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Sample records for facilitate improved estimations

  1. Practice Facilitators' and Leaders' Perspectives on a Facilitated Quality Improvement Program.

    Science.gov (United States)

    McHugh, Megan; Brown, Tiffany; Liss, David T; Walunas, Theresa L; Persell, Stephen D

    2018-04-01

    Practice facilitation is a promising approach to helping practices implement quality improvements. Our purpose was to describe practice facilitators' and practice leaders' perspectives on implementation of a practice facilitator-supported quality improvement program and describe where their perspectives aligned and diverged. We conducted interviews with practice leaders and practice facilitators who participated in a program that included 35 improvement strategies aimed at the ABCS of heart health (aspirin use in high-risk individuals, blood pressure control, cholesterol management, and smoking cessation). Rapid qualitative analysis was used to collect, organize, and analyze the data. We interviewed 17 of the 33 eligible practice leaders, and the 10 practice facilitators assigned to those practices. Practice leaders and practice facilitators both reported value in the program's ability to bring needed, high-quality resources to practices. Practice leaders appreciated being able to set the schedule for facilitation and select among the 35 interventions. According to practice facilitators, however, relying on practice leaders to set the pace of the intervention resulted in a lower level of program intensity than intended. Practice leaders preferred targeted assistance, particularly electronic health record documentation guidance and linkages to state smoking cessation programs. Practice facilitators reported that the easiest interventions were those that did not alter care practices. The dual perspectives of practice leaders and practice facilitators provide a more holistic picture of enablers and barriers to program implementation. There may be greater opportunities to assist small practices through simple, targeted practice facilitator-supported efforts rather than larger, comprehensive quality improvement projects. © 2018 Annals of Family Medicine, Inc.

  2. Facilitation of decommissioning light water reactors

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Moore, E.B. Jr.

    1979-12-01

    Information on design features, special equipment, and construction methods useful in the facilitation of decommissioning light water reactors is presented. A wide range of facilitation methods - from improved documentation to special decommissioning tools and techniques - is discussed. In addition, estimates of capital costs, cost savings, and radiation dose reduction associated with these facilitation methods are given

  3. Facilitation: A Novel Way to Improve Students' Well-being

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Adriansen, Hanne Kirstine Olesen; Madsen, Lene Møller

    2013-01-01

    In this article we analyze a project that used facilitation techniques, which are known from training in industry, to improve the study environment at a public research university in Denmark. In 2009, the project was initiated in one graduate program; and it has subsequently been modified...... and institutionalized. The project did not change the teaching format, but introduced facilitated study-groups using peer learning. Itwas successful in increasing students’ well-being. While peer learning and study groups are well-known in higher education, facilitation is a different and novel tool. We argue...... that facilitation makes study groups more inclusive, and they provide the potential for deep learning by structuring the learning situation...

  4. Enabling Continuous Quality Improvement in Practice: The Role and Contribution of Facilitation.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Harvey, Gillian; Lynch, Elizabeth

    2017-01-01

    Facilitating the implementation of continuous quality improvement (CQI) is a complex undertaking. Numerous contextual factors at a local, organizational, and health system level can influence the trajectory and ultimate success of an improvement program. Some of these contextual factors are amenable to modification, others less so. As part of planning and implementing healthcare improvement, it is important to assess and build an understanding of contextual factors that might present barriers to or enablers of implementation. On the basis of this initial diagnosis, it should then be possible to design and implement the improvement intervention in a way that is responsive to contextual barriers and enablers, often described as "tailoring" the implementation approach. Having individuals in the active role of facilitators is proposed as an effective way of delivering a context-sensitive, tailored approach to implementing CQI. This paper presents an overview of the facilitator role in implementing CQI. Drawing on empirical evidence from the use of facilitator roles in healthcare, the type of skills and knowledge required will be considered, along with the type of facilitation strategies that can be employed in the implementation process. Evidence from both case studies and systematic reviews of facilitation will be reviewed and key lessons for developing and studying the role in the future identified.

  5. Improved Radiation Dosimetry/Risk Estimates to Facilitate Environmental Management of Plutonium-Contaminated Sites

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Scott, Bobby R.; Tokarskaya, Zoya B.; Zhuntova, Galina V.; Osovets, Sergey V.; Syrchikov, Victor A., Belyaeva, Zinaida D.

    2007-12-14

    This report summarizes 4 years of research achievements in this Office of Science (BER), U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) project. The research described was conducted by scientists and supporting staff at Lovelace Respiratory Research Institute (LRRI)/Lovelace Biomedical and Environmental Research Institute (LBERI) and the Southern Urals Biophysics Institute (SUBI). All project objectives and goals were achieved. A major focus was on obtaining improved cancer risk estimates for exposure via inhalation to plutonium (Pu) isotopes in the workplace (DOE radiation workers) and environment (public exposures to Pu-contaminated soil). A major finding was that low doses and dose rates of gamma rays can significantly suppress cancer induction by alpha radiation from inhaled Pu isotopes. The suppression relates to stimulation of the body's natural defenses, including immunity against cancer cells and selective apoptosis which removes precancerous and other aberrant cells.

  6. Improved Radiation Dosimetry/Risk Estimates to Facilitate Environmental Management of Plutonium-Contaminated Sites

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Scott, Bobby R.; Tokarskaya, Zoya B.; Zhuntova, Galina V.; Osovets, Sergey V.; Syrchikov, Victor A.; Belyaeva, Zinaida D.

    2007-01-01

    This report summarizes 4 years of research achievements in this Office of Science (BER), U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) project. The research described was conducted by scientists and supporting staff at Lovelace Respiratory Research Institute (LRRI)/Lovelace Biomedical and Environmental Research Institute (LBERI) and the Southern Urals Biophysics Institute (SUBI). All project objectives and goals were achieved. A major focus was on obtaining improved cancer risk estimates for exposure via inhalation to plutonium (Pu) isotopes in the workplace (DOE radiation workers) and environment (public exposures to Pu-contaminated soil). A major finding was that low doses and dose rates of gamma rays can significantly suppress cancer induction by alpha radiation from inhaled Pu isotopes. The suppression relates to stimulation of the body's natural defenses, including immunity against cancer cells and selective apoptosis which removes precancerous and other aberrant cells

  7. An Example of an Improvable Rao-Blackwell Improvement, Inefficient Maximum Likelihood Estimator, and Unbiased Generalized Bayes Estimator.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Galili, Tal; Meilijson, Isaac

    2016-01-02

    The Rao-Blackwell theorem offers a procedure for converting a crude unbiased estimator of a parameter θ into a "better" one, in fact unique and optimal if the improvement is based on a minimal sufficient statistic that is complete. In contrast, behind every minimal sufficient statistic that is not complete, there is an improvable Rao-Blackwell improvement. This is illustrated via a simple example based on the uniform distribution, in which a rather natural Rao-Blackwell improvement is uniformly improvable. Furthermore, in this example the maximum likelihood estimator is inefficient, and an unbiased generalized Bayes estimator performs exceptionally well. Counterexamples of this sort can be useful didactic tools for explaining the true nature of a methodology and possible consequences when some of the assumptions are violated. [Received December 2014. Revised September 2015.].

  8. Improved Estimates of Thermodynamic Parameters

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lawson, D. D.

    1982-01-01

    Techniques refined for estimating heat of vaporization and other parameters from molecular structure. Using parabolic equation with three adjustable parameters, heat of vaporization can be used to estimate boiling point, and vice versa. Boiling points and vapor pressures for some nonpolar liquids were estimated by improved method and compared with previously reported values. Technique for estimating thermodynamic parameters should make it easier for engineers to choose among candidate heat-exchange fluids for thermochemical cycles.

  9. Improving Distribution Resiliency with Microgrids and State and Parameter Estimation

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Tuffner, Francis K. [Pacific Northwest National Lab. (PNNL), Richland, WA (United States); Williams, Tess L. [Pacific Northwest National Lab. (PNNL), Richland, WA (United States); Schneider, Kevin P. [Pacific Northwest National Lab. (PNNL), Richland, WA (United States); Elizondo, Marcelo A. [Pacific Northwest National Lab. (PNNL), Richland, WA (United States); Sun, Yannan [Pacific Northwest National Lab. (PNNL), Richland, WA (United States); Liu, Chen-Ching [Pacific Northwest National Lab. (PNNL), Richland, WA (United States); Xu, Yin [Pacific Northwest National Lab. (PNNL), Richland, WA (United States); Gourisetti, Sri Nikhil Gup [Pacific Northwest National Lab. (PNNL), Richland, WA (United States)

    2015-09-30

    Modern society relies on low-cost reliable electrical power, both to maintain industry, as well as provide basic social services to the populace. When major disturbances occur, such as Hurricane Katrina or Hurricane Sandy, the nation’s electrical infrastructure can experience significant outages. To help prevent the spread of these outages, as well as facilitating faster restoration after an outage, various aspects of improving the resiliency of the power system are needed. Two such approaches are breaking the system into smaller microgrid sections, and to have improved insight into the operations to detect failures or mis-operations before they become critical. Breaking the system into smaller sections of microgrid islands, power can be maintained in smaller areas where distribution generation and energy storage resources are still available, but bulk power generation is no longer connected. Additionally, microgrid systems can maintain service to local pockets of customers when there has been extensive damage to the local distribution system. However, microgrids are grid connected a majority of the time and implementing and operating a microgrid is much different than when islanded. This report discusses work conducted by the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory that developed improvements for simulation tools to capture the characteristics of microgrids and how they can be used to develop new operational strategies. These operational strategies reduce the cost of microgrid operation and increase the reliability and resilience of the nation’s electricity infrastructure. In addition to the ability to break the system into microgrids, improved observability into the state of the distribution grid can make the power system more resilient. State estimation on the transmission system already provides great insight into grid operations and detecting abnormal conditions by leveraging existing measurements. These transmission-level approaches are expanded to using

  10. Improving Google Flu Trends estimates for the United States through transformation.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Leah J Martin

    Full Text Available Google Flu Trends (GFT uses Internet search queries in an effort to provide early warning of increases in influenza-like illness (ILI. In the United States, GFT estimates the percentage of physician visits related to ILI (%ILINet reported by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC. However, during the 2012-13 influenza season, GFT overestimated %ILINet by an appreciable amount and estimated the peak in incidence three weeks late. Using data from 2010-14, we investigated the relationship between GFT estimates (%GFT and %ILINet. Based on the relationship between the relative change in %GFT and the relative change in %ILINet, we transformed %GFT estimates to better correspond with %ILINet values. In 2010-13, our transformed %GFT estimates were within ± 10% of %ILINet values for 17 of the 29 weeks that %ILINet was above the seasonal baseline value determined by the CDC; in contrast, the original %GFT estimates were within ± 10% of %ILINet values for only two of these 29 weeks. Relative to the %ILINet peak in 2012-13, the peak in our transformed %GFT estimates was 2% lower and one week later, whereas the peak in the original %GFT estimates was 74% higher and three weeks later. The same transformation improved %GFT estimates using the recalibrated 2013 GFT model in early 2013-14. Our transformed %GFT estimates can be calculated approximately one week before %ILINet values are reported by the CDC and the transformation equation was stable over the time period investigated (2010-13. We anticipate our results will facilitate future use of GFT.

  11. A care improvement program acting as a powerful learning environment to support nursing students learning facilitation competencies.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Jukema, Jan S; Harps-Timmerman, Annelies; Stoopendaal, Annemiek; Smits, Carolien H M

    2015-11-01

    Change management is an important area of training in undergraduate nursing education. Successful change management in healthcare aimed at improving practices requires facilitation skills that support teams in attaining the desired change. Developing facilitation skills in nursing students requires formal educational support. A Dutch Regional Care Improvement Program based on a nationwide format of change management in healthcare was designed to act as a Powerful Learning Environment for nursing students developing competencies in facilitating change. This article has two aims: to provide comprehensive insight into the program components and to describe students' learning experiences in developing their facilitation skills. This Dutch Regional Care Improvement Program considers three aspects of a Powerful Learning Environment: self-regulated learning; problem-based learning; and complex, realistic and challenging learning tasks. These three aspects were operationalised in five distinct areas of facilitation: increasing awareness of the need for change; leadership and project management; relationship building and communication; importance of the local context; and ongoing monitoring and evaluation. Over a period of 18 months, 42 nursing students, supported by trained lecturer-coaches, took part in nine improvement teams in our Regional Care Improvement Program, executing activities in all five areas of facilitation. Based on the students' experiences, we propose refinements to various components of this program, aimed at strengthenin the learning environment. There is a need for further detailed empirical research to study the impact this kind of learning environment has on students developing facilitation competencies in healthcare improvement. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  12. Improving the fundamentals of care for older people in the acute hospital setting: facilitating practice improvement using a Knowledge Translation Toolkit.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wiechula, Rick; Kitson, Alison; Marcoionni, Danni; Page, Tammy; Zeitz, Kathryn; Silverston, Heidi

    2009-12-01

    This paper reports on a structured facilitation program where seven interdisciplinary teams conducted projects aimed at improving the care of the older person in the acute sector. Aims  To develop and implement a structured intervention known as the Knowledge Translation (KT) Toolkit to improve the fundamentals of care for the older person in the acute care sector. Three hypotheses were tested: (i) frontline staff can be facilitated to use existing quality improvement tools and techniques and other resources (the KT Toolkit) in order to improve care of older people in the acute hospital setting; (ii) fundamental aspects of care for older people in the acute hospital setting can be improved through the introduction and use of specific evidence-based guidelines by frontline staff; and (iii) innovations can be introduced and improvements made to care within a 12-month cycle/timeframe with appropriate facilitation. Methods  Using realistic evaluation methodology the impact of a structured facilitation program (the KT Toolkit) was assessed with the aim of providing a deeper understanding of how a range of tools, techniques and strategies may be used by clinicians to improve care. The intervention comprised three elements: the facilitation team recruited for specific knowledge, skills and expertise in KT, evidence-based practice and quality and safety; the facilitation, including a structured program of education, ongoing support and communication; and finally the components of the toolkit including elements already used within the study organisation. Results  Small improvements in care were shown. The results for the individual projects varied from clarifying issues of concern and planning ongoing activities, to changing existing practices, to improving actual patient outcomes such as reducing functional decline. More importantly the study described how teams of clinicians can be facilitated using a structured program to conduct practice improvement activities

  13. Practice Facilitator Strategies for Addressing Electronic Health Record Data Challenges for Quality Improvement: EvidenceNOW.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hemler, Jennifer R; Hall, Jennifer D; Cholan, Raja A; Crabtree, Benjamin F; Damschroder, Laura J; Solberg, Leif I; Ono, Sarah S; Cohen, Deborah J

    2018-01-01

    Practice facilitators ("facilitators") can play an important role in supporting primary care practices in performing quality improvement (QI), but they need complete and accurate clinical performance data from practices' electronic health records (EHR) to help them set improvement priorities, guide clinical change, and monitor progress. Here, we describe the strategies facilitators use to help practices perform QI when complete or accurate performance data are not available. Seven regional cooperatives enrolled approximately 1500 small-to-medium-sized primary care practices and 136 facilitators in EvidenceNOW, the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality's initiative to improve cardiovascular preventive services. The national evaluation team analyzed qualitative data from online diaries, site visit field notes, and interviews to discover how facilitators worked with practices on EHR data challenges to obtain and use data for QI. We found facilitators faced practice-level EHR data challenges, such as a lack of clinical performance data, partial or incomplete clinical performance data, and inaccurate clinical performance data. We found that facilitators responded to these challenges, respectively, by using other data sources or tools to fill in for missing data, approximating performance reports and generating patient lists, and teaching practices how to document care and confirm performance measures. In addition, facilitators helped practices communicate with EHR vendors or health systems in requesting data they needed. Overall, facilitators tailored strategies to fit the individual practice and helped build data skills and trust. Facilitators can use a range of strategies to help practices perform data-driven QI when performance data are inaccurate, incomplete, or missing. Support is necessary to help practices, particularly those with EHR data challenges, build their capacity for conducting data-driven QI that is required of them for participating in practice

  14. Independent Coactors May Improve Performance and Lower Workload: Viewing Vigilance Under Social Facilitation.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Claypoole, Victoria L; Szalma, James L

    2018-04-01

    The purpose of the present study was to examine the effects of an independent coactor on vigilance task performance. It was hypothesized that the presence of an independent coactor would improve performance in terms of the proportion of false alarms while also increasing perceived workload and stress. Vigilance, or the ability to maintain attention for extended periods, is of great interest to human factors psychologists. Substantial work has focused on improving vigilance task performance, typically through motivational interventions. Of interest to vigilance researchers is the application of social facilitation as a means of enhancing vigilance. Social facilitation seeks to explain how social presence may improve performance. A total of 100 participants completed a 24-min vigil either alone or in the presence of an independent (confederate) coactor. Participants completed measures of perceived workload and stress. The results indicated that performance (i.e., proportion of false alarms) was improved for those who completed the vigil in the presence of an independent coactor. Interestingly, perceived workload was actually lower for those who completed the vigil in the presence of an independent coactor, although perceived stress was not affected by the manipulation. Authors of future research should extend these findings to other forms of social facilitation and examine vigilance task performance in social contexts in order to determine the utility of social presence for improving vigilance. The use of coactors may be an avenue for organizations to consider utilizing to improve performance because of its relative cost-effectiveness and easy implementation.

  15. Epithelium percentage estimation facilitates epithelial quantitative protein measurement in tissue specimens.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Chen, Jing; Toghi Eshghi, Shadi; Bova, George Steven; Li, Qing Kay; Li, Xingde; Zhang, Hui

    2013-12-01

    The rapid advancement of high-throughput tools for quantitative measurement of proteins has demonstrated the potential for the identification of proteins associated with cancer. However, the quantitative results on cancer tissue specimens are usually confounded by tissue heterogeneity, e.g. regions with cancer usually have significantly higher epithelium content yet lower stromal content. It is therefore necessary to develop a tool to facilitate the interpretation of the results of protein measurements in tissue specimens. Epithelial cell adhesion molecule (EpCAM) and cathepsin L (CTSL) are two epithelial proteins whose expressions in normal and tumorous prostate tissues were confirmed by measuring staining intensity with immunohistochemical staining (IHC). The expressions of these proteins were measured by ELISA in protein extracts from OCT embedded frozen prostate tissues. To eliminate the influence of tissue heterogeneity on epithelial protein quantification measured by ELISA, a color-based segmentation method was developed in-house for estimation of epithelium content using H&E histology slides from the same prostate tissues and the estimated epithelium percentage was used to normalize the ELISA results. The epithelium contents of the same slides were also estimated by a pathologist and used to normalize the ELISA results. The computer based results were compared with the pathologist's reading. We found that both EpCAM and CTSL levels, measured by ELISA assays itself, were greatly affected by epithelium content in the tissue specimens. Without adjusting for epithelium percentage, both EpCAM and CTSL levels appeared significantly higher in tumor tissues than normal tissues with a p value less than 0.001. However, after normalization by the epithelium percentage, ELISA measurements of both EpCAM and CTSL were in agreement with IHC staining results, showing a significant increase only in EpCAM with no difference in CTSL expression in cancer tissues. These results

  16.  Higher Order Improvements for Approximate Estimators

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Kristensen, Dennis; Salanié, Bernard

    Many modern estimation methods in econometrics approximate an objective function, through simulation or discretization for instance. The resulting "approximate" estimator is often biased; and it always incurs an efficiency loss. We here propose three methods to improve the properties of such appr......Many modern estimation methods in econometrics approximate an objective function, through simulation or discretization for instance. The resulting "approximate" estimator is often biased; and it always incurs an efficiency loss. We here propose three methods to improve the properties...... of such approximate estimators at a low computational cost. The first two methods correct the objective function so as to remove the leading term of the bias due to the approximation. One variant provides an analytical bias adjustment, but it only works for estimators based on stochastic approximators......, such as simulation-based estimators. Our second bias correction is based on ideas from the resampling literature; it eliminates the leading bias term for non-stochastic as well as stochastic approximators. Finally, we propose an iterative procedure where we use Newton-Raphson (NR) iterations based on a much finer...

  17. Improving Collective Estimations Using Resistance to Social Influence.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Gabriel Madirolas

    2015-11-01

    Full Text Available Groups can make precise collective estimations in cases like the weight of an object or the number of items in a volume. However, in others tasks, for example those requiring memory or mental calculation, subjects often give estimations with large deviations from factual values. Allowing members of the group to communicate their estimations has the additional perverse effect of shifting individual estimations even closer to the biased collective estimation. Here we show that this negative effect of social interactions can be turned into a method to improve collective estimations. We first obtained a statistical model of how humans change their estimation when receiving the estimates made by other individuals. We confirmed using existing experimental data its prediction that individuals use the weighted geometric mean of private and social estimations. We then used this result and the fact that each individual uses a different value of the social weight to devise a method that extracts the subgroups resisting social influence. We found that these subgroups of individuals resisting social influence can make very large improvements in group estimations. This is in contrast to methods using the confidence that each individual declares, for which we find no improvement in group estimations. Also, our proposed method does not need to use historical data to weight individuals by performance. These results show the benefits of using the individual characteristics of the members in a group to better extract collective wisdom.

  18. Improving Collective Estimations Using Resistance to Social Influence.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Madirolas, Gabriel; de Polavieja, Gonzalo G

    2015-11-01

    Groups can make precise collective estimations in cases like the weight of an object or the number of items in a volume. However, in others tasks, for example those requiring memory or mental calculation, subjects often give estimations with large deviations from factual values. Allowing members of the group to communicate their estimations has the additional perverse effect of shifting individual estimations even closer to the biased collective estimation. Here we show that this negative effect of social interactions can be turned into a method to improve collective estimations. We first obtained a statistical model of how humans change their estimation when receiving the estimates made by other individuals. We confirmed using existing experimental data its prediction that individuals use the weighted geometric mean of private and social estimations. We then used this result and the fact that each individual uses a different value of the social weight to devise a method that extracts the subgroups resisting social influence. We found that these subgroups of individuals resisting social influence can make very large improvements in group estimations. This is in contrast to methods using the confidence that each individual declares, for which we find no improvement in group estimations. Also, our proposed method does not need to use historical data to weight individuals by performance. These results show the benefits of using the individual characteristics of the members in a group to better extract collective wisdom.

  19. What impedes and what facilitates a quality improvement project for older hospitalized patients?

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Ijkema, R.; Langelaan, M.; van de Steeg, L.; Wagner, C.

    2014-01-01

    Objective: To gain insight into which factors impede, and which facilitate, the implementation of a complex multi-component improvement initiative in hospitalized older patients. Design: A qualitative study based on semi-structured interviews. The three dimensions of Pettigrew and Whipp's

  20. Interaction force and motion estimators facilitating impedance control of the upper limb rehabilitation robot.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Mancisidor, Aitziber; Zubizarreta, Asier; Cabanes, Itziar; Bengoa, Pablo; Jung, Je Hyung

    2017-07-01

    In order to enhance the performance of rehabilitation robots, it is imperative to know both force and motion caused by the interaction between user and robot. However, common direct measurement of both signals through force and motion sensors not only increases the complexity of the system but also impedes affordability of the system. As an alternative of the direct measurement, in this work, we present new force and motion estimators for the proper control of the upper-limb rehabilitation Universal Haptic Pantograph (UHP) robot. The estimators are based on the kinematic and dynamic model of the UHP and the use of signals measured by means of common low-cost sensors. In order to demonstrate the effectiveness of the estimators, several experimental tests were carried out. The force and impedance control of the UHP was implemented first by directly measuring the interaction force using accurate extra sensors and the robot performance was compared to the case where the proposed estimators replace the direct measured values. The experimental results reveal that the controller based on the estimators has similar performance to that using direct measurement (less than 1 N difference in root mean square error between two cases), indicating that the proposed force and motion estimators can facilitate implementation of interactive controller for the UHP in robotmediated rehabilitation trainings.

  1. Barriers and facilitators to implementing continuous quality improvement programs in colonoscopy services: a mixed methods systematic review.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Candas, Bernard; Jobin, Gilles; Dubé, Catherine; Tousignant, Mario; Abdeljelil, Anis Ben; Grenier, Sonya; Gagnon, Marie-Pierre

    2016-02-01

    Continuous quality improvement (CQI) programs may result in quality of care and outcome improvement. However, the implementation of such programs has proven to be very challenging. This mixed methods systematic review identifies barriers and facilitators pertaining to the implementation of CQI programs in colonoscopy services and how they relate to endoscopists, nurses, managers, and patients. We developed a search strategy adapted to 15 databases. Studies had to report on the implementation of a CQI intervention and identified barriers or facilitators relating to any of the four groups of actors directly concerned by the provision of colonoscopies. The quality of the selected studies was assessed and findings were extracted, categorized, and synthesized using a generic extraction grid customized through an iterative process. We extracted 99 findings from the 15 selected publications. Although involving all actors is the most cited factor, the literature mainly focuses on the facilitators and barriers associated with the endoscopists' perspective. The most reported facilitators to CQI implementation are perception of feasibility, adoption of a formative approach, training and education, confidentiality, and assessing a limited number of quality indicators. Receptive attitudes, a sense of ownership and perceptions of positive impacts also facilitate the implementation. Finally, an organizational environment conducive to quality improvement has to be inclusive of all user groups, explicitly supportive, and provide appropriate resources. Our findings corroborate the current models of adoption of innovations. However, a significant knowledge gap remains with respect to barriers and facilitators pertaining to nurses, patients, and managers.

  2. An Improved Cluster Richness Estimator

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Rozo, Eduardo; /Ohio State U.; Rykoff, Eli S.; /UC, Santa Barbara; Koester, Benjamin P.; /Chicago U. /KICP, Chicago; McKay, Timothy; /Michigan U.; Hao, Jiangang; /Michigan U.; Evrard, August; /Michigan U.; Wechsler, Risa H.; /SLAC; Hansen, Sarah; /Chicago U. /KICP, Chicago; Sheldon, Erin; /New York U.; Johnston, David; /Houston U.; Becker, Matthew R.; /Chicago U. /KICP, Chicago; Annis, James T.; /Fermilab; Bleem, Lindsey; /Chicago U.; Scranton, Ryan; /Pittsburgh U.

    2009-08-03

    Minimizing the scatter between cluster mass and accessible observables is an important goal for cluster cosmology. In this work, we introduce a new matched filter richness estimator, and test its performance using the maxBCG cluster catalog. Our new estimator significantly reduces the variance in the L{sub X}-richness relation, from {sigma}{sub lnL{sub X}}{sup 2} = (0.86 {+-} 0.02){sup 2} to {sigma}{sub lnL{sub X}}{sup 2} = (0.69 {+-} 0.02){sup 2}. Relative to the maxBCG richness estimate, it also removes the strong redshift dependence of the richness scaling relations, and is significantly more robust to photometric and redshift errors. These improvements are largely due to our more sophisticated treatment of galaxy color data. We also demonstrate the scatter in the L{sub X}-richness relation depends on the aperture used to estimate cluster richness, and introduce a novel approach for optimizing said aperture which can be easily generalized to other mass tracers.

  3. Experiences of practice facilitators working on the Improved Delivery of Cardiovascular Care project: Retrospective case study.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Liddy, Clare; Rowan, Margo; Valiquette-Tessier, Sophie-Claire; Drosinis, Paul; Crowe, Lois; Hogg, William

    2018-01-01

    To examine the barriers to and facilitators of practice facilitation experienced by participants in the Improving Delivery of Cardiovascular Care (IDOCC) project. Case studies of practice facilitators' narrative reports. Eastern Ontario. Primary care practices that participated in the IDOCC project. Cases were identified by calculating sum scores in order to determine practices' performance relative to their peers. Two case exemplars were selected that scored within ± 1 SD of the total mean score, and a qualitative analysis of practice facilitators' narrative reports was conducted using a 5-factor implementation framework to identify barriers and facilitators. Narratives were divided into 3 phases: planning, implementation, and sustainability. Barriers and facilitators fluctuated over the intervention's 3 phases. Site A reported more barriers (n = 47) than facilitators (n = 38), while site B reported a roughly equal number of barriers (n = 144) and facilitators (n = 136). In both sites, the most common barriers involved organizational and provider factors and the most common facilitators were associated with innovation and structural factors. Both practices encountered various barriers and facilitators throughout the IDOCC's 3 phases. The case studies reveal the complex interactions of these factors over time, and provide insight into the implementation of practice facilitation programs. Copyright© the College of Family Physicians of Canada.

  4. Improved linear least squares estimation using bounded data uncertainty

    KAUST Repository

    Ballal, Tarig

    2015-04-01

    This paper addresses the problemof linear least squares (LS) estimation of a vector x from linearly related observations. In spite of being unbiased, the original LS estimator suffers from high mean squared error, especially at low signal-to-noise ratios. The mean squared error (MSE) of the LS estimator can be improved by introducing some form of regularization based on certain constraints. We propose an improved LS (ILS) estimator that approximately minimizes the MSE, without imposing any constraints. To achieve this, we allow for perturbation in the measurement matrix. Then we utilize a bounded data uncertainty (BDU) framework to derive a simple iterative procedure to estimate the regularization parameter. Numerical results demonstrate that the proposed BDU-ILS estimator is superior to the original LS estimator, and it converges to the best linear estimator, the linear-minimum-mean-squared error estimator (LMMSE), when the elements of x are statistically white.

  5. Improved linear least squares estimation using bounded data uncertainty

    KAUST Repository

    Ballal, Tarig; Al-Naffouri, Tareq Y.

    2015-01-01

    This paper addresses the problemof linear least squares (LS) estimation of a vector x from linearly related observations. In spite of being unbiased, the original LS estimator suffers from high mean squared error, especially at low signal-to-noise ratios. The mean squared error (MSE) of the LS estimator can be improved by introducing some form of regularization based on certain constraints. We propose an improved LS (ILS) estimator that approximately minimizes the MSE, without imposing any constraints. To achieve this, we allow for perturbation in the measurement matrix. Then we utilize a bounded data uncertainty (BDU) framework to derive a simple iterative procedure to estimate the regularization parameter. Numerical results demonstrate that the proposed BDU-ILS estimator is superior to the original LS estimator, and it converges to the best linear estimator, the linear-minimum-mean-squared error estimator (LMMSE), when the elements of x are statistically white.

  6. On Improving Convergence Rates for Nonnegative Kernel Density Estimators

    OpenAIRE

    Terrell, George R.; Scott, David W.

    1980-01-01

    To improve the rate of decrease of integrated mean square error for nonparametric kernel density estimators beyond $0(n^{-\\frac{4}{5}}),$ we must relax the constraint that the density estimate be a bonafide density function, that is, be nonnegative and integrate to one. All current methods for kernel (and orthogonal series) estimators relax the nonnegativity constraint. In this paper we show how to achieve similar improvement by relaxing the integral constraint only. This is important in appl...

  7. Barriers and Facilitators to Implementing a Change Initiative in Long-Term Care Using the INTERACT® Quality Improvement Program.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Tappen, Ruth M; Wolf, David G; Rahemi, Zahra; Engstrom, Gabriella; Rojido, Carolina; Shutes, Jill M; Ouslander, Joseph G

    Implementation of major organizational change initiatives presents a challenge for long-term care leadership. Implementation of the INTERACT® (Interventions to Reduce Acute Care Transfers) quality improvement program, designed to improve the management of acute changes in condition and reduce unnecessary emergency department visits and hospitalizations of nursing home residents, serves as an example to illustrate the facilitators and barriers to major change in long-term care. As part of a larger study of the impact of INTERACT® on rates of emergency department visits and hospitalizations, staff of 71 nursing homes were called monthly to follow-up on their progress and discuss successful facilitating strategies and any challenges and barriers they encountered during the yearlong implementation period. Themes related to barriers and facilitators were identified. Six major barriers to implementation were identified: the magnitude and complexity of the change (35%), instability of facility leadership (27%), competing demands (40%), stakeholder resistance (49%), scarce resources (86%), and technical problems (31%). Six facilitating strategies were also reported: organization-wide involvement (68%), leadership support (41%), use of administrative authority (14%), adequate training (66%), persistence and oversight on the part of the champion (73%), and unfolding positive results (14%). Successful introduction of a complex change such as the INTERACT® quality improvement program in a long-term care facility requires attention to the facilitators and barriers identified in this report from those at the frontline.

  8. Improving estimation of flight altitude in wildlife telemetry studies

    Science.gov (United States)

    Poessel, Sharon; Duerr, Adam E.; Hall, Jonathan C.; Braham, Melissa A.; Katzner, Todd

    2018-01-01

    Altitude measurements from wildlife tracking devices, combined with elevation data, are commonly used to estimate the flight altitude of volant animals. However, these data often include measurement error. Understanding this error may improve estimation of flight altitude and benefit applied ecology.There are a number of different approaches that have been used to address this measurement error. These include filtering based on GPS data, filtering based on behaviour of the study species, and use of state-space models to correct measurement error. The effectiveness of these approaches is highly variable.Recent studies have based inference of flight altitude on misunderstandings about avian natural history and technical or analytical tools. In this Commentary, we discuss these misunderstandings and suggest alternative strategies both to resolve some of these issues and to improve estimation of flight altitude. These strategies also can be applied to other measures derived from telemetry data.Synthesis and applications. Our Commentary is intended to clarify and improve upon some of the assumptions made when estimating flight altitude and, more broadly, when using GPS telemetry data. We also suggest best practices for identifying flight behaviour, addressing GPS error, and using flight altitudes to estimate collision risk with anthropogenic structures. Addressing the issues we describe would help improve estimates of flight altitude and advance understanding of the treatment of error in wildlife telemetry studies.

  9. Improvement Schemes for Indoor Mobile Location Estimation: A Survey

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Jianga Shang

    2015-01-01

    Full Text Available Location estimation is significant in mobile and ubiquitous computing systems. The complexity and smaller scale of the indoor environment impose a great impact on location estimation. The key of location estimation lies in the representation and fusion of uncertain information from multiple sources. The improvement of location estimation is a complicated and comprehensive issue. A lot of research has been done to address this issue. However, existing research typically focuses on certain aspects of the problem and specific methods. This paper reviews mainstream schemes on improving indoor location estimation from multiple levels and perspectives by combining existing works and our own working experiences. Initially, we analyze the error sources of common indoor localization techniques and provide a multilayered conceptual framework of improvement schemes for location estimation. This is followed by a discussion of probabilistic methods for location estimation, including Bayes filters, Kalman filters, extended Kalman filters, sigma-point Kalman filters, particle filters, and hidden Markov models. Then, we investigate the hybrid localization methods, including multimodal fingerprinting, triangulation fusing multiple measurements, combination of wireless positioning with pedestrian dead reckoning (PDR, and cooperative localization. Next, we focus on the location determination approaches that fuse spatial contexts, namely, map matching, landmark fusion, and spatial model-aided methods. Finally, we present the directions for future research.

  10. Improved Differential Evolution Algorithm for Parameter Estimation to Improve the Production of Biochemical Pathway

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Chuii Khim Chong

    2012-06-01

    Full Text Available This paper introduces an improved Differential Evolution algorithm (IDE which aims at improving its performance in estimating the relevant parameters for metabolic pathway data to simulate glycolysis pathway for yeast. Metabolic pathway data are expected to be of significant help in the development of efficient tools in kinetic modeling and parameter estimation platforms. Many computation algorithms face obstacles due to the noisy data and difficulty of the system in estimating myriad of parameters, and require longer computational time to estimate the relevant parameters. The proposed algorithm (IDE in this paper is a hybrid of a Differential Evolution algorithm (DE and a Kalman Filter (KF. The outcome of IDE is proven to be superior than Genetic Algorithm (GA and DE. The results of IDE from experiments show estimated optimal kinetic parameters values, shorter computation time and increased accuracy for simulated results compared with other estimation algorithms

  11. Improved Radiation Dosimetry/Risk Estimates to Facilitate Environmental Management Of Plutonium Contaminated Sites

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Scott, B.R.

    2001-01-01

    Currently available radiation dosimetry/health-risk models for inhalation exposure to radionuclides are based on deterministic radiation intake and deterministic radiation doses (local and global). These models are not adequate for brief plutonium (Pu) exposure scenarios related to Department of Energy (DOE) decontamination/decommissioning (D and D) operations because such exposures involve the stochastic-intake (StI) paradigm. For this paradigm, small or moderate numbers of airborne, pure, highly radioactive PuO2 particles could be inhaled and deposited in the respiratory tract in unpredictable numbers (stochastic) during D and D incidents. Probabilistic relationships govern intake via the respiratory tract for the StI paradigm. An StIparadigm incident occurred on March 16, 2000, at Los Alamos National Laboratory. It involved eight workers who inhaled high-specific-activity, alpha-emitting (HSA-aE) 238PuO2-contaminated room air (glovebox-failure incident). Health-risk estimation is not trivial for the StI-exposure paradigm, especially for HSA-aE 238PuO2, as different individuals can have very different and uncertain radioactivity intakes for the same exposure duration and same incident. Indeed, this occurred in the Los Alamos incident. Rather than inappropriate point estimates of intake, dose, and risk, more appropriate probability distributions are needed. A main objective of this project has been to develop a stochastic dosimetry/risk computer model for evaluating radioactivity intake (by inhalation) distributions, organ dose distributions, and health risk distributions for DOE workers who may inhale airborne, alpha-emitting, pure PuO2 at DOE sites such as Rocky Flats. Another objective of this project has been to address the deterministic intake (DI) paradigm where members of the public could inhale, over years, millions and more resuspended, air-transported, PuO2-contaminated dust particles while residing (e.g., farmer) or working (e.g., office worker) at a

  12. Improving multisensor estimation of heavy-to-extreme precipitation via conditional bias-penalized optimal estimation

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kim, Beomgeun; Seo, Dong-Jun; Noh, Seong Jin; Prat, Olivier P.; Nelson, Brian R.

    2018-01-01

    A new technique for merging radar precipitation estimates and rain gauge data is developed and evaluated to improve multisensor quantitative precipitation estimation (QPE), in particular, of heavy-to-extreme precipitation. Unlike the conventional cokriging methods which are susceptible to conditional bias (CB), the proposed technique, referred to herein as conditional bias-penalized cokriging (CBPCK), explicitly minimizes Type-II CB for improved quantitative estimation of heavy-to-extreme precipitation. CBPCK is a bivariate version of extended conditional bias-penalized kriging (ECBPK) developed for gauge-only analysis. To evaluate CBPCK, cross validation and visual examination are carried out using multi-year hourly radar and gauge data in the North Central Texas region in which CBPCK is compared with the variant of the ordinary cokriging (OCK) algorithm used operationally in the National Weather Service Multisensor Precipitation Estimator. The results show that CBPCK significantly reduces Type-II CB for estimation of heavy-to-extreme precipitation, and that the margin of improvement over OCK is larger in areas of higher fractional coverage (FC) of precipitation. When FC > 0.9 and hourly gauge precipitation is > 60 mm, the reduction in root mean squared error (RMSE) by CBPCK over radar-only (RO) is about 12 mm while the reduction in RMSE by OCK over RO is about 7 mm. CBPCK may be used in real-time analysis or in reanalysis of multisensor precipitation for which accurate estimation of heavy-to-extreme precipitation is of particular importance.

  13. Improving evapotranspiration estimates in Mediterranean drylands

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Morillas, Laura; Leuning, Ray; Villagarcia, Luis

    2013-01-01

    An adaptation of a simple model for evapotranspiration (E) estimations in drylands based on remotely sensed leaf area index and the Penman-Monteith equation (PML model) (Leuning et al., 2008) is presented. Three methods for improving the consideration of soil evaporation influence in total evapo-...

  14. Improving nuclear envelope dynamics by EBV BFRF1 facilitates intranuclear component clearance through autophagy.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Liu, Guan-Ting; Kung, Hsiu-Ni; Chen, Chung-Kuan; Huang, Cheng; Wang, Yung-Li; Yu, Cheng-Pu; Lee, Chung-Pei

    2018-02-26

    Although a vesicular nucleocytoplasmic transport system is believed to exist in eukaryotic cells, the features of this pathway are mostly unknown. Here, we report that the BFRF1 protein of the Epstein-Barr virus improves vesicular transport of nuclear envelope (NE) to facilitate the translocation and clearance of nuclear components. BFRF1 expression induces vesicles that selectively transport nuclear components to the cytoplasm. With the use of aggregation-prone proteins as tools, we found that aggregated nuclear proteins are dispersed when these BFRF1-induced vesicles are formed. BFRF1-containing vesicles engulf the NE-associated aggregates, exit through from the NE, and putatively fuse with autophagic vacuoles. Chemical treatment and genetic ablation of autophagy-related factors indicate that autophagosome formation and autophagy-linked FYVE protein-mediated autophagic proteolysis are involved in this selective clearance of nuclear proteins. Remarkably, vesicular transport, elicited by BFRF1, also attenuated nuclear aggregates accumulated in neuroblastoma cells. Accordingly, induction of NE-derived vesicles by BFRF1 facilitates nuclear protein translocation and clearance, suggesting that autophagy-coupled transport of nucleus-derived vesicles can be elicited for nuclear component catabolism in mammalian cells.-Liu, G.-T., Kung, H.-N., Chen, C.-K., Huang, C., Wang, Y.-L., Yu, C.-P., Lee, C.-P. Improving nuclear envelope dynamics by EBV BFRF1 facilitates intranuclear component clearance through autophagy.

  15. Improving photometric redshift estimation using GPZ: size information, post processing, and improved photometry

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gomes, Zahra; Jarvis, Matt J.; Almosallam, Ibrahim A.; Roberts, Stephen J.

    2018-03-01

    The next generation of large-scale imaging surveys (such as those conducted with the Large Synoptic Survey Telescope and Euclid) will require accurate photometric redshifts in order to optimally extract cosmological information. Gaussian Process for photometric redshift estimation (GPZ) is a promising new method that has been proven to provide efficient, accurate photometric redshift estimations with reliable variance predictions. In this paper, we investigate a number of methods for improving the photometric redshift estimations obtained using GPZ (but which are also applicable to others). We use spectroscopy from the Galaxy and Mass Assembly Data Release 2 with a limiting magnitude of r Program Data Release 1 and find that it produces significant improvements in accuracy, similar to the effect of including additional features.

  16. Hexicon 2: automated processing of hydrogen-deuterium exchange mass spectrometry data with improved deuteration distribution estimation.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lindner, Robert; Lou, Xinghua; Reinstein, Jochen; Shoeman, Robert L; Hamprecht, Fred A; Winkler, Andreas

    2014-06-01

    Hydrogen-deuterium exchange (HDX) experiments analyzed by mass spectrometry (MS) provide information about the dynamics and the solvent accessibility of protein backbone amide hydrogen atoms. Continuous improvement of MS instrumentation has contributed to the increasing popularity of this method; however, comprehensive automated data analysis is only beginning to mature. We present Hexicon 2, an automated pipeline for data analysis and visualization based on the previously published program Hexicon (Lou et al. 2010). Hexicon 2 employs the sensitive NITPICK peak detection algorithm of its predecessor in a divide-and-conquer strategy and adds new features, such as chromatogram alignment and improved peptide sequence assignment. The unique feature of deuteration distribution estimation was retained in Hexicon 2 and improved using an iterative deconvolution algorithm that is robust even to noisy data. In addition, Hexicon 2 provides a data browser that facilitates quality control and provides convenient access to common data visualization tasks. Analysis of a benchmark dataset demonstrates superior performance of Hexicon 2 compared with its predecessor in terms of deuteration centroid recovery and deuteration distribution estimation. Hexicon 2 greatly reduces data analysis time compared with manual analysis, whereas the increased number of peptides provides redundant coverage of the entire protein sequence. Hexicon 2 is a standalone application available free of charge under http://hx2.mpimf-heidelberg.mpg.de.

  17. Hexicon 2: Automated Processing of Hydrogen-Deuterium Exchange Mass Spectrometry Data with Improved Deuteration Distribution Estimation

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lindner, Robert; Lou, Xinghua; Reinstein, Jochen; Shoeman, Robert L.; Hamprecht, Fred A.; Winkler, Andreas

    2014-06-01

    Hydrogen-deuterium exchange (HDX) experiments analyzed by mass spectrometry (MS) provide information about the dynamics and the solvent accessibility of protein backbone amide hydrogen atoms. Continuous improvement of MS instrumentation has contributed to the increasing popularity of this method; however, comprehensive automated data analysis is only beginning to mature. We present Hexicon 2, an automated pipeline for data analysis and visualization based on the previously published program Hexicon (Lou et al. 2010). Hexicon 2 employs the sensitive NITPICK peak detection algorithm of its predecessor in a divide-and-conquer strategy and adds new features, such as chromatogram alignment and improved peptide sequence assignment. The unique feature of deuteration distribution estimation was retained in Hexicon 2 and improved using an iterative deconvolution algorithm that is robust even to noisy data. In addition, Hexicon 2 provides a data browser that facilitates quality control and provides convenient access to common data visualization tasks. Analysis of a benchmark dataset demonstrates superior performance of Hexicon 2 compared with its predecessor in terms of deuteration centroid recovery and deuteration distribution estimation. Hexicon 2 greatly reduces data analysis time compared with manual analysis, whereas the increased number of peptides provides redundant coverage of the entire protein sequence. Hexicon 2 is a standalone application available free of charge under http://hx2.mpimf-heidelberg.mpg.de.

  18. Whose statistical reasoning is facilitated by a causal structure intervention?

    Science.gov (United States)

    McNair, Simon; Feeney, Aidan

    2015-02-01

    People often struggle when making Bayesian probabilistic estimates on the basis of competing sources of statistical evidence. Recently, Krynski and Tenenbaum (Journal of Experimental Psychology: General, 136, 430-450, 2007) proposed that a causal Bayesian framework accounts for peoples' errors in Bayesian reasoning and showed that, by clarifying the causal relations among the pieces of evidence, judgments on a classic statistical reasoning problem could be significantly improved. We aimed to understand whose statistical reasoning is facilitated by the causal structure intervention. In Experiment 1, although we observed causal facilitation effects overall, the effect was confined to participants high in numeracy. We did not find an overall facilitation effect in Experiment 2 but did replicate the earlier interaction between numerical ability and the presence or absence of causal content. This effect held when we controlled for general cognitive ability and thinking disposition. Our results suggest that clarifying causal structure facilitates Bayesian judgments, but only for participants with sufficient understanding of basic concepts in probability and statistics.

  19. Improved Radiation Dosimetry/Risk Estimates to Facilitate Environmental Management of Plutonium Contaminated Sites

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Scott, Bobby R.

    1999-01-01

    The objective of this research is to evaluate distributions of possible alpha radiation doses to the lung, bone, and liver, and associated health-risk distributions for plutonium (Pu) inhalation exposure scenarios relevant to environmental management of PuO2-contaminated sites. Currently available dosimetry/risk models do not apply to exposure scenarios where relatively small numbers of highly radioactive PuO2 particles are presented for inhalation (stochastic exposure [SE] paradigm). For the SE paradigm, distributions of possible risks are more relevant than point estimates of risk. The main goal of the project is to deliver a computer program that will allow evaluation of the indicated risk distributions for the SE paradigm. However, some of our work also relates to the deterministic exposure [DE] paradigm where large numbers of airborne particles (resuspended dust containing PuO2) are presented for inhalation to members of the public residing or working at a remediated Department of Energy (DOE) site

  20. The international food unit: a new measurement aid that can improve portion size estimation.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bucher, T; Weltert, M; Rollo, M E; Smith, S P; Jia, W; Collins, C E; Sun, M

    2017-09-12

    Portion size education tools, aids and interventions can be effective in helping prevent weight gain. However consumers have difficulties in estimating food portion sizes and are confused by inconsistencies in measurement units and terminologies currently used. Visual cues are an important mediator of portion size estimation, but standardized measurement units are required. In the current study, we present a new food volume estimation tool and test the ability of young adults to accurately quantify food volumes. The International Food Unit™ (IFU™) is a 4x4x4 cm cube (64cm 3 ), subdivided into eight 2 cm sub-cubes for estimating smaller food volumes. Compared with currently used measures such as cups and spoons, the IFU™ standardizes estimation of food volumes with metric measures. The IFU™ design is based on binary dimensional increments and the cubic shape facilitates portion size education and training, memory and recall, and computer processing which is binary in nature. The performance of the IFU™ was tested in a randomized between-subject experiment (n = 128 adults, 66 men) that estimated volumes of 17 foods using four methods; the IFU™ cube, a deformable modelling clay cube, a household measuring cup or no aid (weight estimation). Estimation errors were compared between groups using Kruskall-Wallis tests and post-hoc comparisons. Estimation errors differed significantly between groups (H(3) = 28.48, p studies should investigate whether the IFU™ can facilitate portion size training and whether portion size education using the IFU™ is effective and sustainable without the aid. A 3-dimensional IFU™ could serve as a reference object for estimating food volume.

  1. Improved Ancestry Estimation for both Genotyping and Sequencing Data using Projection Procrustes Analysis and Genotype Imputation

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wang, Chaolong; Zhan, Xiaowei; Liang, Liming; Abecasis, Gonçalo R.; Lin, Xihong

    2015-01-01

    Accurate estimation of individual ancestry is important in genetic association studies, especially when a large number of samples are collected from multiple sources. However, existing approaches developed for genome-wide SNP data do not work well with modest amounts of genetic data, such as in targeted sequencing or exome chip genotyping experiments. We propose a statistical framework to estimate individual ancestry in a principal component ancestry map generated by a reference set of individuals. This framework extends and improves upon our previous method for estimating ancestry using low-coverage sequence reads (LASER 1.0) to analyze either genotyping or sequencing data. In particular, we introduce a projection Procrustes analysis approach that uses high-dimensional principal components to estimate ancestry in a low-dimensional reference space. Using extensive simulations and empirical data examples, we show that our new method (LASER 2.0), combined with genotype imputation on the reference individuals, can substantially outperform LASER 1.0 in estimating fine-scale genetic ancestry. Specifically, LASER 2.0 can accurately estimate fine-scale ancestry within Europe using either exome chip genotypes or targeted sequencing data with off-target coverage as low as 0.05×. Under the framework of LASER 2.0, we can estimate individual ancestry in a shared reference space for samples assayed at different loci or by different techniques. Therefore, our ancestry estimation method will accelerate discovery in disease association studies not only by helping model ancestry within individual studies but also by facilitating combined analysis of genetic data from multiple sources. PMID:26027497

  2. Facilitating open global data use in earthquake source modelling to improve geodetic and seismological approaches

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sudhaus, Henriette; Heimann, Sebastian; Steinberg, Andreas; Isken, Marius; Vasyura-Bathke, Hannes

    2017-04-01

    In the last few years impressive achievements have been made in improving inferences about earthquake sources by using InSAR (Interferometric Synthetic Aperture Radar) data. Several factors aided these developments. The open data basis of earthquake observations has expanded vastly with the two powerful Sentinel-1 SAR sensors up in space. Increasing computer power allows processing of large data sets for more detailed source models. Moreover, data inversion approaches for earthquake source inferences are becoming more advanced. By now data error propagation is widely implemented and the estimation of model uncertainties is a regular feature of reported optimum earthquake source models. Also, more regularly InSAR-derived surface displacements and seismological waveforms are combined, which requires finite rupture models instead of point-source approximations and layered medium models instead of homogeneous half-spaces. In other words the disciplinary differences in geodetic and seismological earthquake source modelling shrink towards common source-medium descriptions and a source near-field/far-field data point of view. We explore and facilitate the combination of InSAR-derived near-field static surface displacement maps and dynamic far-field seismological waveform data for global earthquake source inferences. We join in the community efforts with the particular goal to improve crustal earthquake source inferences in generally not well instrumented areas, where often only the global backbone observations of earthquakes are available provided by seismological broadband sensor networks and, since recently, by Sentinel-1 SAR acquisitions. We present our work on modelling standards for the combination of static and dynamic surface displacements in the source's near-field and far-field, e.g. on data and prediction error estimations as well as model uncertainty estimation. Rectangular dislocations and moment-tensor point sources are exchanged by simple planar finite

  3. How social information can improve estimation accuracy in human groups.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Jayles, Bertrand; Kim, Hye-Rin; Escobedo, Ramón; Cezera, Stéphane; Blanchet, Adrien; Kameda, Tatsuya; Sire, Clément; Theraulaz, Guy

    2017-11-21

    In our digital and connected societies, the development of social networks, online shopping, and reputation systems raises the questions of how individuals use social information and how it affects their decisions. We report experiments performed in France and Japan, in which subjects could update their estimates after having received information from other subjects. We measure and model the impact of this social information at individual and collective scales. We observe and justify that, when individuals have little prior knowledge about a quantity, the distribution of the logarithm of their estimates is close to a Cauchy distribution. We find that social influence helps the group improve its properly defined collective accuracy. We quantify the improvement of the group estimation when additional controlled and reliable information is provided, unbeknownst to the subjects. We show that subjects' sensitivity to social influence permits us to define five robust behavioral traits and increases with the difference between personal and group estimates. We then use our data to build and calibrate a model of collective estimation to analyze the impact on the group performance of the quantity and quality of information received by individuals. The model quantitatively reproduces the distributions of estimates and the improvement of collective performance and accuracy observed in our experiments. Finally, our model predicts that providing a moderate amount of incorrect information to individuals can counterbalance the human cognitive bias to systematically underestimate quantities and thereby improve collective performance. Copyright © 2017 the Author(s). Published by PNAS.

  4. Adaptive OFDM Radar Waveform Design for Improved Micro-Doppler Estimation

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Sen, Satyabrata [Oak Ridge National Lab. (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States). Center for Engineering Science Advanced Research, Computer Science and Mathematics Division

    2014-07-01

    Here we analyze the performance of a wideband orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) signal in estimating the micro-Doppler frequency of a rotating target having multiple scattering centers. The use of a frequency-diverse OFDM signal enables us to independently analyze the micro-Doppler characteristics with respect to a set of orthogonal subcarrier frequencies. We characterize the accuracy of micro-Doppler frequency estimation by computing the Cramer-Rao bound (CRB) on the angular-velocity estimate of the target. Additionally, to improve the accuracy of the estimation procedure, we formulate and solve an optimization problem by minimizing the CRB on the angular-velocity estimate with respect to the OFDM spectral coefficients. We present several numerical examples to demonstrate the CRB variations with respect to the signal-to-noise ratios, number of temporal samples, and number of OFDM subcarriers. We also analysed numerically the improvement in estimation accuracy due to the adaptive waveform design. A grid-based maximum likelihood estimation technique is applied to evaluate the corresponding mean-squared error performance.

  5. Barriers and facilitators to learn and improve through morbidity and mortality conferences: a qualitative study.

    Science.gov (United States)

    de Vos, Marit S; Hamming, Jaap F; Marang-van de Mheen, Perla J

    2017-11-12

    To explore barriers and facilitators to successful morbidity and mortality conferences (M&M), driving learning and improvement. This is a qualitative study with semistructured interviews. Inductive, thematic content analysis was used to identify barriers and facilitators, which were structured across a pre-existing framework for change in healthcare. Dutch academic surgical department with a long tradition of M&M. An interview sample of surgeons, residents and physician assistants (n=12). A total of 57 barriers and facilitators to successful M&M, covering 18 themes, varying from 'case type' to 'leadership', were perceived by surgical staff. While some factors related to M&M organisation, others concerned individual or social aspects. Eight factors, of which four were at the social level, had simultaneous positive and negative effects (eg, 'hierarchy' and 'team spirit'). Mediating pathways for M&M success were found to relate to available information , staff motivation and realisation processes. This study provides leads for improvement of M&M practice, as well as for further research on key elements of successful M&M. Various factors were perceived to affect M&M success, of which many were individual and social rather than organisational factors, affecting information and realisation processes but also staff motivation. Based on these findings, practical recommendations were formulated to guide efforts towards best practices for M&M. © Article author(s) (or their employer(s) unless otherwise stated in the text of the article) 2017. All rights reserved. No commercial use is permitted unless otherwise expressly granted.

  6. An Improvement to Interval Estimation for Small Samples

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    SUN Hui-Ling

    2017-02-01

    Full Text Available Because it is difficult and complex to determine the probability distribution of small samples,it is improper to use traditional probability theory to process parameter estimation for small samples. Bayes Bootstrap method is always used in the project. Although,the Bayes Bootstrap method has its own limitation,In this article an improvement is given to the Bayes Bootstrap method,This method extended the amount of samples by numerical simulation without changing the circumstances in a small sample of the original sample. And the new method can give the accurate interval estimation for the small samples. Finally,by using the Monte Carlo simulation to model simulation to the specific small sample problems. The effectiveness and practicability of the Improved-Bootstrap method was proved.

  7. Improved ice loss estimate of the northwestern Greenland ice sheet

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Kjeldsen, Kristian Kjellerup; Khan, Shfaqat Abbas; Wahr, J.

    2013-01-01

    We estimate ice volume change rates in the northwest Greenland drainage basin during 2003–2009 using Ice, Cloud and land Elevation Satellite (ICESat) laser altimeter data. Elevation changes are often reported to be largest near the frontal portion of outlet glaciers. To improve the volume change...... estimate, we supplement the ICESat data with altimeter surveys from NASA's Airborne Topographic Mapper from 2002 to 2010 and NASA's Land, Vegetation and Ice Sensor from 2010. The Airborne data are mainly concentrated along the ice margin and thus have a significant impact on the estimate of the volume...... change. Our results show that adding Airborne Topographic Mapper and Land, Vegetation and Ice Sensor data to the ICESat data increases the catchment-wide estimate of ice volume loss by 11%, mainly due to an improved volume loss estimate along the ice sheet margin. Furthermore, our results show...

  8. Improving real-time estimation of heavy-to-extreme precipitation using rain gauge data via conditional bias-penalized optimal estimation

    Science.gov (United States)

    Seo, Dong-Jun; Siddique, Ridwan; Zhang, Yu; Kim, Dongsoo

    2014-11-01

    A new technique for gauge-only precipitation analysis for improved estimation of heavy-to-extreme precipitation is described and evaluated. The technique is based on a novel extension of classical optimal linear estimation theory in which, in addition to error variance, Type-II conditional bias (CB) is explicitly minimized. When cast in the form of well-known kriging, the methodology yields a new kriging estimator, referred to as CB-penalized kriging (CBPK). CBPK, however, tends to yield negative estimates in areas of no or light precipitation. To address this, an extension of CBPK, referred to herein as extended conditional bias penalized kriging (ECBPK), has been developed which combines the CBPK estimate with a trivial estimate of zero precipitation. To evaluate ECBPK, we carried out real-world and synthetic experiments in which ECBPK and the gauge-only precipitation analysis procedure used in the NWS's Multisensor Precipitation Estimator (MPE) were compared for estimation of point precipitation and mean areal precipitation (MAP), respectively. The results indicate that ECBPK improves hourly gauge-only estimation of heavy-to-extreme precipitation significantly. The improvement is particularly large for estimation of MAP for a range of combinations of basin size and rain gauge network density. This paper describes the technique, summarizes the results and shares ideas for future research.

  9. An improved method for estimating the frequency correlation function

    KAUST Repository

    Chelli, Ali; Pä tzold, Matthias

    2012-01-01

    For time-invariant frequency-selective channels, the transfer function is a superposition of waves having different propagation delays and path gains. In order to estimate the frequency correlation function (FCF) of such channels, the frequency averaging technique can be utilized. The obtained FCF can be expressed as a sum of auto-terms (ATs) and cross-terms (CTs). The ATs are caused by the autocorrelation of individual path components. The CTs are due to the cross-correlation of different path components. These CTs have no physical meaning and leads to an estimation error. We propose a new estimation method aiming to improve the estimation accuracy of the FCF of a band-limited transfer function. The basic idea behind the proposed method is to introduce a kernel function aiming to reduce the CT effect, while preserving the ATs. In this way, we can improve the estimation of the FCF. The performance of the proposed method and the frequency averaging technique is analyzed using a synthetically generated transfer function. We show that the proposed method is more accurate than the frequency averaging technique. The accurate estimation of the FCF is crucial for the system design. In fact, we can determine the coherence bandwidth from the FCF. The exact knowledge of the coherence bandwidth is beneficial in both the design as well as optimization of frequency interleaving and pilot arrangement schemes. © 2012 IEEE.

  10. An improved method for estimating the frequency correlation function

    KAUST Repository

    Chelli, Ali

    2012-04-01

    For time-invariant frequency-selective channels, the transfer function is a superposition of waves having different propagation delays and path gains. In order to estimate the frequency correlation function (FCF) of such channels, the frequency averaging technique can be utilized. The obtained FCF can be expressed as a sum of auto-terms (ATs) and cross-terms (CTs). The ATs are caused by the autocorrelation of individual path components. The CTs are due to the cross-correlation of different path components. These CTs have no physical meaning and leads to an estimation error. We propose a new estimation method aiming to improve the estimation accuracy of the FCF of a band-limited transfer function. The basic idea behind the proposed method is to introduce a kernel function aiming to reduce the CT effect, while preserving the ATs. In this way, we can improve the estimation of the FCF. The performance of the proposed method and the frequency averaging technique is analyzed using a synthetically generated transfer function. We show that the proposed method is more accurate than the frequency averaging technique. The accurate estimation of the FCF is crucial for the system design. In fact, we can determine the coherence bandwidth from the FCF. The exact knowledge of the coherence bandwidth is beneficial in both the design as well as optimization of frequency interleaving and pilot arrangement schemes. © 2012 IEEE.

  11. The utah beacon experience: integrating quality improvement, health information technology, and practice facilitation to improve diabetes outcomes in small health care facilities.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Tennison, Janet; Rajeev, Deepthi; Woolsey, Sarah; Black, Jeff; Oostema, Steven J; North, Christie

    2014-01-01

    The Utah Improving Care through Connectivity and Collaboration (IC3) Beacon community (2010-2013) was spearheaded by HealthInsight, a nonprofit, community-based organization. One of the main objectives of IC(3) was to improve health care provided to patients with diabetes in three Utah counties, collaborating with 21 independent smaller clinics and two large health care enterprises. This paper will focus on the use of health information technology (HIT) and practice facilitation to develop and implement new care processes to improve clinic workflow and ultimately improve patients' diabetes outcomes at 21 participating smaller, independent clinics. Early in the project, we learned that most of the 21 clinics did not have the resources needed to successfully implement quality improvement (QI) initiatives. IC(3) helped clinics effectively use data generated from their electronic health records (EHRs) to design and implement interventions to improve patients' diabetes outcomes. This close coupling of HIT, expert practice facilitation, and Learning Collaboratives was found to be especially valuable in clinics with limited resources. Through this process we learned that (1) an extensive readiness assessment improved clinic retention, (2) clinic champions were important for a successful collaboration, and (3) current EHR systems have limited functionality to assist in QI initiatives. In general, smaller, independent clinics lack knowledge and experience with QI and have limited HIT experience to improve patient care using electronic clinical data. Additionally, future projects like IC(3) Beacon will be instrumental in changing clinic culture so that QI is integrated into routine workflow. Our efforts led to significant changes in how practice staff optimized their EHRs to manage and improve diabetes care, while establishing the framework for sustainability. Some of the IC(3) Beacon practices are currently smoothly transitioning to new models of care such as Patient

  12. Increasing fMRI sampling rate improves Granger causality estimates.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Fa-Hsuan Lin

    Full Text Available Estimation of causal interactions between brain areas is necessary for elucidating large-scale functional brain networks underlying behavior and cognition. Granger causality analysis of time series data can quantitatively estimate directional information flow between brain regions. Here, we show that such estimates are significantly improved when the temporal sampling rate of functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI is increased 20-fold. Specifically, healthy volunteers performed a simple visuomotor task during blood oxygenation level dependent (BOLD contrast based whole-head inverse imaging (InI. Granger causality analysis based on raw InI BOLD data sampled at 100-ms resolution detected the expected causal relations, whereas when the data were downsampled to the temporal resolution of 2 s typically used in echo-planar fMRI, the causality could not be detected. An additional control analysis, in which we SINC interpolated additional data points to the downsampled time series at 0.1-s intervals, confirmed that the improvements achieved with the real InI data were not explainable by the increased time-series length alone. We therefore conclude that the high-temporal resolution of InI improves the Granger causality connectivity analysis of the human brain.

  13. Improving RNA-Seq expression estimates by correcting for fragment bias

    Science.gov (United States)

    2011-01-01

    The biochemistry of RNA-Seq library preparation results in cDNA fragments that are not uniformly distributed within the transcripts they represent. This non-uniformity must be accounted for when estimating expression levels, and we show how to perform the needed corrections using a likelihood based approach. We find improvements in expression estimates as measured by correlation with independently performed qRT-PCR and show that correction of bias leads to improved replicability of results across libraries and sequencing technologies. PMID:21410973

  14. On Improving Density Estimators which are not Bona Fide Functions

    OpenAIRE

    Gajek, Leslaw

    1986-01-01

    In order to improve the rate of decrease of the IMSE for nonparametric kernel density estimators with nonrandom bandwidth beyond $O(n^{-4/5})$ all current methods must relax the constraint that the density estimate be a bona fide function, that is, be nonnegative and integrate to one. In this paper we show how to achieve similar improvement without relaxing any of these constraints. The method can also be applied for orthogonal series, adaptive orthogonal series, spline, jackknife, and other ...

  15. The Source Signature Estimator - System Improvements and Applications

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Sabel, Per; Brink, Mundy; Eidsvig, Seija; Jensen, Lars

    1998-12-31

    This presentation relates briefly to the first part of the joint project on post-survey analysis of shot-by-shot based source signature estimation. The improvements of a Source Signature Estimator system are analysed. The notional source method can give suboptimal results when not inputting the real array geometry, i.e. actual separations between the sub-arrays of an air gun array, to the notional source algorithm. This constraint has been addressed herein and was implemented for the first time in the field in summer 1997. The second part of this study will show the potential advantages for interpretation when the signature estimates are then to be applied in the data processing. 5 refs., 1 fig.

  16. Genetic algorithm-based improved DOA estimation using fourth-order cumulants

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ahmed, Ammar; Tufail, Muhammad

    2017-05-01

    Genetic algorithm (GA)-based direction of arrival (DOA) estimation is proposed using fourth-order cumulants (FOC) and ESPRIT principle which results in Multiple Invariance Cumulant ESPRIT algorithm. In the existing FOC ESPRIT formulations, only one invariance is utilised to estimate DOAs. The unused multiple invariances (MIs) must be exploited simultaneously in order to improve the estimation accuracy. In this paper, a fitness function based on a carefully designed cumulant matrix is developed which incorporates MIs present in the sensor array. Better DOA estimation can be achieved by minimising this fitness function. Moreover, the effectiveness of Newton's method as well as GA for this optimisation problem has been illustrated. Simulation results show that the proposed algorithm provides improved estimation accuracy compared to existing algorithms, especially in the case of low SNR, less number of snapshots, closely spaced sources and high signal and noise correlation. Moreover, it is observed that the optimisation using Newton's method is more likely to converge to false local optima resulting in erroneous results. However, GA-based optimisation has been found attractive due to its global optimisation capability.

  17. Frequency Estimator Performance for a Software-Based Beacon Receiver

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zemba, Michael J.; Morse, Jacquelynne Rose; Nessel, James A.; Miranda, Felix

    2014-01-01

    As propagation terminals have evolved, their design has trended more toward a software-based approach that facilitates convenient adjustment and customization of the receiver algorithms. One potential improvement is the implementation of a frequency estimation algorithm, through which the primary frequency component of the received signal can be estimated with a much greater resolution than with a simple peak search of the FFT spectrum. To select an estimator for usage in a QV-band beacon receiver, analysis of six frequency estimators was conducted to characterize their effectiveness as they relate to beacon receiver design.

  18. Improved Sparse Channel Estimation for Cooperative Communication Systems

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Guan Gui

    2012-01-01

    Full Text Available Accurate channel state information (CSI is necessary at receiver for coherent detection in amplify-and-forward (AF cooperative communication systems. To estimate the channel, traditional methods, that is, least squares (LS and least absolute shrinkage and selection operator (LASSO, are based on assumptions of either dense channel or global sparse channel. However, LS-based linear method neglects the inherent sparse structure information while LASSO-based sparse channel method cannot take full advantage of the prior information. Based on the partial sparse assumption of the cooperative channel model, we propose an improved channel estimation method with partial sparse constraint. At first, by using sparse decomposition theory, channel estimation is formulated as a compressive sensing problem. Secondly, the cooperative channel is reconstructed by LASSO with partial sparse constraint. Finally, numerical simulations are carried out to confirm the superiority of proposed methods over global sparse channel estimation methods.

  19. Improved dose estimates for nuclear criticality accidents

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Wilkinson, A.D.; Basoglu, B.; Bentley, C.L.; Dunn, M.E.; Plaster, M.J.; Dodds, H.L.; Yamamoto, T.

    1995-01-01

    Slide rules are improved for estimating doses and dose rates resulting from nuclear criticality accidents. The original slide rules were created for highly enriched uranium solutions and metals using hand calculations along with the decades old Way-Wigner radioactive decay relationship and the inverse square law. This work uses state-of-the-art methods and better data to improve the original slide rules and also to extend the slide rule concept to three additional systems; i.e., highly enriched (93.2 wt%) uranium damp (H/ 235 U = 10) powder (U 3 O 8 ) and low-enriched (5 wt%) uranium mixtures (UO 2 F 2 ) with a H/ 235 U ratio of 200 and 500. Although the improved slide rules differ only slightly from the original slide rules, the improved slide rules and also the new slide rules can be used with greater confidence since they are based on more rigorous methods and better nuclear data

  20. Improving operating room first start efficiency - value of both checklist and a pre-operative facilitator.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Panni, M K; Shah, S J; Chavarro, C; Rawl, M; Wojnarwsky, P K; Panni, J K

    2013-10-01

    There are multiple components leading to improved operating room efficiency. We undertook a project focusing on first case starts; accounting for each delay component on a global basis. Our hypothesis was there would be a reduction in first start delays after we implemented strategies to address the issues identified through this accounting process. An orange sheet checklist was implemented, with specific items that needed to be clear prior to roll back to the operating room (OR), and an OR facilitator was employed to intervene whenever there were any missing items needed for a specific patient. We present the data from this quality improvement project over an 18-month period. Initially, 10.07 (± 0.73) delayed first starts occurred per day but declined steadily over time to a low of 4.95 (± 0.38) per day after 6 months (-49.2 %, P < 0.001). By the end of the project, the most common reasons for delay still included late surgical attending (19%), schedule changes (14%) as well as 'other reasons' (13%), but with an overall reduction per day of each. Total anaesthesia delay initially totalled 11% of the first start delays, but was negligible (< 1%) at the project's completion. While we have a challenging operating room environment based on our patient population, multiple trainees in both the surgery and anaesthesiology teams: an orange sheet - pre-operative checklist in addition to a dedicated pre-operative facilitator; allowed us to make a substantial improvement in our first start on time starts. © 2013 The Acta Anaesthesiologica Scandinavica Foundation. Published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

  1. A bias correction for covariance estimators to improve inference with generalized estimating equations that use an unstructured correlation matrix.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Westgate, Philip M

    2013-07-20

    Generalized estimating equations (GEEs) are routinely used for the marginal analysis of correlated data. The efficiency of GEE depends on how closely the working covariance structure resembles the true structure, and therefore accurate modeling of the working correlation of the data is important. A popular approach is the use of an unstructured working correlation matrix, as it is not as restrictive as simpler structures such as exchangeable and AR-1 and thus can theoretically improve efficiency. However, because of the potential for having to estimate a large number of correlation parameters, variances of regression parameter estimates can be larger than theoretically expected when utilizing the unstructured working correlation matrix. Therefore, standard error estimates can be negatively biased. To account for this additional finite-sample variability, we derive a bias correction that can be applied to typical estimators of the covariance matrix of parameter estimates. Via simulation and in application to a longitudinal study, we show that our proposed correction improves standard error estimation and statistical inference. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

  2. Improving the accuracy of livestock distribution estimates through spatial interpolation.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bryssinckx, Ward; Ducheyne, Els; Muhwezi, Bernard; Godfrey, Sunday; Mintiens, Koen; Leirs, Herwig; Hendrickx, Guy

    2012-11-01

    Animal distribution maps serve many purposes such as estimating transmission risk of zoonotic pathogens to both animals and humans. The reliability and usability of such maps is highly dependent on the quality of the input data. However, decisions on how to perform livestock surveys are often based on previous work without considering possible consequences. A better understanding of the impact of using different sample designs and processing steps on the accuracy of livestock distribution estimates was acquired through iterative experiments using detailed survey. The importance of sample size, sample design and aggregation is demonstrated and spatial interpolation is presented as a potential way to improve cattle number estimates. As expected, results show that an increasing sample size increased the precision of cattle number estimates but these improvements were mainly seen when the initial sample size was relatively low (e.g. a median relative error decrease of 0.04% per sampled parish for sample sizes below 500 parishes). For higher sample sizes, the added value of further increasing the number of samples declined rapidly (e.g. a median relative error decrease of 0.01% per sampled parish for sample sizes above 500 parishes. When a two-stage stratified sample design was applied to yield more evenly distributed samples, accuracy levels were higher for low sample densities and stabilised at lower sample sizes compared to one-stage stratified sampling. Aggregating the resulting cattle number estimates yielded significantly more accurate results because of averaging under- and over-estimates (e.g. when aggregating cattle number estimates from subcounty to district level, P interpolation to fill in missing values in non-sampled areas, accuracy is improved remarkably. This counts especially for low sample sizes and spatially even distributed samples (e.g. P <0.001 for a sample of 170 parishes using one-stage stratified sampling and aggregation on district level

  3. Improvement of Source Number Estimation Method for Single Channel Signal.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Zhi Dong

    Full Text Available Source number estimation methods for single channel signal have been investigated and the improvements for each method are suggested in this work. Firstly, the single channel data is converted to multi-channel form by delay process. Then, algorithms used in the array signal processing, such as Gerschgorin's disk estimation (GDE and minimum description length (MDL, are introduced to estimate the source number of the received signal. The previous results have shown that the MDL based on information theoretic criteria (ITC obtains a superior performance than GDE at low SNR. However it has no ability to handle the signals containing colored noise. On the contrary, the GDE method can eliminate the influence of colored noise. Nevertheless, its performance at low SNR is not satisfactory. In order to solve these problems and contradictions, the work makes remarkable improvements on these two methods on account of the above consideration. A diagonal loading technique is employed to ameliorate the MDL method and a jackknife technique is referenced to optimize the data covariance matrix in order to improve the performance of the GDE method. The results of simulation have illustrated that the performance of original methods have been promoted largely.

