WorldWideScience

Sample records for enabling technologies esg-cet

  1. Building a global federation system for climate change research: the earth system grid center for enabling technologies (ESG-CET)

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Ananthakrishnan, R; Bernholdt, D E; Bharathi, S; Brown, D; Chen, M; Chervenak, A L; Cinquini, L; Drach, R; Foster, I T; Fox, P; Fraser, D; Halliday, K; Hankin, S; Jones, P; Kesselman, C; Middleton, D E; Schwidder, J; Schweitzer, R; Schuler, R; Shoshani, A; Siebenlist, F; Sim, A; Strand, W G; Wilhelmi, N; Su, M; Williams, D N

    2007-01-01

    The recent release of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) 4th Assessment Report (AR4) has generated significant media attention. Much has been said about the US role in this report, which included significant support from the Department of Energy through the Scientific Discovery through Advanced Computing (SciDAC) and other Department of Energy (DOE) programs for climate model development and the production execution of simulations. The SciDAC-supported Earth System Grid Center for Enabling Technologies (ESG-CET) also played a major role in the IPCC AR4: all of the simulation data that went into the report was made available to climate scientists worldwide exclusively via the ESG-CET At the same time as the IPCC AR4 database was being developed, the National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR), a leading US climate science laboratory and a ESG participant, began publishing model runs from the Community Climate System Model (CCSM), and its predecessor the Parallel Coupled Model (PCM) through ESG In aggregate, ESG-CET provides seamless access to over 180 terabytes of distributed climate simulation data to over 6,000 registered users worldwide, who have taken delivery of more than 250 terabytes from the archive. Not only does this represent a substantial advance in scientific knowledge, it is also a major step forward in how we conduct the research process on a global scale. Moving forward, the next IPCC assessment report, AR5, will demand multi-site metadata federation for data discovery and cross-domain identity management for single sign-on of users in a more diverse federation enterprise environment. Towards this aim, ESG is leading the effort in the climate community towards standardization of material for the global federation of metadata, security, and data services required to standardize, analyze, and access data worldwide

  2. The Earth System Grid Center for Enabling Technologies (ESG-CET): Scaling the Earth System Grid to Petascale Data

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Williams, Dean N. [Lawrence Livermore National Lab. (LLNL), Livermore, CA (United States)

    2007-09-27

    This report, which summarizes work carried out by the ESG-CET during the period April 1, 2007 through September 30, 2007, includes discussion of overall progress, period goals, highlights, collaborations and presentations. To learn more about our project, please visit the Earth System Grid website. In addition, this report will be forwarded to the DOE SciDAC project management, the Office of Biological and Environmental Research (OBER) project management, national and international stakeholders (e.g., the Community Climate System Model (CCSM), the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) 5th Assessment Report (AR5), the Climate Science Computational End Station (CCES), etc.), and collaborators. The ESG-CET executive committee consists of David Bernholdt, ORNL; Ian Foster, ANL; Don Middleton, NCAR; and Dean Williams, LLNL. The ESG-CET team is a collective of researchers and scientists with diverse domain knowledge, whose home institutions include seven laboratories (ANL, LANL, LBNL, LLNL, NCAR, ORNL, PMEL) and one university (ISI/USC); all work in close collaboration with the project's stakeholders and domain researchers and scientists. During this semi-annual reporting period, the ESG-CET increased its efforts on completing requirement documents, framework design, and component prototyping. As we strove to complete and expand the overall ESG-CET architectural plans and use-case scenarios to fit our constituency's scope of use, we continued to provide production-level services to the community. These services continued for IPCC AR4, CCES, and CCSM, and were extended to include Cloud Feedback Model Intercomparison Project (CFMIP) data.

  3. ESG-CET Final Progress Title

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Don Middleton

    2011-10-06

    Drawing to a close after five years of funding from DOE's ASCR and BER program offices, the SciDAC-2 project called the Earth System Grid (ESG) Center for Enabling Technologies has successfully established a new capability for serving data from distributed centers. The system enables users to access, analyze, and visualize data using a globally federated collection of networks, computers and software. The ESG software - now known as the Earth System Grid Federation (ESGF) - has attracted a broad developer base and has been widely adopted so that it is now being utilized in serving the most comprehensive multi-model climate data sets in the world. The system is used to support international climate model intercomparison activities as well as high profile U.S. DOE, NOAA, NASA, and NSF projects. It currently provides more than 25,000 users access to more than half a petabyte of climate data (from models and from observations) and has enabled over a 1,000 scientific publications.

  4. SciDAC's Earth System Grid Center for Enabling Technologies Semi-Annual Progress Report for the Period April 1, 2009 through September 30, 2009

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Williams, Dean N. [Lawrence Livermore National Lab. (LLNL), Livermore, CA (United States); Foster, I. T. [Argonne National Lab. (ANL), Argonne, IL (United States); Middleton, D. E. [National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR), Boulder, CO (United States)

    2009-10-15

    This report summarizes work carried out by the ESG-CET during the period April 1, 2009 through September 30, 2009. It includes discussion of highlights, overall progress, period goals, collaborations, papers, and presentations. To learn more about our project, and to find previous reports, please visit the Earth System Grid Center for Enabling Technologies (ESG-CET) website. This report will be forwarded to the DOE SciDAC program management, the Office of Biological and Environmental Research (OBER) program management, national and international collaborators and stakeholders (e.g., the Community Climate System Model (CCSM), the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) 5th Assessment Report (AR5), the Climate Science Computational End Station (CCES), the SciDAC II: A Scalable and Extensible Earth System Model for Climate Change Science, the North American Regional Climate Change Assessment Program (NARCCAP), and other wide-ranging climate model evaluation activities). During this semi-annual reporting period, the ESG-CET team continued its efforts to complete software components needed for the ESG Gateway and Data Node. These components include: Data Versioning, Data Replication, DataMover-Lite (DML) and Bulk Data Mover (BDM), Metrics, Product Services, and Security, all joining together to form ESG-CET's first beta release. The launch of the beta release is scheduled for late October with the installation of ESG Gateways at NCAR and LLNL/PCMDI. Using the developed ESG Data Publisher, the ESG II CMIP3 (IPCC AR4) data holdings - approximately 35 TB - will be among the first datasets to be published into the new ESG enterprise system. In addition, the NCAR's ESG II data holdings will also be published into the new system - approximately 200 TB. This period also saw the testing of the ESG Data Node at various collaboration sites, including: the British Atmospheric Data Center (BADC), the Max-Planck-Institute for Meteorology, the University of Tokyo

  5. SciDAC's Earth System Grid Center for Enabling Technologies Semiannual Progress Report October 1, 2010 through March 31, 2011

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Williams, Dean N. [Lawrence Livermore National Lab. (LLNL), Livermore, CA (United States)

    2011-04-02

    This report summarizes work carried out by the Earth System Grid Center for Enabling Technologies (ESG-CET) from October 1, 2010 through March 31, 2011. It discusses ESG-CET highlights for the reporting period, overall progress, period goals, and collaborations, and lists papers and presentations. To learn more about our project and to find previous reports, please visit the ESG-CET Web sites: http://esg-pcmdi.llnl.gov/ and/or https://wiki.ucar.edu/display/esgcet/Home. This report will be forwarded to managers in the Department of Energy (DOE) Scientific Discovery through Advanced Computing (SciDAC) program and the Office of Biological and Environmental Research (OBER), as well as national and international collaborators and stakeholders (e.g., those involved in the Coupled Model Intercomparison Project, phase 5 (CMIP5) for the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) 5th Assessment Report (AR5); the Community Earth System Model (CESM); the Climate Science Computational End Station (CCES); SciDAC II: A Scalable and Extensible Earth System Model for Climate Change Science; the North American Regional Climate Change Assessment Program (NARCCAP); the Atmospheric Radiation Measurement (ARM) program; the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA)), and also to researchers working on a variety of other climate model and observation evaluation activities. The ESG-CET executive committee consists of Dean N. Williams, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL); Ian Foster, Argonne National Laboratory (ANL); and Don Middleton, National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR). The ESG-CET team is a group of researchers and scientists with diverse domain knowledge, whose home institutions include eight laboratories and two universities: ANL, Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL), Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL), LLNL, NASA/Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), NCAR, Oak Ridge National

  6. SciDAC's Earth System Grid Center for Enabling Technologies Semi-Annual Progress Report for the Period October 1, 2009 through March 31, 2010

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Williams, Dean N. [Lawrence Livermore National Lab. (LLNL), Livermore, CA (United States); Foster, I. T. [Argonne National Lab. (ANL), Argonne, IL (United States); Middleton, D. E. [National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR), Boulder, CO (United States); Ananthakrishnan, R. [Argonne National Lab. (ANL), Argonne, IL (United States); Siebenlist, F. [Argonne National Lab. (ANL), Argonne, IL (United States); Shoshani, A. [Lawrence Berkeley National Lab. (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States); Sim, A. [Lawrence Berkeley National Lab. (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States); Bell, G. [Lawrence Livermore National Lab. (LLNL), Livermore, CA (United States); Drach, R. [Lawrence Livermore National Lab. (LLNL), Livermore, CA (United States); Ahrens, J. [Los Alamos National Lab. (LANL), Los Alamos, NM (United States); Jones, P. [Los Alamos National Lab. (LANL), Los Alamos, NM (United States); Brown, D. [National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR), Boulder, CO (United States); Chastang, J. [National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR), Boulder, CO (United States); Cinquini, L. [National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR), Boulder, CO (United States); Fox, P. [National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR), Boulder, CO (United States); Harper, D. [National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR), Boulder, CO (United States); Hook, N. [National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR), Boulder, CO (United States); Nienhouse, E. [National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR), Boulder, CO (United States); Strand, G. [National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR), Boulder, CO (United States); West, P. [National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR), Boulder, CO (United States); Wilcox, H. [National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR), Boulder, CO (United States); Wilhelmi, N. [National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR), Boulder, CO (United States); Zednik, S. [National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR), Boulder, CO (United States); Hankin, S. [National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Washington, DC (United States); Schweitzer, R. [National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Washington, DC (United States); Bernholdt, D. [Oak Ridge National Lab. (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States); Chen, M. [Oak Ridge National Lab. (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States); Miller, R. [Oak Ridge National Lab. (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States); Shipman, G. [Oak Ridge National Lab. (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States); Wang, F. [Oak Ridge National Lab. (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States); Bharathi, S. [Univ. of Southern California, Marina Del Rey, CA (United States). Information Sciences Institute; Chervenak, A. [Univ. of Southern California, Marina Del Rey, CA (United States). Information Sciences Institute; Schuler, R. [Univ. of Southern California, Marina Del Rey, CA (United States). Information Sciences Institute; Su, M. [Univ. of Southern California, Marina Del Rey, CA (United States). Information Sciences Institute

    2010-04-21

    This report summarizes work carried out by the ESG-CET during the period October 1, 2009 through March 31, 2009. It includes discussion of highlights, overall progress, period goals, collaborations, papers, and presentations. To learn more about our project, and to find previous reports, please visit the Earth System Grid Center for Enabling Technologies (ESG-CET) website. This report will be forwarded to the DOE SciDAC program management, the Office of Biological and Environmental Research (OBER) program management, national and international collaborators and stakeholders (e.g., the Community Climate System Model (CCSM), the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) 5th Assessment Report (AR5), the Climate Science Computational End Station (CCES), the SciDAC II: A Scalable and Extensible Earth System Model for Climate Change Science, the North American Regional Climate Change Assessment Program (NARCCAP), and other wide-ranging climate model evaluation activities).

  7. DOE SciDAC's Earth System Grid Center for Enabling Technologies Final Report

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Williams, Dean N. [Lawrence Livermore National Lab. (LLNL), Livermore, CA (United States)

    2011-09-27

    The mission of the Earth System Grid Federation (ESGF) is to provide the worldwide climate-research community with access to the data, information, model codes, analysis tools, and intercomparison capabilities required to make sense of enormous climate data sets. Its specific goals are to (1) provide an easy-to-use and secure web-based data access environment for data sets; (2) add value to individual data sets by presenting them in the context of other data sets and tools for comparative analysis; (3) address the specific requirements of participating organizations with respect to bandwidth, access restrictions, and replication; (4) ensure that the data are readily accessible through the analysis and visualization tools used by the climate research community; and (5) transfer infrastructure advances to other domain areas. For the ESGF, the U.S. Department of Energy's (DOE's) Earth System Grid Center for Enabling Technologies (ESG-CET) team has led international development and delivered a production environment for managing and accessing ultra-scale climate data. This production environment includes multiple national and international climate projects (such as the Community Earth System Model and the Coupled Model Intercomparison Project), ocean model data (such as the Parallel Ocean Program), observation data (Atmospheric Radiation Measurement Best Estimate, Carbon Dioxide Information and Analysis Center, Atmospheric Infrared Sounder, etc.), and analysis and visualization tools, all serving a diverse user community. These data holdings and services are distributed across multiple ESG-CET sites (such as ANL, LANL, LBNL/NERSC, LLNL/PCMDI, NCAR, and ORNL) and at unfunded partner sites, such as the Australian National University National Computational Infrastructure, the British Atmospheric Data Centre, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Geophysical Fluid Dynamics Laboratory, the Max Planck Institute for Meteorology, the German Climate

  8. DOE SciDAC’s Earth System Grid Center for Enabling Technologies Final Report for University of Southern California Information Sciences Institute

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Chervenak, Ann Louise [Univ. of Southern California Information Sciences Inst., Marina del Rey, CA (United States)

    2013-12-19

    The mission of the Earth System Grid Federation (ESGF) is to provide the worldwide climate-research community with access to the data, information, model codes, analysis tools, and intercomparison capabilities required to make sense of enormous climate data sets. Its specific goals are to (1) provide an easy-to-use and secure web-based data access environment for data sets; (2) add value to individual data sets by presenting them in the context of other data sets and tools for comparative analysis; (3) address the specific requirements of participating organizations with respect to bandwidth, access restrictions, and replication; (4) ensure that the data are readily accessible through the analysis and visualization tools used by the climate research community; and (5) transfer infrastructure advances to other domain areas. For the ESGF, the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE’s) Earth System Grid Center for Enabling Technologies (ESG-CET) team has led international development and delivered a production environment for managing and accessing ultra-scale climate data. This production environment includes multiple national and international climate projects (such as the Community Earth System Model and the Coupled Model Intercomparison Project), ocean model data (such as the Parallel Ocean Program), observation data (Atmospheric Radiation Measurement Best Estimate, Carbon Dioxide Information and Analysis Center, Atmospheric Infrared Sounder, etc.), and analysis and visualization tools, all serving a diverse user community. These data holdings and services are distributed across multiple ESG-CET sites (such as ANL, LANL, LBNL/NERSC, LLNL/PCMDI, NCAR, and ORNL) and at unfunded partner sites, such as the Australian National University National Computational Infrastructure, the British Atmospheric Data Centre, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Geophysical Fluid Dynamics Laboratory, the Max Planck Institute for Meteorology, the German Climate Computing

  9. Data management and analysis for the Earth System Grid

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Williams, D N; Drach, R; Henson, V E [Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, Livermore, CA 94550 (United States); Ananthakrishnan, R; Foster, I T; Siebenlist, F [Argonne National Laboratory, Argonne, IL 60439 (United States); Bernholdt, D E; Chen, M; Schwidder, J [Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Oak Ridge, TN 37831 (United States); Bharathi, S; Chervenak, A L; Schuler, R [University of Southern California, Information Sciences Institute, Marina del Ray, CA 90292 (United States); Brown, D; Cinquini, L; Fox, P; Middleton, D E [National Center for Atmospheric Research, Boulder, CO 80307 (United States); Hankin, S; Schweitzer, R [National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (PMEL), Seattle, WA 98115 (United States); Jones, P [Los Alamos National Laboratory, Los Alamos, NM 87545 (United States); Shoshani, A [Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Berkeley, CA 94720 (United States)], E-mail: williams13@llnl.gov, E-mail: don@ucar.edu, E-mail: itf@mcs.anl.gov, E-mail: bernholdtde@ornl.gov (and others)

    2008-07-15

    The international climate community is expected to generate hundreds of petabytes of simulation data within the next five to seven years. This data must be accessed and analyzed by thousands of analysts worldwide in order to provide accurate and timely estimates of the likely impact of climate change on physical, biological, and human systems. Climate change is thus not only a scientific challenge of the first order but also a major technological challenge. In order to address this technological challenge, the Earth System Grid Center for Enabling Technologies (ESG-CET) has been established within the U.S. Department of Energy's Scientific Discovery through Advanced Computing (SciDAC)-2 program, with support from the offices of Advanced Scientific Computing Research and Biological and Environmental Research. ESG-CET's mission is to provide climate researchers worldwide with access to the data, information, models, analysis tools, and computational capabilities required to make sense of enormous climate simulation datasets. Its specific goals are to (1) make data more useful to climate researchers by developing Grid technology that enhances data usability; (2) meet specific distributed database, data access, and data movement needs of national and international climate projects; (3) provide a universal and secure web-based data access portal for broad multi-model data collections; and (4) provide a wide-range of Grid-enabled climate data analysis tools and diagnostic methods to international climate centers and U.S. government agencies. Building on the successes of the previous Earth System Grid (ESG) project, which has enabled thousands of researchers to access tens of terabytes of data from a small number of ESG sites, ESG-CET is working to integrate a far larger number of distributed data providers, high-bandwidth wide-area networks, and remote computers in a highly collaborative problem-solving environment.

  10. Data management and analysis for the Earth System Grid

    Science.gov (United States)

    Williams, D. N.; Ananthakrishnan, R.; Bernholdt, D. E.; Bharathi, S.; Brown, D.; Chen, M.; Chervenak, A. L.; Cinquini, L.; Drach, R.; Foster, I. T.; Fox, P.; Hankin, S.; Henson, V. E.; Jones, P.; Middleton, D. E.; Schwidder, J.; Schweitzer, R.; Schuler, R.; Shoshani, A.; Siebenlist, F.; Sim, A.; Strand, W. G.; Wilhelmi, N.; Su, M.

    2008-07-01

    The international climate community is expected to generate hundreds of petabytes of simulation data within the next five to seven years. This data must be accessed and analyzed by thousands of analysts worldwide in order to provide accurate and timely estimates of the likely impact of climate change on physical, biological, and human systems. Climate change is thus not only a scientific challenge of the first order but also a major technological challenge. In order to address this technological challenge, the Earth System Grid Center for Enabling Technologies (ESG-CET) has been established within the U.S. Department of Energy's Scientific Discovery through Advanced Computing (SciDAC)-2 program, with support from the offices of Advanced Scientific Computing Research and Biological and Environmental Research. ESG-CET's mission is to provide climate researchers worldwide with access to the data, information, models, analysis tools, and computational capabilities required to make sense of enormous climate simulation datasets. Its specific goals are to (1) make data more useful to climate researchers by developing Grid technology that enhances data usability; (2) meet specific distributed database, data access, and data movement needs of national and international climate projects; (3) provide a universal and secure web-based data access portal for broad multi-model data collections; and (4) provide a wide-range of Grid-enabled climate data analysis tools and diagnostic methods to international climate centers and U.S. government agencies. Building on the successes of the previous Earth System Grid (ESG) project, which has enabled thousands of researchers to access tens of terabytes of data from a small number of ESG sites, ESG-CET is working to integrate a far larger number of distributed data providers, high-bandwidth wide-area networks, and remote computers in a highly collaborative problem-solving environment.

  11. ESG Allocations

    Data.gov (United States)

    Department of Housing and Urban Development — This report displays the Emergency Solutions Grants (ESG), formerly Emergency Shelter Grants, allocation by jurisdiction. The website allows users to look at...

  12. IMPLEMENTATION OF ESG FOR INTERNATIONAL JOINT EDUCATION PROGRAMMES

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Vera I. Zabotkina

    2016-12-01

    Full Text Available Introduction: joint international programmes stimulate staff and student mobility, provide joint studies, provide development of joint study programmes of excellence, and open up new possibilities for cooperation between countries. Promotion and development of joint international programmes depend on effective quality assurance system which is high on the universities` priority list. ESG provide solid basis for the quality assurance system development at both institutional and programme levels. The problems of ESG interpretation in compliance with national legislative systems and education traditions in the countries participating in Bologna process are paid much attention to. Our emphases are on the practical aspects of ESG (2015 version implementation. The article concentrates on one of the most acute problems facing Russian Higher Education Institutions in the field of development and promotion of joint international programs: the problem of setting up modern quality assurance systems compatible with those in European HEIs is closely correlating with the profile of the journal “Integration of Education”. The journal centers around the publications on the enhancement and dissemination of the best practices on integration of regional education in Russia and abroad. Materials and Methods: methodical and practical aspects of the implementation of the ESG provisions for international joint educational programs on the basis of the European approach to education quality are the materials of study. The descriptive method, analysis of documents about education quality, and synthesis were used as research methods. Results: the authors come up with concrete recommendations for the implementation of the ESG renewed version (2015 in Quality Assurance systems of joint international programmes. This approach enhances the practical value of ESG. Modern Quality Assurance system is one of the main prerequisites for the successful collaboration among higher

  13. PMEL contributions to the collaboration: SCALING THE EARTH SYSTEM GRID TO PETASCALE DATA for the DOE SciDACs Earth System Grid Center for Enabling Technologies

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Hankin, Steve

    2012-06-01

    Drawing to a close after five years of funding from DOE's ASCR and BER program offices, the SciDAC-2 project called the Earth System Grid (ESG) Center for Enabling Technologies has successfully established a new capability for serving data from distributed centers. The system enables users to access, analyze, and visualize data using a globally federated collection of networks, computers and software. The ESG software now known as the Earth System Grid Federation (ESGF) has attracted a broad developer base and has been widely adopted so that it is now being utilized in serving the most comprehensive multi-model climate data sets in the world. The system is used to support international climate model intercomparison activities as well as high profile U.S. DOE, NOAA, NASA, and NSF projects. It currently provides more than 25,000 users access to more than half a petabyte of climate data (from models and from observations) and has enabled over a 1,000 scientific publications.

  14. Emergency Shelter Grantee (ESG) Areas

    Data.gov (United States)

    Department of Housing and Urban Development — The Emergency Shelter Grants (ESG) program is designed to identify sheltered and unsheltered homeless persons, as well as those at risk of homelessness, and provide...

  15. ESG Issues among Fund Managers—Factors and Motives

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Justyna Przychodzen

    2016-10-01

    Full Text Available This paper investigates the motives, behavior, and characteristics shaping mutual fund managers’ willingness to incorporate Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG issues into investment decision making. Using survey evidence from fund managers from five different countries, we demonstrate that this predisposition is the stronger, the shorter their average forecasting horizon and the higher their level of reliance on business risk in portfolio management is. We also find that the propensity to incorporate ESG factors is positively related to an increasing level of risk aversion, an increasing importance of salary change and senior management approval/disapproval as motivating factors as well as length of professional experience in current fund and increasing significance of assessment by superiors in remuneration. Overall, our evidence suggests that ESG diligence among fund managers serves mainly as a method for mitigating risk and is typically motivated by herding; it is much less important as a tool for additional value creation. The prevalent use of ESG criteria in mitigating risk is in contrast with traditional approach, but it is in line with behavioral finance theory. Additionally, our results also show a strong difference in the length of the forecasting horizon between continental European and Anglo-Saxon fund managers.

  16. CET Terminology change

    CERN Multimedia

    2010-01-01

    During 2009, an interdepartmental team composed of members of the accounting and central / departmental planning & controlling services revised the CET glossary with the aim of adapting the existing CET fields and columns labels to the new vocabulary recently employed in the CERN financial rules (following the implementation of IPSAS1) recommendations at CERN), annual accounts and, in general, in the accounting. The AIS team in charge of CET has finalized the implementation of this glossary change. As of 13 April 2010, a standard pop-up message (CET news) appears on opening the CET session, informing users about the planned modifications. As of 3rd May 2010, a new version of CET, that will contain modifications of certain fields and columns labels will be deployed. The main changes apply to the following terms: “CHARGED TO BUDGET CODE” replaces “PAID TO BUDGET CODE”, “ACCRUALS” replaces “PROVISIONS” and “PAID TO SU...

  17. The Environmental Scenario Generator (ESG: a distributed environmental data archive analysis tool

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    E A Kihn

    2006-01-01

    Full Text Available The Environmental Scenario Generator (ESG is a network distributed software system designed to allow a user to interact with archives of environmental data for the purpose of scenario extraction, data analysis and integration with existing models that require environmental input. The ESG uses fuzzy-logic based search tools to allow a user to look for specific environmental scenarios in vast archives by specifying the search in human linguistic terms. For example, the user can specify a scenario such as a "cloud free week" or "high winds and low pressure" and then search relevant archives available across the network to get a list of matching events. The ESG hooks to existing archives of data by providing a simple communication framework and an efficient data model for exchanging data. Once data has been delivered by the distributed archives in the ESG data model, it can easily be accessed by the visualization, integration and analysis components to meet specific user requests. The ESG implementation provides a framework which can be taken as a pattern applicable to other distributed archive systems.

  18. Enhancing the Earth System Grid Authentication Infrastructure through Single Sign-On and Autoprovisioning

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Siebenlist, Frank [Oak Ridge National Lab. (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States); Bernholdt, David E. [Oak Ridge National Lab. (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States); Williams, Dean N. [Oak Ridge National Lab. (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States)

    2009-01-01

    Climate scientists face an overarching need to efficiently access and manipulate climate model data. Increasingly, researchers must assemble and analyze large datasets that are archived in different formats on disparate platforms and must extract portions of datasets to compute statistical or diagnostic metrics in place. The need for a common virtual environment in which to access both climate model datasets and analysis tools is therefore keenly felt. The software infrastructure to support such an environment must not only provide ready access to climate data but must also facilitate the use of visualization software, diagnostic algorithms, and related resources. To this end, the Earth System Grid Center for Enabling Technologies (ESG-CET) was established in 2006 by the Scientific Discovery through Advanced Computing program of the U.S. Department of Energy through the Office of Advanced Scientific Computing Research and the Office Biological and Environmental Research within the Office of Science. ESG-CET is working to advance climate science by developing computational resources for accessing and managing model data that are physically located in distributed multiplatform archives. In this paper, we discuss recent development and implementation efforts by the Earth System Grid (ESG) concerning its security infrastructure. ESG's requirements are to make user logon as easy as possible and to facilitate the integration of security services and Grid components for both developers and system administrators. To meet that goal, we leverage existing primary authentication mechanisms, deploy a 'lightweight' but secure OpenID WebSSO, deploy a 'lightweight' X.509-PKI, and use autoprovisioning to ease the burden of security configuration management. We are close to completing the associated development and deployment.

  19. Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG and Investment Decision in Bangladesh

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Sayema Sultana

    2018-06-01

    Full Text Available As a key facet of sustainable development, environmental, social and governance (ESG discretion on stock market investment decision is gaining prevalence following the global financial crisis. ESG considers the sustainable return, risk reduction, and accountability aspects of investments. This study is an exploration of the individual stock market investors’ preferences for ESG issues and the influence that purpose of investment has on investment decision-making, by testing the investment horizon as a moderator. The theoretical background was taken from the theory of planned behavior (TPB, goal setting theory (GST, and the behavioral asset pricing model (BAPM. The study uses the sequential mix method of research, starting with an interview followed by a survey, which was conducted among individual stock market investors in Bangladesh, using simple random sampling. Structural equation modeling (SEM analysis was carried out using Warp PLS version 6.0. The key findings of this study delineate the effect of ESG issues and the purpose of investment on investment decision-making. The contribution of the study signifies the moderating role of the investment horizon, which confirms the importance of the long-term horizon as a time and risk diversification factor. The sparse utilization of the United Nations Global Compact (UNGC (2004 and Thomson Reuters Corporate Responsibility Index (TRCRI (2013 as measurement scales in this study is mentioned. This study has made practical contributions for managers, investors, and regulators.

  20. Esophageal stenting for benign and malignant disease: European Society of Gastrointestinal Endoscopy (ESGE) Clinical Guideline.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Spaander, Manon C W; Baron, Todd H; Siersema, Peter D; Fuccio, Lorenzo; Schumacher, Brigitte; Escorsell, Àngels; Garcia-Pagán, Juan-Carlos; Dumonceau, Jean-Marc; Conio, Massimo; de Ceglie, Antonella; Skowronek, Janusz; Nordsmark, Marianne; Seufferlein, Thomas; Van Gossum, André; Hassan, Cesare; Repici, Alessandro; Bruno, Marco J

    2016-10-01

    This Guideline is an official statement of the European Society of Gastrointestinal Endoscopy (ESGE), endorsed by the European Society for Radiotherapy and Oncology (ESTRO), the European Society of Digestive Endoscopy (ESDO), and the European Society for Clinical Nutrition and Metabolism (ESPEN). The Grading of Recommendations Assessment, Development, and Evaluation (GRADE) system was adopted to define the strength of recommendations and the quality of evidence. Main recommendations for malignant disease 1 ESGE recommends placement of partially or fully covered self-expandable metal stents (SEMSs) for palliative treatment of malignant dysphagia over laser therapy, photodynamic therapy, and esophageal bypass (strong recommendation, high quality evidence). 2 For patients with longer life expectancy, ESGE recommends brachytherapy as a valid alternative or in addition to stenting in esophageal cancer patients with malignant dysphagia. Brachytherapy may provide a survival advantage and possibly a better quality of life compared to SEMS placement alone. (Strong recommendation, high quality evidence.) 3 ESGE recommends esophageal SEMS placement as the preferred treatment for sealing malignant tracheoesophageal or bronchoesophageal fistula (strong recommendation, low quality evidence). 4 ESGE does not recommend the use of concurrent external radiotherapy and esophageal stent treatment. SEMS placement is also not recommended as a bridge to surgery or prior to preoperative chemoradiotherapy. It is associated with a high incidence of adverse events and alternative satisfactory options such as placement of a feeding tube are available. (Strong recommendation, low quality evidence.) Main recommendations for benign disease 1 ESGE recommends against the use of self-expandable stents (SEMSs) as first-line therapy for the management of benign esophageal strictures because of the potential for adverse events, the availability of alternative therapies, and costs (strong

  1. The Consolidation of the ESG Rating Industry as an Enactment of Institutional Retrogression

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Avetisyan, Emma; Hockerts, Kai

    2017-01-01

    on the social performance of firms. Since 2005, the ESG rating industry has witnessed a number of national and cross-border consolidations. Based on a set of 37 interviews and secondary data, the paper explores the driving forces behind this consolidation as well as its impact. Our focus is on four ESG rating...... change sought by the SRI movement. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd and ERP Environment...

  2. Removal of foreign bodies in the upper gastrointestinal tract in adults: European Society of Gastrointestinal Endoscopy (ESGE) Clinical Guideline.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Birk, Michael; Bauerfeind, Peter; Deprez, Pierre H; Häfner, Michael; Hartmann, Dirk; Hassan, Cesare; Hucl, Tomas; Lesur, Gilles; Aabakken, Lars; Meining, Alexander

    2016-05-01

    This Guideline is an official statement of the European Society of Gastrointestinal Endoscopy (ESGE). It addresses the removal of foreign bodies in the upper gastrointestinal tract in adults. Recommendations Nonendoscopic measures 1 ESGE recommends diagnostic evaluation based on the patient's history and symptoms. ESGE recommends a physical examination focused on the patient's general condition and to assess signs of any complications (strong recommendation, low quality evidence). 2 ESGE does not recommend radiological evaluation for patients with nonbony food bolus impaction without complications. We recommend plain radiography to assess the presence, location, size, configuration, and number of ingested foreign bodies if ingestion of radiopaque objects is suspected or type of object is unknown (strong recommendation, low quality evidence). 3 ESGE recommends computed tomography (CT) scan in all patients with suspected perforation or other complication that may require surgery (strong recommendation, low quality evidence). 4 ESGE does not recommend barium swallow, because of the risk of aspiration and worsening of the endoscopic visualization (strong recommendation, low quality evidence). 5 ESGE recommends clinical observation without the need for endoscopic removal for management of asymptomatic patients with ingestion of blunt and small objects (except batteries and magnets). If feasible, outpatient management is appropriate (strong recommendation, low quality evidence). 6 ESGE recommends close observation in asymptomatic individuals who have concealed packets of drugs by swallowing ("body packing"). We recommend against endoscopic retrieval. We recommend surgical referral in cases of suspected packet rupture, failure of packets to progress, or intestinal obstruction (strong recommendation, low quality evidence). Endoscopic measures 7 ESGE recommends emergent (preferably within 2 hours, but at the latest within 6 hours) therapeutic esophagogastroduodenoscopy for

  3. Technical aspects of endoscopic ultrasound (EUS)-guided sampling in gastroenterology: European Society of Gastrointestinal Endoscopy (ESGE) Technical Guideline - March 2017.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Polkowski, Marcin; Jenssen, Christian; Kaye, Philip; Carrara, Silvia; Deprez, Pierre; Gines, Angels; Fernández-Esparrach, Gloria; Eisendrath, Pierre; Aithal, Guruprasad P; Arcidiacono, Paolo; Barthet, Marc; Bastos, Pedro; Fornelli, Adele; Napoleon, Bertrand; Iglesias-Garcia, Julio; Seicean, Andrada; Larghi, Alberto; Hassan, Cesare; van Hooft, Jeanin E; Dumonceau, Jean-Marc

    2017-10-01

    For routine EUS-guided sampling of solid masses and lymph nodes (LNs) ESGE recommends 25G or 22G needles (high quality evidence, strong recommendation); fine needle aspiration (FNA) and fine needle biopsy (FNB) needles are equally recommended (high quality evidence, strong recommendation).When the primary aim of sampling is to obtain a core tissue specimen, ESGE suggests using 19G FNA or FNB needles or 22G FNB needles (low quality evidence, weak recommendation).ESGE recommends using 10-mL syringe suction for EUS-guided sampling of solid masses and LNs with 25G or 22G FNA needles (high quality evidence, strong recommendation) and other types of needles (low quality evidence, weak recommendation). ESGE suggests neutralizing residual negative pressure in the needle before withdrawing the needle from the target lesion (moderate quality evidence, weak recommendation).ESGE does not recommend for or against using the needle stylet for EUS-guided sampling of solid masses and LNs with FNA needles (high quality evidence, strong recommendation) and suggests using the needle stylet for EUS-guided sampling with FNB needles (low quality evidence, weak recommendation).ESGE suggests fanning the needle throughout the lesion when sampling solid masses and LNs (moderate quality evidence, weak recommendation).ESGE equally recommends EUS-guided sampling with or without on-site cytologic evaluation (moderate quality evidence, strong recommendation). When on-site cytologic evaluation is unavailable, ESGE suggests performance of three to four needle passes with an FNA needle or two to three passes with an FNB needle (low quality evidence, weak recommendation).For diagnostic sampling of pancreatic cystic lesions without a solid component, ESGE suggests emptying the cyst with a single pass of a 22G or 19G needle (low quality evidence, weak recommendation). For pancreatic cystic lesions with a solid component, ESGE suggests sampling of the solid component using the same technique as in the

  4. Intraductal biliopancreatic imaging: European Society of Gastrointestinal Endoscopy (ESGE) technology review.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Tringali, Andrea; Lemmers, Arnaud; Meves, Volker; Terheggen, Grischa; Pohl, Jürgen; Manfredi, Guido; Häfner, Michael; Costamagna, Guido; Devière, Jacques; Neuhaus, Horst; Caillol, Fabrice; Giovannini, Marc; Hassan, Cesare; Dumonceau, Jean-Marc

    2015-08-01

    This technology review expresses the current view of the European Society of Gastrointestinal Endoscopy (ESGE) on the available techniques for intraductal biliopancreatic imaging. The three cholangioscopy techniques are described: the "dual-operator" and " single-operator" mother-baby approaches using dedicated instruments, and the "direct" technique using currently available ultrathin gastroscopes. The mother-baby method is standardized and reproducible, while direct cholangioscopy is technically demanding and its safety requires further evaluation. As well as direct visualization of the bile ducts, cholangioscopy has the further advantage of allowing targeted biopsy. Image quality is still suboptimal for single-operator cholangioscopy, while the other techniques have achieved adequately detailed imaging. The costs of mother-baby cholangioscopy are high and its application in clinical practice should be restricted to selected cases (i.e. indeterminate biliary strictures/intraluminal lesions, difficult biliary stones) and to the setting of tertiary care centers. Peroral pancreatoscopy may find an indication in situations where other imaging modalities (mainly EUS) are inconclusive (i.e. delineation of main duct intraductal papillary mucinous neoplasia extension, sampling of indeterminate main pancreatic duct strictures). Intraductal ultrasonography (IDUS) has a poorer performance than EUS in the staging of pancreatic malignancies and can increase the risk of pancreatitis. A promising indication for IDUS could be the evaluation of indeterminate biliary strictures and ampullary tumors. Probe-based confocal laser endomicroscopy (pCLE) of the bile ducts is a difficult and expensive technique. Appropriate training needs to be established, since interpretation of images is challenging. pCLE can be an important diagnostic tool in the setting of indeterminate biliary strictures. © Georg Thieme Verlag KG Stuttgart · New York.

  5. In-depth performance evaluation of PFP and ESG sequence-based function prediction methods in CAFA 2011 experiment

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Chitale Meghana

    2013-02-01

    Full Text Available Abstract Background Many Automatic Function Prediction (AFP methods were developed to cope with an increasing growth of the number of gene sequences that are available from high throughput sequencing experiments. To support the development of AFP methods, it is essential to have community wide experiments for evaluating performance of existing AFP methods. Critical Assessment of Function Annotation (CAFA is one such community experiment. The meeting of CAFA was held as a Special Interest Group (SIG meeting at the Intelligent Systems in Molecular Biology (ISMB conference in 2011. Here, we perform a detailed analysis of two sequence-based function prediction methods, PFP and ESG, which were developed in our lab, using the predictions submitted to CAFA. Results We evaluate PFP and ESG using four different measures in comparison with BLAST, Prior, and GOtcha. In addition to the predictions submitted to CAFA, we further investigate performance of a different scoring function to rank order predictions by PFP as well as PFP/ESG predictions enriched with Priors that simply adds frequently occurring Gene Ontology terms as a part of predictions. Prediction accuracies of each method were also evaluated separately for different functional categories. Successful and unsuccessful predictions by PFP and ESG are also discussed in comparison with BLAST. Conclusion The in-depth analysis discussed here will complement the overall assessment by the CAFA organizers. Since PFP and ESG are based on sequence database search results, our analyses are not only useful for PFP and ESG users but will also shed light on the relationship of the sequence similarity space and functions that can be inferred from the sequences.

  6. Potential impact of (CET) carbon emissions trading on China’s power sector: A perspective from different allowance allocation options

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Cong, Ronggang; Wei, Yi-Ming

    2010-01-01

    of traditional methods. We establish an agent-based model, CETICEM (CET Introduced China Electricity Market), of introduction of CET to China. In CETICEM, six types of agents and two markets are modeled. We find that: (1) CET internalizes environment cost; increases the average electricity price by 12......In Copenhagen climate conference China government promised that China would cut down carbon intensity 40–45% from 2005 by 2020. CET (carbon emissions trading) is an effective tool to reduce emissions. But because CET is not fully implemented in China up to now, how to design it and its potential......%; and transfers carbon price volatility to the electricity market, increasing electricity price volatility by 4%. (2) CET influences the relative cost of different power generation technologies through the carbon price, significantly increasing the proportion of environmentally friendly technologies; expensive...

  7. ESG Integration and the Investment Management Process : Fundamental Investing Reinvented

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    van Duuren, Emiel; Plantinga, Auke; Scholtens, Bert

    2016-01-01

    We investigate how conventional asset managers account for environmental, social and governance factors (ESG) in their investment process. We do so on the basis of an international survey among fund managers. We find that many conventional managers integrate responsible investing in their investment

  8. Requirements and standards facilitating quality improvement for reporting systems in gastrointestinal endoscopy: European Society of Gastrointestinal Endoscopy (ESGE) Position Statement

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Bretthauer, Michael; Aabakken, Lars; Dekker, Evelien; Kaminski, Michal F.; Rösch, Thomas; Hultcrantz, Rolf; Suchanek, Stepan; Jover, Rodrigo; Kuipers, Ernst J.; Bisschops, Raf; Spada, Cristiano; Valori, Roland; Domagk, Dirk; Rees, Colin; Rutter, Matthew D.

    2016-01-01

    To develop standards for high quality in gastrointestinal (GI) endoscopy, the European Society of Gastrointestinal Endoscopy (ESGE) has established the ESGE Quality Improvement Committee. A prerequisite for quality assurance and improvement for all GI endoscopy procedures is state-of-the-art

  9. From SRI to ESG: The Changing World of Responsible Investing

    Science.gov (United States)

    Caplan, Lauren; Griswold, John S.; Jarvis, William F.

    2013-01-01

    Thoughtful investment professionals continue to debate whether a portfolio's long-term performance can be enhanced by including environmental, social, and governance (ESG) considerations in the security selection process, but responsible investing is more than a passing trend. The terms socially-responsible investing, mission-related investing,…

  10. ESG Issues among Fund Managers—Factors and Motives

    OpenAIRE

    Justyna Przychodzen; Fernando Gómez-Bezares; Wojciech Przychodzen; Mikel Larreina

    2016-01-01

    This paper investigates the motives, behavior, and characteristics shaping mutual fund managers’ willingness to incorporate Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) issues into investment decision making. Using survey evidence from fund managers from five different countries, we demonstrate that this predisposition is the stronger, the shorter their average forecasting horizon and the higher their level of reliance on business risk in portfolio management is. We also find that the propensit...

  11. Potential impact of (CET) carbon emissions trading on China's power sector: A perspective from different allowance allocation options

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Cong, Rong-Gang; Wei, Yi-Ming

    2010-01-01

    In Copenhagen climate conference China government promised that China would cut down carbon intensity 40-45% from 2005 by 2020. CET (carbon emissions trading) is an effective tool to reduce emissions. But because CET is not fully implemented in China up to now, how to design it and its potential impact are unknown to us. This paper studies the potential impact of introduction of CET on China's power sector and discusses the impact of different allocation options of allowances. Agent-based modeling is one appealing new methodology that has the potential to overcome some shortcomings of traditional methods. We establish an agent-based model, CETICEM (CET Introduced China Electricity Market), of introduction of CET to China. In CETICEM, six types of agents and two markets are modeled. We find that: (1) CET internalizes environment cost; increases the average electricity price by 12%; and transfers carbon price volatility to the electricity market, increasing electricity price volatility by 4%. (2) CET influences the relative cost of different power generation technologies through the carbon price, significantly increasing the proportion of environmentally friendly technologies; expensive solar power generation in particular develops significantly, with final proportion increasing by 14%. (3) Emission-based allocation brings about both higher electricity and carbon prices than by output-based allocation which encourages producers to be environmentally friendly. Therefore, output-based allocation would be more conducive to reducing emissions in the Chinese power sector. (author)

  12. Endoscopic treatment of chronic pancreatitis: European Society of Gastrointestinal Endoscopy (ESGE) Clinical Guideline

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Dumonceau, J.-M.; Delhaye, M.; Tringali, A.; Dominguez-Munoz, J. E.; Poley, J.-W.; Arvanitaki, M.; Costamagna, G.; Costea, F.; Devière, J.; Eisendrath, P.; Lakhtakia, S.; Reddy, N.; Fockens, P.; Ponchon, T.; Bruno, M.

    2012-01-01

    Background and aims: Clarification of the position of the European Society of Gastrointestinal Endoscopy (ESGE) regarding the interventional options available for treating patients with chronic pancreatitis. Methods: Systematic literature search to answer explicit key questions with levels of

  13. Analysis of ESG indicators for measuring enterprise performance

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Zuzana Chvátalová

    2013-01-01

    Full Text Available In this article authors focus on the analysis of the whole set of environmental, social and corporate governance (ESG indicators for the elimination of double or triple effects within the next construction of methods for measuring corporate performance. They build on their previously published results (in Acta univ. agric. et silvic. Mendel. Brun., 2012. The partial actual selected results of a recently undertaken currently project entitled ‘Construction of Methods for Multifactorial Assessment of Company Complex Performance in Selected Sectors’ were used. This project was solved the research teams of the Faculty of Business and Management of Brno University Technology and Faculty of Business and Economics of Mendel University in Brno since 2011. Further theoretical resources in the environmental, social and corporate governance area, known indicator databases (namely Global Reporting Initiative, comparative analysis, resp. syntheses for identifying possible of common indicator properties were identified to classify indicator subsets to preclude double or even triple effect based on mathematical set theory (Venn diagrams. The indicator analysis in constructed multi-factorial methods contributes to precise decision making in management to improve corporate performance.

  14. The ESHRE/ESGE consensus on the classification of female genital tract congenital anomalies(,)

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Grimbizis, G.F.; Gordts, S.; Di Spiezio Sardo, A.; Brucker, S.; De Angelis, C.; Gergolet, M.; Li, T.C.; Tanos, V.; Brölmann, H.A.M.; Gianaroli, L.; Campo, R.

    2013-01-01

    STUDY QUESTIONWhat classification system is more suitable for the accurate, clear, simple and related to the clinical management categorization of female genital anomalies?SUMMARY ANSWERThe new ESHRE/ESGE classification system of female genital anomalies is presented.WHAT IS KNOWN ALREADYCongenital

  15. European Society of Gastrointestinal Endoscopy (ESGE): recommendations (2009) on clinical use of video capsule endoscopy to investigate small-bowel, esophageal and colonic diseases.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ladas, S D; Triantafyllou, K; Spada, C; Riccioni, M E; Rey, J-F; Niv, Y; Delvaux, M; de Franchis, R; Costamagna, G

    2010-03-01

    These recommendations on video capsule endoscopy, an emerging technology with an impact on the practice of endoscopy, were developed by the European Society of Gastrointestinal Endoscopy (ESGE) Guidelines Committee. The first draft of each section was prepared by one or two members of the writing team, who were selected as experts on the content of that section on the basis of their published work. They used evidence-based methodology, performing MEDLINE and PubMed literature searches to identify relevant clinical studies. Abstracts from scientific meetings were included only if there was no published full paper on a particular topic. If there was disagreement, the first author of the Guideline made the final decision. Recommendations were graded according to the strength of the supporting evidence. The draft guideline was critically reviewed by all authors and submitted to the ESGE councillors for their critical review before approval of the final document. The ESGE Guidelines Committee acknowledges that this document is based on a critical review of the data available at the time of preparation and that further studies may be needed to clarify some aspects. Moreover, this Guideline may be revised as necessary to account for changes in technology, new data, or other aspects of clinical practice. This document should be regarded as supplying recommendations only to gastroenterologists in providing care to their patients. It is not a set of rules and should not be construed as establishing a legal standard of care, or as encouraging, advocating, requiring, or discouraging any particular treatment. These recommendations must be interpreted according to the clinician's knowledge, expertise, and clinical judgment in the management of individual patients and, if necessary, a course of action that varies from recommendations must be undertaken. Georg Thieme Verlag KG Stuttgart. New York.

  16. ESHRE/ESGE female genital tract anomalies classification system-the potential impact of discarding arcuate uterus on clinical practice.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Knez, J; Saridogan, E; Van Den Bosch, T; Mavrelos, D; Ambler, G; Jurkovic, D

    2018-04-01

    What would be a potential impact of implementing the new ESHRE/European Society of Gynaecological Endoscopy (ESGE) female genital anomalies classification system on the management of women with previous diagnosis of arcuate uteri based on the modified American Society for Reproductive Medicine (ASRM) criteria? A significant number of women with previous diagnosis of arcuate uteri are reclassified as having partial septate uteri according to the new ESHRE/ESGE classification system which may increase the number of remedial surgical procedures. The ESHRE/ESGE classification system has defined measurement techniques, reference points and specific cut-offs to facilitate the differentiation between normal and septate uteri. These criteria have been arbitrarily defined and they rely on the measurement of uterine wall thickness and depth of distortion of uterine fundus. This was a retrospective cohort study. We searched our ultrasound clinic database from January 2011 to December 2014 to identify all women diagnosed with arcuate uterus on three-dimensional ultrasound according to the modified ASRM criteria. For each woman, the ultrasound images were stored in our clinical database and they were re-examined according to ESHRE/ESGE specifications. The presence and location of all acquired uterine anomalies, such as fibroids or adenomyosis was noted. We applied the two diagnostic approaches as specified by the ESHRE/ESGE classification: the main option (MO) and the alternative option (AO). We used the Kappa statistic to quantify the agreement between the two approaches. We also compared the number of previous miscarriages in women with normal and partial septate uteri according to the ESHRE/ESGE classification. Non-parametric Mann-Whitney and Kruskal-Wallis tests were used for the analyses and receiver-operating characteristic curves were constructed to assess the predictive values of the calculated uterine distortion indices for the detection of women at risk of suffering

  17. Esophageal stenting for benign and malignant disease : European Society of Gastrointestinal Endoscopy (ESGE) Clinical Guideline

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Spaander, Manon C W; Baron, Todd H; Siersema, Peter D; Fuccio, Lorenzo; Schumacher, Brigitte; Escorsell, Àngels; Garcia-Pagán, Juan-Carlos; Dumonceau, Jean-Marc; Conio, Massimo; de Ceglie, Antonella; Skowronek, Janusz; Nordsmark, Marianne; Seufferlein, Thomas; Van Gossum, André; Hassan, Cesare; Repici, Alessandro; Bruno, Marco J

    2016-01-01

    This Guideline is an official statement of the European Society of Gastrointestinal Endoscopy (ESGE), endorsed by the European Society for Radiotherapy and Oncology (ESTRO), the European Society of Digestive Endoscopy (ESDO), and the European Society for Clinical Nutrition and Metabolism (ESPEN).

  18. Indications, results, and clinical impact of endoscopic ultrasound (EUS)-guided sampling in gastroenterology: European Society of Gastrointestinal Endoscopy (ESGE) Clinical Guideline - Updated January 2017.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Dumonceau, Jean-Marc; Deprez, Pierre H; Jenssen, Christian; Iglesias-Garcia, Julio; Larghi, Alberto; Vanbiervliet, Geoffroy; Aithal, Guruprasad P; Arcidiacono, Paolo G; Bastos, Pedro; Carrara, Silvia; Czakó, László; Fernández-Esparrach, Gloria; Fockens, Paul; Ginès, Àngels; Havre, Roald F; Hassan, Cesare; Vilmann, Peter; van Hooft, Jeanin E; Polkowski, Marcin

    2017-07-01

    For pancreatic solid lesions, ESGE recommends performing endoscopic ultrasound (EUS)-guided sampling as first-line procedure when a pathological diagnosis is required. Alternatively, percutaneous sampling may be considered in metastatic disease.Strong recommendation, moderate quality evidence.In the case of negative or inconclusive results and a high degree of suspicion of malignant disease, ESGE suggests re-evaluating the pathology slides, repeating EUS-guided sampling, or surgery.Weak recommendation, low quality evidence.In patients with chronic pancreatitis associated with a pancreatic mass, EUS-guided sampling results that do not confirm cancer should be interpreted with caution.Strong recommendation, low quality evidence.For pancreatic cystic lesions (PCLs), ESGE recommends EUS-guided sampling for biochemical analyses plus cytopathological examination if a precise diagnosis may change patient management, except for lesions ≤ 10 mm in diameter with no high risk stigmata. If the volume of PCL aspirate is small, it is recommended that carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA) level determination be done as the first analysis.Strong recommendation, low quality evidence.For esophageal cancer, ESGE suggests performing EUS-guided sampling for the assessment of regional lymph nodes (LNs) in T1 (and, depending on local treatment policy, T2) adenocarcinoma and of lesions suspicious for metastasis such as distant LNs, left liver lobe lesions, and suspected peritoneal carcinomatosis.Weak recommendation, low quality evidence.For lymphadenopathy of unknown origin, ESGE recommends performing EUS-guided (or alternatively endobronchial ultrasound [EBUS]-guided) sampling if the pathological result is likely to affect patient management and no superficial lymphadenopathy is easily accessible.Strong recommendation, moderate quality evidence.In the case of solid liver masses suspicious for metastasis, ESGE suggests performing EUS-guided sampling if the pathological result is likely

  19. Monitoring of Mira (omi Cet) in support of HST Observations

    Science.gov (United States)

    Karovska, Margarita; Templeton, Matthew R.

    2007-09-01

    Dr. Margarita Karovska (Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics) and collaborators are performing a comprehensive study of the Mira AB interacting system, using the HST WFPC2 camera. Mira AB is composed of the prototype Mira variable omi Cet and its companion VZ Cet, separated by about 0.5 arcsecond. As part of this project they plan to obtain a large number of high-angular resolution images at wavelengths ranging from UV to optical. The main objectives of the HST/WFPC2 observations are 1) to determine the properties of the material ejected in December 2004 as it flows throughout the binary and interacts with the Mira A (omi Cet, Mira) circumstellar material and wind; 2) to determine the physical characteristics of mass transfer in this system and especially the role of the accretion stream between Mira A and its accreting companion Mira B (VZ Cet); 3) to determine the response of the system to the increased accretion rate onto Mira B following the outburst. The HST observations are scheduled for September 23, 1900-2300 UT. Both visual and instrumental observers are requested to observe this object, currently at minimum around visual magnitude 9-9.5. Observations should be made approximately two weeks on either side of the September 23 observation date. Visual observer should observe as usual, making not more than 3 observations spaced about 10 days apart. PEP and CCD observers should use the bluest-wavelength filters they have, and should make nightly observations, with intensive observations during the HST observations themselves. UBV and RIJH observations would be very valuable. Please make sure to use an aperture that covers both omi Cet and VZ Cet when evaluating CCD images. Observations should be submitted to the AAVSO International Database as OMI CET.

  20. Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) performance and sovereign bond spreads : an empirical analysis of OECD countries

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Capelle-Blancard, Gunther; Crifo, Patricia; Oueghlissi, Rim; Scholtens, Bert

    2017-01-01

    What are the determinants of borrowing cost in international capital markets? Apart from macroeconomic fundamentals, are there any qualitative factors that might capture sovereign bond spreads? In this paper we consider to what extent Environmental, social and governance (ESG) performance can affect

  1. 日本におけるESG 投資の進展 : 公的年金資金が新しい流れを作るか

    OpenAIRE

    須藤, 秀夫

    2017-01-01

    世界のE(環境)S(社会)G(ガバナンス)投資の市場が拡大を続ける中、日本の市場は停滞していたが、最近ESG への投資家の意識が高まり進展する動きが出てきた。それを反映して、ESG 投資を唱える国連責任投資原則(UN PRI)への署名機関の数が増えてきた。その中で世界最大の機関投資家である年金積立金管理運用独立行政法人(GPIF)が署名したことは特筆され、日本の機関投資家に大きな影響を与えるであろう。さらに、ESG 投資を躊躇させる一つの要因であった米国エリザ法の解釈について同法はESG 投資を妨げないと米国政府が明確な解釈を示したこと、連合を初めとする労働組合にESG に対する前向きな姿勢が出てきたことが、日本でのESG 投資の進展を予想させる。...

  2. COMMUNICATIVE VALIDITY OF THE NEW CET-4 LISTENING COMPREHENSION TEST IN CHINA

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Chao Wang

    2014-07-01

    Full Text Available Abstract: Based on the major dimensions of a communicative language test that Bachman proposed, this paper aims to have an investigation on the validity of the new CET-4 listening subtest in China from a communicative point of view. Both qualitative and quantitative methods are involved in the study. Material analysis falls into qualitative study, including analysis of the CET-4 testing syllabus and eight new CET-4 listening comprehension tests. Students’ scores of two tests and the questionnaires are analyzed quantitatively. Through analysis, it is found that the new CET-4 listening subtest has a high validity and can measure test-takers’ listening ability in real communication. First, the new CET-4 listening subtest has the quality of reliability. Second, the seven listening skills tested in this subtest can measure the communicative language ability required in the testing syllabus. The intra-correlation analysis shows that each part of the new CET-4 listening subtest focuses on different language abilities related to listening. Third, the authenticity of the new CET-4 listening subtest reaches a satisfactory level. The materials chosen in the test cover various topics and genres. Speakers’ pronunciation, tone and speed are in accordance with the real situation. However, some shortcomings also exist in the test design and should be improved later. For example, its limited item types cannot represent the task types in real life, and the actual input is too ideal to be authentic.   Keywords: Communicative language ability, communicative language testing, listening comprehension, test validity

  3. Self-expandable metal stents for obstructing colonic and extracolonic cancer: European Society of Gastrointestinal Endoscopy (ESGE) Clinical Guideline

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    van Hooft, Jeanin E.; van Halsema, Emo E.; Vanbiervliet, Geoffroy; Beets-Tan, Regina G. H.; Dewitt, John M.; Donnellan, Fergal; Dumonceau, Jean-Marc; Glynne-Jones, Robert G. T.; Hassan, Cesare; Jiménez-Perez, Javier; Meisner, Søren; Muthusamy, V. Raman; Parker, Michael C.; Regimbeau, Jean-Marc; Sabbagh, Charles; Sagar, Jayesh; Tanis, Pieter J.; Vandervoort, Jo; Webster, George J.; Manes, Gianpiero; Barthet, Marc A.; Repici, Alessandro

    2014-01-01

    This Guideline is an official statement of the European Society of Gastrointestinal Endoscopy (ESGE). This Guideline was also reviewed and endorsed by the Governing Board of the American Society for Gastrointestinal Endoscopy (ASGE). The Grading of Recommendations Assessment, Development, and

  4. Self-Expandable Metal Stents for Obstructing Colonic and Extracolonic Cancer: European Society of Gastrointestinal Endoscopy (ESGE) Clinical Guideline

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    van Hooft, J. E.; van Halsema, E. E.; Vanbiervliet, G.; Beets-Tan, R. G. H.; DeWitt, J. M.; Donnellan, F.; Dumonceau, J. M.; Glynne-Jones, R. G. T.; Hassan, C.; Jimenez-Perez, J.; Meisner, S.; Muthusamy, V. Raman; Parker, M. C.; Regimbeau, J. M.; Sabbagh, C.; Sagar, J.; Tanis, P. J.; Vandervoort, J.; Webster, G. J.; Manes, G.; Barthet, M. A.; Repici, A.

