Process of Care in Traumatic Brain Injury: Provider Profiles of European Neurotrauma Centers Participating in the CENTER-TBI Study.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Maryse C Cnossen

    Full Text Available The strength of evidence underpinning care and treatment recommendations in traumatic brain injury (TBI is low. Comparative effectiveness research (CER has been proposed as a framework to provide evidence for optimal care for TBI patients. The first step in CER is to map the existing variation. The aim of current study is to quantify variation in general structural and process characteristics among centers participating in the Collaborative European NeuroTrauma Effectiveness Research in Traumatic Brain Injury (CENTER-TBI study.We designed a set of 11 provider profiling questionnaires with 321 questions about various aspects of TBI care, chosen based on literature and expert opinion. After pilot testing, questionnaires were disseminated to 71 centers from 20 countries participating in the CENTER-TBI study. Reliability of questionnaires was estimated by calculating a concordance rate among 5% duplicate questions.All 71 centers completed the questionnaires. Median concordance rate among duplicate questions was 0.85. The majority of centers were academic hospitals (n = 65, 92%, designated as a level I trauma center (n = 48, 68% and situated in an urban location (n = 70, 99%. The availability of facilities for neuro-trauma care varied across centers; e.g. 40 (57% had a dedicated neuro-intensive care unit (ICU, 36 (51% had an in-hospital rehabilitation unit and the organization of the ICU was closed in 64% (n = 45 of the centers. In addition, we found wide variation in processes of care, such as the ICU admission policy and intracranial pressure monitoring policy among centers.Even among high-volume, specialized neurotrauma centers there is substantial variation in structures and processes of TBI care. This variation provides an opportunity to study effectiveness of specific aspects of TBI care and to identify best practices with CER approaches.

  3. Unexplored therapeutic opportunities in the human genome.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Oprea, Tudor I; Bologa, Cristian G; Brunak, Søren; Campbell, Allen; Gan, Gregory N; Gaulton, Anna; Gomez, Shawn M; Guha, Rajarshi; Hersey, Anne; Holmes, Jayme; Jadhav, Ajit; Jensen, Lars Juhl; Johnson, Gary L; Karlson, Anneli; Leach, Andrew R; Ma'ayan, Avi; Malovannaya, Anna; Mani, Subramani; Mathias, Stephen L; McManus, Michael T; Meehan, Terrence F; von Mering, Christian; Muthas, Daniel; Nguyen, Dac-Trung; Overington, John P; Papadatos, George; Qin, Jun; Reich, Christian; Roth, Bryan L; Schürer, Stephan C; Simeonov, Anton; Sklar, Larry A; Southall, Noel; Tomita, Susumu; Tudose, Ilinca; Ursu, Oleg; Vidovic, Dušica; Waller, Anna; Westergaard, David; Yang, Jeremy J; Zahoránszky-Köhalmi, Gergely

    2018-05-01

    A large proportion of biomedical research and the development of therapeutics is focused on a small fraction of the human genome. In a strategic effort to map the knowledge gaps around proteins encoded by the human genome and to promote the exploration of currently understudied, but potentially druggable, proteins, the US National Institutes of Health launched the Illuminating the Druggable Genome (IDG) initiative in 2014. In this article, we discuss how the systematic collection and processing of a wide array of genomic, proteomic, chemical and disease-related resource data by the IDG Knowledge Management Center have enabled the development of evidence-based criteria for tracking the target development level (TDL) of human proteins, which indicates a substantial knowledge deficit for approximately one out of three proteins in the human proteome. We then present spotlights on the TDL categories as well as key drug target classes, including G protein-coupled receptors, protein kinases and ion channels, which illustrate the nature of the unexplored opportunities for biomedical research and therapeutic development.

  4. Opportunity's Surroundings After Sol 1820 Drive

    Science.gov (United States)

    2009-01-01

    NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity used its navigation camera to take the images combined into this full-circle view of the rover's surroundings during the 1,820th to 1,822nd Martian days, or sols, of Opportunity's surface mission (March 7 to 9, 2009). South is at the center; north at both ends. The rover had driven 20.6 meters toward the northwest on Sol 1820 before beginning to take the frames in this view. Tracks from that drive recede southwestward. For scale, the distance between the parallel wheel tracks is about 1 meter (about 40 inches). The terrain in this portion of Mars' Meridiani Planum region includes dark-toned sand ripples and small exposures of lighter-toned bedrock. This view is presented as a cylindrical projection with geometric seam correction.

  5. Opportunities in independent gas storage

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Daniel, R.

    1999-01-01

    The range of business opportunities currently available for the midstream oil and gas business were discussed with particular focus on storage opportunities. Alberta Energy Co. (AEC) Ltd.'s two midstream business units include AEC Pipelines and Gas Processing, and AEC Storage and Hub Services. These two businesses provide the company with good investment returns, stable cash flow, and some significant strategic synergies with their exploration and production businesses. In 1988, the AECO C Hub in southeastern Alberta was created as an outgrowth of AEC's gas production operations on the Suffield block, where they had depleted gas reservoirs with high rock quality suitable for high deliverability storage. With the AECO C Hub, AEC was able to offer firm storage contracts of from 1 to 20 years, and to introduce short term interruptible parking and lending services, title exchange, a spot price index for greater price discovery, and an electronic nomination system. AEC is currently completing construction of their second commercial storage facility, the Wild Goose project, in northern California. D ebottlenecking' the Western Canada supply basin should provide additional opportunities for further expansion not only for AEC but also for other midstream service providers. Opportunities are especially available in the areas of new storage facilities to serve location-specific needs, replacement of declining storage capacity, replacement of retiring facilities, technological optimization of existing facilities, more flexible, higher deliverability facilities and commercial optimization of existing facilities. A map of the hubs and market centres of North America are included. 5 figs

  6. SSERVI Opportunities for the Next Generation of Planetary Researchers

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bailey, B. E.; Day, B. H.; Minafra, J.; Baer, J.

    2015-12-01

    NASA's Solar System Exploration Research Virtual Institute (SSERVI) was founded as a virtual institute that provides interdisciplinary research centered on the goals of its supporting directorates: NASA Science Mission Directorate (SMD) and the Human Exploration & Operations Mission Directorate (HEOMD). SSERVI consists of a diverse set of domestic teams and (currently) nine international teams, ultimately represented by greater than 75 distinct research institutions and more than 450 individual researchers and EPO specialists. The decline in funding opportunities after the termination of the Apollo missions to the Moon in the early 1970's produced a large gap in both the scientific knowledge and experience of the original lunar Apollo researchers and the resurgent group of young lunar/NEA researchers that have emerged within the last 15 years. One of SSERVI's many goals is to bridge this gap through the many networking and scientific connections made between young researchers and established planetary principle investigators. To this end, SSERVI has supported the establishment of NextGen Lunar Scientists and Engineers group (NGLSE), a group of students and early-career professionals designed to build experience and provide networking opportunities to its members. SSERVI has also created the LunarGradCon, a scientific conference dedicated solely to graduate and undergraduate students working in the lunar field. Additionally, SSERVI produces monthly seminars and bi-yearly virtual workshops that introduce students to the wide variety of exploration science being performed in today's research labs. SSERVI also brokers opportunities for domestic and international student exchange between collaborating laboratories as well as internships at our member institutions. SSERVI provides a bridge that is essential to the continued international success of scientific, as well as human and robotic, exploration.

  7. Cultural Differences in Opportunity Cost Consideration.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zhang, Ning; Ji, Li-Jun; Li, Ye

    2017-01-01

    Two studies were conducted to investigate cultural differences in opportunity cost consideration between Chinese and Euro-Canadians. Opportunity cost is defined as the cost of a benefit that must be forgone in order to pursue a better alternative (Becker et al., 1974). In both studies, participants read about hypothetical purchase scenarios, and then decided whether they would buy a certain product. Opportunity cost consideration was measured in two ways: (1) participants' thoughts pertaining to other (nonfocal) products while making decisions; (2) participants' decisions not to buy a focal product (Study 1) or a more expensive product (Study 2). Across both indexes, we found that after controlling for individual difference variables and amount of pocket money, Chinese participants in China considered financial opportunity cost more than Euro-Canadians in Study 1. Similar results were observed in Study 2 when comparing Chinese in Canada with Euro-Canadians However, the cultural effect on opportunity cost consideration was confounded by family income in Study 2. Implications for resource management, limitations of the current research and directions for future research are discussed.

  8. Telecommunications: international opportunities for power utilities

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Lewis, A. [Teleglobe Canada, Ottawa, ON (Canada)

    1996-08-01

    International telecommunications services markets and trends were reviewed in an effort to identify business opportunities for Canadian power utilities. With increasing deregulation in the U.S. and Canada, and other countries around the globe, market opportunities are beginning to open up. In monopoly markets opportunities exist in providing dual infrastructures to upgrade both the power delivery services (frequently poor), and telecommunications. Billing, collection and customer service expertise might be other marketable commodities, perhaps packaged as part of a network provision project as a service to existing power and telecommunications service providers. In countries with directed competition markets local partnerships may be the only vehicle for entering the market. In managed competition markets opportunities were said to exist in cellular radio technology, as well as in switched telephone service, local, long distance, or international. In general, opportunities outside telecommunications-rich North America were considered to have better potential, due to rapid deregulation and higher current growth rates in telecommunications. Careful examination and research of the political and business environment prior to entering any of the potentially fertile areas was advised.

  9. Women at Work: The Myth of Equal Opportunity.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Piercy, Day; Krieter, Nancy

    The advances women have made in the past decade have created the myth that women have achieved equal opportunity in the job market. In reality, the opposite is true. The current economic status of women demonstrates the need for strict enforcement of equal opportunity laws. Department of Labor data indicate that the wage gap between men and women…

  10. Producing Cochrane systematic reviews-a qualitative study of current approaches and opportunities for innovation and improvement.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Turner, Tari; Green, Sally; Tovey, David; McDonald, Steve; Soares-Weiser, Karla; Pestridge, Charlotte; Elliott, Julian

    2017-08-01

    Producing high-quality, relevant systematic reviews and keeping them up to date is challenging. Cochrane is a leading provider of systematic reviews in health. For Cochrane to continue to contribute to improvements in heath, Cochrane Reviews must be rigorous, reliable and up to date. We aimed to explore existing models of Cochrane Review production and emerging opportunities to improve the efficiency and sustainability of these processes. To inform discussions about how to best achieve this, we conducted 26 interviews and an online survey with 106 respondents. Respondents highlighted the importance and challenge of creating reliable, timely systematic reviews. They described the challenges and opportunities presented by current production models, and they shared what they are doing to improve review production. They particularly highlighted significant challenges with increasing complexity of review methods; difficulty keeping authors on board and on track; and the length of time required to complete the process. Strong themes emerged about the roles of authors and Review Groups, the central actors in the review production process. The results suggest that improvements to Cochrane's systematic review production models could come from improving clarity of roles and expectations, ensuring continuity and consistency of input, enabling active management of the review process, centralising some review production steps; breaking reviews into smaller "chunks", and improving approaches to building capacity of and sharing information between authors and Review Groups. Respondents noted the important role new technologies have to play in enabling these improvements. The findings of this study will inform the development of new Cochrane Review production models and may provide valuable data for other systematic review producers as they consider how best to produce rigorous, reliable, up-to-date reviews.

  11. Wide Bandgap Semiconductor Opportunities in Power Electronics

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Das, Sujit [Oak Ridge National Lab. (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States); Marlino, Laura D. [Oak Ridge National Lab. (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States); Armstrong, Kristina O. [Oak Ridge National Lab. (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States)

    2018-01-01

    The report objective is to explore the Wide Bandgap (WBG) Power Electronics (PE) market, applications, and potential energy savings in order to identify key areas where further resources and investments of the U.S. Department of Energy’s Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (DOE EERE) would have the most impact on U.S. competiveness. After considering the current market, several potential near-term application areas were identified as having significant market and energy savings potential with respect to clean energy applications: (1) data centers (uninterruptible power supplies and server power supplies); (2) renewable energy generation (photovoltaic-solar and wind); (3) motor drives (industrial, commercial and residential); (4) rail traction; and, (5) hybrid and electric vehicles (traction and charging). After the initial explorative analyses, it became clear that, SiC, not GaN, would be the principal WBG power device material for the chosen markets in the near future. Therefore, while GaN is discussed when appropriate, this report focuses on SiC devices, other WBG applications (e.g., solid-state transformers, combined heat and power, medical, and wireless power), the GaN market, and GaN specific applications (e.g., LiDAR, 5G) will be explored at a later date. In addition to the market, supply and value chain analyses addressed in Section 1 of this report, a SWOT (Strength, Weakness, Opportunity, Threat) analysis and potential energy savings analysis was conducted for each application area to identify the major potential WBG application area(s) with a U.S. competitiveness opportunity in the future.

  12. Study into solar thermal electricity export opportunities for the UK

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    1996-01-01

    The overall objectives of the project described in this report were: to provide an assessment of the world-wide opportunities currently available for the development of high temperature solar thermal (H-TSTh) technology; to identify United Kingdom companies and expertise which could benefit from the exploitation of export markets for H-TSTh; to estimate the potential benefits to the UK of such exploitation; and to review the current status of H-TSTh technology. Despite limited involvement at present, it is concluded that the UK would be well placed with respect to longer term market opportunities if current developments by UK companies in fixed bowl technology and Stirling engines for dish Stirling system are successful. Opportunities also exist for turbine supply, civil contractors, insurance, finance and operation, but discussions with relevant UK companies has revealed only limited interest. (Author)

  13. The Childcare Center: an Untapped Opportunity to Engage and Educate Families in Healthy Behaviors.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Cloutier, Michelle M; Wiley, James F; Trapp, Christine; Haile, Jennifer; Gorin, Amy A

    2018-04-01

    Obesity rates in preschool children are high and disproportionately affect low-income children of color in the USA. Since 80% of preschool children spend ∼40 h/week in out-of-the home childcare, childcare centers are promising sites for obesity prevention interventions. Mixed methods were used to develop, implement, and assess the feasibility of an obesity prevention program for children 2-5 years. The intervention which consisted of brief (1-3 min), interactive, educational modules was developed by content experts and parents (n = 20) and targeted four areas (milk, sugar sweetened beverages, screen time, and physical activity). The modules were delivered by community health workers in the childcare center during pick-up and drop-off times, in small groups and home visits upon request. Focus groups with childcare center staff (n = 28) assessed satisfaction and interest in incorporating the intervention into care. Between February 2013 and March 2014, 354 caregivers (∼73%) at six centers participated in one or more educational sessions. Of children, 37.4% in 2013 and 35.9% in 2014 were overweight or obese. Children entering preschool in 2014 were more likely to be overweight/obese than children who had been in the center since 2013 (36.2 vs 23.2%, p < 0.05). Childcare staff endorsed the intervention and received training to continue the program. Brief, interactive health-related behavior-change interventions engaged large numbers of low-income caregivers at childcare centers and resonated with center staff. Childcare center staff represent an underutilized resource to combat the childhood obesity epidemic.

  14. Research and career opportunities for chemists in nuclear medicine

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Welch, M.J.

    1989-01-01

    Two recent publications [Training Requirements for Chemists in Nuclear Medicine, Nuclear Industry, and Related Areas: Report of a Workshop National Academy Press, Washington, D.C., 1988, and Report of the Society of Nuclear Medicine Manpower Committee, Journal of Nuclear Medicine, January, 1989] have emphasized the opportunities for Chemists in Nuclear Medicine. These opportunities exist in Medical Centers, the Radiopharmaceutical Drug Industry as well as the Ethical Drug Industry of particular importance of the need for organic and inorganic chemists with knowledge and experience in radiochemistry to develop and prepare the radiopharmaceuticals needed for the Nuclear Medicine community. The number of positions available at present and anticipated in the future will be compared and the number of training programs listed. Examples of the types of opportunities in this area will be given

  15. A synopsis on current practice in the diagnosis and management of patients with Turner syndrome in Turkey: A survey of 18 pediatric endocrinology centers*

    Science.gov (United States)

    Uçar, Ahmet; Abacı, Ayhan; Pirgon, Özgür; Dündar, Bumin; Tütüncüler, Filiz; Çatlı, Gönül; Anık, Ahmet; Kılınç Uğurlu, Aylin; Büyükgebiz, Atilla

    2018-04-27

    A comprehensive survey was conducted courtesy of the Turkish Turner study group to evaluate the shortcomings of clinical care in patients with Turner syndrome (TS) in Turkey. A structured questionnaire prepared by the Turner study group in Turkey, which covers relevant aspects of the care of patients with TS, was sent to all pediatric endocrinology centers. Eighteen centers (41%) returned the questionnaire. In the majority of the centers, diagnostic genetic testing, screening for Y chromosomal material, protocols regarding the timing and posology of growth hormone (GH) and estrogen, thrombophilia screening, fertility information, and screening for glucose intolerance, thyroid, and coeliac diseases in patients with TS were in line with the current consensus. Thirteen centers (72.2%) performed GH stimulation tests. Only four centers (22.2%) used oxandrolone in patients with TS with very short stature. The majority of the centers relied on bone age and breast development to assess estrogen adequacy, though together with variable combinations of oestrogen surrogates. Two centers (11.1%) reported performing serum estradiol measurements. Eight centers (44.4% ) routinely conducted cardiac/thoracic aorta magnetic resonance imaging. Screening for hearing, dental, and ophthalmologic problems were performed by thirteen (72.2%), six (33.3%), and ten (55.6 %) centers, respectively. Psychiatric assessments were made by four centers (22.2%) at diagnosis, with only one center (5.6% ) requiring annual reassessments. Although we found some conformity between the current consensus and practice of the participating centers in Turkey regarding TS, further improvements are mandatory in the multi-disciplinary approach to address co-morbidities, which if unrecognized, may be associated with reduced quality of life, and even mortality.

  16. On the ATW-concepts: ITP approach and opportunities

    Science.gov (United States)

    Simonenko, V. A.; Grebyonkin, K. F.

    1995-09-01

    It is discussed the interest of Russian Federal Nuclear Center-Institute of Technical Physics at Chelyabinsk-70 in the research of Accelerator Driven Technologies applications for radioactive waste transmutation, cumulated actinides burning, energy production. The ITP background and opportunities for this research are presented. It is shown the ITP possibilities for testing and experimental development of Accelerator Driven Technologies.

  17. On the ATW-concepts: ITP approach and opportunities

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Simonenko, V.A.; Gregyonkin, K.F. [Institute of Technical Physics, Chelyabinsk (Russian Federation)

    1995-10-01

    It is discussed the interest of Russian Federal Nuclear Center - Institute of Technical Physics at Chelyabinsk-70 in the research of Accelerator Driven Technologies applications for radioactive waste transmutation, cumulated actinides burning, energy production. The ITP background and opportunities for this research are presented. It is shown the ITP possibilities for testing and experimental development of Accelerator Driven Technologies.

  18. Rehabilitation centers: marketing analysis and future challenges.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Chandra, Ashish; Stroube, William B; Willis, William K

    2014-01-01

    A rehabilitation center is another form of health care organization that specializes in providing care for particular conditions of patients. Patients admitted in rehab centers range from being accident victims to those suffering with a specific illness. These organizations are becoming extremely valuable in providing patient care services. However, they have not marketed themselves as aggressively as other health care organizations. This article provides an insight regarding rehab centers and examines marketing issues using a SWOT (strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats) analysis. It further provides some future prospects and challenges for marketers of these organizations.

  19. A Three Dimensional Picture of Galactic Center Mass Flows From Kiloparsec to Subparsec Scales

    Science.gov (United States)

    Mills, Elisabeth A.

    2018-06-01

    The centers of galaxies host extreme and energetic phenomena, from the amassing of incredibly dense reservoirs of gas to nuclear starbursts producing tens to hundreds of solar masses per year to accreting supermassive black holes launching jets. All of these are found on compact scales from hundreds of parsecs to less than a microparsec. The nearest laboratory for examining these processes is the center of our own Milky Way Galaxy. Although the black hole is not currently active and the star formation rate is relatively low, it is still our best opportunity for detailed insight into the processes that regulate the growth of the central supermassive black hole. By providing access to mid and far infrared wavelengths, SOFIA plays a unique role in connecting large and small scales in the Galactic center and studying the cycling of gas through this region. In this talk I will highlight several key open questions and outline the role that SOFIA continues to play in answering them.

  20. Tooth Matrix Analysis for Biomonitoring of Organic Chemical Exposure: Current Status, Challenges, and Opportunities

    Science.gov (United States)

    Andra, Syam S.; Austin, Christine; Arora, Manish

    2015-01-01

    Epidemiological evidence supports associations between prenatal exposure to environmental organic chemicals and childhood health impairments. Unlike the common choice of biological matrices such as urine and blood that can be limited by short half-lives for some chemicals, teeth provide a stable repository for chemicals with half-life in the order of decades. Given the potential of the tooth bio-matrix to study long-term exposures to environmental organic chemicals in human biomonitoring programs, it is important to be aware of possible pitfalls and potential opportunities to improve on the current analytical method for tooth organics analysis. We critically review previous results of studies of this topic. The major drawbacks and challenges in currently practiced concepts and analytical methods in utilizing tooth bio-matrix are (i) no consideration of external (from outer surface) or internal contamination (from micro odontoblast processes), (ii) the misleading assumption that whole ground teeth represent prenatal exposures (latest formed dentine is lipid rich and therefore would absorb and accumulate more organic chemicals), (iii) reverse causality in exposure assessment due to whole ground teeth, and (iv) teeth are a precious bio-matrix and grinding them raises ethical concerns about appropriate use of a very limited resource in exposure biology and epidemiology studies. These can be overcome by addressing the important limitations and possible improvements with the analytical approach associated at each of the following steps (i) tooth sample preparation to retain exposure timing, (ii) organics extraction and pre-concentration to detect ultra-trace levels of analytes, (iii) chromatography separation, (iv) mass spectrometric detection to detect multi-class organics simultaneously, and (v) method validation, especially to exclude chance findings. To highlight the proposed improvements we present findings from a pilot study that utilizes tooth matrix biomarkers to

  1. University management-improvements and dilemma in the of equal opportunities

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Ph. d.PROFESSOR iORDACHE PLAT

    2011-12-01

    Full Text Available Equal opportunity is a relatively new concept which first of all must be understood, and then implemented as a premise and note as a result of current activities. Equal opportunity in organizations is a new way of achieving results and the modern management puts it as a necessary principle among old ones, such as benchmarking, corporate governance, customer relatioship marketing, experience curve, strategies alliances etc. This paper explains the equal opportunity in higher education institutions, their improvements and dilemma sin implementing equal opportunities.

  2. Wind-Sculpted Vicinity After Opportunity's Sol 1797 Drive

    Science.gov (United States)

    2009-01-01

    NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity used its navigation camera to take the images combined into this full-circle view of the rover's surroundings just after driving 111 meters (364 feet) on the 1,797th Martian day, or sol, of Opportunity's surface mission (Feb. 12, 2009). North is at the center; south at both ends. Tracks from the drive recede northward across dark-toned sand ripples in the Meridiani Planum region of Mars. Patches of lighter-toned bedrock are visible on the left and right sides of the image. For scale, the distance between the parallel wheel tracks is about 1 meter (about 40 inches). This view is presented as a cylindrical projection with geometric seam correction.

  3. Crowdsourcing healthcare costs: Opportunities and challenges for patient centered price transparency.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Meisel, Zachary F; VonHoltz, Lauren A Houdek; Merchant, Raina M

    2016-03-01

    Efforts to improve health care price transparency have garnered significant attention from patients, policy makers, and health insurers. In response to increasing consumer demand, state governments, insurance plans, and health care providers are reporting health care prices. However, such data often do not provide consumers with the most salient information: their own actual out-of-pocket cost for medical care. Although untested, crowdsourcing, a mechanism for the public to help answer complex questions, represents a potential solution to the problem of opaque hospital costs. This article explores, the challenges and potential opportunities for crowdsourcing out-of-pocket costs for healthcare consumers. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  4. Technologies for Learner-Centered Feedback

    Science.gov (United States)

    Costello, Jane; Crane, Daph

    2013-01-01

    As the number, type, and use of technologies to support learning increases, so do the opportunities for using these technologies for feedback. Learner-centered feedback is a core to the teaching-learning process. It is related to assessment in describing how learners perform in their learning, their gain in knowledge, skills, and attitudes.…

  5. The impact of managed care and current governmental policies on an urban academic health care center.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Rodriguez, J L; Peterson, D J; Muehlstedt, S G; Zera, R T; West, M A; Bubrick, M P

    2001-10-01

    Managed care and governmental policies have restructured hospital reimbursement. We examined reimbursement trends in trauma care to assess the impact of this market driven change on an urban academic health center. Patients injured between January 1997 and December 1999 were analyzed for Injury Severity Score (ISS), length of hospital stay, hospital cost, payer, and reimbursement. Between 1997 and 1999, the volume of patients with an ISS less than 9 increased and length of stay decreased. In addition, overall cost, payment, and profit margin increased. Commercially insured patients accounted for this margin increase, because the margins of managed care and government insured patients experienced double-digit decreases. Patients with ISS of 9 or greater also experienced a volume increase and a reduction in length of stay; however, costs within this group increased greater than payments, thereby reducing profit margin. Whereas commercially insured patients maintained their margin, managed care and government insured patients did not (double- and triple-digit decreases). Managed care and current governmental policies have a negative impact on urban academic health center reimbursement. Commercial insurers subsidize not only the uninsured but also the government insured and managed care patients as well. National awareness of this issue and policy action are paramount to urban academic health centers and may also benefit commercial insurers.

  6. Opportunity Design

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Nielsen, Louise Møller; Lassen, Astrid Heidemann; Tollestrup, Christian

    2012-01-01

    Creating and growing new businesses is basically about turning an entrepreneurial opportunity into future business. In literature the emergence of opportunities is often described as opportunity recognition or opportunity discovery, which points to the understanding that opportunities are out the...

  7. Current construction status of Korea Wolsong Nuclear Environment Management Center (low and intermediate level radioactive waste disposal facility)

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Suzuki, Yasuo

    2010-01-01

    Through the RANDEC delegation tour to Korea in Nov. 2009, we have earned new information on recent development of the radioactive waste management in Korea. In this report, we will introduce such development in Korea, focusing on the current construction status of Korean LILW (low and intermediate level radioactive waste) disposal site, now called, Wolsong Nuclear Environment Management Center. (author)

  8. Measuring Access to Learning Opportunities.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hawley, Willis D., Ed.; Ready, Timothy, Ed.

    This study examined the continued relevance and adequacy of the Elementary and Secondary School Civil Rights Compliance Report (E&S Survey) as a tool for enforcing civil rights laws in education, monitoring quality of access to learning opportunities, and research on other current issues of educational policy and practice. The Committee on…

  9. Network ties in the international opportunity recognition of family SMEs

    OpenAIRE

    Kontinen, Tanja; Ojala, Arto

    2011-01-01

    The importance of network ties is emphasized in the current literature on opportunity recognition. However, it is unclear how firms with limited bridging networks, such as family SMEs, recognize international opportunities through their network ties. In this case study we found that in gaining foreign market entry, those family SMEs that lack existing network ties recognize opportunities through weak ties formed in international exhibitions. The findings also indicate that rather than being p...

  10. Future landscapes: opportunities and challenges

    Science.gov (United States)

    John Stanturf

    2015-01-01

    The global magnitude of degraded and deforested areas is best approached by restoring landscapes. Heightened international perception of the importance of forests and trees outside forests (e.g., woodlands, on farms) demands new approaches to future landscapes. The current need for forest restoration is two billion ha; most opportunities are mosaic restoration in the...

  11. Market opportunities: U.S. - PADD IV

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Garner, R.P.

    1997-01-01

    The current supply and demand balance, the short and long term expectations and marketing opportunities for Canadian crude oil in PADD IV, the Rocky Mountain region in the US, were reviewed. It was suggested that market opportunities in PADD IV are derived from the following four factors: (1) crude oil declines within that area, (2) federal regulations, (3) competitive presence with markets, and (4) population growth. The overall conclusion was that Canadian producers and PADD IV refiners will be looking at an ever-growing relationship based on freight equalized world crude prices. 8 tabs., 5 figs

  12. Frost on Mars Rover Opportunity

    Science.gov (United States)

    2004-01-01

    Frost can form on surfaces if enough water is present and the temperature is sufficiently low. On each of NASA's Mars Exploration Rovers, the calibration target for the panoramic camera provides a good place to look for such events. A thin frost was observed by Opportunity's panoramic camera on the rover's 257th sol (Oct. 13, 2004) 11 minutes after sunrise (left image). The presence of the frost is most clearly seen on the post in the center of the target, particularly when compared with the unsegmented outer ring of the target, which is white. The post is normally black. For comparison, note the difference in appearance in the image on the right, taken about three hours later, after the frost had dissipated. Frost has not been observed at Spirit, where the amount of atmospheric water vapor is observed to be appreciably lower. Both images were taken through a filter centered at a wavelength of 440 nanometers (blue).

  13. Feedback about Teaching in Higher Ed: Neglected Opportunities to Promote Change

    Science.gov (United States)

    Evans, Mara; Brickman, Peggy

    2014-01-01

    Despite ongoing dissemination of evidence-based teaching strategies, science teaching at the university level is less than reformed. Most college biology instructors could benefit from more sustained support in implementing these strategies. One-time workshops raise awareness of evidence-based practices, but faculty members are more likely to make significant changes in their teaching practices when supported by coaching and feedback. Currently, most instructional feedback occurs via student evaluations, which typically lack specific feedback for improvement and focus on teacher-centered practices, or via drop-in classroom observations and peer evaluation by other instructors, which raise issues for promotion, tenure, and evaluation. The goals of this essay are to summarize the best practices for providing instructional feedback, recommend specific strategies for providing feedback, and suggest areas for further research. Missed opportunities for feedback in teaching are highlighted, and the sharing of instructional expertise is encouraged. PMID:26086652

  14. Missed Testing Opportunities for HIV Screening and Early Diagnosis in an Urban Tertiary Care Center

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Joseph DeRose

    2017-01-01

    Full Text Available Newark, New Jersey, is disproportionally affected by HIV with one of the highest prevalence rates in the United States. Rutgers New Jersey Medical School is a major healthcare provider to Newark’s underserved population and has implemented a HIV testing program that can diagnose and link newly diagnosed individuals to care. We conducted a retrospective chart review of all new patients seen in the Infectious Disease Practice from January 1, 2013, to December 31, 2014, to determine the proportion of patients with a missed testing opportunity (MTO (patients with a new HIV diagnosis with an encounter at the institution in the 1 year prior to their first appointment. 117 newly diagnosed patients were identified. 36 (31% had at least one MTO. A total of 34 (29% of newly diagnosed patients had AIDS at presentation and 17% had CD4 counts of 50 cells/μL (p value 0.5. The two most common locations of a missed testing opportunity were the hospital ED (45% and subspecialty clinics (37%. This study demonstrates that, even in a high prevalence institution with HIV counseling, testing, and referral service, HIV screening is lacking at multiple points of care and patients are missing opportunities for earlier diagnosis and treatment.

  15. Treatment Options for Severe Obesity in the Pediatric Population: Current Limitations and Future Opportunities.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ryder, Justin R; Fox, Claudia K; Kelly, Aaron S

    2018-06-01

    Severe obesity is the only obesity classification increasing in prevalence among children and adolescents. Treatment options that produce meaningful and sustained weight loss and comorbidity resolution are urgently needed. The purpose of this review is to provide a brief overview of the current treatment options for pediatric severe obesity and offer suggestions regarding future opportunities for accelerating the development and evaluation of innovative treatment strategies. At present, there are three treatment options for youth with severe obesity: lifestyle modification therapy, pharmacotherapy, and bariatric surgery. Lifestyle modification therapy can be useful for improving many chronic disease risk factors and comorbid conditions but often fails to achieve clinically meaningful and sustainable weight loss. Pharmacotherapy holds promise as an effective adjunctive treatment but remains in the primordial stages of development in the pediatric population. Bariatric surgery provides robust weight loss and risk factor/comorbidity improvements but is accompanied by higher risks and lower uptake compared to lifestyle modification therapy and pharmacotherapy. New areas worth pursuing include combination pharmacotherapy, device therapy, identification of predictors of response aimed at precision treatment, and interventions in the postbariatric surgical setting to improve long-term outcomes. Treating pediatric severe obesity effectively and safely is extremely challenging. Some progress has been made, but substantially more effort and innovation are needed in the future to combat this serious and ongoing medical and public health issue. © 2018 The Obesity Society.

  16. CCR Interns | Center for Cancer Research

    Science.gov (United States)

    The Cancer Research Interns (CRI) Summer Program was inaugurated in 2004 to provide an open door for students looking for an initial training opportunity. The goal is to enhance diversity within the CCR (Center for Cancer Research) training program and we have placed 338 students from 2004 to 2017, in labs and branches across the division.  The CCR and the Center for Cancer Training’s Office of Training and Education provide stipend support, some Service & Supply funds, and travel support for those students who meet the financial eligibility criteria (

  17. Supporting Multiple Programs and Projects at NASA's Kennedy Space Center

    Science.gov (United States)

    Stewart, Camiren L.

    2014-01-01

    With the conclusion of the shuttle program in 2011, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) had found itself at a crossroads for finding transportation of United States astronauts and experiments to space. The agency would eventually hand off the taxiing of American astronauts to the International Space Station (ISS) that orbits in Low Earth Orbit (LEO) about 210 miles above the earth under the requirements of the Commercial Crew Program (CCP). By privatizing the round trip journey from Earth to the ISS, the space agency has been given the additional time to focus funding and resources to projects that operate beyond LEO; however, adding even more stress to the agency, the premature cancellation of the program that would succeed the Shuttle Program - The Constellation Program (CxP) -it would inevitably delay the goal to travel beyond LEO for a number of years. Enter the Space Launch System (SLS) and the Orion Multipurpose Crew Vehicle (MPCV). Currently, the SLS is under development at NASA's Marshall Spaceflight Center in Huntsville, Alabama, while the Orion Capsule, built by government contractor Lockheed Martin Corporation, has been assembled and is currently under testing at the Kennedy Space Center (KSC) in Florida. In its current vision, SLS will take Orion and its crew to an asteroid that had been captured in an earlier mission in lunar orbit. Additionally, this vehicle and its configuration is NASA's transportation to Mars. Engineers at the Kennedy Space Center are currently working to test the ground systems that will facilitate the launch of Orion and the SLS within its Ground Services Development and Operations (GSDO) Program. Firing Room 1 in the Launch Control Center (LCC) has been refurbished and outfitted to support the SLS Program. In addition, the Spaceport Command and Control System (SCCS) is the underlying control system for monitoring and launching manned launch vehicles. As NASA finds itself at a junction, so does all of its

  18. Novel opportunities for computational biology and sociology in drug discovery☆

    Science.gov (United States)

    Yao, Lixia; Evans, James A.; Rzhetsky, Andrey

    2013-01-01

    Current drug discovery is impossible without sophisticated modeling and computation. In this review we outline previous advances in computational biology and, by tracing the steps involved in pharmaceutical development, explore a range of novel, high-value opportunities for computational innovation in modeling the biological process of disease and the social process of drug discovery. These opportunities include text mining for new drug leads, modeling molecular pathways and predicting the efficacy of drug cocktails, analyzing genetic overlap between diseases and predicting alternative drug use. Computation can also be used to model research teams and innovative regions and to estimate the value of academy–industry links for scientific and human benefit. Attention to these opportunities could promise punctuated advance and will complement the well-established computational work on which drug discovery currently relies. PMID:20349528

  19. Pathway to Success: Research and Internship Opportunities for Students

    Science.gov (United States)

    Vlahovic, G.; Malhotra, R.

    2008-12-01

    This paper presents efforts by North Carolina Central University (NCCU) in promoting geosciences by offering students paid career training opportunities with private, non-profit and government organizations. North Carolina Central University is the nation's first state-supported public Liberal Arts College funded for African Americans with approximately 86 % minority enrollment. Using data gathered from 1975 to 1999, NCCU is ranked eleventh among all US institutions based on the number of black, US citizen Ph.D.s who received their baccalaureate degree from that institution (Thurgood et al., 2006). Therefore, successful creation of research and internship pathways for NCCU students has national implications because it will increase the number of minority students joining the workforce and applying to PhD programs. Several related efforts will be described, including partnerships with the Fugro EarthData Inc., The Center for Remote Sensing and Mapping Science at the University of Georgia, The Center for Earthquake Research and Information at University of Memphis, Tennessee, and City of Durham. By developing both academic research and industry internship tracks we hope to be able to accommodate different student career goals. For example, graduate students planning to continue onto a PhD will be more interested in research based opportunities at collaborating academic institutions whereas the industry internship track is more appropriate for undergraduate or graduate students planning to enter the job market upon graduation. The internships are conducted under the aegis of the Geospatial Research, Innovative Teaching and Service Center (GRITS) housed in the Department of Environmental, Earth and Geospatial Sciences (DEEGS) at NCCU. The center was established in 2006 with funding from the National Science Foundation to promote the learning and application of geospatial technologies. Since then the GRITS center has been a hub for Geographical Information Science (GIS

  20. Synthesis centers as critical research infrastructure

    Science.gov (United States)

    Baron, Jill S.; Specht, Alison; Garnier, Eric; Bishop, Pamela; Campbell, C. Andrew; Davis, Frank W.; Fady, Bruno; Field, Dawn; Gross, Louis J.; Guru, Siddeswara M.; Halpern, Benjamin S; Hampton, Stephanie E.; Leavitt, Peter R.; Meagher, Thomas R.; Ometto, Jean; Parker, John N.; Price, Richard; Rawson, Casey H.; Rodrigo, Allen; Sheble, Laura A.; Winter, Marten

    2017-01-01

    Demand for the opportunity to participate in a synthesis-center activity has increased in the years since the US National Science Foundation (NSF)–funded National Center for Ecological Analysis and Synthesis (NCEAS) opened its doors in 1995 and as more scientists across a diversity of scientific disciplines have become aware of what synthesis centers provide. The NSF has funded four synthesis centers, and more than a dozen new synthesis centers have been established around the world, some following the NSF model and others following different models suited to their national funding environment (http://synthesis-consortium.org).Scientific synthesis integrates diverse data and knowledge to increase the scope and applicability of results and yield novel insights or explanations within and across disciplines (Pickett et al. 2007, Carpenter et al. 2009). The demand for synthesis comes from the pressing societal need to address grand challenges related to global change and other issues that cut across multiple societal sectors and disciplines and from recognition that substantial added scientific value can be achieved through the synthesis-based analysis of existing data. Demand also comes from groups of scientists who see exciting opportunities to generate new knowledge from interdisciplinary and transdisciplinary collaboration, often capitalizing on the increasingly large volume and variety of available data (Kelling et al. 2009, Bishop et al. 2014, Specht et al. 2015b). The ever-changing nature of societal challenges and the availability of data with which to address them suggest there will be an expanding need for synthesis.However, we are now entering a phase in which government support for some existing synthesis centers has ended or will be ending soon, forcing those centers to close or develop new operational models, approaches, and funding streams. We argue here that synthesis centers play such a unique role in science that continued long-term public

  1. Wind-Sculpted Vicinity After Opportunity's Sol 1797 Drive (Polar)

    Science.gov (United States)

    2009-01-01

    NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity used its navigation camera to take the images combined into this full-circle view of the rover's surroundings just after driving 111 meters (364 feet) on the 1,797th Martian day, or sol, of Opportunity's surface mission (Feb. 12, 2009). North is at the center; south at both ends. Tracks from the drive recede northward across dark-toned sand ripples in the Meridiani Planum region of Mars. Patches of lighter-toned bedrock are visible on the left and right sides of the image. For scale, the distance between the parallel wheel tracks is about 1 meter (about 40 inches). This view is presented as a polar projection with geometric seam correction.

  2. Wind-Sculpted Vicinity After Opportunity's Sol 1797 Drive (Vertical)

    Science.gov (United States)

    2009-01-01

    NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity used its navigation camera to take the images combined into this full-circle view of the rover's surroundings just after driving 111 meters (364 feet) on the 1,797th Martian day, or sol, of Opportunity's surface mission (Feb. 12, 2009). North is at the center; south at both ends. Tracks from the drive recede northward across dark-toned sand ripples in the Meridiani Planum region of Mars. Patches of lighter-toned bedrock are visible on the left and right sides of the image. For scale, the distance between the parallel wheel tracks is about 1 meter (about 40 inches). This view is presented as a vertical projection with geometric seam correction.

  3. Diagnostics of ST Plasmas in NSTX: Challenges and Opportunities

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Johnson, D.; Efthimion, P.; Foley, J.; Jones, B.; Mazzucato, E.; Park, H.; Taylor, G.; Levinton, F.; Luhmann, N.

    2001-01-01

    This paper will highlight some of the challenges and opportunities present in the diagnosis of spherical torus (ST) plasmas on the National Spherical Torus Experiment (NSTX) and discuss the corresponding diagnostic development that is presently underway. After a brief description of diagnostic systems currently installed, examples of ST-specific diagnostic challenges will be highlighted, as will another case, where the ST configuration offers opportunities for new measurements

  4. Technologies for learner-centered feedback

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Jane Costello

    2013-09-01

    Full Text Available As the number, type, and use of technologies to support learning increases, so do the opportunities for using these technologies for feedback. Learner-centered feedback is a core to the teaching-learning process. It is related to assessment in describing how learners perform in their learning, their gain in knowledge, skills, and attitudes. Feedback, types of feedback, guidelines for effective learner-centered feedback, and feedback’s relationship to assessment are presented. Methods of providing feedback, for example, automated, audio scribe pens, digital audio, etc., and the related technologies are described. Technologies that allow instructors to make informed decisions about the use of various methods for feedback are discussed.