  4. Improved Motion Estimation Using Early Zero-Block Detection

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Y. Lin

    2008-07-01

    Full Text Available We incorporate the early zero-block detection technique into the UMHexagonS algorithm, which has already been adopted in H.264/AVC JM reference software, to speed up the motion estimation process. A nearly sufficient condition is derived for early zero-block detection. Although the conventional early zero-block detection method can achieve significant improvement in computation reduction, the PSNR loss, to whatever extent, is not negligible especially for high quantization parameter (QP or low bit-rate coding. This paper modifies the UMHexagonS algorithm with the early zero-block detection technique to improve its coding performance. The experimental results reveal that the improved UMHexagonS algorithm greatly reduces computation while maintaining very high coding efficiency.

  5. An Improved BeiDou-2 Satellite-Induced Code Bias Estimation Method

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Jingyang Fu

    2018-04-01

    Full Text Available Different from GPS, GLONASS, GALILEO and BeiDou-3, it is confirmed that the code multipath bias (CMB, which originate from the satellite end and can be over 1 m, are commonly found in the code observations of BeiDou-2 (BDS IGSO and MEO satellites. In order to mitigate their adverse effects on absolute precise applications which use the code measurements, we propose in this paper an improved correction model to estimate the CMB. Different from the traditional model which considering the correction values are orbit-type dependent (estimating two sets of values for IGSO and MEO, respectively and modeling the CMB as a piecewise linear function with a elevation node separation of 10°, we estimate the corrections for each BDS IGSO + MEO satellite on one hand, and a denser elevation node separation of 5° is used to model the CMB variations on the other hand. Currently, the institutions such as IGS-MGEX operate over 120 stations which providing the daily BDS observations. These large amounts of data provide adequate support to refine the CMB estimation satellite by satellite in our improved model. One month BDS observations from MGEX are used for assessing the performance of the improved CMB model by means of precise point positioning (PPP. Experimental results show that for the satellites on the same orbit type, obvious differences can be found in the CMB at the same node and frequency. Results show that the new correction model can improve the wide-lane (WL ambiguity usage rate for WL fractional cycle bias estimation, shorten the WL and narrow-lane (NL time to first fix (TTFF in PPP ambiguity resolution (AR as well as improve the PPP positioning accuracy. With our improved correction model, the usage of WL ambiguity is increased from 94.1% to 96.0%, the WL and NL TTFF of PPP AR is shorten from 10.6 to 9.3 min, 67.9 to 63.3 min, respectively, compared with the traditional correction model. In addition, both the traditional and improved CMB model have

  6. Do Indonesian Children's Experiences with Large Currency Units Facilitate Magnitude Estimation of Long Temporal Periods?

    Science.gov (United States)

    Cheek, Kim A.

    2017-08-01

    Ideas about temporal (and spatial) scale impact students' understanding across science disciplines. Learners have difficulty comprehending the long time periods associated with natural processes because they have no referent for the magnitudes involved. When people have a good "feel" for quantity, they estimate cardinal number magnitude linearly. Magnitude estimation errors can be explained by confusion about the structure of the decimal number system, particularly in terms of how powers of ten are related to one another. Indonesian children regularly use large currency units. This study investigated if they estimate long time periods accurately and if they estimate those time periods the same way they estimate analogous currency units. Thirty-nine children from a private International Baccalaureate school estimated temporal magnitudes up to 10,000,000,000 years in a two-part study. Artifacts children created were compared to theoretical model predictions previously used in number magnitude estimation studies as reported by Landy et al. (Cognitive Science 37:775-799, 2013). Over one third estimated the magnitude of time periods up to 10,000,000,000 years linearly, exceeding what would be expected based upon prior research with children this age who lack daily experience with large quantities. About half treated successive powers of ten as a count sequence instead of multiplicatively related when estimating magnitudes of time periods. Children generally estimated the magnitudes of long time periods and familiar, analogous currency units the same way. Implications for ways to improve the teaching and learning of this crosscutting concept/overarching idea are discussed.

  7. Evaluation of attention training and metacognitive facilitation to improve reading comprehension in aphasia.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lee, Jaime B; Moore Sohlberg, McKay

    2013-05-01

    This pilot study investigated the impact of direct attention training combined with metacognitive facilitation on reading comprehension in individuals with aphasia. A single-subject, multiple baseline design was employed across 4 participants to evaluate potential changes in reading comprehension resulting from an 8-week intervention using Attention Process Training-3 (APT-3). The primary outcome measure was a maze reading task. Pre- and posttesting included attention and reading comprehension measures. Visual inspection of graphed performance data across conditions was used as the primary method of analysis. Treatment effect sizes were calculated for changes in reading comprehension probes from baseline to maintenance phases. Two of the study's 4 participants demonstrated improvements in maze reading, with corresponding effect sizes that were small in magnitude according to benchmarks for aphasia treatment research. All 4 participants made improvements on select standardized measures of attention. Interventions that include a metacognitive component with direct attention training may elicit improvements in participants' attention and allocation of resources. Maze passage reading is a repeated measure that appears sensitive to treatment-related changes in reading comprehension. Issues for future research related to measurement, candidacy, and clinical delivery are discussed.

  8. Improving Accuracy of Influenza-Associated Hospitalization Rate Estimates

    Science.gov (United States)

    Reed, Carrie; Kirley, Pam Daily; Aragon, Deborah; Meek, James; Farley, Monica M.; Ryan, Patricia; Collins, Jim; Lynfield, Ruth; Baumbach, Joan; Zansky, Shelley; Bennett, Nancy M.; Fowler, Brian; Thomas, Ann; Lindegren, Mary L.; Atkinson, Annette; Finelli, Lyn; Chaves, Sandra S.

    2015-01-01

    Diagnostic test sensitivity affects rate estimates for laboratory-confirmed influenza–associated hospitalizations. We used data from FluSurv-NET, a national population-based surveillance system for laboratory-confirmed influenza hospitalizations, to capture diagnostic test type by patient age and influenza season. We calculated observed rates by age group and adjusted rates by test sensitivity. Test sensitivity was lowest in adults >65 years of age. For all ages, reverse transcription PCR was the most sensitive test, and use increased from 65 years. After 2009, hospitalization rates adjusted by test sensitivity were ≈15% higher for children 65 years of age. Test sensitivity adjustments improve the accuracy of hospitalization rate estimates. PMID:26292017

  9. Improved Battery Parameter Estimation Method Considering Operating Scenarios for HEV/EV Applications

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Jufeng Yang

    2016-12-01

    Full Text Available This paper presents an improved battery parameter estimation method based on typical operating scenarios in hybrid electric vehicles and pure electric vehicles. Compared with the conventional estimation methods, the proposed method takes both the constant-current charging and the dynamic driving scenarios into account, and two separate sets of model parameters are estimated through different parts of the pulse-rest test. The model parameters for the constant-charging scenario are estimated from the data in the pulse-charging periods, while the model parameters for the dynamic driving scenario are estimated from the data in the rest periods, and the length of the fitted dataset is determined by the spectrum analysis of the load current. In addition, the unsaturated phenomenon caused by the long-term resistor-capacitor (RC network is analyzed, and the initial voltage expressions of the RC networks in the fitting functions are improved to ensure a higher model fidelity. Simulation and experiment results validated the feasibility of the developed estimation method.

  10. The Role of Satellite Imagery to Improve Pastureland Estimates in South America

    Science.gov (United States)

    Graesser, J.

    2015-12-01

    Agriculture has changed substantially across the globe over the past half century. While much work has been done to improve spatial-temporal estimates of agricultural changes, we still know more about the extent of row-crop agriculture than livestock-grazed land. The gap between cropland and pastureland estimates exists largely because it is challenging to characterize natural versus grazed grasslands from a remote sensing perspective. However, the impasse of pastureland estimates is set to break, with an increasing number of spaceborne sensors and freely available satellite data. The Landsat satellite archive in particular provides researchers with immense amounts of data to improve pastureland information. Here we focus on South America, where pastureland expansion has been scrutinized for the past few decades. We explore the challenges of estimating pastureland using temporal Landsat imagery and focus on key agricultural countries, regions, and ecosystems. We focus on the suggested shift of pastureland from the Argentine Pampas to northern Argentina, and the mixing of small-scale and large-scale ranching in eastern Paraguay and how it could impact the Chaco forest to the west. Further, the Beni Savannahs of northern Bolivia and the Colombian Llanos—both grassland and savannah regions historically used for livestock grazing—have been hinted at as future areas for cropland expansion. There are certainly environmental concerns with pastureland expansion into forests; but what are the environmental implications when well-managed pasture systems are converted to intensive soybean or palm oil plantation? Tropical, grazed grasslands are important habitats for biodiversity, and pasturelands can mitigate soil erosion when well managed. Thus, we must improve estimates of grazed land before we can make informed policy and conservation decisions. This talk presents insights into pastureland estimates in South America and discusses the feasibility to improve current

  11. An analytical solution for improved HIFU SAR estimation

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Dillon, C R; Vyas, U; Christensen, D A; Roemer, R B; Payne, A

    2012-01-01

    Accurate determination of the specific absorption rates (SARs) present during high intensity focused ultrasound (HIFU) experiments and treatments provides a solid physical basis for scientific comparison of results among HIFU studies and is necessary to validate and improve SAR predictive software, which will improve patient treatment planning, control and evaluation. This study develops and tests an analytical solution that significantly improves the accuracy of SAR values obtained from HIFU temperature data. SAR estimates are obtained by fitting the analytical temperature solution for a one-dimensional radial Gaussian heating pattern to the temperature versus time data following a step in applied power and evaluating the initial slope of the analytical solution. The analytical method is evaluated in multiple parametric simulations for which it consistently (except at high perfusions) yields maximum errors of less than 10% at the center of the focal zone compared with errors up to 90% and 55% for the commonly used linear method and an exponential method, respectively. For high perfusion, an extension of the analytical method estimates SAR with less than 10% error. The analytical method is validated experimentally by showing that the temperature elevations predicted using the analytical method's SAR values determined for the entire 3D focal region agree well with the experimental temperature elevations in a HIFU-heated tissue-mimicking phantom. (paper)

  12. Proprioceptive neuromuscular facilitation in HTLV-I-associated myelopathy/tropical spastic paraparesis

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Vera Lúcia Santos de Britto

    2014-01-01

    Full Text Available Introduction: Human T cell lymphotropic virus type I-associated myelopathy/tropical spastic paraparesis (HAM/TSP can impact the independence and motricity of patients. The aims of this study were to estimate the effects of physiotherapy on the functionality of patients with HAM/TSP during the stable phase of the disease using proprioceptive neuromuscular facilitation (PNF and to compare two methods of treatment delivery. Methods: Fourteen patients with human T cell lymphotropic virus type I (HTLV-I were randomly allocated into two groups. In group I (seven patients, PNF was applied by the therapist, facilitating the functional activities of rolling, sitting and standing, walking and climbing and descending stairs. In group II (seven patients, PNF was self-administered using an elastic tube, and the same activities were facilitated. Experiments were conducted for 1h twice per week for 12 weeks. Low-back pain, a modified Ashworth scale, the functional independence measure (FIM and the timed up and go test (TUG were assessed before and after the interventions. Results: In the within-group evaluation, low-back pain was significantly reduced in both groups, the FIM improved in group II, and the results of the TUG improved in group I. In the inter-group analysis, only the tone was lower in group II than in group I. Conclusions: Both PNF protocols were effective in treating patients with HAM/TSP.

  13. Use of a facilitated discussion model for antenatal care to improve communication.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lori, Jody R; Munro, Michelle L; Chuey, Meagan R

    2016-02-01

    Achieving health literacy is a critical step to improving health outcomes and the health of a nation. However, there is a lack of research on health literacy in low-resource countries, where maternal health outcomes are at their worst. To examine the usefulness and feasibility of providing focused antenatal care (FANC) in a group setting using picture cards to improve patient-provider communication, patient engagement, and improve health literacy. An exploratory, mixed methods design was employed to gather pilot data using the Health Literacy Skills Framework. A busy urban district hospital in the Ashanti Region of Ghana was used to gather data during 2014. A facility-driven convenience sample of midwives (n=6) aged 18 years or older, who could speak English or Twi, and had provided antenatal care at the participating hospital during the previous year prior to the start of the study participated in the study. Data were collected using pre-test and post-test surveys, completed three months after the group FANC was implemented. A semi-structured focus group was conducted with four of the participating midwives and the registered nurse providing support and supervision for the study (n=5) at the time of the post-test. Data were analyzed concurrently to gain a broad understanding of patient communication, engagement, and group FANC. There were no significant differences in the mean communication (t(df=3)=0.541, p=0.626) and engagement (t(df=3)=-0.775, p=0.495) scores between the pre- and post-test. However, the focus group revealed the following themes: (a) improved communication through the use of picture cards; (b) enhanced information sharing and peer support through the facilitated group process and; and (c) an improved understanding of patient concerns. The improved communication noted through the use of picture cards and the enhanced information sharing and peer support elicited through the group FANC undoubtedly provided patients with additional tools to invoke

  14. Improving PAGER's real-time earthquake casualty and loss estimation toolkit: a challenge

    Science.gov (United States)

    Jaiswal, K.S.; Wald, D.J.

    2012-01-01

    We describe the on-going developments of PAGER’s loss estimation models, and discuss value-added web content that can be generated related to exposure, damage and loss outputs for a variety of PAGER users. These developments include identifying vulnerable building types in any given area, estimating earthquake-induced damage and loss statistics by building type, and developing visualization aids that help locate areas of concern for improving post-earthquake response efforts. While detailed exposure and damage information is highly useful and desirable, significant improvements are still necessary in order to improve underlying building stock and vulnerability data at a global scale. Existing efforts with the GEM’s GED4GEM and GVC consortia will help achieve some of these objectives. This will benefit PAGER especially in regions where PAGER’s empirical model is less-well constrained; there, the semi-empirical and analytical models will provide robust estimates of damage and losses. Finally, we outline some of the challenges associated with rapid casualty and loss estimation that we experienced while responding to recent large earthquakes worldwide.

  15. Improving Focal Depth Estimates: Studies of Depth Phase Detection at Regional Distances

    Science.gov (United States)

    Stroujkova, A.; Reiter, D. T.; Shumway, R. H.

    2006-12-01

    The accurate estimation of the depth of small, regionally recorded events continues to be an important and difficult explosion monitoring research problem. Depth phases (free surface reflections) are the primary tool that seismologists use to constrain the depth of a seismic event. When depth phases from an event are detected, an accurate source depth is easily found by using the delay times of the depth phases relative to the P wave and a velocity profile near the source. Cepstral techniques, including cepstral F-statistics, represent a class of methods designed for the depth-phase detection and identification; however, they offer only a moderate level of success at epicentral distances less than 15°. This is due to complexities in the Pn coda, which can lead to numerous false detections in addition to the true phase detection. Therefore, cepstral methods cannot be used independently to reliably identify depth phases. Other evidence, such as apparent velocities, amplitudes and frequency content, must be used to confirm whether the phase is truly a depth phase. In this study we used a variety of array methods to estimate apparent phase velocities and arrival azimuths, including beam-forming, semblance analysis, MUltiple SIgnal Classification (MUSIC) (e.g., Schmidt, 1979), and cross-correlation (e.g., Cansi, 1995; Tibuleac and Herrin, 1997). To facilitate the processing and comparison of results, we developed a MATLAB-based processing tool, which allows application of all of these techniques (i.e., augmented cepstral processing) in a single environment. The main objective of this research was to combine the results of three focal-depth estimation techniques and their associated standard errors into a statistically valid unified depth estimate. The three techniques include: 1. Direct focal depth estimate from the depth-phase arrival times picked via augmented cepstral processing. 2. Hypocenter location from direct and surface-reflected arrivals observed on sparse

  16. MODIS Data Assimilation in the CROPGRO model for improving soybean yield estimations

    Science.gov (United States)

    Richetti, J.; Monsivais-Huertero, A.; Ahmad, I.; Judge, J.

    2017-12-01

    Soybean is one of the main agricultural commodities in the world. Thus, having better estimates of its agricultural production is important. Improving the soybean crop models in Brazil is crucial for better understanding of the soybean market and enhancing decision making, because Brazil is the second largest soybean producer in the world, Parana state is responsible for almost 20% of it, and by itself would be the fourth greatest soybean producer in the world. Data assimilation techniques provide a method to improve spatio-temporal continuity of crops through integration of remotely sensed observations and crop growth models. This study aims to use MODIS EVI to improve DSSAT-CROPGRO soybean yield estimations in the Parana state, southern Brazil. The method uses the Ensemble Kalman filter which assimilates MODIS Terra and Aqua combined products (MOD13Q1 and MYD13Q1) into the CROPGRO model to improve the agricultural production estimates through update of light interception data over time. Expected results will be validated with monitored commercial farms during the period of 2013-2014.

  17. Parameter Estimation for Improving Association Indicators in Binary Logistic Regression

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Mahdi Bashiri

    2012-02-01

    Full Text Available The aim of this paper is estimation of Binary logistic regression parameters for maximizing the log-likelihood function with improved association indicators. In this paper the parameter estimation steps have been explained and then measures of association have been introduced and their calculations have been analyzed. Moreover a new related indicators based on membership degree level have been expressed. Indeed association measures demonstrate the number of success responses occurred in front of failure in certain number of Bernoulli independent experiments. In parameter estimation, existing indicators values is not sensitive to the parameter values, whereas the proposed indicators are sensitive to the estimated parameters during the iterative procedure. Therefore, proposing a new association indicator of binary logistic regression with more sensitivity to the estimated parameters in maximizing the log- likelihood in iterative procedure is innovation of this study.

  18. Zero-tension lysimeters: An improved design to monitor colloid-facilitated contaminant transport in the vadose zone

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Thompson, M.L.; Scharf, R.L.; Shang, C.

    1995-01-01

    There is increasing evidence that mobile colloids facilitate the long-distance transport of contaminants. The mobility of fine particles and macromolecules has been linked to the movement of actinides, organic contaminants, and heavy metals through soil. Direct evidence for colloid mobility includes the presence of humic materials in deep aquifers as well as coatings of accumulated clay, organic matter, or sesquioxides on particle or aggregate surfaces in subsoil horizons of many soils. The potential for colloid-facilitated transport of contaminants from hazardous-waste sites requires adequate monitoring before, during, and after in-situ remediation treatments. Zero-tension lysimeters (ZTLs) are especially appropriate for sampling water as it moves through saturated soil, although some unsaturated flow events may be sampled as well. Because no ceramic barrier or fiberglass wick is involved to maintain tension on the water (as is the case with other lysimeters), particles suspended in the water as well as dissolved species may be sampled with ZTLs. In this report, a ZTL design is proposed that is more suitable for monitoring colloid-facilitated contaminant migration. The improved design consists of a cylinder made of polycarbonate or polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) that is placed below undisturbed soil material. In many soils, a hydraulically powered tube may be used to extract an undisturbed core of soil before placement of the lysimeter. In those cases, the design has significant advantages over conventional designs with respect to simplicity and speed of installation. Therefore, it will allow colloid-facilitated transport of contaminants to be monitored at more locations at a given site

  19. Handling a challenging context: experiences of facilitating evidence-based elderly care.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Nygårdh, Annette; Ahlström, Gerd; Wann-Hansson, Christine

    2016-03-01

    To explore improvement facilitators' experiences of handling their commission to implement evidence-based practice in elderly care for frail older persons. Improvement facilitators were put in place across Sweden in a time-limited project by the government, with one part of the project being to evaluate the model before establishing this facilitation of evidence-based practice in elderly care. Two focus groups were interviewed twice. Each group comprised three respondents. The interviews were analysed using qualitative content analysis. A main theme, 'Moving forward by adjusting to the circumstances', described how the improvement facilitators handle their commitment. Five subthemes emerged: identifying barriers, keeping focus, maintaining motivation, building bridges and finding balance. The improvement facilitators' commitment is ambiguous because of unclear leadership of, and responsibility for the national investment. They have to handle leaders' different approaches and justify the need for evidence-based practice. The improvement facilitators did not reflect on the impact of programme adaptations on evidence-based practice. The findings emphasise the need for collaboration between the improvement facilitator and the nurse manager. To fully implement evidence-based practice, negotiations with current practitioners for adaptation to local conditions are necessary. Furthermore, the value of improving organisational performance needs to be rigorously communicated throughout the organisation. © 2015 The Authors. Journal of Nursing Management Published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

  20. IMPROVEMENT OF THE RICHNESS ESTIMATES OF maxBCG CLUSTERS

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Rozo, Eduardo; Rykoff, Eli S.; Koester, Benjamin P.; Hansen, Sarah; Becker, Matthew; Bleem, Lindsey; McKay, Timothy; Hao Jiangang; Evrard, August; Wechsler, Risa H.; Sheldon, Erin; Johnston, David; Annis, James; Scranton, Ryan

    2009-01-01

    Minimizing the scatter between cluster mass and accessible observables is an important goal for cluster cosmology. In this work, we introduce a new matched filter richness estimator, and test its performance using the maxBCG cluster catalog. Our new estimator significantly reduces the variance in the L X -richness relation, from σ lnLx 2 = (0.86±0.02) 2 to σ lnLx 2 = (0.69±0.02) 2 . Relative to the maxBCG richness estimate, it also removes the strong redshift dependence of the L X -richness scaling relations, and is significantly more robust to photometric and redshift errors. These improvements are largely due to the better treatment of galaxy color data. We also demonstrate the scatter in the L X -richness relation depends on the aperture used to estimate cluster richness, and introduce a novel approach for optimizing said aperture which can easily be generalized to other mass tracers.

  1. Error Estimation and Accuracy Improvements in Nodal Transport Methods

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Zamonsky, O.M.

    2000-01-01

    The accuracy of the solutions produced by the Discrete Ordinates neutron transport nodal methods is analyzed.The obtained new numerical methodologies increase the accuracy of the analyzed scheems and give a POSTERIORI error estimators. The accuracy improvement is obtained with new equations that make the numerical procedure free of truncation errors and proposing spatial reconstructions of the angular fluxes that are more accurate than those used until present. An a POSTERIORI error estimator is rigurously obtained for one dimensional systems that, in certain type of problems, allows to quantify the accuracy of the solutions. From comparisons with the one dimensional results, an a POSTERIORI error estimator is also obtained for multidimensional systems. LOCAL indicators, which quantify the spatial distribution of the errors, are obtained by the decomposition of the menctioned estimators. This makes the proposed methodology suitable to perform adaptive calculations. Some numerical examples are presented to validate the theoretical developements and to illustrate the ranges where the proposed approximations are valid

  2. Improvement of Accuracy for Background Noise Estimation Method Based on TPE-AE

    Science.gov (United States)

    Itai, Akitoshi; Yasukawa, Hiroshi

    This paper proposes a method of a background noise estimation based on the tensor product expansion with a median and a Monte carlo simulation. We have shown that a tensor product expansion with absolute error method is effective to estimate a background noise, however, a background noise might not be estimated by using conventional method properly. In this paper, it is shown that the estimate accuracy can be improved by using proposed methods.

  3. Dictionary-based fiber orientation estimation with improved spatial consistency.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ye, Chuyang; Prince, Jerry L

    2018-02-01

    Diffusion magnetic resonance imaging (dMRI) has enabled in vivo investigation of white matter tracts. Fiber orientation (FO) estimation is a key step in tract reconstruction and has been a popular research topic in dMRI analysis. In particular, the sparsity assumption has been used in conjunction with a dictionary-based framework to achieve reliable FO estimation with a reduced number of gradient directions. Because image noise can have a deleterious effect on the accuracy of FO estimation, previous works have incorporated spatial consistency of FOs in the dictionary-based framework to improve the estimation. However, because FOs are only indirectly determined from the mixture fractions of dictionary atoms and not modeled as variables in the objective function, these methods do not incorporate FO smoothness directly, and their ability to produce smooth FOs could be limited. In this work, we propose an improvement to Fiber Orientation Reconstruction using Neighborhood Information (FORNI), which we call FORNI+; this method estimates FOs in a dictionary-based framework where FO smoothness is better enforced than in FORNI alone. We describe an objective function that explicitly models the actual FOs and the mixture fractions of dictionary atoms. Specifically, it consists of data fidelity between the observed signals and the signals represented by the dictionary, pairwise FO dissimilarity that encourages FO smoothness, and weighted ℓ 1 -norm terms that ensure the consistency between the actual FOs and the FO configuration suggested by the dictionary representation. The FOs and mixture fractions are then jointly estimated by minimizing the objective function using an iterative alternating optimization strategy. FORNI+ was evaluated on a simulation phantom, a physical phantom, and real brain dMRI data. In particular, in the real brain dMRI experiment, we have qualitatively and quantitatively evaluated the reproducibility of the proposed method. Results demonstrate that

  4. Demystifying facilitation of multi-actor learning processes

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Groot, A.E.

    2002-01-01

    This thesis aims to demystify the facilitation of participatory processes in order to improve the performance of the facilitation professional. As our society is increasingly recognised as pluralistic, characterised by

  5. Improved moment scaling estimation for multifractal signals

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    D. Veneziano

    2009-11-01

    Full Text Available A fundamental problem in the analysis of multifractal processes is to estimate the scaling exponent K(q of moments of different order q from data. Conventional estimators use the empirical moments μ^rq=⟨ | εr(τ|q of wavelet coefficients εr(τ, where τ is location and r is resolution. For stationary measures one usually considers "wavelets of order 0" (averages, whereas for functions with multifractal increments one must use wavelets of order at least 1. One obtains K^(q as the slope of log( μ^rq against log(r over a range of r. Negative moments are sensitive to measurement noise and quantization. For them, one typically uses only the local maxima of | εr(τ| (modulus maxima methods. For the positive moments, we modify the standard estimator K^(q to significantly reduce its variance at the expense of a modest increase in the bias. This is done by separately estimating K(q from sub-records and averaging the results. For the negative moments, we show that the standard modulus maxima estimator is biased and, in the case of additive noise or quantization, is not applicable with wavelets of order 1 or higher. For these cases we propose alternative estimators. We also consider the fitting of parametric models of K(q and show how, by splitting the record into sub-records as indicated above, the accuracy of standard methods can be significantly improved.

  6. Improving Estimates of Cloud Radiative Forcing over Greenland

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wang, W.; Zender, C. S.

    2014-12-01

    Multiple driving mechanisms conspire to increase melt extent and extreme melt events frequency in the Arctic: changing heat transport, shortwave radiation (SW), and longwave radiation (LW). Cloud Radiative Forcing (CRF) of Greenland's surface is amplified by a dry atmosphere and by albedo feedback, making its contribution to surface melt even more variable in time and space. Unfortunately accurate cloud observations and thus CRF estimates are hindered by Greenland's remoteness, harsh conditions, and low contrast between surface and cloud reflectance. In this study, cloud observations from satellites and reanalyses are ingested into and evaluated within a column radiative transfer model. An improved CRF dataset is obtained by correcting systematic discrepancies derived from sensitivity experiments. First, we compare the surface radiation budgets from the Column Radiation Model (CRM) driven by different cloud datasets, with surface observations from Greenland Climate Network (GC-Net). In clear skies, CRM-estimated surface radiation driven by water vapor profiles from both AIRS and MODIS during May-Sept 2010-2012 are similar, stable, and reliable. For example, although AIRS water vapor path exceeds MODIS by 1.4 kg/m2 on a daily average, the overall absolute difference in downwelling SW is CRM estimates are within 20 W/m2 range of GC-Net downwelling SW. After calibrating CRM in clear skies, the remaining differences between CRM and observed surface radiation are primarily attributable to differences in cloud observations. We estimate CRF using cloud products from MODIS and from MERRA. The SW radiative forcing of thin clouds is mainly controlled by cloud water path (CWP). As CWP increases from near 0 to 200 g/m2, the net surface SW drops from over 100 W/m2 to 30 W/m2 almost linearly, beyond which it becomes relatively insensitive to CWP. The LW is dominated by cloud height. For clouds at all altitudes, the lower the clouds, the greater the LW forcing. By applying

  7. Weighing the costs: Implementing the SLMTA programme in Zimbabwe using internal versus external facilitators

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Edwin Shumba

    2014-11-01

    Objectives: To evaluate the financial costs of SLMTA implementation using two models (external facilitators; and internal local or MoHCW facilitators from the perspective of the implementing partner and to estimate resources needed to scale up the programme nationally in all 10 provinces. Methods: The average expenditure per laboratory was calculated based on accounting records; calculations included implementing partner expenses but excluded in-kind contributions and salaries of local facilitators and trainees. We also estimated theoretical financial costs, keeping all contextual variables constant across the two models. Resource needs for future national expansion were estimated based on a two-phase implementation plan, in which 12 laboratories in each of five provinces would implement SLMTA per phase; for the internal facilitator model, 20 facilitators would be trained at the beginning of each phase. Results: The average expenditure to implement SLMTA in 11 laboratories using external facilitators was approximately US$5800 per laboratory; expenditure in 19 laboratories using internal facilitators was approximately $6000 per laboratory. The theoretical financial cost of implementing a 12-laboratory SLMTA cohort keeping all contextual variables constant would be approximately $58 000 using external facilitators; or $15 000 using internal facilitators, plus $86 000 to train 20 facilitators. The financial cost for subsequent SLMTA cohorts using the previously-trained internal facilitators would be approximately $15 000, yielding a break-even point of 2 cohorts, at $116 000 for either model. Estimated resources required for national implementation in 120 laboratories would therefore be $580 000 using external facilitators ($58 000 per province and $322 000 using internal facilitators ($86 000 for facilitator training in each of two phases plus $15 000 for SLMTA implementation in each province. Conclusion: Investing in training of internal facilitators will

  8. Joint estimation over multiple individuals improves behavioural state inference from animal movement data.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Jonsen, Ian

    2016-02-08

    State-space models provide a powerful way to scale up inference of movement behaviours from individuals to populations when the inference is made across multiple individuals. Here, I show how a joint estimation approach that assumes individuals share identical movement parameters can lead to improved inference of behavioural states associated with different movement processes. I use simulated movement paths with known behavioural states to compare estimation error between nonhierarchical and joint estimation formulations of an otherwise identical state-space model. Behavioural state estimation error was strongly affected by the degree of similarity between movement patterns characterising the behavioural states, with less error when movements were strongly dissimilar between states. The joint estimation model improved behavioural state estimation relative to the nonhierarchical model for simulated data with heavy-tailed Argos location errors. When applied to Argos telemetry datasets from 10 Weddell seals, the nonhierarchical model estimated highly uncertain behavioural state switching probabilities for most individuals whereas the joint estimation model yielded substantially less uncertainty. The joint estimation model better resolved the behavioural state sequences across all seals. Hierarchical or joint estimation models should be the preferred choice for estimating behavioural states from animal movement data, especially when location data are error-prone.

  9. State Estimation of Permanent Magnet Synchronous Motor Using Improved Square Root UKF

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Bo Xu

    2016-06-01

    Full Text Available This paper focuses on an improved square root unscented Kalman filter (SRUKF and its application for rotor speed and position estimation of permanent magnet synchronous motor (PMSM. The approach, which combines the SRUKF and strong tracking filter, uses the minimal skew simplex transformation to reduce the number of the sigma points, and utilizes the square root filtering to reduce computational errors. The time-varying fading factor and softening factor are introduced to self-adjust the gain matrices and the state forecast covariance square root matrix, which can realize the residuals orthogonality and force the SRUKF to track the real state rapidly. The theoretical analysis of the improved SRUKF and implementation details for PMSM state estimation are examined. The simulation results show that the improved SRUKF has higher nonlinear approximation accuracy, stronger numerical stability and computational efficiency, and it is an effective and powerful tool for PMSM state estimation under the conditions of step response or load disturbance.

  10. Cross-sensory facilitation reveals neural interactions between visual and tactile motion in humans

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Monica eGori

    2011-04-01

    Full Text Available Many recent studies show that the human brain integrates information across the different senses and that stimuli of one sensory modality can enhance the perception of other modalities. Here we study the processes that mediate cross-modal facilitation and summation between visual and tactile motion. We find that while summation produced a generic, non-specific improvement of thresholds, probably reflecting higher-order interaction of decision signals, facilitation reveals a strong, direction-specific interaction, which we believe reflects sensory interactions. We measured visual and tactile velocity discrimination thresholds over a wide range of base velocities and conditions. Thresholds for both visual and tactile stimuli showed the characteristic dipper function, with the minimum thresholds occurring at a given pedestal speed. When visual and tactile coherent stimuli were combined (summation condition the thresholds for these multi-sensory stimuli also showed a dipper function with the minimum thresholds occurring in a similar range to that for unisensory signals. However, the improvement of multisensory thresholds was weak and not directionally specific, well predicted by the maximum likelihood estimation model (agreeing with previous research. A different technique (facilitation did, however, reveal direction-specific enhancement. Adding a non-informative pedestal motion stimulus in one sensory modality (vision or touch selectively lowered thresholds in the other, by the same amount as pedestals in the same modality. Facilitation did not occur for neutral stimuli like sounds (that would also have reduced temporal uncertainty, nor for motion in opposite direction, even in blocked trials where the subjects knew that the motion was in the opposite direction showing that the facilitation was not under subject control. Cross-sensory facilitation is strong evidence for functionally relevant cross-sensory integration at early levels of sensory

  11. Counteracting estimation bias and social influence to improve the wisdom of crowds.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kao, Albert B; Berdahl, Andrew M; Hartnett, Andrew T; Lutz, Matthew J; Bak-Coleman, Joseph B; Ioannou, Christos C; Giam, Xingli; Couzin, Iain D

    2018-04-01

    Aggregating multiple non-expert opinions into a collective estimate can improve accuracy across many contexts. However, two sources of error can diminish collective wisdom: individual estimation biases and information sharing between individuals. Here, we measure individual biases and social influence rules in multiple experiments involving hundreds of individuals performing a classic numerosity estimation task. We first investigate how existing aggregation methods, such as calculating the arithmetic mean or the median, are influenced by these sources of error. We show that the mean tends to overestimate, and the median underestimate, the true value for a wide range of numerosities. Quantifying estimation bias, and mapping individual bias to collective bias, allows us to develop and validate three new aggregation measures that effectively counter sources of collective estimation error. In addition, we present results from a further experiment that quantifies the social influence rules that individuals employ when incorporating personal estimates with social information. We show that the corrected mean is remarkably robust to social influence, retaining high accuracy in the presence or absence of social influence, across numerosities and across different methods for averaging social information. Using knowledge of estimation biases and social influence rules may therefore be an inexpensive and general strategy to improve the wisdom of crowds. © 2018 The Author(s).

  12. Improving PERSIANN-CCS rain estimation using probabilistic approach and multi-sensors information

    Science.gov (United States)

    Karbalaee, N.; Hsu, K. L.; Sorooshian, S.; Kirstetter, P.; Hong, Y.

    2016-12-01

    This presentation discusses the recent implemented approaches to improve the rainfall estimation from Precipitation Estimation from Remotely Sensed Information using Artificial Neural Network-Cloud Classification System (PERSIANN-CCS). PERSIANN-CCS is an infrared (IR) based algorithm being integrated in the IMERG (Integrated Multi-Satellite Retrievals for the Global Precipitation Mission GPM) to create a precipitation product in 0.1x0.1degree resolution over the chosen domain 50N to 50S every 30 minutes. Although PERSIANN-CCS has a high spatial and temporal resolution, it overestimates or underestimates due to some limitations.PERSIANN-CCS can estimate rainfall based on the extracted information from IR channels at three different temperature threshold levels (220, 235, and 253k). This algorithm relies only on infrared data to estimate rainfall indirectly from this channel which cause missing the rainfall from warm clouds and false estimation for no precipitating cold clouds. In this research the effectiveness of using other channels of GOES satellites such as visible and water vapors has been investigated. By using multi-sensors the precipitation can be estimated based on the extracted information from multiple channels. Also, instead of using the exponential function for estimating rainfall from cloud top temperature, the probabilistic method has been used. Using probability distributions of precipitation rates instead of deterministic values has improved the rainfall estimation for different type of clouds.

  13. Vibration Suppression for Improving the Estimation of Kinematic Parameters on Industrial Robots

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    David Alejandro Elvira-Ortiz

    2016-01-01

    Full Text Available Vibration is a phenomenon that is present on every industrial system such as CNC machines and industrial robots. Moreover, sensors used to estimate angular position of a joint in an industrial robot are severely affected by vibrations and lead to wrong estimations. This paper proposes a methodology for improving the estimation of kinematic parameters on industrial robots through a proper suppression of the vibration components present on signals acquired from two primary sensors: accelerometer and gyroscope. A Kalman filter is responsible for the filtering of spurious vibration. Additionally, a sensor fusion technique is used to merge information from both sensors and improve the results obtained using each sensor separately. The methodology is implemented in a proprietary hardware signal processor and tested in an ABB IRB 140 industrial robot, first by analyzing the motion profile of only one joint and then by estimating the path tracking of two welding tasks: one rectangular and another one circular. Results from this work prove that the sensor fusion technique accompanied by proper suppression of vibrations delivers better estimation than other proposed techniques.

  14. Improved estimates of coordinate error for molecular replacement

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Oeffner, Robert D.; Bunkóczi, Gábor; McCoy, Airlie J.; Read, Randy J.

    2013-01-01

    A function for estimating the effective root-mean-square deviation in coordinates between two proteins has been developed that depends on both the sequence identity and the size of the protein and is optimized for use with molecular replacement in Phaser. A top peak translation-function Z-score of over 8 is found to be a reliable metric of when molecular replacement has succeeded. The estimate of the root-mean-square deviation (r.m.s.d.) in coordinates between the model and the target is an essential parameter for calibrating likelihood functions for molecular replacement (MR). Good estimates of the r.m.s.d. lead to good estimates of the variance term in the likelihood functions, which increases signal to noise and hence success rates in the MR search. Phaser has hitherto used an estimate of the r.m.s.d. that only depends on the sequence identity between the model and target and which was not optimized for the MR likelihood functions. Variance-refinement functionality was added to Phaser to enable determination of the effective r.m.s.d. that optimized the log-likelihood gain (LLG) for a correct MR solution. Variance refinement was subsequently performed on a database of over 21 000 MR problems that sampled a range of sequence identities, protein sizes and protein fold classes. Success was monitored using the translation-function Z-score (TFZ), where a TFZ of 8 or over for the top peak was found to be a reliable indicator that MR had succeeded for these cases with one molecule in the asymmetric unit. Good estimates of the r.m.s.d. are correlated with the sequence identity and the protein size. A new estimate of the r.m.s.d. that uses these two parameters in a function optimized to fit the mean of the refined variance is implemented in Phaser and improves MR outcomes. Perturbing the initial estimate of the r.m.s.d. from the mean of the distribution in steps of standard deviations of the distribution further increases MR success rates

  15. A Qualitative Study Exploring Facilitators for Improved Health Behaviors and Health Behavior Programs: Mental Health Service Users’ Perspectives

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Candida Graham

    2014-01-01

    Full Text Available Objective. Mental health service users experience high rates of cardiometabolic disorders and have a 20–25% shorter life expectancy than the general population from such disorders. Clinician-led health behavior programs have shown moderate improvements, for mental health service users, in managing aspects of cardiometabolic disorders. This study sought to potentially enhance health initiatives by exploring (1 facilitators that help mental health service users engage in better health behaviors and (2 the types of health programs mental health service users want to develop. Methods. A qualitative study utilizing focus groups was conducted with 37 mental health service users attending a psychosocial rehabilitation center, in Northern British Columbia, Canada. Results. Four major facilitator themes were identified: (1 factors of empowerment, self-value, and personal growth; (2 the need for social support; (3 pragmatic aspects of motivation and planning; and (4 access. Participants believed that engaging with programs of physical activity, nutrition, creativity, and illness support would motivate them to live more healthily. Conclusions and Implications for Practice. Being able to contribute to health behavior programs, feeling valued and able to experience personal growth are vital factors to engage mental health service users in health programs. Clinicians and health care policy makers need to account for these considerations to improve success of health improvement initiatives for this population.

  16. Improving chemical species tomography of turbulent flows using covariance estimation.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Grauer, Samuel J; Hadwin, Paul J; Daun, Kyle J

    2017-05-01

    Chemical species tomography (CST) experiments can be divided into limited-data and full-rank cases. Both require solving ill-posed inverse problems, and thus the measurement data must be supplemented with prior information to carry out reconstructions. The Bayesian framework formalizes the role of additive information, expressed as the mean and covariance of a joint-normal prior probability density function. We present techniques for estimating the spatial covariance of a flow under limited-data and full-rank conditions. Our results show that incorporating a covariance estimate into CST reconstruction via a Bayesian prior increases the accuracy of instantaneous estimates. Improvements are especially dramatic in real-time limited-data CST, which is directly applicable to many industrially relevant experiments.

  17. Facilitated Nurse Medication-Related Event Reporting to Improve Medication Management Quality and Safety in Intensive Care Units.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Xu, Jie; Reale, Carrie; Slagle, Jason M; Anders, Shilo; Shotwell, Matthew S; Dresselhaus, Timothy; Weinger, Matthew B

    Medication safety presents an ongoing challenge for nurses working in complex, fast-paced, intensive care unit (ICU) environments. Studying ICU nurse's medication management-especially medication-related events (MREs)-provides an approach to analyze and improve medication safety and quality. The goal of this study was to explore the utility of facilitated MRE reporting in identifying system deficiencies and the relationship between MREs and nurses' work in the ICUs. We conducted 124 structured 4-hour observations of nurses in three different ICUs. Each observation included measurement of nurse's moment-to-moment activity and self-reports of workload and negative mood. The observer then obtained MRE reports from the nurse using a structured tool. The MREs were analyzed by three experts. MREs were reported in 35% of observations. The 60 total MREs included four medication errors and seven adverse drug events. Of the 49 remaining MREs, 65% were associated with negative patient impact. Task/process deficiencies were the most common contributory factor for MREs. MRE occurrence was correlated with increased total task volume. MREs also correlated with increased workload, especially during night shifts. Most of these MREs would not be captured by traditional event reporting systems. Facilitated MRE reporting provides a robust information source about potential breakdowns in medication management safety and opportunities for system improvement.

  18. Laser facilitates vaccination

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Ji Wang

    2016-01-01

    Full Text Available Development of novel vaccine deliveries and vaccine adjuvants is of great importance to address the dilemma that the vaccine field faces: to improve vaccine efficacy without compromising safety. Harnessing the specific effects of laser on biological systems, a number of novel concepts have been proposed and proved in recent years to facilitate vaccination in a safer and more efficient way. The key advantage of using laser technology in vaccine delivery and adjuvantation is that all processes are initiated by physical effects with no foreign chemicals administered into the body. Here, we review the recent advances in using laser technology to facilitate vaccine delivery and augment vaccine efficacy as well as the underlying mechanisms.

  19. Developing a facilitation model to promote organisational development in primary care practices

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Elwyn Glyn

    2006-06-01

    Full Text Available Abstract Background The relationship between effective organisation of general practices and health improvement is widely accepted. The Maturity Matrix is an instrument designed to assess organisational development in general practice settings and to stimulate quality improvement. It is undertaken by a practice team with the aid of a facilitator. There is a tradition in the primary care systems in many countries of using practice visitors to educate practice teams about how to improve. However the role of practice visitors as facilitators who enable teams to plan practice-led organisational development using quality improvement instruments is less well understood. The objectives of the study were to develop and explore a facilitation model to support practice teams in stimulating organisational development using a quality improvement instrument called the Maturity Matrix. A qualitative study based on transcript analysis was adopted. Method A model of facilitation was constructed based on a review of relevant literature. Audio tapes of Maturity Matrix assessment sessions with general practices were transcribed and facilitator skills were compared to the model. The sample consisted of two facilitators working with twelve general practices based in UK primary care. Results The facilitation model suggested that four areas describing eighteen skills were important. The four areas are structuring the session, obtaining consensus, handling group dynamics and enabling team learning. Facilitators effectively employed skills associated with the first three areas, but less able to consistently stimulate team learning. Conclusion This study suggests that facilitators need careful preparation for their role and practices need protected time in order to make best use of practice-led quality improvement instruments. The role of practice visitor as a facilitator is becoming important as the need to engender ownership of the quality improvement process by

  20. Developing a facilitation model to promote organisational development in primary care practices.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Rhydderch, Melody; Edwards, Adrian; Marshall, Martin; Elwyn, Glyn; Grol, Richard

    2006-06-19

    The relationship between effective organisation of general practices and health improvement is widely accepted. The Maturity Matrix is an instrument designed to assess organisational development in general practice settings and to stimulate quality improvement. It is undertaken by a practice team with the aid of a facilitator. There is a tradition in the primary care systems in many countries of using practice visitors to educate practice teams about how to improve. However the role of practice visitors as facilitators who enable teams to plan practice-led organisational development using quality improvement instruments is less well understood. The objectives of the study were to develop and explore a facilitation model to support practice teams in stimulating organisational development using a quality improvement instrument called the Maturity Matrix. A qualitative study based on transcript analysis was adopted. A model of facilitation was constructed based on a review of relevant literature. Audio tapes of Maturity Matrix assessment sessions with general practices were transcribed and facilitator skills were compared to the model. The sample consisted of two facilitators working with twelve general practices based in UK primary care. The facilitation model suggested that four areas describing eighteen skills were important. The four areas are structuring the session, obtaining consensus, handling group dynamics and enabling team learning. Facilitators effectively employed skills associated with the first three areas, but less able to consistently stimulate team learning. This study suggests that facilitators need careful preparation for their role and practices need protected time in order to make best use of practice-led quality improvement instruments. The role of practice visitor as a facilitator is becoming important as the need to engender ownership of the quality improvement process by practices increases.

  1. BIM – New rules of measurement ontology for construction cost estimation

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    F.H. Abanda

    2017-04-01

    Full Text Available For generations, the process of cost estimation has been manual, time-consuming and error-prone. Emerging Building Information Modelling (BIM can exploit standard measurement methods to automate cost estimation process and improve inaccuracies. Structuring standard measurement methods in an ontologically and machine readable format for a BIM software can greatly facilitate the process of improving inaccuracies in cost estimation. This study explores the development of an ontology based on New Rules of Measurement (NRM for cost estimation during the tendering stages. The methodology adopted is methontology, one of the most widely used ontology engineering methodologies. To ensure the ontology is fit for purpose, cost estimation experts are employed to check the semantics, descriptive logic-based reasoners are used to syntactically check the ontology and a leading 4D BIM modelling software is used on a case study building to test/validate the proposed ontology.

  2. Barriers to and facilitators for implementing quality improvements in palliative care - results from a qualitative interview study in Norway.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sommerbakk, Ragni; Haugen, Dagny Faksvåg; Tjora, Aksel; Kaasa, Stein; Hjermstad, Marianne Jensen

    2016-07-15

    Implementation of quality improvements in palliative care (PC) is challenging, and detailed knowledge about factors that may facilitate or hinder implementation is essential for success. One part of the EU-funded IMPACT project (IMplementation of quality indicators in PAlliative Care sTudy) aiming to increase the knowledge base, was to conduct national studies in PC services. This study aims to identify factors perceived as barriers or facilitators for improving PC in cancer and dementia settings in Norway. Individual, dual-participant and focus group interviews were conducted with 20 employees working in different health care services in Norway: two hospitals, one nursing home, and two local medical centers. Thematic analysis with a combined inductive and theoretical approach was applied. Barriers and facilitators were connected to (1) the innovation (e.g. credibility, advantage, accessibility, attractiveness); (2) the individual professional (e.g. motivation, PC expertise, confidence); (3) the patient (e.g. compliance); (4) the social context (e.g. leadership, culture of change, face-to-face contact); (5) the organizational context (e.g. resources, structures/facilities, expertise); (6) the political and economic context (e.g. policy, legislation, financial arrangements) and (7) the implementation strategy (e.g. educational, meetings, reminders). Four barriers that were particular to PC were identified: the poor general condition of patients in need of PC, symptom assessment tools that were not validated in all patient groups, lack of PC expertise and changes perceived to be at odds with staff's philosophy of care. When planning an improvement project in PC, services should pay particular attention to factors associated with their chosen implementation strategy. Leaders should also involve staff early in the improvement process, ensure that they have the necessary training in PC and that the change is consistent with the staff's philosophy of care. An important

  3. Efficacy of proprioceptive neuromuscular facilitation techniques versus traditional prosthetic training for improving ambulatory function in transtibial amputees

    OpenAIRE

    Pallavi Sahay, MPT; Santosh Kr. Prasad, MSc; Shahnawaz Anwer, MPT; P.K. Lenka, PhD; Ratnesh Kumar, MS

    2014-01-01

    The objective of this randomized controlled trial was to evaluate the efficacy of proprioceptive neuromuscular facilitation (PNF) techniques in comparison to traditional prosthetic training (TPT) in improving ambulatory function in transtibial amputees. Thirty study participants (19 men and 11 women) with unilateral transtibial amputation participated in the study. They were randomly allocated to either the traditional training group (i.e., TPT) (n = 15) or the PNF training group (n = 15). Th...

  4. Patient information, education and self-management in bronchiectasis: facilitating improvements to optimise health outcomes.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hester, Katy L M; Newton, Julia; Rapley, Tim; De Soyza, Anthony

    2018-05-22

    Bronchiectasis is an incurable lung disease characterised by irreversible airway dilatation. It causes symptoms including chronic productive cough, dyspnoea, and recurrent respiratory infections often requiring hospital admission. Fatigue and reductions in quality of life are also reported in bronchiectasis. Patients often require multi-modal treatments that can be burdensome, leading to issues with adherence. In this article we review the provision of, and requirement for, education and information in bronchiectasis. To date, little research has been undertaken to improve self-management in bronchiectasis in comparison to other chronic conditions, such as COPD, for which there has been a wealth of recent developments. Qualitative work has begun to establish that information deficit is one of the potential barriers to self-management, and that patients feel having credible information is fundamental when learning to live with and manage bronchiectasis. Emerging research offers some insights into ways of improving treatment adherence and approaches to self-management education; highlighting ways of addressing the specific unmet information needs of patients and their families who are living with bronchiectasis. We propose non-pharmacological recommendations to optimise patient self-management and symptom recognition; with the aim of facilitating measurable improvements in health outcomes for patients with bronchiectasis.

  5. Practitioner's knowledge representation a pathway to improve software effort estimation

    CERN Document Server

    Mendes, Emilia

    2014-01-01

    The main goal of this book is to help organizations improve their effort estimates and effort estimation processes by providing a step-by-step methodology that takes them through the creation and validation of models that are based on their own knowledge and experience. Such models, once validated, can then be used to obtain predictions, carry out risk analyses, enhance their estimation processes for new projects and generally advance them as learning organizations.Emilia Mendes presents the Expert-Based Knowledge Engineering of Bayesian Networks (EKEBNs) methodology, which she has used and adapted during the course of several industry collaborations with different companies world-wide over more than 6 years. The book itself consists of two major parts: first, the methodology's foundations in knowledge management, effort estimation (with special emphasis on the intricacies of software and Web development) and Bayesian networks are detailed; then six industry case studies are presented which illustrate the pra...

  6. Improved ice loss estimate of the northwestern Greenland ice sheet

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Kjeldsen, K.K.; Khan, S.A.; van den Broeke, M.R.; van Angelen, J.H.

    2013-01-01

    We estimate ice volume change rates in the northwest Greenland drainage basin during 2003–2009 using Ice, Cloud and land Elevation Satellite (ICESat) laser altimeter data. Elevation changes are often reported to be largest near the frontal portion of outlet glaciers. To improve the volume change

  7. Improved delivery of cardiovascular care (IDOCC through outreach facilitation: study protocol and implementation details of a cluster randomized controlled trial in primary care

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Akbari Ayub

    2011-09-01

    Full Text Available Abstract Background There is a need to find innovative approaches for translating best practices for chronic disease care into daily primary care practice routines. Primary care plays a crucial role in the prevention and management of cardiovascular disease. There is, however, a substantive care gap, and many challenges exist in implementing evidence-based care. The Improved Delivery of Cardiovascular Care (IDOCC project is a pragmatic trial designed to improve the delivery of evidence-based care for the prevention and management of cardiovascular disease in primary care practices using practice outreach facilitation. Methods The IDOCC project is a stepped-wedge cluster randomized control trial in which Practice Outreach Facilitators work with primary care practices to improve cardiovascular disease prevention and management for patients at highest risk. Primary care practices in a large health region in Eastern Ontario, Canada, were eligible to participate. The intervention consists of regular monthly meetings with the Practice Outreach Facilitator over a one- to two-year period. Starting with audit and feedback, consensus building, and goal setting, the practices are supported in changing practice behavior by incorporating chronic care model elements. These elements include (a evidence-based decision support for providers, (b delivery system redesign for practices, (c enhanced self-management support tools provided to practices to help them engage patients, and (d increased community resource linkages for practices to enhance referral of patients. The primary outcome is a composite score measured at the level of the patient to represent each practice's adherence to evidence-based guidelines for cardiovascular care. Qualitative analysis of the Practice Outreach Facilitators' written narratives of their ongoing practice interactions will be done. These textual analyses will add further insight into understanding critical factors impacting

  8. An Accurate Link Correlation Estimator for Improving Wireless Protocol Performance

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zhao, Zhiwei; Xu, Xianghua; Dong, Wei; Bu, Jiajun

    2015-01-01

    Wireless link correlation has shown significant impact on the performance of various sensor network protocols. Many works have been devoted to exploiting link correlation for protocol improvements. However, the effectiveness of these designs heavily relies on the accuracy of link correlation measurement. In this paper, we investigate state-of-the-art link correlation measurement and analyze the limitations of existing works. We then propose a novel lightweight and accurate link correlation estimation (LACE) approach based on the reasoning of link correlation formation. LACE combines both long-term and short-term link behaviors for link correlation estimation. We implement LACE as a stand-alone interface in TinyOS and incorporate it into both routing and flooding protocols. Simulation and testbed results show that LACE: (1) achieves more accurate and lightweight link correlation measurements than the state-of-the-art work; and (2) greatly improves the performance of protocols exploiting link correlation. PMID:25686314

  9. An improved routine for the fast estimate of ion cyclotron heating efficiency in tokamak plasmas

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Brambilla, M.

    1992-02-01

    The subroutine ICEVAL for the rapid simulation of Ion Cyclotron Heating in tokamak plasmas is based on analytic estimates of the wave behaviour near resonances, and on drastic but reasonable simplifications of the real geometry. The subroutine has been rewritten to improve the model and to facilitate its use as input in transport codes. In the new version the influence of quasilinear minority heating on the damping efficiency is taken into account using the well-known Stix analytic approximation. Among other improvements are: a) the possibility of considering plasmas with more than two ion species; b) inclusion of Landau, Transit Time and collisional damping on the electrons non localised at resonances; c) better models for the antenna spectrum and for the construction of the power deposition profiles. The results of ICEVAL are compared in detail with those of the full-wave code FELICE for the case of Hydrogen minority heating in a Deuterium plasma; except for details which depend on the excitation of global eigenmodes, agreement is excellent. ICEVAL is also used to investigate the enhancement of the absorption efficiency due to quasilinear heating of the minority ions. The effect is a strongly non-linear function of the available power, and decreases rapidly with increasing concentration. For parameters typical of Asdex Upgrade plasmas, about 4 MW are required to produce a significant increase of the single-pass absorption at concentrations between 10 and 20%. (orig.)

  10. Uncertainty in Population Estimates for Endangered Animals and Improving the Recovery Process

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Janet L. Rachlow

    2013-08-01

    Full Text Available United States recovery plans contain biological information for a species listed under the Endangered Species Act and specify recovery criteria to provide basis for species recovery. The objective of our study was to evaluate whether recovery plans provide uncertainty (e.g., variance with estimates of population size. We reviewed all finalized recovery plans for listed terrestrial vertebrate species to record the following data: (1 if a current population size was given, (2 if a measure of uncertainty or variance was associated with current estimates of population size and (3 if population size was stipulated for recovery. We found that 59% of completed recovery plans specified a current population size, 14.5% specified a variance for the current population size estimate and 43% specified population size as a recovery criterion. More recent recovery plans reported more estimates of current population size, uncertainty and population size as a recovery criterion. Also, bird and mammal recovery plans reported more estimates of population size and uncertainty compared to reptiles and amphibians. We suggest the use of calculating minimum detectable differences to improve confidence when delisting endangered animals and we identified incentives for individuals to get involved in recovery planning to improve access to quantitative data.

  11. An improved fuzzy Kalman filter for state estimation of nonlinear systems

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Zhou, Z-J; Hu, C-H; Chen, L; Zhang, B-C

    2008-01-01

    The extended fuzzy Kalman filter (EFKF) is developed recently and used for state estimation of the nonlinear systems with uncertainty. Based on extension of the orthogonality principle and the extended fuzzy Kalman filter, an improved fuzzy Kalman filters (IFKF) is proposed in this paper, which is more applicable and can deal with the state estimation of the nonlinear systems better than the EFKF. A simulation study is provided to verify the efficiency of the proposed method

  12. IMPROVED ESTIMATION OF FIBER LENGTH FROM 3-DIMENSIONAL IMAGES

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Joachim Ohser

    2013-03-01

    Full Text Available A new method is presented for estimating the specific fiber length from 3D images of macroscopically homogeneous fiber systems. The method is based on a discrete version of the Crofton formula, where local knowledge from 3x3x3-pixel configurations of the image data is exploited. It is shown that the relative error resulting from the discretization of the outer integral of the Crofton formula amonts at most 1.2%. An algorithmic implementation of the method is simple and the runtime as well as the amount of memory space are low. The estimation is significantly improved by considering 3x3x3-pixel configurations instead of 2x2x2, as already studied in literature.

  13. Competence to Complete Psychiatric Advance Directives: Effects of Facilitated Decision Making

    Science.gov (United States)

    Swanson, Jeffrey W.; Appelbaum, Paul S.; Swartz, Marvin S.; Ferron, Joelle; Van Dorn, Richard A.; Wagner, H. Ryan

    2013-01-01

    Psychiatric advance directives (PADs) statutes presume competence to complete these documents, but the range and dimensions of decisional competence among people who actually complete PADs is unknown. This study examines clinical and neuropsychological correlates of performance on a measure to assess competence to complete PADs and investigates the effects of a facilitated PAD intervention on decisional capacity. N = 469 adults with psychotic disorders were interviewed at baseline and then randomly assigned to either a control group in which they received written materials about PADs or to an intervention group in which they were offered an opportunity to meet individually with a trained facilitator to create a PAD. At baseline, domains on the Decisional Competence Assessment Tool for PADs (DCAT-PAD) were most strongly associated with IQ, verbal memory, abstract thinking, and psychiatric symptoms. At one-month follow-up, participants in the intervention group showed more improvement on the DCAT-PAD than controls, particularly among participants with pre-morbid IQ estimates below the median of 100. The results suggest that PAD facilitation is an effective method to boost competence of cognitively-impaired clients to write PADs and make treatment decisions within PADs, thereby maximizing the chances their advance directives will be valid. PMID:17294136

  14. Potential for improvement in estimation of solar diffuse irradiance

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Muneer, T.; Munawwar, S.

    2006-01-01

    Most of the meteorological stations around the world measure global irradiation and provide information on weather elements. Diffuse radiation measurement, however, is unavailable for many of those sites. This accentuates the need to estimate it whereupon it can be used for the simulation of solar applications. This paper explores the role of synoptic information, e.g. sunshine fraction, cloud cover and air mass on the basic k-k t relationship for nine sites across the globe. The influence on the k-k t regressions is studied qualitatively, and the inclusion of these parameters is suggested based on that. Thus, it is recommended to use the complementary data usually provided with the database apart from the global irradiation in order to estimate the diffuse irradiation more accurately. It was found by analysing each synoptic parameter individually that while the sunshine fraction showed a strong bearing, it was followed closely by cloud cover. Air mass, on the other hand, was found to be a weak parameter for general estimation of diffuse radiation. It was concluded that air mass if coupled with other synoptic parameters might improve the estimation accuracy, but it does not show much promise on its own when used with the global irradiation

  15. Estimating Evapotranspiration from an Improved Two-Source Energy Balance Model Using ASTER Satellite Imagery

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Qifeng Zhuang

    2015-11-01

    Full Text Available Reliably estimating the turbulent fluxes of latent and sensible heat at the Earth’s surface by remote sensing is important for research on the terrestrial hydrological cycle. This paper presents a practical approach for mapping surface energy fluxes using Advanced Spaceborne Thermal Emission and Reflection Radiometer (ASTER images from an improved two-source energy balance (TSEB model. The original TSEB approach may overestimate latent heat flux under vegetative stress conditions, as has also been reported in recent research. We replaced the Priestley-Taylor equation used in the original TSEB model with one that uses plant moisture and temperature constraints based on the PT-JPL model to obtain a more accurate canopy latent heat flux for model solving. The collected ASTER data and field observations employed in this study are over corn fields in arid regions of the Heihe Watershed Allied Telemetry Experimental Research (HiWATER area, China. The results were validated by measurements from eddy covariance (EC systems, and the surface energy flux estimates of the improved TSEB model are similar to the ground truth. A comparison of the results from the original and improved TSEB models indicates that the improved method more accurately estimates the sensible and latent heat fluxes, generating more precise daily evapotranspiration (ET estimate under vegetative stress conditions.

  16. Positive experiences with a specialist as facilitator in general practice

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Kousgaard, Marius Brostrøm; Thorsen, Thorkil

    2012-01-01

    The use of facilitators for quality improvement in general practice has accelerated during the past decade. As general practitioners (GPs) or pharmacists have typically been used as facilitators, there is a lack of knowledge of how other professionals function as facilitators. This article explores...

  17. Improving satellite-based post-fire evapotranspiration estimates in semi-arid regions

    Science.gov (United States)

    Poon, P.; Kinoshita, A. M.

    2017-12-01

    Climate change and anthropogenic factors contribute to the increased frequency, duration, and size of wildfires, which can alter ecosystem and hydrological processes. The loss of vegetation canopy and ground cover reduces interception and alters evapotranspiration (ET) dynamics in riparian areas, which can impact rainfall-runoff partitioning. Previous research evaluated the spatial and temporal trends of ET based on burn severity and observed an annual decrease of 120 mm on average for three years after fire. Building upon these results, this research focuses on the Coyote Fire in San Diego, California (USA), which burned a total of 76 km2 in 2003 to calibrate and improve satellite-based ET estimates in semi-arid regions affected by wildfire. The current work utilizes satellite-based products and techniques such as the Google Earth Engine Application programming interface (API). Various ET models (ie. Operational Simplified Surface Energy Balance Model (SSEBop)) are compared to the latent heat flux from two AmeriFlux eddy covariance towers, Sky Oaks Young (US-SO3), and Old Stand (US-SO2), from 2000 - 2015. The Old Stand tower has a low burn severity and the Young Stand tower has a moderate to high burn severity. Both towers are used to validate spatial ET estimates. Furthermore, variables and indices, such as Enhanced Vegetation Index (EVI), Normalized Difference Moisture Index (NDMI), and the Normalized Burn Ratio (NBR) are utilized to evaluate satellite-based ET through a multivariate statistical analysis at both sites. This point-scale study will able to improve ET estimates in spatially diverse regions. Results from this research will contribute to the development of a post-wildfire ET model for semi-arid regions. Accurate estimates of post-fire ET will provide a better representation of vegetation and hydrologic recovery, which can be used to improve hydrologic models and predictions.

  18. Initial position estimation method for permanent magnet synchronous motor based on improved pulse voltage injection

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Wang, Z.; Lu, K.; Ye, Y.

    2011-01-01

    According to saliency of permanent magnet synchronous motor (PMSM), the information of rotor position is implied in performance of stator inductances due to the magnetic saturation effect. Researches focused on the initial rotor position estimation of PMSM by injecting modulated pulse voltage...... vectors. The relationship between the inductance variations and voltage vector positions was studied. The inductance variation effect on estimation accuracy was studied as well. An improved five-pulses injection method was proposed, to improve the estimation accuracy by choosing optimaized voltage vectors...

  19. Facilitation as a teaching strategy : experiences of facilitators

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    E Lekalakala-Mokgele

    2006-09-01

    Full Text Available Changes in nursing education involve the move from traditional teaching approaches that are teacher-centred to facilitation, a student centred approach. The studentcentred approach is based on a philosophy of teaching and learning that puts the learner on centre-stage. The aim of this study was to identify the challenges of facilitators of learning using facilitation as a teaching method and recommend strategies for their (facilitators development and support. A qualitative, explorative and contextual design was used. Four (4 universities in South Africa which utilize facilitation as a teaching/ learning process were identified and the facilitators were selected to be the sample of the study. The main question posed during in-depth group interviews was: How do you experience facilitation as a teaching/learning method?. Facilitators indicated different experiences and emotions when they first had to facilitate learning. All of them indicated that it was difficult to facilitate at the beginning as they were trained to lecture and that no format for facilitation was available. They experienced frustrations and anxieties as a result. The lack of knowledge of facilitation instilled fear in them. However they indicated that facilitation had many benefits for them and for the students. Amongst the ones mentioned were personal and professional growth. Challenges mentioned were the fear that they waste time and that they do not cover the content. It is therefore important that facilitation be included in the training of nurse educators.

  20. Surface Renewal Application for Estimating Evapotranspiration: A Review

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Yongguang Hu

    2018-01-01

    Full Text Available The estimation of evapotranspiration (ET is essential for meteorological modeling of surface exchange processes, as well as for the agricultural practice of irrigation management. Hitherto, a number of methods for estimation of ET at different temporal scales and climatic conditions are constantly under investigation and improvement. One of these methods is surface renewal (SR. Therefore, the premise of this review is to present recent developments and applications of SR for ET measurements. The SR method is based on estimating the turbulent exchange of sensible heat flux between plant canopy and atmosphere caused by the instantaneous replacement of air parcels in contact with the surface. Additional measurements of net radiation and soil heat flux facilitate extracting ET using the shortened energy balance equation. The challenge, however, is the calibration of SR results against direct sensible heat flux measurements. For the classical SR method, only air temperature measured at high frequency is required. In addition, a new model suggests that the SR method could be exempted from calibration by measuring additional micrometeorological variables. However, further improvement of the SR method is required to provide improved results in the future.

  1. Towards Improved Snow Water Equivalent Estimation via GRACE Assimilation

    Science.gov (United States)

    Forman, Bart; Reichle, Rofl; Rodell, Matt

    2011-01-01

    Passive microwave (e.g. AMSR-E) and visible spectrum (e.g. MODIS) measurements of snow states have been used in conjunction with land surface models to better characterize snow pack states, most notably snow water equivalent (SWE). However, both types of measurements have limitations. AMSR-E, for example, suffers a loss of information in deep/wet snow packs. Similarly, MODIS suffers a loss of temporal correlation information beyond the initial accumulation and final ablation phases of the snow season. Gravimetric measurements, on the other hand, do not suffer from these limitations. In this study, gravimetric measurements from the Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment (GRACE) mission are used in a land surface model data assimilation (DA) framework to better characterize SWE in the Mackenzie River basin located in northern Canada. Comparisons are made against independent, ground-based SWE observations, state-of-the-art modeled SWE estimates, and independent, ground-based river discharge observations. Preliminary results suggest improved SWE estimates, including improved timing of the subsequent ablation and runoff of the snow pack. Additionally, use of the DA procedure can add vertical and horizontal resolution to the coarse-scale GRACE measurements as well as effectively downscale the measurements in time. Such findings offer the potential for better understanding of the hydrologic cycle in snow-dominated basins located in remote regions of the globe where ground-based observation collection if difficult, if not impossible. This information could ultimately lead to improved freshwater resource management in communities dependent on snow melt as well as a reduction in the uncertainty of river discharge into the Arctic Ocean.

  2. State of charge estimation of lithium-ion batteries based on an improved parameter identification method

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Xia, Bizhong; Chen, Chaoren; Tian, Yong; Wang, Mingwang; Sun, Wei; Xu, Zhihui

    2015-01-01

    The SOC (state of charge) is the most important index of the battery management systems. However, it cannot be measured directly with sensors and must be estimated with mathematical techniques. An accurate battery model is crucial to exactly estimate the SOC. In order to improve the model accuracy, this paper presents an improved parameter identification method. Firstly, the concept of polarization depth is proposed based on the analysis of polarization characteristics of the lithium-ion batteries. Then, the nonlinear least square technique is applied to determine the model parameters according to data collected from pulsed discharge experiments. The results show that the proposed method can reduce the model error as compared with the conventional approach. Furthermore, a nonlinear observer presented in the previous work is utilized to verify the validity of the proposed parameter identification method in SOC estimation. Finally, experiments with different levels of discharge current are carried out to investigate the influence of polarization depth on SOC estimation. Experimental results show that the proposed method can improve the SOC estimation accuracy as compared with the conventional approach, especially under the conditions of large discharge current. - Highlights: • The polarization characteristics of lithium-ion batteries are analyzed. • The concept of polarization depth is proposed to improve model accuracy. • A nonlinear least square technique is applied to determine the model parameters. • A nonlinear observer is used as the SOC estimation algorithm. • The validity of the proposed method is verified by experimental results.

  3. Facilitators for practice change in Spanish community pharmacy.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gastelurrutia, Miguel A; Benrimoj, S I Charlie; Castrillon, Carla C; de Amezua, María J Casado; Fernandez-Llimos, Fernando; Faus, Maria J

    2009-02-01

    To identify and prioritise facilitators for practice change in Spanish community pharmacy. Spanish community pharmacies. Qualitative study. Thirty-three semi-structured interviews were conducted with community pharmacists (n = 15) and pharmacy strategists (n = 18), and the results were examined using the content analysis method. In addition, two nominal groups (seven community pharmacists and seven strategists) were formed to identify and prioritise facilitators. Results of both techniques were then triangulated. Facilitators for practice change. Twelve facilitators were identified and grouped into four domains (D1: Pharmacist; D2: Pharmacy as an organisation; D3: Pharmaceutical profession; D4: Miscellaneous). Facilitators identified in D1 include: the need for more clinical education at both pre- and post-graduate levels; the need for clearer and unequivocal messages from professional leaders about the future of the professional practice; and the need for a change in pharmacists' attitudes. Facilitators in D2 are: the need to change the reimbursement system to accommodate cognitive service delivery as well as dispensing; and the need to change the front office of pharmacies. Facilitators identified in D3 are: the need for the Spanish National Professional Association to take a leadership role in the implementation of cognitive services; the need to reduce administrative workload; and the need for universities to reduce the gap between education and research. Other facilitators identified in this study include: the need to increase patients' demand for cognitive services at pharmacies; the need to improve pharmacist-physician relationships; the need for support from health care authorities; and the need for improved marketing of cognitive services and their benefits to society, including physicians and health care authorities. Twelve facilitators were identified. Strategists considered clinical education and pharmacists' attitude as the most important, and

  4. Work System Assessment to Facilitate the Dissemination of a Quality Improvement Program for Optimizing Blood Culture Use: A Case Study Using a Human Factors Engineering Approach.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Xie, Anping; Woods-Hill, Charlotte Z; King, Anne F; Enos-Graves, Heather; Ascenzi, Judy; Gurses, Ayse P; Klaus, Sybil A; Fackler, James C; Milstone, Aaron M

    2017-11-20

    Work system assessments can facilitate successful implementation of quality improvement programs. Using a human factors engineering approach, we conducted a work system assessment to facilitate the dissemination of a quality improvement program for optimizing blood culture use in pediatric intensive care units at 2 hospitals. Semistructured face-to-face interviews were conducted with clinicians from Johns Hopkins All Children's Hospital and University of Virginia Medical Center. Interview data were analyzed using qualitative content analysis. Blood culture-ordering practices are influenced by various work system factors, including people, tasks, tools and technologies, the physical environment, organizational conditions, and the external environment. A clinical decision-support tool could facilitate implementation by (1) standardizing blood culture-ordering practices, (2) ensuring that prescribing clinicians review the patient's condition before ordering a blood culture, (3) facilitating critical thinking, and (4) empowering nurses to communicate with physicians and advocate for adherence to blood culture-ordering guidelines. The success of interventions for optimizing blood culture use relies heavily on the local context. A work system analysis using a human factors engineering approach can identify key areas to be addressed for the successful dissemination of quality improvement interventions. © The Author 2017. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of The Journal of the Pediatric Infectious Diseases Society. All rights reserved. For permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oup.com.