    2014-01-01

    This Guideline is an official statement of the European Society of Gastrointestinal Endoscopy (ESGE). This Guideline was also reviewed and endorsed by the Governing Board of the American Society for Gastrointestinal Endoscopy (ASGE). The Grading of Recommendations Assessment, Development, and

  5. Good business? The struggles for regulating ESG disclosure

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    David Monciardini

    2012-06-01

    Full Text Available During the last decade, the regulation of corporate social and environmental disclosure and reporting has gradually but steadily emerged. What explains its emergence at different levels of regulation and through varying modes of governance? Which political and socio-economic actors are involved? Who has benefitted from its emergence? The onset of the current economic and sustainability crisis has shown the need for a more ‘regulated capitalism’ and called for a re-assessment of dominant ideas about ‘CSR’ and ‘corporate governance’. Better transparency and disclosure have often been indicated as a solution to this impasse. The paper focuses on the emergence of Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG disclosure regulation in Europe during the last decade. It is organized in four main sections. After introducing the argument within the literature on the regulation of corporate accountability, the second section offers an historical overview of the recursive emergence of environmental and social disclosure regulation. Thereafter, the paper briefly reviews the current debate over the regulation of ESG disclosure. In particular, it outlines the interests of the main constituencies involved at the EU-level: large corporations, institutional investors, trade unions, NGOs, professional accountants and financial analysts, public authorities. The last part develops an argument suggesting the current emergence of ESG disclosure regulation constitutes an institutional investors’ strategy to strengthen, on the one hand, their control over managers and, on the other hand, the legitimacy of their claims over companies resources. Durante la última década la regulación de la transparencia social y ambiental ha surgido a un ritmo constante y gradual. ¿Cómo se explica su aparición en los diferentes niveles de regulación y a través de diversos sistemas de gobernanza? ¿Qué actores políticos y socio-económicos están implicados? ¿Quién se

  6. "Cet obscur objet du Désir"

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Reto Melchior

    1996-09-01

    Full Text Available Luis Bunuel’s last film is based on Pierre Louÿs’ La Femme et le Pantin. This now forgotten bestseller, published in 1898, is drawn from Goya s painting El Pelele, in which four women are playing with a male puppet. In Pierre Louÿs’ novel this scene is inverted so that one woman with two faces plays with four men. In Cet Obscur Objet du Désir this “femme fatale” is interpreted by two actresses. The concentric structure of the film puts focus on a scene of being excluded from knowing. The technique of continually interrupting the flash-back sequences frustrates the audience because of its exclusion from the “real” course of events and gives rise to doubts whether the male protagonist tells the truth about his love-affair or whether he satisfies the curiosity of the audience by telling them Pierre Louÿs’ novel as his own story. This ambiguous art of narration mirrors Bunuel’s claim that the main topic of Cet Obscur Objet du Désir is frustration.

  7. 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.

  8. The Center for Environmental Technology Innovative Technology Screening Process

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Bertrand, C.M.

    1995-02-01

    The Center for Environmental Technology's (CET) mission is to provide a fully integrated system for accelerated evaluation, development, commercialization, and public acceptance of creative environmental solutions which match the foremost demands in today's environmentally sensitive world. In short, CET will create a means to provide quick, effective solutions for environmental needs. To meet this mission objective, CET has created a unique and innovative approach to eliminating the usual barriers in developing and testing environmental technologies. The approach paves the way for these emerging, cutting-edge technologies by coordinating environmental restoration and waste management activities of industry, universities, and the government to: efficiently and effectively transfer technology to these users, provide market-driven, cost-effective technology programs to the public and DOE, and aid in developing innovative ideas by initiating efforts between DOE facilities and private industry. The central part to this mission is selecting and evaluating specific innovative technologies for demonstration and application at United States Department of Energy (DOE) installations. The methodology and criteria used for this selection, which is called the CET Innovative Technology Screening Process, is the subject of this paper. The selection criteria used for the screening process were modeled after other DOE technology transfer programs and were further developed by CET's Technology Screening and Evaluation Board (TSEB). The process benefits both CET and the proposing vendors by providing objective selection procedures based on predefined criteria. The selection process ensures a rapid response to proposing vendors, all technologies will have the opportunity to enter the selection process, and all technologies are evaluated on the same scale and with identical criteria

  9. CET89 - CHEMICAL EQUILIBRIUM WITH TRANSPORT PROPERTIES, 1989

    Science.gov (United States)

    Mcbride, B.

    1994-01-01

    Scientists and engineers need chemical equilibrium composition data to calculate the theoretical thermodynamic properties of a chemical system. This information is essential in the design and analysis of equipment such as compressors, turbines, nozzles, engines, shock tubes, heat exchangers, and chemical processing equipment. The substantial amount of numerical computation required to obtain equilibrium compositions and transport properties for complex chemical systems led scientists at NASA's Lewis Research Center to develop CET89, a program designed to calculate the thermodynamic and transport properties of these systems. CET89 is a general program which will calculate chemical equilibrium compositions and mixture properties for any chemical system with available thermodynamic data. Generally, mixtures may include condensed and gaseous products. CET89 performs the following operations: it 1) obtains chemical equilibrium compositions for assigned thermodynamic states, 2) calculates dilute-gas transport properties of complex chemical mixtures, 3) obtains Chapman-Jouguet detonation properties for gaseous species, 4) calculates incident and reflected shock properties in terms of assigned velocities, and 5) calculates theoretical rocket performance for both equilibrium and frozen compositions during expansion. The rocket performance function allows the option of assuming either a finite area or an infinite area combustor. CET89 accommodates problems involving up to 24 reactants, 20 elements, and 600 products (400 of which may be condensed). The program includes a library of thermodynamic and transport properties in the form of least squares coefficients for possible reaction products. It includes thermodynamic data for over 1300 gaseous and condensed species and transport data for 151 gases. The subroutines UTHERM and UTRAN convert thermodynamic and transport data to unformatted form for faster processing. The program conforms to the FORTRAN 77 standard, except for

  10. 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.

  11. The implementation of internal assessment mechanisms in the management of the educational program: ESG principles and new educational standards in the Russian Federation

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Nikanorov Ivan

    2018-01-01

    Full Text Available The purpose of this article is to describe possible approaches to transforming the management of the educational program into an educational institution of higher education in the context of implementing the principles laid down in the Standards and Recommendations for Quality Assurance in the European Higher Education Area (ESG, as well as the updated Russian state higher education standards (RSHES 3 ++. The article analyzes the ESG, examines the main models of managing educational programs, as well as their possible transformations in terms of the formation of mechanisms for internal assessment of the quality of educational activities and the training of students, introduced in the updated federal state educational standards.

  12. Varamiento de cetáceos en Tacna, Perú (2002-2010

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    José Pizarro-Neyra

    2011-05-01

    Full Text Available Se presentan datos de varamientos de cetáceos producidos entre abril del año 2002 y enero de 2010 en las localidades de Los Palos, Vila-vila, Morro Sama e Ite, ubicadas en la región Tacna. Los resultados indican que: 85% de los ejemplares varados corresponden a Phocoena spinipinnis, 8% a Tursiops truncatus, y el resto a cetáceos de las especies: Grampus griseus, Eubalaena australis y Physeter macrocephalus. Los varamientos de cetáceos grandes solo se observaron en Los Palos, mientras la mayor cantidad de varamientos observados se produjeron en Ite (80%. La causa del varamiento de algunas marsopas (P. spinipinnis es la captura incidental en redes usadas por la pesca artesanal. Se relaciona el varamiento de P. macrocephalus con anomalías de la temperatura superficial del mar.

  13. 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.

  14. Basel III : how have banks adjusted to increase CET1 ratios?

    OpenAIRE

    Bjerketvedt, Oda; Arneberg-Bauer, Tonje

    2013-01-01

    In 2010 the Basel Committee finalised the global framework called Basel III, which will have a significant impact on the global banking sector. A large part of the framework focuses on capital adequacy, where the Common Equity Tier 1 (CET1) ratio is essential. Through an analysis of four banks from the United Kingdom – HSBC, Barclays, Lloyds Banking Group and Standard Chartered – this thesis aim to examine how these banks have adjusted to the new CET1 requirements. In the EU the Basel III ...

  15. 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

  16. 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

  17. 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.

  18. 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

  19. Enabling cleanup technology transfer

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Ditmars, J. D.

    2002-01-01

    Technology transfer in the environmental restoration, or cleanup, area has been challenging. While there is little doubt that innovative technologies are needed to reduce the times, risks, and costs associated with the cleanup of federal sites, particularly those of the Departments of Energy (DOE) and Defense, the use of such technologies in actual cleanups has been relatively limited. There are, of course, many reasons why technologies do not reach the implementation phase or do not get transferred from developing entities to the user community. For example, many past cleanup contracts provided few incentives for performance that would compel a contractor to seek improvement via technology applications. While performance-based contracts are becoming more common, they alone will not drive increased technology applications. This paper focuses on some applications of cleanup methodologies and technologies that have been successful and are illustrative of a more general principle. The principle is at once obvious and not widely practiced. It is that, with few exceptions, innovative cleanup technologies are rarely implemented successfully alone but rather are implemented in the context of enabling processes and methodologies. And, since cleanup is conducted in a regulatory environment, the stage is better set for technology transfer when the context includes substantive interactions with the relevant stakeholders. Examples of this principle are drawn from Argonne National Laboratory's experiences in Adaptive Sampling and Analysis Programs (ASAPs), Precise Excavation, and the DOE Technology Connection (TechCon) Program. The lessons learned may be applicable to the continuing challenges posed by the cleanup and long-term stewardship of radioactive contaminants and unexploded ordnance (UXO) at federal sites

  20. "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.

  1. 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

  2. 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.

  3. 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...

  4. 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

  5. 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.

  6. Survey of Enabling Technologies for CAPS

    Science.gov (United States)

    Antol, Jeffrey; Mazanek, Daniel D.; Koons, Robert H.

    2005-01-01

    The enabling technologies required for the development of a viable Comet/Asteroid Protection System (CAPS) can be divided into two principal areas: detection and deflection/orbit modification. With the proper funding levels, many of the technologies needed to support a CAPS architecture could be achievable within the next 15 to 20 years. In fact, many advanced detection technologies are currently in development for future in-space telescope systems such as the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST), formerly known as the Next Generation Space Telescope. It is anticipated that many of the JWST technologies would be available for application for CAPS detection concepts. Deflection/orbit modification technologies are also currently being studied as part of advanced power and propulsion research. However, many of these technologies, such as extremely high-output power systems, advanced propulsion, heat rejection, and directed energy systems, would likely be farther term in availability than many of the detection technologies. Discussed subsequently is a preliminary examination of the main technologies that have been identified as being essential to providing the element functionality defined during the CAPS conceptual study. The detailed requirements for many of the technology areas are still unknown, and many additional technologies will be identified as future in-depth studies are conducted in this area.

  7. 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

  8. SciDAC visualization and analytics center for enabling technology

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Bethel, E Wes; Johnson, Chris; Joy, Ken; Ahern, Sean; Pascucci, Valerio; Childs, Hank; Cohen, Jonathan; Duchaineau, Mark; Hamann, Bernd; Hansen, Charles; Laney, Dan; Lindstrom, Peter; Meredith, Jeremy; Ostrouchov, George; Parker, Steven; Silva, Claudio; Sanderson, Allen; Tricoche, Xavier

    2007-01-01

    The Visualization and Analytics Center for Enabling Technologies (VACET) 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 of VACET is to adapt, extend, create when necessary, and deploy visual data analysis solutions that are responsive to the needs of DOE's computational and experimental scientists. Our center is engineered to be directly responsive to those needs and to deliver solutions for use in DOE's large open computing facilities. The research and development directly target data understanding problems provided by our scientific application stakeholders. VACET draws from a diverse set of visualization technology ranging from production quality applications and application frameworks to state-of-the-art algorithms for visualization, analysis, analytics, data manipulation, and data management

  9. Enabling MEMS technologies for communications systems

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lubecke, Victor M.; Barber, Bradley P.; Arney, Susanne

    2001-11-01

    Modern communications demands have been steadily growing not only in size, but sophistication. Phone calls over copper wires have evolved into high definition video conferencing over optical fibers, and wireless internet browsing. The technology used to meet these demands is under constant pressure to provide increased capacity, speed, and efficiency, all with reduced size and cost. Various MEMS technologies have shown great promise for meeting these challenges by extending the performance of conventional circuitry and introducing radical new systems approaches. A variety of strategic MEMS structures including various cost-effective free-space optics and high-Q RF components are described, along with related practical implementation issues. These components are rapidly becoming essential for enabling the development of progressive new communications systems technologies including all-optical networks, and low cost multi-system wireless terminals and basestations.

  10. Radiation technology enabled market access to Indian mango

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Sharma, Arun

    2009-01-01

    International trade in agricultural produce is subject to quarantine barriers imposed by importing countries to limit the entry of exotic pests and pathogens. Radiation technology provides an effective alternative to fumigants which are being gradually phased out. The technology has enabled market access to Indian mangoes in the US market after a gap of 18 years. The technology provides opportunity for export of other fruits and vegetables as well to countries like US, Australia and New Zealand. (author)

  11. Potential impact of (CET) carbon emissions trading on China’s power sector: A perspective from different allowance allocation options

    OpenAIRE

    Cong, Rong-Gang; Wei, Yi-Ming

    2010-01-01

    In Copenhagen climate conference China government promised that China would cut down carbon intensity 40e45% from 2005 by 2020. CET (carbon emissions trading) is an effective tool to reduce emissions. But because CET is not fully implemented in China up to now, how to design it and its potential impact are unknown to us. This paper studies the potential impact of introduction of CET on China’s power sector and discusses the impact of different allocation options of allowances. Agent-based mod...

  12. Nano-enabled environmental products and technologies - opportunities and drawbacks

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Møller Christensen, Frans; Brinch, Anna; Kjølholt, Jesper

    The project aims to investigate the benefits for health and environment that the use of nanomaterials in products and technologies may have. More specifically, the project provides an overview of the most relevant nano-enabled environmental technologies, different types of products and technologies...... on the (Danish) market, as well as products and technologies, which are still in R&D and it will provide a qualitative overview of health and environmental pros and cons of these technologies. The project has focused on technologies applied in: 1) purification of water and wastewater, 2) remediation of soil...

  13. Carbon exergy tax (CET): its impact on conventional energy system design and its contribution to advanced systems utilisation

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Massardo, A.F.; Santarelli, M.; Borchiellini, R.

    2003-01-01

    A proposed analytical procedure for a charge on CO 2 emissions is used to determine its impact on the design process of different conventional energy systems. The charge on CO 2 emissions is defined as a Carbon Exergy Tax (CET). The CET utilises the concept of Efficiency Penalty of the energy system coupled with the Index of CO 2 Emissions, which connects the amount of the CO 2 emitted by the plant with the Second Law efficiency of the plant itself. The aim is to reward the efficient use of energy resources, both from a resource and environmental standpoint, and to penalise plants inefficient in this respect. The CET and the conventional Carbon Tax (CT, based on energy policy considerations and imposed on the mass of emitted CO 2 ) are applied to different conventional energy systems (a gas turbine simple cycle; a regenerative cogeneration gas turbine; a three pressure levels combined cycle) in order to determine their impact on the design of the plants. The effects of the CET and CT are investigated for different scenarios (pressure ratio, fuel cost, etc.). The results are presented using useful representations: the cost of electricity vs. efficiency, the cost of electricity vs. specific work, and the cost of electricity vs. plant design parameters (e.g., pressure ratio). Finally, ways that the use of the CET can contribute to the widespread utilization of advanced energy systems, which are more efficient and less polluting, is discussed. In particular, the CET and CT influence is presented and discussed for a solid oxide fuel cell (SOFC) and gas turbine combined cycle

  14. Technology enabled evolutions in liquids marketing

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Manning, S.

    1998-01-01

    Deregulation, mergers, changing economic conditions, and downsizing have captured the headlines in the energy industry in recent times. To say that companies have struggled to react to these changes would be an understatement. Huge trading organizations have grown from nothing in a few years, while entire industry segments have been forced to restructure themselves. Information technology has enabled much of this change. By bringing information management out of the back office and onto the trading floors, companies have radically redesigned their work processes. The future promises even faster change, with business focus turning to innovative packaging of services with products, expanding asset bases, and reducing costs. Information technology will fuel this transformation by providing enterprise-wide trading solutions and, ultimately, linking the entire industry into a virtual supply chain. To remain competitive, companies need a strategy to manage information technology as a core asset

  15. Enabling Communication and Navigation Technologies for Future Near Earth Science Missions

    Science.gov (United States)

    Israel, David J.; Heckler, Gregory; Menrad, Robert; Hudiburg, John; Boroson, Don; Robinson, Bryan; Cornwell, Donald

    2016-01-01

    In 2015, the Earth Regimes Network Evolution Study (ERNESt) proposed an architectural concept and technologies that evolve to enable space science and exploration missions out to the 2040 timeframe. The architectural concept evolves the current instantiations of the Near Earth Network and Space Network with new technologies to provide a global communication and navigation network that provides communication and navigation services to a wide range of space users in the near Earth domain. The technologies included High Rate Optical Communications, Optical Multiple Access (OMA), Delay Tolerant Networking (DTN), User Initiated Services (UIS), and advanced Position, Navigation, and Timing technology. This paper describes the key technologies and their current technology readiness levels. Examples of science missions that could be enabled by the technologies and the projected operational benefits of the architecture concept to missions are also described.

  16. Exploring How Usage-Focused Business Models Enable Circular Economy through Digital Technologies

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Gianmarco Bressanelli

    2018-02-01

    Full Text Available Recent studies advocate that digital technologies are key enabling factors for the introduction of servitized business models. At the same time, these technologies support the implementation of the circular economy (CE paradigm into businesses. Despite this general agreement, the literature still overlooks how digital technologies enable such a CE transition. To fill the gap, this paper develops a conceptual framework, based on the literature and a case study of a company implementing a usage-focused servitized business model in the household appliance industry. This study focuses on the Internet of Things (IoT, Big Data, and analytics, and identifies eight specific functionalities enabled by such technologies (improving product design, attracting target customers, monitoring and tracking product activity, providing technical support, providing preventive and predictive maintenance, optimizing the product usage, upgrading the product, enhancing renovation and end-of-life activities. By investigating how these functionalities affect three CE value drivers (increasing resource efficiency, extending lifespan, and closing the loop, the conceptual framework developed in this paper advances knowledge about the role of digital technologies as an enabler of the CE within usage-focused business models. Finally, this study shows how digital technologies help overcome the drawback of usage-focused business models for the adoption of CE pointed out by previous literature.

  17. Incorporation de particules de verre post-consommation dans un enrobe bitumineux de type ESG14

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lachance Tremblay, Eric

    In 2008, around 244,000 tons of glass was produced by the Quebec population. From this number, 128,000 tons were collected by various means of collection. Glass recycling is problematic because all the glass that cannot be classified according to the type can't be used to manufacture new products. It is therefore necessary to find new sources of uses for this material. Because the use of recycled materials in road structure material is beneficial from an environmental and sometimes structural point of view, the idea of using recycled glass into asphalt mixture was recently studied at the LCMB. Nowadays, the use of recycled glass in asphalt mixture is not regulated by the MTQ. This research goal was to verify the possibility of using recycled glass particles in a ESG14 asphalt mixture while maintaining equivalent properties and performance compared to a conventional mix. Different dosages of recycled glass particles have been studied to evaluate the effect of glass on the asphalt mixture volumetric characteristics, the ability of compaction and the rutting resistance. These mixes were formulated according to the LC formulation of the MTQ. The first part allowed selecting an optimal dosage of recycled glass particles. Thereafter, the thermo mechanical performance (resistance to low temperatures (TSRST), complex modulus (E*) and resistance to fatigue cracking), physical characteristics (macro texture and surface grip) and durability (resistance to water damage) of the asphalt mixture with the optimal dosage were evaluated and compared with a reference mixture. The results show that the ESG14 mixture with recycled glass formulated with the LC method is more susceptible to rutting than the reference mixture. Therefore, a reduction of the bitumen content can increase the rutting resistance while conserving equivalent properties to a conventional mix regarding resistance to low temperatures, complex modulus, resistance to fatigue cracking as well as the physical

  18. Key enabling technologies (Kets) observatory. Second report December 2015

    OpenAIRE

    Velde, Els van de; Pieterjan, Debergh; Wydra, Sven; Som, Oliver; Heide, Marcel de

    2015-01-01

    Key Enabling Technologies (KETs) provide the basis for innovation in a wide range of products and processes across all industrial sectors (emerging and traditional) and are essential to solve Europe’s major societal challenges. Six KETs have been identified as important for Europe’s future competitiveness: Advanced Manufacturing Technology, Advanced Materials, Nanotechnology, Micro- and Nanoelectronics, Industrial Biotechnology, and Photonics.

  19. 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

  20. Health and aged care enabled by information technology.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Soar, Jeffrey; Seo, Youngjoon

    2007-10-01

    One of the challenges facing health and welfare policymakers as well as researchers in most developed countries is the increasing demand for aging services and aged care. Low birth rates and rapid increases in the percentages of elderly people make aging and aged care one of the top-priority issues among the national agenda of many countries. The responses of governments have included initiatives to extend productive working lives and promote self-funded retirement; to promote healthy, active aging; and to encourage more care to be delivered in home and community settings. Technology will be a major enabler of these strategies. People requiring health services are increasingly being offered more care in their own homes and community settings as an alternative to hospital admission and to delay or avoid moving into institutional care. Research is providing intelligent technology to enable care in the home as well as to monitor safety, security, and quality. Innovation will provide greater independence and better access to care in their own homes for the elderly, sufferers of chronic illness, and persons with disability and reduce the incidence of hospital admissions and the length of stay when admissions do occur. Technologies will support families and professional caregivers and are expected to reduce costs. This paper reports on developments in technology to support care for the aged in home and community settings.

  1. 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.

  2. 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.

  3. A Classification Framework for Exploring Technology-Enabled Practice--Frame TEP

    Science.gov (United States)

    Prestridge, Sarah; de Aldama, Carlos

    2016-01-01

    This article theorizes the construction of a classification framework to explore teachers' beliefs and pedagogical practices for the use of digital technologies in the classroom. There are currently many individual schemas and models that represent both developmental and divergent concepts associated with technology-enabled practice. This article…

  4. A conceptual framework for technology-enabled and technology-dependent user behavior toward device mesh and mesh app

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Ming-Hsiung Hsiao

    2018-06-01

    Full Text Available The device mesh and mesh app revealed by Gartner as the future strategic technology trend are able to predict people's need from their historic data, then provides the needed services or service innovation to support their activity engagement. However, many theories have identified that it is the motivation, rather than technology, that drives people to engage in activities or tasks. For this reason, this study builds a conceptual framework by integrating the extant logic and theories to explore how future technology would generate benefits for people. It integrates task-technology fit (TTF model and motivation theory (mainly expectancy-value theory to explain such technology user behavior. It also points out the difference between technology-enabled and technology-dependent user behavior and concludes that too much emphasis on the role of technology with too little attention on motivation would distort technology user behavior, and the role of technology as well. Keywords: Device mesh, Mesh app, Expectancy-value theory, Task-technology fit (TTF, Technology-enabled user, Technology-dependent user

  5. Cetáceos de las aguas costeras del Pacífico norte y sur de Costa Rica

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Damián Martínez-Fernández

    2011-03-01

    Full Text Available De las 29 especies de cetáceos presentes en Costa Rica, se han realizado investigaciones exhaustivas solamente para tres especies. Lo anterior evidencia la poca información general existente sobre cetáceos, a pesar de que Costa Rica posee un notable crecimiento de actividades de avistamiento. Debido al uso que se está generando en las zonas costeras, cada vez se hace más necesario determinar la ocurrencia de cetáceos en zonas de alta actividad turística, con el fin de proponer medidas de conservación. En el presente estudio, se determinaron variables ambientales que estaban relacionadas con la presencia de especies registradas, a partir de 166 avistamientos entre el 2005 y 2006. Las especies con mayor proporción de avistamientos fueron Stenella attenuata (68%, seguida por Megaptera novaeangliae (13% y Tursiops truncatus (10%. La presencia del delfín manchado se relaciona con cambios de salinidad y trasparencia del agua, mientras que la de la ballena jorobada estuvo relacionada con el oleaje y la temperatura superficial del agua. Se confirma la presencia de 7 especies de cetáceos en dos zonas costeras del Pacífico de Costa Rica, de las cuales tres están presentes a lo largo del año. Se encontraron variables ambientales relacionadas con la presencia de al menos dos especies.

  6. The effect of technology-enabled active learning on undergraduate students understanding of electromagnetism

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Dori, Y.J.

    2005-01-01

    Full Text:The Technology-Enabled Active Learning Project at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) involves media-rich software for simulation and visualization in freshman physics carried out in a specially redesigned classroom to facilitate group interaction. These technology-based learning materials are especially useful in electromagnetism to help students conceptualize phenomena and processes. This study analyzes the effects of the unique learning environment of the Technology-Enabled Active Learning Project project on students cognitive and affective outcomes. The assessment of the project included examining students conceptual understanding before and after studying electromagnetism in a media-rich environment. We also investigated the effect of this environment on students preferences regarding the various teaching methods. As part of the project, we developed pre- and post-tests consisting of conceptual questions from standardized tests, as well as questions designed to assess the effect of visualizations and experiments. The research population consisted of 811 undergraduate students. It consisted of a small- and a large-scale experimental groups and a control group. Technology-Enabled Active Learning Project students improved their conceptual understanding concepts of the subject matter to a significantly higher extent than their control group peers. A majority of the students in the small-scale experiment noted that they would recommend the Technology-Enabled Active Learning Project course to fellow students, indicating the benefits of inter activity, visualization, and hands-on experiments, which the technology helped enable. In the large-scale implementation students expressed both positive and negative attitudes in the course survey

  7. PENGARUH CHARACTER EDUCATION TRAINING (CEt MELALUI OUTBOUND TRAINING UNTUK PENINGKATAN KEJUJURAN DAN INTEGRITAS MAHASISWA BIDIK MISI

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Sahril Buchori

    2016-06-01

    Full Text Available Outbound method is the most effective method to meet the requirements in regarding a training result. The method is effective to build comprehension of a concept and build individual personality such as honesty and integrity. The caracter will continously apply and become a person with a better personality. The research objective is to know the honest and integrity character’s description of the awardee of Bidik Misi in Educational Study Faculty of State University of Makassar (FIP UNM before and after having the CEt through outbound and to know the effect of CEt through outbound in increasing honest and integrity characters of the awardee of Bidik Misi in Educational Study Faculty of State University of Makassar (FIP UNM. The research is a quantitave research, pre-experimental using One-Group Pretest-Postest Design. The findings is Character Education Training (CEt through Putbound Training is effective to increase the honest and integrity characters of the awardee of Bidik Misi in Educational Study Faculty of State University of Makassar (FIP UNM.

  8. ENABLING SMART MANUFACTURING TECHNOLOGIES FOR DECISION-MAKING SUPPORT

    Science.gov (United States)

    Helu, Moneer; Libes, Don; Lubell, Joshua; Lyons, Kevin; Morris, KC

    2017-01-01

    Smart manufacturing combines advanced manufacturing capabilities and digital technologies throughout the product lifecycle. These technologies can provide decision-making support to manufacturers through improved monitoring, analysis, modeling, and simulation that generate more and better intelligence about manufacturing systems. However, challenges and barriers have impeded the adoption of smart manufacturing technologies. To begin to address this need, this paper defines requirements for data-driven decision making in manufacturing based on a generalized description of decision making. Using these requirements, we then focus on identifying key barriers that prevent the development and use of data-driven decision making in industry as well as examples of technologies and standards that have the potential to overcome these barriers. The goal of this research is to promote a common understanding among the manufacturing community that can enable standardization efforts and innovation needed to continue adoption and use of smart manufacturing technologies. PMID:28649678

  9. 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

  10. Enabling technologies for industrial energy demand management

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Dyer, Caroline H.; Hammond, Geoffrey P.; Jones, Craig I.; McKenna, Russell C.

    2008-01-01

    This state-of-science review sets out to provide an indicative assessment of enabling technologies for reducing UK industrial energy demand and carbon emissions to 2050. In the short term, i.e. the period that will rely on current or existing technologies, the road map and priorities are clear. A variety of available technologies will lead to energy demand reduction in industrial processes, boiler operation, compressed air usage, electric motor efficiency, heating and lighting, and ancillary uses such as transport. The prospects for the commercial exploitation of innovative technologies by the middle of the 21st century are more speculative. Emphasis is therefore placed on the range of technology assessment methods that are likely to provide policy makers with a guide to progress in the development of high-temperature processes, improved materials, process integration and intensification, and improved industrial process control and monitoring. Key among the appraisal methods applicable to the energy sector is thermodynamic analysis, making use of energy, exergy and 'exergoeconomic' techniques. Technical and economic barriers will limit the improvement potential to perhaps a 30% cut in industrial energy use, which would make a significant contribution to reducing energy demand and carbon emissions in UK industry. Non-technological drivers for, and barriers to, the take-up of innovative, low-carbon energy technologies for industry are also outlined

  11. 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

  12. VACET: Proposed SciDAC2 Visualization and Analytics Center for Enabling Technologies

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Bethel, W; Johnson, C; Hansen, C; Parker, S; Sanderson, A; Silva, C; Tricoche, X; Pascucci, V; Childs, H; Cohen, J; Duchaineau, M; Laney, D; Lindstrom, P; Ahern, S; Meredith, J; Ostrouchov, G; Joy, K; Hamann, B

    2006-01-01

    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

  13. 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…

  14. The Role of Technology as an Enabler in Job Redesign

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    David M. Savino

    2009-10-01

    Full Text Available This paper is an acknowledgement of the role of technology as an enabler that encourages the constant need to evaluate, update and employ changing job descriptions and business processes that truly acknowledge job requirements as they are versus notions of what they have been or should be. Advancements in technology have brought about a significant amount of change in terms of how we go about doing our daily work. The evolution from being a manufacturing economy to being information and service based brought to the workplace new realities and responsibilities. As a result, workers can no longer expect to be given a specific listing of assigned duties and tasks that remain fixed over a long period of time. The new paradigm in the workplace relies on continuous demands for improvement and acquired knowledge in a dynamic environment. The catalyst that enables continuous improvement is technology.

  15. Miniaturized Power Processing Unit Study: A Cubesat Electric Propulsion Technology Enabler Project

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ghassemieh, Shakib M.

    2014-01-01

    This study evaluates High Voltage Power Processing Unit (PPU) technology and driving requirements necessary to enable the Microfluidic Electric Propulsion technology research and development by NASA and university partners. This study provides an overview of the state of the art PPU technology with recommendations for technology demonstration projects and missions for NASA to pursue.

  16. PACFEST 2004 : enabling technologies for maritime security in the Pacific region.

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Moore, Judy Hennessey; Whitley, John B.; Chellis, Craig (Pacific Disaster Center, Kihei, HI)

    2005-06-01

    In October of 2003 experts involved in various aspects of homeland security from the Pacific region met to engage in a free-wheeling discussion and brainstorming (a 'fest') on the role that technology could play in winning the war on terrorism in the Pacific region. The result was a concise and relatively thorough definition of the terrorism problem in the Pacific region, emphasizing the issues unique to Island nations in the Pacific setting, along with an action plan for developing working demonstrations of advanced technological solutions to these issues. Since PacFest 2003, the maritime dimensions of the international security environment have garnered increased attention and interest. To this end, PacFest 2004 sought to identify gaps and enabling technologies for maritime domain awareness and responsive decision-making in the Asia-Pacific region. The PacFest 2004 participants concluded that the technologies and basic information building blocks exist to create a system that would enable the Pacific region government and private organizations to effectively collaborate and share their capabilities and information concerning maritime security. The proposed solution summarized in this report integrates national environments in real time, thereby enabling effective prevention and first response to natural and terrorist induced disasters through better use of national and regional investments in people, infrastructure, systems, processes and standards.

  17. Cetáceos del Pacífico de Guatemala: Cincuenta años de historia Guatemala's Pacific Cetaceans: Fifty Years of History

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Andrea A. Cabrera Arreola

    2014-10-01

    Full Text Available En Guatemala el estudio de los cetáceos inició en la década de los sesenta con los primeros registros de varamiento y captura incidental. Sin embargo, pocos trabajos científicos con datos de cetáceos han sido publicados. Con el objetivo de centralizar la información de cetáceos y obtener conocimiento biológico para el desarrollo de planes de manejo y conservación, se realizó una revisión bibliográfica de cetáceos en Guatemala que recaba información de los últimos 50 años. Se obtuvo un total de 1,014 registros de avistamiento (1979-2011, 62 registros de captura incidental (1961/85 y 16 registros de varamientos (1975, 2007-2012, los cuales se analizaron en mapas batimétricos y en mapas de presiones antropogénicas. Se identificaron diecinueve especies pertenecientes a cinco familias de cetáceos, incluyendo Balaenopteridae, Delphinidae, Ziphiidae, Kogiidae y Physeteridae. El esfuerzo y área de muestreo varió durante 1961-2012. Se identificaron diferentes patrones de distribución especie-específicos. La mayoría de avistamientos se registraron cerca de zonas con topografía compleja. Aunque los eventos de captura incidental se registraron únicamente en alta mar, los resultados sugieren que especies de distribución costera se encuentran en zonas con mayor riesgo antropogénico. Se reportaron ocho especies de cetáceos varados, eventos ocurridos principalmente en el departamento de Escuintla desde el año 2007. Debido a la gran diversidad en los patrones de distribución, comportamiento y uso de hábitat de los cetáceos, combinado con los riesgos antropogénicos de la zona, es necesario que se considere un enfoque integral cuando se implementen planes de manejo y conservación marina en Guatemala.

  18. Space reactor system and subsystem investigations: assessment of technology issues for the reactor and shield subsystem. SP-100 Program

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Atkins, D.F.; Lillie, A.F.

    1983-01-01

    As part of Rockwell's effort on the SP-100 Program, preliminary assessment has been completed of current nuclear technology as it relates to candidate reactor/shield subsystems for the SP-100 Program. The scope of the assessment was confined to the nuclear package (to the reactor and shield subsystems). The nine generic reactor subsystems presented in Rockwell's Subsystem Technology Assessment Report, ESG-DOE-13398, were addressed for the assessment

  19. Broadband integrated mid infrared light sources as enabling technology for point of care mid-infrared spectroscopy

    Science.gov (United States)

    2017-08-20

    AFRL-AFOSR-JP-TR-2017-0061 Broadband integrated mid-infrared light sources as enabling technology for point-of-care mid- infrared spectroscopy Alex...mid-infrared light sources as enabling technology for point-of-care mid-infrared spectroscopy 5a.  CONTRACT NUMBER 5b.  GRANT NUMBER FA2386-16-1-4037...Broadband integrated mid-infrared light sources as enabling technology for point-of-care mid- infrared spectroscopy ” Date: 16th August 2017 Name

  20. Enabling fast charging – A battery technology gap assessment

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Ahmed, Shabbir; Bloom, Ira; Jansen, Andrew N.; Tanim, Tanvir; Dufek, Eric J.; Pesaran, Ahmad; Burnham, Andrew; Carlson, Richard B.; Dias, Fernando; Hardy, Keith; Keyser, Matthew; Kreuzer, Cory; Markel, Anthony; Meintz, Andrew; Michelbacher, Christopher; Mohanpurkar, Manish; Nelson, Paul A.; Robertson, David C.; Scoffield, Don; Shirk, Matthew; Stephens, Thomas; Vijayagopal, Ram; Zhang, Jiucai

    2017-11-01

    The battery technology literature is reviewed, with an emphasis on key elements that limit extreme fast charging. Key gaps in existing elements of the technology are presented as well as developmental needs. Among these needs are advanced models and methods to detect and prevent lithium plating; new positive-electrode materials which are less prone to stress-induced failure; better electrode designs to accommodate very rapid diffusion in and out of the electrode; measure temperature distributions during fast charge to enable / validate models; and develop thermal management and pack designs to accommodate the higher operating voltage.

  1. Multi-dimensional technology-enabled social learning approach

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Petreski, Hristijan; Tsekeridou, Sofia; Prasad, Neeli R.

    2013-01-01

    ’t respond to this systemic and structural changes and/or challenges and retains its status quo than it is jeopardizing its own existence or the existence of the education, as we know it. This paper aims to precede one step further by proposing a multi-dimensional approach for technology-enabled social...... in learning while socializing within their learning communities. However, their “educational” usage is still limited to facilitation of online learning communities and to collaborative authoring of learning material complementary to existing formal (e-) learning services. If the educational system doesn...

  2. Health-enabling technologies for pervasive health care: on services and ICT architecture paradigms.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Haux, Reinhold; Howe, Jurgen; Marschollek, Michael; Plischke, Maik; Wolf, Klaus-Hendrik

    2008-06-01

    Progress in information and communication technologies (ICT) is providing new opportunities for pervasive health care services in aging societies. To identify starting points of health-enabling technologies for pervasive health care. To describe typical services of and contemporary ICT architecture paradigms for pervasive health care. Summarizing outcomes of literature analyses and results from own research projects in this field. Basic functions for pervasive health care with respect to home care comprise emergency detection and alarm, disease management, as well as health status feedback and advice. These functions are complemented by optional (non-health care) functions. Four major paradigms for contemporary ICT architectures are person-centered ICT architectures, home-centered ICT architectures, telehealth service-centered ICT architectures and health care institution-centered ICT architectures. Health-enabling technologies may lead to both new ways of living and new ways of health care. Both ways are interwoven. This has to be considered for appropriate ICT architectures of sensor-enhanced health information systems. IMIA, the International Medical Informatics Association, may be an appropriate forum for interdisciplinary research exchange on health-enabling technologies for pervasive health care.

  3. Heat Treatment Used to Strengthen Enabling Coating Technology for Oil-Free Turbomachinery

    Science.gov (United States)

    Edmonds, Brian J.; DellaCorte, Christopher

    2002-01-01

    The PS304 high-temperature solid lubricant coating is a key enabling technology for Oil- Free turbomachinery propulsion and power systems. Breakthroughs in the performance of advanced foil air bearings and improvements in computer-based finite element modeling techniques are the key technologies enabling the development of Oil-Free aircraft engines being pursued by the Oil-Free Turbomachinery team at the NASA Glenn Research Center. PS304 is a plasma spray coating applied to the surface of shafts operating against foil air bearings or in any other component requiring solid lubrication at high temperatures, where conventional materials such as graphite cannot function.

  4. Ensemble averaged multi-phase Eulerian model for columnar/equiaxed solidification of a binary alloy: II. Simulation of the columnar-to-equiaxed transition (CET)

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Ciobanas, A I; Fautrelle, Y

    2007-01-01

    A new multi-phase Eulerian model for the columnar and equiaxed dendritic solidification has been developed. In this paper we first focus on the numerical simulation of quasi-steady solidification experiments in order to obtain corresponding CET maps. We have identified three main zones on the CET map: the pure columnar, the pure equiaxed zone and finally the mixed columnar+equiaxed zone. The mixed c/e zone was further quantified by means of a columnar fraction ε c which quantifies in a rigorous way the two coexisting structures. Since it intrinsically includes the solutal and the mechanical blocking effects, the new ensemble model unifies the semi-empirical Hunt's approach (pure mechanical blocking mechanism) and the Martorano et al approach (pure solutal blocking mechanism). Secondly the present model was used to simulate unidirectional solidification experiments. It was found that the columnar front evolved in a quasi-steady state until a time very close to the critical CET moment. It is also found that the equiaxed nucleation undercooling is close to the maximum columnar dendrite tip undercooling and that the CET is virtually independent of the equiaxed zone ahead of the columnar front. If the equiaxed zone is not taken into account it is observed that the columnar front velocity exhibits a sudden increase at the beginning of the solidification followed by a quasi-plateau corresponding to a quasi-state at the columnar tips and finally, above a critical time, an oscillatory evolution. The beginning of the oscillatory evolution of the columnar front was well correlated with the CET position measured in the experiments. We also find that this oscillatory evolution of the columnar front is very favourable for the fragmentation of the columnar dendrites and thus for the CET. In this respect, it seems that the unsteady regime of the columnar front with respect to the local cooling conditions represents the main cause for the CET phenomena, at least for the non

  5. HTS machines as enabling technology for all-electric airborne vehicles

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Masson, P J; Brown, G V; Soban, D S; Luongo, C A

    2007-01-01

    Environmental protection has now become paramount as evidence mounts to support the thesis of human activity-driven global warming. A global reduction of the emissions of pollutants into the atmosphere is therefore needed and new technologies have to be considered. A large part of the emissions come from transportation vehicles, including cars, trucks and airplanes, due to the nature of their combustion-based propulsion systems. Our team has been working for several years on the development of high power density superconducting motors for aircraft propulsion and fuel cell based power systems for aircraft. This paper investigates the feasibility of all-electric aircraft based on currently available technology. Electric propulsion would require the development of high power density electric propulsion motors, generators, power management and distribution systems. The requirements in terms of weight and volume of these components cannot be achieved with conventional technologies; however, the use of superconductors associated with hydrogen-based power plants makes possible the design of a reasonably light power system and would therefore enable the development of all-electric aero-vehicles. A system sizing has been performed both for actuators and for primary propulsion. Many advantages would come from electrical propulsion such as better controllability of the propulsion, higher efficiency, higher availability and less maintenance needs. Superconducting machines may very well be the enabling technology for all-electric aircraft development

  6. HTS machines as enabling technology for all-electric airborne vehicles

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Masson, P J [FAMU-FSU College of Engineering and the Center for Advanced Power Systems, Tallahassee, FL 32310 (United States); Brown, G V [NASA Glenn Research Center, Cleveland, OH (United States); Soban, D S [Aerospace System Design Laboratory/Georgia Tech, Atlanta, GA 32332 (United States); Luongo, C A [FAMU-FSU College of Engineering and the Center for Advanced Power Systems, Tallahassee, FL 32310 (United States)

    2007-08-15

    Environmental protection has now become paramount as evidence mounts to support the thesis of human activity-driven global warming. A global reduction of the emissions of pollutants into the atmosphere is therefore needed and new technologies have to be considered. A large part of the emissions come from transportation vehicles, including cars, trucks and airplanes, due to the nature of their combustion-based propulsion systems. Our team has been working for several years on the development of high power density superconducting motors for aircraft propulsion and fuel cell based power systems for aircraft. This paper investigates the feasibility of all-electric aircraft based on currently available technology. Electric propulsion would require the development of high power density electric propulsion motors, generators, power management and distribution systems. The requirements in terms of weight and volume of these components cannot be achieved with conventional technologies; however, the use of superconductors associated with hydrogen-based power plants makes possible the design of a reasonably light power system and would therefore enable the development of all-electric aero-vehicles. A system sizing has been performed both for actuators and for primary propulsion. Many advantages would come from electrical propulsion such as better controllability of the propulsion, higher efficiency, higher availability and less maintenance needs. Superconducting machines may very well be the enabling technology for all-electric aircraft development.

  7. Pulsating White Dwarfs in Cataclysmic Variables: The Marriage of ZZ Cet and Dwarf Nova

    OpenAIRE

    Warner, Brian; Woudt, Patrick A.

    2003-01-01

    There are now four dwarf novae known with white dwarf primaries that show large amplitude non-radial oscillations of the kind seen in ZZ Cet stars. We compare the properties of these stars and point out that by the end of the Sloan Digital Sky Survey more than 30 should be known.

  8. Enabling Technologies for Characterizing Exoplanet Systems with Exo-C

    Science.gov (United States)

    Cahoy, Kerri Lynn; Belikov, Ruslan; Stapelfeldt, Karl R.; Chakrabarti, Supriya; Trauger, John T.; Serabyn, Eugene; McElwain, Michael W.; Pong, Christopher M.; Brugarolas, Paul

    2015-01-01

    The Exoplanet Science and Technology Definition Team's Internal Coronagraph mission design, called 'Exo-C', utilizes several technologies that have advanced over the past decade with support from the Exoplanet Exploration Program. Following the flow of photons through the telescope, the science measurement is enabled by (i) a precision pointing system to keep the target exoplanet system precisely positioned on the detector during the integration time, (ii) high-performance coronagraphs to block the parent star's light so that the planet's reflected light can be detected, (iii) a wavefront control system to compensate for any wavefront errors such as those due to thermal or mechanical deformations in the optical path, especially errors with high spatial frequencies that could cause contrast-reducing speckles, and (iv) an integral field spectrograph (IFS) that provides moderate resolution spectra of the target exoplanets, permitting their characterization and comparison with models and other data sets. Technologies such as the wavefront control system and coronagraphs will also benefit from other funded efforts in progress, such as the Wide Field Infrared Survey Telescope Astrophysics Focused Telescope Assets (WFIRST-AFTA) program. Similarly, the Exo-C IFS will benefit from the Prototype Imaging Spectrograph for Coronagraphic Exoplanet Studies (PISCES) demonstration. We present specific examples for each of these technologies showing that the state of the art has advanced to levels that will meet the overall scientific, cost, and schedule requirements of the Exo-C mission. These capabilities have matured with testbed and/or ground-telescope demonstrations and have reached a technological readiness level (TRL) that supports their inclusion in the baseline design for potential flight at the end of this decade. While additional work remains to build and test flight-like components (that concurrently meet science as well as size, weight, power, and environmental

  9. The Value of RFID Technology Enabled Information to Manage Perishables

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    M.E. Ketzenberg (Michael); J.M. Bloemhof-Ruwaard (Jacqueline)

    2009-01-01

    textabstractWe address the value of RFID technology enabled information to manage perishables in the context of a supplier that sells a random lifetime product subject to stochastic demand and lost sales. The product's lifetime is largely determined by the time and temperature history in the supply

  10. Enabling Laser and Lidar Technologies for NASA's Science and Exploration Mission's Applications

    Science.gov (United States)

    Singh, Upendra N.; Kavaya, Michael J.

    2005-01-01

    NASA s Laser Risk Reduction Program, begun in 2002, has achieved many technology advances in only 3.5 years. The recent selection of several lidar proposals for Science and Exploration applications indicates that the LRRP goal of enabling future space-based missions by lowering the technology risk has already begun to be met.

  11. Advanced Exploration Technologies: Micro and Nano Technologies Enabling Space Missions in the 21st Century

    Science.gov (United States)

    Krabach, Timothy

    1998-01-01

    Some of the many new and advanced exploration technologies which will enable space missions in the 21st century and specifically the Manned Mars Mission are explored in this presentation. Some of these are the system on a chip, the Computed-Tomography imaging Spectrometer, the digital camera on a chip, and other Micro Electro Mechanical Systems (MEMS) technology for space. Some of these MEMS are the silicon micromachined microgyroscope, a subliming solid micro-thruster, a micro-ion thruster, a silicon seismometer, a dewpoint microhygrometer, a micro laser doppler anemometer, and tunable diode laser (TDL) sensors. The advanced technology insertion is critical for NASA to decrease mass, volume, power and mission costs, and increase functionality, science potential and robustness.

  12. Organic electronics: materials, technology and circuit design developments enabling new applications

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Leeuw, de D.M.; Cantatore, E.

    2009-01-01

    Organic electronics is growing to become an important new field in the global electronics market. RFID labels, flexible displays, solar cells, OLED-based lighting and displays are only some of the innovative products enabled by technologies based on organic semiconductors. Starting from a short

  13. Can Mobile Technology Enable Knowledge Communication in a Learning Environment?

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Kampf, Constance; Islas Sedano, Carolina

    2008-01-01

    this mobile phone game to help next years' students navigated the CampusNet system in order to study for the exam.  The CampusNet system can be seen as a knowledge management technology situated within the social context of the Project Management course, and so the examples offered, in effect, demonstrate...... To be effective, knowledge management systems need to encompass both social processes and technical components (McDermott 2000),   On the other hand, knowledge communication as a concept has emerged not from the inspiration of technology, but partly from the social-technical challenge of dealing...... with technology in knowledge management systems.  So, is knowledge communication a process that can be technologically enabled?  In this presentation, we explore the possibilities of socio-technical interaction for knowledge communication through the use of a mobile phone game as a knowledge communication tool...

  14. Future research in technological enablers for knowledge management: A worldwide expert study

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Sarka, Peter; Caldwell, Nicholas H. M.; Ipsen, Christine

    2014-01-01

    Information Technology (IT) is widely considered as an important part of knowledge management (KM). However, failures of KM in organisational practice have been attributed to an overemphasis of IT in KM. An improved understanding of the role of IT within KM in organisations could help to improve...... key research themes articulated by the KM experts to enhance and develop KM in relation to technological enablers....

  15. Research Data Reusability: Conceptual Foundations, Barriers and Enabling Technologies

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Costantino Thanos

    2017-01-01

    Full Text Available High-throughput scientific instruments are generating massive amounts of data. Today, one of the main challenges faced by researchers is to make the best use of the world’s growing wealth of data. Data (reusability is becoming a distinct characteristic of modern scientific practice. By data (reusability, we mean the ease of using data for legitimate scientific research by one or more communities of research (consumer communities that is produced by other communities of research (producer communities. Data (reusability allows the reanalysis of evidence, reproduction and verification of results, minimizing duplication of effort, and building on the work of others. It has four main dimensions: policy, legal, economic and technological. The paper addresses the technological dimension of data reusability. The conceptual foundations of data reuse as well as the barriers that hamper data reuse are presented and discussed. The data publication process is proposed as a bridge between the data author and user and the relevant technologies enabling this process are presented.

  16. A review of the Technologies Enabling Agile Manufacturing program

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Gray, W.H.; Neal, R.E.; Cobb, C.K.

    1996-10-01

    Addressing a technical plan developed in consideration with major US manufacturers, software and hardware providers, and government representatives, the Technologies Enabling Agile Manufacturing (TEAM) program is leveraging the expertise and resources of industry, universities, and federal agencies to develop, integrate, and deploy leap-ahead manufacturing technologies. One of the TEAM program`s goals is to transition products from design to production faster, more efficiently, and at less cost. TEAM`s technology development strategy also provides all participants with early experience in establishing and working within an electronic enterprise that includes access to high-speed networks and high-performance computing and storage systems. The TEAM program uses the cross-cutting tools it collects, develops, and integrates to demonstrate and deploy agile manufacturing capabilities for three high-priority processes identified by industry: material removal, sheet metal forming, electro-mechanical assembly. This paper reviews the current status of the TEAM program with emphasis upon TEAM`s information infrastructure.

  17. Electric Energy Management in the Smart Home: Perspectives on Enabling Technologies and Consumer Behavior

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Zipperer, A. [Colorado State Univ., Fort Collins, CO (United States); Aloise-Young, P. A. [Colorado State Univ., Fort Collins, CO (United States); Suryanarayanan, S. [Colorado State Univ., Fort Collins, CO (United States); Zimmerle, D. [Colorado State Univ., Fort Collins, CO (United States); Roche, R. [Univ. of Technology, Belfort-Montebeliard (France); Earle, L. [National Renewable Energy Lab. (NREL), Golden, CO (United States); Christensen, D. [National Renewable Energy Lab. (NREL), Golden, CO (United States); Bauleo, P. [Fort Collins Utilities, CO (United States)

    2013-08-01

    Smart homes hold the potential for increasing energy efficiency, decreasing costs of energy use, decreasing the carbon footprint by including renewable resources, and trans-forming the role of the occupant. At the crux of the smart home is an efficient electric energy management system that is enabled by emerging technologies in the electricity grid and consumer electronics. This article presents a discussion of the state-of-the-art in electricity management in smart homes, the various enabling technologies that will accelerate this concept, and topics around consumer behavior with respect to energy usage.

  18. Electric Energy Management in the Smart Home: Perspectives on Enabling Technologies and Consumer Behavior

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Zipperer, Adam; Aloise-Young, Patricia A.; Suryanarayanan, Siddharth; Roche, Robin; Earle, Lieko; Christensen, Dane; Bauleo, Pablo; Zimmerle, Daniel

    2013-11-01

    Smart homes hold the potential for increasing energy efficiency, decreasing costs of energy use, decreasing the carbon footprint by including renewable resources, and transforming the role of the occupant. At the crux of the smart home is an efficient electric energy management system that is enabled by emerging technologies in the electric grid and consumer electronics. This article presents a discussion of the state-of-the-art in electricity management in smart homes, the various enabling technologies that will accelerate this concept, and topics around consumer behavior with respect to energy usage.

  19. The Technology-Enabled Patient Advocate: A Valuable Emerging Healthcare Partner.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kent, Susan M; Yellowlees, Peter

    2015-12-01

    The U.S. healthcare system is changing and is becoming more patient-centered and technology-supported, with greater emphasis on population health outcomes and team-based care. The roles of healthcare providers are changing, and new healthcare roles are developing such as that of the patient advocate. This article reviews the history of this type of role, the changes that have taken place over time, the technological innovations in service delivery that further enable the role, and how the role could increasingly be developed in the future. Logical future extensions of the current typical patient advocate are the appearance of a virtual or avatar-driven care navigator, using telemedicine and related information technologies, as healthcare provision moves increasingly in a hybrid direction, with care being given both in-person and online.

  20. Technology-enabled assessment of health professions education: consensus statement and recommendations from the Ottawa 2010 Conference

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Amin, Zubair; Boulet, John R; Cook, David A

    2011-01-01

    The uptake of information and communication technologies (ICTs) in health professions education can have far-reaching consequences on assessment. The medical education community still needs to develop a deeper understanding of how technology can underpin and extend assessment practices....... This article was developed by the 2010 Ottawa Conference Consensus Group on technology-enabled assessment to guide practitioners and researchers working in this area. This article highlights the changing nature of ICTs in assessment, the importance of aligning technology-enabled assessment with local context...... and needs, the need for better evidence to support use of technologies in health profession education assessment, and a number of challenges, particularly validity threats, that need to be addressed while incorporating technology in assessment. Our recommendations are intended for all practitioners across...

  1. Extending green technology innovations to enable greener fabs

    Science.gov (United States)

    Takahisa, Kenji; Yoo, Young Sun; Fukuda, Hitomi; Minegishi, Yuji; Enami, Tatsuo

    2015-03-01

    Semiconductor manufacturing industry has growing concerns over future environmental impacts as fabs expand and new generations of equipment become more powerful. Especially rare gases supply and price are one of prime concerns for operation of high volume manufacturing (HVM) fabs. Over the past year it has come to our attention that Helium and Neon gas supplies could be unstable and become a threat to HVM fabs. To address these concerns, Gigaphoton has implemented various green technologies under its EcoPhoton program. One of the initiatives is GigaTwin deep ultraviolet (DUV) lithography laser design which enables highly efficient and stable operation. Under this design laser systems run with 50% less electric energy and gas consumption compared to conventional laser designs. In 2014 we have developed two technologies to further reduce electric energy and gas efficiency. The electric energy reduction technology is called eGRYCOS (enhanced Gigaphoton Recycled Chamber Operation System), and it reduces electric energy by 15% without compromising any of laser performances. eGRYCOS system has a sophisticated gas flow design so that we can reduce cross-flow-fan rotation speed. The gas reduction technology is called eTGM (enhanced Total gas Manager) and it improves gas management system optimizing the gas injection and exhaust amount based on laser performances, resulting in 50% gas savings. The next steps in our roadmap technologies are indicated and we call for potential partners to work with us based on OPEN INNOVATION concept to successfully develop faster and better solutions in all possible areas where green innovation may exist.

  2. Enabling frameworks for low-carbon technology transfer to small emerging economies: Analysis of ten case studies in Chile

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Pueyo, Ana

    2013-01-01

    Technology transfer is crucial to reduce the carbon intensity of developing countries. Enabling frameworks need to be in place to allow foreign technologies to flow, to be absorbed and to bring about technological change in the recipient country. This paper contributes to identifying these enabling factors by analysing 10 case studies of low-carbon technology transfer processes based in Chile. Our findings show the importance of strong economic and institutional fundamentals, a sound knowledge base, a sizable and stable demand and a functioning local industry. Policy recommendations are derived to improve the penetration of foreign low-carbon technologies in developing countries, focusing on the particularities of small and medium emerging economies. - Highlights: ► We analyse 10 case studies of low carbon technology transfer to Chile. ► We identify enablers of technology transfer to developing countries. ► We provide policy recommendations focusing on small and medium economies.

  3. Earth System Grid II, Turning Climate Datasets into Community Resources

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Middleton, Don

    2006-08-01

    The Earth System Grid (ESG) II project, funded by the Department of Energy’s Scientific Discovery through Advanced Computing program, has transformed climate data into community resources. ESG II has accomplished this goal by creating a virtual collaborative environment that links climate centers and users around the world to models and data via a computing Grid, which is based on the Department of Energy’s supercomputing resources and the Internet. Our project’s success stems from partnerships between climate researchers and computer scientists to advance basic and applied research in the terrestrial, atmospheric, and oceanic sciences. By interfacing with other climate science projects, we have learned that commonly used methods to manage and remotely distribute data among related groups lack infrastructure and under-utilize existing technologies. Knowledge and expertise gained from ESG II have helped the climate community plan strategies to manage a rapidly growing data environment more effectively. Moreover, approaches and technologies developed under the ESG project have impacted datasimulation integration in other disciplines, such as astrophysics, molecular biology and materials science.

  4. Advanced excimer laser technologies enable green semiconductor manufacturing

    Science.gov (United States)

    Fukuda, Hitomi; Yoo, Youngsun; Minegishi, Yuji; Hisanaga, Naoto; Enami, Tatsuo

    2014-03-01

    "Green" has fast become an important and pervasive topic throughout many industries worldwide. Many companies, especially in the manufacturing industries, have taken steps to integrate green initiatives into their high-level corporate strategies. Governments have also been active in implementing various initiatives designed to increase corporate responsibility and accountability towards environmental issues. In the semiconductor manufacturing industry, there are growing concerns over future environmental impact as enormous fabs expand and new generation of equipments become larger and more powerful. To address these concerns, Gigaphoton has implemented various green initiatives for many years under the EcoPhoton™ program. The objective of this program is to drive innovations in technology and services that enable manufacturers to significantly reduce both the financial and environmental "green cost" of laser operations in high-volume manufacturing environment (HVM) - primarily focusing on electricity, gas and heat management costs. One example of such innovation is Gigaphoton's Injection-Lock system, which reduces electricity and gas utilization costs of the laser by up to 50%. Furthermore, to support the industry's transition from 300mm to the next generation 450mm wafers, technologies are being developed to create lasers that offer double the output power from 60W to 120W, but reducing electricity and gas consumption by another 50%. This means that the efficiency of lasers can be improve by up to 4 times in 450mm wafer production environments. Other future innovations include the introduction of totally Heliumfree Excimer lasers that utilize Nitrogen gas as its replacement for optical module purging. This paper discusses these and other innovations by Gigaphoton to enable green manufacturing.

