Enabling Self-Monitoring Data Exchange in Participatory Medicine.

Science.gov (United States)

Lopez-Campos, Guillermo; Ofoghi, Bahadorreza; Martin-Sanchez, Fernando

2015-01-01

The development of new methods, devices and apps for self-monitoring have enabled the extension of the application of these approaches for consumer health and research purposes. The increase in the number and variety of devices has generated a complex scenario where reporting guidelines and data exchange formats will be needed to ensure the quality of the information and the reproducibility of results of the experiments. Based on the Minimal Information for Self Monitoring Experiments (MISME) reporting guideline we have developed an XML format (MISME-ML) to facilitate data exchange for self monitoring experiments. We have also developed a sample instance to illustrate the concept and a Java MISME-ML validation tool. The implementation and adoption of these tools should contribute to the consolidation of a set of methods that ensure the reproducibility of self monitoring experiments for research purposes.

A Semantically Automated Protocol Adapter for Mapping SOAP Web Services to RESTful HTTP Format to Enable the Web Infrastructure, Enhance Web Service Interoperability and Ease Web Service Migration

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Frank Doheny

2012-04-01

Full Text Available Semantic Web Services (SWS are Web Service (WS descriptions augmented with semantic information. SWS enable intelligent reasoning and automation in areas such as service discovery, composition, mediation, ranking and invocation. This paper applies SWS to a previous protocol adapter which, operating within clearly defined constraints, maps SOAP Web Services to RESTful HTTP format. However, in the previous adapter, the configuration element is manual and the latency implications are locally based. This paper applies SWS technologies to automate the configuration element and the latency tests are conducted in a more realistic Internet based setting.

GNSS CORS hardware and software enabling new science

Science.gov (United States)

Drummond, P.

2009-12-01

GNSS CORS networks are enabling new opportunities for science and public and private sector business. This paper will explore how the newest geodetic monitoring software and GNSS receiver hardware from Trimble Navigation Ltd are enabling new science. Technology trends and science opportunities will be explored. These trends include the installation of active GNSS control, automation of observations and processing, and the advantages of multi-observable and multi-constellation observations, all performed with the use of off the shelf products and industry standard open-source data formats. Also the possibilities with moving science from an after-the-fact postprocessed model to a real-time epoch-by-epoch solution will be explored. This presentation will also discuss the combination of existing GNSS CORS networks with project specific installations used for monitoring. Experience is showing GNSS is able to provide higher resolution data than previous methods, providing new tools for science, decision makers and financial planners.

Percolation blockage: A process that enables melt pond formation on first year Arctic sea ice

Science.gov (United States)

Polashenski, Chris; Golden, Kenneth M.; Perovich, Donald K.; Skyllingstad, Eric; Arnsten, Alexandra; Stwertka, Carolyn; Wright, Nicholas

2017-01-01

Melt pond formation atop Arctic sea ice is a primary control of shortwave energy balance in the Arctic Ocean. During late spring and summer, the ponds determine sea ice albedo and how much solar radiation is transmitted into the upper ocean through the sea ice. The initial formation of ponds requires that melt water be retained above sea level on the ice surface. Both theory and observations, however, show that first year sea ice is so highly porous prior to the formation of melt ponds that multiday retention of water above hydraulic equilibrium should not be possible. Here we present results of percolation experiments that identify and directly demonstrate a mechanism allowing melt pond formation. The infiltration of fresh water into the pore structure of sea ice is responsible for blocking percolation pathways with ice, sealing the ice against water percolation, and allowing water to pool above sea level. We demonstrate that this mechanism is dependent on fresh water availability, known to be predominantly from snowmelt, and ice temperature at melt onset. We argue that the blockage process has the potential to exert significant control over interannual variability in ice albedo. Finally, we suggest that incorporating the mechanism into models would enhance their physical realism. Full treatment would be complex. We provide a simple temperature threshold-based scheme that may be used to incorporate percolation blockage behavior into existing model frameworks.

Films of Agarose Enable Rapid Formation of Giant Liposomes in Solutions of Physiologic Ionic Strength

OpenAIRE

Horger, Kim S.; Estes, Daniel J.; Capone, Ricardo; Mayer, Michael

2009-01-01

This paper describes a method to form giant liposomes in solutions of physiologic ionic strength, such as phosphate buffered saline (PBS) or 150 mM KCl. Formation of these cell-sized liposomes proceeded from hybrid films of partially dried agarose and lipids. Hydrating the films of agarose and lipids in aqueous salt solutions resulted in swelling and partial dissolution of the hybrid films and in concomitant rapid formation of giant liposomes in high yield. This method did not require the pre...

Highly Manufacturable Deep (Sub-Millimeter) Etching Enabled High Aspect Ratio Complex Geometry Lego-Like Silicon Electronics

KAUST Repository

Ghoneim, Mohamed T.; Hussain, Muhammad Mustafa

2017-01-01

A highly manufacturable deep reactive ion etching based process involving a hybrid soft/hard mask process technology shows high aspect ratio complex geometry Lego-like silicon electronics formation enabling free-form (physically flexible

Development of conversion programs for formats of thermodynamic databases

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Yoshida, Yasushi; Yui, Mikazu

2003-02-01

Programs which enable to convert the database format from PHREEQE code to PHREEQC, EQ3/6 and Geochemist's Workbench code were developed and quality of these programs was checked. As a result, it was confirmed that these programs converted the database format correctly except for specific conditions which lead errors. (author)

A mathematical model of star formation in the Galaxy

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

M.A. Sharaf

2012-06-01

Full Text Available This paper is generally concerned with star formation in the Galaxy, especially blue stars. Blue stars are the most luminous, massive and the largest in radius. A simple mathematical model of the formation of the stars is established and put in computational algorithm. This algorithm enables us to know more about the formation of the star. Some real and artificial examples had been used to justify this model.

Enabling Large Focal Plane Arrays Through Mosaic Hybridization

Science.gov (United States)

Miller, Timothy M.; Jhabvala, Christine A.; Leong, Edward; Costen, Nicholas P.; Sharp, Elmer; Adachi, Tomoko; Benford, Dominic J.

2012-01-01

We have demonstrated advances in mosaic hybridization that will enable very large format far-infrared detectors. Specifically we have produced electrical detector models via mosaic hybridization yielding superconducting circuit paths by hybridizing separately fabricated sub-units onto a single detector unit. The detector model was made on a 100mm diameter wafer while four model readout quadrant chips were made from a separate 100mm wafer. The individually fabricated parts were hybridized using a flip-chip bonder to assemble the detector-readout stack. Once all of the hybridized readouts were in place, a single, large and thick silicon substrate was placed on the stack and attached with permanent epoxy to provide strength and a Coefficient of Thermal Expansion match to the silicon components underneath. Wirebond pads on the readout chips connect circuits to warm readout electronics; and were used to validate the successful superconducting electrical interconnection of the model mosaic-hybrid detector. This demonstration is directly scalable to 150 mm diameter wafers, enabling pixel areas over ten times the area currently available.

A recommender system for team formation in MANET

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Waleed M. Al-Adrousy

2015-04-01

Full Text Available Mobile social networking is a new trend for social networking that enables users with similar interests to connect together through mobile devices. Therefore, it possesses the same features of a social network with added support to the features of a Mobile Ad-hoc Network (MANET in terms of limited computing power, limited coverage, and intermittent connectivity. One of the most important features in social networks is Team Formation. Team Formation aims to assemble a set of users with a set of skills required for a certain task. The team formation is a special type of recommendation which is important to enable cooperative work among users. Team formation is challenging since users’ interaction time is limited in MANET. The main objective of this paper is to introduce a peer-to-peer team formation technique based on zone routing protocol (ZRP. A comparison was made with Flooding and Adaptive Location Aided Mobile Ad Hoc Network Routing (ALARM techniques. The suggested technique achieves fast successful recommendations within the limited mobile resources and reduces exchanged messages. The suggested technique has fast response time, small required buffering and low power consumption. The testing results show better performance of the suggested technique compared to flooding and ALARM technique.

Synaptic scaling enables dynamically distinct short- and long-term memory formation.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Christian Tetzlaff

2013-10-01

Full Text Available Memory storage in the brain relies on mechanisms acting on time scales from minutes, for long-term synaptic potentiation, to days, for memory consolidation. During such processes, neural circuits distinguish synapses relevant for forming a long-term storage, which are consolidated, from synapses of short-term storage, which fade. How time scale integration and synaptic differentiation is simultaneously achieved remains unclear. Here we show that synaptic scaling - a slow process usually associated with the maintenance of activity homeostasis - combined with synaptic plasticity may simultaneously achieve both, thereby providing a natural separation of short- from long-term storage. The interaction between plasticity and scaling provides also an explanation for an established paradox where memory consolidation critically depends on the exact order of learning and recall. These results indicate that scaling may be fundamental for stabilizing memories, providing a dynamic link between early and late memory formation processes.

Synaptic scaling enables dynamically distinct short- and long-term memory formation.

Science.gov (United States)

Tetzlaff, Christian; Kolodziejski, Christoph; Timme, Marc; Tsodyks, Misha; Wörgötter, Florentin

2013-10-01

Memory storage in the brain relies on mechanisms acting on time scales from minutes, for long-term synaptic potentiation, to days, for memory consolidation. During such processes, neural circuits distinguish synapses relevant for forming a long-term storage, which are consolidated, from synapses of short-term storage, which fade. How time scale integration and synaptic differentiation is simultaneously achieved remains unclear. Here we show that synaptic scaling - a slow process usually associated with the maintenance of activity homeostasis - combined with synaptic plasticity may simultaneously achieve both, thereby providing a natural separation of short- from long-term storage. The interaction between plasticity and scaling provides also an explanation for an established paradox where memory consolidation critically depends on the exact order of learning and recall. These results indicate that scaling may be fundamental for stabilizing memories, providing a dynamic link between early and late memory formation processes.

Liquid Crystal Enabled Early Stage Detection of Beta Amyloid Formation on Lipid Monolayers

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Sadati, Monirosadat [Institute for Molecular Engineering, University of Chicago, Chicago IL 60637 USA; Apik, Aslin Izmitli [Chemical and Biological Engineering, University of Wisconsin, Madison WI 53706 USA; Armas-Perez, Julio C. [Institute for Molecular Engineering, University of Chicago, Chicago IL 60637 USA; Martinez-Gonzalez, Jose [Institute for Molecular Engineering, University of Chicago, Chicago IL 60637 USA; Hernandez-Ortiz, Juan P. [Institute for Molecular Engineering, University of Chicago, Chicago IL 60637 USA; Departamento de Materiales y Minerales, Facultad de Minas, Universidad Nacional de Colombia, Sede Medellín, Calle 75 # 79A-51, Bloque M17 Medellín Colombia; Abbott, Nicholas L. [Chemical and Biological Engineering, University of Wisconsin, Madison WI 53706 USA; de Pablo, Juan J. [Institute for Molecular Engineering, University of Chicago, Chicago IL 60637 USA; Argonne National Laboratory, Argonne IL 60439 USA

2015-09-09

Liquid crystals (LCs) can serve as sensitive reporters of interfacial events, and this property has been used for sensing of synthetic or biological toxins. Here it is demonstrated that LCs can distinguish distinct molecular motifs and exhibit a specific response to beta-sheet structures. That property is used to detect the formation of highly toxic protofibrils involved in neurodegenerative diseases, where it is crucial to develop methods that probe the early-stage aggregation of amyloidogenic peptides in the vicinity of biological membranes. In the proposed method, the amyloid fibrils formed at the lipid-decorated LC interface can change the orientation of LCs and form elongated and branched structures that are amplified by the mesogenic medium; however, nonamyloidogenic peptides form ellipsoidal domains of tilted LCs. Moreover, a theoretical and computational analysis is used to reveal the underlying structure of the LC, thereby providing a detailed molecular-level view of the interactions and mechanisms responsible for such motifs. The corresponding signatures can be detected at nanomolar concentrations of peptide by polarized light microscopy and much earlier than the ones that can be identified by fluorescence-based techniques. As such, it offers the potential for early diagnoses of neurodegenerative diseases and for facile testing of inhibitors of amyloid formation.

Interference of Pseudomonas aeruginosa signalling and biofilm formation for infection control

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Bjarnsholt, Thomas; Tolker-Nielsen, Tim; Høiby, Niels

2010-01-01

Pseudomonas aeruginosa is the best described bacterium with regards to quorum sensing (QS), in vitro biofilm formation and the development of antibiotic tolerance. Biofilms composed of P. aeruginosa are thought to be the underlying cause of many chronic infections, including those in wounds...... and in the lungs of patients with cystic fibrosis. In this review, we provide an overview of the molecular mechanisms involved in QS, QS-enabled virulence, biofilm formation and biofilm-enabled antibiotic tolerance. We now have substantial knowledge of the multicellular behaviour of P. aeruginosa in vitro. A major...

A re-evaluation of the genus Myceliophthora (Sordariales, Ascomycota): its segregation into four genera and description of Corynascus fumimontanus sp. nov.

Science.gov (United States)

Marin-Felix, Yasmina; Stchigel, Alberto M; Miller, Andrew N; Guarro, Josep; Cano-Lira, José F

2015-01-01

Based on a number of isolates of Myceliophthora (Chaetomiaceae, Sordariales, Ascomycota) recently isolated from soil samples collected in USA, the taxonomy of the genus was re-evaluated through phylogenetic analyses of sequences from the nuc rDNA internal transcribed spacer region and genes for the second largest subunit of RNA polymerase II and translation elongation factor 1α. Members of Myceliophthora were split into four monophyletic clades strongly supported by molecular and phenotypic data. Such clades correspond with Myceliophthora, now restricted only to the type species of the genus Corynascus, which is re-established with five species, the new monotypic genus Crassicarpon and also the new genus Thermothelomyces (comprising four species). Myceliophthora lutea is mesophilic and a permanently asexual morph compared to the members of the other three mentioned genera, which also are able to sexually reproduce morphs with experimentally proven links to their asexual morphs. The asexual morph of M. lutea is characterized by broadly ellipsoidal, smooth-walled conidia with a wide, truncate base. Crassicarpon thermophilum is thermophilic and heterothallic and produces spherical to cuneiform, smooth-walled conidia and cleistothecial ascomata of smooth-walled, angular cells and ascospores with a germ pore at each end. Corynascus spp. are homothallic and mesophilic and produce spherical, mostly ornamented conidia and cleistothecial ascomata with textura epidermoidea composed of ornamented wall cells, and ascospores with one germ pore at each end. Thermothelomyces spp. are thermophilic, heterothallic and characterized by similar ascomata and conidia as Corynascus spp., but its ascospores exhibit only a single germ pore. A dichotomous key to distinguish Myceliophthora from the other mentioned genera are provided, as well as dichotomous keys to identify the species of Corynascus and Thermothelomyces. A new species, namely Corynascus fumimontanus, characterized by

EnableATIS strategy assessment.

Science.gov (United States)

2014-02-01

Enabling Advanced Traveler Information Systems (EnableATIS) is the traveler information component of the Dynamic Mobility Application (DMA) program. The objective of : the EnableATIS effort is to foster transformative traveler information application...

DELLA proteins regulate arbuscule formation in arbuscular mycorrhizal symbiosis.

Science.gov (United States)

Floss, Daniela S; Levy, Julien G; Lévesque-Tremblay, Véronique; Pumplin, Nathan; Harrison, Maria J

2013-12-17

Most flowering plants are able to form endosymbioses with arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi. In this mutualistic association, the fungus colonizes the root cortex and establishes elaborately branched hyphae, called arbuscules, within the cortical cells. Arbuscule development requires the cellular reorganization of both symbionts, and the resulting symbiotic interface functions in nutrient exchange. A plant symbiosis signaling pathway controls the development of the symbiosis. Several components of the pathway have been identified, but transcriptional regulators that control downstream pathways for arbuscule formation are still unknown. Here we show that DELLA proteins, which are repressors of gibberellic acid (GA) signaling and function at the nexus of several signaling pathways, are required for arbuscule formation. Arbuscule formation is severely impaired in a Medicago truncatula Mtdella1/Mtdella2 double mutant; GA treatment of wild-type roots phenocopies the della double mutant, and a dominant DELLA protein (della1-Δ18) enables arbuscule formation in the presence of GA. Ectopic expression of della1-Δ18 suggests that DELLA activity in the vascular tissue and endodermis is sufficient to enable arbuscule formation in the inner cortical cells. In addition, expression of della1-Δ18 restores arbuscule formation in the symbiosis signaling pathway mutant cyclops/ipd3, indicating an intersection between DELLA and symbiosis signaling for arbuscule formation. GA signaling also influences arbuscule formation in monocots, and a Green Revolution wheat variety carrying dominant DELLA alleles shows enhanced colonization but a limited growth response to arbuscular mycorrhizal symbiosis.

Highly Manufacturable Deep (Sub-Millimeter) Etching Enabled High Aspect Ratio Complex Geometry Lego-Like Silicon Electronics

KAUST Repository

Ghoneim, Mohamed T.

2017-02-01

A highly manufacturable deep reactive ion etching based process involving a hybrid soft/hard mask process technology shows high aspect ratio complex geometry Lego-like silicon electronics formation enabling free-form (physically flexible, stretchable, and reconfigurable) electronic systems.

DNA methylation and memory formation.

Science.gov (United States)

Day, Jeremy J; Sweatt, J David

2010-11-01

Memory formation and storage require long-lasting changes in memory-related neuronal circuits. Recent evidence indicates that DNA methylation may serve as a contributing mechanism in memory formation and storage. These emerging findings suggest a role for an epigenetic mechanism in learning and long-term memory maintenance and raise apparent conundrums and questions. For example, it is unclear how DNA methylation might be reversed during the formation of a memory, how changes in DNA methylation alter neuronal function to promote memory formation, and how DNA methylation patterns differ between neuronal structures to enable both consolidation and storage of memories. Here we evaluate the existing evidence supporting a role for DNA methylation in memory, discuss how DNA methylation may affect genetic and neuronal function to contribute to behavior, propose several future directions for the emerging subfield of neuroepigenetics, and begin to address some of the broader implications of this work.

Effects of N2-O2 and CO2-O2 tensions on growth of fungi isolated from damaged flue-cured tobacco.

Science.gov (United States)

Yang, H; Lucas, G B

1970-02-01

Ten fungi, Aspergillus niger, A. flavus, A. ochraceus, A. ruber, A. repens, A. amstelodami, Alternaria tenuis, Penicillium brevi-compactum, Cladosporium herbarum, and Chaetomium dolicotrichum, were isolated from moldy flue-cured tobacco and grown in various mixtures of N(2)-O(2) or CO(2)-O(2). A 1 to 5% concentration of O(2) in an N(2) atmosphere caused the greatest change in growth of the nine species, and a 10 to 20% concentration of O(2) for A. flavus. All species, except A. amstelodami and A. ruber, grew faster in air than in mixtures containing 10% O(2). High O(2) concentrations generally inhibited furrow production in the mycelial mats. In an atmosphere of 5 to 40% O(2) in the N(2) atmosphere, furrows formed in mycelial mats between 5 and 40% O(2) in the species except for A. ruber, A. repens, and A. amstelodami, which produced none in any concentration. As O(2) decreased below 20%, spore production was progressively decreased, colony color faded to white, and cleistothecia formation was suppressed. In CO(2)-O(2) mixtures radial growth of all species increased with each quantitative decrease of CO(2). All species except A. niger grew faster in air than in 10% CO(2). In contrast to N(2)-O(2) mixtures, the fungi formed furrows, sporulation and cleistothecial formation were suppressed, and colony color changed to white in higher O(2) concentrations.

Effects of N2-O2 and CO2-O2 Tensions on Growth of Fungi Isolated from Damaged Flue-Cured Tobacco 1

Science.gov (United States)

Yang, H.; Lucas, G. B.

1970-01-01

Ten fungi, Aspergillus niger, A. flavus, A. ochraceus, A. ruber, A. repens, A. amstelodami, Alternaria tenuis, Penicillium brevi-compactum, Cladosporium herbarum, and Chaetomium dolicotrichum, were isolated from moldy flue-cured tobacco and grown in various mixtures of N2-O2 or CO2-O2. A 1 to 5% concentration of O2 in an N2 atmosphere caused the greatest change in growth of the nine species, and a 10 to 20% concentration of O2 for A. flavus. All species, except A. amstelodami and A. ruber, grew faster in air than in mixtures containing 10% O2. High O2 concentrations generally inhibited furrow production in the mycelial mats. In an atmosphere of 5 to 40% O2 in the N2 atmosphere, furrows formed in mycelial mats between 5 and 40% O2 in the species except for A. ruber, A. repens, and A. amstelodami, which produced none in any concentration. As O2 decreased below 20%, spore production was progressively decreased, colony color faded to white, and cleistothecia formation was suppressed. In CO2-O2 mixtures radial growth of all species increased with each quantitative decrease of CO2. All species except A. niger grew faster in air than in 10% CO2. In contrast to N2-O2 mixtures, the fungi formed furrows, sporulation and cleistothecial formation were suppressed, and colony color changed to white in higher O2 concentrations. PMID:5461786

Toward genome-enabled mycology.

Science.gov (United States)

Hibbett, David S; Stajich, Jason E; Spatafora, Joseph W

2013-01-01

Genome-enabled mycology is a rapidly expanding field that is characterized by the pervasive use of genome-scale data and associated computational tools in all aspects of fungal biology. Genome-enabled mycology is integrative and often requires teams of researchers with diverse skills in organismal mycology, bioinformatics and molecular biology. This issue of Mycologia presents the first complete fungal genomes in the history of the journal, reflecting the ongoing transformation of mycology into a genome-enabled science. Here, we consider the prospects for genome-enabled mycology and the technical and social challenges that will need to be overcome to grow the database of complete fungal genomes and enable all fungal biologists to make use of the new data.

Bifurcation of learning and structure formation in neuronal maps

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Marschler, Christian; Faust-Ellsässer, Carmen; Starke, Jens

2014-01-01

to map formation in the laminar nucleus of the barn owl's auditory system. Using equation-free methods, we perform a bifurcation analysis of spatio-temporal structure formation in the associated synaptic-weight matrix. This enables us to analyze learning as a bifurcation process and follow the unstable...... states as well. A simple time translation of the learning window function shifts the bifurcation point of structure formation and goes along with traveling waves in the map, without changing the animal's sound localization performance....

MAGNETIC BRAKING AND PROTOSTELLAR DISK FORMATION: AMBIPOLAR DIFFUSION

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Mellon, Richard R.; Li Zhiyun

2009-01-01

It is established that the formation of rotationally supported disks during the main accretion phase of star formation is suppressed by a moderately strong magnetic field in the ideal MHD limit. Nonideal MHD effects are expected to weaken the magnetic braking, perhaps allowing the disk to reappear. We concentrate on one such effect, ambipolar diffusion, which enables the field lines to slip relative to the bulk neutral matter. We find that the slippage does not sufficiently weaken the braking to allow rotationally supported disks to form for realistic levels of cloud magnetization and cosmic ray ionization rate; in some cases, the magnetic braking is even enhanced. Only in dense cores with both exceptionally weak fields and unreasonably low ionization rate do such disks start to form in our simulations. We conclude that additional processes, such as Ohmic dissipation or Hall effect, are needed to enable disk formation. Alternatively, the disk may form at late times when the massive envelope that anchors the magnetic brake is dissipated, perhaps by a protostellar wind.

An Open-Source Tool Set Enabling Analog-Digital-Software Co-Design

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Michelle Collins

2016-02-01

Full Text Available This paper presents an analog-digital hardware-software co-design environment for simulating and programming reconfigurable systems. The tool simulates, designs, as well as enables experimental measurements after compiling to configurable systems in the same integrated design tool framework. High level software in Scilab/Xcos (open-source programs similar to MATLAB/Simulink that converts the high-level block description by the user to blif format (sci2blif, which acts as an input to the modified VPR tool, including the code v p r 2 s w c s , encoding the specific platform through specific architecture files, resulting in a targetable switch list on the resulting configurable analog–digital system. The resulting tool uses an analog and mixed-signal library of components, enabling users and future researchers access to the basic analog operations/computations that are possible.

A sensor data format incorporating battery charge information for smartphone-based mHealth applications

Science.gov (United States)

Escobar, Rodrigo; Akopian, David; Boppana, Rajendra

2015-03-01

Remote health monitoring systems involve energy-constrained devices, such as sensors and mobile gateways. Current data formats for communication of health data, such as DICOM and HL7, were not designed for multi-sensor applications or to enable the management of power-constrained devices in health monitoring processes. In this paper, a data format suitable for collection of multiple sensor data, including readings and other operational parameters is presented. By using the data format, the system management can assess energy consumptions and plan realistic monitoring scenarios. The proposed data format not only outperforms other known data formats in terms of readability, flexibility, interoperability and validation of compliant documents, but also enables energy assessment capability for realistic data collection scenarios and maintains or even reduces the overhead introduced due to formatting. Additionally, we provide analytical methods to estimate incremental energy consumption by various sensors and experiments to measure the actual battery drain on smartphones.

THE ALLIANCE FORMATION PROCESS

OpenAIRE

Whipple, Judith M.; Frankel, Robert

1998-01-01

While interest in developing strategic alliances within the food system continues to increase, there remains considerable risk when firms adopt such a cooperative strategy. The risk is due in part to the lack of concrete guidelines that illustrate the steps or stages of alliance development and the important strategic and operational decisions required at each stage. The existence of such guidelines would facilitate alliance formation and enable managers and researchers to better understand a...

Progress in motion estimation for video format conversion

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Haan, de G.

2000-01-01

There are now two generations of ICs for motion-compensated video format conversion (MC-VFC). Real-time DSP software for MC-VFC has previously been demonstrated, with the breakthroughs enabling this progress coming from motion estimation. The paper gives an overview.

Right timing in formative program evaluation.

Science.gov (United States)

Hall, Jori; Freeman, Melissa; Roulston, Kathy

2014-08-01

Since many educational researchers and program developers have limited knowledge of formative evaluation, formative data may be underutilized during the development and implementation of an educational program. The purpose of this article is to explain how participatory, responsive, educative, and qualitative approaches to formative evaluation can facilitate a partnership between evaluators and educational researchers and program managers to generate data useful to inform program implementation and improvement. This partnership is critical, we argue, because it enables an awareness of when to take appropriate action to ensure successful educational programs or "kairos". To illustrate, we use examples from our own evaluation work to highlight how formative evaluation may facilitate opportune moments to (1) define the substance and purpose of a program, (2) develop understanding and awareness of the cultural interpretations of program participants, and (3) show the relevance of stakeholder experiences to program goals. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Highly Manufacturable Deep (Sub-Millimeter) Etching Enabled High Aspect Ratio Complex Geometry Lego-Like Silicon Electronics.

Science.gov (United States)

Ghoneim, Mohamed Tarek; Hussain, Muhammad Mustafa

2017-04-01

A highly manufacturable deep reactive ion etching based process involving a hybrid soft/hard mask process technology shows high aspect ratio complex geometry Lego-like silicon electronics formation enabling free-form (physically flexible, stretchable, and reconfigurable) electronic systems. © 2017 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.

Intermolecular Formation of Two C−C Bonds across Olefins Enabled by Boron-Based Relay Strategies

Czech Academy of Sciences Publication Activity Database

Hidasová, Denisa; Jahn, Ullrich

2017-01-01

Roč. 56, č. 33 (2017), s. 9656-9658 ISSN 1433-7851 Institutional support: RVO:61388963 Keywords : 1,2- metal ate rearrangement * C−C bond formation * radical reactions * transition metal catalysis * vinyl boronates Subject RIV: CC - Organic Chemistry OBOR OECD: Organic chemistry Impact factor: 11.994, year: 2016

Determination of Gibbs energies of formation in aqueous solution using chemical engineering tools.

Science.gov (United States)

Toure, Oumar; Dussap, Claude-Gilles

2016-08-01

Standard Gibbs energies of formation are of primary importance in the field of biothermodynamics. In the absence of any directly measured values, thermodynamic calculations are required to determine the missing data. For several biochemical species, this study shows that the knowledge of the standard Gibbs energy of formation of the pure compounds (in the gaseous, solid or liquid states) enables to determine the corresponding standard Gibbs energies of formation in aqueous solutions. To do so, using chemical engineering tools (thermodynamic tables and a model enabling to predict activity coefficients, solvation Gibbs energies and pKa data), it becomes possible to determine the partial chemical potential of neutral and charged components in real metabolic conditions, even in concentrated mixtures. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Enabling Flexible Polymer Tandem Solar Cells by 3D Ptychographic Imaging

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Dam, Henrik Friis; Andersen, Thomas Rieks; Pedersen, Emil Bøje Lind

2015-01-01

one after the other by wet processing leaves plenty of room for error and the process development calls for an analytical technique that enables 3D reconstruction of the layer stack with the possibility to probe thickness, density, and chemistry of the individual layers in the stack. The use......The realization of a complete tandem polymer solar cell under ambient conditions using only printing and coating methods on a flexible substrate results in a fully scalable process but also requires accurate control during layer formation to succeed. The serial process where the layers are added...

Star & Planet Formation Studies and Opportunities with SOFIA

Science.gov (United States)

Smith, Kimberly Ennico

2018-01-01

Star formation, the most fundamental process in the universe, is linked to planet formation and thus to the origin and evolution of life. We have a general outline of how planets and stars form, yet unraveling the details of the physics and chemistry continues to challenge us. The infrared and submillimeter part of the spectrum hold the most promise for studying the beginnings of star formation. The observational landscape recently shaped by Spitzer, Herschel and ALMA, continues to challenge our current theories. SOFIA, the Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy, equipped with state-of-the-art infrared instrumentation to a vantage point at 45,000 feet (13.7 kilometers) flight altitude that is above 99.9 percent of the Earth's water vapor, enables observations in the infrared through terahertz frequencies not possible from the ground. SOFIA is a community observatory, about to start its sixth annual observing cycle. My talk will focus on recent results in advancing star and planet formation processes using SOFIA's imaging and polarimetric capabilities, and the upcoming science enabled by the 3rd generation instrument High-Resolution Mid-Infrared Spectrometer (HIRMES) to be commissioned in 2019. I will show how mid-infrared imaging is used to test massive star formation theories, how far-infrared polarimetry on sub-parsec scales is directly testing the role of magnetic fields in molecular clouds, and how velocity-resolved high-resolution spectroscopy will push forward our understanding of proto-planetary disk science. I will also summarize upcoming opportunities with the SOFIA observatory. For the latest news about your flying observatory, see https://sofia.usra.edu/.

Soot Formation and Destruction in High-Pressure Flames with Real Fuels

Science.gov (United States)

2013-08-18

Temperature and Oxygen Concentration on Diesel Spray Combustion Using a Single- Nozzle Injector in a Constant Volume Combustion Chamber, Combustion...enable the design of more efficient diesel engines. Higher efficiency will help reduce the logistical demand transportation fuels place on the entire...understanding of the soot formation processes at elevated pressure (e.g., 30 atm) will enable the design of more efficient diesel engines. Higher

Pattern formation in Pseudomonas aeruginosa biofilms

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Parsek, Matthew R.; Tolker-Nielsen, Tim

2008-01-01

Bacteria are capable of forming elaborate multicellular communities called biofilms. Pattern formation in biofilms depends on cell proliferation and cellular migration in response to the available nutrients and other external cues, as well as on self-generated intercellular signal molecules...... and the production of an extracellular matrix that serves as a structural 'scaffolding' for the biofilm cells. Pattern formation in biofilms allows cells to position themselves favorably within nutrient gradients and enables buildup and maintenance of physiologically distinct subpopulations, which facilitates...... survival of one or more subpopulations upon environmental insult, and therefore plays an important role in the innate tolerance displayed by biofilms toward adverse conditions....

The formation mechanism for printed silver-contacts for silicon solar cells.

Science.gov (United States)

Fields, Jeremy D; Ahmad, Md Imteyaz; Pool, Vanessa L; Yu, Jiafan; Van Campen, Douglas G; Parilla, Philip A; Toney, Michael F; van Hest, Maikel F A M

2016-04-01

Screen-printing provides an economically attractive means for making Ag electrical contacts to Si solar cells, but the use of Ag substantiates a significant manufacturing cost, and the glass frit used in the paste to enable contact formation contains Pb. To achieve optimal electrical performance and to develop pastes with alternative, abundant and non-toxic materials, a better understanding the contact formation process during firing is required. Here, we use in situ X-ray diffraction during firing to reveal the reaction sequence. The findings suggest that between 500 and 650 °C PbO in the frit etches the SiNx antireflective-coating on the solar cell, exposing the Si surface. Then, above 650 °C, Ag(+) dissolves into the molten glass frit - key for enabling deposition of metallic Ag on the emitter surface and precipitation of Ag nanocrystals within the glass. Ultimately, this work clarifies contact formation mechanisms and suggests approaches for development of inexpensive, nontoxic solar cell contacting pastes.

Regularities in positronium formation for atoms and molecules

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Machacek, J R; Buckman, S J; Sullivan, J P; Blanco, F; Garcia, G

2016-01-01

In an effort to aid the modelling of positron and positronium (Ps) transport in biological media we have compiled recent experimental results for the total Ps formation in positron scattering from atoms and molecules. A simple function was found to adequately describe the total Ps formation cross section for both atoms and molecules. The parameters of this function describe the magnitude and shape of the Ps formation cross section and are compared to physical characteristics of the target atoms and molecules. A general trend in the magnitude of the total Ps formation cross section is observed as a function of the target atom/molecule dipole polarisability. The functional form may enable quick estimation of the Ps cross section for molecules for which experimental measurements or theoretical estimates do not exist. (paper)

Decoupling of magnetic fields in collapsing protostellar envelopes and disc formation and fragmentation

Science.gov (United States)

Zhao, Bo; Caselli, Paola; Li, Zhi-Yun; Krasnopolsky, Ruben

2018-02-01

Efficient magnetic braking is a formidable obstacle to the formation of rotationally supported discs (RSDs) around protostars in magnetized dense cores. We have previously shown, through 2D (axisymmetric) non-ideal magnetohydrodynamic simulations, that removing very small grains (VSGs: ∼10 Å to few 100 Å) can greatly enhance ambipolar diffusion and enable the formation of RSDs. Here, we extend the simulations of disc formation enabled by VSG removal to 3D. We find that the key to this scenario of disc formation is that the drift velocity of the magnetic field almost cancels out the infall velocity of the neutrals in the 102-103 au scale 'pseudo-disc' where the field lines are most severely pinched and most of protostellar envelope mass infall occurs. As a result, the bulk neutral envelope matter can collapse without dragging much magnetic flux into the disc-forming region, which lowers the magnetic braking efficiency. We find that the initial discs enabled by VSG removal tend to be Toomre-unstable, which leads to the formation of prominent spiral structures that function as centrifugal barriers. The piling-up of infall material near the centrifugal barrier often produces dense fragments of tens of Jupiter masses, especially in cores that are not too strongly magnetized. Some fragments accrete on to the central stellar object, producing bursts in mass accretion rate. Others are longer lived, although whether they can survive for a long term to produce multiple systems remains to be ascertained. Our results highlight the importance of dust grain evolution in determining the formation and properties of protostellar discs and potentially multiple systems.

Web-enabling technologies for the factory floor: a web-enabling strategy for emanufacturing

Science.gov (United States)

Velez, Ricardo; Lastra, Jose L. M.; Tuokko, Reijo O.

2001-10-01

This paper is intended to address the different technologies available for Web-enabling of the factory floor. It will give an overview of the importance of Web-enabling of the factory floor, in the application of the concepts of flexible and intelligent manufacturing, in conjunction with e-commerce. As a last section, it will try to define a Web-enabling strategy for the application in eManufacturing. This is made under the scope of the electronics manufacturing industry, so every application, technology or related matter is presented under such scope.

Geo-Enabled, Mobile Services

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Jensen, Christian Søndergaard

2006-01-01

We are witnessing the emergence of a global infrastructure that enables the widespread deployment of geo-enabled, mobile services in practice. At the same time, the research community has also paid increasing attention to data management aspects of mobile services. This paper offers me...

The Nordic Housing Enabler

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Helle, T.; Nygren, C.; Slaug, B.

2014-01-01

This study addresses development of a content-valid cross-Nordic version of the Housing Enabler and investigation of its inter-rater reliability when used in occupational therapy rating situations, involving occupational therapists, clients, and their home environments. The instrument was transla......This study addresses development of a content-valid cross-Nordic version of the Housing Enabler and investigation of its inter-rater reliability when used in occupational therapy rating situations, involving occupational therapists, clients, and their home environments. The instrument...... was translated from the original Swedish version of the Housing Enabler, and adapted according to accessibility norms and guidelines for housing design in Sweden, Denmark, Finland, and Iceland. This iterative process involved occupational therapists, architects, building engineers, and professional translators......, resulting in the Nordic Housing Enabler. For reliability testing, the sampling strategy and data collection procedures used were the same in all countries. Twenty voluntary occupational therapists, pair-wise but independently of each other, collected data from 106 cases by means of the Nordic Housing...

The X-Factor of Cultivating Successful Entrepreneurial Technology-Enabled Start-Ups

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Elsje Scott

2016-10-01

Full Text Available In the fast changing global economic landscape, the cultivation of sustainable entrepreneurial ventures is seen as a vital mechanism that will enable businesses to introduce new innovative products to the market faster and more effectively than their competitors. This research paper investigated phenomena that may play a significant role when entrepreneurs implement creative ideas resulting in successful technology enabled start-ups within the South African market place. Constant and significant changes in technology provide several challenges for entrepreneurship. Various themes such as innovation, work experience, idea generation, education and partnership formation have been explored to assess their impact on entrepreneurship. Reflection and a design thinking approach underpinned a rigorous analysis process to distill themes from the data gathered through semi structured interviews. From the findings it was evident that the primary success influencers include the formation of partnership, iterative cycles, and certain types of education. The secondary influencers included the origination of an idea, the use of innovation. and organizational culture as well as work experience. This research illustrates how Informing Science as a transdisicpline can provide a philosophical underpinning to communicate and synthesise ideas from constituent disciplines in an attempt to create a more cohesive whole. This diverse environment, comprising people, technology, and business, requires blending different elements from across diverse fields to yield better science. With this backdrop, this preliminary study provides an important foundation for further research in the context of a developing country where entrepreneurial ventures may have a socio-economical impact. The themes that emerged through this study could provide avenues for further research.

High-power, format-flexible, 885-nm vertical-cavity surface-emitting laser arrays

Science.gov (United States)

Wang, Chad; Talantov, Fedor; Garrett, Henry; Berdin, Glen; Cardellino, Terri; Millenheft, David; Geske, Jonathan

2013-03-01

High-power, format flexible, 885 nm vertical-cavity surface-emitting laser (VCSEL) arrays have been developed for solid-state pumping and illumination applications. In this approach, a common VCSEL size format was designed to enable tiling into flexible formats and operating configurations. The fabrication of a common chip size on ceramic submount enables low-cost volume manufacturing of high-power VCSEL arrays. This base VCSEL chip was designed to be 5x3.33 mm2, and produced up to 50 Watts of peak continuous wave (CW) power. To scale to higher powers, multiple chips can be tiled into a combination of series or parallel configurations tailored to the application driver conditions. In actively cooled CW operation, the VCSEL array chips were packaged onto a single water channel cooler, and we have demonstrated 0.5x1, 1x1, and 1x3 cm2 formats, producing 150, 250, and 500 Watts of peak power, respectively, in under 130 A operating current. In QCW operation, the 1x3 cm2 VCSEL module, which contains 18 VCSEL array chips packaged on a single water cooler, produced over 1.3 kW of peak power. In passively cooled packages, multiple chip configurations have been developed for illumination applications, producing over 300 Watts of peak power in QCW operating conditions. These VCSEL chips use a substrate-removed structure to allow for efficient thermal heatsinking to enable high-power operation. This scalable, format flexible VCSEL architecture can be applied to wavelengths ranging from 800 to 1100 nm, and can be used to tailor emission spectral widths and build high-power hyperspectral sources.

ASDF - A Modern Data Format for Seismology

Science.gov (United States)

Krischer, Lion; Smith, James; Lei, Wenjie; Lefebvre, Matthieu; Ruan, Youyi; Sales de Andrade, Elliot; Podhorszki, Norbert; Bozdag, Ebru; Tromp, Jeroen

2017-04-01

Seismology as a science is driven by observing and understanding data and it is thus vital to make this as easy and accessible as possible. The growing volume of freely available data coupled with ever expanding computational power enables scientists to take on new and bigger problems. This evolution is to some part hindered as existing data formats have not been designed with it in mind. We present ASDF (http://seismic-data.org), the Adaptable Seismic Data Format, a novel, modern, and especially practical data format for all branches of seismology with particular focus on how it is incorporated into seismic full waveform inversion workflows. The format aims to solve five key issues: Efficiency: Fast I/O operations especially in high performance computing environments, especially limiting the total number of files. Data organization: Different types of data are needed for a variety of tasks. This results in ad hoc data organization and formats that are hard to maintain, integrate, reproduce, and exchange. Data exchange: We want to exchange complex and complete data sets. Reproducibility: Oftentimes just not existing but crucial to advance our science. Mining, visualization, and understanding of data: As data volumes grow, more complex, new techniques to query and visualize large datasets are needed. ASDF tackles these by defining a structure on top of HDF5 reusing as many existing standards (QuakeML, StationXML, PROV) as possible. An essential trait of ASDF is that it empowers the construction of completely self-describing data sets including waveform, station, and event data together with non-waveform data and a provenance description of everything. This for example for the first time enables the proper archival and exchange of processed or synthetic waveforms. To aid community adoption we developed mature tools in Python as well as in C and Fortran. Additionally we provide a formal definition of the format, a validation tool, and integration into widely used

Organising to Enable Innovation

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Brink, Tove

2016-01-01

The purpose of this conceptual paper is to reveal how organising can enable innovation across organisational layers and organisational units. This approach calls for a cross-disciplinary literature review. The aim is to provide an integrated understanding of innovation in an organisational approach....... The findings reveal a continous organising process between individual/ team creativity and organisational structures/control to enable innovation at firm level. Organising provides a dynamic approach and contains the integrated reconstruction of creativity, structures and boundaries for enhanced balance...... of explorative and exploitative learning in uncertain environments. Shedding light on the cross-disciplinary theories to organise innovation provides a contribution at the firm level to enable innovation....

Correlating shaped charge performance with processing conditions and microstructure of an aluminum alloy 1100 liner enabled by a new method to arrest nascent jet formation

Science.gov (United States)

Scheid, James Eric

Aluminum-lined shaped charges are used in special applications where jet and / or slug residue in the target is undesired. The three different microstructures of the aluminum liners studied herein resulted from three different manufacturing interpretations of the same design. One interpretation was completely machining the liners from best available annealed round stock. The second was to cold-forge the liners from annealed round-stock in an open-die forge to near-final dimensions, and then machine the liners to the final dimensions. The third variant in this study was to use the above forged liner, but with annealing after the machining. These three manufacturing choices resulted in significant variations in shaped charge performance. The goal of this research was to clarify the relationships between the liner metal microstructure and properties, and the corresponding shaped charge dynamic flow behavior. What began as an investigation into user-reported performance problems associated inherently with liner manufacturing processes and resultant microstructure, resolved into new understandings of the relationships between aluminum liner microstructure and shaped charge collapse kinetics. This understanding was achieved through an extensive literature review and the comprehensive characterization of the material properties of three variants of an 1100 aluminum shaped charge liner with a focus on collapse and nascent jet formation. The machined liner had a microstructure with large millimeter-sized grains and fine particles aligned in bands parallel to the charge axis. The forged liner microstructure consisted of very small one micrometer-sized (1 mum) subgrains and fine particles aligned largely in bands elongated parallel to the liner contour. The annealed liner was characterized by ten micrometer (10 mum) sized equiaxed grains with residual fine particles in the forged alignment. This characterization was enabled by the development, execution and validation of a

Molecular phylogeny and radiation time of erysiphales inferred from the nuclear ribosomal DNA sequences

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Mori, Y.; Sato, Y.; Takamatsu, S.

2000-01-01

Phylogenetic relationships of Erysiphales within Ascomycota were inferred from the newly determined sequences of the 18S rDNA and partial sequences of the 28S rDNA including the D1 and D2 regions of 10 Erysiphales taxa. Phylogenetic analyses revealed that the Erysiphales form a distinct clade among ascomycetous fungi suggesting that the Erysiphales diverged from a single ancestral taxon. The Myxotrichaceae of the Onygenales was distantly related to the other onygenalean families and was the sister group to the Erysiphales calde, with which it combined to form a clade. The Erysiphales/Myxotrichaceae clade was also closely related to some discomycetous fungi (Leotiales, Cyttariales and Thelebolaceae) including taxa that form cleistothecial ascomata. The present molecular analyses as well as previously reported morphological observations suggest the possible existence of a novel evolutionary pathway from cleistothecial discomycetous fungi to Erysiphales and Myxotrichaceae. However, since most of these fungi, except for the Erysiphales, are saprophytic on dung and/or plant materials, the questions of how and why an obligate biotroph like the Erysiphales radiated from the saprophytic fungi remain to be addressed. We also estimated the radiation time of the Erysiphales using the 18S rDNA sequences and the two molecular clockes that have been previously reported. The calculation showed that the Erysiphales split from the Myxotrichaceae 190–127 myr ago. Since the radiation time of the Erysiphales does not exceed 230 myr ago, even when allowance is made for the uncertainty of the molecular clocks, it is possible to consider that the Erysiphales evolved after the radiation of angiosperms. The results of our calculation also showed that the first radiation within the Erysiphales (138–92 myr ago) coincided with the date of a major diversification of angiosperms (130–90 myr ago). These results may support our early assumption that the radiation of the Erysiphales

Bearing-Only Formation Control for Cascade Multirobots

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Qing Han

2016-01-01

Full Text Available A new formation control method is proposed, which is used to queue multirobots in a single-direction cascade structure. In the cascade formation, each robot is a follower for the previous robot and a leader for the next robot, and the robots in the middle act as both leader and follower. The follower robot can only observe the bearing information of the leader robot. The observability of the cascade leader-follower formation is studied, which shows that the bearing-only observation meets the observability conditions required for the nonlinear system. Based on the bearing-only observations, the unscented Kalman filter (UKF is employed for the state estimation of the leader and the follower robots at all levels, which enables the real-time movement control of the follower robots via the input-output feedback control. Simulation results demonstrate that the proposed approach can efficiently control the formation of multirobots as desired.

SCIFIO: an extensible framework to support scientific image formats.

Science.gov (United States)

Hiner, Mark C; Rueden, Curtis T; Eliceiri, Kevin W

2016-12-07

No gold standard exists in the world of scientific image acquisition; a proliferation of instruments each with its own proprietary data format has made out-of-the-box sharing of that data nearly impossible. In the field of light microscopy, the Bio-Formats library was designed to translate such proprietary data formats to a common, open-source schema, enabling sharing and reproduction of scientific results. While Bio-Formats has proved successful for microscopy images, the greater scientific community was lacking a domain-independent framework for format translation. SCIFIO (SCientific Image Format Input and Output) is presented as a freely available, open-source library unifying the mechanisms of reading and writing image data. The core of SCIFIO is its modular definition of formats, the design of which clearly outlines the components of image I/O to encourage extensibility, facilitated by the dynamic discovery of the SciJava plugin framework. SCIFIO is structured to support coexistence of multiple domain-specific open exchange formats, such as Bio-Formats' OME-TIFF, within a unified environment. SCIFIO is a freely available software library developed to standardize the process of reading and writing scientific image formats.

Implications of Martian Phyllosilicate Formation Conditions to the Early Climate on Mars

Science.gov (United States)

Bishop, J. L.; Baker, L.; Fairén, A. G.; Michalski, J. R.; Gago-Duport, L.; Velbel, M. A.; Gross, C.; Rampe, E. B.

2017-12-01

We propose that short-term warmer and wetter environments, occurring sporadically in a generally cold early Mars, enabled formation of phyllosilicate-rich outcrops on the surface of Mars without requiring long-term warm and wet conditions. We are investigating phyllosilicate formation mechanisms including CO2 and H2O budgets to provide constraints on the early martian climate. We have evaluated the nature and stratigraphy of phyllosilicate-bearing surface units on Mars based on i) phyllosilicate-forming environments on Earth, ii) phyllosilicate reactions in the lab, and iii) modeling experiments involving phyllosilicates and short-range ordered (SRO) materials. The type of phyllosilicates that form on Mars depends on temperature, water/rock ratio, acidity, salinity and available ions. Mg-rich trioctahedral smectite mixtures are more consistent with subsurface formation environments (crustal, hydrothermal or alkaline lakes) up to 400 °C and are not associated with martian surface environments. In contrast, clay profiles dominated by dioctahedral Al/Fe-smectites are typically formed in subaqueous or subaerial surface environments. We propose models describing formation of smectite-rich outcrops and laterally extensive vertical profiles of Fe/Mg-smectites, sulfates, and Al-rich clay assemblages formed in surface environments. Further, the presence of abundant SRO materials without phyllosilicates could mark the end of the last warm and wet episode on Mars supporting smectite formation. Climate Implications for Early Mars: Clay formation reactions proceed extremely slowly at cool temperatures. The thick smectite outcrops observed on Mars through remote sensing would require standing water on Mars for hundreds of millions of years if they formed in waters 10-15 °C. However, warmer temperatures could have enabled faster production of these smectite-rich beds. Sporadic warming episodes to 30-40 °C could have enabled formation of these smectites over only tens or

BARRIERS AND MOTIVATORS IN ENGAGING WITH TECHNOLOGY-ENABLED CARDIAC REHABILITATION: A PATIENT AND HEALTH PROFESSIONAL PERSPECTIVE.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Deirdre Walsh

2015-10-01

This formative work has outlined key patient and stakeholder concerns regarding engagement with a technology enabled behavior change intervention in CR. Factors that inhibit and promote engagement have been explored using the COM-B framework. Motivational factors related to social interaction were deemed one of the integral aspects for engagement and adherence to PATHway. In terms of capability factors, technology ease- of-use was highlighted among patient and stakeholders as important for uptake and continued use. This project has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 Framework Programme for Research and Innovation Action under Grant Agreement no. 643491. PATHway: Technology enabled behavioural change as a pathway towards better self-management of CVD (www.pathway2health.eu

Tough Choices in Designing a Formative Assessment System

Science.gov (United States)

Sharkey, Nancy S.; Murnane, Richard J.

2006-01-01

A growing number of school districts in the United States are introducing formative assessment systems to measure student skills in core subjects throughout the year. The underlying logic is that providing teachers with timely information on student skills will enable them to improve instruction and better prepare students to excel on high-stakes,…

The Nordic Housing Enabler

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Helle, Tina; Slaug, Bjørn; Brandt, Åse

2010-01-01

This study addresses development of a content valid cross-Nordic version of the Housing Enabler and investigation of its inter-rater reliability when used in occupational therapy rating situations, involving occupational therapists, clients and their home environments. The instrument was translated...... from the original Swedish version of the Housing Enabler, and adapted according to accessibility norms and guidelines for housing design in Sweden, Denmark, Finland and Iceland. This iterative process involved occupational therapists, architects, building engineers and professional translators......, resulting in the Nordic Housing Enabler. For reliability testing, the sampling strategy and data collection procedures used were the same in all countries. Twenty voluntary occupational therapists, pair-wise but independently from each other, collected data from 106 cases by means of the Nordic Housing...

Modeling of metastable phase formation diagrams for sputtered thin films.

Science.gov (United States)

Chang, Keke; Music, Denis; To Baben, Moritz; Lange, Dennis; Bolvardi, Hamid; Schneider, Jochen M

2016-01-01

A method to model the metastable phase formation in the Cu-W system based on the critical surface diffusion distance has been developed. The driver for the formation of a second phase is the critical diffusion distance which is dependent on the solubility of W in Cu and on the solubility of Cu in W. Based on comparative theoretical and experimental data, we can describe the relationship between the solubilities and the critical diffusion distances in order to model the metastable phase formation. Metastable phase formation diagrams for Cu-W and Cu-V thin films are predicted and validated by combinatorial magnetron sputtering experiments. The correlative experimental and theoretical research strategy adopted here enables us to efficiently describe the relationship between the solubilities and the critical diffusion distances in order to model the metastable phase formation during magnetron sputtering.

Rheopathologic Consequence of Plasmodium vivax Rosette Formation.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Rou Zhang

2016-08-01

Full Text Available Malaria parasites dramatically alter the rheological properties of infected red blood cells. In the case of Plasmodium vivax, the parasite rapidly decreases the shear elastic modulus of the invaded RBC, enabling it to avoid splenic clearance. This study highlights correlation between rosette formation and altered membrane deformability of P. vivax-infected erythrocytes, where the rosette-forming infected erythrocytes are significantly more rigid than their non-rosetting counterparts. The adhesion of normocytes to the PvIRBC is strong (mean binding force of 440pN resulting in stable rosette formation even under high physiological shear flow stress. Rosetting may contribute to the sequestration of PvIRBC schizonts in the host microvasculature or spleen.

Designing iCanFit: A Mobile-Enabled Web Application to Promote Physical Activity for Older Cancer Survivors.

Science.gov (United States)

Hong, Yan; Dahlke, Deborah Vollmer; Ory, Marcia; Hochhalter, Angela; Reynolds, Jana; Purcell, Ninfa Pena; Talwar, Divya; Eugene, Nola

2013-02-14

Most older cancer survivors (OCS) do not engage in regular physical activity (PA) despite well-known health benefits. With the increased use of mobile technologies among older adults, mobile tools may be an effective method to deliver PA promotion programs for OCS. To document the process of designing an OCS-friendly mobile-enabled Web application of PA promotion program. Mixed methods encompassing group discussions, individual interviews, and brief surveys with community leaders, OCS, cancer care providers, and software professionals were used in this formative research. The varied stakeholders welcomed the idea of developing an online tool to promote PA in OCS. Our formative research revealed several major barriers to regular PA including limited access to senior-friendly PA resources, lack of motivation and social support, and insufficient knowledge and skills on building safe and appropriate workout plans. This feedback was incorporated into the development of iCanFit, a mobile-enabled Web application, designed specifically for OCS. The iCanFit online tools allow users to locate PA resources, set and track goals for PA, network with peer OCS in a secure online space, and receive practical and evidence-informed healthy tips. Our mixed-method formative research led to the design of iCanFit protocol to promote PA and well-being of OCS. The involvement of stakeholders is critical in the planning and design of the mobile application in order to enhance program relevance, appeal, and match with the needs of target users.

Observing System Simulations for Small Satellite Formations Estimating Bidirectional Reflectance

Science.gov (United States)

Nag, Sreeja; Gatebe, Charles K.; de Weck, Olivier

2015-01-01

The bidirectional reflectance distribution function (BRDF) gives the reflectance of a target as a function of illumination geometry and viewing geometry, hence carries information about the anisotropy of the surface. BRDF is needed in remote sensing for the correction of view and illumination angle effects (for example in image standardization and mosaicing), for deriving albedo, for land cover classification, for cloud detection, for atmospheric correction, and other applications. However, current spaceborne instruments provide sparse angular sampling of BRDF and airborne instruments are limited in the spatial and temporal coverage. To fill the gaps in angular coverage within spatial, spectral and temporal requirements, we propose a new measurement technique: Use of small satellites in formation flight, each satellite with a VNIR (visible and near infrared) imaging spectrometer, to make multi-spectral, near-simultaneous measurements of every ground spot in the swath at multiple angles. This paper describes an observing system simulation experiment (OSSE) to evaluate the proposed concept and select the optimal formation architecture that minimizes BRDF uncertainties. The variables of the OSSE are identified; number of satellites, measurement spread in the view zenith and relative azimuth with respect to solar plane, solar zenith angle, BRDF models and wavelength of reflection. Analyzing the sensitivity of BRDF estimation errors to the variables allow simplification of the OSSE, to enable its use to rapidly evaluate formation architectures. A 6-satellite formation is shown to produce lower BRDF estimation errors, purely in terms of angular sampling as evaluated by the OSSE, than a single spacecraft with 9 forward-aft sensors. We demonstrate the ability to use OSSEs to design small satellite formations as complements to flagship mission data. The formations can fill angular sampling gaps and enable better BRDF products than currently possible.

Observing system simulations for small satellite formations estimating bidirectional reflectance

Science.gov (United States)

Nag, Sreeja; Gatebe, Charles K.; Weck, Olivier de

2015-12-01

The bidirectional reflectance distribution function (BRDF) gives the reflectance of a target as a function of illumination geometry and viewing geometry, hence carries information about the anisotropy of the surface. BRDF is needed in remote sensing for the correction of view and illumination angle effects (for example in image standardization and mosaicing), for deriving albedo, for land cover classification, for cloud detection, for atmospheric correction, and other applications. However, current spaceborne instruments provide sparse angular sampling of BRDF and airborne instruments are limited in the spatial and temporal coverage. To fill the gaps in angular coverage within spatial, spectral and temporal requirements, we propose a new measurement technique: use of small satellites in formation flight, each satellite with a VNIR (visible and near infrared) imaging spectrometer, to make multi-spectral, near-simultaneous measurements of every ground spot in the swath at multiple angles. This paper describes an observing system simulation experiment (OSSE) to evaluate the proposed concept and select the optimal formation architecture that minimizes BRDF uncertainties. The variables of the OSSE are identified; number of satellites, measurement spread in the view zenith and relative azimuth with respect to solar plane, solar zenith angle, BRDF models and wavelength of reflection. Analyzing the sensitivity of BRDF estimation errors to the variables allow simplification of the OSSE, to enable its use to rapidly evaluate formation architectures. A 6-satellite formation is shown to produce lower BRDF estimation errors, purely in terms of angular sampling as evaluated by the OSSE, than a single spacecraft with 9 forward-aft sensors. We demonstrate the ability to use OSSEs to design small satellite formations as complements to flagship mission data. The formations can fill angular sampling gaps and enable better BRDF products than currently possible.

Nordic Housing Enabler

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Helle, Tina; Brandt, Åse

Development and reliability testing of the Nordic Housing Enabler – an instrument for accessibility assessment of the physical housing. Tina Helle & Åse Brandt University of Lund, Health Sciences, Faculty of Medicine (SE) and University College Northern Jutland, Occupational Therapy department (DK......). Danish Centre for Assistive Technology. Abstract. For decades, accessibility to the physical housing environment for people with functional limitations has been of interest politically, professionally and for the users. Guidelines and norms on accessible housing design have gradually been developed......, however, the built environment shows serious deficits when it comes to accessibility. This study addresses development of a content valid cross-Nordic version of the Housing Enabler and investigation of inter-rater reliability, when used in occupational therapy practice. The instrument was translated from...

Star formation in evolving molecular clouds

Science.gov (United States)

Völschow, M.; Banerjee, R.; Körtgen, B.

2017-09-01

Molecular clouds are the principle stellar nurseries of our universe; they thus remain a focus of both observational and theoretical studies. From observations, some of the key properties of molecular clouds are well known but many questions regarding their evolution and star formation activity remain open. While numerical simulations feature a large number and complexity of involved physical processes, this plethora of effects may hide the fundamentals that determine the evolution of molecular clouds and enable the formation of stars. Purely analytical models, on the other hand, tend to suffer from rough approximations or a lack of completeness, limiting their predictive power. In this paper, we present a model that incorporates central concepts of astrophysics as well as reliable results from recent simulations of molecular clouds and their evolutionary paths. Based on that, we construct a self-consistent semi-analytical framework that describes the formation, evolution, and star formation activity of molecular clouds, including a number of feedback effects to account for the complex processes inside those objects. The final equation system is solved numerically but at much lower computational expense than, for example, hydrodynamical descriptions of comparable systems. The model presented in this paper agrees well with a broad range of observational results, showing that molecular cloud evolution can be understood as an interplay between accretion, global collapse, star formation, and stellar feedback.