  5. Improved Shape Parameter Estimation in Pareto Distributed Clutter with Neural Networks

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    José Raúl Machado-Fernández

    2016-12-01

    Full Text Available The main problem faced by naval radars is the elimination of the clutter input which is a distortion signal appearing mixed with target reflections. Recently, the Pareto distribution has been related to sea clutter measurements suggesting that it may provide a better fit than other traditional distributions. The authors propose a new method for estimating the Pareto shape parameter based on artificial neural networks. The solution achieves a precise estimation of the parameter, having a low computational cost, and outperforming the classic method which uses Maximum Likelihood Estimates (MLE. The presented scheme contributes to the development of the NATE detector for Pareto clutter, which uses the knowledge of clutter statistics for improving the stability of the detection, among other applications.

  6. Improved radiation dosimetry/risk estimates to facilitate environmental management of plutonium contaminated sites. 1998 annual progress report

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Scott, B.R.

    1998-01-01

    'The objective of this research is to evaluate distributions of possible alpha radiation doses to the lung, bone, and liver and associated health-risk distributions for plutonium (Pu) inhalation-exposure scenarios relevant to environmental management of PuO 2 -contaminated sites. Currently available dosimetry/risk models do not apply to exposure scenarios where, at most, a small number of highly radioactive PuO 2 particles are inhaled (stochastic exposure [SE] paradigm). For the SE paradigm, risk distributions are more relevant than point estimates of risk. The focus of the research is on the SE paradigm and on high specific activity, alpha-emitting (HSA-aE) particles such as 238 PuO 2 . The scientific goal is to develop a stochastic respiratory tract dosimetry/risk computer model for evaluating the desired absorbed dose distributions and associated health-risk distributions, for Department of Energy (DOE) workers and members of the public. This report summarizes results after 1 year of a 2-year project.'

  7. Demystifying facilitation of multi-actor learning processes

    OpenAIRE

    Groot, A.E.

    2002-01-01

    This thesis aims to demystify the facilitation of participatory processes in order to improve the performance of the facilitation professional. As our society is increasingly recognised as pluralistic, characterised by multiple actors with different interests, values and perceptions, participation has become a popular means of bringing about social and technical change. Across the globe, whether in agricultural devel...

  8. Facilitated Extinction Training to Improve Pharmacotherapy for Smoking Cessation: A Pilot Feasibility Trial.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Brandon, Thomas H; Unrod, Marina; Drobes, David J; Sutton, Steven K; Hawk, Larry W; Simmons, Vani N; Brandon, Karen O; Roetzheim, Richard G; Meltzer, Lauren R; Miller, Ralph R; Cahill, Shawn P

    2017-09-12

    and therapy for other disorders, to improve the extinction and generalization processes thought to underlie much of varenicline's effect. A Facilitated Extinction intervention was developed and found acceptable to smokers and feasible to implement in a research setting. The study sets the stage for a subsequent randomized controlled trial. © The Author 2017. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the Society for Research on Nicotine and Tobacco. All rights reserved. For permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oup.com.

  9. Are rehabilitation and/or care co-ordination interventions delivered in the community effective in reducing depression, facilitating participation and improving quality of life after stroke?

    Science.gov (United States)

    Graven, Christine; Brock, Kim; Hill, Keith; Joubert, Lynette

    2011-01-01

    To conduct a systematic review to explore the effectiveness of community-based rehabilitation interventions delivered by allied health professionals and/or nursing staff in reducing depression, facilitating participation and improving health-related quality of life (HRQoL) post-inpatient stroke rehabilitation. A search was conducted in the databases of MEDLINE, PEDro, CINAHL and the Cochrane Library. Publications were classified into categories based on the type of the interventions. Best evidence synthesis and meta-analysis were utilised to determine the level of evidence. Fifty-four studies were included in the review, and divided into nine broad intervention categories. Meta-analysis demonstrated significant reduction in depression with exercise interventions (n = 137; effect estimate SMD: -2.03, 95%CI: -3.22, -0.85). Community-based interventions targeting participation and leisure domains showed moderate evidence for improvement in global participation measures and HRQoL. Comprehensive rehabilitation demonstrated limited evidence for depression and participation, and strong evidence for HRQoL. There is limited to moderate evidence supporting some rehabilitation interventions in affecting the outcomes of depression, participation and HRQoL post-stroke. Heterogeneity of the studies made evidence synthesis difficult. Further consideration needs to be given to the type and timing of outcome measures selected to represent the domains of participation and HRQoL.

  10. An improved principal component analysis based region matching method for fringe direction estimation

    Science.gov (United States)

    He, A.; Quan, C.

    2018-04-01

    The principal component analysis (PCA) and region matching combined method is effective for fringe direction estimation. However, its mask construction algorithm for region matching fails in some circumstances, and the algorithm for conversion of orientation to direction in mask areas is computationally-heavy and non-optimized. We propose an improved PCA based region matching method for the fringe direction estimation, which includes an improved and robust mask construction scheme, and a fast and optimized orientation-direction conversion algorithm for the mask areas. Along with the estimated fringe direction map, filtered fringe pattern by automatic selective reconstruction modification and enhanced fast empirical mode decomposition (ASRm-EFEMD) is used for Hilbert spiral transform (HST) to demodulate the phase. Subsequently, windowed Fourier ridge (WFR) method is used for the refinement of the phase. The robustness and effectiveness of proposed method are demonstrated by both simulated and experimental fringe patterns.

  11. Improved ESPRIT Method for Joint Direction-of-Arrival and Frequency Estimation Using Multiple-Delay Output

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Wang Xudong

    2012-01-01

    Full Text Available An automatic pairing joint direction-of-arrival (DOA and frequency estimation is presented to overcome the unsatisfactory performances of estimation of signal parameter via rotational invariance techniques- (ESPRIT- like algorithm of Wang (2010, which requires an additional pairing. By using multiple-delay output of a uniform linear antenna arrays (ULA, the proposed algorithm can estimate joint angles and frequencies with an improved ESPRIT. Compared with Wang’s ESPRIT algorithm, the angle estimation performance of the proposed algorithm is greatly improved. The frequency estimation performance of the proposed algorithm is same with that of Wang’s ESPRIT algorithm. Furthermore, the proposed algorithm can obtain automatic pairing DOA and frequency parameters, and it has a comparative computational complexity in contrast to Wang’s ESPRIT algorithm. By the way, this proposed algorithm can also work well for nonuniform linear arrays. The useful behavior of this proposed algorithm is verified by simulations.

  12. Conducting an audit to improve the facilitation of emergency maternal and newborn referral in northern Ghana.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Awoonor-Williams, John Koku; Bailey, Patricia E; Yeji, Francis; Adongo, Ayire Emmanuel; Baffoe, Peter; Williams, Afua; Mercer, Sarah

    2015-10-01

    Ghana Health Service conducted an audit to strengthen the referral system for pregnant or recently pregnant women and newborns in northern Ghana. The audit took place in 16 facilities with two 3-month cycles of data collection in 2011. Midwife-led teams tracked 446 referred women until they received definitive treatment. Between the two audit cycles, teams identified and implemented interventions to address gaps in referral services. During this time period, we observed important increases in facilitating referral mechanisms, including a decrease in the dependence on taxis in favour of national or facility ambulances/vehicles; an increase in health workers escorting referrals to the appropriate receiving facility; greater use of referral slips and calling ahead to alert receiving facilities and higher feedback rates. As referral systems require attention from multiple levels of engagement, on the provider end we found that regional managers increasingly resolved staffing shortages; district management addressed the costliness and lack of transport and increased midwives' ability to communicate with pregnant women and drivers; and that facility staff increasingly adhered to guidelines and facilitating mechanisms. By conducting an audit of maternal and newborn referrals, the Ghana Health Service identified areas for improvement that service providers and management at multiple levels addressed, demonstrating a platform for problem solving that could be a model elsewhere.

  13. The expression of glycerol facilitators from various yeast species improves growth on glycerol of Saccharomyces cerevisiae

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Mathias Klein

    2016-12-01

    Full Text Available Glycerol is an abundant by-product during biodiesel production and additionally has several assets compared to sugars when used as a carbon source for growing microorganisms in the context of biotechnological applications. However, most strains of the platform production organism Saccharomyces cerevisiae grow poorly in synthetic glycerol medium. It has been hypothesized that the uptake of glycerol could be a major bottleneck for the utilization of glycerol in S. cerevisiae. This species exclusively relies on an active transport system for glycerol uptake. This work demonstrates that the expression of predicted glycerol facilitators (Fps1 homologues from superior glycerol-utilizing yeast species such as Pachysolen tannophilus, Komagataella pastoris, Yarrowia lipolytica and Cyberlindnera jadinii significantly improves the growth performance on glycerol of the previously selected glycerol-consuming S. cerevisiae wild-type strain (CBS 6412-13A. The maximum specific growth rate increased from 0.13 up to 0.18 h−1 and a biomass yield coefficient of 0.56 gDW/gglycerol was observed. These results pave the way for exploiting the assets of glycerol in the production of fuels, chemicals and pharmaceuticals based on baker's yeast. Keywords: Yeast, Saccharomyces cerevisiae, Glycerol, Transport, Glycerol facilitator, Fps1, Stl1

  14. Colloid facilitated transport in fractured rocks: parameter estimation and comparison with experimental data

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Viswanthan, H.S.; Wolfsberg, A.V.; Reimus, P.W.; Ware, D.; Lu, G.

    2003-01-01

    Colloid-facilitated migration of plutonium in fractured rock has been implicated in both field and laboratory studies. Other reactive radionuclides may also experience enhanced mobility due to groundwater colloids. Model prediction of this process is necessary for assessment of contaminant boundaries in systems for which radionuclides are already in the groundwater and for performance assessment of potential repositories for radioactive waste. Therefore, a reactive transport model is developed and parameterized using results from controlled laboratory fracture column experiments. Silica, montmorillonite and clinoptilolite colloids are used in the experiments along with plutonium and Tritium. The goal of the numerical model is to identify and parameterize the physical and chemical processes that affect the colloid-facilitated transport of plutonium in the fractures. The parameters used in this model are similar in form to those that might be used in a field-scale transport model

  15. Improving the identification and management of chronic kidney disease in primary care: lessons from a staged improvement collaborative.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Harvey, Gill; Oliver, Kathryn; Humphreys, John; Rothwell, Katy; Hegarty, Janet

    2015-02-01

    Undiagnosed chronic kidney disease (CKD) contributes to a high cost and care burden in secondary care. Uptake of evidence-based guidelines in primary care is inconsistent, resulting in variation in the detection and management of CKD. Routinely collected general practice data in one UK region suggested a CKD prevalence of 4.1%, compared with an estimated national prevalence of 8.5%. Of patients on CKD registers, ∼ 30% were estimated to have suboptimal management according to Public Health Observatory analyses. An evidence-based framework for implementation was developed. This informed the design of an improvement collaborative to work with a sample of 30 general practices. A two-phase collaborative was implemented between September 2009 and March 2012. Key elements of the intervention included learning events, improvement targets, Plan-Do-Study-Act cycles, benchmarking of audit data, facilitator support and staff time reimbursement. Outcomes were evaluated against two indicators: number of patients with CKD on practice registers; percentage of patients achieving evidence-based blood pressure (BP) targets, as a marker for CKD care. In Phase 1, recorded prevalence of CKD in collaborative practices increased ∼ 2-fold more than that in comparator local practices; in Phase 2, this increased to 4-fold, indicating improved case identification. Management of BP according to guideline recommendations also improved. An improvement collaborative with tailored facilitation support appears to promote the uptake of evidence-based guidance on the identification and management of CKD in primary care. A controlled evaluation study is needed to rigorously evaluate the impact of this promising improvement intervention. © The Author 2014. Published by Oxford University Press in association with the International Society for Quality in Health Care.

  16. Improving accuracy of portion-size estimations through a stimulus equivalence paradigm.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hausman, Nicole L; Borrero, John C; Fisher, Alyssa; Kahng, SungWoo

    2014-01-01

    The prevalence of obesity continues to increase in the United States (Gordon-Larsen, The, & Adair, 2010). Obesity can be attributed, in part, to overconsumption of energy-dense foods. Given that overeating plays a role in the development of obesity, interventions that teach individuals to identify and consume appropriate portion sizes are warranted. Specifically, interventions that teach individuals to estimate portion sizes correctly without the use of aids may be critical to the success of nutrition education programs. The current study evaluated the use of a stimulus equivalence paradigm to teach 9 undergraduate students to estimate portion size accurately. Results suggested that the stimulus equivalence paradigm was effective in teaching participants to make accurate portion size estimations without aids, and improved accuracy was observed in maintenance sessions that were conducted 1 week after training. Furthermore, 5 of 7 participants estimated the target portion size of novel foods during extension sessions. These data extend existing research on teaching accurate portion-size estimations and may be applicable to populations who seek treatment (e.g., overweight or obese children and adults) to teach healthier eating habits. © Society for the Experimental Analysis of Behavior.

  17. Developing a survey of barriers and facilitators to recruitment in randomized controlled trials

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Kaur Geetinder

    2012-11-01

    Full Text Available Abstract Background Recruitment to randomized controlled trials is known to be challenging. It is important to understand and identify predictors of good or poor accrual to a clinical trial so that appropriate strategies can be put in place to overcome these problems and facilitate successful trial completion. We have developed a survey tool to establish the recruitment experience of clinical teams regarding facilitators and barriers to recruitment in a clinical trial and describe herein the method of developing the questionnaire. Methods A literature search was conducted to identify studies that have explored facilitators and barriers to recruitment, and a list of potential factors affecting recruitment to a clinical trial was generated. These factors were categorized in terms relating to the (i trial, (ii site, (iii patient, (iv clinical team, (v information and consent and (vi study team. A list was provided for responders to grade these factors as weak, intermediate or strong facilitators or barriers to recruitment. Results A web-based survey questionnaire was developed. This survey was designed to establish the recruitment experience of clinical teams with regard to the perceived facilitators and barriers to recruitment, to identify strategies applied to overcome these problems, and to obtain suggestions for change in the organization of future trials. The survey tool can be used to assess the recruitment experience of clinical teams in a single/multicenter trial in any clinical setting or speciality involving adults or children either in an ongoing trial or at trial completion. The questionnaire is short, easy to administer and to complete, with an estimated completion time of 11 minutes. Conclusions We have presented a robust methodology for developing this survey tool that provides an evidence-based list of potential factors that can affect recruitment to a clinical trial. We recommend that all clinical trialists should consider using

  18. Pre- and post-processing filters for improvement of blood velocity estimation

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Schlaikjer, Malene; Jensen, Jørgen Arendt

    2000-01-01

    with different signal-to-noise ratios (SNR). The exact extent of the vessel and the true velocities are thereby known. Velocity estimates were obtained by employing Kasai's autocorrelator on the data. The post-processing filter was used on the computed 2D velocity map. An improvement of the RMS error...... velocity in the vessels. Post-processing is beneficial to obtain an image that minimizes the variation, and present the important information to the clinicians. Applying the theory of fluid mechanics introduces restrictions on the variations possible in a flow field. Neighboring estimates in time and space...... should be highly correlated, since transitions should occur smoothly. This idea is the basis of the algorithm developed in this study. From Bayesian image processing theory an a posteriori probability distribution for the velocity field is computed based on constraints on smoothness. An estimate...

  19. The Role of the Facilitator on Total Quality Management Teams.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Eakin, William L.

    1993-01-01

    As Total Quality Management teams work to improve organizational processes, several types of facilitators emerge: the director, the workhorse, and the cheerleader. Experience at the University of Kansas illustrates how different facilitator styles can affect team learning. (MSE)

  20. Estimating the cost of improving quality in electricity distribution: A parametric distance function approach

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Coelli, Tim J.; Gautier, Axel; Perelman, Sergio; Saplacan-Pop, Roxana

    2013-01-01

    The quality of electricity distribution is being more and more scrutinized by regulatory authorities, with explicit reward and penalty schemes based on quality targets having been introduced in many countries. It is then of prime importance to know the cost of improving the quality for a distribution system operator. In this paper, we focus on one dimension of quality, the continuity of supply, and we estimated the cost of preventing power outages. For that, we make use of the parametric distance function approach, assuming that outages enter in the firm production set as an input, an imperfect substitute for maintenance activities and capital investment. This allows us to identify the sources of technical inefficiency and the underlying trade-off faced by operators between quality and other inputs and costs. For this purpose, we use panel data on 92 electricity distribution units operated by ERDF (Electricité de France - Réseau Distribution) in the 2003–2005 financial years. Assuming a multi-output multi-input translog technology, we estimate that the cost of preventing one interruption is equal to 10.7€ for an average DSO. Furthermore, as one would expect, marginal quality improvements tend to be more expensive as quality itself improves. - Highlights: ► We estimate the implicit cost of outages for the main distribution company in France. ► For this purpose, we make use of a parametric distance function approach. ► Marginal quality improvements tend to be more expensive as quality itself improves. ► The cost of preventing one interruption varies from 1.8 € to 69.2 € (2005 prices). ► We estimate that, in average, it lays 33% above the regulated price of quality.

  1. Improving Frozen Precipitation Density Estimation in Land Surface Modeling

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sparrow, K.; Fall, G. M.

    2017-12-01

    The Office of Water Prediction (OWP) produces high-value water supply and flood risk planning information through the use of operational land surface modeling. Improvements in diagnosing frozen precipitation density will benefit the NWS's meteorological and hydrological services by refining estimates of a significant and vital input into land surface models. A current common practice for handling the density of snow accumulation in a land surface model is to use a standard 10:1 snow-to-liquid-equivalent ratio (SLR). Our research findings suggest the possibility of a more skillful approach for assessing the spatial variability of precipitation density. We developed a 30-year SLR climatology for the coterminous US from version 3.22 of the Daily Global Historical Climatology Network - Daily (GHCN-D) dataset. Our methods followed the approach described by Baxter (2005) to estimate mean climatological SLR values at GHCN-D sites in the US, Canada, and Mexico for the years 1986-2015. In addition to the Baxter criteria, the following refinements were made: tests were performed to eliminate SLR outliers and frequent reports of SLR = 10, a linear SLR vs. elevation trend was fitted to station SLR mean values to remove the elevation trend from the data, and detrended SLR residuals were interpolated using ordinary kriging with a spherical semivariogram model. The elevation values of each station were based on the GMTED 2010 digital elevation model and the elevation trend in the data was established via linear least squares approximation. The ordinary kriging procedure was used to interpolate the data into gridded climatological SLR estimates for each calendar month at a 0.125 degree resolution. To assess the skill of this climatology, we compared estimates from our SLR climatology with observations from the GHCN-D dataset to consider the potential use of this climatology as a first guess of frozen precipitation density in an operational land surface model. The difference in

  2. Estimating Typhoon Rainfall over Sea from SSM/I Satellite Data Using an Improved Genetic Programming

    Science.gov (United States)

    Yeh, K.; Wei, H.; Chen, L.; Liu, G.

    2010-12-01

    Estimating Typhoon Rainfall over Sea from SSM/I Satellite Data Using an Improved Genetic Programming Keh-Chia Yeha, Hsiao-Ping Weia,d, Li Chenb, and Gin-Rong Liuc a Department of Civil Engineering, National Chiao Tung University, Hsinchu, Taiwan, 300, R.O.C. b Department of Civil Engineering and Engineering Informatics, Chung Hua University, Hsinchu, Taiwan, 300, R.O.C. c Center for Space and Remote Sensing Research, National Central University, Tao-Yuan, Taiwan, 320, R.O.C. d National Science and Technology Center for Disaster Reduction, Taipei County, Taiwan, 231, R.O.C. Abstract This paper proposes an improved multi-run genetic programming (GP) and applies it to predict the rainfall using meteorological satellite data. GP is a well-known evolutionary programming and data mining method, used to automatically discover the complex relationships among nonlinear systems. The main advantage of GP is to optimize appropriate types of function and their associated coefficients simultaneously. This study makes an improvement to enhance escape ability from local optimums during the optimization procedure. The GP continuously runs several times by replacing the terminal nodes at the next run with the best solution at the current run. The current novel model improves GP, obtaining a highly nonlinear mathematical equation to estimate the rainfall. In the case study, this improved GP described above combining with SSM/I satellite data is employed to establish a suitable method for estimating rainfall at sea surface during typhoon periods. These estimated rainfalls are then verified with the data from four rainfall stations located at Peng-Jia-Yu, Don-Gji-Dao, Lan-Yu, and Green Island, which are four small islands around Taiwan. From the results, the improved GP can generate sophisticated and accurate nonlinear mathematical equation through two-run learning procedures which outperforms the traditional multiple linear regression, empirical equations and back-propagated network

  3. Benefits, Facilitators, Barriers, and Strategies to Improve Pesticide Protective Behaviors: Insights from Farmworkers in North Carolina Tobacco Fields.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Walton, AnnMarie Lee; LePrevost, Catherine E; Linnan, Laura; Sanchez-Birkhead, Ana; Mooney, Kathi

    2017-06-23

    Pesticide exposure is associated with deleterious health effects. Prior studies suggest Latino farmworkers perceive little control over their occupational health. Using the Health Belief Model as a theoretical guide, we explored the perceptions of Latino farmworkers working in tobacco in North Carolina ( n = 72) about benefits and facilitators of pesticide protective behaviors as well as barriers, and strategies to overcome barriers to their use. Interviews were conducted with participants at farmworker housing during non-work time. Qualitative data were analyzed using ATLAS.ti. Farmworkers recognized pesticide protective behaviors as helping them to not get sick and stay healthy. Farmworkers perceived work experience as facilitating protective behaviors. Wetness in the field was the most commonly cited barrier to protective behavior use. To overcome this barrier, farmworkers suggested use of water-resistant outerwear, as well as packing a change of clothes for mid-day, with space and time to change provided by employers. Examination of the efficacy and feasibility of farmworkers' suggestions for addressing barriers is warranted. Training and behavior modeling by experienced peers may improve behavior adoption and perceived control.

  4. A Pilot-Pattern Based Algorithm for MIMO-OFDM Channel Estimation

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Guomin Li

    2016-12-01

    Full Text Available An improved pilot pattern algorithm for facilitating the channel estimation in multiple input multiple output-orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (MIMO-OFDM systems is proposed in this paper. The presented algorithm reconfigures the parameter in the least square (LS algorithm, which belongs to the space-time block-coded (STBC category for channel estimation in pilot-based MIMO-OFDM system. Simulation results show that the algorithm has better performance in contrast to the classical single symbol scheme. In contrast to the double symbols scheme, the proposed algorithm can achieve nearly the same performance with only half of the complexity of the double symbols scheme.

  5. Facilitating small groups: how to encourage student learning.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kitchen, Mark

    2012-02-01

    Many clinicians are involved in medical education, with small group teaching (SGT) forming a significant part of their work. Most facilitate these sessions by experience and common sense: less than one-third of them have received formal training in SGT. Evidence suggests small group productivity depends on good facilitation rather than on topic knowledge. Applying the fundamental concepts of SGT will lead to improvements in the quality of clinicians' teaching and in student learning. Good SGT creates the perfect environment for learning and discussion, without the need for didactic teaching. SGT emphasises the role of students in sharing and discussing their ideas in a safe learning environment, without domination by the tutor. This article provides clinicians with basic requirements for effective session design and planning, explains how to encourage student participation, how to manage students as a group, how to manage student learning, and how to recognise and deal with problems. Active facilitation and group management is the key to success in SGT, and consequently better learning outcomes. Improving the facilitation skills of clinical teachers makes teaching more effective, stimulating, and enjoyable for both tutors and students. © Blackwell Publishing Ltd 2012.

  6. An Improved Convolutional Neural Network on Crowd Density Estimation

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Pan Shao-Yun

    2016-01-01

    Full Text Available In this paper, a new method is proposed for crowd density estimation. An improved convolutional neural network is combined with traditional texture feature. The data calculated by the convolutional layer can be treated as a new kind of features.So more useful information of images can be extracted by different features.In the meantime, the size of image has little effect on the result of convolutional neural network. Experimental results indicate that our scheme has adequate performance to allow for its use in real world applications.

  7. Improvements to the quality of the estimates of US uranium reserves

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Nikodem, Z.D.

    1998-01-01

    continuing. Further work is being directed toward improving estimation techniques and analysing production levels obtainable from reserve levels at various cost categories. (author)

  8. A Parameter Estimation Method for Nonlinear Systems Based on Improved Boundary Chicken Swarm Optimization

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Shaolong Chen

    2016-01-01

    Full Text Available Parameter estimation is an important problem in nonlinear system modeling and control. Through constructing an appropriate fitness function, parameter estimation of system could be converted to a multidimensional parameter optimization problem. As a novel swarm intelligence algorithm, chicken swarm optimization (CSO has attracted much attention owing to its good global convergence and robustness. In this paper, a method based on improved boundary chicken swarm optimization (IBCSO is proposed for parameter estimation of nonlinear systems, demonstrated and tested by Lorenz system and a coupling motor system. Furthermore, we have analyzed the influence of time series on the estimation accuracy. Computer simulation results show it is feasible and with desirable performance for parameter estimation of nonlinear systems.

  9. Relationship of Physical Activity Facilitators and Body Mass Index in Kashan Elderly

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Zahra Khalili

    2015-12-01

    Full Text Available Introduction: There are many factors that affect the level of physical activity and body mass index of the elderly. The current study aimed to assess the relationship of  physical activity facilitators and body mass index of Kashan elderly. Methods: The cross-sectional study sampled 400 elderly older than 60 referred to 10 healthcare centers in Kashan, 2014, via multistage quota method. Participations were tested under demographic characters, body mass index(BMI level, and exercise benefits part of exercise benefits and barrier scale (persian  version for measurig  physical activity facilitators. Data were analyzed in SPSS software, descriptive statistic, Spearman correlation test, Chi-Square and Ordinal regression. Results: Of the participations73.6% were overweight or obese. Median and interquartile range (IQR of  physical activity facilitators was 75 and 33 respectively. The most prominent  physical activity facilitators was" physical activity increases my physical ability, (83.2%. There was a significantly inverse relationship between  physical activity facilitators  score and BMI of participants (r=-0.233, P=0.001. Ordinal regression evealed that mostly predictor of  BMI among  physical activity facilitators was "physical activity improves the quality of my work " (OR=8.683, P=0.001. Conclusion: Results identified  physical activity facilitators directly is related to improve physical circumstances of the elderly people. Surly poviding  physical activity facilitators through educational and interventional programs may improve the health status of aging population.

  10. Innovation and learning facilitated by play

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Hansen, Poul H. Kyvsgård; O´Connor, Rory

    2008-01-01

    "This paper describes an approach to facilitate interaction between students and industrial companies in a problem based learning environment. The approach is adapted from a methodology developed at the LEGO Company and relies on an improved ability to communicate complex problems when using...

  11. Applying Insights from Transaction Cost Economics (TCE) to Improve DoD Cost Estimation

    National Research Council Canada - National Science Library

    Angelis, Diana I; Dillard, John; Franck, Raymond; Melese, Francois

    2007-01-01

    The purpose of this report is to explore the possibility of improving DoD cost estimation methods by including explanatory variables that capture the coordination and motivation problems associated with the program...

  12. Improving slowness estimate stability and visualization using limited sensor pair correlation on seismic arrays

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gibbons, Steven J.; Näsholm, S. P.; Ruigrok, E.; Kværna, T.

    2018-04-01

    Seismic arrays enhance signal detection and parameter estimation by exploiting the time-delays between arriving signals on sensors at nearby locations. Parameter estimates can suffer due to both signal incoherence, with diminished waveform similarity between sensors, and aberration, with time-delays between coherent waveforms poorly represented by the wave-front model. Sensor-to-sensor correlation approaches to parameter estimation have an advantage over direct beamforming approaches in that individual sensor-pairs can be omitted without necessarily omitting entirely the data from each of the sensors involved. Specifically, we can omit correlations between sensors for which signal coherence in an optimal frequency band is anticipated to be poor or for which anomalous time-delays are anticipated. In practice, this usually means omitting correlations between more distant sensors. We present examples from International Monitoring System seismic arrays with poor parameter estimates resulting when classical f-k analysis is performed over the full array aperture. We demonstrate improved estimates and slowness grid displays using correlation beamforming restricted to correlations between sufficiently closely spaced sensors. This limited sensor-pair correlation (LSPC) approach has lower slowness resolution than would ideally be obtained by considering all sensor-pairs. However, this ideal estimate may be unattainable due to incoherence and/or aberration and the LSPC estimate can often exploit all channels, with the associated noise-suppression, while mitigating the complications arising from correlations between very distant sensors. The greatest need for the method is for short-period signals on large aperture arrays although we also demonstrate significant improvement for secondary regional phases on a small aperture array. LSPC can also provide a robust and flexible approach to parameter estimation on three-component seismic arrays.

  13. When celibacy matters: incorporating non-breeders improves demographic parameter estimates.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Pardo, Deborah; Weimerskirch, Henri; Barbraud, Christophe

    2013-01-01

    In long-lived species only a fraction of a population breeds at a given time. Non-breeders can represent more than half of adult individuals, calling in doubt the relevance of estimating demographic parameters from the sole breeders. Here we demonstrate the importance of considering observable non-breeders to estimate reliable demographic traits: survival, return, breeding, hatching and fledging probabilities. We study the long-lived quasi-biennial breeding wandering albatross (Diomedea exulans). In this species, the breeding cycle lasts almost a year and birds that succeed a given year tend to skip the next breeding occasion while birds that fail tend to breed again the following year. Most non-breeders remain unobservable at sea, but still a substantial number of observable non-breeders (ONB) was identified on breeding sites. Using multi-state capture-mark-recapture analyses, we used several measures to compare the performance of demographic estimates between models incorporating or ignoring ONB: bias (difference in mean), precision (difference is standard deviation) and accuracy (both differences in mean and standard deviation). Our results highlight that ignoring ONB leads to bias and loss of accuracy on breeding probability and survival estimates. These effects are even stronger when studied in an age-dependent framework. Biases on breeding probabilities and survival increased with age leading to overestimation of survival at old age and thus actuarial senescence and underestimation of reproductive senescence. We believe our study sheds new light on the difficulties of estimating demographic parameters in species/taxa where a significant part of the population does not breed every year. Taking into account ONB appeared important to improve demographic parameter estimates, models of population dynamics and evolutionary conclusions regarding senescence within and across taxa.

  14. Winter Crop Mapping for Improving Crop Production Estimates in Argentina Using Moderation Resolution Satellite Imagery

    Science.gov (United States)

    Humber, M. L.; Copati, E.; Sanchez, A.; Sahajpal, R.; Puricelli, E.; Becker-Reshef, I.

    2017-12-01

    Accurate crop production data is fundamental for reducing uncertainly and volatility in the domestic and international agricultural markets. The Agricultural Estimates Department of the Buenos Aires Grain Exchange has worked since 2000 on the estimation of different crop production data. With this information, the Grain Exchange helps different actors of the agricultural chain, such as producers, traders, seed companies, market analyst, policy makers, into their day to day decision making. Since 2015/16 season, the Grain Exchange has worked on the development of a new earth observations-based method to identify winter crop planted area at a regional scale with the aim of improving crop production estimates. The objective of this new methodology is to create a reliable winter crop mask at moderate spatial resolution using Landsat-8 imagery by exploiting bi-temporal differences in the phenological stages of winter crops as compared to other landcover types. In collaboration with the University of Maryland, the map has been validated by photointerpretation of a stratified statistically random sample of independent ground truth data in the four largest producing provinces of Argentina: Buenos Aires, Cordoba, La Pampa, and Santa Fe. In situ measurements were also used to further investigate conditions in the Buenos Aires province. Preliminary results indicate that while there are some avenues for improvement, overall the classification accuracy of the cropland and non-cropland classes are sufficient to improve downstream production estimates. Continuing research will focus on improving the methodology for winter crop mapping exercises on a yearly basis as well as improving the sampling methodology to optimize collection of validation data in the future.

  15. A matlab framework for estimation of NLME models using stochastic differential equations: applications for estimation of insulin secretion rates.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Mortensen, Stig B; Klim, Søren; Dammann, Bernd; Kristensen, Niels R; Madsen, Henrik; Overgaard, Rune V

    2007-10-01

    The non-linear mixed-effects model based on stochastic differential equations (SDEs) provides an attractive residual error model, that is able to handle serially correlated residuals typically arising from structural mis-specification of the true underlying model. The use of SDEs also opens up for new tools for model development and easily allows for tracking of unknown inputs and parameters over time. An algorithm for maximum likelihood estimation of the model has earlier been proposed, and the present paper presents the first general implementation of this algorithm. The implementation is done in Matlab and also demonstrates the use of parallel computing for improved estimation times. The use of the implementation is illustrated by two examples of application which focus on the ability of the model to estimate unknown inputs facilitated by the extension to SDEs. The first application is a deconvolution-type estimation of the insulin secretion rate based on a linear two-compartment model for C-peptide measurements. In the second application the model is extended to also give an estimate of the time varying liver extraction based on both C-peptide and insulin measurements.

  16. Improving the accuracy of Laplacian estimation with novel multipolar concentric ring electrodes

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ding, Quan; Besio, Walter G.

    2015-01-01

    Conventional electroencephalography with disc electrodes has major drawbacks including poor spatial resolution, selectivity and low signal-to-noise ratio that are critically limiting its use. Concentric ring electrodes, consisting of several elements including the central disc and a number of concentric rings, are a promising alternative with potential to improve all of the aforementioned aspects significantly. In our previous work, the tripolar concentric ring electrode was successfully used in a wide range of applications demonstrating its superiority to conventional disc electrode, in particular, in accuracy of Laplacian estimation. This paper takes the next step toward further improving the Laplacian estimation with novel multipolar concentric ring electrodes by completing and validating a general approach to estimation of the Laplacian for an (n + 1)-polar electrode with n rings using the (4n + 1)-point method for n ≥ 2 that allows cancellation of all the truncation terms up to the order of 2n. An explicit formula based on inversion of a square Vandermonde matrix is derived to make computation of multipolar Laplacian more efficient. To confirm the analytic result of the accuracy of Laplacian estimate increasing with the increase of n and to assess the significance of this gain in accuracy for practical applications finite element method model analysis has been performed. Multipolar concentric ring electrode configurations with n ranging from 1 ring (bipolar electrode configuration) to 6 rings (septapolar electrode configuration) were directly compared and obtained results suggest the significance of the increase in Laplacian accuracy caused by increase of n. PMID:26693200

  17. Improving estimates of the prevalence of Female Genital Mutilation/Cutting among migrants in Western countries

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Livia Elisa Ortensi

    2015-02-01

    Full Text Available Background: Female Genital Mutilation/Cutting (FGM/C is an emerging topic in immigrant countries as a consequence of the increasing proportion of African women in overseas communities. Objective: While the prevalence of FGM/C is routinely measured in practicing countries, the prevalence of the phenomenon in western countries is substantially unknown, as no standardized methods exist yet for immigrant countries. The aim of this paper is to present an improved method of indirect estimation of the prevalence of FGM/C among first generation migrants based on a migrant selection hypothesis. A criterion to assess reliability of indirect estimates is also provided. Methods: The method is based on data from Demographic Health Surveys (DHS and Multiple Indicator Cluster Surveys (MICS. Migrants' Selection Hypothesis is used to correct national prevalence estimates and obtain an improved estimation of prevalence among overseas communities. Results: The application of the selection hypothesis modifies national estimates, usually predicting a lower occurrence of FGM/C among immigrants than in their respective practicing countries. A comparison of direct and indirect estimations confirms that the method correctly predicts the direction of the variation in the expected prevalence and satisfactorily approximates direct estimates. Conclusions: Given its wide applicability, this method would be a useful instrument to estimate FGM/C occurrence among first generation immigrants and provide corresponding support for policies in countries where information from ad hoc surveys is unavailable.

  18. Improving spatio-temporal model estimation of satellite-derived PM2.5 concentrations: Implications for public health

    Science.gov (United States)

    Barik, M. G.; Al-Hamdan, M. Z.; Crosson, W. L.; Yang, C. A.; Coffield, S. R.

    2017-12-01

    Satellite-derived environmental data, available in a range of spatio-temporal scales, are contributing to the growing use of health impact assessments of air pollution in the public health sector. Models developed using correlation of Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectrometer (MODIS) Aerosol Optical Depth (AOD) with ground measurements of fine particulate matter less than 2.5 microns (PM2.5) are widely applied to measure PM2.5 spatial and temporal variability. In the public health sector, associations of PM2.5 with respiratory and cardiovascular diseases are often investigated to quantify air quality impacts on these health concerns. In order to improve predictability of PM2.5 estimation using correlation models, we have included meteorological variables, higher-resolution AOD products and instantaneous PM2.5 observations into statistical estimation models. Our results showed that incorporation of high-resolution (1-km) Multi-Angle Implementation of Atmospheric Correction (MAIAC)-generated MODIS AOD, meteorological variables and instantaneous PM2.5 observations improved model performance in various parts of California (CA), USA, where single variable AOD-based models showed relatively weak performance. In this study, we further asked whether these improved models actually would be more successful for exploring associations of public health outcomes with estimated PM2.5. To answer this question, we geospatially investigated model-estimated PM2.5's relationship with respiratory and cardiovascular diseases such as asthma, high blood pressure, coronary heart disease, heart attack and stroke in CA using health data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)'s Wide-ranging Online Data for Epidemiologic Research (WONDER) and the Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS). PM2.5 estimation from these improved models have the potential to improve our understanding of associations between public health concerns and air quality.

  19. A Novel Strategy of Ambiguity Correction for the Improved Faraday Rotation Estimator in Linearly Full-Polarimetric SAR Data

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Jinhui Li

    2018-04-01

    Full Text Available Spaceborne synthetic aperture radar (SAR missions operating at low frequencies, such as L-band or P-band, are significantly influenced by the ionosphere. As one of the serious ionosphere effects, Faraday rotation (FR is a remarkable distortion source for the polarimetric SAR (PolSAR application. Various published FR estimators along with an improved one have been introduced to solve this issue, all of which are implemented by processing a set of PolSAR real data. The improved estimator exhibits optimal robustness based on performance analysis, especially in term of the system noise. However, all published estimators, including the improved estimator, suffer from a potential FR angle (FRA ambiguity. A novel strategy of the ambiguity correction for those FR estimators is proposed and shown as a flow process, which is divided into pixel-level and image-level correction. The former is not yet recognized and thus is considered in particular. Finally, the validation experiments show a prominent performance of the proposed strategy.

  20. A Novel Strategy of Ambiguity Correction for the Improved Faraday Rotation Estimator in Linearly Full-Polarimetric SAR Data.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Li, Jinhui; Ji, Yifei; Zhang, Yongsheng; Zhang, Qilei; Huang, Haifeng; Dong, Zhen

    2018-04-10

    Spaceborne synthetic aperture radar (SAR) missions operating at low frequencies, such as L-band or P-band, are significantly influenced by the ionosphere. As one of the serious ionosphere effects, Faraday rotation (FR) is a remarkable distortion source for the polarimetric SAR (PolSAR) application. Various published FR estimators along with an improved one have been introduced to solve this issue, all of which are implemented by processing a set of PolSAR real data. The improved estimator exhibits optimal robustness based on performance analysis, especially in term of the system noise. However, all published estimators, including the improved estimator, suffer from a potential FR angle (FRA) ambiguity. A novel strategy of the ambiguity correction for those FR estimators is proposed and shown as a flow process, which is divided into pixel-level and image-level correction. The former is not yet recognized and thus is considered in particular. Finally, the validation experiments show a prominent performance of the proposed strategy.

  1. The Effectiveness of Remote Facilitation in Simulation-Based Pediatric Resuscitation Training for Medical Students.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ohta, Kunio; Kurosawa, Hiroshi; Shiima, Yuko; Ikeyama, Takanari; Scott, James; Hayes, Scott; Gould, Michael; Buchanan, Newton; Nadkarni, Vinay; Nishisaki, Akira

    2017-08-01

    To assess the effectiveness of pediatric simulation by remote facilitation. We hypothesized that simulation by remote facilitation is more effective compared to simulation by an on-site facilitator. We defined remote facilitation as a facilitator remotely (1) introduces simulation-based learning and simulation environment, (2) runs scenarios, and (3) performs debriefing with an on-site facilitator. A remote simulation program for medical students during pediatric rotation was implemented. Groups were allocated to either remote or on-site facilitation depending on the availability of telemedicine technology. Both groups had identical 1-hour simulation sessions with 2 scenarios and debriefing. Their team performance was assessed with behavioral assessment tool by a trained rater. Perception by students was evaluated with Likert scale (1-7). Fifteen groups with 89 students participated in a simulation by remote facilitation, and 8 groups with 47 students participated in a simulation by on-site facilitation. Participant demographics and previous simulation experience were similar. Both groups improved their performance from first to second scenario: groups by remote simulation (first [8.5 ± 4.2] vs second [13.2 ± 6.2], P = 0.003), and groups by on-site simulation (first [6.9 ± 4.1] vs second [12.4 ± 6.4], P = 0.056). The performance improvement was not significantly different between the 2 groups (P = 0.94). Faculty evaluation by students was equally high in both groups (7 vs 7; P = 0.65). A pediatric acute care simulation by remote facilitation significantly improved students' performance. In this pilot study, remote facilitation seems as effective as a traditional, locally facilitated simulation. The remote simulation can be a strong alternative method, especially where experienced facilitators are limited.

  2. Separation of Olefin/Paraffin Mixtures with Carrier Facilitated Membrane Final Report

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Merkel, T.C.; Blanc, R.; Zeid, J.; Suwarlim, A.; Firat, B.; Wijmans, H.; Asaro, M. (SRI); Greene, M.(Lummus)

    2007-03-12

    This document describes the results of a DOE funded joint effort of Membrane Technology and Research Inc. (MTR), SRI International (SRI), and ABB Lummus (ABB) to develop facilitated transport membranes for olefin/paraffin separations. Currently, olefin/paraffin separation is done by distillation—an extremely energy-intensive process because of the low relative volatilities of olefins and paraffins. If facilitated transport membranes could be successfully commercialized, the potential energy savings achievable with this membrane technology are estimated to be 48 trillion Btu per year by the year 2020. We discovered in this work that silver salt-based facilitated transport membranes are not stable even in the presence of ideal olefin/paraffin mixtures. This decline in membrane performance appears to be caused by a previously unrecognized phenomenon that we have named olefin conditioning. As the name implies, this mechanism of performance degradation becomes operative once a membrane starts permeating olefins. This project is the first study to identify olefin conditioning as a significant factor impacting the performance of facilitated olefin transport membranes. To date, we have not identified an effective strategy to mitigate the impact of olefin conditioning. other than running at low temperatures or with low olefin feed pressures. In our opinion, this issue must be addressed before further development of facilitated olefin transport membranes can proceed. In addition to olefin conditioning, traditional carrier poisoning challenges must also be overcome. Light, hydrogen, hydrogen sulfide, and acetylene exposure adversely affect membrane performance through unwanted reaction with silver ions. Harsh poisoning tests with these species showed useful membrane lifetimes of only one week. These tests demonstrate a need to improve the stability of the olefin complexing agent to develop membranes with lifetimes satisfactory for commercial application. A successful effort

  3. Facilitating classroom based interprofessional learning: a grounded theory study of university educators' perceptions of their role adequacy as facilitators.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Derbyshire, Julie A; Machin, Alison I; Crozier, Suzanne

    2015-01-01

    The provision of inter professional learning (IPL) within undergraduate programmes is now well established within many Higher Education Institutions (HEIs). IPL aims to better equip nurses and other health professionals with effective collaborative working skills and knowledge to improve the quality of patient care. Although there is still ambiguity in relation to the optimum timing and method for delivering IPL, effective facilitation is seen as essential. This paper reports on a grounded theory study of university educators' perceptions of the knowledge and skills needed for their role adequacy as IPL facilitators. Data was collected using semi structured interviews with nine participants who were theoretically sampled from a range of professional backgrounds, with varied experiences of education and involvement in facilitating IPL. Constant comparative analysis was used to generate four data categories: creating and sustaining an IPL group culture through transformational IPL leadership (core category), readiness for IPL facilitation, drawing on past interprofessional learning and working experiences and role modelling an interprofessional approach. The grounded theory generated from this study, although propositional, suggests that role adequacy for IPL facilitation is dependent on facilitator engagement in a process of 'transformational interprofessional learning leadership' to create and sustain a group culture. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  4. Health Information Technology: Meaningful Use and Next Steps to Improving Electronic Facilitation of Medication Adherence.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bosworth, Hayden B; Zullig, Leah L; Mendys, Phil; Ho, Michael; Trygstad, Troy; Granger, Christopher; Oakes, Megan M; Granger, Bradi B

    2016-03-15

    The use of health information technology (HIT) may improve medication adherence, but challenges for implementation remain. The aim of this paper is to review the current state of HIT as it relates to medication adherence programs, acknowledge the potential barriers in light of current legislation, and provide recommendations to improve ongoing medication adherence strategies through the use of HIT. We describe four potential HIT barriers that may impact interoperability and subsequent medication adherence. Legislation in the United States has incentivized the use of HIT to facilitate and enhance medication adherence. The Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health (HITECH) was recently adopted and establishes federal standards for the so-called "meaningful use" of certified electronic health record (EHR) technology that can directly impact medication adherence. The four persistent HIT barriers to medication adherence include (1) underdevelopment of data reciprocity across clinical, community, and home settings, limiting the capture of data necessary for clinical care; (2) inconsistent data definitions and lack of harmonization of patient-focused data standards, making existing data difficult to use for patient-centered outcomes research; (3) inability to effectively use the national drug code information from the various electronic health record and claims datasets for adherence purposes; and (4) lack of data capture for medication management interventions, such as medication management therapy (MTM) in the EHR. Potential recommendations to address these issues are discussed. To make meaningful, high quality data accessible, and subsequently improve medication adherence, these challenges will need to be addressed to fully reach the potential of HIT in impacting one of our largest public health issues.

  5. Use of a structured template to facilitate practice-based learning and improvement projects.

    Science.gov (United States)

    McClain, Elizabeth K; Babbott, Stewart F; Tsue, Terance T; Girod, Douglas A; Clements, Debora; Gilmer, Lisa; Persons, Diane; Unruh, Greg

    2012-06-01

    The Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME) requires residency programs to meet and demonstrate outcomes across 6 competencies. Measuring residents' competency in practice-based learning and improvement (PBLI) is particularly challenging. We developed an educational tool to meet ACGME requirements for PBLI. The PBLI template helped programs document quality improvement (QI) projects and supported increased scholarly activity surrounding PBLI learning. We reviewed program requirements for 43 residency and fellowship programs and identified specific PBLI requirements for QI activities. We also examined ACGME Program Information Form responses on PBLI core competency questions surrounding QI projects for program sites visited in 2008-2009. Data were integrated by a multidisciplinary committee to develop a peer-protected PBLI template guiding programs through process, documentation, and evaluation of QI projects. All steps were reviewed and approved through our GME Committee structure. An electronic template, companion checklist, and evaluation form were developed using identified project characteristics to guide programs through the PBLI process and facilitate documentation and evaluation of the process. During a 24 month period, 27 programs have completed PBLI projects, and 15 have reviewed the template with their education committees, but have not initiated projects using the template. The development of the tool generated program leaders' support because the tool enhanced the ability to meet program-specific objectives. The peer-protected status of this document for confidentiality and from discovery has been beneficial for program usage. The document aggregates data on PBLI and QI initiatives, offers opportunities to increase scholarship in QI, and meets the ACGME goal of linking measures to outcomes important to meeting accreditation requirements at the program and institutional level.

  6. Respondent driven sampling: determinants of recruitment and a method to improve point estimation.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Nicky McCreesh

    Full Text Available Respondent-driven sampling (RDS is a variant of a link-tracing design intended for generating unbiased estimates of the composition of hidden populations that typically involves giving participants several coupons to recruit their peers into the study. RDS may generate biased estimates if coupons are distributed non-randomly or if potential recruits present for interview non-randomly. We explore if biases detected in an RDS study were due to either of these mechanisms, and propose and apply weights to reduce bias due to non-random presentation for interview.Using data from the total population, and the population to whom recruiters offered their coupons, we explored how age and socioeconomic status were associated with being offered a coupon, and, if offered a coupon, with presenting for interview. Population proportions were estimated by weighting by the assumed inverse probabilities of being offered a coupon (as in existing RDS methods, and also of presentation for interview if offered a coupon by age and socioeconomic status group.Younger men were under-recruited primarily because they were less likely to be offered coupons. The under-recruitment of higher socioeconomic status men was due in part to them being less likely to present for interview. Consistent with these findings, weighting for non-random presentation for interview by age and socioeconomic status group greatly improved the estimate of the proportion of men in the lowest socioeconomic group, reducing the root-mean-squared error of RDS estimates of socioeconomic status by 38%, but had little effect on estimates for age. The weighting also improved estimates for tribe and religion (reducing root-mean-squared-errors by 19-29%, but had little effect for sexual activity or HIV status.Data collected from recruiters on the characteristics of men to whom they offered coupons may be used to reduce bias in RDS studies. Further evaluation of this new method is required.

  7. Enhancing e-waste estimates: Improving data quality by multivariate Input–Output Analysis

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Wang, Feng, E-mail: fwang@unu.edu [Institute for Sustainability and Peace, United Nations University, Hermann-Ehler-Str. 10, 53113 Bonn (Germany); Design for Sustainability Lab, Faculty of Industrial Design Engineering, Delft University of Technology, Landbergstraat 15, 2628CE Delft (Netherlands); Huisman, Jaco [Institute for Sustainability and Peace, United Nations University, Hermann-Ehler-Str. 10, 53113 Bonn (Germany); Design for Sustainability Lab, Faculty of Industrial Design Engineering, Delft University of Technology, Landbergstraat 15, 2628CE Delft (Netherlands); Stevels, Ab [Design for Sustainability Lab, Faculty of Industrial Design Engineering, Delft University of Technology, Landbergstraat 15, 2628CE Delft (Netherlands); Baldé, Cornelis Peter [Institute for Sustainability and Peace, United Nations University, Hermann-Ehler-Str. 10, 53113 Bonn (Germany); Statistics Netherlands, Henri Faasdreef 312, 2492 JP Den Haag (Netherlands)

    2013-11-15

    Highlights: • A multivariate Input–Output Analysis method for e-waste estimates is proposed. • Applying multivariate analysis to consolidate data can enhance e-waste estimates. • We examine the influence of model selection and data quality on e-waste estimates. • Datasets of all e-waste related variables in a Dutch case study have been provided. • Accurate modeling of time-variant lifespan distributions is critical for estimate. - Abstract: Waste electrical and electronic equipment (or e-waste) is one of the fastest growing waste streams, which encompasses a wide and increasing spectrum of products. Accurate estimation of e-waste generation is difficult, mainly due to lack of high quality data referred to market and socio-economic dynamics. This paper addresses how to enhance e-waste estimates by providing techniques to increase data quality. An advanced, flexible and multivariate Input–Output Analysis (IOA) method is proposed. It links all three pillars in IOA (product sales, stock and lifespan profiles) to construct mathematical relationships between various data points. By applying this method, the data consolidation steps can generate more accurate time-series datasets from available data pool. This can consequently increase the reliability of e-waste estimates compared to the approach without data processing. A case study in the Netherlands is used to apply the advanced IOA model. As a result, for the first time ever, complete datasets of all three variables for estimating all types of e-waste have been obtained. The result of this study also demonstrates significant disparity between various estimation models, arising from the use of data under different conditions. It shows the importance of applying multivariate approach and multiple sources to improve data quality for modelling, specifically using appropriate time-varying lifespan parameters. Following the case study, a roadmap with a procedural guideline is provided to enhance e

  8. Enhancing e-waste estimates: Improving data quality by multivariate Input–Output Analysis

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Wang, Feng; Huisman, Jaco; Stevels, Ab; Baldé, Cornelis Peter

    2013-01-01

    Highlights: • A multivariate Input–Output Analysis method for e-waste estimates is proposed. • Applying multivariate analysis to consolidate data can enhance e-waste estimates. • We examine the influence of model selection and data quality on e-waste estimates. • Datasets of all e-waste related variables in a Dutch case study have been provided. • Accurate modeling of time-variant lifespan distributions is critical for estimate. - Abstract: Waste electrical and electronic equipment (or e-waste) is one of the fastest growing waste streams, which encompasses a wide and increasing spectrum of products. Accurate estimation of e-waste generation is difficult, mainly due to lack of high quality data referred to market and socio-economic dynamics. This paper addresses how to enhance e-waste estimates by providing techniques to increase data quality. An advanced, flexible and multivariate Input–Output Analysis (IOA) method is proposed. It links all three pillars in IOA (product sales, stock and lifespan profiles) to construct mathematical relationships between various data points. By applying this method, the data consolidation steps can generate more accurate time-series datasets from available data pool. This can consequently increase the reliability of e-waste estimates compared to the approach without data processing. A case study in the Netherlands is used to apply the advanced IOA model. As a result, for the first time ever, complete datasets of all three variables for estimating all types of e-waste have been obtained. The result of this study also demonstrates significant disparity between various estimation models, arising from the use of data under different conditions. It shows the importance of applying multivariate approach and multiple sources to improve data quality for modelling, specifically using appropriate time-varying lifespan parameters. Following the case study, a roadmap with a procedural guideline is provided to enhance e

  9. High-Resolution Spatial Distribution and Estimation of Access to Improved Sanitation in Kenya.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Jia, Peng; Anderson, John D; Leitner, Michael; Rheingans, Richard

    2016-01-01

    Access to sanitation facilities is imperative in reducing the risk of multiple adverse health outcomes. A distinct disparity in sanitation exists among different wealth levels in many low-income countries, which may hinder the progress across each of the Millennium Development Goals. The surveyed households in 397 clusters from 2008-2009 Kenya Demographic and Health Surveys were divided into five wealth quintiles based on their national asset scores. A series of spatial analysis methods including excess risk, local spatial autocorrelation, and spatial interpolation were applied to observe disparities in coverage of improved sanitation among different wealth categories. The total number of the population with improved sanitation was estimated by interpolating, time-adjusting, and multiplying the surveyed coverage rates by high-resolution population grids. A comparison was then made with the annual estimates from United Nations Population Division and World Health Organization /United Nations Children's Fund Joint Monitoring Program for Water Supply and Sanitation. The Empirical Bayesian Kriging interpolation produced minimal root mean squared error for all clusters and five quintiles while predicting the raw and spatial coverage rates of improved sanitation. The coverage in southern regions was generally higher than in the north and east, and the coverage in the south decreased from Nairobi in all directions, while Nyanza and North Eastern Province had relatively poor coverage. The general clustering trend of high and low sanitation improvement among surveyed clusters was confirmed after spatial smoothing. There exists an apparent disparity in sanitation among different wealth categories across Kenya and spatially smoothed coverage rates resulted in a closer estimation of the available statistics than raw coverage rates. Future intervention activities need to be tailored for both different wealth categories and nationally where there are areas of greater needs when

  10. High-Resolution Spatial Distribution and Estimation of Access to Improved Sanitation in Kenya.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Peng Jia

    Full Text Available Access to sanitation facilities is imperative in reducing the risk of multiple adverse health outcomes. A distinct disparity in sanitation exists among different wealth levels in many low-income countries, which may hinder the progress across each of the Millennium Development Goals.The surveyed households in 397 clusters from 2008-2009 Kenya Demographic and Health Surveys were divided into five wealth quintiles based on their national asset scores. A series of spatial analysis methods including excess risk, local spatial autocorrelation, and spatial interpolation were applied to observe disparities in coverage of improved sanitation among different wealth categories. The total number of the population with improved sanitation was estimated by interpolating, time-adjusting, and multiplying the surveyed coverage rates by high-resolution population grids. A comparison was then made with the annual estimates from United Nations Population Division and World Health Organization /United Nations Children's Fund Joint Monitoring Program for Water Supply and Sanitation.The Empirical Bayesian Kriging interpolation produced minimal root mean squared error for all clusters and five quintiles while predicting the raw and spatial coverage rates of improved sanitation. The coverage in southern regions was generally higher than in the north and east, and the coverage in the south decreased from Nairobi in all directions, while Nyanza and North Eastern Province had relatively poor coverage. The general clustering trend of high and low sanitation improvement among surveyed clusters was confirmed after spatial smoothing.There exists an apparent disparity in sanitation among different wealth categories across Kenya and spatially smoothed coverage rates resulted in a closer estimation of the available statistics than raw coverage rates. Future intervention activities need to be tailored for both different wealth categories and nationally where there are areas of

  11. Facilitation of Retention by White Noise

    Science.gov (United States)

    Baumeister, Alfred A.; Kistler, Doris

    1975-01-01

    This study attempted to determine if white noise (an arousing stimulus), when presented at the time of recall, facilitates performance of second and fifth grade students, and if this effect generalizes across different kinds of learning tasks. Findings indicate that white noise produces improvements in performance in both age groups. (GO)

  12. A Hybrid of Optical Remote Sensing and Hydrological Modeling Improves Water Balance Estimation

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gleason, Colin J.; Wada, Yoshihide; Wang, Jida

    2018-01-01

    Declining gauging infrastructure and fractious water politics have decreased available information about river flows globally. Remote sensing and water balance modeling are frequently cited as potential solutions, but these techniques largely rely on these same in-decline gauge data to make accurate discharge estimates. A different approach is therefore needed, and we here combine remotely sensed discharge estimates made via at-many-stations hydraulic geometry (AMHG) and the PCR-GLOBWB hydrological model to estimate discharge over the Lower Nile. Specifically, we first estimate initial discharges from 87 Landsat images and AMHG (1984-2015), and then use these flow estimates to tune the model, all without using gauge data. The resulting tuned modeled hydrograph shows a large improvement in flow magnitude: validation of the tuned monthly hydrograph against a historical gauge (1978-1984) yields an RMSE of 439 m3/s (40.8%). By contrast, the original simulation had an order-of-magnitude flow error. This improvement is substantial but not perfect: tuned flows have a 1-2 month wet season lag and a negative base flow bias. Accounting for this 2 month lag yields a hydrograph RMSE of 270 m3/s (25.7%). Thus, our results coupling physical models and remote sensing is a promising first step and proof of concept toward future modeling of ungauged flows, especially as developments in cloud computing for remote sensing make our method easily applicable to any basin. Finally, we purposefully do not offer prescriptive solutions for Nile management, and rather hope that the methods demonstrated herein can prove useful to river stakeholders in managing their own water.

  13. Improved variational estimates for the mass gap in the 2-dimensional XY-model

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Patkos, A.; Hari Dass, N.D.

    1982-07-01

    The variational estimate obtained recently for the mass gap of the 2-dimensional XY-model is improved by extending the treatment to higher powers of the transfer operator. The relativistic dispersion relation for single particle states of low momentum is also verified. (Auth.)

  14. An improvement of satellite-based algorithm for gross primary production estimation optimized over Korea

    Science.gov (United States)

    Pi, Kyoung-Jin; Han, Kyung-Soo; Kim, In-Hwan; Kim, Sang-Il; Lee, Min-Ji

    2011-11-01

    Monitoring the global gross primary production (GPP) is relevant to understanding the global carbon cycle and evaluating the effects of interannual climate variation on food and fiber production. GPP, the flux of carbon into ecosystems via photosynthetic assimilation, is an important variable in the global carbon cycle and a key process in land surface-atmosphere interactions. The Moderate-resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) is one of the primary global monitoring sensors. MODIS GPP has some of the problems that have been proven in several studies. Therefore this study was to solve the regional mismatch that occurs when using the MODIS GPP global product over Korea. To solve this problem, we estimated each of the GPP component variables separately to improve the GPP estimates. We compared our GPP estimates with validation GPP data to assess their accuracy. For all sites, the correlation was close with high significance (R2 = 0.8164, RMSE = 0.6126 g.C.m-2.d-1, bias = -0.0271 g.C.m-2.d-1). We also compared our results to those of other models. The component variables tended to be either over- or under-estimated when compared to those in other studies over the Korean peninsula, although the estimated GPP was better. The results of this study will likely improve carbon cycle modeling by capturing finer patterns with an integrated method of remote sensing. Keywords: VEGETATION, Gross Primary Production, MODIS.

  15. Improving the Accuracy of Laplacian Estimation with Novel Variable Inter-Ring Distances Concentric Ring Electrodes

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Oleksandr Makeyev

    2016-06-01

    Full Text Available Noninvasive concentric ring electrodes are a promising alternative to conventional disc electrodes. Currently, the superiority of tripolar concentric ring electrodes over disc electrodes, in particular, in accuracy of Laplacian estimation, has been demonstrated in a range of applications. In our recent work, we have shown that accuracy of Laplacian estimation can be improved with multipolar concentric ring electrodes using a general approach to estimation of the Laplacian for an (n + 1-polar electrode with n rings using the (4n + 1-point method for n ≥ 2. This paper takes the next step toward further improving the Laplacian estimate by proposing novel variable inter-ring distances concentric ring electrodes. Derived using a modified (4n + 1-point method, linearly increasing and decreasing inter-ring distances tripolar (n = 2 and quadripolar (n = 3 electrode configurations are compared to their constant inter-ring distances counterparts. Finite element method modeling and analytic results are consistent and suggest that increasing inter-ring distances electrode configurations may decrease the truncation error resulting in more accurate Laplacian estimates compared to respective constant inter-ring distances configurations. For currently used tripolar electrode configuration, the truncation error may be decreased more than two-fold, while for the quadripolar configuration more than a six-fold decrease is expected.

  16. Improving the Accuracy of Laplacian Estimation with Novel Variable Inter-Ring Distances Concentric Ring Electrodes

    Science.gov (United States)

    Makeyev, Oleksandr; Besio, Walter G.

    2016-01-01

    Noninvasive concentric ring electrodes are a promising alternative to conventional disc electrodes. Currently, the superiority of tripolar concentric ring electrodes over disc electrodes, in particular, in accuracy of Laplacian estimation, has been demonstrated in a range of applications. In our recent work, we have shown that accuracy of Laplacian estimation can be improved with multipolar concentric ring electrodes using a general approach to estimation of the Laplacian for an (n + 1)-polar electrode with n rings using the (4n + 1)-point method for n ≥ 2. This paper takes the next step toward further improving the Laplacian estimate by proposing novel variable inter-ring distances concentric ring electrodes. Derived using a modified (4n + 1)-point method, linearly increasing and decreasing inter-ring distances tripolar (n = 2) and quadripolar (n = 3) electrode configurations are compared to their constant inter-ring distances counterparts. Finite element method modeling and analytic results are consistent and suggest that increasing inter-ring distances electrode configurations may decrease the truncation error resulting in more accurate Laplacian estimates compared to respective constant inter-ring distances configurations. For currently used tripolar electrode configuration, the truncation error may be decreased more than two-fold, while for the quadripolar configuration more than a six-fold decrease is expected. PMID:27294933

  17. Best-worst scaling to assess the most important barriers and facilitators for the use of health technology assessment in Austria.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Feig, Chiara; Cheung, Kei Long; Hiligsmann, Mickaël; Evers, Silvia M A A; Simon, Judit; Mayer, Susanne

    2018-04-01

    Although Health Technology Assessment (HTA) is increasingly used to support evidence-based decision-making in health care, several barriers and facilitators for the use of HTA have been identified. This best-worst scaling (BWS) study aims to assess the relative importance of selected barriers and facilitators of the uptake of HTA studies in Austria. A BWS object case survey was conducted among 37 experts in Austria to assess the relative importance of HTA barriers and facilitators. Hierarchical Bayes estimation was applied, with the best-worst count analysis as sensitivity analysis. Subgroup analyses were also performed on professional role and HTA experience. The most important barriers were 'lack of transparency in the decision-making process', 'fragmentation', 'absence of appropriate incentives', 'no explicit framework for decision-making process', and 'insufficient legal support'. The most important facilitators were 'transparency in the decision-making process', 'availability of relevant HTA research for policy makers', 'availability of explicit framework for decision-making process', 'sufficient legal support', and 'appropriate incentives'. This study suggests that HTA barriers and facilitators related to the context of decision makers, especially 'policy characteristics' and 'organization and resources' are the most important in Austria. A transparent and participatory decision-making process could improve the adoption of HTA evidence.

  18. Laser photogrammetry improves size and demographic estimates for whale sharks

    Science.gov (United States)

    Richardson, Anthony J.; Prebble, Clare E.M.; Marshall, Andrea D.; Bennett, Michael B.; Weeks, Scarla J.; Cliff, Geremy; Wintner, Sabine P.; Pierce, Simon J.

    2015-01-01

    Whale sharks Rhincodon typus are globally threatened, but a lack of biological and demographic information hampers an accurate assessment of their vulnerability to further decline or capacity to recover. We used laser photogrammetry at two aggregation sites to obtain more accurate size estimates of free-swimming whale sharks compared to visual estimates, allowing improved estimates of biological parameters. Individual whale sharks ranged from 432–917 cm total length (TL) (mean ± SD = 673 ± 118.8 cm, N = 122) in southern Mozambique and from 420–990 cm TL (mean ± SD = 641 ± 133 cm, N = 46) in Tanzania. By combining measurements of stranded individuals with photogrammetry measurements of free-swimming sharks, we calculated length at 50% maturity for males in Mozambique at 916 cm TL. Repeat measurements of individual whale sharks measured over periods from 347–1,068 days yielded implausible growth rates, suggesting that the growth increment over this period was not large enough to be detected using laser photogrammetry, and that the method is best applied to estimating growth rates over longer (decadal) time periods. The sex ratio of both populations was biased towards males (74% in Mozambique, 89% in Tanzania), the majority of which were immature (98% in Mozambique, 94% in Tanzania). The population structure for these two aggregations was similar to most other documented whale shark aggregations around the world. Information on small (sharks, mature individuals, and females in this region is lacking, but necessary to inform conservation initiatives for this globally threatened species. PMID:25870776

  19. An improvement of wind velocity estimation from radar Doppler spectra in the upper mesosphere

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    S. Takeda

    2001-08-01

    Full Text Available We have developed a new parameter estimation method for Doppler wind spectra in the mesosphere observed with an MST radar such as the MU radar in the DBS (Doppler Beam Swinging mode. Off-line incoherent integration of the Doppler spectra is carried out with a new algorithm excluding contamination by strong meteor echoes. At the same time, initial values on a least square fitting of the Gaussian function are derived using a larger number of integration of the spectra for a longer time and for multiple heights. As a result, a significant improvement has been achieved with the probability of a successful fitting and parameter estimation above 80 km. The top height for the wind estimation has been improved to around 95 km. A comparison between the MU radar and the High Resolution Doppler Imager (HRDI on the UARS satellite is shown and the capability of the new method for a validation of a future satellite mission is suggested.Key words. Meteorology and atmospheric dynamics (middle atmosphere dynamics – Radio science (remote sensing; signal processing

  20. Improved diagnostic model for estimating wind energy

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Endlich, R.M.; Lee, J.D.

    1983-03-01

    Because wind data are available only at scattered locations, a quantitative method is needed to estimate the wind resource at specific sites where wind energy generation may be economically feasible. This report describes a computer model that makes such estimates. The model uses standard weather reports and terrain heights in deriving wind estimates; the method of computation has been changed from what has been used previously. The performance of the current model is compared with that of the earlier version at three sites; estimates of wind energy at four new sites are also presented.

  1. Improved crop residue cover estimates by coupling spectral indices for residue and moisture

    Science.gov (United States)

    Remote sensing assessment of soil residue cover (fR) and tillage intensity will improve our predictions of the impact of agricultural practices and promote sustainable management. Spectral indices for estimating fR are sensitive to soil and residue water content, therefore, the uncertainty of estima...

  2. Guidelines for estimating nuclear power plant decommissioning costs

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    LaGuardia, T.S.; Williams, D.H.

    1989-01-01

    The objectives of the study were: (1) To develop guidelines to facilitate estimating the cost of nuclear power plant decommissioning alternatives on a plant-specific basis and to facilitate comparing estimates made by others. The guidelines are expressed in a form that could be readily adapted by technical specialists from individual utilities or by other uses. (2) To enhance the industry's credibility with decision-makes at the state and federal levels during rate/regulatory processes involving decommissioning costs. This is accomplished by providing a detailed, systematic breakdown of how decommissioning cost estimates are prepared. (3) To increase the validity, realism, and accuracy of site-specific decommissioning cost estimates. This is accomplished by pulling together the experiences and practices of several nuclear utilities and consultants in conducting past decommissioning cost estimates

  3. Colloid-Facilitated Transport of Radionuclides through the Vadose Zone

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Flury, Markus; Harsh, James B.; Zachara, John M.; McCarthy, John F.; Lichtner, Peter C.

    2006-01-01

    This project seeks to improve the basic understanding of the role of colloids in facilitating the transport of contaminants in the vadose zone. We focus on three major thrusts: (1) thermodynamic stability and mobility of colloids formed by reactions of sediments with highly alkaline tank waste solutions, (2) colloid-contaminant interactions, and (3) in-situ colloid mobilization and colloid facilitated contaminant transport occurring in both contaminated and uncontaminated Hanford sediments

  4. Peak Measurement for Vancomycin AUC Estimation in Obese Adults Improves Precision and Lowers Bias.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Pai, Manjunath P; Hong, Joseph; Krop, Lynne

    2017-04-01

    Vancomycin area under the curve (AUC) estimates may be skewed in obese adults due to weight-dependent pharmacokinetic parameters. We demonstrate that peak and trough measurements reduce bias and improve the precision of vancomycin AUC estimates in obese adults ( n = 75) and validate this in an independent cohort ( n = 31). The precision and mean percent bias of Bayesian vancomycin AUC estimates are comparable between covariate-dependent ( R 2 = 0.774, 3.55%) and covariate-independent ( R 2 = 0.804, 3.28%) models when peaks and troughs are measured but not when measurements are restricted to troughs only ( R 2 = 0.557, 15.5%). Copyright © 2017 American Society for Microbiology.

  5. Improved Atmospheric Correction Over the Indian Subcontinent Using Fast Radiative Transfer and Optimal Estimation

    Science.gov (United States)

    Natraj, V.; Thompson, D. R.; Mathur, A. K.; Babu, K. N.; Kindel, B. C.; Massie, S. T.; Green, R. O.; Bhattacharya, B. K.

    2017-12-01

    Remote Visible / ShortWave InfraRed (VSWIR) spectroscopy, typified by the Next-Generation Airborne Visible/Infrared Imaging Spectrometer (AVIRIS-NG), is a powerful tool to map the composition, health, and biodiversity of Earth's terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems. These studies must first estimate surface reflectance, removing the atmospheric effects of absorption and scattering by water vapor and aerosols. Since atmospheric state varies spatiotemporally, and is insufficiently constrained by climatological models, it is important to estimate it directly from the VSWIR data. However, water vapor and aerosol estimation is a significant ongoing challenge for existing atmospheric correction models. Conventional VSWIR atmospheric correction methods evolved from multi-band approaches and do not fully utilize the rich spectroscopic data available. We use spectrally resolved (line-by-line) radiative transfer calculations, coupled with optimal estimation theory, to demonstrate improved accuracy of surface retrievals. These spectroscopic techniques are already pervasive in atmospheric remote sounding disciplines but have not yet been applied to imaging spectroscopy. Our analysis employs a variety of scenes from the recent AVIRIS-NG India campaign, which spans various climes, elevation changes, a wide range of biomes and diverse aerosol scenarios. A key aspect of our approach is joint estimation of surface and aerosol parameters, which allows assessment of aerosol distortion effects using spectral shapes across the entire measured interval from 380-2500 nm. We expect that this method would outperform band ratio approaches, and enable evaluation of subtle aerosol parameters where in situ reference data is not available, or for extreme aerosol loadings, as is observed in the India scenarios. The results are validated using existing in-situ reference spectra, reflectance measurements from assigned partners in India, and objective spectral quality metrics for scenes without any

  6. Training managers to facilitate their meetings: An intervention study

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Ravn, Ib

    2014-01-01

    -based intervention effort to improve organisational meetings. It reconceptualises classical meeting management, offering instead the practice of ‘meeting facilitation’: a more active and supportive approach, in which the manager-as-facilitator guides and directs conversations in meetings towards a positive goal...... showed that in the employees’ judgement, there were significant improvements in their managers’ competencies in both new meeting facilitation and classical meeting management, whereas other meeting outcomes resisted change.......Meetings in organisations are a common object of popular frustration. They are often run by managers who picked up their meeting skills from their superiors a generation previously, thus perpetuating obsolescent practices unsuited to today’s world of work. This paper reports on a research...

  7. Improved estimation of the noncentrality parameter distribution from a large number of t-statistics, with applications to false discovery rate estimation in microarray data analysis.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Qu, Long; Nettleton, Dan; Dekkers, Jack C M

    2012-12-01

    Given a large number of t-statistics, we consider the problem of approximating the distribution of noncentrality parameters (NCPs) by a continuous density. This problem is closely related to the control of false discovery rates (FDR) in massive hypothesis testing applications, e.g., microarray gene expression analysis. Our methodology is similar to, but improves upon, the existing approach by Ruppert, Nettleton, and Hwang (2007, Biometrics, 63, 483-495). We provide parametric, nonparametric, and semiparametric estimators for the distribution of NCPs, as well as estimates of the FDR and local FDR. In the parametric situation, we assume that the NCPs follow a distribution that leads to an analytically available marginal distribution for the test statistics. In the nonparametric situation, we use convex combinations of basis density functions to estimate the density of the NCPs. A sequential quadratic programming procedure is developed to maximize the penalized likelihood. The smoothing parameter is selected with the approximate network information criterion. A semiparametric estimator is also developed to combine both parametric and nonparametric fits. Simulations show that, under a variety of situations, our density estimates are closer to the underlying truth and our FDR estimates are improved compared with alternative methods. Data-based simulations and the analyses of two microarray datasets are used to evaluate the performance in realistic situations. © 2012, The International Biometric Society.