  5. Motivation and Test Anxiety in Test Performance across Three Testing Contexts: The CAEL, CET, and GEPT

    Science.gov (United States)

    Cheng, Liying; Klinger, Don; Fox, Janna; Doe, Christine; Jin, Yan; Wu, Jessica

    2014-01-01

    This study examined test-takers' motivation, test anxiety, and test performance across a range of social and educational contexts in three high-stakes language tests: the Canadian Academic English Language (CAEL) Assessment in Canada, the College English Test (CET) in the People's Republic of China, and the General English Proficiency Test (GEPT)…

  6. Stratified Charge Rotary Engine Critical Technology Enablement, Volume 1

    Science.gov (United States)

    Irion, C. E.; Mount, R. E.

    1992-01-01

    This report summarizes results of a critical technology enablement effort with the stratified charge rotary engine (SCRE) focusing on a power section of 0.67 liters (40 cu. in.) per rotor in single and two rotor versions. The work is a continuation of prior NASA Contracts NAS3-23056 and NAS3-24628. Technical objectives are multi-fuel capability, including civil and military jet fuel and DF-2, fuel efficiency of 0.355 Lbs/BHP-Hr. at best cruise condition above 50 percent power, altitude capability of up to 10Km (33,000 ft.) cruise, 2000 hour TBO and reduced coolant heat rejection. Critical technologies for SCRE's that have the potential for competitive performance and cost in a representative light-aircraft environment were examined. Objectives were: the development and utilization of advanced analytical tools, i.e. higher speed and enhanced three dimensional combustion modeling; identification of critical technologies; development of improved instrumentation, and to isolate and quantitatively identify the contribution to performance and efficiency of critical components or subsystems.

  7. Cognitive Heterogeneous Reconfigurable Optical Networks (CHRON): Enabling Technologies and Techniques

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Tafur Monroy, Idelfonso; Zibar, Darko; Guerrero Gonzalez, Neil

    2011-01-01

    We present the approach of cognition applied to heterogeneous optical networks developed in the framework of the EU project CHRON: Cognitive Heterogeneous Reconfigurable Optical Network. We introduce and discuss in particular the technologies and techniques that will enable a cognitive optical...... network to observe, act, learn and optimizes its performance, taking into account its high degree of heterogeneity with respect to quality of service, transmission and switching techniques....

  8. Enabling technologies built on a sonochemical platform: challenges and opportunities.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Cintas, Pedro; Tagliapietra, Silvia; Caporaso, Marina; Tabasso, Silvia; Cravotto, Giancarlo

    2015-07-01

    Scientific and technological progress now occurs at the interface between two or more scientific and technical disciplines while chemistry is intertwined with almost all scientific domains. Complementary and synergistic effects have been found in the overlay between sonochemistry and other enabling technologies such as mechanochemistry, microwave chemistry and flow-chemistry. Although their nature and effects are intrinsically different, these techniques share the ability to significantly activate most chemical processes and peculiar phenomena. These studies offer a comprehensive overview of sonochemistry, provide a better understanding of correlated phenomena (mechanochemical effects, hot spots, etc.), and pave the way for emerging applications which unite hybrid reactors. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  9. Enabling Technology for Monitoring & Predicting Gas Turbine Health & Performance in COAL IGCC Powerplants

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Kenneth A. Yackly

    2004-09-30

    The ''Enabling & Information Technology To Increase RAM for Advanced Powerplants'' program, by DOE request, has been re-directed, de-scoped to two tasks, shortened to a 2-year period of performance, and refocused to develop, validate and accelerate the commercial use of enabling materials technologies and sensors for Coal IGCC powerplants. The new program has been re-titled as ''Enabling Technology for Monitoring & Predicting Gas Turbine Health & Performance in IGCC Powerplants'' to better match the new scope. This technical progress report summarizes the work accomplished in the reporting period April 1, 2004 to August 31, 2004 on the revised Re-Directed and De-Scoped program activity. The program Tasks are: Task 1--IGCC Environmental Impact on high Temperature Materials: This first materials task has been refocused to address Coal IGCC environmental impacts on high temperature materials use in gas turbines and remains in the program. This task will screen material performance and quantify the effects of high temperature erosion and corrosion of hot gas path materials in Coal IGCC applications. The materials of interest will include those in current service as well as advanced, high-performance alloys and coatings. Task 2--Material In-Service Health Monitoring: This second task develops and demonstrates new sensor technologies to determine the in-service health of advanced technology Coal IGCC powerplants, and remains in the program with a reduced scope. Its focus is now on only two critical sensor need areas for advanced Coal IGCC gas turbines: (1) Fuel Quality Sensor for detection of fuel impurities that could lead to rapid component degradation, and a Fuel Heating Value Sensor to rapidly determine the fuel heating value for more precise control of the gas turbine, and (2) Infra-Red Pyrometer to continuously measure the temperature of gas turbine buckets, nozzles, and combustor hardware.

  10. A Systematic Review of Reviews Evaluating Technology-Enabled Diabetes Self-Management Education and Support.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Greenwood, Deborah A; Gee, Perry M; Fatkin, Kathy J; Peeples, Malinda

    2017-09-01

    Since the introduction of mobile phones, technology has been increasingly used to enable diabetes self-management education and support. This timely systematic review summarizes how currently available technology impacts outcomes for people living with diabetes. A systematic review of high quality review articles and meta analyses focused on utilizing technology in diabetes self-management education and support services was conducted. Articles were included if published between January 2013 and January 2017. Twenty-five studies were included for analysis. The majority evaluated the use of mobile phones and secure messaging. Most studies described healthy eating, being active and metabolic monitoring as the predominant self-care behaviors evaluated. Eighteen of 25 reviews reported significant reduction in A1c as an outcome measure. Four key elements emerged as essential for improved A1c: (1) communication, (2) patient-generated health data, (3) education, and (4) feedback. Technology-enabled diabetes self-management solutions significantly improve A1c. The most effective interventions incorporated all the components of a technology-enabled self-management feedback loop that connected people with diabetes and their health care team using 2-way communication, analyzed patient-generated health data, tailored education, and individualized feedback. The evidence from this systematic review indicates that organizations, policy makers and payers should consider integrating these solutions in the design of diabetes self-management education and support services for population health and value-based care models. With the widespread adoption of mobile phones, digital health solutions that incorporate evidence-based, behaviorally designed interventions can improve the reach and access to diabetes self-management education and ongoing support.

  11. Enabling Technology for Monitoring & Predicting Gas Turbine Health & Performance in IGCC Powerplants

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Kenneth A. Yackly

    2005-12-01

    The ''Enabling & Information Technology To Increase RAM for Advanced Powerplants'' program, by DOE request, was re-directed, de-scoped to two tasks, shortened to a 2-year period of performance, and refocused to develop, validate and accelerate the commercial use of enabling materials technologies and sensors for coal/IGCC powerplants. The new program was re-titled ''Enabling Technology for Monitoring & Predicting Gas Turbine Health & Performance in IGCC Powerplants''. This final report summarizes the work accomplished from March 1, 2003 to March 31, 2004 on the four original tasks, and the work accomplished from April 1, 2004 to July 30, 2005 on the two re-directed tasks. The program Tasks are summarized below: Task 1--IGCC Environmental Impact on high Temperature Materials: The first task was refocused to address IGCC environmental impacts on high temperature materials used in gas turbines. This task screened material performance and quantified the effects of high temperature erosion and corrosion of hot gas path materials in coal/IGCC applications. The materials of interest included those in current service as well as advanced, high-performance alloys and coatings. Task 2--Material In-Service Health Monitoring: The second task was reduced in scope to demonstrate new technologies to determine the inservice health of advanced technology coal/IGCC powerplants. The task focused on two critical sensing needs for advanced coal/IGCC gas turbines: (1) Fuel Quality Sensor to rapidly determine the fuel heating value for more precise control of the gas turbine, and detection of fuel impurities that could lead to rapid component degradation. (2) Infra-Red Pyrometer to continuously measure the temperature of gas turbine buckets, nozzles, and combustor hardware. Task 3--Advanced Methods for Combustion Monitoring and Control: The third task was originally to develop and validate advanced monitoring and control methods for coal/IGCC gas

  12. New dynamic silicon photonic components enabled by MEMS technology

    Science.gov (United States)

    Errando-Herranz, Carlos; Edinger, Pierre; Colangelo, Marco; Björk, Joel; Ahmed, Samy; Stemme, Göran; Niklaus, Frank; Gylfason, Kristinn B.

    2018-02-01

    Silicon photonics is the study and application of integrated optical systems which use silicon as an optical medium, usually by confining light in optical waveguides etched into the surface of silicon-on-insulator (SOI) wafers. The term microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) refers to the technology of mechanics on the microscale actuated by electrostatic actuators. Due to the low power requirements of electrostatic actuation, MEMS components are very power efficient, making them well suited for dense integration and mobile operation. MEMS components are conventionally also implemented in silicon, and MEMS sensors such as accelerometers, gyros, and microphones are now standard in every smartphone. By combining these two successful technologies, new active photonic components with extremely low power consumption can be made. We discuss our recent experimental work on tunable filters, tunable fiber-to-chip couplers, and dynamic waveguide dispersion tuning, enabled by the marriage of silicon MEMS and silicon photonics.

  13. Enabling Technologies for Smart Grid Integration and Interoperability of Electric Vehicles

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Martinenas, Sergejus

    Conventional, centralized power plants are being replaced by intermittent, distributed renewable energy sources, thus raising the concern about the stability of the power grid in its current state. All the while, electrification of all forms of transportation is increasing the load...... for successful EV integration into the smart grid, as a smart, mobile distributed energy resource. The work is split into three key topics: enabling technologies, grid service applications and interoperability issues. The current state of e-mobility technologies is surveyed. Technologies and protocols...... EVs to not only mitigate their own effects on the grid, but also provide value to grid operators, locally as well as system wide. Finally, it is shown that active integration of EVs into the smart grid, is not only achievable, but is well on its way to becoming a reality....

  14. Novel enabling technologies of gene isolation and plant transformation for improved crop protection

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Torok, Tamas

    2013-02-04

    Meeting the needs of agricultural producers requires the continued development of improved transgenic crop protection products. The completed project focused on developing novel enabling technologies of gene discovery and plant transformation to facilitate the generation of such products.

  15. Technology-enabled management of communication and swallowing disorders in Parkinson's disease: a systematic scoping review.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Theodoros, Deborah; Aldridge, Danielle; Hill, Anne J; Russell, Trevor

    2018-06-19

    Communication and swallowing disorders are highly prevalent in people with Parkinson's disease (PD). Maintenance of functional communication and swallowing over time is challenging for the person with PD and their families and may lead to social isolation and reduced quality of life if not addressed. Speech and language therapists (SLTs) face the conundrum of providing sustainable and flexible services to meet the changing needs of people with PD. Motor, cognitive and psychological issues associated with PD, medication regimens and dependency on others often impede attendance at a centre-based service. The access difficulties experienced by people with PD require a disruptive service approach to meet their needs. Technology-enabled management using information and telecommunications technologies to provide services at a distance has the potential to improve access, and enhance the quality of SLT services to people with PD. To report the status and scope of the evidence for the use of technology in the management of the communication and swallowing disorders associated with PD. Studies were retrieved from four major databases (PubMed, CINAHL, EMBASE and Medline via Web of Science). Data relating to the types of studies, level of evidence, context, nature of the management undertaken, participant perspectives and the types of technologies involved were extracted for the review. A total of 17 studies were included in the review, 15 of which related to the management of communication and swallowing disorders in PD with two studies devoted to participant perspectives. The majority of the studies reported on the treatment of the speech disorder in PD using Lee Silverman Voice Treatment (LSVT LOUD ® ). Synchronous and asynchronous technologies were used in the studies with a predominance of the former. There was a paucity of research in the management of cognitive-communication and swallowing disorders. Research evidence supporting technology-enabled management of the

  16. Enabling Patient Control of Personal Electronic Health Records Through Distributed Ledger Technology.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Cunningham, James; Ainsworth, John

    2017-01-01

    The rise of distributed ledger technology, initiated and exemplified by the Bitcoin blockchain, is having an increasing impact on information technology environments in which there is an emphasis on trust and security. Management of electronic health records, where both conformation to legislative regulations and maintenance of public trust are paramount, is an area where the impact of these new technologies may be particularly beneficial. We present a system that enables fine-grained personalized control of third-party access to patients' electronic health records, allowing individuals to specify when and how their records are accessed for research purposes. The use of the smart contract based Ethereum blockchain technology to implement this system allows it to operate in a verifiably secure, trustless, and openly auditable environment, features crucial to health information systems moving forward.

  17. 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

  18. Free and open source enabling technologies for patient-centric, guideline-based clinical decision support: a survey.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Leong, T Y; Kaiser, K; Miksch, S

    2007-01-01

    Guideline-based clinical decision support is an emerging paradigm to help reduce error, lower cost, and improve quality in evidence-based medicine. The free and open source (FOS) approach is a promising alternative for delivering cost-effective information technology (IT) solutions in health care. In this paper, we survey the current FOS enabling technologies for patient-centric, guideline-based care, and discuss the current trends and future directions of their role in clinical decision support. We searched PubMed, major biomedical informatics websites, and the web in general for papers and links related to FOS health care IT systems. We also relied on our background and knowledge for specific subtopics. We focused on the functionalities of guideline modeling tools, and briefly examined the supporting technologies for terminology, data exchange and electronic health record (EHR) standards. To effectively support patient-centric, guideline-based care, the computerized guidelines and protocols need to be integrated with existing clinical information systems or EHRs. Technologies that enable such integration should be accessible, interoperable, and scalable. A plethora of FOS tools and techniques for supporting different knowledge management and quality assurance tasks involved are available. Many challenges, however, remain in their implementation. There are active and growing trends of deploying FOS enabling technologies for integrating clinical guidelines, protocols, and pathways into the main care processes. The continuing development and maturation of such technologies are likely to make increasingly significant contributions to patient-centric, guideline-based clinical decision support.

  19. The role of electricity storage and hydrogen technologies in enabling global low-carbon energy transitions

    OpenAIRE

    McPherson, M.; Johnson, N.; Strubegger, M.

    2018-01-01

    Previous studies have noted the importance of electricity storage and hydrogen technologies for enabling large-scale variable renewable energy (VRE) deployment in long-term climate change mitigation scenarios. However, global studies, which typically use integrated assessment models, assume a fixed cost trajectory for storage and hydrogen technologies; thereby ignoring the sensitivity of VRE deployment and/or mitigation costs to uncertainties in future storage and hydrogen technology costs. Y...

  20. Applications of Organic and Printed Electronics A Technology-Enabled Revolution

    CERN Document Server

    2013-01-01

    Organic and printed electronics can enable a revolution in the applications of electronics and this book offers readers an overview of the state-of-the-art in this rapidly evolving domain.  The potentially low cost, compatibility with flexible substrates and the wealth of devices that characterize organic and printed electronics will make possible applications that go far beyond the well-known displays made with large-area silicon electronics. Since organic electronics are still in their early stage, undergoing transition from lab-scale and prototype activities to production, this book serves as a valuable snapshot of the current landscape of the different devices enabled by this technology, reviewing all applications that are developing and those can be foreseen.   Provides a complete roadmap for organic and printed electronics research and development for the next several years; Includes an overview of the printing processes for organic electronics, along with state of the art applications, such as solar ...

  1. 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.

  2. Enabling technologies and green processes in cyclodextrin chemistry

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Giancarlo Cravotto

    2016-02-01

    Full Text Available The design of efficient synthetic green strategies for the selective modification of cyclodextrins (CDs is still a challenging task. Outstanding results have been achieved in recent years by means of so-called enabling technologies, such as microwaves, ultrasound and ball mills, that have become irreplaceable tools in the synthesis of CD derivatives. Several examples of sonochemical selective modification of native α-, β- and γ-CDs have been reported including heterogeneous phase Pd- and Cu-catalysed hydrogenations and couplings. Microwave irradiation has emerged as the technique of choice for the production of highly substituted CD derivatives, CD grafted materials and polymers. Mechanochemical methods have successfully furnished greener, solvent-free syntheses and efficient complexation, while flow microreactors may well improve the repeatability and optimization of critical synthetic protocols.

  3. Enabling Campus Grids with Open Science Grid Technology

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Weitzel, Derek; Fraser, Dan; Pordes, Ruth; Bockelman, Brian; Swanson, David

    2011-01-01

    The Open Science Grid is a recognized key component of the US national cyber-infrastructure enabling scientific discovery through advanced high throughput computing. The principles and techniques that underlie the Open Science Grid can also be applied to Campus Grids since many of the requirements are the same, even if the implementation technologies differ. We find five requirements for a campus grid: trust relationships, job submission, resource independence, accounting, and data management. The Holland Computing Center's campus grid at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln was designed to fulfill the requirements of a campus grid. A bridging daemon was designed to bring non-Condor clusters into a grid managed by Condor. Condor features which make it possible to bridge Condor sites into a multi-campus grid have been exploited at the Holland Computing Center as well.

  4. Advanced light source technologies that enable high-volume manufacturing of DUV lithography extensions

    Science.gov (United States)

    Cacouris, Theodore; Rao, Rajasekhar; Rokitski, Rostislav; Jiang, Rui; Melchior, John; Burfeindt, Bernd; O'Brien, Kevin

    2012-03-01

    Deep UV (DUV) lithography is being applied to pattern increasingly finer geometries, leading to solutions like double- and multiple-patterning. Such process complexities lead to higher costs due to the increasing number of steps required to produce the desired results. One of the consequences is that the lithography equipment needs to provide higher operating efficiencies to minimize the cost increases, especially for producers of memory devices that experience a rapid decline in sales prices of these products over time. In addition to having introduced higher power 193nm light sources to enable higher throughput, we previously described technologies that also enable: higher tool availability via advanced discharge chamber gas management algorithms; improved process monitoring via enhanced on-board beam metrology; and increased depth of focus (DOF) via light source bandwidth modulation. In this paper we will report on the field performance of these technologies with data that supports the desired improvements in on-wafer performance and operational efficiencies.

  5. New Content Addressable Memory (CAM) Technologies for Big Data and Intelligent Electronics Enabled by Magneto-Electric Ternary CAM

    Science.gov (United States)

    2017-12-11

    AFRL-RY-WP-TR-2017-0198 NEW CONTENT ADDRESSABLE MEMORY (CAM) TECHNOLOGIES FOR BIG DATA AND INTELLIGENT ELECTRONICS ENABLED BY MAGNETO-ELECTRIC...MEMORY (CAM) TECHNOLOGIES FOR BIG DATA AND INTELLIGENT ELECTRONICS ENABLED BY MAGNETO-ELECTRIC TERNARY CAM 5a. CONTRACT NUMBER FA8650-16-1-7655 5b... electronic applications, such as internet of things, big data, wireless sensors, and mobile devices, have begun to focus on the importance of energy

  6. Exploring students’ uses of and dispositions towards learning technologies in an Australian enabling course

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Rhian Morgan

    2018-02-01

    Full Text Available University progression is increasingly dependent upon students developing a range of digital literacies in conjunction with the skills associated with their disciplines. University enabling and pathway programs, in particular, have a key part to play in supporting students to interact with technologies for learning. Widening participation and increased student diversity result in highly variable levels of digital literacy in the classroom. As such, universities need to develop strategies to effectively respond to the differing abilities of students entering the sector. This paper contributes to the development of such responses through a case study exploring students’ use of and dispositions towards technologies in an open access enabling course. In this context ‘open access’ refers to the course admission requirements and the fact that the course enrollments are open to anyone over the age of eighteen, regardless of their prior schooling experience. The paper identifies trends in students’ uses of technology, such as preferences for mobile content and blended learning environments, before concluding with a discussion of how these findings can be mobilised in curriculum development.

  7. Combined study of 99mTc-HMPAO SPECT and computerized electroencephalographic topography (CET) in patients with medically refractory complex partial epilepsy

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Rodrigues, M.; Botelho, M.M.; Fonseca, A.T.; Peter, J.P.; Pimentel, T.; Vieira, M.R.

    1996-01-01

    For successful surgery for drug-resistant partial epilepsy the site of the seizure focus needs to be known exactly. The purpose of this study was to compare the evaluation of the regional cerebral blood flow (rCBF) (localization and degree of disturbances) by 99m Tc-hexamethylpropylene-amineoxime (HMPAO) single photon emission computed tomography (SPECT) with computerized electroencephalographic topography (CET) and transmission computed X-ray tomography (CT) in partial epilepsy. The study included 20 patients with medically refractory complex partial seizures. Of the 20 patients included, 15 were studied interictally, four ictally and one in both states, interictally and ictally. 99m Tc-HMPAO SPECT detected rCBF changes in 95% of the patients. Interictal studies demonstrated focal areas of hypoperfusion in 93% of the patients. Ictal studies demonstrated an area of hyperperfusion in all patients. Blood flow disturbances in deeper structures of the brain, such as basal ganglia, could be detected. The areas with abnormal 99m Tc-HMPAO uptake were concordant, in localization, with CET in 85% of the patients. Abnormal data with CT scans were found in only 45% of the patients. Focal lesions were found in 20% of the patients by CT scans. 99m Tc-HMPAO SPECT combined with CET may be a useful screening procedure prior to referral for invasive diagnostic procedures in future management of patients with medically refractory complex partial seizures. (author)

  8. Alliance group formation: enabling and constraining effects of embeddedness and social capital in strategic technology alliance networks

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Duysters, G.M.; Lemmens, C.E.A.V.

    2003-01-01

    The role of embeddedness and social capital in the process of alliance group formation in strategic technology alliance networks is examined. In particular, the social mechanisms that enable and enforce alliance group formation is studies. It is argued that the enabling effect of embeddedness during

  9. Enabling campus grids with open science grid technology

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Weitzel, Derek [Nebraska U.; Bockelman, Brian [Nebraska U.; Swanson, David [Nebraska U.; Fraser, Dan [Argonne; Pordes, Ruth [Fermilab

    2011-01-01

    The Open Science Grid is a recognized key component of the US national cyber-infrastructure enabling scientific discovery through advanced high throughput computing. The principles and techniques that underlie the Open Science Grid can also be applied to Campus Grids since many of the requirements are the same, even if the implementation technologies differ. We find five requirements for a campus grid: trust relationships, job submission, resource independence, accounting, and data management. The Holland Computing Center's campus grid at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln was designed to fulfill the requirements of a campus grid. A bridging daemon was designed to bring non-Condor clusters into a grid managed by Condor. Condor features which make it possible to bridge Condor sites into a multi-campus grid have been exploited at the Holland Computing Center as well.

  10. Hiperglicinemia não cetótica: estudo de um caso

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    M.V. Moura-Ribeiro

    1987-03-01

    Full Text Available A hiperglicinemia não cetótica é erro inato do metabolismo que se manifesta por crises epilépticas de difícil controle desde os primeiros dias de vida, em recém-nascido hipotônico. A falta do enzima que catalisa a conversão de glicina em ácido hidroximetiltetra-hidrofólico, dióxido de carbono e amônia, no fígado e no cérebro, resulta em aumento da concentração de glicina no sangue. Neste estudo é relatado caso de hiperglicinemia diagnosticado no período neonatal e caracterizado por hipotonia e múltiplas convulsões não controláveis. Os achados clínicos e eletrencefalográficos, aspectos do tratamento e do estudo anátomo-patológico são comentados.

  11. A Technology Enabled Journey

    Science.gov (United States)

    Devine, Pamela Albert

    2012-01-01

    This article features Point Road School, a pre-K-4 school in New Jersey that enhances student learning by integrating new and emerging technologies into the curriculum. Point Road School's technology story began in 1996 with a grant for a classroom modem so students could email their university literacy buddies. The New Jersey school has moved…

  12. Integrating Technology into Instruction at a Public University in Kyrgyzstan: Barriers and Enablers

    Science.gov (United States)

    Muhametjanova, Gulshat; Cagiltay, Kursat

    2016-01-01

    The purpose of this study was to determine enablers and barriers to the technology integration into education based on the example of the situation at the Kyrgyz-Turkish Manas University as reported by students and instructors. The study employed the mixed-methods research design, combining data obtained from 477 student and 57 instructor…

  13. Cetáceos de las aguas costeras del Pacífico norte y sur de Costa Rica

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Damián Martínez-Fernández

    2011-03-01

    Full Text Available De las 29 especies de cetáceos presentes en Costa Rica, se han realizado investigaciones exhaustivas solamente para tres especies. Lo anterior evidencia la poca información general existente sobre cetáceos, a pesar de que Costa Rica posee un notable crecimiento de actividades de avistamiento. Debido al uso que se está generando en las zonas costeras, cada vez se hace más necesario determinar la ocurrencia de cetáceos en zonas de alta actividad turística, con el fin de proponer medidas de conservación. En el presente estudio, se determinaron variables ambientales que estaban relacionadas con la presencia de especies registradas, a partir de 166 avistamientos entre el 2005 y 2006. Las especies con mayor proporción de avistamientos fueron Stenella attenuata (68%, seguida por Megaptera novaeangliae (13% y Tursiops truncatus (10%. La presencia del delfín manchado se relaciona con cambios de salinidad y trasparencia del agua, mientras que la de la ballena jorobada estuvo relacionada con el oleaje y la temperatura superficial del agua. Se confirma la presencia de 7 especies de cetáceos en dos zonas costeras del Pacífico de Costa Rica, de las cuales tres están presentes a lo largo del año. Se encontraron variables ambientales relacionadas con la presencia de al menos dos especies.Inshore cetaceans from the North and South Pacific coast of Costa Rica. Twenty nine cetacean species occur in Costa Rican waters but extensive research has been conducted only for three species. The latter shows there is a lack of general and local information about these mammals, even when the country, has shown a remarkable growth in whale watching activities. The increasing use of marine resources in coastal areas has also developed the need to determine the occurrence of cetaceans in areas showing high tourist presence, in order to propose sound conservation measures. In this study, environmental variables were determined and subsequently related to the

  14. Comparison of starch granule development and physicochemical properties of starches in wheat pericarp and endosperm.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Yu, Xurun; Zhou, Liang; Zhang, Jing; Yu, Heng; Xiong, Fei; Wang, Zhong

    2015-01-01

    The objectives of this study were: (i) to characterize structural development of starch granule in pericarp and endosperm during wheat caryopsis growth; (ii) to compare physicochemical properties of starches in pericarp and endosperm; (iii) to further discover the relationships between pericarp starches and endosperm starches. Wheat pericarp and endosperm at different development stages were observed by light microscopy and scanning electron microscopy, respectively. Structural properties of starches were determined using X-ray power diffraction and (13) C solid nuclear magnetic resonance. Pericarp starch granules (PSG) accumulated in amyloplasts and chloroplasts, and showed a typical accumulation peak at 5 days after fertilization (DAF), and then gradually decomposed during 5-22 DAF. PSG in the abdominal region showed a higher rate of decomposition compared to the dorsal region of pericarp. Endosperm starch granules (ESG) accumulated in amyloplasts, and occurred in endosperm cells at 5 DAF, then rapidly enriched the endosperm cells until 22 DAF. Compared with ESG, PSG were compound granules of irregular shape and small size distribution. The results also suggested lower amylose content and V-type single-helix content and higher proportions of double helices for PSG compared to ESG. Based on the structural development of PSG and ESG, we speculated that the saccharides resulting from decomposition of PSG, on one hand, enabled the pericarp to survive before maturity of wheat caryopsis and, on the other hand, provided extra nutrition for the growth of ESG. © 2014 Society of Chemical Industry.

  15. Supporting Pre-Service Teachers' Technology-Enabled Learning Design Thinking through Whole of Programme Transformation

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bower, Matt; Highfield, Kate; Furney, Pam; Mowbray, Lee

    2013-01-01

    This paper explains a development and evaluation project aimed at transforming two pre-service teacher education programmes at Macquarie University to more effectively cultivate students' technology-enabled learning design thinking. The process of transformation was based upon an explicit and sustained focus on developing university academics'…

  16. Consumer Connectivity in a Complex, Technology-enabled, and Mobile-oriented World with Smart Products

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Verhoef, Peter C.; Stephen, Andrew T.; Kannan, P. K.; Luo, Xueming; Abhishek, Vibhanshu; Andrews, Michelle; Bart, Yakov; Datta, Hannes; Fong, Nathan; Hoffman, Donna L.; Hu, Mandy Mantian; Novak, Tom; Rand, William; Zhang, Yuchi

    2017-01-01

    Today's consumers are immersed in a vast and complex array of networks. Each network features an interconnected mesh of people and firms, and now, with the rise of the Internet of Things (IoT), also objects. Technology (particularly mobile devices) enables such connections, and facilitates many

  17. Consumer connectivity in a complex, technology-enabled, and mobile-oriented world with smart products

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Verhoef, Peter C.; Stephen, Andrew T.; Kannan, P.K.; Luo, Xueming; Abishek, Vibhanshu; Andrews, Michelle; Bart, Yakov; Datta, Hannes; Fong, Nathan M.; Hoffman, Donna L.; Hu, Mandy; Novak, Thomas P.; Rand, William; Zhang, Yuchi

    2017-01-01

    Today’s consumers are immersed in a vast and complex array of networks. Each network features an interconnected mesh of people and firms, and now, with the rise of the Internet of Things (IoT), also objects. Technology (particularly mobile devices) enables such connections, and facilitates many

  18. DOE's SciDAC Visualization and Analytics Center for EnablingTechnologies -- Strategy for Petascale Visual Data Analysis Success

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Bethel, E Wes; Johnson, Chris; Aragon, Cecilia; Rubel, Oliver; Weber, Gunther; Pascucci, Valerio; Childs, Hank; Bremer, Peer-Timo; Whitlock, Brad; Ahern, Sean; Meredith, Jeremey; Ostrouchov, George; Joy, Ken; Hamann, Bernd; Garth, Christoph; Cole, Martin; Hansen, Charles; Parker, Steven; Sanderson, Allen; Silva, Claudio; Tricoche, Xavier

    2007-10-01

    The focus of this article is on how one group of researchersthe DOE SciDAC Visualization and Analytics Center for EnablingTechnologies (VACET) is tackling the daunting task of enabling knowledgediscovery through visualization and analytics on some of the world slargest and most complex datasets and on some of the world's largestcomputational platforms. As a Center for Enabling Technology, VACET smission is the creation of usable, production-quality visualization andknowledge discovery software infrastructure that runs on large, parallelcomputer systems at DOE's Open Computing facilities and that providessolutions to challenging visual data exploration and knowledge discoveryneeds of modern science, particularly the DOE sciencecommunity.

  19. Ultrafast disk technology enables next generation micromachining laser sources

    Science.gov (United States)

    Heckl, Oliver H.; Weiler, Sascha; Luzius, Severin; Zawischa, Ivo; Sutter, Dirk

    2013-02-01

    Ultrashort pulsed lasers based on thin disk technology have entered the 100 W regime and deliver several tens of MW peak power without chirped pulse amplification. Highest uptime and insensitivity to back reflections make them ideal tools for efficient and cost effective industrial micromachining. Frequency converted versions allow the processing of a large variety of materials. On one hand, thin disk oscillators deliver more than 30 MW peak power directly out of the resonator in laboratory setups. These peak power levels are made possible by recent progress in the scaling of the pulse energy in excess of 40 μJ. At the corresponding high peak intensity, thin disk technology profits from the limited amount of material and hence the manageable nonlinearity within the resonator. Using new broadband host materials like for example the sesquioxides will eventually reduce the pulse duration during high power operation and further increase the peak power. On the other hand industry grade amplifier systems deliver even higher peak power levels. At closed-loop controlled 100W, the TruMicro Series 5000 currently offers the highest average ultrafast power in an industry proven product, and enables efficient micromachining of almost any material, in particular of glasses, ceramics or sapphire. Conventional laser cutting of these materials often requires UV laser sources with pulse durations of several nanoseconds and an average power in the 10 W range. Material processing based on high peak power laser sources makes use of multi-photon absorption processes. This highly nonlinear absorption enables micromachining driven by the fundamental (1030 nm) or frequency doubled (515 nm) wavelength of Yb:YAG. Operation in the IR or green spectral range reduces the complexity and running costs of industrial systems initially based on UV light sources. Where UV wavelength is required, the TruMicro 5360 with a specified UV crystal life-time of more than 10 thousand hours of continues

  20. Evaluating the limits of solar photovoltaics (PV) in electric power systems utilizing energy storage and other enabling technologies

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Denholm, Paul; Margolis, Robert M.

    2007-01-01

    In this work, we evaluate technologies that will enable solar photovoltaics (PV) to overcome the limits of traditional electric power systems. We performed simulations of a large utility system using hourly solar insolation and load data and attempted to provide up to 50% of this system's energy from PV. We considered several methods to avoid the limits of unusable PV that result at high penetration due to the use of inflexible baseload generators. The enabling technologies considered in this work are increased system flexibility, load shifting via demand responsive appliances, and energy storage

  1. Information and Telecommunication Technologies : The Impact of ...

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

    information et des télécommunications peut exercer une influence profonde sur la productivité et la compétitivité d'une entreprise. Cet ouvrage traite avant tout des principaux facteurs associés à l'adoption de ces technologies dans le contexte ...

  2. Self-management support interventions that are clinically linked and technology enabled: can they successfully prevent and treat diabetes?

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kaufman, Neal D; Woodley, Paula D Patnoe

    2011-05-01

    Patients with diabetes need a complex set of services and supports. The challenge of integrating these services into the diabetes regimen can be successfully overcome through self-management support interventions that are clinically linked and technology enabled: self-management support because patients need help mastering the knowledge, attitudes, skills, and behaviors so necessary for good outcomes; interventions because comprehensive theory-based, evidence-proven, long-term, longitudinal interventions work better than direct-to-consumer or nonplanned health promotion approaches; clinically linked because patients are more likely to adopt new behaviors when the approach is in the context of a trusted therapeutic relationship and within an effective medical care system; and technology enabled because capitalizing on the amazing power of information technology leads to the delivery of cost-effective, scalable, engaging solutions that prevent and manage diabetes. © 2011 Diabetes Technology Society.

  3. NASA's Earth Science Gateway: A Platform for Interoperable Services in Support of the GEOSS Architecture

    Science.gov (United States)

    Alameh, N.; Bambacus, M.; Cole, M.

    2006-12-01

    Nasa's Earth Science as well as interdisciplinary research and applications activities require access to earth observations, analytical models and specialized tools and services, from diverse distributed sources. Interoperability and open standards for geospatial data access and processing greatly facilitate such access among the information and processing compo¬nents related to space¬craft, airborne, and in situ sensors; predictive models; and decision support tools. To support this mission, NASA's Geosciences Interoperability Office (GIO) has been developing the Earth Science Gateway (ESG; online at http://esg.gsfc.nasa.gov) by adapting and deploying a standards-based commercial product. Thanks to extensive use of open standards, ESG can tap into a wide array of online data services, serve a variety of audiences and purposes, and adapt to technology and business changes. Most importantly, the use of open standards allow ESG to function as a platform within a larger context of distributed geoscience processing, such as the Global Earth Observing System of Systems (GEOSS). ESG shares the goals of GEOSS to ensure that observations and products shared by users will be accessible, comparable, and understandable by relying on common standards and adaptation to user needs. By maximizing interoperability, modularity, extensibility and scalability, ESG's architecture fully supports the stated goals of GEOSS. As such, ESG's role extends beyond that of a gateway to NASA science data to become a shared platform that can be leveraged by GEOSS via: A modular and extensible architecture Consensus and community-based standards (e.g. ISO and OGC standards) A variety of clients and visualization techniques, including WorldWind and Google Earth A variety of services (including catalogs) with standard interfaces Data integration and interoperability Mechanisms for user involvement and collaboration Mechanisms for supporting interdisciplinary and domain-specific applications ESG

  4. The role of utilities in enabling technology innovation: The BC hydro alternative & emerging energy strategy

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Tu, Alex; Leclair, Donna; Morrison, Allison

    2010-09-15

    In order for renewable energy to play a dominant role in the global electricity supply mix, emerging renewable energy technologies - such as wave, tidal, enhanced geothermal, and 3rd generation photovoltaic technologies - must prove their technical merits and achieve cost parity with conventional sources of supply. BC Hydro, a government-owned electric utility, launched an Alternative and Emerging Energy Strategy that describes its role as an enabler of technology innovation. This paper describes BC Hydro's goal, objectives and actions to accelerate the commercialization that will yield a diversity of supply options and a growing, local clean-tech cluster.

  5. Visible quality aluminum and nickel superpolish polishing technology enabling new missions

    Science.gov (United States)

    Carrigan, Keith G.

    2011-06-01

    It is now well understood that with US Department of Defense (DoD) budgets shrinking and the Services and Agencies demanding new systems which can be fielded more quickly, cost and schedule are being emphasized more and more. At the same time, the US has ever growing needs for advanced capabilities to support evolving Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance objectives. In response to this market demand for ever more cost-effective, faster to market, single-channel, athermal optical systems, we have developed new metal polishing technologies which allow for short-lead, low-cost metal substrates to replace more costly, longer-lead material options. In parallel, the commercial marketplace is being driven continually to release better, faster and cheaper electronics. Growth according to Moore's law, enabled by advancements in photolithography, has produced denser memory, higher resolution displays and faster processors. While the quality of these products continues to increase, their price is falling. This seeming paradox is driven by industry advancements in manufacturing technology. The next steps on this curve can be realized via polishing technology which allows low-cost metal substrates to replace costly Silicon based optics for use in ultra-short wavelength systems.

  6. Cognitive Spectrum Sharing: An Enabling Wireless Communication Technology for a Wide Use of Smart Systems

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Romano Fantacci

    2016-05-01

    Full Text Available A smart city is an environment where a pervasive, multi-service network is employed to provide citizens improved living conditions as well as better public safety and security. Advanced communication technologies are essential to achieve this goal. In particular, an efficient and reliable communication network plays a crucial role in providing continue, ubiquitous, and reliable interconnections among users, smart devices, and applications. As a consequence, wireless networking appears as the principal enabling communication technology despite the necessity to face severe challenges to satisfy the needs arising from a smart environment, such as explosive data volume, heterogeneous data traffic, and support of quality of service constraints. An interesting approach for meeting the growing data demand due to smart city applications is to adopt suitable methodologies to improve the usage of all potential spectrum resources. Towards this goal, a very promising solution is represented by the Cognitive Radio technology that enables context-aware capability in order to pursue an efficient use of the available communication resources according to the surrounding environment conditions. In this paper we provide a review of the characteristics, challenges, and solutions of a smart city communication architecture, based on the Cognitive Radio technology, by focusing on two new network paradigms—namely, Heterogeneous Network and Machines-to-Machines communications—that are of special interest to efficiently support smart city applications and services.

  7. Emission Control Research to Enable Fuel Efficiency: Department of Energy Heavy Vehicle Technologies

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Gurpreet Singh; Ronald L. Graves; John M. Storey; William P. Partridge; John F. Thomas; Bernie M. Penetrante; Raymond M. Brusasco; Bernard T. Merritt; George E. Vogtlin; Christopher L. Aardahl; Craig F. Habeger; M.L. Balmer

    2000-01-01

    The Office of Heavy Vehicle Technologies supports research to enable high-efficiency diesel engines to meet future emissions regulations, thus clearing the way for their use in light trucks as well as continuing as the most efficient powerplant for freight-haulers. Compliance with Tier 2 rules and expected heavy duty engine standards will require effective exhaust emission controls (after-treatment) for diesels in these applications. DOE laboratories are working with industry to improve emission control technologies in projects ranging from application of new diagnostics for elucidating key mechanisms, to development and tests of prototype devices. This paper provides an overview of these R and D efforts, with examples of key findings and developments

  8. Cohesive subgroup formation : enabling and constraining effects of social capital in strategic technology alliance networks

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Duysters, G.M.; Lemmens, C.E.A.V.

    2002-01-01

    In this paper we will examine the role of embeddedness and social capital in the process of cohesive subgroup formation in strategic technology alliance networks. More in particular, we will investigate the social mechanisms that enable and enforce cohesive subgroup formation. We will argue that the

  9. Stratified charge rotary engine critical technology enablement. Volume 2: Appendixes

    Science.gov (United States)

    Irion, C. E.; Mount, R. E.

    1992-01-01

    This second volume of appendixes is a companion to Volume 1 of this report which summarizes results of a critical technology enablement effort with the stratified charge rotary engine (SCRE) focusing on a power section of 0.67 liters (40 cu. in.) per rotor in single and two rotor versions. The work is a continuation of prior NASA Contracts NAS3-23056 and NAS3-24628. Technical objectives are multi-fuel capability, including civil and military jet fuel and DF-2, fuel efficiency of 0.355 Lbs/BHP-Hr. at best cruise condition above 50 percent power, altitude capability of up to 10Km (33,000 ft.) cruise, 2000 hour TBO and reduced coolant heat rejection. Critical technologies for SCRE's that have the potential for competitive performance and cost in a representative light-aircraft environment were examined. Objectives were: the development and utilization of advanced analytical tools, i.e. higher speed and enhanced three dimensional combustion modeling; identification of critical technologies; development of improved instrumentation; and to isolate and quantitatively identify the contribution to performance and efficiency of critical components or subsystems. A family of four-stage third-order explicit Runge-Kutta schemes is derived that required only two locations and has desirable stability characteristics. Error control is achieved by embedding a second-order scheme within the four-stage procedure. Certain schemes are identified that are as efficient and accurate as conventional embedded schemes of comparable order and require fewer storage locations.

  10. Mapping industrial systems - a supply network perspective on enabling technologies, processes and actors

    OpenAIRE

    Srai, Jagjit Singh

    2016-01-01

    This is the author accepted manuscript. The final version is available from InderScience Publishers via http://dx.doi.org/10.1504/IJMTM.2017.10002927 This paper develops a multi-layered multi-stage mapping approach to explore the characteristics of emerging industry supply networks (EI SNs), and how enabling production technologies and supply chain processes are supported by institutional, industrial and supply network actors. The mapping methodology involves the systematic capture of mate...

  11. PEAC: A Power-Efficient Adaptive Computing Technology for Enabling Swarm of Small Spacecraft and Deployable Mini-Payloads

    Data.gov (United States)

    National Aeronautics and Space Administration — This task is to develop and demonstrate a path-to-flight and power-adaptive avionics technology PEAC (Power Efficient Adaptive Computing). PEAC will enable emerging...

  12. China, the United States, and competition for resources that enable emerging technologies

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gulley, Andrew L.; Nassar, Nedal T.; Xun, Sean

    2018-01-01

    Historically, resource conflicts have often centered on fuel minerals (particularly oil). Future resource conflicts may, however, focus more on competition for nonfuel minerals that enable emerging technologies. Whether it is rhenium in jet engines, indium in flat panel displays, or gallium in smart phones, obscure elements empower smarter, smaller, and faster technologies, and nations seek stable supplies of these and other nonfuel minerals for their industries. No nation has all of the resources it needs domestically. International trade may lead to international competition for these resources if supplies are deemed at risk or insufficient to satisfy growing demand, especially for minerals used in technologies important to economic development and national security. Here, we compare the net import reliance of China and the United States to inform mineral resource competition and foreign supply risk. Our analysis indicates that China relies on imports for over half of its consumption for 19 of 42 nonfuel minerals, compared with 24 for the United States—11 of which are common to both. It is for these 11 nonfuel minerals that competition between the United States and China may become the most contentious, especially for those with highly concentrated production that prove irreplaceable in pivotal emerging technologies.

  13. Enabling Technologies for Silicon Microstrip Tracking Detectors at the HL-LHC

    CERN Document Server

    Barth, C; Bloch, I.; Bögelspacher, F.; de Boer, W.; Daniels, M.; Dierlamm, A.; Eber, R.; Eckerlin, G.; Eckstein, D.; Eichhorn, T.; Erfle, J.; Feld, L.; Garutti, E.; Gregor, I. -M.; Guthoff, M.; Hartmann, F.; Hauser, M.; Husemann, U.; Jakobs, K.; Junkes, A.; Karpinski, W.; Klein, K.; Kuehn, S.; Lacker, H.; Mahboubi, K.; Müller, Th.; Mussgiller, A.; Nürnberg, A.; Parzefall, U.; Poehlsen, T.; Poley, L.; Preuten, M.; Rehnisch, L.; Sammet, J.; Schleper, P.; Schuwalow, S.; Sperlich, D.; Stanitzki, M.; Steinbrück, G.; Wlochal, M.

    2016-01-01

    While the tracking detectors of the ATLAS and CMS experiments have shown excellent performance in Run 1 of LHC data taking, and are expected to continue to do so during LHC operation at design luminosity, both experiments will have to exchange their tracking systems when the LHC is upgraded to the high-luminosity LHC (HL-LHC) around the year 2024. The new tracking systems need to operate in an environment in which both the hit densities and the radiation damage will be about an order of magnitude higher than today. In addition, the new trackers need to contribute to the first level trigger in order to maintain a high data-taking efficiency for the interesting processes. Novel detector technologies have to be developed to meet these very challenging goals. The German groups active in the upgrades of the ATLAS and CMS tracking systems have formed a collaborative "Project on Enabling Technologies for Silicon Microstrip Tracking Detectors at the HL-LHC" (PETTL), which was supported by the Helmholtz Alliance "Phys...

  14. Design and Implementation of Technology Enabled Affective Learning Using Fusion of Bio-Physical and Facial Expression

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ray, Arindam; Chakrabarti, Amlan

    2016-01-01

    Technology Enabled Learning is a cognitive, constructive, systematic, collaborative learning procedure, which transforms teaching-learning pedagogy where role of emotion is very often neglected. Emotion plays significant role in the cognitive process of human being, so the transformation is incomplete without capturing the learner's emotional…

  15. Understanding access and use of technology among youth with first-episode psychosis to inform the development of technology-enabled therapeutic interventions.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Abdel-Baki, Amal; Lal, Shalini; D-Charron, Olivier; Stip, Emmanuel; Kara, Nadjia

    2017-02-01

    Computers, video games and technological devices are part of young people's everyday lives. However, their use in first-episode psychosis (FEP) treatment is rare. The purpose of this study was to better understand the access and use of technology among individuals with FEP, including gaming activities, to inform future development of technology-enabled therapeutic applications. Self-administered survey on use of technological tools in 71 FEP individuals. PCs/laptops were used by all participants; cellphones/smartphones by 92%, consoles by 83% (mainly male and younger participants). Women texted and used social networks more frequently; men played games (mainly action) more often. The younger individuals reported playing games frequently (32% daily) with less use of the Web and social networks (favourite: Facebook). These data will be useful for developing Web-based psychoeducation tools and cognitive remediation video games for youth with FEP. © 2015 Wiley Publishing Asia Pty Ltd.

  16. Nuclear Energy Enabling Technologies (NEET) Reactor Materials: News for the Reactor Materials Crosscut, May 2016

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Maloy, Stuart Andrew [Los Alamos National Lab. (LANL), Los Alamos, NM (United States). Materials Science in Radiation and Dynamics Extremes

    2016-09-26

    In this newsletter for Nuclear Energy Enabling Technologies (NEET) Reactor Materials, pages 1-3 cover highlights from the DOE-NE (Nuclear Energy) programs, pages 4-6 cover determining the stress-strain response of ion-irradiated metallic materials via spherical nanoindentation, and pages 7-8 cover theoretical approaches to understanding long-term materials behavior in light water reactors.

  17. Blending technological, cognitive and social enablers to develop an immersive virtual learning environment for construction engineering education

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Keenaghan, G.N.

    2018-01-01

    The conceptual framework of the proposed novel system was to provide a stimulating learning experience for dislocated digital learners, who are seen as individuals with different perceptions and expectations. In addition to functionally integrate technological, cognitive and social enablers, the

  18. How IMS Enables Converged Services for Cable and 3G Technologies: A Survey

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Noël Crespi

    2008-04-01

    Full Text Available The IP multimedia subsystem (IMS is a service control overlay standardized by the 3GPP. The IMS is based on session initiation protocol (SIP to establish, modify, and terminate the sessions. It provides a clean separation between services, signaling, and media with the potential to enable control and management of services over multiple transport technologies. In the scope of fixed-mobile convergence, this paper is dedicated to presenting a review of how cable networks can be integrated into IMS technology to achieve 3G-cable horizontal convergence. Cable networks, as one of the major fixed broadband access technologies with PacketCable architecture, are able to provide broadband internet access and VoIP in addition to cable TV. In this article, we review the evolution in PacketCable architecture to take up IMS. In this way, we consider the standardization and research activities to address this integration. We review some important challenges such as SIP protocol compatibility, defining unique user profile, required enhancement in authentication process, QoS and charging system.

  19. How IMS Enables Converged Services for Cable and 3G Technologies: A Survey

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Mani Mehdi

    2008-01-01

    Full Text Available The IP multimedia subsystem (IMS is a service control overlay standardized by the 3GPP. The IMS is based on session initiation protocol (SIP to establish, modify, and terminate the sessions. It provides a clean separation between services, signaling, and media with the potential to enable control and management of services over multiple transport technologies. In the scope of fixed-mobile convergence, this paper is dedicated to presenting a review of how cable networks can be integrated into IMS technology to achieve 3G-cable horizontal convergence. Cable networks, as one of the major fixed broadband access technologies with PacketCable architecture, are able to provide broadband internet access and VoIP in addition to cable TV. In this article, we review the evolution in PacketCable architecture to take up IMS. In this way, we consider the standardization and research activities to address this integration. We review some important challenges such as SIP protocol compatibility, defining unique user profile, required enhancement in authentication process, QoS and charging system.

  20. Current status and future prospects for enabling chemistry technology in the drug discovery process.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Djuric, Stevan W; Hutchins, Charles W; Talaty, Nari N

    2016-01-01

    This review covers recent advances in the implementation of enabling chemistry technologies into the drug discovery process. Areas covered include parallel synthesis chemistry, high-throughput experimentation, automated synthesis and purification methods, flow chemistry methodology including photochemistry, electrochemistry, and the handling of "dangerous" reagents. Also featured are advances in the "computer-assisted drug design" area and the expanding application of novel mass spectrometry-based techniques to a wide range of drug discovery activities.

  1. A Simple Evaluation Tool (ET-CET) Indicates Increase of Diagnostic Skills From Small Bowel Capsule Endoscopy Training Courses

    Science.gov (United States)

    Albert, J.G.; Humbla, O.; McAlindon, M.E.; Davison, C.; Seitz, U.; Fraser, C.; Hagenmüller, F.; Noetzel, E.; Spada, C.; Riccioni, M.E.; Barnert, J.; Filmann, N.; Keuchel, M.

    2015-01-01

    Abstract Small bowel capsule endoscopy (SBCE) has become a first line diagnostic tool. Several training courses with a similar format have been established in Europe; however, data on learning curve and training in SBCE remain sparse. Between 2008 and 2011, different basic SBCE training courses were organized internationally in UK (n = 2), Italy (n = 2), Germany (n = 2), Finland (n = 1), and nationally in Germany (n = 10), applying similar 8-hour curricula with 50% lectures and 50% hands-on training. The Given PillCam System was used in 12 courses, the Olympus EndoCapsule system in 5, respectively. A simple evaluation tool for capsule endoscopy training (ET-CET) was developed using 10 short SBCE videos including relevant lesions and normal or irrelevant findings. For each video, delegates were required to record a diagnosis (achievable total score from 0 to 10) and the clinical relevance (achievable total score 0 to 10). ET-CET was performed at baseline before the course and repeated, with videos in altered order, after the course. Two hundred ninety-four delegates (79.3% physicians, 16.3% nurses, 4.4% others) were included for baseline analysis, 268 completed the final evaluation. Forty percent had no previous experience in SBCE, 33% had performed 10 or less procedures. Median scores for correct diagnosis improved from 4.0 (IQR 3) to 7.0 (IQR 3) during the courses (P endoscopy may be useful before attending an SBCE course. PMID:26512623

  2. The future of drug discovery: enabling technologies for enhancing lead characterization and profiling therapeutic potential.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Janero, David R

    2014-08-01

    Technology often serves as a handmaiden and catalyst of invention. The discovery of safe, effective medications depends critically upon experimental approaches capable of providing high-impact information on the biological effects of drug candidates early in the discovery pipeline. This information can enable reliable lead identification, pharmacological compound differentiation and successful translation of research output into clinically useful therapeutics. The shallow preclinical profiling of candidate compounds promulgates a minimalistic understanding of their biological effects and undermines the level of value creation necessary for finding quality leads worth moving forward within the development pipeline with efficiency and prognostic reliability sufficient to help remediate the current pharma-industry productivity drought. Three specific technologies discussed herein, in addition to experimental areas intimately associated with contemporary drug discovery, appear to hold particular promise for strengthening the preclinical valuation of drug candidates by deepening lead characterization. These are: i) hydrogen-deuterium exchange mass spectrometry for characterizing structural and ligand-interaction dynamics of disease-relevant proteins; ii) activity-based chemoproteomics for profiling the functional diversity of mammalian proteomes; and iii) nuclease-mediated precision gene editing for developing more translatable cellular and in vivo models of human diseases. When applied in an informed manner congruent with the clinical understanding of disease processes, technologies such as these that span levels of biological organization can serve as valuable enablers of drug discovery and potentially contribute to reducing the current, unacceptably high rates of compound clinical failure.

  3. Emerging issues and current trends in assistive technology use 2007-2010: practising, assisting and enabling learning for all.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Abbott, Chris; Brown, David; Evett, Lindsay; Standen, Penny

    2014-11-01

    Following an earlier review in 2007, a further review of the academic literature relating to the uses of assistive technology (AT) by children and young people was completed, covering the period 2007-2011. As in the earlier review, a tripartite taxonomy: technology uses to train or practise, technology uses to assist learning and technology uses to enable learning, was used in order to structure the findings. The key markers for research in this field and during these three years were user involvement, AT on mobile mainstream devices, the visibility of AT, technology for interaction and collaboration, new and developing interfaces and inclusive design principles. The paper concludes by locating these developments within the broader framework of the Digital Divide.

  4. Current status and future prospects for enabling chemistry technology in the drug discovery process

    Science.gov (United States)

    Djuric, Stevan W.; Hutchins, Charles W.; Talaty, Nari N.

    2016-01-01

    This review covers recent advances in the implementation of enabling chemistry technologies into the drug discovery process. Areas covered include parallel synthesis chemistry, high-throughput experimentation, automated synthesis and purification methods, flow chemistry methodology including photochemistry, electrochemistry, and the handling of “dangerous” reagents. Also featured are advances in the “computer-assisted drug design” area and the expanding application of novel mass spectrometry-based techniques to a wide range of drug discovery activities. PMID:27781094

  5. Atitudes de anestesiologistas e médicos em especialização em anestesiologia dos CET/SBA em relação aos bloqueios nervosos dos membros superior e inferior Actitudes de anestesiólogos y médicos en especialización en anestesiología de los CET/SBA con relación a los bloqueos nerviosos de los miembros superior e inferior The attitude of anesthesiologists and anesthesiology residents of the CET/SBA regarding upper and lower limb nerve blocks

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Pablo Escovedo Helayel

    2009-06-01

    Full Text Available JUSTIFICATIVA E OBJETIVOS: O emprego da anestesia regional, em especial dos bloqueios nervosos periféricos (BNP tem aumentado na prática anestesiológica devido à menor necessidade de instrumentação de vias aéreas, menor custo e excelente analgesia pós-operatória. Entretanto, sua utilização sofre restrições causadas pela falta de treinamento, maior tempo de realização, temor de complicações neurológicas e toxicidade sistêmica. O objetivo desse estudo foi medir as atitudes de anestesiologistas e médicos em especialização nos Centros de Ensino e Treinamento (CET/SBA em relação aos BNP. MÉTODO: Foi construído um questionário com 25 itens sendo disponibilizado eletronicamente e por correio aos responsáveis de 80 CET, seus instrutores e médicos em especialização. RESULTADOS: Quarenta e dois CET (52,5% devolveram 188 questionários, sendo 62 (32% médicos em especialização (ME e 126 (68% anestesiologistas. O coeficiente de confiabilidade de Cronbach do questionário foi 0,79. A análise fatorial revelou seis fatores, que explicaram 53% da variância dos escores: fator 1 - atitudes positivas, responsável por 18,34 % da variância; fator 2 - treinamento/aplicação, responsável por 11,73 % da variância; fator 3 - aspectos negativos, responsável por 7,11 % da variância; fator 4 - fatores limitantes, responsável por 6,39 % da variância; fator 5 - anestesia regional como diferencial de competência, responsável por 5,79% da variância; e fator 6 - respeito pelo paciente, responsável por 5,4 % da variância. CONCLUSÕES: O questionário mostrou-se uma ferramenta fidedigna para medida de atitudes com relação à anestesia regional. Os anestesiologistas demonstraram maior interesse nos aspectos relacionados aos pacientes enquanto os ME tiveram como foco principal a aquisição de habilidades técnicas.JUSTIFICATIVA Y OBJETIVOS: El uso de la anestesia regional, en especial de los bloqueos nerviosos periféricos (BNP ha

  6. Enabling technologies for fiber optic sensing

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ibrahim, Selwan K.; Farnan, Martin; Karabacak, Devrez M.; Singer, Johannes M.