Pilot project as enabler?

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Neisig, Margit; Glimø, Helle; Holm, Catrine Granzow

This article deals with a systemic perspective on transition. The field of study addressed is a pilot project as enabler of transition in a highly complex polycentric context. From a Luhmannian systemic approach, a framework is created to understand and address barriers of change occurred using...... pilot projects as enabler of transition. Aspects of how to create trust and deal with distrust during a transition are addressed. The transition in focus is the concept of New Public Management and how it is applied in the management of the Employment Service in Denmark. The transition regards...

Formative assessment in undergraduate medical education: concept, implementation and hurdles.

Science.gov (United States)

Rauf, Ayesha; Shamim, Muhammad Shahid; Aly, Syed Moyn; Chundrigar, Tariq; Alam, Shams Nadeem

2014-01-01

Formative assessment, described as "the process of appraising, judging or evaluating students' work or performance and using this to shape and improve students' competence", is generally missing from medical schools of Pakistan. Progressive institutions conduct "formative assessment" as a fleeting part of the curriculum by using various methods that may or may not include feedback to learners. The most important factor in the success of formative assessment is the quality of feedback, shown to have the maximum impact on student accomplishment. Inclusion of formative assessment into the curriculum and its implementation will require the following: Enabling Environment, Faculty and student Training, Role of Department of Medical Education (DME). Many issues can be predicted that may jeopardize the effectiveness of formative assessment including faculty resistance, lack of motivation from students and faculty and paucity of commitment from the top administration. For improvement in medical education in Pakistan, we need to develop a system considered worthy by national and international standards. This paper will give an overview of formative assessment, its implications and recommendations for implementation in medical institutes of Pakistan.

Efficient stereoscopic contents file format on the basis of ISO base media file format

Science.gov (United States)

Kim, Kyuheon; Lee, Jangwon; Suh, Doug Young; Park, Gwang Hoon

2009-02-01

A lot of 3D contents haven been widely used for multimedia services, however, real 3D video contents have been adopted for a limited applications such as a specially designed 3D cinema. This is because of the difficulty of capturing real 3D video contents and the limitation of display devices available in a market. However, diverse types of display devices for stereoscopic video contents for real 3D video contents have been recently released in a market. Especially, a mobile phone with a stereoscopic camera has been released in a market, which provides a user as a consumer to have more realistic experiences without glasses, and also, as a content creator to take stereoscopic images or record the stereoscopic video contents. However, a user can only store and display these acquired stereoscopic contents with his/her own devices due to the non-existence of a common file format for these contents. This limitation causes a user not share his/her contents with any other users, which makes it difficult the relevant market to stereoscopic contents is getting expanded. Therefore, this paper proposes the common file format on the basis of ISO base media file format for stereoscopic contents, which enables users to store and exchange pure stereoscopic contents. This technology is also currently under development for an international standard of MPEG as being called as a stereoscopic video application format.

PONDEROSA, an automated 3D-NOESY peak picking program, enables automated protein structure determination.

Science.gov (United States)

Lee, Woonghee; Kim, Jin Hae; Westler, William M; Markley, John L

2011-06-15

PONDEROSA (Peak-picking Of Noe Data Enabled by Restriction of Shift Assignments) accepts input information consisting of a protein sequence, backbone and sidechain NMR resonance assignments, and 3D-NOESY ((13)C-edited and/or (15)N-edited) spectra, and returns assignments of NOESY crosspeaks, distance and angle constraints, and a reliable NMR structure represented by a family of conformers. PONDEROSA incorporates and integrates external software packages (TALOS+, STRIDE and CYANA) to carry out different steps in the structure determination. PONDEROSA implements internal functions that identify and validate NOESY peak assignments and assess the quality of the calculated three-dimensional structure of the protein. The robustness of the analysis results from PONDEROSA's hierarchical processing steps that involve iterative interaction among the internal and external modules. PONDEROSA supports a variety of input formats: SPARKY assignment table (.shifts) and spectrum file formats (.ucsf), XEASY proton file format (.prot), and NMR-STAR format (.star). To demonstrate the utility of PONDEROSA, we used the package to determine 3D structures of two proteins: human ubiquitin and Escherichia coli iron-sulfur scaffold protein variant IscU(D39A). The automatically generated structural constraints and ensembles of conformers were as good as or better than those determined previously by much less automated means. The program, in the form of binary code along with tutorials and reference manuals, is available at http://ponderosa.nmrfam.wisc.edu/.

A formative approach to cultural content learning in intercultural foreign language teaching

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Andrijević Maja M.

2016-01-01

Full Text Available The paper outlines the effectiveness of the formative approach in the adoption of cultural content as part of intercultural foreign language teaching. In contrast to the informative, the formative approach is based on a constructivist approach to foreign language acquisition; in other words, it is a process of tertiary socialization through the construction of an intercultural identity, by means of experiential acquisition, interaction and cognitive conflict with previously adopted patterns. Byram's (1997 propositions about the importance of acquiring intercultural competence in foreign language teaching represent a complete shift towards a formative approach since they formulate general educational goals according to which it is impossible to have an insight into the language reality of a different culture unless an individual is aware of their own and the relative nature of both, which is vital to the development of critical intercultural awareness. Thus the focus of teaching shifts to the integration of the target and the source cultures through participatory tasks and constructive analysis, and to the construction of the learner's identity as intercultural speaker with a range of affective, cognitive and behavioral competences enabling successful contact with difference. The formative approach enables the foreign language teacher, whose role has also been redefined, to use appropriate materials in order to develop critical thinking and intercultural competence in students through their active involvement in the process of target language acquisition.

Preprocessor that Enables the Use of GridProTM Grids for Unsteady Reynolds-Averaged Navier-Stokes Code TURBO

Science.gov (United States)

Shyam, Vikram

2010-01-01

A preprocessor for the Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) code TURBO has been developed and tested. The preprocessor converts grids produced by GridPro (Program Development Company (PDC)) into a format readable by TURBO and generates the necessary input files associated with the grid. The preprocessor also generates information that enables the user to decide how to allocate the computational load in a multiple block per processor scenario.

SNPFile - A software library and file format for large scale association mapping and population genetics studies

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Nielsen, Jesper; Mailund, Thomas

2008-01-01

Background High-throughput genotyping technology has enabled cost effective typing of thousands of individuals in hundred of thousands of markers for use in genome wide studies. This vast improvement in data acquisition technology makes it an informatics challenge to efficiently store and manipul......Background High-throughput genotyping technology has enabled cost effective typing of thousands of individuals in hundred of thousands of markers for use in genome wide studies. This vast improvement in data acquisition technology makes it an informatics challenge to efficiently store...... together with any kind of additional data, using a flexible serialisation mechanism. The format is designed to be IO efficient for the access patterns of most multi-locus analysis methods. Conclusion The new file format has been very useful for our own studies where it has significantly reduced...... by a scripting interfaces that makes it easy to write converters to and from the format....

NCBI2RDF: Enabling Full RDF-Based Access to NCBI Databases

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Alberto Anguita

2013-01-01

Full Text Available RDF has become the standard technology for enabling interoperability among heterogeneous biomedical databases. The NCBI provides access to a large set of life sciences databases through a common interface called Entrez. However, the latter does not provide RDF-based access to such databases, and, therefore, they cannot be integrated with other RDF-compliant databases and accessed via SPARQL query interfaces. This paper presents the NCBI2RDF system, aimed at providing RDF-based access to the complete NCBI data repository. This API creates a virtual endpoint for servicing SPARQL queries over different NCBI repositories and presenting to users the query results in SPARQL results format, thus enabling this data to be integrated and/or stored with other RDF-compliant repositories. SPARQL queries are dynamically resolved, decomposed, and forwarded to the NCBI-provided E-utilities programmatic interface to access the NCBI data. Furthermore, we show how our approach increases the expressiveness of the native NCBI querying system, allowing several databases to be accessed simultaneously. This feature significantly boosts productivity when working with complex queries and saves time and effort to biomedical researchers. Our approach has been validated with a large number of SPARQL queries, thus proving its reliability and enhanced capabilities in biomedical environments.

NCBI2RDF: Enabling Full RDF-Based Access to NCBI Databases

Science.gov (United States)

Anguita, Alberto; García-Remesal, Miguel; de la Iglesia, Diana; Maojo, Victor

2013-01-01

RDF has become the standard technology for enabling interoperability among heterogeneous biomedical databases. The NCBI provides access to a large set of life sciences databases through a common interface called Entrez. However, the latter does not provide RDF-based access to such databases, and, therefore, they cannot be integrated with other RDF-compliant databases and accessed via SPARQL query interfaces. This paper presents the NCBI2RDF system, aimed at providing RDF-based access to the complete NCBI data repository. This API creates a virtual endpoint for servicing SPARQL queries over different NCBI repositories and presenting to users the query results in SPARQL results format, thus enabling this data to be integrated and/or stored with other RDF-compliant repositories. SPARQL queries are dynamically resolved, decomposed, and forwarded to the NCBI-provided E-utilities programmatic interface to access the NCBI data. Furthermore, we show how our approach increases the expressiveness of the native NCBI querying system, allowing several databases to be accessed simultaneously. This feature significantly boosts productivity when working with complex queries and saves time and effort to biomedical researchers. Our approach has been validated with a large number of SPARQL queries, thus proving its reliability and enhanced capabilities in biomedical environments. PMID:23984425

NCBI2RDF: enabling full RDF-based access to NCBI databases.

Science.gov (United States)

Anguita, Alberto; García-Remesal, Miguel; de la Iglesia, Diana; Maojo, Victor

2013-01-01

RDF has become the standard technology for enabling interoperability among heterogeneous biomedical databases. The NCBI provides access to a large set of life sciences databases through a common interface called Entrez. However, the latter does not provide RDF-based access to such databases, and, therefore, they cannot be integrated with other RDF-compliant databases and accessed via SPARQL query interfaces. This paper presents the NCBI2RDF system, aimed at providing RDF-based access to the complete NCBI data repository. This API creates a virtual endpoint for servicing SPARQL queries over different NCBI repositories and presenting to users the query results in SPARQL results format, thus enabling this data to be integrated and/or stored with other RDF-compliant repositories. SPARQL queries are dynamically resolved, decomposed, and forwarded to the NCBI-provided E-utilities programmatic interface to access the NCBI data. Furthermore, we show how our approach increases the expressiveness of the native NCBI querying system, allowing several databases to be accessed simultaneously. This feature significantly boosts productivity when working with complex queries and saves time and effort to biomedical researchers. Our approach has been validated with a large number of SPARQL queries, thus proving its reliability and enhanced capabilities in biomedical environments.

Gradient microfluidics enables rapid bacterial growth inhibition testing.

Science.gov (United States)

Li, Bing; Qiu, Yong; Glidle, Andrew; McIlvenna, David; Luo, Qian; Cooper, Jon; Shi, Han-Chang; Yin, Huabing

2014-03-18

Bacterial growth inhibition tests have become a standard measure of the adverse effects of inhibitors for a wide range of applications, such as toxicity testing in the medical and environmental sciences. However, conventional well-plate formats for these tests are laborious and provide limited information (often being restricted to an end-point assay). In this study, we have developed a microfluidic system that enables fast quantification of the effect of an inhibitor on bacteria growth and survival, within a single experiment. This format offers a unique combination of advantages, including long-term continuous flow culture, generation of concentration gradients, and single cell morphology tracking. Using Escherichia coli and the inhibitor amoxicillin as one model system, we show excellent agreement between an on-chip single cell-based assay and conventional methods to obtain quantitative measures of antibiotic inhibition (for example, minimum inhibition concentration). Furthermore, we show that our methods can provide additional information, over and above that of the standard well-plate assay, including kinetic information on growth inhibition and measurements of bacterial morphological dynamics over a wide range of inhibitor concentrations. Finally, using a second model system, we show that this chip-based systems does not require the bacteria to be labeled and is well suited for the study of naturally occurring species. We illustrate this using Nitrosomonas europaea, an environmentally important bacteria, and show that the chip system can lead to a significant reduction in the period required for growth and inhibition measurements (<4 days, compared to weeks in a culture flask).

Biofunctionalized conductive polymers enable efficient CO2 electroreduction

Science.gov (United States)

Coskun, Halime; Aljabour, Abdalaziz; De Luna, Phil; Farka, Dominik; Greunz, Theresia; Stifter, David; Kus, Mahmut; Zheng, Xueli; Liu, Min; Hassel, Achim W.; Schöfberger, Wolfgang; Sargent, Edward H.; Sariciftci, Niyazi Serdar; Stadler, Philipp

2017-01-01

Selective electrocatalysts are urgently needed for carbon dioxide (CO2) reduction to replace fossil fuels with renewable fuels, thereby closing the carbon cycle. To date, noble metals have achieved the best performance in energy yield and faradaic efficiency and have recently reached impressive electrical-to-chemical power conversion efficiencies. However, the scarcity of precious metals makes the search for scalable, metal-free, CO2 reduction reaction (CO2RR) catalysts all the more important. We report an all-organic, that is, metal-free, electrocatalyst that achieves impressive performance comparable to that of best-in-class Ag electrocatalysts. We hypothesized that polydopamine—a conjugated polymer whose structure incorporates hydrogen-bonded motifs found in enzymes—could offer the combination of efficient electrical conduction, together with rendered active catalytic sites, and potentially thereby enable CO2RR. Only by developing a vapor-phase polymerization of polydopamine were we able to combine the needed excellent conductivity with thin film–based processing. We achieve catalytic performance with geometric current densities of 18 mA cm−2 at 0.21 V overpotential (−0.86 V versus normal hydrogen electrode) for the electrosynthesis of C1 species (carbon monoxide and formate) with continuous 16-hour operation at >80% faradaic efficiency. Our catalyst exhibits lower overpotentials than state-of-the-art formate-selective metal electrocatalysts (for example, 0.5 V for Ag at 18 mA cm−1). The results confirm the value of exploiting hydrogen-bonded sequences as effective catalytic centers for renewable and cost-efficient industrial CO2RR applications. PMID:28798958

TEMPLATES: Targeting Extremely Magnified Panchromatic Lensed Arcs and Their Extended Star Formation

Science.gov (United States)

Rigby, Jane; Vieira, Joaquin; Bayliss, M.; Fischer, T.; Florian, M.; Gladders, M.; Gonzalez, A.; Law, D.; Marrone, D.; Phadke, K.; Sharon, K.; Spilker, J.

2017-11-01

We propose high signal-to-noise NIRSpec and MIRI IFU spectroscopy, with accompanying imaging, for 4 gravitationally lensed galaxies at 1physical scales of star formation in distant galaxies, in an extinction-robust way; 3) measure specific star formation rates and compare the spatial distribution of the young and old stars; 4) and measure the physical conditions of star formation and their spatial variation. This program uses key instrument modes, heavily exercising the NIRSpec and MIRI IFUs. The resulting science-enabling data products will demonstrate JWST's capabilities and provide the extragalactic science community with rich datasets. In four deliveries, we will provide high-quality Level 3 data cubes and mosaics, empirical star formation diagnostics, maps of star formation, extinction, and physical properties, a tool for comparing NIRSpec and MIRI data cubes, and cookbooks on data reduction, analysis, and calibration strategy.

OGC® Sensor Web Enablement Standards

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

George Percivall

2006-09-01

Full Text Available This article provides a high-level overview of and architecture for the Open Geospatial Consortium (OGC standards activities that focus on sensors, sensor networks, and a concept called the “Sensor Web”. This OGC work area is known as Sensor Web Enablement (SWE. This article has been condensed from "OGC® Sensor Web Enablement: Overview And High Level Architecture," an OGC White Paper by Mike Botts, PhD, George Percivall, Carl Reed, PhD, and John Davidson which can be downloaded from http://www.opengeospatial.org/pt/15540. Readers interested in greater technical and architecture detail can download and read the OGC SWE Architecture Discussion Paper titled “The OGC Sensor Web Enablement Architecture” (OGC document 06-021r1, http://www.opengeospatial.org/pt/14140.

Unveiling the Formation Pathway of Single Crystalline Porous Silicon Nanowires

Science.gov (United States)

Zhong, Xing; Qu, Yongquan; Lin, Yung-Chen; Liao, Lei; Duan, Xiangfeng

2011-01-01

Porous silicon nanowire is emerging as an interesting material system due to its unique combination of structural, chemical, electronic, and optical properties. To fully understand their formation mechanism is of great importance for controlling the fundamental physical properties and enabling potential applications. Here we present a systematic study to elucidate the mechanism responsible for the formation of porous silicon nanowires in a two-step silver-assisted electroless chemical etching method. It is shown that silicon nanowire arrays with various porosities can be prepared by varying multiple experimental parameters such as the resistivity of the starting silicon wafer, the concentration of oxidant (H2O2) and the amount of silver catalyst. Our study shows a consistent trend that the porosity increases with the increasing wafer conductivity (dopant concentration) and oxidant (H2O2) concentration. We further demonstrate that silver ions, formed by the oxidation of silver, can diffuse upwards and re-nucleate on the sidewalls of nanowires to initiate new etching pathways to produce porous structure. The elucidation of this fundamental formation mechanism opens a rational pathway to the production of wafer-scale single crystalline porous silicon nanowires with tunable surface areas ranging from 370 m2·g−1 to 30 m2·g−1, and can enable exciting opportunities in catalysis, energy harvesting, conversion, storage, as well as biomedical imaging and therapy. PMID:21244020

Enabling Open Innovation: Lessons from Haier

Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)

Arie Y.Lewin; Liisa V(a)likangas; Jin Chen

2017-01-01

Open innovation has become a dominant innovation paradigm.However,the actual adoption of open innovation organizational designs and practices remains elusive,and ongoing examples of large companies practicing open innovation in mature industries or beyond R&D activities are rare.Despite the continuing interest in open innovation and the surging research on the topic,not much is documented about how,in particular,large companies interpret and implement open innovation or develop and sustain an innovation-enabling culture.This paper reports on a study of Haier's adoption of six radical innovations as it implements an open innovation organization over a period of seven years.The study is unique in that the cases reveal how open innovation is enabled by the socially enabling mechanisms developed under Chairman Ruimin Zhang's leadership.These varied enabling mechanisms open the organization to serendipity at every level,from the bottom up to suppliers.Most importantly,the mechanisms imprint and sustain an open innovation culture recognized as important-yet often left unarticulated in terms of how it is practiced-in the prior literature.The paper contributes to and highlights the centrality of socially enabling mechanisms underlying an organization's innovation absorptive capacity.

A Piecewise Affine Hybrid Systems Approach to Fault Tolerant Satellite Formation Control

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Grunnet, Jacob Deleuran; Larsen, Jesper Abildgaard; Bak, Thomas

2008-01-01

In this paper a procedure for modelling satellite formations   including failure dynamics as a piecewise-affine hybrid system is   shown. The formulation enables recently developed methods and tools   for control and analysis of piecewise-affine systems to be applied   leading to synthesis of fault...... tolerant controllers and analysis of   the system behaviour given possible faults.  The method is   illustrated using a simple example involving two satellites trying   to reach a specific formation despite of actuator faults occurring....

Integrin-based diffusion barrier separates membrane domains enabling the formation of microbiostatic frustrated phagosomes

Science.gov (United States)

Maxson, Michelle E; Naj, Xenia; O'Meara, Teresa R; Plumb, Jonathan D; Cowen, Leah E

2018-01-01

Candida albicans hyphae can reach enormous lengths, precluding their internalization by phagocytes. Nevertheless, macrophages engulf a portion of the hypha, generating incompletely sealed tubular phagosomes. These frustrated phagosomes are stabilized by a thick cuff of F-actin that polymerizes in response to non-canonical activation of integrins by fungal glycan. Despite their continuity, the surface and invaginating phagosomal membranes retain a strikingly distinct lipid composition. PtdIns(4,5)P2 is present at the plasmalemma but is not detectable in the phagosomal membrane, while PtdIns(3)P and PtdIns(3,4,5)P3 co-exist in the phagosomes yet are absent from the surface membrane. Moreover, endo-lysosomal proteins are present only in the phagosomal membrane. Fluorescence recovery after photobleaching revealed the presence of a diffusion barrier that maintains the identity of the open tubular phagosome separate from the plasmalemma. Formation of this barrier depends on Syk, Pyk2/Fak and formin-dependent actin assembly. Antimicrobial mechanisms can thereby be deployed, limiting the growth of the hyphae. PMID:29553370

Stable Formation Control of Multi-Robot System with Communication Delay

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Limei Jiang

2012-03-01

Full Text Available In this paper, a distributed formation control algorithm with delayed information exchange is discussed. The algorithm, which is derived from the flocking behaviour of birds and consensus theory, enables robots to move in formation at a desired velocity. After a series of orthogonal transformations to the original formation system, the upper bound tolerable delay is obtained by using matrix theory and the Nyquist criterion. According to the results, the upper bound tolerable delay depends on the control parameters and eigenvalues of the Laplacian matrix. Therefore, the effect of the parameters on the maximum tolerable delay is analysed, obtaining the following conclusions: the upper bound tolerable delay is proportional to the parameters associated with the velocity, inversely proportional to the parameters associated with the position, and inversely proportional to the difference between the eigenvalue of Laplacian matrix and 1. The simulation results of a four-robot formation system with different communication delays verify the effectiveness of the formation control algorithm and the correctness of the theoretical analysis.

Micropatterned comet assay enables high throughput and sensitive DNA damage quantification.

Science.gov (United States)

Ge, Jing; Chow, Danielle N; Fessler, Jessica L; Weingeist, David M; Wood, David K; Engelward, Bevin P

2015-01-01

The single cell gel electrophoresis assay, also known as the comet assay, is a versatile method for measuring many classes of DNA damage, including base damage, abasic sites, single strand breaks and double strand breaks. However, limited throughput and difficulties with reproducibility have limited its utility, particularly for clinical and epidemiological studies. To address these limitations, we created a microarray comet assay. The use of a micrometer scale array of cells increases the number of analysable comets per square centimetre and enables automated imaging and analysis. In addition, the platform is compatible with standard 24- and 96-well plate formats. Here, we have assessed the consistency and sensitivity of the microarray comet assay. We showed that the linear detection range for H2O2-induced DNA damage in human lymphoblastoid cells is between 30 and 100 μM, and that within this range, inter-sample coefficient of variance was between 5 and 10%. Importantly, only 20 comets were required to detect a statistically significant induction of DNA damage for doses within the linear range. We also evaluated sample-to-sample and experiment-to-experiment variation and found that for both conditions, the coefficient of variation was lower than what has been reported for the traditional comet assay. Finally, we also show that the assay can be performed using a 4× objective (rather than the standard 10× objective for the traditional assay). This adjustment combined with the microarray format makes it possible to capture more than 50 analysable comets in a single image, which can then be automatically analysed using in-house software. Overall, throughput is increased more than 100-fold compared to the traditional assay. Together, the results presented here demonstrate key advances in comet assay technology that improve the throughput, sensitivity, and robustness, thus enabling larger scale clinical and epidemiological studies. © The Author 2014. Published by

Final Report: Mechanisms of sputter ripple formation: coupling among energetic ions, surface kinetics, stress and composition

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Chason, Eric; Shenoy, Vivek

2013-01-22

Self-organized pattern formation enables the creation of nanoscale surface structures over large areas based on fundamental physical processes rather than an applied template. Low energy ion bombardment is one such method that induces the spontaneous formation of a wide variety of interesting morphological features (e.g., sputter ripples and/or quantum dots). This program focused on the processes controlling sputter ripple formation and the kinetics controlling the evolution of surfaces and nanostructures in high flux environments. This was done by using systematic, quantitative experiments to measure ripple formation under a variety of processing conditions coupled with modeling to interpret the results.

An Internet enabled impact limiter material database

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Wix, S.; Kanipe, F.; McMurtry, W.

1998-09-01

This paper presents a detailed explanation of the construction of an interest enabled database, also known as a database driven web site. The data contained in the internet enabled database are impact limiter material and seal properties. The technique used in constructing the internet enabled database presented in this paper are applicable when information that is changing in content needs to be disseminated to a wide audience.

An Internet enabled impact limiter material database

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Wix, S.; Kanipe, F.; McMurtry, W.

1998-01-01

This paper presents a detailed explanation of the construction of an interest enabled database, also known as a database driven web site. The data contained in the internet enabled database are impact limiter material and seal properties. The technique used in constructing the internet enabled database presented in this paper are applicable when information that is changing in content needs to be disseminated to a wide audience

WorkStream-- A Design Pattern for Multicore-Enabled Finite Element Computations

KAUST Repository

Turcksin, Bruno

2016-08-31

Many operations that need to be performed in modern finite element codes can be described as an operation that needs to be done independently on every cell, followed by a reduction of these local results into a global data structure. For example, matrix assembly, estimating discretization errors, or converting nodal values into data structures that can be output in visualization file formats all fall into this class of operations. Using this realization, we identify a software design pattern that we callWorkStream and that can be used to model such operations and enables the use of multicore shared memory parallel processing. We also describe in detail how this design pattern can be efficiently implemented, and we provide numerical scalability results from its use in the DEAL.II software library.

Why Video Games Can Be a Good Fit for Formative Assessment

Science.gov (United States)

Bauer, Malcolm; Wylie, Caroline; Jackson, Tanner; Mislevy, Bob; Hoffman-John, Erin; John, Michael; Corrigan, Seth

2017-01-01

This paper explores the relation between formative assessment principles and their analogues in video games that game designers have been developing over the past 35 years. We identify important parallels between the two that should enable effective and efficient use of well-designed video games in the classroom as part of an overall learning…

Performance Evaluation of Beacon-Enabled Mode for IEEE 802.15.4 Wireless Sensor Network

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

M. Udin Harun Al Rasyid

2013-12-01

Full Text Available IEEE 802.15.5 standard support structure of star and peer-to-peer network formation. Strating from these, the cluster tree network can be built as a special case of peer-to-peer network to increse coverage area. In this paper, we provide an performance evaluation of beacon- enabled mode for IEEE 802.15.4 wireless sensor network on star and cluster topology in order to get the maximum result to apply the appropriate topology model as needed. We conduct analysis on each topology model by using the numbers of nodes from 10 nodes to 100 nodes to analyze throughput, delay, energy consumption, and probability success packet by using NS2 simulator. The simulation results show that the throughput and the probability of success packet of cluster topology are higher than that of star topology, and the energy consumption of cluster topology is lesser than that of star topology. However, cluster topology increases the delay more than star topology. Keywords: IEEE 802.15.4, wireless sensor network, beacon-enabled mode, topology, csma/ca

Cloud Optimized Image Format and Compression

Science.gov (United States)

Becker, P.; Plesea, L.; Maurer, T.

2015-04-01

Cloud based image storage and processing requires revaluation of formats and processing methods. For the true value of the massive volumes of earth observation data to be realized, the image data needs to be accessible from the cloud. Traditional file formats such as TIF and NITF were developed in the hay day of the desktop and assumed fast low latency file access. Other formats such as JPEG2000 provide for streaming protocols for pixel data, but still require a server to have file access. These concepts no longer truly hold in cloud based elastic storage and computation environments. This paper will provide details of a newly evolving image storage format (MRF) and compression that is optimized for cloud environments. Although the cost of storage continues to fall for large data volumes, there is still significant value in compression. For imagery data to be used in analysis and exploit the extended dynamic range of the new sensors, lossless or controlled lossy compression is of high value. Compression decreases the data volumes stored and reduces the data transferred, but the reduced data size must be balanced with the CPU required to decompress. The paper also outlines a new compression algorithm (LERC) for imagery and elevation data that optimizes this balance. Advantages of the compression include its simple to implement algorithm that enables it to be efficiently accessed using JavaScript. Combing this new cloud based image storage format and compression will help resolve some of the challenges of big image data on the internet.

5G-Enabled Tactile Internet

OpenAIRE

Simsek, Meryem; Aijaz, Adnan; Dohler, Mischa; Sachs, Joachim; Fettweis, Gerhard

2016-01-01

The long-term ambition of the Tactile Internet is to enable a democratization of skill, and how it is being delivered globally. An integral part of this is to be able to transmit touch in perceived real-time, which is enabled by suitable robotics and haptics equipment at the edges, along with an unprecedented communications network. The fifth generation (5G) mobile communications systems will underpin this emerging Internet at the wireless edge. This paper presents the most important technolo...

An internet enabled impact limiter material database

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Wix, S.; Kanipe, F.; McMurtry, W. [Sandia National Labs., Albuquerque, NM (United States)

1998-07-01

This paper presents a detailed explanation of the construction of an internet enabled database, also known as a database driven web site. The data contained in the internet enabled database are impact limiter material and seal properties. The techniques used in constructing the internet enabled database presented in this paper are applicable when information that is changing in content needs to be disseminated to a wide audience. (authors)

An internet enabled impact limiter material database

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Wix, S.; Kanipe, F.; McMurtry, W.

1998-01-01

This paper presents a detailed explanation of the construction of an internet enabled database, also known as a database driven web site. The data contained in the internet enabled database are impact limiter material and seal properties. The techniques used in constructing the internet enabled database presented in this paper are applicable when information that is changing in content needs to be disseminated to a wide audience. (authors)

'Ethos' Enabling Organisational Knowledge Creation

Science.gov (United States)

Matsudaira, Yoshito

This paper examines knowledge creation in relation to improvements on the production line in the manufacturing department of Nissan Motor Company and aims to clarify embodied knowledge observed in the actions of organisational members who enable knowledge creation will be clarified. For that purpose, this study adopts an approach that adds a first, second, and third-person's viewpoint to the theory of knowledge creation. Embodied knowledge, observed in the actions of organisational members who enable knowledge creation, is the continued practice of 'ethos' (in Greek) founded in Nissan Production Way as an ethical basis. Ethos is knowledge (intangible) assets for knowledge creating companies. Substantiated analysis classifies ethos into three categories: the individual, team and organisation. This indicates the precise actions of the organisational members in each category during the knowledge creation process. This research will be successful in its role of showing the indispensability of ethos - the new concept of knowledge assets, which enables knowledge creation -for future knowledge-based management in the knowledge society.

Handheld skin printer: in situ formation of planar biomaterials and tissues.

Science.gov (United States)

Hakimi, Navid; Cheng, Richard; Leng, Lian; Sotoudehfar, Mohammad; Ba, Phoenix Qing; Bakhtyar, Nazihah; Amini-Nik, Saeid; Jeschke, Marc G; Günther, Axel

2018-05-15

We present a handheld skin printer that enables the in situ formation of biomaterial and skin tissue sheets of different homogeneous and architected compositions. When manually positioned above a target surface, the compact instrument (weight <0.8 kg) conformally deposits a biomaterial or tissue sheet from a microfluidic cartridge. Consistent sheet formation is achieved by coordinating the flow rates at which bioink and cross-linker solution are delivered, with the speed at which a pair of rollers actively translate the cartridge along the surface. We demonstrate compatibility with dermal and epidermal cells embedded in ionically cross-linkable biomaterials (e.g., alginate), and enzymatically cross-linkable proteins (e.g., fibrin), as well as their mixtures with collagen type I and hyaluronic acid. Upon rapid crosslinking, biomaterial and skin cell-laden sheets of consistent thickness, width and composition were obtained. Sheets deposited onto horizontal, agarose-coated surfaces were used for physical and in vitro characterization. Proof-of-principle demonstrations for the in situ formation of biomaterial sheets in murine and porcine excisional wound models illustrate the capacity of depositing onto inclined and compliant wound surfaces that are subject to respiratory motion. We expect the presented work will enable the in situ delivery of a wide range of different cells, biomaterials, and tissue adhesives, as well as the in situ fabrication of spatially organized biomaterials, tissues, and biohybrid structures.

Thrombus Formation at High Shear Rates.

Science.gov (United States)

Casa, Lauren D C; Ku, David N

2017-06-21

The final common pathway in myocardial infarction and ischemic stroke is occlusion of blood flow from a thrombus forming under high shear rates in arteries. A high-shear thrombus forms rapidly and is distinct from the slow formation of coagulation that occurs in stagnant blood. Thrombosis at high shear rates depends primarily on the long protein von Willebrand factor (vWF) and platelets, with hemodynamics playing an important role in each stage of thrombus formation, including vWF binding, platelet adhesion, platelet activation, and rapid thrombus growth. The prediction of high-shear thrombosis is a major area of biofluid mechanics in which point-of-care testing and computational modeling are promising future directions for clinically relevant research. Further research in this area will enable identification of patients at high risk for arterial thrombosis, improve prevention and treatment based on shear-dependent biological mechanisms, and improve blood-contacting device design to reduce thrombosis risk.

Kinetic Modeling of Accelerated Stability Testing Enabled by Second Harmonic Generation Microscopy.

Science.gov (United States)

Song, Zhengtian; Sarkar, Sreya; Vogt, Andrew D; Danzer, Gerald D; Smith, Casey J; Gualtieri, Ellen J; Simpson, Garth J

2018-04-03

The low limits of detection afforded by second harmonic generation (SHG) microscopy coupled with image analysis algorithms enabled quantitative modeling of the temperature-dependent crystallization of active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs) within amorphous solid dispersions (ASDs). ASDs, in which an API is maintained in an amorphous state within a polymer matrix, are finding increasing use to address solubility limitations of small-molecule APIs. Extensive stability testing is typically performed for ASD characterization, the time frame for which is often dictated by the earliest detectable onset of crystal formation. Here a study of accelerated stability testing on ritonavir, a human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) protease inhibitor, has been conducted. Under the condition for accelerated stability testing at 50 °C/75%RH and 40 °C/75%RH, ritonavir crystallization kinetics from amorphous solid dispersions were monitored by SHG microscopy. SHG microscopy coupled by image analysis yielded limits of detection for ritonavir crystals as low as 10 ppm, which is about 2 orders of magnitude lower than other methods currently available for crystallinity detection in ASDs. The four decade dynamic range of SHG microscopy enabled quantitative modeling with an established (JMAK) kinetic model. From the SHG images, nucleation and crystal growth rates were independently determined.

Common Data Format (CDF) and Coordinated Data Analysis Web (CDAWeb)

Science.gov (United States)

Candey, Robert M.

2010-01-01

The Coordinated Data Analysis Web (CDAWeb) data browsing system provides plotting, listing and open access v ia FTP, HTTP, and web services (REST, SOAP, OPeNDAP) for data from mo st NASA Heliophysics missions and is heavily used by the community. C ombining data from many instruments and missions enables broad resear ch analysis and correlation and coordination with other experiments a nd missions. Crucial to its effectiveness is the use of a standard se lf-describing data format, in this case, the Common Data Format (CDF) , also developed at the Space Physics Data facility , and the use of metadata standa rds (easily edited with SKTeditor ). CDAweb is based on a set of IDL routines, CDAWlib . . The CDF project also maintains soft ware and services for translating between many standard formats (CDF. netCDF, HDF, FITS, XML) .

The enabling approach for housing supply

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ghada Farouk Hassan

2011-12-01

The paper attempts to highlight prerequisites needed to improve the success of the enabling approach in achieving adequate housing provision. Then the paper revisits the Egyptian experiences in the application of the enabling approach from 2005 till 2010. Finally, the paper highlights the main drops and lessons must be considered as promising approach after the revolution.

Networking between community health programs: a case study outlining the effectiveness, barriers and enablers.

Science.gov (United States)

Grills, Nathan J; Robinson, Priscilla; Phillip, Maneesh

2012-07-19

In India, since the 1990s, there has been a burgeoning of NGOs involved in providing primary health care. This has resulted in a complex NGO-Government interface which is difficult for lone NGOs to navigate. The Uttarakhand Cluster, India, links such small community health programs together to build NGO capacity, increase visibility and better link to the government schemes and the formal healthcare system. This research, undertaken between 1998 and 2011, aims to examine barriers and facilitators to such linking, or clustering, and the effectiveness of this clustering approach. Interviews, indicator surveys and participant observation were used to document the process and explore the enablers, the barriers and the effectiveness of networks improving community health. The analysis revealed that when activating, framing, mobilising and synthesizing the Uttarakhand Cluster, key brokers and network players were important in bridging between organisations. The ties (or relationships) that held the cluster together included homophily around common faith, common friendships and geographical location and common mission. Self interest whereby members sought funds, visibility, credibility, increased capacity and access to trainings was also a commonly identified motivating factor for networking. Barriers to network synthesizing included lack of funding, poor communication, limited time and lack of human resources. Risk aversion and mistrust remained significant barriers to overcome for such a network. In conclusion, specific enabling factors allowed the clustering approach to be effective at increasing access to resources, creating collaborative opportunities and increasing visibility, credibility and confidence of the cluster members. These findings add to knowledge regarding social network formation and collaboration, and such knowledge will assist in the conceptualisation, formation and success of potential health networks in India and other developing world countries.

Comparison of different procedures to stabilize biogas formation after process failure in a thermophilic waste digestion system: Influence of aggregate formation on process stability

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kleyböcker, A.; Liebrich, M.; Kasina, M.; Kraume, M.; Wittmaier, M.; Würdemann, H.

2012-01-01

Highlights: ► Mechanism of process recovery with calcium oxide. ► Formation of insoluble calcium salts with long chain fatty acids and phosphate. ► Adsorption of VFAs by the precipitates resulting in the formation of aggregates. ► Acid uptake and phosphate release by the phosphate-accumulating organisms. ► Microbial degradation of volatile fatty acids in the aggregates. - Abstract: Following a process failure in a full-scale biogas reactor, different counter measures were undertaken to stabilize the process of biogas formation, including the reduction of the organic loading rate, the addition of sodium hydroxide (NaOH), and the introduction of calcium oxide (CaO). Corresponding to the results of the process recovery in the full-scale digester, laboratory experiments showed that CaO was more capable of stabilizing the process than NaOH. While both additives were able to raise the pH to a neutral milieu (pH > 7.0), the formation of aggregates was observed particularly when CaO was used as the additive. Scanning electron microscopy investigations revealed calcium phosphate compounds in the core of the aggregates. Phosphate seemed to be released by phosphorus-accumulating organisms, when volatile fatty acids accumulated. The calcium, which was charged by the CaO addition, formed insoluble salts with long chain fatty acids, and caused the precipitation of calcium phosphate compounds. These aggregates were surrounded by a white layer of carbon rich organic matter, probably consisting of volatile fatty acids. Thus, during the process recovery with CaO, the decrease in the amount of accumulated acids in the liquid phase was likely enabled by (1) the formation of insoluble calcium salts with long chain fatty acids, (2) the adsorption of volatile fatty acids by the precipitates, (3) the acid uptake by phosphorus-accumulating organisms and (4) the degradation of volatile fatty acids in the aggregates. Furthermore, this mechanism enabled a stable process performance

Drift-free solar sail formations in elliptical Sun-synchronous orbits

Science.gov (United States)

Parsay, Khashayar; Schaub, Hanspeter

2017-10-01

To study the spatial and temporal variations of plasma in the highly dynamic environment of the magnetosphere, multiple spacecraft must fly in a formation. The objective for this study is to investigate the feasibility of solar sail formation flying in the Earth-centered, Sun-synchronous orbit regime. The focus of this effort is to enable formation flying for a group of solar sails that maintain a nominally fixed Sun-pointing attitude during formation flight, solely for the purpose of precessing their orbit apse lines Sun-synchronously. A fixed-attitude solar sail formation is motivated by the difficulties in the simultaneous control of orbit and attitude in flying solar sails. First, the secular rates of the orbital elements resulting from the effects of solar radiation pressure (SRP) are determined using averaging theory for a Sun-pointing attitude sail. These averaged rates are used to analytically derive the first-order necessary conditions for a drift-free solar sail formation in Sun-synchronous orbits, assuming a fixed Sun-pointing orientation for each sail in formation. The validity of the first-order necessary conditions are illustrated by designing quasi-periodic relative motions. Next, nonlinear programming is applied to design truly drift-free two-craft solar sail formations. Lastly, analytic expressions are derived to determine the long-term dynamics and sensitivity of the formation with respect to constant attitude errors, uncertainty in orbital elements, and uncertainty in a sail's characteristic acceleration.

Genetically engineered tissue to screen for glycan function in tissue formation

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

M., Adamopoulou; E.M., Pallesen; A., Levann

2017-01-01

engineered GlycoSkin tissue models can be used to study biological interactions involving glycan structure on lipids, or glycosaminoglycans. This engineering approach will allow us to investigate the functions of glycans in homeostasis and elucidate the role of glycans in normal epithelial formation....... We use genetic engineering with CRISPR/Cas9 combined with 3D organotypic skin models to examine how distinct glycans influence epithelial formation. We have performed knockout and knockin of more than 100 select genes in the genome of human immortalized human keratinocytes, enabling a systematic...... analysis of the impact of specific glycans in the formation and transformation of the human skin. The genetic engineered human skin models (GlycoSkin) was designed with and without all major biosynthetic pathways in mammalian glycan biosynthesis, including GalNAc-O-glycans, O-fucosylation, O...

Spatially enabled land administration

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Enemark, Stig

2006-01-01

enabling of land administration systems managing tenure, valuation, planning, and development will allow the information generated by these activities to be much more useful. Also, the services available to private and public sectors and to community organisations should commensurably improve. Knowledge....... In other words: Good governance and sustainable development is not attainable without sound land administration or - more broadly – sound land management. The paper presents a land management vision that incorporates the benefits of ICT enabled land administration functions. The idea is that spatial...... the communication between administrative systems and also establish more reliable data due to the use the original data instead of copies. In Denmark, such governmental guidelines for a service-oriented ITarchitecture in support of e-government are recently adopted. Finally, the paper presents the role of FIG...

Covalent Tethering and Residues with Bulky Hydrophobic Side Chains Enable Self-Assembly of Distinct Amyloid Structures.

Science.gov (United States)

Ruiz, Jérémy; Boehringer, Régis; Grogg, Marcel; Raya, Jésus; Schirer, Alicia; Crucifix, Corinne; Hellwig, Petra; Schultz, Patrick; Torbeev, Vladimir

2016-12-02

Polymorphism is a common property of amyloid fibers that complicates their detailed structural and functional studies. Here we report experiments illustrating the chemical principles that enable the formation of amyloid polymorphs with distinct stoichiometric composition. Using appropriate covalent tethering we programmed self-assembly of a model peptide corresponding to the [20-41] fragment of human β2-microglobulin into fibers with either trimeric or dimeric amyloid cores. Using a set of biophysical and biochemical methods we demonstrated their distinct structural, morphological, and templating properties. Furthermore, we showed that supramolecular approaches in which the peptide is modified with bulky substituents can also be applied to modulate the formation of different fiber polymorphs. Such strategies, when applied to disease-related peptides and proteins, will greatly help in the evaluation of the biological properties of structurally distinct amyloids. © 2016 Wiley-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.

Macroscale superlubricity enabled by graphene nanoscroll formation

Science.gov (United States)

Berman, Diana; Deshmukh, Sanket A.; Sankaranarayanan, Subramanian K. R. S.; Erdemir, Ali; Sumant, Anirudha V.

2015-06-01

Friction and wear remain as the primary modes of mechanical energy dissipation in moving mechanical assemblies; thus, it is desirable to minimize friction in a number of applications. We demonstrate that superlubricity can be realized at engineering scale when graphene is used in combination with nanodiamond particles and diamondlike carbon (DLC). Macroscopic superlubricity originates because graphene patches at a sliding interface wrap around nanodiamonds to form nanoscrolls with reduced contact area that slide against the DLC surface, achieving an incommensurate contact and substantially reduced coefficient of friction (~0.004). Atomistic simulations elucidate the overall mechanism and mesoscopic link bridging the nanoscale mechanics and macroscopic experimental observations.

Using formative feedback to identify and support first-year chemistry students with missing or misconceptions. A Practice Report

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Gwen Lawrie

2013-08-01

Full Text Available Students entering tertiary studies possess a diverse range of prior experiences in their academic preparation for tertiary chemistry so academics need tools to enable them to respond to issues in diversity in conceptual models possessed by entering students. Concept inventories can be used to provide formative feedback to help students identify concepts that they need to address to improve construction of subsequent understanding enabling their learning.Modular, formative learning activities that can be administered inside or outside of class in first year chemistry courses have been developed. These activities address key missing and mis-conceptions possessed by incoming student. Engagement in these learning activities by students and academics will help shift the culture of diagnostic and formative assessment within the tertiary context and address issues around the secondary/tertiary transition. This diagnostic/intervention framework is currently being trialed across five Australian tertiary institutions encompassing a large heterogeneous sample of students.

NON-IDEAL MHD EFFECTS AND MAGNETIC BRAKING CATASTROPHE IN PROTOSTELLAR DISK FORMATION

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Li Zhiyun; Krasnopolsky, Ruben; Shang Hsien

2011-01-01

Dense, star-forming cores of molecular clouds are observed to be significantly magnetized. A realistic magnetic field of moderate strength has been shown to suppress, through catastrophic magnetic braking, the formation of a rotationally supported disk (RSD) during the protostellar accretion phase of low-mass star formation in the ideal MHD limit. We address, through two-dimensional (axisymmetric) simulations, the question of whether realistic levels of non-ideal effects, computed with a simplified chemical network including dust grains, can weaken the magnetic braking enough to enable an RSD to form. We find that ambipolar diffusion (AD), the dominant non-ideal MHD effect over most of the density range relevant to disk formation, does not enable disk formation, at least in two dimensions. The reason is that AD allows the magnetic flux that would be dragged into the central stellar object in the ideal MHD limit to pile up instead in a small circumstellar region, where the magnetic field strength (and thus the braking efficiency) is greatly enhanced. We also find that, on the scale of tens of AU or more, a realistic level of Ohmic dissipation does not weaken the magnetic braking enough for an RSD to form, either by itself or in combination with AD. The Hall effect, the least explored of these three non-ideal MHD effects, can spin up the material close to the central object to a significant, supersonic rotation speed, even when the core is initially non-rotating, although the spun-up material remains too sub-Keplerian to form an RSD. The problem of catastrophic magnetic braking that prevents disk formation in dense cores magnetized to realistic levels remains unresolved. Possible resolutions of this problem are discussed.

Geological Sequestration of CO2 by Hydrous Carbonate Formation with Reclaimed Slag

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Von L. Richards; Kent Peaslee; Jeffrey Smith

2008-02-06

The concept of this project is to develop a process that improves the kinetics of the hydrous carbonate formation reaction enabling steelmakers to directly remove CO2 from their furnace exhaust gas. It is proposed to bring the furnace exhaust stream containing CO2 in contact with reclaimed steelmaking slag in a reactor that has an environment near the unit activity of water resulting in the production of carbonates. The CO2 emissions from the plant would be reduced by the amount sequestered in the formation of carbonates. The main raw materials for the process are furnace exhaust gases and specially prepared slag.

Using Formative Assessment to Facilitate Learner Self-Regulation: A Case Study of Assessment Practices and Student Perceptions in Hong Kong

Science.gov (United States)

Jing Jing, Ma

2017-01-01

One of the key aims of formative assessment in higher education is to enable students to become self-regulated learners (Nicol & Macfarlane-Dick, 2006). Based on Nicol and Macfarlane-Dick's (2006) framework, this exploratory study investigates which formative assessment practices proposed by them were used by one college EFL writing teacher to…

Enabling distributed collaborative science

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Hudson, T.; Sonnenwald, Diane H.; Maglaughlin, K.

2000-01-01

To enable collaboration over distance, a collaborative environment that uses a specialized scientific instrument called a nanoManipulator is evaluated. The nanoManipulator incorporates visualization and force feedback technology to allow scientists to see, feel, and modify biological samples bein...

An Undergraduate Study of Two Transcription Factors that Promote Lateral Root Formation

Science.gov (United States)

Bargmann, Bastiaan O. R.; Birnbaum, Kenneth D.; Brenner, Eric D.

2014-01-01

We present a lab that enables students to test the role of genes involved in the regulation of lateral roots growth in the model plant "Arabidopsis thaliana." Here, students design an experiment that follows the effects of the hormone auxin on the stimulation of genes involved in the formation of lateral root initials. These genes, known…

Broadening the horizon – level 2.5 of the HUPO-PSI format for molecular interactions

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Cusick Michael E

2007-10-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background Molecular interaction Information is a key resource in modern biomedical research. Publicly available data have previously been provided in a broad array of diverse formats, making access to this very difficult. The publication and wide implementation of the Human Proteome Organisation Proteomics Standards Initiative Molecular Interactions (HUPO PSI-MI format in 2004 was a major step towards the establishment of a single, unified format by which molecular interactions should be presented, but focused purely on protein-protein interactions. Results The HUPO-PSI has further developed the PSI-MI XML schema to enable the description of interactions between a wider range of molecular types, for example nucleic acids, chemical entities, and molecular complexes. Extensive details about each supported molecular interaction can now be captured, including the biological role of each molecule within that interaction, detailed description of interacting domains, and the kinetic parameters of the interaction. The format is supported by data management and analysis tools and has been adopted by major interaction data providers. Additionally, a simpler, tab-delimited format MITAB2.5 has been developed for the benefit of users who require only minimal information in an easy to access configuration. Conclusion The PSI-MI XML2.5 and MITAB2.5 formats have been jointly developed by interaction data producers and providers from both the academic and commercial sector, and are already widely implemented and well supported by an active development community. PSI-MI XML2.5 enables the description of highly detailed molecular interaction data and facilitates data exchange between databases and users without loss of information. MITAB2.5 is a simpler format appropriate for fast Perl parsing or loading into Microsoft Excel.

Formation of planetary systems

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Brahic, A.

1982-01-01

It seemed appropriate to devote the 1980 School to the origin of the solar system and more particularly to the formation of planetary systems (dynamic accretion processes, small bodies, planetary rings, etc...) and to the physics and chemistry of planetary interiors, surface and atmospheres (physical and chemical constraints associated with their formation). This Summer School enabled both young researchers and hard-nosed scientists, gathered together in idyllic surroundings, to hold numerous discussions, to lay the foundations for future cooperation, to acquire an excellent basic understanding, and to make many useful contacts. This volume reflects the lectures and presentations that were delivered in this Summer School setting. It is aimed at both advanced students and research workers wishing to specialize in planetology. Every effort has been made to give an overview of the basic knowledge required in order to gain a better understanding of the origin of the solar system. Each article has been revised by one or two referees whom I would like to thank for their assistance. Between the end of the School in August 1980 and the publication of this volume in 1982, the Voyager probes have returned a wealth of useful information. Some preliminary results have been included for completeness

Social-ecological enabling conditions for payments for ecosystem services

OpenAIRE

Heidi R. Huber-Stearns; Drew E. Bennett; Stephen Posner; Ryan C. Richards; Jenn Hoyle. Fair; Stella J. M. Cousins; Chelsie L. Romulo

2017-01-01

The concept of "enabling conditions" centers on conditions that facilitate approaches to addressing social and ecological challenges. Although multiple fields have independently addressed the concept of enabling conditions, the literature lacks a shared understanding or integration of concepts. We propose a more synthesized understanding of enabling conditions beyond disciplinary boundaries by focusing on the enabling conditions that influence the implementation of a range of environmental p...

Nanomaterial-Enabled Wearable Sensors for Healthcare.

Science.gov (United States)

Yao, Shanshan; Swetha, Puchakayala; Zhu, Yong

2018-01-01

Highly sensitive wearable sensors that can be conformably attached to human skin or integrated with textiles to monitor the physiological parameters of human body or the surrounding environment have garnered tremendous interest. Owing to the large surface area and outstanding material properties, nanomaterials are promising building blocks for wearable sensors. Recent advances in the nanomaterial-enabled wearable sensors including temperature, electrophysiological, strain, tactile, electrochemical, and environmental sensors are presented in this review. Integration of multiple sensors for multimodal sensing and integration with other components into wearable systems are summarized. Representative applications of nanomaterial-enabled wearable sensors for healthcare, including continuous health monitoring, daily and sports activity tracking, and multifunctional electronic skin are highlighted. Finally, challenges, opportunities, and future perspectives in the field of nanomaterial-enabled wearable sensors are discussed. © 2017 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.

On the security of SSL/TLS-enabled applications

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Manik Lal Das

2014-01-01

Full Text Available SSL/TLS (Secure Socket Layer/Transport Layer Security-enabled web applications aim to provide public key certificate based authentication, secure session key establishment, and symmetric key based traffic confidentiality. A large number of electronic commerce applications, such as stock trading, banking, shopping, and gaming rely on the security strength of the SSL/TLS protocol. In recent times, a potential threat, known as main-in-the-middle (MITM attack, has been exploited by attackers of SSL/TLS-enabled web applications, particularly when naive users want to connect to an SSL/TLS-enabled web server. In this paper, we discuss about the MITM threat to SSL/TLS-enabled web applications. We review the existing space of solutions to counter the MITM attack on SSL/TLS-enabled applications, and then, we provide an effective solution which can resist the MITM attack on SSL/TLS-enabled applications. The proposed solution uses a soft-token based approach for user authentication on top of the SSL/TLS’s security features. We show that the proposed solution is secure, efficient and user friendly in comparison to other similar approaches.

Networking between community health programs: a case study outlining the effectiveness, barriers and enablers

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Grills Nathan J

2012-07-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background In India, since the 1990s, there has been a burgeoning of NGOs involved in providing primary health care. This has resulted in a complex NGO-Government interface which is difficult for lone NGOs to navigate. The Uttarakhand Cluster, India, links such small community health programs together to build NGO capacity, increase visibility and better link to the government schemes and the formal healthcare system. This research, undertaken between 1998 and 2011, aims to examine barriers and facilitators to such linking, or clustering, and the effectiveness of this clustering approach. Methods Interviews, indicator surveys and participant observation were used to document the process and explore the enablers, the barriers and the effectiveness of networks improving community health. Results The analysis revealed that when activating, framing, mobilising and synthesizing the Uttarakhand Cluster, key brokers and network players were important in bridging between organisations. The ties (or relationships that held the cluster together included homophily around common faith, common friendships and geographical location and common mission. Self interest whereby members sought funds, visibility, credibility, increased capacity and access to trainings was also a commonly identified motivating factor for networking. Barriers to network synthesizing included lack of funding, poor communication, limited time and lack of human resources. Risk aversion and mistrust remained significant barriers to overcome for such a network. Conclusions In conclusion, specific enabling factors allowed the clustering approach to be effective at increasing access to resources, creating collaborative opportunities and increasing visibility, credibility and confidence of the cluster members. These findings add to knowledge regarding social network formation and collaboration, and such knowledge will assist in the conceptualisation, formation and success of

Integrated Photonics Enabled by Slow Light

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Mørk, Jesper; Chen, Yuntian; Ek, Sara

2012-01-01

In this talk we will discuss the physics of slow light in semiconductor materials and in particular the possibilities offered for integrated photonics. This includes ultra-compact slow light enabled optical amplifiers, lasers and pulse sources.......In this talk we will discuss the physics of slow light in semiconductor materials and in particular the possibilities offered for integrated photonics. This includes ultra-compact slow light enabled optical amplifiers, lasers and pulse sources....

A Study of Two Dwarf Irregular Galaxies with Asymmetrical Star Formation Distributions

Science.gov (United States)

Hunter, Deidre A.; Gallardo, Samavarti; Zhang, Hong-Xin; Adamo, Angela; Cook, David O.; Oh, Se-Heon; Elmegreen, Bruce G.; Kim, Hwihyun; Kahre, Lauren; Ubeda, Leonardo; Bright, Stacey N.; Ryon, Jenna E.; Fumagalli, Michele; Sacchi, Elena; Kennicutt, R. C.; Tosi, Monica; Dale, Daniel A.; Cignoni, Michele; Messa, Matteo; Grebel, Eva K.; Gouliermis, Dimitrios A.; Sabbi, Elena; Grasha, Kathryn; Gallagher, John S., III; Calzetti, Daniela; Lee, Janice C.

2018-03-01

Two dwarf irregular galaxies, DDO 187 and NGC 3738, exhibit a striking pattern of star formation: intense star formation is taking place in a large region occupying roughly half of the inner part of the optical galaxy. We use data on the H I distribution and kinematics and stellar images and colors to examine the properties of the environment in the high star formation rate (HSF) halves of the galaxies in comparison with the low star formation rate halves. We find that the pressure and gas density are higher on the HSF sides by 30%–70%. In addition we find in both galaxies that the H I velocity fields exhibit significant deviations from ordered rotation and there are large regions of high-velocity dispersion and multiple velocity components in the gas beyond the inner regions of the galaxies. The conditions in the HSF regions are likely the result of large-scale external processes affecting the internal environment of the galaxies and enabling the current star formation there.

Abnormal monocyte recruitment and collateral artery formation in monocyte chemoattractant protein-1 deficient mice

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Voskuil, Michiel; Hoefer, Imo E.; van Royen, Niels; Hua, Jing; de Graaf, Stijn; Bode, Christoph; Buschmann, Ivo R.; Piek, Jan J.

2004-01-01

Monocyte chemoattractant protein 1 (MCP-1) has been shown to be effective for the stimulation of collateral artery formation in small and large animal models. The availability of a genetic knockout mouse enables evaluation of the importance of the role of MCP-1 in the natural course of collateral

Social-ecological enabling conditions for payments for ecosystem services

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Heidi R. Huber-Stearns

2017-03-01

Full Text Available The concept of "enabling conditions" centers on conditions that facilitate approaches to addressing social and ecological challenges. Although multiple fields have independently addressed the concept of enabling conditions, the literature lacks a shared understanding or integration of concepts. We propose a more synthesized understanding of enabling conditions beyond disciplinary boundaries by focusing on the enabling conditions that influence the implementation of a range of environmental policies termed payments for ecosystem services (PES. Through an analysis of key literature from different disciplinary perspectives, we examined how researchers and practitioners refer to and identify enabling conditions within the context of PES. Through our synthesis, we identified 24 distinct enabling conditions organized within 4 broad themes: biophysical, economic, governance, and social-cultural conditions. We found that the literature coalesces around certain enabling conditions, such as strong ecosystem science and existing institutions, regardless of disciplinary background or journal audience. We also observed key differences in how authors perceive the direction of influence for property type, program objectives, and number of actors. Additionally, we noted an emphasis on the importance of the contextual nature of many enabling conditions that may cause certain conditions to have a disproportionate impact on successful implementation in some circumstances. Unraveling the relative importance of specific enabling conditions in diverse contexts remains a research frontier. Ultimately, no single disciplinary perspective is likely to provide all necessary insights for PES creation, and given the intertwined nature of enabling conditions, practitioners need to consider insights from multiple dimensions. Our work suggests opportunities to better connect diverse conversations through integration of concepts, a common vocabulary, and a synthetic framework.

A linked GeoData map for enabling information access

Science.gov (United States)

Powell, Logan J.; Varanka, Dalia E.