  8. Intelligent Models Performance Improvement Based on Wavelet Algorithm and Logarithmic Transformations in Suspended Sediment Estimation

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    R. Hajiabadi

    2016-10-01

    Full Text Available Introduction One reason for the complexity of hydrological phenomena prediction, especially time series is existence of features such as trend, noise and high-frequency oscillations. These complex features, especially noise, can be detected or removed by preprocessing. Appropriate preprocessing causes estimation of these phenomena become easier. Preprocessing in the data driven models such as artificial neural network, gene expression programming, support vector machine, is more effective because the quality of data in these models is important. Present study, by considering diagnosing and data transformation as two different preprocessing, tries to improve the results of intelligent models. In this study two different intelligent models, Artificial Neural Network and Gene Expression Programming, are applied to estimation of daily suspended sediment load. Wavelet transforms and logarithmic transformation is used for diagnosing and data transformation, respectively. Finally, the impacts of preprocessing on the results of intelligent models are evaluated. Materials and Methods In this study, Gene Expression Programming and Artificial Neural Network are used as intelligent models for suspended sediment load estimation, then the impacts of diagnosing and logarithmic transformations approaches as data preprocessor are evaluated and compared to the result improvement. Two different logarithmic transforms are considered in this research, LN and LOG. Wavelet transformation is used to time series denoising. In order to denoising by wavelet transforms, first, time series can be decomposed at one level (Approximation part and detail part and second, high-frequency part (detail will be removed as noise. According to the ability of gene expression programming and artificial neural network to analysis nonlinear systems; daily values of suspended sediment load of the Skunk River in USA, during a 5-year period, are investigated and then estimated.4 years of

  9. The Motivation-Facilitation Theory of Prenatal Care Access.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Phillippi, Julia C; Roman, Marian W

    2013-01-01

    Despite the availability of services, accessing health care remains a problem in the United States and other developed countries. Prenatal care has the potential to improve perinatal outcomes and decrease health disparities, yet many women struggle with access to care. Current theories addressing access to prenatal care focus on barriers, although such knowledge is minimally useful for clinicians. We propose a middle-range theory, the motivation-facilitation theory of prenatal care access, which condenses the prenatal care access process into 2 interacting components: motivation and facilitation. Maternal motivation is the mother's desire to begin and maintain care. Facilitation represents the goal of the clinic to create easy, open access to person-centered beneficial care. This simple model directs the focus of research and change to the interface of the woman and the clinic and encourages practice-level interventions that facilitate women entering and maintaining prenatal care. © 2013 by the American College of Nurse‐Midwives.

  10. SIMULTANEOUS ESTIMATION OF PHOTOMETRIC REDSHIFTS AND SED PARAMETERS: IMPROVED TECHNIQUES AND A REALISTIC ERROR BUDGET

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Acquaviva, Viviana; Raichoor, Anand; Gawiser, Eric

    2015-01-01

    We seek to improve the accuracy of joint galaxy photometric redshift estimation and spectral energy distribution (SED) fitting. By simulating different sources of uncorrected systematic errors, we demonstrate that if the uncertainties in the photometric redshifts are estimated correctly, so are those on the other SED fitting parameters, such as stellar mass, stellar age, and dust reddening. Furthermore, we find that if the redshift uncertainties are over(under)-estimated, the uncertainties in SED parameters tend to be over(under)-estimated by similar amounts. These results hold even in the presence of severe systematics and provide, for the first time, a mechanism to validate the uncertainties on these parameters via comparison with spectroscopic redshifts. We propose a new technique (annealing) to re-calibrate the joint uncertainties in the photo-z and SED fitting parameters without compromising the performance of the SED fitting + photo-z estimation. This procedure provides a consistent estimation of the multi-dimensional probability distribution function in SED fitting + z parameter space, including all correlations. While the performance of joint SED fitting and photo-z estimation might be hindered by template incompleteness, we demonstrate that the latter is “flagged” by a large fraction of outliers in redshift, and that significant improvements can be achieved by using flexible stellar populations synthesis models and more realistic star formation histories. In all cases, we find that the median stellar age is better recovered than the time elapsed from the onset of star formation. Finally, we show that using a photometric redshift code such as EAZY to obtain redshift probability distributions that are then used as priors for SED fitting codes leads to only a modest bias in the SED fitting parameters and is thus a viable alternative to the simultaneous estimation of SED parameters and photometric redshifts

  11. Barriers and facilitators of interventions for improving antiretroviral therapy adherence: a systematic review of global qualitative evidence.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ma, Qingyan; Tso, Lai Sze; Rich, Zachary C; Hall, Brian J; Beanland, Rachel; Li, Haochu; Lackey, Mellanye; Hu, Fengyu; Cai, Weiping; Doherty, Meg; Tucker, Joseph D

    2016-01-01

    Qualitative research on antiretroviral therapy (ART) adherence interventions can provide a deeper understanding of intervention facilitators and barriers. This systematic review aims to synthesize qualitative evidence of interventions for improving ART adherence and to inform patient-centred policymaking. We searched 19 databases to identify studies presenting primary qualitative data on the experiences, attitudes and acceptability of interventions to improve ART adherence among PLHIV and treatment providers. We used thematic synthesis to synthesize qualitative evidence and the CERQual (Confidence in the Evidence from Reviews of Qualitative Research) approach to assess the confidence of review findings. Of 2982 references identified, a total of 31 studies from 17 countries were included. Twelve studies were conducted in high-income countries, 13 in middle-income countries and six in low-income countries. Study populations focused on adults living with HIV (21 studies, n =1025), children living with HIV (two studies, n =46), adolescents living with HIV (four studies, n =70) and pregnant women living with HIV (one study, n =79). Twenty-three studies examined PLHIV perspectives and 13 studies examined healthcare provider perspectives. We identified six themes related to types of interventions, including task shifting, education, mobile phone text messaging, directly observed therapy, medical professional outreach and complex interventions. We also identified five cross-cutting themes, including strengthening social relationships, ensuring confidentiality, empowerment of PLHIV, compensation and integrating religious beliefs into interventions. Our qualitative evidence suggests that strengthening PLHIV social relationships, PLHIV empowerment and developing culturally appropriate interventions may facilitate adherence interventions. Our study indicates that potential barriers are inadequate training and compensation for lay health workers and inadvertent disclosure of

  12. Participatory design facilitates Person Centred Nursing in service improvement with older people: a secondary directed content analysis.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wolstenholme, Daniel; Ross, Helen; Cobb, Mark; Bowen, Simon

    2017-05-01

    To explore, using the example of a project working with older people in an outpatient setting in a large UK NHS Teaching hospital, how the constructs of Person Centred Nursing are reflected in interviews from participants in a Co-design led service improvement project. Person Centred Care and Person Centred Nursing are recognised terms in healthcare. Co-design (sometimes called participatory design) is an approach that seeks to involve all stakeholders in a creative process to deliver the best result, be this a product, technology or in this case a service. Co-design practice shares some of the underpinning philosophy of Person Centred Nursing and potentially has methods to aid in Person Centred Nursing implementation. The research design was a qualitative secondary Directed analysis. Seven interview transcripts from nurses and older people who had participated in a Co-design led improvement project in a large teaching hospital were transcribed and analysed. Two researchers analysed the transcripts for codes derived from McCormack & McCance's Person Centred Nursing Framework. The four most expressed codes were as follows: from the pre-requisites: knowing self; from care processes, engagement, working with patient's beliefs and values and shared Decision-making; and from Expected outcomes, involvement in care. This study describes the Co-design theory and practice that the participants responded to in the interviews and look at how the co-design activity facilitated elements of the Person Centred Nursing framework. This study adds to the rich literature about using emancipatory and transformational approaches to Person Centred Nursing development, and is the first study exploring explicitly the potential contribution of Co-design to this area. Methods from Co-design allow older people to contribute as equals in a practice development project, co-design methods can facilitate nursing staff to engage meaningfully with older participants and develop a shared

  13. Mixing Matrix Estimation of Underdetermined Blind Source Separation Based on Data Field and Improved FCM Clustering

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Qiang Guo

    2018-01-01

    Full Text Available In modern electronic warfare, multiple input multiple output (MIMO radar has become an important tool for electronic reconnaissance and intelligence transmission because of its anti-stealth, high resolution, low intercept and anti-destruction characteristics. As a common MIMO radar signal, discrete frequency coding waveform (DFCW has a serious overlap of both time and frequency, so it cannot be directly used in the current radar signal separation problems. The existing fuzzy clustering algorithms have problems in initial value selection, low convergence rate and local extreme values which will lead to the low accuracy of the mixing matrix estimation. Consequently, a novel mixing matrix estimation algorithm based on data field and improved fuzzy C-means (FCM clustering is proposed. First of all, the sparsity and linear clustering characteristics of the time–frequency domain MIMO radar signals are enhanced by using the single-source principal value of complex angular detection. Secondly, the data field uses the potential energy information to analyze the particle distribution, thus design a new clustering number selection scheme. Then the particle swarm optimization algorithm is introduced to improve the iterative clustering process of FCM, and finally get the estimated value of the mixing matrix. The simulation results show that the proposed algorithm improves both the estimation accuracy and the robustness of the mixing matrix.

  14. Improved estimate for the muon g-2 using VMD constraints

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Benayoun, M.

    2012-01-01

    The muon anomalous magnetic moment a μ and the hadronic vacuum polarization (HVP) are examined using data analyzed within the framework of a suitably broken HLS model. The analysis relies on all available scan data samples and leaves aside the existing ISR data. The framework provided by our broken HLS model allows for improved estimates of the contributions to a μ from the e + e - annihilation cross sections into π + π - ,π 0 γ,ηγ,π + π - π 0 ,K + K - ,K 0 K ¯0 up to slightly above the φ meson mass. Within this framework, the information provided by the τ ± →π ± π 0 ν decay and by the radiative decays (VPγ and Pγγ) of light flavor mesons play as strong constraints on the model parameters. The discrepancy between the theoretical estimate of the muon anomalous magnetic moment g-2 and its direct BNL measurement is shown to reach conservatively 4.1σ while standard methods used under the same conditions yield 3.5σ.

  15. Improved estimate for the muon g-2 using VMD constraints

    Science.gov (United States)

    Benayoun, M.

    2012-04-01

    The muon anomalous magnetic moment aμ and the hadronic vacuum polarization (HVP) are examined using data analyzed within the framework of a suitably broken HLS model. The analysis relies on all available scan data samples and leaves aside the existing ISR data. The framework provided by our broken HLS model allows for improved estimates of the contributions to aμ from the e+e- annihilation cross sections into π+π-,π0γ,ηγ,π+π-π0,K+K-,K0K up to slightly above the ϕ meson mass. Within this framework, the information provided by the τ±→π±π0ν decay and by the radiative decays (VPγ and Pγγ) of light flavor mesons play as strong constraints on the model parameters. The discrepancy between the theoretical estimate of the muon anomalous magnetic moment g-2 and its direct BNL measurement is shown to reach conservatively 4.1σ while standard methods used under the same conditions yield 3.5σ.

  16. Gender analysis of factors affecting facilitation of agricultural ...

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    It ascertained the perception of the gender groups on the organizational, job related and ... and ensure balanced working conditions for both men and women facilitators in the NFDP III. This will help to ultimately improve their job performance.

  17. Nuclear Weapons Sustainment: Improvements Made to Budget Estimates Report, but Opportunities Remain to Further Enhance Transparency

    Science.gov (United States)

    2015-12-01

    Enhance Transparency Report to Congressional Committees December 2015 GAO-16-23 United States Government Accountability Office United...SUSTAINMENT Improvements Made to Budget Estimates Report, but Opportunities Remain to Further Enhance Transparency Why GAO Did This Study DOD and DOE are...modernization plans and (2) complete, transparent information on the methodologies used to develop those estimates. GAO analyzed the departments

  18. Making cognitive decision support work: Facilitating adoption, knowledge and behavior change through QI.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Weir, Charlene; Brunker, Cherie; Butler, Jorie; Supiano, Mark A

    2017-07-01

    This paper evaluates the role of facilitation in the successful implementation of Computerized Decision Support (CDS). Facilitation processes include education, specialized computerized decision support, and work process reengineering. These techniques, as well as modeling and feedback enhance self-efficacy, which we propose is one of the factors that mediate the effectiveness of any CDS. In this study, outpatient clinics implemented quality improvement (QI) projects focused on improving geriatric care. Quality Improvement is the systematic process of improving quality through continuous measurement and targeted actions. The program, entitled "Advancing Geriatric Education through Quality Improvement" (AGE QI), consisted of a 6-month, QI based, intervention: (1) 2h didactic session, (2) 1h QI planning session, (3) computerized decision support design and implementation, (4) QI facilitation activities, (5) outcome feedback, and (6) 20h of CME. Specifically, we examined the impact of the QI based program on clinician's perceived self-efficacy in caring for older adults and the relationship of implementation support and facilitation on perceived success. The intervention was implemented at 3 institutions, 27 community healthcare system clinics, and 134 providers. This study reports the results of pre/post surveys for the forty-nine clinicians who completed the full CME program. Self-efficacy ratings for specific clinical behaviors related to care of older adults were assessed using a Likert based instrument. Self-ratings of efficacy improved across the following domains (depression, falls, end-of-life, functional status and medication management) and specifically in QI targeted domains and were associated with overall clinic improvements. Published by Elsevier Inc.

  19. The contingent behavior of charter fishing participants on the Chesapeake Bay: Welfare estimates associated with water quality improvements

    Science.gov (United States)

    Poor, P.J.; Breece, M.

    2006-01-01

    Water quality in the Chesapeake Bay has deteriorated over recent years. Historically, fishing has contributed to the region's local economy in terms of commercial and recreational harvests. A contingent behavior model is used to estimate welfare measures for charter fishing participants with regard to a hypothetical improvement in water quality. Using a truncated Poisson count model corrected for endogenous stratification, it was found that charter fishers not only contribute to the local market economy, but they also place positive non-market value on preserving the Bay's water quality. Using two estimates for travels costs it is estimated that the individual consumer surplus is $200 and $117 per trip, and the average individual consumer surplus values for an improvement in water quality is $75 and $44 for two models estimated. ?? 2006 University of Newcastle upon Tyne.

  20. Multiple data sources improve DNA-based mark-recapture population estimates of grizzly bears.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Boulanger, John; Kendall, Katherine C; Stetz, Jeffrey B; Roon, David A; Waits, Lisette P; Paetkau, David

    2008-04-01

    A fundamental challenge to estimating population size with mark-recapture methods is heterogeneous capture probabilities and subsequent bias of population estimates. Confronting this problem usually requires substantial sampling effort that can be difficult to achieve for some species, such as carnivores. We developed a methodology that uses two data sources to deal with heterogeneity and applied this to DNA mark-recapture data from grizzly bears (Ursus arctos). We improved population estimates by incorporating additional DNA "captures" of grizzly bears obtained by collecting hair from unbaited bear rub trees concurrently with baited, grid-based, hair snag sampling. We consider a Lincoln-Petersen estimator with hair snag captures as the initial session and rub tree captures as the recapture session and develop an estimator in program MARK that treats hair snag and rub tree samples as successive sessions. Using empirical data from a large-scale project in the greater Glacier National Park, Montana, USA, area and simulation modeling we evaluate these methods and compare the results to hair-snag-only estimates. Empirical results indicate that, compared with hair-snag-only data, the joint hair-snag-rub-tree methods produce similar but more precise estimates if capture and recapture rates are reasonably high for both methods. Simulation results suggest that estimators are potentially affected by correlation of capture probabilities between sample types in the presence of heterogeneity. Overall, closed population Huggins-Pledger estimators showed the highest precision and were most robust to sparse data, heterogeneity, and capture probability correlation among sampling types. Results also indicate that these estimators can be used when a segment of the population has zero capture probability for one of the methods. We propose that this general methodology may be useful for other species in which mark-recapture data are available from multiple sources.

  1. DOA and Noncircular Phase Estimation of Noncircular Signal via an Improved Noncircular Rotational Invariance Propagator Method

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Xueqiang Chen

    2015-01-01

    Full Text Available We consider the computationally efficient direction-of-arrival (DOA and noncircular (NC phase estimation problem of noncircular signal for uniform linear array. The key idea is to apply the noncircular propagator method (NC-PM which does not require eigenvalue decomposition (EVD of the covariance matrix or singular value decomposition (SVD of the received data. Noncircular rotational invariance propagator method (NC-RI-PM avoids spectral peak searching in PM and can obtain the closed-form solution of DOA, so it has lower computational complexity. An improved NC-RI-PM algorithm of noncircular signal for uniform linear array is proposed to estimate the elevation angles and noncircular phases with automatic pairing. We reconstruct the extended array output by combining the array output and its conjugated counterpart. Our algorithm fully uses the extended array elements in the improved propagator matrix to estimate the elevation angles and noncircular phases by utilizing the rotational invariance property between subarrays. Compared with NC-RI-PM, the proposed algorithm has better angle estimation performance and much lower computational load. The computational complexity of the proposed algorithm is analyzed. We also derive the variance of estimation error and Cramer-Rao bound (CRB of noncircular signal for uniform linear array. Finally, simulation results are presented to demonstrate the effectiveness of our algorithm.

  2. Can we improve C IV-based single epoch black hole mass estimations?

    Science.gov (United States)

    Mejía-Restrepo, J. E.; Trakhtenbrot, B.; Lira, P.; Netzer, H.

    2018-05-01

    In large optical surveys at high redshifts (z > 2), the C IV broad emission line is the most practical alternative to estimate the mass (MBH) of active super-massive black holes (SMBHs). However, mass determinations obtained with this line are known to be highly uncertain. In this work we use the Sloan Digital Sky Survey Data Release 7 and 12 quasar catalogues to statistically test three alternative methods put forward in the literature to improve C IV-based MBH estimations. These methods are constructed from correlations between the ratio of the C IV line-width to the low ionization line-widths (Hα, Hβ and Mg II) and several other properties of rest-frame UV emission lines. Our analysis suggests that these correction methods are of limited applicability, mostly because all of them depend on correlations that are driven by the linewidth of the C IV profile itself and not by an interconnection between the linewidth of the C IV line with the linewidth of the low ionization lines. Our results show that optical C IV-based mass estimates at high redshift cannot be a proper replacement for estimates based on IR spectroscopy of low ionization lines like Hα, Hβ and Mg II.

  3. An Improved Estimation of Regional Fractional Woody/Herbaceous Cover Using Combined Satellite Data and High-Quality Training Samples

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Xu Liu

    2017-01-01

    Full Text Available Mapping vegetation cover is critical for understanding and monitoring ecosystem functions in semi-arid biomes. As existing estimates tend to underestimate the woody cover in areas with dry deciduous shrubland and woodland, we present an approach to improve the regional estimation of woody and herbaceous fractional cover in the East Asia steppe. This developed approach uses Random Forest models by combining multiple remote sensing data—training samples derived from high-resolution image in a tailored spatial sampling and model inputs composed of specific metrics from MODIS sensor and ancillary variables including topographic, bioclimatic, and land surface information. We emphasize that effective spatial sampling, high-quality classification, and adequate geospatial information are important prerequisites of establishing appropriate model inputs and achieving high-quality training samples. This study suggests that the optimal models improve estimation accuracy (NMSE 0.47 for woody and 0.64 for herbaceous plants and show a consistent agreement with field observations. Compared with existing woody estimate product, the proposed woody cover estimation can delineate regions with subshrubs and shrubs, showing an improved capability of capturing spatialized detail of vegetation signals. This approach can be applicable over sizable semi-arid areas such as temperate steppes, savannas, and prairies.

  4. An improved method to estimate reflectance parameters for high dynamic range imaging

    Science.gov (United States)

    Li, Shiying; Deguchi, Koichiro; Li, Renfa; Manabe, Yoshitsugu; Chihara, Kunihiro

    2008-01-01

    Two methods are described to accurately estimate diffuse and specular reflectance parameters for colors, gloss intensity and surface roughness, over the dynamic range of the camera used to capture input images. Neither method needs to segment color areas on an image, or to reconstruct a high dynamic range (HDR) image. The second method improves on the first, bypassing the requirement for specific separation of diffuse and specular reflection components. For the latter method, diffuse and specular reflectance parameters are estimated separately, using the least squares method. Reflection values are initially assumed to be diffuse-only reflection components, and are subjected to the least squares method to estimate diffuse reflectance parameters. Specular reflection components, obtained by subtracting the computed diffuse reflection components from reflection values, are then subjected to a logarithmically transformed equation of the Torrance-Sparrow reflection model, and specular reflectance parameters for gloss intensity and surface roughness are finally estimated using the least squares method. Experiments were carried out using both methods, with simulation data at different saturation levels, generated according to the Lambert and Torrance-Sparrow reflection models, and the second method, with spectral images captured by an imaging spectrograph and a moving light source. Our results show that the second method can estimate the diffuse and specular reflectance parameters for colors, gloss intensity and surface roughness more accurately and faster than the first one, so that colors and gloss can be reproduced more efficiently for HDR imaging.

  5. New approaches to improve a WCDMA SIR estimator by employing different post-processing stages

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Amnart Chaichoet

    2008-09-01

    Full Text Available For effective control of transmission power in WCDMA mobile systems, a good estimate of signal-to-interference ratio (SIR is needed. Conventionally, an adaptive SIR estimator employs a moving average (MA filter (Yoon et al., 2002 to encounter fading channel distortion. However, the resulting estimate seems to have high estimation error due to fluctuation in the channel variation. In this paper, an additional post-processing stage is proposed to improve the estimation accuracy by reducing the variation of the estimate. Four variations of post-processing stages, namely 1 a moving average (MA postfilter,2 an exponential moving average (EMA post-filter, 3 an IIR post-filter and 4 least-mean-squared (LMS adaptive post-filter, are proposed and their optimal performance in terms of root-mean-square error (RMSE are then compared by simulation. The results show the best comparable performance when the MA and LMS post-filter are used. However, the MA post-filter requires a lookup table of filter order for optimal performance at different channel conditions, while the LMS post-filter can be used conveniently without a lookup table.

  6. Spatially Explicit Estimation of Optimal Light Use Efficiency for Improved Satellite Data Driven Ecosystem Productivity Modeling

    Science.gov (United States)

    Madani, N.; Kimball, J. S.; Running, S. W.

    2014-12-01

    Remote sensing based light use efficiency (LUE) models, including the MODIS (MODerate resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer) MOD17 algorithm are commonly used for regional estimation and monitoring of vegetation gross primary production (GPP) and photosynthetic carbon (CO2) uptake. A common model assumption is that plants in a biome matrix operate at their photosynthetic capacity under optimal climatic conditions. A prescribed biome maximum light use efficiency parameter defines the maximum photosynthetic carbon conversion rate under prevailing climate conditions and is a large source of model uncertainty. Here, we used tower (FLUXNET) eddy covariance measurement based carbon flux data for estimating optimal LUE (LUEopt) over a North American domain. LUEopt was first estimated using tower observed daily carbon fluxes, meteorology and satellite (MODIS) observed fraction of photosynthetically active radiation (FPAR). LUEopt was then spatially interpolated over the domain using empirical models derived from independent geospatial data including global plant traits, surface soil moisture, terrain aspect, land cover type and percent tree cover. The derived LUEopt maps were then used as primary inputs to the MOD17 LUE algorithm for regional GPP estimation; these results were evaluated against tower observations and alternate MOD17 GPP estimates determined using Biome-specific LUEopt constants. Estimated LUEopt shows large spatial variability within and among different land cover classes indicated from a sparse North American tower network. Leaf nitrogen content and soil moisture are two important factors explaining LUEopt spatial variability. GPP estimated from spatially explicit LUEopt inputs shows significantly improved model accuracy against independent tower observations (R2 = 0.76; Mean RMSE plant trait information can explain spatial heterogeneity in LUEopt, leading to improved GPP estimates from satellite based LUE models.

  7. IMPROVING PROJECT SCHEDULE ESTIMATES USING HISTORICAL DATA AND SIMULATION

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    P.H. Meyer

    2012-01-01

    Full Text Available

    ENGLISH ABSTRACT: Many projects are not completed on time or within the original budget. This is caused by uncertainty in project variables as well as the occurrence of risk events. A study was done to determine ways of measuring the risk in development projects executed by a mining company in South Africa. The main objective of the study was to determine whether historical project data would provide a more accurate means of estimating the total project duration. Original estimates and actual completion times for tasks of a number of projects were analysed and compared. The results of the study indicated that a more accurate total duration for a project could be obtained by making use of historical project data. The accuracy of estimates could be improved further by building a comprehensive project schedule database within a specific industry.

    AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Verskeie projekte word nie binne die oorspronklike skedule of begroting voltooi nie. Dit word dikwels veroorsaak deur onsekerheid oor projekveranderlikes en die voorkoms van risiko’s. 'n Studie is gedoen om 'n metode te ontwikkel om risiko te meet vir ontwikkelingsprojekte van 'n mynmaatskappy in Suid Afrika. Die hoofdoel van die studie was om te bepaal of historiese projekdata gebruik kon word om 'n akkurater tydsduur vir 'n projek te beraam. Die geraamde tydsduur van take vir 'n aantal projekte is ontleed en vergelyk met die werklike tydsduur. Die resultate van die studie het getoon dat 'n akkurater totale tydsduur vir die projek verkry kon word deur gebruik te maak van historiese projekdata. Die akkuraatheid kan verder verbeter word deur 'n databasis van projekskedules vir 'n bepaalde industrie te ontwikkel en by datum te hou.

  8. Colloid-Facilitated Transport of Radionuclides Through The Vadose Zone

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Markus Flury; James B. Harsh; John F. McCarthy' Peter C. Lichtner; John M. Zachara

    2007-01-01

    The main purpose of this project was to advance the basic scientific understanding of colloid and colloid-facilitated Cs transport of radionuclides in the vadose zone. We focused our research on the hydrological and geochemical conditions beneath the leaking waste tanks at the USDOE Hanford reservation. Specific objectives were (1) to determine the lability and thermodynamic stability of colloidal materials, which form after reacting Hanford sediments with simulated Hanford Tank Waste, (2) to characterize the interactions between colloidal particles and contaminants, i.e., Cs and Eu, (3) to determine the potential of Hanford sediments for in situ mobilization of colloids, (4) to evaluate colloid-facilitated radionuclide transport through sediments under unsaturated flow, (5) to implement colloid-facilitated contaminant transport mechanisms into a transport model, and (6) to improve conceptual characterization of colloid-contaminant-soil interactions and colloid-facilitated transport for clean-up procedures and long-term risk assessment

  9. Facilitating improved road safety based on increased knowledge about driving behaviour and profiling sub-groups of drivers

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Martinussen, Laila Marianne

    The aim of the Ph.D. study presented in this thesis was to facilitate improved road safety through increased understanding of methods used to measure driving behaviour, and through increased knowledge about driving behaviour in sub-groups of drivers. More specifically, the usefulness of the Driver...... with underlying mechanisms of lack of focus, emotional stress, recklessness and confusion, and hence it is highly important to further explore means to making drivers become more focused or attentive when driving, and to deal with emotional responses in traffic like impatience and frustration (Article 1). 2......, indicating that the problem lies in the drivers’ attitudes towards safety (Article 3). 6. It is indicated that rather than viewing safety and risk as two ends of a continuum, safety and risk should be understood as two separate constructs, with different underlying motives. Therefore it is suggested...

  10. Estimated capacity of object files in visual short-term memory is not improved by retrieval cueing.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Saiki, Jun; Miyatsuji, Hirofumi

    2009-03-23

    Visual short-term memory (VSTM) has been claimed to maintain three to five feature-bound object representations. Some results showing smaller capacity estimates for feature binding memory have been interpreted as the effects of interference in memory retrieval. However, change-detection tasks may not properly evaluate complex feature-bound representations such as triple conjunctions in VSTM. To understand the general type of feature-bound object representation, evaluation of triple conjunctions is critical. To test whether interference occurs in memory retrieval for complete object file representations in a VSTM task, we cued retrieval in novel paradigms that directly evaluate the memory for triple conjunctions, in comparison with a simple change-detection task. In our multiple object permanence tracking displays, observers monitored for a switch in feature combination between objects during an occlusion period, and we found that a retrieval cue provided no benefit with the triple conjunction tasks, but significant facilitation with the change-detection task, suggesting that low capacity estimates of object file memory in VSTM reflect a limit on maintenance, not retrieval.

  11. Improving Streamflow Simulation in Gaged and Ungaged Areas Using a Multi-Model Synthesis Combined with Remotely-Sensed Data and Estimates of Uncertainty

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lafontaine, J.; Hay, L.

    2015-12-01

    The United States Geological Survey (USGS) has developed a National Hydrologic Model (NHM) to support coordinated, comprehensive and consistent hydrologic model development, and facilitate the application of hydrologic simulations within the conterminous United States (CONUS). More than 1,700 gaged watersheds across the CONUS were modeled to test the feasibility of improving streamflow simulations in gaged and ungaged watersheds by linking statistically- and physically-based hydrologic models with remotely-sensed data products (i.e. - snow water equivalent) and estimates of uncertainty. Initially, the physically-based models were calibrated to measured streamflow data to provide a baseline for comparison. As many stream reaches in the CONUS are either not gaged, or are substantially impacted by water use or flow regulation, ancillary information must be used to determine reasonable parameter estimations for streamflow simulations. In addition, not all ancillary datasets are appropriate for application to all parts of the CONUS (e.g. - snow water equivalent in the southeastern U.S., where snow is a rarity). As it is not expected that any one data product or model simulation will be sufficient for representing hydrologic behavior across the entire CONUS, a systematic evaluation of which data products improve simulations of streamflow for various regions across the CONUS was performed. The resulting portfolio of calibration strategies can be used to guide selection of an appropriate combination of simulated and measured information for model development and calibration at a given location of interest. In addition, these calibration strategies have been developed to be flexible so that new data products or simulated information can be assimilated. This analysis provides a foundation to understand how well models work when streamflow data is either not available or is limited and could be used to further inform hydrologic model parameter development for ungaged areas.

  12. Improved frame-based estimation of head motion in PET brain imaging

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Mukherjee, J. M.; Lindsay, C.; King, M. A.; Licho, R.; Mukherjee, A.; Olivier, P.; Shao, L.

    2016-01-01

    Purpose: Head motion during PET brain imaging can cause significant degradation of image quality. Several authors have proposed ways to compensate for PET brain motion to restore image quality and improve quantitation. Head restraints can reduce movement but are unreliable; thus the need for alternative strategies such as data-driven motion estimation or external motion tracking. Herein, the authors present a data-driven motion estimation method using a preprocessing technique that allows the usage of very short duration frames, thus reducing the intraframe motion problem commonly observed in the multiple frame acquisition method. Methods: The list mode data for PET acquisition is uniformly divided into 5-s frames and images are reconstructed without attenuation correction. Interframe motion is estimated using a 3D multiresolution registration algorithm and subsequently compensated for. For this study, the authors used 8 PET brain studies that used F-18 FDG as the tracer and contained minor or no initial motion. After reconstruction and prior to motion estimation, known motion was introduced to each frame to simulate head motion during a PET acquisition. To investigate the trade-off in motion estimation and compensation with respect to frames of different length, the authors summed 5-s frames accordingly to produce 10 and 60 s frames. Summed images generated from the motion-compensated reconstructed frames were then compared to the original PET image reconstruction without motion compensation. Results: The authors found that our method is able to compensate for both gradual and step-like motions using frame times as short as 5 s with a spatial accuracy of 0.2 mm on average. Complex volunteer motion involving all six degrees of freedom was estimated with lower accuracy (0.3 mm on average) than the other types investigated. Preprocessing of 5-s images was necessary for successful image registration. Since their method utilizes nonattenuation corrected frames, it is

  13. Improved frame-based estimation of head motion in PET brain imaging

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Mukherjee, J. M., E-mail: joyeeta.mitra@umassmed.edu; Lindsay, C.; King, M. A.; Licho, R. [Department of Radiology, University of Massachusetts Medical School, Worcester, Massachusetts 01655 (United States); Mukherjee, A. [Aware, Inc., Bedford, Massachusetts 01730 (United States); Olivier, P. [Philips Medical Systems, Cleveland, Ohio 44143 (United States); Shao, L. [ViewRay, Oakwood Village, Ohio 44146 (United States)

    2016-05-15

    Purpose: Head motion during PET brain imaging can cause significant degradation of image quality. Several authors have proposed ways to compensate for PET brain motion to restore image quality and improve quantitation. Head restraints can reduce movement but are unreliable; thus the need for alternative strategies such as data-driven motion estimation or external motion tracking. Herein, the authors present a data-driven motion estimation method using a preprocessing technique that allows the usage of very short duration frames, thus reducing the intraframe motion problem commonly observed in the multiple frame acquisition method. Methods: The list mode data for PET acquisition is uniformly divided into 5-s frames and images are reconstructed without attenuation correction. Interframe motion is estimated using a 3D multiresolution registration algorithm and subsequently compensated for. For this study, the authors used 8 PET brain studies that used F-18 FDG as the tracer and contained minor or no initial motion. After reconstruction and prior to motion estimation, known motion was introduced to each frame to simulate head motion during a PET acquisition. To investigate the trade-off in motion estimation and compensation with respect to frames of different length, the authors summed 5-s frames accordingly to produce 10 and 60 s frames. Summed images generated from the motion-compensated reconstructed frames were then compared to the original PET image reconstruction without motion compensation. Results: The authors found that our method is able to compensate for both gradual and step-like motions using frame times as short as 5 s with a spatial accuracy of 0.2 mm on average. Complex volunteer motion involving all six degrees of freedom was estimated with lower accuracy (0.3 mm on average) than the other types investigated. Preprocessing of 5-s images was necessary for successful image registration. Since their method utilizes nonattenuation corrected frames, it is

  14. Gene expression during blow fly development: improving the precision of age estimates in forensic entomology.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Tarone, Aaron M; Foran, David R

    2011-01-01

    Forensic entomologists use size and developmental stage to estimate blow fly age, and from those, a postmortem interval. Since such estimates are generally accurate but often lack precision, particularly in the older developmental stages, alternative aging methods would be advantageous. Presented here is a means of incorporating developmentally regulated gene expression levels into traditional stage and size data, with a goal of more precisely estimating developmental age of immature Lucilia sericata. Generalized additive models of development showed improved statistical support compared to models that did not include gene expression data, resulting in an increase in estimate precision, especially for postfeeding third instars and pupae. The models were then used to make blind estimates of development for 86 immature L. sericata raised on rat carcasses. Overall, inclusion of gene expression data resulted in increased precision in aging blow flies. © 2010 American Academy of Forensic Sciences.

  15. Fundamental aspects of seismic event detection, magnitude estimation and their interrelation

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Ringdal, F.

    1977-01-01

    The main common subject of the papers forming this thesis is statistical model development within the seismological disciplines of seismic event detection and event magnitude estimation. As more high quality seismic data become available as a result of recent seismic network developments, the opportunity will exist for large scale application and further refinement of these models. It is hoped that the work presented here will facilitate improved understanding of the basic issues, both within earthquake-explosion discrimination, in the framework of which most of this work originated, and in seismology in general. (Auth.)

  16. Evaluation of Attention Training and Metacognitive Facilitation to Improve Reading Comprehension in Aphasia

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lee, Jaime B.; Sohlberg, McKay Moore

    2013-01-01

    Purpose: This pilot study investigated the impact of direct attention training combined with metacognitive facilitation on reading comprehension in individuals with aphasia. Method: A single-subject, multiple baseline design was employed across 4 participants to evaluate potential changes in reading comprehension resulting from an 8-week…

  17. Facilitating RNA structure prediction with microarrays.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kierzek, Elzbieta; Kierzek, Ryszard; Turner, Douglas H; Catrina, Irina E

    2006-01-17

    Determining RNA secondary structure is important for understanding structure-function relationships and identifying potential drug targets. This paper reports the use of microarrays with heptamer 2'-O-methyl oligoribonucleotides to probe the secondary structure of an RNA and thereby improve the prediction of that secondary structure. When experimental constraints from hybridization results are added to a free-energy minimization algorithm, the prediction of the secondary structure of Escherichia coli 5S rRNA improves from 27 to 92% of the known canonical base pairs. Optimization of buffer conditions for hybridization and application of 2'-O-methyl-2-thiouridine to enhance binding and improve discrimination between AU and GU pairs are also described. The results suggest that probing RNA with oligonucleotide microarrays can facilitate determination of secondary structure.

  18. Improved estimate for the muon g-2 using VMD constraints

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Benayoun, M. [LPNHE Paris VI/VII, IN2P3/CNRS, F-75252 Paris (France)

    2012-04-15

    The muon anomalous magnetic moment a{sub {mu}} and the hadronic vacuum polarization (HVP) are examined using data analyzed within the framework of a suitably broken HLS model. The analysis relies on all available scan data samples and leaves aside the existing ISR data. The framework provided by our broken HLS model allows for improved estimates of the contributions to a{sub {mu}} from the e{sup +}e{sup -} annihilation cross sections into {pi}{sup +}{pi}{sup -},{pi}{sup 0}{gamma},{eta}{gamma},{pi}{sup +}{pi}{sup -}{pi}{sup 0},K{sup +}K{sup -},K{sup 0}K{sup Macron 0} up to slightly above the {phi} meson mass. Within this framework, the information provided by the {tau}{sup {+-}}{yields}{pi}{sup {+-}}{pi}{sup 0}{nu} decay and by the radiative decays (VP{gamma} and P{gamma}{gamma}) of light flavor mesons play as strong constraints on the model parameters. The discrepancy between the theoretical estimate of the muon anomalous magnetic moment g-2 and its direct BNL measurement is shown to reach conservatively 4.1{sigma} while standard methods used under the same conditions yield 3.5{sigma}.

  19. The art and science of cancer education and evaluation: toward facilitating improved patient outcomes.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Johnson, Lenora; Ousley, Anita; Swarz, Jeffrey; Bingham, Raymond J; Erickson, J Bianca; Ellis, Steven; Moody, Terra

    2011-03-01

    Cancer education is a constantly evolving field, as science continues to advance both our understanding of cancer and its effects on patients, families, and communities. Moving discoveries to practice expeditiously is paramount to impacting cancer outcomes. The continuing education of cancer care professionals throughout their practice life is vital to facilitating the adoption of therapeutic innovations. Meanwhile, more general educational programs serve to keep cancer patients, their families, and the public informed of the latest findings in cancer research. The National Cancer Institute conducted an assessment of the current knowledge base for cancer education which involved two literature reviews, one of the general literature of the evaluation of medical and health education efforts, and the other of the preceding 5 years of the Journal of Cancer Education (JCE). These reviews explored a wide range of educational models and methodologies. In general, those that were most effective used multiple methodologies, interactive techniques, and multiple exposures over time. Less than one third of the articles in the JCE reported on a cancer education or communication product, and of these, only 70% had been evaluated for effectiveness. Recommendations to improve the evaluation of cancer education and the educational focus of the JCE are provided.

  20. Improving doctor-patient communication in the outpatient setting using a facilitation tool: a preliminary study.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Neeman, Naama; Isaac, Thomas; Leveille, Suzanne; Dimonda, Clementina; Shin, Jacob Y; Aronson, Mark D; Freedman, Steven D

    2012-08-01

    Patients often do not fully understand medical information discussed during office visits. This can result in lack of adherence to recommended treatment plans and poorer health outcomes. We developed and implemented a program utilizing an encounter form, which provides structure to the medical interaction and facilitates bidirectional communication and informed decision-making. We conducted a prospective quality improvement intervention at a large tertiary-care academic medical center utilizing the encounter form and studied the effect on patient satisfaction, understanding and confidence in communicating with physicians. The intervention included 108 patients seen by seven physicians in five sub-specialties. Ninety-eight percent of patients were extremely satisfied (77%) or somewhat satisfied (21%) with the program. Ninety-six percent of patients reported being involved in decisions about their care and treatments as well as high levels of understanding of medical information that was discussed during visit. Sixty-nine percent of patients reported that they shared the encounter form with their families and friends. Patients' self-confidence in communicating with their doctors increased from a score of 8.1 to 8.7 post-intervention (P-value = 0.0018). When comparing pre- and post-intervention experiences, only 38% of patients felt that their problems and questions were adequately addressed by other physicians' pre-intervention, compared with 94% post-intervention. We introduced a program to enhance physician-patient communication and found that patients were highly satisfied, more informed and more actively involved in their care. This approach may be an easily generalizable approach to improving physician-patient communication at outpatient visits.

  1. The Pose Estimation of Mobile Robot Based on Improved Point Cloud Registration

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Yanzi Miao

    2016-03-01

    Full Text Available Due to GPS restrictions, an inertial sensor is usually used to estimate the location of indoor mobile robots. However, it is difficult to achieve high-accuracy localization and control by inertial sensors alone. In this paper, a new method is proposed to estimate an indoor mobile robot pose with six degrees of freedom based on an improved 3D-Normal Distributions Transform algorithm (3D-NDT. First, point cloud data are captured by a Kinect sensor and segmented according to the distance to the robot. After the segmentation, the input point cloud data are processed by the Approximate Voxel Grid Filter algorithm in different sized voxel grids. Second, the initial registration and precise registration are performed respectively according to the distance to the sensor. The most distant point cloud data use the 3D-Normal Distributions Transform algorithm (3D-NDT with large-sized voxel grids for initial registration, based on the transformation matrix from the odometry method. The closest point cloud data use the 3D-NDT algorithm with small-sized voxel grids for precise registration. After the registrations above, a final transformation matrix is obtained and coordinated. Based on this transformation matrix, the pose estimation problem of the indoor mobile robot is solved. Test results show that this method can obtain accurate robot pose estimation and has better robustness.

  2. Why (we think) facilitation works: insights from organizational learning theory.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Berta, Whitney; Cranley, Lisa; Dearing, James W; Dogherty, Elizabeth J; Squires, Janet E; Estabrooks, Carole A

    2015-10-06

    Facilitation is a guided interactional process that has been popularized in health care. Its popularity arises from its potential to support uptake and application of scientific knowledge that stands to improve clinical and managerial decision-making, practice, and ultimately patient outcomes and organizational performance. While this popular concept has garnered attention in health services research, we know that both the content of facilitation and its impact on knowledge implementation vary. The basis of this variation is poorly understood, and understanding is hampered by a lack of conceptual clarity. In this paper, we argue that our understanding of facilitation and its effects is limited in part by a lack of clear theoretical grounding. We propose a theoretical home for facilitation in organizational learning theory. Referring to extant literature on facilitation and drawing on theoretical literature, we discuss the features of facilitation that suggest its role in contributing to learning capacity. We describe how facilitation may contribute to generating knowledge about the application of new scientific knowledge in health-care organizations. Facilitation's promise, we suggest, lies in its potential to stimulate higher-order learning in organizations through experimenting with, generating learning about, and sustaining small-scale adaptations to organizational processes and work routines. The varied effectiveness of facilitation observed in the literature is associated with the presence or absence of factors known to influence organizational learning, since facilitation itself appears to act as a learning mechanism. We offer propositions regarding the relationships between facilitation processes and key organizational learning concepts that have the potential to guide future work to further our understanding of the role that facilitation plays in learning and knowledge generation.

  3. Improved target detection and bearing estimation utilizing fast orthogonal search for real-time spectral analysis

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Osman, Abdalla; El-Sheimy, Naser; Nourledin, Aboelamgd; Theriault, Jim; Campbell, Scott

    2009-01-01

    The problem of target detection and tracking in the ocean environment has attracted considerable attention due to its importance in military and civilian applications. Sonobuoys are one of the capable passive sonar systems used in underwater target detection. Target detection and bearing estimation are mainly obtained through spectral analysis of received signals. The frequency resolution introduced by current techniques is limited which affects the accuracy of target detection and bearing estimation at a relatively low signal-to-noise ratio (SNR). This research investigates the development of a bearing estimation method using fast orthogonal search (FOS) for enhanced spectral estimation. FOS is employed in this research in order to improve both target detection and bearing estimation in the case of low SNR inputs. The proposed methods were tested using simulated data developed for two different scenarios under different underwater environmental conditions. The results show that the proposed method is capable of enhancing the accuracy for target detection as well as bearing estimation especially in cases of a very low SNR

  4. Identification and evaluation of facilitation techniques for decommissioning light water power reactors

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    LaGuardia, T.S.; Risley, J.F.

    1986-06-01

    This report describes a study sponsored by the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission to identify practical techniques to facilitate the decommissioning of nuclear power generating facilities. The objective of these ''facilitation techniques'' is to reduce the radioactive exposures and/or volumes of waste generated during the decommissioning process. The report presents the possible facilitation techniques identified during the study and discusses the corresponding facilitation of the decommissioning process. Techniques are categorized by their applicability of being implemented during the three stages of power reactor life: design/construction, operation, or decommissioning. Detailed cost-benefit analyses were performed for each technique to determine the anticipated exposure and/or radioactive waste reduction; the estimated costs for implementing each technique were then calculated. Finally, these techniques were ranked by their effectiveness in facilitating the decommissioning process. This study is a part of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission's evaluation of decommissioning policy and its modification of regulations pertaining to the decommissioning process. The findings can be used by the utilities in the planning and establishment of activities to ensure that all objectives of decommissioning will be achieved

  5. Experimental and Analytical Studies on Improved Feedforward ML Estimation Based on LS-SVR

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Xueqian Liu

    2013-01-01

    Full Text Available Maximum likelihood (ML algorithm is the most common and effective parameter estimation method. However, when dealing with small sample and low signal-to-noise ratio (SNR, threshold effects are resulted and estimation performance degrades greatly. It is proved that support vector machine (SVM is suitable for small sample. Consequently, we employ the linear relationship between least squares support vector regression (LS-SVR’s inputs and outputs and regard LS-SVR process as a time-varying linear filter to increase input SNR of received signals and decrease the threshold value of mean square error (MSE curve. Furthermore, it is verified that by taking single-tone sinusoidal frequency estimation, for example, and integrating data analysis and experimental validation, if LS-SVR’s parameters are set appropriately, not only can the LS-SVR process ensure the single-tone sinusoid and additive white Gaussian noise (AWGN channel characteristics of original signals well, but it can also improves the frequency estimation performance. During experimental simulations, LS-SVR process is applied to two common and representative single-tone sinusoidal ML frequency estimation algorithms, the DFT-based frequency-domain periodogram (FDP and phase-based Kay ones. And the threshold values of their MSE curves are decreased by 0.3 dB and 1.2 dB, respectively, which obviously exhibit the advantage of the proposed algorithm.

  6. Improved depth estimation with the light field camera

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wang, Huachun; Sang, Xinzhu; Chen, Duo; Guo, Nan; Wang, Peng; Yu, Xunbo; Yan, Binbin; Wang, Kuiru; Yu, Chongxiu

    2017-10-01

    Light-field cameras are used in consumer and industrial applications. An array of micro-lenses captures enough information that one can refocus images after acquisition, as well as shift one's viewpoint within the sub-apertures of the main lens, effectively obtaining multiple views. Thus, depth estimation from both defocus and correspondence are now available in a single capture. And Lytro.Inc also provides a depth estimation from a single-shot capture with light field camera, like Lytro Illum. This Lytro depth estimation containing many correct depth information can be used for higher quality estimation. In this paper, we present a novel simple and principled algorithm that computes dense depth estimation by combining defocus, correspondence and Lytro depth estimations. We analyze 2D epipolar image (EPI) to get defocus and correspondence depth maps. Defocus depth is obtained by computing the spatial gradient after angular integration and correspondence depth by computing the angular variance from EPIs. Lytro depth can be extracted from Lyrto Illum with software. We then show how to combine the three cues into a high quality depth map. Our method for depth estimation is suitable for computer vision applications such as matting, full control of depth-of-field, and surface reconstruction, as well as light filed display

  7. Improved regression models for ventilation estimation based on chest and abdomen movements

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Liu, Shaopeng; Gao, Robert; He, Qingbo; Staudenmayer, John; Freedson, Patty

    2012-01-01

    Non-invasive estimation of minute ventilation is important for quantifying the intensity of physical activity of individuals. In this paper, several improved regression models are presented, based on the measurement of chest and abdomen movements from sensor belts worn by subjects (n = 50) engaged in 14 types of physical activity. Five linear models involving a combination of 11 features were developed, and the effects of different model training approaches and window sizes for computing the features were investigated. The performance of the models was evaluated using experimental data collected during the physical activity protocol. The predicted minute ventilation was compared to the criterion ventilation measured using a bidirectional digital volume transducer housed in a respiratory gas exchange system. The results indicate that the inclusion of breathing frequency and the use of percentile points instead of interdecile ranges over a 60 s window size reduced error by about 43%, when applied to the classical two-degrees-of-freedom model. The mean percentage error of the minute ventilation estimated for all the activities was below 7.5%, verifying reasonably good performance of the models and the applicability of the wearable sensing system for minute ventilation estimation during physical activity. (paper)

  8. Trade Facilitation Provisions in Regional Trade Agreements: Discriminatory or Non-discriminatory?

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Innwon Park

    2016-12-01

    Full Text Available The RTAs with trade facilitation provisions have been expected to generate a larger net trade-creating effect and complement the discriminatory feature of RTAs but have yet to be empirically proven. Recognizing the limitations of existing studies, we conducted a quantitative analysis on the effects of RTAs with and without trade facilitation provisions on both intra- and extra-bloc trade by using a modified gravity equation. We applied the Poisson Pseudo-Maximum Likelihood (PPML estimation with time varying exporter and importer fixed effect method to panel data consisting of 45,770 country pairs covering 170 countries for 2000-2010. We found that the trade facilitation provisions in existing RTAs are non-discriminatory by generating more intra- and extra-bloc trade in general. In particular, we found that the trade effects of RTAs in the APEC region are much stronger than the general case covering all RTAs in the world. In addition, as we control the trade effect of a country's trade facilitation, which is ranked by the World Bank's logistic performance index, RTAs consisting of trade facilitation provisions are discriminatory for trade in final goods and non-discriminatory for trade in intermediate goods. Overall, we endeavor to "explain," instead of "hypothesizing," why most of the recent RTAs contain trade facilitation provisions, especially in light of the deepening regional interdependence through trade in parts and components under global value chains and support the necessity of multilateralizing RTAs by implementing non-discriminatory trade facilitation provisions.

  9. Parameter estimation of photovoltaic cells using an improved chaotic whale optimization algorithm

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Oliva, Diego; Abd El Aziz, Mohamed; Ella Hassanien, Aboul

    2017-01-01

    Highlights: •We modify the whale algorithm using chaotic maps. •We apply a chaotic algorithm to estimate parameter of photovoltaic cells. •We perform a study of chaos in whale algorithm. •Several comparisons and metrics support the experimental results. •We test the method with data from real solar cells. -- Abstract: The using of solar energy has been increased since it is a clean source of energy. In this way, the design of photovoltaic cells has attracted the attention of researchers over the world. There are two main problems in this field: having a useful model to characterize the solar cells and the absence of data about photovoltaic cells. This situation even affects the performance of the photovoltaic modules (panels). The characteristics of the current vs. voltage are used to describe the behavior of solar cells. Considering such values, the design problem involves the solution of the complex non-linear and multi-modal objective functions. Different algorithms have been proposed to identify the parameters of the photovoltaic cells and panels. Most of them commonly fail in finding the optimal solutions. This paper proposes the Chaotic Whale Optimization Algorithm (CWOA) for the parameters estimation of solar cells. The main advantage of the proposed approach is using the chaotic maps to compute and automatically adapt the internal parameters of the optimization algorithm. This situation is beneficial in complex problems, because along the iterative process, the proposed algorithm improves their capabilities to search for the best solution. The modified method is able to optimize complex and multimodal objective functions. For example, the function for the estimation of parameters of solar cells. To illustrate the capabilities of the proposed algorithm in the solar cell design, it is compared with other optimization methods over different datasets. Moreover, the experimental results support the improved performance of the proposed approach

  10. Independent tasks scheduling in cloud computing via improved estimation of distribution algorithm

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sun, Haisheng; Xu, Rui; Chen, Huaping

    2018-04-01

    To minimize makespan for scheduling independent tasks in cloud computing, an improved estimation of distribution algorithm (IEDA) is proposed to tackle the investigated problem in this paper. Considering that the problem is concerned with multi-dimensional discrete problems, an improved population-based incremental learning (PBIL) algorithm is applied, which the parameter for each component is independent with other components in PBIL. In order to improve the performance of PBIL, on the one hand, the integer encoding scheme is used and the method of probability calculation of PBIL is improved by using the task average processing time; on the other hand, an effective adaptive learning rate function that related to the number of iterations is constructed to trade off the exploration and exploitation of IEDA. In addition, both enhanced Max-Min and Min-Min algorithms are properly introduced to form two initial individuals. In the proposed IEDA, an improved genetic algorithm (IGA) is applied to generate partial initial population by evolving two initial individuals and the rest of initial individuals are generated at random. Finally, the sampling process is divided into two parts including sampling by probabilistic model and IGA respectively. The experiment results show that the proposed IEDA not only gets better solution, but also has faster convergence speed.

  11. An Improved Global Wind Resource Estimate for Integrated Assessment Models: Preprint

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Eurek, Kelly [National Renewable Energy Lab. (NREL), Golden, CO (United States); Sullivan, Patrick [National Renewable Energy Lab. (NREL), Golden, CO (United States); Gleason, Michael [National Renewable Energy Lab. (NREL), Golden, CO (United States); Hettinger, Dylan [National Renewable Energy Lab. (NREL), Golden, CO (United States); Heimiller, Donna [National Renewable Energy Lab. (NREL), Golden, CO (United States); Lopez, Anthony [National Renewable Energy Lab. (NREL), Golden, CO (United States)

    2017-02-01

    This paper summarizes initial steps to improving the robustness and accuracy of global renewable resource and techno-economic assessments for use in integrated assessment models. We outline a method to construct country-level wind resource supply curves, delineated by resource quality and other parameters. Using mesoscale reanalysis data, we generate estimates for wind quality, both terrestrial and offshore, across the globe. Because not all land or water area is suitable for development, appropriate database layers provide exclusions to reduce the total resource to its technical potential. We expand upon estimates from related studies by: using a globally consistent data source of uniquely detailed wind speed characterizations; assuming a non-constant coefficient of performance for adjusting power curves for altitude; categorizing the distance from resource sites to the electric power grid; and characterizing offshore exclusions on the basis of sea ice concentrations. The product, then, is technical potential by country, classified by resource quality as determined by net capacity factor. Additional classifications dimensions are available, including distance to transmission networks for terrestrial wind and distance to shore and water depth for offshore. We estimate the total global wind generation potential of 560 PWh for terrestrial wind with 90% of resource classified as low-to-mid quality, and 315 PWh for offshore wind with 67% classified as mid-to-high quality. These estimates are based on 3.5 MW composite wind turbines with 90 m hub heights, 0.95 availability, 90% array efficiency, and 5 MW/km2 deployment density in non-excluded areas. We compare the underlying technical assumption and results with other global assessments.

  12. Covariance specification and estimation to improve top-down Green House Gas emission estimates

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ghosh, S.; Lopez-Coto, I.; Prasad, K.; Whetstone, J. R.

    2015-12-01

    The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) operates the North-East Corridor (NEC) project and the Indianapolis Flux Experiment (INFLUX) in order to develop measurement methods to quantify sources of Greenhouse Gas (GHG) emissions as well as their uncertainties in urban domains using a top down inversion method. Top down inversion updates prior knowledge using observations in a Bayesian way. One primary consideration in a Bayesian inversion framework is the covariance structure of (1) the emission prior residuals and (2) the observation residuals (i.e. the difference between observations and model predicted observations). These covariance matrices are respectively referred to as the prior covariance matrix and the model-data mismatch covariance matrix. It is known that the choice of these covariances can have large effect on estimates. The main objective of this work is to determine the impact of different covariance models on inversion estimates and their associated uncertainties in urban domains. We use a pseudo-data Bayesian inversion framework using footprints (i.e. sensitivities of tower measurements of GHGs to surface emissions) and emission priors (based on Hestia project to quantify fossil-fuel emissions) to estimate posterior emissions using different covariance schemes. The posterior emission estimates and uncertainties are compared to the hypothetical truth. We find that, if we correctly specify spatial variability and spatio-temporal variability in prior and model-data mismatch covariances respectively, then we can compute more accurate posterior estimates. We discuss few covariance models to introduce space-time interacting mismatches along with estimation of the involved parameters. We then compare several candidate prior spatial covariance models from the Matern covariance class and estimate their parameters with specified mismatches. We find that best-fitted prior covariances are not always best in recovering the truth. To achieve

  13. Improving the Carbon Dioxide Emission Estimates from the Combustion of Fossil Fuels in California

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    de la Rue du Can, Stephane; Wenzel, Tom; Price, Lynn

    2008-08-13

    Central to any study of climate change is the development of an emission inventory that identifies and quantifies the State's primary anthropogenic sources and sinks of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. CO2 emissions from fossil fuel combustion accounted for 80 percent of California GHG emissions (CARB, 2007a). Even though these CO2 emissions are well characterized in the existing state inventory, there still exist significant sources of uncertainties regarding their accuracy. This report evaluates the CO2 emissions accounting based on the California Energy Balance database (CALEB) developed by Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL), in terms of what improvements are needed and where uncertainties lie. The estimated uncertainty for total CO2 emissions ranges between -21 and +37 million metric tons (Mt), or -6percent and +11percent of total CO2 emissions. The report also identifies where improvements are needed for the upcoming updates of CALEB. However, it is worth noting that the California Air Resources Board (CARB) GHG inventory did not use CALEB data for all combustion estimates. Therefore the range in uncertainty estimated in this report does not apply to the CARB's GHG inventory. As much as possible, additional data sources used by CARB in the development of its GHG inventory are summarized in this report for consideration in future updates to CALEB.

  14. A covariance correction that accounts for correlation estimation to improve finite-sample inference with generalized estimating equations: A study on its applicability with structured correlation matrices.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Westgate, Philip M

    2016-01-01

    When generalized estimating equations (GEE) incorporate an unstructured working correlation matrix, the variances of regression parameter estimates can inflate due to the estimation of the correlation parameters. In previous work, an approximation for this inflation that results in a corrected version of the sandwich formula for the covariance matrix of regression parameter estimates was derived. Use of this correction for correlation structure selection also reduces the over-selection of the unstructured working correlation matrix. In this manuscript, we conduct a simulation study to demonstrate that an increase in variances of regression parameter estimates can occur when GEE incorporates structured working correlation matrices as well. Correspondingly, we show the ability of the corrected version of the sandwich formula to improve the validity of inference and correlation structure selection. We also study the relative influences of two popular corrections to a different source of bias in the empirical sandwich covariance estimator.

  15. Improving control and estimation for distributed parameter systems utilizing mobile actuator-sensor network.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Mu, Wenying; Cui, Baotong; Li, Wen; Jiang, Zhengxian

    2014-07-01

    This paper proposes a scheme for non-collocated moving actuating and sensing devices which is unitized for improving performance in distributed parameter systems. By Lyapunov stability theorem, each moving actuator/sensor agent velocity is obtained. To enhance state estimation of a spatially distributes process, two kinds of filters with consensus terms which penalize the disagreement of the estimates are considered. Both filters can result in the well-posedness of the collective dynamics of state errors and can converge to the plant state. Numerical simulations demonstrate that the effectiveness of such a moving actuator-sensor network in enhancing system performance and the consensus filters converge faster to the plant state when consensus terms are included. Copyright © 2014 ISA. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  16. Mapping Perceptions of Lupus Medication Decision-Making Facilitators: The Importance of Patient Context.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Qu, Haiyan; Shewchuk, Richard M; Alarcón, Graciela; Fraenkel, Liana; Leong, Amye; Dall'Era, Maria; Yazdany, Jinoos; Singh, Jasvinder A

    2016-12-01

    Numerous factors can impede or facilitate patients' medication decision-making and adherence to physicians' recommendations. Little is known about how patients and physicians jointly view issues that affect the decision-making process. Our objective was to derive an empirical framework of patient-identified facilitators to lupus medication decision-making from key stakeholders (including 15 physicians, 5 patients/patient advocates, and 8 medical professionals) using a patient-centered cognitive mapping approach. We used nominal group patient panels to identify facilitators to lupus treatment decision-making. Stakeholders independently sorted the identified facilitators (n = 98) based on their similarities and rated the importance of each facilitator in patient decision-making. Data were analyzed using multidimensional scaling and hierarchical cluster analysis. A cognitive map was derived that represents an empirical framework of facilitators for lupus treatment decisions from multiple stakeholders' perspectives. The facilitator clusters were 1) hope for a normal/healthy life, 2) understand benefits and effectiveness of taking medications, 3) desire to minimize side effects, 4) medication-related data, 5) medication effectiveness for "me," 6) family focus, 7) confidence in physician, 8) medication research, 9) reassurance about medication, and 10) medication economics. Consideration of how different stakeholders perceive the relative importance of lupus medication decision-making clusters is an important step toward improving patient-physician communication and effective shared decision-making. The empirically derived framework of medication decision-making facilitators can be used as a guide to develop a lupus decision aid that focuses on improving physician-patient communication. © 2016, American College of Rheumatology.

  17. An improved PNGV modeling and SOC estimation for lithium iron phosphate batteries

    Science.gov (United States)

    Li, Peng

    2017-11-01

    Because lithium iron phosphate battery has many advantages, it has been used more and more widely in the field of electric vehicle. The lithium iron phosphate battery, presents the improved PNGV model, and the batteries charge discharge characteristics and pulse charge discharge experiments, identification of parameters of the battery model by interpolation and least square fitting method, to achieve a more accurate modeling of lithium iron phosphate battery, and the extended Calman filter algorithm (EKF) is completed state nuclear power battery (SOC) estimate.

  18. A model-based adaptive state of charge estimator for a lithium-ion battery using an improved adaptive particle filter

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Ye, Min; Guo, Hui; Cao, Binggang

    2017-01-01

    Highlights: • Propose an improved adaptive particle swarm filter method. • The SoC estimation method for the battery based on the adaptive particle swarm filter is presented. • The algorithm is validated by the case study of different aged extent batteries. • The effectiveness and applicability of the algorithm are validated by the LiPB batteries. - Abstract: Obtaining accurate parameters, state of charge (SoC) and capacity of a lithium-ion battery is crucial for a battery management system, and establishing a battery model online is complex. In addition, the errors and perturbations of the battery model dramatically increase throughout the battery lifetime, making it more challenging to model the battery online. To overcome these difficulties, this paper provides three contributions: (1) To improve the robustness of the adaptive particle filter algorithm, an error analysis method is added to the traditional adaptive particle swarm algorithm. (2) An online adaptive SoC estimator based on the improved adaptive particle filter is presented; this estimator can eliminate the estimation error due to battery degradation and initial SoC errors. (3) The effectiveness of the proposed method is verified using various initial states of lithium nickel manganese cobalt oxide (NMC) cells and lithium-ion polymer (LiPB) batteries. The experimental analysis shows that the maximum errors are less than 1% for both the voltage and SoC estimations and that the convergence time of the SoC estimation decreased to 120 s.

  19. Delay Estimator and Improved Proportionate Multi-Delay Adaptive Filtering Algorithm

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    E. Verteletskaya

    2012-04-01

    Full Text Available This paper pertains to speech and acoustic signal processing, and particularly to a determination of echo path delay and operation of echo cancellers. To cancel long echoes, the number of weights in a conventional adaptive filter must be large. The length of the adaptive filter will directly affect both the degree of accuracy and the convergence speed of the adaptation process. We present a new adaptive structure which is capable to deal with multiple dispersive echo paths. An adaptive filter according to the present invention includes means for storing an impulse response in a memory, the impulse response being indicative of the characteristics of a transmission line. It also includes a delay estimator for detecting ranges of samples within the impulse response having relatively large distribution of echo energy. These ranges of samples are being indicative of echoes on the transmission line. An adaptive filter has a plurality of weighted taps, each of the weighted taps having an associated tap weight value. A tap allocation/control circuit establishes the tap weight values in response to said detecting means so that only taps within the regions of relatively large distributions of echo energy are turned on. Thus, the convergence speed and the degree of estimation in the adaptation process can be improved.

  20. Using A Priori Information to Improve Atmospheric Duct Estimation

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zhao, X.

    2017-12-01

    Knowledge of refractivity condition in the marine atmospheric boundary layer (MABL) is crucial for the prediction of radar and communication systems performance at frequencies above 1 GHz on low-altitude paths. Since early this century, the `refractivity from clutter (RFC)' technique has been proved to be an effective way to estimate the MABL refractivity structure. Refractivity model is very important for RFC techniques. If prior knowledge of the local refractivity information is available (e.g., from numerical weather prediction models, atmospheric soundings, etc.), more accurate parameterized refractivity model can be constructed by the statistical method, e.g. principal analysis, which in turn can be used to improve the quality of the local refractivity retrievals. This work extends the adjoint parabolic equation approach to range-varying atmospheric duct structure inversions, in which a linear empirical reduced-dimension refractivity model constructed from the a priori refractive information is used.

  1. Learning facilitating leadership

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Rasmussen, Lauge Baungaard; Hansen, Mette Sanne

    2016-01-01

    This paper explains how engineering students at a Danish university acquired the necessary skills to become emergent facilitators of organisational development. The implications of this approach are discussed and related to relevant viewpoints and findings in the literature. The methodology deplo....... By connecting the literature, the authors’ and engineering students’ reflections on facilitator skills, this paper adds value to existing academic and practical discussions on learning facilitating leadership....

  2. FEH Local: Improving flood estimates using historical data

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Prosdocimi Ilaria

    2016-01-01

    Full Text Available The traditional approach to design flood estimation (for example, to derive the 100-year flood is to apply a statistical model to time series of peak river flow measured by gauging stations. Such records are typically not very long, for example in the UK only about 10% of the stations have records that are more than 50 years in length. Along-explored way to augment the data available from a gauging station is to derive information about historical flood events and paleo-floods, which can be obtained from careful exploration of archives, old newspapers, flood marks or other signs of past flooding that are still discernible in the catchment, and the history of settlements. The inclusion of historical data in flood frequency estimation has been shown to substantially reduce the uncertainty around the estimated design events and is likely to provide insight into the rarest events which might have pre-dated the relatively short systematic records. Among other things, the FEH Local project funded by the Environment Agency aims to develop methods to easily incorporate historical information into the standard method of statistical flood frequency estimation in the UK. Different statistical estimation procedures are explored, namely maximum likelihood and partial probability weighted moments, and the strengths and weaknesses of each method are investigated. The project assesses the usefulness of historical data and aims to provide practitioners with useful guidelines to indicate in what circumstances the inclusion of historical data is likely to be beneficial in terms of reducing both the bias and the variability of the estimated flood frequency curves. The guidelines are based on the results of a large Monte Carlo simulation study, in which different estimation procedures and different data availability scenarios are studied. The study provides some indication of the situations under which different estimation procedures might give a better performance.

  3. COGNITIVE FATIGUE FACILITATES PROCEDURAL SEQUENCE LEARNING

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Guillermo eBorragán

    2016-03-01

    Full Text Available Enhanced procedural learning has been evidenced in conditions where cognitive control is diminished, including hypnosis, disruption of prefrontal activity and non-optimal time of the day. Another condition depleting the availability of controlled resources is cognitive fatigue. We tested the hypothesis that cognitive fatigue, eventually leading to diminished cognitive control, facilitates procedural sequence learning. In a two-day experiment, twenty-three young healthy adults were administered a serial reaction time task (SRTT following the induction of high or low levels of cognitive fatigue, in a counterbalanced order. Cognitive fatigue was induced using the Time load Dual-back (TloadDback paradigm, a dual working memory task that allows tailoring cognitive load levels to the individual's optimal performance capacity. In line with our hypothesis, reaction times in the SRTT were faster in the high- than in the low-level fatigue condition, and performance improvement showed more of a benefit from the sequential components than from motor. Altogether, our results suggest a paradoxical, facilitating impact of cognitive fatigue on procedural motor sequence learning. We propose that facilitated learning in the high-level fatigue condition stems from a reduction in the cognitive resources devoted to cognitive control processes that normally oppose automatic procedural acquisition mechanisms.

  4. Option Price Estimates for Water Quality Improvements: A Contingent Valuation Study for the Monongahela River (1985)

    Science.gov (United States)

    This paper presents the findings from a contingent valuation survey designed to estimate the option price bids for the improved recreation resulting from enhanced water quality in the Pennsylvania portion of the Monongahela River.

  5. Collaborative Project: Building improved optimized parameter estimation algorithms to improve methane and nitrogen fluxes in a climate model

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Mahowald, Natalie [Cornell Univ., Ithaca, NY (United States)

    2016-11-29

    Soils in natural and managed ecosystems and wetlands are well known sources of methane, nitrous oxides, and reactive nitrogen gases, but the magnitudes of gas flux to the atmosphere are still poorly constrained. Thus, the reasons for the large increases in atmospheric concentrations of methane and nitrous oxide since the preindustrial time period are not well understood. The low atmospheric concentrations of methane and nitrous oxide, despite being more potent greenhouse gases than carbon dioxide, complicate empirical studies to provide explanations. In addition to climate concerns, the emissions of reactive nitrogen gases from soils are important to the changing nitrogen balance in the earth system, subject to human management, and may change substantially in the future. Thus improved modeling of the emission fluxes of these species from the land surface is important. Currently, there are emission modules for methane and some nitrogen species in the Community Earth System Model’s Community Land Model (CLM-ME/N); however, there are large uncertainties and problems in the simulations, resulting in coarse estimates. In this proposal, we seek to improve these emission modules by combining state-of-the-art process modules for emissions, available data, and new optimization methods. In earth science problems, we often have substantial data and knowledge of processes in disparate systems, and thus we need to combine data and a general process level understanding into a model for projections of future climate that are as accurate as possible. The best methodologies for optimization of parameters in earth system models are still being developed. In this proposal we will develop and apply surrogate algorithms that a) were especially developed for computationally expensive simulations like CLM-ME/N models; b) were (in the earlier surrogate optimization Stochastic RBF) demonstrated to perform very well on computationally expensive complex partial differential equations in

  6. An improved estimation and focusing scheme for vector velocity estimation

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Jensen, Jørgen Arendt; Munk, Peter

    1999-01-01

    to reduce spatial velocity dispersion. Examples of different velocity vector conditions are shown using the Field II simulation program. A relative accuracy of 10.1 % is obtained for the lateral velocity estimates for a parabolic velocity profile for a flow perpendicular to the ultrasound beam and a signal...

  7. The Improved Estimation of Ratio of Two Population Proportions

    Science.gov (United States)

    Solanki, Ramkrishna S.; Singh, Housila P.

    2016-01-01

    In this article, first we obtained the correct mean square error expression of Gupta and Shabbir's linear weighted estimator of the ratio of two population proportions. Later we suggested the general class of ratio estimators of two population proportions. The usual ratio estimator, Wynn-type estimator, Singh, Singh, and Kaur difference-type…

  8. Development and pilot evaluation of an Internet-facilitated cognitive-behavioral intervention for maternal depression.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sheeber, Lisa B; Seeley, John R; Feil, Edward G; Davis, Betsy; Sorensen, Erik; Kosty, Derek B; Lewinsohn, Peter M

    2012-10-01

    Develop and pilot an Internet-facilitated cognitive-behavioral treatment intervention for depression, tailored to economically disadvantaged mothers of young children. Mothers (N = 70) of children enrolled in Head Start, who reported elevated levels of depressive symptoms, were randomized to either the 8-session, Internet-facilitated intervention (Mom-Net) or delayed intervention/facilitated treatment-as-usual (DI/TAU). Outcomes were measured using the Beck Depression Inventory (BDI-II; Beck, Steer, & Brown, 1996); the Patient Health Questionnaire 9 (PHQ-9; Spitzer et al., 1999), Behavioral Observations of Parent-Child Interactions using the Living in Family Environments coding system (LIFE; Hops, Davis, & Longoria, 1995); the Dyadic Parent-Child Interaction Coding Systems (DPICS; Eyberg, Nelson, Duke, & Boggs, 2005); the Parent Behavior Inventory (PBI; Lovejoy, Weis, O'Hare, & Rubin, 1999); and the Parenting Sense of Competence scale (PSOC; Gibaud-Wallston & Wandersman, 1978). Mom-Net demonstrated high levels of feasibility as indicated by low attrition and high program usage and satisfaction ratings. Participants in the Mom-Net condition demonstrated significantly greater reduction in depression, the primary outcome, at the level of both symptoms and estimates of criteria-based diagnoses over the course of the intervention. They also demonstrated significantly greater improvement on a questionnaire measure of parent satisfaction and efficacy as well as on both questionnaire and observational indices of harsh parenting behavior. Initial results suggest that the Mom-Net intervention is feasible and efficacious as a remotely delivered intervention for economically disadvantaged mothers. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved).