  5. A systematic strategic planning process focused on improved community engagement by an academic health center: the University of Kansas Medical Center's story.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Cook, David C; Nelson, Eve-Lynn; Ast, Cori; Lillis, Teresa

    2013-05-01

    A growing number of academic health centers (AHCs) are considering approaches to expand collaboration with their communities in order to address complex and multisystem health concerns. In 2010, internal leaders at the University of Kansas Medical Center undertook a strategic planning process to enhance both community engagement activities and the scholarship resulting from these engagement activities. The authors describe the strategic planning process, recommendations, and actions associated with elevating community engagement within the AHC's mission and priorities. The strategic planning process included conducting an inventory of community engagement activities within the AHC; analyzing strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats for community engagement work; and identifying goals and strategies to improve future community engagement activities and scholarship. The resulting road map for enhancing community engagement at their institution through 2015 consists of four main strategies: emphasize scholarship in community engagement, revise organizational structures to better facilitate community engagement, prioritize current engagement activities to ensure appropriate use of resources, and enhance communication of engagement initiatives to further develop stakeholder relationships.The authors also discuss implementation of the plan to date and highlight lessons learned that may inform other AHCs as they enhance and expand similar endeavors.

  6. Midwest Clean Energy Application Center

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Cuttica, John; Haefke, Cliff

    2013-12-31

    The Midwest Clean Energy Application Center (CEAC) was one of eight regional centers that promoted and assisted in transforming the market for combined heat and power (CHP), waste heat to power (WHP), and district energy (DE) technologies and concepts throughout the United States between October 1, 2009 and December 31, 2013. The key services the CEACs provided included: Market Opportunity Analyses – Supporting analyses of CHP market opportunities in diverse markets including industrial, federal, institutional, and commercial sectors. Education and Outreach – Providing information on the energy and non-energy benefits and applications of CHP to state and local policy makers, regulators, energy end-users, trade associations and others. Information was shared on the Midwest CEAC website: www.midwestcleanergy.org. Technical Assistance – Providing technical assistance to end-users and stakeholders to help them consider CHP, waste heat to power, and/or district energy with CHP in their facility and to help them through the project development process from initial CHP screening to installation. The Midwest CEAC provided services to the Midwest Region that included the states of Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, Ohio, South Dakota, and Wisconsin.

  7. Detroit's Fight for Equal Educational Opportunity.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zwerdling, A. L.

    To meet the challenge of equal educational opportunity, current methods of public school finance must be revised. The present financial system, based on State equalization of local property tax valuation, is inequitable since it results in many school districts, particularly those in large cities, having inadequate resources to meet extraordinary…

  8. NASA GSFC Opportunities for STEM Professionals Using the Vantage Point of Space

    Science.gov (United States)

    Meeson, Blanche W.; Robbins, Geraldine B.

    2012-01-01

    NASA has a variety of learning opportunities for STEM professionals. Three opportunities at GSFC are examined in this chapter: 1) standard summer research and development internship for undergraduates, 2) senior internship for undergraduate and graduate students and 3) a workshop series for informal learning center professionals. We describe these programs, examine their evolution with respect to most effective education practices and their assessment and evaluation, and identify the similarities and differences between them. The internship programs highlight authentic project-based research and development experiences with the senior internship providing a richer, deeper, and more demanding experience that has greater professional value. The workshops for informal learning center professionals on-the-other hand, focus on building knowledge of GSFC s science and engineering strengths among these professionals, and on building enduring partnerships between individuals (participants and GSFC scientist, engineers and educators) and between organizations (GSFC and the informal learning center). Finally, we examine the characteristics of these programs from a design and management perspective. Through this examination we identify a general structure that provides insight into more effective design and management of similar education programs.

  9. Greening the data center a pocket guide

    CERN Document Server

    Spafford, George

    2009-01-01

    IT organizations are under intense pressure to manage the power consumed by data centers and the resulting cooling demands. To address these needs, IT needs to properly blend people, process and technology to create solutions. This guides provides a sample of technical improvement opportunities at a high-level.

  10. National Nuclear Data Center status report

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    2002-01-01

    This paper is the status report of the US National Nuclear Data Center, Brookhaven. It describes the new NDS approach to customer services, which is based on users initiating wish lists on topics of interest with the possibility to receive reports in hardcopy or electronically forms. After completion within the next two years of the multi platform software for management and data retrievals from shared databases, users will have the opportunity to install directly their own local nuclear data center for desktop applications. The paper describes the computer facilities, the nuclear reaction data structure, the database migration and the customer services. (a.n.)

  11. Missed opportunities in primary care: the importance of identifying depression through screening, family history, and chronic disease management.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Maradiegue, Ann H; Khan, Fakiha

    2013-02-01

    This study explored the adequacy of depression screening in a community health center. The medical charts of individuals (N = 90) enrolled at a community health center were randomly selected, reviewed, and compared to current standard-of-care guidelines for four elements: family history, screening for depression, control of chronic illnesses, and missed opportunities for preventive care. Family history documentation collected by the providers was limited and 44.4% had no family history. There was no routine depression screening process, although 48.9% of the clients had red flags (warning signals) for depression. Laboratory values used for screening control of chronic disease in the medical records were: fasting glucose levels ⩽100 mg/dL (46%), total cholesterol levels ⩽200 mg/dL (38%), and blood pressure ⩽120/80 mmHg (23%). The results highlight the need to focus on depression screening as part of preventive care and the management of chronic disease in the primary care setting. Copyright 2013, SLACK Incorporated.

  12. Community Languages in Europe : Challenges and Opportunities

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    McPake, J.; Martyniuk, W.; Aarts, R.; Broeder, Peter; Latomaa, Sirkku; Mijares, Laura; Tinsley, Teresa

    2004-01-01

    This paper reviews issues affecting school students’ learning of community languages across Europe, with the aim of identifying both challenges and opportunities inherent in the current context. Language education pol icy has become more inclusive of late, addressing the full range of languages

  13. Value of Uncertainty: The Lost Opportunities in Large Projects

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Agnar Johansen

    2016-08-01

    Full Text Available The uncertainty management theory has become well established over the last 20–30 years. However, the authors suggest that it does not fully address why opportunities often remain unexploited. Empirical studies show a stronger focus on mitigating risks than exploiting opportunities. This paper therefore addresses why so few opportunities are explored in large projects. The theory claims that risks and opportunities should be equally managed in the same process. In two surveys, conducted in six (private and public companies over a four-year period, project managers stated that uncertainty management is about managing risk and opportunities. However, two case studies from 12 projects from the same companies revealed that all of them had their main focus on risks, and most of the opportunities were left unexploited. We have developed a theoretical explanation model to shed light on this phenomena. The concept is a reflection based on findings from our empirical data up against current project management, uncertainty, risk and stakeholder literature. Our model shows that the threshold for pursuing a potential opportunity is high. If a potential opportunity should be considered, it must be extremely interesting, since it may require contract changes, and the project must abandon an earlier-accepted best solution.

  14. A Method for Estimating Potential Energy and Cost Savings for Cooling Existing Data Centers

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Van Geet, Otto

    2017-04-24

    NREL has developed a methodology to prioritize which data center cooling systems could be upgraded for better efficiency based on estimated cost savings and economics. The best efficiency results are in cool or dry climates where 'free' economizer or evaporative cooling can provide most of the data center cooling. Locations with a high cost of energy and facilities with high power usage effectiveness (PUE) are also good candidates for data center cooling system upgrades. In one case study of a major cable provider's data centers, most of the sites studied had opportunities for cost-effective cooling system upgrades with payback period of 5 years or less. If the cable provider invested in all opportunities for upgrades with payback periods of less than 15 years, it could save 27% on annual energy costs.

  15. Biofuels in Oregon and Washington: A Business Case Analysis of Opportunities and Challenges

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Stiles, Dennis L.; Jones, Susan A.; Orth, Rick J.; Saffell, Bernard F.; Zhu, Yunhua

    2008-02-28

    The purpose of this report is to assemble the information needed to estimate the significance of the opportunity for producing biofuels in the region as well as the associated challenges. The report reviews the current state of the industry, the biomass resources that are available within current production practices, and the biofuels production technology that is available within the marketplace. The report also identifys the areas in which alternative approaches or strategies, or technologoical advances, might offer an opportunity to expand the Nortwest biofuels industry beyond its current state.

  16. 78 FR 65608 - Information Collection; Outreach Opportunity Questionnaire

    Science.gov (United States)

    2013-11-01

    ...In accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, the Forest Service is seeking comments from all interested individuals and organizations on the extension with revision of a currently approved information collection, Outreach Opportunity Questionnaire.

  17. Genetic Science Learning Center

    Science.gov (United States)

    Genetic Science Learning Center Making science and health easy for everyone to understand Home News Our Team What We Do ... Collaboration Conferences Current Projects Publications Contact The Genetic Science Learning Center at The University of Utah is a ...

  18. The Need and Opportunity for an Integrated Research, Development and Testing Center in the Alaskan High Arctic

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hardesty, J. O.; Ivey, M.; Helsel, F.; Dexheimer, D.; Lucero, D. A.; Cahill, C. F.; Roesler, E. L.

    2017-12-01

    This presentation will make the case for development of a permanent integrated High Arctic research and testing center at Oliktok Point, Alaska; taking advantage of existing assets and infrastructure, controlled airspace, an active UAS program and local partnerships. Arctic research stations provide critical monitoring and research on climate change for conditions and trends in the Arctic. The US Chair of the Arctic Council increased awareness of gaps in our understanding of Artic systems, scarce monitoring, lack of infrastructure and readiness for emergency response. Less sea ice brings competition for commercial shipping and resource extraction. Search and rescue, pollution mitigation and safe navigation need real-time, wide-area monitoring to respond to events. Multi-national responses for international traffic will drive a greater security presence to protect citizens and sovereign interests. To address research and technology gaps, there is a national need for a US High Arctic Center (USHARC) with an approach to partner stakeholders from science, safety and security to develop comprehensive solutions. The Station should offer year-round use, logistic support and access to varied ecological settings; phased adaptation to changing needs; and support testing of technologies such as multiple autonomous platforms, renewable energies and microgrids, and sensors in Arctic settings. We propose an Arctic Center at Oliktok Point, Alaska. Combined with the Toolik Field Station and Barrow Environmental Observatory, they form a US network of Arctic Stations. An Oliktok Point Station can provide complementary and unique assets that include: access via land, sea and air; coastal and terrestrial ecologies; controlled airspaces across land and ocean; medical and logistic support; atmospheric observations from an adjacent ARM facility; connections to Barrow and Toolik; fiber-optic communications; University of Alaska Fairbanks UAS Test Facility partnership; and an airstrip and

  19. Meeting baccalaureate public/community health nursing education competencies in nurse-managed wellness centers.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Thompson, Cheryl W; Bucher, Julia A

    2013-01-01

    The purpose of this article is to describe how community health competencies for baccalaureate nursing education have been met by locating clinical experiences in nurse-managed wellness centers. Such centers are an ideal setting for students to integrate theoretical concepts into clinical practice while building on previous learning. Students are able to develop skills in community health nursing practice at individual, family, and population level. In addition, the practice setting provides other advantages. Clients who represent a vulnerable population group receive valuable health services. Students gain learning opportunities that are broader than community health competencies, and faculty are provided clinical practice, research, and scholarship opportunities. The challenges to year-round sustainability of nurse-managed centers are burdensome; however, the benefits outweigh the difficulty of those challenges. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  20. Opportunity's Surroundings on Sol 1818 (Stereo)

    Science.gov (United States)

    2009-01-01

    [figure removed for brevity, see original site] Left-eye view of a color stereo pair for PIA11846 [figure removed for brevity, see original site] Right-eye view of a color stereo pair for PIA11846 NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity used its navigation camera to take the images combined into this full-circle view of the rover's surroundings during the 1,818th Martian day, or sol, of Opportunity's surface mission (March 5, 2009). South is at the center; north at both ends. This view combines images from the left-eye and right-eye sides of the navigation camera. It appears three-dimensional when viewed through red-blue glasses with the red lens on the left. The rover had driven 80.3 meters (263 feet) southward earlier on that sol. Tracks from the drive recede northward in this view. The terrain in this portion of Mars' Meridiani Planum region includes dark-toned sand ripples and lighter-toned bedrock. This view is presented as a cylindrical-perspective projection with geometric seam correction.

  1. Why Learner-Centered New Faculty Orientations Matter: Organizational Culture and Faculty Retention

    Science.gov (United States)

    Scott, Whitney; Lemus, Daisy; Knotts, Greg; Oh, Janet

    2016-01-01

    A learner-centered New Faculty Orientation (NFO) can be a powerful way to immediately engage new faculty and develop their organizational identification to the institution and its values. Unfortunately, some NFOs do not model a learner-centered philosophy and miss opportunities to establish a collaborative and celebratory tone. In this paper, we…

  2. Oscillating neutrinos from the Galactic center

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Crocker, R.M.; Volkas, R.R.; Melia, F.

    1999-11-01

    It has recently been demonstrated that the γ-ray emission spectrum of the EGRET-identified, central Galactic source 2EG J1746-2852 can be well fitted by positing that these photons are generated by the decay of π 0, s produced in p-p scattering at or near an energizing shock. Such scattering also produces charged pions which decay leptonically. The ratio of γ-rays to neutrinos generated by the central Galactic source may be accurately determined and a well-defined and potentially-measurable high energy neutrino flux at Earth is unavoidable. An opportunity, therefore, to detect neutrino oscillations over an unprecedented scale is offered by this source. In this paper we assess the prospects for such an observation with the generation of neutrino Cerenkov telescopes now in the planning stage. We determine that the next generation of detectors may find an oscillation signature in the Galactic Center (GC) signal, but that such an observation will probably not further constrain the oscillation parameter space mapped out by current atmospheric, solar, reactor and accelerator neutrino oscillation experiments

  3. Photosynthetic antennas and reaction centers: Current understanding and prospects for improvement

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Blankenship, R.E. [Arizona State Univ., Tempe, AZ (United States)

    1996-09-01

    A brief introduction to the principles, structures and kinetic processes that take place in natural photosynthetic reaction center complexes is presented. Energy is first collected by an antenna system, and is transferred to a reaction center complex where primary electron transfer takes place. Secondary reactions lead to oxidation of water and reduction of CO{sub 2} in some classes of organisms. Antenna systems are highly regulated to maximize energy collection efficiency while avoiding photodamage. Some areas that are presently not well understood are listed.

  4. Leadership training for radiologists: a survey of opportunities and participants in MBA and MPH programs by medical students, residents, and current chairpersons.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Baker, Stephen; Daginawala, Naznin

    2011-08-01

    The aim of this study was to determine opportunities for students and trainees to obtain an MPH or MBA degree during either medical school or radiology residency and to determine the prevalence of such degree possession by chairpersons in radiology. All allopathic medical schools in the United States were surveyed to chart the number of MD/MPH and MD/MBA degree programs available to students. Program directors were contacted to assess the number of MPH or MBA courses of study administratively related to their residencies. Also, an e-mail survey was sent to all members of the Society of Chairs of Academic Radiology Departments inquiring whether each chairperson had earned an additional degree. Currently, 81 allopathic medical schools in the United States offer MD/MPH degrees, and 52 offer MD/MBA degrees. Six residencies provide access to MPH programs, and 3 residencies provide the opportunity to pursue an MBA in conjunction with residency. Of these, only 1 MPH program and no MBA programs had trainees enrolled at present. Twenty-six percent of the chairpersons surveyed possessed advanced degrees other than MDs. There has been rapid growth in the number of MD/MPH and MD/MBA programs available to medical students. However, there is a scarcity of similar programs accessible to trainees during or just after residency training. To assist motivated radiologists interested in leading our profession, opportunities should expand both in formal degree-granting programs and through certificate-sanctioned course series to address relevant issues of leadership and management pertinent to our specialty. Copyright © 2011 American College of Radiology. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  5. 42 CFR 430.70 - Notice of hearing or opportunity for hearing.

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-10-01

    ... 42 Public Health 4 2010-10-01 2010-10-01 false Notice of hearing or opportunity for hearing. 430.70 Section 430.70 Public Health CENTERS FOR MEDICARE & MEDICAID SERVICES, DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES (CONTINUED) MEDICAL ASSISTANCE PROGRAMS GRANTS TO STATES FOR MEDICAL ASSISTANCE PROGRAMS Hearings on Conformity of State Medicaid Plans...

  6. Current Condition of Michigan Curriculum Materials Centers and Collections in Academic Institutions

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kohrman, Rita

    2015-01-01

    A 2005 sabbatical study revealed 24 unique curriculum materials centers or collections (CMCs) in Michigan colleges or universities. The focus of the study was to investigate the number, characteristics, and quality of these centers and collections supporting education faculty and students. A follow up 2014 study asked how or if the Michigan…

  7. Depairing critical current achieved in superconducting thin films with through-thickness arrays of artificial pinning centers

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Dinner, Rafael B; Wimbush, Stuart C; MacManus-Driscoll, Judith L; Blamire, Mark G; Robinson, Adam P

    2011-01-01

    Large area arrays of through-thickness nanoscale pores have been milled into superconducting Nb thin films via a process utilizing anodized aluminum oxide thin film templates. These pores act as artificial flux pinning centers, increasing the superconducting critical current, J c , of the Nb films. By optimizing the process conditions including anodization time, pore size and milling time, J c values approaching and in some cases matching the Ginzburg-Landau depairing current of 30 MA cm -2 at 5 K have been achieved-a J c enhancement over as-deposited films of more than 50 times. In the field dependence of J c , a matching field corresponding to the areal pore density has also been clearly observed. The effect of backfilling the pores with magnetic material has then been investigated. While backfilling with Co has been successfully achieved, the effect of the magnetic material on J c has been found to be largely detrimental compared to voids, although a distinct influence of the magnetic material in producing a hysteretic J c versus applied field behavior has been observed. This behavior has been tested for compatibility with currently proposed models of magnetic pinning and found to be most closely explained by a model describing the magnetic attraction between the flux vortices and the magnetic inclusions.

  8. Mobile Technologies Enhance the E-Learning Opportunity

    Science.gov (United States)

    Chuang, Keh-Wen

    2009-01-01

    The objective of this paper is to identify the mobile technologies that enhance the E-Learning opportunity, examine the educational benefits and implementation issues in mobile learning, discuss the guidelines for implementing effective mobile learning, identify the current application and operation of mobile learning, and discuss the future of…

  9. [SWOT Analysis of the National Survey on Current Status of Major Human Parasitic Diseases in China].

    Science.gov (United States)

    ZHU, Hui-hui; ZHOU, Chang-hai; CHEN, Ying-dan; ZANG, Wei; XIAO, Ning; ZHOU, Xiao-nong

    2015-10-01

    The National Survey on Current Status of Major Human Parasitic Diseases in China has been carried out since 2014 under the organization of the National Health and Family Planning Commission of the People's Republic of China. The National Institute of Parasitic Diseases, Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention (NIPD, China CDC) provided technical support and was responsible for quality control in this survey. This study used SWOT method to analyze the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats that were encountered by he NIPD, China CDC during the completion of the survey. Accordingly, working strategies were proposed to facilitate the future field work.

  10. Better Broader Impacts through National Science Foundation Centers

    Science.gov (United States)

    Campbell, K. M.

    2010-12-01

    National Science Foundation Science and Technology Centers (STCs) play a leading role in developing and evaluating “Better Broader Impacts”; best practices for recruiting a broad spectrum of American students into STEM fields and for educating these future professionals, as well as their families, teachers and the general public. With staff devoted full time to Broader Impacts activities, over the ten year life of a Center, STCs are able to address both a broad range of audiences and a broad range of topics. Along with other NSF funded centers, such as Centers for Ocean Sciences Education Excellence, Engineering Research Centers and Materials Research Science and Engineering Centers, STCs develop both models and materials that individual researchers can adopt, as well as, in some cases, direct opportunities for individual researchers to offer their disciplinary research expertise to existing center Broader Impacts Programs. The National Center for Earth-surface Dynamics is an STC headquartered at the University of Minnesota. NCED’s disciplinary research spans the physical, biological and engineering issues associated with developing an integrative, quantitative and predictive understanding of rivers and river basins. Funded in 2002, we have had the opportunity to partner with individuals and institutions ranging from formal to informal education and from science museums to Tribal and women’s colleges. We have developed simple table top physical models, complete museum exhibitions, 3D paper maps and interactive computer based visualizations, all of which have helped us communicate with this wide variety of learners. Many of these materials themselves or plans to construct them are available online; in many cases they have also been formally evaluated. We have also listened to the formal and informal educators with whom we partner, from whom we have learned a great deal about how to design Broader Impacts activities and programs. Using NCED as a case study

  11. Opportunity and obligation

    CERN Multimedia

    2012-01-01

    As anyone in the press or VIP offices can tell you, CERN is in the spotlight like never before. In the first two months of 2012, we welcomed some 56 VIP visits and 144 media visits on site. Not long ago, those were the kind of numbers we’d have had in six months, and 2012 is not a one-off.   Ever since CERN turned 50 in 2004, our visitor numbers have been growing, and that includes teachers and members of the public as well as VIPs and the media. It’s a sign of the explosion of interest around the world in our science, and to me it means two things. Firstly, it means that I owe everyone at CERN a vote of thanks, since I know that visits impinge on everyone’s time. I can assure you all, however, that it is time well spent. That’s because the second thing it tells me is that growing interest in CERN brings opportunity. Our current visibility gives the particle physics community the opportunity to drive science up the popular and political agendas, and it...

  12. Exploiting the Potential of Data Centers in the Smart Grid

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wang, Xiaoying; Zhang, Yu-An; Liu, Xiaojing; Cao, Tengfei

    As the number of cloud computing data centers grows rapidly in recent years, from the perspective of smart grid, they are really large and noticeable electric load. In this paper, we focus on the important role and the potential of data centers as controllable loads in the smart grid. We reviewed relevant research in the area of letting data centers participate in the ancillary services market and demand response programs of the grid, and further investigate the possibility of exploiting the impact of data center placement on the grid. Various opportunities and challenges are summarized, which could provide more chances for researches to explore this field.

  13. Opportunities drive the global distribution of protected areas

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Germán Baldi

    2017-02-01

    Full Text Available Background Protected areas, regarded today as a cornerstone of nature conservation, result from an array of multiple motivations and opportunities. We explored at global and regional levels the current distribution of protected areas along biophysical, human, and biological gradients, and assessed to what extent protection has pursued (i a balanced representation of biophysical environments, (ii a set of preferred conditions (biological, spiritual, economic, or geopolitical, or (iii existing opportunities for conservation regardless of any representation or preference criteria. Methods We used histograms to describe the distribution of terrestrial protected areas along biophysical, human, and biological independent gradients and linear and non-linear regression and correlation analyses to describe the sign, shape, and strength of the relationships. We used a random forest analysis to rank the importance of different variables related to conservation preferences and opportunity drivers, and an evenness metric to quantify representativeness. Results We find that protection at a global level is primarily driven by the opportunities provided by isolation and a low population density (variable importance = 34.6 and 19.9, respectively. Preferences play a secondary role, with a bias towards tourism attractiveness and proximity to international borders (variable importance = 12.7 and 3.4, respectively. Opportunities shape protection strongly in “North America & Australia–NZ” and “Latin America & Caribbean,” while the importance of the representativeness of biophysical environments is higher in “Sub-Saharan Africa” (1.3 times the average of other regions. Discussion Environmental representativeness and biodiversity protection are top priorities in land conservation agendas. However, our results suggest that they have been minor players driving current protection at both global and regional levels. Attempts to increase their relevance will

  14. The ConocoPhillips Center for a Sustainable WE2ST (Water-Energy Education, Science, and Technology): Lessons Learned from an Innovative Research-Education-Outreach Center at Colorado School of Mines

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hogue, T. S.; Blaine, A. C.; Martin, A. C.

    2016-12-01

    The ConocoPhillips Center for a Sustainable WE2ST (Water-Energy Education, Science, and Technology) is a testament to the power of collaboration and innovation. WE2ST began as a partnership between ConocoPhillips (foundation gift) and the Colorado School of Mines (CSM) with the goal of fostering solutions to water-energy challenges via education, research and outreach. The WE2ST center is a training ground for the next generation of water-energy-social scientists and engineers and is a natural fit for CSM, which is known for its expertise in water resources, water treatment technologies, petroleum engineering, geosciences, and hydrology. WE2ST has nine contributing faculty researchers that combine to create a web of expertise on sustainable energy and water resources. This research benefits unconventional energy producers, water-reliant stakeholders and the general public. Areas of focus for research include water sources (quality and quantity), integrated water-energy solution viability and risk, and social-corporate responsibility. The WE2ST Center currently provides annual support for 8-9 Graduate Fellows and 13 Undergraduate Scholars. Top-tier graduate students are recruited nationally and funded similar to an NSF Graduate Research Fellowship (GRF). Undergraduate Scholars are also recruited from across the CSM campus to gain experience in faculty laboratories and on research teams. All WE2ST students receive extensive professional skills training, leadership development, communication skills training, networking opportunities in the water-energy industries, and outreach opportunities in the community. The corner stone of the WE2ST Center is a focus on communication with the public. Both in social science research teams and in general interactions with the public, WE2ST seeks to be "an honest broker" amidst a very passionate and complex topic. WE2ST research is communicated by presentations at technical conferences, talking with people at public gatherings

  15. Recruiting community health centers into pragmatic research: Findings from STOP CRC.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Coronado, Gloria D; Retecki, Sally; Schneider, Jennifer; Taplin, Stephen H; Burdick, Tim; Green, Beverly B

    2016-04-01

    Challenges of recruiting participants into pragmatic trials, particularly at the level of the health system, remain largely unexplored. As part of Strategies and Opportunities to STOP Colon Cancer in Priority Populations (STOP CRC), we recruited eight separate community health centers (consisting of 26 individual safety net clinics) into a large comparative effectiveness pragmatic study to evaluate methods of raising the rates of colorectal cancer screening. In partnership with STOP CRC's advisory board, we defined criteria to identify eligible health centers and applied these criteria to a list of health centers in Washington, Oregon, and California affiliated with Oregon Community Health Information Network, a 16-state practice-based research network of federally sponsored health centers. Project staff contacted centers that met eligibility criteria and arranged in-person meetings of key study investigators with health center leadership teams. We used the Consolidated Framework for Implementation Research to thematically analyze the content of discussions during these meetings to identify major facilitators of and barriers to health center participation. From an initial list of 41 health centers, 11 met the initial inclusion criteria. Of these, leaders at three centers declined and at eight centers (26 clinic sites) agreed to participate (73%). Participating and nonparticipating health centers were similar with respect to clinic size, percent Hispanic patients, and percent uninsured patients. Participating health centers had higher proportions of Medicaid patients and higher baseline colorectal cancer screening rates. Common facilitators of participation were perception by center leadership that the project was an opportunity to increase colorectal cancer screening rates and to use electronic health record tools for population management. Barriers to participation were concerns of center leaders about ability to provide fecal testing to and assure follow-up of

  16. 77 FR 20369 - Applications for New Awards; Centers for Independent Living-Training and Technical Assistance

    Science.gov (United States)

    2012-04-04

    ... Education ACTION: Notice. Overview Information Centers for Independent Living--Training and Technical.... Funding Opportunity Description Purpose of Program The purpose of the Training and Technical Assistance grant under the Centers for Independent Living program is to provide training and technical assistance...

  17. [The opportunities, challenges and trends in the rejuvenation of microbiology].

    Science.gov (United States)

    Shen, Ping; Chen, Xiangdong

    2010-01-01

    In history, the development of microbiology had undergone two golden ages and some depression time as well. In the last two decades, the application of many physiochemical technologies including genomics, structural biology, bioinformatics, PCR, and high-resolution microscopy has led to a series of breakthroughs in microbiology. Microbiology has now awakened and entered its third golden age for development. This review discusses our view of the opportunities, challenges, and trends in the current advancement of microbiology. The topics include: (1) The two golden ages for microbiology in history. (2) The opportunities and challenges in the rejuvenation of microbiology. (3) The characteristics and trends of the current development of microbiology. (4) Integral microbiology--the hallmark of the third golden age.

  18. French PME/PMI’s Market Opportunities in China

    Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)

    吴卉

    2014-01-01

    This article aimed to analyze a practical issue. In considering the current world economic environment and international business development, the focus of the paper has been put on helping French smal and medium sized companies to find their business opportunities in China.

  19. A Review of Training Opportunities for Singing Voice Rehabilitation Specialists.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gerhard, Julia

    2016-05-01

    Training opportunities for singing voice rehabilitation specialists are growing and changing. This is happening despite a lack of agreed-on guidelines or an accredited certification acknowledged by the governing bodies in the fields of speech-language pathology and vocal pedagogy, the American Speech-Language Hearing Association and the National Association of Teachers of Singing, respectively. The roles of the speech-language pathologist, the singing teacher, and the person who bridges this gap, the singing voice rehabilitation specialist, are now becoming better defined and more common among the voice care community. To that end, this article aims to review the current opportunities for training in the field of singing voice rehabilitation. A review of available university training programs, private training programs and mentorships, clinical fellowships, professional organizations, conferences, vocal training across genres, and self-study opportunities was conducted. All institutional listings are with permission from program leaders. Although many avenues are available for training of singing voice rehabilitation specialists, there is no accredited comprehensive training program at this point. This review gathers information on current training opportunities from across various modalities. The listings are not intended to be comprehensive but rather representative of possibilities for interested practitioners. Copyright © 2016 The Voice Foundation. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  20. [Pain care in Austrian health care centers: Questionnaire study on the current status of Austrian pain clinics].

    Science.gov (United States)

    Szilagyi, I-S; Bornemann-Cimenti, H; Messerer, B; Vittinghoff, M; Sandner-Kiesling, A

    2015-12-01

    Pain clinics provide interdisciplinary therapy to treat chronic pain patients and to increase the return-to-work rate. In recent years and due to increased economic pressure in health care, a change in the management of pain in Austrian health care centers has been observed. For the analysis of the current situation, two surveys addressing all Austrian pain clinics were performed. In total, 133 heads of Austrian Anesthesia Departments were interviewed online and personally. The data from the first interview were confirmed by an additional telephone survey that was performed by one anesthetist per Austrian state (n = 9). Currently, 44 Austrian pain clinics are active. During the last 5 years, 9 pain clinics closed. Adding the current active pain clinics together, they represent a total of 17.5 full-time-operated clinics. The most common reasons for closing the pain clinics were lack of personnel (47%), lack of time resources (26%), lack of space resources (11%), and financial difficulties (11%). A reduction of >50% of operating hours during the last 3 years was reported by 9 hospitals. The reasons for not running a pain clinic were lack of personnel (36%), lack of time (25%) and department too small (16%). Estimates between actual and required clinics indicate that 49.5 full-time-operating pain clinics are lacking in Austria, resulting in 74% of the Austrian chronic pain patients not receiving interdisciplinary pain management. Our survey confirmed the closure of 9 pain clinics during the last 5 years due to lack of personnel and time. Pain clinics appear to provide the simplest economic saving potential. This development is a major concern. Although running a pain clinic seems to be expensive at the first sight, it reduces pain, sick leave, complications, and potential legal issues against health care centers, while simultaneously increasing the hospital's competitiveness. Our results show that 74% of Austrian chronic pain patients do not have access to an

  1. Evaluation of Nutrition and Physical Activity Policies and Practices in Child Care Centers within Rural Communities.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Foster, Jaime S; Contreras, Dawn; Gold, Abby; Keim, Ann; Oscarson, Renee; Peters, Paula; Procter, Sandra; Remig, Valentina; Smathers, Carol; Mobley, Amy R

    2015-10-01

    Although some researchers have examined nutrition and physical activity policies within urban child care centers, little is known about the potentially unique needs of rural communities. Child care centers serving preschool children located within low-income rural communities (n = 29) from seven states (Indiana, Kansas, Michigan, North Dakota, Ohio, South Dakota, and Wisconsin) were assessed to determine current nutrition and physical activity (PA) practices and policies. As part of a large-scale childhood obesity prevention project, the Community Healthy Living Index's previously validated Early Childhood Program Assessment Tool was used to collect data. Descriptive statistical analysis was conducted to identify high-priority areas. Healthy People 2020 and the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics' recommendations for nutrition and PA policies in child care centers were used as benchmarks. Reports of not fully implementing (nutrition-related policies or practices within rural early child care centers were identified. Centers not consistently serving a variety of fruits (48%), vegetables (45%), whole grains (41%), limiting saturated fat intake (31%), implementing healthy celebration guidelines (41%), involving children in mealtime (62%), and referring families to nutrition assistance programs (24%) were identified. More than one third of centers also had limited structured PA opportunities. Although eligible, only 48% of the centers participated in the Child and Adult Care Food Program. Overall, centers lacked parental outreach, staff training, and funding/resources to support nutrition and PA. These results provide insight into where child care centers within low-income, rural communities may need assistance to help prevent childhood obesity.

  2. Current state and future direction of computer systems at NASA Langley Research Center

    Science.gov (United States)

    Rogers, James L. (Editor); Tucker, Jerry H. (Editor)

    1992-01-01

    Computer systems have advanced at a rate unmatched by any other area of technology. As performance has dramatically increased there has been an equally dramatic reduction in cost. This constant cost performance improvement has precipitated the pervasiveness of computer systems into virtually all areas of technology. This improvement is due primarily to advances in microelectronics. Most people are now convinced that the new generation of supercomputers will be built using a large number (possibly thousands) of high performance microprocessors. Although the spectacular improvements in computer systems have come about because of these hardware advances, there has also been a steady improvement in software techniques. In an effort to understand how these hardware and software advances will effect research at NASA LaRC, the Computer Systems Technical Committee drafted this white paper to examine the current state and possible future directions of computer systems at the Center. This paper discusses selected important areas of computer systems including real-time systems, embedded systems, high performance computing, distributed computing networks, data acquisition systems, artificial intelligence, and visualization.

  3. Fuel cell opportunities

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Harris, K. [Hydrogenics Corporation, Mississauga, ON (Canada)

    2002-07-01

    The opportunities for fuel cell development are discussed. Fuel cells are highly efficient, reliable and require little maintenance. They also produce virtually zero emissions. The author stated that there are some complicated issues to resolve before fuel cells can be widely used. These include hydrogen availability and infrastructure. While the cost of fuel cells is currently very high, these costs are constantly coming down. The industry is still in the early stages of development. The driving forces for the development of fuel cells are: deregulation of energy markets, growing expectations for distributed power generation, discontinuity between energy supply and demand, and environmental concerns. 12 figs.

  4. Knowledge Brokers in the Making: Opportunities to Connect Researchers and Stakeholders

    Science.gov (United States)

    Pennell, K. G.; Pennell, M. C.

    2014-12-01

    Environmental science and engineering graduate students often lack training on how to communicate with policy decision makers who are grappling with questions to which research is responding. They communicate directly with mutual experts, but are many times unable to engage with non-experts about their research, thereby limiting the reach and impact of their findings. This presentation highlights opportunities within environmental science and engineering research to create opportunities for researchers to hone skills as knowledge brokers, so they learn ways to meaningfully engage with a range of stakeholders. A knowledge broker is an individual who connects scientific experts and relevant stakeholders with meaningful and useable information. Recognizing that information must flow in multiple directions, the knowledge broker must quickly and effectively translate needs and questions using established relationships. It is these relationships, as well as the synthesis of scientific knowledge into useable information, on which the success of the knowledge broker lies. Using lessons learned, as well as communication science theory related to knowledge brokering, this presentation highlights training opportunities for knowledge brokers who are primarily educated in science and engineering fields, yet seek to engage with societally relevant stakeholders. We present case study examples of knowledge brokering within two large multi-disciplinary research centers. These centers provide unique experiences for researchers to build relationships with stakeholders, so that the scientific experts not only create novel research within their specific discipline, but also inform policy decision makers, community members and regulatory officials.

  5. High-throughput Molecular Simulations of MOFs for CO2 Separation: Opportunities and Challenges

    Science.gov (United States)

    Erucar, Ilknur; Keskin, Seda

    2018-02-01

    Metal organic frameworks (MOFs) have emerged as great alternatives to traditional nanoporous materials for CO2 separation applications. MOFs are porous materials that are formed by self-assembly of transition metals and organic ligands. The most important advantage of MOFs over well-known porous materials is the possibility to generate multiple materials with varying structural properties and chemical functionalities by changing the combination of metal centers and organic linkers during the synthesis. This leads to a large diversity of materials with various pore sizes and shapes that can be efficiently used for CO2 separations. Since the number of synthesized MOFs has already reached to several thousand, experimental investigation of each MOF at the lab-scale is not practical. High-throughput computational screening of MOFs is a great opportunity to identify the best materials for CO2 separation and to gain molecular-level insights into the structure-performance relationships. This type of knowledge can be used to design new materials with the desired structural features that can lead to extraordinarily high CO2 selectivities. In this mini-review, we focused on developments in high-throughput molecular simulations of MOFs for CO2 separations. After reviewing the current studies on this topic, we discussed the opportunities and challenges in the field and addressed the potential future developments.

  6. Opportunistic maintenance considering non-homogenous opportunity arrivals and stochastic opportunity durations

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Truong Ba, H.; Cholette, M.E.; Borghesani, P.; Zhou, Y.; Ma, L.

    2017-01-01

    Many systems and manufacturing processes undergo intermittent operation due to external factors (e.g. weather, low market prices), offering opportunities to conduct maintenance with reduced production losses. Making use of appropriate opportunities can thus lead to significant reduction in the total cost of maintenance and improvement in productivity. In this paper, an opportunistic maintenance (OM) model is developed considering two critical properties of real world opportunities: (i) non-homogeneous opportunity arrivals and (ii) stochastic opportunity duration. The model enables exploiting downtime cost savings from “partial” opportunities (stops shorter than the required maintenance time) thus extending the potential benefit of OM. The criteria for accepting maintenance opportunities are found by minimizing the single-cycle total cost. A closed form expression of the single-cycle total cost is derived for a given PM/OM policy and then a Genetic Algorithm is used to solve the optimization problem. Numerical results are presented to assess the benefit of opportunistic maintenance and the marginal benefit of considering partial opportunities. Results indicate that significant savings can be achieved by considering OM. Moreover, it is shown that the novel consideration of partial opportunities significantly increase the benefit of OM. - Highlights: • Opportunistic and time-based preventive maintenance jointly optimized. • Non-homogeneous opportunity arrivals and stochastic durations considered. • “Partial” opportunities considered for the first time. • Opportunity duration thresholds used as a decision criterion. • Numerical study conducted to evaluate benefit of optimized policy.

  7. Current status of quality evaluation of nursing care through director review and reflection from the Nursing Quality Control Centers

    OpenAIRE

    Duan, Xia; Shi, Yan

    2014-01-01

    Background: The quality evaluation of nursing care is a key link in medical quality management. It is important and worth studying for the nursing supervisors to know the disadvantages during the process of quality evaluation of nursing care and then to improve the whole nursing quality. This study was to provide director insight on the current status of quality evaluation of nursing care from Nursing Quality Control Centers (NQCCs). Material and Methods: This qualitative study used a sample ...

  8. Hardwood lumber supply chain: current status and market opportunities

    Science.gov (United States)

    Urs Buehlmann; Matthew Bumgardner; Al Schuler; Mark Barford

    2007-01-01

    The membership of the Appalachian Hardwood Manufacturers Association was surveyed in 2005 to determine the current status of large Appalachian sawmills. The primary focus was to assess the impacts of globalization on primary manufacturing, but attention was also paid to general issues affecting the hardwood lumber supply chain-from concerns over forest health and log...

  9. 78 FR 42532 - Cooperative Research and Development Agreement (CRADA) Opportunity With the Department of...

    Science.gov (United States)

    2013-07-16

    ... DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY Cooperative Research and Development Agreement (CRADA) Opportunity With the Department of Homeland Security for the Development of a Foot-and-Mouth Disease 3ABC ELISA Diagnostic Kit; Correction AGENCY: Science and Technology Directorate, Plum Island Animal Disease Center...

  10. Interprofessional Education: Opportunities and Challenges for Psychology.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ward, Wendy; Zagoloff, Alexandra; Rieck, Cortney; Robiner, William

    2018-02-16

    This manuscript is an outgrowth of an invited panel presentation at the national Association for Psychologists in Academic Health Centers Conference in 2017 on Interprofessional Education (IPE). IPE is a structured and transformative educational strategy designed to provide active learning experiences where trainees from diverse healthcare professions gain shared content knowledge plus collaboration skills as they learn about, from, and with each other. Collaboration skills include understanding professional role distinctions and overlap, effective team-based communication, shared values/ethics and respect for each other's expertise, and teamwork dynamics. It is increasingly important to expand training beyond the intraprofessional activities in which psychology trainees engage to prepare them to participate in interprofessional collaborative care. As healthcare systems move to team-based collaborative practice and value-based reimbursement models, the profession of psychology needs leaders at every academic health center to facilitate the design and/or implementation of IPE activities. The panel of psychologists presented roles that psychologists play in IPE institutional program design and implementation, graduate training programs, and the perspectives of an early career psychologist and psychology trainee. Opportunities and challenges are highlighted, culminating in a call to action. Psychologists must embrace their identity as health professionals and engage their learners in IPE so that the emerging cognitive schemata of healthcare that is developed includes the profession of psychology. Otherwise, healthcare teams and health professionals will not understand the value, roles, or potential contributions of psychologists in enhancing patient care outcomes, ultimately jeopardizing psychologists' referrals, involvement in healthcare delivery, and career opportunities.

  11. American Indian Education Opportunities Program. Supplement 9

    Science.gov (United States)

    Molin, Paulette F.

    1997-01-01

    Activities of the American Indian Educational Opportunities Program (AIEOP) at Hampton University for this reporting period included the establishment of a student chapter of the American Indian Science & Engineering Society (AISES), a move to new office space, hosting events on campus for visiting students from the American Indian Education Program of Oxon Hill, Maryland and Onondaga Community College in Syracuse, New York, collaboration with the Multicultural Leadership Team at NASA Langley Research Center for a Native American elder to serve as a speaker, participation in Native American conferences and other events, and continuing efforts to recruit and retain American Indian students.

  12. Teleradiology: threat or opportunity?

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Jarvis, L.; Stanberry, B.