    2016-04-01

    In order for fiber optic sensors to compete with electrical sensors, several critical parameters need to be addressed such as performance, cost, size, reliability, etc. Relying on technologies developed in different industrial sectors helps to achieve this goal in a more efficient and cost effective way. FAZ Technology has developed a tunable laser based optical interrogator based on technologies developed in the telecommunication sector and optical transducer/sensors based on components sourced from the automotive market. Combining Fiber Bragg Grating (FBG) sensing technology with the above, high speed, high precision, reliable quasi distributed optical sensing systems for temperature, pressure, acoustics, acceleration, etc. has been developed. Careful design needs to be considered to filter out any sources of measurement drifts/errors due to different effects e.g. polarization and birefringence, coating imperfections, sensor packaging etc. Also to achieve high speed and high performance optical sensing systems, combining and synchronizing multiple optical interrogators similar to what has been used with computer/processors to deliver super computing power is an attractive solution. This path can be achieved by using photonic integrated circuit (PIC) technology which opens the doors to scaling up and delivering powerful optical sensing systems in an efficient and cost effective way.

  7. Enabling Equal Access to Molecular Diagnostics: What Are the Implications for Policy and Health Technology Assessment?

    Science.gov (United States)

    Plun-Favreau, Juliette; Immonen-Charalambous, Kaisa; Steuten, Lotte; Strootker, Anja; Rouzier, Roman; Horgan, Denis; Lawler, Mark

    2016-01-01

    Molecular diagnostics can offer important benefits to patients and are a key enabler of the integration of personalised medicine into health care systems. However, despite their promise, few molecular diagnostics are embedded into clinical practice (especially in Europe) and access to these technologies remains unequal across countries and sometimes even within individual countries. If research translation and the regulatory environments have proven to be more challenging than expected, reimbursement and value assessment remain the main barriers to providing patients with equal access to molecular diagnostics. Unclear or non-existent reimbursement pathways, together with the lack of clear evidence requirements, have led to significant delays in the assessment of molecular diagnostics technologies in certain countries. Additionally, the lack of dedicated diagnostics budgets and the siloed nature of resource allocation within certain health care systems have significantly delayed diagnostics commissioning. This article will consider the perspectives of different stakeholders (patients, health care payers, health care professionals, and manufacturers) on the provision of a research-enabled, patient-focused molecular diagnostics platform that supports optimal patient care. Through the discussion of specific case studies, and building on the experience from countries that have successfully integrated molecular diagnostics into clinical practice, this article will discuss the necessary evolutions in policy and health technology assessment to ensure that patients can have equal access to appropriate molecular diagnostics. © 2016 S. Karger AG, Basel.

  8. Effects of Enzymatically Synthesized Glycogen and Exercise on Abdominal Fat Accumulation in High-Fat Diet-Fed Mice.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Tamura, Shohei; Honda, Kazuhisa; Morinaga, Ryoji; Saneyasu, Takaoki; Kamisoyama, Hiroshi

    2017-01-01

    The combination of diet and exercise is the first choice for the treatment of obesity and metabolic syndrome. We previously reported that enzymatically synthesized glycogen (ESG) suppresses abdominal fat accumulation in obese rats. However, the effect of the combination of ESG and exercise on abdominal fat accumulation has not yet been investigated. Our goal in this study was therefore to evaluate the effects of dietary ESG and its combination with exercise on abdominal fat accumulation in high-fat diet (HFD)-fed mice. Male ICR mice were assigned to four groups: HFD, HFD containing 20% ESG, HFD with exercise, HFD containing 20% ESG with exercise. Treadmill exercise was performed for 3 wk (25 m/min, 30 min/d, 3 d/wk) after 5-d adaption to running at that speed. Both ESG and exercise significantly reduced the weights of abdominal adipose tissues. In addition, the combination of ESG and exercise significantly suppressed abdominal fat accumulation, suggesting that ESG and exercise showed an additive effect. Exercise significantly increased the mRNA levels of lipid metabolism-related genes such as lipoprotein lipase, peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor delta; factor-delta (PPARδ), carnitin palmitoyltransferase b, adipose triglyceride lipase (ATGL), and uncoupling protein-3 in the gastrocnemius muscle. On the other hand, dietary ESG significantly decreased the mRNA levels of PPARδ and ATGL in the gastrocnemius muscle. These results suggest that the combined treatment of ESG and exercise effectively suppresses abdominal fat accumulation in HFD-fed mice by different mechanisms.

  9. The Flipped Classroom, Disruptive Pedagogies, Enabling Technologies and Wicked Problems: Responding to "The Bomb in the Basement"

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hutchings, Maggie; Quinney, Anne

    2015-01-01

    The adoption of enabling technologies by universities provides unprecedented opportunities for flipping the classroom to achieve student-centred learning. While higher education policies focus on placing students at the heart of the education process, the propensity for student identities to shift from partners in learning to consumers of…

  10. Self-management of hypertension using technology enabled interventions in primary care settings.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Chandak, Aastha; Joshi, Ashish

    2015-01-01

    Self-management of hypertension by controlling Blood Pressure (BP) through technology-based interventions can effectively reduce the burden of high BP, which affects one out of every three adults in the United States. The primary aim of this study is to explore the role of technology enabled interventions to improve or enhance self-management among individuals with hypertension. We conducted a systematic review of the literature published between July 2008 and June 2013 on the MEDLINE database (via PubMed interface) during July 2013. The search words were "hypertension" and "primary care" in combination with each of the terms of "technology", "internet", "computer" and "cell phone". Our inclusion criteria consisted of: (a) Randomized Controlled Trials (RCTs) (b) conducted on human subjects; (c) technology-based interventions (d) to improve self-management (e) of hypertension and if the (f) final results of the study were published in the study. Our exclusion criteria included (a) management of other conditions and (b) literature reviews. The initial search resulted in 108 results. After applying the inclusion and exclusion criteria, a total of 12 studies were analyzed. Various technologies implemented in the studies included internet-based telemonitoring and education, telephone-based telemonitoring and education, internet-based education, telemedicine via videoconferencing, telehealth kiosks and automated modem device. Some studies also involved a physician intervention, in addition to patient intervention. The outcomes of proportion of subjects with BP control and change in mean SBP and DBP were better for the group of subjects who received combined physician and patient interventions. Interventions to improve BP control for self-management of hypertension should be aimed at both physicians as well as the patients. More interventions should utilize the JNC-7 guidelines and cost-effectiveness of the intervention should also be assessed.

  11. 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.

  12. 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.

  13. CMOS technology: a critical enabler for free-form electronics-based killer applications

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hussain, Muhammad M.; Hussain, Aftab M.; Hanna, Amir

    2016-05-01

    Complementary metal oxide semiconductor (CMOS) technology offers batch manufacturability by ultra-large-scaleintegration (ULSI) of high performance electronics with a performance/cost advantage and profound reliability. However, as of today their focus has been on rigid and bulky thin film based materials. Their applications have been limited to computation, communication, display and vehicular electronics. With the upcoming surge of Internet of Everything, we have critical opportunity to expand the world of electronics by bridging between CMOS technology and free form electronics which can be used as wearable, implantable and embedded form. The asymmetry of shape and softness of surface (skins) in natural living objects including human, other species, plants make them incompatible with the presently available uniformly shaped and rigidly structured today's CMOS electronics. But if we can break this barrier then we can use the physically free form electronics for applications like plant monitoring for expansion of agricultural productivity and quality, we can find monitoring and treatment focused consumer healthcare electronics - and many more creative applications. In our view, the fundamental challenge is to engage the mass users to materialize their creative ideas. Present form of electronics are too complex to understand, to work with and to use. By deploying game changing additive manufacturing, low-cost raw materials, transfer printing along with CMOS technology, we can potentially stick high quality CMOS electronics on any existing objects and embed such electronics into any future objects that will be made. The end goal is to make them smart to augment the quality of our life. We use a particular example on implantable electronics (brain machine interface) and its integration strategy enabled by CMOS device design and technology run path.

  14. Technological evaluation of gesture and speech interfaces for enabling dismounted soldier-robot dialogue

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kattoju, Ravi Kiran; Barber, Daniel J.; Abich, Julian; Harris, Jonathan

    2016-05-01

    With increasing necessity for intuitive Soldier-robot communication in military operations and advancements in interactive technologies, autonomous robots have transitioned from assistance tools to functional and operational teammates able to service an array of military operations. Despite improvements in gesture and speech recognition technologies, their effectiveness in supporting Soldier-robot communication is still uncertain. The purpose of the present study was to evaluate the performance of gesture and speech interface technologies to facilitate Soldier-robot communication during a spatial-navigation task with an autonomous robot. Gesture and speech semantically based spatial-navigation commands leveraged existing lexicons for visual and verbal communication from the U.S Army field manual for visual signaling and a previously established Squad Level Vocabulary (SLV). Speech commands were recorded by a Lapel microphone and Microsoft Kinect, and classified by commercial off-the-shelf automatic speech recognition (ASR) software. Visual signals were captured and classified using a custom wireless gesture glove and software. Participants in the experiment commanded a robot to complete a simulated ISR mission in a scaled down urban scenario by delivering a sequence of gesture and speech commands, both individually and simultaneously, to the robot. Performance and reliability of gesture and speech hardware interfaces and recognition tools were analyzed and reported. Analysis of experimental results demonstrated the employed gesture technology has significant potential for enabling bidirectional Soldier-robot team dialogue based on the high classification accuracy and minimal training required to perform gesture commands.

  15. Quantifying the Impacts of Timebased Rates, Enabling Technology, and Other Treatments in Consumer Behavior Studies: Protocols and Guidelines

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Cappers, Peter [Ernest Orlando Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States); Todd, Annika [Ernest Orlando Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States); Perry, Michael [Ernest Orlando Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States); Neenan, Bernie [Ernest Orlando Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States); Boisvert, Richard [Ernest Orlando Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States)

    2013-06-27

    This report offers guidelines and protocols for measuring the effects of time-based rates, enabling technology, and various other treatments on customers’ levels and patterns of electricity usage. Although the focus is on evaluating consumer behavior studies (CBS) that involve field trials and pilots, the methods can be extended to assessing the large-scale programs that may follow. CBSs are undertaken to resolve uncertainties and ambiguities about how consumers respond to inducements to modify their electricity demand. Those inducements include price structures; feedback and information; and enabling technologies embedded in programs such as: critical peak, time-of use, real-time pricing; peak time rebate or critical peak rebate; home energy reports and in-home displays; and all manner of device controls for appliances and plug loads. Although the focus of this report is on consumer studies—where the subjects are households—the behavioral sciences principles discussed and many of the methods recommended apply equally to studying commercial and industrial customer electricity demand.

  16. NREL Topic 1 Final Report: Cohesive Application of Standards-Based Connected Devices to Enable Clean Energy Technologies

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Hudgins, Andrew P. [National Renewable Energy Lab. (NREL), Golden, CO (United States); Sparn, Bethany F. [National Renewable Energy Lab. (NREL), Golden, CO (United States); Jin, Xin [National Renewable Energy Lab. (NREL), Golden, CO (United States); Seal, Brian [Electric Power Research Inst. (EPRI), Palo Alto, CA (United States)

    2018-02-21

    This document is the final report of a two-year development, test, and demonstration project entitled 'Cohesive Application of Standards-Based Connected Devices to Enable Clean Energy Technologies.' The project was part of the National Renewable Energy Laboratory's (NREL) Integrated Network Test-bed for Energy Grid Research and Technology (INTEGRATE) initiative. The Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI) and a team of partners were selected by NREL to carry out a project to develop and test how smart, connected consumer devices can act to enable the use of more clean energy technologies on the electric power grid. The project team includes a set of leading companies that produce key products in relation to achieving this vision: thermostats, water heaters, pool pumps, solar inverters, electric vehicle supply equipment, and battery storage systems. A key requirement of the project was open access at the device level - a feature seen as foundational to achieving a future of widespread distributed generation and storage. The internal intelligence, standard functionality and communication interfaces utilized in this project result in the ability to integrate devices at any level, to work collectively at the level of the home/business, microgrid, community, distribution circuit or other. Collectively, the set of products serve as a platform on which a wide range of control strategies may be developed and deployed.

  17. Live Webcasts from CERN and ESO for European Science and Technology Week

    Science.gov (United States)

    2002-10-01

    Visit http://www.cern.ch/sci-tech on 7 - 8 November to find out what modern Europeans can't live without. Seven of Europe's leading Research Organizations [1] are presenting three live Webcasts from CERN in a joint outreach programme for the European Science and Technology Week . The aim of Sci-Tech... couldn't be without it! is to show how today's society couldn't be without cutting-edge scientific research. See also ESO Press Release 05/02. Northern Europeans can't imagine their households without ovens, whereas Southern Europeans identify the refrigerator as the most essential household appliance. In the area of communications, cars and motorbikes are clearly the technologies of choice in Italy, but are regarded as less important in countries like Norway and Germany. For entertainment, the personal computer is a clear winner as the device is considered most essential by all Europeans, followed by the TV and the Internet. This hit parade of technological marvels is the result of a phone and online survey conducted by the Sci-Tech... couldn't be without it! team for this year's European Science and Technology Week on 4-10 November. The technologies Europeans could not be without, form the starting point of three entertaining and informative Webcast shows in Italian (Thursday 7 November at 10:00 CET), French (Thursday 7 November at 15:00 CET) and English (Friday 8 November at 15:00 CET), broadcast live on the Internet from a studio at CERN. During these Webcasts scientists from the seven research Organizations and their industrial partners Sun Microsystems, Siemens, L'Oreal and Luminex will engage - from the CERN studio or from remote locations through teleconference links - an audience of Internauts all over the world. The public will be taken inside their most popular gadgets to discover the science that made them possible and how vital fundamental research has been in the creation of modern technology. Fundamental science will be brought as close as possible to

  18. The Effects of Environmental, Social and Governance on the Corporate Performance of Malaysian Government-Linked Companies

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Kweh Qian Long

    2017-01-01

    Full Text Available This study examines the impacts of ESG on the corporate performance government-linked companies (GLCs in Malaysia. For the period 2006-2012, ESG disclosure data were extracted from the Sustainalytics ESG performance reports, while financial data were obtained from the Bloomberg database. Data development analysis (DEA was used to estimate efficiency in the first stage; a regression analysis was performed to test the relationship between ESG and efficiency in the second stage. The empirical results of this study show that GLCs focused more on governance disclosures, followed by social and environmental aspects. Moreover, governance will improve firm efficiency, but social and environmental factors have no similar effect. In conclusion, this study provides insight on the limited literature on ESG and informs the relevant stakeholders on the important ESG components for financial and investment decisions.

  19. How do digital platforms for ideas, technologies, and knowledge transfer act as enablers for digital transformation?

    OpenAIRE

    Hossain, Mokter; Lassen, Astrid Heidemann

    2017-01-01

    Digital platforms, along with their supporting tools and features, have emerged as important enablers for firms to leverage distributed knowledge (Sedera et al., 2016), because they offer new ways for organizations to collaborate with the external environment for ideas, technologies, and knowledge. Indeed, studies have explored efforts to promote such collaboration on digital platforms with various popular names, such as crowdsourcing platforms (Afuah & Tucci, 2012), open innovation platf...

  20. 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.

  1. SLAE-CPS: Smart Lean Automation Engine Enabled by Cyber-Physical Systems Technologies.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ma, Jing; Wang, Qiang; Zhao, Zhibiao

    2017-06-28

    In the context of Industry 4.0, the demand for the mass production of highly customized products will lead to complex products and an increasing demand for production system flexibility. Simply implementing lean production-based human-centered production or high automation to improve system flexibility is insufficient. Currently, lean automation (Jidoka) that utilizes cyber-physical systems (CPS) is considered a cost-efficient and effective approach for improving system flexibility under shrinking global economic conditions. Therefore, a smart lean automation engine enabled by CPS technologies (SLAE-CPS), which is based on an analysis of Jidoka functions and the smart capacity of CPS technologies, is proposed in this study to provide an integrated and standardized approach to design and implement a CPS-based smart Jidoka system. A set of comprehensive architecture and standardized key technologies should be presented to achieve the above-mentioned goal. Therefore, a distributed architecture that joins service-oriented architecture, agent, function block (FB), cloud, and Internet of things is proposed to support the flexible configuration, deployment, and performance of SLAE-CPS. Then, several standardized key techniques are proposed under this architecture. The first one is for converting heterogeneous physical data into uniform services for subsequent abnormality analysis and detection. The second one is a set of Jidoka scene rules, which is abstracted based on the analysis of the operator, machine, material, quality, and other factors in different time dimensions. These Jidoka rules can support executive FBs in performing different Jidoka functions. Finally, supported by the integrated and standardized approach of our proposed engine, a case study is conducted to verify the current research results. The proposed SLAE-CPS can serve as an important reference value for combining the benefits of innovative technology and proper methodology.

  2. SLAE–CPS: Smart Lean Automation Engine Enabled by Cyber-Physical Systems Technologies

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ma, Jing; Wang, Qiang; Zhao, Zhibiao

    2017-01-01

    In the context of Industry 4.0, the demand for the mass production of highly customized products will lead to complex products and an increasing demand for production system flexibility. Simply implementing lean production-based human-centered production or high automation to improve system flexibility is insufficient. Currently, lean automation (Jidoka) that utilizes cyber-physical systems (CPS) is considered a cost-efficient and effective approach for improving system flexibility under shrinking global economic conditions. Therefore, a smart lean automation engine enabled by CPS technologies (SLAE–CPS), which is based on an analysis of Jidoka functions and the smart capacity of CPS technologies, is proposed in this study to provide an integrated and standardized approach to design and implement a CPS-based smart Jidoka system. A set of comprehensive architecture and standardized key technologies should be presented to achieve the above-mentioned goal. Therefore, a distributed architecture that joins service-oriented architecture, agent, function block (FB), cloud, and Internet of things is proposed to support the flexible configuration, deployment, and performance of SLAE–CPS. Then, several standardized key techniques are proposed under this architecture. The first one is for converting heterogeneous physical data into uniform services for subsequent abnormality analysis and detection. The second one is a set of Jidoka scene rules, which is abstracted based on the analysis of the operator, machine, material, quality, and other factors in different time dimensions. These Jidoka rules can support executive FBs in performing different Jidoka functions. Finally, supported by the integrated and standardized approach of our proposed engine, a case study is conducted to verify the current research results. The proposed SLAE–CPS can serve as an important reference value for combining the benefits of innovative technology and proper methodology. PMID:28657577

  3. CMOS technology: a critical enabler for free-form electronics-based killer applications

    KAUST Repository

    Hussain, Muhammad Mustafa

    2016-05-17

    Complementary metal oxide semiconductor (CMOS) technology offers batch manufacturability by ultra-large-scaleintegration (ULSI) of high performance electronics with a performance/cost advantage and profound reliability. However, as of today their focus has been on rigid and bulky thin film based materials. Their applications have been limited to computation, communication, display and vehicular electronics. With the upcoming surge of Internet of Everything, we have critical opportunity to expand the world of electronics by bridging between CMOS technology and free form electronics which can be used as wearable, implantable and embedded form. The asymmetry of shape and softness of surface (skins) in natural living objects including human, other species, plants make them incompatible with the presently available uniformly shaped and rigidly structured today’s CMOS electronics. But if we can break this barrier then we can use the physically free form electronics for applications like plant monitoring for expansion of agricultural productivity and quality, we can find monitoring and treatment focused consumer healthcare electronics – and many more creative applications. In our view, the fundamental challenge is to engage the mass users to materialize their creative ideas. Present form of electronics are too complex to understand, to work with and to use. By deploying game changing additive manufacturing, low-cost raw materials, transfer printing along with CMOS technology, we can potentially stick high quality CMOS electronics on any existing objects and embed such electronics into any future objects that will be made. The end goal is to make them smart to augment the quality of our life. We use a particular example on implantable electronics (brain machine interface) and its integration strategy enabled by CMOS device design and technology run path. © (2016) COPYRIGHT Society of Photo-Optical Instrumentation Engineers (SPIE). Downloading of the abstract is

  4. Enabling technology for MEMS and nanodevices

    CERN Document Server

    Baltes, Henry; Fedder, Gary K; Hierold, Christofer; Korvink, Jan G; Tabata, Osamu

    2013-01-01

    This softcover edition of the eponymous volume from the successful ""Advanced Micro & Nanosystems"" series covers all aspects of fabrication of MEMS under CMOS-compatible conditions from design to implementation.It examines the various routes and methods to combine electronics generated by the CMOS technology with novel micromechanical parts into one-chip solutions. Various approaches, fundamental and technological aspects as well as strategies leading to different types of functionalities and presented in detail.For the practicing engineer as well as MSc and PhD students on MEMS cours

  5. 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...

  6. An exploratory investigation of barriers and enablers affecting investment in renewable companies and technologies in the UK.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wells, Victoria; Greenwell, Felicity; Covey, Judith; Rosenthal, Harriet E S; Adcock, Mike; Gregory-Smith, Diana

    2013-02-06

    The last few years have seen considerable research expenditure on renewable fuel technologies. However, in many cases, the necessary sustained and long-term funding from the investment community has not been realized at a level needed to allow technologies to become reality. According to global consulting firm Deloitte's recent renewable energy report (http://www.deloitte.com/energypredictions2012), many renewable energy projects stalled or were not completed because of issues including the global economy, the state of government finances, difficulties in funding and regulatory uncertainty. This investigation concentrates on the funding aspect and explores the perceived barriers and enablers to renewable technologies within the investment and renewables community. Thematic analysis of 14 in-depth interviews with representatives from renewable energy producers, banks and investment companies identified key factors affecting the psychology of investor behaviour in renewables. Eight key issues are highlighted, including a range of barriers and enablers, the role of the government, balance between cost/risk, value/return on investment, investment time scales, personality/individual differences of investors and the level of innovation in the renewable technology. It was particularly notable that in the findings the role of the government was discussed more than other themes and generally in quite critical terms, highlighting the need to ensure consistency in government funding and policy and a greater understanding of how government decision-making happens. Specific findings such as these illustrate the value of crossing disciplinary boundaries and highlight potential further research. Behavioural science and economic psychology in particular have much to offer at the interface of other disciplines such as political science and financial economics.

  7. An exploratory investigation of barriers and enablers affecting investment in renewable companies and technologies in the UK

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wells, Victoria; Greenwell, Felicity; Covey, Judith; Rosenthal, Harriet E. S.; Adcock, Mike; Gregory-Smith, Diana

    2013-01-01

    The last few years have seen considerable research expenditure on renewable fuel technologies. However, in many cases, the necessary sustained and long-term funding from the investment community has not been realized at a level needed to allow technologies to become reality. According to global consulting firm Deloitte's recent renewable energy report (http://www.deloitte.com/energypredictions2012), many renewable energy projects stalled or were not completed because of issues including the global economy, the state of government finances, difficulties in funding and regulatory uncertainty. This investigation concentrates on the funding aspect and explores the perceived barriers and enablers to renewable technologies within the investment and renewables community. Thematic analysis of 14 in-depth interviews with representatives from renewable energy producers, banks and investment companies identified key factors affecting the psychology of investor behaviour in renewables. Eight key issues are highlighted, including a range of barriers and enablers, the role of the government, balance between cost/risk, value/return on investment, investment time scales, personality/individual differences of investors and the level of innovation in the renewable technology. It was particularly notable that in the findings the role of the government was discussed more than other themes and generally in quite critical terms, highlighting the need to ensure consistency in government funding and policy and a greater understanding of how government decision-making happens. Specific findings such as these illustrate the value of crossing disciplinary boundaries and highlight potential further research. Behavioural science and economic psychology in particular have much to offer at the interface of other disciplines such as political science and financial economics. PMID:24427512

  8. RFID technology and the EPC network as enablers of mobile business: a case study in a retail supply chain

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Wamba, S.F.; Bendavid, Y.; Lefebvre, L.A.; Lefebvre, E.

    2006-01-01

    The main objective of this study is to explore the impact of integrating Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) technology and the Electronic Product Code (EPC) network into one specific supply chain in the retail industry and investigate their potentials as enablers of Mobile Business (m-business).

  9. Wind Energy: Trends And Enabling Technologies

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Devabhaktuni, Vijay; Alam, Mansoor; Boyapati, Premchand; Chandna, Pankaj; Kumar, Ashok; Lack, Lewis; Nims, Douglas; Wang, Lingfeng

    2010-09-15

    With attention now focused on the damaging impact of greenhouse gases, wind energy is rapidly emerging as a low carbon, resource efficient, cost-effective sustainable technology in many parts of the world. Despite higher economic costs, offshore appears to be the next big step in wind energy development alternative because of the space scarcity for installation of onshore wind turbine. This paper presents the importance of off-shore wind energy, the wind farm layout design, the off-shore wind turbine technological developments, the role of sensors and the smart grid, and the challenges and future trends of wind energy.

  10. Enabling technologies for silicon microstrip tracking detectors at the HL-LHC

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Feld, L.; Karpinski, W.; Klein, K.

    2016-04-01

    While the tracking detectors of the ATLAS and CMS experiments have shown excellent performance in Run 1 of LHC data taking, and are expected to continue to do so during LHC operation at design luminosity, both experiments will have to exchange their tracking systems when the LHC is upgraded to the high-luminosity LHC (HL-LHC) around the year 2024. The new tracking systems need to operate in an environment in which both the hit densities and the radiation damage will be about an order of magnitude higher than today. In addition, the new trackers need to contribute to the first level trigger in order to maintain a high data-taking efficiency for the interesting processes. Novel detector technologies have to be developed to meet these very challenging goals. The German groups active in the upgrades of the ATLAS and CMS tracking systems have formed a collaborative ''Project on Enabling Technologies for Silicon Microstrip Tracking Detectors at the HL-LHC'' (PETTL), which was supported by the Helmholtz Alliance ''Physics at the Terascale'' during the years 2013 and 2014. The aim of the project was to share experience and to work together on key areas of mutual interest during the R and D phase of these upgrades. The project concentrated on five areas, namely exchange of experience, radiation hardness of silicon sensors, low mass system design, automated precision assembly procedures, and irradiations. This report summarizes the main achievements.

  11. Enabling technologies for silicon microstrip tracking detectors at the HL-LHC

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Feld, L.; Karpinski, W.; Klein, K. [RWTH Aachen Univ. (Germany). 1. Physikalisches Institut B; Collaboration: The PETTL Collaboration; and others

    2016-04-15

    While the tracking detectors of the ATLAS and CMS experiments have shown excellent performance in Run 1 of LHC data taking, and are expected to continue to do so during LHC operation at design luminosity, both experiments will have to exchange their tracking systems when the LHC is upgraded to the high-luminosity LHC (HL-LHC) around the year 2024. The new tracking systems need to operate in an environment in which both the hit densities and the radiation damage will be about an order of magnitude higher than today. In addition, the new trackers need to contribute to the first level trigger in order to maintain a high data-taking efficiency for the interesting processes. Novel detector technologies have to be developed to meet these very challenging goals. The German groups active in the upgrades of the ATLAS and CMS tracking systems have formed a collaborative ''Project on Enabling Technologies for Silicon Microstrip Tracking Detectors at the HL-LHC'' (PETTL), which was supported by the Helmholtz Alliance ''Physics at the Terascale'' during the years 2013 and 2014. The aim of the project was to share experience and to work together on key areas of mutual interest during the R and D phase of these upgrades. The project concentrated on five areas, namely exchange of experience, radiation hardness of silicon sensors, low mass system design, automated precision assembly procedures, and irradiations. This report summarizes the main achievements.

  12. Growth and endocrine disorders in thalassemia: The international network on endocrine complications in thalassemia (I-CET position statement and guidelines

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Vincenzo De Sanctis

    2013-01-01

    Full Text Available The current management of thalassemia includes regular transfusion programs and chelation therapy. It is important that physicians be aware that endocrine abnormalities frequently develop mainly in those patients with significant iron overload due to poor compliance to treatment, particularly after the age of 10 years. Since the quality of life of thalassemia patients is a fundamental aim, it is vital to monitor carefully their growth and pubertal development in order to detect abnormalities and to initiate appropriate and early treatment. Abnormalities should be identified and treatment initiated in consultation with a pediatric or an adult endocrinologist and managed accordingly. Appropriate management shall put in consideration many factors such as age, severity of iron overload, presence of chronic liver disease, thrombophilia status, and the presence of psychological problems. All these issues must be discussed by the physician in charge of the patient′s care, the endocrinologist and the patient himself. Because any progress in research in the field of early diagnosis and management of growth disorders and endocrine complications in thalassemia should be passed on to and applied adequately to all those suffering from the disease, on the 8 May 2009 in Ferrara, the International Network on Endocrine Complications in Thalassemia (I-CET was founded in order to transmit the latest information on these disorders to the treating physicians. The I-CET position statement outlined in this document applies to patients with transfusion-dependent thalassemia major to help physicians to anticipate, diagnose, and manage these complications properly.

  13. Variable use of standards-based IOS enabling technologies in Australian SMEs : an examination of deliberate and emergent decision making processes

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Power, Damien; Gruner, Richard L.

    Use of inter-organizational systems (IOS) is widely recognized as pivotal to organizational success. However, the nature of decision making processes regarding the adoption and use of IOS-enabling technologies has received little research attention. The authors explore approaches to decisionmaking

  14. Etnoecologia de pequenos cetáceos: interações entre a pesca artesanal e golfinhos no norte do estado do Rio de Janeiro, Brasil

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Gabrielle Amorim Rosa

    2012-04-01

    Full Text Available http://dx.doi.org/10.5007/2175-7925.2012v25n3p293   Estudos no norte do Rio de Janeiro indicam interações entre a pesca artesanal e os cetáceos, mas não existem pesquisas que abordem o conhecimento de pescadores sobre estes animais. O objetivo deste estudo é descrever as interações entre os cetáceos e a pesca através da percepção dos pescadores de Atafona (RJ. Entre fevereiro e março de 2010 foram selecionados 20 pescadores através da técnica “bola-de-neve” e aplicado um questionário etnográfico a fim de obter dados através de relatos da percepção cultural sobre os pequenos cetáceos no norte fluminense. Cada pescador descreveu mais de um golfinho, o que explica o tamanho amostral das respostas (N=34 maior que o número de entrevistados (N=20. Pelos relatos dos informantes foram identificadas três espécies e um gênero: Sotalia guianensis (N=15; 75%; Pontoporia blainvillei (N=9; 45%; Steno bredanensis (N=6; 30% e Stenella spp. (N=4; 20%. A resposta “colisão com artefatos” (rede de espera foi a única descrita na questão da ocorrência de acidentes entre a pesca e os golfinhos (N=24; 71% e a rede de espera é o artefato responsável pelo emalhe dos animais. As carcaças dos golfinhos emalhados podem ser descartadas ao mar e/ou a musculatura e gordura utilizadas como isca na pescaria de elasmobrânquios. As quatro principais espécies reportadas na literatura para a área foram as identificadas pelos pescadores. Para todos os entrevistados o emalhe é causado pelos golfinhos o que prejudica a pesca.

  15. 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...

  16. Clinical indications for computed tomographic colonography: European Society of Gastrointestinal Endoscopy (ESGE) and European Society of Gastrointestinal and Abdominal Radiology (ESGAR) Guideline

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Spada, Cristiano; Barbaro, Federico; Petruzziello, Lucio [Catholic University, Digestive Endoscopy Unit, Rome (Italy); Stoker, Jaap; Haan, Margriet C. de [University of Amsterdam, Department of Radiology, Academic Medical Center, Amsterdam (Netherlands); Alarcon, Onofre [Universidad de La Laguna, Department of Gastroenterology, Hospital Universitario de Canarias, Facultad de Medicina, La Laguna, Tenerife (Spain); Bellini, Davide; Laghi, Andrea [Sapienza University of Rome, I.C.O.T. Hospital, Department of Radiological Sciences, Oncology and Pathology, Latina (Italy); Bretthauer, Michael [Oslo University Hospital, Department of Health Economy and Health Management, University of Oslo, and Department of Transplantation Medicine, Gastroenterology Unit, Oslo (Norway); Dumonceau, Jean-Marc [Gedyt Endoscopy Center, Buenos Aires (Argentina); Ferlitsch, Monika [Medical University of Vienna, Department of Internal Medicine III, Division of Gastroenterology and Hepatology, Vienna (Austria); Halligan, Steve; Helbren, Emma; Plumb, Andrew; Taylor, Stuart A. [University College London, Centre for Medical Imaging, London (United Kingdom); Hellstrom, Mikael [Sahlgrenska University Hospital and Sahlgrenska Academy at University of Gothenburg, Department of Radiology, Gothenburg (Sweden); Kuipers, Ernst J. [Erasmus MC University Medical Center, Department of Gastroenterology and Hepatology, Rotterdam (Netherlands); Lefere, Philippe [Virtual Colonoscopy Teaching Centre, Hooglede (Belgium); AZ Delta, Roeselare (Belgium); Mang, Thomas [Medical University of Vienna, Department of Biomedical Imaging and Image-guided Therapy, Vienna (Austria); Neri, Emanuele [University of Pisa, Diagnostic and Interventional Radiology, Pisa (Italy); Regge, Daniele [Institute for Cancer Research and Treatment, Candiolo-Torino (Italy); Hassan, Cesare [Catholic University, Digestive Endoscopy Unit, Rome (Italy); Ospedale Nuovo Regina Margherita, Department of Gastroenterology, Rome (Italy)

    2014-10-03

    Colorectal cancer (CRC) is a major cause of morbidity and mortality [1, 2]. CRC screening by fecal occult blood testing (FOBT) has been shown to reduce CRC mortality [3, 4], and is currently used in several European countries. Colonoscopy is highly effective for detecting advanced neoplasia, and endoscopic polypectomy reduces subsequent CRCspecific incidence and mortality [5]. In Europe, colonoscopy is mainly used to investigate FOBT-positive or symptomatic patients, or as a preventive strategy in those with increased CRC risk [6]. Computed tomographic colonography (CTC) is a minimally invasive imaging technique that is highly accurate for detecting colorectal cancer (CRC) and adenomatous polyps. The technique is standardized [7], and CTC is more easily performed than barium enema. Evidence-based data suggest that CTC is the natural replacement for barium enema and a complementary rather than an alternative examination to colonoscopy. However, the clinical scenarios for which CTC is indicated remain unclear. To address this uncertainty - 20 years after the first presentation of CTC at a radiological meeting [8] - the European Society of Gastrointestinal Endoscopy (ESGE) and the European Society of Gastrointestinal and Abdominal Radiology (ESGAR) decided to produce a common guideline regarding indications for CTC in clinical practice. Technical and quality issues of CTC have been deliberately excluded from this work as these have already been discussed separately [7].

  17. Clinical indications for computed tomographic colonography: European Society of Gastrointestinal Endoscopy (ESGE) and European Society of Gastrointestinal and Abdominal Radiology (ESGAR) Guideline

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Spada, Cristiano; Barbaro, Federico; Petruzziello, Lucio; Stoker, Jaap; Haan, Margriet C. de; Alarcon, Onofre; Bellini, Davide; Laghi, Andrea; Bretthauer, Michael; Dumonceau, Jean-Marc; Ferlitsch, Monika; Halligan, Steve; Helbren, Emma; Plumb, Andrew; Taylor, Stuart A.; Hellstrom, Mikael; Kuipers, Ernst J.; Lefere, Philippe; Mang, Thomas; Neri, Emanuele; Regge, Daniele; Hassan, Cesare

    2015-01-01

    Colorectal cancer (CRC) is a major cause of morbidity and mortality [1, 2]. CRC screening by fecal occult blood testing (FOBT) has been shown to reduce CRC mortality [3, 4], and is currently used in several European countries. Colonoscopy is highly effective for detecting advanced neoplasia, and endoscopic polypectomy reduces subsequent CRCspecific incidence and mortality [5]. In Europe, colonoscopy is mainly used to investigate FOBT-positive or symptomatic patients, or as a preventive strategy in those with increased CRC risk [6]. Computed tomographic colonography (CTC) is a minimally invasive imaging technique that is highly accurate for detecting colorectal cancer (CRC) and adenomatous polyps. The technique is standardized [7], and CTC is more easily performed than barium enema. Evidence-based data suggest that CTC is the natural replacement for barium enema and a complementary rather than an alternative examination to colonoscopy. However, the clinical scenarios for which CTC is indicated remain unclear. To address this uncertainty - 20 years after the first presentation of CTC at a radiological meeting [8] - the European Society of Gastrointestinal Endoscopy (ESGE) and the European Society of Gastrointestinal and Abdominal Radiology (ESGAR) decided to produce a common guideline regarding indications for CTC in clinical practice. Technical and quality issues of CTC have been deliberately excluded from this work as these have already been discussed separately [7].

  18. CMOS-Technology-Enabled Flexible and Stretchable Electronics for Internet of Everything Applications

    KAUST Repository

    Hussain, Aftab M.

    2015-11-26

    Flexible and stretchable electronics can dramatically enhance the application of electronics for the emerging Internet of Everything applications where people, processes, data and devices will be integrated and connected, to augment quality of life. Using naturally flexible and stretchable polymeric substrates in combination with emerging organic and molecular materials, nanowires, nanoribbons, nanotubes, and 2D atomic crystal structured materials, significant progress has been made in the general area of such electronics. However, high volume manufacturing, reliability and performance per cost remain elusive goals for wide commercialization of these electronics. On the other hand, highly sophisticated but extremely reliable, batch-fabrication-capable and mature complementary metal oxide semiconductor (CMOS)-based technology has facilitated tremendous growth of today\\'s digital world using thin-film-based electronics; in particular, bulk monocrystalline silicon (100) which is used in most of the electronics existing today. However, one fundamental challenge is that state-of-the-art CMOS electronics are physically rigid and brittle. Therefore, in this work, how CMOS-technology-enabled flexible and stretchable electronics can be developed is discussed, with particular focus on bulk monocrystalline silicon (100). A comprehensive information base to realistically devise an integration strategy by rational design of materials, devices and processes for Internet of Everything electronics is offered. © 2015 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.

  19. 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

  20. Health Technology-Enabled Interventions for Adherence Support and Retention in Care Among US HIV-Infected Adolescents and Young Adults: An Integrative Review.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Navarra, Ann-Margaret Dunn; Gwadz, Marya Viorst; Whittemore, Robin; Bakken, Suzanne R; Cleland, Charles M; Burleson, Winslow; Jacobs, Susan Kaplan; Melkus, Gail D'Eramo

    2017-11-01

    The objective of this integrative review was to describe current US trends for health technology-enabled adherence interventions among behaviorally HIV-infected youth (ages 13-29 years), and present the feasibility and efficacy of identified interventions. A comprehensive search was executed across five electronic databases (January 2005-March 2016). Of the 1911 identified studies, nine met the inclusion criteria of quantitative or mixed methods design, technology-enabled adherence and or retention intervention for US HIV-infected youth. The majority were small pilots. Intervention dose varied between studies applying similar technology platforms with more than half not informed by a theoretical framework. Retention in care was not a reported outcome, and operationalization of adherence was heterogeneous across studies. Despite these limitations, synthesized findings from this review demonstrate feasibility of computer-based interventions, and initial efficacy of SMS texting for adherence support among HIV-infected youth. Moving forward, there is a pressing need for the expansion of this evidence base.

  1. A methodology to enable rapid evaluation of aviation environmental impacts and aircraft technologies

    Science.gov (United States)

    Becker, Keith Frederick

    Commercial aviation has become an integral part of modern society and enables unprecedented global connectivity by increasing rapid business, cultural, and personal connectivity. In the decades following World War II, passenger travel through commercial aviation quickly grew at a rate of roughly 8% per year globally. The FAA's most recent Terminal Area Forecast predicts growth to continue at a rate of 2.5% domestically, and the market outlooks produced by Airbus and Boeing generally predict growth to continue at a rate of 5% per year globally over the next several decades, which translates into a need for up to 30,000 new aircraft produced by 2025. With such large numbers of new aircraft potentially entering service, any negative consequences of commercial aviation must undergo examination and mitigation by governing bodies so that growth may still be achieved. Options to simultaneously grow while reducing environmental impact include evolution of the commercial fleet through changes in operations, aircraft mix, and technology adoption. Methods to rapidly evaluate fleet environmental metrics are needed to enable decision makers to quickly compare the impact of different scenarios and weigh the impact of multiple policy options. As the fleet evolves, interdependencies may emerge in the form of tradeoffs between improvements in different environmental metrics as new technologies are brought into service. In order to include the impacts of these interdependencies on fleet evolution, physics-based modeling is required at the appropriate level of fidelity. Evaluation of environmental metrics in a physics-based manner can be done at the individual aircraft level, but will then not capture aggregate fleet metrics. Contrastingly, evaluation of environmental metrics at the fleet level is already being done for aircraft in the commercial fleet, but current tools and approaches require enhancement because they currently capture technology implementation through post

  2. 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...

  3. Introducing a technology-enabled problem-based learning approach into a health informatics curriculum.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Green, Carolyn J; van Gyn, Geraldine H; Moehr, Jochen R; Lau, Francis Y; Coward, Patricia M

    2004-03-18

    To investigate the effect on learner satisfaction of introducing a technology-enabled problem-based learning (PBL) approach into a health informatics curriculum. Course redesign was undertaken to prepare students for three 4-month work terms and a rapidly changing professional environment upon graduation. Twenty-six Canadian undergraduate students of a redesigned course in biomedical fundamentals completed a midterm questionnaire in 2002. Eight of these students participated in a focus group. Students agreed that seven of nine functions provided by the web-based online course management system enhanced their learning: private email (92.3%), calendaring (88.5%), course notes (88.5%), discussion forums (84.5%), online grades (84.5%) assignment descriptions (80.8%) and online quizzes (80.8%). Although students agreed that two PBL activities enhanced learning (learning to present information) (84.5%) and learning to identify information needed (73.1%), the majority of students (69.2%) expressed a preference for the traditional lecture approach over the PBL approach. Students reported feeling uncertain of what was required of them and related anxiety accounted for most of the negative feedback. These findings give us clear goals for improvement in the course beginning with a comprehensive, carefully guided introduction to the processes of PBL. The positive trends are encouraging for the use of web-enabled courseware and for the further development of the PBL approach.

  4. Reduced Neuronal Transcription of Escargot, the Drosophila Gene Encoding a Snail-Type Transcription Factor, Promotes Longevity

    Science.gov (United States)

    Symonenko, Alexander V.; Roshina, Natalia V.; Krementsova, Anna V.; Pasyukova, Elena G.

    2018-01-01

    In recent years, several genes involved in complex neuron specification networks have been shown to control life span. However, information on these genes is scattered, and studies to discover new neuronal genes and gene cascades contributing to life span control are needed, especially because of the recognized role of the nervous system in governing homeostasis, aging, and longevity. Previously, we demonstrated that several genes that encode RNA polymerase II transcription factors and that are involved in the development of the nervous system affect life span in Drosophila melanogaster. Among other genes, escargot (esg) was demonstrated to be causally associated with an increase in the life span of male flies. Here, we present new data on the role of esg in life span control. We show that esg affects the life spans of both mated and unmated males and females to varying degrees. By analyzing the survival and locomotion of the esg mutants, we demonstrate that esg is involved in the control of aging. We show that increased longevity is caused by decreased esg transcription. In particular, we demonstrate that esg knockdown in the nervous system increased life span, directly establishing the involvement of the neuronal esg function in life span control. Our data invite attention to the mechanisms regulating the esg transcription rate, which is changed by insertions of DNA fragments of different sizes downstream of the structural part of the gene, indicating the direction of further research. Our data agree with the previously made suggestion that alterations in gene expression during development might affect adult lifespan, due to epigenetic patterns inherited in cell lineages or predetermined during the development of the structural and functional properties of the nervous system. PMID:29760717

  5. Aeroelastic Tailoring of Transport Aircraft Wings: State-of-the-Art and Potential Enabling Technologies

    Science.gov (United States)

    Jutte, Christine; Stanford, Bret K.

    2014-01-01

    This paper provides a brief overview of the state-of-the-art for aeroelastic tailoring of subsonic transport aircraft and offers additional resources on related research efforts. Emphasis is placed on aircraft having straight or aft swept wings. The literature covers computational synthesis tools developed for aeroelastic tailoring and numerous design studies focused on discovering new methods for passive aeroelastic control. Several new structural and material technologies are presented as potential enablers of aeroelastic tailoring, including selectively reinforced materials, functionally graded materials, fiber tow steered composite laminates, and various nonconventional structural designs. In addition, smart materials and structures whose properties or configurations change in response to external stimuli are presented as potential active approaches to aeroelastic tailoring.

  6. Expedient preparation of nazlinine and a small library of indole alkaloids using flow electrochemistry as an enabling technology.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kabeshov, Mikhail A; Musio, Biagia; Murray, Philip R D; Browne, Duncan L; Ley, Steven V

    2014-09-05

    An expedient synthesis of the indole alkaloid nazlinine is reported. Judicious choice of flow electrochemistry as an enabling technology has permitted the rapid generation of a small library of unnatural relatives of this biologically active molecule. Furthermore, by conducting the key electrochemical Shono oxidation in a flow cell, the loading of electrolyte can be significantly reduced to 20 mol % while maintaining a stable, broadly applicable process.

  7. Reconfigurable Computing As an Enabling Technology for Single-Photon-Counting Laser Altimetry

    Science.gov (United States)

    Powell, Wesley; Hicks, Edward; Pinchinat, Maxime; Dabney, Philip; McGarry, Jan; Murray, Paul

    2003-01-01

    Single-photon-counting laser altimetry is a new measurement technique offering significant advantages in vertical resolution, reducing instrument size, mass, and power, and reducing laser complexity as compared to analog or threshold detection laser altimetry techniques. However, these improvements come at the cost of a dramatically increased requirement for onboard real-time data processing. Reconfigurable computing has been shown to offer considerable performance advantages in performing this processing. These advantages have been demonstrated on the Multi-KiloHertz Micro-Laser Altimeter (MMLA), an aircraft based single-photon-counting laser altimeter developed by NASA Goddard Space Flight Center with several potential spaceflight applications. This paper describes how reconfigurable computing technology was employed to perform MMLA data processing in real-time under realistic operating constraints, along with the results observed. This paper also expands on these prior results to identify concepts for using reconfigurable computing to enable spaceflight single-photon-counting laser altimeter instruments.

  8. Technologically Reflective Individuals as Enablers of Social Innovation*

    Science.gov (United States)

    Rau, Christiane; Gassmann, Oliver; van den Hende, Ellis

    2015-01-01

    This paper identifies technologically reflective individuals and demonstrates their ability to develop innovations that benefit society. Technological reflectiveness (TR) is the tendency to think about the societal impact of an innovation, and those who display this capability in public are individuals who participate in online idea competitions focused on technical solutions for social problems (such as General Electric's eco‐challenge, the James Dyson Award, and the BOSCH Technology Horizon Award). However, technologically reflective individuals also reflect in private settings (e.g., when reading news updates), thus requiring a scale to identify them. This paper describes the systematic development of an easy‐to‐administer multi‐item scale to measure an individual's level of TR. Applying the TR scale in an empirical study on a health monitoring system confirmed that individuals' degree of TR relates positively to their ability to generate (1) more new product features and uses, (2) features with higher levels of societal impact, and (3) features that are more elaborated. This scale allows firms seeking to implement co‐creation in their new product development (NPD) process and sustainable solutions to identify such individuals. Thus, this paper indicates that companies wishing to introduce new technological products with a positive societal impact may profit from involving technologically reflective individuals in the NPD process. PMID:27134342

  9. Technologically Reflective Individuals as Enablers of Social Innovation.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Schweitzer, Fiona; Rau, Christiane; Gassmann, Oliver; van den Hende, Ellis

    2015-11-01

    This paper identifies technologically reflective individuals and demonstrates their ability to develop innovations that benefit society. Technological reflectiveness (TR) is the tendency to think about the societal impact of an innovation, and those who display this capability in public are individuals who participate in online idea competitions focused on technical solutions for social problems (such as General Electric's eco-challenge, the James Dyson Award, and the BOSCH Technology Horizon Award). However, technologically reflective individuals also reflect in private settings (e.g., when reading news updates), thus requiring a scale to identify them. This paper describes the systematic development of an easy-to-administer multi-item scale to measure an individual's level of TR. Applying the TR scale in an empirical study on a health monitoring system confirmed that individuals' degree of TR relates positively to their ability to generate (1) more new product features and uses, (2) features with higher levels of societal impact, and (3) features that are more elaborated. This scale allows firms seeking to implement co-creation in their new product development (NPD) process and sustainable solutions to identify such individuals. Thus, this paper indicates that companies wishing to introduce new technological products with a positive societal impact may profit from involving technologically reflective individuals in the NPD process.

  10. Prospective Technology Assessment of Synthetic Biology: Fundamental and Propaedeutic Reflections in Order to Enable an Early Assessment.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Schmidt, Jan Cornelius

    2016-08-01

    Synthetic biology is regarded as one of the key technosciences of the future. The goal of this paper is to present some fundamental considerations to enable procedures of a technology assessment (TA) of synthetic biology. To accomplish such an early "upstream" assessment of a not yet fully developed technology, a special type of TA will be considered: Prospective TA (ProTA). At the center of ProTA are the analysis and the framing of "synthetic biology," including a characterization and assessment of the technological core. The thesis is that if there is any differentia specifica giving substance to the umbrella term "synthetic biology," it is the idea of harnessing self-organization for engineering purposes. To underline that we are likely experiencing an epochal break in the ontology of technoscientific systems, this new type of technology is called "late-modern technology." -I start this paper by analyzing the three most common visions of synthetic biology. Then I argue that one particular vision deserves more attention because it underlies the others: the vision of self-organization. I discuss the inherent limits of this new type of late-modern technology in the attempt to control and monitor possible risk issues. I refer to Hans Jonas' ethics and his early anticipation of the risks of a novel type of technology. I end by drawing conclusions for the approach of ProTA towards an early societal shaping of synthetic biology.

  11. The Nuclear Energy Advanced Modeling and Simulation Enabling Computational Technologies FY09 Report

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Diachin, L F; Garaizar, F X; Henson, V E; Pope, G

    2009-10-12

    In this document we report on the status of the Nuclear Energy Advanced Modeling and Simulation (NEAMS) Enabling Computational Technologies (ECT) effort. In particular, we provide the context for ECT In the broader NEAMS program and describe the three pillars of the ECT effort, namely, (1) tools and libraries, (2) software quality assurance, and (3) computational facility (computers, storage, etc) needs. We report on our FY09 deliverables to determine the needs of the integrated performance and safety codes (IPSCs) in these three areas and lay out the general plan for software quality assurance to meet the requirements of DOE and the DOE Advanced Fuel Cycle Initiative (AFCI). We conclude with a brief description of our interactions with the Idaho National Laboratory computer center to determine what is needed to expand their role as a NEAMS user facility.

  12. 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...

  13. RAISING INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGIES COMPETENCE OF SCIENTIFIC AND PEDAGOGICAL EMPLOYEES - A KEY REQUIREMENT OF THE QUALITY OF EDUCATIONAL PROCESS

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Nataliia V. Morze

    2017-06-01

    Full Text Available In the article it was analyzed one of the basic conditions of providing the quality of higher education according to the system of internal quality assurance standards ESG (European quality assurance standards and guidelines to increase the ICT competence of scientific-pedagogical staff of the University. It was described the modular system of training for scientific and pedagogical staff of the Borys Grinchenko Kyiv University. Special attention is paid to the description of the system of raising the level of formation the ICT competence as one of the key competences of the modern teacher. The system of professional development, which is based on creating mixed studying and technology of "flipped classroom", formative assessment, innovative educational and ICT technologies according to the specially designed informative module "Informational and communication technologies", which allows scientific-pedagogical staff to use modern ICT and educational technologies effectively for their further applying in the provision of educational services and the development of quality of open educational content and open educational e-environment available to the student at any convenient time, which will significantly improve the quality of the educational process.

  14. 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

  15. Endoscopic sleeve gastroplasty: the learning curve.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hill, Christine; El Zein, Mohamad; Agnihotri, Abhishek; Dunlap, Margo; Chang, Angela; Agrawal, Alison; Barola, Sindhu; Ngamruengphong, Saowanee; Chen, Yen-I; Kalloo, Anthony N; Khashab, Mouen A; Kumbhari, Vivek

    2017-09-01

     Endoscopic sleeve gastroplasty (ESG) is gaining traction as a minimally invasive bariatric treatment. Concern that the learning curve may be slow, even among those proficient in endoscopic suturing, is a barrier to widespread implementation of the procedure. Therefore, we aimed to define the learning curve for ESG in a single endoscopist experienced in endoscopic suturing who participated in a 1-day ESG training program.  Consecutive patients who underwent ESG between February 2016 and November 2016 were included. The performing endoscopist, who is proficient in endoscopic suturing for non-ESG procedures, participated in a 1-day ESG training session before offering ESG to patients. The outcome measurements were length of procedure (LOP) and number of plications per procedure. Nonlinear regression was used to determine the learning plateau and calculate the learning rate.  Twenty-one consecutive patients (8 males), with mean age 47.7 ± 11.2 years and mean body mass index 41.8 ± 8.5 kg/m 2 underwent ESG. LOP decreased significantly across consecutive procedures, with a learning plateau at 101.5 minutes and a learning rate of 7 cases ( P  = 0.04). The number of plications per procedure also decreased significantly across consecutive procedures, with a plateau at 8 sutures and a learning rate of 9 cases ( P  < 0.001). Further, the average time per plication decreased significantly with consecutive procedures, reaching a plateau at 9 procedures ( P  < 0.001).  Endoscopists experienced in endoscopic suturing are expected to achieve a reduction in LOP and number of plications per procedure in successive cases, with progress plateauing at 7 and 9 cases, respectively.

  16. A Technology Plan for Enabling Commercial Space Business

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lyles, Garry M.

    1997-01-01

    The National Aeronautics and Space Administration's (NASA) Advanced Space Transportation Program is a customer driven, focused technology program that supports the NASA Strategic Plan and considers future commercial space business projections. The initial cycle of the Advanced Space Transportation Program implementation planning was conducted from December 1995 through February 1996 and represented increased NASA emphasis on broad base technology development with the goal of dramatic reductions in the cost of space transportation. The second planning cycle, conducted in January and February 1997, updated the program implementation plan based on changes in the external environment, increased maturity of advanced concept studies, and current technology assessments. The program has taken a business-like approach to technology development with a balanced portfolio of near, medium, and long-term strategic targets. Strategic targets are influenced by Earth science, space science, and exploration objectives as well as commercial space markets. Commercial space markets include those that would be enhanced by lower cost transportation as well as potential markets resulting in major increases in space business induced by reductions in transportation cost. The program plan addresses earth-to-orbit space launch, earth orbit operations and deep space systems. It also addresses all critical transportation system elements; including structures, thermal protection systems, propulsion, avionics, and operations. As these technologies are matured, integrated technology flight experiments such as the X-33 and X-34 flight demonstrator programs support near-term (one to five years) development or operational decisions. The Advanced Space Transportation Program and the flight demonstrator programs combine business planning, ground-based technology demonstrations and flight demonstrations that will permit industry and NASA to commit to revolutionary new space transportation systems

  17. Analysis of a Moon outpost for Mars enabling technologies through a Virtual Reality environment

    Science.gov (United States)

    Casini, Andrea E. M.; Maggiore, Paolo; Viola, Nicole; Basso, Valter; Ferrino, Marinella; Hoffman, Jeffrey A.; Cowley, Aidan

    2018-02-01

    The Moon is now being considered as the starting point for human exploration of the Solar System beyond low-Earth orbit. Many national space agencies are actively advocating to build up a lunar surface habitat capability starting from 2030 or earlier: according to ESA Technology Roadmaps for Exploration this should be the result of a broad international cooperation. Taking into account an incremental approach to reduce risks and costs of space missions, a lunar outpost can be considered as a test bed towards Mars, allowing to validate enabling technologies, such as water processing, waste management, power generation and storage, automation, robotics and human factors. Our natural satellite is rich in resources that could be used to pursue such a goal through a necessary assessment of ISRU techniques. The aim of this research is the analysis of a Moon outpost dedicated to the validation of enabling technologies for human space exploration. The main building blocks of the outpost are identified and feasible evolutionary scenarios are depicted, to highlight the incremental steps to build up the outpost. Main aspects that are dealt with include outpost location and architecture, as well as ISRU facilities, which in a far term future can help reduce the mass at launch, by producing hydrogen and oxygen for consumables, ECLSS, and propellant for Earth-Moon sorties and Mars journeys. A test outpost is implemented in a Virtual Reality (VR) environment as a first proof-of-concepts, where the elements are computer-based mock-ups. The VR facility has a first-person interactive perspective, allowing for specific in-depth analyses of ergonomics and operations. The feedbacks of these analyses are crucial to highlight requirements that might otherwise be overlooked, while their general outputs are fundamental to write down procedures. Moreover, the mimic of astronauts' EVAs is useful for pre-flight training, but can also represent an additional tool for failures troubleshooting

  18. 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.

  19. Working conditions and health among employees at information technology--enabled services: a review of current evidence.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kesavachandran, C; Rastogi, S K; Das, Mohan; Khan, Asif M

    2006-07-01

    Workers in information technology (IT)-enabled services like business process outsourcing and call centers working with visual display units are reported to have various health and psycho-social disorders. Evidence from previously published studies in peer- reviewed journals and internet sources were examined to explore health disorders and psycho-social problems among personnel employed in IT-based services, for a systematic review on the topic. In addition, authors executed a questionnaire- based pilot study. The available literature and the pilot study, both suggest health disorders and psychosocial problems among workers of business process outsourcing. The details are discussed in the review.

  20. Scientific Data Management Center for Enabling Technologies

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Vouk, Mladen A.