  9. Facilitation of Psychiatric Advance Directives by Peers and Clinicians on Assertive Community Treatment Teams.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Easter, Michele M; Swanson, Jeffrey W; Robertson, Allison G; Moser, Lorna L; Swartz, Marvin S

    2017-07-01

    Psychiatric advance directives (PADs) provide a legal mechanism for competent adults to document care preferences and authorize a surrogate to make treatment decisions. In a controlled research setting, an evidence-based intervention, the facilitated psychiatric advance directive (FPAD), was previously shown to overcome most barriers to PAD completion. This study examined implementation of the FPAD intervention in usual care settings as delivered by peer support specialists and nonpeer clinicians on assertive community treatment (ACT) teams. A total of 145 ACT consumers were randomly assigned, within teams, to FPAD with facilitation by either a peer (N=71) or a clinician (N=74). Completion rates and PAD quality were compared with the previous study's standard and across facilitator type. Logistic regression was used to estimate effects on the likelihood of PAD completion. The completion rate of 50% in the intent-to-treat sample (N=145) was somewhat inferior to the prior standard (61%), but the rate of 58% for the retained sample (those who completed a follow-up interview, N=116) was not significantly different from the standard. Rates for peers and clinicians did not differ significantly from each other for either sample. PAD quality was similar to that achieved in the prior study. Four consumer variables predicted completion: independent living status, problematic substance use, length of time served by the ACT team, and no perceived unmet need for hospitalization in crisis. Peers and clinicians can play a crucial role in increasing the number of consumers with PADs, an important step toward improving implementation of PADs in mental health care.

  10. Use of Multiple Imputation Method to Improve Estimation of Missing Baseline Serum Creatinine in Acute Kidney Injury Research

    Science.gov (United States)

    Peterson, Josh F.; Eden, Svetlana K.; Moons, Karel G.; Ikizler, T. Alp; Matheny, Michael E.

    2013-01-01

    Summary Background and objectives Baseline creatinine (BCr) is frequently missing in AKI studies. Common surrogate estimates can misclassify AKI and adversely affect the study of related outcomes. This study examined whether multiple imputation improved accuracy of estimating missing BCr beyond current recommendations to apply assumed estimated GFR (eGFR) of 75 ml/min per 1.73 m2 (eGFR 75). Design, setting, participants, & measurements From 41,114 unique adult admissions (13,003 with and 28,111 without BCr data) at Vanderbilt University Hospital between 2006 and 2008, a propensity score model was developed to predict likelihood of missing BCr. Propensity scoring identified 6502 patients with highest likelihood of missing BCr among 13,003 patients with known BCr to simulate a “missing” data scenario while preserving actual reference BCr. Within this cohort (n=6502), the ability of various multiple-imputation approaches to estimate BCr and classify AKI were compared with that of eGFR 75. Results All multiple-imputation methods except the basic one more closely approximated actual BCr than did eGFR 75. Total AKI misclassification was lower with multiple imputation (full multiple imputation + serum creatinine) (9.0%) than with eGFR 75 (12.3%; Pcreatinine) (15.3%) versus eGFR 75 (40.5%; P<0.001). Multiple imputation improved specificity and positive predictive value for detecting AKI at the expense of modestly decreasing sensitivity relative to eGFR 75. Conclusions Multiple imputation can improve accuracy in estimating missing BCr and reduce misclassification of AKI beyond currently proposed methods. PMID:23037980

  11. Improved Forest Biomass and Carbon Estimations Using Texture Measures from WorldView-2 Satellite Data

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Sandra Eckert

    2012-03-01

    Full Text Available Accurate estimation of aboveground biomass and carbon stock has gained importance in the context of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC and the Kyoto Protocol. In order to develop improved forest stratum–specific aboveground biomass and carbon estimation models for humid rainforest in northeast Madagascar, this study analyzed texture measures derived from WorldView-2 satellite data. A forest inventory was conducted to develop stratum-specific allometric equations for dry biomass. On this basis, carbon was calculated by applying a conversion factor. After satellite data preprocessing, vegetation indices, principal components, and texture measures were calculated. The strength of their relationships with the stratum-specific plot data was analyzed using Pearson’s correlation. Biomass and carbon estimation models were developed by performing stepwise multiple linear regression. Pearson’s correlation coefficients revealed that (a texture measures correlated more with biomass and carbon than spectral parameters, and (b correlations were stronger for degraded forest than for non-degraded forest. For degraded forest, the texture measures of Correlation, Angular Second Moment, and Contrast, derived from the red band, contributed to the best estimation model, which explained 84% of the variability in the field data (relative RMSE = 6.8%. For non-degraded forest, the vegetation index EVI and the texture measures of Variance, Mean, and Correlation, derived from the newly introduced coastal blue band, both NIR bands, and the red band, contributed to the best model, which explained 81% of the variability in the field data (relative RMSE = 11.8%. These results indicate that estimation of tropical rainforest biomass/carbon, based on very high resolution satellite data, can be improved by (a developing and applying forest stratum–specific models, and (b including textural information in addition to spectral information.

  12. A Dynamical Model of Pitch Memory Provides an Improved Basis for Implied Harmony Estimation

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kim, Ji Chul

    2017-01-01

    Tonal melody can imply vertical harmony through a sequence of tones. Current methods for automatic chord estimation commonly use chroma-based features extracted from audio signals. However, the implied harmony of unaccompanied melodies can be difficult to estimate on the basis of chroma content in the presence of frequent nonchord tones. Here we present a novel approach to automatic chord estimation based on the human perception of pitch sequences. We use cohesion and inhibition between pitches in auditory short-term memory to differentiate chord tones and nonchord tones in tonal melodies. We model short-term pitch memory as a gradient frequency neural network, which is a biologically realistic model of auditory neural processing. The model is a dynamical system consisting of a network of tonotopically tuned nonlinear oscillators driven by audio signals. The oscillators interact with each other through nonlinear resonance and lateral inhibition, and the pattern of oscillatory traces emerging from the interactions is taken as a measure of pitch salience. We test the model with a collection of unaccompanied tonal melodies to evaluate it as a feature extractor for chord estimation. We show that chord tones are selectively enhanced in the response of the model, thereby increasing the accuracy of implied harmony estimation. We also find that, like other existing features for chord estimation, the performance of the model can be improved by using segmented input signals. We discuss possible ways to expand the present model into a full chord estimation system within the dynamical systems framework. PMID:28522983

  13. A Dynamical Model of Pitch Memory Provides an Improved Basis for Implied Harmony Estimation.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kim, Ji Chul

    2017-01-01

    Tonal melody can imply vertical harmony through a sequence of tones. Current methods for automatic chord estimation commonly use chroma-based features extracted from audio signals. However, the implied harmony of unaccompanied melodies can be difficult to estimate on the basis of chroma content in the presence of frequent nonchord tones. Here we present a novel approach to automatic chord estimation based on the human perception of pitch sequences. We use cohesion and inhibition between pitches in auditory short-term memory to differentiate chord tones and nonchord tones in tonal melodies. We model short-term pitch memory as a gradient frequency neural network, which is a biologically realistic model of auditory neural processing. The model is a dynamical system consisting of a network of tonotopically tuned nonlinear oscillators driven by audio signals. The oscillators interact with each other through nonlinear resonance and lateral inhibition, and the pattern of oscillatory traces emerging from the interactions is taken as a measure of pitch salience. We test the model with a collection of unaccompanied tonal melodies to evaluate it as a feature extractor for chord estimation. We show that chord tones are selectively enhanced in the response of the model, thereby increasing the accuracy of implied harmony estimation. We also find that, like other existing features for chord estimation, the performance of the model can be improved by using segmented input signals. We discuss possible ways to expand the present model into a full chord estimation system within the dynamical systems framework.

  14. A Dynamical Model of Pitch Memory Provides an Improved Basis for Implied Harmony Estimation

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Ji Chul Kim

    2017-05-01

    Full Text Available Tonal melody can imply vertical harmony through a sequence of tones. Current methods for automatic chord estimation commonly use chroma-based features extracted from audio signals. However, the implied harmony of unaccompanied melodies can be difficult to estimate on the basis of chroma content in the presence of frequent nonchord tones. Here we present a novel approach to automatic chord estimation based on the human perception of pitch sequences. We use cohesion and inhibition between pitches in auditory short-term memory to differentiate chord tones and nonchord tones in tonal melodies. We model short-term pitch memory as a gradient frequency neural network, which is a biologically realistic model of auditory neural processing. The model is a dynamical system consisting of a network of tonotopically tuned nonlinear oscillators driven by audio signals. The oscillators interact with each other through nonlinear resonance and lateral inhibition, and the pattern of oscillatory traces emerging from the interactions is taken as a measure of pitch salience. We test the model with a collection of unaccompanied tonal melodies to evaluate it as a feature extractor for chord estimation. We show that chord tones are selectively enhanced in the response of the model, thereby increasing the accuracy of implied harmony estimation. We also find that, like other existing features for chord estimation, the performance of the model can be improved by using segmented input signals. We discuss possible ways to expand the present model into a full chord estimation system within the dynamical systems framework.

  15. Water level observations from Unmanned Aerial Vehicles for improving estimates of surface water-groundwater interaction

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Bandini, Filippo; Butts, Michael; Vammen Jacobsen, Torsten

    2017-01-01

    spatial resolution; ii) spatially continuous profiles along or across the water body; iii) flexible timing of sampling. A semi-synthetic study was conducted to analyse the value of the new UAV-borne datatype for improving hydrological models, in particular estimates of GW (Groundwater)- SW (Surface Water...

  16. Design Facilitation as Emerging Practice: Analyzing How Designers Support Multi-stakeholder Co-creation

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Manuela Aguirre

    Full Text Available Designers increasingly find themselves facilitating large-scale design events. Yet few have explored design facilitation as an emerging practice. This article examines the design facilitation practices used in two Norwegian case studies of multi-stakeholder events. We focus on the contextually designed tools designers create to help them facilitate. We then explore some critical dimensions of design facilitation. When used as visual overlays, facilitators’ explicit knowledge of these dimensions can improve their capacity to analyze, evaluate, and plan how to design and use contextual tools during design events. By plotting how designers use facilitation tools sequentially during events, we render the flow of design facilitation practice visible and accessible. We suggest that an explicit awareness of these dimensions and flows can enable designers to build more inclusive and inspiring tools, orchestrate the flow of long-term participatory processes more deliberately, and better equip participants to work with complex systemic change.

  17. Transmit/Receive Spatial Smoothing with Improved Effective Array Aperture for Angle and Mutual Coupling Estimation in Bistatic MIMO Radar

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Haomiao Liu

    2016-01-01

    Full Text Available We proposed a transmit/receive spatial smoothing with improved effective aperture approach for angle and mutual coupling estimation in bistatic MIMO radar. Firstly, the noise in each channel is restrained, by exploiting its independency, in both the spatial domain and temporal domain. Then the augmented transmit and receive spatial smoothing matrices with improved effective aperture are obtained, by exploiting the Vandermonde structure of steering vector with uniform linear array. The DOD and DOA can be estimated by utilizing the unitary ESPRIT algorithm. Finally, the mutual coupling coefficients of both the transmitter and the receiver can be figured out with the estimated angles of DOD and DOA. Numerical examples are presented to verify the effectiveness of the proposed method.

  18. Estimation of DSGE Models under Diffuse Priors and Data-Driven Identification Constraints

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Lanne, Markku; Luoto, Jani

    We propose a sequential Monte Carlo (SMC) method augmented with an importance sampling step for estimation of DSGE models. In addition to being theoretically well motivated, the new method facilitates the assessment of estimation accuracy. Furthermore, in order to alleviate the problem of multimo......We propose a sequential Monte Carlo (SMC) method augmented with an importance sampling step for estimation of DSGE models. In addition to being theoretically well motivated, the new method facilitates the assessment of estimation accuracy. Furthermore, in order to alleviate the problem...... the properties of the estimation method, and shows how the problem of multimodal posterior distributions caused by parameter redundancy is eliminated by identification constraints. Out-of-sample forecast comparisons as well as Bayes factors lend support to the constrained model....

  19. Estimation of improved resolution soil moisture in vegetated areas using passive AMSR-E data

    Science.gov (United States)

    Moradizadeh, Mina; Saradjian, Mohammad R.

    2018-03-01

    Microwave remote sensing provides a unique capability for soil parameter retrievals. Therefore, various soil parameters estimation models have been developed using brightness temperature (BT) measured by passive microwave sensors. Due to the low resolution of satellite microwave radiometer data, the main goal of this study is to develop a downscaling approach to improve the spatial resolution of soil moisture estimates with the use of higher resolution visible/infrared sensor data. Accordingly, after the soil parameters have been obtained using Simultaneous Land Parameters Retrieval Model algorithm, the downscaling method has been applied to the soil moisture estimations that have been validated against in situ soil moisture data. Advance Microwave Scanning Radiometer-EOS BT data in Soil Moisture Experiment 2003 region in the south and north of Oklahoma have been used to this end. Results illustrated that the soil moisture variability is effectively captured at 5 km spatial scales without a significant degradation of the accuracy.

  20. Improving statistical inference on pathogen densities estimated by quantitative molecular methods: malaria gametocytaemia as a case study.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Walker, Martin; Basáñez, María-Gloria; Ouédraogo, André Lin; Hermsen, Cornelus; Bousema, Teun; Churcher, Thomas S

    2015-01-16

    Quantitative molecular methods (QMMs) such as quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction (q-PCR), reverse-transcriptase PCR (qRT-PCR) and quantitative nucleic acid sequence-based amplification (QT-NASBA) are increasingly used to estimate pathogen density in a variety of clinical and epidemiological contexts. These methods are often classified as semi-quantitative, yet estimates of reliability or sensitivity are seldom reported. Here, a statistical framework is developed for assessing the reliability (uncertainty) of pathogen densities estimated using QMMs and the associated diagnostic sensitivity. The method is illustrated with quantification of Plasmodium falciparum gametocytaemia by QT-NASBA. The reliability of pathogen (e.g. gametocyte) densities, and the accompanying diagnostic sensitivity, estimated by two contrasting statistical calibration techniques, are compared; a traditional method and a mixed model Bayesian approach. The latter accounts for statistical dependence of QMM assays run under identical laboratory protocols and permits structural modelling of experimental measurements, allowing precision to vary with pathogen density. Traditional calibration cannot account for inter-assay variability arising from imperfect QMMs and generates estimates of pathogen density that have poor reliability, are variable among assays and inaccurately reflect diagnostic sensitivity. The Bayesian mixed model approach assimilates information from replica QMM assays, improving reliability and inter-assay homogeneity, providing an accurate appraisal of quantitative and diagnostic performance. Bayesian mixed model statistical calibration supersedes traditional techniques in the context of QMM-derived estimates of pathogen density, offering the potential to improve substantially the depth and quality of clinical and epidemiological inference for a wide variety of pathogens.

  1. Bayesian analysis for uncertainty estimation of a canopy transpiration model

    Science.gov (United States)

    Samanta, S.; Mackay, D. S.; Clayton, M. K.; Kruger, E. L.; Ewers, B. E.

    2007-04-01

    A Bayesian approach was used to fit a conceptual transpiration model to half-hourly transpiration rates for a sugar maple (Acer saccharum) stand collected over a 5-month period and probabilistically estimate its parameter and prediction uncertainties. The model used the Penman-Monteith equation with the Jarvis model for canopy conductance. This deterministic model was extended by adding a normally distributed error term. This extension enabled using Markov chain Monte Carlo simulations to sample the posterior parameter distributions. The residuals revealed approximate conformance to the assumption of normally distributed errors. However, minor systematic structures in the residuals at fine timescales suggested model changes that would potentially improve the modeling of transpiration. Results also indicated considerable uncertainties in the parameter and transpiration estimates. This simple methodology of uncertainty analysis would facilitate the deductive step during the development cycle of deterministic conceptual models by accounting for these uncertainties while drawing inferences from data.

  2. Barriers and facilitators to the uptake of voluntary medical male ...

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    VMMC) among adolescent boys in KwaZulu–Natal, South Africa. ... Individual cognitive factors facilitating uptake included the belief that VMMC reduced the risk of HIV infection, led to better hygiene and improvement in sexual desirability and ...

  3. Towards accessible integrated palliative care: Perspectives of leaders from seven European countries on facilitators, barriers and recommendations for improvement.

    Science.gov (United States)

    den Herder-van der Eerden, Marlieke; Ewert, Benjamin; Hodiamont, Farina; Hesse, Michaela; Hasselaar, Jeroen; Radbruch, Lukas

    2017-01-01

    Literature suggests that integrated palliative care (IPC) increases the quality of care for palliative patients at lower costs. However, knowledge on models encompassing all integration levels for successfully implementing IPC is scarce. The purpose of this paper is to describe the experiences of IPC leaders in seven European countries regarding core elements, facilitators and barriers of IPC implementation and provides recommendations for future policy and practice. A qualitative interview study was conducted between December 2013 and May 2014. In total, 34 IPC leaders in primary and secondary palliative care or public health in Belgium, Germany, Hungary, Ireland, the Netherlands, Spain and the UK were interviewed. Transcripts were analysed using thematic data analysis. IPC implementation efforts involved a multidisciplinary team approach and cross-sectional coordination. Informal professional relationships, basic medical education and general awareness were regarded as facilitators of IPC. Identified barriers included lack of knowledge about when to start palliative care, lack of collaboration and financial structures. Recommendations for improvement included access, patient-centeredness, coordination and cooperation, financing and ICT systems. Although IPC is becoming more common, action has been uneven at different levels. IPC implementation largely remains provisional and informal due to the lack of standardised treatment pathways, legal frameworks and financial incentives to support multilevel integration. In order to make IPC more accessible, palliative care education as well as legal and financial support within national healthcare systems needs to be enhanced.

  4. Improving precipitation estimates over the western United States using GOES-R precipitation data

    Science.gov (United States)

    Karbalaee, N.; Kirstetter, P. E.; Gourley, J. J.

    2017-12-01

    Satellite remote sensing data with fine spatial and temporal resolution are widely used for precipitation estimation for different applications such as hydrological modeling, storm prediction, and flash flood monitoring. The Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellites-R series (GOES-R) is the next generation of environmental satellites that provides hydrologic, atmospheric, and climatic information every 30 seconds over the western hemisphere. The high-resolution and low-latency of GOES-R observations is essential for the monitoring and prediction of floods, specifically in the Western United States where the vantage point of space can complement the degraded weather radar coverage of the NEXRAD network. The GOES-R rainfall rate algorithm will yield deterministic quantitative precipitation estimates (QPE). Accounting for inherent uncertainties will further advance the GOES-R QPEs since with quantifiable error bars, the rainfall estimates can be more readily fused with ground radar products. On the ground, the high-resolution NEXRAD-based precipitation estimation from the Multi-Radar/Multi-Sensor (MRMS) system, which is now operational in the National Weather Service (NWS), is challenged due to a lack of suitable coverage of operational weather radars over complex terrain. Distribution of QPE uncertainties associated with the GOES-R deterministic retrievals are derived and analyzed using MRMS over regions with good radar coverage. They will be merged with MRMS-based probabilistic QPEs developed to advance multisensor QPE integration. This research aims at improving precipitation estimation over the CONUS by combining the observations from GOES-R and MRMS to provide consistent, accurate and fine resolution precipitation rates with uncertainties over the CONUS.

  5. FIRE (facilitating implementation of research evidence: a study protocol

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Seers Kate

    2012-03-01

    Full Text Available Abstract Background Research evidence underpins best practice, but is not always used in healthcare. The Promoting Action on Research Implementation in Health Services (PARIHS framework suggests that the nature of evidence, the context in which it is used, and whether those trying to use evidence are helped (or facilitated affect the use of evidence. Urinary incontinence has a major effect on quality of life of older people, has a high prevalence, and is a key priority within European health and social care policy. Improving continence care has the potential to improve the quality of life for older people and reduce the costs associated with providing incontinence aids. Objectives This study aims to advance understanding about the contribution facilitation can make to implementing research findings into practice via: extending current knowledge of facilitation as a process for translating research evidence into practice; evaluating the feasibility, effectiveness, and cost-effectiveness of two different models of facilitation in promoting the uptake of research evidence on continence management; assessing the impact of contextual factors on the processes and outcomes of implementation; and implementing a pro-active knowledge transfer and dissemination strategy to diffuse study findings to a wide policy and practice community. Setting and sample Four European countries, each with six long-term nursing care sites (total 24 sites for people aged 60 years and over with documented urinary incontinence Methods and design Pragmatic randomised controlled trial with three arms (standard dissemination and two different programmes of facilitation, with embedded process and economic evaluation. The primary outcome is compliance with the continence recommendations. Secondary outcomes include proportion of residents with incontinence, incidence of incontinence-related dermatitis, urinary tract infections, and quality of life. Outcomes are assessed at baseline

  6. Assessing Error Correlations in Remote Sensing-Based Estimates of Forest Attributes for Improved Composite Estimation

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Sarah Ehlers

    2018-04-01

    Full Text Available Today, non-expensive remote sensing (RS data from different sensors and platforms can be obtained at short intervals and be used for assessing several kinds of forest characteristics at the level of plots, stands and landscapes. Methods such as composite estimation and data assimilation can be used for combining the different sources of information to obtain up-to-date and precise estimates of the characteristics of interest. In composite estimation a standard procedure is to assign weights to the different individual estimates inversely proportional to their variance. However, in case the estimates are correlated, the correlations must be considered in assigning weights or otherwise a composite estimator may be inefficient and its variance be underestimated. In this study we assessed the correlation of plot level estimates of forest characteristics from different RS datasets, between assessments using the same type of sensor as well as across different sensors. The RS data evaluated were SPOT-5 multispectral data, 3D airborne laser scanning data, and TanDEM-X interferometric radar data. Studies were made for plot level mean diameter, mean height, and growing stock volume. All data were acquired from a test site dominated by coniferous forest in southern Sweden. We found that the correlation between plot level estimates based on the same type of RS data were positive and strong, whereas the correlations between estimates using different sources of RS data were not as strong, and weaker for mean height than for mean diameter and volume. The implications of such correlations in composite estimation are demonstrated and it is discussed how correlations may affect results from data assimilation procedures.

  7. Facilitators and constraints at each stage of the migration decision process.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kley, Stefanie

    2017-10-01

    Behavioural models of migration emphasize the importance of migration decision-making for the explanation of subsequent behaviour. But empirical migration research regularly finds considerable gaps between those who intend to migrate and those who actually realize their intention. This paper applies the Theory of Planned Behaviour, enriched by the Rubicon model, to test specific hypotheses about distinct effects of facilitators and constraints on specific stages of migration decision-making and behaviour. The data come from a tailor-made panel survey based on random samples of people drawn from two German cities in 2006-07. The results show that in conventional models the effects of facilitators and constraints on migration decision-making are likely to be underestimated. Splitting the process of migration decision-making into a pre-decisional and a pre-actional phase helps to avoid bias in the estimated effects of facilitators and constraints on both migration decision-making and migration behaviour.

  8. Reversible dual inhibitor against G9a and DNMT1 improves human iPSC derivation enhancing MET and facilitating transcription factor engagement to the genome.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Juan Roberto Rodriguez-Madoz

    Full Text Available The combination of defined factors with small molecules targeting epigenetic factors is a strategy that has been shown to enhance optimal derivation of iPSCs and could be used for disease modelling, high throughput screenings and/or regenerative medicine applications. In this study, we showed that a new first-in-class reversible dual G9a/DNMT1 inhibitor compound (CM272 improves the efficiency of human cell reprogramming and iPSC generation from primary cells of healthy donors and patient samples, using both integrative and non-integrative methods. Moreover, CM272 facilitates the generation of human iPSC with only two factors allowing the removal of the most potent oncogenic factor cMYC. Furthermore, we demonstrated that mechanistically, treatment with CM272 induces heterochromatin relaxation, facilitates the engagement of OCT4 and SOX2 transcription factors to OSKM refractory binding regions that are required for iPSC establishment, and enhances mesenchymal to epithelial transition during the early phase of cell reprogramming. Thus, the use of this new G9a/DNMT reversible dual inhibitor compound may represent an interesting alternative for improving cell reprogramming and human iPSC derivation for many different applications while providing interesting insights into reprogramming mechanisms.

  9. Reversible dual inhibitor against G9a and DNMT1 improves human iPSC derivation enhancing MET and facilitating transcription factor engagement to the genome.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Rodriguez-Madoz, Juan Roberto; San Jose-Eneriz, Edurne; Rabal, Obdulia; Zapata-Linares, Natalia; Miranda, Estibaliz; Rodriguez, Saray; Porciuncula, Angelo; Vilas-Zornoza, Amaia; Garate, Leire; Segura, Victor; Guruceaga, Elizabeth; Agirre, Xabier; Oyarzabal, Julen; Prosper, Felipe

    2017-01-01

    The combination of defined factors with small molecules targeting epigenetic factors is a strategy that has been shown to enhance optimal derivation of iPSCs and could be used for disease modelling, high throughput screenings and/or regenerative medicine applications. In this study, we showed that a new first-in-class reversible dual G9a/DNMT1 inhibitor compound (CM272) improves the efficiency of human cell reprogramming and iPSC generation from primary cells of healthy donors and patient samples, using both integrative and non-integrative methods. Moreover, CM272 facilitates the generation of human iPSC with only two factors allowing the removal of the most potent oncogenic factor cMYC. Furthermore, we demonstrated that mechanistically, treatment with CM272 induces heterochromatin relaxation, facilitates the engagement of OCT4 and SOX2 transcription factors to OSKM refractory binding regions that are required for iPSC establishment, and enhances mesenchymal to epithelial transition during the early phase of cell reprogramming. Thus, the use of this new G9a/DNMT reversible dual inhibitor compound may represent an interesting alternative for improving cell reprogramming and human iPSC derivation for many different applications while providing interesting insights into reprogramming mechanisms.

  10. An Innovative Method for Estimating Soil Retention at a ...

    Science.gov (United States)

    Planning for a sustainable future should include an accounting of services currently provided by ecosystems such as erosion control. Retention of soil improves fertility, increases water retention, and decreases sedimentation in streams and rivers. Landscapes patterns that facilitate these services could help reduce costs for flood control, dredging of reservoirs and waterways, while maintaining habitat for fish and other species important to recreational and tourism industries. Landscape scale geospatial data available for the continental United States was leveraged to estimate sediment erosion (RUSLE-based, Renard, et al. 1997) employing recent geospatial techniques of sediment delivery ratio (SDR) estimation (Cavalli, et al. 2013). The approach was designed to derive a quantitative approximation of the ecological services provided by vegetative cover, management practices, and other surface features with respect to protecting soils from the erosion processes of detachment, transport, and deposition. Quantities of soil retained on the landscape and potential erosion for multiple land cover scenarios relative to current (NLCD 2011) conditions were calculated for each calendar month, and summed to yield annual estimations at a 30-meter grid cell. Continental-scale data used included MODIS NDVI data (2000-2014) to estimate monthly USLE C-factors, gridded soil survey geographic (gSSURGO) soils data (annual USLE K factor), PRISM rainfall data (monthly USLE

  11. Short-term facilitation may stabilize parametric working memory trace

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Vladimir eItskov

    2011-10-01

    Full Text Available Networks with continuous set of attractors are considered to be a paradigmatic model for parametric working memory, but require fine-tuning of connections and are thus structurally unstable. Here we analyzed the network with ring attractor, where connections are not perfectly tuned and the activity state therefore drifts in the absence of the stabilizing stimulus. We derive an analytical expression for the drift dynamics and conclude that the network cannot function as working memory for a period of several seconds, a typical delay time in monkey memory experiments. We propose that short-term synaptic facilitation in recurrent connections significantly improves the robustness of the model by slowing down the drift of activity bump. Extending the calculation of the drift velocity to network with synaptic facilitation, we conclude that facilitation can slow down the drift by a large factor, rendering the network suitable as a model of working memory.

  12. An Improved Estimation Using Polya-Gamma Augmentation for Bayesian Structural Equation Models with Dichotomous Variables

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kim, Seohyun; Lu, Zhenqiu; Cohen, Allan S.

    2018-01-01

    Bayesian algorithms have been used successfully in the social and behavioral sciences to analyze dichotomous data particularly with complex structural equation models. In this study, we investigate the use of the Polya-Gamma data augmentation method with Gibbs sampling to improve estimation of structural equation models with dichotomous variables.…

  13. Improving Estimation Accuracy of Aggregate Queries on Data Cubes

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Pourabbas, Elaheh; Shoshani, Arie

    2008-08-15

    In this paper, we investigate the problem of estimation of a target database from summary databases derived from a base data cube. We show that such estimates can be derived by choosing a primary database which uses a proxy database to estimate the results. This technique is common in statistics, but an important issue we are addressing is the accuracy of these estimates. Specifically, given multiple primary and multiple proxy databases, that share the same summary measure, the problem is how to select the primary and proxy databases that will generate the most accurate target database estimation possible. We propose an algorithmic approach for determining the steps to select or compute the source databases from multiple summary databases, which makes use of the principles of information entropy. We show that the source databases with the largest number of cells in common provide the more accurate estimates. We prove that this is consistent with maximizing the entropy. We provide some experimental results on the accuracy of the target database estimation in order to verify our results.

  14. Improving Hip-Worn Accelerometer Estimates of Sitting Using Machine Learning Methods.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kerr, Jacqueline; Carlson, Jordan; Godbole, Suneeta; Cadmus-Bertram, Lisa; Bellettiere, John; Hartman, Sheri

    2018-02-13

    To improve estimates of sitting time from hip worn accelerometers used in large cohort studies by employing machine learning methods developed on free living activPAL data. Thirty breast cancer survivors concurrently wore a hip worn accelerometer and a thigh worn activPAL for 7 days. A random forest classifier, trained on the activPAL data, was employed to detect sitting, standing and sit-stand transitions in 5 second windows in the hip worn accelerometer. The classifier estimates were compared to the standard accelerometer cut point and significant differences across different bout lengths were investigated using mixed effect models. Overall, the algorithm predicted the postures with moderate accuracy (stepping 77%, standing 63%, sitting 67%, sit to stand 52% and stand to sit 51%). Daily level analyses indicated that errors in transition estimates were only occurring during sitting bouts of 2 minutes or less. The standard cut point was significantly different from the activPAL across all bout lengths, overestimating short bouts and underestimating long bouts. This is among the first algorithms for sitting and standing for hip worn accelerometer data to be trained from entirely free living activPAL data. The new algorithm detected prolonged sitting which has been shown to be most detrimental to health. Further validation and training in larger cohorts is warranted.This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License 4.0 (CCBY), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

  15. Mathematical modeling improves EC50 estimations from classical dose-response curves.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Nyman, Elin; Lindgren, Isa; Lövfors, William; Lundengård, Karin; Cervin, Ida; Sjöström, Theresia Arbring; Altimiras, Jordi; Cedersund, Gunnar

    2015-03-01

    The β-adrenergic response is impaired in failing hearts. When studying β-adrenergic function in vitro, the half-maximal effective concentration (EC50 ) is an important measure of ligand response. We previously measured the in vitro contraction force response of chicken heart tissue to increasing concentrations of adrenaline, and observed a decreasing response at high concentrations. The classical interpretation of such data is to assume a maximal response before the decrease, and to fit a sigmoid curve to the remaining data to determine EC50 . Instead, we have applied a mathematical modeling approach to interpret the full dose-response curve in a new way. The developed model predicts a non-steady-state caused by a short resting time between increased concentrations of agonist, which affect the dose-response characterization. Therefore, an improved estimate of EC50 may be calculated using steady-state simulations of the model. The model-based estimation of EC50 is further refined using additional time-resolved data to decrease the uncertainty of the prediction. The resulting model-based EC50 (180-525 nm) is higher than the classically interpreted EC50 (46-191 nm). Mathematical modeling thus makes it possible to re-interpret previously obtained datasets, and to make accurate estimates of EC50 even when steady-state measurements are not experimentally feasible. The mathematical models described here have been submitted to the JWS Online Cellular Systems Modelling Database, and may be accessed at http://jjj.bio.vu.nl/database/nyman. © 2015 FEBS.

  16. Geo-social media as a proxy for hydrometeorological data for streamflow estimation and to improve flood monitoring

    Science.gov (United States)

    Restrepo-Estrada, Camilo; de Andrade, Sidgley Camargo; Abe, Narumi; Fava, Maria Clara; Mendiondo, Eduardo Mario; de Albuquerque, João Porto

    2018-02-01

    Floods are one of the most devastating types of worldwide disasters in terms of human, economic, and social losses. If authoritative data is scarce, or unavailable for some periods, other sources of information are required to improve streamflow estimation and early flood warnings. Georeferenced social media messages are increasingly being regarded as an alternative source of information for coping with flood risks. However, existing studies have mostly concentrated on the links between geo-social media activity and flooded areas. Thus, there is still a gap in research with regard to the use of social media as a proxy for rainfall-runoff estimations and flood forecasting. To address this, we propose using a transformation function that creates a proxy variable for rainfall by analysing geo-social media messages and rainfall measurements from authoritative sources, which are later incorporated within a hydrological model for streamflow estimation. We found that the combined use of official rainfall values with the social media proxy variable as input for the Probability Distributed Model (PDM), improved streamflow simulations for flood monitoring. The combination of authoritative sources and transformed geo-social media data during flood events achieved a 71% degree of accuracy and a 29% underestimation rate in a comparison made with real streamflow measurements. This is a significant improvement on the respective values of 39% and 58%, achieved when only authoritative data were used for the modelling. This result is clear evidence of the potential use of derived geo-social media data as a proxy for environmental variables for improving flood early-warning systems.

  17. 3,4-Methylenedioxymethamphetamine facilitates fear extinction learning

    OpenAIRE

    Young, M B; Andero, R; Ressler, K J; Howell, L L

    2015-01-01

    Acutely administered 3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA, ?ecstasy') has been proposed to have long-term positive effects on post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms when combined with psychotherapy. No preclinical data support a mechanistic basis for these claims. Given the persistent nature of psychotherapeutic gains facilitated by MDMA, we hypothesized that MDMA improves fear extinction learning, a key process in exposure-based therapies for PTSD. In these experiments, mice were ...

  18. Improved image registration by sparse patch-based deformation estimation.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kim, Minjeong; Wu, Guorong; Wang, Qian; Lee, Seong-Whan; Shen, Dinggang

    2015-01-15

    Despite intensive efforts for decades, deformable image registration is still a challenging problem due to the potential large anatomical differences across individual images, which limits the registration performance. Fortunately, this issue could be alleviated if a good initial deformation can be provided for the two images under registration, which are often termed as the moving subject and the fixed template, respectively. In this work, we present a novel patch-based initial deformation prediction framework for improving the performance of existing registration algorithms. Our main idea is to estimate the initial deformation between subject and template in a patch-wise fashion by using the sparse representation technique. We argue that two image patches should follow the same deformation toward the template image if their patch-wise appearance patterns are similar. To this end, our framework consists of two stages, i.e., the training stage and the application stage. In the training stage, we register all training images to the pre-selected template, such that the deformation of each training image with respect to the template is known. In the application stage, we apply the following four steps to efficiently calculate the initial deformation field for the new test subject: (1) We pick a small number of key points in the distinctive regions of the test subject; (2) for each key point, we extract a local patch and form a coupled appearance-deformation dictionary from training images where each dictionary atom consists of the image intensity patch as well as their respective local deformations; (3) a small set of training image patches in the coupled dictionary are selected to represent the image patch of each subject key point by sparse representation. Then, we can predict the initial deformation for each subject key point by propagating the pre-estimated deformations on the selected training patches with the same sparse representation coefficients; and (4) we

  19. Facilitating Group Decision-Making: Facilitator's Subjective Theories on Group Coordination

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Michaela Kolbe

    2008-10-01

    Full Text Available A key feature of group facilitation is motivating and coordinating people to perform their joint work. This paper focuses on group coordination which is a prerequisite to group effectiveness, especially in complex tasks. Decision-making in groups is a complex task that consequently needs to be coordinated by explicit rather than implicit coordination mechanisms. Based on the embedded definition that explicit coordination does not just happen but is purposely executed by individuals, we argue that individual coordination intentions and mechanisms should be taken into account. Thus far, the subjective perspective of coordination has been neglected in coordination theory, which is understandable given the difficulties in defining and measuring subjective aspects of group facilitation. We therefore conducted focused interviews with eight experts who either worked as senior managers or as experienced group facilitators and analysed their approaches to group coordination using methods of content analysis. Results show that these experts possess sophisticated mental representations of their coordination behaviour. These subjective coordination theories can be organised in terms of coordination schemes in which coordination-releasing situations are facilitated by special coordination mechanisms that, in turn, lead to the perception of specific consequences. We discuss the importance of these subjective coordination theories for effectively facilitating group decision-making and minimising process losses. URN: urn:nbn:de:0114-fqs0901287

  20. Does the GPM mission improve the systematic error component in satellite rainfall estimates over TRMM? An evaluation at a pan-India scale

    Science.gov (United States)

    Beria, Harsh; Nanda, Trushnamayee; Singh Bisht, Deepak; Chatterjee, Chandranath

    2017-12-01

    The last couple of decades have seen the outburst of a number of satellite-based precipitation products with Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission (TRMM) as the most widely used for hydrologic applications. Transition of TRMM into the Global Precipitation Measurement (GPM) promises enhanced spatio-temporal resolution along with upgrades to sensors and rainfall estimation techniques. The dependence of systematic error components in rainfall estimates of the Integrated Multi-satellitE Retrievals for GPM (IMERG), and their variation with climatology and topography, was evaluated over 86 basins in India for year 2014 and compared with the corresponding (2014) and retrospective (1998-2013) TRMM estimates. IMERG outperformed TRMM for all rainfall intensities across a majority of Indian basins, with significant improvement in low rainfall estimates showing smaller negative biases in 75 out of 86 basins. Low rainfall estimates in TRMM showed a systematic dependence on basin climatology, with significant overprediction in semi-arid basins, which gradually improved in the higher rainfall basins. Medium and high rainfall estimates of TRMM exhibited a strong dependence on basin topography, with declining skill in higher elevation basins. The systematic dependence of error components on basin climatology and topography was reduced in IMERG, especially in terms of topography. Rainfall-runoff modeling using the Variable Infiltration Capacity (VIC) model over two flood-prone basins (Mahanadi and Wainganga) revealed that improvement in rainfall estimates in IMERG did not translate into improvement in runoff simulations. More studies are required over basins in different hydroclimatic zones to evaluate the hydrologic significance of IMERG.

  1. Does the GPM mission improve the systematic error component in satellite rainfall estimates over TRMM? An evaluation at a pan-India scale

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    H. Beria

    2017-12-01

    Full Text Available The last couple of decades have seen the outburst of a number of satellite-based precipitation products with Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission (TRMM as the most widely used for hydrologic applications. Transition of TRMM into the Global Precipitation Measurement (GPM promises enhanced spatio-temporal resolution along with upgrades to sensors and rainfall estimation techniques. The dependence of systematic error components in rainfall estimates of the Integrated Multi-satellitE Retrievals for GPM (IMERG, and their variation with climatology and topography, was evaluated over 86 basins in India for year 2014 and compared with the corresponding (2014 and retrospective (1998–2013 TRMM estimates. IMERG outperformed TRMM for all rainfall intensities across a majority of Indian basins, with significant improvement in low rainfall estimates showing smaller negative biases in 75 out of 86 basins. Low rainfall estimates in TRMM showed a systematic dependence on basin climatology, with significant overprediction in semi-arid basins, which gradually improved in the higher rainfall basins. Medium and high rainfall estimates of TRMM exhibited a strong dependence on basin topography, with declining skill in higher elevation basins. The systematic dependence of error components on basin climatology and topography was reduced in IMERG, especially in terms of topography. Rainfall-runoff modeling using the Variable Infiltration Capacity (VIC model over two flood-prone basins (Mahanadi and Wainganga revealed that improvement in rainfall estimates in IMERG did not translate into improvement in runoff simulations. More studies are required over basins in different hydroclimatic zones to evaluate the hydrologic significance of IMERG.

  2. Application of Synchrophasor Measurements for Improving Situational Awareness of the Power System

    Science.gov (United States)

    Obushevs, A.; Mutule, A.

    2018-04-01

    The paper focuses on the application of synchrophasor measurements that present unprecedented benefits compared to SCADA systems in order to facilitate the successful transformation of the Nordic-Baltic-and-European electric power system to operate with large amounts of renewable energy sources and improve situational awareness of the power system. The article describes new functionalities of visualisation tools to estimate a grid inertia level in real time with monitoring results between Nordic and Baltic power systems.

  3. Containers, facilitators, innovators?

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Makkonen, Teemu; Merisalo, Maria; Inkinen, Tommi

    2018-01-01

    : are they containers, facilitators or innovators? This is investigated here through empirical material derived from 27 interviews with top departmental management in three Finnish cities (Helsinki, Espoo and Vantaa). The results show that local city governments (LCGs) consider cities as facilitators of innovation...

  4. Estimating the Value of Improved Distributed Photovoltaic Adoption Forecasts for Utility Resource Planning

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Gagnon, Pieter [National Renewable Energy Lab. (NREL), Golden, CO (United States); Barbose, Galen L. [Lawrence Berkeley National Lab. (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States); Stoll, Brady [National Renewable Energy Lab. (NREL), Golden, CO (United States); Ehlen, Ali [National Renewable Energy Lab. (NREL), Golden, CO (United States); Zuboy, Jarret [National Renewable Energy Lab. (NREL), Golden, CO (United States); Mai, Trieu [National Renewable Energy Lab. (NREL), Golden, CO (United States); Mills, Andrew D. [Lawrence Berkeley National Lab. (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States)

    2018-05-15

    Misforecasting the adoption of customer-owned distributed photovoltaics (DPV) can have operational and financial implications for utilities; forecasting capabilities can be improved, but generally at a cost. This paper informs this decision-space by using a suite of models to explore the capacity expansion and operation of the Western Interconnection over a 15-year period across a wide range of DPV growth rates and misforecast severities. The system costs under a misforecast are compared against the costs under a perfect forecast, to quantify the costs of misforecasting. Using a simplified probabilistic method applied to these modeling results, an analyst can make a first-order estimate of the financial benefit of improving a utility’s forecasting capabilities, and thus be better informed about whether to make such an investment. For example, under our base assumptions, a utility with 10 TWh per year of retail electric sales who initially estimates that DPV growth could range from 2% to 7.5% of total generation over the next 15 years could expect total present-value savings of approximately $4 million if they could reduce the severity of misforecasting to within ±25%. Utility resource planners can compare those savings against the costs needed to achieve that level of precision, to guide their decision on whether to make an investment in tools or resources.

  5. Barriers and Facilitators to Central Venous Catheter Insertion: A Qualitative Study.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Cameron, Kenzie A; Cohen, Elaine R; Hertz, Joelle R; Wayne, Diane B; Mitra, Debi; Barsuk, Jeffrey H

    2018-03-14

    The aims of the study were to identify perceived barriers and facilitators to central venous catheter (CVC) insertion among healthcare providers and to understand the extent to which an existing Simulation-Based Mastery Learning (SBML) program may address barriers and leverage facilitators. Providers participating in a CVC insertion SBML train-the-trainer program, in addition to intensive care unit nurse managers, were purposively sampled from Veterans Administration Medical Centers located in geographically diverse areas. We conducted semistructured interviews to assess perceptions of barriers and facilitators to CVC insertion. Deidentified transcripts were analyzed using a grounded theory approach and the constant comparative method. We subsequently mapped identified barriers and facilitators to our SBML curriculum to determine whether or not the curriculum addresses these factors. We interviewed 28 providers at six Veterans Administration Medical Centers, identifying the following five overarching factors of perceived barriers to CVC insertion: (1) equipment, (2) personnel/staff, (3) setting or organizational context, (4) patient or provider, and (5) time-related barriers. Three overarching factors of facilitators emerged: (1) equipment, (2) personnel, and (3) setting or organizational context facilitators. The SBML curriculum seems to address most identified barriers, while leveraging many facilitators; building on the commonly identified facilitator of nursing staff contribution by expanding the curriculum to explicitly include nurse involvement could improve team efficiency and organizational culture of safety. Many identified facilitators (e.g., ability to use ultrasound, personnel confidence/competence) were also identified as barriers. Evidence-based SBML programs have the potential to amplify these facilitators while addressing the barriers by providing an opportunity to practice and master CVC insertion skills.

  6. "Refreshed…reinforced…reflective": A qualitative exploration of interprofessional education facilitators' own interprofessional learning and collaborative practice.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Evans, Sherryn; Shaw, Nicole; Ward, Catherine; Hayley, Alexa

    2016-11-01

    While there is extensive research examining the outcomes of interprofessional education (IPE) for students, minimal research has investigated how facilitating student learning influences the facilitators themselves. This exploratory case study aimed to explore whether and how facilitating IPE influences facilitators' own collaborative practice attitudes, knowledge, and workplace behaviours. Sixteen facilitators of an online pre-licensure IPE unit for an Australian university participated in semi-structured telephone interviews. Inductive thematic analysis revealed three emergent themes and associated subthemes characterising participants' reflexivity as IPE facilitators: interprofessional learning; professional behaviour change; and collaborative practice expertise. Participants experienced interprofessional learning in their role as facilitators, improving their understanding of other professionals' roles, theoretical and empirical knowledge underlying collaborative practice, and the use and value of online communication. Participants also reported having changed several professional behaviours, including improved interprofessional collaboration with colleagues, a change in care plan focus, a less didactic approach to supervising students and staff, and greater enthusiasm impressing the value of collaborative practice on placement students. Participants reported having acquired their prior interprofessional collaboration expertise via professional experience rather than formal learning opportunities and believed access to formal IPE as learners would aid their continuing professional development. Overall, the outcomes of the IPE experience extended past the intended audience of the student learners and positively impacted on the facilitators as well.

  7. Improving the Network Scale-Up Estimator: Incorporating Means of Sums, Recursive Back Estimation, and Sampling Weights.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Patrick Habecker

    Full Text Available Researchers interested in studying populations that are difficult to reach through traditional survey methods can now draw on a range of methods to access these populations. Yet many of these methods are more expensive and difficult to implement than studies using conventional sampling frames and trusted sampling methods. The network scale-up method (NSUM provides a middle ground for researchers who wish to estimate the size of a hidden population, but lack the resources to conduct a more specialized hidden population study. Through this method it is possible to generate population estimates for a wide variety of groups that are perhaps unwilling to self-identify as such (for example, users of illegal drugs or other stigmatized populations via traditional survey tools such as telephone or mail surveys--by asking a representative sample to estimate the number of people they know who are members of such a "hidden" subpopulation. The original estimator is formulated to minimize the weight a single scaling variable can exert upon the estimates. We argue that this introduces hidden and difficult to predict biases, and instead propose a series of methodological advances on the traditional scale-up estimation procedure, including a new estimator. Additionally, we formalize the incorporation of sample weights into the network scale-up estimation process, and propose a recursive process of back estimation "trimming" to identify and remove poorly performing predictors from the estimation process. To demonstrate these suggestions we use data from a network scale-up mail survey conducted in Nebraska during 2014. We find that using the new estimator and recursive trimming process provides more accurate estimates, especially when used in conjunction with sampling weights.

  8. Depth estimation of features in video frames with improved feature matching technique using Kinect sensor

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sharma, Kajal; Moon, Inkyu; Kim, Sung Gaun

    2012-10-01

    Estimating depth has long been a major issue in the field of computer vision and robotics. The Kinect sensor's active sensing strategy provides high-frame-rate depth maps and can recognize user gestures and human pose. This paper presents a technique to estimate the depth of features extracted from video frames, along with an improved feature-matching method. In this paper, we used the Kinect camera developed by Microsoft, which captured color and depth images for further processing. Feature detection and selection is an important task for robot navigation. Many feature-matching techniques have been proposed earlier, and this paper proposes an improved feature matching between successive video frames with the use of neural network methodology in order to reduce the computation time of feature matching. The features extracted are invariant to image scale and rotation, and different experiments were conducted to evaluate the performance of feature matching between successive video frames. The extracted features are assigned distance based on the Kinect technology that can be used by the robot in order to determine the path of navigation, along with obstacle detection applications.

  9. Avoided cost estimation and post-reform funding allocation for California's energy efficiency programs

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Baskette, C.; Horii, B.; Price, S.; Kollman, E.

    2006-01-01

    This paper summarizes the first comprehensive estimation of California's electricity avoided costs since the state reformed its electricity market. It describes avoided cost estimates that vary by time and location, thus facilitating targeted design, funding, and marketing of demand-side management (DSM) and energy efficiency (EE) programs that could not have occurred under the previous methodology of system average cost estimation. The approach, data, and results reflect two important market structure changes: (a) wholesale spot and forward markets now supply electricity commodities to load serving entities; and (b) the evolution of an emissions market that internalizes and prices some of the externalities of electricity generation. The paper also introduces the multiplier effect of a price reduction due to DSM/EE implementation on electricity bills of all consumers. It affirms that area- and time-specific avoided cost estimates can improve the allocation of the state's public funding for DSM/EE programs, a finding that could benefit other parts of North America (e.g. Ontario and New York), which have undergone electricity deregulation. (author)

  10. Barriers and facilitators in accessing dementia care by ethnic minority groups: a meta-synthesis of qualitative studies.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kenning, Cassandra; Daker-White, Gavin; Blakemore, Amy; Panagioti, Maria; Waheed, Waquas

    2017-08-30

    It is estimated that there are about 25,000 people from UK ethnic minority groups with dementia. It is clear that there is an increasing need to improve access to dementia services for all ethnic groups to ensure that everyone has access to the same potential health benefits. The aim was to systematically review qualitative studies and to perform a meta-synthesis around barriers and facilitators to accessing care for dementia in ethnic minorities. Databases were searched to capture studies on barriers and facilitators to accessing care for dementia in ethnic minorities. Analysis followed the guidelines for meta-ethnography. All interpretations of data as presented by the authors of the included papers were extracted and grouped into new themes. Six hundred and eighty four papers were identified and screened. Twenty eight studies were included in the meta-synthesis. The analysis developed a number of themes and these were incorporated into two overarching themes: 'inadequacies' and 'cultural habitus'. The two overarching themes lend themselves to interventions at a service level and a community level which need to happen in synergy. The review was registered with PROSPERO: CRD42016049326 .

  11. Learning Environment Facilitating Educational Achievements of Teenagers

    OpenAIRE

    Šūmane, Ilze

    2012-01-01

    ABSTRACT. The doctoral thesis of Ilze Šūmane in pedagogy science, school pedagogy sub-discipline ”Learning environment facilitating educational achievements of teenagers” was worked out in the Department of Pedagogy, Faculty of Pedagogy, Psychology and Arts, University of Latvia, under the supervision of Dr.paed., professor Rudīte Andersone from2001 till 2011. The topicality of the research determined by the necessity to improve quality learning and education. During an effective study ...

  12. Reporting to Improve Reproducibility and Facilitate Validity Assessment for Healthcare Database Studies V1.0

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Wang, Shirley V.; Schneeweiss, Sebastian; Berger, Marc L.; Brown, Jeffrey; de Vries, Frank; Douglas, Ian; Gagne, Joshua J.; Gini, Rosa; Klungel, Olaf; Mullins, C. Daniel; Nguyen, Michael D.; Rassen, Jeremy A.; Smeeth, Liam; Sturkenboom, Miriam C J M

    2017-01-01

    Purpose: Defining a study population and creating an analytic dataset from longitudinal healthcare databases involves many decisions. Our objective was to catalogue scientific decisions underpinning study execution that should be reported to facilitate replication and enable assessment of validity

  13. Trade Facilitation Indicators and their Potential Impact on Trade Between the Countries of South-Eastern Europe

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Toševska-Trpčevska Katerina

    2016-11-01

    Full Text Available In this paper we base our analysis on previous OECD findings and analysis of trade facilitation indicators for assessing relative economic and trade impact of specific trade facilitation measures for the countries of South-Eastern Europe. In the analysis we plan to include all CEFTA-2006 members, except Moldova, and other countries which are part of this region: Bulgaria, Romania and Greece. We plan to construct twelve trade facilitation indicators (TFIs that correspond to the main policy areas under negotiations at the WTO. The indicators are composed from seventy-eight variables, whose values are drawn from publicly available data. We plan to use these indicators in gravity model in order to estimate the impact of those policy areas on trade volumes between the countries of the region. The use of individual trade facilitation indicators should also enable countries to better assess which trade facilitation measures deserve priority.

  14. Estimating waste disposal quantities from raw waste samples

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Negin, C.A.; Urland, C.S.; Hitz, C.G.; GPU Nuclear Corp., Middletown, PA)

    1985-01-01

    Estimating the disposal quantity of waste resulting from stabilization of radioactive sludge is complex because of the many factors relating to sample analysis results, radioactive decay, allowable disposal concentrations, and options for disposal containers. To facilitate this estimation, a microcomputer spread sheet template was created. The spread sheet has saved considerable engineering hours. 1 fig., 3 tabs

  15. IMPROVEMENT OF MATHEMATICAL MODELS FOR ESTIMATION OF TRAIN DYNAMICS

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    L. V. Ursulyak

    2017-12-01

    Full Text Available Purpose. Using scientific publications the paper analyzes the mathematical models developed in Ukraine, CIS countries and abroad for theoretical studies of train dynamics and also shows the urgency of their further improvement. Methodology. Information base of the research was official full-text and abstract databases, scientific works of domestic and foreign scientists, professional periodicals, materials of scientific and practical conferences, methodological materials of ministries and departments. Analysis of publications on existing mathematical models used to solve a wide range of problems associated with the train dynamics study shows the expediency of their application. Findings. The results of these studies were used in: 1 design of new types of draft gears and air distributors; 2 development of methods for controlling the movement of conventional and connected trains; 3 creation of appropriate process flow diagrams; 4 development of energy-saving methods of train driving; 5 revision of the Construction Codes and Regulations (SNiP ΙΙ-39.76; 6 when selecting the parameters of the autonomous automatic control system, created in DNURT, for an auxiliary locomotive that is part of a connected train; 7 when creating computer simulators for the training of locomotive drivers; 8 assessment of the vehicle dynamic indices characterizing traffic safety. Scientists around the world conduct numerical experiments related to estimation of train dynamics using mathematical models that need to be constantly improved. Originality. The authors presented the main theoretical postulates that allowed them to develop the existing mathematical models for solving problems related to the train dynamics. The analysis of scientific articles published in Ukraine, CIS countries and abroad allows us to determine the most relevant areas of application of mathematical models. Practicalvalue. The practical value of the results obtained lies in the scientific validity

  16. Reporting to Improve Reproducibility and Facilitate Validity Assessment for Healthcare Database Studies V1.0

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Wang, Shirley V.; Schneeweiss, Sebastian; Berger, Marc L.; Brown, Jeffrey; de Vries, Frank|info:eu-repo/dai/nl/303546670; Douglas, Ian; Gagne, Joshua J.; Gini, Rosa; Klungel, Olaf|info:eu-repo/dai/nl/181447649; Mullins, C. Daniel; Nguyen, Michael D.; Rassen, Jeremy A.; Smeeth, Liam; Sturkenboom, Miriam C J M

    2017-01-01

    Purpose Defining a study population and creating an analytic dataset from longitudinal healthcare databases involves many decisions. Our objective was to catalogue scientific decisions underpinning study execution that should be reported to facilitate replication and enable assessment of validity of

  17. Distributed state estimation for multi-agent based active distribution networks

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Nguyen, H.P.; Kling, W.L.

    2010-01-01

    Along with the large-scale implementation of distributed generators, the current distribution networks have changed gradually from passive to active operation. State estimation plays a vital role to facilitate this transition. In this paper, a suitable state estimation method for the active network

  18. Comparative Effectiveness of a Technology-Facilitated Depression Care Management Model in Safety-Net Primary Care Patients With Type 2 Diabetes: 6-Month Outcomes of a Large Clinical Trial.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wu, Shinyi; Ell, Kathleen; Jin, Haomiao; Vidyanti, Irene; Chou, Chih-Ping; Lee, Pey-Jiuan; Gross-Schulman, Sandra; Sklaroff, Laura Myerchin; Belson, David; Nezu, Arthur M; Hay, Joel; Wang, Chien-Ju; Scheib, Geoffrey; Di Capua, Paul; Hawkins, Caitlin; Liu, Pai; Ramirez, Magaly; Wu, Brian W; Richman, Mark; Myers, Caitlin; Agustines, Davin; Dasher, Robert; Kopelowicz, Alex; Allevato, Joseph; Roybal, Mike; Ipp, Eli; Haider, Uzma; Graham, Sharon; Mahabadi, Vahid; Guterman, Jeffrey

    2018-04-23

    Comorbid depression is a significant challenge for safety-net primary care systems. Team-based collaborative depression care is effective, but complex system factors in safety-net organizations impede adoption and result in persistent disparities in outcomes. Diabetes-Depression Care-management Adoption Trial (DCAT) evaluated whether depression care could be significantly improved by harnessing information and communication technologies to automate routine screening and monitoring of patient symptoms and treatment adherence and allow timely communication with providers. The aim of this study was to compare 6-month outcomes of a technology-facilitated care model with a usual care model and a supported care model that involved team-based collaborative depression care for safety-net primary care adult patients with type 2 diabetes. DCAT is a translational study in collaboration with Los Angeles County Department of Health Services, the second largest safety-net care system in the United States. A comparative effectiveness study with quasi-experimental design was conducted in three groups of adult patients with type 2 diabetes to compare three delivery models: usual care, supported care, and technology-facilitated care. Six-month outcomes included depression and diabetes care measures and patient-reported outcomes. Comparative treatment effects were estimated by linear or logistic regression models that used generalized propensity scores to adjust for sampling bias inherent in the nonrandomized design. DCAT enrolled 1406 patients (484 in usual care, 480 in supported care, and 442 in technology-facilitated care), most of whom were Hispanic or Latino and female. Compared with usual care, both the supported care and technology-facilitated care groups were associated with significant reduction in depressive symptoms measured by scores on the 9-item Patient Health Questionnaire (least squares estimate, LSE: usual care=6.35, supported care=5.05, technology-facilitated care=5

  19. Digital mobile technology facilitates HIPAA-sensitive perioperative messaging, improves physician-patient communication, and streamlines patient care.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gordon, Chad R; Rezzadeh, Kameron S; Li, Andrew; Vardanian, Andrew; Zelken, Jonathan; Shores, Jamie T; Sacks, Justin M; Segovia, Andres L; Jarrahy, Reza

    2015-01-01

    %). Satisfaction with the service was high: 94.2 % of users "enjoyed this software" and and 94.2 % of family/friends "felt more connected to their loved ones during surgery." 92.5 % would "recommend their loved ones sign up for this service". Ninety percent of patients who completed the survey reported "an improved hospital experience". Digital communications platforms can facilitate the immediate transfer of HIPAA-compliant data to patients and their designees. Such systems can greatly improve the level of communication between physicians, patients, and patients' families and caregivers. All types of users, including healthcare professionals, patients, and their loved ones, recorded high levels of satisfaction. Based on these observations, we conclude that mobile digital communications platforms represent a way to harness the power of social media to enhance patient care.

  20. Soft Sensor of Vehicle State Estimation Based on the Kernel Principal Component and Improved Neural Network

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Haorui Liu

    2016-01-01

    Full Text Available In the car control systems, it is hard to measure some key vehicle states directly and accurately when running on the road and the cost of the measurement is high as well. To address these problems, a vehicle state estimation method based on the kernel principal component analysis and the improved Elman neural network is proposed. Combining with nonlinear vehicle model of three degrees of freedom (3 DOF, longitudinal, lateral, and yaw motion, this paper applies the method to the soft sensor of the vehicle states. The simulation results of the double lane change tested by Matlab/SIMULINK cosimulation prove the KPCA-IENN algorithm (kernel principal component algorithm and improved Elman neural network to be quick and precise when tracking the vehicle states within the nonlinear area. This algorithm method can meet the software performance requirements of the vehicle states estimation in precision, tracking speed, noise suppression, and other aspects.

  1. A test for Improvement of high resolution Quantitative Precipitation Estimation for localized heavy precipitation events

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lee, Jung-Hoon; Roh, Joon-Woo; Park, Jeong-Gyun

    2017-04-01

    Accurate estimation of precipitation is one of the most difficult and significant tasks in the area of weather diagnostic and forecasting. In the Korean Peninsula, heavy precipitations are caused by various physical mechanisms, which are affected by shortwave trough, quasi-stationary moisture convergence zone among varying air masses, and a direct/indirect effect of tropical cyclone. In addition to, various geographical and topographical elements make production of temporal and spatial distribution of precipitation is very complicated. Especially, localized heavy rainfall events in South Korea generally arise from mesoscale convective systems embedded in these synoptic scale disturbances. In weather radar data with high temporal and spatial resolution, accurate estimation of rain rate from radar reflectivity data is too difficult. Z-R relationship (Marshal and Palmer 1948) have adapted representatively. In addition to, several methods such as support vector machine (SVM), neural network, Fuzzy logic, Kriging were utilized in order to improve the accuracy of rain rate. These methods show the different quantitative precipitation estimation (QPE) and the performances of accuracy are different for heavy precipitation cases. In this study, in order to improve the accuracy of QPE for localized heavy precipitation, ensemble method for Z-R relationship and various techniques was tested. This QPE ensemble method was developed by a concept based on utilizing each advantage of precipitation calibration methods. The ensemble members were produced for a combination of different Z-R coefficient and calibration method.

  2. Improving Estimation of Evapotranspiration under Water-Limited Conditions Based on SEBS and MODIS Data in Arid Regions

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Chunlin Huang

    2015-12-01

    Full Text Available This study proposes a method for improving the estimation of surface turbulent fluxes in surface energy balance system (SEBS model under water stress conditions using MODIS data. The normalized difference water index (NDWI as an indicator of water stress is integrated into SEBS. To investigate the feasibility of the new approach, the desert-oasis region in the middle reaches of the Heihe River Basin (HRB is selected as the study area. The proposed model is calibrated with meteorological and flux data over 2008–2011 at the Yingke station and is verified with data from 16 stations of the Heihe Watershed Allied Telemetry Experimental Research (HiWATER project in 2012. The results show that soil moisture significantly affects evapotranspiration (ET under water stress conditions in the study area. Adding the NDWI in SEBS can significantly improve the estimations of surface turbulent fluxes in water-limited regions, especially for spare vegetation cover area. The daily ET maps generated by the new model also show improvements in drylands with low ET values. This study demonstrates that integrating the NDWI into SEBS as an indicator of water stress is an effective way to improve the assessment of the regional ET in semi-arid and arid regions.

  3. Improved covariance matrix estimation in spectrally inhomogeneous sea clutter with application to adaptive small boat detection.

    CSIR Research Space (South Africa)

    Herselman, PL

    2008-09-01

    Full Text Available and that is necessary to set the threshold χt as a function of the steering vector Doppler fd. Improvements to the estimation technique are suggested and evaluated where a more localised M is estimated using either frequency agility or the immediate time history... of frequency, calculated as NIM2(fd) = E{z(fd)2}/E2{z(fd)} , (3) where z(fd) is the power spectral density at fd. This is often used to quantify the Rayleigh-likeness of the envelope 0 5 10 15 −500 −250 0 250 500 Doppler frequency [Hz ] NIM2Time [s...

  4. Novice facilitators and the use of scripts for managing facilitated modelling workshops

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Tavella, Elena; Papadopoulos, Thanos

    2015-01-01

    There is limited research on the use of scripts by novice facilitators (novices) in Facilitated Modelling (FM) workshops. To address this gap, this paper illustrates how novices—supported by scripts—switch between and combine facilitation skills and competencies to successfully manage FM workshops...... and achieve outcomes. This illustration is based on a micro-level analysis of a transcript from a Viable System Model workshop held in a food cooperative in Copenhagen, Denmark. Through our findings we identify two distinct script-supported FM behaviours and related script-supported facilitation practices...... that enable novices to (a) acquire skills and competencies; and (b) switch between and combine skills and competencies to successfully manage workshops and achieve outcomes. Our study links micro-level considerations to a meta-level framework that relates the script-supported FM behaviours and practices...

  5. Practical aspects of a maximum likelihood estimation method to extract stability and control derivatives from flight data

    Science.gov (United States)

    Iliff, K. W.; Maine, R. E.

    1976-01-01

    A maximum likelihood estimation method was applied to flight data and procedures to facilitate the routine analysis of a large amount of flight data were described. Techniques that can be used to obtain stability and control derivatives from aircraft maneuvers that are less than ideal for this purpose are described. The techniques involve detecting and correcting the effects of dependent or nearly dependent variables, structural vibration, data drift, inadequate instrumentation, and difficulties with the data acquisition system and the mathematical model. The use of uncertainty levels and multiple maneuver analysis also proved to be useful in improving the quality of the estimated coefficients. The procedures used for editing the data and for overall analysis are also discussed.

  6. Can training improve human performance

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Waylett, W.J. Jr.

    1986-01-01

    The nuclear industry has made a significant commitment to improve training through the implementation of performance-based training programs. Senior management expects that human performance improvement will result from this significant resource allocation. The author examines this hypothesis and discusses other issues that may interfere with enhancing human performance through training. The integration of quality improvement concepts to support training is also discussed by the author, who was a pioneer facilitator during the development of Florida Power and Light Company's Quality Improvement Program. Critical success factors are proposed based on the author's experience as a plant manager, training manager and quality facilitator

  7. The verbal facilitation effect: re-reading person descriptions as a system variable to improve identification performance.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sporer, Siegfried L; Kaminski, Kristina S; Davids, Maike C; McQuiston, Dawn

    2016-11-01

    When witnesses report a crime, police usually ask for a description of the perpetrator. Several studies suggested that verbalising faces leads to a detriment in identification performance (verbal overshadowing effect [VOE]) but the effect has been difficult to replicate. Here, we sought to reverse the VOE by inducing context reinstatement as a system variable through re-reading one's own description before an identification task. Participants (N = 208) watched a video film and were then dismissed (control group), only described the perpetrator, or described and later re-read their own descriptions before identification in either target-present or target-absent lineups after a 2-day or a 5-week delay. Identification accuracy was significantly higher after re-reading (85.0%) than in the no description control group (62.5%) irrespective of target presence. Data were internally replicated using a second target and corroborated by several small meta-analyses. Identification accuracy was related to description quality. Moreover, there was a tendency towards a verbal facilitation effect (VFE) rather than a VOE. Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve analyses confirm that our findings are not due to a shift in response bias but truly reflect improvement of recognition performance. Differences in the ecological validity of study paradigms are discussed.

  8. Facilitation Processes and Skills Supporting EcoCity Development

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Carmen Antuña-Rozado

    2018-03-01

    Full Text Available Ecocities can provide solutions for the improvement of human settlements around the world and the living conditions therein, but in the authors’ experience, only as long as they are able to address the following questions correctly: How to formulate an ecocity concept that, considering issues of general concern, can be at the same time adapted to different local conditions? What are the instruments supporting the development and implementation of ecocity solutions? VTT’s EcoCity concept for sustainable community and neighbourhood regeneration and development has been designed in response to the first question. Likewise, specific methodologies and effective facilitation processes and skills have been developed in response to the second question. Since the methodologies have been discussed in a previous scientific article, the present one focuses on the facilitation processes and skills, and also on other related, fundamental aspects like participation, adaptation, capacity building, etc. Facilitation processes supporting EcoCity development require matching “hard” and “soft” skills in a fluid way. The main findings are discussed with the help of two case studies: one in Medellín (Colombia, and the other one in Zambia.

  9. Examining effective use of data sources and modeling algorithms for improving biomass estimation in a moist tropical forest of the Brazilian Amazon

    Science.gov (United States)

    Yunyun Feng; Dengsheng Lu; Qi Chen; Michael Keller; Emilio Moran; Maiza Nara dos-Santos; Edson Luis Bolfe; Mateus Batistella

    2017-01-01

    Previous research has explored the potential to integrate lidar and optical data in aboveground biomass (AGB) estimation, but how different data sources, vegetation types, and modeling algorithms influence AGB estimation is poorly understood. This research conducts a comparative analysis of different data sources and modeling approaches in improving AGB estimation....

  10. Visual explorer facilitator's guide

    CERN Document Server

    Palus, Charles J

    2010-01-01

    Grounded in research and practice, the Visual Explorer™ Facilitator's Guide provides a method for supporting collaborative, creative conversations about complex issues through the power of images. The guide is available as a component in the Visual Explorer Facilitator's Letter-sized Set, Visual Explorer Facilitator's Post card-sized Set, Visual Explorer Playing Card-sized Set, and is also available as a stand-alone title for purchase to assist multiple tool users in an organization.

  11. An improved silhouette for human pose estimation

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hawes, Anthony H.; Iftekharuddin, Khan M.

    2017-08-01

    We propose a novel method for analyzing images that exploits the natural lines of a human poses to find areas where self-occlusion could be present. Errors caused by self-occlusion cause several modern human pose estimation methods to mis-identify body parts, which reduces the performance of most action recognition algorithms. Our method is motivated by the observation that, in several cases, occlusion can be reasoned using only boundary lines of limbs. An intelligent edge detection algorithm based on the above principle could be used to augment the silhouette with information useful for pose estimation algorithms and push forward progress on occlusion handling for human action recognition. The algorithm described is applicable to computer vision scenarios involving 2D images and (appropriated flattened) 3D images.

  12. Improving cluster-based missing value estimation of DNA microarray data.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Brás, Lígia P; Menezes, José C

    2007-06-01

    We present a modification of the weighted K-nearest neighbours imputation method (KNNimpute) for missing values (MVs) estimation in microarray data based on the reuse of estimated data. The method was called iterative KNN imputation (IKNNimpute) as the estimation is performed iteratively using the recently estimated values. The estimation efficiency of IKNNimpute was assessed under different conditions (data type, fraction and structure of missing data) by the normalized root mean squared error (NRMSE) and the correlation coefficients between estimated and true values, and compared with that of other cluster-based estimation methods (KNNimpute and sequential KNN). We further investigated the influence of imputation on the detection of differentially expressed genes using SAM by examining the differentially expressed genes that are lost after MV estimation. The performance measures give consistent results, indicating that the iterative procedure of IKNNimpute can enhance the prediction ability of cluster-based methods in the presence of high missing rates, in non-time series experiments and in data sets comprising both time series and non-time series data, because the information of the genes having MVs is used more efficiently and the iterative procedure allows refining the MV estimates. More importantly, IKNN has a smaller detrimental effect on the detection of differentially expressed genes.

  13. Prior expectations facilitate metacognition for perceptual decision.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sherman, M T; Seth, A K; Barrett, A B; Kanai, R

    2015-09-01

    The influential framework of 'predictive processing' suggests that prior probabilistic expectations influence, or even constitute, perceptual contents. This notion is evidenced by the facilitation of low-level perceptual processing by expectations. However, whether expectations can facilitate high-level components of perception remains unclear. We addressed this question by considering the influence of expectations on perceptual metacognition. To isolate the effects of expectation from those of attention we used a novel factorial design: expectation was manipulated by changing the probability that a Gabor target would be presented; attention was manipulated by instructing participants to perform or ignore a concurrent visual search task. We found that, independently of attention, metacognition improved when yes/no responses were congruent with expectations of target presence/absence. Results were modeled under a novel Bayesian signal detection theoretic framework which integrates bottom-up signal propagation with top-down influences, to provide a unified description of the mechanisms underlying perceptual decision and metacognition. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  14. A Control Variate Method for Probabilistic Performance Assessment. Improved Estimates for Mean Performance Quantities of Interest

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    MacKinnon, Robert J.; Kuhlman, Kristopher L

    2016-05-01

    We present a method of control variates for calculating improved estimates for mean performance quantities of interest, E(PQI) , computed from Monte Carlo probabilistic simulations. An example of a PQI is the concentration of a contaminant at a particular location in a problem domain computed from simulations of transport in porous media. To simplify the presentation, the method is described in the setting of a one- dimensional elliptical model problem involving a single uncertain parameter represented by a probability distribution. The approach can be easily implemented for more complex problems involving multiple uncertain parameters and in particular for application to probabilistic performance assessment of deep geologic nuclear waste repository systems. Numerical results indicate the method can produce estimates of E(PQI)having superior accuracy on coarser meshes and reduce the required number of simulations needed to achieve an acceptable estimate.

  15. An improved parameter estimation and comparison for soft tissue constitutive models containing an exponential function.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Aggarwal, Ankush

    2017-08-01

    Motivated by the well-known result that stiffness of soft tissue is proportional to the stress, many of the constitutive laws for soft tissues contain an exponential function. In this work, we analyze properties of the exponential function and how it affects the estimation and comparison of elastic parameters for soft tissues. In particular, we find that as a consequence of the exponential function there are lines of high covariance in the elastic parameter space. As a result, one can have widely varying mechanical parameters defining the tissue stiffness but similar effective stress-strain responses. Drawing from elementary algebra, we propose simple changes in the norm and the parameter space, which significantly improve the convergence of parameter estimation and robustness in the presence of noise. More importantly, we demonstrate that these changes improve the conditioning of the problem and provide a more robust solution in the case of heterogeneous material by reducing the chances of getting trapped in a local minima. Based upon the new insight, we also propose a transformed parameter space which will allow for rational parameter comparison and avoid misleading conclusions regarding soft tissue mechanics.