    2005-01-01

    The rapid advances in information technology and communication bandwidth have spawned an equally rapid development of clinical teleradiology. Current computer technology and communication capability allow easy transfer of diagnostic images, of any complexity, to any location in the world. This provides the opportunity to acquire swift primary and secondary diagnostic opinions from the remotest of locations, often at economically attractive rates, with the potential for easing the burden on hard-pressed departments of radiology. However, this comes at the potential cost of distancing the clinical radiologist from the patient, with consequent impact upon direct clinical care. As this technology advances across the world, it is vital that UK radiologists are familiar with the clinical implications, the medicolegal framework within which the field operates and the associated governance issues. This paper reviews current practice and discusses the associated risks

  13. Alternate Endpoints for Deep Vadose Zone Environments: Challenges, Opportunities, and Progress - 13036

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Wellman, Dawn M.; Freshley, Mark D.; Truex, Michael J.; Lee, M. Hope

    2013-01-01

    Current requirements for site remediation and closure are standards-based and are often overly conservative, costly, and in some cases, technically impractical to achieve. Use of risk-informed alternate endpoints provide a means to achieve remediation goals that are permitted by regulations and are protective of human health and the environment. Alternate endpoints enable establishing a path for cleanup that may include intermediate remedial milestones and transition points and/or regulatory alternatives to standards-based remediation. A framework is presented that is centered around developing and refining conceptual models in conjunction with assessing risks and potential endpoints as part of a system-based assessment that integrates site data with scientific understanding of processes that control the distribution and transport of contaminants in the subsurface and pathways to receptors. This system-based assessment and subsequent implementation of the remediation strategy with appropriate monitoring are targeted at providing a holistic approach to addressing risks to human health and the environment. This holistic approach also enables effective predictive analysis of contaminant behavior to provide defensible criteria and data for making long-term decisions. Developing and implementing an alternate endpoint-based approach for remediation and waste site closure presents a number of challenges and opportunities. Categories of these challenges include scientific and technical, regulatory, institutional, and budget and resource allocation issues. Opportunities exist for developing and implementing systems-based approaches with respect to supportive characterization, monitoring, predictive modeling, and remediation approaches. (authors)

  14. Alternate Endpoints for Deep Vadose Zone Environments: Challenges, Opportunities, and Progress - 13036

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Wellman, Dawn M.; Freshley, Mark D.; Truex, Michael J.; Lee, M. Hope [Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, 902 Battelle Blvd, Richland, WA, 99352 (United States)

    2013-07-01

    Current requirements for site remediation and closure are standards-based and are often overly conservative, costly, and in some cases, technically impractical to achieve. Use of risk-informed alternate endpoints provide a means to achieve remediation goals that are permitted by regulations and are protective of human health and the environment. Alternate endpoints enable establishing a path for cleanup that may include intermediate remedial milestones and transition points and/or regulatory alternatives to standards-based remediation. A framework is presented that is centered around developing and refining conceptual models in conjunction with assessing risks and potential endpoints as part of a system-based assessment that integrates site data with scientific understanding of processes that control the distribution and transport of contaminants in the subsurface and pathways to receptors. This system-based assessment and subsequent implementation of the remediation strategy with appropriate monitoring are targeted at providing a holistic approach to addressing risks to human health and the environment. This holistic approach also enables effective predictive analysis of contaminant behavior to provide defensible criteria and data for making long-term decisions. Developing and implementing an alternate endpoint-based approach for remediation and waste site closure presents a number of challenges and opportunities. Categories of these challenges include scientific and technical, regulatory, institutional, and budget and resource allocation issues. Opportunities exist for developing and implementing systems-based approaches with respect to supportive characterization, monitoring, predictive modeling, and remediation approaches. (authors)

  15. Federal Research: Opportunities Exist to Improve the Management and Oversight of Federally Funded Research and Development Centers

    National Research Council Canada - National Science Library

    Woods, William; Mittal, Anu; Neumann, John; Williams, Cheryl; Candon, Sharron; Sterling, Suzanne; Wade, Jacqueline; Zwanzig, Peter

    2008-01-01

    .... FFRDCs -- including laboratories, studies and analyses centers, and systems engineering centers -- conduct research in military space programs, nanotechnology, microelectronics, nuclear warfare...

  16. 76 FR 66728 - Government-Owned Inventions; Licensing and Collaborative Research Opportunity for PANVAC-Cancer...

    Science.gov (United States)

    2011-10-27

    ... identification of molecular targets associated with cancer, the focus of drug development has shifted from... Immunology and Biology, Center for Cancer Research, NCI. The CRADA partner will (a) generate and characterize...; Licensing and Collaborative Research Opportunity for PANVAC--Cancer Vaccine for the Prevention and Treatment...

  17. Enhancing Seasonal Water Outlooks: Needs and Opportunities in the Critical Runoff Season

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ray, A. J.; Barsugli, J. J.; Yocum, H.; Stokes, M.; Miskus, D.

    2017-12-01

    The runoff season is a critical period for the management of water supply in the western U.S., where in many places over 70% of the annual runoff occurs in the snowmelt period. Managing not only the volume, but the intra-seasonal timing of the runoff is important for optimizing storage, as well as achieving other goals such as mitigating flood risk, and providing peak flows for riparian habitat management, for example, for endangered species. Western river forecast centers produce volume forecasts for western reservoirs that are key input into many water supply decisions, and also short term river forecasts out to 10 days. The early volume forecasts each year typically begin in December, and are updated throughout the winter and into the runoff season (April-July for many areas, but varies). This presentation will discuss opportunities for enhancing this existing suite of RFC water outlooks, including the needs for and potential use for "intraseasonal" products beyond those provided by the Ensemble Streamflow Prediction system and the volume forecasts. While precipitation outlooks have little skill for many areas and seasons, and may not contribute significantly to the outlook, late winter and spring temperature forecasts have meaningful skill in certain areas and sub-seasonal to seasonal time scales. This current skill in CPC temperature outlooks is an opportunity to translate these products into information about the snowpack and potential runoff timing, even where the skill in precipitation is low. Temperature is important for whether precipitation falls as snow or rain, which is critical for streamflow forecasts, especially in the melt season in snowpack-dependent watersheds. There is a need for better outlooks of the evolution of snowpack, conditions influencing the April-July runoff, and the timing of spring peak or shape of the spring hydrograph. The presentation will also discuss a our work with stakeholders of the River Forecast Centers and the NIDIS

  18. Climate Change in Latin America and the Caribbean. Current status and opportunities

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    2003-11-01

    This report is based on the agreements reached at the ITC meeting held in Brasilia on 17 and 18 July 2003, where each of the participating ITC agencies promised to compile collective efforts in the various thematic areas of priority to the Latin American and the Caribbean Initiative for Sustainable Development (LACI). In this report the activities on climate change that have been carried out in the region are detailed. It also notes the region's opportunities for implementing the Framework Convention on Climate Change. It should be noted that the inputs for this paper have been provided by the ITC agencies, that has been structured according to the activities and lines of work considered as important and strategic by the agencies

  19. Prognostics and Health Management of Wind Turbines -- Current Status and Future Opportunities

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Sheng, Shuangwen

    2017-04-28

    The global wind industry has seen tremendous growth during the past two decades. However, the industry is challenged by premature component failures, which lead to increased turbine downtime and subsequently, cost of energy for wind power. To mitigate the impacts from these failures, the wind industry has been exploring various areas for improvements ranging from product design, new materials or lubricants, to operation and maintenance (O&M) practices. Condition-based maintenance or prognostics and health management (PHM) has been explored as one enabling technology for improving O&M practices. This chapter provides a brief overview of wind turbine PHM with a focus on operational data mining and condition monitoring of drivetrains. Some future research and development opportunities in wind turbine PHM are also briefly discussed.

  20. Using Community-Based Participatory Research and Human-Centered Design to Address Violence-Related Health Disparities Among Latino/a Youth.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kia-Keating, Maryam; Santacrose, Diana E; Liu, Sabrina R; Adams, Jessica

    High rates of exposure to violence and other adversities among Latino/a youth contribute to health disparities. The current article addresses the ways in which community-based participatory research (CBPR) and human-centered design (HCD) can help engage communities in dialogue and action. We present a project exemplifying how community forums, with researchers, practitioners, and key stakeholders, including youths and parents, integrated HCD strategies with a CBPR approach. Given the potential for power inequities among these groups, CBPR + HCD acted as a catalyst for reciprocal dialogue and generated potential opportunity areas for health promotion and change. Future directions are described.

  1. Responsibilities, opportunities and challenges in geophysical exploration

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Rytle, R.J.

    1982-01-01

    Geophysical exploration for engineering purposes is conducted to decrease the risk in encountering site uncertainties in construction of underground facilities. Current responsibilities, opportunities and challenges for those with geophysical expertise are defined. These include: replacing the squiggly line format, developing verification sites for method evaluations, applying knowledge engineering and assuming responsibility for crucial national problems involving rock mechanics expertise

  2. 42 CFR 478.24 - Opportunity for a party to obtain and submit information.

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-10-01

    ... 42 Public Health 4 2010-10-01 2010-10-01 false Opportunity for a party to obtain and submit information. 478.24 Section 478.24 Public Health CENTERS FOR MEDICARE & MEDICAID SERVICES, DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES (CONTINUED) QUALITY IMPROVEMENT ORGANIZATIONS RECONSIDERATIONS AND APPEALS Utilization and Quality Control Quality...

  3. RSIC [Radiation Shielding Information Center] after 25 years: Challenges and opportunities

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Roussin, R.W.; Maskewitz, B.F.; Trubey, D.K.

    1988-01-01

    The Radiation Shielding Information Center (RSIC) observed its 25th year in operation in 1987. During that time numerous changes have occurred in the government programs that sponsor RSIC and in the radiation transport community which it serves. The continued need for RSIC is evident from the steady volume of requests and interactions with the user community. It is a continual challenge to adjust and adapt our operation to respond to the demands placed on RSIC by sponsors and users. Cooperation between sponsors, users, and the RSIC staff is the key to keeping RSIC as the focus of activities in the international radiation transport community. 7 refs

  4. Equal Opportunities Questionnaire

    CERN Multimedia

    2007-01-01

    The initiative to promote Equal Opportunities at CERN started in 1993. The first Equal Opportunities Officer was appointed in 1996, which was followed by the creation of the Equal Opportunities Advisory Panel in 1998. Initially the concern was mainly the fair treatment of women in the work-place. Today the emphasis has evolved to ensuring that diversity is used to increase creativity and productivity in the work-place. In order to ensure that all aspects of Equal Opportunities and Diversity are covered, CERN’s Equal Opportunities team has prepared a survey to obtain your input. Your answers are confidential and will only be used for generating statistics. The questionnaire is on-line and can be accessed via: https://espace.cern.ch/EOQ. We hope that you will take a few minutes of your time to give your input and would be grateful if you could reply before 15/10/07. For further information about Equal Opportunities at CERN see: http://cern.ch/equal-opportunities The Equa...

  5. Equal Opportunities Questionnaire

    CERN Multimedia

    2007-01-01

    The initiative to promote Equal Opportunities at CERN started in 1993. The first Equal Opportunities Officer was appointed in 1996 followed by the creation of the Equal Opportunities Advisory Panel in 1998. Initially the concern was mainly the fair treatment of women in the work-place. Today the emphasis has evolved to ensuring that diversity is used to increase creativity and productivity in the work-place. In order to ensure that all aspects of Equal Opportunities and Diversity are covered, CERN’s Equal Opportunities team has prepared a survey to obtain your input. Your answers are confidential and will only be used for generating statistics. The questionnaire is on-line and can be accessed via: https://espace.cern.ch/EOQ. We hope that you will take a few minutes of your time to give your input and would be grateful if you could reply before 15/10/07. For further information about Equal Opportunities at CERN see: http://cern.ch/equal-opportunities The Equal Opportuni...

  6. Theories of opportunity creation and effective entrepreneurial actions in opportunity creation context

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Behrooz Jamali

    2018-09-01

    Full Text Available Created opportunities are refered as the opportunities in which none of the supply and demand parties exists clearly and obviously one or both of them must be created. Therefore, several economic inventions should take place in marketing, franchising, etc. so that opportunity can be created. This perception of opportunity deals with the creation of new markets. In the meantime, identifying some entrepreneurial actions influencing on the creation of entrepreneurial opportunities can provide backgrounds for the formation and empowering the opportunity creation. In this paper, some basic ideas about the creation of entrepreneurial opportunities and the evolution of opportunity creation theories are examined. Then effective actions on the opportunity creation are identified. Finally, the structure of the investigated actions is examined using the DEMATLE Method. The results which were according to the opinions of 15 experts of entrepreneurship showed that leadership, decision making, and strategy actions influence other entrepreneurial actions.

  7. Family Support Center Village: A Unique Approach for Low-Income Single Women with Children

    Science.gov (United States)

    Graber, Helen V.; Wolfe, Jayne L.

    2004-01-01

    The Family Support Center, recognizing the need for single women with children to maintain stability, has developed a program referred to as the Family Support Center Village, which incorporates a service enriched co-housing model. The "Village" will be the catalyst for these mothers' self-sufficiency and will provide opportunities to develop…

  8. Social problems as sources of opportunity – antecedents of social entrepreneurship opportunities

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Agnieszka Żur

    2016-02-01

    Full Text Available Objective: Based on extensive literature review, this paper aims to establish if, why and how, in given environmental and market contexts, social entrepreneurship (SE opportunities are discovered and exploited. It positions social problems as sources of entrepreneurial opportunity. The article presents an integrated process-based view of SE opportunity antecedents and concludes with a dynamic model of SE opportunity. Research Design & Methods: To fulfil its goal, the paper establishes opportunity as unit of research and explores the dynamics of opportunity recognition. To identify the components of SE opportunity through a process-based view, the study follows the steps of critical literature review method. The literature review follows with logical reasoning and inference, which results in the formulation of a model proposition of social entrepreneurship opportunity. Findings: The paper presents a holistic perspective on opportunity antecedents in SE context and introduces social problems, information, social awareness and entrepreneurial mindset  as fundamental components of social entrepreneurship opportunity equation. Implications & Recommendations: It is necessary to remember for policy makers, investors and partners involved within the social sector, that social problems can be the source of entrepreneurial opportunity. Training, assisting and engaging socially aware entrepreneurs is a promising line of development for all communities. Contribution & Value Added: The major contribution of this study lies in extending the existing body of social entrepreneurship research by providing a new perspective, placing social problem as opportunity in the centre of the discussion.

  9. Editorial: Global Opportunities and Local Businesses

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Krzysztof Wach

    2013-03-01

    Full Text Available The theme of the first issue is very multi‐disciplinary. It links economics with management by exploring global opportunities through particular local businesses. The European Union, as all of Europe, is now facing grand global challenges that primarily relate to economic issues. As stipulated by H. Sirkin, J. Hemerling and A. Bhattacharya in their world‐famous book: Globality: Competing with Everyone from Everywhere for Everything, in the resent future the European, American and Japanese firms will compete not only with each, other but increasingly with very competitive Chinese, Indian, South American, and even African firms, which currently may seem farfetched (Kotler & Caslione, 2009, p. 29. We believe it is extremely important to recognise global opportunities, which have resulted from globalisation, internationalisation and Europeanisation processes (Wach, 2012, pp. 137‐150 and 298‐299.

  10. Space Weather Forecasting and Research at the Community Coordinated Modeling Center

    Science.gov (United States)

    Aronne, M.

    2015-12-01

    The Space Weather Research Center (SWRC), within the Community Coordinated Modeling Center (CCMC), provides experimental research forecasts and analysis for NASA's robotic mission operators. Space weather conditions are monitored to provide advance warning and forecasts based on observations and modeling using the integrated Space Weather Analysis Network (iSWA). Space weather forecasters come from a variety of backgrounds, ranging from modelers to astrophysicists to undergraduate students. This presentation will discuss space weather operations and research from an undergraduate perspective. The Space Weather Research, Education, and Development Initiative (SW REDI) is the starting point for many undergraduate opportunities in space weather forecasting and research. Space weather analyst interns play an active role year-round as entry-level space weather analysts. Students develop the technical and professional skills to forecast space weather through a summer internship that includes a two week long space weather boot camp, mentorship, poster session, and research opportunities. My unique development of research projects includes studying high speed stream events as well as a study of 20 historic, high-impact solar energetic particle events. This unique opportunity to combine daily real-time analysis with related research prepares students for future careers in Heliophysics.

  11. Implementing the patient-centered medical home in complex adaptive systems: Becoming a relationship-centered patient-centered medical home.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Flieger, Signe Peterson

    This study explores the implementation experience of nine primary care practices becoming patient-centered medical homes (PCMH) as part of the New Hampshire Citizens Health Initiative Multi-Stakeholder Medical Home Pilot. The purpose of this study is to apply complex adaptive systems theory and relationship-centered organizations theory to explore how nine diverse primary care practices in New Hampshire implemented the PCMH model and to offer insights for how primary care practices can move from a structural PCMH to a relationship-centered PCMH. Eighty-three interviews were conducted with administrative and clinical staff at the nine pilot practices, payers, and conveners of the pilot between November and December 2011. The interviews were transcribed, coded, and analyzed using both a priori and emergent themes. Although there is value in the structural components of the PCMH (e.g., disease registries), these structures are not enough. Becoming a relationship-centered PCMH requires attention to reflection, sensemaking, learning, and collaboration. This can be facilitated by settings aside time for communication and relationship building through structured meetings about PCMH components as well as the implementation process itself. Moreover, team-based care offers a robust opportunity to move beyond the structures to focus on relationships and collaboration. (a) Recognize that PCMH implementation is not a linear process. (b) Implementing the PCMH from a structural perspective is not enough. Although the National Committee for Quality Assurance or other guidelines can offer guidance on the structural components of PCMH implementation, this should serve only as a starting point. (c) During implementation, set aside structured time for reflection and sensemaking. (d) Use team-based care as a cornerstone of transformation. Reflect on team structures and also interactions of the team members. Taking the time to reflect will facilitate greater sensemaking and learning and

  12. A study to assess the needs of people living with HIV/AIDS reporting to an ART Center of Central India.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Taneja, Gunjan; Dixit, Sanjay; Yesikar, Veena; Sharma, Shiv S

    2013-01-01

    Effectively addressing the needs of people living with HIV/AIDS (PLHA) and providing them with adequate care and support services are an essential intervention necessary to address the problem of HIV. The current study analyzed the needs of PLHA, the support received and the support required, to help frame comprehensive and focused programs for HIV infected individuals. The study was cross-sectional in design, incorporating quantitative analysis techniques and was conducted at the Anti Retroviral Therapy (ART) Center of MGM Medical College Indore, India, from February 2009 to January 2010. A semistructured interview schedule was used to interview 420 respondents currently on ART and the data was analyzed using SPSS software. Males and females constituted 69 and 31% of the study participants, respectively. The major support received by the respondents was care and help from families and friends, free ART, medicines for opportunistic infections (OI) and monthly health check-up at the ART Center. Other support received included nutritional supplements, traveling allowance to travel to the ART Center for availing the monthly dose of ART and educational help for children. The major support required was regular availability of medicines for various OI and associated diseases at ART centers, free laboratory investigations at hospitals, educational help for children, employment opportunities, development of a vaccine, facility of households, availability of second line ART drugs at ART centers, decentralization of ART centers, strengthening of existing PLHA networks and support groups, and better and effective counseling services. Coordinated efforts by governmental, non-governmental sources and PLHA themselves will result in the development of a comprehensive package of care and support for PLHA, to cater to their needs and requirements.

  13. Education Reform and Equal Opportunity in Japan

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Akito Okada

    2012-10-01

    Full Text Available Recently, there have been concerns that equality of educational opportunity has been lost and that this is leading to the stratification of Japanese society through the widening of income differentials, in a 'gap society'. In such a disparity society, secure full- time jobs are increasingly becoming limited to those who graduate from prestigious universities, and entry into those institutions is becoming connected more clearly with family income and investments. Parental attitudes towards their children taking extra lessons after school, going to cram schools, getting into university, and getting into a relatively highly-ranked university have influenced educational costs. This article examines the historical formation of the concept of equality of opportunity, which has been applied to the educational policy in Japan, particularly from the end of World War II to the new millennium. This paper also expands on the existing literature on educational policies in contemporary Japan by examining how the current educational reform efforts have affected equality of educational opportunity among children from different family backgrounds.

  14. Confidence building measures at sea:opportunities for India and Pakistan.

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Vohra, Ravi Bhushan Rear Admiral (; ); Ansari, Hasan Masood Rear Admiral (; )

    2003-12-01

    The sea presents unique possibilities for implementing confidence building measures (CBMs) between India and Pakistan that are currently not available along the contentious land borders surrounding Jammu and Kashmir. This is due to the nature of maritime issues, the common military culture of naval forces, and a less contentious history of maritime interaction between the two nations. Maritime issues of mutual concern provide a strong foundation for more far-reaching future CBMs on land, while addressing pressing security, economic, and humanitarian needs at sea in the near-term. Although Indian and Pakistani maritime forces currently have stronger opportunities to cooperate with one another than their counterparts on land, reliable mechanisms to alleviate tension or promote operational coordination remain non-existent. Therefore, possible maritime CBMs, as well as pragmatic mechanisms to initiate and sustain cooperation, require serious examination. This report reflects the unique joint research undertaking of two retired Senior Naval Officers from both India and Pakistan, sponsored by the Cooperative Monitoring Center of the International Security Center at Sandia National Laboratories. Research focuses on technology as a valuable tool to facilitate confidence building between states having a low level of initial trust. Technical CBMs not only increase transparency, but also provide standardized, scientific means of interacting on politically difficult problems. Admirals Vohra and Ansari introduce technology as a mechanism to facilitate consistent forms of cooperation and initiate discussion in the maritime realm. They present technical CBMs capable of being acted upon as well as high-level political recommendations regarding the following issues: (1) Delimitation of the maritime boundary between India and Pakistan and its relationship to the Sir Creek dispute; (2) Restoration of full shipping links and the security of ports and cargos; (3) Fishing within

  15. Teachers' professional development needs and current practices at the Alexander Science Center School

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gargus, Gerald Vincent

    This investigation represents an in-depth understanding of teacher professional development at the Alexander Science Center School, a dependent charter museum school established through a partnership between the California Science Center and Los Angeles Unified School District. Three methods of data collection were used. A survey was distributed and collected from the school's teachers, resulting in a prioritized list of teacher professional development needs, as well as a summary of teachers' opinions about the school's existing professional development program. In addition, six key stakeholders in the school's professional development program were interviewed for the study. Finally, documents related to the school's professional development program were analyzed. Data collected from the interviews and documents were used to develop an understand various components of the Alexander Science Center School's professional development program. Teachers identified seven areas that had a high-priority for future professional development including developing skills far working with below-grade-level students, improving the analytical skills of student in mathematics, working with English Language Learners, improving students' overall reading ability levels, developing teachers' content-area knowledge for science, integrating science across the curriculum, and incorporating hands-on activity-based learning strategies to teach science. Professional development needs identified by Alexander Science Center School teachers were categorized based on their focus on content knowledge, pedagogical content knowledge, or curricular knowledge. Analysis of data collected through interviews and documents revealed that the Alexander Science Center School's professional development program consisted of six venues for providing professional development for teachers including weekly "banked time" sessions taking place within the standard school day, grade-level meetings, teacher support

  16. Student-Centered Instruction and Academic Achievement: Linking Mechanisms of Educational Inequality to Schools’ Instructional Strategy

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Andersen, Ida Gran; Andersen, Simon Calmar

    2017-01-01

    educational inequality. We analyze whether the impact of student-centered instructional strategies on academic achievement differs for students with different socioeconomic backgrounds. Results suggest that a student-centered instructional strategy has a negative impact on academic achievement in general......, and for students with low parental education in particular. Our findings support the argument that the instructional strategy of schools is an important mechanism in generating educational inequality through the stratification of learning opportunities.......Research in the sociology of education argues that the educational system provides different learning opportunities for students with different socioeconomic backgrounds and that this circumstance makes the educational process an important institutional context for the reproduction of educational...

  17. Scientific user facilities at Oak Ridge National Laboratory: New research capabilities and opportunities

    Science.gov (United States)

    Roberto, James

    2011-10-01

    Over the past decade, Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) has transformed its research infrastructure, particularly in the areas of neutron scattering, nanoscale science and technology, and high-performance computing. New facilities, including the Spallation Neutron Source, Center for Nanophase Materials Sciences, and Leadership Computing Facility, have been constructed that provide world-leading capabilities in neutron science, condensed matter and materials physics, and computational physics. In addition, many existing physics-related facilities have been upgraded with new capabilities, including new instruments and a high- intensity cold neutron source at the High Flux Isotope Reactor. These facilities are operated for the scientific community and are available to qualified users based on competitive peer-reviewed proposals. User facilities at ORNL currently welcome more than 2,500 researchers each year, mostly from universities. These facilities, many of which are unique in the world, will be reviewed including current and planned research capabilities, availability and operational performance, access procedures, and recent research results. Particular attention will be given to new neutron scattering capabilities, nanoscale science, and petascale simulation and modeling. In addition, user facilities provide a portal into ORNL that can enhance the development of research collaborations. The spectrum of partnership opportunities with ORNL will be described including collaborations, joint faculty, and graduate research and education.

  18. Tourist Destination Strenghts and Opportunities: Is Montenegro Ready for Chinese Tourists?

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Stranjančević Ana

    2016-06-01

    Full Text Available Since Chinese outbound tourism currently represents the largest outbound tourist market, the opportunities for tourism of Montenegro in the Chinese tourist market should be certainly examined.

  19. Palliative care content on cancer center websites.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Vater, Laura B; Rebesco, Gina; Schenker, Yael; Torke, Alexia M; Gramelspacher, Gregory

    2018-03-01

    Professional guidelines recommend that palliative care begin early in advanced cancer management, yet integration of palliative and cancer care remains suboptimal. Cancer centers may miss opportunities to provide palliative care information online. In this study, we described the palliative care content on cancer center websites. We conducted a systematic content analysis of 62 National Cancer Institute- (NCI) designated cancer center websites. We assessed the content of center homepages and analyzed search results using the terms palliative care, supportive care, and hospice. For palliative and supportive care webpages, we assessed services offered and language used to describe care. Two researchers analyzed all websites using a standardized coding manual. Kappa values ranged from 0.78 to 1. NCI-designated cancer center homepages presented information about cancer-directed therapy (61%) more frequently than palliative care (5%). Ten percent of cancer centers had no webpage with palliative care information for patients. Among centers with information for patients, the majority (96%) defined palliative or supportive care, but 30% did not discuss delivery of palliative care alongside curative treatment, and 14% did not mention provision of care early in the disease process. Cancer center homepages rarely mention palliative care services. While the majority of centers have webpages with palliative care content, they sometimes omit information about early use of care. Improving accessibility of palliative care information and increasing emphasis on early provision of services may improve integration of palliative and cancer care.

  20. Divergent Evolution in Education for Sustainable Development Policy in the United Kingdom: Current Status, Best Practice, and Opportunities for the Future

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    William Scott

    2013-04-01

    Full Text Available This paper discusses the current status of all aspects of education for sustainable development (ESD across the United Kingdom (UK, drawing on evidence from its political jurisdictions (England, Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales, and setting out some characteristics of best practice. The paper analyzes current barriers to progress, and outlines future opportunities for enhancing the core role of education and learning in the pursuit of a more sustainable future. Although effective ESD exists at all levels, and in most learning contexts across the UK, with good teaching and enhanced learner outcomes, the authors argue that a wider adoption of ESD would result from the development of a strategic framework which puts it at the core of the education policy agenda in every jurisdiction. This would provide much needed coherence, direction and impetus to existing initiatives, scale up and build on existing good practice, and prevent unnecessary duplication of effort and resources. The absence of an overarching UK strategy for sustainable development that sets out a clear vision about the contribution learning can make to its goals is a major barrier to progress. This strategy needs to be coupled with the establishment of a pan-UK forum for overseeing the promotion, implementation and evaluation of ESD.

  1. Opportunity for America: Mexico`s coal future

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Loose, V.W.

    1993-09-01

    This study examines the history, current status and future prospects for increased coal use in Mexico. Environmental implications of the power-generation capacity expansion plans are examined in general terms. Mexican environmental law and regulations are briefly reviewed along with the new sense of urgency in the cleanup of existing environmental problems and avoidance of new problems as clearly mandated in recent Mexican government policy initiatives. It is expected that new capital facilities will need to incorporate the latest in process and technology to comply with existing environmental regulation. Technology developments which address these issues are identified. What opportunities have new initiatives caused by the recent diversification of Mexico`s energy economy offered US firms? This report looks at the potential future use of coal in the Mexican energy economy, examining this issue with an eye toward identifying markets that might be available to US coal producers and the best way to approach them. Market opportunities are identified by examining new developments in the Mexican economy generally and the energy economy particularly. These developments are examined in light of the current situation and the history which brought Mexico to its present status.

  2. The NASA Ames Research Center Institutional Scientific Collection: History, Best Practices and Scientific Opportunities

    Science.gov (United States)

    Rask, Jon C.; Chakravarty, Kaushik; French, Alison; Choi, Sungshin; Stewart, Helen

    2017-01-01

    The NASA Ames Life Sciences Institutional Scientific Collection (ISC), which is composed of the Ames Life Sciences Data Archive (ALSDA) and the Biospecimen Storage Facility (BSF), is managed by the Space Biosciences Division and has been operational since 1993. The ALSDA is responsible for archiving information and animal biospecimens collected from life science spaceflight experiments and matching ground control experiments. Both fixed and frozen spaceflight and ground tissues are stored in the BSF within the ISC. The ALSDA also manages a Biospecimen Sharing Program, performs curation and long-term storage operations, and makes biospecimens available to the scientific community for research purposes via the Life Science Data Archive public website (https:lsda.jsc.nasa.gov). As part of our best practices, a viability testing plan has been developed for the ISC, which will assess the quality of archived samples. We expect that results from the viability testing will catalyze sample use, enable broader science community interest, and improve operational efficiency of the ISC. The current viability test plan focuses on generating disposition recommendations and is based on using ribonucleic acid (RNA) integrity number (RIN) scores as a criteria for measurement of biospecimen viablity for downstream functional analysis. The plan includes (1) sorting and identification of candidate samples, (2) conducting a statiscally-based power analysis to generate representaive cohorts from the population of stored biospecimens, (3) completion of RIN analysis on select samples, and (4) development of disposition recommendations based on the RIN scores. Results of this work will also support NASA open science initiatives and guides development of the NASA Scientific Collections Directive (a policy on best practices for curation of biological collections). Our RIN-based methodology for characterizing the quality of tissues stored in the ISC since the 1980s also creates unique

  3. Opportunities for social workers in the patient centered medical home.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hawk, Mary; Ricci, Edmund; Huber, George; Myers, Marcella

    2015-01-01

    The Patient Centered Medical Home (PCMH) has been hailed as one method of improving chronic care outcomes in the United States. A number of studies have underscored the importance of the social work role within the PCMH, yet little existing research explores the social worker as a driver of improved patient care. The Pennsylvania Chronic Care Initiative was created with a primary goal of increasing the number of practices that were recognized as PCMH by the National Committee for Quality Assurance. This article describes findings from in-depth qualitative interviews with representatives from seven primary care practices, in which the authors examined barriers and facilitators to implementation of the initiative. Barriers to implementation included small practice size, payer-driven care, not having a strong physician champion, variability within patient populations, and high implementation costs. Facilitators included having a social worker coordinate behavioral health services, clinical nurse case managers, preexisting models of outcomes-driven care, and being part of an integrated health delivery and financing system. Recommendations strengthening the role of medical social workers in primary care practices are discussed.

  4. Health care employee perceptions of patient-centered care.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Balbale, Salva Najib; Turcios, Stephanie; LaVela, Sherri L

    2015-03-01

    Given the importance of health care employees in the delivery of patient-centered care, understanding their unique perspectives is essential for quality improvement. The purpose of this study was to use photovoice to evaluate perceptions and experiences around patient-centered care among U.S. Veterans Affairs (VA) health care employees. We asked participants to take photographs of salient features in their environment related to patient-centered care. We used the photographs to facilitate dialogue during follow-up interviews. Twelve VA health care employees across two VA sites participated in the project. Although most participants felt satisfied with their work environment and experiences at the VA, they identified several areas for improvement. These included a need for more employee health and wellness initiatives and a need for enhanced opportunities for training and professional growth. Application of photovoice enabled us to learn about employees' unique perspectives around patient-centered care while engaging them in an evaluation of care delivery. © The Author(s) 2014.

  5. Opportunities and challenges for a sustainable energy future.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Chu, Steven; Majumdar, Arun

    2012-08-16

    Access to clean, affordable and reliable energy has been a cornerstone of the world's increasing prosperity and economic growth since the beginning of the industrial revolution. Our use of energy in the twenty-first century must also be sustainable. Solar and water-based energy generation, and engineering of microbes to produce biofuels are a few examples of the alternatives. This Perspective puts these opportunities into a larger context by relating them to a number of aspects in the transportation and electricity generation sectors. It also provides a snapshot of the current energy landscape and discusses several research and development opportunities and pathways that could lead to a prosperous, sustainable and secure energy future for the world.

  6. Current Status of Yongbyon Nuclear Complex

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Hwang, Yong Soo [Korea Institute of Nuclear Non-proliferation and Control, Daejeon (Korea, Republic of)

    2016-05-15

    The DPRK has developed Yongbyon Nuclear Complex in Figure 1 since 1960's. Currently it is composed of the reactor facility, fuel fabrication facility including the enrichment center, and the radiochemistry center. Even though many facilities are not modern and economic in the western standards, Yongbyon Nuclear Complex is fully equipped with the entire life cycle of the nuclear installation. The key facilities have been added step by step. For example, the DPRK's nuclear reactor fleet started with the 2 MW IRT-2000 reactor in the middle of 80's. It started with a small scale radioactive isotope separation center nearby. But nowadays the DPRK is constructing a much more larger isotope separation center in the vicinity of its enrichment center along with a potential new UF6 conversion center. The general description over Yongbyon Nuclear Complex is given in this paper. More detailed context of the current status of the center will be discussed in the main symposium purely based on the open source information study.

  7. Energy market opportunities post-Maui

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Saha, G.

    1995-01-01

    As supply from the Maui and other existing producing fields decline, petroleum explorers and developers need to address the question who will be the indigenous oil and gas customers post Maui? This paper discusses major macro- and micro-environmental trends which will influence likely market opportunities. Two sub-markets are examined. First, what trends impact on current oil and gas customers. Second, what other new customers might arise. The macro-environment trends cover important economic, political, legislation, socio-economic and technical parameters. The micro-environment trends cover energy market structures and pricing parameters. (Author)

  8. Neuroepigenomics: Resources, Obstacles, and Opportunities.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Satterlee, John S; Beckel-Mitchener, Andrea; Little, Roger; Procaccini, Dena; Rutter, Joni L; Lossie, Amy C

    2015-01-01

    Long-lived post-mitotic cells, such as the majority of human neurons, must respond effectively to ongoing changes in neuronal stimulation or microenvironmental cues through transcriptional and epigenomic regulation of gene expression. The role of epigenomic regulation in neuronal function is of fundamental interest to the neuroscience community, as these types of studies have transformed our understanding of gene regulation in post-mitotic cells. This perspective article highlights many of the resources available to researchers interested in neuroepigenomic investigations and discusses some of the current obstacles and opportunities in neuroepigenomics.

  9. Neuroepigenomics: resources, obstacles, and opportunities

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    John S. Satterlee

    2015-01-01

    Full Text Available Long-lived postmitotic cells, such as most human neurons, must respond effectively to ongoing changes in neuronal stimulation or microenvironmental cues through transcriptional and epigenomic regulation of gene expression. The role of epigenomic regulation in neuronal function is of fundamental interest to the neuroscience community, as these types of studies have transformed our understanding of gene regulation in postmitotic cells. This perspective article highlights many of the resources available to researchers interested in neuroepigenomic investigations and discusses some of the current obstacles and opportunities in neuroepigenomics.

  10. Tackling malnutrition in Latin America and the Caribbean: challenges and opportunities

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Luis Galicia

    Full Text Available ABSTRACT Undernutrition and micronutrient deficiencies are still a public health problem in Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC, and overweight and obesity have reached epidemic proportions. To assess the nutrition landscape in LAC countries and guide future nutrition efforts and investments, the Pan American Health Organization and the Micronutrient Initiative joined efforts to 1 identify information gaps and describe the current nutritional situation in the region; 2 map existing policies to address malnutrition in Latin America; 3 describe the impact of conditional cash transfer programs (CCTs on nutrition and health outcomes; and 4 identify the challenges and opportunities to address malnutrition in the region. This article summarizes the methods and key findings from that research and describes the current challenges and opportunities in addressing malnutrition in the LAC region. LAC countries have advanced in reducing undernutrition and micronutrient deficiencies, but important gaps in information are a major concern. These countries have policies to address undernutrition and micronutrient deficiencies, but comprehensive and intersectoral policies to tackle obesity are lacking. CCTs in Brazil, Colombia, and Mexico have been reported to have a positive impact on child nutrition and health outcomes, providing an opportunity to integrate nutrition actions in intersectoral platforms. The current epidemiological situation and policy options offer an opportunity for countries, technical agencies, donors, and other stakeholders to jointly scale up nutrition actions. This can support the development of comprehensive and intersectoral policies to tackle the double burden of malnutrition, strengthen national nutrition surveillance systems, incorporate monitoring and evaluation as systematic components of policies and programs, document and increase investments in nutrition, and assess the effectiveness of such policies to support political

  11. Bandwidth Study on Energy Use and Potential Energy Savings Opportunities in U.S. Petroleum Refining

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Sabine Brueske, Caroline Kramer, Aaron Fisher

    2015-06-01

    Energy bandwidth studies of U.S. manufacturing sectors can serve as foundational references in framing the range (or bandwidth) of potential energy savings opportunities. This bandwidth study examines energy consumption and potential energy savings opportunities in U.S. petroleum refining. The study relies on multiple sources to estimate the energy used in nine individual process areas, representing 68% of sector-wide energy consumption. Energy savings opportunities for individual processes are based on technologies currently in use or under development; these potential savings are then extrapolated to estimate sector-wide energy savings opportunity.

  12. Person-Centered Planning: Strategies to Encourage Participation and Facilitate Communication

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wells, Jenny C.; Sheehey, Patricia H.

    2012-01-01

    Person-centered planning is a process that allows individuals, family members, and friends an opportunity to share information to develop a personal profile and a future vision for an individual. This article describes strategies and technology that teachers can use to promote parents' participation and facilitate communication while maintaining…

  13. Business opportunities

    Science.gov (United States)

    Los Alamos National Laboratory Search Site submit About Mission Business Newsroom Publications Los : Environmental Documents, Reports LANL Home Calendar Search Contacts Business » Short- and long-term opportunities Business opportunities Setting new standards and developing small business initiatives within NNSA

  14. Handbook on data centers

    CERN Document Server

    Khan, Samee Ullah

    2015-01-01

    This handbook offers a comprehensive review of the state-of-the-art research achievements in the field of data centers. Contributions from international, leading researchers and scholars offer topics in cloud computing, virtualization in data centers, energy efficient data centers, and next generation data center architecture.  It also comprises current research trends in emerging areas, such as data security, data protection management, and network resource management in data centers. Specific attention is devoted to industry needs associated with the challenges faced by data centers, such as various power, cooling, floor space, and associated environmental health and safety issues, while still working to support growth without disrupting quality of service. The contributions cut across various IT data technology domains as a single source to discuss the interdependencies that need to be supported to enable a virtualized, next-generation, energy efficient, economical, and environmentally friendly data cente...

  15. High-Throughput Molecular Simulations of Metal Organic Frameworks for CO2 Separation: Opportunities and Challenges

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Ilknur Erucar

    2018-02-01

    Full Text Available Metal organic frameworks (MOFs have emerged as great alternatives to traditional nanoporous materials for CO2 separation applications. MOFs are porous materials that are formed by self-assembly of transition metals and organic ligands. The most important advantage of MOFs over well-known porous materials is the possibility to generate multiple materials with varying structural properties and chemical functionalities by changing the combination of metal centers and organic linkers during the synthesis. This leads to a large diversity of materials with various pore sizes and shapes that can be efficiently used for CO2 separations. Since the number of synthesized MOFs has already reached to several thousand, experimental investigation of each MOF at the lab-scale is not practical. High-throughput computational screening of MOFs is a great opportunity to identify the best materials for CO2 separation and to gain molecular-level insights into the structure–performance relationships. This type of knowledge can be used to design new materials with the desired structural features that can lead to extraordinarily high CO2 selectivities. In this mini-review, we focused on developments in high-throughput molecular simulations of MOFs for CO2 separations. After reviewing the current studies on this topic, we discussed the opportunities and challenges in the field and addressed the potential future developments.

  16. Water Recycling via Aquifers for Sustainable Urban Water Quality Management: Current Status, Challenges and Opportunities

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Elise Bekele

    2018-04-01

    Full Text Available Managed aquifer recharge (MAR is used worldwide in urban environments to replenish groundwater to provide a secure and sustainable supply of potable and non-potable water. It relies on natural treatment processes within aquifers (i.e., filtration, sorption, and degradation, and in some cases involves infiltration through the unsaturated zone to polish the given source water, e.g., treated wastewater, stormwater, or rainwater, to the desired quality prior to reuse. Whilst MAR in its early forms has occurred for millennia, large-scale schemes to replenish groundwater with advanced treated reclaimed water have come to the fore in cities such as Perth, Western Australia, Monterey, California, and Changwon, South Korea, as water managers consider provision for projected population growth in a drying climate. An additional bonus for implementing MAR in coastal aquifers is assisting in the prevention of seawater intrusion. This review begins with the rationale for large-scale MAR schemes in an Australian urban context, reflecting on the current status; describes the unique benefits of several common MAR types; and provides examples from around the world. It then explores several scientific challenges, ranging from quantifying aquifer removal for various groundwater contaminants to assessing risks to human health and the environment, and avoiding adverse outcomes from biogeochemical changes induced by aquifer storage. Scientific developments in the areas of water quality assessments, which include molecular detection methods for microbial pathogens and high resolution analytical chemistry methods for detecting trace chemicals, give unprecedented insight into the “polishing” offered by natural treatment. This provides opportunities for setting of compliance targets for mitigating risks to human health and maintaining high performance MAR schemes.

