End User Development Toolkit for Developing Physical User Interface Applications

OpenAIRE

Abrahamsen, Daniel T; Palfi, Anders; Svendsen, Haakon Sønsteby

2014-01-01

BACKGROUND: Tangible user interfaces and end user development are two increasingresearch areas in software technology. Physical representation promoteopportunities to ease the use of technology and reinforce personality traits ascreativeness, collaboration and intuitive actions. However, designing tangibleuser interfaces are both cumbersome and require several layers of architecture.End user development allows users with no programming experience to createor customize their own applications. ...

Users’ Encounter With Normative Discourses on Facebook: A Three-Pronged Analysis of User Agency as Power Structure, Nexus, and Reception

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

David Mathieu

2016-12-01

Full Text Available This study asks whether users’ encounter with normative discourses of lifestyle, consumption, and health on social media such as Facebook gives rise to agency. The theoretical framework draws on reception analysis, for its implied, but central interest in agency that lies at the intersection of texts and audiences. Based on a critique of the “participatory paradigm,” a paradigm that situates the locus of agency in the structural opposition between senders and users, in the norms of rational deliberation or in the figure of the activist, gaps are identified which can be filled by adopting an explicit focus on the socio-cultural practices of ordinary audiences in their encounters with media discourses. The study investigates user agency on seven Facebook groups and pages with the help of a three-pronged perspective based on the notion of the media–audience relationship as (1 power structure, (2 nexus, and (3 reception. The analysis reveals that the structure at play on these Facebook groups and pages does not encourage user agency. However, user agency manifests itself through user interactions and expressive sense-making processes associated with reception. The benefits of such audience agency are a public, collective, and communicative sense-making process and an expansion of the professionally controlled text.

Designing end-user interfaces

CERN Document Server

Heaton, N

1988-01-01

Designing End-User Interfaces: State of the Art Report focuses on the field of human/computer interaction (HCI) that reviews the design of end-user interfaces.This compilation is divided into two parts. Part I examines specific aspects of the problem in HCI that range from basic definitions of the problem, evaluation of how to look at the problem domain, and fundamental work aimed at introducing human factors into all aspects of the design cycle. Part II consists of six main topics-definition of the problem, psychological and social factors, principles of interface design, computer intelligenc

Interfaces for End-User Information Seeking.

Science.gov (United States)

Marchionini, Gary

1992-01-01

Discusses essential features of interfaces to support end-user information seeking. Highlights include cognitive engineering; task models and task analysis; the problem-solving nature of information seeking; examples of systems for end-users, including online public access catalogs (OPACs), hypertext, and help systems; and suggested research…

Empowering the end-user in smart grids: Recommendations for the design of products and services

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Geelen, Daphne; Reinders, Angèle; Keyson, David

2013-01-01

In discussions on smart grids, it is often stated that residential end-users will play a more active role in the management of electric power supply and demand. They are expected to shift from a passive role as consumer of electricity to an active role as co-provider. In this article, the extent to which current technologies, products and services empower end-users to take up an active role as co-providers is evaluated. Based on a review of literature and related pilot projects, current approaches were found to be driven by technical and financial considerations. There appears to be a lack of product and service design that supports end-users in their role as co-providers in a smart grid. This is reflected in the lack of thought given to how the end-users’ process of behavioral change can be supported to enable the transition from consumer to co-provider. Several recommendations are provided for product and service designers towards fostering the role of co-provider, which comes under under: (a) user interaction needs, (b) approaches to behavioral change and (c) community initiatives and management of resources. Designers are considered to play a bridging role between policy making and engineering, while facilitating involvement of end-users in the design process. - Highlights: • Overview of products and services for residential end-users in smart grids. • Evaluation of extent to which end-users are empowered to adopt a co-provider role. • Products and services often focus on technical functionality and financial incentives. • Behavioral aspects and social context would have to be taken into account more. • Design recommendations are proposed to empower end-users in becoming co-providers

A longitudinal study of the relationship between receptivity to e-cigarette advertisements and e-cigarette use among baseline non-users of cigarettes and e-cigarettes, United States.

Science.gov (United States)

Agaku, Israel T; Davis, Kevin; Patel, Deesha; Shafer, Paul; Cox, Shanna; Ridgeway, William; King, Brian A

2017-01-01

We investigated the relationship between receptivity to electronic cigarette (e-cigarette) advertisements at baseline and e-cigarette use at follow-up among adult baseline non-users of cigarettes and e-cigarettes. A nationally representative online panel was used to survey non-users of cigarettes and e-cigarettes ( n  = 2191) at baseline and 5-month follow-up. At baseline, respondents were shown an e-cigarette advertisement and asked if they were aware of it (exposure). Among those exposed, receptivity was self-rated for each ad using a validated scale of 1 to 5 for agreement with each of six items: "worth remembering," "grabbed my attention," "powerful," "informative," "meaningful," and "convincing." Logistic regression was used to measure the relationship between receptivity at baseline and e-cigarette use at follow-up. Among baseline non-users of cigarettes and e-cigarettes, 16.6% reported exposure to e-cigarette advertisements at baseline; overall mean receptivity score was 2.77. Among baseline non-users who reported exposure to e-cigarette advertisements, incidence of e-cigarette use at follow-up was 2.7%; among baseline non-users who reported not being exposed to e-cigarette advertisements, incidence of e-cigarette use at follow-up was 1.3%. The attributable risk percentage for e-cigarette initiation from e-cigarette advertisement exposure was 59.3%; the population attributable risk percentage from e-cigarette advertisement exposure was 22.6%. Receptivity at baseline was associated with e-cigarette use at follow-up (aOR = 1.57; 95% CI = 1.04-2.37). Receptivity to e-cigarette advertisements at baseline was associated with greater odds of e-cigarette use at follow-up among baseline non-users of cigarettes and e-cigarettes. Understanding the role of advertising in e-cigarette initiation could help inform public health policy.

End-User Development of Visualizations

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Lauesen, Søren; Pantazos, Kostas

2016-01-01

view. With uVis, developers construct a visualization from simple visual components such as boxes, curvePoints, and textboxes. All component properties such as Top and BackColor can be complex formulas similar to spreadsheet formulas. The operands in the formula can address relational data......In this article the authors investigated a visualization tool (uVis) for end-user developers, in order to see how end users actually use it. The tool was an early version and the investigation helped the authors to improve it. The investigation showed that users appreciated the simple formula...... language, the coordinated panels, and the drag-and-drop mechanism. However, the most important thing for them was the immediate response when they changed something, for instance part of a formula. The entire visualization was updated immediately without having to switch from development view to production...

End-User Driven Business Process Composition

OpenAIRE

Stoitsev, Todor

2009-01-01

Business Process Management (BPM) solutions enable enterprises to consolidate and optimize their business operations and to gain competitive advantage in the fast evolving global market. Often, the only ones to understand the matter and complexity of business processes are the end users of enterprise software, who execute them on a daily basis. The need to involve end users in business process composition during the implementation of BPM solutions in enterprises is clearly perceived. However,...

End-user centeredness in antiretroviral therapy services in Nigerian ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Objective: To describe the perception of end users with regard to end-user centeredness in antiretroviral therapy (ART) service provision in Nigerian public health facilities. Design: A qualitative design was followed. Subjects and setting: Unstructured focus group discussions were conducted with end users (n = 64) in six ...

How to engage end-users in smart energy behaviour?

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Valkering Pieter

2014-01-01

Full Text Available End users will play a crucial role in up-coming smart grids that aim to link end-users and energy providers in a better balanced and more efficient electricity system. Within this context, this paper aims to deliver a coherent view on current good practice in end-user engagement in smart grid projects. It draws from a recent review of theoretical insights from sustainable consumption behaviour, social marketing and innovation systems and empirical insights from recent smart grid projects to create an inventory of common motivators, enablers and barriers of behavioural change, and the end-user engagement principles that can be derived from that. We conclude with identifying current research challenges as input for a research agenda on end-user engagement in smart grids.

Frame conditions for a well-functioning end user market

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Livik, Klaus

1997-10-01

The aim of this report is to describe and define different frame conditions being necessary for the development of a well-functioning end user market. The report describes the sharing of roles between end users, grid owners, suppliers, system operators and market operators in the power market, and it points out how the interplay between these roles should be arranged. A particular attention is laid on how to involve the end user relations into the five different market roles during the development of a more active end user market. Products and eventual potentials are described and discussed being based on estimates as well as load measurements. 17 figs., 4 tabs

User Requirements & Demand for Services and Applications in PNs

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Jiang, Bo

This paper focuses on the methodology for analyses of user requirements and demand for specific services and applications in relation to personal networks (PNs). The paper has a strong user-centric approach to service and application development based on the widely accepted fact that future servi...... demand for services and applications in a PN setting. This further includes discussion of service categorization, service description and human-value issues as personalization, security and privacy, billing and price and human-computer interaction paradigms....

A Systematic Review of End-users Within Sustainable Innovation

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Roed Nielsen, Kristian; Reisch, Lucia A.; Bogers, Marcel

with the advent Web 2.0, the continuously decreasing cost of communication, and the rise of multiple types of freeware has the knowledge and toolsets available for end-user innovation increased dramatically. With the rise of 3D-printing (and other open workshops), digital end-user generated content is also......Sustainable innovation is typically seen as within the purview of the producer with consumers (apart from offering critical input) only playing a peripheral role in the development of product(s) and service(s). Hence one could argue that end-users are dominantly perceived as passive adopters...... of sustainable products and services developed by firms and thus attention is typically paid to the (non-) diffusion of sustainable products and services. The literature on user innovation, however, sharply contrasts with this view denoting that end-users play key and growing role within innovation. Especially...

VMTL: a language for end-user model transformation

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Acretoaie, Vlad; Störrle, Harald; Strüber, Daniel

2016-01-01

, these languages are largely ill-equipped for adoption by end-user modelers in areas such as requirements engineering, business process management, or enterprise architecture. We aim to introduce a model transformation language addressing the skills and requirements of end-user modelers. With this contribution, we......Model transformation is a key enabling technology of Model-Driven Engineering (MDE). Existing model transformation languages are shaped by and for MDE practitioners—a user group with needs and capabilities which are not necessarily characteristic of modelers in general. Consequently...... hope to broaden the application scope of model transformation and MDE technology in general. We discuss the profile of end-user modelers and propose a set of design guidelines for model transformation languages addressing them. We then introduce Visual Model Transformation Language (VMTL) following...

Molecular tracking of Salmonella spp. in chicken meat chain: from slaughterhouse reception to end cuts

OpenAIRE

Dias, Mariane Rezende; Cavicchioli, Valéria Quintana; Camargo, Anderson Carlos; Lanna, Frederico Germano Piscitelli Alvarenga; Pinto, Paulo Sérgio de Arruda; Bersot, Luciano dos Santos; Nero, Luís Augusto

2015-01-01

Due to the importance of Salmonella spp. in poultry products, this study aimed to track its main contamination routes since slaughtering reception to processing of chicken end cuts. Samples from different steps of slaughtering and processing (n = 277) were collected from two chicken slaughterhouses (Sl1 and Sl2) located in Minas Gerais state, Brazil, and subjected to Salmonella spp. detection. The obtained isolates were subjected to serological identification and tested by PCR for specific Sa...

Managing the Risks Associated with End-User Computing.

Science.gov (United States)

Alavi, Maryam; Weiss, Ira R.

1986-01-01

Identifies organizational risks of end-user computing (EUC) associated with different stages of the end-user applications life cycle (analysis, design, implementation). Generic controls are identified that address each of the risks enumerated in a manner that allows EUC management to select those most appropriate to their EUC environment. (5…

Price-elastic demand in deregulated electricity markets

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Siddiqui, Afzal S.

2003-05-01

The degree to which any deregulated market functions efficiently often depends on the ability of market agents to respond quickly to fluctuating conditions. Many restructured electricity markets, however, experience high prices caused by supply shortages and little demand-side response. We examine the implications for market operations when a risk-averse retailer's end-use consumers are allowed to perceive real-time variations in the electricity spot price. Using a market-equilibrium model, we find that price elasticity both increases the retailers revenue risk exposure and decreases the spot price. Since the latter induces the retailer to reduce forward electricity purchases, while the former has the opposite effect, the overall impact of price responsive demand on the relative magnitudes of its risk exposure and end-user price elasticity. Nevertheless, price elasticity decreases cumulative electricity consumption. By extending the analysis to allow for early settlement of demand, we find that forward stage end-user price responsiveness decreases the electricity forward price relative to the case with price-elastic demand only in real time. Moreover, we find that only if forward stage end-user demand is price elastic will the equilibrium electricity forward price be reduced.

Standardizing information exchange towards the end user. Present data models with two way communication over the Internet

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Saele, Hanne; Graabak, Ingeborg; Tangen, Grethe

2000-01-01

The two-way communication towards the end consumer is in little use so far. There are probably several reasons for this but one important reason may be the lack of standardized interfaces for the information exchange towards the end user. The lack of such standards results in substantial system investment risks for the network companies because the systems may not be developed further and maintained should the deliverer leave the market. The communication channel Internet has expanded quickly and in Norway of today (1999) 25 to 30 % of the households have an Internet connection. The use of existing infrastructure and already tried out technology for information transferrals may contribute to making two-way communication more reasonable and functional. In the report various alternatives of standardized information exchange towards the end users are evaluated. Various formats are discussed with the following demands in mind: 1) Shall be suited for all types of communication media. 2) An international standard followed by everyone. 3) Reliable information transferral and flexible. The focus is on what kind of information is being transferred and how this is organized, and not on how the information is transferred. The discussed alternatives are evaluated both regarding traditional solutions for two- way communication and the use of the Internet. The following format alternatives are discussed: EDIEL/EDIFACT, ODEL(GS2), LonWorks/Echelon, UCA, DLMS/COSEM, COBRA and DCOM. The formats represent communication at various levels but they are mentioned in the report because they are often mentioned as possible standard formats towards the end user: ODEL, DLSM/COSEM and UCA. EDIEL is not suited for this interface. The market for two-way communication systems is international and it does not seem to be practical to establish a joint Norwegian/Swedish standard. The work with establishing one standard should therefore be continued through international standardization

End-User Applications of Real-Time Earthquake Information in Europe

Science.gov (United States)

Cua, G. B.; Gasparini, P.; Giardini, D.; Zschau, J.; Filangieri, A. R.; Reakt Wp7 Team

2011-12-01

The primary objective of European FP7 project REAKT (Strategies and Tools for Real-Time Earthquake Risk Reduction) is to improve the efficiency of real-time earthquake risk mitigation methods and their capability of protecting structures, infrastructures, and populations. REAKT aims to address the issues of real-time earthquake hazard and response from end-to-end, with efforts directed along the full spectrum of methodology development in earthquake forecasting, earthquake early warning, and real-time vulnerability systems, through optimal decision-making, and engagement and cooperation of scientists and end users for the establishment of best practices for use of real-time information. Twelve strategic test cases/end users throughout Europe have been selected. This diverse group of applications/end users includes civil protection authorities, railway systems, hospitals, schools, industrial complexes, nuclear plants, lifeline systems, national seismic networks, and critical structures. The scale of target applications covers a wide range, from two school complexes in Naples, to individual critical structures, such as the Rion Antirion bridge in Patras, and the Fatih Sultan Mehmet bridge in Istanbul, to large complexes, such as the SINES industrial complex in Portugal and the Thessaloniki port area, to distributed lifeline and transportation networks and nuclear plants. Some end-users are interested in in-depth feasibility studies for use of real-time information and development of rapid response plans, while others intend to install real-time instrumentation and develop customized automated control systems. From the onset, REAKT scientists and end-users will work together on concept development and initial implementation efforts using the data products and decision-making methodologies developed with the goal of improving end-user risk mitigation. The aim of this scientific/end-user partnership is to ensure that scientific efforts are applicable to operational

Active Involvement of End Users When Developing Web-Based Mental Health Interventions

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Derek de Beurs

2017-05-01

Full Text Available BackgroundAlthough many web-based mental health interventions are being released, the actual uptake by end users is limited. The marginal level of engagement of end users when developing these interventions is recognized as an important cause for uptake problems. In this paper, we offer our perceptive on how to improve user engagement. By doing so, we aim to stimulate a discourse on user involvement within the field of online mental health interventions.MethodsWe shortly describe three different methods (the expert-driven method, intervention mapping, and scrum that were currently used to develop web-based health interventions. We will focus to what extent the end user was involved in the developmental phase, and what the additional challenges were. In the final paragraph, lessons learned are summarized, and recommendations provided.ResultsEvery method seems to have its trade-off: if end users are highly involved, availability of end users and means become problematic. If end users are less actively involved, the product may be less appropriate for the end user. Other challenges to consider are the funding of the more active role of technological companies, and the time it takes to process the results of shorter development cycles.ConclusionThinking about user-centered design and carefully planning, the involvement of end users should become standard in the field of web-based (mental health. When deciding on the level of user involvement, one should balance the need for input from users with the availability of resources such as time and funding.

ERP ASSIMILATION: AN END-USER APPROACH

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Hurbean Luminita

2013-07-01

The paper discusses the ERP adoption based on the IT assimilation theory. The ERP lifecycle is associated with the IT assimilation steps. We propose a distribution of these steps along the lifecycle. Derived from the findings in the reviewed literature we will focus the cultural factors, in particular those related to the end-users (determined as a major impact factor in our previous study: Negovan et al., 2011. Our empirical study is centred on the end-users perspective and it tries to determine if and how their behaviour affects the achievement of the ERP assimilation steps. The paper reasons that organizations that understand the IT assimilation steps correlated to the ERP implementation critical factors are more likely to implement and use ERP successfully.

Social acceptance of solar energy technologies in China-End users' perspective

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Yuan Xueliang; Zuo Jian; Ma Chunyuan

2011-01-01

Energy is essential to human beings. The increasing demand of energy has triggered the public scrutiny on the sustainability issues associated with the energy production and transmission. There have been a large number of studies focusing on reducing the environmental impacts associated with the energy sector. Renewable energy sources such as solar energy have been prompted to mitigate these environmental impacts. This research adopted a quantitative approach to investigate the social acceptance of solar energy technologies from end users' perspective in Shandong province, China. A large scale questionnaire survey was conducted. The results show that there is a considerable high level of social acceptance and public awareness of solar water heater. However, another major application of solar energy, solar PV has not gained a high level of social acceptance or public awareness in Shandong. This study provides useful references for policy makers to further promote the utilization of solar energy innovations. - Research Highlights: → Social acceptance of solar energy technologies from end users' perspective is investigated by a large scale questionnaire survey. → Higher level of social acceptance and public awareness of solar water heater than solar PV. → Impact factors for social acceptance of solar energy technologies are analyzed.

Online Help to End-Users in a Networked Environment.

Science.gov (United States)

Meyer, Paul

1991-01-01

Discusses the need for online help for end-users based on experiences with an online public access catalog (OPAC) at the University of Cape Town libraries. The concept of end users is examined, the role of search intermediaries in information systems is explained, and online help and systems design is discussed. (LRW)

Reception of nutrition information by adult and older adult users of Primary Healthcare: Occurrence, associated factors, and sources of information

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ivana Loraine LINDEMANN

Full Text Available ABSTRACT Objective: To investigate reception of nutrition information (outcome, associated factors, and types of sources. Methods: This cross-sectional study, conducted in 2013, included 1,246 adult and older adult users of the Primary Healthcare network of Pelotas, Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil. The sample was characterized by reception of nutrition information, its sources, and demographic, socioeconomic, health, knowledge, and life habit variables. Prevalence ratios and their respective 95% confidence intervals investigated associations between reception of nutrition information and independent variables. Results: More than one-third of the sample (37.6% received nutrition information (95%CI=34.9-40.3. Older adults, individuals with positive self-perceived diet, those who received health information, and those who were physically active were more likely to receive nutrition information, and normal weight individuals were less likely. The outcome differed by income strata, being highest in the highest quintile. There was a linear trend for education level and for following the Ten Steps to Healthy Eating: the outcome was more likely in individuals with at least higher education and those who followed at least four steps. The most cited sources of nutrition information were television shows (56.2%, other (46.2%, physician (41.2%, Internet (25.1%, and family members (20.9%, which did not differ by sex. Conclusion: Primary healthcare users received little nutrition information, and television could be a useful tool for the institutions responsible for the sector to disseminate the official nutritional recommendations.

End-User Evaluations of Semantic Web Technologies

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

McCool, Rob; Cowell, Andrew J.; Thurman, David A.

2005-11-07

Stanford University's Knowledge Systems Laboratory (KSL) is working in partnership with Battelle Memorial Institute and IBM Watson Research Center to develop a suite of technologies for information extraction, knowledge representation & reasoning, and human-information interaction, in unison entitled 'Knowledge Associates for Novel Intelligence' (KANI). We have developed an integrated analytic environment composed of a collection of analyst associates, software components that aid the user at different stages of the information analysis process. An important part of our participatory design process has been to ensure our technologies and designs are tightly integrate with the needs and requirements of our end users, To this end, we perform a sequence of evaluations towards the end of the development process that ensure the technologies are both functional and usable. This paper reports on that process.

Empowering the end-user in smart grids: Overview of and recommendations for the design or products and services

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Geelen, Daphne; Reinders, Angelina H.M.E.; Keyson, David

2013-01-01

In discussions on smart grids, it is often stated that residential end-users will play a more active role in the management of electric power supply and demand. They are expected to shift from a passive role as consumer of electricity to an active role as co-provider. In this article, the extent to

Empowering end-users in the energy transition : An exploration of products and services to support changes in household energy management

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Geelen, D.V.

2014-01-01

Current discourse on smart grid deployment expects residential end users to play a more active role as co-providers in the electric power system. Their electricity consumption and production is considered a resource for balancing supply and demand in an electric power system with distributed

Service on demand for ISS users

Science.gov (United States)

Hüser, Detlev; Berg, Marco; Körtge, Nicole; Mildner, Wolfgang; Salmen, Frank; Strauch, Karsten

2002-07-01

Since the ISS started its operational phase, the need of logistics scenarios and solutions, supporting the utilisation of the station and its facilities, becomes increasingly important. Our contribution to this challenge is a SERVICE On DEMAND for ISS users, which offers a business friendly engineering and logistics support for the resupply of the station. Especially the utilisation by commercial and industrial users is supported and simplified by this service. Our industrial team, consisting of OHB-System and BEOS, provides experience and development support for space dedicated hard- and software elements, their transportation and operation. Furthermore, we operate as the interface between customer and the envisaged space authorities. Due to a variety of tailored service elements and the ongoing servicing, customers can concentrate on their payload content or mission objectives and don't have to deal with space-specific techniques and regulations. The SERVICE On DEMAND includes the following elements: ITR is our in-orbit platform service. ITR is a transport rack, used in the SPACEHAB logistics double module, for active and passive payloads on subrack- and drawer level of different standards. Due to its unique late access and early retrieval capability, ITR increases the flexibility concerning transport capabilities to and from the ISS. RIST is our multi-functional test facility for ISPR-based experiment drawer and locker payloads. The test program concentrates on physical and functional interface and performance testing at the payload developers site prior to the shipment to the integration and launch. The RIST service program comprises consulting, planning and engineering as well. The RIST test suitcase is planned to be available for lease or rent to users, too. AMTSS is an advanced multimedia terminal consulting service for communication with the space station scientific facilities, as part of the user home-base. This unique ISS multimedia kit combines

Where to place the saving obligation: Energy end-users or suppliers?

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bertoldi, Paolo; Labanca, Nicola; Rezessy, Silvia; Steuwer, Sibyl; Oikonomou, Vlasis

2013-01-01

Obligations to save energy differentiate, among other features, by obliged parties. These are obligations on energy suppliers and energy end-users. Supplier obligations have been introduced in North America, Europe and Australia. Under supplier obligations energy suppliers have to comply with mandatory energy saving targets and thus they implement (directly or via third parties) energy efficiency projects on their clients’ premises, or they decide to trade certified project savings if this option is envisaged by their obligation scheme. In several emerging schemes such as the UK Carbon Reduction Commitment (CRC) Energy Efficiency Scheme, the Tokyo Emission Trading Scheme or the Perform Achieve and Trade (PAT) Scheme in India, the obligation to reduce energy consumption is placed on large end-users directly and end-users are allowed to trade emissions allowances or energy saving certificates. The paper starts with presenting these two conceptually different ways for introducing energy saving obligations. Then it analyses advantages and disadvantages of end-users obligations compared to suppliers obligations. The preliminary conclusion of the paper is that supplier obligations seem to be well-suited for the residential sector, but end-user saving obligations may offer advantages when it comes to the industrial and commercial sectors. - Highlights: • We present different ways for introducing energy saving obligations. • We analyse energy end-users obligations vs. supplier obligations. • Supplier obligations seem to be well-suited for the residential sector. • End-user obligations offer advantages in the industrial and commercial sectors

Traffic Management of Video on Demand: An Analysis of Investments for Improving the End User’s Quality of Experience

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Francesca Di Pillo

2016-05-01

Full Text Available The current escalation in user demand for web contents, particularly Video on Demand (VoD, is causing a continu‐ ing increase in both the types of web traffic and the volumes of data transmitted. The greater demand arises from the new means of communication employed by individuals and companies, as well as the development of readily usable applications distributed by ‘app stores’. In this paper, we suggest that the stakeholders of a VoD frame‐ work, the Content Providers (CPs and the Internet Service Providers (telcos/ISPs, should guarantee a solid Quality of Experience (QoE to the end user through two potential investments: either in ultra-broadband (UBB or in the technologies for the acceleration of web content, known as the Content Delivery Network (CDN and Transparent Internet Caching (TIC. The aim of the paper is to analyse these investments in terms of providers' profits. The base hypothesis is that the investments are subsidized by the CPs, which, in recent years, have indeed been directing a large part of their revenues towards investments in network infrastructure.

Integration of End-User Cloud Storage for CMS Analysis

CERN Document Server

Riahi, Hassen; Álvarez Ayllón, Alejandro; Balcas, Justas; Ciangottini, Diego; Hernández, José M; Keeble, Oliver; Magini, Nicolò; Manzi, Andrea; Mascetti, Luca; Mascheroni, Marco; Tanasijczuk, Andres Jorge; Vaandering, Eric Wayne

2018-01-01

End-user Cloud storage is increasing rapidly in popularity in research communities thanks to the collaboration capabilities it offers, namely synchronisation and sharing. CERN IT has implemented a model of such storage named, CERNBox, integrated with the CERN AuthN and AuthZ services. To exploit the use of the end-user Cloud storage for the distributed data analysis activity, the CMS experiment has started the integration of CERNBox as a Grid resource. This will allow CMS users to make use of their own storage in the Cloud for their analysis activities as well as to benefit from synchronisation and sharing capabilities to achieve results faster and more effectively. It will provide an integration model of Cloud storages in the Grid, which is implemented and commissioned over the world’s largest computing Grid infrastructure, Worldwide LHC Computing Grid (WLCG). In this paper, we present the integration strategy and infrastructure changes needed in order to transparently integrate end-user Cloud storage with...

Flexibility and adaptability - key elements of end-user participation in living space designing

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jakšić Željko

2017-01-01

Full Text Available An end-user has the main role in the creation of space where spends most of its lifetime (home, workplace. That is why important that a designer (he first recognizes what requests of the end-user are. In the reference literature and researches that deal with the spatial organisations and designing of living area, the role of an end-user is essential. However, what does the end user participation mean, actually? At what level an end-user makes a final decision? Is it a choice among several alternative solutions provided by an architect or end-user himself? This article precisely deals with that subject - where begins and where ends participation of the end-user when the theme is the final spatial solution and under what circumstances. In this case, habitation represents the much more sensitive area than any other area for human needs or activities. In technical terms, an end-user could be someone who either knows nothing or knows a lot but not enough about both the spatial and functional organisations. His role should be reduced to choice of one from the group of high-quality solutions and, in a technical sense, logical solutions made by an expert. No more than that.

User friendly far front ends

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Zagel, J.R.; Chapman, L.J.

1987-10-01

For years controls group hardware designers have designed microprocessor systems to accomplish specific functions such as refrigeration control. These systems often require years of software effort. The backlog of requests for even simple additions or modifications to software in embedded controllers has become overwhelming. We discuss the requirements of ''far forward'' controllers. Can we build a system that is modular enough to be configurable for specific applications without sacrificing performance? The hardware and software framework must be complete enough to isolate the end user from the peculiarities of bit and byte manipulation, but still allow system specifics to be implanted by the user. It is time to provide embedded controller systems as easy to use as workstation consoles

Analysis of a DSM program using an end use model; End use model wo mochiita DSM program no bunseki

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Asano, H.; Takahashi, M.; Okada, K. [Central Research Institute of Electric Power Industry, Tokyo (Japan)

1997-01-30

An end use model used in the United States who is advanced in demand-side management (DSM) was used to discuss possibilities of designing and evaluating Japan`s future DSM measures. The end use model assumes energy demand based on such factors as device characteristics, meteorological data, energy prices, user characteristics, market characteristics and DSM measures. The model calculates energy demand amount by end uses basically by multiplying assumptions on device unit requirement, device retention rate, and number of users. A representative tool as an end use model that handles load shapes is the hourly electric load model (HELM). It assumes an annual load curve and predicts a maximum system load. The present discussions have performed estimation on demand for consumer use air conditioners in a day in which a maximum summer load occurs in a reference year, estimation on load in a maximum load day in an estimated year, and estimation on weather sensitivity of loads. 5 refs., 5 figs.

Government policy on privatization of power in Nigeria: end-users ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Since the privatization of the power sector in Nigeria in 1999, the cost impact to end-users have not received adequate empirical evaluation. Using data from consumers of privatized electricity power in Enugu State, this paper sought to evaluate the significant effect of privatization on end-users of electricity product.

Natural contextual reasoning for end users

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Metaxas, G.; Markopoulos, P.

2017-01-01

The realization and deployment of the Internet of Things require providing to non-programmers some level of programmatic control for tailoring system behaviour to their context and needs. We introduce a simple context-range semantics (CRS) and a context-range editor (CoRE) that support end users

7 CFR 782.21 - End-user and exporter records and reports.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-01-01

... and exporter records and reports. (a) The end user or exporter shall retain a copy of each form FSA...). (b) The end user or exporter shall retain a copy of each form FSA-750, End-Use Certificate for Wheat... time as the wheat was loaded onto a conveyance for delivery to the foreign country or instrumentality...

Support for Quality Assurance in End-User Systems.

Science.gov (United States)

Klepper, Robert; McKenna, Edward G.

1989-01-01

Suggests an approach that organizations can take to provide centralized support services for quality assurance in end-user information systems, based on the experiences of a support group at Citicorp Mortgage, Inc. The functions of the support group include user education, software selection, and assistance in testing, implementation, and support…

The Effects of Normalisation of the Satisfaction of Novice End-User Querying Databases

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Conrad Benedict

1997-05-01

Full Text Available This paper reports the results of an experiment that investigated the effects different structural characteristics of relational databases have on information satisfaction of end-users querying databases. The results show that unnormalised tables adversely affect end-user satisfaction. The adverse affect on end-user satisfaction is attributable primarily to the use of non atomic data. In this study, the affect on end user satisfaction of repeating fields was not significant. The study contributes to the further development of theories of individual adjustment to information technology in the workplace by alerting organisations and, in particular, database designers to the ways in which the structural characteristics of relational databases may affect end-user satisfaction. More importantly, the results suggest that database designers need to clearly identify the domains for each item appearing in their databases. These issues are of increasing importance because of the growth in the amount of data available to end-users in relational databases.

An End User Development Approach for Mobile Web Augmentation

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Gabriela Bosetti

2017-01-01

Full Text Available The trend towards mobile devices usage has made it possible for the Web to be conceived not only as an information space but also as a ubiquitous platform where users perform all kinds of tasks. In some cases, users access the Web with native mobile applications developed for well-known sites, such as, LinkedIn, Facebook, and Twitter. These native applications might offer further (e.g., location-based functionalities to their users in comparison with their corresponding Web sites because they were developed with mobile features in mind. However, many Web applications have no native counterpart and users access them using a mobile Web browser. Although the access to context information is not a complex issue nowadays, not all Web applications adapt themselves according to it or diversely improve the user experience by listening to a wide range of sensors. At some point, users might want to add mobile features to these Web sites, even if those features were not originally supported. In this paper, we present a novel approach to allow end users to augment their preferred Web sites with mobile features. We support our claims by presenting a framework for mobile Web augmentation, an authoring tool, and an evaluation with 21 end users.

Using rapid prototyping to design a smoking cessation website with end-users

OpenAIRE

Ronquillo, C. E.; Currie, L.; Rowsell, D.; Phillips, J. C.

2016-01-01

Rapid prototyping is an iterative approach to design involving cycles of prototype building, review by end-users, and refinement, and can be a valuable tool in user-centered website design. Informed by various user-centered approaches, we used rapid prototyping as a tool to collaborate with users in building a peer-support focused smoking-cessation website for gay men living with HIV. Rapid prototyping was effective in eliciting feedback on the needs of this group of potential end-users\\ud fr...

Engaging With Colonial Archives: Reflections Of An End-User

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ayodeji Olukoju

2016-06-01

Full Text Available Official and/or public archives were a byproduct of colonial rule in Africa. (Archives are a byproduct of administrative governance everywhere. Given the density and diversity of colonial archival records, historians have tended to rely on them for the study of the colonial period. Publications on the use of archives have not captured the perspective of end-users, who often face peculiar challenges in the use of colonial and metropolitan archives. This paper provides an end-user perspective on colonial archives in Nigeria and the United Kingdom. It highlights the challenges of data collection and prospects of optimal use of archival source material. The discussion is of general application to users of colonial archives especially in the former British colonies in Africa.

FaceMashup: An End-User Development Tool for Social Network Data

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Daniele Massa

2016-03-01

Full Text Available Every day, each active social network user produces and shares texts, images and videos. While developers can access such data through application programming interfaces (APIs for creating games, visualizations and routines, end users have less control on such information. Their access is mediated by the social application features, which limits them in combining sources, filtering results and performing actions on groups of elements. In order to fill this gap, we introduce FaceMashup, an end user development (EUD environment supporting the manipulation of the Facebook graph. We describe the tool interface, documenting the choices we made during the design iterations. Data types are represented through widgets containing user interface (UI elements similar to those used in the social network application. Widgets can be connected with each other with the drag and drop of their inner fields, and the application updates their content. Finally, we report the results of a user-test on the FaceMashup prototype, which shows a good acceptance of the environment by end-users.

Visual Alphabets: Video classification by end users

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Israël, Menno; van den Broek, Egon; van der Putten, Peter; den Uyl, Marten J.; Petrushin, Valery A.; Khan, Latifur

2007-01-01

The work presented here introduces a real-time automatic scene classifier within content-based video retrieval. In our envisioned approach end users like documentalists, not image processing experts, build classifiers interactively, by simply indicating positive examples of a scene. Classification

Using Rapid Prototyping to Design a Smoking Cessation Website with End-Users.

Science.gov (United States)

Ronquillo, Charlene; Currie, Leanne; Rowsell, Derek; Phillips, J Craig

2016-01-01

Rapid prototyping is an iterative approach to design involving cycles of prototype building, review by end-users and refinement, and can be a valuable tool in user-centered website design. Informed by various user-centered approaches, we used rapid prototyping as a tool to collaborate with users in building a peer-support focused smoking-cessation website for gay men living with HIV. Rapid prototyping was effective in eliciting feedback on the needs of this group of potential end-users from a smoking cessation website.

Developing Reception Competence in Children with a Mild Intellectual Disability

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ana Koritnik

2015-06-01

Full Text Available The paper presents research paradigms which study factors that allow influencing the language development of children with mild intellectual disabilities to the greatest extent possible. Special attention is dedicated to the development of the reception competence with the use of reception didactics methods based on a relatively frequent use of less demanding non-language semiotic functions. The core of the paper presents results of an experimental case study (on a sample of five children with a mild intellectual disability over a one school year period, through which the reception competence in these children was developed with a systematic use of an adapted communication model of literary education as an experimental factor. The results have confirmed the initially set hypothesis about reception progress.

Training leads to increased auditory brain-computer interface performance of end-users with motor impairments.

Science.gov (United States)

Halder, S; Käthner, I; Kübler, A

2016-02-01

Auditory brain-computer interfaces are an assistive technology that can restore communication for motor impaired end-users. Such non-visual brain-computer interface paradigms are of particular importance for end-users that may lose or have lost gaze control. We attempted to show that motor impaired end-users can learn to control an auditory speller on the basis of event-related potentials. Five end-users with motor impairments, two of whom with additional visual impairments, participated in five sessions. We applied a newly developed auditory brain-computer interface paradigm with natural sounds and directional cues. Three of five end-users learned to select symbols using this method. Averaged over all five end-users the information transfer rate increased by more than 1800% from the first session (0.17 bits/min) to the last session (3.08 bits/min). The two best end-users achieved information transfer rates of 5.78 bits/min and accuracies of 92%. Our results show that an auditory BCI with a combination of natural sounds and directional cues, can be controlled by end-users with motor impairment. Training improves the performance of end-users to the level of healthy controls. To our knowledge, this is the first time end-users with motor impairments controlled an auditory brain-computer interface speller with such high accuracy and information transfer rates. Further, our results demonstrate that operating a BCI with event-related potentials benefits from training and specifically end-users may require more than one session to develop their full potential. Copyright © 2015 International Federation of Clinical Neurophysiology. Published by Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

End user orientation of TC projects. Special evaluation review

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

1996-12-01

The present review of the end use orientation of TC projects was undertaken as requested by the TC Department to identify: (a) end users and beneficiaries beyond the boundaries of the counterpart laboratories, as appropriate; (b) means provided or planned to reach the end users and beneficiaries; (c) performance indicators in quantifiable terms, including those related to the counterpart activities that could be foreseen during and after completion of Agency assistance; and (d) recommendations of additional means, if necessary, to reach the end users and beneficiaries. A total of 13 TC projects with large budgets of around $200,000 and above were selected from those first approved under the 1995-1996 biennial programme and supported under the TCF, representing diverse fields of Agency activities and covering all the geographical areas of the Agency's technical co-operation. The projects thus selected were one each from Argentina, Bolivia, Bulgaria, Chile, Colombia, Egypt, Ethiopia, Jordan, Mexico, Mongolia, Slovenia, Turkey and Viet-Nam. The overall budget of the 13 projects as originally approved for 1995 to 1998, amounted to $5,510,980. The current budget as of 8 November 1996 stands at $5,446,719, representing a decrease of more than one percent. Figs, tabs

Influence of network demands on power plant operation

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Spalthoff, F.J.

1974-01-01

The demands which are made by the user on an energy generation system are investigated and thoughts on the provision of the energy needed as well as procuring the supply are put forward. The consequences these user demands upon generating units in power plants have and the technical possibilities to meet these requirements are explained. The study ends with prospects of feasible developments through modern information systems. (orig./RW) [de

Invocation Receptivity in Female of Rabbit

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Martin Fik

2017-05-01

Full Text Available The target of this work was verified effect of transport females in the car for advance state of receptivity in young females broiler rabbits. We used nulliparous females of broiler hybrid HYCOLE (age 4-5 months, weight 3.5-3.8 kg. Experiment was realizated twice. First in half of November (31 females, second in half of February (32 females. Females was layed individually in boxes. After they were transported by car 1 hour (50 km. Before and after experiment we detected state of receptivity in females with coloration of vulva. The state of receptivity was determited from 1 for 4 colour of vulva. ( 1 – anemic coloration of vulva, 2- pink, 3 – red, 4- violet. We detected positive state of transport, on the receptivity. In November before transport was average of receptivity 1.87, after transport 2.25. The state of receptivity will be improve in 12 females (38.71 %. Improve from 1 to 2 was detected in 4 females, from 2 to 3 in 8 females. Improved from 2 to 4 , or from 3 to 4 wasn´t noticed in this group. The state of receptivity wasn´t changed in 19 females (61.29 %. In the state of receptivity 1 stayed 2 females, in the state 2 stayed 15 females, in the state 3 stayed 2 females and in the state 4 wasn´t any female. In February after the end of experiment, state of receptivity was improved with transport in the car from 2.19 to 2.65. The state of receptivity was improved in 13 females  (40.63 %.  Improve from 1 to 2 we detected in 1 female, from 2 to 3 we detected in 8 females, from 2 to 4 we detected in 2 females, from 3 to 4 in 2 females. In 19 females (59.38% we don´t noticed change state of receptivity. In the state of receptivity 1 were 2 females, in 2 were 11 females, in 3 were 5 females, in 4 was 1 female.

The representation of healthcare end users' perspectives by surrogates in healthcare decisions: a literature review.

Science.gov (United States)

Shah, Syed Ghulam Sarwar; Farrow, Alexandra; Robinson, Ian

2009-12-01

The representation of end users' perspectives in healthcare decisions requires involvement of their surrogates when the end users, i.e. certain patients, elderly people, children and people with disabilities, are unable to present their views. To review critical issues, and the advantages and disadvantages of involving surrogates in representing end users' perspectives in healthcare decisions. A systematic review of literature published in peer-reviewed journals from 1990 to 2005. Findings show that surrogates are used widely in health care and that they are necessary to represent end users' perspectives in healthcare decisions when the latter are unable to do so themselves. Critical issues in using surrogates include key ethical, social, cultural, legal and medico-technological factors; ascertaining the best interest of end users; potential conflict of interest; possible biased decisions and the burden on surrogates. The key advantage of surrogate involvement in healthcare decisions is their ability to represent end users' needs, values and wishes. The main disadvantages include potential discrepancies between the decisions and conclusions of surrogates and end users; the failure of surrogates to predict end users' preferences accurately and the lack of certainty that useful information will be obtained through the surrogacy process. This systematic review has revealed that the involvement of surrogates is an additional vital way to represent end users' perspectives in healthcare decisions where for a range of reasons their opinions are unable to be effectively ascertained. However, because of the heterogeneity of surrogates and end users, the selection of appropriate surrogates and deploying surrogate decisions require particularly careful consideration of their value in individual cases; thus, subsequent decision-making must be reviewed on a case-to-case basis to seek to ensure that the best interests, needs and wishes of the end user are fully and accurately

Demand Side Management: An approach to peak load smoothing

Science.gov (United States)

Gupta, Prachi

A preliminary national-level analysis was conducted to determine whether Demand Side Management (DSM) programs introduced by electric utilities since 1992 have made any progress towards their stated goal of reducing peak load demand. Estimates implied that DSM has a very small effect on peak load reduction and there is substantial regional and end-user variability. A limited scholarly literature on DSM also provides evidence in support of a positive effect of demand response programs. Yet, none of these studies examine the question of how DSM affects peak load at the micro-level by influencing end-users' response to prices. After nearly three decades of experience with DSM, controversy remains over how effective these programs have been. This dissertation considers regional analyses that explore both demand-side solutions and supply-side interventions. On the demand side, models are estimated to provide in-depth evidence of end-user consumption patterns for each North American Electric Reliability Corporation (NERC) region, helping to identify sectors in regions that have made a substantial contribution to peak load reduction. The empirical evidence supports the initial hypothesis that there is substantial regional and end-user variability of reductions in peak demand. These results are quite robust in rapidly-urbanizing regions, where air conditioning and lighting load is substantially higher, and regions where the summer peak is more pronounced than the winter peak. It is also evident from the regional experiences that active government involvement, as shaped by state regulations in the last few years, has been successful in promoting DSM programs, and perhaps for the same reason we witness an uptick in peak load reductions in the years 2008 and 2009. On the supply side, we estimate the effectiveness of DSM programs by analyzing the growth of capacity margin with the introduction of DSM programs. The results indicate that DSM has been successful in offsetting the

Quality of antiretroviral therapy in public health facilities in Nigeria and perceptions of end users.

Science.gov (United States)

Chiegil, Robert J; Zungu, Lindiwe I; Jooste, Karien

2014-04-01

This paper describes perceptions of the end users on quality of antiretroviral therapy (ART) in public health facilities in Nigeria. Health care services in Nigeria face challenges of meeting end users' requirements and expectations for quality ART service provision. A qualitative design was followed. Unstructured focus group discussions were conducted with end users (n = 64) in six locations across the six geopolitical zones of Nigeria. The findings indicate that end users were satisfied with uninterrupted antiretroviral drug supplies, courtesy treatment, volunteerism of support group members and quality counselling services. End users expect effective collaboration between healthcare providers and support group members, to enhance the quality of life of people living with HIV. A best practice guideline for the provision of end user focused ART service provision was developed for nurse managers. © 2013 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Antecedents and Outcomes of End User Computing Competence

National Research Council Canada - National Science Library

Case, David

2003-01-01

.... The end user has had to evolve and will continue evolving as well; from someone with low level technical skills to someone with a high level of technical knowledge and information managerial skills...

Design and evaluation of an end-user friendly tool for robot programming

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Buchina, N.; Barakova, E.I.; Kamel, S.M.W.

2016-01-01

End-user programming for robots is becoming an increasingly important topic since robots are being introduced into a wide variety of domains. We propose a design of a web based programming interface that makes it possible for end-users with different backgrounds to program robots using natural

End user prices in liberalised energy markets

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Lijesen, M.G. [Afdeling Energie en Grondstoffen, Centraal Planbureau CPB, Den Haag (Netherlands)

2002-12-01

As European energy markets move towards deregulation, energy prices shift from classic 'cost plus' prices towards market prices. We develop a model for the retail and wholesale energy markets in Europe, based on Bertrand competition in a two part pricing structure with switching costs. We use the model to forecast end user electricity and natural gas prices and find that the introduction of competition in energy retail and wholesale markets will decrease standing charges, lowering total costs for energy users. A larger number of entrants, a cost advantage for one of the suppliers, or lower switching costs reduces standing charges further.

Analysing the relationship between wholesale and end-user prices in the Nordic electricity market

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lewis, P.E.; Johnsen, T.A.; Naervae, T.; Wasti, S.

2004-09-01

Efficient pricing in a deregulated market means prices which closely reflect the cost of obtaining electricity in the wholesale market. This research report analyses and explains the relationship between wholesale prices (especially Spot Prices) and end-user prices for residential, industrial and commercial users in the Finnish, Swedish and Norwegian electricity markets. The report primarily analyses the closeness of wholesale and end-user price patterns (the primary tracking period is 1998-2003, focusing especially closely on Finland and the period 2002-2003). The report reveals that Finnish, Norwegian and Swedish end- user prices can all be said to follow spot prices (and other wholesale prices) to a greater or lesser extent. The relationship is however complex and, especially regarding spot prices, clearly closest in Norway, followed by Sweden and then Finland. Whilst, overall, Finnish prices seem quite competitive and Nordic end-user prices currently seem to be extremely similar, there is some cause for concern in Finland. In particular, very few customers have spot based tariffs; wholesale prices (including spot prices) appear to sometimes have been used as an excuse for end-user price rises; Finnish suppliers have often been slow to respond to post-spike spot price reductions; offer prices are currently often higher than standard variable prices; and suppliers seem quite free to follow any pricing strategy, regardless of the presence of competition. Six factors are identified which influence end-user prices and their relationship with wholesale (and particularly spot) prices: hydro-dependency; concentration and entry barriers; cultural and historical determination; legislation; pricing strategies; the competitive environment. The report additionally specifically illustrates a wide variety of possible supplier strategies which might explain Finnish end-user pricing. Spot prices seem to provide only a minor explanation for Finnish end-user prices. (orig.)

A longitudinal study of the relationship between receptivity to e-cigarette advertisements and e-cigarette use among baseline non-users of cigarettes and e-cigarettes, United States

OpenAIRE

Israel T. Agaku; Kevin Davis; Deesha Patel; Paul Shafer; Shanna Cox; William Ridgeway; Brian A. King

2017-01-01

Background We investigated the relationship between receptivity to electronic cigarette (e-cigarette) advertisements at baseline and e-cigarette use at follow-up among adult baseline non-users of cigarettes and e-cigarettes. Material and Methods A nationally representative online panel was used to survey non-users of cigarettes and e-cigarettes (n = 2191) at baseline and 5-month follow-up. At baseline, respondents were shown an e-cigarette advertisement and asked if they were aware ...

Optimization Models and Methods for Demand-Side Management of Residential Users: A Survey

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Antimo Barbato

2014-09-01

Full Text Available The residential sector is currently one of the major contributors to the global energy balance. However, the energy demand of residential users has been so far largely uncontrollable and inelastic with respect to the power grid conditions. With the massive introduction of renewable energy sources and the large variations in energy flows, also the residential sector is required to provide some flexibility in energy use so as to contribute to the stability and efficiency of the electric system. To address this issue, demand management mechanisms can be used to optimally manage the energy resources of customers and their energy demand profiles. A very promising technique is represented by demand-side management (DSM, which consists in a proactive method aimed at making users energy-efficient in the long term. In this paper, we survey the most relevant studies on optimization methods for DSM of residential consumers. Specifically, we review the related literature according to three axes defining contrasting characteristics of the schemes proposed: DSM for individual users versus DSM for cooperative consumers, deterministic DSM versus stochastic DSM and day-ahead DSM versus real-time DSM. Based on this classification, we provide a big picture of the key features of different approaches and techniques and discuss future research directions.

A flexible energy market - electric power reserves at the place of the end-user

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Livik, Klaus; Groenli, Helle; Fretheim, Stig; Feilberg, Nicolai; Gjervan, Sverre; Dymbe, Lars

1996-01-01

If short-term as well as long-term prices in the electric power market are to be stable, then the market must be flexible and both energy and power related efforts must be taken at the end-user's place. The report analyses what type of actors in the electric power market are profiting from a flexible end-user market for energy and power. It is found that a flexible market has utilitarian value for end-users, network owners, suppliers, market operators and system operators. It is also clearly desirable from the point of view of the authorities. Considerable possibilities of developing the flexible energy and power market exist at the end-user. The possibilities can be realized by means of technological developments and political incentives such as by rules for monopoly control. End-user measures may have considerable utilitarian value, socio economically. Especially in areas with high marginal costs of power transport will network owners see the advantages of such measures

Web-based DAQ systems: connecting the user and electronics front-ends

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lenzi, Thomas

2016-01-01

Web technologies are quickly evolving and are gaining in computational power and flexibility, allowing for a paradigm shift in the field of Data Acquisition (DAQ) systems design. Modern web browsers offer the possibility to create intricate user interfaces and are able to process and render complex data. Furthermore, new web standards such as WebSockets allow for fast real-time communication between the server and the user with minimal overhead. Those improvements make it possible to move the control and monitoring operations from the back-end servers directly to the user and to the front-end electronics, thus reducing the complexity of the data acquisition chain. Moreover, web-based DAQ systems offer greater flexibility, accessibility, and maintainability on the user side than traditional applications which often lack portability and ease of use. As proof of concept, we implemented a simplified DAQ system on a mid-range Spartan6 Field Programmable Gate Array (FPGA) development board coupled to a digital front-end readout chip. The system is connected to the Internet and can be accessed from any web browser. It is composed of custom code to control the front-end readout and of a dual soft-core Microblaze processor to communicate with the client.