  16. An Improved Iterative Fitting Method to Estimate Nocturnal Residual Layer Height

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Wei Wang

    2016-08-01

    Full Text Available The planetary boundary layer (PBL is an atmospheric region near the Earth’s surface. It is significant for weather forecasting and for the study of air quality and climate. In this study, the top of nocturnal residual layers—which are what remain of the daytime mixing layer—are estimated by an elastic backscatter Lidar in Wuhan (30.5°N, 114.4°E, a city in Central China. The ideal profile fitting method is widely applied to determine the nocturnal residual layer height (RLH from Lidar data. However, the method is seriously affected by an optical thick layer. Thus, we propose an improved iterative fitting method to eliminate the optical thick layer effect on RLH detection using Lidar. Two typical case studies observed by elastic Lidar are presented to demonstrate the theory and advantage of the proposed method. Results of case analysis indicate that the improved method is more practical and precise than profile-fitting, gradient, and wavelet covariance transform method in terms of nocturnal RLH evaluation under low cloud conditions. Long-term observations of RLH performed with ideal profile fitting and improved methods were carried out in Wuhan from 28 May 2011 to 17 June 2016. Comparisons of Lidar-derived RLHs with the two types of methods verify that the improved solution is practical. Statistical analysis of a six-year Lidar signal was conducted to reveal the monthly average values of nocturnal RLH in Wuhan. A clear RLH monthly cycle with a maximum mean height of about 1.8 km above ground level was observed in August, and a minimum height of about 0.7 km was observed in January. The variation in monthly mean RLH displays an obvious quarterly dependence, which coincides with the annual variation in local surface temperature.

  17. Tablet Technology to Facilitate Improved Interaction and Communication with Students Studying Mathematics at a Distance

    Science.gov (United States)

    Galligan, Linda; Hobohm, Carola; Loch, Birgit

    2012-01-01

    Teaching and learning of mathematics is challenging when lecturer and students are separated geographically. While student engagement and interaction with the course, with other students and with the lecturer is vital to mathematics learning, it is difficult to facilitate this electronically, because of the nature of mathematics. With tablet…

  18. Process Memos: Facilitating Dialogues about Writing between Students and Instructors

    Science.gov (United States)

    Parrott, Heather Macpherson; Cherry, Elizabeth

    2015-01-01

    We have created a new teaching tool--process memos--to improve student writing. Process memos are guided reflections submitted with scaffolded assignments that facilitate a written dialogue between students and instructors about the process of writing. Within these memos, students critically assess available teaching tools, discuss their writing…

  19. Comparing welfare estimates across stated preference and uncertainty elicitation formats for air quality improvements in Nairobi, Kenya

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Ndambiri, H.; Brouwer, R.; Mungatana, E.

    2016-01-01

    The effect of preference uncertainty on estimated willingness to pay (WTP) is examined using identical payment cards and alternative uncertainty elicitation procedures in three split samples, focusing on air quality improvement in Nairobi. The effect of the stochastic payment card (SPC) and

  20. A creative analysis of the role of practice development facilitators in a critical care environment

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Tanya Heyns

    2017-10-01

    Full Text Available Practice development focuses on methods to address the quality of care and advance healthcare practices. The role of practice development facilitators to address challenges of delivering evidence-based person-centred care in the critical care environment was determined by using a nominal group technique. Eleven participants from public and private healthcare services reached consensus on seven clusters: theory-practice application, facilitation of learning, increasing collaboration, effective communication, facilitation of change, time management and role modelling. The clusters were visually represented as a hot air balloon. Competence as facilitators is of vital importance to ensure knowledge translation with the aim to improve quality.

  1. Biological dose estimation for charged-particle therapy using an improved PHITS code coupled with a microdosimetric kinetic model

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Sato, Tatsuhiko; Watanabe, Ritsuko; Kase, Yuki; Niita, Koji; Sihver, Lembit

    2009-01-01

    High-energy heavy ions (HZE particles) have become widely used for radiotherapy of tumors owing to their high biological effectiveness. In the treatment planning of such charged-particle therapy, it is necessary to estimate not only physical but also biological dose, which is the product of physical dose and relative biological effectiveness (RBE). In the Heavy-ion Medical Accelerator in Chiba (HIMAC), the biological dose is estimated by a method proposed by Kanai et al., which is based on the linear-quadratic (LQ) model with its parameters α and β determined by the dose distribution in terms of the unrestricted linear energy transfer (LET). Thus, RBE is simply expressed as a function of LET in their model. However, RBE of HZE particles cannot be uniquely determined from their LET because of their large cross sections for high-energy δ-ray production. Hence, development of a biological dose estimation model that can explicitly consider the track structure of δ-rays around the trajectory of HZE particles is urgently needed. Microdosimetric quantities such as lineal energy y are better indexes for representing RBE of HZE particles in comparison to LET, since they can express the decrease of ionization densities around their trajectories due to the production of δ-rays. The difference of the concept between LET and y is illustrated in Figure 1. However, the use of microdosimetric quantities in computational dosimetry was severely limited because of the difficulty in calculating their probability densities (PDs) in macroscopic matter. We therefore improved the 3-dimensional particle transport simulation code PHITS, providing it with the capability of estimating the microdosimetric PDs in a macroscopic framework by incorporating a mathematical function that can instantaneously calculate the PDs around the trajectory of HZE particles with precision equivalent to a microscopic track-structure simulation. A new method for estimating biological dose from charged

  2. Improvement of force-sensor-based heart rate estimation using multichannel data fusion.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bruser, Christoph; Kortelainen, Juha M; Winter, Stefan; Tenhunen, Mirja; Parkka, Juha; Leonhardt, Steffen

    2015-01-01

    The aim of this paper is to present and evaluate algorithms for heartbeat interval estimation from multiple spatially distributed force sensors integrated into a bed. Moreover, the benefit of using multichannel systems as opposed to a single sensor is investigated. While it might seem intuitive that multiple channels are superior to a single channel, the main challenge lies in finding suitable methods to actually leverage this potential. To this end, two algorithms for heart rate estimation from multichannel vibration signals are presented and compared against a single-channel sensing solution. The first method operates by analyzing the cepstrum computed from the average spectra of the individual channels, while the second method applies Bayesian fusion to three interval estimators, such as the autocorrelation, which are applied to each channel. This evaluation is based on 28 night-long sleep lab recordings during which an eight-channel polyvinylidene fluoride-based sensor array was used to acquire cardiac vibration signals. The recruited patients suffered from different sleep disorders of varying severity. From the sensor array data, a virtual single-channel signal was also derived for comparison by averaging the channels. The single-channel results achieved a beat-to-beat interval error of 2.2% with a coverage (i.e., percentage of the recording which could be analyzed) of 68.7%. In comparison, the best multichannel results attained a mean error and coverage of 1.0% and 81.0%, respectively. These results present statistically significant improvements of both metrics over the single-channel results (p < 0.05).

  3. An Improved GRACE Terrestrial Water Storage Assimilation System For Estimating Large-Scale Soil Moisture and Shallow Groundwater

    Science.gov (United States)

    Girotto, M.; De Lannoy, G. J. M.; Reichle, R. H.; Rodell, M.

    2015-12-01

    The Gravity Recovery And Climate Experiment (GRACE) mission is unique because it provides highly accurate column integrated estimates of terrestrial water storage (TWS) variations. Major limitations of GRACE-based TWS observations are related to their monthly temporal and coarse spatial resolution (around 330 km at the equator), and to the vertical integration of the water storage components. These challenges can be addressed through data assimilation. To date, it is still not obvious how best to assimilate GRACE-TWS observations into a land surface model, in order to improve hydrological variables, and many details have yet to be worked out. This presentation discusses specific recent features of the assimilation of gridded GRACE-TWS data into the NASA Goddard Earth Observing System (GEOS-5) Catchment land surface model to improve soil moisture and shallow groundwater estimates at the continental scale. The major recent advancements introduced by the presented work with respect to earlier systems include: 1) the assimilation of gridded GRACE-TWS data product with scaling factors that are specifically derived for data assimilation purposes only; 2) the assimilation is performed through a 3D assimilation scheme, in which reasonable spatial and temporal error standard deviations and correlations are exploited; 3) the analysis step uses an optimized calculation and application of the analysis increments; 4) a poor-man's adaptive estimation of a spatially variable measurement error. This work shows that even if they are characterized by a coarse spatial and temporal resolution, the observed column integrated GRACE-TWS data have potential for improving our understanding of soil moisture and shallow groundwater variations.

  4. Improved Variable Window Kernel Estimates of Probability Densities

    OpenAIRE

    Hall, Peter; Hu, Tien Chung; Marron, J. S.

    1995-01-01

    Variable window width kernel density estimators, with the width varying proportionally to the square root of the density, have been thought to have superior asymptotic properties. The rate of convergence has been claimed to be as good as those typical for higher-order kernels, which makes the variable width estimators more attractive because no adjustment is needed to handle the negativity usually entailed by the latter. However, in a recent paper, Terrell and Scott show that these results ca...

  5. Through the eyes of the student: Best practices in clinical facilitation.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Muthathi, Immaculate S; Thurling, Catherine H; Armstrong, Susan J

    2017-08-28

    Clinical facilitation is an essential part of the undergraduate nursing curriculum. A number of studies address the issue of clinical facilitation in South Africa, but there remains a lack of knowledge and understanding regarding what students perceive as best practice in clinical facilitation of their learning. To determine what type of clinical facilitation undergraduate students believe should be offered by clinical facilitators (nurse educators, professional nurses and clinical preceptors) in the clinical area in order to best facilitate their learning. A qualitative, exploratory and descriptive study was conducted. Purposive sampling was performed to select nursing students from the second, third and fourth year of studies from a selected nursing education institution in Johannesburg. The sampling resulted in one focus group for each level of nursing, namely second, third and fourth year nursing students. Interviews were digitally recorded and transcribed verbatim, thematic data analysis was used and trustworthiness was ensured by applying credibility, dependability, confirmability and transferability. The data revealed that participants differentiated between best practices in clinical facilitation in the clinical skills laboratory and clinical learning environment. In the clinical skills laboratory, pre-contact preparation, demonstration technique and optimising group learning were identified as best practices. In the clinical learning environment, a need for standardisation of procedures in simulation and practice, the allocation and support for students also emerged. There is a need for all nurses involved in undergraduate nursing education to reflect on how they approach clinical facilitation, in both clinical skills laboratory and clinical learning environment. There is also a need to improve consistency in clinical practices between the nursing education institution and the clinical learning environment so as to support students' adaptation to clinical

  6. Improved Vector Velocity Estimation using Directional Transverse Oscillation

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Jensen, Jørgen Arendt

    2015-01-01

    A method for estimating vector velocities using transverse oscillation (TO) combined with directional beamforming is presented. Directional Transverse Oscillation (DTO) is selfcalibrating, which increase the estimation accuracy and finds the lateral oscillation period automatically. A normal...... focused field is emitted and the received signals are beamformed in the lateral direction transverse to the ultrasound beam. A lateral oscillation is obtained by having a receive apodization waveform with two separate peaks. The IQ data are obtained by making a Hilbert transform of the directional signal...... transducer with a focal point at 105.6 mm (F#=5) for Vector Flow Imaging (VFI). A 6 mm radius tube in a circulating flow rig was scanned and the parabolic volume flow of 112.7 l/h (peak velocity 0.55 m/s) measured by a Danfoss Magnetic flow meter for reference. Velocity estimates for DTO are found for 32...

  7. A facilitated process towards finding options for improved livestock ...

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    A participatory multi-stakeholder process of finding options for improving livestock production in the severely degraded communal grazing area of Sterkspruit in South Africa was conducted. Interviews were conducted with individual livestock keepers from two sites to gather data on their demographic characteristics, ...

  8. Improved estimation of heavy rainfall by weather radar after reflectivity correction and accounting for raindrop size distribution variability

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hazenberg, Pieter; Leijnse, Hidde; Uijlenhoet, Remko

    2015-04-01

    Between 25 and 27 August 2010 a long-duration mesoscale convective system was observed above the Netherlands, locally giving rise to rainfall accumulations exceeding 150 mm. Correctly measuring the amount of precipitation during such an extreme event is important, both from a hydrological and meteorological perspective. Unfortunately, the operational weather radar measurements were affected by multiple sources of error and only 30% of the precipitation observed by rain gauges was estimated. Such an underestimation of heavy rainfall, albeit generally less strong than in this extreme case, is typical for operational weather radar in The Netherlands. In general weather radar measurement errors can be subdivided into two groups: (1) errors affecting the volumetric reflectivity measurements (e.g. ground clutter, radar calibration, vertical profile of reflectivity) and (2) errors resulting from variations in the raindrop size distribution that in turn result in incorrect rainfall intensity and attenuation estimates from observed reflectivity measurements. A stepwise procedure to correct for the first group of errors leads to large improvements in the quality of the estimated precipitation, increasing the radar rainfall accumulations to about 65% of those observed by gauges. To correct for the second group of errors, a coherent method is presented linking the parameters of the radar reflectivity-rain rate (Z-R) and radar reflectivity-specific attenuation (Z-k) relationships to the normalized drop size distribution (DSD). Two different procedures were applied. First, normalized DSD parameters for the whole event and for each precipitation type separately (convective, stratiform and undefined) were obtained using local disdrometer observations. Second, 10,000 randomly generated plausible normalized drop size distributions were used for rainfall estimation, to evaluate whether this Monte Carlo method would improve the quality of weather radar rainfall products. Using the

  9. Estimating Dynamic Equilibrium Models using Macro and Financial Data

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Christensen, Bent Jesper; Posch, Olaf; van der Wel, Michel

    We show that including financial market data at daily frequency, along with macro series at standard lower frequency, facilitates statistical inference on structural parameters in dynamic equilibrium models. Our continuous-time formulation conveniently accounts for the difference in observation...... of the estimators and estimate the model using 20 years of U.S. macro and financial data....

  10. Timely disclosure of progress in long-term cancer survival: the boomerang method substantially improved estimates in a comparative study.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Brenner, Hermann; Jansen, Lina

    2016-02-01

    Monitoring cancer survival is a key task of cancer registries, but timely disclosure of progress in long-term survival remains a challenge. We introduce and evaluate a novel method, denoted "boomerang method," for deriving more up-to-date estimates of long-term survival. We applied three established methods (cohort, complete, and period analysis) and the boomerang method to derive up-to-date 10-year relative survival of patients diagnosed with common solid cancers and hematological malignancies in the United States. Using the Surveillance, Epidemiology and End Results 9 database, we compared the most up-to-date age-specific estimates that might have been obtained with the database including patients diagnosed up to 2001 with 10-year survival later observed for patients diagnosed in 1997-2001. For cancers with little or no increase in survival over time, the various estimates of 10-year relative survival potentially available by the end of 2001 were generally rather similar. For malignancies with strongly increasing survival over time, including breast and prostate cancer and all hematological malignancies, the boomerang method provided estimates that were closest to later observed 10-year relative survival in 23 of the 34 groups assessed. The boomerang method can substantially improve up-to-dateness of long-term cancer survival estimates in times of ongoing improvement in prognosis. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  11. An Improved Weise’s Rule for Efficient Estimation of Stand Quadratic Mean Diameter

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Róbert Sedmák

    2015-07-01

    Full Text Available The main objective of this study was to explore the accuracy of Weise’s rule of thumb applied to an estimation of the quadratic mean diameter of a forest stand. Virtual stands of European beech (Fagus sylvatica L. across a range of structure types were stochastically generated and random sampling was simulated. We compared the bias and accuracy of stand quadratic mean diameter estimates, employing different ranks of measured stems from a set of the 10 trees nearest to the sampling point. We proposed several modifications of the original Weise’s rule based on the measurement and averaging of two different ranks centered to a target rank. In accordance with the original formulation of the empirical rule, we recommend the application of the measurement of the 6th stem in rank corresponding to the 55% sample percentile of diameter distribution, irrespective of mean diameter size and degree of diameter dispersion. The study also revealed that the application of appropriate two-measurement modifications of Weise’s method, the 4th and 8th ranks or 3rd and 9th ranks averaged to the 6th central rank, should be preferred over the classic one-measurement estimation. The modified versions are characterised by an improved accuracy (about 25% without statistically significant bias and measurement costs comparable to the classic Weise method.

  12. Improved Water Consumption Estimates of Black Locust Plantations in China’s Loess Plateau

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Kai Schwärzel

    2018-04-01

    Full Text Available Black locust (Robinia pseudoacacia L. is a major tree species in China’s large-scale afforestation. Despite its significance, black locust is underrepresented in sap flow literature; moreover, the published water consumption data might be biased. We applied two field methods to estimate water consumption of black locust during the growing seasons in 2012 and 2013. The application of Granier’s original sap flow method produced a very low transpiration rate (0.08 mm d−1 while the soil water balance method yielded a much higher rate (1.4 mm d−1. A dye experiment to determine the active sapwood area showed that only the outermost annual ring is responsible for conducting water, which was not considered in many previous studies. Moreover, an in situ calibration experiment was conducted to improve the reliability of Granier’s method. Validation showed a good agreement in estimates of the transpiration rate between the different methods. It is known from many studies that black locust plantations contribute to the significant decline of discharge in the Yellow River basin. Our estimate of tree transpiration at stand scale confirms these results. This study provides a basis for and advances the argument for the development of more sustainable forest management strategies, which better balance forest-related ecosystem services such as soil conservation and water supply.

  13. Improving Water Balance Estimation in the Nile by Combining Remote Sensing and Hydrological Modelling: a Template for Ungauged Basins

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gleason, C. J.; Wada, Y.; Wang, J.

    2017-12-01

    Declining gauging infrastructure and fractious water politics have decreased available information about river flows globally, especially in international river basins. Remote sensing and water balance modelling are frequently cited as a potential solutions, but these techniques largely rely on the same in decline gauge data to constrain or parameterize discharge estimates, thus creating a circular approach to estimating discharge inapplicable to ungauged basins. To address this, we here combine a discontinued gauge, remotely sensed discharge estimates made via at-many-stations hydraulic geometry (AMHG) and Landsat data, and the PCR-GLOBWB hydrological model to estimate discharge for an ungauged time period for the Lower Nile (1978-present). Specifically, we first estimate initial discharges from 86 Landsat images and AMHG (1984-2015), and then use these flow estimates to tune the hydrologic model. Our tuning methodology is purposefully simple and can be easily applied to any model without the need for calibration/parameterization. The resulting tuned modelled hydrograph shows large improvement in flow magnitude over previous modelled hydrographs, and validation of tuned monthly model output flows against the historical gauge yields an RMSE of 343 m3/s (33.7%). By contrast, the original simulation had an order-of-magnitude flow error. This improvement is substantial but not perfect: modelled flows have a one-to two-month wet season lag and a negative bias. More sophisticated model calibration and training (e.g. data assimilation) is needed to improve upon our results, however, our results achieved by coupling physical models and remote sensing is a promising first step and proof of concept toward future modelling of ungauged flows. This is especially true as massive cloud computing via Google Earth Engine makes our method easily applicable to any basin without current gauges. Finally, we purposefully do not offer prescriptive solutions for Nile management, and

  14. In Vivo-Like Culture Conditions in a Bioreactor Facilitate Improved Tissue Quality in Corneal Storage.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Schmid, Richard; Tarau, Ioana-Sandra; Rossi, Angela; Leonhardt, Stefan; Schwarz, Thomas; Schuerlein, Sebastian; Lotz, Christian; Hansmann, Jan

    2018-01-01

    The cornea is the most-transplanted tissue worldwide. However, the availability and quality of grafts are limited due to the current methods of corneal storage. In this study, a dynamic bioreactor system is employed to enable the control of intraocular pressure and the culture at the air-liquid interface. Thereby, in vivo-like storage conditions are achieved. Different media combinations for endothelium and epithelium are tested in standard and dynamic conditions to enhance the viability of the tissue. In contrast to culture conditions used in eye banks, the combination of the bioreactor and biochrom medium 1 allows to preserve the corneal endothelium and the epithelium. Assessment of transparency, swelling, and the trans-epithelial-electrical-resistance (TEER) strengthens the impact of the in vivo-like tissue culture. For example, compared to corneas stored under static conditions, significantly lower optical densities and significantly higher TEER values were measured (p-value <0.05). Furthermore, healing of epithelial defects is enabled in the bioreactor, characterized by re-epithelialization and initiated stromal regeneration. Based on the obtained results, an easy-to-use 3D-printed bioreactor composed of only two parts was derived to translate the technology from the laboratory to the eye banks. This optimized bioreactor facilitates noninvasive microscopic monitoring. The improved storage conditions ameliorate the quality of corneal grafts and the storage time in the eye banks to increase availability and reduce re-grafting. © 2017 The Authors. Biotechnology Journal Published by Wiley-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA.

  15. Improving estimation of kinetic parameters in dynamic force spectroscopy using cluster analysis

    Science.gov (United States)

    Yen, Chi-Fu; Sivasankar, Sanjeevi

    2018-03-01

    Dynamic Force Spectroscopy (DFS) is a widely used technique to characterize the dissociation kinetics and interaction energy landscape of receptor-ligand complexes with single-molecule resolution. In an Atomic Force Microscope (AFM)-based DFS experiment, receptor-ligand complexes, sandwiched between an AFM tip and substrate, are ruptured at different stress rates by varying the speed at which the AFM-tip and substrate are pulled away from each other. The rupture events are grouped according to their pulling speeds, and the mean force and loading rate of each group are calculated. These data are subsequently fit to established models, and energy landscape parameters such as the intrinsic off-rate (koff) and the width of the potential energy barrier (xβ) are extracted. However, due to large uncertainties in determining mean forces and loading rates of the groups, errors in the estimated koff and xβ can be substantial. Here, we demonstrate that the accuracy of fitted parameters in a DFS experiment can be dramatically improved by sorting rupture events into groups using cluster analysis instead of sorting them according to their pulling speeds. We test different clustering algorithms including Gaussian mixture, logistic regression, and K-means clustering, under conditions that closely mimic DFS experiments. Using Monte Carlo simulations, we benchmark the performance of these clustering algorithms over a wide range of koff and xβ, under different levels of thermal noise, and as a function of both the number of unbinding events and the number of pulling speeds. Our results demonstrate that cluster analysis, particularly K-means clustering, is very effective in improving the accuracy of parameter estimation, particularly when the number of unbinding events are limited and not well separated into distinct groups. Cluster analysis is easy to implement, and our performance benchmarks serve as a guide in choosing an appropriate method for DFS data analysis.

  16. Value of Clean Water Resources: Estimating the Water Quality Improvement in Metro Manila, Philippines

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Shokhrukh-Mirzo Jalilov

    2017-12-01

    Full Text Available While having many positive impacts, a tremendous economic performance and rapid industrial expansion over the last decades in the Philippines has had negative effects that have resulted in unfavorable hydrological and ecological changes in most urban river systems and has created environmental problems. Usually, these effects would not be part of a systematic assessment of urban water benefits. To address the issue, this study investigates the relationship between poor water quality and resident’s willingness to pay (WTP for improved water quality in Metro Manila. By employing a contingent valuation method (CVM, this paper estimates the benefits of the provision of clean water quality (swimmable and fishable in waterbodies of Metro Manila for its residents. Face-to-face interviews were completed with 240 randomly selected residents. Residents expressed a mean WTP of PHP102.44 (USD2.03 for a swimmable water quality (good quality and a mean WTP of PHP102.39 (USD2.03 for fishable water quality (moderate quality. The aggregation of this mean willingness-to-pay value amounted to annual economic benefits from PHP9443 billion to PHP9447 billion (approx. USD190 million per year for all taxpayers in Metro Manila. As expected, these estimates could inform local decision-makers about the benefits of future policy interventions aimed at improving the quality of waterbodies in Metro Manila.

  17. Improvements to TOVS retrievals over sea ice and applications to estimating Arctic energy fluxes

    Science.gov (United States)

    Francis, Jennifer A.

    1994-01-01

    Modeling studies suggest that polar regions play a major role in modulating the Earth's climate and that they may be more sensitive than lower latitudes to climate change. Until recently, however, data from meteorological stations poleward of 70 degs have been sparse, and consequently, our understanding of air-sea-ice interaction processes is relatively poor. Satellite-borne sensors now offer a promising opportunity to observe polar regions and ultimately to improve parameterizations of energy transfer processes in climate models. This study focuses on the application of the TIROS-N operational vertical sounder (TOVS) to sea-ice-covered regions in the nonmelt season. TOVS radiances are processed with the improved initialization inversion ('3I') algorithm, providng estimates of layer-average temperature and moisture, cloud conditions, and surface characteristics at a horizontal resolution of approximately 100 km x 100 km. Although TOVS has flown continuously on polar-orbiting satellites since 1978, its potential has not been realized in high latitudes because the quality of retrievals is often significantly lower over sea ice and snow than over the surfaces. The recent availability of three Arctic data sets has provided an opportunity to validate TOVS retrievals: the first from the Coordinated Eastern Arctic Experiment (CEAREX) in winter 1988/1989, the second from the LeadEx field program in spring 1992, and the third from Russian drifting ice stations. Comparisons with these data reveal deficiencies in TOVS retrievals over sea ice during the cold season; e.g., ice surface temperature is often 5 to 15 K too warm, microwave emissivity is approximately 15% too low at large view angles, clear/cloudy scenes are sometimes misidentified, and low-level inversions are often not captured. In this study, methods to reduce these errors are investigated. Improvements to the ice surface temperature retrieval have reduced rms errors from approximately 7 K to 3 K; correction of

  18. Determining the barriers and facilitators to adopting best practices in the management of poststroke unilateral spatial neglect: results of a qualitative study.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Petzold, Anita; Korner-Bitensky, Nicol; Salbach, Nancy M; Ahmed, Sara; Menon, Anita; Ogourtsova, Tatiana

    2014-01-01

    A gap exists between best and actual management of poststroke unilateral spatial neglect (USN). Given the negative impact of USN on poststroke recovery, knowledge translation efforts are needed to optimize USN management. To date, no study has investigated the specific barriers and facilitators affecting USN management during the acute care process. To identify the facilitators and barriers that affect evidence-based practice use by occupational therapists (the primary discipline managing USN) when treating individuals with acute poststroke USN. Focus group methodology elicited information from 9 acute care occupational therapists. Key barriers identified included lack of basic evidence-based practice skills specific to USN treatment and personal motivation to change current practices and engrained habits. Key facilitators included the presence of a multidisciplinary stroke team, recent graduation, and an environment with access to learning time and resources. Synthesized Web-based learning was also seen as important to uptake of best practices. It is estimated that upwards of 40% of patients experience poststroke USN in the acute phase, and we have evidence of poor early management. This study identified several modifiable factors that prepare the ground for the creation and testing of a multimodal knowledge translation intervention aimed at improving clinicians' best practice management of poststroke USN.

  19. Facilitated Oxygen Chemisorption in Heteroatom-Doped Carbon for Improved Oxygen Reaction Activity in All-Solid-State Zinc-Air Batteries.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Liu, Sisi; Wang, Mengfan; Sun, Xinyi; Xu, Na; Liu, Jie; Wang, Yuzhou; Qian, Tao; Yan, Chenglin

    2018-01-01

    Driven by the intensified demand for energy storage systems with high-power density and safety, all-solid-state zinc-air batteries have drawn extensive attention. However, the electrocatalyst active sites and the underlying mechanisms occurring in zinc-air batteries remain confusing due to the lack of in situ analytical techniques. In this work, the in situ observations, including X-ray diffraction and Raman spectroscopy, of a heteroatom-doped carbon air cathode are reported, in which the chemisorption of oxygen molecules and oxygen-containing intermediates on the carbon material can be facilitated by the electron deficiency caused by heteroatom doping, thus improving the oxygen reaction activity for zinc-air batteries. As expected, solid-state zinc-air batteries equipped with such air cathodes exhibit superior reversibility and durability. This work thus provides a profound understanding of the reaction principles of heteroatom-doped carbon materials in zinc-air batteries. © 2017 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.

  20. Facilitators and Barriers to Preparedness Partnerships: A Veterans Affairs Medical Center Perspective.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Schmitz, Susan; Wyte-Lake, Tamar; Dobalian, Aram

    2017-09-13

    This study sought to understand facilitators and barriers faced by local US Department of Veterans Affairs Medical Center (VAMC) emergency managers (EMs) when collaborating with non-VA entities. Twelve EMs participated in semi-structured interviews lasting 60 to 90 minutes discussing their collaboration with non-VAMC organizations. Sections of the interview transcripts concerning facilitators and barriers to collaboration were coded and analyzed. Common themes were organized into 2 categories: (1) internal (ie, factors affecting collaboration from within VAMCs or by VA policy) and (2) external (ie, interagency or interpersonal factors). Respondents reported a range of facilitators and barriers to collaboration with community-based agencies. Internal factors facilitating collaboration included items such as leadership support. An internal barrier example included lack of clarity surrounding the VAMC's role in community disaster response. External factors noted as facilitators included a shared goal across organizations while a noted barrier was a perception that potential partners viewed a VAMC partnership with skepticism. Federal institutions are important partners for the success of community disaster preparedness and response. Understanding the barriers that VAMCs confront, as well as potential facilitators to collaboration, should enhance the development of VAMC-community partnerships and improve community health resilience. (Disaster Med Public Health Preparedness. 2017; page 1 of 6).

  1. Expert and novice facilitated modelling

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Tavella, Elena; Papadopoulos, Thanos

    2015-01-01

    , and empirically supports the claim that facilitation skills can be taught to participants to enable them to self-facilitate workshops. Differences were also found, which led to the introduction of a new dimension—‘internal versus external’ facilitation. The implications of our findings for effective training...

  2. Barriers and facilitators to evidence based care of type 2 diabetes patients: experiences of general practitioners participating to a quality improvement program

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Hannes Karen

    2009-07-01

    Full Text Available Abstract Objective To evaluate the barriers and facilitators to high-quality diabetes care as experienced by general practitioners (GPs who participated in an 18-month quality improvement program (QIP. This QIP was implemented to promote compliance with international guidelines. Methods Twenty out of the 120 participating GPs in the QIP underwent semi-structured interviews that focused on three questions: 'Which changes did you implement or did you observe in the quality of diabetes care during your participation in the QIP?' 'According to your experience, what induced these changes?' and 'What difficulties did you experience in making the changes?' Results Most GPs reported that enhanced knowledge, improved motivation, and a greater sense of responsibility were the key factors that led to greater compliance with diabetes care guidelines and consequent improvements in diabetes care. Other factors were improved communication with patients and consulting specialists and reliance on diabetes nurse educators. Some GPs were reluctant to collaborate with specialists, and especially with diabetes educators and dieticians. Others blamed poor compliance with the guidelines on lack of time. Most interviewees reported that a considerable minority of patients were unwilling to change their lifestyles. Conclusion Qualitative research nested in an experimental trial may clarify the improvements that a QIP may bring about in a general practice, provide insight into GPs' approach to diabetes care and reveal the program's limits. Implementation of a QIP encounters an array of cognitive, motivational, and relational obstacles that are embedded in a patient-healthcare provider relationship.

  3. Better decision making in complex, dynamic tasks training with human-facilitated interactive learning environments

    CERN Document Server

    Qudrat-Ullah, Hassan

    2015-01-01

    This book describes interactive learning environments (ILEs) and their underlying concepts. It explains how ILEs can be used to improve the decision-making process and how these improvements can be empirically verified. The objective of this book is to enhance our understanding of and to gain insights into the process by which human facilitated ILEs are effectively designed and used in improving users’ decision making in complex, dynamic tasks. This book is divided into four major parts. Part I serves as an introduction to the importance and complexity of decision making in dynamic tasks. Part II provides background material, drawing upon relevant literature, for the development of an integrated process model on the effectiveness of human facilitated ILEs in improving decision making in dynamic tasks. Part III focuses on the design, development, and application of FishBankILE in laboratory experiments to gather empirical evidence for the validity of the process model. Finally, part IV presents a comprehensi...

  4. Caregivers' responses to an intervention to improve young child feeding behaviors in rural Bangladesh: a mixed method study of the facilitators and barriers to change.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Affleck, William; Pelto, Gretel

    2012-08-01

    Behavior change communications regarding child feeding have met with mixed success. The present study analyzes responses of 34 Bangladeshi caregivers seven months after they received a responsive feeding intervention. The intervention communicated and demonstrated five feeding interactions: hand-washing, self-feeding, verbal responsivity, managing refusals non-forcefully, and dietary diversity. Seventeen caregivers who adopted key behaviors addressed by the intervention and 17 who did not were compared in terms of socio-demographic variables, but more importantly in terms of their recall of the messages, their reported practice, and reported facilitators and barriers. Both those who changed and those who did not reported similar facilitators and barriers to practicing the new behaviors; there was also no difference in recall or in socio-demographic variables. Key themes identified through a constant comparative analysis helped to focus on common features of the lives of caregivers that made it easy or difficult to perform the practices. Some of these were household constraints such as poverty, shortage of time in which to complete chores, and avoiding waste and messiness; others related to the child's demands. Many caregivers misinterpreted instructions about talking to one's child in response to signals, as opposed to more common forms of supervision. Facilitators such as the child's evident pleasure and the caregiver's satisfaction did not always outweigh the barriers. Recommendations for improving interventions include helping caregivers solve problems tied to barriers and including more family members in the intervention. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  5. Improving Global Gross Primary Productivity Estimates by Computing Optimum Light Use Efficiencies Using Flux Tower Data

    Science.gov (United States)

    Madani, Nima; Kimball, John S.; Running, Steven W.

    2017-11-01

    In the light use efficiency (LUE) approach of estimating the gross primary productivity (GPP), plant productivity is linearly related to absorbed photosynthetically active radiation assuming that plants absorb and convert solar energy into biomass within a maximum LUE (LUEmax) rate, which is assumed to vary conservatively within a given biome type. However, it has been shown that photosynthetic efficiency can vary within biomes. In this study, we used 149 global CO2 flux towers to derive the optimum LUE (LUEopt) under prevailing climate conditions for each tower location, stratified according to model training and test sites. Unlike LUEmax, LUEopt varies according to heterogeneous landscape characteristics and species traits. The LUEopt data showed large spatial variability within and between biome types, so that a simple biome classification explained only 29% of LUEopt variability over 95 global tower training sites. The use of explanatory variables in a mixed effect regression model explained 62.2% of the spatial variability in tower LUEopt data. The resulting regression model was used for global extrapolation of the LUEopt data and GPP estimation. The GPP estimated using the new LUEopt map showed significant improvement relative to global tower data, including a 15% R2 increase and 34% root-mean-square error reduction relative to baseline GPP calculations derived from biome-specific LUEmax constants. The new global LUEopt map is expected to improve the performance of LUE-based GPP algorithms for better assessment and monitoring of global terrestrial productivity and carbon dynamics.

  6. Challenges and Facilitators to Promoting a Healthy Food Environment and Communicating Effectively with Parents to Improve Food Behaviors of School Children.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Luesse, Hiershenee B; Paul, Rachel; Gray, Heewon L; Koch, Pamela; Contento, Isobel; Marsick, Victoria

    2018-02-14

    Background Childhood obesity is a major public health concern and families play an important role. Improving strategies to reach parents and directing tailored nutrition education to them is needed. Purpose To investigate the challenges and facilitators to promoting a healthy environment at home and to identify communication preferences to inform intervention strategies for effectively reaching low-income urban minority families. Procedure Semi-structured focus group interviews were conducted with four groups involving 16 low-income urban parents (94% female; 88% Hispanic/Latino, 12% African American) of elementary school children. Interviews were transcribed and analyzed applying Social Cognitive Theory and using in-vivo coding. Main Findings The most common barriers to parents providing healthy foods to their children were accommodating child preferences and familial opposition. Parents showed intentionality to engage in healthy behaviors, and often shared procedural knowledge for reaching health goals. The analyses of desired communication channels yielded major preferences: tailored information, information provided through multiple mediums, appropriate duration/frequency of messages, and presented from a voice of authority. Conclusion and Implication While parents expressed desires to be healthy, the home food environment presented substantial challenges. Multi-media supports such as workshops, flyers, and text messaging may be useful to facilitate the sharing of information to minimize the tensions between intentionality and reaching desired goals to be healthy. Some parents thought that information received through text messaging could be easily shared and would act as a voice of authority to support child behavior change.

  7. Joint Sentinel-1 and SMAP data assimilation to improve soil moisture estimates

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lievens, H.; Reichle, R. H.; Liu, Q.; De Lannoy, G.; Dunbar, R. S.; Kim, S.; Das, N. N.; Cosh, M. H.; Walker, J. P.; Wagner, W.

    2017-12-01

    SMAP (Soil Moisture Active and Passive) radiometer observations at 40 km resolution are routinely assimilated into the NASA Catchment Land Surface Model (CLSM) to generate the SMAP Level 4 Soil Moisture product. The use of C-band radar backscatter observations from Sentinel-1 has the potential to add value to the radiance assimilation by increasing the level of spatial detail. The specifications of Sentinel-1 are appealing, particularly its high spatial resolution (5 by 20 m in interferometric wide swath mode) and frequent revisit time (6 day repeat cycle for the Sentinel-1A and Sentinel-1B constellation). However, the shorter wavelength of Sentinel-1 observations implies less sensitivity to soil moisture. This study investigates the value of Sentinel-1 data for hydrologic simulations by assimilating the radar observations into CLSM, either separately from or simultaneously with SMAP radiometer observations. To facilitate the assimilation of the radar observations, CLSM is coupled to the water cloud model, simulating the radar backscatter as observed by Sentinel-1. The innovations, i.e. differences between observations and simulations, are converted into increments to the model soil moisture state through an Ensemble Kalman Filter. The assimilation impact is assessed by comparing 3-hourly, 9 km surface and root-zone soil moisture simulations with in situ measurements from 9 km SMAP core validation sites and sparse networks, from May 2015 to 2017. The Sentinel-1 assimilation consistently improves surface soil moisture, whereas root-zone impacts are mostly neutral. Relatively larger improvements are obtained from SMAP assimilation. The joint assimilation of SMAP and Sentinel-1 observations performs best, demonstrating the complementary value of radar and radiometer observations.

  8. Estimation of the simple correlation coefficient.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Shieh, Gwowen

    2010-11-01

    This article investigates some unfamiliar properties of the Pearson product-moment correlation coefficient for the estimation of simple correlation coefficient. Although Pearson's r is biased, except for limited situations, and the minimum variance unbiased estimator has been proposed in the literature, researchers routinely employ the sample correlation coefficient in their practical applications, because of its simplicity and popularity. In order to support such practice, this study examines the mean squared errors of r and several prominent formulas. The results reveal specific situations in which the sample correlation coefficient performs better than the unbiased and nearly unbiased estimators, facilitating recommendation of r as an effect size index for the strength of linear association between two variables. In addition, related issues of estimating the squared simple correlation coefficient are also considered.

  9. Developing facilitation skills--a narrative.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Newton, Jennifer M

    2003-07-01

    Effective facilitation has been identified in the literature as one of three elements, along with context and evidence, that have a dynamic and coexisting relationship to enable the successful uptake of evidence into practice. This paper presents an overview of the concept of facilitation within the context of practice development, ahead of a personal and professional reflective account of a 'developing facilitator'. In the summer of 2001, the author was instrumental in organising the first Practice Development School in Melbourne. Thrown in at the deep end, she found herself co-facilitating with an experienced practice developer from the United Kingdom. Having never facilitated in the arena of an action learning group, nor worked in the field of practice development, there was initially a sense of impending overload and drowning in the new knowledge and skills that needed to be acquired. Drawing upon the work of narrative inquiry the author shares her experiences in the anticipation that in telling her story it will assist others in their journey of becoming a facilitator.

  10. Focused ultrasound transducer spatial peak intensity estimation: a comparison of methods

    Science.gov (United States)

    Civale, John; Rivens, Ian; Shaw, Adam; ter Haar, Gail

    2018-03-01

    Characterisation of the spatial peak intensity at the focus of high intensity focused ultrasound transducers is difficult because of the risk of damage to hydrophone sensors at the high focal pressures generated. Hill et al (1994 Ultrasound Med. Biol. 20 259-69) provided a simple equation for estimating spatial-peak intensity for solid spherical bowl transducers using measured acoustic power and focal beamwidth. This paper demonstrates theoretically and experimentally that this expression is only strictly valid for spherical bowl transducers without a central (imaging) aperture. A hole in the centre of the transducer results in over-estimation of the peak intensity. Improved strategies for determining focal peak intensity from a measurement of total acoustic power are proposed. Four methods are compared: (i) a solid spherical bowl approximation (after Hill et al 1994 Ultrasound Med. Biol. 20 259-69), (ii) a numerical method derived from theory, (iii) a method using measured sidelobe to focal peak pressure ratio, and (iv) a method for measuring the focal power fraction (FPF) experimentally. Spatial-peak intensities were estimated for 8 transducers at three drive powers levels: low (approximately 1 W), moderate (~10 W) and high (20-70 W). The calculated intensities were compared with those derived from focal peak pressure measurements made using a calibrated hydrophone. The FPF measurement method was found to provide focal peak intensity estimates that agreed most closely (within 15%) with the hydrophone measurements, followed by the pressure ratio method (within 20%). The numerical method was found to consistently over-estimate focal peak intensity (+40% on average), however, for transducers with a central hole it was more accurate than using the solid bowl assumption (+70% over-estimation). In conclusion, the ability to make use of an automated beam plotting system, and a hydrophone with good spatial resolution, greatly facilitates characterisation of the FPF, and

  11. Applying a particle filtering technique for canola crop growth stage estimation in Canada

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sinha, Abhijit; Tan, Weikai; Li, Yifeng; McNairn, Heather; Jiao, Xianfeng; Hosseini, Mehdi

    2017-10-01

    Accurate crop growth stage estimation is important in precision agriculture as it facilitates improved crop management, pest and disease mitigation and resource planning. Earth observation imagery, specifically Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) data, can provide field level growth estimates while covering regional scales. In this paper, RADARSAT-2 quad polarization and TerraSAR-X dual polarization SAR data and ground truth growth stage data are used to model the influence of canola growth stages on SAR imagery extracted parameters. The details of the growth stage modeling work are provided, including a) the development of a new crop growth stage indicator that is continuous and suitable as the state variable in the dynamic estimation procedure; b) a selection procedure for SAR polarimetric parameters that is sensitive to both linear and nonlinear dependency between variables; and c) procedures for compensation of SAR polarimetric parameters for different beam modes. The data was collected over three crop growth seasons in Manitoba, Canada, and the growth model provides the foundation of a novel dynamic filtering framework for real-time estimation of canola growth stages using the multi-sensor and multi-mode SAR data. A description of the dynamic filtering framework that uses particle filter as the estimator is also provided in this paper.

  12. Estimation and Mitigation of Channel Non-Reciprocity in Massive MIMO

    Science.gov (United States)

    Raeesi, Orod; Gokceoglu, Ahmet; Valkama, Mikko

    2018-05-01

    Time-division duplex (TDD) based massive MIMO systems rely on the reciprocity of the wireless propagation channels when calculating the downlink precoders based on uplink pilots. However, the effective uplink and downlink channels incorporating the analog radio front-ends of the base station (BS) and user equipments (UEs) exhibit non-reciprocity due to non-identical behavior of the individual transmit and receive chains. When downlink precoder is not aware of such channel non-reciprocity (NRC), system performance can be significantly degraded due to NRC induced interference terms. In this work, we consider a general TDD-based massive MIMO system where frequency-response mismatches at both the BS and UEs, as well as the mutual coupling mismatch at the BS large-array system all coexist and induce channel NRC. Based on the NRC-impaired signal models, we first propose a novel iterative estimation method for acquiring both the BS and UE side NRC matrices and then also propose a novel NRC-aware downlink precoder design which utilizes the obtained estimates. Furthermore, an efficient pilot signaling scheme between the BS and UEs is introduced in order to facilitate executing the proposed estimation method and the NRC-aware precoding technique in practical systems. Comprehensive numerical results indicate substantially improved spectral efficiency performance when the proposed NRC estimation and NRC-aware precoding methods are adopted, compared to the existing state-of-the-art methods.

  13. Calibrated Tully-fisher Relations For Improved Photometric Estimates Of Disk Rotation Velocities

    Science.gov (United States)

    Reyes, Reinabelle; Mandelbaum, R.; Gunn, J. E.; Pizagno, J.

    2011-01-01

    We present calibrated scaling relations (also referred to as Tully-Fisher relations or TFRs) between rotation velocity and photometric quantities-- absolute magnitude, stellar mass, and synthetic magnitude (a linear combination of absolute magnitude and color)-- of disk galaxies at z 0.1. First, we selected a parent disk sample of 170,000 galaxies from SDSS DR7, with redshifts between 0.02 and 0.10 and r band absolute magnitudes between -18.0 and -22.5. Then, we constructed a child disk sample of 189 galaxies that span the parameter space-- in absolute magnitude, color, and disk size-- covered by the parent sample, and for which we have obtained kinematic data. Long-slit spectroscopy were obtained from the Dual Imaging Spectrograph (DIS) at the Apache Point Observatory 3.5 m for 99 galaxies, and from Pizagno et al. (2007) for 95 galaxies (five have repeat observations). We find the best photometric estimator of disk rotation velocity to be a synthetic magnitude with a color correction that is consistent with the Bell et al. (2003) color-based stellar mass ratio. The improved rotation velocity estimates have a wide range of scientific applications, and in particular, in combination with weak lensing measurements, they enable us to constrain the ratio of optical-to-virial velocity in disk galaxies.

  14. Patients' and professionals' barriers and facilitators of tailored expectant management in subfertile couples with a good prognosis of a natural conception.

    Science.gov (United States)

    van den Boogaard, N M; van den Boogaard, E; Bokslag, A; van Zwieten, M C B; Hompes, P G A; Bhattacharya, S; Nelen, W; van der Veen, F; Mol, B W J

    2011-08-01

    European guidelines on fertility care emphasize that subfertile couples should receive information about their chances of a natural conception and should not be exposed to unnecessary treatments and risks. Prognostic models can help to estimate their chances and select couples with a good prognosis for tailored expectant management (TEM). Nevertheless, TEM is not always practiced. The aim of this study was to identify any barriers or facilitators for TEM among professionals and subfertile couples. A qualitative study was performed with semi-structured in-depth interviews of 21 subfertile patients who were counselled for TEM and three focus-group interviews of 21 professionals in the field of reproductive medicine. Two theoretical models were used to guide the interviews and the analyses. The primary outcome was the set of identified barriers and facilitators which influence implementation of TEM. Among the subfertile couples, main barriers were a lack of confidence in natural conception, a perception that expectant management is a waste of time, inappropriate expectations prior to the first consultation, misunderstanding the reason for expectant management and overestimation of the success rates of treatment. Both couples and professionals saw the lack of patient information materials as a barrier. Among professionals, limited knowledge about prognostic models leading to a decision in favour of treatment was recognized as a main barrier. A main facilitator mentioned by the professionals was better management of patients' expectations. We identified several barriers and facilitators which can be addressed to improve the implementation of TEM. These should be taken into account when designing future implementation strategies.

  15. Improvement of image quality using interpolated projection data estimation method in SPECT

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Takaki, Akihiro; Soma, Tsutomu; Murase, Kenya; Kojima, Akihiro; Asao, Kimie; Kamada, Shinya; Matsumoto, Masanori

    2009-01-01

    General data acquisition for single photon emission computed tomography (SPECT) is performed in 90 or 60 directions, with a coarse pitch of approximately 4-6 deg for a rotation of 360 deg or 180 deg, using a gamma camera. No data between adjacent projections will be sampled under these circumstances. The aim of the study was to develop a method to improve SPECT image quality by generating lacking projection data through interpolation of data obtained with a coarse pitch such as 6 deg. The projection data set at each individual degree in 360 directions was generated by a weighted average interpolation method from the projection data acquired with a coarse sampling angle (interpolated projection data estimation processing method, IPDE method). The IPDE method was applied to the numerical digital phantom data, actual phantom data and clinical brain data with Tc-99m ethyle cysteinate dimer (ECD). All SPECT images were reconstructed by the filtered back-projection method and compared with the original SPECT images. The results confirmed that streak artifacts decreased by apparently increasing a sampling number in SPECT after interpolation and also improved signal-to-noise (S/N) ratio of the root mean square uncertainty value. Furthermore, the normalized mean square error values, compared with standard images, had similar ones after interpolation. Moreover, the contrast and concentration ratios increased their effects after interpolation. These results indicate that effective improvement of image quality can be expected with interpolation. Thus, image quality and the ability to depict images can be improved while maintaining the present acquisition time and image quality. In addition, this can be achieved more effectively than at present even if the acquisition time is reduced. (author)

  16. Improving the Dominating-Set Routing over Delay-Tolerant Mobile Ad-Hoc Networks via Estimating Node Intermeeting Times

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Preiss Bruno

    2011-01-01

    Full Text Available With limited coverage of wireless networks and frequent roaming of mobile users, providing a seamless communication service poses a technical challenge. In our previous research, we presented a supernode system architecture that employs the delay-tolerant network (DTN concept to provide seamless communications for roaming users over interconnected heterogeneous wireless networks. Mobile ad hoc networks (MANETs are considered a key component of the supernode system for services over an area not covered by other wireless networks. Within the super node system, a dominating-set routing technique is proposed to improve message delivery over MANETs and to achieve better resource utilization. The performance of the dominating-set routing technique depends on estimation accuracy of the probability of a future contact between nodes. This paper studies how node mobility can be modeled and used to better estimate the probability of a contact. We derive a distribution for the node-to-node intermeeting time and present numerical results to demonstrate that the distribution can be used to improve the dominating-set routing technique performance. Moreover, we investigate how the distribution can be employed to relax the constraints of selecting the dominating-set members in order to improve the system resource utilization.

  17. Medical students' and facilitators' experiences of an Early Professional Contact course: active and motivated students, strained facilitators.

    Science.gov (United States)

    von Below, Bernhard; Hellquist, Gunilla; Rödjer, Stig; Gunnarsson, Ronny; Björkelund, Cecilia; Wahlqvist, Mats

    2008-12-02

    Today, medical students are introduced to patient contact, communication skills, and clinical examination in the preclinical years of the curriculum with the purpose of gaining clinical experience. These courses are often evaluated from the student perspective. Reports with an additional emphasis on the facilitator perspective are scarce. According to constructive alignment, an influential concept from research in higher education, the learning climate between students and teachers is also of great importance. In this paper, we approach the learning climate by studying both students' and facilitators' course experiences.In 2001, a new "Early Professional Contact" longitudinal strand through term 1-4, was introduced at the Sahlgrenska Academy, University of Gothenburg, Sweden. General practitioners and hospital specialists were facilitators.The aim of this study was to assess and analyse students' and clinical facilitators' experiences of the Early Professional Contact course and to illuminate facilitators' working conditions. Inspired by a Swedish adaptation of the Course Experience Questionnaire, an Early Professional Contact Questionnaire was constructed. In 2003, on the completion of the first longitudinal strand, a student and facilitator version was distributed to 86 students and 21 facilitators. In the analysis, both Chi-square and the Mann-Whitney tests were used. Sixty students (70%) and 15 facilitators (71%) completed the questionnaire. Both students and facilitators were satisfied with the course. Students reported gaining iiration for their future work as doctors along with increased confidence in meeting patients. They also reported increased motivation for biomedical studies. Differences in attitudes between facilitators and students were found. Facilitators experienced a greater workload, less reasonable demands and less support, than students. In this project, a new Early Professional Contact course was analysed from both student and facilitator

  18. Medical students' and facilitators' experiences of an Early Professional Contact course: Active and motivated students, strained facilitators

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Gunnarsson Ronny

    2008-12-01

    Full Text Available Abstract Background Today, medical students are introduced to patient contact, communication skills, and clinical examination in the preclinical years of the curriculum with the purpose of gaining clinical experience. These courses are often evaluated from the student perspective. Reports with an additional emphasis on the facilitator perspective are scarce. According to constructive alignment, an influential concept from research in higher education, the learning climate between students and teachers is also of great importance. In this paper, we approach the learning climate by studying both students' and facilitators' course experiences. In 2001, a new "Early Professional Contact" longitudinal strand through term 1–4, was introduced at the Sahlgrenska Academy, University of Gothenburg, Sweden. General practitioners and hospital specialists were facilitators. The aim of this study was to assess and analyse students' and clinical facilitators' experiences of the Early Professional Contact course and to illuminate facilitators' working conditions. Methods Inspired by a Swedish adaptation of the Course Experience Questionnaire, an Early Professional Contact Questionnaire was constructed. In 2003, on the completion of the first longitudinal strand, a student and facilitator version was distributed to 86 students and 21 facilitators. In the analysis, both Chi-square and the Mann-Whitney tests were used. Results Sixty students (70% and 15 facilitators (71% completed the questionnaire. Both students and facilitators were satisfied with the course. Students reported gaining iiration for their future work as doctors along with increased confidence in meeting patients. They also reported increased motivation for biomedical studies. Differences in attitudes between facilitators and students were found. Facilitators experienced a greater workload, less reasonable demands and less support, than students. Conclusion In this project, a new Early

  19. Training facilitators and supervisors

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Kjær, Louise Binow; O Connor, Maja; Krogh, Kristian

    At the Master’s program in Medicine at Aarhus University, Denmark, we have developed a faculty development program for facilitators and supervisors in 4 progressing student modules in communication, cooperation, and leadership. 1) A course for module 1 and 3 facilitators inspired by the apprentic...

  20. Facilitators and Barriers to Implementing Clinical Governance: A Qualitative Study among Senior Managers in Iran.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ravaghi, Hamid; Rafiei, Sima; Heidarpour, Peigham; Mohseni, Maryam

    2014-09-01

    Health care systems should assign quality improvement as their main mission. Clinical governance (CG) is a key strategy to improve quality of health care services. The Iranian Ministry of Health and Medical Education (MOHME) has promoted CG as a framework for safeguarding quality and safety in all hospitals since 2009. The purpose of this study was to explore perceived facilitators and barriers to implementing CG by deputies for curative affairs of Iranian medical universities. A qualitative study was conducted using face to face interviews with a purposeful sample of 43 deputies for curative affairs of Iranian Medical Universities and documents review. Thematic analysis was used to analyze the data. Five themes were explored including: knowledge and attitude toward CG, culture, organizational factors, managerial factors and barriers. The main perceived facilitating factors were adequate knowledge and positive attitude toward CG, supporting culture, managers' commitment, effective communication and well designed incentives. Pe rceived barriers were the reverse of facilitators noted above in addition to insufficient resources, legal challenges, workload and parallel quality programs. Successful implementation of CG in Iran will require identifying barriers and challenges existing in the way of CG implementation and try to mitigate them by using appropriate facilitators.

  1. Barriers and Facilitators to HIV Testing Among Zambian Female Sex Workers in Three Transit Hubs.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Chanda, Michael M; Perez-Brumer, Amaya G; Ortblad, Katrina F; Mwale, Magdalene; Chongo, Steven; Kamungoma, Nyambe; Kanchele, Catherine; Fullem, Andrew; Barresi, Leah; Bärnighausen, Till; Oldenburg, Catherine E

    2017-07-01

    Zambia has a generalized HIV epidemic, and HIV is concentrated along transit routes. Female sex workers (FSWs) are disproportionately affected by the epidemic. HIV testing is the crucial first step for engagement in HIV care and HIV prevention activities. However, to date little work has been done with FSWs in Zambia, and little is known about barriers and facilitators to HIV testing in this population. FSW peer educators were recruited through existing sex worker organizations for participation in a trial related to HIV testing among FSWs. We conducted five focus groups with FSW peer educators (N = 40) in three transit towns in Zambia (Livingstone, Chirundu, and Kapiri Mposhi) to elicit community norms related to HIV testing. Emerging themes demonstrated barriers and facilitators to HIV testing occurring at multiple levels, including individual, social network, and structural. Stigma and discrimination, including healthcare provider stigma, were a particularly salient barrier. Improving knowledge, social support, and acknowledgment of FSWs and women's role in society emerged as facilitators to testing. Interventions to improve HIV testing among FSWs in Zambia will need to address barriers and facilitators at multiple levels to be maximally effective.

  2. Genetic risks from radiation: recent assessments by the BEIR and UNSCEAR Committees and suggestions as to how future research can improve such estimates

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Selby, P.B.

    1979-01-01

    Recently two widely-recognized committees, namely the UNSCEAR and BEIR Committees, have reevaluated their estimates of genetic risks from radiation. Their estimates for gene mutations are based on two different approaches, one being the doubling-dose approach and the other being a new direct approach based on an empirical determination of the amount of dominant induced damage in the skeletons of mice in the first generation following irradiation. The estimates made by these committees are in reasonably good agreement and suggest that the genetic risks from present exposures resulting from nuclear power production are small. There is room for much improvement in the reliability of the risk estimates. The relatively new approach of measuring the amount of induced damage to the mouse skeleton shows great promise of improving knowledge about how changes in the mutation frequency affect the incidence of genetic disorders. Such findings may have considerable influence on genetic risk estimates for radiation and on the development of risk estimates for other less-well-understood environmental mutagens

  3. RTEMS CENTRE- RTEMS Improvement

    Science.gov (United States)

    Silva, Helder; Constantino, Alexandre; Freitas, Daniel; Coutinho, Manuel; Faustino, Sergio; Sousa, Jose; Dias, Luis; Zulianello, Marco

    2010-08-01

    During the last two years, EDISOFT's RTEMS CENTRE team [1], jointly with the European Space Agency and with the support of the worldwide RTEMS community [2], have been developing an activity to facilitate the qualification of the real-time operating system RTEMS (Real-Time Operating System for Multiprocessor Systems). This paper intends to give a high level visibility of the progress and the results obtained in the RTEMS Improvement [3] activity. The primary objective [4] of the project is to improve the RTEMS product, its documentation and to facilitate the qualification of RTEMS for future space missions, taking into consideration the specific operational requirements. The sections below provide a brief overview of the RTEMS operating system and the activities performed in the RTEMS Improvement project, which includes the selection of API managers to be qualified, the tailoring process, the requirements analysis, the reverse engineering and design of the RTEMS, the quality assurance process, the ISVV activities, the test campaign, the results obtained, the criticality analysis and the facilitation of qualification process.

  4. Improving incidence estimation in practice-based sentinel surveillance networks using spatial variation in general practitioner density

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Cécile Souty

    2016-11-01

    Full Text Available Abstract Background In surveillance networks based on voluntary participation of health-care professionals, there is little choice regarding the selection of participants’ characteristics. External information about participants, for example local physician density, can help reduce bias in incidence estimates reported by the surveillance network. Methods There is an inverse association between the number of reported influenza-like illness (ILI cases and local general practitioners (GP density. We formulated and compared estimates of ILI incidence using this relationship. To compare estimates, we simulated epidemics using a spatially explicit disease model and their observation by surveillance networks with different characteristics: random, maximum coverage, largest cities, etc. Results In the French practice-based surveillance network – the “Sentinelles” network – GPs reported 3.6% (95% CI [3;4] less ILI cases as local GP density increased by 1 GP per 10,000 inhabitants. Incidence estimates varied markedly depending on scenarios for participant selection in surveillance. Yet accounting for change in GP density for participants allowed reducing bias. Applied on data from the Sentinelles network, changes in overall incidence ranged between 1.6 and 9.9%. Conclusions Local GP density is a simple measure that provides a way to reduce bias in estimating disease incidence in general practice. It can contribute to improving disease monitoring when it is not possible to choose the characteristics of participants.

  5. $\\Upsilon\\overline{B}B$ couplings, slope of the Isgur-Wise function and improved estimate of $V_{cb}$

    CERN Document Server

    Narison, Stéphan

    1994-01-01

    We estimate the sum of the \\Upsilon \\bar BB couplings using QCD Spectral Sum Rules (QSSR). Our result implies the phenomenological bound \\xi'(vv'=1) \\geq -1.04 for the slope of the Isgur-Wise function. An analytic estimate of the (physical) slope to two loops within QSSR leads to the accurate value \\xi'(vv'=1) \\simeq -(1.00 \\pm 0.02) due to the (almost) complete cancellations between the perturbative and non-perturbative corrections at the stability points. Then, we deduce, from the present data, the improved estimate \\vert V_{cb} \\vert \\simeq \\ga 1.48 \\mbox{ps}/\\tau_B \\dr ^{1/2}(37.3 \\pm 1.2 \\pm 1.4)\\times 10^{-3} where the first error comes from the data analysis and the second one from the different model parametrizations of the Isgur-Wise function.

  6. Improving Estimation of Betweenness Centrality for Scale-Free Graphs

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Bromberger, Seth A. [Lawrence Livermore National Lab. (LLNL), Livermore, CA (United States); Klymko, Christine F. [Lawrence Livermore National Lab. (LLNL), Livermore, CA (United States); Henderson, Keith A. [Lawrence Livermore National Lab. (LLNL), Livermore, CA (United States); Pearce, Roger [Lawrence Livermore National Lab. (LLNL), Livermore, CA (United States); Sanders, Geoff [Lawrence Livermore National Lab. (LLNL), Livermore, CA (United States)

    2017-11-07

    Betweenness centrality is a graph statistic used to nd vertices that are participants in a large number of shortest paths in a graph. This centrality measure is commonly used in path and network interdiction problems and its complete form requires the calculation of all-pairs shortest paths for each vertex. This leads to a time complexity of O(jV jjEj), which is impractical for large graphs. Estimation of betweenness centrality has focused on performing shortest-path calculations on a subset of randomly- selected vertices. This reduces the complexity of the centrality estimation to O(jSjjEj); jSj < jV j, which can be scaled appropriately based on the computing resources available. An estimation strategy that uses random selection of vertices for seed selection is fast and simple to implement, but may not provide optimal estimation of betweenness centrality when the number of samples is constrained. Our experimentation has identi ed a number of alternate seed-selection strategies that provide lower error than random selection in common scale-free graphs. These strategies are discussed and experimental results are presented.

  7. Joint eigenvector estimation from mutually anisotropic tensors improves susceptibility tensor imaging of the brain, kidney, and heart.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Dibb, Russell; Liu, Chunlei

    2017-06-01

    To develop a susceptibility-based MRI technique for probing microstructure and fiber architecture of magnetically anisotropic tissues-such as central nervous system white matter, renal tubules, and myocardial fibers-in three dimensions using susceptibility tensor imaging (STI) tools. STI can probe tissue microstructure, but is limited by reconstruction artifacts because of absent phase information outside the tissue and noise. STI accuracy may be improved by estimating a joint eigenvector from mutually anisotropic susceptibility and relaxation tensors. Gradient-recalled echo image data were simulated using a numerical phantom and acquired from the ex vivo mouse brain, kidney, and heart. Susceptibility tensor data were reconstructed using STI, regularized STI, and the proposed algorithm of mutually anisotropic and joint eigenvector STI (MAJESTI). Fiber map and tractography results from each technique were compared with diffusion tensor data. MAJESTI reduced the estimated susceptibility tensor orientation error by 30% in the phantom, 36% in brain white matter, 40% in the inner medulla of the kidney, and 45% in myocardium. This improved the continuity and consistency of susceptibility-based fiber tractography in each tissue. MAJESTI estimation of the susceptibility tensors yields lower orientation errors for susceptibility-based fiber mapping and tractography in the intact brain, kidney, and heart. Magn Reson Med 77:2331-2346, 2017. © 2016 International Society for Magnetic Resonance in Medicine. © 2016 International Society for Magnetic Resonance in Medicine.

  8. Improving the precision of lake ecosystem metabolism estimates by identifying predictors of model uncertainty

    Science.gov (United States)

    Rose, Kevin C.; Winslow, Luke A.; Read, Jordan S.; Read, Emily K.; Solomon, Christopher T.; Adrian, Rita; Hanson, Paul C.

    2014-01-01

    Diel changes in dissolved oxygen are often used to estimate gross primary production (GPP) and ecosystem respiration (ER) in aquatic ecosystems. Despite the widespread use of this approach to understand ecosystem metabolism, we are only beginning to understand the degree and underlying causes of uncertainty for metabolism model parameter estimates. Here, we present a novel approach to improve the precision and accuracy of ecosystem metabolism estimates by identifying physical metrics that indicate when metabolism estimates are highly uncertain. Using datasets from seventeen instrumented GLEON (Global Lake Ecological Observatory Network) lakes, we discovered that many physical characteristics correlated with uncertainty, including PAR (photosynthetically active radiation, 400-700 nm), daily variance in Schmidt stability, and wind speed. Low PAR was a consistent predictor of high variance in GPP model parameters, but also corresponded with low ER model parameter variance. We identified a threshold (30% of clear sky PAR) below which GPP parameter variance increased rapidly and was significantly greater in nearly all lakes compared with variance on days with PAR levels above this threshold. The relationship between daily variance in Schmidt stability and GPP model parameter variance depended on trophic status, whereas daily variance in Schmidt stability was consistently positively related to ER model parameter variance. Wind speeds in the range of ~0.8-3 m s–1 were consistent predictors of high variance for both GPP and ER model parameters, with greater uncertainty in eutrophic lakes. Our findings can be used to reduce ecosystem metabolism model parameter uncertainty and identify potential sources of that uncertainty.

  9. Statistically optimal estimation of Greenland Ice Sheet mass variations from GRACE monthly solutions using an improved mascon approach

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Ran, J.; Ditmar, P.G.; Klees, R.; Farahani, H.

    2017-01-01

    We present an improved mascon approach to transform monthly spherical harmonic solutions based on GRACE satellite data into mass anomaly estimates in Greenland. The GRACE-based spherical harmonic coefficients are used to synthesize gravity anomalies at satellite altitude, which are then inverted

  10. Performance improvement of coherent free-space optical communication with quadrature phase-shift keying modulation using digital phase estimation.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Li, Xueliang; Geng, Tianwen; Ma, Shuang; Li, Yatian; Gao, Shijie; Wu, Zhiyong

    2017-06-01

    The performance of coherent free-space optical (CFSO) communication with phase modulation is limited by both phase fluctuations and intensity scintillations induced by atmospheric turbulence. To improve the system performance, one effective way is to use digital phase estimation. In this paper, a CFSO communication system with quadrature phase-shift keying modulation is studied. With consideration of the effects of log-normal amplitude fluctuations and Gauss phase fluctuations, a two-stage Mth power carrier phase estimation (CPE) scheme is proposed. The simulation results show that the phase noise can be suppressed greatly by this scheme, and the system symbol error rate performance with the two-stage Mth power CPE can be three orders lower than that of the single-stage Mth power CPE. Therefore, the two-stage CPE we proposed can contribute to the performance improvements of the CFSO communication system and has determinate guidance sense to its actual application.

  11. Using latent variable approach to estimate China's economy-wide energy rebound effect over 1954–2010

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Shao, Shuai; Huang, Tao; Yang, Lili

    2014-01-01

    The energy rebound effect has been a significant issue in China, which is undergoing economic transition, since it reflects the effectiveness of energy-saving policy relying on improved energy efficiency. Based on the IPAT equation and Brookes' explanation of the rebound effect, this paper develops an alternative estimation model of the rebound effect. By using the estimation model and latent variable approach, which is achieved through a time-varying coefficient state space model, we estimate China's economy-wide energy rebound effect over 1954–2010. The results show that the rebound effect evidently exists in China as a result of the annual average of 39.73% over 1954–2010. Before and after the implementation of China's reform and opening-up policy in 1978, the rebound effects are 47.24% and 37.32%, with a strong fluctuation and a circuitously downward trend, respectively, indicating that a stable political environment and the development of market economy system facilitate the effectiveness of energy-saving policy. Although the energy-saving effect of improving energy efficiency has been partly realised, there remains a large energy-saving potential in China. - Highlights: • We present an improved estimation methodology of economy-wide energy rebound effect. • We use the latent variable approach to estimate China's economy-wide rebound effect. • The rebound exists in China and varies before and after reform and opening-up. • After 1978, the average rebound is 37.32% with a circuitously downward trend. • Traditional Solow remainder method underestimates the rebound in most cases

  12. Robust Improvement in Estimation of a Covariance Matrix in an Elliptically Contoured Distribution Respect to Quadratic Loss Function

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Z. Khodadadi

    2008-03-01

    Full Text Available Let S be matrix of residual sum of square in linear model Y = Aβ + e where matrix e is distributed as elliptically contoured with unknown scale matrix Σ. In present work, we consider the problem of estimating Σ with respect to squared loss function, L(Σˆ , Σ = tr(ΣΣˆ −1 −I 2 . It is shown that improvement of the estimators were obtained by James, Stein [7], Dey and Srivasan [1] under the normality assumption remains robust under an elliptically contoured distribution respect to squared loss function

  13. Online interprofessional education facilitation: A scoping review.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Evans, Sherryn Maree; Ward, Catherine; Reeves, Scott

    2018-04-22

    The use of online media to deliver interprofessional education (IPE) is becoming more prevalent across health professions education settings. Facilitation of IPE activities is known to be critical to the effective delivery of IPE, however, specifics about the nature of online IPE facilitation remains unclear. To explore the health professions education literature to understand the extent, range and nature of research on online IPE facilitation. Scoping review methodology was used to guide a search of four electronic databases for relevant papers. Of the 2095 abstracts initially identified, after screening of both abstracts and full-text papers, 10 studies were selected for inclusion in this review. Following abstraction of key information from each study, a thematic analysis was undertaken. Three key themes emerged to describe the nature of the IPE facilitation literature: (1) types of online IPE facilitation contributions, (2) the experience of online IPE facilitation and (3) personal outcomes of online IPE facilitation. These IPE facilitation themes were particularly focused on facilitation of interprofessional student teams on an asynchronous basis. While the included studies provide some insight into the nature of online IPE facilitation, future research is needed to better understand facilitator contributions, and the facilitation experience and associated outcomes, both relating to synchronous and asynchronous online environments.

  14. Facilitating complex shape drawing in Williams syndrome and typical development.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hudson, Kerry D; Farran, Emily K

    2013-07-01

    Individuals with Williams syndrome (WS) produce drawings that are disorganised, likely due to an inability to replicate numerous spatial relations between parts. This study attempted to circumvent these drawing deficits in WS when copying complex combinations of one, two and three shapes. Drawing decisions were reduced by introducing a number of facilitators, for example, by using distinct colours and including facilitatory cues on the response sheet. Overall, facilitation improved drawing in the WS group to a comparable level of accuracy as typically developing participants (matched for non-verbal ability). Drawing accuracy was greatest in both groups when planning demands (e.g. starting location, line lengths and changes in direction) were reduced by use of coloured figures and providing easily distinguished and clearly grouped facilitatory cues to form each shape. This study provides the first encouraging evidence to suggest that drawing of complex shapes in WS can be facilitated; individuals with WS might be receptive to remediation programmes for drawing and handwriting. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  15. Barriers, facilitators, and potential strategies for increasing HPV vaccination: A statewide assessment to inform action

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Kathleen B. Cartmell

    2018-06-01

    Full Text Available Objective: The objective was to investigate how state level strategies in South Carolina could maximize HPV vaccine uptake. Design: An environmental scan identified barriers, facilitators, and strategies for improving HPV vaccination in South Carolina. Interviews were conducted with state leaders from relevant organizations such as public health agencies, medical associations, K-12 schools, universities, insurers, and cancer advocacy organizations. A thematic content analysis design was used. Digital interview files were transcribed, a data dictionary was created and data were coded using the data dictionary. Results: Thirty four interviews were conducted with state leaders. Barriers to HPV vaccination included lack of HPV awareness, lack of provider recommendation, HPV vaccine concerns, lack of access and practice-level barriers. Facilitators included momentum for improving HPV vaccination, school-entry Tdap requirement, pharmacy-based HPV vaccination, state immunization registry, HEDIS measures and HPV vaccine funding. Strategies for improving HPV vaccination fell into three categories: 1 addressing lack of awareness about the importance of HPV vaccination among the public and providers; 2 advocating for policy changes around HPV vaccine coverage, vaccine education, and pharmacy-based vaccination; and 3 coordination of efforts. Discussion: A statewide environmental scan generated a blueprint for action to be used to improve HPV vaccination in the state. Keywords: HPV, HPV vaccines, Cervical cancer, Prevention, Health systems, Barriers, Facilitators, Strategies, South Carolina

  16. Required Accuracy of Structural Constraints in the Inversion of Electrical Resistivity Data for Improved Water Content Estimation

    Science.gov (United States)

    Heinze, T.; Budler, J.; Weigand, M.; Kemna, A.