    2013-01-15

    Managing scientific data has been identified by the scientific community as one of the most important emerging needs because of the sheer volume and increasing complexity of data being collected. Effectively generating, managing, and analyzing this information requires a comprehensive, end-to-end approach to data management that encompasses all of the stages from the initial data acquisition to the final analysis of the data. Fortunately, the data management problems encountered by most scientific domains are common enough to be addressed through shared technology solutions. Based on community input, we have identified three significant requirements. First, more efficient access to storage systems is needed. In particular, parallel file system and I/O system improvements are needed to write and read large volumes of data without slowing a simulation, analysis, or visualization engine. These processes are complicated by the fact that scientific data are structured differently for specific application domains, and are stored in specialized file formats. Second, scientists require technologies to facilitate better understanding of their data, in particular the ability to effectively perform complex data analysis and searches over extremely large data sets. Specialized feature discovery and statistical analysis techniques are needed before the data can be understood or visualized. Furthermore, interactive analysis requires techniques for efficiently selecting subsets of the data. Finally, generating the data, collecting and storing the results, keeping track of data provenance, data post-processing, and analysis of results is a tedious, fragmented process. Tools for automation of this process in a robust, tractable, and recoverable fashion are required to enhance scientific exploration. The SDM center was established under the SciDAC program to address these issues. The SciDAC-1 Scientific Data Management (SDM) Center succeeded in bringing an initial set of advanced

  1. Launch Vehicles Based on Advanced Hybrid Rocket Motors: An Enabling Technology for the Commercial Small and Micro Satellite Planetary Science

    Science.gov (United States)

    Karabeyoglu, Arif; Tuncer, Onur; Inalhan, Gokhan

    2016-07-01

    Mankind is relient on chemical propulsion systems for space access. Nevertheless, this has been a stagnant area in terms of technological development and the technology base has not changed much almost for the past forty years. This poses a vicious circle for launch applications such that high launch costs constrain the demand and low launch freqencies drive costs higher. This also has been a key limiting factor for small and micro satellites that are geared towards planetary science. Rather this be because of the launch frequencies or the costs, the access of small and micro satellites to orbit has been limited. With today's technology it is not possible to escape this circle. However the emergence of cost effective and high performance propulsion systems such as advanced hybrid rockets can decrease launch costs by almost an order or magnitude. This paper briefly introduces the timeline and research challenges that were overcome during the development of advanced hybrid LOX/paraffin based rockets. Experimental studies demonstrated effectiveness of these advanced hybrid rockets which incorporate fast burning parafin based fuels, advanced yet simple internal balistic design and carbon composite winding/fuel casting technology that enables the rocket motor to be built from inside out. A feasibility scenario is studied using these rocket motors as building blocks for a modular launch vehicle capable of delivering micro satellites into low earth orbit. In addition, the building block rocket motor can be used further solar system missions providing the ability to do standalone small and micro satellite missions to planets within the solar system. This enabling technology therefore offers a viable alternative in order to escape the viscous that has plagued the space launch industry and that has limited the small and micro satellite delivery for planetary science.

  2. NASA Program Office Technology Investments to Enable Future Missions

    Science.gov (United States)

    Thronson, Harley; Pham, Thai; Ganel, Opher

    2018-01-01

    The Cosmic Origins (COR) and Physics of the Cosmos (PCOS) Program Offices (POs) reside at NASA GSFC and implement priorities for the NASA HQ Astrophysics Division (APD). One major aspect of the POs’ activities is managing our Strategic Astrophysics Technology (SAT) program to mature technologies for future strategic missions. The Programs follow APD guidance on which missions are strategic, currently informed by the NRC’s 2010 Decadal Survey report, as well as APD’s Implementation Plan and the Astrophysics Roadmap.In preparation for the upcoming 2020 Decadal Survey, the APD has established Science and Technology Definition Teams (STDTs) to study four large-mission concepts: the Origins Space Telescope (née, Far-IR Surveyor), Habitable Exoplanet Imaging Mission, Large UV/Optical/IR Surveyor, and Lynx (née, X-ray Surveyor). The STDTs will develop the science case and design reference mission, assess technology development needs, and estimate the cost of their concept. A fifth team, the L3 Study Team (L3ST), was charged to study potential US contributions to ESA’s planned Laser Interferometer Space Antenna (LISA) gravitational-wave observatory.The POs use a rigorous and transparent process to solicit technology gaps from the scientific and technical communities, and prioritize those entries based on strategic alignment, expected impact, cross-cutting applicability, and urgency. For the past two years, the technology-gap assessments of the four STDTs and the L3ST are included in our process. Until a study team submits its final report, community-proposed changes to gaps submitted or adopted by a study team are forwarded to that study team for consideration.We discuss our technology development process, with strategic prioritization informing calls for SAT proposals and informing investment decisions. We also present results of the 2017 technology gap prioritization and showcase our current portfolio of technology development projects. To date, 96 COR and 86

  3. 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.

  4. Lithography for enabling advances in integrated circuits and devices.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Garner, C Michael

    2012-08-28

    Because the transistor was fabricated in volume, lithography has enabled the increase in density of devices and integrated circuits. With the invention of the integrated circuit, lithography enabled the integration of higher densities of field-effect transistors through evolutionary applications of optical lithography. In 1994, the semiconductor industry determined that continuing the increase in density transistors was increasingly difficult and required coordinated development of lithography and process capabilities. It established the US National Technology Roadmap for Semiconductors and this was expanded in 1999 to the International Technology Roadmap for Semiconductors to align multiple industries to provide the complex capabilities to continue increasing the density of integrated circuits to nanometre scales. Since the 1960s, lithography has become increasingly complex with the evolution from contact printers, to steppers, pattern reduction technology at i-line, 248 nm and 193 nm wavelengths, which required dramatic improvements of mask-making technology, photolithography printing and alignment capabilities and photoresist capabilities. At the same time, pattern transfer has evolved from wet etching of features, to plasma etch and more complex etching capabilities to fabricate features that are currently 32 nm in high-volume production. To continue increasing the density of devices and interconnects, new pattern transfer technologies will be needed with options for the future including extreme ultraviolet lithography, imprint technology and directed self-assembly. While complementary metal oxide semiconductors will continue to be extended for many years, these advanced pattern transfer technologies may enable development of novel memory and logic technologies based on different physical phenomena in the future to enhance and extend information processing.

  5. A Simple Evaluation Tool (ET-CET) Indicates Increase of Diagnostic Skills From Small Bowel Capsule Endoscopy Training Courses: A Prospective Observational European Multicenter Study.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Albert, J G; Humbla, O; McAlindon, M E; Davison, C; Seitz, U; Fraser, C; Hagenmüller, F; Noetzel, E; Spada, C; Riccioni, M E; Barnert, J; Filmann, N; Keuchel, M

    2015-10-01

    Small bowel capsule endoscopy (SBCE) has become a first line diagnostic tool. Several training courses with a similar format have been established in Europe; however, data on learning curve and training in SBCE remain sparse.Between 2008 and 2011, different basic SBCE training courses were organized internationally in UK (n = 2), Italy (n = 2), Germany (n = 2), Finland (n = 1), and nationally in Germany (n = 10), applying similar 8-hour curricula with 50% lectures and 50% hands-on training. The Given PillCam System was used in 12 courses, the Olympus EndoCapsule system in 5, respectively. A simple evaluation tool for capsule endoscopy training (ET-CET) was developed using 10 short SBCE videos including relevant lesions and normal or irrelevant findings. For each video, delegates were required to record a diagnosis (achievable total score from 0 to 10) and the clinical relevance (achievable total score 0 to 10). ET-CET was performed at baseline before the course and repeated, with videos in altered order, after the course.Two hundred ninety-four delegates (79.3% physicians, 16.3% nurses, 4.4% others) were included for baseline analysis, 268 completed the final evaluation. Forty percent had no previous experience in SBCE, 33% had performed 10 or less procedures. Median scores for correct diagnosis improved from 4.0 (IQR 3) to 7.0 (IQR 3) during the courses (P endoscopy may be useful before attending an SBCE course.

  6. Virtual Laboratory Enabling Collaborative Research in Applied Vehicle Technologies

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lamar, John E.; Cronin, Catherine K.; Scott, Laura E.

    2005-01-01

    The virtual laboratory is a new technology, based on the internet, that has had wide usage in a variety of technical fields because of its inherent ability to allow many users to participate simultaneously in instruction (education) or in the collaborative study of a common problem (real-world application). The leadership in the Applied Vehicle Technology panel has encouraged the utilization of this technology in its task groups for some time and its parent organization, the Research and Technology Agency, has done the same for its own administrative use. This paper outlines the application of the virtual laboratory to those fields important to applied vehicle technologies, gives the status of the effort, and identifies the benefit it can have on collaborative research. The latter is done, in part, through a specific example, i.e. the experience of one task group.

  7. A qualitative study of the challenges related to the development of product enabled services in technology driven start-ups

    OpenAIRE

    Pedersen, Søren; Tanev, Stoyan; Ma, Zheng; Lin, Chih-Cheng

    2012-01-01

    Product-enabled service development has been identified as one of the potential sources for sustainable growth and competitiveness of firms in advanced economies. Many firms are in the process of shifting their focus from offering standalone products or services towards integrated offerings of products and services to meet specific customer demands, thus generating additional value. This paper examines technology-based start-ups’ attitude towards the development of hybrid offerings as part of...

  8. Dupont Analysis of An Information Technology Enabled Competitive Advantage

    OpenAIRE

    Nustini, Yuni

    2009-01-01

    The transformation of business caused by e-business and e-commerce applications of the internet and related technologies demonstrates that information systems and information technologies are essential ingredients for business survival and success. The most often cited benefit of IT are integrating business process, increasing efficiency, sales, productivity, and competitiveness. This study is designed for determining where managers considering investment in information technology (IT) projec...

  9. Dupont Analysis of an Information Technology Enabled Competitive Advantage

    OpenAIRE

    Nustini, Yuni

    2003-01-01

    The transformation of business caused by e-business and e-commerce applications of the internet and related technologies demonstrates that information systems and information technologies are essential ingredients for business survival and success. The most often cited benefit of IT are integrating business process, increasing efficiency, sales, productivity, and competitiveness. This study is designed for determining where managers considering investment in information technology (IT) projec...

  10. Enabling inspection solutions for future mask technologies through the development of massively parallel E-Beam inspection

    Science.gov (United States)

    Malloy, Matt; Thiel, Brad; Bunday, Benjamin D.; Wurm, Stefan; Jindal, Vibhu; Mukhtar, Maseeh; Quoi, Kathy; Kemen, Thomas; Zeidler, Dirk; Eberle, Anna Lena; Garbowski, Tomasz; Dellemann, Gregor; Peters, Jan Hendrik

    2015-09-01

    The new device architectures and materials being introduced for sub-10nm manufacturing, combined with the complexity of multiple patterning and the need for improved hotspot detection strategies, have pushed current wafer inspection technologies to their limits. In parallel, gaps in mask inspection capability are growing as new generations of mask technologies are developed to support these sub-10nm wafer manufacturing requirements. In particular, the challenges associated with nanoimprint and extreme ultraviolet (EUV) mask inspection require new strategies that enable fast inspection at high sensitivity. The tradeoffs between sensitivity and throughput for optical and e-beam inspection are well understood. Optical inspection offers the highest throughput and is the current workhorse of the industry for both wafer and mask inspection. E-beam inspection offers the highest sensitivity but has historically lacked the throughput required for widespread adoption in the manufacturing environment. It is unlikely that continued incremental improvements to either technology will meet tomorrow's requirements, and therefore a new inspection technology approach is required; one that combines the high-throughput performance of optical with the high-sensitivity capabilities of e-beam inspection. To support the industry in meeting these challenges SUNY Poly SEMATECH has evaluated disruptive technologies that can meet the requirements for high volume manufacturing (HVM), for both the wafer fab [1] and the mask shop. Highspeed massively parallel e-beam defect inspection has been identified as the leading candidate for addressing the key gaps limiting today's patterned defect inspection techniques. As of late 2014 SUNY Poly SEMATECH completed a review, system analysis, and proof of concept evaluation of multiple e-beam technologies for defect inspection. A champion approach has been identified based on a multibeam technology from Carl Zeiss. This paper includes a discussion on the

  11. Enabling Remote Activity: Using mobile technology for remote participation in geoscience fieldwork

    Science.gov (United States)

    Davies, Sarah; Collins, Trevor; Gaved, Mark; Bartlett, Jessica; Valentine, Chris; McCann, Lewis

    2010-05-01

    Field-based activities are regarded as essential to the development of a range of professional and personal skills within the geosciences. Students enjoy field activities, preferring these to learning with simulations (Spicer and Stratford 2001), and these improve deeper learning and understanding (Kern and Carpenter, 1984; Elkins and Elkins, 2007). However, some students find it difficult to access these field-based learning opportunities. Field sites may be remote and often require travel across uneven, challenging or potentially dangerous terrain. Mobility-impaired students are particularly limited in their opportunities to participate in field-based learning activities and, as higher education institutions have a responsibility to provide inclusive opportunities for students (UK Disability Discrimination Act 1995, UK Special Education Needs and Disability Rights Act 2001), the need for inclusive fieldwork learning is being increasingly recognised. The Enabling Remote Activity (ERA) project has been investigating how mobile communications technologies might allow field learning experiences to be brought to students who would otherwise find it difficult to participate, and also to enhance activities for all participants. It uses a rapidly deployable, battery-powered wireless network to transmit video, audio, and high resolution still images to connect participants at an accessible location with participants in the field. Crucially, the system uses a transient wireless network, allowing multiple locations to be explored during a field visit, and for plans to be changed dynamically if required. Central to the concept is the requirement for independent investigative learning: students are enabled to participate actively in the learning experience and to direct the investigations, as opposed to being simply remote viewers of the experience. Two ways of using the ERA system have been investigated: remote access and collaborative groupwork. In 2006 and 2008 remote

  12. 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.

  13. 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...

  14. Current status and future prospects for enabling chemistry technology in the drug discovery process [version 1; referees: 2 approved

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Stevan W. Djuric

    2016-09-01

    Full Text Available This review covers recent advances in the implementation of enabling chemistry technologies into the drug discovery process. Areas covered include parallel synthesis chemistry, high-throughput experimentation, automated synthesis and purification methods, flow chemistry methodology including photochemistry, electrochemistry, and the handling of “dangerous” reagents. Also featured are advances in the “computer-assisted drug design” area and the expanding application of novel mass spectrometry-based techniques to a wide range of drug discovery activities.

  15. Disabling and Enabling Technologies for Learning in Higher Education for All: Issues and Challenges for Whom?

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Sangeeta Bagga-Gupta

    2016-10-01

    Full Text Available Integration, inclusion, and equity constitute fundamental dimensions of democracy in post-World War II societies and their institutions. The study presented here reports upon the ways in which individuals and institutions both use and account for the roles that technologies, including ICT, play in disabling and enabling access for learning in higher education for all. Technological innovations during the 20th and 21st centuries, including ICT, have been heralded as holding significant promise for revolutionizing issues of access in societal institutions like schools, healthcare services, etc. (at least in the global North. Taking a socially oriented perspective, the study presented in this paper focuses on an ethnographically framed analysis of two datasets that critically explores the role that technologies, including ICT, play in higher education for individuals who are “differently abled” and who constitute a variation on a continuum of capabilities. Functionality as a dimension of everyday life in higher education in the 21st century is explored through the analysis of (i case studies of two “differently abled” students in Sweden and (ii current support services at universities in Sweden. The findings make visible the work that institutions and their members do through analyses of the organization of time and space and the use of technologies in institutional settings against the backdrop of individuals’ accountings and life trajectories. This study also highlights the relevance of multi-scale data analyses for revisiting the ways in which identity positions become framed or understood within higher education.

  16. Report on the Enabling Technology Programme Optomechatronics

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Sadeghian Marnani, H.; Nulkes-de Groot, N.

    2014-01-01

    The last four years the research Programme Optomechatronics focused on the development of new key technologies for manufacturing and testing equipment and scientific instrumentation. The challenge is to develop instruments with higher accuracy, less costs and higher throughput than we can achieve

  17. Enabling Logistics With Portable and Wireless Technology Study. Volume 1

    Science.gov (United States)

    2004-08-06

    Players41 Tag Vendors Reader Vendors Software Players Early Adopters Alien Technology Corporation Intermec Technologies Corp. Descartes Systems...e at pa ion rt s s /st be an co d m ar e ds s rene l availability of interopera le s e demands of EPC isc ot a bro f a er b labl as te is, c...Intermec Technologies Corp. Descartes Systems Boeing Intermec Technologies Corp. Matrics Inc. EXE Technologies CHEP Matrics Inc. Psion Teklogix Inc

  18. Review of Enabling Technologies to Facilitate Secure Compute Customization

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Aderholdt, Ferrol [Tennessee Technological University; Caldwell, Blake A [ORNL; Hicks, Susan Elaine [ORNL; Koch, Scott M [ORNL; Naughton, III, Thomas J [ORNL; Pelfrey, Daniel S [ORNL; Pogge, James R [Tennessee Technological University; Scott, Stephen L [Tennessee Technological University; Shipman, Galen M [ORNL; Sorrillo, Lawrence [ORNL

    2014-12-01

    High performance computing environments are often used for a wide variety of workloads ranging from simulation, data transformation and analysis, and complex workflows to name just a few. These systems may process data for a variety of users, often requiring strong separation between job allocations. There are many challenges to establishing these secure enclaves within the shared infrastructure of high-performance computing (HPC) environments. The isolation mechanisms in the system software are the basic building blocks for enabling secure compute enclaves. There are a variety of approaches and the focus of this report is to review the different virtualization technologies that facilitate the creation of secure compute enclaves. The report reviews current operating system (OS) protection mechanisms and modern virtualization technologies to better understand the performance/isolation properties. We also examine the feasibility of running ``virtualized'' computing resources as non-privileged users, and providing controlled administrative permissions for standard users running within a virtualized context. Our examination includes technologies such as Linux containers (LXC [32], Docker [15]) and full virtualization (KVM [26], Xen [5]). We categorize these different approaches to virtualization into two broad groups: OS-level virtualization and system-level virtualization. The OS-level virtualization uses containers to allow a single OS kernel to be partitioned to create Virtual Environments (VE), e.g., LXC. The resources within the host's kernel are only virtualized in the sense of separate namespaces. In contrast, system-level virtualization uses hypervisors to manage multiple OS kernels and virtualize the physical resources (hardware) to create Virtual Machines (VM), e.g., Xen, KVM. This terminology of VE and VM, detailed in Section 2, is used throughout the report to distinguish between the two different approaches to providing virtualized execution

  19. Emerging technologies for enabling proangiogenic therapy

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Roy, Rituparna Sinha; Roy, Bhaskar; Sengupta, Shiladitya

    2011-01-01

    Ischemic disease causes a large number of deaths and significant clinical problems worldwide. Therapeutic angiogenesis, strengthened by advances in growth-factor-based therapies, is a promising solution to ischemic pathologies. Major challenges in therapeutic angiogenesis are the lack of stability of native angiogenic proteins and also providing sustained delivery of biologically active proteins at the ischemic sites. This paper will discuss various protein engineering strategies to develop stabilized proangiogenic proteins and several biomaterial technologies used to amplify the angiogenic outcome by delivering biologically active growth factors in a sustained manner.

  20. Emerging technologies for enabling proangiogenic therapy

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sinha Roy, Rituparna; Roy, Bhaskar; Sengupta, Shiladitya

    2011-12-01

    Ischemic disease causes a large number of deaths and significant clinical problems worldwide. Therapeutic angiogenesis, strengthened by advances in growth-factor-based therapies, is a promising solution to ischemic pathologies. Major challenges in therapeutic angiogenesis are the lack of stability of native angiogenic proteins and also providing sustained delivery of biologically active proteins at the ischemic sites. This paper will discuss various protein engineering strategies to develop stabilized proangiogenic proteins and several biomaterial technologies used to amplify the angiogenic outcome by delivering biologically active growth factors in a sustained manner.

  1. Using Vision System Technologies to Enable Operational Improvements for Low Visibility Approach and Landing Operations

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kramer, Lynda J.; Ellis, Kyle K. E.; Bailey, Randall E.; Williams, Steven P.; Severance, Kurt; Le Vie, Lisa R.; Comstock, James R.

    2014-01-01

    Flight deck-based vision systems, such as Synthetic and Enhanced Vision System (SEVS) technologies, have the potential to provide additional margins of safety for aircrew performance and enable the implementation of operational improvements for low visibility surface, arrival, and departure operations in the terminal environment with equivalent efficiency to visual operations. To achieve this potential, research is required for effective technology development and implementation based upon human factors design and regulatory guidance. This research supports the introduction and use of Synthetic Vision Systems and Enhanced Flight Vision Systems (SVS/EFVS) as advanced cockpit vision technologies in Next Generation Air Transportation System (NextGen) operations. Twelve air transport-rated crews participated in a motion-base simulation experiment to evaluate the use of SVS/EFVS in NextGen low visibility approach and landing operations. Three monochromatic, collimated head-up display (HUD) concepts (conventional HUD, SVS HUD, and EFVS HUD) and two color head-down primary flight display (PFD) concepts (conventional PFD, SVS PFD) were evaluated in a simulated NextGen Chicago O'Hare terminal environment. Additionally, the instrument approach type (no offset, 3 degree offset, 15 degree offset) was experimentally varied to test the efficacy of the HUD concepts for offset approach operations. The data showed that touchdown landing performance were excellent regardless of SEVS concept or type of offset instrument approach being flown. Subjective assessments of mental workload and situation awareness indicated that making offset approaches in low visibility conditions with an EFVS HUD or SVS HUD may be feasible.

  2. Some Recent Technology Developments From The Uk's National Nuclear Laboratory To Enable Hazard Characterisation For Nuclear Decommissioning Applications

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Farfan, E.; Foley, T.

    2010-01-01

    Under its programme of self investment Internal Research and Development (IR and D), the UK's National Nuclear Laboratory (NNL) is addressing the requirement for development in technology to enable hazard characterisation for nuclear decommissioning applications. Three such examples are described here: (1) RadBall developed by the NNL (patent pending) is a deployable baseball-sized radiation mapping device which can, from a single location, locate and quantify radiation hazards. RadBall offers a means to collect information regarding the magnitude and distribution of radiation in a given cell, glovebox or room to support the development of a safe, cost effective decontamination strategy. RadBall requires no electrical supplies and is relatively small, making it easy to be deployed and used to map radiation hazards in hard to reach areas. Recent work conducted in partnership with the Savannah River National Laboratory (SRNL) is presented. (2) HiRAD (patent pending) has been developed by the NNL in partnership with Tracerco Ltd (UK). HiRAD is a real-time, remotely deployed, radiation detection device designed to operate in elevated levels of radiation (i.e. thousands and tens of thousands of Gray) as seen in parts of the nuclear industry. Like the RadBall technology, the HiRAD system does not require any electrical components, the small dimensions and flexibility of the device allow it to be positioned in difficult to access areas (such as pipe work). HiRAD can be deployed as a single detector, a chain, or as an array giving the ability to monitor large process areas. Results during the development and deployment of the technology are presented. (3) Wireless Sensor Network is a NNL supported development project led by the University of Manchester (UK) in partnership with Oxford University (UK). The project is concerned with the development of wireless sensor network technology to enable the underwater deployment and communication of miniaturised probes allowing pond

  3. Provision of enabling technology in professional sports.

    Science.gov (United States)

    McBride, D K

    2000-06-01

    Multiple-round golf tournaments are designed intentionally to separate individuals' scores as play proceeds. Variance analyses and consideration of individual differences (vs group mean effects) for a sample of professional events confirm that 3-, 4-, and 5-round tournaments show significantly increased variability (though stable means) from first to last rounds. It is argued here that the dispersion of scores increases as play proceeds because the more physically or mentally fit players emerge and continue to perform best. Furthermore, a marginal income analysis indicates that the average gain in earnings from a one-shot improvement in score is approximately $8,000. An interpretation based on fatigue, competition, and stress supports the Professional Golf Association's claim that provision of enabling devices, like a golf cart for disabled players, is also an enhancement and is thus unfair.

  4. Enabling Problem Based Learning through Web 2.0 Technologies

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Tambouris, Efthimios; Panopoulou, Eleni; Tarabanis, Konstantinos

    2012-01-01

    of modern educational systems. Established pedagogical strategies, such as Problem Based Learning (PBL), are being adapted for online use in conjunction with modern Web 2.0 technologies and tools. However, even though Web 2.0 and progressive social-networking technologies are automatically associated......Advances in Information and Communications Technology (ICT), particularly the so-called Web 2.0, are affecting all aspects of our life: how we communicate, how we shop, how we socialise, and how we learn. Facilitating learning through the use of ICT, also known as eLearning, is a vital part...... with ideals such as collaboration, sharing, and active learning, it is also possible to use them in a very conservative, teacher-centred way limiting thus their impact. In this paper, we present a PBL 2.0 framework, i.e., a framework combining PBL practices with Web 2.0 technologies. More specifically, we (a...

  5. Baseline Assessment and Prioritization Framework for IVHM Integrity Assurance Enabling Capabilities

    Science.gov (United States)

    Cooper, Eric G.; DiVito, Benedetto L.; Jacklin, Stephen A.; Miner, Paul S.

    2009-01-01

    Fundamental to vehicle health management is the deployment of systems incorporating advanced technologies for predicting and detecting anomalous conditions in highly complex and integrated environments. Integrated structural integrity health monitoring, statistical algorithms for detection, estimation, prediction, and fusion, and diagnosis supporting adaptive control are examples of advanced technologies that present considerable verification and validation challenges. These systems necessitate interactions between physical and software-based systems that are highly networked with sensing and actuation subsystems, and incorporate technologies that are, in many respects, different from those employed in civil aviation today. A formidable barrier to deploying these advanced technologies in civil aviation is the lack of enabling verification and validation tools, methods, and technologies. The development of new verification and validation capabilities will not only enable the fielding of advanced vehicle health management systems, but will also provide new assurance capabilities for verification and validation of current generation aviation software which has been implicated in anomalous in-flight behavior. This paper describes the research focused on enabling capabilities for verification and validation underway within NASA s Integrated Vehicle Health Management project, discusses the state of the art of these capabilities, and includes a framework for prioritizing activities.

  6. Reporting systems in gastrointestinal endoscopy: Requirements and standards facilitating quality improvement: European Society of Gastrointestinal Endoscopy position statement

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Bretthauer, Michael; Aabakken, Lars; Dekker, Evelien; Kaminski, Michal F.; Rösch, Thomas; Hultcrantz, Rolf; Suchanek, Stepan; Jover, Rodrigo; Kuipers, Ernst J.; Bisschops, Raf; Spada, Cristiano; Valori, Roland; Domagk, Dirk; Rees, Colin; Rutter, Matthew D.

    2016-01-01

    To develop standards for high quality of gastrointestinal endoscopy, the European Society of Gastrointestinal Endoscopy (ESGE) has established the ESGE Quality Improvement Committee. A prerequisite for quality assurance and improvement for all gastrointestinal endoscopy procedures is

  7. Factors Enabling the Use of Technology in Subject Teaching

    Science.gov (United States)

    Cubukcuoglu, Begum

    2013-01-01

    The importance of information and communication technologies in the teaching and learning process has been proven by many research studies to be an effective way of supporting teaching and learning. Although many teachers do not use new technologies as instructional tools, some are integrating information and communication technologies…

  8. Sustainability, energy technologies, and ethics

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Matson, R.J. [National Renewable Energy Lab., Golden, CO (United States); Carasso, M.

    1999-01-01

    A study of the economic, social-political, and environmental consequences of using renewable energy technologies (RETs, e.g., photovoltaics, wind, solar thermal, biofuels) as compared to those of conventional energy technologies (CETs e.g., oil, coal, gas) would show that RETs are singularly consistent with a whole ethic that is implicit in the concept of sustainability. This paper argues for sustainability as an ethical, as well as a pragmatic, imperative and for RETs as an integral part of this imperative. It brings to the fore some of the specific current economic, political, and environmental assumptions and practices that are inconsistent with both sustainability and with a rapid deployment of RETs. Reflecting an emerging planetary awareness and a pressing need to come to terms with intra- and intergenerational equity, the concept of sustainability explicitly entails the right of future generations to the same opportunity of access to a healthy ecological future and the finite endowment of the Earth`s resources as that of the present generation. (Author)

  9. The CYGNSS flight segment; A major NASA science mission enabled by micro-satellite technology

    Science.gov (United States)

    Rose, R.; Ruf, C.; Rose, D.; Brummitt, M.; Ridley, A.

    While hurricane track forecasts have improved in accuracy by ~50% since 1990, there has been essentially no improvement in the accuracy of intensity prediction. This lack of progress is thought to be caused by inadequate observations and modeling of the inner core due to two causes: 1) much of the inner core ocean surface is obscured from conventional remote sensing instruments by intense precipitation in the inner rain bands and 2) the rapidly evolving stages of the tropical cyclone (TC) life cycle are poorly sampled in time by conventional polar-orbiting, wide-swath surface wind imagers. NASA's most recently awarded Earth science mission, the NASA EV-2 Cyclone Global Navigation Satellite System (CYGNSS) has been designed to address these deficiencies by combining the all-weather performance of GNSS bistatic ocean surface scatterometry with the sampling properties of a satellite constellation. This paper provides an overview of the CYGNSS flight segment requirements, implementation, and concept of operations for the CYGNSS constellation; consisting of 8 microsatellite-class spacecraft (historical TC track. The CYGNSS mission is enabled by modern electronic technology; it is an example of how nanosatellite technology can be applied to replace traditional "old school" solutions at significantly reduced cost while providing an increase in performance. This paper provides an overview of how we combined a reliable space-flight proven avionics design with selected microsatellite components to create an innovative, low-cost solution for a mainstream science investigation.

  10. Nordic Energy Technologies : Enabling a sustainable Nordic energy future

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Vik, Amund; Smith, Benjamin

    2009-10-15

    A high current Nordic competence in energy technology and an increased need for funding and international cooperation in the field are the main messages of the report. This report summarizes results from 7 different research projects relating to policies for energy technology, funded by Nordic Energy Research for the period 2007-2008, and provides an analysis of the Nordic innovation systems in the energy sector. The Nordic countries possess a high level of competence in the field of renewable energy technologies. Of the total installed capacity comprises a large share of renewable energy, and Nordic technology companies play an important role in the international market. Especially distinguished wind energy, both in view of the installed power and a global technology sales. Public funding for energy research has experienced a significant decline since the oil crisis of the 1970s, although the figures in recent years has increased a bit. According to the IEA, it will require a significant increase in funding to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and limit further climate change. The third point highlighted in the report is the importance of international cooperation in energy research. Nordic and international cooperation is necessary in order to reduce duplication and create the synergy needed if we are to achieve our ambitious policy objectives in the climate and energy issue. (AG)

  11. Use of eHealth technologies to enable the implementation of musculoskeletal Models of Care: Evidence and practice.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Slater, Helen; Dear, Blake F; Merolli, Mark A; Li, Linda C; Briggs, Andrew M

    2016-06-01

    Musculoskeletal (MSK) conditions are the second leading cause of morbidity-related burden of disease globally. EHealth is a potentially critical factor that enables the implementation of accessible, sustainable and more integrated MSK models of care (MoCs). MoCs serve as a vehicle to drive evidence into policy and practice through changes at a health system, clinician and patient level. The use of eHealth to implement MoCs is intuitive, given the capacity to scale technologies to deliver system and economic efficiencies, to contribute to sustainability, to adapt to low-resource settings and to mitigate access and care disparities. We follow a practice-oriented approach to describing the 'what' and 'how' to harness eHealth in the implementation of MSK MoCs. We focus on the practical application of eHealth technologies across care settings to those MSK conditions contributing most substantially to the burden of disease, including osteoarthritis and inflammatory arthritis, skeletal fragility-associated conditions and persistent MSK pain. Copyright © 2016 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd.. All rights reserved.

  12. malERA: An updated research agenda for basic science and enabling technologies in malaria elimination and eradication

    Science.gov (United States)

    2017-01-01

    Basic science holds enormous power for revealing the biological mechanisms of disease and, in turn, paving the way toward new, effective interventions. Recognizing this power, the 2011 Research Agenda for Malaria Eradication included key priorities in fundamental research that, if attained, could help accelerate progress toward disease elimination and eradication. The Malaria Eradication Research Agenda (malERA) Consultative Panel on Basic Science and Enabling Technologies reviewed the progress, continuing challenges, and major opportunities for future research. The recommendations come from a literature of published and unpublished materials and the deliberations of the malERA Refresh Consultative Panel. These areas span multiple aspects of the Plasmodium life cycle in both the human host and the Anopheles vector and include critical, unanswered questions about parasite transmission, human infection in the liver, asexual-stage biology, and malaria persistence. We believe an integrated approach encompassing human immunology, parasitology, and entomology, and harnessing new and emerging biomedical technologies offers the best path toward addressing these questions and, ultimately, lowering the worldwide burden of malaria. PMID:29190277

  13. 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

  14. The Taskforce on Conceptual Foundations of Earth System Governance: Sustainability Science

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Barry Ness

    2017-02-01

    Full Text Available We are pleased to introduce the second special issue from Challenges in Sustainability, this time as a part of the Taskforce on Conceptual Foundations of Earth System Governance, an initiative by the Earth System Governance Project (ESG (http://www.earthsystemgovernance.net/conceptual-foundations/. The ESG Project is a global research alliance. It is the largest social science research network in the field of governance and global environmental change. ESG is primarily a scientific effort but is also designed to assist policy responses to pressing problems of earth system transformation.

  15. Diagnosis and management of iatrogenic endoscopic perforations

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Paspatis, Gregorios A; Dumonceau, Jean-Marc; Barthet, Marc

    2014-01-01

    This Position Paper is an official statement of the European Society of Gastrointestinal Endoscopy (ESGE). It addresses the diagnosis and management of iatrogenic perforation occurring during diagnostic or therapeutic digestive endoscopic procedures. Main recommendations 1 ESGE recommends that ea...

  16. Molecular and functional characterization of the promoter of ETS2, the human c-ets-2 gene

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Mavrothalassitis, G.J.; Watson, D.K.; Papas, T.S.

    1990-01-01

    The 5' end of the human c-ets-2 gene, ETS2, was cloned and characterized. The major transcription initiation start sites were identified, and the pertinent sequences surrounding the ETS2 promoter were determined. The promoter region of ETS2 does not possess typical TATA and CAAT elements. However, this promoter contains several repeat regions, as well as two consensus AP2 binding sites and three putative Sp1 sites. There is also a palindromic region similar to the serum response element of the c-fos gene, located 1,400 base pairs (bp) upstream from the first major transcription initiation site. A G+C-rich sequence (GC element) with dyad symmetry can be seen in the ETS2 promoter, immediately following an unusually long polypurine-polypyrimidine tract. A series of deletion fragments from the putative promoter region were ligated in front of the bacterial chloramphenicol acetyltransferase gene and tested for activity following transfection into HeLa cells. The 5' boundary of the region needed for maximum promoter activity was found to be 159 bp upstream of the major initiation site. The promoter of ETS2 (within the polypyrimidine tract) serves to illustrate an alternative structure that may be present in genes with TATA-less promoters

  17. The role of the dendritic growth model dimensionality in predicting the Columnar to Equiaxed Transition (CET)

    Science.gov (United States)

    Seredyński, M.; Rebow, M.; Banaszek, J.

    2017-06-01

    The dendrite tip kinetics model accuracy relies on the reliability of the stability constant used, which is usually experimentally determined for 3D situations and applied to 2D models. The paper reports authors` attempts to cure the situation by deriving 2D dendritic tip scaling parameter for aluminium-based alloy: Al-4wt%Cu. The obtained parameter is then incorporated into the KGT dendritic growth model in order to compare it with the original 3D KGT counterpart and to derive two-dimensional and three-dimensional versions of the modified Hunt's analytical model for the columnar-to-equiaxed transition (CET). The conclusions drawn from the above analysis are further confirmed through numerical calculations of the two cases of Al-4wt%Cu metallic alloy solidification using the front tracking technique. Results, including the porous zone-under-cooled liquid front position, the calculated solutal under-cooling, the average temperature gradient at a front of the dendrite tip envelope and a new predictor of the relative tendency to form an equiaxed zone, are shown, compared and discussed for two numerical cases. The necessity to calculate sufficiently precise values of the tip scaling parameter in 2D and 3D is stressed.

  18. Shareholder Engagement on Environmental, Social, and Governance Performance

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Barkó, Tamás; Cremers, M.; Renneboog, Luc

    2017-01-01

    We study investor activism promoting environmental, social and governance (ESG) improvements using a proprietary dataset covering 660 companies globally over 2005-2014. Targets have a higher market share, analyst coverage, stock returns, and liquidity. The engagements lead to significant ESG rating

  19. Health-Enabled Smart Sensor Fusion Technology, Phase I

    Data.gov (United States)

    National Aeronautics and Space Administration — It has been proven that the combination of smart sensors with embedded metadata and wireless technologies present real opportunities for significant improvements in...

  20. Management of precancerous conditions and lesions in the stomach (MAPS): guideline from the European Society of Gastrointestinal Endoscopy (ESGE), European Helicobacter Study Group (EHSG), European Society of Pathology (ESP), and the Sociedade Portuguesa de Endoscopia Digestiva (SPED)

    Science.gov (United States)

    Dinis-Ribeiro, M.; Areia, M.; de Vries, A. C.; Marcos-Pinto, R.; Monteiro-Soares, M.; O'Connor, A.; Pereira, C.; Pimentel-Nunes, P.; Correia, R.; Ensari, A.; Dumonceau, J. M.; Machado, J. C.; Macedo, G.; Malfertheiner, P.; Matysiak-Budnik, T.; Megraud, F.; Miki, K.; O'Morain, C.; Peek, R. M.; Ponchon, T.; Ristimaki, A.; Rembacken, B.; Carneiro, F.; Kuipers, E. J.

    2012-01-01

    Atrophic gastritis, intestinal metaplasia, and epithelial dysplasia of the stomach are common and are associated with an increased risk for gastric cancer. In the absence of guidelines, there is wide disparity in the management of patients with these premalignant conditions. The European Society of Gastrointestinal Endoscopy (ESGE), the European Helicobacter Study Group (EHSG), the European Society of Pathology (ESP) and the Sociedade Portuguesa de Endoscopia Digestiva (SPED) have therefore combined efforts to develop evidence-based guidelines on the management of patients with precancerous conditions and lesions of the stomach (termed MAPS). A multidisciplinary group of 63 experts from 24 countries developed these recommendations by means of repeat online voting and a meeting in June 2011 in Porto, Portugal. The recommendations emphasize the increased cancer risk in patients with gastric atrophy and metaplasia, and the need for adequate staging in the case of high grade dysplasia, and they focus on treatment and surveillance indications and methods. PMID:22198778

  1. How do digital platforms for ideas, technologies, and knowledge transfer act as enablers for digital transformation?

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Hossain, Mokter; Lassen, Astrid Heidemann

    2017-01-01

    Digital platforms, along with their supporting tools and features, have emerged as important enablers for firms to leverage distributed knowledge (Sedera et al., 2016), because they offer new ways for organizations to collaborate with the external environment for ideas, technologies, and knowledge...... for research and development (R&D), idea generation, prediction, freelance work, peer production, co-creation, product design, and public engagement, to name but a few. For example, Dell’s IdeaStorm (Hossain & Islam, 2015a) and Starbucks’ MyStarbucksIdea (Hossain & Islam, 2015b) are two digital crowdsourcing...... platforms that are used to engage crowds to solicit ideas from them (Bayus, 2013; Chua & Banerjee, 2013). Moreover, intermediary platforms, such as InnoCentive and IdeaConnection, are organizing online competitions to solve the problems of various organizations (Hossain, 2012). Although digital platforms...

  2. Evolution of Cloud Computing and Enabling Technologies

    OpenAIRE

    Rabi Prasad Padhy; Manas Ranjan Patra

    2012-01-01

    We present an overview of the history of forecasting software over the past 25 years, concentrating especially on the interaction between computing and technologies from mainframe computing to cloud computing. The cloud computing is latest one. For delivering the vision of  various  of computing models, this paper lightly explains the architecture, characteristics, advantages, applications and issues of various computing models like PC computing, internet computing etc and related technologie...

  3. Enabling science and technology for marine renewable energy

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Mueller, Markus; Wallace, Robin

    2008-01-01

    This paper describes some of the key challenges to be met in the development of marine renewable energy technology, from its present prototype form to being a widely deployed contributor to future energy supply. Since 2000, a number of large-scale wave and tidal current prototypes have been demonstrated around the world, but marine renewable energy technology is still 10-15 years behind that of wind energy. UK-based developers are leading the way, with Pelamis from Pelamis Wave Power demonstrated in the open sea, generating electricity into the UK network and securing orders from Portugal. However, having started later, the developing technology can make use of more advanced science and engineering, and it is therefore reasonable to expect rapid progress. Although progress is underway through deployment and testing, there are still key scientific challenges to be addressed in areas including resource assessment and predictability, engineering design and manufacturability, installation, operation and maintenance, survivability, reliability and cost reduction. The research priorities required to meet these challenges are suggested in this paper and have been drawn from current roadmaps and vision documents, including more recent consultations within the community by the UK Energy Research Centre Marine Research Network. Many scientific advances are required to meet these challenges, and their likelihood is explored based on current and future capabilities

  4. 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

  5. SENSE IT: Student Enabled Network of Sensors for the Environment using Innovative Technology

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hotaling, L. A.; Stolkin, R.; Kirkey, W.; Bonner, J. S.; Lowes, S.; Lin, P.; Ojo, T.

    2010-12-01

    SENSE IT is a project funded by the National Science Foundation (NSF) which strives to enrich science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) education by providing teacher professional development and classroom projects in which high school students build from first principles, program, test and deploy sensors for water quality monitoring. Sensor development is a broad and interdisciplinary area, providing motivating scenarios in which to teach a multitude of STEM subjects, from mathematics and physics to biology and environmental science, while engaging students with hands on problems that reinforce conventional classroom learning by re-presenting theory as practical tools for building real-life working devices. The SENSE IT program is currently developing and implementing a set of high school educational modules which teach environmental science and basic engineering through the lens of fundamental STEM principles, at the same time introducing students to a new set of technologies that are increasingly important in the world of environmental research. Specifically, the project provides students with the opportunity to learn the engineering design process through the design, construction, programming and testing of a student-implemented water monitoring network in the Hudson and St. Lawrence Rivers in New York. These educational modules are aligned to state and national technology and science content standards and are designed to be compatible with standard classroom curricula to support a variety of core science, technology and mathematics classroom material. For example, while designing, programming and calibrating the sensors, the students are led through a series of tasks in which they must use core mathematics and physics theory to solve the real problems of making their sensors work. In later modules, students can explore environmental science and environmental engineering curricula while deploying and monitoring their sensors in local rivers. This

  6. Technology Enabling Ultra High Concentration Multi-Junction Cells. Final report

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Bedair, S. M.; Colter, Peter

    2016-03-30

    The project goal is to enable multijunction cells to operate at greater than 2000× suns intensity with efficiency above forty percent. To achieve this goal the recipients have developed a robust high-bandgap tunnel junction, reduce series resistance, and integrated a practical heat dissipation scheme.

  7. Applications of organic and printed electronics : a technology-enabled revolution

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Cantatore, E.

    2013-01-01

    Organic and printed electronics can enable a revolution in the applications of electronics and this book offers readers an overview of the state-of-the-art in this rapidly evolving domain. The potentially low cost, compatibility with flexible substrates and the wealth of devices that characterize

  8. Advanced Manufacturing Technologies

    Science.gov (United States)

    Fikes, John

    2016-01-01

    Advanced Manufacturing Technologies (AMT) is developing and maturing innovative and advanced manufacturing technologies that will enable more capable and lower-cost spacecraft, launch vehicles and infrastructure to enable exploration missions. The technologies will utilize cutting edge materials and emerging capabilities including metallic processes, additive manufacturing, composites, and digital manufacturing. The AMT project supports the National Manufacturing Initiative involving collaboration with other government agencies.

  9. Pharmacy on demand: New technologies to enable miniaturized and mobile drug manufacturing.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lewin, John J; Choi, Eugene J; Ling, Geoffrey

    2016-01-15

    Developmental pharmaceutical manufacturing systems and techniques designed to overcome the shortcomings of traditional batch processing methods are described. Conventional pharmaceutical manufacturing processes do not adequately address the needs of military and civilian patient populations and healthcare providers. Recent advances within the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) Battlefield Medicine program suggest that miniaturized, flexible platforms for end-to-end manufacturing of pharmaceuticals are possible. Advances in continuous-flow synthesis, chemistry, biological engineering, and downstream processing, coupled with online analytics, automation, and enhanced process control measures, pave the way for disruptive innovation to improve the pharmaceutical supply chain and drug manufacturing base. These new technologies, along with current and ongoing advances in regulatory science, have the future potential to (1) permit "on demand" drug manufacturing on the battlefield and in other austere environments, (2) enhance the level of preparedness for chemical, biological, radiological, and nuclear threats, (3) enhance health authorities' ability to respond to natural disasters and other catastrophic events, (4) minimize shortages of drugs, (5) address gaps in the orphan drug market, (6) support and enable the continued drive toward precision medicine, and (7) enhance access to needed medications in underserved areas across the globe. Modular platforms under development by DARPA's Battlefield Medicine program may one day improve the safety, efficiency, and timeliness of drug manufacturing. Copyright © 2016 by the American Society of Health-System Pharmacists, Inc. All rights reserved.

  10. 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.

  11. Enabling renewable energy and energy efficiency technologies. Opportunities in Eastern Europe, Caucasus, Central Asia, Southern and Eastern Mediterranean

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Barnsley, Ingrid; Blank, Amanda; Brown, Adam

    2015-06-01

    The increased deployment of renewable energy and energy efficiency technologies (RE&EET) in the South Eastern Mediterranean (SEMED) region and in the Early Transition Countries (ETC) could bring a host of benefits, including enhanced energy security, increased national revenues and environmental gains. A new IEA Insights paper considers policy options for supporting the deployment of RE&EET, as well as the surrounding factors that can enable – or indeed impede – the successful implementation of such support policies in both regions. Drawing on a wealth of IEA analyses and policy experiences globally, the paper: provides a summary of the energy profiles of the ETC and SEMED regions; highlights overarching, ''enabling'' factors that can help to set the necessary foundations for the successful implementation of policy to support RE&EET deployment; analyses policy options for both RE and EE, drawing on practical examples and highlighting indicative policies that correspond with varying levels of market maturity; and provides a checklist for assessing the level of supportiveness of national policy frameworks for RE&EET. The paper concludes by pointing to the significant potential for energy efficiency and renewable energy gains in both regions.

  12. Digital technology to enable aging in place.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kim, Kwang-Il; Gollamudi, Shreya S; Steinhubl, Steven

    2017-02-01

    Aging, both of individuals and populations, presents challenges and opportunities. The multitude of morbidities and disabilities that are a too common component of aging represent significant challenges to individuals, their families and to healthcare systems. Aging in place is the ability to safely and comfortably maintain an independent and high quality of life in one's own home and community and is a highly desirable goal of most individuals with the additional benefit of significantly impacting the impending enormous healthcare burden. In order to make this possible, new care models that take advantage of novel technologies for tracking important physiologic and safety parameters need to be developed and implemented. By thoughtfully doing so, it can be possible to seamlessly provide preventative interventions when and as needed, detect the earliest signs of aggravation of chronic conditions, or identify and respond to any emergency situations, such as falls or cardiac arrest. In contrast to current approaches, caring for elderly individuals in their homes based on a digital technology infrastructure could be effective and cost-saving. In this review, we provide an overview of the characteristics of potential digital solutions applicable to creative aging along with the existing evidence supporting their ability to improve care, increase quality of life, and substantially decrease the emotional and financial costs associated with aging. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  13. Architectural Techniques to Enable Reliable and Scalable Memory Systems

    OpenAIRE

    Nair, Prashant J.

    2017-01-01

    High capacity and scalable memory systems play a vital role in enabling our desktops, smartphones, and pervasive technologies like Internet of Things (IoT). Unfortunately, memory systems are becoming increasingly prone to faults. This is because we rely on technology scaling to improve memory density, and at small feature sizes, memory cells tend to break easily. Today, memory reliability is seen as the key impediment towards using high-density devices, adopting new technologies, and even bui...

  14. Enabling Dedicated, Affordable Space Access Through Aggressive Technology Maturation

    Science.gov (United States)

    Jones, Jonathan E.; Kibbey, Timothy P.; Cobb, C. Brent; Harris, Lawanna L.

    2014-01-01

    A launch vehicle at the scale and price point which allows developers to take reasonable risks with high payoff propulsion and avionics hardware solutions does not exist today. Establishing this service provides a ride through the proverbial technology "valley of death" that lies between demonstration in laboratory and flight environments. NASA's NanoLaunch effort will provide the framework to mature both earth-to-orbit and on-orbit propulsion and avionics technologies while also providing affordable, dedicated access to low earth orbit for cubesat class payloads.

  15. An Integrated Conceptual Framework for RFID Enabled Healthcare

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Gaurav Gupta

    2015-12-01

    Full Text Available Radio frequency identification (RFID technology is a wireless communication technology that facilitates automatic identification and data capture without human intervention. Since 2000s, RFID applications in the health care industry are increasing.  RFID has brought many improvements in areas like patient care, patient safety, equipment tracking, resource utilization, processing time reduction and so on. On the other hand, often deployment of RFID is questioned on the issues like high capital investment, technological complexity, and privacy concerns. Exploration of existing literature indicates the presence of works on the topics like asset management, patient management, staff management, institutional advantages, and organizational issues. However, most of the works are focused on a particular issue. Still now, scholarly attempts to integrate all the facades of RFID-enabled healthcare are limited. In this paper, we propose a conceptual framework that represents the scope for implementation of this technology and the various dimensions of RFID-enabled healthcare and demonstrate them in detail. Also, we have discussed the critical issues that can prove to be potential barriers to its successful implementation and current approaches to resolving these. We also discuss some of the regulatory initiatives encouraging its adoption in the healthcare industry. Also, we have highlighted the future research opportunities in this domain.

  16. 77 FR 56847 - Agency Information Collection Activities; Proposed Collection; Comment Request; Electronic...

    Science.gov (United States)

    2012-09-14

    ... Number 0910-0645)--Revision The SRP (formerly referred to as the MedWatch\\Plus\\ Portal and Rational Questionnaire) and the ESG are the Agency's electronic systems for collecting, submitting, and processing... ESG, approved under OMB control number 0910-0645. III. The FDA Safety Reporting Portal Rational...

  17. Photonics in switching: enabling technologies and subsystem design

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Vlachos, K.; Raffaelli, C.; Aleksic, S.

    2009-01-01

    This paper describes recent research activities and results in the area of photonic switching carried out within the framework of the EU-funded e-Photon/ONe + network of excellence, Virtual Department on Optical Switching. Technology aspects of photonics in switching and, in particular, recent...

  18. Can wireless technology enable new diabetes management tools?

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hedtke, Paul A

    2008-01-01

    Mobile computing and communications technology embodied in the modern cell phone device can be employed to improve the lives of diabetes patients by giving them better tools for self-management. Several companies are working on the development of diabetes management tools that leverage the ubiquitous cell phone to bring self-management tools to the hand of the diabetes patient. Integration of blood glucose monitoring (BGM) technology with the cell phone platform adds a level of convenience for the person with diabetes, but, more importantly, allows BGM data to be automatically captured, logged, and processed in near real time in order to provide the diabetes patient with assistance in managing their blood glucose levels. Other automatic measurements can estimate physical activity, and information regarding medication events and food intake can be captured and analyzed in order to provide the diabetes patient with continual assistance in managing their therapy and behaviors in order to improve glycemic control. The path to realization of such solutions is not, however, without obstacles.

  19. Analysing Implementation of the European Standards and Guidelines for Quality Assurance at Institutional Level : Outcomes of the IBAR Project

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Westerheijden, Donald F.; Kohoutek, Jan

    2013-01-01

    The IBAR project studied barriers higher education institutions experienced to implementing the ESG part 1. Our paper reports on the major findings of this project. After sketching our conceptual approach, we conclude that the ESG Part 1 seem to be functioning as a codification of many policies and

  20. Environmental, Social og Governance og aktivt ejerskab

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Bechmann, Ken L.

    2016-01-01

    Den første artikel i dette nummer af Finans/Invest diskuterer Environmental, Social og Governance (ESG) i forhold til at skabe forbedret aktieafkast. Den tredje artikel går i dybden med udviklingen i danske børsnoterede bankers corporate governance karakteristika hen over bankkrisen. ESG og...

  1. SOME RECENT TECHNOLOGY DEVELOPMENTS FROM THE UK'S NATIONAL NUCLEAR LABORATORY TO ENABLE HAZARD CHARACTERISATION FOR NUCLEAR DECOMMISSIONING APPLICATIONS

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Farfan, E.; Foley, T.

    2010-02-11

    Under its programme of self investment Internal Research and Development (IR&D), the UK's National Nuclear Laboratory (NNL) is addressing the requirement for development in technology to enable hazard characterisation for nuclear decommissioning applications. Three such examples are described here: (1) RadBall developed by the NNL (patent pending) is a deployable baseball-sized radiation mapping device which can, from a single location, locate and quantify radiation hazards. RadBall offers a means to collect information regarding the magnitude and distribution of radiation in a given cell, glovebox or room to support the development of a safe, cost effective decontamination strategy. RadBall requires no electrical supplies and is relatively small, making it easy to be deployed and used to map radiation hazards in hard to reach areas. Recent work conducted in partnership with the Savannah River National Laboratory (SRNL) is presented. (2) HiRAD (patent pending) has been developed by the NNL in partnership with Tracerco Ltd (UK). HiRAD is a real-time, remotely deployed, radiation detection device designed to operate in elevated levels of radiation (i.e. thousands and tens of thousands of Gray) as seen in parts of the nuclear industry. Like the RadBall technology, the HiRAD system does not require any electrical components, the small dimensions and flexibility of the device allow it to be positioned in difficult to access areas (such as pipe work). HiRAD can be deployed as a single detector, a chain, or as an array giving the ability to monitor large process areas. Results during the development and deployment of the technology are presented. (3) Wireless Sensor Network is a NNL supported development project led by the University of Manchester (UK) in partnership with Oxford University (UK). The project is concerned with the development of wireless sensor network technology to enable the underwater deployment and communication of miniaturised probes allowing pond

  2. Posible impacto en la salud pública del encallamiento de cetáceos en Costa Rica Potential public health impact of the stranding of cetaceans

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Olga Rivas-Solano

    2013-06-01

    Full Text Available El encallamiento de cetáceos se presenta cuando estos mamíferos llegan a la playa sin poder regresar al mar por sus propios medios. En Costa Rica, la mayoría de los casos se han registrado en las costas del Pacífico. Entre las posibles causas de este fenómeno, están las enfermedades infecciosas como la brucelosis marina. Dicha enfermedad es provocada por bacterias del género Brucella, y se puede transmitir a los humanos. El contacto entre humanos y cetáceos ha venido en aumento debido a actividades recreativas y ocupacionales. Además, el varamiento usualmente llama la atención de turistas y locales, quienes tienden mantener un acercamiento estrecho con el animal encallado para tratar de regresarlo al mar. Lo anterior potencia el riesgo de transmisión de cepas patogénicas desde los mamíferos marinos hacia los humanos y otros animales. En Costa Rica se desarrolló, durante los años 2009 y 2011, un proyecto de investigación en cual participaron expertos de universidades estatales, de instituciones gubernamentales y de la Fundación Keto. Como parte del mismo, se organizaron talleres de capacitación a profesionales en salud, líderes comunales y autoridades locales de la costa pacífica, con el fin de concientizarlos sobre los protocolos a seguir para la atención integral de la problemática de los encallamientos de cetáceos, con miras a prevenir posibles situaciones de riesgo a la salud pública.Cetacean stranding occurs when those animals arrive to the beach without having the possibility to come back to the sea. In Costa Rica, most of the cases have been registered along the pacific coast.  Between the possible causes of the stranding, there are infectious diseases like marine brucellosis. This disease is caused by bacteria from the genus Brucella and it can be transmitted to humans. Contact between humans and cetaceans, has been increased because of touristic and working activities. Besides, stranding phenomenon usually calls

  3. The emerging Web 2.0 social software: an enabling suite of sociable technologies in health and health care education.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kamel Boulos, Maged N; Wheeler, Steve

    2007-03-01

    Web 2.0 sociable technologies and social software are presented as enablers in health and health care, for organizations, clinicians, patients and laypersons. They include social networking services, collaborative filtering, social bookmarking, folksonomies, social search engines, file sharing and tagging, mashups, instant messaging, and online multi-player games. The more popular Web 2.0 applications in education, namely wikis, blogs and podcasts, are but the tip of the social software iceberg. Web 2.0 technologies represent a quite revolutionary way of managing and repurposing/remixing online information and knowledge repositories, including clinical and research information, in comparison with the traditional Web 1.0 model. The paper also offers a glimpse of future software, touching on Web 3.0 (the Semantic Web) and how it could be combined with Web 2.0 to produce the ultimate architecture of participation. Although the tools presented in this review look very promising and potentially fit for purpose in many health care applications and scenarios, careful thinking, testing and evaluation research are still needed in order to establish 'best practice models' for leveraging these emerging technologies to boost our teaching and learning productivity, foster stronger 'communities of practice', and support continuing medical education/professional development (CME/CPD) and patient education.

  4. Technology Mentors: Enablers of ICT Uptake in Australian Small Business

    Science.gov (United States)

    Woodley, Carolyn J.; Burgess, Stephen; Paguio, Rafael; Bingley, Scott

    2015-01-01

    Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to report on the innovative employment of students as technology mentors as part of a Blended Learning Program (BLP) that supported a group of owner-managers of small businesses to adopt appropriate information and communication technologies (ICT) to enhance their work practices. Design/methodology/approach:…

  5. IT–Enabled Knowledge Management System for Nuclear R&D Organization

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Jehadeesan, R.

    2016-01-01

    Full text: A knowledge management (KM) system for codification, preservation and utilization of all multi-disciplinary knowledge assets accumulated over several decades of nuclear research, development and operation is essential for improved organizational productivity, new insights and high-levels of innovation. IGCAR’s Nuclear Knowledge Management System deployed with IT-as-enabler addresses various challenges related to people, process, technology and resources and provides a technology platform to leverage the collective knowledge of the organization. This paper describes the strategic action plan and structured approach followed for building IT-enabled knowledge management system to acquire, store, share and utilize the organizational knowledge assets in the explicit form of publications, technical reports, presentations, projects, activities, facilities etc., along with the tacit knowledge multi-media modules. It highlights the salient features of the in-house-developed advanced KM portal deployed for facilitating the creation, archival, retrieval, sharing and dissemination of knowledge assets originating from diverse domains, in an organized and secured way. The paper also underlines the application of semantic technologies, tools and standards in implementing a robust KM technology infrastructure with enhanced functionalities. (author

  6. 76 FR 24356 - Airworthiness Directives; Airbus Model A300 B4-601, B4-603, B4-605R, C4-605R Variant F, and F4...