2018-01-10

OverviewThe Geospatial Semantic Web (GSW) is an emerging technology that uses the Internet for more effective knowledge engineering and information extraction. Among the aims of the GSW are to structure the semantic specifications of data to reduce ambiguity and to link those data more efficiently. The data are stored as triples, the basic data unit in graph databases, which are similar to the vector data model of geographic information systems (GIS); that is, a node-edge-node model that forms a graph of semantically related information. The GSW is supported by emerging technologies such as linked geospatial data, described below, that enable it to store and manage geographical data that require new cartographic methods for visualization. This report describes a map that can interact with linked geospatial data using a simulation of a data query approach called the browsable graph to find information that is semantically related to a subject of interest, visualized using the Data Driven Documents (D3) library. Such a semantically enabled map functions as a map knowledge base (MKB) (Varanka and Usery, 2017).A MKB differs from a database in an important way. The central element of a triple, alternatively called the edge or property, is composed of a logic formalization that structures the relation between the first and third parts, the nodes or objects. Node-edge-node represents the graphic form of the triple, and the subject-property-object terms represent the data structure. Object classes connect to build a federated graph, similar to a network in visual form. Because the triple property is a logical statement (a predicate), the data graph represents logical propositions or assertions accepted to be true about the subject matter. These logical formalizations can be manipulated to calculate new triples, representing inferred logical assertions, from the existing data.To demonstrate a MKB system, a technical proof-of-concept is developed that uses geographically

A Preliminary Formation Flying Orbit Dynamics Analysis for Leonardo-BRDF

Science.gov (United States)

Hughes, Steven P.; Mailhe, Laurie M.

2001-01-01

Leonardo-BRDF is a NASA mission concept proposed to allow the investigation of radiative transfer and its effect on the Earth's climate and atmospheric phenomenon. Enabled by the recent developments in small-satellite and formation flying technology, the mission is envisioned to be composed of an array of spacecraft in carefully designed orbits. The different perspectives provided by a distributed array of spacecraft offer a unique advantage to study the Earth's albedo. This paper presents the orbit dynamics analysis performed in the context of the Leonardo-BRDF science requirements. First, the albedo integral is investigated and the effect of viewing geometry on science return is studied. The method used in this paper, based on Gauss quadrature, provides the optimal formation geometry to ensure that the value of the integral is accurately approximated. An orbit design approach is presented to achieve specific relative orbit geometries while simultaneously satisfying orbit dynamics constraints to reduce formation-keeping fuel expenditure. The relative geometry afforded by the design is discussed in terms of mission requirements. An optimal two-burn initialization scheme is presented with the required delta-V to distribute all spacecraft from a common parking orbit into their appropriate orbits in the formation. Finally, formation-keeping strategies are developed and the associated delta-V's are calculated to maintain the formation in the presence of perturbations.

Novel multiscale modeling tool applied to Pseudomonas aeruginosa biofilm formation.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Matthew B Biggs

Full Text Available Multiscale modeling is used to represent biological systems with increasing frequency and success. Multiscale models are often hybrids of different modeling frameworks and programming languages. We present the MATLAB-NetLogo extension (MatNet as a novel tool for multiscale modeling. We demonstrate the utility of the tool with a multiscale model of Pseudomonas aeruginosa biofilm formation that incorporates both an agent-based model (ABM and constraint-based metabolic modeling. The hybrid model correctly recapitulates oxygen-limited biofilm metabolic activity and predicts increased growth rate via anaerobic respiration with the addition of nitrate to the growth media. In addition, a genome-wide survey of metabolic mutants and biofilm formation exemplifies the powerful analyses that are enabled by this computational modeling tool.

Novel multiscale modeling tool applied to Pseudomonas aeruginosa biofilm formation.

Science.gov (United States)

Biggs, Matthew B; Papin, Jason A

2013-01-01

Multiscale modeling is used to represent biological systems with increasing frequency and success. Multiscale models are often hybrids of different modeling frameworks and programming languages. We present the MATLAB-NetLogo extension (MatNet) as a novel tool for multiscale modeling. We demonstrate the utility of the tool with a multiscale model of Pseudomonas aeruginosa biofilm formation that incorporates both an agent-based model (ABM) and constraint-based metabolic modeling. The hybrid model correctly recapitulates oxygen-limited biofilm metabolic activity and predicts increased growth rate via anaerobic respiration with the addition of nitrate to the growth media. In addition, a genome-wide survey of metabolic mutants and biofilm formation exemplifies the powerful analyses that are enabled by this computational modeling tool.

Smart Grid Enabled EVSE

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

None, None

2015-01-12

The combined team of GE Global Research, Federal Express, National Renewable Energy Laboratory, and Consolidated Edison has successfully achieved the established goals contained within the Department of Energy’s Smart Grid Capable Electric Vehicle Supply Equipment funding opportunity. The final program product, shown charging two vehicles in Figure 1, reduces by nearly 50% the total installed system cost of the electric vehicle supply equipment (EVSE) as well as enabling a host of new Smart Grid enabled features. These include bi-directional communications, load control, utility message exchange and transaction management information. Using the new charging system, Utilities or energy service providers will now be able to monitor transportation related electrical loads on their distribution networks, send load control commands or preferences to individual systems, and then see measured responses. Installation owners will be able to authorize usage of the stations, monitor operations, and optimally control their electricity consumption. These features and cost reductions have been developed through a total system design solution.

Temporal binding function of dorsal CA1 is critical for declarative memory formation.

Science.gov (United States)

Sellami, Azza; Al Abed, Alice Shaam; Brayda-Bruno, Laurent; Etchamendy, Nicole; Valério, Stéphane; Oulé, Marie; Pantaléon, Laura; Lamothe, Valérie; Potier, Mylène; Bernard, Katy; Jabourian, Maritza; Herry, Cyril; Mons, Nicole; Piazza, Pier-Vincenzo; Eichenbaum, Howard; Marighetto, Aline

2017-09-19

Temporal binding, the process that enables association between discontiguous stimuli in memory, and relational organization, a process that enables the flexibility of declarative memories, are both hippocampus-dependent and decline in aging. However, how these two processes are related in supporting declarative memory formation and how they are compromised in age-related memory loss remain hypothetical. We here identify a causal link between these two features of declarative memory: Temporal binding is a necessary condition for the relational organization of discontiguous events. We demonstrate that the formation of a relational memory is limited by the capability of temporal binding, which depends on dorsal (d)CA1 activity over time intervals and diminishes in aging. Conversely, relational representation is successful even in aged individuals when the demand on temporal binding is minimized, showing that relational/declarative memory per se is not impaired in aging. Thus, bridging temporal intervals by dCA1 activity is a critical foundation of relational representation, and a deterioration of this mechanism is responsible for the age-associated memory impairment.

People avoid situations that enable them to deceive others

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Shalvi, S.; Handgraaf, M.J.J.; de Dreu, C.K.W.

2011-01-01

Information advantage enables people to benefit themselves by deceiving their counterparts. Using a modified ultimatum bargaining game with an exit option, we find that people are more likely to avoid settings enabling them to privately deceive their counterparts than settings which do not enable

Student-generated reading questions: diagnosing student thinking with diverse formative assessments.

Science.gov (United States)

Offerdahl, Erika G; Montplaisir, Lisa

2014-01-01

Formative assessment has long been identified as a critical element to teaching for conceptual development in science. It is therefore important for university instructors to have an arsenal of formative assessment tools at their disposal which enable them to effectively uncover and diagnose all students' thinking, not just the most vocal or assertive. We illustrate the utility of one type of formative assessment prompt (reading question assignment) in producing high-quality evidence of student thinking (student-generated reading questions). Specifically, we characterized student assessment data using three distinct analytic frames to exemplify their effectiveness in diagnosing student learning in relationship to three sample learning outcomes. Our data will be useful for university faculty, particularly those engaged in teaching upper-level biochemistry courses and their prerequisites, as they provide an alternative mechanism for uncovering and diagnosing student understanding. © 2013 by The International Union of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology.

Mushroom bodies regulate habit formation in Drosophila.

Science.gov (United States)

Brembs, Björn

2009-08-25

To make good decisions, we evaluate past choices to guide later decisions. In most situations, we have the opportunity to simultaneously learn about both the consequences of our choice (i.e., operantly) and the stimuli associated with correct or incorrect choices (i.e., classically). Interestingly, in many species, including humans, these learning processes occasionally lead to irrational decisions. An extreme case is the habitual drug user consistently administering the drug despite the negative consequences, but we all have experience with our own, less severe habits. The standard animal model employs a combination of operant and classical learning components to bring about habit formation in rodents. After extended training, these animals will press a lever even if the outcome associated with lever-pressing is no longer desired. In this study, experiments with wild-type and transgenic flies revealed that a prominent insect neuropil, the mushroom bodies (MBs), regulates habit formation in flies by inhibiting the operant learning system when a predictive stimulus is present. This inhibition enables generalization of the classical memory and prevents premature habit formation. Extended training in wild-type flies produced a phenocopy of MB-impaired flies, such that generalization was abolished and goal-directed actions were transformed into habitual responses.

Hydroxyl-dependent Evolution of Oxygen Vacancies Enables the Regeneration of BiOCl photocatalyst

KAUST Repository

Wu, Sujuan

2017-05-02

Photoinduced oxygen vacancies (OVs) are widely investigated as a vital point defect in wide-band-gap semiconductors. Still, the formation mechanism of OVs remains unclear in various materials. To elucidate the formation mechanism of photoinduced OVs in bismuth oxychloride (BiOCl), we synthesized two surface hydroxyl discrete samples in light of the discovery of the significant variance of hydroxyl groups before and after UV light exposure. It is noted that OVs can be obtained easily after UV light irradiation in the sample with surface hydroxyl groups, while variable changes were observed in samples without surface hydroxyls. Density functional theory (DFT) calculations reveal that the binding energy of Bi-O is drastically influenced by surficial hydroxyl groups, which is intensely correlated to the formation of photoinduced OVs. Moreover, DFT calculations reveal that the adsorbed water molecules are energetically favored to dissociate into separate hydroxyl groups at the OV sites via proton transfer to a neighboring bridging oxygen atom, forming two bridging hydroxyl groups per initial oxygen vacancy. This result is consistent with the experimental observation that the disappearance of photoinduced OVs and the recovery of hydroxyl groups on the surface of BiOCl after exposed to a H2O(g)-rich atmosphere, and finally enables the regeneration of BiOCl photocatalyst. Here, we introduce new insights that the evolution of photoinduced OVs is dependent on surface hydroxyl groups, which will lead to the regeneration of active sites in semiconductors. This work is useful for controllable designs of defective semiconductors for applications in photocatalysis and photovoltaics.

Physician communication via Internet-enabled technology: A systematic review.

Science.gov (United States)

Barr, Neil G; Randall, Glen E; Archer, Norman P; Musson, David M

2017-10-01

The use of Internet-enabled technology (information and communication technology such as smartphone applications) may enrich information exchange among providers and, consequently, improve health care delivery. The purpose of this systematic review was to gain a greater understanding of the role that Internet-enabled technology plays in enhancing communication among physicians. Studies were identified through a search in three electronic platforms: the Association for Computing Machinery Digital Library, ProQuest, and Web of Science. The search identified 5140 articles; of these, 21 met all inclusion criteria. In general, physicians were satisfied with Internet-enabled technology, but consensus was lacking regarding whether Internet-enabled technology improved efficiency or made a difference to clinical decision-making. Internet-enabled technology can play an important role in enhancing communication among physicians, but the extent of that benefit is influenced by (1) the impact of Internet-enabled technology on existing work practices, (2) the availability of adequate resources, and (3) the nature of institutional elements, such as privacy legislation.

The ENABLER---based on proven NERVA technology

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Livingston, J.M.; Pierce, B.L.

1991-01-01

The ENABLER reactor for use in a nuclear thermal propulsion engine uses the technology developed in the NERVA/Rover program, updated to incorporate advances in the technology. Using composite fuel, higher power densities per fuel element, improved radiation resistant control components and the advancements in use of carbon-carbon materials; the ENABLER can provide a specific impulse of 925 seconds, an engine thrust to weight (excluding reactor shield) approaching five, an improved initial Mass In Low Earth Orbit (IMLEO) and a consequent reduction in launch costs and logistics problems. This paper describes the 75,000 lbs thrust ENABLER design which is a low cost, low risk approach to meeting tomorrow's space propulsion needs

The ENABLER - Based on proven NERVA technology

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Livingston, J.M.; Pierce, B.L.

1991-01-01

The ENABLER reactor for use in a nuclear thermal propulsion engine uses the technology developed in the NERVA/Rover program, updated to incorporate advances in the technology. Using composite fuel, higher power densities per fuel element, improved radiation resistant control components and the advancements in use of carbon-carbon materials; the ENABLER can provide a specific impulse of 925 seconds, an engine thrust to weight (excluding reactor shield) approaching five, an improved initial mass in low Earth orbit and a consequent reduction in launch costs and logistics problems. This paper describes the 75,000 lbs thrust ENABLER design which is a low cost, low risk approach to meeting tommorrow's space propulsion needs

The ENABLER - Based on proven NERVA technology

Science.gov (United States)

Livingston, Julie M.; Pierce, Bill L.

The ENABLER reactor for use in a nuclear thermal propulsion engine uses the technology developed in the NERVA/Rover program, updated to incorporate advances in the technology. Using composite fuel, higher power densities per fuel element, improved radiation resistant control components and the advancements in use of carbon-carbon materials; the ENABLER can provide a specific impulse of 925 seconds, an engine thrust to weight (excluding reactor shield) approaching five, an improved initial mass in low Earth orbit and a consequent reduction in launch costs and logistics problems. This paper describes the 75,000 lbs thrust ENABLER design which is a low cost, low risk approach to meeting tommorrow's space propulsion needs.

Internet-enabled collaborative agent-based supply chains

Science.gov (United States)

Shen, Weiming; Kremer, Rob; Norrie, Douglas H.

2000-12-01

This paper presents some results of our recent research work related to the development of a new Collaborative Agent System Architecture (CASA) and an Infrastructure for Collaborative Agent Systems (ICAS). Initially being proposed as a general architecture for Internet based collaborative agent systems (particularly complex industrial collaborative agent systems), the proposed architecture is very suitable for managing the Internet enabled complex supply chain for a large manufacturing enterprise. The general collaborative agent system architecture with the basic communication and cooperation services, domain independent components, prototypes and mechanisms are described. Benefits of implementing Internet enabled supply chains with the proposed infrastructure are discussed. A case study on Internet enabled supply chain management is presented.

The performance model of dynamic virtual organization (VO) formations within grid computing context

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Han Liangxiu

2009-01-01

Grid computing aims to enable 'resource sharing and coordinated problem solving in dynamic, multi-institutional virtual organizations (VOs)'. Within the grid computing context, successful dynamic VO formations mean a number of individuals and institutions associated with certain resources join together and form new VOs in order to effectively execute tasks within given time steps. To date, while the concept of VOs has been accepted, few research has been done on the impact of effective dynamic virtual organization formations. In this paper, we develop a performance model of dynamic VOs formation and analyze the effect of different complex organizational structures and their various statistic parameter properties on dynamic VO formations from three aspects: (1) the probability of a successful VO formation under different organizational structures and statistic parameters change, e.g. average degree; (2) the effect of task complexity on dynamic VO formations; (3) the impact of network scales on dynamic VO formations. The experimental results show that the proposed model can be used to understand the dynamic VO formation performance of the simulated organizations. The work provides a good path to understand how to effectively schedule and utilize resources based on the complex grid network and therefore improve the overall performance within grid environment.

SOA formation from gasoline vehicles: from the tailpipe to the atmosphere

Science.gov (United States)

Robinson, A. L.; Zhao, Y.; Lambe, A. T.; Saleh, R.; Saliba, G.; Tkacik, D. S.

2017-12-01

Secondary organic aerosol (SOA) formation from gasoline vehicles has been indicated as an important source of atmospheric SOA, but its contribution to atmospheric SOA is loosely constrained due to the lack of measurements to link SOA formation from the tailpipe to atmospheric SOA. In this study, we determine the contribution of SOA formation based on measurements made with a Potential Aerosol Mass (PAM) oxidation flow reactor by oxidizing vehicular exhaust and ambient air. We first investigate SOA formation from dilute gasoline-vehicle exhaust during chassis dynamometer testing. The test fleet consists of both vehicles equipped with gasoline direct injection engines (GDI vehicles) and those equipped with port fuel injection engines (PFI vehicles). These vehicles span a wide range of emissions standards from Tier0 to Super Ultra-Low Emission Vehicles (SULEV). Then, we combine our measurements of SOA formation from gasoline vehicles during dynamometer testing with measurements of SOA formation using a PAM reactor conducted in a highway tunnel and in the unban atmosphere. Comparisons of SOA formation between these datasets enable us to quantitatively connect SOA formation from individual vehicles, to a large on-road fleet, and to the atmosphere. To facilitate the comparisons, we account for the effects of both the photochemical age and dilution on SOA formation. Our results show that SOA formation from gasoline vehicles can contribute over 50% of fossil fuel-related atmospheric SOA in the Los Angeles area. Furthermore, our results demonstrate that the tightening of emissions standards effectively reduces SOA formation from gasoline vehicles, including both PFI and GDI vehicles, if the atmospheric chemistry regime remains the same.

Dynamical Formation and Merger of Binary Black Holes

Science.gov (United States)

Stone, Nicholas

2017-01-01

The advent of gravitational wave (GW) astronomy began with Advanced LIGO's 2015 discovery of GWs from coalescing black hole (BH) binaries. GW astronomy holds great promise for testing general relativity, but also for investigating open astrophysical questions not amenable to traditional electromagnetic observations. One such question concerns the origin of stellar mass BH binaries in the universe: do these form primarily from evolution of isolated binaries of massive stars, or do they form through more exotic dynamical channels? The best studied dynamical formation channel involves multibody interactions of BHs and stars in dense globular cluster environments, but many other dynamical scenarios have recently been proposed, ranging from the Kozai effect in hierarchical triple systems to BH binary formation in the outskirts of Toomre-unstable accretion disks surrounding supermassive black holes. The BH binaries formed through these processes will have different distributions of observable parameters (e.g. mass ratios, spins) than BH binaries formed through the evolution of isolated binary stars. In my talk I will overview these and other dynamical formation scenarios, and summarize the key observational tests that will enable Advanced LIGO or other future detectors to determine what formation pathway creates the majority of binary BHs in the universe. NCS thanks NASA, which has funded his work through Einstein postdoctoral grant PF5-160145.

Radar-Enabled Recovery of the Sutters Mill Meteorite, a Carbonaceous Chondrite Regolith Breccia

Science.gov (United States)

Jenniskens, Petrus M.; Fries, Marc D.; Yin, Qing-Zhu; Zolensky, Michael E.; Krot, Alexander N.; Sandford, Scott A.; Sears, Derek; Beauford, Robert; Ebel, Denton S.; Friedrich, Jon M.;

Colonization and biofilm formation by Staphylococcus aureus on endothelial cell layers under flow

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Grønnemose, Rasmus Birkholm; Antoinette Asferg, Cecilie; Kolmos, Hans Jørn

Staphylococcus aureus is a major human pathogen and known for causing vascular infections such as sepsis and infective endocarditis. It has previously been proposed that S. aureus succeed in colonization of the endothelial wall by specific surface attachment likely followed by biofilm formation....... Furthermore, S. aureus is known to invade human cells, which has been proposed to promote persistence through immune and antibiotic evasion. In the current study, we sought to investigate endothelial colonization, invasion, and biofilm formation by S. aureus using a newly developed in vitro flow chamber model....... We show that under physiological shear rates, S. aureus utilizes cellular invasion to enable the following surface colonization and biofilm formation. These observations might help explain the success of S. aureus as a bloodstream pathogen and guide further studies in S. aureus pathogenesis...

Hydrogenation of silyl formates: sustainable production of silanol and methanol from hydrosilane and carbon dioxide.

Science.gov (United States)

Koo, Jangwoo; Kim, Seung Hyo; Hong, Soon Hyeok

2018-05-10

A new process for simultaneously obtaining two chemical building blocks, methanol and silanol, was realized starting from silyl formates which can be derived from silane and carbon dioxide. Understanding the reaction mechanism enabled us to improve the reaction efficiency by the addition of a small amount of methanol.

Sustainable Venture Capital Investments: An Enabler Investigation

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Elena Antarciuc

2018-04-01

Full Text Available Investing in sustainable projects can help tackle the current sustainability challenges. Venture capital investments can contribute significantly to the growth of sustainable start-ups. Sustainable venture capital (SVC research is just emerging. This paper identifies enablers for sustainable venture capital investments in Saudi Arabia taking into account different stakeholders and firm’s tangible and intangible resources. Using perspectives from venture capital experts in Saudi Arabia and the grey-based Decision-Making Trial and Evaluation Laboratory (DEMATEL method, this study pinpoints the most critical enablers and investigates their causal and effect interconnections. The methodological process consists of reviewing the SVC literature and consulting the experts to identify the SVC enablers, creating a questionnaire, acquiring the answers from four experts, analyzing the data with grey-based DEMATEL and performing a sensitivity analysis. The government use of international standards, policies and regulations for sustainable investments, the commitment of the venture capitalists to sustainability and their deep understanding of sustainable business models are the most influential enablers. The paper concludes with implications for different actors, limitations and prospective directions for the sustainable venture capital research.

Phosphorescence as a probe of exciton formation and energy transfer in organic light emitting diodes

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Baldo, M.; Segal, M.

2004-01-01

The development of highly efficient phosphorescent molecules has approximately quadrupled the quantum efficiency of organic light emitting devices (OLEDs). By harnessing triplet as well as singlet excitons, efficient molecular phosphorescence has also enabled novel studies of exciton physics in organic semiconductors. In this review, we will summarize recent progress in understanding exciton formation and energy transfer using phosphorescent molecular probes. Particular emphasis is given to two topics of current interest: energy transfer in blue phosphorescent OLEDs, and quantifying the formation ratio of singlet to triplet excitons in small-molecular weight materials and polymers. (orig.)

Analytical solution of perturbed relative motion: an application of satellite formations to geodesy

Science.gov (United States)

Wnuk, Edwin

In the upcoming years, several space missions will be operated using a number of spacecraft flying in formation. Clusters of spacecraft with a carefully designed orbits and optimal formation geometry enable a wide variety of applications ranging from remote sensing to astronomy, geodesy and basic physics. Many of the applications require precise relative navigation and autonomous orbit control of satellites moving in a formation. For many missions a centimeter level of orbit control accuracy is required. The GRACE mission, since its launch in 2002, has been improving the Earth's gravity field model to a very high level of accuracy. This mission is a formation flying one consisting of two satellites moving in coplanar orbits and provides range and range-rate measurements between the satellites in the along-track direction. Future geodetic missions probably will employ alternative architectures using additional satellites and/or performing out-of-plane motion, e.g cartwheel orbits. The paper presents an analytical model of a satellite formation motion that enables propagation of the relative spacecraft motion. The model is based on the analytical theory of satellite relative motion that was presented in the previous our papers (Wnuk and Golebiewska, 2005, 2006). This theory takes into account the influence of the following gravitational perturbation effects: 1) zonal and tesseral harmonic geopotential coefficients up to arbitrary degree and order, 2) Lunar gravity, 3) Sun gravity. Formulas for differential perturbations were derived with any restriction concerning a plane of satellite orbits. They can be applied in both: in plane and out of plane cases. Using this propagator we calculated relative orbits and future relative satellite positions for different types of formations: in plane, out of plane, cartwheel and others. We analyzed the influence of particular parts of perturbation effects and estimated the accuracy of predicted relative spacecrafts positions

Direct observation of two-step crystallization in nanoparticle superlattice formation

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Park, Jungwon; Zheng, Haimei; Lee, Won Chul; Geissler, Phillip L.; Rabani, Eran; Alivisatos, A. Paul

2011-10-06

Direct imaging of nanoparticle solutions by liquid phase transmission electron microscopy has enabled unique in-situ studies of nanoparticle motion and growth. In the present work, we report on real-time formation of two-dimensional nanoparticle arrays in the very low diffusive limit, where nanoparticles are mainly driven by capillary forces and solvent fluctuations. We find that superlattice formation appears to be segregated into multiple regimes. Initially, the solvent front drags the nanoparticles, condensing them into an amorphous agglomerate. Subsequently, the nanoparticle crystallization into an array is driven by local fluctuations. Following the crystallization event, superlattice growth can also occur via the addition of individual nanoparticles drawn from outlying regions by different solvent fronts. The dragging mechanism is consistent with simulations based on a coarse-grained lattice gas model at the same limit.

Organizational Enablers for Project Governance

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Müller, Ralf; Shao, Jingting; Pemsel, Sofia

and their relationships to organizational success. Based on these results, the authors discovered that organizational enablers (including key factors such as leadership, governance, and influence of project managers) have a critical impact on how organizations operate, adapt to market fluctuations and forces, and make......While corporate culture plays a significant role in the success of any corporation, governance and “governmentality” not only determine how business should be conducted, but also define the policies and procedures organizations follow to achieve business functions and goals. In their book......, Organizational Enablers for Project Governance, Ralf Müller, Jingting Shao, and Sofia Pemsel examine the interaction of governance and governmentality in various types of companies and demonstrate how these factors drive business success and influence project work, efficiency, and profitability. The data...

Reflection-Based Learning for Professional Ethical Formation.

Science.gov (United States)

Branch, William T; George, Maura

2017-04-01

One way practitioners learn ethics is by reflecting on experience. They may reflect in the moment (reflection-in-action) or afterwards (reflection-on-action). We illustrate how a teaching clinician may transform relationships with patients and teach person-centered care through reflective learning. We discuss reflective learning pedagogies and present two case examples of our preferred method, guided group reflection using narratives. This method fosters moral development alongside professional identity formation in students and advanced learners. Our method for reflective learning addresses and enables processing of the most pressing ethical issues that learners encounter in practice. © 2017 American Medical Association. All Rights Reserved.

Origami-enabled deformable silicon solar cells

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Tang, Rui; Huang, Hai; Liang, Hanshuang; Liang, Mengbing [School of Electrical, Computer and Energy Engineering, Arizona State University, Tempe, Arizona 85287 (United States); Tu, Hongen; Xu, Yong [Electrical and Computer Engineering, Wayne State University, 5050 Anthony Wayne Dr., Detroit, Michigan 48202 (United States); Song, Zeming; Jiang, Hanqing, E-mail: hanqing.jiang@asu.edu [School for Engineering of Matter, Transport and Energy, Arizona State University, Tempe, Arizona 85287 (United States); Yu, Hongyu, E-mail: hongyu.yu@asu.edu [School of Electrical, Computer and Energy Engineering, Arizona State University, Tempe, Arizona 85287 (United States); School of Earth and Space Exploration, Arizona State University, Tempe, Arizona 85287 (United States)

2014-02-24

Deformable electronics have found various applications and elastomeric materials have been widely used to reach flexibility and stretchability. In this Letter, we report an alternative approach to enable deformability through origami. In this approach, the deformability is achieved through folding and unfolding at the creases while the functional devices do not experience strain. We have demonstrated an example of origami-enabled silicon solar cells and showed that this solar cell can reach up to 644% areal compactness while maintaining reasonable good performance upon cyclic folding/unfolding. This approach opens an alternative direction of producing flexible, stretchable, and deformable electronics.

Origami-enabled deformable silicon solar cells

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Tang, Rui; Huang, Hai; Liang, Hanshuang; Liang, Mengbing; Tu, Hongen; Xu, Yong; Song, Zeming; Jiang, Hanqing; Yu, Hongyu

2014-01-01

Deformable electronics have found various applications and elastomeric materials have been widely used to reach flexibility and stretchability. In this Letter, we report an alternative approach to enable deformability through origami. In this approach, the deformability is achieved through folding and unfolding at the creases while the functional devices do not experience strain. We have demonstrated an example of origami-enabled silicon solar cells and showed that this solar cell can reach up to 644% areal compactness while maintaining reasonable good performance upon cyclic folding/unfolding. This approach opens an alternative direction of producing flexible, stretchable, and deformable electronics

Computer Security Systems Enable Access.

Science.gov (United States)

Riggen, Gary

1989-01-01

A good security system enables access and protects information from damage or tampering, but the most important aspects of a security system aren't technical. A security procedures manual addresses the human element of computer security. (MLW)

THE FORMATION OF CONSCIENCE AND MANAGEMENT GROUPS IN ORGANIZATIONS

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Neisa Maria, Martins da Cunha

2010-01-01

Full Text Available This paper presents theoretical proposals, as the Theory of Human Relations, especially the Theory of Group Dynamics and the Conscience Formation, which promote understanding and support for the conduct of the leaders in team management, aiming at a route suitable for questions, reflections, enabling new perceptions of self-consciousness, as Hegel says. It is worth highlighting that through these considerations, it becomes possible to conduct more realistic impacts triggered in the organizational culture, as from a better management of interpersonal relationships within teams, these teams have a training goal or not.

Organizational Enablers for Governance and Governmentality of Projects

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Müller, Ralf; Pemsel, Sofia; Shao, Jingting

2014-01-01

This study identifies the organizational enablers for governance in the realm of projects. We first conceptualize organizational enablers as comprising of process facilitators and discursive abilities, each with its own factors and mechanisms. Then we apply this concept to the literature on proje......, and through development of self-responsible, self-organizing people for governmentality in project settings. Questions for future research are indicated....... governance, governance of projects and governmentality. Outcomes indicate that governance is enabled through different forms of flexibility at different levels of governance, institutional setup and authority at the project level, flexible structures and mindsets of people at the organizational level...

How GNSS Enables Precision Farming

Science.gov (United States)

2014-12-01

Precision farming: Feeding a Growing Population Enables Those Who Feed the World. Immediate and Ongoing Needs - population growth (more to feed) - urbanization (decrease in arable land) Double food production by 2050 to meet world demand. To meet thi...

Simulating the formation of Hurricane Isabel (2003) with AIRS data

Science.gov (United States)

Wu, Liguang; Braun, Scott A.; Qu, John J.; Hao, Xianjun

2006-02-01

Using the AIRS retrieved temperature and humidity profiles, the Saharan Air Layer (SAL) influence on the formation of Hurricane Isabel (2003) is simulated numerically with the MM5 model. The warmth and dryness of the SAL (the thermodynamic effect) is assimilated by use of the nudging technique, which enables the model thermodynamic state to be relaxed to the profiles of the AIRS retrieved data for the regions without cloud contamination. By incorporating the AIRS data, MM5 better simulates the large-scale flow patterns and the timing and location of the formation of Hurricane Isabel and its subsequent track. By comparing with an experiment without nudging of the AIRS data, it is shown that the SAL may have delayed the formation of Hurricane Isabel and inhibited the development of another tropical disturbance to the east. This case study confirms the argument by Dunion and Velden (2004) that the SAL can suppress Atlantic tropical cyclone activity by increasing the vertical wind shear, reducing the mean relative humidity, and stabilizing the environment at lower levels.

Fiber optics frequency comb enabled linear optical sampling with operation wavelength range extension.

Science.gov (United States)

Liao, Ruolin; Wu, Zhichao; Fu, Songnian; Zhu, Shengnan; Yu, Zhe; Tang, Ming; Liu, Deming

2018-02-01

Although the linear optical sampling (LOS) technique is powerful enough to characterize various advanced modulation formats with high symbol rates, the central wavelength of a pulsed local oscillator (LO) needs to be carefully set according to that of the signal under test, due to the coherent mixing operation. Here, we experimentally demonstrate wideband LOS enabled by a fiber optics frequency comb (FOFC). Meanwhile, when the broadband FOFC acts as the pulsed LO, we propose a scheme to mitigate the enhanced sampling error arising in the non-ideal response of a balanced photodetector. Finally, precise characterizations of arbitrary 128 Gbps PDM-QPSK wavelength channels from 1550 to 1570 nm are successfully achieved, when a 101.3 MHz frequency spaced comb with a 3 dB spectral power ripple of 20 nm is used.

Advances in synapse formation: forging connections in the worm.

Science.gov (United States)

Cherra, Salvatore J; Jin, Yishi

2015-01-01

Synapse formation is the quintessential process by which neurons form specific connections with their targets to enable the development of functional circuits. Over the past few decades, intense research efforts have identified thousands of proteins that localize to the pre- and postsynaptic compartments. Genetic dissection has provided important insights into the nexus of the molecular and cellular network, and has greatly advanced our knowledge about how synapses form and function physiologically. Moreover, recent studies have highlighted the complex regulation of synapse formation with the identification of novel mechanisms involving cell interactions from non-neuronal sources. In this review, we cover the conserved pathways required for synaptogenesis and place specific focus on new themes of synapse modulation arising from studies in Caenorhabditis elegans. For further resources related to this article, please visit the WIREs website. The authors have declared no conflicts of interest for this article. © 2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Make or buy of IT-enabled innovation

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Mahnke, Volker; Overby, Mikkel Lucas; Özcan, Serden

2004-01-01

, an analysis of three companies in the financial sector - Charles Schwab, Fidelity Investment, and Merrill Lynch - reveals that governance choices influence a company's ap-propriable learning curve advantage to slow down or speed up adoption and imitation of IT-enabled innovation. Moreover, we discuss...... the implications of governance choices in techno-logical environments characterised by either accumulation or disruption. Keywords: IT-enabled innovation, outsourcing, technological regime, strategic posture, first-mover advantages, financial services, online brokerage...

On the Effect of Online Formative Assessment on Iranian Lower Intermediate EFL Learners Reading Comprehension

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Farideh Peyghambarian

2015-03-01

Full Text Available Online Formative Assessment (OFA improves EFL students’ reading comprehension enabling them to have a better performance in reading comprehension tests. To lend support to the above mentioned claim, a quasi-experimental study was conducted in Mashhad, Iran. 48 female lower intermediate EFL students took part in this study. Participants were assigned to control and treatment groups.  Participants in both groups received a formative assessment program lasting for 10 sessions. Formative assessment in treatment group was conducted by the site itself, and participants in control group were assessed by the teacher. It was found that participants in treatment group significantly outperformed those in control group. This finding indicated OFA as an effective learning tool in EFL reading comprehension classrooms.

Archetype-based data warehouse environment to enable the reuse of electronic health record data.

Science.gov (United States)

Marco-Ruiz, Luis; Moner, David; Maldonado, José A; Kolstrup, Nils; Bellika, Johan G

2015-09-01

The reuse of data captured during health care delivery is essential to satisfy the demands of clinical research and clinical decision support systems. A main barrier for the reuse is the existence of legacy formats of data and the high granularity of it when stored in an electronic health record (EHR) system. Thus, we need mechanisms to standardize, aggregate, and query data concealed in the EHRs, to allow their reuse whenever they are needed. To create a data warehouse infrastructure using archetype-based technologies, standards and query languages to enable the interoperability needed for data reuse. The work presented makes use of best of breed archetype-based data transformation and storage technologies to create a workflow for the modeling, extraction, transformation and load of EHR proprietary data into standardized data repositories. We converted legacy data and performed patient-centered aggregations via archetype-based transformations. Later, specific purpose aggregations were performed at a query level for particular use cases. Laboratory test results of a population of 230,000 patients belonging to Troms and Finnmark counties in Norway requested between January 2013 and November 2014 have been standardized. Test records normalization has been performed by defining transformation and aggregation functions between the laboratory records and an archetype. These mappings were used to automatically generate open EHR compliant data. These data were loaded into an archetype-based data warehouse. Once loaded, we defined indicators linked to the data in the warehouse to monitor test activity of Salmonella and Pertussis using the archetype query language. Archetype-based standards and technologies can be used to create a data warehouse environment that enables data from EHR systems to be reused in clinical research and decision support systems. With this approach, existing EHR data becomes available in a standardized and interoperable format, thus opening a world

Enabling Wind Power Nationwide

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Jose Zayas, Michael Derby, Patrick Gilman and Shreyas Ananthan,

2015-05-01

Leveraging this experience, the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE’s) Wind and Water Power Technologies Office has evaluated the potential for wind power to generate electricity in all 50 states. This report analyzes and quantifies the geographic expansion that could be enabled by accessing higher above ground heights for wind turbines and considers the means by which this new potential could be responsibly developed.

Curly malachite on archaeological bronze : A systematic study of the shape and phenomenological approach of its formation mechanism

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Nienhuis, J.; Robbiola, Luc; Giuliani, Roberta; Joosten, Ineke; Huisman, Hans; van Os, Bertil; Sietsma, J.

2016-01-01

Curly malachite (CM) is found as a green cupric carbonate hydroxide corrosion product on archaeological bronze, mostly on artefacts retrieved from graves. In this paper, a morphological characterization approach is proposed, enabling the investigation of the formation process of CM. It is suggested

Nano-motion dynamics are determined by surface-tethered selectin mechanokinetics and bond formation.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Brian J Schmidt

2009-12-01

Full Text Available The interaction of proteins at cellular interfaces is critical for many biological processes, from intercellular signaling to cell adhesion. For example, the selectin family of adhesion receptors plays a critical role in trafficking during inflammation and immunosurveillance. Quantitative measurements of binding rates between surface-constrained proteins elicit insight into how molecular structural details and post-translational modifications contribute to function. However, nano-scale transport effects can obfuscate measurements in experimental assays. We constructed a biophysical simulation of the motion of a rigid microsphere coated with biomolecular adhesion receptors in shearing flow undergoing thermal motion. The simulation enabled in silico investigation of the effects of kinetic force dependence, molecular deformation, grouping adhesion receptors into clusters, surface-constrained bond formation, and nano-scale vertical transport on outputs that directly map to observable motions. Simulations recreated the jerky, discrete stop-and-go motions observed in P-selectin/PSGL-1 microbead assays with physiologic ligand densities. Motion statistics tied detailed simulated motion data to experimentally reported quantities. New deductions about biomolecular function for P-selectin/PSGL-1 interactions were made. Distributing adhesive forces among P-selectin/PSGL-1 molecules closely grouped in clusters was necessary to achieve bond lifetimes observed in microbead assays. Initial, capturing bond formation effectively occurred across the entire molecular contour length. However, subsequent rebinding events were enhanced by the reduced separation distance following the initial capture. The result demonstrates that vertical transport can contribute to an enhancement in the apparent bond formation rate. A detailed analysis of in silico motions prompted the proposition of wobble autocorrelation as an indicator of two-dimensional function. Insight into two

Affectivity in educational context and in the teacher’s formation: mobilization, social participation and ethical-politics suffering

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Viviane Melo de Mendonça

Full Text Available It was intended to draw reflections on the subject and affectivity constitution within the theoretical and methodological approach of the socio-historical psychology, having as a field of analysis the question of ethical-political suffering in educational context and teacher’s formation. It was concluded that the challenge for education and formation of undergraduates and teachers is to propose alternatives that enable educational institutions to rethink their social practices with adolescents and youth to produce spaces of rights and respect for differences.

CtOS Enabler

OpenAIRE

Crespo Cepeda, Rodrigo; El Yamri El Khatibi, Meriem; Carrera García, Juan Manuel

2015-01-01

Las Smart Cities son, indudablemente, el futuro próximo de la tecnología al que nos acercamos cada día, lo que se puede observar en la abundancia de dispositivos móviles entre la población, que informatizan la vida cotidiana mediante el uso de la geolocalización y la información. Pretendemos unir estos dos ámbitos con CtOS Enabler para crear un estándar de uso que englobe todos los sistemas de Smart Cities y facilite a los desarrolladores de dicho software la creación de nuevas herramientas. ...

Barriers and enablers for iron folic acid (IFA) supplementation in pregnant women.

Science.gov (United States)

Siekmans, Kendra; Roche, Marion; Kung'u, Jacqueline K; Desrochers, Rachelle E; De-Regil, Luz Maria

2017-12-22

In order to inform large scale supplementation programme design, we review and summarize the barriers and enablers for improved coverage and utilization of iron and folic acid (IFA) supplements by pregnant women in 7 countries in Africa and Asia. Mixed methods were used to analyse IFA supplementation programmes in Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Indonesia, Ethiopia, Kenya, Nigeria, and Senegal based on formative research conducted in 2012-2013. Qualitative data from focus-group discussions and interviews with women and service providers were used for content analysis to elicit common themes on barriers and enablers at internal, external, and relational levels. Anaemia symptoms in pregnancy are well known among women and health care providers in all countries, yet many women do not feel personally at risk. Broad awareness and increased coverage of facility-based antenatal care (ANC) make it an efficient delivery channel for IFA; however, first trimester access to IFA is hindered by beliefs about when to first attend ANC and preferences for disclosing pregnancy status. Variable access and poor quality ANC services, including insufficient IFA supplies and inadequate counselling to encourage consumption, are barriers to both coverage and adherence. Community-based delivery of IFA and referral to ANC provides earlier and more frequent access and opportunities for follow-up. Improving ANC access and quality is needed to facilitate IFA supplementation during pregnancy. Community-based delivery and counselling can address problems of timely and continuous access to supplements. Renewed investment in training for service providers and effective behaviour change designs are urgently needed to achieve the desired impact. © 2018 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Densities and Kinematic Viscosities for the Systems Benzene + Methyl Formate, Benzene + Ethyl Formate, Benzene + Propyl Formate, and Benzene + Butyl Formate

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Emmerling, Uwe; Rasmussen, Peter

1998-01-01

a Redlich-Kister type of expression with temperature-independent parameters and the data for the systems benzene + ethyl formate, benzene + propyl formate, and benzene + butyl formate with temperature-dependent parameters. The viscosities have furthermore been compared to values predicted by means of the GC......Densities and kinematic viscosities have been measured for the system benzene + methyl formate at 20°C and for the systems benzene + ethyl formate, benzene + propyl formate, and benzene + butyl formate from 20°C to 50°C. The results for the system benzene + methyl formate have been correlated using...

ASDF: A New Adaptable Data Format for Seismology Suitable for Large-Scale Workflows

Science.gov (United States)

Krischer, L.; Smith, J. A.; Spinuso, A.; Tromp, J.

2014-12-01

Increases in the amounts of available data as well as computational power opens the possibility to tackle ever larger and more complex problems. This comes with a slew of new problems, two of which are the need for a more efficient use of available resources and a sensible organization and storage of the data. Both need to be satisfied in order to properly scale a problem and both are frequent bottlenecks in large seismic inversions using ambient noise or more traditional techniques.We present recent developments and ideas regarding a new data format, named ASDF (Adaptable Seismic Data Format), for all branches of seismology aiding with the aforementioned problems. The key idea is to store all information necessary to fully understand a set of data in a single file. This enables the construction of self-explaining and exchangeable data sets facilitating collaboration on large-scale problems. We incorporate the existing metadata standards FDSN StationXML and QuakeML together with waveform and auxiliary data into a common container based on the HDF5 standard. A further critical component of the format is the storage of provenance information as an extension of W3C PROV, meaning information about the history of the data, assisting with the general problem of reproducibility.Applications of the proposed new format are numerous. In the context of seismic tomography it enables the full description and storage of synthetic waveforms including information about the used model, the solver, the parameters, and other variables that influenced the final waveforms. Furthermore, intermediate products like adjoint sources, cross correlations, and receiver functions can be described and most importantly exchanged with others.Usability and tool support is crucial for any new format to gain acceptance and we additionally present a fully functional implementation of this format based on Python and ObsPy. It offers a convenient way to discover and analyze data sets as well as making

On the phase formation of sputtered hafnium oxide and oxynitride films

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sarakinos, K.; Music, D.; Mraz, S.; Baben, M. to; Jiang, K.; Nahif, F.; Braun, A.; Zilkens, C.; Schneider, J. M.; Konstantinidis, S.; Renaux, F.; Cossement, D.; Munnik, F.

2010-01-01

Hafnium oxynitride films are deposited from a Hf target employing direct current magnetron sputtering in an Ar-O 2 -N 2 atmosphere. It is shown that the presence of N 2 allows for the stabilization of the transition zone between the metallic and the compound sputtering mode enabling deposition of films at well defined conditions of target coverage by varying the O 2 partial pressure. Plasma analysis reveals that this experimental strategy facilitates control over the flux of the O - ions which are generated on the oxidized target surface and accelerated by the negative target potential toward the growing film. An arrangement that enables film growth without O - ion bombardment is also implemented. Moreover, stabilization of the transition sputtering zone and control of the O - ion flux without N 2 addition is achieved employing high power pulsed magnetron sputtering. Structural characterization of the deposited films unambiguously proves that the phase formation of hafnium oxide and hafnium oxynitride films with the crystal structure of HfO 2 is independent from the O - bombardment conditions. Experimental and theoretical data indicate that the presence of vacancies and/or the substitution of O by N atoms in the nonmetal sublattice favor the formation of the cubic and/or the tetragonal HfO 2 crystal structure at the expense of the monoclinic HfO 2 one.

NASP - Enabling new space launch options

Science.gov (United States)

Froning, David; Gaubatz, William; Mathews, George

1990-10-01

Successful NASP developments in the United States are bringing about the possibility of effective, fully reusable vehicles for transport of people and cargo between earth and space. These developments include: extension of airbreathing propulsion to a much higher speed; densification of propellants for greater energy per unit volume of mass; structures with much greater strength-to-weight at high temperatures; computational advancements that enable more optimal design and integration of airframes, engines and controls; and advances in avionics, robotics, artificial intelligence and automation that enable accomplishment of earth-to-orbit (ETO) operations with much less manpower support and cost. This paper describes the relative magnitude of improvement that these developments may provide.

Precise Localization and Formation Control of Swarm Robots via Wireless Sensor Networks

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Han Wu

2014-01-01

Full Text Available Precise localization and formation control are one of the key technologies to achieve coordination and control of swarm robots, which is also currently a bottleneck for practical applications of swarm robotic systems. Aiming at overcoming the limited individual perception and the difficulty of achieving precise localization and formation, a localization approach combining dead reckoning (DR with wireless sensor network- (WSN- based methods is proposed in this paper. Two kinds of WSN localization technologies are adopted in this paper, that is, ZigBee-based RSSI (received signal strength indication global localization and electronic tag floors for calibration of local positioning. First, the DR localization information is combined with the ZigBee-based RSSI position information using the Kalman filter method to achieve precise global localization and maintain the robot formation. Then the electronic tag floors provide the robots with their precise coordinates in some local areas and enable the robot swarm to calibrate its formation by reducing the accumulated position errors. Hence, the overall performance of localization and formation control of the swarm robotic system is improved. Both of the simulation results and the experimental results on a real schematic system are given to demonstrate the success of the proposed approach.

Web-Enabled ATR/Fusion Development System

National Research Council Canada - National Science Library

Ruda, Harald

2001-01-01

.... We have designed a Web-Enabled ATR/Fusion Development System (WEADS) that will allow distributed development and execution of AIR and fusion algorithms using currently available infrastructures...

General Astrophysics Science Enabled by the HabEx Ultraviolet Spectrograph (UVS)

Science.gov (United States)

Scowen, Paul; Clarke, John; Gaudi, B. Scott; Kiessling, Alina; Martin, Stefan; Somerville, Rachel; Stern, Daniel; HabEx Science and Technology Definition Team

2018-01-01

The Habitable Exoplanet Imaging Mission (HabEx) is one of the four large mission concepts being studied by NASA as input to the upcoming 2020 Decadal Survey. The mission implements two world-class General Astrophysics instruments as part of its complement of instrumentation to enable compelling science using the 4m aperture. The Ultraviolet Spectrograph has been designed to address cutting edge far ultraviolet (FUV) science that has not been possible with the Hubble Space Telescope, and to open up a wide range of capabilities that will advance astrophysics as we look into the 2030s. Our poster discusses some of those science drivers and possible applications, which range from Solar System science, to nearby and more distant studies of star formation, to studies of the circumgalactic and intergalactic mediums where the ecology of mass and energy transfer are vital to understanding stellar and galactic evolution. We discuss the performance features of the instrument that include a large 3’x3’ field of view for multi-object spectroscopy, and some 20 grating modes for a variety of spectral resolution and coverage.

Suppression of new particle formation from monoterpene oxidation by NOx

Science.gov (United States)

Wildt, J.; Mentel, T. F.; Kiendler-Scharr, A.; Hoffmann, T.; Andres, S.; Ehn, M.; Kleist, E.; Müsgen, P.; Rohrer, F.; Rudich, Y.; Springer, M.; Tillmann, R.; Wahner, A.

2014-03-01

The impact of nitrogen oxides (NOx = NO + NO2) on new particle formation (NPF) and on photochemical ozone production from real plant volatile organic compound (BVOC) emissions was studied in a laboratory setup. At high NOx conditions ([BVOC] / [NOx] 23 ppb) new particle formation was suppressed. Instead, photochemical ozone formation was observed resulting in higher hydroxyl radical (OH) and lower nitrogen monoxide (NO) concentrations. When [NO] was reduced back to levels below 1 ppb by OH reactions, NPF was observed. Adding high amounts of NOx caused NPF to be slowed by orders of magnitude compared to analogous experiments at low NOx conditions ([NOx] ~300 ppt), although OH concentrations were higher. Varying NO2 photolysis enabled showing that NO was responsible for suppression of NPF. This suggests that peroxy radicals are involved in NPF. The rates of NPF and photochemical ozone production were related by power law dependence with an exponent approaching -2. This exponent indicated that the overall peroxy radical concentration must have been similar when NPF occurred. Thus, permutation reactions of first-generation peroxy radicals cannot be the rate limiting step in NPF from monoterpene oxidation. It was concluded that permutation reactions of higher generation peroxy-radical-like intermediates limit the rate of new particle formation. In contrast to the strong effects on the particle numbers, the formation of particle mass was substantially less sensitive to NOx concentrations. If at all, yields were reduced by about an order of magnitude only at very high NOx concentrations.

An IT-enabled supply chain model: a simulation study

Science.gov (United States)

Cannella, Salvatore; Framinan, Jose M.; Barbosa-Póvoa, Ana

2014-11-01

During the last decades, supply chain collaboration practices and the underlying enabling technologies have evolved from the classical electronic data interchange (EDI) approach to a web-based and radio frequency identification (RFID)-enabled collaboration. In this field, most of the literature has focused on the study of optimal parameters for reducing the total cost of suppliers, by adopting operational research (OR) techniques. Herein we are interested in showing that the considered information technology (IT)-enabled structure is resilient, that is, it works well across a reasonably broad range of parameter settings. By adopting a methodological approach based on system dynamics, we study a multi-tier collaborative supply chain. Results show that the IT-enabled supply chain improves operational performance and customer service level. Nonetheless, benefits for geographically dispersed networks are of minor entity.

Haze Formation and Behavior in Liquid-Liquid Extraction Processes

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Arm, Stuart T.; Jenkins, J. A.

2006-01-01

Aqueous haze formation and behavior was studied in the liquid-liquid system tri-n-butyl phosphate in odorless kerosene and 3M nitric acid with uranyl nitrate and cesium nitrate representing the major solute and an impurity, respectively. A pulsed column, mixer-settler and centrifugal contactor were chosen to investigate the effect of different turbulence characteristics on the manifestation of haze since these contactors exhibit distinct mixing phenomena. The dispersive processes of drop coalescence and breakage, and water precipitation in the organic phase were observed to lead to the formation of haze drops of ∼1 um in diameter. The interaction between the haze and primary drops of the dispersion was critical to the separation efficiency of the liquid-liquid extraction equipment. Conditions of high power input and spatially homogeneous mixing enabled the haze drops to become rapidly assimilated within the dispersion to maximize the scrub performance and separation efficiency of the equipment

Sharing Gravity's Microscope: Star Formation and Galaxy Evolution for Underserved Arizonans

Science.gov (United States)

Knierman, Karen A.; Monkiewicz, Jacqueline A.; Bowman, Catherine DD; Taylor, Wendy

2016-01-01

Learning science in a community is important for children of all levels and especially for many underserved populations. This project combines HST research of galaxy evolution using gravitationally lensed galaxies with hands-on activities and the Starlab portable planetarium to link astronomy with families, teachers, and students. To explore galaxy evolution, new activities were developed and evaluated using novel evaluation techniques. A new set of galaxy classification cards enable inquiry-based learning about galaxy ages, evolution, and gravitational lensing. Activities using new cylinder overlays for the Starlab transparent cylinder will enable the detailed examination of star formation and galaxy evolution as seen from the viewpoint inside of different types of galaxies. These activities were presented in several Arizona venues that enable family and student participation including ASU Earth and Space Open House, Arizona Museum of Natural History Homeschooling Events, on the Salt River Pima-Maricopa Indian Community, and inner city Phoenix schools serving mainly Hispanic populations. Additional events targeted underserved families at the Phoenix Zoo, in Navajo County, and for the Pascua Yaqui Tribe. After evaluation, the activities and materials will also be shared with local teachers and nationally.

Web-palvelu Housing Enabler -arviointivälineelle

OpenAIRE

Liukko, Sakarias

2009-01-01

Opinnäytteen lähtökohtana oli ET Elämisen Tuki Oy:n tarve korvata esteettömyyden arvioinnissa käytettävä, Housing Enabler -menetelmän apuna toiminut, tietokonesovellus tietoverkkojen välityksellä toimivalla järjestelmällä. Työssä perehdyttiin Housing Enabler -arviointivälineeseen ja palvelukeskeisen arkkitehtuurin mukaisesti toteutettaviin tietoverkkojen kautta käytettävien palvelujen toteutusteknologioihin Java EE -arkkitehtuurissa. Järjestelmä toteutettiin näiden periaatteiden mukaises...

MAGNETIC FLUX EXPULSION IN STAR FORMATION

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Zhao Bo; Li Zhiyun; Nakamura, Fumitaka; Krasnopolsky, Ruben; Shang, Hsien

2011-01-01

Stars form in dense cores of magnetized molecular clouds. If the magnetic flux threading the cores is dragged into the stars, the stellar field would be orders of magnitude stronger than observed. This well-known 'magnetic flux problem' demands that most of the core magnetic flux be decoupled from the matter that enters the star. We carry out the first exploration of what happens to the decoupled magnetic flux in three dimensions, using a magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) version of the ENZO adaptive mesh refinement code. The field-matter decoupling is achieved through a sink particle treatment, which is needed to follow the protostellar accretion phase of star formation. We find that the accumulation of the decoupled flux near the accreting protostar leads to a magnetic pressure buildup. The high pressure is released anisotropically along the path of least resistance. It drives a low-density expanding region in which the decoupled magnetic flux is expelled. This decoupling-enabled magnetic structure has never been seen before in three-dimensional MHD simulations of star formation. It generates a strong asymmetry in the protostellar accretion flow, potentially giving a kick to the star. In the presence of an initial core rotation, the structure presents an obstacle to the formation of a rotationally supported disk, in addition to magnetic braking, by acting as a rigid magnetic wall that prevents the rotating gas from completing a full orbit around the central object. We conclude that the decoupled magnetic flux from the stellar matter can strongly affect the protostellar collapse dynamics.

Barriers affecting successful technology enablement of supply chain: An Indian perspective

Science.gov (United States)

Arora, R.; Haleem, A.; Farooquie, J. A.

2018-03-01

In order to compete, organizations need to focus on improving supply chain and technology acts as a major enabler. Technology enablement of supply chain has not always been successful and has been examined by many researchers. The purpose of this paper is to do a systematic literature review of technology enabled supply chain from a strategic viewpoint. The literature is examined from two perspectives. Firstly, it studies the growing interest in technology-enabled supply chain in India. Secondly, it studies barriers affecting technology enablement of supply chain. The literature review identifies that technology enabled supply chain helps in improving performance via effective decision making, monitoring entire supply chain, faster reaction to customer service problems, etc. The research has emphasized the importance of 12 barriers affecting technology enablement. This research will help as a guide for practitioners in order to successfully implement technology and fills the gap in existing literature by highlighting and consolidating the significant research work done in past.

Biometrics Enabling Capability Increment 1 (BEC Inc 1)

Science.gov (United States)

2016-03-01

modal biometrics submissions to include iris, face, palm and finger prints from biometrics collection devices, which will support the Warfighter in...2016 Major Automated Information System Annual Report Biometrics Enabling Capability Increment 1 (BEC Inc 1) Defense Acquisition Management...Phone: 227-3119 DSN Fax: Date Assigned: July 15, 2015 Program Information Program Name Biometrics Enabling Capability Increment 1 (BEC Inc 1) DoD

FINESSE: Field Investigations to Enable Solar System Science and Exploration

Science.gov (United States)

Heldmann, Jennifer; Lim, Darlene; Colaprete, Anthony

2015-01-01

The FINESSE (Field Investigations to Enable Solar System Science and Exploration) team is focused on a science and exploration field-based research program aimed at generating strategic knowledge in preparation for the human and robotic exploration of the Moon, near-Earth asteroids (NEAs) and Phobos and Deimos. We follow the philosophy that "science enables exploration and exploration enables science." 1) FINESSE Science: Understand the effects of volcanism and impacts as dominant planetary processes on the Moon, NEAs, and Phobos & Deimos. 2) FINESSE Exploration: Understand which exploration concepts of operations (ConOps) and capabilities enable and enhance scientific return. To accomplish these objectives, we are conducting an integrated research program focused on scientifically-driven field exploration at Craters of the Moon National Monument and Preserve in Idaho and at the West Clearwater Lake Impact Structure in northern Canada. Field deployments aimed at reconnaissance geology and data acquisition were conducted in 2014 at Craters of the Moon National Monument and Preserve. Targets for data acquisition included selected sites at Kings Bowl eruptive fissure, lava field and blowout crater, Inferno Chasm vent and outflow channel, North Crater lava flow and Highway lava flow. Field investigation included (1) differential GPS (dGPS) measurements of lava flows, channels (and ejecta block at Kings Bowl); (2) LiDAR imaging of lava flow margins, surfaces and other selected features; (3) digital photographic documentation; (4) sampling for geochemical and petrographic analysis; (5) UAV aerial imagery of Kings Bowl and Inferno Chasm features; and (6) geologic assessment of targets and potential new targets. Over the course of the 5-week field FINESSE campaign to the West Clearwater Impact Structure (WCIS) in 2014, the team focused on several WCIS research topics, including impactites, central uplift formation, the impact-generated hydrothermal system, multichronometer

Pt Electrodes Enable the Formation of μ4-O Centers in MOF-5 from Multiple Oxygen Sources.

Science.gov (United States)

Li, Minyuan M; Dincă, Mircea

2017-10-04

The μ 4 -O 2- ions in the Zn 4 O(O 2 C-) 6 secondary building units of Zn 4 O(1,4-benzenedicarboxylate) 3 (MOF-5) electrodeposited under cathodic bias can be sourced from nitrate, water, and molecular oxygen when using platinum gauze as working electrodes. The use of Zn(ClO 4 ) 2 ·6H 2 O, anhydrous Zn(NO 3 ) 2 , or anhydrous Zn(CF 3 SO 3 ) 2 as Zn 2+ sources under rigorous control of other sources of oxygen, including water and O 2 , confirm that the source of the μ 4 -O 2- ions can be promiscuous. Although this finding reveals a relatively complicated manifold of electrochemical processes responsible for the crystallization of MOF-5 under cathodic bias, it further highlights the importance of hydroxide intermediates in the formation of the Zn 4 O(O 2 C-R) secondary building units in this iconic material and is illustrative of the complicated crystallization mechanisms of metal-organic frameworks in general.

Enabling Digital Literacy

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Ryberg, Thomas; Georgsen, Marianne

2010-01-01

There are some tensions between high-level policy definitions of “digital literacy” and actual teaching practice. We need to find workable definitions of digital literacy; obtain a better understanding of what digital literacy might look like in practice; and identify pedagogical approaches, which...... support teachers in designing digital literacy learning. We suggest that frameworks such as Problem Based Learning (PBL) are approaches that enable digital literacy learning because they provide good settings for engaging with digital literacy. We illustrate this through analysis of a case. Furthermore......, these operate on a meso-level mediating between high-level concepts of digital literacy and classroom practice....