Web-based DAQ systems: connecting the user and electronics front-ends

Science.gov (United States)

Lenzi, Thomas

2016-12-01

Web technologies are quickly evolving and are gaining in computational power and flexibility, allowing for a paradigm shift in the field of Data Acquisition (DAQ) systems design. Modern web browsers offer the possibility to create intricate user interfaces and are able to process and render complex data. Furthermore, new web standards such as WebSockets allow for fast real-time communication between the server and the user with minimal overhead. Those improvements make it possible to move the control and monitoring operations from the back-end servers directly to the user and to the front-end electronics, thus reducing the complexity of the data acquisition chain. Moreover, web-based DAQ systems offer greater flexibility, accessibility, and maintainability on the user side than traditional applications which often lack portability and ease of use. As proof of concept, we implemented a simplified DAQ system on a mid-range Spartan6 Field Programmable Gate Array (FPGA) development board coupled to a digital front-end readout chip. The system is connected to the Internet and can be accessed from any web browser. It is composed of custom code to control the front-end readout and of a dual soft-core Microblaze processor to communicate with the client.

Give the people what they want: studying end-user needs for enhancing the web

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Tak Yeon Lee

2016-11-01

Full Text Available End-user programming (EUP is a common approach for helping ordinary people create small programs for their professional or daily tasks. Since end-users may not have programming skills or strong motivation for learning them, tools should provide what end-users want with minimal costs of learning –i.e., they must decrease the barriers to entry. However, it is often hard to address these needs, especially for fast-evolving domains such as the Web. To better understand these existing and ongoing challenges, we conducted two formative studies with Web users –a semi-structured interview study, and a Wizard-of-Oz study. The interview study identifies challenges that participants have with their daily experiences on the Web. The Wizard-of-Oz study investigates how participants would naturally explain three computational tasks to an interviewer acting as a hypothetical computer agent. These studies demonstrate a disconnect between what end-users want and what existing EUP systems support, and thus open the door for a path towards better support for end user needs. In particular, our findings include: (1 analysis of challenges that end-users experience on the Web with solutions; (2 seven core functionalities of EUP for addressing these challenges; (3 characteristics of non-programmers describing three common computation tasks; (4 design implications for future EUP systems.

Power reserves in the end-user market

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Livik, K.; Mo, B.

1994-10-01

Based on a detailed modelling of the end-user electric power market it is evaluated how a selection of energy conservation efforts will affect Norway's system curve for the day of maximum power load. The analysis given in this report is based on empiric load data and statistical analyses of how changing simultaneity in power consumption by the end-users contribute to an aggregated effect on the maximum power of the system. The computer code PMAX was used for the simulation. The following efforts are considered: controlling water heaters in the housing sector, replacing electricity by oil for heating in the housing sector and in the service sector, implementation of temperature control with reduced temperature at night/day in the housing and service sectors, energy conservation in the service sector, heat recovery in the service sector. Transition from electricity to oil in heating is the effort which most strongly affects the energy consumption and power load on the day of peak power load. The discussion excludes energy-intensive industries, pumps and boilers. 11 refs., 16 figs., 6 tabs

On the end-user QoS-awareness of a distributed service environment

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Widya, I.; Stap, R.E.; Teunissen, L.J.; Hopman, B.F.

2001-01-01

A lot of attention has been given to network quality of service and efforts to make layers on top of the network also QoS-aware increase noticeably. This paper explores QoS-aware service provisioning at a level close to end-user's perception. It shows how end-user oriented QoS requirements have been

Perceptions of Cataloguers and End-Users towards Bilingual Authority Files.

Science.gov (United States)

Abdoulaye, Kaba

2002-01-01

Analyzes and describes bilingual authority files at the main library of the International Islamic University of Malaysia. Highlights include a review of multilingual research; perceptions of end users and catalogers; problems with bilingual files; and use of the OPAC (online public access catalog) by users. (Author/LRW)

Experiences and behaviors of end-users in a smart grid: the influence of values, attitudes, trust, and several types of demand side management

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Wiekens, Carina; Grootel, Maike; Steinmeijer, Sophie

2014-01-01

In this research, the experiences and behaviors of end-users in a smart grid project are explored. In PowerMatching City, the leading Dutch smart grid project, 40 households were equipped with various decentralized energy sources (PV and microCHP), hybrid heat pumps, smart appliances, smart meters

End-user challenges to security digitalisation and integration: a retail perspective

OpenAIRE

Lahtinen, Markus

2008-01-01

With the assumed digitalisation happening on the end-user side, progressive systems integrators stress the importance of changing the business concept from being installers to being service and solution providers. However, less is known about the details of this process on the end-user side. Based on an online survey of loss prevention managers it can be stated that security digitalisation and further business integration of security is a top agreement among the respondents. Integ...

Engineering of Data Acquiring Mobile Software and Sustainable End-User Applications

Science.gov (United States)

Smith, Benton T.

2013-01-01

The criteria for which data acquiring software and its supporting infrastructure should be designed should take the following two points into account: the reusability and organization of stored online and remote data and content, and an assessment on whether abandoning a platform optimized design in favor for a multi-platform solution significantly reduces the performance of an end-user application. Furthermore, in-house applications that control or process instrument acquired data for end-users should be designed with a communication and control interface such that the application's modules can be reused as plug-in modular components in greater software systems. The application of the above mentioned is applied using two loosely related projects: a mobile application, and a website containing live and simulated data. For the intelligent devices mobile application AIDM, the end-user interface have a platform and data type optimized design, while the database and back-end applications store this information in an organized manner and manage access to that data to only to authorized user end application(s). Finally, the content for the website was derived from a database such that the content can be included and uniform to all applications accessing the content. With these projects being ongoing, I have concluded from my research that the applicable methods presented are feasible for both projects, and that a multi-platform design for the mobile application only marginally drop the performance of the mobile application.

Storyboard method of end-user programming with natural language configuration

Science.gov (United States)

Bouchard, Ann M; Osbourn, Gordon C

2013-11-19

A technique for end-user programming includes populating a template with graphically illustrated actions and then invoking a command to generate a screen element based on the template. The screen element is rendered within a computing environment and provides a mechanism for triggering execution of a sequence of user actions. The sequence of user actions is based at least in part on the graphically illustrated actions populated into the template.

A longitudinal study of the relationship between receptivity to e-cigarette advertisements and e-cigarette use among baseline non-users of cigarettes and e-cigarettes, United States

OpenAIRE

Agaku, Israel T.; Davis, Kevin; Patel, Deesha; Shafer, Paul; Cox, Shanna; Ridgeway, William; King, Brian A.

2017-01-01

Background We investigated the relationship between receptivity to electronic cigarette (e-cigarette) advertisements at baseline and e-cigarette use at follow-up among adult baseline non-users of cigarettes and e-cigarettes. Methods A nationally representative online panel was used to survey non-users of cigarettes and e-cigarettes (n = 2191) at baseline and 5-month follow-up. At baseline, respondents were shown an e-cigarette advertisement and asked if they were aware of it (exposure). Among...

Simultaneous communication supports learning in noise by cochlear implant users.

Science.gov (United States)

Blom, Helen; Marschark, Marc; Machmer, Elizabeth

2017-01-01

This study sought to evaluate the potential of using spoken language and signing together (simultaneous communication, SimCom, sign-supported speech) as a means of improving speech recognition, comprehension, and learning by cochlear implant (CI) users in noisy contexts. Forty eight college students who were active CI users, watched videos of three short presentations, the text versions of which were standardized at the 8 th -grade reading level. One passage was presented in spoken language only, one was presented in spoken language with multi-talker babble background noise, and one was presented via simultaneous communication with the same background noise. Following each passage, participants responded to 10 (standardized) open-ended questions designed to assess comprehension. Indicators of participants' spoken language and sign language skills were obtained via self-reports and objective assessments. When spoken materials were accompanied by signs, scores were significantly higher than when materials were spoken in noise without signs. Participants' receptive spoken language skills significantly predicted scores in all three conditions; neither their receptive sign skills nor age of implantation predicted performance. Students who are CI users typically rely solely on spoken language in the classroom. The present results, however, suggest that there are potential benefits of simultaneous communication for such learners in noisy settings. For those CI users who know sign language, the redundancy of speech and signs potentially can offset the reduced fidelity of spoken language in noise. Accompanying spoken language with signs can benefit learners who are CI users in noisy situations such as classroom settings. Factors associated with such benefits, such as receptive skills in signed and spoken modalities, classroom acoustics, and material difficulty need to be empirically examined.

Synthesis of the initial survey related to PSAs End-Users needs

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Guigueno, Yves; Duflot, Nicolas; Durin, Thomas; Pihl, Joel; Benzoni, Stephane; Brac, Pascal; Gallois, Marie; Vasseur, Dominique; Loeffler, Horst; Nitoi, Mirela; Volkanovski, Andrija; Sevbo, Oleksandr; Ivanov, Ivan

2015-01-01

The ASAMPSA-E project aims at identifying good practices for the development of extended PSAs that include low-probability internal and external hazards which can lead to extreme consequences, and at discussing the application of extended PSAs for NPP safety enhancement decision making in the European context. A first questionnaire related to End-Users needs (ASAMPSA-E/WP10/D10.112013-4) has been disseminated at international level to PSA End-Users in November 2013 in order to identify the needs for guidance for the performance and application of extended PSA. This document presents the analysis of the responses to the survey. A draft version has been used to present the responses to the survey and discuss End-Users' needs during an international workshop organized on 26, 27 and 28 May 2014 in Uppsala (Sweden). The final version of this document has been prepared by incorporating the comments received from the project partners and the outcomes of the discussions at the Uppsala workshop. (authors)

Receptivity to Tobacco Advertising and Susceptibility to Tobacco Products.

Science.gov (United States)

Pierce, John P; Sargent, James D; White, Martha M; Borek, Nicolette; Portnoy, David B; Green, Victoria R; Kaufman, Annette R; Stanton, Cassandra A; Bansal-Travers, Maansi; Strong, David R; Pearson, Jennifer L; Coleman, Blair N; Leas, Eric; Noble, Madison L; Trinidad, Dennis R; Moran, Meghan B; Carusi, Charles; Hyland, Andrew; Messer, Karen

2017-06-01

Non-cigarette tobacco marketing is less regulated and may promote cigarette smoking among adolescents. We quantified receptivity to advertising for multiple tobacco products and hypothesized associations with susceptibility to cigarette smoking. Wave 1 of the nationally representative PATH (Population Assessment of Tobacco and Health) study interviewed 10 751 adolescents who had never used tobacco. A stratified random selection of 5 advertisements for each of cigarettes, e-cigarettes, smokeless products, and cigars were shown from 959 recent tobacco advertisements. Aided recall was classified as low receptivity, and image-liking or favorite ad as higher receptivity. The main dependent variable was susceptibility to cigarette smoking. Among US youth, 41% of 12 to 13 year olds and half of older adolescents were receptive to at least 1 tobacco advertisement. Across each age group, receptivity to advertising was highest for e-cigarettes (28%-33%) followed by cigarettes (22%-25%), smokeless tobacco (15%-21%), and cigars (8%-13%). E-cigarette ads shown on television had the highest recall. Among cigarette-susceptible adolescents, receptivity to e-cigarette advertising (39.7%; 95% confidence interval [CI]: 37.9%-41.6%) was higher than for cigarette advertising (31.7%; 95% CI: 29.9%-33.6%). Receptivity to advertising for each tobacco product was associated with increased susceptibility to cigarette smoking, with no significant difference across products (similar odds for both cigarette and e-cigarette advertising; adjusted odds ratio = 1.22; 95% CI: 1.09-1.37). A large proportion of US adolescent never tobacco users are receptive to tobacco advertising, with television advertising for e-cigarettes having the highest recall. Receptivity to advertising for each non-cigarette tobacco product was associated with susceptibility to smoke cigarettes. Copyright © 2017 by the American Academy of Pediatrics.

Storage system software solutions for high-end user needs

Science.gov (United States)

Hogan, Carole B.

1992-01-01

Today's high-end storage user is one that requires rapid access to a reliable terabyte-capacity storage system running in a distributed environment. This paper discusses conventional storage system software and concludes that this software, designed for other purposes, cannot meet high-end storage requirements. The paper also reviews the philosophy and design of evolving storage system software. It concludes that this new software, designed with high-end requirements in mind, provides the potential for solving not only the storage needs of today but those of the foreseeable future as well.

Ideas on a system design for end-user robots

Science.gov (United States)

Bonasso, R. P.; Slack, Marc G.

1992-11-01

Robots are being used successfully in factory automation; however, recently there has been some success in building robots which can operate in field environments, where the domain is less predictable. New perception and control techniques have been developed which allow a robot to accomplish its mission while dealing with natural changes in both land and underwater environments. Unfortunately, efforts in this area have resulted in many one-of-a-kind robots, limited to research laboratories or carefully delimited field task arenas. A user who would like to apply robotic technology to a particular field problem must basically start from scratch. The problem is that the robotic technology (i.e., the hardware and software) which might apply to the user's domain exists in a diverse array of formats and configurations. For end-user robots to become a reality, an effort to standardize some aspects of the robotic technology must be made, in much the same way that personal computer technology is becoming standardized. Presently, a person can buy a computer and then acquire hardware and software extensions which simply `plug in' and provide the user with the required utility without the user having to understand the inner workings of the pieces of the system. This technology even employs standardized interface specifications so the user is presented with a familiar interaction paradigm. This paper outlines some system requirements (hardware and software) and a preliminary design for end-user robots for field environments, drawing parallels to the trends in the personal computer market. The general conclusion is that the appropriate components as well as an integrating architecture are already available, making development of out-of-the- box, turnkey robots for a certain range of commonly required tasks a potential reality.

The STEP database through the end-users eyes--USABILITY STUDY.

Science.gov (United States)

Salunke, Smita; Tuleu, Catherine

2015-08-15

The user-designed database of Safety and Toxicity of Excipients for Paediatrics ("STEP") is created to address the shared need of drug development community to access the relevant information of excipients effortlessly. Usability testing was performed to validate if the database satisfies the need of the end-users. Evaluation framework was developed to assess the usability. The participants performed scenario based tasks and provided feedback and post-session usability ratings. Failure Mode Effect Analysis (FMEA) was performed to prioritize the problems and improvements to the STEP database design and functionalities. The study revealed several design vulnerabilities. Tasks such as limiting the results, running complex queries, location of data and registering to access the database were challenging. The three critical attributes identified to have impact on the usability of the STEP database included (1) content and presentation (2) the navigation and search features (3) potential end-users. Evaluation framework proved to be an effective method for evaluating database effectiveness and user satisfaction. This study provides strong initial support for the usability of the STEP database. Recommendations would be incorporated into the refinement of the database to improve its usability and increase user participation towards the advancement of the database. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Developing End-User Innovation from Circuits of Learning

Science.gov (United States)

Fosstenløkken, Siw M.

2015-01-01

Purpose: This paper aims to raise the question of how end-user product innovation is developed by exploring the underlying learning mechanisms that drive such idea realization in practice. A trialogical learning perspective from educational science is applied as an analytical approach to enlighten the black box of learning dynamics in user…

Beyond Reception

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

This book argues that it is time to rethink reception as a traditional paradigm for understanding the relation between the ancient Greco-Roman traditions and early Judaism and Christianity. The concept of reception implies taking something from one fixed box into another, often a chronological...... intend to develop a more multi-faceted view of such precesses and to go beyond the term reception....

Demand response driven load pattern elasticity analysis for smart households

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Paterakis, N.G.; Catalao, J.P.S.; Tascikaraoglu, A.; Bakirtzis, A.G.; Erdinc, O.

2015-01-01

The recent interest in smart grid vision enables several smart applications in different parts of the power grid structure, where specific importance should be given to the demand side. As a result, changes in load patterns due to demand response (DR) activities at end-user premises, such as smart

Potential for the adoption of probabilistic risk assessments by end-users and decision-makers

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Frewer, Lynn J.; Fischer, Arnout R. H.; van den Brink, Paul J.

2008-01-01

-user and regulatory uptake has not been, to date, extensive. A case study, utilizing the Theory of Planned Behavior, was conducted in order to identify potential determinants of end-user adoption of probabilistic risk assessments associated with the ecotoxicological impact of pesticides. Seventy potential end...

Market design : Common Nordic end-user market

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

2009-07-01

No later than 2015, suppliers in the Nordic countries should be able to offer electricity to consumers in any Nordic country on equal terms. In this report NordREG has analyzed the present situation in the Nordic countries and identified the issues that should be harmonised in order to establish a common Nordic end-user market. In this report NordREG also suggests an indicative road map for the implementation process. (Author)

Evolution of residential electricity demand by end-use in Quebec 1979-1989: A conditional demand analysis

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lafrance, G.; Perron, D.

1994-01-01

Some of the main conclusions are presented from a temporal analysis of three large-scale electricity demand surveys (1979, 1984, and 1989) for the Quebec residential sector. A regression method called conditional demand analysis was used. The study allows a number of conclusions about certain electricity consumption trends by end-uses from 1979 to 1989 by household type and by vintage category. For example, the results indicate that decreasing electricity consumption between 1979 and 1984 for a typical dwelling equipped with electric space heating was mainly related to a large decline in net heating consumption. Overall, the results suggest that some permanent energy savings have been realized by a typical household equipped with an electric heating system due to improvements in standards and changes in customer behavior. These energy savings were partly offset by increased electricity consumption from the purchase of new appliances and an increase in the demand for hot water. 7 refs., 1 fig., 8 tabs

Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Xena: Warrior Princess: reception of the texts by a sample of lesbian fans and web site users.

Science.gov (United States)

Collier, Noelle R; Lumadue, Christine A; Wooten, H Ray

2009-01-01

This qualitative study of television reception examined the ways in which a sample of lesbian fans of Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Xena: Warrior Princess incorporated their experiences as viewers, fans, and Internet users with relation to their sexual identity as lesbians. Specifically, this study examined the ways in which participants used these television programs to inform their sexual identity development. Results indicated that participants used television and the Internet to normalize and affirm lesbian experience, to decrease negative feelings regarding their lesbian identities, and to decrease social isolation.

Flexible Demand Management under Time-Varying Prices

Science.gov (United States)

Liang, Yong

In this dissertation, the problem of flexible demand management under time-varying prices is studied. This generic problem has many applications, which usually have multiple periods in which decisions on satisfying demand need to be made, and prices in these periods are time-varying. Examples of such applications include multi-period procurement problem, operating room scheduling, and user-end demand scheduling in the Smart Grid, where the last application is used as the main motivating story throughout the dissertation. The current grid is experiencing an upgrade with lots of new designs. What is of particular interest is the idea of passing time-varying prices that reflect electricity market conditions to end users as incentives for load shifting. One key component, consequently, is the demand management system at the user-end. The objective of the system is to find the optimal trade-off between cost saving and discomfort increment resulted from load shifting. In this dissertation, we approach this problem from the following aspects: (1) construct a generic model, solve for Pareto optimal solutions, and analyze the robust solution that optimizes the worst-case payoffs, (2) extend to a distribution-free model for multiple types of demand (appliances), for which an approximate dynamic programming (ADP) approach is developed, and (3) design other efficient algorithms for practical purposes of the flexible demand management system. We first construct a novel multi-objective flexible demand management model, in which there are a finite number of periods with time-varying prices, and demand arrives in each period. In each period, the decision maker chooses to either satisfy or defer outstanding demand to minimize costs and discomfort over a certain number of periods. We consider both the deterministic model, models with stochastic demand or prices, and when only partial information about the stochastic demand or prices is known. We first analyze the stochastic

Decision Making Under Uncertainty - Bridging the Gap Between End User Needs and Science Capability

Science.gov (United States)

Verdon-Kidd, D. C.; Kiem, A.; Austin, E. K.

2012-12-01

Successful adaptation outcomes depend on decision making based on the best available climate science information. However, a fundamental barrier exists, namely the 'gap' between information that climate science can currently provide and the information that is practically useful for end users and decision makers. This study identifies the major contributing factors to the 'gap' from an Australian perspective and provides recommendations as to ways in which the 'gap' may be narrowed. This was achieved via a literature review, online survey (targeted to providers of climate information and end users of that information), workshop (where both climate scientists and end users came together to discuss key issues) and focus group. The study confirmed that uncertainty in climate science is a key barrier to adaptation. The issue of uncertainty was found to be multi-faceted, with issues identified in terms of communication of uncertainty, misunderstanding of uncertainty and the lack of tools/methods to deal with uncertainty. There were also key differences in terms of expectations for the future - most end users were of the belief that uncertainty associated with future climate projections would reduce within the next five to 10 years, however producers of climate science information were well aware that this would most likely not be the case. This is a concerning finding as end users may delay taking action on adaptation and risk planning until the uncertainties are reduced - a situation which may never eventuate or may occur after the optimal time for action. Improved communication and packaging of climate information was another key theme that was highlighted in this study. Importantly, it was made clear that improved communication is not just about more glossy brochures and presentations by climate scientists, rather there is a role for a program or group to fill this role (coined a 'knowledge broker' during the workshop and focus group). The role of the 'knowledge

Advertising Receptivity and Youth Initiation of Smokeless Tobacco.

Science.gov (United States)

Timberlake, David S

2016-07-28

Cross-sectional data suggests that adolescents' receptivity to the advertising of smokeless tobacco is correlated with use of chewing tobacco or snuff. Lack of longitudinal data has precluded determination of whether advertising receptivity precedes or follows initiation of smokeless tobacco. The objective of this study was to test for the association between advertising receptivity and subsequent initiation of smokeless tobacco among adolescent males. Adolescent males from the 1993-1999 Teen Longitudinal California Tobacco Survey were selected at the baseline survey for never having used smokeless tobacco. Separate longitudinal analyses corresponded to two dependent variables, ever use of smokeless tobacco (1993-1996; N = 1,388) and use on 20 or more occasions (1993-1999; N = 1,014). Models were adjusted for demographic variables, risk factors for smokeless tobacco use, and exposure to users of smokeless tobacco. Advertising receptivity at baseline was predictive of ever use by late adolescence (RR(95% CI) = 2.0 (1.5, 2.8)) and regular use by young adulthood (RR(95% CI) = 3.7 (2.1, 6.7)) in models that were adjusted for covariates. Conclusions/ Importance: The findings challenge the tobacco industry's assertion that tobacco marketing does not impact youth initiation. This is particularly relevant to tobacco control in the United States because the 2009 Tobacco Control Act places fewer restrictions on smokeless tobacco products compared to cigarettes.

Developments in Earth Observation data reception, dissemination and archival at National Remote Sensing Agency

Science.gov (United States)

Radhakrishnan, K.; Manjunath, A. S.; Kumar, Anil

2009-10-01

With the rapid advancement in remote sensing technology and corresponding applications, the Earth Observation Ground Segment has undergone a significant change at NRSA. From dedicated data acquisition and processing systems, we have realized multi-mission data acquisition quick look and browse systems and also multi-mission integrated information management systems. Front end of data reception station has been upgraded to handle wider bandwidth and data rates up to 320 Mbps for near future missions such as the Radar Imaging Satellite (RISAT). Antenna, feed, down converters and RF chain have been upgraded. To cater to multi-mission scenario mission independent, fully configurable demodulator/bit synchs have been deployed. For handling data acquisition in multi-satellite scenario where in data from 5 to 6 remote sensing satellites are to be received almost simultaneously, automation of operations has been incorporated towards station configuration to avoid manual errors. From media-based data handling, there has been a shift towards net centric data handling among the various work centers such as user order processing, data processing systems, special processing systems, data quality evaluation, and product quality control work centers. The turn around time for dissemination of user desired data products has been improved from two weeks to one day. Presently a state of the art integrated environment has been envisaged which will bring down the turn around time for the supply of data products significantly. Automation has been incorporated at both data acquisition and data processing to improve the product throughput. Presently NRSA is catering to a demand of about 30,000 data products per annum and in the next two years it is aimed to reach a level of 50,000 products per annum by realizing the integrated multi-mission ground system for earth observation (IMGEOS). This will significantly modify the entire data production and dissemination chain so that data can be

Exploring Zen Marketing: A Strategic Experiment in Leveraging End User Intellectual Capital to Stimulate Primary Market Demand

Science.gov (United States)

Gilbert, Raymond

2003-10-01

Recently the Telecom Industry experienced an economic boom & bust cycle that hampered new service development & deployment. Consequently, there are significant problems in capturing key requirements for new network-based services and in educating CIO-IT leaders so they can promote investment proposals with their enterprise business leadership. This paper outlines a multi-functional initiative that Lucent Technologies established to engage and exchange with key Enterprises & their Telecom Suppliers views of future network technologies. This experiment is unique because it is facilitated by the corporate CIO-IT leadership & is focused on the latest 3G wireless technologies. CIO-IT provides externally facing resources that collaborate directly with Enterprises, and Service Providers while facilitating internal interactions with Bell Labs, Business Units and Sales teams. This program embodies a Zen Marketing approach since it seeks to create flashes of enlightenment with IT & business leaders by exercising all the knowledge, culture & behaviors available to an IT end user. The paper summarizes several organizational challenges & benefits uncovered by a program that is focused on transforming Mobility Provider relationships with their customers and expanding the overall awareness of the latest 3G wireless technologies.

An Australian Perspective On The Challenges For Computer And Network Security For Novice End-Users

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Patryk Szewczyk

2012-12-01

Full Text Available It is common for end-users to have difficulty in using computer or network security appropriately and thus have often been ridiculed when misinterpreting instructions or procedures. This discussion paper details the outcomes of research undertaken over the past six years on why security is overly complex for end-users. The results indicate that multiple issues may render end-users vulnerable to security threats and that there is no single solution to address these problems. Studies on a small group of senior citizens has shown that educational seminars can be beneficial in ensuring that simple security aspects are understood and used appropriately.

ANTECEDENTS OF END-USER SATISFACTION WITH AN ERP SYSTEM IN A TRANSNATIONAL BANK

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Luís Kalb Roses

2011-08-01

Full Text Available The main objective of this study is to identify the antecedents of end-user satisfaction with an Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP system, in the context of a transnational Bank. The Information System (IS success theory is applied for the end-user computing satisfaction (EUCS assessment. Quantitative data is analyzed through multivariate statistical techniques whereas qualitative data is analyzed through content analysis technique. The results indicate that the EUCS model is pertinent to the context of ERP systems for a fast data collection and overall perception of user satisfaction; nevertheless it is suggested the continuity of its evaluation in other research contexts and additional categories should be considered as antecedents to IS enduser satisfaction.

78 FR 69535 - Amendments to Existing Validated End-User Authorizations in the People's Republic of China

Science.gov (United States)

2013-11-20

.... (Samsung China), Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corporation (SMIC), SK hynix Semiconductor..., Chair, End-User Review Committee, Bureau of Industry and Security, U.S. Department of Commerce, 14th...)'' for Validated End-User Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corporation (SMIC) This final rule...

Comparison and Evaluation of End-User Interfaces for Online Public Access Catalogs.

Science.gov (United States)

Zumer, Maja

End-user interfaces for the online public access catalogs (OPACs) of OhioLINK, a system linking major university and research libraries in Ohio, and its 16 member libraries, accessible through the Internet, are compared and evaluated from the user-oriented perspective. A common, systematic framework was used for the scientific observation of the…

Changing assumption for the design process – New roles of the active end user

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Monika Hestad

2009-12-01

Full Text Available The aim of this article is to discuss how end user involvement in all stages of a product life cycle changes the assumptions of the design process. This article is based on a literature review and three case studies – Imsdal (Ringnes/Carlsberg, Jordan and Stokke. Several examples of how consumers or users are involved in various stages of the product life cycle are presented. The product development is affected both by end users’ activity and by previous knowledge of the product. The use of the product is changing the meaning, and even the disposal of the product is affecting how the product is perceived. The product becomes part of a cultural and historical context in which the end user is actively shaping.  

DS-CDMA satellite diversity reception for personal satellite communication: Downlink performance analysis

Science.gov (United States)

DeGaudenzi, Riccardo; Giannetti, Filippo

1995-01-01

The downlink of a satellite-mobile personal communication system employing power-controlled Direct Sequence Code Division Multiple Access (DS-CDMA) and exploiting satellite-diversity is analyzed and its performance compared with a more traditional communication system utilizing single satellite reception. The analytical model developed has been thoroughly validated by means of extensive Monte Carlo computer simulations. It is shown how the capacity gain provided by diversity reception shrinks considerably in the presence of increasing traffic or in the case of light shadowing conditions. Moreover, the quantitative results tend to indicate that to combat system capacity reduction due to intra-system interference, no more than two satellites shall be active over the same region. To achieve higher system capacity, differently from terrestrial cellular systems, Multi-User Detection (MUD) techniques are likely to be required in the mobile user terminal, thus considerably increasing its complexity.

BIM-based Multiuser Collaborative Virtual Environments for end user involvement

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Sørensen, Jesper Bendix; Svidt, Kjeld

2017-01-01

This paper examines the potential of utilizing virtual mock-ups in end user involvement processes. To access if virtual mock-ups can optimize existing processes, current workflows using physical full-scale mock-ups on several projects are explored. Requirements regarding the traditional workflows...

Predicting Receptive-Expressive Vocabulary Discrepancies in Preschool Children With Autism Spectrum Disorder.

Science.gov (United States)

McDaniel, Jena; Yoder, Paul; Woynaroski, Tiffany; Watson, Linda R

2018-05-15

Correlates of receptive-expressive vocabulary size discrepancies may provide insights into why language development in children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) deviates from typical language development and ultimately improve intervention outcomes. We indexed receptive-expressive vocabulary size discrepancies of 65 initially preverbal children with ASD (20-48 months) to a comparison sample from the MacArthur-Bates Communicative Development Inventories Wordbank (Frank, Braginsky, Yurovsky, & Marchman, 2017) to quantify typicality. We then tested whether attention toward a speaker and oral motor performance predict typicality of the discrepancy 8 months later. Attention toward a speaker correlated positively with receptive-expressive vocabulary size discrepancy typicality. Imitative and nonimitative oral motor performance were not significant predictors of vocabulary size discrepancy typicality. Secondary analyses indicated that midpoint receptive vocabulary size mediated the association between initial attention toward a speaker and end point receptive-expressive vocabulary size discrepancy typicality. Findings support the hypothesis that variation in attention toward a speaker might partially explain receptive-expressive vocabulary size discrepancy magnitude in children with ASD. Results are consistent with an input-processing deficit explanation of language impairment in this clinical population. Future studies should test whether attention toward a speaker is malleable and causally related to receptive-expressive discrepancies in children with ASD.

VuFind: eBooks on Demand Suchmaschine

OpenAIRE

Gstrein, Silvia

2011-01-01

The eBooks-on-Demand (EOD) network provides a trans-European digital document delivery service for end-users from all over the world offering digitization on demand of the public domain holdings of participating libraries. Currently the EOD network comprises over 30 libraries from 12 European countries. The service is offered through „EOD buttons“ placed at each record in the different library catalogues. Already in the first years of the service a common interface to search for all books off...

Analysis of PG&E`s residential end-use metered data to improve electricity demand forecasts -- final report

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Eto, J.H.; Moezzi, M.M.

1993-12-01

This report summarizes findings from a unique project to improve the end-use electricity load shape and peak demand forecasts made by the Pacific Gas and Electric Company (PG&E) and the California Energy Commission (CEC). First, the direct incorporation of end-use metered data into electricity demand forecasting models is a new approach that has only been made possible by recent end-use metering projects. Second, and perhaps more importantly, the joint-sponsorship of this analysis has led to the development of consistent sets of forecasting model inputs. That is, the ability to use a common data base and similar data treatment conventions for some of the forecasting inputs frees forecasters to concentrate on those differences (between their competing forecasts) that stem from real differences of opinion, rather than differences that can be readily resolved with better data. The focus of the analysis is residential space cooling, which represents a large and growing demand in the PG&E service territory. Using five years of end-use metered, central air conditioner data collected by PG&E from over 300 residences, we developed consistent sets of new inputs for both PG&E`s and CEC`s end-use load shape forecasting models. We compared the performance of the new inputs both to the inputs previously used by PG&E and CEC, and to a second set of new inputs developed to take advantage of a recently added modeling option to the forecasting model. The testing criteria included ability to forecast total daily energy use, daily peak demand, and demand at 4 P.M. (the most frequent hour of PG&E`s system peak demand). We also tested the new inputs with the weather data used by PG&E and CEC in preparing their forecasts.

The Integrated Nordic End-User Electricity Market - Feasibility and identified obstacles

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

2006-02-01

The report identifies the various obstacles that currently exist which prevent the formation of a truly integrated Nordic electricity end-user market. The obstacles have been divided into three categories: technical, regulatory and commercial. NordREG proposes that to further integrate the Nordic end-user electricity markets, a number of differences of technical, legal and market nature ought to be gradually harmonized in order to facilitate market entry and cross-border trade. Technical obstacles: Especially the following problems related to the data and metering systems should be solved: Transferred messages, information and message timing should be harmonised; Message format should be decided; A common data transmission protocol should be specified. New solutions like web-based solutions should be studied; The identification of the final customers' metering point should be harmonised. Regulatory obstacles: The identified regulatory obstacles relate to three areas, namely the division of tasks between monopoly and competitive activities, the operation and duties of distribution network operators including how these are regulated, and the legal framework to provide protection for small end users. On the basis of the review of regulatory obstacles, the following recommendations are made: The principles of neutrality and the way these principles are being supervised by the regulator is a key issue to improve the functioning of the Nordic end-user market. Regulators should seek to harmonise regulation on neutrality and put it high on the agenda in a forthcoming process of market integration; The procedures for switching supplier should be as smooth, easy and quick as possible. It is also important that suppliers, especially the new market entrants, can participate in reliable, transparent and fluent switching practices, since this lowers the threshold for entering other than domestic electricity market. The switching model should be harmonised for the Nordic end-user

The Integrated Nordic End-User Electricity Market - Feasibility and identified obstacles

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

NONE

2006-02-15

The report identifies the various obstacles that currently exist which prevent the formation of a truly integrated Nordic electricity end-user market. The obstacles have been divided into three categories: technical, regulatory and commercial. NordREG proposes that to further integrate the Nordic end-user electricity markets, a number of differences of technical, legal and market nature ought to be gradually harmonized in order to facilitate market entry and cross-border trade. Technical obstacles: Especially the following problems related to the data and metering systems should be solved: Transferred messages, information and message timing should be harmonised; Message format should be decided; A common data transmission protocol should be specified. New solutions like web-based solutions should be studied; The identification of the final customers' metering point should be harmonised. Regulatory obstacles: The identified regulatory obstacles relate to three areas, namely the division of tasks between monopoly and competitive activities, the operation and duties of distribution network operators including how these are regulated, and the legal framework to provide protection for small end users. On the basis of the review of regulatory obstacles, the following recommendations are made: The principles of neutrality and the way these principles are being supervised by the regulator is a key issue to improve the functioning of the Nordic end-user market. Regulators should seek to harmonise regulation on neutrality and put it high on the agenda in a forthcoming process of market integration; The procedures for switching supplier should be as smooth, easy and quick as possible. It is also important that suppliers, especially the new market entrants, can participate in reliable, transparent and fluent switching practices, since this lowers the threshold for entering other than domestic electricity market. The switching model should be harmonised for the Nordic end-user

End User Evaluations

Science.gov (United States)

Jay, Caroline; Lunn, Darren; Michailidou, Eleni

As new technologies emerge, and Web sites become increasingly sophisticated, ensuring they remain accessible to disabled and small-screen users is a major challenge. While guidelines and automated evaluation tools are useful for informing some aspects of Web site design, numerous studies have demonstrated that they provide no guarantee that the site is genuinely accessible. The only reliable way to evaluate the accessibility of a site is to study the intended users interacting with it. This chapter outlines the processes that can be used throughout the design life cycle to ensure Web accessibility, describing their strengths and weaknesses, and discussing the practical and ethical considerations that they entail. The chapter also considers an important emerging trend in user evaluations: combining data from studies of “standard” Web use with data describing existing accessibility issues, to drive accessibility solutions forward.

Cost effective maintenance to supply end user value: Visionary or utopian

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Wessels, J.; Alten, K.; Turk, M.R.; Palić, S.Š.

2013-01-01

Infrastructure stakeholders expect maintenance managers to deliver acceptable End User Service Levels (EUSL), such as availability, comfort, and safety. Means of controlling these requirements involve technical maintenance and operative measures. Within the ERANET Road Program 'Effective asset

Predicting Volleyball Serve-Reception

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Paulo, Ana; Zaal, Frank T J M; Fonseca, Sofia; Araujo, Duarte

2016-01-01

Serve and serve-reception performance have predicted success in volleyball. Given the impact of serve-reception on the game, we aimed at understanding what it is in the serve and receiver's actions that determines the selection of the type of pass used in serve-reception and its efficacy. Four

An end-user perspective on smart home energy systems in the PowerMatching City demonstration project

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Geelen, Daphne; Vos-Vlamings, Manon; Filippidou, Faidra; van den Noort, Albert; van Grootel, Maike; Moll, Henri C.; Reinders, Angèle; Keyson, David

In discussions on smart grids, it is often stated that residential end-users will play a more active role in the management of the electric power system. Experience in practice on how to empower end-users for such a role is however limited. This paper presents a field study in the first phase of the

An end-user perspective on smart home energy systems in the PowerMatching City demonstration project

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Geelen, D.V.; Vos-Vlamings, M.; Fillippidou, F.; van den Noort, A.; van Grootel, M.; Moll, H.; Reinders, Angelina H.M.E.; Keyson, D.

2013-01-01

In discussions on smart grids, it is often stated that residential end-users will play a more active role in the management of the electric power system. Experience in practice on how to empower end-users for such a role is however limited. This paper presents a field study in the first phase of the

A Model-Driven Approach to Graphical User Interface Runtime Adaptation

OpenAIRE

Criado, Javier; Vicente Chicote, Cristina; Iribarne, Luis; Padilla, Nicolás

2010-01-01

Graphical user interfaces play a key role in human-computer interaction, as they link the system with its end-users, allowing information exchange and improving communication. Nowadays, users increasingly demand applications with adaptive interfaces that dynamically evolve in response to their specific needs. Thus, providing graphical user interfaces with runtime adaptation capabilities is becoming more and more an important issue. To address this problem, this paper proposes a componen...

The Design and Evaluation of a Front-End User Interface for Energy Researchers.

Science.gov (United States)

Borgman, Christine L.; And Others

1989-01-01

Reports on the Online Access to Knowledge (OAK) Project, which developed software to support end user access to a Department of Energy database based on the skill levels and needs of energy researchers. The discussion covers issues in development, evaluation, and the study of user behavior in designing an interface tailored to a special…

The Responsibility of Telemedicine Focused Organizations in regards to creating Compliant end Users Products and Services

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Adrian Dumitru Tanţău

2014-02-01

Full Text Available The main purpose of the present study is to provide a highly comprehensive methodological solution for carrying out products/services which fully comply with customers (i.e. end users functional and performance requirements in Telemedicine field, and furthermore to satisfy multitude end users simultaneously. By bringing into the light Systems Engineering (SE as a multidisciplinary theory used preponderantly in the aero-space segment for realization of complex projects, the paper illustrates the way it can be fulfilled the Functional and Performance Requirements of the end users from Romanian (non emergency medicine services in order to develop an innovative telemedicine product. The case study is based on two sets of qualitative researches as interviews in order to validate the telemedicine triggering idea among users, and to classify them, and secondly, as ample observations in order to gain insights on the users' scenarios and further to elaborate user requirements. Both sets of researches undertaken from users' specific environments were backed up with secondary information gained through document analysis. Relevant for this telemedicine research, it is the fact that the results of this survey have been already successfully used as a baseline to prototype the telemedicine product for Romanian market, in a European Space Agency (ESA Project.

Closing the Gap between Methodologists and End-Users: R as a Computational Back-End

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Byron C. Wallace

2012-06-01

Full Text Available The R environment provides a natural platform for developing new statistical methods due to the mathematical expressiveness of the language, the large number of existing libraries, and the active developer community. One drawback to R, however, is the learning curve; programming is a deterrent to non-technical users, who typically prefer graphical user interfaces (GUIs to command line environments. Thus, while statisticians develop new methods in R, practitioners are often behind in terms of the statistical techniques they use as they rely on GUI applications. Meta-analysis is an instructive example; cutting-edge meta-analysis methods are often ignored by the overwhelming majority of practitioners, in part because they have no easy way of applying them. This paper proposes a strategy to close the gap between the statistical state-of-the-science and what is applied in practice. We present open-source meta-analysis software that uses R as the underlying statistical engine, and Python for the GUI. We present a framework that allows methodologists to implement new methods in R that are then automatically integrated into the GUI for use by end-users, so long as the programmer conforms to our interface. Such an approach allows an intuitive interface for non-technical users while leveraging the latest advanced statistical methods implemented by methodologists.

Research on Demand Analysis of the Users of the Senior English Diagnostic System

Science.gov (United States)

Guo, Chen; Zhang, Hui; Yao, Qian; Wu, Min

2013-01-01

As the significance of learning English is becoming increasingly apparent, more and more English online practice systems are used by English learners. However, a thorough process of research and detailed analysis of user demand have not fully implemented before the design of these systems. As a result, these systems may suffer the defects of low…

Model Manipulation for End-User Modelers

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Acretoaie, Vlad

, and transformations using their modeling notation and editor of choice. The VM* languages are implemented via a single execution engine, the VM* Runtime, built on top of the Henshin graph-based transformation engine. This approach combines the benefits of flexibility, maturity, and formality. To simplify model editor......End-user modelers are domain experts who create and use models as part of their work. They are typically not Software Engineers, and have little or no programming and meta-modeling experience. However, using model manipulation languages developed in the context of Model-Driven Engineering often...... requires such experience. These languages are therefore only used by a small subset of the modelers that could, in theory, benefit from them. The goals of this thesis are to substantiate this observation, introduce the concepts and tools required to overcome it, and provide empirical evidence in support...

End-user perspective of low-cost sensors for outdoor air pollution monitoring.

Science.gov (United States)

Rai, Aakash C; Kumar, Prashant; Pilla, Francesco; Skouloudis, Andreas N; Di Sabatino, Silvana; Ratti, Carlo; Yasar, Ansar; Rickerby, David

2017-12-31

Low-cost sensor technology can potentially revolutionise the area of air pollution monitoring by providing high-density spatiotemporal pollution data. Such data can be utilised for supplementing traditional pollution monitoring, improving exposure estimates, and raising community awareness about air pollution. However, data quality remains a major concern that hinders the widespread adoption of low-cost sensor technology. Unreliable data may mislead unsuspecting users and potentially lead to alarming consequences such as reporting acceptable air pollutant levels when they are above the limits deemed safe for human health. This article provides scientific guidance to the end-users for effectively deploying low-cost sensors for monitoring air pollution and people's exposure, while ensuring reasonable data quality. We review the performance characteristics of several low-cost particle and gas monitoring sensors and provide recommendations to end-users for making proper sensor selection by summarizing the capabilities and limitations of such sensors. The challenges, best practices, and future outlook for effectively deploying low-cost sensors, and maintaining data quality are also discussed. For data quality assurance, a two-stage sensor calibration process is recommended, which includes laboratory calibration under controlled conditions by the manufacturer supplemented with routine calibration checks performed by the end-user under final deployment conditions. For large sensor networks where routine calibration checks are impractical, statistical techniques for data quality assurance should be utilised. Further advancements and adoption of sophisticated mathematical and statistical techniques for sensor calibration, fault detection, and data quality assurance can indeed help to realise the promised benefits of a low-cost air pollution sensor network. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Mapping the seafloor, with end users in mind

Science.gov (United States)

Lecours, V.

2017-12-01

In the last 25 years, as more seafloor data and user-friendly analysis tools have become available, the amount and diversity of applications making use of such data have considerably increased. While limitations in the utility of the data caused by the data collection and processing methods may be quite apparent to experts, such limitations may be less obvious to users with different background and expertise. For instance, it has been acknowledged many times in the literature that seafloor data are often treated as true representations of the seafloor rather that as models. This lack of understanding brings hidden dangers to unsuspecting end users misusing data, which may result in misleading outcomes/conclusions for different applications like marine geomorphology, marine habitat mapping, marine conservation, and management of marine resources. In this paper, I identify common practices of both data producers and users that can prevent a proper use of seafloor data. Using seafloor data from a variety of locations and sources, I demonstrate how the choice of soundings interpolator, elements of data quality, scale alterations, and backscatter representation can impact applications. I show how these elements propagate throughout analyses and directly influence outcomes, sometimes in predictable ways (e.g. in marine geomorphology) and sometimes in unpredictable ways (e.g. in marine habitat mapping). Regardless of the final use of seafloor data, better and more transparent error and uncertainty quantification and representation should be implemented at the data collection, processing, and analysis levels. Complete metadata should always be documented, with elements related to data provenance, survey, scale, error and uncertainty quantification, and any other information relevant to further use of seafloor data, in order to create a community of users aware of data quality and limitations. As the number of applications using seafloor data increases, some of the

Supporting Dynamic Service Composition at Runtime based on End-user Requirements

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Goncalves da Silva, Eduardo; Ferreira Pires, Luis; van Sinderen, Marten J.; Dustdar, S.; Hauswirth, M.; Hierro, J. J.; Soriano, J.; Urmetzer, F.; Möller, K.; Rivera, I.

2009-01-01

Network-based software application services are receiving a lot of attention in recent years, as observed in developments as Internet of Services, Software as a Service and Cloud Computing. A service-oriented computing ecosystem is being created where the end-user is having an increasingly more

End-user Acceptance of Online Shopping Sites in India

OpenAIRE

Bolar K; Shaw B

2015-01-01

Online shopping sites have recently gained momentum in India. Since the ecommerce industry is in infancy state, customer (end user) satisfaction with the online shopping is the prime concern because decreasing customer satisfaction leads to negative electronic word of mouth (eWOM) which is very severe for the business. Through a dataset gathered from 127 online shopping customers in with respect to online shopping sites in India, this study investigates the role of website quality, informatio...

MSAT wide-area fleet management: End-user requirements and applications

Science.gov (United States)

Pedersen, Allister

1995-01-01

MSAT (Mobile SATellite) Services will become a reality in North America in 1995. MSAT will provide wide-area voice, data and fax services to land, marine and aeronautical mobile users anywhere in North America including 200 nautical miles off the coasts and into the Arctic waters. MSAT will also convey GPS position information from mobiles to dispatch centers. One broad application of MSAT is Wide Area Fleet Management (WAFM). This paper defines WAFM, outlines end-user requirements and identifies potential applications of MSAT WAFM. The paper draws from information obtained in several preMSAT WAFM field trials in land, marine and aeronautical mobile environments. The paper concludes with an outline of the potential benefits of MSAT WAFM.

Electricity demand savings from distributed solar photovoltaics

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Glassmire, John; Komor, Paul; Lilienthal, Peter

2012-01-01

Due largely to recent dramatic cost reductions, photovoltaics (PVs) are poised to make a significant contribution to electricity supply. In particular, distributed applications of PV on rooftops, brownfields, and other similar applications – hold great technical potential. In order for this potential to be realized, however, PV must be “cost-effective”—that is, it must be sufficiently financially appealing to attract large amounts of investment capital. Electricity costs for most commercial and industrial end-users come in two forms: consumption (kWh) and demand (kW). Although rates vary, for a typical larger commercial or industrial user, demand charges account for about ∼40% of total electricity costs. This paper uses a case study of PV on a large university campus to reveal that even very large PV installations will often provide very small demand reductions. As a result, it will be very difficult for PV to demonstrate cost-effectiveness for large commercial customers, even if PV costs continue to drop. If policymakers would like PV to play a significant role in electricity generation – for economic development, carbon reduction, or other reasons – then rate structures will need significant adjustment, or improved distributed storage technologies will be needed. - Highlights: ► Demand charges typically account for ∼40% of total electricity costs for larger electricity users. ► Distributed photovoltaic (PV) systems provide minimal demand charge reductions. ► As a result, PVs are not a financially viable alternative to centralized electricity. ► Electricity rate structures will need changes for PV to be a major electricity source.

2016 CSSE L3 Milestone: Deliver In Situ to XTD End Users

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Patchett, John M. [Los Alamos National Lab. (LANL), Los Alamos, NM (United States); Nouanesengsy, Boonthanome [Los Alamos National Lab. (LANL), Los Alamos, NM (United States); Fasel, Patricia Kroll [Los Alamos National Lab. (LANL), Los Alamos, NM (United States); Ahrens, James Paul [Los Alamos National Lab. (LANL), Los Alamos, NM (United States)

2016-09-13

This report summarizes the activities in FY16 toward satisfying the CSSE 2016 L3 milestone to deliver in situ to XTD end users of EAP codes. The Milestone was accomplished with ongoing work to ensure the capability is maintained and developed. Two XTD end users used the in situ capability in Rage. A production ParaView capability was created in the HPC and Desktop environment. Two new capabilities were added to ParaView in support of an EAP in situ workflow. We also worked with various support groups at the lab to deploy a production ParaView in the LANL environment for both desktop and HPC systems. . In addition, for this milestone, we moved two VTK based filters from research objects into the production ParaView code to support a variety of standard visualization pipelines for our EAP codes.

75 FR 80747 - End-User Exception to Mandatory Clearing of Swaps

Science.gov (United States)

2010-12-23

..., via its Comments Online process: http://comments.cftc.gov . Follow the instructions for submitting... predominantly engaged in activities that are in the business of banking or financial in nature, as defined in... regarding use of the end-user clearing exception to be made through SDRs? What are the advantages or...

Integrated graphical user interface for the back-end software sub-system

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Badescu, E.; Caprini, M.