    2017-12-01

    Water content distribution in the ground is essential for hazard analysis during monitoring of landslide prone hills. Geophysical methods like electrical resistivity tomography (ERT) can be utilized to determine the spatial distribution of water content using established soil physical relationships between bulk electrical resistivity and water content. However, often more dominant electrical contrasts due to lithological structures outplay these hydraulic signatures and blur the results in the inversion process. Additionally, the inversion of ERT data requires further constraints. In the standard Occam inversion method, a smoothness constraint is used, assuming that soil properties change softly in space. While this applies in many scenarios, sharp lithological layers with strongly divergent hydrological parameters, as often found in landslide prone hillslopes, are typically badly resolved by standard ERT. We use a structurally constrained ERT inversion approach for improving water content estimation in landslide prone hills by including a-priori information about lithological layers. The smoothness constraint is reduced along layer boundaries identified using seismic data. This approach significantly improves water content estimations, because in landslide prone hills often a layer of rather high hydraulic conductivity is followed by a hydraulic barrier like clay-rich soil, causing higher pore pressures. One saturated layer and one almost drained layer typically result also in a sharp contrast in electrical resistivity, assuming that surface conductivity of the soil does not change in similar order. Using synthetic data, we study the influence of uncertainties in the a-priori information on the inverted resistivity and estimated water content distribution. We find a similar behavior over a broad range of models and depths. Based on our simulation results, we provide best-practice recommendations for field applications and suggest important tests to obtain reliable

  17. Radiation risk estimation

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Schull, W.J.; Texas Univ., Houston, TX

    1992-01-01

    Estimation of the risk of cancer following exposure to ionizing radiation remains largely empirical, and models used to adduce risk incorporate few, if any, of the advances in molecular biology of a past decade or so. These facts compromise the estimation risk where the epidemiological data are weakest, namely, at low doses and dose rates. Without a better understanding of the molecular and cellular events ionizing radiation initiates or promotes, it seems unlikely that this situation will improve. Nor will the situation improve without further attention to the identification and quantitative estimation of the effects of those host and environmental factors that enhance or attenuate risk. (author)

  18. Interorganisational Integration: Healthcare Professionals’ Perspectives on Barriers and Facilitators within the Danish Healthcare System

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Anne Marie Lyngsø

    2016-03-01

    Full Text Available Introduction: Despite many initiatives to improve coordination of patient pathways and intersectoral cooperation, Danish health care is still fragmented, lacking intra- and interorganisational integration. This study explores barriers to and facilitators of interorganisational integration as perceived by healthcare professionals caring for patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease within the Danish healthcare system. Methods: Seven focus groups were conducted in January through July 2014 with 21 informants from general practice, local healthcare centres and a pulmonary department at a university hospital in the Capital Region of Denmark. Results and discussion: Our results can be grouped into five influencing areas for interorganisational integration: communication/information transfer, committed leadership, patient engagement, the role and competencies of the general practitioner and organisational culture. Proposed solutions to barriers in each area hold the potential to improve care integration as experienced by individuals responsible for supporting and facilitating it. Barriers and facilitators to integrating care relate to clinical, professional, functional and normative integration. Especially, clinical, functional and normative integration seems fundamental to developing integrated care in practice from the perspective of healthcare professionals.

  19. Improving safety culture in hospitals: Facilitators and barriers to implementation of Systemic Falls Investigative Method (SFIM).

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zecevic, Aleksandra A; Li, Alvin Ho-Ting; Ngo, Charity; Halligan, Michelle; Kothari, Anita

    2017-06-01

    The purpose of this study was to assess the facilitators and barriers to implementation of the Systemic Falls Investigative Method (SFIM) on selected hospital units. A cross-sectional explanatory mixed methods design was used to converge results from a standardized safety culture survey with themes that emerged from interviews and focus groups. Findings were organized by six elements of the Ottawa Model of Research Use framework. A geriatric rehabilitation unit of an acute care hospital and a neurological unit of a rehabilitation hospital were selected purposefully due to the high frequency of falls. Hospital staff who took part in: surveys (n = 39), interviews (n = 10) and focus groups (n = 12), and 38 people who were interviewed during falls investigations: fallers, family, unit staff and hospital management. Implementation of the SFIM to investigate fall occurrences. Percent of positive responses on the Modified Stanford Patient Safety Culture Survey Instrument converged with qualitative themes on facilitators and barriers for intervention implementation. Both hospital units had an overall poor safety culture which hindered intervention implementation. Facilitators were hospital accreditation, strong emphasis on patient safety, infrastructure and dedicated champions. Barriers included heavy workloads, lack of time, lack of resources and poor communication. Successful implementation of SFIM requires regulatory and organizational support, committed frontline staff and allocation of resources to identify active causes and latent contributing factors to falls. System-wide adjustments show promise for promotion of safety culture in hospitals where falls happen regularly. © The Author 2017. Published by Oxford University Press in association with the International Society for Quality in Health Care. All rights reserved. For permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oup.com

  20. Coal export facilitation

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Eeles, L.

    1998-01-01

    There is a wide range of trade barriers, particularly tariffs, in current and potential coal market. Commonwealth departments in Australia play a crucial role in supporting government industry policies. This article summarises some of more recent activities of the Department of Primary Industries and Energy (DPIE) in facilitating the export of Australian Coals. Coal export facilitation activities are designed to assist the Australian coal industry by directing Commonwealth Government resources towards issues which would be inappropriate or difficult for the industry to address itself

  1. Improving outcomes in cancer diagnosis, prevention and control: barriers, facilitators and the need for health literacy in Ibadan Nigeria.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Adedimeji, Adebola A; Lounsbury, David; Popoola, Oluwafemi; Asuzu, Chioma; Lawal, Akinmayowa; Oladoyin, V; Crifase, Cassandra; Agalliu, Ilir; Shankar, Viswanathan; Adebiyi, Akindele

    2017-10-01

    Cancers constitute a significant public health problem in Nigeria. Breast, cervix and prostate cancers are leading causes of cancer-related deaths. Changing diets, lifestyles, HIV/AIDS and macro-structural factors contribute to cancer morbidity and mortality. Poor health information linking cancer risk to individual behaviors, environmental pollutants and structural barriers undermine prevention/control efforts. Studies suggest increasing health literacy and empowering individuals to take preventive action will improve outcomes and mitigate impact on a weak health system. We obtained qualitative data from 80 men, women, and young adults in 11 focus groups to assess beliefs, risk-perceptions, preventive behaviors and perceptions of barriers and facilitators to cancer control in Ibadan, Nigeria and conducted thematic analysis. Participants demonstrated awareness of cancers and mentioned several risk factors related to individual behaviors and the environment. Nonetheless, myths and misconceptions as well as micro, meso and macro level barriers impede prevention and control efforts. Developing and implementing comprehensive context-relevant health literacy interventions in community settings are urgently needed.Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

  2. Improving the estimation of celiac disease sibling risk by non-HLA genes.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Valentina Izzo

    Full Text Available Celiac Disease (CD is a polygenic trait, and HLA genes explain less than half of the genetic variation. Through large GWAs more than 40 associated non-HLA genes were identified, but they give a small contribution to the heritability of the disease. The aim of this study is to improve the estimate of the CD risk in siblings, by adding to HLA a small set of non-HLA genes. One-hundred fifty-seven Italian families with a confirmed CD case and at least one other sib and both parents were recruited. Among 249 sibs, 29 developed CD in a 6 year follow-up period. All individuals were typed for HLA and 10 SNPs in non-HLA genes: CCR1/CCR3 (rs6441961, IL12A/SCHIP1 and IL12A (rs17810546 and rs9811792, TAGAP (rs1738074, RGS1 (rs2816316, LPP (rs1464510, OLIG3 (rs2327832, REL (rs842647, IL2/IL21 (rs6822844, SH2B3 (rs3184504. Three associated SNPs (in LPP, REL, and RGS1 genes were identified through the Transmission Disequilibrium Test and a Bayesian approach was used to assign a score (BS to each detected HLA+SNPs genotype combination. We then classified CD sibs as at low or at high risk if their BS was respectively < or ≥ median BS value within each HLA risk group. A larger number (72% of CD sibs showed a BS ≥ the median value and had a more than two fold higher OR than CD sibs with a BS value < the median (O.R = 2.53, p = 0.047. Our HLA+SNPs genotype classification, showed both a higher predictive negative value (95% vs 91% and diagnostic sensitivity (79% vs 45% than the HLA only. In conclusion, the estimate of the CD risk by HLA+SNPs approach, even if not applicable to prevention, could be a precious tool to improve the prediction of the disease in a cohort of first degree relatives, particularly in the low HLA risk groups.

  3. Facilitators to Promoting Health in Schools: Is School Health Climate the Key?*

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lucarelli, Jennifer F.; Alaimo, Katherine; Mang, Ellen; Martin, Caroline; Miles, Richard; Bailey, Deborah; Kelleher, Deanne K.; Drzal, Nicholas B.; Liu, Hui

    2017-01-01

    BACKGROUND Schools can promote healthy eating in adolescents. This study used a qualitative approach to examine barriers and facilitators to healthy eating in schools. METHODS Case studies were conducted with 8 low-income Michigan middle schools. Interviews were conducted with 1 administrator, the food service director, and 1 member of the coordinated school health team at each school. RESULTS Barriers included budgetary constraints leading to low prioritization of health initiatives; availability of unhealthy competitive foods; and perceptions that students would not eat healthy foods. Schools had made improvements to foods and increased nutrition education. Support from administrators, teamwork among staff, and acknowledging student preferences facilitated positive changes. Schools with a key set of characteristics, (presence of a coordinated school health team, nutrition policies, and a school health champion) made more improvements. CONCLUSIONS The set of key characteristics identified in successful schools may represent a school’s health climate. While models of school climate have been utilized in the educational field in relation to academic outcomes, a health-specific model of school climate would be useful in guiding school health practitioners and researchers and may improve the effectiveness of interventions aimed at improving student dietary intake and other health behaviors. PMID:25099428

  4. Facilitators to promoting health in schools: is school health climate the key?

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lucarelli, Jennifer F; Alaimo, Katherine; Mang, Ellen; Martin, Caroline; Miles, Richard; Bailey, Deborah; Kelleher, Deanne K; Drzal, Nicholas B; Liu, Hui

    2014-02-01

    Schools can promote healthy eating in adolescents. This study used a qualitative approach to examine barriers and facilitators to healthy eating in schools. Case studies were conducted with 8 low-income Michigan middle schools. Interviews were conducted with 1 administrator, the food service director, and 1 member of the coordinated school health team at each school. Barriers included budgetary constraints leading to low prioritization of health initiatives; availability of unhealthy competitive foods; and perceptions that students would not eat healthy foods. Schools had made improvements to foods and increased nutrition education. Support from administrators, teamwork among staff, and acknowledging student preferences facilitated positive changes. Schools with a key set of characteristics, (presence of a coordinated school health team, nutrition policies, and a school health champion) made more improvements. The set of key characteristics identified in successful schools may represent a school's health climate. While models of school climate have been utilized in the educational field in relation to academic outcomes, a health-specific model of school climate would be useful in guiding school health practitioners and researchers and may improve the effectiveness of interventions aimed at improving student dietary intake and other health behaviors. © 2014, American School Health Association.

  5. Application of a hybrid model to reduce bias and improve precision in population estimates for elk (Cervus elaphus) inhabiting a cold desert ecosystem

    Science.gov (United States)

    Schoenecker, Kathryn A.; Lubow, Bruce C.

    2016-01-01

    Accurately estimating the size of wildlife populations is critical to wildlife management and conservation of species. Raw counts or “minimum counts” are still used as a basis for wildlife management decisions. Uncorrected raw counts are not only negatively biased due to failure to account for undetected animals, but also provide no estimate of precision on which to judge the utility of counts. We applied a hybrid population estimation technique that combined sightability modeling, radio collar-based mark-resight, and simultaneous double count (double-observer) modeling to estimate the population size of elk in a high elevation desert ecosystem. Combining several models maximizes the strengths of each individual model while minimizing their singular weaknesses. We collected data with aerial helicopter surveys of the elk population in the San Luis Valley and adjacent mountains in Colorado State, USA in 2005 and 2007. We present estimates from 7 alternative analyses: 3 based on different methods for obtaining a raw count and 4 based on different statistical models to correct for sighting probability bias. The most reliable of these approaches is a hybrid double-observer sightability model (model MH), which uses detection patterns of 2 independent observers in a helicopter plus telemetry-based detections of radio collared elk groups. Data were fit to customized mark-resight models with individual sighting covariates. Error estimates were obtained by a bootstrapping procedure. The hybrid method was an improvement over commonly used alternatives, with improved precision compared to sightability modeling and reduced bias compared to double-observer modeling. The resulting population estimate corrected for multiple sources of undercount bias that, if left uncorrected, would have underestimated the true population size by as much as 22.9%. Our comparison of these alternative methods demonstrates how various components of our method contribute to improving the final

  6. An improved Q estimation approach: the weighted centroid frequency shift method

    Science.gov (United States)

    Li, Jingnan; Wang, Shangxu; Yang, Dengfeng; Dong, Chunhui; Tao, Yonghui; Zhou, Yatao

    2016-06-01

    Seismic wave propagation in subsurface media suffers from absorption, which can be quantified by the quality factor Q. Accurate estimation of the Q factor is of great importance for the resolution enhancement of seismic data, precise imaging and interpretation, and reservoir prediction and characterization. The centroid frequency shift method (CFS) is currently one of the most commonly used Q estimation methods. However, for seismic data that contain noise, the accuracy and stability of Q extracted using CFS depend on the choice of frequency band. In order to reduce the influence of frequency band choices and obtain Q with greater precision and robustness, we present an improved CFS Q measurement approach—the weighted CFS method (WCFS), which incorporates a Gaussian weighting coefficient into the calculation procedure of the conventional CFS. The basic idea is to enhance the proportion of advantageous frequencies in the amplitude spectrum and reduce the weight of disadvantageous frequencies. In this novel method, we first construct a Gauss function using the centroid frequency and variance of the reference wavelet. Then we employ it as the weighting coefficient for the amplitude spectrum of the original signal. Finally, the conventional CFS is adopted for the weighted amplitude spectrum to extract the Q factor. Numerical tests of noise-free synthetic data demonstrate that the WCFS is feasible and efficient, and produces more accurate results than the conventional CFS. Tests for noisy synthetic data indicate that the new method has better anti-noise capability than the CFS. The application to field vertical seismic profile (VSP) data further demonstrates its validity5.

  7. Developing a hippocampal neural prosthetic to facilitate human memory encoding and recall

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hampson, Robert E.; Song, Dong; Robinson, Brian S.; Fetterhoff, Dustin; Dakos, Alexander S.; Roeder, Brent M.; She, Xiwei; Wicks, Robert T.; Witcher, Mark R.; Couture, Daniel E.; Laxton, Adrian W.; Munger-Clary, Heidi; Popli, Gautam; Sollman, Myriam J.; Whitlow, Christopher T.; Marmarelis, Vasilis Z.; Berger, Theodore W.; Deadwyler, Sam A.

    2018-06-01

    Objective. We demonstrate here the first successful implementation in humans of a proof-of-concept system for restoring and improving memory function via facilitation of memory encoding using the patient’s own hippocampal spatiotemporal neural codes for memory. Memory in humans is subject to disruption by drugs, disease and brain injury, yet previous attempts to restore or rescue memory function in humans typically involved only nonspecific, modulation of brain areas and neural systems related to memory retrieval. Approach. We have constructed a model of processes by which the hippocampus encodes memory items via spatiotemporal firing of neural ensembles that underlie the successful encoding of short-term memory. A nonlinear multi-input, multi-output (MIMO) model of hippocampal CA3 and CA1 neural firing is computed that predicts activation patterns of CA1 neurons during the encoding (sample) phase of a delayed match-to-sample (DMS) human short-term memory task. Main results. MIMO model-derived electrical stimulation delivered to the same CA1 locations during the sample phase of DMS trials facilitated short-term/working memory by 37% during the task. Longer term memory retention was also tested in the same human subjects with a delayed recognition (DR) task that utilized images from the DMS task, along with images that were not from the task. Across the subjects, the stimulated trials exhibited significant improvement (35%) in both short-term and long-term retention of visual information. Significance. These results demonstrate the facilitation of memory encoding which is an important feature for the construction of an implantable neural prosthetic to improve human memory.

  8. Colloid Facilitated Transport of Radioactive Cations in the Vadose Zone: Field Experiments Oak Ridge

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    James E. Saiers

    2012-09-20

    The overarching goal of this study was to improve understanding of colloid-facilitated transport of radioactive cations through unsaturated soils and sediments. We conducted a suite of laboratory experiments and field experiments on the vadose-zone transport of colloids, organic matter, and associated contaminants of interest to the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE). The laboratory and field experiments, together with transport modeling, were designed to accomplish the following detailed objectives: 1. Evaluation of the relative importance of inorganic colloids and organic matter to the facilitation of radioactive cation transport in the vadose zone; 2. Assessment of the role of adsorption and desorption kinetics in the facilitated transport of radioactive cations in the vadose zone; 3. Examination of the effects of rainfall and infiltration dynamics and in the facilitated transport of radioactive cations through the vadose zone; 4. Exploration of the role of soil heterogeneity and preferential flow paths (e.g., macropores) on the facilitated transport of radioactive cations in the vadose zone; 5. Development of a mathematical model of facilitated transport of contaminants in the vadose zone that accurately incorporates pore-scale and column-scale processes with the practicality of predicting transport with readily available parameters.

  9. An improvement of estimation method of source term to the environment for interfacing system LOCA for typical PWR using MELCOR code

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Han, Seok Jung; Kim, Tae Woon; Ahn, Kwang Il [Risk and Environmental Safety Research Division, Korea Atomic Energy Research Institute, Daejeon (Korea, Republic of)

    2017-06-15

    Interfacing-system loss-of-coolant-accident (ISLOCA) has been identified as the most hazardous accident scenario in the typical PWR plants. The present study as an effort to improve the knowledge of the source term to the environment during ISLOCA focuses on an improvement of the estimation method. The improvement was performed to take into account an effect of broken pipeline and auxiliary building structures relevant to ISLOCA. An estimation of the source term to the environment was for the OPR-1000 plants by MELOCR code version 1.8.6. The key features of the source term showed that the massive amount of fission products departed from the beginning of core degradation to the vessel breach. The release amount of fission products may be affected by the broken pipeline and the auxiliary building structure associated with release pathway.

  10. Flexible regression models for estimating postmortem interval (PMI) in forensic medicine.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Muñoz Barús, José Ignacio; Febrero-Bande, Manuel; Cadarso-Suárez, Carmen

    2008-10-30

    Correct determination of time of death is an important goal in forensic medicine. Numerous methods have been described for estimating postmortem interval (PMI), but most are imprecise, poorly reproducible and/or have not been validated with real data. In recent years, however, some progress in PMI estimation has been made, notably through the use of new biochemical methods for quantifying relevant indicator compounds in the vitreous humour. The best, but unverified, results have been obtained with [K+] and hypoxanthine [Hx], using simple linear regression (LR) models. The main aim of this paper is to offer more flexible alternatives to LR, such as generalized additive models (GAMs) and support vector machines (SVMs) in order to obtain improved PMI estimates. The present study, based on detailed analysis of [K+] and [Hx] in more than 200 vitreous humour samples from subjects with known PMI, compared classical LR methodology with GAM and SVM methodologies. Both proved better than LR for estimation of PMI. SVM showed somewhat greater precision than GAM, but GAM offers a readily interpretable graphical output, facilitating understanding of findings by legal professionals; there are thus arguments for using both types of models. R code for these methods is available from the authors, permitting accurate prediction of PMI from vitreous humour [K+], [Hx] and [U], with confidence intervals and graphical output provided. Copyright 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

  11. Improvement of Bragg peak shift estimation using dimensionality reduction techniques and predictive linear modeling

    Science.gov (United States)

    Xing, Yafei; Macq, Benoit

    2017-11-01

    With the emergence of clinical prototypes and first patient acquisitions for proton therapy, the research on prompt gamma imaging is aiming at making most use of the prompt gamma data for in vivo estimation of any shift from expected Bragg peak (BP). The simple problem of matching the measured prompt gamma profile of each pencil beam with a reference simulation from the treatment plan is actually made complex by uncertainties which can translate into distortions during treatment. We will illustrate this challenge and demonstrate the robustness of a predictive linear model we proposed for BP shift estimation based on principal component analysis (PCA) method. It considered the first clinical knife-edge slit camera design in use with anthropomorphic phantom CT data. Particularly, 4115 error scenarios were simulated for the learning model. PCA was applied to the training input randomly chosen from 500 scenarios for eliminating data collinearities. A total variance of 99.95% was used for representing the testing input from 3615 scenarios. This model improved the BP shift estimation by an average of 63+/-19% in a range between -2.5% and 86%, comparing to our previous profile shift (PS) method. The robustness of our method was demonstrated by a comparative study conducted by applying 1000 times Poisson noise to each profile. 67% cases obtained by the learning model had lower prediction errors than those obtained by PS method. The estimation accuracy ranged between 0.31 +/- 0.22 mm and 1.84 +/- 8.98 mm for the learning model, while for PS method it ranged between 0.3 +/- 0.25 mm and 20.71 +/- 8.38 mm.

  12. The positive impact of a facilitated peer mentoring program on academic skills of women faculty.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Varkey, Prathibha; Jatoi, Aminah; Williams, Amy; Mayer, Anita; Ko, Marcia; Files, Julia; Blair, Janis; Hayes, Sharonne

    2012-03-23

    In academic medicine, women physicians lag behind their male counterparts in advancement and promotion to leadership positions. Lack of mentoring, among other factors, has been reported to contribute to this disparity. Peer mentoring has been reported as a successful alternative to the dyadic mentoring model for women interested in improving their academic productivity. We describe a facilitated peer mentoring program in our institution's department of medicine. Nineteen women enrolled in the program were divided into 5 groups. Each group had an assigned facilitator. Members of the respective groups met together with their facilitators at regular intervals during the 12 months of the project. A pre- and post-program evaluation consisting of a 25-item self-assessment of academic skills, self-efficacy, and academic career satisfaction was administered to each participant. At the end of 12 months, a total of 9 manuscripts were submitted to peer-reviewed journals, 6 of which are in press or have been published, and another 2 of which have been invited to be revised and resubmitted. At the end of the program, participants reported an increase in their satisfaction with academic achievement (mean score increase, 2.32 to 3.63; P = 0.0001), improvement in skills necessary to effectively search the medical literature (mean score increase, 3.32 to 4.05; P = 0.0009), an improvement in their ability to write a comprehensive review article (mean score increase, 2.89 to 3.63; P = 0.0017), and an improvement in their ability to critically evaluate the medical literature (mean score increased from 3.11 to 3.89; P = 0.0008). This facilitated peer mentoring program demonstrated a positive impact on the academic skills and manuscript writing for junior women faculty. This 1-year program required minimal institutional resources, and suggests a need for further study of this and other mentoring programs for women faculty.

  13. Improved estimation of leak location of pipelines using frequency band variation

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Lee, Young Sup [Embedded System Engineering Department, Incheon National University, Incheon (Korea, Republic of); Yoon, Dong Jin [Safety Measurement Center, Korea Research Institute of Standards and Science, Daejeon (Korea, Republic of)

    2014-02-15

    Leakage is an important factor to be considered for the management of underground water supply pipelines in a smart water grid system, especially if the pipelines are aged and buried under the pavement or various structures of a highly populated city. Because the exact detection of the location of such leaks in pipelines is essential for their efficient operation, a new methodology for leak location detection based on frequency band variation, windowing filters, and probability is proposed in this paper. Because the exact detection of the leak location depends on the precision of estimation of time delay between sensor signals due to leak noise, some window functions that offer weightings at significant frequencies are applied for calculating the improved cross-correlation function. Experimental results obtained by applying this methodology to an actual buried water supply pipeline, ∼ 253.9 m long and made of cast iron, revealed that the approach of frequency band variation with those windows and probability offers better performance for leak location detection.

  14. Improved estimation of leak location of pipelines using frequency band variation

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Lee, Young Sup; Yoon, Dong Jin

    2014-01-01

    Leakage is an important factor to be considered for the management of underground water supply pipelines in a smart water grid system, especially if the pipelines are aged and buried under the pavement or various structures of a highly populated city. Because the exact detection of the location of such leaks in pipelines is essential for their efficient operation, a new methodology for leak location detection based on frequency band variation, windowing filters, and probability is proposed in this paper. Because the exact detection of the leak location depends on the precision of estimation of time delay between sensor signals due to leak noise, some window functions that offer weightings at significant frequencies are applied for calculating the improved cross-correlation function. Experimental results obtained by applying this methodology to an actual buried water supply pipeline, ∼ 253.9 m long and made of cast iron, revealed that the approach of frequency band variation with those windows and probability offers better performance for leak location detection.

  15. An Improved Method of Pose Estimation for Lighthouse Base Station Extension.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Yang, Yi; Weng, Dongdong; Li, Dong; Xun, Hang

    2017-10-22

    In 2015, HTC and Valve launched a virtual reality headset empowered with Lighthouse, the cutting-edge space positioning technology. Although Lighthouse is superior in terms of accuracy, latency and refresh rate, its algorithms do not support base station expansion, and is flawed concerning occlusion in moving targets, that is, it is unable to calculate their poses with a small set of sensors, resulting in the loss of optical tracking data. In view of these problems, this paper proposes an improved pose estimation algorithm for cases where occlusion is involved. Our algorithm calculates the pose of a given object with a unified dataset comprising of inputs from sensors recognized by all base stations, as long as three or more sensors detect a signal in total, no matter from which base station. To verify our algorithm, HTC official base stations and autonomous developed receivers are used for prototyping. The experiment result shows that our pose calculation algorithm can achieve precise positioning when a few sensors detect the signal.

  16. An Improved Azimuth Angle Estimation Method with a Single Acoustic Vector Sensor Based on an Active Sonar Detection System.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zhao, Anbang; Ma, Lin; Ma, Xuefei; Hui, Juan

    2017-02-20

    In this paper, an improved azimuth angle estimation method with a single acoustic vector sensor (AVS) is proposed based on matched filtering theory. The proposed method is mainly applied in an active sonar detection system. According to the conventional passive method based on complex acoustic intensity measurement, the mathematical and physical model of this proposed method is described in detail. The computer simulation and lake experiments results indicate that this method can realize the azimuth angle estimation with high precision by using only a single AVS. Compared with the conventional method, the proposed method achieves better estimation performance. Moreover, the proposed method does not require complex operations in frequencydomain and achieves computational complexity reduction.

  17. An Improved Azimuth Angle Estimation Method with a Single Acoustic Vector Sensor Based on an Active Sonar Detection System

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Anbang Zhao

    2017-02-01

    Full Text Available In this paper, an improved azimuth angle estimation method with a single acoustic vector sensor (AVS is proposed based on matched filtering theory. The proposed method is mainly applied in an active sonar detection system. According to the conventional passive method based on complex acoustic intensity measurement, the mathematical and physical model of this proposed method is described in detail. The computer simulation and lake experiments results indicate that this method can realize the azimuth angle estimation with high precision by using only a single AVS. Compared with the conventional method, the proposed method achieves better estimation performance. Moreover, the proposed method does not require complex operations in frequencydomain and achieves computational complexity reduction.

  18. Development of a Tool to Measure Youths' Food Allergy Management Facilitators and Barriers.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Herbert, Linda Jones; Lin, Adora; Matsui, Elizabeth; Wood, Robert A; Sharma, Hemant

    2016-04-01

    This study's aims are to identify factors related to allergen avoidance and epinephrine carriage among youth with food allergy, develop a tool to measure food allergy management facilitators and barriers, and investigate its initial reliability and validity.  The Food Allergy Management Perceptions Questionnaire (FAMPQ) was developed based on focus groups with 19 adolescents and young adults with food allergy. Additional youth with food allergy (N = 92; ages: 13-21 years) completed food allergy clinical history and management questionnaires and the FAMPQ.  Internal reliability estimates for the FAMPQ Facilitators and Barriers subscales were acceptable to good. Youth who were adherent to allergen avoidance and epinephrine carriage had higher Facilitator scores. Poor adherence was more likely among youth with higher Barrier scores.  Initial FAMPQ reliability and validity is promising. Additional research is needed to develop FAMPQ clinical guidelines. © The Author 2015. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the Society of Pediatric Psychology. All rights reserved. For permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oup.com.

  19. Facilitative root interactions in intercrops

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Hauggaard-Nielsen, H.; Jensen, E.S.

    2005-01-01

    of root architecture, exudation of growth stimulating substances, and biofumigation. Facilitative root interactions are most likely to be of importance in nutrient poor soils and in low-input agroecosystems due to critical interspecific competition for plant growth factors. However, studies from more...... nitrogen transfer between legumes and non-leguminous plants, exploitation of the soil via mycorrhizal fungi and soil-plant processes which alter the mobilisation of plant growth resources such as through exudation of amino acids, extra-cellular enzymes, acidification, competition-induced modification......Facilitation takes place when plants ameliorate the environment of their neighbours, and increase their growth and survival. Facilitation occurs in natural ecosystems as well as in agroecosystems. We discuss examples of facilitative root interactions in intercropped agroecosystems; including...

  20. Economic Feasibility of Staffing the Intensive Care Unit with a Communication Facilitator.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Khandelwal, Nita; Benkeser, David; Coe, Norma B; Engelberg, Ruth A; Curtis, J Randall

    2016-12-01

    In the intensive care unit (ICU), complex decision making by clinicians and families requires good communication to ensure that care is consistent with the patients' values and goals. To assess the economic feasibility of staffing ICUs with a communication facilitator. Data were from a randomized trial of an "ICU communication facilitator" linked to hospital financial records; eligible patients (n = 135) were admitted to the ICU at a single hospital with predicted mortality ≥30% and a surrogate decision maker. Adjusted regression analyses assessed differences in ICU total and direct variable costs between intervention and control patients. A bootstrap-based simulation assessed the cost efficiency of a facilitator while varying the full-time equivalent of the facilitator and the ICU mortality risk. Total ICU costs (mean 22.8k; 95% CI, -42.0k to -3.6k; P = 0.02) and average daily ICU costs (mean, -0.38k; 95% CI, -0.65k to -0.11k; P = 0.006)] were reduced significantly with the intervention. Despite more contacts, families of survivors spent less time per encounter with facilitators than did families of decedents (mean, 25 [SD, 11] min vs. 36 [SD, 14] min). Simulation demonstrated maximal weekly savings with a 1.0 full-time equivalent facilitator and a predicted ICU mortality of 15% (total weekly ICU cost savings, $58.4k [95% CI, $57.7k-59.2k]; weekly direct variable savings, $5.7k [95% CI, $5.5k-5.8k]) after incorporating facilitator costs. Adding a full-time trained communication facilitator in the ICU may improve the quality of care while simultaneously reducing short-term (direct variable) and long-term (total) health care costs. This intervention is likely to be more cost effective in a lower-mortality population.

  1. Improved OCV Model of a Li-Ion NMC Battery for Online SOC Estimation Using the Extended Kalman Filter

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Ines Baccouche

    2017-05-01

    Full Text Available Accurate modeling of the nonlinear relationship between the open circuit voltage (OCV and the state of charge (SOC is required for adaptive SOC estimation during the lithium-ion (Li-ion battery operation. Online SOC estimation should meet several constraints, such as the computational cost, the number of parameters, as well as the accuracy of the model. In this paper, these challenges are considered by proposing an improved simplified and accurate OCV model of a nickel manganese cobalt (NMC Li-ion battery, based on an empirical analytical characterization approach. In fact, composed of double exponential and simple quadratic functions containing only five parameters, the proposed model accurately follows the experimental curve with a minor fitting error of 1 mV. The model is also valid at a wide temperature range and takes into account the voltage hysteresis of the OCV. Using this model in SOC estimation by the extended Kalman filter (EKF contributes to minimizing the execution time and to reducing the SOC estimation error to only 3% compared to other existing models where the estimation error is about 5%. Experiments are also performed to prove that the proposed OCV model incorporated in the EKF estimator exhibits good reliability and precision under various loading profiles and temperatures.

  2. A Temperature-Based Bioimpedance Correction for Water Loss Estimation During Sports.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ring, Matthias; Lohmueller, Clemens; Rauh, Manfred; Mester, Joachim; Eskofier, Bjoern M

    2016-11-01

    The amount of total body water (TBW) can be estimated based on bioimpedance measurements of the human body. In sports, TBW estimations are of importance because mild water losses can impair muscular strength and aerobic endurance. Severe water losses can even be life threatening. TBW estimations based on bioimpedance, however, fail during sports because the increased body temperature corrupts bioimpedance measurements. Therefore, this paper proposes a machine learning method that eliminates the effects of increased temperature on bioimpedance and, consequently, reveals the changes in bioimpedance that are due to TBW loss. This is facilitated by utilizing changes in skin and core temperature. The method was evaluated in a study in which bioimpedance, temperature, and TBW loss were recorded every 15 min during a 2-h running workout. The evaluation demonstrated that the proposed method is able to reduce the error of TBW loss estimation by up to 71%, compared to the state of art. In the future, the proposed method in combination with portable bioimpedance devices might facilitate the development of wearable systems for continuous and noninvasive TBW loss monitoring during sports.

  3. An improved method for estimating the Ångström turbidity coefficient β in Central China during 1961–2010

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Wang, Lunche; Salazar, Germán Ariel; Gong, Wei; Peng, Simao; Zou, Ling; Lin, Aiwen

    2015-01-01

    The accurate determination of the atmospheric turbidity is of great importance for atmospheric environment, solar energy applications and climate change studies. Daily values of horizontal direct, diffuse and global solar radiation at Wuhan, Central China during 1961–2010 are used for estimating the monthly mean Ångström turbidity coefficient β. The YHM and YHM2 (Yang hybrid models) are first used to estimate the direct and diffuse components considering the transmittances of ozone, water vapor, gas mixture, aerosol and Rayleigh effect in the radiative transfer processes. An IMW (improved model for Wuhan) is also proposed by combining the format of YHM model with the corrected spectral terms of YHM2 model. Then, the β value can be estimated by varying the estimated direct irradiation until it matches the observation. The model performance is analyzed and compared and further validated by measured values using Sun photometer CE318. It is shown that the IMW model presents more accurate estimates than YHM and YHM2 ones; it is therefore a useful tool for studying the variability and evolution of atmospheric turbidity in other places around the world. - Highlights: • Global, direct and diffuse radiation at Wuhan during 1961–2010 is used. • An improved model is proposed to determine turbidity coefficient β. • The model results have been validated by field observations. • Long-term variations of turbidity coefficient at Wuhan are analyzed

  4. Effects of neuromuscular joint facilitation on bridging exercises with respect to deep muscle changes.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zhou, Bin; Huang, QiuChen; Zheng, Tao; Huo, Ming; Maruyama, Hitoshi

    2015-05-01

    [Purpose] This study examined the effects of neuromuscular joint facilitation on bridging exercises by assessing the cross-sectional area of the multifidus muscle and thickness of the musculus transversus abdominis. [Subjects] Twelve healthy men. [Methods] Four exercises were evaluated: (a) supine resting, (b) bridging resistance exercise involving posterior pelvic tilting, (c) bridging resistance exercise involving anterior pelvic tilting, and (d) bridging resistance exercise involving neuromuscular joint facilitation. The cross-sectional area of the multifidus muscle and thickness of the musculus transversus abdominis were measured during each exercise. [Results] The cross-sectional area of the multifidus muscle and thickness of the musculus transversus abdominis were significantly greater in the neuromuscular joint facilitation group than the others. [Conclusion] Neuromuscular joint facilitation intervention improves the function of deep muscles such as the multifidus muscle and musculus transversus abdominis. Therefore, it can be recommended for application in clinical treatments such as that for back pain.

  5. Can accelerometry data improve estimates of heart rate variability from wrist pulse PPG sensors?*

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kos, Maciej; Li, Xuan; Khaghani-Far, Iman; Gordon, Christine M.; Pavel, Misha; Jimison Member, Holly B.

    2018-01-01

    A key prerequisite for precision medicine is the ability to assess metrics of human behavior objectively, unobtrusively and continuously. This capability serves as a framework for the optimization of tailored, just-in-time precision health interventions. Mobile unobtrusive physiological sensors, an important prerequisite for realizing this vision, show promise in implementing this quality of physiological data collection. However, first we must trust the collected data. In this paper, we present a novel approach to improving heart rate estimates from wrist pulse photoplethysmography (PPG) sensors. We also discuss the impact of sensor movement on the veracity of collected heart rate data. PMID:29060185

  6. Can accelerometry data improve estimates of heart rate variability from wrist pulse PPG sensors?

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kos, Maciej; Xuan Li; Khaghani-Far, Iman; Gordon, Christine M; Pavel, Misha; Jimison, Holly B

    2017-07-01

    A key prerequisite for precision medicine is the ability to assess metrics of human behavior objectively, unobtrusively and continuously. This capability serves as a framework for the optimization of tailored, just-in-time precision health interventions. Mobile unobtrusive physiological sensors, an important prerequisite for realizing this vision, show promise in implementing this quality of physiological data collection. However, first we must trust the collected data. In this paper, we present a novel approach to improving heart rate estimates from wrist pulse photoplethysmography (PPG) sensors. We also discuss the impact of sensor movement on the veracity of collected heart rate data.

  7. Role enactment of facilitation in primary care

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Due, Tina Drud; Thorsen, Thorkil; Waldorff, Frans Boch

    2017-01-01

    facilitation visits in 13 practice settings and had interviews and focus groups with facilitators. We applied an explorative approach in data collection and analysis, and conducted an inductive thematic analysis. RESULTS: The facilitators mainly enacted four facilitator roles: teacher, super user, peer...

  8. Role enactment of facilitation in primary care

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Due, Tina Drud; Thorsen, Thorkil; Waldorff, Frans Boch

    2017-01-01

    facilitation visits in 13 practice settings and had interviews and focus groups with facilitators. We applied an explorative approach in data collection and analysis, and conducted an inductive thematic analysis. Results: The facilitators mainly enacted four facilitator roles: teacher, super user, peer...

  9. Using GRAPPA to improve autocalibrated coil sensitivity estimation for the SENSE family of parallel imaging reconstruction algorithms.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hoge, W Scott; Brooks, Dana H

    2008-08-01

    Two strategies are widely used in parallel MRI to reconstruct subsampled multicoil image data. SENSE and related methods employ explicit receiver coil spatial response estimates to reconstruct an image. In contrast, coil-by-coil methods such as GRAPPA leverage correlations among the acquired multicoil data to reconstruct missing k-space lines. In self-referenced scenarios, both methods employ Nyquist-rate low-frequency k-space data to identify the reconstruction parameters. Because GRAPPA does not require explicit coil sensitivities estimates, it needs considerably fewer autocalibration signals than SENSE. However, SENSE methods allow greater opportunity to control reconstruction quality though regularization and thus may outperform GRAPPA in some imaging scenarios. Here, we employ GRAPPA to improve self-referenced coil sensitivity estimation in SENSE and related methods using very few auto-calibration signals. This enables one to leverage each methods' inherent strength and produce high quality self-referenced SENSE reconstructions. (c) 2008 Wiley-Liss, Inc.

  10. Learning without knowing: subliminal visual feedback facilitates ballistic motor learning

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Lundbye-Jensen, Jesper; Leukel, Christian; Nielsen, Jens Bo

    by subconscious (subliminal) augmented visual feedback on motor performance. To test this, 45 subjects participated in the experiment, which involved learning of a ballistic task. The task was to execute simple ankle plantar flexion movements as quickly as possible within 200 ms and to continuously improve...... by the learner, indeed facilitated ballistic motor learning. This effect likely relates to multiple (conscious versus unconscious) processing of visual feedback and to the specific neural circuitries involved in optimization of ballistic motor performance.......). It is a well- described phenomenon that we may respond to features of our surroundings without being aware of them. It is also a well-known principle, that learning is reinforced by augmented feedback on motor performance. In the present experiment we hypothesized that motor learning may be facilitated...

  11. vFitness: a web-based computing tool for improving estimation of in vitro HIV-1 fitness experiments

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Demeter Lisa

    2010-05-01

    Full Text Available Abstract Background The replication rate (or fitness between viral variants has been investigated in vivo and in vitro for human immunodeficiency virus (HIV. HIV fitness plays an important role in the development and persistence of drug resistance. The accurate estimation of viral fitness relies on complicated computations based on statistical methods. This calls for tools that are easy to access and intuitive to use for various experiments of viral fitness. Results Based on a mathematical model and several statistical methods (least-squares approach and measurement error models, a Web-based computing tool has been developed for improving estimation of virus fitness in growth competition assays of human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1. Conclusions Unlike the two-point calculation used in previous studies, the estimation here uses linear regression methods with all observed data in the competition experiment to more accurately estimate relative viral fitness parameters. The dilution factor is introduced for making the computational tool more flexible to accommodate various experimental conditions. This Web-based tool is implemented in C# language with Microsoft ASP.NET, and is publicly available on the Web at http://bis.urmc.rochester.edu/vFitness/.

  12. General and Specific Strategies Used to Facilitate Locomotor Maneuvers.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Mengnan Wu

    Full Text Available People make anticipatory changes in gait patterns prior to initiating a rapid change of direction. How they prepare will change based on their knowledge of the maneuver. To investigate specific and general strategies used to facilitate locomotor maneuvers, we manipulated subjects' ability to anticipate the direction of an upcoming lateral "lane-change" maneuver. To examine specific anticipatory adjustments, we observed the four steps immediately preceding a maneuver that subjects were instructed to perform at a known time in a known direction. We hypothesized that to facilitate a specific change of direction, subjects would proactively decrease margin of stability in the future direction of travel. Our results support this hypothesis: subjects significantly decreased lateral margin of stability by 69% on the side ipsilateral to the maneuver during only the step immediately preceding the maneuver. This gait adaptation may have improved energetic efficiency and simplified the control of the maneuver. To examine general anticipatory adjustments, we observed the two steps immediately preceding the instant when subjects received information about the direction of the maneuver. When the maneuver direction was unknown, we hypothesized that subjects would make general anticipatory adjustments that would improve their ability to actively initiate a maneuver in multiple directions. This second hypothesis was partially supported as subjects increased step width and stance phase hip flexion during these anticipatory steps. These modifications may have improved subjects' ability to generate forces in multiple directions and maintain equilibrium during the onset and execution of the rapid maneuver. However, adapting these general anticipatory strategies likely incurred an additional energetic cost.

  13. Facilitators for Empowering Women in Breastfeeding: a Qualitative Study

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Shahnaz Kohan

    2016-01-01

    Full Text Available Background  Exclusive breastfeeding for the first six months and continued breastfeeding up to 2 years or more is a desirable approach for infant’s nutrition. A mother's breastfeeding empowerment is considered an important factor in promoting breastfeeding and identifying its facilitating factors can contribute to the development of effective policies and intervention. This study with a qualitative approach carried out aiming to exploring the facilitators for women’s empowerment in breastfeeding. Material and Methods This study conducted by content analysis method. Thirty-four semi-structured individual interviews with 20 mothers having breastfeeding experience, 4 key family members, and 10 personnel involved in breastfeeding services were carried out. Data analysis was simultaneously performed with data collection. Results Three main categories of "Health system factors", "Family and personal factors" and "Social and cultural factors" were extracted from the participants' explanations, indicating the dimensions of facilitators for empowering women in breastfeeding. Conclusion Participants regarded the acquisition of breastfeeding skills in hospitals and breastfeeding counseling in health centers as important factors in facilitating their empowerment to early initiation of breastfeeding and its continuity. Further analysis showed "a mother's decision to breastfeed" along with her understanding of "positive attitude and her husband and family's participation in breastfeeding" boosts the breastfeeding ability and the support of the community through "positive cultural belief in breastfeeding" and" public education and information" provides an appropriate ground for the continuity of breastfeeding. In order to improve breastfeeding, a comprehensive planning with regard to women's empowerment in breastfeeding should be considered.

  14. Rolipram improves facilitation of contextual fear extinction in the 1-methyl-4-phenyl-1,2,3,6-tetrahydropyridine-induced mouse model of Parkinson's disease

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Ken-ichi Kinoshita

    2017-05-01

    Full Text Available Cognitive impairment often occurs in Parkinson's disease (PD, but the mechanism of onset remains unknown. Recently, we reported that PD model mice produced by 1-methyl-4-phenyl-1,2,3,6-tetrahydropyridine (MPTP show facilitation of hippocampal memory extinction, which may be the cause of cognitive impairment in PD. When we examined the cAMP/CREB signaling in the hippocampus, decreased levels of cAMP and phosphorylated CREB were observed in the dentate gyrus (DG of MPTP-treated mice. Administration of rolipram improved the memory deficits with concomitant recovery of cAMP and phosphorylated CREB levels, suggesting that reduced cAMP/CREB signaling in the DG leads to cognitive impairment in MPTP-treated mice.

  15. Improved estimates of external gamma dose rates in the environs of Hinkley Point Power Station

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Macdonald, H.F.; Thompson, I.M.G.

    1988-07-01

    The dominant source of external gamma dose rates at centres of population within a few kilometres of Hinkley Point Power Station is the routine discharge of 41-Ar from the 'A' station magnox reactors. Earlier estimates of the 41-Ar radiation dose rates were based upon measured discharge rates, combined with calculations using standard plume dispersion and cloud-gamma integration models. This report presents improved dose estimates derived from environmental gamma dose rate measurements made at distances up to about 1 km from the site, thus minimising the degree of extrapolation introduced in estimating dose rates at locations up to a few kilometres from the site. In addition, results from associated chemical tracer measurements and wind tunnel simulations covering distances up to about 4 km from the station are outlined. These provide information on the spatial distribution of the 41-Ar plume during the initial stages of its dispersion, including effects due to plume buoyancy and momentum and behaviour under light wind conditions. In addition to supporting the methodology used for the 41-Ar dose calculations, this information is also of generic interest in the treatment of a range of operational and accidental releases from nuclear power station sites and will assist in the development and validation of existing environmental models. (author)

  16. Improved estimation of receptor density and binding rate constants using a single tracer injection and displacement

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Syrota, A.; Delforge, J.; Mazoyer, B.M.

    1988-01-01

    The possibility of improving receptor model parameter estimation using a displacement experiment in which an excess of an unlabeled ligand (J) is injected after a delay (t D ) following injection of trace amounts of the β + - labeled ligand (J*) is investigated. The effects of varying t D and J/J* on parameter uncertainties are studied in the case of 11 C-MQNB binding to myocardial acetycholine receptor using parameters identified in a dog experiment

  17. Improving Satellite Quantitative Precipitation Estimation Using GOES-Retrieved Cloud Optical Depth

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Stenz, Ronald; Dong, Xiquan; Xi, Baike; Feng, Zhe; Kuligowski, Robert J.

    2016-02-01

    To address significant gaps in ground-based radar coverage and rain gauge networks in the U.S., geostationary satellite quantitative precipitation estimates (QPEs) such as the Self-Calibrating Multivariate Precipitation Retrievals (SCaMPR) can be used to fill in both the spatial and temporal gaps of ground-based measurements. Additionally, with the launch of GOES-R, the temporal resolution of satellite QPEs may be comparable to that of Weather Service Radar-1988 Doppler (WSR-88D) volume scans as GOES images will be available every five minutes. However, while satellite QPEs have strengths in spatial coverage and temporal resolution, they face limitations particularly during convective events. Deep Convective Systems (DCSs) have large cloud shields with similar brightness temperatures (BTs) over nearly the entire system, but widely varying precipitation rates beneath these clouds. Geostationary satellite QPEs relying on the indirect relationship between BTs and precipitation rates often suffer from large errors because anvil regions (little/no precipitation) cannot be distinguished from rain-cores (heavy precipitation) using only BTs. However, a combination of BTs and optical depth (τ) has been found to reduce overestimates of precipitation in anvil regions (Stenz et al. 2014). A new rain mask algorithm incorporating both τ and BTs has been developed, and its application to the existing SCaMPR algorithm was evaluated. The performance of the modified SCaMPR was evaluated using traditional skill scores and a more detailed analysis of performance in individual DCS components by utilizing the Feng et al. (2012) classification algorithm. SCaMPR estimates with the new rain mask applied benefited from significantly reduced overestimates of precipitation in anvil regions and overall improvements in skill scores.

  18. Improvement of radiation dose estimation due to nuclear accidents using deep neural network and GPU

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Desterro, Filipe S.M.; Almeida, Adino A.H.; Pereira, Claudio M.N.A., E-mail: filipesantana18@gmail.com, E-mail: adino@ien.gov.br, E-mail: cmcoelho@ien.gov.br [Instituto de Engenharia Nuclear (IEN/CNEN-RJ), Rio de Janeiro, RJ (Brazil)

    2017-07-01

    Recently, the use of mobile devices has been proposed for dose assessment during nuclear accidents. The idea is to support field teams, providing an approximated estimation of the dose distribution map in the vicinity of the nuclear power plant (NPP), without needing to be connected to the NPP systems. In order to provide such stand-alone execution, the use of artificial neural networks (ANN) has been proposed in substitution of the complex and time consuming physical models executed by the atmospheric dispersion radionuclide (ADR) system. One limitation observed on such approach is the very time-consuming training of the ANNs. Moreover, if the number of input parameters increases the performance of standard ANNs, like Multilayer-Perceptron (MLP) with backpropagation training, is affected leading to unreasonable training time. To improve learning, allowing better dose estimations, more complex ANN architectures are required. ANNs with many layers (much more than a typical number of layers), referred to as Deep Neural Networks (DNN), for example, have demonstrating to achieve better results. On the other hand, the training of such ANNs is very much slow. In order to allow the use of such DNNs in a reasonable training time, a parallel programming solution, using Graphic Processing Units (GPU) and Computing Unified Device Architecture (CUDA) is proposed. This work focuses on the study of computational technologies for improvement of the ANNs to be used in the mobile application, as well as their training algorithms. (author)

  19. Improvement of radiation dose estimation due to nuclear accidents using deep neural network and GPU

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Desterro, Filipe S.M.; Almeida, Adino A.H.; Pereira, Claudio M.N.A.

    2017-01-01

    Recently, the use of mobile devices has been proposed for dose assessment during nuclear accidents. The idea is to support field teams, providing an approximated estimation of the dose distribution map in the vicinity of the nuclear power plant (NPP), without needing to be connected to the NPP systems. In order to provide such stand-alone execution, the use of artificial neural networks (ANN) has been proposed in substitution of the complex and time consuming physical models executed by the atmospheric dispersion radionuclide (ADR) system. One limitation observed on such approach is the very time-consuming training of the ANNs. Moreover, if the number of input parameters increases the performance of standard ANNs, like Multilayer-Perceptron (MLP) with backpropagation training, is affected leading to unreasonable training time. To improve learning, allowing better dose estimations, more complex ANN architectures are required. ANNs with many layers (much more than a typical number of layers), referred to as Deep Neural Networks (DNN), for example, have demonstrating to achieve better results. On the other hand, the training of such ANNs is very much slow. In order to allow the use of such DNNs in a reasonable training time, a parallel programming solution, using Graphic Processing Units (GPU) and Computing Unified Device Architecture (CUDA) is proposed. This work focuses on the study of computational technologies for improvement of the ANNs to be used in the mobile application, as well as their training algorithms. (author)

  20. Differential facilitative effects of glucose administration on Stroop task conditions.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Brandt, Karen R; Gibson, E Leigh; Rackie, James M

    2013-12-01

    Previous research has demonstrated that glucose administration improves memory performance. These glucose facilitation effects have been most reliably demonstrated in medial temporal lobe tasks with the greatest effects found for cognitively demanding tasks. The aim of the proposed research was to first explore whether such effects might be demonstrated in a frontal lobe task. A second aim was to investigate whether any beneficial effects of glucose may arise more prominently under tasks of increasing cognitive demand. To achieve these aims, the Stroop Task was administered to participants and effects of a drink of glucose (25 g) were compared with an aspartame-sweetened control drink on performance in young adults. Results demonstrated that glucose ingestion significantly reduced RTs in the congruent and incongruent conditions. No effect on error rates was observed. Of most importance was the finding that this glucose facilitative effect was significantly greatest in the most cognitively demanding task, that is, the incongruent condition. The present results support the contention that the glucose facilitation effect is most robust under conditions of enhanced task difficulty and demonstrate that such benefits extend to frontal lobe function.

  1. Practical-theological facilitation as skilled helping

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Elmo Pienaar

    2013-11-01

    Full Text Available The article discussed the idea of skilled helping in relation to what has been put forward as practical theological facilitation. It has been argued that various helping relationships, amongst which the author refers to coaching, facilitation, and therapy has more in common than what differentiates them if epistemology is viewed as a unifying concept. As such the scope of practical theology in terms of the contexts and themes in which it might be involved is said to widen. The public dimension of the organisational context, more so than the congregational context, has been put forward as an important habitus of practical-theological facilitation. The organisational involvement of the practical-theological facilitator in terms of professional-vocational skilled helping takes on an actual role through facilitation and other helping modalities.

  2. Turbidity-controlled sampling for suspended sediment load estimation

    Science.gov (United States)

    Jack Lewis

    2003-01-01

    Abstract - Automated data collection is essential to effectively measure suspended sediment loads in storm events, particularly in small basins. Continuous turbidity measurements can be used, along with discharge, in an automated system that makes real-time sampling decisions to facilitate sediment load estimation. The Turbidity Threshold Sampling method distributes...

  3. An improved method for estimating capillary pressure from 3D microtomography images and its application to the study of disconnected nonwetting phase

    Science.gov (United States)

    Li, Tianyi; Schlüter, Steffen; Dragila, Maria Ines; Wildenschild, Dorthe

    2018-04-01

    We present an improved method for estimating interfacial curvatures from x-ray computed microtomography (CMT) data that significantly advances the potential for this tool to unravel the mechanisms and phenomena associated with multi-phase fluid motion in porous media. CMT data, used to analyze the spatial distribution and capillary pressure-saturation (Pc-S) relationships of liquid phases, requires accurate estimates of interfacial curvature. Our improved method for curvature estimation combines selective interface modification and distance weighting approaches. It was verified against synthetic (analytical computer-generated) and real image data sets, demonstrating a vast improvement over previous methods. Using this new tool on a previously published data set (multiphase flow) yielded important new insights regarding the pressure state of the disconnected nonwetting phase during drainage and imbibition. The trapped and disconnected non-wetting phase delimits its own hysteretic Pc-S curve that inhabits the space within the main hysteretic Pc-S loop of the connected wetting phase. Data suggests that the pressure of the disconnected, non-wetting phase is strongly modified by the pore geometry rather than solely by the bulk liquid phase that surrounds it.

  4. Barriers and facilitators to the quality use of essential medicines for maternal health in low-resource countries: An Ishikawa framework.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Tran, Dan N; Bero, Lisa A

    2015-06-01

    An estimated 800 women die every day due to complications related to pregnancy or childbirth. Complications such as postpartum haemorrhage (PPH) and pre-eclampsia and eclampsia can be prevented by the appropriate use of essential medicines. The objective of this study was to identify the common barriers and facilitators to the availability and use of oxytocin, ergometrine, and magnesium sulfate (MgSO4) - essential medicines indicated for the prevention and treatment of PPH and pre-eclampsia and eclampsia. We analyzed seven UNFPA/WHO reports published in 2008-2010. These reports summarized country-wide rapid assessments of access to and use of essential medicines for maternal health in Mongolia, Nepal, Laos, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), the Philippines, Vanuatu, and the Solomon Islands. We used a "fishbone" (Ishikawa) diagram as the analytic framework to identify facilitators and barriers at four health-system levels: government/regulatory, pharmaceutical supply, health facility, and health professional. Common facilitators to the quality use of essential medicines for maternal health were observed at the government/regulatory and health professional level. A majority of countries had these medicines listed in their essential medicines lists. Awareness of the medicines was generally high among health professionals. Common barriers were identified at all health-system levels. First, standard treatment guidelines were not available, updated, or standardized. Second, there was an inadequate capacity to forecast and procure medicines. Third, a required MgSO4 antidote was often not available and the storage conditions for oxytocin were deficient. The "fishbone" Ishikawa diagram is a useful tool for describing the findings of rapid assessments of quality use of essential medicines for maternal health across countries. The facilitators and barriers identified should guide the development of tailored intervention programs to improve and expand the use

  5. Barriers and facilitators to the quality use of essential medicines for maternal health in low–resource countries: An Ishikawa framework

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Dan N. Tran

    2015-06-01

    Full Text Available Background An estimated 800 women die every day due to complications related to pregnancy or childbirth. Complications such as postpartum haemorrhage (PPH and pre–eclampsia and eclampsia can be prevented by the appropriate use of essential medicines. The objective of this study was to identify the common barriers and facilitators to the availability and use of oxytocin, ergometrine, and magnesium sulfate (MgSO4 – essential medicines indicated for the prevention and treatment of PPH and pre–eclampsia and eclampsia. Methods We analyzed seven UNFPA/WHO reports published in 2008–2010. These reports summarized country–wide rapid assessments of access to and use of essential medicines for maternal health in Mongolia, Nepal, Laos, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK, the Philippines, Vanuatu, and the Solomon Islands. We used a “fishbone” (Ishikawa diagram as the analytic framework to identify facilitators and barriers at four health–system levels: government/regulatory, pharmaceutical supply, health facility, and health professional. Results Common facilitators to the quality use of essential medicines for maternal health were observed at the government/regulatory and health professional level. A majority of countries had these medicines listed in their essential medicines lists. Awareness of the medicines was generally high among health professionals. Common barriers were identified at all health–system levels. First, standard treatment guidelines were not available, updated, or standardized. Second, there was an inadequate capacity to forecast and procure medicines. Third, a required MgSO4 antidote was often not available and the storage conditions for oxytocin were deficient. Conclusions The “fishbone” Ishikawa diagram is a useful tool for describing the findings of rapid assessments of quality use of essential medicines for maternal health across countries. The facilitators and barriers identified should guide the

  6. Color quality improvement of reconstructed images in color digital holography using speckle method and spectral estimation

    Science.gov (United States)

    Funamizu, Hideki; Onodera, Yusei; Aizu, Yoshihisa

    2018-05-01

    In this study, we report color quality improvement of reconstructed images in color digital holography using the speckle method and the spectral estimation. In this technique, an object is illuminated by a speckle field and then an object wave is produced, while a plane wave is used as a reference wave. For three wavelengths, the interference patterns of two coherent waves are recorded as digital holograms on an image sensor. Speckle fields are changed by moving a ground glass plate in an in-plane direction, and a number of holograms are acquired to average the reconstructed images. After the averaging process of images reconstructed from multiple holograms, we use the Wiener estimation method for obtaining spectral transmittance curves in reconstructed images. The color reproducibility in this method is demonstrated and evaluated using a Macbeth color chart film and staining cells of onion.

  7. A study on the improved DTC method for estimations of radionuclide activity in radwaste containers

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Kang, Sang Hee; Hwang, Ki Ha; Lee, Sang Chul; Lee, Kun Jai; Kim, Tae Wook; Kim, Kyoung Deok; Herr, Young Hoi; Song, Myung Jae

    2004-01-01

    Disposal of rad waste containers requires the assessment of the radioactive contents of each container. Some containers can not be assessed by the γ nuclide analyzer because of time constraint and economical burden. One alternative method, dose to curie conversion (DTC) method can provide an estimate of the container activity. This study evaluates the impact of voids, the chemical composition and density of the material and the distribution of the source related to surface dose rate and the development of the improved DTC method for more accurate assessment

  8. Improving water content estimation on landslide-prone hillslopes using structurally-constrained inversion of electrical resistivity data

    Science.gov (United States)

    Heinze, Thomas; Möhring, Simon; Budler, Jasmin; Weigand, Maximilian; Kemna, Andreas

    2017-04-01

    Rainfall-triggered landslides are a latent danger in almost any place of the world. Due to climate change heavy rainfalls might occur more often, increasing the risk of landslides. With pore pressure as mechanical trigger, knowledge of water content distribution in the ground is essential for hazard analysis during monitoring of potentially dangerous rainfall events. Geophysical methods like electrical resistivity tomography (ERT) can be utilized to determine the spatial distribution of water content using established soil physical relationships between bulk electrical resistivity and water content. However, often more dominant electrical contrasts due to lithological structures outplay these hydraulic signatures and blur the results in the inversion process. Additionally, the inversion of ERT data requires further constraints. In the standard Occam inversion method, a smoothness constraint is used, assuming that soil properties change softly in space. This applies in many scenarios, as for example during infiltration of water without a clear saturation front. Sharp lithological layers with strongly divergent hydrological parameters, as often found in landslide prone hillslopes, on the other hand, are typically badly resolved by standard ERT. We use a structurally constrained ERT inversion approach for improving water content estimation in landslide prone hills by including a-priori information about lithological layers. Here the standard smoothness constraint is reduced along layer boundaries identified using seismic data or other additional sources. This approach significantly improves water content estimations, because in landslide prone hills often a layer of rather high hydraulic conductivity is followed by a hydraulic barrier like clay-rich soil, causing higher pore pressures. One saturated layer and one almost drained layer typically result also in a sharp contrast in electrical resistivity, assuming that surface conductivity of the soil does not change in

  9. A novel ULA-based geometry for improving AOA estimation

    Science.gov (United States)

    Shirvani-Moghaddam, Shahriar; Akbari, Farida

    2011-12-01

    Due to relatively simple implementation, Uniform Linear Array (ULA) is a popular geometry for array signal processing. Despite this advantage, it does not have a uniform performance in all directions and Angle of Arrival (AOA) estimation performance degrades considerably in the angles close to endfire. In this article, a new configuration is proposed which can solve this problem. Proposed Array (PA) configuration adds two elements to the ULA in top and bottom of the array axis. By extending signal model of the ULA to the new proposed ULA-based array, AOA estimation performance has been compared in terms of angular accuracy and resolution threshold through two well-known AOA estimation algorithms, MUSIC and MVDR. In both algorithms, Root Mean Square Error (RMSE) of the detected angles descends as the input Signal to Noise Ratio (SNR) increases. Simulation results show that the proposed array geometry introduces uniform accurate performance and higher resolution in middle angles as well as border ones. The PA also presents less RMSE than the ULA in endfire directions. Therefore, the proposed array offers better performance for the border angles with almost the same array size and simplicity in both MUSIC and MVDR algorithms with respect to the conventional ULA. In addition, AOA estimation performance of the PA geometry is compared with two well-known 2D-array geometries: L-shape and V-shape, and acceptable results are obtained with equivalent or lower complexity.

  10. A novel ULA-based geometry for improving AOA estimation

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Akbari Farida

    2011-01-01

    Full Text Available Abstract Due to relatively simple implementation, Uniform Linear Array (ULA is a popular geometry for array signal processing. Despite this advantage, it does not have a uniform performance in all directions and Angle of Arrival (AOA estimation performance degrades considerably in the angles close to endfire. In this article, a new configuration is proposed which can solve this problem. Proposed Array (PA configuration adds two elements to the ULA in top and bottom of the array axis. By extending signal model of the ULA to the new proposed ULA-based array, AOA estimation performance has been compared in terms of angular accuracy and resolution threshold through two well-known AOA estimation algorithms, MUSIC and MVDR. In both algorithms, Root Mean Square Error (RMSE of the detected angles descends as the input Signal to Noise Ratio (SNR increases. Simulation results show that the proposed array geometry introduces uniform accurate performance and higher resolution in middle angles as well as border ones. The PA also presents less RMSE than the ULA in endfire directions. Therefore, the proposed array offers better performance for the border angles with almost the same array size and simplicity in both MUSIC and MVDR algorithms with respect to the conventional ULA. In addition, AOA estimation performance of the PA geometry is compared with two well-known 2D-array geometries: L-shape and V-shape, and acceptable results are obtained with equivalent or lower complexity.

  11. USING COLORS TO IMPROVE PHOTOMETRIC METALLICITY ESTIMATES FOR GALAXIES

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Sanders, N. E.; Soderberg, A. M.; Levesque, E. M.

    2013-01-01

    There is a well known correlation between the mass and metallicity of star-forming galaxies. Because mass is correlated with luminosity, this relation is often exploited, when spectroscopy is not available, to estimate galaxy metallicities based on single band photometry. However, we show that galaxy color is typically more effective than luminosity as a predictor of metallicity. This is a consequence of the correlation between color and the galaxy mass-to-light ratio and the recently discovered correlation between star formation rate (SFR) and residuals from the mass-metallicity relation. Using Sloan Digital Sky Survey spectroscopy of ∼180, 000 nearby galaxies, we derive 'LZC relations', empirical relations between metallicity (in seven common strong line diagnostics), luminosity, and color (in 10 filter pairs and four methods of photometry). We show that these relations allow photometric metallicity estimates, based on luminosity and a single optical color, that are ∼50% more precise than those made based on luminosity alone; galaxy metallicity can be estimated to within ∼0.05-0.1 dex of the spectroscopically derived value depending on the diagnostic used. Including color information in photometric metallicity estimates also reduces systematic biases for populations skewed toward high or low SFR environments, as we illustrate using the host galaxy of the supernova SN 2010ay. This new tool will lend more statistical power to studies of galaxy populations, such as supernova and gamma-ray burst host environments, in ongoing and future wide-field imaging surveys

  12. FACILITATORS OF INTERNET PROMOTION (E-BROCHURE ADOPTION BY NON-PROFIT ORGANISATIONS

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Nelson Oly Ndubisi

    2005-01-01

    Full Text Available Internet promotion, otherwise e-brochure (EB or partial e-commerce adoption by non-profit organisations denotes the use of the Internet to provide business and service related information by academic institutions (as in the present study, non-profit organisations, religious organisations, and government agencies to reduce their expenses or to improve their operations and customer service. A field survey of Malaysian universities was conducted to determine the key factors that facilitate the adoption of non-business EB. Since EB adoption decision is a strategic one, a comprehensive list of potential facilitators for the strategic use of information technology (IT was derived from extant literature and used in collecting data from 65 schools and centres in five public universities in Kota Kinabalu and Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. The data were factor-analysed to determine the key underlying dimensions of facilitators. On the basis of the resulting five dimensions namely, relative advantage orientation, network orientation, information efficiency orientation, innovativeness orientation, and competitiveness orientation, regression analysis was done to determine the impact of the five dimensions on non-business EB adoption.

  13. The immediate effect of neuromuscular joint facilitation (NJF) treatment on the standing balance in younger persons.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Onoda, Ko; Huo, Ming; Maruyama, Hitoshi

    2015-05-01

    [Purpose] The aim of this study was to investigate the change in standing balance of younger persons after neuromuscular joint facilitation (NJF) treatment. [Subjects] The subjects were 57 healthy young people, who were divided into three groups: The NJF group, and the Proprioceptive Neuromuscular Facilitation (PNF) group and the control group. [Methods] Functional reach test and body sway were measured before and after intervention in three groups. Four hip patterns of NJF or PNF were used. Two-way ANOVA and multiple comparisons were performed. [Results] The rate of change of FRT in the NJF group increased than the PNF group. The root mean square area at NJF and PNF group increased than control group. [Conclusion] The results suggest that caput femoris rotation function can be improved by NJF treatment, and that improvement of caput femoris rotation contributes to improve dynamic balance.

  14. A Method for A Priori Implementation Effort Estimation for Hardware Design

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Abildgren, Rasmus; Diguet, Jean-Philippe; Gogniat, Guy

    2008-01-01

    This paper presents a metric-based approach for estimating the hardware implementation effort (in terms of time) for an application in relation to the number of independent paths of its algorithms. We define a metric which exploits the relation between the number of independent paths in an algori...... facilitating designers and managers needs for estimating the time-to-market schedule....

  15. Better estimation of protein-DNA interaction parameters improve prediction of functional sites

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    O'Flanagan Ruadhan A

    2008-12-01

    Full Text Available Abstract Background Characterizing transcription factor binding motifs is a common bioinformatics task. For transcription factors with variable binding sites, we need to get many suboptimal binding sites in our training dataset to get accurate estimates of free energy penalties for deviating from the consensus DNA sequence. One procedure to do that involves a modified SELEX (Systematic Evolution of Ligands by Exponential Enrichment method designed to produce many such sequences. Results We analyzed low stringency SELEX data for E. coli Catabolic Activator Protein (CAP, and we show here that appropriate quantitative analysis improves our ability to predict in vitro affinity. To obtain large number of sequences required for this analysis we used a SELEX SAGE protocol developed by Roulet et al. The sequences obtained from here were subjected to bioinformatic analysis. The resulting bioinformatic model characterizes the sequence specificity of the protein more accurately than those sequence specificities predicted from previous analysis just by using a few known binding sites available in the literature. The consequences of this increase in accuracy for prediction of in vivo binding sites (and especially functional ones in the E. coli genome are also discussed. We measured the dissociation constants of several putative CAP binding sites by EMSA (Electrophoretic Mobility Shift Assay and compared the affinities to the bioinformatics scores provided by methods like the weight matrix method and QPMEME (Quadratic Programming Method of Energy Matrix Estimation trained on known binding sites as well as on the new sites from SELEX SAGE data. We also checked predicted genome sites for conservation in the related species S. typhimurium. We found that bioinformatics scores based on SELEX SAGE data does better in terms of prediction of physical binding energies as well as in detecting functional sites. Conclusion We think that training binding site detection

  16. Ensemble-based simultaneous emission estimates and improved forecast of radioactive pollution from nuclear power plant accidents: application to ETEX tracer experiment

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Zhang, X.L.; Li, Q.B.; Su, G.F.; Yuan, M.Q.

    2015-01-01

    The accidental release of radioactive materials from nuclear power plant leads to radioactive pollution. We apply an augmented ensemble Kalman filter (EnKF) with a chemical transport model to jointly estimate the emissions of Perfluoromethylcyclohexane (PMCH), a tracer substitute for radionuclides, from a point source during the European Tracer Experiment, and to improve the forecast of its dispersion downwind. We perturb wind fields to account for meteorological uncertainties. We expand the state vector of PMCH concentrations through continuously adding an a priori emission rate for each succeeding assimilation cycle. We adopt a time-correlated red noise to simulate the temporal emission fluctuation. The improved EnKF system rapidly updates (and reduces) the excessively large initial first-guess emissions, thereby significantly improves subsequent forecasts (r = 0.83, p < 0.001). It retrieves 94% of the total PMCH released and substantially reduces transport error (>80% average reduction of the normalized mean square error). - Highlights: • EnKF is augmented for estimating emission and improving dispersion forecast. • The improved system retrieves 94% of the actual total tracer release in ETEX. • The system substantially improves the 3-h forecast of the tracer dispersion. • The method is robust and insensitive to the first-guess emissions. • The meteorological uncertainties exert strong influence on the performance

  17. Cost estimation for slope stability improvement in Muara Enim

    Science.gov (United States)

    Juliantina, Ika; Sutejo, Yulindasari; Adhitya, Bimo Brata; Sari, Nurul Permata; Kurniawan, Reffanda

    2017-11-01

    Case study area of SP. Sugihwaras-Baturaja is typologically specified in the C-zone type because the area is included in the foot of the mountain with a slope of 0 % to 20 %. Generally, the factors that cause landslide in Muara Enim Regency due to the influence of soil/rock, water factor, geological factors, and human activities. Slope improvement on KM.273 + 642-KM.273 + 774 along 132 m using soil nailing with 19 mm diameter tendon iron and an angle of 20o and a 75 mm shotcrete thickness, a K-250 concrete grouting material. Cost modeling (y) soil nailing based on 4 variables are X1 = length, X2 = horizontal distance, X3 = safety factor (SF), and X4 = time. Nine variations were used as multiple linear regression equations and analyzed with SPSS.16.0 program. Based on the SPSS output, then attempt the classical assumption and feasibility test model which produced the model that is Cost = (1,512,062 + 194,354 length-1,649,135 distance + 187,831 SF + 54,864 time) million Rupiah. The budget plan includes preparatory work, drainage system, soil nailing, and shotcrete. An efficient cost estimate of 8 m length nail, 1.5 m installation distance, safety factor (SF) = 1.742 and a 30 day processing time resulted in a fee of Rp. 2,566,313,000.00 (Two billion five hundred sixty six million three hundred thirteen thousand rupiah).

  18. Developing standards for an integrated approach to workplace facilitation for interprofessional teams in health and social care contexts: a Delphi study.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Martin, Anne; Manley, Kim

    2018-01-01

    Integration of health and social care forms part of health and social care policy in many countries worldwide in response to changing health and social care needs. The World Health Organization's appeal for systems to manage the global epidemiologic transition advocates for provision of care that crosses boundaries between primary, community, hospital, and social care. However, the focus on structural and process changes has not yielded the full benefit of expected advances in care delivery. Facilitating practice in the workplace is a widely recognised cornerstone for developments in the delivery of health and social care as collaborative and inclusive relationships enable frontline staff to develop effective workplace cultures that influence whether transformational change is achieved and maintained. Workplace facilitation embraces a number of different purposes which may not independently lead to better quality of care or improved patient outcomes. Holistic workplace facilitation of learning, development, and improvement supports the integration remit across health and social care systems and avoids duplication of effort and waste of valuable resources. To date, no standards to guide the quality and effectiveness of integrated facilitation have been published. This study aimed to identify key elements constitute standards for an integrated approach to facilitating work-based learning, development, improvement, inquiry, knowledge translation, and innovation in health and social care contexts using a three rounds Delphi survey of facilitation experts from 10 countries. Consensus about priority elements was determined in the final round, following an iteration process that involved modifications to validate content. The findings helped to identify key qualities and skills facilitators need to support interprofessional teams to flourish and optimise performance. Further research could evaluate the impact of skilled integrated facilitation on health and social care

  19. Perceived barriers and facilitators to mental health help-seeking in young people: a systematic review

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Griffiths Kathleen M

    2010-12-01

    Full Text Available Abstract Background Adolescents and young adults frequently experience mental disorders, yet tend not to seek help. This systematic review aims to summarise reported barriers and facilitators of help-seeking in young people using both qualitative research from surveys, focus groups, and interviews and quantitative data from published surveys. It extends previous reviews through its systematic research methodology and by the inclusion of published studies describing what young people themselves perceive are the barriers and facilitators to help-seeking for common mental health problems. Methods Twenty two published studies of perceived barriers or facilitators in adolescents or young adults were identified through searches of PubMed, PsycInfo, and the Cochrane database. A thematic analysis was undertaken on the results reported in the qualitative literature and quantitative literature. Results Fifteen qualitative and seven quantitative studies were identified. Young people perceived stigma and embarrassment, problems recognising symptoms (poor mental health literacy, and a preference for self-reliance as the most important barriers to help-seeking. Facilitators were comparatively under-researched. However, there was evidence that young people perceived positive past experiences, and social support and encouragement from others as aids to the help-seeking process. Conclusions Strategies for improving help-seeking by adolescents and young adults should focus on improving mental health literacy, reducing stigma, and taking into account the desire of young people for self-reliance.