PeakML/mzMatch: a file format, Java library, R library, and tool-chain for mass spectrometry data analysis.

Science.gov (United States)

Scheltema, Richard A; Jankevics, Andris; Jansen, Ritsert C; Swertz, Morris A; Breitling, Rainer

2011-04-01

The recent proliferation of high-resolution mass spectrometers has generated a wealth of new data analysis methods. However, flexible integration of these methods into configurations best suited to the research question is hampered by heterogeneous file formats and monolithic software development. The mzXML, mzData, and mzML file formats have enabled uniform access to unprocessed raw data. In this paper we present our efforts to produce an equally simple and powerful format, PeakML, to uniformly exchange processed intermediary and result data. To demonstrate the versatility of PeakML, we have developed an open source Java toolkit for processing, filtering, and annotating mass spectra in a customizable pipeline (mzMatch), as well as a user-friendly data visualization environment (PeakML Viewer). The PeakML format in particular enables the flexible exchange of processed data between software created by different groups or companies, as we illustrate by providing a PeakML-based integration of the widely used XCMS package with mzMatch data processing tools. As an added advantage, downstream analysis can benefit from direct access to the full mass trace information underlying summarized mass spectrometry results, providing the user with the means to rapidly verify results. The PeakML/mzMatch software is freely available at http://mzmatch.sourceforge.net, with documentation, tutorials, and a community forum.

Global survey of lunar wrinkle ridge formation times

Science.gov (United States)

Yue, Z.; Michael, G. G.; Di, K.; Liu, J.

2017-11-01

Wrinkle ridges are a common feature of the lunar maria and record subsequent contraction of mare infill. Constraining the timing of wrinkle ridge formation from crater counts is challenging because they have limited areal extent and it is difficult to determine whether superposed craters post-date ridge formation or have alternatively been uplifted by the deformation. Some wrinkle ridges do allow determination to be made. This is possible where a ridge shows a sufficiently steep boundary or scarp that can be identified as deforming an intersecting crater or the crater obliterates the relief of the ridge. Such boundaries constitute only a small fraction of lunar wrinkle ridge structures yet they are sufficiently numerous to enable us to obtain statistically significant crater counts over systems of structurally related wrinkle ridges. We carried out a global mapping of mare wrinkle ridges, identifying appropriate boundaries for crater identification, and mapping superposed craters. Selected groups of ridges were analyzed using the buffered crater counting method. We found that, except for the ridges in mare Tranquilitatis, the ridge groups formed with average ages between 3.5 and 3.1 Ga ago, or 100-650 Ma after the oldest observable erupted basalts where they are located. We interpret these results to suggest that local stresses from loading by basalt fill are the principal agent responsible for the formation of lunar wrinkle ridges, as others have proposed. We find a markedly longer interval before wrinkle ridge formation in Tranquilitatis which likely indicates a different mechanism of stress accumulation at this site.

Enabling Routes as Context in Mobile Services

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Brilingaite, Agne; Jensen, Christian Søndergaard; Zokaite, Nora

2004-01-01

With the continuing advances in wireless communications, geo-positioning, and portable electronics, an infrastructure is emerging that enables the delivery of on-line, location-enabled services to very large numbers of mobile users. A typical usage situation for mobile services is one characterized...... by a small screen and no keyboard, and by the service being only a secondary focus of the user. It is therefore particularly important to deliver the "right" information and service at the right time, with as little user interaction as possible. This may be achieved by making services context aware.Mobile...

Implementation analysis of lean enablers for managing engineering programs

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

von Arnim, Joachim; Oehmen, Josef; Rebentisch, Eric

2014-01-01

This paper presents research to improve the applicability of the Lean Enablers and consists of two parts. The first is a case study of a very successful project management maturity improvement initiative at Siemens Industry Sector’s Industry Automation division in the US. It views the initiative...... from the perspective of the Lean Enablers [Oehmen 2012] and is based on information from [Sopko 2012a], [Sopko 2012b], [Sopko 2010], [Sopko 2009], interviews, internal documentation, and the used MSP program management methodology [UK 2011]. The analysis of Lean Enablers incorporated in the MSP...

Influence of the formation- and passivation rate of boron-oxygen defects for mitigating carrier-induced degradation in silicon within a hydrogen-based model

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hallam, Brett; Abbott, Malcolm; Nampalli, Nitin; Hamer, Phill; Wenham, Stuart

2016-01-01

A three-state model is used to explore the influence of defect formation- and passivation rates of carrier-induced degradation related to boron-oxygen complexes in boron-doped p-type silicon solar cells within a hydrogen-based model. The model highlights that the inability to effectively mitigate carrier-induced degradation at elevated temperatures in previous studies is due to the limited availability of defects for hydrogen passivation, rather than being limited by the defect passivation rate. An acceleration of the defect formation rate is also observed to increase both the effectiveness and speed of carrier-induced degradation mitigation, whereas increases in the passivation rate do not lead to a substantial acceleration of the hydrogen passivation process. For high-throughput mitigation of such carrier-induced degradation on finished solar cell devices, two key factors were found to be required, high-injection conditions (such as by using high intensity illumination) to enable an acceleration of defect formation whilst simultaneously enabling a rapid passivation of the formed defects, and a high temperature to accelerate both defect formation and defect passivation whilst still ensuring an effective mitigation of carrier-induced degradation

Online Learning in Divorce: How the Formation of a Community of Practice in a Divorce Support Website Enables and Inhibits Learning

Science.gov (United States)

Paechter, Carrie

2012-01-01

This article is about the informal learning that took place in an online divorce support and advice forum. In it, the author discusses the formation of a community of practice among the members during the first nine months of the site's operation. The author shows how the key markers of mutual engagement, joint enterprise and shared repertoire…

Curvature profiles as initial conditions for primordial black hole formation

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Polnarev, Alexander G; Musco, Ilia

2007-01-01

This work is part of an ongoing research programme to study possible primordial black hole (PBH) formation during the radiation-dominated era of the early universe. Working within spherical symmetry, we specify an initial configuration in terms of a curvature profile, which represents initial conditions for the large amplitude metric perturbations, away from the homogeneous Friedmann-Robertson-Walker model, which are required for PBH formation. Using an asymptotic quasi-homogeneous solution, we relate the curvature profile with the density and velocity fields, which at an early enough time, when the length scale of the configuration is much larger than the cosmological horizon, can be treated as small perturbations of the background values. We present general analytic solutions for the density and velocity profiles. These solutions enable us to consider in a self-consistent way the formation of PBHs in a wide variety of cosmological situations with the cosmological fluid being treated as an arbitrary mixture of different components with different equations of state. We obtain the analytical solutions for the density and velocity profiles as functions of the initial time. We then use two different parametrizations for the curvature profile and follow numerically the evolution of initial configurations

Analysis of multifunctional piezoelectric metastructures for low-frequency bandgap formation and energy harvesting

Science.gov (United States)

Sugino, C.; Erturk, A.

2018-05-01

Vibration-based energy harvesting is a growing field for generating low-power electricity to use in wireless electronic devices, such as the sensor networks used in structural health monitoring applications. Locally resonant metastructures, which are structures that comprise locally resonant metamaterial components, enable bandgap formation at wavelengths much longer than the lattice size, for critical applications such as low-frequency vibration attenuation in flexible structures. This work aims to bridge the domains of energy harvesting and locally resonant metamaterials to form multifunctional structures that exhibit both low-power electricity generation and vibration attenuation capabilities. A fully coupled electromechanical modeling framework is developed for two characteristic systems and their modal analysis is presented. Simulations are performed to explore the vibration and electrical power frequency response maps for varying electrical load resistance, and optimal loading conditions are presented. Case studies are presented to understand the interaction of bandgap formation and energy harvesting capabilities of this new class of multifunctional energy-harvesting locally resonant metastructures. It is shown that useful energy can be harvested from locally resonant metastructures without significantly diminishing their dramatic vibration attenuation in the locally resonant bandgap. Thus, integrating energy harvesters into a locally resonant metastructure enables a new potential for multifunctional locally resonant metastructures that can host self-powered sensors.

Low-Power Smart Imagers for Vision-Enabled Sensor Networks

CERN Document Server

Fernández-Berni, Jorge; Rodríguez-Vázquez, Ángel

2012-01-01

This book presents a comprehensive, systematic approach to the development of vision system architectures that employ sensory-processing concurrency and parallel processing to meet the autonomy challenges posed by a variety of safety and surveillance applications.  Coverage includes a thorough analysis of resistive diffusion networks embedded within an image sensor array. This analysis supports a systematic approach to the design of spatial image filters and their implementation as vision chips in CMOS technology. The book also addresses system-level considerations pertaining to the embedding of these vision chips into vision-enabled wireless sensor networks.  Describes a system-level approach for designing of vision devices and  embedding them into vision-enabled, wireless sensor networks; Surveys state-of-the-art, vision-enabled WSN nodes; Includes details of specifications and challenges of vision-enabled WSNs; Explains architectures for low-energy CMOS vision chips with embedded, programmable spatial f...

Vulnerabilities in First-Generation RFID-enabled Credit Cards

Science.gov (United States)

Heydt-Benjamin, Thomas S.; Bailey, Daniel V.; Fu, Kevin; Juels, Ari; O'Hare, Tom

RFID-enabled credit cards are widely deployed in the United States and other countries, but no public study has thoroughly analyzed the mechanisms that provide both security and privacy. Using samples from a variety of RFID-enabled credit cards, our study observes that (1) the cardholder's name and often credit card number and expiration are leaked in plaintext to unauthenticated readers, (2) our homemade device costing around 150 effectively clones one type of skimmed cards thus providing a proof-of-concept implementation for the RF replay attack, (3) information revealed by the RFID transmission cross contaminates the security of RFID and non-RFID payment contexts, and (4) RFID-enabled credit cards are susceptible in various degrees to a range of other traditional RFID attacks such as skimming and relaying.

Streptococcus pyogenes biofilms – formation, biology,and clinical relevance

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Tomas eFiedler

2015-02-01

Full Text Available Streptococcus pyogenes (group A streptococci, GAS is an exclusive human bacterial pathogen. The virulence potential of this species is tremendous. Interactions with humans range from asymptomatic carriage over mild and superficial infections of skin and mucosal membranes up to systemic purulent toxic-invasive disease manifestations. Particularly the latter are a severe threat for predisposed patients and lead to significant death tolls worldwide. This places GAS among the most important Gram-positive bacterial pathogens. Many recent reviews have highlighted the GAS repertoire of virulence factors, regulators and regulatory circuits/networks that enable GAS to colonize the host and to deal with all levels of the host immune defense. This covers in vitro and in vivo studies, including animal infection studies based on mice and more relevant, macaque monkeys. It is now appreciated that GAS, like many other bacterial species, do not necessarily exclusively live in a planktonic lifestyle. GAS is capable of microcolony and biofilm formation on host cells and tissues. We are now beginning to understand that this feature significantly contributes to GAS pathogenesis. In this review we will discuss the current knowledge on GAS biofilm formation, the biofilm-phenotype associated virulence factors, regulatory aspects of biofilm formation, the clinical relevance, and finally contemporary treatment regimens and future treatment options.

Direct observation of a single nanoparticle-ubiquitin corona formation

Science.gov (United States)

Ding, Feng; Radic, Slaven; Chen, Ran; Chen, Pengyu; Geitner, Nicholas K.; Brown, Jared M.; Ke, Pu Chun

2013-09-01

The advancement of nanomedicine and the increasing applications of nanoparticles in consumer products have led to administered biological exposure and unintentional environmental accumulation of nanoparticles, causing concerns over the biocompatibility and sustainability of nanotechnology. Upon entering physiological environments, nanoparticles readily assume the form of a nanoparticle-protein corona that dictates their biological identity. Consequently, understanding the structure and dynamics of a nanoparticle-protein corona is essential for predicting the fate, transport, and toxicity of nanomaterials in living systems and for enabling the vast applications of nanomedicine. Here we combined multiscale molecular dynamics simulations and complementary experiments to characterize the silver nanoparticle-ubiquitin corona formation. Notably, ubiquitins competed with citrates for the nanoparticle surface, governed by specific electrostatic interactions. Under a high protein/nanoparticle stoichiometry, ubiquitins formed a multi-layer corona on the particle surface. The binding exhibited an unusual stretched-exponential behavior, suggesting a rich binding kinetics. Furthermore, the binding destabilized the α-helices while increasing the β-sheet content of the proteins. This study revealed the atomic and molecular details of the structural and dynamic characteristics of nanoparticle-protein corona formation.The advancement of nanomedicine and the increasing applications of nanoparticles in consumer products have led to administered biological exposure and unintentional environmental accumulation of nanoparticles, causing concerns over the biocompatibility and sustainability of nanotechnology. Upon entering physiological environments, nanoparticles readily assume the form of a nanoparticle-protein corona that dictates their biological identity. Consequently, understanding the structure and dynamics of a nanoparticle-protein corona is essential for predicting the fate

Research on Rapid Identification and Evaluation Technology for Gas Formation during Underbalanced Drilling

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Hao Wu

2017-01-01

Full Text Available The underbalanced drilling (UBD technology has been widely implemented due to its advantages in drilling efficiency improvement and cost reduction. However, this advanced technology requires very special equipment and operational mechanism, which raises multiple challenges to traditional well logging techniques. In this study, a real-time logging system (MWD/LWD and mud logging was developed and utilized during underbalanced drilling, to quickly identify and evaluate gas formation. This advanced system enables fast detection of gas formation and determining the formation type while drilling, by monitoring the changes in gas production. This real-time logging system provides a powerful technical support to the gas reservoir drilling and development. A case study has clearly shown that the interpretation and evaluation results based on the real-time logging data agree well with the results of conventional well logging. Therefore, this advanced real-time logging technique can be utilized as an effective guidance for field operation.

Enabling Sustainable Improvement in IT Entrepreneurship

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Paul E. Renaud

2013-06-01

Full Text Available Firms must embrace processes that enable the information technology (IT function to become a strategic partner to the business functions it serves. Process ambidexterity is a way for processes to be augmented to improve alignment and adaptability to new markets and technologies. By applying the principles of process ambidexterity, the key elements required for sustainable change within the capabilities that comprise the IT function of the firm are identified. Furthermore, the scope and depth of the dysfunction that is widespread across large firms that depend upon IT are outlined to provide a contextual basis for presenting a solution framework to address sustainable change. This framework for sustainable change is of primary benefit to IT executives seeking to systematically transform the IT function and enable IT entrepreneurship.

FORMATION OF THE TEACHER-RESEARCHER ACADEMIC CULTURE IN A DIGITAL CREATIVE ENVIRONMENT

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Olena M. Semenoh

2017-12-01

Full Text Available The article outlines conceptual foundations of the future teachers-researchers academic culture formation in a digital creative environment. Academic culture of the researcher as an integral personal characteristic that is manifested in the culture of creative-critical thinking, academic virtue, scientific linguistic, narrative-digital culture has been investigated. The formation of the academic culture of the future teacher-researcher in terms of digital creative environment is seen as a complex, multidimensional process of qualitative changes, which happens in stages. The digital creative environment as a learning environment that involves the purposeful use of tools, technologies and information resources that enable creative expression of personality by means of digital technologies, integrating information and communication technologies, intellectual systems, human sensitivity and contextual experience of scientific and pedagogical activity has been defined.

Radioactive waste management profiles. A compilation of data from the Net Enabled Waste Management Database (NEWMDB). No. 6, November 2004 (last updated 2004.12.16)

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

2005-03-01

This Radioactive Waste Management Profiles report is a compilation of data collected by the Net Enabled Waste Management Database (NEWDB) from March to July 2004. The report contains information on national radioactive waste management programmes, plans and activities, relevant laws and regulations, policies and radioactive waste inventories. It provides or references details of the scope of NEWMDB data collections and it explains the formats of individual NEWMDB report pages

Utility Energy Services Contracts: Enabling Documents

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

None

2009-05-01

Utility Energy Services Contracts: Enabling Documents provides materials that clarify the authority for Federal agencies to enter into utility energy services contracts (UESCs), as well as sample documents and resources to ease utility partnership contracting.

A computational study of soot formation in opposed-flow diffusion flame interacting with vortices

KAUST Repository

Selvaraj, Prabhu

2017-01-05

The flame-vortex interaction enables the study of basic phenomena that control the coupling between combustion and turbulence. Employing a gas phase reaction mechanism considering polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH), a two dimensional counterflow ethylene-air flame is simulated. A reduced mechanism with PAH pathways that includes until coronene and method of moments with interpolative closure (MOMIC) has been employed to calculate the soot characteristics. Interaction of sooting flame with a prescribed decaying random velocity field is being investigated. Counterflow nonpremixed flames at low strain rate sooting conditions are considered. Effects of vortices are studied on the flame structures and its sensitivity on the soot formation characteristics. As the vortex rolls up the flame, integrated soot volume fraction is found to be larger for the air-side vortex. A detailed analysis on the flame structure and its influence on the formation of soot were carried out. The results indicate that the larger PAH species contributes to the soot formation in the airside perturbation regimes, whereas the soot formation is dominated by the soot transport in fuel-side perturbation.

Notch-dependent epithelial fold determines boundary formation between developmental fields in the Drosophila antenna.

Science.gov (United States)

Ku, Hui-Yu; Sun, Y Henry

2017-07-01

Compartment boundary formation plays an important role in development by separating adjacent developmental fields. Drosophila imaginal discs have proven valuable for studying the mechanisms of boundary formation. We studied the boundary separating the proximal A1 segment and the distal segments, defined respectively by Lim1 and Dll expression in the eye-antenna disc. Sharp segregation of the Lim1 and Dll expression domains precedes activation of Notch at the Dll/Lim1 interface. By repressing bantam miRNA and elevating the actin regulator Enable, Notch signaling then induces actomyosin-dependent apical constriction and epithelial fold. Disruption of Notch signaling or the actomyosin network reduces apical constriction and epithelial fold, so that Dll and Lim1 cells become intermingled. Our results demonstrate a new mechanism of boundary formation by actomyosin-dependent tissue folding, which provides a physical barrier to prevent mixing of cells from adjacent developmental fields.

A geodata warehouse: Using denormalisation techniques as a tool for delivering spatially enabled integrated geological information to geologists

Science.gov (United States)

Kingdon, Andrew; Nayembil, Martin L.; Richardson, Anne E.; Smith, A. Graham

2016-11-01

New requirements to understand geological properties in three dimensions have led to the development of PropBase, a data structure and delivery tools to deliver this. At the BGS, relational database management systems (RDBMS) has facilitated effective data management using normalised subject-based database designs with business rules in a centralised, vocabulary controlled, architecture. These have delivered effective data storage in a secure environment. However, isolated subject-oriented designs prevented efficient cross-domain querying of datasets. Additionally, the tools provided often did not enable effective data discovery as they struggled to resolve the complex underlying normalised structures providing poor data access speeds. Users developed bespoke access tools to structures they did not fully understand sometimes delivering them incorrect results. Therefore, BGS has developed PropBase, a generic denormalised data structure within an RDBMS to store property data, to facilitate rapid and standardised data discovery and access, incorporating 2D and 3D physical and chemical property data, with associated metadata. This includes scripts to populate and synchronise the layer with its data sources through structured input and transcription standards. A core component of the architecture includes, an optimised query object, to deliver geoscience information from a structure equivalent to a data warehouse. This enables optimised query performance to deliver data in multiple standardised formats using a web discovery tool. Semantic interoperability is enforced through vocabularies combined from all data sources facilitating searching of related terms. PropBase holds 28.1 million spatially enabled property data points from 10 source databases incorporating over 50 property data types with a vocabulary set that includes 557 property terms. By enabling property data searches across multiple databases PropBase has facilitated new scientific research, previously

Parent Group Education to ENABLE “Barrio” Parents

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Herman Curiel

2014-04-01

Full Text Available This paper describes a 1960s “War on Poverty” parent group education program that brought together three national private voluntary agencies with federal funding by the Office of Economic Opportunity (OEO. Project ENABLE (Education Neighborhood Action for a Better Living Environment sought to direct professional efforts to help/empower the poor and societal members of ethnic minority groups. Group education as a preventive modality was used to strengthen parents’ problem solving skills in their roles both as parents and as community leaders. The author describes his group leadership role together with that of the indigenous case aides who helped direct/enable the collective power of a group of poor Spanish speaking Mexican origin families living in barrios (neighborhoods of a major metropolitan southern city. Project ENABLE embraced a strengths-based perspective characteristic of social work’s historical empowerment traditions. Despite its brief existence, Project ENABLE functioned as a demonstration program in 62 communities across the United States. Ironically, its prevention focus and demonstration nature served to undermine its ability to compete with other OEO initiatives like Head Start and job training programs. The author cites a combination of historical and logistic factors that contributed to the short life and ultimate demise of a once promising outreach program.

Formate Formation and Formate Conversion in Biological Fuels Production

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Bryan R. Crable

2011-01-01

Full Text Available Biomethanation is a mature technology for fuel production. Fourth generation biofuels research will focus on sequestering CO2 and providing carbon-neutral or carbon-negative strategies to cope with dwindling fossil fuel supplies and environmental impact. Formate is an important intermediate in the methanogenic breakdown of complex organic material and serves as an important precursor for biological fuels production in the form of methane, hydrogen, and potentially methanol. Formate is produced by either CoA-dependent cleavage of pyruvate or enzymatic reduction of CO2 in an NADH- or ferredoxin-dependent manner. Formate is consumed through oxidation to CO2 and H2 or can be further reduced via the Wood-Ljungdahl pathway for carbon fixation or industrially for the production of methanol. Here, we review the enzymes involved in the interconversion of formate and discuss potential applications for biofuels production.

Web Enabled DROLS Verity TopicSets

National Research Council Canada - National Science Library

Tong, Richard

1999-01-01

The focus of this effort has been the design and development of automatically generated TopicSets and HTML pages that provide the basis of the required search and browsing capability for DTIC's Web Enabled DROLS System...

Utility Energy Services Contracts: Enabling Documents

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Thomas, Karen; Vasquez, Deb

2017-01-01

The Federal Energy Management Program's 'Utility Energy Service Contracts: Enabling Documents' provide legislative information and materials that clarify the authority for federal agencies to enter into utility energy service contracts, or UESCs.

CMOS Enabled Microfluidic Systems for Healthcare Based Applications

KAUST Repository

Khan, Sherjeel M.; Gumus, Abdurrahman; Nassar, Joanna M.; Hussain, Muhammad Mustafa

2018-01-01

With the increased global population, it is more important than ever to expand accessibility to affordable personalized healthcare. In this context, a seamless integration of microfluidic technology for bioanalysis and drug delivery and complementary metal oxide semiconductor (CMOS) technology enabled data-management circuitry is critical. Therefore, here, the fundamentals, integration aspects, and applications of CMOS-enabled microfluidic systems for affordable personalized healthcare systems are presented. Critical components, like sensors, actuators, and their fabrication and packaging, are discussed and reviewed in detail. With the emergence of the Internet-of-Things and the upcoming Internet-of-Everything for a people-process-data-device connected world, now is the time to take CMOS-enabled microfluidics technology to as many people as possible. There is enormous potential for microfluidic technologies in affordable healthcare for everyone, and CMOS technology will play a major role in making that happen.

CMOS Enabled Microfluidic Systems for Healthcare Based Applications

KAUST Repository

Khan, Sherjeel M.

2018-02-27

With the increased global population, it is more important than ever to expand accessibility to affordable personalized healthcare. In this context, a seamless integration of microfluidic technology for bioanalysis and drug delivery and complementary metal oxide semiconductor (CMOS) technology enabled data-management circuitry is critical. Therefore, here, the fundamentals, integration aspects, and applications of CMOS-enabled microfluidic systems for affordable personalized healthcare systems are presented. Critical components, like sensors, actuators, and their fabrication and packaging, are discussed and reviewed in detail. With the emergence of the Internet-of-Things and the upcoming Internet-of-Everything for a people-process-data-device connected world, now is the time to take CMOS-enabled microfluidics technology to as many people as possible. There is enormous potential for microfluidic technologies in affordable healthcare for everyone, and CMOS technology will play a major role in making that happen.

Perceptions and attitudes of formative assessments in middle-school science classes

Science.gov (United States)

Chauncey, Penny Denyse

No Child Left Behind mandates utilizing summative assessment to measure schools' effectiveness. The problem is that summative assessment measures students' knowledge without depth of understanding. The goal of public education, however, is to prepare students to think critically at higher levels. The purpose of this study was to examine any difference between formative assessment incorporated in instruction as opposed to the usual, more summative methods in terms of attitudes and academic achievement of middle-school science students. Maslow's theory emphasizes that individuals must have basic needs met before they can advance to higher levels. Formative assessment enables students to master one level at a time. The research questions focused on whether statistically significant differences existed between classrooms using these two types of assessments on academic tests and an attitude survey. Using a quantitative quasi-experimental control-group design, data were obtained from a sample of 430 middle-school science students in 6 classes. One control and 2 experimental classes were assigned to each teacher. Results of the independent t tests revealed academic achievement was significantly greater for groups that utilized formative assessment. No significant difference in attitudes was noted. Recommendations include incorporating formative assessment results with the summative results. Findings from this study could contribute to positive social change by prompting educational stakeholders to examine local and state policies on curriculum as well as funding based on summative scores alone. Use of formative assessment can lead to improved academic success.

Study of the Chemical Mechanism Involved in the Formation of Tungstite in Benzyl Alcohol by the Advanced QEXAFS Technique

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Olliges‐Stadler, Inga; Stötzel, Jan; Koziej, Dorota

2012-01-01

Insight into the complex chemical mechanism for the formation of tungstite nanoparticles obtained by the reaction of tungsten hexachloride with benzyl alcohol is presented herein. The organic and inorganic species involved in the formation of the nanoparticles were studied by time‐dependent gas......‐scanning extended X‐ray absorption fine structure spectroscopy enabled the time‐dependent evolution of the starting compound, the intermediates and the product to be monitored over the full reaction period. The reaction starts with fast chlorine substitution and partial reduction during the dissolution...

Standard molar enthalpies of formation of sodium alkoxides

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Chandran, K.; Srinivasan, T.G.; Gopalan, A.; Ganesan, V.

2007-01-01

The molar enthalpies of solution of sodium in methanol, ethanol, and n-propanol and of sodium alkoxides in their corresponding alcohols were measured at T=298.15K using an isoperibol solution calorimeter. From these results and other auxiliary data, the standard molar enthalpies of formation, Δ f H m o (RONa,cr) of sodium methoxide, sodium ethoxide, and sodium n-propoxide were calculated and found to be {(-366.21+/-1.38) (-413.39+/-1.45), and (-441.57+/-1.18)}kJ.mol -1 , respectively. A linear correlation has been found between Δ f H m o (RONa)andΔ f H m o (ROH) for R=n-alkyl, enabling the prediction of data for other sodium alkoxides

Enablers & Barriers for Realizing Modularity Benefits

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Storbjerg, Simon Haahr; Brunø, Thomas Ditlev; Thyssen, Jesper

2012-01-01

far less attention compared to the theories and methods concerning modularization of technical systems. Harvesting the full potential of modularization, particularly in relation to product development agility, depends on more than an optimal architecture. Key enablers in this context......Although modularization is becoming both a well-described domain in academia and a broadly applied concept in business, many of today’s firm still struggle to realize the promised benefits of this approach. Managing modularization is a complex matter, and in spite of this, a topic that has received...... are the organizational and systems related aspects. Recognizing the need for guidance to realize the benefits of modularity, the purpose of this study is through a literature study and a case study to improve the insight into the organizational and systems related enablers and barriers with regard to obtaining the full...

G protein-coupled receptor internalization assays in the high-content screening format.

Science.gov (United States)

Haasen, Dorothea; Schnapp, Andreas; Valler, Martin J; Heilker, Ralf

2006-01-01

High-content screening (HCS), a combination of fluorescence microscopic imaging and automated image analysis, has become a frequently applied tool to study test compound effects in cellular disease-modeling systems. This chapter describes the measurement of G protein-coupled receptor (GPCR) internalization in the HCS format using a high-throughput, confocal cellular imaging device. GPCRs are the most successful group of therapeutic targets on the pharmaceutical market. Accordingly, the search for compounds that interfere with GPCR function in a specific and selective way is a major focus of the pharmaceutical industry today. This chapter describes methods for the ligand-induced internalization of GPCRs labeled previously with either a fluorophore-conjugated ligand or an antibody directed against an N-terminal tag of the GPCR. Both labeling techniques produce robust assay formats. Complementary to other functional GPCR drug discovery assays, internalization assays enable a pharmacological analysis of test compounds. We conclude that GPCR internalization assays represent a valuable medium/high-throughput screening format to determine the cellular activity of GPCR ligands.

Monitoring sinew contraction during formation of tissue-engineered fibrin-based ligament constructs.

Science.gov (United States)

Paxton, Jennifer Z; Wudebwe, Uchena N G; Wang, Anqi; Woods, Daniel; Grover, Liam M

2012-08-01

The ability to study the gross morphological changes occurring during tissue formation is vital to producing tissue-engineered structures of clinically relevant dimensions in vitro. Here, we have used nondestructive methods of digital imaging and optical coherence tomography to monitor the early-stage formation and subsequent maturation of fibrin-based tissue-engineered ligament constructs. In addition, the effect of supplementation with essential promoters of collagen synthesis, ascorbic acid (AA) and proline (P), has been assessed. Contraction of the cell-seeded fibrin gel occurs unevenly within the first 5 days of culture around two fixed anchor points before forming a longitudinal ligament-like construct. AA+P supplementation accelerates gel contraction in the maturation phase of development, producing ligament-like constructs with a higher collagen content and distinct morphology to that of unsupplemented constructs. These studies highlight the importance of being able to control the methods of tissue formation and maturation in vitro to enable the production of tissue-engineered constructs with suitable replacement tissue characteristics for repair of clinical soft-tissue injuries.

Mechanical Engineering Design Project report: Enabler control systems

Science.gov (United States)

Cullen, Christian; Delvecchio, Dave; Scarborough, Alan; Havics, Andrew A.

1992-01-01

The Controls Group was assigned the responsibility for designing the Enabler's control system. The requirement for the design was that the control system must provide a simple user interface to control the boom articulation joints, chassis articulation joints, and the wheel drive. The system required controlling hydraulic motors on the Enabler by implementing 8-bit microprocessor boards. In addition, feedback to evaluate positions and velocities must be interfaced to provide the operator with confirmation as well as control.

Trade-off between multiple constraints enables simultaneous formation of modules and hubs in neural systems.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Yuhan Chen

Full Text Available The formation of the complex network architecture of neural systems is subject to multiple structural and functional constraints. Two obvious but apparently contradictory constraints are low wiring cost and high processing efficiency, characterized by short overall wiring length and a small average number of processing steps, respectively. Growing evidence shows that neural networks are results from a trade-off between physical cost and functional value of the topology. However, the relationship between these competing constraints and complex topology is not well understood quantitatively. We explored this relationship systematically by reconstructing two known neural networks, Macaque cortical connectivity and C. elegans neuronal connections, from combinatory optimization of wiring cost and processing efficiency constraints, using a control parameter α, and comparing the reconstructed networks to the real networks. We found that in both neural systems, the reconstructed networks derived from the two constraints can reveal some important relations between the spatial layout of nodes and the topological connectivity, and match several properties of the real networks. The reconstructed and real networks had a similar modular organization in a broad range of α, resulting from spatial clustering of network nodes. Hubs emerged due to the competition of the two constraints, and their positions were close to, and partly coincided, with the real hubs in a range of α values. The degree of nodes was correlated with the density of nodes in their spatial neighborhood in both reconstructed and real networks. Generally, the rebuilt network matched a significant portion of real links, especially short-distant ones. These findings provide clear evidence to support the hypothesis of trade-off between multiple constraints on brain networks. The two constraints of wiring cost and processing efficiency, however, cannot explain all salient features in the real

Extreme Networks' 10-Gigabit Ethernet enables

CERN Multimedia

2002-01-01

" Extreme Networks, Inc.'s 10-Gigabit switching platform enabled researchers to transfer one Terabyte of information from Vancouver to Geneva across a single network hop, the world's first large-scale, end-to-end transfer of its kind" (1/2 page).

Invariant Solar Sail Formations in Elliptical Sun-Synchronous Orbits

Science.gov (United States)

Parsay, Khashayar

Current and past missions that study the Earth's geomagnetic tail require multiple spacecraft to fly in formation about a highly eccentric Keplerian reference orbit that has its apogee inside a predefined science region of interest. Because the geomagnetic tail is directed along the Sun-Earth line and therefore rotates annually, inertially fixed Keplerian orbits are only aligned with the geomagnetic tail once per year. This limitation reduces the duration of the science phase to less than a few months annually. Solar sails are capable of creating non-Keplerian, Sun-synchronous orbits that rotate with the geomagnetic tail. A solar sail flying in a Sun-synchronous orbit will have a continuous presence in the geomagnetic tail throughout the entire year, which significantly improves the in situ observations of the magnetosphere. To achieve a Sun-synchronous orbit, a solar sail is required to maintain a Sun-pointing attitude, which leads to the artificial precession of the orbit apse line in a Sun-synchronous manner, leaving the orbit apogee inside the science region of interest throughout entire the year. To study the spatial and temporal variations of plasma in the highly dynamic environment of the magnetosphere, multiple spacecraft must fly in a formation. The objective for this dissertation is to investigate the feasibility of solar sail formation flying in the Earth-centered, Sun-synchronous orbit regime. The focus of this effort is to enable formation flying for a group of solar sails that maintain a nominally fixed Sun-pointing attitude during formation flight, solely for the purpose of precessing their orbit apse lines Sun-synchronously. A fixed-attitude solar sail formation is motivated by the difficulties in the simultaneous control of orbit and attitude in flying solar sails. First, the secular rates of the orbital elements resulting from the effects of solar radiation pressure (SRP) are determined using averaging theory for a Sun-pointing attitude sail

Advanced multivariate data analysis to determine the root cause of trisulfide bond formation in a novel antibody–peptide fusion

Science.gov (United States)

Goldrick, Stephen; Holmes, William; Bond, Nicholas J.; Lewis, Gareth; Kuiper, Marcel; Turner, Richard

2017-01-01

ABSTRACT Product quality heterogeneities, such as a trisulfide bond (TSB) formation, can be influenced by multiple interacting process parameters. Identifying their root cause is a major challenge in biopharmaceutical production. To address this issue, this paper describes the novel application of advanced multivariate data analysis (MVDA) techniques to identify the process parameters influencing TSB formation in a novel recombinant antibody–peptide fusion expressed in mammalian cell culture. The screening dataset was generated with a high‐throughput (HT) micro‐bioreactor system (AmbrTM 15) using a design of experiments (DoE) approach. The complex dataset was firstly analyzed through the development of a multiple linear regression model focusing solely on the DoE inputs and identified the temperature, pH and initial nutrient feed day as important process parameters influencing this quality attribute. To further scrutinize the dataset, a partial least squares model was subsequently built incorporating both on‐line and off‐line process parameters and enabled accurate predictions of the TSB concentration at harvest. Process parameters identified by the models to promote and suppress TSB formation were implemented on five 7 L bioreactors and the resultant TSB concentrations were comparable to the model predictions. This study demonstrates the ability of MVDA to enable predictions of the key performance drivers influencing TSB formation that are valid also upon scale‐up. Biotechnol. Bioeng. 2017;114: 2222–2234. © 2017 The Authors. Biotechnology and Bioengineering Published by Wiley Periodicals, Inc. PMID:28500668

Adjusting to bodily change following stoma formation: a phenomenological study.

Science.gov (United States)

Thorpe, Gabrielle; Arthur, Antony; McArthur, Maggie

2016-09-01

Scant research has been undertaken to explore in-depth the meaning of bodily change for individuals following stoma formation. The aim of this study was to understand the experience of living with a new stoma, with a focus on bodily change. The study adopted a longitudinal phenomenological approach. Purposeful sampling was used to recruit 12 participants who had undergone faecal stoma-forming surgery. In-depth, unstructured interviews were conducted at 3, 9 and 15 months following surgery. A five-stage framework facilitated iterative data analysis. Stoma formation altered the taken-for-granted relationship individuals had with their bodies in terms of appearance, function and sensation, undermining the unity between body and self. Increasing familiarity with and perceived control over their stoma over time diminished awareness of their changed body, facilitating adaptation and self-acceptance. Stoma formation can undermine an individual's sense of embodied self. A concept of embodiment is proposed to enable the experience of living with a new stoma to be understood as part of a wider process of re-establishing a unity between body, self and world. In defining a framework of care, individuals with a new stoma can be assisted to adapt to and accept a changed sense of embodied self. Implications for Rehabilitation Awareness and understanding of the diverse ways in which stoma formation disrupts the unconscious relationship between body and self can help clinicians to provide responsive, person-centred care. Supporting strategies that facilitate bodily mastery following stoma formation will facilitate rehabilitation and promote adjustment and self-acceptance. A concept of embodiment can help clinicians to deepen their understanding of the experiences of people living with a new stoma and the support they may require during the rehabilitation process. This paper provides clinicians with actionable insight that allows them to better support patients to a smoother

Enabling software defined networking experiments in networked critical infrastructures

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Béla Genge

2014-05-01

Full Text Available Nowadays, the fact that Networked Critical Infrastructures (NCI, e.g., power plants, water plants, oil and gas distribution infrastructures, and electricity grids, are targeted by significant cyber threats is well known. Nevertheless, recent research has shown that specific characteristics of NCI can be exploited in the enabling of more efficient mitigation techniques, while novel techniques from the field of IP networks can bring significant advantages. In this paper we explore the interconnection of NCI communication infrastructures with Software Defined Networking (SDN-enabled network topologies. SDN provides the means to create virtual networking services and to implement global networking decisions. It relies on OpenFlow to enable communication with remote devices and has been recently categorized as the “Next Big Technology”, which will revolutionize the way decisions are implemented in switches and routers. Therefore, the paper documents the first steps towards enabling an SDN-NCI and presents the impact of a Denial of Service experiment over traffic resulting from an XBee sensor network which is routed across an emulated SDN network.

Substrate Trapping in Crystals of the Thiolase OleA Identifies Three Channels That Enable Long Chain Olefin Biosynthesis

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Goblirsch, Brandon R.; Jensen, Matthew R.; Mohamed, Fatuma A.; Wackett, Lawrence P.; Wilmot, Carrie M.

2016-11-04

Phylogenetically diverse microbes that produce long chain, olefinic hydrocarbons have received much attention as possible sources of renewable energy biocatalysts. One enzyme that is critical for this process is OleA, a thiolase superfamily enzyme that condenses two fatty acyl-CoA substrates to produce a β-ketoacid product and initiates the biosynthesis of long chain olefins in bacteria. Thiolases typically utilize a ping-pong mechanism centered on an active site cysteine residue. Reaction with the first substrate produces a covalent cysteine-thioester tethered acyl group that is transferred to the second substrate through formation of a carbon-carbon bond. Although the basics of thiolase chemistry are precedented, the mechanism by which OleA accommodates two substrates with extended carbon chains and a coenzyme moiety—unusual for a thiolase—are unknown. Gaining insights into this process could enable manipulation of the system for large scale olefin production with hydrocarbon chains lengths equivalent to those of fossil fuels. In this study, mutagenesis of the active site cysteine in Xanthomonas campestris OleA (Cys143) enabled trapping of two catalytically relevant species in crystals. In the resulting structures, long chain alkyl groups (C12 and C14) and phosphopantetheinate define three substrate channels in a T-shaped configuration, explaining how OleA coordinates its two substrates and product. The C143A OleA co-crystal structure possesses a single bound acyl-CoA representing the Michaelis complex with the first substrate, whereas the C143S co-crystal structure contains both acyl-CoA and fatty acid, defining how a second substrate binds to the acyl-enzyme intermediate. An active site glutamate (Gluβ117) is positioned to deprotonate bound acyl-CoA and initiate carbon-carbon bond formation.

Substrate Trapping in Crystals of the Thiolase OleA Identifies Three Channels That Enable Long Chain Olefin Biosynthesis.

Science.gov (United States)

Goblirsch, Brandon R; Jensen, Matthew R; Mohamed, Fatuma A; Wackett, Lawrence P; Wilmot, Carrie M

2016-12-23

Phylogenetically diverse microbes that produce long chain, olefinic hydrocarbons have received much attention as possible sources of renewable energy biocatalysts. One enzyme that is critical for this process is OleA, a thiolase superfamily enzyme that condenses two fatty acyl-CoA substrates to produce a β-ketoacid product and initiates the biosynthesis of long chain olefins in bacteria. Thiolases typically utilize a ping-pong mechanism centered on an active site cysteine residue. Reaction with the first substrate produces a covalent cysteine-thioester tethered acyl group that is transferred to the second substrate through formation of a carbon-carbon bond. Although the basics of thiolase chemistry are precedented, the mechanism by which OleA accommodates two substrates with extended carbon chains and a coenzyme moiety-unusual for a thiolase-are unknown. Gaining insights into this process could enable manipulation of the system for large scale olefin production with hydrocarbon chains lengths equivalent to those of fossil fuels. In this study, mutagenesis of the active site cysteine in Xanthomonas campestris OleA (Cys 143 ) enabled trapping of two catalytically relevant species in crystals. In the resulting structures, long chain alkyl groups (C 12 and C 14 ) and phosphopantetheinate define three substrate channels in a T-shaped configuration, explaining how OleA coordinates its two substrates and product. The C143A OleA co-crystal structure possesses a single bound acyl-CoA representing the Michaelis complex with the first substrate, whereas the C143S co-crystal structure contains both acyl-CoA and fatty acid, defining how a second substrate binds to the acyl-enzyme intermediate. An active site glutamate (Gluβ 117 ) is positioned to deprotonate bound acyl-CoA and initiate carbon-carbon bond formation. © 2016 by The American Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Inc.

Substrate Trapping in Crystals of the Thiolase OleA Identifies Three Channels That Enable Long Chain Olefin Biosynthesis*

Science.gov (United States)

Goblirsch, Brandon R.; Jensen, Matthew R.; Mohamed, Fatuma A.; Wackett, Lawrence P.; Wilmot, Carrie M.

2016-01-01

Phylogenetically diverse microbes that produce long chain, olefinic hydrocarbons have received much attention as possible sources of renewable energy biocatalysts. One enzyme that is critical for this process is OleA, a thiolase superfamily enzyme that condenses two fatty acyl-CoA substrates to produce a β-ketoacid product and initiates the biosynthesis of long chain olefins in bacteria. Thiolases typically utilize a ping-pong mechanism centered on an active site cysteine residue. Reaction with the first substrate produces a covalent cysteine-thioester tethered acyl group that is transferred to the second substrate through formation of a carbon-carbon bond. Although the basics of thiolase chemistry are precedented, the mechanism by which OleA accommodates two substrates with extended carbon chains and a coenzyme moiety—unusual for a thiolase—are unknown. Gaining insights into this process could enable manipulation of the system for large scale olefin production with hydrocarbon chains lengths equivalent to those of fossil fuels. In this study, mutagenesis of the active site cysteine in Xanthomonas campestris OleA (Cys143) enabled trapping of two catalytically relevant species in crystals. In the resulting structures, long chain alkyl groups (C12 and C14) and phosphopantetheinate define three substrate channels in a T-shaped configuration, explaining how OleA coordinates its two substrates and product. The C143A OleA co-crystal structure possesses a single bound acyl-CoA representing the Michaelis complex with the first substrate, whereas the C143S co-crystal structure contains both acyl-CoA and fatty acid, defining how a second substrate binds to the acyl-enzyme intermediate. An active site glutamate (Gluβ117) is positioned to deprotonate bound acyl-CoA and initiate carbon-carbon bond formation. PMID:27815501

ORIGIN OF THE GALAXY MASS-METALLICITY-STAR FORMATION RELATION

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Harwit, Martin; Brisbin, Drew

2015-01-01

We describe an equilibrium model that links the metallicity of low-redshift galaxies to stellar evolution models. It enables the testing of different stellar initial mass functions and metal yields against observed galaxy metallicities. We show that the metallicities of more than 80,000 Sloan Digital Sky Survey galaxies in the low-redshift range 0.07 ≤ z ≤ 0.3 considerably constrain stellar evolution models that simultaneously relate galaxy stellar mass, metallicity, and star formation rates to the infall rate of low-metallicity extragalactic gas and outflow of enriched matter. A feature of our model is that it encompasses both the active star forming phases of a galaxy and epochs during which the same galaxy may lie fallow. We show that the galaxy mass-metallicity-star formation relation can be traced to infall of extragalactic gas mixing with native gas from host galaxies to form stars of observed metallicities, the most massive of which eject oxygen into extragalactic space. Most consequential among our findings is that, on average, extragalactic infall accounts for one half of the gas required for star formation, a ratio that is remarkably constant across galaxies with stellar masses ranging at least from M* = 2 × 10 9 to 6 × 10 10 M ☉ . This leads us to propose that star formation is initiated when extragalactic infall roughly doubles the mass of marginally stable interstellar clouds. The processes described may also account quantitatively for the metallicity of extragalactic space, though to check this the fraction of extragalactic baryons will need to be more firmly established

Biological basis of tree-ring formation: a crash course

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Cyrille Barthélémy Karl Rathgeber

2016-05-01

Full Text Available Wood is of crucial importance for man and biosphere. In this mini review, we present the fundamental processes involved in tree-ring formation and intra-annual dynamics of cambial activity, along with the influences of the environmental factors. During wood formation, new xylem cells produced by the cambium are undergoing profound transformations, passing through successive differentiation stages, which enable them to perform their functions in trees. Xylem cell formation can be divided in five major phases: (1 the division of a cambial mother cell that creates a new cell; (2 the enlargement of this newly formed cell; (3 the deposition of its secondary wall; (4 the lignification of its cell wall; and finally, (5 its programmed cell death. In most regions of the world cambial activity follows a seasonal cycle. At the beginning of the growing season, when temperature increases, the cambium resumes activity, producing new xylem cells. These cells are disposed along radial files, and start their differentiation program according to their birth date, creating typical developmental strips in the forming xylem. The width of these strips smoothly changes along the growing season. Finally, when climatic conditions deteriorate (temperature or water availability in particular, cambial activity stops, soon followed by cell enlargement, and later on by secondary wall deposition. Without a clear understanding of the xylem formation process, it is not possible to comprehend how annual growth rings and typical wood structures are formed, recording seasonal variations of the environment as well as extreme climatic events.

ORIGIN OF THE GALAXY MASS-METALLICITY-STAR FORMATION RELATION

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Harwit, Martin; Brisbin, Drew, E-mail: harwit@verizon.net [Center for Radiophysics and Space Research, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY 14853 (United States)

2015-02-20

We describe an equilibrium model that links the metallicity of low-redshift galaxies to stellar evolution models. It enables the testing of different stellar initial mass functions and metal yields against observed galaxy metallicities. We show that the metallicities of more than 80,000 Sloan Digital Sky Survey galaxies in the low-redshift range 0.07 ≤ z ≤ 0.3 considerably constrain stellar evolution models that simultaneously relate galaxy stellar mass, metallicity, and star formation rates to the infall rate of low-metallicity extragalactic gas and outflow of enriched matter. A feature of our model is that it encompasses both the active star forming phases of a galaxy and epochs during which the same galaxy may lie fallow. We show that the galaxy mass-metallicity-star formation relation can be traced to infall of extragalactic gas mixing with native gas from host galaxies to form stars of observed metallicities, the most massive of which eject oxygen into extragalactic space. Most consequential among our findings is that, on average, extragalactic infall accounts for one half of the gas required for star formation, a ratio that is remarkably constant across galaxies with stellar masses ranging at least from M* = 2 × 10{sup 9} to 6 × 10{sup 10} M {sub ☉}. This leads us to propose that star formation is initiated when extragalactic infall roughly doubles the mass of marginally stable interstellar clouds. The processes described may also account quantitatively for the metallicity of extragalactic space, though to check this the fraction of extragalactic baryons will need to be more firmly established.

75 FR 13235 - IP-Enabled Services

Science.gov (United States)

2010-03-19

... FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION 47 CFR Part 63 [WC Docket No. 04-36; FCC 09-40] IP-Enabled Services AGENCY: Federal Communications Commission ACTION: Final rule; announcement of effective date... Internet Protocol (VoIP) service the discontinuance obligations that apply to domestic non-dominant...

Galaxy formation

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Silk, J.; Di Cintio, A.; Dvorkin, I.

2014-01-01

Galaxy formation is at the forefront of observation and theory in cosmology. An improved understanding is essential for improving our knowledge both of the cosmological parameters, of the contents of the universe, and of our origins. In these lectures intended for graduate students, galaxy formation theory is reviewed and confronted with recent observational issues. In lecture 1, the following topics are presented: star formation considerations, including IMF, star formation efficiency and star formation rate, the origin of the galaxy luminosity function, and feedback in dwarf galaxies. In lecture 2, we describe formation of disks and massive spheroids, including the growth of supermassive black holes, negative feedback in spheroids, the AGN-star formation connection, star formation rates at high redshift and the baryon fraction in galaxies.

Enabling framework for service-oriented collaborative networks

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Sargolzaei, M.

2018-01-01

In today's economy, collaboration and co-development among organizations has evolved from the traditional format of static supply chains to the dynamic formation of federated organization networks. Networking among business partners has proven to yield lower costs, higher quality, larger

CMOS Enabled Microfluidic Systems for Healthcare Based Applications.

Science.gov (United States)

Khan, Sherjeel M; Gumus, Abdurrahman; Nassar, Joanna M; Hussain, Muhammad M

2018-04-01

With the increased global population, it is more important than ever to expand accessibility to affordable personalized healthcare. In this context, a seamless integration of microfluidic technology for bioanalysis and drug delivery and complementary metal oxide semiconductor (CMOS) technology enabled data-management circuitry is critical. Therefore, here, the fundamentals, integration aspects, and applications of CMOS-enabled microfluidic systems for affordable personalized healthcare systems are presented. Critical components, like sensors, actuators, and their fabrication and packaging, are discussed and reviewed in detail. With the emergence of the Internet-of-Things and the upcoming Internet-of-Everything for a people-process-data-device connected world, now is the time to take CMOS-enabled microfluidics technology to as many people as possible. There is enormous potential for microfluidic technologies in affordable healthcare for everyone, and CMOS technology will play a major role in making that happen. © 2018 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.

Enabling DRM-preserving Digital content Redistribution

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Krishnan Nair, S.; Popescu, B.C.; Gamage, C.D.; Crispo, B.; Tanenbaum, A.S.

2005-01-01

Traditionally, the process of online digital content distribution has involved a limited number of centralised distributors selling protected contents and licenses authorising the use of the se contents, to consumers. In this paper, we extend this model by introducing a security scheme that enables

Healthy publics: enabling cultures and environments for health

Science.gov (United States)

Hinchliffe, Stephen; Jackson, Mark A.; Wyatt, Katrina; Barlow, Anne E.; Barreto, Manuela; Clare, Linda; Depledge, Michael H.; Durie, Robin; Fleming, Lora E.; Groom, Nick; Morrissey, Karyn; Salisbury, Laura; Thomas, Felicity

2018-01-01

Despite extraordinary advances in biomedicine and associated gains in human health and well-being, a growing number of health and well-being related challenges have remained or emerged in recent years. These challenges are often ‘more than biomedical’ in complexion, being social, cultural and environmental in terms of their key drivers and determinants, and underline the necessity of a concerted policy focus on generating healthy societies. Despite the apparent agreement on this diagnosis, the means to produce change are seldom clear, even when the turn to health and well-being requires sizable shifts in our understandings of public health and research practices. This paper sets out a platform from which research approaches, methods and translational pathways for enabling health and well-being can be built. The term ‘healthy publics’ allows us to shift the focus of public health away from ‘the public’ or individuals as targets for intervention, and away from the view that culture acts as a barrier to efficient biomedical intervention, towards a greater recognition of the public struggles that are involved in raising health issues, questioning what counts as healthy and unhealthy and assembling the evidence and experience to change practices and outcomes. Creating the conditions for health and well-being, we argue, requires an engaged research process in which public experiments in building and repairing social and material relations are staged and sustained even if, and especially when, the fates of those publics remain fragile and buffeted by competing and often more powerful public formations. PMID:29862036

Grid computing : enabling a vision for collaborative research

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

von Laszewski, G.

2002-01-01

In this paper the authors provide a motivation for Grid computing based on a vision to enable a collaborative research environment. The authors vision goes beyond the connection of hardware resources. They argue that with an infrastructure such as the Grid, new modalities for collaborative research are enabled. They provide an overview showing why Grid research is difficult, and they present a number of management-related issues that must be addressed to make Grids a reality. They list projects that provide solutions to subsets of these issues

Protocol for Communication Networking for Formation Flying

Science.gov (United States)

Jennings, Esther; Okino, Clayton; Gao, Jay; Clare, Loren

2009-01-01

An application-layer protocol and a network architecture have been proposed for data communications among multiple autonomous spacecraft that are required to fly in a precise formation in order to perform scientific observations. The protocol could also be applied to other autonomous vehicles operating in formation, including robotic aircraft, robotic land vehicles, and robotic underwater vehicles. A group of spacecraft or other vehicles to which the protocol applies could be characterized as a precision-formation- flying (PFF) network, and each vehicle could be characterized as a node in the PFF network. In order to support precise formation flying, it would be necessary to establish a corresponding communication network, through which the vehicles could exchange position and orientation data and formation-control commands. The communication network must enable communication during early phases of a mission, when little positional knowledge is available. Particularly during early mission phases, the distances among vehicles may be so large that communication could be achieved only by relaying across multiple links. The large distances and need for omnidirectional coverage would limit communication links to operation at low bandwidth during these mission phases. Once the vehicles were in formation and distances were shorter, the communication network would be required to provide high-bandwidth, low-jitter service to support tight formation-control loops. The proposed protocol and architecture, intended to satisfy the aforementioned and other requirements, are based on a standard layered-reference-model concept. The proposed application protocol would be used in conjunction with conventional network, data-link, and physical-layer protocols. The proposed protocol includes the ubiquitous Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) 802.11 medium access control (MAC) protocol to be used in the datalink layer. In addition to its widespread and proven use in

Rapid formation of complexity in the total synthesis of natural products enabled by oxabicyclo[2.2.1]heptene building blocks.

Science.gov (United States)

Schindler, Corinna S; Carreira, Erick M

2009-11-01

This critical review showcases examples of rapid formation of complexity in total syntheses starting from 7-oxabicyclo[2.2.1]hept-5-ene derivatives. An overview of methods allowing synthetic access to these building blocks is provided and their application in recently developed synthetic transformations to structurally complex systems is illustrated. In addition, the facile access to a novel oxabicyclo[2.2.1]heptene derived building block is presented which significantly enlarges the possibilities of previously known chemical transformations and is highlighted in the enantioselective route to the core of the banyaside and suomilide natural products (107 references).

Enablement in health care context: a concept analysis.

Science.gov (United States)

Hudon, Catherine; St-Cyr Tribble, Denise; Bravo, Gina; Poitras, Marie-Eve

2011-02-01

The enablement process is defined as a professional intervention aiming to recognize, support and emphasize the patient's capacity to have control over her or his health and life. The purpose of this article was to study the enablement concept through a concept analysis in the health care context to identify: (1) its attributes and (2) its antecedents and consequents. A concept analysis was performed according to the method of Rodgers. The literature was reviewed from 1980 to June 2008, using search strategies adapted to the databases Cinahl, Medline, Embase, PsycInfo and Social Works Abstract, and hand searching. All articles contributing to a deeper understanding of the concept were included. The analysis was carried out according to a thematic analysis procedure, as described by Miles & Huberman. The search identified 1305 citations. After in-depth assessment of 148 potentially eligible citations, 61 articles were included in the review. Five articles were added with hand searching. Sixty-seven per cent of these articles were related to nursing. The attributes of the enablement concept included: contribution to the therapeutic relationship; consideration of the person as a whole; facilitation of learning; valorization of the person's strengths; implication and support to decision making; and broadening of the possibilities. These attributes could be used as a basis for other studies on enablement. Conceptual and empirical work is still needed to better position this concept among others such as patient-centred care, shared decision making and patient's participation. © 2010 Blackwell Publishing Ltd.

Sparsity enabled cluster reduced-order models for control

Science.gov (United States)

Kaiser, Eurika; Morzyński, Marek; Daviller, Guillaume; Kutz, J. Nathan; Brunton, Bingni W.; Brunton, Steven L.

2018-01-01

Characterizing and controlling nonlinear, multi-scale phenomena are central goals in science and engineering. Cluster-based reduced-order modeling (CROM) was introduced to exploit the underlying low-dimensional dynamics of complex systems. CROM builds a data-driven discretization of the Perron-Frobenius operator, resulting in a probabilistic model for ensembles of trajectories. A key advantage of CROM is that it embeds nonlinear dynamics in a linear framework, which enables the application of standard linear techniques to the nonlinear system. CROM is typically computed on high-dimensional data; however, access to and computations on this full-state data limit the online implementation of CROM for prediction and control. Here, we address this key challenge by identifying a small subset of critical measurements to learn an efficient CROM, referred to as sparsity-enabled CROM. In particular, we leverage compressive measurements to faithfully embed the cluster geometry and preserve the probabilistic dynamics. Further, we show how to identify fewer optimized sensor locations tailored to a specific problem that outperform random measurements. Both of these sparsity-enabled sensing strategies significantly reduce the burden of data acquisition and processing for low-latency in-time estimation and control. We illustrate this unsupervised learning approach on three different high-dimensional nonlinear dynamical systems from fluids with increasing complexity, with one application in flow control. Sparsity-enabled CROM is a critical facilitator for real-time implementation on high-dimensional systems where full-state information may be inaccessible.

RPPAML/RIMS: a metadata format and an information management system for reverse phase protein arrays.

Science.gov (United States)

Stanislaus, Romesh; Carey, Mark; Deus, Helena F; Coombes, Kevin; Hennessy, Bryan T; Mills, Gordon B; Almeida, Jonas S

2008-12-22

Reverse Phase Protein Arrays (RPPA) are convenient assay platforms to investigate the presence of biomarkers in tissue lysates. As with other high-throughput technologies, substantial amounts of analytical data are generated. Over 1,000 samples may be printed on a single nitrocellulose slide. Up to 100 different proteins may be assessed using immunoperoxidase or immunoflorescence techniques in order to determine relative amounts of protein expression in the samples of interest. In this report an RPPA Information Management System (RIMS) is described and made available with open source software. In order to implement the proposed system, we propose a metadata format known as reverse phase protein array markup language (RPPAML). RPPAML would enable researchers to describe, document and disseminate RPPA data. The complexity of the data structure needed to describe the results and the graphic tools necessary to visualize them require a software deployment distributed between a client and a server application. This was achieved without sacrificing interoperability between individual deployments through the use of an open source semantic database, S3DB. This data service backbone is available to multiple client side applications that can also access other server side deployments. The RIMS platform was designed to interoperate with other data analysis and data visualization tools such as Cytoscape. The proposed RPPAML data format hopes to standardize RPPA data. Standardization of data would result in diverse client applications being able to operate on the same set of data. Additionally, having data in a standard format would enable data dissemination and data analysis.