  17. Mid-Atlantic Technology Applications Center. Quarters 1-4

    Science.gov (United States)

    1997-01-01

    Mid-atlantic Technology Application Center (MTAC) pursued a number of initiatives designed to enhance the strategic position of the Langley Research Center (LaRC) and NASA in industry. Among these was a closer association with the ISA, International Society for Measurement and Control. During 1997, MTAC placed articles regarding NASA-developed technologies in each In Tech magazine. The monthly magazine is sent to 46,000 sensors and instrumentation professionals. In addition, MTAC coordinated NASXs participation in the ISA Tech 97 Conference, securing $112,000 of free exhibit space, 1500 NASA sensors posters at no cost to NASA, and thousands of dollars of free publicity. MTAC was awarded a contract by ISA to operate its Technical Resource Center (TRC). The goal of this project is to determine what user needs are in order to identify opportunities for collaboration between NASA centers and companies. In addition, the TRC work will lay the groundwork for the Technology Development Consortium (TDC) proposed by MTAC. The purpose of the TDC is to: match current industry needs with NASA technologies available now, and to identify future needs of NASA and industry which may lead to dual use projects. The goal of these activities is twofold: to infuse NASA technologies into the sensors and instrumentation industry and to secure industry funds to support NASA technology development projects. The instrumentation and sensors industry is valued at $30 billion worldwide, with $12 billion in sales in the United States. The growth rate averages 13.5%, so that by the year 2000, the industry will produce products worth $49 billion. More than 80% of instruments, sensors and control systems are currently manufactured in the United States. NASA and the industry do not have a history of collaborative projects; MTAC's initiatives in this area are designed to foster working relationships between the two parties that will help maintain U.S. leadership in this field. Mid-atlantic Technology

  18. Basin-Scale Opportunity Assessment Initiative Background Literature Review

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Saulsbury, Bo [ORNL; Geerlofs, Simon H. [Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL); Cada, Glenn F [ORNL; Bevelhimer, Mark S [ORNL

    2010-10-01

    As called for in the March 24, 2010, Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) for Hydropower, the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), the U.S. Department of the Interior (DOI), the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE), environmental stakeholders, and the hydropower industry are collaborating to identify opportunities to simultaneously increase electricity generation and improve environmental services in river basins of the United States. New analytical tools provide an improved ability to understand, model, and visualize environmental and hydropower systems. Efficiencies and opportunities that might not be apparent in site-by-site analyses can be revealed through assessments at the river-basin scale. Information from basin-scale assessments could lead to better coordination of existing hydropower projects, or to inform siting decisions (e.g., balancing the removal of some dams with the construction of others), in order to meet renewable energy production and environmental goals. Basin-scale opportunity assessments would inform energy and environmental planning and address the cumulative effects of hydropower development and operations on river basin environmental quality in a way that quantifies energy-environment tradeoffs. Opportunity assessments would create information products, develop scenarios, and identify specific actions that agencies, developers, and stakeholders can take to locate new sustainable hydropower projects, increase the efficiency and environmental performance of existing projects, and restore and protect environmental quality in our nation's river basins. Government agencies and non-governmental organizations (NGO) have done significant work to understand and assess opportunities for both hydropower and environmental protection at the basin scale. Some initiatives have been successful, others less so, and there is a need to better understand the legacy of work on which this current project can build. This background literature review is intended

  19. [Patient-centered care. Improvement of communication between university medical centers and general practitioners for patients in neuro-oncology].

    Science.gov (United States)

    Renovanz, M; Keric, N; Richter, C; Gutenberg, A; Giese, A

    2015-12-01

    Communication between university medical centers and general practitioners (GP) is becoming increasingly more important in supportive patient care. A survey among GPs was performed with the primary objective to assess their opinion on current workflow and communication between GPs and the university medical center. The GPs were asked to score (grades 1-6) their opinion on the current interdisciplinary workflow in the care of patients with brain tumors, thereby rating communication between a university medical center in general and the neuro-oncology outpatient center in particular. Questionnaires were sent to1000 GPs and the response rate was 15 %. The mean scored evaluation of the university medical center in general was 2.62 and of the neuro-oncological outpatient clinic 2.28 (range 1-6). The most often mentioned issues to be improved were easier/early telephone information (44 %) and a constantly available contact person (49 %). Interestingly, > 60 % of the GPs indicated they would support web-based tumor boards for interdisciplinary and palliative neuro-oncological care. As interdisciplinary care for neuro-oncology patients is an essential part of therapy, improvement of communication between GPs and university medical centers is indispensable. Integrating currently available electronic platforms under data protection aspects into neuro-oncological palliative care could be an interesting tool in order to establish healthcare networks and could find acceptance with GPs.

  20. Proceedings of Opportunity '95 -- Environmental technology through small business

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Kothari, V.P.

    1994-11-01

    The Opportunity '95--Environmental Technology Through Small Business conference was held November 16--17, 1994, at the Morgantown Energy Technology Center (METC) in Morgantown, West Virginia. The overall objective of this conference was to review the latest environmental and waste management technologies being developed under the sponsorship of the Environmental Management--Office of Technology Development (EM-OTD) Program at METC. The focus of this conference was also to address the accomplishments and barriers affecting small businesses, and lay the groundwork for future technology development initiatives and opportunities. Twenty papers were presented in three EM-OTD focus areas: mixed waste characterization, treatment and disposal (6 papers); contaminant plume containment and remediation (6 papers); and facility transitioning, decommissioning and final disposition (8 papers). In addition to the presentations, nine posters of environmental management areas were displayed. A panel discussion was also held on technology development assistance to small businesses. Selected papers are indexed separately for inclusion in the Energy Science and Technology Database

  1. Processes and Procedures of the Higher Education Programs at Marshall Space Flight Center

    Science.gov (United States)

    Heard, Pamala D.

    2002-01-01

    The purpose of my research was to investigate the policies, processes, procedures and timelines for the higher education programs at Marshall Space Flight Center. The three higher education programs that comprised this research included: the Graduate Student Researchers Program (GSRP), the National Research Council/Resident Research Associateships Program (NRC/RRA) and the Summer Faculty Fellowship Program (SFFP). The GSRP award fellowships each year to promising U.S. graduate students whose research interest coincides with NASA's mission. Fellowships are awarded for one year and are renewable for up to three years to competitively selected students. Each year, the award provides students the opportunity to spend a period in residence at a NASA center using that installation's unique facilities. This program is renewable for three years, students must reapply. The National Research Council conducts the Resident Research Associateships Program (NRC/RRA), a national competition to identify outstanding recent postdoctoral scientists and engineers and experience senior scientists and engineers, for tenure as guest researchers at NASA centers. The Resident Research Associateship Program provides an opportunity for recipients of doctoral degrees to concentrate their research in association with NASA personnel, often as a culmination to formal career preparation. The program also affords established scientists and engineers an opportunity for research without any interruptions and distracting assignments generated from permanent career positions. All opportunities for research at NASA Centers are open to citizens of the U.S. and to legal permanent residents. The Summer Faculty Fellowship Program (SFFP) is conducted each summer. NASA awards research fellowships to university faculty through the NASA/American Society for Engineering Education. The program is designed to promote an exchange of ideas between university faculties, NASA scientists and engineers. Selected

  2. 76 FR 17139 - Health Center Program

    Science.gov (United States)

    2011-03-28

    ... DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES Health Resources and Services Administration Health Center Program AGENCY: Health Resources and Services Administration, HHS. ACTION: Notice of Noncompetitive... Improvement Project (CIP) from Saint Vincent's Catholic Medical Centers (SVCMC) of New York, current grantee...

  3. Benefits Analysis of Multi-Center Dynamic Weather Routes

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sheth, Kapil; McNally, David; Morando, Alexander; Clymer, Alexis; Lock, Jennifer; Petersen, Julien

    2014-01-01

    Dynamic weather routes are flight plan corrections that can provide airborne flights more than user-specified minutes of flying-time savings, compared to their current flight plan. These routes are computed from the aircraft's current location to a flight plan fix downstream (within a predefined limit region), while avoiding forecasted convective weather regions. The Dynamic Weather Routes automation has been continuously running with live air traffic data for a field evaluation at the American Airlines Integrated Operations Center in Fort Worth, TX since July 31, 2012, where flights within the Fort Worth Air Route Traffic Control Center are evaluated for time savings. This paper extends the methodology to all Centers in United States and presents benefits analysis of Dynamic Weather Routes automation, if it was implemented in multiple airspace Centers individually and concurrently. The current computation of dynamic weather routes requires a limit rectangle so that a downstream capture fix can be selected, preventing very large route changes spanning several Centers. In this paper, first, a method of computing a limit polygon (as opposed to a rectangle used for Fort Worth Center) is described for each of the 20 Centers in the National Airspace System. The Future ATM Concepts Evaluation Tool, a nationwide simulation and analysis tool, is used for this purpose. After a comparison of results with the Center-based Dynamic Weather Routes automation in Fort Worth Center, results are presented for 11 Centers in the contiguous United States. These Centers are generally most impacted by convective weather. A breakdown of individual Center and airline savings is presented and the results indicate an overall average savings of about 10 minutes of flying time are obtained per flight.

  4. Hype, harmony and human factors: applying user-centered design to achieve sustainable telehealth program adoption and growth.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Rossos, P G; St-Cyr, O; Purdy, B; Toenjes, C; Masino, C; Chmelnitsky, D

    2015-01-01

    Despite decades of international experience with the use of information and communication technologies in healthcare delivery, widespread telehealth adoption remains limited and progress slow. Escalating health system challenges related to access, cost and quality currently coincide with rapid advancement of affordable and reliable internet based communication technologies creating unprecedented opportunities and incentives for telehealth. In this paper, we will describe how Human Factors Engineering (HFE) and user-centric elements have been incorporated into the establishment of telehealth within a large academic medical center to increase acceptance and sustainability. Through examples and lessons learned we wish to increase awareness of HFE and its importance in the successful implementation, innovation and growth of telehealth programs.

  5. A history of thyratron lifetimes at the Stanford Linear Accelerator Center

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Ficklin, D.B. Jr.

    1994-12-01

    The Stanford Linear Accelerator Center (SLAC) has been in almost continuous operation since the middle 1960s, providing a remarkable opportunity to amass thyratron data. This paper reviews the history of this thyratron usage, focusing primarily on data collected during the last ten years of accelerator operation. There have been two distinct operating conditions during the history of operation at SLAC. Prior to 1985, the fundamental thyratron operating points were 46 kV anode voltage (Epy), 4.2 kA peak current, 3.8 μs equivalent square pulse (esp), with a maximum repetition rate of 360 pulses per second (pps). The accelerator was upgraded during 1985, and the thyratron operating points are now 46 kV Epy, 6.3 kA, 5.4 μs esp, with a maximum repetition rate of 120 pps. The SLAC high-energy physics research program requires that each of the available modulator klystron units provide a stable microwave energy source. Within these constraints, this paper explores historical thyratron lifetimes at SLAC, reviewing the available data to determine how long these thyratrons can be expected to operate before failure currently or recently used in the 243 accelerator modulators

  6. Opportunity Design

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Løwe Nielsen, Suna; Lassen, Astrid Heidemann; Nielsen, Louise Møller

    2013-01-01

    design”. The framework explains how opportunities intentionally and pro-actively can be designed from methods and processes of moving-in and moving-out. An illustrative case of opportunity design within the area of sustainable energy and electric cars is presented to link the theoretical discussion...

  7. Opportunities and strategies in contemporary health system executive leadership.

    Science.gov (United States)

    McCausland, Maureen P

    2012-01-01

    The contemporary health care environment presents opportunities for nurse executive leadership that is patient and family centered, satisfying to professional nurses and their colleagues, and results in safe quality care that is fiscally responsible and evidence based. This article focuses on the strategic areas of systemness, people, performance, and innovation and offers strategies and tactics to help move nursing in integrated delivery systems from important entity-based services to a system approach where the nursing leadership team and entity chief nursing officers are recognized as major contributors to system success.

  8. Novel opportunities for computational biology and sociology in drug discovery

    Science.gov (United States)

    Yao, Lixia

    2009-01-01

    Drug discovery today is impossible without sophisticated modeling and computation. In this review we touch on previous advances in computational biology and by tracing the steps involved in pharmaceutical development, we explore a range of novel, high value opportunities for computational innovation in modeling the biological process of disease and the social process of drug discovery. These opportunities include text mining for new drug leads, modeling molecular pathways and predicting the efficacy of drug cocktails, analyzing genetic overlap between diseases and predicting alternative drug use. Computation can also be used to model research teams and innovative regions and to estimate the value of academy-industry ties for scientific and human benefit. Attention to these opportunities could promise punctuated advance, and will complement the well-established computational work on which drug discovery currently relies. PMID:19674801

  9. Establishing a national research center on day care

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Ellegaard, Tomas

    The paper presents and discusses the current formation of a national research center on ECEC. The center is currently being established. It is partly funded by the Danish union of early childhood and youth educators. It is based on cooperation between a number of Danish universities and this nati...... current new public management policies. However there is also more conflicting issues that emerge in this enterprise – especially on interests, practice relevance and knowledge paradigms....

  10. Pollution prevention opportunity assessment for Sandia National Laboratories/California recycling programs.

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Wrons, Ralph Jordan; Vetter, Douglas Walter

    2007-07-01

    This Pollution Prevention Opportunity Assessment (PPOA) was conducted for the Sandia National Laboratories/California (SNL/CA) Environmental Management Department between May 2006 and March 2007, to evaluate the current site-wide recycling program for potential opportunities to improve the efficiency of the program. This report contains a summary of the information collected and analyses performed with recommended options for implementation. The SNL/NM Pollution Prevention (P2) staff worked with the SNL/CA P2 Staff to arrive at these options.

  11. Multispacecraft current estimates at swarm

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Dunlop, M. W.; Yang, Y.-Y.; Yang, J.-Y.

    2015-01-01

    During the first several months of the three-spacecraft Swarm mission all three spacecraft camerepeatedly into close alignment, providing an ideal opportunity for validating the proposed dual-spacecraftmethod for estimating current density from the Swarm magnetic field data. Two of the Swarm...

  12. Educating for an Entrepreneurial Career: Developing Opportunity-Recognition Ability

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sardeshmukh, Shruti R.; Smith-Nelson, Ronda M.

    2011-01-01

    Entrepreneurship as a career option has become increasingly desirable, and there is a real need to develop an opportunity-oriented entrepreneurial mindset among tertiary students. Current entrepreneurship education heavily relies on the linear process of business planning and rarely encourages the complex and non-linear thinking patterns necessary…

  13. Current titles

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    NONE

    1995-07-01

    This booklet is published for those interested in current research being conducted at the National Center for Electron Microscopy. The NCEM is a DOE-designated national user facility and is available at no charge to qualified researchers. Access is controlled by an external steering committee. Interested researchers may contact Gretchen Hermes at (510) 486-5006 or address below for a User`s Guide. Copies of available papers can be ordered from: Theda Crawford National Center for Electron Microscopy, Lawrence Berkeley Laboratory, One Cyclotron Rd., MS72, Berkeley, California, USA 94720.

  14. Energy efficient data centers

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Tschudi, William; Xu, Tengfang; Sartor, Dale; Koomey, Jon; Nordman, Bruce; Sezgen, Osman

    2004-03-30

    Data Center facilities, prevalent in many industries and institutions are essential to California's economy. Energy intensive data centers are crucial to California's industries, and many other institutions (such as universities) in the state, and they play an important role in the constantly evolving communications industry. To better understand the impact of the energy requirements and energy efficiency improvement potential in these facilities, the California Energy Commission's PIER Industrial Program initiated this project with two primary focus areas: First, to characterize current data center electricity use; and secondly, to develop a research ''roadmap'' defining and prioritizing possible future public interest research and deployment efforts that would improve energy efficiency. Although there are many opinions concerning the energy intensity of data centers and the aggregate effect on California's electrical power systems, there is very little publicly available information. Through this project, actual energy consumption at its end use was measured in a number of data centers. This benchmark data was documented in case study reports, along with site-specific energy efficiency recommendations. Additionally, other data center energy benchmarks were obtained through synergistic projects, prior PG&E studies, and industry contacts. In total, energy benchmarks for sixteen data centers were obtained. For this project, a broad definition of ''data center'' was adopted which included internet hosting, corporate, institutional, governmental, educational and other miscellaneous data centers. Typically these facilities require specialized infrastructure to provide high quality power and cooling for IT equipment. All of these data center types were considered in the development of an estimate of the total power consumption in California. Finally, a research ''roadmap'' was developed

  15. KBTAC: EPRI's center to assist the nuclear industry to apply the knowledge-based technology

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Lin, Chinglu; Naser, J.A.; Sun, B.K.H.

    1993-01-01

    The nuclear utility industry's complex engineering and procedure systems offer many opportunities for use of the knowledge-based technology such as expert systems and neural networks. The ability of expert systems to enhance human experts makes them an important tool in the areas of engineering, operations and maintenance. However, many current industry applications are research projects or turnkey systems supplied by vendors. These often do not impart to utility technical staff a clear understanding of the capabilities of knowledge-based systems (KBS). More importantly, simply using completed applications does not meet utilities' need to acquire the capabilities to build their own knowledge-based systems. Thus, EPRI is supporting its member utilities utilization of knowledge-based technology for power plant engineering, operations, and maintenance applications through the establishment of the Knowledge-Based Technology Application Center (KBTAC)

  16. Biomass co-firing opportunities and experiences

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Lyng, R. [Ontario Power Generation Inc., Niagara Falls, ON (Canada). Nanticoke Generating Station

    2006-07-01

    Biomass co-firing and opportunities in the electricity sector were described in this presentation. Biomass co-firing in a conventional coal plant was first illustrated. Opportunities that were presented included the Dutch experience and Ontario Power Generation's (OPG) plant and production mix. The biomass co-firing program at OPG's Nantucket generating station was presented in three phases. The fuel characteristics of co-firing were identified. Several images and charts of the program were provided. Results and current status of tests were presented along with conclusions of the biomass co-firing program. It was concluded that biomass firing is feasible and following the Dutch example. Biomass firing could considerably expand renewable electricity generation in Ontario. In addition, sufficient biomass exists in Ontario and the United States to support large scale biomass co-firing. Several considerations were offered such as electricity market price for biomass co-firing and intensity targets and credit for early adoption and banking. tabs., figs.

  17. Information on Equal Opportunities at CERN

    CERN Document Server

    2003-01-01

    In response to questions raised at the meeting of the Finance Committee in December 2002, the Management agreed to present a short information document . At its meeting in May 2003, TREF discussed the content of this information document and took note of supplementary information provided in a presentation by CERN's Equal Opportunities Officer, accompanied by the Chairman of the Equal Opportunities Advisory Panel. The Forum concluded that this supplementary information should be included in a revised version of the document, as indicated in section 3 and Annex 1 below. Finally, the Forum took note of a main issue raised by the Panel, namely the need for crèche facilities available to CERN staff. This led to a study commissioned by the Management, recommending the setting up of crèche facilities on the CERN site (Annex 2). However, given the current financial constraints, funding could only be found by setting priorities in the next 5-Yearly Review.

  18. Bandwidth Study on Energy Use and Potential Energy Saving Opportunities in U.S. Chemical Manufacturing

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Sabine Brueske, Caroline Kramer, Aaron Fisher

    2015-06-01

    Energy bandwidth studies of U.S. manufacturing sectors can serve as foundational references in framing the range (or bandwidth) of potential energy savings opportunities. This bandwidth study examines energy consumption and potential energy savings opportunities in U.S. chemical manufacturing. The study relies on multiple sources to estimate the energy used in the production of 74 individual chemicals, representing 57% of sector-wide energy consumption. Energy savings opportunities for individual chemicals and for 15 subsectors of chemicals manufacturing are based on technologies currently in use or under development; these potential savings are then extrapolated to estimate sector-wide energy savings opportunity.

  19. The current status of emergency operations at a high-volume cancer center.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Komori, Koji; Kimura, Kenya; Kinoshita, Takashi; Ito, Seiji; Abe, Tetsuya; Senda, Yoshiki; Misawa, Kazunari; Ito, Yuichi; Uemura, Norihisa; Natsume, Seiji; Kawai, Ryosuke; Kawakami, Jiro; Asano, Tomonari; Iwata, Yoshinori; Kurahashi, Shintaro; Tsutsuyama, Masayuki; Shigeyoshi, Itaru; Shimizu, Yasuhiro

    2014-01-01

    This study aimed to assess the pathogenic causes, clinical conditions, surgical procedures, in-hospital mortality, and operative death associated with emergency operations at a high-volume cancer center. Although many reports have described the contents, operative procedures, and prognosis of elective surgeries in high-volume cancer centers, emergency operations have not been studied in sufficient detail. We retrospectively enrolled 28 consecutive patients who underwent emergency surgery. Cases involving operative complications were excluded. The following surgical procedures were performed during emergency operations: closure in 3 cases (10.7%), diversion in 22 cases (78.6%), ileus treatment in 2 cases (7.1%), and hemostasis in 1 case (3.6%). Closure alone was performed only once for peritonitis. Diversion was performed in 17 cases (77.3%) of peritonitis, 4 cases (18.2%) of stenosis of the gastrointestinal tract, and 1 case (4.5%) of bleeding. There was a significant overall difference (P = 0.001). The frequency of emergency operations was very low at a high-volume cancer center. However, the recent shift in treatment approaches toward nonoperative techniques may enhance the status of emergency surgical procedures. The results presented in this study will help prepare for emergency situations and resolve them as quickly and efficiently as possible.

  20. A Partial Swot Analysis of the Turkish Bank Call Centers: The Actual and the Assumed Weaknesses

    OpenAIRE

    ÖZKAN, Ahmet Hakan

    2014-01-01

    The bank call centers of Turkey are seen as a tool of perceiving the threats and evaluating opportunities in the SWOT analysis. By the way they are evaluated as a factor of strength. However, the weaknesses of the call centers which must be taken into account in a SWOT analysis, are so various that they cannot be ignored. The weaknesses of the call centers are elaborated with this research. The ways the call centers harm the corporations or the ways they might harm are revised.

  1. Using the Electronic Health Record in Nursing Research: Challenges and Opportunities.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Samuels, Joanne G; McGrath, Robert J; Fetzer, Susan J; Mittal, Prashant; Bourgoine, Derek

    2015-10-01

    Changes in the patient record from the paper to the electronic health record format present challenges and opportunities for the nurse researcher. Current use of data from the electronic health record is in a state of flux. Novel data analytic techniques and massive data sets provide new opportunities for nursing science. Realization of a strong electronic data output future relies on meeting challenges of system use and operability, data presentation, and privacy. Nurse researchers need to rethink aspects of proposal development. Joining ongoing national efforts aimed at creating usable data output is encouraged as a means to affect system design. Working to address challenges and embrace opportunities will help grow the science in a way that answers important patient care questions. © The Author(s) 2015.

  2. Hunting the Opportunity

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Løwe Nielsen, Suna; Rind Christensen, Poul; Lassen, Astrid Heidemann

    2017-01-01

    This paper bring together the two research fields of design and entrepreneurship in order to stimulate new knowledge on opportunity creation. A shared theoretical framework on new opportunity creation that illustrates that design and entrepreneurship can advantageously complement each other in th...... in the opportunity design process. Practical insights into the robustness of the framework are provided by a short illustrative case on electric cars....

  3. OPPORTUNITIES OF EXERCISING THE ROLE OF AN ACTIVE STUDENT AS A PREMISE OF STUDENT-CENTERED EDUCATION IN THE ECONOMIC SCIENCES FACULTY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF ORADEA

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Rosca Remus Dorel

    2014-07-01

    The ideas presented in this paper are to represent a part of a good practice guide on implementing student-centered education within a high educational institution. The concern for this concept is determined by the current context of the high educational system in Romania characterized by: the intensification of the competitive environment; increasing employers’ demands; increasing high school graduates and students’ demands towards the quality offered by a high educational institution; the performance indicators used by ARACIS in the evaluation of the universities, a very relevant example being the graduates’ professional route in the labour field. We are convinced that the ideas presented in this paper are important to the decision factors from the academic environment, factors that should initiate and facilitate the implementation of the student- centered education concept.

  4. Biomass opportunities in the United States to mitigate the effects of global warming

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Sampson, R.N.

    1991-01-01

    The increased interest in the global warming threat has caused a great deal of attention to be paid to the value of forests as a mitigating strategy. This paper is a preliminary report on efforts by a number of investigators to document the opportunities for improving the forests of the United States, and the effect that those improvements might have on global warming. In the process, major interest is on the amount of biomass that can be produced - particularly opportunities to increase the amount of biomass that can be produced annually in relatively stable forms - woody plant structures, woody roots, soil carbon, and long-lived wood products - or burned as a substitute for fossil fuels. While it is readily recognized that growing additional forest products is not a way out of avoiding other issues such as energy conservation and reduction of industrial emissions, forestry opportunities provide an excellent bridging strategy that may buy a few decades of time on the problem of carbon dioxide buildup in the atmosphere, while at the same time providing a host of other economic and environmental benefits. In other words, at reasonable levels, implementing forestry opportunities is a global warming strategy that does not cost, it pays. The current state of the study leads us to believe that those opportunities can offset somewhere in the neighborhood of half of the current net fossil fuel carbon emissions produced by the United States, with changes that are economically sound for other reasons - mainly in terms of forest products produced, or energy expenditures avoided. In the process, there are substantial collateral environmental benefits that will be realized. It seems clear, however, that we can increase forest acreage, and forest productivity, more than current markets for forest products can absorb. Thus, new markets will need to be established. 36 refs., 11 figs., 6 tabs

  5. Using strategic foresight to assess conservation opportunity.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Cook, Carly N; Wintle, Bonnie C; Aldrich, Stephen C; Wintle, Brendan A

    2014-12-01

    The nature of conservation challenges can foster a reactive, rather than proactive approach to decision making. Failure to anticipate problems before they escalate results in the need for more costly and time-consuming solutions. Proactive conservation requires forward-looking approaches to decision making that consider possible futures without being overly constrained by the past. Strategic foresight provides a structured process for considering the most desirable future and for mapping the most efficient and effective approaches to promoting that future with tools that facilitate creative thinking. The process involves 6 steps: setting the scope, collecting inputs, analyzing signals, interpreting the information, determining how to act, and implementing the outcomes. Strategic foresight is ideal for seeking, recognizing, and realizing conservation opportunities because it explicitly encourages a broad-minded, forward-looking perspective on an issue. Despite its potential value, the foresight process is rarely used to address conservation issues, and previous attempts have generally failed to influence policy. We present the strategic foresight process as it can be used for proactive conservation planning, describing some of the key tools in the foresight tool kit and how they can be used to identify and exploit different types of conservation opportunities. Scanning is an important tool for collecting and organizing diverse streams of information and can be used to recognize new opportunities and those that could be created. Scenario planning explores how current trends, drivers of change, and key uncertainties might influence the future and can be used to identify barriers to opportunities. Backcasting is used to map out a path to a goal and can determine how to remove barriers to opportunities. We highlight how the foresight process was used to identify conservation opportunities during the development of a strategic plan to address climate change in New York

  6. Efficient workload management in geographically distributed data centers leveraging autoregressive models

    Science.gov (United States)

    Altomare, Albino; Cesario, Eugenio; Mastroianni, Carlo

    2016-10-01

    The opportunity of using Cloud resources on a pay-as-you-go basis and the availability of powerful data centers and high bandwidth connections are speeding up the success and popularity of Cloud systems, which is making on-demand computing a common practice for enterprises and scientific communities. The reasons for this success include natural business distribution, the need for high availability and disaster tolerance, the sheer size of their computational infrastructure, and/or the desire to provide uniform access times to the infrastructure from widely distributed client sites. Nevertheless, the expansion of large data centers is resulting in a huge rise of electrical power consumed by hardware facilities and cooling systems. The geographical distribution of data centers is becoming an opportunity: the variability of electricity prices, environmental conditions and client requests, both from site to site and with time, makes it possible to intelligently and dynamically (re)distribute the computational workload and achieve as diverse business goals as: the reduction of costs, energy consumption and carbon emissions, the satisfaction of performance constraints, the adherence to Service Level Agreement established with users, etc. This paper proposes an approach that helps to achieve the business goals established by the data center administrators. The workload distribution is driven by a fitness function, evaluated for each data center, which weighs some key parameters related to business objectives, among which, the price of electricity, the carbon emission rate, the balance of load among the data centers etc. For example, the energy costs can be reduced by using a "follow the moon" approach, e.g. by migrating the workload to data centers where the price of electricity is lower at that time. Our approach uses data about historical usage of the data centers and data about environmental conditions to predict, with the help of regressive models, the values of the

  7. Windows of opportunity for synchronization in stochastically coupled maps

    Science.gov (United States)

    Golovneva, Olga; Jeter, Russell; Belykh, Igor; Porfiri, Maurizio

    2017-02-01

    Several complex systems across science and engineering display on-off intermittent coupling among their units. Most of the current understanding of synchronization in switching networks relies on the fast switching hypothesis, where the network dynamics evolves at a much faster time scale than the individual units. Recent numerical evidence has demonstrated the existence of windows of opportunity, where synchronization may be induced through non-fast switching. Here, we study synchronization of coupled maps whose coupling gains stochastically switch with an arbitrary switching period. We determine the role of the switching period on synchronization through a detailed analytical treatment of the Lyapunov exponent of the stochastic dynamics. Through closed-form expressions and numerical findings, we demonstrate the emergence of windows of opportunity and elucidate their nontrivial relationship with the stability of synchronization under static coupling. Our results are expected to provide a rigorous basis for understanding the dynamic mechanisms underlying the emergence of windows of opportunity and leverage non-fast switching in the design of evolving networks.

  8. United States Data Center Energy Usage Report

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Shehabi, Arman [Lawrence Berkeley National Lab. (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States); Smith, Sarah [Lawrence Berkeley National Lab. (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States); Sartor, Dale [Lawrence Berkeley National Lab. (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States); Brown, Richard [Lawrence Berkeley National Lab. (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States); Herrlin, Magnus [Lawrence Berkeley National Lab. (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States); Koomey, Jonathan [Stanford Univ., CA (United States); Masanet, Eric [Northwestern Univ., Evanston, IL (United States); Horner, Nathaniel [Carnegie Mellon Univ., Pittsburgh, PA (United States); Azevedo, Inês [Carnegie Mellon Univ., Pittsburgh, PA (United States); Lintner, William [Dept. of Energy (DOE), Washington DC (United States)

    2016-06-01

    This report estimates historical data center electricity consumption back to 2000, relying on previous studies and historical shipment data, and forecasts consumption out to 2020 based on new trends and the most recent data available. Figure ES-1 provides an estimate of total U.S. data center electricity use (servers, storage, network equipment, and infrastructure) from 2000-2020. In 2014, data centers in the U.S. consumed an estimated 70 billion kWh, representing about 1.8% of total U.S. electricity consumption. Current study results show data center electricity consumption increased by about 4% from 2010-2014, a large shift from the 24% percent increase estimated from 2005-2010 and the nearly 90% increase estimated from 2000-2005. Energy use is expected to continue slightly increasing in the near future, increasing 4% from 2014-2020, the same rate as the past five years. Based on current trend estimates, U.S. data centers are projected to consume approximately 73 billion kWh in 2020.

  9. Simulation of the shopping center 'Zona I' evacuation

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Jevtić Radoje B.

    2014-01-01

    Full Text Available One of the most important and the most complex tasks in human protection and human safety in objects is the projecting of the object evacuation. There are many factors that could effect on the opportune living of object such as object assignment, arrangement of rooms, arrangement of furniture, arrangement of exits, occupant speed and many other that human lives and material properties depend on. This is very important for objects with great number of humans, such as high residential objects, shopping centers, schools, hospitals etc. This paper has written to show the possible evacuation situations and calculate minimal time for evacuation in case of the shopping center 'Zona I' in Niš.

  10. Authority in an Agency-Centered, Inquiry-Based University Calculus Classroom

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gerson, Hope; Bateman, Elizabeth

    2010-01-01

    Authority roles among teachers and students have traditionally been hierarchal and centered with the expertise and power of the teacher limiting opportunities for students to act with autonomy to build and justify mathematics. In this paper we discuss authority roles for teachers and students that have been realized in an inquiry-based university,…

  11. Endoscopic submucosal dissection in the West: Current status and future directions.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ma, Michael X; Bourke, Michael J

    2018-05-01

    Endoscopic submucosal dissection (ESD) was first conceptually described almost 30 years ago in Japan and is now widely practiced throughout East Asia. ESD expands the boundaries of endoscopic resection (ER) by allowing en bloc resection of large early neoplastic lesions within the gastrointestinal tract (GIT). This offers advantages over other ER techniques by facilitating definitive histological staging and curative treatment of early cancer in selected cases. Indeed, the experience of ESD in Eastern countries is significant, and excellent outcomes from high-volume centers are reported. The potential benefits of ESD are recognized by Western endoscopists, but its adoption has been limited. A number of factors contribute to this, including epidemiological differences in GIT neoplasia between Western and Eastern populations and limitations in training opportunities. In this review, we discuss the role of ESD, its current status and the future in Western endoscopic practice. © 2017 Japan Gastroenterological Endoscopy Society.

  12. Kennedy Space Center's NASA/Contractor Team-Centered Total Quality Management Seminar: Results, methods, and lessons learned

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kinlaw, Dennis C.; Eads, Jeannette

    1992-01-01

    It is apparent to everyone associated with the Nation's aeronautics and space programs that the challenge of continuous improvement can be reasonably addressed only if NASA and its contractors act together in a fully integrated and cooperative manner that transcends the traditional boundaries of proprietary interest. It is, however, one thing to assent to the need for such integration and cooperation; it is quite another thing to undertake the hard tasks of turning such a need into action. Whatever else total quality management is, it is fundamentally a team-centered and team-driven process of continuous improvement. The introduction of total quality management at KSC, therefore, has given the Center a special opportunity to translate the need for closer integration and cooperation among all its organizations into specific initiatives. One such initiative that NASA and its contractors have undertaken at KSC is a NASA/Contractor team-centered Total Quality Management Seminar. It is this seminar which is the subject of this paper. The specific purposes of this paper are to describe the following: Background, development, and evolution of Kennedy Space Center's Total Quality Management Seminar; Special characteristics of the seminar; Content of the seminar; Meaning and utility of a team-centered design for TQM training; Results of the seminar; Use that one KSC contractor, EG&G Florida, Inc. has made of the seminar in its Total Quality Management initiative; and Lessons learned.

  13. Rewriting the Opportunity Theory

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Korsgaard, Steffen T.

    The aim of this paper is to further the discussion of opportunity theory by discussing its ontological and epistemological underpinnings, which have been neglected in previous discussions. The idea that opportunities have an objective component is critically examined drawing on insights from soci...... constructionism. It is argued that opportunity theory needs to be rewritten.......The aim of this paper is to further the discussion of opportunity theory by discussing its ontological and epistemological underpinnings, which have been neglected in previous discussions. The idea that opportunities have an objective component is critically examined drawing on insights from social...

  14. Overview over opportunities for measuring new physics with ATLAS and CMS

    CERN Document Server

    Johansson, Per; The ATLAS collaboration

    2018-01-01

    This document gives of an overview over opportunities for measuring new physics with ATLAS and CMSD. Describing different signatures and searches, as angular distributions, different analysis techniques currently ongoing at ATLAS and CMS as well as future prospects.

  15. Lost Opportunities in the Buildings Sector: Energy-Efficiency Analysis and Results

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Dirks, James A.; Anderson, David M.; Hostick, Donna J.; Belzer, David B.; Cort, Katherine A.

    2008-09-12

    This report summarizes the results and the assumptions used in an analysis of the potential “lost efficiency opportunities” in the buildings sector. These targets of opportunity are those end-uses, applications, practices, and portions of the buildings market which are not currently being addressed, or addressed fully, by the Building Technologies Program (BTP) due to lack of resources. The lost opportunities, while a significant increase in effort and impact in the buildings sector, still represent only a small portion of the full technical potential for energy efficiency in buildings.

  16. Studying and Incorporating Efficiency into Gastrointestinal Endoscopy Centers

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Lukejohn W. Day

    2015-01-01

    Full Text Available Efficiency is defined as the use of resources in such a way as to maximize the production of goods and services. Improving efficiency has been the focus of management in many industries; however, it has not been until recently that incorporating efficiency models into healthcare has occurred. In particular, the study and development of improvement projects aimed at enhancing efficiency in GI have been growing rapidly in recent years. This focus on improving efficiency in GI has been spurred by the dramatic rise in the demand for endoscopic procedures as well as the rising number of insured patients requiring GI care coupled at the same time with limited resources in terms of staffing and space in endoscopy centers. This paper will critically review the history of efficiency in endoscopy centers, first by looking at other healthcare industries that have extensively studied and improved efficiency in their fields, examine a number of proposed efficiency metrics and benchmarks in endoscopy centers, and finally discuss opportunities where endoscopy centers could improve their efficiency.

  17. Centers of excellence in healthcare institutions: what they are and how to assemble them.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Elrod, James K; Fortenberry, John L

    2017-07-11

    Centers of excellence-specialized programs within healthcare institutions which supply exceptionally high concentrations of expertise and related resources centered on particular medical areas and delivered in a comprehensive, interdisciplinary fashion-afford many advantages for healthcare providers and the populations they serve. To achieve full value from centers of excellence, proper assembly is an absolute necessity, but guidance is somewhat limited. This effectively forces healthcare providers to pursue establishment largely via trial-and-error, diminishing opportunities for success. Successful development of a center of excellence first requires the acquisition of a detailed understanding of the delivery model and its benefits. Then, concerted actions must be taken on a particular series of administrative and clinical fronts, treating them in prescribed manners to afford synergies which yield an exceptionally high level of care. To reduce hardships associated with acquiring this rather elusive knowledge, remedy shortcomings in the literature, and potentially bolster community health broadly, this article presents information and insights gleaned from Willis-Knighton Health System's extensive experience assembling and operating centers of excellence. This work is intended to educate and enlighten, but most importantly, supply guidance which will permit healthcare establishments to replicate noted processes to realize their own centers of excellence. Centers of excellence have the ability to dramatically enhance the depth and breadth of healthcare services available in communities. Given the numerous mutual benefits afforded by this delivery model, it is hoped that the light shed by this article will help healthcare providers better understand centers of excellence and be more capable and confident in associated development initiatives, affording greater opportunities for themselves and their patient populations.

  18. My Place or Yours: Theorizing Eclectic Writing Centers.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Rossini, Carol

    None of the theories that inform writing center work--Freudian theory, cognitivism, feminism, postmodernism, current-traditionalism, expressivism, social constructionism, and family systems theory--offer an adequate basis for writing center work. Even when Stephen North proposed "The Idea of a Writing Center" in 1984 (still considered to…

  19. The medical record entrepreneur: a future of opportunities.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Dietz, M S; Nath, D D

    1989-06-01

    In summary, medical record practitioners can become successful entrepreneurs with the right motivation. It will be important to overcome the fear and inertia inherent in any bold new venture, to find our "niche," to assume the roles of explorer, artist, judge, and champion, as well as to encourage and promote our development within an organization or in a business of our own. Medical record entrepreneurs need to evaluate and understand current and potential consumers, their current needs, perceptions, and future needs. Entrepreneurs should capitalize on strengths, develop innovative marketing approaches, and apply them. In the current climate of the health care industry, there is a myriad of entrepreneurial opportunities available to the medical record profession. It all begins with the individual.

  20. Energy efficiency and environmental considerations for green data centers

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Uddin, M.; Shah, A.