    Science.gov (United States)

    2011-05-02

    ... specified products. The MCAI states: Airbus, in the frame of the Extended Service Goal (ESG) exercise, has...) states: Airbus, in the frame of the Extended Service Goal (ESG) exercise, has demonstrated by post... aviation product. The MCAI describes the unsafe condition as: Airbus, in the frame of the Extended Service...

  7. The European Standards and Guidelines and the Evaluation of Agencies in Germany

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hopbach, Achim

    2006-01-01

    This paper presents preliminary findings from the application of the European Standards and Guidelines (ESG) to the Accreditation Council's accreditation criteria and the review of three German accreditation agencies done by the German Accreditation Council. It focuses on the main characteristics of the ESG and their implementation into the German…

  8. Displays enabling mobile multimedia

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kimmel, Jyrki

    2007-02-01

    With the rapid advances in telecommunications networks, mobile multimedia delivery to handsets is now a reality. While a truly immersive multimedia experience is still far ahead in the mobile world, significant advances have been made in the constituent audio-visual technologies to make this become possible. One of the critical components in multimedia delivery is the mobile handset display. While such alternatives as headset-style near-to-eye displays, autostereoscopic displays, mini-projectors, and roll-out flexible displays can deliver either a larger virtual screen size than the pocketable dimensions of the mobile device can offer, or an added degree of immersion by adding the illusion of the third dimension in the viewing experience, there are still challenges in the full deployment of such displays in real-life mobile communication terminals. Meanwhile, direct-view display technologies have developed steadily, and can provide a development platform for an even better viewing experience for multimedia in the near future. The paper presents an overview of the mobile display technology space with an emphasis on the advances and potential in developing direct-view displays further to meet the goal of enabling multimedia in the mobile domain.

  9. Management as the enabling technology for space exploration

    Science.gov (United States)

    Mandell, Humboldt C., Jr.; Griffin, Michael D.

    1992-01-01

    This paper addresses the dilemma which NASA faces in starting a major new initiative within the constraints of the current national budget. It addressed the fact that unlike previous NASA programs, the major mission constraints come from management factors as opposed to technologies. An action plan is presented, along with some results from early management simplification processes.

  10. 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...

  11. 76 FR 78675 - Notice of Regulatory Waiver Requests Granted for the Third Quarter of Calendar Year 2011

    Science.gov (United States)

    2011-12-19

    ... manufacturing space at that location. Henry County used non-HUD funds to assist construction of the facility and... days after the award date to make ESG funds available to subgrantees, the subgrantees have another 180... using ESG and HPRP funds to assist households affected by the disaster. The State was allowed to reduce...

  12. A Fully Non-Metallic Gas Turbine Engine Enabled by Additive Manufacturing

    Science.gov (United States)

    Grady, Joseph E.; Halbig, Michael C.; Singh, Mrityunjay

    2015-01-01

    In a NASA Aeronautics Research Institute (NARI) sponsored program entitled "A Fully Non-Metallic Gas Turbine Engine Enabled by Additive Manufacturing", evaluation of emerging materials and additive manufacturing technologies was carried out. These technologies may enable fully non-metallic gas turbine engines in the future. This paper highlights the results of engine system trade studies which were carried out to estimate reduction in engine emissions and fuel burn enabled due to advanced materials and manufacturing processes. A number of key engine components were identified in which advanced materials and additive manufacturing processes would provide the most significant benefits to engine operation. In addition, feasibility of using additive manufacturing technologies to fabricate gas turbine engine components from polymer and ceramic matrix composite were demonstrated. A wide variety of prototype components (inlet guide vanes (IGV), acoustic liners, engine access door) were additively manufactured using high temperature polymer materials. Ceramic matrix composite components included first stage nozzle segments and high pressure turbine nozzle segments for a cooled doublet vane. In addition, IGVs and acoustic liners were tested in simulated engine conditions in test rigs. The test results are reported and discussed in detail.

  13. Evaluating Complex Interventions and Health Technologies Using Normalization Process Theory: Development of a Simplified Approach and Web-Enabled Toolkit

    LENUS (Irish Health Repository)

    May, Carl R

    2011-09-30

    Abstract Background Normalization Process Theory (NPT) can be used to explain implementation processes in health care relating to new technologies and complex interventions. This paper describes the processes by which we developed a simplified version of NPT for use by clinicians, managers, and policy makers, and which could be embedded in a web-enabled toolkit and on-line users manual. Methods Between 2006 and 2010 we undertook four tasks. (i) We presented NPT to potential and actual users in multiple workshops, seminars, and presentations. (ii) Using what we discovered from these meetings, we decided to create a simplified set of statements and explanations expressing core constructs of the theory (iii) We circulated these statements to a criterion sample of 60 researchers, clinicians and others, using SurveyMonkey to collect qualitative textual data about their criticisms of the statements. (iv) We then reconstructed the statements and explanations to meet users\\' criticisms, embedded them in a web-enabled toolkit, and beta tested this \\'in the wild\\'. Results On-line data collection was effective: over a four week period 50\\/60 participants responded using SurveyMonkey (40\\/60) or direct phone and email contact (10\\/60). An additional nine responses were received from people who had been sent the SurveyMonkey form by other respondents. Beta testing of the web enabled toolkit produced 13 responses, from 327 visits to http:\\/\\/www.normalizationprocess.org. Qualitative analysis of both sets of responses showed a high level of support for the statements but also showed that some statements poorly expressed their underlying constructs or overlapped with others. These were rewritten to take account of users\\' criticisms and then embedded in a web-enabled toolkit. As a result we were able translate the core constructs into a simplified set of statements that could be utilized by non-experts. Conclusion Normalization Process Theory has been developed through

  14. Evaluating complex interventions and health technologies using normalization process theory: development of a simplified approach and web-enabled toolkit

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Murray Elizabeth

    2011-09-01

    Full Text Available Abstract Background Normalization Process Theory (NPT can be used to explain implementation processes in health care relating to new technologies and complex interventions. This paper describes the processes by which we developed a simplified version of NPT for use by clinicians, managers, and policy makers, and which could be embedded in a web-enabled toolkit and on-line users manual. Methods Between 2006 and 2010 we undertook four tasks. (i We presented NPT to potential and actual users in multiple workshops, seminars, and presentations. (ii Using what we discovered from these meetings, we decided to create a simplified set of statements and explanations expressing core constructs of the theory (iii We circulated these statements to a criterion sample of 60 researchers, clinicians and others, using SurveyMonkey to collect qualitative textual data about their criticisms of the statements. (iv We then reconstructed the statements and explanations to meet users' criticisms, embedded them in a web-enabled toolkit, and beta tested this 'in the wild'. Results On-line data collection was effective: over a four week period 50/60 participants responded using SurveyMonkey (40/60 or direct phone and email contact (10/60. An additional nine responses were received from people who had been sent the SurveyMonkey form by other respondents. Beta testing of the web enabled toolkit produced 13 responses, from 327 visits to http://www.normalizationprocess.org. Qualitative analysis of both sets of responses showed a high level of support for the statements but also showed that some statements poorly expressed their underlying constructs or overlapped with others. These were rewritten to take account of users' criticisms and then embedded in a web-enabled toolkit. As a result we were able translate the core constructs into a simplified set of statements that could be utilized by non-experts. Conclusion Normalization Process Theory has been developed through

  15. Information technology-enabled team-based, patient-centered care: The example of depression screening and management in cancer care.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Randhawa, Gurvaneet S; Ahern, David K; Hesse, Bradford W

    2017-03-01

    The existing healthcare delivery systems across the world need to be redesigned to ensure high-quality care is delivered to all patients. This redesign needs to ensure care is knowledge-based, patient-centered and systems-minded. The rapid advances in the capabilities of information and communication technology and its recent rapid adoption in healthcare delivery have ensured this technology will play a vital role in the redesign of the healthcare delivery system. This commentary highlights promising new developments in health information technology (IT) that can support patient engagement and self-management as well as team-based, patient-centered care. Collaborative care is an effective approach to screen and treat depression in cancer patients and it is a good example of the benefits of team-based and patient-centered care. However, this approach was developed prior to the widespread adoption and use of health IT. We provide examples to illustrate how health IT can improve prevention and treatment of depression in cancer patients. We found several knowledge gaps that limit our ability to realize the full potential of health IT in the context of cancer and comorbid depression care. These gaps need to be filled to improve patient engagement; enhance the reach and effectiveness of collaborative care and web-based programs to prevent and treat depression in cancer patients. We also identify knowledge gaps in health IT design and implementation. Filling these gaps will help shape policies that enable clinical teams to deliver high-quality cancer care globally.

  16. A SmallSat Approach for Global Imaging Spectroscopy of the Earth SYSTEM Enabled by Advanced Technology

    Science.gov (United States)

    Green, R. O.; Asner, G. P.; Thompson, D. R.; Mouroulis, P.; Eastwood, M. L.; Chien, S.

    2017-12-01

    Global coverage imaging spectroscopy in the solar reflected energy portion of the spectrum has been identified by the Earth Decadal Survey as an important measurement that enables a diverse set of new and time critical science objectives/targets for the Earth system. These science objectives include biodiversity; ecosystem function; ecosystem biogeochemistry; initialization and constraint of global ecosystem models; fire fuel, combustion, burn severity, and recovery; surface mineralogy, geochemistry, geologic processes, soils, and hazards; global mineral dust source composition; cryospheric albedo, energy balance, and melting; coastal and inland water habitats; coral reefs; point source gas emission; cloud thermodynamic phase; urban system properties; and more. Traceability of these science objectives to spectroscopic measurement in the visible to short wavelength infrared portion of the spectrum is summarized. New approaches, including satellite constellations, to acquire these global imaging spectroscopy measurements is presented drawing from recent advances in optical design, detector technology, instrument architecture, thermal control, on-board processing, data storage, and downlink.

  17. The anatomy of the grid : enabling scalable virtual organizations.

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Foster, I.; Kesselman, C.; Tuecke, S.; Mathematics and Computer Science; Univ. of Chicago; Univ. of Southern California

    2001-10-01

    'Grid' computing has emerged as an important new field, distinguished from conventional distributed computing by its focus on large-scale resource sharing, innovative applications, and, in some cases, high performance orientation. In this article, the authors define this new field. First, they review the 'Grid problem,' which is defined as flexible, secure, coordinated resource sharing among dynamic collections of individuals, institutions, and resources -- what is referred to as virtual organizations. In such settings, unique authentication, authorization, resource access, resource discovery, and other challenges are encountered. It is this class of problem that is addressed by Grid technologies. Next, the authors present an extensible and open Grid architecture, in which protocols, services, application programming interfaces, and software development kits are categorized according to their roles in enabling resource sharing. The authors describe requirements that they believe any such mechanisms must satisfy and discuss the importance of defining a compact set of intergrid protocols to enable interoperability among different Grid systems. Finally, the authors discuss how Grid technologies relate to other contemporary technologies, including enterprise integration, application service provider, storage service provider, and peer-to-peer computing. They maintain that Grid concepts and technologies complement and have much to contribute to these other approaches.

  18. Use of Dynamic Technologies for Web-enabled Database Management Systems

    OpenAIRE

    Bogdanova, Galina; Todorov, Todor; Blagoev, Dimitar; Todorova, Mirena

    2007-01-01

    In this paper we consider two computer systems and the dynamic Web technologies they are using. Different contemporary dynamic web technologies are described in details and their advantages and disadvantages have been shown. Specific applications are developed, clinic and studying systems, and their programming models are described. Finally we implement these two applications in the students education process: Online studying has been tested in the Technical University – Va...

  19. The Impact of the European Standards and Guidelines in Agency Evaluations

    Science.gov (United States)

    Stensaker, Bjorn; Harvey, Lee; Huisman, Jeroen; Langfeldt, Liv; Westerheijden, Don F.

    2010-01-01

    The emergence of the European Standards and Guidelines (ESG) for Quality Assurance has been seen as an important step towards realising the European Higher Education Area by creating more transparency and accountability in the area of quality assurance. The ESG also include standards as to how quality assurance agencies should be reviewed. In a…

  20. The Environmental, Social, Governance, and Financial Performance Effects on Companies that Adopt the United Nations Global Compact

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Eduardo Ortas

    2015-02-01

    Full Text Available This paper aims to investigate companies’ environmental, social, governance (ESG, and financial implications of their commitment to the United Nations Global Compact (UNGC. The focus is placed on companies operating in the three countries with the highest number of UNGC participants: Spain, France, and Japan. The results clearly reveal that adoption of the UNGC often requires an organizational change that fosters stakeholder engagement, ultimately resulting in improvements in companies’ ESG performance. Additionally, the results reveal that ESG performance has a significant impact on financial performance for companies that adopted the principles of the UNGC. These findings provide both non-financial and financial incentives to companies to commit to this voluntary corporate social responsibility (CSR initiative, which will have important implications on companies’ strategic management policies that aim to foster sustainable businesses and community development. Finally, the linkages between the UNGC-committed companies’ ESG and financial performance may be influenced by geographical spread, mainly due to the appearance of differences in the institutional, societal, and cultural settings.

  1. Bluetooth-enabled teleradiology: applications and complications.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hura, Angela M

    2002-01-01

    Wireless personal area networks and local area networks are becoming increasingly more prevalent in the teleradiology and telemedicine industry. Although there has been much debate about the role that Bluetooth will play in the future of wireless technology, both promoters and doubters acknowledge that Bluetooth will have an impact on networking, even if only as a "niche" product. This article provides an overview of the Bluetooth standard and highlights current and future areas of inclusion for use in a teleradiology environment. The possibilities for Bluetooth in a teleradiology environment without wires are nearly boundless and an overview of current and proposed Bluetooth-enabled radiology equipment and vendors is provided. A comparison of Bluetooth and other wireless technologies is provided, including areas of similarity and potential conflict. Bluetooth and other wireless technologies can not only peacefully coexist but also complement each other and provide enhanced teleradiology services.

  2. Enabling Indoor Location-Based Services

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Radaelli, Laura

    Indoor spaces have always attracted interest from different scientific disciplines. Relatively recent interest in indoor settings by computer scientists is driven in part by the increasing use of smartphones, which serve as a platform for service delivery and can generate extensive volumes...... of trajectory data that can be used to study how people actually use indoor spaces. In this dissertation, we contribute partial solutions that address challenges in indoor positioning and indoor trajectory management and analysis. The key enabler of indoor location-based services and indoor movement analysis...... is a well-functioning positioning system that can be easily deployed in most public places. Different technologies are able to provide indoor positioning with different accuracy and coverage, but it is difficult to find a technology that by itself can provide good positioning in the many different layouts...

  3. 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...

  4. 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...

  5. 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

  6. School cultures, teachers, and technology transformation

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Andrew D. Kitchenham

    2010-05-01

    Full Text Available This article outlines a recent study on school culture and technology adoption. Adapting Hargreaves’ (2003 model of school cultures, research findings are presented on three schools involved in a study on teacher transformation using educational technology to explain how each school represents a separate school culture and school regime. Each school is profiled to demonstrate, through direct quotes from the participants, how a specific school culture or regime can reflect varying degrees of transformation, and subsequent technology adoption. Résumé : Cet article présente une étude récente portant sur la culture scolaire et l’adoption de la technologie. En utilisant une adaptation du modèle des cultures scolaires de Hargreaves (2003, les résultats de recherche de trois écoles qui ont participé à une étude sur la transformation des enseignants utilisant la technologie éducative sont présentés afin d’expliquer comment chaque école représente une culture d’école et un régime scolaire distincts. Chaque école est profilée dans le but de démontrer, au moyen de citations directes des participants, la façon dont une culture d’école ou un régime scolaire donné peut se traduire par divers niveaux de transformation et, conséquemment, d’adoption des technologies.

  7. Developing as an Academic Leader in a University of Technology in South Africa: Dealing with enabling and constraining teaching and learning environments

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    'Mabokang Liteboho Monnapula-Mapesela

    2017-12-01

    Full Text Available While the South African legislation is an enabler for equity, inclusiveness, social justice and the advancement of women for academic leadership roles, institutional cultures and structures are often debilitating. This paper presents the development trajectory of a Black woman as an academic development leader in a South African University of Technology. It examines structural and cultural factors acting as enablers or constraints to leadership development and career advancement for Black women. It analyses dominant structural frames and undertakings of different University stakeholders (agents, which cause stagnation and resistance to morphogenesis and government’s transformation agenda. Using Participatory Narrative Inquiry (PNI, I narrate personal experiences and insights as a participant researcher. I interrogate the experiences, observations and influence of various structural and cultural modalities within Margaret Archer’s (1995 social realist framework of structure, culture and agency. I highlight the implications of these for development of a Black female academic development leader.

  8. Diffusion d'informations dans les autobus par couplage de technologies wifi et satellitaires

    OpenAIRE

    GRANSART, C; AMBELLOUIS, S; RIOULT, J

    2004-01-01

    Dans cet article, nous présentons les résultats d'un projet de recherche visant à fournir de l'information en temps réel aux usagers des transports en commun de type autobus. Nous montrons que de nouveaux services innovants peuvent être développés à l'attention des objets mobiles avec une bonne qualité de service (avec une bande passante moyenne ou élevée), et un accès à l'information, au contenu multimédia et aux bases de données. Ce projet utilise un couplage de technologies innovantes pour...

  9. Francis Jauréguiberry & Serge Proulx, Usages et enjeux des technologies de communication

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Jean-Pierre Durand

    2013-03-01

    Full Text Available Ce petit ouvrage propose une très large revue de littérature sur les usages des technologies de l’information et de la communication. On peut dire que cet ouvrage est complet, en particulier parce qu’il couvre aussi la production intellectuelle du monde anglo-saxon. Il est très agréable à lire parce que les thèses y sont exposées clairement. C’est aussi un ouvrage qui reprend l’historique des usages des TIC et leurs analyses dans les sciences humaines. Le premier chapitre propose un cadrage t...

  10. BIM: enabling sustainability and asset management through knowledge management.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kivits, Robbert Anton; Furneaux, Craig

    2013-11-10

    Building Information Modeling (BIM) is the use of virtual building information models to develop building design solutions and design documentation and to analyse construction processes. Recent advances in IT have enabled advanced knowledge management, which in turn facilitates sustainability and improves asset management in the civil construction industry. There are several important qualifiers and some disadvantages of the current suite of technologies. This paper outlines the benefits, enablers, and barriers associated with BIM and makes suggestions about how these issues may be addressed. The paper highlights the advantages of BIM, particularly the increased utility and speed, enhanced fault finding in all construction phases, and enhanced collaborations and visualisation of data. The paper additionally identifies a range of issues concerning the implementation of BIM as follows: IP, liability, risks, and contracts and the authenticity of users. Implementing BIM requires investment in new technology, skills training, and development of new ways of collaboration and Trade Practices concerns. However, when these challenges are overcome, BIM as a new information technology promises a new level of collaborative engineering knowledge management, designed to facilitate sustainability and asset management issues in design, construction, asset management practices, and eventually decommissioning for the civil engineering industry.

  11. Enabling technologies for millimeter-wave radio-over-fiber systems in next generation heterogeneous mobile access networks

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zhang, Junwen; Yu, Jianjun; Wang, Jing; Xu, Mu; Cheng, Lin; Lu, Feng; Shen, Shuyi; Yan, Yan; Cho, Hyunwoo; Guidotti, Daniel; Chang, Gee-kung

    2017-01-01

    Fifth-generation (5G) wireless access network promises to support higher access data rate with more than 1,000 times capacity with respect to current long-term evolution (LTE) systems. New radio-access-technologies (RATs) based on higher carrier frequencies to millimeter-wave (MMW) radio-over-fiber, and carrier-aggregation (CA) using multi-band resources are intensively studied to support the high data rate access and effectively use of frequency resources in heterogeneous mobile network (Het-Net). In this paper, we investigate several enabling technologies for MMW RoF systems in 5G Het-Net. Efficient mobile fronthaul (MFH) solutions for 5G centralized radio access network (C-RAN) and beyond are proposed, analyzed and experimentally demonstrated based on the analog scheme. Digital predistortion based on memory polynomial for analog MFH linearization are presented with improved EVM performances and receiver sensitivity. We also propose and experimentally demonstrate a novel inter-/intra- RAT CA scheme for 5G Het- Net. The real-time standard 4G-LTE signal is carrier-aggregated with three broadband 60GHz MMW signals based on proposed optical-domain band-mapping method. RATs based on new waveforms have also been studied here to achieve higher spectral-efficiency (SE) in asynchronous environments. Full-duplex asynchronous quasi-gapless carrier aggregation scheme for MMW ROF inter-/intra-RAT based on the FBMC is also presented with 4G-LTE signals. Compared with OFDM-based signals with large guard-bands, FBMC achieves higher spectral-efficiency with better EVM performance at less received power and smaller guard-bands.

  12. The ``Micro'' Aethalometer - an enabling technology for new applications in the measurement of Aerosol Black Carbon

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hansen, A. D.; Močnik, G.

    2010-12-01

    Aerosol Black Carbon (BC) is a tracer for combustion emissions; a primary indicator of adverse health effects; and the second leading contributor to Global Climate Change. The “Micro” Aethalometer is a recently-developed miniature instrument that makes a real-time measurement of BC on a very short timebase in a self-contained, battery-powered package that is lightweight and pocket sized. This technological development critically enables new areas of research: Measurements of the vertical profile of BC, by carrying the sampler aloft on a balloon (tethered or released) or aircraft (piloted or UAV); Estimates of the concentration of BC in the troposphere and lower stratosphere in the 8 - 12 km. altitude range, by measurements in the passenger cabin during commercial air travel; Epidemiological studies of personal exposure to BC, by carrying the sampler on a subject person in health studies; Measurements of the concentration of BC in rural and remote regions, by means of a small, battery-powered instrument that is convenient to deploy; measurements of high concentrations of “smoke” in indoor and outdoor environments in developing countries; Unobtrusive monitoring of BC infiltration into indoor environments, by means of a small, quiet instrument that can be placed in publicly-used spaces, school classrooms, museums, and other potentially-impacted locations; Adaptation of the technology to the direct source measurement of BC concentrations in emissions from diesel exhausts, combustion plumes, and other sources. We will show examples of data from various recent projects to illustrate the capabilities and applications of this new instrument.

  13. Informed consent for exome sequencing research in families with genetic disease: the emerging issue of incidental findings.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bergner, Amanda L; Bollinger, Juli; Raraigh, Karen S; Tichnell, Crystal; Murray, Brittney; Blout, Carrie Lynn; Telegrafi, Aida Bytyci; James, Cynthia A

    2014-11-01

    Genomic sequencing technology is increasingly used in genetic research. Studies of informed consent for exome and genome sequencing (ES/GS) research have largely involved hypothetical scenarios or healthy individuals enrolling in population-based studies. Studies have yet to explore the consent experiences of adults with inherited disease. We conducted a qualitative interview study of 15 adults recently enrolled in a large-scale ES/GS study (11 affected adults, four parents of affected children). Our study had two goals: (1) to explore three theoretical barriers to consent for ES/GS research (interpretive/technical complexity, possibility of incidental findings, and risks of loss of privacy); and (2) to explore how interviewees experienced the consent process. Interviewees could articulate study goals and processes, describe incidental findings, discuss risks of privacy loss, and reflect on their consent experience. Few expected the study would identify the genetic cause of their condition. All elected to receive incidental findings. Interviewees acknowledged paying little attention to potential implications of incidental findings in light of more pressing goals of supporting research regarding their own medical conditions. Interviewees suggested that experience living with a genetic condition prepared them to adjust to incidental findings. Interviewees also expressed little concern about loss of confidentiality of study data. Some experienced the consent process as very long. None desired reconsent prior to return of study results. Families with inherited disease likely would benefit from a consent process in which study risks and benefits were discussed in the context of prior experiences with genetic research and genetic disease. © 2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

  14. Enabling technologies for demand management: Transport

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Smith, Roderick A.

    2008-01-01

    Rising transport demand is likely to be the biggest hurdle to reducing our greenhouse gas emissions. Globally and nationally, transport is consuming an ever increasing share of our total energy use. Furthermore, the bulk of energy used in transport comes from the burning of petroleum products. This brief paper summarises options arising from the two routes to reduce energy demand in transport: improved and more efficient use of existing and possible new transport modes, and the reduction of transport demand. In both areas, the prospects in the immediate and longer-term future are hedged with difficulties. Automobiles and aircraft have improved considerably in recent decades, but future improvements are likely to be incremental. The introduction of hydrogen as a fuel is appealing, but there are technical problems to be solved. Active reduction of demand for transport will require a decoupling of the link between demand and growth in gross domestic product. Globally, this will be very difficult to achieve. Various modes of public transport exist that are efficient in terms of their energy use per passenger kilometre. But they need large investments to make them more attractive than the automobile. However, population concentration in mega-cities, allied with congestion, will make such innovation essential. Policy measures can be assisted in their implementation by new technology, but will remain politically problematic

  15. Enabling Detailed Energy Analyses via the Technology Performance Exchange: Preprint

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Studer, D.; Fleming, K.; Lee, E.; Livingood, W.

    2014-08-01

    One of the key tenets to increasing adoption of energy efficiency solutions in the built environment is improving confidence in energy performance. Current industry practices make extensive use of predictive modeling, often via the use of sophisticated hourly or sub-hourly energy simulation programs, to account for site-specific parameters (e.g., climate zone, hours of operation, and space type) and arrive at a performance estimate. While such methods are highly precise, they invariably provide less than ideal accuracy due to a lack of high-quality, foundational energy performance input data. The Technology Performance Exchange was constructed to allow the transparent sharing of foundational, product-specific energy performance data, and leverages significant, external engineering efforts and a modular architecture to efficiently identify and codify the minimum information necessary to accurately predict product energy performance. This strongly-typed database resource represents a novel solution to a difficult and established problem. One of the most exciting benefits is the way in which the Technology Performance Exchange's application programming interface has been leveraged to integrate contributed foundational data into the Building Component Library. Via a series of scripts, data is automatically translated and parsed into the Building Component Library in a format that is immediately usable to the energy modeling community. This paper (1) presents a high-level overview of the project drivers and the structure of the Technology Performance Exchange; (2) offers a detailed examination of how technologies are incorporated and translated into powerful energy modeling code snippets; and (3) examines several benefits of this robust workflow.

  16. Cetuximab-conjugated iron oxide nanoparticles for cancer imaging and therapy

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Tseng SH

    2015-05-01

    Full Text Available Shih-Heng Tseng,1,2 Min-Yuan Chou,2 I-Ming Chu1 1Department of Chemical Engineering, National Tsing Hua University, 2Biomedical Technology and Device Research Laboratories, Industrial Technology Research Institute, Hsinchu, Taiwan Abstract: We have developed a theranostic nanoparticle, ie, cet-PEG-dexSPIONs, by conjugation of the anti-epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR monoclonal antibody, cetuximab, to dextran-coated superparamagnetic iron oxide nanoparticles (SPIONs via periodate oxidation. Approximately 31 antibody molecules were conjugated to each nanoparticle. Cet-PEG-dexSPIONs specifically bind to EGFR-expressing tumor cells and enhance image contrast on magnetic resonance imaging. Cet-PEG-dexSPION-treated A431 cells showed significant inhibition of epidermal growth factor-induced EGFR phosphorylation and enhancement of EGFR internalization and degradation. In addition, a significant increase in apoptosis was detected in EGFR-overexpressing cell lines, A431 and 32D/EGFR, after 24 hours of incubation at 37°C with cet-PEG-dexSPIONs compared with cetuximab alone. The antibody-dependent cell-mediated cytotoxicity of cetuximab was observed in cet-PEG-dexSPIONs. The results demonstrated that cet-PEG-dexSPIONs retained the therapeutic effect of cetuximab in addition to having the ability to target and image EGFR-expressing tumors. Cet-PEG-dexSPIONs represent a promising targeted magnetic probe for early detection and treatment of EGFR-expressing tumor cells. Keywords: epidermal growth factor receptor, cetuximab, superparamagnetic iron oxide nanoparticle, magnetic resonance imaging, sodium periodate, polyethylene glycol

  17. 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

  18. Disruptive Technology: An Uncertain Future

    Science.gov (United States)

    2005-05-21

    Technology that overturns market -- Military - Technology that causes a fundamental change in force structure, basing, and capability balance * Disruptive Technologies may arise from systems or enabling technology.

  19. Using Email to Enable E[superscript 3] (Effective, Efficient, and Engaging) Learning

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kim, ChanMin

    2008-01-01

    This article argues that technology that supports both noncognitive and cognitive aspects can make learning more effective, efficient, and engaging (e[superscript 3]-learning). The technology of interest in this article is email. The investigation focuses on characteristics of email that are likely to enable e[superscript 3]-learning. In addition,…

  20. ESTABLISHING SUSTAINABLE US HEV/PHEV MANUFACTURING BASE: STABILIZED LITHIUM METAL POWDER, ENABLING MATERIAL AND REVOLUTIONARY TECHNOLOGY FOR HIGH ENERGY LI-ION BATTERIES

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Yakovleva, Marina

    2012-12-31

    FMC Lithium Division has successfully completed the project “Establishing Sustainable US PHEV/EV Manufacturing Base: Stabilized Lithium Metal Powder, Enabling Material and Revolutionary Technology for High Energy Li-ion Batteries”. The project included design, acquisition and process development for the production scale units to 1) produce stabilized lithium dispersions in oil medium, 2) to produce dry stabilized lithium metal powders, 3) to evaluate, design and acquire pilot-scale unit for alternative production technology to further decrease the cost, and 4) to demonstrate concepts for integrating SLMP technology into the Li- ion batteries to increase energy density. It is very difficult to satisfy safety, cost and performance requirements for the PHEV and EV applications. As the initial step in SLMP Technology introduction, industry can use commercially available LiMn2O4 or LiFePO4, for example, that are the only proven safer and cheaper lithium providing cathodes available on the market. Unfortunately, these cathodes alone are inferior to the energy density of the conventional LiCoO2 cathode and, even when paired with the advanced anode materials, such as silicon composite material, the resulting cell will still not meet the energy density requirements. We have demonstrated, however, if SLMP Technology is used to compensate for the irreversible capacity in the anode, the efficiency of the cathode utilization will be improved and the cost of the cell, based on the materials, will decrease.

  1. How Information Technology Can Enable 21st Century Schools

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kolderie, Ted; McDonald; Tim

    2009-01-01

    In recent years, the information technology (IT) revolution has transformed American industry--leading to new types of work processes and business organizations, and increased productivity and consumer innovations--but by and large, this game-changer has bypassed America's schools. Virtually all K-12 schools in the country are connected to the…

  2. Observations of Hsub(β) and He II lambda 4686 lines ;.n flare spectra of UV Cet type stars

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Petrov, P.P.; Chugajnov, P.F.; Shcherbakov, A.G.

    1984-01-01

    Spectroscopic observations with a 0.7-1.n A resolution and photoelectric B-system observations of flare stars AD Leo, DT Vir, YZ CMi and UV Cet are reported. Three flares of AD Leo and three flares of YZ CMi were recorded. In two flares of AD Leo and two flares of YZ CMi the increase of the central intensity of Hsub(β) was observed 10-20 minutes before the flare maxima. In three of them no difference was foUnd in the star brigthness during the preflare increase of Hsub(β) and during the quiet state. It was discovered, that in two flares wide (+-15 A, +-10 A) emission wings of Hsub(β) appear mainly near the flare maxima. The emission line He 2 lambda 4686 was found neither in the quiet state of stars nor during the flares. The following conlclusions are drawn: 1) preflares are characterized by a prevailing increase of the line emission; 2) the emission wings of Hsub(β) occur during the flare maxima owing to the Stark-effect (n sub (e) approximately 10 14 -10 15 cm -3 ) and mass motions; 3) only a very weak He 2 lamdda 4686 emission may appear during the flare maxima due to the cascade recombinations of He 3 caused by the increase of the X-ray flux

  3. The European Society of Gastrointestinal Endoscopy Quality Improvement Initiative: developing performance measures.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Rutter, Matthew D; Senore, Carlo; Bisschops, Raf; Domagk, Dirk; Valori, Roland; Kaminski, Michal F; Spada, Cristiano; Bretthauer, Michael; Bennett, Cathy; Bellisario, Cristina; Minozzi, Silvia; Hassan, Cesare; Rees, Colin; Dinis-Ribeiro, Mário; Hucl, Tomas; Ponchon, Thierry; Aabakken, Lars; Fockens, Paul

    2016-02-01

    The European Society of Gastrointestinal Endoscopy (ESGE) and United European Gastroenterology (UEG) have a vision to create a thriving community of endoscopy services across Europe, collaborating with each other to provide high quality, safe, accurate, patient-centered and accessible endoscopic care. Whilst the boundaries of what can be achieved by advanced endoscopy are continually expanding, we believe that one of the most fundamental steps to achieving our goal is to raise the quality of everyday endoscopy. The development of robust, consensus- and evidence-based key performance measures is the first step in this vision. ESGE and UEG have identified quality of endoscopy as a major priority. This paper explains the rationale behind the ESGE Quality Improvement Initiative and describes the processes that were followed. We recommend that all units develop mechanisms for audit and feedback of endoscopist and service performance using the ESGE performance measures that will be published in future issues of this journal over the next year. We urge all endoscopists and endoscopy services to prioritize quality and to ensure that these performance measures are implemented and monitored at a local level, so that we can provide the highest possible care for our patients.

  4. 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.

  5. 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.

  6. Energy spectrum of flares of the UV Cet stars and physical measunings of several statistical characteristics of these stars

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Gershberg, R.E.

    1985-01-01

    Accounting the observed power character of the energy spectrum of flares of the UV Cet-type stars, several statistical characterisitics of there stars are considered. It is shown that a mean amplitude of flares is mainly determined with an amplitude of the faintest flare that can be registered at the star under consideration and therefore - contrary to tradition - the mean flare amplitude cannot be used as a measure of a flare activity of the star. Mean frequencuy of flares registered at a flare star dependes statisticaally certainly ona an absolute magneitude of the star - contary to wide spread belief, true mean frequencies are higher at brighter stars. On the basis of the Cataloque of flare stars in Pleiades by Haro, Chavira and Gonzalez a luminosity function of therese stars is constructed. Using this function and the revealed dependence of flare mean frequencies on stellar absolute magnitudes, a distribution of flare stars in Pleiades along flare mean frequencies is constructed. This shows that the cluster contains flare stars with mean frequencies of photographically registered flares from 10 -4 to 10 -2 hour -1 or within even narrower interval of frequencies and the total number of such stars in the cluster exceeds 1100

  7. « Le sac d’école électronique »: un outil technologique pouvant faciliter la mise en place de l’alignement curriculaire / The “digital school bag”: A technological tool to facilitate the implementation of curriculum alignment

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Marie-Pierrette Ntyonga-Pono

    2012-07-01

    Full Text Available Cet article discute des réformes du système éducatif québécois qui s’inscrivent dans le courant des réformes entreprises un peu partout dans le monde avec des résultats variables. Plusieurs facteurs sont évoqués parmi lesquels le manque de formation et de soutien des enseignants, malgré les actions du ministère de l’Éducation, du Loisir et du Sport du Québec qui a confié la recherche de moyens de soutien à différents organismes dont la Maison des technologies de formation et d'apprentissage Roland-Giguère (MATI Montréal qui a conçu un logiciel «le sac d’école» peu connu et utilisé. Le but de cet article est de présenter cet outil technologique et comment il peut permettre d’atteindre l’alignement curriculaire, élément clé de toute réussite de réforme éducative. This paper discusses the education-system reforms in Quebec, which follow the same trends as reforms undertaken elsewhere in the world with various results. Several factors are invoked, among which is the lack of training and support for teachers despite the efforts of Quebec’s Ministère de l’Éducation, du Loisir et du Sport, which assigned various organizations to looks into support methods. These organizations included the Maison des technologies de formation et d’apprentissage Roland-Giguère (MATI Montréal, which designed a “school bag” software that is little used. The paper introduces the technological tool and shows how it can help in reaching curriculum alignment, a key element for the success of educational reforms.

  8. Accurate late gadolinium enhancement prediction by early T1- based quantitative synthetic mapping

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Dijk, Randy van; Harst, Pim van der [University of Groningen, University Medical Centre Groningen, Centre for Medical Imaging, Groningen (Netherlands); University of Groningen, University Medical Centre Groningen, Department of Cardiology, Groningen (Netherlands); Kuijpers, Dirkjan [University of Groningen, University Medical Centre Groningen, Centre for Medical Imaging, Groningen (Netherlands); Department of Cardiovascular Imaging HMC-Bronovo, The Hague (Netherlands); Kaandorp, Theodorus A.M.; Dijkman, Paul R.M. van [Department of Cardiovascular Imaging HMC-Bronovo, The Hague (Netherlands); Vliegenthart, Rozemarijn [University of Groningen, University Medical Center Groningen, Department of Radiology, Groningen (Netherlands); Oudkerk, Matthijs [University of Groningen, University Medical Centre Groningen, Centre for Medical Imaging, Groningen (Netherlands); University Medical Center Groningen, Center for Medical Imaging, Groningen (Netherlands)

    2018-02-15

    Early synthetic gadolinium enhancement (ESGE) imaging from post-contrast T1 mapping after adenosine stress-perfusion cardiac magnetic resonance (CMR) was compared to conventional late gadolinium enhancement (LGE) imaging for assessing myocardial scar. Two hundred fourteen consecutive patients suspected of myocardial ischaemia were referred for stress-perfusion CMR. Myocardial infarct volume was quantified on a per-subsegment basis in both synthetic (2-3 min post-gadolinium) and conventional (9 min post-gadolinium) images by two independent observers. Sensitivity, specificity, PPV and NPV were calculated on a per-patient and per-subsegment basis. Both techniques detected 39 gadolinium enhancement areas in 23 patients. The median amount of scar was 2.0 (1.0-3.1) g in ESGE imaging and 2.2 (1.1-3.1) g in LGE imaging (p=0.39). Excellent correlation (r=0.997) and agreement (mean absolute difference: -0.028±0.289 ml) were found between ESGE and LGE images. Sensitivity, specificity, PPV and NPV of ESGE imaging were 96 (78.9-99.9), 99 (97.1-100.0)%, 96 (76.5-99.4) and 99.5 (96.6-99.9) in patient-based and 99 (94.5-100.0), 100 (99.9-100.0)%, 97.0 (91.3-99.0) and 100.0 (99.8-100.0) in subsegment-based analysis. ESGE based on post-contrast T1 mapping after adenosine stress-perfusion CMR imaging shows excellent agreement with conventional LGE imaging for assessing myocardial scar, and can substantially shorten clinical acquisition time. (orig.)

  9. Accurate late gadolinium enhancement prediction by early T1- based quantitative synthetic mapping

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Dijk, Randy van; Harst, Pim van der; Kuijpers, Dirkjan; Kaandorp, Theodorus A.M.; Dijkman, Paul R.M. van; Vliegenthart, Rozemarijn; Oudkerk, Matthijs

    2018-01-01

    Early synthetic gadolinium enhancement (ESGE) imaging from post-contrast T1 mapping after adenosine stress-perfusion cardiac magnetic resonance (CMR) was compared to conventional late gadolinium enhancement (LGE) imaging for assessing myocardial scar. Two hundred fourteen consecutive patients suspected of myocardial ischaemia were referred for stress-perfusion CMR. Myocardial infarct volume was quantified on a per-subsegment basis in both synthetic (2-3 min post-gadolinium) and conventional (9 min post-gadolinium) images by two independent observers. Sensitivity, specificity, PPV and NPV were calculated on a per-patient and per-subsegment basis. Both techniques detected 39 gadolinium enhancement areas in 23 patients. The median amount of scar was 2.0 (1.0-3.1) g in ESGE imaging and 2.2 (1.1-3.1) g in LGE imaging (p=0.39). Excellent correlation (r=0.997) and agreement (mean absolute difference: -0.028±0.289 ml) were found between ESGE and LGE images. Sensitivity, specificity, PPV and NPV of ESGE imaging were 96 (78.9-99.9), 99 (97.1-100.0)%, 96 (76.5-99.4) and 99.5 (96.6-99.9) in patient-based and 99 (94.5-100.0), 100 (99.9-100.0)%, 97.0 (91.3-99.0) and 100.0 (99.8-100.0) in subsegment-based analysis. ESGE based on post-contrast T1 mapping after adenosine stress-perfusion CMR imaging shows excellent agreement with conventional LGE imaging for assessing myocardial scar, and can substantially shorten clinical acquisition time. (orig.)

  10. 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.

  11. BIM: Enabling Sustainability and Asset Management through Knowledge Management

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Robbert Anton Kivits

    2013-01-01

    Full Text Available Building Information Modeling (BIM is the use of virtual building information models to develop building design solutions and design documentation and to analyse construction processes. Recent advances in IT have enabled advanced knowledge management, which in turn facilitates sustainability and improves asset management in the civil construction industry. There are several important qualifiers and some disadvantages of the current suite of technologies. This paper outlines the benefits, enablers, and barriers associated with BIM and makes suggestions about how these issues may be addressed. The paper highlights the advantages of BIM, particularly the increased utility and speed, enhanced fault finding in all construction phases, and enhanced collaborations and visualisation of data. The paper additionally identifies a range of issues concerning the implementation of BIM as follows: IP, liability, risks, and contracts and the authenticity of users. Implementing BIM requires investment in new technology, skills training, and development of new ways of collaboration and Trade Practices concerns. However, when these challenges are overcome, BIM as a new information technology promises a new level of collaborative engineering knowledge management, designed to facilitate sustainability and asset management issues in design, construction, asset management practices, and eventually decommissioning for the civil engineering industry.

  12. BIM: Enabling Sustainability and Asset Management through Knowledge Management

    Science.gov (United States)

    2013-01-01

    Building Information Modeling (BIM) is the use of virtual building information models to develop building design solutions and design documentation and to analyse construction processes. Recent advances in IT have enabled advanced knowledge management, which in turn facilitates sustainability and improves asset management in the civil construction industry. There are several important qualifiers and some disadvantages of the current suite of technologies. This paper outlines the benefits, enablers, and barriers associated with BIM and makes suggestions about how these issues may be addressed. The paper highlights the advantages of BIM, particularly the increased utility and speed, enhanced fault finding in all construction phases, and enhanced collaborations and visualisation of data. The paper additionally identifies a range of issues concerning the implementation of BIM as follows: IP, liability, risks, and contracts and the authenticity of users. Implementing BIM requires investment in new technology, skills training, and development of new ways of collaboration and Trade Practices concerns. However, when these challenges are overcome, BIM as a new information technology promises a new level of collaborative engineering knowledge management, designed to facilitate sustainability and asset management issues in design, construction, asset management practices, and eventually decommissioning for the civil engineering industry. PMID:24324392

  13. Simulação de bloqueios periféricos guiados por ultra-som: curva de aprendizado dos residentes de anestesiologia do CET-SMA/HSL Simulacro de bloqueos periféricos guiados por ultrasonido: curva de aprendizaje de los residentes de anestesiología del CET-SMA/HSL Simulation of ultrasound-guided peripheral nerve block: learning curve of CET-SMA/HSL anesthesiology residents

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Marilia Bonifácio Baranauskas

    2008-04-01

    Full Text Available JUSTIFICATIVA E OBJETIVOS: A técnica de ultra-som tem sido cada vez mais utilizada para a realização de bloqueios de nervos periféricos. Existem poucos relatos na literatura que analisam a curva de aprendizado da técnica de ultra-som. O objetivo do estudo foi avaliar a curva de aprendizado dos residentes de Anestesiologia do CET-SMA/HSL em bloqueios periféricos guiados por ultra-som por meio de modelo experimental de gelatina. MÉTODO: Foi desenvolvido modelo experimental com cuba preenchida de gelatina e azeitona submersa. Nove residentes foram distribuídos aleatoriamente em três grupos (G1, G2 e G3 compostos, cada um, de um R1, um R2 e um R3. Os três grupos receberam explanação teórica. O G1 recebeu duas horas de treinamento prático, o G2 uma hora e o G3 não treinou. Na seqüência, os participantes foram solicitados a posicionar a agulha no ponto médio da parede da azeitona, próximo ao transdutor e reposicionar a agulha entre a azeitona e o fundo da cuba, simulando a injeção perineural do anestésico. Foram avaliadas a velocidade e eficácia das tarefas, além das falhas técnicas. RESULTADOS: O G1 apresentou média de tempo para realização das tarefas de 37,63 segundos, sem falhas técnicas; no G2 observou-se média de 64,40 segundos, ocorrendo duas falhas técnicas e o G3 apresentou média de 93,83 segundos, com 12 falhas técnicas. CONCLUSÕES: O estudo permite concluir que o maior tempo de treinamento em modelo experimental de bloqueios periféricos guiados por ultra-som melhorou a curva de aprendizado na simulação da técnica.JUSTIFICATIVA Y OBJETIVOS: La técnica de ultrasonido ha sido cada vez más utilizada para la realización de bloqueos de nervios periféricos. Existen pocos relatos en la literatura que analizan la curva de aprendizaje de la técnica de ultrasonido. El objetivo del estudio fue evaluar la curva de aprendizaje de los residentes de Anestesiología del CET-SMA/HSL en bloqueos periféricos guiados

  14. Massively parallel E-beam inspection: enabling next-generation patterned defect inspection for wafer and mask manufacturing

    Science.gov (United States)

    Malloy, Matt; Thiel, Brad; Bunday, Benjamin D.; Wurm, Stefan; Mukhtar, Maseeh; Quoi, Kathy; Kemen, Thomas; Zeidler, Dirk; Eberle, Anna Lena; Garbowski, Tomasz; Dellemann, Gregor; Peters, Jan Hendrik

    2015-03-01

    SEMATECH aims to identify and enable disruptive technologies to meet the ever-increasing demands of semiconductor high volume manufacturing (HVM). As such, a program was initiated in 2012 focused on high-speed e-beam defect inspection as a complement, and eventual successor, to bright field optical patterned defect inspection [1]. The primary goal is to enable a new technology to overcome the key gaps that are limiting modern day inspection in the fab; primarily, throughput and sensitivity to detect ultra-small critical defects. The program specifically targets revolutionary solutions based on massively parallel e-beam technologies, as opposed to incremental improvements to existing e-beam and optical inspection platforms. Wafer inspection is the primary target, but attention is also being paid to next generation mask inspection. During the first phase of the multi-year program multiple technologies were reviewed, a down-selection was made to the top candidates, and evaluations began on proof of concept systems. A champion technology has been selected and as of late 2014 the program has begun to move into the core technology maturation phase in order to enable eventual commercialization of an HVM system. Performance data from early proof of concept systems will be shown along with roadmaps to achieving HVM performance. SEMATECH's vision for moving from early-stage development to commercialization will be shown, including plans for development with industry leading technology providers.

  15. 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....

  16. The COMET Sleep Research Platform.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Nichols, Deborah A; DeSalvo, Steven; Miller, Richard A; Jónsson, Darrell; Griffin, Kara S; Hyde, Pamela R; Walsh, James K; Kushida, Clete A

    2014-01-01

    The Comparative Outcomes Management with Electronic Data Technology (COMET) platform is extensible and designed for facilitating multicenter electronic clinical research. Our research goals were the following: (1) to conduct a comparative effectiveness trial (CET) for two obstructive sleep apnea treatments-positive airway pressure versus oral appliance therapy; and (2) to establish a new electronic network infrastructure that would support this study and other clinical research studies. The COMET platform was created to satisfy the needs of CET with a focus on creating a platform that provides comprehensive toolsets, multisite collaboration, and end-to-end data management. The platform also provides medical researchers the ability to visualize and interpret data using business intelligence (BI) tools. COMET is a research platform that is scalable and extensible, and which, in a future version, can accommodate big data sets and enable efficient and effective research across multiple studies and medical specialties. The COMET platform components were designed for an eventual move to a cloud computing infrastructure that enhances sustainability, overall cost effectiveness, and return on investment.

  17. Enabling Chemistry Technologies and Parallel Synthesis-Accelerators of Drug Discovery Programmes.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Vasudevan, A; Bogdan, A R; Koolman, H F; Wang, Y; Djuric, S W

    There is a pressing need to improve overall productivity in the pharmaceutical industry. Judicious investments in chemistry technologies can have a significant impact on cycle times, cost of goods and probability of technical success. This perspective describes some of these technologies developed and implemented at AbbVie, and their applications to the synthesis of novel scaffolds and to parallel synthesis. © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  18. Technologies to Enable EDL of Smallsat Science and Exploration Payloads

    Data.gov (United States)

    National Aeronautics and Space Administration — The central objective of this research is to develop technologies for Entry, Descent, and Landing (EDL) of cubesat-sized vehicles. While current efforts tend toward...

  19. Enabling Technology for Thermal Protection on HIAD and Other Hypersonic Missions, Phase I

    Data.gov (United States)

    National Aeronautics and Space Administration — S. D. Miller and Associates proposes to investigate a new class of thermal insulations that will enable thermal protection systems (TPS) on ceramic matrix composite...

  20. Innovative developments and managerial factors as key enablers of deepwater riser project delivery

    OpenAIRE

    Belik, Maxim

    2016-01-01

    Master's thesis in Offshore technology: industrial asset management The oil and gas industry is currently facing unprecedented challenges because of a negative impact from a declined commodity pricing trend. As the industry tackles deeper and more complex projects, the use of innovative technology to resolve technical challenges becomes an essential project enabler. Integrating proven designs and products with new technologies is a basic requirement in present business environment. Com...

  1. The Environmental, Social, Governance, and Financial Performance Effects on Companies that Adopt the United Nations Global Compact

    OpenAIRE

    Eduardo Ortas; Igor Álvarez; Ainhoa Garayar

    2015-01-01

    This paper aims to investigate companies’ environmental, social, governance (ESG), and financial implications of their commitment to the United Nations Global Compact (UNGC). The focus is placed on companies operating in the three countries with the highest number of UNGC participants: Spain, France, and Japan. The results clearly reveal that adoption of the UNGC often requires an organizational change that fosters stakeholder engagement, ultimately resulting in improvements in companies’ ESG...

  2. Corrugated Two-dimensional Material Enabled Flexoelectricity for Cryogenic Actuator Technology

    Data.gov (United States)

    National Aeronautics and Space Administration — Next generation cryogenic actuator technology (CAT) calls for a wide range of operating temperatures from -296 °C (liquid He) to 116 °C (max on moon surface)....

  3. Enabling Spacecraft Formation Flying through Position Determination, Control and Enhanced Automation Technologies

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bristow, John; Bauer, Frank; Hartman, Kate; How, Jonathan

    2000-01-01

    Formation Flying is revolutionizing the way the space community conducts science missions around the Earth and in deep space. This technological revolution will provide new, innovative ways for the community to gather scientific information, share that information between space vehicles and the ground, and expedite the human exploration of space. Once fully matured, formation flying will result in numerous sciencecraft acting as virtual platforms and sensor webs, gathering significantly more and better science data than call be collected today. To achieve this goal, key technologies must be developed including those that address the following basic questions posed by the spacecraft: Where am I? Where is the rest of the fleet? Where do I need to be? What do I have to do (and what am I able to do) to get there? The answers to these questions and the means to implement those answers will depend oil the specific mission needs and formation configuration. However, certain critical technologies are common to most formations. These technologies include high-precision position and relative-position knowledge including Global Positioning System (GPS) mid celestial navigation; high degrees of spacecraft autonomy inter-spacecraft communication capabilities; targeting and control including distributed control algorithms, and high precision control thrusters and actuators. This paper provides an overview of a selection of the current activities NASA/DoD/Industry/Academia are working to develop Formation Flying technologies as quickly as possible, the hurdles that need to be overcome to achieve our formation flying vision, and the team's approach to transfer this technology to space. It will also describe several of the formation flying testbeds, such as Orion and University Nanosatellites, that are being developed to demonstrate and validate many of these innovative sensing and formation control technologies.

  4. 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.

  5. GeoPro: Technology to Enable Scientific Modeling

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    C. Juan

    2004-01-01

    Development of the ground-water flow model for the Death Valley Regional Groundwater Flow System (DVRFS) required integration of numerous supporting hydrogeologic investigations. The results from recharge, discharge, hydraulic properties, water level, pumping, model boundaries, and geologic studies were integrated to develop the required conceptual and 3-D framework models, and the flow model itself. To support the complex modeling process and the needs of the multidisciplinary DVRFS team, a hardware and software system called GeoPro (Geoscience Knowledge Integration Protocol) was developed. A primary function of GeoPro is to manage the large volume of disparate data compiled for the 100,000-square-kilometer area of southern Nevada and California. The data are primarily from previous investigations and regional flow models developed for the Nevada Test Site and Yucca Mountain projects. GeoPro utilizes relational database technology (Microsoft SQL Server(trademark)) to store and manage these tabular point data, groundwater flow model ASCII data, 3-D hydrogeologic framework data, 2-D and 2.5-D GIS data, and text documents. Data management consists of versioning, tracking, and reporting data changes as multiple users access the centralized database. GeoPro also supports the modeling process by automating the routine data transformations required to integrate project software. This automation is also crucial to streamlining pre- and post-processing of model data during model calibration. Another function of GeoPro is to facilitate the dissemination and use of the model data and results through web-based documents by linking and allowing access to the underlying database and analysis tools. The intent is to convey to end-users the complex flow model product in a manner that is simple, flexible, and relevant to their needs. GeoPro is evolving from a prototype system to a production-level product. Currently the DVRFS pre- and post-processing modeling tools are being re

  6. Stratified charge rotary aircraft engine technology enablement program

    Science.gov (United States)

    Badgley, P. R.; Irion, C. E.; Myers, D. M.

    1985-01-01

    The multifuel stratified charge rotary engine is discussed. A single rotor, 0.7L/40 cu in displacement, research rig engine was tested. The research rig engine was designed for operation at high speeds and pressures, combustion chamber peak pressure providing margin for speed and load excursions above the design requirement for a high is advanced aircraft engine. It is indicated that the single rotor research rig engine is capable of meeting the established design requirements of 120 kW, 8,000 RPM, 1,379 KPA BMEP. The research rig engine, when fully developed, will be a valuable tool for investigating, advanced and highly advanced technology components, and provide an understanding of the stratified charge rotary engine combustion process.

  7. Integrating Touch-Enabled and Mobile Devices into Contemporary Mathematics Education

    Science.gov (United States)

    Meletiou-Mavrotheris, Maria, Ed.; Mavrou, Katerina, Ed.; Paparistodemou, Efi, Ed.

    2015-01-01

    Despite increased interest in mobile devices as learning tools, the amount of available primary research studies on their integration into mathematics teaching and learning is still relatively small due to the novelty of these technologies. "Integrating Touch-Enabled and Mobile Devices into Contemporary Mathematics Education" presents…

  8. Atomic layer deposition: an enabling technology for the growth of functional nanoscale semiconductors

    Science.gov (United States)

    Biyikli, Necmi; Haider, Ali

    2017-09-01

    In this paper, we present the progress in the growth of nanoscale semiconductors grown via atomic layer deposition (ALD). After the adoption by semiconductor chip industry, ALD became a widespread tool to grow functional films and conformal ultra-thin coatings for various applications. Based on self-limiting and ligand-exchange-based surface reactions, ALD enabled the low-temperature growth of nanoscale dielectric, metal, and semiconductor materials. Being able to deposit wafer-scale uniform semiconductor films at relatively low-temperatures, with sub-monolayer thickness control and ultimate conformality, makes ALD attractive for semiconductor device applications. Towards this end, precursors and low-temperature growth recipes are developed to deposit crystalline thin films for compound and elemental semiconductors. Conventional thermal ALD as well as plasma-assisted and radical-enhanced techniques have been exploited to achieve device-compatible film quality. Metal-oxides, III-nitrides, sulfides, and selenides are among the most popular semiconductor material families studied via ALD technology. Besides thin films, ALD can grow nanostructured semiconductors as well using either template-assisted growth methods or bottom-up controlled nucleation mechanisms. Among the demonstrated semiconductor nanostructures are nanoparticles, nano/quantum-dots, nanowires, nanotubes, nanofibers, nanopillars, hollow and core-shell versions of the afore-mentioned nanostructures, and 2D materials including transition metal dichalcogenides and graphene. ALD-grown nanoscale semiconductor materials find applications in a vast amount of applications including functional coatings, catalysis and photocatalysis, renewable energy conversion and storage, chemical sensing, opto-electronics, and flexible electronics. In this review, we give an overview of the current state-of-the-art in ALD-based nanoscale semiconductor research including the already demonstrated and future applications.

  9. 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...

  10. A study on organizational culture, structure and information technology as three KM enablers: A case study in five Iranian medical and healthcare research centers

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Mahdi Iran-nejad-parizi

    2013-01-01

    Full Text Available This study investigates organizational structure, culture, and information technology as knowledge management (KM infrastructural capabilities, and compares their significance and status quo in five medical research centers in Tehran, Iran. Objectives of this research were pursued by employing two statistical methods, regression analysis and Friedman test. Included in the study were 135 people (researchers and support staff from five medical and healthcare research centers of Tehran. A survey questionnaire including 23 questions was utilized to examine organizational structure, culture and information technology indicators. And another 12 questions examined KM effectiveness. The Friedman test indicated that in terms of their status quo, the three studied KM enablers are at different conditions, with organizational culture having the best (mean rank=1.79 and IT the worst (mean rank=2.14 status. Moreover, it was revealed by regression analysis that organizational structure is believed to have the most significant impact (Beta= 0.397 on the effectiveness of knowledge management initiatives, while information technology gained the least perceived impact (Beta= 0.176.

  11. A Single-use Strategy to Enable Manufacturing of Affordable Biologics

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Renaud Jacquemart

    2016-01-01

    Full Text Available The current processing paradigm of large manufacturing facilities dedicated to single product production is no longer an effective approach for best manufacturing practices. Increasing competition for new indications and the launch of biosimilars for the monoclonal antibody market have put pressure on manufacturers to produce at lower cost. Single-use technologies and continuous upstream processes have proven to be cost-efficient options to increase biomass production but as of today the adoption has been only minimal for the purification operations, partly due to concerns related to cost and scale-up. This review summarizes how a single-use holistic process and facility strategy can overcome scale limitations and enable cost-efficient manufacturing to support the growing demand for affordable biologics. Technologies enabling high productivity, right-sized, small footprint, continuous, and automated upstream and downstream operations are evaluated in order to propose a concept for the flexible facility of the future.