RPPAML/RIMS: A metadata format and an information management system for reverse phase protein arrays

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Hennessy Bryan T

2008-12-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background Reverse Phase Protein Arrays (RPPA are convenient assay platforms to investigate the presence of biomarkers in tissue lysates. As with other high-throughput technologies, substantial amounts of analytical data are generated. Over 1000 samples may be printed on a single nitrocellulose slide. Up to 100 different proteins may be assessed using immunoperoxidase or immunoflorescence techniques in order to determine relative amounts of protein expression in the samples of interest. Results In this report an RPPA Information Management System (RIMS is described and made available with open source software. In order to implement the proposed system, we propose a metadata format known as reverse phase protein array markup language (RPPAML. RPPAML would enable researchers to describe, document and disseminate RPPA data. The complexity of the data structure needed to describe the results and the graphic tools necessary to visualize them require a software deployment distributed between a client and a server application. This was achieved without sacrificing interoperability between individual deployments through the use of an open source semantic database, S3DB. This data service backbone is available to multiple client side applications that can also access other server side deployments. The RIMS platform was designed to interoperate with other data analysis and data visualization tools such as Cytoscape. Conclusion The proposed RPPAML data format hopes to standardize RPPA data. Standardization of data would result in diverse client applications being able to operate on the same set of data. Additionally, having data in a standard format would enable data dissemination and data analysis.

Constructing Chains of Enablers for Alternative Economic Futures

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Hull Kristensen, Peer

2016-01-01

economies. This article illustrates a way of researching alternative economic futures by identifying chains of enablers in Denmark and other Nordic countries by which society and business can co-develop and capture capabilities to take on new roles in globalization. Focus is on institutional enablers.......). Being generally inclusive of social movements, welfare states has also helped identify new needs on the "demand side" such as child- and eldercare, environmental protection, alternative energy and energy-saving, health, and city planning. This is illustrated by a number of firms that supply products...

Mechanical Design Engineering Enabler Project wheel and wheel drives

Science.gov (United States)

Nutt, Richard E.; Couch, Britt K.; Holley, John L., Jr.; Garris, Eric S.; Staut, Paul V.

1992-01-01

Our group was assigned the responsibility of designing the wheel and wheel drive system for a proof-of-concept model of the lunar-based ENABLER. ENABLER is a multi-purpose, six wheeled vehicle designed to lift and transport heavy objects associated with the construction of a lunar base. The resulting design was based on the performance criteria of the ENABLER. The drive system was designed to enable the vehicle to achieve a speed of 7 mph on a level surface, climb a 30 percent grade, and surpass a one meter high object and one meter wide crevice. The wheel assemblies were designed to support the entire weight of the vehicle on two wheels. The wheels were designed to serve as the main component of the vehicle's suspension and will provide suitable traction for lunar-type surfaces. The expected performance of the drive system for the ENABLER was influenced by many mechanical factors. The expected top speed on a level sandy surface is 4 mph instead of the desired 7 mph. This is due to a lack of necessary power at the wheels. The lack of power resulted from dimension considerations that allowed only an eight horsepower engine and also from mechanical inefficiencies of the hydraulic system. However, the vehicle will be able to climb a 30 percent grade, surpass a one meter high object and one meter wide crevice. The wheel assemblies will be able to support the entire weight of the vehicle on two wheels. The wheels will also provide adequate suspension for the vehicle and sufficient traction for lunar-type surfaces.

Lipid Bilayer Formation on Organic Electronic Materials

KAUST Repository

Zhang, Yi

2018-04-23

The lipid bilayer is the elemental structure of cell membrane, forming a stable barrier between the interior and exterior of the cell while hosting membrane proteins that enable selective transport of biologically important compounds and cellular recognition. Monitoring the quality and function of lipid bilayers is thus essential and can be performed using electrically active substrates that allow for transduction of signals. Such a promising electronic transducer material is the conducting polymer poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene) doped with poly(styrene sulfonate) (PEDOT:PSS) which has provided a plethora of novel bio transducing architectures. The challenge is however in assembling a bilayer on the conducting polymer surface, which is defect-free and has high mobility. Herein, we investigate the fusion of zwitterionic vesicles on a variety of PEDOT:PSS films, but also on an electron transporting, negatively charged organic semiconductor, in order to understand the surface properties that trigger vesicle fusion. The PEDOT:PSS films are prepared from dispersions containing different concentrations of ethylene glycol included as a formulation additive, which gives a handle to modulate surface physicochemical properties without a compromise on the chemical composition. The strong correlation between the polarity of the surface, the fusion of vesicles and the mobility of the resulting bilayer aides extracting design principles for the development of future conducting polymers that will enable the formation of lipid bilayers.

Enabling Tussle-Agile Inter-networking Architectures by Underlay Virtualisation

Science.gov (United States)

Dianati, Mehrdad; Tafazolli, Rahim; Moessner, Klaus

In this paper, we propose an underlay inter-network virtualisation framework in order to enable tussle-agile flexible networking over the existing inter-network infrastructures. The functionalities that inter-networking elements (transit nodes, access networks, etc.) need to support in order to enable virtualisation are discussed. We propose the base architectures of each the abstract elements to support the required inter-network virtualisation functionalities.

Experimental Studies of Hydrocarbon Flame Phenomena: Enabling Combustion Control

Science.gov (United States)

2016-07-30

flames," Physics of Fluids , vol. 7, no. 6, pp. 1447-54, 1995. [8] K. Lyons, " Toward an understanding of the stabilization mechanisms of lifted...Experimental Studies of Hydrocarbon Flame Phenomena: Enabling Combustion Control This report summarizes the research accomplished in the project...34Experimental Studies of Hydrocarbon Flame Phenomena: Enabling Combustion Control". The main areas of activity are: a) electrostatic flame and flow

How relevant are assembled equilibrium samples in understanding structure formation during lipid digestion?

Science.gov (United States)

Phan, Stephanie; Salentinig, Stefan; Hawley, Adrian; Boyd, Ben J

2015-10-01

Lipid-based formulations are gaining interest for use as drug delivery systems for poorly water-soluble drug compounds. During digestion, the lipolysis products self-assemble with endogenous surfactants in the gastrointestinal tract to form colloidal structures, enabling enhanced drug solubilisation. Although earlier studies in the literature focus on assembled equilibrium systems, little is known about structure formation under dynamic lipolysis conditions. The purpose of this study was to investigate the likely colloidal structure formation in the small intestine after the ingestion of lipids, under equilibrium and dynamic conditions. The structural aspects were studied using small angle X-ray scattering and dynamic light scattering, and were found to depend on lipid composition, lipid chain length, prandial state and emulsification. Incorporation of phospholipids and lipolysis products into bile salt micelles resulted in swelling of the structure. At insufficient bile salt concentrations, a co-existing lamellar phase was observed, due to a reduction in the solubilisation capacity for lipolysis products. Emulsification accelerated the rate of lipolysis and structure formation. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Atomic structure and formation of CuZrAl bulk metallic glasses and composites

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kaban, I.; Jóvári, P.; Escher, B.; Tran, D.T.; Svensson, G.; Webb, M.A.; Regier, T.Z.; Kokotin, V.; Beuneu, B.; Gemming, T.; Eckert, J.

2015-01-01

Graphical abstract: Partial radial distribution functions for Cu 47.5 Zr 47.5 Al 5 metallic glass and relevant crystal structures. - Abstract: Cu 47.5 Zr 47.5 Al 5 metallic glass is studied experimentally by high-energy X-ray diffraction, neutron diffraction with isotopic substitution, electron diffraction and X-ray absorption spectroscopy. The atomic structure of the glass is modeled by reverse Monte-Carlo and molecular dynamics simulations. RMC modeling of seven experimental datasets enabled reliable separation of all partial pair distribution functions for Cu 47.5 Zr 47.5 Al 5 metallic glass. A peculiar structural feature of the ternary alloy is formation of the strong Al–Zr bonds, which are supposed to determine its high viscosity and enhanced bulk glass formation. Analysis of the local atomic order in Cu 47.5 Zr 47.5 Al 5 glass and Cu 10 Zr 7 , CuZr 2 and CuZr B2 crystalline structures elucidates their similarities and differences explaining the phase formation sequence by devitrification of the glass.

Stellar formation

CERN Document Server

Reddish, V C

1978-01-01

Stellar Formation brings together knowledge about the formation of stars. In seeking to determine the conditions necessary for star formation, this book examines questions such as how, where, and why stars form, and at what rate and with what properties. This text also considers whether the formation of a star is an accident or an integral part of the physical properties of matter. This book consists of 13 chapters divided into two sections and begins with an overview of theories that explain star formation as well as the state of knowledge of star formation in comparison to stellar structure

Enabling ICU patients to die at home.

Science.gov (United States)

Battle, Emma; Bates, Lucy; Liderth, Emma; Jones, Samantha; Sheen, Sheryl; Ginty, Andrew; Northmore, Melanie

2014-10-07

There is often an overlap between intensive care medicine and palliative medicine. When all curative treatment options have been explored, keeping the patient comfortable and free from pain is the main concern for healthcare practitioners. Patient autonomy in end of life decisions has not been encouraged in the intensive care unit (ICU), until now, because of its specialised and technical nature. Staff at the Royal Bolton Hospital have broken down the barriers to enabling ICU patients to die in their own homes, and have developed a system of collaborative working that can help to fulfil a patient's final wish to go home. This article describes how ICU staff developed a process that enabled two ventilated patients to be transferred home for end of life care.

Enabling graphene nanoelectronics.

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Pan, Wei; Ohta, Taisuke; Biedermann, Laura Butler; Gutierrez, Carlos; Nolen, C. M.; Howell, Stephen Wayne; Beechem Iii, Thomas Edwin; McCarty, Kevin F.; Ross, Anthony Joseph, III

2011-09-01

Recent work has shown that graphene, a 2D electronic material amenable to the planar semiconductor fabrication processing, possesses tunable electronic material properties potentially far superior to metals and other standard semiconductors. Despite its phenomenal electronic properties, focused research is still required to develop techniques for depositing and synthesizing graphene over large areas, thereby enabling the reproducible mass-fabrication of graphene-based devices. To address these issues, we combined an array of growth approaches and characterization resources to investigate several innovative and synergistic approaches for the synthesis of high quality graphene films on technologically relevant substrate (SiC and metals). Our work focused on developing the fundamental scientific understanding necessary to generate large-area graphene films that exhibit highly uniform electronic properties and record carrier mobility, as well as developing techniques to transfer graphene onto other substrates.

Continuous glucose monitoring-enabled insulin-pump therapy in diabetic pregnancy

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Secher, Anna L; Schmidt, Signe; Nørgaard, Kirsten

2010-01-01

We describe the feasibility of continuous glucose monitoring (CGM)-enabled insulin-pump therapy during pregnancy in a woman with type 1 diabetes, who was treated with CGM-enabled insulin-pump therapy in her third pregnancy. During her first pregnancy, the woman was treated with multiple daily inj...

Accelerator mass spectrometry-enabled studies: current status and future prospects.

Science.gov (United States)

Arjomand, Ali

2010-03-01

Accelerator mass spectrometry is a detection platform with exceptional sensitivity compared with other bioanalytical platforms. Accelerator mass spectrometry (AMS) is widely used in archeology for radiocarbon dating applications. Early exploration of the biological and pharmaceutical applications of AMS began in the early 1990s. AMS has since demonstrated unique problem-solving ability in nutrition science, toxicology and pharmacology. AMS has also enabled the development of new applications, such as Phase 0 microdosing. Recent development of AMS-enabled applications has transformed this novelty research instrument to a valuable tool within the pharmaceutical industry. Although there is now greater awareness of AMS technology, recognition and appreciation of the range of AMS-enabled applications is still lacking, including study-design strategies. This review aims to provide further insight into the wide range of AMS-enabled applications. Examples of studies conducted over the past two decades will be presented, as well as prospects for the future of AMS.

Advanced multivariate data analysis to determine the root cause of trisulfide bond formation in a novel antibody-peptide fusion.

Science.gov (United States)

Goldrick, Stephen; Holmes, William; Bond, Nicholas J; Lewis, Gareth; Kuiper, Marcel; Turner, Richard; Farid, Suzanne S

2017-10-01

Product quality heterogeneities, such as a trisulfide bond (TSB) formation, can be influenced by multiple interacting process parameters. Identifying their root cause is a major challenge in biopharmaceutical production. To address this issue, this paper describes the novel application of advanced multivariate data analysis (MVDA) techniques to identify the process parameters influencing TSB formation in a novel recombinant antibody-peptide fusion expressed in mammalian cell culture. The screening dataset was generated with a high-throughput (HT) micro-bioreactor system (Ambr TM 15) using a design of experiments (DoE) approach. The complex dataset was firstly analyzed through the development of a multiple linear regression model focusing solely on the DoE inputs and identified the temperature, pH and initial nutrient feed day as important process parameters influencing this quality attribute. To further scrutinize the dataset, a partial least squares model was subsequently built incorporating both on-line and off-line process parameters and enabled accurate predictions of the TSB concentration at harvest. Process parameters identified by the models to promote and suppress TSB formation were implemented on five 7 L bioreactors and the resultant TSB concentrations were comparable to the model predictions. This study demonstrates the ability of MVDA to enable predictions of the key performance drivers influencing TSB formation that are valid also upon scale-up. Biotechnol. Bioeng. 2017;114: 2222-2234. © 2017 The Authors. Biotechnology and Bioengineering Published by Wiley Periodicals, Inc. © 2017 The Authors. Biotechnology and Bioengineering Published by Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

The pillars of creation giant molecular clouds, star formation, and cosmic recycling

CERN Document Server

Beech, Martin

2017-01-01

This book explores the mechanics of star formation, the process by which matter pulls together and creates new structures. Written for science enthusiasts, the author presents an accessible explanation of how stars are born from the interstellar medium and giant molecular clouds. Stars produce the chemicals that lead to life, and it is they that have enabled the conditions for planets to form and life to emerge. Although the Big Bang provided the spark of initiation, the primordial universe that it sired was born hopelessly sterile. It is only through the continued recycling of the interstellar medium, star formation, and stellar evolution that the universe has been animated beyond a chaotic mess of elementary atomic particles, radiation, dark matter, dark energy, and expanding spacetime. Using the Milky Way and the Eagle Nebula in particular as case studies, Beech follows every step of this amazing process. .

Perception of Information Technology Enablers for Effective Supply Chain Management

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Fedor Brookman; Jakobus Smit; Gilbert Gilbert Silvius

2012-01-01

This paper reports a study on the importance of enablers in order for IT to support effective supply chain management, as perceived defined by different positions in the supply chain. In the study, a significant difference for the enabler “Funds for IT enablement” is found between the supplier

Nanostructure-Enabled and Macromolecule-Grafted Surfaces for Biomedical Applications

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Madeline Small

2018-05-01

Full Text Available Advances in nanotechnology and nanomaterials have enabled the development of functional biomaterials with surface properties that reduce the rate of the device rejection in injectable and implantable biomaterials. In addition, the surface of biomaterials can be functionalized with macromolecules for stimuli-responsive purposes to improve the efficacy and effectiveness in drug release applications. Furthermore, macromolecule-grafted surfaces exhibit a hierarchical nanostructure that mimics nanotextured surfaces for the promotion of cellular responses in tissue engineering. Owing to these unique properties, this review focuses on the grafting of macromolecules on the surfaces of various biomaterials (e.g., films, fibers, hydrogels, and etc. to create nanostructure-enabled and macromolecule-grafted surfaces for biomedical applications, such as thrombosis prevention and wound healing. The macromolecule-modified surfaces can be treated as a functional device that either passively inhibits adverse effects from injectable and implantable devices or actively delivers biological agents that are locally based on proper stimulation. In this review, several methods are discussed to enable the surface of biomaterials to be used for further grafting of macromolecules. In addition, we review surface-modified films (coatings and fibers with respect to several biomedical applications. Our review provides a scientific update on the current achievements and future trends of nanostructure-enabled and macromolecule-grafted surfaces in biomedical applications.

Ethics case reflection sessions: Enablers and barriers.

Science.gov (United States)

Bartholdson, Cecilia; Molewijk, Bert; Lützén, Kim; Blomgren, Klas; Pergert, Pernilla

2018-03-01

In previous research on ethics case reflection (ECR) sessions about specific cases, healthcare professionals in childhood cancer care were clarifying their perspectives on the ethical issue to resolve their main concern of consolidating care. When perspectives were clarified, consequences in the team included 'increased understanding', 'group strengthening' and 'decision grounding'. Additional analysis of the data was needed on conditions that could contribute to the quality of ECR sessions. The aim of this study was to explore conditions for clarifying perspectives during ECR sessions. Data were collected from observations and interviews and the results emerged from an inductive analysis using grounded theory. Participants and research context: Six observations during ECR sessions and 10 interviews were performed with healthcare professionals working in childhood cancer care and advanced paediatric homecare. Ethical considerations: The study was approved by a regional ethical review board. Participants were informed about their voluntary involvement and that they could withdraw their participation without explaining why. Two categories emerged: organizational enablers and barriers and team-related enablers and barriers. Organizational enablers and barriers included the following sub-categories: the timing of the ECR session, the structure during the ECR session and the climate during the ECR session. Sub-categories to team-related enablers and barriers were identified as space for inter-professional perspectives, varying levels of ethical skills and space for the patient's and the family's perspectives. Space for inter-professional perspectives included the dominance of a particular perspective that can result from hierarchical positions. The medical perspective is relevant for understanding the child's situation but should not dominate the ethical reflection. Conditions for ECR sessions have been explored and the new knowledge can be used when training

Simplified production of multimedia based radiological learning objects using the flash format

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Jedrusik, P.; Preisack, M.; Dammann, F.

2005-01-01

Purpose: evaluation of the applicability of the flash format for the production of radiological learning objects used in an e-learning environment. Material and methods: five exemplary learning objects with different didactic purposes referring to radiological diagnostics are presented. They have been intended for the use within the multimedia, internet-based e-learning environment LaMedica. Interactive learning objects were composed using the Flash 5.0 software (Macromedia, San Francisco, USA) on the basis of digital CT and MR images, digitized conventional radiographs and different graphical elements prepared as TIFF files or in a vector graphics format. Results: after a short phase of initial skill adaptation training, a radiologist author was soon able to create independently all learning objects. The import of different types of images and graphical elements was carried out without complications. Despite manifold design options, handling of the program is easy due to clear arrangement and structure, thus enabling the creation of simple as well as complex learning objects that provided a high degree of attractiveness and interaction. Data volume and bandwidth demand for online use was significantly reduced by the flash format compression without a substantial loss of visual quality. (orig.)

Post-translational modification of osteopontin: Effects on in vitro hydroxyapatite formation and growth

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Boskey, Adele L.; Christensen, Brian; Taleb, Hayat; Sørensen, Esben S.

2012-01-01

Highlights: ► Thrombin-cleaved fragments of milk-osteopontin effect hydroxyapatite formation differently. ► N- and C-terminal fragments promoted hydroxyapatite formation and growth. ► A central fragment inhibited hydroxyapatite formation and growth. ► Binding to collagen or hydroxyapatite seed crystals modified these effects. -- Abstract: The manuscript tests the hypothesis that posttranslational modification of the SIBLING family of proteins in general and osteopontin in particular modify the abilities of these proteins to regulate in vitro hydroxyapatite (HA) formation. Osteopontin has diverse effects on hydroxyapatite (HA) mineral crystallite formation and growth depending on the extent of phosphorylation. We hypothesized that different regions of full-length OPN would also have distinct effects on the mineralization process. Thrombin fragmentation of milk OPN (mOPN) was used to test this hypothesis. Three fragments were tested in a de novo HA formation assay; an N-terminal fragment (aa 1–147), a central fragment (aa 148–204) denoted SKK-fragment and a C-terminal fragment (aa 205–262). Compared to intact mOPN the C- and N-terminal fragments behaved comparably, promoting HA formation and growth, but the central SKK-fragment acted as a mineralization inhibitor. In a seeded growth experiment all fragments inhibited mineral proliferation, but the SKK-fragment was the most effective inhibitor. These effects, seen in HA-formation and seeded growth assays in a gelatin gel system and in a pH-stat experiment were lost when the protein or fragments were dephosphorylated. Effects of the fully phosphorylated protein and fragments were also altered in the presence of fibrillar collagen. The diverse effects can be explained in terms of the intrinsically disordered nature of OPN and its fragments which enable them to interact with their multiple partners.

Biofilm formation is determinant in tomato rhizosphere colonization by Bacillus velezensis FZB42.

Science.gov (United States)

Al-Ali, Ameen; Deravel, Jovana; Krier, François; Béchet, Max; Ongena, Marc; Jacques, Philippe

2017-10-23

In this work, the behavior in tomato rhizosphere of Bacillus velezensis FZB42 was analyzed taking into account the surfactin production, the use of tomato roots exudate as substrates, and the biofilm formation. B. velezensis FZB42 and B. amyloliquefaciens S499 have a similar capability to colonize tomato rhizosphere. Little difference in this colonization was observed with surfactin non producing B. velezensis FZB42 mutant strains. B. velezensis is able to grow in the presence of root exudate and used preferentially sucrose, maltose, glutamic, and malic acids as carbon sources. A mutant enable to produce exopolysaccharide (EPS - ) was constructed to demonstrate the main importance of biofilm formation on rhizosphere colonization. This mutant had completely lost its ability to form biofilm whatever the substrate present in the culture medium and was unable to efficiently colonize tomato rhizosphere.

The Methodological Approach to Determining the Level of Formation and Provision of Enterprise Personnel Security

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Gavkalova Nataliia L.

2016-11-01

Full Text Available The aim of the article is to substantiate the methodical approach to determining the level of formation and provision of enterprise personnel security. By analyzing, systematizing and generalizing scientific achievements of many scientists, approaches to the evaluation of personnel security at the enterprise were considered, a set of indices for evaluation of personnel security was defined. There justified the urgency of creating a comprehensive approach to evaluation of personnel security that includes implementation of the following stages: defining a list of indices corresponding to the level of formation and provision of personnel security with the help of the expert evaluation method; calculating integral indices of personnel security for each component and the corresponding level by means of the taxonomic analysis; grouping enterprises by the level of formation and provision of personnel security with the use of the cluster and discriminant analysis. It is found that the implementation of this approach will allow not only determining the level of formation and provision of personnel security at the enterprise, but also developing appropriate recommendations on improving its state. Prospects for further research in this direction are evaluation of conditions for formation and provision of personnel security at the enterprise, which will enable revealing negative destabilizing factors that influence personnel security

Creating an Economically Enabling and Competitive Business ...

International Development Research Centre (IDRC) Digital Library (Canada)

Creating an Economically Enabling and Competitive Business Environment in the ... the scope of operations of private sector enterprises in the West Bank and Gaza. ... IWRA/IDRC webinar on climate change and adaptive water management.

Adaptive lesion formation using dual mode ultrasound array system

Science.gov (United States)

Liu, Dalong; Casper, Andrew; Haritonova, Alyona; Ebbini, Emad S.

2017-03-01

We present the results from an ultrasound-guided focused ultrasound platform designed to perform real-time monitoring and control of lesion formation. Real-time signal processing of echogenicity changes during lesion formation allows for identification of signature events indicative of tissue damage. The detection of these events triggers the cessation or the reduction of the exposure (intensity and/or time) to prevent overexposure. A dual mode ultrasound array (DMUA) is used for forming single- and multiple-focus patterns in a variety of tissues. The DMUA approach allows for inherent registration between the therapeutic and imaging coordinate systems providing instantaneous, spatially-accurate feedback on lesion formation dynamics. The beamformed RF data has been shown to have high sensitivity and specificity to tissue changes during lesion formation, including in vivo. In particular, the beamformed echo data from the DMUA is very sensitive to cavitation activity in response to HIFU in a variety of modes, e.g. boiling cavitation. This form of feedback is characterized by sudden increase in echogenicity that could occur within milliseconds of the application of HIFU (see http://youtu.be/No2wh-ceTLs for an example). The real-time beamforming and signal processing allowing the adaptive control of lesion formation is enabled by a high performance GPU platform (response time within 10 msec). We present results from a series of experiments in bovine cardiac tissue demonstrating the robustness and increased speed of volumetric lesion formation for a range of clinically-relevant exposures. Gross histology demonstrate clearly that adaptive lesion formation results in tissue damage consistent with the size of the focal spot and the raster scan in 3 dimensions. In contrast, uncontrolled volumetric lesions exhibit significant pre-focal buildup due to excessive exposure from multiple full-exposure HIFU shots. Stopping or reducing the HIFU exposure upon the detection of such an

Revealing the Formation of Copper Nanoparticles from a Homogeneous Solid Precursor by Electron Microscopy

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

van den Berg, Roy; Elkjær, Christian Fink; Gommes, Cedric J.

2016-01-01

The understanding of processes leading to the formation of nanometer-sized particles is important for tailoring of their size, shape and location. The growth mechanisms and kinetics of nanoparticles from solid precursors are, however, often poorly described. Here we employ transmission electron...... microscopy (TEM) to examine the formation of copper nanoparticles on a silica support during the reduction by H2 of homogeneous copper phyllosilicate platelets, as a prototype precursor for a coprecipitated catalyst. Specifically, time-lapsed TEM image series acquired of the material during the reduction...... process provide a direct visualization of the growth dynamics of an ensemble of individual nanoparticles and enable a quantitative evaluation of the nucleation and growth of the nanoparticles. This quantitative information is compared with kinetic models and found to be best described by a nucleation...

Femtosecond laser enabled keratoplasty for advanced keratoconus

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Yathish Shivanna

2013-01-01

Full Text Available Purpose : To assess the efficacy and advantages of femtosecond laser enabled keratoplasty (FLEK over conventional penetrating keratoplasty (PKP in advanced keratoconus. Materials and Methods: Detailed review of literature of published randomized controlled trials of operative techniques in PKP and FLEK. Results: Fifteen studies were identified, analyzed, and compared with our outcome. FLEK was found to have better outcome in view of better and earlier stabilization uncorrected visual acuity (UCVA, best corrected visual acuity (BCVA, and better refractive outcomes with low astigmatism as compared with conventional PKP. Wound healing also was noticed to be earlier, enabling early suture removal in FLEK. Conclusions: Studies relating to FLEK have shown better results than conventional PKP, however further studies are needed to assess the safety and intraoperative complications of the procedure.

Satellite formation flying relative dynamics, formation design, fuel optimal maneuvers and formation maintenance

CERN Document Server

Wang, Danwei; Poh, Eng Kee

2017-01-01

This book systematically describes the concepts and principles for multi-satellite relative motion, passive and near passive formation designs, trajectory planning and control for fuel optimal formation maneuvers, and formation flying maintenance control design. As such, it provides a sound foundation for researchers and engineers in this field to develop further theories and pursue their implementations. Though satellite formation flying is widely considered to be a major advance in space technology, there are few systematic treatments of the topic in the literature. Addressing that gap, the book offers a valuable resource for academics, researchers, postgraduate students and practitioners in the field of satellite science and engineering.

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.

Unleashing Geophysics Data with Modern Formats and Services

Science.gov (United States)

Ip, Alex; Brodie, Ross C.; Druken, Kelsey; Bastrakova, Irina; Evans, Ben; Kemp, Carina; Richardson, Murray; Trenham, Claire; Wang, Jingbo; Wyborn, Lesley

2016-04-01

Geoscience Australia (GA) is the national steward of large volumes of geophysical data extending over the entire Australasian region and spanning many decades. The volume and variety of data which must be managed, coupled with the increasing need to support machine-to-machine data access, mean that the old "click-and-ship" model delivering data as downloadable files for local analysis is rapidly becoming unviable - a "big data" problem not unique to geophysics. The Australian Government, through the Research Data Services (RDS) Project, recently funded the Australian National Computational Infrastructure (NCI) to organize a wide range of Earth Systems data from diverse collections including geoscience, geophysics, environment, climate, weather, and water resources onto a single High Performance Data (HPD) Node. This platform, which now contains over 10 petabytes of data, is called the National Environmental Research Data Interoperability Platform (NERDIP), and is designed to facilitate broad user access, maximise reuse, and enable integration. GA has contributed several hundred terabytes of geophysical data to the NERDIP. Historically, geophysical datasets have been stored in a range of formats, with metadata of varying quality and accessibility, and without standardised vocabularies. This has made it extremely difficult to aggregate original data from multiple surveys (particularly un-gridded geophysics point/line data) into standard formats suited to High Performance Computing (HPC) environments. To address this, it was decided to use the NERDIP-preferred Hierarchical Data Format (HDF) 5, which is a proven, standard, open, self-describing and high-performance format supported by extensive software tools, libraries and data services. The Network Common Data Form (NetCDF) 4 API facilitates the use of data in HDF5, whilst the NetCDF Climate & Forecasting conventions (NetCDF-CF) further constrain NetCDF4/HDF5 data so as to provide greater inherent interoperability

Enabling technologies for oil sands development

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bailey, R.T.

1998-01-01

A review of oil sands production and expansion possibilities in Alberta were presented. The enabling technologies for oil sands projects include mining (bucketwheels, draglines, trucks, shovels conveyors, slurry hydrotransport); extraction (conditioning tumblers, pipelines, tanks, hot water, caustic, cold water, frothers); froth cleaning (centrifuges, solvent treatment); tailings (tailings ponds, consolidated tailings); and upgrading (coking, hydrotreating for SCO, hydrocracking and multiple products). The enabling technologies for in situ production include cyclic steam stimulation for vertical wells, steam assisted gravity drainage (SAGD) for dual horizontal wells, and cold production with wormholes. This paper described the recovery potentials of each of these processes. It also discussed the role of government and industry in research and cooperative research involving both the private and public sectors. Examples of each of these were described such as SAGD, the OSLO cold water extraction process, The consolidated tailings (CT) project, the low energy extraction process (slurry production, hydrotransport, pipeline conditioning and warm water extraction), and research in fine tailings, to demonstrate that although objectives may differ, government and industry research objectives are complementary

A Summary of Proposed Changes to the Current ICARTT Format Standards and their Implications to Future Airborne Studies

Science.gov (United States)

Northup, E. A.; Kusterer, J.; Quam, B.; Chen, G.; Early, A. B.; Beach, A. L., III

2015-12-01

The current ICARTT file format standards were developed for the purpose of fulfilling the data management needs for the International Consortium for Atmospheric Research on Transport and Transformation (ICARTT) campaign in 2004. The goal of the ICARTT file format was to establish a common and simple to use data file format to promote data exchange and collaboration among science teams with similar science objectives. ICARTT has been the NASA standard since 2010, and is widely used by NOAA, NSF, and international partners (DLR, FAAM). Despite its level of acceptance, there are a number of issues with the current ICARTT format, especially concerning the machine readability. To enhance usability, the ICARTT Refresh Earth Science Data Systems Working Group (ESDSWG) was established to enable a platform for atmospheric science data producers, users (e.g. modelers) and data managers to collaborate on developing criteria for this file format. Ultimately, this is a cross agency effort to improve and aggregate the metadata records being produced. After conducting a survey to identify deficiencies in the current format, we determined which are considered most important to the various communities. Numerous recommendations were made to improve upon the file format while maintaining backward compatibility. The recommendations made to date and their advantages and limitations will be discussed.

Optical Coherent Receiver Enables THz Wireless Bridge

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Yu, Xianbin; Liu, Kexin; Zhang, Hangkai

2016-01-01

We experimentally demonstrated a 45 Gbit/s 400 GHz photonic wireless communication system enabled by an optical coherent receiver, which has a high potential in fast recovery of high data rate connections, for example, in disaster....

Knowledge Cluster Formation as a Science Policy in Malaysia: Lessons Learned

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Hans-Dieter Evers

2015-01-01

Full Text Available Regional science policy aims to create productive knowledge clusters, which are central places within an epistemic landscape of knowledge production and dissemination. These so-called K-clusters are said to have the organisational capability to drive innovations and create new industries. Many governments have used cluster formation as one of their development strategies. This paper looks at Malaysia’s path towards a knowledge-based economy and offers some evidence on the current state of knowledge cluster formation in that country. If the formation of a knowledge cluster has been the government policy, what has been the result? Is there an epistemic landscape of knowledge clusters? Has the main knowledge cluster really materialised? Data collected from websites, directories, government publications and expert interviews have enabled us to construct the epistemic landscape of Peninsular Malaysia, and Penang in particular. We identify and describe several knowledge clusters with a high density of knowledge producing institutions and their knowledge workers. An analysis of the knowledge output, measured in terms of scientific publications, patents and trademarks, shows that knowledge clusters have indeed been productive – as predicted by cluster theory – although the internal working of clusters require further explanation.

Functional Amyloid Formation within Mammalian Tissue.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

2005-11-01

Full Text Available Amyloid is a generally insoluble, fibrous cross-beta sheet protein aggregate. The process of amyloidogenesis is associated with a variety of neurodegenerative diseases including Alzheimer, Parkinson, and Huntington disease. We report the discovery of an unprecedented functional mammalian amyloid structure generated by the protein Pmel17. This discovery demonstrates that amyloid is a fundamental nonpathological protein fold utilized by organisms from bacteria to humans. We have found that Pmel17 amyloid templates and accelerates the covalent polymerization of reactive small molecules into melanin-a critically important biopolymer that protects against a broad range of cytotoxic insults including UV and oxidative damage. Pmel17 amyloid also appears to play a role in mitigating the toxicity associated with melanin formation by sequestering and minimizing diffusion of highly reactive, toxic melanin precursors out of the melanosome. Intracellular Pmel17 amyloidogenesis is carefully orchestrated by the secretory pathway, utilizing membrane sequestration and proteolytic steps to protect the cell from amyloid and amyloidogenic intermediates that can be toxic. While functional and pathological amyloid share similar structural features, critical differences in packaging and kinetics of assembly enable the usage of Pmel17 amyloid for normal function. The discovery of native Pmel17 amyloid in mammals provides key insight into the molecular basis of both melanin formation and amyloid pathology, and demonstrates that native amyloid (amyloidin may be an ancient, evolutionarily conserved protein quaternary structure underpinning diverse pathways contributing to normal cell and tissue physiology.

Functional amyloid formation within mammalian tissue.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Douglas M Fowler

2006-01-01

Full Text Available Amyloid is a generally insoluble, fibrous cross-beta sheet protein aggregate. The process of amyloidogenesis is associated with a variety of neurodegenerative diseases including Alzheimer, Parkinson, and Huntington disease. We report the discovery of an unprecedented functional mammalian amyloid structure generated by the protein Pmel17. This discovery demonstrates that amyloid is a fundamental nonpathological protein fold utilized by organisms from bacteria to humans. We have found that Pmel17 amyloid templates and accelerates the covalent polymerization of reactive small molecules into melanin-a critically important biopolymer that protects against a broad range of cytotoxic insults including UV and oxidative damage. Pmel17 amyloid also appears to play a role in mitigating the toxicity associated with melanin formation by sequestering and minimizing diffusion of highly reactive, toxic melanin precursors out of the melanosome. Intracellular Pmel17 amyloidogenesis is carefully orchestrated by the secretory pathway, utilizing membrane sequestration and proteolytic steps to protect the cell from amyloid and amyloidogenic intermediates that can be toxic. While functional and pathological amyloid share similar structural features, critical differences in packaging and kinetics of assembly enable the usage of Pmel17 amyloid for normal function. The discovery of native Pmel17 amyloid in mammals provides key insight into the molecular basis of both melanin formation and amyloid pathology, and demonstrates that native amyloid (amyloidin may be an ancient, evolutionarily conserved protein quaternary structure underpinning diverse pathways contributing to normal cell and tissue physiology.

Memory Reactivation Enables Long-Term Prevention of Interference.

Science.gov (United States)

Herszage, Jasmine; Censor, Nitzan

2017-05-22

The ability of the human brain to successively learn or perform two competing tasks constitutes a major challenge in daily function. Indeed, exposing the brain to two different competing memories within a short temporal offset can induce interference, resulting in deteriorated performance in at least one of the learned memories [1-4]. Although previous studies have investigated online interference and its effects on performance [5-13], whether the human brain can enable long-term prevention of future interference is unknown. To address this question, we utilized the memory reactivation-reconsolidation framework [2, 12] stemming from studies at the synaptic level [14-17], according to which reactivation of a memory enables its update. In a set of experiments, using the motor sequence learning task [18] we report that a unique pairing of reactivating the original memory (right hand) in synchrony with novel memory trials (left hand) prevented future interference between the two memories. Strikingly, these effects were long-term and observed a month following reactivation. Further experiments showed that preventing future interference was not due to practice per se, but rather specifically depended on a limited time window induced by reactivation of the original memory. These results suggest a mechanism according to which memory reactivation enables long-term prevention of interference, possibly by creating an updated memory trace integrating original and novel memories during the reconsolidation time window. The opportunity to induce a long-term preventive effect on memories may enable the utilization of strategies optimizing normal human learning, as well as recovery following neurological insults. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Nanotechnologv Enabled Biological and Chemical Sensors

Science.gov (United States)

Koehne, Jessica; Meyyappan, M.

2011-01-01

Nanotechnology is an enabling technology that will impact almost all economic sectors: one of the most important and with great potential is the health/medical sector. - Nanomaterials for drug delivery - Early warning sensors - Implantable devices - Artificial parts with improved characteristics Carbon nanotubes and nanofibers show promise for use in sensor development, electrodes and other biomedical applications.

Generation of Multiple Metadata Formats from a Geospatial Data Repository

Science.gov (United States)

Hudspeth, W. B.; Benedict, K. K.; Scott, S.

2012-12-01

The Earth Data Analysis Center (EDAC) at the University of New Mexico is partnering with the CYBERShARE and Environmental Health Group from the Center for Environmental Resource Management (CERM), located at the University of Texas, El Paso (UTEP), the Biodiversity Institute at the University of Kansas (KU), and the New Mexico Geo- Epidemiology Research Network (GERN) to provide a technical infrastructure that enables investigation of a variety of climate-driven human/environmental systems. Two significant goals of this NASA-funded project are: a) to increase the use of NASA Earth observational data at EDAC by various modeling communities through enabling better discovery, access, and use of relevant information, and b) to expose these communities to the benefits of provenance for improving understanding and usability of heterogeneous data sources and derived model products. To realize these goals, EDAC has leveraged the core capabilities of its Geographic Storage, Transformation, and Retrieval Engine (Gstore) platform, developed with support of the NSF EPSCoR Program. The Gstore geospatial services platform provides general purpose web services based upon the REST service model, and is capable of data discovery, access, and publication functions, metadata delivery functions, data transformation, and auto-generated OGC services for those data products that can support those services. Central to the NASA ACCESS project is the delivery of geospatial metadata in a variety of formats, including ISO 19115-2/19139, FGDC CSDGM, and the Proof Markup Language (PML). This presentation details the extraction and persistence of relevant metadata in the Gstore data store, and their transformation into multiple metadata formats that are increasingly utilized by the geospatial community to document not only core library catalog elements (e.g. title, abstract, publication data, geographic extent, projection information, and database elements), but also the processing steps used to

Males in Enabling: Painting a portrait through narrative

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Frank Armstrong

2018-02-01

Full Text Available The number of males entering higher education via an enabling pathway is slowly increasing; yet, males still battle with the anti-intellectual attitude that is prevalent in regional areas of Australia. Previous research undertaken by the authors began exploring the factors that inhibited or enhanced the male experience within an enabling course. This paper expands upon this research with a deeper focus on the male experience through personalised accounts derived from individual interviews. Using qualitative methodology and narrative inquiry, the findings provide a deeper understanding of the issues that males of different ages face when creating a new identity as a university student. This paper shares insights into what motivated the male students to enter university via an enabling pathway; the actual personal experiences both positive and negative during this time; and the effect that this commitment to study had on them personally and the people around them. The lens of transformative theory underpins this research through exploring frames of reference that align with the students’ experiences. Portraiture prose shares the individual stories which are analysed and the key findings extrapolated.

ARCADO - Adding random case analysis to direct observation in workplace-based formative assessment of general practice registrars.

Science.gov (United States)

Ingham, Gerard; Fry, Jennifer; Morgan, Simon; Ward, Bernadette

2015-12-10

Workplace-based formative assessments using consultation observation are currently conducted during the Australian general practice training program. Assessment reliability is improved by using multiple assessment methods. The aim of this study was to explore experiences of general practice medical educator assessors and registrars (trainees) when adding random case analysis to direct observation (ARCADO) during formative workplace-based assessments. A sample of general practice medical educators and matched registrars were recruited. Following the ARCADO workplace assessment, semi-structured qualitative interviews were conducted. The data was analysed thematically. Ten registrars and eight medical educators participated. Four major themes emerged - formative versus summative assessment; strengths (acceptability, flexibility, time efficiency, complementarity and authenticity); weaknesses (reduced observation and integrity risks); and contextual factors (variation in assessment content, assessment timing, registrar-medical educator relationship, medical educator's approach and registrar ability). ARCADO is a well-accepted workplace-based formative assessment perceived by registrars and assessors to be valid and flexible. The use of ARCADO enabled complementary insights that would not have been achieved with direct observation alone. Whilst there are some contextual factors to be considered in its implementation, ARCADO appears to have utility as formative assessment and, subject to further evaluation, high-stakes assessment.

Bluetooth enables in-door mobile location services

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Thongthammachart, Saowanee; Olesen, Henning

2003-01-01

Several technologies can be applied to enable mobile location services, but most of them suffer from limited accuracy and availability. GPS can solve the problem of determining the location of users in most outdoor situations, but an end-user position inside a building cannot be pinpointed. Other...... mobile location techniques can also provide the user's position, but the accuracy is rather low. In order to improve the accuracy and make location-based services really attractive, existing approaches must be supplemented by new technologies. Wireless short-range technologies like Bluetooth could...... be candidates for solving these problems. This paper shows that Bluetooth can act as a key enabler of mobile location services in an in-door environment. The advantage of Bluetooth technology is, that it can provide rather precise location data inside a building or hotspot area, while the Bluetooth terminal...

Enabling Routes as Context in Mobile Services

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Brilingaite, Agne; Jensen, Christian Søndergaard; Zokaite, Nora

With the continuing advances in wireless communications, geo-positioning, and portable electronics, an infrastructure is emerging that enables the delivery of on-line, location-enabled services to very large numbers of mobile users. A typical usage situation for mobile services is one characteriz...... and accumulates the routes of a user along with their usage patterns and that makes the routes available to services. Experiences from using the component on logs of GPS positions acquired from vehicles traveling within a real road network are reported....... by a small screen and no keyboard, and by the service being only a secondary focus of the user. Under such circumstances, it is particularly important to deliver the "right" information and service at the right time, with as little user interaction as possible. This may be achieved by making services context...

Context-Enabled Business Intelligence

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Troy Hiltbrand

2012-04-01

To truly understand context and apply it in business intelligence, it is vital to understand what context is and how it can be applied in addressing organizational needs. Context describes the facets of the environment that impact the way that end users interact with the system. Context includes aspects of location, chronology, access method, demographics, social influence/ relationships, end-user attitude/ emotional state, behavior/ past behavior, and presence. To be successful in making Business Intelligence content enabled, it is important to be able to capture the context of use user. With advances in technology, there are a number of ways in which this user based information can be gathered and exposed to enhance the overall end user experience.

Barriers and enablers that influence sustainable interprofessional education: a literature review.

Science.gov (United States)

Lawlis, Tanya Rechael; Anson, Judith; Greenfield, David

2014-07-01

The effective incorporation of interprofessional education (IPE) within health professional curricula requires the synchronised and systematic collaboration between and within the various stakeholders. Higher education institutions, as primary health education providers, have the capacity to advocate and facilitate this collaboration. However, due to the diversity of stakeholders, facilitating the pedagogical change can be challenging and complex, and brings a degree of uncertainty and resistance. This review, through an analysis of the barriers and enablers investigates the involvement of stakeholders in higher education IPE through three primary stakeholder levels: Government and Professional, Institutional and Individual. A review of eight primary databases using 21 search terms resulted in 40 papers for review. While the barriers to IPE are widely reported within the higher education IPE literature, little is documented about the enablers of IPE. Similarly, the specific identification and importance of enablers for IPE sustainability and the dual nature of some barriers and enablers have not been previously reported. An analysis of the barriers and enablers of IPE across the different stakeholder levels reveals five key "fundamental elements" critical to achieving sustainable IPE in higher education curricula.

Sensor Webs and Virtual Globes: Enabling Understanding of Changes in a partially Glaciated Watershed

Science.gov (United States)

Heavner, M.; Fatland, D. R.; Habermann, M.; Berner, L.; Hood, E.; Connor, C.; Galbraith, J.; Knuth, E.; O'Brien, W.

2008-12-01

The University of Alaska Southeast is currently implementing a sensor web identified as the SouthEast Alaska MOnitoring Network for Science, Telecommunications, Education, and Research (SEAMONSTER). SEAMONSTER is operating in the partially glaciated Mendenhall and Lemon Creek Watersheds, in the Juneau area, on the margins of the Juneau Icefield. These watersheds are studied for both 1. long term monitoring of changes, and 2. detection and analysis of transient events (such as glacier lake outburst floods). The heterogeneous sensors (meteorologic, dual frequency GPS, water quality, lake level, etc), power and bandwidth constraints, and competing time scales of interest require autonomous reactivity of the sensor web. They also present challenges for operational management of the sensor web. The harsh conditions on the glaciers provide additional operating constraints. The tight integration of the sensor web and virtual global enabling technology enhance the project in multiple ways. We are utilizing virtual globe infrastructures to enhance both sensor web management and data access. SEAMONSTER utilizes virtual globes for education and public outreach, sensor web management, data dissemination, and enabling collaboration. Using a PosgreSQL with GIS extensions database coupled to the Open Geospatial Consortium (OGC) Geoserver, we generate near-real-time auto-updating geobrowser files of the data in multiple OGC standard formats (e.g KML, WCS). Additionally, embedding wiki pages in this database allows the development of a geospatially aware wiki describing the projects for better public outreach and education. In this presentation we will describe how we have implemented these technologies to date, the lessons learned, and our efforts towards greater OGC standard implementation. A major focus will be on demonstrating how geobrowsers and virtual globes have made this project possible.

Multi-target electrochemical biosensing enabled by integrated CMOS electronics

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Rothe, J; Lewandowska, M K; Heer, F; Frey, O; Hierlemann, A

2011-01-01

An integrated electrochemical measurement system, based on CMOS technology, is presented, which allows the detection of several analytes in parallel (multi-analyte) and enables simultaneous monitoring at different locations (multi-site). The system comprises a 576-electrode CMOS sensor chip, an FPGA module for chip control and data processing, and the measurement laptop. The advantages of the highly versatile system are demonstrated by two applications. First, a label-free, hybridization-based DNA sensor is enabled by the possibility of large-scale integration in CMOS technology. Second, the detection of the neurotransmitter choline is presented by assembling the chip with biosensor microprobe arrays. The low noise level enables a limit of detection of, e.g., 0.3 µM choline. The fully integrated system is self-contained: it features cleaning, functionalization and measurement functions without the need for additional electrical equipment. With the power supplied by the laptop, the system is very suitable for on-site measurements

DIDACTIC PRINCIPLES OF THE FORMATION OF STUDENTS’ SUBJECT POSITION

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

R. M. Garanina

2017-01-01

Full Text Available Introduction. Subject position of a personality is the phenomenon that determines self-activity, identity, sovereignty, and positive dynamics of selfdevelopment, self-education, self-training and self-realization, i.e. those qualities which are necessary for a modern expert. Therefore, the development of the concept of formation and development of a subject position of a future expert during his/her vocational training is an urgent scientific and practical task.The aim of the present research is to prove theoretically the following issues: regularities of a formation process of a subject position of a student of a higher education institution; principles reflecting features of functioning of subject space; and requirements shown to the organization of this pedagogical process.Methodology and research methods. The methods involve the analysis of philosophical and psychology and pedagogical sources on the research problem; transspective, phenomenological, psychological, comparative, system, and structure-functional types of the analysis; deductive and inductive methods; comparison, generalization, synthesis, and abstraction.Results and scientific novelty. The concept «student’s subject position» is redefined; the concept includes such features as polysystemacity, multidimensionality, and multi-functionality. The characteristics of a person with a subject position are summarized; special attention is paid to his/her personal characteristics. The regularities of formation and development of the subject position of the student caused by internal mechanisms of self-updating, self-organization, self-development and self-improvement are found out. It is testified that these regularities are shown in the system of various social relations; depend on external impact, integrity and unity of a teaching and educational process; those regularities are characterized by heterochronism, emergence, and evolving. The research enables to present an overall

Logistics Reduction: RFID Enabled Autonomous Logistics Management (REALM)

Data.gov (United States)

National Aeronautics and Space Administration — The Advanced Exploration Systems (AES) Logistics Reduction (LR) project Radio-frequency identification (RFID) Enabled Autonomous Logistics Management (REALM) task...

Aerosol formation of Sea-Urchin-like nanostructures of carbon nanotubes on bimetallic nanocomposite particles

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kim, S. H.; Wang, C.; Zachariah, M. R.

2011-01-01

With the advantage of continuous production of pure carbon nanotubes (CNTs), a new simple aerosol process for the formation of CNTs was developed. A combination of conventional spray pyrolysis and thermal chemical vapor deposition enabled the formation unusual sea-urchin-like carbon nanostructures composed of multi-walled CNTs and metal composite nanoparticles. The CNTs formed were relatively untangled and uniform with a diameter of less than∼10 nm. The key to the formation of CNTs in this way was to create a substrate particle containing both a catalytic and non-catalytic component, which prevented coking. The density of the CNTs grown on the spherical metal nanoparticles could be controlled by perturbing the density of the metal catalysts (Fe) in the host non-catalytic metal particle matrix (Al). Mobility size measurement was identified as a useful technique to real-time characterization of either the catalytic formation of thin carbon layer or CNTs on the surface of the metal aerosol. These materials have shown unique properties in enhancing the thermal conductivity of fluids. Other potential advantages are that the as-produced material can be manipulated easily without the concern of high mobility of conventional nanowires, and then subsequently released at the desired time in an unagglomerated state.

Microgrid Enabled Distributed Energy Solutions (MEDES) Fort Bliss Military Reservation

Science.gov (United States)

2014-02-01

FINAL REPORT Microgrid Enabled Distributed Energy Solutions (MEDES) Fort Bliss Military Reservation ESTCP Project EW-201140 FEBRUARY...TITLE AND SUBTITLE Microgrid Enabled Distributed Energy Solutions (MEDES) 5a. CONTRACT NUMBER W912HQ-11-C-0082 Fort Bliss, Texas...Lockheed Martin’s Intelligent Microgrid Solution can provide more energy security while also lowering electric utility costs and greenhouse gas emissions

Natural tracer profiles across argillaceous formations: the Claytrac project

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Mazurek, M.; Alt-Epping, P.; Gimi, Th.; Niklaus Waber, H.; Bath, A.; Gimmi, Th.

2009-01-01

Disposal of high-level radioactive waste and spent nuclear fuel in engineered facilities, or repositories, located deep underground in suitable geological formations is being developed worldwide as the reference solution to protect humans and the environment both now and in the future. An important aspect of assessing the long-term safety of deep geological disposal is developing a comprehensive understanding of the geological environment in order to define the initial conditions for the disposal system as well as to provide a sound scientific basis for projecting its future evolution. The transport pathways and mechanisms by which contaminants could migrate in the surrounding host rock are key elements in any safety case. Relevant experiments in laboratories or underground test facilities can provide important information, but the challenge remains in being able to extrapolate the results to the spatial and temporal scales required for performance assessment, which are typically tens to hundreds of metres and from thousands to beyond a million years into the future. Profiles of natural tracers dissolved in pore water of argillaceous rock formations can be considered as large-scale and long-term natural experiments which enable the transport properties to be characterised. The CLAYTRAC Project on Natural Tracer Profiles Across Argillaceous Formations was established by the NEA Clay Club to evaluate the relevance of natural tracer data in understanding past geological evolution and in confirming dominant transport processes. Data were analysed for nine sites to support scientific understanding and development of geological disposal. The outcomes of the project show that, for the sites and clay-rich formations that were studied, there is strong evidence that solute transport is controlled mainly by diffusion. The results can improve site understanding and performance assessment in the context of deep geological disposal and have the potential to be applied to other

Microstructure Formations in the Two-Phase Region of the Binary Peritectic Organic System TRIS-NPG

Science.gov (United States)

Mogeritsch, Johann; Ludwig, Andreas

2012-01-01

In order to prepare for an onboard experiment on the International Space Station (ISS), systematic directional solidification experiments with transparent hypoperitectic alloys were carried out at different solidification rates around the critical velocity for morphological stability of both solid phases. The investigations were done in the peritectic region of the binary transparent organic TRIS-NPG system where the formation of layered structures is expected to occur. The transparent appearance of the liquid and solid phase enables real time observations of the dynamic of pattern formation during solidification. The investigations show that frequently occurring nucleation events govern the peritectic solidification morphology which occurs at the limit of morphological stability. As a consequence, banded structures lead to coupled growth even if the lateral growth is much faster compared to the growth in pulling direction.

Why adult formation

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Andrej Justinek

1997-01-01

Full Text Available The article argues that the primary aim of adult formation is comprehensive personality development which is supposed to ensure quality existence in modern world. The article also suggests that formarion is a permanent process. Justinek puts special emphasis on adult formation methodology and defines fundamental formation styles which encourage independent action in individuals. Justinek differentiates between formation and education. methods and concludes that formation methods are related to the emotional sphere of personality, and education methods mostly to the rational. Justinek believes that formation of adults is based primarily on appropriate formation methodology.

A Macroscopic Approach to the Lane Formation Phenomenon in Pedestrian Counterflow

Science.gov (United States)

Xiong, Tao; Zhang, Peng; Wong, S. C.; Shu, Chi-Wang; Zhang, Meng-Ping

2011-10-01

We simulate pedestrian counterflow by adopting an optimal path-choice strategy and a recently observed speed-density relationship. Although the whole system is symmetric, the simulation demonstrates the segregation and formation of many walking lanes for two groups of pedestrians. The symmetry breaking is most likely triggered by a small numerical viscosity or “noise", and the segregation is associated with the minimization of travel time. The underlying physics can be compared with the “optimal self-organization" mechanism in Helbing's social force model, by which driven entities in an open system tend to minimize their interaction to enable them to reach some ordering state.

Physics of positronium acceptor complex formation reactions

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Gangopadhyay, Debarshi; Ganguly, Bichitra Nandi; Mukherjee, Tapas; Dutta-Roy, Binayak

2002-01-01

Positronium (P s ) reaction rates (κ) with weak Acceptors (Ac) leading to the formation of Ps-Ac complexes show several interesting features: non-monotonic temperature dependence of κ(departing from the usual Arrhenius behaviour), considerable variability of κ with respect to different solvents, and anomalies in response to external pressure at ambient temperature. The object of this work is to explain all these phenomena using a remarkably simple bubble model (the widely used model for the pick-off component of ortho-positronium decay in liquids), which has been revisited several times in the context and as a result smooth diffuse boundary of the bubble was suggested that yields reasonable agreement of the experimental data. The contractile force on the bubble relies much on the surface tension of the liquid, through our calculation the notion of critical surface tension emerges and enables us to explain the experimental observations satisfactorily. (author)

An overview of enabling technology research in the United States

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Baker, Charles C.

2002-01-01

The mission of the US Fusion Energy Sciences Program is to advance plasma science, fusion science, and fusion technology--the knowledge base needed for an economically and environmentally attractive fusion energy source. In support of this overall mission, the Enabling Technology Program in the US incorporates both near and long term R and D, contributes to material and engineering sciences as well as technology development, contributes to spin-off applications, and performs global systems assessments and focused design studies. This work supports both magnetic and inertial fusion energy (IFE) concepts. The Enabling Technology research mission is to contribute to the national science and technology base by developing the enabling technology for existing and next-step experimental devices, by exploring and understanding key materials and technology feasibility issues for attractive fusion power sources, by conducting advanced design studies that integrate the wealth of our understanding to guide R and D priorities and by developing design solutions for next-step and future devices. The Enabling Technology Program Plan is organized around five elements: plasma technologies, fusion (chamber) technologies, materials sciences, advanced design, and IFE chamber and target technologies. The principal technical features and research objectives are described for each element

Drill cuttings mount formation study

Science.gov (United States)

Teh, Su Yean; Koh, Hock Lye

2014-07-01

Oil, Gas and Energy sector has been identified as an essential driving force in the Malaysian Economic Transformation Programs (ETP). Recently confirmed discovery of many offshore oil and gas deposits in Malaysian waters has ignited new confidence in this sector. However, this has also spurred intense interest on safeguarding the health and environment of coastal waters in Malaysia from adverse impact resulting from offshore oil and gas production operation. Offshore discharge of spent drilling mud and rock cuttings is the least expensive and simplest option to dispose of large volumes of drilling wastes. But this onsite offshore disposal may have adverse environmental impacts on the water column and the seabed. It may also pose occupational health hazards to the workers living in the offshore platforms. It is therefore important to model the transport and deposition of drilling mud and rock cuttings in the sea to enable proper assessment of their adverse impacts on the environment and the workers. Further, accumulation of drill particles on the seabed may impede proper operation of pipelines on the seabed. In this paper, we present an in-house application model TUNA-PT developed to cater to local oil and gas industry needs to simulate the dispersion and mount formation of drill cuttings by offshore oil and gas exploration and production platforms. Using available data on Malaysian coastal waters, simulation analyses project a pile formation on the seabed with a maximum height of about 1 m and pile radius of around 30 to 50 m. Simulated pile heights are not sensitive to the heights of release of the cuttings as the sensitivity has been mitigated by the depth of water.

High repeatability from 3D experimental platform for quantitative analysis of cellular branch pattern formations.

Science.gov (United States)

Hagiwara, Masaya; Nobata, Rina; Kawahara, Tomohiro

2018-04-24

Three-dimensional (3D) cell and tissue cultures more closely mimic biological environments than two-dimensional (2D) cultures and are therefore highly desirable in culture experiments. However, 3D cultures often fail to yield repeatable experimental results because of variation in the initial culture conditions, such as cell density and distribution in the extracellular matrix, and therefore reducing such variation is a paramount concern. Here, we present a 3D culture platform that demonstrates highly repeatable experimental results, obtained by controlling the initial cell cluster shape in the gel cube culture device. A micro-mould with the desired shape was fabricated by photolithography or machining, creating a 3D pocket in the extracellular matrix contained in the device. Highly concentrated human bronchial epithelial cells were then injected in the pocket so that the cell cluster shape matched the fabricated mould shape. Subsequently, the cubic device supplied multi-directional scanning, enabling high-resolution capture of the whole tissue structure with only a low-magnification lens. The proposed device significantly improved the repeatability of the developed branch pattern, and multi-directional scanning enabled quantitative analysis of the developed branch pattern formations. A mathematical simulation was also conducted to reveal the mechanisms of branch pattern formation. The proposed platform offers the potential to accelerate any research field that conducts 3D culture experiments, including tissue regeneration and drug development.

An Erbium-Based Bifuctional Heterogeneous Catalyst: A Cooperative Route Towards C-C Bond Formation

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Manuela Oliverio

2014-07-01

Full Text Available Heterogeneous bifuctional catalysts are multifunctional synthetic catalysts enabling efficient organic transformations by exploiting two opposite functionalities without mutual destruction. In this paper we report the first Er(III-based metallorganic heterogeneous catalyst, synthesized by post-calcination MW-assisted grafting and modification of the natural aminoacid L-cysteine. The natural acid–base distance between sites was maintained to assure the cooperation. The applicability of this new bifunctional heterogeneous catalyst to C-C bond formation and the supposed mechanisms of action are discussed as well.