    2014-01-01

    The advancement of business and social practices based on information and social practices based on information and communication technologies (ICTs) in the last few decades has transformed many, if not most, economies and businesses into e-economies and businesses into e-businesses. For economies, ICTs are increasingly playing a critical role in transforming and generating economic opportunities. Technology has a potential to create sustainable business and society both in grim and green economic times. Especially, the recovery from the current economic crisis is going to lead to more greener and energy efficient industries. Data centers are found to be major culprits in consuming too much energy and generating higher level of CO/sub 2/ in their overall operations. In order to handle the sheer magnitude of today's data, servers have become larger, denser, hotter, and significantly more costly operate using more power than being used earlier. This paper determines the properties and attributes of green IT infrastructures and the way they will be helpful in achieving green sustainable businesses. The proposed attributes and characteristics of green IT using Virtualization technology are very productive and efficient and green, hence reducing the emission of greenhouse gases so that their overall effect on global warming can be reduced or even eliminated. The proposed attributes indicate the qualities of green IT to enhance the proper utilization of hardware and software resources available in the data center. (author)

  1. Plastics recycling: challenges and opportunities.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hopewell, Jefferson; Dvorak, Robert; Kosior, Edward

    2009-07-27

    Plastics are inexpensive, lightweight and durable materials, which can readily be moulded into a variety of products that find use in a wide range of applications. As a consequence, the production of plastics has increased markedly over the last 60 years. However, current levels of their usage and disposal generate several environmental problems. Around 4 per cent of world oil and gas production, a non-renewable resource, is used as feedstock for plastics and a further 3-4% is expended to provide energy for their manufacture. A major portion of plastic produced each year is used to make disposable items of packaging or other short-lived products that are discarded within a year of manufacture. These two observations alone indicate that our current use of plastics is not sustainable. In addition, because of the durability of the polymers involved, substantial quantities of discarded end-of-life plastics are accumulating as debris in landfills and in natural habitats worldwide. Recycling is one of the most important actions currently available to reduce these impacts and represents one of the most dynamic areas in the plastics industry today. Recycling provides opportunities to reduce oil usage, carbon dioxide emissions and the quantities of waste requiring disposal. Here, we briefly set recycling into context against other waste-reduction strategies, namely reduction in material use through downgauging or product reuse, the use of alternative biodegradable materials and energy recovery as fuel. While plastics have been recycled since the 1970s, the quantities that are recycled vary geographically, according to plastic type and application. Recycling of packaging materials has seen rapid expansion over the last decades in a number of countries. Advances in technologies and systems for the collection, sorting and reprocessing of recyclable plastics are creating new opportunities for recycling, and with the combined actions of the public, industry and governments it

  2. Plastics recycling: challenges and opportunities

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hopewell, Jefferson; Dvorak, Robert; Kosior, Edward

    2009-01-01

    Plastics are inexpensive, lightweight and durable materials, which can readily be moulded into a variety of products that find use in a wide range of applications. As a consequence, the production of plastics has increased markedly over the last 60 years. However, current levels of their usage and disposal generate several environmental problems. Around 4 per cent of world oil and gas production, a non-renewable resource, is used as feedstock for plastics and a further 3–4% is expended to provide energy for their manufacture. A major portion of plastic produced each year is used to make disposable items of packaging or other short-lived products that are discarded within a year of manufacture. These two observations alone indicate that our current use of plastics is not sustainable. In addition, because of the durability of the polymers involved, substantial quantities of discarded end-of-life plastics are accumulating as debris in landfills and in natural habitats worldwide. Recycling is one of the most important actions currently available to reduce these impacts and represents one of the most dynamic areas in the plastics industry today. Recycling provides opportunities to reduce oil usage, carbon dioxide emissions and the quantities of waste requiring disposal. Here, we briefly set recycling into context against other waste-reduction strategies, namely reduction in material use through downgauging or product reuse, the use of alternative biodegradable materials and energy recovery as fuel. While plastics have been recycled since the 1970s, the quantities that are recycled vary geographically, according to plastic type and application. Recycling of packaging materials has seen rapid expansion over the last decades in a number of countries. Advances in technologies and systems for the collection, sorting and reprocessing of recyclable plastics are creating new opportunities for recycling, and with the combined actions of the public, industry and governments it

  3. The role of the pharmacist in patient-centered medical home practices: current perspectives

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Lewis NJW

    2014-06-01

    Full Text Available Nancy JW Lewis,1 Leslie A Shimp,2 Stuart Rockafellow,2 Jeffrey M Tingen,2 Hae Mi Choe,3 Marie A Marcelino21Private consultancy practice, Rochester Hills, MI, USA; 2Clinical, Social and Administrative Department, University of Michigan College of Pharmacy, Ann Arbor, MI, USA; 3Department of Pharmacy Services, University of Michigan Health System, Ann Arbor, MI, USAAbstract: Patient-centered medical homes (PCMHs are the centerpiece of primary care transformation in the US. They are intended to improve care coordination and communication, enhance health care quality and patient experiences, and lower health care costs by linking patients to a physician-led interdisciplinary health care team. PCMHs are widely supported by health care associations, payers, and employers. Health care accreditation organizations have created performance measures that promote the adoption of PCMH core attributes. Public and private payers are increasingly providing incentives and bonuses related to performance measure status. Evidence-based prescription, medication adherence, medication use coordination, and systems to support medication safety are all necessary components of PCMHs. Pharmacists have unique knowledge and skills that can complement the care provided by other PCMH team members. Their experience in drug therapy assessments, medication therapy management, and population health has documented benefits, both in terms of patient health outcomes and health care costs. Through collaborative care, pharmacists can assist physicians and other prescribers in medication management and thus improve prescriber productivity and patient access to care. Pharmacists are engaged in PCMHs through both employment and contractual arrangements. While some pharmacists serve a unique PCMH, others work within practice networks that serve practices within a geographical area. Financial support for pharmacist-provided services includes university funding, external grant funding

  4. Opportunity's View After Drive on Sol 1806

    Science.gov (United States)

    2009-01-01

    NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity used its navigation camera to take the images combined into this full-circle view of the rover's surroundings just after driving 60.86 meters (200 feet) on the 1,806th Martian day, or sol, of Opportunity's surface mission (Feb. 21, 2009). North is at the center; south at both ends. Tracks from the drive extend northward across dark-toned sand ripples and light-toned patches of exposed bedrock in the Meridiani Planum region of Mars. For scale, the distance between the parallel wheel tracks is about 1 meter (about 40 inches). Engineers designed the Sol 1806 drive to be driven backwards as a strategy to redistribute lubricant in the rovers wheels. The right-front wheel had been showing signs of increased friction. The rover's position after the Sol 1806 drive was about 2 kilometer (1.2 miles) south southwest of Victoria Crater. Cumulative odometry was 14.74 kilometers (9.16 miles) since landing in January 2004, including 2.96 kilometers (1.84 miles) since climbing out of Victoria Crater on the west side of the crater on Sol 1634 (August 28, 2008). This view is presented as a cylindrical projection with geometric seam correction.

  5. Industrial opportunities - offshore

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Gerrits, D.J.

    1998-01-01

    Industrial opportunities available in the Canadian offshore petroleum industry are discussed. Oil has been produced offshore from Nova Scotia since 1992, and offshore from Newfoundland since 1997. Special needs that must be addressed in offshore operations in eastern Canada such as the cold North Atlantic environment, isolation, logistics, safety, and quality assurance, are examined. The most obvious opportunities lie with the designing, building and installing the facilities needed to extract oil and gas from beneath the sea floor and transport it to market. However, there are also opportunities in designing and fabricating clothing, customized food containers and other equipment for offshore needs. Short term opportunities also exist in the decommissioning of depleted production fields and their facilities. One of the greatest obstacles facing new entrants into the offshore oil and gas industry is the lack of a track record. To meet this challenge, the ability to seek out partners to pursue local and international opportunities through joint ventures, strategic alliances and technology sharing partnering arrangements is of great importance. It may be the difference between success and failure. 6 figs

  6. The green and virtual data center

    CERN Document Server

    Schulz, Greg

    2009-01-01

    The Green and Virtual Data Center sets aside the political aspects of what is or is not considered green to instead focus on the opportunities for organizations that want to sustain environmentally-friendly economical growth. If you are willing to believe that IT infrastructure resources deployed in a highly virtualized manner can be combined with other technologies to achieve simplified and cost-effective delivery of services in a  green, profitable manner, this book is for you. Savvy industry veteran Greg Schulz provides real-world insight, addressing best practices, server, software, storag

  7. Tidal Stream Generators, current state and potential opportunities for condition monitoring

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Kappatos, Vassilios; Georgoulas, George; Avdelidis, Nicolas

    2016-01-01

    Tidal power industry has made significant progress towards commercialization over the past decade. Significant investments from sector leaders, strong technical progress and positive media coverage have established the credibility of this specific renewable energy source. However, its progress...... is being retarded by operation and maintenance problems, which results in very low operational availability times, as low as 25 %. This paper presents a literature review of the current state of tidal device operators as well as some commercial tidal turbine condition monitoring solutions. Furthermore......, an overview is given of the global tidal activity status (tidal energy market size and geography), the key industry activity and the regulations-standards related with tidal energy industry. Therefore, the main goal of this paper is to provide a bird’s view of the current status of the tidal power industry...

  8. Wind-Sculpted Vicinity After Opportunity's Sol 1797 Drive (Stereo)

    Science.gov (United States)

    2009-01-01

    [figure removed for brevity, see original site] Left-eye view of a color stereo pair for PIA11820 [figure removed for brevity, see original site] Right-eye view of a color stereo pair for PIA11820 NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity used its navigation camera to take the images combined into this stereo, full-circle view of the rover's surroundings just after driving 111 meters (364 feet) on the 1,797th Martian day, or sol, of Opportunity's surface mission (Feb. 12, 2009). North is at the center; south at both ends. This view is the right-eye member of a stereo pair presented as a cylindrical-perspective projection with geometric seam correction. Tracks from the drive recede northward across dark-toned sand ripples in the Meridiani Planum region of Mars. Patches of lighter-toned bedrock are visible on the left and right sides of the image. For scale, the distance between the parallel wheel tracks is about 1 meter (about 40 inches). This view is presented as a cylindrical-perspective projection with geometric seam correction.

  9. Deep vadose zone remediation: technical and policy challenges, opportunities, and progress in achieving cleanup endpoints

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Wellman, D.M.; Freshley, M.D.; Truex, M.J.; Lee, M.H.

    2013-01-01

    Current requirements for site remediation and closure are standards-based and are often overly conservative, costly, and in some cases, technically impractical. Use of risk-informed alternate endpoints provides a means to achieve remediation goals that are permitted by regulations and are protective of human health and the environment. Alternate endpoints enable the establishment of a path for cleanup that may include intermediate remedial milestones and transition points and/or regulatory alternatives to standards-based remediation. A framework is presented that is centered around developing and refining conceptual models in conjunction with assessing risks and potential endpoints as part of a system-based assessment that integrates site data with scientific understanding of processes that control the distribution and transport of contaminants in the subsurface and pathways to receptors. This system-based assessment and subsequent implementation of the remediation strategy with appropriate monitoring are targeted at providing a holistic approach to addressing risks to human health and the environment. This holistic approach also enables effective predictive analysis of contaminant behavior to provide defensible criteria and data for making long-term decisions. Developing and implementing an alternate endpoint-based approach for remediation and waste site closure presents a number of challenges and opportunities. Categories of these challenges include scientific and technical, regulatory, institutional, and budget and resource allocation issues. Opportunities exist for developing and implementing systems-based approaches with respect to supportive characterization, monitoring, predictive modeling, and remediation approaches. (authors)

  10. Deep vadose zone remediation: technical and policy challenges, opportunities, and progress in achieving cleanup endpoints

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Wellman, D.M.; Freshley, M.D.; Truex, M.J.; Lee, M.H. [Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, Richland, Washington (United States)

    2013-07-01

    Current requirements for site remediation and closure are standards-based and are often overly conservative, costly, and in some cases, technically impractical. Use of risk-informed alternate endpoints provides a means to achieve remediation goals that are permitted by regulations and are protective of human health and the environment. Alternate endpoints enable the establishment of a path for cleanup that may include intermediate remedial milestones and transition points and/or regulatory alternatives to standards-based remediation. A framework is presented that is centered around developing and refining conceptual models in conjunction with assessing risks and potential endpoints as part of a system-based assessment that integrates site data with scientific understanding of processes that control the distribution and transport of contaminants in the subsurface and pathways to receptors. This system-based assessment and subsequent implementation of the remediation strategy with appropriate monitoring are targeted at providing a holistic approach to addressing risks to human health and the environment. This holistic approach also enables effective predictive analysis of contaminant behavior to provide defensible criteria and data for making long-term decisions. Developing and implementing an alternate endpoint-based approach for remediation and waste site closure presents a number of challenges and opportunities. Categories of these challenges include scientific and technical, regulatory, institutional, and budget and resource allocation issues. Opportunities exist for developing and implementing systems-based approaches with respect to supportive characterization, monitoring, predictive modeling, and remediation approaches. (authors)

  11. Future Opportunities and Challenges with Using Demand Response as a Resource in Distribution System Operation and Planning Activities

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Cappers, Peter [Lawrence Berkeley National Lab. (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States); MacDonald, Jason [Lawrence Berkeley National Lab. (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States); Page, Janie [Lawrence Berkeley National Lab. (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States); Potter, Jennifer [Lawrence Berkeley National Lab. (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States); Stewart, Emma [Lawrence Berkeley National Lab. (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States)

    2016-01-01

    This scoping study focuses on identifying the ability for current and future demand response opportunities to contribute to distribution system management. To do so, this scoping study will identify the needs of a distribution system to operate efficiently, safely and reliably; summarize both benefits and challenges for the operation of the distribution system with high penetration levels of distributed energy resources; define a suite of services based on those changing operational needs that could be provided by resources; identify existing demand response opportunities sponsored by distribution utilities and/or aggregators of retail customers; assess the extent to which distribution system services can be provided via DR opportunities both in their current form and with alterations to their design; and provide a qualitative assessment of coordination issues that bulk power and distribution system providers of DR opportunities will need to address.

  12. Workplace Diversity and Public Policy: Challenges and Opportunities for Psychology

    Science.gov (United States)

    Fassinger, Ruth E.

    2008-01-01

    This article outlines both challenges and opportunities for psychology of issues related to diversity in education and work. For the purposes of this discussion, "diverse" populations include four groups currently marginalized and disadvantaged in the U.S. workplace: women, people of color, sexual minorities, and people with disabilities. An…

  13. Teaching Culture: The Challenges and Opportunities of International Public Relations.

    Science.gov (United States)

    George, Amiso M.

    2003-01-01

    Focuses on the challenges and opportunities for international public relations practice. Looks at current United States-Arab relations issues in international crisis communication. Discusses those issues, especially the role of culture and media. Proposes strategies including a case study that teachers can use to help students become effective…

  14. Future Scientific Opportunities At Jefferson Lab

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Thomas, Anthony

    2007-01-01

    Nuclear physics requires at least one major facility world-wide which is capable of fully exploiting the properties of the electro-weak force to investigate precisely the structure of strongly interacting systems. At its current maximum energy of 6 GeV Jefferson Lab has provided a wealth of important information on the structure of nucleons and nuclei. However, the plans to double the energy over the next seven years promise to open new frontiers in nuclear and particle physics. We briefly describe the plans for the 12 GeV Upgrade and the associated physics opportunities.

  15. Unexplored therapeutic opportunities in the human genome

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Oprea, Tudor I; Bologa, Cristian G; Brunak, Søren

    2018-01-01

    A large proportion of biomedical research and the development of therapeutics is focused on a small fraction of the human genome. In a strategic effort to map the knowledge gaps around proteins encoded by the human genome and to promote the exploration of currently understudied, but potentially d...... as well as key drug target classes, including G protein-coupled receptors, protein kinases and ion channels, which illustrate the nature of the unexplored opportunities for biomedical research and therapeutic development....

  16. Neurofeedback: Challenges, Applications, and Opportunities for Education

    OpenAIRE

    Chan, Shuet Ying Sofina

    2015-01-01

    This thesis reviews the current state-of-the-art in neurofeedback research and then goes on to consider three fundamental problems for the psychology of education: first, to what extent can the mind cause changes in the brain at will; second, to what extent can studies in neurofeedback be considered to have validity; and third, given positive outcomes for the first two, to what extent can students become more adept at neurofeedback. Opportunities of neurofeedback for education are contingent ...

  17. Northwest National Marine Renewable Energy Center

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Batten, Belinda [Oregon State Univ., Corvallis, OR (United States); Polagye, Brian [Univ. of Washington, Seattle, WA (United States); LiVecchi, Al [National Renewable Energy Lab. (NREL), Golden, CO (United States)

    2016-06-30

    In 2008, the US Department of Energy’s (DOE) Wind and Water Power Program issued a funding opportunity announcement to establish university-led National Marine Renewable Energy Centers. Oregon State University and the University of Washington combined their capabilities in wave and tidal energy to establish the Northwest National Marine Renewable Energy Center, or NNMREC. NNMREC’s scope included research and testing in the following topic areas: • Advanced Wave Forecasting Technologies; • Device and Array Optimization; • Integrated and Standardized Test Facility Development; • Investigate the Compatibility of Marine Energy Technologies with Environment, Fisheries and other Marine Resources; • Increased Reliability and Survivability of Marine Energy Systems; • Collaboration/Optimization with Marine Renewable and Other Renewable Energy Resources. To support the last topic, the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) was brought onto the team, particularly to assist with testing protocols, grid integration, and testing instrumentation. NNMREC’s mission is to facilitate the development of marine energy technology, to inform regulatory and policy decisions, and to close key gaps in scientific understanding with a focus on workforce development. In this, NNMREC achieves DOE’s goals and objectives and remains aligned with the research and educational mission of universities. In 2012, DOE provided NNMREC an opportunity to propose an additional effort to begin work on a utility scale, grid connected wave energy test facility. That project, initially referred to as the Pacific Marine Energy Center, is now referred to as the Pacific Marine Energy Center South Energy Test Site (PMEC-SETS) and involves work directly toward establishing the facility, which will be in Newport Oregon, as well as supporting instrumentation for wave energy converter testing. This report contains a breakdown per subtask of the funded project. Under each subtask, the following

  18. Current Status of Concentrator Photovoltaic (CPV) Technology

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Philipps, Simon P. [Fraunhofer Inst. for Solar Energy Systems ISE, Freiburg (Germany); Bett, Andreas W. [Fraunhofer Inst. for Solar Energy Systems ISE, Freiburg (Germany); Horowitz, Kelsey [National Renewable Energy Lab. (NREL), Golden, CO (United States); Kurtz, Sarah [National Renewable Energy Lab. (NREL), Golden, CO (United States)

    2015-12-01

    This report summarizes the status of the concentrator photovoltaic (CPV) market and industry as well as current trends in research and technology. This report is intended to guide research agendas for Fraunhofer ISE, the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), and other R&D organizations. Version 1.1 of this report includes recent progress in CPV. The recent record module efficiency of 38.9% at Concentrator Standard Test Conditions (CSTC) is an impressive result, demonstrating the continuing opportunity for CPV technology to improve. 38.9% at Concentrator Standard Test Conditions (CSTC) is an impressive result, demonstrating the continuing opportunity for CPV technology to improve. 38.9% at Concentrator Standard Test Conditions (CSTC) is an impressive result, demonstrating the continuing opportunity for CPV technology to improve. 38.9% at Concentrator Standard Test Conditions (CSTC) is an impressive result, demonstrating the continuing opportunity for CPV technology to improve.

  19. Bandwidth Study on Energy Use and Potential Energy Saving Opportunities in U.S. Pulp and Paper Manufacturing

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Sabine Brueske, Caroline Kramer, Aaron Fisher

    2015-06-01

    Energy bandwidth studies of U.S. manufacturing sectors can serve as foundational references in framing the range (or bandwidth) of potential energy savings opportunities. This bandwidth study examines energy consumption and potential energy savings opportunities in U.S. pulp and paper manufacturing. The study relies on multiple sources to estimate the energy used in six individual process areas, representing 52% of sector-wide energy consumption. Energy savings opportunities for individual processes are based on technologies currently in use or under development; the potential savings are then extrapolated to estimate sector-wide energy savings opportunity

  20. The Global Outlook for Small Reactors: Opportunities, Challenges and Implementation

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Hughes, A.

    2012-01-01

    The fascinating topic of small nuclear is becoming more prevalent on the nuclear agenda. The discussions are generally focused within the country of technical origin. In this presentation 'The global outlook for small reactors' Rolls-Royce along with energy business analysts Douglas-Westwood present their shared views on the global opportunities for Small Reactor deployment in the context of the wider energy market. The presentation will: provide a compressive overview of trends and dynamics relating to Small Reactors in the context of the current world energy market, identify specific Small Reactor opportunities and areas of interest, address the challenges and potential solutions for Small Reactor deployment and operation.(author).

  1. The Soviet center of astronomical data

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Dluzhnevskaya, O.B.

    1982-01-01

    On the basis of the current French-Soviet cooperation in science and technology, the Astronomical Council of the U.S.S.R. Academy of Sciences and the Strasbourg Center signed in 1977 an agreement on setting up the Soviet Center of Astronomical Data as its filial branch. The Soviet Center was created on the basis of a computation center at the Zvenigorod station of the Astronomical Council of the U.S.S.R. Academy of Sciences, which had already had considerable experience of working with stellar catalogues. In 1979 the Center was equipped with a EC-1033 computer. In 1978-1979 the Soviet Center of Astronomical Data (C.A.D.) received from Strasbourg 96 of the most important catalogues. By September 1981 the list of catalogues available at the Soviet Center has reached 140 catalogues some of which are described. (Auth.)

  2. The role of informal science centers in science education: attitudes, skills, and self-efficacy

    OpenAIRE

    Sasson, Irit

    2014-01-01

    Informal learning relates to activities that occur outside the school environment. These learning environments, such as visits to science centers provide valuable motivational opportunities for students to learn science. The purpose of this study was to investigate the role of the pre-academic center in science education and particularly to explore its effects on 750 middle-school students' attitudes toward science, their scientific thinking skills and self-efficacy. Pre and post-case based q...

  3. Mutually Beneficial Service Learning: Language Teacher Candidates in a Local Community Center

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hildebrandt, Susan A.

    2014-01-01

    This article reports on a project designed to provide mutually beneficial solutions to challenges faced by world language teacher candidates, their preparation program, and a local community center. The project provided opportunities for teacher candidates enrolled in a world language (WL) teacher education course to complete clinical experiences…

  4. "The Coleman Report Says . . .": Equality of Educational Opportunity -- Analysis and Political Implications. School Desegregation Bulletin Series.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Guthrie, James W.; Morrelli, Paula S.

    This document comments on the accuracy of findings extracted from the Equality of Educational Opportunity Report, authored by a federally appointed research team headed by James S. Coleman. According to the authors, dificiencies and inconsistencies in the study center around the method of collecting data, the design and validity of the instruments…

  5. Film-induced Tourism in Finland : Its Current State and Opportunities

    OpenAIRE

    Anul, Kezban

    2013-01-01

    The goal of this paper was to evaluate the current state of film-induced tourism in Finland and to create suggestions for further development in the context of international markets. To the knowledge of the author, a comprehensive study about film-induced tourism in Finland has not been undertaken yet. Therefore, the thesis was designed in the form of an exploratory research with the aim to deliver some initial insights and key issues for the broad topic. The paper starts with a general ...

  6. LANSCE beam current limiter

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Gallegos, F.R.

    1996-01-01

    The Radiation Security System (RSS) at the Los Alamos Neutron Science Center (LANSCE) provides personnel protection from prompt radiation due to accelerated beam. Active instrumentation, such as the Beam Current Limiter, is a component of the RSS. The current limiter is designed to limit the average current in a beam line below a specific level, thus minimizing the maximum current available for a beam spill accident. The beam current limiter is a self-contained, electrically isolated toroidal beam transformer which continuously monitors beam current. It is designed as fail-safe instrumentation. The design philosophy, hardware design, operation, and limitations of the device are described

  7. Trout Creek, Oregon Watershed Assessment; Findings, Condition Evaluation and Action Opportunities, 2002 Technical Report.

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Runyon, John

    2002-08-01

    The purpose of the assessment is to characterize historical and current watershed conditions in the Trout Creek Watershed. Information from the assessment is used to evaluate opportunities for improvements in watershed conditions, with particular reference to improvements in the aquatic environment. Existing information was used, to the extent practicable, to complete this work. The assessment will aid the Trout Creek Watershed Council in identifying opportunities and priorities for watershed restoration projects.

  8. Growth Opportunities, Earnings Permanence and the Valuation of Free Cash Flow

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Ahsan Habib

    2011-12-01

    Full Text Available This paper examines empirically the effect of firm growth opportunities and earnings quality on the market valuation of free cash flow, defined as the difference between operating cash flows and capital expenditures. Equity valuation theory prescribes that free cash flow should not be associated with stock returns because itdoes not add value. However, free cash flow could become a value-relevant construct in certain contexts. This study considers growth opportunities and transitory earnings as two such contexts and examines the valuation of free cash flow. An accounting-based valuation framework is developed where stock returns are regressed onfree cash flow interacted with growth and earnings quality proxies, after controlling for book values, dividends, and current earnings realisations. Findings reveal that firms with a positive free cash flow and attractive growth opportunities command a valuation premium. Furthermore, free cash flow is found to be positively associatedwith stock returns when earnings are transitory. The results are robust to alternative definitions of both free cash flow and growth opportunities.

  9. Investment opportunities in an increasingly competitive environment

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Webb, Martin

    1999-01-01

    Four topic areas are considered: (1) The global context for energy investments, (2) Strategic investments in the gas chain, (3) Conventional and changing approaches to investing in gas and power, (4) New areas of opportunity. The presentation considers the challenging global context for investments and the current oil price outlook and more specifically the backdrop to the growth in demand for gas and its increasing availability and the implications of factors such as energy market liberalization. It notes the regional nature of gas and power markets and considers the issue of stranded supply and demand. It identifies an increasing trend towards investments up and down the gas chain by both traditional and new players and explores BP Amoco's own corporate response. The presentation then briefly reviews four major gas investments which BP Amoco has either already taken or is considering. It then discusses investments in gas to power and the growing environmental agenda, which is bringing a range of new and non-traditional investment opportunities

  10. Investment opportunities in an increasingly competitive environment

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Webb, Martin

    1999-07-01

    Four topic areas are considered: (1) The global context for energy investments, (2) Strategic investments in the gas chain, (3) Conventional and changing approaches to investing in gas and power, (4) New areas of opportunity. The presentation considers the challenging global context for investments and the current oil price outlook and more specifically the backdrop to the growth in demand for gas and its increasing availability and the implications of factors such as energy market liberalization. It notes the regional nature of gas and power markets and considers the issue of stranded supply and demand. It identifies an increasing trend towards investments up and down the gas chain by both traditional and new players and explores BP Amoco's own corporate response. The presentation then briefly reviews four major gas investments which BP Amoco has either already taken or is considering. It then discusses investments in gas to power and the growing environmental agenda, which is bringing a range of new and non-traditional investment opportunities.

  11. Analysis of strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats in the development of a health technology assessment program in Turkey.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kahveci, Rabia; Meads, Catherine

    2008-01-01

    The Turkish healthcare system is currently undergoing reform, and efficient use of resources has become a key factor in determining the allocation of resources. The objective of this study was to analyze strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats (SWOT) in the development of a health technology assessment (HTA) program in Turkey. A SWOT analysis was performed using a literature review and interviews with key people in the Turkish Ministry of Health and Ministry of Labor and Social Security. Regarding recent reforms in health care, investments for information network and databank are the strengths, but the traditional "expert-based" decision making, poor availability of data, and poor quality of data could be seen as some of the weaknesses. Another major weakness is lack of general awareness of HTA. Increasing demand for transparency in decision making, demand for evidence, and demand for credibility by decision makers are some of the opportunities, and current healthcare reforms, i.e., restructuring of healthcare and general health insurance, could also be seen as major opportunities. These opportunities unfortunately could be threatened by lack of funding, and resources are challenged by large, recent national investments. There is a good opportunity for Turkey to use the skills in HTA currently being developed through activities in Europe and the Americas to assist in the development of a much more cost-effective and transparent healthcare system in Turkey.

  12. Large-scale fuel cycle centers

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Smiley, S.H.; Black, K.M.

    1977-01-01

    The United States Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) has considered the nuclear energy center concept for fuel cycle plants in the Nuclear Energy Center Site Survey - 1975 (NECSS-75) -- an important study mandated by the U.S. Congress in the Energy Reorganization Act of 1974 which created the NRC. For the study, NRC defined fuel cycle centers to consist of fuel reprocessing and mixed oxide fuel fabrication plants, and optional high-level waste and transuranic waste management facilities. A range of fuel cycle center sizes corresponded to the fuel throughput of power plants with a total capacity of 50,000 - 300,000 MWe. The types of fuel cycle facilities located at the fuel cycle center permit the assessment of the role of fuel cycle centers in enhancing safeguarding of strategic special nuclear materials -- plutonium and mixed oxides. Siting of fuel cycle centers presents a considerably smaller problem than the siting of reactors. A single reprocessing plant of the scale projected for use in the United States (1500-2000 MT/yr) can reprocess the fuel from reactors producing 50,000-65,000 MWe. Only two or three fuel cycle centers of the upper limit size considered in the NECSS-75 would be required in the United States by the year 2000 . The NECSS-75 fuel cycle center evaluations showed that large scale fuel cycle centers present no real technical difficulties in siting from a radiological effluent and safety standpoint. Some construction economies may be attainable with fuel cycle centers; such centers offer opportunities for improved waste management systems. Combined centers consisting of reactors and fuel reprocessing and mixed oxide fuel fabrication plants were also studied in the NECSS. Such centers can eliminate not only shipment of plutonium, but also mixed oxide fuel. Increased fuel cycle costs result from implementation of combined centers unless the fuel reprocessing plants are commercial-sized. Development of plutonium-burning reactors could reduce any

  13. A Comparative Analysis of Patient Access Modes at Wilford Hall United States Air Force Medical Center and Selected Civilian Medical Centers

    Science.gov (United States)

    1983-12-01

    In A COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS OF PATIENT ACCESS MODES AT WILFORD HALL UNITED STATES AIR FORCE MEDICAL CENTER N AND SELECTED CIVILIAN MEDICAL CENTERS0 N...current patient access modes at WHMC and several civilian medical centers of comparable size. This project has pursued the subject of patient access in...selected civilian medical centers which are comparable to WHMC in size, specialty mix, workload, and mission, providing responsive and efficient patient

  14. A feasibility study for a manufacturing technology deployment center

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    1994-10-31

    The Automation & Robotics Research Institute (ARRI) and the Texas Engineering Extension Service (TEEX) were funded by the U.S. Department of Energy to determine the feasibility of a regional industrial technology institute to be located at the Superconducting Super Collider (SSC) Central Facility in Waxahachie, Texas. In response to this opportunity, ARRI and TEEX teamed with the DOE Kansas City Plant (managed by Allied Signal, Inc.), Los Alamos National Laboratory (managed by the University of California), Vought Aircraft Company, National Center for Manufacturing Sciences (NCMS), SSC Laboratory, KPMG Peat Marwick, Dallas County Community College, Navarro Community College, Texas Department of Commerce (TDOC), Texas Manufacturing Assistance Center (TMAC), Oklahoma Center for the Advancement of Science and Technology, Arkansas Science and Technology Authority, Louisiana Productivity Center, and the NASA Mid-Continent Technology Transfer Center (MCTTC) to develop a series of options, perform the feasibility analysis and secure industrial reviews of the selected concepts. The final report for this study is presented in three sections: Executive Summary, Business Plan, and Technical Plan. The results from the analysis of the proposed concept support the recommendation of creating a regional technology alliance formed by the states of Texas, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Arkansas and Louisiana through the conversion of the SSC Central facility into a Manufacturing Technology Deployment Center (MTDC).

  15. Innovation in clinical pharmacy practice and opportunities for academic--practice partnership.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gubbins, Paul O; Micek, Scott T; Badowski, Melissa; Cheng, Judy; Gallagher, Jason; Johnson, Samuel G; Karnes, Jason H; Lyons, Kayley; Moore, Katherine G; Strnad, Kyle

    2014-05-01

    Clinical pharmacy has a rich history of advancing practice through innovation. These innovations helped to mold clinical pharmacy into a patient-centered discipline recognized for its contributions to improving medication therapy outcomes. However, innovations in clinical pharmacy practice have now waned. In our view, the growth of academic–practice partnerships could reverse this trend and stimulate innovation among the next generation of pioneering clinical pharmacists. Although collaboration facilitates innovation,academic institutions and health care systems/organizations are not taking full advantage of this opportunity. The academic–practice partnership can be optimized by making both partners accountable for the desired outcomes of their collaboration, fostering symbiotic relationships that promote value-added clinical pharmacy services and emphasizing continuous quality improvement in the delivery of these services. Optimizing academic–practice collaboration on a broader scale requires both partners to adopt a culture that provides for dedicated time to pursue innovation, establishes mechanisms to incubate ideas, recognizes where motivation and vision align, and supports the purpose of the partnership. With appropriate leadership and support, a shift in current professional education and training practices, and a commitment to cultivate future innovators, the academic–practice partnership can develop new and innovative practice advancements that will improve patient outcomes.

  16. Feedback about Teaching in Higher Ed: Neglected Opportunities to Promote Change.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gormally, Cara; Evans, Mara; Brickman, Peggy

    2014-01-01

    Despite ongoing dissemination of evidence-based teaching strategies, science teaching at the university level is less than reformed. Most college biology instructors could benefit from more sustained support in implementing these strategies. One-time workshops raise awareness of evidence-based practices, but faculty members are more likely to make significant changes in their teaching practices when supported by coaching and feedback. Currently, most instructional feedback occurs via student evaluations, which typically lack specific feedback for improvement and focus on teacher-centered practices, or via drop-in classroom observations and peer evaluation by other instructors, which raise issues for promotion, tenure, and evaluation. The goals of this essay are to summarize the best practices for providing instructional feedback, recommend specific strategies for providing feedback, and suggest areas for further research. Missed opportunities for feedback in teaching are highlighted, and the sharing of instructional expertise is encouraged. © 2014 M. Evans et al. CBE—Life Sciences Education © 2014 The American Society for Cell Biology. This article is distributed by The American Society for Cell Biology under license from the author(s). It is available to the public under an Attribution–Noncommercial–Share Alike 3.0 Unported Creative Commons License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0).

  17. Opportunity identification competence

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Baggen, Yvette

    2017-01-01

    Opportunities and their identification are of significant importance for competitiveness in today’s complex and turbulent business environment because they serve as a key influencing factor for new value-creation. Opportunity identification (OI) is interesting not only from the perspective of new

  18. Clean Energy Finance: Challenges and Opportunities of Early-Stage Energy Investing (Presentation)

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Heap, D.; Pless, J.; Aieta, N.

    2013-12-01

    Characterized by a changing landscape and new opportunities, today's increasingly complex energy decision space will need innovative financing and investment models to appropriately assess risk and profitability. This report provides an overview of the current state of clean energy finance across the entire spectrum but with a focus on early stage investing, and it includes insights from investors across all investment classes. Further, this report aims to provide a roadmap with the mechanisms, limitations, and considerations involved in making successful investments by identifying risks, challenges, and opportunities in the clean energy sector.

  19. Bandwidth Study on Energy Use and Potential Energy Saving Opportunities in U.S. Iron and Steel Manufacturing

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Keith Jamison, Caroline Kramer, Sabine Brueske, Aaron Fisher

    2015-06-01

    Energy bandwidth studies of U.S. manufacturing sectors can serve as foundational references in framing the range (or bandwidth) of potential energy savings opportunities. This bandwidth study examines energy consumption and potential energy savings opportunities in U.S. iron and steel manufacturing. The study relies on multiple sources to estimate the energy used in six individual process areas and select subareas, representing 82% of sector-wide energy consumption. Energy savings opportunities for individual processes and subareas are based on technologies currently in use or under development; the potential savings are then extrapolated to estimate sector-wide energy savings opportunity.

  20. International Cooperation in Physics - Opportunities and Obstacles

    Science.gov (United States)

    Vary, James P.

    2000-03-01

    The rapid advances in high speed digital communications are making new scientific achievements feasible. This presents a new opportunity for all scientists, especially those in developing countries, to participate in world-class science at a reasonable cost. ``Virtual Laboratories" or ``Collaboratories" provide promising mechanisms to bridge geographical boundaries and infrastructure disparities. While science and technology are recognized as engines of economic development, they are also keys to addressing societal problems and fostering peace. Following the historical precedent of CERN founded after World War II, an initiative organized by UNESCO to create a world-class research institute in the Middle East is underway. A synchrotron light-source is being offered by Germany as the key experimental facility. This project called ``Synchrotron Light for Experimental Science and Applications in the Middle East" or ``SESAME" offers a special opportunity for basic and applied science in the Arab nations of the Middle East to take a giant leap forward. I will review the current status of this initiative and indicate the opportunities and challenges for countries of the Middle East. An emerging mega-science project in Astronomy is the ``Southern Africa Large Telescope" or ``SALT" which, when completed, will be the Southern Hemisphere's largest single telescope. University partners in the US are pledging support for SALT’s construction and operation. SALT promises to become a focal point of world-class basic science in Sub-Saharan Africa. The primary obstacles to international cooperation involving scientists in developing countries stem from scarce financial resources needed to allow potential collaborators to meet and explore where the win-win opportunities reside. Follow up support is a second major obstacle.

  1. Current Titles

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Various

    2006-06-01

    This booklet is published for those interested in current research being conducted at the National Center for Electron Microscopy. The NCEM is a DOE-designated national user facility and is available at no charge to qualified researchers. Access is controlled by an external steering committee. Interested researchers may contact Jane Cavlina, Administrator, at 510/486-6036.

  2. Building a future full of opportunity for blind youths in science

    Science.gov (United States)

    Beck-Winchatz, B.; Riccobono, M. A.

    Like their sighted peers many blind students in elementary middle and high school are naturally interested in space This interest can motivate them to learn fundamental scientific quantitative and critical thinking skills and sometimes even lead to careers in SMET disciplines However these students are often at a disadvantage in science because of the ubiquity of important graphical information that is generally not available in accessible formats the unfamiliarity of teachers with non-visual teaching methods lack of access to blind role models and the low expectations of their teachers and parents In this presentation we will describe joint efforts by NASA and the National Federation of the Blind s NFB Center for Blind Youth in Science to develop and implement strategies to promote opportunities for blind youth in science These include the development of tactile space science books and curriculum materials science academies for blind middle school and high school students internship and mentoring programs as well as research on non-visual learning techniques This partnership with the NFB exemplifies the effectiveness of collaborations between NASA and consumer-directed organizations to improve opportunities for underserved and underrepresented individuals Session participants will also have the opportunity to examine some of the recently developed tactile space science education materials themselves

  3. 5 CFR 847.211 - Death of employee during election opportunity period.

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-01-01

    ... 5 Administrative Personnel 2 2010-01-01 2010-01-01 false Death of employee during election opportunity period. 847.211 Section 847.211 Administrative Personnel OFFICE OF PERSONNEL MANAGEMENT (CONTINUED) CIVIL SERVICE REGULATIONS (CONTINUED) ELECTIONS OF RETIREMENT COVERAGE BY CURRENT AND FORMER EMPLOYEES OF NONAPPROPRIATED FUND INSTRUMENTALITIES...

  4. Identifying opportunities to increase HIV testing among mexican migrants: a call to step up efforts in health care and detention settings.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Ana P Martínez-Donate

    Full Text Available HIV testing and counseling is a critical component of HIV prevention efforts and core element of current "treatment as prevention" strategies. Mobility, low education and income, and limited access to health care put Latino migrants at higher risk for HIV and represent barriers for adequate levels of HIV testing in this population. We examined correlates of, and missed opportunities to increase, HIV testing for circular Mexican migrants in the U.S. We used data from a probability-based survey of returning Mexican migrants (N=1161 conducted in the border city of Tijuana, Mexico. We estimated last 12-months rates of HIV testing and the percentage of migrants who received other health care services or were detained in an immigration center, jail, or prison for 30 or more days in the U.S., but were not tested for HIV. Twenty-two percent of migrants received HIV testing in the last 12 months. In general, utilization of other health care services or detention for 30 or more days in the U.S. was a significant predictor of last 12-months HIV testing. Despite this association, we found evidence of missed opportunities to promote testing in healthcare and/or correctional or immigration detention centers. About 27.6% of migrants received other health care and/or were detained at least 30 days but not tested for HIV. Health care systems, jails and detention centers play an important role in increasing access to HIV testing among circular migrants, but there is room for improvement. Policies to offer opt-out, confidential HIV testing and counseling to Mexican migrants in these settings on a routine and ethical manner need to be designed and pilot tested. These policies could increase knowledge of HIV status, facilitate engagement in HIV treatment among a highly mobile population, and contribute to decrease incidence of HIV in the host and receiving communities.

  5. Big Data Technologies: New Opportunities for Diabetes Management

    OpenAIRE

    Bellazzi, Riccardo; Dagliati, Arianna; Sacchi, Lucia; Segagni, Daniele

    2015-01-01

    The so-called big data revolution provides substantial opportunities to diabetes management. At least 3 important directions are currently of great interest. First, the integration of different sources of information, from primary and secondary care to administrative information, may allow depicting a novel view of patient’s care processes and of single patient’s behaviors, taking into account the multifaceted nature of chronic care. Second, the availability of novel diabetes technologies, ab...

  6. Seizing Political Opportunity

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Citi, Manuele; Justesen, Mogens Kamp

    2016-01-01

    Political actors need to be nimble and respond to the opportunity to reform old policies and initiate new ones. The article looks at how the European Commission takes advantage of politically opportune moments (the ‘gridlock interval’) in the European Parliament to put forward new legislation...

  7. Opportunities in biotechnology.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gartland, Kevan M A; Gartland, Jill S

    2018-06-08

    Strategies for biotechnology must take account of opportunities for research, innovation and business growth. At a regional level, public-private collaborations provide potential for such growth and the creation of centres of excellence. By considering recent progress in areas such as genomics, healthcare diagnostics, synthetic biology, gene editing and bio-digital technologies, opportunities for smart, strategic and specialised investment are discussed. These opportunities often involve convergent or disruptive technologies, combining for example elements of pharma-science, molecular biology, bioinformatics and novel device development to enhance biotechnology and the life sciences. Analytical applications use novel devices in mobile health, predictive diagnostics and stratified medicine. Synthetic biology provides opportunities for new product development and increased efficiency for existing processes. Successful centres of excellence should promote public-private business partnerships, clustering and global collaborations based on excellence, smart strategies and innovation if they are to remain sustainable in the longer term. Copyright © 2018. Published by Elsevier B.V.

  8. Ecology-centered experiences among children and adolescents: A qualitative and quantitative analysis

    Science.gov (United States)

    Orton, Judy

    The present research involved two studies that considered ecology-centered experiences (i.e., experiences with living things) as a factor in children's environmental attitudes and behaviors and adolescents' ecological understanding. The first study (Study 1) examined how a community garden provides children in an urban setting the opportunity to learn about ecology through ecology-centered experiences. To do this, I carried out a yearlong ethnographic study at an urban community garden located in a large city in the Southeastern United States. Through participant observations and informal interviews of community garden staff and participants, I found children had opportunities to learn about ecology through ecology-centered experiences (e.g., interaction with animals) along with other experiences (e.g., playing games, reading books). In light of previous research that shows urban children have diminished ecological thought---a pattern of thought that privileges the relationship between living things---because of their lack of ecology-centered experiences (Coley, 2012), the present study may have implications for urban children to learn about ecology. As an extension of Study 1, I carried out a second study (Study 2) to investigate how ecology-centered experiences contribute to adolescents' environmental attitudes and behaviors in light of other contextual factors, namely environmental responsibility support, ecological thought, age and gender. Study 2 addressed three research questions. First, does ecological thought---a pattern of thought that privileges the relationship between living things---predict environmental attitudes and behaviors (EAB)? Results showed ecological thought did not predict EAB, an important finding considering the latent assumptions of previous research about the relationship between these two factors (e.g., Brugger, Kaiser, & Roczen, 2011). Second, do two types of contextual support, ecology-centered experiences (i.e., experiences with

  9. OPPORTUNITIES AND CHALLENGES FOR MICRO-SMALL AND MEDIUM BUSINESS IN INDONESIA FACING ASEAN ECONOMIC COMMUNITY

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Raden Aswin Rahadi

    2016-03-01

    Full Text Available This research is a part of a continuous study to analyze the opportunities and challenges for micro-small and medium business in Indonesia when facing ASEAN Economic Community (AEC in 2016. It has its own uniqueness, as it will combine the point of view between current business owners and current literature study synthesis on business perception towards AEC. Ten business owners have been interviewed. The results suggested AEC provides challenges for the business owners, particularly in terms of capital; competitiveness; sales system; innovation; finance, bureaucracy; and government preparedness. AEC also provides opportunities, in terms of market potential; creativity; export opportunities; business owners’ resistances and sustainability; and knowledge of local market. From all of the keywords mentioned by the respondents, there are four main attributes considered as important: human resources; creativities; market share; and capital. Finally, most of the respondents suggested that AEC will bring more positive influences for the development of micro-small and medium business in Indonesia.