  20. Perceived barriers and facilitators to mental health help-seeking in young people: a systematic review.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gulliver, Amelia; Griffiths, Kathleen M; Christensen, Helen

    2010-12-30

    Adolescents and young adults frequently experience mental disorders, yet tend not to seek help. This systematic review aims to summarise reported barriers and facilitators of help-seeking in young people using both qualitative research from surveys, focus groups, and interviews and quantitative data from published surveys. It extends previous reviews through its systematic research methodology and by the inclusion of published studies describing what young people themselves perceive are the barriers and facilitators to help-seeking for common mental health problems. Twenty two published studies of perceived barriers or facilitators in adolescents or young adults were identified through searches of PubMed, PsycInfo, and the Cochrane database. A thematic analysis was undertaken on the results reported in the qualitative literature and quantitative literature. Fifteen qualitative and seven quantitative studies were identified. Young people perceived stigma and embarrassment, problems recognising symptoms (poor mental health literacy), and a preference for self-reliance as the most important barriers to help-seeking. Facilitators were comparatively under-researched. However, there was evidence that young people perceived positive past experiences, and social support and encouragement from others as aids to the help-seeking process. Strategies for improving help-seeking by adolescents and young adults should focus on improving mental health literacy, reducing stigma, and taking into account the desire of young people for self-reliance.

  1. An improved COCOMO software cost estimation model | Duke ...

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    In this paper, we discuss the methodologies adopted previously in software cost estimation using the COnstructive COst MOdels (COCOMOs). From our analysis, COCOMOs produce very high software development efforts, which eventually produce high software development costs. Consequently, we propose its extension, ...

  2. Fuzzy-Estimation Control for Improvement Microwave Connection for Iraq Electrical Grid

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hoomod, Haider K.; Radi, Mohammed

    2018-05-01

    The demand for broadband wireless services is increasing day by day (as internet or radio broadcast and TV etc.) for this reason and optimal exploiting for this bandwidth may be other reasons indeed be there is problem in the communication channels. it’s necessary that exploiting the good part form this bandwidth. In this paper, we propose to use estimation technique for estimate channel availability in that moment and next one to know the error in the bandwidth channel for controlling the possibility data transferring through the channel. The proposed estimation based on the combination of the least Minimum square (LMS), Standard Kalman filter, and Modified Kalman filter. The error estimation in channel use as control parameter in fuzzy rules to adjusted the rate and size sending data through the network channel, and rearrangement the priorities of the buffered data (workstation control parameters, Texts, phone call, images, and camera video) for the worst cases of error in channel. The propose system is designed to management data communications through the channels connect among the Iraqi electrical grid stations. The proposed results show that the modified Kalman filter have a best result in time and noise estimation (0.1109 for 5% noise estimation to 0.3211 for 90% noise estimation) and the packets loss rate is reduced with ratio from (35% to 385%).

  3. Through the eyes of the student: Best practices in clinical facilitation

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Immaculate S. Muthathi

    2017-08-01

    Conclusion: There is a need for all nurses involved in undergraduate nursing education to reflect on how they approach clinical facilitation, in both clinical skills laboratory and clinical learning environment. There is also a need to improve consistency in clinical practices between the nursing education institution and the clinical learning environment so as to support students’ adaptation to clinical practice.

  4. Utilizing Estimated Creatinine Excretion to Improve the Performance of Spot Urine Samples for the Determination of Proteinuria in Kidney Transplant Recipients.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Michael Ke Wang

    Full Text Available Agreement between spot and 24-hour urine protein measurements is poor in kidney transplant recipients. We investigated whether using formulae to estimate creatinine excretion rate (eCER, rather than assuming a standard creatinine excretion rate, would improve the estimation of proteinuria from spot urine samples in kidney transplant recipients.We measured 24 hour urine protein and albumin and spot albumin:creatinine (ACR and spot protein:creatinine (PCR in 181 Kidney transplant recipients." We utilized 6 different published formulae (Fotheringham, CKD-EPI, Cockcroft-Gault, Walser, Goldwasser and Rule to estimate eCER and from it calculated estimated albumin and protein excretion rate (eAER and ePER. Bias, precision and accuracy (within 15%, 30% and 50% of ACR, PCR, eAER, ePER were compared to 24-hour urine protein and albumin.ACR and PCR significantly underestimated 24-hour albumin and protein excretion (ACR Bias (IQR, -5.9 mg/day; p< 0.01; PCR Bias, (IQR, -35.2 mg/day; p<0.01. None of the formulae used to calculate eAER or ePER had a bias that was significantly different from the 24-hour collection (eAER and ePER bias: Fotheringham -0.3 and 7.2, CKD-EPI 0.3 and 13.5, Cockcroft-Gault -3.2 and -13.9, Walser -1.7 and 3.1, Goldwasser -1.3 and -0.5, Rule -0.6 and 4.2 mg/day respectively. The accuracy for ACR and PCR were lower (within 30% being 38% and 43% respectively than the corresponding values estimated by utilizing eCER (for eAER 46% to 49% and ePER 46-54%.Utilizing estimated creatinine excretion to calculate eAER and ePER improves the estimation of 24-hour albuminuria/proteinuria with spot urine samples in kidney transplant recipients.

  5. Base pair probability estimates improve the prediction accuracy of RNA non-canonical base pairs.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Michael F Sloma

    2017-11-01

    Full Text Available Prediction of RNA tertiary structure from sequence is an important problem, but generating accurate structure models for even short sequences remains difficult. Predictions of RNA tertiary structure tend to be least accurate in loop regions, where non-canonical pairs are important for determining the details of structure. Non-canonical pairs can be predicted using a knowledge-based model of structure that scores nucleotide cyclic motifs, or NCMs. In this work, a partition function algorithm is introduced that allows the estimation of base pairing probabilities for both canonical and non-canonical interactions. Pairs that are predicted to be probable are more likely to be found in the true structure than pairs of lower probability. Pair probability estimates can be further improved by predicting the structure conserved across multiple homologous sequences using the TurboFold algorithm. These pairing probabilities, used in concert with prior knowledge of the canonical secondary structure, allow accurate inference of non-canonical pairs, an important step towards accurate prediction of the full tertiary structure. Software to predict non-canonical base pairs and pairing probabilities is now provided as part of the RNAstructure software package.

  6. Base pair probability estimates improve the prediction accuracy of RNA non-canonical base pairs.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sloma, Michael F; Mathews, David H

    2017-11-01

    Prediction of RNA tertiary structure from sequence is an important problem, but generating accurate structure models for even short sequences remains difficult. Predictions of RNA tertiary structure tend to be least accurate in loop regions, where non-canonical pairs are important for determining the details of structure. Non-canonical pairs can be predicted using a knowledge-based model of structure that scores nucleotide cyclic motifs, or NCMs. In this work, a partition function algorithm is introduced that allows the estimation of base pairing probabilities for both canonical and non-canonical interactions. Pairs that are predicted to be probable are more likely to be found in the true structure than pairs of lower probability. Pair probability estimates can be further improved by predicting the structure conserved across multiple homologous sequences using the TurboFold algorithm. These pairing probabilities, used in concert with prior knowledge of the canonical secondary structure, allow accurate inference of non-canonical pairs, an important step towards accurate prediction of the full tertiary structure. Software to predict non-canonical base pairs and pairing probabilities is now provided as part of the RNAstructure software package.

  7. Improved accuracy in estimation of left ventricular function parameters from QGS software with Tc-99m tetrofosmin gated-SPECT. A multivariate analysis

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Okizaki, Atsutaka; Shuke, Noriyuki; Sato, Junichi; Ishikawa, Yukio; Yamamoto, Wakako; Kikuchi, Kenjiro; Aburano, Tamio

    2003-01-01

    The purpose of this study was to verify whether the accuracy of left ventricular parameters related to left ventricular function from gated-SPECT improved or not, using multivariate analysis. Ninety-six patients with cardiovascular diseases were studied. Gated-SPECT with the quantitative gated SPECT (QGS) software and left ventriculography (LVG) were performed to obtain left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF), end-diastolic volume (EDV) and end-systolic volume (ESV). Then, multivariate analyses were performed to determine empirical formulas for predicting these parameters. The calculated values of left ventricular parameters were compared with those obtained directly from the QGS software and LVG. Multivariate analyses were able to improve accuracy in estimation of LVEF, EDV and ESV. Statistically significant improvement was seen in LVEF (from r=0.6965 to r=0.8093, p<0.05). Although not statistically significant, improvements in correlation coefficients were seen in EDV (from r=0.7199 to r=0.7595, p=0.2750) and ESV (from r=0.5694 to r=0.5871, p=0.4281). The empirical equations with multivariate analysis improved the accuracy in estimating LVEF from gated-SPECT with the QGS software. (author)

  8. Brug af mindfulness til facilitering

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Adriansen, Hanne Kirstine; Krohn, Simon

    2011-01-01

    Gennem de senere år er mindfulness gået fra udelukkende at være en eksistentiel praksis til også at være en behandlingsform og senest til også at blive brugt som et praktisk redskab i erhvervslivet. Denne artikel viser, at mindfulness også kan anvendes i forbindelse med facilitering. Facilitering...... er et værktøj, som bruges i arbejdslivet fx til møder og konferencer, hvor en gruppe mennesker er samlet for at lære eller udrette noget sammen. Det nye ved at kombinere mindfulness med facilitering er, at fokus hermed ændres fra individet, som er centrum for den eksistentielle fordybelse eller det...... terapeutiske forløb, til gruppen, som er udgangspunktet i facilitering. Artiklen viser, hvordan mindfulness konkret kan bruges på gruppeniveau og diskuterer samtidig hvilke problemer, der kan være forbundet hermed. Baseret på vores egne erfaringer, diskuterer vi, hvordan mindfulness kan påvirke en gruppes...

  9. Development of a New BRDF-Resistant Vegetation Index for Improving the Estimation of Leaf Area Index

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Su Zhang

    2016-11-01

    Full Text Available The leaf area index (LAI is one of the most important Earth surface parameters used in the modeling of ecosystems and their interaction with climate. Numerous vegetation indices have been developed to estimate the LAI. However, because of the effects of the bi-directional reflectance distribution function (BRDF, most of these vegetation indices are also sensitive to the effect of BRDF. In this study, we aim to present a new BRDF-resistant vegetation index (BRVI, which is sensitive to the LAI but insensitive to the effect of BRDF. Firstly, the BRDF effects of different bands were investigated using both simulated data and in-situ measurements of winter wheat made at different growth stages. We found bi-directional shape similarity in the solar principal plane between the green and the near-infrared (NIR bands and between the blue and red bands for farmland soil conditions and with medium chlorophyll content level. Secondly, the consistency of the shape of the BRDF across different bands was employed to develop a new BRDF-resistant vegetation index for estimating the LAI. The reflectance ratios of the NIR band to the green band and the blue band to the red band were reasonably assumed to be resistant to the BRDF effects. Nevertheless, the variation amplitude of the bi-directional reflectance in the solar principal plane was different for different bands. The divisors in the two reflectance ratios were improved by combining the reflectances at the red and green bands. The new BRVI was defined as a normalized combination of the two improved reflectance ratios. Finally, the potential of the proposed BRVI for estimation of the LAI was evaluated using both simulated data and in-situ measurements and also compared to other popular vegetation indices. The results showed that the influence of the BRDF on the BRVI was the weakest and that the BRVI retrieved LAI values well, with a coefficient of determination (R2 of 0.84 and an RMSE of 0.83 for the field

  10. Improvement of the equivalent sphere model for better estimates of skin or eye dose in space radiation environments

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Lin, Z.W.

    2011-01-01

    It is often useful to get a quick estimate of the dose or dose equivalent of an organ, such as blood-forming organs, the eye or the skin, in a radiation field. Sometimes an equivalent sphere is used to represent the organ for this purpose. For space radiation environments, recently it has been shown that the equivalent sphere model does not work for the eye or the skin in solar particle event environments. In this study, we improve the representation of the eye and the skin using a two-component equivalent sphere model. Motivated by the two-peak structure of the body organ shielding distribution for the eye and the skin, we use an equivalent sphere with two radius parameters, for example a partial spherical shell of a smaller thickness over a proper fraction of the full solid angle combined with a concentric partial spherical shell of a larger thickness over the rest of the full solid angle, to represent the eye or the skin. We find that using an equivalent sphere with two radius parameters instead of one drastically improves the accuracy of the estimates of dose and dose equivalent in space radiation environments. For example, in solar particle event environments the average error in the estimate of the skin dose equivalent using an equivalent sphere with two radius parameters is about 8%, while the average error of the conventional equivalent sphere model using one radius parameter is around 100%.

  11. A facilitator of leisure activities for stress-related growth experience among middle-aged Korean women with depression.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kim, Junhyoung; Kim, Jung-Hyun

    2014-01-01

    Leisure may serve as a coping resource following negative life events that facilitate positive changes. Previous studies on leisure have mainly focused on stress-related growth among individuals living in Western cultures. This study aimed to capture the role of leisure involvement as a facilitator of stress-related growth among middle-aged Korean women with depression. Three main themes were identified as an outcome of participation in leisure activities: (a) strengthening meaningful relationships, (b) improving positive emotions, and (c) facilitating personal strength. By participating in leisure activities, individuals with depression may develop the ability to cope with stress and experience positive changes.

  12. The positive impact of a facilitated peer mentoring program on academic skills of women faculty

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Varkey Prathibha

    2012-03-01

    Full Text Available Abstract Background In academic medicine, women physicians lag behind their male counterparts in advancement and promotion to leadership positions. Lack of mentoring, among other factors, has been reported to contribute to this disparity. Peer mentoring has been reported as a successful alternative to the dyadic mentoring model for women interested in improving their academic productivity. We describe a facilitated peer mentoring program in our institution's department of medicine. Methods Nineteen women enrolled in the program were divided into 5 groups. Each group had an assigned facilitator. Members of the respective groups met together with their facilitators at regular intervals during the 12 months of the project. A pre- and post-program evaluation consisting of a 25-item self-assessment of academic skills, self-efficacy, and academic career satisfaction was administered to each participant. Results At the end of 12 months, a total of 9 manuscripts were submitted to peer-reviewed journals, 6 of which are in press or have been published, and another 2 of which have been invited to be revised and resubmitted. At the end of the program, participants reported an increase in their satisfaction with academic achievement (mean score increase, 2.32 to 3.63; P = 0.0001, improvement in skills necessary to effectively search the medical literature (mean score increase, 3.32 to 4.05; P = 0.0009, an improvement in their ability to write a comprehensive review article (mean score increase, 2.89 to 3.63; P = 0.0017, and an improvement in their ability to critically evaluate the medical literature (mean score increased from 3.11 to 3.89; P = 0.0008. Conclusions This facilitated peer mentoring program demonstrated a positive impact on the academic skills and manuscript writing for junior women faculty. This 1-year program required minimal institutional resources, and suggests a need for further study of this and other mentoring programs for women faculty.

  13. Incorporating GOES Satellite Photosynthetically Active Radiation (PAR) Retrievals to Improve Biogenic Emission Estimates in Texas

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zhang, Rui; White, Andrew T.; Pour Biazar, Arastoo; McNider, Richard T.; Cohan, Daniel S.

    2018-01-01

    This study examines the influence of insolation and cloud retrieval products from the Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite (GOES) system on biogenic emission estimates and ozone simulations in Texas. Compared to surface pyranometer observations, satellite-retrieved insolation and photosynthetically active radiation (PAR) values tend to systematically correct the overestimation of downwelling shortwave radiation in the Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF) model. The correlation coefficient increases from 0.93 to 0.97, and the normalized mean error decreases from 36% to 21%. The isoprene and monoterpene emissions estimated by the Model of Emissions of Gases and Aerosols from Nature are on average 20% and 5% less, respectively, when PAR from the direct satellite retrieval is used rather than the control WRF run. The reduction in biogenic emission rates using satellite PAR reduced the predicted maximum daily 8 h ozone concentration by up to 5.3 ppbV over the Dallas-Fort Worth (DFW) region on some days. However, episode average ozone response is less sensitive, with a 0.6 ppbV decrease near DFW and 0.3 ppbV increase over East Texas. The systematic overestimation of isoprene concentrations in a WRF control case is partially corrected by using satellite PAR, which observes more clouds than are simulated by WRF. Further, assimilation of GOES-derived cloud fields in WRF improved CAMx model performance for ground-level ozone over Texas. Additionally, it was found that using satellite PAR improved the model's ability to replicate the spatial pattern of satellite-derived formaldehyde columns and aircraft-observed vertical profiles of isoprene.

  14. Improved localisation of neoclassical tearing modes by combining multiple diagnostic estimates

    Science.gov (United States)

    Rapson, C. J.; Fischer, R.; Giannone, L.; Maraschek, M.; Reich, M.; Treutterer, W.; The ASDEX Upgrade Team

    2017-07-01

    Neoclassical tearing modes (NTMs) strongly degrade confinement in tokamaks, and are a leading cause of disruptions. They can be stabilised by targeted electron cyclotron current drive (ECCD), however the effectiveness of ECCD depends strongly on the accuracy or misalignment between ECCD and the NTM. The first step to ensure minimal misalignment is a good estimate of the NTM location. In previous NTM control experiments, three methods have been used independently to estimate the NTM location: the magnetic equilibrium, correlation between magnetic and spatially-resolved temperature fluctuations, and the amplitude response of the NTM to nearby ECCD. This submission describes an algorithm which has been designed to fuse these three estimates into one, taking into account many of the characteristics of each diagnostic. Although the method diverges from standard data fusion methods, results from simulation and experiment confirm that the algorithm achieves its stated goal of providing an estimate that is more reliable and accurate than any of the individual estimates.

  15. [Barriers and facilitators to implementing shared decision-making in oncology: Patient perceptions].

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ortega-Moreno, M; Padilla-Garrido, N; Huelva-López, L; Aguado-Correa, F; Bayo-Calero, J; Bayo-Lozano, E

    To determine, from the point of view of the oncological patient, who made the decision about their treatment, as well as the major barriers and facilitators that enabled Shared Decision Making to be implemented. A cross-sectional, descriptive, sand association study using a self-report questionnaire to selected cancer patients, with casual sampling in different oncology clinics and random time periods. A total of 108 patients provided analysable data. The information was collected on sociodemographic and clinical variables, who made the decision about treatment, and level of agreement or disagreement with various barriers and facilitators. More than one-third (38.1%) of patients claimed to have participated in shared decision making with their doctor. Barriers such as, time, the difficulty of understanding, the paternalism, lack of fluid communication, and having preliminary and often erroneous information influenced the involvement in decision-making. However, to have or not have sufficient tools to aid decision making or the patient's interest to participate had no effect. As regards facilitators, physician motivation, their perception of improvement, and the interest of the patient had a positive influence. The exception was the possibility of financial incentives to doctors. The little, or no participation perceived by cancer patients in decisions about their health makes it necessary to introduce improvements in the health care model to overcome barriers and promote a more participatory attitude in the patient. Copyright © 2017 SECA. Publicado por Elsevier España, S.L.U. All rights reserved.

  16. Customs as Facilitation of Trade. Case of Albania.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Etleva Bajrami

    2010-03-01

    Full Text Available Economic cooperation and trade between countries of region is very important as a opening step for entering in big markets like EU-s. All agreements have a huge impact in customs administration for elimination of customs taxes and for facilitation of trade during customs crossing. Trade integration is seen as faster way for countries to complete all necessary condition for European Integration. This process requires fulfillment of all reforms, needed for approaches the development and integration between countries. This process is spread in time because of the feature and difference between society and their economies. Regional economic integration is considered an import component for longterm integration of South Eastern European countries in EU. Membership of Albania in WTO brings a number of free trade agreements, with the main purpose trade liberalization. The essences of these agreements have been liberalization of customs tariffs for increasing foreign trade and attract foreign investors. The loss of customs income will be compensating from imports increasing and economic development in general. The role of Customs has changed from one of a complete focus on revenue collection to a broad role encompassing components of revenue collection, trade facilitation and border security. Simplified customs procedures and documents are very important for improving relation of business and government and also improving business performance. The aim of this paper is to point out the roles, responsibilities and challenges of customs, for concluding this we have conducted a survey for analyzing the performance of customs in Albania.  

  17. Incorporating movement patterns to improve survival estimates for juvenile bull trout

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bowerman, Tracy; Budy, Phaedra

    2012-01-01

    Populations of many fish species are sensitive to changes in vital rates during early life stages, but our understanding of the factors affecting growth, survival, and movement patterns is often extremely limited for juvenile fish. These critical information gaps are particularly evident for bull trout Salvelinus confluentus, a threatened Pacific Northwest char. We combined several active and passive mark–recapture and resight techniques to assess migration rates and estimate survival for juvenile bull trout (70–170 mm total length). We evaluated the relative performance of multiple survival estimation techniques by comparing results from a common Cormack–Jolly–Seber (CJS) model, the less widely used Barker model, and a simple return rate (an index of survival). Juvenile bull trout of all sizes emigrated from their natal habitat throughout the year, and thereafter migrated up to 50 km downstream. With the CJS model, high emigration rates led to an extreme underestimate of apparent survival, a combined estimate of site fidelity and survival. In contrast, the Barker model, which allows survival and emigration to be modeled as separate parameters, produced estimates of survival that were much less biased than the return rate. Estimates of age-class-specific annual survival from the Barker model based on all available data were 0.218±0.028 (estimate±SE) for age-1 bull trout and 0.231±0.065 for age-2 bull trout. This research demonstrates the importance of incorporating movement patterns into survival analyses, and we provide one of the first field-based estimates of juvenile bull trout annual survival in relatively pristine rearing conditions. These estimates can provide a baseline for comparison with future studies in more impacted systems and will help managers develop reliable stage-structured population models to evaluate future recovery strategies.

  18. Improving the rainfall rate estimation in the midstream of the Heihe River Basin using raindrop size distribution

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    G. Zhao

    2011-03-01

    Full Text Available During the intensive observation period of the Watershed Allied Telemetry Experimental Research (WATER, a total of 1074 raindrop size distribution were measured by the Parsivel disdrometer, the latest state-of-the-art optical laser instrument. Because of the limited observation data in Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, the modelling behaviour was not well done. We used raindrop size distributions to improve the rain rate estimator of meteorological radar in order to obtain many accurate rain rate data in this area. We got the relationship between the terminal velocity of the raindrop and the diameter (mm of a raindrop: v(D = 4.67D0.53. Then four types of estimators for X-band polarimetric radar are examined. The simulation results show that the classical estimator R (ZH is most sensitive to variations in DSD and the estimator R (KDP, ZH, ZDR is the best estimator for estimating the rain rate. An X-band polarimetric radar (714XDP is used for verifying these estimators. The lowest sensitivity of the rain rate estimator R (KDP, ZH, ZDR to variations in DSD can be explained by the following facts. The difference in the forward-scattering amplitudes at horizontal and vertical polarizations, which contributes KDP, is proportional to the 3rd power of the drop diameter. On the other hand, the exponent of the backscatter cross-section, which contributes to ZH, is proportional to the 6th power of the drop diameter. Because the rain rate R is proportional to the 3.57th power of the drop diameter, KDP is less sensitive to DSD variations than ZH.

  19. DFT-based channel estimation and noise variance estimation techniques for single-carrier FDMA

    OpenAIRE

    Huang, G; Nix, AR; Armour, SMD

    2010-01-01

    Practical frequency domain equalization (FDE) systems generally require knowledge of the channel and the noise variance to equalize the received signal in a frequency-selective fading channel. Accurate channel estimate and noise variance estimate are thus desirable to improve receiver performance. In this paper we investigate the performance of the denoise channel estimator and the approximate linear minimum mean square error (A-LMMSE) channel estimator with channel power delay profile (PDP) ...

  20. Impact of regression methods on improved effects of soil structure on soil water retention estimates

    Science.gov (United States)

    Nguyen, Phuong Minh; De Pue, Jan; Le, Khoa Van; Cornelis, Wim

    2015-06-01

    Increasing the accuracy of pedotransfer functions (PTFs), an indirect method for predicting non-readily available soil features such as soil water retention characteristics (SWRC), is of crucial importance for large scale agro-hydrological modeling. Adding significant predictors (i.e., soil structure), and implementing more flexible regression algorithms are among the main strategies of PTFs improvement. The aim of this study was to investigate whether the improved effect of categorical soil structure information on estimating soil-water content at various matric potentials, which has been reported in literature, could be enduringly captured by regression techniques other than the usually applied linear regression. Two data mining techniques, i.e., Support Vector Machines (SVM), and k-Nearest Neighbors (kNN), which have been recently introduced as promising tools for PTF development, were utilized to test if the incorporation of soil structure will improve PTF's accuracy under a context of rather limited training data. The results show that incorporating descriptive soil structure information, i.e., massive, structured and structureless, as grouping criterion can improve the accuracy of PTFs derived by SVM approach in the range of matric potential of -6 to -33 kPa (average RMSE decreased up to 0.005 m3 m-3 after grouping, depending on matric potentials). The improvement was primarily attributed to the outperformance of SVM-PTFs calibrated on structureless soils. No improvement was obtained with kNN technique, at least not in our study in which the data set became limited in size after grouping. Since there is an impact of regression techniques on the improved effect of incorporating qualitative soil structure information, selecting a proper technique will help to maximize the combined influence of flexible regression algorithms and soil structure information on PTF accuracy.

  1. A Community-Engaged Assessment of Barriers and Facilitators to Rapid Stroke Treatment

    Science.gov (United States)

    Nemeth, Lynne S.; Jenkins, Carolyn; Jauch, Edward C.; Conway, Sharon; Pearlman, Adam; Spruill, Ida J.; Brown, Lynette J.; Linnen, Joyce; Linnen, Florene; Andrews, Jeannette O.

    2016-01-01

    Treatment for acute ischemic stroke must be initiated within hours of stroke symptom onset, and the sooner it is administered, the better. In South Carolina, 76% of the population can access expert stroke care, and rural hospitals may provide specialized treatment using telemedicine, but many stroke sufferers seek care too late to achieve full benefit. Using a community-engaged approach in a southern rural community, we explored barriers and facilitators to early stroke care and implications for improvement. The Community-Engaged Assessment to facilitate Stroke Elimination (CEASE) study was guided by a community advisory group to ensure community centeredness and local relevance. In a qualitative descriptive study, eight focus groups were conducted including 52 individuals: recent stroke survivors, family members, emergency medical personnel, hospital emergency department staff, primary care providers, and community leaders. From analysis of focus group transcripts came six themes: lack of trust in healthcare system and providers; weak relationships fueled by poor communication; low health literacy; financial limitations related to health care; community-based education; and faith as a message of hope. A hierarchy model for improving early community-based stroke care was developed through consensus dialogue by community representatives and the research team. This model can be used to inform a community-partnered, stake-holder-informed intervention to improve stroke care in a rural southern community with the goal of improving stroke education, care, and outcome. PMID:27545591

  2. Implementing clinical guidelines in psychiatry: a qualitative study of perceived facilitators and barriers

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Wistedt Anna

    2010-01-01

    Full Text Available Abstract Background Translating scientific evidence into daily practice is complex. Clinical guidelines can improve health care delivery, but there are a number of challenges in guideline adoption and implementation. Factors influencing the effective implementation of guidelines remain poorly understood. Understanding of barriers and facilitators is important for development of effective implementation strategies. The aim of this study was to determine perceived facilitators and barriers to guideline implementation and clinical compliance to guidelines for depression in psychiatric care. Methods This qualitative study was conducted at two psychiatric clinics in Stockholm, Sweden. The implementation activities at one of the clinics included local implementation teams, seminars, regular feedback and academic detailing. The other clinic served as a control and only received guidelines by post. Data were collected from three focus groups and 28 individual, semi-structured interviews. Content analysis was used to identify themes emerging from the interview data. Results The identified barriers to, and facilitators of, the implementation of guidelines could be classified into three major categories: (1 organizational resources, (2 health care professionals' individual characteristics and (3 perception of guidelines and implementation strategies. The practitioners in the implementation team and at control clinics differed in three main areas: (1 concerns about control over professional practice, (2 beliefs about evidence-based practice and (3 suspicions about financial motives for guideline introduction. Conclusions Identifying the barriers to, and facilitators of, the adoption of recommendations is an important way of achieving efficient implementation strategies. The findings of this study suggest that the adoption of guidelines may be improved if local health professionals actively participate in an ongoing implementation process and identify

  3. An Improved PID Algorithm Based on Insulin-on-Board Estimate for Blood Glucose Control with Type 1 Diabetes.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hu, Ruiqiang; Li, Chengwei

    2015-01-01

    Automated closed-loop insulin infusion therapy has been studied for many years. In closed-loop system, the control algorithm is the key technique of precise insulin infusion. The control algorithm needs to be designed and validated. In this paper, an improved PID algorithm based on insulin-on-board estimate is proposed and computer simulations are done using a combinational mathematical model of the dynamics of blood glucose-insulin regulation in the blood system. The simulation results demonstrate that the improved PID algorithm can perform well in different carbohydrate ingestion and different insulin sensitivity situations. Compared with the traditional PID algorithm, the control performance is improved obviously and hypoglycemia can be avoided. To verify the effectiveness of the proposed control algorithm, in silico testing is done using the UVa/Padova virtual patient software.

  4. Improved injection needles facilitate germline transformation of the buckeye butterfly Junonia coenia.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Beaudette, Kahlia; Hughes, Tia M; Marcus, Jeffrey M

    2014-01-01

    Germline transformation with transposon vectors is an important tool for insect genetics, but progress in developing transformation protocols for butterflies has been limited by high post-injection ova mortality. Here we present an improved glass injection needle design for injecting butterfly ova that increases survival in three Nymphalid butterfly species. Using the needles to genetically transform the common buckeye butterfly Junonia coenia, the hatch rate for injected Junonia ova was 21.7%, the transformation rate was 3%, and the overall experimental efficiency was 0.327%, a substantial improvement over previous results in other butterfly species. Improved needle design and a higher efficiency of transformation should permit the deployment of transposon-based genetic tools in a broad range of less fecund lepidopteran species.

  5. Designing innovative retractors and devices to facilitate mitral valve repair surgery

    OpenAIRE

    Okamoto, Kazuma; Yozu, Ryohei

    2015-01-01

    Various devices have been developed to facilitate mitral valve surgery, including those that improve mitral valve exposure and assist surgeons with associated procedures. Choosing appropriate supporting devices when performing minimally invasive mitral valve surgery (MIMVS) through a minithoracotomy with endoscopic assistance is critical. Depending on the surgeon’s preference, trans-thoracic or trans-working-port left atrial retractors can be utilized. Although the trans-thoracic retractors p...

  6. Response variability to glucose facilitation of cognitive enhancement.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Owen, Lauren; Scholey, Andrew; Finnegan, Yvonne; Sünram-Lea, Sandra I

    2013-11-01

    Glucose facilitation of cognitive function has been widely reported in previous studies (including our own). However, several studies have also failed to detect glucose facilitation. There is sparsity of research examining the factors that modify the effect of glucose on cognition. The aims of the present study were to (1) demonstrate the previously observed enhancement of cognition through glucose administration and (2) investigate some of the factors that may exert moderating roles on the behavioural response to glucose, including glucose regulation, body composition (BC) and hypothalamic–pituitary–adrenal axis response. A total of twenty-four participants took part in a double-blind, placebo-controlled, randomised, repeated-measures study, which examined the effect of 25 and 60 g glucose compared with placebo on cognitive function. At 1 week before the study commencement, all participants underwent an oral glucose tolerance test. Glucose facilitated performance on tasks of numeric and spatial working memory, verbal declarative memory and speed of recognition. Moderating variables were examined using several indices of glucoregulation and BC. Poorer glucoregulation predicted improved immediate word recall accuracy following the administration of 25 g glucose compared with placebo. Those with better glucoregulation showed performance decrements on word recall accuracy following the administration of 25 g glucose compared with placebo. These findings are in line with accumulating evidence that glucose load may preferentially enhance cognition in those with poorer glucoregulation. Furthermore, the finding that individuals with better glucoregulation may suffer impaired performance following a glucose load is novel and requires further substantiation.

  7. Long-term follow-up of a facilitated peer mentoring program.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Mayer, Anita P; Blair, Janis E; Ko, Marcia G; Patel, Salma I; Files, Julia A

    2014-03-01

    Mentoring plays an important role in career success of academic medical faculty. New mentoring models such as peer mentoring have emerged. To evaluate the long-term impact of a facilitated peer mentoring program on academic achievements. Women faculty at the instructor or assistant professor rank were recruited to voluntarily participate in a facilitated peer mentoring program. Recruitment occurred over 3.8 years between 2005 and 2009. A 26-item questionnaire to assess academic skill, career satisfaction, and self-efficacy was administered before program participation and again with seven additional questions in 2011. Curriculum vitae were reviewed retrospectively to tally peer-reviewed publications, other academic activities, and promotions. Participants had long-term improvement in their perceived mastery of academic skills. Peer-reviewed publications, book chapters, abstracts, posters, and other academic activities increased when activities before the program were compared to those in the five years after program enrollment. At follow-up, participants reported positive perceptions of the program and 44% continued to work with their original peer mentor groups. Involvement in the facilitated peer mentoring program was associated with increased skills and academic activities for most participants. Future studies are needed to assess its applicability and success among various demographic groups in academic medicine.

  8. Cost and impact of a quality improvement programme in mental health services.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Beecham, Jennifer; Ramsay, Angus; Gordon, Kate; Maltby, Sophie; Walshe, Kieran; Shaw, Ian; Worrall, Adrian; King, Sarah

    2010-04-01

    To estimate the cost and impact of a centrally-driven quality improvement initiative in four UK mental health communities. Total costs in year 1 were identified using documentation, a staff survey, semi-structured interviews and discussion groups. Few outcome data were collected within the programme so thematic analysis was used to identify the programme's impact within its five broad underlying principles. The survey had a 40% response. Total costs ranged between pound164,000 and pound458,000 per site, plus staff time spent on workstreams. There was a very hazy view of the resources absorbed and poor recording of expenditure and activity. The initiative generated little demonstrable improvements in service quality but some participants reported changes in attitudes. Given the difficult contexts, short time-scales and capacity constraints, the programme's lack of impact is not surprising. It may, however, represent a worthwhile investment in cultural change which might facilitate improvements in how services are delivered.

  9. Domain-Specific and Domain-General Training to Improve Kindergarten Children’s Mathematics

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Geetha B. Ramani

    2017-12-01

    Full Text Available Ensuring that kindergarten children have a solid foundation in early numerical knowledge is of critical importance for later mathematical achievement. In this study, we targeted improving the numerical knowledge of kindergarteners (n = 81 from primarily low-income backgrounds using two approaches: one targeting their conceptual knowledge, specifically, their understanding of numerical magnitudes; and the other targeting their underlying cognitive system, specifically, their working memory. Both interventions involved playing game-like activities on tablet computers over the course of several sessions. As predicted, both interventions improved children’s numerical magnitude knowledge as compared to a no-contact control group, suggesting that both domain-specific and domain-general interventions facilitate mathematical learning. Individual differences in effort during the working memory game, but not the number knowledge training game predicted children’s improvements in number line estimation. The results demonstrate the potential of using a rapidly growing technology in early childhood classrooms to promote young children’s numerical knowledge.

  10. Explosive Yield Estimation using Fourier Amplitude Spectra of Velocity Histories

    Science.gov (United States)

    Steedman, D. W.; Bradley, C. R.

    2016-12-01

    The Source Physics Experiment (SPE) is a series of explosive shots of various size detonated at varying depths in a borehole in jointed granite. The testbed includes an extensive array of accelerometers for measuring the shock environment close-in to the explosive source. One goal of SPE is to develop greater understanding of the explosion phenomenology in all regimes: from near-source, non-linear response to the far-field linear elastic region, and connecting the analyses from the respective regimes. For example, near-field analysis typically involves review of kinematic response (i.e., acceleration, velocity and displacement) in the time domain and looks at various indicators (e.g., peaks, pulse duration) to facilitate comparison among events. Review of far-field data more often is based on study of response in the frequency domain to facilitate comparison of event magnitudes. To try to "bridge the gap" between approaches, we have developed a scaling law for Fourier amplitude spectra of near-field velocity histories that successfully collapses data from a wide range of yields (100 kg to 5000 kg) and range to sensors in jointed granite. Moreover, we show that we can apply this scaling law to data from a new event to accurately estimate the explosive yield of that event. This approach presents a new way of working with near-field data that will be more compatible with traditional methods of analysis of seismic data and should serve to facilitate end-to-end event analysis. The goal is that this new approach to data analysis will eventually result in improved methods for discrimination of event type (i.e., nuclear or chemical explosion, or earthquake) and magnitude.

  11. Facilitating innovation : an action-oriented approach and participatory methodology to improve innovative social practice in agriculture

    OpenAIRE

    Engel, P.G.H.

    1995-01-01

    This study focuses upon the social organization of innovation. It makes use of insights from knowledge and information systems research, development sociology, management science and applied philosophy and seeks answers to the following questions: What do social actors, individuals and/or organizations, actually do to innovate their practices? How do they organize themselves? Can this be managed or facilitated, and if so, how? The research is exploratory rather than concl...

  12. Facilitating Multiple Intelligences Through Multimodal Learning Analytics

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Ayesha PERVEEN

    2018-01-01

    Full Text Available This paper develops a theoretical framework for employing learning analytics in online education to trace multiple learning variations of online students by considering their potential of being multiple intelligences based on Howard Gardner’s 1983 theory of multiple intelligences. The study first emphasizes the need to facilitate students as multiple intelligences by online education systems and then suggests a framework of the advanced form of learning analytics i.e., multimodal learning analytics for tracing and facilitating multiple intelligences while they are engaged in online ubiquitous learning. As multimodal learning analytics is still an evolving area, it poses many challenges for technologists, educationists as well as organizational managers. Learning analytics make machines meet humans, therefore, the educationists with an expertise in learning theories can help technologists devise latest technological methods for multimodal learning analytics and organizational managers can implement them for the improvement of online education. Therefore, a careful instructional design based on a deep understanding of students’ learning abilities, is required to develop teaching plans and technological possibilities for monitoring students’ learning paths. This is how learning analytics can help design an adaptive instructional design based on a quick analysis of the data gathered. Based on that analysis, the academicians can critically reflect upon the quick or delayed implementation of the existing instructional design based on students’ cognitive abilities or even about the single or double loop learning design. The researcher concludes that the online education is multimodal in nature, has the capacity to endorse multiliteracies and, therefore, multiple intelligences can be tracked and facilitated through multimodal learning analytics in an online mode. However, online teachers’ training both in technological implementations and

  13. Facilitating functional annotation of chicken microarray data

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Gresham Cathy R

    2009-10-01

    Full Text Available Abstract Background Modeling results from chicken microarray studies is challenging for researchers due to little functional annotation associated with these arrays. The Affymetrix GenChip chicken genome array, one of the biggest arrays that serve as a key research tool for the study of chicken functional genomics, is among the few arrays that link gene products to Gene Ontology (GO. However the GO annotation data presented by Affymetrix is incomplete, for example, they do not show references linked to manually annotated functions. In addition, there is no tool that facilitates microarray researchers to directly retrieve functional annotations for their datasets from the annotated arrays. This costs researchers amount of time in searching multiple GO databases for functional information. Results We have improved the breadth of functional annotations of the gene products associated with probesets on the Affymetrix chicken genome array by 45% and the quality of annotation by 14%. We have also identified the most significant diseases and disorders, different types of genes, and known drug targets represented on Affymetrix chicken genome array. To facilitate functional annotation of other arrays and microarray experimental datasets we developed an Array GO Mapper (AGOM tool to help researchers to quickly retrieve corresponding functional information for their dataset. Conclusion Results from this study will directly facilitate annotation of other chicken arrays and microarray experimental datasets. Researchers will be able to quickly model their microarray dataset into more reliable biological functional information by using AGOM tool. The disease, disorders, gene types and drug targets revealed in the study will allow researchers to learn more about how genes function in complex biological systems and may lead to new drug discovery and development of therapies. The GO annotation data generated will be available for public use via AgBase website and

  14. Use of instantaneous streamflow measurements to improve regression estimates of index flow for the summer month of lowest streamflow in Michigan

    Science.gov (United States)

    Holtschlag, David J.

    2011-01-01

    measurement. This process was repeated to develop a set of DiscQ50 estimates for all simulated instantaneous measurements, a weighted DiscQ50 estimate was formed from this set. Results indicated that the expected value of this weighted estimate was more precise than the IndxQ50 estimate for all measurement intensities evaluated. The integrated index-flow estimator, IntgQ50, was formed by computing a weighted average of the index estimate IndxQ50 and the DiscQ50 estimate. Results indicated that the IntgQ50 estimator was more precise than the DiscQ50 estimator at low measurement intensities of one to two measurements. At greater measurement intensities, the precision of the IntgQ50 estimator converges to the DiscQ50 estimator. Neither the DiscQ50 nor the IntgQ50 estimators provided site-specific estimates. In particular, although expected values of DiscQ50 and IntgQ50 estimates converge with increasing measurement intensity, they do not necessarily converge to the site-specific value of Q50. The site estimator of flow, SiteQ50, was developed to facilitate this convergence at higher measurement intensities. This is accomplished by use of the median of simulated instantaneous flow values for each measurement intensity level. A weighted estimate of the median and information associated with the IntgQ50 estimate was used to form the SiteQ50 estimate. Initial simulations indicate that the SiteQ50 estimator generally has greater precision than the IntgQ50 estimator at measurement intensities greater than 3, however, additional analysis is needed to identify streamflow conditions under which instantaneous measurements will produce estimates that generally converge to the index flows. A preliminary augmented index regression equation was developed, which contains the index regression estimate and two additional variables associated with base-flow recession characteristics. When these recession variables were estimated as the medians of recession parameters compute

  15. Environmental DNA (eDNA sampling improves occurrence and detection estimates of invasive burmese pythons.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Margaret E Hunter

    Full Text Available Environmental DNA (eDNA methods are used to detect DNA that is shed into the aquatic environment by cryptic or low density species. Applied in eDNA studies, occupancy models can be used to estimate occurrence and detection probabilities and thereby account for imperfect detection. However, occupancy terminology has been applied inconsistently in eDNA studies, and many have calculated occurrence probabilities while not considering the effects of imperfect detection. Low detection of invasive giant constrictors using visual surveys and traps has hampered the estimation of occupancy and detection estimates needed for population management in southern Florida, USA. Giant constrictor snakes pose a threat to native species and the ecological restoration of the Florida Everglades. To assist with detection, we developed species-specific eDNA assays using quantitative PCR (qPCR for the Burmese python (Python molurus bivittatus, Northern African python (P. sebae, boa constrictor (Boa constrictor, and the green (Eunectes murinus and yellow anaconda (E. notaeus. Burmese pythons, Northern African pythons, and boa constrictors are established and reproducing, while the green and yellow anaconda have the potential to become established. We validated the python and boa constrictor assays using laboratory trials and tested all species in 21 field locations distributed in eight southern Florida regions. Burmese python eDNA was detected in 37 of 63 field sampling events; however, the other species were not detected. Although eDNA was heterogeneously distributed in the environment, occupancy models were able to provide the first estimates of detection probabilities, which were greater than 91%. Burmese python eDNA was detected along the leading northern edge of the known population boundary. The development of informative detection tools and eDNA occupancy models can improve conservation efforts in southern Florida and support more extensive studies of invasive

  16. Environmental DNA (eDNA) sampling improves occurrence and detection estimates of invasive burmese pythons.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hunter, Margaret E; Oyler-McCance, Sara J; Dorazio, Robert M; Fike, Jennifer A; Smith, Brian J; Hunter, Charles T; Reed, Robert N; Hart, Kristen M

    2015-01-01

    Environmental DNA (eDNA) methods are used to detect DNA that is shed into the aquatic environment by cryptic or low density species. Applied in eDNA studies, occupancy models can be used to estimate occurrence and detection probabilities and thereby account for imperfect detection. However, occupancy terminology has been applied inconsistently in eDNA studies, and many have calculated occurrence probabilities while not considering the effects of imperfect detection. Low detection of invasive giant constrictors using visual surveys and traps has hampered the estimation of occupancy and detection estimates needed for population management in southern Florida, USA. Giant constrictor snakes pose a threat to native species and the ecological restoration of the Florida Everglades. To assist with detection, we developed species-specific eDNA assays using quantitative PCR (qPCR) for the Burmese python (Python molurus bivittatus), Northern African python (P. sebae), boa constrictor (Boa constrictor), and the green (Eunectes murinus) and yellow anaconda (E. notaeus). Burmese pythons, Northern African pythons, and boa constrictors are established and reproducing, while the green and yellow anaconda have the potential to become established. We validated the python and boa constrictor assays using laboratory trials and tested all species in 21 field locations distributed in eight southern Florida regions. Burmese python eDNA was detected in 37 of 63 field sampling events; however, the other species were not detected. Although eDNA was heterogeneously distributed in the environment, occupancy models were able to provide the first estimates of detection probabilities, which were greater than 91%. Burmese python eDNA was detected along the leading northern edge of the known population boundary. The development of informative detection tools and eDNA occupancy models can improve conservation efforts in southern Florida and support more extensive studies of invasive constrictors

  17. Multi-objective optimization in quantum parameter estimation

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gong, BeiLi; Cui, Wei

    2018-04-01

    We investigate quantum parameter estimation based on linear and Kerr-type nonlinear controls in an open quantum system, and consider the dissipation rate as an unknown parameter. We show that while the precision of parameter estimation is improved, it usually introduces a significant deformation to the system state. Moreover, we propose a multi-objective model to optimize the two conflicting objectives: (1) maximizing the Fisher information, improving the parameter estimation precision, and (2) minimizing the deformation of the system state, which maintains its fidelity. Finally, simulations of a simplified ɛ-constrained model demonstrate the feasibility of the Hamiltonian control in improving the precision of the quantum parameter estimation.

  18. Estimating exposure of terrestrial wildlife to contaminants

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Sample, B.E.; Suter, G.W. II

    1994-09-01

    This report describes generalized models for the estimation of contaminant exposure experienced by wildlife on the Oak Ridge Reservation. The primary exposure pathway considered is oral ingestion, e.g. the consumption of contaminated food, water, or soil. Exposure through dermal absorption and inhalation are special cases and are not considered hereIN. Because wildlife mobile and generally consume diverse diets and because environmental contamination is not spatial homogeneous, factors to account for variation in diet, movement, and contaminant distribution have been incorporated into the models. To facilitate the use and application of the models, life history parameters necessary to estimate exposure are summarized for 15 common wildlife species. Finally, to display the application of the models, exposure estimates were calculated for four species using data from a source operable unit on the Oak Ridge Reservation.

  19. Estimating exposure of terrestrial wildlife to contaminants

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Sample, B.E.; Suter, G.W. II.

    1994-09-01

    This report describes generalized models for the estimation of contaminant exposure experienced by wildlife on the Oak Ridge Reservation. The primary exposure pathway considered is oral ingestion, e.g. the consumption of contaminated food, water, or soil. Exposure through dermal absorption and inhalation are special cases and are not considered hereIN. Because wildlife mobile and generally consume diverse diets and because environmental contamination is not spatial homogeneous, factors to account for variation in diet, movement, and contaminant distribution have been incorporated into the models. To facilitate the use and application of the models, life history parameters necessary to estimate exposure are summarized for 15 common wildlife species. Finally, to display the application of the models, exposure estimates were calculated for four species using data from a source operable unit on the Oak Ridge Reservation

  20. Processes, barriers and facilitators to implementation of a participatory ergonomics program among eldercare workers

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Rasmussen, Charlotte Diana Nørregaard; Lindberg, Naja Klærke; Ravn, Marie Højbjerg

    2017-01-01

    This study aimed to investigate the processes of a participatory ergonomics program among 594 eldercare workers with emphasis on identified risk factors for low back pain and solutions, and reveal barriers and facilitators for implementation. Sixty-nine per cent of the identified risk factors wer......, workplaces, health and safety professionals, and researchers to improve future participatory ergonomics programs....... physical ergonomic, 24% were organisational and 7% were psychosocial risk factors. Most solutions were organisational (55%), followed by physical (43%) and psychosocial solutions (2%). Internal factors (e.g. team or management) constituted 47% of the barriers and 75% of the facilitators. External factors...

  1. Facilitating comparative effectiveness research in cancer genomics: evaluating stakeholder perceptions of the engagement process.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Deverka, Patricia A; Lavallee, Danielle C; Desai, Priyanka J; Armstrong, Joanne; Gorman, Mark; Hole-Curry, Leah; O'Leary, James; Ruffner, B W; Watkins, John; Veenstra, David L; Baker, Laurence H; Unger, Joseph M; Ramsey, Scott D

    2012-07-01

    The Center for Comparative Effectiveness Research in Cancer Genomics completed a 2-year stakeholder-guided process for the prioritization of genomic tests for comparative effectiveness research studies. We sought to evaluate the effectiveness of engagement procedures in achieving project goals and to identify opportunities for future improvements. The evaluation included an online questionnaire, one-on-one telephone interviews and facilitated discussion. Responses to the online questionnaire were tabulated for descriptive purposes, while transcripts from key informant interviews were analyzed using a directed content analysis approach. A total of 11 out of 13 stakeholders completed both the online questionnaire and interview process, while nine participated in the facilitated discussion. Eighty-nine percent of questionnaire items received overall ratings of agree or strongly agree; 11% of responses were rated as neutral with the exception of a single rating of disagreement with an item regarding the clarity of how stakeholder input was incorporated into project decisions. Recommendations for future improvement included developing standard recruitment practices, role descriptions and processes for improved communication with clinical and comparative effectiveness research investigators. Evaluation of the stakeholder engagement process provided constructive feedback for future improvements and should be routinely conducted to ensure maximal effectiveness of stakeholder involvement.

  2. Facilitating a just and trusting culture.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Pattison, Jill; Kline, Theresa

    2015-01-01

    The purpose of this paper is to identify managerial and organizational characteristics and behaviors that facilitate the fostering of a just and trusting culture within the healthcare system. Two studies were conducted. The initial qualitative one was used to identify themes based on interviews with health care workers that facilitate a just and trusting culture. The quantitative one used a policy-capturing design to determine which factors were most likely to predict outcomes of manager and organizational trust. The factors of violation type (ability vs integrity), providing an explanation or not, blame vs no blame by manager, and blame vs no blame by organization were all significant predictors of perceptions of trust. Limitations to the generalizability of findings included both a small and non-representative sample from one health care region. The present findings can be useful in developing training systems for managers and organizational executive teams for managing medical error events in a manner that will help develop a just and trusting culture. A just and trusting culture should enhance the likelihood of reporting medical errors. Improved reporting, in turn, should enhance patient safety. This is the first field study experimentally manipulating aspects of organizational trust within the health care sector. The use of policy-capturing is a unique feature that sheds light into the decision-making of health care workers as to the efficaciousness of particular managerial and organizational characteristics that impact a just and trusting culture.

  3. Improving Flood Plain Management through Adaptive Learning ...

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

    This project will explore how an adaptive learning approach can improve CBO governance ... for improving resource sustainability and productivity, and facilitate learning and an exchange ... Middlesex University Higher Education Corporation.

  4. Facilitating and inhibiting factors related to treatment adherence in women with polycystic ovary syndrome: A qualitative study

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Fatemeh Bazarganipour

    2017-09-01

    Full Text Available Background: Adherence issues in polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS patients have not been examined thoroughly. Patients report prolonged periods of treatment and side effects of the drug as the most common reason for withdrawal from treatment. To improve the effective management of PCOS patients, it is fundamental to understand facilitating and inhibiting factors to treatment adherence. Objective: To explore facilitating/inhibiting factors related to treatment adherence among PCOS patients. Materials and Methods: This was a qualitative study with a purposive sample of women with confirmed diagnosis of PCOS. The data were collected via 20 in-depth semi-structured interviews with women aged between 21-34 yr. A qualitative content analysis was used to analyze the data. Results: Five themes were identified which described different types of facilitating/ inhibiting factors to treatment adherence. Inhibiting factors included financial issues, patient-related, disease-related, and health care provider-related factors; while social factors were found to be both facilitating and inhibiting. Conclusion: The findings suggest that successful adherence to PCOS treatment is highly dependent on patients recognizing and adapting to financial, social, and health care related inhibiting factors. It is also crucial for clinicians and policy makers to recognize these key inhibiting factors in order to improve treatment outcomes.

  5. The impact of reflectivity correction and conversion methods to improve precipitation estimation by weather radar for an extreme low-land Mesoscale Convective System

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hazenberg, Pieter; Leijnse, Hidde; Uijlenhoet, Remko

    2014-05-01

    Between 25 and 27 August 2010 a long-duration mesoscale convective system was observed above the Netherlands. For most of the country this led to over 15 hours of near-continuous precipitation, which resulted in total event accumulations exceeding 150 mm in the eastern part of the Netherlands. Such accumulations belong to the largest sums ever recorded in this country and gave rise to local flooding. Measuring precipitation by weather radar within such mesoscale convective systems is known to be a challenge, since measurements are affected by multiple sources of error. For the current event the operational weather radar rainfall product only estimated about 30% of the actual amount of precipitation as measured by rain gauges. In the current presentation we will try to identify what gave rise to such large underestimations. In general weather radar measurement errors can be subdivided into two different groups: 1) errors affecting the volumetric reflectivity measurements taken, and 2) errors related to the conversion of reflectivity values in rainfall intensity and attenuation estimates. To correct for the first group of errors, the quality of the weather radar reflectivity data was improved by successively correcting for 1) clutter and anomalous propagation, 2) radar calibration, 3) wet radome attenuation, 4) signal attenuation and 5) the vertical profile of reflectivity. Such consistent corrections are generally not performed by operational meteorological services. Results show a large improvement in the quality of the precipitation data, however still only ~65% of the actual observed accumulations was estimated. To further improve the quality of the precipitation estimates, the second group of errors are corrected for by making use of disdrometer measurements taken in close vicinity of the radar. Based on these data the parameters of a normalized drop size distribution are estimated for the total event as well as for each precipitation type separately (convective

  6. Fast Emission Estimates in China Constrained by Satellite Observations (Invited)

    Science.gov (United States)

    Mijling, B.; van der A, R.

    2013-12-01

    agreement between observations and simulations of air pollutant concentrations, facilitating improved air quality forecasts. The EU project MarcoPolo will combine these emission estimates from space with statistical information on e.g. land use, population density and traffic to construct a new up-to-date emission inventory for China.

  7. The use of caspase inhibitors in pulsed-field gel electrophoresis may improve the estimation of radiation-induced DNA repair and apoptosis

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Balart, Josep; Pueyo, Gemma; Llobet, Lara I de; Baro, Marta; Sole, Xavi; Marin, Susanna; Casanovas, Oriol; Mesia, Ricard; Capella, Gabriel

    2011-01-01

    Radiation-induced DNA double-strand break (DSB) repair can be tested by using pulsed-field gel electrophoresis (PFGE) in agarose-encapsulated cells. However, previous studies have reported that this assay is impaired by the spontaneous DNA breakage in this medium. We investigated the mechanisms of this fragmentation with the principal aim of eliminating it in order to improve the estimation of radiation-induced DNA repair. Samples from cancer cell cultures or xenografted tumours were encapsulated in agarose plugs. The cell plugs were then irradiated, incubated to allow them to repair, and evaluated by PFGE, caspase-3, and histone H2AX activation (γH2AX). In addition, apoptosis inhibition was evaluated through chemical caspase inhibitors. We confirmed that spontaneous DNA fragmentation was associated with the process of encapsulation, regardless of whether cells were irradiated or not. This DNA fragmentation was also correlated to apoptosis activation in a fraction of the cells encapsulated in agarose, while non-apoptotic cell fraction could rejoin DNA fragments as was measured by γH2AX decrease and PFGE data. We were able to eliminate interference of apoptosis by applying specific caspase inhibitors, and improve the estimation of DNA repair, and apoptosis itself. The estimation of radiation-induced DNA repair by PFGE may be improved by the use of apoptosis inhibitors. The ability to simultaneously determine DNA repair and apoptosis, which are involved in cell fate, provides new insights for using the PFGE methodology as functional assay

  8. Time improvement of photoelectric effect calculation for absorbed dose estimation

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Massa, J M; Wainschenker, R S; Doorn, J H; Caselli, E E

    2007-01-01

    Ionizing radiation therapy is a very useful tool in cancer treatment. It is very important to determine absorbed dose in human tissue to accomplish an effective treatment. A mathematical model based on affected areas is the most suitable tool to estimate the absorbed dose. Lately, Monte Carlo based techniques have become the most reliable, but they are time expensive. Absorbed dose calculating programs using different strategies have to choose between estimation quality and calculating time. This paper describes an optimized method for the photoelectron polar angle calculation in photoelectric effect, which is significant to estimate deposited energy in human tissue. In the case studies, time cost reduction nearly reached 86%, meaning that the time needed to do the calculation is approximately 1/7 th of the non optimized approach. This has been done keeping precision invariant

  9. Perceptions of northeast Thai breastfeeding mothers regarding facilitators and barriers to six-month exclusive breastfeeding: focus group discussions.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Thepha, Thiwawan; Marais, Debbie; Bell, Jacqueline; Muangpin, Somjit

    2018-01-01

    The 6-month exclusive breastfeeding rate in the Northeast region of Thailand has recently significantly decreased in contrast to all other regions in Thailand. The factors that have influenced this decrease remain unknown. Hence, it is suggested that an investigation into factors that could improve or hinder EBF for 6 months in Northeast Thailand may be required to inform the development of relevant interventions to improve this situation. This study aimed to identify perceived facilitators and barriers to providing exclusive breastfeeding for 6 months in Northeast Thailand among breastfeeding mothers. Six focus group discussions were conducted with a total of 30 mothers aged 20 to 40 years who had children aged between 4 and 6 months and were currently breastfeeding or had breastfeeding experience. Participants were recruited through self-selection sampling from Khonkaen hospital (urban), Numphong hospital (peri-urban) and private hospitals (urban) in Khonkaen, Thailand. Thematic analysis was employed to analyse the data. Five main themes, with 10 sub-themes, were identified as either facilitators (+) or barriers (-), or in some cases, as both (+/-). Breastfeeding knowledge, perceptions, maternal circumstances, support, and traditional food were the main identified themes. Mother's breastfeeding knowledge, intention to breastfeed, and social media were perceived as facilitators. Perceptions, employment, and formula milk promotion were perceived as barriers. Family, healthcare, and traditional food were perceived as both facilitators and barriers. The perception that social media was a way to access breastfeeding knowledge and support mothers in Northeast Thailand emerged as a new facilitating factor that had not previously been identified in Thai literature relating to facilitators and barriers to exclusive breastfeeding. Intention to breastfeed, family support, healthcare support and traditional food were mentioned by all groups, whereas mothers from urban

  10. Multicollinearity and maximum entropy leuven estimator

    OpenAIRE

    Sudhanshu Mishra

    2004-01-01

    Multicollinearity is a serious problem in applied regression analysis. Q. Paris (2001) introduced the MEL estimator to resolve the multicollinearity problem. This paper improves the MEL estimator to the Modular MEL (MMEL) estimator and shows by Monte Carlo experiments that MMEL estimator performs significantly better than OLS as well as MEL estimators.

  11. Facilitation of contrast detection in near-peripheral vision.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Giorgi, Robert G; Soong, Grace P; Woods, Russell L; Peli, Eli

    2004-12-01

    Foveal detection of a Gabor patch (target) is facilitated by collinear, displaced high-contrast flankers. Polat and Sagi reported that the same phenomenon occurred in the periphery, but no data were presented [Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. 91 (1994) 1206]. Others have found no facilitation in a limited number of conditions tested. To resolve this apparent conflict, we measured lateral facilitation in the near-periphery using a range of stimulus parameters. We found facilitation for a range of target-flanker distances for peripheral eccentricities up to 6 degrees , but the magnitude of the effect was less than found in central vision. Facilitation varied across subjects and with spatial frequency. Flanker contrast had no effect over the range evaluated (10-80%). Equal facilitation was found for two global arrangements of the stimulus pattern. Facilitation was found using a temporal, but not a spatial two-alternative forced-choice paradigm, accounting for the different results among previous studies. This finding supports previous indications of the role of attention in altering such facilitation. The value of facilitation from lateral interactions for persons with central vision impairment, who have to shift their attention to a peripheral locus constantly, needs to be examined.

  12. An error reduction algorithm to improve lidar turbulence estimates for wind energy

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    J. F. Newman

    2017-02-01

    Full Text Available Remote-sensing devices such as lidars are currently being investigated as alternatives to cup anemometers on meteorological towers for the measurement of wind speed and direction. Although lidars can measure mean wind speeds at heights spanning an entire turbine rotor disk and can be easily moved from one location to another, they measure different values of turbulence than an instrument on a tower. Current methods for improving lidar turbulence estimates include the use of analytical turbulence models and expensive scanning lidars. While these methods provide accurate results in a research setting, they cannot be easily applied to smaller, vertically profiling lidars in locations where high-resolution sonic anemometer data are not available. Thus, there is clearly a need for a turbulence error reduction model that is simpler and more easily applicable to lidars that are used in the wind energy industry. In this work, a new turbulence error reduction algorithm for lidars is described. The Lidar Turbulence Error Reduction Algorithm, L-TERRA, can be applied using only data from a stand-alone vertically profiling lidar and requires minimal training with meteorological tower data. The basis of L-TERRA is a series of physics-based corrections that are applied to the lidar data to mitigate errors from instrument noise, volume averaging, and variance contamination. These corrections are applied in conjunction with a trained machine-learning model to improve turbulence estimates from a vertically profiling WINDCUBE v2 lidar. The lessons learned from creating the L-TERRA model for a WINDCUBE v2 lidar can also be applied to other lidar devices. L-TERRA was tested on data from two sites in the Southern Plains region of the United States. The physics-based corrections in L-TERRA brought regression line slopes much closer to 1 at both sites and significantly reduced the sensitivity of lidar turbulence errors to atmospheric stability. The accuracy of machine

  13. Facilitating peer learning in study groups

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Adriansen, Hanne Kirstine; Madsen, Lene Møller

    2009-01-01

    In 2008 University of Aarhus, Denmark, issued a report concerning student experience with the study environment. Among the university's eight faculties, the Danish School of Education (DPU) held the sad record of having the lowest student well-being. This led to an action research project...... 'Facilitating study environment' at one of DPU's educations in spring 2009. The pilot project consisted of three elements: Facilitated study groups, a student bar with facilitated activities, and academic identity events. Subsequently, we have studied students' experiences with the project. This paper outlines...... the preliminary results from the facilitated study groups. After one term (February-May), student satisfaction with both the social and the disciplinary environment had increased. The project shows how academic and social integration can be achieved with minimum faculty member involvement. This is done by relying...

  14. A Patient Advocate to facilitate access and improve communication, care, and outcomes in adults with moderate or severe asthma: Rationale, design, and methods of a randomized controlled trial

    Science.gov (United States)

    Apter, Andrea J.; Morales, Knashawn H.; Han, Xiaoyan; Perez, Luzmercy; Huang, Jingru; Ndicu, Grace; Localio, Anna; Nardi, Alyssa; Klusaritz, Heather; Rogers, Marisa; Phillips, Alexis; Cidav, Zuleyha; Schwartz, J. Sanford

    2017-01-01

    Few interventions to improve asthma outcomes have targeted low-income minority adults. Even fewer have focused on the real-world practice where care is delivered. We adapted a patient navigator, here called a Patient Advocate (PA), a term preferred by patients, to facilitate and maintain access to chronic care for adults with moderate or severe asthma and prevalent co-morbidities recruited from clinics serving low-income urban neighborhoods. We describe the planning, design, methodology (informed by patient and provider focus groups), baseline results, and challenges of an ongoing randomized controlled trial of 312 adults of a PA intervention implemented in a variety of practices. The PA coaches, models, and assists participants with preparations for a visit with the asthma clinician; attends the visit with permission of participant and provider; and confirms participants’ understanding of what transpired at the visit. The PA facilitates scheduling, obtaining insurance coverage, overcoming patients’ unique social and administrative barriers to carrying out medical advice and transfer of information between providers and patients. PA activities are individualized, take account of comorbidities, and are generalizable to other chronic diseases. PAs are recent college graduates interested in health-related careers, research experience, working with patients, and generally have the same race/ethnicity distribution as potential participants. We test whether the PA intervention, compared to usual care, is associated with improved and sustained asthma control and other asthma outcomes (prednisone bursts, ED visits, hospitalizations, quality of life, FEV1) relative to baseline. Mediators and moderators of the PA-asthma outcome relationship are examined along with the intervention’s cost-effectiveness. PMID:28315481

  15. MO-DE-210-05: Improved Accuracy of Liver Feature Motion Estimation in B-Mode Ultrasound for Image-Guided Radiation Therapy

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    O’Shea, T; Bamber, J; Harris, E [The Institute of Cancer Research & Royal Marsden, Sutton and London (United Kingdom)

    2015-06-15

    Purpose: In similarity-measure based motion estimation incremental tracking (or template update) is challenging due to quantization, bias and accumulation of tracking errors. A method is presented which aims to improve the accuracy of incrementally tracked liver feature motion in long ultrasound sequences. Methods: Liver ultrasound data from five healthy volunteers under free breathing were used (15 to 17 Hz imaging rate, 2.9 to 5.5 minutes in length). A normalised cross-correlation template matching algorithm was implemented to estimate tissue motion. Blood vessel motion was manually annotated for comparison with three tracking code implementations: (i) naive incremental tracking (IT), (ii) IT plus a similarity threshold (ST) template-update method and (iii) ST coupled with a prediction-based state observer, known as the alpha-beta filter (ABST). Results: The ABST method produced substantial improvements in vessel tracking accuracy for two-dimensional vessel motion ranging from 7.9 mm to 40.4 mm (with mean respiratory period: 4.0 ± 1.1 s). The mean and 95% tracking errors were 1.6 mm and 1.4 mm, respectively (compared to 6.2 mm and 9.1 mm, respectively for naive incremental tracking). Conclusions: High confidence in the output motion estimation data is required for ultrasound-based motion estimation for radiation therapy beam tracking and gating. The method presented has potential for monitoring liver vessel translational motion in high frame rate B-mode data with the required accuracy. This work is support by Cancer Research UK Programme Grant C33589/A19727.

  16. Improving the Curie depth estimation through optimizing the spectral block dimensions of the aeromagnetic data in the Sabalan geothermal field

    Science.gov (United States)

    Akbar, Somaieh; Fathianpour, Nader

    2016-12-01

    The Curie point depth is of great importance in characterizing geothermal resources. In this study, the Curie iso-depth map was provided using the well-known method of dividing the aeromagnetic dataset into overlapping blocks and analyzing the power spectral density of each block separately. Determining the optimum block dimension is vital in improving the resolution and accuracy of estimating Curie point depth. To investigate the relation between the optimal block size and power spectral density, a forward magnetic modeling was implemented on an artificial prismatic body with specified characteristics. The top, centroid, and bottom depths of the body were estimated by the spectral analysis method for different block dimensions. The result showed that the optimal block size could be considered as the smallest possible block size whose corresponding power spectrum represents an absolute maximum in small wavenumbers. The Curie depth map of the Sabalan geothermal field and its surrounding areas, in the northwestern Iran, was produced using a grid of 37 blocks with different dimensions from 10 × 10 to 50 × 50 km2, which showed at least 50% overlapping with adjacent blocks. The Curie point depth was estimated in the range of 5 to 21 km. The promising areas with the Curie point depths less than 8.5 km are located around Mountain Sabalan encompassing more than 90% of known geothermal resources in the study area. Moreover, the Curie point depth estimated by the improved spectral analysis is in good agreement with the depth calculated from the thermal gradient data measured in one of the exploratory wells in the region.

  17. Systematic biases in human heading estimation.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Luigi F Cuturi

    Full Text Available Heading estimation is vital to everyday navigation and locomotion. Despite extensive behavioral and physiological research on both visual and vestibular heading estimation over more than two decades, the accuracy of heading estimation has not yet been systematically evaluated. Therefore human visual and vestibular heading estimation was assessed in the horizontal plane using a motion platform and stereo visual display. Heading angle was overestimated during forward movements and underestimated during backward movements in response to both visual and vestibular stimuli, indicating an overall multimodal bias toward lateral directions. Lateral biases are consistent with the overrepresentation of lateral preferred directions observed in neural populations that carry visual and vestibular heading information, including MSTd and otolith afferent populations. Due to this overrepresentation, population vector decoding yields patterns of bias remarkably similar to those observed behaviorally. Lateral biases are inconsistent with standard bayesian accounts which predict that estimates should be biased toward the most common straight forward heading direction. Nevertheless, lateral biases may be functionally relevant. They effectively constitute a perceptual scale expansion around straight ahead which could allow for more precise estimation and provide a high gain feedback signal to facilitate maintenance of straight-forward heading during everyday navigation and locomotion.

  18. Barriers and facilitators to disease-modifying antirheumatic drug use in patients with inflammatory rheumatic diseases: a qualitative theory-based study.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Voshaar, Marieke; Vriezekolk, Johanna; van Dulmen, Sandra; van den Bemt, Bart; van de Laar, Mart

    2016-10-21

    Although disease-modifying anti-rheumatic drugs (DMARDs) are the cornerstone of treatment for inflammatory rheumatic diseases, medication adherence to DMARDs is often suboptimal. Effective interventions to improve adherence to DMARDs are lacking, and new targets are needed to improve adherence. The aim of the present study was to explore patients' barriers and facilitators of optimal DMARD use. These factors might be used as targets for adherence interventions. In a mixed method study design, patients (n = 120) with inflammatory arthritis (IA) completed a questionnaire based on an existing adapted Theoretical Domains Framework (TDF) to identify facilitators and barriers of DMARD use. A subgroup of these patients (n = 21) participated in focus groups to provide insights into their facilitators and barriers. The answers to the questionnaires and responses of the focus groups were thematically coded by three researchers independently and subsequently categorized. The barriers and facilitators that were reported by IA patients presented large inter-individual variations. The identified barriers and facilitators could be captured in the following domains based on an adapted TDF: (i) knowledge, (ii) emotions, (iii) attention, memory, and decision processes, (iv) social influences, (v) beliefs about capability, (vi) beliefs about consequences, (vii) motivation and goals, (viii) goal conflict, (ix) environmental context and resources, and (x) skills. Patients with IA have a variety of barriers and facilitators with regard to their DMARD use. All of these barriers and facilitators could be categorized into adapted domains of the TDF. Interventions that address individual facilitators and barriers, based on capability, opportunity, and motivation, are needed to develop strategies for medication adherence that are tailored to individual patient needs.

  19. Variable Kernel Density Estimation

    OpenAIRE

    Terrell, George R.; Scott, David W.

    1992-01-01

    We investigate some of the possibilities for improvement of univariate and multivariate kernel density estimates by varying the window over the domain of estimation, pointwise and globally. Two general approaches are to vary the window width by the point of estimation and by point of the sample observation. The first possibility is shown to be of little efficacy in one variable. In particular, nearest-neighbor estimators in all versions perform poorly in one and two dimensions, but begin to b...

  20. SUBJECTIVE AND OBJECTIVE ESTIMATION OF THE LEVEL OF PHYSICAL EDUCATION IN SERVICE OF CONSERVING HEALTH STATUS IMPROVEMENT

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Dragan Krivokapić

    2014-06-01

    Full Text Available Introduction: Results of ever increasing number of research indicating to number of benefits of regular physical activity has influenced formation of many directions on recommended volume and intensity of exercise which is in the service of keeping and improving of a modern man`s health. From the aspect of risk estimation on health endangering, the major attention should be paid on identification of people who do not fulfill even necessary minimums regarding doing the physical activity. Participation in some kind of physical activity represents the most variable component of the overall daily calorie consumption of sedentary population because it mostly depends on the level of knowledge on influence of the physical activity, degree of self control and persistence of each individual to persist in attempting to keep and improve their health. Methods: This paper was conceived on methods of the American College for Sports Medicine ACSM (2009 which is one of the most referent sources in promotion of positive effects of physical activity on a modern man`s health. According to directions in the above mentioned source, there will be five elements of physical form to be analyzed that are related to health: cardio respiratory form, defined as a competence of cardiovascular and respiratory system to `deliver` oxygen to active musculature during continued physical activity; body structure referring to relative or percent share of different tissues within the body and which are related to health status; muscular strength, representing the ability of the human body to do the activity for which a high level of muscular strength is necessary; muscular endurance, defined as an ability of muscles or muscular group to do repeated contractions within a long time period; flexibility, representing the ability to make big amplitude moves in a particular joint. Results: Results of so far research have established a clear connection between physical activity and health