Semantic Sensor Web Enablement for COAST, Phase I

Data.gov (United States)

National Aeronautics and Space Administration — Sensor Web Enablement (SWE) is an Open Geospatial Consortium (OGC) standard Service Oriented Architecture (SOA) that facilitates discovery and integration of...

Identifying enabling management practices for employee engagement

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Marius Joubert

2011-12-01

Full Text Available Orientation: A currently emerging viewpoint is that today's management practices no longer add value to organisations. The focus of this article is to conduct a systematic review of the scholarly literature on management practices that could be related to employee engagement. Research purpose: This study searched for evidence in support of the notion of a management value chain, and enabling management practices within each value chain component that could relate to employee engagement. Motivation for the study: An alternative management value chain model could contribute towards a better understanding of which management practices may potentially impact employee engagement. Research design, approach, and method: This is a non-empirical (theoretical study, based on a systematic, in-depth literature review to identify the key management components and enabling practices within this proposed management value chain. Scholarly research databases were sourced for relevant peer reviewed research conducted since 1990, not excluding important contributions prior to 1990. The literature was systematically searched, selected, studied, and contextualized within this study. Main findings: Support was found for the notion of a management value chain, for enabling management practices within each proposed management value chain component, and it was also established these management practices indeed have an impact on employee engagement. Practical/managerial/implications: The possibility that management work can be presented as a generic management value chain allows managers to approach engaging management practices more systematically. Contribution/value-add: This study highlights the importance of some management practices that have never been seen as part of management work.

Smart Grid enabled heat pumps

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Carmo, Carolina; Detlefsen, Nina; Nielsen, Mads Pagh

2014-01-01

The transition towards a 100 % fossil-free energy system, while achieving extreme penetration levels of intermittent wind and solar power in electricity generation, requires demand-side technologies that are smart (intermittency-friendly) and efficient. The integration of Smart Grid enabling...... with an empirical study in order to achieve a number of recommendations with respect to technology concepts and control strategies that would allow residential vapor-compression heat pumps to support large-scale integration of intermittent renewables. The analysis is based on data gathered over a period of up to 3...

Enabling white, Afrikaans-speaking adolescents towards post ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Using rich qualitative data, we describe the ecosystemically-embedded protective antecedents that enabled 10 white, Afrikaans-speaking adolescents from divorced families towards resilience. The description both confirms and extends what was known about the roots of adolescent resilience, post-divorce. We use these ...

Biofabrication enables efficient interrogation and optimization of sequential culture of endothelial cells, fibroblasts and cardiomyocytes for formation of vascular cords in cardiac tissue engineering

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Iyer, Rohin K; Radisic, Milica; Chiu, Loraine L Y; Vunjak-Novakovic, Gordana

2012-01-01

We previously reported that preculture of fibroblasts (FBs) and endothelial cells (ECs) prior to cardiomyocytes (CMs) improved the structural and functional properties of engineered cardiac tissue compared to culture of CMs alone or co-culture of all three cell types. However, these approaches did not result in formation of capillary-like cords, which are precursors to vascularization in vivo. Here we hypothesized that seeding the ECs first on Matrigel and then FBs 24 h later to stabilize the endothelial network (sequential preculture) would enhance cord formation in engineered cardiac organoids. Three sequential preculture groups were tested by seeding ECs (D4T line) at 8%, 15% and 31% of the total cell number on Matrigel-coated microchannels and incubating for 24 h. Cardiac FBs were then seeded (32%, 25% and 9% of the total cell number, respectively) and incubated an additional 24 h. Finally, neonatal rat CMs (60% of the total cell number) were added and the organoids were cultivated for seven days. Within 24 h, the 8% EC group formed elongated cords which eventually developed into beating cylindrical organoids, while the 15% and 31% EC groups proliferated into flat EC monolayers with poor viability. Excitation threshold (ET) in the 8% EC group (3.4 ± 1.2 V cm −1 ) was comparable to that of the CM group (3.3 ± 1.4 V cm −1 ). The ET worsened with increasing EC seeding density (15% EC: 4.4 ± 1.5 V cm −1 ; 31% EC: 4.9 ± 1.5 V cm −1 ). Thus, sequential preculture promoted vascular cord formation and enhanced architecture and function of engineered heart tissues. (paper)

Formation and Evolution of X-ray Binaries

Science.gov (United States)

Fragkos, Anastasios

X-ray binaries - mass-transferring binary stellar systems with compact object accretors - are unique astrophysical laboratories. They carry information about many complex physical processes such as star formation, compact object formation, and evolution of interacting binaries. My thesis work involves the study of the formation and evolution of Galactic and extra-galacticX-ray binaries using both detailed and realistic simulation tools, and population synthesis techniques. I applied an innovative analysis method that allows the reconstruction of the full evolutionary history of known black hole X-ray binaries back to the time of compact object formation. This analysis takes into account all the available observationally determined properties of a system, and models in detail four of its evolutionary evolutionary phases: mass transfer through the ongoing X-ray phase, tidal evolution before the onset of Roche-lobe overflow, motion through the Galactic potential after the formation of the black hole, and binary orbital dynamics at the time of core collapse. Motivated by deep extra-galactic Chandra survey observations, I worked on population synthesis models of low-mass X-ray binaries in the two elliptical galaxies NGC3379 and NGC4278. These simulations were targeted at understanding the origin of the shape and normalization of the observed X-ray luminosity functions. In a follow up study, I proposed a physically motivated prescription for the modeling of transient neutron star low-mass X-ray binary properties, such as duty cycle, outburst duration and recurrence time. This prescription enabled the direct comparison of transient low-mass X-ray binary population synthesis models to the Chandra X-ray survey of the two ellipticals NGC3379 and NGC4278. Finally, I worked on population synthesismodels of black holeX-ray binaries in the MilkyWay. This work was motivated by recent developments in observational techniques for the measurement of black hole spin magnitudes in

How memory of direct animal interactions can lead to territorial pattern formation.

Science.gov (United States)

Potts, Jonathan R; Lewis, Mark A

2016-05-01

Mechanistic home range analysis (MHRA) is a highly effective tool for understanding spacing patterns of animal populations. It has hitherto focused on populations where animals defend their territories by communicating indirectly, e.g. via scent marks. However, many animal populations defend their territories using direct interactions, such as ritualized aggression. To enable application of MHRA to such populations, we construct a model of direct territorial interactions, using linear stability analysis and energy methods to understand when territorial patterns may form. We show that spatial memory of past interactions is vital for pattern formation, as is memory of 'safe' places, where the animal has visited but not suffered recent territorial encounters. Additionally, the spatial range over which animals make decisions to move is key to understanding the size and shape of their resulting territories. Analysis using energy methods, on a simplified version of our system, shows that stability in the nonlinear system corresponds well to predictions of linear analysis. We also uncover a hysteresis in the process of territory formation, so that formation may depend crucially on initial space-use. Our analysis, in one dimension and two dimensions, provides mathematical groundwork required for extending MHRA to situations where territories are defended by direct encounters. © 2016 The Author(s).

Creating an Economically Enabling and Competitive Business ...

International Development Research Centre (IDRC) Digital Library (Canada)

Creating an Economically Enabling and Competitive Business Environment in the West Bank and Gaza Strip. The prospect of indefinite Israeli occupation of the Palestinian territories, and their extreme dependence on foreign assistance and Israeli-controlled customs revenues, had led to the conclusion that the Palestinian ...

Creating an Economically Enabling and Competitive Business ...

International Development Research Centre (IDRC) Digital Library (Canada)

Creating an Economically Enabling and Competitive Business Environment in the West Bank and Gaza Strip. The prospect of indefinite Israeli occupation of the ... Impact of implementing the Palestinian banking law on the performance of the private sector [Arabic language]. Documents. Impact of the commercial agents law ...

Microwave-induced electrostatic etching: generation of highly reactive magnesium for application in Grignard reagent formation.

Science.gov (United States)

van de Kruijs, Bastiaan H P; Dressen, Mark H C L; Meuldijk, Jan; Vekemans, Jef A J M; Hulshof, Lumbertus A

2010-04-07

A detailed study regarding the influence of microwave irradiation on the formation of a series of Grignard reagents in terms of rates and selectivities has revealed that these heterogeneous reactions may display a beneficial microwave effect. The interaction between microwaves and magnesium turnings generates violent electrostatic discharges. These discharges on magnesium lead to melting of the magnesium surface, thus generating highly active magnesium particles. As compared to conventional operation the microwave-induced discharges on the magnesium surface lead to considerably shorter initiation times for the insertion of magnesium in selected substrates (i.e. halothiophenes, halopyridines, octyl halides, and halobenzenes). Thermographic imaging and surface characterization by scanning electron microscopy showed that neither selective heating nor a "specific" microwave effect was causing the reduction in initiation times. This novel and straightforward initiation method eliminates the use of toxic and environmentally adverse initiators. Thus, this initiation method limits the formation of by-products. We clearly demonstrated that microwave irradiation enables fast Grignard reagent formation. Therefore, microwave technology is promising for process intensification of Grignard based coupling reactions.

A standard-enabled workflow for synthetic biology

KAUST Repository

Myers, Chris J.

2017-06-15

A synthetic biology workflow is composed of data repositories that provide information about genetic parts, sequence-level design tools to compose these parts into circuits, visualization tools to depict these designs, genetic design tools to select parts to create systems, and modeling and simulation tools to evaluate alternative design choices. Data standards enable the ready exchange of information within such a workflow, allowing repositories and tools to be connected from a diversity of sources. The present paper describes one such workflow that utilizes, among others, the Synthetic Biology Open Language (SBOL) to describe genetic designs, the Systems Biology Markup Language to model these designs, and SBOL Visual to visualize these designs. We describe how a standard-enabled workflow can be used to produce types of design information, including multiple repositories and software tools exchanging information using a variety of data standards. Recently, the ACS Synthetic Biology journal has recommended the use of SBOL in their publications.

Nano-enabled drug delivery: a research profile.

Science.gov (United States)

Zhou, Xiao; Porter, Alan L; Robinson, Douglas K R; Shim, Min Suk; Guo, Ying

2014-07-01

Nano-enabled drug delivery (NEDD) systems are rapidly emerging as a key area for nanotechnology application. Understanding the status and developmental prospects of this area around the world is important to determine research priorities, and to evaluate and direct progress. Global research publication and patent databases provide a reservoir of information that can be tapped to provide intelligence for such needs. Here, we present a process to allow for extraction of NEDD-related information from these databases by involving topical experts. This process incorporates in-depth analysis of NEDD literature review papers to identify key subsystems and major topics. We then use these to structure global analysis of NEDD research topical trends and collaborative patterns, inform future innovation directions. This paper describes the process of how to derive nano-enabled drug delivery-related information from global research and patent databases in an effort to perform comprehensive global analysis of research trends and directions, along with collaborative patterns. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Blue space geographies: Enabling health in place.

Science.gov (United States)

Foley, Ronan; Kistemann, Thomas

2015-09-01

Drawing from research on therapeutic landscapes and relationships between environment, health and wellbeing, we propose the idea of 'healthy blue space' as an important new development Complementing research on healthy green space, blue space is defined as; 'health-enabling places and spaces, where water is at the centre of a range of environments with identifiable potential for the promotion of human wellbeing'. Using theoretical ideas from emotional and relational geographies and critical understandings of salutogenesis, the value of blue space to health and wellbeing is recognised and evaluated. Six individual papers from five different countries consider how health can be enabled in mixed blue space settings. Four sub-themes; embodiment, inter-subjectivity, activity and meaning, document multiple experiences within a range of healthy blue spaces. Finally, we suggest a considerable research agenda - theoretical, methodological and applied - for future work within different forms of blue space. All are suggested as having public health policy relevance in social and public space. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Looking Back and Looking Forward: Reprising the Promise and Predicting the Future of Formation Flying and Spaceborne GPS Navigation Systems

Science.gov (United States)

Bauer, Frank H.; Dennehy, Neil

2015-01-01

A retrospective consideration of two 15-year old Guidance, Navigation and Control (GN&C) technology 'vision' predictions will be the focus of this paper. A look back analysis and critique of these late 1990s technology roadmaps out-lining the future vision, for two then nascent, but rapidly emerging, GN&C technologies will be performed. Specifically, these two GN&C technologies were: 1) multi-spacecraft formation flying and 2) the spaceborne use and exploitation of global positioning system (GPS) signals to enable formation flying. This paper reprises the promise of formation flying and spaceborne GPS as depicted in the cited 1999 and 1998 papers. It will discuss what happened to cause that promise to be mostly unfulfilled and the reasons why the envisioned formation flying dream has yet to become a reality. The recent technology trends over the past few years will then be identified and a renewed government interest in spacecraft formation flying/cluster flight will be highlighted. The authors will conclude with a reality-tempered perspective, 15 years after the initial technology roadmaps were published, predicting a promising future of spacecraft formation flying technology development over the next decade.

Enabling School Structure, Mindfulness, and Teacher Empowerment: Test of a Theory

Science.gov (United States)

Watts, Donald M.

2009-01-01

This study looked at the relationship of an enabling school structure and mindfulness toward teacher empowerment. An enabling school structure is the perception in which leadership fosters collaboration, innovation, and trust among participants. Its rules and procedures are flexible and promote problem-solving (Hoy & Sweetland, 2000, 2001).…

Transformative Learning: Patterns of Psychophysiologic Response and Technology-Enabled Learning and Intervention Systems

Science.gov (United States)

2008-09-01

Psychophysiologic Response and Technology -Enabled Learning and Intervention Systems PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR: Leigh W. Jerome, Ph.D...NUMBER Transformative Learning : Patterns of Psychophysiologic Response and Technology - Enabled Learning and Intervention Systems 5b. GRANT NUMBER...project entitled “Transformative Learning : Patterns of Psychophysiologic Response in Technology Enabled Learning and Intervention Systems.” The

Green communication: The enabler to multiple business models

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Lindgren, Peter; Clemmensen, Suberia; Taran, Yariv

2010-01-01

Companies stand at the forefront of a new business model reality with new potentials - that will change their basic understanding and practice of running their business models radically. One of the drivers to this change is green communication, its strong relation to green business models and its...... possibility to enable lower energy consumption. This paper shows how green communication enables innovation of green business models and multiple business models running simultaneously in different markets to different customers.......Companies stand at the forefront of a new business model reality with new potentials - that will change their basic understanding and practice of running their business models radically. One of the drivers to this change is green communication, its strong relation to green business models and its...

ART-ML - a novel XML format for the biological procedures modeling and the representation of blood flow simulation.

Science.gov (United States)

Karvounis, E C; Tsakanikas, V D; Fotiou, E; Fotiadis, D I

2010-01-01

The paper proposes a novel Extensible Markup Language (XML) based format called ART-ML that aims at supporting the interoperability and the reuse of models of blood flow, mass transport and plaque formation, exported by ARTool. ARTool is a platform for the automatic processing of various image modalities of coronary and carotid arteries. The images and their content are fused to develop morphological models of the arteries in easy to handle 3D representations. The platform incorporates efficient algorithms which are able to perform blood flow simulation. In addition atherosclerotic plaque development is estimated taking into account morphological, flow and genetic factors. ART-ML provides a XML format that enables the representation and management of embedded models within the ARTool platform and the storage and interchange of well-defined information. This approach influences in the model creation, model exchange, model reuse and result evaluation.

IT Enabled Agility in Organizational Ambidexterity

OpenAIRE

Röder, Nina; Schermann, Michael; Krcmar, Helmut

2015-01-01

The aim of ambidextrous organizations is to balance exploratory and exploitative learning concepts. They innovate through experiments and research, and capture the value of innovations through refinement and continuous improvement. In this paper, we study the relationship of organizational ambidexterity and IT enabled agility. Based on a case study with a German car manufacturer we find that (1) entrepreneurial agility impedes exploitative concepts, (2) adaptive agility impedes exploratory co...

Robotics to enable older adults to remain living at home.

Science.gov (United States)

Pearce, Alan J; Adair, Brooke; Miller, Kimberly; Ozanne, Elizabeth; Said, Catherine; Santamaria, Nick; Morris, Meg E

2012-01-01

Given the rapidly ageing population, interest is growing in robots to enable older people to remain living at home. We conducted a systematic review and critical evaluation of the scientific literature, from 1990 to the present, on the use of robots in aged care. The key research questions were as follows: (1) what is the range of robotic devices available to enable older people to remain mobile, independent, and safe? and, (2) what is the evidence demonstrating that robotic devices are effective in enabling independent living in community dwelling older people? Following database searches for relevant literature an initial yield of 161 articles was obtained. Titles and abstracts of articles were then reviewed by 2 independent people to determine suitability for inclusion. Forty-two articles met the criteria for question 1. Of these, 4 articles met the criteria for question 2. Results showed that robotics is currently available to assist older healthy people and people with disabilities to remain independent and to monitor their safety and social connectedness. Most studies were conducted in laboratories and hospital clinics. Currently limited evidence demonstrates that robots can be used to enable people to remain living at home, although this is an emerging smart technology that is rapidly evolving.

Robotics to Enable Older Adults to Remain Living at Home

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Alan J. Pearce

2012-01-01

Full Text Available Given the rapidly ageing population, interest is growing in robots to enable older people to remain living at home. We conducted a systematic review and critical evaluation of the scientific literature, from 1990 to the present, on the use of robots in aged care. The key research questions were as follows: (1 what is the range of robotic devices available to enable older people to remain mobile, independent, and safe? and, (2 what is the evidence demonstrating that robotic devices are effective in enabling independent living in community dwelling older people? Following database searches for relevant literature an initial yield of 161 articles was obtained. Titles and abstracts of articles were then reviewed by 2 independent people to determine suitability for inclusion. Forty-two articles met the criteria for question 1. Of these, 4 articles met the criteria for question 2. Results showed that robotics is currently available to assist older healthy people and people with disabilities to remain independent and to monitor their safety and social connectedness. Most studies were conducted in laboratories and hospital clinics. Currently limited evidence demonstrates that robots can be used to enable people to remain living at home, although this is an emerging smart technology that is rapidly evolving.

Enabling immersive simulation.

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

McCoy, Josh (University of California Santa Cruz, Santa Cruz, CA); Mateas, Michael (University of California Santa Cruz, Santa Cruz, CA); Hart, Derek H.; Whetzel, Jonathan; Basilico, Justin Derrick; Glickman, Matthew R.; Abbott, Robert G.

2009-02-01

The object of the 'Enabling Immersive Simulation for Complex Systems Analysis and Training' LDRD has been to research, design, and engineer a capability to develop simulations which (1) provide a rich, immersive interface for participation by real humans (exploiting existing high-performance game-engine technology wherever possible), and (2) can leverage Sandia's substantial investment in high-fidelity physical and cognitive models implemented in the Umbra simulation framework. We report here on these efforts. First, we describe the integration of Sandia's Umbra modular simulation framework with the open-source Delta3D game engine. Next, we report on Umbra's integration with Sandia's Cognitive Foundry, specifically to provide for learning behaviors for 'virtual teammates' directly from observed human behavior. Finally, we describe the integration of Delta3D with the ABL behavior engine, and report on research into establishing the theoretical framework that will be required to make use of tools like ABL to scale up to increasingly rich and realistic virtual characters.

Enhancement of automated blood flow estimates (ENABLE) from arterial spin-labeled MRI.

Science.gov (United States)

Shirzadi, Zahra; Stefanovic, Bojana; Chappell, Michael A; Ramirez, Joel; Schwindt, Graeme; Masellis, Mario; Black, Sandra E; MacIntosh, Bradley J

2018-03-01

To validate a multiparametric automated algorithm-ENhancement of Automated Blood fLow Estimates (ENABLE)-that identifies useful and poor arterial spin-labeled (ASL) difference images in multiple postlabeling delay (PLD) acquisitions and thereby improve clinical ASL. ENABLE is a sort/check algorithm that uses a linear combination of ASL quality features. ENABLE uses simulations to determine quality weighting factors based on an unconstrained nonlinear optimization. We acquired a set of 6-PLD ASL images with 1.5T or 3.0T systems among 98 healthy elderly and adults with mild cognitive impairment or dementia. We contrasted signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) of cerebral blood flow (CBF) images obtained with ENABLE vs. conventional ASL analysis. In a subgroup, we validated our CBF estimates with single-photon emission computed tomography (SPECT) CBF images. ENABLE produced significantly increased SNR compared to a conventional ASL analysis (Wilcoxon signed-rank test, P Wilcoxon signed-rank test, P < 0.0001) and this similarity was strongly related to ASL SNR (t = 24, P < 0.0001). These findings suggest that ENABLE improves CBF image quality from multiple PLD ASL in dementia cohorts at either 1.5T or 3.0T, achieved by multiparametric quality features that guided postprocessing of dementia ASL. 2 Technical Efficacy: Stage 2 J. Magn. Reson. Imaging 2018;47:647-655. © 2017 International Society for Magnetic Resonance in Medicine.

Voice-enabled Knowledge Engine using Flood Ontology and Natural Language Processing

Science.gov (United States)

Sermet, M. Y.; Demir, I.; Krajewski, W. F.

2015-12-01

The Iowa Flood Information System (IFIS) is a web-based platform developed by the Iowa Flood Center (IFC) to provide access to flood inundation maps, real-time flood conditions, flood forecasts, flood-related data, information and interactive visualizations for communities in Iowa. The IFIS is designed for use by general public, often people with no domain knowledge and limited general science background. To improve effective communication with such audience, we have introduced a voice-enabled knowledge engine on flood related issues in IFIS. Instead of navigating within many features and interfaces of the information system and web-based sources, the system provides dynamic computations based on a collection of built-in data, analysis, and methods. The IFIS Knowledge Engine connects to real-time stream gauges, in-house data sources, analysis and visualization tools to answer natural language questions. Our goal is the systematization of data and modeling results on flood related issues in Iowa, and to provide an interface for definitive answers to factual queries. The goal of the knowledge engine is to make all flood related knowledge in Iowa easily accessible to everyone, and support voice-enabled natural language input. We aim to integrate and curate all flood related data, implement analytical and visualization tools, and make it possible to compute answers from questions. The IFIS explicitly implements analytical methods and models, as algorithms, and curates all flood related data and resources so that all these resources are computable. The IFIS Knowledge Engine computes the answer by deriving it from its computational knowledge base. The knowledge engine processes the statement, access data warehouse, run complex database queries on the server-side and return outputs in various formats. This presentation provides an overview of IFIS Knowledge Engine, its unique information interface and functionality as an educational tool, and discusses the future plans

Evaluating the enablers in solar power developments in the current scenario using fuzzy DEMATEL

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Luthra, Sunil; Govindan, Kannan; Kharb, Ravinder K.

2016-01-01

Determining solar power initiatives and developments for a country as large as India is difficult due to the involvement of different enablers. The decisions of these enablers will influence the formulation of strategies to encourage solar power development in India. The present research work...... critically analyzes Indian solar power developments to recognize and to evaluate key enablers that will encourage greater usage in Indias current scenario. A literature review that explores the Indian solar power sector is included, with a focus on need potential, and an examination of the key enablers....... This work identifies sixteen solar power enablers based on relevant literature and experts inputs. To evaluate and to categorize the recognized solar power development key enablers, a fuzzy Decision Making Trial and Evaluation Laboratory (DEMATEL) based methodology is utilized. The fuzzy DEMATEL approach...

Uncertainty enabled Sensor Observation Services

Science.gov (United States)

Cornford, Dan; Williams, Matthew; Bastin, Lucy

2010-05-01

Almost all observations of reality are contaminated with errors, which introduce uncertainties into the actual observation result. Such uncertainty is often held to be a data quality issue, and quantification of this uncertainty is essential for the principled exploitation of the observations. Many existing systems treat data quality in a relatively ad-hoc manner, however if the observation uncertainty is a reliable estimate of the error on the observation with respect to reality then knowledge of this uncertainty enables optimal exploitation of the observations in further processes, or decision making. We would argue that the most natural formalism for expressing uncertainty is Bayesian probability theory. In this work we show how the Open Geospatial Consortium Sensor Observation Service can be implemented to enable the support of explicit uncertainty about observations. We show how the UncertML candidate standard is used to provide a rich and flexible representation of uncertainty in this context. We illustrate this on a data set of user contributed weather data where the INTAMAP interpolation Web Processing Service is used to help estimate the uncertainty on the observations of unknown quality, using observations with known uncertainty properties. We then go on to discuss the implications of uncertainty for a range of existing Open Geospatial Consortium standards including SWE common and Observations and Measurements. We discuss the difficult decisions in the design of the UncertML schema and its relation and usage within existing standards and show various options. We conclude with some indications of the likely future directions for UncertML in the context of Open Geospatial Consortium services.

Latin Letters Recognition Using Optical Character Recognition to Convert Printed Media Into Digital Format

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Rio Anugrah

2017-12-01

Full Text Available Printed media is still popular now days society. Unfortunately, such media encountered several drawbacks. For example, this type of media consumes large storage that impact in high maintenance cost. To keep printed information more efficient and long-lasting, people usually convert it into digital format. In this paper, we built Optical Character Recognition (OCR system to enable automatic conversion the image containing the sentence in Latin characters into digital text-shaped information. This system consists of several interrelated stages including preprocessing, segmentation, feature extraction, classifier, model and recognition. In preprocessing, the median filter is used to clarify the image from noise and the Otsu’s function is used to binarize the image. It followed by character segmentation using connected component labeling. Artificial neural network (ANN is used for feature extraction to recognize the character. The result shows that this system enable to recognize the characters in the image whose success rate is influenced by the training of the system.

Language and Didactic potential of Ukrainian for Specific Purposes Teaching forms in Developing Future Navigators' Text Formation Competency

OpenAIRE

Tetiana Gulchuk

2018-01-01

The article is devoted to determining the peculiarities of the organization of future navigators ’text formation competence development during various forms of training on the basis of the analysis of scientific literature on language teaching methods. On the basis of analysis, generalization and systematization of scientific sources, we elucidated the forms of organization of language teaching (lectures, practical classes, seminars), which enable to improve the future navigators’ ability to ...

The self-adaptation to dynamic failures for efficient virtual organization formations in grid computing context

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Han Liangxiu

2009-01-01

Grid computing aims to enable 'resource sharing and coordinated problem solving in dynamic, multi-institutional virtual organizations (VOs)'. However, due to the nature of heterogeneous and dynamic resources, dynamic failures in the distributed grid environment usually occur more than in traditional computation platforms, which cause failed VO formations. In this paper, we develop a novel self-adaptive mechanism to dynamic failures during VO formations. Such a self-adaptive scheme allows an individual and member of VOs to automatically find other available or replaceable one once a failure happens and therefore makes systems automatically recover from dynamic failures. We define dynamic failure situations of a system by using two standard indicators: mean time between failures (MTBF) and mean time to recover (MTTR). We model both MTBF and MTTR as Poisson distributions. We investigate and analyze the efficiency of the proposed self-adaptation mechanism to dynamic failures by comparing the success probability of VO formations before and after adopting it in three different cases: (1) different failure situations; (2) different organizational structures and scales; (3) different task complexities. The experimental results show that the proposed scheme can automatically adapt to dynamic failures and effectively improve the dynamic VO formation performance in the event of node failures, which provide a valuable addition to the field.

Time Domain View of Liquid-like Screening and Large Polaron Formation in Lead Halide Perovskites

Science.gov (United States)

Joshi, Prakriti Pradhan; Miyata, Kiyoshi; Trinh, M. Tuan; Zhu, Xiaoyang

The structural softness and dynamic disorder of lead halide perovskites contributes to their remarkable optoelectronic properties through efficient charge screening and large polaron formation. Here we provide a direct time-domain view of the liquid-like structural dynamics and polaron formation in single crystal CH3NH3PbBr3 and CsPbBr3 using femtosecond optical Kerr effect spectroscopy in conjunction with transient reflectance spectroscopy. We investigate structural dynamics as function of pump energy, which enables us to examine the dynamics in the absence and presence of charge carriers. In the absence of charge carriers, structural dynamics are dominated by over-damped picosecond motions of the inorganic PbBr3- sub-lattice and these motions are strongly coupled to band-gap electronic transitions. Carrier injection from across-gap optical excitation triggers additional 0.26 ps dynamics in CH3NH3PbBr3 that can be attributed to the formation of large polarons. In comparison, large polaron formation is slower in CsPbBr3 with a time constant of 0.6 ps. We discuss how such dynamic screening protects charge carriers in lead halide perovskites. US Department of Energy, Office of Science - Basic Energy Sciences.

Confocal micro-PIV measurement of droplet formation in a T-shaped micro-junction

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Oishi, M; Kinoshita, H; Fujii, T; Oshima, M

2009-01-01

This paper aims to investigate a mechanism of microdroplet formation using 'multicolor confocal micro particle image velocimetry (PIV)' technique. The present system can measure dynamical behavior of multiphase flow separately and simultaneously. It also enables to identify the interactions between two immiscible fluids. We have applied this system to measure the water droplet formation at a micro T-shaped junction. We have also succeeded in dispersing fluorescent tracer particles into both phases. The interaction between the internal flow of to-be-dispersed water phase and of continuous oil phase is measured as a liquid-liquid multiphase flow. As a result of PIV measurement and interface scanning, the relationship between flow structure of each phase and interface shape is clarified. It indicates that the gap between the tip of to-be-dispersed phase and capillary wall, and interface area play an important role in the flow structure and shear stress on the interface.

Essays on Technology-Enabled Platforms

Science.gov (United States)

Koh, Tat Koon

2012-01-01

This dissertation consists of three studies that examine dynamics on Business-to-Business (B2B) exchanges and crowd-based design contest platforms. In the first study, we examine trust formation and development in global buyer-supplier relationships. Trust affects all business relationships, especially global B2B transactions due to the distances…

Photon-HDF5: Open Data Format and Computational Tools for Timestamp-based Single-Molecule Experiments.

Science.gov (United States)

Ingargiola, Antonino; Laurence, Ted; Boutelle, Robert; Weiss, Shimon; Michalet, Xavier

2016-02-13

Archival of experimental data in public databases has increasingly become a requirement for most funding agencies and journals. These data-sharing policies have the potential to maximize data reuse, and to enable confirmatory as well as novel studies. However, the lack of standard data formats can severely hinder data reuse. In photon-counting-based single-molecule fluorescence experiments, data is stored in a variety of vendor-specific or even setup-specific (custom) file formats, making data interchange prohibitively laborious, unless the same hardware-software combination is used. Moreover, the number of available techniques and setup configurations make it difficult to find a common standard. To address this problem, we developed Photon-HDF5 (www.photon-hdf5.org), an open data format for timestamp-based single-molecule fluorescence experiments. Building on the solid foundation of HDF5, Photon-HDF5 provides a platform- and language-independent, easy-to-use file format that is self-describing and supports rich metadata. Photon-HDF5 supports different types of measurements by separating raw data (e.g. photon-timestamps, detectors, etc) from measurement metadata. This approach allows representing several measurement types and setup configurations within the same core structure and makes possible extending the format in backward-compatible way. Complementing the format specifications, we provide open source software to create and convert Photon-HDF5 files, together with code examples in multiple languages showing how to read Photon-HDF5 files. Photon-HDF5 allows sharing data in a format suitable for long term archival, avoiding the effort to document custom binary formats and increasing interoperability with different analysis software. We encourage participation of the single-molecule community to extend interoperability and to help defining future versions of Photon-HDF5.

Excavating obstacles and enablers to internationalization at home

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Beelen, Jos; Woldegiyorgis, Ayenachew A.; Rumbley, Laura E.; de Wit, Hans

2017-01-01

Gives an overview of my research as a visiting scholar at The Boston College Center for International Higher Education. This research classifies these obstacles and enablers in four categories: disciplinary, external, internal and personal.

Configurational Reassignment and Improved Preparation of the Competitive IL-6 Receptor Antagonist 20R,21R-Epoxyresibufogenin-3-formate

Science.gov (United States)

Boos, Terrence L.; Cheng, Kejun; Greiner, Elisabeth; Deschamps, Jeffrey R.; Jacobson, Arthur E.; Rice, Kenner C.

2012-01-01

20R,21R-Epoxyresibufogenin-3-formate (1) and 20S,21S-epoxyresibufogenin-3-formate (2) were synthesized from commercial resibufogenin (3) using known procedures. The major product (1) was dextrorotatory, as was the major product from the reported synthesis of epoxyresibufogenin-3-formate; however, the literature (+)-compound was assigned the 20S,21S-configuration based on NMR data. We have now unequivocally determined, using single-crystal X-ray structure analyses of the major and minor products of the synthesis and of their derivatives, that the major product from the synthesis was (+)-20R,21R-epoxyresibufogenin-3-formate (1). Our minor synthetic product was determined to have the (-)-20S,21S-configuration (2). The (+)-20R,21R-compound 1 has been found to have high affinity for the IL-6 receptor and to act as an IL-6 antagonist. A greatly improved synthesis of 1 was achieved through oxidation of preformed resibufogenin-3-formate. This has enabled us to prepare, from the very expensive commercial resibufogenin, considerably larger quantities of 1, the only known non-peptide small molecule IL-6 antagonist. PMID:22360661

Influence of air pressure on soliton formation in hollow-core photonic bandgap fibers

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Lægsgaard, Jesper; Roberts, Peter John

2009-01-01

Abstract Soliton formation during dispersive compression of chirped few-picosecond pulses at the microjoule level in a hollow-core photonic bandgap (HC-PBG) fiber is studied by numerical simulations. Long-pass filtering of the emerging frequency-shifted solitons is investigated with the objective...... of obtaining pedestal-free output pulses. Particular emphasis is placed on the influence of the air pressure in the HC-PBG fiber. It is found that a reduction in air pressure enables an increase in the fraction of power going into the most redshifted soliton and also improves the quality of the filtered pulse...

Community and health systems barriers and enablers to family planning and contraceptive services provision and use in Kabwe District, Zambia.

Science.gov (United States)

Silumbwe, Adam; Nkole, Theresa; Munakampe, Margarate Nzala; Milford, Cecilia; Cordero, Joanna Paula; Kriel, Yolandie; Zulu, Joseph Mumba; Steyn, Petrus S

2018-05-31

Unmet need for contraception results in several health challenges such as unintended pregnancies, unwanted births and unsafe abortions. Most interventions have been unable to successfully address this unmet need due to various community and health system level factors. Identifying these inhibiting and enabling factors prior to implementation of interventions forms the basis for planning efforts to increase met needs. This qualitative study was part of the formative phase of a larger research project that aimed to develop an intervention to increase met needs for contraception through community and health system participation. The specific study component reported here explores barriers and enablers to family planning and contraceptive services provision and utilisation at community and health systems levels. Twelve focus group discussions were conducted with community members (n = 114) and two with healthcare providers (n = 19). Ten in-depth interviews were held with key stakeholders. The study was conducted in Kabwe district, Zambia. Interviews/discussions were translated and transcribed verbatim. Data were coded and organised using NVivo 10 (QSR international), and were analysed using thematic analysis. Health systems barriers include long distances to healthcare facilities, stock-outs of preferred methods, lack of policies facilitating contraceptive provision in schools, and undesirable provider attitudes. Community level barriers comprise women's experience with contraceptive side effects, myths, rumours and misconceptions, societal stigma, and negative traditional and religious beliefs. On the other hand, health systems enablers consist of political will from government to expand contraceptive services access, integration of contraceptive services, provision of couples counselling, and availability of personnel to offer basic methods mix. Functional community health system structures, community desire to delay pregnancy, and knowledge of contraceptive

A Pervasive Social Networking Application: I-NFC enabled Florist Smart Advisor

Science.gov (United States)

Swee Wen, Khoo; Mahinderjit Singh, Manmeet

2016-11-01

Location based service is an information and entertainment service, accessible with mobile devices through the mobile network and utilizing the ability to make use of the geographical position of the mobile device. NFC location based service is using one of the modes of NFC such as peer-to-peer, reader/writer, and card emulation to obtain the information of the object and then get the location of the object. In this paper, the proposed solution is I- NFC-enabled Pervasive Social Networking apps for florists. It combines the NFC location based service with Online Social Network (OSN). In addition, a smart advisor in the system to provide output in making their own decision while purchasing products.The development of the system demonstrates that a designed commerce site is provided which enable a communication between NFC-enabled smartphone, NFC-enabled application and OSN. GPS functionalities also implemented to provide map and location of business services. Smart advisor also designed to provide information for users who do not have ideas what to purchase.

Physics and Chemistry of Star and Planet Formation in the Alma ERA

Science.gov (United States)

Bergin, Edwin

2014-06-01

ALMA will open up new avenues of exploration encompassing the wide range of star formation in our galaxy and peering into the central heart of planet-forming circumstellar disks. As we seek to explore the origins of stars and planets molecular emission will be at the front and center of many studies probing gas physics and chemistry. In this talk I will discus some of the areas where we can expect significant advances due to the increased sensitivity and superb spatial resolution of ALMA. In star-forming cores, a rich chemistry is revealed that may be the simpler molecular precursors to more complex organics, such as amino acids, seen within primitive rocks in our own solar system. ALMA will provide new information regarding the relative spatial distribution within a given source for a host of organics, sampling tens to hundreds of transitions of a variety of molecules, including presumably new ones. In this area there is a rich synergy with existing ground and space-based data, including Herschel/Spitzer. Here the increased sampling of sources to be enabled by ALMA should bring greater clarity toward the key products of interstellar chemistry and further constrain processes. On smaller Solar System scales, for over a decade most observations of planet-forming disks focused on the dust thermal continuum emission as a probe of the gas content and structure. ALMA will enable reliable and direct studies of gas to explore the evolving physics of planet-formation, the gas dissipation timescales (i.e. the upper limit to the timescale for giant planet birth), and also the chemistry. It is this chemistry that sets the composition of gas giants and also influences the ultimate composition of water and organic materials that are delivered to terrestrial worlds. Here I will show how we can use molecular emission to determine the gas thermal structure of a disk system and the total gas content - key astrophysical quantities. This will also enable more constrained chemical

Star Formation Activity Beyond the Outer Arm. I. WISE -selected Candidate Star-forming Regions

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Izumi, Natsuko; Yasui, Chikako; Saito, Masao [National Astronomical Observatory of Japan, 2-21-1, Osawa, Mitaka, Tokyo 181-8588 (Japan); Kobayashi, Naoto; Hamano, Satoshi, E-mail: natsuko.izumi@nao.ac.jp [Laboratory of Infrared High-resolution spectroscopy (LIH), Koyama Astronomical Observatory, Kyoto Sangyo University, Motoyama, Kamigamo, Kita-ku, Kyoto 603-8555 (Japan)

2017-10-01

The outer Galaxy beyond the Outer Arm provides a good opportunity to study star formation in an environment significantly different from that in the solar neighborhood. However, star-forming regions in the outer Galaxy have never been comprehensively studied or cataloged because of the difficulties in detecting them at such large distances. We studied 33 known young star-forming regions associated with 13 molecular clouds at R {sub G} ≥ 13.5 kpc in the outer Galaxy with data from the Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer ( WISE ) mid-infrared all-sky survey. From their color distribution, we developed a simple identification criterion of star-forming regions in the outer Galaxy with the WISE color. We applied the criterion to all the WISE sources in the molecular clouds in the outer Galaxy at R {sub G} ≥ 13.5 kpc detected with the Five College Radio Astronomy Observatory (FCRAO) {sup 12}CO survey of the outer Galaxy, of which the survey region is 102.°49 ≤  l  ≤ 141.°54, −3.°03 ≤  b  ≤ 5.°41, and successfully identified 711 new candidate star-forming regions in 240 molecular clouds. The large number of samples enables us to perform the statistical study of star formation properties in the outer Galaxy for the first time. This study is crucial to investigate the fundamental star formation properties, including star formation rate, star formation efficiency, and initial mass function, in a primordial environment such as the early phase of the Galaxy formation.

THE POTENTIAL OF BIOCHEMISTRY EDUCATION APPS IN THE FORMATIVE ASSESSMENT

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

M. L. Oliveira

2015-08-01

Full Text Available Introduction and objectives: Apps can be designed to provide usage data, and most of them do. These data are usually used to map users interests and to deliver more effective ads that are more likely to result in clicks, and sales. We have applied some of these metrics to understand how can it be used to map students’ behavior and to promote a formative assessment using educational software. The purpose of a formative assessment is to monitor student learning to provide ongoing feedback that can be used by instructors and students to improve the teaching and learning process. Thus, this modality aims to help both students and instructors to identify strengths and weaknesses that need to be developed. This study aimed to describe the potential of educational apps in the formative assessment process. Material and Methods: We have implemented assessment tools embedded in three apps (ARMET, The Cell and 3D Class used to teach: 1 Metabolic Pathways; 2 Scale of the cellular structures, and 3 Concepts from techniques used in a Biochemistry Lab course. The implemented tools allow to verify on what issues there were recurring mistakes, the total number of mistakes presented, which questions they most achieved, how long they took to perform the activity and other relevant information. Results and conclusion: Educational apps can provide transparent and coherent evaluation metrics to enable instructors to systematize more consistent criteria and indicators, reducing the subjectivity of the formative assessment process and the time spent for preparation, tabulation and analysis of assessment data. This approach allows instructors to understand better where students struggle, giving to them a more effective feedback. It also helps instructor to plan interventions to help students to perform better and to achieve the learning objectives.

RFID-enabled healthcare applications, issues and benefits: an archival analysis (1997-2011).

Science.gov (United States)

Fosso Wamba, Samuel

2012-12-01

In this paper, a comprehensive review of articles published between 1997 and 2011 in the Journal of Medical Systems (JMS) on RFID technology is presented. A total of 22 papers are analyzed using a classification framework that has three dimensions: RFID-enabled healthcare applications, RFID-enabled healthcare issues, and RFID-enabled healthcare benefits. In addition, an invitation sent to all authors of the papers accepted for the special issue on RFID for the JMS allows them to position their various papers within the classification framework. Finally, a list of future research directions is presented.

A wireless sensor enabled by wireless power.

Science.gov (United States)

Lee, Da-Sheng; Liu, Yu-Hong; Lin, Chii-Ruey

2012-11-22

Through harvesting energy by wireless charging and delivering data by wireless communication, this study proposes the concept of a wireless sensor enabled by wireless power (WPWS) and reports the fabrication of a prototype for functional tests. One WPWS node consists of wireless power module and sensor module with different chip-type sensors. Its main feature is the dual antenna structure. Following RFID system architecture, a power harvesting antenna was designed to gather power from a standard reader working in the 915 MHz band. Referring to the Modbus protocol, the other wireless communication antenna was integrated on a node to send sensor data in parallel. The dual antenna structure integrates both the advantages of an RFID system and a wireless sensor. Using a standard UHF RFID reader, WPWS can be enabled in a distributed area with a diameter up to 4 m. Working status is similar to that of a passive tag, except that a tag can only be queried statically, while the WPWS can send dynamic data from the sensors. The function is the same as a wireless sensor node. Different WPWSs equipped with temperature and humidity, optical and airflow velocity sensors are tested in this study. All sensors can send back detection data within 8 s. The accuracy is within 8% deviation compared with laboratory equipment. A wireless sensor network enabled by wireless power should be a totally wireless sensor network using WPWS. However, distributed WPWSs only can form a star topology, the simplest topology for constructing a sensor network. Because of shielding effects, it is difficult to apply other complex topologies. Despite this limitation, WPWS still can be used to extend sensor network applications in hazardous environments. Further research is needed to improve WPWS to realize a totally wireless sensor network.

Action Learning: Avoiding Conflict or Enabling Action

Science.gov (United States)

Corley, Aileen; Thorne, Ann

2006-01-01

Action learning is based on the premise that action and learning are inextricably entwined and it is this potential, to enable action, which has contributed to the growth of action learning within education and management development programmes. However has this growth in action learning lead to an evolution or a dilution of Revan's classical…

Enablements and constraints to school leadership practice

African Journals Online (AJOL)

There are many schools in developing countries which, despite the challenges they face, defy the odds and continue to perform at exceptionally high levels. We cast our gaze on one of these resilient schools in South Africa, and sought to learn about the leadership practices prevalent in this school and the enablements and ...

The process of patient enablement in general practice nurse consultations: a grounded theory study.

Science.gov (United States)

Desborough, Jane; Banfield, Michelle; Phillips, Christine; Mills, Jane

2017-05-01

The aim of this study was to gain insight into the process of patient enablement in general practice nursing consultations. Enhanced roles for general practice nurses may benefit patients through a range of mechanisms, one of which may be increasing patient enablement. In studies with general practitioners enhanced patient enablement has been associated with increases in self-efficacy and skill development. This study used a constructivist grounded theory design. In-depth interviews were conducted with 16 general practice nurses and 23 patients from 21 general practices between September 2013 - March 2014. Data generation and analysis were conducted concurrently using constant comparative analysis and theoretical sampling focussing on the process and outcomes of patient enablement. Use of the storyline technique supported theoretical coding and integration of the data into a theoretical model. A clearly defined social process that fostered and optimised patient enablement was constructed. The theory of 'developing enabling healthcare partnerships between nurses and patients in general practice' incorporates three stages: triggering enabling healthcare partnerships, tailoring care and the manifestation of patient enablement. Patient enablement was evidenced through: 1. Patients' understanding of their unique healthcare requirements informing their health seeking behaviours and choices; 2. Patients taking an increased lead in their partnership with a nurse and seeking choices in their care and 3. Patients getting health care that reflected their needs, preferences and goals. This theoretical model is in line with a patient-centred model of health care and is particularly suited to patients with chronic disease. © 2016 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

A standard-enabled workflow for synthetic biology.

Science.gov (United States)

Myers, Chris J; Beal, Jacob; Gorochowski, Thomas E; Kuwahara, Hiroyuki; Madsen, Curtis; McLaughlin, James Alastair; Mısırlı, Göksel; Nguyen, Tramy; Oberortner, Ernst; Samineni, Meher; Wipat, Anil; Zhang, Michael; Zundel, Zach

2017-06-15

A synthetic biology workflow is composed of data repositories that provide information about genetic parts, sequence-level design tools to compose these parts into circuits, visualization tools to depict these designs, genetic design tools to select parts to create systems, and modeling and simulation tools to evaluate alternative design choices. Data standards enable the ready exchange of information within such a workflow, allowing repositories and tools to be connected from a diversity of sources. The present paper describes one such workflow that utilizes, among others, the Synthetic Biology Open Language (SBOL) to describe genetic designs, the Systems Biology Markup Language to model these designs, and SBOL Visual to visualize these designs. We describe how a standard-enabled workflow can be used to produce types of design information, including multiple repositories and software tools exchanging information using a variety of data standards. Recently, the ACS Synthetic Biology journal has recommended the use of SBOL in their publications. © 2017 The Author(s); published by Portland Press Limited on behalf of the Biochemical Society.

A grey DEMATEL-based approach for modeling enablers of green innovation in manufacturing organizations.

Science.gov (United States)

Gupta, Himanshu; Barua, Mukesh Kumar

2018-04-01

Incorporating green practices into the manufacturing process has gained momentum over the past few years and is a matter of great concern for both manufacturers as well as researchers. Regulatory pressures in developed countries have forced the organizations to adopt green practices; however, this issue still lacks attention in developing economies like India. There is an urgent need to identify enablers of green innovation for manufacturing organizations and also to identify prominent enablers among those. This study is an attempt to first identify enablers of green innovation and then establish a causal relationship among them to identify the enablers that can drive others. Grey DEMATEL (Decision Making Trial and Evaluation Laboratory) methodology is used for establishing the causal relationship among enablers. The novelty of this study lies in the fact that no study has been done in the past to identify the enablers of green innovation and then establishing the causal relationship among them. A total of 21 enablers of green innovation have been identified; research indicates developing green manufacturing capabilities, resources for green innovation, ease of getting loans from financial institutions, and environmental regulations as the most influential enablers of green innovation. Managerial and practical implications of the research are also presented to assist managers of the case company in adopting green innovation practices at their end.

Industrial systems biology of Saccharomyces cerevisiae enables novel succinic acid cell factory.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

José Manuel Otero

Full Text Available Saccharomyces cerevisiae is the most well characterized eukaryote, the preferred microbial cell factory for the largest industrial biotechnology product (bioethanol, and a robust commerically compatible scaffold to be exploitted for diverse chemical production. Succinic acid is a highly sought after added-value chemical for which there is no native pre-disposition for production and accmulation in S. cerevisiae. The genome-scale metabolic network reconstruction of S. cerevisiae enabled in silico gene deletion predictions using an evolutionary programming method to couple biomass and succinate production. Glycine and serine, both essential amino acids required for biomass formation, are formed from both glycolytic and TCA cycle intermediates. Succinate formation results from the isocitrate lyase catalyzed conversion of isocitrate, and from the α-keto-glutarate dehydrogenase catalyzed conversion of α-keto-glutarate. Succinate is subsequently depleted by the succinate dehydrogenase complex. The metabolic engineering strategy identified included deletion of the primary succinate consuming reaction, Sdh3p, and interruption of glycolysis derived serine by deletion of 3-phosphoglycerate dehydrogenase, Ser3p/Ser33p. Pursuing these targets, a multi-gene deletion strain was constructed, and directed evolution with selection used to identify a succinate producing mutant. Physiological characterization coupled with integrated data analysis of transcriptome data in the metabolically engineered strain were used to identify 2(nd-round metabolic engineering targets. The resulting strain represents a 30-fold improvement in succinate titer, and a 43-fold improvement in succinate yield on biomass, with only a 2.8-fold decrease in the specific growth rate compared to the reference strain. Intuitive genetic targets for either over-expression or interruption of succinate producing or consuming pathways, respectively, do not lead to increased succinate. Rather, we

Enabling Data-as- a-Service (DaaS) - Biggest Challenge of Geoscience Australia

Science.gov (United States)

Bastrakova, I.; Kemp, C.; Car, N. J.

2016-12-01

Geoscience Australia (GA) is recognised and respected as the national repository and steward of multiple national significance data collections that provides geoscience information, services and capability to the Australian Government, industry and stakeholders. Provision of Data-as-a-Service is both GA's key responsibility and core business. Through the Science First Transformation Program GA is undergoing a significant rethinking of its data architecture, curation and access to support the Digital Science capability for which DaaS forms both a dependency and underpins its implementation. DaaS, being a service, means we can deliver its outputs in multiple ways thus providing users with data on demand in ready-for-consumption forms. We can then to reuse prebuilt data constructions to allow self-serviced integration of data underpinned by dynamic query tools. In GA's context examples of DaaS are the Australian Geoscience Data Cube, the Foundation Spatial Data Framework and data served through several Virtual Laboratories. We have implemented a three-layered architecture for DaaS in order to store and manage the data while honouring the semantics of Scientific Data Models defined by subject matter experts and GA's Enterprise Data Architecture as well as retain that delivery flexibility. The foundation layer of DaaS is Canonical Datasets, which are optimised for a long-term data stewardship and curation. Data is well structured, standardised, described and audited. All data creation and editing happen within this layer. The middle Data Transformation layer assists with transformation of data from Canonical Datasets to data integration layer. It provides mechanisms for multi-format and multi-technology data transformation. The top Data Integration layer is optimised for data access. Data can be easily reused and repurposed; data formats made available are optimised for scientific computing and adjusted for access by multiple applications, tools and libraries. Moving to

Robotics to Enable Older Adults to Remain Living at Home

OpenAIRE

Pearce, Alan J.; Adair, Brooke; Miller, Kimberly; Ozanne, Elizabeth; Said, Catherine; Santamaria, Nick; Morris, Meg E.

2012-01-01

Given the rapidly ageing population, interest is growing in robots to enable older people to remain living at home. We conducted a systematic review and critical evaluation of the scientific literature, from 1990 to the present, on the use of robots in aged care. The key research questions were as follows: (1) what is the range of robotic devices available to enable older people to remain mobile, independent, and safe? and, (2) what is the evidence demonstrating that robotic devices are effec...

Contextual Interaction Design Research: Enabling HCI

OpenAIRE

Murer , Martin; Meschtscherjakov , Alexander; Fuchsberger , Verena; Giuliani , Manuel; Neureiter , Katja; Moser , Christiane; Aslan , Ilhan; Tscheligi , Manfred

2015-01-01

International audience; Human-Computer Interaction (HCI) has always been about humans, their needs and desires. Contemporary HCI thinking investigates interactions in everyday life and puts an emphasis on the emotional and experiential qualities of interactions. At the Center for Human-Computer Interaction we seek to bridge meandering strands in the field by following a guiding metaphor that shifts focus to what has always been the core quality of our research field: Enabling HCI, as a leitmo...

Carbon-sulfur bond formation by reductive elimination of gold(iii) thiolates.

Science.gov (United States)

Currie, Lucy; Rocchigiani, Luca; Hughes, David L; Bochmann, Manfred

2018-04-10

Whereas the reaction of the gold(iii) pincer complex (C^N^C)AuCl with 1-adamantyl thiol (AdSH) in the presence of base affords (C^N^C)AuSAd, the same reaction in the absence of base leads to formation of aryl thioethers as the products of reductive elimination of the Au-C and Au-S ligands (C^N^C = dianion of 2-6-diphenylpyridine or 2-6-diphenylpyrazine). Although high chemical stability is usually taken as a characteristic of pincer complexes, results show that thiols are capable of cleaving one of the pincer Au-C bonds. This reaction is not simply a function of S-H acidity, since no cleavage takes place with other more acidic X-H compounds, such as carbazole, amides, phenols and malonates. The reductive C-S elimination follows a second-order rate law, -d[1a]/dt = k[1a][AdSH]. Reductive elimination is enabled by displacement of the N-donor by thiol; this provides the conformational flexibility necessary for C-S bond formation to occur. Alternatively, reductive C-S bond formation can be induced by reaction of pre-formed thiolates (C^N^C)AuSR with a strong Brønsted acid, followed by addition of SMe2 as base. On the other hand, treatment of (C^N^C)AuR (R = Me, aryl, alkynyl) with thiols under similar conditions leads to selective C-C rather than C-S bond formation. The reaction of (C^N^C)AuSAd with H+ in the absence of a donor ligand affords the thiolato-bridged complex [{(C^N-CH)Au(μ-SAd)}2]2+ which was crystallographically characterised.

Route Network Construction with Location-Direction-Enabled Photographs

Science.gov (United States)

Fujita, Hideyuki; Sagara, Shota; Ohmori, Tadashi; Shintani, Takahiko

2018-05-01

We propose a method for constructing a geometric graph for generating routes that summarize a geographical area and also have visual continuity by using a set of location-direction-enabled photographs. A location- direction-enabled photograph is a photograph that has information about the location (position of the camera at the time of shooting) and the direction (direction of the camera at the time of shooting). Each nodes of the graph corresponds to a location-direction-enabled photograph. The location of each node is the location of the corresponding photograph, and a route on the graph corresponds to a route in the geographic area and a sequence of photographs. The proposed graph is constructed to represent characteristic spots and paths linking the spots, and it is assumed to be a kind of a spatial summarization of the area with the photographs. Therefore, we call the routes on the graph as spatial summary route. Each route on the proposed graph also has a visual continuity, which means that we can understand the spatial relationship among the continuous photographs on the route such as moving forward, backward, turning right, etc. In this study, when the changes in the shooting position and shooting direction satisfied a given threshold, the route was defined to have visual continuity. By presenting the photographs in order along the generated route, information can be presented sequentially, while maintaining visual continuity to a great extent.

Aerobic Oxidation of 5-(Hydroxymethyl)furfural Cyclic Acetal Enables Selective Furan-2,5-dicarboxylic Acid Formation with CeO2 -Supported Gold Catalyst.

Science.gov (United States)

Kim, Minjune; Su, Yaqiong; Fukuoka, Atsushi; Hensen, Emiel J M; Nakajima, Kiyotaka

2018-05-14

The utilization of 5-(hydroxymethyl)furfural (HMF) for the large-scale production of essential chemicals has been largely limited by the formation of solid humin as a byproduct, which prevents the operation of stepwise batch-type and continuous flow-type processes. The reaction of HMF with 1,3-propanediol produces an HMF acetal derivative that exhibits excellent thermal stability. Aerobic oxidation of the HMF acetal with a CeO 2 -supported Au catalyst and Na 2 CO 3 in water gives a 90-95 % yield of furan 2,5-dicarboxylic acid, an increasingly important commodity chemical for the biorenewables industry, from concentrated solutions (10-20 wt %) without humin formation. The six-membered acetal ring suppresses thermal decomposition and self-polymerization of HMF in concentrated solutions. Kinetic studies supported by DFT calculations identify two crucial steps in the reaction mechanism, that is, the partial hydrolysis of the acetal into 5-formyl-2-furan carboxylic acid involving OH - and Lewis acid sites on CeO 2 , and subsequent oxidative dehydrogenation of the in situ generated hemiacetal involving Au nanoparticles. These results represent a significant advance over the current state of the art, overcoming an inherent limitation of the oxidation of HMF to an important monomer for biopolymer production. © 2018 Wiley-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.

Enabling search services on outsourced private spatial data

KAUST Repository

Yiu, Man Lung; Ghinita, Gabriel; Jensen, Christian Sø ndergaard; Kalnis, Panos

2009-01-01

Cloud computing services enable organizations and individuals to outsource the management of their data to a service provider in order to save on hardware investments and reduce maintenance costs. Only authorized users are allowed to access the data

The Role of Membrane Fluidization in the Gel-Assisted Formation of Giant Polymersomes.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Adrienne C Greene

Full Text Available Polymersomes are being widely explored as synthetic analogs of lipid vesicles based on their enhanced stability and potential uses in a wide variety of applications in (e.g., drug delivery, cell analogs, etc.. Controlled formation of giant polymersomes for use in membrane studies and cell mimetic systems, however, is currently limited by low-yield production methodologies. Here, we describe for the first time, how the size distribution of giant poly(ethylene glycol-poly(butadiene (PEO-PBD polymersomes formed by gel-assisted rehydration may be controlled based on membrane fluidization. We first show that the average diameter and size distribution of PEO-PBD polymersomes may be readily increased by increasing the temperature of the rehydration solution. Further, we describe a correlative relationship between polymersome size and membrane fluidization through the addition of sucrose during rehydration, enabling the formation of PEO-PBD polymersomes with a range of diameters, including giant-sized vesicles (>100 μm. This correlative relationship suggests that sucrose may function as a small molecule fluidizer during rehydration, enhancing polymer diffusivity during formation and increasing polymersome size. Overall the ability to easily regulate the size of PEO-PBD polymersomes based on membrane fluidity, either through temperature or fluidizers, has broadly applicability in areas including targeted therapeutic delivery and synthetic biology.

Enabling In-Theater Processes for Indigenous, Recycled, and Reclaimed Material Manufacturing

Science.gov (United States)

2015-12-01

plastic , chemicals, food, cloth , oil, grease, biological materials, animal and agricultural waste, and sludge. It is expected that one of these...ARL-TR-7560 ● DEC 2015 US Army Research Laboratory Enabling In-Theater Processes for Indigenous, Recycled , and Reclaimed Material...ARL-TR-7560 ● DEC 2015 US Army Research Laboratory Enabling In-Theater Processes for Indigenous, Recycled , and Reclaimed Material

Estimating the formation age distribution of continental crust by unmixing zircon ages

Science.gov (United States)

Korenaga, Jun

2018-01-01

Continental crust provides first-order control on Earth's surface environment, enabling the presence of stable dry landmasses surrounded by deep oceans. The evolution of continental crust is important for atmospheric evolution, because continental crust is an essential component of deep carbon cycle and is likely to have played a critical role in the oxygenation of the atmosphere. Geochemical information stored in the mineral zircon, known for its resilience to diagenesis and metamorphism, has been central to ongoing debates on the genesis and evolution of continental crust. However, correction for crustal reworking, which is the most critical step when estimating original formation ages, has been incorrectly formulated, undermining the significance of previous estimates. Here I suggest a simple yet promising approach for reworking correction using the global compilation of zircon data. The present-day distribution of crustal formation age estimated by the new "unmixing" method serves as the lower bound to the true crustal growth, and large deviations from growth models based on mantle depletion imply the important role of crustal recycling through the Earth history.