2001-01-01

The ATLAS data acquisition and Event Filter prototype '-1' project was intended to produce a prototype system for evaluating candidate technologies and architectures for the final ATLAS DAQ system on the LHC accelerator at CERN. Within the prototype project, the back-end sub-system encompasses the software for configuring, controlling and monitoring the data acquisition (DAQ). The back-end sub-system includes core components and detector integration components. One of the detector integration components is the Integrated Graphical User Interface (IGUI), which is intended to give a view of the status of the DAQ system and its sub-systems (Dataflow, Event Filter and Back-end) and to allow the user (general users, such as a shift operator at a test beam or experts, in order to control and debug the DAQ system) to control its operation. The IGUI is intended to be a Status Display and a Control Interface too, so there are three groups of functional requirements: display requirements (the information to be displayed); control requirements (the actions the IGUI shall perform on the DAQ components); general requirements, applying to the general functionality of the IGUI. The constraint requirements include requirements related to the access control (shift operator or expert user). The quality requirements are related to the portability on different platforms. The IGUI has to interact with many components in a distributed environment. The following design guidelines have been considered in order to fulfil the requirements: use a modular design with easy possibility to integrate different sub-systems; use Java language for portability and powerful graphical features; use CORBA interfaces for communication with other components. The actual implementation of Back-end software components use Inter-Language Unification (ILU) for inter-process communication. Different methods of access of Java applications to ILU C++ servers have been evaluated (native methods, ILU Java support

From Iser to Turner and beyond: reception theory meets cognitive criticism

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Craig Hamilton

2012-01-01

Full Text Available In this essay, we review the work of Wolfgang Iser, the major proponent of reception theory, and Mark Turner, the major proponent of cognitive criticism. The two theoretical lines advocated by Iser and Turner focus on the cognitive processes involved with reading literary texts. Unfortunately, bibliographic blind spots in both lines lead to the assumption that there is little overlap between reception theory and cognitive criticism. We put this assumption to rest by comparing and contrasting works by Iser and Turner in detail, starting with Iser’s work in the mid-1970s and ending with Turner’s work in the late 1990s.

Internal versus external preference analysis : an exploratory study on end-user evaluation

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Kleef, van E.; Trijp, van H.C.M.; Luning, P.A.

2006-01-01

Internal and external preference analysis emphasise fundamentally different perspectives on the same data. We extend the literature on comparisons between internal and external preference analysis by incorporating the perspective of the end user of the preference analysis results. From a conceptual

Re-Mediating Research Ethics: End-User License Agreements in Online Games

Science.gov (United States)

Chee, Florence M.; Taylor, Nicholas T.; de Castell, Suzanne

2012-01-01

This article is a theoretical and empirical exploration of the meaning that accompanies contractual agreements, such as the End-User License Agreements (EULAs) that participants of online communities are required to sign as a condition of participation. As our study indicates, clicking "I agree" on the often lengthy conditions presented during the…

Identification and implementation of end-user needs during development of a state-of-the-art modeling tool-set - 59069

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Seitz, Roger; Williamson, Mark; Gerdes, Kurt; Freshley, Mark; Dixon, Paul; Collazo, Yvette T.; Hubbard, Susan

2012-01-01

The U.S. Department of Energy (US DOE) Office of Environmental Management, Technology Innovation and Development is supporting a multi-National Laboratory effort to develop the Advanced Simulation Capability for Environmental Management (ASCEM). ASCEM is an emerging state-of-the-art scientific approach and software infrastructure for understanding and predicting contaminant fate and transport in natural and engineered systems. These modular and open-source high performance computing tools and user interfaces will facilitate integrated approaches that enable standardized assessments of performance and risk for EM cleanup and closure decisions. The ASCEM team recognized that engaging end-users in the ASCEM development process would lead to enhanced development and implementation of the ASCEM tool-sets in the user community. End-user involvement in ASCEM covers a broad spectrum of perspectives, including: performance assessment (PA) and risk assessment practitioners, research scientists, decision-makers, oversight personnel, and regulators engaged in the US DOE cleanup mission. End-users are primarily engaged in ASCEM via the ASCEM User Steering Committee (USC) and the 'user needs interface' task. Future plans also include user involvement in demonstrations of the ASCEM tools. This paper will describe the details of how end users have been engaged in the ASCEM program and will demonstrate how this involvement has strengthened both the tool development and community confidence. ASCEM tools requested by end-users specifically target modeling challenges associated with US DOE cleanup activities. The demonstration activities involve application of ASCEM tools and capabilities to representative problems at DOE sites. Selected results from the ASCEM Phase 1 demonstrations are discussed to illustrate how capabilities requested by end-users were implemented in prototype versions of the ASCEM tool. The ASCEM team engaged a variety of interested parties early in the development

A content validity approach to creating an end-user computer skill assessment tool

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Shirley Gibbs

Full Text Available Practical assessment instruments are commonly used in the workplace and educational environments to assess a person\\'s level of digital literacy and end-user computer skill. However, it is often difficult to find statistical evidence of the actual validity of instruments being used. To ensure that the correct factors are being assessed for a particular purpose it is necessary to undertake some type of psychometric testing, and the first step is to study the content relevance of the measure. The purpose of this paper is to report on the rigorous judgment-quantification process using panels of experts in order to establish inter-rater reliability and agreement in the development of end-user instruments developed to measure workplace skills using spreadsheet and word-processing applications.

15 CFR Supplement No. 8 to Part 748 - Information Required in Requests for Validated End-User (Veu) Authorization

Science.gov (United States)

2010-01-01

... overview of any business activity or corporate relationship that the entity has with either government or... structure, ownership and business of the prospective validated end-user. Include a description of the entity...-site reviews by U.S. Government officials to verify the end-user's compliance with the conditions of...

Assessment of end-use electricity consumption and peak demand by Townsville's housing stock

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ren, Zhengen; Paevere, Phillip; Grozev, George; Egan, Stephen; Anticev, Julia

2013-01-01

We have developed a comprehensive model to estimate annual end-use electricity consumption and peak demand of housing stock, considering occupants' use of air conditioning systems and major appliances. The model was applied to analyse private dwellings in Townsville, Australia's largest tropical city. For the financial year (FY) 2010–11 the predicted results agreed with the actual electricity consumption with an error less than 10% for cooling thermostat settings at the standard setting temperature of 26.5 °C and at 1.0 °C higher than the standard setting. The greatest difference in monthly electricity consumption in the summer season between the model and the actual data decreased from 21% to 2% when the thermostat setting was changed from 26.5 °C to 27.5 °C. Our findings also showed that installation of solar panels in Townville houses could reduce electricity demand from the grid and would have a minor impact on the yearly peak demand. A key new feature of the model is that it can be used to predict probability distribution of energy demand considering (a) that appliances may be used randomly and (b) the way people use thermostats. The peak demand for the FY estimated from the probability distribution tracked the actual peak demand at 97% confidence level. - Highlights: • We developed a model to estimate housing stock energy consumption and peak demand. • Appliances used randomly and thermostat settings for space cooling were considered. • On-site installation of solar panels was also considered. • Its' results agree well with the actual electricity consumption and peak demand. • It shows the model could provide the probability distribution of electricity demand

Reception research 2.0

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Mathieu, David

Some might argue that reception analysis is a remnant of the past in an age where “people formerly known as the audience” (Rosen, 2006) are producing and circulating content on a diversity of interactive and participatory media platforms. Far from being the case, reception research must continue......, which appears increasingly complex, multi-formed and integrated to the audience. The original dimensions of Schrøder’s model need to be looked at with reference to both reception and circulation (Jenkins et al., 2013), and to the network that binds participatory media culture. It appears that with media...... 2.0, phenomena which traditionally fell under the labels of interpretation or reception are increasingly taking part in the media text itself. As audiences become textual matters, they contribute to set a new agenda for media research....

Analyses Of Two End-User Software Vulnerability Exposure Metrics

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Jason L. Wright; Miles McQueen; Lawrence Wellman

2012-08-01

The risk due to software vulnerabilities will not be completely resolved in the near future. Instead, putting reliable vulnerability measures into the hands of end-users so that informed decisions can be made regarding the relative security exposure incurred by choosing one software package over another is of importance. To that end, we propose two new security metrics, average active vulnerabilities (AAV) and vulnerability free days (VFD). These metrics capture both the speed with which new vulnerabilities are reported to vendors and the rate at which software vendors fix them. We then examine how the metrics are computed using currently available datasets and demonstrate their estimation in a simulation experiment using four different browsers as a case study. Finally, we discuss how the metrics may be used by the various stakeholders of software and to software usage decisions.

Limits of the Brazilian social welfare policy in view of social demands of users with acute leukemia: reflections of Social Work

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Renata Fonseca Silva

2013-07-01

Full Text Available The article analyzes the limits of Social Welfare in view of the social demands of users with acute leukemia. Treatment of this disease is characterized by its high complexity, exposing the patient to a series of clinical requirements. Such treatment condition produces greater demands when users are inserted in a context permeated by social issues. Thus, centrality of social policies is found as an essential resource for ensuring effective treatment of these users. However, considering the focus and fragmentation of social policies, a retraction of social rights is observed.

Smart Demand Response Based on Smart Homes

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jingang Lai

2015-01-01

Full Text Available Smart homes (SHs are crucial parts for demand response management (DRM of smart grid (SG. The aim of SHs based demand response (DR is to provide a flexible two-way energy feedback whilst (or shortly after the consumption occurs. It can potentially persuade end-users to achieve energy saving and cooperate with the electricity producer or supplier to maintain balance between the electricity supply and demand through the method of peak shaving and valley filling. However, existing solutions are challenged by the lack of consideration between the wide application of fiber power cable to the home (FPCTTH and related users’ behaviors. Based on the new network infrastructure, the design and development of smart DR systems based on SHs are related with not only functionalities as security, convenience, and comfort, but also energy savings. A new multirouting protocol based on Kruskal’s algorithm is designed for the reliability and safety of the SHs distribution network. The benefits of FPCTTH-based SHs are summarized at the end of the paper.

75 FR 62462 - Additions to the List of Validated End-Users in the People's Republic of China: Hynix...

Science.gov (United States)

2010-10-12

...-01] RIN 0694-AE95 Additions to the List of Validated End-Users in the People's Republic of China... Corporation to the list of validated end-users in the People's Republic of China (PRC). With this rule, exports, reexports and transfers (in-country) of certain items to one facility of Hynix Semiconductor...

From top to bottom: end user development motivation, creativity and organisational support

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Kierkegaard, P.M.; Markopoulos, P.; Costabile, M.F.; Dittrich, Y.; Piccino, A.

2011-01-01

This paper examines the socio-technical and organisational factors that influence the adoption of End User Development (EUD) technology and practices at the workplace. This research focuses on the rehabilitation industry, where a 64-item paper-based survey was completed by 52 therapists working at

Streamlining On-Demand Access to Joint Polar Satellite System (JPSS) Data Products for Weather Forecasting

Science.gov (United States)

Evans, J. D.; Tislin, D.

2017-12-01

Observations from the Joint Polar Satellite System (JPSS) support National Weather Service (NWS) forecasters, whose Advanced Weather Interactive Processing System (AWIPS) Data Delivery (DD) will access JPSS data products on demand from the National Environmental Satellite, Data, and Information Service (NESDIS) Product Distribution and Access (PDA) service. Based on the Open Geospatial Consortium (OGC) Web Coverage Service, this on-demand service promises broad interoperability and frugal use of data networks by serving only the data that a user needs. But the volume, velocity, and variety of JPSS data products impose several challenges to such a service. It must be efficient to handle large volumes of complex, frequently updated data, and to fulfill many concurrent requests. It must offer flexible data handling and delivery, to work with a diverse and changing collection of data, and to tailor its outputs into products that users need, with minimal coordination between provider and user communities. It must support 24x7 operation, with no pauses in incoming data or user demand; and it must scale to rapid changes in data volume, variety, and demand as new satellites launch, more products come online, and users rely increasingly on the service. We are addressing these challenges in order to build an efficient and effective on-demand JPSS data service. For example, on-demand subsetting by many users at once may overload a server's processing capacity or its disk bandwidth - unless alleviated by spatial indexing, geolocation transforms, or pre-tiling and caching. Filtering by variable (/ band / layer) may also alleviate network loads, and provide fine-grained variable selection; to that end we are investigating how best to provide random access into the variety of spatiotemporal JPSS data products. Finally, producing tailored products (derivatives, aggregations) can boost flexibility for end users; but some tailoring operations may impose significant server loads

Factors influencing car users propensity to shift to other modes and their impacts on demand for airport parking facilities

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Konstantinos Panou

2014-01-01

Full Text Available Purpose: The aim of this paper is to analyse the factors influencing car user behaviour and examine the possible impacts of public transit improvements on the demand for airport long-term parking facilities. The case of the Athens International Airport (AIA is considered for the analysis. Design/methodology/approach: The followed approach comprises three steps: First the related literature is reviewed (section 2 and the methodological approach is presented (section 3. Then data collection is carried out through a survey questionnaire comprising a Revealed Preferences (RP and a Stated Preference (SP part (section 4. The compiled data is processed using factor analysis (section 5. Finally, the results are assessed leading to the drawing of final conclusions (section 6. Findings: The results of the analysis enable: (a to determine different user groups with different demand elasticities and likelihoods to shift to public transport, and (b to conclude from the quantitative representation of the different user groups the real impact on the car parking demand. Research limitations: The analysis gives no consideration to the mix of measures that can possibly increase competitiveness of parking services such as real-time information about availability of parking space to users; online booking and discount rates for early birds, etc. Originality/value: The paper includes original work based on primary data from a field survey, similar of which has not been published for the AIA. The results are important for airport authorities to keep a balance between parking demand and supply by formulating the right marketing policies.

Association Between Receptivity to Tobacco Advertising and Progression to Tobacco Use in Youth and Young Adults in the PATH Study.

Science.gov (United States)

Pierce, John P; Sargent, James D; Portnoy, David B; White, Martha; Noble, Madison; Kealey, Sheila; Borek, Nicolette; Carusi, Charles; Choi, Kelvin; Green, Victoria R; Kaufman, Annette R; Leas, Eric; Lewis, M Jane; Margolis, Katherine A; Messer, Karen; Shi, Yuyan; Silveira, Marushka L; Snyder, Kimberly; Stanton, Cassandra A; Tanski, Susanne E; Bansal-Travers, Maansi; Trinidad, Dennis; Hyland, Andrew

2018-03-26

Cigarette marketing contributes to initiation of cigarette smoking among young people, which has led to restrictions on use of cigarette advertising. However, little is known about other tobacco advertising and progression to tobacco use in youth and young adults. To investigate whether receptivity to tobacco advertising among youth and young adults is associated with progression (being a susceptible never user or ever user) to use of the product advertised, as well as conventional cigarette smoking. The Population Assessment of Tobacco and Health (PATH) Study at wave 1 (2013-2014) and 1-year follow-up at wave 2 (2014-2015) was conducted in a US population-based sample of never tobacco users aged 12 to 24 years from wave 1 of the PATH Study (N = 10 989). Household interviews using audio computer-assisted self-interviews were conducted. Advertising for conventional cigarettes, electronic cigarettes (e-cigarettes), cigars, and smokeless tobacco products at wave 1. Progression to susceptibility or ever tobacco use at 1-year follow-up in wave 2. Of the 10 989 participants (5410 male [weighted percentage, 48.3%]; 5579 female [weighted percentage, 51.7%]), receptivity to any tobacco advertising at wave 1 was high for those aged 12 to 14 years (44.0%; 95% confidence limit [CL], 42.6%-45.4%) but highest for those aged 18 to 21 years (68.7%; 95% CL, 64.9%-72.2%). e-Cigarette advertising had the highest receptivity among all age groups. For those aged 12 to 17 years, susceptibility to use a product at wave 1 was significantly associated with product use at wave 2 for conventional cigarettes, e-cigarettes, cigars, and smokeless tobacco products. Among committed never users aged 12 to 17 years at wave 1, any receptivity was associated with progression toward use of the product at wave 2 (conventional cigarettes: adjusted odds ratio [AOR], 1.43; 95% CL, 1.23-1.65; e-cigarettes: AOR, 1.62; 95% CL, 1.41-1.85; cigars: AOR, 2.01; 95% CL, 1.62-2.49; and smokeless (males only

Visualization for Hyper-Heuristics. Front-End Graphical User Interface

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Kroenung, Lauren [Sandia National Lab. (SNL-NM), Albuquerque, NM (United States)

2015-03-01

Modern society is faced with ever more complex problems, many of which can be formulated as generate-and-test optimization problems. General-purpose optimization algorithms are not well suited for real-world scenarios where many instances of the same problem class need to be repeatedly and efficiently solved because they are not targeted to a particular scenario. Hyper-heuristics automate the design of algorithms to create a custom algorithm for a particular scenario. While such automated design has great advantages, it can often be difficult to understand exactly how a design was derived and why it should be trusted. This project aims to address these issues of usability by creating an easy-to-use graphical user interface (GUI) for hyper-heuristics to support practitioners, as well as scientific visualization of the produced automated designs. My contributions to this project are exhibited in the user-facing portion of the developed system and the detailed scientific visualizations created from back-end data.

Integrating virtual reality and BIM for end-user involvement in building design

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Petrova, Ekaterina Aleksandrova; Rasmussen, Mai; Jensen, Rasmus Lund

2017-01-01

The outcome of projects within Architecture, Engineering, and Construction is highly dependent on the quality of the collaboration between the involved actors. The end-users occupy the buildings on a daily basis, and therefore their involvement in the design process is essential to the output. Ho...

Receptive processer og IT

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Ambjørn, Lone

2002-01-01

Sproglæringsteoretisk værktøj til udvikling af IT-støttede materialer og programmer inden for sproglig reception......Sproglæringsteoretisk værktøj til udvikling af IT-støttede materialer og programmer inden for sproglig reception...

End-user programming architecture facilitates the uptake of robots in social therapies

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Barakova, E.I.; Gillesen, J.C.C.; Huskens, Bibi; Lourens, T.

2013-01-01

This paper proposes an architecture that makes programming of robot behavior of an arbitrary complexity possible for end-users and shows the technical solutions in a way that is easy to understand and generalize to different situations. It aims to facilitate the uptake and actual use of robot

User-oriented end-to-end transport protocols for the real-time distribution of telemetry data from NASA spacecraft

Science.gov (United States)

Hooke, A. J.

1979-01-01

A set of standard telemetry protocols for downlink data flow facilitating the end-to-end transport of instrument data from the spacecraft to the user in real time is proposed. The direct switching of data by autonomous message 'packets' that are assembled by the source instrument on the spacecraft is discussed. The data system consists thus of a format on a message rather than word basis, and such packet telemetry would include standardized protocol headers. Standards are being developed within the NASA End-to-End Data System (NEEDS) program for the source packet and transport frame protocols. The source packet protocol contains identification of both the sequence number of the packet as it is generated by the source and the total length of the packet, while the transport frame protocol includes a sequence count defining the serial number of the frame as it is generated by the spacecraft data system, and a field specifying any 'options' selected in the format of the frame itself.

Supplies should match growing demand

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Rasmusen, H.J.

1997-01-01

The natural gas industry is currently enjoying healthy growth prospects. Not only is the demand for natural gas steadily growing; the outlook for increasing gas reserves is promising as well. The success of natural gas in the marketplace reflects, on one hand, continuous attention paid to public and customer requirements and, on the other hand, the ability of the gas industry to direct technological developments toward the increasing public demand for gas at competitive market prices supplied in a reliable, safe and environmentally friendly manner. In the past, the gas industry has been involved in the development of technologies for everything from gas production to the end user and from borehole to burner tip, and the author believes that the industry must continue or even increase its emphasis on technology in the future in order to capture new market opportunities. He explains this by looking at the supply side, the demand side and the structural side of the business

Individual 3D measurements of end users to personalize work wear clothing

Science.gov (United States)

Mielicka, E.; Napieralska, L.; Jasińska, I.; Jarzyna, V.

2017-10-01

Body silhouette 3D measurements need to be performed separately in each country due to significant ethnic differences in body silhouette which preclude the transfer of European data to particular countries. Systematic research allows to update information on the population body silhouette and body proportions as well as select the size changes possible to implement in clothing construction modifications. The diversity in body silhouettes and sizes as well as the issue of clothing fitting encourage clothing producers to provide work wear clothing based on individual measurements of the end users’ bodies. In the framework of the carried research, the group of construction workers was selected as the target group of the analysed work wear clothing users. 42 construction workers, men only, were measured. The body silhouette measurement process was non-contact and was carried out with the use of 3D body scanner. The collected data on the body silhouette allowed to select sizes used to construct the work wear clothing and identify the clothing size. The selected measurement points of the body silhouette underwent statistical analysis to determine the distribution of random variables, here body sizes. The variables distribution characteristics were calculated. On that basis, the fitting appraisal of work wear clothing with respect to the size of the finished product corresponding to the adequate size of individually measured worker/end user was performed. The size overview of the work wear clothing used by the specific professional group and the appraisal of the size fitting to the body silhouette took into consideration the work wear clothing ergonomic functionality with respect to the body posture when performing the tasks, design and clothing construction. The analysis based on the currently gathered end users’ remarks and objections concerning the clothing fitting and performed body silhouette measurements allows to modify the existing work wear clothing for the

Measuring receptive collocational competence across proficiency ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

The present study investigates (i) English as Foreign Language (EFL) learners' receptive collocational knowledge growth in relation to their linguistic proficiency level; (ii) how much receptive collocational knowledge is acquired as linguistic proficiency develops; and (iii) the extent to which receptive knowledge of ...

Operation management system evaluation in the central Finland health care district - end users' view of system implementation.

Science.gov (United States)

Lemmetty, Kaisa; Häyrinen, Eija

2005-01-01

In this paper we evaluate the implementation of the operation management system in the Central Finland Health Care District. The implementation of the operation management system changed the practice of operation management for the surgical clinic and concerned 500 personnel in total. A survey was carried out to investigate the end users' views on the system's usefulness, usability and the training and user support provided. The users' possibilities to accomplish their tasks and the kind of obstacles they face in operation management were explored. The assessment revealed that more end support is needed after the system implementation, even though a generally positive attitude towards the system was manifested among the staff.

Factors affecting the diffusion of online end user literature searching.

Science.gov (United States)

Ash, J S

1999-01-01

The aim of this study was to identify factors that affect diffusion of usage of online end user literature searching. Fifteen factors clustered into three attribute sets (innovation attributes, organizational attributes, and marketing attributes) were measured to study their effect on the diffusion of online searching within institutions. A random sample of sixty-seven academic health sciences centers was selected and then 1,335 library and informatics staff members at those institutions were surveyed by mail with electronic mail follow-up. Multiple regression analysis was performed. The survey yielded a 41% response rate with electronic mail follow-up being particularly effective. Two dependent variables, internal diffusion (spread of diffusion) and infusion (depth of diffusion), were measured. There was little correlation between them, indicating they measured different things. Fifteen independent variables clustered into three attribute sets were measured. The innovation attributes set was significant for both internal diffusion and infusion. Significant individual variables were visibility for internal diffusion and image enhancement effects (negative relation) as well as visibility for infusion (depth of diffusion). Organizational attributes were also significant predictors for both dependent variables. No individual variables were significant for internal diffusion. Communication, management support (negative relation), rewards, and existence of champions were significant for infusion. Marketing attributes were not significant predictors. Successful diffusion of online end user literature searching is dependent on the visibility of the systems, communication among, rewards to, and peers of possible users who promote use (champions). Personal image enhancement effects have a negative relation to infusion, possibly because the use of intermediaries is still seen as the more luxurious way to have searches done. Management support also has a negative relation to

Brain Computer Interfaces on Track to Home: Results of the Evaluation at Disabled End-Users's Homes and Lessons Learnt

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Felip eMiralles

2015-11-01

Full Text Available The BackHome system is a multi-functional BCI system, the final outcome of a User Centred Design approach, whose ambition is to move BCI systems from laboratories into the home of people in need for their independent home use. The paper presents the results of testing and evaluation of the BackHome system with end-users at their own homes. Results show moderate to good acceptance from end-users, caregivers and therapists; which reported promising usability levels, good user satisfaction and levels of control in the use of services and home support based on remote monitoring tools.

Seeing the System through the End Users' Eyes: Shadow Expert Technique for Evaluating the Consistency of a Learning Management System

Science.gov (United States)

Holzinger, Andreas; Stickel, Christian; Fassold, Markus; Ebner, Martin

Interface consistency is an important basic concept in web design and has an effect on performance and satisfaction of end users. Consistency also has significant effects on the learning performance of both expert and novice end users. Consequently, the evaluation of consistency within a e-learning system and the ensuing eradication of irritating discrepancies in the user interface redesign is a big issue. In this paper, we report of our experiences with the Shadow Expert Technique (SET) during the evaluation of the consistency of the user interface of a large university learning management system. The main objective of this new usability evaluation method is to understand the interaction processes of end users with a specific system interface. Two teams of usability experts worked independently from each other in order to maximize the objectivity of the results. The outcome of this SET method is a list of recommended changes to improve the user interaction processes, hence to facilitate high consistency.

Broadband Wireline Provider Service: Optical Carrier - Fiber to the End User; BBRI_fiber12

Data.gov (United States)

University of Rhode Island Geospatial Extension Program — This dataset represents the availability of wireline broadband Internet access in Rhode Island via "Optical Carrier - Fiber to the End User" technology. Broadband...

Gender-Based Behavioral Analysis for End-User Development and the "RULES" Attributes

Science.gov (United States)

Tzafilkou, Katerina; Protogeros, Nicolaos; Karagiannidis, Charalampos; Koumpis, Adamantios

2017-01-01

This paper addresses the role of gender in End-User Development (EUD) environments and examines whether there are gender differences in performance and in correlations between performance and a set of behavioral attributes. Based on a review of the most prominent EUD-related behavioral Human Computer Interaction (HCI) theories, and the influence…

Energy efficiency business options for industrial end users in Latin American competitive energy markets: The case of Colombia

Science.gov (United States)

Botero, Sergio

2002-01-01

Energy markets today in Latin America and worldwide are being restructured from monopolies, either state-owned or privately-owned, to be more openly competitive and incorporate more participation from the private sector. Thus, the schemes that were formerly developed to foster end use energy efficiency are no longer applicable because they were based on mandatory regulations made with political decisions, without sufficiently considering economic feasibility. A consensus exists that the only way energy efficiency could survive in this new paradigm is by being market oriented, giving better services, and additional options to users. However; there is very little information on what end users prefer, and which options would most satisfy customers. Using Colombia as a case study, this research determines and categorizes the energy efficiency business options for large energy end users that can freely participate in the competitive energy market. The energy efficiency market is understood as a market of services aiming to increase efficiency in energy use. These services can be grouped into seven business options. A survey, following the descriptive method, was sent to energy end users in order to determine their preferences for specific energy efficiency business options, as well as the decision-making criteria taken into account for such options. This data was categorized in ten industry groups. As a conclusion, energy efficiency providers should adapt not only to the economic activity or processes of each customer, but also to the potential business options. It was also found that not all industries consider performance contracting as their most preferred option, as a matter of fact, some industries show much higher preference for conventional business options. Among end users, the divergence in option preferences contrasted with the convergence in decision-making criteria. The decision-making criteria "cost-benefit ratio" overwhelmed all other criterion. End users

Active versus receptive group music therapy for major depressive disorder-A pilot study.

Science.gov (United States)

Atiwannapat, Penchaya; Thaipisuttikul, Papan; Poopityastaporn, Patchawan; Katekaew, Wanwisa

2016-06-01

To compare the effects of 1) active group music therapy and 2) receptive group music therapy to group counseling in treatment of major depressive disorder (MDD). On top of standard care, 14 MDD outpatients were randomly assigned to receive 1) active group music therapy (n=5), 2) receptive group music therapy (n=5), or 3) group counseling (n=4). There were 12 one-hour weekly group sessions in each arm. Participants were assessed at baseline, 1 month (after 4 sessions), 3 months (end of interventions), and 6 months. Primary outcomes were depressive scores measured by Montgomery-Åsberg Depression Rating Scale (MADRS) Thai version. Secondary outcomes were self-rated depression score and quality of life. At 1 month, 3 months, and 6 months, both therapy groups showed statistically non-significant reduction in MADRS Thai scores when compared with the control group (group counseling). The reduction was slightly greater in the active group than the receptive group. Although there were trend toward better outcomes on self-report depression and quality of life, the differences were not statistically significant. Group music therapy, either active or receptive, is an interesting adjunctive treatment option for outpatients with MDD. The receptive group may reach peak therapeutic effect faster, but the active group may have higher peak effect. Group music therapy deserves further comprehensive studies. Copyright © 2016 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd.. All rights reserved.

75 FR 25763 - Addition to the List of Validated End-Users: Advanced Micro Devices China, Inc.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-05-10

... People's Republic of China (PRC) Consistent with U.S. Government policy to facilitate trade for civilian...-user to the list of validated end-users in the People's Republic of China (PRC). Exports, reexports and... Hand Delivery/Courier: Sheila Quarterman, U.S. Department of Commerce, Bureau of Industry and Security...

”Savage Spain”? On the reception of Spanish art in Britain and Ireland

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Edward Payne

2011-12-01

Full Text Available Review of: Nigel Glendinning and Hilary Macartney, eds, Spanish Art in Britain and Ireland, 1750–1920: Studies in Reception in Memory of Enriqueta Harris Frankfort, Woodbridge: Tamesis, 2010. This review evaluates the first scholarly study exclusively dedicated to the reception history of Spanish art in Britain and Ireland, 1750–1920. Progressing systematically through the different chapters, it highlights the various responses and perspectives that are addressed in the book. Issues of taste and collecting are examined, followed by historiographical concerns such as the methods and techniques of writing, illustrating and reproducing Spanish art in the nineteenth century. Shifting attitudes towards Spain and Spanish art are also explored, as are the roles of prominent figures in disseminating knowledge and appreciation of Spanish art, notably Sir William Stirling Maxwell and Richard Ford. Finally, the review outlines the critical fortunes of Spain’s foremost artists: Murillo, Velázquez, Ribera, Zurbarán and Goya. It ends by suggesting how this study could be expanded methodologically, considering the reception history of Spanish art in the light of important literature on reception theory and aesthetics.

Bruce X Longwood television reception survey

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hatanaka, G.K.

1992-01-01

Property owners living close to a proposed 500-kV transmission line route in Ontario expressed concerns that the line would affect their television reception. To give a reasonable evaluation of the impact of the transmission line, tests were conducted before and after installation of the line in which the possibility of active or passive interference to reception was assessed. Measurements were made of signal strength and ambient noise, and television reception was also recorded on videotape. Possible transmission line effects due to radiated noise, signal reduction, and ghosts are analyzed. The analysis of signal and noise conditions, and the assessment of videotaped reception, provide reasonable evidence that the line has had negligible impact on the television reception along the line route. 13 refs., 18 figs., 12 tabs

End users heat energy savings using thermostat regulation valves radiators, v. 16(64)

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Jakimovska, Emilija Misheva; Potsev, Eftim

2008-01-01

Billing the used heat energy offers the opportunity to motivate end users to use the heat energy rationally and to save the energy. Installing the thermostat valves on the radiators it is possible frequently to regulate the room temperature and to use the heat gains, obtaining comfortable climate in the apartments and saving the energy. Thermostat valves give the possibility to use the heat energy rationally and save the energy, and these way and users can regulate the heat energy consumption according to their own level of thermal comfort. (Author)

End users heat energy savings using thermostat regulation valves radiators, v. 16(63)

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Jakimovska, Emilija Misheva; Potsev, Eftim

2008-01-01

Billing the used heat energy offers the opportunity to motivate end users to use the heat energy rationally and to save the energy. Installing the thermostat valves on the radiators it is possible frequently to regulate the room temperature and to use the heat gains, obtaining comfortable climate in the apartments and saving the energy. Thermostat valves give the possibility to use the heat energy rationally and save the energy, and these way and users can regulate the heat energy consumption according to their own level of thermal comfort. (Author)

Influence of diffusion of fuel-efficient motor vehicles on gasoline demand for individual user owned passenger cars

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sakaguchi, Takahiro

2000-01-01

Trends in the demand for petrol in Japan for cars owned by individuals are discussed with reference to expected improvements in fuel efficiency for new models and the results of a survey of user preferences for fuel-efficient vehicles. Demand for petrol in Japan has continued to increase in line with the number of cars used by individual owners. A questionnaire on motor vehicles sent to households found that, while cost and body style were the primary factors in car purchase, three-quarters of respondents would consider buying a low fuel consumption (LFC) version of the model chosen. The influence of LFC vehicles on future demand for petrol was estimated for up to 2015 by combining market timing with consumer preferences. Comparison of the estimated petrol consumption by LFC cars with the Government's requirement for reduced energy use by the transport sector in order to meet its climate change targets indicated a shortfall and a need to increase consumer demand for LFC vehicles. Government measures to reduce energy use in the transport sector, fuel efficiency targets for 2010, major LFC cars, fuel efficiency improvements by major Japanese motor manufacturers and scenarios for assessing the influence of LFC cars are summarised in five tables. Trends in petrol consumption and estimated use by individual user owned passenger cars are shown graphically

Development of a New Web Portal for the Database on Demand Service

CERN Document Server

Altinigne, Can Yilmaz

2017-01-01

The Database on Demand service allows members of CERN communities to provision and manage database instances of different flavours (MySQL, Oracle, PostgreSQL and InfluxDB). Users can create and edit these instances using the web interface of DB On Demand. This web front end is currently on Java technologies and the ZK web framework, for which is generally difficult to find experienced developers and which has gotten to lack behind more modern web stacks in capabilities and usability.

Regional demand forecasting and simulation model: user's manual. Task 4, final report

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Parhizgari, A M

1978-09-25

The Department of Energy's Regional Demand Forecasting Model (RDFOR) is an econometric and simulation system designed to estimate annual fuel-sector-region specific consumption of energy for the US. Its purposes are to (1) provide the demand side of the Project Independence Evaluation System (PIES), (2) enhance our empirical insights into the structure of US energy demand, and (3) assist policymakers in their decisions on and formulations of various energy policies and/or scenarios. This report provides a self-contained user's manual for interpreting, utilizing, and implementing RDFOR simulation software packages. Chapters I and II present the theoretical structure and the simulation of RDFOR, respectively. Chapter III describes several potential scenarios which are (or have been) utilized in the RDFOR simulations. Chapter IV presents an overview of the complete software package utilized in simulation. Chapter V provides the detailed explanation and documentation of this package. The last chapter describes step-by-step implementation of the simulation package using the two scenarios detailed in Chapter III. The RDFOR model contains 14 fuels: gasoline, electricity, natural gas, distillate and residual fuels, liquid gases, jet fuel, coal, oil, petroleum products, asphalt, petroleum coke, metallurgical coal, and total fuels, spread over residential, commercial, industrial, and transportation sectors.

Oil-field equipment in Romania. Export trade information

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Tinis, R.

1991-09-01

The Industry Sector Analyses (I.S.A.) for oil field equipment contains statistical and narrative information on projected market demand, end-users, receptivity of Romanian consumers to U.S. products, the competitive situation - Romanian production, total import market, U.S. market position, foreign competition, and competitive factors, and market access - Romanian tariffs, non-tariff barriers, standards, taxes and distribution channels. The I.S.A. provides the United States industry with meaningful information regarding the Romanian market for oil field equipment

Automated Demand Response Approaches to Household Energy Management in a Smart Grid Environment

Science.gov (United States)

Adika, Christopher Otieno

The advancement of renewable energy technologies and the deregulation of the electricity market have seen the emergence of Demand response (DR) programs. Demand response is a cost-effective load management strategy which enables the electricity suppliers to maintain the integrity of the power grid during high peak periods, when the customers' electrical load is high. DR programs are designed to influence electricity users to alter their normal consumption patterns by offering them financial incentives. A well designed incentive-based DR scheme that offer competitive electricity pricing structure can result in numerous benefits to all the players in the electricity market. Lower power consumption during peak periods will significantly enhance the robustness of constrained networks by reducing the level of power of generation and transmission infrastructure needed to provide electric service. Therefore, this will ease the pressure of building new power networks as we avoiding costly energy procurements thereby translating into huge financial savings for the power suppliers. Peak load reduction will also reduce the inconveniences suffered by end users as a result of brownouts or blackouts. Demand response will also drastically lower the price peaks associated with wholesale markets. This will in turn reduce the electricity costs and risks for all the players in the energy market. Additionally, DR is environmentally friendly since it enhances the flexibility of the power grid through accommodation of renewable energy resources. Despite its many benefits, DR has not been embraced by most electricity networks. This can be attributed to the fact that the existing programs do not provide enough incentives to the end users and, therefore, most electricity users are not willing to participate in them. To overcome these challenges, most utilities are coming up with innovative strategies that will be more attractive to their customers. Thus, this dissertation presents various

Assessing the benefits of residential demand response in a real time distribution energy market

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Siano, Pierluigi; Sarno, Debora

2016-01-01

Highlights: • A new probabilistic methodology, integrating DR in a distribution energy market is proposed. • The method can alleviate distribution network congestions. • This method based on D-LMPs allows cost savings for end-user customers. • Innovative thermal and shiftable loads Real Time control algorithms are also presented. - Abstract: In the field of electricity distribution networks and with the advent of smart grids and microgrids, the use of Distribution Locational Marginal Price (D-LMPs) in a Real Time (RT) distribution market managed by a Distribution System Operator (DSO) is discussed in presence of empowered residential end-users that are able to bid for energy by a demand aggregator while following Demand Response (DR) initiatives. Each customer is provided by a transactive controller, which reads the locational market signals and answers with a bid taking into account the user preferences about some appliances involved in DR activities and controlled by smart plugs-in. In particular, Heating Ventilation and Air Conditioning (HVAC) appliances and shiftable loads are controlled so that their consumption profile can be modified according to the price of energy. In order to assess the effectiveness of the proposed method in terms of energy and cost saving, an innovative probabilistic methodology for evaluating the impact of residential DR choices considering uncertainties related to load demand, user preferences, environmental conditions, house thermal behavior and wholesale market trends has been proposed. The uncertainties related to the stochastic variations of the variables involved are modeled by using the Monte Carlo Simulation (MCS) method. The combination of MCS and RT distribution market simulation based on D-LMPs are used to assess the operation and impact of the DR method over one month. Simulations results on an 84-buses distribution network confirmed that the proposed method allows saving costs for residential end-users and making

Visualising electricity demand: use and users of a 3D chart from the 1950s

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Alice Cliff

2018-05-01

Full Text Available Showing electricity demand by the hour, day, month and year, this 3D chart offers a rich visualisation of energy data in the UK from the years 1951–54. Acquired by the Museum of Science & Industry, Manchester, the object is significant as a tangible record of past practice, both of the electricity supply industry and its consumers. In this paper, we offer a close inspection of the object, and following its clues, we generate ideas about the chart’s use and users. In addition to commenting on the rhythmic patterning of daily and seasonal loads, we reflect on the role of the object at the time of its construction, in terms of forecasting, price-setting and load-shifting, and lobbying and demonstration. The object literally materialises electricity demand, providing a distinctive 3D representation, and in so doing prompting questions about how demand changes over time, and in time, and how our practices of everyday life constitute this demand. We conclude by offering a new interpretation of the object as a tool, as well as historical data.

Understanding the design of energy interventions to reduce end-user demand in organisational and domestic environments

OpenAIRE

Foster, Derek

2017-01-01

Energy demand is on the rise globally due to unchecked factors such as population growth, lifestyle choices, and the industrialization of developing countries. Governments are investing in technologies for efficient and renewable energy in an attempt to secure energy for the future over current dependencies on fossil fuels, but the development costs are high, and the rate of developed technologies is projected to fall far short of meeting global requirements. Overshadowing this growing app...

Steps along a Continuum of Word Knowledge: Later Lexical Development through the Lens of Receptive Judgments

Science.gov (United States)

Ameel, Eef; Malt, Barbara C.; Storms, Gert

2014-01-01

Usage patterns for common nouns continue to change well past the early years of language acquisition in free naming (Andersen, 1975; Ameel, Malt, & Storms, 2008). The current research evaluates whether this continued evolution is shown in receptive judgments as well, given their differing cognitive demands. We found an extended learning…

An end-users oriented methodology for enhancing the integration of knowledge on soil-water-sediment systems in River Basin Management: an illustration from the AquaTerra project.

Science.gov (United States)

Merly, Corinne; Chapman, Antony; Mouvet, Christophe

2012-01-01

Research results in environmental and socio-economic sciences are often under-used by stakeholders involved in the management of natural resources. To minimise this gap, the FP6 EU interdisciplinary project AquaTerra (AT) developed an end-users' integration methodology in order to ensure that the data, knowledge and tools related to the soil-water-sediment system that were generated by the project were delivered in a meaningful way for end-users, thus improving their uptake. The methodology and examples of its application are presented in this paper. From the 408 project deliverables, 96 key findings were identified, 53 related to data and knowledge, and 43 describing advanced tools. River Basin Management (RBM) stakeholders workshops identified 8 main RBM issues and 25 specific stakeholders' questions related to RBM which were classified into seven groups of cross-cutting issues, namely scale, climate change, non-climatic change, the need for systemic approaches, communication and participation, international and inter-basin coordination and collaboration, and the implementation of the Water Framework Directive. The integration methodology enabled an assessment of how AT key findings meet stakeholders' demands, and for each main RBM issue and for each specific question, described the added-value of the AT project in terms of knowledge and tools generated, key parameters to consider, and recommendations that can be made to stakeholders and the wider scientific community. Added value and limitations of the integration methodology and its outcomes are discussed and recommendations are provided to further improve integration methodology and bridge the gaps between scientific research data and their potential uptake by end-users.

Graphical User Interfaces and Library Systems: End-User Reactions.

Science.gov (United States)

Zorn, Margaret; Marshall, Lucy

1995-01-01

Describes a study by Parke-Davis Pharmaceutical Research Library to determine user satisfaction with the graphical user interface-based (GUI) Dynix Marquis compared with the text-based Dynix Classic Online Public Access Catalog (OPAC). Results show that the GUI-based OPAC was preferred by endusers over the text-based OPAC. (eight references) (DGM)

An End-to-End Model of Plant Pheromone Channel for Long Range Molecular Communication.

Science.gov (United States)

Unluturk, Bige D; Akyildiz, Ian F

2017-01-01

A new track in molecular communication is using pheromones which can scale up the range of diffusion-based communication from μm meters to meters and enable new applications requiring long range. Pheromone communication is the emission of molecules in the air which trigger behavioral or physiological responses in receiving organisms. The objective of this paper is to introduce a new end-to-end model which incorporates pheromone behavior with communication theory for plants. The proposed model includes both the transmission and reception processes as well as the propagation channel. The transmission process is the emission of pheromones from the leaves of plants. The dispersion of pheromones by the flow of wind constitutes the propagation process. The reception process is the sensing of pheromones by the pheromone receptors of plants. The major difference of pheromone communication from other molecular communication techniques is the dispersion channel acting under the laws of turbulent diffusion. In this paper, the pheromone channel is modeled as a Gaussian puff, i.e., a cloud of pheromone released instantaneously from the source whose dispersion follows a Gaussian distribution. Numerical results on the performance of the overall end-to-end pheromone channel in terms of normalized gain and delay are provided.

Web-based nephropathology teaching modules and user satisfaction: the nephrology on-demand experience.

Science.gov (United States)

Desai, Tejas; Talento, Romualdo; Christiano, Cynthia; Ferris, Maria; Hewan-Lowe, Karlene

2011-01-01

Nephropathology is an integral component of nephrology education. Online teaching sites provide valuable educational materials to learners, but learner satisfaction has not been measured. We developed a nephropathology website and measured learners' satisfaction. The Nephrology On-Demand Histopathology website (http://blog.ecu.edu/sites/nephrologyondemand/?page_id=4502) provided nephropathologic specimens with explanations. Users were asked to complete a Likert-based survey (1-strongly agree . . . 5-strongly disagree) regarding four key areas of content quality: accuracy, currency, objectivity, and usefulness. Learners of all training levels perceived the content quality favorably. The mean (±SD) for accuracy was 1.70 (0.89), currency 1.62 (0.90), objectivity 1.80 (1.01), and usefulness 1.72 (0.95). Nephrology On-Demand Histopathology is a well-received teaching tool to learners of all training levels. Educators may consider using it, as well as other online nephropathology sites, as adjunctive teaching tools.

What makes end-user training successful? : a mixed method study of a business process management system implementation

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Benny de Waal; Ronald Batenburg

2012-01-01

Under what conditions is end-user training (EUT) as part of the implementation of a business process management (BPM) system successful? This question is addressed in this paper. Based on the literature on EUT and implementation success, we first argue that user involvement with, and attitude

What makes end-user training successful? A mixed method study of a business process management system implementation.

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Waal, B.M.E. de; Batenburg, R.

2012-01-01

Under what conditions is end-user training (EUT) as part of the implementation of a business process management (BPM) system successful? This question is addressed in this paper. Based on the literature on EUT and implementation success, we first argue that user involvement with, and attitude

A computational theory of visual receptive fields.

Science.gov (United States)

Lindeberg, Tony

2013-12-01

A receptive field constitutes a region in the visual field where a visual cell or a visual operator responds to visual stimuli. This paper presents a theory for what types of receptive field profiles can be regarded as natural for an idealized vision system, given a set of structural requirements on the first stages of visual processing that reflect symmetry properties of the surrounding world. These symmetry properties include (i) covariance properties under scale changes, affine image deformations, and Galilean transformations of space-time as occur for real-world image data as well as specific requirements of (ii) temporal causality implying that the future cannot be accessed and (iii) a time-recursive updating mechanism of a limited temporal buffer of the past as is necessary for a genuine real-time system. Fundamental structural requirements are also imposed to ensure (iv) mutual consistency and a proper handling of internal representations at different spatial and temporal scales. It is shown how a set of families of idealized receptive field profiles can be derived by necessity regarding spatial, spatio-chromatic, and spatio-temporal receptive fields in terms of Gaussian kernels, Gaussian derivatives, or closely related operators. Such image filters have been successfully used as a basis for expressing a large number of visual operations in computer vision, regarding feature detection, feature classification, motion estimation, object recognition, spatio-temporal recognition, and shape estimation. Hence, the associated so-called scale-space theory constitutes a both theoretically well-founded and general framework for expressing visual operations. There are very close similarities between receptive field profiles predicted from this scale-space theory and receptive field profiles found by cell recordings in biological vision. Among the family of receptive field profiles derived by necessity from the assumptions, idealized models with very good qualitative

The Acceptance of Background Noise in Adult Cochlear Implant Users

Science.gov (United States)

Plyler, Patrick N.; Bahng, Junghwa; von Hapsburg, Deborah

2008-01-01

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to determine (a) if acceptable noise levels (ANLs) are different in cochlear implant (CI) users than in listeners with normal hearing, (b) if ANLs are related to sentence reception thresholds in noise in CI users, and (c) if ANLs and subjective outcome measures are related in CI users. Method: ANLs and the…

15 CFR Supplement No. 9 to Part 748 - End-User Review Committee Procedures

Science.gov (United States)

2010-01-01

... potential validated end-user is not included in calculating the 30 calendar day deadline for the ERC's... matter to the Advisory Committee on Export Policy (ACEP). The procedures and time frame for escalating... Supplement No. 7 to this part operates as clearance by all member agencies to publish the amendment in the...

Designing distributed user interfaces for ambient intelligent environments using models and simulations

OpenAIRE

LUYTEN, Kris; VAN DEN BERGH, Jan; VANDERVELPEN, Chris; CONINX, Karin

2006-01-01

There is a growing demand for design support to create interactive systems that are deployed in ambient intelligent environments. Unlike traditional interactive systems, the wide diversity of situations these type of user interfaces need to work in require tool support that is close to the environment of the end-user on the one hand and provide a smooth integration with the application logic on the other hand. This paper shows how the model-based user interface development methodology can be ...

Interinstitutional collaboration for end-user bioinformatics training: Cytoscape as a case study

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Marci D. Brandenburg, MS, MSI

2017-04-01

Conclusions: This collaboration furthered the U-M bioinformationist’s role in the field as an expert in Cytoscape instruction, while also establishing the CWML as a leader in providing support for analyzing and visualizing molecular data at Yale University. The authors found this collaboration to be a successful way for librarians to fill end-user training gaps in rapidly changing fields such as bioinformatics.

Why a well-designed HR shared service provider fails to create end-user value?

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Meijerink, Jeroen Gerard; Bondarouk, Tatiana; Looise, Jan C.

2011-01-01

Human resource shared services centres (HR SSCs) are foreseen as improving HR service delivery for their end-users: employees, line managers and decentralized HR professionals. Although the concept expects the benefits of HR SSCs to come from centralizing knowledge and decentralizing the control

Learning from the private sector: towards a keener understanding of the end-user for microbicide introduction planning.

Science.gov (United States)

Lin, Amy H; Breger, Tiffany L; Barnhart, Matthew; Kim, Ann; Vangsgaard, Charlotte; Harris, Emily

2014-01-01

In planning for the introduction of vaginal microbicides and other new antiretroviral (ARV)-based prevention products for women, an in-depth understanding of potential end-users will be critically important to inform strategies to optimize uptake and long-term adherence. User-centred private sector companies have contributed to the successful launch of many different types of products, employing methods drawn from behavioural and social sciences to shape product designs, marketing messages and communication channels. Examples of how the private sector has adapted and applied these techniques to make decisions around product messaging and targeting may be instructive for adaptation to microbicide introduction. In preparing to introduce a product, user-centred private sector companies employ diverse methods to understand the target population and their lifestyles, values and motivations. ReD Associates' observational research on user behaviours in the packaged food and diabetes fields illustrates how 'tag along' or 'shadowing' techniques can identify sources of non-adherence. Another open-ended method is self-documentation, and IDEO's mammography research utilized this to uncover user motivations that extended beyond health. Mapping the user journey is a quantitative approach for outlining critical decision-making stages, and Monitor Inclusive Markets applied this framework to identify toilet design opportunities for the rural poor. Through an iterative process, these various techniques can generate hypotheses on user drop-off points, quantify where drop-off is highest and prioritize areas of further research to uncover usage barriers. Although research constraints exist, these types of user-centred techniques have helped create effective messaging, product positioning and packaging of health products as well as family planning information. These methods can be applied to microbicide acceptability testing outside of clinical trials to design microbicide marketing

Industry sector analysis, Mexico: Electric power production and distribution equipment. Export Trade Information

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Wood, J.S.; Miller, R.W.

1988-09-01

The Industry Sector Analyses (I.S.A.) for electric power production and distribution equipment contains statistical and narrative information on projected market demand, end-users, receptivity of Mexican consumers to U.S. products, the competitive situation - Mexican production, total import market, U.S. market position, foreign competition, and competitive factors, and market access - Mexican tariffs, non-tariff barriers, standards, taxes and distribution channels. The I.S.A. provides the United States industry with meaningful information regarding the Mexican market for electric power production and distribution equipment

Declarative Parallel Programming in Spreadsheet End-User Development

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Biermann, Florian

2016-01-01

Spreadsheets are first-order functional languages and are widely used in research and industry as a tool to conveniently perform all kinds of computations. Because cells on a spreadsheet are immutable, there are possibilities for implicit parallelization of spreadsheet computations. In this liter...... can directly apply results from functional array programming to a spreadsheet model of computations.......Spreadsheets are first-order functional languages and are widely used in research and industry as a tool to conveniently perform all kinds of computations. Because cells on a spreadsheet are immutable, there are possibilities for implicit parallelization of spreadsheet computations....... In this literature study, we provide an overview of the publications on spreadsheet end-user programming and declarative array programming to inform further research on parallel programming in spreadsheets. Our results show that there is a clear overlap between spreadsheet programming and array programming and we...