  12. The accuracy of a 2D and 3D dendritic tip scaling parameter in predicting the columnar to equiaxed transition (CET)

    Science.gov (United States)

    Seredyński, M.; Rebow, M.; Banaszek, J.

    2016-09-01

    The dendrite tip kinetics model accuracy relies on the reliability of the stability constant used, which is usually experimentally determined for 3D situations and applied to 2D models. The paper reports authors' attempts to cure the situation by deriving 2D dendritic tip scaling parameter for aluminium-based alloy: Al-4wt%Cu. The obtained parameter is then incorporated into the KGT dendritic growth model in order to compare it with the original 3D KGT counterpart and to derive two-dimensional and three-dimensional versions of the modified Hunt's analytical model for the columnar-to-equiaxed transition (CET). The conclusions drawn from the above analysis are further confirmed through numerical calculations of the two cases of Al-4wt%Cu metallic alloy solidification using the front tracking technique. Results, including the porous zone-under-cooled liquid front position, the calculated solutal under-cooling and a new predictor of the relative tendency to form an equiaxed zone, are shown, compared and discussed two numerical cases. The necessity to calculate sufficiently precise values of the tip scaling parameter in 2D and 3D is stressed.

  13. Tecnologie dell’informazione e nuovi processi di vittimizzazione / Nouvelles technologies et processus de victimisation / Information technologies and new processes of victimisation

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Marotta Gemma

    2012-08-01

    Full Text Available New technologies, on the one hand, have produced undeniable positive effects, from the acceleration of cultural diffusion to the communication between "worlds" previously unknown; on the other hand, they have become now an instrument to commit new crimes and deviants acts.In the article we will discuss the processes of victimization related to specific offenses (digital identity theft, online paedopornography, cyberstalking and to new forms of addiction due to the new media. The aim is to highlight the dangers of the misuse or abuse of new technologies.S'il est vrai que les nouvelles technologies de communication ont produit des effets positifs indéniables, comme l'accélération de la diffusion culturelle et l'échange entre « mondes » jusque-là inconnus, elles n'en sont pas moins devenues un moyen de commettre des actes déviants et criminels nouveaux.Cet article expose les processus de victimisation liés à certains crimes (comme l'usurpation d'identité, la pédopornographie en ligne, le cyber-harcèlement, et de nouvelles formes de dépendance, afin de mettre en évidence les dangers d'un usage pervers ou délictueux des nouveaux médias.

  14. Cue-exposure software for the treatment of bulimia nervosa and binge eating disorder.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gutiérrez-Maldonado, José; Pla-Sanjuanelo, Joana; Ferrer-García, Marta

    2016-11-01

    Cue-exposure therapy (CET) has proven its efficacy in treating patients with bulimia nervosa and binge eating disorder who are resistant to standard treatment. Furthermore, incorporating virtual reality (VR) technology is increasingly considered a valid exposure method that may help to increase the efficacy of standard treatments in a variety of eating disorders. Although immersive displays improve the beneficial effects, expensive technology is not always necessary. We aimed to assess whether exposure to food related virtual environments could decrease food craving in a non-clinical sample. In addition, we specifically compared the effects of two VR systems (one non-immersive and one immersive) during CET. We therefore applied a one-session CET to 113 undergraduate students. Decreased food craving was found during exposure to both VR environments compared with pre-treatment levels, supporting the efficacy of VR-CET in reducing food craving. We found no significant differences in craving between immersive and non-immersive systems. Low-cost non-immersive systems applied through 3D laptops can improve the accessibility of this technique. By reducing the costs and improving the usability, VR-CET on 3D laptops may become a viable option that can be readily applied in a greater range of clinical contexts.

  15. Double-Loop Health Technology: Enabling Socio-technical Design of Personal Health Technology in Clinical Practice

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Bardram, Jakob Eyvind; Frost, Mads

    2018-01-01

    present a case of designing personal health technology for mental health, which is integrated into hospital-based treatment. This system helps patients to manage their disease by tracking and correlation behavior and disease progression and provide feedback to them, while also deployed as part......Personal health technology is rapidly emerging as a response to the challenges associated with significant increase in chronic noncommunicable diseases. The overall design paradigm behind most of these applications is to manually and automatically sample data from sensors and smartphones and use...... this to provide patients with an awareness of their illness and give recommendation for treatment, care, and healthy living. Few of these systems are, however, designed to be part of a complex socio-technical care and treatment processes in existing healthcare systems and clinical pathways. In this chapter, we...

  16. 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.

  17. Beam shaping as an enabler for new applications

    Science.gov (United States)

    Guertler, Yvonne; Kahmann, Max; Havrilla, David

    2017-02-01

    For many years, laser beam shaping has enabled users to achieve optimized process results as well as manage challenging applications. The latest advancements in industrial lasers and processing optics have taken this a step further as users are able to adapt the beam shape to meet specific application requirements in a very flexible way. TRUMPF has developed a wide range of experience in creating beam profiles at the work piece for optimized material processing. This technology is based on the physical model of wave optics and can be used with ultra short pulse lasers as well as multi-kW cw lasers. Basically, the beam shape can be adapted in all three dimensions in space, which allows maximum flexibility. Besides adaption of intensity profile, even multi-spot geometries can be produced. This approach is very cost efficient, because a standard laser source and (in the case of cw lasers) a standard fiber can be used without any special modifications. Based on this innovative beam shaping technology, TRUMPF has developed new and optimized processes. Two of the most recent application developments using these techniques are cutting glass and synthetic sapphire with ultra-short pulse lasers and enhanced brazing of hot dip zinc coated steel for automotive applications. Both developments lead to more efficient and flexible production processes, enabled by laser technology and open the door to new opportunities. They also indicate the potential of beam shaping techniques since they can be applied to both single-mode laser sources (TOP Cleave) and multi-mode laser sources (brazing).

  18. Synthetic Biology as an Enabling Technology for Space Exploration

    Science.gov (United States)

    Rothschild, Lynn J.

    2016-01-01

    Human exploration off planet is severely limited by the cost of launching materials into space and by re-supply. Thus materials brought from Earth must be light, stable and reliable at destination. Using traditional approaches, a lunar or Mars base would require either transporting a hefty store of metals or heavy manufacturing equipment and construction materials for in situ extraction; both would severely limit any other mission objectives. Long-term human space presence requires periodic replenishment, adding a massive cost overhead. Even robotic missions often sacrifice science goals for heavy radiation and thermal protection. Biology has the potential to solve these problems because life can replicate and repair itself, and perform a wide variety of chemical reactions including making food, fuel and materials. Synthetic biology enhances and expands life's evolved repertoire. Using organisms as feedstock, additive manufacturing through bioprinting will make possible the dream of producing bespoke tools, food, smart fabrics and even replacement organs on demand. This new approach and the resulting novel products will enable human exploration and settlement on Mars, while providing new manufacturing approaches for life on Earth.

  19. Localization and expression of molt-inhibiting hormone and nitric oxide synthase in the central nervous system of the green shore crab, Carcinus maenas, and the blackback land crab, Gecarcinus lateralis.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Pitts, Natalie L; Mykles, Donald L

    2017-01-01

    In decapod crustaceans, molting is controlled by the pulsatile release of molt-inhibiting hormone (MIH) from neurosecretory cells in the X-organ/sinus gland (XO/SG) complex in the eyestalk ganglia (ESG). A drop in MIH release triggers molting by activating the molting gland or Y-organ (YO). Post-transcriptional mechanisms ultimately control MIH levels in the hemolymph. Neurotransmitter-mediated electrical activity controls Ca 2+ -dependent vesicular release of MIH from the SG axon terminals, which may be modulated by nitric oxide (NO). In green shore crab, Carcinus maenas, nitric oxide synthase (NOS) protein and NO are present in the SG. Moreover, C. maenas are refractory to eyestalk ablation (ESA), suggesting other regions of the nervous system secrete sufficient amounts of MIH to prevent molting. By contrast, ESA induces molting in the blackback land crab, Gecarcinus lateralis. Double-label immunofluorescence microscopy and quantitative polymerase chain reaction were used to localize and quantify MIH and NOS proteins and transcripts, respectively, in the ESG, brain, and thoracic ganglion (TG) of C. maenas and G. lateralis. In ESG, MIH- and NOS-immunopositive cells were closely associated in the SG of both species; confocal microscopy showed that NOS was localized in cells adjacent to MIH-positive axon terminals. In brain, MIH-positive cells were located in a small number of cells in the olfactory lobe; no NOS immunofluorescence was detected. In TG, MIH and NOS were localized in cell clusters between the segmental nerves. In G. lateralis, Gl-MIH and Gl-crustacean hyperglycemic hormone (CHH) mRNA levels were ~10 5 -fold higher in ESG than in brain or TG of intermolt animals, indicating that the ESG is the primary source of these neuropeptides. Gl-NOS and Gl-elongation factor (EF2) mRNA levels were also higher in the ESG. Molt stage had little or no effect on CHH, NOS, NOS-interacting protein (NOS-IP), membrane Guanylyl Cyclase-II (GC-II), and NO-independent GC

  20. Elckerlyc goes mobile: enabling technology for ECAs in mobile applications

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Klaassen, Randy; Hendrix, J.; Reidsma, Dennis; op den Akker, Hendrikus J.A.

    2012-01-01

    The fast growth of computational resources and speech technology available on mobile devices makes it pos- sible for users of these devices to interact with service sys- tems through natural dialogue. These systems are sometimes perceived as social agents and presented by means of an animated

  1. Advanced Information Technology Investments at the NASA Earth Science Technology Office

    Science.gov (United States)

    Clune, T.; Seablom, M. S.; Moe, K.

    2012-12-01

    The NASA Earth Science Technology Office (ESTO) regularly makes investments for nurturing advanced concepts in information technology to enable rapid, low-cost acquisition, processing and visualization of Earth science data in support of future NASA missions and climate change research. In 2012, the National Research Council published a mid-term assessment of the 2007 decadal survey for future spacemissions supporting Earth science and applications [1]. The report stated, "Earth sciences have advanced significantly because of existing observational capabilities and the fruit of past investments, along with advances in data and information systems, computer science, and enabling technologies." The report found that NASA had responded favorably and aggressively to the decadal survey and noted the role of the recent ESTO solicitation for information systems technologies that partnered with the NASA Applied Sciences Program to support the transition into operations. NASA's future missions are key stakeholders for the ESTO technology investments. Also driving these investments is the need for the Agency to properly address questions regarding the prediction, adaptation, and eventual mitigation of climate change. The Earth Science Division has championed interdisciplinary research, recognizing that the Earth must be studied as a complete system in order toaddress key science questions [2]. Information technology investments in the low-mid technology readiness level (TRL) range play a key role in meeting these challenges. ESTO's Advanced Information Systems Technology (AIST) program invests in higher risk / higher reward technologies that solve the most challenging problems of the information processing chain. This includes the space segment, where the information pipeline begins, to the end user, where knowledge is ultimatelyadvanced. The objectives of the program are to reduce the risk, cost, size, and development time of Earth Science space-based and ground

  2. Spreading the rooftop revolution: What policies enable solar-as-a-service?

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Overholm, Harald

    2015-01-01

    Firms using third-party-ownership (TPO) business models transform solar rooftop installations into a simple service. TPO firms sign long-term agreements with building owners or users to install, finance and manage locally sited solar panels. Customers simply buy solar electricity. The business model can increase total PV market demand by removing central barriers to PV adoption including technology risk, financing needs, and learning costs. TPO is now the dominant US model for residential solar and attempts to use the business model are underway in Europe and Asia. This study discusses how policy makers can enable emergence of solar TPO business models in new markets, a theme novel to extant literature. The paper is based on a comprehensive study of the US solar TPO ecosystem including 50 interviews with key market actors. A downside to the TPO model is potential lock-out of innovative solar technology. Crucial policy actions to enable TPO emergence in new markets are to ensure the legality of the TPO model and to facilitate solar self-consumption (the ability of customers to offset grid electricity costs by using locally generated solar electricity). -- Highlights: •Solar third-party ownership (TPO) firms can boost solar rooftop growth. •5 in-depth cases of US TPO firms and their ecosystem of partners are analyzed. •Policy options to enable solar TPO emergence in new markets are suggested. •Avoiding prohibitive rules and facilitating solar self-consumption are key measures. •Lock-out of new and innovative solar technology is a downside to the TPO model

  3. 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...

  4. Enabling distributed petascale science

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Baranovski, Andrew; Bharathi, Shishir; Bresnahan, John

    2007-01-01

    Petascale science is an end-to-end endeavour, involving not only the creation of massive datasets at supercomputers or experimental facilities, but the subsequent analysis of that data by a user community that may be distributed across many laboratories and universities. The new SciDAC Center for Enabling Distributed Petascale Science (CEDPS) is developing tools to support this end-to-end process. These tools include data placement services for the reliable, high-performance, secure, and policy-driven placement of data within a distributed science environment; tools and techniques for the construction, operation, and provisioning of scalable science services; and tools for the detection and diagnosis of failures in end-to-end data placement and distributed application hosting configurations. In each area, we build on a strong base of existing technology and have made useful progress in the first year of the project. For example, we have recently achieved order-of-magnitude improvements in transfer times (for lots of small files) and implemented asynchronous data staging capabilities; demonstrated dynamic deployment of complex application stacks for the STAR experiment; and designed and deployed end-to-end troubleshooting services. We look forward to working with SciDAC application and technology projects to realize the promise of petascale science

  5. Frontier In-Situ Resource Utilization for Enabling Sustained Human Presence on Mars

    Science.gov (United States)

    Moses, Robert W.; Bushnell, Dennis M.

    2016-01-01

    The currently known resources on Mars are massive, including extensive quantities of water and carbon dioxide and therefore carbon, hydrogen and oxygen for life support, fuels and plastics and much else. The regolith is replete with all manner of minerals. In Situ Resource Utilization (ISRU) applicable frontier technologies include robotics, machine intelligence, nanotechnology, synthetic biology, 3-D printing/additive manufacturing and autonomy. These technologies combined with the vast natural resources should enable serious, pre- and post-human arrival ISRU to greatly increase reliability and safety and reduce cost for human colonization of Mars. Various system-level transportation concepts employing Mars produced fuel would enable Mars resources to evolve into a primary center of trade for the inner solar system for eventually nearly everything required for space faring and colonization. Mars resources and their exploitation via extensive ISRU are the key to a viable, safe and affordable, human presence beyond Earth. The purpose of this paper is four-fold: 1) to highlight the latest discoveries of water, minerals, and other materials on Mars that reshape our thinking about the value and capabilities of Mars ISRU; 2) to summarize the previous literature on Mars ISRU processes, equipment, and approaches; 3) to point to frontier ISRU technologies and approaches that can lead to safe and affordable human missions to Mars; and 4) to suggest an implementation strategy whereby the ISRU elements are phased into the mission campaign over time to enable a sustainable and increasing human presence on Mars.

  6. Technology assisted education: An overview of success factors

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Mehdi Asgarkhani

    Full Text Available This paper elaborates on the role of digital and web technologies in learning. It discusses that technology alone cannot deliver successful learning outcomes. In rolling out technology-enabled learning solutions a range of other factors must be taken into consideration. A model for technology-based learning values and pilot study of a group of technology-enabled digital learning initiatives in institutions are presented to highlight the importance of people and process related factors alongside technology. The outcome of this preliminary study is presented; it indicates no significant strategic gains were derived from the use of web-technologies.

  7. Critical Technology Determination for Future Human Space Flight

    Science.gov (United States)

    Mercer, Carolyn R.; Vangen, Scott D.; Williams-Byrd, Julie A.; Stecklein, Jonette M.; Rahman, Shamim A.; Rosenthal, Matthew E.; Hornyak, David M.; Alexander, Leslie; Korsmeyer, David J.; Tu, Eugene L.; hide

    2012-01-01

    As the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) prepares to extend human presence throughout the solar system, technical capabilities must be developed to enable long duration flights to destinations such as near Earth asteroids, Mars, and extended stays on the Moon. As part of the NASA Human Spaceflight Architecture Team, a Technology Development Assessment Team has identified a suite of critical technologies needed to support this broad range of missions. Dialog between mission planners, vehicle developers, and technologists was used to identify a minimum but sufficient set of technologies, noting that needs are created by specific mission architecture requirements, yet specific designs are enabled by technologies. Further consideration was given to the re-use of underlying technologies to cover multiple missions to effectively use scarce resources. This suite of critical technologies is expected to provide the needed base capability to enable a variety of possible destinations and missions. This paper describes the methodology used to provide an architecture-driven technology development assessment ("technology pull"), including technology advancement needs identified by trade studies encompassing a spectrum of flight elements and destination design reference missions.

  8. SMD Technology Development Story for NASA Annual Technology report

    Science.gov (United States)

    Seablom, Michael S.

    2017-01-01

    The role of the Science Mission Directorate (SMD) is to enable NASA to achieve its science goals in the context of the Nation's science agenda. SMD's strategic decisions regarding future missions and scientific pursuits are guided by Agency goals, input from the science community-including the recommendations set forth in the National Research Council (NRC) decadal surveys-and a commitment to preserve a balanced program across the major science disciplines. Toward this end, each of the four SMD science divisions-Heliophysics, Earth Science, Planetary Science, and Astrophysics-develops fundamental science questions upon which to base future research and mission programs. Often the breakthrough science required to answer these questions requires significant technological innovation-e.g., instruments or platforms with capabilities beyond the current state of the art. SMD's targeted technology investments fill technology gaps, enabling NASA to build the challenging and complex missions that accomplish groundbreaking science.

  9. Information and communication technology-enabled person-centered care for the "big five" chronic conditions: scoping review.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wildevuur, Sabine E; Simonse, Lianne W L

    2015-03-27

    Person-centered information and communication technology (ICT) could encourage patients to take an active part in their health care and decision-making process, and make it possible for patients to interact directly with health care providers and services about their personal health concerns. Yet, little is known about which ICT interventions dedicated to person-centered care (PCC) and connected-care interactions have been studied, especially for shared care management of chronic diseases. The aim of this research is to investigate the extent, range, and nature of these research activities and identify research gaps in the evidence base of health studies regarding the "big 5" chronic diseases: diabetes mellitus, cardiovascular disease, chronic respiratory disease, cancer, and stroke. The objective of this paper was to review the literature and to scope the field with respect to 2 questions: (1) which ICT interventions have been used to support patients and health care professionals in PCC management of the big 5 chronic diseases? and (2) what is the impact of these interventions, such as on health-related quality of life and cost efficiency? This research adopted a scoping review method. Three electronic medical databases were accessed: PubMed, EMBASE, and Cochrane Library. The research reviewed studies published between January 1989 and December 2013. In 5 stages of systematic scanning and reviewing, relevant studies were identified, selected, and charted. Then we collated, summarized, and reported the results. From the initial 9380 search results, we identified 350 studies that qualified for inclusion: diabetes mellitus (n=103), cardiovascular disease (n=89), chronic respiratory disease (n=73), cancer (n=67), and stroke (n=18). Persons with one of these chronic conditions used ICT primarily for self-measurement of the body, when interacting with health care providers, with the highest rates of use seen in chronic respiratory (63%, 46/73) and cardiovascular (53

  10. Using internet enabled mobile devices and social networking technologies to promote exercise as an intervention for young first episode psychosis patients

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Sun Pamela

    2011-05-01

    Full Text Available Abstract Background Young people with first episode psychosis are at an increased risk for a range of poor health outcomes. In contrast to the growing body of evidence that suggests that exercise therapy may benefit the physical and mental health of people diagnosed with schizophrenia, there are no studies to date that have sought to extend the use of exercise therapy among patients with first episode psychosis. The aim of the study is to test the feasibility and acceptability of an exercise program that will be delivered via internet enabled mobile devices and social networking technologies among young people with first episode psychosis. Methods/Design This study is a qualitative pilot study being conducted at Orygen Youth Health Research Centre in Melbourne, Australia. Participants are young people aged 15-24 who are receiving clinical care at a specialist first episode psychosis treatment centre. Participants will also comprise young people from the general population. The exercise intervention is a 9-week running program, designed to gradually build a person's level of fitness to be able to run 5 kilometres (3 miles towards the end of the program. The program will be delivered via an internet enabled mobile device. Participants will be asked to post messages about their running experiences on the social networking website, and will also be asked to attend three face-to-face interviews. Discussion This paper describes the development of a qualitative study to pilot a running program coupled with the use of internet enabled mobile devices among young people with first episode psychosis. If the program is found to be feasible and acceptable to patients, it is hoped that further rigorous evaluations will ultimately lead to the introduction of exercise therapy as part of an evidence-based, multidisciplinary approach in routine clinical care.

  11. Using internet enabled mobile devices and social networking technologies to promote exercise as an intervention for young first episode psychosis patients.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Killackey, Eoin; Anda, Anna Lee; Gibbs, Martin; Alvarez-Jimenez, Mario; Thompson, Andrew; Sun, Pamela; Baksheev, Gennady N

    2011-05-12

    Young people with first episode psychosis are at an increased risk for a range of poor health outcomes. In contrast to the growing body of evidence that suggests that exercise therapy may benefit the physical and mental health of people diagnosed with schizophrenia, there are no studies to date that have sought to extend the use of exercise therapy among patients with first episode psychosis. The aim of the study is to test the feasibility and acceptability of an exercise program that will be delivered via internet enabled mobile devices and social networking technologies among young people with first episode psychosis. This study is a qualitative pilot study being conducted at Orygen Youth Health Research Centre in Melbourne, Australia. Participants are young people aged 15-24 who are receiving clinical care at a specialist first episode psychosis treatment centre. Participants will also comprise young people from the general population. The exercise intervention is a 9-week running program, designed to gradually build a person's level of fitness to be able to run 5 kilometres (3 miles) towards the end of the program. The program will be delivered via an internet enabled mobile device. Participants will be asked to post messages about their running experiences on the social networking website, and will also be asked to attend three face-to-face interviews. This paper describes the development of a qualitative study to pilot a running program coupled with the use of internet enabled mobile devices among young people with first episode psychosis. If the program is found to be feasible and acceptable to patients, it is hoped that further rigorous evaluations will ultimately lead to the introduction of exercise therapy as part of an evidence-based, multidisciplinary approach in routine clinical care.

  12. Photonic-Enabled RF Canceller with Tunable Time-Delay Taps

    Science.gov (United States)

    2016-12-05

    Photonic -Enabled RF Canceller with Tunable Time-Delay Taps Kenneth E. Kolodziej, Sivasubramaniam Yegnanarayanan, Bradley T. Perry MIT Lincoln...canceller design that uses photonics and a vector modulator architecture to provide a high number of canceller taps with tunable time-delays, which allow...microwave photonics , RF cancellation. I. INTRODUCTION In-Band Full-Duplex (IBFD) technologies are being consid- ered for 5th generation (5G) wireless

  13. The use of smart technologies in enabling construction components reuse: A viable method or a problem creating solution?

    Science.gov (United States)

    Iacovidou, Eleni; Purnell, Phil; Lim, Ming K

    2018-06-15

    The exploitation of Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) for tracking and archiving the properties of structural construction components could be a potentially innovative disruption for the construction sector. This is because RFID can stimulate the reuse of construction components and reduce their wastage, hence addressing sustainability issues in the construction sector. To test the plausibility of that idea, this study explores the potential pre-conditions for RFID to facilitate construction components reuse, and develops a guidance for promoting their redistribution back to the supply chain. It also looks at how integrating RFID with Building Information Modelling (BIM) can possibly be a valuable extension of its capabilities, providing the opportunity for tracked components to be incorporated into new structures in an informed, sound way. A preliminary assessment of the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats of the RFID technology is presented in order to depict its current and future potential in promoting construction components' sustainable lifecycle management, while emphasis has been laid on capturing their technical, environmental, economic and social value. Findings suggest that the collection of the right amount of information at the design-construction-deconstruction-reuse-disposal stage is crucial for RFID to become a successful innovation in the construction sector. Although a number of limitations related to the technical operability and recycling of RFID tags seem to currently hinder its uptake for structural components' lifecycle management, future technological innovations could provide solutions that would enable it to become a mainstream practice. Taken together these proposals advocate that the use of RFID and its integration with BIM can create the right environment for the development of new business models focused on sustainable resource management. These models may then unlock multiple values that are otherwise dissipated in

  14. Enabling instrumentation and technology for 21st century light sources

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Byrd, J.M.; Shea, T.J.; Denes, P.; Siddons, P.; Attwood, D.; Kaertner, F.; Moog, L.; Li, Y.; Sakdinawat, A.; Schlueter, R.

    2010-06-01

    We present the summary from the Accelerator Instrumentation and Technology working group, one of the five working groups that participated in the BES-sponsored Workshop on Accelerator Physics of Future Light Sources held in Gaithersburg, MD September 15-17, 2009. We describe progress and potential in three areas: attosecond instrumentation, photon detectors for user experiments, and insertion devices.

  15. Enabling kinetic micro-penetrator technology for Solar System research

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gowen, R. A.

    2008-09-01

    Whilst the concept of high speed impacting penetrator probes is not new, recent highly successful ground test results have considerably improved the perception that these can be a viable and useful addition to the current toolbox of planetary probes. Previous developments only led to a single deployment (Deep Space-2 to Mars on the ill fated NASA Mars Polar Lander mission in 1999) where neither the soft lander nor penetrator was ever heard from, which is not a logical basis for dismissing penetrator technology. Other space penetrator programmes have included the Russian Mars'96 ~80m/s penetrators for which the whole mission was lost before the spacecraft left Earth orbit, and the Japanese Lunar-A program which was cancelled after a lengthy development program which however saw multiple successful ground trials. The Japanese penetrators were designed for ~300m/s impact. The current UK penetrator developments are actively working towards full space qualification for a Lunar penetrators (MoonLITE mission), which would also provide a significant technical demonstration towards the development of smaller, shorter lived penetrators for exploring other solar system objects. We are advocating delivered micro-penetrators in the mass range ~4-10Kg, (preceded by ~13Kg Lunar penetrator MoonLITE development program), impacting at around 100-500m/s and carrying a scientific payload of around 2Kg. Additional mass is required to deliver the probes from `orbit' to surface which is dependent upon the particular planetary body in question. The mass per descent module therefore involves and additional element which, for a descent through an atmosphere could be quite modest, while for a flyby deployment, can be substantial. For Europa we estimate a descent module mass of ~13 Kg, while for Enceladus the value is ~40Kg for Enceladus since a deceleration of ~3.8 kms-1 is needed from a Titan orbit. The delivery system could consist of a rocket deceleration motor and attitude control system

  16. Enabling content distribution in vehicular ad hoc networks

    CERN Document Server

    Luan, Tom H; Bai, Fan

    2014-01-01

    This SpringerBrief presents key enabling technologies and state-of-the-art research on delivering efficient content distribution services to fast moving vehicles. It describes recent research developments and proposals towards the efficient, resilient and scalable content distribution to vehicles through both infrastructure-based and infrastructure-less vehicular networks. The authors focus on the rich multimedia services provided by vehicular environment content distribution including vehicular communications and media playback, giving passengers many infotainment applications. Common problem

  17. Radio frequency identification enabled wireless sensing for intelligent food logistics.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zou, Zhuo; Chen, Qiang; Chen, Qing; Uysal, Ismail; Zheng, Lirong

    2014-06-13

    Future technologies and applications for the Internet of Things (IoT) will evolve the process of the food supply chain and create added value of business. Radio frequency identifications (RFIDs) and wireless sensor networks (WSNs) have been considered as the key technological enablers. Intelligent tags, powered by autonomous energy, are attached on objects, networked by short-range wireless links, allowing the physical parameters such as temperatures and humidities as well as the location information to seamlessly integrate with the enterprise information system over the Internet. In this paper, challenges, considerations and design examples are reviewed from system, implementation and application perspectives, particularly with focus on intelligent packaging and logistics for the fresh food tracking and monitoring service. An IoT platform with a two-layer network architecture is introduced consisting of an asymmetric tag-reader link (RFID layer) and an ad-hoc link between readers (WSN layer), which are further connected to the Internet via cellular or Wi-Fi. Then, we provide insights into the enabling technology of RFID with sensing capabilities. Passive, semi-passive and active RFID solutions are discussed. In particular, we describe ultra-wideband radio RFID which has been considered as one of the most promising techniques for ultra-low-power and low-cost wireless sensing. Finally, an example is provided in the form of an application in fresh food tracking services and corresponding field testing results.

  18. Education Technology Success Stories

    Science.gov (United States)

    West, Darrell M.; Bleiberg, Joshua

    2013-01-01

    Advances in technology are enabling dramatic changes in education content, delivery, and accessibility. Throughout history, new technologies have facilitated the exponential growth of human knowledge. In the early twentieth century, the focus was on the use of radios in education. But since then, innovators have seen technology as a way to improve…

  19. 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.

  20. Integrated and Intelligent Manufacturing: Perspectives and Enablers

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Yubao Chen

    2017-10-01

    Full Text Available With ever-increasing market competition and advances in technology, more and more countries are prioritizing advanced manufacturing technology as their top priority for economic growth. Germany announced the Industry 4.0 strategy in 2013. The US government launched the Advanced Manufacturing Partnership (AMP in 2011 and the National Network for Manufacturing Innovation (NNMI in 2014. Most recently, the Manufacturing USA initiative was officially rolled out to further “leverage existing resources... to nurture manufacturing innovation and accelerate commercialization” by fostering close collaboration between industry, academia, and government partners. In 2015, the Chinese government officially published a 10-year plan and roadmap toward manufacturing: Made in China 2025. In all these national initiatives, the core technology development and implementation is in the area of advanced manufacturing systems. A new manufacturing paradigm is emerging, which can be characterized by two unique features: integrated manufacturing and intelligent manufacturing. This trend is in line with the progress of industrial revolutions, in which higher efficiency in production systems is being continuously pursued. To this end, 10 major technologies can be identified for the new manufacturing paradigm. This paper describes the rationales and needs for integrated and intelligent manufacturing (i2M systems. Related technologies from different fields are also described. In particular, key technological enablers, such as the Internet of Things and Services (IoTS, cyber-physical systems (CPSs, and cloud computing are discussed. Challenges are addressed with applications that are based on commercially available platforms such as General Electric (GE’s Predix and PTC’s ThingWorx.

  1. Endoscopic submucosal dissection

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Pimentel-Nunes, Pedro; Dinis-Ribeiro, Mário; Ponchon, Thierry

    2015-01-01

    evidence). 2 ESGE recommends endoscopic resection with a curative intent for visible lesions in Barrett's esophagus (strong recommendation, moderate quality evidence). ESD has not been shown to be superior to EMR for excision of mucosal cancer, and for that reason EMR should be preferred. ESD may...... RECOMMENDATIONS: 1 ESGE recommends endoscopic en bloc resection for superficial esophageal squamous cell cancers (SCCs), excluding those with obvious submucosal involvement (strong recommendation, moderate quality evidence). Endoscopic mucosal resection (EMR) may be considered in such lesions when...

  2. Controlled Environments Enable Adaptive Management in Aquatic Ecosystems Under Altered Environments

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bubenheim, David L.

    2016-01-01

    Ecosystems worldwide are impacted by altered environment conditions resulting from climate, drought, and land use changes. Gaps in the science knowledge base regarding plant community response to these novel and rapid changes limit both science understanding and management of ecosystems. We describe how CE Technologies have enabled the rapid supply of gap-filling science, development of ecosystem simulation models, and remote sensing assessment tools to provide science-informed, adaptive management methods in the impacted aquatic ecosystem of the California Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta. The Delta is the hub for California's water, supplying Southern California agriculture and urban communities as well as the San Francisco Bay area. The changes in environmental conditions including temperature, light, and water quality and associated expansion of invasive aquatic plants negatively impact water distribution and ecology of the San Francisco Bay/Delta complex. CE technologies define changes in resource use efficiencies, photosynthetic productivity, evapotranspiration, phenology, reproductive strategies, and spectral reflectance modifications in native and invasive species in response to altered conditions. We will discuss how the CE technologies play an enabling role in filling knowledge gaps regarding plant response to altered environments, parameterization and validation of ecosystem models, development of satellite-based, remote sensing tools, and operational management strategies.

  3. 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

  4. Enabling Telescopes of the Future: Long-Range Technology Investing

    Science.gov (United States)

    Thronson, Harley

    2004-01-01

    The Office of Space Science at NASA Headquarters has a current staff of about 60 professionals (aka, scientists, engineers, budget analysts) and an annual budget of $2.5 B out of NASA s $15.0 B. About 35 missions or programs in various stages of development or operation are managed by OSS, notable among them are Hubble Space Telescope, Mars Global Surveyor, Mars 2001 Odyssey, Chandra X-ray Observatory, TRACE (solar observatory), Cassini (mission to Saturn), Galileo (mission at Jupiter), and Next Generation Space Telescope. OSS has an annual technology budget of several hundred million dollars. So, what is it that we are doing?

  5. 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.

  6. Enabling LTE and WiFi Coexisting in 5 GHz for Efficient Spectrum Utilization

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Hongyu Sun

    2017-01-01

    Full Text Available Due to the increasing mobile traffic demands in cellular network, researchers have proposed the coexistence of LTE and WiFi technologies in 5 GHz unlicensed bands. Therefore, how to efficiently utilize the spectrum in 5 GHz becomes extremely important. To avoid the channel access conflicts, current LTE Unlicensed (LTE-U technology introduces the duty cycle of LTE, while License-Assisted Access (LAA technology introduces Listen-Before-Talk (LBT mechanism. While these two technologies improve the spectrum utilization by using time division access schema, we believe that more efficient spectrum utilization can be achieved by enabling simultaneous transmissions from LTE and WiFi. In this paper, we propose a novel method (i.e., Low Amplitude Stream Injection (LASI method to enable the simultaneous transmissions of WiFi and LTE frames in the same channel and recover the data from the conflicts. To further utilize the LASI method, we introduce the Conflict-Tolerant Channel Allocation (CTCA algorithm to optimize the channel allocation and achieve more efficient spectrum utilization in 5 GHz. Extensive simulation results show that our approach achieves lower latency and higher throughput. Compared with the state-of-the-art LTE-U and LAA technologies, our approach can improve the spectrum efficiency 2.9 times.

  7. Responsible Investment: Taxes and Paradoxes

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Knuutinen Reijo

    2017-12-01

    Full Text Available Taxes have become an issue of corporate social responsibility (CSR, but the role of taxation is to some extent an ambiguous and controversial issue in the CSR framework. Similarly, another unclear question is what role investors who are committed to sustainable and responsible investment (SRI see taxes as having on their environmental, social, and governance (ESG agenda. Corporate taxes have an inverse relationship with the return of the investors: taxes paid directly affect what is left on the bottom line, reducing the return of investors. However, investors are now more aware of tax-related risks, which can include different forms of reputation risk. Corporate tax planning may increase the returns, but those increased returns are riskier. This study focuses particularly on the relationship between SRI and taxation. We find that tax matters are considered to be on the ESG agenda, but their role and significance in the ESG analysis is unclear.

  8. Global biosurveillance: enabling science and technology. Workshop background and motivation: international scientific engagement for global security

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Cui, Helen H [Los Alamos National Laboratory

    2011-01-18

    Through discussion the conference aims to: (1) Identify core components of a comprehensive global biosurveillance capability; (2) Determine the scientific and technical bases to support such a program; (3) Explore the improvement in biosurveillance to enhance regional and global disease outbreak prediction; (4) Recommend an engagement approach to establishing an effective international community and regional or global network; (5) Propose implementation strategies and the measures of effectiveness; and (6) Identify the challenges that must be overcome in the next 3-5 years in order to establish an initial global biosurveillance capability that will have significant positive impact on BioNP as well as public health and/or agriculture. There is also a look back at the First Biothreat Nonproliferation Conference from December 2007. Whereas the first conference was an opportunity for problem solving to enhance and identify new paradigms for biothreat nonproliferation, this conference is moving towards integrated comprehensive global biosurveillance. Main reasons for global biosurveillance are: (1) Rapid assessment of unusual disease outbreak; (2) Early warning of emerging, re-emerging and engineered biothreat enabling reduced morbidity and mortality; (3) Enhanced crop and livestock management; (4) Increase understanding of host-pathogen interactions and epidemiology; (5) Enhanced international transparency for infectious disease research supporting BWC goals; and (6) Greater sharing of technology and knowledge to improve global health.

  9. 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.

  10. 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.

  11. Technology-enabled employee selection: Tweaking the system for better person-environment fit

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Holm, Anna B.

    Organizations increasingly use information and communication technologies to facilitate their employee selection process. The practice is commonly referred to as e-selection. Recent research has shown that e-selection can significantly improve the efficiency of assessment and selection. However......, organizations also strive to hire the best possible candidates and seek to improve effectiveness of their selection process and achieve better person–environment (PE) fit. The presented research reviews existing literature on PE fit and e-selection and puts forward a heuristic model of technology...

  12. Carbon emissions trading scheme exploration in China: A multi-agent-based model

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Tang, Ling; Wu, Jiaqian; Yu, Lean; Bao, Qin

    2015-01-01

    To develop a low-carbon economy, China launched seven pilot programs for carbon emissions trading (CET) in 2011 and plans to establish a nationwide CET mechanism in 2015. This paper formulated a multi-agent-based model to investigate the impacts of different CET designs in order to find the most appropriate one for China. The proposed bottom-up model includes all main economic agents in a general equilibrium framework. The simulation results indicate that (1) CET would effectively reduce carbon emissions, with a certain negative impact on the economy, (2) as for allowance allocation, the grandfathering rule is relatively moderate, while the benchmarking rule is more aggressive, (3) as for the carbon price, when the price level in the secondary CET market is regulated to be around RMB 40 per metric ton, a satisfactory emission mitigation effect can be obtained, (4) the penalty rate is suggested to be carefully designed to balance the economy development and mitigation effect, and (5) subsidy policy for energy technology improvement can effectively reduce carbon emissions without an additional negative impact on the economy. The results also indicate that the proposed novel model is a promising tool for CET policy making and analyses. -- Highlights: •A multi-agent-based model is proposed for carbon emissions trading (CET) in China. •Three agents are included: government, firms in different sectors and households. •The impacts of CET on the economy and environment in China are analyzed. •Different CET designs are simulated to find an appropriate policy for China. •Results confirm the effectiveness of the model and give helpful insights into CET design

  13. (CICT) Computing, Information, and Communications Technology Overview

    Science.gov (United States)

    VanDalsem, William R.

    2003-01-01

    The goal of the Computing, Information, and Communications Technology (CICT) program is to enable NASA's Scientific Research, Space Exploration, and Aerospace Technology Missions with greater mission assurance, for less cost, with increased science return through the development and use of advanced computing, information and communications technologies. This viewgraph presentation includes diagrams of how the political guidance behind CICT is structured. The presentation profiles each part of the NASA Mission in detail, and relates the Mission to the activities of CICT. CICT's Integrated Capability Goal is illustrated, and hypothetical missions which could be enabled by CICT are profiled. CICT technology development is profiled.

  14. Mobile technology in clinical teaching.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Mackay, B J; Anderson, J; Harding, T

    2017-01-01

    Technology is having a profound effect on education in the 21st century and nurse educators are being challenged to integrate technological innovation to assist students in their learning. This paper reports a study on the introduction of smart mobile technology to support student learning in the clinical environment. In a climate of collaborative inquiry, clinical lecturers and two researchers from the same department carried out a project in three phases: formation, implementation and analysis. Following the formation phase, six clinical lecturers adopted iPads to support their clinical teaching (implementation phase). At this time they also kept reflective journals. In the analysis phase a thematic analysis of the data from the journals and from a focus group found both enabling and constraining factors influenced the use of iPads by clinical lecturers. The themes categorised as enablers were: resources and technology; and, management and technology support. Those identified as barriers or constraining factors were: clinical staff engagement; and lecturer experience with technology. Student engagement and learning, and connectivity were both enabling and constraining factors. This paper concludes that the use of a mobile device such as an iPad can enhance teaching in clinical settings but that in order for such devices to be successfully integrated into clinical teaching consideration needs to be given to professional development needs, adequate resourcing and technology support. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  15. Pen-Enabled, Real-Time Student Engagement for Teaching in STEM Subjects

    Science.gov (United States)

    Urban, Sylvia

    2017-01-01

    The introduction of pen-enabling devices has been demonstrated to increase a student's ability to solve problems, communicate, and learn during note taking. For the science, technology, engineering, and mathematics subjects that are considered to be symbolic in nature, pen interfaces are better suited for visual-spatial content and also provide a…

  16. Emerging technology: A key enabler for modernizing pharmaceutical manufacturing and advancing product quality.

    Science.gov (United States)

    O'Connor, Thomas F; Yu, Lawrence X; Lee, Sau L

    2016-07-25

    Issues in product quality have produced recalls and caused drug shortages in United States (U.S.) in the past few years. These quality issues were often due to outdated manufacturing technologies and equipment as well as lack of an effective quality management system. To ensure consistent supply of safe, effective and high-quality drug products available to the patients, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) supports modernizing pharmaceutical manufacturing for improvements in product quality. Specifically, five new initiatives are proposed here to achieve this goal. They include: (i) advancing regulatory science for pharmaceutical manufacturing; (ii) establishing a public-private institute for pharmaceutical manufacturing innovation; (iii) creating incentives for investment in the technological upgrade of manufacturing processes and facilities; (iv) leveraging external expertise for regulatory quality assessment of emerging technologies; and (v) promoting the international harmonization of approaches for expediting the global adoption of emerging technologies. Published by Elsevier B.V.

  17. Water: A Critical Material Enabling Space Exploration

    Science.gov (United States)

    Pickering, Karen D.

    2014-01-01

    Water is one of the most critical materials in human spaceflight. The availability of water defines the duration of a space mission; the volume of water required for a long-duration space mission becomes too large, heavy, and expensive for launch vehicles to carry. Since the mission duration is limited by the amount of water a space vehicle can carry, the capability to recycle water enables space exploration. In addition, water management in microgravity impacts spaceflight in other respects, such as the recent emergency termination of a spacewalk caused by free water in an astronaut's spacesuit helmet. A variety of separation technologies are used onboard spacecraft to ensure that water is always available for use, and meets the stringent water quality required for human space exploration. These separation technologies are often adapted for use in a microgravity environment, where water behaves in unique ways. The use of distillation, membrane processes, ion exchange and granular activated carbon will be reviewed. Examples of microgravity effects on operations will also be presented. A roadmap for future technologies, needed to supply water resources for the exploration of Mars, will also be reviewed.

  18. Mars Technology Program: Planetary Protection Technology Development

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lin, Ying

    2006-01-01

    This slide presentation reviews the development of Planetary Protection Technology in the Mars Technology Program. The goal of the program is to develop technologies that will enable NASA to build, launch, and operate a mission that has subsystems with different Planetary Protection (PP) classifications, specifically for operating a Category IVb-equivalent subsystem from a Category IVa platform. The IVa category of planetary protection requires bioburden reduction (i.e., no sterilization is required) The IVb category in addition to IVa requirements: (i.e., terminal sterilization of spacecraft is required). The differences between the categories are further reviewed.

  19. Enabling technology: an overview of offshore innovations in the oil industry

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Amado, Luiz C.N. [Shell International Exploration and Production (E and P) Inc., Houston, TX (Brazil)

    2008-07-01

    Big accumulations found in the past are not likely to occur again. On the contrary several small size accumulations may still be there unless a new play be discovered such as the sub salt. With global demand for oil rapidly increasing and easy oil becoming scarcer, we need to start looking at more difficult reservoirs from which to produce hydrocarbons. To boost daily global oil supplies to 100 million barrels, against current levels of some 85 million barrels, will be 'extremely difficult to reach' as we have heard in the news. It is not a question of available oil reserves, but a combination of technology, geopolitics and actual production decline in existing fields. Geopolitics and depletion rates are highly complex variables upon which we do not have full control. However Technology can still be designed fit for purposes. (author)

  20. Enabling individualized therapy through nanotechnology

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sakamoto, Jason H.; van de Ven, Anne L.; Godin, Biana; Blanco, Elvin; Serda, Rita E.; Grattoni, Alessandro; Ziemys, Arturas; Bouamrani, Ali; Hu, Tony; Ranganathan, Shivakumar I.; De Rosa, Enrica; Martinez, Jonathan O.; Smid, Christine A.; Buchanan, Rachel M.; Lee, Sei-Young; Srinivasan, Srimeenakshi; Landry, Matthew; Meyn, Anne; Tasciotti, Ennio; Liu, Xuewu; Decuzzi, Paolo; Ferrari, Mauro

    2010-01-01

    Individualized medicine is the healthcare strategy that rebukes the idiomatic dogma of ‘losing sight of the forest for the trees’. We are entering a new era of healthcare where it is no longer acceptable to develop and market a drug that is effective for only 80% of the patient population. The emergence of “-omic” technologies (e.g. genomics, transcriptomics, proteomics, metabolomics) and advances in systems biology are magnifying the deficiencies of standardized therapy, which often provide little treatment latitude for accommodating patient physiologic idiosyncrasies. A personalized approach to medicine is not a novel concept. Ever since the scientific community began unraveling the mysteries of the genome, the promise of discarding generic treatment regimens in favor of patient-specific therapies became more feasible and realistic. One of the major scientific impediments of this movement towards personalized medicine has been the need for technological enablement. Nanotechnology is projected to play a critical role in patient-specific therapy; however, this transition will depend heavily upon the evolutionary development of a systems biology approach to clinical medicine based upon “-omic” technology analysis and integration. This manuscript provides a forward looking assessment of the promise of nanomedicine as it pertains to individualized medicine and establishes a technology “snapshot” of the current state of nano-based products over a vast array of clinical indications and range of patient specificity. Other issues such as market driven hurdles and regulatory compliance reform are anticipated to “self-correct” in accordance to scientific advancement and healthcare demand. These peripheral, non-scientific concerns are not addressed at length in this manuscript; however they do exist, and their impact to the paradigm shifting healthcare transformation towards individualized medicine will be critical for its success. PMID:20045055

  1. Enabling individualized therapy through nanotechnology.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sakamoto, Jason H; van de Ven, Anne L; Godin, Biana; Blanco, Elvin; Serda, Rita E; Grattoni, Alessandro; Ziemys, Arturas; Bouamrani, Ali; Hu, Tony; Ranganathan, Shivakumar I; De Rosa, Enrica; Martinez, Jonathan O; Smid, Christine A; Buchanan, Rachel M; Lee, Sei-Young; Srinivasan, Srimeenakshi; Landry, Matthew; Meyn, Anne; Tasciotti, Ennio; Liu, Xuewu; Decuzzi, Paolo; Ferrari, Mauro

    2010-08-01

    Individualized medicine is the healthcare strategy that rebukes the idiomatic dogma of 'losing sight of the forest for the trees'. We are entering a new era of healthcare where it is no longer acceptable to develop and market a drug that is effective for only 80% of the patient population. The emergence of "-omic" technologies (e.g. genomics, transcriptomics, proteomics, metabolomics) and advances in systems biology are magnifying the deficiencies of standardized therapy, which often provide little treatment latitude for accommodating patient physiologic idiosyncrasies. A personalized approach to medicine is not a novel concept. Ever since the scientific community began unraveling the mysteries of the genome, the promise of discarding generic treatment regimens in favor of patient-specific therapies became more feasible and realistic. One of the major scientific impediments of this movement towards personalized medicine has been the need for technological enablement. Nanotechnology is projected to play a critical role in patient-specific therapy; however, this transition will depend heavily upon the evolutionary development of a systems biology approach to clinical medicine based upon "-omic" technology analysis and integration. This manuscript provides a forward looking assessment of the promise of nanomedicine as it pertains to individualized medicine and establishes a technology "snapshot" of the current state of nano-based products over a vast array of clinical indications and range of patient specificity. Other issues such as market driven hurdles and regulatory compliance reform are anticipated to "self-correct" in accordance to scientific advancement and healthcare demand. These peripheral, non-scientific concerns are not addressed at length in this manuscript; however they do exist, and their impact to the paradigm shifting healthcare transformation towards individualized medicine will be critical for its success. Copyright 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights

  2. Emerging investigator series: the rise of nano-enabled photothermal materials for water evaporation and clean water production by sunlight

    KAUST Repository

    Wang, Peng

    2018-01-01

    Solar driven water evaporation and distillation is an ancient technology, but has been rejuvenated by nano-enabled photothermal materials in the past 4 years. The nano-enabled state-of-the-art photothermal materials are able to harvest a full solar

  3. [Rapid Response obstetrics Team at Instituto Mexicano del Seguro Social,enabling factors].

    Science.gov (United States)

    Dávila-Torres, Javier; González-Izquierdo, José de Jesús; Ruíz-Rosas, Roberto Aguli; Cruz-Cruz, Polita Del Rocío; Hernández-Valencia, Marcelino

    2015-01-01

    There are barriers and enablers for the implementation of Rapid Response Teams in obstetric hospitals. The enabling factors were determined at Instituto Mexicano del Seguro Social (IMSS) MATERIAL AND METHODS: An observational, retrospective study was conducted by analysing the emergency obstetric reports sent by mobile technology and e-mail to the Medical Care Unit of the IMSS in 2013. Frequency and mean was obtained using the Excel 2010 program for descriptive statistics. A total of 164,250 emergency obstetric cases were reported, and there was a mean of 425 messages per day, of which 32.2% were true obstetric emergencies and required the Rapid Response team. By e-mail, there were 73,452 life threatening cases (a mean of 6 cases per day). A monthly simulation was performed in hospitals (480 in total). Enabling factors were messagés synchronisation among the participating personnel,the accurate record of the obstetrics, as well as the simulations performed by the operational staff. The most common emergency was pre-eclampsia-eclampsia with 3,351 reports, followed by obstetric haemorrhage with 2,982 cases. The enabling factors for the implementation of a rapid response team at IMSS were properly timed communication between the central delegation teams, as they allowed faster medical and administrative management and participation of hospital medical teams in the process. Mobile technology has increased the speed of medical and administrative management in emergency obstetric care. However, comparative studies are needed to determine the statistical significance. Published by Masson Doyma México S.A.

  4. NASA Technology Area 07: Human Exploration Destination Systems Roadmap

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kennedy, Kriss J.; Alexander, Leslie; Landis, Rob; Linne, Diane; Mclemore, Carole; Santiago-Maldonado, Edgardo; Brown, David L.

    2011-01-01

    This paper gives an overview of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) Office of Chief Technologist (OCT) led Space Technology Roadmap definition efforts. This paper will given an executive summary of the technology area 07 (TA07) Human Exploration Destination Systems (HEDS). These are draft roadmaps being reviewed and updated by the National Research Council. Deep-space human exploration missions will require many game changing technologies to enable safe missions, become more independent, and enable intelligent autonomous operations and take advantage of the local resources to become self-sufficient thereby meeting the goal of sustained human presence in space. Taking advantage of in-situ resources enhances and enables revolutionary robotic and human missions beyond the traditional mission architectures and launch vehicle capabilities. Mobility systems will include in-space flying, surface roving, and Extra-vehicular Activity/Extravehicular Robotics (EVA/EVR) mobility. These push missions will take advantage of sustainability and supportability technologies that will allow mission independence to conduct human mission operations either on or near the Earth, in deep space, in the vicinity of Mars, or on the Martian surface while opening up commercialization opportunities in low Earth orbit (LEO) for research, industrial development, academia, and entertainment space industries. The Human Exploration Destination Systems (HEDS) Technology Area (TA) 7 Team has been chartered by the Office of the Chief Technologist (OCT) to strategically roadmap technology investments that will enable sustained human exploration and support NASA s missions and goals for at least the next 25 years. HEDS technologies will enable a sustained human presence for exploring destinations such as remote sites on Earth and beyond including, but not limited to, LaGrange points, low Earth orbit (LEO), high Earth orbit (HEO), geosynchronous orbit (GEO), the Moon, near

  5. Emerging and Disruptive Technologies

    OpenAIRE

    Kricka, Larry J.

    2016-01-01

    Several emerging or disruptive technologies can be identified that might, at some point in the future, displace established laboratory medicine technologies and practices. These include increased automation in the form of robots, 3-D printing, technology convergence (e.g., plug-in glucose meters for smart phones), new point-of-care technologies (e.g., contact lenses with sensors, digital and wireless enabled pregnancy tests) and testing locations (e.g., Retail Health Clinics, new at-home test...

  6. 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.

  7. 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.

  8. Electrochemical Solution Growth of Magnetic Nitrides

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Monson, Todd C. [Sandia National Lab. (SNL-NM), Albuquerque, NM (United States); Pearce, Charles [Sandia National Lab. (SNL-NM), Albuquerque, NM (United States)

    2014-10-01

    Magnetic nitrides, if manufactured in bulk form, would provide designers of transformers and inductors with a new class of better performing and affordable soft magnetic materials. According to experimental results from thin films and/or theoretical calculations, magnetic nitrides would have magnetic moments well in excess of current state of the art soft magnets. Furthermore, magnetic nitrides would have higher resistivities than current transformer core materials and therefore not require the use of laminates of inactive material to limit eddy current losses. However, almost all of the magnetic nitrides have been elusive except in difficult to reproduce thin films or as inclusions in another material. Now, through its ability to reduce atmospheric nitrogen, the electrochemical solution growth (ESG) technique can bring highly sought after (and previously inaccessible) new magnetic nitrides into existence in bulk form. This method utilizes a molten salt as a solvent to solubilize metal cations and nitrogen ions produced electrochemically and form nitrogen compounds. Unlike other growth methods, the scalable ESG process can sustain high growth rates (~mm/hr) even under reasonable operating conditions (atmospheric pressure and 500 °C). Ultimately, this translates into a high throughput, low cost, manufacturing process. The ESG process has already been used successfully to grow high quality GaN. Below, the experimental results of an exploratory express LDRD project to access the viability of the ESG technique to grow magnetic nitrides will be presented.

  9. 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...

  10. Demonstration of Enabling Spar-Shell Cooling Technology in Gas Turbines

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Downs, James [Florida Turbine Technologies Inc., Jupiter, FL (United States)

    2014-12-29

    In this Advanced Turbine Program-funded Phase III project, Florida Turbine Technologies, Inc. (FTT) has developed and tested, at a pre-commercial prototypescale, spar-shell turbine airfoils in a commercial gas turbine. The airfoil development is based upon FTT’s research and development to date in Phases I and II of Small Business Innovative Research (SBIR) grants. During this program, FTT has partnered with an Original Equipment Manufacturer (OEM), Siemens Energy, to produce sparshell turbine components for the first pre-commercial prototype test in an F-Class industrial gas turbine engine and has successfully completed validation testing. This project will further the commercialization of this new technology in F-frame and other highly cooled turbine airfoil applications. FTT, in cooperation with Siemens, intends to offer the spar-shell vane as a first-tier supplier for retrofit applications and new large frame industrial gas turbines. The market for the spar-shell vane for these machines is huge. According to Forecast International, 3,211 new gas turbines units (in the >50MW capacity size range) will be ordered in ten years from 2007 to 2016. FTT intends to enter the market in a low rate initial production. After one year of successful extended use, FTT will quickly ramp up production and sales, with a target to capture 1% of the market within the first year and 10% within 5 years (2020).

  11. Pervasive, disruptive, seductive, enabling : designing technologies for learning and social innovation

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Marti, P.

    2015-01-01

    “There are no technological revolutions without cultural transformations.” This is a quote from the book “The Internet Galaxy: Refl ections on the Internet, Business, and Society” by Manuel Castells (2003), in which the author explores the complexity of the social problems generated by the spread of

  12. Reimagining the Role of Technology in Education: 2017 National Education Technology Plan Update

    Science.gov (United States)

    Office of Educational Technology, US Department of Education, 2017

    2017-01-01

    The National Education Technology Plan (NETP) sets a national vision and plan for learning enabled by technology through building on the work of leading education researchers; district, school, and higher education leaders; classroom teachers; developers; entrepreneurs; and nonprofit organizations. The principles and examples provided in this…

  13. Technology and Manufacturing Readiness of Early Market Motive and Non-Motive Hydrogen Storage Technologies for Fuel Cell Applications

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Ronnebro, Ewa

    2012-06-16

    PNNL’s objective in this report is to provide DOE with a technology and manufacturing readiness assessment to identify hydrogen storage technologies’ maturity levels for early market motive and non-motive applications and to provide a path forward toward commercialization. PNNL’s Technology Readiness Assessment (TRA) is based on a combination of Technology Readiness Level (TRL) and Manufacturing Readiness Level (MRL) designations that enable evaluation of hydrogen storage technologies in varying levels of development. This approach provides a logical methodology and roadmap to enable the identification of hydrogen storage technologies, their advantages/disadvantages, gaps and R&D needs on an unbiased and transparent scale that is easily communicated to interagency partners. The TRA report documents the process used to conduct the TRA, reports the TRL and MRL for each assessed technology and provides recommendations based on the findings.

  14. Enabling Sustainable Exploration through the Commercial Development of Space

    Science.gov (United States)

    Nall, Mark; Casas, Joseph

    2003-01-01

    The commercial development of space offers enabling benefits to space exploration. This paper examines how those benefits can be realized, and how the Space Product Development Office of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration is taking the first steps towards opening the space frontier through vital and sustainable industrial development. The Space Product Development Office manages 15 Commercial Space Centers that partner with US industry to develop opportunities for commerce in space. This partnership directly benefits NASA exploration in four primary ways. First, by actively involving traditional and non-traditional companies in commercial space activities, it seeks and encourages to the maximum extent possible the fullest commercial use of space, as directed by NASA's charter. Second, the commercial research and technologies pursued and developed in the program often have direct applicability to NASA priority mission areas. This dual use strategy for research and technology has the potential to greatly expand what the NASA scientific community can do. Third, the commercial experiment hardware developed by the Commercial Space Centers and their industrial partners is available for use by NASA researchers in support of priority NASA research. By utilizing low cost and existing commercial hardware, essential NASA research can be more readily accomplished. Fourth, by assisting industry in understanding the use of the environment of space and in helping industry enhance the tools and technologies for NASA and commercial space systems, the market for commercial space utilization and the capability for meeting the future growing market needs is being developed. These two activities taken together form the beginning of a new space economy that will enable sustainable NASA exploration of the universe.