Large-format 17μm high-end VOx μ-bolometer infrared detector

Science.gov (United States)

Mizrahi, U.; Argaman, N.; Elkind, S.; Giladi, A.; Hirsh, Y.; Labilov, M.; Pivnik, I.; Shiloah, N.; Singer, M.; Tuito, A.; Ben-Ezra, M.; Shtrichman, I.

2013-06-01

Long range sights and targeting systems require a combination of high spatial resolution, low temporal NETD, and wide field of view. For practical electro-optical systems it is hard to support these constraints simultaneously. Moreover, achieving these needs with the relatively low-cost Uncooled μ-Bolometer technology is a major challenge in the design and implementation of both the bolometer pixel and the Readout Integrated Circuit (ROIC). In this work we present measured results from a new, large format (1024×768) detector array, with 17μm pitch. This detector meets the demands of a typical armored vehicle sight with its high resolution and large format, together with low NETD of better than 35mK (at F/1, 30Hz). We estimate a Recognition Range for a NATO target of better than 4 km at all relevant atmospheric conditions, which is better than standard 2nd generation scanning array cooled detector. A new design of the detector package enables improved stability of the Non-Uniformity Correction (NUC) to environmental temperature drifts.

Competitive intelligence as an enabler for firm competitiveness: An overview

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Alexander Maune

2014-06-01

Full Text Available The purpose of this article is to provide an overview, from literature, about how competitive intelligence can be an enabler towards a firm’s competitiveness. This overview is done under the background of intense global competition that firms are currently experiencing. This paper used a qualitative content analysis as a data collection methodology on all identified journal articles on competitive intelligence and firm competitiveness. To identify relevant literature, academic databases and search engines were used. Moreover, a review of references in related studies led to more relevant sources, the references of which were further reviewed and analysed. To ensure reliability and trustworthiness, peer-reviewed journal articles and triangulation were used. The paper found that competitive intelligence is an important enabler of firm competitiveness. The findings from this paper will assist business managers to understand and improve their outlook of competitive intelligence as an enabler of firm competitiveness and will be of great academic value.

Contribution à l'étude des systèmes de transmission optique utilisant le format de modulation QPSK

OpenAIRE

Ramantanis, Petros

2011-01-01

The constant demand for capacity increase, together with the foreseen saturation of the single-mode optical fiber, paved the way to technological breakthroughs that have completely changed the landscape of fiber-optic telecommunications. The most important advance was, undeniably, the practical implementation of a coherent detection with the help of high-speed electronics. This has, first, enabled the use of advanced modulation formats that allowed for a more efficient use of the fiber bandwi...

Galaxy Formation in Sterile Neutrino Dark Matter Models

Science.gov (United States)

Menci, N.; Grazian, A.; Lamastra, A.; Calura, F.; Castellano, M.; Santini, P.

2018-02-01

We investigate galaxy formation in models with dark matter (DM) constituted by sterile neutrinos. Given their large parameter space, defined by the combinations of sterile neutrino mass {m}ν and mixing parameter {\\sin }2(2θ ) with active neutrinos, we focus on models with {m}ν =7 {keV}, consistent with the tentative 3.5 keV line detected in several X-ray spectra of clusters and galaxies. We consider (1) two resonant production models with {\\sin }2(2θ )=5 × {10}-11 and {\\sin }2(2θ )=2 × {10}-10, to cover the range of mixing parameters consistent with the 3.5 keV line; (2) two scalar-decay models, representative of the two possible cases characterizing such a scenario: a freeze-in and a freeze-out case. We also consider thermal warm DM with particle mass {m}X=3 {keV}. Using a semianalytic model, we compare the predictions for the different DM scenarios with a wide set of observables. We find that comparing the predicted evolution of the stellar mass function, the abundance of satellites of Milky Way–like galaxies, and the global star formation history of galaxies with observations does not allow us to disentangle the effects of the baryonic physics from those related to the different DM models. On the other hand, the distribution of the stellar-to-halo mass ratios, the abundance of faint galaxies in the UV luminosity function at z≳ 6, and the specific star formation and age distribution of local, low-mass galaxies constitute potential probes for the DM scenarios considered. We discuss how future observations with upcoming facilities will enable us to rule out or to strongly support DM models based on sterile neutrinos.

From E-commerce to Social Commerce: A Framework to Guide Enabling Cloud Computing

OpenAIRE

Baghdadi, Youcef

2013-01-01

Social commerce is doing commerce in a collaborative and participative way, by using social media, through an enterprise interactive interface that enables social interactions. Technologies such as Web 2.0, Cloud Computing and Service Oriented Architecture (SOA) enable social commerce. Yet, a framework for social commerce, putting Enterprise Social Interactions as central entities, would provide a strong business justification for social commerce design and adoption with these enabling techno...

Examining Relationships among Enabling School Structures, Academic Optimism and Organizational Citizenship Behaviors

Science.gov (United States)

Messick, Penelope Pope

2012-01-01

This study examined the relationships among enabling school structures, academic optimism, and organizational citizenship behaviors. Additionally, it sought to determine if academic optimism served as a mediator between enabling school structures and organizational citizenship behaviors. Three existing survey instruments, previously tested for…

THE FEATURES OF PROCESSES OF SKILLS (SPECIAL COMPETENCIES FORMATION

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

A. N. Pechnikov

2018-01-01

Full Text Available Introduction. The present article continues a series of the authors’ publications devoted to key problems of a modern educational process organization and ensuring its efficiency. A starting point of the latest investigation stage has been a gap between the available models of formation and diagnostics of special competencies and the tasks for predicting a degree of success of development student’s skills in order to take adequate decisions on managing the process.The aim of the article is justification of a new methodological approach to formation of skills (special competencies of students.Methodology and research methods. The methods of analysis and synthesis; fundamental principles of didactics, qualimetry, the efficiency theory and the decision-making theory were used.Results and scientific novelty. The theoretical bases of evaluation procedures of pupils’ skills created during training are stated. Reference points for the choice of learning process characteristics are designated; by following those characteristics it is possible to provide better development of skills. The tasks of analysis of the studied problem, information acquisition and modeling of the “situation mechanism” of special competencies formation are considered. It is proved that for educational process management optimization it is necessary to evaluate not only its result, but also its quality process, as well its quality system that provides the organization process. The combination of factors to exert the dominating influence over educational process effectiveness are singled out: a type of the applied pedagogical influence; a type of the realized didactic system; a set of personal trainee characteristics which include levels of his/her educational motivation, learning ability, creativity and enables to model and predict training results. It is shown that each of possible combinations of the leading factors represents separate version of a solution to the

Integrated foraminiferal biostratigraphy and chemostratigraphy of the querecual formation (Cretaceous), Eastern Venezuela

Science.gov (United States)

Crespo De Cabrera, S.; Sliter, W.V.; Jarvis, I.

1999-01-01

An integrated foraminiferal biostratigraphy and chemostratigraphy is presented for the Lower to Upper Cretaceous Querecual Formation exposed on Chimana Grande Island, Eastern Venezuela. The formation consists of >450 m alternating foraminiferal and organic-rich carbonates and laminated mudrocks, and is considered the main hydrocarbon source rock for the eastern Venezuela Basin. Biostratigraphic resolution within the Querecual Formation is poor, due to a paucity of keeled planktonic foraminifera and impoverished benthic faunas. Deposition occurred in a bathyal environment, with dysaerobic or anoxic bottom waters resulting from high rates of surface productivity associated with an upwelling environment. Biostratigraphic evidence indicates that the Querecual Formation ranges from the upper Albian Rotalipora ticinensis Zone to the Santonian Dicarinella asymetrica Zone. Iron and Al contents fall through the Albian-Cenomanian indicating a progressive decrease in the detrital supply, driven by rising eustatic sea level. A Ca profile demonstrates variations in carbonate production and dissolution. High total organic carbon (TOC) intervals occur in the upper Albian to mid-Cenomanian and Turonian, and high Ba/Al and Si/Al ratios characterize mid-Cenomanian and younger sediments. Variations in these elements primarily reflect changes in marine productivity, but are also affected by diagenetic processes. A stable carbon isotope curve established from analysis of organic matter (??13Corg) correlates well with published ??13C curves for carbonates from England and Italy. The Cenomanian/Turonian boundary cannot be identified using planktonic foraminifera, because key taxa are absent, but the base of the Turonian is clearly indicated by a sharp fall in ??13C immediately above a major positive excursion. The bottom of the Coniacian is placed below a ??13C minimum, towards the base of the Dicarinella concavata Zone. Combined with the foraminiferal data, the isotopic data enable much

Grid enablement of OpenGeospatial Web Services: the G-OWS Working Group

Science.gov (United States)

Mazzetti, Paolo

2010-05-01

international projects investigated different aspects of this integration, developing demonstrators and Proof-of-Concepts; In this context, "gLite enablement of OpenGeospatial Web Services" (G-OWS) is an initiative started in 2008 by the European CYCLOPS, GENESI-DR, and DORII Projects Consortia in order to collect/coordinate experiences on the enablement of OWS on top of the gLite middleware [GOWS]. Currently G-OWS counts ten member organizations from Europe and beyond, and four European Projects involved. It broadened its scope to the development of Spatial Data and Information Infrastructures (SDI and SII) based on the Grid/Cloud capacity in order to enable Earth Science applications and tools. Its operational objectives are the following: i) to contribute to the OGC-OGF initiative; ii) to release a reference implementation as standard gLite APIs (under the gLite software license); iii) to release a reference model (including procedures and guidelines) for OWS Grid-ification, as far as gLite is concerned; iv) to foster and promote the formation of consortiums for participation to projects/initiatives aimed at building Grid-enabled SDIs To achieve this objectives G-OWS bases its activities on two main guiding principles: a) the adoption of a service-oriented architecture based on the information modelling approach, and b) standardization as a means of achieving interoperability (i.e. adoption of standards from ISO TC211, OGC OWS, OGF). In the first year of activity G-OWS has designed a general architectural framework stemming from the FP6 CYCLOPS studies and enriched by the outcomes of other projects and initiatives involved (i.e. FP7 GENESI-DR, FP7 DORII, AIST GeoGrid, etc.). Some proof-of-concepts have been developed to demonstrate the flexibility and scalability of such architectural framework. The G-OWS WG developed implementations of gLite-enabled Web Coverage Service (WCS) and Web Processing Service (WPS), and an implementation of a Shibboleth authentication for gLite-enabled

Barriers and Enablers to the Implementation of School Wellness Policies: An Economic Perspective.

Science.gov (United States)

Schuler, Brittany R; Saksvig, Brit I; Nduka, Joy; Beckerman, Susannah; Jaspers, Lea; Black, Maureen M; Hager, Erin R

2018-01-01

Local wellness policies (LWPs) are mandated among school systems to enhance nutrition/physical activity opportunities in schools. Prior research notes disparities in LWP implementation. This study uses mixed methods to examine barriers/enablers to LWP implementation, comparing responses by student body income. Schools ( n = 744, 24 systems) completed an LWP implementation barriers/enablers survey. Semistructured interviews ( n = 20 random subsample) described barriers/enablers. Responses were compared by majority of lower (≥50% free/reduced-price meals; lower income [LI]) versus higher income (HI) student body. In surveys, LI and HI schools identified common barriers (parents/families, federal/state regulations, students, time, funding) and enablers (school system, teachers, food service, physical education curriculum/resources, and staff). Interviews further elucidated how staffing and funding served as enablers for all schools, and provide context for how and why barriers differed by income: time, food service (HI schools), and parents/families (LI schools). Findings support commonalities in barriers and enablers among all schools, suggesting that regardless of economic context, schools would benefit from additional supports, such as physical education and nutrition education resources integrated into existing curricula, additional funding, and personnel time dedicated to wellness programming. LI schools may benefit from additional funding to support parent and community involvement.

Formation Design Strategy for SCOPE High-Elliptic Formation Flying Mission

Science.gov (United States)

Tsuda, Yuichi

2007-01-01

The new formation design strategy using simulated annealing (SA) optimization is presented. The SA algorithm is useful to survey a whole solution space of optimum formation, taking into account realistic constraints composed of continuous and discrete functions. It is revealed that this method is not only applicable for circular orbit, but also for high-elliptic orbit formation flying. The developed algorithm is first tested with a simple cart-wheel motion example, and then applied to the formation design for SCOPE. SCOPE is the next generation geomagnetotail observation mission planned in JAXA, utilizing a formation flying techonology in a high elliptic orbit. A distinctive and useful heuristics is found by investigating SA results, showing the effectiveness of the proposed design process.

A portable grid-enabled computing system for a nuclear material study

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Tsujita, Yuichi; Arima, Tatsumi; Takekawa, Takayuki; Suzuki, Yoshio

2010-01-01

We have built a portable grid-enabled computing system specialized for our molecular dynamics (MD) simulation program to study Pu material easily. Experimental approach to reveal properties of Pu materials is often accompanied by some difficulties such as radiotoxicity of actinides. Since a computational approach reveals new aspects to researchers without such radioactive facilities, we address an MD computation. In order to have more realistic results about e.g., melting point or thermal conductivity, we need a large scale of parallel computations. Most of application users who don't have supercomputers in their institutes should use a remote supercomputer. For such users, we have developed the portable and secured grid-enabled computing system to utilize a grid computing infrastructure provided by Information Technology Based Laboratory (ITBL). This system enables us to access remote supercomputers in the ITBL system seamlessly from a client PC through its graphical user interface (GUI). Typically it enables seamless file accesses on the GUI. Furthermore monitoring of standard output or standard error is available to see progress of an executed program. Since the system provides fruitful functionalities which are useful for parallel computing on a remote supercomputer, application users can concentrate on their researches. (author)

Modification and validation of the natural heat convection and subcooled void formation models in the code PARET

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hainoun, A.; Alhabit, F.; Ghazi, N.

2008-01-01

Two new modifications have been included in the current PARET code that is widely applied in the dynamic and safety analysis of research reactors. A new model was implemented for the simulation of void formation in the subcooled boiling regime, the other modification dealt with the implementation of a new approach to improve the prediction of heat transfer coefficient under natural circulation condition. The modified code was successfully validated using adequate single effect tests covering the physical phenomena of interest for both natural circulation and subcooled void formation at low pressure and low heat flux. The validation results indicate significant improvement of the code compared to the default version. Additionally, to simplify the code application an interactive user interface was developed enabling pre and post-processing of the code predictions. (author)

Framework for Enabling User-Generated Content

OpenAIRE

Nilsson, Karin H

2012-01-01

User-generated content, UGC, is a modern topic today and refers to media and creative works created by Internet users and posted on the Internet. More and more application developers wants to offer sharing functionalities in their applications and on their websites. The alternatives of doing so today are to use UGC platforms API, like Facebook and Twitter, to upload the content to that specific platform or to implement the framework ShareKit that enables the user to share their content on mul...

The AGN-Star Formation Connection: Future Prospects with JWST

Science.gov (United States)

Kirkpatrick, Allison; Alberts, Stacey; Pope, Alexandra; Barro, Guillermo; Bonato, Matteo; Kocevski, Dale D.; Pérez-González, Pablo; Rieke, George H.; Rodríguez-Muñoz, Lucia; Sajina, Anna; Grogin, Norman A.; Mantha, Kameswara Bharadwaj; Pandya, Viraj; Pforr, Janine; Salvato, Mara; Santini, Paola

2017-11-01

The bulk of the stellar growth over cosmic time is dominated by IR-luminous galaxies at cosmic noon (z=1{--}2), many of which harbor a hidden active galactic nucleus (AGN). We use state-of-the-art infrared color diagnostics, combining Spitzer and Herschel observations, to separate dust-obscured AGNs from dusty star-forming galaxies (SFGs) in the CANDELS and COSMOS surveys. We calculate 24 μm counts of SFGs, AGN/star-forming “Composites,” and AGNs. AGNs and Composites dominate the counts above 0.8 mJy at 24 μm, and Composites form at least 25% of an IR sample even to faint detection limits. We develop methods to use the Mid-Infrared Instrument (MIRI) on JWST to identify dust-obscured AGNs and Composite galaxies from z˜ 1{--}2. With the sensitivity and spacing of MIRI filters, we will detect >4 times as many AGN hosts as with Spitzer/IRAC criteria. Any star formation rates based on the 7.7 μm PAH feature (likely to be applied to MIRI photometry) must be corrected for the contribution of the AGN, or the star formation rate will be overestimated by ˜35% for cases where the AGN provides half the IR luminosity and ˜50% when the AGN accounts for 90% of the luminosity. Finally, we demonstrate that our MIRI color technique can select AGNs with an Eddington ratio of {λ }{Edd}˜ 0.01 and will identify AGN hosts with a higher specific star formation rate than X-ray techniques alone. JWST/MIRI will enable critical steps forward in identifying and understanding dust-obscured AGNs and the link to their host galaxies.

The system of indicators for regional cluster formation assessment

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

A. A. Mantsaeva

2016-01-01

Full Text Available The article shows the result of working-out the cluster formation assessment system, and each indicator of this system reflect the specific clusters property - cooperation and efficiency Completeness and depth of the system of indicators provided by systematic approach and a representing of quantitative and qualitative aspects of cluster formation process. A feature of the technique is the use of indicators that require a special accounting and enable tracking of a certain stage of cluster development. Testing the system of indicators produced by the example on the tourism industry, which is due, firstly, the high development rate of the tourist services sphere in comparison with the branches of material production, and, secondly, the increased interest in the establishment of regional tourism and recreation clusters with the country's leadership. Quantitative indicators of the formation and development of tourism and recreation clusters – geographic proximity of companies cluster members, the effectiveness of the sector for the regional economy, innovation activity, exports of goods and services, intended for the regions of the South and the North Caucasian Federal District. Universality technique ensures its empirical base - official data from Rosstat, the Federal Agency for Tourism, as well as the results of mass opinion polls carried out in all regions of the country as part of the annual “"Monitoring the quality of public and municipal services” (on the Republic of Kalmykia material. In general, we believe that the application of the developed system of indicators will contribute to intensify and improve the quality of cluster policy, implemented by the regional executive bodies and local authorities.

Operator overloading as an enabling technology for automatic differentiation

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Corliss, G.F.; Griewank, A.

1993-01-01

We present an example of the science that is enabled by object-oriented programming techniques. Scientific computation often needs derivatives for solving nonlinear systems such as those arising in many PDE algorithms, optimization, parameter identification, stiff ordinary differential equations, or sensitivity analysis. Automatic differentiation computes derivatives accurately and efficiently by applying the chain rule to each arithmetic operation or elementary function. Operator overloading enables the techniques of either the forward or the reverse mode of automatic differentiation to be applied to real-world scientific problems. We illustrate automatic differentiation with an example drawn from a model of unsaturated flow in a porous medium. The problem arises from planning for the long-term storage of radioactive waste

Automatic modulation format recognition for the next generation optical communication networks using artificial neural networks

Science.gov (United States)

Guesmi, Latifa; Hraghi, Abir; Menif, Mourad

2015-03-01

A new technique for Automatic Modulation Format Recognition (AMFR) in next generation optical communication networks is presented. This technique uses the Artificial Neural Network (ANN) in conjunction with the features of Linear Optical Sampling (LOS) of the detected signal at high bit rates using direct detection or coherent detection. The use of LOS method for this purpose mainly driven by the increase of bit rates which enables the measurement of eye diagrams. The efficiency of this technique is demonstrated under different transmission impairments such as chromatic dispersion (CD) in the range of -500 to 500 ps/nm, differential group delay (DGD) in the range of 0-15 ps and the optical signal tonoise ratio (OSNR) in the range of 10-30 dB. The results of numerical simulation for various modulation formats demonstrate successful recognition from a known bit rates with a higher estimation accuracy, which exceeds 99.8%.

Cognitive, sensory and physical factors enabling driving safety in older adults.

Science.gov (United States)

Anstey, Kaarin J; Wood, Joanne; Lord, Stephen; Walker, Janine G

2005-01-01

We reviewed literature on cognitive, sensory, motor and physical factors associated with safe driving and crash risk in older adults with the goal of developing a model of factors enabling safe driving behaviour. Thirteen empirical studies reporting associations between cognitive, sensory, motor and physical factors and either self-reported crashes, state crash records or on-road driving measures were identified. Measures of attention, reaction time, memory, executive function, mental status, visual function, and physical function variables were associated with driving outcome measures. Self-monitoring was also identified as a factor that may moderate observed effects by influencing driving behavior. We propose that three enabling factors (cognition, sensory function and physical function/medical conditions) predict driving ability, but that accurate self-monitoring of these enabling factors is required for safe driving behaviour.

Naval Science & Technology: Enabling the Future Force

Science.gov (United States)

2013-04-01

corn for disruptive technologies Laser Cooling Spintronics Bz 1st U.S. Intel satellite GRAB Semiconductors GaAs, GaN, SiC GPS...Payoff • Innovative and game-changing • Approved by Corporate Board • Delivers prototype Innovative Naval Prototypes (5-10 Year) Disruptive ... Technologies Free Electron Laser Integrated Topside EM Railgun Sea Base Enablers Tactical Satellite Large Displacement UUV AACUS Directed

Democratized electronics to enable smart living for all

KAUST Repository

Hussain, Muhammad Mustafa; Nassar, Joanna M.; Khan, S. M.; Saikh, S. F.; Sevilla, Galo T.; Kutbee, Arwa T.; Bahabry, Rabab R.; Babatain, Wedyan; Muslem, A. S.; Nour, Maha A.; Wicaksono, I.; Mishra, Kush

2017-01-01

With the increased global population, smart living is an increasingly important criteria to ensure equal opportunities for all. Therefore, what is Smart Living? The first time when we tossed this terminology seven years back, we thought reducing complexities in human life. Today we believe it more. However, smart living for all complicates the technological need further. As by all, we mean any age group, any academic background and any financial condition. Although electronics are powerful today and have enabled our digital world, many as of today have not experienced that progress. Going forward while we realize more and more electronics in our daily life, the most important question would be how. Here we show, a heterogeneous integration approach to integrate low-cost high performance interactive electronic system which are physically compliant. We are redesigning electronics to redefine its purposes to reconfigure life for all to enable smart living.

Democratized electronics to enable smart living for all

KAUST Repository

Hussain, Muhammad Mustafa

2017-12-25

With the increased global population, smart living is an increasingly important criteria to ensure equal opportunities for all. Therefore, what is Smart Living? The first time when we tossed this terminology seven years back, we thought reducing complexities in human life. Today we believe it more. However, smart living for all complicates the technological need further. As by all, we mean any age group, any academic background and any financial condition. Although electronics are powerful today and have enabled our digital world, many as of today have not experienced that progress. Going forward while we realize more and more electronics in our daily life, the most important question would be how. Here we show, a heterogeneous integration approach to integrate low-cost high performance interactive electronic system which are physically compliant. We are redesigning electronics to redefine its purposes to reconfigure life for all to enable smart living.

Enabling private and public sector organizations as agents of homeland security

Science.gov (United States)

Glassco, David H. J.; Glassco, Jordan C.

2006-05-01

Homeland security and defense applications seek to reduce the risk of undesirable eventualities across physical space in real-time. With that functional requirement in mind, our work focused on the development of IP based agent telecommunication solutions for heterogeneous sensor / robotic intelligent "Things" that could be deployed across the internet. This paper explains how multi-organization information and device sharing alliances may be formed to enable organizations to act as agents of homeland security (in addition to other uses). Topics include: (i) using location-aware, agent based, real-time information sharing systems to integrate business systems, mobile devices, sensor and actuator based devices and embedded devices used in physical infrastructure assets, equipment and other man-made "Things"; (ii) organization-centric real-time information sharing spaces using on-demand XML schema formatted networks; (iii) object-oriented XML serialization as a methodology for heterogeneous device glue code; (iv) how complex requirements for inter / intra organization information and device ownership and sharing, security and access control, mobility and remote communication service, tailored solution life cycle management, service QoS, service and geographic scalability and the projection of remote physical presence (through sensing and robotics) and remote informational presence (knowledge of what is going elsewhere) can be more easily supported through feature inheritance with a rapid agent system development methodology; (v) how remote object identification and tracking can be supported across large areas; (vi) how agent synergy may be leveraged with analytics to complement heterogeneous device networks.

Software-Enabled Project Management Techniques and Their Relationship to the Triple Constraints

Science.gov (United States)

Elleh, Festus U.

2013-01-01

This study investigated the relationship between software-enabled project management techniques and the triple constraints (time, cost, and scope). There was the dearth of academic literature that focused on the relationship between software-enabled project management techniques and the triple constraints (time, cost, and scope). Based on the gap…

Fundamental plant biology enabled by the space shuttle.

Science.gov (United States)

Paul, Anna-Lisa; Wheeler, Ray M; Levine, Howard G; Ferl, Robert J

2013-01-01

The relationship between fundamental plant biology and space biology was especially synergistic in the era of the Space Shuttle. While all terrestrial organisms are influenced by gravity, the impact of gravity as a tropic stimulus in plants has been a topic of formal study for more than a century. And while plants were parts of early space biology payloads, it was not until the advent of the Space Shuttle that the science of plant space biology enjoyed expansion that truly enabled controlled, fundamental experiments that removed gravity from the equation. The Space Shuttle presented a science platform that provided regular science flights with dedicated plant growth hardware and crew trained in inflight plant manipulations. Part of the impetus for plant biology experiments in space was the realization that plants could be important parts of bioregenerative life support on long missions, recycling water, air, and nutrients for the human crew. However, a large part of the impetus was that the Space Shuttle enabled fundamental plant science essentially in a microgravity environment. Experiments during the Space Shuttle era produced key science insights on biological adaptation to spaceflight and especially plant growth and tropisms. In this review, we present an overview of plant science in the Space Shuttle era with an emphasis on experiments dealing with fundamental plant growth in microgravity. This review discusses general conclusions from the study of plant spaceflight biology enabled by the Space Shuttle by providing historical context and reviews of select experiments that exemplify plant space biology science.

Psychological Impact of Virtual Reality Gaming on the Formation of Self-Image in Early School-Age Children

OpenAIRE

Pakhomova V.G.,

2017-01-01

The article investigates the problem of interaction between a modern primary school-aged child and the field of virtual reality gaming and, in particular, the impact of virtual reality on the formation of self-image. Our study enabled us to explore the differences in the self-image in active and non-active players of roleplaying video games. The outcomes proved that there are certain changes in the self-image of active players related to their self-identification with characters of computer g...

Nanoarchitecture Control Enabled by Ionic Liquids

Science.gov (United States)

Murdoch, Heather A.; Limmer, Krista R.; Labukas, Joseph P.

2017-04-01

Ionic liquids have many advantages over traditional aqueous electrosynthesis for fabrication of functional nanoarchitectures, including enabling the integration of nanoparticles into traditional coatings, superhydrophobicity, nanofoams, and other hierarchical structures. Shape and size control through ionic liquid selection and processing conditions can synthesize nanoparticles and nanoarchitectures without the use of capping agents, surfactants, or templates that are often deleterious to the functionality of the resultant system. Here we give a brief overview of some recent and interesting applications of ionic liquids to the synthesis of nanoparticles and nanoarchitectures.

Principles for enabling deep secondary design

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Pries-Heje, Jan; Hansen, Magnus Rotvit Perlt

2017-01-01

design by analyzing two cases where secondary designers fundamentally change functionality, content and technology complexity level. The first case redesigns a decision model for agile development in an insurance company; the second creates a contingency model for choosing project management tools...... and techniques in a hospital. Our analysis of the two cases leads to the identification of four principles of design implementation that primary designers can apply to enable secondary design and four corresponding design implementation principles that secondary designers themselves need to apply....

Metasurface-Enabled Remote Quantum Interference.

Science.gov (United States)

Jha, Pankaj K; Ni, Xingjie; Wu, Chihhui; Wang, Yuan; Zhang, Xiang

2015-07-10

An anisotropic quantum vacuum (AQV) opens novel pathways for controlling light-matter interaction in quantum optics, condensed matter physics, etc. Here, we theoretically demonstrate a strong AQV over macroscopic distances enabled by a judiciously designed array of subwavelength-scale nanoantennas-a metasurface. We harness the phase-control ability and the polarization-dependent response of the metasurface to achieve strong anisotropy in the decay rate of a quantum emitter located over distances of hundreds of wavelengths. Such an AQV induces quantum interference among radiative decay channels in an atom with orthogonal transitions. Quantum vacuum engineering with metasurfaces holds promise for exploring new paradigms of long-range light-matter interaction for atom optics, solid-state quantum optics, quantum information processing, etc.

Enabling the development of student teacher professional identity ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

This paper explores the views of student teachers who were provided vicarious learning opportunities during an educational excursion, and how the learning enabled them to develop their teacher professional identity. This qualitative research study, using a social-constructivist lens highlights how vicarious learning ...

Concept relation discovery and innovation enabling technology (CORDIET)

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Poelmans, J.; Elzinga, P.; Neznanov, A.; Viaene, S.; Kuznetsov, S.O.; Ignatov, D.; Dedene, G.

2011-01-01

Concept Relation Discovery and Innovation Enabling Technology (CORDIET), is a toolbox for gaining new knowledge from unstructured text data. At the core of CORDIET is the C-K theory which captures the essential elements of innovation. The tool uses Formal Concept Analysis (FCA), Emergent Self

Perspectives on Modelling BIM-enabled Estimating Practices

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Willy Sher

2014-12-01

Full Text Available BIM-enabled estimating processes do not replace or provide a substitute for the traditional approaches used in the architecture, engineering and construction industries. This paper explores the impact of BIM on these traditional processes.  It identifies differences between the approaches used with BIM and other conventional methods, and between the various construction professionals that prepare estimates. We interviewed 17 construction professionals from client organizations, contracting organizations, consulting practices and specialist-project firms. Our analyses highlight several logical relationships between estimating processes and BIM attributes. Estimators need to respond to the challenges BIM poses to traditional estimating practices. BIM-enabled estimating circumvents long-established conventions and traditional approaches, and focuses on data management.  Consideration needs to be given to the model data required for estimating, to the means by which these data may be harnessed when exported, to the means by which the integrity of model data are protected, to the creation and management of tools that work effectively and efficiently in multi-disciplinary settings, and to approaches that narrow the gap between virtual reality and actual reality.  Areas for future research are also identified in the paper.

Rates of star formation

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Larson, R.B.

1977-01-01

It is illustrated that a theoretical understanding of the formation and evolution of galaxies depends on an understanding of star formation, and especially of the factors influencing the rate of star formation. Some of the theoretical problems of star formation in galaxies, some approaches that have been considered in models of galaxy evolution, and some possible observational tests that may help to clarify which processes or models are most relevant are reviewed. The material is presented under the following headings: power-law models for star formation, star formation processes (conditions required, ways of achieving these conditions), observational indications and tests, and measures of star formation rates in galaxies. 49 references

Nod factor supply under water stress conditions modulates cytokinin biosynthesis and enhances nodule formation and N nutrition in soybean.

Science.gov (United States)

Prudent, Marion; Salon, Christophe; Smith, Donald L; Emery, R J Neil

2016-09-01

Nod factors (NF) are molecules produced by rhizobia which are involved in the N 2 -fixing symbiosis with legume plants, enabling the formation of specific organs called nodules. Under drought conditions, nitrogen acquisition by N 2 -fixation is depressed, resulting in low legume productivity. In this study, we evaluated the effects of NF supply on nitrogen acquisition and on cytokinin biosynthesis of soybean plants grown under drought. NF supply to water stressed soybeans increased the CK content of all organs. The profile of CK metabolites also shifted from t-Z to cis-Z and an accumulation of nucleotide and glucoside conjugates. The changes in CK coincided with enhanced nodule formation with sustained nodule specific activity, which ultimately increased the total nitrogen fixed by the plant.

Exploring Opponent Formats

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Jensen, Mads Møller; Rasmussen, Majken; Grønbæk, Kaj

2013-01-01

of how the opponent format and relationships impact a game are almost absent in current research. Thus, this paper aims to elucidate how the perception of a competition differs, depending on the opponent format, by presenting a game mechanic framework. The paper furthermore presents an interactive...... football-training platform, as well as games designed to explore the different opponent formats. The games are qualitatively evaluated to illuminate the qualities of and distinctions between different types of opponent formats, proposed by the framework terminology....

Standard molar enthalpies of formation of 1- and 2-cyanonaphthalene

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ribeiro da Silva, Manuel A.V.; Lobo Ferreira, Ana I.M.C.; Barros, Ana L.M.; Bessa, Ana R.C.; Brito, Barbara C.S.A.; Vieira, Joana A.S.; Martins, Silvia A.P.

2011-01-01

Highlights: → Enthalpies of formation of 1- and 2-cyanonaphthalene were measured by combustion calorimetry. → Vapor pressures of crystalline 1- and 2-cyanonaphthalene obtained by Knudsen effusion mass loss technique. → Enthalpies, entropies and Gibbs functions of sublimation at T = 298.15 K were calculated. - Abstract: The standard (p o = 0.1 MPa) molar enthalpies of formation, in the crystalline state, of the 1- and 2-cyanonaphthalene were derived from the standard molar energies of combustion, in oxygen, at T = 298.15 K, measured by static-bomb combustion calorimetry. Vapor pressure measurements at different temperatures, using the Knudsen mass loss effusion technique, enabled the determination of the enthalpy, entropy, and Gibbs energy of sublimation, at T = 298.15 K, for both isomers. The standard molar enthalpies of sublimation, at T = 298.15 K, for 1- and 2-cyanonaphthalene, were also measured by high-temperature Calvet microcalorimetry. (table) Combining these two experimental values, the gas-phase standard molar enthalpies, at T = 298.15 K, were derived and compared with those estimated by employing two different methodologies: one based on the Cox scheme and the other one based on G3MP2B3 calculations. The calculated values show a good agreement with the experimental values obtained in this work.

Paleomagnetism of the Cretaceous Galula Formation and implications for vertebrate evolution

Science.gov (United States)

Widlansky, Sarah J.; Clyde, William C.; O'Connor, Patrick M.; Roberts, Eric M.; Stevens, Nancy J.

2018-03-01

This study uses magnetostratigraphy to help constrain the age of the paleontologically important Galula Formation (Rukwa Rift Basin, southwestern Tanzania). The formation preserves a Cretaceous vertebrate fauna, including saurischian dinosaurs, a putative gondwanatherian mammal, and notosuchian crocodyliforms. With better dating, the Galula Formation and its fossils help fill a temporal gap in our understanding of vertebrate evolution in continental Africa, enabling better evaluation of competing paleobiogeographic hypotheses concerning faunal exchange throughout Gondwana during the Cretaceous. Paleomagnetic samples for this study were collected from the Namba (higher in section) and Mtuka (lower in section) members of the Galula Formation and underwent stepwise thermal demagnetization. All samples displayed a strong normal magnetic polarity overprint, and maximum unblocking temperatures at approximately 690 °C. Three short reversed intervals were identified in the Namba Member, whereas the Mtuka Member lacked any clear reversals. Given the relatively limited existing age constraints, one interpretation correlates the Namba Member to Chron C32. An alternative correlation assigns reversals in the Namba Member to recently proposed short reversals near the end of the Cretaceous Normal Superchron (Chron C34), a time that is traditionally interpreted as having stable normal polarity. The lack of reversals in the Mtuka Member supports deposition within Chron C34. These data suggest that the Namba Member is no older than Late Cretaceous (Cenomanian-Campanian), with the Mtuka Member less well constrained to the middle Cretaceous (Aptian-Cenomanian). The paleomagnetic results are supported by the application of fold and reversal tests for paleomagnetic stability, and paleomagnetic poles for the Namba (246.4°/77.9°, α95 5.9°) and Mtuka (217.1°/72.2°, α95 11.1°) members closely matching the apparent polar wander path for Africa during the Late Cretaceous. These

Prognostics-Enabled Power Supply for ADAPT Testbed, Phase II

Data.gov (United States)

National Aeronautics and Space Administration — Ridgetop's role is to develop electronic prognostics for sensing power systems in support of NASA/Ames ADAPT testbed. The prognostic enabled power systems from...

Directory Enabled Policy Based Networking; TOPICAL

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

KELIIAA, CURTIS M.

2001-01-01

This report presents a discussion of directory-enabled policy-based networking with an emphasis on its role as the foundation for securely scalable enterprise networks. A directory service provides the object-oriented logical environment for interactive cyber-policy implementation. Cyber-policy implementation includes security, network management, operational process and quality of service policies. The leading network-technology vendors have invested in these technologies for secure universal connectivity that transverses Internet, extranet and intranet boundaries. Industry standards are established that provide the fundamental guidelines for directory deployment scalable to global networks. The integration of policy-based networking with directory-service technologies provides for intelligent management of the enterprise network environment as an end-to-end system of related clients, services and resources. This architecture allows logical policies to protect data, manage security and provision critical network services permitting a proactive defense-in-depth cyber-security posture. Enterprise networking imposes the consideration of supporting multiple computing platforms, sites and business-operation models. An industry-standards based approach combined with principled systems engineering in the deployment of these technologies allows these issues to be successfully addressed. This discussion is focused on a directory-based policy architecture for the heterogeneous enterprise network-computing environment and does not propose specific vendor solutions. This document is written to present practical design methodology and provide an understanding of the risks, complexities and most important, the benefits of directory-enabled policy-based networking

Encouraging engagement in enabling programs: The students’ perspective

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Suzi Hellmundt

2017-03-01

Full Text Available Student retention is a key concern in tertiary education enabling programs with research showing that early engagement leads to higher completion rates (Hodges et al., 2013. But how do students new to university education learn how to engage effectively? This article outlines an engagement framework that foregrounds Guidance, Encouragement, Modelling and Structure (GEMS as a holistic approach to facilitating effective student engagement. This framework was developed from qualitative data gleaned from students enrolled in the Preparing for Success Program at Southern Cross University, New South Wales, Australia. The findings from the students indicate that the GEMS framework activates student potential and enables them to use existing knowledge and experience to not only deepen and broaden their learning but also successfully prepare for further study.

Informatics methods to enable sharing of quantitative imaging research data.

Science.gov (United States)

Levy, Mia A; Freymann, John B; Kirby, Justin S; Fedorov, Andriy; Fennessy, Fiona M; Eschrich, Steven A; Berglund, Anders E; Fenstermacher, David A; Tan, Yongqiang; Guo, Xiaotao; Casavant, Thomas L; Brown, Bartley J; Braun, Terry A; Dekker, Andre; Roelofs, Erik; Mountz, James M; Boada, Fernando; Laymon, Charles; Oborski, Matt; Rubin, Daniel L

2012-11-01

The National Cancer Institute Quantitative Research Network (QIN) is a collaborative research network whose goal is to share data, algorithms and research tools to accelerate quantitative imaging research. A challenge is the variability in tools and analysis platforms used in quantitative imaging. Our goal was to understand the extent of this variation and to develop an approach to enable sharing data and to promote reuse of quantitative imaging data in the community. We performed a survey of the current tools in use by the QIN member sites for representation and storage of their QIN research data including images, image meta-data and clinical data. We identified existing systems and standards for data sharing and their gaps for the QIN use case. We then proposed a system architecture to enable data sharing and collaborative experimentation within the QIN. There are a variety of tools currently used by each QIN institution. We developed a general information system architecture to support the QIN goals. We also describe the remaining architecture gaps we are developing to enable members to share research images and image meta-data across the network. As a research network, the QIN will stimulate quantitative imaging research by pooling data, algorithms and research tools. However, there are gaps in current functional requirements that will need to be met by future informatics development. Special attention must be given to the technical requirements needed to translate these methods into the clinical research workflow to enable validation and qualification of these novel imaging biomarkers. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Grid-Enabled Measures

Science.gov (United States)

Moser, Richard P.; Hesse, Bradford W.; Shaikh, Abdul R.; Courtney, Paul; Morgan, Glen; Augustson, Erik; Kobrin, Sarah; Levin, Kerry; Helba, Cynthia; Garner, David; Dunn, Marsha; Coa, Kisha

2011-01-01

Scientists are taking advantage of the Internet and collaborative web technology to accelerate discovery in a massively connected, participative environment —a phenomenon referred to by some as Science 2.0. As a new way of doing science, this phenomenon has the potential to push science forward in a more efficient manner than was previously possible. The Grid-Enabled Measures (GEM) database has been conceptualized as an instantiation of Science 2.0 principles by the National Cancer Institute with two overarching goals: (1) Promote the use of standardized measures, which are tied to theoretically based constructs; and (2) Facilitate the ability to share harmonized data resulting from the use of standardized measures. This is done by creating an online venue connected to the Cancer Biomedical Informatics Grid (caBIG®) where a virtual community of researchers can collaborate together and come to consensus on measures by rating, commenting and viewing meta-data about the measures and associated constructs. This paper will describe the web 2.0 principles on which the GEM database is based, describe its functionality, and discuss some of the important issues involved with creating the GEM database, such as the role of mutually agreed-on ontologies (i.e., knowledge categories and the relationships among these categories— for data sharing). PMID:21521586

Cyber-Enabled Scientific Discovery

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Chan, Tony; Jameson, Leland

2007-01-01

It is often said that numerical simulation is third in the group of three ways to explore modern science: theory, experiment and simulation. Carefully executed modern numerical simulations can, however, be considered at least as relevant as experiment and theory. In comparison to physical experimentation, with numerical simulation one has the numerically simulated values of every field variable at every grid point in space and time. In comparison to theory, with numerical simulation one can explore sets of very complex non-linear equations such as the Einstein equations that are very difficult to investigate theoretically. Cyber-enabled scientific discovery is not just about numerical simulation but about every possible issue related to scientific discovery by utilizing cyberinfrastructure such as the analysis and storage of large data sets, the creation of tools that can be used by broad classes of researchers and, above all, the education and training of a cyber-literate workforce

A Web-based Architecture Enabling Multichannel Telemedicine Applications

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Fabrizio Lamberti

2003-02-01

Full Text Available Telemedicine scenarios include today in-hospital care management, remote teleconsulting, collaborative diagnosis and emergency situations handling. Different types of information need to be accessed by means of etherogeneous client devices in different communication environments in order to enable high quality continuous sanitary assistance delivery wherever and whenever needed. In this paper, a Web-based telemedicine architecture based on Java, XML and XSL technologies is presented. By providing dynamic content delivery services and Java based client applications for medical data consultation and modification, the system enables effective access to an Electronic Patient Record based standard database by means of any device equipped with a Web browser, such as traditional Personal Computers and workstation as well as modern Personal Digital Assistants. The effectiveness of the proposed architecture has been evaluated in different scenarios, experiencing fixed and mobile clinical data transmissions over Local Area Networks, wireless LANs and wide coverage telecommunication network including GSM and GPRS.

ENDF/B format

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Khalil, M.A.; Lemmel, H.D.

1986-09-01

This document is a brief user's description of the format of ENDF/B. This format, originally designed for the US Evaluated Nuclear Data File, is recommended for international use. This summary is an aid to customers of the IAEA Nuclear Data Section when receiving data retrievals in ENDF/B format. For more detailed information the report BNL-NCS-50496 (ENDF 102) should be consulted. An Appendix to the present document gives a summary of the format differences between ENDF/B-4 and ENDF/B-5. (author)

Inhibition of Apoptosis Overcomes Stage-Related Compatibility Barriers to Chimera Formation in Mouse Embryos.

Science.gov (United States)

Masaki, Hideki; Kato-Itoh, Megumi; Takahashi, Yusuke; Umino, Ayumi; Sato, Hideyuki; Ito, Keiichi; Yanagida, Ayaka; Nishimura, Toshinobu; Yamaguchi, Tomoyuki; Hirabayashi, Masumi; Era, Takumi; Loh, Kyle M; Wu, Sean M; Weissman, Irving L; Nakauchi, Hiromitsu

2016-11-03

Cell types more advanced in development than embryonic stem cells, such as EpiSCs, fail to contribute to chimeras when injected into pre-implantation-stage blastocysts, apparently because the injected cells undergo apoptosis. Here we show that transient promotion of cell survival through expression of the anti-apoptotic gene BCL2 enables EpiSCs and Sox17 + endoderm progenitors to integrate into blastocysts and contribute to chimeric embryos. Upon injection into blastocyst, BCL2-expressing EpiSCs contributed to all bodily tissues in chimeric animals while Sox17 + endoderm progenitors specifically contributed in a region-specific fashion to endodermal tissues. In addition, BCL2 expression enabled rat EpiSCs to contribute to mouse embryonic chimeras, thereby forming interspecies chimeras that could survive to adulthood. Our system therefore provides a method to overcome cellular compatibility issues that typically restrict chimera formation. Application of this type of approach could broaden the use of embryonic chimeras, including region-specific chimeras, for basic developmental biology research and regenerative medicine. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Experimental design, modeling and optimization of polyplex formation between DNA oligonucleotides and branched polyethylenimine.

Science.gov (United States)

Clima, Lilia; Ursu, Elena L; Cojocaru, Corneliu; Rotaru, Alexandru; Barboiu, Mihail; Pinteala, Mariana

2015-09-28

The complexes formed by DNA and polycations have received great attention owing to their potential application in gene therapy. In this study, the binding efficiency between double-stranded oligonucleotides (dsDNA) and branched polyethylenimine (B-PEI) has been quantified by processing of the images captured from the gel electrophoresis assays. The central composite experimental design has been employed to investigate the effects of controllable factors on the binding efficiency. On the basis of experimental data and the response surface methodology, a multivariate regression model has been constructed and statistically validated. The model has enabled us to predict the binding efficiency depending on experimental factors, such as concentrations of dsDNA and B-PEI as well as the initial pH of solution. The optimization of the binding process has been performed using simplex and gradient methods. The optimal conditions determined for polyplex formation have yielded a maximal binding efficiency close to 100%. In order to reveal the mechanism of complex formation at the atomic-scale, a molecular dynamic simulation has been carried out. According to the computation results, B-PEI amine hydrogen atoms have interacted with oxygen atoms from dsDNA phosphate groups. These interactions have led to the formation of hydrogen bonds between macromolecules, stabilizing the polyplex structure.

Camera-enabled techniques for organic synthesis

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Steven V. Ley

2013-05-01

Full Text Available A great deal of time is spent within synthetic chemistry laboratories on non-value-adding activities such as sample preparation and work-up operations, and labour intensive activities such as extended periods of continued data collection. Using digital cameras connected to computer vision algorithms, camera-enabled apparatus can perform some of these processes in an automated fashion, allowing skilled chemists to spend their time more productively. In this review we describe recent advances in this field of chemical synthesis and discuss how they will lead to advanced synthesis laboratories of the future.

Product Line Enabled Intelligent Mobile Middleware

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Zhang, Weishan; Kunz, Thomas; Hansen, Klaus Marius

2007-01-01

research project called PLIMM that focuses on user-centered application scenarios. PLIMM is designed based on software product line ideas which make it possible for specialized customization and optimization for different purposes and hardware/software platforms. To enable intelligence, the middleware...... needs access to a range of context models. We model these contexts with OWL, focusing on user-centered concepts. The basic building block of PLIMM is the enhanced BDI agent where OWL context ontology logic reasoning will add indirect beliefs to the belief sets. Our approach also addresses the handling...

PC and monitor night status: Power management enabling and manual turn-off

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Nordman, Bruce; Meier, Alan; Piette, Mary Ann

1998-01-01

While office equipment accounts for about 7 percent of commercial building energy use, this reflects considerable energy savings from the use of automatic power management. Most of these savings were gained through the use of low-power modes that meet the criteria of the U.S. EPA's Energy Star program. Despite this success, there are large amounts of additional savings that could be gained if all equipment capable of power management use were enabled and functioning. A considerable portion of equipment is not enabled for power management at all, enabled only partially, or is enabled but prevented from functioning. Additional savings could be gained if more equipment were turned off at night manually. We compiled results from 17 studies from the office equipment literature addressing PCs and monitors. Some factors important for annual energy use, such as power levels, have been documented elsewhere and are not covered. We review methods for estimating office equipment use patterns and energy use, and present findings on night status-power management and manual turn-off rates. In early studies, PC power management was often found to function in 25 percent or less of the Energy Star compliant units (10 percent of all PCs). However, recent assessments have found higher rates, and we estimate that for Energy Star models, 35 percent of PC CPUs and 65 percent of PC monitors are enabled for power management. While the data lack statistical rigor, they can be used to estimate the magnitude of current and potential power management savings, which we did for major types of office equipment. The data also make clear that the topic of enabling rates, and the factors which influence them, deserve greater scrutiny

Power penalties for multi-level PAM modulation formats at arbitrary bit error rates

Science.gov (United States)

Kaliteevskiy, Nikolay A.; Wood, William A.; Downie, John D.; Hurley, Jason; Sterlingov, Petr

2016-03-01

There is considerable interest in combining multi-level pulsed amplitude modulation formats (PAM-L) and forward error correction (FEC) in next-generation, short-range optical communications links for increased capacity. In this paper we derive new formulas for the optical power penalties due to modulation format complexity relative to PAM-2 and due to inter-symbol interference (ISI). We show that these penalties depend on the required system bit-error rate (BER) and that the conventional formulas overestimate link penalties. Our corrections to the standard formulas are very small at conventional BER levels (typically 1×10-12) but become significant at the higher BER levels enabled by FEC technology, especially for signal distortions due to ISI. The standard formula for format complexity, P = 10log(L-1), is shown to overestimate the actual penalty for PAM-4 and PAM-8 by approximately 0.1 and 0.25 dB respectively at 1×10-3 BER. Then we extend the well-known PAM-2 ISI penalty estimation formula from the IEEE 802.3 standard 10G link modeling spreadsheet to the large BER case and generalize it for arbitrary PAM-L formats. To demonstrate and verify the BER dependence of the ISI penalty, a set of PAM-2 experiments and Monte-Carlo modeling simulations are reported. The experimental results and simulations confirm that the conventional formulas can significantly overestimate ISI penalties at relatively high BER levels. In the experiments, overestimates up to 2 dB are observed at 1×10-3 BER.

Enabling Technologies for Ultra-Safe and Secure Modular Nuclear Energy

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Mendez Cruz, Carmen Margarita; Rochau, Gary E.; Middleton, Bobby; Rodriguez, Salvador B.; Rodriguez, Carmelo; Schleicher, Robert

2016-01-01

Sandia National Laboratories and General Atomics are pleased to respond to the Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy (ARPA-e)'s request for information on innovative developments that may overcome various current reactor-technology limitations. The RFI is particularly interested in innovations that enable ultra-safe and secure modular nuclear energy systems. Our response addresses the specific features for reactor designs called out in the RFI, including a brief assessment of the current state of the technologies that would enable each feature and the methods by which they could be best incorporated into a reactor design.

Enabling Technologies for Ultra-Safe and Secure Modular Nuclear Energy

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Mendez Cruz, Carmen Margarita [Sandia National Lab. (SNL-NM), Albuquerque, NM (United States); Rochau, Gary E. [Sandia National Lab. (SNL-NM), Albuquerque, NM (United States); Middleton, Bobby [Sandia National Lab. (SNL-NM), Albuquerque, NM (United States); Rodriguez, Salvador B. [Sandia National Lab. (SNL-NM), Albuquerque, NM (United States); Rodriguez, Carmelo [General Atomics, San Diego, CA (United States); Schleicher, Robert [General Atomics, San Diego, CA (United States)

2016-06-01

Sandia National Laboratories and General Atomics are pleased to respond to the Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy (ARPA-e)’s request for information on innovative developments that may overcome various current reactor-technology limitations. The RFI is particularly interested in innovations that enable ultra-safe and secure modular nuclear energy systems. Our response addresses the specific features for reactor designs called out in the RFI, including a brief assessment of the current state of the technologies that would enable each feature and the methods by which they could be best incorporated into a reactor design.

Met-myoglobin formation, accumulation, degradation, and myoglobin oxygenation monitoring based on multiwavelength attenuance measurement in porcine meat

Science.gov (United States)

Nguyen, Thien; Phan, Kien Nguyen; Lee, Jee-Bum; Kim, Jae Gwan

2016-05-01

We propose a simple, rapid, and nondestructive method to investigate formation, accumulation, and degradation of met-myoglobin (met-Mb) and myoglobin oxygenation from the interior of porcine meat. For the experiment, color photos and attenuance spectra of porcine meat (well-bled muscle, fat, and mixed) were collected daily to perform colorimetric analysis and to obtain the differences of attenuance between 578 and 567 nm (A578-A567) and between 615 and 630 nm (A630-A615), respectively. Oxy-, deoxy-, and met-myoglobin concentration changes over storage time were also calculated using Beer-Lamberts' law with reflectance intensities at 557, 582, and 630 nm. The change of A578-A567 was well matched with the change of myoglobin oxygenation, and the change of A630-A615 corresponded well with the formation and degradation of met-Mb. In addition, attenuation differences, A578-A567 and A630-A615, were able to show the formation of met-Mb earlier than colorimetric analysis. Therefore, the attenuance differences between wavelengths can be indicators for estimating myoglobin oxygenation and met-Mb formation, accumulation, and degradation, which enable us to design a simple device to monitor myoglobin activities in porcine meat.

The Gas-Phase Formation of Methyl Formate in Hot Molecular Cores

Science.gov (United States)

Horn, Anne; Møllendal, Harald; Sekiguchi, Osamu; Uggerud, Einar; Roberts, Helen; Herbst, Eric; Viggiano, A. A.; Fridgen, Travis D.

2004-08-01

Methyl formate, HCOOCH3, is a well-known interstellar molecule prominent in the spectra of hot molecular cores. The current view of its formation is that it occurs in the gas phase from precursor methanol, which is synthesized on the surfaces of grain mantles during a previous colder era and evaporates while temperatures increase during the process of high-mass star formation. The specific reaction sequence thought to form methyl formate, the ion-molecule reaction between protonated methanol and formaldehyde followed by dissociative recombination of the protonated ion [HCO(H)OCH3]+, has not been studied in detail in the laboratory. We present here the results of both a quantum chemical study of the ion-molecule reaction between [CH3OH2]+ and H2CO as well as new experimental work on the system. In addition, we report theoretical and experimental studies for a variety of other possible gas-phase reactions leading to ion precursors of methyl formate. The studied chemical processes leading to methyl formate are included in a chemical model of hot cores. Our results show that none of these gas-phase processes produces enough methyl formate to explain its observed abundance.

An NFC-Enabled CMOS IC for a Wireless Fully Implantable Glucose Sensor.

Science.gov (United States)

DeHennis, Andrew; Getzlaff, Stefan; Grice, David; Mailand, Marko

2016-01-01

This paper presents an integrated circuit (IC) that merges integrated optical and temperature transducers, optical interface circuitry, and a near-field communication (NFC)-enabled digital, wireless readout for a fully passive implantable sensor platform to measure glucose in people with diabetes. A flip-chip mounted LED and monolithically integrated photodiodes serve as the transduction front-end to enable fluorescence readout. A wide-range programmable transimpedance amplifier adapts the sensor signals to the input of an 11-bit analog-to-digital converter digitizing the measurements. Measurement readout is enabled by means of wireless backscatter modulation to a remote NFC reader. The system is able to resolve current levels of less than 10 pA with a single fluorescent measurement energy consumption of less than 1 μJ. The wireless IC is fabricated in a 0.6-μm-CMOS process and utilizes a 13.56-MHz-based ISO15693 for passive wireless readout through a NFC interface. The IC is utilized as the core interface to a fluorescent, glucose transducer to enable a fully implantable sensor-based continuous glucose monitoring system.

LOFAR/H-ATLAS: the low-frequency radio luminosity-star formation rate relation

Science.gov (United States)

Gürkan, G.; Hardcastle, M. J.; Smith, D. J. B.; Best, P. N.; Bourne, N.; Calistro-Rivera, G.; Heald, G.; Jarvis, M. J.; Prandoni, I.; Röttgering, H. J. A.; Sabater, J.; Shimwell, T.; Tasse, C.; Williams, W. L.

2018-04-01

Radio emission is a key indicator of star formation activity in galaxies, but the radio luminosity-star formation relation has to date been studied almost exclusively at frequencies of 1.4 GHz or above. At lower radio frequencies, the effects of thermal radio emission are greatly reduced, and so we would expect the radio emission observed to be completely dominated by synchrotron radiation from supernova-generated cosmic rays. As part of the LOFAR Surveys Key Science project, the Herschel-ATLAS NGP field has been surveyed with LOFAR at an effective frequency of 150 MHz. We select a sample from the MPA-JHU catalogue of Sloan Digital Sky Survey galaxies in this area: the combination of Herschel, optical and mid-infrared data enable us to derive star formation rates (SFRs) for our sources using spectral energy distribution fitting, allowing a detailed study of the low-frequency radio luminosity-star formation relation in the nearby Universe. For those objects selected as star-forming galaxies (SFGs) using optical emission line diagnostics, we find a tight relationship between the 150 MHz radio luminosity (L150) and SFR. Interestingly, we find that a single power-law relationship between L150 and SFR is not a good description of all SFGs: a broken power-law model provides a better fit. This may indicate an additional mechanism for the generation of radio-emitting cosmic rays. Also, at given SFR, the radio luminosity depends on the stellar mass of the galaxy. Objects that were not classified as SFGs have higher 150-MHz radio luminosity than would be expected given their SFR, implying an important role for low-level active galactic nucleus activity.

DrumNet : Building a GSM-enabled Information System for ...

International Development Research Centre (IDRC) Digital Library (Canada)

... and marketing - to boost agricultural productivity and enhance rural livelihoods. ... and implement a global system for mobile communications (GSM)-enabled ... Using ICT to integrate smallholder farmers into agricultural value chains : the ...

Spatial data infrastructures at work analysing the spatial enablement of public sector processes

CERN Document Server

Dessers, Ezra

2013-01-01

In 'Spatial Data Infrastructures at Work', Ezra Dessers introduces spatial enablement as a key concept to describe the realisation of SDI objectives in the context of individual public sector processes. Drawing on four years of research, Dessers argues that it has become essential, even unavoidable, to manage and (re)design inter-organisational process chains in order to further advance the role of SDIs as an enabling platform for a spatially enabled society. Detailed case studies illustrate that the process he describes is the setting in which one can see the SDI at work.

77 FR 42738 - Request for Information on Quality Measurement Enabled by Health IT

Science.gov (United States)

2012-07-20

... Information on Quality Measurement Enabled by Health IT AGENCY: Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality... diversified stakeholders (health information technology (IT) system developers, including vendors; payers... strategies and challenges regarding quality measurement enabled by health IT. Quality measurement--the...

Enablers towards establishing and growing South Africa's waste to electricity industry.