Modelling of electricity savings in the Danish households sector: from the energy system to the end-user

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Baldini, Mattia; Trivella, Alessio

2017-01-01

sectors, has been extended in order to endogenously determine the best possible investments in more efficient home appliances. Second, we propose a method to relate the optimal energy system solution to the end-user choices by incorporating consumer behaviour and electricity price addition due to taxes...... of support to become profitable. The analysis quantifies energy and economic savings from the consumer side and reveals the impacts on the Danish power system and surrounding countries. Compared to a business-as-usual energy scenario, the end-user attains net economic savings in the range of 30–40 EUR per...

An end user evaluation of query formulation and results review tools in three medical meta-search engines.

Science.gov (United States)

Leroy, Gondy; Xu, Jennifer; Chung, Wingyan; Eggers, Shauna; Chen, Hsinchun

2007-01-01

Retrieving sufficient relevant information online is difficult for many people because they use too few keywords to search and search engines do not provide many support tools. To further complicate the search, users often ignore support tools when available. Our goal is to evaluate in a realistic setting when users use support tools and how they perceive these tools. We compared three medical search engines with support tools that require more or less effort from users to form a query and evaluate results. We carried out an end user study with 23 users who were asked to find information, i.e., subtopics and supporting abstracts, for a given theme. We used a balanced within-subjects design and report on the effectiveness, efficiency and usability of the support tools from the end user perspective. We found significant differences in efficiency but did not find significant differences in effectiveness between the three search engines. Dynamic user support tools requiring less effort led to higher efficiency. Fewer searches were needed and more documents were found per search when both query reformulation and result review tools dynamically adjust to the user query. The query reformulation tool that provided a long list of keywords, dynamically adjusted to the user query, was used most often and led to more subtopics. As hypothesized, the dynamic result review tools were used more often and led to more subtopics than static ones. These results were corroborated by the usability questionnaires, which showed that support tools that dynamically optimize output were preferred.

Social Media-Based Civic Engagement Solutions for Dengue Prevention in Sri Lanka: Results of Receptivity Assessment

Science.gov (United States)

Lwin, May O.; Vijaykumar, Santosh; Foo, Schubert; Fernando, Owen Noel Newton; Lim, Gentatsu; Panchapakesan, Chitra; Wimalaratne, Prasad

2016-01-01

This article focuses on a novel social media-based system that addresses dengue prevention through an integration of three components: predictive surveillance, civic engagement and health education. The aim was to conduct a potential receptivity assessment of this system among smartphone users in the city of Colombo, the epicenter of the dengue…

How additive manufacturing enables more sustainable end-user maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO) strategies

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Wits, Wessel Willems; Reyes Garcia, José Roberto; Jauregui Becker, Juan Manuel

2016-01-01

This paper projects how Maintenance, Repair and Overhaul (MRO) strategies can be optimized to the specific needs of end-users using Additive Manufacturing (AM) technologies. AM can significantly reduce the design and production times for customized parts. This leads to key advantages for MRO

Evaluating a web-based health risk assessment with tailored feedback: what does an expert focus group yield compared to a web-based end-user survey?

Science.gov (United States)

Vosbergen, Sandra; Mahieu, Guy R; Laan, Eva K; Kraaijenhagen, Roderik A; Jaspers, Monique Wm; Peek, Niels

2014-01-02

Increasingly, Web-based health applications are developed for the prevention and management of chronic diseases. However, their reach and utilization is often disappointing. Qualitative evaluations post-implementation can be used to inform the optimization process and ultimately enhance their adoption. In current practice, such evaluations are mainly performed with end-user surveys. However, a review approach by experts in a focus group may be easier to administer and might provide similar results. The aim of this study was to assess whether industrial design engineers in a focus group would address the same issues as end users in a Web-based survey when evaluating a commercial Web-based health risk assessment (HRA) with tailored feedback. Seven Dutch companies used the HRA as part of their corporate health management strategy. Employees using the HRA (N=2289) and 10 independent industrial designers were invited to participate in the study. The HRA consisted of four components: (1) an electronic health questionnaire, (2) biometric measurements, (3) laboratory evaluation, and (4) individually tailored feedback generated by decision support software. After participating in the HRA as end users, both end users and designers evaluated the program. End users completed an evaluation questionnaire that included a free-text field. Designers participated in a focus group discussion. Constructs from user satisfaction and technology acceptance theories were used to categorize and compare the remarks from both evaluations. We assessed and qualitatively analyzed 294 remarks of 189 end users and 337 remarks of 6 industrial designers, pertaining to 295 issues in total. Of those, 137 issues were addressed in the end-user survey and 148 issues in the designer focus group. Only 7.3% (10/137) of the issues addressed in the survey were also addressed in the focus group. End users made more remarks about the usefulness of the HRA and prior expectations that were not met. Designers made

On-demand Simulation of Atmospheric Transport Processes on the AlpEnDAC Cloud

Science.gov (United States)

Hachinger, S.; Harsch, C.; Meyer-Arnek, J.; Frank, A.; Heller, H.; Giemsa, E.

2016-12-01

The "Alpine Environmental Data Analysis Centre" (AlpEnDAC) develops a data-analysis platform for high-altitude research facilities within the "Virtual Alpine Observatory" project (VAO). This platform, with its web portal, will support use cases going much beyond data management: On user request, the data are augmented with "on-demand" simulation results, such as air-parcel trajectories for tracing down the source of pollutants when they appear in high concentration. The respective back-end mechanism uses the Compute Cloud of the Leibniz Supercomputing Centre (LRZ) to transparently calculate results requested by the user, as far as they have not yet been stored in AlpEnDAC. The queuing-system operation model common in supercomputing is replaced by a model in which Virtual Machines (VMs) on the cloud are automatically created/destroyed, providing the necessary computing power immediately on demand. From a security point of view, this allows to perform simulations in a sandbox defined by the VM configuration, without direct access to a computing cluster. Within few minutes, the user receives conveniently visualized results. The AlpEnDAC infrastructure is distributed among two participating institutes [front-end at German Aerospace Centre (DLR), simulation back-end at LRZ], requiring an efficient mechanism for synchronization of measured and augmented data. We discuss our iRODS-based solution for these data-management tasks as well as the general AlpEnDAC framework. Our cloud-based offerings aim at making scientific computing for our users much more convenient and flexible than it has been, and to allow scientists without a broad background in scientific computing to benefit from complex numerical simulations.

Mining residential water and electricity demand data in Southern California to inform demand management strategies

Science.gov (United States)

Cominola, A.; Spang, E. S.; Giuliani, M.; Castelletti, A.; Loge, F. J.; Lund, J. R.

2016-12-01

Demand side management strategies are key to meet future water and energy demands in urban contexts, promote water and energy efficiency in the residential sector, provide customized services and communications to consumers, and reduce utilities' costs. Smart metering technologies allow gathering high temporal and spatial resolution water and energy consumption data and support the development of data-driven models of consumers' behavior. Modelling and predicting resource consumption behavior is essential to inform demand management. Yet, analyzing big, smart metered, databases requires proper data mining and modelling techniques, in order to extract useful information supporting decision makers to spot end uses towards which water and energy efficiency or conservation efforts should be prioritized. In this study, we consider the following research questions: (i) how is it possible to extract representative consumers' personalities out of big smart metered water and energy data? (ii) are residential water and energy consumption profiles interconnected? (iii) Can we design customized water and energy demand management strategies based on the knowledge of water- energy demand profiles and other user-specific psychographic information? To address the above research questions, we contribute a data-driven approach to identify and model routines in water and energy consumers' behavior. We propose a novel customer segmentation procedure based on data-mining techniques. Our procedure consists of three steps: (i) extraction of typical water-energy consumption profiles for each household, (ii) profiles clustering based on their similarity, and (iii) evaluation of the influence of candidate explanatory variables on the identified clusters. The approach is tested onto a dataset of smart metered water and energy consumption data from over 1000 households in South California. Our methodology allows identifying heterogeneous groups of consumers from the studied sample, as well as

Building Bridge between End-Users and E&T Organizations, Case Study: Romania

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Pavel, G. L.; Ghitescu, P.

2016-01-01

Full text: Over the last decade a constant concern of both E&T providers and end-users was formalizing and shaping the content of transmitted knowledge in order to fit most the industry needs. The EU Member States were invited to relate their national qualifications systems and to use an approach based on learning outcomes when defining and describing qualifications, and promoting the validation of non-formal and informal learning. This approach is the European Credit System for Vocational Education and Training together with the implementation of already existing in industry Systematic Approach to Training. Nevertheless a gap between the provided education and industry expectations still exists and the purpose of the case study was to build a bridge between E&T providers and end-users regarding exchange of information, needs, methodologies and tools, with the expected outcome of shaping the curriculum according to actual industry needs. University Politehnica Bucharest together with partners from industry (Energonuclear-Romania), research (Jožef Stefan Institute, Slovenia) and training (Tecnatom-Spain) developed a project aimed at filling this gap. Following the analysis of specific personnel needs based on a new proposed methodology, the partners evaluated the learning outcomes and proposed correction of curricula by new learning activities. (author

End-User Searching in a Large Library Network: A Case Study of Patent Attorneys.

Science.gov (United States)

Vollaro, Alice J.; Hawkins, Donald T.

1986-01-01

Reports results of study of a group of end users (patent attorneys) doing their own online searching at AT&T Bell Laboratories. Highlights include DIALOG databases used by the attorneys, locations and searching modes, characteristics of patent attorney searchers, and problem areas. Questionnaire is appended. (5 references) (EJS)

Presentations at the ARGONA End Users Conference

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

2009-01-01

The Uppsala conference is an opportunity for communication and dissemination of preliminary results from the ARGONA project and to give the project feedback on its preliminary results and recommendations. The intention is also to give a wider view of the state of knowledge about participation and transparency in radioactive waste management in Europe by the active participation of three other major on-going or recently ended projects - CARL (Citizen stakeholders, Agencies responsible for radioactive waste management, social science Research organizations and Licensing and regulatory authorities), OBRA (European Observatory for long-term governance on radioactive waste management) and CIP (COWAM (Community Waste Management) in Practice). The conference provides a forum for municipalities, other end users and researchers to discuss the outcome of research in the field, and to reach their own respective positions about their needs for participation and transparency in the future. The focus is thus on practical implications of research, (The ARGONA Project Arenas for Risk Governance) is a project within the sixth Euratom research and training Framework Programme (FP6) on nuclear energy of the European Commission). The following presentations can be viewed at the home page: Research on radioactive waste governance under the 6th Euratom Framework Programme for Research and Training on Nuclear Energy; The ARGONA Project - Background and objectives, preliminary conclusions and recommendations; The CARL Project; The OBRA Project: Vision and results; The CIP Project; An Internet Forum for Public Discussion on Nuclear Waste Management - An Uppsala Regional Council initiative; Implementing geological disposal of radioactive waste - A Technological Platform; The Transparency Programme of the Swedish National Council for Nuclear Waste; The need for implementation of research results on the governance of nuclear waste management

The deegree framework - Spatial Data Infrastructure solution for end-users and developers

Science.gov (United States)

Kiehle, Christian; Poth, Andreas

2010-05-01

The open source software framework deegree is a comprehensive implementa­tion of standards as defined by ISO and Open Geospatial Consortium (OGC). It has been developed with two goals in mind: provide a uniform framework for implementing Spatial Data Infrastructures (SDI) and adhering to standards as strictly as possible. Although being open source software (Lesser GNU Public Li­cense, LGPL), deegree has been developed with a business model in mind: providing the general building blocks of SDIs without license fees and offer cus­tomization, consulting and tailoring by specialized companies. The core of deegree is a comprehensive Java Application Programming Inter­face (API) offering access to spatial features, analysis, metadata and coordinate reference systems. As a library, deegree can and has been integrated as a core module inside spatial information systems. It is reference implementation for several OGC standards and based on an ISO 19107 geometry model. For end users, deegree is shipped as a web application providing easy-to-set-up components for web mapping and spatial analysis. Since 2000, deegree has been the backbone of many productive SDIs, first and foremost for governmental stakeholders (e.g. Federal Agency for Cartography and Geodesy in Germany, the Ministry of Housing, Spatial Planning and the En­vironment in the Netherlands, etc.) as well as for research and development projects as an early adoption of standards, drafts and discussion papers. Be­sides mature standards like Web Map Service, Web Feature Service and Cata­logue Services, deegree also implements rather new standards like the Sensor Observation Service, the Web Processing Service and the Web Coordinate Transformation Service (WCTS). While a robust background in standardization (knowledge and implementation) is a must for consultancy, standard-compliant services and encodings alone do not provide solutions for customers. The added value is comprised by a sophistic­ated set of

Prescription drugs purchased through the internet: who are the end users?

Science.gov (United States)

Inciardi, James A; Surratt, Hilary L; Cicero, Theodore J; Rosenblum, Andrew; Ahwah, Candice; Bailey, J Elise; Dart, Richard C; Burke, John J

2010-07-01

Although prescription drugs are readily available on the Internet, little is known about the prevalence of Internet use for the purchase of medications without a legitimate prescription, and the characteristics of those that obtain non-prescribed drugs through online sources. The scientific literature on this topic is limited to anecdotal reports or studies plagued by small sample sizes. Within this context, the focus of this paper is an examination of five national data sets from the U.S. with the purpose of estimating: (1) how common obtaining prescription medications from the Internet actually is, (2) who are the typical populations of "end users" of these non-prescribed medications, and (3) which drugs are being purchased without a prescription. Three of the data sets are drawn from the RADARS (Researched Abuse Diversion and Addiction-Related Surveillance) System, a comprehensive series of studies designed to collect timely and geographically specific data on the abuse and diversion of a number of prescription stimulants and opioid analgesics. The remaining data sets include the National Survey on Drug Use and Health (NSDUH) and the Monitoring the Future (MTF) survey. Our analysis yielded uniformly low rates of prescription drug acquisition from online sources across all five data systems we examined. The consistency of this finding across very diverse populations suggests that the Internet is a relatively minor source for illicit purchases of prescription medications by the individual end-users of these drugs. Copyright 2010 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

Central auditory neurons have composite receptive fields.

Science.gov (United States)

Kozlov, Andrei S; Gentner, Timothy Q

2016-02-02

High-level neurons processing complex, behaviorally relevant signals are sensitive to conjunctions of features. Characterizing the receptive fields of such neurons is difficult with standard statistical tools, however, and the principles governing their organization remain poorly understood. Here, we demonstrate multiple distinct receptive-field features in individual high-level auditory neurons in a songbird, European starling, in response to natural vocal signals (songs). We then show that receptive fields with similar characteristics can be reproduced by an unsupervised neural network trained to represent starling songs with a single learning rule that enforces sparseness and divisive normalization. We conclude that central auditory neurons have composite receptive fields that can arise through a combination of sparseness and normalization in neural circuits. Our results, along with descriptions of random, discontinuous receptive fields in the central olfactory neurons in mammals and insects, suggest general principles of neural computation across sensory systems and animal classes.

Industry sector analysis, Mexico: Oil and gas field machinery and equipment. Export Trade Information

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

1990-04-01

The Industry Sector Analyses (I.S.A.) for oil and gas field machinery and equipment contains statistical and narrative information on projected market demand, end-users, receptivity of Mexican consumers to U.S. products, the competitive situation - Mexican production, total import market, U.S. market position, foreign competition, and competitive factors, and market access - Mexican tariffs, non-tariff barriers, standards, taxes and distribution channels. The I.S.A. provides the United States industry with meaningful information regarding the Mexican market for oil and gas field machinery and equipment

Service Demand Discovery Mechanism for Mobile Social Networks.

Science.gov (United States)

Wu, Dapeng; Yan, Junjie; Wang, Honggang; Wang, Ruyan

2016-11-23

In the last few years, the service demand for wireless data over mobile networks has continually been soaring at a rapid pace. Thereinto, in Mobile Social Networks (MSNs), users can discover adjacent users for establishing temporary local connection and thus sharing already downloaded contents with each other to offload the service demand. Due to the partitioned topology, intermittent connection and social feature in such a network, the service demand discovery is challenging. In particular, the service demand discovery is exploited to identify the best relay user through the service registration, service selection and service activation. In order to maximize the utilization of limited network resources, a hybrid service demand discovery architecture, such as a Virtual Dictionary User (VDU) is proposed in this paper. Based on the historical data of movement, users can discover their relationships with others. Subsequently, according to the users activity, VDU is selected to facilitate the service registration procedure. Further, the service information outside of a home community can be obtained through the Global Active User (GAU) to support the service selection. To provide the Quality of Service (QoS), the Service Providing User (SPU) is chosen among multiple candidates. Numerical results show that, when compared with other classical service algorithms, the proposed scheme can improve the successful service demand discovery ratio by 25% under reduced overheads.

Why do NRM regional planning processes and tools have limited effect? Presenting the perspective of the end user

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Dana Reiter

2017-01-01

Full Text Available Natural resource managers are required to prepare a plan for managing the natural resources in their regions. Environmental decision support systems (EDSS have been developed to assist managers and stakeholders make decisions about complex natural resource problems. Research has shown that these EDSS are valuable and used internationally. However, sustainability science literature reports that too often these natural resource management (NRM plans are not consulted upon completion, and the EDSS are no longer used. To gain insight into why the EDSS are no longer used after the research and development phase of the NRM planning project, we have asked the stakeholders, as end users of the EDSS tool themselves, to share their perceptions of, and experience with development of the tool and then, the tool itself. This paper reports on the perspectives of the end users of an EDSS used in a South Australian NRM planning project from 2011 to 2013. The findings were mixed in that they show that the majority (90% of respondents felt the EDSS had overall value, yet it was virtually abandoned after the completion of the planning project. Further, just over half of respondents reported that they thought that the EDSS should have been used on a regular basis after the pilot project ended. We conclude that genuine capacity development, aided by the EDSS, took place during the project. However, the lack of use of the EDSS after the pilot project finished was the result of failures both with researcher follow up and especially with the lack of commitment from government agencies who support and influence the array of end users. Unless agencies commit to the changed practices identified by end users that would support ongoing use of EDSS it is inevitable that the legacy value of EDSS development will remain limited.

End-User Software for Efficient Sensor Placement in Jacketed Wine Tanks

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Dominik Schmidt

2018-06-01

Full Text Available In food processing, temperature is a key parameter affecting product quality and energy consumption. The efficiency of temperature control depends on the data provided by sensors installed in the production device. In the wine industry, temperature sensor placement inside the tanks is usually predetermined by the tank manufacturers. Winemakers rely on these measurements and configure their temperature control accordingly, not knowing whether the monitored values really represent the wine’s bulk temperature. To address this problem, we developed an end-user software which 1. allows winemakers or tank manufacturers to identify optimal sensor locations for customizable tank geometries and 2. allows for comparisons between actual and optimal sensor placements. The analysis is based on numerical simulations of a user-defined cooling scenario. Case studies involving two different tanks showed good agreement between experimental data and simulations. Implemented based on the scientific Linux operating system gmlinux, the application solely relies on open-source software that is available free of charge.

Modeling and Analysis of Commercial Building Electrical Loads for Demand Side Management

Science.gov (United States)

Berardino, Jonathan

In recent years there has been a push in the electric power industry for more customer involvement in the electricity markets. Traditionally the end user has played a passive role in the planning and operation of the power grid. However, many energy markets have begun opening up opportunities to consumers who wish to commit a certain amount of their electrical load under various demand side management programs. The potential benefits of more demand participation include reduced operating costs and new revenue opportunities for the consumer, as well as more reliable and secure operations for the utilities. The management of these load resources creates challenges and opportunities to the end user that were not present in previous market structures. This work examines the behavior of commercial-type building electrical loads and their capacity for supporting demand side management actions. This work is motivated by the need for accurate and dynamic tools to aid in the advancement of demand side operations. A dynamic load model is proposed for capturing the response of controllable building loads. Building-specific load forecasting techniques are developed, with particular focus paid to the integration of building management system (BMS) information. These approaches are tested using Drexel University building data. The application of building-specific load forecasts and dynamic load modeling to the optimal scheduling of multi-building systems in the energy market is proposed. Sources of potential load uncertainty are introduced in the proposed energy management problem formulation in order to investigate the impact on the resulting load schedule.

TEACHING COMMUNICATIVE TRANSLATION: AN ACTIVE RECEPTION ANALYSIS BETWEEN THE TRANSLATION AND READER’S RECEPTION

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Venny Eka Meidasari

2014-06-01

Full Text Available Literary theory sees reception theory from the reader response that emphasizes the reader’s reception of a literary text. It is generally called audience reception in the analysis of communications models. In literary studies, reception theory originated from the work of Hans-Robert Jauss in the late 1960s. Communication only means that the original message will be clearly sent in its equivalent context to the target receptor. Similarly, the main role of translators is to send the message across without any form of distortion or emphasis. It is delivering the genuine context of the message to the language that the active receptor understands. A single mistake in a context translation can result to offensive message that can eventually lead to misunderstandings between active receptors. This paper proposes on the role of translator as the mediator between a writer of the original text and the active target language receptors of translated version in the course of communication which definitely affects the process and result of translation practice. It also reveals the emphasis on the creation text of the translation theories originated from the strategic communication theories, which hopefully leads to a dream of the most equivalence between the text and the translated version.

Demanding Dynamics - Demand articulation of intermediary organisations in emerging pharmaceutical innovations

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Boon, W.P.C.

2008-01-01

User involvement in emerging technological fields is carried by so-called demand articulation processes. These demand articulation processes are interactive learning processes in which stakeholders try to address what they perceive as important characteristics of, and to unravel preferences for an

Authentication and Authorization of End User in Microservice Architecture

Science.gov (United States)

He, Xiuyu; Yang, Xudong

2017-10-01

As the market and business continues to expand; the traditional single monolithic architecture is facing more and more challenges. The development of cloud computing and container technology promote microservice architecture became more popular. While the low coupling, fine granularity, scalability, flexibility and independence of the microservice architecture bring convenience, the inherent complexity of the distributed system make the security of microservice architecture important and difficult. This paper aims to study the authentication and authorization of the end user under the microservice architecture. By comparing with the traditional measures and researching on existing technology, this paper put forward a set of authentication and authorization strategies suitable for microservice architecture, such as distributed session, SSO solutions, client-side JSON web token and JWT + API Gateway, and summarize the advantages and disadvantages of each method.

Status of occupational radiation protection at end users in Tanzania

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Muhogora, W.E.; Mwalongo, D.; Lema, U.S.; Mboya, G.; Banzi, F.P.

2008-01-01

Full text: This paper presents the results of the national survey conducted by regulatory authority to assess the awareness on occupational radiation protection (ORP) at end using facilities in Tanzania. The survey was done by using a questionnaire, which addressed elements required for desirable ORP infrastructure at end users. The questions were mainly structured with closed questions such that the first response could be 'yes' or 'no'. The elements included compliance to authorization requirements, cooperation to ensure the safety of employees of another employer, availability of radiation safety officer (RSO) with adequate power to discharge his/her functions, availability of radiation protection programme (RPP) and desirable management structure. Others; were the availability of programmes on staff selection, information and training; workplace (WP) monitoring, coverage of individual monitoring for external radiation service (IMERS), intervention and emergencies and health insurance. Aspects on effective control of doses, provisional of administrative control, quality management system and occupational exposures from natural sources were not covered because they were presumed to be less familiar. Out of 270 questionnaires distributed, seventy four questionnaires (28%) were returned for analysis. The results indicated that 65% responded to questions as requested and therefore had a satisfactory general awareness on ORP. Other positive findings were good understanding on authorization details and related compliance (92%), availability of RPP and recognition of RSO as well as a supportive management structure (86%) and fully coverage by IMERS (72%). The shortcomings were observed in the following areas: absence of cooperation agreements to ensure the safety of employees of other employers (96%); absence of formal information and training programmes (72%); absence of work place monitoring programmes (96%); absence of interventions and emergency programmes (78

Personalized Energy Reduction Cyber-Physical System (PERCS): A gamified end-user platform for energy efficiency and demand response.

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Sintov, Nicole; Orosz, Michael; Schultz, P. Wesley

2015-01-01

The mission of the Personalized Energy Reduction Cyber-physical System (PERCS) is to create new possibilities for improving building operating efficiency, enhancing grid reliability, avoiding costly power interruptions, and mitigating greenhouse gas emissions. PERCS proposes to achieve these outcomes by engaging building occupants as partners in a user-centered smart service platform. Using a non-intrusive load monitoring approach, PERCS uses a single sensing point in each home to capture smart electric meter data in real time. The household energy signal is disaggregated into individual load signatures of common appliances (e.g., air conditioners), yielding near real-time appliance-level energy information. Users interact with PERCS via a mobile phone platform that provides household- and appliance-level energy feedback, tailored recommendations, and a competitive game tied to energy use and behavioral changes. PERCS challenges traditional energy management approaches by directly engaging occupant as key elements in a technological system.

Model for Analysis of Energy Demand (MAED-2). User's manual

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

2007-01-01

The IAEA has been supporting its Member States in the area of energy planning for sustainable development. Development and dissemination of appropriate methodologies and their computer codes are important parts of this support. This manual has been produced to facilitate the use of the MAED model: Model for Analysis of Energy Demand. The methodology of the MAED model was originally developed by. B. Chateau and B. Lapillonne of the Institute Economique et Juridique de l'Energie (IEJE) of the University of Grenoble, France, and was presented as the MEDEE model. Since then the MEDEE model has been developed and adopted to be appropriate for modelling of various energy demand system. The IAEA adopted MEDEE-2 model and incorporated important modifications to make it more suitable for application in the developing countries, and it was named as the MAED model. The first version of the MAED model was designed for the DOS based system, which was later on converted for the Windows system. This manual presents the latest version of the MAED model. The most prominent feature of this version is its flexibility for representing structure of energy consumption. The model now allows country-specific representations of energy consumption patterns using the MAED methodology. The user can now disaggregate energy consumption according to the needs and/or data availability in her/his country. As such, MAED has now become a powerful tool for modelling widely diverse energy consumption patterns. This manual presents the model in details and provides guidelines for its application

Model for Analysis of Energy Demand (MAED-2). User's manual

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

2006-01-01

The IAEA has been supporting its Member States in the area of energy planning for sustainable development. Development and dissemination of appropriate methodologies and their computer codes are important parts of this support. This manual has been produced to facilitate the use of the MAED model: Model for Analysis of Energy Demand. The methodology of the MAED model was originally developed by. B. Chateau and B. Lapillonne of the Institute Economique et Juridique de l'Energie (IEJE) of the University of Grenoble, France, and was presented as the MEDEE model. Since then the MEDEE model has been developed and adopted to be appropriate for modelling of various energy demand system. The IAEA adopted MEDEE-2 model and incorporated important modifications to make it more suitable for application in the developing countries, and it was named as the MAED model. The first version of the MAED model was designed for the DOS based system, which was later on converted for the Windows system. This manual presents the latest version of the MAED model. The most prominent feature of this version is its flexibility for representing structure of energy consumption. The model now allows country-specific representations of energy consumption patterns using the MAED methodology. The user can now disaggregate energy consumption according to the needs and/or data availability in her/his country. As such, MAED has now become a powerful tool for modelling widely diverse energy consumption patterns. This manual presents the model in details and provides guidelines for its application

Lake Representations in Global Climate Models: An End-User Perspective

Science.gov (United States)

Rood, R. B.; Briley, L.; Steiner, A.; Wells, K.

2017-12-01

The weather and climate in the Great Lakes region of the United States and Canada are strongly influenced by the lakes. Within global climate models, lakes are incorporated in many ways. If one is interested in quantitative climate information for the Great Lakes, then it is a first principle requirement that end-users of climate model simulation data, whether scientists or practitioners, need to know if and how lakes are incorporated into models. We pose the basic question, how are lakes represented in CMIP models? Despite significant efforts by the climate community to document and publish basic information about climate models, it is unclear how to answer the question about lake representations? With significant knowledge of the practice of the field, then a reasonable starting point is to use the ES-DOC Comparator (https://compare.es-doc.org/ ). Once at this interface to model information, the end-user is faced with the need for more knowledge about the practice and culture of the discipline. For example, lakes are often categorized as a type of land, a counterintuitive concept. In some models, though, lakes are specified in ocean models. There is little evidence and little confidence that the information obtained through this process is complete or accurate. In fact, it is verifiably not accurate. This experience, then, motivates identifying and finding either human experts or technical documentation for each model. The conclusion from this exercise is that it can take months or longer to provide a defensible answer to if and how lakes are represented in climate models. Our experience with lake finding is that this is not a unique experience. This talk documents our experience and explores barriers we have identified and strategies for reducing those barriers.

Combining interviewing and modeling for end-user energy conservation

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Goldblatt, David L.; Hartmann, Christoph; Duerrenberger, Gregor

2005-01-01

Studying energy consumption through the lens of households is an increasingly popular research avenue. This paper focuses on residential end-user energy conservation. It describes an approach that combines energy modeling and in-depth interviews for communicating about energy use and revealing consumer preferences for change at different levels and intervention points. Expert knowledge was embodied in a computer model for householders that calculates an individual's current energy consumption and helps assess personal savings potentials, while also bringing in socio-technical and economic elements beyond the user's direct control. The paper gives a detailed account of this computer information tool developed for interviewing purposes. It then describes the interview guidelines, data analysis, and main results. In general, interview subjects overestimated the environmental friendliness of their lifestyles. After experience with the program, they tended to rate external (technological, societal) factors as somewhat stronger determinants of their consumption levels than personal (behavioral and household investment) factors, with the notable exception of mobility. Concerning long-term energy perspectives, the majority of subjects felt that society has the ability to make a collective choice towards significantly lower energy consumption levels. Interviewees confirmed that the software and interactive sessions helped them think more holistically about the personal, social, and technological dimensions of energy conservation. Lessons can be applied to the development of future energy communication tools

Long term building energy demand for India: Disaggregating end use energy services in an integrated assessment modeling framework

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Chaturvedi, Vaibhav; Eom, Jiyong; Clarke, Leon E.; Shukla, Priyadarshi R.

2014-01-01

With increasing population, income, and urbanization, meeting the energy service demands for the building sector will be a huge challenge for Indian energy policy. Although there is broad consensus that the Indian building sector will grow and evolve over the coming century, there is little understanding of the potential nature of this evolution over the longer term. The present study uses a technologically detailed, service based building energy model nested in the long term, global, integrated assessment framework, GCAM, to produce scenarios of the evolution of the Indian buildings sector up through the end of the century. The results support the idea that as India evolves toward developed country per-capita income levels, its building sector will largely evolve to resemble those of the currently developed countries (heavy reliance on electricity both for increasing cooling loads and a range of emerging appliance and other plug loads), albeit with unique characteristics based on its climate conditions (cooling dominating heating and even more so with climate change), on fuel preferences that may linger from the present (for example, a preference for gas for cooking), and vestiges of its development path (including remnants of rural poor that use substantial quantities of traditional biomass). - Highlights: ► Building sector final energy demand in India will grow to over five times by century end. ► Space cooling and appliance services will grow substantially in the future. ► Energy service demands will be met predominantly by electricity and gas. ► Urban centers will face huge demand for floor space and building energy services. ► Carbon tax policy will have little effect on reducing building energy demands

Energy efficiency and demand respond programs play vital roles in short- and long-term system reliability

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Mitola, J. P.

2003-12-01

The effects of deregulation of the electric power industry on the reliability of the power grid in the United States are examined. Three major factors -- customer load, utility infrastructure, and demand response -- together are suggested as being most important; the ability of the industry to maintain the equilibrium among these three factors will determine the success or failure of deregulation. Each of these factors are examined in turn, followed by recommendations encouraging demand response or energy efficiency innovations, particularly new demand response technologies that are reliable, measurable, competitive to end-users, and fully dispatchable to utilities.

Note from the Goods Reception services

CERN Multimedia

FI Department

2008-01-01

Members of the personnel are invited to take note that only parcels corresponding to official orders or contracts will be handled at CERN. Individuals are not authorised to have private merchandise delivered to them at CERN and private deliveries will not be accepted by the Goods Reception services. Goods Reception Services

Investigating Arabic Academic Vocabulary Knowledge Among Middle School Pupils: Receptive Versus Productive Knowledge.

Science.gov (United States)

Makhoul, Baha

2017-08-01

The current study attempted to investigate the development of Arabic academic vocabulary knowledge among middle-school Arabic native speakers, taking into account the socioeconomic status of the Arab population in Israel. For this purpose, Arabic academic word list was developed, mapping the required academic words that are needed for adequate coping with informational texts as appearing in the different content areas text-books. Six-hundred Arabic speaking middle school pupils from the different areas in Israel, representing the different Arab subgroups: general Arab community, Druze and Bedouins, have participated in the current study. Two academic vocabulary tests, including receptive and productive academic vocabulary evaluation tests, were administrated to the students across the different age groups (7th, 8th and 9th). The results pointed to no significant difference between 7th and 9th grade in academic vocabulary knowledge. In contrast, significant difference was encountered between the different Arab sub-groups where the lowest scores were noted among the Bedouin sub-group, characterized by the lowest SES. When comparing receptive and productive academic vocabulary knowledge between 7th and 9th grade, the results pointed to improvement in receptive academic knowledge towards the end of middle school but not on the productive knowledge level. In addition, within participants' comparison indicated a gap between the pupils' receptive and productive vocabulary. The results are discussed in relation to the existing scientific literature and to its implication of both research and practice in the domain of Arabic literacy development.

DataBase on Demand

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Aparicio, R Gaspar; Gomez, D; Wojcik, D; Coz, I Coterillo

2012-01-01

At CERN a number of key database applications are running on user-managed MySQL database services. The database on demand project was born out of an idea to provide the CERN user community with an environment to develop and run database services outside of the actual centralised Oracle based database services. The Database on Demand (DBoD) empowers the user to perform certain actions that had been traditionally done by database administrators, DBA's, providing an enterprise platform for database applications. It also allows the CERN user community to run different database engines, e.g. presently open community version of MySQL and single instance Oracle database server. This article describes a technology approach to face this challenge, a service level agreement, the SLA that the project provides, and an evolution of possible scenarios.

Rehabilitering og 'motion på recept'

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Larsen, Niels Sandholm; Larsen, Kristian

2008-01-01

af disse forskningsarbejder er etablering af fænomenet 'motion på recept'. Konceptet om 'motion på recept' stammer oprindelig fra Sverige, hvor praktiserende læger i en periode har haft mulighed for at henvise visse typer af patienter til fysisk træning hos praktiserende fysioterapeuter. Ribe Amt...... 2007)....

The public reception of the Research Assessment Exercise 1996.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Julian Warner

1998-01-01

Full Text Available This paper reviews the public reception of the Research Assessment Exercise 1996 (RAE from its announcement in December 1996 to the decline of discussion at end May 1997. A model for diffusion of the RAE is established which distinguishes extra-communal (or exoteric from intra-communal (or esoteric media. The different characteristics of each medium and the changing nature of the discussion over time are considered. Different themes are distinguished in the public reception of the RAE: the spatial distribution of research; the organisation of universities; disciplinary differences in understanding; a perceived conflict between research and teaching; the development of a culture of accountability; and analogies with the organisation of professional football. In conclusion, it is suggested that the RAE and its effects can be more fully considered from the perspective of scholarly communication and understandings of the development of knowledge than it has been by previous contributions in information science, which have concentrated on the possibility of more efficient implementation of existing processes. A fundamental responsibility for funding councils is also identified: to promote the overall health of university education and research, while establishing meaningful differentiations between units.

The immigrants’ reception system in Italy. Reflections emerging from an experience of reception upon landing

OpenAIRE

Concetta Chiara Cannella; Gandolfa Cascio; Francesca Molonia; Serena Vitulo

2014-01-01

After the description of the main migration routes toward Italian territory, the article provides an overview of the laws and administrative policy instruments that characterize the system of reception and detention of migrants in Italy. This type of information can help psychosocial workers supporting migrants to better cope with various psychosocial issues, such as the landing in a foreign country. Following a report on the first reception intervention carried out in Palermo, Sicily, by Psi...

Language, gay pornography, and audience reception.

Science.gov (United States)

Leap, William L

2011-01-01

Erotic imagery is an important component of gay pornographic cinema, particularly, where work of audience reception is concerned. However, to assume the audience engagement with the films is limited solely to the erotic realm is to underestimate the workings of ideological power in the context and aftermath of reception. For example, the director of the film under discussion here (Men of Israel; Lucas, 2009b) intended to present an erotic celebration of the nation-state. Yet, most viewers ignore the particulars of context in their comments about audience reception, placing the "Israeli" narrative within a broader framework, using transnational rather than film-specific criteria to guide their "reading" of the Israeli-centered narrative. This article uses as its entry point the language that viewers employ when describing their reactions to Men of Israel on a gay video club's Web site; this article shows how the work of audience reception may draw attention to a film's erotic details while invoking social and political messages that completely reframe the film's erotic narrative.

Bridging the Gap: Experiences of communicating climate information between producers and end-users in southern Africa

CSIR Research Space (South Africa)

Joubert, A

2012-03-01

Full Text Available Climate change information is difficult to communicate beyond the scientific community, due to its inherent uncertainty and complexity, yet at the same time end users need access to the information in a format that is appropriate to their decision...

End User and Implementer Experiences of mHealth Technologies for Noncommunicable Chronic Disease Management in Young Adults: Systematic Review.

Science.gov (United States)

Slater, Helen; Campbell, Jared M; Stinson, Jennifer N; Burley, Megan M; Briggs, Andrew M

2017-12-12

Chronic noncommunicable diseases (NCDs) such as asthma, diabetes, cancer, and persistent musculoskeletal pain impose an escalating and unsustainable burden on young people, their families, and society. Exploring how mobile health (mHealth) technologies can support management for young people with NCDs is imperative. The aim of this study was to identify, appraise, and synthesize available qualitative evidence on users' experiences of mHealth technologies for NCD management in young people. We explored the perspectives of both end users (young people) and implementers (health policy makers, clinicians, and researchers). A systematic review and meta-synthesis of qualitative studies. Eligibility criteria included full reports published in peer-reviewed journals from January 2007 to December 2016, searched across databases including EMBASE, MEDLINE (PubMed), Scopus, and PsycINFO. All qualitative studies that evaluated the use of mHealth technologies to support young people (in the age range of 15-24 years) in managing their chronic NCDs were considered. Two independent reviewers identified eligible reports and conducted critical appraisal (based on the Joanna Briggs Institute Qualitative Assessment and Review Instrument: JBI-QARI). Three reviewers independently, then collaboratively, synthesized and interpreted data through an inductive and iterative process to derive emergent themes across the included data. External validity checking was undertaken by an expert clinical researcher and for relevant content, a health policy expert. Themes were subsequently subjected to a meta-synthesis, with findings compared and contrasted between user groups and policy and practice recommendations derived. Twelve studies met our inclusion criteria. Among studies of end users (N=7), mHealth technologies supported the management of young people with diabetes, cancer, and asthma. Implementer studies (N=5) covered the management of cognitive and communicative disabilities, asthma

Unaccompanied adolescents seeking asylum - Poorer mental health under a restrictive reception : poorer mental health under a restrictive reception

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Reijneveld, S.A.; de Boer, J.B.; Bean, T.; Korfker, D.G.

2005-01-01

We assessed the effects of a stringent reception policy on the mental health of unaccompanied adolescent asylum seekers by comparing the mental health of adolescents in a restricted campus reception setting and in a setting offering more autonomy (numbers [response rates]: 69 [93%] and 53 [69%],

Agilometer: An Effective Implementation of Internet of Things for Agile Demand Response

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Muhammad Babar

2017-07-01

Full Text Available Transactive based control mechanism (TCM needs the IoT environment to fully explore flexibility potential from the end-users to offer to involved actors of the smart energy system. On the other hand, many IoT based energy management systems are already available to a market. This paper presents an ap-proach to connect the current demand-driven (top-down energy management system (EMS with a market-driven (bottom-up demand response program. To this end, this paper considers multi-agent system (MAS to realize the approach and introduces the concept and standardize design of Agilometer. It is described as an elemental agent of the approach. Proposed by authors Agilometer consists of three different functional blocks, which are formulated as an IoT platform according to the LonWorks standard. Moreover, the paper also performs an evaluation study in order to validate the proposed concept and design.

Effectiveness of Agile Implementation Methods in Business Intelligence Projects from an End-user Perspective

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Anna Maria Misiak

2016-06-01

Full Text Available The global Business Intelligence (BI market grew by 10% in 2013 according to the Gartner Report. Today organizations require better use of data and analytics to support their business decisions. Internet power and business trend changes have provided a broad term for data analytics – Big Data. To be able to handle it and leverage a value of having access to Big Data, organizations have no other choice than to get proper systems implemented and working. However traditional methods are not efficient for changing business needs. The long time between project start and go-live causes a gap between initial solution blueprint and actual user requirements in the end of the project. This article presents the latest market trends in BI systems implementation by comparing Agile with traditional methods. It presents a case study provided in a large telecommunications company (20K employees and the results of a pilot research provided in the three large companies: telecommunications, digital, and insurance. Both studies prove that Agile methods might be more effective in BI projects from an end-user perspective and give first results and added value in a much shorter time compared to a traditional approach.

Adapting Coastal State Indicators to end-users: the iCoast Project

Science.gov (United States)

Demarchi, Alessandro; Isotta Cristofori, Elena; Gracia, Vicente; Sairouní, Abdel; García-León, Manuel; Cámaro, Walther; Facello, Anna

2016-04-01

The extraordinary development of the built environment and of the population densities in the coastal areas are making coastal communities highly exposed. The sea level rise induced by climate change will worsen this coastal vulnerability scenario and a considerable amount of people are expected to be threatened by coastal flooding in the future. Due to the increasing number of catastrophic events, and the consequent increased number of damages and people affected, over the last decades coastal hazard management has become a fundamental activity in order to improve the resilience of coastal community. In this scenario, iCoast (integrated COastal Alert SysTem) project has been founded to develop a tool able to address coastal risks caused by extreme waves and high sea water levels in European coastal areas. In the framework of iCoast Project, a set of Coastal State Indicators (CSIs) has been developed in order to improve the forecasting and the assessment of coastal risks. CSIs are indeed parameters able to provide end-users with an essential information about coastal hazards and related impacts. Within the iCoast Project, following a comprehensive literature review about existing indicators concerning coastal risks, a list of CSIs have been chosen as parameters that can be derived from the meteorological and the hydrodynamic modules. They include both physical variables used as trigger for meteorological and flood warnings from the majority of the operational National/Regional warning systems and further essential parameters, so called 'storm integrated' coastal-storm indicators, able to describe the physical processes that drive coastal damages, such as erosion, accumulation, flooding, destructions. Nowadays, it is generally acknowledged that communities are not homogenous and hence their different vulnerable groups might need different warnings. Generally, even existing national EWS in developed countries are often ineffective to issue targeted warnings for

Pengaruh Kepuasan Kerja terhadap Loyalitas Staf Reception pada Hotel X di Madiun Jawa Timur

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Anwar Basalamah

2012-05-01

Full Text Available Reception staff loyalty is much influenced by several factors, one of them is job satisfaction. Employee job satisfaction plays important role in creating employee loyalty. For hoteliers who serve as provider of accommodation services, the demand for the creation of quality human resources is maximum achievement. One of the important section in the front office is receptionist. Today, hoteliers pay very close attention because the employee turnover will certainly affect the consistency of services offered by the hotel. Therefore, the hotel is getting active in increasing the satisfaction of its staff in order to minimize employee turnover especially in a very important role such the receptionist. Although the validity of the relationship between job satisfaction and reception staff loyalty is still an exciting debate, the result of the research conducted in the Hotel X is expected to help increase employee satisfaction in order to create quality of life that will improve labor productivity.

End-Users: Dreams or Dollars.

Science.gov (United States)

Arnold, Stephen E.

1987-01-01

Examines strategies for marketing online searching to new users, discusses reasons why people become online searchers, and presents data on the business information market. The pricing issue and special librarians as a market segment are also considered. (EM)

The Risk of Residential Peak Electricity Demand: A Comparison of Five European Countries

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jacopo Torriti

2017-03-01

Full Text Available The creation of a Europe-wide electricity market combined with the increased intermittency of supply from renewable sources calls for an investigation into the risk of aggregate peak demand. This paper makes use of a risk model to assess differences in time-use data from residential end-users in five different European electricity markets. Drawing on the Multinational Time-Use Survey database, it assesses risk in relation to the probability of electrical appliance use within households for five European countries. Findings highlight in which countries and for which activities the risk of aggregate peak demand is higher and link smart home solutions (automated load control, dynamic pricing and smart appliances to different levels of peak demand risk.

Solar cooking in Mozambique—an investigation of end-user's needs for the design of solar cookers

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Otte, Pia Piroschka

2014-01-01

Sub-Saharan Africa is characterized by insufficient access to modern energy. One solution to this problem could be the use of solar energy to satisfy the current energy demand. However, solar energy technologies have shown limited success up to now. In the literature it is argued that solar cookers are often implemented as a “solution looking for a problem”, without consideration of the end-user needs. This study contributes to this debate by investigating the energy patterns and cooking profiles of public institutions for the design and implementation of solar cookers in the case of Mozambique. Interviews were conducted with 12 health institutions in Maputo and Sofala province in Mozambique. The paper concludes that solar cooking presents one solution to overcome the energy crisis in Sub-Saharan Africa but not the only solution. Solar cookers could improve the current cooking situation if combined with heat storage, back up, or a hybrid system that ensures reliability also during evening hours and rainy days. In general we could see that solar cookers should fulfill a variety of requirements related to cooking habits, schedule of daily routine and performance that are considered to enhance levels of use. - Highlights: • The study investigates energy patterns of public health institutions in Mozambique. • The aim is to find out how a solar cooker should be designed for implementation. • Solar cookers should be reliable and lead to economic savings. • Users are skeptical towards the use of solar cookers during the rainy season. • Solar cookers need to be combined with other energy sources to be successful

End user programming with personally meaningful objects

CSIR Research Space (South Africa)

Smith, Andrew C

2016-09-01

Full Text Available (Kimchi et al., 2003). Perceptual organisation is a neuro-cognitive process that dictates how we perceive objects in physical space and how we interpret some objects as being distinct from others and yet other objects as part of a whole (Helm, 2014... called the designer-cum-user. Using this approach, the user creates a personally meaningful artefact that represents the target product. Although not confirmed, we anticipate that this approach reduces the initial cognitive load on the user when he uses...

Visual Acuity and Its Dependence Upon Receptor Density and Retinal Ganglion Cell Receptive Field Overlap.

Science.gov (United States)

1981-11-01

organization of retinal receptive fields in monkeys and cats has been used to model the information flow to the retina in relation to the psychophysical...EXPERIMENTAL PROCEDURE Types of Animals Used Three types of monkeys were used in the present study, rhesus (Macaca mulatta), the Himalayan Macaque (Macaca...during the course of the program, although one died of Shigella infection. Attempts were made to trade the animals with local users in order to obtain

Individually adapted imagery improves brain-computer interface performance in end-users with disability.

Science.gov (United States)

Scherer, Reinhold; Faller, Josef; Friedrich, Elisabeth V C; Opisso, Eloy; Costa, Ursula; Kübler, Andrea; Müller-Putz, Gernot R

2015-01-01

Brain-computer interfaces (BCIs) translate oscillatory electroencephalogram (EEG) patterns into action. Different mental activities modulate spontaneous EEG rhythms in various ways. Non-stationarity and inherent variability of EEG signals, however, make reliable recognition of modulated EEG patterns challenging. Able-bodied individuals who use a BCI for the first time achieve - on average - binary classification performance of about 75%. Performance in users with central nervous system (CNS) tissue damage is typically lower. User training generally enhances reliability of EEG pattern generation and thus also robustness of pattern recognition. In this study, we investigated the impact of mental tasks on binary classification performance in BCI users with central nervous system (CNS) tissue damage such as persons with stroke or spinal cord injury (SCI). Motor imagery (MI), that is the kinesthetic imagination of movement (e.g. squeezing a rubber ball with the right hand), is the "gold standard" and mainly used to modulate EEG patterns. Based on our recent results in able-bodied users, we hypothesized that pair-wise combination of "brain-teaser" (e.g. mental subtraction and mental word association) and "dynamic imagery" (e.g. hand and feet MI) tasks significantly increases classification performance of induced EEG patterns in the selected end-user group. Within-day (How stable is the classification within a day?) and between-day (How well does a model trained on day one perform on unseen data of day two?) analysis of variability of mental task pair classification in nine individuals confirmed the hypothesis. We found that the use of the classical MI task pair hand vs. feed leads to significantly lower classification accuracy - in average up to 15% less - in most users with stroke or SCI. User-specific selection of task pairs was again essential to enhance performance. We expect that the gained evidence will significantly contribute to make imagery-based BCI technology

Individually adapted imagery improves brain-computer interface performance in end-users with disability.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Reinhold Scherer

Full Text Available Brain-computer interfaces (BCIs translate oscillatory electroencephalogram (EEG patterns into action. Different mental activities modulate spontaneous EEG rhythms in various ways. Non-stationarity and inherent variability of EEG signals, however, make reliable recognition of modulated EEG patterns challenging. Able-bodied individuals who use a BCI for the first time achieve - on average - binary classification performance of about 75%. Performance in users with central nervous system (CNS tissue damage is typically lower. User training generally enhances reliability of EEG pattern generation and thus also robustness of pattern recognition. In this study, we investigated the impact of mental tasks on binary classification performance in BCI users with central nervous system (CNS tissue damage such as persons with stroke or spinal cord injury (SCI. Motor imagery (MI, that is the kinesthetic imagination of movement (e.g. squeezing a rubber ball with the right hand, is the "gold standard" and mainly used to modulate EEG patterns. Based on our recent results in able-bodied users, we hypothesized that pair-wise combination of "brain-teaser" (e.g. mental subtraction and mental word association and "dynamic imagery" (e.g. hand and feet MI tasks significantly increases classification performance of induced EEG patterns in the selected end-user group. Within-day (How stable is the classification within a day? and between-day (How well does a model trained on day one perform on unseen data of day two? analysis of variability of mental task pair classification in nine individuals confirmed the hypothesis. We found that the use of the classical MI task pair hand vs. feed leads to significantly lower classification accuracy - in average up to 15% less - in most users with stroke or SCI. User-specific selection of task pairs was again essential to enhance performance. We expect that the gained evidence will significantly contribute to make imagery-based BCI

Diversity Networking Reception

Science.gov (United States)

2014-03-01

Join us at the APS Diversity Reception to relax, network with colleagues, and learn about programs and initiatives for women, underrepresented minorities, and LGBT physicists. You'll have a great time meeting friends in a supportive environment and making connections.

Do Digital Systems and Concept in Modern Public Service Production Have a Negative Impact on Citizens as End-Users?