  15. 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.

  16. 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.

  17. Aerobraking at Venus: A science and technology enabler

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hibbard, Kenneth; Glaze, Lori; Prince, Jill

    2012-04-01

    activities to onboard the spacecraft. A defined aerobraking temperature corridor, based on spacecraft component maximum temperatures, can be employed on a spacecraft specifically designed for aerobraking, and will predict subsequent aerobraking orbits and prescribe apoapsis propulsive maneuvers to maintain the spacecraft within its specified temperature limits. A spacecraft specifically designed for aerobraking in the Venus environment can provide a cost-effective platform for achieving these expanded science and technology goals.This paper discusses the scientific merits of a low-altitude, near-circular orbit at Venus, highlights the differences in aerobraking at Venus versus Mars, and presents design data using a flight system specifically designed for an aerobraking mission at Venus. Using aerobraking to achieve a low altitude orbit at Venus may pave the way for various technology demonstrations, such as autonomous aerobraking techniques and/or new science measurements like a multi-mode, synthetic aperture radar capable of altimetry and radiometry with performance that is significantly more capable than Magellan.

  18. The Teaching of Anthropogenic Climate Change and Earth Science via Technology-Enabled Inquiry Education

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bush, Drew; Sieber, Renee; Seiler, Gale; Chandler, Mark

    2016-01-01

    A gap has existed between the tools and processes of scientists working on anthropogenic global climate change (AGCC) and the technologies and curricula available to educators teaching the subject through student inquiry. Designing realistic scientific inquiry into AGCC poses a challenge because research on it relies on complex computer models, globally distributed data sets, and complex laboratory and data collection procedures. Here we examine efforts by the scientific community and educational researchers to design new curricula and technology that close this gap and impart robust AGCC and Earth Science understanding. We find technology-based teaching shows promise in promoting robust AGCC understandings if associated curricula address mitigating factors such as time constraints in incorporating technology and the need to support teachers implementing AGCC and Earth Science inquiry. We recommend the scientific community continue to collaborate with educational researchers to focus on developing those inquiry technologies and curricula that use realistic scientific processes from AGCC research and/or the methods for determining how human society should respond to global change.

  19. Developments in remote sensing technology enable more detailed urban flood risk analysis.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Denniss, A.; Tewkesbury, A.

    2009-04-01

    Spaceborne remote sensors have been allowing us to build up a profile of planet earth for many years. With each new satellite launched we see the capabilities improve: new bands of data, higher resolution imagery, the ability to derive better elevation information. The combination of this geospatial data to create land cover and usage maps, all help inform catastrophe modelling systems. From Landsat 30m resolution to 2.44m QuickBird multispectral imagery; from 1m radar data collected by TerraSAR-X which enables rapid tracking of the rise and fall of a flood event, and will shortly have a twin satellite launched enabling elevation data creation; we are spoilt for choice in available data. However, just what is cost effective? It is always a question of choosing the appropriate level of input data detail for modelling, depending on the value of the risk. In the summer of 2007, the cost of the flooding in the UK was approximately £3bn and affected over 58,000 homes and businesses. When it comes to flood risk, we have traditionally considered rising river levels and surge tides, but with climate change and variations in our own construction behaviour, there are other factors to be taken into account. During those summer 2007 events, the Environment Agency suggested that around 70% of the properties damaged were the result of pluvial flooding, where high localised rainfall events overload localised drainage infrastructure, causing widespread flooding of properties and infrastructure. To create a risk model that is able to simulate such an event requires much more accurate source data than can be provided from satellite or radar. As these flood events cause considerable damage within relatively small, complex urban environments, therefore new high resolution remote sensing techniques have to be applied to better model these events. Detailed terrain data of England and Wales, plus cities in Scotland, have been produced by combining terrain measurements from the latest

  20. Using Enabling Technologies to Advance Data Intensive Analysis Tools in the JPL Tropical Cyclone Information System

    Science.gov (United States)

    Knosp, B.; Gangl, M. E.; Hristova-Veleva, S. M.; Kim, R. M.; Lambrigtsen, B.; Li, P.; Niamsuwan, N.; Shen, T. P. J.; Turk, F. J.; Vu, Q. A.

    2014-12-01

    Automated Rotational Center Hurricane Eye Retrieval (ARCHER) tools. In this presentation, we will compare the enabling technologies we tested and discuss which ones we selected for integration into the TCIS' data analysis tool architecture. We will also show how these techniques have been automated to provide access to NRT data through our analysis tools.

  1. Advanced Microelectronics Technologies for Future Small Satellite Systems

    Science.gov (United States)

    Alkalai, Leon

    1999-01-01

    Future small satellite systems for both Earth observation as well as deep-space exploration are greatly enabled by the technological advances in deep sub-micron microelectronics technologies. Whereas these technological advances are being fueled by the commercial (non-space) industries, more recently there has been an exciting new synergism evolving between the two otherwise disjointed markets. In other words, both the commercial and space industries are enabled by advances in low-power, highly integrated, miniaturized (low-volume), lightweight, and reliable real-time embedded systems. Recent announcements by commercial semiconductor manufacturers to introduce Silicon On Insulator (SOI) technology into their commercial product lines is driven by the need for high-performance low-power integrated devices. Moreover, SOI has been the technology of choice for many space semiconductor manufacturers where radiation requirements are critical. This technology has inherent radiation latch-up immunity built into the process, which makes it very attractive to space applications. In this paper, we describe the advanced microelectronics and avionics technologies under development by NASA's Deep Space Systems Technology Program (also known as X2000). These technologies are of significant benefit to both the commercial satellite as well as the deep-space and Earth orbiting science missions. Such a synergistic technology roadmap may truly enable quick turn-around, low-cost, and highly capable small satellite systems for both Earth observation as well as deep-space missions.

  2. Strategic research roadmap on ICT-enabled energy efficiency in buildings

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Kazi, A.S., Email: sami.kazi@vtt.fi

    2012-06-15

    The REEB Project (The European strategic research Roadmap to ICT-enabled Energy- Efficiency in Buildings and construction projects) was a Coordination Action project funded under the European Commission's Seventh Framework Programme. Its main purpose was to provide a strategic research roadmap on information and communications technology (ICT) support for energy efficiency in the built environment and a collection of implementation actions supporting the realisation of the roadmap. (orig.)

  3. Enabling CD SEM metrology for 5nm technology node and beyond

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lorusso, Gian Francesco; Ohashi, Takeyoshi; Yamaguchi, Astuko; Inoue, Osamu; Sutani, Takumichi; Horiguchi, Naoto; Bömmels, Jürgen; Wilson, Christopher J.; Briggs, Basoene; Tan, Chi Lim; Raymaekers, Tom; Delhougne, Romain; Van den Bosch, Geert; Di Piazza, Luca; Kar, Gouri Sankar; Furnémont, Arnaud; Fantini, Andrea; Donadio, Gabriele Luca; Souriau, Laurent; Crotti, Davide; Yasin, Farrukh; Appeltans, Raf; Rao, Siddharth; De Simone, Danilo; Rincon Delgadillo, Paulina; Leray, Philippe; Charley, Anne-Laure; Zhou, Daisy; Veloso, Anabela; Collaert, Nadine; Hasumi, Kazuhisa; Koshihara, Shunsuke; Ikota, Masami; Okagawa, Yutaka; Ishimoto, Toru

    2017-03-01

    The CD SEM (Critical Dimension Scanning Electron Microscope) is one of the main tools used to estimate Critical Dimension (CD) in semiconductor manufacturing nowadays, but, as all metrology tools, it will face considerable challenges to keep up with the requirements of the future technology nodes. The root causes of these challenges are not uniquely related to the shrinking CD values, as one might expect, but to the increase in complexity of the devices in terms of morphology and chemical composition as well. In fact, complicated threedimensional device architectures, high aspect ratio features, and wide variety of materials are some of the unavoidable characteristics of the future metrology nodes. This means that, beside an improvement in resolution, it is critical to develop a CD SEM metrology capable of satisfying the specific needs of the devices of the nodes to come, needs that sometimes will have to be addressed through dramatic changes in approach with respect to traditional CD SEM metrology. In this paper, we report on the development of advanced CD SEM metrology at imec on a variety of device platform and processes, for both logic and memories. We discuss newly developed approaches for standard, IIIV, and germanium FinFETs (Fin Field Effect Transistors), for lateral and vertical nanowires (NW), 3D NAND (three-dimensional NAND), STT-MRAM (Spin Transfer Magnetic Torque Random-Access Memory), and ReRAM (Resistive Random Access Memory). Applications for both front-end of line (FEOL) and back-end of line (BEOL) are developed. In terms of process, S/D Epi (Source Drain Epitaxy), SAQP (Self-Aligned Quadruple Patterning), DSA (Dynamic Self-Assembly), and EUVL (Extreme Ultraviolet Lithography) have been used. The work reported here has been performed on Hitachi CG5000, CG6300, and CV5000. In terms of logic, we discuss here the S/D epi defect classification, the metrology optimization for STI (Shallow Trench Isolation) Ge FinFETs, the defectivity of III-V STI Fin

  4. Endothelial surface glycocalyx can regulate flow-induced nitric oxide production in microvessels in vivo.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Wanyi Yen

    Full Text Available Due to its unique location, the endothelial surface glycocalyx (ESG at the luminal side of the microvessel wall may serve as a mechano-sensor and transducer of blood flow and thus regulate endothelial functions. To examine this role of the ESG, we used fluorescence microscopy to measure nitric oxide (NO production in post-capillary venules and arterioles of rat mesentery under reduced (low and normal (high flow conditions, with and without enzyme pretreatment to remove heparan sulfate (HS of the ESG and in the presence of an endothelial nitric oxide synthase (eNOS inhibitor, NG-monomethyl-L-arginine (L-NMMA. Rats (SD, 250-300 g were anesthetized. The mesentery was gently taken out from the abdominal cavity and arranged on the surface of a glass coverslip for the measurement. An individual post-capillary venule or arteriole was cannulated and loaded for 45 min with 5 μM 4, 5-Diaminofluorescein diacetate, a membrane permeable fluorescent indictor for NO, then the NO production was measured for ~10 min under a low flow (~300 μm/s and for ~60 min under a high flow (~1000 μm/s. In the 15 min after switching to the high flow, DAF-2-NO fluorescence intensity increased to 1.27-fold of its baseline, DAF-2-NO continuously increased under the high flow, to 1.53-fold of its baseline in 60 min. Inhibition of eNOS by 1 mM L-NMMA attenuated the flow-induced NO production to 1.13-fold in 15 min and 1.30-fold of its baseline in 60 min, respectively. In contrast, no significant increase in NO production was observed after switching to the high flow for 60 min when 1 h pretreatment with 50 mU/mL heparanase III to degrade the ESG was applied. Similar NO production was observed in arterioles under low and high flows and under eNOS inhibition. Our results suggest that ESG participates in endothelial cell mechanosensing and transduction through its heparan sulfate to activate eNOS.

  5. 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)

  6. Pathways to Commercial Success: Technologies and Innovations Enabled by the U.S. Department of Energy Fuel Cell Technologies Office

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    None, None

    2017-10-11

    This report published in October 2017 updates the results of an effort to identify and document the commercial and emerging (projected to be commercialized within the next 3 to 5 years) hydrogen and fuel cell technologies and products that resulted from U.S. Department of Energy support through the Fuel Cell Technologies Office in the Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy.

  7. CERAMIC MEMBRANE ENABLING TECHNOLOGY FOR IMPROVED IGCC EFFICIENCY

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Ravi Prasad

    2000-01-01

    The objective of this program is to conduct a technology development program to advance the state-of-the-art in ceramic Oxygen Transport Membranes (OTM) to the level required to produce step change improvements in process economics, efficiency, and environmental benefits for commercial IGCC systems and other applications. The IGCC program is focused on addressing key issues in materials, processing, manufacturing, engineering and system development that will make the OTM a commercial reality. The objective of the OTM materials development task is to identify a suitable material that can be formed into a thin film to produce the target oxygen flux. This requires that the material have an adequate permeation rate, and thermo-mechanical and thermo-chemical properties such that the material is able to be supported on the desired substrate and sufficient mechanical strength to survive the stresses involved in operation. The objective of the composite OTM development task is to develop the architecture and fabrication techniques necessary to construct stable, high performance, thin film OTMs supported on suitable porous, load bearing substrates. The objective of the process development task of this program to demonstrate the program objectives on a single OTM tube under test conditions simulating those of the optimum process cycle for the power plant

  8. Microscale High-Throughput Experimentation as an Enabling Technology in Drug Discovery: Application in the Discovery of (Piperidinyl)pyridinyl-1H-benzimidazole Diacylglycerol Acyltransferase 1 Inhibitors.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Cernak, Tim; Gesmundo, Nathan J; Dykstra, Kevin; Yu, Yang; Wu, Zhicai; Shi, Zhi-Cai; Vachal, Petr; Sperbeck, Donald; He, Shuwen; Murphy, Beth Ann; Sonatore, Lisa; Williams, Steven; Madeira, Maria; Verras, Andreas; Reiter, Maud; Lee, Claire Heechoon; Cuff, James; Sherer, Edward C; Kuethe, Jeffrey; Goble, Stephen; Perrotto, Nicholas; Pinto, Shirly; Shen, Dong-Ming; Nargund, Ravi; Balkovec, James; DeVita, Robert J; Dreher, Spencer D

    2017-05-11

    Miniaturization and parallel processing play an important role in the evolution of many technologies. We demonstrate the application of miniaturized high-throughput experimentation methods to resolve synthetic chemistry challenges on the frontlines of a lead optimization effort to develop diacylglycerol acyltransferase (DGAT1) inhibitors. Reactions were performed on ∼1 mg scale using glass microvials providing a miniaturized high-throughput experimentation capability that was used to study a challenging S N Ar reaction. The availability of robust synthetic chemistry conditions discovered in these miniaturized investigations enabled the development of structure-activity relationships that ultimately led to the discovery of soluble, selective, and potent inhibitors of DGAT1.

  9. 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.

  10. Web-Altairis: An Internet-Enabled Ground System

    Science.gov (United States)

    Miller, Phil; Coleman, Jason; Gemoets, Darren; Hughes, Kevin

    2000-01-01

    This paper describes Web-Altairis, an Internet-enabled ground system software package funded by the Advanced Automation and Architectures Branch (Code 588) of NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center. Web-Altairis supports the trend towards "lights out" ground systems, where the control center is unattended and problems are resolved by remote operators. This client/server software runs on most popular platforms and provides for remote data visualization using the rich functionality of the VisAGE toolkit. Web-Altairis also supports satellite commanding over the Internet. This paper describes the structure of Web-Altairis and VisAGE, the underlying technologies, the provisions for security, and our experiences in developing and testing the software.

  11. NOVEL PROPOSAL FOR AUTOMATION OF LAND REGISTRATIONS USING BLOCK CHAIN TECHNOLOGY

    OpenAIRE

    M.Archana1 and S. Suguna Mallika2

    2018-01-01

    Bitcoins are currently gaining popularity among the internet users with their novel approach of dominating the third-party validation like the involvement of banks or trusted third parties in financial transactions. The main technology enabling the rampant rise in the implementation of cryptocurrencies like Bitcoins is Block Chain Technology. Though the block chain technology is much older in its conceptualization and realization, bitcoins popularized it. Block chain technology is an enabling...

  12. Enabling Dissimilar Material Joining Using Friction Stir Scribe Technology

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Hovanski, Yuri; Upadyay, Piyush; Kleinbaum, Sarah; Carlson, Blair; Boettcher, Eric; Ruokolainen, Robert

    2017-04-05

    One challenge in adapting welding processes to dissimilar material joining is the diversity of melting temperatures of the different materials. Although the use of mechanical fasteners and adhesives have mostly paved the way for near-term implementation of dissimilar material systems, these processes only accentuate the need for low-cost welding processes capable of joining dissimilar material components regardless of alloy, properties, or melting temperature. Friction stir scribe technology was developed to overcome the challenges of joining dissimilar material components where melting temperatures vary greatly, and properties and/or chemistry are not compatible with more traditional welding processes. Although the friction stir scribe process is capable of joining dissimilar metals and metal/polymer systems, a more detailed evaluation of several aluminum/steel joints is presented herein to demonstrate the ability to both chemically and mechanically join dissimilar materials.

  13. Design and optimization of an RFID-enabled passport tracking system

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Abdulsalam Dukyil

    2018-01-01

    Full Text Available The implementation of RFID technology has been subject to ever-increasing popularity in relation to the traceability of products as one of the most cutting edge technologies. Implementing such a technology leads to an increase in the visibility management of products. Notwithstanding this, RFID communication performance is potentially affected by interference between the RFID devices. It is also subject to additional costs in investment that should be taken into account. Consequently, seeking a cost-effective design with a desired communication performance for RFID-enabled systems has become a key factor in order to be competitive in today’s markets. This study presents a cost and performance-effective design for a proposed RFID-enabled passport tracking system through the development of a multi-objective model that takes in account economic, performance and social criteria. The developed model is aimed at solving the design problem by (i allocating the optimal numbers of related facilities that should be established and (ii obtaining trade-offs among three objectives: minimising implementation and operational costs; minimising RFID reader interference; and maximising the social impact measured in the number of created jobs. To come closer to real design in terms of considering the uncertain parameters, the developed multi-objective model was developed in terms of a fuzzy multi-objective model (FMOM. To solve the fuzzy multi-objective optimization problem, two solution methods were used and a decision-making method was employed to select the final trade-off solution. A case study was applied to examine the applicability of the developed model and the proposed solution methods.

  14. Enabling Smart Grid Cosimulation Studies: Rapid Design and Development of the Technologies and Controls

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Hansen, Timothy M.; Kadavil, Rahul; Palmintier, Bryan; Suryanarayanan, Siddharth; Maciejewski, Anthony A.; Siegel, Howard Jay; Chong, Edwin K. P.; Hale, Elaine

    2016-03-01

    The 21st century electric power grid is transforming with an unprecedented increase in demand and increase in new technologies. In the United States Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007, Title XIII sets the tenets for modernizing the electricity grid through what is known as the 'Smart Grid Initiative.' This initiative calls for increased design, deployment, and integration of distributed energy resources, smart technologies and appliances, and advanced storage devices. The deployment of these new technologies requires rethinking and re-engineering the traditional boundaries between different electric power system domains.

  15. Discussion of the enabling environments for decentralised water systems.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Moglia, M; Alexander, K S; Sharma, A

    2011-01-01

    Decentralised water supply systems are becoming increasingly affordable and commonplace in Australia and have the potential to alleviate urban water shortages and reduce pollution into natural receiving marine and freshwater streams. Learning processes are necessary to support the efficient implementation of decentralised systems. These processes reveal the complex socio-technical and institutional factors to be considered when developing an enabling environment supporting decentralised water and wastewater servicing solutions. Critical to the technological transition towards established decentralised systems is the ability to create strategic and adaptive capacity to promote learning and dialogue. Learning processes require institutional mechanisms to ensure the lessons are incorporated into the formulation of policy and regulation, through constructive involvement of key government institutions. Engagement of stakeholders is essential to the enabling environment. Collaborative learning environments using systems analysis with communities (social learning) and adaptive management techniques are useful in refining and applying scientists' and managers' knowledge (knowledge management).

  16. The Virtual Learning Commons (VLC): Enabling Co-Innovation Across Disciplines

    Science.gov (United States)

    Pennington, D. D.; Gandara, A.; Del Rio, N.

    2014-12-01

    A key challenge for scientists addressing grand-challenge problems is identifying, understanding, and integrating potentially relevant methods, models and tools that that are rapidly evolving in the informatics community. Such tools are essential for effectively integrating data and models in complex research projects, yet it is often difficult to know what tools are available and it is not easy to understand or evaluate how they might be used in a given research context. The goal of the National Science Foundation-funded Virtual Learning Commons (VLC) is to improve awareness and understanding of emerging methodologies and technologies, facilitate individual and group evaluation of these, and trace the impact of innovations within and across teams, disciplines, and communities. The VLC is a Web-based social bookmarking site designed specifically to support knowledge exchange in research communities. It is founded on well-developed models of technology adoption, diffusion of innovation, and experiential learning. The VLC makes use of Web 2.0 (Social Web) and Web 3.0 (Semantic Web) approaches. Semantic Web approaches enable discovery of potentially relevant methods, models, and tools, while Social Web approaches enable collaborative learning about their function. The VLC is under development and the first release is expected Fall 2014.

  17. Introduction of storage integrated PV systems as an enabling technology for smart energy grids

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Ampatzis, M.; Nguyen, H.P.; Kling, W.L.

    2013-01-01

    Merging advanced control and information and communication technology (ICT) technology with the power grid is an appropriate approach for realizing the promising potential of massive distributed energy resources (DERs) integration, that is necessary for the vision of a sustainable society. This

  18. CMOS technology: a critical enabler for free-form electronics-based killer applications

    KAUST Repository

    Hussain, Muhammad Mustafa; Hussain, Aftab M.; Hanna, Amir

    2016-01-01

    Complementary metal oxide semiconductor (CMOS) technology offers batch manufacturability by ultra-large-scaleintegration (ULSI) of high performance electronics with a performance/cost advantage and profound reliability. However, as of today

  19. Architecture of a service-enabled sensing platform for the environment.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kotsev, Alexander; Pantisano, Francesco; Schade, Sven; Jirka, Simon

    2015-02-13

    Recent technological advancements have led to the production of arrays of miniaturized sensors, often embedded in existing multitasking devices (e.g., smartphones, tablets) and using a wide range of radio standards (e.g., Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, 4G cellular networks). Altogether, these technological evolutions coupled with the diffusion of ubiquitous Internet connectivity provide the base-line technology for the Internet of Things (IoT). The rapid increase of IoT devices is enabling the definition of new paradigms of data collection and introduces the concept of mobile crowd-sensing. In this respect, new sensing methodologies promise to extend the current understanding of the environment and social behaviors by leveraging citizen-contributed data for a wide range of applications. Environmental sensing can however only be successful if all the heterogeneous technologies and infrastructures work smoothly together. As a result, the interconnection and orchestration of devices is one of the central issues of the IoT paradigm. With this in mind, we propose an approach for improving the accessibility of observation data, based on interoperable standards and on-device web services.

  20. Architecture of a Service-Enabled Sensing Platform for the Environment

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Alexander Kotsev

    2015-02-01

    Full Text Available Recent technological advancements have led to the production of arrays of miniaturized sensors, often embedded in existing multitasking devices (e.g., smartphones, tablets and using a wide range of radio standards (e.g., Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, 4G cellular networks. Altogether, these technological evolutions coupled with the diffusion of ubiquitous Internet connectivity provide the base-line technology for the Internet of Things (IoT. The rapid increase of IoT devices is enabling the definition of new paradigms of data collection and introduces the concept of mobile crowd-sensing. In this respect, new sensing methodologies promise to extend the current understanding of the environment and social behaviors by leveraging citizen-contributed data for a wide range of applications. Environmental sensing can however only be successful if all the heterogeneous technologies and infrastructures work smoothly together. As a result, the interconnection and orchestration of devices is one of the central issues of the IoT paradigm. With this in mind, we propose an approach for improving the accessibility of observation data, based on interoperable standards and on-device web services.

  1. Usages des technologies par les élèves professeurs : analyse à partir de questionnaires

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Philippe Le Borgne

    2005-01-01

    Full Text Available Cet article étudie l’appropriation et les usages des technologies chez les élèves professeurs français. La méthodologie utilisée est basée sur l’analyse de réponses à des questionnaires soumis aux professeurs stagiaires de quatre instituts universitaires de formation des maîtres. Les résultats obtenus tendent à prouver que les enseignants en formation sont aujourd’hui bien équipés et disposent de compétences réelles dans le cadre des usages personnels et professionnels en dehors de la classe. Cependant, il apparaît que ces compétences sont peu mobilisées dans le cadre des usages en classe.

  2. Technology of silicon charged-particle detectors developed at the Institute of Electron Technology (ITE)

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wegrzecka, Iwona; Panas, Andrzej; Bar, Jan; Budzyński, Tadeusz; Grabiec, Piotr; Kozłowski, Roman; Sarnecki, Jerzy; Słysz, Wojciech; Szmigiel, Dariusz; Wegrzecki, Maciej; Zaborowski, Michał

    2013-07-01

    The paper discusses the technology of silicon charged-particle detectors developed at the Institute of Electron Technology (ITE). The developed technology enables the fabrication of both planar and epiplanar p+-ν-n+ detector structures with an active area of up to 50 cm2. The starting material for epiplanar structures are silicon wafers with a high-resistivity n-type epitaxial layer ( ν layer - ρ < 3 kΩcm) deposited on a highly doped n+-type substrate (ρ< 0,02Ωcm) developed and fabricated at the Institute of Electronic Materials Technology. Active layer thickness of the epiplanar detectors (νlayer) may range from 10 μm to 150 μm. Imported silicon with min. 5 kΩcm resistivity is used to fabricate planar detectors. Active layer thickness of the planar detectors (ν) layer) may range from 200 μm to 1 mm. This technology enables the fabrication of both discrete and multi-junction detectors (monolithic detector arrays), such as single-sided strip detectors (epiplanar and planar) and double-sided strip detectors (planar). Examples of process diagrams for fabrication of the epiplanar and planar detectors are presented in the paper, and selected technological processes are discussed.

  3. Networked Constellation Communications Technologies

    Data.gov (United States)

    National Aeronautics and Space Administration — Develop communications architectures and enabling technologies for mission concepts relying on multiple spatially distributed spacecraft to perform coordinated...

  4. IT-Enabled Integration of Renewables: A Concept for the Smart Power Grid

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Sauter Thilo

    2011-01-01

    Full Text Available The wide utilisation of information and communication technologies is hoped to enable a more efficient and sustainable operation of electric power grids. This paper analyses the benefits of smart power grids for the integration of renewable energy resources into the existing grid infrastructure. Therefore, the concept of a smart power grid is analysed, and it is shown that it covers more than for example, time-of-use energy tariffs. Further, the communication technologies used for smart grids are discussed, and the challenge of interoperability between the smart grid itself and its active contributors such as functional buildings is shown. A significant share of electrical energy demand is and will be constituted by large functional buildings that are mostly equipped with automation systems and therefore enable a relatively simple IT integration into smart grids. This large potential of thermal storages and flexible consumption processes might be a future key to match demand and supply under the presence of a high share of fluctuating generation from renewables.

  5. Mirage: Mitigating Illicit Inventorying in a RFID Enabled Retail Environment

    OpenAIRE

    White, Jonathan; Banerjee, Nilanjan

    2010-01-01

    Given its low dollar and maintenance cost, RFID is poised to become the enabling technology for inventory control and supply chain management. However, as an outcome of its low cost, RFID based inventory control is susceptible to pernicious security and privacy threats. A deleterious attack on such a system is corporate espionage, where attackers through illicit inventorying infer sales and restocking trends for products. In this paper, we first present plausible aftermaths of corporate espio...

  6. Technology Investment Agendas to Expand Human Space Futures

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sherwood, Brent

    2012-01-01

    The paper develops four alternative core-technology advancement specifications, one for each of the four strategic goal options for government investment in human space flight. Already discussed in the literature, these are: Explore Mars; Settle the Moon; accelerate commercial development of Space Passenger Travel; and enable industrial scale-up of Space Solar Power for Earth. In the case of the Explore Mars goal, the paper starts with the contemporary NASA accounting of ?55 Mars-enabling technologies. The analysis decomposes that technology agenda into technologies applicable only to the Explore Mars goal, versus those applicable more broadly to the other three options. Salient technology needs of all four options are then elaborated to a comparable level of detail. The comparison differentiates how technologies or major developments that may seem the same at the level of budget lines or headlines (e.g., heavy-lift Earth launch) would in fact diverge widely if developed in the service of one or another of the HSF goals. The paper concludes that the explicit choice of human space flight goal matters greatly; an expensive portfolio of challenging technologies would not only enable a particular option, it would foreclose the others. Technologies essential to enable human exploration of Mars cannot prepare interchangeably for alternative futures; they would not allow us to choose later to Settle the Moon, unleash robust growth of Space Passenger Travel industries, or help the transition to a post-petroleum future with Space Solar Power for Earth. The paper concludes that a decades-long decision in the U.S.--whether made consciously or by default--to focus technology investment toward achieving human exploration of Mars someday would effectively preclude the alternative goals in our lifetime.

  7. Gender-Based Motivational Differences in Technology Education

    Science.gov (United States)

    Virtanen, Sonja; Räikkönen, Eija; Ikonen, Pasi

    2015-01-01

    Because of a deeply gendered history of craft education in Finland, technology education has a strong gender-related dependence. In order to motivate girls into pursuing technological studies and to enable them to see their own potential in technology, gender sensitive approaches should be developed in technology education. This study explores…

  8. Heatshield for Extreme Entry Environment Technology (HEEET) Enabling Missions Beyond Heritage Carbon Phenolic

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ellerby, D.; Beerman, A.; Blosser, M.; Boghozian, T.; Chavez-Garcia, J.; Chinnapongse, R.; Fowler, M.; Gage, P.; Gasch, M.; Gonzaes, G.; hide

    2015-01-01

    This poster provides an overview of the requirements, design, development and testing of the 3D Woven TPS being developed under NASAs Heatshield for Extreme Entry Environment Technology (HEEET) project. Under this current program, NASA is working to develop a Thermal Protection System (TPS) capable of surviving entry into Venus or Saturn. A primary goal of the project is to build and test an Engineering Test Unit (ETU) to establish a Technical Readiness Level (TRL) of 6 for this technology by 2017.

  9. Heatshield for Extreme Entry Environment Technology (HEEET) - Enabling Missions Beyond Heritage Carbon Phenolic

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ellerby, D.; Beerman, A.; Blosser, M.; Boghozian, T.; Chavez-Garcia, J.; Chinnapongse, R.; Fowler, M.; Gage, P.; Gasch, M.; Gonzales, G.; hide

    2015-01-01

    This poster provides an overview of the requirements, design, development and testing of the 3D Woven TPS being developed under NASA's Heatshield for Extreme Entry Environment Technology (HEEET) project. Under this current program, NASA is working to develop a Thermal Protection System (TPS) capable of surviving entry into Venus or Saturn. A primary goal of the project is to build and test an Engineering Test Unit (ETU) to establish a Technical Readiness Level (TRL) of 6 for this technology by 2017.

  10. ASTERIA: Arcsecond Space Telescope Enabling Research in Astrophysics

    Science.gov (United States)

    Knapp, M.; Seager, S.; Smith, M. W.; Pong, C. M.

    2017-12-01

    ASTERIA (Arcsecond Space Telescope Enabling Research in Astrophysics) is a technology demonstration and opportunistic science mission to advance the state of the art in CubeSat capabilities for astrophysical measurements. The goal of ASTERIA is to achieve arcsecond-level line of sight pointing error and highly stable focal plane temperature control. These technologies will enable precision photometry, i.e. the careful measurement of stellar brightness over time. This in turn provides a way to study stellar activity, transiting exoplanets, and other astrophysical phenomena, both during the ASTERIA mission and in future CubeSat constellations. ASTERIA is a 6U CubeSat (roughly 10 x 20 x 30 cm, 12 kg) that will operate in low-Earth orbit. The payload consists of a lens and baffle assembly, a CMOS imager, and a two-axis piezoelectric positioning stage on which the focal plane is mounted. A set of commercial reaction wheels provides coarse attitude control. Fine pointing control is achieved by tracking a set of guide stars on the CMOS sensor and moving the piezoelectric stage to compensate for residual pointing errors. Precision thermal control is achieved by isolating the payload from the spacecraft bus, passively cooling the detector, and using trim heaters to perform small temperature corrections over the course of an observation. The ASTERIA project is a collaboration with MIT and is funded at JPL through the Phaeton Program for training early career employees. Flight hardware was delivered in June 2017, with launch expected in August 2017 and deployment targeted for October 2017.

  11. Solar Electric Propulsion Technology Development for Electric Propulsion

    Science.gov (United States)

    Mercer, Carolyn R.; Kerslake, Thomas W.; Scheidegger, Robert J.; Woodworth, Andrew A.; Lauenstein, Jean-Marie

    2015-01-01

    NASA is developing technologies to prepare for human exploration missions to Mars. Solar electric propulsion (SEP) systems are expected to enable a new cost effective means to deliver cargo to the Mars surface. Nearer term missions to Mars moons or near-Earth asteroids can be used to both develop and demonstrate the needed technology for these future Mars missions while demonstrating new capabilities in their own right. This presentation discusses recent technology development accomplishments for high power, high voltage solar arrays and power management that enable a new class of SEP missions.

  12. Emerging memory technologies design, architecture, and applications

    CERN Document Server

    2014-01-01

    This book explores the design implications of emerging, non-volatile memory (NVM) technologies on future computer memory hierarchy architecture designs. Since NVM technologies combine the speed of SRAM, the density of DRAM, and the non-volatility of Flash memory, they are very attractive as the basis for future universal memories. This book provides a holistic perspective on the topic, covering modeling, design, architecture and applications. The practical information included in this book will enable designers to exploit emerging memory technologies to improve significantly the performance/power/reliability of future, mainstream integrated circuits. • Provides a comprehensive reference on designing modern circuits with emerging, non-volatile memory technologies, such as MRAM and PCRAM; • Explores new design opportunities offered by emerging memory technologies, from a holistic perspective; • Describes topics in technology, modeling, architecture and applications; • Enables circuit designers to ex...

  13. Wooing patients with technology.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Myers, Michael

    2013-04-01

    Technologies that can give healthcare organizations a marketing advantage with patients include: Registration kiosks that request payment automatically, in a more comfortable environment for both patients and registration staff. Emails that enable patients to schedule initial visits and follow-up care. Secure online messaging platforms that enable patients to obtain timely answers to questions they have for their providers both before and after receiving services.

  14. Emerging Therapeutic Enhancement Enabling Health Technologies and Their Discourses: What Is Discussed within the Health Domain?

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wolbring, Gregor; Diep, Lucy; Yumakulov, Sophya; Ball, Natalie; Leopatra, Verlyn; Yergens, Dean

    2013-01-01

    So far, the very meaning of health and therefore, treatment and rehabilitation is benchmarked to the normal or species-typical body. We expect certain abilities in members of a species; we expect humans to walk but not to fly, but a bird we expect to fly. However, increasingly therapeutic interventions have the potential to give recipients beyond species-typical body related abilities (therapeutic enhancements, TE). We believe that the perfect storm of TE, the shift in ability expectations toward beyond species-typical body abilities, and the increasing desire of health consumers to shape the health system will increasingly influence various aspects of health care practice, policy, and scholarship. We employed qualitative and quantitative methods to investigate among others how human enhancement, neuro/cognitive enhancement, brain machine interfaces, and social robot discourses cover (a) healthcare, healthcare policy, and healthcare ethics, (b) disability and (c) health consumers and how visible various assessment fields are within Neuro/Cogno/Human enhancement and within the BMI and social robotics discourse. We found that health care, as such, is little discussed, as are health care policy and ethics; that the term consumers (but not health consumers) is used; that technology, impact and needs assessment is absent; and that the imagery of disabled people is primarily a medical one. We submit that now, at this early stage, is the time to gain a good understanding of what drives the push for the enhancement agenda and enhancement-enabling devices, and the dynamics around acceptance and diffusion of therapeutic enhancements. PMID:27429129

  15. Emerging Therapeutic Enhancement Enabling Health Technologies and Their Discourses: What Is Discussed within the Health Domain?

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Gregor Wolbring

    2013-07-01

    Full Text Available So far, the very meaning of health and therefore, treatment and rehabilitation is benchmarked to the normal or species-typical body. We expect certain abilities in members of a species; we expect humans to walk but not to fly, but a bird we expect to fly. However, increasingly therapeutic interventions have the potential to give recipients beyond species-typical body related abilities (therapeutic enhancements, TE. We believe that the perfect storm of TE, the shift in ability expectations toward beyond species-typical body abilities, and the increasing desire of health consumers to shape the health system will increasingly influence various aspects of health care practice, policy, and scholarship. We employed qualitative and quantitative methods to investigate among others how human enhancement, neuro/cognitive enhancement, brain machine interfaces, and social robot discourses cover (a healthcare, healthcare policy, and healthcare ethics, (b disability and (c health consumers and how visible various assessment fields are within Neuro/Cogno/ Human enhancement and within the BMI and social robotics discourse. We found that health care, as such, is little discussed, as are health care policy and ethics; that the term consumers (but not health consumers is used; that technology, impact and needs assessment is absent; and that the imagery of disabled people is primarily a medical one. We submit that now, at this early stage, is the time to gain a good understanding of what drives the push for the enhancement agenda and enhancement-enabling devices, and the dynamics around acceptance and diffusion of therapeutic enhancements.

  16. Enabling Large-Scale Biomedical Analysis in the Cloud

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Ying-Chih Lin

    2013-01-01

    Full Text Available Recent progress in high-throughput instrumentations has led to an astonishing growth in both volume and complexity of biomedical data collected from various sources. The planet-size data brings serious challenges to the storage and computing technologies. Cloud computing is an alternative to crack the nut because it gives concurrent consideration to enable storage and high-performance computing on large-scale data. This work briefly introduces the data intensive computing system and summarizes existing cloud-based resources in bioinformatics. These developments and applications would facilitate biomedical research to make the vast amount of diversification data meaningful and usable.

  17. NASA Subsonic Rotary Wing Project-Multidisciplinary Analysis and Technology Development: Overview

    Science.gov (United States)

    Yamauchi, Gloria K.

    2009-01-01

    This slide presentation reviews the objectives of the Multidisciplinary Analysis and Technology Development (MDATD) in the Subsonic Rotary Wing project. The objectives are to integrate technologies and analyses to enable advanced rotorcraft and provide a roadmap to guide Level 1 and 2 research. The MDATD objectives will be met by conducting assessments of advanced technology benefits, developing new or enhanced design tools, and integrating Level 2 discipline technologies to develop and enable system-level analyses and demonstrations.

  18. Federated and Cloud Enabled Resources for Data Management and Utilization

    Science.gov (United States)

    Rankin, R.; Gordon, M.; Potter, R. G.; Satchwill, B.

    2011-12-01

    The emergence of cloud computing over the past three years has led to a paradigm shift in how data can be managed, processed and made accessible. Building on the federated data management system offered through the Canadian Space Science Data Portal (www.cssdp.ca), we demonstrate how heterogeneous and geographically distributed data sets and modeling tools have been integrated to form a virtual data center and computational modeling platform that has services for data processing and visualization embedded within it. We also discuss positive and negative experiences in utilizing Eucalyptus and OpenStack cloud applications, and job scheduling facilitated by Condor and Star Cluster. We summarize our findings by demonstrating use of these technologies in the Cloud Enabled Space Weather Data Assimilation and Modeling Platform CESWP (www.ceswp.ca), which is funded through Canarie's (canarie.ca) Network Enabled Platforms program in Canada.

  19. Enabling genomic-phenomic association discovery without sacrificing anonymity.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Raymond D Heatherly

    Full Text Available Health information technologies facilitate the collection of massive quantities of patient-level data. A growing body of research demonstrates that such information can support novel, large-scale biomedical investigations at a fraction of the cost of traditional prospective studies. While healthcare organizations are being encouraged to share these data in a de-identified form, there is hesitation over concerns that it will allow corresponding patients to be re-identified. Currently proposed technologies to anonymize clinical data may make unrealistic assumptions with respect to the capabilities of a recipient to ascertain a patients identity. We show that more pragmatic assumptions enable the design of anonymization algorithms that permit the dissemination of detailed clinical profiles with provable guarantees of protection. We demonstrate this strategy with a dataset of over one million medical records and show that 192 genotype-phenotype associations can be discovered with fidelity equivalent to non-anonymized clinical data.

  20. Investigation of columnar-to-equiaxed transition in solidification processing of AlSi alloys in microgravity – The CETSOL project

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Zimmermann, G; Sturz, L; Billia, B; Mangelinck-Noël, N; Thi, H Nguyen; Gandin, Ch- A; Browne, D J; Mirihanage, W U

    2011-01-01

    Grain structures observed in most casting processes of metallic alloys are the result of a competition between the growth of several arrays of dendrites that develop under constrained and unconstrained conditions. Often this leads to a transition from columnar to equiaxed grain growth during solidification (CET). A microgravity environment results in suppression of buoyancy-driven melt flow and so enables growth of equiaxed grains free of sedimentation and buoyancy effects. This contribution presents first results obtained in experiments on-board the International Space Station (ISS), which were performed in the frame of the ESA-MAP programme CETSOL. Hypoeutectic aluminium-silicon alloys with and without grain refiners were processed successfully in a low gradient furnace (MSL-LGF). First analysis shows that in the non grain refined samples columnar dendritic growth exists, whereas CET is observed in the grain refined samples. From analysis of the thermal data and the grain structure the critical parameters for the temperature gradient and the cooling rate describing CET are determined. These data are used for initial numerical simulations to predict the position of the columnar-to-equiaxed transition and will form a unique database for calibration and further development of numerical CET-modeling.

  1. On enabling secure applications through off-line biometric identification

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Davida, G.I. [Univ. of Wisconsin, Milwaukee, WI (United States); Frankel, Y. [CertCo LLC, New York, NY (United States); Matt, B.J. [Sandia National Labs., Albuquerque, NM (United States)

    1998-04-01

    In developing secure applications and systems, the designers often must incorporate secure user identification in the design specification. In this paper, the authors study secure off line authenticated user identification schemes based on a biometric system that can measure a user`s biometric accurately (up to some Hamming distance). The schemes presented here enhance identification and authorization in secure applications by binding a biometric template with authorization information on a token such as a magnetic strip. Also developed here are schemes specifically designed to minimize the compromise of a user`s private biometrics data, encapsulated in the authorization information, without requiring secure hardware tokens. In this paper the authors furthermore study the feasibility of biometrics performing as an enabling technology for secure system and application design. The authors investigate a new technology which allows a user`s biometrics to facilitate cryptographic mechanisms.

  2. On enabling secure applications through off-line biometric identification

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Davida, G.I.; Frankel, Y.; Matt, B.J.

    1998-04-01

    In developing secure applications and systems, the designers often must incorporate secure user identification in the design specification. In this paper, the authors study secure off line authenticated user identification schemes based on a biometric system that can measure a user's biometric accurately (up to some Hamming distance). The schemes presented here enhance identification and authorization in secure applications by binding a biometric template with authorization information on a token such as a magnetic strip. Also developed here are schemes specifically designed to minimize the compromise of a user's private biometrics data, encapsulated in the authorization information, without requiring secure hardware tokens. In this paper the authors furthermore study the feasibility of biometrics performing as an enabling technology for secure system and application design. The authors investigate a new technology which allows a user's biometrics to facilitate cryptographic mechanisms

  3. The ENABLER—based on proven NERVA technology

    Science.gov (United States)

    Livingston, Julie M.; Pierce, Bill 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.

  4. Current practice with endoscopic submucosal dissection in Europe: position statement from a panel of experts

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Deprez, P H; Bergman, J J; Meisner, S

    2010-01-01

    cancer; 2) treatment aims for R0 resection; 3) ESD should meet quality standards; 4) ESD should be performed following national or European Society of Gastrointestinal Endoscopy (ESGE) guidelines or under institutional review board approval; and 5) ESD cases should be registered. Due to the high level...... of expertise needed to perform the technique safely, ESD should be performed in a step-up approach, starting with lesions presenting in the rectum or in the distal stomach, then colon, proximal stomach, and finally in the esophagus. Registration is advised either at the local site or at a national or ESGE...

  5. Business Case for Integrated Reporting in the Nigerian Oil and Gas Sector

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Tajudeen J. AYOOLA

    2013-03-01

    were sourced from the annual reports and stand-alone sustainability reports of the six multinational companies operating in the Nigerian oil and gas sector. The results found that efforts to address environmental, social and governance reporting (ESG were adhoc, short term and unrelated to the core activities of the corporations and as such were not integrated into their business strategies and model. Information on ESG was also duplicated over many medium in a haphazard and distorted form. The study therefore concluded that the introduction of integrated reporting will streamline performance reporting that is in line with international best practice in the sector.

  6. THE UNMANNED MISSION AVIONICS TEST HELICIOPTER – A FLEXIBLE AND VERSATILE VTOL-UAS EXPERIMENTAL SYSTEM

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Dr. H.-W. Schulz

    2012-09-01

    Full Text Available civil customers. These applications cover a wide spectrum from R&D programs for the military customer to special services for the civil customer. This paper focuses on the technical conversion of a commercially available VTOL-UAS to ESG's Unmanned Mission Avionics Test Helicopter (UMAT, its concept and operational capabilities. At the end of the paper, the current integration of a radar sensor is described as an example of the UMATs flexibility. The radar sensor is developed by the Fraunhofer Institute for High Frequency Physics and Radar Techniques (FHR. It is integrated by ESG together with the industrial partner SWISS UAV.

  7. NASA's Advanced Information Systems Technology (AIST) Program: Advanced Concepts and Disruptive Technologies

    Science.gov (United States)

    Little, M. M.; Moe, K.; Komar, G.

    2014-12-01

    NASA's Earth Science Technology Office (ESTO) manages a wide range of information technology projects under the Advanced Information Systems Technology (AIST) Program. The AIST Program aims to support all phases of NASA's Earth Science program with the goal of enabling new observations and information products, increasing the accessibility and use of Earth observations, and reducing the risk and cost of satellite and ground based information systems. Recent initiatives feature computational technologies to improve information extracted from data streams or model outputs and researchers' tools for Big Data analytics. Data-centric technologies enable research communities to facilitate collaboration and increase the speed with which results are produced and published. In the future NASA anticipates more small satellites (e.g., CubeSats), mobile drones and ground-based in-situ sensors will advance the state-of-the-art regarding how scientific observations are performed, given the flexibility, cost and deployment advantages of new operations technologies. This paper reviews the success of the program and the lessons learned. Infusion of these technologies is challenging and the paper discusses the obstacles and strategies to adoption by the earth science research and application efforts. It also describes alternative perspectives for the future program direction and for realizing the value in the steps to transform observations from sensors to data, to information, and to knowledge, namely: sensor measurement concepts development; data acquisition and management; data product generation; and data exploitation for science and applications.

  8. 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

  9. 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

  10. Human Spaceflight Technology Needs - A Foundation for JSC's Technology Strategy

    Science.gov (United States)

    Stecklein, Jonette M.

    2013-01-01

    Human space exploration has always been heavily influenced by goals to achieve a specific mission on a specific schedule. This approach drove rapid technology development, the rapidity of which adds risks as well as provides a major driver for costs and cost uncertainty. The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) is now approaching the extension of human presence throughout the solar system by balancing a proactive yet less schedule-driven development of technology with opportunistic scheduling of missions as the needed technologies are realized. This approach should provide cost effective, low risk technology development that will enable efficient and effective manned spaceflight missions. As a first step, the NASA Human Spaceflight Architecture Team (HAT) has identified a suite of critical technologies needed to support future manned missions across a range of destinations, including in cis-lunar space, near earth asteroid visits, lunar exploration, Mars moons, and Mars exploration. The challenge now is to develop a strategy and plan for technology development that efficiently enables these missions over a reasonable time period, without increasing technology development costs unnecessarily due to schedule pressure, and subsequently mitigating development and mission risks. NASA's Johnson Space Center (JSC), as the nation s primary center for human exploration, is addressing this challenge through an innovative approach in allocating Internal Research and Development funding to projects. The HAT Technology Needs (TechNeeds) Database has been developed to correlate across critical technologies and the NASA Office of Chief Technologist Technology Area Breakdown Structure (TABS). The TechNeeds Database illuminates that many critical technologies may support a single technical capability gap, that many HAT technology needs may map to a single TABS technology discipline, and that a single HAT technology need may map to multiple TABS technology

  11. Human spaceflight technology needs-a foundation for JSC's technology strategy

    Science.gov (United States)

    Stecklein, J. M.

    Human space exploration has always been heavily influenced by goals to achieve a specific mission on a specific schedule. This approach drove rapid technology development, the rapidity of which added risks and became a major driver for costs and cost uncertainty. The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) is now approaching the extension of human presence throughout the solar system by balancing a proactive yet less schedule-driven development of technology with opportunistic scheduling of missions as the needed technologies are realized. This approach should provide cost effective, low risk technology development that will enable efficient and effective manned spaceflight missions. As a first step, the NASA Human Spaceflight Architecture Team (HAT) has identified a suite of critical technologies needed to support future manned missions across a range of destinations, including in cis-lunar space, near earth asteroid visits, lunar exploration, Mars moons, and Mars exploration. The challenge now is to develop a strategy and plan for technology development that efficiently enables these missions over a reasonable time period, without increasing technology development costs unnecessarily due to schedule pressure, and subsequently mitigating development and mission risks. NASA's Johnson Space Center (JSC), as the nation's primary center for human exploration, is addressing this challenge through an innovative approach in allocating Internal Research and Development funding to projects. The HAT Technology Needs (Tech Needs) Database has been developed to correlate across critical technologies and the NASA Office of Chief Technologist Technology Area Breakdown Structure (TABS). The TechNeeds Database illuminates that many critical technologies may support a single technical capability gap, that many HAT technology needs may map to a single TABS technology discipline, and that a single HAT technology need may map to multiple TABS technology disciplines. Th

  12. Implementing Virtual Private Networking for Enabling Lower Cost, More Secure Wide Area Communications at Sandia National Laboratories; TOPICAL

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    MILLER, MARC M.; YONEK JR., GEORGE A.

    2001-01-01

    Virtual Private Networking is a new communications technology that promises lower cost, more secure wide area communications by leveraging public networks such as the Internet. Sandia National Laboratories has embraced the technology for interconnecting remote sites to Sandia's corporate network, and for enabling remote access users for both dial-up and broadband access

  13. Provisions for Climate Change Technological Capability in the ...

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    organisational) that enable farm or actors to efficiently use equipment and information and improve technology. The paper reviewed the climate change technological capability provisions in agricultural policies, acts and initiatives in Nigeria. The technological capabilities examined were production, investment, minor ...

  14. Assessing Space Exploration Technology Requirements as a First Step Towards Ensuring Technology Readiness for International Cooperation in Space Exploration

    Science.gov (United States)

    Laurini, Kathleen C.; Hufenbach, Bernhard; Satoh, Maoki; Piedboeuf, Jean-Claude; Neumann, Benjamin

    2010-01-01

    Advancing critical and enhancing technologies is considered essential to enabling sustainable and affordable human space exploration. Critical technologies are those that enable a certain class of mission, such as technologies necessary for safe landing on the Martian surface, advanced propulsion, and closed loop life support. Others enhance the mission by leading to a greater satisfaction of mission objectives or increased probability of mission success. Advanced technologies are needed to reduce mass and cost. Many space agencies have studied exploration mission architectures and scenarios with the resulting lists of critical and enhancing technologies being very similar. With this in mind, and with the recognition that human space exploration will only be enabled by agencies working together to address these challenges, interested agencies participating in the International Space Exploration Coordination Group (ISECG) have agreed to perform a technology assessment as an important step in exploring cooperation opportunities for future exploration mission scenarios. "The Global Exploration Strategy: The Framework for Coordination" was developed by fourteen space agencies and released in May 2007. Since the fall of 2008, several International Space Exploration Coordination Group (ISECG) participating space agencies have been studying concepts for human exploration of the moon. They have identified technologies considered critical and enhancing of sustainable space exploration. Technologies such as in-situ resource utilization, advanced power generation/energy storage systems, reliable dust resistant mobility systems, and closed loop life support systems are important examples. Similarly, agencies such as NASA, ESA, and Russia have studied Mars exploration missions and identified critical technologies. They recognize that human and robotic precursor missions to destinations such as LEO, moon, and near earth objects provide opportunities to demonstrate the

  15. The Adoption of Grid Computing Technology by Organizations: A Quantitative Study Using Technology Acceptance Model

    Science.gov (United States)

    Udoh, Emmanuel E.

    2010-01-01

    Advances in grid technology have enabled some organizations to harness enormous computational power on demand. However, the prediction of widespread adoption of the grid technology has not materialized despite the obvious grid advantages. This situation has encouraged intense efforts to close the research gap in the grid adoption process. In this…

  16. The fully-automated human: How is technology augmenting our identities?

    CERN Multimedia

    CERN. Geneva

    2016-01-01

    4 November 2016 - From 17:30 to 19:00 CET What if you could detect cancer years before the visible signs? What if you could analyze your genome to predict your longevity? What if your parents could edit your DNA long before you were born? What if your computer could think, feel and reason better than you? The tools of today are not only enhancing how we live—they are changing who we are. But they also introduce a new burden of responsibility. With so much information about ourselves now available, who should have access to it? If we have the ability to fundamentally alter our biologies or enhance our personalities, should we? This panel discussion features TEDxCERN 2016 speakers who are developing identity-changing technologies that are redefining how we perceive our health, our lifestyles and our roles in society. Speakers Dennis Lo Dennis Lo is a professor of chemical pathology...

  17. Designing Human Technologies

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Simonsen, Jesper

    and the design process, in ethical and society-related concerns, and in evaluating how designs fulfill needs and solve problems. Designing Human Technologies subscribes to a broad technology concept including information and communication, mobile, environmental/sustainable and energy technologies......Design is increasingly becoming a part of the university curriculum and research agenda. The keynote present and discuss Designing Human Technologies – an initiative aiming at establishing a design oriented main subject area alongside traditional main subject areas such as Natural Science......, the Humanities, and Social Science. The initiative broadens the perspective of IS and recognize reflections on aesthetics, ethics, values, connections to politics, and strategies for enabling a better future as legitimate parts of the research agenda. Designing Human Technologies is a design-oriented Strategic...

  18. Management and follow-up of gallbladder polyps : Joint guidelines between the European Society of Gastrointestinal and Abdominal Radiology (ESGAR), European Association for Endoscopic Surgery and other Interventional Techniques (EAES), International Society of Digestive Surgery - European Federation (EFISDS) and European Society of Gastrointestinal Endoscopy (ESGE).

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wiles, Rebecca; Thoeni, Ruedi F; Barbu, Sorin Traian; Vashist, Yogesh K; Rafaelsen, Søren Rafael; Dewhurst, Catherine; Arvanitakis, Marianna; Lahaye, Max; Soltes, Marek; Perinel, Julie; Roberts, Stuart Ashley

    2017-09-01

    The management of incidentally detected gallbladder polyps on radiological examinations is contentious. The incidental radiological finding of a gallbladder polyp can therefore be problematic for the radiologist and the clinician who referred the patient for the radiological examination. To address this a joint guideline was created by the European Society of Gastrointestinal and Abdominal Radiology (ESGAR), European Association for Endoscopic Surgery and other Interventional Techniques (EAES), International Society of Digestive Surgery - European Federation (EFISDS) and European Society of Gastrointestinal Endoscopy (ESGE). A targeted literature search was performed and consensus guidelines were created using a series of Delphi questionnaires and a seven-point Likert scale. A total of three Delphi rounds were performed. Consensus regarding which patients should have cholecystectomy, which patients should have ultrasound follow-up and the nature and duration of that follow-up was established. The full recommendations as well as a summary algorithm are provided. These expert consensus recommendations can be used as guidance when a gallbladder polyp is encountered in clinical practice. • Management of gallbladder polyps is contentious • Cholecystectomy is recommended for gallbladder polyps >10 mm • Management of polyps <10 mm depends on patient and polyp characteristics • Further research is required to determine optimal management of gallbladder polyps.

  19. Smartphone-controlled optogenetically engineered cells enable semiautomatic glucose homeostasis in diabetic mice.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Shao, Jiawei; Xue, Shuai; Yu, Guiling; Yu, Yuanhuan; Yang, Xueping; Bai, Yu; Zhu, Sucheng; Yang, Linfeng; Yin, Jianli; Wang, Yidan; Liao, Shuyong; Guo, Sanwei; Xie, Mingqi; Fussenegger, Martin; Ye, Haifeng

    2017-04-26

    With the increasingly dominant role of smartphones in our lives, mobile health care systems integrating advanced point-of-care technologies to manage chronic diseases are gaining attention. Using a multidisciplinary design principle coupling electrical engineering, software development, and synthetic biology, we have engineered a technological infrastructure enabling the smartphone-assisted semiautomatic treatment of diabetes in mice. A custom-designed home server SmartController was programmed to process wireless signals, enabling a smartphone to regulate hormone production by optically engineered cells implanted in diabetic mice via a far-red light (FRL)-responsive optogenetic interface. To develop this wireless controller network, we designed and implanted hydrogel capsules carrying both engineered cells and wirelessly powered FRL LEDs (light-emitting diodes). In vivo production of a short variant of human glucagon-like peptide 1 (shGLP-1) or mouse insulin by the engineered cells in the hydrogel could be remotely controlled by smartphone programs or a custom-engineered Bluetooth-active glucometer in a semiautomatic, glucose-dependent manner. By combining electronic device-generated digital signals with optogenetically engineered cells, this study provides a step toward translating cell-based therapies into the clinic. Copyright © 2017, American Association for the Advancement of Science.

  20. Enabling Research Network Connectivity to Clouds with Virtual Router Technology

    Science.gov (United States)

    Seuster, R.; Casteels, K.; Leavett-Brown, CR; Paterson, M.; Sobie, RJ

    2017-10-01

    The use of opportunistic cloud resources by HEP experiments has significantly increased over the past few years. Clouds that are owned or managed by the HEP community are connected to the LHCONE network or the research network with global access to HEP computing resources. Private clouds, such as those supported by non-HEP research funds are generally connected to the international research network; however, commercial clouds are either not connected to the research network or only connect to research sites within their national boundaries. Since research network connectivity is a requirement for HEP applications, we need to find a solution that provides a high-speed connection. We are studying a solution with a virtual router that will address the use case when a commercial cloud has research network connectivity in a limited region. In this situation, we host a virtual router in our HEP site and require that all traffic from the commercial site transit through the virtual router. Although this may increase the network path and also the load on the HEP site, it is a workable solution that would enable the use of the remote cloud for low I/O applications. We are exploring some simple open-source solutions. In this paper, we present the results of our studies and how it will benefit our use of private and public clouds for HEP computing.