  10. 75 FR 9343 - Nomenclature Change Relating to the Network Distribution Center Transition

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-03-02

    ... (BMC) to network distribution centers (NDC), by replacing all text references to ``BMC'' with ``NDC..., references as follows: Current text Revised text Bulk Mail Center Network Distribution Center. BMC NDC. Destination Bulk Mail Center Destination Network Distribution Center. DBMC DNDC. Origin Bulk Mail Center...

  11. Armstrong Flight Research Center Flight Test Capabilities and Opportunities for the Applications of Wireless Data Acquisition Systems

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hang, Richard

    2015-01-01

    The presentation will overview NASA Armstrong Flight Research Centers flight test capabilities, which can provide various means for flight testing of passive and active wireless sensor systems, also, it will address the needs of the wireless data acquisition solutions for the centers flight instrumentation issues such as additional weight caused by added instrumentation wire bundles, connectors, wire cables routing, moving components, etc., that the Passive Wireless Sensor Technology Workshop may help. The presentation shows the constraints and requirements that the wireless sensor systems will face in the flight test applications.

  12. Equal opportunities in diversity

    CERN Multimedia

    Laëtitia Pedroso

    2010-01-01

    Promoting equal opportunities at CERN and advising the Director-General on all related matters is the task of the Equal Opportunities Officer, Doris Chromek-Burckhart, and Tim Smith, chair of the Equal Opportunities Advisory Panel. Changes are being introduced: in future, the focus of their work will be broadened to cover all aspects of diversity promotion.   The term "equal opportunities" has always been broader in scope than the equal treatment of men and women but this is what it has traditionally been confined to in practice. "We wanted to change how people see our mission", explains Doris Chromek-Burckhart. The word "diversity" has much wider connotations than "equal opportunities" and makes it clearer that we are also dealing with differences in nationality, religion, age, culture and physical ability”. Getting away from the old clichés is vital to ensuring equal treatment for everyone. The diversit...

  13. The 10th Anniversary Of Daejeon Environmental Technology Development Center

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    2010-12-01

    This book describes the Daejeon Environment Technology Development Center with pictures for ten years. It also introduces the purpose of the foundation and background of center, structure of the center, main project and role of the center, center logo, current situation of cost of project, research business for 10 years, business supporting the environmental corporate, environment education, public relations activity and vision and prospect of the Daejeon Environmental Technology Development Center.

  14. Clinical exome sequencing reports: current informatics practice and future opportunities.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Swaminathan, Rajeswari; Huang, Yungui; Astbury, Caroline; Fitzgerald-Butt, Sara; Miller, Katherine; Cole, Justin; Bartlett, Christopher; Lin, Simon

    2017-11-01

    The increased adoption of clinical whole exome sequencing (WES) has improved the diagnostic yield for patients with complex genetic conditions. However, the informatics practice for handling information contained in whole exome reports is still in its infancy, as evidenced by the lack of a common vocabulary within clinical sequencing reports generated across genetic laboratories. Genetic testing results are mostly transmitted using portable document format, which can make secondary analysis and data extraction challenging. This paper reviews a sample of clinical exome reports generated by Clinical Laboratory Improvement Amendments-certified genetic testing laboratories at tertiary-care facilities to assess and identify common data elements. Like structured radiology reports, which enable faster information retrieval and reuse, structuring genetic information within clinical WES reports would help facilitate integration of genetic information into electronic health records and enable retrospective research on the clinical utility of WES. We identify elements listed as mandatory according to practice guidelines but are currently missing from some of the clinical reports, which might help to organize the data when stored within structured databases. We also highlight elements, such as patient consent, that, although they do not appear within any of the current reports, may help in interpreting some of the information within the reports. Integrating genetic and clinical information would assist the adoption of personalized medicine for improved patient care and outcomes. © The Author 2017. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the American Medical Informatics Association. All rights reserved. For Permissions, please email: journals.permissions@oup.com.

  15. From Ideas to Opportunities: Exploring the Construction of Technology-Based Entrepreneurial Opportunities

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Ferran Giones

    2013-06-01

    Full Text Available The transformation of business ideas into market opportunities is at the core of entrepreneurship. Nevertheless, the complexity of such a transformative process is seen to change depending on the variables influencing the opportunity-entrepreneur nexus. Although technology-entrepreneurship is regarded as a force of change and dynamism in socio-economic growth, it also depends upon an intricate process of opportunity development. The interest in understanding better how technology-based entrepreneurs simultaneously cope with technological uncertainty while trying to gain stakeholder support and access to resources, highlights a relevant research gap. The research described in this article uses the constructivist view to deepen our understanding of the technology-based entrepreneur’s conceptualization of the opportunity as a process of social construction. Our results show how initial consensus-building efforts and iteration with knowledgeable peers are an essential part of the emergence of the opportunity, changing both entrepreneur's and stakeholders' perceptions of the early business idea. Consequently, our results provide evidence in support of policy programs and measures that favour social-construction support mechanisms to foster technology-based entrepreneurship.

  16. Ensuring Equitable Opportunities for Delaware's Undocumented Career and Technical School Population

    Science.gov (United States)

    Vieni-Vento, Sarah R.

    2012-01-01

    This executive position paper proposes a legal process by which undocumented students enrolled in career and technical schools can obtain cooperative employment and pursue post-secondary opportunities. The recommended process is based on the current plight of undocumented students who are caught between harsh federal immigration policies and…

  17. BIG DATA-Related Challenges and Opportunities in Earth System Modeling

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bamzai, A. S.

    2012-12-01

    Knowledge of the Earth's climate has increased immensely in recent decades, both through observational analysis and modeling. BIG DATA-related challenges emerge in our quest for understanding the variability and predictability of the climate and earth system on a range of time scales, as well as in our endeavor to improve predictive capability using state-of-the-science models. To enable further scientific discovery, bottlenecks in current paradigms need to be addressed. An overview of current NSF activities in Earth System Modeling with a focus on associated data-related challenges and opportunities, will be presented.

  18. A unique funding opportunity for public health in Texas.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Schlenker, Thomas; Huber, Carol A

    2015-01-01

    In addition to the Affordable Care Act, states are more frequently turning to Medicaid waivers to achieve the "Triple Aim" goals of improving the experience of care, improving population health, and reducing per capita costs. These demonstration waivers provide opportunities to test innovative ways to finance and deliver care. Texas is currently implementing a waiver known as the Transformation and Quality Improvement Program. Its inclusion of public health agencies is a unique approach to a system typically limited to traditional providers. San Antonio Metropolitan Health District is one public health agency taking advantage of this new funding opportunity to implement 6 new or expanded programs targeting health issues of highest priority in this south Texas region. This article discusses the use of Medicaid waivers and the advantages and challenges of public health agency participation.

  19. International Mentoring Programs: Leadership Opportunities to Enhance Worldwide Pharmacy Practice.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ubaka, Chukwuemeka; Brechtelsbauer, Erich; Goff, Debra A

    2017-07-01

    Health-system and community pharmacy practice in the United States is experiencing transformational change; however, this transformation is lagging in the international arena. As a result, efforts are being made to provide support and education to the international pharmacy leaders and practitioners. This article describes one effort, the Mandela Washington Fellows Program, and suggests areas where pharmacy leaders can be involved to help advance the practice of pharmacy on an international level. The Mandela Washington Fellows Program for young Africa leaders consists of a US-Africa pharmacy-mentoring program identified ranging from educational opportunities to collaboration for implementation of patient care programs. The specifics of the mentoring program include daily meetings, clinic and ward rounds, round table discussions with mentors, and visits to various hospital care systems. Lessons were learned and strategies for sustaining the program are discussed. These types of programs represent leadership opportunities that may not be apparent to most pharmacy directors, but expanding their view to helping international pharmacists expand their practice only strengthens the professional goal of providing patient-centered pharmacy services.

  20. Steel Industry Marginal Opportunity Analysis

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    none,

    2005-09-01

    The Steel Industry Marginal Opportunity Analysis (PDF 347 KB) identifies opportunities for developing advanced technologies and estimates both the necessary funding and the potential payoff. This analysis determines what portion of the energy bandwidth can be captured through the adoption of state-of-the-art technology and practices. R&D opportunities for addressing the remainder of the bandwidth are characterized and plotted on a marginal opportunity curve.

  1. Alternative Aviation Fuels: Overview of Challenges, Opportunities, and Next Steps

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    None, None

    2017-03-28

    The Alternative Aviation Fuels: Overview of Challenges, Opportunities, and Next Steps report, published by the U.S. Department of Energy’s Bioenergy Technologies Office (BETO) provides an overview of the current state of alternative aviation fuels, based upon findings from recent peer-reviewed studies, scientific working groups, and BETO stakeholder input provided during the Alternative Aviation Fuel Workshop.

  2. THE OPPORTUNITIES AND CHALLENGES OF MICROINSURANCE

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Bente Corneliu

    2011-07-01

    Full Text Available Microinsurance is a term increasingly used to refer to insurance characterized by low premium and low caps or low coverage limits, sold as part of a typical risk-pooling and marketing arrangements, and designed to service low-income people and businesses not served by typical social or commercial insurance schemes. As a relatively new field, few studies evaluating the impact of microinsurance projects exist. Of these, even fewer have a rigorous methodology leading to reliable results. Our research aimed to: - examine the viability of microinsurance as a mechanism of risk transfer and tool for risk management in developing countries; - provide a state of the art analysis of microinsurance for a better understanding of currently operational microinsurance schemes; - reflect on the opportunities and challenges of microinsurance in developing countries, highlighting both the potential benefits and limitations of microinsurance as an instrument for transferring risk; - consider the interests and perspectives of different stakeholders and the incentives and disincentives for participating and investing in a micro-insurance scheme; - enhance dialogue and collaboration on this topic between and within the commercial insurance sector and the disaster risk reduction communities; - assess the opportunity of introducing microinsurance in Romania. Reflecting on the opportunities and challenges of introducing microinsurance in Romania, there is absolutely necessary to understand both the supply side (current insurance market and the demand side (risks faced by low-income persons and the coping strategies used to manage these risks. The majority of the primary research was conducted on-site in Romania, in Oradea and its environs, during the month of December 2010. Qualitative research techniques were utilized, including focus group discussions (FGD and guided individual interviews with members of both the public and private sector, as well as with

  3. Opportunities and Resources for Scientist Participation in Education and Public Outreach

    Science.gov (United States)

    Buxner, Sanlyn; CoBabe-Ammann, E.; Shipp, S.; Hsu, B.

    2012-10-01

    Active engagement of scientists in Education and Public Outreach (E/PO) activities results in benefits for both the audience and scientists. Most scientists are trained in research but have little formal training in education. The Planetary Science Education and Public Outreach (E/PO) Forum helps the Science Mission Directorate support scientists currently involved in E/PO and to help scientists who are interested in becoming involved in E/PO efforts find ways to do so through a variety of avenues. We will present current and future opportunities and resources for scientists to become engaged in education and public outreach. These include upcoming NASA SMD E/PO funding opportunities, professional development resources for writing NASA SMD E/PO proposals (webinars and other online tools), toolkits for scientists interested in best practices in E/PO (online guides for K-12 education and public outreach), EarthSpace (a community web space where instructors can find and share about teaching space and earth sciences in the undergraduate classroom, including class materials news and funding opportunities, and the latest education research), thematic resources for teaching about the solar system (archived resources from Year of the Solar System), and an online database of scientists interested in connecting with education programs. Learn more about the Forum and find resources at http://smdepo.org/.

  4. The Context of Creating Space: Assessing the Likelihood of College LGBT Center Presence

    Science.gov (United States)

    Fine, Leigh E.

    2012-01-01

    LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender) resource centers are campus spaces dedicated to the success of sexual minority students. However, only a small handful of American colleges and universities have such spaces. Political opportunity and resource mobilization theory can provide a useful framework for understanding what contextual factors…

  5. WE-AB-213-03: Challenges and Opportunities

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Borras, C.

    2015-06-15

    recruitment of professionals with incomplete education. In most LA countries only one MP responsible for each Center is currently mandated. Currently there is a large disparity among MP training programs and there is significant debate about the standards of MP graduate education in many LA countries. There are no commonly recognized academic programs, not enough clinical training sites and clinical training is not typically considered as part of the MP work. Economic pressures and high workloads also impede the creation of more training centers. The increasing need of qualified MPs require establishing a coordinated system of national Education & Training Centers (ETC), to meet the international standards of education and training in Medical Physics. This shortfall calls for support of organizations such as the IOMP, AAPM, ALFIM, IAEA, etc. Examples from various LA countries, as well as some proposed solutions, will be presented. In particular, we will discuss the resources that the AAPM and its members can offer to support regional programs. The ‘Medical Imaging’ physicist in the emerging world: Challenges and opportunities - Caridad Borrás (WGNIMP Chair) While the role of radiation therapy physicists in the emerging world is reasonably well established, the role of medical imaging physicists is not. The only perceived needs in radiology departments are equipment quality control and radiation protection, tasks that can be done by a technologist or a service engineer. To change the situation, the International Basic Safety Standard, which is adopted/adapted world-wide as national radiation protection regulations, states: “For diagnostic radiological procedures and image guided interventional procedures, the requirements of these Standards for medical imaging, calibration, dosimetry and quality assurance, including the acceptance and commissioning of medical radiological equipment, are fulfilled by or under the oversight of, or with the documented advice of a medical

  6. WE-AB-213-03: Challenges and Opportunities

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Borras, C.

    2015-01-01

    recruitment of professionals with incomplete education. In most LA countries only one MP responsible for each Center is currently mandated. Currently there is a large disparity among MP training programs and there is significant debate about the standards of MP graduate education in many LA countries. There are no commonly recognized academic programs, not enough clinical training sites and clinical training is not typically considered as part of the MP work. Economic pressures and high workloads also impede the creation of more training centers. The increasing need of qualified MPs require establishing a coordinated system of national Education & Training Centers (ETC), to meet the international standards of education and training in Medical Physics. This shortfall calls for support of organizations such as the IOMP, AAPM, ALFIM, IAEA, etc. Examples from various LA countries, as well as some proposed solutions, will be presented. In particular, we will discuss the resources that the AAPM and its members can offer to support regional programs. The ‘Medical Imaging’ physicist in the emerging world: Challenges and opportunities - Caridad Borrás (WGNIMP Chair) While the role of radiation therapy physicists in the emerging world is reasonably well established, the role of medical imaging physicists is not. The only perceived needs in radiology departments are equipment quality control and radiation protection, tasks that can be done by a technologist or a service engineer. To change the situation, the International Basic Safety Standard, which is adopted/adapted world-wide as national radiation protection regulations, states: “For diagnostic radiological procedures and image guided interventional procedures, the requirements of these Standards for medical imaging, calibration, dosimetry and quality assurance, including the acceptance and commissioning of medical radiological equipment, are fulfilled by or under the oversight of, or with the documented advice of a medical

  7. Opportunity's View After Drive on Sol 1806 (Polar)

    Science.gov (United States)

    2009-01-01

    NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity used its navigation camera to take the images combined into this full-circle view of the rover's surroundings just after driving 60.86 meters (200 feet) on the 1,806th Martian day, or sol, of Opportunity's surface mission (Feb. 21, 2009). North is at the center; south at both ends. Tracks from the drive extend northward across dark-toned sand ripples and light-toned patches of exposed bedrock in the Meridiani Planum region of Mars. For scale, the distance between the parallel wheel tracks is about 1 meter (about 40 inches). Engineers designed the Sol 1806 drive to be driven backwards as a strategy to redistribute lubricant in the rovers wheels. The right-front wheel had been showing signs of increased friction. The rover's position after the Sol 1806 drive was about 2 kilometer (1.2 miles) south southwest of Victoria Crater. Cumulative odometry was 14.74 kilometers (9.16 miles) since landing in January 2004, including 2.96 kilometers (1.84 miles) since climbing out of Victoria Crater on the west side of the crater on Sol 1634 (August 28, 2008). This view is presented as a polar projection with geometric seam correction.

  8. Opportunity's View After Drive on Sol 1806 (Vertical)

    Science.gov (United States)

    2009-01-01

    NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity used its navigation camera to take the images combined into this full-circle view of the rover's surroundings just after driving 60.86 meters (200 feet) on the 1,806th Martian day, or sol, of Opportunity's surface mission (Feb. 21, 2009). North is at the center; south at both ends. Tracks from the drive extend northward across dark-toned sand ripples and light-toned patches of exposed bedrock in the Meridiani Planum region of Mars. For scale, the distance between the parallel wheel tracks is about 1 meter (about 40 inches). Engineers designed the Sol 1806 drive to be driven backwards as a strategy to redistribute lubricant in the rovers wheels. The right-front wheel had been showing signs of increased friction. The rover's position after the Sol 1806 drive was about 2 kilometer (1.2 miles) south southwest of Victoria Crater. Cumulative odometry was 14.74 kilometers (9.16 miles) since landing in January 2004, including 2.96 kilometers (1.84 miles) since climbing out of Victoria Crater on the west side of the crater on Sol 1634 (August 28, 2008). This view is presented as a vertical projection with geometric seam correction.

  9. Medical student service learning program teaches secondary students about career opportunities in health and medical fields.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Karpa, Kelly; Vakharia, Kavita; Caruso, Catherine A; Vechery, Colin; Sipple, Lanette; Wang, Adrian

    2015-12-01

    Engagement of academic medical centers in community outreach provides the public with a better understanding of basic terms and concepts used in biomedical sciences and increases awareness of important health information. Medical students at one academic medical center initiated an educational outreach program, called PULSE, that targets secondary students to foster their interest in healthcare and medicine. High school student participants are engaged in a semester-long course that relies on interactive lectures, problem-based learning sessions, mentoring relationships with medical students, and opportunities for shadowing healthcare providers. To date, the curriculum has been offered for 7 consecutive years. To determine the impact that participation in the curriculum has had on college/career choices and to identify areas for improvement, an electronic questionnaire was sent to former participants. Based on a 32% response rate, 81% of former participants indicated that participation in the course influenced their decision to pursue a medical/science-related career. More than half (67%) of respondents indicated intent to pursue a MD/PhD or other postgraduate degree. Based on responses obtained, additional opportunities to incorporate laboratory-based research and simulation sessions should be explored. In addition, a more formalized mentoring component has been added to the course to enhance communication between medical students and mentees. Health/medicine-related educational outreach programs targeting high school students may serve as a pipeline to introduce or reinforce career opportunities in healthcare and related sciences. Copyright © 2015 The American Physiological Society.

  10. Pulmonary Hypertension Care Center Network: Improving Care and Outcomes in Pulmonary Hypertension.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sahay, Sandeep; Melendres-Groves, Lana; Pawar, Leena; Cajigas, Hector R

    2017-04-01

    Pulmonary hypertension (PH) is a chronic, progressive, life-threatening disease that requires expert multidisciplinary care. To facilitate this level of care, the Pulmonary Hypertension Association established across the United States a network of pulmonary hypertension care centers (PHCCs) with special expertise in PH, particularly pulmonary arterial hypertension, to raise the overall quality of care and outcomes for patients with this life-threatening disease. Since the inception of PHCCs in September 2014, to date 35 centers have been accredited in the United States. This model of care brings together physicians and specialists from other disciplines to provide care, facilitate basic and clinical research, and educate the next generation of providers. PHCCs also offer additional opportunities for improvements in PH care. The patient registry offered through the PHCCs is an organized system by which data are collected to evaluate the outcomes of patients with PH. This registry helps in detecting variations in outcomes across centers, thus identifying opportunities for improvement. Multiple tactics were undertaken to implement the strategic plan, training, and tools throughout the PHCC network. In addition, strategies to foster collaboration between care center staff and individuals with PH and their families are the cornerstone of the PHCCs. The Pulmonary Vascular Network of the American College of Chest Physicians believes this to be a positive step that will improve the quality of care delivered in the United States to patients with PH. Copyright © 2016 American College of Chest Physicians. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  11. Collaborative care in real-world settings: barriers and opportunities for sustainability

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Sanchez K

    2017-01-01

    Full Text Available Katherine Sanchez1,2 1School of Social Work, The University of Texas at Arlington, Arlington, 2Department of Psychiatry, University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas, TX, USA Abstract: Patient-centered care and self-management of chronic disease are optimally characterized by distinct adjunct services such as education, and support for the behavioral and psychosocial elements of managing disease. The collaborative care model for the treatment of depression and anxiety in primary care includes the integration of a behavioral health specialist, in collaboration with the primary care provider, and psychiatric consultation to effectively screen and treat common mental health problems. Dissemination and sustainability of the model have encountered numerous barriers across systems of care. This article represents a discussion of the key barriers to collaborative care and offers a discussion of opportunities for dissemination and sustainability of the model. Keywords: collaborative care, barriers, depression, anxiety, patient preferences

  12. Crowd-Sourced Radio Science at Marshall Space Flight Center

    Science.gov (United States)

    Fry, C. D.; McTernan, J. K.; Suggs, R. M.; Rawlins, L.; Krause, L. H.; Gallagher, D. L.; Adams, M. L.

    2018-01-01

    August 21, 2017 provided a unique opportunity to investigate the effects of the total solar eclipse on high frequency (HF) radio propagation and ionospheric variability. In Marshall Space Flight Center's partnership with the US Space and Rocket Center (USSRC) and Austin Peay State University (APSU), we engaged citizen scientists and students in an investigation of the effects of an eclipse on the mid-latitude ionosphere. Activities included fieldwork and station-based data collection of HF Amateur Radio frequency bands and VLF radio waves before, during, and after the eclipse to build a continuous record of changing propagation conditions as the moon's shadow marched across the United States. Post-eclipse radio propagation analysis provided insights into ionospheric variability due to the eclipse.

  13. Fuel Flexible Combustion Systems for High-Efficiency Utilization of Opportunity Fuels in Gas Turbines

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Venkatesan, Krishna

    2011-11-30

    The purpose of this program was to develop low-emissions, efficient fuel-flexible combustion technology which enables operation of a given gas turbine on a wider range of opportunity fuels that lie outside of current natural gas-centered fuel specifications. The program encompasses a selection of important, representative fuels of opportunity for gas turbines with widely varying fundamental properties of combustion. The research program covers conceptual and detailed combustor design, fabrication, and testing of retrofitable and/or novel fuel-flexible gas turbine combustor hardware, specifically advanced fuel nozzle technology, at full-scale gas turbine combustor conditions. This project was performed over the period of October 2008 through September 2011 under Cooperative Agreement DE-FC26-08NT05868 for the U.S. Department of Energy/National Energy Technology Laboratory (USDOE/NETL) entitled "Fuel Flexible Combustion Systems for High-Efficiency Utilization of Opportunity Fuels in Gas Turbines". The overall objective of this program was met with great success. GE was able to successfully demonstrate the operability of two fuel-flexible combustion nozzles over a wide range of opportunity fuels at heavy-duty gas turbine conditions while meeting emissions goals. The GE MS6000B ("6B") gas turbine engine was chosen as the target platform for new fuel-flexible premixer development. Comprehensive conceptual design and analysis of new fuel-flexible premixing nozzles were undertaken. Gas turbine cycle models and detailed flow network models of the combustor provide the premixer conditions (temperature, pressure, pressure drops, velocities, and air flow splits) and illustrate the impact of widely varying fuel flow rates on the combustor. Detailed chemical kinetic mechanisms were employed to compare some fundamental combustion characteristics of the target fuels, including flame speeds and lean blow-out behavior. Perfectly premixed combustion experiments were conducted to

  14. The adoption of new smart-grid technologies incentives, outcomes, and opportunities

    CERN Document Server

    Guo, Christopher; Narayanan, Anu

    2015-01-01

    RAND Corporation researchers review the current technical, regulatory, and economic context of the electricity market and theoretical benefits of developing a smart grid; discuss some entrepreneurial opportunities associated with smart-grid data; examine empirical evidence related to smart-grid adoption and implementation; and offer policy suggestions for overcoming identified barriers.

  15. The Paradox of Equal Opportunities

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Mitja Sardoč

    2014-06-01

    Full Text Available The basic assumption of the idea of equal opportunities is based on the assertion that all individuals competing for an advantaged social position should have equal opportunities, i.e., that each and every one of them should have fair opportunities to achieve a particular goal. Despite the fact that equal opportunities is one of the basic mechanisms for a just distribution of advantageous social positions, the idea of fair equality of opportunity remains divided between different competing political projects, e.g., egalitarian liberalism, libertarian political theory, multiculturalism, etc. This paper examines two basic dimensions of equal opportunities to which existing conceptions fail to offer a unanimous answer, i.e., a the issue of fairness and b the issue of the currency of fairness. The concluding part of this paper presents two basic paradoxes that determine both the direction of the discussion as well as the possible solutions to the achievement of fair equal opportunities as part of any process for competing for advantageous social positions.

  16. Health Care Employee Perceptions of Patient-Centered Care: A Photovoice Project

    Science.gov (United States)

    Balbale, Salva Najib; Turcios, Stephanie; LaVela, Sherri L.

    2015-01-01

    Given the importance of health care employees in the delivery of patient-centered care, understanding their unique perspective is essential for quality improvement. The purpose of this study was to use photovoice to evaluate perceptions and experiences around patient-centered care among Veterans Affairs (VA) health care employees. We asked participants to take photographs of salient features in their environment related to patient-centered care. We used the photographs to facilitate dialogue during follow-up interviews. Twelve VA health care employees across two VA sites participated in the project. Although most participants felt satisfied with their work environment and experiences at the VA, several areas for improvement were identified. These included a need for more employee health and wellness initiatives and a need for enhanced opportunities for training and professional growth. Application of photovoice enabled us to learn about employees' unique perspectives around patient-centered care while engaging them in an evaluation of care delivery. PMID:25274626

  17. Characterisation: Challenges and Opportunities - A UK Perspective

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Emptage, Matthew; Loudon, David; Mcleod, Richard; Milburn, Helen

    2016-01-01

    Characterisation plays a very important role in the nuclear industry supporting: the development and implementation of decommissioning strategies/plans (and the optimisation of associated costs through reduction in technical risks); regulatory compliance demonstration; waste prevention/minimisation; evaluation and optimisation of worker radiation doses; and maintaining public confidence. Recognising these important drivers, the UK regulators are working with the UK Nuclear Decommissioning Authority (NDA) to undertake a review of characterisation practice in the UK nuclear (decommissioning) industry. The objective of the characterisation review is to understand the current characterisation challenges and to determine strategic and tactical opportunities (including sharing of standards and guidance, capabilities, learning from experience, good practice, research and development, training, quality assurance) to optimise characterisation practice. The work is being undertaken through review of nuclear operator's characterisation practice, with input from the NDA, the UK regulators, nuclear operators and representatives from the supply chain, and through consideration of good practice case studies. To support this, a catalogue of relevant national/international guidance documents is also be compiled. Finally a workshop with representatives from all parties has taken place to consider the findings and establish a common understanding of challenges and opportunities and to start to consider how they can be addressed. The review is establishing a collective (UK regulator's, NDA; nuclear operator's and supply chain) understanding of opportunities to improve characterisation practice in the UK. The characterisation review process is described and early results are presented and discussed. Subsequent work in 2016 will be required to prioritise the opportunities and to build a consensus to facilitate development and implementation of an improvement plan. The aim

  18. School Age Center Connections: Site-Based Management Strategies for Implementation of Quality Programs.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Willis, Dahna R.

    This paper describes the outcomes of a practicum that initiated site-based-management strategies to support the consistent implementation of a quality school-age child-care program. Implemented at a multisite child-care center, the program sought to enhance staff members' job satisfaction and maximize their opportunities for professional growth…

  19. Northwest Region Clean Energy Application Center

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Sjoding, David [Washington State Univ., Pullman, WA (United States)

    2013-09-30

    The main objective of the Northwest Clean Energy Application Center (NW CEAC) is to promote and support implementation of clean energy technologies. These technologies include combined heat and power (CHP), district energy, waste heat recovery with a primary focus on waste heat to power, and other related clean energy systems such as stationary fuel cell CHP systems. The northwest states include AK, ID, MT, OR, and WA. The key aim/outcome of the Center is to promote and support implementation of clean energy projects. Implemented projects result in a number of benefits including increased energy efficiency, renewable energy development (when using opportunity fuels), reduced carbon emissions, improved facility economics helping to preserve jobs, and reduced criteria pollutants calculated on an output-based emissions basis. Specific objectives performed by the NW CEAC fall within the following five broad promotion and support categories: 1) Center management and planning including database support; 2) Education and Outreach including plan development, website, target market workshops, and education/outreach materials development 3) Identification and provision of screening assessments & feasibility studies as funded by the facility or occasionally further support of Potential High Impact Projects; 4) Project implementation assistance/trouble shooting; and 5) Development of a supportive clean energy policy and initiative/financing framework.

  20. Reducing Missed Opportunities for Influenza Vaccination in Patients with Rheumatoid Arthritis: Evaluation of a Multisystem Intervention.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Broderick, Rachel; Ventura, Iazsmin; Soroosh, Sunoz; Franco, Lourdes; Giles, Jon T

    2018-05-15

    To assess a multimodal intervention for reducing missed opportunities for outpatient influenza vaccination in individuals with rheumatoid arthritis (RA). Patients with RA were enrolled from a single center and each rheumatology outpatient visit was tracked for missed opportunities for influenza vaccination, defined as a visit in which an unvaccinated patient without contraindications remained unvaccinated or lacked documentation of vaccine recommendation in the electronic medical record (EMR). Providers then received a multimodal intervention consisting of an education session, EMR alerts, and weekly provider-specific e-mail reminders. Missed opportunities before and after the intervention were compared, and the determinants of missed opportunities were analyzed. A total of 228 patients with RA were enrolled (904 preintervention visits) and 197 returned for at least 1 postintervention visit (721 postintervention visits). The preintervention frequency of any missed opportunities for influenza vaccination was 47%. This was reduced to 23% postintervention (p < 0.001). Among those vaccinated, the relative hazard for influenza vaccination post- versus pre- intervention period was 1.24 (p = 0.038). Younger age, less frequent office visits, higher erythrocyte sedimentation rate, and negative attitudes about vaccines were each independently associated with missed opportunities preintervention. Postintervention, these factors were no longer associated with missed opportunities; however, the intervention was not as effective in non-Hispanic black patients, non-English speakers, those residing outside of the New York City metropolitan area, and those reporting prior adverse reactions to vaccines. Improved uptake of influenza vaccination in patients with RA is possible using a multimodal approach. Certain subgroups may need a more potent intervention for equivalent efficacy.

  1. Opportunity recognition for small businesses in medical tourism in Taiwan

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Hung Ying-Hsun

    2018-01-01

    Full Text Available Medical tourism has become an investment focus for many Asian countries. For example, India, Singapore, Thailand, South Korea, and Malaysia have governmental projects to foster this emerging industry, and successfully attract millions of medical tourists each year. Medical tourism consists of diverse industries that can provide abundant opportunities of new businesses. Currently Taiwan is trying to catch up in this trend by making national development policies, setting up institutions, modifying laws and regulations, and encouraging investment of private sector. The purpose of this study is to analyze the status quo of international medical tourism in Taiwan, and identify several opportunities for small businesses to catch and to participate in forming a solid medical tourism industry for Taiwan.

  2. Big Data Provenance: Challenges, State of the Art and Opportunities.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wang, Jianwu; Crawl, Daniel; Purawat, Shweta; Nguyen, Mai; Altintas, Ilkay

    2015-01-01

    Ability to track provenance is a key feature of scientific workflows to support data lineage and reproducibility. The challenges that are introduced by the volume, variety and velocity of Big Data, also pose related challenges for provenance and quality of Big Data, defined as veracity. The increasing size and variety of distributed Big Data provenance information bring new technical challenges and opportunities throughout the provenance lifecycle including recording, querying, sharing and utilization. This paper discusses the challenges and opportunities of Big Data provenance related to the veracity of the datasets themselves and the provenance of the analytical processes that analyze these datasets. It also explains our current efforts towards tracking and utilizing Big Data provenance using workflows as a programming model to analyze Big Data.

  3. Lead toxicity: current concerns.

    OpenAIRE

    Goyer, R A

    1993-01-01

    Over the 20-year period since the first issue of Environmental Health Perspectives was published, there has been considerable progress in the understanding of the potential toxicity of exposure to lead. Many of these advances have been reviewed in published symposia, conferences, and review papers in EHP. This brief review identifies major advances as well as a number of current concerns that present opportunities for prevention and intervention strategies. The major scientific advance has be...

  4. Industrial Waste Heat Recovery - Potential Applications, Available Technologies and Crosscutting R&D Opportunities

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Thekdi, Arvind [E3M Inc, North Potomac, MD (United States); Nimbalkar, Sachin U. [Oak Ridge National Lab. (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States)

    2015-01-01

    The purpose of this report was to explore key areas and characteristics of industrial waste heat and its generation, barriers to waste heat recovery and use, and potential research and development (R&D) opportunities. The report also provides an overview of technologies and systems currently available for waste heat recovery and discusses the issues or barriers for each. Also included is information on emerging technologies under development or at various stages of demonstrations, and R&D opportunities cross-walked by various temperature ranges, technology areas, and energy-intensive process industries.

  5. FEMA Current Disaster Declarations -shp

    Data.gov (United States)

    Department of Homeland Security — This dataset lists the current Disaster Declarations in Shapefile. This data was compiled and distributed by FEMA Mapping and Analysis Center (MAC). Metadata file...

  6. Career development. Opportunity 2000.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Adams, J

    Opportunity 2000 is an initiative designed to increase the role of women in the workforce and to promote equal opportunities in the workplace. The NHS Management Executive has set up a women's unit to put Opportunity 2000 into practice and to develop more 'women-friendly' working practices. The unit has produced a good practice handbook. The article discusses the eight goals produced by the NHSME to be achieved by health authorities and trusts by this year.

  7. Opportunities for discovery: Theory and computation in Basic Energy Sciences

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Harmon, Bruce; Kirby, Kate; McCurdy, C. William

    2005-01-11

    New scientific frontiers, recent advances in theory, and rapid increases in computational capabilities have created compelling opportunities for theory and computation to advance the scientific mission of the Office of Basic Energy Sciences (BES). The prospects for success in the experimental programs of BES will be enhanced by pursuing these opportunities. This report makes the case for an expanded research program in theory and computation in BES. The Subcommittee on Theory and Computation of the Basic Energy Sciences Advisory Committee was charged with identifying current and emerging challenges and opportunities for theoretical research within the scientific mission of BES, paying particular attention to how computing will be employed to enable that research. A primary purpose of the Subcommittee was to identify those investments that are necessary to ensure that theoretical research will have maximum impact in the areas of importance to BES, and to assure that BES researchers will be able to exploit the entire spectrum of computational tools, including leadership class computing facilities. The Subcommittee s Findings and Recommendations are presented in Section VII of this report.

  8. The Role of Different Opportunities in the Activation and Use of the Business Opportunity Prototype

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Costa, Silvia F.; Ehrenhard, Michel Léon; Caetano, Antonio; Santos, Susana C.

    2016-01-01

    This study analyses how the different nature of business opportunities affects the way potential entrepreneurs recognize a business opportunity prototypical features. Although scholars have examined the reasons why some individuals, but not others, identify business opportunities, little is known

  9. Digital divide and digital opportunity: Comparison, analysis and strategies for sustainable development in developing nations

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Bhunia, C.T.; Onime, C.

    2007-07-01

    The world is witnessing a new digital economic order which may be quantified by the diffusion of information technology and globalization process. The current information technology gap (digital divide) between developed countries and developing countries is huge. Improvements in information technology (measured by the digital opportunity index) usually open up an opportunity for national/regional growth and development. There is a need for scientific investigation on the digital divide, digital opportunity index and their consequences. This paper presents a critical analysis of existing digital divide and its trends, it also investigates the relationship between the digital divide and the digital opportunity index. A mathematical model based on analysis of the growing digital divide is presented as a possible tool for combating and eradicate the digital divide gap which is only possible if developing and poor nations take advantage of the digital opportunities that can transform them into global competitive partners in digital knowledge economy. (author)

  10. Satellites for U.S. education - Needs, opportunities and systems.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Morgan, R. P.; Singh, J. P.; Anderson, B. D.; Greenberg, E.

    1972-01-01

    This paper presents results of a continuing interdisciplinary study of the potential applications of Fixed- and Broadcast-Satellites for educational information transfer in the United States for the period 1975-1985. The status of U.S. education is examined and needs, trends and issues are discussed. The existing educational telecommunications infrastructure is examined and opportunities for satellite services are defined. Potential uses include networking of educational institutions and service centers for delivery of public and instructional television, computer-aided instruction, computing and information resources to regions and groups not now adequately served. Systems alternatives and some of the organizational and economic issues inherent in the deployment of an educational satellite system are discussed.-

  11. The Affordable Care Act, Accountable Care Organizations, and Mental Health Care for Older Adults: Implications and Opportunities

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bartels, Stephen J.; Gill, Lydia; Naslund, John A.

    2015-01-01

    Abstract The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA) represents the most significant legislative change in the United States health care system in nearly half a century. Key elements of the ACA include reforms aimed at addressing high-cost, complex, vulnerable patient populations. Older adults with mental health disorders are a rapidly growing segment of the population and are among the most challenging subgroups within health care, and they account for a disproportionate amount of costs. What does the ACA mean for geriatric mental health? We address this question by highlighting opportunities for reaching older adults with mental health disorders by leveraging the diverse elements of the ACA. We describe nine relevant initiatives: (1) accountable care organizations, (2) patient-centered medical homes, (3) Medicaid-financed specialty health homes, (4) hospital readmission and health care transitions initiatives, (5) Medicare annual wellness visit, (6) quality standards and associated incentives, (7) support for health information technology and telehealth, (8) Independence at Home and 1915(i) State Plan Home and Community-Based Services program, and (9) Medicare-Medicaid Coordination Office, Center for Medicare and Medicaid Innovation, and the Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute. We also consider potential challenges to full implementation of the ACA and discuss novel solutions for advancing geriatric mental health in the context of projected workforce shortages and the opportunities afforded by the ACA. PMID:25811340

  12. Nanomedicine in cancer therapy: challenges, opportunities, and clinical applications.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wicki, Andreas; Witzigmann, Dominik; Balasubramanian, Vimalkumar; Huwyler, Jörg

    2015-02-28

    Cancer is a leading cause of death worldwide. Currently available therapies are inadequate and spur demand for improved technologies. Rapid growth in nanotechnology towards the development of nanomedicine products holds great promise to improve therapeutic strategies against cancer. Nanomedicine products represent an opportunity to achieve sophisticated targeting strategies and multi-functionality. They can improve the pharmacokinetic and pharmacodynamic profiles of conventional therapeutics and may thus optimize the efficacy of existing anti-cancer compounds. In this review, we discuss state-of-the-art nanoparticles and targeted systems that have been investigated in clinical studies. We emphasize the challenges faced in using nanomedicine products and translating them from a preclinical level to the clinical setting. Additionally, we cover aspects of nanocarrier engineering that may open up new opportunities for nanomedicine products in the clinic. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  13. Rainwater harvesting in South Africa: Challenges and opportunities

    Science.gov (United States)

    Mwenge Kahinda, J.; Taigbenu, A. E.

    Water paucity remains a major threat to poverty, hunger alleviation as well as sustainable development. Innovative water technologies such as rainwater harvesting (RWH) have the potential to improve rural water supply and contribute to the provision of the first 6 kl of water consumed monthly. RWH can also be the solution to South Africa food security by increasing water productivity of dryland agriculture and enabling homestead gardening. Although used for decades in South Africa, rainwater harvesting (RWH) is still far from being utilised to its full potential as unresolved challenges prevent its wide scale adoption. The paper presents the challenges and opportunities to the upscaling of RWH in South Africa. Key challenges preventing the nationwide expansion of RWH are the current water related legislations, the lack of finances and the absence of a national umbrella body that coordinates. While opportunities lie in the worth of knowledge gathered by research projects, funded over the last two decades, on the biophysical and socio-economic impacts of RWH.

  14. NASA's engineering research centers and interdisciplinary education

    Science.gov (United States)

    Johnston, Gordon I.

    1990-01-01

    A new program of interactive education between NASA and the academic community aims to improve research and education, provide long-term, stable funding, and support cross-disciplinary and multi-disciplinary research. The mission of NASA's Office of Aeronautics, Exploration and Technology (OAET) is discussed and it is pointed out that the OAET conducts about 10 percent of its total R&D program at U.S. universities. Other NASA university-based programs are listed including the Office of Commercial Programs Centers for the Commercial Development of Space (CCDS) and the National Space Grant program. The importance of university space engineering centers and the selection of the nine current centers are discussed. A detailed composite description is provided of the University Space Engineering Research Centers. Other specialized centers are described such as the Center for Space Construction, the Mars Mission Research Center, and the Center for Intelligent Robotic Systems for Space Exploration. Approaches to educational outreach are discussed.

  15. International oil opportunities

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Hares, T.N.D.; Mann, D.W.

    1995-01-01

    Some of the key issues to be addressed when selecting international opportunities, were discussed. The ideal opportunity should have the following characteristics: (1) large, low risk (2) high percentage of rent available to the investor, (3) low cost and low technical requirements, (4) low country risk, (5) low competition, (6) easy to access, and (7) favorable environment in which to work. Entering an international opportunity can be achieved by competitive bidding, direct negotiation, partnership, corporate and/or asset acquisition, and long-term relationships. Key success factors were identified as (1) applying technical financial and commercial skills in the international environment, (2) speedy response, (3) excellent relationships in the foreign country, (4) understanding the local culture, and (5) keeping a good track record. 6 figs

  16. A Computer Learning Center for Environmental Sciences

    Science.gov (United States)

    Mustard, John F.