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Pedersen, John Storm; Rendtorff, Jacob Dahl

2016-01-01

Do digital systems and concepts in modern public service production have a negative impact on citizens as end-users? To answer this research question, we shall first present our theoretical framework ‘the institutional logics perspective’ and show how we deploy this on modern public service...... production. Second, we claim that digital systems and concepts develop a new institutional logic within modern public service production: the ‘digital logic’. Third, we analyze and discuss the new logic´s possible impact on citizens as end-users. Fourth, we discuss the ethical dimensions of values and ethics...... in relation to public service production and digitizing....

Do Older Korean Immigrants Engage in End-of-Life Communication?

Science.gov (United States)

Ko, Eunjeong; Roh, Soonhee; Higgins, Doreen

2013-01-01

End-of-life communication is an important process as it allows individuals' treatment preferences to be known, yet not every culture is receptive to such discussions. Planning for end-of-life care is not readily supported in Asian culture, and little is known about individuals' communication with family and health care professionals among older…

Simultaneous bilingual language acquisition: The role of parental input on receptive vocabulary development.

Science.gov (United States)

Macleod, Andrea An; Fabiano-Smith, Leah; Boegner-Pagé, Sarah; Fontolliet, Salomé

2013-02-01

Parents often turn to educators and healthcare professionals for advice on how to best support their child's language development. These professionals frequently suggest implementing the 'one-parent-one-language' approach to ensure consistent exposure to both languages. The goal of this study was to understand how language exposure influences the receptive vocabulary development of simultaneous bilingual children. To this end, we targeted nine German-French children growing up in bilingual families. Their exposure to each language within and outside the home was measured, as were their receptive vocabulary abilities in German and French. The results indicate that children are receiving imbalanced exposure to each language. This imbalance is leading to a slowed development of the receptive vocabulary in the minority language, while the majority language is keeping pace with monolingual peers. The one-parent-one-language approach does not appear to support the development of both of the child's languages in the context described in the present study. Bilingual families may need to consider other options for supporting the bilingual language development of their children. As professionals, we need to provide parents with advice that is based on available data and that is flexible with regards to the current and future needs of the child and his family.

76 FR 69609 - Amendment to Existing Validated End-User Authorizations in the People's Republic of China...

Science.gov (United States)

2011-11-09

... Destinations'' in the People's Republic of China (PRC). BIS also removes one facility from the list of...-01] RIN 0694-AF32 Amendment to Existing Validated End-User Authorizations in the People's Republic of... the ``Eligible Destinations'' column in ``China (People's Republic of)''. Dated: November 1, 2011...

Asynchronous P300-based brain-computer interface to control a virtual environment: initial tests on end users.

Science.gov (United States)

Aloise, Fabio; Schettini, Francesca; Aricò, Pietro; Salinari, Serenella; Guger, Christoph; Rinsma, Johanna; Aiello, Marco; Mattia, Donatella; Cincotti, Febo

2011-10-01

Motor disability and/or ageing can prevent individuals from fully enjoying home facilities, thus worsening their quality of life. Advances in the field of accessible user interfaces for domotic appliances can represent a valuable way to improve the independence of these persons. An asynchronous P300-based Brain-Computer Interface (BCI) system was recently validated with the participation of healthy young volunteers for environmental control. In this study, the asynchronous P300-based BCI for the interaction with a virtual home environment was tested with the participation of potential end-users (clients of a Frisian home care organization) with limited autonomy due to ageing and/or motor disabilities. System testing revealed that the minimum number of stimulation sequences needed to achieve correct classification had a higher intra-subject variability in potential end-users with respect to what was previously observed in young controls. Here we show that the asynchronous modality performed significantly better as compared to the synchronous mode in continuously adapting its speed to the users' state. Furthermore, the asynchronous system modality confirmed its reliability in avoiding misclassifications and false positives, as previously shown in young healthy subjects. The asynchronous modality may contribute to filling the usability gap between BCI systems and traditional input devices, representing an important step towards their use in the activities of daily living.

Demand response scheme based on lottery-like rebates

KAUST Repository

Schwartz, Galina A.; Tembine, Hamidou; Amin, Saurabh; Sastry, S. Shankar

2014-01-01

In this paper, we develop a novel mechanism for reducing volatility of residential demand for electricity. We construct a reward-based (rebate) mechanism that provides consumers with incentives to shift their demand to off-peak time. In contrast to most other mechanisms proposed in the literature, the key feature of our mechanism is its modest requirements on user preferences, i.e., it does not require exact knowledge of user responsiveness to rewards for shifting their demand from the peak to the off-peak time. Specifically, our mechanism utilizes a probabilistic reward structure for users who shift their demand to the off-peak time, and is robust to incomplete information about user demand and/or risk preferences. We approach the problem from the public good perspective, and demonstrate that the mechanism can be implemented via lottery-like schemes. Our mechanism permits to reduce the distribution losses, and thus improve efficiency of electricity distribution. Finally, the mechanism can be readily incorporated into the emerging demand response schemes (e.g., the time-of-day pricing, and critical peak pricing schemes), and has security and privacy-preserving properties.

Demand response scheme based on lottery-like rebates

KAUST Repository

Schwartz, Galina A.

2014-08-24

In this paper, we develop a novel mechanism for reducing volatility of residential demand for electricity. We construct a reward-based (rebate) mechanism that provides consumers with incentives to shift their demand to off-peak time. In contrast to most other mechanisms proposed in the literature, the key feature of our mechanism is its modest requirements on user preferences, i.e., it does not require exact knowledge of user responsiveness to rewards for shifting their demand from the peak to the off-peak time. Specifically, our mechanism utilizes a probabilistic reward structure for users who shift their demand to the off-peak time, and is robust to incomplete information about user demand and/or risk preferences. We approach the problem from the public good perspective, and demonstrate that the mechanism can be implemented via lottery-like schemes. Our mechanism permits to reduce the distribution losses, and thus improve efficiency of electricity distribution. Finally, the mechanism can be readily incorporated into the emerging demand response schemes (e.g., the time-of-day pricing, and critical peak pricing schemes), and has security and privacy-preserving properties.

End user interface and knowledge base editing system of CSPAR: a knowledge-based consultation system for preventive maintenance in nuclear plants

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sinohara, Yasusi; Terano, Takao; Nishiyama, Takuya

1988-01-01

Consultation System for Prevention of Abnormal-event Recurrence (CSPAR) is a knowledge-based system to analyze the same kind of events to a given fault reported on a nuclear power plant and to give users some informations for effective measures preventing them. This report discusses the interfaces of CSPAR for both end-users and knowledge-base editors. The interfaces are highly interactive and multi-window oriented. The features are as follows: (1) The end-user interfaces has Japanese language processing facility, which enables the users to consult CSPAR with various synonims and related terms for knowledge-base handling; (2) The knowledge-base editing system is used by knowledge-base editors for maintaining the knowledge on both plants' equipments and abnormal events sequences. It has facilities for easy maintenance of knowledge-bases, which includes a graphic oriented browser, a knowledge-base retriever, and a knowledge-base checker. (author)

Perceived effectiveness of environmental decision support systems in participatory planning: Evidence from small groups of end-users

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Inman, D.; Blind, M.; Ribarova, I.; Krause, A.; Roosenschoon, O.R.; Kassahun, A.; Scholten, H.; Arampatzis, G.; Abrami, G.; McIntosh, B.S.; Jeffrey, P.

2011-01-01

The challenges associated with evaluating the effectiveness of environmental decision support systems (EDSS) based on the perceptions of only a small sample of end-users are well understood. Although methods adopted from Management Information Systems (MISs) evaluation research have benefited from

Codec-on-Demand Based on User-Level Virtualization

Science.gov (United States)

Zhang, Youhui; Zheng, Weimin

At work, at home, and in some public places, a desktop PC is usually available nowadays. Therefore, it is important for users to be able to play various videos on different PCs smoothly, but the diversity of codec types complicates the situation. Although some mainstream media players can try to download the needed codec automatically, this may fail for average users because installing the codec usually requires administrator privileges to complete, while the user may not be the owner of the PC. We believe an ideal solution should work without users' intervention, and need no special privileges. This paper proposes such a user-friendly, program-transparent solution for Windows-based media players. It runs the media player in a user-mode virtualization environment, and then downloads the needed codec on-the-fly. Because of API (Application Programming Interface) interception, some resource-accessing API calls from the player will be redirected to the downloaded codec resources. Then from the viewpoint of the player, the necessary codec exists locally and it can handle the video smoothly, although neither system registry nor system folders was modified during this process. Besides convenience, the principle of least privilege is maintained and the host system is left clean. This paper completely analyzes the technical issues and presents such a prototype which can work with DirectShow-compatible players. Performance tests show that the overhead is negligible. Moreover, our solution conforms to the Software-As-A-Service (SaaS) mode, which is very promising in the Internet era.

Demand Response Advanced Controls Framework and Assessment of Enabling Technology Costs

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Potter, Jennifer; Cappers, Peter

2017-08-28

The Demand Response Advanced Controls Framework and Assessment of Enabling Technology Costs research describe a variety of DR opportunities and the various bulk power system services they can provide. The bulk power system services are mapped to a generalized taxonomy of DR “service types”, which allows us to discuss DR opportunities and bulk power system services in fewer yet broader categories that share similar technological requirements which mainly drive DR enablement costs. The research presents a framework for the costs to automate DR and provides descriptions of the various elements that drive enablement costs. The report introduces the various DR enabling technologies and end-uses, identifies the various services that each can provide to the grid and provides the cost assessment for each enabling technology. In addition to a report, this research includes a Demand Response Advanced Controls Database and User Manual. They are intended to provide users with the data that underlies this research and instructions for how to use that database more effectively and efficiently.

Receptivity to alcohol marketing predicts initiation of alcohol use.

Science.gov (United States)

Henriksen, Lisa; Feighery, Ellen C; Schleicher, Nina C; Fortmann, Stephen P

2008-01-01

This longitudinal study examined the influence of alcohol advertising and promotions on the initiation of alcohol use. A measure of receptivity to alcohol marketing was developed from research about tobacco marketing. Recall and recognition of alcohol brand names were also examined. Data were obtained from in-class surveys of sixth, seventh, and eighth graders at baseline and 12-month follow-up. Participants who were classified as never drinkers at baseline (n = 1,080) comprised the analysis sample. Logistic regression models examined the association of advertising receptivity at baseline with any alcohol use and current drinking at follow-up, adjusting for multiple risk factors, including peer alcohol use, school performance, risk taking, and demographics. At baseline, 29% of never drinkers either owned or wanted to use an alcohol branded promotional item (high receptivity), 12% students named the brand of their favorite alcohol ad (moderate receptivity), and 59% were not receptive to alcohol marketing. Approximately 29% of adolescents reported any alcohol use at follow-up; 13% reported drinking at least 1 or 2 days in the past month. Never drinkers who reported high receptivity to alcohol marketing at baseline were 77% more likely to initiate drinking by follow-up than those were not receptive. Smaller increases in the odds of alcohol use at follow-up were associated with better recall and recognition of alcohol brand names at baseline. Alcohol advertising and promotions are associated with the uptake of drinking. Prevention programs may reduce adolescents' receptivity to alcohol marketing by limiting their exposure to alcohol ads and promotions and by increasing their skepticism about the sponsors' marketing tactics.

A review of recommendations for sequencing receptive and expressive language instruction.

Science.gov (United States)

Petursdottir, Anna Ingeborg; Carr, James E

2011-01-01

We review recommendations for sequencing instruction in receptive and expressive language objectives in early and intensive behavioral intervention (EIBI) programs. Several books recommend completing receptive protocols before introducing corresponding expressive protocols. However, this recommendation has little empirical support, and some evidence exists that the reverse sequence may be more efficient. Alternative recommendations include teaching receptive and expressive skills simultaneously (M. L. Sundberg & Partington, 1998) and building learning histories that lead to acquisition of receptive and expressive skills without direct instruction (Greer & Ross, 2008). Empirical support for these recommendations also is limited. Future research should assess the relative efficiency of receptive-before-expressive, expressive-before-receptive, and simultaneous training with children who have diagnoses of autism spectrum disorders. In addition, further evaluation is needed of the potential benefits of multiple-exemplar training and other variables that may influence the efficiency of receptive and expressive instruction.

Stigma development and receptivity in almond (Prunus dulcis).

Science.gov (United States)

Yi, Weiguang; Law, S Edward; McCoy, Dennis; Wetzstein, Hazel Y

2006-01-01

Fertilization is essential in almond production, and pollination can be limiting in production areas. This study investigated stigma receptivity under defined developmental stages to clarify the relationship between stigma morphology, pollen germination, tube growth and fruit set. Light and scanning electron microscopy were employed to examine stigma development at seven stages of flower development ranging from buds that were swollen to flowers in which petals were abscising. Flowers at different stages were hand pollinated and pollen germination and tube growth assessed. Artificial pollinations in the field were conducted to determine the effect of flower age on fruit set. Later stages of flower development exhibited greater stigma receptivity, i.e. higher percentages of pollen germination and more extensive tube growth occurred in older (those opened to the flat petal stage or exhibiting petal fall) than younger flowers. Enhanced stigma receptivity was associated with elongation of stigmatic papillae and increased amounts of stigmatic exudate that inundated papillae at later developmental stages. Field pollinations indicated that the stigma was still receptive and nut set was maintained in older flowers. Stigma receptivity in almond does not become optimal until flowers are past the fully open stage. The stigma is still receptive and fruit set is maintained in flowers even at the stage when petals are abscising. Strategies to enhance pollination and crop yield, including the timing and placement of honey bees, should consider the effectiveness of developmentally advanced flowers.

Integrated parallel reception, excitation, and shimming (iPRES).

Science.gov (United States)

Han, Hui; Song, Allen W; Truong, Trong-Kha

2013-07-01

To develop a new concept for a hardware platform that enables integrated parallel reception, excitation, and shimming. This concept uses a single coil array rather than separate arrays for parallel excitation/reception and B0 shimming. It relies on a novel design that allows a radiofrequency current (for excitation/reception) and a direct current (for B0 shimming) to coexist independently in the same coil. Proof-of-concept B0 shimming experiments were performed with a two-coil array in a phantom, whereas B0 shimming simulations were performed with a 48-coil array in the human brain. Our experiments show that individually optimized direct currents applied in each coil can reduce the B0 root-mean-square error by 62-81% and minimize distortions in echo-planar images. The simulations show that dynamic shimming with the 48-coil integrated parallel reception, excitation, and shimming array can reduce the B0 root-mean-square error in the prefrontal and temporal regions by 66-79% as compared with static second-order spherical harmonic shimming and by 12-23% as compared with dynamic shimming with a 48-coil conventional shim array. Our results demonstrate the feasibility of the integrated parallel reception, excitation, and shimming concept to perform parallel excitation/reception and B0 shimming with a unified coil system as well as its promise for in vivo applications. Copyright © 2013 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Second life battery energy storage system for residential demand response service

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Saez-de-Ibarra, Andoni; Martinez-Laserna, Egoitz; Koch-Ciobotaru, Cosmin

2015-01-01

vehicles, during their main first life application, for providing residential demand response service. The paper considers the decayed characteristics of these batteries and optimizes the rating of such a second life battery energy storage system (SLBESS) for maximizing the economic benefits of the user......The integration of renewable energies and the usage of battery energy storage systems (BESS) into the residential buildings opens the possibility for minimizing the electricity bill for the end-user. This paper proposes the use of batteries that have already been aged while powering electric......'s energy consumption during a period of one year. Furthermore, simulations were performed considering real data of PV generation, consumption, prices taken from the Spanish market and costs of battery and photovoltaic systems....

Adoption of ERP system: An empirical study of factors influencing the usage of ERP and its impact on end user

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Christy Angeline Rajan

2015-06-01

Full Text Available Complex information systems like the ERP integrate the data of all business areas within the organization. The implementation of ERP is a difficult process as it involves different types of end users. Based on literature, we proposed a conceptual framework and examined it to find the effect of some of the individual, organizational, and technological factors on the usage of ERP and its impact on the end user. The results of the analysis suggest that computer self-efficacy, organizational support, training, and compatibility have a positive influence on ERP usage which in turn has significant influence on panoptic empowerment and individual performance.

33 CFR 158.310 - Reception facilities: General.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-07-01

... order to pass the inspection under § 158.160, must— (1) Be a reception facility as defined under § 158... residue; (5) Be capable of receiving NLS residue from an oceangoing ship within 24 hours after notice by that ship of the need for reception facilities; and (6) Be capable of completing the transfer of NLS...

Exploring the requirements for multimodal interaction for mobile devices in an end-to-end journey context.

Science.gov (United States)

Krehl, Claudia; Sharples, Sarah

2012-01-01

The paper investigates the requirements for multimodal interaction on mobile devices in an end-to-end journey context. Traditional interfaces are deemed cumbersome and inefficient for exchanging information with the user. Multimodal interaction provides a different user-centred approach allowing for more natural and intuitive interaction between humans and computers. It is especially suitable for mobile interaction as it can overcome additional constraints including small screens, awkward keypads, and continuously changing settings - an inherent property of mobility. This paper is based on end-to-end journeys where users encounter several contexts during their journeys. Interviews and focus groups explore the requirements for multimodal interaction design for mobile devices by examining journey stages and identifying the users' information needs and sources. Findings suggest that multimodal communication is crucial when users multitask. Choosing suitable modalities depend on user context, characteristics and tasks.

An empirical analysis of energy demand in Namibia

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

De Vita, G.; Hunt, L.C.

2006-01-01

Using a unique database of end-user local energy data and the recently developed Autoregressive Distributed Lag (ARDL) bounds testing approach to cointegration, we estimate the long-run elasticities of the Namibian energy demand function at both aggregated level and by type of energy (electricity, petrol and diesel) for the period 1980-2002. Our main results show that energy consumption responds positively to changes in GDP and negatively to changes in energy price and air temperature. The differences in price elasticities across fuels uncovered by this study have significant implications for energy taxation by Namibian policy makers. We do not find any significant cross-price elasticities between different fuel types. (author)

On-demand microbicide products: design matters.

Science.gov (United States)

Patel, Sravan Kumar; Rohan, Lisa Cencia

2017-12-01

Sexual intercourse (vaginal and anal) is the predominant mode of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) transmission. Topical microbicides used in an on-demand format (i.e., immediately before or after sex) can be part of an effective tool kit utilized to prevent sexual transmission of HIV. The effectiveness of prevention products is positively correlated with adherence, which is likely to depend on user acceptability of the product. The development of an efficacious and acceptable product is therefore paramount for the success of an on-demand product. Acceptability of on-demand products (e.g., gels, films, and tablets) and their attributes is influenced by a multitude of user-specific factors that span behavioral, lifestyle, socio-economic, and cultural aspects. In addition, physicochemical properties of the drug, anatomical and physiological aspects of anorectal and vaginal compartments, issues relating to large-scale production, and cost can impact product development. These factors together with user preferences determine the design space of an effective, acceptable, and feasible on-demand product. In this review, we summarize the interacting factors that together determine product choice and its target product profile.

System of end-to-end symmetric database encryption

Science.gov (United States)

Galushka, V. V.; Aydinyan, A. R.; Tsvetkova, O. L.; Fathi, V. A.; Fathi, D. V.

2018-05-01

The article is devoted to the actual problem of protecting databases from information leakage, which is performed while bypassing access control mechanisms. To solve this problem, it is proposed to use end-to-end data encryption, implemented at the end nodes of an interaction of the information system components using one of the symmetric cryptographic algorithms. For this purpose, a key management method designed for use in a multi-user system based on the distributed key representation model, part of which is stored in the database, and the other part is obtained by converting the user's password, has been developed and described. In this case, the key is calculated immediately before the cryptographic transformations and is not stored in the memory after the completion of these transformations. Algorithms for registering and authorizing a user, as well as changing his password, have been described, and the methods for calculating parts of a key when performing these operations have been provided.

End-user support for a primary care electronic medical record: a qualitative case study of a vendor’s perspective

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Aviv Shachak

2013-05-01

Full Text Available Background In primary care settings, users often rely on vendors to provide support for health information technology (HIT. Yet, little is known about the vendors’ perspectives on the support they provide, how support personnel perceive their roles, the challenges they face and the ways they deal with them.Objective To provide in-depth insight into an electronic-medical record (EMR vendor’s perspective on end-user support.Methods As part of a larger case study research, we conducted nine semi-structured interviews with help desk staff, trainers and service managers of an EMR vendor, and observed two training sessions of a new client.Results With a growing client base, the vendor faced challenges of support staff shortage and high variance in users’ technical knowledge. Additionally, users sometimes needed assistance with infrastructure, and not just software problems. These challenges sometimes hindered the provision of timely support and required supporters to possess good interpersonal skills and adapt to diverse client population.Conclusion This study highlights the complexity of providing end-user support for HIT. With increased adoption, other vendors are likely to face similar challenges. To deal with these issues, supporters need not only strong technical knowledge of the systems, but also good interpersonal communication skills. Some responsibilities may be delegated to super-users. Users may find it useful to hire local IT staff, at least on an on-call basis, to provide assistance with infrastructure problems, which are not supported by the software vendor. Vendors may consider expanding their service packages to cover these elements.

Cost-effective evolution of research prototypes into end-user tools: The MACH case study

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Störrle, Harald

2017-01-01

's claim by fellow scientists, and (3) demonstrate the utility and value of the research contribution to any interested parties. However, turning an exploratory prototype into a “proper” tool for end-users often entails great effort. Heavyweight mainstream frameworks such as Eclipse do not address...... this issue; their steep learning curves constitute substantial entry barriers to such ecosystems. In this paper, we present the Model Analyzer/Checker (MACH), a stand-alone tool with a command-line interpreter. MACH integrates a set of research prototypes for analyzing UML models. By choosing a simple...... command line interpreter rather than (costly) graphical user interface, we achieved the core goal of quickly deploying research results to a broader audience while keeping the required effort to an absolute minimum. We analyze MACH as a case study of how requirements and constraints in an academic...

Fostering Residential Demand Response through Dynamic Pricing Schemes: A Behavioural Review of Smart Grid Pilots in Europe

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Kris Kessels

2016-09-01

Full Text Available Many smart grid projects make use of dynamic pricing schemes aimed to motivate consumers to shift and/or decrease energy use. Based upon existing literature and analyses of current smart grid projects, this survey paper presents key lessons on how to encourage households to adjust energy end use by means of dynamic tariffs. The paper identifies four key hypotheses related to fostering demand response through dynamic tariff schemes and examines whether these hypotheses can be accepted or rejected based on a review of published findings from a range of European pilot projects. We conclude that dynamic pricing schemes have the power to adjust energy consumption behavior within households. In order to work effectively, the dynamic tariff should be simple to understand for the end users, with timely notifications of price changes, a considerable effect on their energy bill and, if the tariff is more complex, the burden for the consumer could be eased by introducing automated control. Although sometimes the mere introduction of a dynamic tariff has proven to be effective, often the success of the pricing scheme depends also on other factors influencing the behavior of end users. An important condition to make dynamic tariffs work is that the end users should be engaged with them.

A Multiple-Reception Access Protocol with Interruptions with Mixed Priorities in CDMA Networks

Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)

Lu Xiaowen; Zhu Jinkang

2003-01-01

A novel access protocol called Multiple-Reception Access Protocol (MRAP) and its modification MRAP/WI are proposed. In this protocol, all colliding users with a common code can be identified by the base station due to the offset of arrival time Thus they can retransmit access requests under the base station's control. Furthermore new arrivals with higher priority level can interrupt the lower retransmission in order to reduce its access delay although it increases the lower priority's delay. Simulation results of MRAP and MRAP/WI are given in order to highlight the superior performance of the proposed approach.

Standardisation of an European end-user nutrient database for nutritional epidemiology: what can we learn from the EPIC Nutrient Database (ENDB) project?

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Slimani, N.; Deharveng, G.; Unwin, I.

2007-01-01

the absence of a reference European nutrient database for international nutritional epidemiology studies, the EPIC Nutrient Database (ENDB) project has been set up to standardise nutrient databases (NDBs) across 10 European countries participating in the EPIC study. This paper reports the main...... problems in harmonising NDBs experienced by end-user in the ENDB project and the solutions adopted to prevent and minimize them, which are also relevant for other large European nutritional studies. Furthermore, it provides end-user recommendations for improving the comparability of European and other NDBs...

Evaluation of End-User Satisfaction Among Employees Participating in a Web-based Health Risk Assessment With Tailored Feedback

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Vosbergen, Sandra; Laan, Eva K.; Colkesen, Ersen B.; Niessen, Maurice A. J.; Kraaijenhagen, Roderik A.; Essink-Bot, Marie-Louise; Peek, Niels

2012-01-01

Background: Web technology is increasingly being used to provide individuals with health risk assessments (HRAs) with tailored feedback. End-user satisfaction is an important determinant of the potential impact of HRAs, as this influences program attrition and adherence to behavioral advice.

New Year’s reception

CERN Multimedia

2009-01-01

At a reception on 28 January, the CERN management presented their best wishes for 2009 to politicians and representatives of the administrations in the local area, and diplomats representing CERN’s Member States, Observer States and other countries.

The reception of Bollywood in Malaysia (1991-2012): a contextual study

OpenAIRE

Sreekumar, Rohini

2017-01-01

Bollywood films are increasingly drawing scholarly attention for their global appeal and reception. Transnational studies have examined the reception of Bollywood in Australia, Britain, Scotland, South Africa, Russia, the United States of America, Bangladesh and Nepal. However, academic work on the Southeast Asian reception of these films is scarcer. This research seeks to fill this gap by looking at the reception of Bollywood in Malaysia from 1991-2012. The thesis adopts a...

Canadian 24-hour movement guidelines for the early years (0-4 years): exploring the perceptions of stakeholders and end users regarding their acceptability, barriers to uptake, and dissemination.

Science.gov (United States)

Riazi, Negin; Ramanathan, Subha; O'Neill, Meghan; Tremblay, Mark S; Faulkner, Guy

2017-11-20

It is important to engage stakeholders and end users in the development of guidelines for knowledge translation purposes. The aim of this study was to examine stakeholders' (experts in pediatric and family medicine, physical activity knowledge translation, and research) and end users' (parents and early childhood educators) perceptions of the Canadian 24-Hour Movement Guidelines for the Early Years (0-4 years). Stakeholders (n = 10) engaged in telephone interviews and end users (n = 92) participated in focus groups (n = 14) to discuss perceived clarity and need for the guidelines, potential barriers to implementation, identification of credible messengers, and methods for dissemination of the guidelines. A thematic analysis was conducted. The proposed guidelines were very well received by both stakeholders and end users. A clear need for such guidelines was identified, and most believed the guidelines were achievable. Stakeholders and end users identified several potential barriers to uptake, including low awareness of current guidelines; 'daily challenges' such as allure of screen time, lack of time, and competing priorities; and challenges in the context of shifting social norms. A range of methods and messengers of dissemination were identified. Medical and child care settings were the most frequently cited places for dissemination, and physicians and early childhood educators were the most common suggestions for messengers. There was consistent support for the Canadian 24-Hour Movement Guidelines for the Early Years (0-4 years) from both stakeholders and end users. Moving forward, it is important to dedicate appropriate support and funding toward dissemination efforts in order to reach end users, particularly parents and early childhood educators.

Perception and Information Behaviour of Institutional Repository End-Users Provides Valuable Insight for Future Development. A Review of: St. Jean, B., Rieh, S. Y., Yakel, E., & Markey, K. (2011. Unheard voices: Institutional repository end-users. College & Research Libraries, 72(1, 21-42.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Lisa Shen

2012-06-01

Full Text Available Objective – To determine the perceptions andinformation behavior of institutionalrepository (IR end-users.Design – Semi-structured interviews.Setting – The interviews were conducted overthe telephone.Subjects – Twenty end-users of five differentIRs were interviewed for the study. Seventeenof the interviewees were recruited viarecruitment forms the researchers placed on IRhomepages and the other three intervieweeswere referred to researchers by IR managers.The interviewees’ academic backgroundsvaried, including six undergraduates, fourmasters’ students, three doctorial students, fivefaculty, and two library or museum staffmembers. They represented disciplines in Artsand Humanities (5, Science and HealthSciences (10, and Social Sciences (5. Fifteen ofthe 20 interviewees were recruited throughtheir own institution’s IR. All except two of theinterviewees had used the IR for which theywere recruited less than six times.Methods – Forty-three potential intervieweeswere recruited using web recruitment formsand IR manager recommendations.Researchers subsequently excluded 23 (53.5%of the interviewees because they wereprimarily IR contributors rather than endusers,or could not be reached by phone.Twenty interviews ranging from 17 to 60 minutes were conducted between January and June 2008. The average interview time was 34 minutes. The recordings were transcribed then analyzed using qualitative data analysis software NVivo7. Coding categories were developed using both the original research questions and emerging themes from the actual transcripts. The final coding scheme had a Holsi Coefficient of Reliability of 0.732 for inter-coder reliability.Main Results – Researchers identified six common themes from the results:How do end-users characterize IRs?While most interviewees recognized that there is a relationship between the IR and its host institution, their understandings of the function and content of IRs varied widely. Interviewees

Current Writing: Text and Reception in Southern Africa: Advanced ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Current Writing: Text and Reception in Southern Africa: Advanced Search. Journal Home > Current Writing: Text and Reception in Southern Africa: Advanced Search. Log in or Register to get access to full text downloads.

Water demand management in Mediterranean regions

OpenAIRE

Giulio Querini; Salvo Creaco

2005-01-01

Water sustainability needs a balance between demand and availability: 1) Water demand management: demand may be managed by suppliers and regulations responsible persons, using measures like invoicing, consumptions measurement and users education in water conservation measures; 2) Augmentation of water supply: availibility may be augmented by infrastructural measures, waste water reuse, non-conventional resources and losses reduction. Water Demand Management is about achieving a reduction in t...

Morning Receptions in a Danish ECE Context

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Kornerup, Ida; Gravgaard, Mette Lykke

This paper focus on a special pedagogical context; morning receptions as a learning environment. The studies of mornings are part of a 3 year long research project in which different types of learning environments were investigated. Few studies have researched morning receptions in this perspecti...... even though pedagogues often emphasize that this particular pedagogical context have implications on the children’s wellbeing and learning possibilities throughout the day....

Comparison of Measures of E-cigarette Advertising Exposure and Receptivity.

Science.gov (United States)

Pokhrel, Pallav; Fagan, Pebbles; Herzog, Thaddeus A; Schmid, Simone; Kawamoto, Crissy T; Unger, Jennifer B

2017-10-01

We tested how various measures of e-cigarette advertising exposure and receptivity are related to each other and compare to each other in their associations with e-cigarette use susceptibility and behavior. Cross-sectional data were collected from young adult college students (N = 470; M age = 20.9, SD = 2.1; 65% women). Measures of e-cigarette advertising exposure/receptivity compared included a cued recall measure, measures of marketing receptivity, perceived ad exposure, liking of e-cigarette ads, and frequency of convenience store visit, which is considered a measure of point-of-sale ad exposure. The cued-recall measure was associated with e-cigarette use experimentation but not current e-cigarette use. Marketing receptivity was associated with current e-cigarette use but not e-cigarette use experimentation. Liking of e-cigarette ads was the only measure associated with e-cigarette use susceptibility. Frequency of convenience store visit was associated with current e-cigarette use but not e-cigarette use experimentation or susceptibility. Inclusion of multiple measures of marketing exposure and receptivity is recommended for regulatory research concerning e-cigarette marketing. Marketing receptivity and cued recall measures are strong correlates of current and ever e-cigarette use, respectively.

Information and Communications Systems for Control-by-Price of Distributed Energy Resources and Flexible Demand

OpenAIRE

Nyeng, Preben; Østergaard, Jacob

2011-01-01

The control-by-price concept fits well with controlling small-scale generation, storage and demand. In this paper, we investigate the required information and communications systems that are needed to realize the control-by-price concept for such units. We first present a proposal for overall infrastructure and subsystem design and secondly focus on the design and implementation of the end-user price-responsive controller, interfaces, and communications. The design and its applicability on ex...

Password Authentication from a Human Factors Perspective: Results of a Survey Among End-Users

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Hoonakker, Peter; Bornoe, Nis; Carayon, Pascale

2009-01-01

Considering that many organizations today are extremely dependent on information technology, computer and information security (CIS) has become a critical concern from a business viewpoint. CIS is concerned with protecting the confidentiality, integrity, accessible information, when using computer...... systems. Much research has been conducted on CIS in the past years. However, the attention has been primarily focused on technical problems and solutions. Only recently, the role of human factors in CIS has been recognized. End-user behavior can increase the vulnerability of computer and information...

Design of a Millimeter-Wave Concentrator for Beam Reception in High-Power Wireless Power Transfer

Science.gov (United States)

Fukunari, Masafumi; Wongsuryrat, Nat; Yamaguchi, Toshikazu; Nakamura, Yusuke; Komurasaki, Kimiya; Koizumi, Hiroyuki

2017-02-01

This study examined the performance of a developed taper-tube concentrator for 94-GHz millimeter-wave beam reception during wireless power transfer. The received energy is converted into kinetic energy of a working gas in the tube to drive an engine or thruster. The concentrator, which is assumed to have mirror reflection of millimeter waves in it, is designed to be shorter than conventional tapered waveguides of millimeter waves. A dimensionless design law of a concentrator is proposed based on geometric optics theory. Because the applicability of geometric optics theory is unclear, the ratio of its bore diameter to its wavelength was set as small compared to those in other possible applications. Then, the discrepancy between the designed and measured power reception was examined. Results show that the maximum discrepancy was as low as 7 % for the bore-to-wavelength ratio of 20 at the narrow end of the concentrator.

Establishment and Operation of User Facilities

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kim, Kye Ryung; Park, B. S.; Lim, Y. K.; Lee, S. K.; Jung, J. P.

2005-08-01

The final goal of this project is to establish the proton beam user facility which can offer the suitable proton beam for the user's demand. In the first phase we developed the key technologies that were required for the establishment of 20MeV and 100MeV proton user facilities. The user's demand survey was also achieved, and the test user facility was established on the results of the demand survey. Using the test facility, the users performed their pilot studies. Now, we have finished the conceptual design for 20MeV proton user facility. During the first phase we performed the user's demand survey and produced many materials related to the proton beam utilizations in domestic or abroad. The survey results were reflected on the establishment of the test user facility and the conceptual design of 20MeV/100MeV proton beam user facilities. We have developed the key technologies which concern to beam energy control, flux control, uniform irradiation, dose and uniformity measurement, proton energy measurement, SOBP(Spread-out Bragg Peak) system using a rotating range modulator, and carried out the conceptual design of 20MeV proton user facility. The test user facility has been constructed and operated for both verifying the developed key technologies and performing the user's preliminary experiments. 45MeV low flux user facility was constructed in 2003 and has performed a lot of irradiation experiments. The development of 1.8MeV test user facility was completed. Also the low energy user facility that KAERI kept was upgraded and used for many users. Therefore, we provided our users with various beams. On the other hand, the following activities were carried out, such as, inviting the oversea researchers, giving support to users to use the beam in domestic and abroad, discussing the beam utilization technologies by visiting the foreign user facilities, etc

Learning receptive fields using predictive feedback.

Science.gov (United States)

Jehee, Janneke F M; Rothkopf, Constantin; Beck, Jeffrey M; Ballard, Dana H

2006-01-01

Previously, it was suggested that feedback connections from higher- to lower-level areas carry predictions of lower-level neural activities, whereas feedforward connections carry the residual error between the predictions and the actual lower-level activities [Rao, R.P.N., Ballard, D.H., 1999. Nature Neuroscience 2, 79-87.]. A computational model implementing the hypothesis learned simple cell receptive fields when exposed to natural images. Here, we use predictive feedback to explain tuning properties in medial superior temporal area (MST). We implement the hypothesis using a new, biologically plausible, algorithm based on matching pursuit, which retains all the features of the previous implementation, including its ability to efficiently encode input. When presented with natural images, the model developed receptive field properties as found in primary visual cortex. In addition, when exposed to visual motion input resulting from movements through space, the model learned receptive field properties resembling those in MST. These results corroborate the idea that predictive feedback is a general principle used by the visual system to efficiently encode natural input.

Receptivity of Hypersonic Boundary Layers to Distributed Roughness and Acoustic Disturbances

Science.gov (United States)

Balakumar, P.

2013-01-01

Boundary-layer receptivity and stability of Mach 6 flows over smooth and rough seven-degree half-angle sharp-tipped cones are numerically investigated. The receptivity of the boundary layer to slow acoustic disturbances, fast acoustic disturbances, and vortical disturbances is considered. The effects of three-dimensional isolated roughness on the receptivity and stability are also simulated. The results for the smooth cone show that the instability waves are generated in the leading edge region and that the boundary layer is much more receptive to slow acoustic waves than to the fast acoustic waves. Vortical disturbances also generate unstable second modes, however the receptivity coefficients are smaller than that of the slow acoustic wave. Distributed roughness elements located near the nose region decreased the receptivity of the second mode generated by the slow acoustic wave by a small amount. Roughness elements distributed across the continuous spectrum increased the receptivity of the second mode generated by the slow and fast acoustic waves and the vorticity wave. The largest increase occurred for the vorticity wave. Roughness elements distributed across the synchronization point did not change the receptivity of the second modes generated by the acoustic waves. The receptivity of the second mode generated by the vorticity wave increased in this case, but the increase is lower than that occurred with the roughness elements located across the continuous spectrum. The simulations with an isolated roughness element showed that the second mode waves generated by the acoustic disturbances are not influenced by the small roughness element. Due to the interaction, a three-dimensional wave is generated. However, the amplitude is orders of magnitude smaller than the two-dimensional wave.

User Requirements of Furniture Influenced by a Move to a Senior Housing

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Oskar Jonsson

2012-08-01

Full Text Available User-centred design approaches within the field of furniture design for old people involves an act of embracing and balancing various end-user needs and assessing their relative importance for the product experience. It is often assumed that older people’s physiological needs dominate their other needs. In the present study, three focus group interviews were carried out with the exploratory purpose of gaining an understanding of how people feel and think about changes when moving to and living in an apartment in senior housing, outside the housing market, and what impact this has on their opinions of furniture and other interior products. Twelve people aged 59–93 took part. The outcomes of the focus group interviews point to demands on products that support the physical, psychological and social changes that relocation and aging may bring, and correspond to an independent and self-determinant identity. User requirements related to usability and affective product experience for the design of totally new or improved products are proposed. The paper discusses the complexity in the research assignment to communicate and bring end-user knowledge and experiences to life, and suggests that designers will benefit from carrying out or being involved in user-centred research.

End-user satisfaction analysis on library management system unnes using technology acceptance model towards national standard of integrated library

Science.gov (United States)

Hardyanto, W.; Purwinarko, A.; Adhi, M. A.

2018-03-01

The library which is the gate of the University should be supported by the existence of an adequate information system, to provide excellent service and optimal to every user. Library management system that has been in existence since 2009 needs to be re-evaluated so that the system can meet the needs of both operator and Unnes user in particular, and users from outside Unnes in general. This study aims to evaluate and improve the existing library management system to produce a system that is accountable and able to meet the needs of end users, as well as produce a library management system that is integrated Unnes. Research is directed to produce evaluation report with Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) approach and library management system integrated with the national standard.

The price elasticity of demand for heroin: Matched longitudinal and experimental evidence.

Science.gov (United States)

Olmstead, Todd A; Alessi, Sheila M; Kline, Brendan; Pacula, Rosalie Liccardo; Petry, Nancy M

2015-05-01

This paper reports estimates of the price elasticity of demand for heroin based on a newly constructed dataset. The dataset has two matched components concerning the same sample of regular heroin users: longitudinal information about real-world heroin demand (actual price and actual quantity at daily intervals for each heroin user in the sample) and experimental information about laboratory heroin demand (elicited by presenting the same heroin users with scenarios in a laboratory setting). Two empirical strategies are used to estimate the price elasticity of demand for heroin. The first strategy exploits the idiosyncratic variation in the price experienced by a heroin user over time that occurs in markets for illegal drugs. The second strategy exploits the experimentally induced variation in price experienced by a heroin user across experimental scenarios. Both empirical strategies result in the estimate that the conditional price elasticity of demand for heroin is approximately -0.80. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

The price elasticity of demand for heroin: matched longitudinal and experimental evidence#

Science.gov (United States)

Olmstead, Todd A.; Alessi, Sheila M.; Kline, Brendan; Pacula, Rosalie Liccardo; Petry, Nancy M.

2015-01-01

This paper reports estimates of the price elasticity of demand for heroin based on a newly constructed dataset. The dataset has two matched components concerning the same sample of regular heroin users: longitudinal information about real-world heroin demand (actual price and actual quantity at daily intervals for each heroin user in the sample) and experimental information about laboratory heroin demand (elicited by presenting the same heroin users with scenarios in a laboratory setting). Two empirical strategies are used to estimate the price elasticity of demand for heroin. The first strategy exploits the idiosyncratic variation in the price experienced by a heroin user over time that occurs in markets for illegal drugs. The second strategy exploits the experimentally-induced variation in price experienced by a heroin user across experimental scenarios. Both empirical strategies result in the estimate that the conditional price elasticity of demand for heroin is approximately −0.80. PMID:25702687

Effects of Nose Bluntness on Hypersonic Boundary-Layer Receptivity and Stability Over Cones

Science.gov (United States)

Kara, Kursat; Balakumar, Ponnampalam; Kandil, Osama A.

2011-01-01

The receptivity to freestream acoustic disturbances and the stability properties of hypersonic boundary layers are numerically investigated for boundary-layer flows over a 5 straight cone at a freestream Mach number of 6.0. To compute the shock and the interaction of the shock with the instability waves, the Navier-Stokes equations in axisymmetric coordinates were solved. In the governing equations, inviscid and viscous flux vectors are discretized using a fifth-order accurate weighted-essentially-non-oscillatory scheme. A third-order accurate total-variation-diminishing Runge-Kutta scheme is employed for time integration. After the mean flow field is computed, disturbances are introduced at the upstream end of the computational domain. The appearance of instability waves near the nose region and the receptivity of the boundary layer with respect to slow mode acoustic waves are investigated. Computations confirm the stabilizing effect of nose bluntness and the role of the entropy layer in the delay of boundary-layer transition. The current solutions, compared with experimental observations and other computational results, exhibit good agreement.

The Law of the Tendency of the Rate of Profit to Fall and the End User Communication Technology

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Peter Sekloča

2015-03-01

Full Text Available The author critically analyses the contemporary debate about the law of the tendential fall in the rate of profit in which Marx summed up the central contradiction of the capitalist mode of production. The results of the analysis are then applied on the business strategies of the informational capitalism in the segment of end users of the informational and communicational technology. Unpaid labor of users for digital media platform owners as well as hardware and software purchase both resemble peculiar counteracting tendencies for the “law”. The analysis indicates that the immaterial labor and outsourcing of equipment may truly increase the profit rate in a way that was rather inconceivable in Marx's day, but this still does not undermine the “law’s” validity. Counteracting tendencies have their own limits and that is also why the capital does not allow them to reach their end and restore conditions for a “new” central contradiction conceptualized by Italian autonomists.

The Comparative Reception of Darwinism: A Brief History

Science.gov (United States)

Glick, Thomas F.

2010-01-01

The subfield of Darwin studies devoted to comparative reception coalesced around 1971 with the planning of a conference on the subject, at the University of Texas at Austin held in April 1972. The original focus was western Europe, Russia and the United States. Subsequently a spate of studies on the Italian reception added to the Eurocentric…

Road map towards a common harmonised Nordic end-user market. NordREG report 5 - 2013

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

NONE

2013-07-01

The purpose of this road map is to describe the overall process to harmonise the Nordic electricity end-user markets. The main target groups for the road map are the Nordic governments, legislators and the electricity industry. The road map will continuously be updated as the project progresses, at least once a year. It describes the recommendations already made by NordREG, as well as indicates up-coming recommendations. One important part of the Nordic harmonisation process is the monitoring of the progress of the project. It will be communicated through national implementation monitoring overviews, which will describe the state of play for each recommendation made by NordREG. The road map highlights the importance of national commitment by different stakeholders, authorities and governments in order to successfully harmonise the Nordic end-user markets. This commitment is absolutely essential. The goal for 2015 is to harmonise some of the legislation, rules and processes that constitute barriers for suppliers to establish their business in other Nordic countries. In order to achieve this goal, NordREG is working towards defining responsibilities in the customer interface of the supplier centric model and the way of billing the customers. Another important task is related to development of an efficient way of communication among a large number of Nordic electricity companies. By 2015 the end-user markets should be harmonised to the extent that the most critical prerequisites have been achieved. But it is important to bear in mind that there are still many more steps to be taken also after 2015. The harmonisation process between the Nordic retail markets is a process that will continue for the foreseeable future. Since there is no supranational organisation or institution (like in the EU), it means that any future development of the Nordic retail market will have to be continuously coordinated between the Nordic countries to ensure that the markets maintain the

Visibility Aspects Importance of User Interface Reception in Cloud Computing Applications with Increased Automation

OpenAIRE

Haxhixhemajli, Denis

2012-01-01

Visibility aspects of User Interfaces are important; they deal with the crucial phase of human-computer interaction. They allow users to perform and at the same time hide the complexity of the system. Acceptance of new systems depends on how visibility aspects of the User Interfaces are presented. Human eyes make the first contact with the appearance of any system by so it generates the very beginning of the human – application interaction. In this study it is enforced that visibility aspects...

End-User Recommendations on LOGOMON - a Computer Based Speech Therapy System for Romanian Language

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

SCHIPOR, O. A.

2010-11-01

Full Text Available In this paper we highlight the relations between LOGOMON - a Computer Based Speech Therapy System and dyslalia's training steps. Dyslalia is a speech disorder that affects pronunciation of one or many sounds. This presentation of the system is completed by a research regarding end-user (i.e. teachers and parents attitude about the speech assisted therapy in general and about LOGOMON System in particular. The results of this research allow the improvement of our CBST system because the obtained information can be a source of adaptability to different expectations of the beneficiaries.

Enhancing Evacuation Plans with a Situation Awareness System Based on End-User Knowledge Provision

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Augusto Morales

2014-06-01

Full Text Available Recent disasters have shown that having clearly defined preventive procedures and decisions is a critical component that minimizes evacuation hazards and ensures a rapid and successful evolution of evacuation plans. In this context, we present our Situation-Aware System for enhancing Evacuation Plans (SASEP system, which allows creating end-user business rules that technically support the specific events, conditions and actions related to evacuation plans. An experimental validation was carried out where 32 people faced a simulated emergency situation, 16 of them using SASEP and the other 16 using a legacy system based on static signs. From the results obtained, we compare both techniques and discuss in which situations SASEP offers a better evacuation route option, confirming that it is highly valuable when there is a threat in the evacuation route. In addition, a study about user satisfaction using both systems is presented showing in which cases the systems are assessed as satisfactory, relevant and not frustrating.

Shipping Service requests all users of wooden pallets

CERN Multimedia

2006-01-01

The Shipping Service requests all users of wooden pallets marked 'EUR' (80x120 cm) or freight containers and lids marked 'CFF SBB FFS', which are subject to a refundable deposit and thus have a logistics exchange value, to make any they are holding available as soon as possible to CERN's Transport Service, which is responsible for collecting and returning them to the Goods Reception Service in Buildings 904 and 194. A large number of EUR pallets and CFF freight containers and lids are used as supports and packing cases for storing various items of equipment in buildings and underground areas. If you are using them for this purpose, please contact the Goods Reception Service who will be able to offer you alternative wooden pallets and containers that are available to cover special needs. The Goods Reception Service regularly needs to stock up on EUR pallets and CFF containers and lids in order to have sufficient available each day to be able to exchange them for those used by various carriers to deliver goo...

75 FR 2435 - Addition to the List of Validated End-Users in the People's Republic of China (PRC)

Science.gov (United States)

2010-01-15

... published in the Federal Register on June 19, 2007, BIS revised and clarified U.S. export control policy for...: Sheila Quarterman, U.S. Department of Commerce, Bureau of Industry and Security, Regulatory Policy...: Elizabeth Scott Sangine, Acting Chair, End-User Review Committee, Bureau of Industry and Security, U.S...

A Study of End Users' Perceived Usefulness of and Satisfaction with Enterprise Resource Planning Systems in Higher Education

Science.gov (United States)

Su, Shau E. Eve

2012-01-01

Enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems have become necessities in today's educational arena and are used extensively to improve office productivity and institutional efficacy. As the implementation of ERP systems usually is costly and time-consuming, it is imperative for administrators to understand how end users adopt the introduced…

User-Preference-Driven Model Predictive Control of Residential Building Loads and Battery Storage for Demand Response: Preprint

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Jin, Xin [National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), Golden, CO (United States); Baker, Kyri A. [National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), Golden, CO (United States); Christensen, Dane T. [National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), Golden, CO (United States); Isley, Steven C. [National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), Golden, CO (United States)

2017-08-21

This paper presents a user-preference-driven home energy management system (HEMS) for demand response (DR) with residential building loads and battery storage. The HEMS is based on a multi-objective model predictive control algorithm, where the objectives include energy cost, thermal comfort, and carbon emission. A multi-criterion decision making method originating from social science is used to quickly determine user preferences based on a brief survey and derive the weights of different objectives used in the optimization process. Besides the residential appliances used in the traditional DR programs, a home battery system is integrated into the HEMS to improve the flexibility and reliability of the DR resources. Simulation studies have been performed on field data from a residential building stock data set. Appliance models and usage patterns were learned from the data to predict the DR resource availability. Results indicate the HEMS was able to provide a significant amount of load reduction with less than 20% prediction error in both heating and cooling cases.

Mean-risk efficient portfolio analysis of demand response and supply resources

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Deng, Shi-Jie; Xu, Li

2009-01-01

In the restructured electric power utility industry, reducing the risk exposure of profit to the highly volatile electricity wholesale price and the fluctuating demand of end users is essential to the financial success of load-serving entities (LSEs). Demand response (DR) programs have been utilized to manage the correlated price and volumetric risks, and simultaneously improve the reliability of the power system. This paper proposes an efficient portfolio framework for LSEs to evaluate the role of DR programs in achieving a desirable tradeoff between profit and risk. The mean-risk efficient frontier formed by the optimal portfolios allows LSEs to identify the least amount of risk to bear corresponding to a given profit target. Numerical examples are provided to illustrate the impact of DR programs on the composition of the optimal portfolios in achieving different levels of tradeoff between risk and reward. (author)

Measuring receptive collocational competence across proficiency levels

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Déogratias Nizonkiza

2015-12-01

Full Text Available The present study investigates, (i English as Foreign Language (EFL learners’ receptive collocational knowledge growth in relation to their linguistic proficiency level; (ii how much receptive collocational knowledge is acquired as proficiency develops; and (iii the extent to which receptive knowledge of collocations of EFL learners varies across word frequency bands. A proficiency measure and a collocation test were administered to English majors at the University of Burundi. Results of the study suggest that receptive collocational competence develops alongside EFL learners’ linguistic proficiency; which lends empirical support to Gyllstad (2007, 2009 and Author (2011 among others, who reported similar findings. Furthermore, EFL learners’ collocations growth seems to be quantifiable wherein both linguistic proficiency level and word frequency occupy a crucial role. While more gains in terms of collocations that EFL learners could potentially add as a result of change in proficiency are found at lower levels of proficiency; collocations of words from more frequent word bands seem to be mastered first, and more gains are found at more frequent word bands. These results confirm earlier findings on the non-linearity nature of vocabulary growth (cf. Meara 1996 and the fundamental role played by frequency in word knowledge for vocabulary in general (Nation 1983, 1990, Nation and Beglar 2007, which are extended here to collocations knowledge.