Science.gov (United States)

Amsterdam, Heinrich; Thopil, George Alex

2017-10-01

In South Africa the electricity generation mix is relatively un-diverse whereas globally the transformation of the sector is advancing rapidly. Coal remains the predominant fuel source and limited success has to date been achieved in the renewable energy sector. The electricity generation sector is therefore hindered from moving towards an electricity generation landscape where alternative fuel sources is utilised. This research is aimed at gaining insight into the enablers that led towards an increasing trend (observed globally) in exploiting waste as a fuel for electricity generation, and to outline the presence of obstacles that hinder separation of waste for electricity use in the South African context. Furthermore it is an attempt at informing what appropriate interventions (operational and policy) may be considered suitable for South Africa to overcome these barriers in order to enable a sustainable South African waste to electricity (WTE) Industry. Findings show that numerous barriers to a WTE exists in the South African context, however overcoming these barriers is not as simple as adopting the European model with the aim to modify the electricity generation mix and waste management landscape. Selected enablers deemed appropriate in the South African context are adapted from the European model, and are greatly influenced by the prevailing socio-economic status of South Africa. Primary enablers identified were, (i) government support is needed especially in the form of subsidisation for green energy, (ii) increase landfill costs through the implementation of a landfill tax, (iii) streamline the process for Independent Private Power Producers (IPPPs) to connect to the national grid with off-take guaranteed and the inclusion of WTE into an electricity roadmap (effectively government's strategy). The proposed enabling interventions would help in overcoming the barriers for a South African WTE industry. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Informatics enables public health surveillance

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Scott J. N McNabb

2017-01-01

Full Text Available Over the past decade, the world has radically changed. New advances in information and communication technologies (ICT connect the world in ways never imagined. Public health informatics (PHI leveraged for public health surveillance (PHS, can enable, enhance, and empower essential PHS functions (i.e., detection, reporting, confirmation, analyses, feedback, response. However, the tail doesn't wag the dog; as such, ICT cannot (should not drive public health surveillance strengthening. Rather, ICT can serve PHS to more effectively empower core functions. In this review, we explore promising ICT trends for prevention, detection, and response, laboratory reporting, push notification, analytics, predictive surveillance, and using new data sources, while recognizing that it is the people, politics, and policies that most challenge progress for implementation of solutions.

Enabling a systems biology knowledgebase with gaggle and firegoose

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Baliga, Nitin S. [Institute for Systems Biology, Seattle, WA (United States)

2014-12-12

The overall goal of this project was to extend the existing Gaggle and Firegoose systems to develop an open-source technology that runs over the web and links desktop applications with many databases and software applications. This technology would enable researchers to incorporate workflows for data analysis that can be executed from this interface to other online applications. The four specific aims were to (1) provide one-click mapping of genes, proteins, and complexes across databases and species; (2) enable multiple simultaneous workflows; (3) expand sophisticated data analysis for online resources; and enhance open-source development of the Gaggle-Firegoose infrastructure. Gaggle is an open-source Java software system that integrates existing bioinformatics programs and data sources into a user-friendly, extensible environment to allow interactive exploration, visualization, and analysis of systems biology data. Firegoose is an extension to the Mozilla Firefox web browser that enables data transfer between websites and desktop tools including Gaggle. In the last phase of this funding period, we have made substantial progress on development and application of the Gaggle integration framework. We implemented the workspace to the Network Portal. Users can capture data from Firegoose and save them to the workspace. Users can create workflows to start multiple software components programmatically and pass data between them. Results of analysis can be saved to the cloud so that they can be easily restored on any machine. We also developed the Gaggle Chrome Goose, a plugin for the Google Chrome browser in tandem with an opencpu server in the Amazon EC2 cloud. This allows users to interactively perform data analysis on a single web page using the R packages deployed on the opencpu server. The cloud-based framework facilitates collaboration between researchers from multiple organizations. We have made a number of enhancements to the cmonkey2 application to enable and

Rheological Link Between Polymer Melts with a High Molecular Weight Tail and Enhanced Formation of Shish-Kebabs

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Wingstrand, Sara Lindeblad; Shen, Bo; Kornfield, Julie A.

2017-01-01

Presence of an ultra high molecular weight (UHMw) fraction in flowingpolymer melts is known to facilitate formation of oriented crystalline structures significantly. The UHMw fraction manifests itself as a minor tail in the molar mass distribution and is hardly detectable in the canonical...... a clear increase in extensional stress that is directly correlated with the crystalline orientation of the quenched samples. Extensional rheology, particularly, in combination with linear creep measurements, thus, enables the conformational evolution of the UHMw-tail to be studied and linked...

Granules Harboring Translationally Active mRNAs Provide a Platform for P-Body Formation following Stress

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jennifer Lui

2014-11-01

Full Text Available The localization of mRNA to defined cytoplasmic sites in eukaryotic cells not only allows localized protein production but also determines the fate of mRNAs. For instance, translationally repressed mRNAs localize to P-bodies and stress granules where their decay and storage, respectively, are directed. Here, we find that several mRNAs are localized to granules in unstressed, actively growing cells. These granules play a key role in the stress-dependent formation of P-bodies. Specific glycolytic mRNAs are colocalized in multiple granules per cell, which aggregate during P-body formation. Such aggregation is still observed under conditions or in mutants where P-bodies do not form. In unstressed cells, the mRNA granules appear associated with active translation; this might enable a coregulation of protein expression from the same pathways or complexes. Parallels can be drawn between this coregulation and the advantage of operons in prokaryotic systems.

Croquages de langue en formation d’enseignants

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Annemarie Dinvaut

2014-04-01

Full Text Available Le sensoriel et l’expression plastique sont-ils des outils de formation pertinents pour aller à la rencontre de l’altérité et de la diversité linguistique et culturelle ? Nous nous proposons de répondre à cette question en analysant des productions d’étudiants : ceux-ci rendent compte de leur fréquentation d’une langue par une création plastique qui privilégie les aspects sensoriels de cette expérience. Ce double processus les amène à une réflexion métalinguistique et à une posture d’accueil du plurilinguisme. We sketch our languages and develop teaching skills Abstract: Are sensorial and plastic activities appropriate tools to develop language awareness and intercultural skills, in a college of education? To answer this question, we ask students to express their sensorial and affective experience of a language they choose: scrutinizing their productions enables us to see the impact of this activity, regarding their metalinguistic reflection and their receptiveness to linguistic and cultural plurality.

Free-format RPG IV the express guide to learning free format

CERN Document Server

Martin, Jim

2015-01-01

Focusing strictly on teaching free-format RPG programming methods, this book will help programmers wishing to upgrade their skills   This how-to guide offers a concise and thorough introduction to the increased productivity, better readability, and easier program maintenance that comes with the free-format style of programming in RPG IV. Although free-format information is available in IBM manuals, it is not separated from everything else, requiring hours of tedious research to track down the information needed. This book provides everything you need to know to write RPG IV in the free-format

Enhanced coagulation with powdered activated carbon or MIEX secondary treatment: a comparison of disinfection by-product formation and precursor removal.

Science.gov (United States)

Watson, Kalinda; Farré, Maria José; Knight, Nicole

2015-01-01

The removal of both organic and inorganic disinfection by-product (DBP) precursors prior to disinfection is important in mitigating DBP formation, with halide removal being particularly important in salinity-impacted water sources. A matrix of waters of variable alkalinity, halide concentration and dissolved organic carbon (DOC) concentration were treated with enhanced coagulation (EC) followed by anion exchange (MIEX resin) or powdered activated carbon (PAC) and the subsequent disinfection by-product formation potentials (DBP-FPs) assessed and compared to DBP-FPs for untreated samples. Halide and DOC removal were also monitored for both treatment processes. Bromide and iodide adsorption by MIEX treatment ranged from 0 to 53% and 4-78%, respectively. As expected, EC and PAC treatments did not remove halides. DOC removal by EC/PAC was 70 ± 10%, while EC/MIEX enabled a DOC removal of 66 ± 12%. Despite the halide removals achieved by MIEX, increases in brominated disinfection by-product (Br-DBP) formation were observed relative to untreated samples, when favourable Br:DOC ratios were created by the treatment. However, the increases in formation were less than what was observed for the EC/PAC treated waters, which caused large increases in Br-DBP formation when high Br-DBP-forming water quality conditions occurred. The formation potential of fully chlorinated DBPs decreased after treatment in all cases.

Muonium formation via charge transport in solids and liquids

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Storchak, Vyacheslav G.; Brewer, Jess H.; Cox, Stephen F.J.

1997-01-01

We review our recent experimental studies on delayed muonium formation in insulators and semiconductors. This involves the positive muon capturing one of the excess electrons liberated in its own ionization track and competes with recombination or escape of the electrons. The muon is generally found to thermalise well 'downstream' from the center of the electron distribution, so that the transport mechanism of the electrons is a crucial factor. This is discussed in terms of the different tendencies to localization (as polarons in solids or in bubbles in liquids) vs. band-like propagation. Studies of Van der Waals cryocrystals and cryoliquids are reviewed and some preliminary results reported for sapphire and silicon. Transport distances and times are determined from the variation of μSR signal amplitudes with applied electric and magnetic fields, respectively, enabling the development of a new technique for measuring electron mobilities on a microscopic scale

Enabling Open Hardware through FOSS tools

CERN Multimedia

CERN. Geneva

2016-01-01

Software developers often take open file formats and tools for granted. When you publish code on github, you do not ask yourself if somebody will be able to open it and modify it. We need the same freedom in the open hardware world, to make it truly accessible for everyone.

Utility Energy Services Contracts: Enabling Documents, May 2009 (Book)

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

2009-05-01

Enabling Documents, delivered by the U.S. Department of Energy's Federal Energy Management Program (FEMP) to provide materials that clarify the authority for federal agencies to enter into utility energy services contracts (UESCs).

Virtual particle-antiparticle pair formation by a scalar particle bound in an external Coulomb field

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Darewych, J.W.; Horbatsch, M.; Lev, B.I.; Shapoval, D.V.

1995-01-01

A Hamiltonian variational Fock-space method is used to describe scalar massive particles in an external Coulomb field with strength f=Zα. The use of an ansatz that includes a three-particle state in addition to a single-particle state built on the field-free vacuum enables one to highlight the role played by particle-antiparticle pair formation. Comparison is made with the Klein-Gordon equation in the Feshbach-Villars representation and it is shown explicitly how the virtual pair contribution corrects an O(f 5 ) deficiency present in the energy spectrum of the naive Schroedinger-type single-particle equation. ((orig.))

A Registry Framework Enabling Patient-Centred Care.

Science.gov (United States)

Bellgard, Matthew I; Napier, Kathryn; Render, Lee; Radochonski, Maciej; Lamont, Leanne; Graham, Caroline; Wilton, Steve D; Fletcher, Sue; Goldblatt, Jack; Hunter, Adam A; Weeramanthri, Tarun

2015-01-01

Clinical decisions rely on expert knowledge that draws on quality patient phenotypic and physiological data. In this regard, systems that can support patient-centric care are essential. Patient registries are a key component of patient-centre care and can come in many forms such as disease-specific, recruitment, clinical, contact, post market and surveillance. There are, however, a number of significant challenges to overcome in order to maximise the utility of these information management systems to facilitate improved patient-centred care. Registries need to be harmonised regionally, nationally and internationally. However, the majority are implemented as standalone systems without consideration for data standards or system interoperability. Hence the task of harmonisation can become daunting. Fortunately, there are strategies to address this. In this paper, a disease registry framework is outlined that enables efficient deployment of national and international registries that can be modified dynamically as registry requirements evolve. This framework provides a basis for the development and implementation of data standards and enables patients to seamlessly belong to multiple registries. Other significant advances include the ability for registry curators to create and manage registries themselves without the need to contract software developers, and the concept of a registry description language for ease of registry template sharing.

Investigation of Advanced Propellants to Enable Single Stage to Orbit Launch Vehicles

Science.gov (United States)

2006-10-30

ERS-PAS-2006-205) 13. SUPPLEMENTARY NOTES Graduate work for California State University, Fresno 14. ABSTRACT Single-Stage-To-Orbit ( SSTO ...and maintained. Despite well-funded development efforts, no SSTO vehicles have been fielded to date. Existing chemical rocket and vehicle...technologies do not enable feasible SSTO designs. In the future, new propellants with advanced properties could enable SSTO launch vehicles. A parametric

Digital Forensics Formats: Seeking a Digital Preservation Storage Container Format for Web Archiving

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Yunhyong Kim

2012-12-01

Full Text Available In this paper we discuss archival storage container formats from the point of view of digital curation and preservation, an aspect of preservation overlooked by most other studies. Considering established approaches to data management as our jumping off point, we selected seven container format attributes that are core to the long term accessibility of digital materials. We have labeled these core preservation attributes. These attributes are then used as evaluation criteria to compare storage container formats belonging to five common categories: formats for archiving selected content (e.g. tar, WARC, disk image formats that capture data for recovery or installation (partimage, dd raw image, these two types combined with a selected compression algorithm (e.g. tar+gzip, formats that combine packing and compression (e.g. 7-zip, and forensic file formats for data analysis in criminal investigations (e.g. aff – Advanced Forensic File format. We present a general discussion of the storage container format landscape in terms of the attributes we discuss, and make a direct comparison between the three most promising archival formats: tar, WARC, and aff. We conclude by suggesting the next steps to take the research forward and to validate the observations we have made.

Grid Enabled Geospatial Catalogue Web Service

Science.gov (United States)

Chen, Ai-Jun; Di, Li-Ping; Wei, Ya-Xing; Liu, Yang; Bui, Yu-Qi; Hu, Chau-Min; Mehrotra, Piyush

2004-01-01

Geospatial Catalogue Web Service is a vital service for sharing and interoperating volumes of distributed heterogeneous geospatial resources, such as data, services, applications, and their replicas over the web. Based on the Grid technology and the Open Geospatial Consortium (0GC) s Catalogue Service - Web Information Model, this paper proposes a new information model for Geospatial Catalogue Web Service, named as GCWS which can securely provides Grid-based publishing, managing and querying geospatial data and services, and the transparent access to the replica data and related services under the Grid environment. This information model integrates the information model of the Grid Replica Location Service (RLS)/Monitoring & Discovery Service (MDS) with the information model of OGC Catalogue Service (CSW), and refers to the geospatial data metadata standards from IS0 19115, FGDC and NASA EOS Core System and service metadata standards from IS0 191 19 to extend itself for expressing geospatial resources. Using GCWS, any valid geospatial user, who belongs to an authorized Virtual Organization (VO), can securely publish and manage geospatial resources, especially query on-demand data in the virtual community and get back it through the data-related services which provide functions such as subsetting, reformatting, reprojection etc. This work facilitates the geospatial resources sharing and interoperating under the Grid environment, and implements geospatial resources Grid enabled and Grid technologies geospatial enabled. It 2!so makes researcher to focus on science, 2nd not cn issues with computing ability, data locztic, processir,g and management. GCWS also is a key component for workflow-based virtual geospatial data producing.

Enabling HST UV Exploration of the Low Surface Brightness Universe: A Pilot Study with the WFC3 X Filter Set

Science.gov (United States)

Thilker, David

2017-08-01

We request 17 orbits to conduct a pilot study to examine the effectiveness of the WFC3/UVIS F300X filter for studying fundamental problems in star formation in the low density regime. In principle, the broader bandpass and higher throughput of F300X can halve the required observing time relative to F275W, the filter of choice for studying young stellar populations in nearby galaxies. Together with F475W and F600LP, this X filter set may be as effective as standard UVIS broadband filters for characterizing the physical properties of such populations. We will observe 5 low surface brightness targets with a range of properties to test potential issues with F300X: the red tail to 4000A and a red leak beyond, ghosts, and the wider bandpass. Masses and ages of massive stars, young star clusters, and clumps derived from photometry from the X filter set will be compared with corresponding measurements from standard filters. Beyond testing, our program will provide the first sample spanning a range of LSB galaxy properties for which HST UV imaging will be obtained, and a glimpse into the ensemble properties of the quanta of star formation in these strange environments. The increased observing efficiency would make more tractable programs which require several tens to hundreds of orbits to aggregate sufficient numbers of massive stars, young star clusters, and clumps to build statistical samples. We are hopeful that our pilot observations will broadly enable high-resolution UV imaging exploration of the low density frontier of star formation while HST is still in good health.

"Design for Somebody" - Approach Enabling Mobile Technology Development.

Science.gov (United States)

Sirkka, Andrew; Merilampi, Sari; Koivisto, Antti; Tommiska, Janika; Saarinen, Tatu-Pekka

2017-01-01

This paper presents case examples of Design for Somebody (DfS) philosophy used both in developing novel technologies and modifying existing main stream technologies applicable for users with special needs. DfS embodies variety of mobile technology approaches to generate personalised means to enable and motivate physical, cognitive and social skills development.

Starshade Assembly Enabled by the Deep Space Gateway Architecture

Science.gov (United States)

Grunsfeld, J. M.; Siegler, N.; Mukherjee, R.

2018-02-01

A starshade is a large external coronagraph which will allow the direct imaging and analysis of planets around nearby stars. We present how the Deep Space Gateway would enable the robotic/astronaut construction of a starshade.

Connecting the Cosmic Star Formation Rate with the Local Star Formation

Science.gov (United States)

Gribel, Carolina; Miranda, Oswaldo D.; Williams Vilas-Boas, José

2017-11-01

We present a model that unifies the cosmic star formation rate (CSFR), obtained through the hierarchical structure formation scenario, with the (Galactic) local star formation rate (SFR). It is possible to use the SFR to generate a CSFR mapping through the density probability distribution functions commonly used to study the role of turbulence in the star-forming regions of the Galaxy. We obtain a consistent mapping from redshift z˜ 20 up to the present (z = 0). Our results show that the turbulence exhibits a dual character, providing high values for the star formation efficiency ( ˜ 0.32) in the redshift interval z˜ 3.5{--}20 and reducing its value to =0.021 at z = 0. The value of the Mach number ({{ M }}{crit}), from which rapidly decreases, is dependent on both the polytropic index (Γ) and the minimum density contrast of the gas. We also derive Larson’s first law associated with the velocity dispersion ( ) in the local star formation regions. Our model shows good agreement with Larson’s law in the ˜ 10{--}50 {pc} range, providing typical temperatures {T}0˜ 10{--}80 {{K}} for the gas associated with star formation. As a consequence, dark matter halos of great mass could contain a number of halos of much smaller mass, and be able to form structures similar to globular clusters. Thus, Larson’s law emerges as a result of the very formation of large-scale structures, which in turn would allow the formation of galactic systems, including our Galaxy.

Enabling information sharing in a port

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Olesen, Peter Bjerg; Hvolby, Hans-Henrik; Dukovska-Popovska, Iskra

2012-01-01

Ports are integral parts of many supply chains and are as such a contributing factor to the overall efficiency of the supply chain. Ports are also dynamic entities where things changes continuously. The dynamic nature of ports is also a problem when trying to optimise the utilisation of resources...... and ensure a low lead-time. Information sharing is a very important tool to reduce the effect of dynamism. This paper attempts to explain how information sharing is enabled in such an environment, and which considerations are relevant, both in regards to the information and required technology. The paper...

Blended Learning: enabling Higher Education Reform

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Kathleen Matheos

2018-01-01

Full Text Available Blended learning research and practice have been areas of growth for two decades in Canada, with over 95% of Canadian higher education institutions involved in some form of blended learning. Despite strong evidence based research and practice blended learning, for the most part, has remained at sidelined in Canadian universities. The article argues the need for blended learning to situate itself within the timely and crucial Higher Education Reform (HER agenda. By aligning the affordances of blended learning with the components of HER, blended learning can clearly serve as an enabler for HER.

Formative assessment : Enriching teaching and learning with formative assesment

NARCIS (Netherlands)

van Diggelen, M.R.; Morgan, C.M.; Funk, M.; Bruns, M.

2016-01-01

Formative assessment is a valuable aspect in teaching and learning, and is proven to be an e ective learning method. There is evidence that adding formative assessment to your teaching increases students’ learning results (Black and William, 1998), but in practice many of the possibilities are left

Distributed Collaborative Learning Communities Enabled by Information Communication Technology

NARCIS (Netherlands)

H.L. Alvarez (Heidi Lee)

2006-01-01

textabstractHow and why can Information Communication Technology (ICT) contribute to enhancing learning in distributed Collaborative Learning Communities (CLCs)? Drawing from relevant theories concerned with phenomenon of ICT enabled distributed collaborative learning, this book identifies gaps in

Creating an enabling environment for WR&R implementation.

Science.gov (United States)

Stathatou, P-M; Kampragou, E; Grigoropoulou, H; Assimacopoulos, D; Karavitis, C; Gironás, J

2017-09-01

Reclaimed water is receiving growing attention worldwide as an effective solution for alleviating the growing water scarcity in many areas. Despite the various benefits associated with reclaimed water, water recycling and reuse (WR&R) practices are not widely applied around the world. This is mostly due to complex and inadequate local legal and institutional frameworks and socio-economic structures, which pose barriers to wider WR&R implementation. An integrated approach is therefore needed while planning the implementation of WR&R schemes, considering all the potential barriers, and aiming to develop favourable conditions for enhancing reclaimed water use. This paper proposes a comprehensive methodology supporting the development of an enabling environment for WR&R implementation. The political, economic, social, technical, legal and institutional factors that may influence positively (drivers) or negatively (barriers) WR&R implementation in the regional water systems are identified, through the mapping of local stakeholder perceptions. The identified barriers are further analysed, following a Cross-Impact/System analysis, to recognize the most significant barriers inhibiting system transition, and to prioritize the enabling instruments and arrangements that are needed to boost WR&R implementation. The proposed methodology was applied in the Copiapó River Basin in Chile, which faces severe water scarcity. Through the analysis, it was observed that barriers outweigh drivers for the implementation of WR&R schemes in the Copiapó River Basin, while the key barriers which could be useful for policy formulation towards an enabling environment in the area concern the unclear legal framework regarding the ownership of treated wastewater, the lack of environmental policies focusing on pollution control, the limited integration of reclaimed water use in current land use and development policies, the limited public awareness on WR&R, and the limited availability of

Designing Technology-Enabled Instruction to Utilize Learning Analytics

Science.gov (United States)

Davies, Randall; Nyland, Robert; Bodily, Robert; Chapman, John; Jones, Brian; Young, Jay

2017-01-01

A key notion conveyed by those who advocate for the use of data to enhance instruction is an awareness that learning analytics has the potential to improve instruction and learning but is not currently reaching that potential. Gibbons (2014) suggested that a lack of learning facilitated by current technology-enabled instructional systems may be…

Modulating calcium phosphate formation using CO2 laser engineering of a polymeric material

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Waugh, D.G.; Lawrence, J.

2012-01-01

The use of simulated body fluid (SBF) is widely used as a screening technique to assess the ability of materials to promote calcium phosphate formation. This paper details the use of CO 2 laser surface treatment of nylon® 6,6 to modulate calcium phosphate formation following immersion in SBF for 14 days. Through white light interferometry (WLI) it was determined that the laser surface processing gave rise to maximum Ra and Sa parameters of 1.3 and 4.4 μm, respectively. The use of X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) enabled a maximum increase in surface oxygen content of 5.6%at. to be identified. The laser-induced surface modifications gave rise to a modulation in the wettability characteristics such that the contact angle, θ, decreased for the whole area processed samples, as expected, and increased for the patterned samples. The increase in θ can be attributed to a transition in wetting nature to a mixed-state wetting regime. It was seen for all samples that calcium phosphate formed on each surface following 14 days. The largest increase in mass, Δg, owed to calcium phosphate formation, was brought about by the whole area processed sample irradiated with a fluence of 51 J cm −2 . No correlation between the calcium phosphate formation and the laser patterned surface properties was determined due to the likely affect of the mixed-state wetting regime. Strong correlations between θ, the surface energy parameters and the calcium phosphate formation for the whole area processed samples allow one to realize the potential for this surface treatment technique in predicting the bone forming ability of laser processed materials. - Highlights: ► Surface modifications brought about a modulation in the wetting of nylon 6,6. ► An increase in θ can be attributed to a mixed-state wetting regime. ► Laser surface treatment modulated the ability to promote apatite formation. ► Mixed-state wetting regime affected the promotion of uniform apatite formation. �

Applied Knowledge Management to Mitigate Cognitive Load in Network-Enabled Mission Command

Science.gov (United States)

2017-11-22

ARL-TN-0859 ● NOV 2017 US Army Research Laboratory Applied Knowledge Management to Mitigate Cognitive Load in Network-Enabled...Applied Knowledge Management to Mitigate Cognitive Load in Network-Enabled Mission Command by John K Hawley Human Research and Engineering...REPORT TYPE Technical Note 3. DATES COVERED (From - To) 1 May 2016–20 April 2017 4. TITLE AND SUBTITLE Applied Knowledge Management to Mitigate

Deep Eutectic Solvents Enable More Robust Chemoenzymatic Epoxidation Reactions

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Zhou, Pengfei; Wang, Xuping; Zeng, Chaoxi; Wang, Weifei; Yang, Bo; Hollmann, F.; Wang, Yonghua

2017-01-01

A chemoenzymatic method for the production of epoxidized vegetable oils was developed. The unique combination of the commercial lipase G from Penicillieum camembertii with certain deep eutectic solvents enabled the efficient production of epoxidized vegetable oils.

Long-Lived Digital Data Collections Enabling Research and Education in the 21st Century

Science.gov (United States)

2005-09-01

Collections: Enabling Research and Education in the 21st Century40 LoNG-LiVED DiGiTAL DATA CoLLECTioNS AND LARGE FACiLiTiES Workshop participants drew...Long-Lived Digital Data Collections: Enabling Research and Education in the 21st Century NSB-05-40 Report Documentation Page Form...COVERED - 4. TITLE AND SUBTITLE Long-Lived Digital Data Collections Enabling Research and Education in the 21st Century 5a. CONTRACT NUMBER 5b

Emergent information technologies and enabling policies for counter-terrorism

CERN Document Server

Popp, R

2006-01-01

Explores both counter-terrorism and enabling policy dimensions of emerging information technologies in national security After the September 11th attacks, "connecting the dots" has become the watchword for using information and intelligence to protect the United States from future terrorist attacks. Advanced and emerging information technologies offer key assets in confronting a secretive, asymmetric, and networked enemy. Yet, in a free and open society, policies must ensure that these powerful technologies are used responsibly, and that privacy and civil liberties remain protected. Emergent Information Technologies and Enabling Policies for Counter-Terrorism provides a unique, integrated treatment of cutting-edge counter-terrorism technologies and their corresponding policy options. Featuring contributions from nationally recognized authorities and experts, this book brings together a diverse knowledge base for those charged with protecting our nation from terrorist attacks while preserving our civil liberti...

SciDAC Visualization and Analytics Center for Enabling Technologies

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Joy, Kenneth I. [Univ. of California, Davis, CA (United States)

2014-09-14

This project focuses on leveraging scientific visualization and analytics software technology as an enabling technology for increasing scientific productivity and insight. Advances in computational technology have resulted in an "information big bang," which in turn has created a significant data understanding challenge. This challenge is widely acknowledged to be one of the primary bottlenecks in contemporary science. The vision for our Center is to respond directly to that challenge by adapting, extending, creating when necessary and deploying visualization and data understanding technologies for our science stakeholders. Using an organizational model as a Visualization and Analytics Center for Enabling Technologies (VACET), we are well positioned to be responsive to the needs of a diverse set of scientific stakeholders in a coordinated fashion using a range of visualization, mathematics, statistics, computer and computational science and data management technologies.

THE SPECIAL STATUS OF EXOGENOUS WORD-FORMATION WITHIN THE GERMAN WORD-FORMATION SYSTEM

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Zhilyuk Sergey Aleksandrovich

2014-06-01

Full Text Available The article presents the properties of exogenous word-formation system taking into account the existence of two word-formation systems in modern German. On the basis of foreign research which reveal modern trends in German word-formation connected with the internationalization and the development of new European Latin language. The author defines key features of exogenous word-formation, i.e. foreign origin of wordformation units, unmotivated units, unmotivated interchange in base and affixes as well as limited distribution rules in combination with German word-formation. The article analyzes various approaches to word-division, as well as motivated and unmotivated interchange of consonants in bases and in affixes. Unmotivated interchange showcases a special status of the exogenous word-formation within German. Another item covered by the article is the issue of confix. The article has opinions of researchers about correctness of its separation and a list of its features. The author presents his definition of confix: a confix is a bound exogenous word-formation unit with a certain lexical and semantic meaning and joining other units directly or indirectly (through linking morpheme -o-, which is able to make a base. Moreover, some confixes are able to participate at word-combination and have unlimited distribution. So far, confix showcases the integration of exogenous word-formation and traditional German word-formation. The research proves the special status of exogenous word-formation in German. Its results can be used as a base for further analysis of co-existing word-formation systems in German and determination of their characteristic features.

Genotypic and Phenotypic Characteristics Associated with Biofilm Formation by Human Clinical Escherichia coli Isolates of Different Pathotypes.

Science.gov (United States)

Schiebel, Juliane; Böhm, Alexander; Nitschke, Jörg; Burdukiewicz, Michał; Weinreich, Jörg; Ali, Aamir; Roggenbuck, Dirk; Rödiger, Stefan; Schierack, Peter

2017-12-15

-related infections due to their high resistance to antibiotics and the host immune system. In nonpathogenic Escherichia coli , cell surface components playing a pivotal role in biofilm formation are well known. In contrast, there is poor information for their role in biofilm formation of pathogenic isolates. Our study provides insights into the correlation of biofilm-associated genes or specific phenotypes with the biofilm formation ability of commensal and pathogenic E. coli Additionally, we describe a newly developed method enabling qualitative biofilm analysis by automated image analysis, which is beneficial for high-throughput screenings. Our results help to establish a better understanding of E. coli biofilm formation. Copyright © 2017 American Society for Microbiology.

Comet formation

Science.gov (United States)

Blum, J.

2014-07-01

There has been vast progress in our understanding of planetesimal formation over the past decades, owing to a number of laboratory experiments as well as to refined models of dust and ice agglomeration in protoplanetary disks. Coagulation rapidly forms cm-sized ''pebbles'' by direct sticking in collisions at low velocities (Güttler et al. 2010; Zsom et al. 2010). For the further growth, two model approaches are currently being discussed: (1) Local concentration of pebbles in nebular instabilities until gravitational instability occurs (Johansen et al. 2007). (2) A competition between fragmentation and mass transfer in collisions among the dusty bodies, in which a few ''lucky winners'' make it to planetesimal sizes (Windmark et al. 2012a,b; Garaud et al. 2013). Predictions of the physical properties of the resulting bodies in both models allow a distinction of the two formation scenarios of planetesimals. In particular, the tensile strength (i.e, the inner cohesion) of the planetesimals differ widely between the two models (Skorov & Blum 2012; Blum et al. 2014). While model (1) predicts tensile strengths on the order of ˜ 1 Pa, model (2) results in rather compactified dusty bodies with tensile strengths in the kPa regime. If comets are km-sized survivors of the planetesimal-formation era, they should in principle hold the secret of their formation process. Water ice is the prime volatile responsible for the activity of comets. Thermophysical models of the heat and mass transport close to the comet-nucleus surface predict water-ice sublimation temperatures that relate to maximum sublimation pressures well below the kPa regime predicted for formation scenario (2). Model (1), however, is in agreement with the observed dust and gas activity of comets. Thus, a formation scenario for cometesimals involving gravitational instability is favored (Blum et al. 2014).

Rethinking Cysteine Protective Groups: S-Alkylsulfonyl-l-Cysteines for Chemoselective Disulfide Formation.

Science.gov (United States)

Schäfer, Olga; Huesmann, David; Muhl, Christian; Barz, Matthias

2016-12-12

The ability to reversibly cross-link proteins and peptides grants the amino acid cysteine its unique role in nature as well as in peptide chemistry. We report a novel class of S-alkylsulfonyl-l-cysteines and N-carboxy anhydrides (NCA) thereof for peptide synthesis. The S-alkylsulfonyl group is stable against amines and thus enables its use under Fmoc chemistry conditions and the controlled polymerization of the corresponding NCAs yielding well-defined homo- as well as block co-polymers. Yet, thiols react immediately with the S-alkylsulfonyl group forming asymmetric disulfides. Therefore, we introduce the first reactive cysteine derivative for efficient and chemoselective disulfide formation in synthetic polypeptides, thus bypassing additional protective group cleavage steps. © 2016 Wiley-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.

Building Multi-Discipline, Multi-Format Digital Libraries Using Clusters and Buckets. Degree rewarded by Old Dominion Univ. on Aug. 1997

Science.gov (United States)

Nelson, Michael L.

1997-01-01

Our objective was to study the feasibility of extending the Dienst protocol to enable a multi-discipline, multi-format digital library. We implemented two new technologies: cluster functionality and publishing buckets. We have designed a possible implementation of clusters and buckets, and have prototyped some aspects of the resultant digital library. Currently, digital libraries are segregated by the disciplines they serve (computer science, aeronautics, etc.), and by the format of their holdings (reports, software, datasets, etc.). NCSTRL+ is a multi-discipline, multi-format digital library (DL) prototype created to explore the feasibility of the design and implementation issues involved with created a unified, canonical scientific and technical information (STI) DL. NCSTRL+ is based on the Networked Computer Science Technical Report Library (NCSTRL), a World Wide Web (WWW) accessible DL that provides access to over 80 university departments and laboratories. We have extended the Dienst protocol (version 4.1.8), the protocol underlying NCSTRL, to provide the ability to cluster independent collections into a logically centralized DL based upon subject category classification, type of organization, and genre of material. The concept of buckets provides a mechanism for publishing and managing logically linked entities with multiple data formats.

Plasma Formation during Acoustic Cavitation: Toward a New Paradigm for Sonochemistry

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Sergey I. Nikitenko

2014-01-01

Full Text Available The most recent spectroscopic studies of single bubble (SBSL and multibubble (MBSL sonoluminescence reveal that the origin of extreme intrabubble conditions is related to nonequilibrium plasma formed inside the collapsing bubbles. Analysis of the relative populations of OH(A2Σ+ vibrational states observed during MBSL in water saturated with noble gases shows that in the presence of argon at low ultrasonic frequency weakly excited plasma is formed. At high-frequency ultrasound the plasma inside the collapsing bubbles exhibits Treanor behavior typical for strong vibrational excitation. Plasma formation during SBSL was observed in concentrated H2SO4 preequilibrated with Ar. The light emission spectra exhibit the lines from excited Ar atoms and ionized oxygen O2+. Formation of O2+ species is inconsistent with any thermal process. Furthermore, the SBSL spectra in H2SO4 show emission lines from Xe+, Kr+, and Ar+ in full agreement with plasma hypothesis. The photons and the “hot” particles generated by cavitation bubbles enable the excitation of nonvolatile species in solutions increasing their chemical reactivity. Secondary sonochemical products may arise from chemically active species that are formed inside the bubble but then diffuse into the liquid phase and react with solution precursors to form a variety of products.

Cement Formation

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Telschow, Samira; Jappe Frandsen, Flemming; Theisen, Kirsten

2012-01-01

Cement production has been subject to several technological changes, each of which requires detailed knowledge about the high multiplicity of processes, especially the high temperature process involved in the rotary kiln. This article gives an introduction to the topic of cement, including...... an overview of cement production, selected cement properties, and clinker phase relations. An extended summary of laboratory-scale investigations on clinkerization reactions, the most important reactions in cement production, is provided. Clinker formations by solid state reactions, solid−liquid and liquid......−liquid reactions are discussed, as are the influences of particles sizes on clinker phase formation. Furthermore, a mechanism for clinker phase formation in an industrial rotary kiln reactor is outlined....

Bluetooth enables in-door mobile location services

OpenAIRE

Thongthammachart, Saowanee; Olesen, Henning

2003-01-01

Several technologies can be applied to enable mobile location services, but most of them suffer from limited accuracy and availability. GPS can solve the problem of determining the location of users in most outdoor situations, but an end-user position inside a building cannot be pinpointed. Other mobile location techniques can also provide the user's position, but the accuracy is rather low. In order to improve the accuracy and make location-based services really attractive, existing approach...

Workflow Support for Advanced Grid-Enabled Computing

OpenAIRE

Xu, Fenglian; Eres, M.H.; Tao, Feng; Cox, Simon J.

2004-01-01

The Geodise project brings computer scientists and engineer's skills together to build up a service-oriented computing environmnet for engineers to perform complicated computations in a distributed system. The workflow tool is a front GUI to provide a full life cycle of workflow functions for Grid-enabled computing. The full life cycle of workflow functions have been enhanced based our initial research and development. The life cycle starts with a composition of a workflow, followed by an ins...

Laser enabled refurbishment and performance enhancement of industrial components

CSIR Research Space (South Africa)

Van Rooyen, C

2011-09-01

Full Text Available is unavailable Thank you for your attention! ? CSIR 2006 www.csir.co.zaSlide 33 The Laser Materials Processing Competence area wishes to express their gratitude to: ? DST ? CSIR ?Fraunhofer ILT For enabling us to make LIGHT work...

Performance and N2O Formation of the Deammonification Process by Suspended Sludge and Biofilm Systems—A Pilot-Scale Study

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Carmen Leix

2016-12-01

Full Text Available A two-stage deammonification pilot plant with two different second-stage reactors, namely a sequencing batch reactor (SBR with suspended sludge and a moving bed biofilm reactor (MBBR with biofilm carriers, was investigated over a 1.5-year period to compare reactor performances. Additionally, dissolved nitrous oxide (N2O was measured to determine the reactors’ N2O formation potential. Although the nitritation performance was moderate (NO2-N/NH4-N effluent ratio of 0.32 ± 0.15 in combination with SBR and 0.25 ± 0.14 with MBBR, nitrogen turnover and degradation rates exceeding 500 g N/(m3∙day and 80%, respectively, were achieved in both second stages, yet requiring additional aeration. The SBR’s average nitrogen removal was 19% higher than the MBBR’s; however, the SBR’s nitrite influent concentration was comparably elevated. Concerning N2O formation, the nitritation reactor exhibited the lowest N2O concentrations, while the buffer tank, interconnecting the first and second stages, exhibited the highest N2O concentrations of all reactors. Given these high concentrations, a transfer of N2O into the second stage was observed, where anoxic phases enabled N2O reduction. Frequent biomass removal and a decreased hydraulic retention time in the buffer tank would likely minimize N2O formation. For the second stage, enabling anoxic periods in the intermittent aeration cycles right after feeding to support N2O reduction and thus minimize the stripping effects or the implementation of a complete anoxic ammonium oxidation will mitigate N2O emissions.

Goal Format in Small-Sided Soccer Games: Technical Actions and Offensive Scenarios of Prepubescent Players

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Craig Pulling

2016-11-01

Full Text Available The aim of this study was to investigate the influence of the number of goal-posts and the positioning of goal-posts used within small-sided games on the frequency of technical actions and offensive scenarios performed by prepubescent players within soccer. The participants were eight male prepubescent soccer players (12.1 ± 0.5 years. The participants were video recorded for 20 min playing four different formats of 4v4 small-sided games: (1 standard two goal game; (2 four goal game, one goal in each corner; (3 two goal game with goal-posts positioned 9.14 m/10 yd infield, scoring only through the back of the goal; (4 four goal-game, one goal positioned 9.14 m/10 yd infield in each corner, scoring through either the front or back of each goal. Chi-squared tests of independence were utilized to statistically explore the impact of the different small-sided game formats. There were significant associations (p < 0.05 observed between the different small-sided game formats and the frequency of turns, dribbles, shots, goals and overlaps performed. For example, players performed more turns in small-sided game format two and more shots during small-sided game format four. It is suggested coaches should consider using a variation of the number and positioning of goal-posts in small-sided games as an effective training tool in the development of prepubescent soccer players. This will enable coaches to vary the focus of sessions, and develop specific technical and tactical actions within a situation similar to that of real match-play.

Paper Capillary Enables Effective Sampling for Microfluidic Paper Analytical Devices.

Science.gov (United States)

Shangguan, Jin-Wen; Liu, Yu; Wang, Sha; Hou, Yun-Xuan; Xu, Bi-Yi; Xu, Jing-Juan; Chen, Hong-Yuan

2018-06-06

Paper capillary is introduced to enable effective sampling on microfluidic paper analytical devices. By coupling mac-roscale capillary force of paper capillary and microscale capillary forces of native paper, fluid transport can be flexibly tailored with proper design. Subsequently, a hybrid-fluid-mode paper capillary device was proposed, which enables fast and reliable sampling in an arrayed form, with less surface adsorption and bias for different components. The resulting device thus well supports high throughput, quantitative, and repeatable assays all by hands operation. With all these merits, multiplex analysis of ions, proteins, and microbe have all been realized on this platform, which has paved the way to level-up analysis on μPADs.

Factors for Formation and Regulation of the Ukrainian Population’s Incomes in the Context of the Middle Class Formation

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Т. S.

2017-12-01

Full Text Available A key criterion for identification of the middle class is income level enabling for the households’ consumption by the socialy acceptable standards. The share of middle class can grow only in parallel with the increasing polulation incomes. The article’s objective is to study incomes of the Ukrainian population in the context of the middle class formation and analyze regulatory mechanisms pertaining to the populations’ incomes and wages in Ukraine. The study is based on the official statistical data for 2012–2016 (population’s incomes and employment, nominal sages in hryvnya and dollar equivelant. The Kaitz index is calculated for Ukraine by data for 2015–2017. An extendive review of the data obtained from the sample survey of householdes on self-assessment of their incomes, conducted in January 2017, is given. The analysis of factors behind the formation of population’s incomes in Ukraine gives evidence of the low life standards in Ukraine, the wide income gap and the threatening scales of poverty. The main source of the population incomes in Ukraine is salary, with the insignificant share of income from property. While the nominal wage was growing year-to-year in 2012–2016, its dollar equivalent reduced twofold. According to the data of the abovemenationed sample survey, only 0.7% of city households and 0.3% of rural ones classified themselves in the middle class. Ukrainian still lacks appropriate mechanisms for regulation of incomes and wages through differentiated taxation of various population strata; the domestic stock market needs to be built in as way to ensure the increasing incomes from property; the rate of minimal wage should be better justified.

Dynamin1 is a novel target for IRSp53 protein and works with mammalian enabled (Mena) protein and Eps8 to regulate filopodial dynamics.

Science.gov (United States)

Chou, Ai Mei; Sem, Kai Ping; Wright, Graham Daniel; Sudhaharan, Thankiah; Ahmed, Sohail

2014-08-29

Filopodia are dynamic actin-based structures that play roles in processes such as cell migration, wound healing, and axonal guidance. Cdc42 induces filopodial formation through IRSp53, an Inverse-Bin-Amphiphysins-Rvs (I-BAR) domain protein. Previous work from a number of laboratories has shown that IRSp53 generates filopodia by coupling membrane protrusion with actin dynamics through its Src homology 3 domain binding partners. Here, we show that dynamin1 (Dyn1), the large guanosine triphosphatase, is an interacting partner of IRSp53 through pulldown and Förster resonance energy transfer analysis, and we explore its role in filopodial formation. In neuroblastoma cells, Dyn1 localizes to filopodia, associated tip complexes, and the leading edge just behind the anti-capping protein mammalian enabled (Mena). Dyn1 knockdown reduces filopodial formation, which can be rescued by overexpressing wild-type Dyn1 but not the GTPase mutant Dyn1-K44A and the loss-of-function actin binding domain mutant Dyn1-K/E. Interestingly, dynasore, an inhibitor of Dyn GTPase, also reduced filopodial number and increased their lifetime. Using rapid time-lapse total internal reflection fluorescence microscopy, we show that Dyn1 and Mena localize to filopodia only during initiation and assembly. Dyn1 actin binding domain mutant inhibits filopodial formation, suggesting a role in actin elongation. In contrast, Eps8, an actin capping protein, is seen most strongly at filopodial tips during disassembly. Taken together, the results suggest IRSp53 partners with Dyn1, Mena, and Eps8 to regulate filopodial dynamics. © 2014 by The American Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Inc.

Making learning fun to increase nursing students’ success: Formative feedback in communication learning

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Samantha Ismaile

2017-12-01

Full Text Available Background Communication skills are taught in most Bachelor of Nursing programs; however, student performance is often not monitored or tested until the final exam. Audience Response System (ARS technology enables the collection of feedback from students during lectures to improve their quality of learning. Aims We assessed the efficacy of ARS technology in promoting the understanding of communication skills among nursing students. Methods Questions were integrated into 14 lectures using the ARS platform Learning Catalytics (LC; Pearson UK, London, UK. Students answered the questions using their own web-enabled mobile devices. One hundred and twenty second-year nursing students participated in this study. Their answers were pooled and prompt formative feedback was provided in the classroom. A questionnaire was distributed to evaluate their perceptions of ARS use. Results All students reported that they enjoyed ARS use: 92 per cent stated that it helped to identify their learning needs and 87 per cent agreed that it promoted the integration of key concepts. The most common theme within the feedback was that of identifying their own learning needs. Repeated questioning produced a significant increase (p < 0.05 in students’ knowledge of specific concepts. Conclusion The use of ARS technology to provide prompt feedback promoted teaching and learning among undergraduate nursing students. ARS use enabled the identification of individual learning needs and aided revision before summative exams. It also improved students’ confidence and understanding of key concepts. Moreover, students of different educational levels and learning styles were identified, tracked and given support through the use of ARS technology.

Enabling School Structures, Collegial Trust and Academic Emphasis: Antecedents of professional learning communities

Science.gov (United States)

Gray, Julie; Kruse, Sharon; Tarter, C. John

2016-01-01

This study tested the role of enabling school structures, collegial trust and academic emphasis in the development of professional learning communities (PLCs) in a low-income school district. The empirical study was based upon the perceptions of teachers and principals as provided by survey responses (N = 67 schools). While enabling school…

Quantitative Experimental Determination of Primer-Dimer Formation Risk by Free-Solution Conjugate Electrophoresis

Science.gov (United States)

Desmarais, Samantha M.; Leitner, Thomas; Barron, Annelise E.

2012-01-01

DNA barcodes are short, unique ssDNA primers that “mark” individual biomolecules. To gain better understanding of biophysical parameters constraining primer-dimer formation between primers that incorporate barcode sequences, we have developed a capillary electrophoresis method that utilizes drag-tag-DNA conjugates to quantify dimerization risk between primer-barcode pairs. Results obtained with this unique free-solution conjugate electrophoresis (FSCE) approach are useful as quantitatively precise input data to parameterize computation models of dimerization risk. A set of fluorescently labeled, model primer-barcode conjugates were designed with complementary regions of differing lengths to quantify heterodimerization as a function of temperature. Primer-dimer cases comprised two 30-mer primers, one of which was covalently conjugated to a lab-made, chemically synthesized poly-N-methoxyethylglycine drag-tag, which reduced electrophoretic mobility of ssDNA to distinguish it from ds primer-dimers. The drag-tags also provided a shift in mobility for the dsDNA species, which allowed us to quantitate primer-dimer formation. In the experimental studies, pairs of oligonucleotide primer-barcodes with fully or partially complementary sequences were annealed, and then separated by free-solution conjugate CE at different temperatures, to assess effects on primer-dimer formation. When less than 30 out of 30 basepairs were bonded, dimerization was inversely correlated to temperature. Dimerization occurred when more than 15 consecutive basepairs formed, yet non-consecutive basepairs did not create stable dimers even when 20 out of 30 possible basepairs bonded. The use of free-solution electrophoresis in combination with a peptoid drag-tag and different fluorophores enabled precise separation of short DNA fragments to establish a new mobility shift assay for detection of primer-dimer formation. PMID:22331820

Color formation in nitrite-free dried hams as related to Zn-protoporphyrin IX and Zn-chelatase activity.

Science.gov (United States)

Parolari, Giovanni; Benedini, Riccardo; Toscani, Tania

2009-08-01

The development of red pigment Zn-protoporphyrin IX (ZPP) in nitrite-free Parma hams was investigated in 5 leg muscles at several stages of processing and the activity of muscle Zn-chelatase was concurrently assayed for its potential role in ZPP formation. A steady increase of the pigment was observed throughout the manufacturing stages at mild temperatures while no development was observed during the prior cold resting phase. The enzyme was partly inactivated according to a muscle-dependent pattern, resulting in similar ZPP contents, hence color, in finished hams. It is concluded that enzyme-dependent synthesis of ZPP in nitrite-free dried hams contributes to color development, enabling muscles in dried hams to become more similar in redness than in green thighs. Therefore, checking raw meat for the enzyme content may be a means to control color formation in nitrite-free dry-cured meat derivatives.

ENABLING USE OF STANDARD COSTING IN LEAN ORGANIZATIONS AS DETERMINANT OF GOAL CONGRUENT BEHAVIOR

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Kristensen, Thomas Borup; Israelsen, Poul

2014-01-01

Using the enabling formalization framework in two longitudinal case studies combined with a survey in the companies, we find that a standard costing model can be perceived as a form of enabling formalization in Lean organizations. Hence, standard costing cannot be characterized as coercive...... formalization per se. This contradicts conventional wisdom. Repair is a feature of enabling formalization through the use of standard costing. Applying a structural equation model, we present evidence that this repair feature has a direct effect on behavior that is congruent with Lean objectives. Internal...... and global transparency together with flexibility are three other features of enabling formalization through use of standard costing, but these have an indirect effect on Lean-goal-congruent behavior through the repair feature. Thus, these three features are antecedents of the repair feature, and we also...

Do 'enabling technologies' affect customer performance in price-responsive load programs?

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Goldman, Charles A.; Kintner-Meyer, Michael; Heffner, Grayson

2002-01-01

Price-responsive load (PRL) programs vary significantly in overall design, the complexity of relationships between program administrators, load aggregators, and customers, and the availability of ''enabling technologies''. Enabling technologies include such features as web-based power system and price monitoring, control and dispatch of curtailable loads, communications and information systems links to program participants, availability of interval metering data to customers in near real time, and building/facility/end-use automation and management capabilities. Two state agencies - NYSERDA in New York and the CEC in California - have been conspicuous leaders in the demonstration of demand response (DR) programs utilizing enabling technologies. In partnership with key stakeholders in these two states (e.g., grid operator, state energy agencies, and program administrators), Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL) and Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) surveyed 56 customers who worked with five contractors participating in CEC or NYSERDA-sponsored DR programs. We combined market research and actual load curtailment data when available (i.e., New York) or customer load reduction targets in order to explore the relative importance of contractor's program design features, sophistication of control strategies, and reliance on enabling technologies in predicting customer's ability to deliver load reductions in DR programs targeted to large commercial/industrial customers. We found preliminary evidence that DR enabling technology has a positive effect on load curtailment potential. Many customers indicated that web-based energy information tools were useful for facilitating demand response (e.g., assessing actual performance compared to load reduction contract commitments), that multiple notification channels facilitated timely response, and that support for and use of backup generation allowed customers to achieve significant and predictable load

Semantically Enabling Knowledge Representation of Metamorphic Petrology Data

Science.gov (United States)

West, P.; Fox, P. A.; Spear, F. S.; Adali, S.; Nguyen, C.; Hallett, B. W.; Horkley, L. K.

2012-12-01

More and more metamorphic petrology data is being collected around the world, and is now being organized together into different virtual data portals by means of virtual organizations. For example, there is the virtual data portal Petrological Database (PetDB, http://www.petdb.org) of the Ocean Floor that is organizing scientific information about geochemical data of ocean floor igneous and metamorphic rocks; and also The Metamorphic Petrology Database (MetPetDB, http://metpetdb.rpi.edu) that is being created by a global community of metamorphic petrologists in collaboration with software engineers and data managers at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. The current focus is to provide the ability for scientists and researchers to register their data and search the databases for information regarding sample collections. What we present here is the next step in evolution of the MetPetDB portal, utilizing semantically enabled features such as discovery, data casting, faceted search, knowledge representation, and linked data as well as organizing information about the community and collaboration within the virtual community itself. We take the information that is currently represented in a relational database and make it available through web services, SPARQL endpoints, semantic and triple-stores where inferencing is enabled. We will be leveraging research that has taken place in virtual observatories, such as the Virtual Solar Terrestrial Observatory (VSTO) and the Biological and Chemical Oceanography Data Management Office (BCO-DMO); vocabulary work done in various communities such as Observations and Measurements (ISO 19156), FOAF (Friend of a Friend), Bibo (Bibliography Ontology), and domain specific ontologies; enabling provenance traces of samples and subsamples using the different provenance ontologies; and providing the much needed linking of data from the various research organizations into a common, collaborative virtual observatory. In addition to better

Biomolecular Mechanisms of Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Escherichia coli Biofilm Formation

Science.gov (United States)

Laverty, Garry; Gorman, Sean P.; Gilmore, Brendan F.

2014-01-01

Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Escherichia coli are the most prevalent Gram-negative biofilm forming medical device associated pathogens, particularly with respect to catheter associated urinary tract infections. In a similar manner to Gram-positive bacteria, Gram-negative biofilm formation is fundamentally determined by a series of steps outlined more fully in this review, namely adhesion, cellular aggregation, and the production of an extracellular polymeric matrix. More specifically this review will explore the biosynthesis and role of pili and flagella in Gram-negative adhesion and accumulation on surfaces in Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Escherichia coli. The process of biofilm maturation is compared and contrasted in both species, namely the production of the exopolysaccharides via the polysaccharide synthesis locus (Psl), pellicle Formation (Pel) and alginic acid synthesis in Pseudomonas aeruginosa, and UDP-4-amino-4-deoxy-l-arabinose and colonic acid synthesis in Escherichia coli. An emphasis is placed on the importance of the LuxR homologue sdiA; the luxS/autoinducer-II; an autoinducer-III/epinephrine/norepinephrine and indole mediated Quorum sensing systems in enabling Gram-negative bacteria to adapt to their environments. The majority of Gram-negative biofilms consist of polysaccharides of a simple sugar structure (either homo- or heteropolysaccharides) that provide an optimum environment for the survival and maturation of bacteria, allowing them to display increased resistance to antibiotics and predation. PMID:25438014

Biomolecular Mechanisms of Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Escherichia coli Biofilm Formation

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Garry Laverty

2014-07-01

Full Text Available Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Escherichia coli are the most prevalent Gram-negative biofilm forming medical device associated pathogens, particularly with respect to catheter associated urinary tract infections. In a similar manner to Gram-positive bacteria, Gram-negative biofilm formation is fundamentally determined by a series of steps outlined more fully in this review, namely adhesion, cellular aggregation, and the production of an extracellular polymeric matrix. More specifically this review will explore the biosynthesis and role of pili and flagella in Gram-negative adhesion and accumulation on surfaces in Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Escherichia coli. The process of biofilm maturation is compared and contrasted in both species, namely the production of the exopolysaccharides via the polysaccharide synthesis locus (Psl, pellicle Formation (Pel and alginic acid synthesis in Pseudomonas aeruginosa, and UDP-4-amino-4-deoxy-l-arabinose and colonic acid synthesis in Escherichia coli. An emphasis is placed on the importance of the LuxR homologue sdiA; the luxS/autoinducer-II; an autoinducer-III/epinephrine/norepinephrine and indole mediated Quorum sensing systems in enabling Gram-negative bacteria to adapt to their environments. The majority of Gram-negative biofilms consist of polysaccharides of a simple sugar structure (either homo- or heteropolysaccharides that provide an optimum environment for the survival and maturation of bacteria, allowing them to display increased resistance to antibiotics and predation.

Qualitative metabolomics profiling of serum and bile from dogs with gallbladder mucocele formation

Science.gov (United States)

Mathews, Kyle G.; Cullen, John; Seiler, Gabriela

2018-01-01

Mucocele formation is characterized by secretion of abnormally thick mucus by the gallbladder epithelium of dogs that may cause obstruction of the bile duct or rupture of the gallbladder. The disease is increasingly recognized and is associated with a high morbidity and mortality. The cause of gallbladder mucocele formation in dogs is unknown. There is a strong breed predisposition and affected dogs have a high incidence of concurrent endocrinopathy or hyperlipidemia. These observations suggest a significant influence of both genetic and metabolic factors on disease pathogenesis. In this study, we investigated a theory that mucocele formation is associated with a syndrome of metabolic disruption. We surmised that a global, untargeted metabolomics approach could provide unique insight into the systemic pathogenesis of gallbladder mucocele formation and identify specific compounds as candidate biomarkers or treatment targets. Moreover, concurrent examination of the serum and hepatic duct bile metabolome would enable the construction of mechanism-based theories or identification of specific compounds responsible for altered function of the gallbladder epithelium. Abnormalities observed in dogs with gallbladder mucocele formation, including a 33-fold decrease in serum adenosine 5’-monophosphate (AMP), lower quantities of precursors required for synthesis of energy transporting nucleotides, and increases in citric acid cycle intermediates, suggest excess metabolic energy and a carbon surplus. Altered quantities of compounds involved in protein translation and RNA turnover, together with accumulation of gamma-glutamylated and N-acetylated amino acids in serum suggest abnormal regulation of protein and amino acid metabolism. Increases in lathosterol and 7α-hydroxycholesterol suggest a primary increase in cholesterol synthesis and diversion to bile acid formation. A number of specific biomarker compounds were identified for their ability to distinguish between control

Enablers of and barriers to abortion training.

Science.gov (United States)

Guiahi, Maryam; Lim, Sahnah; Westover, Corey; Gold, Marji; Westhoff, Carolyn L

2013-06-01

Since the legalization of abortion services in the United States, provision of abortions has remained a controversial issue of high political interest. Routine abortion training is not offered at all obstetrics and gynecology (Ob-Gyn) training programs, despite a specific training requirement by the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education. Previous studies that described Ob-Gyn programs with routine abortion training either examined associations by using national surveys of program directors or described the experience of a single program. We set out to identify enablers of and barriers to Ob-Gyn abortion training in the context of a New York City political initiative, in order to better understand how to improve abortion training at other sites. We conducted in-depth qualitative interviews with 22 stakeholders from 7 New York City public hospitals and focus group interviews with 62 current residents at 6 sites. Enablers of abortion training included program location, high-capacity services, faculty commitment to abortion training, external programmatic support, and resident interest. Barriers to abortion training included lack of leadership continuity, leadership conflict, lack of second-trimester abortion services, difficulty obtaining mifepristone, optional rather than routine training, and antiabortion values of hospital personnel. Supportive leadership, faculty commitment, and external programmatic support appear to be key elements for establishing routine abortion training at Ob-Gyn residency training programs.

Enabling Pedagogy and Andragogy for 21st-Century Sign Language Users and Learners

Science.gov (United States)

Hermann-Shores, Patricia

2017-01-01

Enabling pedagogy and andragogy is discussed as a form of lifelong learning in which learners attain competences and skills as children (pedagogy) and as adults (andragogy) that enable them to engage in independent learning in the 21st century. Throughout the article the author avoids as much as possible the labels "deaf" and…

Enabling spaces in education research: an agenda for impactful ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

An enabling schools research agenda could intentionally guide inquiry into that which supports education, where chronic poverty renders society as characteristically less equal. Keywords: barriers to education; buffers in education; egalitarian political philosophy; equality of opportunity; global South education; high risk ...

NREL's Advanced Atomic Layer Deposition Enables Lithium-Ion Battery

Science.gov (United States)

Battery Technology News Release: NREL's Advanced Atomic Layer Deposition Enables Lithium-Ion Battery increasingly demanding needs of any battery application. These lithium-ion batteries feature a hybrid solid further customized lithium-ion battery materials for high performance devices by utilizing our patented

Enabling Success: 2011-2012 Think Tank Initiative Annual Report ...

International Development Research Centre (IDRC) Digital Library (Canada)

2013-06-12

In addition to a review of the Initiative's overall progress, this year's annual report, Enabling Success, captures the conversations at last year's TTI Exchange in Cape Town about what it means to be a ... English · Français ... June 12, 2013.