    2000-01-01

    In the fall of 1998, MacMillan Hall opened at Brown University to students. In MacMillan Hall was the new Computer Learning Center, since named the EarthLab which was outfitted with high-end workstations and peripherals primarily focused on the use of remotely sensed and other spatial data in the environmental sciences. The NASA grant we received as part of the "Centers of Excellence in Applications of Remote Sensing to Regional and Global Integrated Environmental Assessments" was the primary source of funds to outfit this learning and research center. Since opening, we have expanded the range of learning and research opportunities and integrated a cross-campus network of disciplines who have come together to learn and use spatial data of all kinds. The EarthLab also forms a core of undergraduate, graduate, and faculty research on environmental problems that draw upon the unique perspective of remotely sensed data. Over the last two years, the Earthlab has been a center for research on the environmental impact of water resource use in and regions, impact of the green revolution on forest cover in India, the design of forest preserves in Vietnam, and detailed assessments of the utility of thermal and hyperspectral data for water quality analysis. It has also been used extensively for local environmental activities, in particular studies on the impact of lead on the health of urban children in Rhode Island. Finally, the EarthLab has also served as a key educational and analysis center for activities related to the Brown University Affiliated Research Center that is devoted to transferring university research to the private sector.

  17. On the road for education: Turning business travel into E/PO opportunities

    Science.gov (United States)

    Richardson, A.; Jasnow, M.; Srinivasan, M.; Rosmorduc, M.; Blanc, F.

    2003-04-01

    One seemingly universal characteristic of the research scientist and their associates is the necessity for travel. Members of the joint NASA/CNES TOPEX/Poseidon/Jason-1 (T/P/J) Education and Public Outreach Team are promoting a concept that benefits both the scientist on business travel, and the general public. "On the Road for Education" is a program whereby members of the Project take a few hours in their travel schedule to visit a school, informal education venue, or a community group located in the destination city. Formal and informal educators, and civic group officers always welcome visits by professional scientists to give lectures on their research activities, do some hands-on demonstrations in a science center, or just talk to a group of students about career opportunities in science and engineering. The T/P/J outreach team has an educator mailing list that includes members across the country. When contacted in advance of a science team member's travel schedule, outreach team members are happy to locate a school, museum or science center in or near the destination city and arrange an outreach opportunity for the scientist. We can also provide support with handouts for both public and educational uses. It is a goal of NASA to inspire the public and the next generation of explorers. "On the Road for Education" provides an easy mechanism for involvement by any scientist, and may help to make that next business trip even more enjoyable.

  18. Implementing the Customer Contact Center: An Opportunity to Create a Valid Measurement System for Assessing and Improving a Library's Telephone Services

    Science.gov (United States)

    Murphy, Sarah Anne; Cerqua, Judith

    2012-01-01

    A customer contact center offers academic libraries the ability to consistently improve their telephone, e-mail, and IM services. This paper discusses the establishment of a contact center and the benefits of implementing the contact center model at this institution. It then introduces a practical methodology for developing a valid measurement…

  19. Superconducting dc fault current limiter

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Cointe, Y.

    2007-12-01

    Within the framework of the electric power market liberalization, DC networks have many interests compared to alternative ones, but their protections need to use new systems. Superconducting fault current limiters enable by an overstepping of the critical current to limit the fault current to a preset value, lower than the theoretical short-circuit current. For these applications, coated conductors offer excellent opportunities. We worked on the implementation of these materials and built a test bench. We carried out limiting experiments to estimate the quench homogeneity at various short-circuit parameters. An important point is the temperature measurement by deposited sensors on the ribbon, results are in good correlation with the theoretical models. Improved quench behaviours for temperatures close to the critical temperature have been confirmed. Our results enable to better understand the limitation mechanisms of coated conductors. (author)

  20. Improving care at cystic fibrosis centers through quality improvement.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kraynack, Nathan C; McBride, John T

    2009-10-01

    Quality improvement (QI) using a clinical microsystems approach provides cystic fibrosis (CF) centers the opportunity to make a significant positive impact on the health of their patients. The availability of center-specific outcomes data and the support of the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation are important advantages for these quality improvement efforts. This article illustrates how the clinical microsystems methodology can improve care delivery and outcomes by describing the gradual application of quality improvement principles over the past 5 years by the CF team at the Lewis Walker Cystic Fibrosis Center at Akron Children's Hospital in Akron, Ohio. Using the example of a project to improve the pulmonary function of the pediatric patients at our center as a framework, we describe the QI process from the initial team-building phase, through the assessment of care processes, standardization of care, and developing a culture of continuous improvement. We outline how enthusiastic commitment from physician leadership, clinical managers and central administration, the availability of coaches, and an appreciation of the importance of measurement, patient involvement, communication, and standardization are critical components for successful process improvement. Copyright Thieme Medical Publishers.

  1. New Nuclear Fuel Disposition Opportunities in a Changed World

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Barrett, L.H.

    2006-01-01

    The world's economic, security, environmental, and technological situation has changed significantly in the last several years and these changes bring new opportunities for substantial policy improvements and redirections in the used nuclear fuel management arena. The passage of new energy legislation; the need for more US nuclear energy; growing state, national and international momentum for carbon emission and other air pollutant reductions; post September 11. Homeland Security threat reduction improvements; desires to improve global nuclear security; rapidly emerging needs for clean electricity supplies in developing countries; and the technological advancements in advanced fuel cycle technologies provide a substantial foundation for future enhancements and improvements in current used nuclear fuel management programs. Past progress, lessons learned, and new used fuel/waste management technological innovations coupled with current and future economic, security, and environmental issues can create new approaches that can help the Federal government meet its obligations while simultaneously addressing many of the difficult regional/state issues that have historically hindered progress. This paper will examine and integrate the synergy of these issues to explore options and discuss possible new opportunities in the vitally important area of spent fuel management and the entire back end of the nuclear fuel cycle. (authors)

  2. Views of surgery program directors on the current ACGME and proposed IOM duty-hour standards.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Willis, Ross E; Coverdill, James E; Mellinger, John D; Collins, J Craig; Potts, John R; Dent, Daniel L

    2009-01-01

    The purpose of this study was to survey the experiences of surgery program directors with the current Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME) duty-hour standards and views of the Institute of Medicine (IOM) proposed duty-hour recommendations. A total of 118 program directors (47.6% of all surgery programs in the US) responded to the survey. Results showed that the current duty-hour standards have hindered clinical education opportunities by reducing or eliminating rotations on many services, didactic teaching conferences, and clinical bedside teaching opportunities. Additionally, patient safety has been compromised by frequent hand offs of care. Most IOM recommendations were perceived as extremely difficult or impossible to implement, with the exception of the moonlighting recommendation. The results indicated that adopting the IOM recommendations is not feasible given current workforce limitations, and most program directors supported maintaining the current duty-hour standards until such time as there is evidence-based outcomes research to direct change. The conclusion was that the current ACGME duty-hour standards have reduced teaching opportunities and narrowed the scope of training.

  3. Engaging Teens with Asthma in Designing a Patient-Centered Mobile App to Aid Disease Self-Management.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Schneider, Tali; Panzera, Anthony D; Couluris, Marisa; Lindenberger, James; McDermott, Robert; Bryant, Carol A

    2015-08-10

    Despite the growing market of e-health disease self-management tools, few studies have reported the presence of teen patients in all phases of product design. While rates of American teens using mobile Internet grow, an opportunity to deliver disease self-management targeted for teen patients exists. Building on findings from previous investigations with teens with asthma, we explored teens' insights on the development of a patient-centered asthma management application (app). Two existing asthma apps were used by 16 teen asthmatics for 7-10 days. At the end of the trial period, in-depth interviews were conducted with each participant to gather insights about the user experience. Participants requested more asthma-related content that educates them about their condition. Suggested improvements to currently available apps included a longer list of selectable symptoms to track, medication tracking, and more compelling interface features. Participants showed interest in using apps for managing their asthma, yet recommended improvements on current design. Whereas national figures point to a more ubiquitous mobile device environment, implementation efforts must respond to participants' recommendations while minding lingering digital divides. Currently available apps lack appealing components that teens seek or desire. Subsequent development should include teens' participation in component design insights.

  4. [Using SWOT to analyze breastfeeding education results in a medical center].

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lee, Pei-Shan; Huang, Chiu-Mieh

    2005-08-01

    The breastfeeding rate within the first month after postpartum dropped from 95% in 1962 to 25% in 1989. As a result, the Department of Health, Executive Yuan, has made a lot of effort to promote a baby-friendly hospital policy since 2001, with the aim of increasing the breastfeeding rate. However, many studies have pointed out that the Department of Health is encountering difficulties when implementing this policy. This study is designed to use the Strengths, Weakness, Opportunities, and Threats (SWOT) Analysis to evaluate the development of breastfeeding education in a certain medical center. We divide those factors that influence the effect of this policy into extrinsic environmental factors and intrinsic environmental factors. The intrinsic environmental factors are the strengths and weaknesses of the baby-friendly hospital policy. The extrinsic environmental factors are the opportunities and threats. The SWOT Matrix is also applied to develop appropriate strategies to take the greatest possible advantage of opportunities available. With the SWOT approach, managers can not only readily extinguish intrinsic advantages from intrinsic disadvantages, but also recognize external opportunities and threats. Furthermore, it assists managers in resolving problems and turning adversity into opportunity. In providing the SWOT analysis, we hope clinical nursing staff will gain a better understanding of the baby-friendly hospital policy and deliver higher quality of health care for postpartum mothers, thus increasing the breastfeeding rate.

  5. US Clean Energy Sector and the Opportunity for Modeling and Simulation

    Science.gov (United States)

    Inge, Carole Cameron

    2011-01-01

    The following paper sets forth the current understanding of the US clean energy demand and opportunity. As clean energy systems come online and technology is developed, modeling and simulation of these complex energy programs provides an untapped business opportunity. The US Department of Defense provides a great venue for developing new technology in the energy sector because it is demanding lower fuel costs, more energy efficiencies in its buildings and bases, and overall improvements in its carbon footprint. These issues coupled with the security issues faced by foreign dependence on oil will soon bring more clean energy innovations to the forefront (lighter batteries for soldiers, alternative fuel for jets, energy storage systems for ships, etc).

  6. Current research and development at the Nuclear Research Center Karlsruhe

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Kuesters, H.

    1982-01-01

    The Nuclear Research Center Karlsruhe (KfK) is funded to 90% by the Federal Republic of Germany and to 10% by the State of Baden-Wuerttemberg. Since its foundation in 1956 the main objective of the Center is research and development (R and D) in the aera of the nuclear technology and about 2/3 of the research capacity is now devoted to this field. Since 1960 a major activity of KfK is R and D work for the design of fast breeder reactors, including material research, physics, and safety investigations; a prototype of 300 MWe is under construction now in the lower Rhine Valley. For enrichment of 235 U fissile material KfK developed the separation nozzle process; its technical application is realized within an international contract between the Federal Republic of Germany and Brazil. Within the frame of the European Programme on fusion technology KfK develops and tests superconducting magnets for toroidal fusion systems; a smaller activity deals with research on inertial confinement fusion. A broad research programme is carried through for safety investigations of nuclear installations, especially for PWRs; this activity is supplemented by research and development in the field of nuclear materials' safeguards. Development of fast reactors has to initiate research for the reprocessing of spent fuel and waste disposal. In the pilot plant WAK spent fuel from LKWs is reprocessed; research especially tries e.g. to improve the PUREX-process by electrochemical means, vitrification of high active waste is another main activity. First studies are being performed now to clarify the necessary development for reprocessing fast reactor fuel. About 1/3 of the research capacity of KfK deals with fundamental research in nuclear physics, solid state physics, biology and studies on the impact of technology on environment. Promising new technologies as e.g. the replacement of gasoline by hydrogen cells as vehicle propulsion are investigated. (orig.)

  7. Community Based Research Network: Opportunities for Coordination of Care, Public Health Surveillance, and Farmworker Research

    OpenAIRE

    Cooper, Sharon P.; Heyer, Nicholas; Shipp, Eva M.; Ryder, E. Roberta; Hendrikson, Edward; Socias, Christina M; del Junco, Deborah J.; Valerio, Melissa; Partida, Sylvia

    2014-01-01

    Introduction: The lack of aggregated longitudinal health data on farmworkers has severely limited opportunities to conduct research to improve their health status. To correct this problem, we have created the infrastructure necessary to develop and maintain a national Research Data Repository of migrant and seasonal farmworker patients and other community members receiving medical care from Community and Migrant Health Centers (C/MHCs). Project specific research databases can be easily extrac...

  8. 78 FR 64505 - Board of Scientific Counselors, National Center for Injury Prevention and Control, (BSC, NCIPC)

    Science.gov (United States)

    2013-10-29

    ... Scientific Counselors, National Center for Injury Prevention and Control, (BSC, NCIPC) In accordance with... reviews progress toward injury prevention goals and provides evidence in injury prevention- related... matters, including the: (1) Review of extramural research concepts for funding opportunity announcements...

  9. Research handbook on entrepreneurial opportunities

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    With a wide-ranging set of contributions, this book provides a compilation of cutting-edge original research in the field of entrepreneurial opportunities. The book reopens the subject from diverse perspectives focusing on theories and approaches to entrepreneurial opportunities. The book has been...... interested in the field of entrepreneurial opportunities....

  10. Historical Analysis of the Challenges and Opportunities of Higher Education in Ethiopia

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bishaw, Alemayehu; Melesse, Solomon

    2017-01-01

    There is a massive higher education expansion in Ethiopia. However, the efforts to expand higher education are characterized by great opportunities and significant challenges. The current higher education policy formulation and practice are the result of long history of traditional education in Ethiopia, the western countries' influence and the…

  11. Preventing Sexual Violence Through Bystander Intervention: Attitudes, Behaviors, Missed Opportunities, and Barriers to Intervention Among Australian University Students.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kania, Rachel; Cale, Jesse

    2018-03-01

    The concept of bystander intervention is gaining popularity in universities as a mechanism to prevent sexual violence. Prior research has focused on correlates of bystanders' intentions to intervene and intervention behaviors in situations where there is a risk of sexual violence. The current study builds on this literature by exploring the nature of missed opportunities, including perceived barriers to intervention. In all, 380 Australian undergraduate university students completed an online survey. Measures included a rape myth acceptance scale, bystander intentions to intervene, actual intervention behaviors, missed opportunities for intervention, and perceived barriers for missed opportunities. Promisingly, students reported high levels of intentions to intervene in situations where there was a risk of sexual violence and reported relatively few missed opportunities to do so when these situations did occur. Intervention behaviors varied by important demographic characteristics such as gender, age, attitudes toward sexual violence, and the nature of the situation. Younger female students, with lower levels of rape myth acceptance, who had previously engaged in bystander intervention behaviors were more likely to report intentions to intervene in future risky situations, and female international students reported fewer missed opportunities for intervention. The most common barrier to intervention for identified missed opportunities was a failure to recognize situations as having a potential risk for sexual violence, and students were most likely to intervene in situations when the opportunity to help a friend in distress arose. This study provides some preliminary empirical evidence about bystander intervention against sexual violence among Australian university students, and identifies unique contexts for intervention and what current barriers to intervention may be.

  12. Virtualized Multi-Mission Operations Center (vMMOC) and its Cloud Services

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ido, Haisam Kassim

    2017-01-01

    His presentation will cover, the current and future, technical and organizational opportunities and challenges with virtualizing a multi-mission operations center. The full deployment of Goddard Space Flight Centers (GSFC) Virtualized Multi-Mission Operations Center (vMMOC) is nearly complete. The Space Science Mission Operations (SSMO) organizations spacecraft ACE, Fermi, LRO, MMS(4), OSIRIS-REx, SDO, SOHO, Swift, and Wind are in the process of being fully migrated to the vMMOC. The benefits of the vMMOC will be the normalization and the standardization of IT services, mission operations, maintenance, and development as well as ancillary services and policies such as collaboration tools, change management systems, and IT Security. The vMMOC will also provide operational efficiencies regarding hardware, IT domain expertise, training, maintenance and support.The presentation will also cover SSMO's secure Situational Awareness Dashboard in an integrated, fleet centric, cloud based web services fashion. Additionally the SSMO Telemetry as a Service (TaaS) will be covered, which allows authorized users and processes to access telemetry for the entire SSMO fleet, and for the entirety of each spacecrafts history. Both services leverage cloud services in a secure FISMA High and FedRamp environment, and also leverage distributed object stores in order to house and provide the telemetry. The services are also in the process of leveraging the cloud computing services elasticity and horizontal scalability. In the design phase is the Navigation as a Service (NaaS) which will provide a standardized, efficient, and normalized service for the fleet's space flight dynamics operations. Additional future services that may be considered are Ground Segment as a Service (GSaaS), Telemetry and Command as a Service (TCaaS), Flight Software Simulation as a Service, etc.

  13. Opportunities and Constraints in Disseminating Qualitative Research in Web 2.0 Virtual Environments.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hays, Charles A; Spiers, Judith A; Paterson, Barbara

    2015-11-01

    The Web 2.0 digital environment is revolutionizing how users communicate and relate to each other, and how information is shared, created, and recreated within user communities. The social media technologies in the Web 2.0 digital ecosystem are fundamentally changing the opportunities and dangers in disseminating qualitative health research. The social changes influenced by digital innovations shift dissemination from passive consumption to user-centered, apomediated cooperative approaches, the features of which are underutilized by many qualitative researchers. We identify opportunities new digital media presents for knowledge dissemination activities including access to wider audiences with few gatekeeper constraints, new perspectives, and symbiotic relationships between researchers and users. We also address some of the challenges in embracing these technologies including lack of control, potential for unethical co-optation of work, and cyberbullying. Finally, we offer solutions to enhance research dissemination in sustainable, ethical, and effective strategies. © The Author(s) 2015.

  14. Illinois trauma centers and community violence resources

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Bennet Butler

    2014-01-01

    Full Text Available Background: Elder abuse and neglect (EAN, intimate partner violence (IPV, and street-based community violence (SBCV are significant public health problems, which frequently lead to traumatic injury. Trauma centers can provide an effective setting for intervention and referral, potentially interrupting the cycle of violence. Aims: To assess existing institutional resources for the identification and treatment of violence victims among patients presenting with acute injury to statewide trauma centers. Settings and Design: We used a prospective, web-based survey of trauma medical directors at 62 Illinois trauma centers. Nonresponders were contacted via telephone to complete the survey. Materials and Methods: This survey was based on a survey conducted in 2004 assessing trauma centers and IPV resources. We modified this survey to collect data on IPV, EAN, and SBCV. Statistical Analysis: Univariate and bivariate statistics were performed using STATA statistical software. Results: We found that 100% of trauma centers now screen for IPV, an improvement from 2004 (P = 0.007. Screening for EAN (70% and SBCV (61% was less common (P < 0.001, and hospitals thought that resources for SBCV in particular were inadequate (P < 0.001 and fewer resources were available for these patients (P = 0.02. However, there was lack of uniformity of screening, tracking, and referral practices for victims of violence throughout the state. Conclusion: The multiplicity of strategies for tracking and referring victims of violence in Illinois makes it difficult to assess screening and tracking or form generalized policy recommendations. This presents an opportunity to improve care delivered to victims of violence by standardizing care and referral protocols.

  15. Agricultural Education: Key to Providing Broader Opportunities for Third World Women in Production Agriculture.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lelle, Mark A.; Holt, Barbara A.

    1987-01-01

    The authors focus on providing opportunities for women in Third World countries in agriculture. A review of the body of knowledge in agricultural development and of the issues surrounding current world food crises is included. (CH)

  16. The ten successful elements of an ambulatory care center.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Watkins, G

    1997-01-01

    Experts in healthcare predict that in the future, over 80% of all care will be provided either in the home or ambulatory care centers. How radiology facilities position themselves for this shifting market is critical to their long-term success, even though it appears there are endless opportunities for providing care in this atmosphere. The ten most critical elements that healthcare providers must address to ensure their preparedness are discussed. Location is critical, particularly since patients no longer want to travel to regional medical centers. The most aggressive providers are building local care centers to serve specific populations. Ambulatory care centers should project a high tech, high touch atmosphere. Patient comfort and the appeal of the overall environment must be considered. Centers need to focus on their customers' needs in multiple areas of care. A quick and easy registration process, providing dressing gowns in patient areas, clear billing functions--these are all important areas that centers should develop. Physicians practicing in the ambulatory care center are key to its overall success and can set the tone for all staff members. Staff members must be friendly and professional in their work with patients. The hours offered by the center must meet the needs of its client base, perhaps by offering evening and weekend appointments. Keeping appointments on schedule is critical if a center wants satisfied customers. It's important to identify the target before developing your marketing plan. Where do your referrals come from? Look to such sources as referring physicians, managed care plans and patients themselves. Careful billing is critical for survival in the ambulatory care world. Costs are important and systems that can track cost per exam are useful. Know your bottom line. Service remains the central focus of all successful ambulatory care center functions.

  17. NOAA's Big Data Partnership at the National Centers for Environmental Information

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kearns, E. J.

    2015-12-01

    In April of 2015, the U.S. Department of Commerce announced NOAA's Big Data Partnership (BDP) with Amazon Web Services, Google Cloud Platform, IBM, Microsoft Corp., and the Open Cloud Consortium through Cooperative Research and Development Agreements. Recent progress on the activities with these Partners at the National Centers for Environmental Information (NCEI) will be presented. These activities include the transfer of over 350 TB of NOAA's archived data from NCEI's tape-based archive system to BDP cloud providers; new opportunities for data mining and investigation; application of NOAA's data maturity and stewardship concepts to the BDP; and integration of both archived and near-realtime data streams into a synchronized, distributed data system. Both lessons learned and future opportunities for the environmental data community will be presented.

  18. THE PHENOMENON OF MIGRATION. OPPORTUNITIES AND CHALLENGES

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Carmen BOGHEAN

    2016-07-01

    Full Text Available Migration is not a new phenomenon, neither for Europe, nor for the entire world and it exists since the beginning of mankind. Over time, this kind of international mobility generated many opportunities, but many challenges as well. Being an extremely important and complex phenomenon, both in economic terms and mostly from the social perspective, mass emigration has never been more intense as nowadays. Together with this particular complexity, the intensity of the migration phenomenon reveals each individual’s profound freedom desire, but also the acute need to ensure a better future for himself and especially for his family. Currently, an ever increasing number of individuals migrate in search of a better place, changing regions, countries or even continents. Witnessing the events that transcend the people all around the world, we consider that migration generates economic, social and cultural, but also political profound changes. These major changes require the involvement of the political actors, namely the governments, in creating a favorable and reliable framework so as the society and decision makers to understand that immigrants represent an opportunity for the emerging economies and not a phenomenon that should be criticized. In this paper we aim to follow the theories regarding the migration process, as well as the changes it generates, taking into consideration that of the 507 million current inhabitants of the EU, approximately 20 million are from countries outside the EU. We consider this research to be underlain, taking into consideration that regardless of the form it takes, in Europe immigration is and will remain a difficult to manage reality.

  19. Optimal Power Cost Management Using Stored Energy in Data Centers

    OpenAIRE

    Urgaonkar, Rahul; Urgaonkar, Bhuvan; Neely, Michael J.; Sivasubramaniam, Anand

    2011-01-01

    Since the electricity bill of a data center constitutes a significant portion of its overall operational costs, reducing this has become important. We investigate cost reduction opportunities that arise by the use of uninterrupted power supply (UPS) units as energy storage devices. This represents a deviation from the usual use of these devices as mere transitional fail-over mechanisms between utility and captive sources such as diesel generators. We consider the problem of opportunistically ...

  20. Digital Innovation and Nuclear Engineering Education in UNED: Challenges, Trends and Opportunities

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Alonso-Ramos, M.; Sánchez-Elvira Paniagua, Á.; Martín, S.; Castro Gil, M.; Sanz Gozalo, J.

    2016-01-01

    Full text: Innovation in nuclear engineering education should reflect the current challenges, trends and opportunities that digital technologies are promoting in the whole educational field. The European Commission has recently stressed that technology and open educational resources represent clear opportunities to reshape EU education, contributing to the necessary modernization of higher education in order to give response to XXI century challenges. In this paper, the innovations that the Spanish National Distance Education University (UNED) are making in the digital education domain, including open educational resources (OER) and massive open online courses (MOOCs) developments applied to science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) and the nuclear engineering field, are presented. (author

  1. HIAF: New opportunities for atomic physics with highly charged heavy ions

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ma, X.; Wen, W. Q.; Zhang, S. F.; Yu, D. Y.; Cheng, R.; Yang, J.; Huang, Z. K.; Wang, H. B.; Zhu, X. L.; Cai, X.; Zhao, Y. T.; Mao, L. J.; Yang, J. C.; Zhou, X. H.; Xu, H. S.; Yuan, Y. J.; Xia, J. W.; Zhao, H. W.; Xiao, G. Q.; Zhan, W. L.

    2017-10-01

    A new project, High Intensity heavy ion Accelerator Facility (HIAF), is currently being under design and construction in China. HIAF will provide beams of stable and unstable heavy ions with high energies, high intensities and high quality. An overview of new opportunities for atomic physics using highly charged ions and radioactive heavy ions at HIAF is given.

  2. Clinical Research Informatics: Challenges, Opportunities and Definition for an Emerging Domain

    Science.gov (United States)

    Embi, Peter J.; Payne, Philip R.O.

    2009-01-01

    Objectives Clinical Research Informatics, an emerging sub-domain of Biomedical Informatics, is currently not well defined. A formal description of CRI including major challenges and opportunities is needed to direct progress in the field. Design Given the early stage of CRI knowledge and activity, we engaged in a series of qualitative studies with key stakeholders and opinion leaders to determine the range of challenges and opportunities facing CRI. These phases employed complimentary methods to triangulate upon our findings. Measurements Study phases included: 1) a group interview with key stakeholders, 2) an email follow-up survey with a larger group of self-identified CRI professionals, and 3) validation of our results via electronic peer-debriefing and member-checking with a group of CRI-related opinion leaders. Data were collected, transcribed, and organized for formal, independent content analyses by experienced qualitative investigators, followed by an iterative process to identify emergent categorizations and thematic descriptions of the data. Results We identified a range of challenges and opportunities facing the CRI domain. These included 13 distinct themes spanning academic, practical, and organizational aspects of CRI. These findings also informed the development of a formal definition of CRI and supported further representations that illustrate areas of emphasis critical to advancing the domain. Conclusions CRI has emerged as a distinct discipline that faces multiple challenges and opportunities. The findings presented summarize those challenges and opportunities and provide a framework that should help inform next steps to advance this important new discipline. PMID:19261934

  3. Barriers and facilitators to implementing a patient-centered model of contraceptive provision in community health centers.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Politi, Mary C; Estlund, Amy; Milne, Anne; Buckel, Christina M; Peipert, Jeffrey F; Madden, Tessa

    2016-01-01

    The Contraceptive CHOICE Project developed a patient-centered model for contraceptive provision including: (1) structured, evidence-based counseling; (2) staff and health care provider education; and (3) removal of barriers such as cost and multiple appointments to initiate contraception. In preparation for conducting a research study of the CHOICE model in three community health settings, we sought to identify potential barriers and facilitators to implementation. Using a semi-structured interview guide guided by a framework of implementation research, we conducted 31 qualitative interviews with female patients, staff, and health care providers assessing attitudes, beliefs, and barriers to receiving contraception. We also asked about current contraceptive provision and explored organizational practices relevant to implementing the CHOICE model. We used a grounded theory approach to identify major themes. Many participants felt that current contraceptive provision could be improved by the CHOICE model. Potential facilitators included agreement about the necessity for improved contraceptive knowledge among patients and staff; importance of patient-centered contraceptive counseling; and benefits to same-day insertion of long-acting reversible contraception (LARC). Potential barriers included misconceptions about contraception held by staff and providers; resistance to new practices; costs associated with LARC; and scheduling challenges required for same-day insertion of LARC. In addition to staff and provider training, implementing a patient-centered model of contraceptive provision needs to be supplemented by strategies to manage patient and system-level barriers. Community health center staff, providers, and patients support patient-centered contraceptive counseling to improve contraception provision if organizations can address these barriers.

  4. Collaboration between a college of pharmacy and a for-profit health system at an academic medical center.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bird, Matthew L; Dunn, Rebecca L; Hagemann, Tracy M; Burton, Michael E; Britton, Mark L; St Cyr, Mark B

    2012-07-01

    The genesis and growth of a successful 14-year partnership between the University of Oklahoma (OU) college of pharmacy and the OU Medical Center (OUMC) department of pharmacy are described. Pursuant to a 1998 joint operating agreement, the medical center and pharmacy school have achieved a high degree of collaboration on a wide range of educational and clinical initiatives. The close relationship has conferred a number of benefits on both institutions, including (1) expanded experiential education opportunities for pharmacy students, (2) joint faculty and staff funding arrangements that have facilitated the development and accreditation of OU pharmacy residency programs, and (3) patient care initiatives that have increased awareness of pharmacists' important contributions in areas such as venous thromboembolism prophylaxis, antibiotic stewardship, and core measures compliance. In addition to the formal integration of the college of pharmacy into the OUMC organizational structure, ongoing teamwork by clinicians and administrators at the two institutions has strengthened the 14-year partnership while helping to identify creative solutions to evolving communications, technology, and reimbursement challenges. Potential growth opportunities include the expansion of pharmacy services into additional service areas and greater involvement by OU pharmacy school faculty in the training of medical, nursing, and allied health professionals. A large for-profit academic medical center and a college of pharmacy developed a successful collaboration that is mutually beneficial and provides increased clinical, educational, and scholarly opportunities, advancing the mission of both institutions.

  5. Classification of simple current invariants

    CERN Document Server

    Gato-Rivera, Beatriz

    1992-01-01

    We summarize recent work on the classification of modular invariant partition functions that can be obtained with simple currents in theories with a center (Z_p)^k with p prime. New empirical results for other centers are also presented. Our observation that the total number of invariants is monodromy-independent for (Z_p)^k appears to be true in general as well. (Talk presented in the parallel session on string theory of the Lepton-Photon/EPS Conference, Geneva, 1991.)

  6. DEVELOPMENT OF SIMULATION CENTER AND TRAINING PROGRAMMES IN IVANO-FRANKIVSK PERINATAL CENTER

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Zoryana Kocherga

    2017-06-01

    Full Text Available Current system of medical education in Ukraine needs improvement and reforms in order to enhance the proficiency of doctors and paramedics. Training of practical/technical skills, communication, as well as teamwork skills is considerably important.The use of simulation techniques and methods in medical education is called simulation training in medicine. Medical skills are acquired through cognitive (knowledge and psychomotor (practice skills. The first medical simulation centers appeared in Ukraine in 2006 according to the order of the Ministry of Health Care of Ukraine.On June 20, 2013, a new simulation training center was opened in Ivano-Frankivsk on the base of Regional Perinatal Center. Similar medical simulation centers were opened in the second half of 2013 in Volyn and Vinnytsia regions under the Ukrainian-Swiss Mother and Child Health Programme, which started in the area of perinatology. Their goal is to improve the teamwork of all specialists involved in the process of delivery and neonatal intensive care,as well as to engage internship doctors and senior medical students in clinical skills training programmes.The use of simulation techniques and training programs offers a powerful platform to study and practice clinical reasoning behaviors and patterns.

  7. National Fire News- Current Wildfires

    Science.gov (United States)

    ... 1 to 5) Current hours for the National Fire Information Center are (MST) 8:00 am - 4: ... for more information. June 15, 2018 Nationally, wildland fire activity remains about average for this time of ...

  8. V color centers in electrolytically colored hydroxyl-doped sodium chloride crystals

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Gu Hongen; Song Cuiying; Han Li

    2006-01-01

    Hydroxyl-doped sodium chloride crystals were successfully colored electrolytically by using pointed anode and flat cathode at various temperatures and under various electric field strengths. V 2 and V 3 color centers were produced in the colored crystals. Current-time curves for the electrolytic colorations were given, and activation energy for the V 2 and V 3 color center migration was determined. Production of the V 2 and V 3 color centers and formation of current zones for the electrolytic colorations of the hydroxyl-doped sodium chloride crystals are explained

  9. Identifying opportunities to reduce the consumption of energy across mining and processing plants

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Sterling, David; Johnson, Greg

    2010-09-15

    In addition to meeting Government Policy on Energy Efficiency Opportunities (EEOs), mining and mineral processing companies are increasing energy efficiency to reduce costs in the current financial conditions. One of the major issues with EEOs is the lack of data available on energy use, and more importantly the energy use linked to production data, that identify energy reduction opportunities. This paper looks at expanding the use of a Manufacturing Execution Systems by integrating with Energy Solutions. This will provide automatic, timely information, at a granularity that makes it easier to identify EEOs, reduce energy costs, and better predict energy use.

  10. Aquantis C-Plane Ocean Current Turbine Project

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Fleming, Alex [Dehlsen Associates, LLC, Santa Barbara, CA (United States)

    2015-09-16

    The Aquantis 2.5 MW Ocean Current Generation Device technology developed by Dehlsen Associates, LLC (DA) is a derivation of wind power generating technology (a means of harnessing a slow moving fluid) adapted to the ocean environment. The Aquantis Project provides an opportunity for accelerated technological development and early commercialization, since it involves the joining of two mature disciplines: ocean engineering and wind turbine design. The Aquantis Current Plane (C-Plane) technology is an ocean current turbine designed to extract kinetic energy from a current flow. The technology is capable of achieving competitively priced, continuous, base-load, and reliable power generation from a source of renewable energy not before possible in this scale or form.

  11. Enteric disease surveillance under the AFHSC-GEIS: Current efforts, landscape analysis and vision forward

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Kasper Matthew R

    2011-03-01

    Full Text Available Abstract The mission of the Armed Forces Health Surveillance Center, Division of Global Emerging Infections Surveillance and Response System (AFHSC-GEIS is to support global public health and to counter infectious disease threats to the United States Armed Forces, including newly identified agents or those increasing in incidence. Enteric diseases are a growing threat to U.S. forces, which must be ready to deploy to austere environments where the risk of exposure to enteropathogens may be significant and where routine prevention efforts may be impractical. In this report, the authors review the recent activities of AFHSC-GEIS partner laboratories in regards to enteric disease surveillance, prevention and response. Each partner identified recent accomplishments, including support for regional networks. AFHSC/GEIS partners also completed a Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats (SWOT survey as part of a landscape analysis of global enteric surveillance efforts. The current strengths of this network include excellent laboratory infrastructure, equipment and personnel that provide the opportunity for high-quality epidemiological studies and test platforms for point-of-care diagnostics. Weaknesses include inconsistent guidance and a splintered reporting system that hampers the comparison of data across regions or longitudinally. The newly chartered Enterics Surveillance Steering Committee (ESSC is intended to provide clear mission guidance, a structured project review process, and central data management and analysis in support of rationally directed enteric disease surveillance efforts.

  12. Responding to the Concerns of Student Cultural Groups: Redesigning Spaces for Cultural Centers

    Science.gov (United States)

    McDowell, Anise Mazone; Higbee, Jeanne L.

    2014-01-01

    This paper describes the engagement of a student committee in redesigning an entire floor of a university union to accommodate student cultural centers and provide space in a fair and equitable manner. The reorganization focused on the process as well as the task of allocating space, with an emphasis on the opportunity to foster the development of…

  13. Unique educational opportunities at the Missouri University research reactor

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Ketring, A.R.; Ross, F.K.; Spate, V.

    1997-01-01

    Since the Missouri University Research Reactor (MURR) went critical in 1966, it has been a center where students from many departments conduct their graduate research. In the past three decades, hundreds of graduate students from the MU departments of chemistry, physics, anthropology, nuclear engineering, etc., have received masters and doctoral degrees based on research using neutrons produced at MURR. More recently, the educational opportunities at MURR have been expanded to include undergraduate students and local high school students. Since 1989 MURR has participated in the National Science Foundation-funded Research Experience for Undergraduates (REU) program. As part of this program, undergraduate students from universities and colleges throughout the United States come to MURR and get hands-on research experience during the summer. Another program, started in 1994 by the Nuclear Analysis Program at MURR, allows students from a local high school to conduct a neutron activation analysis (NAA) experiment. We also conduct tours of the center, where we describe the research and educational programs at MURR to groups of elementary school children, high school science teachers, state legislators, professional organizations, and many other groups

  14. Challenges and opportunities associated with waste management in India

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kumar, Sunil; Smith, Stephen R.; Fowler, Geoff; Velis, Costas; Kumar, S. Jyoti; Arya, Shashi; Rena; Kumar, Rakesh

    2017-01-01

    India faces major environmental challenges associated with waste generation and inadequate waste collection, transport, treatment and disposal. Current systems in India cannot cope with the volumes of waste generated by an increasing urban population, and this impacts on the environment and public health. The challenges and barriers are significant, but so are the opportunities. This paper reports on an international seminar on ‘Sustainable solid waste management for cities: opportunities in South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) countries’ organized by the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research-National Environmental Engineering Research Institute and the Royal Society. A priority is to move from reliance on waste dumps that offer no environmental protection, to waste management systems that retain useful resources within the economy. Waste segregation at source and use of specialized waste processing facilities to separate recyclable materials has a key role. Disposal of residual waste after extraction of material resources needs engineered landfill sites and/or investment in waste-to-energy facilities. The potential for energy generation from landfill via methane extraction or thermal treatment is a major opportunity, but a key barrier is the shortage of qualified engineers and environmental professionals with the experience to deliver improved waste management systems in India. PMID:28405362

  15. Challenges and opportunities associated with waste management in India.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kumar, Sunil; Smith, Stephen R; Fowler, Geoff; Velis, Costas; Kumar, S Jyoti; Arya, Shashi; Rena; Kumar, Rakesh; Cheeseman, Christopher

    2017-03-01

    India faces major environmental challenges associated with waste generation and inadequate waste collection, transport, treatment and disposal. Current systems in India cannot cope with the volumes of waste generated by an increasing urban population, and this impacts on the environment and public health. The challenges and barriers are significant, but so are the opportunities. This paper reports on an international seminar on 'Sustainable solid waste management for cities: opportunities in South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) countries' organized by the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research-National Environmental Engineering Research Institute and the Royal Society. A priority is to move from reliance on waste dumps that offer no environmental protection, to waste management systems that retain useful resources within the economy. Waste segregation at source and use of specialized waste processing facilities to separate recyclable materials has a key role. Disposal of residual waste after extraction of material resources needs engineered landfill sites and/or investment in waste-to-energy facilities. The potential for energy generation from landfill via methane extraction or thermal treatment is a major opportunity, but a key barrier is the shortage of qualified engineers and environmental professionals with the experience to deliver improved waste management systems in India.

  16. Federal health web sites: current & future roles.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Cronin, Carol

    2002-09-01

    An examination of the current and possible future roles of federal health Web sites, this paper provides an overview of site categories, functions, target audiences, marketing approaches, knowledge management, and evaluation strategies. It concludes with a look at future opportunities and challenges for the federal government in providing health information online.

  17. Current development of UAV sense and avoid system

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zhahir, A.; Razali, A.; Mohd Ajir, M. R.

    2016-10-01

    As unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) are now gaining high interests from civil and commercialised market, the automatic sense and avoid (SAA) system is currently one of the essential features in research spotlight of UAV. Several sensor types employed in current SAA research and technology of sensor fusion that offers a great opportunity in improving detection and tracking system are presented here. The purpose of this paper is to provide an overview of SAA system development in general, as well as the current challenges facing UAV researchers and designers.

  18. Research Opportunities with SIRTF

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bicay, M. D.

    2000-05-01

    The vast majority of observing time on the Space Infrared Telescope Facility (SIRTF), to be launched next year, will be available to the broad science community. A unique and innovative component of this community observing time is the Legacy Science Program, enabling investigators to conduct large and coherent science programs early in the mission, with data entering the public domain immediately upon processing at the SIRTF Science Center (SSC). The Legacy Science Call for Proposals (CP) is now open, and proposals are due on September 15, 2000. The first General Observer CP will be issued in late 2001, with proposals due four months after launch. Subsequent CPs will be issued by the SSC on an approximately annual basis. Archival research with SIRTF data will be possible within 6 months of launch, utilizing data from the First-Look Survey and from early Legacy Science observations. The author will provide an overview of the research opportunities available with SIRTF, the nominal schedule of CPs, and the anticipated plans for data analysis funding. Proposal submission procedures, and an introduction to planning and proposing tools and resources, will be provided. A description of the SIRTF observing modes and their corresponding SSC pipeline data products will also be presented.

  19. Vacancy-impurity centers in diamond: prospects for synthesis and applications

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ekimov, E. A.; Kondrin, M. V.

    2017-06-01

    The bright luminescence of impurity-vacancy complexes, combined with high chemical and radiation resistance, makes diamond an attractive platform for the production of single-photon emitters and luminescent biomarkers for applications in nanoelectronics and medicine. Two representatives of this kind of defects in diamond, silicon-vacancy (SiV) and germanium-vacancy (GeV) centers, are discussed in this review; their similarities and differences are demonstrated in terms of the more thoroughly studied nitrogen-vacancy (NV) complexes. The recent discovery of GeV luminescent centers opens a unique opportunity for the controlled synthesis of single-photon emitters in nanodiamonds. We demonstrate prospects for the high-pressure high-temperature (HPHT) technique to create single-photon emitters, not only as an auxiliary to chemical vapor deposition (CVD) and ion-implantation methods but also as a primary synthesis tool for producing color centers in nanodiamonds. Besides practical applications, comparative studies of these two complexes, which belong to the same structural class of defects, have a fundamental importance for deeper understanding of shelving levels, the electronic structure, and optical properties of these centers. In conclusion, we discuss several open problems regarding the structure, charge state, and practical application of these centers, which still require a solution.