End-User Control over Physical User-Interfaces: From Digital Fabrication to Real-Time Adaptability

OpenAIRE

Ramakers, Raf

2016-01-01

Graphical user interfaces are at the core of the majority of computing devices, including WIMP (windows, icons, menus, pointer) interaction styles and touch interactions. The popularity of graphical user interfaces stems from their ability to adapt to a multitude of tasks, such as document editing, messaging, browsing, etc. New tools and technologies also enabled users without a technical background to author these kind of digital interfaces, for example, filters for quick photo editing, inte...

The Monolingual Lusoga Dictionary Faced with Demands from a New User Category

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Minah Nabirye

2011-10-01

Full Text Available

ABSTRACT: In this article, a case is presented of an existing dictionary that is aimed at users with a minimum of primary 7 education, now faced with demands from users in primary 1–3. The reason for this demand is the result of the fact that Lusoga is currently being implemented as a medium of instruction in Uganda, in an environment where there is hardly any literature to serve the intended purpose. A review of the existing literature in and on Lusoga shows that the monolingual Lusoga dictionary — Eiwanika ly'Olusoga (WSG — is the only reference work with essential information, in Lusoga, that can initiate the teaching of Lusoga at the elementary level. Although the information in the WSG may fit the purpose at hand, that information is mainly presented as a summary, with statements of conclusions only. Explanations to ease its access to the new user are thus missing. Findings from a pilot study conducted by the National Curriculum Development Centre on the implementation of the teaching of Lusoga reveal that the new user is not only the primary 1–3 pupil, but also the teacher who will need to instruct that pupil. Since children's literature requires additional consideration beyond what can be presently availed, and since the WSG was actually compiled for an advanced user, the focus is shifted from the primary 1–3 pupil to the primary teacher. For that teacher, it is suggested to compile an additional Guide, expanding on the various extra-matter texts and especially the Language Portrait found in the WSG. This is done on the assumption that once the information is expanded and re-represented, a teacher will be able to combine the information in the Guide with that in the WSG, in order to make a Lusoga syllabus from which to draft Lusoga lessons. Although the ideal would of course be to be able to produce fully-fledged customised primers from scratch, this article's main argument is that in the absence of both human and financial

The Early Literary Reception of Ernest Hemingway in Iran

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Atefeh Ghasemnejad

2018-01-01

Full Text Available This essay investigates the dynamics that led to the literary reception of Ernest Hemingway before the Islamic Revolution in Iran. This article deploys reception studies as a branch of Comparative Literature with a focus upon conceptions of Siegbert Salomon Prawer and the practical method of George Asselineau to unearth the ideological, political, and historical milieu that embraced Hemingway’s literary fortune in Iran. This investigation, unprecedented in the study of Iranian literature, discusses how and why Hemingway was initially received in Iran. As such, the inception of literary fortune of Ernest Hemingway in Iran is examined by the contextual features, Persian literary taste, and the translator’s incentives that paved the way for this reception. This article also uncovers the reasons for the delay in the literary reception of Hemingway in Iran and discussed why some of Hemingway’s oeuvres enjoyed recognition while others were neglected by the Iranian readership.

Renewable energy: GIS-based mapping and modelling of potentials and demand

Science.gov (United States)

Blaschke, Thomas; Biberacher, Markus; Schardinger, Ingrid.; Gadocha, Sabine; Zocher, Daniela

2010-05-01

Worldwide demand of energy is growing and will continue to do so for the next decades to come. IEA has estimated that global primary energy demand will increase by 40 - 50% from 2003 to 2030 (IEA, 2005) depending on the fact whether currently contemplated energy policies directed towards energy-saving and fuel-diversification will be effectuated. The demand for Renewable Energy (RE) is undenied but clear figures and spatially disaggregated potentials for the various energy carriers are very rare. Renewable Energies are expected to reduce pressures on the environment and CO2 production. In several studies in Germany (North-Rhine Westphalia and Lower Saxony) and Austria we studied the current and future pattern of energy production and consumption. In this paper we summarize and benchmark different RE carriers, namely wind, biomass (forest and non-forest, geothermal, solar and hydro power. We demonstrate that GIS-based scalable and flexible information delivery sheds new light on the prevailing metaphor of GIS as a processing engine serving needs of users more on demand rather than through ‘maps on stock'. We compare our finding with those of several energy related EU-FP7 projects in Europe where we have been involved - namely GEOBENE, REACCESS, ENERGEO - and demonstrate that more and more spatial data will become available together with tools that allow experts to do their own analyses and to communicate their results in ways which policy makers and the public can readily understand and use as a basis for their own actions. Geoportals in combination with standardised geoprocessing today supports the older vision of an automated presentation of data on maps, and - if user privileges are given - facilities to interactively manipulate these maps. We conclude that the most critical factor in modelling energy supply and demand remain the economic valuation of goods and services, especially the forecast of future end consumer energy costs.

Expressive and receptive language skills in preschool children from a socially disadvantaged area.

Science.gov (United States)

Ryan, Ashling; Gibbon, Fiona E; O'shea, Aoife

2016-02-01

Evidence suggests that children present with receptive language skills that are equivalent to or more advanced than expressive language skills. This profile holds true for typical and delayed language development. This study aimed to determine if such a profile existed for preschool children from an area of social deprivation and to investigate if particular language skills influence any differences found between expressive and receptive skills. Data from 187 CELF P2 UK assessments conducted on preschool children from two socially disadvantaged areas in a city in southern Ireland. A significant difference was found between Receptive Language Index (RLI) and Expressive Language Index (ELI) scores with Receptive scores found to be lower than Expressive scores. The majority (78.6%) of participants had a lower Receptive Language than Expressive score (RLI ELI), with very few (3.2%) having the same Receptive and Expressive scores (RLI = ELI). Scores for the Concepts and Following Directions (receptive) sub-test were significantly lower than for the other receptive sub tests, while scores for the Expressive Vocabulary sub-test were significantly higher than for the other expressive sub tests. The finding of more advanced expressive than receptive language skills in socially deprived preschool children is previously unreported and clinically relevant for speech-language pathologists in identifying the needs of this population.

Energy demand and thermal comfort of HVAC systems with thermally activated building systems as a function of user profile

Science.gov (United States)

Pałaszyńska, Katarzyna; Bandurski, Karol; Porowski, Mieczysław

2017-11-01

Thermally Activated Building Systems (TABS) are a way to use building structure as a thermal energy storage. As a result, renewable energy sources may be used more efficiently. The paper presents numerical analysis of a HVAC system with TABS energy demand and indoor thermal comfort of a representative room in a non-residential building (governmental, commercial, educational). The purpose of analysis is to investigate the influence of a user profile on system performance. The time span of the analysis is one year - a typical meteorological year. The model was prepared using a generally accepted simulation tool - TRNSYS 17. The results help to better understand the interaction of a user profile with TABS. Therefore they are important for the development of optimal control algorithms for energy efficient buildings equipped with such systems.

Active listening: task-dependent plasticity of spectrotemporal receptive fields in primary auditory cortex.

Science.gov (United States)

Fritz, Jonathan; Elhilali, Mounya; Shamma, Shihab

2005-08-01

Listening is an active process in which attentive focus on salient acoustic features in auditory tasks can influence receptive field properties of cortical neurons. Recent studies showing rapid task-related changes in neuronal spectrotemporal receptive fields (STRFs) in primary auditory cortex of the behaving ferret are reviewed in the context of current research on cortical plasticity. Ferrets were trained on spectral tasks, including tone detection and two-tone discrimination, and on temporal tasks, including gap detection and click-rate discrimination. STRF changes could be measured on-line during task performance and occurred within minutes of task onset. During spectral tasks, there were specific spectral changes (enhanced response to tonal target frequency in tone detection and discrimination, suppressed response to tonal reference frequency in tone discrimination). However, only in the temporal tasks, the STRF was changed along the temporal dimension by sharpening temporal dynamics. In ferrets trained on multiple tasks, distinctive and task-specific STRF changes could be observed in the same cortical neurons in successive behavioral sessions. These results suggest that rapid task-related plasticity is an ongoing process that occurs at a network and single unit level as the animal switches between different tasks and dynamically adapts cortical STRFs in response to changing acoustic demands.

Analysis of Facebook content demand patterns

OpenAIRE

Kihl, Maria; Larsson, Robin; Unnervik, Niclas; Haberkamm, Jolina; Arvidsson, Åke; Aurelius, Andreas

2014-01-01

Data volumes in communication networks increase rapidly. Further, usage of social network applications is very wide spread among users, and among these applications, Facebook is the most popular. In this paper, we analyse user demands patterns and content popularity of Facebook generated traffic. The data comes from residential users in two metropolitan access networks in Sweden, and we analyse more than 17 million images downloaded by almost 16,000 Facebook users. We show that the distributi...

Association between receptivity to tobacco advertising and progression to tobacco use in youth and young adults in the PATH study

OpenAIRE

Pierce, JP; Sargent, JD; Portnoy, DB; White, M; Noble, M; Kealey, S; Borek, N; Carusi, C; Choi, K; Green, VR; Kaufman, AR; Leas, E; Lewis, MJ; Margolis, KA; Messer, K

2018-01-01

© 2018 American Medical Association. All rights reserved. IMPORTANCE Cigarette marketing contributes to initiation of cigarette smoking among young people, which has led to restrictions on use of cigarette advertising. However, little is known about other tobacco advertising and progression to tobacco use in youth and young adults. OBJECTIVE To investigate whether receptivity to tobacco advertising among youth and young adults is associated with progression (being a susceptible never user or ...

Interaction between daily load demand curve and management of hydro-thermal generation system

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Granelli, G.; Montagna, M.; Pasini, G.; Innorta, M.; Marannino, P.

1993-01-01

The influence that the behaviour of the daily load demand curve has on the management of a hydro-thermal generation system is considered. The aim of this paper is to show the improvements that can be achieved by suitable load management techniques capable of flattening the load demand curve. The analysis is carried out by using a hydro-thermal scheduling program and a thermal unit dynamic dispatch procedure. The possibility of properly re-committing the available thermal units is also taken into account. The economical and technical convenience of shutting down less economical thermal units operating near the lower generations limits is verified. Finally, some considerations are made about the possible use of the thermal generation incremental costs as a tool for planning the end users' kWh prices, even in the short term. The results refer to a system with characteristics similar to those of the Italian one. In determining the daily load demand curves, the characteristics of load demand in Italy as well as in other European countries are taken into account

Demand-Side Flexibility for Energy Transitions: Ensuring the Competitive Development of Demand Response Options

OpenAIRE

Nursimulu, Anjali; Florin, Marie-Valentine; Vuille, François

2015-01-01

This report provides an overview of the current debates about demand response development, focusing primarily on Europe, with some comparisons to the United States. ‘Demand response’ includes strategies that involve end-use customers adapting or altering their electricity demand in response to grid conditions or market prices. It is viewed as a multi-purpose power-system resource that enhances the energy system’s capacity to cope with increasing demand, rising costs of conventional transmissi...

76 FR 2802 - Additions and Revisions to the List of Validated End-Users in the People's Republic of China...

Science.gov (United States)

2011-01-18

... Industrial Development Zone, Wuxi, Jiangsu 214061, China. Wuxi CR Semiconductor Wafers and Chips Co., Ltd... basis, thereby enhancing the competitiveness of exporters, reexporters, and end-users in the PRC. To... Tech Industrial Development Zone, Wuxi, Jiangsu 214061, China. Wuxi CR Semiconductor Wafers and Chips...

[Introducing computer units into the reception office as part of the Vrapce Psychiatric Hospital Information System].

Science.gov (United States)

Majdancić, Zeljko; Jukić, Vlado; Bojić, Miroslav

2005-01-01

Computerized medical record has become a necessity today, because of both the amount of present-day medical data and the need of better handling and processing them. In more than 120 years of the Vrapce Psychiatric Hospital existence, the most important changes in the working concept of the reception office took place when computer technology was introduced into the routine use. The reception office of the Hospital is the vital place where administrative activities intersect with medical care for a patient presenting to the Hospital. The importance of this segment of the Hospital is emphasized by the fact that the reception office is in function and at patients' disposition round-the-clock, for 365 days a year, with great frequency of patients. The shift from the established way of registering medical data on patient admission in handwriting or, later, typescript, to computer recording was a challenging and demanding task (from the aspects of hardware, software, network, education) for the development team as well as for the physicians because it has changed the concept (logic of the working process) of previous way of collecting the data from the patient (history, status, diagnostic procedures, therapy, etc.). The success in the development and implementation of this project and the confirmation of its usefulness during the four-year practice at Vrapce Psychiatric Hospital are best illustrated by the fact that other psychiatric hospitals in Croatia have already introduced or are introducing it in their daily practice.

An examination of the concept of driving point receptance

Science.gov (United States)

Sheng, X.; He, Y.; Zhong, T.

2018-04-01

In the field of vibration, driving point receptance is a well-established and widely applied concept. However, as demonstrated in this paper, when a driving point receptance is calculated using the finite element (FE) method with solid elements, it does not converge as the FE mesh becomes finer, suggesting that there is a singularity. Hence, the concept of driving point receptance deserves a rigorous examination. In this paper, it is firstly shown that, for a point harmonic force applied on the surface of an elastic half-space, the Boussinesq formula can be applied to calculate the displacement amplitude of the surface if the response point is sufficiently close to the load. Secondly, by applying the Betti reciprocal theorem, it is shown that the displacement of an elastic body near a point harmonic force can be decomposed into two parts, with the first one being the displacement of an elastic half-space. This decomposition is useful, since it provides a solid basis for the introduction of a contact spring between a wheel and a rail in interaction. However, according to the Boussinesq formula, this decomposition also leads to the conclusion that a driving point receptance is infinite (singular), and would be undefinable. Nevertheless, driving point receptances have been calculated using different methods. Since the singularity identified in this paper was not appreciated, no account was given to the singularity in these calculations. Thus, the validity of these calculation methods must be examined. This constructs the third part of the paper. As the final development of the paper, the above decomposition is utilised to define and determine driving point receptances required for dealing with wheel/rail interactions.

Bitmap indices for fast end-user physics analysis in ROOT

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Stockinger, Kurt; Wu Kesheng; Brun, Rene; Canal, Philippe

2006-01-01

Most physics analysis jobs involve multiple selection steps on the input data. These selection steps are called cuts or queries. A common strategy to implement these queries is to read all input data from files and then process the queries in memory. In many applications the number of variables used to define these queries is a relative small portion of the overall data set therefore reading all variables into memory takes unnecessarily long time. In this paper we describe an integration effort that can significantly reduce this unnecessary reading by using an efficient compressed bitmap index technology. The primary advantage of this index is that it can process arbitrary combinations of queries very efficiently, while most other indexing technologies suffer from the 'curse of dimensionality' as the number of queries increases. By integrating this index technology with the ROOT analysis framework, the end-users can benefit from the added efficiency without having to modify their analysis programs. Our performance results show that for multi-dimensional queries, bitmap indices outperform the traditional analysis method up to a factor of 10

Modulation of horizontal cell receptive fields in the light adapted goldfish retina

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Verweij, J.; Kamermans, M.; van den Aker, E. C.; Spekreijse, H.

1996-01-01

In the isolated goldfish retina, 700 nm background illumination increases the horizontal cell receptive field size, as measured with 565 nm slits of light, but decreases the receptive field size, when measured with 660 nm slits. These background-induced changes in receptive field size are absent

ARIA: Delivering state-of-the-art InSAR products to end users

Science.gov (United States)

Agram, P. S.; Owen, S. E.; Hua, H.; Manipon, G.; Sacco, G. F.; Bue, B. D.; Fielding, E. J.; Yun, S. H.; Simons, M.; Webb, F.; Rosen, P. A.; Lundgren, P.; Liu, Z.

2016-12-01

Advanced Rapid Imaging and Analysis (ARIA) Center for Natural Hazards aims to bring state-of-the-art geodetic imaging capabilities to an operational level in support of local, national, and international hazard response communities. ARIA project's first foray into operational generation of InSAR products was with Calimap Project, in collaboration with ASI-CIDOT, using X-band data from the Cosmo-SkyMed constellation. Over the last year, ARIA's processing infrastructure has been significantly upgraded to exploit the free stream of high quality C-band SAR data from ESA's Sentinel-1 mission and related algorithmic improvements to the ISCE software. ARIA's data system can now operationally generate geocoded unwrapped phase and coherence products in GIS-friendly formats from Sentinel-1 TOPS mode data in an automated fashion, and this capability is currently being exercised various study sites across the United States including Hawaii, Central California, Iceland and South America. The ARIA team, building on the experience gained from handling X-band data and C-band data, has also built an automated machine learning-based classifier to label the auto-generated interferograms based on phase unwrapping quality. These high quality "time-series ready" InSAR products generated using state-of-the-art processing algorithms can be accessed by end users using two different mechanisms - 1) a Faceted-search interface that includes browse imagery for quick visualization and 2) an ElasticSearch-based API to enable bulk automated download, post-processing and time-series analysis. In this talk, we will present InSAR results from various global events that ARIA system has responded to. We will also discuss the set of geospatial big data tools including GIS libraries and API tools, that end users will need to familiarize themselves with in order to maximize the utilization of continuous stream of InSAR products from the Sentinel-1 and NISAR missions that the ARIA project will generate.

Factors Influencing Rural End-Users' Acceptance of e-Health in Developing Countries: A study on Portable Health Clinic in Bangladesh.

Science.gov (United States)

Hossain, Nazmul; Yokota, Fumihiko; Sultana, Nazneen; Ahmed, Ashir

2018-04-17

Existing studies regarding e-health are mostly focused on information technology design and implementation, system architecture and infrastructure, and its importance in public health with ancillaries and barriers to mass adoption. However, not enough studies have been conducted to assess the end-users' reaction and acceptance behavior toward e-health, especially from the perspective of rural communities in developing countries. The objective of this study is to explore the factors that influence rural end users' acceptance of e-health in Bangladesh. Data were collected between June and July 2016 through a field survey with structured questionnaire form 292 randomly selected rural respondents from Bheramara subdistrict, Bangladesh. Technology Acceptance Model was adopted as the research framework. Logistic regression analysis was performed to test the theoretical model. The study found social reference as the most significantly influential variable (Coef. = 2.28, odds ratio [OR] = 9.73, p acceptance behavior. The model explains 54.70% deviance (R 2  = 0.5470) in the response variable with its constructs. The "Hosmer-Lemeshow" goodness-of-fit score (0.539) is also above the standard threshold (0.05), which indicates that the data fit well with the model. The study provides guidelines for the successful adoption of e-health among rural communities in developing countries. This also creates an opportunity for e-health technology developers and service providers to have a better understanding of their end users.

Design participation as an insurance: risk-management and end-user participation in the development of information systems in healthcare organizations.

Science.gov (United States)

Vimarlund, V; Timpka, T

2002-01-01

The aim of this paper is to build a theoretical framework for analysis of when decision-makers should use end-user participation as a form of insurance for unforeseen consequences of implementing information systems in healthcare organizations. Data were collected in a case study of an information system development project in a small clinical setting. During the initial phase, the future end-users of the system were allowed to actively influence the system design and test every new tool that was considered for implementation. The results of the case study suggest that when time and effort are invested in allowing healthcare staff to participate in information system development processes, the benefits can well exceed the costs throughout the life cycle of the project. Risk-averse decision-makers fearing negative secondary consequences of a HIS, with regard to clinical work flow, will always adopt measures to prevent future failures, if they can find a possibility of shifting these risks. Therefore, they calculate the present discounted value of the effects accrued over time to the unit and predict the amount of resources they are willing to pay to acquire on insurance (such as design participation) that will protect the organization from future losses. End-user participation in the design process can be the key positive influence on the quality of the service and, thereby, organizational effectiveness. Investments in broad design participation can, consequently, be a productive activity that transforms potential current income into future benefits.

The never-ending digital journey creating new consumer experiences through technology

CERN Document Server

Angelani, Andres; Migoya, Martin

2016-01-01

The Never-Ending Digital Journey provides readers with the concepts and steps needed to create successful user experiences. The authors look ahead and explore digital scenarios of the future. They probe how technology is changing the way users interact with brands, and they address today's digital challenges with new ways of surprising consumers, integrating design and engineering. The authors leverage knowledge gleaned from working with renowned global companies to describe the recipe needed to build a Digital Journey. With a strong focus on Agile Pods, they dive into technolo- gies, processes, team building, motivation, and met- rics that enable businesses to construct and nurture the dynamic ecosystems necessary in this digital era to foster success. Over the last several years, customers, employees, and partners have become tech-savvy users whose expectations of “Give me more and deliver it faster" require manageable solutions. The desire to interact with digital ecosystems anywhere, anytime demands that...

Graphical user interfaces and visually disabled users

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Poll, L.H.D.; Waterham, R.P.

1995-01-01

From February 1992 until the end of 1993, the authors ((IPO) Institute for Perception Research) participated in a European ((TIDE) Technology Initiative for Disabled and Elderly) project which addressed the problem arising for visually disabled computer-users from the growing use of Graphical User

Overview of FEED, the feeding experiments end-user database.

Science.gov (United States)

Wall, Christine E; Vinyard, Christopher J; Williams, Susan H; Gapeyev, Vladimir; Liu, Xianhua; Lapp, Hilmar; German, Rebecca Z

2011-08-01

The Feeding Experiments End-user Database (FEED) is a research tool developed by the Mammalian Feeding Working Group at the National Evolutionary Synthesis Center that permits synthetic, evolutionary analyses of the physiology of mammalian feeding. The tasks of the Working Group are to compile physiologic data sets into a uniform digital format stored at a central source, develop a standardized terminology for describing and organizing the data, and carry out a set of novel analyses using FEED. FEED contains raw physiologic data linked to extensive metadata. It serves as an archive for a large number of existing data sets and a repository for future data sets. The metadata are stored as text and images that describe experimental protocols, research subjects, and anatomical information. The metadata incorporate controlled vocabularies to allow consistent use of the terms used to describe and organize the physiologic data. The planned analyses address long-standing questions concerning the phylogenetic distribution of phenotypes involving muscle anatomy and feeding physiology among mammals, the presence and nature of motor pattern conservation in the mammalian feeding muscles, and the extent to which suckling constrains the evolution of feeding behavior in adult mammals. We expect FEED to be a growing digital archive that will facilitate new research into understanding the evolution of feeding anatomy.

End of paper registration forms for new computer users

CERN Multimedia

2007-01-01

As of 3rd December 2007 it will be possible for new users to sign the Computer Centre User Registration Form electronically. As before, new users will still need to go to their computing group administrator, who will make the electronic request for account creation using CRA and give the new user his or her initial password. The difference is that the requested accounts will be created and usable almost immediately. Users will then have 3 days within which they must go to the web page http://cern.ch/cernaccount and click on ‘New User’. They will be required to follow a short computer security awareness training course, read the CERN Computing Rules and then confirm that they accept the rules. If this is not completed within 3 days all their computer accounts will be blocked and they will have to contact the Helpdesk to unblock their accounts and get a second chance to complete the registration. During the introductory phase the existing paper forms will also be accepted ...

Shipping Service calls on all users of wooden pallets

CERN Multimedia

2006-01-01

The Shipping Service requests all users of wooden pallets marked 'EUR' (80x120 cm) or freight containers and lids marked 'CFF SBB FFS', which are subject to a refundable deposit and thus have a logistics exchange value, to make any they are holding available as soon as possible to CERN's Transport Service, which is responsible for collecting and returning them to the Goods Reception Service in Buildings 904 and 194. A large number of EUR pallets and CFF freight containers and lids are used as supports and packing cases for storing various items of equipment in buildings and underground areas. If you are using them for this purpose, please contact the Goods Reception Service, which will be able to offer you alternative wooden pallets and containers that are available to cover special needs. The Goods Reception Service regularly needs to stock up on EUR pallets and CFF containers and lids in order to have sufficient available each day to be able to exchange them for those used by various carriers to deliver g...

Receptivity of Hypersonic Boundary Layers to Acoustic and Vortical Disturbances (Invited)

Science.gov (United States)

Balakumar, P.

2015-01-01

Boundary-layer receptivity to two-dimensional acoustic and vortical disturbances for hypersonic flows over two-dimensional and axi-symmetric geometries were numerically investigated. The role of bluntness, wall cooling, and pressure gradients on the receptivity and stability were analyzed and compared with the sharp nose cases. It was found that for flows over sharp nose geometries in adiabatic wall conditions the instability waves are generated in the leading-edge region and that the boundary layer is much more receptive to slow acoustic waves as compared to the fast waves. The computations confirmed the stabilizing effect of nose bluntness and the role of the entropy layer in the delay of boundary layer transition. The receptivity coefficients in flows over blunt bodies are orders of magnitude smaller than that for the sharp cone cases. Wall cooling stabilizes the first mode strongly and destabilizes the second mode. However, the receptivity coefficients are also much smaller compared to the adiabatic case. The adverse pressure gradients increased the unstable second mode regions.

Implications of end-user behaviour in response to deficiencies in water supply for electricity consumption - A case study of Delhi

Science.gov (United States)

Ghosh, Ruchira; Kansal, Arun; Aghi, Sakshi

2016-05-01

Over the past two decades, urban lifestyles have changed phenomenally. One aspect of this change is the increasing use of household appliances, which, in turn, influences water and electricity consumption in urban households. It is therefore necessary to revisit water supply norms in view of these behavioural changes. Increasing use of water-related appliances by the surveyed households in Delhi, India has lowered their water consumption but increased their electricity consumption (10-16 kW h a month). Also, longer working hours away from homes have shifted water demand from homes to commercial establishments and institutions. The per-capita water requirement to meet the basic needs for health and hygiene is approximately 76-78 L a day, of which bathing claims the largest share (32%). Nearly 70% of electricity consumption of a household is spent in coping with deficiencies in water supply. Strategies adopted by end users to save water were negatively correlated with those to save electricity. Household incomes have no influence on water consumption except in the case of those living in slums, who are forced to curtail their use of water even at the cost of health and hygiene; for the rest, coping with poor water supply amounts to spending nearly 50% more on electricity, defeating the purpose of subsidised water supply.

Health Challenges in Refugee Reception: Dateline Europe 2016.

Science.gov (United States)

Blitz, Brad K; d'Angelo, Alessio; Kofman, Eleonore; Montagna, Nicola

2017-11-30

The arrival of more than one million migrants, many of them refugees, has proved a major test for the European Union. Although international relief and monitoring agencies have been critical of makeshift camps in Calais and Eidomeni where infectious disease and overcrowding present major health risks, few have examined the nature of the official reception system and its impact on health delivery. Drawing upon research findings from an Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) funded project, this article considers the physical and mental health of asylum-seekers in transit and analyses how the closure of borders has engendered health risks for populations in recognised reception centres in Sicily and in Greece. Data gathered by means of a survey administered in Greece (300) and in Sicily (400), and complemented by in-depth interviews with migrants (45) and key informants (50) including representatives of government offices, humanitarian and relief agencies, NGOs and activist organisations, are presented to offer an analysis of the reception systems in the two frontline states. We note that medical provision varies significantly from one centre to another and that centre managers play a critical role in the transmission of vital information. A key finding is that, given such disparity, the criteria used by the UNHCR to grade health services reception do not address the substantive issue that prevent refugees from accessing health services, even when provided on site. Health provision is not as recorded in UNHCR reporting but rather there are critical gaps between provision, awareness, and access for refugees in reception systems in Sicily and in Greece. This article concludes that there is a great need for more information campaigns to direct refugees to essential services.

Windows XP ends its life at CERN – register for Windows 7 training!

CERN Multimedia

Michał Kwiatek (IT-OIS)

2012-01-01

Windows XP has been around for over 10 years and it is now time to move on. At CERN, general support for Windows XP will end in December 2012, and before this date users are requested to schedule a migration to the next version of Windows – Windows 7.   Windows 7 is already well established at CERN – it is used by a large majority of users. In fact, there was a considerable user demand even before its official release in October 2009 and its adoption has been smooth. Users praise Windows 7 for its improved stability and a clear advantage on laptops is a much more efficient implementation of offline files. The migration to Windows 7 involves a reinstallation of the operating system. Files stored in user home folders on DFS will be immediately available after the reinstallation. Applications will be upgraded to more recent versions and in certain cases, an application may even be replaced by another application providing the same functionality. Microsoft Office suite is a good ...

Energy demand and thermal comfort of HVAC systems with thermally activated building systems as a function of user profile

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Pałaszyńska Katarzyna

2017-01-01

Full Text Available Thermally Activated Building Systems (TABS are a way to use building structure as a thermal energy storage. As a result, renewable energy sources may be used more efficiently. The paper presents numerical analysis of a HVAC system with TABS energy demand and indoor thermal comfort of a representative room in a non-residential building (governmental, commercial, educational. The purpose of analysis is to investigate the influence of a user profile on system performance. The time span of the analysis is one year – a typical meteorological year. The model was prepared using a generally accepted simulation tool – TRNSYS 17. The results help to better understand the interaction of a user profile with TABS. Therefore they are important for the development of optimal control algorithms for energy efficient buildings equipped with such systems.

78 FR 41291 - Additions to the List of Validated End-Users in the People's Republic of China: Samsung China...

Science.gov (United States)

2013-07-10

...-Fabrication Equipment, Inc., China (AMEC) as VEUs. With this rule, exports, reexports and transfers (in...-Vogel, Chair, End-User Review Committee, Bureau of Industry and Security, U.S. Department of Commerce... EAR). VEUs are reviewed and approved by the U.S. Government in accordance with the provisions of...

First-year university students’ receptive and productive use of academic vocabulary

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Déogratias Nizonkiza

2016-05-01

Full Text Available The present study explores academic vocabulary knowledge, operationalised through the Academic Word List, among first-year higher education students. Both receptive and productive knowledge and the proportion between the two are examined. Results show that while receptive knowledge is readily acquired by first-year students, productive knowledge lags behind and remains problematic. This entails that receptive knowledge is much larger than productive knowledge, which confirms earlier indications that receptive vocabulary knowledge is larger than productive knowledge for both academic vocabulary (Zhou 2010 and general vocabulary (cf. Laufer 1998, Webb 2008, among others. Furthermore, results reveal that the ratio between receptive and productive knowledge is slightly above 50%, which lends empirical support to previous findings that the ratio between the two aspects of vocabulary knowledge can be anywhere between 50% and 80% (Milton 2009. This finding is extended here to academic vocabulary; complementing Zhou’s (2010 study that investigated the relationship between the two aspects of vocabulary knowledge without examining the ratio between them. On the basis of these results, approaches that could potentially contribute to fostering productive knowledge growth are discussed. Avenues worth exploring to gain further insight into the relationship between receptive and productive knowledge are also suggested.

The Past in the Future: Problems and Potentials of Historical Reception Studies.

Science.gov (United States)

Jensen, Klaus Bruhn

1993-01-01

Gives examples of how qualitative methodologies have been employed to study media reception in the present. Identifies some forms of evidence that can creatively fill the gaps in knowledge about media reception in the past. Argues that the field must develop databases documenting media reception, which may broaden the scope of audience research in…

Demand Moderation in Military Communication Networks

National Research Council Canada - National Science Library

Blackmore, Perry

2002-01-01

.... Demand moderation is the term used to encompass the array of mechanisms aimed at achieving this end. Integrated Defence networks of the future should benefit enormously from demand moderation mechanisms.

A survey and analysis of demand for HANARO utilization

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sohn, J. M.; Yoo, K.J. and others

1999-03-01

The purpose of this survey and analysis is to identify the level of demand for the HANARO utilization that will be applied to developing experimental facilities, to advertise the HANARO, and to find able staff members for user group organization. The demand survey was performed on a nationwide basis of universities, hospitals, research institute, industrial firms, and public institutions from May 7, 1998 to July 30, 1998 through the internet, electronic mail, mail or fax. This survey contains of two parts: the first part is to identify the demand for the experimental facilities of HANARO such as neutron beam, cold neutron beam, fuel and material irradiation testing, radioisotope, neutron activation analysis, boron neutron capture therapy, and neutron transmutation doping. The second part is to survey the intention of participating in the neutron beam user group, radioisotope user group, and fuel and material irradiation testing user group. 1,181 individuals have replied to the survey. The number of replies concerning the utilization of HANARO and the user groups are 3,374 and 440, respectively. The results of this demand survey will be analyzed and used to the study of a more active utilization and a more efficient management of HANARO. They will be applied to the future planning the development of the experimental facilities of HANARO. (author). 22 tabs., 30 figs

Estimation of demand function on natural gas and study of demand analysis

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Kim, Y.D. [Korea Energy Economics Institute, Euiwang (Korea, Republic of)

1998-04-01

Demand Function is estimated with several methods about the demand on natural gas, and analyzed per usage. Since the demand on natural gas, which has big share of heating use, has a close relationship with temperature, the inter-season trend of price and income elasticity is estimated considering temperature and economic formation. Per usage response of natural gas demand on the changes of price and income is also estimated. It was estimated that the response of gas demand on the changes of price and income occurs by the change of number of users in long term. In case of the response of unit consumption, only industrial use shows long-term response to price. Since gas price barely responds to the change of exchange rate, it seems to express the price-making mechanism that does not reflect timely the import condition such as exchange rate, etc. 16 refs., 12 figs., 13 tabs.

Do Digital Systems and Concept in Modern Public Service Production Have a Negative Impact on Citizens as End-Users?

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Pedersen, John Storm; Rendtorff, Jacob Dahl

2016-01-01

production. Second, we claim that digital systems and concepts develop a new institutional logic within modern public service production: the ‘digital logic’. Third, we analyze and discuss the new logic´s possible impact on citizens as end-users. Fourth, we discuss the ethical dimensions of values and ethics...

Facilitating 3D Virtual World Learning Environments Creation by Non-Technical End Users through Template-Based Virtual World Instantiation

Science.gov (United States)

Liu, Chang; Zhong, Ying; Ozercan, Sertac; Zhu, Qing

2013-01-01

This paper presents a template-based solution to overcome technical barriers non-technical computer end users face when developing functional learning environments in three-dimensional virtual worlds (3DVW). "iVirtualWorld," a prototype of a platform-independent 3DVW creation tool that implements the proposed solution, facilitates 3DVW…

What is so ‘classical’ about Classical Reception? Theories, Methodologies and Future Prospects

OpenAIRE

Anastasia Bakogianni

2016-01-01

This paper delivered at the University of Rio on 3rd June 2015 seeks to explore different approaches to the most fundamental questions in classical reception studies. What is classical reception? And more particularly what is so ‘classical’ about classical reception? It discusses current trends in theory and methodology via an analysis of two cinematic receptions of the ancient story of Electra; one that proclaims its debt to a classical text while the other masks its classical connections.

Pengukuran End-User Computing Satisfaction Atas Penggunaan Sistem Informasi Akademik

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Boy Suzanto

2015-04-01

Full Text Available Academic information system is very dependent on the components in generating information systems that fit their needs. The gap that occurs in the use of academic information system on the behavior of users of information systems will result in optimal intention to use by the user. Hence the need for in-depth measurement of academic information system that has been running against the attitude of academic information system users to improve the behavior of users of information systems is the goal of this study. Exploratory research methods using the number of respondents as many as 124 students. Data were analyzed using Structural Equation Modelling (SEM, component based Partial Least Squares (PLS. The results showed that the influence of academic information system on the attitudes of users by 0.57 or 57% and influence the attitude of academic information system users to conduct on the intention to use of academic information systems at 0.50 or 50%.

Health Challenges in Refugee Reception: Dateline Europe 2016

Science.gov (United States)

Blitz, Brad K.; d’Angelo, Alessio; Kofman, Eleonore; Montagna, Nicola

2017-01-01

The arrival of more than one million migrants, many of them refugees, has proved a major test for the European Union. Although international relief and monitoring agencies have been critical of makeshift camps in Calais and Eidomeni where infectious disease and overcrowding present major health risks, few have examined the nature of the official reception system and its impact on health delivery. Drawing upon research findings from an Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) funded project, this article considers the physical and mental health of asylum–seekers in transit and analyses how the closure of borders has engendered health risks for populations in recognised reception centres in Sicily and in Greece. Data gathered by means of a survey administered in Greece (300) and in Sicily (400), and complemented by in-depth interviews with migrants (45) and key informants (50) including representatives of government offices, humanitarian and relief agencies, NGOs and activist organisations, are presented to offer an analysis of the reception systems in the two frontline states. We note that medical provision varies significantly from one centre to another and that centre managers play a critical role in the transmission of vital information. A key finding is that, given such disparity, the criteria used by the UNHCR to grade health services reception do not address the substantive issue that prevent refugees from accessing health services, even when provided on site. Health provision is not as recorded in UNHCR reporting but rather there are critical gaps between provision, awareness, and access for refugees in reception systems in Sicily and in Greece. This article concludes that there is a great need for more information campaigns to direct refugees to essential services. PMID:29189766

Health Challenges in Refugee Reception: Dateline Europe 2016

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Brad K. Blitz

2017-11-01

Full Text Available The arrival of more than one million migrants, many of them refugees, has proved a major test for the European Union. Although international relief and monitoring agencies have been critical of makeshift camps in Calais and Eidomeni where infectious disease and overcrowding present major health risks, few have examined the nature of the official reception system and its impact on health delivery. Drawing upon research findings from an Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC funded project, this article considers the physical and mental health of asylum–seekers in transit and analyses how the closure of borders has engendered health risks for populations in recognised reception centres in Sicily and in Greece. Data gathered by means of a survey administered in Greece (300 and in Sicily (400, and complemented by in-depth interviews with migrants (45 and key informants (50 including representatives of government offices, humanitarian and relief agencies, NGOs and activist organisations, are presented to offer an analysis of the reception systems in the two frontline states. We note that medical provision varies significantly from one centre to another and that centre managers play a critical role in the transmission of vital information. A key finding is that, given such disparity, the criteria used by the UNHCR to grade health services reception do not address the substantive issue that prevent refugees from accessing health services, even when provided on site. Health provision is not as recorded in UNHCR reporting but rather there are critical gaps between provision, awareness, and access for refugees in reception systems in Sicily and in Greece. This article concludes that there is a great need for more information campaigns to direct refugees to essential services.

Attention operates uniformly throughout the classical receptive field and the surround

Science.gov (United States)

Verhoef, Bram-Ernst; Maunsell, John HR

2016-01-01

Shifting attention among visual stimuli at different locations modulates neuronal responses in heterogeneous ways, depending on where those stimuli lie within the receptive fields of neurons. Yet how attention interacts with the receptive-field structure of cortical neurons remains unclear. We measured neuronal responses in area V4 while monkeys shifted their attention among stimuli placed in different locations within and around neuronal receptive fields. We found that attention interacts uniformly with the spatially-varying excitation and suppression associated with the receptive field. This interaction explained the large variability in attention modulation across neurons, and a non-additive relationship among stimulus selectivity, stimulus-induced suppression and attention modulation that has not been previously described. A spatially-tuned normalization model precisely accounted for all observed attention modulations and for the spatial summation properties of neurons. These results provide a unified account of spatial summation and attention-related modulation across both the classical receptive field and the surround. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.7554/eLife.17256.001 PMID:27547989

Nonlinear Hebbian Learning as a Unifying Principle in Receptive Field Formation.

Science.gov (United States)

Brito, Carlos S N; Gerstner, Wulfram

2016-09-01

The development of sensory receptive fields has been modeled in the past by a variety of models including normative models such as sparse coding or independent component analysis and bottom-up models such as spike-timing dependent plasticity or the Bienenstock-Cooper-Munro model of synaptic plasticity. Here we show that the above variety of approaches can all be unified into a single common principle, namely nonlinear Hebbian learning. When nonlinear Hebbian learning is applied to natural images, receptive field shapes were strongly constrained by the input statistics and preprocessing, but exhibited only modest variation across different choices of nonlinearities in neuron models or synaptic plasticity rules. Neither overcompleteness nor sparse network activity are necessary for the development of localized receptive fields. The analysis of alternative sensory modalities such as auditory models or V2 development lead to the same conclusions. In all examples, receptive fields can be predicted a priori by reformulating an abstract model as nonlinear Hebbian learning. Thus nonlinear Hebbian learning and natural statistics can account for many aspects of receptive field formation across models and sensory modalities.

Demand for long acting contraceptive methods and associated factors among family planning service users, Northwest Ethiopia: a health facility based cross sectional study.

Science.gov (United States)

Yalew, Saleamlak Adbaru; Zeleke, Berihun Megabiaw; Teferra, Alemayehu Shimeka

2015-02-04

Demand for long acting contraceptive methods is one of the key factors for total fertility rate and reproductive health issues. Increased demand for these methods can decline fertility rate through spacing and limiting family size in turn improving maternal and family health and socioeconomic development of a country. The aim of this study was to assess demand for long acting contraceptives and associated factors among family planning users in Debre-Tabor Town, Northwest Ethiopia. Facility based cross-sectional study was conducted from July to August 2013. Data was collected on 487 current family planning users through face to face interview using structured questionnaire. Study participants were selected by systematic sampling method. Data were entered in to Epi Info and analyzed by using SPSS version 20. Bi-variable and multi-variable regression analyses were done to identify factors associated with demand for long acting contraceptive methods. Odds ratio with 95% CI was used to assess the association between the independent variables and demand for long acting family planning methods. The study showed that, demand for long acting contraceptives was 17%. Only 9.2% of the women were using long acting contraceptive methods (met need). About 7.8% of women were using short acting methods while they actually want to use long acting methods (unmet need). Demand for LACMs was positively associated 3 with being a daily labour (AOR = 3.87, 95% CI = [1.06, 14.20]), being a student (AOR = 2.64, 95% CI = [1.27, 5.47]), no future birth intensions (AOR = 2.17, 95% CI = [1.12, 4.23]), having five or more children (AOR = 1.67, 95% CI = [1.58, 4.83]), deciding together with husbands for using the methods (AOR = 2.73, 95% CI = [1.40, 5.32]) and often having discussion with husband (AOR = 3.89, 95% CI = [1.98, 7.65]). Clients treated poorly by the health care providers during taking the services was negatively associated with demand for LACMs (AOR = 0.42, 95% CI = [0.24, 0

International user studies

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Nielsen, Lene; Madsen, Sabine; Jensen, Iben

In this report, we present the results of a research project about international user studies. The project has been carried out by researchers from the Center for Persona Research and –Application, The IT University in Copenhagen and the Department of Learning and Philosophy, Aalborg University...... in Sydhavnen, and it is funded by InfinIT. Based on a qualitative interview study with 15 user researchers from 11 different companies, we have investigated how companies collect and present data about users on international markets. Key findings are: Companies do not collect data about end users in all...... the countries/regions they operate in. Instead, they focus on a few strategic markets. International user studies tend to be large-scale studies that involve the effort of many both internal and external/local human resources. The studies typically cover 2-4 countries/regions and many end users in each country...

The first Inner Detector End-Cap is lowered into the cavern

CERN Multimedia

Heinz Pernegger

The first Inner Detector End-Cap, containing both the SCT and TRT detectors, arriving down the access shaft on the A-side. . The Inner Detector End-Cap A approaching the installation platform. During the difficult phase of inserting the Inner Detector into the cryostat. On Thursday, May 24, the first Inner Detector end-cap, with both the TRT and SCT end-caps, was taken down to the pit. More pictures can be found on the transfer from SR1 to SX1 as well as the lowering into the cavern and reception on the platform which can also be seen as a slide show

What is so ‘classical’ about Classical Reception? Theories, Methodologies and Future Prospects

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Anastasia Bakogianni

2016-06-01

Full Text Available This paper delivered at the University of Rio on 3rd June 2015 seeks to explore different approaches to the most fundamental questions in classical reception studies. What is classical reception? And more particularly what is so ‘classical’ about classical reception? It discusses current trends in theory and methodology via an analysis of two cinematic receptions of the ancient story of Electra; one that proclaims its debt to a classical text while the other masks its classical connections.

PROOF on Demand

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Malzacher, Peter; Manafov, Anar

2010-01-01

PROOF on Demand (PoD) is a set of utilities, which allows starting a PROOF cluster at user request, on any resource management system. It provides a plug-in based system, which allows to use different job submission frontends, such as LSF or gLite WMS. Main components of PoD are the PROOFAgent and the PAConsole. PROOFAgent provides the communication layer between the PROOF master on the local machine and the PROOF workers on the remote resources, possibly behind a firewall. PAConsole provides a user-friendly GUI, which is used to setup, manage, and shutdown the dynamic PROOF cluster. Installation is simple and doesn't require administrator privileges, and all the processes run in user space. PoD gives users, who don't have a centrally-administrated static PROOF cluster at their institute, the possibility to enjoy the full power of interactive analysis with PROOF.

Evolving Frameworks for Different Communities of Scientists and End Users

Science.gov (United States)

Graves, S. J.; Keiser, K.

2016-12-01

Two evolving frameworks for interdisciplinary science will be described in the context of the Common Data Framework for Earth-Observation Data and the importance of standards and protocols. The Event Data Driven Delivery (ED3) Framework, funded by NASA Applied Sciences, provides the delivery of data based on predetermined subscriptions and associated workflows to various communities of end users. ED3's capabilities are used by scientists, as well as policy and resource managers, when event alerts are triggered to respond to their needs. The EarthCube Integration and Testing Environment (ECITE) Assessment Framework for Technology Interoperability and Integration is being developed to facilitate the EarthCube community's assessment of NSF funded technologies addressing Earth science problems. ECITE is addressing the translation of geoscience researchers' use cases into technology use case that apply EarthCube-funded building block technologies (and other existing technologies) for solving science problems. EarthCube criteria for technology assessment include the use of data, metadata and service standards to improve interoperability and integration across program components. The long-range benefit will be the growth of a cyberinfrastructure with technology components that have been shown to work together to solve known science objectives.

Longitudinal analysis of receptive vocabulary growth in young Spanish English-speaking children from migrant families.

Science.gov (United States)

Jackson, Carla Wood; Schatschneider, Christopher; Leacox, Lindsey

2014-01-01

The authors of this study described developmental trajectories and predicted kindergarten performance of Spanish and English receptive vocabulary acquisition of young Latino/a English language learners (ELLs) from socioeconomically disadvantaged migrant families. In addition, the authors examined the extent to which gender and individual initial performance in Spanish predict receptive vocabulary performance and growth rate. The authors used hierarchical linear modeling of 64 children's receptive vocabulary performance to generate growth trajectories, predict performance at school entry, and examine potential predictors of rate of growth. The timing of testing varied across children. The ELLs (prekindergarten to 2nd grade) participated in 2-5 testing sessions, each 6-12 months apart. The ELLs' average predicted standard score on an English receptive vocabulary at kindergarten was nearly 2 SDs below the mean for monolingual peers. Significant growth in the ELLs' receptive vocabulary was observed between preschool and 2nd grade, indicating that the ELLs were slowly closing the receptive vocabulary gap, although their average score remained below the standard score mean for age-matched monolingual peers. The ELLs demonstrated a significant decrease in Spanish receptive vocabulary standard scores over time. Initial Spanish receptive vocabulary was a significant predictor of growth in English receptive vocabulary. High initial Spanish receptive vocabulary was associated with greater growth in English receptive vocabulary and decelerated growth in Spanish receptive vocabulary. Gender was not a significant predictor of growth in either English or Spanish receptive vocabulary. ELLs from low socioeconomic backgrounds may be expected to perform lower in English compared with their monolingual English peers in kindergarten. Performance in Spanish at school entry may be useful in identifying children who require more intensive instructional support for English vocabulary

A demanding market

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Thomas, M.

1997-01-01

The article relates to the oil and natural gas market, and it gives a survey of proved reserves at the end of 1996 worldwide. The long term trend of increasing world energy demand has seen a major rise during 1996 when global consumption grew by 3%. But worldwide demand, excluding the Former Soviet Union, shows this figure increasing further to 3.7% for the whole of last year according to statistics. 3 figs

Sparse coding can predict primary visual cortex receptive field changes induced by abnormal visual input.

Science.gov (United States)

Hunt, Jonathan J; Dayan, Peter; Goodhill, Geoffrey J

2013-01-01

Receptive fields acquired through unsupervised learning of sparse representations of natural scenes have similar properties to primary visual cortex (V1) simple cell receptive fields. However, what drives in vivo development of receptive fields remains controversial. The strongest evidence for the importance of sensory experience in visual development comes from receptive field changes in animals reared with abnormal visual input. However, most sparse coding accounts have considered only normal visual input and the development of monocular receptive fields. Here, we applied three sparse coding models to binocular receptive field development across six abnormal rearing conditions. In every condition, the changes in receptive field properties previously observed experimentally were matched to a similar and highly faithful degree by all the models, suggesting that early sensory development can indeed be understood in terms of an impetus towards sparsity. As previously predicted in the literature, we found that asymmetries in inter-ocular correlation across orientations lead to orientation-specific binocular receptive fields. Finally we used our models to design a novel stimulus that, if present during rearing, is predicted by the sparsity principle to lead robustly to radically abnormal receptive fields.

Clinical information systems end user satisfaction: the expectations and needs congruencies effects.

Science.gov (United States)

Karimi, Faezeh; Poo, Danny C C; Tan, Yung Ming

2015-02-01

Prior research on information systems (IS) shows that users' attitudes and continuance intentions are associated with their satisfaction with information systems. As such, the increasing amount of investments in clinical information systems (CIS) signifies the importance of understanding CIS end users' (i.e., clinicians) satisfaction. In this study, we develop a conceptual framework to identify the cognitive determinants of clinicians' satisfaction formation. The disconfirmation paradigm serves as the core of the framework. The expectations and needs congruency models are the two models of this paradigm, and perceived performance is the basis of the comparisons in the models. The needs and expectations associated with the models are also specified. The survey methodology is adopted in this study to empirically validate the proposed research model. The survey is conducted at a public hospital and results in 112 and 203 valid responses (56% and 98% response rates) from doctors and nurses respectively. The partial least squares (PLS) method is used to analyze the data. The results of the study show that perceived CIS performance is the most influential factor on clinicians' (i.e., doctors and nurses) satisfaction. Doctors' expectations congruency is the next significant determinant of their satisfaction. Contrary to most previous findings, nurses' expectations and expectations congruency do not show a significant effect on their satisfaction. However, the needs congruency is found to significantly affect nurses' satisfaction. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Receptive fields selection for binary feature description.

Science.gov (United States)

Fan, Bin; Kong, Qingqun; Trzcinski, Tomasz; Wang, Zhiheng; Pan, Chunhong; Fua, Pascal

2014-06-01

Feature description for local image patch is widely used in computer vision. While the conventional way to design local descriptor is based on expert experience and knowledge, learning-based methods for designing local descriptor become more and more popular because of their good performance and data-driven property. This paper proposes a novel data-driven method for designing binary feature descriptor, which we call receptive fields descriptor (RFD). Technically, RFD is constructed by thresholding responses of a set of receptive fields, which are selected from a large number of candidates according to their distinctiveness and correlations in a greedy way. Using two different kinds of receptive fields (namely rectangular pooling area and Gaussian pooling area) for selection, we obtain two binary descriptors RFDR and RFDG .accordingly. Image matching experiments on the well-known patch data set and Oxford data set demonstrate that RFD significantly outperforms the state-of-the-art binary descriptors, and is comparable with the best float-valued descriptors at a fraction of processing time. Finally, experiments on object recognition tasks confirm that both RFDR and RFDG successfully bridge the performance gap between binary descriptors and their floating-point competitors.

Integrating a work-flow engine within a commercial SCADA to build end users applications in a scientific environment

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ounsy, M.; Pierre-Joseph Zephir, S.; Saintin, K.; Abeille, G.; Ley, E. de

2012-01-01

To build integrated high-level applications, SOLEIL is using an original component-oriented approach based on GlobalSCREEN, an industrial Java SCADA. The aim of this integrated development environment is to give SOLEIL's scientific and technical staff a way to develop GUI (Graphical User Interface) applications for external users of beamlines. These GUI applications must address the two following needs: monitoring and supervision of a control system and development and execution of automated processes (as beamline alignment, data collection and on-line data analysis). The first need is now completely answered through a rich set of Java graphical components based on the COMETE library and providing a high level of service for data logging, scanning and so on. To reach the same quality of service for process automation, a big effort has been made for more seamless integration of PASSERELLE, a work-flow engine with dedicated user-friendly interfaces for end users, packaged as JavaBeans in GlobalSCREEN components library. Starting with brief descriptions of software architecture of the PASSERELLE and GlobalSCREEN environments, we will then present the overall system integration design as well as the current status of deployment on SOLEIL beamlines. (authors)

Analysis of the importance of drug packaging quality for end users and pharmaceutical industry as a part of the quality management system

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Lončar Irma M.

2013-01-01

Full Text Available In this study, we collected and analyzed information on the importance of drug packaging quality to end users and pharmaceutical industry, as an indicator of the process of traceability and originality of drugs. Two surveys were conducted: one among the end users of drugs (252 patients and the other among professionals working in seven pharmaceutical companies in Serbia. For most end users (82.5% quality on the packaging of drugs was important, but only 41.8% of them thought that the appearance of the packaging could be an indicator of genuinity of drugs. The existence of the control marks (KM on drug packaging was not of great importance, since most of them (86.9% know, its function, but majority (60.2% would nevertheless decide to buy the drug without KM. Regarding the experts from the pharmaceutical industry, more then two-thirds of them (68.4% believed that the existence of KM did not contribute to efficient operations. Although a great number of pharmaceutical industry professionals (84.2% answered that the introduction of GS1 DataMatrix system would allow for complete traceability of the drug from the manufacturer to the end user, only 22.2% of them introduced this system to their products. This study also showed that domestic producers did not have a great interest for additional protection (special inks, holograms, special graphics, smart multicolor design, watermark, chemically labeled paper and cardboard etc.. on their products, given that only 15.8 % of them had some kind of additional protection against counterfeiting. Monitoring drug traceability from a manufacturer to end user is achieved by many complex activities regulated by law. A high percentage of responders said they were satisfied with the functionality of traceability systems used in their companies. As a way to increase the quality of drug packaging and business performance most responders saw in the continuous improvement of the system of traceability within the company

Problems of generation and reception of gravitational waves

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Pisarev, A.F.

1975-01-01

The present day status of the problems of gravitation, wave radiation and reception is surveyed. The physical presentation and mathematical description of the processes of radiation, propagation and interaction of gravitation waves with matter and the electromagnetic field are given. The experiments on the search for gravitation waves of astophysical nature are analysed. The laboratory and cosmic sources of these waves and the methods of their reception are described. Special attention is drawn to the analysis of the proposals to perform a complete laboratory gravitation wave experiment

Quick Link Selection Method by Using Pricing Strategy Based on User Equilibrium for Implementing an Effective Urban Travel Demand Management

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Shahriar Afandizadeh Zargari

2016-12-01

Full Text Available This paper presents a two-stage model of optimization as a quick method to choose the best potential links for implementing urban travel demand management (UTDM strategy like road pricing. The model is optimized by minimizing the hidden cost of congestion based on user equilibrium (MHCCUE. It forecasts the exact amount of flows and tolls for links in user equilibrium condition to determine the hidden cost for each link to optimize the link selection based on the network congestion priority. The results show that not only the amount of total cost is decreased, but also the number of selected links for pricing is reduced as compared with the previous toll minimization methods. Moreover, as this model just uses the traffic assignment data for calculation, it could be considered as a quick and optimum solution for choosing the potential links.

Nonlinear Hebbian Learning as a Unifying Principle in Receptive Field Formation.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Carlos S N Brito

2016-09-01

Full Text Available The development of sensory receptive fields has been modeled in the past by a variety of models including normative models such as sparse coding or independent component analysis and bottom-up models such as spike-timing dependent plasticity or the Bienenstock-Cooper-Munro model of synaptic plasticity. Here we show that the above variety of approaches can all be unified into a single common principle, namely nonlinear Hebbian learning. When nonlinear Hebbian learning is applied to natural images, receptive field shapes were strongly constrained by the input statistics and preprocessing, but exhibited only modest variation across different choices of nonlinearities in neuron models or synaptic plasticity rules. Neither overcompleteness nor sparse network activity are necessary for the development of localized receptive fields. The analysis of alternative sensory modalities such as auditory models or V2 development lead to the same conclusions. In all examples, receptive fields can be predicted a priori by reformulating an abstract model as nonlinear Hebbian learning. Thus nonlinear Hebbian learning and natural statistics can account for many aspects of receptive field formation across models and sensory modalities.

Demand-controlling marketing of electric utilities

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Raffee, H; Fritz, W

1980-01-01

In situations like the shortage of energy resources the particular autonomy of the users concerning energy demand raises more and more aggravating problems for the electric utilities (EU) and, last not least, for society (i.e. the peak-load problem, threatening bottlenecks in the supply situation). Thus the requirement for a demand-controlling marketing strategy of the EU with the help of which the individual demand should be influenced in the following manner is legitimate. The article discusses the targets, strategies, and instruments of marketing performed by the EU under the aspect of their efficiency concerning demand control. The discussion leads to e.g. the following results: that a marketing strategy for the sensible, responsible, and efficent use of energy, in the long-term, serves both the interests of the users and the interests of the EU; that such a marketing programme can have the required controlling effects especially with the help of strategies like market segmentation and cooperation. The discussion makes also clear that a demand-controlling marketing strategy of the EU can hardly be realized without a considerable change within the organization of the EU on one hand and, on the other, without expanding the marketing programme toward a marketing strategy of balance.

The Foucault-Habermas Debate: the Reflexive and Receptive Aspects of Critique

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Hansen, Ejvind

2005-01-01

In this paper I discuss the relationship between two different approaches to critical theory – the reflective and the receptive approaches. I show how it can be fruitful to discuss the relationship between Habermas and Foucault through this distinction. My point is that whereas Habermas focusses...... on critique as a reflexive activity, Foucault mainly focusses on the receptive conditions for critique to be possible. I argue further that Foucault focusses on the receptive aspects of critique, the quest for universality is not as pressing as it is in Habermas’ approach, because problematizing critique can...

Deaf Students' Receptive and Expressive American Sign Language Skills: Comparisons and Relations

Science.gov (United States)

Beal-Alvarez, Jennifer S.

2014-01-01

This article presents receptive and expressive American Sign Language skills of 85 students, 6 through 22 years of age at a residential school for the deaf using the American Sign Language Receptive Skills Test and the Ozcaliskan Motion Stimuli. Results are presented by ages and indicate that students' receptive skills increased with age and…

Assessing the influence of manufacturing sectors on electricity demand. A cross-country input-output approach

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Tarancon, Miguel Angel; Callejas Albinana, Fernando; Del Rio, Pablo

2010-01-01

The production and consumption of electricity is a major source of CO 2 emissions in Europe and elsewhere. In turn, the manufacturing sectors are significant end-users of electricity. In contrast to most papers in the literature, which focus on the supply-side, this study tackles the demand-side of electricity. An input-output approach combined with a sensitivity analysis has been developed to analyse the direct and indirect consumptions of electricity by eighteen manufacturing sectors in fifteen European countries, with indirect electricity demand related to the purchase of industrial products from other sectors which, in turn, require the consumption of electricity in their manufacturing processes. We identify the industrial transactions and sectors, which account for a greater share of electricity demand. In addition, the impact of an electricity price increase on the costs and prices of manufacturing products is simulated through a price model, allowing us to identify those sectors whose manufacturing costs are most sensitive to an increase in the electricity price. (author)

Assessing the influence of manufacturing sectors on electricity demand. A cross-country input-output approach

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Tarancon, Miguel Angel; Callejas Albinana, Fernando [Faculty of Law and Social Sciences, Universidad de Castilla - La Mancha, Ronda de Toledo s/n, 13071 Ciudad Real (Spain); Del Rio, Pablo [Institute for Public Policies and Goods (IPP), Centro de Ciencias Humanas y Sociales, CSIC, C/Albasanz 26-28, 28037 Madrid (Spain)

2010-04-15

The production and consumption of electricity is a major source of CO{sub 2} emissions in Europe and elsewhere. In turn, the manufacturing sectors are significant end-users of electricity. In contrast to most papers in the literature, which focus on the supply-side, this study tackles the demand-side of electricity. An input-output approach combined with a sensitivity analysis has been developed to analyse the direct and indirect consumptions of electricity by eighteen manufacturing sectors in fifteen European countries, with indirect electricity demand related to the purchase of industrial products from other sectors which, in turn, require the consumption of electricity in their manufacturing processes. We identify the industrial transactions and sectors, which account for a greater share of electricity demand. In addition, the impact of an electricity price increase on the costs and prices of manufacturing products is simulated through a price model, allowing us to identify those sectors whose manufacturing costs are most sensitive to an increase in the electricity price. (author)

The Receptive Side of Teaching

Science.gov (United States)

Hruska, Barbara

2008-01-01

When observing teachers in action, one is likely to witness explaining, modeling, managing, guiding, and encouraging. These expressive behaviors constitute a directive force moving outward from teacher to students. Though less visible to an outside observer, teaching also requires receptive skills, the ability to take in information by being fully…

Reception Test of Petals for the End Cap TEC+ of the CMS Silicon Strip Tracker

CERN Document Server

Bremer, R; Klein, Katja; Schmitz, Stefan Antonius; Adler, Volker; Adolphi, Roman; Ageron, Michel; Agram, Jean-Laurent; Atz, Bernd; Barvich, Tobias; Baulieu, Guillaume; Beaumont, Willem; Beissel, Franz; Bergauer, Thomas; Berst, Jean-Daniel; Blüm, Peter; Bock, E; Bogelsbacher, F; de Boer, Wim; Bonnet, Jean-Luc; Bonnevaux, Alain; Boudoul, Gaelle; Bouhali, Othmane; Braunschweig, Wolfgang; Brom, Jean-Marie; Butz, Erik; Chabanat, Eric; Chabert, Eric Christian; Clerbaux, Barbara; Contardo, Didier; De Callatay, Bernard; Dehm, Philip; Delaere, Christophe; Della Negra, Rodolphe; Dewulf, Jean-Paul; D'Hondt, Jorgen; Didierjean, Francois; Dierlamm, Alexander; Dirkes, Guido; Dragicevic, Marko; Drouhin, Frédéric; Ernenwein, Jean-Pierre; Esser, Hans; Estre, Nicolas; Fahrer, Manuel; Fernández, J; Florins, Benoit; Flossdorf, Alexander; Flucke, Gero; Flügge, Günter; Fontaine, Jean-Charles; Freudenreich, Klaus; Frey, Martin; Friedl, Markus; Furgeri, Alexander; Giraud, Noël; Goerlach, Ulrich; Goorens, Robert; Graehling, Philippe; Grégoire, Ghislain; Gregoriev, E; Gross, Laurent; Hansel, S; Haroutunian, Roger; Hartmann, Frank; Heier, Stefan; Hermanns, Thomas; Heydhausen, Dirk; Heyninck, Jan; Hosselet, J; Hrubec, Josef; Jahn, Dieter; Juillot, Pierre; Kaminski, Jochen; Karpinski, Waclaw; Kaussen, Gordon; Keutgen, Thomas; Klanner, Robert; König, Stefan; Kosbow, M; Krammer, Manfred; Ledermann, Bernhard; Lemaître, Vincent; De Lentdecker, Gilles; Linn, Alexander; Lounis, Abdenour; Lübelsmeyer, Klaus; Lumb, Nicholas; Maazouzi, Chaker; Mahmoud, Tariq; Michotte, Daniel; Militaru, Otilia; Mirabito, Laurent; Müller, Thomas; Neukermans, Lionel; Ollivetto, C; Olzem, Jan; Ostapchuk, Andrey; Pandoulas, Demetrios; Pein, Uwe; Pernicka, Manfred; Perriès, Stephane; Piaseki, C; Pierschel, Gerhard; Piotrzkowski, Krzysztof; Poettgens, Michael; Pooth, Oliver; Rouby, Xavier; Sabellek, Andreas; Schael, Stefan; Schirm, Norbert; Schleper, Peter; Schultz von Dratzig, Arndt; Siedling, Rolf; Simonis, Hans-Jürgen; Stahl, Achim; Steck, Pia; Steinbruck, G; Stoye, Markus; Strub, Roger; Tavernier, Stefaan; Teyssier, Daniel; Theel, Andreas; Trocmé, Benjamin; Udo, Fred; Van der Donckt, M; Van der Velde, C; Van Hove, Pierre; Vanlaer, Pascal; Van Lancker, Luc; Van Staa, Rolf; Vanzetto, Sylvain; Weber, Markus; Weiler, Thomas; Weseler, Siegfried; Wickens, John; Wittmer, Bruno; Wlochal, Michael; De Wolf, Eddi A; Zhukov, Valery; Zoeller, Marc Henning

2009-01-01

The silicon strip tracker of the CMS experiment has been completed and was inserted into the CMS detector in late 2007. The largest sub system of the tracker are its end caps, comprising two large end caps (TEC) each containing 3200 silicon strip modules. To ease construction, the end caps feature a modular design: groups of about 20 silicon modules are placed on sub-assemblies called petals and these self-contained elements are then mounted onto the TEC support structures. Each end cap consists of 144 such petals, which were built and fully qualified by several institutes across Europe. From

Reducing electricity demand peaks by scheduling home appliances usage

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Rossello-Busquet, A.; Kardaras, G.; Baek Iversen, V.; Soler, J.; Dittmann, L.

2011-05-15

Nowadays there is a tendency to consume electricity during the same period of the day leading to demand peaks. Regular energy consumption habits lead to demand peaks at specific temporal intervals, because users consume power at the same time. In order to avoid demand peaks, users' appliances should consume electricity in a more temporarily distributed way. A new methodology to schedule the usage of home appliances is proposed and analyzed in this paper. The main concept behind this approach is the aggregation of home appliances into priority classes and the definition of a maximum power consumption limit, which is not allowed to be exceeded during peak hours. The scenario simulated describes a modern household, where the electrical devices are classified in low and high priority groups. The high priority devices are always granted power in order to operate without temporal restrictions. On the contrary, the low priority devices have to pause their operation, when the algorithm dictates it, and resume it in the future. This can become beneficial for both energy companies and users. The electricity suppliers companies will be capable of regulating power generation during demand peaks periods. Moreover, users can be granted lower electricity bill rates for accepting delaying the operation of some of their appliances. In order to analyze this scenario, teletraffic engineering theory, which is used in evaluating the performance of telecommunication networks, is used. A reversible fair scheduling (RFS) algorithm, which was originally developed for telecommunication networks, is applied. The purpose is to analyze how a power consumption limit and priorities for home appliances will affect the demand peak and the users' everyday life. Verification of the effectiveness of the RFS algorithm is done by means of simulation and by using real data for power consumption and operation hours. The defined maximum power limit of 750 and 1000 Watt was not exceeded during

Developmental Stages in Receptive Grammar Acquisition: A Processability Theory Account

Science.gov (United States)

Buyl, Aafke; Housen, Alex

2015-01-01

This study takes a new look at the topic of developmental stages in the second language (L2) acquisition of morphosyntax by analysing receptive learner data, a language mode that has hitherto received very little attention within this strand of research (for a recent and rare study, see Spinner, 2013). Looking at both the receptive and productive…

Regulation regarding the reception of the construction works and the corresponding installations in Romania

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Simona Chirică

2017-12-01

Full Text Available The new Regulation regarding the reception of construction works and corresponding installations, approved by Government's Decision no. 347/2017 (“Regulation 2017” has general applicability for all construction works for which there is an obligation to obtain a building permit. Regulation 2017 brings significant changes and clarifications expected by the real estate sector regarding: (i the composition of the commissions involved in the reception procedure, (ii the role of the site supervisor who thus gains significant participation in the reception procedure, and (iii the participation of the public authorities' representatives at the reception, having the veto right on the decision of the reception commission upon the completion of the construction works. Another element of novelty brought by Regulation 2017 is the possibility to do the reception upon the completion of the construction works, respectively the final reception for parts / objectives / sectors of or from the building, if they are distinct/ independent from a physical and functional point of view. Thus, the new regulation facilitates the procedure of authorizing investment objectives and the costs of the process. The partial reception is another innovation brought by the Regulation 2017 in support of the investor, who can thus take over a part of the construction, at a certain stage, and obtain its registration with the Land Book.

Communication from Goods Reception services

CERN Multimedia

2007-01-01

Members of the personnel are invited to take note that only parcels corresponding to official orders or contracts will be handled at CERN. Individuals are not authorised to have private merchandise delivered to them at CERN and private deliveries will not be accepted by the Goods Reception services. Thank you for your understanding.

User Interface Technology for Formal Specification Development

Science.gov (United States)

Lowry, Michael; Philpot, Andrew; Pressburger, Thomas; Underwood, Ian; Lum, Henry, Jr. (Technical Monitor)

1994-01-01

Formal specification development and modification are an essential component of the knowledge-based software life cycle. User interface technology is needed to empower end-users to create their own formal specifications. This paper describes the advanced user interface for AMPHION1 a knowledge-based software engineering system that targets scientific subroutine libraries. AMPHION is a generic, domain-independent architecture that is specialized to an application domain through a declarative domain theory. Formal specification development and reuse is made accessible to end-users through an intuitive graphical interface that provides semantic guidance in creating diagrams denoting formal specifications in an application domain. The diagrams also serve to document the specifications. Automatic deductive program synthesis ensures that end-user specifications are correctly implemented. The tables that drive AMPHION's user interface are automatically compiled from a domain theory; portions of the interface can be customized by the end-user. The user interface facilitates formal specification development by hiding syntactic details, such as logical notation. It also turns some of the barriers for end-user specification development associated with strongly typed formal languages into active sources of guidance, without restricting advanced users. The interface is especially suited for specification modification. AMPHION has been applied to the domain of solar system kinematics through the development of a declarative domain theory. Testing over six months with planetary scientists indicates that AMPHION's interactive specification acquisition paradigm enables users to develop, modify, and reuse specifications at least an order of magnitude more rapidly than manual program development.

The receptive-expressive gap in the vocabulary of young second-language learners: Robustness and possible mechanisms

OpenAIRE

Gibson, Todd A.; Oller, D. Kimbrough; Jarmulowicz, Linda; Ethington, Corinna A.

2012-01-01

Adults and children learning a second language show difficulty accessing expressive vocabulary that appears accessible receptively in their first language (L1). We call this discrepancy the receptive-expressive gap. Kindergarten Spanish (L1) - English (L2) sequential bilinguals were given standardized tests of receptive and expressive vocabulary in both Spanish and English. We found a small receptive-expressive gap in English but a large receptive-expressive gap in Spanish. We categorized chi...

Gas priority users consultation : government response

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

2007-01-01

This consultation document presents the results of an updated analysis of gas priority users comments on the UK government's proposals for updating the current priority lists, amending the eligibility criteria for priority user status, and simplifying the administration of the scheme. The extension of Category C priority users to include sites where interruption of gas supplies would lead to damage exceeding fifty million pounds to a plant at another site is discussed. It is acknowledged that there is a preference for a reduction of gas demand as opposed to a cessation in the case of an emergency gas supply deficit and details are given of a Task Group set up to examine options for reducing demand rather than cessation for large industrial gas users. The role of the Network Emergency Co-ordinator, support for a more flexible approach, pre-agreed rota interruption, a long-duration emergency, demand reduction, and the establishment of a Government/Industry Gas/Electricity Task Group are discussed, and the raising of the load shedding threshold of 25,000 therms/yr is considered

User-centric android flexible permissions

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Scoccia, Gian Luca; Malavolta, Ivano; Autili, Marco; Di Salle, Amleto; Inverardi, Paola

2017-01-01

Privacy in mobile apps is a fundamental aspect to be considered, particularly with regard to meeting end user expectations. Due to the rigidities of the Android permission model, desirable trade-offs are not allowed. End users are confined into a secondary role, having the only option of choosing

Unaccompanied adolescents seeking asylum: Poorer mental health under a restrictive reception

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Reijneveld, S.A.; Boer, J.B.de; Bean, T.; Korfker, D.G.

2005-01-01

We assessed the effects of a stringent reception policy on the mental health of unaccompanied adolescent asylum seekers by comparing the mental health of adolescents in a restricted campus reception setting and in a setting offering more autonomy (numbers [response rates]: 69 [93%] and 53 [69%],

Refining an asynchronous telerehabilitation platform for speech-language pathology: Engaging end-users in the process

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Annie Jane Hill

2016-12-01

Full Text Available Asynchronous telerehabilitation in which computer-based interventions are remotely monitored and adapted offline is an emerging service delivery model in the rehabilitation of communication disorders. The asynchronous nature of this model may hold a benefit over its synchronous counterpart by eliminating scheduling issues and thus improving efficiency in a healthcare landscape of constrained resource allocation. The design of asynchronous telerehabilitation platforms should therefore ensure efficiency and flexibility. The authors have been engaged in a program of research to develop and evaluate an asynchronous telerehabilitation platform for use in speech-language pathology. eSALT is a novel asynchronous telerehabilitation platform in which clinicians design and individualize therapy tasks for upload to a client’s mobile device. An inbuilt telerehabilitation module allows for remote monitoring and updating of tasks. This paper introduces eSALT and reports outcomes from an usability study that considered the needs of two end-user groups, people with aphasia and clinicians, in the on-going refinement of eSALT. In the study participants with aphasia were paired with clinicians who used eSALT to design and customize therapy tasks. After training on the mobile device the participants engaged in therapy at home for a period of three weeks, while clinicians remotely monitored and updated tasks. Following the home trial, participants and clinicians engaged in semi-structured interviews and completed surveys on the usability of eSALT and their satisfaction with the platform. Content analysis of data involving five participants and three clinicians revealed a number of usability themes including ease of use, user support, satisfaction, limitations and potential improvements. These findings were translated into a number of refinements of the eSALT platform including the development of a client interface for use on the Apple iPad®, greater variety in

A Multifunctional Brain-Computer Interface Intended for Home Use: An Evaluation with Healthy Participants and Potential End Users with Dry and Gel-Based Electrodes

Science.gov (United States)

Käthner, Ivo; Halder, Sebastian; Hintermüller, Christoph; Espinosa, Arnau; Guger, Christoph; Miralles, Felip; Vargiu, Eloisa; Dauwalder, Stefan; Rafael-Palou, Xavier; Solà, Marc; Daly, Jean M.; Armstrong, Elaine; Martin, Suzanne; Kübler, Andrea

2017-01-01

Current brain-computer interface (BCIs) software is often tailored to the needs of scientists and technicians and therefore complex to allow for versatile use. To facilitate home use of BCIs a multifunctional P300 BCI with a graphical user interface intended for non-expert set-up and control was designed and implemented. The system includes applications for spelling, web access, entertainment, artistic expression and environmental control. In addition to new software, it also includes new hardware for the recording of electroencephalogram (EEG) signals. The EEG system consists of a small and wireless amplifier attached to a cap that can be equipped with gel-based or dry contact electrodes. The system was systematically evaluated with a healthy sample, and targeted end users of BCI technology, i.e., people with a varying degree of motor impairment tested the BCI in a series of individual case studies. Usability was assessed in terms of effectiveness, efficiency and satisfaction. Feedback of users was gathered with structured questionnaires. Two groups of healthy participants completed an experimental protocol with the gel-based and the dry contact electrodes (N = 10 each). The results demonstrated that all healthy participants gained control over the system and achieved satisfactory to high accuracies with both gel-based and dry electrodes (average error rates of 6 and 13%). Average satisfaction ratings were high, but certain aspects of the system such as the wearing comfort of the dry electrodes and design of the cap, and speed (in both groups) were criticized by some participants. Six potential end users tested the system during supervised sessions. The achieved accuracies varied greatly from no control to high control with accuracies comparable to that of healthy volunteers. Satisfaction ratings of the two end-users that gained control of the system were lower as compared to healthy participants. The advantages and disadvantages of the BCI and its applications

User constraints for reliable user-defined smart home scenarios

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Le Guilly, Thibaut; Nielsen, Michael Kvist; Pedersen, Thomas

2016-01-01

Defining control scenarios in a smart home is a difficult task for end users. In particular, one concern is that user-defined scenarios could lead to unsafe or undesired state of the system. To help them explore scenario specifications, we propose in this paper a system that enables specification...

User Experimentation with Terminological Ontologies

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Pram Nielsen, Louise

This paper outlines work-in-progress research suggesting that domain-specific knowledge in terminological resources can be transferred efficiently to end-users across different levels of expertise and by means of different information modes including articles (written mode) and concept diagrams...... (graph mode). An experimental approach is applied in an eye-tracking laboratory, where a natural user situation is replicated for Danish professional potential end-users of a ter-minology and knowledge bank in a chosen pilot domain (taxation)....

Opportunities for Automated Demand Response in California Wastewater Treatment Facilities

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Aghajanzadeh, Arian [Lawrence Berkeley National Lab. (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States); Wray, Craig [Lawrence Berkeley National Lab. (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States); McKane, Aimee [Lawrence Berkeley National Lab. (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States)

2015-08-30

Previous research over a period of six years has identified wastewater treatment facilities as good candidates for demand response (DR), automated demand response (Auto-­DR), and Energy Efficiency (EE) measures. This report summarizes that work, including the characteristics of wastewater treatment facilities, the nature of the wastewater stream, energy used and demand, as well as details of the wastewater treatment process. It also discusses control systems and automated demand response opportunities. Furthermore, this report summarizes the DR potential of three wastewater treatment facilities. In particular, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL) has collected data at these facilities from control systems, submetered process equipment, utility electricity demand records, and governmental weather stations. The collected data were then used to generate a summary of wastewater power demand, factors affecting that demand, and demand response capabilities. These case studies show that facilities that have implemented energy efficiency measures and that have centralized control systems are well suited to shed or shift electrical loads in response to financial incentives, utility bill savings, and/or opportunities to enhance reliability of service. In summary, municipal wastewater treatment energy demand in California is large, and energy-­intensive equipment offers significant potential for automated demand response. In particular, large load reductions were achieved by targeting effluent pumps and centrifuges. One of the limiting factors to implementing demand response is the reaction of effluent turbidity to reduced aeration at an earlier stage of the process. Another limiting factor is that cogeneration capabilities of municipal facilities, including existing power purchase agreements and utility receptiveness to purchasing electricity from cogeneration facilities, limit a facility’s potential to participate in other DR activities.

Are They Listening? Parental Social Coaching and Parenting Emotional Climate Predict Adolescent Receptivity.

Science.gov (United States)

Gregson, Kim D; Erath, Stephen A; Pettit, Gregory S; Tu, Kelly M

2016-12-01

Associations linking parenting emotional climate and quality of parental social coaching with young adolescents' receptivity to parental social coaching were examined (N = 80). Parenting emotional climate was assessed with adolescent-reported parental warmth and hostility. Quality of parental social coaching (i.e., prosocial advice, benign framing) was assessed via parent-report and behavioral observations during a parent-adolescent discussion about negative peer evaluation. An adolescent receptivity latent variable score was derived from observations of adolescents' behavior during the discussion, change in adolescents' peer response plan following the discussion, and adolescent-reported tendency to seek social advice from the parent. Parenting climate moderated associations between coaching and receptivity: Higher quality coaching was associated with greater receptivity in the context of a more positive climate. Analyses suggested a stronger association between coaching and receptivity among younger compared to older adolescents. © 2015 The Authors. Journal of Research on Adolescence © 2015 Society for Research on Adolescence.

Teaching receptive naming of Chinese characters to children with autism by incorporating echolalia.

OpenAIRE

Leung, J P; Wu, K I

1997-01-01

The facilitative effect of incorporating echolalia on teaching receptive naming of Chinese characters to children with autism was assessed. In Experiment 1, echoing the requested character name prior to the receptive naming task facilitated matching a character to its name. In addition, task performance was consistently maintained only when echolalia preceded the receptive manual response. Positive results from generalization tests suggested that learned responses occurred across various nove...

Receptivity to television fast-food restaurant marketing and obesity among U.S. youth.

Science.gov (United States)

McClure, Auden C; Tanski, Susanne E; Gilbert-Diamond, Diane; Adachi-Mejia, Anna M; Li, Zhigang; Li, Zhongze; Sargent, James D

2013-11-01

Advertisement of fast food on TV may contribute to youth obesity. The goal of the study was to use cued recall to determine whether TV fast-food advertising is associated with youth obesity. A national sample of 2541 U.S. youth, aged 15-23 years, were surveyed in 2010-2011; data were analyzed in 2012. Respondents viewed a random subset of 20 advertisement frames (with brand names removed) selected from national TV fast-food restaurant advertisements (n=535) aired in the previous year. Respondents were asked if they had seen the advertisement, if they liked it, and if they could name the brand. A TV fast-food advertising receptivity score (a measure of exposure and response) was assigned; a 1-point increase was equivalent to affirmative responses to all three queries for two separate advertisements. Adjusted odds of obesity (based on self-reported height and weight), given higher TV fast-food advertising receptivity, are reported. The prevalence of overweight and obesity, weighted to the U.S. population, was 20% and 16%, respectively. Obesity, sugar-sweetened beverage consumption, fast-food restaurant visit frequency, weekday TV time, and TV alcohol advertising receptivity were associated with higher TV fast-food advertising receptivity (median=3.3 [interquartile range: 2.2-4.2]). Only household income, TV time, and TV fast-food advertising receptivity retained multivariate associations with obesity. For every 1-point increase in TV fast-food advertising receptivity score, the odds of obesity increased by 19% (OR=1.19, 95% CI=1.01, 1.40). There was no association between receptivity to televised alcohol advertisements or fast-food restaurant visit frequency and obesity. Using a cued-recall assessment, TV fast-food advertising receptivity was found to be associated with youth obesity. © 2013 American Journal of Preventive Medicine.

Receptivity to Television Fast-Food Restaurant Marketing and Obesity Among U.S. Youth

Science.gov (United States)

McClure, Auden C.; Tanski, Susanne E.; Gilbert-Diamond, Diane; Adachi-Mejia, Anna M.; Li, Zhigang; Li, Zhongze; Sargent, James D.

2013-01-01

Background Advertisement of fast food on TV may contribute to youth obesity. Purpose The goal of the study was to use cued recall to determine whether TV fast-food advertising is associated with youth obesity. Methods A national sample of 2541 U.S. youth, aged 15–23 years, were surveyed in 2010–2011; data were analyzed in 2012. Respondents viewed a random subset of 20 advertisement frames (with brand names removed) selected from national TV fast-food restaurant advertisements (n=535) aired in the previous year. Respondents were asked if they had seen the advertisement, if they liked it, and if they could name the brand. A TV fast-food advertising receptivity score (a measure of exposure and response) was assigned; a 1-point increase was equivalent to affirmative responses to all three queries for two separate advertisements. Adjusted odds of obesity (based on self-reported height and weight), given higher TV fast-food advertising receptivity, are reported. Results The prevalence of overweight and obesity, weighted to the U.S. population, was 20% and 16%, respectively. Obesity, sugar-sweetened beverage consumption, fast-food restaurant visit frequency, weekday TV time, and TV alcohol advertising receptivity were associated with higher TV fast-food advertising receptivity (median=3.3 [interquartile range: 2.2–4.2]). Only household income, TV time, and TV fast-food advertising receptivity retained multivariate associations with obesity. For every 1-point increase in TV fast-food advertising receptivity score, the odds of obesity increased by 19% (OR=1.19, 95% CI=1.01, 1.40). There was no association between receptivity to televised alcohol advertisements or fast-food restaurant visit frequency and obesity. Conclusions Using a cued-recall assessment, TV fast-food advertising receptivity was found to be associated with youth obesity. PMID:24139768

Effect of leading-edge geometry on boundary-layer receptivity to freestream sound

Science.gov (United States)

Lin, Nay; Reed, Helen L.; Saric, W. S.

1991-01-01

The receptivity to freestream sound of the laminar boundary layer over a semi-infinite flat plate with an elliptic leading edge is simulated numerically. The incompressible flow past the flat plate is computed by solving the full Navier-Stokes equations in general curvilinear coordinates. A finite-difference method which is second-order accurate in space and time is used. Spatial and temporal developments of the Tollmien-Schlichting wave in the boundary layer, due to small-amplitude time-harmonic oscillations of the freestream velocity that closely simulate a sound wave travelling parallel to the plate, are observed. The effect of leading-edge curvature is studied by varying the aspect ratio of the ellipse. The boundary layer over the flat plate with a sharper leading edge is found to be less receptive. The relative contribution of the discontinuity in curvature at the ellipse-flat-plate juncture to receptivity is investigated by smoothing the juncture with a polynomial. Continuous curvature leads to less receptivity. A new geometry of the leading edge, a modified super ellipse, which provides continuous curvature at the juncture with the flat plate, is used to study the effect of continuous curvature and inherent pressure gradient on receptivity.

Opportunities for Energy Efficiency and Automated Demand Response in Industrial Refrigerated Warehouses in California

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Lekov, Alex; Thompson, Lisa; McKane, Aimee; Rockoff, Alexandra; Piette, Mary Ann

2009-05-11

This report summarizes the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory's research to date in characterizing energy efficiency and open automated demand response opportunities for industrial refrigerated warehouses in California. The report describes refrigerated warehouses characteristics, energy use and demand, and control systems. It also discusses energy efficiency and open automated demand response opportunities and provides analysis results from three demand response studies. In addition, several energy efficiency, load management, and demand response case studies are provided for refrigerated warehouses. This study shows that refrigerated warehouses can be excellent candidates for open automated demand response and that facilities which have implemented energy efficiency measures and have centralized control systems are well-suited to shift or shed electrical loads in response to financial incentives, utility bill savings, and/or opportunities to enhance reliability of service. Control technologies installed for energy efficiency and load management purposes can often be adapted for open automated demand response (OpenADR) at little additional cost. These improved controls may prepare facilities to be more receptive to OpenADR due to both increased confidence in the opportunities for controlling energy cost/use and access to the real-time data.

Computer tool for the elaboration and simulation of curves of domestic users consumption; Herramienta computacional para la elaboracion y simulacion de curvas de consumo en usuarios domesticos

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Ramos Niembro, Gaudencio; Valdez Ramos, Jorge E. [Instituto de Investigaciones Electricas, Cuernavaca (Mexico)

1996-12-31

The knowledge and simulation of the end users of the electric power is a very important factor for the electric power utilities, since they allow them the long term investment planning. Formerly the electric power utilities planned their growth in base of the demand. However, nowadays new tools have been developed that allow the Demand Side Management (DSM) to be made, which consists in analyzing the end user consumption and model it, in such a way that it saves energy and uses it efficiently. To segregate the consumption curve of the domestic users in function of its end uses, it is needed to consider several factors: climatic conditions, geographic location, type of dwelling, number and ages of the members of the family occupying it, type and number of existing electric home appliances, electric power demand and its efficiency, life habits, etc. From the above it is deducted that the end users consume electric power in different ways. Consequently, the knowledge of its behavior will allow to draw its consumption curve. This is possible through field measurements (user monitoring) and/or surveys (to ask the user when and how he uses his house hold electric devices and equipment). The results of such studies must be simulated, in order to generalize and characterize behaviors, in such a way as to have available options of operational scenarios of electric devices and equipment, in order to select potential energy and demand savings. [Espanol] El conocimiento y la simulacion de los usos finales de la energia electrica, es un factor importante para las empresas electricas, ya que les permite la planeacion de sus inversiones a largo plazo. Anteriormente, las empresas electricas planeaban su crecimiento en funcion de la demanda. Sin embargo, en la actualidad se han desarrollado herramientas que permiten hacer la administracion de la energia por el lado de la demanda (Demand Side Management, DSM por sus siglas en ingles), la cual consiste en analizar el consumo del

Computer tool for the elaboration and simulation of curves of domestic users consumption; Herramienta computacional para la elaboracion y simulacion de curvas de consumo en usuarios domesticos

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Ramos Niembro, Gaudencio; Valdez Ramos, Jorge E [Instituto de Investigaciones Electricas, Cuernavaca (Mexico)

1997-12-31

The knowledge and simulation of the end users of the electric power is a very important factor for the electric power utilities, since they allow them the long term investment planning. Formerly the electric power utilities planned their growth in base of the demand. However, nowadays new tools have been developed that allow the Demand Side Management (DSM) to be made, which consists in analyzing the end user consumption and model it, in such a way that it saves energy and uses it efficiently. To segregate the consumption curve of the domestic users in function of its end uses, it is needed to consider several factors: climatic conditions, geographic location, type of dwelling, number and ages of the members of the family occupying it, type and number of existing electric home appliances, electric power demand and its efficiency, life habits, etc. From the above it is deducted that the end users consume electric power in different ways. Consequently, the knowledge of its behavior will allow to draw its consumption curve. This is possible through field measurements (user monitoring) and/or surveys (to ask the user when and how he uses his house hold electric devices and equipment). The results of such studies must be simulated, in order to generalize and characterize behaviors, in such a way as to have available options of operational scenarios of electric devices and equipment, in order to select potential energy and demand savings. [Espanol] El conocimiento y la simulacion de los usos finales de la energia electrica, es un factor importante para las empresas electricas, ya que les permite la planeacion de sus inversiones a largo plazo. Anteriormente, las empresas electricas planeaban su crecimiento en funcion de la demanda. Sin embargo, en la actualidad se han desarrollado herramientas que permiten hacer la administracion de la energia por el lado de la demanda (Demand Side Management, DSM por sus siglas en ingles), la cual consiste en analizar el consumo del

Evaluation of end-user satisfaction among employees participating in a web-based health risk assessment with tailored feedback.

Science.gov (United States)

Vosbergen, Sandra; Laan, Eva K; Colkesen, Ersen B; Niessen, Maurice A J; Kraaijenhagen, Roderik A; Essink-Bot, Marie-Louise; Peek, Niels

2012-10-30

Web technology is increasingly being used to provide individuals with health risk assessments (HRAs) with tailored feedback. End-user satisfaction is an important determinant of the potential impact of HRAs, as this influences program attrition and adherence to behavioral advice. The aim of this study was to evaluate end-user satisfaction with a web-based HRA with tailored feedback applied in worksite settings, using mixed (quantitative and qualitative) methods. Employees of seven companies in the Netherlands participated in a commercial, web-based, HRA with tailored feedback. The HRA consisted of four components: 1) a health and lifestyle assessment questionnaire, 2) a biometric evaluation, 3) a laboratory evaluation, and 4) tailored feedback consisting of a personal health risk profile and lifestyle behavior advice communicated through a web portal. HRA respondents received an evaluation questionnaire after six weeks. Satisfaction with different parts of the HRA was measured on 5-point Likert scales. A free-text field provided the opportunity to make additional comments. In total, 2289 employees participated in the HRA program, of which 637 (27.8%) completed the evaluation questionnaire. Quantitative analysis showed that 85.6% of the respondents evaluated the overall HRA positively. The free-text field was filled in by 29.7 % of the respondents (189 out of 637), who made 315 separate remarks. Qualitative evaluation of these data showed that these respondents made critical remarks. Respondents felt restricted by the answer categories of the health and lifestyle assessment questionnaire, which resulted in the feeling that the corresponding feedback could be inadequate. Some respondents perceived the personal risk profile as unnecessarily alarming or suggested providing more explanations, reference values, and a justification of the behavioral advice given. Respondents also requested the opportunity to discuss the feedback with a health professional. Most people

Gym-based exoskeleton walking: A preliminary exploration of non-ambulatory end-user perspectives.

Science.gov (United States)

Cahill, Aoife; Ginley, Orna Mc; Bertrand, Courtney; Lennon, Olive

2018-07-01

Robotic walking devices (RWD) have shown many physical benefits in Spinal Cord Injury (SCI) rehabilitation. No study to date has explored end-user perceptions of these devices or gained insight into the use of these devices in a gym-based setting. This preliminary study explores the perspectives of four non-ambulatory individuals with SCI on using an exoskeleton walking device in a gym-based community setting. In-depth, semi-structured interviews were conducted with four SCI individuals living in the community. Interviews were audio-recorded and transcribed verbatim. Inductive thematic analysis established common overarching themes and subthemes. Four primary themes emerged addressing "The Psychological Adjustments Around Using RWDs with Respect to Disability", "Perceived Physical, Social and Psychological Benefits of Using an Exoskeleton", "The Role of External Influences", and "A Wellness Model to Health". A fully integrated gym setting was found to provide a positive and encouraging space to utilise the device. In addition, both the ability to set training goals and the positive attitude of robotic trainers were deemed to be important factors. This preliminary study provides detailed perspectives of four non-ambulatory individuals with SCI on utilising an exoskeleton walking device in a community setting. It suggests that gym-based RWDs impact positively on the users' lives and enhance their perceived wellbeing and sense of community integration. Enabling access to similar, community-based facilities should be prioritised for those with longstanding SCI disability. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Problems of generation and reception of gravitational waves. [Review

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Pisarev, A F [Joint Inst. for Nuclear Research, Dubna (USSR)

1975-01-01

The present day status of the problems of gravitation, wave radiation and reception is surveyed. The physical presentation and mathematical description of the processes of radiation, propagation and interaction of gravitation waves with matter and the electromagnetic field are given. The experiments on the search for gravitation waves of astophysical nature are analysed. The laboratory and cosmic sources of these waves and the methods of their reception are described. Special attention is drawn to the analysis of the proposals to perform a complete laboratory gravitation wave experiment.

From conciliar ecumenism to transformative receptive ecumenism

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Mary-Anne Plaatjies van Huffel

2017-09-01

Full Text Available This article attends to ecumenicity as the second reformation. The ecumenical organisations and agencies hugely influenced the theological praxis and reflection of the church during the past century. The First World Council of Churches (WCC Assembly in Amsterdam, the Netherlands, has been described as the most significant event in church history since the Reformation during the past decade. We saw the emergence of two initiatives that are going to influence ecumenical theology and practice in future, namely the Receptive Ecumenism and Catholic Learning research project, based in Durham, United Kingdom, and the International Theological Colloquium for Transformative Ecumenism of the WCC. Both initiatives constitute a fresh approach in methodology to ecumenical theology and practice. Attention will be given in this article to conciliar ecumenism, receptive ecumenism, transformative ecumenism and its implications for the development of an African transformative receptive ecumenism. In doing so, we should take cognisance of what Küng says about a confessionalist ghetto mentality: ‘We must avoid a confessionalistic ghetto mentality. Instead we should espouse an ecumenical vision that takes into consideration the world religions as well as contemporary ideologies: as much tolerance as possible toward those things outside the Church, toward the religious in general, and the human in general, and the development of that which is specifically Christian belong together!’

Sectoral demand articulation : The case of emerging sensor technologies in the drinking water sector

NARCIS (Netherlands)

te Kulve, Haico; Konrad, Kornelia Elke

Demand articulation plays a central role in innovation processes as it reduces uncertainties for innovating firms and offers guidance in innovation processes. Studies into demand articulation processes have mostly focused on users and user-producer interactions and paid less attention to the role of

User interfaces of information retrieval systems and user friendliness

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Polona Vilar

2008-01-01

Full Text Available The paper deals with the characteristics of user interfaces of information retrieval systems with the emphasis on design and evaluation. It presents users’ information retrieval tasks and the functions which are offered through interfaces. Design rules, guidelines and standards are presented, as well as criteria and methods for evaluation. Special emphasis is placed on the concept of user friendliness as one of the most important characteristic of the user interfaces. Various definitions of user friendliness are presented and their elements are also discussed. In the end, the paper shows how user interfaces should be designed, taken into consideration all these criteria.

47 CFR 73.825 - Protection to reception of TV channel 6.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-10-01

... 47 Telecommunication 4 2010-10-01 2010-10-01 false Protection to reception of TV channel 6. 73.825... RADIO BROADCAST SERVICES Low Power FM Broadcast Stations (LPFM) § 73.825 Protection to reception of TV... separation distances in the following table are met with respect to all full power TV Channel 6 stations. FM...

Near-real time forecasts of MeV protons based on sub-relativistic electrons: communicating the outputs to the end users

Science.gov (United States)

Sarlanis, Christos; Heber, Bernd; Labrenz, Johannes; Kühl, Patrick; Marquardt, Johannes; Dimitroulakos, John; Papaioannou, Athanasios; Posner, Arik

2017-04-01

Solar Energetic Particle (SEP) events are one of the most important elements of space weather. Given that the complexity of the underlying physical processes of the acceleration and propagation of SEP events is still a very active research area, the prognosis of SEP event occurrence and their corresponding characteristics remains challenging. In order to provide up to an hour warning time before these particles arrive at Earth, relativistic electron and below 50 MeV proton data from the Electron Proton Helium Instrument (EPHIN) on SOHO were used to implement the 'Relativistic Electron Alert System for Exploration (REleASE)'. The REleASE forecasting scheme was recently rewritten in the open access programming language PYTHON and will be made publicly available. As a next step, along with relativistic electrons (v > 0.9 c) provided by SOHO, near-relativistic (v work, we demonstrate the real-time outputs derived by the end user from the REleASE using both SOHO/EPHIN and ACE/EPAM. We further, show a user friendly illustration of the outputs that make use of a "traffic light" to monitor the different warning stages: quiet, warning, alert offering a simple guidance to the end users. Finally, the capabilities offered by this new system, accessing both the pictorial and textural outputs REleASE are being presented. This work has received funding from the European Union's Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under grant agreement No 637324.

Modeling and managing urban water demand through smart meters: Benefits and challenges from current research and emerging trends

Science.gov (United States)

Cominola, A.; Giuliani, M.; Castelletti, A.; Piga, D.; Rizzoli, A. E.

2015-12-01

Urban population growth, climate and land use change are expected to boost residential water demand in urban contexts in the next decades. In such a context, developing suitable demand-side management strategies is essential to meet future water demands, pursue water savings, and reduce the costs for water utilities. Yet, the effectiveness of water demand management strategies (WDMS) relies on our understanding of water consumers' behavior, their consumption habits, and the water use drivers. While low spatial and temporal resolution water consumption data, as traditionally gathered for billing purposes, hardly support this understanding, the advent of high-resolution, smart metering technologies allowed for quasi real-time monitoring water consumption at the single household level. This, in turn, is advancing our ability in characterizing consumers' behavior, modeling, and designing user-oriented residential water demand management strategies. Several water smart metering programs have been rolled-out in the last two decades worldwide, addressing one or more of the following water demand management phases: (i) data gathering, (ii) water end-uses characterization, (iii) user modeling, (iv) design and implementation of personalized WDMS. Moreover, the number of research studies in this domain is quickly increasing and big economic investments are currently being devoted worldwide to smart metering programs. With this work, we contribute the first comprehensive review of more than 100 experiences in the field of residential water demand modeling and management, and we propose a general framework for their classification. We revise consolidated practices, identify emerging trends and highlight the challenges and opportunities for future developments given by the use of smart meters advancing residential water demand management. Our analysis of the status quo of smart urban water demand management research and market constitutes a structured collection of information

The Back-end of User Centred Innovation

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Lassen, Astrid Heidemann

2015-01-01

User Centred Innovation (UCI) has during the past decade developed into a widely acknowledged approach to innovation. Yet, in spite of plethora of methods and tools for conducting UCI, companies continue to struggle in relation to creating the desired effect UCI. In this paper, it is proposed tha...... of such challenges calls for a new focus in UCI research on interorganizational alignment and cross-functional collaboration....

End-user interest in geotechnical data management systems.

Science.gov (United States)

2008-12-01

In conducting geotechnical site investigations, large volumes of subsurface information and associated test data : are generated. The current practice relies on paper-based filing systems that are often difficult and cumbersome : to access by users. ...

Efficiency of an automated reception and turnaround time management system for the phlebotomy room.

Science.gov (United States)

Yun, Soon Gyu; Shin, Jeong Won; Park, Eun Su; Bang, Hae In; Kang, Jung Gu

2016-01-01

Recent advances in laboratory information systems have largely been focused on automation. However, the phlebotomy services have not been completely automated. To address this issue, we introduced an automated reception and turnaround time (TAT) management system, for the first time in Korea, whereby the patient's information is transmitted directly to the actual phlebotomy site and the TAT for each phlebotomy step can be monitored at a glance. The GNT5 system (Energium Co., Ltd., Korea) was installed in June 2013. The automated reception and TAT management system has been in operation since February 2014. Integration of the automated reception machine with the GNT5 allowed for direct transmission of laboratory order information to the GNT5 without involving any manual reception step. We used the mean TAT from reception to actual phlebotomy as the parameter for evaluating the efficiency of our system. Mean TAT decreased from 5:45 min to 2:42 min after operationalization of the system. The mean number of patients in queue decreased from 2.9 to 1.0. Further, the number of cases taking more than five minutes from reception to phlebotomy, defined as the defect rate, decreased from 20.1% to 9.7%. The use of automated reception and TAT management system was associated with a decrease of overall TAT and an improved workflow at the phlebotomy room.