  20. Qualitative research in rehabilitation science: opportunities, challenges, and future directions.

    Science.gov (United States)

    VanderKaay, Sandra; Moll, Sandra E; Gewurtz, Rebecca E; Jindal, Pranay; Loyola-Sanchez, Adalberto; Packham, Tara L; Lim, Chun Y

    2018-03-01

    Qualitative research has had a significant impact within rehabilitation science over time. During the past 20 years the number of qualitative studies published per year in Disability and Rehabilitation has markedly increased (from 1 to 54). In addition, during this period there have been significant changes in how qualitative research is conceptualized, conducted, and utilized to advance the field of rehabilitation. The purpose of this article is to reflect upon the progress of qualitative research within rehabilitation to date, to explicate current opportunities and challenges, and to suggest future directions to continue to strengthen the contribution of qualitative research in this field. Relevant literature searches were conducted in electronic data bases and reference lists. Pertinent literature was examined to identify current opportunities and challenges for qualitative research use in rehabilitation and to identify future directions. Six key areas of opportunity and challenge were identified: (a) paradigm shifts, (b) advancements in methodology, (c) emerging technology, (d) advances in quality evaluation, (e) increasing popularity of mixed methods approaches, and (f) evolving approaches to knowledge translation. Two important future directions for rehabilitation are posited: (1) advanced training in qualitative methods and (2) engaging qualitative communities of research. Qualitative research is well established in rehabilitation and has an important place in the continued growth of this field. Ongoing development of qualitative researchers and methods are essential. Implications for Rehabilitation Qualitative research has the potential to improve rehabilitation practice by addressing some of the most pervasive concerns in the field such as practitioner-client interaction, the subjective and lived experience of disability, and clinical reasoning and decision making. This will serve to better inform those providing rehabilitation services thereby benefiting

  1. Managing the risks of on-site health centers.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gorman, Kathleen M; Miller, Ross M

    2011-11-01

    This review sought to assess compliance concerns, determine risk management strategies, and identify opportunities for future research to contribute to employers' understanding of the laws and regulations that apply to on-site care. A comprehensive review of databases, professional organizations' websites, and journals resulted in 22 publications reporting on the consequences of noncompliance among on-site health centers accepted for inclusion. None of those studies reported a study design or quantifiable outcome data. Two noncompliance themes were repeated among the publications. First, direct penalties included fines, civil actions, loss of licensure, and, potentially, criminal charges. Second, noncompliance also resulted in indirect costs such as employee mistrust and lowered standards of care, which jeopardize on-site health centers' ability to demonstrate a return on investment. Further research with rigorous methodology is needed to inform employer decisions about on-site health services and associated risk management. Copyright 2011, SLACK Incorporated.

  2. Patient-centered medical home model: do school-based health centers fit the model?

    Science.gov (United States)

    Larson, Satu A; Chapman, Susan A

    2013-01-01

    School-based health centers (SBHCs) are an important component of health care reform. The SBHC model of care offers accessible, continuous, comprehensive, family-centered, coordinated, and compassionate care to infants, children, and adolescents. These same elements comprise the patient-centered medical home (PCMH) model of care being promoted by the Affordable Care Act with the hope of lowering health care costs by rewarding clinicians for primary care services. PCMH survey tools have been developed to help payers determine whether a clinician/site serves as a PCMH. Our concern is that current survey tools will be unable to capture how a SBHC may provide a medical home and therefore be denied needed funding. This article describes how SBHCs might meet the requirements of one PCMH tool. SBHC stakeholders need to advocate for the creation or modification of existing survey tools that allow the unique characteristics of SBHCs to qualify as PCMHs.

  3. Use of Expedited Partner Therapy for Sexually Transmitted Diseases in College and University Health Centers in the United States, 2011-2012.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Cramer, Ryan; Martinez, Nina; Roberts, Craig; Habel, Melissa A; Leino, E Victor; Leichliter, Jami S

    2015-10-01

    We examined expedited partner therapy for chlamydia and gonorrhea in college and university health centers by institutional and policy characteristics. Expedited partner therapy awareness and use was low (44.1% used), did not differ by institutional characteristics, and differed by policy environment. Our findings suggest missed opportunities for sexually transmitted disease prevention in college and university health centers.

  4. EDITORIAL: Commercial opportunities for neural engineers

    Science.gov (United States)

    Cavuoto, James

    2008-03-01

    Research and academic professionals in neural engineering know well the promise the field offers for advancing our understanding of basic neuroscience and devising new therapies for treating neurological diseases and disorders. But there is also considerable commercial opportunity for new start-up companies in several areas of neural engineering. The neurotechnology industry, which includes firms that manufacture neuromodulation devices, neural prostheses, neurorehabilitation systems, and neurosensing devices, is forecast to grow to grow from 3.6 billion this year to 8.8 billion in 2012, according to a recently published market research study from Neurotech Reports. In recent years, there have been several successful spinoffs of neurotechnology startup firms that originated with research at universities and clinical institutions. In many cases, the academic researchers who invented the new technology or product innovation have stayed on with their startup firms after receiving funding from venture capital firms, or after going public. Among the most successful neurotechnology industry spinoffs in recent years were: Cyberkinetics Inc., Foxborough, MA, a manufacturer of brain-computer interface devices based on research at Brown University. John Donoghue, a professor and chairman of the department of neuroscience at Brown University and executive director of the brain science program at Brown, founded the company in 2001 and remains on board as the chief scientific officer. Synapse Biomedical, Inc., Oberlin, OH, a manufacturer of diaphragm pacing systems, based on research at Case Western Reserve University. Raymond Onders, director of minimal invasive surgery and associate professor at University Hospital Case Medical Center in Cleveland, was the primary researcher. He was helped by J. Thomas Mortimer, professor emeritus of biomedical engineering at Case, and it was Mortimer who came up with the name NeuRx for the device. Onders performed his first surgical implant

  5. Martian Surface Mineralogy from Rovers with Spirit, Opportunity, and Curiosity

    Science.gov (United States)

    Morris, Richard V.

    2016-01-01

    Beginning in 2004, NASA has landed three well-instrumented rovers on the equatorial martian surface. The Spirit rover landed in Gusev crater in early January, 2004, and the Opportunity rover landed on the opposite side of Mars at Meridian Planum 21 days later. The Curiosity rover landed in Gale crater to the west of Gusev crater in August, 2012. Both Opportunity and Curiosity are currently operational. The twin rovers Spirit and Opportunity carried Mossbauer spectrometers to determine the oxidation state of iron and its mineralogical composition. The Curiosity rover has an X-ray diffraction instrument for identification and quantification of crystalline materials including clay minerals. Instrument suites on all three rovers are capable of distinguishing primary rock-forming minerals like olivine, pyroxene and magnetite and products of aqueous alteration in including amorphous iron oxides, hematite, goethite, sulfates, and clay minerals. The oxidation state of iron ranges from that typical for unweathered rocks and soils to nearly completely oxidized (weathered) rocks and soils as products of aqueous and acid-sulfate alteration. The in situ rover mineralogy also serves as ground-truth for orbital observations, and orbital mineralogical inferences are used for evaluating and planning rover exploration.

  6. Autonomous vehicles:challenges, opportunities, and future implications for transportation policies

    Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)

    Saeed Asadi Bagloee; Madjid Tavana; Mohsen Asadi; Tracey Oliver

    2016-01-01

    This study investigates the challenges and opportunities pertaining to transportation policies that may arise as a result of emerging autonomous vehicle (AV) technologies. AV technologies can decrease the trans-portation cost and increase accessibility to low-income households and persons with mobility issues. This emerg-ing technology also has far-reaching applications and implications beyond all current expectations. This paper provides a comprehensive review of the relevant literature and explores a broad spectrum of issues from safety to machine ethics. An indispensable part of a prospective AV development is communication over cars and infrastructure (connected vehicles). A major knowledge gap exists in AV technology with respect to routing behaviors. Connected-vehicle technology provides a great opportunity to imple-ment an efficient and intelligent routing system. To this end, we propose a conceptual navigation model based on a fleet of AVs that are centrally dispatched over a network seeking system optimization. This study contributes to the literature on two fronts: (i) it attempts to shed light on future opportunities as well as possible hurdles associated with AV technology;and (ii) it conceptualizes a navigation model for the AV which leads to highly efficient traffic circulations.

  7. Opportunities for First Nations

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Moura, Rodrigo [Anaia Global (Canada)

    2011-07-01

    The recent development of wind energy project creates opportunities for First Nations. Although they are interested by such projects, First Nations nevertheless have questions such about how they can be a part of the wind industry, what are their rights, what investment would they need to make, and how to judge if they are getting a favourable deal. This presentation aimed at answering those questions an maintained that wind energy would bring social and economic development to First Nations communities as well as diversifying their sources of revenue. Several companies offer their services to First Nations and Anaia Global is a company which helps aboriginal people identify to promote their investment opportunities in renewable energy projects and benefit from the technology transferred to them. This presentation showed that there are significant opportunities for First Nations in the wind energy sector and that Anaia Global is focusing on helping them seize these opportunities.

  8. Current and future state of FDA-CMS parallel reviews.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Messner, D A; Tunis, S R

    2012-03-01

    The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) recently proposed a partial alignment of their respective review processes for new medical products. The proposed "parallel review" not only offers an opportunity for some products to reach the market with Medicare coverage more quickly but may also create new incentives for product developers to conduct studies designed to address simultaneously the information needs of regulators, payers, patients, and clinicians.

  9. UK-China review of opportunities for landfill gas (LFG) technology transfer

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    NONE

    2004-07-01

    This report presents the results of a project to identify opportunities to transfer UK skills with regard to landfill gas (LFG) technologies to China and other countries looking to develop LFG as a commercially viable clean energy source. The aim of the project was to develop all aspects of LFG extraction and utilisation techniques. The project involved: examining current Chinese waste disposal practices; identifying key technologies and methods for maximising LFG recovery; considering end use options and methods to optimise gas use; assessing the environmental benefits; and identifying potential opportunities for UK industry. The report consider: barriers to the development of LFG; waste disposal and landfill design in China; China's experience of LFG use; UN Development Programme (UNDP) and Global Environmental Forum (GEF) LFG demonstration projects in China; environmental regulation and controls in China; LFG technology in the UK; support for renewable energy in China and the UK; design and operational needs in China from a UK perspective; technology needs, barriers and opportunities; and recommendations for action and future work.

  10. Administrative Challenges to the Integration of Oral Health With Primary Care: A SWOT Analysis of Health Care Executives at Federally Qualified Health Centers.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Norwood, Connor W; Maxey, Hannah L; Randolph, Courtney; Gano, Laura; Kochhar, Komal

    Inadequate access to preventive oral health services contributes to oral health disparities and is a major public health concern in the United States. Federally Qualified Health Centers play a critical role in improving access to care for populations affected by oral health disparities but face a number of administrative challenges associated with implementation of oral health integration models. We conducted a SWOT (strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats) analysis with health care executives to identify strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats of successful oral health integration in Federally Qualified Health Centers. Four themes were identified: (1) culture of health care organizations; (2) operations and administration; (3) finance; and (4) workforce.

  11. How Do Clinicians Learn About Knowledge Translation? An Investigation of Current Web-Based Learning Opportunities.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Damarell, Raechel A; Tieman, Jennifer J

    2017-07-13

    Clinicians are important stakeholders in the translation of well-designed research evidence into clinical practice for optimal patient care. However, the application of knowledge translation (KT) theories and processes may present conceptual and practical challenges for clinicians. Online learning platforms are an effective means of delivering KT education, providing an interactive, time-efficient, and affordable alternative to face-to-face education programs. This study investigates the availability and accessibility of online KT learning opportunities for health professionals. It also provides an analysis of the types of resources and associated disciplines retrieved by a range of KT synonyms. We searched a range of bibliographic databases and the Internet (Google advanced option) using 9 KT terms to identify online KT learning resources. To be eligible, resources had to be free, aimed at clinicians, educational in intent, and interactive in design. Each term was searched using two different search engines. The details of the first 100 websites captured per browser (ie, n=200 results per term) were entered into EndNote. Each site was subsequently visited to determine its status as a learning resource. Eligible websites were appraised for quality using the AACODS (Authority, Accuracy, Coverage, Objectivity, Date, Significance) tool. We identified 971 unique websites via our multiple search strategies. Of these, 43 were health-related and educational in intent. Once these sites were evaluated for interactivity, a single website matched our inclusion criteria (Dementia Knowledge Translation Learning Centre). KT is an important but complex system of processes. These processes overlap with knowledge, practice, and improvement processes that go by a range of different names. For clinicians to be informed and competent in KT, they require better access to free learning opportunities. These resources should be designed from the viewpoint of the clinician, presenting KT

  12. Measurement of weak magnetic field of corrosion current of isolated corrosion center

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    I. V. Bardin

    2015-01-01

    Full Text Available A very small magnetic field of corrosion current, of the order of 10−4 Oe, generated by isolated zinc inclusion in a copper platelet placed in electrolyte has been measured for the first time with a highly sensitive giant magneto-impedance magnetometer. The total corrosion current of the inclusion is estimated comparing the measured magnetic field distribution with corresponding theoretical calculation. The estimated value of the total corrosion current turns out to be in reasonable agreement with that one obtained in the standard gravimetric measurement.

  13. Precision Joining Center

    Science.gov (United States)

    Powell, J. W.; Westphal, D. A.

    1991-08-01

    A workshop to obtain input from industry on the establishment of the Precision Joining Center (PJC) was held on July 10-12, 1991. The PJC is a center for training Joining Technologists in advanced joining techniques and concepts in order to promote the competitiveness of U.S. industry. The center will be established as part of the DOE Defense Programs Technology Commercialization Initiative, and operated by EG&G Rocky Flats in cooperation with the American Welding Society and the Colorado School of Mines Center for Welding and Joining Research. The overall objectives of the workshop were to validate the need for a Joining Technologists to fill the gap between the welding operator and the welding engineer, and to assure that the PJC will train individuals to satisfy that need. The consensus of the workshop participants was that the Joining Technologist is a necessary position in industry, and is currently used, with some variation, by many companies. It was agreed that the PJC core curriculum, as presented, would produce a Joining Technologist of value to industries that use precision joining techniques. The advantage of the PJC would be to train the Joining Technologist much more quickly and more completely. The proposed emphasis of the PJC curriculum on equipment intensive and hands-on training was judged to be essential.

  14. Opportunities and challenges of sexual health services among young people: a study in Nepal.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Regmi, Krishna

    2009-02-01

    It has been well documented that young people are more likely to engage in high-risk sexual activity. Appropriate understanding of safe sex, sexual practices, and related behaviors must recognize the importance of socioeconomic and cultural factors in prevention efforts related to HIV and other sexual transmitted infections (STIs). To examine and summarize the opportunities and challenges of sexual health services among young people in Nepal. Review of literature--assessing knowledge, attitudes, and understanding of sex, sexual health, and related sexual risk behaviors, among young people (15-24), in line with the current sociocultural and health service practices. Medline, Cumulative Index to Nursing and Allied Health Literature (CINAHL), Science, Cochrane database, and Google were searched. Similarly, documents published at the WHO, United Nations Population Fund, United Nations Development Program, and at national/local level--Ministry of Health, National Center for AIDS, and STD Control were also assessed to access the relevant reports and articles. Published and gray articles were also reviewed. This study contends growing expansion of communication and transportation networks, urbanization, and urban in-migration is creating a different sociocultural environment, which is conducive to more social interactions between young girls and boys in Nepal. Rising age at marriage opens a window of opportunity for premarital and unsafe sexual activity among young people and this creates risks of unwanted pregnancy, STIs/HIV and AIDS. Socioeconomic, demographic, and cultural factors have been identified as encouraging factors for risk-taking behaviors among young people. Understanding safer sex and responsible sexual/reproductive behavior is important. Effective and appropriate interventions on sexual and reproductive health education directed at young people and the whole family, including fathers, could have significant effect on reducing risk and related risk

  15. Location of radiotherapy centers: An exploratory geographic analysis for Belgium

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Cotteels, C.; Peeters, D.; Coucke, P.A.; Thomas, I.

    2012-01-01

    Purpose. - The distance between the patient's home and a radiotherapy department may represent a hurdle for the patient and influence treatment choice. Therefore, it is necessary to check whether the geographical distribution of radiotherapy centers is in accordance with cancer incidence, taking also into account the cost of travelling to the radiotherapy department. The objective of this study is double; first, to map the current locations of radiotherapy centers across the country and second, to evaluate the observed spatial disparities with appropriate tools. Materials and methods. - A model of operational research (P-median) is used to suggest the optimal locations and allocations and to compare them with the current situation. This is an exploratory study with simple inputs. It helps to better understand the current geographical distribution of radiotherapy centers in Belgium as well as its possible limitations. Results-conclusion. - It appears that the current situation is on the average acceptable in terms of accessibility to the service and that the method presents huge potentialities for decision making so as to yield a spatial system that is both efficient and equitable. (authors)

  16. Characterizing customers at medical center farmers' markets.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kraschnewski, Jennifer L; George, Daniel R; Rovniak, Liza S; Monroe, Diana L; Fiordalis, Elizabeth; Bates, Erica

    2014-08-01

    Approximately 100 farmers' markets operate on medical center campuses. Although these venues can uniquely serve community health needs, little is known about customer characteristics and outreach efforts. Intercept survey of markets and market customers between August 2010 and October 2011 at three medical centers in different geographic regions of the US (Duke University Medical Center, Cleveland Clinic, and Penn State Hershey Medical Center) were conducted. Markets reported serving 180-2,000 customers per week and conducting preventive medicine education sessions and community health programs. Customers (n = 585) across markets were similar in sociodemographic characteristics--most were middle-aged, white, and female, who were employees of their respective medical center. Health behaviors of customers were similar to national data. The surveyed medical center farmers' markets currently serve mostly employees; however, markets have significant potential for community outreach efforts in preventive medicine. If farmers' markets can broaden their reach to more diverse populations, they may play an important role in contributing to community health.

  17. Current Issues in Maritime Health

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Wagtmann, Maria Anne

    2008-01-01

     In the early part of 2008, Maria Anne Wagtmann had the opportunity to interview the former president of the International Maritime Health Association, Dr. Tim Carter, in London about a number of current maritime health issues. In this interview, Dr. Tim Carter, who is cur­rently employed...... as the Chief Medical Advisor for the British government's Department for Transport, gives his personal - and thus non-official - opinions on these issues....

  18. Development of Knowledge Management Model for Developing the Internal Quality Assurance in Educational Opportunity Expansion Schools

    Science.gov (United States)

    Pradabpech, Pipat; Chantarasombat, Chalard; Sriampai, Anan

    2015-01-01

    This research for: 1) to study the current situation and problem in KM, 2) to develop the KM Model, and 3) to evaluate the finding usage of the KM Model for developing the Internal Quality Assurance of Educational Opportunity Expansion Schools. There were 3 Phases of research implementation. Phase 1: the current situation and problem in KM, was…

  19. A Lean, Fast Mars Round-trip Mission Architecture: Using Current Technologies for a Human Mission in the 2030s

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bailey, Lora; Folta, David; Barbee, Brent W.; Vaughn, Frank; Kirchman, Frank; Englander, Jacob; Campbell, Bruce; Thronson, Harley; Lin, Tzu Yu

    2013-01-01

    We present a lean fast-transfer architecture concept for a first human mission to Mars that utilizes current technologies and two pivotal parameters: an end-to-end Mars mission duration of approximately one year, and a deep space habitat of approximately 50 metric tons. These parameters were formulated by a 2012 deep space habitat study conducted at the NASA Johnson Space Center (JSC) that focused on a subset of recognized high- engineering-risk factors that may otherwise limit space travel to destinations such as Mars or near-Earth asteroid (NEA)s. With these constraints, we model and promote Mars mission opportunities in the 2030s enabled by a combination of on-orbit staging, mission element pre-positioning, and unique round-trip trajectories identified by state-of-the-art astrodynamics algorithms.

  20. Resident Involvement in Professional Otolaryngology Organizations: Current Trends in the United States.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wong, Kevin; Jang, Minyoung; Gilad, Amir; Levi, Jessica R

    2017-08-01

    Involvement by residents in professional medical organizations can enrich their training, but little data exist regarding the number and types of involvement opportunities available to otolaryngology residents. We sought to fill this gap in knowledge by quantifying the extent to which major otolaryngology-related organizations in the United States provide involvement opportunities to otolaryngology residents. Our analysis included 23 organizations and subspecialty societies. Results showed that many opportunities exist for residents to attend conferences and present research; however, fewer involvement and funding opportunities existed in any other leadership, health policy, or service-learning experiences. These findings were consistent across general and subspecialty societies. Given the many purported benefits of resident involvement in otolaryngology outside of the standard training environment, future efforts may be warranted to increase the number and type of involvement opportunities currently available in professional societies.

  1. Veterinarian-Client Communication Skills: Current State, Relevance, and Opportunities for Improvement.

    Science.gov (United States)

    McDermott, Michael P; Tischler, Victoria A; Cobb, Malcolm A; Robbé, Iain J; Dean, Rachel S

    2015-01-01

    Communication is increasingly recognized as a core skill for veterinary practitioners, and in recent years, attention to communication competency and skills training has increased. To gain an up-to-date assessment of the current state of veterinary communication skills and training, we conducted a survey among veterinary practitioners in the United Kingdom and United States in 2012/2013. The questionnaire was used to assess the current state, relevance, and adequacy of veterinary communication skills among veterinary practitioners, to assess interest in further training, and to understand perceived challenges in communicating with clients. There was an overall response rate of 29.6% (1,774 of 6,000 recipients), with a higher response rate for UK-based practitioners (39.7%) than practitioners in the US (19.5%). Ninety-eight percent of respondents agreed that communication skills were as important as or more important than clinical knowledge. Forty-one percent of respondents had received formal veterinary communication skills training during veterinary school, and 47% had received training post-graduation. Thirty-five percent said their veterinary communication skills training during veterinary school prepared them well or very well for communicating with clients about the health of their pets, compared to 61% of those receiving post-graduate training. Forty percent said they would be interested in further veterinary communication skills training, with the preferred methods being simulated consultations and online training. While there has been increased emphasis on communication skills training during and after veterinary school, there is a need for more relevant and accessible training.

  2. Community health centers and community development financial institutions: joining forces to address determinants of health.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kotelchuck, Ronda; Lowenstein, Daniel; Tobin, Jonathan N

    2011-11-01

    Community health centers and community development financial institutions share similar origins and missions and are increasingly working together to meet community needs. Addressing the social and economic determinants of health is a common focus. The availability of new federal grants and tax credits has led these financial institutions to invest in the creation and expansion of community health centers. This article reviews the most recent trends in these two sectors and explores opportunities for further collaboration to transform the health and well-being of the nation's low-income communities.

  3. New Emergency control center of Slovenske Elektrarne Bohunice NPP

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Pecko, E.

    2012-01-01

    Emergency preparedness of nuclear power plant and operation assurance in case of a possible emergency calls to have devices for emergency response with equipment for rapid detection and continuous evaluation of anticipated events. Chief executive body designated to manage a nuclear power plant during major events is the emergency committee (EC). Emergency Committee is a part of the Emergency Response Organization (ERO). The following centers are on alert to ensure the activities of the ERO - Emergency Response office: - control room (CR) and emergency control room (ECR); - emergency management center (EMC); - Monitoring Centre (MC); - emergency backup control center (EBCC); - congregations of civil protection (CP) and CP shelters; - communications with warning and notification system (VARVYR). From a historical and practical point of view in the vicinity of Jaslovske Bohunice has been set up a joint emergency control center. The center was located on the territory of the former already inoperative V1 NPP. V1 NPP is currently integrated into the organizational structure of JAVYS. Operating Bohunice V2 NPP plant is a designated part of the Slovenske Elektrarne, a. s., whose majority owner is an Italian operator ENEL. In terms of various relevant factors, it was decided to build a new emergency management center on the territory of operating V2 NPP, meet the current standards.

  4. Proton Therapy Expansion Under Current United States Reimbursement Models

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Kerstiens, John [Indiana University Health Proton Therapy Center, Bloomington, Indiana (United States); Johnstone, Peter A.S., E-mail: pajohnst@iupui.edu [Indiana University Health Proton Therapy Center, Bloomington, Indiana (United States); Department of Radiation Oncology, Indiana University School of Medicine, Indianapolis, Indiana (United States)

    2014-06-01

    Purpose: To determine whether all the existing and planned proton beam therapy (PBT) centers in the United States can survive on a local patient mix that is dictated by insurers, not by number of patients. Methods and Materials: We determined current and projected cancer rates for 10 major US metropolitan areas. Using published utilization rates, we calculated patient percentages who are candidates for PBT. Then, on the basis of current published insurer coverage policies, we applied our experience of what would be covered to determine the net number of patients for whom reimbursement is expected. Having determined the net number of covered patients, we applied our average beam delivery times to determine the total number of minutes needed to treat that patient over the course of their treatment. We then calculated our expected annual patient capacity per treatment room to determine the appropriate number of treatment rooms for the area. Results: The population of patients who will be both PBT candidates and will have treatments reimbursed by insurance is significantly smaller than the population who should receive PBT. Coverage decisions made by insurers reduce the number of PBT rooms that are economically viable. Conclusions: The expansion of PBT centers in the US is not sustainable under the current reimbursement model. Viability of new centers will be limited to those operating in larger regional metropolitan areas, and few metropolitan areas in the US can support multiple centers. In general, 1-room centers require captive (non–PBT-served) populations of approximately 1,000,000 lives to be economically viable, and a large center will require a population of >4,000,000 lives. In areas with smaller populations or where or a PBT center already exists, new centers require subsidy.

  5. Review of Defence Plans in Europe: Current Status, Strengths and Opportunities

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    De Boeck, Steven; Van Hertem, Dirk; Das, Kaushik

    2016-01-01

    interconnected, a contingency in one area can affect the whole power system and possibly lead to a wide area black out. Therefore adequate defence plans need to be designed and in place to handle these situations. This paper starts with an overview of the terminology used in defence plans. Subsequently...... the current status of defence plans in Europe and the preferred sequence of actions to mitigate contingencies, is given based on a survey conducted among several European TSOs. Furthermore his paper gives an overview of how the ongoing changes with renewables, phasor measurement units (PMUs), power flow...

  6. Inequality of Opportunity in Egypt

    OpenAIRE

    Hassine, Nadia Belhaj

    2012-01-01

    The article evaluates the contribution of inequality of opportunity to earnings inequality in Egypt and analyzes its evolution across three time periods and different population groups. It provides parametric and nonparametric estimates of a lower bound for the degree of inequality of opportunity for wage and salary workers. On average, the contribution of opportunity-shaping circumstances to earnings inequality declined from 22 percent in 1988 to 15 percent in 2006. Levels of inequality of o...

  7. Horse-meat for human consumption - Current research and future opportunities.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Belaunzaran, Xabier; Bessa, Rui J B; Lavín, Paz; Mantecón, Angel R; Kramer, John K G; Aldai, Noelia

    2015-10-01

    The consumption of horse-meat is currently not popular in most countries, but because of its availability and recognized nutritional value consumption is slowly increasing in several western European countries based on claims that it could be an alternative red meat. In this review, horse-meat production, trade and supply values have been summarized. In addition, the advantage of horse production is noted because of its lower methane emissions and increased uptake, particularly of n-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs), which is based on its digestive physiology. Of particular interest in this review is the unique fatty acid composition of horse-meat with its high level of the nutritionally desirable PUFAs in both the adipose and muscle fat. Because of its large frame size and digestive physiology, the horse can be considered an alternative to bovine meat, with large advantages regarding the maintenance of less favored mountain grazing areas and its facility to transfer PUFA from feed to meat. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  8. “Not Designed for Us”: How Science Museums and Science Centers Socially Exclude Low-Income, Minority Ethnic Groups

    Science.gov (United States)

    Dawson, Emily

    2014-01-01

    This paper explores how people from low-income, minority ethnic groups perceive and experience exclusion from informal science education (ISE) institutions, such as museums and science centers. Drawing on qualitative data from four focus groups, 32 interviews, four accompanied visits to ISE institutions, and field notes, this paper presents an analysis of exclusion from science learning opportunities during visits alongside participants’ attitudes, expectations, and conclusions about participation in ISE. Participants came from four community groups in central London: a Sierra Leonean group (n = 21), a Latin American group (n = 18), a Somali group (n = 6), and an Asian group (n = 13). Using a theoretical framework based on the work of Bourdieu, the analysis suggests ISE practices were grounded in expectations about visitors’ scientific knowledge, language skills, and finances in ways that were problematic for participants and excluded them from science learning opportunities. It is argued that ISE practices reinforced participants preexisting sense that museums and science centers were “not for us.” The paper concludes with a discussion of the findings in relation to previous research on participation in ISE and the potential for developing more inclusive informal science learning opportunities. PMID:25574059

  9. Equality of Opportunity for Well-Being

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Mahler, Daniel Gerszon; Ramos, Xavier

    2017-01-01

    A growing literature has tried to measure the extent to which individuals have equal opportunities to acquire income. At the same time, policy makers have doubled down on efforts to go beyond income when measuring well- being. We attempt to bridge these two areas by measuring the extent to which...... individuals have equal opportunities to achieve a high level of well-being. We use the German Socio-Economic Panel to measure well-being in four different ways including incomes. This makes it possible to determine if the way well-being is measured matters for identifying who the opportunity......-deprived are and for tracking inequality of opportunity over time. We find that, regardless of how well-being is measured, the same people are opportunity-deprived and equality of opportunity has improved over the past 20 years. This suggests that going beyond income has little relevance if the objective is to provide equal...

  10. Medical and Rehabilitation Centers in Children’s Houses — New Opportunities for Treatment and Rehabilitation of Children

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    I.V. Balychevtseva

    2014-05-01

    Full Text Available The article presents data on the opening of medical and rehabilitations centers at the children’s houses of Donetsk region. Approaches, terms, possibilities and methods of rehabilitations used during the treatment and restoration of disabled children are provided.

  11. Diversity in Action workshop | 14 June | Business Center Technoparc

    CERN Multimedia

    2016-01-01

    After two years, five successful editions and plenty of positive feedback, we are happy to announce the 7th edition of our Diversity in Action workshop.   Tuesday 14 June 2016 – 8.30 a.m. - 12.30 p.m. Crêt Neige (Business Center Technoparc) Seize the opportunity and participate in this half-day interactive workshop designed to explore the meaning and importance of diversity at CERN. Using participative multi-media methods and study cases from the CERN work environment, this workshop will provide participants with insights into the different dimensions of diversity, help to develop greater sensitivity to differences, explore ways to recognise and overcome biases and thereby strengthen our tradition of inclusiveness at CERN. “For me it was a great opportunity to talk about diversity issues with other people at CERN who I would have never met otherwise," says Alex Brown, who participated in the 3rd edition of the workshop. "The ...

  12. Big data business models: Challenges and opportunities

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Ralph Schroeder

    2016-12-01

    Full Text Available This paper, based on 28 interviews from a range of business leaders and practitioners, examines the current state of big data use in business, as well as the main opportunities and challenges presented by big data. It begins with an account of the current landscape and what is meant by big data. Next, it draws distinctions between the ways organisations use data and provides a taxonomy of big data business models. We observe a variety of different business models, depending not only on sector, but also on whether the main advantages derive from analytics capabilities or from having ready access to valuable data sources. Some major challenges emerge from this account, including data quality and protectiveness about sharing data. The conclusion discusses these challenges, and points to the tensions and differing perceptions about how data should be governed as between business practitioners, the promoters of open data, and the wider public.

  13. Current status of quality evaluation of nursing care through director review and reflection from the Nursing Quality Control Centers

    Science.gov (United States)

    Duan, Xia; Shi, Yan

    2014-01-01

    Background: The quality evaluation of nursing care is a key link in medical quality management. It is important and worth studying for the nursing supervisors to know the disadvantages during the process of quality evaluation of nursing care and then to improve the whole nursing quality. This study was to provide director insight on the current status of quality evaluation of nursing care from Nursing Quality Control Centers (NQCCs). Material and Methods: This qualitative study used a sample of 12 directors from NQCCs who were recruited from 12 provinces in China to evaluate the current status of quality evaluation of nursing care. Data were collected by in-depth interviews. Content analysis method was used to analyze the data. Results: Four themes emerged from the data: 1) lag of evaluation index; 2) limitations of evaluation content; 3) simplicity of evaluation method; 4) excessive emphasis on terminal quality. Conclusion: It is of great realistic significance to ameliorate nursing quality evaluation criteria, modify the evaluation content based on patient needs-oriented idea, adopt scientific evaluation method to evaluate nursing quality, and scientifically and reasonably draw horizontal comparisons of nursing quality between hospitals, as well as longitudinal comparisons of a hospital’s nursing quality. These methods mentioned above can all enhance a hospital’s core competitiveness and benefit more patients. PMID:25419427

  14. Commercial Opportunities and Market Demand for Nanotechnologies in Agribusiness Sector

    OpenAIRE

    Vincent Sabourin; Alpha Ayande

    2015-01-01

    Agribusiness is projected to be a $ 2.9 trillion USD industry in global investment by 2030 (World Bank 2013). Nanotechnology is poised to impact dramatically on all sectors of agribusiness industry in the next 10 years. Nanotechnology could be used to enhance the possibilities of developing conventional and stranded agribusiness resources. Nanotechnology can make the industry considerably greener and competitive, with its current growth rate of 25% (US$ 1.08billion) annually. The opportunity ...

  15. Current status of brachytherapy in Korea: a national survey of radiation oncologists.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kim, Haeyoung; Kim, Joo Young; Kim, Juree; Park, Won; Kim, Young Seok; Kim, Hak Jae; Kim, Yong Bae

    2016-07-01

    The aim of the present study was to acquire information on brachytherapy resources in Korea through a national survey of radiation oncologists. Between October 2014 and January 2015, a questionnaire on the current status of brachytherapy was distributed to all 86 radiation oncology departments in Korea. The questionnaire was divided into sections querying general information on human resources, brachytherapy equipment, and suggestions for future directions of brachytherapy policy in Korea. The response rate of the survey was 88.3%. The average number of radiation oncologists per center was 2.3. At the time of survey, 28 centers (36.8%) provided brachytherapy to patients. Among the 28 brachytherapy centers, 15 (53.5%) were located in in the capital Seoul and its surrounding metropolitan areas. All brachytherapy centers had a high-dose rate system using (192)Ir (26 centers) or (60)Co (two centers). Among the 26 centers using (192)Ir sources, 11 treated fewer than 40 patients per year. In the two centers using (60)Co sources, the number of patients per year was 16 and 120, respectively. The most frequently cited difficulties in performing brachytherapy were cost related. A total of 21 centers had a plan to sustain the current brachytherapy system, and four centers noted plans to upgrade their brachytherapy system. Two centers stated that they were considering discontinuation of brachytherapy due to cost burdens of radioisotope source replacement. The present study illustrated the current status of brachytherapy in Korea. Financial difficulties were the major barriers to the practice of brachytherapy.

  16. Unleashing business opportunities for wind energy

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Abrutat, R.

    2001-01-01

    Internationally successful models for the implementation of wind energy are presented and suggested for the Australian electricity supply systems. With Perth being the congress host and Western Australia's known good wind resource, particular emphasis is given to the WA South West Interconnected System (SWIS). In the current framework, energy legislation is State Government's responsibility. In the light of the Kyoto Protocol the carbon dioxide emissions of the SWIS are indicated, the associated external cost are estimated and the Greenhouse Gas emissions offset potential from wind power is outlined. The socioeconomic advantages of wind energy are depicted. Recommendations are made on how these sustainable advantages might be utilised to unleash business opportunities for the private sector, which is the cornerstone of free enterprise economies. (author)

  17. Opportunities and barriers for international bioenergy trade

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Junginger, Martin; Dam, Jinke van; Zarrilli, Simonetta; Ali Mohamed, Fatin; Marchal, Didier; Faaij, Andre

    2011-01-01

    Recently, the international trade of various bioenergy commodities has grown rapidly, yet this growth is also hampered by some barriers. The aim of this paper is to obtain an overview of what market actors currently perceive as major opportunities and barriers for the development of international bioenergy trade. The work focuses on three bioenergy commodities: bioethanol, biodiesel and wood pellets. Data were collected through an internet-based questionnaire. The majority of the 141 respondents had an industrial background. Geographically, two-thirds were from (mainly Western) Europe, with other minor contributions from all other continents. Results show that import tariffs and the implementation of sustainability certification systems are perceived as (potentially) major barriers for the trade of bioethanol and biodiesel, while logistics are seen mainly as an obstacle for wood pellets. Development of technical standards was deemed more as an opportunity than a barrier for all commodities. Most important drivers were high fossil fuel prices and climate change mitigation policies. Concluding, to overcome some of the barriers, specific actions will be required by market parties and policy makers. Import tariffs for biofuels could be reduced or abolished, linked to multinational trade agreements and harmonization (including provisions on technical standards and sustainability requirements). - Research highlights: → We analyze main barriers for global trade of wood pellets, ethanol and biodiesel. → Import tariffs can be a major barrier for liquid biofuels trade. → Implementation of sustainability certification systems may hamper biofuels trade. → Logistics are seen mainly as an obstacle for the trade of wood pellets. → Development of technical standards are deemed an opportunity for bioenergy trade.

  18. Opportunity to discuss ethical issues during clinical learning experience.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Palese, Alvisa; Gonella, Silvia; Destrebecq, Anne; Mansutti, Irene; Terzoni, Stefano; Morsanutto, Michela; Altini, Pietro; Bevilacqua, Anita; Brugnolli, Anna; Canzan, Federica; Ponte, Adriana Dal; De Biasio, Laura; Fascì, Adriana; Grosso, Silvia; Mantovan, Franco; Marognolli, Oliva; Nicotera, Raffaela; Randon, Giulia; Tollini, Morena; Saiani, Luisa; Grassetti, Luca; Dimonte, Valerio

    2018-01-01

    Undergraduate nursing students have been documented to experience ethical distress during their clinical training and felt poorly supported in discussing the ethical issues they encountered. Research aims: This study was aimed at exploring nursing students' perceived opportunity to discuss ethical issues that emerged during their clinical learning experience and associated factors. An Italian national cross-sectional study design was performed in 2015-2016. Participants were invited to answer a questionnaire composed of four sections regarding: (1) socio-demographic data, (2) previous clinical learning experiences, (3) current clinical learning experience quality and outcomes, and (4) the opportunity to discuss ethical issues with nurses in the last clinical learning experience (from 0 - 'never' to 3 - 'very much'). Participants and research context: Participants were 9607 undergraduate nursing students who were attending 95 different three-year Italian baccalaureate nursing programmes, located at 27 universities in 15 Italian regions. Ethical considerations: This study was conducted in accordance with the Human Subject Research Ethics Committee guidelines after the research protocol was approved by an ethics committee. Overall, 4707 (49%) perceived to have discussed ethical issues 'much' or 'very much'; among the remaining, 3683 (38.3%) and 1217 (12.7%) students reported the perception of having discussed, respectively, 'enough' or 'never' ethical issues emerged in the clinical practice. At the multivariate logistic regression analysis explaining 38.1% of the overall variance, the factors promoting ethical discussion were mainly set at the clinical learning environment levels (i.e. increased learning opportunities, self-directed learning, safety and nursing care quality, quality of the tutorial strategies, competences learned and supervision by a clinical nurse). In contrast, being male was associated with a perception of less opportunity to discuss ethical issues

  19. Activities and cooperation opportunities at Cekmece Nuclear Research and Training Center

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Can, S.

    2004-01-01

    Turkey's familiarization with nuclear energy began in July 1955, when it signed a bilateral agreement with the USA to cooperate in the 'peaceful uses of nuclear energy'. In 1956, the Turkish Atomic Energy Commission (TAEK) was created. Cekmece Nuclear Research and Training Center (CNAEM) was formally established in 1962. Turkey's first research reactor, a pool-type 1 MW reactor at CNAEM site, known as TR-1, went critical in 1962 and was shut down in September 1977. Strong collaborations with national and international organizations have been achieved for the promotion of the peaceful uses of nuclear energy and its applications in Turkey. Meanwhile the TR-2 reactor (5 MW) was commissioned in 1984 in order to meet the increasing demand of radioisotopes.CNAEM as a subsidiary of TAEK is charged to perform R and D activities on whole area of nuclear science and technology, such as research reactor, nuclear safety, nuclear fuel technology and fuel analysis codes, nuclear materials, NDT, nuclear electronics, accelerator, radiobiology, cytogenetics (bio dosimetry), radioecology, marine radioactivity, radiation safety, dosimetry, radioactive waste management, calibration of nuclear instruments, environmental monitoring. Possible cooperation fields between CNAEM and other institutions are as follows: measurements of radioactivity in the environment, radioecological studies of radioactivity levels in environmental samples, indoor radon measurements, development and production of radiopharmaceuticals, radiation cytogenetics (bio dosimetry), training in NDT, certification of industrial workers who use non-destructive testing devices, production of UO 2 and (U,Th)O 2 based fuel material, development and construction of radiation measurement instrument, analysis of all kind of uranium and thorium, training on processing and storage of low level radioactive waste

  20. Activities and cooperation opportunities at Cekmece nuclear research and training center

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Can, S.

    2004-01-01

    Full text: Turkey's familiarization with nuclear energy began in July 1955, when it signed a bilateral agreement with the USA to cooperate in the p eaceful uses of nuclear energy . In 1956, the Turkish Atomic Energy Commission (TAEK) was created. Cekmece Nuclear Research and Training Center (CNAEM) was formally established in 1962. Turkey's first research reactor, a pool-type 1 MW reactor at CNAEM site, known as TR-1, went critical in 1962 and was shut down in September 1977. Strong collaborations with national and international organizations have been achieved for the promotion of the peaceful uses of nuclear energy and its applications in Turkey. Meanwhile the TR-2 reactor (5 MW) was commissioned in 1984 in order to meet the increasing demand of radioisotopes.CNAEM as a subsidiary of TAEK is charged to perform R and D activities on whole area of nuclear science and technology, such as research reactor, nuclear safety, nuclear fuel technology and fuel analysis codes, nuclear materials, NDT, nuclear electronics, accelerator, radiobiology, cytogenetics (bio dosimetry), radioecology, marine radioactivity, radiation safety, dosimetry, radioactive waste management, calibration of nuclear instruments, environmental monitoring. Possible cooperation fields between CNAEM and other institutions are as follows: measurements of radioactivity in the environment, radioecological studies of radioactivity levels in environmental samples, indoor radon measurements, development and production of radiopharmaceuticals, radiation cytogenetics (bio dosimetry), training in NDT, certification of industrial workers who use non-destructive testing devices, production of UO 2 and (U,Th)O 2 based fuel material, development and construction of radiation measurement instrument, analysis of all kind of uranium and thorium, training on processing and storage of low level radioactive waste