Housing Service: Receptions of the CERN and St.-Genis-Pouilly Hostels

CERN Multimedia

2005-01-01

Opening times Please note the new and definitive opening times of the Receptions of the hostels on the Swiss site of CERN and in St. Genis : CERN hostels St.-Genis hostel from Monday to Friday 7:30 - 19:30 8:00 - 12:00 16:00 - 19:00 Saturday 9:00 - 13:00 closed Sunday 9:00 - 13:00 closed Outside these times keys to rooms reserved in advance can be obtained from the guards on duty at the main entrance to the Meyrin, Switzerland, CERN site (Gate B), where they are deposited some fifteen minutes after the closure of the Reception. As for the St. Genis hostel, for arrivals on Saturdays and Sundays, the keys are deposited with the guards in advance on the preceding Friday evening. Reminder : reservations, whether for the CERN hostels or the St. Genis hostel, are available through the Reception of the CERN hostels. Once the reservation has been confirmed, in the case of St. Genis, all other business, including payment, is dealt with by the St. Genis hostel reception. As far as possible, all r...

The Critical Reception of Lewis Nordan

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Bjerre, Thomas Ærvold

2010-01-01

The essay covers the critical reception of Mississippi-writer Lewis Nordan from his debut in 1983 to the boost in scholarly attention in the new millennium. The essay covers newspaper reviews but pays particular attention to the many academic essays that have placed Nordan as a writer...

Spectrotemporal dynamics of auditory cortical synaptic receptive field plasticity.

Science.gov (United States)

Froemke, Robert C; Martins, Ana Raquel O

2011-09-01

The nervous system must dynamically represent sensory information in order for animals to perceive and operate within a complex, changing environment. Receptive field plasticity in the auditory cortex allows cortical networks to organize around salient features of the sensory environment during postnatal development, and then subsequently refine these representations depending on behavioral context later in life. Here we review the major features of auditory cortical receptive field plasticity in young and adult animals, focusing on modifications to frequency tuning of synaptic inputs. Alteration in the patterns of acoustic input, including sensory deprivation and tonal exposure, leads to rapid adjustments of excitatory and inhibitory strengths that collectively determine the suprathreshold tuning curves of cortical neurons. Long-term cortical plasticity also requires co-activation of subcortical neuromodulatory control nuclei such as the cholinergic nucleus basalis, particularly in adults. Regardless of developmental stage, regulation of inhibition seems to be a general mechanism by which changes in sensory experience and neuromodulatory state can remodel cortical receptive fields. We discuss recent findings suggesting that the microdynamics of synaptic receptive field plasticity unfold as a multi-phase set of distinct phenomena, initiated by disrupting the balance between excitation and inhibition, and eventually leading to wide-scale changes to many synapses throughout the cortex. These changes are coordinated to enhance the representations of newly-significant stimuli, possibly for improved signal processing and language learning in humans. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Evaluation of agents and study of end-user needs and behaviour for e-commerce. COGITO focus group experiment

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Andersen, V.; Hansen, C.B.; Andersen, H.H.K.

2001-01-01

-commerce in general and shopping at Internet bookstores in particular are outlined below. In this report user requirements for specification of web-sites meeting the overall wishes of the end- users have beenelicited. The needs are mainly based on experiments and discussions related to purchase of books......The process of buying products and services on the Internet often implies a high degree of complexity and uncertainty about the conditions of information seeking, about items for sale, the purchase of wanted products and the actual navigation on a site.Some important problems concerning e......, as this domain has been selected as the application domain for the e-commerce in COGITO, but the requirements are mostly common covering e-commerce ingeneral. One of the main features to consider, analyse and specify in COGITO was the use of .intelligent personalised agents. Therefore, a focus group experiment...

Customer premises services market demand assessment 1980 - 2000: Volume 2

Science.gov (United States)

Gamble, R. B.; Saporta, L.; Heidenrich, G. A.

1983-01-01

Potential customer premises service (CPS), telecommunication services, potential CPS user classes, a primary research survey, comparative economics, market demand forcasts, distance distribution of traffic, segmentation of market demand, and a nationwide traffic distribution model are discussed.

Invisible work of using and monitoring knowledge by parents (end-users) of children with chronic conditions.

Science.gov (United States)

Lagosky, Stephanie; Bartlett, Doreen; Shaw, Lynn

2016-01-01

Parents who care for young children with chronic conditions are knowledge users. Their efforts, time, and energy to source, consider and monitor information add to the 'invisible' work of parents in making decisions about care, school transitions, and interventions. Little is known or understood about the work of parents as knowledge users. To understand the knowledge use patterns and how these patterns may be monitored in parents caring for their young children with cerebral palsy (CP). An embedded case study methodology was used. In-depth qualitative interviews and visual mapping were employed to collect and analyze data based on the experiences of three mothers of young children with CP. Knowledge use in parents caring for their young children with CP is multi-factorial, complex and temporal. Findings resulted in a provisional model elaborating on the ways knowledge is used by parents and how it may be monitored. The visual mapping of pathways and actions of parents as end users makes the processes of knowledge use more visible and open to be valued as well as appreciated by others. The provisional model has implications for knowledge mobilization as a strategy in childhood rehabilitation and the facilitation of knowledge use in the lives of families with children with chronic health conditions.

Long-term water demand for electricity, industry and households

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Bijl, David L.; Bogaart, Patrick W.; Kram, Tom; de Vries, Bert J M; van Vuuren, Detlef P.

2016-01-01

Better water demand projections are needed in order to better assess water scarcity. The focus in this paper is on non-agricultural water demand, as this is the fastest-growing and least well-modelled demand component. We describe an end use-oriented model for future water demand in the electricity,

LANCE Usage and User Analysis: Creating a Better System that Meets User Needs

Science.gov (United States)

Davies, D.; Boller, R. A.; Schmaltz, J. E.; Murphy, K. J.; Ilavajhala, S.; Ullah, A.; Joshi, T.

2012-12-01

This paper describes known uses of NASA's Land Atmosphere Near-real time Capability for EOS (LANCE) data and imagery and summarizes findings from informal interviews with LANCE users, undertaken to better understand their needs. LANCE, the NRT component of EOSDIS, provides products from MODIS, AIRS, OMI and MLS within 3 hours of satellite observation. LANCE has in excess of 50,000 unique anonymous users per month using data and imagery for wildfire management, air quality measurements, shipping, agricultural forecasting as well as monitoring volcanic plumes, dust storms, smoke plumes and floods etc. Users can be categorized as end users or as brokers who may repackage the imagery and pass it on to their own end users. Interactions with a sample of end users found the following: users like MODIS Rapid Response imagery but do not want to be confined to pre-defined subsets; they want a broader selection of imagery and those with higher bandwidth want the capability to pull in imagery in to their own web-mapping or GIS applications. Users with lower bandwidth want the capability to define their own areas-of-interest for simple download of an image file. Users also expressed a desire to see historic as well as near-real time data, so they can compare the current situation to the recent past. Users want download capabilities to enable information to be shared quickly and easily. These and other findings are being fed back to EOSDIS developers who are creating tools and services to better meet user needs. The findings from users have been valuable in ensuring that developers are on track. The most recent offerings, available http://earthdata.nasa.gov/lance, are Worldview - a web-based client which provides capability to interactively browse full-resolution, global, near real-time satellite imagery from 50+ data products from LANCE, and the Global Imagery Browse Services (GIBS) which enables both users and brokers to pull the latest imagery in to their own web mapping

Design of signal reception and processing system of embedded ultrasonic endoscope

Science.gov (United States)

Li, Ming; Yu, Feng; Zhang, Ruiqiang; Li, Yan; Chen, Xiaodong; Yu, Daoyin

2009-11-01

Embedded Ultrasonic Endoscope, based on embedded microprocessor and embedded real-time operating system, sends a micro ultrasonic probe into coelom through the biopsy channel of the Electronic Endoscope to get the fault histology features of digestive organs by rotary scanning, and acquires the pictures of the alimentary canal mucosal surface. At the same time, ultrasonic signals are processed by signal reception and processing system, forming images of the full histology of the digestive organs. Signal Reception and Processing System is an important component of Embedded Ultrasonic Endoscope. However, the traditional design, using multi-level amplifiers and special digital processing circuits to implement signal reception and processing, is no longer satisfying the standards of high-performance, miniaturization and low power requirements that embedded system requires, and as a result of the high noise that multi-level amplifier brought, the extraction of small signal becomes hard. Therefore, this paper presents a method of signal reception and processing based on double variable gain amplifier and FPGA, increasing the flexibility and dynamic range of the Signal Reception and Processing System, improving system noise level, and reducing power consumption. Finally, we set up the embedded experiment system, using a transducer with the center frequency of 8MHz to scan membrane samples, and display the image of ultrasonic echo reflected by each layer of membrane, with a frame rate of 5Hz, verifying the correctness of the system.

Difficulties Using Standardized Tests to Identify the Receptive Expressive Gap in Bilingual Children's Vocabularies.

Science.gov (United States)

Gibson, Todd A; Oller, D Kimbrough; Jarmulowicz, Linda

2018-03-01

Receptive standardized vocabulary scores have been found to be much higher than expressive standardized vocabulary scores in children with Spanish as L1, learning L2 (English) in school (Gibson et al., 2012). Here we present evidence suggesting the receptive-expressive gap may be harder to evaluate than previously thought because widely-used standardized tests may not offer comparable normed scores. Furthermore monolingual Spanish-speaking children tested in Mexico and monolingual English-speaking children in the US showed other, yet different statistically significant discrepancies between receptive and expressive scores. Results suggest comparisons across widely used standardized tests in attempts to assess a receptive-expressive gap are precarious.

Global product development interaction between local networks: A study of the Danish food industry

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Kristensen, Preben Sander

A study of the Danish foods industry shows that producers of food products largely ignore home marekt demand in their product development activities. They have built up and maintain development of end-user products in interaction with customers in distant sophisticated markets. Concurrently...... view of actors in the global end-user customer market and companies' euclidean view of actors in thelocal business-to-business market. In pr companies combine these two market views by interacting in networks: The global industrial network links various functions which again are each part of a local...... their development of end-user pr through global interaction. It is precisely by not interacting with home market end-user demand, but rather by deriving an industrial home market demand from changing end-user markets that the complex has avoided being insulated....

Demand-side management pricing options in electric utilities

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sardana, P.; Herman, P.

1990-01-01

In 1989 Ontario Hydro implemented optional time-of-use (TOU) rates at the wholesale level for all municipal utilities in the province. At the same time, mandatory TOU rates were implemented for large users (customers with loads in excess of 5 MW) served by municipal utilities and Ontario Hydro's direct customers. To fully explore the potential of rate structures as demand-side management (DSM) tools, Ontario Hydro retained a consulting firm to carry out a survey of innovative rate structures in other jurisdications. The survey was intended to identify: the status quo of rate structures in other jurisdictions that were designed specifically to encourage DSM; a profile of the cost basis of the rate structures, for example whether traditional embedded cost of service analyses or contentious methods such as marginal cost pricing were used; whether innovative rates have been successful, and customer reactions and attitudes; and how innovative rates fit into the overall strategy of the utilities. It was found that TOU, interruptible and end-use targeted rates are the rate structures of choice for many utilities. Most are concerned with deferring capacity, reducing peak demand, and shifting load out of peak periods. Most utilities report success with their programs and satisfaction with the present form of the programs. 5 tabs

Interactive Information Service Technology of Tea Industry Based on Demand-Driven

OpenAIRE

Shi , Xiaohui; Chen , Tian’en

2013-01-01

International audience; Information service technology is a bridge between user and information resource, also is the critical factor to weight the quality of information service. Focusing on the information service features of tea industry, the demand-driven and interaction of information service were emphasized in this paper. User and market as the major criterion for testing the quality of information service, the interactive information service mode based on the demand-driven was proposed...

Case-study of a user-driven prosthetic arm design: bionic hand versus customized body-powered technology in a highly demanding work environment.

Science.gov (United States)

Schweitzer, Wolf; Thali, Michael J; Egger, David

2018-01-03

Prosthetic arm research predominantly focuses on "bionic" but not body-powered arms. However, any research orientation along user needs requires sufficiently precise workplace specifications and sufficiently hard testing. Forensic medicine is a demanding environment, also physically, also for non-disabled people, on several dimensions (e.g., distances, weights, size, temperature, time). As unilateral below elbow amputee user, the first author is in a unique position to provide direct comparison of a "bionic" myoelectric iLimb Revolution (Touch Bionics) and a customized body-powered arm which contains a number of new developments initiated or developed by the user: (1) quick lock steel wrist unit; (2) cable mount modification; (3) cast shape modeled shoulder anchor; (4) suspension with a soft double layer liner (Ohio Willowwood) and tube gauze (Molnlycke) combination. The iLimb is mounted on an epoxy socket; a lanyard fixed liner (Ohio Willowwood) contains magnetic electrodes (Liberating Technologies). An on the job usage of five years was supplemented with dedicated and focused intensive two-week use tests at work for both systems. The side-by-side comparison showed that the customized body-powered arm provides reliable, comfortable, effective, powerful as well as subtle service with minimal maintenance; most notably, grip reliability, grip force regulation, grip performance, center of balance, component wear down, sweat/temperature independence and skin state are good whereas the iLimb system exhibited a number of relevant serious constraints. Research and development of functional prostheses may want to focus on body-powered technology as it already performs on manually demanding and heavy jobs whereas eliminating myoelectric technology's constraints seems out of reach. Relevant testing could be developed to help expediting this. This is relevant as Swiss disability insurance specifically supports prostheses that enable actual work integration. Myoelectric and

Effects of Humor Production, Humor Receptivity, and Physical Attractiveness on Partner Desirability

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Michelle Tornquist

2015-10-01

Full Text Available This study examined women’s and men’s preferences for humor production and humor receptivity in long-term and short-term relationships, and how these factors interact with physical attractiveness to influence desirability. Undergraduates viewed photographs of the opposite sex individuals who were high or low in physical attractiveness, along with vignettes varying in humor production and receptivity. Participants rated physical attractiveness and desirability for long-term and short-term relationships. The main findings were that individuals desired partners who were high in humor production and receptivity, though the effects were particularly pronounced for women judging long-term relationships. Moreover, humor production was more important than receptivity for women’s ratings of male desirability. Notably, we also found that ratings of physical attractiveness were influenced by the humor conditions. These results are discussed in terms of the fitness indicator, interest indicator, and encryption hypotheses of the evolutionary functions of humor.

Designing the User Experience for Different User Needs for B2B E-Commerce

OpenAIRE

Conde, Mark

2013-01-01

In today’s world, more and more companies are doing business with one another electronically; this has lead many of these companies to build online web stores for their customers to make business transactions with. Many of these online stores are out of date and/or lack good user research on how to design a web store to meet the demands of their users while creating a good user experience. This thesis provides several conceptual design ideas on how to create a better  user experience that tak...

Auction-Based Cloud Service Pricing and Penalty with Availability on Demand

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Xiaohong Wu

2018-04-01

Full Text Available Availability is one of the main concerns of cloud users, and cloud providers always try to provide higher availability to improve user satisfaction. However, higher availability results in higher provider costs and lower social welfare. In this paper, taking into account both the users’ valuation and desired availability, we design resource allocation, pricing and penalty mechanisms with availability on demand. Considering two scenarios: public availability in which the desired availabilities of all users are public information, and private availability in which the desired availabilities are private information of users, and, analyzing the possible behaviours of users, we design a truthful deterministic mechanism with 2-approximation in public availability scenario and a universal truthful mechanism with 1 1 + γ approximation in private availability scenario, where γ is the backup ratio of resources with the highest availability. The experiment results show that our mechanisms significantly improve the social welfare compared to the mechanism without considering availability demand of users.

More than Decadence - Johannes Jørgensen's early reception of Arthur Schopenhauer

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Nord, Johan Christian

Fremmedsproglig forskningsformidling af hovedpunkterne i artiklen "En Poet og en Religionsstifter, med hvem jeg er enig i næsten alle Ting" Indledende betragtninger over Johannes Jørgensens Schopenhauer-reception.......Fremmedsproglig forskningsformidling af hovedpunkterne i artiklen "En Poet og en Religionsstifter, med hvem jeg er enig i næsten alle Ting" Indledende betragtninger over Johannes Jørgensens Schopenhauer-reception....

Acceptance of new sanitation: The role of end-users' pro-environmental personal norms and risk and benefit perceptions.

Science.gov (United States)

Poortvliet, P Marijn; Sanders, Liese; Weijma, Jan; De Vries, Jasper R

2017-12-18

Current sanitation systems are inherently limited in their ability to address the new challenges for (waste)water management that arise from the rising demand to restore resource cycles. These challenges include removal of micropollutants, water (re)use, and nutrient recovery. New opportunities to address these challenges arise from new sanitation, a system innovation that combines elements of source separation, local treatment and reuse, and less use of water. New sanitation is applied, but not yet widespread, in several residential areas in Europe. Implementation is hindered by the lack of insight into the general public's willingness to engage in new sanitation, and the resulting uncertainty about this among decision makers and other stakeholders in wastewater management. Using value-belief-norm theory as a conceptual lens, this paper addresses the individual motivations (pro-environmental personal norms) and personal drivers (benefits) and barriers (risks) for acceptance of new sanitation by the Dutch general public. The results of an online survey (N = 338) indicated that both pro-environmental personal norms and risk and benefit perceptions predict consumers' willingness to accept new sanitation. More specifically, they showed that consumer acceptance is driven by perceived risks relating to the housing market and the need to change behavior, but also by environmental benefits. Overall, new sanitation was favorably evaluated by respondents: 64% indicated that they would likely use new sanitation if they were owner-occupiers. The results of this explorative study are discussed in light of the development of novel sanitation systems that are sensitive to perceptions of end-users and other key stakeholders. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Price signals and end consumer flexibility in shortage situations

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hunnes, Arngrim; Grande, Ove S.

2002-08-01

This report is written as a part of the project ''Consumer flexibility and efficient use of ICT''. The project aim is 1) to provide a decision basis and suggest external conditions for a priority guided development of an infrastructure based on future ICT solutions and 2) develop, test and evaluate various measures which stimulate flexibility in consumption with consideration to power price, network rent and new market solutions. The central question in the report is how to stimulate the end consumer to be flexible in the consumption of electric power. The use of power price and system rent is desired tools for communicating the right price signals to the end consumers and thereby give the end users an incentive. The focus is primarily on the short term flexibility. The first chapter in the report gives an introduction to the price signals and the two way communication. There is a clear distinction between price signals from power suppliers and price signals from network companies. The two following chapters contain a more thorough discussion. As to the price signals from the power suppliers it is pointed out that most of the existing power contracts have a design so that they in the short term do not give the right price signals to the end users. It is proposed that two new contract types are tested: 1) Spot price and time settling. 2) Contract for reduced power price in a certain period provided the consumer is willing to reduce the load when 1) the spot price exceeds a level given by the end user, 2) the present load exceeds the subscribed level. In the chapter about the price signals from network companies there is first a brief introduction to the natural monopoly and the demands of the authorities to network tariffs. There is also a survey of the size of the system tariffs in the various counties. The central section of the chapter contains suggestions for designing network tariffs. Based on the deductions it is proposed that the project will test the

Modeling and forecasting natural gas demand in Bangladesh

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Wadud, Zia; Dey, Himadri S.; Kabir, Md. Ashfanoor; Khan, Shahidul I.

2011-01-01

Natural gas is the major indigenous source of energy in Bangladesh and accounts for almost one-half of all primary energy used in the country. Per capita and total energy use in Bangladesh is still very small, and it is important to understand how energy, and natural gas demand will evolve in the future. We develop a dynamic econometric model to understand the natural gas demand in Bangladesh, both in the national level, and also for a few sub-sectors. Our demand model shows large long run income elasticity - around 1.5 - for aggregate demand for natural gas. Forecasts into the future also show a larger demand in the future than predicted by various national and multilateral organizations. Even then, it is possible that our forecasts could still be at the lower end of the future energy demand. Price response was statistically not different from zero, indicating that prices are possibly too low and that there is a large suppressed demand for natural gas in the country. - Highlights: → Natural gas demand is modeled using dynamic econometric methods, first of its kind in Bangladesh. → Income elasticity for aggregate natural gas demand in Bangladesh is large-around 1.5. → Demand is price insensitive, indicating too low prices and/or presence of large suppressed demand. → Demand forecasts reveal large divergence from previous estimates, which is important for planning. → Attempts to model demand for end-use sectors were successful only for the industrial sector.

Modeling and forecasting natural gas demand in Bangladesh

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Wadud, Zia, E-mail: ziawadud@yahoo.com [Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology (Bangladesh); Dey, Himadri S. [University of Notre Dame (United States); Kabir, Md. Ashfanoor; Khan, Shahidul I. [Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology (Bangladesh)

2011-11-15

Natural gas is the major indigenous source of energy in Bangladesh and accounts for almost one-half of all primary energy used in the country. Per capita and total energy use in Bangladesh is still very small, and it is important to understand how energy, and natural gas demand will evolve in the future. We develop a dynamic econometric model to understand the natural gas demand in Bangladesh, both in the national level, and also for a few sub-sectors. Our demand model shows large long run income elasticity - around 1.5 - for aggregate demand for natural gas. Forecasts into the future also show a larger demand in the future than predicted by various national and multilateral organizations. Even then, it is possible that our forecasts could still be at the lower end of the future energy demand. Price response was statistically not different from zero, indicating that prices are possibly too low and that there is a large suppressed demand for natural gas in the country. - Highlights: > Natural gas demand is modeled using dynamic econometric methods, first of its kind in Bangladesh. > Income elasticity for aggregate natural gas demand in Bangladesh is large-around 1.5. > Demand is price insensitive, indicating too low prices and/or presence of large suppressed demand. > Demand forecasts reveal large divergence from previous estimates, which is important for planning. > Attempts to model demand for end-use sectors were successful only for the industrial sector.

Sectoral energy demand studies: Application of the end-use approach to Asian countries

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

1991-01-01

Events since August 1990 have shown that the world is still dependent on oil despite efforts to decrease that dependency since the oil crisis of 1973 and 1979. Thirteen countries participated in the REDP (UNDP-funded Regional Energy Development Programme) energy planning activities called ''Sectoral energy demand studies'' in which country teams benefited from training in energy data analysis, sectoral accounting of energy demand, and forecasting with the use of MEDEE-S model. This publication documents the training materials on sectoral energy demand series. It includes eight chapters which were indexed separately. Refs, figs, tabs

Genome-Wide Association Study of Receptive Language Ability of 12-Year-Olds

Science.gov (United States)

Harlaar, Nicole; Meaburn, Emma L.; Hayiou-Thomas, Marianna E.; Davis, Oliver S. P.; Docherty, Sophia; Hanscombe, Ken B.; Haworth, Claire M. A.; Price, Thomas S.; Trzaskowski, Maciej; Dale, Philip S.; Plomin, Robert

2014-01-01

Purpose: Researchers have previously shown that individual differences in measures of receptive language ability at age 12 are highly heritable. In the current study, the authors attempted to identify some of the genes responsible for the heritability of receptive language ability using a "genome-wide association" approach. Method: The…

A versatile multi-user polyimide surface micromachinning process for MEMS applications

KAUST Repository

Carreno, Armando Arpys Arevalo

2015-04-01

This paper reports a versatile multi-user micro-fabrication process for MEMS devices, the \\'Polyimide MEMS Multi-User Process\\' (PiMMPs). The reported process uses polyimide as the structural material and three separate metallization layers that can be interconnected depending on the desired application. This process enables for the first time the development of out-of-plane compliant mechanisms that can be designed using six different physical principles for actuation and sensing on a wafer from a single fabrication run. These principles are electrostatic motion, thermal bimorph actuation, capacitive sensing, magnetic sensing, thermocouple-based sensing and radio frequency transmission and reception. © 2015 IEEE.

Prediction of turning stability using receptance coupling

Science.gov (United States)

Jasiewicz, Marcin; Powałka, Bartosz

2018-01-01

This paper presents an issue of machining stability prediction of dynamic "lathe - workpiece" system evaluated using receptance coupling method. Dynamic properties of the lathe components (the spindle and the tailstock) are assumed to be constant and can be determined experimentally based on the results of the impact test. Hence, the variable of the system "machine tool - holder - workpiece" is the machined part, which can be easily modelled analytically. The method of receptance coupling enables a synthesis of experimental (spindle, tailstock) and analytical (machined part) models, so impact testing of the entire system becomes unnecessary. The paper presents methodology of analytical and experimental models synthesis, evaluation of the stability lobes and experimental validation procedure involving both the determination of the dynamic properties of the system and cutting tests. In the summary the experimental verification results would be presented and discussed.

The Workplace Game : Exploring end users' new behaviour

NARCIS (Netherlands)

De Bruyne, E.; De Jong, A.

2009-01-01

This paper describes the Workplace Game and its development. Changing the workplace layout alone appears to be insufficient to change office user behaviour. Through prototyping the game was designed as a tool to stimulate discussion and provide new and concrete insights into the behavioural

Energy demand: Facts and trends

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Chateau, B; Lapillonne, B

1982-01-01

The relationship between economic development and energy demand is investigated in this book. It gives a detailed analysis of the energy demand dynamics in industrialized countries and compares the past evolution of the driving factors behind energy demand by sector and by end-uses for the main OECD countries: residential sector (space heating, water heating, cooking...), tertiary sector, passenger and goods transport by mode, and industry (with particular emphasis on the steel and cement industry). This analysis leads to a more precise understanding of the long-term trends of energy demand; highlighting the influence on these trends of energy prices, especially after the oil price shocks, and of the type of economic development pattern.

Mapping the receptivity of malaria risk to plan the future of control in Somalia.

Science.gov (United States)

Noor, Abdisalan Mohamed; Alegana, Victor Adagi; Patil, Anand Prabhakar; Moloney, Grainne; Borle, Mohammed; Yusuf, Fahmi; Amran, Jamal; Snow, Robert William

2012-01-01

To measure the receptive risks of malaria in Somalia and compare decisions on intervention scale-up based on this map and the more widely used contemporary risk maps. Cross-sectional community Plasmodium falciparum parasite rate (PfPR) data for the period 2007-2010 corrected to a standard age range of 2 to contemporary (2010) mean PfPR(2-10) and the maximum annual mean PfPR(2-10) (receptive) from the highest predicted PfPR(2-10) value over the study period as an estimate of receptivity. Randomly sampled communities in Somalia. Randomly sampled individuals of all ages. Cartographic descriptions of malaria receptivity and contemporary risks in Somalia at the district level. The contemporary annual PfPR(2-10) map estimated that all districts (n=74) and population (n=8.4 million) in Somalia were under hypoendemic transmission (≤10% PfPR(2-10)). Of these, 23% of the districts, home to 13% of the population, were under transmission of 10%-50% PfPR(2-10)) and the rest as hypoendemic. Compared with maps of receptive risks, contemporary maps of transmission mask disparities of malaria risk necessary to prioritise and sustain future control. As malaria risk declines across Africa, efforts must be invested in measuring receptivity for efficient control planning.

Multi-reception strategy with improved SNR for multichannel MR imaging.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Bing Wu

Full Text Available A multi-reception strategy with extended GRAPPA is proposed in this work to improve MR imaging performance at ultra-high field MR systems with limited receiver channels. In this method, coil elements are separated to two or more groups under appropriate grouping criteria. Those groups are enabled in sequence for imaging first, and then parallel acquisition is performed to compensate for the redundant scan time caused by the multiple receptions. To efficiently reconstruct the data acquired from elements of each group, a specific extended GRAPPA was developed. This approach was evaluated by using a 16-element head array on a 7 Tesla whole-body MRI scanner with 8 receive channels. The in-vivo experiments demonstrate that with the same scan time, the 16-element array with twice receptions and acceleration rate of 2 can achieve significant SNR gain in the periphery area of the brain and keep nearly the same SNR in the center area over an eight-element array, which indicates the proposed multi-reception strategy and extended GRAPPA are feasible to improve image quality for MRI systems with limited receive channels. This study also suggests that it is advantageous for a MR system with N receiver channels to utilize a coil array with more than N elements if an appropriate acquisition strategy is applied.

Animating the Ethical Demand

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Vistisen, Peter; Jensen, Thessa; Poulsen, Søren Bolvig

2015-01-01

This paper addresses the challenge of attaining ethical user stances during the design process of products and services and proposes animation-based sketching as a design method, which supports elaborating and examining different ethical stances towards the user. The discussion is qualified...... by an empirical study of Responsible Research and Innovation (RRI) in a Triple Helix constellation. Using a three-week long innovation workshop, U- CrAc, involving 16 Danish companies and organisations and 142 students as empirical data, we discuss how animation-based sketching can explore not yet existing user...... dispositions, as well as create an incentive for ethical conduct in development and innovation processes. The ethical fulcrum evolves around Løgstrup’s Ethical Demand and his notion of spontaneous life manifestations. From this, three ethical stances are developed; apathy, sympathy and empathy. By exploring...

Natural image sequences constrain dynamic receptive fields and imply a sparse code.

Science.gov (United States)

Häusler, Chris; Susemihl, Alex; Nawrot, Martin P

2013-11-06

In their natural environment, animals experience a complex and dynamic visual scenery. Under such natural stimulus conditions, neurons in the visual cortex employ a spatially and temporally sparse code. For the input scenario of natural still images, previous work demonstrated that unsupervised feature learning combined with the constraint of sparse coding can predict physiologically measured receptive fields of simple cells in the primary visual cortex. This convincingly indicated that the mammalian visual system is adapted to the natural spatial input statistics. Here, we extend this approach to the time domain in order to predict dynamic receptive fields that can account for both spatial and temporal sparse activation in biological neurons. We rely on temporal restricted Boltzmann machines and suggest a novel temporal autoencoding training procedure. When tested on a dynamic multi-variate benchmark dataset this method outperformed existing models of this class. Learning features on a large dataset of natural movies allowed us to model spatio-temporal receptive fields for single neurons. They resemble temporally smooth transformations of previously obtained static receptive fields and are thus consistent with existing theories. A neuronal spike response model demonstrates how the dynamic receptive field facilitates temporal and population sparseness. We discuss the potential mechanisms and benefits of a spatially and temporally sparse representation of natural visual input. Copyright © 2013 The Authors. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

The Social Nature of Argumentative Practices: The Philosophy of Argument and Audience Reception

OpenAIRE

Paula Olmos

2018-01-01

Abstract: This article reviews Christopher W. Tindale’s The Philosophy of Argument and Audience Reception (Cambridge, 2015). Résumé: Cet article est une critique de The Philosophy of Argument and Audience Reception (Cambridge, 2015) de Christopher W. Tindale.

End User Perceptual Distorted Scenes Enhancement Algorithm Using Partition-Based Local Color Values for QoE-Guaranteed IPTV

Science.gov (United States)

Kim, Jinsul

In this letter, we propose distorted scenes enhancement algorithm in order to provide end user perceptual QoE-guaranteed IPTV service. The block edge detection with weight factor and partition-based local color values method can be applied for the degraded video frames which are affected by network transmission errors such as out of order, jitter, and packet loss to improve QoE efficiently. Based on the result of quality metric after using the distorted scenes enhancement algorithm, the distorted scenes have been restored better than others.

TOOKUIL: A case study in user interface development for safety code application

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Gray, D.L.; Harkins, C.K.; Hoole, J.G.

1997-01-01

Traditionally, there has been a very high learning curve associated with using nuclear power plant (NPP) analysis codes. Even for seasoned plant analysts and engineers, the process of building or modifying an input model for present day NPP analysis codes is tedious, error prone, and time consuming. Current cost constraints and performance demands place an additional burden on today's safety analysis community. Advances in graphical user interface (GUI) technology have been applied to obtain significant productivity and quality assurance improvements for the Transient Reactor Analysis Code (TRAC) input model development. KAPL Inc. has developed an X Windows-based graphical user interface named TOOKUIL which supports the design and analysis process, acting as a preprocessor, runtime editor, help system, and post processor for TRAC. This paper summarizes the objectives of the project, the GUI development process and experiences, and the resulting end product, TOOKUIL

TOOKUIL: A case study in user interface development for safety code application

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Gray, D.L.; Harkins, C.K.; Hoole, J.G.; Peebles, R.C.; Smith, R.J.

1996-11-01

Traditionally, there has been a very high learning curve associated with using nuclear power plant (NPP) analysis codes. Even for seasoned plant analysts and engineers, the process of building or modifying an input model for present day NPP analysis codes is tedious, error prone, and time consuming. Current cost constraints and performance demands place an additional burden on today's safety analysis community. Advances in graphical user interface (GUI) technology have been applied to obtain significant productivity and quality assurance improvements for the Transient Reactor Analysis Code (TRAC) input model development. KAPL Inc. has developed an X Windows-based graphical user interface named TOOKUIL which supports the design and analysis process, acting as a preprocessor, runtime editor, help system, and post processor for TRAC. This paper summarizes the objectives of the project, the GUI development process and experiences, and the resulting end product, TOOKUIL

Knockout mutations of insulin-like peptide genes enhance sexual receptivity in Drosophila virgin females.

Science.gov (United States)

Watanabe, Kazuki; Sakai, Takaomi

2016-01-01

In the fruitfly Drosophila melanogaster, females take the initiative to mate successfully because they decide whether to mate or not. However, little is known about the molecular and neuronal mechanisms regulating sexual receptivity in virgin females. Genetic tools available in Drosophila are useful for identifying molecules and neural circuits involved in the regulation of sexual receptivity. We previously demonstrated that insulin-producing cells (IPCs) in the female brain are critical to the regulation of female sexual receptivity. Ablation and inactivation of IPCs enhance female sexual receptivity, suggesting that neurosecretion from IPCs inhibits female sexual receptivity. IPCs produce and release insulin-like peptides (Ilps) that modulate various biological processes such as metabolism, growth, lifespan and behaviors. Here, we report a novel role of the Ilps in sexual behavior in Drosophila virgin females. Compared with wild-type females, females with knockout mutations of Ilps showed a high mating success rate toward wild-type males, whereas wild-type males courted wild-type and Ilp-knockout females to the same extent. Wild-type receptive females retard their movement during male courtship and this reduced female mobility allows males to copulate. Thus, it was anticipated that knockout mutations of Ilps would reduce general locomotion. However, the locomotor activity in Ilp-knockout females was significantly higher than that in wild-type females. Thus, our findings indicate that the high mating success rate in Ilp-knockout females is caused by their enhanced sexual receptivity, but not by improvement of their sex appeal or by general sluggishness.

Receptivity of a high-speed boundary layer to temperature spottiness

OpenAIRE

Fedorov, A. V.; Ryzhov, A. A.; Soudakov, V. G.; Utyuzhnikov, S. V.

2013-01-01

Two-dimensional direct numerical simulation (DNS) of the receptivity of a flat-plate boundary layer to temperature spottiness in the Mach 6 free stream is carried out. The influence of spottiness parameters on the receptivity process is studied. It is shown that the temperature spots propagating near the upper boundary-layer edge generate mode F inside the boundary layer. Further downstream mode F is synchronized with unstable mode S (Mack second mode) and excites the latter via the inter-mod...

Modeling sustainable long-term electricity supply-demand in Africa

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ouedraogo, Nadia S.

2017-01-01

Highlights: • This study is one of the first detailed and complete representation of the African power system. • It models, within LEAP, possible future paths for the regional power systems. • All the end-users and supply side activities and actors are considered. • Three scenarios are examined: the baseline, the renewable energy, and the energy efficiency. • The energy efficiency scenario has allowed to draw a sustainable pathway for electrification. - Abstract: This paper develops a scenario-based model to identify and provide an array of electricity demand in Africa, and to derive them from the African power system of development. A system-based approach is performed by applying the scenario methodology developed by Schwartz in the context of the energy-economic modeling platform ‘Long-range Energy Alternative Planning’. Four scenarios are investigated. The Business as Usual scenario (BAU) replicates the regional and national Master Plans. The renewable-promotion scenario increases the share of renewable energy in the electricity mix. The demand and supply side efficiency scenarios investigate the impact of energy efficiency measures on the power system. The results show an increase in electricity demand by 4% by 2040, supply shortages and high emissions of Greenhouse Gases. Contrary to expectations, the renewable energy scenario did not emerge as the best solution to a sustainable electrification of the region. The energy efficiency scenarios have allowed us to draw a sustainable pathway for electrification.

Effective Strategies for Turning Receptive Vocabulary into Productive Vocabulary in EFL Context

Science.gov (United States)

Faraj, Avan Kamal Aziz

2015-01-01

Vocabulary acquisition has been a main concern of EFL English teachers and learners. There have been tons of research to examine the student's level of receptive vocabulary and productive vocabulary, but no research has conducted on how turning receptive vocabulary into productive vocabulary. This study has reported the impact of the teaching…

Predictive Control of a Domestic Freezer for Real-Time Demand Response Applications

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Baghina, N.G.; Lampropoulos, I.; Asare-Bediako, B.; Kling, W.L.; Ribeiro, P.F.

2012-01-01

Demand side management and demand response aim to maximize the efficiency of the electricity delivery process by exploiting the flexibility of customers. At residential level, demand response can be applied only to a limited number of appliances, through load management, due to user intervention or

A Comparative Analysis for Wilderness User Fee Policy.

Science.gov (United States)

Leuschner, William A.; And Others

1987-01-01

Two similar wilderness areas, one of which charges user fees, were sampled in order to compare user characteristics, trip characteristics, and travel cost demand functions. The purpose was to examine the effect fees had on user behavior and choices of area. Results are presented. (MT)

An end-to-end secure patient information access card system.

Science.gov (United States)

Alkhateeb, A; Singer, H; Yakami, M; Takahashi, T

2000-03-01

The rapid development of the Internet and the increasing interest in Internet-based solutions has promoted the idea of creating Internet-based health information applications. This will force a change in the role of IC cards in healthcare card systems from a data carrier to an access key medium. At the Medical Informatics Department of Kyoto University Hospital we are developing a smart card patient information project where patient databases are accessed via the Internet. Strong end-to-end data encryption is performed via Secure Socket Layers, transparent to transmit patient information. The smart card is playing the crucial role of access key to the database: user authentication is performed internally without ever revealing the actual key. For easy acceptance by healthcare professionals, the user interface is integrated as a plug-in for two familiar Web browsers, Netscape Navigator and MS Internet Explorer.

Technological Development and Its Impact on Student Reception of a Campus Radio

Science.gov (United States)

Mohamed, Shafizan; Wok, Saodah; Lahabou, Mahaman

2018-01-01

In 2011, a study was conducted to look at students' reception of IIUM.FM, a newly launched online campus radio. Using the Technological Acceptance Model (TAM), the study found that factors such as perceived ease of use, perceived usefulness, and attitude highly influenced audience reception of the online radio. In 2016, a corresponding study,…

Analysis of the Syrian long-term energy and electricity demand projection using the end-use methodology

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hainoun, A.; Seif-Eldin, M.K.; Almoustafa, S.

2006-01-01

A comprehensive analysis of the possible future long-term development of Syrian energy and electricity demand covering the period 1999-2030 is presented. The analysis was conducted using the IAEA's model MAED, which relies upon the end-use approach. This model has been validated during the last two decades through the successful application in many developing countries, even those having partial market economy and energy subsidy. Starting from the base year, final energy consumption distributed by energy forms and consumption sectors, the future energy and electricity demand has been projected according to three different scenarios reflecting the possible future demographic, socio-economic and technological development of the country. These scenarios are constructed to cover a plausible range, in which future evolution factors affecting energy demand are expected to lie. The first is a high economy scenario (HS) representing the reference case, which is characterized by high gross domestic product (GDP) growth rate (average annual about 6%) and moderate improved technologies in the various consumption sectors. The second is an energy efficiency scenario (ES), which is identical to HS in all main parameters except these relating to the efficiency improvement and conservation measures. Here, high technology improvement and more effective conservation measures in all consumption sectors are proposed and the role of solar to substitute fossil energy for heating purposes is considered effectively. The third is a low economy scenario (LS) with low GDP growth rate (average annual about 3.5%) and less technology improvement in the consumption sectors. As a consequence, the improvement in the energy efficiency is low and the influence of conservation measures is less effective. Starting from about 10.5mtoe final energy in the base year, the analysis shows that the projected energy demand will grow annually at average rates of 5%, 4.5% and 3% for the HS, ES and LS

The Receptive-Expressive Gap in the Vocabulary of Young Second-Language Learners: Robustness and Possible Mechanisms

Science.gov (United States)

Gibson, Todd A.; Oller, D. Kimbrough; Jarmulowicz, Linda; Ethington, Corinna A.

2012-01-01

Adults and children learning a second language show difficulty accessing expressive vocabulary that appears accessible receptively in their first language (L1). We call this discrepancy the receptive-expressive gap. Kindergarten Spanish (L1)-English (L2) sequential bilinguals were given standardized tests of receptive and expressive vocabulary in…

Review of foreign reception of Jovan Babić’s works

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Dobrijević Aleksandar

2015-01-01

Full Text Available In this paper, the author discusses foreign reception of Jovan Babić’s works, which turns out to be very much alive and diverse. More precisely, the author limits himself to a short and very partial review of reception of only two Babić’s texts that, so far, attracted the most attention. [Projekat Ministarstva nauke Republike Srbije, br. 43007 i br. 179041

Location Assisted Vertical Handover Algorithm for QoS Optimization in End-to-End Connections

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Dam, Martin S.; Christensen, Steffen R.; Mikkelsen, Lars M.

2012-01-01

implementation on Android based tablets. The simulations cover a wide range of scenarios for two mobile users in an urban area with ubiquitous cellular coverage, and shows our algorithm leads to increased throughput, with fewer handovers, when considering the end-to-end connection than to other handover schemes...

End-to-end performance of cooperative relaying in spectrum-sharing systems with quality of service requirements

KAUST Repository

Asghari, Vahid Reza

2011-07-01

We propose adopting a cooperative relaying technique in spectrum-sharing cognitive radio (CR) systems to more effectively and efficiently utilize available transmission resources, such as power, rate, and bandwidth, while adhering to the quality of service (QoS) requirements of the licensed (primary) users of the shared spectrum band. In particular, we first consider that the cognitive (secondary) user\\'s communication is assisted by an intermediate relay that implements the decode-and-forward (DF) technique onto the secondary user\\'s relayed signal to help with communication between the corresponding source and the destination nodes. In this context, we obtain first-order statistics pertaining to the first- and second-hop transmission channels, and then, we investigate the end-to-end performance of the proposed spectrum-sharing cooperative relaying system under resource constraints defined to assure that the primary QoS is unaffected. Specifically, we investigate the overall average bit error rate (BER), ergodic capacity, and outage probability of the secondary\\'s communication subject to appropriate constraints on the interference power at the primary receivers. We then consider a general scenario where a cluster of relays is available between the secondary source and destination nodes. In this case, making use of the partial relay selection method, we generalize our results for the single-relay scheme and obtain the end-to-end performance of the cooperative spectrum-sharing system with a cluster of L available relays. Finally, we examine our theoretical results through simulations and comparisons, illustrating the overall performance of the proposed spectrum-sharing cooperative system and quantify its advantages for different operating scenarios and conditions. © 2011 IEEE.

Acquisition of ICU data: concepts and demands.

Science.gov (United States)

Imhoff, M

1992-12-01

As the issue of data overload is a problem in critical care today, it is of utmost importance to improve acquisition, storage, integration, and presentation of medical data, which appears only feasible with the help of bedside computers. The data originates from four major sources: (1) the bedside medical devices, (2) the local area network (LAN) of the ICU, (3) the hospital information system (HIS) and (4) manual input. All sources differ markedly in quality and quantity of data and in the demands of the interfaces between source of data and patient database. The demands for data acquisition from bedside medical devices, ICU-LAN and HIS concentrate on technical problems, such as computational power, storage capacity, real-time processing, interfacing with different devices and networks and the unmistakable assignment of data to the individual patient. The main problem of manual data acquisition is the definition and configuration of the user interface that must allow the inexperienced user to interact with the computer intuitively. Emphasis must be put on the construction of a pleasant, logical and easy-to-handle graphical user interface (GUI). Short response times will require high graphical processing capacity. Moreover, high computational resources are necessary in the future for additional interfacing devices such as speech recognition and 3D-GUI. Therefore, in an ICU environment the demands for computational power are enormous. These problems are complicated by the urgent need for friendly and easy-to-handle user interfaces. Both facts place ICU bedside computing at the vanguard of present and future workstation development leaving no room for solutions based on traditional concepts of personal computers.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Large Field Visualization with Demand-Driven Calculation

Science.gov (United States)

Moran, Patrick J.; Henze, Chris

1999-01-01

We present a system designed for the interactive definition and visualization of fields derived from large data sets: the Demand-Driven Visualizer (DDV). The system allows the user to write arbitrary expressions to define new fields, and then apply a variety of visualization techniques to the result. Expressions can include differential operators and numerous other built-in functions, ail of which are evaluated at specific field locations completely on demand. The payoff of following a demand-driven design philosophy throughout becomes particularly evident when working with large time-series data, where the costs of eager evaluation alternatives can be prohibitive.

The Monolingual Lusoga Dictionary Faced with Demands from a ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

The Monolingual Lusoga Dictionary Faced with Demands from a New User Category. ... Although the information in the WSG may fit the purpose at hand, that information is mainly presented as a summary, with statements of conclusions only. Explanations to ease its access to the new user are thus missing. Findings from a ...

Tobacco marketing receptivity and other tobacco product use among young adult bar patrons

Science.gov (United States)

Thrul, Johannes; Lisha, Nadra E.; Ling, Pamela M.

2016-01-01

Purpose Use of other tobacco products (smokeless tobacco, hookah, cigarillo, e-cigarettes) is increasing, particularly among young adults, and there are few regulations on marketing for these products. We examined the associations between tobacco marketing receptivity and other tobacco product (OTP) use among young adult bar patrons (aged 18-26 years). Methods Time-location sampling was used to collect cross-sectional surveys from 7,540 young adult bar patrons from January 2012 through March of 2014. Multivariable logistic regression analyses in 2015 examined if tobacco marketing receptivity was associated (1) with current (past 30 day) OTP use controlling for demographic factors, and (2) with dual/poly use among current cigarette smokers (n=3,045), controlling for demographics and nicotine dependence. Results Among the entire sample of young adult bar patrons (Mage=23.7, SD=1.8; 48.1% female), marketing receptivity was consistently associated with current use of all OTP including smokeless tobacco (adjusted odds ratio [AOR]= 2.49, 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.90-3.27, pmarketing receptivity was significantly associated with use of smokeless tobacco (AOR=1.44, 95% CI 1.05-1.98, pmarketing receptivity. Efforts to limit tobacco marketing should address OTP in addition to cigarettes. PMID:27707516

Social media-based civic engagement solutions for dengue prevention in Sri Lanka: results of receptivity assessment.

Science.gov (United States)

Lwin, May O; Vijaykumar, Santosh; Foo, Schubert; Fernando, Owen Noel Newton; Lim, Gentatsu; Panchapakesan, Chitra; Wimalaratne, Prasad

2016-02-01

This article focuses on a novel social media-based system that addresses dengue prevention through an integration of three components: predictive surveillance, civic engagement and health education. The aim was to conduct a potential receptivity assessment of this system among smartphone users in the city of Colombo, the epicenter of the dengue epidemic in the island country of Sri Lanka. Grounded in Protection Motivation Theory (PMT) and using a convenience sampling approach, the cross-sectional survey assessed perceived severity (PSe), perceived susceptibility (PSu), perceived response efficacy (PRE), perceived self-efficacy (PSE) and intention-to-use (IU) among 513 individuals. The overall receptivity to the system was high with a score of >4.00 on a five-point scale. Participants belonging to younger, better educated and higher income groups reported significantly better perceptions of the efficaciousness of the system, were confident in their ability to use the system, and planned to use it in the future. PMT variables contributed significantly to regression models predicting IU. We concluded that a social media-based system for dengue prevention will be positively received among Colombo residents and a targeted, strategic health communication effort to raise dengue-related threat perceptions will be needed to encourage greater adoption and use of the system. © The Author 2015. Published by Oxford University Press. All rights reserved. For permissions, please email: journals.permissions@oup.com.

Genetic and non-genetic factors affecting rabbit doe sexual receptivity as estimated from one generation of divergent selection

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

M. Theau.Clément

2015-09-01

Full Text Available Sexual receptivity of rabbit does at insemination greatly influences fertility and is generally induced by hormones or techniques known as “biostimulation”. Searching for more sustainable farming systems, an original alternative would be to utilise the genetic pathway to increase the does’receptivity. The purpose of the present study was to identify genetic and non-genetic factors that influence rabbit doe sexual receptivity, in the context of a divergent selection experiment over 1 generation. The experiment spanned 2 generations: the founder generation (G0 consisting of 140 rabbit does, and the G1 generation comprising 2 divergently selected lines (L and H lines with 70 does each and 2 successive batches from each generation. The selection rate of the G0 females to form the G1 lines was 24/140. The selection tests consisted of 16 to 18 successive receptivity tests at the rate of 3 tests per week. On the basis of 4716 tests from 275 females, the average receptivity was 56.6±48.2%. A batch effect and a test operator effect were revealed. The contribution of females to the total variance was 20.0%, whereas that of bucks was only 1.1%. Throughout the experiment, 18.2% of does expressed a low receptivity (< 34%, 50.7% a medium one and 33.1% a high one (>66%. Some does were frequently receptive, whereas others were rarely receptive. The repeatability of sexual receptivity was approximately 20%. The results confirmed the high variability of sexual receptivity of non-lactating rabbit does maintained without any biostimulation or hormonal treatment. A lack of selection response on receptivity was observed. Accordingly, the heritability of receptivity was estimated at 0.01±0.02 from an animal model and at 0.02±0.03 from a  sire and dam model. The heritability of the average receptivity of a doe was calculated as 0.04. In agreement with the low estimated heritability, the heritability determined was no different from zero

Speech recognition employing biologically plausible receptive fields

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Fereczkowski, Michal; Bothe, Hans-Heinrich

2011-01-01

spectro-temporal receptive fields to auditory spectrogram input, motivated by the auditory pathway of humans, and ii) the adaptation or learning algorithms involved are biologically inspired. This is in contrast to state-of-the-art combinations of Mel-frequency cepstral coefficients and Hidden Markov...

Ableism and the Reception of Improvised Soundsinging

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Tonelli, Christopher

2016-01-01

Soundsinging is one name for the practice of making music using an idiosyncratic palette of vocal and non-vocal oral techniques. This paper is concerned with the reception of soundsinging and, more specifically, with listeners whose reactions to soundsinging involve attempts to contain the practice.

The reception of relativity in the Netherlands